Obsolete Currency

Imagine landing at the airport of a foreign land and upon clearing everything at the airport terminal you’ll go and catch at taxi with your head held high and ask to be sent to your hotel. Then upon arriving at the hotel, you’ll look at the taxi meter and chuckled a little because you expected it to be much more expensive than it turns out to be. Then you’ll take the appropriate amount of money from your wallet and even make sure you chuck out a few extra dollars to be given as tips to such a kind and polite taxi driver.Then he’ll look at the money in your hand and you’ll look at his face, expecting a spate of THANK YOUs for the tips that you are kindheartedly offering. Instead you’ll see his smiley face turns into a frown and that’s when you sense something is not right.“This money is not acceptable. They are outdated. We have stopped using them for at least a year now”.

Imagine how worse it could get. You have changed ALL the money that you have allocated for this trip into their local currencies back in your country – ONLY to be told that they are actually obsolete notes !It happened to me when I went to Bali. I got panicked the moment the cabbie told me that my money was obsolete and therefore unacceptable – for I was pretty sure I had changed at least RM1000 into those damn rupiah notes! I’d never been so thankful to have a travel partner with me EVER before although I had to endure being her laughing stock for the next few days.

THREE DAYS. I was literally penniless for at least the first 3 days until I finally managed to have them changed to current notes at one of the local banks in Ubud. Believe me, living wholly at the mercy of a lady even for a bottle of Coke was not fun at all. LOL.

So guys – beware of OBSOLETE NOTES whenever you wish to change your money to a foreign currency. May be it’s worth changing them only after you have arrived at your country of destination.

Where the crime was comitted.

I didn’t go back to the money changer to confront them for what they did to me or rather what they did to my money because I was pretty sure they wouldn’t even admit ever having seen my pretty face ever before. Even if they would, their most guilt remark would be – How the hell do we know they were obsolete notes??You morons. You are the ones who are running the business so you should know mahhh.. GRRRRR!