Pimp My RIDE!

The 'angkots' or 'mikrolets' (mini-van/short buses) in the city of Manado (where we lived for our first year in Indonesia) are renown for their unique style... although from what I'm told they're not quite on par with the ones in Padang, they certainly have a funny MTV vibe about them!

They are all base-blue, as regulation dictates I suppose, but they stray from the norm in any other way they can. Honestly, all the drivers pride themselves on their refurbishments and additions! This is a private public transportation system...




Alterations such as spoilers/fins, racing stripes, spinners for rims, glowing lights/ground effects are still within the mainstream... the insides are often adorned with black lights, disco balls, televisions, and gigantic bass-thumping speakers. The light system riggings are interesting, with the 'next stop' button often rigged to flashing multi-coloured lights! The space that these ultra-cool enhancements take up is no obstacle... even if it means the discomfort of the riders! Although several buses attempt to feign interest in the comfort of their passengers by using plush or felt seats in a variety of colours!




The leather racing stripe seat is a classic that doesn't seem to go out of style.



Funnily, especially in the evening, people will actually wait extra long, allowing many buses going their way to pass by, while waiting for a 'cool' mikrolet!




It’s also funny to note that bad, no TERRIBLE, English is rampant on these angkots... Slogans like 'Say no to Drug' are emblazoned in multi-coloured stencils on every available surface. Even better if this terrible English is used in conglomeration with copyright infringement. Some favourites are trademarks, logos and characters from international brands or companies like Billabong or Playboy.

There is still a little room for individuality in these, the art exhibits of the mini-bus drivers of Manado. Did I mention... a ride to anywhere in the city only costs the equivalent of about 20 cents!?

Poison Ivy

I have spent the last two weeks or more in itch-ville! After waking up scratching for many many nights, and feeling uncomfortable in my skin while I'm awake, I am finally on the mend... I can finally go out in public without worrying that people will fear that I'm contagious, and shy away from me!

I have only ever had a reaction to poison ivy once... five years ago, in the spring of 2003. Indeed, I believe that until then, I was not susceptible to poison ivy. During my years in the bush, I had several occasions where my mind was obviously off wandering when I suddenly realized that I was smack in the middle of a patch of this nasty shrub, and yet, I came away unscathed. My first reaction was actually much more severe than this time - the reaction went systemic and I was a real mess! (A reaction to poison ivy is actually called Urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, and is caused by the oil urushiol present in the entire plant; 85% of humans are sensitive to this irritant)

This time, since I couldn't get in to see the doctor for several days after I realized what it was, I tried a few 'home remedies': washing with sunlight soap, scrubbing with bleach, cleansing with rubbing alcohol, applying a hydrocortisone cream, and good old calamine lotion... (not all at once, of course). None of them really worked very well, and the rash was really bad by the time I got to see the doctor (with oozing blisters), so he prescribed oral prednisone. It had me up, down and spinning in circles, but it certainly decreased the allergic reaction and increased the rate of healing! This photo is from one day after I began the prednisone.



The story of the way I got poison ivy this time is really quite embarrassing... I was out geocaching, and enjoying my time outside, when I came upon this unique plant which I thought I'd never seen before. I actually admired it, wondered at it, PICKED it, and brought it home to identify! I had never seen poison ivy in the FALL, apparently, and didn't know that its characteristically green, waxy leaves do turn (red, yellow and orange, with brown spots), and that it gets little cream-coloured, slightly greenish clusters of berries.



I won't be making that mistake again!

Jus Apulkat
(Avocado Juice)



This is not a drink that is necessarily unique to Indonesia... I remember the first time I tried Avocado Juice in the Galapagos at 'Mi Grande' - in fact, that was the beginning of a nice friendship with Angel.

I think the Indonesians have the claim on the interesting addition of chocolate sauce, though! The syrup swirls are a nice touch - both aesthetically and gastronomically... if you can convince them not to add too much sugar in addition. It's delicious... 'till about half-way... but it's SOO filling I can rarely actually finish one, and for me, it constitutes a meal in itself!

Another Indonesian drink which I am loathe to classify as a 'drink'! ... Like many others... remember my previous post on Indonesian Drinks!?

Happy Puppy



I don't know why or how this name stuck (I think it may have something to do with their unnaturally-happy zealous mascot), but it has turned into the biggest, hottest, most trusted name in Karaoke in Indonesia! This is a 'family' establishment. No sex, no drugs, no hostesses (ie. hookers). I guess sex and drugs don't go with the rock'n'roll in this joint! (As a side note: They don't serve booze, although you're not disallowed from bringing in your own!)






Indonesia is Karaoke-CRAZY! Karaoke is one of the main forms of Entertainment that Indonesians indulge in... and I feel ashamed (or proud!?) to say that we lived in Indonesia for two years and somehow avoided this activity... until the second-to-last night! Once our friends in Jogja discovered this sad (in their opinion) fact, they insisted that we have a karaoke session. Truth be told, it wasn't as much like torture as I thought it'd be, and I even rocked out to the Supremes, and Marc Antony (seriously, check out the ultra-embarrassing pic!)! We actually did karaoke in English, Indonesian, Mandarin, and Spanish! And everyone joined in, whether they could speak the language or not, and of course, whether they could SING or not! (yes, any longer than 2 hours listening to the slightly off-key singers and it WOULD classify as torture!)



Funny thing is, that since being back in Canada, I've heard about how popular the video game 'Rock Band' has become... to me, this seems like another example of one of the fundamental differences between Canadian and Indonesian cultures; in the West, we want our entertainment on demand, and in private (not to mention the video game addiction)... whereas in Indonesia, EVERYTHING is a communal gathering!

And talk about a creativity-killer! I mean, what if Beethoven had been sucked into a game where he just had to follow a colour-coded mime of a song, instead of thriving on the freedom to CREATE!? I actually played Rock Band one evening with Amy over in Campbellford, and even though I consider myself quite capable musically, there was still lots of room for improvement on my scores! Of course, that's not something I'll be working on... I would much rather GO PLAY OUTSIDE!

A Joke?

I usually don't delve into the political spectrum of the blogosphere... but looking at the results of this Canadian election, I really have to ask... "Is this a joke?" I mean, WHAT changed? Nothing. Why did we spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a futile election? Just another waste of time and money which could have been more effectively used on any number of programs or initiatives to address some of the issues (that were really non-issues) in this election. Maybe using the same monies to stave off planned cuts to arts programs, or investing in any number of green-technologies to decrease our outrageous carbon emissions?

The fact that it was a useless election shows even more in the all-time low voter turnout across Canada (I heard one estimate at approx. 59 %, but I don't know the final numbers). This could only cause increased political diffidence and voter-ambivalence in the future among those who didn't think that this election was important enough to get to the polls in the first place this time!

On a side note... is ANYONE aware of the world we're living in right now? I cannot believe that the Green Party didn't get a single seat in the house. It certainly doesn't inspire any hope in me that the paradigm shift that is necessary to make even a small dint in the global warming crisis, is in sight. I guess people still don't get that ECOlogy is inextricably intertwined with EVERY other aspect of our society!?

Fall in Ontario

Just because the entire world is falling apart at the seams, and there is so much doom-and-gloom out there on the economic and political spectrum, I thought I would share with you something positive. Simple. The glorious world that we live in. Fall in our little corner of Ontario.





What a beautiful weekend for Thanksgiving. Get out and enjoy it. It always does wonders to lift my spirit. The cool, crisp, fresh air and bright, clear skies, the COLOURS! Wow... GIVE THANKS!

Rice

Rice is something that I've come to appreciate the complexity of since living in Indonesia. Honestly, this is something that is central to life here, and not just for rice farmers, but EVERYONE. Most people EAT rice three times a day! Not to mention the economic impact, and subtleties of rice imports and exports (there are some funny trade agreement games, which basically amount to the fact that Indonesia is importing and exporting the SAME amount of rice... duh?) In fact, rice is so important here, there is a different word for each phase it goes through!

This is padi (the rice plant, still in the field) in the sawah (the rice field, which WE know as rice paddys... hmmm... maybe there was a problem in translation somewhere in history!?):



This is beras (un-cooked rice):




and THIS is nasi (cooked and ready-to-eat; notice the side-dish dollop of sambal - super-hot fresh chili paste... no Indonesian meal is complete without it):



and THIS is nasi goreng (fried rice with bits of yummy goodness - Martin's favourite):




The terraced sawah in Toraja, South Sulawesi make for beautiful scenery:



I used to love to eat rice in Canada... now... well, it's certainly not something I consider a specialty anymore... but I'm used to eating it daily (I stop at once... not THREE times a day!).


... oh, and of course, my mom reminded me that there was one kind of rice I hadn't mentioned in this post... FREE RICE! If this link isn't working, you can just type in www.freerice.com to go to the highly-addictive (newly expanded) online word game, sponsored by the UN.