[nono1973]

Originally Posted by BFOMF5

1st shop offered 9150
Think.. not bad, reasonable.
But still proceeded to 2nd shop
Offered 9200 lagi best...
Tried ask for 9300
she countered 9250(=XErate)
I said: more can or not?
To my surprise she countered 9260.
Rp10 above XErate

Ok,thats what some of my money changer told me (as below). It also really depends on each respective money changer shop.

If you change your money in the earlier part of the money,there is a likelihood that what you are getting is Yesterday evening's last closing rate. So if you compare it with today's XE rate,its usually not-so-accurate.

The theory is the same as changing money in Batam during Sat,Sun and Mon morning. It is usually base on Fri's last rate or Sat early day rate.

Example : XE rate is 9500/SGD Friday evening and if the money changer A ONLY buys from the bank on Friday evening and not on Saturday,the rate in that shop thru out Sat and Sun and up to Mon morning will give their customer the best rate of around 9470/SGD.

But if XE rate on Sat is 9600/SGD and money changer B has buy about that amount from the bank on Saturday morning, they will be able to give you a better rate than money changer A thru out Sat,Sun and up to Mon morning. I haven't count in the part that they were able to average out their amount etc yet.

Originally Posted by BFOMF5

Lesson:
you don't try, you fail immediately,
You tried, you might achieve or at least closer to your goal.

This is one of the BEST given advise. And I sincerely thank you.

Originally Posted by BFOMF5

Note: Applied to bargaining only!
OM didn't ask you to try illegal things

Bargaining is part of Indonesia's business culture. The Indonesians will almost always mark up a higher price for one to bargain down. Bargaining is not invented by Nono1973,hehehe...

When I read this part of your post, the 1st thought that comes into my mind was you take a big knife to a money changer shop and then demand for a good exchange rate,hehehe...*joking here*

Originally Posted by Black Page

Well said. That is the key, which not everyone understands.
Overspending, just because one can afford it, is just plain STUPID, where "stupid" means really a lot, as it was theorized by the economist C.M. Cipolla with his "Basic Laws of Human Stupidity".
If one does not want to read the 25 pages easily available on the web, there is the summary of Wikipedia.

Cipolla's five fundamental laws of stupidity:
1) Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
2) The probability that a certain person (will) be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
3) A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.
4) Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.
5) A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

1. This goes w/o saying. Like I often say,one kind of rice feeds hundred/thousand kind of men. Stupidity applies to all men at some point of their life.

2. Different people from different parts of the world with different brought up and living within different cultures do things differently. Plenty of examples all over the news.

3. I do not like to brand another person stupid, they were at most time just not-wise-enough. My dad used to tell me when I am younger, if I do not know anything, its ok. I ask around, i learn and then grow with what was taught to me. I may be stupid for that few mins or for that few days, but once I got my answer/s, i will be forever clever (on that topic).

To err is human, however to repeat the same err few folds (after recognizing it) is plain stupidity.

4. I agreed with your point number 4. Hence since a certain day/s onward, i try to mix around with friends who shared similar frequency I had in Batam,and till today many of them were good friends with me as we kept in contact mainly via SBF's PM,hehehe...

5. Hmm...true to some extend. I have been with my part time boss for a while and over a period of time,i have seen a fair bit in the entertainment scene (he runs several night clubs in Sillypore). However I notice at most time,the wiser ones hold the leash while the not-so-wise one were at most time being held by it (being leashed up).

The wiser man don't try to win over nothing too.

Originally Posted by Black Page

We should not be stingy (i.e., bargain to excess) when we are with a girl who earns little money and have problems to sustain her baby and life, but also do the opposite is wrong (that is, stupid).
One thing is having a generous hearth, another is being stupid.
Finding the appropriate balance is not always immediate, but that is what one should aim at.

Your words above reminds me, whether egg come 1st or chicken come 1st. I choose to think egg come 1st and you might choose to believe chicken come 1st,hehehe...everyone has their own perspective of a good balance.

Example of the above :

a) I donated a few juta to temples and the charity organization monthly in Batam,and i am a generous man?

b) I set a fix on overnight girl's tipping to a maximum of 200k,i don't pay more than 400k per pop in Batam and I am a stingy man?

c) I refuse to give to children who came to beg rotatingly when I am having my meal or thru a vehicle window in the middle of a busy traffic and I am a stingy man?

d) I buy packets of food from stores to give them to the children (next time I may buy boxes of curry puff instead,hehehe..can feed more of them), buy several indo newspapers which I cannot even read from kids who sells them at 5k each and I am a generous man?

Answer to my above example is an obvious NO,hehehe...egg come 1st or chicken come 1st? Everybody is going to have a different perspective.