A Mind of My Own

This trip to Bali has taught me a few things.

• Always negotiate the price with the driver.
• If you want a guided tour, be prepared to pay for prices for food that are over-priced and taste lousy or can be bought at cheaper prices elsewhere.
• Prepare itinerary and stick to it.
• Plan on days where you can swim.
• Don’t watch scary movies if you want to be romantic. We were watching some scary movie while DD was trying to sing a lullaby and I screamed during the scary part. He got scared too. Oops.
• For Jimbaran seafood, they have lots of restaurants, choose the ones that are mostly recommended online. Taxi drivers recommend expensive ones.
• If there is free taxi back to the hotel, take it. Ask if they provide that.
• Avoid the stall holders. They are very aggressive. I was caught by this lady who refused to let go of my arm despite my best attempts. DD had to pull me away before she gave up her “1 Ringgit” talk. Did I mention that I lost my passion for shopping there?
• Avoid buying anything at the airport. They are so over-priced.
• Get a map and rent a bike if you can navigate the streets. They don’t have arrows on the roads. Only the main roads have but it’s still quite sparse.
• Driving at night is dangerous if you are not used to dimly lit streets.
• Make use of the spa if you have complimentary usage. They provide shiok-er massages than in Singapore. I don’t know why. Even Bangkok provide great massages.
• Scams like fake lucky draws are plenty. Beware.

Basically, for any trip, prepare some spare cash because not all places will accept credit cards. I prepared spare cash to exchange. Compare the exchange rates instead of going to the first one. There are places whereby the rates are low. Some even take commission, so the actual rate you get will be slightly less.

Finally, to conclude, take lots of photos. I have uploaded mine into 2 albums. One is the guided tour, the other is mostly the hotels and Kuta streets.