Congklat (chong-klat)

It sounds like the Indonesian word for Chocolate actually, but I'm not writing about food this time... Congklat is a very popular game in Indonesia, and in fact, all over Asia. Although it is also sometimes called Congkak, or Congklak, which means ‘cowrie shells’ (because those are used as playing pieces), it is thought that the name is derived from the ancient Malay word “congak”, which literally means “to count”… this makes complete sense given the nature of the game itself.

During our visit to Bema traditional village in Flores, Sigit and I came upon this lovely group of ladies sitting around chewing betelnut and playing congklat while shooting the breeze. Some of these are Sigit's pictures, some are mine.

Broken ribs...

Martin didn't get very many days wakeboarding before he pushed the envelope a little too hard, and (possibly) broke a rib, which layed him out for the better part of two weeks! I can't imagine how painful it must have been to actually keep him from the water!

Martin being silly one night we had spare ribs for dinner:

Indonesian Bathrooms

I have previously written about the squat toilet, as inspired by a sign on how to use a ‘western’ toilet in a mall, but when I got home to Canada I realized that I haven’t written about the Indonesian bathroom in general…

In coastal area villages, the bathroom is still basically an outhouse built out over the water (river, lake, ocean):




But in most areas aside from these, bathrooms in Indonesia tend to have a few things in common other than the squat toilet:

The MANDI

Most bathrooms do not have showers (except in modern homes and hotels)… so there is a MANDI. A bak, or tub, which is filled with water, and a scoop (gayung) used to scoop and pour water over your body with one hand while desperately trying to scrub and lather with the other before the next scoop has to be taken. The ‘mandi’ is one of the reasons I was thinking of getting my hair chopped off in the first few months in Indonesia (the other, as you can imagine, is the incessant heat)! This scoop also serves as the 'flush' for the toilet.


TILED SURFACES

The entire bathroom is tiled, from the floor, the bak, right up to head-height…. This is because of the bathing style of splashing everything everywhere… there are no limitations imposed by a shower stall or bath tub… no, no, you just rub-a-dub-dub on the floor! This is a somewhat liberating experience, but the toilet paper (which isn't traditionally used by Indonesians, so isn't normally an issue) usually ends up a soggy mess!




The BIDET

Only in fancier homes and hotels, but in most public toilets. Always fun for a laugh the first time a westerner tries to figure out what that extra knob or button is for while looking for the flush – usually ends up as an impromptu shower! The more complicated the system, the funnier the outcome! Since this hotel HAD a shower, it was easy to know what the extra spray nozzle was for!

Home again, Home again, Jiggity-jig!

We're BACK ON CANADIAN SOIL!!!

Transit in Taiwan... although we didn't have a long stopover, there was no lack of eye candy in the Taiwan airport! We enjoyed the free massage chairs most of all!



aaahhhh...


We arrived in Vancouver to a simple and painless customs process, and my cousin David waiting to pick us up! Although it was already about 9pm, of course it was still light out (something I haven't experienced for 2 years, and for Martin, a completely new phenomenon in his life!)

Since being at the cottage at Christina Lake, BC, our primary activity has been wakeboarding and waterskiing… Martin, of course, is a natural. He got up on the second try on the first day – faster than anyone else ever has in our experience!

gearing up:


he got right up the second try! (you can see our cabins in the background):










of course, Martin's learning process wouldn't be complete without a few wipeouts and faceplants!


But, boy do we ever wish we had a set of those massage chairs here at the cabin now!!! It’s a whole new set of muscles that have lain dormant for a little too long!