Bali: Sinking a slug on Seminyak's 'sunset' strip

Bali: Sinking a slug on Seminyak's 'sunset' strip

Jim Read, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Well, that headline is a misnomer for a start! As few in
Seminyak's expat community seem to get up before midday, and
people rarely go out for a night's entertainment before about
11:30 p.m., perhaps "sunrise strip" would be more appropriate:
Dawn is almost breaking by the time the bars are ready to close.

True to form, Jl. Dhyana Pura (renamed Jl. Abimanyu, a name
that hardly anyone uses) often referred to as "drink street" and
even called Jl. Gado-Gado by some die-hards, doesn't come alive
until well after midnight.

Major changes have occurred since the October 2002 bombing
literally ripped out the heart of Kuta's nightlife. Seminyak, a
few kilometers to the north, has become the focus for many new
cafes and restaurants (on Jl. Laksmana, "eat street") and
bars/clubs (on drink street). This has turned the area from a
laid-back center, popular traditionally with the more bohemian
type of expat, to something that is both frenetic and brash.

The price of drinks does not vary that much from one venue to
another: Local beer is about Rp 15,000 per small bottle, imported
beer Rp 30,000 to Rp 40,000, spirits Rp 30,000 to Rp 50,000,
alcoholic cocktails Rp 40,000 to Rp 50,000 and non-alcoholic
cocktails Rp 20,000 to Rp 30,000.

The main attraction that one bar has over another is therefore
principally its ambience. It may be puzzling for visitors that
some places are full almost every night while others seem to be
devoid of punters.

Before venturing out to the strip, here's a tip: If you're
driving, park on the main road (Jl Raya Seminyak) close to the
turning, for the road is narrow and you won't be able to leave
easily later on. There are plans to turn the road into a one-way
street, but until a crucial section of the route is completed,
lines of traffic going nowhere fast are the order of the day.

So what about all those bars? Once you've reached Jl Dhyana
Pura you can dispense with a map as they are all located within a
200-meter stretch of road, most of them clustered together at the
far end. Broadly speaking, they fall into one of three
categories: theme venues, chic-urban and laid-back, chill-out
joints.

JP's Warung Club is the first venue that most newly arrived
visitors notice and many will stop by for a drink or two before
proceeding onward to the wild cacophony beyond. It also serves
meals and features live acoustic music every night.

Of the theme venues, Santa Fe Music Room and Bar seems as
though it has been there for ages. Think Jaya Pub (although
Seminyak has one of those, too, round the corner), in terms of
decor, clientele and live music. The Bush Telegraph, directly
opposite, offers a no-frills taste of Down Under, the only thing
missing being men in hats with corks dangling from the brim. This
time, think Outback Steakhouse minus the haute cuisine, although
steaks are available and the "tinnies" are really cold.

Baker is a neat cocktail bar themed on Norma Jean, so images
of Marilyn Monroe and other memorabilia are very much in
evidence. Clever use of mirrors somehow makes the place seem much
larger than it really is. Bahiana, opened recently, is painted
throughout in day-glo orange and creates a Caribbean-type
ambience. If the fruit punches they were giving away on opening
night are anything to go by, this could attract a regular
clientele quite soon.

Q Bar and Kudos are located opposite each other on the busiest
and wildest section of the street. Flamboyantly attired Whitney
Houston and Madonna-lookalike drag queens (some of whom are
remarkably good lip-synchers, too) can regularly be seen getting
out of taxis and sashaying to one or other of the bars.

And that's just the customers. 'Nuff said? Straights are more
than welcome here also, and many find the relaxed, live-and-let-
live atmosphere quite refreshing. Both places are packed to the
rafters by 1 a.m. most nights, especially Kudos, with its
powerful sound system and club-like interior. People cross the
road freely from one to the other, which, of course, helps add to
the congestion on the street.

Liquid and Oxygen are really urban bars -- pristine white and
minimalist with cool, blue fluorescent lighting -- and would not
look out of place in New York or London. Both Spy Bar, which
attracts big crowds, and Space, which has plenty, but doesn't,
are chic and sophisticated, with decor to match.

Tz Bar is on three levels, with an air-conditioned pool room
in the middle and a recently launched, tempting menu of
Vietnamese food available for those feeling peckish. It is also
the place to go for hip-hop music and R&B.

Of the more laid-back venues, Bali Globe has a really New Age
feel to it, attracting plenty of aging hippies, although it can
pump out music at blistering volumes, too. A Bar has been a
longtime attraction at the near end of Jl Dhyana Pura, heavily
promoting Absolut vodka and popular with some of the more
established Seminyak expats, who observe with disdain the wide-
eyed tourists and nonchalant nouveaus walking past.

So, where do people go when drink street venues close down?
Many are exhausted enough to go home, but equally, many are by
now well and truly fired up for clubbing, for which there is only
one real cure in Bali -- a trip to Double Six, a few streets
away.

Following its recent makeover, Double Six has been
transformed. The main dance area has been totally enclosed and
air-conditioned, the bar areas remodeled and a new sound system
installed.

The entire place now has a sleek, modern feel to it, combining
the sophistication of a bang-up-to-date, city-center disco with
the attractions of a beachside club, complete with 48-meter
bungee jump and chill-out area with seating around the pool
beneath.

Attracting some of the best DJs, both local and international,
many of Indonesia's clubbing cognoscenti previously rated Double
Six as one of the best clubs in the country: Its preeminence must
surely be unassailable now.

Just recently, things have not been all they should on Jl.
Dhyana Pura. Local Balinese have been complaining about what they
feel is excessively loud, late-night music that thumps out from
the more raucous venues, and two of the adjacent banjar (local
community organizations) have expressed differences over the way
that this problem should be handled.

On a recent Friday night, the pecalang (traditional Balinese
security personnel) were out in force on the street, which meant
that the volume on sound systems was turned down so low they
could barely be heard inside the venues, let alone on the street.

A local, the son of a convicted drug dealer, was also stabbed
recently in the street by a foreigner over a seemingly trivial
matter.

All of this has had the effect of producing a kind of tension
on the street that simply did not exist a few years ago. Has the
area been overexploited, or is it simply the inevitable
consequence of the free market at work?

Maybe there is something after all in the way that some of the
more devout Balinese Hindus rationalized what happened in Kuta
that fateful night in October 2002: The Gods were unhappy at the
excesses that such high-intensity tourist development had
produced, and this was a warning sign for all.