Salak
Snake Fruit

I can't believe I haven't written about this lovely little fruit in my entire time here... it's one of my favourites!

The peel of a snake fruit very literally looks just like snake skin... but it peels away to reveal a three-part, lovely little sweet/sour treat!





So after starting this blog, I realized I had written about this previously! Am I losing my mind??? Oh well, here it is again...

voyeur frog
(indoor/outdoor living)

you saw by example of our bathtub komodo
we often have wild things come and go from our joglo

no one bothers the other - it's all good
and it certainly makes interesting our little hood

there's a resident frog in our bathroom as well
he has his own hiding place under a shell

the warm water and soap can't do much for his skin
but what do you know, he just keeps hanging in!

aside from the geckos and tokes and toads and moles
we've got spiders and critters of all kinds in our walls

it must be said also, this open living is great
no limits for the sun and wind to pass through the gate

the only downfall, i'd say, are the evening mosquitoes
but the bats swooping in keep them on their toes!

and so goes the ode to our little abode
i hope you'll all make a visit...
...it's not toooo far, now izit?

I can't stop singing the Anne Murray song "Hippo in the Bathtub", because of a funny thing that happened a few weeks ago (before I left Bali for 3 weeks in the field in Papua).

I was working at home, quietly clicking away at my computer... when the cleaning lady, ibu, came running out from our bedroom/bathroom, screeching... "Angelina, Angelina," (she like to call me Angelina - I'm not quite sure why, but I tell myself it's because of an uncanny resemblance to another, perhaps better-known Angelina), "Ada Komodo di kamar mandi!" (There's a komodo dragon in the bathroom!) This of course, was accompanied by a string of other exclamations, most of which I didn't actually understand... except the "aduh, aduh, aduh", which translated, basically means "oh dear, oh my, my gosh".



So we rushed back in together (ibu cowering behind me, in fear), and sure enough, there's a HUGE monitor lizard scrambling back out over the partial bamboo wall! (Relative of, but not the same as, a Komodo Dragon) He was too quick for me to grab my camera, but the above is a picture of a similar species that I took last year, so you get an idea of what kind of creature we're talking about here. Anyway, he escaped on his own, no problem - but he left me laughing, and singing this song!


Here are the lyrics to the song for those of you who didn't have the pleasure of growing up with it!

Hey, Daddy, there's a dragon in the driveway.
Momma, there's a grizzly on the lawn.
You better come quick-there's a hippo in the bathtub,
And it's going down the drain. Oh, no! it's gone.

Well, the minds of little children,
They go round and round and round,
Hearing giant's footsteps,
When I never hear a sound.

I just hear:
Hey, Daddy, there's a dragon in the driveway.
Momma, there's a grizzly on the lawn.
You better come quick-there's a hippo in the bathtub,
And it's going down the drain. Oh, no! it's gone.

Well, you never know if they really saw
All the things they have you believe.
But if there's dragons in this neighborhood
Then we're going to leave.

Hey, Daddy, there's a dragon in the driveway.
Momma, there's a grizzly on the lawn.
You better come quick-there's a hippo in the bathtub,
And it's going down the drain. Oh, no! it's gone.

And it's going down the drain. Oh, no! it's gone.

Pandan

Pandan leaves come from the Screwpine tree, which can be found throughout the tropics.


(This is actually not my picture. Even though, as it turns out, I have seen this tree all over Indonesia, it took me a long time to put together the fact that this tree was the source of the bright green foods!)

Pandan leaves are often used as flavouring and colouring in cooking in Indonesia (and apparently the rest of Asia and the Pacific as well), much as we use Vanilla. The most popular pandan specialty is the grass-green Pandan cake, which the first time I saw, I honestly thought must contain heaps of artificial colouring... but no! Pandan really produces that colour naturally! The sweet unique flavour is also used in rice and flavouring curries.

You can even get it now in packaged cake mixes!




The Screwpine tree is also said to have medicinal properties, and its uses include the tree bark as a diuretic, the roots used for their anti-diabetic properties, and the leaves are used for treating dermatological diseases.

And of course, true to the tropics, the whole tree has a use... in ancient times the leaves were also used for making grass skirts and thatching for roofs as well as woven baskets. The flower was used to make perfume as well as desserts and sweets.

Cock Fighting

The other day on the HASH, as I climbed a pretty narrow and treacherous slope, in the middle of what seemed like nowhere, I heard voices growing louder and louder... and lots of them! I emerged from the jungle path pretty much into the center of a huge gathering... it was a Cock Fight!



(This picture is c-Gert Holmertz 1976, but almost exactly represents the scene I came upon... more than thirty years later)


We were up in the hills, and our HASH run took us through this small, remote village... where all the men from villages miles away were gathered for this traditional, and some would say, inhumane, form of entertainment. Although Cock Fighting is part of the traditional Balinese culture, it is now also illegal.

I stuck around to see what all the commotion was about... In fact, the majority of the time, it was just a bunch of men sitting around in a circle petting their cocks... the actual cock fight itself was over in less than a minute... pretty anti-climactic if you ask me! The real hubub takes place just before the roosters are released - that's the final call for bets (yes, gambling is at the heart of this tradition)! I was peering into the circle to see what was really at the center of attention, when at one point everyone started waving their fist-fulls of money around out in front of them, calling, "hum hum hum hum hum", and I got ushered back to the outside of the circle, with warnings that the knives were sharp and it was dangerous for me to be so close. This was the betting process, signaling that the fight was about to begin...







The cock fight is a fight to the death. The roosters have sharp blades attached to their feet in order to inflict the mortal wound to the opponent. The owners get their roosters riled up for the match, then they are released, neck feathers fluffed up, and ready to strike. The winning rooster goes home again, and his master is famed and his machismo secured, while the looser has chicken soup for supper.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the event; I haven't gotten brave enough to take my camera on a hash run yet, although we run through the most amazing scenery, it's also very treacherous, wet and muddy, and I would hate to damage it! These are a few that I was able to find on the internet, and pretty much represent the scene I was privy to.

I myself praise Kali…

Since living in Bali, a new dimension has been added to the way I understand a lot of things… I guess living in a new place will do that - open your eyes and mind to new perspectives and colour the way we look at the world.

I remember this great song, "PRAISE", about a goddess named Kali by an artist called Kinnie Star. One of my planting friends introduced her to our crew one year, and in fact this particular song became what I would consider the ‘camp song’ that year.

Anyway, other than the music itself (a unique style, funky beats and mix of instruments with involved lyrics and feminist overtones), there was something more powerful about this song.

I didn’t really know what until now! Kali is actually a Hindu goddess… The "Goddess of Time and Change" is a pretty powerful and important position, I would think! (As an Ange-aside: In the Indonesian language, kali, means river or stream.... kind of in-line with the flow of time, and change, no?)

Depictions and understandings of Kali differ between different sects of Hinduism, and different geographical areas, and actually, in Balinese Hindu, Kali is not one of the 'main' gods. But my favourite interpretation is Kali as a 'mother goddess', having great compassion for her children, providing them enlightenment (this is the ultimate form she took, after a series of changes of her being). By extension, many consider her the goddess of enlightenment or liberation.



I guess the song I refer to is typical of a western-influenced view of Kali. In the west she became somewhat of a symbol for feminism, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality.



The most common representation of her is as a four-armed blue being. The four hands are usually holding different objects; I found this explanation of what they represent: "Two of these hands are holding a sword and a severed head. The Sword signifies Divine Knowledge and the Human Head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha (enlightenment). The other two hands are in the abhaya and varada mudras or blessings, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshiping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter."



In reading up on this goddess, it seems she is extremely mis-understood... because representations show her holding a head, blood dripping from her tongue, and a necklace of skulls, she is seen in a negative light as the goddess of death and destruction... but in reading a little further on, it seems that that 'death and destruction' are of evil, and lead to enlightenment. This small complexity is just a hint of the involved nature of the Hindu religion and their gods... you can peel away layer after layer, and never truly understand the religion completely! But if Bali is any example... you don't have to anyway - understanding every intricate detail doesn't seem to be the point; here, it's more about the overall wholistic view and virtuous way of life.

Merry-go-Round!

Well, not exactly... but just as good if you're a six year-old Indonesian kid in a small town. The carnival rarely comes to town, but in several places I've lived in Indonesia, I've seen what comes in as a close second...



This 4-seater ride was near the popular Sukawati market in Bali, but the first time I saw one was on Bunaken island... This is the best kid's ride ever - and it even comes to your doorstep!!! They're also a MUCH more ecological choice than any amusement park or carnival - the ride is people-powered!!!

Coloured Air

This is a post from WAAAAY back in September 2007...



The content is probably just as nutritious as the cartoon character which it parades as its mascot is good for stimulating the mind... Hello Kitty Wafers of nothingness but food colouring!

The latest curiosity from the shelves of my neighbourhood supermarket!

I was reading this column the other day, and had a good chuckle... then I realized, I was chuckling because I understood the references... and then I realized, I might just fall into some of these categories!!!

I picked a few of my favourites from the list "You know you've lived in Indonesia too long when..." (which actually had about 100 items on it - several I believe to be specific to living in Jakarta, which, very very thankfully, I don't!). I've included my favourites below, and added a few of my own. But just a warning, those of you who have never visited or lived in Indonesia, and who don't like to be perplexed, you might be really bored, and should just skip this blog post!


You know you've lived in Indonesia too long when...

* You too believe traffic lanes, stop signs and one way streets are mere suggestions and that sidewalks were meant to drive on or they wouldn't have paved them. You also tend to use your rear-view mirror as a distance gauge, not to check traffic... because 'if it's behind you, it doesn't exist'!

* You can drive 60 kmh two inches from cars on either side of you, but cannot back into a parking space in an empty lot without two guys yelling “Kiri…Kiri Terus, Terus, Terus…”

* You differentiate between the rats that are ok to find in your house, and the ones that are not

* The footprints on the toilet seat are your own (*I finally understand the reason for the sign I saw ages ago in the bathroom in the Manado Mall...)

* You no longer wait in line, but immediately go to the head of the queue (I'm still WAY too Canadian to do this!)

* You're willing to pay to use a toilet you wouldn't go to within a kilometer of at home

* It is no longer surprising that the only decision made at a meeting is the time and venue for the next meeting

* You find it saves time to stand and retrieve your cabin baggage while the plane is on final approach

* You are quite content to re-choose your order six times in a restaurant that only has four items on the menu, because everything is 'habis' (out of stock), and you know that you can assume that if you visit again next week, or next month, it will still be 'habis'!

* A meal of rice, ramen noodles and fish sound like a well-balanced meal (the noodles accepted as vegetables here)

* Taxi drivers understand you... and you them!

* You own a rice cooker

* When crossing a busy street you believe that a limp wrist motion with your right arm creates a force field that repels oncoming traffic

* Even you start to believe that Brian Adams, Celine Dion and Avril Levine are the only three Canadian musicians that exist

* You look left, right, backwards, forwards, up and down before crossing a one way street.

* You've seen every Hollywood blockbuster three weeks before its premier

* You know at least fifty Indonesian acronyms, including BuGil (Bule Gila/ Crazy Foreigner), Curhat (curiga hati/ heart-purging dump session), Jumpa Berlian (Jumat Pagi Bersihkan Lingkungan Bersamaan/ Friday mornings, clean our neighbourhoods together), etc, etc

* You often eat at kaki limas or street vendors (the thought of mystery meat, or street meat, a distant concern)

* You carry tissues in your pocket for 'emergency stops'; OR, even more over the line... you don't have toilet paper in your bathroom anymore

* You answer the phone in Bahasa Indonesia

* You're stoked because your new flashlight came with a built-in cell phone!

* The blowpipe salesmen stop trying to sell you a blowpipe

* You don't find it odd that when you order a cold beer, the waiter serves you beer with ice in it; OR, even more Indonesian... you prefer your beer warm!?



Ok, so on the whole, I'm still safe... haven't crossed the line of living here too long... I UNDERSTAND all the references, but I certainly haven't incorporated the practices into my being... so I'm ok... right? ... right?

Edamame

No, it's not a comestible maternal figure (although it wouldn't surprise me, the Indonesians certainly do love their 'singkatan', or short-forms, and this could easily become the short form for edible mammy!) It is, in fact, something edible: edamame is another yummy Asian delicacy. It is a preparation of baby soybeans in the pod. I think it is more common in Japan, China and Korea, but I first tried it here in Indonesia.

The best part: Preparation is simple! The pods are boiled (or steamed) in lightly-salted water and served whole. They are consumed by using one's fingers and teeth to squeeze them out of the pod, which is then discarded.



The name itself is Japanese. Edamame literally means "twig bean" (eda = "twig" + mame = "bean"), supposedly a reference to the short stem attached to the pod.

In Chinese, young soybeans in the pod are known as maodoujia, literally "hairy bean pod". I find this more descriptive, and appropriate!

It seems edamame is usually served almost as an appetizer, but I'm also loving it as a healthy, nutritional snack!

Guess the name of this sacred site!?!



There are several of these geological formations all around Mayalibit Bay in Raja Ampat.

Kid in a boat...





I love these dugout canoes in Raja Ampat!

Back to Sorong

Well, I shouldn't be surprised anymore, but the meeting I was requested to come to Sorong for was cancelled, and nobody let me know until I arrived! Oh well, at least this means we can focus on the Kalabia, right? Wrong. The two 'bosses' aren't anywhere to be found. Ok, so at least I can join the Kalabia in the field and provide a little motivation and training for the Kalabia team, right?... Wrong again. The seas were rough, and no boat was willing to take me as far as the villages the Kalabia was working in at the time.

So... stuck in Sorong... waiting... waiting... waiting...

At least one day I joined a team going out to the island where the newest post is being constructed - Dayan Island. It's breath-taking, which isn't much of a surprise, because ALL of Raja Ampat is... here are a few photos:

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

The Team in Sorong is on quite a low these days... and what with several people taking off for Holidays, others for an 'End-of-Contract Break Period', and still others off to do Professional Development activities, those left behind are extremely deflated.

So Canada Day was a good excuse for me to gather them all together and do something fun before heading home at the end of the work day! I had stored away a bunch of Canada souvenirs from when I was home, and this was the perfect opportunity to get them out! We had snacks and did a quick but riotous 15-question quiz about Canada, and then divvied up the spoils! It was lots of fun, and the black-forest cake was actually one of the better ones I've had in Indonesia!








Hope celebrations at home were fun, and the weather was beautiful for you all!

White Water Rafting in Bali!

If you can imagine, on the LAST day my parents were here we WENT RAFTING!!! (which, as it turns out, is now over a month ago!)

Literally, less than five hours before they took flight for home, we were pulling up to the finish point in our rubber raft on the Ayung River in the central mountains of Bali!

It was a riot, and the thought was that if they got totally tired out, they might actually get to sleep on the plane home... unfortunately I don't think that went quite as planned... although exhaustion and muscle-soreness were definite effects (and not just for those travelling)! Luckily it wasn't the rainy season, and the river was quite calm... although that's not to say there weren't a few hair-raising sections!



But we enjoyed meandering through some of the most beautiful gorges in Bali, and even more-so with the lack of the noise from motor traffic which is hard to escape anywhere else!




And we were treated to kilometers of unique artwork - carvers, with a lack of wood to carve in Bali, took to the rock walls of the river gorges! We even saw one group of stone carvers in action, and praised their work.





We even got in for a *cool, yet refreshing dip, and massage under the waterfall!




I'm pretty sure my parents aren't sixty - at least they don't act like it!

Kalabia Conservation Education Vessel
Raja Ampat, Papua

This is a little pet project I have been working on for the program... and I even figured out how to embed it into my blog! You may be asked to install the Google Earth Plugin in order to see the content. After it loads, you will be transported to Raja Ampat, and guided on a tour with the Kalabia... it takes about five minutes. Let me know what you think! Oops... a few technical errors in SIZE!!! Oh well, I will have to find a different format with which to expose this I guess...


you can see it a little better here... http://kalabiaeducation.blogspot.com
but there still seems to be a problem with the pictures... hmmm... can you tell, I'm no computer programmer???

Bali Bits and Pieces

Well, after putting together several blogs from the month my parents were here, I felt like there were several odds n' sods that didn't fit into earlier posts, and didn't really warrant posts on their own.


We rented this scooter for the last few days of their visit... and actually it's probably a good thing we didn't get it sooner, since we would've missed dad's company most times! He went around the whole island for miles and miles!!!




... this was actually the only time that mom was on it...



Another theme which became ubiquitous with out road-tripping and an attempted photography subject was 'things on bikes'... motorcycles are the method of movement of the masses in Indonesia... but they don't just move people... they move EVERYTHING! Check out my previous post about this in general, as this phenomenon does warrant its own post!




The Tana Lot Trip...

... blew dad's mind away! He said that he was in complete and total shock... when he was here there was only one small warung , and a dirt path to the site!


Now, well... this still isn't high-season, and just look at the hoards:




But it's still beautiful, and you can see why this is considered one of the most holy sites for Balinese Hindu.




Martin was checking out the waves as possible body boarding site...



... and we even saw the 'holy snake', although this ISN'T him!

...Back to the family vacation...

Eastern Loop

Our last trip away from home was to the Eastern-part of Bali... probably the area least-visited on the island.

We definitely took the scenic route on the first day of our trip, winding through the central mountain region, and ended up staying the first night on the road just south of Padang Bai (a major port in Bali) in Mimba Village. Deciding that the homestay listed in the guide book with an addendum* like this was right up our alley, that's where we headed! **'secluded on a black sand beach - if you want real peace and quiet, this is the place to be'!



...and it was! We had a lovely evening, with nice company, and a 'classic' dinner of grilled fresh fish, cap cay (veggie stir-fry) and rice... and of course, lots of sambal (spice)! The rooms themselves were a bit dodgy, but at least the lighting was poor enough that you couldn't really see just how dodgy! At least mom and dad got to experience having a real cold-water 'mandi' (showering with a scoop) at least once!

Getting to said homestay was a bit of an unsure process, and we think ours might have been the only car down the road in quite some time! But we made it.



Another beautiful East-coast Bali beach... this one is actually a little closer to home, and a spot Martin often goes surfing at.




Anyway, our tour carried on up the East Coast via several beautiful sites...

Another Water Garden Temple, whose spring is the source of holy water for the region. We enjoyed the tiered gardens, and the lily pad meditative stepping stones through the fish pond (all I could meditate on was 'holy SHIT, those are some BIG fish!')!






A King's Water Palace at Ujung...




(a beautiful setting for having wedding photos taken, like this couple!)







We ended up in the Amed area, most appropriately, we think, at a set of cottages called Good Karma.




On our rustic little porches we enjoyed fresh young coconut with lemon gin, while watching the millions of ants go about their lives oblivious to our presence, and a Balinese family celebrating their daughter's six month temple celebration.




The small black sand bays of the entire area are filled to over-flowing with small colourful jukung fishing boats.




We came back through the central mountains again, and on our way, passed the scenic high-altitude Lake Batur...




... and many beautiful rice paddy terraces.