We finally decided on a villa to spend our days in Bali.. Villa D'Suite on Seminyak, Oberoi.

This is what it says on the villa's website:

www.villa-d-suite.com

Standing on a 700 sqm of land area, Villa D Suite comes with 3 air-conditioned bedrooms each with en suite private bathroom, air-conditioned living and dining room, open living room, fully equipped kitchen, large swimming pool, outdoor jacuzzi, garden, one car parking lot, and 4 house staff.





This villa’s design accomplished in capturing what “Bali Modern” is all about: contemporary design, minimalism, space, and attention to detail. With its urban location on an almost beach front location, it is ideally situated for holiday makers who want to enjoy the best of what the Oberoi area has to offer.

Designed by Australian designer Dean Kempnich, villa d’suite truly refines the word “Bali Modern”. Unmistakable Balinese rooflines mix with modern yet pleasing painting color schemes, combining lush tropical garden surrounding the villa, this is a holiday accommodation like no other.

Centrally located on the hippest area of Bali – Oberoi, this villa sits right next to the famed Oberoi hotel and Kudeta, one of the best culinary establishments to be found anywhere on the island. Other famed restaurants and eateries such as the restaurant at the legian, Toscana, Rumors, Mykonos, hu’u, and La Luciola, are all conveniently located within walking distances. Literally steps away from the golden beaches of Petitinget, the location is the next best thing to staying in a beachfront property.

Upon stepping into this brand new villa, the immediate feeling is one of youthful energy and luxurious comfort. The villa’s designer touches are instantly evident from the very first sight; color combination of the walls and well placed, carefully selected art objects: modern painting and turn of the century Bali photographs on the walls, and primitive wood/stone carvings that sits on polished wood pedestals. Combined with refined designer furniture, and views of tropical greenery all around, the villa permeates the new beat of Bali.

The modern touch continues into the garden and pool area, merging the inside of the house with the outside surroundings. Locally available volcanic stones called “Batu Candi” are used extensively through out the outdoor areas, a perfect example of how the use of natural materials can be adapted into a tropical contemporary design.

The lush tropical garden design takes on an almost geomantic approach, which compliments the contemporary design of the interior. Belonging mostly to the palm and heliconia species, the plants used through out the garden truly reflected the feeling of tropical living. Two “Batu Candi” sundecks rest at either side of the natural stone pool, one exposed to the sunlight, which is perfect for sunbathing, while the other placed under three mature trees, perfectly suited for lying under the shade for some long neglected siestas.

Roofed in traditional Balinese tile roof, this one-storied villa is comprised of three bedrooms; two on either side of the semi-open living area flanked by a 2- tiered pond, and another to the one side of the air-conditioned living room. All three bedrooms have it’s own ensuite bathrooms and all equipped with 33-channeled cable TV.

The living areas of the villa are the best combination of both worlds: indoors and outdoors. The indoor living room is fully air-conditioned and houses the sofa area with audio-visual systems housed in cabinets. Entertainment facilities consist of a cable television, DVD player, and stereo system – also supplied are a selection of DVDs, books and board games. To the other end of this area sits a long, highly polished teak table that enables 8 to sit and dine comfortably. Behind the dinning table is the pantry with mini-bar, refrigerator, and sink.

All around are ceiling to floor windows, which opens up to the semi-out door living area, effectively combines the two into one large living space. Here one finds a six-person round glass top table with comfortable rattan woven dinning chair. To the other side, a 2 piece matching rattan woven sofas is placed. With ceiling fans servicing both areas, this is a perfect place to spend a balmy Balinese afternoon, while listening to the flowing sounds of water coming from the circulating 2-tiered pond and the Jacuzzi further out.

All floors are made of white Terrazzo tiles divided by glass, which again shows the resourcefulness of the designer when it comes to the combination of materials used. The polished Terrazzos continue into the 3 air-conditioned bedrooms, where the feeling of tropical contemporary designs persevered, complete with a split-unit air conditioner, wooden built-in closets, a personal safety box and large windows and doors opening onto the garden or pool. All bedrooms feature ensuite bathrooms, which has separate shower and tub areas, and also uses Terrazzo through out the floor, tub and washbasin. All bedrooms are equipped with a cable television, making a lazy morning even harder to get up to.

This villa’s design accomplished in capturing what “Bali Modern” is all about: contemporary design, minimalism, space, and attention to detail. With its urban location on an almost beach front location, it is ideally situated for holiday makers who want to enjoy the best of what the Oberoi area has to offer.

If you're a traveler who chooses to visit a place or city by selecting festive dates for cultural experience, Bali has the most unique new year's celebration called Nyepi. It is a Balinese "Day of Silence" that falls on Bali's Lunar New Year. This year it is observed from 6 a.m. Tuesday 16 March 2010, continuing until 6 a.m. Wednesday 17 March 2010. During this time all public facilities outside the hotel will be closed. It is a day of silence, fasting, and meditation. Be your own judge to select this time of the year to visit Bali or not.

Westerners open the New Year in revelry, however, in contrast, the Balinese open their New Year in silence. This is called Nyepi Day, the Balinese day of Silence, which falls on the day following the dark moon of the spring equinox, and opens a new year of the Saka Hindu era which began in 78 A.D.

Nyepi is a day to make and keep the balance of nature. It is based on the story of when King Kaniska I of India was chosen in 78 A.D. The King was famous for his wisdom and tolerance for the Hinduism and Buddhism societies. In that age, Aji Saka did Dharma Yatra (the missionary tour to promote and spread Hinduism) to Indonesia and introduce the Saka year.

Nyepi (from the word Sepi = silence) is a day reserved for self-reflection and as such, anything that might interfere with that purpose is restricted. The main restrictions are: no lighting fires (and lights must be kept low) no working; no entertainment or pleasure; no traveling; and for some, no talking or eating at all. The effect of these prohibitions is that Bali's usually bustling streets and roads are empty, there is little or no noise from TVs and radios, and few signs of activity are seen even inside homes. The only people to be seen outdoors are the Pecalang, traditional security men who patrol the streets to ensure the prohibitions are being followed.

Although Nyepi is primarily a Hindu holiday, non-Hindu residents of Bali observe the day of silence as well, out of respect for their fellow citizens. Tourists are not exempt; although free to do as they wish inside the hotels, no one is allowed onto the beaches or streets or to go on tours, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles carrying those with life-threatening conditions and women about to give birth. On the day after Nyepi, known as Ngembak Geni, social activity picks up again quickly, as families and friends gather to ask forgiveness from one another, and to perform certain religious rituals together.

Many starred Bali hotels are said to have offered special Nyepi attractions, where they hope to be able to escort guests around the streets in vehicles, to take in the "atmosphere" of Nyepi.
A government spokesman, Nyoman Puasa Aryana, however says hotels have no dispensations, that only ambulances and fire engines may be allowed to operate on the day. Hotel owners should learn from past mistakes:

"A few years ago a tourist vehicle got attacked by a mob during Nyepi."

I'm virtually scouting for villas to accommodate a party of 6 in and around Bali, Indonesia. We'll be there in August so pray no natural and human inflicted disasters will occur pre, during and post to the absolutely beautiful and enchanting island of Bali. The trip is in August but I've already started searching for villas with the best value for money more than a year ago.

There are 8 villas featured on allbalivillas.com at various locations around Bali.

Recommended Bali Villas

Ricefield View Villas; and

Villas within walking distance to the Beach

This place is so far, it took the same time for the postcards to arrive Malaysia the same time with its sender. Mike's back at the office and I got 2 postcards mailed by him from Helsinki on my table this morning.

"Inspired" by a conversation we had in her car when coming back from lunch today, a colleague shared this link with me..

This tutorial will show you how to look like a haunting vampire. Inspired by Anne Rice's beautiful vampires. They're evocative, bewitching, desirable and haunting. Read Interview With The Vampire..I love Vampires. From anime like Vampire Hunter D, Blood: The Last Vampire and the games Castlevania Symphony of the Nights.

This is her channel on Youtube

I missed this month's digital networking night called Web Wednesday hosted by Malaysian Digital Association to tend to personal matters. To know more about the event or the organising committee, a Google search might be able to provide you with enough info. Or maybe not.

Anyways, thus far the previous gatherings didn't increase my knowledge of the web industry nor did it provide me with any insight of how to change local client mentality over the cost of maintaining an online presence. Most big brands out there just leave the dirty work to media agencies to segregate and rid them of their budgets for the year so that every one looks like they are doing their jobs.

But that would be digressing from the matter at hand.

So, some friends were tagged in a photo album on Facebook during the event and I browsed the photos. Not only did the organising committee bribed attendees with free beer and even dinner, they had a mascot of some sort of weird/freak attraction you would normally pay a circus to go see. I couldn't believe my eyes when almost every other picture captured this person with its head full of short strands dyed in a cheap light red hue. It started to look like some kind of badly planned branding stunt, associating the Night with this persona. It was appalling to say the least. I do plan to attend a Web Wed Night some time soon but if it is going to turn into some kind of feature freak show then I would have to maybe start my own networking night else where.

Now, I could post up a photo to show you how the "freak mascot" looks but I have myself to debate with over if it would be right to expose the freak's identity even though she was a cold hearted bitch to me when in the last SMCKL (social media club kl) all I said to her was "Wow, high security. Isn't it quite a hassle for you?", only to get a hard stare and some stiff words forced out of her thin lips. Bet her fist was mighty clenched too. Anyways, indirectly I made her fetch me a mug of water when my peers asked if there was any water served. She rolled her eyes and went to get 2 mugs for the 5 thirsty people. Total number of attendees that night was 15, give or take. Might be a long time until the next one.

Long story short, she's one mean bitch and a big time shoe polisher.

Due to a certain request, this blog post has been edited to omit its original content.
It was a short entry of my own conclusion of my boyfriend when an issue at hand wasn't clarified when I brought it up in search of certainty. All I got was a short and curt answer without much else. There was even a photo of that person in his phone camera album after he went out with her on a one on one outing which some would call a date. So wouldn't that just spark something off? So now in exchange of editing or deleting the post, I was given 3 points as the only explanation of the relationship of my boyfriend and that person.

Oh well, back to the drawing board for me.