travel | Meliana Salim

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A Little French Flair in Bali

Pearl is a tropical sanctuary infused with French flair and the ubiquitous Balinese charm, offering chic indoor dining and breezy garden terrace seating beneath the starry skies. The 60-seat restaurant serves up refined French classics elevated with Chef Jeremy’s creative touches, integrating local produce and subtle hints of Asian flavours into his dishes.
Ubud’s Top 10

Wake up to the rooster’s crow, catch the first rays of sunlight piercing through lush forests, caress the sparkling morning dews on the rice paddies, watch the town come alive and the locals go about their rituals…
Creating the Experience of a Lifetime

Meet Ana Gorjão Henriques, the new General Manager of Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve soon to open in Ubud, Bali.
A Chef’s Tale: East Java

Freshly back from his culinary tours across Asia, Chef Will Meyrick’s suitcase is filled with fascinating stories and precious memories of East Java – stories of his connections with talented characters who share his passion for street food, and memories of his newfound love for the province’s cuisine.
Entering the Twilight Zone

When I started diving in 2006, I was instantly hooked on a thrilling underwater adventure: night diving. “Some are afraid of the dark; others can’t wait for it to see the stars”–a statement truly befitting the experience of night diving and one that I’ve adopted as a personal philosophy in life. While onshore inhabitants are winding down for the day, life has only just started brewing beneath the ocean’s surface.
Finding My Moyo

As a diver, I’ve been fortunate enough to explore some of the most pristine regions in Indonesia. Sharing unique diving experiences is a favourite pastime among scuba divers. It’s all about who sees what first, where and when. The more unique and inaccessible the place is, the bigger the bragging rights.
Banda in a Nutshell

The Indonesian edition of “Lonely Planet” introduces this country as “big, cheap, rough, and effortless.” By effortless we assume they mean that is is effortlessly beautiful; because there is nothing effortless about getting to the archipelago’s fabled spice islands: the Banda Islands.
Finding Mola

I shudder at the thought of hypothermia. At a chilly 19º Celsius and 30 metres down, my three-millimetre wetsuit is no match for the brutal thermocline: the wild temperature variations as steep as 8º Celsius in the space of mere metres. I rub my arms vigorously in an attempt to maintain my body temperature. We are on a hunt. Photo hunt, that is.