I hope Bali remembers

First travel during a pandemic. After 11 months stay at home (which I love because I have my own house, my internet connection is fast, and I have no other human to serve), I have to go out for a vaccine. Then, I have no reason to refuse the business travel assignment. 

This time we're going to Bali. Among all the other places, why we have to choose Bali? Because the place fits our research target. No other choices. But Bali is...

After coming to Bali for few times, it's definitely not my favorite place. It's crowded and hard to find decent food. Moreover, some locals are not really friendly to domestic tourists. They pay more attention to foreign tourists, even though the tourists are flat broke. 

If you stop lying to yourself, you know I'm right. It's not like I've been treated poorly, but I can feel the discrimination of effort they serve. 

So, Bali, especially Kuta and Seminyak, where most commercial tourists visited, are the most hit during a pandemic. Lots of hotels are forced to close. Entertainment lines dimmed. Kuta looks like a ghost city. Foreign tourists can't come to Bali, and they can't get out either. So, their budget might be running out slowly, too. 

The government asks people to save the tourism business in Bali. People are assigned to work in Bali. Although the requirement to get into Bali is sticker than to other cities, some people embarrassed the opportunity. My friends get a weekend escape to Seminyak because they've been coped at home for too long. People are tired and bored in their home (with those routines of teaching children and serving husband? yeah, I get them). More and more people travel to Bali.

When I get to Seminyak, I'm quite surprised by the extra attention they give us. Yes, only my group (5 of us) and 5 other guests are in the resort. They don't make buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They serve by request. They remember our names. There are only 7 staff working shifts and hundreds of vacant rooms. 

This is the kind of thoughtfulness I never had before. They really appreciate us coming.

I hope when the pandemic over, they'll remember that we–the domestic tourists– that help them through the hard times, and they will maintain their perfect service to us.