Roberts Expected in Bali Mid October
Famous movie star Julia Roberts is expected in Bali for the filming of “Eat Pray Love” to commence on 16 October.
According to Jakarta Globe, permits have been issued for the filming in Bali, with Roberts due on set from 16 October to 6 November.
“We have issued the permit to shoot in Gianyar. Their preparation is complete,” said Ida Bagus Puruvita, the Gianyar cultural office’s chief of permits and films.
The shoot is planned to take place at the traditional markets and Monkey Forest in Ubud, along with the nearby villages of Demayu and Tegalalang, and in Badung, Uluwatu and Nusa Dua.
Permits for these locations were obtained by the official representative of the production crew, Tino Taroengallo.
Roberts has finished the filming in Rome, and is currently in India. The picture of Roberts was taken during the filming in Rome.
Tight Security for Julia Roberts
Security is expected to be extremely tight when Julia Roberts comes to Bali for the filming of the Movie “Eat Pray Love”.
During the filming in India, India eNews reported that she had 350 security personnel, including police and private security guards.
Almost 350 security men, bulletproof cars and a chopper too – that’s what it takes to secure Hollywood star Julia Roberts, who is here with her three children to shoot for the movie ‘Eat, Pray, Love’.
Bali – World's Best Island
Travel & Leisure Magazine has concluded its annual survey of the discerning travelers who comprise its readership asking them to name their favorite cities, islands, hotels, resorts, airlines, cruise ships and even rental car agencies.
Bali has topped the poll and is regarded as the world’s best island.
For many years, Bali consistently ranked as the world’s best island in the prestigious poll, slipping momentarily in the 2008 polling to the number two slot. However, the 2009 Travel & Leisure survey has returned Bali to the coveted number 1 spot, followed by Galapagos, which displaced Bali in the 2008 rankings.
Reproduced with the permission of Bali Discovery Tours http://www.balidiscovery.com
Jakarta Bombing – What is Bali Doing?
Friday terrorists detonated bombs at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott Hotels in Jakarta. 55 people were injured and 8 killed in the blasts.
Since then, Bali has taken a number of steps to improve security on the island, including:
Bali Governer Made Mangku Pastika
• Bali’s Governor Made Mangku Pastika, the former Police officer credited with resolving the 2002 and 2003 Bali bombings, immediately convened an emergency coordinating meeting with the Udayana IX Military Command, Bali’s provincial police, local prosecutors and Bali-based intelligence agencies.
• The island’s security status was raise to the highest level of “siaga satu” by the island’s Chief of Police, Inspector General T. Ashikin Husein, putting some 12,000 security personal on duty and at the highest state of readiness.
• Bali’s sea ports and single airport were tightened up with careful checks introduced for both materials and people traveling to the island.
• Within minutes of the blasts in Jakarta, the Bali Hotel Association (BHA) told its members to raise their security levels to “red” – bringing pre-existing security screens and surveillance procedures to their highest level.
• Within hours of the Jakarta attack, members of the BHA met with the Chief of Police to enhance coordination with the security forces. During that meeting, the Chief of Police indicated that no credible threat to Bali’s security had been detected at this time, but, in response to the Jakarta attacks, the island was now on “high alert.”
• Hotel, restaurant and travel agency staff have been briefed by their respective stakeholder organizations to remain calm and focus on the comfort and safety of island visitors, avoiding speculation and rumors in connection with the Jakarta attacks.
• A check of several hotels and the Bali airport do not provide proof of any mass exodus of visitors following the Jakarta bombings.
• The Governor’s office has issued written instructions to mayors and regency heads, ordering heightened security measures and complete cooperation with the police in introducing security checks in every district of the province.
• The regional administration is moving “full ahead” with plans to enhance security measures by a self-imposed August deadlines that will see 33 emergency service units distributed across the island, the installation of 1,000 closed circuit TV and the operation of a crisis center charged with crisis management for Bali.
Reproduced with permission from Bali Discovery Tours. http://www.balidiscovery.com.
Bali Visit – Kuta Beach
Just posted this latest video on YouTube. It’s a quick 2 minutes on the action at Kuta Beach.
Hope you enjoy it.
Beware Temporary Tattoos in Bali
The West Australian reported that an 11 year old girl was admitted to the Princess Margaret Hospital on her return from Bali. The girl was suffering from a reaction to a temporary tattoo that she and her sister and mother got in Sanur.
The reaction started on the flight home, and by the time the flight landed she was in agony.
Her mother said the trauma was akin to someone pouring acid on her skin. “It was like a third-degree burn, she was in agony.”
The Princess Margaret Hospital figures show 11 children as young as four admitted to the emergency department since the start of last year because of bad reactions to temporary tattoos done in Bali.
Read the full story at TheWest.com.au
Jamie Lee in Bali
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis spent part of a recent holiday in Bali.
During her Bali visit, she was taken on a walking tour of the rice fields outside Ubud by well know museum owner, Agung Rai.
She writes about her reflections on Bali in the online newspaper, The Huffington Post. If you would like to read her article, it is titled Pay Attention.
Selling Heads – in Bali?
An article published by BaliDiscovery.com was titled “Head Hunting Season Now Open”. It went on to say…….
China National Tourism Authority (CNTA) has called on Indonesia to stop the practice of “selling heads” among Chinese tourists visiting the country.
“Selling Heads” is the practice in which the right to guide visiting Chinese tourists is purchased by travel agents and guides who then recoup their investment through oftentimes exorbitant commissions received from restaurants and shops.
Eddy Sunyoto, an Indonesian official of the Travel Agents Association, admitted that a number of registered travel agents are actively engaged in “selling heads” when serving Chinese travellers.
Reproduced with permission of Bali Discovery Tours – http://www.balidiscovery.com
Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt in Bali.
Sony Pictures Entertainment will later this year film the Bali scenes of the screen adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best selling autobiography, Eat, Pray, Love(EPL).
Julia Roberts stars as the book’s narrator, and Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner will produce the film.
The book, which traces Gilbert’s search for identity across four countries following her divorce, topped six million sales in the US alone. With shooting in New York, Italy, Delhi and Bali, the film of the bestseller is expected to be a blockbuster at box offices around the globe.
Director, Ryan Murphy, is currently scouting locations in Gianyar, Karangasem and Jimbaran, with much of the filming planned around the hillside village of Ubud.
Source: Jakarta Post
Global Recession – No Way
Bali visitors grow as Australia displaces Japan for top spot.
Foreign tourist arrival to Bali in April 2009 totaled 179,879 representing the best April on record for Bali tourism and 21.94% improvement over April 2008 (147,515).
View cumulatively, the first four months of 2009 saw 645,061 foreign tourists come to Bali, an increase of 8.15% when compared to the same period last year (596,469).
As predicted by balidiscovery.com, April 2009 also saw the historical unseating of Japan by Australia from its top-ranking as the largest source market for Bali. Through the end of the first four months of 2009 Australian arrivals totaled 102,179 – increasing 30.08% as compared to the same period in 2008. Meanwhile, reflecting their troubled national economy, Japanese visitors decreased 7.45% for the first 4 months of 2009.
Similarly, South Korea, which is traditionally Bali #3 source market, declined to a #5 ranking as that nation’s economy faltered and arrivals dipped 5.62% over the first four months of 2009. Taiwan which has long been Bali’s #4 market, is now relegated to the #7 position.
Reproduced with the permission of Bali Discovery Tours. http://www.balidiscovery.com
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