For as long as I've been writing this lifestyle column for your Sunday paper, I only just now realized I have never featured any style icons here. It's hard for me to pick a local persona that's edgy and "speaks louder than words" enough for my liking. Most of you already know our celebrities and socialites mainly get help from stylists for their appearance. What's new? I am rooting for someone who is confident enough to stand out in the crowd with his/her signature style, without any hesitance to scream, "Take me as I am, and if you don't like it, go suck an egg!"
Let me introduce you to Bonita, the only outrageous, fierce style-icon and successful lifestyle connoisseur of our island of Gods. Those of you who often visit Bali must be familiar with the sassy, sensible and friendly Bonita. Even if you've never met him in person, perhaps you've been to his restaurant tasting his recipes, or lounged in his bar sipping his cocktails, experiencing total relaxation in his spa, or even getting assistance to buy land from his property agency.
That's right, besides owning to-die-for style, Bonita is like an octopus: he has his sticky tentacles in every possible business field! If that's not an achievement, I don't know what is. Well, hats off, girlfriend, no one should ever ask you to take off those trademark over-the-top hats and lively zesty pashminas of yours. Bonita's style has been variously described as unique, kitsch, glitzy and sparkly by local and international eyes.
Bali may have uncountable faces of gay stereotypes, but Bonita definitely knows how to separate himself from the screaming-banshee habitat, directing all eyes and spotlights to his guise, for good reason. He makes an event unforgettable by his entrance. The audiences of Bali fashion week still remember years ago when they got irresistibly distracted from the show as Bonita entered the venue fashionably late, wearing an enormous couture gown by Bali's renowned cutting-edge designer, Irsan, accompanied by gorgeous white male caboodle.
It's hard to recall now that back in the late 90's, when I first met Bonita in Jakarta, he was just a boy from Sulawesi who still didn't know what he wanted to do in life. However, one thing was always clear from the start: his sharp business sense and hardworking attitude to support that. He once had clothes shops in Tanah Abang market and Senayan Trade Center, but soon enough he realized Jakarta was not his cup of tea, so he sold the business and finally moved to Bali with his partner of fifteen years in 2004.
Starting with Waroeng Bonita in Jl Petitenget from scratch, Bonita was in the kitchen, doing his own recipes and wok-work, cooking traditional fried rice for customers. Within a year, his culinary business has broadened and offered more varied home-cooking specialties from the islands of Bali, Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi, as well as a full range of Western dishes. He then added his flair in the restaurant's interior and d*cor with Moroccan/Mediterranean touches to embellish the breezy romantic garden.
Bonita is very proud of his achievements - as he should be, especially in his property business, which grew out of requests from people he met through his eatery and social circle. He believes it's destiny that people choose him to be a leader in this lucrative field in Bali. As much as he enjoys his success in this industry, Bonita manages to keep his heels on the ground and his flamboyance forward.
"No matter what you wear, if you know how to handle yourself and respect yourself, people will trust you and build good relations with you," he once said.
Speaking of what he wears, during this interview in his second-line restaurant, the tasty and now-famous Warung Sulawesi, he was in a striped polo shirt and three-quarter length pants, paired with a big Thai straw hat and multicolor tribal woven scarf, with a gargantuan leather bag. And yes, that is the same type of outfit he wears when he meets and signs his deals with his land and real estate buyers and investors, as well. Bonita's style definitely makes a wicked first impression, but once he opens his mouth we know for sure we can count on the ingenuity and brains of this "la femme Chiquita".
He admires the generous spirit of Oprah Winfrey, and believes in the power of giving; this modest, learning-by-doing entrepreneur is definitely a figure to watch. As I reach the closing of this article, I can't get Frank Sinatra's song out of my head, which I think would make a fitting entrance theme song for Bonita the next time he makes his dramatic appearance with his larger-than-life fashion and personality:
".What can I say to you, Bonita, what magic word would capture you.
Like a soft evasive mist you are, Bonita, you fly away when love is new."
- Diaz
