The black beaches of Seminyak, Bali, make for difficult surfing, but offer a rest for the weary acupressure patient after a day's session.
The black beaches of Seminyak, Bali, make for difficult surfing, but offer a rest for the weary acupressure patient after a day's session.

Bali beckons visitors to return to reap its rewards



There is something about Bali that repels or enamours. Yanto Irjanto refers to it as "the calling".

"It's like when you do yoga and you don't practise for a while," the Borneo-born acupuncturist says. "The yoga is calling you to practise. Bali is the same way - it calls you back."

He sighs as he prods my rib - another problem there, no doubt. Or, he's sighing at the state of the island - our conversation has oscillated between both topics this morning, and I wait for either a bleak diagnosis or another profound Yanto-ism.

"Your whole body not balanced," he declares finally. But of course, my dear Yanto. Anyone who knows me can tell you I'm unbalanced. What I had come to see was not what was wrong with me, but how Yanto cured the hundreds of people who swear by his treatments, including Cindy Crawford, Bebel Gilberto and Jasper Johns.

Having learnt acupressure at the age of 10 in Borneo, Yanto has developed something of a cult following among diplomats, artists and last-resort cases. His testimonial books brim with ebullient comments in the garden at the back of his house, where you can read them amid signs that say "This is a Nuke, War and Smoke-free Zone".

He has treated back problems, digestive ailments, insomnia and chronic pain. One time, he travelled to France to work on a half-blind man ("A challenge," he said. "Not like you"). Another time, a woman returned after one year of receiving treatment for her endometriosis to tell him that doctors were astounded to find no trace of the ailment. He's been called Dr Feel Good, Walking Painkiller, and X-Ray Fingers for his ability to take away pain through touch.

But on this quiet morning in Legian, Yanto seems less miracle worker than philosopher. "Bali: not like it used to be," he says. "Too much traffic; too many people. I worry about resources. How can such a small island hold so many people in the future?"

A former Dutch enclave, Bali was painted as an idyllic playground by anthropologists and artists in the early mid-1900s, lending it - whether in practice or through perception - a preternatural quality that continues to attract visitors.

These days, post-cinematic Eat, Pray, Love hysteria has drawn hordes of tourists who descend like locusts to a harvest, foraging for spiritual enlightenment and healing. Traditionally, families rely on a bailan, or healer, who uses a number of curative methods ranging from chanting mantras to incense or amulets. Tibetan, Chinese and Ayurvedic methods are incorporated into a system that relies on the intangible as much as it does the physical.

Yanto is not that kind of healer. He is a blend of many things I can't quite decipher, even though I try.

"Are you pressing the liver point?" I ask as he squeezes my foot painfully.

"Correct!" he says.

"Are you pressing the energy point, or the muscle?"

"Correct!" he says again, pushing fingers her and there and jostling my ankle around. He tears up the interconnected fascia throughout my legs, stretches my back, pulls my arms, presses my collarbones, and squeezes every square centimetre of my jaw and face.

"Much better," he says.

"Uh-huh," I say, touching my cheek, which feels like pulled taffy.

I stumble through the streets of Kuta and Seminyak after, feeling half-drugged, and take in the sights of coastal Bali through a semi-conscious haze. Warungs, or traditional restaurants, ebb and flow with the traffic of tourists; the patter of children's feet comes and goes as their beggarly hands reach up for money; tinny music blares from clubs whose nightly debauchery has grown in equal parts expensive and irritating in recent years; and beyond it all, the swell of the beach as my feet touch black sand at last.

I flop onto a lounge chair, semi-conscious.

"Do not watch me surf!" my friend Patty declares, strapping a short board to her ankle. (The whole point of coming to the beach was to surf, but the waves are bad, and the board is foam, and she predicts a debacle of Patteristic proportions.) Hours - maybe days later - I don't know at this point - she drags herself back, saying she won't be able to move her arms ever again. "That was no joke, Effie. Those were serious waves."

I crack an eye open and peer at the smooth beach. Its wet grey, sand granules sparkle with the silica of volcanic rock.

My father likes to say that the ocean is one of the greatest healers, so off I flop out of the chair, stumble towards the water in a vaguely straight line, and plop into the cold, shallow surf. Rumbling waves spill over each other and race towards the shore. People aware of the laws of physics jump the wave while I, thinking I'm floating above the water anyway, meet a hard wall of water that drags me under.

I let the sea pull me in as it rushes away from the shore, gathering itself before it thunders back. Salt stings my eyes, the sun peers down at me through slanted clouds, and there is nothing but the timeless pull of a force far greater than I, soothing in its tremendous, frightening strength.

And in that moment, the calling begins.

A one-hour session with Yanto Irjanto in Legian costs US$70 (Dh257). To book, email yantoirjanto@gmail.com. To catch up on all of Effie's adventure, visit Around Asia.

If you go...

Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.

Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

Meydan Racecourse racecard:

6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes Listed (PA) | Dh175,000 1,900m

7.05pm: Maiden for 2-year-old fillies (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m

7.40pm: The Dubai Creek Mile Listed (TB) Dh265,000 1,600m

8.15pm: Maiden for 2-year-old colts (TB) Dh165,000 1,600m

8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) Dh265,000 2,000m

9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m

10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,600m.

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The bio

Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The specs

Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
  • Never over populated areas
  • Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
  • Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
  • Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
  • Should have a live feed of the drone flight
  • Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Points tally

1. Australia 52; 2. New Zealand 44; 3. South Africa 36; 4. Sri Lanka 35; 5. UAE 27; 6. India 27; 7. England 26; 8. Singapore 8; 9. Malaysia 3

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5