Traveling tips to Bali Part II

5. Shopping under the sun

The sun is blazing hot in Bali, partially due to Mt Agung! There are not as many shops that are air-conditioned as you expected in Seminyak.

If you just booked a villa/ hotel room in Seminyak and expecting to shop in malls, i got some very bad news for you. There is only 1 shopping mall in the vicinity and there ain't as many shops as you excepted. Welcome to Seminyak village which is located around Jalan Kayu Jati Basangkasa; walking distance. Yayyy!

The rest of the shopping malls are located as mainly in Kuta. Check out the list of the shopping malls in the list below. It is group according to the areas. Please take note that the shopping malls closed at 10pm.

Kuta
1) Carrefour Plaza
Location: Sunset Road

2) Kuta Beachwalk
Location: Jalan Pantai Kuta

3) Mal Bali Galeria

Location: Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai, Simpang Dewa Ruci

4) Discovery Shopping Mall

Location: Jalan Kartika Plaza

5) Lippo Mall Kuta

Location: Jalan Kartika Plaza, Lingkungan Segara

Tuban

1) Park 23

Location: Jalan Kediri

Denpasar

1) Level 21 Mall

Location: Jalan Teuku Umar No. 1

2) Duta Plaza Bali

Location: Jalan Dewi Sartika 4G

Nusa Dua

1) The Bali Collection

Location: Bali Tourism Development Centre Complex

But don't feel so down, there are plenty of interesting, handicraft things to shop along the streets of Seminyak. Cheers!!!

6. Bali ain't a wet-market

Let's be honest, as long as you are a tourist in foreign land, the price that you buy stuffs is definitely higher than what the locals can get.

If you read my other article, you would realize that life is pretty very hard in Bali as a local and what they earning are barely even close a fraction of what you are earning.So unless the price is ridiculously high, let's give others a chance to make a living too, don't bargain too much.

Besides some family/one man stall-owner,i noticed that the staffs working in the cafe/store in main tourist area are generally pretty honest. Unlike some countries that i went to, where the staff will not return the exact changes and pocket some, the locals will return your changes exactly down to cents which i gladly refuses to accept and pass to them as tips cause the value is just so low.

Say Hello to the uncle!

7. Everything comes with a price

In life nothing comes free, that is especially so in Bali. Be prepared to pay for everything! Yes, pay for everything when you are out there, that include things that you won't normally pay for in your own homeland.

Things like
- visiting a nature scenery/shopping area, where there are 2 type of entrance fees, car and per pax admission fee
- usage of toilet, where you have to "contribute to the maintenance of the toilet" unless you buy their stuffs
- taking pictures in some area
- facilitation fees to some officials

8.Bring your own medication and know the nearest health care center

A vacation is supposed to take you away from the stressful work environment, to a paradise where you can enjoy nature, feast on local delights and experience a new culture. However, sometimes there can be unexpected emergencies which we cannot envision.

Say a severe case of food poisoning, injury picked up from surfing or road accidents or a painful sunburn. My case is a very good example. My whole family came down with food poisoning for a week after touching down in Singapore. We vomited and suffered multiple runs of diarrhea and thankfully, we are relieved of the symptoms after the second visit to the doctor. 

For those not as lucky and need medical emergency, Bali has some medical infrastructure in place such as air ambulances and medical center.

Hope you won't be need it, just in case, have listed down, some medical center to seek medical help.

SEMINYAK

BALI CLINIC

Jl. Laksamana No. 54

Contact: 62 361 7847902

(For minor illness only)

DENPASAR

SANGLAH PUBLIC HOSPITAL

Jl. Kesehatan Selatan 1, Sanglah

Contact: 62 361 227 911

KUTA

SILOAM HOSPITAL

Jl. Sunset Road, no. 818

Contact: 62 361 779 900

If you need further help, always feel free to look for the staff in charge of your hotel or villa. They will be able to better advise you on the best available treatment.