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

Kismet Cafe, Ubud

Opened by an American lass, who presumably has fallen in love with Bali (and who can blame her?), Kismet Cafe is a pleasant little cafe located on a narrow side street which takes you to the famous Nomad Restaurant at one end.


Kismet Cafe, Ubud

Kismet is an unusual name and is apparently derived from Turkish, Urdu or Persian, meaning fate or destiny, a predetermined course of events.Very apt I would think for most foreigners who end up in Bali - and other parts of Indonesia for that matter; not so much a predetermined decision but something which just seems to happen to us...


Kismet Cafe, Ubud

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