Travelfish correspondent Samantha Brown

Samantha Brown is a reformed news reporter. She now edits most of the stuff you read on Travelfish.org, except for when you find a typo, and then that's something she wasn't allowed to look at. She's lived in Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Jakarta and Bali, where she now still spends a lot of her time looking after two little Travelfish.org researchers in training.
Website: http://www.travelfish.org

Posts by Samantha Brown:

• Cafe Bali on Laksmana, Seminyak

  First published: 16 Feb 2011
  

  If I ever had a little wooden seaside cottage, I’d be asking Cafe Bali who did their decorating and getting their number. I love this place: it’s cute but not sickly sweet, a breezy blend of sophisticated and serene right bang in the middle of the disaster-construction zone that is Jalan Laksmana in Seminyak. Think … read the full post

• Cozy massage in Bali

  First published: 09 Feb 2011
  

  Street-level massage joints are a dime-a-dozen in Bali, and so too are the high-end US-dollar priced ones. The market in between, where you pay just a little more and get something a little different is where there’s a bit of a gap, but that’s where Cozy, just near Simpang Siur (ten minutes from Kuta on … read the full post

• Review: Sea Circus Restaurant, Seminyak, Bali

  First published: 07 Feb 2011
  

  With its dream-coloured glass louvre windows sitting pretty on Jalan Oberoi Sea Circus looks scrumptious from the outside alone. Inside, the white interior with vibrant turquoise accents and touches such as flowers in old bicarb of soda cans lends a carefree, beachfront feel, though the spot is off the beach and doesn’t have any ocean … read the full post

• A good dentist and optometrist in Bali

  First published: 29 Jan 2011
  

  On holiday in Bali and want to get a dental or eye check up? Even if you don’t, it’s good to have contact details on hand for a good dentist and optometrist while travelling just in case something goes wrong – and the prices are great! Dr Retno has a neat, nondescript office that’s easy … read the full post

• Rio Helmi prints on sale!

  First published: 17 Jan 2011
  

  Rio Helmi is one of Indonesia’s best photographers – his work was mentioned in this month’s Bali travel piece in the New York Times – and he currently has a sale on his prints at his gallery on Jalan Suweta in Ubud. His sumptuous prints chronicle lives around Asia in places as diverse as Bali, … read the full post

• A great place to stay on Monkey Forest Road, Ubud, Bali

  First published: 16 Jan 2011
  

  We arrive in Ubud after dark with a sleeping Mr 2 and overtired Ms 4 in tow, and the long walk down a narrow footpath between mossy high walls doesn’t inspire confidence in the place we have booked to stay at for the weekend. As we enter Ubud Lestari, Mr Travelfish, who poked his head … read the full post

• The Ubud Botanical Gardens

  First published: 09 Jan 2011
  

  The Ubud Botanical Gardens had its “soft opening” in mid 2006 and from the look of their website and the pics on the wall at the main reception area, it must have been quite a place through the next year or so… Fast forward to early 2011 and the gardens are, well, a bit the … read the full post

• Bali eats: Jimbaran Seafood BBQ

  First published: 29 Dec 2010
  

  Some things are touristy for a good reason: they are very enjoyable to do.  One such activity in Bali is going for a seafood barbecue at Jimbaran beach on Bali. Sure, cheaper places to eat seafood are around, but the setting at Jimbaran, right on the sands, often with a brilliant sunset to boot, is … read the full post

• A view of Balinese rituals

  First published: 21 Dec 2010
  

  Photojournalist John Stanmeyer, who lived in Bali from 2003 to 2008, has an exhibition at the Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Resort on Jimbaran, the Wall Street Journal reports. The exhibition, “A View of Balinese Rituals”,  supports his recent book  Island of the Spirits, which was itself a result of his concerns about the loss of … read the full post

• Is rabies a problem on Bali?

  First published: 18 Dec 2010
  

  The simple answer is yes. Bali’s rabies outbreak began in 2008 and by the end of 2010 more than 100 Indonesians had died of the disease. Many of those who died were bitten by dogs but had not sought treatment and once physical symptoms appear the disease is 100% fatal. Attempts to get the outbreak … read the full post