Upacara for Villa & Spa

What's an "upacara" (pronounced "oopacharra")? A Balinese Hindu ceremony. On Friday, April 28, an upacara was held for the new spa and the first villa, both of which are almost complete.



The four priests are in front.









A group of offerings.















Here's me in traditional sarong (this one happens to be silk batik) and kebaya (lace blouse) and sash walking between the villa and spa.











After the ceremony: Wife of the Owner / Managing Director on the left, then me, then Managing Director Nyoman Suweta & his mother (also a priest). On the floor in front, another priest.




For my friends and family who have been wondering how I'm doing, I think this photo provides the answer - relaxed, happy, peaceful.

Building a Bale'

The latest project at Bhanuswari Resort & Spa (http://www.bhanuswariubud.com/) is a Balinese Bale'.
They are scattered throughout the rice fields and used by the farmers for resting in the shade mid-day. Construction is simple - 4-6 posts, a roof covered in coconut leaves, and usually a raised platform with a woven mat to sit on for eating, or to lie on for napping.

This one will be used by hotel guests for relaxing in the shade and enjoying the view.
Or for al fresco meals. Or even as an alternate location for a massage!
And a couple of new photos - an amazing tree that produces 3 different colors of flowers (2 different colors of leaves!) - Bali gardeners are Masters at grafting!
And a neighbor dog - this one often accompanies the priest when making the daily prayer offerings.

Rice Harvesting, the "modern" method

Even with "modern" machinery to separate the grains of rice, most of the work is still done by hand.
A field almost ready for harvest in the foreground, and one that is being harvested in the background.





Moving the separation machine into place - I told you there is still a lot of manual labor involved!




Preparing to capture the separated grains of rice.




Work in progress - those bits of yellow in the air are rice straw being expelled after the grain is separated.







Collecting the separated rice grains.




Bagging the rice straw.










Portrait of a farmer...












...and her husband.

Hotel Guests - the Goodman's

The Goodman family of Houston, Texas, USA.
Playing in the pool - Alex, Greg, Noah, and Roxanne.
Learning to make prayer offerings from coconut fronds.
Roxanne and Greg, getting ready to return to Houston.

Hotel guests - the Murthy's

The Murthy family of Bangalore, India and Singapore. (That's Agung kneeling - she works at Bhanuswari and also performs traditional Balinese dance on her evenings off.)
Lalitha taught the cooks to make Dal and Chapti.
What a beautiful smile - and a beautiful sari.

Orchids on trees and other landscaping

By placing orchid plants in coconut husks, you can attach them to trees (it does not harm the trees) and raise them to a better height for viewing.


New photos of Bhanuswari Resort & Spa front entrance and koi / lotus pond.
The central statue is Dewi Saraswati, with Ganesha in the background at the main building.
The 2 side statues pouring water are both of Dewi Sri.

Beautiful Landscaping

Landscaping continues to grow in and fill in.

The side of the hotel.

The back of the hotel.

Looking up at the small bale' (pavilion).
Near the front entrance and koi pond.

The pool and large temple.

The small temple.

Orchid plants in coconut husks attached to trees. It doesn't hurt the trees, and it raises the orchids to a better height for viewing (especially for those of us whose backs are less limber than a few decades ago!).

And last, but never least, a close-up of yet another beautiful tropical flower - a purple hibiscus, right after the rain.