Vincent OG
Member
I have been exchanging emails with an expat based in Candi Dasa, Karangasem Regency. He has given me lot of practical and useful guidance about relocating to Bali.
At his suggestion, I am posting this advice as it might be of use to others contemplating a similar move.
These are one persons views and opinions, based on his experiences. Please don’t get uptight if you disagree or if they don’t work for you. Doubtless, some others will have different views and they can post them if they wish.
I have left out one of the most useful parts – an estimate of likely living expenses – because it is in table format and I cannot post it here. Send me a message if you want to see it and I’ll email it to you.
Like Akari & I, he is a diver so apologies if the stuff at the end about scuba and boats is not of interest.
OK, in no particular order ……………
House Rental
Rented an attractive modern furnished house with a pool close to Candi Dasa at US$1,000/month.
You can pay a lot more or a lot less. A nearby place goes for $4,000/month and have heard of an expat who pays Rp 5M/year ($600 pa).
Why He Chose Candi Dasa To Live
It is reasonably close to the eastern scuba sites on Bali but isn’t as isolated as Tulamben, Amed, etc.
There are places to fill scuba tanks, decent restaurants, and what passes locally for a supermarket (you’ll laugh when you see it).
Padang Bai would have been OK except that it’s something of a congested backpacker’s town with too many transients.
That sort of setting makes the local vendors too aggressive.
Living in a Remote Location
Tulamben and Amed are about three hours from the nearest real supermarket. Menjangan even farther. Items you commonly find in a chemist’s at home are unknown outside the tourist areas and sometimes even hard to find there. I went to five apotiks in Kuta before finding hydrogen peroxide. Think real seriously about living in the boondocks. And no matter where you live, even in Denpasar, ensure ahead of time that the place has an operative telephone line and adequate electrical service. Some homes have a mere 2000 Watt capacity – that’s about one TV and one hair dryer. Before shaking hands find out about the nature and adequacy of the water supply and what happens to the waste water. How frequently does the power fail? Don’t ask the guy renting the place to you.
If you get much more remote than Candi Dasa you’d better buy a generator and forget about telephone service.
Domestic Staff
Our maid earns Rp 300,000/mo
The cook gets 600,000
The gardener/pool man gets 300,000
The young man who brushes each of our dogs for 30 minutes/day and bathes them weekly gets 100,000/month.
Before working for us our maid and the dog groomer had never tasted beef – too expensive.
You’ll probably have to pay a premium to get a cook who is actually willing and able to learn other types of cooking (e.g. Japanese/Thai/Chinese ) regardless of what they say about their willingness and ability.
I had considered a driver and security. Drivers get about Rp 700,000/month to drive a car you supply and their day runs to around eight hours.
I don’t know of anyone who has a dedicated security staff although I’m sure there must be some. We haven’t felt the need. But with our existing staff and ourselves it’s unusual that the house is empty. When we take overnight or longer trips our maid stays in the house overnight and we give her about RP 20,000 per day. That includes feeding the dogs as well.
Utility Costs
Phone, fuel and electrical prices all went up an average of 22% on 1 January. There has been rioting and the government may back down. The IMF is really pushing these increases as Indonesia needs a further $2B to get through this fiscal year.
Electricity Is quite high here
Our electric bill is about 800,000/month.
Internet Costs
The phone bill is quite high
All calls I make to connect to the internet are “interlocal” to Denpasar cost about Rp. 100,000/hour during business hours.
Most homes don’t have telephones.
I’m not sure of the satellite service cost, but it is quite expensive.
Further, I think you only receive from the satellite and send via phone lines.
I use Centrin, and they’re reasonably reliable.
There’s a free service from the phone company but I never figured out how to use Outlook to send e-mail that way.
It’s also less reliable than Centrin.
Centrin is cheap enough, it’s the phone charges that eat you alive.
US$400 Satellite TV System
Excludes the cost of the TV
Will pull in over 100 channels.
Most will not be useful to you if you don’t speak some dialect of Chinese, Arabic, Indonesian, French, Italian, Spanish, Portugese, etc
But there are about a dozen with some or all English language programming including BBC, ABC Australia, Channel News Asia, Central China TV and some others.
No monthly charges.
Dharma Yasa Service
Denpasar
0812 3968311
Wayan - English is quite workable
Indosat Satellite TV System
A little more you can buy an Indosat system
Has fewer but better selection of channels
But monthly subscription fees.
Automobile Rental
Wirasana
Tel 0361 286066
No e-mail
A ’96 Kijang cost 2,400,000 Rp/Mo
Treated us pretty well
They are on the main road coming through Sanur on the left side about 30 meters before the Kentucky Fried Chicken intersection
A car was necessary for several reasons
1. weekly shopping runs to Sanur and Kuta
2. it would be impractical to carry all our purchases on bikes.
3. the rain is daily and heavy right now until about April
Buying a car may be the way to go, but I’d wait until having been here for several months before getting the hook set that firmly.
For our weekly trips to shop in Sanur & Kuta I struck a deal with hotels in each town.
It isn’t absolutely necessary. The church my wife likes to attend only has mass at 1800 on Sundays. I’m not enamored of driving at night here (and bet you won’t be, either), so we stay overnight.
Drivers License
Come equipped with an international driver’s license endorsed for a motorbike.
It makes life much simpler.
The police regularly have checkpoints to check motorbike drivers for licenses because there are so many unlicensed drivers.
Bikers
I have frequent urge to run over some of the bikers.
They have no concept of rules of the road, basic physics (cars can’t stop on a dime when a bike pulls in front of them), or self-preservation (pulling onto a road with not even a glance at oncoming traffic).
I’ve run like hell after witnessing two accidents and my wife is still fussing at me about that.
If you actually are involved in a personal injury or death accident DON’T STOP!!! Go to the nearest police station. Stopping can get you killed by an angry mob. This happens to locals from time to time, too.
Driver
If you need a driver for anything I highly recommend
I Nyoman Sundra (Tommy)
08123628019
We’ve used him for many things since arriving here.
He’s a great guy with a good command of English.
He’s the sort of guy you can give a large wad of cash to, say please go to such and such a place and pick up so-and-so for me, and expect the job to be done correctly and with integrity.
Visas
You can avoid some of the costs of visa runs to Singapore by getting a Sosial Budaya visa. This visa is good for 60 days (just like a regular tourist visa) but may be extended as many as four times for 30 days each by a trip to the immigration office. Hint: go to the immigration office near the airport rather than in Denpasar – less crowded. You cannot obtain a Sosial Budaya visa once you’re in country. You need a sponsor who must be engaged in business The sponsor completes a form and sends it to you along with a copy of their national identity card. You take/send these items along with your passport and a couple of passport photos plus about US$60 to the nearest Indonesian embassy or consulate and they issue the visa. The visa issued this way is good for 60 days beginning with the date of your entry into Indonesia. We didn’t know anyone here when we went this route and so relied on a commercial “visa broker” who charged us US$300 each for her services which included the four runs to immigration for extensions. The service was spotty as the agent wasn’t too bright and had no sense of urgency. Asri told us she’d have been glad to do it for us. I expect she’d be very pleased with $100 each. You could make your own extension runs or at least those following the first. After this thing dies its natural death at the end of six months, you than leave the country armed with a new sponsor’s letter, etc. and go to a consulate in Singapore or wherever. Singapore is now taking three days to turn these things around but I’ve read there are agents who can get it done in a half day. You’ll be ready for a taste of high-rise buildings, neon lights, and clean restaurant kitchens each six months anyway. You can also find food items there which are unavailable in Bali.
Customs
By the government’s own admission, the most corrupt part of officialdom.
They held us up for US$460 to bring our dogs in.
People bringing or shipping books in to donate to schools have had to pay exorbitant customs duties. They tried to tell Customs, “OK, you can just dump the books,” but that didn’t work either. Pay up or leave.
Having said that, I’ve been in and out of the country half a dozen times since arrival and have had no further problems.
What To Bring - Clothing
Don’t’ bother with many extra clothes as you can purchase clothing here more cheaply than you can ship it.
You can have anything made to order quite cheaply from knockabout clothing to formal wear
Alus Tailor & Boutique
Jl Raya Kuta No. 408
Phone 0361-753646
[email protected].
Operated by a charming woman named Asri Mara
Asri speaks English excellently
My wife has had a ton of clothing made here
She can be a big help in guiding you to other things you may need
What To Bring - CD’s
In any quantity might be a problem with customs, but why bother?
You can buy all the CD’s you want here as copies for practically nothing.
The exception is classical music. When I ask for that in music shops I’m offered The Beatles or Elvis Presley.
Non-pirated CDs cost the same here as in the US.
What To Bring - Kitchen Utensils
No need
What To Bring – Conclusion
In short, bring only a change of clothes and your scuba gear. And a computer if you’re bent that way.
Books
There’s a book exchange shop in Candi Dasa
Pretty old stuff and mostly romance novels, but the exceptions will help fill idle hours
There are two bookshops in the Galleria.
Makro
A poor man’s WalMart
On the bypass road between Kuta and Sanur
Membership costs about US$2.50
All the kitchen stuff you might need
Electrical appliances ranging from crap to fairly good
Food
Clothing
Office supplies, etc
Even if you only went there once each six months it would be worth the $2.50 membership fee.
Also, part of your orientation should be to find out what’s available there and elsewhere before driving yourself nuts looking for some little electrical adapter that’s readily available. Lots of common little things like that aren’t available in the hinterlands. For me to drive from Candi Dasa to Sanur takes about 90 minutes. Macro is perhaps ten minutes farther.
Other Shops
Pepito Supermarket, Kuta,
Matahari Supermarket in the Galleria at the big traffic circle going out of Kuta
Lotus for delicatessen items located just south of the airport
Food
Has been a significant expense for us.
Produce in the local markets is not of very good quality.
Local beef is pretty poor.
Western packaged/canned food items only available to a limited extent in the supermarkets cited above at a pretty stiff markup.
Japanese Food
My wife bought so much Japanese food on our first trip to Singapore we had to buy an additional bag.
Oh, for Akari’s benefit, there is a Japanese food wholesaler located just two or three doors away from the Bali Plaza Duty Free shop (not the same as the Duty Free Shoppers at the Kuta traffic circle).
They will sell to individuals and even gave us a list of all the items they carry complete with prices.
The prices weren’t bargains.
Security
We have had no incidents of theft or vandalism.
I’ve even gotten so careless as to leave the car unlocked with items of no very great value inside.
Sponsoring Local Families
Contributions of an intellectual nature or in the form of physical assistance would serve better than cash contributions.
You might want to consider trying to remain a little aloof from your neighbors.
They will view you as unspeakably wealthy and will (not totally unreasonably) feel that you have a social obligation to share your wealth with them.
Their idea of sharing fairly may well not coincide with your idea of fairness and that could lead to some enduring hard feelings.
A common occurrence here is for locals to invite you into their home and make a great and sincere effort at showing hospitality.
But somewhere in the course of events they will begin telling you their very real list of hardships and you’ll find it quite difficult to extract yourself without making some sort of contribution.
Once the hook is set you will be reeled in continuously.
Lots of expats here find themselves in the role of sponsors of local families and aren’t too sure of how it came about.
We made a policy of not accepting invitations into homes of locals by saying that we are very uncomfortable in imposing on their hospitality.
The few exceptions we’ve made were to visit the homes of acquaintances who are quite well to do.
Corruption
I have been stopped a few times by police who made no bones about wanting me to contribute to their family’s welfare right in front of several of their fellow police.
Bribes are acceptable at all levels of officialdom
usually they needn’t be very large
If you apply for an Indonesian driver’s license, for example, you will be charged an “administrative fee” that can not be found on the books.
There is usually a long line to apply for the driver’s license, but a little tip in the right place will get you to the head of the line.
And so life goes on.
The Jakarta Post
Reading the daily English language newspaper, the Jakarta Post, will either make you laugh or cry.
An unsuccessful candidate for the governorship of Jakarta recently sued members of the city council because they didn’t vote for him after he had paid them heavy money in bribes.
Bank officials who stole and misappropriated many millions of dollars were let off because they “made restitution.”
Last January there was a big splash in the news about the heroic customs department confiscating three ultra-light aircraft being smuggled in from Germany.
In July the aircraft couldn’t’ be found.
In an unrelated story, the head of the customs department learned from the newspaper that his assistant was replacing him.
Editorials asked, tongue in cheek, if the assistant were really qualified for the job as he only had a single conviction for corruption.
It’s a rare day when there isn’t some such nonsense in the paper.
Bargaining
Be sure to bargain for EVERYTHING in Bali.
This applies to anything you buy and especially to personal services.
Paying 1/3 of original asking price is quite normal if you bargain well.
But don’t get confrontational in your bargaining or the sellers just refuse to play the game with you.
Travel Around Indonesia
I can’t really give you any pointers about travel around Indonesia as we haven’t gone to any of the other islands of the country.
I have made three trips of one week each to East Timor for business and two trips to Singapore, but that’s it since arriving here.
I’d recommend that you spend some time here and then reevaluate your desire to visit other parts of the country after considering that Bali has the highest standard of living in the country.
East Timor has superb diving, but there’s nothing else to recommend the place and it’s unreasonably expensive right now.
Exchange Rates
Are better in the Kuta/Sanur area than elsewhere.
Street exchange rates are much better than bank rates and far superior to hotel rates, but be cautious.
The most trustworthy places to exchange are called PT Central and are usually collocated with Kodak photo shops.
Last Saturday I got Rp 9,050/US$1.
Since we arrived the rate has fluctuated from a high of 9,900 down to 8,600.
Mail
During our reconnaissance trip here in May of ’02 I mailed a letter from Bali to our home in Hawaii.
When we left Hawaii to come back to Bali on July 10th, the letter still had not arrived.
Before leaving Hawaii on July 10th I mailed a letter to myself at our Bali address.
It hasn’t come yet.
‘Nuff said on that subject.
Bank Accounts
If you anticipate the need to have funds transferred to Bali, open an account here in your currency.
Otherwise the bank will eat you up with the exchange rate if you have a Rupiah denominated account, a mistake I made.
Get your money from the bank here in your currency and go to a good money changer.
Be selective in the bank you use – many of them are about to collapse.
That’s another Indonesian scandal.
Because of the theft and misappropriations mentioned above, the government created the Indonesian Bank Redevelopment Board (IBRA) to merge some of the insolvent banks.
The members of this board have also dipped into the till.
We used BCA which is the largest privately owned bank in Indonesia, but I’m not sure it was a particularly safe choice.
At any rate, don’t use the small, local banks.
Seems simpler to just continue with your current account and arrange with your present bank to do a wire transfer to an account you establish here when you request them to do so. That worked well for us.
Massage In CD
Of paramount importance
Dewi Spa and Salon
Jalan Raya Candidasa, Candidasa, Tel. 0363 41982
Rp 40,000 for 1 hour
Ngungah does a great job.
Phones
Calling us in Indonesia is pretty iffy.
My wife’s friends call her from Hawaii and Japan
Have to try for days to get through.
Scuba
I’m not aware of any expats scuba clubs.
On a reconnaissance trip here last May we made the acquaintance of a really neat guy who owns a scuba business in CD.
He’s Japanese
Hiro
DiveLite
0363 41660
http://www.divelite.com
[email protected]
Hiro also has another Japanese instructor named Noriko Fukuda working for him.
Noriko is a hoot to dive with. She lived in the US for a while and gets along with English reasonably well.
I told him I’d like to dive with him for a while after coming here in July until I learned the dive sites and how best to exploit them after which I’d dive on my own.
That worked out very well.
Hiro took me to the dive sites and gave me a good run down on them as well as telling me how much I should pay and to whom.
Subsequently I dived alone (my wife only snorkels) at these sites and paid reasonable prices for boats to take me out.
A jukung (outrigger canoe with motor) for a dive close to the point of departure will cost about Rp 70,000 for two dives on average.
Many dives may be made as shore dives.
A superb guide to the dive sites including good charts of each is
Diving Bali by David Pickell and Wally Siagain
published by Periplus.
Hiro’s wife Ime is an Indonesian from Sumatra and she speaks English pretty well
She’s been of invaluable assistance to us several times and they have both become our friends.
His business as well as all others was hurt severely in the aftermath of October 12th.
Scuba Gear
The best shop for scuba gear I’ve found considering price as well as selection is
Divemasters
Sanur Bypass
0361 289028
[email protected].
Ask for Diah.
There are no shops in the CD area selling gear although Hiro can usually help out with a short-term fix.
Scuba Air Fills
I’ve been asked to pay as much as Rp 50,000 for air fills but have never had to pay more than 20,000.
Boats
I had thought about leasing/buying/renting a boat while here but changed my mind soon after arrival.
There’s no way to moor or slip a boat of any size except at Padang Bai or Benoa.
All boats here are dragged up on the beach when not in use.
Next, it’s really rare to see a boat here suitable for personal use other than a jukung unless you’re interested in something of the live-aboard size.
That is to say, almost NO fiberglass or aluminum runabouts.
Then there’s the matter of mobility: if you have a boat in Padang Bai, what will you do when you go to Tulamben?
That’s a 75 minute drive but would be a full day boat trip.
I’ve never seen a boat being hauled over the road here and for that matter haven’t seen any trailers at all.
I sure wouldn’t want to drive under local conditions with a trailer.
At his suggestion, I am posting this advice as it might be of use to others contemplating a similar move.
These are one persons views and opinions, based on his experiences. Please don’t get uptight if you disagree or if they don’t work for you. Doubtless, some others will have different views and they can post them if they wish.
I have left out one of the most useful parts – an estimate of likely living expenses – because it is in table format and I cannot post it here. Send me a message if you want to see it and I’ll email it to you.
Like Akari & I, he is a diver so apologies if the stuff at the end about scuba and boats is not of interest.
OK, in no particular order ……………
House Rental
Rented an attractive modern furnished house with a pool close to Candi Dasa at US$1,000/month.
You can pay a lot more or a lot less. A nearby place goes for $4,000/month and have heard of an expat who pays Rp 5M/year ($600 pa).
Why He Chose Candi Dasa To Live
It is reasonably close to the eastern scuba sites on Bali but isn’t as isolated as Tulamben, Amed, etc.
There are places to fill scuba tanks, decent restaurants, and what passes locally for a supermarket (you’ll laugh when you see it).
Padang Bai would have been OK except that it’s something of a congested backpacker’s town with too many transients.
That sort of setting makes the local vendors too aggressive.
Living in a Remote Location
Tulamben and Amed are about three hours from the nearest real supermarket. Menjangan even farther. Items you commonly find in a chemist’s at home are unknown outside the tourist areas and sometimes even hard to find there. I went to five apotiks in Kuta before finding hydrogen peroxide. Think real seriously about living in the boondocks. And no matter where you live, even in Denpasar, ensure ahead of time that the place has an operative telephone line and adequate electrical service. Some homes have a mere 2000 Watt capacity – that’s about one TV and one hair dryer. Before shaking hands find out about the nature and adequacy of the water supply and what happens to the waste water. How frequently does the power fail? Don’t ask the guy renting the place to you.
If you get much more remote than Candi Dasa you’d better buy a generator and forget about telephone service.
Domestic Staff
Our maid earns Rp 300,000/mo
The cook gets 600,000
The gardener/pool man gets 300,000
The young man who brushes each of our dogs for 30 minutes/day and bathes them weekly gets 100,000/month.
Before working for us our maid and the dog groomer had never tasted beef – too expensive.
You’ll probably have to pay a premium to get a cook who is actually willing and able to learn other types of cooking (e.g. Japanese/Thai/Chinese ) regardless of what they say about their willingness and ability.
I had considered a driver and security. Drivers get about Rp 700,000/month to drive a car you supply and their day runs to around eight hours.
I don’t know of anyone who has a dedicated security staff although I’m sure there must be some. We haven’t felt the need. But with our existing staff and ourselves it’s unusual that the house is empty. When we take overnight or longer trips our maid stays in the house overnight and we give her about RP 20,000 per day. That includes feeding the dogs as well.
Utility Costs
Phone, fuel and electrical prices all went up an average of 22% on 1 January. There has been rioting and the government may back down. The IMF is really pushing these increases as Indonesia needs a further $2B to get through this fiscal year.
Electricity Is quite high here
Our electric bill is about 800,000/month.
Internet Costs
The phone bill is quite high
All calls I make to connect to the internet are “interlocal” to Denpasar cost about Rp. 100,000/hour during business hours.
Most homes don’t have telephones.
I’m not sure of the satellite service cost, but it is quite expensive.
Further, I think you only receive from the satellite and send via phone lines.
I use Centrin, and they’re reasonably reliable.
There’s a free service from the phone company but I never figured out how to use Outlook to send e-mail that way.
It’s also less reliable than Centrin.
Centrin is cheap enough, it’s the phone charges that eat you alive.
US$400 Satellite TV System
Excludes the cost of the TV
Will pull in over 100 channels.
Most will not be useful to you if you don’t speak some dialect of Chinese, Arabic, Indonesian, French, Italian, Spanish, Portugese, etc
But there are about a dozen with some or all English language programming including BBC, ABC Australia, Channel News Asia, Central China TV and some others.
No monthly charges.
Dharma Yasa Service
Denpasar
0812 3968311
Wayan - English is quite workable
Indosat Satellite TV System
A little more you can buy an Indosat system
Has fewer but better selection of channels
But monthly subscription fees.
Automobile Rental
Wirasana
Tel 0361 286066
No e-mail
A ’96 Kijang cost 2,400,000 Rp/Mo
Treated us pretty well
They are on the main road coming through Sanur on the left side about 30 meters before the Kentucky Fried Chicken intersection
A car was necessary for several reasons
1. weekly shopping runs to Sanur and Kuta
2. it would be impractical to carry all our purchases on bikes.
3. the rain is daily and heavy right now until about April
Buying a car may be the way to go, but I’d wait until having been here for several months before getting the hook set that firmly.
For our weekly trips to shop in Sanur & Kuta I struck a deal with hotels in each town.
It isn’t absolutely necessary. The church my wife likes to attend only has mass at 1800 on Sundays. I’m not enamored of driving at night here (and bet you won’t be, either), so we stay overnight.
Drivers License
Come equipped with an international driver’s license endorsed for a motorbike.
It makes life much simpler.
The police regularly have checkpoints to check motorbike drivers for licenses because there are so many unlicensed drivers.
Bikers
I have frequent urge to run over some of the bikers.
They have no concept of rules of the road, basic physics (cars can’t stop on a dime when a bike pulls in front of them), or self-preservation (pulling onto a road with not even a glance at oncoming traffic).
I’ve run like hell after witnessing two accidents and my wife is still fussing at me about that.
If you actually are involved in a personal injury or death accident DON’T STOP!!! Go to the nearest police station. Stopping can get you killed by an angry mob. This happens to locals from time to time, too.
Driver
If you need a driver for anything I highly recommend
I Nyoman Sundra (Tommy)
08123628019
We’ve used him for many things since arriving here.
He’s a great guy with a good command of English.
He’s the sort of guy you can give a large wad of cash to, say please go to such and such a place and pick up so-and-so for me, and expect the job to be done correctly and with integrity.
Visas
You can avoid some of the costs of visa runs to Singapore by getting a Sosial Budaya visa. This visa is good for 60 days (just like a regular tourist visa) but may be extended as many as four times for 30 days each by a trip to the immigration office. Hint: go to the immigration office near the airport rather than in Denpasar – less crowded. You cannot obtain a Sosial Budaya visa once you’re in country. You need a sponsor who must be engaged in business The sponsor completes a form and sends it to you along with a copy of their national identity card. You take/send these items along with your passport and a couple of passport photos plus about US$60 to the nearest Indonesian embassy or consulate and they issue the visa. The visa issued this way is good for 60 days beginning with the date of your entry into Indonesia. We didn’t know anyone here when we went this route and so relied on a commercial “visa broker” who charged us US$300 each for her services which included the four runs to immigration for extensions. The service was spotty as the agent wasn’t too bright and had no sense of urgency. Asri told us she’d have been glad to do it for us. I expect she’d be very pleased with $100 each. You could make your own extension runs or at least those following the first. After this thing dies its natural death at the end of six months, you than leave the country armed with a new sponsor’s letter, etc. and go to a consulate in Singapore or wherever. Singapore is now taking three days to turn these things around but I’ve read there are agents who can get it done in a half day. You’ll be ready for a taste of high-rise buildings, neon lights, and clean restaurant kitchens each six months anyway. You can also find food items there which are unavailable in Bali.
Customs
By the government’s own admission, the most corrupt part of officialdom.
They held us up for US$460 to bring our dogs in.
People bringing or shipping books in to donate to schools have had to pay exorbitant customs duties. They tried to tell Customs, “OK, you can just dump the books,” but that didn’t work either. Pay up or leave.
Having said that, I’ve been in and out of the country half a dozen times since arrival and have had no further problems.
What To Bring - Clothing
Don’t’ bother with many extra clothes as you can purchase clothing here more cheaply than you can ship it.
You can have anything made to order quite cheaply from knockabout clothing to formal wear
Alus Tailor & Boutique
Jl Raya Kuta No. 408
Phone 0361-753646
[email protected].
Operated by a charming woman named Asri Mara
Asri speaks English excellently
My wife has had a ton of clothing made here
She can be a big help in guiding you to other things you may need
What To Bring - CD’s
In any quantity might be a problem with customs, but why bother?
You can buy all the CD’s you want here as copies for practically nothing.
The exception is classical music. When I ask for that in music shops I’m offered The Beatles or Elvis Presley.
Non-pirated CDs cost the same here as in the US.
What To Bring - Kitchen Utensils
No need
What To Bring – Conclusion
In short, bring only a change of clothes and your scuba gear. And a computer if you’re bent that way.
Books
There’s a book exchange shop in Candi Dasa
Pretty old stuff and mostly romance novels, but the exceptions will help fill idle hours
There are two bookshops in the Galleria.
Makro
A poor man’s WalMart
On the bypass road between Kuta and Sanur
Membership costs about US$2.50
All the kitchen stuff you might need
Electrical appliances ranging from crap to fairly good
Food
Clothing
Office supplies, etc
Even if you only went there once each six months it would be worth the $2.50 membership fee.
Also, part of your orientation should be to find out what’s available there and elsewhere before driving yourself nuts looking for some little electrical adapter that’s readily available. Lots of common little things like that aren’t available in the hinterlands. For me to drive from Candi Dasa to Sanur takes about 90 minutes. Macro is perhaps ten minutes farther.
Other Shops
Pepito Supermarket, Kuta,
Matahari Supermarket in the Galleria at the big traffic circle going out of Kuta
Lotus for delicatessen items located just south of the airport
Food
Has been a significant expense for us.
Produce in the local markets is not of very good quality.
Local beef is pretty poor.
Western packaged/canned food items only available to a limited extent in the supermarkets cited above at a pretty stiff markup.
Japanese Food
My wife bought so much Japanese food on our first trip to Singapore we had to buy an additional bag.
Oh, for Akari’s benefit, there is a Japanese food wholesaler located just two or three doors away from the Bali Plaza Duty Free shop (not the same as the Duty Free Shoppers at the Kuta traffic circle).
They will sell to individuals and even gave us a list of all the items they carry complete with prices.
The prices weren’t bargains.
Security
We have had no incidents of theft or vandalism.
I’ve even gotten so careless as to leave the car unlocked with items of no very great value inside.
Sponsoring Local Families
Contributions of an intellectual nature or in the form of physical assistance would serve better than cash contributions.
You might want to consider trying to remain a little aloof from your neighbors.
They will view you as unspeakably wealthy and will (not totally unreasonably) feel that you have a social obligation to share your wealth with them.
Their idea of sharing fairly may well not coincide with your idea of fairness and that could lead to some enduring hard feelings.
A common occurrence here is for locals to invite you into their home and make a great and sincere effort at showing hospitality.
But somewhere in the course of events they will begin telling you their very real list of hardships and you’ll find it quite difficult to extract yourself without making some sort of contribution.
Once the hook is set you will be reeled in continuously.
Lots of expats here find themselves in the role of sponsors of local families and aren’t too sure of how it came about.
We made a policy of not accepting invitations into homes of locals by saying that we are very uncomfortable in imposing on their hospitality.
The few exceptions we’ve made were to visit the homes of acquaintances who are quite well to do.
Corruption
I have been stopped a few times by police who made no bones about wanting me to contribute to their family’s welfare right in front of several of their fellow police.
Bribes are acceptable at all levels of officialdom
usually they needn’t be very large
If you apply for an Indonesian driver’s license, for example, you will be charged an “administrative fee” that can not be found on the books.
There is usually a long line to apply for the driver’s license, but a little tip in the right place will get you to the head of the line.
And so life goes on.
The Jakarta Post
Reading the daily English language newspaper, the Jakarta Post, will either make you laugh or cry.
An unsuccessful candidate for the governorship of Jakarta recently sued members of the city council because they didn’t vote for him after he had paid them heavy money in bribes.
Bank officials who stole and misappropriated many millions of dollars were let off because they “made restitution.”
Last January there was a big splash in the news about the heroic customs department confiscating three ultra-light aircraft being smuggled in from Germany.
In July the aircraft couldn’t’ be found.
In an unrelated story, the head of the customs department learned from the newspaper that his assistant was replacing him.
Editorials asked, tongue in cheek, if the assistant were really qualified for the job as he only had a single conviction for corruption.
It’s a rare day when there isn’t some such nonsense in the paper.
Bargaining
Be sure to bargain for EVERYTHING in Bali.
This applies to anything you buy and especially to personal services.
Paying 1/3 of original asking price is quite normal if you bargain well.
But don’t get confrontational in your bargaining or the sellers just refuse to play the game with you.
Travel Around Indonesia
I can’t really give you any pointers about travel around Indonesia as we haven’t gone to any of the other islands of the country.
I have made three trips of one week each to East Timor for business and two trips to Singapore, but that’s it since arriving here.
I’d recommend that you spend some time here and then reevaluate your desire to visit other parts of the country after considering that Bali has the highest standard of living in the country.
East Timor has superb diving, but there’s nothing else to recommend the place and it’s unreasonably expensive right now.
Exchange Rates
Are better in the Kuta/Sanur area than elsewhere.
Street exchange rates are much better than bank rates and far superior to hotel rates, but be cautious.
The most trustworthy places to exchange are called PT Central and are usually collocated with Kodak photo shops.
Last Saturday I got Rp 9,050/US$1.
Since we arrived the rate has fluctuated from a high of 9,900 down to 8,600.
During our reconnaissance trip here in May of ’02 I mailed a letter from Bali to our home in Hawaii.
When we left Hawaii to come back to Bali on July 10th, the letter still had not arrived.
Before leaving Hawaii on July 10th I mailed a letter to myself at our Bali address.
It hasn’t come yet.
‘Nuff said on that subject.
Bank Accounts
If you anticipate the need to have funds transferred to Bali, open an account here in your currency.
Otherwise the bank will eat you up with the exchange rate if you have a Rupiah denominated account, a mistake I made.
Get your money from the bank here in your currency and go to a good money changer.
Be selective in the bank you use – many of them are about to collapse.
That’s another Indonesian scandal.
Because of the theft and misappropriations mentioned above, the government created the Indonesian Bank Redevelopment Board (IBRA) to merge some of the insolvent banks.
The members of this board have also dipped into the till.
We used BCA which is the largest privately owned bank in Indonesia, but I’m not sure it was a particularly safe choice.
At any rate, don’t use the small, local banks.
Seems simpler to just continue with your current account and arrange with your present bank to do a wire transfer to an account you establish here when you request them to do so. That worked well for us.
Massage In CD
Of paramount importance
Dewi Spa and Salon
Jalan Raya Candidasa, Candidasa, Tel. 0363 41982
Rp 40,000 for 1 hour
Ngungah does a great job.
Phones
Calling us in Indonesia is pretty iffy.
My wife’s friends call her from Hawaii and Japan
Have to try for days to get through.
Scuba
I’m not aware of any expats scuba clubs.
On a reconnaissance trip here last May we made the acquaintance of a really neat guy who owns a scuba business in CD.
He’s Japanese
Hiro
DiveLite
0363 41660
http://www.divelite.com
[email protected]
Hiro also has another Japanese instructor named Noriko Fukuda working for him.
Noriko is a hoot to dive with. She lived in the US for a while and gets along with English reasonably well.
I told him I’d like to dive with him for a while after coming here in July until I learned the dive sites and how best to exploit them after which I’d dive on my own.
That worked out very well.
Hiro took me to the dive sites and gave me a good run down on them as well as telling me how much I should pay and to whom.
Subsequently I dived alone (my wife only snorkels) at these sites and paid reasonable prices for boats to take me out.
A jukung (outrigger canoe with motor) for a dive close to the point of departure will cost about Rp 70,000 for two dives on average.
Many dives may be made as shore dives.
A superb guide to the dive sites including good charts of each is
Diving Bali by David Pickell and Wally Siagain
published by Periplus.
Hiro’s wife Ime is an Indonesian from Sumatra and she speaks English pretty well
She’s been of invaluable assistance to us several times and they have both become our friends.
His business as well as all others was hurt severely in the aftermath of October 12th.
Scuba Gear
The best shop for scuba gear I’ve found considering price as well as selection is
Divemasters
Sanur Bypass
0361 289028
[email protected].
Ask for Diah.
There are no shops in the CD area selling gear although Hiro can usually help out with a short-term fix.
Scuba Air Fills
I’ve been asked to pay as much as Rp 50,000 for air fills but have never had to pay more than 20,000.
Boats
I had thought about leasing/buying/renting a boat while here but changed my mind soon after arrival.
There’s no way to moor or slip a boat of any size except at Padang Bai or Benoa.
All boats here are dragged up on the beach when not in use.
Next, it’s really rare to see a boat here suitable for personal use other than a jukung unless you’re interested in something of the live-aboard size.
That is to say, almost NO fiberglass or aluminum runabouts.
Then there’s the matter of mobility: if you have a boat in Padang Bai, what will you do when you go to Tulamben?
That’s a 75 minute drive but would be a full day boat trip.
I’ve never seen a boat being hauled over the road here and for that matter haven’t seen any trailers at all.
I sure wouldn’t want to drive under local conditions with a trailer.
