Bali: Sinking a slug on Seminyak's 'sunset' strip<\/p>\n
Jim Read, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Well, that headline is a misnomer for a start! As few in
\nSeminyak's expat community seem to get up before midday, and
\npeople rarely go out for a night's entertainment before about
\n11:30 p.m., perhaps \"sunrise strip\" would be more appropriate:
\nDawn is almost breaking by the time the bars are ready to close.<\/p>\n
True to form, Jl. Dhyana Pura (renamed Jl. Abimanyu, a name
\nthat hardly anyone uses) often referred to as \"drink street\" and
\neven called Jl. Gado-Gado by some die-hards, doesn't come alive
\nuntil well after midnight.<\/p>\n
Major changes have occurred since the October 2002 bombing
\nliterally ripped out the heart of Kuta's nightlife. Seminyak, a
\nfew kilometers to the north, has become the focus for many new
\ncafes and restaurants (on Jl. Laksmana, \"eat street\") and
\nbars\/clubs (on drink street). This has turned the area from a
\nlaid-back center, popular traditionally with the more bohemian
\ntype of expat, to something that is both frenetic and brash.<\/p>\n
The price of drinks does not vary that much from one venue to
\nanother: Local beer is about Rp 15,000 per small bottle, imported
\nbeer Rp 30,000 to Rp 40,000, spirits Rp 30,000 to Rp 50,000,
\nalcoholic cocktails Rp 40,000 to Rp 50,000 and non-alcoholic
\ncocktails Rp 20,000 to Rp 30,000.<\/p>\n
The main attraction that one bar has over another is therefore
\nprincipally its ambience. It may be puzzling for visitors that
\nsome places are full almost every night while others seem to be
\ndevoid of punters.<\/p>\n
Before venturing out to the strip, here's a tip: If you're
\ndriving, park on the main road (Jl Raya Seminyak) close to the
\nturning, for the road is narrow and you won't be able to leave
\neasily later on. There are plans to turn the road into a one-way
\nstreet, but until a crucial section of the route is completed,
\nlines of traffic going nowhere fast are the order of the day.<\/p>\n
So what about all those bars? Once you've reached Jl Dhyana
\nPura you can dispense with a map as they are all located within a
\n200-meter stretch of road, most of them clustered together at the
\nfar end. Broadly speaking, they fall into one of three
\ncategories: theme venues, chic-urban and laid-back, chill-out
\njoints.<\/p>\n
JP's Warung Club is the first venue that most newly arrived
\nvisitors notice and many will stop by for a drink or two before
\nproceeding onward to the wild cacophony beyond. It also serves
\nmeals and features live acoustic music every night.<\/p>\n
Of the theme venues, Santa Fe Music Room and Bar seems as
\nthough it has been there for ages. Think Jaya Pub (although
\nSeminyak has one of those, too, round the corner), in terms of
\ndecor, clientele and live music. The Bush Telegraph, directly
\nopposite, offers a no-frills taste of Down Under, the only thing
\nmissing being men in hats with corks dangling from the brim. This
\ntime, think Outback Steakhouse minus the haute cuisine, although
\nsteaks are available and the \"tinnies\" are really cold.<\/p>\n
Baker is a neat cocktail bar themed on Norma Jean, so images
\nof Marilyn Monroe and other memorabilia are very much in
\nevidence. Clever use of mirrors somehow makes the place seem much
\nlarger than it really is. Bahiana, opened recently, is painted
\nthroughout in day-glo orange and creates a Caribbean-type
\nambience. If the fruit punches they were giving away on opening
\nnight are anything to go by, this could attract a regular
\nclientele quite soon.<\/p>\n
Q Bar and Kudos are located opposite each other on the busiest
\nand wildest section of the street. Flamboyantly attired Whitney
\nHouston and Madonna-lookalike drag queens (some of whom are
\nremarkably good lip-synchers, too) can regularly be seen getting
\nout of taxis and sashaying to one or other of the bars.<\/p>\n
And that's just the customers. 'Nuff said? Straights are more
\nthan welcome here also, and many find the relaxed, live-and-let-
\nlive atmosphere quite refreshing. Both places are packed to the
\nrafters by 1 a.m. most nights, especially Kudos, with its
\npowerful sound system and club-like interior. People cross the
\nroad freely from one to the other, which, of course, helps add to
\nthe congestion on the street.<\/p>\n
Liquid and Oxygen are really urban bars -- pristine white and
\nminimalist with cool, blue fluorescent lighting -- and would not
\nlook out of place in New York or London. Both Spy Bar, which
\nattracts big crowds, and Space, which has plenty, but doesn't,
\nare chic and sophisticated, with decor to match.<\/p>\n
Tz Bar is on three levels, with an air-conditioned pool room
\nin the middle and a recently launched, tempting menu of
\nVietnamese food available for those feeling peckish. It is also
\nthe place to go for hip-hop music and R&B.<\/p>\n
Of the more laid-back venues, Bali Globe has a really New Age
\nfeel to it, attracting plenty of aging hippies, although it can
\npump out music at blistering volumes, too. A Bar has been a
\nlongtime attraction at the near end of Jl Dhyana Pura, heavily
\npromoting Absolut vodka and popular with some of the more
\nestablished Seminyak expats, who observe with disdain the wide-
\neyed tourists and nonchalant nouveaus walking past.<\/p>\n
So, where do people go when drink street venues close down?
\nMany are exhausted enough to go home, but equally, many are by
\nnow well and truly fired up for clubbing, for which there is only
\none real cure in Bali -- a trip to Double Six, a few streets
\naway.<\/p>\n
Following its recent makeover, Double Six has been
\ntransformed. The main dance area has been totally enclosed and
\nair-conditioned, the bar areas remodeled and a new sound system
\ninstalled.<\/p>\n
The entire place now has a sleek, modern feel to it, combining
\nthe sophistication of a bang-up-to-date, city-center disco with
\nthe attractions of a beachside club, complete with 48-meter
\nbungee jump and chill-out area with seating around the pool
\nbeneath.<\/p>\n
Attracting some of the best DJs, both local and international,
\nmany of Indonesia's clubbing cognoscenti previously rated Double
\nSix as one of the best clubs in the country: Its preeminence must
\nsurely be unassailable now.<\/p>\n
Just recently, things have not been all they should on Jl.
\nDhyana Pura. Local Balinese have been complaining about what they
\nfeel is excessively loud, late-night music that thumps out from
\nthe more raucous venues, and two of the adjacent banjar (local
\ncommunity organizations) have expressed differences over the way
\nthat this problem should be handled.<\/p>\n
On a recent Friday night, the pecalang (traditional Balinese
\nsecurity personnel) were out in force on the street, which meant
\nthat the volume on sound systems was turned down so low they
\ncould barely be heard inside the venues, let alone on the street.<\/p>\n
A local, the son of a convicted drug dealer, was also stabbed
\nrecently in the street by a foreigner over a seemingly trivial
\nmatter.<\/p>\n
All of this has had the effect of producing a kind of tension
\non the street that simply did not exist a few years ago. Has the
\narea been overexploited, or is it simply the inevitable
\nconsequence of the free market at work?<\/p>\n
Maybe there is something after all in the way that some of the
\nmore devout Balinese Hindus rationalized what happened in Kuta
\nthat fateful night in October 2002: The Gods were unhappy at the
\nexcesses that such high-intensity tourist development had
\nproduced, and this was a warning sign for all.<\/p>",
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