Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Kuta resort gets merry for tropical Christmas

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

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)