Its Been A While

It’s been a while! I got sick for a week after the last post, then spent the last 2 weeks mostly in Ubud, only coming back briefly to Bloo Lagoon, so haven't had a chance to post. I rented a scooter for a month, so have been getting around a lot more, too. The biggest news to report is that Deb has gotten gigs for the band with Kadek and I. We went over to his dad Bob’s house for a rehearsal and dinner last Mon. Jan. 12. Here are photos of the house, the view from the house, the outdoor dining area, the fresh prawns we had for dinner, and the giant gecko that lives in the roof.






A photo of the traditional Balinese sweets in the Klungkung market near Bob’s house.
We first played the Blue Cat in Ubud on Tues.

Thurs. we played at a Japanese restaurant called Ryoshi’s in the much more touristy are of Semenyak. Deb rented a really nice fretless bass for me and hired a real drummer.

We played at the Blue Cat again this Tues., this time with this really good drummer from NYC named Simian.

There was an Obama Inauguration Party in Ubud that I went to. It was great to see it on a big screen with a bunch of other people that were excited about it.
As far as getting any other work done, its been going very slowly. They are just putting the second floor in the restaurant building, and I’ve had some ideas for the bar, but nothing has actually gotten done. Now at Tony’s suggestion I’m focusing on producing a version of the Quasar Wave transducer for the spa and have started looking for the materials I need to make one. I have to get moving on it quickly as I have only 3 weeks left.

Trip to Ubud

The trip to Ubud Sun. and Mon. was a nice change from life here in Bloo Lagoon. Tony and Marita had to take care of more business with their properties there, so I went along and rented a scooter for the day. I rode all over Ubud several times, trying to get familiar with it. Sun. night had dinner with Tony, Marita and Bruce, who came separately by scooter, at a really good Japanese restaurant. We were joined by an English friend Humphrey that I had met at the Bloo Lagoon, and his 10 year old half Japanese son Tarquin. They live in Japan and are here on vacation. Mon. morning after breakfast with Tony, Marita and Bruce I visited this very interesting woman, Wai Ching, that I had met at the party. She is very experienced in a variety of healing techniques, as well as spa design and food preparation. She has a beautiful house a little way out of town, and lives in Singapore and California as well. She did a guided breathing meditation with me. I think she could be helpful with the overall concept of the Bloo Lagoon restaurant and spa and am working to arrange a meeting with Tony and Marita. I then went to this store that Tony recommended called Stargate that has many different sacred geometrical objects for sale. Check out the video on their website. I ended up buying the book by the couple who own the store called “Worldbridger". It is essentially their autobiography on how they came to do what they do. I’ve emailed them in hopes of meeting in person, as I see a possibility of collaborating or getting their input on the Portal projects.

Grand Opening Party Jan. 1st

Click Here to See the Youtube.com Video of the Grand Opening
After recovering Fri. and Sat. and going to Ubud on Sun and stayed over Mon., I’m finally getting around to posting the Grand Opening Party. As we were expecting around 500 people for the party and were offering free fruit drinks, at the advice of the local restaurant owner that was helping run the bar, we bought a whole truckload of watermelons and pineapples, which were stored in the room I was moved to, as the villa I was staying in was rented out.



Here’s a photo of Komang, the restaurant owner, who along with his dutch wife Daniella, ran the bar for us.


We had performances scheduled all day both on the deck and down in the amphitheater. First up was Kadek and friends as a jam session. I ended up playing string bass and Deb sang as well ( click to see youtube video).

Kadek’s dad is Bob Hobman, who was written up in the guide book I bought on Bali, as he built a traditional sailing vessel back in the 80’s in Padangbai and sailed it to Madagascar (click on his name to read about it). Kadek is his son from the women he met in Madagascar and was raised in Padangbai, but moved to Darwin, Australia where his mom lives. Bob still lives in Bali, and plays the string bass, which he let me use.

Next up was a jazz fusion band called Green Dolphin that are all between 12 and 14 years old. They’re the students of the headline musician, Balawan, who is one of Bali’s most famous and even recognized in Europe. These kids were amazing! They played lots of classic jazz standards like “Route 66” and “Girl From Ipanema”.

Deb and Marita enjoying the food they had catered by a local restaurant. Deb was hired to organize the entire party, from the food and performances to performing herself and creating the fire dance for the local girls (see below). She is also an incredible jewelry designer, see her website delevo.com. Marita is co creator and owner of Bloo Lagoon with Tony Gwilliam.

The first performance in the amphitheater was by a Dutch women Sophia who, along with her family, were guests at the Bloo Lagoon. She has studied and worked with many incredible choreographers including Gabrielle Roth. After her dance, her 8 year old daughter Katya performed on trapeze.


Bruce, a friend of Tony’s from Santa Barbara who’s sharing the villa with me for the 2 weeks he’s here, videoed the whole party. Mike, an artist from LA who I met last summer, is here visiting Deb.

The next performer on the deck was an incredible musician named Anello that plays a variety of unusual instruments from around the world.



Back in the amphitheater an entire gamalan orchestra set up to accompany local Balinese dancers. Unfortunately for both the gamelan and Anello, it started raining quite hard and our tarps were not quite up to the task. It wasn’t a complete washout, but people did get wet. The dancer’s performances and costumes were both amazing.

Balawan was the final performance on the deck. He and his band were virtuosos that interpreted a wide range of popular music.



The final performance in the amphitheater was fire dancing, arranged by Deb. She performed with Agus and then had six local teenage girls do a performance that she choreographed. At the end of the night, a video projector was set up in the amphitheater and the “Blue Planet” documentary on the ocean was screened.
The entire event went well. Around 400 people attended throughout the day. We had way more than enough food and drinks for everyone. All the performances went well, even with the rain causing some problems