Rambutan - The hairy fruit



All Indonesian fruit seems to be so wonderfully textured, inside and out! This is one of my favourites -- Rambutan. Rambut means hair in the Indonesian language... so you can see where they came up with the name!

Unlike Durian, which it shares a season with, Rambutan is delicious! It's actually very much like lychee; it's white flesh is sweet and wrapped around a large oval pit.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!


A post and a pic to say Happy Christmas and Merry New Year to you all from Martin and I! It's hard to be away from home for the holiday season; we're missing friends and family a LOT! I'm missing WINTER, too... But I'm hoping you'll have a ski, a toboggan and a snowball fight (and maybe even make a few snow angels) for me!

And a side note: we won't be having turkey for Christmas dinner (since it's super expensive if you can even FIND it... and then, we'd have no oven to cook it in anyway... an who would even want to bake in this heat!?!) So please have some turkey and stuffing and think of me too!

But, hey, there's always roasted bat... they come in packs of two for 20,000Rp at Hypermart!

Another trip to work:

After writing our initial short story, we were asked to put ourselves in the shoes of someone observing us along our way to work and write in the 2nd person. This is from the stance of one of the schoolgirls outside a school I pass daily if I am going to work at the Bintang Laut office:

Here comes the BULE again…. Wow, that hair is so beautiful….

Hey, I’ll run and get the other kids… let’s see if she smiles and gives us the same response as every day if we call out to her… Screw mathematics, this is bule-hassling time…. Besides, I’m sure our teacher won’t mind… she usually comes out and stared with the rest of us as the Bule passes by… “Hello MISTER!”

“Bule!” “Bule!”
“Hallo Bule!”
Maybe she can't hear me, better YELL just to make sure... "BULE!"

Where is she coming from…. Does she just come to our little neighbourhood to hang out… What do those Bintang Laut people actually DO? I want to hear her funny accent again… guess I’ll have a chance tomorrow. How can I get hair like that?

My trip to work...

As part of a creative writing workshop that made up one of the conference sessions we were asked to write a short story about our daily trip to work… I thought I would share mine with you… now that I’m finally back at making one (a daily trip, that is…)

My journey to work changes each day. Depending on the work location I may find myself from simply walking or taking public transport to participating in more of a triathlon…

To go to Bunaken Island for instance… Because of the limited public transportation options, we are forced to start the journey the day before we actually teach at the school. I pass through our local neighbourhood with it’s manicured churchyard and houses with high gates behind which a few people can be seen working in their gardens.

I ride the cramped blue bemo jostling through the busy streets of Manado city to arrive at the seaside market from where the public prahu (boat) to the island departs.

As I saddle down the darkened alleyway at high noon, it is a test to see how long I can hold my breath. The mingling scents of fish and rotting mango with the salty sea air are the perfume of this dockyard.

I descend the harrowing stone steps that have been all-but completely eroded by the tides, and hesitantly step onto the wooden gangplank. I tentatively put one foot in front of the other while gripping the prickly rope above my head for extra support.



I straddle the sacs of rice while trying not to crush an old woman’s already wilting water spinach, and I’m into the cool, shaded haven of the prahu… the boat is over-crowded with people, their children, and their fish. It is a slow, rolling trip through the wavy sea to Bunaken Island. But the trip isn’t over upon reaching the island of course, because this boat only goes as far as the village, and the Education Centre is on another beach. It is possible to walk, but it is at least 45 minutes fast hike, and usually the prahu pulls in to the village just before dusk; I’m not usually up for a night time bushwacking trip!

So, as the last leg of the journey, I hop onto a local ‘ktingting’ (a tiny narrow boat carved from a single tree trunk, with two bamboo wings out the sides for stability, and powered by a compressor motor with a propeller the size of my travelling alarm clock!). The brightly painted 3-seater is the perfect place to watch the sunset from; this is my favourite part of the trip to the Environmental Education Centre where I work.

Seeing the sense underlying the madness!

We are slowly learning that the apparent chaos that is Indonesian society and everyday life, in fact has a very efficient system.

Take the vendors, for example. Until now, we have just felt like the streets, and our neighbourhood, are crawling with random people, carts, vehicles, etc, selling their wares. This cloud of noise and motion was completely separate and apart from our existence… other than the fact that they begin to wake us up at about 5 every morning (and there is no snooze button)! The only one among them that seemed to be consistent was the icecream man – usually on bicycle, and always playing the same jingle over and over and over! In fact, they all have a unique noise or call which indicates what they have to offer. A selection of the regulars include: The veggie man who uses what I think of as a circus horn (you know, black rubber bulb, shiny silver bell) mounted on the helm of his scooter, which he sounds on an even beat for the length of the street; The bakso boy (bakso is noodle ‘meat’ball soup) who pushes a cart and gives a little tink-tink against one of his bowls with a metal spoon; The rujak man (and this can sometimes be a woman, selling an interesting version of ‘fruit salad’, which is usually sweet and sour, and topped with LOTS of red sugar) who has a higher-pitched metal-on-glass-tink; and The trusty fish lady who simply yells “Ikan (read, EEEEEK-AAANNN)”, but whose presence is usually foretold by the scent which wafts ahead of her (or the flies???) as she saunters down the street.

The bakso boy's cart.

This, combined with the church-bells next door, a far-off mosque’s chants, the twittering of birds in our mile-high-grass lawn (much to the chagrin of the neighbours), and the incessant hummm of motor-scooters, is the orchestra of our neighbourhood.

Indonesian Money

The likeness of Indonesian paper money is striking in its resemblance to Canadian bills, and Monopoly money. The bright colours make it a pleasant experience to open my wallet and find a rainbow inside (if I've been to an ATM recently, that is). And the designs include important Indonesian figures and culturally significant locales around the country.

Indonesian currency is the Rupiah (Rp). I don't really know which is my favourite denomination... Depends on the situation, I guess. When I am riding a bus, it's the 1 000 (seribu) note, because unless I pay with it, the driver will surely not have change!

I like the funky pinkness of the sepuluh ribu rupiah(10,000) note, but one has to be extra careful not to confuse it with the seratus ribu rupiah (100,000) note which is a barely-distinguishable shade darker red.



Sepuluh ribu rupiah

With a value of just under a dollar, the 10,000Rp note it's quite handy. 10,000Rp can buy you:

- 2 loaves of bread
- 10 mangoes
- A complete dinner at a warung, or 2 at a kakilima (street vendor)
- 2 iced cappuccinos
- 41/2 rides on the "Malalayang" bus to my work, or to anywhere in the city
- 2 hours at a 'regular' internet cafe or 1 hour at the super-duper-highspeed
internet ZONE on the fourth floor of the Mega Mall

Necessary Instructions!?

This is just a quick post to share something that I found hilarious... I wonder what the other folks in the washroom thought I was doing as I laughed my head off in my stall!?!



The picture above was the sign above a "western" toilet in a pretty swank washroom (as far as washrooms go in Indonesia)... You wouldn't think that it needs instruction/explanation... but when this is your normal toilet.... maybe you can see the connection.

NEW PICS!!!

HI ALL! I can't figure out how to upload video clips... sorry to disappoint... but I have posted a few pics to the online photo gallery: Check them out!

Hope all's well at home!

Poisonous Sea Urchins: A Nasty Encounter



I wandered down to the docks after a celebration in another island community. All the children from the entire village were gathered there, swimming and playing in the super-clear water. Of course, I couldn't help but jump in and join them... After getting over their initial shyness of this strange new creature, the kids swarmed me. We played a bit in the water, but when I went to get out, the fun was over. In order to climb back up to the dock, I chose the wrong footing on the wooden uprights... I didn't know what, but SOMETHING pierced my leg... OUCH! When I got out of the water (by way of a different route), I had the venemous black tips of 10 or more sea urchin spines in my shin! YIKES! I've heard stories about people that've been stuck by this particular variety of sea urchin and they're never very nice... as a result I'm always super careful not to touch or even go near them... uuuggghhh....

Well, everyone seemed to have a different take on the best method to 'cure' me, but I decided to go with the advice of the elder who was actually from the village... he didn't have any teeth, but he was still going (at age 70+!)... seems like a reliable source of local knowledge. So, he whisked me off to a nearby hut and ordered some hot water... meanwhile he pounded the embedded spines with a blunt piece of bamboo... o.k....? He explained that if you splinter the tips into bits, then apply a VERY hot compress, supposedly the poison comes out on its own and the shards are dissolved and absorbed by the body... o.k...? I was somewhat skeptical of this magic, but ok... what choice did I have? What do you know... within moments the pain had subsided, over a few hours some of the black spots began to disappear, and less than a day later, there is no sign that I had ever been through the trauma!~

Beetlenut

I have yet to actually try it myself... luckily I have yet to be formally offered (as it would be a true social no-no to refuse)! Pinang, or beetlenut, might be the South-East Asian equivalent to chewing tobacco, but natural and untreated. It is a reddish-brown slimy nut encased in a green husk. The villagers rip off the husk with their teeth to get to the inner-goodness which inevetibly turns their mouth and teeth bright orange! There isn't much funnier than the men of the village looking like they're wearing lipstick! Chewing this 'nut' into a pulp produces a natural high, although it is said to have the added bonus of strengthening teeth... HOWEVER, every elder I see chewing it has a mouthfull of awfully stained, rotted out teeth!

First Day in Papua

First Day in Papua

Although it's true, we'd been in Sorong a couple of days prior, the following is a story from what I feel I can really call my first day in Papua.

I should preface this little tale with some context: We arrived in Sorong, W. Papua for our 1st site visit in the middle of a very busy and very exciting time. The areas in which we will be working with Conservation International (CI) are in the process of becoming Marine Protected Areas (MPA). The region has long been identified as extrememly rich in biological diversity and a target for protection... however only now is it receiving official designation. We were invited, as part of the CI team, on the inaugural celebratory tour of this achievement.


At 11:30 pm the siren sounded and we lumbered out of port.

As small groups played raucous games of dominoes, a couple of guys strummed their guitars and belted out tunes ranging from english classic rock (including Tiffany! and of course Brian Adams) to traditional Papuan songs. At this point the whole ship came alive with voice - gorgeous harmonies sprang from various groups from bow to stern and our tour came to life.

As we chugged along, things settled down and most people tried to find a quiet corner in which to curl up and hunker down for the night.

Our vessel, called the KLM (not the Dutch airline, but instead Kapal Layar Motor (motorized sailing ship)) Nur Alif is, or was, a 30 m fishing boat, charted by CI for this most special event. The official crew are a group of about 6 swarthy young seamen, and everything one would expect them to be. The unofficial compliment are ~40 CI staff, other NGO staff, reporters, politicians and us, 2 lone CUSO cooperants, set for the adventure of a lifetime. Most of our cohorts haven't even ever been to some of these remote areas on the agenda, so our tour of Raja Ampat is truly feeling more and more special.



The decks are scattered with ropes of various thicknesses, the chains all rusted and the wooden planks of the deck are set apart at varying widths and in various states of disrepair... the captain with his yellowing eyes couldn't be a more fitting character to pilot this ship.

This first night aboard was nothing if not eventful.

As we trundled along through the blackness of night at sea, my lullaby became the chugging and sputtering of the engine and the waves slapping against the hull as we sliced through it. I was almost asleep in my cramped berth (tastefully decorated with posters of cheap women) when there were alarmed shouts, a grinding, popping and BOOM! I, of course, wonder if we've hit one of the numerous small rocky islands which may or may not be on the map. Did the lookout fall asleep?; Are we going to sink? How far away is help?... "Martin, que paso?", I asked... figuring he is the ocean guy, he should know. He ineffectively tries to reassure me and goes to investigate. Well, it turns out that in an effort not to hit a smaller boat, the captain veered hard and in doing so, broke the steering mechanism! Clink, clank, hammer, bang.... no, I'm pretty sure I didn't get much sleep after that! After repairs were complete, we were back on course... but it was getting really hot inside and to make matters worse, I had to pee!

So, my trip to the WC is a story in and of itself! I finally decided there was no holding off until dawn and made the perilous journey... Martin and I were sharing a very tight berth and it happened to be an upper one, and I was on the inside! I carefully tried not to disturb him as I crawled over him in the 1 ft of head space above our wooden nest, I spidered down from the top bunk, also taking care not to step on the sleeping figure below. As I go out the portal I realize this is to be the greatest challenge: not to step, or fall, on people as the boat rocks and sways! Luckily there is only one body on the narrow walkway to the back of the boat. In the open area there are more, many more... on sleeping mats on the floor and on benches (not comfy enough to sit on!). Tangles of limbs loll from hammocks and I try to avoid all of this as I clamber down rickety steps to the bowels of the ship.

When I finally find the bathroom... it's a hole in one of the wooden floor planks. Below, looking into it, you can see the beautiful aquamarine water in the daytime... this 1st experience though, was just accompanied by darkness, the sound of water rushing by and cockroaches crawling from the cracks.

I ran the gauntlet of bodies and limbs back to the captains bridge, and just before ducking back into our closet, a shimmer in the water caught my eye. This is one of my absolutely favourite phenomenon; I was put into a trance by the dancing lights of what looks like millions of fireflies underwater, but is in fact phosphorescent plankton. Not 30 seconds later I was brought out of my trance by a dolphin leaping at the bow of the ship... then another. As they play in the bow wake, they stir up the phosphorescent plankton and leave trails of light in the water -- absolutely mesmorizing! To heighten my dreamlike state, I see that this glow in the water below is mirrored by the brilliance of a night sky saturated with stars.

We awake in a whole new world. The sun rises slowly and gently, matching our pace, both of waking and cruising. As the sun bathes the surrounding islands, I begin to really underatnd the term remote: We are surrounded by lush, tropical jungle... green dripping from the shoreline. There is not a sound of civilization; no busses, trucks, horns, crowds... no "Hey Mister"!

We enter a channel only three times the width of our boat and wind our way along white coral fossil cliffs. Eventually they open up to become a huge bay, the ecology of which is incredibly unique due to it's formation which is more of a saltwater lake. It's the only place in Raja Ampat where white dolphins are found, among other interesting critters. We don't happen upond any of them this time, but we do watch flying fish skip along the water, the sun shining off their long slender bodies... we also see birds swooping and skimming the water's surface.

The pace of the day picked up from this lazy, surreal existence when a longboat bearing a musical welcoming committee motored into sight. They were a stunning sight: dressed in traditional outfits, their black skin contrasted with their dried grass skirts, they played guitars and drums, belting out rhythmic Papuan songs.



This was merely the beginning of what turned out to be an incredible celebration. We were greeted at the docks by another welcoming party -- more music and dance and a ceremonial blessing... a few of us had wreaths of intricately-woven exotic flowers and plants put over our heads and were guided arm in arm in a lively dancing procession to the main area of the village. There were speeches and signings, the symbolic exchange of beetlenut, and then a delicious seafood feast. It couldn't have been a more fabulous day... and the rest of the tour was just as fabulous - a great start to what promises to be an incredible adventure.

It's mid-November... Thanksgiving, 'fall colours' AND Hallowe'en have all blown by without my realizing that it's FALL in Canada. Because here, it's all the same. Although the rainy season apparently 'wants to start', it has yet to darken our doorstep.

That is not to say that big things are happening with us here! I am writing to you from PAPUA!? So, to say that in itself is not enough... I should mention that we are on the "Bird's Head", Raja Ampat, in the province of West Irian Jaya, on the west half of Papua New Guinea. We're still in Indonesia... but it's truly another world.

The last few weeks have been incredible. The culminating celebration of fasting month (puasa) in the Muslim faith is called Idul Fitri, and this year it fell at the end of October a short time before the CUSO Conference in Bali. It denotes the biggest time of year for Indonesian holidays... so we took off early from Manado. We first visited our friend Cecilia in her swank (if temporary) home in Makasasar (also on the island of Sulawesi, but at the Southern tip). We spent a lovely 4 days there... lazing in breezy pools, tripping into a cool hillstation called Malino, and even a day-trip to a nearby island!

So, with almost two weeks to go before the upcoming CUSO Cooperant Conference, the three of us headed from Makassar to Bali. The days flew by... and although we had plans to go island-hopping throughout NTT (Lombok, Komodo and Flores), given that the friends with whom we wanted to meet up there were off galavanting in other parts, we decided to hold off on exploring that part of Indonesia for a time when they will be there to provide us free accomodation (!)... so we constrained our trip to Bali.

We went back to Ubud, enjoying the rich cultural scene there, including attending a kchek performance... The awesome power of this dance is overwhelming. There was a national kchek with over 5000 participants held at the end of September to send a message of peace to the world. After seeing the small-scale version we did I can imagine it was an effective message! There is no musical accompanyment in the kchek -- bare-chested men sitting in a circle around a firey candalabra provide the momentum to the dance and the story... the rhythmic chants of chek, chek drive the dancers. I am going to try to upload a video which you will be able to download and watch if you'd like to see a snippet. The culmination of the evening was a fire dance/fire walker... a man in a trance so deep that he didn't feel the searing coals as he danced over them!

Lots of beach time and a few novels later, Cecilia and I decided that we would leave Martin playing in the waves (remember, he is a die-hard surfer and waves are truly non-existent in Manado) and see more of the island. We rented a motorcycle and hit the road. But of course, the roads here... well, it's not like driving in Canada. 1) Indonesia falls into that half the world that drives on the LEFT 2) there are no apparent 'road rules'... and 3) it's PACKED! Anyway, we overcame all these obstacles, and more, and had a fabulous tour. We wove our way throught hte mountains, and got to see what we felt was more f the 'real bali'.

After that it was off to the Cooperant Conference which hopefully I'll get a chance to write a bit more about later! Now, I'm consumed by Papua!

Durian

I forgot the food bit... so here's a quickie!

I really can't fully comment on this spikey tropical fruit because I still have yet to overcome the repulsion that came along with my first exposure! Durian is certainly unique, with a STRONG personality... or stench as some might say. While we were still fairly new arrivals in Indonesia, and doing our language training, I was trying anything and everything new... until I tried Durian juice. One sip was enough to make me ill. I am told that as a 'fresh fruit' it is an entirely different taste sensation, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to try! In the evenings as you walk along the sea-front boulevard, it is the overpowering smell of Durian that ensures you remember you're in Indonesia, and not, say, back in the Galapagos!

Adventure awaits!

A long-awaited, much-anticipated entry… or maybe you’ve all given up on me since I’ve been so lax in the ‘blogging’ department!?

Since Martin and I will be heading out of Manado on Friday for an extended period of time, now seems an appropriate point to give a quick update on recent happenings, and overview of where we’re headed! And maybe a word or two on some more gastronomical delights (time permitting), considering it does seem to be developing as a common thread throughout this blog!

After our month of fun with the kiddies in Bunaken, we came back to home-base and began to look for ways to go back there! In other words, we’ve been looking for donors, and writing proposals to search for more funds in order to run a longer, more complete program on the island. So the last two weeks have been spent bringing Bintang Laut into the IT-age… I have been making a webpage for the organization (of course, I had to make them an email address first!) – which you can feel free to check out in Bahasa Indonesia or in English if you so desire. We have had some success locally; it seems that the NSWA (North Sulawesi Watersports Association – a ‘cooperative’, if you will, of dive and tour operators in the area) is very interested in us and our ideas, and have tentatively agreed to fund an ongoing immersive environmental education program!

So, where are we going on Friday??? Well, first stop: Makassar to visit our friend Cecilia (also a CUSO Cooperant) and buka puasa (break the fast) for Idul Fitri, the culmination of the month-long holy month of Ramadaan in the Muslim faith. The inverse of the rest of Indonesia, Manado is 90% Christian, so although there is a Muslim population, Ramadaan has not had the effect on daily life in Manado as it has in most of the rest of the country. Cecilia said that any store selling alcohol in Makassar was forced to close for the month, and even non-Muslims tend to adjust to a different rhythm during the fasting month. We will only have 4 days in Makassar, but it will certainly be interesting to be there for the fiestas at the end of Ramadaan, as well as to see Cecilia’s digs and meet some of her co-workers.

From Makassar, the three of us will fly to Bali. We have 2 weeks before the CUSO Cooperant Conference, and we have no defined plan as yet. Martin is craving waves, considering there are NONE in North Sulawesi, but other than that we don’t have any constraints… We will hopefully tour some of Nusa Tenggara, and at least go visit the dragons on Komodo (what… you thought dragons were mythical creatures?)

The CUSO Conference is being held in Seminyak, just north of Kuta (the tourist trap) in Bali… on the beach! After a week there, we fly back to Manado for 2 days (just long enough to do our laundry!) and then head to W. Papua New Guinea (where we will spend a LOT of time next year) for our orientation with Conservation International.

Phew! I imagine after all that, it might be a few days before I get it together enough to post again, but I hope you’ll all stay tuned! And keep on commenting, or emailing! – It’s great to know that so many people are keeping tabs on us, and to get news from home! Haha!

Enviro Ed



We're halfway through our month of Environmental Education programming on-site at the Marine Environmental Education Centre (MEEC) on Bunaken Island. It has been both challenging and refreshing. It is a wonderful reprieve from Manado to be living on Bunaken almost full-time... it’s a completely different reality than living in the city. It’s not dirty, stinky, or suffocatingly hot; there’s no traffic, other than the odd small prahu (boat) and of course, one can never complain by being awoken by the sound of waves rolling up onto the beach.... aaaahhhh. Water is a slight problem on the islands in general, so bathing is a challenge, and I'm considering either dreadlocks or a buzz-cut for the sheer convenience... But the real challenge is actually still the language. Seems there are at least 5 different words for naming any given species that we might see or be studying during our outings… and I’m sure you’ve not forgotten that these reefs happen to have among the highest incidence of biodiversity on the planet (not that I’m complaining – the diving is INCREDIbLE)… so, let’s just say that’s a LOT of new vocab to ingest!

The students are SOOO thrilled. This style of learning is a far cry from what they are accustomed to in their schools on a daily basis. They can hardly believe that they get a day to come on an adventure and EXPERIENCE the world they live in instead of being lectured to about it... and still call it learning. This, compounded by the general happiness it brings them to interact with a BULE... they all leave with broad smiles on their faces!

Tofu-mania

Tofu is found everywhere in Indonesia – however, the inherent health benefits that it usually is thought to have are over-ridden by the fact that it is ALWAYS fried.

Tahu Isi is my most recently discovered version of this yummy snack… It literally means tofu contents…. and it’s just that – a chunk of tofu filled with veggies (grated carrot and cabbage, and sometimes, if you’re lucky, bean sprouts).


Moto


One of the first phrases in Indonesian that Martin and I learned was “tanpa moto” due to the fact that moto is also ubiquitous in Indonesia. Moto is MSG, and it is used anything-but-sparingly in all manner of food... in fact, the only food that is sure not to contain moto is fruit.

The aptly-named snake fruit, or salak, is one of our favourite choices… it’s cheap, deteriorates less-quickly in the equatorial heat than most fruits, it’s peel-able (always a bonus to fight the invisible nasties that may be lurking in markets), and it’s funky.

THANK YOU CENTRE HASTINGS!!!!!!

I just read an email from the PR folks at CUSO Canada to say they received a cheque from CHSS for 500$!

Some students at CHSS organized a fund-raising dance-a-thon in support of CUSO as a project for their Leadership course. Obviously the event was a success! I would love to hear more about the actual dance… wish I could’ve been there to watch y’all bust a move! Everyone at CUSO (including me!) is really impressed that highschool students are interested in International Development and applaud your initiative!

Great work guys!!!

Diving….

We FINALLY have been diving for the first time here in Bunaken… It’s nice to finally actually SEE what we’re here working toward the conservation of! And in truth we have Naeema to thank for that… had it not been for her visit, we would probably still be dry! We did 5 dives, including one night dive (a first for Naeema).

I’m toting a reef id guide everywhere with me, and although it doesn’t help much in learning the Indonesian names for everything I’m seeing, it certainly makes me appreciate how diverse the waters here are.

I have posted a couple of underwater pics for those of you interested in corals and sealife…

City-living

We found a house before becoming homeless and just in time for Naeema’s visit!

After a long and frustrating search for a house we have finally signed a contract… It may be in the city, and far from what we were envisioning when we began this whole adventure, but it is where we will be calling home for a significant amount of time…. and we can certainly house any and all of you who want to come visit! (Yes, it’s large – far too large for just two people… but that doesn’t mean there’s any plan to change that status immediately!)

We will actually have our first house guest help us move in!!! Naeema arrives the same day we are set to take possession… and I’m soooo excited! We haven’t seen eachother for 5 years (since graduating from Queen’s together in 2001) and I am thrilled she is able to come all the way from Dubai for a visit on her holidays!

Creambath

I would like to extol the virtues of another of our new-found pleasures called a “Cream-bath” (aka hour in heaven). This is not literally a full-body immersion in a tub of cream, as we might think when we first hear the term… but more an intensive treatment for your head. It seems that Indonesians really do love their pampering. For the equivalent of $1.50 Canadian you have your head, neck and shoulders massaged, rubbed and soaked in natural creams and tonics by professional hands… even if it isn’t a complete re-alignment of chakkaras, it certainly does refresh the mind, body and soul. My first cream bath was actually at a beauty factory in Jogja with Cecilia (Martin was not open to the treatment at the time, but has since come around!)