Bali rental and restaurant eccentricities

Today I talked with a Euro guy who is opening a restaurant in Seminyak. He asked me if, when I go to a restaurant, do I prefer the service and tax, to be built into the prices, or added at the end. Which do you prefer?

From a customer’s point of view, I like the nasty surprise at the start, so I can make a decision, as to how badly I want to get burned. Many a time, have I gone to a nicer place, and been stuck with the 21%, (or whatever each place decides to charge) on the bill at the end.

Of course if you are the restaurant owner, its in your best interest to make your menu seem value for money. “Its like a kick in the nuts,” said the guy after I answered, “Imagine the bloke who is on a date, and only has 100,000rp, then the extras take him over that.” Here in Bali they have whacked rules for many things. Warungs don’t pay tax, so don’t charge tax, restaurants do. I’d have a monster, double decker restaurant, with strippers hanging out the windows, and call it ‘Warung Kacil’.

Anyway, I look forward to checking the place out. I don’t know the name, but its going be a Japanese place on Oberoi.

Another wacky thing is villa rentals. The Euro guy who was renting across from me moved out. The whole time he was there it was ‘benchong city’, with many guests coming and going. Doesn’t really bother me, except I don’t want thieves hanging out near my house. The guy told me our landlord is crazy, “these are bad people.” he said. The deal out here is ‘bules’ often rent and sub-let places. When a Balinese owner hears of this, they try to jack up the rent. ‘Why doesn’t the Balinese owner, rent to the higher paying tourists?’ you might ask. The answer is they don’t have the marketing capability, and they are lazy. They prefer to let a place sit empty, rather than drop their price 10%. They resent the fact that outsiders, can rent their place, for double what they can, so try to cause trouble when it happens.

Will be interesting to see who moves in next.