Balinese Children's Dance Performance

Photos from a recent dance performance at a school near Ubud. The kids are only 4-7 years old!

Details of the makeup for a young boy.

Details of the costumes.

A young Balinese beauty in costume.

A young Balinese beauty dancing.

A young Balinese boy posed in costume.

Another young Balinese boy dancing.

New Year's Eve in Bali

Panorama Hotel in Ubud, Bali, holds a New Year's Eve party every year. Last year, I arrived jet-lagged and my photos reflected it. This year, I was so well-rested that I did a bit of dancing, and even led the Limbo line. (No photo of me doing that, of course!)

Being Bali, the decorations are an interesting mixture. Bali is primarily Hindu. Many tourists are Chinese (the Buddha) or Christian (the Christmas tree).

This year's celebration included a local rock-and-roll band, playing old standards as well as current Indonesian "Dangdut" - pop music.

Panorama is proud to have several guests who return every year.

They were presented with small gift baskets as a token of appreciation.

In spite of a thunderstorm (or maybe because of it!), there were a variety of other guests, too.

From the very young,

to the young-at-heart,

to those using wheelchairs (Panorama is one of the few restaurants in Ubud without steps to climb).

Some dancers were Competitive Ballroom quality,

others a bit more free-wheeling.

Conga lines with restaurant and kitchen staff...

Limbo with both guests...

and staff.

As you see, a real melting pot (or salad bowl?) of nationalities, races, ages, religions, sizes, shapes, and abilities.

A Field Trip - to Buy Orchids

I joined a trip up a mountain yesterday to buy orchids at the source, Bedugul. So of course, I had to take some photos of the stalls and people.

Fashions ("Drupadi Collection) for sale next to a small Muslim restaurant specializing in meatballs (bakso) and soup (soto).

Spices, packed and ready to go - including Vanilla bean.

A woman carrying her bananas on her head.

An especially tempting fruit & vegetable display.

Assorted wind chimes and mobiles.

Adorable little girls (and they know it, too!)

A mischievous little boy playing with the orchids.

And the view coming back down the mountain, taken from a car FULL of plants - at least 20 orchids of 2 different types, lime trees, and celery plants. I had 3-4 orchids and 2 celery plants between my feet because we ran out of space!