Kevin RUDD is not my hero and I think he's just a little odd.
I get a chuckle when you mob hook into each other and I think the comment made by Kebo in a previous post was quite valid and on face value my musings would appear to be wholly and solely based around our adventures in the cool air conditioning of the various shopping centres that I like to refer to as the pits of hell (That's an oxymoron isn't it. Aircon and pits of hell or is it just a contradiction?) But we do also take into account the bigger picture and here, in my opinion, it is.
I think I have a social conscience (I'll let you all be the judge of that) because I took the time to speak to the various people in Bali I met, who informed me that 60% of their GDP was from tourists like my wife (who can cop all the blame) who spend ridiculous amounts of money (in our case one maxed out credit card, all of my two weeks wage and one week of my wife's wage paid in advance). I was informed that after the bombings a lot of people in the tourist industry had to return to their villages just to make ends meet. True or not I don't know but I have no reason to doubt it.
Before every trip to Bali I take the time to research, on this forum, what was seems to be a fair price for the things I buy and the services I use, then always pay a little more. I don't haggle for the last 500rph or in most cases 10000rph and never ever get involved in negotiations when a friend or a family member looks like they are about to get ripped. You should never feel ripped off if you like what you bought and were happy to pay that price at the time. I even took the time time to teach myself some basic Indonesian so I could show a little respect by the use of their language (I know their traditional language is Balinese but that's way hard)
I'm always the guy spending a little money in the shop next door to the one that my wife is spending all our money. I'm also the same guy in the shop next door with tears in my eyes being comforted by some stranger.
I asked our friend Raceng for two boxes of business cards so I can give them to friends, family and anyone else who wanders into our travel agency. I even gave some to the Tupperware lady at my daughter's birthday party today (Yes kids like Tupperware too and they make hamburgers using all the products). I like to think in a small way this will help him pay for his two daughters to continue to study medicine and for his son to continue to go to a private school so he too can get ahead in the world. The flow on effect is obvious. And though he has one daughter in University studying to be a doctor and the other two kids in private schools, he has worked hard to put them there. I've been to his house and it's nothing flash by our standards but it's still his home and like he said, 'I fix the roof or we buy books'. So his roof leaks when it rains.
I took business cards from every hotel we visited, restaurant we ate or person we paid for chaps, clothing or shoes so that I could get on this forum and pass all of those details onto anyone who might be interested and might, just maybe visit these people and places themselves. I do this in every country I visit, minus posting the details of our trip to Thailand on the BTF. That just wouldn't be right.
So maybe that's why it sounds like I could be anywhere in the world. We like shopping. Doesn't matter which country we're in. It's something we do. Don't you remember, when you were a kid, how excited you got when you unpacked your bags after a trip overseas. I still get excited. Especially when I see all the Tupperware I bought at 1/3 the price of the Tupperware here.
Now, I've been to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and I follow the same rules at every one of those places, the same rules I follow in Bali and the same reason I value your comments, Kebo. I treat everyone and everywhere I go, with respect.
I made my kids, yes made them because they wouldn't have done so by choice, wander through the Denpasar Museum so they could actually see what Bali was like and perhaps understand it isn't just a place where they can shop all day, eat delicious food and meet kind wonderful people. Because heaven forbid I'd subject my children and the people of Bali to that.
What I didn't do is make my children, all under 11 years of age, meditate in the lotus position at a health retreat without TV or air conditioning and make them only eat tofu and lentils (both of which they actually like) because when we go on holiday, we like to do, what we like to do. And I quote Kevin RUDD, 'For that we are truly sorry'.
Geez I'm in trouble now aren't I?
And on that note, to quote my hero Forrest GUMP, 'And that's all I have to say about that'.