Bali has long been known as the “Island of the Gods” but these days it is undergoing such rapid development that many investors are flocking to the resort island to get a slice of the action.

Resorts are sprouting up everywhere, offering foreigners the opportunity to invest in luxury timeshares or buy their own private villas, purportedly with freehold ownership. These are, in reality, long-term leases of 20 to 30 years, with options to renew.

A large majority of the development boom is centered in Bali’s dry, hilly, southernmost area, The Bukit (literally, “the hill”). Several of Bali’s best beaches like Padang Padang and Dreamland are here.

Private ownership of resort accommodation is now a feature of virtually every new resort development on Bali, especially in The Bukit. Even so, many resorts still offer discerning travelers a haven where they can totally unwind, without making a property investment.

Alila Villas Uluwatu and Ungasan Banyan Tree are two newcomers to The Bukit, while Dreamland Luxury Villas & Spa established itself as a five-star resort just when the villa resort boom began about five years ago. The Peak visited all three just recently.

The Japanese are inherently artistic people who care for quality and presentation, and these cultural traits heavily influence the country’s national cuisine. Japanese food is very much about capturing the flavors of the ingredients in their most natural form and letting them speak for themselves.

Diners in Indonesia are increasingly becoming more sophisticated and discerning in their preferences so it is almost inevitable that they would turn to Japanese cuisine with its reputation for fastidious attention to detail, exquisite presentation and delicate flavour.

Japanese cooking methods, however, remain something of a mystery to those whose knowledge of the cuisine may be limited to sushi or sashimi. There is so much more to this age-old oriental cuisine that should be explored.

The Peak recently sampled different approaches to Japanese cuisine at three upmarket venues.

For a nation such as Indonesia, where everyday life for many can be physically arduous, the concept of a gymnasium is relatively new and strange.

However, rapid development and an increase in overseas visitors means the country has already taken on board three of the largest gym organizations in the world: Celebrity Fitness (CF), Fitness First (FF) and Gold’s Gym (GG).

As Indonesia finds its feet as an increasingly developed country, so have its citizens developed a need to visit the gym and become more health-conscious. The Peak magazine checked out each of the three.