We love South East Asia

Visiting Brunei for a wedding, Kota Kinabalu for some post wedding parties and Bali to see old friends. It's hard not to fall in love with this part of the world but we will be back in Paris before Christmas with lots of photos and some new freckles.

NYC High Line

For our last evening in New York City (before our midnight flight back to Paris) we explored the High Line finishing in Chelsea to see Fashion Night from above. 

Bali Surf

(photos of Northern Sumatra by Steven Lippman via Saturday Surf)

Bali's fabled reefs and booming beach breaks are in season between April and October when swell swinging south-west across the Indian Ocean and the trade winds blowing from the south-east. Sea and air temperatures remain steady at around 28°C or 82°F. Pioneered in 1936, by Bob Koke, a Californian from Hawaii famous breaks like Uluwatu always have a crowd. For the surfer prepared to travel adventure and uncrowded waves await all along Indonesia's coast. For up to the minute surf conditions visit magic seaweed 

Climbing Mt. Batur

Mount Batur (Gunung Batur) is an active volcano in Bali about an hour north east of Ubud. The volcano is active (it steams) and lava from the 1968 eruption is still visible. The lake, Danau Batur, is in the center of the volcano crater.

The two hour trek up the volcano is usually done at night because it makes for a cooler hike and the sunrise to the east over mt Agung and the lake is incredible. We took a taxi from Sanur around 3am to start the hike by 5 for the 6:30 sunrise. Here we are after the climb up rocking volcanic rock and gravel along steep paths and volcanic cliffs lit only by handheld torches (flashlights).

The sunrise is incredible and they sell coffee and tea at this little base camp. What a memorable spot to eat breakfast!

After  sunrise we climbed around the volcano ridge. At the very top shrouded in mist and clouds we met some friendly monkeys who happened to love cheeze-its.

The climb down was a bit spooky, seeing all the cliffs we had passed unawares on the way up.

There are tomatos and chillies growing at the base of the volcano. Maybe I need some lava to get my little chili seeds to thrive. 

After the trek we had lunch and enjoyed the volcano view from the nearby town of Kintamani. We also enjoyed a long nap in the taxi.

Film festival in Thailand

The first edition of Film on the Rocks was held on March 9th - 13th, in Yao Noi Thailand. Tilda Swinton,  and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Filmmaker and Winner of the 2010 Palme d’Or will curate the first Film on the Rocks Yao Noi. This year, filmmaker, Lucrecia Martel was the filmmaker in residence. 

Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Tilda Swinton have introduced a concept called “Message in a Bottle” where the Programme will be curated from these Messages. Guests are asked to bring their own “message in a bottle” which can be anything, a film, a book, a sculpture, a painting, or even a performance. The book and film will be preserved in the “Message in a Bottle Library.” 

The theme this year is PRIMODIAL “Arriving to a place of origin where roots and nature are embraced.” Four days full of film screenings and workshops brought artists, actors, designers, and journalists together. Waris Ahluwalia of House of Waris held a Batik dyeing workshop. Moviegoers were delivered by boat to a floating movie theater, made of recycled materials, and got to watch the original Peter Pan from 1924.

I would do anything to get tickets to this next year. What a whimsical way to blend art, film and sustainability. Images via Vogue Italia, thanks to honestlywtf  for the heads up!