Jakarta to have Oktoberfest

Aryaduta Hotel in Central Jakarta will bring Germany's Oktoberfest to Jakarta on Thursday and Friday.

The two-day festival will be the 21st such event Aryaduta has held since 1988.

The party expects to see 1,300 guests from various German companies in Indonesia.

Aryaduta will also feature Bavarian music by Garmisch-Partenkircner Musikanten from Germany.

"Oktoberfest is known not only for its beer, but also for its traditional folk dances," corporate public relations manager of the Aryaduta Hotel Group, Sharon Tjokrorahardjo, told kompas.com.

Oktoberfest in Jakarta is sponsored by several German companies like Mercedes-Benz and Lufthansa.

Ambacang Hotel Chef Killed While Trying To Save His Staff in Padang Quake

Zildayenti cried when she saw a cellular phone and a mud covered wallet which used to belong to her son, Budi Susanto, 26, who worked as a head chef at the Ambacang Hotel in Padang, West Sumatra. Budi could have escaped from the building, but instead he decided to save his staff and was killed with more than 100 others when the hotel collapsed during last week’s powerful earthquake.

“Abang could have escaped because he was near the door, but as a responsible head chef, he couldn’t abandon his crew,” said Ari, Budi’s brother who also worked at the hotel as a pastry chef.

“Abang ran back into the kitchen and helped his staff escape. He helped me out but then he ran back in again and that was the last time I saw him,” he said.

Zildayenti sobbed as rescue officers emptied out the content of her son’s wallet, which mainly consisted of foreign currencies such as ringgit, dollars, baht, rupee and his identification card.

“Budi was a good son,” she said between sobs.

Budi Susanto’s body was found on Monday at 11 a.m. His body was trapped between concrete walls and wooden panels near the hotel’s swimming pool.

Dewa Batuan to hold painting exhibition in Spain

Dewa Nyoman Batuan (63), a well known artist born in Pengosekan, Ubud, Gianyar regency, Bali, will hold an international painting exhibition in Spain.

"A total of 15 paintings themed `Mandala`(shrine) and an the assistance of an old and close friend had been sent to Spain," said Dewa Nyoman Batuan in Ubud Sunday.

He said that the exhibition is scheduled in mid-October or early in November 2009.

"The sponsor will come to Bali soon for preparations to make a success of the exhibition," said Dewa Batuan.

He explained that the sponsor is also an artist and have lived tens of years in Ubud, a village of artists, and also planned to hold an exhibition in Bali.

The logistics for the exhibitions in Spain, would be prepared in an exhibition in Bali," Dewa Batuan who published "Mandala, Paintings and Writings" in English, said.

Dewa Nyoman Batuan had learnt from his grandfather Pita Maha, who had learnt from Rudof Bonnet, a well known Dutch artist who had also lived in Ubud for quite a long time.

Bonnet and the late Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati, born in Ubud in 1910 along with a local artist, the late I Gusti Nyoman Lempad established the "Pita Maha" in 1936 which had inspired the art of painting and Balinese culture globally.

The main purpose of "Pita Maha" organization was save and preserve works of art by gathering dance and painting artists.

Star-rated Padang hotels` damage runs into billions of Rupiah

The magnitude-7.6 earthquake that devastated West Sumatra province on Wednesday (Sept.30) has caused damage to 24 star-rated hotels in Padang with their material losses estimated at billions of rupiah, a tourism official said.

The losses do not include damage to roads and other infrastructure in the tourist areas of Padang city, head of the city`s tourism office, Edi Hasmy, said here on Saturday.

"Based on a survey of the 47 hotels existing in Padang, 24 of them proved to have suffered damage with the Ambacang Hotel on Jalan Bundo Kanduang, the Rocky Plaza Hotel on Jalan Permindo, the Hayamwuruk Hotel on Jalan Hayamwuruk, the Mariani Hotel on Jalan Bundo Kanduang and the Nuansa Hotel on Jalan Samudra damaged the worst," he said.

Part of the Bumi Minang hotel building was destroyed, the Dipo hotel on Jalan Diponegoro was damaged moderately, while the Inna Muara Hotel was partially damaged but can still operate while the Sherly Chip restaurant was destroyed.

Arrest Made in Murder of Japanese Tourist

West Java Man Arrested in Malang in Connection with Death of 33-Year-Old Japanese Woman in Kuta.

(10/3/2009) After a massive nationwide manhunt lasting one week, Bali police have arrested a man suspected of murdering a 33-year-old Japanese female Rika Sano.

Sano's decomposing and battered remains were found on Monday, September 28, 2009, in an empty field on Jalan Mertanadi in Kuta, near the Oleh Oleh Kampoeng Bali store.

The man arrested for the murder, identified by police as David Goltar Wicaksono, was apprehended at a hideaway in Malang, East Java. Police traced the crime to the 26-year-old man, a native of Bandung, West Java, via a MP4 player found at the same location of the dead woman's body. Authorities say the electronic device was owned by the accused and purportedly dropped in a struggle with the Japanese woman. With the help of the cyber-crime unit a picture of the man was found that matched descriptions provided by witnesses of a man with whom Sano left her Kuta hotel.

The information initially led police to a local boarding house in the Pemogan sub-district of Denpasar where the landlord confirmed that Wicaksono had not been seen for several days. Similar efforts to trace the man to his place of employment, a cigarette distributor in Denpasar, were unsuccessful. Based on leads received at his place of residence and employment, police eventually located the man in Malang.

Wicaksono has been flown back to Bali under police escort.

The Crime

The ill-fated Rika Sano was reported missing by her traveling companion, Mayumi Someya, on Friday, September 25, 2009. Sano's body was discovered in tall grass at the vacant lot in Kuta three days later with indications that she had been brutalized and raped prior to her death.

Sano was last seen on the Friday, leaving her hotel with a man, now believed to be Wicaksono, who told hotel staff that he was a plain-clothes officer assigned to the Bali Police.

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Yogyakarta to develop Batik-related tourism

The Yogyakarta municipal administration intends to develop batik-related tourism in 2010 now that UNESCO has declared it a world cultural heritage item.

"We want to develop batik-related tourism next year in which we will acquaint tourists with the batik-making craft," Yogyakarta Culture and Tourism office spokesperson Yulia Rustianingsih said here on Saturday.

She said UNESCO`s acknowledgment of Indonesian batik was expected to encourage batik makers to preserve their commodity.

"To promote batik-related tourism next year, we will take both domestic and foreign tourists to batik producing villages here and teach them ways to make batik," Yulia said.

She said both domestic and foreign tourists visiting Yogyakarta used to buy batik as souvenirs for their friends and relatives.

Therefore, Yulia said the Beringharjo central batik market would continue to be developed as part of the batik-related tourism efforts in Yogyakarta.

Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at his private home in Cikeas, Bogor, West Java, called on all people on Friday to continue the development and promotion of national batik.

"If we frequently wear batiks, we, besides being grateful, also help develop our own economy, increase employment and mobilize the local economies. Never allow it to happen after 15 years batiks grow in some other countries and we became upset about it. Now after it is being well recognized, it must be developed," the president said when receiving board members of the Indonesia Batik Foundation and batik lovers in connection with batik`s declaration as a world cultural heritage item by UNESCO on Friday.

He said after three of its cultural heritages being declared as part of the 76 world`s cultural heritages, namely the Keris (traditional dagger), Wayang (puppet) and Batik, Indonesia would keep registering its cultural properties.

The head of state on the occasion said that he was just preparing a surprise, namely producing batik with certain designs in cooperation with batik artists. The design would depict three national properties that had been declared a world heritage items, namely the keris, wayang and batik

60 Australians feared missing in Padang

The Australian government is checking hospitals in Sumatra to find its citizens as about 60 Australians thought to be in the vicinity of the Padang earthquake spot were not accounted for, an official said on Friday.

"Prime minister *Kevin Rudd* said no reports of Australians killed or injured but Australian officials are checking hospitals to find any Australians caught up in the earthquake," the Australian Embassy's public affairs manager Sanchi Davis said through a short text message received on Friday evening.

A 36-person search and rescue team and around 20 medical staff and engineers left Australia for Padang on Friday to help its six-person emergency team already in the province for aid missions.

Earlier on Friday, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith told the ABC that its government was trying to track down around 100 Australians who were thought to be in the area hit by the earthquake.

Promoting green tourism in Nusa Dua Fiesta

Hotel and restaurant owners in Nusa Dua from the Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC) will hold the annual art and culture event, Nusa Dua Fiesta, from Oct. 17 to 21.

BTDC president director I Made Mandra said Wednesday that the event would focus on promoting green tourism and offer coral reef restoration activities to help preserve marine ecosystems.

The coral reef restoration will take place 6 kilometers out to sea to restore damaged Nusa Dua marine ecosystems.

Locals and tourists can participate by joining the "Adopt the Coral" program, paying US$30 to have coral planted in their name.

The 13th Nusa Dua Fiesta will also release turtles back into the water at Nusa Dua beach.

The event will feature activities including a range of games and competitions.

Indonesia and Malaysia Battle Over Batik

Along-standing dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia over the origins of batik seems to flare up every few years.

This year there have also been arguments over the ownership of the islands Sipidan and Ligitan, the song “Rasa Sayange,” the treatment of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia and Bali’s pendet dance, which was featured in a Discovery Channel promotion for a TV show about Malaysia.

During each spat, diplomatic relations between the countries become tense, nationalism rises and nicknames are invented. This year, incensed Indonesians have started calling their neighbor “Maling-sia,” a play on the Indonesian word meaning thief, and an offensive parody of Indonesia’s national anthem was uploaded to a Malaysian Web site. A vigilante group has also formed in Jakarta, claiming that it would invade Malaysia on Thursday and wage war.

But Indonesia can at least claim victory in the batik wars when Unesco today adds Indonesia’s batik to a global list of Intangible Cultural Heritage items.

To celebrate that validation, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked all Indonesians to wear batik on Friday.

Asmoro Damais, an expert on batik who has consulted with various cultural institutions on the craft and collects historic batik fabric, specifically the Pekalongan style, since 1970, said Indonesians should be proud of the achievement.

“Thank God for this achievement,” said Indra Tjahjani, a batik expert and lecturer on the textile, who has been involved in research on the craft for nine years.

“But, it’s only a start.

As a part-time lecturer at universities, Indra Tjahjani has also been encouraging her students to take note of their culture and assigns them projects that are related to Indonesia’s culture.

“I find my strategy works. My students become aware of their cultural heritage and gain an interest in learning more about it,” she said.

“Many people claim they know batik, but they actually don’t know the philosophy of each pattern,” she said.

“Did you know that in the old times, all batik makers had to fast from eating and drinking before creating a batik pattern.

“Making batik was that sacred,” she said.