Shirdi Sai Baba

Alila Villas Uluwatu - Bali

Eco luxury does not get any better than this. The Singapore-based Alila brand has a firm grasp of what it takes to do it 

right. It is a brand to watch in the coming years with 20 new properties launching in Asia as well as Portugal.

We are most excited about Alila’s Alila Villas properties. Having just spent time at their sister hotel Alila Villas Soori, we 

were expecting the same level of luxury and care at Alila Villas Uluwatu.

Uluwatu is only 30 minutes from the airport (depending on traffic) and does indeed have the same WOW effect as Soori.

Stunning views, cliff-top balconies overlooking the ocean, beautifully designed villas with their own pool and decking, indoor 

and outdoor showers and just space, so much lovely space!

This is one of the reasons why the Southeast Asian luxury is so incredible: They understand space. They design spaces

that make you immediately feel you are not “in Kansas” any more. It is unlike anything we run into in our everyday lives, 

or even in our customary luxury moments.

They make you feel that you are somewhere special and the fact they use sustainable materials in their design makes 

you feel smugly happy about splurging a bit.

The service at Uluwatu is on a level you seldom see. You are greeted by name throughout the resort. The staff at the 

restaurants knows you preferences, dislikes and allergies but makes no big show of it. It is like a great host, a close friend 

would treat you.

Everyone was extremely well trained and that, we believe, comes from managing director, Sean Brennan, the Aussie who

has spent the last 13 years in the hospitality industry in Asia and who is a force of nature on his own.

Over our years of staying at hundreds of hotels, we have seldom, if ever, met a hotel manager like him. Sean is the type

of hotel manager you would pouch for your own hotel if you had one.

He is more hands-on with guests and staff than anyone we have observed. He greets guests personally on arrival, shows

them around, offers drinks, and sits with them at lunch and dinner, literally moving from table to table making sure the 

guests are enjoying themselves. He is a pleasure to watch, as he clearly loves what he does.

Just like Soori - the images here show exactly what the resort looks like and these last three images were taken by my 

own camera.



And guests become quite giddy and silly about their dramatic surroundings and service. Guest with their $10,000 cameras

with super zoom lenses took pictures constantly posing by the pool, by the cliff, in the villas, complete with costume changes

every few hours. It was hilarious to watch.

How key immune cells are born

GARVAN INSTITUTE

Share on print Follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) play a critical role in allowing us to fight infections and create a strong armory of antibodies for future use. Image: Eraxion/iStockphoto A Sydney-based scientist has demonstrated for the first time how an important class of immune cells, essential for the development of antibodies, comes into being. ‘Follicular dendritic cells’ (FDCs) play a critical role in allowing us to fight infections and create a strong armory of antibodies for future use. FDCs first make sure that our antibody-generating B cells receive samples of an invading organism. They then help to identify and nurture the B cells that manufacture the highest quality antibodies. Many of our immune cells, including B cells, are white blood cells and so arise out of stem cells in bone marrow. FDCs are not blood cells, and their origin has been a mystery until now. Scientists have been able to see FDCs in tonsils, spleen and lymph nodes – where they are formed during embryonic development and soon after birth. They have also seen FDCs at sites of chronic inflammation later in life – such as in a liver inflamed by hepatitis, or in joints inflamed by rheumatoid arthritis. Dr Nike Krautler from Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Professor Adriano Aguzzi from the Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital of Zurich, have now shown that FDCs arise from the ‘mural cells’ that surround our blood vessels. The importance of their finding is underlined by its publication in the very prestigious international journal Cell. “This story was interesting to us because follicular dendritic cells are thought to be stationary cells and can’t migrate through our bodies like B cells, which move through the lymph system or blood stream,” said Dr Nike Krautler. “We could see that they were present in the lymphoid organs, such as the spleen or lymph nodes, right from the start – from when the tissue was formed.” “We couldn’t understand, though, how they arose in other parts of the body during inflammation or autoimmune disease, unless they had been there in some form all along.” “By using genetic markers* we could see that they appeared to come from a particular kind of precursor, or stem cell, that surrounds blood vessels.” “We confirmed this theory by placing the precursor cells into animals without follicular dendritic cells, then watched them form when we triggered an inflammatory response.” “We now believe that during chronic inflammation or autoimmune disease, precursor cells are recruited to the site and form follicular dendritic cells. B cells also migrate there and highly specialised germinal centres form.” “Germinal centres are localised powerhouses of antibody generation, actually driven by follicular dendritic cells. In a healthy person, they are found only in the lymphoid organs.” “When someone has an autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritits, or a chronic inflammation of some kind, germinal centres form at other sites in the body and help sustain inflammation or disease.” “So while this is a basic science finding, it is really central to our understanding of how chronic inflammation is triggered – and perhaps in gaining insights about how to prevent them.” Dr Krautler performed her study in Zurich, and completed her work at Garvan in the lab of Associate Professor Robert Brink, an expert on B cell biology. Krautler and Brink will be working together to investigate the role of follicular dendritic cells in germinal centres, both in healthy immune responses and in disease. Understanding antibody generation is critical in fighting disease and in creating effective vaccines. Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.