Meeting Barrie and other intersting people in Bali

Friday morning here in Seminyak, Bali. Sean and I braved the rain (actually it’s not that brave) and did our 4.5 mile run to the beach and back.

Last night Sean got to finally meet Barrie at his hotel, the Prawita on Jl. Legian. Ika and her sister Ningrum were down there in the afternoon and Barrie taught Ika to swim, which she was very excited about. She can now do about 20 meters breaststroke!

For people needing a budget hotel close to the shopping and nightlife of Kuta the Prawita is alright. Rooms are AC and have a TV, they are a bit small but the place is family owned, has a restaurant, bar and pool.

The rain never let up and continues today but we are meeting some very interesting people. At Cafe Moka in Seminyak we bumped into one of the owners of Hammerhead Gym, the place where I met Ika, and we joked that I took his best employee. He said he was thinking of placing a newspaper ad for more staff saying Work for Hammerhead Gym and find a bule husband. Not a bad marketing strategy.

Another guy we met, Pascal from France, manufactures art products and told us his impression of the business climate over here. He said that copying a successful product is inherent here and told of a Japanese guy who made original glassware that was very unique. A year later his staff had figured out how to make it and had set up their own place, collecting business cards the whole time. There turned out to be half a dozen places producing the same thing so the Japanese guy had to move onto to something else. Pascal said obviously Bali is a desirable place to live as you have a range of services, restaurants, hotels, the beach, weather etc. available and at prices that are within reach. He said there were good products being made here in Bali and other parts of Indonesia that could be exported and that with a massive population some people make decent money selling things to the domestic market.

A lot of people ask how they can make a living in Bali. I guess the answer would be to figure out a certain target section of the market (eg. families, expats etc.) and find goods / services that they want, preferably something unique that cannot easily be replicated by someone else. Easier said than done of course and there are a million and one people out here trying to flog jewelry and hotel rooms.

The BBQ will happen tomorrow, although right now it’s pretty wet here. Hopefully if the rain blows itself out today some scorching sunshine will dry us out before 6pm on Saturday.