Adf.ly has a number of options for monetization of either text links you can use on social networks such as Twitter or FaceBook (though in the case of FaceBook, you might want to run them through bit.ly or another link shortener to avoid having them removed), and for the monetization of regular websites. You can shorten links one-by-one, or use their Mass Shrinker Tool to convert up to 20 links at a time. Plus if you have a website, you can use their Full Page Script to convert 100s or even 1000s of onsite links automatically!

For more traditional website monetization, try Adf.ly’s Website Entry Script. It’s the tool I’ve personally been using. You simply copy and paste a small javascript snippet into the head section of your site and choose whether you want to display a single 728×90 banner at the top of your pages, or an interstitial ad which displays automatically after a delay period of your choosing (from 1 second to infinity). I highly recommend the interstitial option as it pays more! The user will see a full page overlay that they must view for 5 seconds, then they can press a big button at the top right of the screen to return to your site. This works particularly well if you have valuable content or offer a free service and is much less intrusive than using a content locker.

The company behind Adf.ly is called x19 Limited, which is based in Central London. They pay regularly and automatically to your PayPal account on the first few days of every month, with a minimum pay out amount of just $5.00. Not bad, huh? I’ve personally received two payments of around $10 each so far.

If you have a product or service you’d like to advertise for surprisingly decent rates, you can also use Adf.ly’s Advertising page to quickly order a burst of traffic to profit from affiliate offers, or product sales. Plus, unlike most advertising companies, you can get started with just $5, which is brilliant when you want to test the waters first. Plus with worldwide traffic starting at just $1 CPM for 24 hour unique visitors, all with JavaScript, Cookies and Flash enabled on their browsers and with their eyeballs guaranteed to be looking at your page for at least 5 seconds, advertising with Adf.ly could be very lucrative indeed! (US targeted and UK targeted traffic is currently priced at $4 CPM).

So…what are YOU waiting for? Give Adf.ly a try today! Sign up is quick and instantaneous, and you’ll be up and running in literally minutes. Copy and paste their javascript snippet into your site, leave it for a day or two and see how it performs vs your current ads. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

UPDATE:
Here’s a little tip to maximize your earnings with Adf.ly’s interstitial ads…
When you insert their Website Entry Script, change the int_delay value to “1″…

var adfly_advert = ‘int’;
var frequency_cap = 5;
var frequency_delay = 5;
var init_delay = 1;

I’ve been doing this on my own sites, and it really helps increase ad views as the interstitial loads only 1 second after a visitor moves their mouse on your page. You can experiment with the frequency_cap and frequency_delay numbers also to find a good balance between revenue/not annoying your readers.

People in need of a particular content are always on search of the related information, and it is at this point the social bookmarking sites have gained importance.

You may not believe in the claims of the author of an article and authenticity of a post in a blog. But what if some hundreds of similar web viewers believe it really worked for them and they liked the article? Won’t you be interested in reading the post then?

Most of us believe in the reviews of the common visitors than some paid professionals. They simple logic has all it’s means in making the social bookmarking sites a huge success.

Out of many in the lot, few sites like stumbleupon, digg, reddit and technorati have gained huge success and popularity in no time. The user interference and reliability of information of these social bookmarking sites have made both the content hunters and publishers gain success.

Users can find related content and the most recommended blog post for the niche in which they are searching. The relevancy of the original blog post cannot be questioned as it depends on the number of viewer recommendations. If a person having an account in a particular social bookmarking site can recommend your blog post and can share it with his friends in the network.

The hot topic gets a slot in the home page of these social bookmarking websites. This can drive in thousands of visitors to your blog and most of them will be targeted visitors. This ultimately helps in more newsletter/rss subscribers for your blog. The more the subscribers and the visitors to your blog, the more popular becomes your blog.

Thus, in order to drive in huge amounts of traffic to your blog, first you need to create some great content and publish it. Have an account with site like stumbleupon or digg.

Add the socialbookmarking plugins to your blog posts. There are many such plugins available for free if you are using wordpress. Else, alternatively you can also embed a simple html snippet and paste in your blog post. This enables the viewers of your blog to stumble or digg it meaning they liked the post and are recommending it to their friends in the network.

This increases the chance of more recommendation, more views, more recommendations, more traffic. This becomes a chain process and in a very quick time you can see your visitor statistics go high. Have a look on your bandwidth and upgrade it immediately if you feel necessary.

Thus said, it is the content and right strategy to drive in enormous traffic from the social bookmarking sites.

One more reason why bloggers love these social bookmarking sites are they get some relevant information, ideas on blog posts and keep an eye on what’s hot in their niche. Also, these social bookmarking sites are Search Engine friendly and drive in huge traffic through the popular search engines like Google and Yahoo.

The most obvious places to look for outsourcing work are the Digital Point and Sitepoint forums. There are hundreds of guys and gals offering all different kinds of services that you can capitalize on.

So, what services might you want to outsource?

First up is directory submissions. It is tedious even to do semi-automated submissions yourself. It takes a long time. There are people on Digital Point who will submit your URL to 1,000 directories for about $10. Directory submission isn’t something you need to be doing all the time, so go for a bulk order for each of your domains early on and get it over with.

Social bookmarking can also be outsourced. You can get one of your deeplinks submitted to 100 social bookmarking sites for about $10-15. This is worth doing as it gives your blog some added exposure. Some of the links will also be dofollow so that’s an added bonus. Be sure to submit only your best content here.

Article submission is available in various guises on the forums. You can get one article submitted to hundreds of directories, or have one item rewrote and submitted, or have one article “spun”. There are a variety of options. You’ll probably not benefit from submitting identical articles to hundreds of directories because of the duplicate content issue.

On that note, some people offer services of writing and submitting articles. This can get expensive, but article marketing should be one aspect of your linkbuilding.

If you need content and don’t have time to write it, you can find writers on Digital Point. Most of them suck, however, and are only good for low-quality, bulk-writing deals. You might pay $2.50 per 400-word article, but the articles will be difficult to read. Use wisely. Quality writers are better sought elsewhere.

Blog commenting on dofollow blogs is also offered by a few people. The price you pay versus the benefit you receive doesn’t make these services that appealing in my eyes. You also run the risk of your comments being marked as spam so that when you go to leave a legit comment on a blog, your comment will automatically be filtered.

When you hire someone from the Internet, check out samples of their work, look at their reputation and iTrader levels, and read other people’s comment on the service. Set deadlines and don’t pay a whole bunch of money upfront if you aren’t 100% confident of the work being delivered on time.

It makes sense to upload as many photos as you can to increase you presence in the search engines. The photos don’t have to be high-res, but they should be big enough for people to be able to see what is going on.

I take all of my photographs with a Canon EOS 450. I had forgotten about more than a hundred photos of Phuket on my hard drive, so when I came across them, I resized them and uploaded them straight to my blog.

If you don’t have any photographs, all you need to do is spend some time going out and snapping anything relevant to your blog. It doesn’t matter if you’re a good photographer or not, but having photographs will help with your rankings.

iPods have gained in popularity for use in schools and colleges around the world. An iPod has four primary functions: playing audio, storing computer files, displaying pictures and videos, and recording audio.

There is no denying that current trends in technology have the potential to aid education. Personal audio and video players give educators the chance to reach out to students and engage them on a whole new level.

iPods can be used in the classroom in a variety of ways. Firstly, there are podcasts. A podcast is really just a trendy name used to refer to a lengthy audio file that isn’t a song. Podcasts are supposedly distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds, but the term has come to refer to audio files in general. In terms of education, podcasts can be created by students and teachers and given to students to inspire learning on the go. Listening to a podcast can be done anywhere: on the school bus, in the bedroom or while walking through town. A podcast is also somehow more appealing to many students than being buried in books and lecture notes.

Audiobooks have been around for years. An audiobook is a spoken-word recording of a book. You probably have a few on cassette or CD lying somewhere around the house. There’s no doubt that children enjoy listening to audiobooks. Many children prefer listening to the books rather than reading them. With the popularity of iPods and digital audio players, why not take advantage of this and offer audiobooks to students to play back on their MP3 players? While relatively few text books are available as audiobooks, there are works by the likes of Mark Twain, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens that could easily be uploaded to an iPod. A book could be listened to every day on the way to and from school.

The newer iPod models have the ability to display images. What better way to inject new life into a science project or a history lesson than by providing images for the students to look at. These images could be integrated into lessons, provided for homework assignments or simply used to add an extra element to a lesson. It makes the students more involved in the classes than by merely displaying images on an overhead projector. The idea is to bring students back into the education experience by engaging them and meeting them on their level.

The most up-to-date iPods can playback videos. While perhaps watching a full-length video on an iPod would not suit the classroom, there is enormous potential for giving out homework assignments that incorporate, for example, documentaries for history lessons or video sketches for language classes. Again, such resources inspire students to study in their own time and this encourages them to want to learn. Videos are often shown in school lessons as they are effective learning tools, so it’s a logical step to give students the opportunity to watch videos outside of school.

All this talk of videos and podcasts and we have drifted from the original point of the iPod: to play music. There is no reason why music cannot be incorporated into the learning experience. From listening to foreign-language songs to improve language skills to a history lesson that incorporates hearing the sounds of instruments used in Mediaeval times, music can play a major part in how children learn.

So that’s how iPods can be used in classrooms, but is it practical? After all, there is still the issue that not every child has an iPod and that while they are affordable, an iPod is still an expense that not all parents would be keen to justify. Furthermore, how can you incorporate iPods into learning without excluding those students who do not have them? These are just a few of the issues that schools and colleges must face.

One way of making the iPod learning experience universal for all students was explored by Duke University in North Carolina, United States. Duke’s iPod initiative initially involved giving free iPods to freshmen. This was met with an overwhelmingly positive response and was praised by students, parents and teachers alike. The move was implemented in 2004 to encourage “creative uses of technology in education and campus life”. Other educational institutions in the US soon followed suit.

Two years later and Duke announced that it would stop giving free iPods to new students, instead opting to loan the iPods or sell them at the subsidized price of $99. Although students were no longer being gifted free iPods, the move was still met with a positive response, although critics were quick to suggest that the iPods would do nothing more than facilitate students’ abilities to download and listen to music.

One professor at Duke gave an assignment requiring his students to create a podcast rather than a written paper. The university found that the students actually produced more work and did more research than if they had been assigned a regular written paper. The students swapped their podcasts and listened to each others work, adding a whole new element to the process of fulfilling the assignment.

At Louisa-Muscatine Elementary School in Letts, Iowa, iPods are used to help children with special needs. On test days, it used to be that some students would require the help of a paraprofessional to read the questions to them in a separate classroom. The students can now listen to and read the questions on an iPod, helping the students to work independently without the need for assistance.

Meanwhile, at West Tisbury School, Massachusetts, iPods and a range of multimedia tools have been used to transform the stale learning environment of yesteryear’s language labs into modern education hubs that encourage students to participate in classes. iPods and voice recorders are used to make lessons fun, veering away from the age-old technique of cramming students behind recording cubicles and slapping oversized headphones on their heads.

The Dentistry School of the University of Michigan has experimented with incorporating iPods into the learning experience, finding that about two-thirds of students actually prefer learning with audio-only content than with video files, highlighting the mobility and ease with which audio content can be accessed on the move.

A number of universities are now making available recordings of lectures that can be downloaded by students or anyone else around the world. These lectures can be made available as podcasts through iTunes or another platform. While on the subject of iTunes, the service also gives people access to biographical content, although at the moment this is restricted to musicians.

Apple is well aware of these uses for iPods and is ever keen to facilitate the learning experience. On the Apple website (www.apple.com/au/education/ipod/lessons/) there is a collection of educator-created lesson plans provided to be used as inspiration for beginning to use iPods in the classroom. The examples come from educators who have already taken the plunge and incorporated iPod into math lessons, history lessons, language classes and more.

There’s no doubt that iPods can be used to facilitate learning, but the key element is to ensure that the privilege is not abused and is used effectively. iPods are, first and foremost, devices for entertainment and so it’s vital that students are taught why iPods are being used in class. Also worth bearing in mind is that with all the buzz surrounding Apple and its creations, the iPod is not the only digital-media player around. It may not even be the best and cheapest.

US schools have paved the way for iPods to be used in education and so there is no reason why Asian educational institutions cannot follow suit.

By MC for Education Living

Fast forward to three dimensions and over to Venice, Florida, and there is (or was) a genuine clown college. This is no joke. The college was set up in 1968 and helped revive a profession that was all but dead. Whilst their exploits may not be as comically satisfying as Homer’s attempt to loop-the-loop on a tricycle, there are people who study various arts and crafts at clown college. These are the people who are out to prove that clowns are not just strange men in make-up, hamburger fiends and killers of children in Maine.

Clowning is an intricate art that involves pantomime, improvisation, character development, gag writing, makeup and choreography. Clowning has become a genuine profession, with clubs, museums and even a hall of fame. Long gone is the tradition of clown wannabes running away with the circus. This is the 21st century after all.

One graduate of clown college is here in Bangkok amongst us. She isn’t alone. Nancy Schwartz is here in Bangkok with a group of people. They aren’t all clowns, but they are pushing the boundaries of contemporary art and performance in directions that perhaps Bangkok is not familiar with.

Sadly, clown college is no longer in operation, but Nancy is by no means distraught. An immeasurably sprightly character, she brings an air of excitement to the Bangkok art scene. “Clown college was a long time ago now,” she reminisces. “It was incredibly competitive. They only accepted 50 people each year from applications of over 5,000.” Having moved to Bangkok with her girlfriend, Nancy has been steadily spreading the word of street performance across the city. “I actually don’t like the term ‘street performance.’ Some people call what we do guerilla theatre, but I don’t think that description really works either.”

Nancy has even used her work for teaching purposes in New York, amongst other places. Categorising of their work aside, Nancy and her colleagues have been preparing for an event the likes of which may frighten and bemuse the people of Bangkok.

Oh they float, they all float

Picture, if you will, a scene: a family of clowns sits before an enormous television in an outdoor living room. They are watching a band performing on the television. Not long passes before the clown family get up and walk through the screen and into the programme, pulling in confused passers by as they go. This is not an acid flashback, but what is known as ‘circus street theatre.’ It’s alive and well and it’s in Bangkok.

The concept takes interactive television to new levels. In a city that perhaps fears innovation and physical action as a form of expression, there seems to be little room for grounded, grassroots performance. “Lunge,” as the collective have come to be known, came together to prove that there are groups of people in Bangkok who have interests that shy away from hi-tech multimedia pop culture.

This group’s interests are rarely catered to, and as such there are few opportunities for them to do what they enjoy. This is all about to change. ‘Sorry I’m Late’ is a show that has brought together a collection of international performance artists, specialising in mime, puppetry, music, clowning and much more besides.

Over eight weeks at eight different locations, ‘Sorry I’m Late’ will take place with a focus on the audience. The majority of the show’s appeal comes in the form of crowd interaction, whereby anyone and everyone will be free to show their talents and character for the world to see. Perhaps such a concept is too extrovert for Bangkok to appreciate, but there are those in the city who frown at this very notion, and these are the people that have come together to form ‘Lunge.’

We can’t stop here, this is bat country

San Francisco performance artist G. Randall Wright is at the forefront of the organisation. “I got involved with all of this by accident,” he says. “Really we all came together because someone knew someone, who knew someone, who knew another guy that could play guitar.” The haphazard manner in which the group came together is demonstrative of the haphazard nature of street performance. “We aren’t sure how the shows are going to go. We aren’t even totally sure what we are going to do at each show. The shows are not set within strict perimeters, but they kind of evolve by themselves.” And therein lies the freedom within street performance. The unruly nature of the art-form does not serve to undermine its validity, but rather strengthens its meaning through genuine human expression.

Randall is full of life, constantly smiling for no apparent reason and saying the most normal of sentences with an enthusiasm that can perhaps only come from the mind of an artist. He is a likeable character and seems to thrive off the unpredictable nature of his art.

Street arts are nothing new to Bangkok. At the end of last year, Thailand’s first international community arts festival, Hoontown, took place in Samsen Soi 5. It received more than 3,000 visitors over the course of three days. These people were interested to see puppet shows, street performances, musical shows and various street arts. The event received major media attention and was noticed by MTV who have a similar event planned for later this year. Street arts are simple, fun concepts that have an immediate enjoyment factor that is difficult to attain from other art forms.

The venues for ‘Sorry I’m Late’ will be eight of Bangkok’s universities. This will give students at each of the universities a chance to show there own talents, whatever they may be, to mass audiences without fear of rejection for doing something different.

Molded around an innovative business model, the event allows for unconventional artistic inspiration to be presented to new audiences. Each mini-art fair is being co-organised by the universities themselves and Blackwood Ventures, a local startup company looking to nurture the creative underground of Bangkok. “Most of the entertainment, arts or culture in Thailand comes from pop-culture or the fine arts,” says Nat, one of the organisers. “Real originality and creativity happens in non-mainstream, street performance.”

To put on events such as these requires sponsorship, not least of all to pay the performers who are devoting a considerable amount of time to their projects. “It’s great that we can do this and actually get paid,” says Nancy. Increasing numbers of companies are opening up to the idea of street performance as presenting some sort of valid business opportunity. Through the realisation of this concept, more events are sponsored and the artistic scenes are able to expand and reach wider audiences. For means of an example, Sprite has been a part of street culture in the US for many years now, and they are also helping to sponsor ‘Sorry I’m Late.’ Other electronics and telecommunications companies have also expressed interest in getting involved.

The hoons are alive

By holding the events in universities, the performers are able to show their talents to both those who are interested and those who are not. The performers themselves first met at Hoontown, which was a genuine community event; something perhaps rare in the city of angels. Students will be able to show off what they are interested in (be it music, sculpture or painting) alongside artists from all over the world. Crowd interaction will blur the line between audience and performer.

Each show will last approximately two hours, and will be broken down into sets of two-minute vignettes which will give the performances a fresh, edgy feel. The puppetry element is something that Hoontown explored in some depth. It opened up an entirely new form of art to people who may otherwise have thought puppets were mere wood and string. The puppeteers have each made puppets of themselves, and so the performances will take on a surreal element, as performers perform with their own likenesses.

For those interested in keeping up with the antics of ‘Lunge’ as they traipse around Bangkok’s university campuses, the best advice is to keep an ear to the ground. The events will take place in June and July and the madness will be committed to writing in Guru every week with images to boot. There is a phone number to call, but calling it may or may not be of any use, if only because street performance likes to keep its audience on its toes. The number is 02-684-1600-2.

With this freedom comes responsibility and it usually takes a little while for students to learn how to take care of their money. A lot of students end up in debt while at university and calls home for money can be frequent occurrences. Right off the bat there are a few ways that college undergrads can watch after their money and let parents sleep easy.

Don’t miss class

Tuition fees are expensive and are usually paid in advance. Being at college isn’t like being at school. Most children wouldn’t dream of missing a class in school, but at college, nobody is going to write a letter home and say that Johnny has been skipping lectures. At this stage in a student’s life, if education isn’t being taken seriously then that’s the student’s choice. Lecturers will carry on teaching those students who do care and the ones who don’t will pay for it in the long run. The temptation to sleep in is always there, often fuelled by a hangover, but as soon as a student starts skipping classes, he is throwing money away.

Don’t fail class

In a similar vein to not showing up, failing is just as bad, if not worse. Some students let their college years drift away by failing and retaking classes, sometimes graduating several years after their original classmates. It costs money to retake modules and courses and it costs money to spend more time at college than you’re supposed to. Students can’t rely on retaking exams to pass their courses because they’ll end up severely out of pocket in the long run.

Make the most of the perks

A large chunk of the tuition fees paid to colleges and universities goes towards other resources that students often fail to take advantage of. These include everything from healthcare to assembly fees. If the service is there, use it. If you get sick, go and visit the university health service and make the most of your money. You’re paying for it either way.

Take everything you can get

A lot of students go through their college years unaware of the large number of scholarships and grants available to them. No matter what year of study a student is in, there is usually money out there earmarked for them; it’s just a matter of applying for that money. Colleges, universities and other organizations have schemes in place aimed squarely at financially assisting students during their study. To not take advantage of these resource or, worse, to not even be aware that they exist is wasting a great opportunity. It’s crazy to think that most students just don’t bother to cash in on all the free money that’s out there.

Don’t make a meal of your money

Many colleges and universities have some kind of meal plan on offer to students. Students living in halls on campus might have all their meals provided, while others may have to choose meal plans. Some students end up wasting money on uneaten meals. If a meal is provided and paid for, it makes sense to eat it. Especially in halls of residence, many students end up taking their meals off campus and dining out regularly, despite having meals provided for them. If a student is going to dine out, then it would make more sense not to spend money on any kind of meal plan.

Buy the right books

It’s impossible to shy away from the financial burden of having to buy course books, but students often end up frittering away their cash on text books. It’s not unheard of to shop around for books. Buying books online is a great way to save money, as is checking faculty notice boards to hunt out older students selling off books they’re done with. There’s also no reason why every text book that a student uses can’t be sold on to new students, thus saving a pile of cash at the end of each semester.

Don’t be a dropout

For some students, the newfound freedom that goes with attending college can go to their heads. They party too much, study too little, miss too many classes and wake up on time too few mornings. It’s a surefire way to waste money and to end up on the chopping block after every semester. Sure, going to college is a lot of fun, but there is still work to be done and if a student isn’t up to par when it comes to exam time, they may face the choice of retaking classes or else dropping out altogether. Then there are those students who haven’t really thought through what they are doing at university. Picking a course on a whim or just applying for subjects friends have applied for is another recipe for dropping out.

Keep the grades up

Students often forget that many loans and scholarships are awarded on the basis of certain grades and credits being met. If a student’s grades slip too far, it may be that that student will have to pay back his or her loan sooner, which can be an enormous financial worry. Likewise if a student’s GPA drops below a certain level, scholarships may be withdrawn.

Money matters

With student loans comes temptation. As a student, it’s easy to feel rich at the beginning of each college year and this can lead to some erratic spending, from new videogame consoles to wild nights out. If student loans were to cover shopping sprees then classes would be held in malls. It can be a hard lesson to learn for many, but the financial blunders students make today will often make them cringe with embarrassment in the future.

By MC for Education Living

Confusion over time zones meant that I had set my watch an hour too far ahead and so we woke up, my girlfriend and I, ridiculously early in the morning and left our hotel in Legian, Bali, just as the sun was rising. There were no touts out to sell us coconuts or henna tattoos or taxi rides; it was just us and the early-morning workers going about their daily business.

We made the effort to rise early with the intention of riding our rented Yamaha Mio motorbike all the way up to Ubud before the morning was through. On the map the journey was only about one inch and all indications were that it should have taken about an hour.

As we set off, the cool breezes of the morning were as refreshing as a splash of iced water. Bali’s infamous throngs of cars were yet to clog up the roads so we had a clear run into the distance. The rest of the island was still sleeping as we were beginning our journey to Ubud.

There was to be no plan; neither of us had much of a clue what we’d find in Ubud, but the journey’s purpose was to give us something to do, an adventure. The route from Legian to Denpasar was straightforward enough and signposts and hunches got us there. The signposts to Ubud were few and far between, so we got into the habit of asking every motorcycle rider we could find within earshot at junctions and traffic lights which way to go.

We drove back and forth, round and round, all over Denpasar until the early morning slipped from our grasp and was replaced by the morning rush. Mostly we just followed the traffic in the hope of coming across one prominent signpost that would lead us from our mazelike hell.

Frustration set in as the roads became unforgiving and our hopes of making it to Ubud seemed dashed. Just as we were wondering if it was even worth continuing with our journey, we took a left turn, dawdled for a moment too long and were stopped by a police officer.

All the police in Bali have moustaches and guns. We were pulled up on some ridiculous charge of having turned left when we should have turned right, but from his sharp rundown of us, the police officer found out that I had no driving license. He took the motorbike’s registration document and fiddled with a notepad and pen while a few kids gathered to watch.

We pleaded dumb and promised we would never be so reckless again, but the officer was keen to write a ticket. He got as far as writing down “Mett” before saying that we’d have to go to court or else pay an on-the-spot fine of 200,000 rupiah. We stood our ground and made up a story about having to leave the next day and that we were students, both very poor, and so had very little money.

Although he wanted to help us, the officer said he couldn’t, taking the registration document and walking back to his position directing traffic. We were left at the side of the road unsure what had just happened. The registration document belonged to a friend who had leant us the motorbike, so we couldn’t leave it there. As we were pondering what to do next, the officer strolled back and said that, just this once, he was going to let us off, but only if we paid 50,000 rupiah. “Of course!” we yelped. The officer awkwardly took our money, shook our hands and wished us well; before we knew it, we were back on the road.

From then on, the journey flowed together effortlessly. We found our way out of Denpasar and the signs pointing to Ubud became more and more frequent until all that was left was one long road, through rice paddies and tiny villages, to Ubud. The air was cool, even though the heat of the rising sun was beating down.

We were only in Bali for a week – a break from our manic lives in Thailand – but our time on the island made a lasting impression punctuated by this trip to Ubud. We were at a crossroads in many ways: after Bali I would be flying to Dili for a new start while my girlfriend was to return to Phuket. We wanted a trip to remember before we parted ways at Denpasar International Airport.

Ubud was the defining point of our vacation. As far as beaches go, Bali has some beautiful spots that make Phuket’s beaches look tame in comparison, but we wanted something more than sun, sea and sand.

We arrived in Ubud, ate lunch and cruised around until we came to the foot of a road leading up a hill that could have gone anywhere. Ever the ill-prepared, we set off on our motorbike to see where the road ended.

It didn’t end. The road carried on and on, snaking and winding and twisting and wrapping itself around shops selling all types of arts and crafts. Further up we reached a spot where there was a valley of rice paddies. The rich, dazzling greens of the paddies gave them a neon appearance with splashes of light as the rays from the sun bounced off the water and shattered into a million pieces.

We stopped to take in the sight of the rice paddies for about half an hour. We carried on up the hill and at some point decided to take a right turn. This part of the journey was the highlight of the trip to Bali. We passed through tiny, grassy villages lined with beautiful houses and temples, untouched by the modern world and reliant on the rice paddies to support themselves.

Every time we came across a group of children they screamed “Hello!” with delirious excitement. We saw no tourists or foreigners and came across no modern conveniences or gift shops or restaurants; we were among the farming community, where life breezes by. We stopped to buy some water and the people there were just amazed to see us.

I could have stayed forever and the sharp contrast between the peaceful village life and the backbreaking days I had spent in Thailand surrounded by clutter and chaos put a lot of things in perspective for me. I hope to return to Ubud some day in the future.

By MC for Education Living

Lanta is a sleepy island. It’s blissfully peaceful, the beaches are pristine, and the waters glisten with the light from the blazing sun. It’s the perfect island for lazing and watching the days drift by, but come nighttime, what is there to do? One club that has been seeking to break the norm on the island is Ibark. Before the rains came and the island’s low season kicked in, Ibark was a hive of nocturnal activity, hosting some of the hippest parties outside of Bangkok.

A lot of island clubs rely on substandard DJs, chaotic dancefloors, and monotonous music, but Ibark is different. Now that it’s been spending some time establishing its status on the island, come November when it reopens for the high season, it will be a refreshing reason to choose Lanta over one of the nearby alternatives.

Ibark’s real strong point is its location: Nestled amongst thick forestry, just out of reach of the beach but with a stunning view of the ocean, the club’s high vantage point gives partygoers the impression they are on top of the world. A short flight of stairs elevates you to the club’s main area. The open air design of Ibark allows it to complement Lanta’s natural beauty, without battling with it.

With space for around 800 people, Ibark is large enough to generate a real clubbing atmosphere, as you might associate with a club like (the now defunct) Astra in Bangkok. The ground floor has a spacious lounge area, complete with tables and sofas, that leads into the dancefloor. In the far corner is the DJ booth, and next to that is the bar. The second story of Ibark is also open air, and has more room for loafing and enjoying the view.

When the night is young and people are feeling primarily like socializing and relaxing, the lounge area makes for a great place to anticipate the night ahead. The mood is calming and the ambience is inviting and comforting. Once the drinks begin to flow and the music picks up, the party really gets going and the fun begins.

The crowd is a mixture of foreigners and Thais who have all come together to enjoy the most lively party on the island. Being in such a serene location, the energy is sedated and refined thanks to the clean air, the stars twinkling in the sky, and the refreshing breeze emanating from the sea.

It’s a trendy club, and the clientele is certainly up for the occasion. The music has a varied focus, with everything from funky house and breaks to electro and tech-house getting some airtime. If you’re after the usual hip hop and pop songs that many clubs in Thailand play, you’ve come to the wrong place. Ibark prides itself on quality, clubbing music. The chillout lounge upstairs is where you’ll hear jazz, ambient, and bossa nova beats. The upstairs area is huge and is perfect if it all gets a bit too much downstairs. DJs who have graced the turntables at Ibark so far include Bangkok local favorites Joeki, K.I.T.T.I. and DJ Oui. A number of international DJs have also guested at the club, and there will be many more once the rains cease and Koh Lanta comes back to life.

A night out at Ibark isn’t a quiet night. These people know how to have fun. Wild dancing over both floors of the club, fire dancers spinning poi, and live musicians and percussionists make this place into what it is. Its preliminary opening months have seen it finding its feet, but after the success of the first parties it can only go from strength to strength, and already it’s being talked about as the new “in” place to be in the south of Thailand.

Ibark is just a short walk from the Sri Lanta Resort in Koh Lanta Yai (Klong Nin Beach); around half-an-hour’s drive into the island from the main town of Saladan. The party goes strong until 3 a.m. at which point people begin to disband, although the music can go on a lot later depending on what the crowd is like. The parties at Ibark will take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with a 200 baht cover charge (although this is subject to change come November). Check www.ibarkkrabi.com for more info.

It’s great to see the best elements of an island party merged with the vibrancy of clubbing in the big city with a fantastic crowd of people and some top-notch tunes. Being outside, the party takes place under the stars and the moonlight, making it romantic and charming.

Ibark is one of the best places on Lanta to catch the sun setting, then kick back with a few drinks, and wait for the party to begin. Set on this idyllic Thai island, with inexpensive cocktails and a quality venue, Ibark is the perfect place to dance the night away.

Use this guide to the hottest genres sweeping across Thailand and then go and dance yourselves senseless.

Drum ‘n’ bass
One of the most exciting musical genres from the UK now has an established following in Thailand. The music is based around break-beats – think hip hop, but faster, and more energetic. As a product of hardcore music, drum ‘n’ bass is fast-paced and energetic. It’s also a lot of fun. Get ready to sweat like you’ve never sweat before in a steaming room full of clubbers dancing to as if there was no tomorrow. Drum ‘n’ bass has a lot of scope for clubbing and keeping relatively fit at the same time, if only because of the carefree, uninhibited way it compels people to dance. Hot-spots in Bangkok right now include the Vertigo events at Astra, RCA. Be sure to check out The Specialist, one of Bangkok’s hottest DJ imports, fresh from the UK.

House and trance
Slightly more conventional, but just as athletic, house and trance are musical genres crafted around the generic four-four beat. Dance moves are more thoughtful, and may require some practice. Regular attendees to house and trance nights have been known to dance for periods of up to 12 hours without rest. Imagine step-aerobics, but with a few more smiles and a bit more jumping. Don’t be afraid to jump around like a maniac if you hear some crowd pleasing sounds. Happening places in Bangkok include Glow Bar and Bed Supperclub in Sukhumvit.

Electro
Less conventional than house and trance, electro music is deep, down and dirty. The bass-lines are low, and the music is pounding. Dance-floors have been known to erupt into spontaneous chaos to the likes of New Order’s Blue Monday and Josh Wink’s Higher State of Consciousness, as was the case when Ladytron’s Reuben Wu graced the decks at Time:Out, RCA, in May. For those that like to dance the night away without a hint of pretension, scope out your local electro scene and sweat the calories out of your body.