Aquaria Bali Resort, CandidasaJl Puri Bagus, Samuh, Candi Dasa, East Bali  Aquaria Bali Resort, Candidasa +62 363 41127

Aquaria's monthly blog

UPDATES, STORIES, REVIEWS AND MORE...

 

 

 

August is the perfect time to be outside in Bali's sunshine as the rainy season is now behind us and the sun is out but it's not too hot. In August you will be able to enjoy the beautiful sea breeze at Aquaria, dine by the ocean and have your senses touched by the beauty that Aquaria offers to you. We noticed that Air Asia has some amazing deals for Australians and Kiwis, travelling from the Gold Coast to Bali, from July to September,  so now is the time to get away from the cold. For Europeans, Qatar airlines was also offering deals, so if you are having a wet summer then contact us, Aquaria Eco Resort Bali still has room for you. 

 

The weather has been unpredictable recently, and we have had rain in Bali in July, on the plus side, the grass is green, and the hills are more lush than usual. A couple of days of rain in July has allowed us to have some reflective time, but has also stopped us from using our new BBQ at the oceanfront. It's Mahi Mahi season, and the big fish are coming in, the smaller ones we will use for the BBQ. A whole 5kg Mahi Mahi on the BBQ to share, as well as whole snapper, fresh prawns and calamari, we were also lucky enough to be on hand when a local fisherman brought in a huge Marlin - how different fresh Marlin tastes! So, imagine sitting on the new ocean front terraces on the bean bags, or at relaxing tables, enjoying sunset cocktails, and then a delicious seafood BBQ. Come and join us! We now have a new seafood menu for Splash! oceanfront dining, together with a new daily changing menu, and also a new addition - every day a meat lovers special - all made with love in our kitchen, using our special recipes, and to Jeni's usual exacting standard. Without preservatives or additives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Aquaria guests dining at Splash Dining By The Ocean 

 

 

 

In July Aquaria held a sacred temple ceremony

               

 

 

Odalan or Piodalan is an anniversary of the temple/ holy places held every 210 days throughout Bali : call it the Temple’s birthday ceremony. Aquaria has three Penlinggih (temples) on its grounds: These are the guardians and protectors of Aquaria Eco Resort Bali. The essence of the Odalan is that everyone respects and prays to the Spirit who lives or is believed to exist in the temple by giving offerings accompanied by chants and or traditional gamelan orchestra. The temple will be decorated with various ceremonial decorations ranging from janur (young coconut leaves), umbrellas, wastra (yellow, white, black and or red cloths). Each temple will then be given offerings that consist of fruits, rice cakes, water, incense and flowers. These are then blessed with tirta (holy water) by the local, traditional Pemangku (priest), who leads the ceremony and prayers. The Priest will lightly sprinkle holy water on everyone as a blessing for salvation, protection and earning prosperous fortune.

 

  

 

 

  Usaba Manggung Ceremony (July 7th - 10th of July)

Usaba Manggung Ceremony occurs once each year, this year it was held from the 7th until the 10th of July in Bale Agung Temple, Bugbug village roughly 5 kilometers from Candidasa. BugBug is the banjar that encompasses and looks after our village of Samuh. All the villagers must travel over the Gumang hill to the centre of Bugbug to pray at their main temple. This ceremony enables us to see the traditional culture, customs of Bugbug village and the remarkable dances from local performers. Keep an eye out for this ceremony when it comes around once again next year in July 2018, we will provide the dates next year as it draws near, it is something well worth attending.

 

                                    

 

 

 

As pictured above from Usaba Manggung Ceremony :

Traditional dance : is performed by first generation  girls of the village who wear traditional dress and crowns  adorned with flowers.   The first family boys wear impressive traditional dress and wear a ‘keris’ (sword) upon their  shoulder. The village priests wife dances with an umbrella.

The keris - sacred sword dance, is only performed by people who are chosen by the Gods in Bugbug. The dancer goes into a trancelike state as their body is controlled by the gods and so they cannot hurt themselves.. (Wayan Toris, Aquaria’s office manager is a chosen one, and performs in the ceremony).

Traditional Customs and Ritual Ceremonies are performed to ancient traditions accompanied by the beautiful harmonic, traditional gamelan music as it follows the dancers and more than a thousand onlookers who become part of the procession.   Special cleansing and purifying  rituals then continue through the village followed by a procession to the beach.  The final ceremony is held in Candidasa temple, 5 minutes from Aquaria, more than one thousand people from the neighbouring villages come to pray at this temple with their friends and families. Together they bring beautiful offerings and walk along the steps up to the temple, it  is quite a beautiful moment and is especially lovely if caught on camera. In the evening dances are performed by local teenage dancers in traditional dress along with the Samuh Village Orchestra.

 

  

  Calender of August events

Indonesian Independence Day - 17th August 2017      

 

 

         Indonesian Independence Day commemorates Indonesia's 72nd year of independence. On the 17th of August, the red and white Indonesian flag will be flying on the sides of the streets throughout the island. There will be special flag raising ceremonies at government offices throughout Indonesia and local households within villages plus hotels & businesses will hoist the national flag and place decorations outside of their properties to honour and celebrate this special occasion. Many villages hold fun and entertaining events to celebrate national pride and the Indonesian spirit. In July and August you will see many children practising their marching in the streets throughout Bali, look out for them, and take care on the roads, as they are still marching way into the night. On the day, there will be parades in the streets and hundreds of schools and groups will march for many kilometres from town to town. 

 

  

 

 

 

A note from Jeni (Aquaria's owner)

 

We all must remember to applaud our difference, our uniqueness. We are all unique individuals, with unique gifts to bring to the world. It’s a challenging world, and it’s up to us how we choose to react to it.

Thinking about "Independence" ......Now we are up against a war of a different kind. A war that is not fought face to face. In this world of free speech, through internet, social media, we can wage a war on anyone who displeases us and not suffer the consequences of our words. Where we don’t need to take responsibility and where we feel justified and righteous in our actions and we forget to look at the bigger picture. So, is it freedom that we get, or control? Is our criticism necessary or deserved? Does the whole world need to know? We can choose to use it out of malice, or without thought for the consequences and havoc it may create;or we can choose to use it out of awareness and with kindness.   

At Aquaria we get great reviews, and so when we get a negative one it upsets our equilibrium, and prompts us to doubt ourselves and it can undermine our self- beliefs - if we let it, if we react negatively, and yet when we look impartially, we find that usually it’s just telling us something we need to know or already know.

We may not meet guests’ expectations all the time, maybe it’s because they have read some great reviews and so expect us to be perfect. Here, there is a feeling that pervades everything else, it makes the ordinary feel extraordinary, it  makes the smaller things seem insignificant. A feeling that you don’t get anywhere else. Most people feel it whilst others may not experience it, depending upon what space they are in at the time. There will always be things that some personally may not like, and there will always be ongoing maintenance issues that we at the hotel havn’t yet dealt with.  We would love to be perfect all of the time, but the reality is that we are not. Many of our guests write in our guest book “Don’t change a thing = it’s perfect”. But to keep it that way we are constantly maintaining and upgrading everything, and making subtle changes that enhance the whole. There is a bigger picture, all people are different, we cannot please all the people all the time but we can try to please most of the people most of the time! We operate our business with kindness, compassion and integrity, that’s our philosophy: At Aquaria we are all invested in our philosophy and guests’ happiness and to be of service.   

So, my message to everyone is that we all must remember to look at criticism impartially; not to take things personally, and mostly we must not let another’s energy upset our own equilibrium. We know that we may not be perfect in some people’s eyes, but we have to see the perfection in ourselves. We know that when we follow our truth and have faith in ourselves and what we are doing, then all will be well........ Namaste.

Thank Goodness we have hundreds of reviews from our wonderful guests, and we give thanks, honour and blessings to every one of them. We create a holistic experience, we are not just a hotel. When you compare us with others, we hope you will remember and feel our difference. Our goal is to make a difference in people’s lives by what we do.

And so it gives us the opportunity to remind ourselves and our readers about the difference that is Aquaria - The love and kindness, compassion, caring and support by owners and staff, this cannot be bought.The thought and care that has gone into everything; from the chemical free environment, and the special touches in the room to the generous natural products not usually found in 3* hotels.Here you can drink the water and eat salads without fear. Unlimited free pure water is always available in every room, and at every meal, even the shower water is filtered, we don’t add to the plastic pollution in Bali.

Our Organic and freshly prepared daily changing breakfast menu is designed and made with love; we care for guests with special needs or diets, including allergies, gluten free and dairy free, vegan and vegetarian. Our signature daily changing menu with wonderfully presented and prepared food, and interesting yet sophisticated and complex Asian/Pacific/Euro menus. Natural laundry liquids so that sheets and towels feel soft and smell fresh without chemicals. The eclectic difference in every room, the shafts of morning sunlight; the chakra colours for each room to create balance; the wonderful ionised filtered natural stone reflecting pool; the seawater oceanfront pool; the numerous sun loungers and bean bags, more than enough for everyone; the lounging terraces, our wonderful ocean front spa and our air conditioned temple spa, our lovely massage therapists.

We are a family, where people matter.

"There are many who are living far below their possibilities because they are continually handing over their individualities to others. Do you want to be a power in the world? ................Then be yourself."

- Ralph Waldo Trine

 

 

Wherever you are take care. We thank you for reading this months August Blog Edition.

Until September,

 

- The Aquaria Team 

 

 

 

© Aquaria Eco Resort, Candi Dasa Bali 2007 - 2023