All Bagus in Bali

Keeping true to our list of things to do in order to live in a place instead of visit, we have spent the last 4 days in Bali getting the following things in order:

1.  We booked a hotel, Nyima Budget Inn, for our first few nights in Bali while we looked for an apartment.

2.  We found and moved into a great month-long rental in Umalas (near Seminyak) with wifi, AC, a pool out front, daily maid service, drinking water, a small kitchen, and hot water for about 6,000,000 IDR (or $663 USD).

Our apartment hunting in Bali has taught us that internet "villa" listings are almost always more expensive than anything found while actually in Bali.  We found a cafe in Seminyak called Moka that has a bulletin board full of short and long term houses available.  Although the home that we called and went to see was not available, the nice Javanese owner referred us to her friend who owns the place we are now happily living in for a "good friend price".

3.  We bought SIM cards on Indosat and now have working phones (although our data still doesn't work - the phone guy is going to have his "professional friend" look at them).

4.  We have rented a motor-scooter to get around.

5.  We have established that tap water is not good for drinking.

6.  We bought memberships at a gym about 1/2km from our house (special couple price: 707,000 IDR or $78 USD).

7.  And, finally, we found three different markets around our house where we have found all of our cooking essentials!