Jalan-jalan with Uncle Bruce & Aunt Bobby

After getting slightly turned around finding my way to their lovely hotel in the morning, I picked Bruce & Bobby up and we got on the road for what was to be a full and fun-filled day of touring around Bali...

We started off in the general direction of the great sea temple of Ulu Watu, and did arrive there around mid-day after a quick visit to the post-office, and a side-trip to Dreamland Beach (which has huge developments in progress and unfortunately is nothing of the secret isolated dreamland it once was!?). The Pinctu statues, which would dwarf Goliath, were the most impressive thing about that area.




Ulu Watu -- Luhur Ulu Watu (literally "Heavenly Rock Headland") is one of the six sea temples of Bali. Teetering on sheer cliffs over the Indian Ocean on the most south-westerly point on the island, the temple's dramatic backdrop makes it feel like a place of immense importance. We didn't have any issues with the monkeys... but there are plenty of signs warning of their potential aggressive behaviour! I think it was siesta time, and with the intense heat, they were hiding out in the cool shade of the bushes. Ulu Watu was also B&B's introduction to geocaching! There was an Earthcache there which Bobby led us to like an expert gps-user (I realize that an Earthcache is not the best introduction to geocaching, since there is no actual cache... just a series of questions to find the answers to)! (Of course, we tried another one later in the day as well, at Tanah Lot, and it was a bust as well - I hope they'll get a chance to try another some time - especially with all the traveling they do, it'll probably take them to a lot of neat places they wouldn't otherwise know about!)









On the way to Tanah Lot we passed a few rice fields that were in the process of harvest... so we stopped to get a close-up view. Although I'm not much of a tour-guide for Bali (having only been here about a month myself!), at least I can speak the language and translate to ask questions of the people we met along the way! The rice they are currently farming in Bali is the new 'improved' species which yields three harvests per year (the traditional rice yielded only two, although they say it was of a better quality). Interestingly enough, migrant workers come from Java for the harvests, since they will work for lower wages than the Balinese!

We arrived at Tanah Lot just in time for a sunset that was not to be (although we were treated to a beautiful deep red eye in the sky just before it slipped over the horizon, the clouds prevented us from seeing the glorious post-card picture Tanah Lot). It also happened to be high tide, and we can now understand where Tanah Lot got it's name (literally "Land in the middle of the sea"): the temple itself is seated on a rock out-cropping that is isolated by the sea at high tide... but we enjoyed the view of it, and B&B bought some beautiful kites (or as Bruce called them, his 'new packing challenges'!).

On the way home we stopped for a sea-side dinner in Jimbaran, the traditional fishing village that has turned into THE fresh sea-food dining area of Bali. Our table was literally less than 15 meters from the surf, and B&B spoiled me to a delicious lobster and squid (and chicken) dinner.

I guess you can tell by the length of this entry that it was a fabulous day - so enjoyable hanging out, and visiting all day. How exciting to meet up with family so far from home! I can't wait 'till B&B plan their next trip, and perhaps come back to visit again! We should be getting a house of our own soon, with an extra room (nudge nudge wink wink hint hint), to entice more family to come visit!

It was after 12 when I arrived home to the news that my departure to Sorong was the next morning. Having not yet packed for the trip, and with a few loose-ends to tie up before leaving, needless to say, I was a little short on sleep by the time I was off to the airport at 6 am!!! Luckily I got a super-comfy hotel room for my transit in Makassar, and arrived in Sorong fit-as-a-fiddle!


B&B even introduced ME to something new: the ginger fizz... yummy!




P.S. Bobby, I hope you haven't been getting eaten alive by mosquitoes... I found your bug spray in my bag on the way to the airport!

Best shampoo advert yet!



Isn’t this the best shampoo advertisement? No shiny locks, smooth or curly, black or blonde... and in a country where 90% of the population is muslim, i'm sure this marketing technique is quite successful! And besides... are any of us really fooled into thinking that if we use a brand of shampoo sporting a picture of a gorgeous head of hair on the label, that we'll miraculously be transformed!?

What gives...???

Two of the teachers from Realia Language school in Jogja (the school where Martin and I started our Indonesian adventures) came to Sorong to provide English classes to CI staff. (This was way back in June, I think - and I have been meaning to post this pic since then!)



Anyway, we were not very clued-in when we invited Tutut and Wawan out for dinner in Sorong... to Malioboro Warung (our favourite on the tembok)! Malioboro is the name of probably the most famous street in Jogja, where great shopping (and food) is to be found! Oops... we pretended it was in an effort to make them feel at home! Haha!

I got totally fed up with just blobbing on the beach, listening to podcasts and taking pictures of Martin surfing… so I'm getting myself a body board, and I’m learning as well! I certainly can’t do any of the fancy tricks that Martin does, but at least I’m out there getting a little exercise, and enjoying the thrill of catching the odd wave!



I would have liked to continue on with my long-boarding (which all began with a lesson with the girls back in Jaco, CostaRica about 4 years ago!), but unfortunately the waves on Bali are just too packed with people, and I'm afraid I'll crash into all the other novices!

HASH!

Martin and I went with our friend Helen to our very first "Hash" on Saturday afternoon... and WHAT A BLAST!

The Hash House Harriers have been around for decades, apparently, but before coming to Indonesia I had never heard of it! The Bali group is a very interesting cross-section of people... all into getting out into the 'real' Bali, getting some exercise, and having some wacky, silly, fun... and not to mention, a few beers!

The route for the run, marked with shredded paper, was up, down, and all around; across rice paddies and drainage ditches, past local baths and temples, through back alleys and fields of sweet-smelling flowers for temple offerings; we waded through rivers, and clambered up slippery slopes! It absolutely POURED rain as well, so we were soaked within minutes, and it sometimes washed away the trail-marking-paper, but it kept us nice and cool! One time we passed by one communities women's traditional bath, there was a lady having her afternoon 'mandi', and amiably asked us if we would like to join her! (I guess we probably looked a site - covered in mud!) The scenery was absolutely stunning, and the false markers to throw you off-course only added to the fun!

Oh yes, and did I mention... as 'virgin' Hashers, we had to do a "Down Down" (ie chug a beer) in the middle of the ceremonial circle as part of our initiation!?! Haha!

I think we may become members, and take up 'hashing'! - the main thing about it that attracts me is the same as geocaching - it takes you to all kinds of places you would never otherwise know about!

Sorry no pics to accompany this post, but I'm glad I didn't take my camera, since it rained the entire time! And, as a side note, it hasn't stopped raining since, and some of the worst flooding yet this year has been seen today! I feel badly for Bruce and Bobby on their tropical vacation to Bali - they're waiting for it to stop raining!

Banana leaf Bungkus

My favourite way of getting food "to go" is in the traditional style, often still used by smaller warungs (vendors)... they use a banana leaf to wrap your food in....




No plastic - yay! I feel that the major problem with plastics garbage in tropical countries is actually due to this tradition... it was fine to simply toss your banana leaf after consuming your food, or whatever was wrapped in it in the past, but with the advent of plastics, and NO socialization/education, people are simply ignorant to the fact that a banana leaf degrades in days whereas a plastic bags takes hundreds of years... so they keep tossin'!

Paket tude bakar…

Our recent short visit back to Manado made us reminiscent of our time there… One of our favourite foods, and in fact the first traditional Manadonese meal we had upon our arrival in Manado back in June 2006, is this simple packet deal.

Grilled fish (in this case, Tude, which I have no idea of the translation for!), rice, garlic kangkung (my favourite veggie in Indo, I call it water-spinach or morning glory in Enligh), and dabu-dabu (my favourite sambal ("hot sauce") in Indonesia hands-down).




Martin (and anyone else in the restaurant, actually) usually make fun on me while eating my fish, since I am little slow at shifting through the bones to get at the meat… and because I remove everything that isn’t meat (ie. skin, etc)… but I enjoy it just the same!


During our recent visit, Manado seemed to be unusually abuzz… but this seemed to be more than just the hustle-and-bustle of Christmas… and, as we found out upon our departure, it was… the present is coming tomorrow! The road from the airport was being widened to twice it’s usual size, and the police and military were doing drills for the escort around town; the usual advertisements for cup-a-noodles and cigarettes along the road from the airport into town were covered over with banners proclaiming Manado’s love for their president, and how proud they are to be his people, etc!

New Year's Day!

What a different scene the beach in Sanur was on the first day of 2009! Usually this area is called 'sleepy Sanur', because it's so laid back, but not the other day! It was PACKED with people... mostly locals by the look of it, but lots of foreign tourists as well...



HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL! Hope it is full of peace, love and happiness!

Dragonfruit - revisited!

In this previous post, I discovered dragonfruit for the first time in Asia...

Even since then, I have lived in complete ignorance that Dragonfruit is actually a cactus fruit! Having never seen it still attached to the plant! Well... it's all starting to make sense now! So now I know, and so do you!

Beachy Christmas

The weather was wonderful... sun with a nice breeze to keep from roasting... and the best part, as far as Martin was concerned, were the waves!

We spent part of Christmas day, and the few days after, on a beach not far from our current lodgings... Martin just couldn't get enough of the surf, even with his skin literally peeling away from his feet because of blisters from his new set of fins!




I enjoyed the beach-time as well... I got my dose of vitamin D, caught up on some podcasts and read an entire book on the Balinese culture and way of life, and even managed to take a few pictures of Martin in the waves.... and although we were on a fairly quiet beach (some surfers, but certainly no other tourists, and very few locals), I still enjoyed watching the variety of activity that was going on all around!


























Of course, even with limited clientele, the fried-things vendor shows up, displaying his wares on the back of his motorcycle!

Christmas Trees

One day when I was running a few errands around the town of Sorong, it seemed to me that on every street corner I saw a fabulous little Christmas display... there were trees decorated in all different manner, creche scenes, banners, etc! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, and the next day, when I went around to try to capture some of these unique Christmas displays, I could only find one... This Christmas tree was at the local motorcycle taxi stand... made by the members of it's cooperative to commemorate the holiday!



Arriving in Bali, of course, there were a whole different species of displays... and on an island of Hindus, Christmas is of course, purely commercial, and put on for those visitors that might be celebrating! These Christmas trees were in front of one of the largest malls in Southern Bali.

Friwen

The Kalabia was out in Raja Ampat last week, where we delivered an education program at the small village of Friwen. Friwen is actually pronounced “free when”… funnily, as it turns out, because with the speed and flow of life in this hamlet, the answer is invariably, ‘anytime’! A german film crew came out for part of a day to catch us in action as well.



Here are just a few photos from this program. It never ceases to amaze me that in such a short time, we are able to create intense bonds with communities, while at the same time, have so much learning and environment-loving going on!










Obviously, our program is closely linked with the sea, and since our activities are interactive and experiential… that means we have to be close to the sea in general, and thus we spend a lot of time near shore. During our last program, I had occasion to watch and appreciate lots of the activities happening on a tiny island beach. Children in Raja Ampat are virtually born in the water! They are learning to swim by the time they can walk… and by the time they enter primary school, they are swimming like fishes!









When we take the program participants snorkeling, the main thing we have to worry about is that the kids don’t eat the bite-tabs on the snorkels.




The covered hut on the jetty at Friwen was host to a few conservation-minded messages – here is one of my favourites:


It reads: Once the last tree has been cut down, the last river has been polluted, the last fish has been caught, only then will people realize that they cannot eat money.

Anak Raja Ampat

One of my favourite turns-of-phrase here in Raja Ampat, Paua, is when people (adults and children alike) refer to themselves as “anak raja ampat”, or ‘a child of Raja Ampat’. It just has such a beautiful connotation, and envelopes the idea of community here… children are not just children of two parents, but of a community, and of the natural environment that sustains that community.

The phrase implies the belonging, and ownership and dedication that all people feel over/to Raja Ampat, and also the close connection that they still feel with their homeland. Traditionally people here live in harmony with their natural surroundings.

It's one of the reasons I have great confidence in the conservation efforts in Raja Ampat - the essence of conservation is at the core of their very being.

Whirlwind Canadian Tour

I'm getting all out-of-order and out-of-sorts again... but here's a quick recap of our last hoorah in Canada before coming back to Indonesia at the beginning of November...

Martin arrived in Canada at the end of October (after a great long visit with his family in the Galapagos), with a small window of time just before we were set to head back to Indonesia. Because his summer visit had been cut short, and he didn't get to spend any time in Ontario, or visit his brother in Quebec, we decided a whirlwind tour was in order.





I picked him up from Pearson airport on the morning of the first snow in southern Ontario, and we spent a blustery day in Toronto. We met up with our friend Cecilia (it was the first time seeing here since all of our return from Indonesia), rode on the street cars, walked around Kensington Market, and had Pho for lunch. In the afternoon, we did a bit of a driving tour of the city, then headed further west to the great Canadian tourist attraction: Niagara Falls.



We only spent one night, and the better part of the next day exploring around the Niagara area before heading back to pick up my brother in Guelph (and have a great Indian dinner with cousin David), visit Martin's uncle and family in Toronto, and head back to Madoc. Thank goodness Jonathan was with us, and took care of the last leg of the driving (including a hilarious encounter with police just minutes from home)... we got home at about 3 am or so! We spent Hallowe'en in Madoc, and even went to a 'haunted corn maze' with the whole family!







Then it was off in the other direction... to visit Martin's brother, Carlos, and his wife Valerie, in Sherbrooke. We spent a nice few days with them, then headed back to Ontario.





We had a short visit with some good friends of mine in Ottawa, toured our nation's capital (and even did a few geocaches there!), then headed back home again.



We had a few last visits with friends around home, then had to get packing, and get on the road! It was wonderful to be home for so long, and spend so much time with family - how lucky!

The Box




Here is another classic 'reused' toy: the box.

Like children all over the world, lots of kids in Raja Ampat get high mileage out of a box as a playmate. Unlike their counterparts in the 'developed' world that prefer to play with the box their expensive toys came in, these kids usually don't have the choice. But little Diti doesn't mind!

Tire Swings and Recycling



A universal toy... and such a practical, simple one (not to mention, the best use I can think of to re-use an old tire)! These tire swings have sure gotten a lot more mileage out of this tire than the odometer of the car would have read! Funny though, no cars on these islands!



I was talking with someone here about garbage the other day; The 5 R's: Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... and the importance of the ORDER of them. It's interesting to be in a society where, for the majority of people, refusing or reducing is not an issue (because of their economic state, they live an almost completely non-consumerist lifestyle), and the concept of reusing exists purely out of necessity. The concept of recycling doesn't exist at all of course, because the facilities don't exist; and creating the infrastructure in an area like this would be a nightmare (in terms of being geographically feasible, and also given the climate of corruption that envelops the Indonesian government)!

Of course the major problem with the lack of recycling is the same as anywhere: in the amount of packaging! Packaging, and plastics and consumerism is in its raw beginnings even in these far outreaches of the planet... (urged on by industrial giants, media, and a very small affluent minority of the public that believes that their wealth can be affirmed by being big-time consumers)... but the facilities to deal with the impacts of all the waste that will be generated are nowhere in sight! (Why, why, must developing countries repeat the same mistakes made by all 'developed' countries!? A whole step in the cycle could be averted and save a lot of earth-ache.)

The charming, traditional, practical and natural banana-leaf bungkus (packaging) is going by the way-side and being replaced by colourful, expensive, NON-BIODEGRADABLE, turtle-and-whale-killing, sea-smotering, plastic. uuugh.