Yes, I am in Bali!! Arrived about 2:30pm Tuesday, November 15, 2005. (Or about 12:30AM Tuesday, November 15, 2005 Houston time.) Managed to sleep most of the way this trip, thank goodness. I only slept 5 hours the night before leaving, and finished packing about 30 minutes before leaving for the airport, so I really needed the rest.
How is Bali? Beautiful, as always! This is “rainy season”, so everything is especially lush and green. And “rainy season” so not mean constant rain, or even downpours. Most of the time, the rain starts around 7-8pm, or 6-7am. It rains fairly hard for 1-5 minutes, and then it becomes a nice, light rain. Usually stops in 1-2 hours. Days are partly cloudy, sometimes overcast. Keeps it a little bit cooler. Humidity is fairly high – good for the complexion and for the beautiful trees and flowers. About like Houston in May.
I’m staying at the Panorama Hotel in Ubud, about 10 minutes away from the Bhanuswari property. They are still planning to open mid-December – and I’ll move to a room at Bhanuswari then.
Lots of progress since my last update! Here I am standing behind a new/used 2000 Kijang (made by Toyota, Kijang means “little forest deer”) checking things out.
The roof on the restaurant is complete – and beautiful –
red curved tiles on top, nice wood underneath.
The floor tile is down almost everywhere. Most of the plumbing fixtures are in the rooms. And the first layer of plaster is on the walls.
The swimming pool has been tested, and its foundation holds water without leaking! The tiles are waiting under the blue tarp.
Still working on the kitchen and the front office.
Most of what remains are the finishing touches. Adding the final layer of plaster, paint, and furniture in the rooms. Finishing the inside stairs from the lobby to the guest rooms. Putting steps and tile in the pool – and adding the sunbathing area around it. Putting the flooring on the open terrace beyond the restaurant - in progress here, and you can see the great view!
Putting steps by the outside doors to the guest rooms. Yes, each guest room has 2 doors – one to the beautiful outside property – with a small terrace and chairs for each room. And one to the inside hallway and stairs, so that during rainy season you can get to the restaurant without getting wet.
And then they will add furniture to the rooms – the mattress and pillows are very nice, by the way – I’ve tested them! There’s still work to be done to finish the front entrance, including the fishpond in the middle of the circular driveway. On the other hand, the landscaping is already filling in. Things grow so fast in Bali!
Near and dear to my heart, they have also broken ground for the first villa! It will take a couple of more months. The architect made a larger scale model of the final design – beautiful work. And, like the original model, the roof lifts off so that you can look inside and see the details of the rooms – like the bathtubs that overlook private gardens. Yes, Paradise!
The web site for Bhanuswari Resort and Spa will be up very soon.
Tile on the walls of the pool, and additional work on the temple.
Another, smaller temple.
The pergola over the front entrance.
Clean tiles in the restaurant, so you can get a better idea - light gray and soft black.
Stairs leading down to guest rooms (work in progress).
Foundation for the backup generator.
Rice harvest view.
This is Bali.
This is a close-up of the south-east area, where I am. Ubud is in about the middle of the map. A little below it, you see Mas, and to the right, Gianyar. Kemenuh is between Mas and Gianyar.
A super-close-up (different map!), with a pen pointing to Kemenuh, the village where Bhanuswari is actually located.
Pink frangi-pani.
A sample of the procession. The figure on this float was standing on one foot and rotating!!
Same float from the rear. It was the most interesting float, with the least colorful costumes. I waited too late to pull out my camera - there were groups of women in pink and in gold, and girls & boys in yellow, and girls in green, and men in black-and-white check. On the far right you can see a woman in blue carrying a basket on her head - and yes, the baskets often weigh 10-50 pounds!
A close-up of white-and-yellow frangi-pani.
Progress on the first villa!!
Roof off, front entrance, carport & kitchen far left, dining / living room / office in middle, spare bedroom on the right, pergola over part of the pool deck at the top.
Roof off, bedrooms - spare bedroom on left, guest bathroom, then master bath and master bedroom on right - yes, doors open directly from the master bedroom to the pool!
From the back - pretend you are standing on the far bank of the stream, looking over (enviously!) at my villa and the "infinity edge" pool.
Roof off, interior view from the back - master bedroom is on the left, kitchen is on the right, with the carport in front/above of it.
Another rice field view...
Bridges over the lotus pond...
And last, but never least, the pool...
Lots of progress since my last update! Here I am standing behind a new/used 2000 Kijang (made by Toyota, Kijang means “little forest deer”) checking things out.
Most of what remains are the finishing touches. Adding the final layer of plaster, paint, and furniture in the rooms. Finishing the inside stairs from the lobby to the guest rooms. Putting steps and tile in the pool – and adding the sunbathing area around it. Putting the flooring on the open terrace beyond the restaurant - in progress here, and you can see the great view!
Near and dear to my heart, they have also broken ground for the first villa! It will take a couple of more months. The architect made a larger scale model of the final design – beautiful work. And, like the original model, the roof lifts off so that you can look inside and see the details of the rooms – like the bathtubs that overlook private gardens. Yes, Paradise!
