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Sunday, October 31, 2010
Hujan Abu
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Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Pagar Alam
How are you? Sorry I've been hopeless at keeping in touch - i've been on holiday and basically just enjoying life while I can in Indonesia.
Firstly, in case you haven't seen my numerous facebook updates I am fine. I was in Sumatra a couple of days before the earthquake and the Tsunami but i'm back and safe in Yogya (I was nowhere near it anyway). Secondly, Merapi, the volcano just north of Yog yakarta is/has erupted. It will probably continue to erupt for several weeeks in various stages but I am NOT in any danger (do not believe news reports Yogya is not threatened by Merapi). I there is any danger to us at all we will be evacuated by ACICIS. Merapi is Indonesia's most active volcano and erupts every five or so years. It's basically procedure and there are various processes in place that make Yogya fairly safe. I understand that everyone is worried about my welfare but I assure you that Yogya really hasnt been affected at all.
So now the serious stuff is out the way.............................. I'm coming up to my 3 month anniversary in Yogya and have loved every minute of it. Whether it's been at the beach, house hopping in Sumatra for end of Ramadhan celebrations, shopping and waiting in traffic in Jakarta, falling off motor bikes, hiking up mountains and swimming in waterfalls in Sumatra (yes i've been twice already), partying, eating and chilling in one of Yogyas numerous eateries. There has been some study but the purpose of living in Indonesia is to live in Indonesia and that's exactly what i've been doing.
Last week I had the opportunity to go to Southern Sumatra with my friend Dimas, his mum, nanna, Sam and Kat. So we packed our bags and off to Sumatra we went. We flew into Palambang on Monday and after several hours cruising with Dimas' relatives (he was on a different flight) we met up with Dimas, his mum and Grandma and headed to Pagar Alam. The drive to Pagar Alam takes around 6 hours without traffic so luckily we went at night and slept the whole way. Arriving at about 2am we were greeted by Dimas' nenek (he has about 8 different nanna's in Pagar Alam alone) and entered the 100 year old Indonesian house we were to stay in.
The house was absolutely amazing - the fact that it was still standing after 100 years is a pretty amazing feat in Australia and in Indonesia it's virtually unheard of. It was basic to say the least and most of you couldnt imagine living in those conditions but it was surprisingly comfortable. We slept the four of us in a line of materesses on the floor whilst the nenek's and Dimas' mum slept on mattresses lined up on the floor in the other room. The bathroom was located down in the basement and we had to climb down the steepest steps to get there (it was amazing that 80 year old women climbed up and down those stairs numerous times and day) and consisted of a squat toilet, several buckets and a pipe pumping water directly from the river. And the amzing thing was that's all we needed. It's amazing living in a situation like that to see the excessiveness of western life - although i will admit I enjoyed getting back and indulging in the use of a mirror, proper lighting and a bathroom I could actually shave my legs in without fear for my life.
The first day in Sumatra we jumped on angkot (the system of public transport here) and went up a mountain through the tea plantations taking heaps of photos and in general being amazed at the picturesque scenery. We were stopped several times by Indonesian boys (we all ended up with Pagaralam "boyfriends"). After several hours of this we went home absolutely exhausted and slept for a couple of hours and then our Pagaralam "boyfriends" appeared with motorbikes to take us up the mountain again - this time to go see the waterfall, which was sooooo cool. To clarify our Pagaralam boyfriends were some guys we met who enjoyed the novelty of meeting us bules (white people) and wanted bule girlfriends (or in Dimas' case a Indo 'bule' boyfriend). On the way home, I magically got separated from the rest of the crew and got the backstreet tour of Pagaralam with my Pagaralam boyfriend. It was kind of funny because I had no phone, no idea where we were, where I lived nothing. Although I never felt threatened in anyway it does make me realise I need to be more careful about the situations I get myself in and I MUST charge my phone. (NOTE: MUM AND NANNA DO NOT STRESS ABOUT THIS). We then went out again quickly to buy durian and went home to sleep again.
The next day we went to another waterfall, this time swimming in it (Awesome) and then to visit nenek's coffee plantation.
Thursday was definately one of the highlights of the week. We had decided to get up early to go running (Mama had brought up the idea of running early in the week so we decided to get up early and try this thing they called running) - didnt happen. Instead we took forever to get ready, decided it was too hot so walked to the pasar to get transport, couldnt find any, so bought some water and snacks and kept trekking up the mountain. After maybe an hour we did get tranport and went to the top most point of the mountain that the angkot would take us (and were accompanied by about 10 giggly primary school girls on the way). We then decided to keep walking and keep walking up through the tea plantations. It was soooo nice to get some fresh air and excercise. After finishing our snacks and without breakfast we eventually got to the point we were about to pass out so decided to go back down. The whole day was just one of those spur of the moment things where it just felt good to be alive and to experience the beauty and the freedom of the mountain with good friends.
Unfortunately, on the way down we got caught in the rain, and I ended up sick (the Indonesian's think it was from the rain, i'm still pessimistic) so friday was spent throwing up and burning up with a fever. By friday night, I forced some plain rice down and as much water as I could stomach to avoid dehydration. I was then conned or dobbed into trying kerokang - a traditional method of medicine involving scraping coins across a persons back, arms and chest to rid them of ailments (and leaving the victims skin covered in tiger strips for a week). The most I can say about it was it left me feeling better and my fever was gone by the end of it - whether it worked who knows - all i know was it hurt like getting a tattoo. However, the next day I woke up with a crazy cold :( and had to stomach the car trip to Palembang (this time it took nearly 9 hours because of traffic and delays).
Sunday was our last and only day to check out Palembang so we woke bright and early ate breakfast and headed to the river where we got on rickety boats and went to an island not far away. It was really cool, Chinese style island (it felt like being back in China) - the story behind it involves and Indonesian Princess and a Chinese man. We did a crazy photo session, got boats back to Palembang rushed to the store to by oleh-oleh (souvenirs - when you go away here you have to bring souvenirs back for everyone), ate lunch, went home quickly packed up Kat and Sam and waved them off to the airport because their flight was before ours. Meanwhile we finished packing had another snooze and then headed to the airport as well for our flight to Jakarta.
Dimas and I then went to Putri's (his sister/my new sister) house where we stayed for our night in Jakarta. We had decided to go to Dufan (Dunia Fantasi - Indonesia's answer to Disney World). It was fun but we were soooo exhausted and I was still sick that we probably didnt enjoy it as much as we could have but still well worth the trip.
That night Jakarta was flooded so we got stuck in traffic on our way to the train station, jumped on the back of a couple of crazy ojeks (ojeks are bikes that carry passengers - a widely used but technical illegal practice), paid a ridiculous amount, and ran into the station afraid we missed our train only to find hadnt arrived yet. But that's a story for another day.
In short this was just one week in my life in Indonesia. It's impossible to explain in an email how awesome it is here and everyday promises a new adventure and challenge.
Well that's it folks. Hope all is well
Firstly, in case you haven't seen my numerous facebook updates I am fine. I was in Sumatra a couple of days before the earthquake and the Tsunami but i'm back and safe in Yogya (I was nowhere near it anyway). Secondly, Merapi, the volcano just north of Yog yakarta is/has erupted. It will probably continue to erupt for several weeeks in various stages but I am NOT in any danger (do not believe news reports Yogya is not threatened by Merapi). I there is any danger to us at all we will be evacuated by ACICIS. Merapi is Indonesia's most active volcano and erupts every five or so years. It's basically procedure and there are various processes in place that make Yogya fairly safe. I understand that everyone is worried about my welfare but I assure you that Yogya really hasnt been affected at all.
So now the serious stuff is out the way.............................. I'm coming up to my 3 month anniversary in Yogya and have loved every minute of it. Whether it's been at the beach, house hopping in Sumatra for end of Ramadhan celebrations, shopping and waiting in traffic in Jakarta, falling off motor bikes, hiking up mountains and swimming in waterfalls in Sumatra (yes i've been twice already), partying, eating and chilling in one of Yogyas numerous eateries. There has been some study but the purpose of living in Indonesia is to live in Indonesia and that's exactly what i've been doing.
Last week I had the opportunity to go to Southern Sumatra with my friend Dimas, his mum, nanna, Sam and Kat. So we packed our bags and off to Sumatra we went. We flew into Palambang on Monday and after several hours cruising with Dimas' relatives (he was on a different flight) we met up with Dimas, his mum and Grandma and headed to Pagar Alam. The drive to Pagar Alam takes around 6 hours without traffic so luckily we went at night and slept the whole way. Arriving at about 2am we were greeted by Dimas' nenek (he has about 8 different nanna's in Pagar Alam alone) and entered the 100 year old Indonesian house we were to stay in.
The house was absolutely amazing - the fact that it was still standing after 100 years is a pretty amazing feat in Australia and in Indonesia it's virtually unheard of. It was basic to say the least and most of you couldnt imagine living in those conditions but it was surprisingly comfortable. We slept the four of us in a line of materesses on the floor whilst the nenek's and Dimas' mum slept on mattresses lined up on the floor in the other room. The bathroom was located down in the basement and we had to climb down the steepest steps to get there (it was amazing that 80 year old women climbed up and down those stairs numerous times and day) and consisted of a squat toilet, several buckets and a pipe pumping water directly from the river. And the amzing thing was that's all we needed. It's amazing living in a situation like that to see the excessiveness of western life - although i will admit I enjoyed getting back and indulging in the use of a mirror, proper lighting and a bathroom I could actually shave my legs in without fear for my life.
The first day in Sumatra we jumped on angkot (the system of public transport here) and went up a mountain through the tea plantations taking heaps of photos and in general being amazed at the picturesque scenery. We were stopped several times by Indonesian boys (we all ended up with Pagaralam "boyfriends"). After several hours of this we went home absolutely exhausted and slept for a couple of hours and then our Pagaralam "boyfriends" appeared with motorbikes to take us up the mountain again - this time to go see the waterfall, which was sooooo cool. To clarify our Pagaralam boyfriends were some guys we met who enjoyed the novelty of meeting us bules (white people) and wanted bule girlfriends (or in Dimas' case a Indo 'bule' boyfriend). On the way home, I magically got separated from the rest of the crew and got the backstreet tour of Pagaralam with my Pagaralam boyfriend. It was kind of funny because I had no phone, no idea where we were, where I lived nothing. Although I never felt threatened in anyway it does make me realise I need to be more careful about the situations I get myself in and I MUST charge my phone. (NOTE: MUM AND NANNA DO NOT STRESS ABOUT THIS). We then went out again quickly to buy durian and went home to sleep again.
The next day we went to another waterfall, this time swimming in it (Awesome) and then to visit nenek's coffee plantation.
Thursday was definately one of the highlights of the week. We had decided to get up early to go running (Mama had brought up the idea of running early in the week so we decided to get up early and try this thing they called running) - didnt happen. Instead we took forever to get ready, decided it was too hot so walked to the pasar to get transport, couldnt find any, so bought some water and snacks and kept trekking up the mountain. After maybe an hour we did get tranport and went to the top most point of the mountain that the angkot would take us (and were accompanied by about 10 giggly primary school girls on the way). We then decided to keep walking and keep walking up through the tea plantations. It was soooo nice to get some fresh air and excercise. After finishing our snacks and without breakfast we eventually got to the point we were about to pass out so decided to go back down. The whole day was just one of those spur of the moment things where it just felt good to be alive and to experience the beauty and the freedom of the mountain with good friends.
Unfortunately, on the way down we got caught in the rain, and I ended up sick (the Indonesian's think it was from the rain, i'm still pessimistic) so friday was spent throwing up and burning up with a fever. By friday night, I forced some plain rice down and as much water as I could stomach to avoid dehydration. I was then conned or dobbed into trying kerokang - a traditional method of medicine involving scraping coins across a persons back, arms and chest to rid them of ailments (and leaving the victims skin covered in tiger strips for a week). The most I can say about it was it left me feeling better and my fever was gone by the end of it - whether it worked who knows - all i know was it hurt like getting a tattoo. However, the next day I woke up with a crazy cold :( and had to stomach the car trip to Palembang (this time it took nearly 9 hours because of traffic and delays).
Sunday was our last and only day to check out Palembang so we woke bright and early ate breakfast and headed to the river where we got on rickety boats and went to an island not far away. It was really cool, Chinese style island (it felt like being back in China) - the story behind it involves and Indonesian Princess and a Chinese man. We did a crazy photo session, got boats back to Palembang rushed to the store to by oleh-oleh (souvenirs - when you go away here you have to bring souvenirs back for everyone), ate lunch, went home quickly packed up Kat and Sam and waved them off to the airport because their flight was before ours. Meanwhile we finished packing had another snooze and then headed to the airport as well for our flight to Jakarta.
Dimas and I then went to Putri's (his sister/my new sister) house where we stayed for our night in Jakarta. We had decided to go to Dufan (Dunia Fantasi - Indonesia's answer to Disney World). It was fun but we were soooo exhausted and I was still sick that we probably didnt enjoy it as much as we could have but still well worth the trip.
That night Jakarta was flooded so we got stuck in traffic on our way to the train station, jumped on the back of a couple of crazy ojeks (ojeks are bikes that carry passengers - a widely used but technical illegal practice), paid a ridiculous amount, and ran into the station afraid we missed our train only to find hadnt arrived yet. But that's a story for another day.
In short this was just one week in my life in Indonesia. It's impossible to explain in an email how awesome it is here and everyday promises a new adventure and challenge.
Well that's it folks. Hope all is well
Ina, Dimas and Putri have Graduated
A couple of weeks ago we donned kebayas (traditional Indonesian outfits) and went to Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta to watch Ina, Dimas and Putri gradute. Ina has just graduated from medical school after four years of studying and now has two years of prac before her road to becoming a doctor is complete. Good Luck! Dimas has graduated with his honours from the School of International Relations - his thesis was about ACICIS and in english (the organisation who's program i'm now on). Good Luck job hunting and finding that job you want Dimas. Putri graduated from the faculty of economics and as the top student in the entire university. Quite an achievement. Congratualtions Putri! Hope Jakarta continues to be fun.
Semogas Sukses
Semogas Sukses
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Merapi is Erupting
ATTN: The Volcano north of Yogya, Merapi, is erupting. I am in no danger and apart from having an exam today I am fine! Have a lovely day Alex
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Crazy Indonesia
As Dimas says MEMPERFUCKSHITKAN! After being stuck in traffic for over an hour and not even exiting the gang (alley) outside Putri's house we then paid 50000 each for insane ojek drivers only to arrive at gambir station and run in so we're not late and the trains not even here! Another crazy Indo story!!!!
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Friday, October 15, 2010
Jakarta
In the history of my spontinaity my trip to Jakarta definately ranks high up there. Last Thursday I decided life here was getting a little to mundane - I hadn't gone on a trip in a couple of weeks and both Sophie and I needed a mood boost - so during my last class of the week I decided it was time to take the plunge and go to Jakarta.
We finished class, ate lunch and went directly to book flights before we could backout. At lunch time the next day we were at Yogya airport and after a flight and a couple of hours in a taxi. We were checked in at our hotel in Jakarta ready to go shopping for going out clothes. We had a couple of hours to eat and find clothes for the night before meeting Joel and his friends to go out for the night.
All I can say was the night was hectic and we arrived home at 6am.
Waking up at 11 we decided to make the cultural journey of the trip so we headed to Monas. Unfortunately, it was HOT and along with the hangovers we weren't in a particularly good state. So we arrived took a couple of photos and left to go shopping (i'm actually emabarassed to say we didn't even manage to climb Monas). So, we ate, shopped and went home and slept for an hour before meeting up with Dimas' sister and aunt for a couple more hours of shopping. After that we changed and went to Kemang where we met a friend of Sophies and then caught up with Joel and Bobby. Because we were stilll by exhausted we went home relatively early and were in bed by 2am.
Sunday was the day for kebaya shopping with Dimas' sister Putri who had her graduation coming up. We tried on kebayas and eventually settled on some cool material to make kebayas which we shall be wearing to Dimas', Putri's and Ina's graduation this weekend.
On Monday we did some last minute shopping, ate lunch, auditioned for an Indonesian TV show and then rushed to the airport for our flight home.
The whole trip was crazy but just what we needed to revive. Now i need a week to relax - my next week in Sumatra should help with that
Semogas Sukses
We finished class, ate lunch and went directly to book flights before we could backout. At lunch time the next day we were at Yogya airport and after a flight and a couple of hours in a taxi. We were checked in at our hotel in Jakarta ready to go shopping for going out clothes. We had a couple of hours to eat and find clothes for the night before meeting Joel and his friends to go out for the night.
All I can say was the night was hectic and we arrived home at 6am.
Waking up at 11 we decided to make the cultural journey of the trip so we headed to Monas. Unfortunately, it was HOT and along with the hangovers we weren't in a particularly good state. So we arrived took a couple of photos and left to go shopping (i'm actually emabarassed to say we didn't even manage to climb Monas). So, we ate, shopped and went home and slept for an hour before meeting up with Dimas' sister and aunt for a couple more hours of shopping. After that we changed and went to Kemang where we met a friend of Sophies and then caught up with Joel and Bobby. Because we were stilll by exhausted we went home relatively early and were in bed by 2am.
Sunday was the day for kebaya shopping with Dimas' sister Putri who had her graduation coming up. We tried on kebayas and eventually settled on some cool material to make kebayas which we shall be wearing to Dimas', Putri's and Ina's graduation this weekend.
On Monday we did some last minute shopping, ate lunch, auditioned for an Indonesian TV show and then rushed to the airport for our flight home.
The whole trip was crazy but just what we needed to revive. Now i need a week to relax - my next week in Sumatra should help with that
Semogas Sukses
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