Kuta resort gets merry for tropical Christmas

Claudia Sardi, The Jakarta Post, Kuta | Wed, 12/24/2008 10:50 AM 

ONE MORE SLEEP TO GO: A worker puts the finishing touches on a cave, 6 meters high and 6 meters wide, made from blangkon, the traditional Javanese hat that symbolizes modesty, at Santo Petrus Church in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday. (JP/J. Adiguna)

Bali may well be the nation's last bastion of Hinduism but that has not stopped the islanders, known for their natural hospitality and religious tolerance, from offering their guests a special tropical Christmas. 

Visitors from all over the world who have chosen to spend the holy day away from snow and freshly cut Christmas trees may catch a glimpse of Balinese in and around Kuta decorating the streets, hotels and other public areas to lend the beachside resort a joyful Christmas feel. 

"We appreciate the effort to give us some Christmas feeling, although it is a bit odd to see all those decorations and local servers wearing the Santa Claus caps," Wendy Cummings, an Australian visitor, said near Kuta beach. 

On Tuesday night, the palm-lined streets were ablaze with flashing green and red lights. 

Almost every restaurant and shop seemed to have its own Christmas tree, some small and attracting no further attention, others unusual enough to stop passersby in their tracks. 

The Hard Rock Hotel decorates its artificial 5-meter-high tree in a different "rocky" way each year. 

"This year we chose to decorate it with 20 real guitars. It took some effort as they are pretty heavy," said Franziscus Danang, the hotel's food and beverage manager. 

He added they always used a decorative theme related to music. 

It turns out that Christmas trees do not necessarily have to be green and decorated with red. Many places chose a more modern interpretation such as that seen outside the Bounty Club. 

Long metal branches, all in white -- the color of peace -- form the shape of a tree and create a special cool ambiance lit up with small blue lights. 

The Sofitel Hotel in Seminyak is adding an exotic flavor to its Christmas dinner on Dec. 25. 

"We stick dried chilies into a shape that will finally look like a Christmas tree," said Harumi, Sofitel's food and beverage supervisor. 

It gets cuter and cozier at Carrefour hypermarket, where dozens of pink teddy bears form a Christmas tree, brightening the eyes of children enduring boring shopping sessions with their parents. 

The cold breeze of the rainy season cooled down the streets for a while, letting domestic tourists enjoy some calm far away from their daily duties. 

"We love to spend Christmas here on the beach because this is hardly possible to have in crowded Jakarta," Jakartan Elisabeth Damayanti said after posing for a photo in front of a huge "surfing Santa Claus" in Kuta. 

"We spend a lot of time with our family and will go to church together. Bali is so nicely decorated," she added.

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PRESERVING PEACE 

The Jakarta Post, Wed, 12/24/2008 6:30 PM 

An armed Indonesian police officer stands guard outside a church prior to Christmas Eve services in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Wednesday. Indonesia has been hit by a string of terror attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, but experts say the risk of more large-scale attacks has diminished with the arrest of hundreds of suspects. (AP/Binsar Bakkara)