There's no such thing as a free lunch...Or is there?

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It's official. The next president of Indonesia is former army general Prabowo Subianto. Quite how the next five years will pan out is anyone's guess but hopefully the foreign pundits who always bring up his dodgy human rights record will be proven wrong. Nonetheless, on policy making, Prabowo's popularist move to literally offer the poor 'a free lunch' every day of the week does not augur well for the future. Such a policy - if it ever came to fruition - would cost a phenomenal amount of money and likely lead to huge inefficiencies (food waste) and poor incentives (make people lazy). Another concern is Prabowo's strong nationalist bent. Thus, in the possible event that he finds himself with his back against the proverbial wall in the face of stern economic challenges, there is a big chance that he will simply scapegoat foreigners. But he will have to be careful. Construction of the new capital city, Nusantara, for example, is highly dependent on foreign in
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Alola Inn, Padangbai

Need to stay in Padangbai? Luckily there are a number of options.

 Alola Inn is located away from the main village but as we arrived late at night we couldn't be bothered to check out the other places for comparison.


Alola Inn, Padangbai, Bali

 The Balinese gardens are nice enough, although we didn't try the swimming pool.

 Alola Inn, Padangbai, Bali

 As for the room? Well it was very basic and not much thought had gone into making sure that guests had a pleasant stay. The curtains for example were so thin they didn't keep the room dark from the outside lights. And while the bed was just about passable the pillows were the most uncomfortable I have EVER come across in all my years of traveling: they were filled with foam so thick it was like laying your head on a rock. Basically, they were completely unusable. Unless you like having neckache that is!!! 

 Room at Alola Inn, Padangbai, Bali

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