Aquaria Bali Resort, CandidasaJl Puri Bagus, Samuh, Candi Dasa, East Bali  Aquaria Bali Resort, Candidasa +62 363 41127

Aquaria's monthly blog

UPDATES, STORIES, REVIEWS AND MORE...

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It's now Bali's 'summer season' which spans across May to September, throughout the year. September is a month that both tourists, and locals alike, love for the bright sunny days, lower humidity levels in comparison to the wet seasons, and the reduction in rainfall. This month is known as 'the dry season' - one of Bali's many monthly 'seasons', it is a very popular time for tourists to explore all around Bali. Bali is the place to be away from the Australian winter and by September it is less crowded as the European holidaymakers from the various European countries make their way home. September is the ideal time for you to come to Aquaria Eco Resort Bali, to explore East Bali,and also enjoy the peace and harmony, and maybe a romantic, beautiful candelit dinner by the waves in Candidasa. 

 

 

  

 

Now is the time to quieten down after the mad rush of the high season, and after the Australian school holidays & the European holidays are over. Now is the time to think about yourself, nurture yourself, and take time out. The perfect time to learn or practice yoga, and take time for yourself with healing massages, reflexology....

You can do all this on the ocean at Aquaria, you don't need to go to Ubud to find it.. Be nurtured, in the healthy ocean and chemical free environment; be nurtured at Aquaria, with it's natural stone & ionised pool, organic food, fantastic daily changing menus, lots of vegetarian and vegan choices, new ocean splash dining terrace with local fish and prawn menus, and BBQ nights.....

 

 

 

 


Yoga sessions, retreats, and fully inclusive packages are available in September at Aquaria ( check out 'Yoga at Aquaria' found on our website on aquariabali.com).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

from owner, Jeni : 

 

 

I recently read this “last word” in the Ubud Magazine, from Mark Ulyseas : 

“In each one of us lies a pure being, unfettered by the irrationality of society, untouched by the sameness of the group, one that thinks and lives in a manner that celebrates the self, one that defies the habitual motions encapsulated in our everyday mundane existence.

Why are we afraid to be ourselves in every sense of the meaning? Why are we afraid to be an outsider, away from the group mindset?

Perhaps it is time to unchain the “lunatic” within us to become what we were supposed to be when we were born – truly free pure beings.”

- Mark Ulyseas, philosopher, writer (Ubud).

 

 

 

I realise, with a surprise, that I am the most fettered person I know, everyone else seems to be about doing their thing, their way, careers, learning, family, journey'ing over the sea, and under the sea, or floating in the sky - not waiting for anyone’s approval, just having fun.

When I allowed myself to be available in the moment, for this project, Aquaria, I made myself available to all the mindful travellers who would come thru Aquaria, all those needing help on the journey of life, but  I forgot to make myself available for myself!  Because I thought that would be enough. Yet, after 12 years I find that it is not enough.  A guest recently asked me..”……. and what are you doing for yourself?”...... This was quite amazing, as most people think and assume that I am already doing so much. They ask questions about the  “sea change” –and I tell them about  letting go of worldly things, leaving New Zealand and coming to set up in Bali, caring for guests, planning and designing menus, designing projects.  But in reality I am only waiting..... waiting to be of service, but in other words it could be said that  I am allowing myself to be what others expect me to be -where people expect me to be. Therefore and actually, I am the one being pulled around by the irrationality of society, by the fickle nature of the tourism industry; a slave  instead of a master.  If “being available” was enough, then to be confined within this Aquaria would be my Utopia.  I would have given up searching and be content. But I realise that I have gradually forsaken my spiritual calling, I have given up the idea of being an artist, or writer, I have given up on my dream of seeing the world because now I hate travelling, (I have done so much back and forth in the past 12 years), and I have let go of healing, and the  mission I was called for …..Why?  ....Am I  discontent because it is no longer enough? because the travellers are now not so mindful, or because we have become a business? (even though we are not like any other business. ).   We still have caring and eco principles, but now we offer meat on the menu and internet, and yet more alcoholic selections.  But where are the deep and meaningful discussions; where are the people who truly want change; who want an eco resort;  who want clean and safe food within a safe environment;  where are those people who want what we offer; where are the people who understand our philosophy and our difference?   It seems to me now that everything is about money; we are in a price war all the time, and the ones who used to come are trying elsewhere, and the ones who are looking for us, have found elsewhere. We have dulled down, dumbed ourselves down, to fit in with the group mindset; being quiet in our opinions to make sure we don’t offend, to fit in with "everybody", (even though we know we can’t please everyone,);  and yet worrying about the future, living in fear of a bad review, or what someone may choose to say that may have a negative effect on our ratings, or our future business.......... And so I  realise that I am the one who has  put myself in a box, inside a boundary 50m x 25m. I am the centre of this cosmos, this world that is Aquaria, Bali.

(Just like the people in the village of Tenganan nearby, where they live within their 500 sq metre boundary, choosing to continue their own traditions and live their own lives, but who now find that they have to exist in the 21st century, they are now also tainted by tourism,  mobile phones, tv, and the $ ... )

I am always thinking about another project, how to win guests, how to please them, what to do to change what we have;  never feeling that we do enough, always something wrong with one room or another. What can we do that is more special, more special than who we already are?. What can we do to make our place and our food better?  To be seen not as mundane and ordinary, but special enough to choose for a birthday occasion, or a last night celebration ………

Not doing enough, being enough, always something wrong. We hear we are too expensive now, or we hear that we are good value for money. We hear that our food is fabulous, and yet we see guests going out to eat; we hear that other places are good or bad, we see guests sick from others food and we take care of them. We hear that we must renovate the rooms; we hear that we must stop the sulphur from smelling; clean the ocean pools; repair our beanbags, make the coral grow quicker; clean the ocean, bring the sand back; stop the insects; kill the rats; help the dogs;  change the attitude of the transport drivers; stop the rubbish in Bali. It is not humanly possible to do all this! why havn’t I realised this, and accepted that I can only do what I can do in my small world?   It’s often more than we can cope with, being rocked around by others emotions all the time, the undulating up and downs - continually we try to maintain equilibrium and balance.   Fear, like a fungus creeps out and fingers everything in its path, creating unrest, and unease; causing friction, and breakdown. But only if we let it! ......... And yet only last month I talked about not being affected by others! and staying perfect in our own eyes. So where is my lesson now!  What have I learnt.?

 

 

 

Now I can see that the fettering has been done by me, no-one has "fettered" me. I have put myself in this box, playing the waiting game, playing the fear game, I would be a lot less reactive if I was doing something I loved, in a place I loved to be in, with loving people around me.

What “import” this place has assumed, what ego it has, or I have, when it is only a speck in the world. Yet, this speck, it is a family, it is a philosophy, it is our way of life - not just a hotel, it is a cosmos, within the cosmos of Bali, within the cosmos of the world...... When our hearts are in it, and we are in harmony and this spreads out and is felt by others,  then it is not just a hotel:   Aquaria is alive, it has soul…. and THAT is the difference that you can feel when you walk in....... and then when this is enough, and when this is felt, then it is Utopia, and we do not need anything else or to be anywhere else, because we are fulfilled right here.

Our mission:  To make a difference in people’s lives, by everything that we do, to everyone we meet, that means not just to guests, but to the staff also.

Getting out of “re-action” was my lesson last month, and I have handled it badly this month, and since I have realised the lesson, I have been worse at it or better at it !  (depending on your point of view). I am now re-acting at everything!, I am  “re-active”…. I feel like a nuclear reactor – active, explosive, waiting to go off. Which means that I am the re-actor for change. I am the fire, the earthquake or the tsunami, that upsets all, to make a difference. I bring about change for those that don’t want it, and yet I also know that the change must start within myself…

- Jeni  

 

 

 

 

“You, yourself, as much as anyone else in the entire Universe, deserve your love and affection

- Buddha

 Much love, 

- The Aquaria Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Aquaria Eco Resort, Candi Dasa Bali 2007 - 2023