An encyclopedic reference to the island and people of Bali, rendered in down to earth, accessible form.

"Serenity's Secret: Unveiling the Mysteries of Balinese Traditional Village - An Avatar's Metaverse Adventure in Penglipuran Bali" delves into a captivating adventure through the enchanting virtual realm of the Metaverse as it intertwines with the mystical Penglipuran Village in Bali. This immersive novel takes readers on a transformative journey where avatars become the vessels for exploration and self-discovery. Follow the protagonist, Melisa, as she enters the Metaverse, a vast digital landscape that mirrors the real world and sets her sights on Penglipuran Village in Bali. Guided by her virtual avatar, Melisa delves into the secrets and wonders of this hidden gem, where tradition and technology coexist harmoniously. As Melisa's avatar traverses the virtual Penglipuran Village, readers are transported to a world of breathtaking beauty, cultural richness, and intriguing encounters. Through the eyes of her digital counterpart, Melisa witnesses the vibrant ceremonies, captivating folklore, and the warmth of the village community. Along her Metaverse journey, Melisa's avatar interacts with diverse characters, each with their own stories and aspirations. From the wise village elder who imparts ancient wisdom through virtual teachings to the talented local artist who brings the village's traditions to life in the digital realm and the spirited young villager who challenges the boundaries of virtual reality, the virtual encounters provide a deeper understanding of Penglipuran Village's essence.

Highly acclaimed for its cultural art forms - the enchanting beauty of Bali is reflected in its unique cuisine. The book uncovers the mysteries of the Balinese cuisine that has been little explored before Chef Heinz von Holzen stepped foot on the island. Together with American author and Balinese cultural authority Fred Eisman Jr who has written several books on Bali's culture, Chef von Holzen delves further into the food culture of Bali, uncovering spices, ingredients and cooking techniques and unveils them all in this cookbook.

This memoir of a family torn apart by an unthinkable betrayal lays bare an astonishing truth at the heart of an island the world cherishes as "The Last Paradise." When a young American traveler falls in love with and marries a beautiful Balinese girl, all the promise of "The Morning of the World" seems to await. But twenty years later and far too late, he discovers the awful purpose behind the elaborate Hindu ceremonies arranged by his wife at the birth of their children. While he struggles to make sense of the destruction of his family, Balinese friends warn of long-term plans, of black magic, of fraudulent documents, false Hindu ceremonies, collusion by members of the Bali community, the courts, the police, public prosecutors-even his own attorneys-in a combination known in Indonesia as a "Law Mafia." A few close Balinese friends stand with him, helping guide him through the sekala and niskala-the Balinese visible and invisible worlds-but stakes and tensions continue to rise until he faces a possibly fatal decision: dare he fight for his and his children's identities, or must he accept his friends' increasingly urgent advice to flee with his children ahead of plans for murder? The cases behind this book remain unresolved and at the center of ongoing struggles between forces of reform in Indonesia's capital of Jakarta, and the tightly-closed legal and social systems, both native and expatriate, of Bali. A website, uluwatu.com, forms an integral companion to the book. Whether read as a thriller or as a window into the fascinating and complex cultures of Indonesia, the tragedy and hope at the heart of this story propel a gripping read.

Bali Secrets is like a city guide for your island holiday showing you the best restaurants, coolest cafes, hidden clubs and gourmet adventures. Bali really is an extraordinary beautiful, sophisticated and diverse place for a truly memorable holiday or short escape. Two top picks for foodies are Bali Asli, a day trip away past Candidasa and Sakti at Fivelements Retreat in Mambal. Buy the guide to discover the other 50.

Along rivers in Bali, small groups of farmers meet regularly in water temples to manage their irrigation systems. They have done so for a thousand years. Over the centuries, water temple networks have expanded to manage the ecology of rice terraces at the scale of whole watersheds. Although each group focuses on its own problems, a global solution nonetheless emerges that optimizes irrigation flows for everyone. Did someone have to design Bali's water temple networks, or could they have emerged from a self-organizing process? Perfect Order--a groundbreaking work at the nexus of conservation, complexity theory, and anthropology--describes a series of fieldwork projects triggered by this question, ranging from the archaeology of the water temples to their ecological functions and their place in Balinese cosmology. Stephen Lansing shows that the temple networks are fragile, vulnerable to the cross-currents produced by competition among male descent groups. But the feminine rites of water temples mirror the farmers' awareness that when they act in unison, small miracles of order occur regularly, as the jewel-like perfection of the rice terraces produces general prosperity. Much of this is barely visible from within the horizons of Western social theory. The fruit of a decade of multidisciplinary research, this absorbing book shows that even as researchers probe the foundations of cooperation in the water temple networks, the very existence of the traditional farming techniques they represent is threatened by large-scale development projects.

“Technological excellence is the only method to approach aliens to whom we say God. Technology does not mean only scientific advancement which is tested and proved but spiritual advancement also which is tested by our saints and we observe its effectiveness in our daily lives. Science works for the physical body and spiritual science works for the Mind and Heart. The combination of both can convert humans to the level of great civilization like God”.