One more amazing meal >> Bali 08

Going home today, so we decided to treat ourselves to one last good local meal at Warung Biah Biah.

The cosy and quaint restaurant (mud walls, etched artwork, hewn wood furniture) had friendly staff. We ordered a combination of Balinese dishes with rice. The food came, charmingly presented on leaves fashioned into cute, mini-plates. The rice has a faintly woodsy taste since it was cooked over charcoal fire. This was one of the most enjoyable meals we had although the bubuh injin was a disappointment.

Then we had to take the dreaded Perama bus back to the airport. Not much choice since a car / taxi cost six times more! Luckily for us, the bus back was air-con and in very good condition, with curtains to shade us from the afternoon sun and only half-filled. ^_^



So we’ve come to the conclusion that the type of buses you get really depend on your luck.

We decided to buy some titbits at the airport since the prices were ‘fixed’. After picking up the items we wanted and mentally calculating the total amount, we approached the counter. We found it strange that the staff was using a calculator to add up the amount instead of scanning the bar codes.

Imagine our surprise when the total amount exceeded our estimate by over 10,000 rupiah! Surely our math could not be so bad? We asked for a receipt since the staff had torn off the price tags. The lady cashier was very reluctant to do so but we insisted. Instead of giving us a printed receipt, it was handwritten so nothing was recorded in the cash system.



Before leaving the shop, we compared the prices on our receipt with the items on display in the shop, which had price tags on them. We discovered that they overcharged us by 10,000 rupiah for one of the items! When we questioned the staff, she was very quick to claim that the item was on offer and refunded us the 10,000 immediately, plus another 3,000 from the other items bought.



Of all the scams / cheats that we’ve encountered so far, this has really got to take the cake! Do they really think tourists are so gullible that nobody will notice an extra 13,000 rupiah? And we thought it was ok to buy things at the airport since prices are ‘fixed’…

But, we did not want the incident to sour our memories of this Bali trip, so issued settled, we went for a drink and spent our last half hour in Bali recalling our favourite moments of the past week.




That's all for Bali. Next >> On a loop - Mae Hong Son to Pai to Chiang Mai