WELCOME TO THE NEW FRV
It’s December 2006 and time again to reflect on the past year. The years appear to be passing at a rate of knots and this one was no exception. After last year’s attacks, this time last year, we were looking at a gloomy year ahead, and while it did live up to that promise, in the end, this past year wasn’t as bad as predicted. It started in a hole, not as deep as 2003, and has been climbing out ever since. There weren’t many highlights in Bali this year as people battened down the hatches, but the opening of the Bulgari Resort with 2 fine restaurants in the Uluwatu area, the opening of a number of new free-standing villas and complexes all over the island and the occasional wine dinner in the better restaurants made it all worth while. As 2007 approaches we have a lot to look forward to as the flower begins to open again and light takes over from the darkness.

In this edition of FRV magazine you may have noticed a few subtle changes. In our on-going endeavour to make you, all our readers and clients, a better standard of magazine with better content, better photography and easier readability, we have made this edition 3.4 more magazine-like. This FRV is printed on thinner paper in order for it to bend and move like a magazine without lessening the quality one notch. You may remember the first editions of FRV being very book like, and i might add, being very popular too, but as the world develops, we develop too. We hope you enjoy the new format. In this Christmas/New Year edition we have articles from Bangkok, Hong Kong, Koh Samui, Kuala Lumpur, Cambodia, Singapore, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Melbourne, and of course, from right here in Bali. How do we do it? I’m not even sure—it just happens. We have a great team of people involved in FRV who move around many different parts of Southeast Asia hunting stories, dining in the best restaurants and staying in the most magnificent accommodation all over the region. Is it any wonder it comes together – our people just love to do it. This magazine has grown in the last year into one of the most varied and informative magazines based in, and predominantly about, Bali, but with relevant content from all over the region. This island, for whatever reason you believe it to be, still remains one of the most dynamic and influential areas of Southeast Asia. It has a style all its own, which is imitated and admired all over the world. The culture is unique on the planet and the vibrant business models and flourishiung restaurant and villa trade, in particular, is the envy and inspiration of the entire region. We at FRV are proud to be part of it.

In this edition we have some great articles from the sometimes sardonic Ve Handojo as he haplessly dines and stumbles his way around the big smoke Jakarta. He also travels to Siem Reap in Cambodia to experience the Amansara and Angkor Wat temple and stops in to one of the world’s great hotels, The Oriental, Bangkok. He’s all over this edition. We also visit the new Italian restaurant in The Bulgari Resort, experience the Waka Gangga just north of Tanalot, and amongst much more, talk with John Hardy about ownership and bamboo architecture. Also in this edition we speak to a young Balinese intellectual Gede Ngurah Termana who tells us his thoughts on growing up in Bali and villa architecture, and Ian Macaulay, a young, foreign businessmen informs us on the history of villa development in Bali in the Last Word.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers and clients a very happy, peaceful and relaxing festive period and we hope that this Christmas and the New Year brings all that you desire. Please enjoy this edition of FRV Magazine. David Trauts.