David's AW News: Delayed by Donald

Greetings from Bali, Indonesia

And happy Halloween.

November is here!!

It's scary how fast the time flies, it doesn't seem like ten minutes since last year's Halloween.

Traditionally, at AW, we get in the spirit and come to work in ghoul and ghost mode..

I'm writing this before all the costume drama has taken place..(time zone issues) , but see below for the results..

AW Artisan in Spain

AW Gifts in Slovakia

Ancient Wisdom in UK

AW Aromatics in UK

Last week I was telling you about saying goodbye to Toni and Chatterjee (my travel companions for the last few weeks in India) and flying from our base in Goa to Bangalore and then to Kuala Lumpur.

If you missed it, you can catch up here.

Goodbye Mr Chatterjee - see you next time..

Full Body check

I was in KL for my regular body check at the Gleneagles Hospital. One of the nicest hospitals in the world, I want to call it the Gleneagles Hotel, because it has a lobby, bell boys, a grand piano and welcome drinks. There is something about hospitals in the UK that is stressful and desperate.. here I don't feel that. Anyway, I spent a day in their health screening dept kept busy moving from room to room getting every organ and body part checked by delightfully kind and friendly people. Normally, I get a full bound report with printouts and a consultation with my assigned Doctor by the end of the day. But I was on a Saturday shift, so they emailed me on Monday.  I highly recommend it. And it's great value.

Delayed by Donald

Sunday, I travelled to Bali.. Which was bad timing because Donald Trump was just arriving. All of the city was in lockdown for the ASEAN conference, and the motorway between the city and the airport had been closed in both directions, for the exclusive use of the Donald. So my taxi driver seemed more stressed than me.. taking the back routes to the airport, I saw parts of the city I had never seen before. Instead of 40 minutes, it took us two hours to get to the airport. Anyway, because of all the VIP movements, my flight had been delayed. Thank you, Donald.

In the airport, I was asked twice to stand still and stand back whilst some minor VIP came past on an airport buggy. At arrival points, small teams of dancers in traditional costumes were waiting to greet delegates with Malaysian gift packs. History in the making.

Gemstones Horror Story

Now I have never really thought about this before.. We have checked carefully the people we buy gemstones from, the artisans in India, China, and even in Morocco. Making sure conditions are good and trade is fair. But think about it.. it's kind of blindingly obvious that those rocks come out of the ground. That part of the process that's not really visible..

Well, a little AI research and I was horrified to discover that in poor areas children have been used to getting into small shafts to dig out gemstone deposits. I mean WTF?

Well in India it turns out not all bad news.. but we had to go and investigate.. I made a YouTube video about it. 

But questions still remain; gemstone trading routes are complex. The world's gemstones come from Africa, Madagascar, India, China and Brazil.. (in the main).

One of our suppliers here in Bali, who originates from West Java, told me about an area there rich in Gemstone production. I'm thinking of going and visiting.

Meanwhile in the warehouse..

So much stock has arrived.. a lot as it happens from India. 

Holly has been busy reviewing the new Ancient Witch Ritual Candles.

A beautiful detailed product. Another design master piece (in my opinion) from Sandra. Watch video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHruA4YJSEc

Anyway wishing you a wonderful fun and festive week.

More updates from Indonesia next week.

Take care

David