EARTH DAY in Arborek

The Kalabia team attended the celebrations and declaration of "Raja Ampat Earth Day", to be celebrated the 10th of December each year.

The Bupati, or Head of the Raja Ampat Regency, was on-hand to make the official declaration. He planted a tree, presented awards to local conservation leaders, and gave a fairly succinct speech about conservation and the reason that Earth Day should be celebrated in Raja Ampat.








The village of Arborek is on a very small island of the same name - probably 2 square kilometers! The population of only one hundred live very closely interconnected with their natural environment. They are dependent entirely on the sea for food, and some of the elders here tell stories of the good old days when fish would literally jump into their boats in their abundance! With the currents raging around the island it is no wonder! One of the best-known, and most awesome dive sites in Raja Ampat is 'Manta Point', a feeding station for the giant Manta Rays on a reef just to the South of Arborek.





Aside from the abundance of fish, Arborek is also known for their 'Topi Durian', or Durian hats... not because they're made of that noxious fruit, or the tree which bears it for that matter, but instead because of the weaving style, which results in a somewhat spiky shell. The hats are woven from palm leaves, and used to use only natural materials; I note that mine is held together with fishing line, and the colours are much too bright to be from natural dyes - the times they are a-changin'. During the welcoming ceremony, the village presented one to the Bupati. I bought one to support the local initiative - the woman in the photo below is the one who made mine, and is the head of one of the weaving cooperatives.











Arborek is a quaint little town with two well-kept sandy streets, and a new jetty which is going to be opened for Christmas!

Kopi Luwak
The Rarest Coffee in the World!

Those of you who have seen the movie "The Bucket List" will have heard about this coffee... but otherwise, unless you are a true coffee-connoisseur, perhaps not, since only about 300kg are produced per year for distribution globally!

It's a coffee-connoisseur's crown jewel.

Kopi Luwak is coffee made from coffee cherries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). You can see from the picture, he's a small little guy, so no wonder the production is limited! I don't know how many people realize it... you probably wouldn't unless you'd been to a coffee plantation where there were ripe fruits, but the coffee fruit itself is really delicious! The bean is encased in a thin layer of red flesh which has a sweet, slightly bitter, taste (no, it doesn't taste like coffee), and an almost grape-like texture.



After collected, the beans are processed hygienically, and given only a medium roast so as to not destroy the complex flavours that develop through the process.

This Kopi Luwak process takes place only on the islands of Bali, Sumatra, and Sulawesi in the Indonesian Archipelago, where the Palm Civet lives. Producing no more than 300kg per year to be distributed throughout the world.

There was a sale on at Kopi Bali (a nice coffee shop in Sanur)... you could enjoy a pot of Kopi Luwak for only 200,000 Rp (approximately 20 CAD). We thought it was ridiculously expensive for Indonesia, but there was someone there who obviously didn't, and was savouring his indulgence. On our way out, I asked him how it was, and he replied "Well, it tastes like... (he paused dramatically)... coffee." I could have SWORN he was going to say 'it tastes like shit'!

On display was a 'gift set' of Kopi Luwak as well... you could purchase 100g of coffee, a small information booklet, and a preserved sample of Palm Civet scat (!?), all nicely packaged in a hand-carved wooden box, for the bargain-basement price of approximately 150 CAD!

The Crocodile
- by Lewis Carroll

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every shining scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!



We went by Taman Festival, an abandoned safari park, and met up with the crocs again... it made me remember this old poem.

The crocodiles at this park are enclosed and cannot escape, and have been left to their own devices, and yet they seem to be thriving... the most recent theory I heard as to how they are surviving so sumptuously is that their enclosure is used as the dumping ground for the Balinese mafia's prey!? I hope I never find myself on their bad side - seeing those shiny teeth behind a wall was close enough for me!

Back in BALI



After the longest time in transit probably ever recorded in the history of 'simple trips', Martin and I are back in Indonesia! Actually we arrived on the 11th... so I guess, technically we've already been here for TWO WEEKS!

After all the commotion of trying to get visas through embassies in Canada and Peru, we were finally advised just to get ourselves to Singapore and process the visas there. The Indonesian Embassy in Singapore was the epitome of efficiency, and after just a short 6-hour stopover, we were back on the road to Indo with our fresh visas in-hand!

In fact, I almost wish we had had the whole day in transit at Singapore's Changi Airport. It was like a refreshing haven... other than the armed guards (ie. children) walking around making you feel 'safe' (Aaaah... the police state). In fact, if I had to live in an airport, I would definitely chose Singapore. We took in as many of its luxuries as we could in the relatively short time we had IN the airport... full-body massage chairs, sleeping lounge, relaxing oasis, and butterfly garden complete with GEOCACHE (all free-of-charge)! We didn't even have time for the free movie theatre, games-rooms, shopping, or complete city-tours offered!



The trip itself wasn't so bad either... although we were in transit for 60 hours (door-to-door)! Now that we're back, we're starting to get RE-acclimatized to the heat and humidity, eat some mangoes, and get into work!

Step one: Figure out what, if anything, happened in the four months you were away!




(I absolutely LOVE my new MADOC bag (courtesy of Tonnie Braden), and carry it around everywhere with me... knowing, as an added bonus that it's making something good of those insidious plastic bags! Most people think it's made of rattan, or some other natural woven fiber!) p.s. that's a fresh mango-papaya fruit smoothie... aaaahhhh... enjoy the snow everyone! xo

Pisang Keju
(Cheezy Banana)



The only thing to do outside the office in Sorong is hang out at the ‘Tembok’ waterfront area. Tembok literally means wall, and it is the break-water wall where several food/drink street cafes are setup in the evenings.

The official menu usually offers some tasty treats, and typical drinks. One of them is pisang keju (cheezy banana), which I tried for the first time the other day. The unofficial menu includes hard liquor (like Cap Tikus, or Arak, Indonesia’s famous moonshine). I was let in on this inside secret early on during our stay in Sorong: if the locals are facing the cafes/street, they are just hanging out… if they’re facing the sea, it signifies they’re doing some hard-core drinking!




And NO, we're not yet back in Indonesia... but we're on our way. Martin is finally back in Canada, and we just got back from a whirlwind tour: Toronto, Niagara Falls, Guelph, Madoc, Sherbrooke, Ottawa, and home again!

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.

The Ice Cream Guy!



The Wall's jingle came to embody daily life in Indonesia for me (certainly Manado, anyway)... you remember me talking about the array of mobile vendors with their various shapes and sounds (including the peanut vendor)... well, just like the good ole days at home, the Wall's ice cream jingle is the most distinctive, absolutely inconfundible. Whether he choses to walk, pedal or scoot, the ice cream man is always accompanied by the same polyphonic tune.



I'm sure we must've bought this ice cream man's quota for the day, hence his kindness in letting us stage this photo!

I apologize for my techno-incompetency here... Blogger doesn't host simple audio files, so I had to patch together a picture with an audio clip that I captured with my voice recorder... hey, I got THAT far at least... don't expect me to figure out how to format it to CENTER it on the page as well!?! Just enjoy the soundbyte.

SAGO

... since I'm still chillaxin' in B.C., I thought I would finish off a few blogs that I had started over the past year from Indonesia...


SAGO

Sago, or Sagu, is the staple food in the Indonesian province of West Papua (or at least, it used to be). Growing especially in coastal areas, sago palm trees (metroxylon sagu) are not planted by island or coastal residents, but simply harvested from the jungle. Rice is coming to replace sago in most of the coastal areas I've visited, although it is not grown in the area and has to be imported.




One Sago Palm yields enough sago starch to feed a family for weeks or even months.

There's no word for it in English... and there's no way to fully describe it, either.

Sago can be 'processed' and cooked in several ways... usually the tree is harvested and brought to the seaside for processing to extract the starch. The trunk of this palm has thorns, so usually the outer bark is removed (cafefully!) after felling the tree, and before it is brought to the shore. The inner core (or pith) of the tree is then chipped out to yield the high-starch raw material for processing. (This image is from Wikipedia... amazingly, I can't find a single one of my own in all my pictures!)



Update:  See this blog, which contains a little about our attempt to help in the processing of Sago on Biak Island, or this one, which delineates the entire process from a visit to Sarmi!

Sago flour is the most common result of processing, and this is what is then used in food preparation. I don't think it has much nutritional value – seems like your basic tummy-filling carbohydrate.

So far, I have eaten sago as 'papeda' (served with a yummy fish curry) and 'bagea', as explained in this previous blog.  The traditional ceremonial feast called "Bakar Batu"(literally, roasted rocks) often includes Sago as well.

As with most things on these islands, every part of everything is used, and so the Sago Palm leaves are also used in many villages to build rooves for huts.

Christina Lake



Our time at the lake was anything but boring... Mom & Dad and Auntie Barbi and Uncle Jacques made it wonderful! Sooo wonderful in fact, that ... I'm back! Martin had to head back to the Galapagos earlier than planned, so instead of staying 'home alone', I came back out to enjoy more time with family, and the fabulous weather. And although Martin is convinced that "Canada is nothing but pine trees", I think he enjoyed his time with us at Christina Lake, too! I think he was a bit disappointed he didn't get to see a live moose, though...



He got really good on the wakeboard after his rib healed from the incident early-on!


... and I got back into the swing of things as well...


... and I even convinced Martin to go tubing once!



In addition to water-skiing and wakeboarding, we had a great time, and kept pretty busy!

Diving - first fresh-(read COLD, like 4.5 Celsius COLD)-water dive for either of us... and first dive in Canada for that matter! To be perfectly honest, with all the hassle of gearing up (honestly, about 20 minutes) and the extremely limited (read practically NON-EXISTENT) life to be seen, I'm not sure it's worth it! ... but we had to at least try it once! I know, this pic is sideways... just pretend it's a trick I was pulling in the water (yeah, like with THAT much wetsuit on, you have any flexibility or maneuverability!?)!



Fishing - everyone is convinced that Martin talks the fish onto his hook! That kokanee was yummy!


Geocaching - i finally got to get some more caching done (my favourite passtime), and I even had the help of a few newbies! If you have no idea what I'm talking about and are interested in finding out more about this world-wide GPS treasure hunt, you can check out geocaching.com... but be forewarned: it's addictive!





The thing I love best about geocaching is that it takes you to all kinds of new and interesting places... and we re-discovered a bunch of stunning areas right in our own back yard!








Cycling - we pulled out the old-school bicycles, dusted them off, pumped up the cracking tires and went for a tour (great idea in the 30+ degree heat!)...




Food - well, this wasn't an activity, per say, but a big part of life at the lake! we had all manner of delicious meals which i had been missing in Indonesia, including a few French specialties, thanks to our in-house french connection (yummy Ratatouille and Boef Bourguignon)! The best part was preparing all the meals and eating them with family. Martin even made us his special 'nasi goreng' one night!