Happy New Year

Last day of 2012 and we survived the end of the world. We had a year of sex scandals, uncertain economic conditions, crazy road and industrial accidents, natural disasters, civil unrest around the world and doomsday prophesies.

It is time today to relook at 2012 and pray for those that are affected. It is today where you give thanks knowing you are safe and looking forward to 2013.

Today, you think about the people who you care and love and give thanks knowing they are safe and sound too. Who are these people? They are the people that if your phone rings at 3am at night and they tell you they are in trouble you will go all out to help them and you know they will do the same if you called them at 3am.

And if you know who these people are you may want to forward them this post just to let them know you appreciate them. (If your friend forwarded this post to you, they want you to know you are appreciated.)

I want to take this opporunity to give thanks to my parents that have been supportive of everything I do. I remembered a post I have seen on Facebook about the relationship between a pencil and an eraser is like the relationship between parents and children. I write my mistakes and they erase them no matter what. The relationship between a parent and a child is probably the only unconditional one. No matter how bad your mistakes, they will still love you, unless you have shot them in the face like the crazy person in the Newtown shooting.

I want to give thanks to my siblings that also have been supportive and understanding. Thank you for doing the things that I may not have done as a son to our parents. I apologise for not doing the things as a brother too.

My wife, thank you for believing and supporting in all my decisions. Thank you for believing that I will be a good financial adviser when others have shunned me. Thank you for taking care of things at home and giving me a great family. I know its not easy taking care of the kids (I know I am a kid at times).

Thank you all the great friends I have. You know who you are. Putting up with my sh*t at times. Thank you all my clients and prospects that have given me the the trust and opportunity to serve them.

Last but not least:

Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?client=mv-google&v=0dcbw4IEY5w&rdm=mfca6b1uj

So what are your plans in 2013? Have you taken the steps today towards what you want to achieve in 2013 or the future? Have you stopped today and smell the roses before it is too late?

Have a great 2013! May all your dreams be fulfilled in the year ahead!

The Haunting

In 2001, I have just completed the paper work with my friend's mom CPF monies and had asked her about her other insurances.  She had politely declined saying she had other friends in other insurance companies. This has come back to haunt me earlier in early 2012.

My friend informed me one day during one of the meet ups that his mom has contracted breast cancer. Damn! She had been like a mother to me, my friend like a brother. The news was difficult to swallow. 

Insurance? I asked. My friend told me not sure. Not sure? She said she had a plans with 2 other insurance companies, not sure? What do you mean, I asked my friend.

He told me they cannot contact one of the agents from one company and the other has migrated. So they were unsure about the insurance.

They have been talking about what to do next? Private hospitalisation is not going to be cheap, but the government hospital said her operation is in 3 months. 3 months?! I asked him what stage of cancer his mom was at. He said stage 3. Stage 3 and wait 3 months! Ridiculous!

They have then decided that they will get his mom to do the operation in a private hospital and come back to the public hospital for chemo and all. I also told my friend to get her mom to dig out all the policies so that I can see them.

Went over to his place, looked at the policies and my heart sank. The policies have been so long that the pages are sticking to on another. It makes that sickening sound when you try to pull the 2 pages away.

There was also reciept payments for premiums and found many that is damn long ago. Then I saw one particular letter that looked new. It turned out that she had a shield plan and premium had been paid in 2011. That was the only one which had payment receipt that was up to date. No rider to cover the cash portion of the hospitalisation and the plan has not been upgraded to the private one. Well at least some part of the hospitalisation was covered. No other plans was in force.

I went home in a daze, sat down and with tears welling up in my eyes, i wrote a text message to my friend and apologised. I have taken for granted that people will do a good job. I have protected my own feelings about being scorned and not persevere and ask more about her insurances. If only I had persisted, if only I had insist for her just to show me then. If only... sigh... why do we only ask ourselves these questions when something has happened? Why does people have to go through the dilemma of which hospital to go when something of this magnitude has occurred? Why do people not look at what may happen and plan for the worse instead of taking the risk that its not going to happen to them?

As I sat there feeling guilty, my thoughts went back to the day I walked out of my friends place in 2001.

Enlightened

I have just been sabo-ed by my boss to do a Personal Financial Review for a friend, and is dreading the whole process of having to do the calculations for him. The appointment was taking place at his home.

We sat down in his room and started the whole fact find process. I know for a fact it was not going to be very difficult as he just started work and have very little assets and liabilities. He has just started work and therefore need some help with allocation of his income. I have already did a savings plan for him and now trying to uncover what other financial objectives he should be concerned about.

I know for a fact that CPF then has just changed their laws to allow monies to be invested from 0 dollars up. My boss has also reminded me there were a lot of monies now for investment purpose. In my head I know that my friend will have CPF and there was another opportunity for sales. I went through the motion of doing the fact find.

'So any assets or liabilities?' knowing the answer is no. No. Do you have any existing plans, no, but i think parents have gotten something for me. The fact find conversation somehow started to move towards his education. He has just completed his education in UK. He had just come back and found a job as an engineer. I eventually asked him, so how old is your dad? He told me: 60.

60!? Suddenly, I started to think for myself. Do I still want to support my kid through his education and all when I am 60? Our statutory retirement age then was 55. 60?! I suddenly feared that I cannot retire in future. I feared that at the point of me wanting to retire, I cannot as I have kids still dependent on my income. Did a quick calculation that if I want to retire without much commitment to my kids, the age I must have my last kid is 35. (I am late already)

I suddenly became enlightened how my job value adds to people. It became clear why the need for doing a financial review is important. Many of us do not think too far into the future. We assume that everything will fall into place. It might but why run the risk?

I did up the personal financial review just as my friend's mom walked in. What are you all doing? Auntie I doing investments, you have CPF. I don't know how to see, said my friend's mom. Auntie you pass me your CPF statement I help you.

She went out to her room and returned with her CPF statement. Showed her how much she has in OA, SA, and medisave. She agreed to invest her CPF monies. Auntie, have you thought about your other insurance. Its ok, i got friends in other insurance companies and everything is cared for. In my head, I told myself, since she is not comfortable to talk about it then I will not push. I am already losing friend's on a daily basis. Next time then talk. Since her friends in other insurance companies should take care of her properly.

Little do I know this thought will come back and haunt me today.

Photo by: Eddi 07- Free Stock

The Next Level

I have just joined the financial industry and the year is 2001. I just left my office automation sales job and went on to be an insurance adviser. I had always been a non believer of insurance because my father told me so.

I went for a meeting with my friend's boss and he managed to convince me to go take the exams . At that time all you needed to take was 1 paper, certificate in life insurance which is obsolete today. I picked up the book dreading that I have another exam to study for, since I am already doing my part time degree in the evenings. Sat down and prioritised, degree will always come first. Insurance is a means to get pocket money.

My perception of insurance changed when I read the text, I saw why was insurance important. I saw how it worked and how it benefitted. I became an advocate. I ate, sh*t and slept insurance. I talked non stop about the importance of it. This is the time when you start losing friends, people eye your phone calls with suspicion. They think you have an ulterior motive when you call them out for coffee. This is a test of your friendship with your friends or those who you call friends. The friends will never hesitate to come out and meet you. They will never make excuses if you ask them for coffee. Friends will be the one that tell you to 'turn off your insurance mode'.

I have a friend who was my first client. He never rejected me and agreed to meet when I called him. New laws have been passed and the first 3 appointments have to be accompanied by your boss. Told my friend my boss is coming. He said, sure.

During the appointment, I explained the plan that I am recommending and my friend listened intently. After that we did the paper work. All the time my boss was silent. When we finished the paperwork, my boss spoke, he asked my friend: why didn't you want to do the PFR?

In my head I was stabbing my boss a thousand times over! PFR?! Personal Financial Review! This review takes the income, assets, liabilities and the financial objectives of a person. An adviser will then have to take the PFR and transfer all the information to the FHR Financial Health Review, key the figures into a financial calculator and then generate a report for that person. And in the times of 2001 where laptops was still retailing about $3-$4k, it is not an easy task. The PFR alone will take about an hour. I will have to go back to office after to do the FHR! Boss I am going to kill you!

In my head I was hoping my friend will say: no, its ok no need. Instead, he asked: whats that? My boss looked at me and I went on to explain what the PFR is. Explained to him what I will have to do after I get back to the office. He said: Sure, I don't mind. 'But its going to take about one hour or more. We do here now or we make another appointment.' I asked. He finally asked me to go to his place on another day to do the PFR. Boring!

But little do I know that this exercise will bring my understanding and need of a financial plan to the next level.

The Road Less Travelled

I have sent in a copier to my customer in Tuas and I have just tried to troubleshoot her copier while in my shirt, pants and tie. I feel relieved knowing my technician will be down first thing the next morning to fix her problem.

Went to wok as uual the next day, making calls and doing some paper work. At noon my mobile rang. Picked up the phone and it was my customer from the previous day. Tang, I thought you said first thing in the morning? Huh? You mean my technician not there yet? I asked. No.... Ok ok sorry, I check with my service department and call you back.

Called my service manager. What happen? I thought you said you can send somebody down first thing in the morning? Oh sorry Tang, we had more important customer. I hung up the phone fuming, you mean my customer not important? Walked into the office and told my manager: Send me for technician course. My manager was surprise and ask me what happened. Related the whole story to him and he say cannot like that la, blah blah blah. I am thinking why should I be a slave to the service department, how can I keep my integrity as a person if the people supporting is not helping.

Another customer also called telling me his machine breakdown but this guy is worse he called and told me to send him another new machine as he suspect I sent him a reconditioned one. I already ask you technician to go back. Tang you better get a new machine to my office before lunch if not I call the lawyer. Called my manager, he arranged for my service manager to do up a new machine, recalled the driver back to send the machine. My one minute phone call from a customer resulted in me owing favours to 3 persons, my manager, service manager and driver, who all skipped lunch just to get a machine out to my customer. Sigh I am becoming a slave to the machine, literally!

I had another run in with another customer but that was not as bad, but by now I fear when the phone rings. I dare not look when my phone rings and when its an unknown number I shudder thinking it might be another customer wanting to complain about their machine. It became too stressful for me and that was when my friend from the insurance industry asked me to explore. I said ok though I was a non believer.

My first insurance policy I bought from a friend out of support (too many of us did this). He called me and told me he just joined as an insurance adviser. Ok, do up a plan to set aside for $200 every month. Met him the next day with his boss and he told me: Tang this is the plan but I have to explain. No need where to sign, I said. But I have to... put up my palm in his face and said: just tell me where to sign. I was mean but I wanted to support him as a friend. My father told me before that insurance bluff people one, cheat money. But since my friend joined must support la.

Did the paper work and he left, but the day when I joined the financial industry I called him and apologised and thanked him that he helped me see what I did not see then. I myself have taken the road less travelled.

Coming Back To Reality

I have just came back from Bali and reality is setting back in. Its back to work and its not any better even though I may have my own time. Its still work and fortunately I enjoy my job. Confucius said “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

I started my career in the financial industry since the year 2000. It was one of those friends that asked me to join them in an insurance company. But I don't believe in insurance was my reply. She was persistent and asked me to just go and be open about it. Since I was not really happy where I was and she was a friend, I said ok.

I was then in the office automation industry selling Multifunctional Products. The thing you call copiers in the office. They now scan, fax, print and copy, therefore multi functional. Anyway then it was new technology. Do you remember the time the scanners in your copiers actually move to copy documents? So if you have one document to copy 100 copies, the scanner in your copier has to scan your documents a hundred times. You cannot remove your documents until all is done.

So there I was after ORD from the Police Force National Service, being a photocopier sales person. I was schooled in Architectural Technology in the Polytechnic and knew that there was a big market for copiers in the architectural firms. Managed to get a listing of architectural firms and called them one by one. In the mean time, my boss also told me my territory was in Tuas! Tuas! Sigh... Tuas was then filled with many new companies and factories starting shop here.

The first few days, my boss drove me around to show me the ropes. It was still heaven because I was doing a part time degree and had night classes. I could still go to class at night relatively fresh! But after the honeymoon period, when I had to drive myself to Tuas it all changed. Driving is tiring and the journey up and down from Tuas drained me when I go to class at night. I cannot stay awake!

I managed to convince some companies to take up my copiers, that was when the job started feeling like work! I delivered 4 machines to 4 different companies to get 3 of them calling me back telling me there was a problem with the machine. I remembered a customer in Tuas, send her the machine in the morning. Everything went smoothly during the demo. Went back to the office feeling good about it.

Lunch time, phone rang. Tang, machine says paper jam my customer said. I check already but got no paper jam. Ok ok stay calm try and remember all the things to do trouble shooting. Mam the LCD screen will tell you where the jam is. Check already don't have. Ok next step. Turn your machine off and on? Done already. Eerr... Switch off the mains wait 5 secs. Also do already. Alamak! How? Ok ok mam tell you what I come right now. The time 5 pm, suppose to knock off soon. Ran down to my car and started my lonely drive to Tuas.

Went through the door to my customers office went straight to the machine. Looked at the LCD display. True enough paper jam. Did whatever the LCD display asked me to do. Still paper jam! Went down on my knees peered up through the paper trays just to ensure the paper is not there (I was in my shirt, pants and tie). Don't have!

Stood up, looked at my customer meekly and said mam don't worry my service guy will come first thing in the morning. She said ok. As i walked out the office, picked up my phone and started dialing for my service manager. Can you send one technician down to my customer tomorrow first thing in the morning. Sure, my service manager said.

What a day, well at least its settled (so i thought) and drove home.

Bali Escapade Part 13

It was our last day in Bali and we have not bought any souvenirs or anything for ourselves. 2 attempted trips to a particular outlet store was futile. They have either closed down or moved to another location. This store is called Kampung Bali, anybody with the information of this store please let me know.

Went through the internet and found this Krisna place. Asked the receptionist they also recommended Krisna. Asked her for directions she not sure. Decided to follow what the GPS says. She reminded us that our airport transfer is coming at 4pm and be back at the resort by 3.30pm. So kiasu, thought Singaporeans then kiasu. Then again, maybe too many of their guest have forgotten the time while shopping and late back for their transfer.

Followed the GPS and lo and behold we foud Krisna. Krisna sells all the souvenirs you can find in Bali, from fridge magnets to board shorts to peanuts and the place they were at: Huge! First section, FOOD! They sell a lot of peanuts I must say and coffee. Went around looking for stuff to bring for my coffee kakis (and if you guys are reading this, I have to check if there's still some more :P). Bought some Bali coffee for my own consumption.

We bought slippers, fridge magnets, clothes and small little trinkets for the kids. We threw all the shopping into basket that were provided, they looked exactly like those at NTUC. As we were going through one of the sections, from the corner of my eye, I noticed something really familiar: The Fan! I tugged at my wife and gestured towards the direction of the fans. She walked over and picked up one of the fans. She looked at me with a look and said: $4,000. Yeap, we paid 2 for $20,000. At first, I feel damn cheated but after some calculations it ain't that bad. In reality the difference is about $1.50 sing. My wife commented maybe we should buy more to average down the price. Hahaha! Ya she kena influenced by my investment strategies.

After we were done, we were carrying the basket which was full, to the cashier when suddenly, I remembered we are riding a scooter! How to carry?! Figured we could just hang the plastic bag on the handle bar. But we also have another problem. We had shared 1 luggage and the shopping will not have space to squeeze everything in. But we were pleasantly surprise when they asked whether we wanted to pack our shopping in a box. Sure! The box was nicely taped and tied to allow easy check in at the airport. Best!

When I carried the box it did not feel very heavy, my wife said she will carry the box while I rode back except that I have to be careful as the box is sticking out from the left. We wanted lunch but figured we cannot go anywhere with a box, figured we will go back leave the box down and go back out for lunch. My friends have always commented I have 老人痴呆 or dementia. Well, yes I totally forgot about the box while we were riding back. The box actually scrape another vehicle on the way back. Fortunately there was no big incident.

After we put down the box, we went to Warung Made's for lunch, another place recommended on tripadvisor but nothing to crow about. Went back to the resort about 3.45pm. Still have to wait what...

At 4pm the transfer came and we were driven to the airport. The streets were clear and we made it to the airport in 30 mins. Another 2 hrs and 30 mins to kill in the airport. Had coffee and doughnuts at cut-throat prices. And when we were on the plane home, we were happy knowing that we will see our family back home.

How can you not be happy coming home to this:

But, we will be back Bali!

Bali Escapade Part 12

After spending a day in Ubud and almost getting lost cos of a dead batt in my GPS, I relaxed in the pool before dinner. Still had the crispy duck in my head and searched for crispy duck on the internet. Found one particular warung that is offering it too near Seminyak. Decided thats for dinner.

This warung is called Warung Europa and the crispy duck they serve, very crispy. Well I cannot comment much as I did not have the original one at Ubud but I must say it is actually very good. We had a duck dinner, fried rice with crispy duck, salad with crispy duck and after the dinner I wanted coffee.

Went to Seminyak Square, its a swanky place with many cafes and restaurant. We sat down at Black Canyon Coffee and chilled. Right in front of us was a video wall, it was playing retro music with MV. Wow! Once upon a time DJs spun music from records and mashed up songs for people to dance too, nowadays the mashed up songs are done with music videos! Thats what I call moving forward. I could have sat there the whole night reminiscing the times I go to Zouk's mambo jambo, except that after awhile I realise it was on a loop... Boring! There is so many times I can listen to Ace of Base, The Sign! And I have overkilled it on my car stereo myself then. Yes I was young before too, yes I know its Ace of Base.. But it was happy music!

My holiday in Bali is coming to an end and I felt that there was still so many things not done or seen! I haven't even been to any of the beaches, except Jimbaran which was only for lunch! Those of you who have been to Bali and never been on the beach, put your hands in the air and shake them like you just don't care... Damn I think I am alone...

I am flying back the next day and there was still shopping to be done, things to see and beaches to chill on. There's still Tanah Lot to go to and Ku De Ta to be seen at. Guess it will be have to be on the next trip. My wife commented she will want to come back to Bali again, my sentiments exactly.

Bali had been fun, people we met have been great. Places we visited have been awesome! Service staff at restaurants are commendable. It has been a short holiday and we planned it this way. We have left kids behind and now also happy that we are going home to see them. I was glad I had installed an IP cam at home. I was able to see my baby even while in Bali. My mother in law had also came out from Malaysia, just to keep an eye out on the maid with baby.

Changes to adapt to being a dad, no more being spontaneous about everything. Everything planned and executed. So for those friends out there that have not seen me for ages, I apologise.

For now, we have to go back, pack and plan for our last minute shopping tomorrow morning before heading to the airport. And our last minute shopping was where we found out the true price for our fans..

Bali Escapade Part 11

I am in Ubud, 30km from my villa in Seminyak. I have only left 29% batt on my GPS enables iphone. The rain clouds are coming but my ziplock bags are 30km away. Ditched the idea of going for crispy duck in Ubud and set course back to my villa.

At full throttle on flat ground the scooter will do 80km/hr comfortably. If you do your maths, that ain't very far. Its about 22.5 mins going at 80km/hr. Its about the distance from my place in Simei to Jurong. But when you are riding in Bali, there are no expressways. I keyed my location in Google maps and they said, 1hr 20mins. Sure or not 30km, need so long? The fantastic thing about Google maps is that they have actually worked in the jams and probably the small roads to give you that estimate. And true enough 80km/hr was practically unreachable. On a clear road 60km/hr max. Usually 30km/hr.

10km down the road my wife tapped me on the shoulder, showed me the iPhone, its black. Yes I know I bought the black Iphone but the screen should be on. Oh no! I am now officially directionless, the batt is dead. It is now a memory game. I had actually planned for this contingency. I had wanted to bring my external battery charger. I remembered in Singapore my wife, was holding onto the battery charger before we left for the airport, and assumed she was going to bring it. Damn at that point, I remembered reading somewhere on the net: Do not assume, you make an ASS out of U & ME. Exactly my feeling, ASS.

Rode to a big junction there were 3 ways to go: left, right or straight. Hhhmmmm... Decisions, decisions.... Right should be right. Turned right but somehow not confident. Stopped by a shop with an uncle sitting outside and asked: Seminyak? He pointed. Well right wasn't right after all. Straight. Made a u-turn and went back on the right path. I had to now travel even slower just to see if i recognised any landmarks.

As I went down the road, it started to get familiar. My wife also started to tell me, correct already, correct already, i remember this. By this time the rain was here already, but it ain't pouring just a slight drizzle. My experience riding bikes tell me that rain like that, haversacks and pillions don't get wet... Only the rider. And because of my size my wife actually gets more protection from the rain. If it gets heavier then I will stop, only to protect the electronics I am carrying. 

I have always maintained that I am waterproof only my clothes and the electronics ain't. As I neared Seminyak the traffic started to build up, figured its about the time that offices get off work. Scooters were everywhere, cars were turning and getting stuck mid turn blocking the roads. Scooters were squeezing into whatever gaps they can find to inch forward. I followed, feeling glad I am on a scooter. The rain has more or less stopped by now.

I still managed to recognise my surroundings and squeeze through traffic at the same time, who say men can't multi-task. Ok ok its only 2 task, still its more than one! In the chaos I saw an all too familiar turn and finally we were on the road leading to the villa! Took me about an hour and a half but the truth is it felt like a day! The times without the GPS were the hardest. 

As a financial adviser, I reckon my job is like the GPS. I give financial direction to my clients. My clients and all discuss where they are now financially (like me being in Ubud) and what they want to achieve (destination, like my villa in Seminyak), we set course for their objective with solutions (journey towards their goals), then regularly monitor and review and see if the solutions is still able to achieve their goals (like GPS showing the route). We change course and make adjustments to their solutions when there is a need to (GPS recalculating route when you go off the wrong path).

Got back to my villa changed into my swim wear and took and nice relaxing dip in the pool, just when big droplets of rain started falling. No lightning, I'm staying in the pool... at least till dinner in an hours time.

Bali Escapade Part 10

We found Ibu Oka warung relatively easily with the GPS. Walked in and sat down. Ordered 2 special set and a soup. After reading about the babi guling, i cannot wait to try it. When our set came, it looked good! The bbq-ed pig skin looks damn good.

The pork was tender and the skin was crispy. Mix it all up, it was good. But.... it is not something I will go back for every time I am in Bali as some claim they do. Maybe because of the high level of expectations that have been created, the pig skin did not live up to it. But the tenderness of the pork is really unbelievable.

After the babi guling, we were contemplating what to do next. After some deliberation we decided to go to the waterfall then to Elephant cave then back to Ubud town for some crispy duck that people on tripadvisor was raving about.

I really wonder if tour agencies will go out of business soon like CDs. Sembawang music and Tower records is gone in Singapore because they did not keep up with the internet age and stuck with CDs. Will tour agencies become obsolete one day? We now have online travel agents like Zuji (which I booked my air ticket from). Budget airlines offering their tickets online and hotel booking websites like Agoda and Asiarooms. 

One can plan their travel based on tripadvisors' recommendation and ratings. Use Google maps to plan public transport routes and use GPS if you are driving. Seriously what can a travel agent do that you cannot as an individual. Yes some tours are way cheap but its subsidised by distributors that will pay the agencies if they brought tourist to their place. These tours usually last very long and a lot of time is wasted on cheesy presentations and expensive stuff.

I went to Guangzhou with a friend once and we took the bus everywhere we went, thanks to Google maps! And bus fares in Guangzhou is like 2 yuan for any distance. BEST! Went to Baiyun motorcycle city that we found online and Google maps directed us on the right bus and got us there. 

Sometimes I wonder if I will be obsolete soon, but then again in my business, as long as people are still running away when you tell them 'I am a financial adviser', my job is still safe. It just shows how many people still do not fully understand what we do and how we benefit them.

Decided that we should go to the water fall first as it was furthest away then slowly make our way back up to the elephant cave and end at Ubud town for crispy duck!

The sight at the waterfall was awesome, the road ended on top of the cliff overlooking the waterfall. We sat in the shade for awhile admiring the view, had a nice cold drink, while some kids haggled their wares.

My wife wanted to buy 2 fans for the kids and asked how much. $50,000 rupiah! Wah! the shopkeeper that sold us the dink exclaimed. The boy covered his mouth with a fan and put his finger on his lip telling the auntie at the shop to be silent. Alamak! Fail la boy, must be confident leh! But he is still a boy. Many studies in body language have shown that even as an adult many gesture we make are a reflection of what we are feeling.

For example, the boy put a finger to his mouth in reaction to a big lie. (the difference in cost price and price he selling, we eventually found out how much it cost) As adults, when we try to lie we make very small gestures like touching the corners of our mouth. This is a shadow of what we will do as kids. Will contemplate a blog post on body language in future but for now, we managed to get the price down for the fans to $20k rupiah for 2.

We asked the lady shopkeeper if we could go down to the waterfall, yes and she pointed to a flight of stairs. Wah! I exclaimed this time, I think my body language was really obvious to the lady that I don't want to go. She said 100 over steps only. Up and down is 200 over steps lor. But here already, just go.

Walking down the steps was scary as it was steep, but walking up... almost died. Went to the elephant cave.

At the entrance, we were asked if we wanted tour guide. Eeerrr, nope. My tour guide the internet, want to read about the cave, click here from Wikipedia or here from About.com.

We left the cave and was going to chart our route back to Ubud town. Noticed my battery is at 29%, looked up at the sky, it looked like it was going to rain, asked my wife if the ziplock bags was in the haversack. No... ok, change of plans we need to go back.

Bali Escapade Part 9

Woke up the next morning, and prepared for my trip to Ubud. Even though how much I hate sunblock, I decided putting on sunblock is better than getting sun burnt. Slapped on my sunblock and off we went following the GPS on our scooter.

I realised that in Bali, scooters are the king of the road. Cars tend to give way to them. We had a great time going through small little roads, thanks to the guidance of the GPS. The driver of the airport transfer wanted to charge us 400,000 rupiahs to get us to Ubud. And I will still maintain that one of the best ways to see any country is riding a bike.

I had done a 5 days 4 nights tour of Hanoi on a bike before and it was the best trip. We took 125 Minsk rode from Hanoi to Sapa and back. The guide will just follow us and be at strategic locations so that we know where the turns are. We rode the bikes and stopped whenever we like to take photos.

Bali still has many Padi fields and its always nice to ride away from the city, riding on roads flanked by padi fields.

We arrived in Ubud about an hour later, figured we were still too early to have lunch. We wanted to go for THE babi guling in Bali. Heard from friends I must try it at  Ibu Oka warung, many people on tripadvisor swears by it. But still its about 10am in the morning, still too early for lunch. Decided we should get out of the sun for awhile have a drink to cool down, we can still surf for a place to visit before lunch.

My wife said must find aircon one. So i slowly rode my scooter down the main street of Ubud. From the way some websites describe Ubud: less touristy, I had expected Ubud to be like Sapa in Hanoi. I was wrong. Damn its like Holland Village in Singapore, cafes lining the streets. But none with aircon.

Suddenly I feel my rear traction seem to be slipping, the bike was getting wobbly, this feeling is all too familiar. I asked my wife to get off and look at my tire, is it punctured? I did not want to look myself. Yes, came the reply. Wa suay lor! Why does punctures seem to follow me everywhere I go.

Rode to JB for seafood dinner, puncture. Send my wife to work, puncture. Now in Bali puncture! Wtf!? 

My wife wanted to get back on to go look for some workshop. Told her not possible, the combined weight of my 0.1 ton and her weight. The rear tyre will be running on rims by the time we get to a workshop. Asked a worker if he knew where I can get it patched, he said very far. Go Pertamina.

I remembered I saw Pertamina on the way in. Its times like this that I am so glad my wife rides too. She said she will ride the bike to Pertamina instead cos the tires may be shredded if I rode it back. Off she went. Told her I will wait for her there, pointing to a cafe just across the road.

Be careful ah I said then off she went. I walked to the cafe and sat down looked at the menu and ordered a banana milkshake. Banana my favourite fruit and milkshake one of those guilty indulgence. I looked forward to sipping down the cold beverage after spending one hour riding in the sun.

The waitress came with the milkshake and its appearance was not appealing, took a sip of it and almost spat all of it out. They have blended banana, ice, sweetened condense milk and water, blend it all together and called it a banana milkshake. It was way too sweet and it was not the milkshake I expected. But because of the heat, the coldness was welcoming.

Waited for about 45 mins and my wife eventually came back, new inner tube for the tires. She sat down and ordered a drink. She then commented how hot it is outside but while you are in the shade it actually is very cool. Now that she have mentioned its true! You don't feel the heat when you are in the shade in Bali. Unlike Singapore even when you are in the shade the wind blowing in from the outside is warm.

Being an Architectural student in poly, I commented that it is because of the pitched, tatched roof, creating a high ceiling and allowing the heat to dissipate as it rises. Then again it could also be because it is so damn hot outside that being in the shade is cooling, its all in the mind. 

We decided that we should go for lunch at Ibu Oka then go to some attraction called Elephant Cave. I also have heard there is a waterfall in Ubud area. That can wait. Babi Guling first.