This October edition leans more deeply into Balinese culture than usual, and it is a fitting month for it. On 10 October, Tumpek Wayang sees shadow puppets, masks and musical instruments blessed with offerings and prayers. As the month draws to a close, Saraswati Day on 31 October brings the same devotion to books and palm-leaf manuscripts, in gratitude for learning. You'll find both in our culture calendar.
The cultural thread runs through the rest of the issue too. A kilometre from the resort, two five-century-old temples at Petitenget keep the legend of a priest's sacred box. Even our dining offer has roots in local tradition. Vegan Wednesday at Asparagus Resto & Bar draws on Indonesia's long love of plant-based cooking, from tofu and tempeh to the Vegan Nasi Goreng, with 20% off vegan dishes at lunch.
Elsewhere, kitchen trimmings in our gardens are quietly becoming eco enzyme, an organic fertiliser that also helps keep the neighbourhood drains healthy. Our Deluxe Spa Package pairs two nights in Seminyak with a massage for two at Ambiente Spa, with the area's boutiques just a short stroll away. And for a day beyond the pool, to be closer to nature, we suggest white water rafting on the Ayung River.
Happy reading and see you soon in Bali
The Amadea Resort & Villas Team
Pura Petitenget and Pura Masceti Ulun Tanjung: The Legend of a Sacred Box
A kilometre from Amadea Resort & Villas, at the end of Jalan Kayu Aya, right after the bridge where the restaurants give way to sand, there is a low wall most guests walk straight past. Behind it stand two temples, or pura in Balinese. They are five centuries old and still in daily use, and the story behind them begins with a box.
Peti means box. Here it refers specifically to the pecanangan, the lidded box that held the betel ingredients a Balinese priest carried on the road. Tenget describes something spiritually charged, not to be handled carelessly. The story comes from the temple's late pemangku, its lay priest and custodian, who traced it to the Lontar Dwijendra Tatwa, a chronicle of the priest's life written on palm-leaf manuscript. Dang Hyang Nirartha was a sixteenth-century Hindu priest who came to Bali from Java. Travelling south toward Uluwatu, he left his pecanangan in the keeping of Bhuta Ijo, the "Green Spirit," a guardian of the forest that then covered this coast. Bhuta Ijo guarded it so fiercely that anyone who entered the forest fell ill. When the villagers sought guidance, they were told to build shrines: a seat for the guardian, and a place of honour for Batara Masceti (Batara is a title given to a deity). The sickness lifted, and the box gave the place its name.
That legend explains why there are two temples here rather than one. Pura Petitenget is a Pura Dang Kahyangan, a temple linked to the journey of a revered priest and important to Hindus across the whole island, not only to the local village. Beside it stands Pura Masceti Ulun Tanjung, dedicated to Batara Masceti, who by local account travelled west with Nirartha and took his leave at this coast. Each temple has its own apit surang, the split gateway facing the sea, with carved balustrades flanking the steps.
Inside, look closely at the shrines. Porcelain plates are set into the stonework, painted with gods, heroes and animals, and the obvious assumption is that they are old. They are not. Researchers from ISI Denpasar, the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, writing in the arts journal Mudra Jurnal Seni Budaya in 2024, found that the plates here were once plain white. The painted ones arrived with the 2019 renovation, and Petitenget appears to be the only temple in Bali decorated this way. Their arrangement follows Tri Angga, the Balinese principle of reading a structure as head, body and feet. Divine figures sit at the top of each pelinggih (shrine), characters from the Hindu epic Ramayana run across the middle, and animals and plants fill the base. The painting style is Kamasan, a classical form of Balinese narrative painting named after its home village in Klungkung, in the east of the island.
Frangipani trees shade the grounds, thick-trunked and gnarled, their canopies reaching over the walls. The flowers are not ornament either. Balinese Hindus tuck them behind the ear during prayer and place them in the offerings left each morning, so the trees supply the ceremonies beneath them.
The wide outer courtyard now holds parked cars, watched by pecalang, the traditional village guards who keep order at temples and ceremonies. This is not a lapse. A temple's outermost yard has always belonged to daily life, and only the inner courtyards are reserved for those who come to pray. Around Melasti, the purification ceremony held at the sea in the days before Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence, the beach itself becomes ceremonial ground. Thousands process here to the sound of gamelan, the traditional bronze percussion orchestra, and the roads through the surrounding Kerobokan area close for hours.
The temples are a fifteen-minute walk from the resort, or a few minutes by car.
Please wear a sarong and sash, follow the custodians' guidance, and ask before photographing anyone at prayer. Our Guest Relations team can confirm access and timing before you set out.
The Art of a Perfect Seminyak Escape
Indulge in a refined Bali getaway where effortless shopping meets exceptional relaxation.
Set in the heart of Seminyak, Amadea Resort & Villas invites you to enjoy two nights of understated luxury with our exclusive Deluxe Spa Package. From USD 215 nett per room, enjoy daily breakfast for two, return airport transfers, welcome drinks, and a complimentary 75-minute Sweet Bali Care Massage for two at Ambiente Spa. For an elevated stay, choose our Deluxe Pool Terrace Room at USD 239 nett.
With Seminyak’s boutiques and surfwear outlets offering seasonal savings, your next Bali escape is the perfect opportunity to shop, unwind, and indulge. Reserve your stay and discover your perfect Seminyak escape.
Midweek, meat-free and 20% lighter on the bill: Wednesday lunch just found its reason
The Tofu Teriyaki Bowl arrives glossy and still warm, Kayu Aya Street hums along just beyond the table, and nobody is wondering what's missing from the plate. That's the quiet promise of plant-based dining at Asparagus Resto and Bar: wholesome ingredients, comforting flavors and no sense of compromise, whether you've wandered in off the street for a long lunch or settled in for an easy dinner.
The idea grew out of the island itself. Indonesian cooking has always leaned generously on plants. Tofu and tempeh, which was first made in Java, have anchored home kitchens here for generations, alongside peanut-sauced vegetables, coconut-rich curries and sambals built on chili, shallot and lime. Meanwhile, Kayu Aya Street has become one of Seminyak's go-to strips for travelers who eat vegan or simply eat lighter, and many of them arrive with friends who don't. Asparagus set out to cook for that shared table: one menu where the vegan guest and the curious carnivore both order happily. Wednesday was a natural choice too. By midweek, most holidays have had their share of long dinners, and a bright, fresh lunch tends to feel like exactly the right reset.
So every Wednesday, Vegan Wednesday takes 20% off all vegan dishes at lunch. The line-up runs from the refreshing Vegan Bowl and our best-selling Tofu Teriyaki Bowl to Quinoa Salad, Vegan Pancake and a Vegan Smoothie Bowl heaped with tropical fruit. For a taste closer to home, order the Vegan Nasi Goreng, our plant-based take on Indonesia's much-loved fried rice, with all the smoky, sweet-savory depth of the original.
The vegan selection is served at lunch and dinner at Asparagus and the Pool Bar. If you'd rather keep things private, the same dishes are on our In-Room Dining menu, ready to enjoy in your room or villa.
Come, slow down and savor plant-based dining, the Asparagus way.
What the Kitchen Leaves Behind
How Amadea's team turns fruit and vegetable trimmings into eco enzyme for the garden and the neighborhood
Healthier soil, cleaner drains and less waste on its way to landfill: a lot to ask of one humble liquid, yet that is exactly what eco enzyme has been doing at Amadea since November 2025.
It starts with the fruit and vegetable trimmings left from our kitchen's daily preparation. For years, scraps like these went straight to landfill. Now, our team gives them a second life.
Once a month, the trimmings go into containers with molasses and water, following the classic eco enzyme recipe. The containers are sealed, and then comes the hardest part: waiting. Over three months, natural fermentation slowly turns the mixture into eco enzyme. A new batch begins every month, so a fresh harvest arrives every month too.
Some of that harvest goes into the resort gardens as a liquid organic fertilizer. It is made from nothing more than plant waste, molasses and water, which makes it an entirely organic way of looking after the garden. The rest travels beyond our walls, into the public drains around the resort, where it helps break down the organic waste that collects there. It is a small act of neighborliness that happens largely out of sight.
The purpose behind it is simple: send less to landfill, and put what we produce back to good use, both in our own gardens and in the neighborhood around us. It is a quiet, practical way of closing the loop, and it asks for patience more than anything else.
We see eco enzyme as a beginning rather than a finish line, the first of many steps we hope to take in caring for the environment and the island we call home. So the next time you wander through our gardens, look a little closer at the green around you. Some of it owes its color to a liquid that took three months to make.
Activity Inspiration: Bali White Water Rafting
No experience needed, just a paddle, a helmet, a willingness to get a little wet and closer to nature.
The first rapid is mostly laughter. Someone paddles on the wrong side, the raft spins, the guide calls out a cheerful correction, and then the river settles into a long, green calm. Jungle rises steeply on both banks, a waterfall threads down the rock face, and for a moment the only sounds are birdsong and the drip of water from your paddle.
For guests with a free day and an appetite for something a little livelier than the pool, a rafting trip on the Ayung River is one of Bali's gentlest ways into adventure. The river winds through the gorges below Ubud, roughly an hour and a half's drive from Seminyak. Its rapids are lively enough to bring a rush of excitement but mild enough for first-timers and families, broken up by quiet stretches where you can simply drift and look around. Along the way, you'll pass rice terraces glimpsed high above the gorge and stone carvings set into the cliff walls, a view of the island that few visitors ever get.
Trained guides steer each raft and brief everyone before setting off, and helmets and life jackets are provided. Most excursions include hotel transfers and a buffet lunch at the end, often with hot showers and a change of clothes before the drive home. Be prepared for a fair number of steps down to the riverbank and back up afterward, which is the most strenuous part of the day for many guests.
Whether you're sharing the raft with family, friends or someone special, it's a day that tends to be retold at dinner long after the clothes have dried.
Discover more during your stay: Our Guest Service Assistant in the lobby would be happy to recommend and arrange rafting and other activities to suit your pace and preferences.
Bali's Culture Calendar in October:
A Celebration of Light, Art & Creativity : Tumpek Wayang
On 10 October 2026, Bali observes Tumpek Wayang, a sacred day celebrating art, creativity, and spiritual harmony.
In Bali, art is deeply woven into daily life. On this special day, wayang puppets, musical instruments, masks, and other artistic creations are honoured through offerings and prayers as expressions of gratitude for inspiration and creativity.
There is a quiet poetry in the wayang itself. Through light and shadow, ancient stories unfold reminding us of the delicate balance between what is seen and unseen, darkness and light, life and spirit.
For those experiencing Bali, Tumpek Wayang is an invitation to slow down and simply observe: the fragrance of incense, the gentle rhythm of gamelan, the beauty of offerings, and the devotion behind each ritual.
A moment to pause. A moment to reflect. A moment to experience the soul of Bali
A Celebration of Knowledge, Art & Wisdom: Saraswati Day
In Bali, knowledge has its own goddess, its own holy day, and an offering placed beside every book.
On the morning of 31 October 2026, books across Bali will be set down and honored. Schoolchildren arrive in traditional dress to pray together before lessons begin. At home, families gather their books, lontar palm-leaf manuscripts and musical instruments, then place canang sari, fruit and small cakes beside them. This is Hari Raya Saraswati, the day Balinese Hindus believe sacred knowledge descended to humankind.
That such a day exists says much about the island. Here, knowledge is more than something useful: it is held sacred, embodied in Dewi Saraswati, the goddess of learning, wisdom and the arts. She is traditionally shown seated on a lotus, holding a palm-leaf manuscript, a stringed instrument and a string of prayer beads, with a swan at her side. Every 210 days, on Saniscara Umanis Watugunung, the final week of the Balinese pawukon calendar, the island pauses in her honor. Temples, schools, offices and family compounds all hold their own prayers, and many Balinese traditionally refrain from reading or writing for the day, leaving their texts to rest beneath the offerings.
The observance continues at dawn the following day with Banyu Pinaruh, whose name joins banyu, water, with pinaruh, knowledge. Many Balinese go to the sea or a sacred spring to bathe and purify themselves, carrying the blessing of the previous day into the new cycle.
For guests, the day asks only for quiet respect. If you notice offerings resting on books, instruments or shrines, please leave them undisturbed.
Saraswati is a reminder that what we learn and what we create are gifts worth tending, and that an island can still set aside a whole day to give thanks for them.
Exclusive Benefits for Direct Booking thru Our Website
Now you can enjoy exclusive benefits as well as best price when booking online direct on our website at www.arvs.pphotels.com.
Here they are:
1. No Booking Fee
2. Priority early check in and late check out
3. Complimentary beverage vouchers (valid for beers, cocktails, mocktails, juices)
4. Flexible payment options:
Book and Pay Later at hotel. Your credit card will not be charged at time of booking, it is for guarantee only OR
Book Pay Now & Save to get extra 3% saving
5. Additional benefits exclusive for BOOK DIRECT only:
Stay 3 nights: complimentary one time airport transfer
Stay 5 nights: complimentary one time airport transfer + one time stock of 4 soft drinks and 2 local beers in mini bar upon arrival
Stay 7 nights: benefits of 5 night stay + one time free three course set dinner OR 60 minutes relaxing Balinese Massage, 1x 10% discount on Spa treatment, 1x 15% discount on Food at Asparagus or Pool Bar
Stay 10 nights or more: benefits of 7 night stay + free 10 pcs laundry for one time delivery
Note: not valid for packages or special deals/promotions
Always check and compare price and benefits on our official website first with those available on other booking channels to have best value for your money.
What the Guests Said
1. Mr. Roberthshaw (Australia) September 2026 : wonderful. The room and bathroom were cleaned each day and a little note was nice with name of cleaners.
2. Mr/s. Nessbitt (Australia) September 2026 : the food and drink in the restaurant was absolutely perfect, best we have ever tasted. All the staff in the restaurant were amazing - extremely nice, welcoming and friendly.
3. Mr. Hume (Australia) September 2026 : all service was fantastic; we loved the notes and towel arts