Is Living in Bali Good?

Offering

Before I moved to Bali, I told my husband that I wouldn't even think about it. At that time I was thinking about the salary of working in Bali because I thought there were not much of big companies like in Jakarta or Surabaya. Lol yea that's kind of true but there are a lot more international companies here lol. I fooled myself.

I mean, the minimum wage of Bali is way less than Surabaya. Almost half of Surabaya while the living cost here seems expensive. I thought so. Well, obviously I was wrong. You can read the prices in Bali here. Another reason I didn't want to move to Bali is that it is "BALI". Foreigners don't even know Indonesia but they know Bali. I don't fancy popular stuff that much. 

Sanur. My regular.

Can you spot Agung Mt?

We visited Bali pretty often before moving here. Not to experience those fancy club-hopping lifestyles, but the small villages and how people live here. Slowly but sure, I started to love the energy here. I tried to think rationally but the heart knows. Long story short, we decided to move here. 

Sanur

The first months of living in Bali got me so stressed. Because... I am a person with a quick pace of working, and everything. I hate slow people, I hate unresponsive people lol. I am a practical person. So I like everything practical, in order, and quick. Nothing really opens at 8 lol. 6 in the morning here is so quiet. Although for that part, I am okay because I am not a morning person. While in Java, everyone is busy starting at 4 in the morning. I know that's the time when I needed to adjust to a new place. But this island is completely different compared to Java. 

Sometimes, when people don't want to work for you, you'll say "I'll pay double" then they'll do the job for you. But not here. You can pay whatever you want but if they don't want to do the job, they will say no. That makes it difficult for us sometimes to find people to do small jobs like fixing this and that. Once we find the right person, we'll be forever giving the job to the same person.

Nasi Jinggo seller, Ubud.

Misunderstanding happens almost every day. Lots of things got me crazy! LOL

So, I realize that I am a guest here. I came here because I chose to. No one asked me to move here. Then I tried to adapt one by one. Let's say, when you send WhatsApp messages to offices or massage places, hotels, anything here, they won't reply to you that quick. But if you call them, they'll be happy to answer your questions in a heartbeat! The phones here never stop working. While I dislike calling.

Lumpiyang seller Sanur

When someone, let say, a driver or tour guide offered you to book their services next time you need it, they'll ask you to save their number. And when you ask their name, they'll say "Pak Wayan", "Bu Ketut", "Pak Made", and so on. Obviously, that's one of the craziest things here, because everybody's names are started with Wayan, Ketut, Made, Nyoman, and so on. It's like they're giving you their family name instead of their real name. How am I going to differentiate Wayan the driver or Wayan the tour guide? Of course, I save theirs into "Wayan driver", "Nyoman tour guide", "Wayan nasi seller", whatever comes with their job title. Then by the time I also forgot which one is which 😓

Bajra Shandi park

The small streets that suddenly became one-way street without a sign, is a normal thing here. That's one of the reasons I don't want to drive here. Eventually, I do, still got lost many times. Though it's quite funny when people drive without a helmet on. It's "okay". When someone fell from a scooter, they won't help. I experienced it once. I was so furious that I couldn't even open a bottle of water and they were just looking at me bleeding trying to drink water. Then someone told me, "Well... from their point of view, you are paying your karma. If they meddle you paying your karma, then you have to repay that karma again." I don't know about that, but the next day I saw someone fell again and everyone just looking at her lol. I helped her, she doesn't look like Balinese so I hope she wasn't paying her karma lol. That doesn't mean they won't help you when you really need help. You can just ask for help if you need one.

Denpasar Gajah Mada

Though I still can't get used to how they drive here. It still infuriating sometimes. Almost had 4 accidents in 10 mins ride, it's a normal thing. A friend of mine usually asked, "So what kind of drama do you have this morning in your 10 mins ride?" 😂

They won't meddle in your business if you're not in their community. I mean, it's a big community. You belong to their community when you share the same religion. Hindhu is the majority here. I am not Hindu so they don't mind my business here. Last time we had this scene in Canggu where "mafia" were doing their "business". It looked like a movie scene with kidnaping whatever, but Balinese just stayed still, looked at it, and record it on their phone lol.

My favorite coffee place. Bare Bottle Sanur.

You have to be careful with holy sites. Don't even try to do something stupid there, or else the community will make you pay a hefty amount of money and ceremonies. It's funny though, for me, they have a real problem with throwing the trash. Lots of people still burning their trash so it's annoying for me. People still littering everywhere. BUT, when there is a banner said "DO NOT LITTER HERE. IT IS A HOLY PLACE" you'll find that place shining shimmering splendidly without single trash.

Oh btw, Pecalang holds more power than policemen here. 

They are doing a lot of ceremonies to purify the negative energies. That is why when there is something wrong, they'll do ceremonies and it usually takes a lot of money and time to prepare. Let's say, someone killed him/herself at home, the landlord will have to do a ceremony to purify it and it involves a village to do so. It's the land of thousand gods! 

Of course, there is a lot of good things and bad things in one place. It's like that everywhere. You can see them, compare them, and tell yourself is it worth living here?

Regardless of that local stuff happening, I am happy I took that decision to move here. Yes, some part of my life has changed. I become more conscious of doing things. Even small things. I take time to be mindful in everything I do. I love how they pray or have ceremonies for almost everything. Sure it looks like a lot of work but imagine you get to celebrate Saraswati, the day where the goddess of knowledge blesses them with knowledge. It's so magical to just imagine that. 

That makes me enjoy my life better and I am way happier here. I respect them because they respect me here. I also love Nyepi (silence day) so much!!!! Because it's so quiet and the stargazing is the best ever!

The heart knows why it suddenly changed the course. It's been 3 years I live here and I still have no thoughts of leaving yet. 

So, is living in Bali good? It's a solid yes for me. 💚