Never Ending Story of Bali, From Chris&Marianne

Pagi itu aku menuju Sanur Beach Aerowisata Hotels&Resort, sebuah hotel berbintang yang terletak tepat di bibir pantai Mertasari, Sanur.
Tujuanku menemui para repeaters yang sering menginap di hotel tersebut.

Bersama Ibu Candy Juliani, Public Relations hotel tersebut, akupun dikenalkan pada pasangan setengah baya asal Belanda yang tengah menikmati liburannya di Bali, Chris Schut, dan istrinya Marianne..
They were so happy knowing that i want to interview them for my tourism magazine..!

Kamipun duduk santai mengelilingi sebuah meja bundar tepat di pinggir pantai, berbagi cerita dan pengalaman satu sama lain..

and here the story goes..


Born in Indonesia 56 years ago, and had felt two years living in Indonesia makes Chris Schut has his own bond with this largest archipelagic country in the world. Since 2000 until now, he was already five times visiting Indonesia, while his wife, Marianne, in already visited Indonesia for six times. Over the decade, the prime tourist destination that they always chose is Bali.

For Chris that was born from the Indonesian mother and Dutch father, Bali is a favorite vacation spot if he went to Indonesia. Prior to Bali, usually he also visited Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, or Yogyakarta first. Several years ago he also visited his mother families in Bandung. While in Surabaya he even had visited the hospital where he was born and took pictures there. "It's a memorable place for me," he said. However, the longest vacation time is still spent in the Goddess Island. This year, he spent more than four weeks for a vacation to Bali with his wife. Sanur Beach Hotel was chosen as a place to stay while in Bali since 2005. This began since one of their friends gave them a recommendation by recording the atmosphere and the location of Sanur Beach Hotel which is right on this beach in a video. Watching that video, they concluded "it's a nice hotel we should come". As they felt the first holiday in Sanur, they fell in love with this one of the most popular beaches in Bali.

For both of them, Bali has a lot of attraction. "Bali is a nice place, with nice weather, good hotels, and a lot of souvenirs," said Marianne who is originally Dutch. Their favorite place so far is Sanur beach, a place where they can relax on the edge of a quiet white sandy beach while sunbathing. In their opinion, in Bali almost anything can be bought with a very affordable price, especially compared to another country where they had vacations. "When we went to Turkey, the money I spent for two weeks equals with four weeks in Bali," added Chris after the event cooking class held in Sanur Beach Aerowisata Hotel.

Raised by an Indonesian mother makes Chris since childhood are familiar with the Indonesian cuisines. Especially in Holland, it was quite easy to find Indonesian food such as lemper, tempe, sambal goreng, or fried rice. "I love ‘babi kecap’, I can cook it, and mine is better than ‘babi kecap’ Bali," he said jokingly. Marianne also claimed that she loves the cuisine of Indonesia such as martabak and tumis buncis. Even in Holland they ever presented the various typical of Indonesian rice to their 40 friends, and everyone loved it.

Besides relaxing at Sanur beach or swim in the swimming pool at Sanur Beach Aerowisata Hotel, their favorite activity while in Bali is taking a walk while shopping. Marianne loved the Balinese souvenirs, and she always bought a lot of souvenirs for her family and friends in Netherlands.

One of their favorite shopping places is Geneva Handcraft Shop in Seminyak. Besides the price is quite affordable for them, the choices were so varied. They do not like to waste their time to bargain the price of souvenirs that they used to find on the streets. But sometimes Chris and Marianne also feel sorry for the local people in Bali who are earning money by selling handmade souvenirs. One time they even bought a bamboo hangings ornaments sold by a family who offered souvenirs around the coast of Sanur. "We feel 'kasihan'. We do not say that we are rich, but we just think that we have to share our wealth to others, "added Chris who was born in Surabaya. One more thing they love about Bali is the hospitality of the Balinese people. "Everybody is nice and friendly here," said Marianne. Sometime he gave a tip for the cleaning service at the hotel. Although, Chris said, without a tip they will still provide the best service for the guests.

About the condition of tourism in Bali today, as they saw every year when they visited Bali, things began to improve. Even compared to last year, they felt current prices began to rise, but that's not a big problem for them. Chris and Marianne also felt concerned about the condition of post-bomb Bali tragedy and Global crisis. They most regrettable is that many local people in Bali who worked in tourism sector, automatically will be hard for a living because a lot of people lost their jobs. But related to the tragedy several years ago, it did not make them afraid to come again to Bali. They just said that it can happen anywhere, not only in Indonesia. Therefore, Bali remains a favorite tourism destination with them until now.

The vacation to Bali this year for Chris is more different from the previous years. Chris who retired this year claimed to be more relaxed in enjoying the holidays with his wife. Not like a few years ago when he was still working. He usually can only spend about three weeks, then had to go back to work again. The plan, they're both going back to Holland at the beginning of this July, and will certainly come back to Bali again next year.