Visit from the relatives

Today all Balinese gets a 10 day visit from their relatives. Their dead realitives, that is: the ancestors. Today is Galungan Day where the deified ancestors descend on earth to visit their former homes. They are welcomed like family: pigs are slaughtered, flowers are braided, and whole forests of incense stick are being torched. The roads are lined with penjors, tall and willowy bamboo poles with offerings dangling from their tips, and chants and prayers are heard from every temple. The celebration ends on Kuningan Day, 10 days from now. It is the biggest celebration of the Balinese year, and the most beautiful.

From the kitchen

Fresh grouper from Jimbaran Bay with sautéed vegetables

Canang Sari

Walk down any Jimbaran Street, and you find the ground strewn with little square trays made of woven coconut leafs, decorated with flowers, fruits and palm leaves. These are offerings to the gods known as canang sari - 'sari' means essence and 'canang' means offering - diligently placed by the Balinese as part of their daily ritual of worship. You find them everywhere you go on Bali because everywhere is a place of worship. Even in hospitals, airports and shopping malls.

Experience the 'Bukit' and the majestic Uluwatu Temple

The 'drop' of land that is connected to Bali's southernmost tip is called 'The Bukit' - 'The hill'. Now you can experience this area, which is truly unique for Bali, with it's towering chalk cliffs over the azure sea - and also visit one of Bali's most important and beautiful temples, the Uluwatu Temple on a new half-day trip.

Land of the 1000 Ketuts

The traditional naming system is one of the charming peculiarities of Bali. If you follow this system (and many do) you name your children in the order they are born. Putu will be a firstborn son or daughter, Made is a no. 2 child, Nyoman no. 3 and Ketut no. 4. After Ketut the cycle starts all over again with Putu. So when you meet a Ketut, you will know that he or she has 3 older siblings. Or 7. Or 11. Smart, isn’t it?

The only problem is that everyone tends to be named the same. In Jamahal we have a staff of 60 and 7 of them are called Ketut. We use nicknames a lot.

Find your own Bali-name here:

Firstborn: Putu, Gede or Wayan

2nd child: Made or Kadek

3rd child: Nyoman or Komang

4th child: Ketut

Catch of the day

It is tuna season in Jimbaran Bay. The fishermen are having a field day, hauling in huge yellowfins by the netful. They use only low impact fishing methods, and on days like these they are rewarded for it. And so are we. Tuna doesn't get any better than this.

Temples

Bali is often called ’Island of the Thousand Temples’. The meaning of 'thousand' in this phrase is 'too many to count', otherwise it would be a colossal understatement. There are shrines on every piece of land, in every house, in every village, town and city, in the lakes, on the mountains, in the jungles, by the waterfalls, on the islands, beaches and by the rivers.

Some are barely more than four sticks poked into the ground, with a weaved bamboo mat on top to keep the offering dry. Others are sprawling building complexes that require the efforts of kingdoms to erect. Each temple has its own unique position in the cosmic hierarchy that springs from the Mother Temple in Besakih on the slopes of Mount Agung, Bali’s most holy mountain.

Jamahal has several temples. There is one in every villa and several other large and small places of worship dotted around the grounds. They are used every day, devotedly.

The big night

Images from the big night:

The ballroom was filled with industry professionals from all over the world

Managing Director Andre Makhijani and Director Dhita Hadisubrata of Jamahal receive the (heavy!) trophy...

Did you honor your hammer today?

Today is Tumpek Landep, the day when the Balinese give thanks to Sang Hyang Pasupeti, Lord of the Heirlooms, for the creation of metal goods. Offerings are made for kitchen implements, garden tools and machines. Builders take the day off to make offerings for their tools. Car washers have the busiest day of the year as all Balinese bring their vehicles in to get pampered and prettied up with bamboo ornaments and offerings.

Eat, pray and love in Bali

Follow in the footsteps of Julia Roberts as we celebrate the launch of the movie with three new packages based on the central themes of Elizabeth Gilbert's bestselling novel: For all lovers of Bali we present the three new packages eat, pray and love.

Jamahal wins Best Luxury Boutique Hotel 2010

Everyone at our little resort has really been looking forward to this Friday Evening. We knew that we had won an award at the World Luxury Hotel Awards, but not in which category. Of course practically any reward would feel as a huge achievement, but we hoped it was in one of the major categories. And tonight at the big award ceremony in Bangkok it was announced that Jamahal Private Resort and Spa has won one of the big ones: the Best Luxury Boutique Hotel award for Bali. Thank you everyone for all your support.

The Day of The Iron Fence

Today is Pagerwesi Day, the Day of the Iron Fence. Pagerwesi marks the beginning of a new cycle in the Balinese ceremonial year and also the end of a small cycle of ceremonies that started at Seraswati Day.

The last few days people has been going to the sea to bathe and be purified, fishermen has made offerings to their boats and nets, farmers to their crops and rice barns and lovers of bling to golden jewelry and ancient chinese coins. But today is dedicated to nothing less than the battle against evil.

Many years ago an ancient battle between good and evil was fought on this day and the Balinese use this day to strengthen their own defense against the forces of evil through prayers and meditation. And in cemeteries offerings are made for the dead who has not yet been cremated. The Balinese also show their respect for Shiva in the aspect of teacher, in sanskrit Guru. In Indian Hinduism this day is known as Guru Puja or Guru Purnima.

In South Bali the celebrations are modest. Pagerwesi is an important ceremony but the village streets look like they would on any other day. In North Bali, however, the celebrations are feverish. Countless pigs and chicken loose their lives to end up in traditional Balinese meals, beautifully decorated bamboo poles called penjor line every street, sumptuous feasts are held for visiting relatives and the villages are alive with the sound of chanting and parties.

Happy Iron Fence day.

Saraswati Day

Today is Saraswati Day, the very last day of the Balinese Pawukon calendar, being the Saturday of its last week, Watugunung. Dewi Saraswati is generally referred to as Goddess of 'Science & Knowledge'. Dewi Saraswati is the female counterpart of Dewa Brahma, the manifestation of the Almighty Infinite Spirit as the Creator. Nowadays the Knowledge/Science symbolized by Saraswati is generally interpreted as pure secular, scientific knowledge; at libraries offerings are made for books and other important written materials, such as the lontar palm-leaf manuscripts; books and (written) language are seen as the vessels of secular, scientific knowledge. At the schools and universities the students pray for success with their studies. During Saraswati Day it is not allowed to read, which can be compared with a ‘one minute silence’, in honor of the ‘gift’ of books and language which enables mankind to pass on the scientific knowledge that leads to secular success.

We won!

It is with great pride and gratitude that we can announce that our little resort has WON a category award at World Luxury Hotel Awards. The exact category we have won will be disclosed at a later date. Thank you all for your support, this means so much to everyone here.

Beef Rendang

We have introduced new traditional Indonesian dishes to our menus. Here is the Indonesian version of beef curry, Beef Rendang.

200 grams of beef cut in strips

3 cloves of garlic

5 shallots

1 Tablespoon shredded tumeric

1 Tablespoon shredded ginger

3 tablespoons shredded galangal

2 pinches dried chili

Dried coriander (roasted) pulverized and mixed with the spice in blander

2 red chilies, deseeded

1 Teaspoon sugar

¼ Teaspoon salt

2 stalks lemon grass

1 tumeric leaf

5 lime leaves

1 dl coconut milk

1 dl water

Make spice paste by blending garlic, shallots, tumeric, ginger, dreid and fresh chilies, coriander, sugar and salt. Sautee on low heat with lime leaves, lemon grass and tumeric leaves for three minutes.

Sauté beef on a frying pan and put it in the spice paste.

Add water and coconut milk and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve with rice.

Thank you all!

Jamahal is now the highest rated hotel on Trip Advisor in the Jimbaran Area...

Congratulations, Gwen & Vincent

Big congratulations to Gwen and Vincent who got married at a beautiful ceremony on a beautiful day at our little resort.

Beach Club

The beach club is now up and running - or rather, comfortably lying down. Relax in the tropical breeze on the best beach in Bali, with a butler to bring you refreshments.

The Jamahal Farm

We recently opened a market garden behind the resort. We grow basil, mint, lettuce, tomatoes etc. for the hotel's kitchen - all organic, and all enjoying the fertile Balinese soil and climate. We have no wish to start competing with Bedugul, Bali's fertile volcanic highlands, where most of the island's vegetables are grown - but this is a fun way to use the land and a way to ensure we get fresh organic vegetables. Guests are welcome to stroll the gardens.

Nominated for Best Luxury Romantic Hotel 2010

We are happy to let you know that our small resort has been nominated for a major tourism award  – ”Best Luxury Romantic Hotel 2010” by the luxury hotel awards association.

We are of course proud to be considered for such an honor, and thankful for the support of our friends, guests and partners for helping us earn this recognition - it really feels like a pat on the shoulder. 

Welcome to the Jamahal blog

Welcome to the blog for Jamahal Private Resort & Spa in Jimbaran Bay, Bali. This is where we will post small news and stories from Bali and our little private corner of it. We hope you enjoy your stay.