Monday, February 15, 2010

Temple Ceremony at Maya Ubud

On February 10, 2010, Maya Ubud Resort & spa was held the Piodalan of its temple in the resort area.

The ceremony was conducted by Ida Pedanda commencing at 17 pm, attended by all staffs and management as well as guest in house who were also very interested to see the procession of the ceremony.




Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Ubud is voted as the Top City in Asia





The result of the annual vote by readers of Condé Nast Traveler came as a surprise to the people of Ubud as Ubud tops other cities in Asia with a score of 82.5 out of the perfect score of 100. Nonetheless, a celebration was organized on Saturday 30 January 2010 at the Ubud Palace to mark the hand-over of the Award plaque to the representatives of the 8000 inhabitants of Bali’s mountainous destination.

Each year, readers of travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler honor cities of their preference in a vote with 6 (six) criteria namely Atmosphere/Ambience, Culture/Site, Friendliness, Lodging, Restaurant and Shopping. In the previous year’s voting, in 2008, Bangkok won the best city in Asia vote, followed by Chiang Mai and Hong Kong in second and third place respectively. Ubud has never made it to the list until this year, and it came straight to the top, beating other cities with the highest score for Friendliness criteria.

“Indeed it is a pleasant surprise and on behalf of the people of Ubud, I wish to convey our gratitude to visitors of Ubud who had voted,” expressed Tjokorda Putra Sukawati, a well-respected descendant in the lineage of Ubud Palace.

In a letter, read by Aloysius Purwa of Bali Tourism Board, to the invitees that evening, Condé Nast Traveler’s vice president and publisher, Chris Mitchell thanks the people of Ubud for extending their gracious hospitality to readers and congratulates Ubud on this exceptional achievement.

Mitchell continues to state that travel has never mattered more than it does right now. It is a multi-trillion-dollar industry that fuels the world economy through so many different channels. It has the power to improve the lives of people in impoverished or endangered communities. It connects people to the larger world as no other experience can. And in this time of global uncertainty, as people reshuffle and fine-tune their priorities, travel is the consumable that enriches.

Receiving the prestigious vote, the people of Ubud organized a meeting on 23 January 2010 to address ways and means to preserve their petite village, with the aim to continue giving visitors an enjoyable experience. Also a big clean-up was organized on 29 January 2010 which brought smiling people with brooms and dustpans to dot the streets of Ubud all morning.

The 2009 Readers’ Choice Awards give second place to Bangkok with a close score of 82.2, third place is Hong Kong with 81.3, followed by Chiang Mai with 80.9, Kyoto with 80.2.