Tuesday, 6 January 2009
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
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
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Vespas in Ubud
Sat. Tony Marita and I went to Ubud, mostly to see the Vespa scooter festival taking place in the center of town at the soccer field. Tony and Marita also had to take care of some business with their properties there. They have developed 2 housing communities with 9 and 12 houses in them. They each own one in each of the communities, and have sold all the others, but have to deal with managing the community aspects. We stayed overnight in one. They border on the local rice fields so have a large view, but are tucked into a forest. There is a central swimming pool and parking area, and very small paths to access the homes. I didn’t take photos of it but it can be seen on their website Bali T House.
The Vespa scooter festival was totally amazing. It was the 14 annual one, but the first time that it was in Bali, It usually takes place in Java. Thousands of Vespas from all over Indonesia came. There were three distinct types: the classic Vespas that were stock or restored to mint condition, the totally crazy “Mad Max” style ones that were stretched, chopped and decorated with animal horns, machine parts and anything else and often had side cars. Some were even lived in as you’ll see. And then there were the slick chopper types, that there were only a few of. I was most interested in the “Mad Max”, style so that is what I took the most photos of. Their owners were typically dreadlocked and into Reggae music.
There was a large stage set up for bands to play and they had a wide variety, from Reggae to traditional Indonesian to Javanese Pop. The event was hosted in Ubud, Bali, because the chief of police and Mayor are fans of the Vespas and the chief of police even got on stage and sang a song with one of the Javanese pop stars!
We arrived at sunset and it continued the next day as well. I walked around Ubud a little and ran into someone I had met at Bloo Lagoon at Nicholas’s birthday named David. He’s been coming here since the 60’s and living in Ubud since ’89. He is convinced Ubud is the cultural capitol of the world, and there are quite a wide variety of very interesting people who live or come there. He’s quite an interesting character himself, and it was cool to run into him on a side street, with his adopted Balinese dog.
Two days to go till our big grand opening party on Jan 1st, which I’ve been busy helping get ready for. Hope everyone reading this has a Happy New Year! My next post will be next year after the big event.
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Thurs. Dec. 25th
Even though its Xmas, and we had a big Xmas dinner for everyone at Bloo Lagoon, that I oversaw the cooking of 2 turkeys and the stuffing, I didn't take any photos and am not really interested in saying anything more about it other than it went well and I'm full.
What I do want to do is post a few more photos of the construction of the restaurant and spa building. The middle floor has had its curved beams installed so you can see its level. Its actually a split level, and there will be a spiraling ramp that connects all the floors in the central circular opening. This is the building that I will be helping to design the interior elements of. The spa will be on the lower ground level, the entrance and lobby on the middle split level and restaurant and kitchen on th upper level. There will be a tension tent roof shaped like a trumpet flower that covers it and goes down the center of the ramp opening.
Monday, 22 December 2008
Tues Dec. 23rd
Tues. Dec.23
There was a small library in my villa (look next to my head in the photo) that included the book “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. I’m halfway through it and find it both relevant and irrelevant to my situation. It’s the personal journey of the author overcoming a divorce and depression to travel for a year. Four months each in Italy to learn the language and indulge in eating, India to stay at her undisclosed Guru’s ashram (that I’m easily able to figure out is Siddha, the same as my good friend Dian’s, where I’ve had darshan as well, at the ashram in the catskills), and Bali. I’m really glad it was here, as it seems a quite appropriate book to read.
Tony, Marita, Deb and I have been meeting on planning the big grand opening party on Jan. 1st. I am trying my best to be helpful with it and will take on as much responsibility as I can to help prepare for it, manage the sound systems for the entertainment and any other logistical issues. Sat. I went with Tony and Marita to Denpasar to shop for the event and do some personal shopping. We went to a store called Makro that is the equivalent of a Sam’s Club or Costco. That was pretty crazy. Then we stopped quickly at this ultra modern supermarket and mall called Carefour. It was a gigantic new building with parking lot and had several levels of small mall stores and fast food (both asian and KFC, A&W) and the whole top floor was like a fancy Super Walmart. It was filled with lots of westerners shopping. We then went to a party of some of their friends in a nearby area called Semenyak, just passed the similar area called Kuta. These are suburbs of Denpasar along the beach that attract the most tourism and are filled with shops, restaurants and bars. The streets are super narrow and confusing. We finally arrive at the party after sunset at this super modern minimal designed house that we have to walk cross the edge of a rice paddy to get to. Its owned by a couple from California that designed and built it after the house they originally got wouldn’t allow them to have their dog. The crowd was almost exclusively white and older than even me. The owner David was a furniture designer for TV shows and movies. Although the house was incredibly well designed and built, I really didn’t care for it, as it was ostentatious.
Sun. night we had a presentation and birthday celebration of one of the Villa owners here, Nicholas Guppy, who turned 83. I set up the sound and video projections for the presentation. He was an explorer in his youth of North Amazon rainforest and had a slide show of his photos from that time, as well as a variety of actual artifacts. He has written 2 books on it as well, and a friend of his did a short reading. There was a really nice gathering of all the people staying here. It stared to rain in the middle of it, so we were forced to relocate from the upper outdoor deck to the lower lobby area.
There was a small library in my villa (look next to my head in the photo) that included the book “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. I’m halfway through it and find it both relevant and irrelevant to my situation. It’s the personal journey of the author overcoming a divorce and depression to travel for a year. Four months each in Italy to learn the language and indulge in eating, India to stay at her undisclosed Guru’s ashram (that I’m easily able to figure out is Siddha, the same as my good friend Dian’s, where I’ve had darshan as well, at the ashram in the catskills), and Bali. I’m really glad it was here, as it seems a quite appropriate book to read.
Tony, Marita, Deb and I have been meeting on planning the big grand opening party on Jan. 1st. I am trying my best to be helpful with it and will take on as much responsibility as I can to help prepare for it, manage the sound systems for the entertainment and any other logistical issues. Sat. I went with Tony and Marita to Denpasar to shop for the event and do some personal shopping. We went to a store called Makro that is the equivalent of a Sam’s Club or Costco. That was pretty crazy. Then we stopped quickly at this ultra modern supermarket and mall called Carefour. It was a gigantic new building with parking lot and had several levels of small mall stores and fast food (both asian and KFC, A&W) and the whole top floor was like a fancy Super Walmart. It was filled with lots of westerners shopping. We then went to a party of some of their friends in a nearby area called Semenyak, just passed the similar area called Kuta. These are suburbs of Denpasar along the beach that attract the most tourism and are filled with shops, restaurants and bars. The streets are super narrow and confusing. We finally arrive at the party after sunset at this super modern minimal designed house that we have to walk cross the edge of a rice paddy to get to. Its owned by a couple from California that designed and built it after the house they originally got wouldn’t allow them to have their dog. The crowd was almost exclusively white and older than even me. The owner David was a furniture designer for TV shows and movies. Although the house was incredibly well designed and built, I really didn’t care for it, as it was ostentatious.
Sun. night we had a presentation and birthday celebration of one of the Villa owners here, Nicholas Guppy, who turned 83. I set up the sound and video projections for the presentation. He was an explorer in his youth of North Amazon rainforest and had a slide show of his photos from that time, as well as a variety of actual artifacts. He has written 2 books on it as well, and a friend of his did a short reading. There was a really nice gathering of all the people staying here. It stared to rain in the middle of it, so we were forced to relocate from the upper outdoor deck to the lower lobby area.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Settling in at Bloo Lagoon
Bali Tues Dec 16th 2008
Tony & Bob
View to the right outside my Villa
View to the left outside my Villa
View of bay from my Villa
The cicadas are incessant, droning loudly in the background from sunrise to sunset, as is the cement mixer, starting right before 8 am as my alarm clock and running nonstop till quitting time (besides the midday lunch break). It is hot and slightly humid both day and night. I’m one villa away from the construction site, overlooking the deepest harbor in Bali in the small untouristy town of Padangbai, where ferries sail to Lombok.
Bloo Lagoon consists of 25 individual Villas that are for sale to private owners, but rented out as a resort to vacationers when not in use by the owners. The entire complex sits on top of a hill at the end of the Padangbai beach and overlooks the Blue Lagoon that is located past a rocky point that separates it from the beach, hence its name.
There is a reception lobby area and office, central swimming pool with food and beverage service by it called a “warang” and a performance amphitheater overlooking the bay, as well.
Nearly all the villas are complete, the last few in various stages of construction. It is an incredible project, with a very refined, yet simple sense of design throughout. There is going to be a grand opening celebration on Jan.1st, which I’m assisting with as well. Another friend of Tony’s from California, Deb, has been hired to oversee this event and is staying here three months.
I’m so grateful to have been invited and able to come here to help with this. I consider Tony one of the greatest mentor’s of my life. We met when I was looking into attending SCIARC (Southern California Institute of Architecture) in 1986 for a master’s degree in their future studies program, a unique architectural program that emphasized visionary and high tech concepts. I was greatly inspired by Buckminster Fuller, and upon visiting the school, I was told that Tony was one of the professors that I should meet. Tony had studied and worked with Buckminster Fuller and at the time was implementing designs based on his work. Tony lived in the small town of Ojai, about 75 miles from the school in Santa Monica, up in the mountains behind Ventura Beach. Upon visiting him there, he advised that I not bother wasting my time and money in pursuit of a degree, but to rather follow my heart and do want I truly wished. Although, to this day, I tease him about him being responsible for me never becoming an architect or receiving a higher degree, I’m truly grateful for his advice and his introduction to the town of Ojai, especially the Ojai Foundation, where I soon spent a month living as work exchange student. Through that I spent a week in Joshua Tree with Terence McKenna and 40 other people doing a workshop, as well as a weekend workshop at the Foundation with Robert Anton Wilson. These are 2 of the most eloquent and important researchers of the fringes of consciousness exploration who have had great influence on my life. But enough about all that way back then.
Also visiting from Ojai, California is both Tony and my friend Bob Goddard. He has a community called the Full Circle Farm that I stay at when visiting Ojai, and I ‘m really glad that I got to see him here, as he leaves in a few days.
Besides assisting on the Bloo Lagoon project, I will focus on my own work of interactive “Portal” installations that I’ve been creating the last 5 years for Burning Man and installing in a variety of other venues. I have implemented the “Portal Collective” to collaborate with other like-minded individuals to realize this. While here I plan to develop a new project for next year’s Burning Man as well as an overall vision and business plan for all the Portal projects in general.
Wed. Dec 17
Bloo Lagoon is very different than Bali in general. I haven’t fully immersed myself in that yet, just a few glimpses when driving to Ubud and to the town around the bay last night. There were temple ceremonies and processions both times that take over the streets and the people dress up for them. It is very pervasive. The streets are narrow, even the highways, and they are filled with motorbikes, sometimes with an entire family of 4 on them. They are constantly weaving in and out of the traffic of trucks and cars. Even the day I arrived around midnight and it was raining, the road out of Denpasar was like that!.
I went snorkeling in the bay, just down the cliff from where my villa is, but had to get there by a boat that the Bloo Lagoon has, from the Padangbai beach . The fish, and especially the coral, are all unbelievably colorful. I went with Ana Marie, a blond Finnish artist that knows Tony from some of his earlier Bali projects that has been here for 4 weeks and is leaving today. She has lived, studied and worked all over the world. She is making a painting while here for Tony & Marita.
This is my sixth day here and I finally feel like I’m settling in. I bought a notebook and sketchbook to get to work on the restaurant and spa design project. I already helped get a fountain and the electric cart repaired.
Life here at Bloo Lagoon is pretty quite, besides the incessant cicadas and cement mixer! There seem to be more staff than people staying here, although more guests and home owners are arriving daily, while some leave. There was a very interesting family here when I arrived that will be returning. Nick has an Apothecary in England, his Dutch wife Sophia is a dancer that has studied with Gabrielle Roth, their 8 year old daughter Katya is an acrobat that will be performing for the grand opening celebration, and they have a younger son Louis. Nick lent me a DVD by 1 Giant Leap called “What About Me” that I’ve been watching in parts and find extremely inspiring. I highly recommend it. It includes Eckhart Tolle among other great spiritual teachers, speaking over music that has been filmed being performed all over the world. Its really hard to describe but is a must see. I’m grateful he lent it to me.
In my Villa
Tony & Bob
View to the right outside my Villa
View to the left outside my Villa
View of bay from my Villa
The cicadas are incessant, droning loudly in the background from sunrise to sunset, as is the cement mixer, starting right before 8 am as my alarm clock and running nonstop till quitting time (besides the midday lunch break). It is hot and slightly humid both day and night. I’m one villa away from the construction site, overlooking the deepest harbor in Bali in the small untouristy town of Padangbai, where ferries sail to Lombok.
Tony & Marita
Bloo Lagoon is the eco resort project of my architect friend of 22 years, Tony Gwilliam and his partner Marita. It was started 2 years ago and is nearly complete. Tony has invited me to stay here 2 months to help with designing the interiors of the restaurant and spa that are under construction.
3 views of the Restaurant & Spa under construction
Bloo Lagoon consists of 25 individual Villas that are for sale to private owners, but rented out as a resort to vacationers when not in use by the owners. The entire complex sits on top of a hill at the end of the Padangbai beach and overlooks the Blue Lagoon that is located past a rocky point that separates it from the beach, hence its name.
There is a reception lobby area and office, central swimming pool with food and beverage service by it called a “warang” and a performance amphitheater overlooking the bay, as well.
Nearly all the villas are complete, the last few in various stages of construction. It is an incredible project, with a very refined, yet simple sense of design throughout. There is going to be a grand opening celebration on Jan.1st, which I’m assisting with as well. Another friend of Tony’s from California, Deb, has been hired to oversee this event and is staying here three months.
I’m so grateful to have been invited and able to come here to help with this. I consider Tony one of the greatest mentor’s of my life. We met when I was looking into attending SCIARC (Southern California Institute of Architecture) in 1986 for a master’s degree in their future studies program, a unique architectural program that emphasized visionary and high tech concepts. I was greatly inspired by Buckminster Fuller, and upon visiting the school, I was told that Tony was one of the professors that I should meet. Tony had studied and worked with Buckminster Fuller and at the time was implementing designs based on his work. Tony lived in the small town of Ojai, about 75 miles from the school in Santa Monica, up in the mountains behind Ventura Beach. Upon visiting him there, he advised that I not bother wasting my time and money in pursuit of a degree, but to rather follow my heart and do want I truly wished. Although, to this day, I tease him about him being responsible for me never becoming an architect or receiving a higher degree, I’m truly grateful for his advice and his introduction to the town of Ojai, especially the Ojai Foundation, where I soon spent a month living as work exchange student. Through that I spent a week in Joshua Tree with Terence McKenna and 40 other people doing a workshop, as well as a weekend workshop at the Foundation with Robert Anton Wilson. These are 2 of the most eloquent and important researchers of the fringes of consciousness exploration who have had great influence on my life. But enough about all that way back then.
Tony & Bob
Also visiting from Ojai, California is both Tony and my friend Bob Goddard. He has a community called the Full Circle Farm that I stay at when visiting Ojai, and I ‘m really glad that I got to see him here, as he leaves in a few days.
Besides assisting on the Bloo Lagoon project, I will focus on my own work of interactive “Portal” installations that I’ve been creating the last 5 years for Burning Man and installing in a variety of other venues. I have implemented the “Portal Collective” to collaborate with other like-minded individuals to realize this. While here I plan to develop a new project for next year’s Burning Man as well as an overall vision and business plan for all the Portal projects in general.
Wed. Dec 17
Bloo Lagoon is very different than Bali in general. I haven’t fully immersed myself in that yet, just a few glimpses when driving to Ubud and to the town around the bay last night. There were temple ceremonies and processions both times that take over the streets and the people dress up for them. It is very pervasive. The streets are narrow, even the highways, and they are filled with motorbikes, sometimes with an entire family of 4 on them. They are constantly weaving in and out of the traffic of trucks and cars. Even the day I arrived around midnight and it was raining, the road out of Denpasar was like that!.
I went snorkeling in the bay, just down the cliff from where my villa is, but had to get there by a boat that the Bloo Lagoon has, from the Padangbai beach . The fish, and especially the coral, are all unbelievably colorful. I went with Ana Marie, a blond Finnish artist that knows Tony from some of his earlier Bali projects that has been here for 4 weeks and is leaving today. She has lived, studied and worked all over the world. She is making a painting while here for Tony & Marita.
This is my sixth day here and I finally feel like I’m settling in. I bought a notebook and sketchbook to get to work on the restaurant and spa design project. I already helped get a fountain and the electric cart repaired.
Life here at Bloo Lagoon is pretty quite, besides the incessant cicadas and cement mixer! There seem to be more staff than people staying here, although more guests and home owners are arriving daily, while some leave. There was a very interesting family here when I arrived that will be returning. Nick has an Apothecary in England, his Dutch wife Sophia is a dancer that has studied with Gabrielle Roth, their 8 year old daughter Katya is an acrobat that will be performing for the grand opening celebration, and they have a younger son Louis. Nick lent me a DVD by 1 Giant Leap called “What About Me” that I’ve been watching in parts and find extremely inspiring. I highly recommend it. It includes Eckhart Tolle among other great spiritual teachers, speaking over music that has been filmed being performed all over the world. Its really hard to describe but is a must see. I’m grateful he lent it to me.
The construction continues 7 days a week
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