I arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 6:30pm and waited at the baggage claim area for Kris to arrive- his flight was supposed to land before mine, but it was running on Thai time.. which means we'll get there when we get there.... We left the airport in a taxi and headed toward Times Square in downtown K.L.. Given the fact that Kris had been travelling for 2 days, we hadn't seen eachother for a month, and I hadn't had a hot shower in about the same amount of time- we decided to splurge for a pimp hotel. We stayed at the Equatorial on the executive club floor and it was faaaaaaaantastic! We did some exploring around our hotel and ended up closing down a Thai restaurant after a late supper.
The next morning, we enjoyed a complimentary club floor breakfast buffet and watched the news about M.J.'s "heart-attack." Then we left for our K.L. adventure- just in time for a wicked ugly pourdown of rain. fun. We hopped on the sky train and headed for China town. China Town was pretty cool, and we wondered around there for an hour or so before having some street-meat for lunch at the Food Paradise Market. Lucky for me as the lady was making my noodles a westerner who spoke Malaysian walked by and told me not to eat the clams cause you can get Hep B from them.... I proceeded to do sign language and cherades for a few mintues trying to get the food stand lady to understand NO CLAMS while he laughed from the side-lines and eventually hopped in to translate for me.
After lunch we hopped back on the sky train and headed for Central Station where we purchased two night-train tickets to travel north to Butterworth. Then we went back to Times Square to check out the twin towers, grab some supper, and get ready for our night-time travel fun.
Soon, we found ourselves at a "Hawaiian"Aloha Lounge fondu restaurant. They had a promo on Carlsburg beer- 20 Ringet for the first bear (about $6) and 1 ringet for every subsequent beer. We had some mystery meat on a fondue and had a few glasses while listening to a painful mix of Disney soundtracks, Mariah Carrey, and Michael Jackson (WEEEE ARE THE WORLD). Kris insisted we stay until the mean cost/beer dropped to under $3- despite the bizzar ambiance of a bar packed full of middle-aged Malaysian business men listening to Pochahontas.
After this, we had an epic unsuccessful search for a Subway restaurant to try and get some snacks for the train ride, before finally heading back to the hotel to find there is a sandwich bar there that makes to order. We grabbed some munchies, and hopped in a cab with our backpacks to Central Station to catch our train.
One thing I will never understand about tropical destinations: WHY MUST THEY CRANK THE A/C TO BELOW FREEZING TEMPERATURES? Needless to say, the train was no exception. We popped some Gravol, threw in some ear-plugs and froze our butts off for the next 8 hours slipping in and out of consiousness every stop until we finally hit Butterworth at 6am.
From there, we caught a ferry to Palau Penang, and then another to Pulau Langkawi. We finally arrived here around noon and met two lovely British ladies along the way. Now we are staying in a cute bungalow (despite the fact that we are pretty sure there is a rattle snake living under the bed) that is run by a Japanese lady and a Iranian man.
Today we spent some time at the beach and organized our next adventure to Phuket, Thailand. We will be leaving tomorrow morning. We also saw a scorpion tied to a string on the sidewalk, and checked under our bed for the above noted rattle-snake... no luck. Later in the afternoon we rented a scooter and went for a cruise up-island to a gondala that took us up 710m on a small jungle-esque mountain. We passed several monkeys on the scooter ride there, and also saw another HUGE scorpian crossing the road!! The views from the top were well worth it though, and we saw the sunset from there before heading back down the steep cliff of the jungle (Kris was scared). Then we hopped back on our scooter and drove back down island (in the dark) to our hotel. Along the way, we were attacked by numerous flies landing in our mouths, eyes, and legs at mach 3 speeds, and I WAS HIT BY A BAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All I heard was Kris yelp as it flew past him, then the next thing I knew it was smashing into my leg. I'm pretty sure I felt his wing crunch. GROSS! I dunno what it is with me and bats, but this is the 3rd bat attack I've experienced in my life (the first two were in caves in Australia).
Anyhoooooo, now we're gonna head out for some dinner on the beach before heading back for some rest before our long day of travel tomorrow. Hopefully we can get some sleep- despite the monster living under our bed, and the gecko that lives behind our toilet keeping us awake with worry. The English ladies lent us a mosquito net though, so we've convinced ourselves that it's basically an impenitratable forcefield against all scary things in the night.... Anyway, that's all for now! Peace, and hello-kitty-sunshines to all.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Bye, Bye Bali................................ Single tear.
So... Let me begin by summarizing my last few days in the Gilli Islands. On Sunday, I basically vegged out at the beach all day, rented a bike and killed myself laughing trilying to ride it around on the sand, then watched sunset with my newest travel buddy Anna, and had a great dinner on the beach consisting of fresh fish and all you can eat salad bar. Mmmmmmmm!! The next day, my last full day on the island, i decided to go scuba diving. I read in a guide book that the gillis were one of the best places to see manta rays, and I've ALWAYS wanted to see one. I asked around and nobody i spoke to could confirm my research. In fact, one guy i was asking said he had been diving there for 18 months and had seen them only twice. Nevertheless, i knew id be disappointed if i didn't do a dive so I motored down to the dive shop, and booked in for the 11:30 dive. Then I killed a couple hours tanning and got ready to go. We got all suited and I was paired with a nice Aussie guy named Nigel. We did backwards rolls off the boat into the water. About 30 seconds after we were all in, one of the dive masters looked down and started screaming MANTA!! MANTA! I thought she may have been kidding around, but I quickly bolted down to see for myself and SURE ENOUGH, a giant manta ray was right below me!!! It was amazing. They are so huge and super fast under water. Once he noticed he had company he swooped his giant wings twice and was gone faster than we could blink an eye. Right after that we saw sea turtles, and then we saw a 6 foot reef shark!!! It was so awesome. Even the coral was amazing. I have never seen nature produce such an array of technicolour art. It was easily the best dive I've ever done and it only coat $40! Far cry from what they charge at molokini eh dad!! I finished the dive with a smile from ear to ear as I checked swimming with manta rays off my mental life list.
Later that day, I designed a tattoo, went to a dodgy indonesian ink shack and paid $30 to have an old indonesian guy named "Indian" scar me for life.. No big deal. Just another day of Christy's adventures in Asia....
Now let's have a quick break while my mom (and all of my serrogate moms) have a minor freak-out.
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Now that we're all done freaking out, I'll go into more detail. Mom, feel free to skip past this if it will make our next phone/email conversations less painful for us both. So... First of all I will explain the tattoo- it is the word Balance, and I had it put on the lower outside edge of my right foot. It can be hidden by dress shoes or showed off in flip flops. I brought my design to the shop and had the guy, Oli, attempt to redraw my design on my foot with a ball point pen... We attempted this 3 times until I came to the conclusion he is in the wrong line of work. He said "no problem, it's not so good now, but I do better with the machine" I was like.... Hellllll no brotha, if you can't draw that on my leg with a pen, there is NO WAY you're going near it permanantly. So he said that he'd call his friend to draw instead. About 45 minutes later this guy named "Anick" shows up riding on the back of a bicycle rat trap. He's about 45 years old, with salt and pepper hair down to his butt that is braided into two pigtails and wrapped in leather. He wears a full american indian tribal ornament with beads and fur around his neck. I still dont inow what all thats about, but this is why he goes by the nickname Indian. The best part was that he spoke no English. Take a moment to try an explain a piece of art to someone without words to tryluly appreciate how difficult this is... After several rounds of charades and oictuonary he finally drew the tattoo pretty close to the way I wanted it and busted out the tattoo machine. I screamed the whole time. Evidently the bony area of your foot where there is only a very thin layer of skin is one of the more painful parts of the body to tattoo. Meh- live and learn.
The next morning I left the gillis and boarded the fast boat to ubud. I met four canadians on the way and we found a cute hotel to stay in. I've spent the last day and a half exploring the city and culture here. I went to a traditional Balinese dance last night at ubud palace, played with some cheeky little monkeys in monkey Forrest, and took a four hour Balinese cooking class with my new Canadian friends over dinner tonight.
Tomorrow afternoon I am flying to kuala lumpar, Malaysia where I will meet up with Kris and figure out a plan for the next few days/weeks. I will let you guys know my new phone number for Malaysia when I get around to buying a new sim card. Hopefully in a few days I will be updating you all with my latest crazy stories of being a sassy blonde in a southeast Asian Muslim country. I'm prepared with some long pants and conservative tops this time, so hopefully it won't be as shocking as java was. Anyhooooo, keep it real. Xo, Christy.
Later that day, I designed a tattoo, went to a dodgy indonesian ink shack and paid $30 to have an old indonesian guy named "Indian" scar me for life.. No big deal. Just another day of Christy's adventures in Asia....
Now let's have a quick break while my mom (and all of my serrogate moms) have a minor freak-out.
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Now that we're all done freaking out, I'll go into more detail. Mom, feel free to skip past this if it will make our next phone/email conversations less painful for us both. So... First of all I will explain the tattoo- it is the word Balance, and I had it put on the lower outside edge of my right foot. It can be hidden by dress shoes or showed off in flip flops. I brought my design to the shop and had the guy, Oli, attempt to redraw my design on my foot with a ball point pen... We attempted this 3 times until I came to the conclusion he is in the wrong line of work. He said "no problem, it's not so good now, but I do better with the machine" I was like.... Hellllll no brotha, if you can't draw that on my leg with a pen, there is NO WAY you're going near it permanantly. So he said that he'd call his friend to draw instead. About 45 minutes later this guy named "Anick" shows up riding on the back of a bicycle rat trap. He's about 45 years old, with salt and pepper hair down to his butt that is braided into two pigtails and wrapped in leather. He wears a full american indian tribal ornament with beads and fur around his neck. I still dont inow what all thats about, but this is why he goes by the nickname Indian. The best part was that he spoke no English. Take a moment to try an explain a piece of art to someone without words to tryluly appreciate how difficult this is... After several rounds of charades and oictuonary he finally drew the tattoo pretty close to the way I wanted it and busted out the tattoo machine. I screamed the whole time. Evidently the bony area of your foot where there is only a very thin layer of skin is one of the more painful parts of the body to tattoo. Meh- live and learn.
The next morning I left the gillis and boarded the fast boat to ubud. I met four canadians on the way and we found a cute hotel to stay in. I've spent the last day and a half exploring the city and culture here. I went to a traditional Balinese dance last night at ubud palace, played with some cheeky little monkeys in monkey Forrest, and took a four hour Balinese cooking class with my new Canadian friends over dinner tonight.
Tomorrow afternoon I am flying to kuala lumpar, Malaysia where I will meet up with Kris and figure out a plan for the next few days/weeks. I will let you guys know my new phone number for Malaysia when I get around to buying a new sim card. Hopefully in a few days I will be updating you all with my latest crazy stories of being a sassy blonde in a southeast Asian Muslim country. I'm prepared with some long pants and conservative tops this time, so hopefully it won't be as shocking as java was. Anyhooooo, keep it real. Xo, Christy.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Bali....... need I say more?
So, Bali is pretty much the best place on earth- that I've seen so far... I arrived in Kuta at about midnight, and proceeded to check-in to my hotel, and hit the sack. The next morning I enjoyed and all you can eat buffet breakfast for a whopping $2 and headed to town. I had met a couple french canadians on the plane, and we bumped into one another again at breaky so we decided to book a boat to Gilli Islands together. We found a good price and booked a fast boat leaving the next morning. I spent the rest of the day walking on the beach, getting lost in the random ally ways, shopping, eating, and watching the sunset. Can't complain.
The next day we caught the fast boat to Gilli- which i totally reccommend over the slow boat that can take up to 2 days... We got there in 5 hours from Kuta. It is gorgeous here, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!! I checked into a hostel on the first day, but then I met this great new friend Lisa later on, and she showed me some bungalows on the northern part of the island where she stays, and so I moved there the next day. Now I am renting my own bungalow just off the beach in a private garden with fresh water, and free breakfast for only $15/day. Pretty awesome. My days here consist of getting up early, going for a swim in the ocean, tanning to dry off, eating, walking to town (about 15 minutes or so), shopping, tanning, eating, walking home, watching sunset from either a lounge chair, or while sitting in the ocean, and enjoying either a late night campfire on the beach, or hanging out at a local regge bar or pub. Honestly- this is the life. I am pretty sure I may have to come back here again to chill out at some point in my trip. It's amazing. Today I went for a tour of the other Gilli Islands, and did 3 snorkels.. we saw turtles and huge clams. Kinda cool. Tomorrow i'm hoping to do a scuba dive at some point, but we'll see how I feel. Life is pretty easy around here...
Anyway, because it's so great here, I've been neglecting my blog, and I'm antsy to get home so I don't miss sunset so I'll keep this short. Love you all, and miss ya!!
CJ
xo
The next day we caught the fast boat to Gilli- which i totally reccommend over the slow boat that can take up to 2 days... We got there in 5 hours from Kuta. It is gorgeous here, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!! I checked into a hostel on the first day, but then I met this great new friend Lisa later on, and she showed me some bungalows on the northern part of the island where she stays, and so I moved there the next day. Now I am renting my own bungalow just off the beach in a private garden with fresh water, and free breakfast for only $15/day. Pretty awesome. My days here consist of getting up early, going for a swim in the ocean, tanning to dry off, eating, walking to town (about 15 minutes or so), shopping, tanning, eating, walking home, watching sunset from either a lounge chair, or while sitting in the ocean, and enjoying either a late night campfire on the beach, or hanging out at a local regge bar or pub. Honestly- this is the life. I am pretty sure I may have to come back here again to chill out at some point in my trip. It's amazing. Today I went for a tour of the other Gilli Islands, and did 3 snorkels.. we saw turtles and huge clams. Kinda cool. Tomorrow i'm hoping to do a scuba dive at some point, but we'll see how I feel. Life is pretty easy around here...
Anyway, because it's so great here, I've been neglecting my blog, and I'm antsy to get home so I don't miss sunset so I'll keep this short. Love you all, and miss ya!!
CJ
xo
Monday, June 15, 2009
Yogakarta, Indonesia & Borobudur
My first, and only, full day in Yogakarta I decided to get an early start and head out to Borobudur Budhist Temple for sunrise. I booked a tour through my hostel, and me, and a couple from France, were picked up at 5am to make the hour long drive. Despite the hazy morning that left us with an uninspiring sunrise, the temple was totally worth only getting 4 hours sleep... Please refer to Wikipedia's description of Borobudur: a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist Monument in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.[1] A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa.blowing that over a thousand years ago people built this by hand. The details in the carvings are mind-blowing, and it's incredible to see how well the art has held up to the elements for a centuries. I took waaaaaaaay too many pictures, but I did capture some pretty cool shots overall. This is what I mean by how detailed everything is... this is just one carving of Queen Maya, but there are thousands of carvings that cover practically every wall on the temple.
Now for my description..... Amazing. It is mindI walked around each level twice before heading back down to have some breaky and head back to Yogakarta. I spent the rest of the day wondering around the city, and seeing the sights. I went to the Kraton- which is the Sultan's palace, walked along the crowded markets, went for lunch at a great cafe called Via Via, and took a bacak (bicycle taxi) back to my hostel. Doing so, we passed the Bird Market... which is an open air market filled with birds in cages that are sold to customers, and then prepared and eaten on the spot... You can buy almost any kind of bird to try- including BATS!!! EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW My friend Glenn actually ate one- he said it tasted like jerky. Oh yah, and they cook them with their heads still on... Glen showed me a picture of a plate full of bats with their mouths frozen open and teeth hanging out. I almost threw up in my mouth. He said he didn't eat the head though (thank goodness) just the back part. I still don't understand the motivation to do this.... The next day I woke up with montazuma's revenge... first time so far, which isn't soooo bad, but I was happy to have the forethought to have booked a sweet room with a western toilet!! Speaking of which... I have recently been enlightened to the arguments FOR the sqatty-potty. Please enjoy the below courtesy of Amy P.
Proponents of squat toilets argue that:
- They do not involve any contact between the buttocks and a potentially unsanitary surface.
- The lack of water in the bowl avoids the problem of splashing.
- Squatting helps to build the required exhaust pressure more comfortably and quickly.
- Squatting makes elimination faster, easier and more complete.
- Elimination in squatting posture protects the nerves that control the prostate, bladder and uterus from becoming stretched and damaged.
- Squatting relaxes the puborectalis muscle, which normally chokes the rectum to maintain continence
- Squatting securely seals the ileocecal valve, between the colon and small intestine. In the conventional sitting position, this valve is unsupported and often leaks during evacuation.
- For pregnant women, squatting avoids pressure on the uterus when using the toilet. Daily squatting helps prepare the mother-to-be for a more natural delivery.
- Squatting may reduce the occurrence or severity of hemorrhoids and possibly other colorectal disorders.
- They are less expensive and easier to clean and maintain.
Anyhoooooooo, back to my last day in Yogakarta... My back and neck were killing me after the intense motorcycle rides in Cianjur, so I decided to treat myself to a massage. I found a place that would give me a 1/2 hour neck and back massage for cheap so I gave it a try. The lady did this weird thing with an Indonesian coin where she scraped the coin up and down my neck, and back vigorously until it hurt and actually burned my skin. Then she massaged around the area. I left with the kinks in my neck gone, and about 6 bright red coin skid-marks on various places on my back and neck... It looked brutal, and is still kind of red now... but my neck feels WAY better so... whatever.
After that, I went to get a pedicure, and foot massage. Awesome. Then I walked back to my hostel and stopped to buy a short sleeved t-shirt to cover the scary marks on my backs since people were pointing at me saying aaaaahahhahaha the BULE got Chinese medicine massaaaa... The good news? I got a new t-shirt for only $2.
By the time I got back it was time to head to the airport for my flight. I grabbed a pizza to go from the hostel and hopped in a cab. To be honest, I was kinda sad to leave Yogakarta, and would have stayed longer if I hadn't booked my ticket already. That said, I do only have 10 days left to do Bali and I am excited to get some beach time in!!
I will sign off with one last picture of Borobudur, cause I just realized I forgot to include an overall shot of the thing so you can see what it actually looks like as you're walking up to it.... BYEEEEEEEEEEEEE xo
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Yudi's Homestay- Cianjur, Indonesia
I spent 4 nights at Yudi's family's house volunteering to teach local children english at schools in the area. During my stay I was also able to visit with many local families, enjoy amazing cuisine, and see some pretty incredible sights.
Day 1: I arrived in Cianjur Monday and spent some time with Yudi's lovely wife Tita, their daughter Louise (age 7), and several of Louise's friends who were playing on the porch. The kids were so cute, and happy playing jacks with seashells and a bouncy ball- which is quite refreshing compared to the spoiled kids at home who will only play the latest video games. The kids asked if I had a mobile phone and if they could see it... I showed it to them and they all began pressing the buttons and laughing to one another as they passed it around.... Shortly after, I realized that they were all dialing their own cell's so they could have my number. I have received about 10 phone calls and 20 text messages daily since.. Their broken english is pretty funny via text. Here is one example from a 12 year old Daffyd: "My dear Christy, it was great to walk with someone so kind, friendly, limpid (wtf does that even mean), and beautiful as yourself. To be frank, I stole a glace at you very often then. And I am sorry I missed seeing you off. I pray that you are safe all the way back home. Take care. Love, Daffyd" After dinner, Yudi's friend Andong came to pick me up on his motorcycle and take me on a tour of town. First we stopped by his friend Loopy's house so she could practice her English with a native speaker. Loopy, and most of the people I met, are English teachers in the area. Next, we drove to Dee Dee's house, another teacher, and I met his lovely faimly, including his children, wife, brother, mother, and nieces. After a few minutes of conversation he brought me to the kitchen and showed me 4 fish that were still alive flopping around on the floor... He said he bought them special for my arrival and would like to have his wife prepare them so I can try. Obviously I agreed, despite the fact I was still super full from dinner. The fish which was fried and served with a soy-ginger sauce, and rice was soon brought in by Dee Dee's wife, and we sat on the floor to enjoy the meal together. They eat all parts of the fish, heads, tails and guts... I chose a middle piece cause I wasn't ready for head or tail yet... and a small portion of rice. I waited for a few minutes to start because I had no fork or spoon... Shortly I realized, I wasn't going to get one. I had a minor OCD attack while I though about how dirty my hands probably were from riding the bike etc. and then I had no choice but to dive in as everyone was staring at me waiting for me to start. It was quite delicious, despite how uncomfortable it was for me to eat with my hands originally, and I was very awkward, not sure which hand was cleaner, and alternating back and forth before I realized everyone else was holding the bowl with their left hand and eating with their right. This is when I remembered my dad once telling me about the strict policy in India of wipe left; eat right. Apparently the same applies in Indonesia. After dinner, we left and headed back to Yudi's. I was exhausted from the long trip, and went straight to bed.
Day 2: I slept almost 11 hours and woke up to fresh breakfast prepared for me of Mango (delicious), noodles, and plantains. After breakfast Kumi (another of Yudi's friends) picked me up and we went to Yudi's recycling factory. It was amazing to see people sorting all the different plastics and chopping them up with machines, washing it, and drying it in the sun... I also learned about the system they have in place there for garbage where the garbage is picked up from houses and brought to the dump. Then scavengers go through the garbage and find paper, metal, plastic and glass. They then sell these supplies to either a metal scrap "broker", plastic "broker, etc. Then the broker will take the products and re-sell them to a scrap metal factory, or plastic recycling factory like Yudi's. The plastic recycling factory then sorts it, cuts it into small pieces, washes it, dries it, and bags it to sell to a plastic melting company. That company will then melt the plastic down and turn in into small rice-like beads which are then easily used by and sold to any company who wants to make recycled plastic products like grocery bags, etc. So it's kinda cool how it comes around full circle, and how there are so many levels and processes involved that create employment in the most densely populated Island in the world.
After Yudi's we went for a Cianjur special Lunch of rice with coconut-curry sauce, and vegetables with rice crackers crumbled on top- delicious! After lunch Kumis took me to his old geography teacher David's house. David lives near several local remote villages that farm rice. We went on a long walk around the rice fields and met a bunch of people in villigas that were SUPER excited to see the BULE (white) girl walking through their turf. The kids were all laughing, and following me around to take pictures of me on their cell-phones. David explained he had never taken a Caucasian on a walk as far as we went and that it was more than likely I would have been the first white person they had met in real life. I took tons of pictures with them and felt like a total celebrity again- I'm starting to get used to that now... It's funny. Then we left to meet with some of Kudi's English teaching friends so they could practice their English as well. I bought a round of coke's for $1.50 and chatted with them for about an hour. Then we went back to Yudi's for dinner, and I hit the sack shortly after.
DAY 3: Andong picked me up and we went to the Floating Village, a man-made dam lake with thousands of floating pontoons with fish farms and small huts on them. It was incredible. There were millions of fish swimming about all seperated by type. Many of the fish were decorative aquarium/pond fish that were sold locally, and others were for eating. We walked around the pontoons-which were super dodgy, all cracked and broken and narrow, I was so glad I didn't fall in- and we fed the fish. I took loads of pictures. From there, we went to an English school where I taught a group of Muslim female students English for an hour, and then had a conversation with a 40 year old teacher who was trying to learn English for an hour and a half. Kumis picked me up from there and we went back to Yudi's for dinner. Before we could finish dinner a large group of neighbourhood kids gathered outside Yudi's house wanting to take BULE Christy for a walk... we walked and they practiced their English and tried to teach me Indonesian for about an hour before I went home for sleep time again.
DAY 4: Andong picked me up and we went to the Botanical Gardens in a mountain town about 45 minutes away. They were SOOOO BEAUTIFUL! Hard to describe, but amazing. We took the motorcycle on a dodgy path to a big waterfall... I thought I might fall off the motorbike and die at several points... especially since my helmet strap was broken. After the botanical gardens we went to a tea plantation and saw fields of tea growing near a plant that processes it. Then we went to one of Andong's private school lessons to help teach his student English. I was soooo exhausted by the end of that I couldn't wait to get home and relax. Tita made a wonderful traditional Indonesian meal we enjoyed together and I had some great chats with their family.
DAY 5: I woke up at 4am to the sounds of the daily Muslim Mosque- I forgot to mention this earlier... everyday 6 times a day the Muslims gather to pray. The song-like prayers are broadcasted via loudspeaker and can be heard throughout the town in most areas. I showered, and was picked up by a van to take me to Bandoong where I caught the train to Yogakarta. The scenery was gorgeous... for the first 6 hours, and then I just wanted to GET THERE ALREADY... We arrived 3 hours late (running on typical Indonesian time) and I immediately fell in love with the bustling backpacker world in Yogakarta. I am staying at an amazing hostel called Bladok Losmen, and for $30 I have a king sized bed, fridge, TV, Hot shower, western toilet (thank god! first time I've sat down in a week!!), and amazing pool area! I have been here since and have met a ton of awesome people!! I sat and had some beers by the pool with a couple from Denmark to unwind after the long journey. That night I hooked up with a lovely German couple, and a Vancouver guy, Shindan, who I've been hanging out with since. The Germans and I went to dinner, and a traditional puppet performance which was super cool, before taking a bicycle taxi back to a pub for some live music.... I got home at midnight and settled down for a 4 hour power-nap before waking up (mosque style) to go to the Hindo Temple here Borobodour the next day. The rest, I will continue later, as my hour of internet is almost expired, and I want to get out and get a $4 2 hour massage before I go! HAHAHAHA Did I mention I love the exchange rate here..? I will follow up with more details on the temple and the rest of my adventures here once I arrive in Bali-- or at the airport if there is wireless ;-) Until then.... HOLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Day 1: I arrived in Cianjur Monday and spent some time with Yudi's lovely wife Tita, their daughter Louise (age 7), and several of Louise's friends who were playing on the porch. The kids were so cute, and happy playing jacks with seashells and a bouncy ball- which is quite refreshing compared to the spoiled kids at home who will only play the latest video games. The kids asked if I had a mobile phone and if they could see it... I showed it to them and they all began pressing the buttons and laughing to one another as they passed it around.... Shortly after, I realized that they were all dialing their own cell's so they could have my number. I have received about 10 phone calls and 20 text messages daily since.. Their broken english is pretty funny via text. Here is one example from a 12 year old Daffyd: "My dear Christy, it was great to walk with someone so kind, friendly, limpid (wtf does that even mean), and beautiful as yourself. To be frank, I stole a glace at you very often then. And I am sorry I missed seeing you off. I pray that you are safe all the way back home. Take care. Love, Daffyd" After dinner, Yudi's friend Andong came to pick me up on his motorcycle and take me on a tour of town. First we stopped by his friend Loopy's house so she could practice her English with a native speaker. Loopy, and most of the people I met, are English teachers in the area. Next, we drove to Dee Dee's house, another teacher, and I met his lovely faimly, including his children, wife, brother, mother, and nieces. After a few minutes of conversation he brought me to the kitchen and showed me 4 fish that were still alive flopping around on the floor... He said he bought them special for my arrival and would like to have his wife prepare them so I can try. Obviously I agreed, despite the fact I was still super full from dinner. The fish which was fried and served with a soy-ginger sauce, and rice was soon brought in by Dee Dee's wife, and we sat on the floor to enjoy the meal together. They eat all parts of the fish, heads, tails and guts... I chose a middle piece cause I wasn't ready for head or tail yet... and a small portion of rice. I waited for a few minutes to start because I had no fork or spoon... Shortly I realized, I wasn't going to get one. I had a minor OCD attack while I though about how dirty my hands probably were from riding the bike etc. and then I had no choice but to dive in as everyone was staring at me waiting for me to start. It was quite delicious, despite how uncomfortable it was for me to eat with my hands originally, and I was very awkward, not sure which hand was cleaner, and alternating back and forth before I realized everyone else was holding the bowl with their left hand and eating with their right. This is when I remembered my dad once telling me about the strict policy in India of wipe left; eat right. Apparently the same applies in Indonesia. After dinner, we left and headed back to Yudi's. I was exhausted from the long trip, and went straight to bed.
Day 2: I slept almost 11 hours and woke up to fresh breakfast prepared for me of Mango (delicious), noodles, and plantains. After breakfast Kumi (another of Yudi's friends) picked me up and we went to Yudi's recycling factory. It was amazing to see people sorting all the different plastics and chopping them up with machines, washing it, and drying it in the sun... I also learned about the system they have in place there for garbage where the garbage is picked up from houses and brought to the dump. Then scavengers go through the garbage and find paper, metal, plastic and glass. They then sell these supplies to either a metal scrap "broker", plastic "broker, etc. Then the broker will take the products and re-sell them to a scrap metal factory, or plastic recycling factory like Yudi's. The plastic recycling factory then sorts it, cuts it into small pieces, washes it, dries it, and bags it to sell to a plastic melting company. That company will then melt the plastic down and turn in into small rice-like beads which are then easily used by and sold to any company who wants to make recycled plastic products like grocery bags, etc. So it's kinda cool how it comes around full circle, and how there are so many levels and processes involved that create employment in the most densely populated Island in the world.
After Yudi's we went for a Cianjur special Lunch of rice with coconut-curry sauce, and vegetables with rice crackers crumbled on top- delicious! After lunch Kumis took me to his old geography teacher David's house. David lives near several local remote villages that farm rice. We went on a long walk around the rice fields and met a bunch of people in villigas that were SUPER excited to see the BULE (white) girl walking through their turf. The kids were all laughing, and following me around to take pictures of me on their cell-phones. David explained he had never taken a Caucasian on a walk as far as we went and that it was more than likely I would have been the first white person they had met in real life. I took tons of pictures with them and felt like a total celebrity again- I'm starting to get used to that now... It's funny. Then we left to meet with some of Kudi's English teaching friends so they could practice their English as well. I bought a round of coke's for $1.50 and chatted with them for about an hour. Then we went back to Yudi's for dinner, and I hit the sack shortly after.
DAY 3: Andong picked me up and we went to the Floating Village, a man-made dam lake with thousands of floating pontoons with fish farms and small huts on them. It was incredible. There were millions of fish swimming about all seperated by type. Many of the fish were decorative aquarium/pond fish that were sold locally, and others were for eating. We walked around the pontoons-which were super dodgy, all cracked and broken and narrow, I was so glad I didn't fall in- and we fed the fish. I took loads of pictures. From there, we went to an English school where I taught a group of Muslim female students English for an hour, and then had a conversation with a 40 year old teacher who was trying to learn English for an hour and a half. Kumis picked me up from there and we went back to Yudi's for dinner. Before we could finish dinner a large group of neighbourhood kids gathered outside Yudi's house wanting to take BULE Christy for a walk... we walked and they practiced their English and tried to teach me Indonesian for about an hour before I went home for sleep time again.
DAY 4: Andong picked me up and we went to the Botanical Gardens in a mountain town about 45 minutes away. They were SOOOO BEAUTIFUL! Hard to describe, but amazing. We took the motorcycle on a dodgy path to a big waterfall... I thought I might fall off the motorbike and die at several points... especially since my helmet strap was broken. After the botanical gardens we went to a tea plantation and saw fields of tea growing near a plant that processes it. Then we went to one of Andong's private school lessons to help teach his student English. I was soooo exhausted by the end of that I couldn't wait to get home and relax. Tita made a wonderful traditional Indonesian meal we enjoyed together and I had some great chats with their family.
DAY 5: I woke up at 4am to the sounds of the daily Muslim Mosque- I forgot to mention this earlier... everyday 6 times a day the Muslims gather to pray. The song-like prayers are broadcasted via loudspeaker and can be heard throughout the town in most areas. I showered, and was picked up by a van to take me to Bandoong where I caught the train to Yogakarta. The scenery was gorgeous... for the first 6 hours, and then I just wanted to GET THERE ALREADY... We arrived 3 hours late (running on typical Indonesian time) and I immediately fell in love with the bustling backpacker world in Yogakarta. I am staying at an amazing hostel called Bladok Losmen, and for $30 I have a king sized bed, fridge, TV, Hot shower, western toilet (thank god! first time I've sat down in a week!!), and amazing pool area! I have been here since and have met a ton of awesome people!! I sat and had some beers by the pool with a couple from Denmark to unwind after the long journey. That night I hooked up with a lovely German couple, and a Vancouver guy, Shindan, who I've been hanging out with since. The Germans and I went to dinner, and a traditional puppet performance which was super cool, before taking a bicycle taxi back to a pub for some live music.... I got home at midnight and settled down for a 4 hour power-nap before waking up (mosque style) to go to the Hindo Temple here Borobodour the next day. The rest, I will continue later, as my hour of internet is almost expired, and I want to get out and get a $4 2 hour massage before I go! HAHAHAHA Did I mention I love the exchange rate here..? I will follow up with more details on the temple and the rest of my adventures here once I arrive in Bali-- or at the airport if there is wireless ;-) Until then.... HOLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Public Bus Exerience: Jakarta - Cianjur
Thank goodness Yudi e-mailed me with the following Indonesian phrases- Otherwise I would have never made it...
SAYA MAU KE TERMINAL KAMPUNG RAMBUTAN
I would like to go to Kampung Rambutan Bus Terminal.
TURUNKAN SAYA DI LUAR TERMINAL TEMPAT NYETOP BIS KE CIANJUR,SUPAYA NGA NUNGGU LAMA.
get me off at the bus stop outside the terminal to CIANJUR
SAYA MAU KE CIANJUR
I would like to go to Cianjur
TURUNKAN SAYA DI TERMINAL PASIR HAYAM CIANJUR
Please get me off at Cianjur,Pasir Hayam Bus Terminal
ABDI BADE KA ALAMAT IEU
I would like to go to this address
BTN GRIYA BLOK C 8 NO: 7
PASIR HAYAM
I wrote down all of the phrases on my trusty pad of paper/pen set (courtesy of my mom's good friend Barb) and handed the notes to people when I needed help. Getting on the bus from Jakarta - Ramutan bus station was pretty much the easiest part of the trip, and it was downhill from there. I got off the air-conditioned bus at Ramutan and entered Public bus station MANIA in a city of nine million people- which btw is the largest city in Southeast Asia. There were hundreds of people milling about and taxis lined up to harass young white tourists like myself. Once I got past them, I had to try and find the right bus in the sea of buses surrounding me... I asked for help, and was guided to a dodgy looking bus with a few men smoking on it. The sign on the front said Cianjur, so I got on and waited... The Men were very aggressive and kept saying BULE (Boo-lay) BULE BULE and pointing at me and laughing... then they began harassing me saying Hello Miiiissssss, I make you a Mrs.. and stuff like that. Once I got used to those guys, a bunch of peddlers began boarding the bus trying to sell me stuff- shoving kleenex, fruit, toys, and water in my face and making me say NO about 25 times before they left. I was getting pretty anxious by this point and felt very unsafe, and uncomfortable- plus I had to pee- so I got off the bus and looked for somewhere else go go.
I asked for help again, and this time I was led to a much safer looking air conditioned bus with nobody smoking on it. I decided I would take that one, but had to go to the bathroom first... I asked the man to use the bathroom and he led me to a crappy cement hut with a man sitting out front. He said--> YOU. PAY.... I proceeded to pay 1,000 Rupi to piss in a hole. Thank god I brought the "Wiz eaze" pee funnel. Oh yah, and instead of toilet paper, let me introduce you to a dirty bucket of water with a ladle. ssssssvery nisssssse.
Once I finished that, I went back on the bus and waited for departure. There were still men on there gawking and saying BODA, but at least they weren't as aggressive as the others. We left and began our long journey to Cianjur... SLOW START would be an understatement. The traffic jams leaving the city were unbelievable. We travelled at less than 1km/hr a lot of the time and whenever the bus would slow down nearby a shanti town strip of markets, 3-4 street peddlers would jump on it and try to sell stuff.. Often they would go straight to the white girl with blonde hair and start hassling her... eventually I put my sweater on my head like the Muslims here do, and put on my sunglasses- this helped a little... but I still had one guy hop on the bus farther down the road and serenade me then ask for money... i declined.
Anyway, about 3 hours later, I had to figure out how to get off that bus and on a mini-bus to Yudi's house... by this time I was good and nervous. The bus driver's assistant helped me, and so did a few guys who had been riding with me for the past few hours. Eventually I was let off at the right place, and I began looking for a way to get from there, to Yudi's house. At this point, I could not find anyone who spoke english, so I gave some people the note I had, and they took me to a super dodgy van with the door wide open and two young men sitting in the front. They told me to get in, but I was so scared I could started crying... Then my saviour, an Indonesian man in his 20's who spoke english came running over to help me. He talked to the driver's of the van and told me to get in it. I trusted him more than the other guy, so I did. He looked me in the eyes and said "Be careful Miss" as we were driving away... this made me want cry even more.
Luckily, I was eventually dropped off at Yudi's house and his wife Tita came out to meet me. I was shaking with fear and very happy to see Yudi and have a glass of water and some fresh mango with her. She showed me my room, and I began to exhale after an experience I will not soon forget. Since then, my time here has been AMAZING!!! I need to go to bed now, cause I have an early morning tomorrow, but I will log on and update you all with everything Yudi has done for me while I've been here. I am so glad I came- despite the challenges getting here! Sorry to leave you hanging....
P.S. I have a new cell phone number for Indonesia in case anyone wants to call or text me while I'm here... It's +081 315 937 821 Apparently if you're calling from a landline you may have to dial +62 315 937 821 instead. Hope that makes sense.
SAYA MAU KE TERMINAL KAMPUNG RAMBUTAN
I would like to go to Kampung Rambutan Bus Terminal.
TURUNKAN SAYA DI LUAR TERMINAL TEMPAT NYETOP BIS KE CIANJUR,SUPAYA NGA NUNGGU LAMA.
get me off at the bus stop outside the terminal to CIANJUR
SAYA MAU KE CIANJUR
I would like to go to Cianjur
TURUNKAN SAYA DI TERMINAL PASIR HAYAM CIANJUR
Please get me off at Cianjur,Pasir Hayam Bus Terminal
ABDI BADE KA ALAMAT IEU
I would like to go to this address
BTN GRIYA BLOK C 8 NO: 7
PASIR HAYAM
I wrote down all of the phrases on my trusty pad of paper/pen set (courtesy of my mom's good friend Barb) and handed the notes to people when I needed help. Getting on the bus from Jakarta - Ramutan bus station was pretty much the easiest part of the trip, and it was downhill from there. I got off the air-conditioned bus at Ramutan and entered Public bus station MANIA in a city of nine million people- which btw is the largest city in Southeast Asia. There were hundreds of people milling about and taxis lined up to harass young white tourists like myself. Once I got past them, I had to try and find the right bus in the sea of buses surrounding me... I asked for help, and was guided to a dodgy looking bus with a few men smoking on it. The sign on the front said Cianjur, so I got on and waited... The Men were very aggressive and kept saying BULE (Boo-lay) BULE BULE and pointing at me and laughing... then they began harassing me saying Hello Miiiissssss, I make you a Mrs.. and stuff like that. Once I got used to those guys, a bunch of peddlers began boarding the bus trying to sell me stuff- shoving kleenex, fruit, toys, and water in my face and making me say NO about 25 times before they left. I was getting pretty anxious by this point and felt very unsafe, and uncomfortable- plus I had to pee- so I got off the bus and looked for somewhere else go go.
I asked for help again, and this time I was led to a much safer looking air conditioned bus with nobody smoking on it. I decided I would take that one, but had to go to the bathroom first... I asked the man to use the bathroom and he led me to a crappy cement hut with a man sitting out front. He said--> YOU. PAY.... I proceeded to pay 1,000 Rupi to piss in a hole. Thank god I brought the "Wiz eaze" pee funnel. Oh yah, and instead of toilet paper, let me introduce you to a dirty bucket of water with a ladle. ssssssvery nisssssse.
Once I finished that, I went back on the bus and waited for departure. There were still men on there gawking and saying BODA, but at least they weren't as aggressive as the others. We left and began our long journey to Cianjur... SLOW START would be an understatement. The traffic jams leaving the city were unbelievable. We travelled at less than 1km/hr a lot of the time and whenever the bus would slow down nearby a shanti town strip of markets, 3-4 street peddlers would jump on it and try to sell stuff.. Often they would go straight to the white girl with blonde hair and start hassling her... eventually I put my sweater on my head like the Muslims here do, and put on my sunglasses- this helped a little... but I still had one guy hop on the bus farther down the road and serenade me then ask for money... i declined.
Anyway, about 3 hours later, I had to figure out how to get off that bus and on a mini-bus to Yudi's house... by this time I was good and nervous. The bus driver's assistant helped me, and so did a few guys who had been riding with me for the past few hours. Eventually I was let off at the right place, and I began looking for a way to get from there, to Yudi's house. At this point, I could not find anyone who spoke english, so I gave some people the note I had, and they took me to a super dodgy van with the door wide open and two young men sitting in the front. They told me to get in, but I was so scared I could started crying... Then my saviour, an Indonesian man in his 20's who spoke english came running over to help me. He talked to the driver's of the van and told me to get in it. I trusted him more than the other guy, so I did. He looked me in the eyes and said "Be careful Miss" as we were driving away... this made me want cry even more.
Luckily, I was eventually dropped off at Yudi's house and his wife Tita came out to meet me. I was shaking with fear and very happy to see Yudi and have a glass of water and some fresh mango with her. She showed me my room, and I began to exhale after an experience I will not soon forget. Since then, my time here has been AMAZING!!! I need to go to bed now, cause I have an early morning tomorrow, but I will log on and update you all with everything Yudi has done for me while I've been here. I am so glad I came- despite the challenges getting here! Sorry to leave you hanging....
P.S. I have a new cell phone number for Indonesia in case anyone wants to call or text me while I'm here... It's +081 315 937 821 Apparently if you're calling from a landline you may have to dial +62 315 937 821 instead. Hope that makes sense.
Welcome to Indonesia... where drug trafiking is punishable by Death.
The title of this blog is the welcome message that greets International arrivals at the Jakarta airport. Friendly. I arrived just past midnight late Sunday/early Monday morning. I quickly realized that I better expect a lot of unwanted attention from the locals when I began the process to obtain my 30 day Visa on Arrival. 4 Men stood behind the glass in official uniforms for the purpose of description in this blog I will refer to Man #1 as Indonesian Quagmier and Man #2 as Indonesian Borat.
*************************************************************
Quagmire..........................................Borat
Indonesian Quagmire: Hello Miiiisssss.... You have place to stay here?
Me: Yes, I am staying at the Airport Hotel tonight
Quagmire: You stay at Airport hotel... no friends here?
Me: No, I'm meeting with friends later
Quagmier: OOOOOOOOHHHH.... ha ha ha... Perhaps - uh- you like-a-some company in your room tonight? *winks* and high-5's his friend.
Me: No thank-you.
Indonesian Borat: Hello Miiisss Chrees-Tee JAN-hine... Miss Beautiful Christy Janine. Sssvery nisssse name, YAH? hahahahahahaha
Me: Thank you.
Borat: I see you 26 uhhhh...
Me: Yes, 26
Borat: *wink* (stamps visa) ME TOO!
*************************************************************
After the Visa interaction and an awkward experience at Immigration where the Officer told me to skip travelling through Indonesia and fly straight to Bali, I began to feel slightly uneasy. I collected my backpack and started looking for my hotel. I had pre-paid $100 U.S. to stay at the Airport Hotel in the Jakarta Airport, in hopes to have a clean, easy, safe place to sleep for my first night..... wrong.
I found the airport hotel upstairs, and gave them my name. No reservation. Sold out. Not good. I showed them my confirmation number from Agoda travel (similar to expedia) and they frantically began checking their email... apparently they forgot to do that all day and missed the email with my booking information. They had me sit down and wait while they figured out some place for me to sleep. In the end, I was given the massage room with two hard Indonesian massage beds and a bathroom. They apologized, and left me there for the night. At this point I was pretty wound up, so I was ANYTHING BUT tired. I decided to watch some TV. The movie Down with Love was on, so I watched it and tried to make myself sleepy-- by this point it was 2:30am and I had to be up for 7:30 to get showerd and eat breakfast before catching my bus. I was mildly amused by the Muslim censoring of the Movie. Everytime a kissing scene would come on the TV would cut out to some Muslim people praying and chanting... then it would cut back in to the movie when the sinnful parts were over.
Eventually, I crawled up onto the massage bed, and lay there wondering how many "happy endings" had gone down while I tried to fall asleep. I woke up every hour until finally getting up at 7am. The good news: The shower the next morning was amazing, and the last one I've had since. I packed up, left my room, and had some breakfast before beginning my long, scary bus ride to Cianjur........
*************************************************************
Quagmire..........................................Borat
Indonesian Quagmire: Hello Miiiisssss.... You have place to stay here?
Me: Yes, I am staying at the Airport Hotel tonight
Quagmire: You stay at Airport hotel... no friends here?
Me: No, I'm meeting with friends later
Quagmier: OOOOOOOOHHHH.... ha ha ha... Perhaps - uh- you like-a-some company in your room tonight? *winks* and high-5's his friend.
Me: No thank-you.
Indonesian Borat: Hello Miiisss Chrees-Tee JAN-hine... Miss Beautiful Christy Janine. Sssvery nisssse name, YAH? hahahahahahaha
Me: Thank you.
Borat: I see you 26 uhhhh...
Me: Yes, 26
Borat: *wink* (stamps visa) ME TOO!
*************************************************************
After the Visa interaction and an awkward experience at Immigration where the Officer told me to skip travelling through Indonesia and fly straight to Bali, I began to feel slightly uneasy. I collected my backpack and started looking for my hotel. I had pre-paid $100 U.S. to stay at the Airport Hotel in the Jakarta Airport, in hopes to have a clean, easy, safe place to sleep for my first night..... wrong.
I found the airport hotel upstairs, and gave them my name. No reservation. Sold out. Not good. I showed them my confirmation number from Agoda travel (similar to expedia) and they frantically began checking their email... apparently they forgot to do that all day and missed the email with my booking information. They had me sit down and wait while they figured out some place for me to sleep. In the end, I was given the massage room with two hard Indonesian massage beds and a bathroom. They apologized, and left me there for the night. At this point I was pretty wound up, so I was ANYTHING BUT tired. I decided to watch some TV. The movie Down with Love was on, so I watched it and tried to make myself sleepy-- by this point it was 2:30am and I had to be up for 7:30 to get showerd and eat breakfast before catching my bus. I was mildly amused by the Muslim censoring of the Movie. Everytime a kissing scene would come on the TV would cut out to some Muslim people praying and chanting... then it would cut back in to the movie when the sinnful parts were over.
Eventually, I crawled up onto the massage bed, and lay there wondering how many "happy endings" had gone down while I tried to fall asleep. I woke up every hour until finally getting up at 7am. The good news: The shower the next morning was amazing, and the last one I've had since. I packed up, left my room, and had some breakfast before beginning my long, scary bus ride to Cianjur........
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Philipines - Jakarta....
Well... I'm finishing my last hour in the Philippines in Manila airport terminal 2. I snuck into the first class passenger's "mabuhay lounge" long enough to find the password for the free wifi before they kicked me out. Muahaha at least I've got Internet for my 3 hour wait here. I had an amazing time with Regi and her awesome family in Manila and Baguio- and Jasmine, thanks again for having us visit for the day in Agoo... I won't soon forget that.
In about 4 hours I will be in Jakarta. I am excited for the new adventures that await me, and slightly nervous at the same time. It's been pretty Cush staying with Reg, having someone by my side 24/7 who knows the culture, language and land... Plus, I found almost everyone I met spoke English in the Philippines... A comfort I expect tol be scarce in indonesia. Oh well- I'm a champ a charades and pictionary so I'm sure I can figure I out!!!!
Anyhooo, not sure if the airport on the other end will have Internet or not so it could be a day or two before I can update y'all. Miss everyone (especially gus) and hope all is well. Xoxoxox
In about 4 hours I will be in Jakarta. I am excited for the new adventures that await me, and slightly nervous at the same time. It's been pretty Cush staying with Reg, having someone by my side 24/7 who knows the culture, language and land... Plus, I found almost everyone I met spoke English in the Philippines... A comfort I expect tol be scarce in indonesia. Oh well- I'm a champ a charades and pictionary so I'm sure I can figure I out!!!!
Anyhooo, not sure if the airport on the other end will have Internet or not so it could be a day or two before I can update y'all. Miss everyone (especially gus) and hope all is well. Xoxoxox
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Last day in Baguio... and A-go-o
We got up early this morning to drive down the mountain to Agoo (pronounced A-go-o) to Jasmine's beach house. A-go-o is a very small fishing community with basically no tourism, so it was AMAZING to see- so raw, and exactly what I imagined a typical Filipino fishing town to be. The drive was gorgeous! We drove past several small communities along the way and saw craftsmen woodcarvers who supply the local markets. When we arrived in Ag-go-o we drove down a long city center street lined with motorized tricycles and hundreds of people, and dozends of stray dogs. It was amazing... but really difficult to describe.
We arrived at Jasmine's house and had a snack in her tree-house before having a traditional Filipino lunch- Adobo (chicken in a soy-sauce broth with potatoes-delicious!), Tortang Talong (eggplant) and Squid- with her family. SOOOO DELICIOUS! After lunch we walked to the beach and for once the sun came out and graced us with its presence. I even got a tan!
We went swimming for a bit, but the water was pretty murky with mud and debris from all the wind and rain over the past week. After the swim, I went for a walk down the beach to check out some of the local fisherman's boats. I took a photo of two goats tied up to a tree, and an Ox who was working the rice field nearby. As I was taking some pictures of the fishing boats, I noticed some children starring at me from a distance. I walked a bit closer to get a picture of them and they started calling out to me... HEY-LO LADY!! and waving.. I waved back and they started walking closer to me. It was hilarious because they were clearly nervous of the tall, white, blue-eyed, yellow-haired lady in the bikini- this may have been a first for them. They would run up a few steps and wave, and yell out, HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, then they'd get nervous and retreat back again. As they got closer to me, I noticed one girl had a digital camera and was taking pictures of me! They eventually felt comfortable enough to stand about a foot away from me. They just stood there star-struck and the crazy looking albino, and kept yelling out at me, hi laaaaaaady... and giggling to themselves. I started walking back towards the beach where Regi and Jasmine were, and quickly realized they were following me. It was halarious- I felt like a celebrity dealing with the paparatzi...
On a side note, I was looking through my photos later in the van, and realized that not only were the kids starring at me, but behind them, then entire town had stopped and were gawking at me. Later, Jasmine's mom explained that there are never any caucasian women in the village, only men- and even they are rare. She also said that they often associate caucasian women to celebrities, and may have thought I was famous or something... too funny!
We had to leave the beach shortly after that because they were all staning on the rocks staring at me and waving.. hahaha! We began walking down the road towards Jasmine's house and the kids followed us all the way there like little stray dogs. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but Jasmine translated "Hi Lady- give me present?" They were so cute, I wished I had my canadian flag tatoos with me to give them. Oh well, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have similar experiences in Indonesia.
Speaking of which I leave for Jakarta tomorrow evening. I will stay in the airport hotel for the first night since I arrive after midnight, but on Monday I am travelling to Cianjur to stay at the Canjur homestay and participate in their volunteer program. Check out their website: www.cianjuradventure.com looks so aweome! Starting Tuesday, I will be volunteering 2-3 hours/day helping to teach english at a local school. I am super excited to do that, and it will be an awesome addition to my resume when I get home.
Anyway, I really should get to bed cause I've got to pack and and make sure my luggage is airport proof and that I have everything I'll need for the day. I still haven't got any emails from any of you... jerks... get on it! ;-) xo
We arrived at Jasmine's house and had a snack in her tree-house before having a traditional Filipino lunch- Adobo (chicken in a soy-sauce broth with potatoes-delicious!), Tortang Talong (eggplant) and Squid- with her family. SOOOO DELICIOUS! After lunch we walked to the beach and for once the sun came out and graced us with its presence. I even got a tan!
We went swimming for a bit, but the water was pretty murky with mud and debris from all the wind and rain over the past week. After the swim, I went for a walk down the beach to check out some of the local fisherman's boats. I took a photo of two goats tied up to a tree, and an Ox who was working the rice field nearby. As I was taking some pictures of the fishing boats, I noticed some children starring at me from a distance. I walked a bit closer to get a picture of them and they started calling out to me... HEY-LO LADY!! and waving.. I waved back and they started walking closer to me. It was hilarious because they were clearly nervous of the tall, white, blue-eyed, yellow-haired lady in the bikini- this may have been a first for them. They would run up a few steps and wave, and yell out, HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, then they'd get nervous and retreat back again. As they got closer to me, I noticed one girl had a digital camera and was taking pictures of me! They eventually felt comfortable enough to stand about a foot away from me. They just stood there star-struck and the crazy looking albino, and kept yelling out at me, hi laaaaaaady... and giggling to themselves. I started walking back towards the beach where Regi and Jasmine were, and quickly realized they were following me. It was halarious- I felt like a celebrity dealing with the paparatzi...On a side note, I was looking through my photos later in the van, and realized that not only were the kids starring at me, but behind them, then entire town had stopped and were gawking at me. Later, Jasmine's mom explained that there are never any caucasian women in the village, only men- and even they are rare. She also said that they often associate caucasian women to celebrities, and may have thought I was famous or something... too funny!
We had to leave the beach shortly after that because they were all staning on the rocks staring at me and waving.. hahaha! We began walking down the road towards Jasmine's house and the kids followed us all the way there like little stray dogs. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but Jasmine translated "Hi Lady- give me present?" They were so cute, I wished I had my canadian flag tatoos with me to give them. Oh well, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have similar experiences in Indonesia.
Speaking of which I leave for Jakarta tomorrow evening. I will stay in the airport hotel for the first night since I arrive after midnight, but on Monday I am travelling to Cianjur to stay at the Canjur homestay and participate in their volunteer program. Check out their website: www.cianjuradventure.com looks so aweome! Starting Tuesday, I will be volunteering 2-3 hours/day helping to teach english at a local school. I am super excited to do that, and it will be an awesome addition to my resume when I get home.
Anyway, I really should get to bed cause I've got to pack and and make sure my luggage is airport proof and that I have everything I'll need for the day. I still haven't got any emails from any of you... jerks... get on it! ;-) xo
Friday, June 5, 2009
My Filipino family
Today I spent some Q.T. with my Filipino Family. I started out the day with bowling at the country club with Jasmine, Regi, Kobe, and Gelo. We Bowled two games, which was enough to remind me how much I suck at bowling, then we played ping-pong. After, we got home Regi and jazz hosted a dance party with Kobe and Gelo where cousin Enzo taught them to "pop and lock" Usher and MJ style. While they did that, I had some down time and booked a plane ticket for the third leg of my trip. I will be flying from Bali to Kuala Lumpar June 25th. I would have preferred not to book until I got a feel for Indonesia, but apparently an onward ticket booking is required for visa on arrival. Speaking of Bali I cannot wait to get some sunshine- this rain and wind is getting old fast!!
In the evening we headed across the compound to Regi's Tito's (uncle) birthday/house-warming party. Tito had just finished building a beautiful home with super high ceilings, beautiful woodwork, an indoor water feature goldfish pond, loft, and personal waterfall built into a staircase leading outside.... Amazing. He had set up tables with white covered chairs and served a dinner with noodles- a custom at every birthday dinner... It's very rude not to eat them- potato and beat salad, peanut crusted fish, black pepper chicken and two whole pigs.... And I mean WHOLE pigs. The heads were decorativly placed in the middle of the serving trays and one piggy still had his feet attached. Apparently the pig innards are a crowd pleaser here too- so when Regi's cousins asked if I would like to try tried them, I said "oh yes I already did. It was delicious, but I'm full now thanks..." I realize that it's important to be experimental with food when traveling and appreciate the culture that coinscides, but after having a colonoscopy once in my life and seeing my innards on the full colour screen the surgeon was using, I am not ok with eating another animal's junk.
After dinner came the drinks, poker, drinks, dancing, and drrrinkshhhhh... Everyone was having a blast and by midnight I was one of the family. Part of the honour that comes with being the only white girl at a Filipino party is being introduced to the local celebrities. First I met a local artist who had long grey hair he wore in a ponytail. I forget his name at the moment, but he was a hoot. He designed the stained glass feature in the house and wanted to know about all my Canadian hobbies. We got to talking and I mentioned that I tap danced as a child.... Well- after about 20 minutes of him encouraging me to do a tap dance for the party in my flip-flops, and me regretfully declining, he decided it was imperative I meet a Filipino actor who was in attendance because he had appeared on broadway, so clearly he could assist me with my tap dancing..... Basically I would describe "broadway" as the Filipino Robert Goulet. Need I say more??!! 50 years old, thick brown hair, moustache (obviously), waxed chest with half unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, and a leather jacket. Awesome. This experience brought out the paparatzi in me and I spent the next half hour casually snapping photos of myself and other party goers with Filipino Goulet in the background.
After that I sat down with Tito and the Nevada cousins and listened to them Swap family stories and talk about future travel plans. Now it's 3:30am and the party is still going strong. I had to make a break for it while the going was good cause I get the feeling they're going to be the ones keeping the rooster awake tonight!!! (karmas a bitch, eh rooster!). Anyway, I'm super bagged and i have to rest up for it last full day in Baguio tomorrow. Nighty night!!
In the evening we headed across the compound to Regi's Tito's (uncle) birthday/house-warming party. Tito had just finished building a beautiful home with super high ceilings, beautiful woodwork, an indoor water feature goldfish pond, loft, and personal waterfall built into a staircase leading outside.... Amazing. He had set up tables with white covered chairs and served a dinner with noodles- a custom at every birthday dinner... It's very rude not to eat them- potato and beat salad, peanut crusted fish, black pepper chicken and two whole pigs.... And I mean WHOLE pigs. The heads were decorativly placed in the middle of the serving trays and one piggy still had his feet attached. Apparently the pig innards are a crowd pleaser here too- so when Regi's cousins asked if I would like to try tried them, I said "oh yes I already did. It was delicious, but I'm full now thanks..." I realize that it's important to be experimental with food when traveling and appreciate the culture that coinscides, but after having a colonoscopy once in my life and seeing my innards on the full colour screen the surgeon was using, I am not ok with eating another animal's junk.
After dinner came the drinks, poker, drinks, dancing, and drrrinkshhhhh... Everyone was having a blast and by midnight I was one of the family. Part of the honour that comes with being the only white girl at a Filipino party is being introduced to the local celebrities. First I met a local artist who had long grey hair he wore in a ponytail. I forget his name at the moment, but he was a hoot. He designed the stained glass feature in the house and wanted to know about all my Canadian hobbies. We got to talking and I mentioned that I tap danced as a child.... Well- after about 20 minutes of him encouraging me to do a tap dance for the party in my flip-flops, and me regretfully declining, he decided it was imperative I meet a Filipino actor who was in attendance because he had appeared on broadway, so clearly he could assist me with my tap dancing..... Basically I would describe "broadway" as the Filipino Robert Goulet. Need I say more??!! 50 years old, thick brown hair, moustache (obviously), waxed chest with half unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, and a leather jacket. Awesome. This experience brought out the paparatzi in me and I spent the next half hour casually snapping photos of myself and other party goers with Filipino Goulet in the background.
After that I sat down with Tito and the Nevada cousins and listened to them Swap family stories and talk about future travel plans. Now it's 3:30am and the party is still going strong. I had to make a break for it while the going was good cause I get the feeling they're going to be the ones keeping the rooster awake tonight!!! (karmas a bitch, eh rooster!). Anyway, I'm super bagged and i have to rest up for it last full day in Baguio tomorrow. Nighty night!!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Monsoon = Spa day.
The weather today put prince rupert rainfall to shame.... Evidently we did NOT hit the beach as planned. On the upside, We went to the spa instead. Unbelievable would be an understatement:
We arrived at 7:30pm to a beautiful house with a long winding cobblestone stairwell leading up to it. Before we could get out of the van we were handed umbrellas and shown the way to the house. We then proceeded to get a full foot scrub and massage with parafin wax, a 2 hour massage, full facial, and sauna with hair conditioning treatment.... The best part? All together the price came to $24. At this point my body wants me to move here so I can afford to hit the spa once a week!! To conclude our 3.5hr spa adventure, Picture this: post sauna shower, gettin my zen on, dizzy from sitting in the sauna too long, naked, aaand the power gets knocked out by the monsoon. The hilight.... 5 Filipino woman scurrying around hissing at one another in Filippino trying to find candles and flashlites in the dark while I strategize how to tip toe across the pitch black Zen spa rock garden to retrieve my clothing from the locker WITHOUT tripping on something and having an epic naked bail.... LOL
Luckily we figured it out and made it home in one piece. Now I'm Bag-iuod and ready for some sleeeeep! Tomorrow we are driving to Regi's friend jasmine's house at the beach for the day- hopefully this weather will smarten up by then! Hope all is well in Canada. I am currently accepting jealous hate mail for those who wish they could rock a full meal deal spa for less than the price of a movie and popcorn- and brag email from those who wish to gloat that the weather at home is 35 degrees and sunny. Thebigpr@hotmail.com in case you've forgotten. Xo
We arrived at 7:30pm to a beautiful house with a long winding cobblestone stairwell leading up to it. Before we could get out of the van we were handed umbrellas and shown the way to the house. We then proceeded to get a full foot scrub and massage with parafin wax, a 2 hour massage, full facial, and sauna with hair conditioning treatment.... The best part? All together the price came to $24. At this point my body wants me to move here so I can afford to hit the spa once a week!! To conclude our 3.5hr spa adventure, Picture this: post sauna shower, gettin my zen on, dizzy from sitting in the sauna too long, naked, aaand the power gets knocked out by the monsoon. The hilight.... 5 Filipino woman scurrying around hissing at one another in Filippino trying to find candles and flashlites in the dark while I strategize how to tip toe across the pitch black Zen spa rock garden to retrieve my clothing from the locker WITHOUT tripping on something and having an epic naked bail.... LOL
Luckily we figured it out and made it home in one piece. Now I'm Bag-iuod and ready for some sleeeeep! Tomorrow we are driving to Regi's friend jasmine's house at the beach for the day- hopefully this weather will smarten up by then! Hope all is well in Canada. I am currently accepting jealous hate mail for those who wish they could rock a full meal deal spa for less than the price of a movie and popcorn- and brag email from those who wish to gloat that the weather at home is 35 degrees and sunny. Thebigpr@hotmail.com in case you've forgotten. Xo
Revenge of the Rooster....
I should have known something was up when I read in the Philippines chapter of my lonely planet guide: "Favourite small mercies- the widespread distribution of what is probably the cheapest beer in the world... Most challenging moments- roosters with dysfunctional circadian rythms crowing at 3am..." does anyone else see the irony in that most unfortunate combination? Last night I experienced the wrath of the rooster first hand- bringing back repressed memories of the infamous Maui rooster incident with Aunty Claire circa October 2006. Well... Little did the rooster know I came prepared!! A baseball bat... A pellet gun... A rusty shovel...? You may speculate the nature of my secret weapon... Despite being wrongfully accused of the assacination of above noted Maui Rooster- when travelling abroad, I come in peace. Nevertheless I managed to have a wonderful sleep contrary to that damn rooster's ill intent. Little did he know I put out 32 cents for industrial strength earplugs prior to leaving for my trip...! Let this be a warning to tropical roosters alike: you may have won the Maui battle- BUT I WILL WIN THE WAR!!!!!!! Muaaahahahahaha......
Manila, Philippines = so much Prada, so little room in my backpack...
Kumusta (hello) from the Philippines! I arrived in Manila safe and sound after a five hour flight from Tokyo. After dealing with the baggage claim chaos- realizing that people who live on a small island with a population of nearly 100 million need MUCH less personal space than I do- I finally made it through customs and and proceeded towards the Arrival pickup area. I quickly discovered I should have made a plan as to where to meet Regi when I found about 400 Filipinos standing behind a fenced area all waiting for friends and family arriving from flights... Lucky for me, I was the only blonde-haired-blue-eyed-lost-looking Canadian and Regi was able to find me after a few minutes of me wondering around aimlessly. We piled in the Van with Regi's driver Trés and he took us back to her house in Manila. On a side note, Manila traffic= INSANE!!! Apparently the personal space rule also applies to vehicles only needing 4-6 inches between them on the freeway.
The next day, Regi and I got up to a lovely breakfast made by Rose, and then headed to the Green Market to do some shopping. Chanel, Prada, Jimmy Chu, Coach, Fendi, Gucci, GALORE!!! Honestly, the knock-offs are sooooooo authentic looking, and cheap cheap cheap, it's crazy to think that many of them sell for thousands of dollars elsewhere. I could have bought about 300 and still wanted more... (and yes, I had MANY A.D.D. moments- thank god Regi has the patience of Jobe). I exersized self-control and picked up only one Prada purse, that I LOVE!! I also got a beautiful long string of pearls, a Tiffany's necklace, and a cell phone.... The best part? I spent less than $100 CDN all day. We took a break from shopping mania to have a Filipino Lunch at the Grill-a, and had a tour of Old Manila before heading out for a coffee (jet lag medicine) and dinner.
Today we got up and drove the mountain to Baguio, where Regi grew up. The drive was sooo beautiful through agricultural area, small towns, and rainforest. We just arrived here after about 7 hours in the car, and I'm soo glad to finally have internet access- I was having withdrawls. Tonight we're going to go out for dinner with some of Regi's cousins, and I think-if the rain ever stops- we're going to the beach tomorrow.
Anyhoooooooo, Hope all is well with everyone, don't forget about emailing me lots- I like updates too ya know... ;-) Also, I have a cell phone number now which is: (+) 63-917-451-8414... It's free for me to receive text messages and calls, and costs me only forty cents to send messages abroad. So I'm hoping y'all with throw some texts my way, and Mom, now you don't have to lay awake worrying, you can just call me! Anyway, some of Regi's cousins have just arrived, so I'm gonna get going. Love ya!!
The next day, Regi and I got up to a lovely breakfast made by Rose, and then headed to the Green Market to do some shopping. Chanel, Prada, Jimmy Chu, Coach, Fendi, Gucci, GALORE!!! Honestly, the knock-offs are sooooooo authentic looking, and cheap cheap cheap, it's crazy to think that many of them sell for thousands of dollars elsewhere. I could have bought about 300 and still wanted more... (and yes, I had MANY A.D.D. moments- thank god Regi has the patience of Jobe). I exersized self-control and picked up only one Prada purse, that I LOVE!! I also got a beautiful long string of pearls, a Tiffany's necklace, and a cell phone.... The best part? I spent less than $100 CDN all day. We took a break from shopping mania to have a Filipino Lunch at the Grill-a, and had a tour of Old Manila before heading out for a coffee (jet lag medicine) and dinner.
Today we got up and drove the mountain to Baguio, where Regi grew up. The drive was sooo beautiful through agricultural area, small towns, and rainforest. We just arrived here after about 7 hours in the car, and I'm soo glad to finally have internet access- I was having withdrawls. Tonight we're going to go out for dinner with some of Regi's cousins, and I think-if the rain ever stops- we're going to the beach tomorrow.
Anyhoooooooo, Hope all is well with everyone, don't forget about emailing me lots- I like updates too ya know... ;-) Also, I have a cell phone number now which is: (+) 63-917-451-8414... It's free for me to receive text messages and calls, and costs me only forty cents to send messages abroad. So I'm hoping y'all with throw some texts my way, and Mom, now you don't have to lay awake worrying, you can just call me! Anyway, some of Regi's cousins have just arrived, so I'm gonna get going. Love ya!!
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