Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bali

SE Asia tying shoestrings

wilful — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:42:43 -0800

Bali, Thailand, or somewhere else for winter? The family are fleeing winter for some sun this July, and we’re thinking SE Asia, because it’s warm, cheap, interesting and close.

We’ll be travelling with two small kids (three and under one) so will be going pretty gently, not doing too much moving about on local buses.

I’m inclined to put Bali or Thailand at the top of the list, and have mostly ruled out Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines and South China because they’ll be too dirty and too much of a hassle with the kids. Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore we’ve done. So that leaves Bali and Thailand on our shortlist, but we don’t know enough about the two countries to effectively decide.

We’d probably look to get a package deal with flights and accommodation and then just extend our stay out to three or four weeks. For Thailand, I was thinking a week or two down south in the isthmus, then flying to Chiang Mai for a week or two more, then a few days in Bangkok before coming home. Bali I’m much less clear about, sit on a beach for a while (which one?), then do what? Northern parts? Lombok?

Alternatively, would we get bored going to a pacific island instead? Fiji? Vanuatu? New Caledonia? Any and all opinions appreciated…

what the heck should i name my new jazz band?

messiahwannabe — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:15:59 -0800

help me name my indonesian-jazz-band-with-a-dj! i know i'm not the first to ask for bandname suggestions on askmefi, and i probably wont be the last, as you guys are good at this! while i, unfortunately, *suck* at coming up with band names. and as the marketing dept for the hotel we play at is asking for a name and description by the end of the day (we started the day before yesterday) i could sure use your help! :)

the description part was easy:

"********* mixes dj beats with traditional jazz instruments and vocals to make a sophisticated urban sound thats both funky and easy on the ears."

we sound not entirely unlike united future organization, but we're a band, rather than to 2 djs sampling jazz tracks. personnel: me as the dj, a female vocalist, standup bass, piano, and a percussionist on bongos, congos and shakers.

finding a servicable-but-generic-hotel-band name isn't impossible ("bali beats quintet" is the best i've come up with so far, eh), but one day i hope to take this project to somewhat better things (jakarta jazz festival seems quite plausible for example, and we'll probably release a cd fairly soon) so i'd like to have a somewhat decent, clever, descriptive-but-not-too-obvious name.

oh! we're based in bali! and as we're playing the tourist circuit, incorporating a bali/indonesia/asian sort of theme to our name is *almost* (but not strictly) neccesary.

i know this much: it's a quintet, and if you stick "quintet" at the end of the name, everyone knows it's jazz - i'm not married to that idea, but it's a starting point anyway.

Cheap .au to .uk flights with stop off in .id?

singingfish — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:21:57 -0800

Best way to get reasonably priced flights from Sydney to Scotland and back with a stop off in Bali on the way back? My family (me, wife, 2 children both over 2 and under 12) need to go to Scotland to visit family, preferably stopping off in Bali on the way home to visit friends and old haunts. The dates are between mid-August and September this year. I'm going to try to get my employer to pay for my flight (but not the others), due to some work related stuff going on. Online travel agents overwhelm me, so can anyone suggest the best way to get a reasonably cheap deal?

Bali-based DJ requires wardrobe assistance.

urbanwhaleshark — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:41:31 -0800

How can my Bali-based US DJ friend improve and extend his wardrobe? My US DJ friend currently living and working in Bali poses the question: "How does a Western producer/DJ of House, Rap, and House and Rap mixed with ethnic Asian music dress exactly?"

He has no idea what sort of look to go for, due mainly to these considerations:

"Bali is ridiculously casual so, however I decide to dress to project this image fashionably, has to be only very very slightly more dressy than shorts, tshirt and flip flops. Unless of course I'm making a video, in which case I probably need to be about as dressed up as Puff Daddy on his way to the Grammies. Add to that the fact that Bali has very limited options for buying anything imported from Italy, America or pretty much anywhere else, and what little there is is usually in Asian-dude sizes (ie. xl is a smallish medium, and no one carries xxl).

I've been a reasonably well dressed guy at various points in my life, and I'd like to get my current wardrobe up to par, but I'm at wits end as to how to do it!"

I guess, to summarise: what options are open to him locally, and what is available in terms of reasonably priced imports that will provide him the greatest choice of what to wear, so that he can define for himself a style outside the limitations that are presented to him currently?

Bali Hai, or Hi Bali

kanemano — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:22:35 -0800

I have two months to prepare for a two month Surf/Adventure trip to Bali, what should I not forget to take and what should I absolutely not miss when I am there, within reason.

How best to "country-hop" in Asia?

skepticallypleased — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:13:19 -0800

I would like to visit Thailand, Cambodia, Bali, and Singapore during a month I have off this summer. Can anyone recommend an efficient, possibly inexpensive way to get to all the places inbetween here? I did a previous search and I saw that someone recommended the All Asia pass. Has anyone tried that?

Are there any, reliable "Southwests/Jet Blues" of Southeast Asia that I should look into as well?

I appreciate any help.

Indonesia?

0bvious — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 18:13:41 -0800

Indonesia: Should I go? How long for and where? What about a visa? 18,000 islands await me... Following up on these past two askmefi questions, I have decided to fly to Bali come August.

The visa situation sounds quite complicated. Can I really only get a 30 day pass without leaving and re-entering the country?

If I arrive and find some likely travel companions I hope to go East through the more remote islands. If I arrive and find myself travelling alone I will likely go West and up towards Malaysia.

All advice gladly accepted. Anyone wanna join me :) ?

Get the Bali rolling

mdonley — Mon, 01 May 2006 03:09:28 -0800

I'd like some personal recommendations for villas, little hotels, or guesthouses in (on?) Bali, near Gunung Bromo, and/or Yogyakarta/Borobudur/Prambanan, and any other advice you'd like to provide about these areas. I'm researching a trip my mom, 16-year-old brother, and I will be making to these areas in December or January. I realize that's a busy time of year in Bali, but we don't want to stay in Kuta or lie on a beach for days on end - we're more snorkeling, volcano-climbing, temple-visiting kind of people, real go-getters when we're on vacation. The northern side of the island seems more like what we're looking for, but I have no idea, really.

We'd like to spend less than $30-50 a night if possible, we'll be renting cars, and we'll be flying between Bali, Surabaya (for Bromo), and Yogya. We don't camp.

I live in Indonesia currently and while my Bahasa Indonesia is appalling, I have friends who can help me book rooms and the like.

The Lonely Planet Guide for Indonesia I've got was published in 2002, so I'm assuming most of the info in there will have changed, and the Lonely Planet Thorntree is a nightmare to wade through. I live in Bandung.

Terima kasih!

bali or southern costa rica?

specialk420 — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:21:22 -0800

we are thinking about finally getting away for a belated winter/spring vacation ... to southern costa rica or perhaps to bali - i still think sri lanka sounds wonderful - can anyone speak to the conditions in either locations in early mid/apri? more inside i believe bali is coming out of rainy season and southern costa rica is going into rainy season... kinda like to avoid really really hot or really really wet.