Indonesian dancers promote cultural ties with Viet Nam | Look At Vietnam

Indonesian dancers promote cultural ties with Viet Nam

April 18, 2012

VietNamNet Bridge – Fantastic dance performances by Indonesian artists and Vietnamese students on Saturday at HCM City’s Youth Cultural House kicked off a week-long cultural festival in HCM City.

Come together: Vietnamese youth watch an Indonesian artist perform a Topeng dance (mask dance) during a public event in HCM City. Ornately costumed performers wear masks and interpret traditional narratives about fabled kings, heroes and myths, accompanied by gamelan music. (Photo: VNS)

Vietnamese youth enjoyed an exciting atmosphere with traditional music, dance and fashion shows about Indonesian national and traditional dress. Short quizzes were held to test attendees’ knowledge of the country.
Besides Indonesian food and drink, Vietnamese youth were invited to join the dancers and taught simple traditional movements.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Indonesian Consul General Bambang Tarsanto said the event brought Vietnamese youngsters a miniature Indonesia with diversified and special cultural features.
“I hope participants can learn about the atmosphere of Indonesia and feel what it’s like being in the country,” he said.
Indonesia Day titled Glorious Bali was held for the second time in Vi?t Nam to introduce the cultural diversity and wonderful tourist destinations of Indonesia to the public, with several photos exhibited at the cultural house until this Sunday.
The Glorious Bali event is held by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia and supported by the Indonesian community in HCM City in co-operation with the HCM City Union of Friendship Organisation and HCM City Youth Cultural House.
The event aims to promote Indonesia’s culture and to, bring Vietnamese and Indonesian people closer, particularly in the context of the ASEAN Community 2015, according to the Indonesian Consulate General in HCM City.
An Indonesian Cultural Day was held for the first time in the city on April 17 last year.
VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Indonesia welcomes the International Year of Biodiversity

Ecolodges Indonesia welcomes the International Year of Biodiversity
11 January, 2010

Safeguarding irreplaceable natural wealth and reduce biodiversity loss through small-scale ecotourism.


Bali, Indonesia: 'We are all an integral part of nature and our fate is tightly linked with biodiversity, the huge variety of other animals and plants, the places they live and their surrounding environments’ stated Dr Alan Wilson, Chairman of Ecolodges Indonesia (ELI) as he echoed words from the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity initiative being led by the United Nations Environment Program and the Commission for Biological Diversity.
(www.cbd.int/2010/welcome)


Ecolodges Indonesia has a strong corporate social responsibility agenda to conserve endangered wildlife and contribute to local communities in Indonesia. The company
currently operates four Ecolodges in Sumatra, Kaliamantan, Bali and Flores, with plans underway to open three more in environmentally sensitive regions of the country.


Dr Wilson said ‘There continues to be formidable challenges to protecting or rehabilitating the rich biodiversity of Indonesia. A key objective of Ecolodges Indonesia is the optimal use of environmental resources that constitute the key elements in tourism development,
maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve biodiversity as well as the natural and cultural heritage.'


'We continuously work towards viable, long-term economic operations which provide socioeconomic benefits of stable employment and income-earning opportunities to host
communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.'


The Ecolodges Indonesia has committed to support the Secretariat of the Convention for Biological Diversity’s primary objectives1 for the International Year of Biodiversity, namely:


(a) Enhance public awareness within Indonesia and in source markets on the importance of conserving biodiversity and on the underlying threats to biodiversity;

(b) Raise awareness of the accomplishments to save biodiversity that have already been realized by communities, governments and partners of Ecolodges Indonesia;

(c) Support the call on individuals, organizations and governments to take the immediate steps needed to halt the loss of biodiversity in Indonesia;

(d) Promote innovative solutions to reduce these threats through sustainable ecotourism operations;

(e) Engage in dialogue among stakeholders within Indonesia for the steps to be taken in the post-2010 period.


As part of its support for the International Year of Biodiversity, Ecolodges Indonesia has finalised a comprehensive new collaboration with the global not-for-profit sustainable development and responsible travel organisation, Sustainable Travel International, to draw
upon, promote and apply respective products and services to enhance their brands, professional product delivery and business models to do good for local communities and
biodiversity conservation (especially wildlife) in Indonesia. (www.sustainabletravelinternational.org)


Furthermore, in support of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, ELI will:


(i) Promote and share resources such as:


• Sustaining life on Earth: How the Convention on Biological Diversity promotes nature and human well-being. www.cbd.int/iyb/doc/prints/cbd-sustain-en.pdf


• The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: TEEB is an initiative to draw attention to the global economic benefits of biodiversity and the costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. www.cbd.int/iyb/doc/prints/teeb-en.pdf


• WAZA's (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Educational Manual: A guide for zoo and aquarium educators, teachers and environmentalists. A resource about
biodiversity in support of the International Year of Biodiversity, 2010 and beyond.
www.cbd.int/iyb/doc/partners/iyb-waza-manual-en.pdf


(ii) Incorporate the International Year of Biodiversity logo and message on letter head, reports and posters www.cbd.int/2010/logo/ and follow the campaign’s Communication Guidelines www.cbd.int/iyb/doc/guidelines/iyb-commguideen.pdf


(iii) Create multi media links on the Ecolodges Indonesia website such as the YouTube Action Now for Life on Earth www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uRTHoLpoLE and
Biodiversity and Climate Change vimeo.com/7965089
(iv) Send our success stories including pictures, artwork, videos and other creations to link to the ELI website and to share with the rest of the world via the UN Secretariat
for the Convention on Biological Diversity www.cbd.int/2010/stories/


As the International Year of Biodiversity is a unique opportunity to increase understanding of the vital role that biodiversity plays in sustaining life on Earth, Ecolodges Indonesia will encourage as many people as possible to participate using the guidelines available at.
www.cbd.int/2010/participate/


For more information, contact:

Steve Noakes stevenoakes@ecolodgesindonesia.com

Winter holiday pound to go further in Asia-28 September, 2009

The Far East offers the best winter sun value for British holidaymakers, a new study shows.

Those offering the best value include destinations such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, according to First Rate Exchange Services, the wholesaler behind the Post Office’s foreign exchange service.

Thailand again tops the barometer of holiday spending costs, but Bali and Malaysia are close contenders – all three significantly cheaper than any of Europe’s winter sun options.

Estimates show that package prices to Thailand could be up to a quarter cheaper than last winter.

The country also benefits from a shopping basket of popular tourist staples priced at just £38.13, which is around one third of the cost in Australia, whose basket totals £104.95 – making it the highest priced of 16 long haul destinations in a Post Office Holiday Costs Barometer.

The Indonesian destination of Bali enjoyed its best year this decade with demand up 54% during the summer for its currency, the rupiah. This makes it the third fastest growing currency in Post Office branches, behind the Kenyan shilling and South African rand.

But a sterling recovery puts Mexico and Jamaica high among the contenders for best value winter sun trips.

Holidaymakers returning to Mexico, hard-hit earlier this year by the swine flu epidemic, can expect over 12% more pesos for their pounds.

Jamaica was the cheapest of the Caribbean destinations surveyed– 21% cheaper than Antigua. With sterling currently worth more than 12% more than a year ago, the Jamaican dollar is close behind the Mexican peso in offering UK tourists the most currency for their pounds this winter, according to the study.

Despite sterling’s slide against the dollar in early 2009, the research shows that almost one third of holidaymakers planning winter trips will head to the US.

With sterling now worth 21% more than at its low point in March, UK tourists can benefit from lower prices in shops and restaurants hit hard by the credit crunch.

First Rate Exchange Services managing director Gordon Gourlay said: “As sterling once again plummets against the euro people will be looking for destinations which offer guaranteed sunshine, combined with prices that don’t break the bank.

“We’re expecting increased demand from foreign currency retailers for more exotic currencies such as Thai Baht this winter.

“Dollar sales should also remain strong as the USA looks set to remain a popular destination. Despite sterling’s continued weakness against the dollar, price cuts made by many holiday operators means a trip across the Atlantic will still offer good value to UK travellers.”

by Phil Davies

New routes launched during the last week

New routes launched during the last week
(Saturday 11 July - Friday 17 July):

17th July 2009 | Route News | No Comments »

Route of the week:
AirAsia Indonesia’s Bali to Perth

AirAsia expects popular demand on the Bali-Perth service to continue and will add a second daily service on the route from 19th August. Pictured right: Andi Ahmad Bastari, (Consulate Republic of Indonesia); David Crawford, (chairman Westralia Airports Corporation); Kathleen Tan, (regional head of AirAsia) and Widi Nugroho, (Air Asia’s marketing & distribution director).

• AirAsia Indonesia now flies to Australia. This week daily flights began from Bali (DPS) to Perth (PER) in Western Australia using an A320. Perth is also served by AirAsia X from Kuala Lumpur but this route is served by the larger A330.

Gradually moving its operations to the US, this week Mexican airline Volaris starts daily flights from Oakland, California to Guadalajara and Toluca.

• Volaris began operations from Oakland (OAK) in California this week with the introduction of low-cost daily flights to both Guadalajara (GDL) and Toluca (TLC). The airline recently began service from Los Angeles to Mexico.

(Photos: Lenka Pekarkova)

• Wizz Air is growing its Prague (PRG) base substantially. This week saw the launch of five new routes for the airline to Liverpool (LPL), Madrid (MAD), Malmo (MMX), Naples (NAP) and Oslo Torp (TRF). This brings to 11 the number of destinations served by Wizz Air from the Czech airport with several more being added before the end of the year. See this week’s airline analysis for more about this operation.

• Lufthansa has added Libreville (LBV) in Gabon to its global network with the start this week of five-weekly flights from Frankfurt (FRA) via Accra. “With the latest addition of Libreville, Lufthansa now offers customers flights to 16 destinations across Africa,” says Karl-Ulrich Garnadt, Executive VP, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines. “We are thus continuing to pursue our strategy of integrating all the key growth markets in Africa into our network.” Last year Lufthansa added Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) and Luanda (the capital of Angola) to its African network.

• Turkish Airlines now serves Toronto (YYZ) non-stop from Istanbul (IST). The Canadian city became the airline’s 117th destination this week when thrice-weekly flights were launched using a mix of A330s and A340s. The route becomes the only scheduled service between Istanbul and Canada and follows the implementation of a revised air services agreement between Canada and Turkey earlier this year.

• Armenian flag-carrier Armavia has introduced weekly (Wednesday) flights from Yerevan (EVN) to Rome Fiumicino (FCO) using an A319.

• Romanian LCC Blue Air has started flights from its seventh Romanian airport in Suceava (SCV). A domestic route to Cluj Napoca (CLJ) will be served six times weekly while Venice (VCE) and Vienna (VIE) will both be served thrice-weekly. Suceava’s only other scheduled flights according to OAG are to Bucharest Otopeni (with Tarom) and to Sibiu (with Carpatair). This is the first time that Blue Air has served the Austrian capital from any of its bases across Romania. Venice Marco Polo is also a new airport for the airline as previously its routes to the city (from Arad and Bucharest Baneasa) used Venice Treviso instead.

• China Eastern has begun connecting Kunming (KMG) with Kathmandu (KTM) in Nepal. Flights will operate thrice weekly using a 737. According to OAG other scheduled flights between China and Nepal include China Southern to Guangzhou (twice-weekly) and Air China to Lhasa (four per week).

more info__>>>New routes launched during the last week (Saturday 11 July - Friday 17 July): | anna.aero

Now Bali wants your blood

DENPASAR – There are conficting reports coming out of Bali about how local authorities are dealing with the outbreak of swine flu on the island. Bali Update (www.balidiscovery.com) says the airport authorities will single out planes from countries confirmed to be infected with the H1N1 virus for special treatment. Upon landing at Bali's airport planes will be taken to a remote aircraft parking area where the plane and its passengers will be sprayed with disinfectant. Passengers will then be disembarked and subjected to thermal scanners. However, the Jakarta Globe is reporting that Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport is now requiring all arriving international air passengers to undergo a blood test. Nyoman Murtiyasa, the head of the airport’s health office, quoted in the Jakarta Globe said that all passengers arriving from overseas would be required to take a blood test at the airport. 

 A tourist from Melbourne, 22-year-old British passport holder Bobbie Masoner, became the country’s first confirmed swine flu patient when she was rushed to Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar shortly after landing a week ago. 

She has since been declared healthy and discharged. Gusti Lanang Suartana, head of medical services at Sanglah, said that Masoner and her family were currently isolated at a house in the Jimbaran area just south of the airport. .Three patients are still being treated at Sanglah hospital, including a 12-year-old Australian whose test results were positive. 

 Murtiyasa said that, initially, the blood test would be prioritised for passengers coming from endemic countries such as Australia, and that their health records would be ascertained while they were still on the plane. “Once they get off the plane, we will ask them to take a blood test,” he said, adding that the results would be ready within 30 minutes. 

 Six Indonesians have also been confirmed as having swine flu, although all but one are overseas and will not be allowed to return until they are declared free of the virus, health ministry officials have said. The sole Indonesian being treated in the country is a pilot currently hospitalised in Jakarta.