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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Things you thought were Balinese but are not

Reality is easy. It's deception that's the hard work.
~Lauryn Hill

Bali Shag. Oh come on! Can you imagine going into your local tobacconist and asking for a Bali Shag?!!! WTF. Never smoked it myself but it’s touted over the net as being a “traditional Dutch style hand rolling tobacco blend, a mixture of dark burley tobacco and light Virginia tobaccos”. Definitely nothing Balinese about it at all. Mind you, a Bali shag in Bali is a quite different proposition although…

Bali Mojo. If you can’t get a boner, get Bali Mojo. Touted as the “most Natural, Potent & Powerful Aphrodisiac Pill In The World”, Bali Mojo is formulated from no less than seven powerful herbs and plant extracts, “all proven to work individually as traditional natural aphrodisiacs, energy boosters, strength improvers and ailment curing treatments”. 

But what’s this got to do with Bali? Well not much. Sure, ONE of Bali Mojo’s extracts is the fabled “Tongkat Ali (or “Ali's walking stick” in English!), and while this stuff does come from Indonesia, the plants are typically found deep within the country’s rainforests (what’s left of them) rather than in Bali. There are also cheaper local alternatives to Bali Mojo that come highly recommended! Hahaha!

 Bali bras. These bras are made by “The Bali Company” – which is a US lingerie company. Nope you never should read too much into a name. Initially the company started off in 1927 as Sara Stein as Fay-Miss before changing its name to Bali Brassiere Company in 1935. Not Balinese but, hell, pretty cool nonetheless.

 The Bali Ha’i song from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. In the musical, Bali Ha’i is a volcanic island modeled on – wait for it - the volcanic island of Aoba in the South Pacific!

 The Bali Hai Gold club. Nice but a long way from Bali.


The Bali Hai Gold club

 Las Vegas, Nevada, to be more precise!

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