The best of Bali

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From food to furnishing, spas to fashion, lifestyle TV channel Li brings you up to date on what’s hot in Bali right now via its two-minute nippets.

LI (channel 706 on Astro) is currently showcasing the luxuries and splendour of Bali.

The high-definition lifestyle television channel – which centres on the five aspects of an ideal lifestyle: food, home, wellness, travel and style – will highlight the Alila Villas Uluwatu resort, furnishing designer Carlo Pessina, jewellery designer Johnny Ramli, shoe designer Niluh Djelantik, bag designer Sabbatha Rahzuardi, the restaurants Sardine and Sarong, and Theta Spa.

Hosted by Hannah Al Rashid, this series of two-minute coverage of the best and latest lifestyle trends in Asia airs regularly every day, in between Li’s programmes.

News flash: Hannah Al Rashid hosts lifestyle TV channel Li’s snippets on what’s new in Indonesia in terms of food, home, wellness, travel and style.

With the introduction of Hannah as the face of Li in Indonesia, together with the hosts in other countries, Angelique Teo (Singapore), David Yee (Malaysia) and Jason Godfrey (Hong Kong), the channel is offering exciting coverage of the lifestyle trends in these countries.

Winner of the 2011 Royal Institute of British Architects International Award, Alila Villas Uluwatu is a resort located on Bukit Peninsula, a clifftop plateau along the southern coastline of Bali. Alila Villas Uluwatu was designed with locally-sourced, recycled and sustainable materials to achieve the highest level of Environmentally Sustainable Design.

The resort has maintained local flora and fauna and achieved harmony with nature, offering a real sense of calmness to all who stay there.

Meanwhile, furnishing designer Carlo Pessina is an acknowledged market leader in creating unconventional design alternatives. His three-legged, tri-lobbed Morotai table won the Interior Design Magazine’s Best of Year 2008 award. His unique furniture contains coconut shell and other natural materials from Indonesia, such as nacre, pen shell, bamboo and rattan, with terrazzo for finishing.

Alila Villas Uluwatu resort offers a real sense of calmness to all who stay there.

Many of Pessina’s designs can be found in five-star hotels like the Four Seasons in Bali and the United States, as well several Ritz Carltons.

Also in the spotlight is Johnny Ramli, whose vintage and contemporary style of jewellery was discovered by Global Fashion in 2006, earning him a cult following worldwide. His fantastic raw mix of oxidised precious metals is sentimental and special, rustic yet romantic.

The brand Johnny Ramli is appreciated not only by designers all over the world; Hollywood celebrities, including Brad Pitt, are wearing his signature escapulario necklaces.

His white wing necklace was worn by Michelle Rodriguez in James Cameron’s film, Avatar.

Niluh Djelantik, the shoe designer born and bred in Bali, and winner of the Best Fashion Brand and Designer in Bali’s Yak Awards 2010, specialises in high-quality handmade leather shoes and accessories. To ensure comfort, she uses soft leather for the entire shoe and insole.

Her shoes can be described as beautifully crafted pieces of wearable art. Celebrities like Cate Blanchett, Uma Thurman, Cameron Diaz and Gisele Bündchen are among Niluh’s clientele. Not only that, Julia Roberts also wore her shoes in the film Eat, Pray, Love.

In the same vein, another Balinese, renowned bag designer Sabbatha Rahzuardi, is making waves with his designs. Each piece of Sabbatha’s creation has its own story with the mixing of precious stones, beads, freshwater pearls, pieces of carved deer antler and buffalo horn, even antique coins.

His handmade designs use exotic local materials like kidskin, dyed snakeskin and horsehair to show off the dazzling colours of Indonesia.

The combination of quality and colour are his main philosophy in making his items elegant.

Sabbatha’s designs have found favour with Hollywood celebrities like Katie Holmes, as well as supermodel Elle Macpherson.

On the food front, Sardine restaurant in Bali has a well-deserved reputation for freshness – their fruits and vegetable are harvested from their own organic farm, with fish and seafood sourced from the Indian Ocean and the Bali Sea.

Chef Frédéric Pougault presides over an innovative menu that changes constantly, depending on the availability of fresh ingredients. The restaurant is carefully planned and exquisitely executed. Here, green really means green, wood means recycled, and the essence Bali is present in every inch of the place.

Equally notable is Sarong. Listed as among the Top Five Restaurant in Indonesia in the 2010/11 Miele Guide, Sarong is furnished in a chic and luxurious style with plush lounges and armchairs, dark mahogany wooden tables and flowing grey curtains.

The restaurant is led by award-winning Australian chef Will Meyrick, who formerly headed Jimmy Liks and Long Grain, restaurants in Australia. Meyrick draws inspiration from the street food of Thailand, India, Bali, Sumatra, Vietnam and Malaysia, transforming them into restaurant-quality dishes.

Last but not least, nestled on the shoreline of Kuta’s wondrous beach is Theta Spa, where fresh herbs, seasonal produce and organic essential oils meet smart design for a gorgeous sensory treat. Spa treatments take place in beautiful rooms that either welcome the sea breeze or is cooled by gentle air-conditioning.

Theta spa is determined to create an environment that will seduce the senses, and is the only beachfront building in Bali dedicated to treating the mind and the soul.

Don’t miss this exclusive coverage of renowned Indonesian lifestyle brands on Li. Let Hannah Al Rashid bring you these lifestyle trends, products and places.