People come to Ubud (Bali, Indonesia) to find peace, to experience the tranquility of nature, away from the noise of the city, to rest their mind. The most indulging activity you can do there is to go to spa.
There is a score of (self-proclaimed) day spa spreading in all over Ubud. But only a very few places meet the true concept of spa: private, close to nature, great treatment packages, decent hospitality, and well skilled therapist. Looking for a place meeting all of these criteria is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You can’t be sure whether one place is really worth of your vacation time or not.
Now release the uncertainty. There is this Ubud spa resort which will impress you very much: Lembah Spa..
Imagine a place where you can feel the warmth of the sun on your skin, sense the breeze of the valley on your face whilst the therapist rubs down your tired muscles. Catch the scent of the aromatherapy of your choice. Be it frangipani, vanilla, lavender, green tea, ylang-ylang or whichever you prefer. Then be all ears to the singing of the birds and water flows from the river while you rest in comfortable relaxation deck and sip on a tea of juice after your spa sessions complete.
It is said a session at the spa improves our appetite. If you want to experience it, you should try their Spa & High Tea package. It is a two-hours spa treatments, started with a foot bath as you sip on ice tea followed by a massage, and finally either a cream bath for the hair or a facial. You can choose French, Lomi lomi, or Balinese Massage. They have skilled therapists that will make your spa treatments exceptional. At the end of the session, you will be served with a three-course high tea while taking in the breathtaking views of the surrounding nature.
Noise of the city is something you will not hear at all in this place. It’s tranquil and peaceful. It’s a private and secluded hideaway over dramatic views of the Petanu River Gorge just outside Ubud. That is what you’re going to experience in Lembah Spa, Ubud spa resort.
Lembah Spa is easy to find. Located in one of the best luxury villa resorts in Ubud, Viceroy Bali, Jalan Lanyahan – Br Nagi – Ubud, it’s only 10 minutes driving distance up North from Jalan Raya Ubud. Pre-book is highly suggested before your visit, considering their popularity amongst indulgence seeker.
If you come to Ubud and stay at one of Viceroy’s private villa, you can experience treatments in the privacy of your villa. It not includes facials and hair treatments, but you could still feel totally pampered.
And oh, for maximum experience, try the head to toe treatments. Could be the feminine/ masculine spa package, combined with hair cream bath, foot reflexology, and manicure pedicure. It will take about five hours long. Come after lunch, and then leave after enjoying the sunset at Lembah Spa. It’s a perfect bliss!
Sabung Ayam
Peggy Lee – Bali Ha’i (Capitol Records 1949)
“Bali Ha’i”, also spelled “Bali Hai”, is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific.
In the musical, Bali Ha’i is a volcanic island within sight of the island on which most of the action takes place. The troops think of Bali Ha’i as an exotic paradise, but it is off-limits — except to officers. The matriarch of Bali Ha’i, Bloody Mary, does a lot of business with the troops, and she meets Lt. Joseph Cable right after he arrives. She sings her mysterious song that has a haunting choral accompaniment Bali Ha’i to him because she wants to entice him into visiting her island. She doesn’t tell him that she wants him to meet, and fall in love with, her young daughter, Liat.
In 1949, Perry Como recorded the song as a single. Sergio Franchi included this song on his 1965 RCA Victor tribute to The Songs of Richard Rodgers. Andy Williams released a version on his 1958 album, Andy Williams Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Bali Ha’i was based on the real island of Ambae (formerly Aoba Island). Ambae is located in Vanuatu (known as New Hebrides at the time the song was written).
Ambae is visible on the horizon from Espiritu Santo island, where James A. Michener was stationed in World War II. Michener is the author of Tales of the South Pacific which is the basis for the musical South Pacific. The author used the tranquil, hazy image of the smoothly sloping island on the horizon to represent a not-so-distant but always unattainable place of innocence and happiness. Hence the longing nature of the song.
In his 1992 memoir, The World Is My Home, Michener writes of his time in the Treasury Islands: “On a rude signboard attached to a tree, someone had affixed a cardboard giving the settlement’s name, and it was so completely different from ordinary names, so musical to my ear that I borrowed a pencil and in a soggy notebook jotted the name against the day when I might want to use if for some purpose I could not then envisage: Bali-ha’i.”
Rodgers and Hammerstein were inspired by the way that James Michener described the island, so they wanted to include a song about it when they began work on the musical. When Richard Rodgers first read Oscar Hammerstein II’s lyrics to this song over lunch with Joshua Logan, he “could hear the music to go with the words”. He knew that this song should evoke a mystical, languorous, Oriental quality that the story called for. This can be seen in the many chromatic notes in the melody.
In the 1958 film version, Bali Ha’i is portrayed by the real-life island of Tioman in Malaysia. However, the scene was filmed on the north shore of Kauaʻi and Mount Makana was used as Bali Hai which is still known as Bali Hai today. Tunnel’s Beach is often referred to as “Nurses’ Beach” and the scene where Bloody Mary sings of Bali Ha’i takes place on Hanalei Bay.
Peggy Lee (born Norma Deloris Egstrom; May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002) was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer and actress, in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman’s big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and performer. She wrote music for films, acted, and created conceptual record albums—encompassing poetry, jazz, chamber pop, and art songs.
Bali Ha’i may call you, any night, any day
In your heart, you’ll hear it call you
Come away, come away
Bali Ha’i will whisper on the wind of the sea
Here am I your special island
Come to me, come to me
Your own special hopes, your own special dreams
Bloom on the hillside and shine in the streams
If you try, you’ll find me
Where the sky meets the sea
Here am I your special island
Come to me, come to me
Bali Ha’i, Bali Ha’i, Bali Ha’i
Someday you’ll see me floating in the sunshine
My head sticking out from a low-lying cloud
You hear me call you, singing through the sunshine
Sweet and clear as can be
Come to me, here I am, come to me
Bali Ha’i, Bali Ha’i