AW Artisan Wholesale Giftware

Greetings from... well can you guess? I hope you guys are doing well - enjoying the summer and trading well!  Last week I was telling you about the Tea Blenders of Bandung and making friends with a taxi driver / out of work actor. If you missed it, you can catch up here. Now, looking at those two pictures, you might reasonably think I have finally made it to some place new - can you guess? Before leaving I had a very interesting week in Bali. Every year around Indonesian Independence Day, we have a Team Bonding Day at AW Advantage , our IT back office. This year the theme was Heroes of Indonesia. You see our team comes from all over Indonesia, and each of them chose a different local hero from the history of their own area or island. Bondhan and myself were installed as X Factor-style judges, which I think we took rather too seriously. Here are some of the contestants. And wow... I was so impressed. Vika, for example, came as Sayuti Melik — the man remembered for typing up the fina...

Greetings from Bali… Hope you guys are doing well! Last week I was telling you about Bandung in West Java—a very surprising place. If you missed it, you can catch up here . The journey back was almost as interesting as the journey there. Bondhan and I took the feeder train from central Bandung to the Whoosh station before catching the fast train back towards Jakarta and the airport. The feeder train was pretty special. In fact, it took us to the most beautiful, cutest and most comfortable little train station I think I have ever seen. It was clean, modern, surrounded by green hills and somehow felt more like a boutique hotel than a railway station.  Then, of course, we got back on the Whoosh... and a Batik Airways flight back to Bali. But I have more to tell you about Bandung.. Tea in Punclut  While in Bandung, we headed up into the surrounding mountains to an area called Ciumbuleuit—which I really don’t think I can pronounce properly. The locals call this leafy, elevated and ...

Greetings from West Java… Hope you guys are doing well!  Last week I was writing from Bali about how the artisans there are feeling the heat —rising costs, shortages and the constant need to reinvent how things are made. In case you missed it, you can catch up here . This week… we have moved islands.  Bondhan and I took a flight from Bali to HLP Halim—an airport just south of Jakarta that rather wonderfully describes itself as “Legendary” … and that pretty much set the tone for our trip.   We had only just landed when Bondhan suddenly spotted one of his absolute heroes standing beside the luggage belt—a rock star from Jamrud , one of Indonesia’s most famous rock bands. Bondhan was completely star-struck! A short taxi ride took us to the Whoosh train terminal, where, for a little extra money, we upgraded ourselves to First Class. Just twelve seats in the cabin… very civilised.  I had to visit the Whoosh gift shop of course..  Whoosh is Indonesia’s first high...

Greetings from Bali… Hope you guys are doing well! Last week I was telling you about my Communist Lunch in Slovakia and my long-way-round-trip from there to here. If you missed it you can catch up here . With the World Cup now behind us, the family holiday season well underway and our Happy Holi-Daze promotion (see below) in full swing, there is a slightly different feeling in the air.  Here in Bali, I have been feeling rather stretched in two directions. On one side, I have been working with Bondhan on several new product ranges—fresh ideas for our molten glass-on-wood collection, some interesting new art products and plenty of other things bubbling away in the pipeline. Despite distractions, I'm determined to land some beautiful new products. Regular readers will know this is the part of the job I absolutely love!  Looking at materials, visiting workshops and asking: *What else could we make? What could we re-invent? What might our customers love? Then Raul arrived from Kual...

 Greetings from Bali… Yes, I have just arrived back on this magical island… although my body still seems to be somewhere between Helsinki, Shanghai and Bratislava . Last week I was writing from Slovakia, where I told you about that ill-advised boat trip in Spain—I was sick as a parrot. If you missed it you can catch up here . After recovering, I managed to spend some time with our Slovakia team, although—as always—it was much too short. Lunch Behind the Iron Curtain . One lunchtime, Tomas took me to what I can only describe as a proper old-fashioned communist workers’ café. These places still exist in Slovakia. Although I guess slightly nicer decor than the old days. You queue with a tray, just like school dinners, and choose from wonderfully traditional Slovak food: cabbage, dumplings, soups, stews and large portions of meat. Nothing fancy, just good, honest food. I had more than I could possibly eat for around €8—and it was both healthy and very tasty. Then, when you have f...

Greetings from Slovakia My final few days in Spain came with a soundtrack. Close to the beach, the trees seemed alive with huge flocks of small green parrots—Rose-ringed Parakeets. There appeared to be more of them than ever this year. They originally came from South America sold as pets, some escaped and gradually established thriving populations along the warmer Mediterranean coast. They particularly enjoy golf courses and the leafy residential areas around Málaga and Marbella. A little like the tourists now arriving en masse, they are colourful, noisy and happiest when flocking together to sing. Actually, “sing” may be rather generous. They screech, squawk, argue and gossip from tree to tree — rather like a particularly lively Spanish family lunch. ENGLAND 3, MEXICO 2… AND THE WHOLE VALLEY KNEW I’m not really a football guy, as you know, but it was impossible to miss England’s dramatic 3–2 victory over Mexico on Sunday night. In the hot night air, we could hear celebrations ...