JEMBRANA ~ Local fishermen have reportedly spotted fish bombers operating along the coast of Jembrana, thereby affecting the amount fish found in the area.

Locals said that the fish bombers were allegedly coming from East Java, transiting in Candikusuma before operating in Pekutatan, Medewi and Cupel.

Head of Jembrana Police I Nyoman Astawa said officials would cooperate with coastal police to look for the fish bombers in the area.

GIANYAR ~ The regent of Gianyar, AA Gde Agung Bharata, inaugurated Premagana General Hospital in Sukawati at the weekend.

Hospital director I Gde Arimbawa said the facility opened in 2004 as a maternity hospital, but over the years expanded into a full-fledged public hospital, with operating theaters, general wards, dental care and a children’s clinic.

Currently the hospital has 50 beds, specialists, a pharmacy and a 24-hour ambulance service.

BADUNG ~ To mark the 36th anniversary of Indonesian Civil Servants Corps, Badung regency had organized reforestation programs in Kedonganan, Jimbaran and Abiansemal.

Badung Regional Secretary I Wayan Subawa said that 1.5 hectares of land had been set aside for reforestation, and that the government has donated fertilizer to local farmers.

Regency spokesman I Putu Eka Merthawan said the government would continue its reforestation program by involving residents and government departments.

By Paulo Coelho
For The Bali Times

Why go on fighting?

Reader Gerson Luiz tells the story of a rose that longed for the company of the bees, but none would come to her.

Even so, the flower was still capable of dreaming. When she felt all alone, she would imagine a garden filled with bees that came to kiss her. And so she managed to resist until the next day, when she opened her petals again.

“Aren’t you tired?” someone must have asked her.

“No. I have to go on fighting,” answered the flower.

“Why?”

“Because if I don’t open up, I wither.”

Learning to see

Buddha gathered his disciples and showed them a lotus flower.

“I want you to tell me something about what I hold in my hand.”

The first gave a whole treaty on the importance of flowers. The second composed a lovely poem about its petals. The third invented a parable using the flower as an example.

Now it was Mahakashyap’s turn. He came up to Buddha, smelt the flower, and caressed his face with one of the petals.

“This is a lotus flower,” said Mahakashyap. “Simple, like everything that comes from God. And beautiful, like everything that comes from God.”

“You were the only one who saw what I hold in my hand,” was Buddha’s comment.

In search of a wise man

For days the couple traveled almost without speaking. Finally they arrived in the middle of the forest, and found the wise man.

“My companion said almost nothing to me during the whole journey,” said the young man.

“A love without silence is a love without depth,” answered the wise man.

“But she didn’t even say that she loved me!”

“Some people always claim that. And we end up wondering if their words are true.”

The three of them sat down on a rock. The wise man pointed to the field of flowers all around them.

“Nature isn’t always repeating that God loves us. But we realize that through His flowers.”

In the flower shop

The woman was strolling through a shopping mall when she noticed a poster announcing a new flower shop. When she went in, she got a shock; she saw no vases, no arrangements, and it was God in person who stood behind the counter.

“You can ask for whatever you want,” said God.

“I want to be happy. I want peace, money, the capacity to be understood. I want to go to heaven when I die. And I want all this to be granted to my friends, too.”

God opened a few pots that were on the shelf behind him, removed some grains from inside, and handed them to the woman.

“Here you have the seeds,” He said. “Begin to plant them, because here we don’t sell the fruits.”

© Translated by James Mulholland

www.paulocoelhoblog.com

By Janet De Neefe

For The Bali Times

UBUD ~ Let’s face it, I am surely one of the luckiest gals in the world. Being able to combine two of my greatest passions, food and literature, under the guise of a profession is a sublime treat and one for which I am eternally grateful. It was only the other day that a friend from Melbourne and I were chatting. “Janet,” he said in a somewhat serious tone, “when are you going to find yourself a real job, so that you can be as unhappy as the rest of us?”

So apart from wearing a well-worn village chef cap and being a self-proclaimed, non-Balinese doyen of Balinese food, I am also the torch-bearing director of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. Why am I telling you all of this, I hear you ask - or yawn?

Hospitality has always been my raison d’etre. Nothing makes me happier than sharing home-cooked food and opening up our old teak doors to visitors from all over the world. And in recent years, our restaurants have become the culinary playground of the writers who have been appearing at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival.

I remember Michael Ondaatje, the celebrated author of The English Patient, dining at both our home and Casa Luna in 2005. It was our second festival and Michael was the undisputed star. He and his lovely wife, Linda Spalding, had arrived a week before the festival began, so we had plenty of time to roll out the Balinese red carpet and wine and dine this charming couple.

For months before Michael’s arrival in Ubud, I was jumping up and down on the spot, literally, in excitement. All my children, including Arjuna, then aged 6, knew the name Michael Ondaatje and were constantly apologizing to their friends about my sudden outbursts of glee. Picture my eldest daughter Dewi, then 12, rolling her eyes like a teenager and telling her friends, “Mum is all excited cos that guy who made that film is coming here … yeah, it’s embarrassing!”

You might remember that our 2005 festival commenced only a week after the second bombing. So the memory of this event will always remain close to my heart. We all bonded in the face of this unexpected tragedy and I have remained friends with Michael Ondaatje to this day.

But getting back to food. Michael and his wife shared many meals with us and he was especially fond of our Indonesian dishes - something to do with the fact that he grew up in Sri Lanka. On one occasion we served Smoked Duck and he waxed lyrical over the full-bodied flavor of this perennial favorite. We discussed the cooking process in depth and he loaded up his plate with a generous portion. It was only a few weeks ago in Bali that we had celebrated Hari Saraswati, which is rather like a sacred Smoked Duck feast and one that my family and I love. Saraswati is the Goddess of wisdom and education, so, twice a year, a day is set aside to honor her divine attributes. On the day after Hari Saraswati, called Banyu Pinaruh, we all tuck into a delicious breakfast of yellow rice and a selection of colorful side dishes to soak up the wisdom of the Goddess and pay homage to Bali’s precious ducks (in lieu of a swan) as the heavenly transport that bears the multi-skilled, multi-armed Goddess Saraswati. And there is no better way to do this than via the cosmic powers of a well-cooked meal. So do yourselves a favor, set aside a day and prepare yourself a precious meal that will do wonders for the mind, body and soul.

BEBEK BETUTU

Smoked Duck

The mellow fragrance and flavor of freshly made coconut oil is the crucial ingredient for a delicious smoked duck. Cooked for eight hours, the tender, gently seasoned flesh almost melts in the mouth. It is delicious with yellow rice but also with salad greens. It can be baked in the oven or even barbequed instead of smoked in tree bark.

Serves 4:

1 whole duck

3 teaspoons tamarind

2-3 teaspoons shrimp paste

1 tablespoon sea salt

1/3 cup coconut oil

3 teaspoons kecap manis

5 salam leaves

2 staghorn sprigs to speed up the cooking process (optional)

2 1/2 cups water

coconut tree bark or oven bag, string

Spice paste:

8 small shallots

12 cloves of garlic

4 large red chilli, seeds removed

5 medium chilli

5 bird’s eye chilli

6 candlenut

2 tablespoons ginger

1 ½ tablespoons turmeric

2 tablespoons galangal

2 tablespoons kencur

2 teaspoons whole black pepper

1 teaspoons whole white pepper

1 tablespoons coriander seeds

¼ teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg

1 teaspoons ground sesame seeds

½ teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoons palm sugar

Place the whole duck in a large bowl. Rub with half the salt, shrimp paste, tamarind and two tablespoons of the coconut oil to break the bones and soften the meat, for approximately three minutes. This is rather like massaging the duck. Set aside.

Place the spices in the container of a food processor and blend to a smooth paste. Put the ground spices in the bowl. Mix on the side with 1/2 of the remaining oil, the remaining salt and the kecap manis. When it is thoroughly mixed, add all the oil.

Push a tablespoon of the spices down the duck’s throat. Add the salam leaves to the remaining spices in the bowl and push into the duck’s cavity. Rub the skin with a thin layer of spices.

At this point, the duck is wrapped in coconut tree bark. You can use local tree bark, an oven bag or a terracotta pot. Wipe the tree bark with a clean cloth and place a sprig of staghorn on top. Place the duck on top of this. Place another sprig of staghorn on top of the seasoned duck. Tie up one end of the tree bark securely with bamboo twine. Pour the water into the package and tie up the other end. Alternatively, place the duck and half the water in an oven bag or in a terracotta pot. The staghorn of course, is optional.

The smoked duck is then cooked under a terracotta lid, surrounded by rice husks and burning coconut fiber. It takes at least eight hours and the slow cooking process yields wonderfully aromatic, delicious, tender meat. Alternatively, place in a pre-heated oven set at 180 and cook for one and a half hours covered or set the oven to 120 and cook for four hours. You can even allow the duck to crispen in the oven but removing the lid for the final 30 minutes. The duck can also be cooked in a pressure cooker and if all else fails, you can use chicken instead.

Finally, for now, Michael Ondaatje jotted down these words about our 2005 festival.

“It was, and is, and hopefully will always be a wonderfully intimate festival. I have made great friends of writers and readers, heard exciting talks and eaten meals I did not know existed. Thank you!

Matur Suskme

By Mark Ulyseas

For The Bali Times

UBUD ~ Another week has gone by in the hills of Camelot. The sporadic rain has freshened the verdant surroundings with the fragrance of frangipani permeating the air.

Now that you get the drift of the weather up here, let’s skip the niceties and get down on our haunches to discuss, review and pontificate about Ubudian life.

The recent Full Moon religious ceremonies in Ubud have been special as it was Tumpek Landep, a day when the Balinese worship their heirlooms and metal objects like kerises, cars, etc. I got an opportunity to photograph Tjok Raka Kerthyasa and his wife Asri on their way to the temple with a retinue of followers. The moon painted Campuhan in gossamer light that made one feel removed from the material world, a hint of Dali lurking in the shadows.

I suppose the closest I’ve come to surrealism is in the artwork of my friend Wolfgang Widmoser, who has just returned from Jakarta after a grand opening of an exhibition of his paintings titled Venus Rising. The show is on at Bentara Budaya from November 21 to the 30. I am sure you have read about this genius in the making in numerous magazines, newspapers and on the web. Therefore, I am not going to bore you with all the intricate details of his life and work. However, I would like to share with you the conversation I had with him over a whisky sour the other day at my favorite watering hole.

When I asked him as to why he had made Bali his home, he replied, “The spirits of the island, especially Ubud, empower me to be my true self. I am not looking for the lost paradise in Bali, like Gauguin did in Tahiti. I came to Ubud when it was a village. I recall only three restaurants, Lilies, Murni’s and Victor Mason’s Beggar’s Bush, that were meeting points for artists, writers and intrepid tourists. This town has always welcomed creative people and has given them a place to work peacefully and undisturbed. The royal family of Ubud has always encouraged people like me to set up home here. The communication between Balinese and Western artists has stimulated and enriched the cultural ethos. Peter Dettmar, Filippos and me are the third generation of Western artists in Ubud. I hope this continues to remain in the future. I am sure it will.”

Wolf, as his close friends affectionately call him, said that he was a European artist influenced by western sensibilities and not by Balinese culture. But the Ubudian magic that dwells in the landscape mesmerizes and stimulates his creative process, which reflects in his artwork.

Behind this man stands Tony Raka, a Balinese who owns a sprawling well-known gallery by the same name in Maas, Ubud. Tony “adopted” Wolf many years ago by offering him the use of a large studio as well as giving him financial help. The pact between a Balinese curator and a European artist seems to have worked in an environment of enlightenment and cross-cultural synergy. It is also the first time that I have heard of a Balinese gallery owner actually supporting a foreign artist in this manner. In fact, Wolf is the only Western artist that Tony has promoted. We hope that this is a fore bearer of international recognition for Wolf and continued success for Tony Raka’s endeavor in bringing the big buyers of art to this town and inadvertently also exposing even the little-known artists to the global art world. Check out his website: www.tonyrakaartgallery.com.

From a brush with art, we move on to the fourth international Ubud Writers & Readers Festival held in September. You probably know the many faces involved in the festival except one – Ni Made Sri Purnami, or Kadek Purnami for short. She is a young, aspiring poetess who is the community development manager. This soft-spoken lady graduated from the University of Atma Jaya Jogyakarta, majoring in communication and specializing in public relations. She had earlier been a volunteer for the festival but now works fulltime. Kadek has been instrumental in organizing children’s programs, Community Panel discussions, a tribute to the Persian poet Rumi and lectures by Anand Krishna.

Kadek, who speaks Balinese, Bahasa and English, expressed consternation at the dwindling number of people on the island who speak Balinese. But she believes that exposure to other cultures is essential to widening one’s horizons and perceptions of a fast-changing world. The festival has brought Kadek into contact with writers and poets from around the world and in particular those from her home country, Indonesia. An aspiring poetess, she has been greatly influenced by Sapardi Djomo Damono, a poet from Jakarta who attended the festival in 2006. I quote a stanza from one of her poems, translated from Bahasa, titled The Station’s Long, Cold Bench.

I do not know

How many poems were born

From the wounded words

From the elated words

Of our interlocked past

As I sit still

On the station’s long, cold bench

Kadek lives with her husband Putu and his family on Jl. Gautama off Jalan Raya. Putu, who is a gifted batik painter, runs a batik workshop close to their home. She is proud to be Balinese and believes that her people have learned a lot by mingling with other cultures. To her, Ubud is a melting pot that churns out endless creative works, which in turn helps to attract even more artists to the place. If you want to know more about this talented young lady here’s a lead: http://galangbulan.blogspot.com.

Ever walked down Jl. Raya and rubbed shoulders with the rural folk who arrive at the daily market in droves carrying fresh produce from the surrounding villages? The other day when passing this market, I was accosted by Crazy Chris (as some affectionately call him, because of his verbal meandering that loses the listener in a haze of his cigarette plumes). He insisted I visit Wayan’s Healing Centre and Warung on Jl. Jembawan No.5, about three doors from the Ubud Post Office, adding that her warung was mentioned in the book Eat Pray Love by the American author Elizabeth Gilbert.

So the other day I ventured into Wayan’s Warung and was greeted with a glass of turmeric honey juice and a lecture by her on how it cleanses the body of toxins.

Herbal potted plants are neatly arrayed at the entrance of the warung. Each plant has a printed label that prominently displays its name and the curative powers in relation to human ailments like kidney stones and blood pressure.

Wayan suggests a hot shower with a mixture of turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, Asteraceace leaves and jujube to prevent rheumatism. This concoction works as it energizes the body, cleanses and softens the skin.

The food on offer is strictly vegetarian. For instance, Wayan’s very own Multivitamin Nasi Campur that I ordered was served with an unsolicited lecture that delved on the various aspects of the recipe: red rice has Vit B; Tomato chutney, Vit C, for healthy gums; grilled coconut with special sauce, for healthy bones; Seaweed Vit E, for hair and nails; Beansprouts Vit E, for heart and fertility; Water spinach Vit K, for healthy blood; Ginseng we all know; Tempe/Tofu Calcium; and finally, a special sauce of cinnamon, sesame seed and nutmeg.

The Multivitamin Nasi Campur was delicious, and cheap. I didn’t taste her version of Multivitamin Nasi Goreng and Multivitamin Mie Goreng. Suffice to say that Wayan has a delightful mix of natural remedies, massages, healthcare, nailcare, skincare and whatever, topped by a sound understanding of age-old Indonesian remedies for various illnesses. If you feel the wrinkles on your face are showing, drop in to Wayan’s. While you sip turmeric honey juice, she will rub cucumbers, Leucaena Glauca leaves, coconut oil and egg yolk into your skin to make it smooth like a baby’s bottom.

Next week we shall visit the Organic Farmer’s weekly Saturday market that is held at Pizza Bagus, to meet Gede, a Balinese farmer who grows a range of organic vegetables.

Ubud is truly enchanting. The many businesses that thrive here help in dispelling the notion that it is only a place for artists, writers and the blah, blah, blah crowd.

If there is a voice out there in the Ubudian hills that wants to be heard on any subject concerning Ubud, please do write to me at ulyseas@gmail.com or editor@thebalitimes.com.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om

In conversation with Anak Agung Niang Rai, the mother of Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa of the Ubud royal family. Tjokorda Raka was kind enough to act as interpreter. I have faithfully noted her observations, without embellishing the narrative, to keep it simple and straightforward, just like the life Anak has led for the past three quarters of a century.

Anak Agung Niang Rai, who is 75 years old, is from the village of Negara, Batuan, Sukawati. She grew up in the Ubud Palace, helping in the domestic activities in Puri Saran Kauh Ubud. At that time there was no electricity or piped water.

Water had to be carried by women from the nearby spring in Mumbul (next to Mumbul Inn and opposite Casa Luna) to the palace. The spring water was used in ceremonies, for drinking as well as bathing. Firewood collected from the nearby forest was the standard cooking fuel.

After carrying out her domestic duties in the palace, she played with the children and went to bathe in the Mumbul River. On days of religious significance, they bathed in the holy Campuhan River.

The area from Ubud to Campuhan was devoid of any buildings. In fact, lychee trees were in abundance. And so were other fruit trees that lined the rough stone road. Street lighting was absent and people used Sundih (dried coconut leaves tied together and lit). To keep the flame from dying out, the Sundih was waved gently in the air.

Horses and bicycles were the mode of transport. The palace then owned the three cars in existence. A daily bus service between Ubud and Denpasar was owned and operated by a Chinese person from Sukawati village.

The garments worn by women in those days were very short sarongs, more like mini skirts, with nothing on the top. These topless women only covered themselves during religious ceremonies, with a scarf that was tied like a bustier. The kebaya was non-existent.

Some of Anak’s daily food was sweet potato mixed with pink Balinese rice, sweet corn and rice and fruits like wani, a mango that appeared to be white on the outside, which tasted like a cross between an apple and mango. This fruit is rarely found in Bali today.

During the Japanese occupation, Anak remembers how the Balinese made cotton thread on charkas (hand-operated spinning wheels), just like Mahatma Gandhi had done. The thread that was produced was forcibly taken by the Japanese soldiers and shipped back to their homeland.

She married Ida Tjokorda Gde Ngurah at the age of 15 and gave him three children: Tjokorda Istri Oka, Tjokorda istri Rai and Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa. Anak fondly remembers the food she used to cook for her husband – duck satay, ceramcam that was spicy duck meat and vegetable soup and, of course, the famous smoked duck. Unlike today, babi guling was prepared only for religious ceremonies or big feasts.

Her husband of the Ubud royal family was a poet, painter and magician. He was well known in Balinese literary circles as the man who wrote the famous Aji Pliyon (about the travels of the soul from death to paradise). Balinese read this book when someone in the family passes away.

Anak read two stanzas from the Aji Pliyon.

First Stanza

The purpose of every a great human being is to make others happy.

I am a limited person; I have a dream to achieve this purpose in this lifetime.

Fifth stanza

We talk about the great soul when its comes out of the cage (body)

It has long been imprisoned in the cage

Now, with death, it is released from this cage

Along with his college friends Gousti Kompiang and Gousiti Nyoman Lempad (who was an architect as well a designer of barongs), he built the famous Ubud Lotus Temple in 1952, according to the ancient Balinese architectural code - Asta Kosala Kosali. Today it stands as mute testimony to his vision of Ubud as a centre for spiritually, ceremonies and the creative arts.

Anak’s husband promoted Legong and Topeng dances by hosting them in the palace. Comedy theatre like the puppet wayang and the traditional Arja theatre was a regular feature of Ubudian entertainment.

Ida Tjokorda Gde Ngurah expired on January 1, 1967. The body was kept in the palace in a Bali Gede – a special building that is seen in every Balinese compound. The body was kept here until August 2, 1967, when it was cremated.

Anak Agung Niang Rai is the last of the old guard that stood for all the good and wholesome things that represented Balinese culture: the simplicity of life, the reverence for the environment and celebration of life in its purest forms. (MU/BT)