I have just finished my second book about Bali and this time I have written a guide for people interested in retiring in Bali. Writing certainly doesn’t come easy for me and even though I have all of these ideas running around in my head, getting them written down is another thing all together.

I learnt quite a bit from writing my first book on starting a business in Bali and the feedback I got from it. There has also been this small revolution in publishing over the last couple of years and there is much less stigma attached to self publishing a book. In fact publishers are starting to find new authors after they have had success from selling their work directly to Kindle and other ebook readers.

There are many books on retiring to Thailand, the Philippines and South American countries, but nothing that I have ever seen for Bali or Indonesia. I am hoping my book can help to fill this gap.

You can download the book from the main part of the website here.

Mumbul guesthouse adalah penginapan di Lovina, wilayah Bali utara. Mumbul guesthouse salah satu penginapan murah di Bali dengan fasilitas Free Wifi, Kolam renang, Pemandangan sawah yang alami seperti di desa, ac, air panas, restaurant.

Mumbul guesthouse memberikan harga murah termasuk dengan sarapan pagi.  Kegiatan yang bisa di lakukan di Lovina, Bali adalah melihat lumba – lumba, memancing, snorekling, diving, dan juga beberapa tour yang lainnya. Mumbul guesthouse juga dapat membantu anda untuk mendapatkan jasa tour di atas tersebut beserta dengan penyewaan mobil, penyewaan sepeda motor.

Mumbul guesthouse juga menyediakan buku – buku bacaan berupa novel dengan berbahasa inggris dan buku – buku tersebut dapat di baca dengan gratis.

Selamat menikmati liburan di Bali dengan fasilitas – fasilitas yang bagus, dan menikmati indah nya alam pariwisata Indonesia, Bali.

Mumbul Lovina

+62858 -5743 -8882

While sending out email about my business guide to Bali, I had a few comments from people that they are not interested in starting a business in Bali, because they are moving to retire!

It has given me an idea the idea to provide more information on this on my website and perhaps another guide.

If you are interested in retiring in Bali, I would love to know what kind of concerns you have.

As a reward to people who help answer my questions, I will be offering a free guide and response to the number one concern people have about retiring in Bali.

I have created an online survey with Survey Monkey which I suggested as a tool to use in my guide to starting a business in Bali.

I have received some fantastic replies so far. It’s great to be able to see what interests and concerns people have about retiring in Bali, which I can then hopefully put together a more useful guide.

I am probably one of the world’s worst shoppers, but I do like reading and being able to flip through guide books on Bali.

This book is more than just a shopping guide though, it also covers restaurants, day spas, bars and hotels in Bali.   The reviews are frank and to the point.

The shopping part covers Bali’s range of arts, crafts, furniture and accessories for the home.  I can see the book will be useful for people living in Bali, who like me aren’t into shopping, but are asked by visiting friends to take them to wood carvers, painters etc.

You can buy it in Bali from Periplus bookstores or online from Amazon

Bali, Buleleng

Saya tinggal di Propinsi Bali, kabupaten Buleleng. Sekitar 4 bulan lalu saya mengurus KTP, namun melalui Kepala Dusun. Kepala Dusun tersebut meminta saya membayar Rp. 750,000 di tambah dengan uang lelah dan total saya bayar Rp. 900,000.
Menurut Kepala Dusun tersebut, saya akan mendapatkan KTP saya lebih kurang tiga hari. Setelah seminggu saya tidak mendapat kabar apapun, lalu saya ke rumah Kepala Dusun tersebut dan akhirnya saya di beritahu bahwa saya akan mendapatkan KTP tersebut dalam waktu lebih kurang dua minggu. Saya masih menunggu dan setelah tiga minggu tidak mendapat kabar dari Kepala Dusun tersebut, saya menemui kembali Kepala Dusun tersebut, lalu saat saya menayakan masalah KTP saya tadi, kepala Dusun tersebut mengatakan bahwa saya harus menunggu selama enam bulan, namun akan di usahakan agar saya mendapatkan KTP dalam dua bulan saja.
Setelah dua bulan, saya masih belum juga mendapat kabar dari Kepala Dusun tersebut, hingga akhirnya saya benar – benar kesal dan marah, maka saya putuskan untuk ke kantor Lurah menanyakan langsung masalah KTP saya karena saya merasa di permainkan dan di tipu. Sampai di kantor Lurah, ternyata berkas – berkas surat pindah saya belum di kerjakan, atau hanya di letak di atas meja, bahkan belum ada laporan apa – apa baik itu ke Camat ataupun ke LUBANG SAMPAH !!!!!!
Karena kesal dan marah, saya minta kembali dokumen surat pindah saya juga uang yang telah saya beri sebesar Rp. 900,000 waktu itu, lalu Kepala Dusun tersebut mengatakan uang tersebut tidak dapat di kembalikan karena sudah di potong ini dan itu dan segala macam alasan. Saya bukan orang bodoh, karena saya punya pendidikan dan selain itu, orang tua saya juga salah satu staff Pegawai Negeri yang mana saya paham benar tugas – tugas staff di pemerintahan. Dimana tugas mereka adalah untuk rakyat, bukan untuk diri sendiri dan merugikan rakyat juga mempermainkan rakyat. Lalu saya minta kwitansi yang menyatakan kemana saja uang itu di gunakan. Dan dari kwitansi tersebut, ternyata uang tersebut di pakai untuk ini dan itu, dll.
Yang menjadi bahan pertanyaan saya, kenapa uang buat mengurus KTP tersebut di gunakan untuk hal yang tidak ada sangkut paut ke KTP ???? Dan lagi pula, saya tidak dapat KTP saya bahkan saya cuma dapat surat perantara untuk mengurus KTP di daerah lain,, Lalu kenapa saya harus bayar ini dan itu kalau KTP tidak dapat bahkan saya malah kehilangan uang saya.
Saya punya bukti rekaman dari percakapan masalah KTP waktu saya bicara dengan Kepala Dusun tersebut, dan bukti tersebut saya simpan dan saya berikan kepada salah satu keluarga saya. Bahkan ada beberapa orang yang mengetahui masalah pengurusan KTP tersebut. Saya berharap sekali, agar KPK atau staff Pemerintah bisa bekerja dengan jujur. Saya bisa saja mengusut masalah ini lebih panjang saat hal itu terjadi, namun karena saya merasa masih ada belas kasihan terhadap tetangga sendiri yaitu Kepala Dusun tadi, oleh karena itu saya berusaha bicara baik – baik dan tidak membawakan masalah itu ke jalur hukum.
Saya salah satu warga atau rakyat yang telah di permainkan atau di tipu tepatnya oleh salah satu staff Pemerintah di Buleleng. Saya hanya ingin berbagi agar kelak hal yang sama tidak terjadi lagi dimana saja dan oleh siapa saja. Peganglah kepercayaan yang telah di berikan oleh orang lain, dan jagalah dengan sebaik mungkin agar baik rizki dan kehidupan kamu. Uang yang tidak halal adalah uang IBLIS dan akan di makan oleh SETAN nantinya.
Kepada masyarakat atau instansi pemerintah yang membaca rubrik ini, tolong agar lebih waspada lagi, dan satu pertanyaan kepada siapa saja yang baca rubrik ini semoga bisa menjawab ….. Apakah sebutan yang pantas di berikan mengenai kejadian ini, Korupsi kah atau Penipuan ?
Terima kasih sebelumnya telah membaca rubrik saya.

Tune Hotels have opened a new hotel in Kuta. I go down to Kuta every so often for shopping and a change of scenery, so I might consider staying there some time in the future.

I am checking out their website now. The booking interface is similar to booking an airline ticket on a budget airline, where you choose from different options depending on your needs.

Here are some of the options you get and the prices. This is for a double room, where I selected it for two people.

Air Conditioning (12 hours credit) IDR 49,500
Air Conditioning (24 hours credit) IDR 82,500
Towel Rental + Free Essentials toiletries kit (additional IDR30,000 refundable deposit will be collected upon check-in) IDR 16,500
Wireless Internet Access (24 hour period) IDR 77,000

I could probably bring my own towels to save a bit of money, but I would prefer to have wireless internet. 12 hours credit for air conditioning is probably enough.

The total cost is 126,500 for one night on November 20, which is pretty cheap for hotels in the area. There is no pool however and it doesn’t include breakfast.

At least nine people have been killed in traffic accidents during the Galungan festival that was celebrated this week in Bali from Wednesday.

Most people travel back to their hometowns and villages to celebrate the festival with their families. The cause is often speed and not wearing safety gear while riding their motorcycles.

From Xinhua news:

“Most of the accidents committed by motorists who were not using safety helmet during the ride,” Sugianyar was quoted by the Antaranews agency as saying.

Most victims were wearing Balinese traditional outfit to celebrate the festivities while they rode the motorbikes, he added.

He said that the need to wear helmet should be implanted in the minds of Balinese as most of them reluctant to use helmets when they are in traditional outfits for the festival.

Balinese feared that using helmets would damage their traditional headwears.

Update: Australian man killed in a motorcycle accident.

An Australian man has been killed in a motor cycle accident in Bali.

From NT news:

The man, understood to be a resident of Darwin, was an employee of airline company Strategic Aviation.

The Bali police report identifies him as Andrew MacLennan.

A friend of Mr MacLennan who contacted the Northern Territory News said he was 40 years old and lived alone in Darwin.

Idul Fitri is the Islamic holiday that marks the end of the month long fasting of Ramadan. Many Indonesians from Java will return home for the holiday and a large number of domestic tourists will visit Bali for the holiday.

Police will be monitoring the massive movement of people leaving and entering Bali through the port of Gilmanuk where ferries connect Bali with Java. Not only will there be a high chance of traffic accidents, police fear terrorists might target the holiday period to enter the island of Bali.

Generally a good time to avoid travel if possible and many government offices, including immigration, are closed during the period.

We tried signing up with Speedy internet at our house in Lovina, but there’s no telephone available. I tried the 3G service here and it was extremely slow.

Our last option was to use Spicelink. They attached an antennae to our roof to get the internet and I pay around US$100 for the service. The service is ok, but not great. It seems at least once a week there is some kind of trouble. I understand that telecommunication infrastructure is not great here, but it is very frustrating.

Today, the internet is working fine, but for some reason Google is not work working. It’s amazing how reliant I have become on Google search, Gmail, Analysitcs and Adsense. When I called their customer support, they tried to tell me it was a problem with Google itself! I know Gmail sometimes have some outages, but I don’t I can recall the Google home page to have ever been down. They then said it was a problem with their proxy server.

It would make feel so much better if they just told me that from the start.

Here is a list of websites you can advertise your Bali properties for sale or rent for free.

Bali Expat – we have free listings available on this website
Bali Classifieds
Bali Advertising
Craig’s List Indonesia

US based sites:

US free ads
Classified Ads