Bali Shopping

What to buy: In the west,
stores like Home Depot and Ace
are common outlets that we have available.

But here in Bali,
getting certain items can be a bit difficult at times.
Well Hallelujah for Ace!

All those difficult items to find,
like juice extractors, hot hair curlers,
hula hoops, steamers and
other human creature comforts
are available here.

It’s not the cheapest…but you can find what you want!

And they deliver!

Kuta is very lively and it makes it nice to shop here at night. There is many shopping malls and markets where you can bargain. Be sure to stop at the Matahari where you can find almost anything under one roof and while you at it you might as well just stop for a full body message there. Not to forget Kuta Square.

What to buy: Anything just spoil yourself.

What to pay: At the market bargain as hard as you can but I guess you stuck to the prices is the shopping malls.

When visiting Ubud be sure to go and visit the market there. You can get alot of nice soverniors , cheap watches , T-shirts and paintings. Be sure to check out the Batik there as its very nice. There is also many shops and restaurants here so just enjoy being in Ubud

What to buy: There is many things here to buy , whatever tickles your fancy ;OP

What to pay: Bargain hard here.

What to buy: As you drve along the roads of Bali,
you may see a fountain,
Buddha sculpture here and there.

Some of them are absolutely exquisite!
And you might just want to take one home!

But be warned,
these things can weigh
anywhere from 250 - 500 kilos.

It can be a problem in just loading it onto the truck.
Much less to say in a container.

But if your do live here,
and plan to install one in your home,
a great lace that makes them
out of cement and iron is
Rich Stone.

Normally a water pump is installed in them
and you need to add spot lights to emphasize
the splendor of these striking features.

Just a word of caution,
their puntuality runs sometimes
on Balinese time.

So make sure you have ample time,
before you need to get it delivered.

Rich Stone Art & Design

The strongest advice here is,
foreigners need to throw away their economic
and business management books and theories
which work perfectly will in the outside world.
Understand the Balinese way in business dealings,
using payoffs, no sense of common rules
and decisions and play the Balinese game.

Additional factors needs to be taken into account
when doing business in Bali,
and all of South East Asia in fact,
it will be a conglomeration of frustrations which,
like ants at a picnic table,
come out of nowhere,
annoy the hell out of you,
devour all they can and refuse to go away
until you have nothing left.

Then they will leave just as quickly and
as stealthily as they arrived.

These factors include: people not turning up for appointments;
not be able to obtain the simplest piece of information;
delays in work for no apparent reason;
sudden price rises above the original quote or the job;
un-notified law changes; staff not turning up for work;
agents running away with deposits; miles of red tape and regulations;
shoddy workmanship, etc.
The list goes on!

Never pay money upfront.
Take a lot of time to gather all information
before investing one rupiah into any business

As a foreigner,
you should not attempt to do it on your own.
You need to have an intelligent Balinese partner who you can trust.
Finding the right partner is extremely difficult
but your business may fail without them.
Remember though, your Balinese partner
will have to be the front man in the business.
You can have all the great ideas and innovations you like
but you need the Balinese National to make them legal,
to put them effect and hopefully make them work.

What to buy: Apart from your Balinese business partner,
the less people involved in the management the better.
Try to avoid being talked into hiring or using any friends
or relatives of your partner.

Who’s interest do you think he will be looking after?

Never part with one rupiah or sign any document
before obtaining the services of a lawyer.

Walk, no RUN away from any deal where
the other party suggests that you need not go through a lawyer
because it will only cost you extra money.
The same goes if the other party offers
the services of his own lawyer at a discount price.

Property: Find out who actually owns it.
This could be difficult as title searches are not
as straight forward as they are in the west.
The property should be owned by one person,
a company, a family or several people.
They are also fake or forged titles around.
One of the most costly scams involving an unwary boulet/foreigner
is to sell him property that is not owned or fully owned by the seller.
The seller pockets the money.

You are not in your country,
so you have to accept the way and the pace at which things are done here

Learn the lesson from the Chinese.
If your enterprise is successful and does make money,
don’t tell anyone.

Should you be seen as making a lot of money from your business,
one phone call from a greedy or jealous competitor
can get you into trouble with the authorities.

People exaggerate their sphere of influence
in order to elevate their importance in the community.
DO NOT rely on any of them to get you out of a jam
and it doesn’t matter who the say they know
or who they are related to.
If you ever find yourself in trouble,
the only thing that may get you out is money.

Western style business ethics can not be found here
and western style legal recourse
in the case of dishonest business practice is unheard here.

If you decide to sojourn here,
you may opt for
decorating with Bamboo.

It is economical
and there are some furnishings
that are nice pieces.

But be aware,
if you buy the furnishings locally,
in most cases the stuff has never
been fumigated.
And termites LOVE the stuff!
Amongst who knows
what other critters.

When rainy season comes,
this also may be
one of the first pieces
to grow mold and mildew.

So if you opt to go
with an open-air house,
and don’t spend a little extra
on air-cons or dehumidifiers,
get ready for a massive spring cleaning!

The main concern
for many westerners when
trying to invest in land,
is the Leasehold term.

Because in most cases
this causes some unease,
realtors are requesting for an extension
so to compete with it's neighboring countries.

Read more at:

Extending the Lease?

Because of the water here,
which is probably full of limestone,
if you wash your air often,
it will soon dry out.

The choice of good hair products
may be limited for some.

After looking around,
and trying different products
I finally found a hair salon that sells,
L'Oreal and Kerastase hair products.

They’re not cheap though, but hey!
A girl has got to do what she has to do,
so to have beautiful hair.

What to pay: Not cheap