JOYFUL CELEBRATION AT DAJUMA

JOYFUL CELEBRATION AT DAJUMA

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It did not happen for some months, a joyful party took place in Dajuma last week to celebrate the 50th Kellie’s birthday. 18 adults and 10 kids, mostly originated from USA, Australia, UK, Columbia, all being expats living in Bali for years, did participate in the party. But the best is to leave Kellie comment with inspiration the extraordinary situation we are going through: “I feel fortunate that my family can be here right now. Bali is a good place to be during the pandemic. The world is under stress, and Bali too, but here we (everyone) can take the time to slow down and start planning a better routed future. I hope that is the case. My family has been enjoying more places like Dajuma during these quiet times, we have spent time getting to better know our neighbors and community members. It is an excellent time to shop locally and support our communities. There is no place I would rather be.” Happy birthday Dear Kellie!

PREPARATION OF THE REGENT's ELECTION AT DAJUMA

PREPARATION OF THE REGENT’s ELECTION AT DAJUMA

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Jembrana is one of the 8 regencies of Bali where Dajuma is located. Its  society will soon hold the regent and the vice regent election. On December 9 the community will use their voting rights to elect the head of Jembrana for the next 5 years. Two pairs of candidates will compete for this election which needs a lot of preparations. The Jembrana’s general election commission who’s responsible for the success of the elections, have some meeting agendas to prepare many things about the elections, such as verify the data of the voters and many more. One of the open plenary meeting was held in Dajuma, with the agenda of recapitulating and determining the final voters lists. All the meeting participants are following the health protocol, wearing mask and keep their distance as shown on the picture.

BALI HIGHWAY PROJECT IN PROGRESS

HIGHWAY PROJECT IN PROGRESS

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This time, it seems that the start of the highway project between Gilimanuk and Denpasar will finally see the light of day in Q4 2021, despite the pandemic crisis.
Concretely, this 95 km project will be divided into 3 sections: the first from our place, Pekutatan, until Soka, the second from Soka to Mengwi badung and the last from Gillimanuk to Pekutatan.
It will radically change the way goods are transported between Java and Bali with a very positive impact on traffic jams and road pollution.
From Dajuma’s perspective, we see this project in a very positive light. Not only will this shorten the journey to the airport to less than an hour but, more importantly for our guests visiting Bali, they will rediscover the beautiful back roads deserted by trucks.
Paradoxically, this highway will allow tourists to rediscover the Bali of yesteryear and at the same time to propel the island into modernity. Just a dream!

INAUGURATION OF JEMBRANA TOURISM BOARD AT DAJUMA

Inauguration of Jembrana Tourism Board at Dajuma

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Very good news this week in the still gloomy landscape of covid 19: the launch of the Jembrana Tourism Promotion Board which is aimed at accommodating the interests of regional tourism actors in close partnership with the local government. This new organisation is aimed at developing and promoting West Bali to attract tourists discovering this preserved part of the island.

Last Wednesday, October 7th 2020, took place its inauguration by the regent of Jembrana in Dajuma.

The organization consist of 9 people (called team 9) from different background.

  1. PHRI (Hotel & Restaurant Association) 2 persons
  2. ASITA (Travel Agent Association) 2 persons
  3. Academic (Universities Udayana & Polytechnic Negeri Bali) 2 persons
  4. HPI (Tour Guide Association) 1 person
  5. Professional Organization (ICA) 1 person
  6. Garuda Indonesia (Airline Company) 1 person

Our GM in charges of Sales and Marketing, I Kade Rondy Ginawan was chosen by the government to be the chief of this organization. Congratulations dear Rondy!
On the picture Rondy in the middle surrounded by his team.

STRANDING OF A WHALE SHARK, picture by Mark Eveleigh, writer and photographer, www.westbali.net

STRANDING OF A WHALE SHARK

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This week, we experienced a sad event with the stranding of a baby whale shark on the beach of Pekutatan, close to Dajuma. Despite the efforts to put it back in the water it was not possible to save it, as the weight of this animal is phenomenal, being able to reach up to 30 tons and a size of 20 m in adulthood. In almost 20 years of presence in Pekutatan, we have only very rarely experienced this type of event, but each time it is a great emotion when you feel powerless to save such a beautiful animal.

A Special Decoration for Kuningan Day

A SPECIAL DECORATION FOR KUNINGAN DAY

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Last Saturday Balinese have completed the sequence of Galungan festival by celebrating Kuningan Day as the closing. Every ceremony in Bali has its uniqueness, for example Galungan’s landmark is the Penjor (decorated bamboo). Kuningan day also has its uniqueness, Balinese have a special decoration for it called Tamiang. On Kuningan day, all the temples and houses  are decorated with the tamiang shown on the picture. It is made of young coconut or palm leaves and colorfully decorated. The word tamiang is a reminiscence of a shield, a form of shield commonly used in war.  Tamiang is often interpreted as a symbol of self-protection. Tamiang, when seen from its round shape, is also often understood as a symbol of the Dewata Nawa Sanga who became God of the nine cardinal directions.

Galungan & Kuningan - A Time for Family Gathering

GALUNGAN & KUNINGAN: A TIME FOR FAMILY GATHERING

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One of the biggest celebration for Hindu people in Bali are Galungan and Kuningan days. They are celebrated every 210 days of Balinese calendar, Galungan being always on Wednesday (Sept 16th) and Kuningan (Sept 26th) on Saturday (10 days after Galungan). It celebrates the victory of Dharma over Adharma (the triumph of good over evil). It marks the time when ancestral spirits of deceased relatives visit the Earth. The last day of the celebration is Kuningan, when they leave earth. The spirits of deceased relatives return to visit their former homes and the Balinese have a responsibility to be hospitable and welcoming to their past ancestors through prayers and offerings throughout their home.

Galungan is also dedicated as a day of Family Gathering, a day after the Galungan most of the Balinese families will visit each other’s house. When they visit their family house, they will enjoy the food that has been prepared such as fruits, cakes and many other things that they already used for their offerings. This time, because of the pandemic and the restrictions of gatherings, the celebrations are different from what they usually are. But the Balinese spirit is anyway there, full of joy and happiness.

CONGRATULATIONS YOUNG LADIES

CONGRATULATIONS YOUNG LADIES

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This week, we decided to post on Dewi, the daughter of our late Indra and Kadek, our priest and restaurant manager. Dewi has grown into a beautiful and happy young woman who just finished high school and will soon be entering university when the Covid 19 crisis will be behind us. Her older sister Eka, a few years older, has just completed her Master’s degree in civil engineering and is looking now for her first job. Like everywhere in the world, the period is perhaps not the best one for that but, fortunately, Bali has a lot of infrastructure projects in preparation.
To readers of this blog looking for a civil engineer, do not hesitate for a second to recruit Eka. You will be amazed by her abilities and her human qualities. Congratulations young ladies, we are very proud of you!

BACK TO FARMS AND FISHING

BACK TO FARMS AND FISHING

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With the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of people working in the tourism industry in Bali have been forced to return to their villages and traditional ways of making a living. For most of them the income drop has been extremely strong and the only way to partly compensate was to return to what the generous nature in Bali is able to offer, from the farm and from the sea.
At Dajuma, all our staff continues to work on a part time basis and to receive a reduced salary covering basic needs, the rest of the time being allocated to farming and fishing. Let’s hope that the “return to normal” will come soon!

DAJUMA WIDELY OPENS ITS DOORS

DAJUMA WIDELY OPENS ITS DOORS

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This week, with the unexpected announcement made by Governor Koster to postpone the welcome of foreign tourists until the end of the year, we found some inspiration from history when Winston Churchill said “Never let a good crisis go to waste”!

Why not applying this paradoxical statement to our current situation? This is what we try to do by intensifying our promotion in favor of the domestic market including expatriates at very competitive rates. Our hope was to return slowly but surely to normal after Sept 11th, hope unfortunately nipped in the bud.

So now, let’s open our doors to domestic travellers. West Bali and Dajuma have never been so beautiful and attractive!