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I Wayan Sadra, Composing Indonesia

Indonesia is vast and endlessly fascinating, and offers travelers a delicious feast in adventure and excitement.  The urban centers are particularly cosmopolitan, with one of the largest cities in the world in Jakarta, and there are many different cultures and traditions that make up the fabric of the everyday here.  Even in Bali, which is often depicted as a center of a kind of old world island paradise, there are many cultures that make up the local population, with complex and intertwining histories that always come into play.  Things are never simple here, and never what they seem, but in many cases, turn out to be even more splendid than one could ever imagine.

This is true for the restaurants particularly, where the local cuisine is usually a combination of traditions, offering a splendid blend of spices that can’t be matched by any other culinary tradition around.  For luxury hotels, Indonesia offers sumptuous lodgings for travelers, with a welcome that is spectacularly warm, and small and enormously charming details that don’t make themselves known at first glance.  Indonesia is a fantastic place to get in touch with the rhythm of the world.  I Wayan Sadra is an excellent composer to listen to as you start to prepare for your journey here.

It’s also fantastic music to listen to while you’re here, and it’s an amazing thing to see him perform live, if you get the opportunity.  Born in Denpasar, Bali, in 1953, Sadra is one of the most interesting and innovative composers working in Indonesia today.  He is on the faculty of music at the University in Central Java, having moved from Bali to Jakarta to study traditional music, painting, and composition.  His works are a magnificent blend of traditional types of music from here, as well as some European techniques, to make a sound that is entirely contemporary, and  very local, and always on the verge of something new, found through mining the rhythms on the bones of the past.

Tags: bali, Denpasar, I Wayan Sadra, indonesia, luxury hotels

Singapore Street Festival

Visiting Asia is always an exciting proposition, and there are many splendid adventures ahead of you.  There are an infinite number of variations in geographies and cultures here, and luxury hotels are a wonderful way to see the new city of dreams.  Depending on your tastes and desires, you can enjoy tropical weather, deserts, beaches, or lively cities with fascinating attractions.  When you begin to daydream about the events ahead of you, you’ll love the way the possibilities start to spell themselves out for you, as well as collecting tips and tidbits about each place as you start to talk to friends and family about your upcoming vacation.  Our hotels are splendid accompaniments to each urban and natural area, finding the best of each and bringing it to the hotel, so that you can enjoy a sense of splendor when falling asleep and waking up.

There are always fantastic attractions in each of Asia’s major cities, and there’s certainly something for everyone to enjoy.  Some of the finest events in Asia are street fairs and festivals, and these happen all year long.  One of the most exciting, surely, is the Singapore Street Festival.  This exciting event happens every Summer, and for a few weeks, the young people take over the city-state, and demonstrate their talents to the dazzled spectators.

The festival was started by Annie Pek, who saw the enormous potential for exciting street art in Singapore, where a barrage of visual and performance arts could happen in the streets, giving the locals and tourists the opportunity to see what the kids were up to these days, and also to give the young people a chance to express themselves in a large, and organized, venue.  Remembering her youth, when performing in the streets was part of the lifestyle, and observing the restlessness among young people of every generation including this one, she started to put together the Street Festival, and the theme for 2009, Electric Youth certainly earned its title

Tags: Electric Youth, luxury hotels, Singapore Street Festival

The Wonder of South Africa

The country of South Africa is a visual splendor, the scenery and the landscapes with valley passes and mountain summits, ancient and dense foliage and forests, miles of beaches and pristine coastlines and many rivers perfect for fishing, rafting or swimming. During the spring season the fields are filled with every color and hue of the rainbow, and miles upon miles of grasslands. There are locations which provide solitude and stillness, and city streets filled with restaurants, cafes, art galleries and luxury hotels. Johannesburg, Capetown and Pretoria offer the city life and artistic culture of the country each and every day. Regions to the north are filled with wine lands and various wineries offering tastings of wine, cheeses, and chocolates. There are so many wineries located throughout the country is it possible to sip and taste one’s way through South Africa. Well known as well are the tours through the brandy and port distilleries. Food is where there is wine, and there are a plethora of fine dining restaurants serving up seafood and local flavors.

For those interested in adventures in the cultural realm, there are many options to choose from. One may decide that the inspiring side of South Africa is found on the city streets and the small townships, where artists and musicians sell works and perform their songs. South Africans are happy to invite strangers into their homes for a meal and conversation, or onto their farmlands for extended periods of time. The museums are legendary. The country and the people have a history of struggle and perseverance when they are seeking their freedom. Sites are located throughout the country, with exhibits, tours and educational programs offered throughout the year. Those interested in adventures of the wild, the outdoors, well safaris are offered in many locations, with lodge accommodations that often combine the thrill of encounters with the wild animals with luxury spas and five star cuisine. Cruises are offered for those interested in whale and dolphin watching, and for those interested in swimming with the sharks. The country contains all that is wonderful when taking a vacation, something for everyone, and an adventure at every turn.

Tags: cheeses, chocolates, luxury hotels, South Africa, wine

Tallest in Dubai

I was visiting with a friend in Dubai and he informed me about just how high Dubai plans to go. Apparently, the new race in the UAE is building the highest towers. I thought that the Burj was the end of the Arabian vision, but I was mistaken. While I was staying at one of the Luxury Hotels Dubai UAE offers thousands of tourists each day, there was a convention being held for architects from around the world. The convention, as if there aren’t enough strange conventions here already, was about who will build the next highest tower.

A few years ago, Dubai had a project that would spend a few billion to build the highest tower in the world. Some 800 meters high. Dubai wanted any visitor and local to be able to see this landmark from anywhere in and around Dubai. But, Kuwait has thrown their two-cents into the race and are planing to beat Dubai by building its own highest tower. Kuwait as projected their tower to be approximately 1000 meters high. So, Dubai not wanting to be out-done has challenged their own plans to beat Kuwait’s tower, they plan to throw in a few more billion.

New proposals are in the pipe-line and one of them is to for even another highest tower in Dubai. I’ve heard rumors that this one will be over 1050 meters! Bahrain tossed in their hat and has proposed to build something in the 1022 meters high range. So, the race is on. The Saudi’s and their multi-billionaire Prince, I’ve heard, is going to play and build his own version of the highest building, but that his will be really impressive, he plans to go as high as 1600 meters! Yes, impressively crazy! What a crazy silly world the UAE and it’s surrounding countries have become.

Tags: Burj, dubai, Kuwait, luxury hotels, UAE