Good things come in small ‘furry’ packages

While the cheerful four-legged golden retriever has secured an eternal spot in the hearts of most dog-loving people, nowadays, smaller sized pure-bred dogs and other petite cuddly pets have also captivated animal enthusiasts in Denpasar.

“The smaller dogs eat and poop less than their larger canine counterparts. So saying, they are relatively easy to groom and friendlier on the pocket,” said visitor Ngurah Gustra, while looking for a pug and a beagle at a pet shop in Jl. Setiabudi in Denpasar on Thursday.

The shop’s grooming and spa services, for instance, are all based on the size of their furry clientele. The prices for grooming treatments, which include bath, blow dry and nail cutting, range from Rp 50,000 (US$5.4) for petite dogs to Rp 150,000 for extra large ones.  Meanwhile, canine spa and massage treatments vary from Rp 150,000 to Rp 500,000 according to size.

Coming from a family of animal enthusiasts with a love for reptiles and larger dogs, Gustra, who already owns a mini pinscher and Pekingese, said he was thinking of opening a pet shop of his own that would specialize in selling small pedigree dogs. He estimated that start-up capital of Rp 50 million would be enough to begin his small-dog shop. “The start-up investment is affordable, while the selling prices are promising,” he said.

A dog’s small size does not necessarily indicate a small selling price.

At the shop, a shar-pei costs Rp 8 million, a shih tzu Rp 6.5 million, a cocker spaniel Rp 12 million, a Chihuahua Rp 8 million, while a toy poodle can be up to Rp 15 million. The larger canines are just as expensive, a Labrador costs Rp 5 million, with a rottweiler Rp 7.5 million, the same prices as an imported breed of golden retriever, while locally bred ones are about Rp 4 million.

Pet vendor War, whose tiny shop on Jl. Hayam Wuruk offers Pomeranians, mini pinschers and pugs, to name a few, highlighted some of the qualities of the smaller breeds. “Although they are small, some of them are noisy enough. They can serve as good house guards too,” said the former trader of larger breeds, including German shepherds, pit bulls and golden retrievers, who prefers to go by his one syllable name, War, while pointing at his continuously barking mini pinscher.

A senior member of staff at a pet shop-cum-kennel with 32 air-conditioned rooms on Jl. Teuku Umar, Komang Suryani, acknowledged that the fad for small-sized dogs in Denpasar has grown over the past year or two. “Since six years ago, large purebred dogs, like golden retrievers, Labradors and rottweilers, have been warmly welcomed here, and they still are. The smaller breeds are now following suit over this last year,” said Suryani.

Today, apparently, it’s not only the large and small pooches that are capturing the hearts of animal enthusiasts throughout the capital, as the cuddly rodent pet known as the golden hamster is also stealing some of the spotlight among the youngsters.

Hamster pet owner, Wayan Riska, whose parents have a Kintamani dog at home, said, “My dog only looked cute when he was still a puppy. I like my hamsters more because they stay small and are cute forever.”

The 17-year-old teenage girl has apparently already sniffed out some business opportunities from her rodent pets as they have been breeding; she initially had three, but now has 15. “They breed so fast. Sometimes I give away the pups for free, other times I sell them from Rp 25,000 to Rp 250,000, according to their type,” giggled Riska.

By Agnes Winarti 
Photo by Anggara Mahendra
Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post, Friday, May 25 2012

Dog’s day: A member of staff at a pet grooming service trims a dog’s fur. BD/Anggara Mahendra

Italian wines: Poetic respect for nature’s simplicity

Italians call their wines “poems of the earth” as wines are considered the best thing that agriculture can give them. This explains how the taste of simplicity and naturality are the very traits in every drop of Italian wine.

“Italian wine means simplicity, respect for nature and for the raw materials. They smell just like their vineyards and the flowers of their grapes,” the owner of Distilleria Bottega, Sandro Bottega, passionately explained during a recent Italian wine tasting and seminar.   

Bottega is the third generation of the Italian wine distillery in Bibano, 45 kilometers north of Venice, in the heart of the Veneto region, which has a strong tradition in Italian wines and grappa production. Sandro inherited his love for wines from his grandfather, Domenico Bottega, a passionate enologist and wine trader in the 1920s.

Bottega cited the similarities between Italian wines and cuisine: “Our cuisine really appreciates raw materials. We want pasta to taste like pasta, tomato as tomato, meat as meat, cheese as cheese, fish taste [like it’s] from the sea. Not much cooking. It’s the same with Italian wines.”

Italian wines are characteristically fresh, fruity, simple, natural, light and therefore versatile. “Thus, you can drink Italian red wine with fish, while the white wine with barbecued meat and vice versa,” he said.

Seventy-five percent of Bottega’s wines are exported to more than 100 countries and have now reached Indonesia, mainly Bali and Jakarta, answering to the flourishing wine-drinking culture among Indonesians.

For Bottega’s initial market penetration into the archipelago, six wine producers have been introduced, including Italy’s most popular sparkling wine Prosecco Doc Brut, the fruity Chardonnay; the sweet flowery aromatic Moscato; the light Fragolino Rosso and the elegant Brunello di Montalcino. 

Bottega pointed out that the spicy yet fresh Indonesian cuisine was a perfect match for Italian wines. “I understand that Indonesians might prefer the sweet taste of Fragolino and Moscato, however, I personally recommended the Prosecco and Chardonnay because they are fresh and fruity,” said Bottega.

Italy produces about 300 different types of grapes, more than the grape varieties in France. Both Italy and France are the biggest producers of wines in the world, each comprising 25 to 30 percent of the worldwide wine market. Italy impressively produces about 7 billion liters of wines per annum. 

By Agnes Winarti 
Photo by Anggara Mahendra
Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Thursday, May 24 2012

Lavish liquid: A bottle of very fine Bottega wine. BD/Anggara Mahendra

Bonsai lovers hope to revive local, int’l markets

The Bali chapter of the Indonesia Bonsai Lovers Association (PPBI) expects to revive the huge potential of bonsai and open up Bali’s opportunity to export these artistic miniature trees to overseas markets.

“As Indonesia’s international window, Bali has welcomed many wealthy visitors and foreigners who show huge market potential for purchasing bonsai,” PPBI Bali chairman, Winarto Selamat, told Bali Daily on Monday.

He cited demand for bonsai from European countries such the Netherlands and Germany, as well as South Asian countries like India.

“However, Indonesia has not been able to make the most of these demands,” said Winarto, stating that currently bonsai buyers from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand usually make individual purchases from Indonesian collectors, while large-scale bonsai exports are monopolized by a Belgian national who only buys mass-produced bonsai plants from farmers in Malang, East Java.

“We hope to break that domination,” said Winarto, who is hopeful that within the next two years bonsai hobbyists in Bali would be able to break into the global market with more professional promotions in online media and at various exhibitions.

Winarto emphasized that Bali has been home to numerous bonsai hobbyists-cum-artists who are highly skilled at training the trees, planted in shallow tray-like pots, into the beautiful forms required; bonsai literally means “planting in a tray” in Japanese. There are more than 500 bonsai lovers here on this island alone, he estimated.

Winarto’s initial efforts since he started chairing the PPBI Bali last year include inviting more bonsai hobbyists in Denpasar to collaborate in reviving the bonsai market and take up places among the rows of decorative plant and landscape businesses along part of Jl. Hayam Wuruk.

One of the hobbyists joining the collaboration is bonsai lover I Made Simon, who has 300 bonsai in his collection, worth around Rp 500 million (US$54,000), displayed at an outlet belonging to the street’s most senior bonsai trader, Hadi Subeki, whose father Mohammad Tawi was the one of the island’s first generation of bonsai traders.

“The creative process for making bonsai never ends, which makes this art an eternal kind of hobby,” said the garment businessman, who developed his passion for bonsai over the past 20 years and started bonsai trading only three years ago. As more bonsai hobbyists join the collaboration, it will lead to better transfer of knowledge among hobbyists, who will be able keep improving the artistic form of bonsai from many kinds of plants, which in turn will result in increasing value.

“For example, I learned from Pak Winarto to prune the ficus species of bonsai, while he learned my specialty, pruning the santigi species [Phempis acidula],” said Simon.

According to Hadi, bonsai prices have a huge range, from as cheap as Rp 50,000 for a dwarf plant that simply looks pretty to the eye, to a starting price of Rp 200,000 for a bonsai that adheres to the basic movement of the tree and shows a certain character and style.

“The most expensive bonsai, however, could be worth up to Rp 1 billion,” said Hadi, citing a number of elements that determined its value, including the rarity of the tree, the visual balance, the basic movement, the harmony it creates, as well as the tree’s health, impression of age and the anatomical balance between its main stem and branches.

“In Bali, bonsai art has been a remedy for the Balinese who were previously addicted to gambling. That’s a good effect for the Balinese people, I believe,” said Hadi, whose father started bonsai trading in 1980s.

By Agnes Winarti 
Photo by Zul Trio Anggono
Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Wednesday, May 16 2012

Miniature: Bonsai enthusiasts stroll through a spacious garden showcasing a variety of their beloved plants. BD/Zul Trio Anggono

Nusa Penida people spread wings

Previously a wild bird poacher, Nengah Sudipa is now enjoying what seems to be the unlikeliest chance of repentance as a birdwatcher at the Bali Starling bird sanctuary on his home island, Nusa Penida, just off the southeast of Bali.

Eleven years ago, Nengah was a nine-year-old boy with a skillful flair for trapping birds in the wilds of Nusa Penida with only one intention: sell them for extra cash.

Nengah said, though, this was now a thing of the past for him; he’s no longer interested in making money from wild birds. Since being recruited by the Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF) that initiated the Bali Starling bird sanctuary, Nengah’s tasks include feeding the quarantined birds, monitoring the birds in the wild and taking visitors and newly arrived volunteers on guided tours.

“I would have been rich by now from selling wild Bali Starlings. I can easily catch them if I want to, because I know where they nest. But I just don’t want to anymore,” said Nengah, citing around 15 different spots throughout the island where the birds breed. It is estimated a pair of mature Bali Starlings costs up to Rp 50 million (US$5,450), while the chicks cost Rp 10 million each.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and natural resources declared the Bali Starling an endangered species in 1966. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species placed the Bali Starling on its critical list in 1978. As early as the 1980s, the government and bird protection organizations worldwide saw the urgency for immediate action to prevent the bird going into extinction. Captive breeding programs were successfully run in Bali, yet, the birds released into the wild were quickly poached and their population continued to plummet. In 2005, FNPF founder, veterinary I Gede Nyoman Bayu Wirayudha, estimated there were fewer than 10 birds left in the wild at the Bali National Park, the bird’s native home.

After thorough studies on the environmental situation between the West Bali National Park and Nusa Penida, as many as 70 first-generation Bali Starlings were released throughout Nusa Penida from 2007. The latest FNPF data shows that there are currently more than 100 starlings living in the wild, some of which have even flown across to the neighboring Nusa Lembongan island.

The Manager of the FNPF base camp in Ped village on Nusa Penida, Si Nyoman Sukarta, acknowledged the challenges faced during the early establishment period on the island.

“At first, it wasn’t easy to introduce the concept of conservation to the Nusa Penida villagers, who had never even heard of the term.” Sukarta recalled the first two years of the program was spent approaching the 40 villages to gain agreement on the creation of an awig-awig (traditional law) to prohibit the capturing of wild birds. The awig-awig stipulates that anyone capturing wild birds on Nusa Penida would have to pay a penalty worth the market price of the birds and release the captured birds into the wild again. They would also be obliged to make a public apology.

“We assured the villagers that the presence of the Bali Starling would eventually grow tourism on the island and thus generate more income for them,” said Sukarta. He stated that in recent years, the island has indeed started welcoming more local and foreign visitors, while some of the villagers have also discovered new sources of income, such as tour-guiding. The six people employed at the FNPF center are also local villagers.

FNPF also embraces the community through various programs, including providing scholarships for students from each of the villages, building water catchments, land reforestation, distribution of free saplings to village communities and promoting the island’s traditional cepuk cloth weaving. In addition, financial rewards worth Rp 1 million are also disbursed to every village that continues to support the conservation project.

“I love this island and I truly believe in this project. It would be very hard if we only supported the wildlife, without involving the community. Protection comes first and foremost from the locals,” said the sanctuary’s self-proclaimed “permanent volunteer” and a retired special-education expert, Mike Appleton, 60, who has called Nusa Penida home for the past year, unwilling to return to his native United Kingdom.

By Agnes Winarti 
Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post, Friday, May 04 2012

Seaweed yields to slump

For the past five years, seaweed harvests on Nusa Penida island have been decreasing due to the extreme changes of climate and the declining quality of the seeds.

“We estimate that this year Nusa Penida will continue to experience reduced production due to the ongoing extreme changes of climate,” head of Bali Marine and Fishery Agency, Made Gunaja, told the Bali Daily on Monday.

Bali has a total of 700 hectares of seaweed farms, 80 percent of which are located in the district of Nusa Penida, which also includes Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan islands. Last year, the Nusa Penida district produced around 141,863 tons of seaweed, a decline from the production of 152,226 tons in 2007.

The largest seaweed collector in Nusa Penida, Wayan Nurada, 64, recently lamented the production slump. “We have been seeing reduced production over the past five years. We used to buy some 200 tons of seaweed from the farmers of Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan every month. But lately we can only buy around 75 tons per month,” said Nurada, who with his wife, Made Alep, has been ruling the seaweed trade in Nusa Penida since its cultivation started in 1984.

Seaweed farmer I Made Raja, who owns a 70-square-meter farm in Banjar Bodong, Ped village, acknowledged that he could only harvest half of the amount he had usually harvested in the past. “Especially in the dry season, the seaweed does not grow normally and much of it dies before being harvested,” said Raja, whose monthly production of 400 kg could shrink to only 200 kg.

Raja, like most other farmers, prefers to replant the buds from his own crop because buying new seaweed seedlings costs too much. A knot of spinosum seed costs Rp 5,000 (US 0.5 cents), while a knot of katoni seed is tagged at Rp 15,000. “For a 70-square-meter plot, I would have to buy 200 knots. I can’t afford that,” said Raja, who earns between Rp 500,000 and Rp 800,000 a month.

Gunaja pointed out that the practice had resulted in a reduced quality in the harvest saying, “The seaweed has become vulnerable to disease and to extreme changes of weather.”

“We hope that the farmers will keep in mind a more sustainable practice of cultivation through planting new seedlings,” said Gunaja, expecting that farmers would leave one third of their farming plots in Nusa Penida to specifically cultivate seedlings. The agency last year initiated seedling cultivation at a smaller seaweed farm in Kuta.

Monitoring the quality of water in the coastal area where all the seaweed farms are located is also necessary, according to environmental observer I Wayan Suarna, the former director of the environmental research center of Udayana University in Denpasar. “There should be a routine monitoring of the quality of water in the region, to measure the amount of phosphates and nitrates, sedimentation and pollution, all of which may disrupt the growth of seaweed,” said Suarna. Founder of local environmental NGO, the Wisnu Foundation, I Made Suarnatha, also warned of escalating levels of chlorine that may pollute the water surrounding the three islands, due to the rapid growth of tourism, especially in the neighboring Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan.

In addition to the issues of climate change and seed cultivation, Nusa Penida seaweed farmers have for decades been facing a problematic situation concerning the unstable price of their crops. The agency’s head of crop processing and marketing division, Agung Sanjaya, acknowledged, “It’s truly difficult for us to interfere in the established ‘godfather-like’ seaweed trading system in Nusa Penida.”

“However, we will try to help strengthen the farmers associations by providing capital for the farmers through loans without collateral and subsidizing the seedling price. But that also remains difficult to implement because farmers prefer to get quick funds from the moneylenders,” said Sanjaya.

By Agnes Winarti 
Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Tuesday, May 01 2012