In Reply to: You Want Massage?? posted by sandybear on Sunday, 3. October 2010 at 07:37 Bali Time:
It's so interesting to get on the forum and read all the different experiences.. This story is sooo far from the Bali I experience. Having only lived in Villages that have no tourism I find it amazing that you have to tell someone to leave their wallet behind for a massage. No I am not naive, it's just if someone stays with us and wants a massage they can go to a few places up the road, fixed prices on a brochure, very clean, tranquil music, no happy endings (otherwise hubby may frequent more) and no more than 65,000 for an hour.
To buy a watch, well they sell those at the local supermarkets ranging from 35,000 to 65,000rp.
I'll never forget the day I took a friend to Kuta and we were walking up Poppies Lane and my thong blew out. The thought of walking barefoot did not appeal so we looked for a new pair, just wanted to replace with the same cheap trusty faithfuls I always wear. Saw some hanging up in a shop, asked the price and was told 190,000rp, I politely asked him if I could I please have realistic price I was not wishing to barter and that I could could get the same brand in my village for 10,000rp so that's what I'll pay, he started to yell abuse me (all of this conversation in Bahasa Indonesian). I walked away as could not be bothered with it all. Walked to the car, drove home, walked across the road to the Warung, paid 8000 rupiah for exactly the same pair and decided I would never attempt to shop in Kuta again. I seriously don't know how you shoppers that barter put so much energy into it, it drains me.
I am very happy there are so many fixed price (very reasonably priced) stores outside of the touristy areas or I couldn't live here.