December/January, 1998
No. 032/VI/97
cover story
Christians in
Paradise
How Christianity came
to Bali
Once Upon a
New Years Eve
MC-ing a New Year's
Eve party during a
blackout
bali focus:
nusa dua and
jimbaran
The Origin of
Nusa Dua
A fable
People of a
Fertile Sea
The fishers of
Jimbaran beach
Center Stage
Steve Charles revamps
the Candraloka
Amphitheatre
How to survive them
The Sacred
Wilderness
Colonial encounters with
Bali's southern peninsula
arts and
culture
Latter Day
Laksamana
A.A.M. Djelantik's
recently launched
autobiography
Kulkul
new Fiction by Gde
Aryantha Soethama
The Rat Pack
Who are Bali's literati?
beyond
bali
An Eddy in The
Counter of Time
Kayaking off the west
coast of Lombok
Slick and Cool in
Sengigi
Round midnight at the
famed Lombok resort
regular
Fashion
Adventure
Into the blue
Food
Jewel of the southren rim
Jungle Drums
Bali Update
On the Road
Home Grown
Made Adi Putra
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As I hung up the phone on Bali Echo's editor, a puzzled expression left over from the conversation, I pondered my task - an article on Nusa Dua nightlife? A true challenge for even the most resourceful of reporters.
A thought came to mind, a title above an empty page? Better than endless nights out listening to dodgy Gypsy Kings covers. However, no quitter am I, and reaching into my memory bank, I can recall some stunning nights out in Nusa Dua. Albeit mostly these have been private affairs for some visiting celebrity, fanfare openings, or invitation-only special events, nonetheless, they do happen.
A moonlight stroll, soft music, candle-lit dinners and a sea of smiling waiters are the stuff that Nusa Dua nights are made of. Balinese in flavour, international to an extreme, every ingredient of this exacting recipe is tried and tested to please the senses. A fairytale? Perhaps. Bali without the street sellers, the booming techno and the jugs of mind-numbing arak, certainly.
The trouble with Nusa Dua nightlife is that it lacks a certain spontaneity. Nusa Dua began as a fully conceptualised resort area, carved from a former coconut grove. Sprawling properties are supported by a full infrastructure that includes a shopping centre, golf club, impeccable landscaping, even good roads. But what are those who are sold on the idea of perfect days and sublime nights to do once they have been attracted there by the multi millions spent on glamorous advertising? Well, they'll have to eat and drink and swim, be entertained, and perhaps, party a little. Voila, Nusa Dua nightlife is invented and then infused with all the forced gaity of New Year's eve, "After all luv, we are on holidays".
If a holiday away from the hustle and bustle with nothing to think about but relaxation and indulgence, then Nusa Dua is the place for you.
Christmas and New Year is party time and even Nusa Dua turns up the volume, a little at least. . In-house advertisements for sumptuous feasts , theme nights, carol nights and the ultimate New Year's Eve parties will attempt to get holidaymakers on the move. Of course if you don't mind venturing out through those prophetic gates, nowhere is gift shopping cheaper or better.
Unlike those visitors who choose alternative resorts in the more populated areas of Bali, Nusa Dua holidaymakers have fewer opportunities to get out among the nitty gritty business people, colourful expatriates and young noise-makers. They're not generally interested in questionable ice and smelly toilets - in fact the very geography of the place encourages this sort of seperateness. So what to do, when dinner is over and you feel like kicking on? Be a leader, rather than a follower, create your own atmosphere, meet some like-minded souls stranded in "club fantastic" and remember it's your holiday, make the most of it.
Some New Year's Eve suggestions:
- Choose the easy option and join your hotel celebration.
- Get a bottle of champagne and have a romantic picnic on the beach (do not do this in Kuta.)
- Go to someone else's party. For elegance choose the Four Seasons, Bali Hyatt or Amandari. In Kuta hang out until late at the Macaroni Club. Get groovy in Seminyak at Cafe Luna and Double Six.
- Go to Lovina for the night and get grungy.
- Go to a dive and get real.
- Wangle an invitation to a private party and hang out with the in-crowd.
- Forget the whole thing and go to bed with a good partner or a good book. (You could always get the Kama Sutra on video and practice with a friend.)
- Expect the unexpected.
by Nyonya Hidung Besar
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