Is bali safe to go to?

When people speak of going toIndonesia, some may that it is dangerous because of robbery; the robbers will hurt even if they gotten your money.

That part I am not sure, so if you encounter any, do leave your experience in the comments.

What I do feel is that it is generally safe to go because all countries have it fair share of crimes. Even for Singapore, where it is safe to hangout till late hours without fear of getting robbed or raped, there are still places where there are higher risks.

I have compiled a few things to expect and avoid when you go to bali.

1. Traffic is unregulated; there are no traffic lights and in some alleys, there are no directional signs so please beware when crossing the road or if you are riding a bike or motorcycle.

But fret not, the locals drive slowly and they are pretty skillful. That explains why there are few accidents even if traffic is not regulated; I encountered one

2. People ride on the pavement with their motorcycle, so don't be surprised to see motorcycle going on the pavement.

3. Some area are really really dark. There are people who are afraid of the dark, so my advice is to bring a torch or make sure your phone is fully charged to illuminate your way around.
Some area of the beach are dark and some alley are pretty dark and deserted. These alley are places where you will not want to linger in for long for your safety

4. Big big dogs! Trust me, there are lots of stray dogs around the area and they are really big. Fret not, the dogs are pretty docile and will not react as long as you do not mess with them. Dogs lovers rejoice, those afraid of dogs, despair

5. The sun is really hot there and no there is very few air con area besides the shop itself. So get ready your sun block even while shopping

6. Retailers in main tourist area are generally pretty honest. They do not mark up the price and let you bargain till it reaches the retail value. So unless the price is ridiculously high, let's give others a chance to make a living too, don't bargain so much.

7. Be prepared to pay for things you won't be expect to pay. Things like visiting a nature scenery have 2 type of entrance fees, car and per pax admission fee.

Usage of toilet require "contribution of maintenance fee" unless you buy their stuffs. The good news is that it don't cause that much.

Lastly, some officials may approach you for fees to clear your "charges", like parking on the pavement.

What do the local in bali do for a living

Based on my observation and tour to bali, I often think of what does the local do for a living since I seldom see customer around their shop.

I noticed that the people in bali depend on the 4 things for a living

1. Craftmanship of statues, furniture, handicraft and household ornaments
2. Tourism business is one of the main jobs for the locals. They work from tour guide, driver or even open retails ship selling food shirts or ornanments that cater specifically for tourists.
3. Agriculture, growing of padi and some coconut
4. Motorcycle dealer

Shopping in seminyak

For those expecting to bask in an air con environment in seminyak, you are in the shock of your life.

This area of bali is not very accessible to vehicle except for motocycle if you consider renting one.

There is only 1 shopping center; seminyak village which is pretty small compared to shopping malls in city area.

All around of shop houses selling
- clothing
- novelty products
-swim wear
-hand made craft
- polo
- eatery
- pub
- mini mart
- cafe
- dvd shops

At that point which I went, shops are capitalising on the Halloween festival.

Bali culture and history

Today is my 2nd day in bali!😃
Love this place and have experience lots of new things about their culture.

For starters, bali is predominantly made up of Hindu and is a small state compromising of 5 millions people.

Am staying at seminyak and I realised that the building there is mainly 2 storey high with a rare few that are 3 storey high.

Nearer the beach area, you have to be careful of motorists as they will drive on the pavement or narrow street.

Don't be surprised to see 2 vehicles being stuck in a one way street as both are traveling in opposite direction.

As a whole, around this area,there are lots of drinking place and tourists. It is generally safe to walk about in the day and in the main beach alley at night.

For those who are afraid of the dark, the beach is very dark in some area. Do remember to bring at torch.

Professionalism Tips (With superior)

When communicating with superior/bosses

-Staying Objective
-Never bring in the past tense, e.g. past job/contribution

-Seriousness and paying full attention 

-Responsiveness and readiness to change workflow to superior/bosses instructions/priorities

Freeing yourself from brain clutter and procrastination

The brain is designed to stop you from doing things that are uncomfortable, unsafe and....

Making a list of things to do, throwing the stuff in your face and doing simple things first will bring you out of it.

What is meant by being professional

Usually when the environment in the workplace is right, it is not hard getting down to work.

But if the workplace are filled with people who are not in the right mindset to work, it will negatively affect others and yourself.

When that happens, there is only one thing to do.

Being professional.

And what is meant by being professional?

It means to leave your emotion out as much as possible and react with a Zen mindset to whatever bad things people may throw at you.

In the short run, it is not easy to do, but in the long run, with a calm mind, you will be able to devise better solutions to your problem.

Not work that is tiring, it's the dealing with people part

It is usually not work that is tiring and the reason to make people leave.

It is the people portion that is tiring to dealing with because human are unpredictable and it is usually always the case of every man for himself and human nature to usually label a boogeyman in the flock for everyone to target at, hoping others will not target them.

Because of these laws, you can see people pushing away work they are supposed to do or in short taichi to the boogeyman.

It is natural to feel tired, toxic and negative.

These people thrive on such negative mentality and it is natural to sometimes feel is it right to join them or be outcast yourself.

This happen in school, in work and even in a community (sports, volunteering, interest group)

What should be done to deal with it?

Be yourself in school, be professional in work and be passionate in your community.

Critics are everywhere

In life, someone will surely criticise you no matter what you do. One thing is for sure, no one likes to be criticise.

And same goes for work. If the work given to you is reasonable, you are lucky. But if the work given to you is not reasonable, you are dealt an unlucky card in life.  You can deliver and you are criticise.

There is no other way out sometimes but to look at the person who dealt you that card straight in the eye and said you done your best.

Don't for a moment hope the person will understand you. No one will know best except for yourself.

That's why if you done your best, good job. The rest can let the critics decide. What most important is you got what you want in life or moving towards it.

On Nitro Mode, pushing beyond full gear

I have been on full throttle for the past 3 years but recent work has pushed me beyond my limits and till my breaking point.

Having work almost every day, for more than 12 hours each, fatigue has took over me and I was disappointed with some actions i have done.  On the other hand, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger,  I am very thankful that for being push past the limit.

Through this experience, I could emphatise past with people who I came across as emotional in work, take for example a vendor who sells decoration. I couldn't figure out how he could behave so rudely to others when business is coming in and how he prefers to have lesser business. 

Back then, if put in his shoes, every customer matters and i will speak to every customers with my best efforts. But if you ask me again, I will understand where he is coming from.

The most important thing in life is how you behave when you are at your worst, and that is what distinguish you from others, the good from the average. ;)

Another phase of life: maturity

After surviving the tsunami of events and work, I feel like I grew a lot.

At one point, I was mentally exhausted and broken. There is so much to do but so little time to complete.

And to add to it, there is so many people chasing after you for every minute details and ppl who have a very bad habit of not taking ownership of their work.

I worked day and night, not taking any leave nor medical leave; coming back on some. I even worked during my off-day and there wasn't much personal time where I can contemplate and think about life or feel life.

Surviving all that is not enough, I was mentally scarred and physically drained. I managed to get a couple of days off schedule ahead where I came across a series of video from goal cast.

One video is by a marshal who quote
"Life is like a ocean, full of sharks. To deal with shark you got to stand your ground, do not show that you are afraid and swim away. If the shark still approach you, you got to muster all courage to punch the shark in the snouts".

That reminds me of what Henn Tan, the creator of the USB thumb drive had said in Junior world entrepreneurship forum 2012.

At that time, he sharing of his experience after inventing the thumb drive.

Eating glass, deal with problems you don't plan to work on

Overwhelm

Stretch to your limit