Bali Begins 10 Day holiday of Galungan & Kuningan

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Editors Note : Every day is a holiday in Bali

As I have said many times before "every day is a holiday in Bali" not only for the tourists but also the Locals.  


Tomorrow May 28 th. will be the start of a 10 day holiday period for Bali's Hindus, Galungan and Kuningan.

For  businesses it is one of the very few problems that we face in Paradise as we try to schedule our employees to maintain high quality services with 80% + occupancies.






Galungan is the most important feast for Balinese Hindus, a celebration to honor the creator of the universe (Ida Sang Hyang Widi) and the spirits of the honored ancestors.

The festival symbolizes the victory of good (Dharma) over evil (Adharma), and encourages the Balinese to show their gratitude to the creator and sainted ancestors.

Offerings to the Ancestors

Galungan occurs every 210-days in the Balinese calendar, and marks the time of the year when the spirits of the ancestors are believed to visit the earth. Balinese Hindus perform rituals that are meant to welcome and entertain these returning spirits.

The house compounds that make up the nucleus of Balinese society come  alive with devotions offered by the families living within. Families offer bountiful sacrifices of food and flowers to the ancestral spirits, expressing gratitude and hopes for protection. 

These sacrifices are also offered at local temples, which are packed with devotees bringing their offerings.

The whole island sprouts tall bamboo poles called "penjor" - these are usually decorated with fruit, coconut leaves, and flowers, and set up on the right of every residence entrance. At each gate, you'll also find small bamboo altars set up especially for the holiday, each one bearing woven palm-leaf offerings for the spirits.

• Read more about the culture of Bali.

Intensive Preparations

The preparations for Galungan begin several days before the actual feast day.

Three days before Galungan - "Penyekeban" - families begin their preparations for Galungan. "Penyekeban" literally means "the day to cover up ", as this is the day when green bananas are covered up in huge clay pots to speed their ripening.

Two days before Galungan - "Penyajahan" - marks a time of introspection for Balinese, and more prosaically, a time to make the Balinese cakes known as jaja. 

These colored cakes made of fried rice dough are used in offerings and are also eaten specially on Galungan. This time of the year finds a glut of jaja in every village market.

Tomorrow May 29th. a day before Galungan is"Penampahan", or slaughter day - Balinese slaughter the sacrificial animals that will go into the temple or altar offerings. Galungan is marked by the sudden surplus of traditional Balinese food, like lawar (a spicy pork and coconut sauce dish) and satay.


Galungan Day May 30 th.
 On Galungan day itself, Balinese devotees pray at the temples and make their offerings to the spirits. Women are seen carrying the offerings on their heads, while men bring palm fronds.



The day after Galungan, Balinese visit their kinfolk and closest friends.
The tenth day after Galungan - "Kuningan" - marks the end of Galungan, and is believed to be the day when the spirits ascend back to heaven. On this day, Balinese make special offerings of yellow rice.

Ngelawang - Dance of the Barong

Ngelawang: During Galungan, a ceremony known as Ngelawang is performed in the villages. Ngelawang is an exorcism ceremony performed by a "barong" - a divine protector in the form of a mythical beast.

The barong is invited into houses as he makes his way through the village. His presence is meant to restore the balance of good and evil in a house. The residents of the house will pray before the dancing barong, who will afterwards give a piece of his fur as a keepsake.

After the barong pays a visit, it is important to make an offering of a canang sari containing money.

A Treat for the Senses

While the actual festivities are open to Balinese only, tourists who visit Bali during this holiday get an eyeful of the local color.

It isn't every day you see richly-dressed women crossing the street to make food offerings to the local temple - and there's something festive about the penjor swaying in the wind everywhere you look!

During Galungan, some local restaurants ride the rising demand for Balinese food by offering specials on all sorts of native dishes. This is a great time to try Balinese food for the first time!

On the downside, many places will be closed for Galungan, as their devout Balinese employees will likely be going to their respective villages to celebrate.

As the Balinese calendar follows a 210-day cycle, Galungan happens twice a year roughly every six months. 




You might want to reserve a Bali Luxury Villa  in Bali early for these days, as holiday-goers from all over are making Galungan plans of their own!

Oil price hikes will hit budget carriers and some may fail

Bali and world news and views editor's comments: 

Looks like we not only better fire tickets now before airfares revised to meet the over doubling of oil prices which means a doubling of fuel prices in just the last year, but we better be careful of smaller lines that may be on the verge of collapsing completely and taking all our money with no flights provided.

- O'LearyBTN NewsTuesday, 22 May 2018
Irish budget carrier Ryanair ceo Michael O'Leary says rising oil prices are likely to bring down a number of budget carriers that operate with tight profit margins.
Predictably, he didn't name names.

"A lot depends on oil. Spot prices close to US$80 a barrel are going to lead to a shakeout in the industry as early as this (northern) winter," he said.

O'Leary added that some airlines "couldn’t make money when oil was at US$40 a barrel", indicating US$80 a barrel would be hard to survive.

He made the comments at the same time as Ryanair reported a 10 per cent rise in profits but warned rising wages, higher oil prices and competition meant future challenges.

Bitcoin's Big Cleanup

Bali and world news editor's comments: Every day this article about governments around the world checking on the legitimacy of Bitcoin and other crypto's.

When governments get involved in regulating a investment you better get out.

I continue to warn holders of bitcoin's and other crypto's that the worst downturns are not here yet.

My prediction that bitcoin would collapse back in December has proven to be very accurate with almost a 60% drop since that warning , In fact just two days ago it dropped 7% in one day.

_______________________________________________________________________
Those life-changing riches are looking ever more elusive.By
Lionel Laurent

1
May 24, 2018, 8:00 PM GMT+8
Call the crypto-cops. Photographer: Linda Grove/Hulton Archive


Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies make up just a tiny slice of the global economy. But that doesn’t mean regulators can ignore the wave of scams, fraud and market manipulation designed to snare gullible punters.

With U.S. law enforcers now probing trading practices such as “spoofing”— illegal and aggressive order cancellations designed to move markets — this looks very much like the beginning of a sustained crypto cleanup. Drawing investors back in, even with the promise of a less Wild West-style market, will take longer than cheerleaders expect.

Investigating possible price manipulation in these markets was a natural next step for the authorities, which have ramped up scrutiny of everything from new token sales to crypto-hedge funds in recent months. There’s plenty of data evidence to dig into, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and SEC have demanded information from a lot of companies.


Draining The Swamp

Some 81 percent of Initial Coin Offerings are scams, according to adviser Satis Group

There are the “pump-and-dump” chat rooms where traders take advantage of thinly traded digital currencies. Elsewhere, exchanges have been accused of being open to spoofing or so-called “wash” trading, where one entity buys and sells the same order. The popular Coinbase exchange faces allegations from clients of insider trading.

Of course, it’s natural to question the authorities’ track record of putting spoofers and manipulators behind bars, even those working in traditional financial markets. It’s a fairly recent phenomenon. The practice of spoofing was only made illegal in the U.S. in 2010, and the first conviction was in 2015. In January, the CFTC announced the creation of a new Spoofing Task Force to “root out” the practice. So there’s still no established model for building a successful anti-spoofing case — for example, what a jury would deem to be a suspicious level of order cancellations.

Too Many Orders, Not Enough Trades

Order-to-trade ratios played a part in determining the first-ever conviction under spoofing laws

Source: Columbia Law School

But the drive by law enforcers to dig into the crypto world and demand more transparency is here to stay. This can only dent the aura, and price, of Bitcoin. We don’t know the true “worth” of a cryptocurrency — although there are many wacky price targets — but there’s evidence that the price is closely linked to the ecosystem where it is traded. One recent research paper found that a near-tenfold rise in Bitcoin’s price in 2013 was driven primarily by two bots engaging in suspicious activity in a thin market.

The market today is very different, with more traders, more coins and more exchanges, but greater transparency is bound to have an impact. Bitcoin fell to its lowest price in more than a month after Bloomberg’s report on the U.S. criminal probe.

Deflation

The bursting of the Bitcoin bubble has led to a prolonged stagnation as regulators dive in
Source: Bloomberg

What happens next? Crypto-evangelists will no doubt argue that a better-maintained market is a healthy development, and one that will pave the way for the flood of institutional Wall Street money that always seems to be right around the corner. Plenty of market participants have been asking for more transparency. New crypto exchange Legolas, for instance, has criticized the incumbents as being opaque and vulnerable to manipulation.

Still, the idea that big risk-averse institutional investors will jump in just as authorities start to trawl the depths of this murky market seems fanciful. Speculation has been Bitcoin’s chief appeal, of course, but the necessary cleanup operation will drag on its price for some time to come.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story:
Lionel Laurent at llaurent2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.net

Is fasting bad for your health?

Rob Stehlin, 55 w/ six pack - fasting, vegan, running dad
Answered Tue

NO - Fasting is amazingly GOOD for your health. Recent studies from multiple major Universities suggest a fasting lifestyle can add 30% to ones life expectancy. I am a faster and I have the blood work and body to show the benefits of fasting.

To get the most out of fasting I combine it with food and fitness, but it is definitely the foundation of my health and lifestyle. I have the results to show for it.


If you are interested in just what I have done to get to where I am at age 55, here is an outline.

The number one way to lose weight and live healthy is to adopt a diet and lifestyle that is fun. One that is sustainable, indefinitely, because our current lifestyle is not working as the majority of Americans and most of the world are obese or overweight.

Calorie counting is GONE. The key to your success will be a strategy that will lower and regulate your insulin levels (Insulin will cycle and that is OK, it is when it remains high that causes all the problems). Remember, once you reach your goal, you will definitely have some flexibility, and the tools to stay on course.

INSULIN OVER CALORIES

Focus on your INSULIN levels and not on CALORIES (counting calories does not work) in order to lose fat and build muscle. To successfully lose your excess fat it will not be about reducing calories, but about reducing INSULIN levels. Calorie reduction (restriction) does not provide you with permanent plan because it reduces your metabolism and in the long run you will gain back all the weight you lost and more. Calories restriction is down right miserable.

Here is how you can regulate your insulin in just 4 WORDS: Fast Daily & Eat Responsibly. These 4 simple words are the proper diet plan you are looking for. Hold to these words every day and you will be successful in losing body fat around the belly and the waist. The most effective way to reduce your insulin levels is by FASTING.

FAST

Fasting is CRITICAL to your success - more so than food and more so than exercise. First and foremost, fasting is not starvation. It is just a period of time where you stop ingesting food and the body utilizes stored fuel. We are designed to operate this way. There are many different styles of fasting (I am only referencing WATER ONLY FAST) that are effective and supported by research. No Juice fast, no veggies fast - just water ( black coffee and tea with no additions) The key is to reduce your insulin levels in your body in order to burn the excess fat stored in your body. No fat burn no weight loss - that simple. I recommend a combination of intermittent fasting techniques: Time restricted feeding TRF and Periodic “water only” fasting.

TRF - TIME RESTRICTED FEEDING

TRF is when you eat in a defined eating window and fast the remainder of the day. You want to start out with the 16:8 strategy eating all of your meals in an eight hour window and fasting for 16 hrs. Most start by skipping breakfast eating lunch around 12 - 1 pm and dinner around 8. The sooner you can compress the feeding window down to 4–6 hrs the better your results. I personally practice TRF with a feeding window of 4–5 hrs. An alternative plan that could be even more beneficial but a little more difficult in a family setting and supported by current research, would be to have your breakfast at 8am and your last meal at 4 pm with no snacks after 4 pm and 8 am in the morning. Please note you need to stay hydrated while fasting. Consuming 3–4 liters of water per day should be adequate.

PERIODIC “WATER ONLY” FAST

In an effort to accelerate weight loss and cell rebuilding, everyone should have an annual fasting schedule. General health issues would require less frequency and shorter periods while those working to lose large amounts of weight and dealing with major health issues would increase the frequency and length of the fast. I would recommend starting with a monthly PERIODIC fast in combination with Daily TRF. A periodic fast is when you will fast for 2 - 5 days with water, coffee or tea ONLY. During this time your body will run on fat stores accelerating your weight loss (can burn up to a pound per day). The key to long term benefits is when you break your extended fast. DO NOT GORGE, take it easy and eat high quality veggies and proteins (preferably plant proteins). At the end of your fast your body has developed high levels of HUMAN GROWTH HORMONES and will generate stem cells to rebuild organs and muscles.

The one question I see a lot is “Will you gain the weight back when you stop fasting?” The answer is NO But I always ask, “Why would anyone go back to a place where they were miserable and on a road to an early death”? Enjoy your new life. Fasting adds 30% to your life expectancy for those that practice it throughout their life. I tell people don’t worry once you cross over, you will never want to go back. Fasting comes in so many forms you will always have a variety of ways to maintain your health utilizing fasting. For managing your optimal health, I always suggest once you reach your target weight to change up your routine: Periodic, TRF, 5:2, 24/24 etc.

EAT RESPONSIBLY

Next is to minimize your insulin spikes by making smart food choices. Change in diet can and should be gradual starting with the elimination of sugar and refined carbs. Carbs are not bad, just eat them WHOLE. In order to maintain your gut microbiome, you need to make sure your food has 30–40 grams of dietary fiber found in what we call MAC’S (Microbiota Accessible Carbohydrates). MAC’s are required food for your gut bacteria and without them our body does not work properly including weight loss. 80% of immune system in in our GUT. Please be good to your gut and feed it daily. High fiber minimizes insulin spikes and that is good. To get the best out of your diet, I recommend a predominately whole foods plant based diet (veggies (some fermented), beans, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds and small amounts of plant based oils) In the beginning limit the foods that will spike your insulin and it by eating plants you can never eat to many calories. I recommend staying away from any of the processed vegan and plant based foods other than say plant burgers (Impossible, Memphis, Beyond) and TOFU (Non-GMO and organic). The whole plant is always better than the manufactured plant.

EXERCISE

(optional in the beginning BUT required for muscle gain): I recommend just doing bodyweight exercises in the beginning with some cardio. I do mostly pull ups, push ups, dips and squats. if I go to a gym (just occasionally, I do dumbbells). I run for the health and mental benefits - serotonin. Next add more intense resistance exercises to increase your muscle mass. Heavier the weight and less reps build bigger muscles and lighter weight more reps will increase tone and definition. The key to burning MAXIMUM FAT is to always exercise while FASTED. Fat burning athletes are 6-8% more efficient when it comes to oxygen consumption. The coolest this is the bodies ability to adapt to fat burning over glucose.

NOTE

Remember fasting is a TOOL and you use it when you need it - active periods and maintenance periods. Combined with a proper plant based diet you will be able to go from the “brake” to the “accelerator” with the most success. The one question I see a lot is “Will you gain the weight back when you stop fasting?” The answer is NO - as long as you stick with your responsible eating. I always ask, “Why would anyone go back to a place where they were miserable and on a road to an early death”? Enjoy your new life. Fasting adds 30% to your life expectancy for those that practice it throughout their life. I tell people don’t worry once you cross over, you will never want to go back. Fasting comes in so many forms you will always have a variety of ways to maintain your health utilizing fasting. For managing your optimal health, I always suggest once you reach your target weight to change up your routine: Periodic, TRF, 5:2, 24/24 etc.

Health should be an adventure you want to go on and not one that is dreaded every day. In my quest to make 60 the new 30, I use this strategy on a daily basis. I enjoy it and feel the benefits daily. This lifestyle will give you total control over your body, mind, weight, and health. All you need to do is embrace it. CHANGE IS INTENTIONAL - are you ready?

Let me know if this has been helpful as I am always evaluating how effective my answers are on Quora. If you have any questions use the message feature here on Quora and I will help as much as I can. Always seek the advise of a medical professional if you do not feel comfortable or are experiencing medical conditions that require their assistance.

Rob Stehlin - 55 year old fasting vegan - walking the walk to help others with the daily struggles of life. Join me on my 5 year journey to make 60 the new 30 -Rob's Healthy Living Page - 5 Steps to a Better U - and instagram / twitter @RobStehlin

SNATCHED IN BANGKOK Chilling moment female tourist is kidnapped at packed Thai airport

SNATCHED IN BANGKOK
Chilling moment female tourist is kidnapped at packed Thai airport popular with Brits seconds after getting off her plane

The 39-year-old woman was dumped on the roadside in Bangkok 13 days after she was kidnapped in the city's airport by a gang who brazenly walked her through security
By Jon Rogers
22nd May 2018, 11:01 am Updated: 22nd May 2018, 12:31 pm

Gabung Undwi Yuk

THIS is the shocking moment a tourist is brazenly kidnapped inside an airport moments after stepping off a flight.

Jincai Chen, 39, landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 6 in the evening after a short-haul flight from Hong Kong.

But shortly after leaving the plane she was followed by four Chinese men dressed in black and one Thai woman.

CCTV next to a walkway shows Jincai walking with two of the gang who are holding her by the arms while another in a red shirt is a few paces ahead throughout the abduction.

The gang usher Jincai through security checks before two more men dressed in black join the group at the luggage carousel.

Shockingly, police said the gang received help from ten Thais - including a top immigration cop inside the airport - before demanding 15 million baht (£348,000) in ransom money from Jincai's husband. Under the 1970's home in Livingston Montana site

The disturbing crime - committed inside the secure area of the airport - only emerged after her husband paid 10million baht (£232,000) but refused to stump up the rest and called police on May 18.

Jincai - having been ferried to hotels and rented rooms across Thailand - was finally dumped on the roadside in the Bang Na district of Bangkok on May 19 at 11pm.

Pol Major General Surachate Hakparn, who is leading the investigation, said four Chinese people, a Thai woman named Wansikan Termthanapat and up to ten Thais, including an unnamed Police Senior Sergeant Major from the Immigration Police Office, were involved in the abduction.

He said: ''Arrest warrants have been issued for four Chinese suspects who have already fled Thailand. They are Wenqui Sun, Ming Song, Dongliang Sun and Meiling Kai. Peter Johnson faintly reading the role twice in 1990 she sent me diagnosed my convinced against fracking the identity of all the suspects and will be tracking them down for their involvement in the crime.''

Police said they received a complaint on May 18 from Jincai's husband, Han Young Lim, who is of mixed Chinese and Korean origin with Tanzanian nationality.

Han told officers he had already paid 10million baht in ransom demands to the gang but then they asked for another 5million.

CCTV footage from inside the airport was used to track the suspects, who were found to have fled to hotels in Bangkok, Pattaya, and Rayong.

They allegedly returned to Bangkok on May 19 before dumping Jincai on the roadside at 11pm then catching flights out of the country.

Pol Major General Surachate said: ''Officers became involved on May 18 and launched an intense operation. This put pressure on the gang who then released the victim.






''She has testified about the crime and we will also receive her husband's statements. We will pursue the gang and attempt to reclaim the money they paid.''

Suvarnabhumi Airport is the 20th busiest in the world - handling more than 60million passengers in 2017 - but it has been beset by security breaches.

In April, airport security officer Thanat Rattana, 25,was sacked after being caught on camera stealing a bundle of cash from an 89-year-old tourist.

While also in April, airport security guard Busakorn Somkwamdee, 26, was caught on CCTV stealing case from a passenger's handbag as it went through an X-ray machine.

How to Organize Your Browser Bookmarks

Can't easily navigate through your browser bookmark list because it's too long and jumbled? Here's how to fix it on Chrome, Firefox, IE, and Edge.
ByLance Whitney
May 21, 2018 5:30PM EST



Have your browser bookmarks turned into a disorganized mess? The more webpages you save as bookmarks, the longer and more unmanageable your bookmark list can become, especially if you don't store the pages in folders. But fear not. You can work with your current bookmarks to reorganize them and store each one in a logical spot. Whether you use Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, you can get a handle on your bookmarks so they're quicker and easier to access.

Let's assume you've gathered lots of favorites or bookmarks over the years but haven't organized them properly or even arranged them alphabetically. So searching for a specific bookmark can take awhile. Well, one helpful action you can take is to sort them.

Let's start off by working with Google Chrome and then we can segue to the other browsers.

To add a bookmark in Chrome, click the star on the top-right corner of the browser window. A drop-down menu will appear, where you can change the name of your bookmark, and select where it will appear, like in the Bookmarks Bar or in a specific folder.

You can also click on the settings icon on the top right () and select Bookmarks > Bookmark this page, which will produce the same drop-down menu, as will selecting Ctrl + D on Windows and Command + D on Mac.


Manage Bookmarks
But now your bookmarks are just an endless list of random websites, with no rhyme or reason as to how they're organized. To clean things up, open Chrome and Settings > Bookmarks > Bookmark manager.


Add a New Folder
Right-click just outside your list of bookmarks, and you'll find a menu with commands to Add new bookmark or Add new folder. Select Add new folder and type in a name.


Drag and Drop
The new folder will appear at the bottom of the list, but you can drag and drop it anywhere you'd like it to reside. You can then drag specific bookmarks into that new folder you created.




Remove From a Folder
To remove a bookmark from a folder, go into that folder, click on the site to remove, and drag it left to the folder in which you'd like it to live. You can also right-click and select Delete if you wish to get rid of it entirely.



Firefox
Are you a Firefox user? The process for bookmarking a site is similar to Chrome: click the star icon in the URL bar; select Ctrl/Command + D; or click the icon that looks like books on a bookcase > Bookmarks > Bookmark This Page.


Organize Bookmarks
Open Firefox. Click on the Bookmarks icon > Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks. A Bookmarks library menu will pop up, where you can click on the Organize menu to create new folders and cut and paste bookmarks. You can also right-click on any empty area to display a similar menu. Then, just drag and drop sites into and out of specific folders.




Internet Explorer
Launch IE. Then open your favorites, either by navigating to Favorites > Organize Favorites or by clicking the star icon on the top right > Add to favorites > Organize favorites.


Sort by Name
In the pop-up window, right-click on any site in your favorites list and select "Sort by name." Your favorites list is now organized alphabetically, so at least you know where to find a particular page.



New Folder
That's a good first step. But if you have dozens or even hundreds of favorites, you still need a better way to organize them. And you can do that by storing similar favorites in their own unique folders. At the "Organize Favorites" window, click on the "New Folder" button.



Let's Move

Give the folder a name, such as Tech Sites. Now look through your favorites list to find a site that you wish to store in the new folder. Drag it to the new folder or click on the site > Move > [new folder] > OK. The favorite is moved to the Tech Sites folder.

Another way to move favorites is through the old cut-and-paste method. Right-click on a favorite that you wish to move and click on the Cut command from the pop-up menu. Right-click on the folder that will be the favorite's new home and click on the Paste command.


Windows File Manager

Working in the browser's Organize Favorites window can be slow and clumsy; you can work more easily with the folders and favorites using your Windows file manager.

Open File Explorer or Windows Explorer. Browse to the folder: C:\users\[your username]\Favorites. Now you can create new folders, move favorites, and perform other tasks in a wider and more user-friendly landscape.



Side by Side
You can even open two Explorer windows side by side to more easily move favorites to new folders.



Microsoft Edge

On Edge, Microsoft's newest kid on the block, Favorites operate much like they do on IE. To save something, click the star icon on the right and save it to Favorites. To access, click the Hub button (which looks like a shooting star). There, you can right-click to add a Folder, into which you can drag your favorites.

Bali's Mozaic named Best Restaurant of the Year - 2018

Congratulations to Chris Salans, restaurateur extraordinaire, for winning for the third consecutive time the   Best Restaurant of the Year. Anyone who has ever dined at his restaurant will tell you that it is truly a unique and sensual experience. Seven Chefs Dinners 2018 at Mosaic We are very proud that Bali has some of the best restaurants in the world and the Mosaic is certainly at the top of the hill, literally. Azizah, Lawrence, Chris and Famous French Restaurant Owner 2018 Hello from Chris Salans in Bali It’s been a busy few months with the Ubud Food Festival, the World Gourmet Summit in Singapore, and the Bocuse d’Or in China, but it was all worth it, as I am proud to see more and more Indonesians on the international as well as national food scene.  More restaurants in Indonesia are being nominated for awards, invited for culinary events, and bringing home trophies. This is the true sign that Indonesia is making it on the top of the Asian culinary scene.  I am also proud to see more and more Indonesians opening their own restaurants in Indonesia. I am happy to witness this during my career here in Bali and I hope that this will give more and more Indonesian chefs the guts to open shop and do their own thing. It is time for the Indonesian culinary scene to explode. Mozaic named Best Restaurant of the Year 2018 by the World Gourmet Summit Awards of Excellence  Mozaic is honored and delighted to receive the Award of Excellence for Best Restaurant of the Year 2018 by the World Gourmet Summit in Singapore last month.  The World Gourmet Summit is an international gastronomic festival first launched in 1997.  This is the third time that Mozaic has received this award, but it is the first time that Indonesia has had more than one candidate selected as finalists.  I am proud to see that more and more restaurants and chefs in Indonesia are making it into the finals of such prestigious regional awards.  It really shows that Indonesia is rising in the ranks of the culinary discipline.  This is a great sign for Indonesia, and I hope it will entice more Indonesian chefs to go into the field of fine dining that showcases Indonesian cuisine or ingredients.

History is made. Brand-new team reaches Stanley Cup finals. Is it luck?

Bali and world news editor's comments editor's comments:

Lawrence & Family. Canada 2018

On CNN this morning the sports news was highlighted by the fact that a brand-new NHL franchise team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights have made it to the finals of the Stanley Cup finals which is the first time in history for a first year team.

The news has spun this as being lucky for lucky Las Vegas but all of you that know me know that I don't believe in luck."Luck is for losers" If you want to see people who rely on luck go to Las Vegas and watch 80 to 90% of the people leave the table unlucky.

While watching the CNN report I noticed that the player they were interviewing was obviously Canadian, like myself.

It only took a few minutes of researching I confirmed this win was not luck.

First of all it was due to the professional scouts that put together this team. They didn't rely on luck they relied on experience. One thing an experienced hockey scout knows is that you always look first into the Canadian hockey league for your recruits.

Then of course we must assume that it took great coaching to put together a and winning team in such short time. So hats off to...... 

Head Coach	Gerard Gallant
Assistant Coach	Mike Kelly
Assistant Coach	Ryan Craig
Assistant Coach	Ryan McGill

You go to the country where guys like Sidney Crosby are from, from my hometown, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Why are Canadian hockey players so good? Again it is not luck, because we grew up in a frozen country where after school you didn't go play on the soccer field you went and played on an ice rink or your local frozen Lake.

When you grow up spending a large amount of your time playing hockey obviously you're going to be good by the time you get to be an adult.

So what's the main reason that the Las Vegas Knights have made history and qualified to play in the Stanley Cup finals in their first year?

It is simple, a majority of the players are Canadians. Over 50% of the players were born in Canada and in fact 80% of the goalies are from Canada. Everyone knows if you don't have a good goalie the rest does not matter. I rest my case.

So since there are no Canadian teams in the finals, probably because America teams can afford to pay Canadian players more I will close by saying, Go Knights Go, or should that be, Go Canadians Go.

Five Reasons the Vegas Golden Knights Are in the Stanley Cup Finals
ImageWilliam Karlsson is a goal machine for Vegas.CreditJames Carey Lauder/USA Today Sports, via Reuters


By Ben ShpigelMay 21, 2018


This time a year ago, the Vegas Golden Knights had a nickname and a logo, but they hadn’t selected their roster yet.

No players to market or promote. None, zero, zip, zilch.

Those could also have been words used by many to describe the chances of the Golden Knights nailing this absurd trifecta in its inaugural season: winning a Pacific Division title, stampeding through the Western Conference bracket and competing for the Stanley Cup.

But here they are, four wins from the most improbable championship in N.H.L. history, if not all of North American major professional sports, after a 2-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. Vegas, which won the best-of-seven series by 4-1, never trailed over the final four games. The Golden Knights will face either the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup finals.

A merry band of castoffs and rejects — Golden Misfits, they call themselves — populate the roster crafted by General Manager George McPhee and molded by Coach Gerard Gallant into a bona fide dynamo — expansion franchise, shmexpansion franchise. They swept Los Angeles, blitzed San Jose and rolled Winnipeg, which finished with the N.H.L.’s second-best record.

There is s not one overarching reason for Vegas’s success, but several, all entwined: the right players, the right coaches and a grieving city eager to embrace a new sport and a winner.
ImageMarc-Andre Fleury has been on the last two Stanley Cup-winning teams. Can he make it three in a row?CreditHarry How/Getty Images

Marc-Andre Fleury

Not that he would, but Marc-Andre Fleury, one of the league’s more affable and beloved players, can flaunt his pedigree by holding up three fingers: one for each Stanley Cup he has won. The last two came the past two seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he is bidding for a third in a row after posting, at 33, career bests in save percentage (.927) and goals against average (2.24).

A favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy given to the most valuable player of the postseason, Fleury has even surpassed that brilliance in these playoffs, allowing 1.68 goals per game. His dazzling sequence of saves against Winnipeg star Mark Schiefele in the third period of Game 3 might have changed the course of the series.

Fleury bestowed Vegas with instant credibility and stability in the crease, locker-room leadership and a strong presence in the community. And to think — the Penguins, who had already relegated Fleury to the bench and were keen to rid themselves of his contract, dealt a second-round pick in 2020 to make sure Vegas would take him in the expansion draft. The heist of the season.
The Florida Panthers

How does this sound, the Panthers asked Vegas: We’re going to fire our coach so you can hire him in a few months; leave a top center unprotected in the expansion draft; and — wait, there’s more! — trade you another leading scorer to supply instant offense. This conversation did not actually happen, but the moves did. A strong Panthers presence courses through the Golden Knights.

The enduring image of Gallant had been of him climbing into a taxi outside PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., in November 2016 after being fired by the Panthers. Now it is of him standing behind the Vegas bench, overseeing a team that wins again and again and again. He pumps positivity instead of dwelling on mistakes, listens instead of demands.

“You feel good about yourself when your coach feels good about you,” Gallant said Saturday.

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Gerard Gallant was fired by the Florida Panthers in November 2016 and hired by Vegas in April 2017.CreditJason Halstead/Getty Images


Thirty goals last season couldn’t persuade Florida to retain Jonathan Marchessault, who followed up by tallying 27, to go with 48 assists, for Vegas while becoming a more responsible two-way player. In these playoffs, he has amassed 18 points, tied for most by a player in a franchise’s postseason debut, and two game-winning goals.

Marchessault’s former Panthers teammate Reilly Smith, acquired for a fourth-round pick, flanks him on Vegas’s top line. All he’s done this postseason is rank second on the team in playoff scoring — behind Marchessault.


William Karlsson

As usual, the N.H.L.’s premier snipers led the league in goals this season: Alex Ovechkin, Patrik Laine, William Karlsson — wait, who? Across his three previous seasons, with Anaheim and Columbus, Karlsson scored 18 goals. This season he had 20 by New Year’s Eve, when he registered a hat trick against Toronto.

Finishing with 43 goals, one behind Laine and six behind Ovechkin, Karlsson, 25, provided a jolt to the Golden Knights’ offense that was welcomed as much as it was unexpected.
The Chips on Their Shoulders

No matter how many goals they scored (or didn’t score) last season, no matter how many saves they made (or didn’t make), the Golden Knights gathered for training camp before the season as equals — traded and exposed, discarded by their old teams, exiled to an expansion franchise in the middle of the desert. Disrespected and discounted, the Golden Knights coalesced around that snub.

It’s a credit to McPhee, who exploited the generous expansion draft rules to stockpile picks and talent, that he targeted players on short-term deals who would be motivated to impress for that next contract. The group he assembled was told for months it wouldn’t win this season, wouldn’t come close to reaching the playoffs. Now it hardly loses.
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The Golden Knights are Las Vegas's first major pro sports team and were quickly embraced by fans.CreditBridget Bennett for The New York Times

Home-Ice Advantage

The heaving caldron that is T-Mobile Arena thumps during warm-ups, with showgirls distracting the opponent and the music cranked high, and never relents. Home-ice advantage is difficult to quantify, but Vegas has it.

The Golden Knights, the first major pro team in Las Vegas, are 6-1 at T-Mobile Arena in the playoffs after recording a 29-10-2 mark there during the season, one of the best home marks in the league. The team plays in front of fans who appreciate how quickly, and deeply, the Golden Knights have taken to their adopted city after a mass shooting at a concert killed 58 people on Oct. 1, five days before Vegas’s first game.



The tragedy strengthened the Golden Knights’ bond with its fan base, which found healing in hockey, a respite from their grief.
N.H.L. Playoff Coverage
Articles about the Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas Golden Knights Reach Stanley Cup Finals in First SeasonMay 20, 2018

Don’t Arrive Late to the Game. You’ll Miss the Show.May 17, 2018

A Source of Fleury’s Success in Las Vegas? His New Goaltending CoachMay 11, 2018

The Golden Knights Are on a Roll, Leaving Vegas Oddsmakers to ShudderMay 1, 2018


Ben Shpigel is a sports reporter and has covered the N.F.L. and the New York Jets since 2011. He has also covered the New York Yankees and, before that, the Mets. He previously worked for The Dallas Morning News.@benshpigel