We recently spent 10 days in Singapore. Singapore isn’t exactly off the beaten path or known for being cheap and cheerful. If anything it’s very well established and rather expensive. However you don’t have to spend a fortune in Singapore. Here are some of the things we did that didn’t break the bank.

Eat Lots of Food

While most things are expensive in Singapore, food is not. There is food available pretty much everywhere at very reasonable prices. There are certainly expensive restaurants out there but you don’t need to venture into them to get a delicious meal.

There are areas specializing in specific types of food like China town and little India, which are worth visiting, but you don’t need to travel that far for good quality food. Stumbling on food halls that put the food halls of Australia to shame happened by accident over and over. Whenever we wondered “what’s around this corner?” or “what’s through that door?” the answer was always “a packed foodhall.”

Visit the Marina Bay Sands

The very famous Marina Bay Sands is a rather pricey hotel with attached shops, restaurants etc. You’re going to need to put a big dent in your bank account if you want to actually stay there. However it’s free to just visit. The whole area is very pretty and offers great views of the Singapore skyline.

Just behind the hotel are the “super trees”. They’re actually elaborate vertical gardens. Again, it’s free to just go and wander around.

The super trees and surrounding gardens make for good photographs and the greenery is a nice break from the city.

Walk, Walk and Walk Some More

Singapore is extremely walkable. Public transport is excellent and once you arrive in your desired neighbourhood it’s easy enough to stroll to your final destination. Foot paths are pretty much always available, they’re well maintained and the traffic is predictable. It all makes for a very relaxed pedestrian experience.

Walking is not only a convenient way to get around it’s also a wonderful way to explore. Everywhere is well signed so it’s difficult to get too lost. The exercise can also help balance out all the eating.

Find The Cheap Shopping (It Exists!)

While Singapore has no shortage of high end retailers there are shopping centres like the Mustafa Centre in Little India and Bugis street which are very affordable. The Mustafa centre is cheap but a little lacking in style. We particularly recommend Bugis street. The entrance is not impressive but once you get inside there’s a large multistorey complex packed with very cool and very affordable clothing stores.

A trip to Singapore is probably never going to be as cheap as Thailand or Vietnam. However it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg and you can have a wonderful time without taking out a second mortgage.

I recently wrote a big long email worth of tips for someone about to move to Chiang Mai. It’s stuff that’s applicable to most people so I thought I’d repeat a slightly edited version of it here. This is a bit of brain dump but hopefully it makes sense.

There aren’t a lot of bad places to live in Chiang Mai. Around the train station is not so great but otherwise its all pretty good. I wouldn’t worry too much about where in town to live initially. It’s easy to move but more on that later.

Within the old city, which is the area within the moat, it’s pretty touristy. The east end of the old city in particular. You’ll probably want to avoid that area as its more expensive. Here are two specific accommodation suggestions.

Ban Jed Yod
Ban Jed Yod is a little way away from the center of town although there’s plenty of restaurants etc in the neighbourhood. Typically they only rent rooms for 3 months or more. They let us stay for 1 but we had to pay a bit more for the room and we had an existing long term tenant to vouch for us.

Varada Place
Varada is in a more central location although the rooms aren’t as big. There’s a lot more within walking distance. It’s a little bit of a hike but you can walk into the center of town from here.

Finding accommodation is a matter of searching agoda, airbnb plus just wandering around. There’s heaps of accommodation that simply isn’t listed on the Internet.

Most accommodation is in apartment buildings which are easy to spot due to their height. They almost always have a reception person there during the day, if not 24 hours although the staff there at night frequently don’t speak English. You just get yourself to a part of town you want to live in then go into buildings asking to see a room until you find one you like.

You’ll usually be paying week by week or month by month so you can move every couple of months if you want. That can be a great way to get to know different parts of town. They may give you the option to sign a lease to get a lower monthly rent. These are still typically quite short, in the region of 3 to maybe 12 months. Some really desirable buildings like Ban Jed Yod may actually require a lease lasting a few months but it’s rare. If possible stay somewhere for one week to one month before committing to anything longer.

When you move in they’ll want a photocopy of your passport, your signature on some sort of rental agreement specifying what you’re paying and what you’re getting for it plus the first week or month’s rent.

We never had any trouble with getting ripped off with accommodation. I’ve heard one or two stories about mean hotel operators in the most touristy bits of town but most apartment operators are looking for long term tenants who don’t cause trouble and who pay the rent month after month. Listen to your instincts though and if something doesnt feel right just move on.

If you’re just not sure where to stay initially consider booking a week at Varada and using that time to look around and decide whether you want to stay there for longer or to move elsewhere. Here are some prices for Varada Place as of late 2012. As you can see paying per month is significantly cheaper than paying per day.

When checking out accommodation it can be handy to bring a smartphone or laptop to check the wifi. More or less 100% of rooms/apartments come with wifi. Unfortunately some buildings are running questionable Internet connection sharing setups. For example, the network is unsecured but when you access anything in a browser you are redirected to a page where you log in and all web traffic is routed through a computer in the apartment building office which filters your traffic.

Typically these are set up to try to prevent people torrenting, which they don’t. Beyond the security concerns of having all your web traffic routed through a Windows XP desktop via a bag of scripts written by someone with a hotmail email address (really), often numerous ports are blocked and its just a pain. Of course the net connection goes away every time the Windows desktop locks up.

Ideally you can find somewhere nice to live that doesnt run a set up like this. If you don’t know what a port or a torrent is you can probably safely ignore this. Ban Jed Yod is a great place to live but unfortunately they do have this kind of set up. It’s the only major down side of living there.

Most restaurants, cafes etc will have free wifi. If your apartment wifi is playing up or you just want a change of scene you can head out, get a banana shake and use the cafe’s wifi. It can take some time to find a few nice places but there’s no shortage of places to try. There are quite a few around nimmanhaemin rd and in the sois (side streets) to the east of nimmanhaemin. A place called “Chocolate Fact” is particularly nice if you want some coffee and cake while you work although it’s not the cheapeast place.

If you happen to need to go to a dentist while you’re in town we recommend Grace Dental. They’re certainly not the cheapest dentist in Chiang Mai but they have the most modern set up and speak excellent English. They are also likely to be significantly cheaper than a dentist in your home country. They’re approximately one third of the price of a dentist in Australia. We tried a few other dentists who were all cheaper but who were not as confidence inspiring.

Finally, if you have time before leaving home it would be great if you could learn to ride a motorcycle. At some point you’re going to want to get a scooter to get around town. Chiang Mai really opens up once you have convenient transport. Haggling with songtaews and tuk tuks becomes a drag plus they all tend to vanish in the evening. With a bit of luck you can trawl through thaivisa.com’s forums and acquire a cheap scooter/moped for a few hundred dollars that will allow you to get around town.

Personally, I first learned to ride by renting then buying a scooter in Chiang Mai. Quite a few people do this. I only had actual lessons and got a proper motorcycle license when I returned to Australia. While that worked for me and I’ve never had a serious accident it’s not really the smartest way to do it.

Hopefully that helps.

We are now at the tail end of our two month stay in Bali. We’ve spent two months here as part of our ongoing quest to find places to spend bigger chunks of time in the future. How has Bali stacked up?

We knew going in that convenient access back to Perth was going to be a big plus. It’s a short flight and there are many direct flights every day.

Next up, climate. I was expecting Bali to be more or less the same as the rest of south east Asia. Hot, humid, occasional short bursts of very heavy rain. Hot and humid is certainly accurate. It has however rained a surprisingly large amount. We’ve spent wet seasons in south east Asia before and have become accustomed to a short burst of torrential rain, often at the same times every day, followed by hours of clear weather before another precisely timed downpour. In Bali however we’ve had quite a few days where it has rained on and off all day. The only other place we’ve encountered so much rain was in Taiwan and that was during a typhoon. When it’s not raining it is as lovely and warm as you would expect.

As you can probably guess by the volume of food posts on this site, we really enjoy our food. The local food here is cheap, tasty and easy to find. There are more expensive options available but it’s relatively easy to feed yourself for a few dollars. However the food just doesn’t quite match the spicey sharpness of Thai food or the rich curries of Malaysia. That said, if you want world class international food, that can be found in spades, particularly around Seminyak and Kerobokan. It will cost you a little more but its certainly possible to get yourself really fantastic Japanese, Mexican, organic raw vegan or whatever else takes your fancy.

Delicious Healthy Green Food At Bali Buddha Kerobokan Bali

We spend a lot of time online and reliable access to the Internet is a non-negotiable requirement. Sadly Internet access is not Bali’s strong suit. We know some people based here long term and they’ve been able to resolve this easily enough by paying for a high speed connection. If however you’re reliant on guest houses, cafes etc it is a bit of a struggle. Wifi is readily available almost everywhere but everyone’s Internet connection seems to go away a lot. In particular every time it rains.

Public transport is non-existent as is typical of anywhere in the region outside of major cities like Bangkok. There are however abundant taxis and renting a scooter is easy and affordable.

Due to the large amount of foreigners living here supermarkets carry a large range of international products. There’s a decent chance you’ll be able to find whatever products you’re missing from home. And yes, Vegemite is easy to find.

Walking anywhere is remarkably unpleasant. In a more walking friendly environment Tanya and I will often cover 5 or 10 kilometres a day. While in Bali we’ve rarely walked more than a few blocks. Walking wasn’t so bad in Candidasa, Legian (pictured above) and Ubud although it was never great. Kerobokan and Sanur away from the beach are like someone is trying to help pedestrians see the error of their ways.

An assumption that no one walks anywhere is unfortunately fairly common throughout south east Asia. Bali seems to have it particularly bad. Frequently footpaths don’t exist at all. That’s ok if there is a shoulder allowing you to get out of the flow of traffic. In places, zero room has been left between buildings and the space occupied by moving vehicles.

The excitement of walking in the traffic is supplemented by the challenge of avoiding great holes in the ground leading down into storm drains and who knows where else. The combination of holes big enough to consume a person and unlit streets mean that night time strolls require your full concentration. At times, riding a scooter has felt safer than walking which is saying something considering the traffic.

Massages are easily available at very reasonable prices. As always, quality varies enormously but there are some great massages to be had in Bali. All you need to do is slog through the trying process of getting massage after massage. Such an ordeal…

Accommodation certainly isn’t difficult to come by. There are thousands of places to stay. Everything from hotels to guesthouses to villas. It’s not super cheap particularly for short term accommodation but there are plenty of reasonably priced options available for both short and long stays. There are some real bargains to be had at the long term end of the market.

The Sun Going Down At Sanur Beach

If you’re looking for activities like yoga and meditation then Ubud could very definitely be the place for you. That’s not really our speed.

Bali is also blessed with an array of excellent surf beaches. Surfing is also not really our thing.

So, when all is said and done, what do we think? Bali is certainly a workable location. The Internet situation and the difficulty in going for a walk come close but nothing outright rules it out. There are no major deal breakers. Its just that, aside from proximity to Perth, there’s nothing that really sets it apart or attracts us to it (maybe it would if we were big on yoga or surfing). The climate is ok. The food is ok. Transport is ok. Accommodation is ok. We could certainly spend a lot of time here and have a pleasant enough life. There’s just nothing here that particularly excites us. I’ve never had a “I’m so glad I’m here” moment in Bali.

Maybe we’ll be back to Bali. I certainly don’t bear it any ill will. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re not back for quite some time. It’s a big world filled with infinite possibilities, why settle for just ok?

We stayed on the island of Bali in Indonesia for 59 days, lets call it two months. We spent a grand total of AUD $3367.92 during that time.  We certainly didn’t live like kings or queens and we also didn’t live like paupers… we lived a “just right for us” life.

It is important to note that we have not included the cost of our visas or the cost of our flights in our calculations as we paid for them months before we landed in Bali.

For past and future reference, our 60 day Indonesian tourist visas that were organised at home in Perth, Western Australia cost us AUD $60 each.

Our flight costings were a little different as we already had flights from Perth to Kuala Lumpur organised. We purchased our return flights from Kuala Lumpur to Denpasar for AUD $180 each. Not cheap but as we had only booked them three weeks in advance, we were happy with that price.

Back to the costings for our two month stay on the island of Bali in Indonesia. We used the Trail Wallet to record all of our spendings for the two months and we were quite pleasantly surprised. The total price was below our budgeted AUD $2000 per month, which was good to see.

Examples of what we spent our money on over the two months:

• Beauty Treatments: 2 x Foot Massages for IDR 40,000 each plus 20k in tips = AUD $9.86 in total
• Accommodation: In Sanur, D’joemah Nadja Homestay. We stayed for one month at AUD $22.10 per night
• Entertainment: 2 x Bali Eco bicycle tour from Ubud = AUD $65.41 in total
• Food: Bali Buddha – minestrone soup, macrobiotic plate, green smoothie = AUD $9.61 in total

All in all, we were very happy with how much we spent in Bali. It certainly could have been cheaper but it wasn’t too bad. Bali is however significantly more expensive than other parts of south east Asia and I’m not sure it justifies the extra expense…

Delicious Food At Bali Buddha Kerobokan Bali

Kerobokan in Bali is quite the intriguing mish mash of places. You can find the famous Kerobokan prison, not that you would ever want to actually visit the place. Ample fairly awesome condos, rooms, villas and houses to rent and buy can be found in Kerobokan. And, you can also find some of the best food we had whilst in Bali… That is about it unfortunately.

Many expats love the area as it is inland from the rather pricey Seminyak in a hilly area with many rice paddies. It is pretty in parts but to get anywhere, in particular to the beach, you really do need motorised transport. Unfortunately, a bicycle probably won’t cut it here as the roads are quite small and you will be sharing space with scooters, trucks, buses, cars, food carts… the works.

Scooters fitted with surfboard racks are a common sight and there appear to be many fine surf beaches in the area. We don’t surf but if you do this could be a big plus for the area.

Perhaps this is just the case in the area where we stayed but the side walks were certainly in need of a lot of work. It was bad enough walking during daylight but at night time it was tremendously difficult. The holes in the alleged foot paths were bigger than us, and would go for at least 2m down. Not fun!

Negatives aside, this is when we tell you that some of the best meals we had in our two months in Bali were had in Kerobokan. Unfortunately, neither of the restaurants we frequented actually served Balinese or Indonesian food. Well, one did sort of but the food served was virtually unrecognisable compared to the typical versions for sale elsewhere.

First mention, La Libre Taqueria Mexican Restaurant. These guys have got the chicken burrito recipe perfect. Note, we haven’t been to Mexico so we don’t know if what we ate is how the Mexican’s make it. But it was delicious.

Their chicken, tofu, beef or vegetarian burritos were big enough for two to share or, as we are piggies, just for one. They had the perfect amount of beans, rice, vegetables, bbq’d meats and sauce to make it just so tasty!

They also serve other great Mexican meals and beers in a really attractive restaurant that had funky Mexican themed cartoon artwork on the walls. The restaurant even offers home-delivery!

Burrito At La Libre Taqueria Kerobokan Bali

Second up on the best food we had in Bali list, and certainly not in second place is Bali Buddha Kerobokan.

This restaurant has a few different locations in Bali. We’ve actually been to the Nusa Dua shop and the one in Kerobokan. The Kerobokan location has a restaurant and a little health food take-home section. Even if you don’t follow a strict vegan raw food diet, you will really enjoy the food here. The Nusa Dua location is much smaller. It’s more of a take out joint than a proper restaurant.

During our seven days in Kerobokan, we headed to Bali Buddha pretty much every day. Some days, twice. It was that good. The juices were amazing, the red lentil soup, the minestrone soup, and the green soup were delicious. The raw food platter was extremely tasty and filling. Desserts, including some that were also raw, were to die for.

The little shop to the side provided baked goods like banana or pumpkin bread, organic fruits and vegetables, alternative medicine, and all things just lovely. Bali Buddha really is great!

Delicious Healthy Green Food At Bali Buddha Kerobokan Bali

Even if you aren’t staying in Kerobokan these restaurants are worth the drive. Check them out! Bali Buddha even has a few community boards that people advertise various things on. We saw many advertisements for rooms, villas and houses, some stipulating how far they were from Bali Buddha. Handy!

Would we stay in Kerobokan again? Possibly. The international food makes this places but the many western style restaurants combined with the many expats mean that all things Balinese are gently nudged towards the margins. All the same we may return but only if we find our awesome dream Balinese home with ultra fast internet, a clean swimming pool, a usable kitchen, and maybe a maid to clean up after us Oh, and close to Bali Buddha and La Libre Taqueria.

Pacsafe 20L Personal Safe Locked Up To The Toilet (grainy pic taken via iPhone)

A few months ago I entered a competition from Bagworld by liking and sharing a product of theirs on Facebook. Of course, I chose the Pacsafe Travelsafe 20L Portable Safe, and I won. Thanks again Bagworld!

I love Pacsafe. I love Bagworld. I love Security. Put them all together and you have an awesome product that truly is the bees knees for when you need to leave your expensive gear in your room when travelling!

We travel with a lot of not cheap equipment and we know that there is no guarantee that our laptops and other things won’t get stolen unless they are constantly with us, and we are in a bullet proof bubble with big buff bodyguards. However, we do have lives to lead and we can’t afford the buff bodyguards. And well, laptops and beach water do not mix.

This is where the Pacsafe Travelsafe 20L Portable Safe comes in. The dimensions of the portable safe is 37cm x 31cm x 17cm with a weight of 700gms. It is not huge nor is too light but it isn’t too heavy either considering it does have the exomesh threaded most of the way through it.

We can fit both of our laptops, all the cables, our little electrical bag of bits and pieces, and more quite comfortably. Close it up, thread the extra strong wire through the little lock system, thread the wire around something like a bed head or, our favourite, the toilet and lock it back up to the personal safe, and then you are done!

Pacsafe 20L Personal Safe Locked Up

Things that we like about the Portable Safe:

• The size is pretty good, and we can fit all of our goodies in it easily.
• It rolls up small if you need to. We generally just keep everything in there and put it straight into our backpack as is.
• Is made out of tough material with exomesh through most of it so it feels like it would be hard to cut into.
• The Portable Safe is fairly water resistant, so if your bag gets rained on a bit the stuff inside should be ok.

Things that we don’t like about the Portable Safe:

• The wire cable is maybe a tad short. It needs to have another 50cm in length for us to be able to thread it around everything. (It is the perfect size for threading around the toilet though).
• For us, if it was 25L, it would be the absolute perfect size. 20L is a little too small to store everything for two people.

It certainly doesn’t make it impossible for someone to steal your stuff, it will however, make it a lot harder.

You can purchase the Pacsafe TravelSafe 20L Portable Safe via amazon. It is pretty cool, we love it.

Candidasa Sunset

Candidasa or Candi Dasa is a small village located on the east side of Bali. The drive from the airport takes approximately 90 minutes. The drive from Ubud is about the same. It is a very relaxing place but the pros and cos of Candidasa pretty much cancel each other out.

Beachside hotels and villas line the seaside of Candidasa. Most have gorgeous gardens with a pool that overlooks the ocean. Some of the hotels are very much in need of repair. Many of the hotels appear to have been built 10 to 30 years ago and have not been maintained.

The place we stayed was chosen for the infinity pool overlooking the ocean. The pool was beautiful and we used it a lot as the beach wasn’t particularly inviting. There was very little beach sand, it was mostly stone beaches with hundreds of crabs going about their crabby business. Quite pretty but not very comfortable for lounging around. But that’s ok, the pool was lovely.

The room, on the other hand, felt like it hasn’t been properly cleaned for many years. The bed was comfortable enough if a little musty, the shower kind of worked, and there was a fridge to use. The cupboards and walls, on the other hand, were in desperate need of a good clean and a coat of paint (the walls, not the cupboards). The air-conditioning and wifi worked really well though.

I am not sure if the other hotels are like this in Candidasa. While we wandered through a few other hotels we didn’t go into any rooms. Judging by the exteriors however it looks like many are failing to perform basic maintenance and even failing to keep their buildings watertight with visible water damage being very common and some rooms having been obviously abandoned (windows smashed, roof collapsed, interior left to rot). It’s true that you get what you pay for but make sure to do your research before booking that beachside villa. Ideally go and physically see the room before committing. I’m not suggesting that anyone would try to put you in one of the abandoned rooms but it would be nice to avoid those that are on their way to ruin.

Candidasa Work Space

Out the front of the beachside hotels is the main road of Candidasa. It is extremely busy, noisy and dusty. Cars, trucks, buses and motorbikes drive very fast along this road, so crossing the road can be an experience just in itself.

The footpaths are ok. Not too flash and not too horribly bad. People tend to park their scooters, leave their rubbish, and hang out on the foot paths so there is a lot of walking on the main road.

But not to worry. If you are in need of transport, as there is not shortage of private car owners who will try to get your attention by yelling and clapping at you from across the road. In some cases they will actually dash through the speeding traffic just to talk to you. Transport is not hard to get.

Perhaps renting a bicycle would help here but then you have to worry about all the petrol powered vehicles screaming past.

Along with the drivers wanting work, staff from all the restaurants and spas line the streets trying to get your attention. So many restaurants, so few visitors make the staff go crazy. I understand this. I would want to get customers in just so I had something to do instead of sitting around all day.

The constant attention from drivers and restaurant staff normally doesn’t bother us too much but Candidasa is a very small place with very few tourists and there are many touts for each tourist. For the locals sake I hope it gets busier than it was in February. The volume of hard sellers to tourists can make it a little tiring to walk anywhere. Each time we stepped out of our hotel there was a long row of expectant faces stationed along the street, all looking at us.

They’re only trying to make a living but it makes going for an evening stroll less than pleasant.

NO Nasi Goreng Just Cold Beer

Ari’s Aussie Burger And Hot Dog With The Lot

We did have some very good meals while hanging out in Candidasa. Props goes to Ari’s Aussie Burger and Hot Dog Stall down at the southern end of the main part of Candidasa. Gary, a local Australian icon, has a little restaurant serving, you guessed it, Aussie Burgers and Hot Dogs. Very very tasty, highly recommended.

Another place, that we never got the name of, was a little warung (restaurant) about 30m across the road to the right of the Natia Beach Resort. The food was very cheap and very delicious. Lunch would often cost us 40,000 IDR, around AUD$4, for the two of us. This typically consisted of a Gado Gado, Mie Goreng and two juices. Really should have got the name of this place. Just look for the place that has a menu showing lemon juices for 5,000 each. Bargain!

Once you’re in Candidasa you can go snorkelling or diving only a few hundred metres from the shore. The famous White Beach is a short drive away. We never got there. We chose to be lazy and lay by the pool instead but we have heard that it is one of the best beaches in Bali. One day we will get there.

Cats Domain At Teneganan Village

A few kilometres up the hill from Candidasa is the famous Bali Aga village at Teneganan. This is an original Balinese village that tourists, both national and international, can walk through and experience the life of the original Balinese.

It is a lovely village that can only be visited during the day. It is closed to outsiders after dark. Outsiders are those who are not of Teneganan descent. The village follows the original Balinese culture. If you choose to marry someone from outside of the village, you must move out.

Teneganan Village is an interesting stop. There is ample opportunity to buy various hand-made products including scarves, sarongs, and traditional Balinese calendars. Basket weaving can be seen in action also.

Boy At Teneganan Village

Beyond the beaches, diving, snorkelling and visiting the traditional village, there really isn’t much to do in Candidasa. You could take a yoga class or three but otherwise you will have plenty of time to just sit back and read.

Candidasa, for us, as long-term travellers, really isn’t the place we would want to spend a lot of time. It is nice enough but we would get very bored very quickly. We both found that after our fourth day of working in the morning, going out for lunch, coming back, swimming and laying by the pool reading our books, going out for dinner, and back to our room was a little too same same for us.

We would revisit though, just to see this famous White Beach and to have another Aussie Burger and Hot Dog. Nom!

Candidasa Stone Beach

Queue the love gush time: One of the best things that EVER happened to me was meeting Andrew. He is the soothing yin to my raging yang. He is my lover, best friend, travel partner, money maker, maker of cups of tea, and all around awesome person. How I love thee!

Surprisingly we have been together for just under seven years.  Who would have thought that a “set up” would lead to nearly seven years including three years of marriage. Thank you Eva!

Today, 27th March 2013, is our third wedding anniversary. Yay! We are celebrating this day by remembering our wedding day and wondering if we could still fit into our wedding clothes. I know, my dress would be a tight fit now!

Tonight, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we head to a fancy restaurant where we are dining in the dark. Apparently our senses will be overwhelmed.

So much has happened in our first three years of marriage:

First, we got married! Here is our mini video and photo collage. It was so awesome that I want to get married again. Andrew has to put up with me constantly saying “I want to get married again!”

We then headed to Malaysian Borneo for our honeymoon. Kota Kinabalu for a five star resort experience and then to Kuching to enjoy everything that wonderful city has to offer. This was our first holiday as a married couple. So many more to come!

Unfortunately, we had to work for awhile. Fortunately, we both took on some awesome jobs. I was at a brewery, Andrew with an education software company.

During this time, we renovated and sold an apartment then bought another. This kept us busy for quite a while. We were very pleased with our renovation skills. We took most of the kitchen out ourselves and then put together all the cupboards. So much fun!

We moved into our new place and then proceeded to save really hard and pay off most of our mortgage. This was actually quite easy to do. I wrote a pretty good article (if I say so myself) on how to save money for travel.

From there, we quit our full time jobs. I left mine for the third time and Andrew moved on to part time. Awesome!

We rented out our apartment and moved in with our parents for a few weeks…

On 1st November 2011, we jumped on a plane and headed to Kuala Lumpur, where we then travelled through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan, and then back to Australia.

So awesome!

We lasted back in Western Australia for just under four months. It’s not that we don’t like hanging out with our family and friends, it’s just that we have very itchy feet and want to see everything the world has to offer…

During that long extended travel trip through Asia, we learnt a lot about ourselves, our relationship and how we wanted to lead our lives in the future. More travel is definitely on the agenda. We really enjoy spending 24 hours a day together.

Bali, Indonesia, was our most recent destination. We spent our time there searching for areas of the island to come back to for longer stints in the near future.

And, now, we are back in Malaysia. For our third year wedding anniversary. I wonder what will happen in the next three years…

While in Ubud we took the opportunity to go on a bicycle tour of the area. There’s a multitude of people offering tours and we opted for Bali Budaya based on them having a nice brochure. It’s very scientific.

They picked us up bright and early and drove us and the rest of our cycling buddies to a spot overlooking Mt Batur and the adjacent Batur Lake. It’s certainly a beautiful view and a fine place to eat the included breakfast.

With our bellies full we were delivered to a place where we were able to sample Luwak coffee among other things. Luwak coffee is a rather pricey form of coffee that consists of coffee beans passed through the digestive tract of a civet cat. Apparently civet cats are quite the coffee connoisseur and will only eat the finest beans thus serving as living breathing bean sorting machines.

Tanya, always keen to find out how stuff is made, got to try her hand and pounding and roasting coffee beans.

Enough with the learning and on to the drinking. There was a huge range of stuff available for tasting. For a few extra bucks you could try Luwak coffee. Luwak coffee is certainly very fine coffee with only a hint of civet cat.

While we were waiting to depart a gentleman appeared with a giant spider happily climbing all over him. Despite its size it was apparently harmless. Although he offered to let me handle it I felt it was best to stay away. Growing up in Australia has seen me develop a strong smash, crush, destroy reflex when it comes to spiders. Several others gave it a go and seemed happy with only the occasional “get it off, get it off, get it off.”

Next up we acquired our bicycles. There was a large range available of various sizes. They all seemed to be in reasonably good working order.

We stopped at a traditional Balinese family complex. While walking around the extended family home all our questions were answered about family relationships, marriage, work and even traditional forms of sex ed.

A little further down the road we stopped to see and try our hand at threshing rice. Another notch on Tanya’s headboard.

The roads we were riding down were almost entirely downhill making this ride do-able for people of an level of fitness. The roads were lined with rice paddies and the homes of Balinese people happily going about their lives.

We stopped at a particularly giant tree for a few photos. Just behind it was an soccer field and some kids who had puppies, for some reason.

Where are the puppies?

At this point we were given a choice. We could either ride a little further then be picked up and driven to lunch. Or we could ride all the way to lunch. Most of us, including Tanya and I, opted for the leisurely option. Two hardy souls opted to ride. This was apparently quite demanding and required moving much faster and with rather more uphill.

Lunch was very nice at an open air restaurant surrounded by rice paddies. Lot’s of rice paddies in Bali it turns out. After lunch we were delivered back to our accommodation for rest and recuperation.

We were both very impressed with this cycling tour. We saw and learned a lot. Thanks to the initial drive to a volcano high in the mountains the vast majority of the cycling is downhill. The peddles are more or less optional. Our guide was very knowledgeable and spoke excellent English.

Five out of five. Would roll downhill again. Bali Eco Cycling

Trail Wallet App – Total For Today

I came across this iPhone / iPad / iPod app a few months ago and without any hesitation, I paid my USD $1.99 and have’t looked back since.

Trail Wallet is an app that can easily track your daily expenditure in the local currency of the country you are in. For example, we have our home country set as Australia. In January of 2013 we were in Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia. We were able to add the costs of everything we paid for in each of those currencies. The app would then convert the currency and let us know how much we had spent for the day.

With the latest update, people can choose the existing categories or add their own. The basic categories are along the lines of Accommodation, Food, Transport, Bribes etc. We have added ones like Beauty Treatments. We do love our massages after all.

We could just write it all down in a notepad, or on an excel spreadsheet like we used to do, but since I take my iPhone everywhere, this just seems right.

Pros of the Trail Wallet app:

• The app lets you set a daily budget in the settings page. This is where you also choose your home currency and the country where you are now.
• Can easily add all purchases with a click of the plus sign.
• You can write notes about each purchase. ie. 2 vege juices, 2 tempe goreng… nom nom nom!
• There is an option to email a Trail Wallet Financial Report which is a CSV file (open with an office app) of a daily breakdown of what you spend each day.
• A pretty chart shows you the breakdown of what and how much you spend your money on in the month.
• The daily summary page shows everything clearly – if you are under your budget, or over. Daily and monthly.
• It doesn’t take up much battery power so you can keep the app running in the background.

Cons of the Trail Wallet app:

• There is no option to add a bulk purchase and spread it out over a month. For example, a monthly rental payment. I would really like to see this feature soon.
• There is an option to spread the love on Twitter, sharing if you are under or over-budget for the day. I would like to see the same for Facebook.
• It would be nice to have a save to iCloud or Google Docs option. Just so I know that the data is being backed up. I don’t want to have to email a breakdown to myself every day just to make sure I have the up-to-date details saved somewhere other than on the phone.

Trail Wallet IS the bees knees! Sure, I would change a couple of things, but I am really happy with what this app can do. It is simple to use and even looks pretty too. The price is right. Go get it now. You will thank us later.

Purchase via Voyage Travel Apps