Bali - in particular Kuta - once again welcomed the New Year in festive mood, with parties galore, and without incident. The Balinese are now more hopeful of a long-overdue improvement in their fortunes during 2007.

After several days of unstable connections following the Taiwan quake, we at Poppies are happy to report that our lines of communication are back to normal too.

We greatly look forward to welcoming you back to Poppies during the course of 2007!