Places in Seminyak to trust and avoid

Walking along Jl. Seminyak today, the sun was shining, the tourists were shopping and the traffic was crawling. Taking a bit more time to check things out today, I snapped a some photos of 3 places. Two I trust, and one I avoid.

The first place has a sign up saying ‘Petrol‘ and a tire, telling drivers they sell petrol in bottles and pump up tires. The guy who works there, is honest, he charges 5,000rp for a liter of petrol and pumps both tires on my bike for 1,000rp. Never a problem here. He is open all day and closes around 8pm.

The next place had a sign outside saying ‘Kunci‘ which means ‘key‘. These guys are from Java, the name of the place, ‘Dewata Kunci’ – locksmith.

They sell a range of padlocks (tiny – 9,000rp, small – 10,000rp, medium – 15,000rp, large Yale – 35,000 / 45,000rp). To get a house key made is 7,000rp per key. Opening hours are 10am-6pm (5pm during Ramadan).

Dewata Kunci
Jl.Seminyak #32A
Seminyak
(0361)8503410

That’s the 2 places I trust, now for the other place. Walking along Jl. Seminyak you’ll pass various little offices, about 5 ft wide, staffed by a teenager, who looks like he’s been up all night smoking crack. These ‘money changers‘ are to be avoided. When you live here, you can see it’s a joke, that these guys are changing money. There’s no certification, no safe, no staff, no examples of currency or notices hanging up. All you see is a sign out on the sidewalk, and a shabby desk inside. I’d rather hand money to one of the beggers outside Bintang supermarket, than to these guys.