Just a quick note to let everyone know that we have arrived in Jakarta and are spending our first night in our new home. Internet and cable are not yet connected. Luckily, one of my neighbors has an unsecured wireless network I hopped on to post this message.
Interesting what we forgot to have available on our first night. We made sure to air-ship our clothes, my daughter's toys, etc. However, we have no pillows to sleep with tonight. DOH!
Tomorrow will be a very heavy shopping day - in addition to completing the immigration paperwork for my wife and daughter.
I'll post more tomorrow when I'm not so tired and have more time (and, hopefully, bandwidth).
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday March 28
Okay, I finally found an internet connection. I was unaware that our hotel did not have one. Sorry if any of you were worrying. I've posted everything I would have posted over the last several days below - broken up by each day for easier reading. Start on Monday.
It is now Sunday afternoon. We will leave Bali Tuesday afternoon. I did hear about the dam breaking south of Jakarta. My new house is south of Jakarta, but not 70 miles, so I think it is safe. At this point, I have not been able to contact anyone I work with to determine if anyone on my staff has been affected or if I need to find new housing. I know the executive housing is even further south, but I doubt they were impacted, either.
Also, I have a lot of photos to upload, but the connection I'm on is a free wi-fi in a coffee shop and the one picture I did load took 2 minutes, so I'll share the pictures when I have a faster connection - sorry to keep you waiting. The pictures are beautiful!
It is now Sunday afternoon. We will leave Bali Tuesday afternoon. I did hear about the dam breaking south of Jakarta. My new house is south of Jakarta, but not 70 miles, so I think it is safe. At this point, I have not been able to contact anyone I work with to determine if anyone on my staff has been affected or if I need to find new housing. I know the executive housing is even further south, but I doubt they were impacted, either.
Also, I have a lot of photos to upload, but the connection I'm on is a free wi-fi in a coffee shop and the one picture I did load took 2 minutes, so I'll share the pictures when I have a faster connection - sorry to keep you waiting. The pictures are beautiful!
Saturday March 28 - Ubud, Kintamanti and Uluwatu
Today was the busiest day we've had and will have for the whole trip. We saw much of Bali, and had several unique experiences along the way. Many of the places we visited sound like they are straight from a Dr. Seuss book - Ubud, Tampaksiring, Kintamani and Uluwatu.
After a quick breakfast, we loaded into the car with Eddie and took the 90 minute ride to Ubud (ew-bewd). Ubud is famous for its Monkey Forest. I was picturing something along the lines of the monkey walk we have at the Phoenix zoo where little monkeys the size of your fist jump from tree to tree in an open environment. Not so at Ubud. These monkeys are the size of small dogs and aggressive! We paid the nominal entry fee for tourists (our driver did not have to pay) and also bought a few bunches of bananas. Those monkeys saw us coming and rushed towards us. Initially, they would stop, stand up, and put out their hands. If I didn't put something in it fast enough, they would pull at my shorts. One even continued to do so as I walked away from it. Others got even bolder. One rushed up and tried to take a whole bunch from me instead of just a single banana. Another jumped on my wife's shoulder and tried to pull her bag away. If our driver had not rushed to her aid and swatted at the monkey with a thin stick (like a switch), the monkey would have run off with her purse - and our cameras, money, passports, etc.
The monkeys are all sacred at the particular temple in this forest. Monkeys are one of the manifestations of one of the Hindu gods, and they are worshipped at this temple. The temple itself is shrouded by the forest canopy. Very little sunlight reaches the temple grounds, which is mostly moss covered. Several of the worshippers brought offerings for the monkeys while we were there, and the large offerings (feedings) resulted both in feeding frenzies and fights. My daughter was very nervous when they began fighting. When they weren't fighting each other, trying to steal purses, or rip the dress off of other women (my driver was the hero during that attack, too), they could be quite docile. Another family had a monkey climb up on their daughter's shoulder and begin grooming her hair. Great experience.
On the walk back to the car we stopped in to some of the shops which line the streets. There is no such thing as a fixed price in these shops, so haggling is a requirement of shopping. I don't think we got a good deal on the clothes - 4 shirts for $20, and I know we got a great deal on the paintings. My daughter found three paintings she really liked. When I asked the shop keeper how much, she said 200,000 IDR ($20) each. I told her I was willing to pay 25,000 IDR ($2.50) each. The boldest price cut I've ever made. She said no way, one is 200,000, but she was willing to offer all three for 400,000. I told her 75,000 for the set was all I was willing to do. When she came down to 300,000 for the set, I knew I had her - she was coming down faster than I was going up (I wasn't moving). I said 100,000 for the set and that was my final offer. She came down to 200,000 - a full 2/3 cheaper than her initial price. At that point, I thanked her for her time and had everyone leave the shop. I was, intentionally, the last to leave, and before my second foot could leave her floor, she said "okay, 100,000". She then started cursing me in Bahasa under her breath. My Bahasa has much improved over the last few days, so I know the gist of her comments were "Americans! They have all that money and are stingy with it!" She didn't smile at me when she thanked me for my purchase. That's how I know I got a great deal.
I originally asked my driver to help haggle so that I would get the local price, not the "bule" price. That didn't work so great. He indicated the quality wasn't very good. I agreed, but did not want to get high quality as a gift for my daughter. After we left that shop, he took us to "Semal Kuning", an artist's compound and school just outside of Ubud. The paintings here were spectacular and of extremely high quality. These are the types of paintings you would expect to see in the finest galleries in Sedona. One of the artists was our tour guide and was there to offer assistance on a purchase. When my wife asked what paintings cost, he said "first you must find one that you actually like, then we can worry about what things cost - anything is possible". In other words, prepare to haggle. I've always wanted to begin a high-quality art collection and invest in some fine artwork. I took this opportunity to do so and spent more an art than I ever have. We bought 5 paintings - 2 small ones with frames, 2 medium size with frames, and, the piece that will become a talking point in our house, a 5 foot by 3 foot canvas of a Balinese farming scene. Because of what we actually paid, I'm not going to provide the actual pricing details. What I will say is that I bought all 5 for less than half the quoted price of the large one (others there were "advising" us that they were able to buy their pieces at half the quoted price), or 64% off the list price. I probably could have done better, but I am happy with what we paid. We also ended up buying one of the paintings by the person showing us around. He was pleased with that.
It was only 10:30 in the morning after we had made our art purchase. I didn't have anything else in mind to do other than see a fire-dance ceremony - Kecak (kuh-chahk) - at sunset. It was also too early for lunch. Our driver recommended he take us to Kintamanti. He said it was the "best view in Bali". We - the happy tourists - had our camera's ready and a full day with no plans, so we willing obliged his recommenation. The trip from Ubud to Kintamanti was about 40 minutes. We drove through several villages along the way. The most memorable was the village of Tempaksiring (tum-pahk-see-ring). The Nyepi holiday that all of Bali celebrated on Thursday continues with several more days of festivities, terminating on Sunday. As we drove through Tempaksiring, the processions I had thought we would see at Kuta beach were walking through the streets of this much smaller village. The entire town dressed in bright white shirts and black, red, and white checkered skirts. A few were dressed in a dragon costume - much like you see during a Chinese New Year celebration - and others played musical instruments. We drove past it and took as many pictures as we could.
When we arrived at Kintamanti, it was not, as I had expected, a cliff overlooking the ocean, or even a magnificent view of the several plateaus of rice patties we passed on our way up. Kintamanti was the top of Bali's active volcano! The air at the top was 15-20 degrees cooler than at sea-level, so I'm sure we had climbed at least 5,000 feet. Inside the volcano was a lake, the volcano's newly forming cone, and blackened earth obviously created from its most recent eruption. Amazingly, there was also hundreds of buildings along the lake shore, and the restaurant we ate lunch at hung on the outer wall of the original caldera, giving us a spectacular view of the volcano floor. Thankfully, we did not see any lava flows or feel any pre-eruption tremblors. It was still an amazing experience and the closest I've ever been to an active volcano.
We were done with lunch around 2 PM - still 4 hours to kill. We drove back to another art gallery in Ubud - this one specializing in wood carvings. I'm glad we went to the paintings first, or I would have spent far too much money on wood carvings that I would have had to figure out how to ship to our new home when I don't know my local address. When we return to Bali, I'm sure we will return to this gallery and buy more than we did - a small Buddha statue and a Mattisse-esque man-woman embracing carving. The most impressive carvings they had were wood sconces with elaborate scenes - one of them being the Last Supper. No haggling at this shop, everything was fixed price...though I did try.
We finished there at 3 PM, and had a 2 hour drive to Uluwatu to see the Kecak ceremony at sunset. Uluwatu was far more than I had expected - both in terms of the experience and the cost. I had to pay three times - once to park, once to enter the temple grounds, and once to see the ceremony. Based on what I paid, and the 540 people I estimated attended the ceremony, this site makes $20,000 a day from tourists. Not bad, and well worth the expense.
I thought Uluwatu was going to be a casual beach environment, probably a number of tourist trap shops, where we would watch the fire-dance display. It turned out to be an amazing large temple, built on cliffs at the western end of Bali. When I bought tickets to the temple grounds, they provided everyone with a yellow belt, and my wife and I with a skirt to wear because our shorts were not modest enough (mine were just above my knee cap), and we had to wear covering to our mid-calf to show respect to the gods. Once again, monkeys had a large presence at this temple, and these guys were far more aggressive. Unlike at Ubud, signs here warned us to protect our belongings - glasses, caps, cameras. As we climbed the steps to the top of the temple, we encountered monkeys with water bottles they had obviously snatched from a tourist. At the top of the temple, we watched as a monkey reached out and grabbed a hair scrunchy right off a woman's head, removing her pony-tail. It then proceeded to try and eat it, though it did not look as if it was enjoying the taste. As we descended the steps to head to the seating area for the ceremony, we heard another guy screaming and chasing a monkey who had jumped out of the trees and snatched his sunglasses from the top of his head and ran to another tree where it proceeded to try on the glasses first, and then, once again, try to eat them. The walk from the temple to where they held the ceremony was a narrow walkway at the edge of the cliff. Monkeys sat on the wall on the right side and hung from the trees on the left. The walk was both comical and unnerving. As you passed each monkey, you were glad you were not the first to pass by. The first monkey was wearing a chewed up baseball cap. The second monkey had another hair-scrunchy. The third monkey was trying on an elastic head-band and having a tough time with it.
The Kecak ceremony is the retelling of one of the stories of the Ramayana. The beautiful "Sinta" is captured, through trickery, by the evil Monkey King. Her husband sends the White Monkey to rescue her. The story begins by a group of 42 men (usually 72, but I only counted 42) singing and chanting in a circle around a statue with several flames. They sing and chant rhythmically for a long time. Then, the story is told through interpretive dance while the men continue singing and chanting. At the end of the story, they set big piles of long grasses on fire and the white monkey kicks them, barefoot, into the air. It's really quite spectacular, though the chanting and dancing leading up to it gets quite monotonous and, dare I say, boring. The Kecak ceremony ended at 7 PM, and we were back at the hotel by 8 PM. My daughter and I went for a late swim while my wife and her mother went and bought pizza for dinner at the Pizza Hut at the entrance to our hotel.
We only have 2 more full days in Bali, and a full morning. We will likely spend the rest of our time lounging at either the beach of the pool. These last two days have been very busy and very exhausting. Time to relax again.
After a quick breakfast, we loaded into the car with Eddie and took the 90 minute ride to Ubud (ew-bewd). Ubud is famous for its Monkey Forest. I was picturing something along the lines of the monkey walk we have at the Phoenix zoo where little monkeys the size of your fist jump from tree to tree in an open environment. Not so at Ubud. These monkeys are the size of small dogs and aggressive! We paid the nominal entry fee for tourists (our driver did not have to pay) and also bought a few bunches of bananas. Those monkeys saw us coming and rushed towards us. Initially, they would stop, stand up, and put out their hands. If I didn't put something in it fast enough, they would pull at my shorts. One even continued to do so as I walked away from it. Others got even bolder. One rushed up and tried to take a whole bunch from me instead of just a single banana. Another jumped on my wife's shoulder and tried to pull her bag away. If our driver had not rushed to her aid and swatted at the monkey with a thin stick (like a switch), the monkey would have run off with her purse - and our cameras, money, passports, etc.
The monkeys are all sacred at the particular temple in this forest. Monkeys are one of the manifestations of one of the Hindu gods, and they are worshipped at this temple. The temple itself is shrouded by the forest canopy. Very little sunlight reaches the temple grounds, which is mostly moss covered. Several of the worshippers brought offerings for the monkeys while we were there, and the large offerings (feedings) resulted both in feeding frenzies and fights. My daughter was very nervous when they began fighting. When they weren't fighting each other, trying to steal purses, or rip the dress off of other women (my driver was the hero during that attack, too), they could be quite docile. Another family had a monkey climb up on their daughter's shoulder and begin grooming her hair. Great experience.
On the walk back to the car we stopped in to some of the shops which line the streets. There is no such thing as a fixed price in these shops, so haggling is a requirement of shopping. I don't think we got a good deal on the clothes - 4 shirts for $20, and I know we got a great deal on the paintings. My daughter found three paintings she really liked. When I asked the shop keeper how much, she said 200,000 IDR ($20) each. I told her I was willing to pay 25,000 IDR ($2.50) each. The boldest price cut I've ever made. She said no way, one is 200,000, but she was willing to offer all three for 400,000. I told her 75,000 for the set was all I was willing to do. When she came down to 300,000 for the set, I knew I had her - she was coming down faster than I was going up (I wasn't moving). I said 100,000 for the set and that was my final offer. She came down to 200,000 - a full 2/3 cheaper than her initial price. At that point, I thanked her for her time and had everyone leave the shop. I was, intentionally, the last to leave, and before my second foot could leave her floor, she said "okay, 100,000". She then started cursing me in Bahasa under her breath. My Bahasa has much improved over the last few days, so I know the gist of her comments were "Americans! They have all that money and are stingy with it!" She didn't smile at me when she thanked me for my purchase. That's how I know I got a great deal.
I originally asked my driver to help haggle so that I would get the local price, not the "bule" price. That didn't work so great. He indicated the quality wasn't very good. I agreed, but did not want to get high quality as a gift for my daughter. After we left that shop, he took us to "Semal Kuning", an artist's compound and school just outside of Ubud. The paintings here were spectacular and of extremely high quality. These are the types of paintings you would expect to see in the finest galleries in Sedona. One of the artists was our tour guide and was there to offer assistance on a purchase. When my wife asked what paintings cost, he said "first you must find one that you actually like, then we can worry about what things cost - anything is possible". In other words, prepare to haggle. I've always wanted to begin a high-quality art collection and invest in some fine artwork. I took this opportunity to do so and spent more an art than I ever have. We bought 5 paintings - 2 small ones with frames, 2 medium size with frames, and, the piece that will become a talking point in our house, a 5 foot by 3 foot canvas of a Balinese farming scene. Because of what we actually paid, I'm not going to provide the actual pricing details. What I will say is that I bought all 5 for less than half the quoted price of the large one (others there were "advising" us that they were able to buy their pieces at half the quoted price), or 64% off the list price. I probably could have done better, but I am happy with what we paid. We also ended up buying one of the paintings by the person showing us around. He was pleased with that.
It was only 10:30 in the morning after we had made our art purchase. I didn't have anything else in mind to do other than see a fire-dance ceremony - Kecak (kuh-chahk) - at sunset. It was also too early for lunch. Our driver recommended he take us to Kintamanti. He said it was the "best view in Bali". We - the happy tourists - had our camera's ready and a full day with no plans, so we willing obliged his recommenation. The trip from Ubud to Kintamanti was about 40 minutes. We drove through several villages along the way. The most memorable was the village of Tempaksiring (tum-pahk-see-ring). The Nyepi holiday that all of Bali celebrated on Thursday continues with several more days of festivities, terminating on Sunday. As we drove through Tempaksiring, the processions I had thought we would see at Kuta beach were walking through the streets of this much smaller village. The entire town dressed in bright white shirts and black, red, and white checkered skirts. A few were dressed in a dragon costume - much like you see during a Chinese New Year celebration - and others played musical instruments. We drove past it and took as many pictures as we could.
When we arrived at Kintamanti, it was not, as I had expected, a cliff overlooking the ocean, or even a magnificent view of the several plateaus of rice patties we passed on our way up. Kintamanti was the top of Bali's active volcano! The air at the top was 15-20 degrees cooler than at sea-level, so I'm sure we had climbed at least 5,000 feet. Inside the volcano was a lake, the volcano's newly forming cone, and blackened earth obviously created from its most recent eruption. Amazingly, there was also hundreds of buildings along the lake shore, and the restaurant we ate lunch at hung on the outer wall of the original caldera, giving us a spectacular view of the volcano floor. Thankfully, we did not see any lava flows or feel any pre-eruption tremblors. It was still an amazing experience and the closest I've ever been to an active volcano.
We were done with lunch around 2 PM - still 4 hours to kill. We drove back to another art gallery in Ubud - this one specializing in wood carvings. I'm glad we went to the paintings first, or I would have spent far too much money on wood carvings that I would have had to figure out how to ship to our new home when I don't know my local address. When we return to Bali, I'm sure we will return to this gallery and buy more than we did - a small Buddha statue and a Mattisse-esque man-woman embracing carving. The most impressive carvings they had were wood sconces with elaborate scenes - one of them being the Last Supper. No haggling at this shop, everything was fixed price...though I did try.
We finished there at 3 PM, and had a 2 hour drive to Uluwatu to see the Kecak ceremony at sunset. Uluwatu was far more than I had expected - both in terms of the experience and the cost. I had to pay three times - once to park, once to enter the temple grounds, and once to see the ceremony. Based on what I paid, and the 540 people I estimated attended the ceremony, this site makes $20,000 a day from tourists. Not bad, and well worth the expense.
I thought Uluwatu was going to be a casual beach environment, probably a number of tourist trap shops, where we would watch the fire-dance display. It turned out to be an amazing large temple, built on cliffs at the western end of Bali. When I bought tickets to the temple grounds, they provided everyone with a yellow belt, and my wife and I with a skirt to wear because our shorts were not modest enough (mine were just above my knee cap), and we had to wear covering to our mid-calf to show respect to the gods. Once again, monkeys had a large presence at this temple, and these guys were far more aggressive. Unlike at Ubud, signs here warned us to protect our belongings - glasses, caps, cameras. As we climbed the steps to the top of the temple, we encountered monkeys with water bottles they had obviously snatched from a tourist. At the top of the temple, we watched as a monkey reached out and grabbed a hair scrunchy right off a woman's head, removing her pony-tail. It then proceeded to try and eat it, though it did not look as if it was enjoying the taste. As we descended the steps to head to the seating area for the ceremony, we heard another guy screaming and chasing a monkey who had jumped out of the trees and snatched his sunglasses from the top of his head and ran to another tree where it proceeded to try on the glasses first, and then, once again, try to eat them. The walk from the temple to where they held the ceremony was a narrow walkway at the edge of the cliff. Monkeys sat on the wall on the right side and hung from the trees on the left. The walk was both comical and unnerving. As you passed each monkey, you were glad you were not the first to pass by. The first monkey was wearing a chewed up baseball cap. The second monkey had another hair-scrunchy. The third monkey was trying on an elastic head-band and having a tough time with it.
The Kecak ceremony is the retelling of one of the stories of the Ramayana. The beautiful "Sinta" is captured, through trickery, by the evil Monkey King. Her husband sends the White Monkey to rescue her. The story begins by a group of 42 men (usually 72, but I only counted 42) singing and chanting in a circle around a statue with several flames. They sing and chant rhythmically for a long time. Then, the story is told through interpretive dance while the men continue singing and chanting. At the end of the story, they set big piles of long grasses on fire and the white monkey kicks them, barefoot, into the air. It's really quite spectacular, though the chanting and dancing leading up to it gets quite monotonous and, dare I say, boring. The Kecak ceremony ended at 7 PM, and we were back at the hotel by 8 PM. My daughter and I went for a late swim while my wife and her mother went and bought pizza for dinner at the Pizza Hut at the entrance to our hotel.
We only have 2 more full days in Bali, and a full morning. We will likely spend the rest of our time lounging at either the beach of the pool. These last two days have been very busy and very exhausting. Time to relax again.
Friday March 27 - Safari Park
Today we rented a car and a driver from the brother-in-law of my contact at our vendor. Don't know if I got a "deal" or not, and don't really care as the car including driver was $40 for the full day. We'll also be using the same company and driver tomorrow.
The driver arrives and introduces himself as "Eddie" and explains that his English is "not so good". I'm sure it will be far more sufficient than our needs will require - I mean, we're not planning a diplomatic dinner, just a tour of the area. As long as he knows "Safari Park", "Hotel", "Toilet", "Dinner", etc, we'll be fine.
When I head Bali had a Safari Park, I was anticipating something similar to the one I experienced in Jakarta - drive through with your own car, close interactions with the animals, etc. One of my colleagues - the same one who recommended the hotel - also had indicated that the Safari Park in Bali was superior to the one in Jakarta. On this, I will have to respectfully disagree - at least from an adult experience. I did not visit the "theme park" area of the Safari Park in Jakarta, so the water park portion in Bali could quite easily have tipped the scales for him to favor the Bali version.
Safari Park was, by far, the smallest zoo I've ever been to. Probably half the size of the Phoenix zoo and smaller still than John Ball Park in Grand Rapids. Unlike both of those zoos, and like Jakarta, it had animal interactions with unlikely animals - a full grown lion, a full grown tiger, full grown leopard and a baby orangutan. I took my picture with the lion, my mother-in-law with the tiger, and my daughter and wife with the orangutan - though my daughter wasn't so sure she enjoyed it at the time.
Whereas the Jakarta park allows you to drive your own car the Bali park has a bus that you board and they drive you among the animals. You'll still get closer to the animals than you will in most zoos in the US, but it wasn't the same as the Jakarta Safari Park. We'll have to do that when we return.
One of the highlights of the visit was the interactions with the elephants. My daughter and I bought some carrots that we fed to an elephant and my daughter pet the sleeping elephant baby. We also attended an elephant show in which I volunteered to go up on stage and be a participant. My role, along with four other volunteers, was to lie on the ground as the elephant walked over us, pretending to trip at each person. While I was laying on the ground, and the elephant started walking towards us, I heard my daughter yell from the audience: "Be careful daddy, the elephant is going to get you!".
After the elephant finished tripping over us, she took a flowered lei and placed it around our necks with her trunk. When it was all over, as I walked back to my seat, my daughter yelled "Great job daddy!" - she was quite proud that I would face the elephant.
When we finished with the zoo, we went to the water park. The water park had around 7 0r 8 water slides varying in size from one you would see by a back yard swimming pool to one half the size you would see at Sun Splash, Wet 'n' Wild, Splash, or Big Sur (depending on what state you are in and reading this). Initially, my daughter was hesitant to ride any but the small ones. Mommy and daddy did not have their swimsuits, so one would walk with her to the top, and the other would stand in the knee-deep water at the bottom to catch her. Eventually, the small ones got boring for me, so I decided it was time for her to be brave. We started with a tunnel slide that had two twists. She screamed bloody murder when I put her in the top of slide, and pushed her. By the time she reached the bottom 5 seconds later she was screaming with laughter and demanding to go again. We did this a while, eventually using all of the slides from the small section.
After a few moments letting her run and swim in the shallow pool, I asked if she wanted to try the big one. She said yes. So, we walked the four flights of stairs to the top and mommy stood at the bottom. This was a big one. It had four turns and probably dropped 40 feet - at least 30 feet. When we got to the top, she wasn't sure she wanted to go down anymore. I looked at her and said "you brought me all the way up here, you are going to give it a try". Before she could object, I pushed her. She loved every minute of it and, after a few more times of us helping her, she decided we were an unnecessary part of the equation and climbed to the top by herself, climbed into the slide and slid down on her own!
On the way home from the park, we stopped at a grocery store to buy some more suntan lotion, water, and a few bits of food to snack on. This was, and always is, much cheaper than buying things at the restaurant or the hotel. It is also why I prefer to have a driver than to be on a tour bus. I first learned this when I took a cruise by myself for spring break one year in college. When I disembarked in Barbados, I rented a taxi for the day and saw the whole island for 1/3 the price it would have cost me for a tour to see half the island - and I got to go at my own pace.
In the evening, we left my daughter with Grandma and my wife and I went and had a nice, quiet dinner by the beach. We still hit the sack by 9 PM and were fast asleep shortly thereafter.
The driver arrives and introduces himself as "Eddie" and explains that his English is "not so good". I'm sure it will be far more sufficient than our needs will require - I mean, we're not planning a diplomatic dinner, just a tour of the area. As long as he knows "Safari Park", "Hotel", "Toilet", "Dinner", etc, we'll be fine.
When I head Bali had a Safari Park, I was anticipating something similar to the one I experienced in Jakarta - drive through with your own car, close interactions with the animals, etc. One of my colleagues - the same one who recommended the hotel - also had indicated that the Safari Park in Bali was superior to the one in Jakarta. On this, I will have to respectfully disagree - at least from an adult experience. I did not visit the "theme park" area of the Safari Park in Jakarta, so the water park portion in Bali could quite easily have tipped the scales for him to favor the Bali version.
Safari Park was, by far, the smallest zoo I've ever been to. Probably half the size of the Phoenix zoo and smaller still than John Ball Park in Grand Rapids. Unlike both of those zoos, and like Jakarta, it had animal interactions with unlikely animals - a full grown lion, a full grown tiger, full grown leopard and a baby orangutan. I took my picture with the lion, my mother-in-law with the tiger, and my daughter and wife with the orangutan - though my daughter wasn't so sure she enjoyed it at the time.
Whereas the Jakarta park allows you to drive your own car the Bali park has a bus that you board and they drive you among the animals. You'll still get closer to the animals than you will in most zoos in the US, but it wasn't the same as the Jakarta Safari Park. We'll have to do that when we return.
One of the highlights of the visit was the interactions with the elephants. My daughter and I bought some carrots that we fed to an elephant and my daughter pet the sleeping elephant baby. We also attended an elephant show in which I volunteered to go up on stage and be a participant. My role, along with four other volunteers, was to lie on the ground as the elephant walked over us, pretending to trip at each person. While I was laying on the ground, and the elephant started walking towards us, I heard my daughter yell from the audience: "Be careful daddy, the elephant is going to get you!".
After the elephant finished tripping over us, she took a flowered lei and placed it around our necks with her trunk. When it was all over, as I walked back to my seat, my daughter yelled "Great job daddy!" - she was quite proud that I would face the elephant.
When we finished with the zoo, we went to the water park. The water park had around 7 0r 8 water slides varying in size from one you would see by a back yard swimming pool to one half the size you would see at Sun Splash, Wet 'n' Wild, Splash, or Big Sur (depending on what state you are in and reading this). Initially, my daughter was hesitant to ride any but the small ones. Mommy and daddy did not have their swimsuits, so one would walk with her to the top, and the other would stand in the knee-deep water at the bottom to catch her. Eventually, the small ones got boring for me, so I decided it was time for her to be brave. We started with a tunnel slide that had two twists. She screamed bloody murder when I put her in the top of slide, and pushed her. By the time she reached the bottom 5 seconds later she was screaming with laughter and demanding to go again. We did this a while, eventually using all of the slides from the small section.
After a few moments letting her run and swim in the shallow pool, I asked if she wanted to try the big one. She said yes. So, we walked the four flights of stairs to the top and mommy stood at the bottom. This was a big one. It had four turns and probably dropped 40 feet - at least 30 feet. When we got to the top, she wasn't sure she wanted to go down anymore. I looked at her and said "you brought me all the way up here, you are going to give it a try". Before she could object, I pushed her. She loved every minute of it and, after a few more times of us helping her, she decided we were an unnecessary part of the equation and climbed to the top by herself, climbed into the slide and slid down on her own!
On the way home from the park, we stopped at a grocery store to buy some more suntan lotion, water, and a few bits of food to snack on. This was, and always is, much cheaper than buying things at the restaurant or the hotel. It is also why I prefer to have a driver than to be on a tour bus. I first learned this when I took a cruise by myself for spring break one year in college. When I disembarked in Barbados, I rented a taxi for the day and saw the whole island for 1/3 the price it would have cost me for a tour to see half the island - and I got to go at my own pace.
In the evening, we left my daughter with Grandma and my wife and I went and had a nice, quiet dinner by the beach. We still hit the sack by 9 PM and were fast asleep shortly thereafter.
Thursday, March 26 - Nyepi
Today, starting at 5 AM is the Nyepi celebration. We awake shortly after 5 AM and wait around the villa until breakfast opens at 6 AM. We join a few others at the hotel restaurant for a buffet breakfast. There is an obvious stillness in the air and all is quiet save for a few murmured conversations around the restaurant. The strict rules for Nyepi are obviously having the desired effect.
We spend the day doing the only things we can - eating, reading and swimming. My daughter is learning to be quite daring and stretch the skills learned in her swimming lessons to new levels. At the age of 2, though she'll be 3 in June, she has begun swimming underwater, coming up for air, and then continuing. She can also swim on her back with her head above water the whole time, taking breaths as she swims. Once we achieved these milestones, I had her jump from the wall into the water, turn around and swim back to the wall and climb out. We were all quite amazed at her swimming accomplishments.
Not much happened today, so I'll take some time and elaborate on the hotel. I long ago realized that opinions - of people, events, places, etc - depend heavily on expectations. Prior to coming to Bali, I did some research online of both the Aneka Kuta - the hotel we're staying at - and the Putra Bali - the hotel the travel agency initially scheduled us in. As expected, both hotels had 5 star ratings and 1 star ratings from prior guests. The rating is never as important to me as the comments the guests leave. Based on what I read, I came to Aneka Kuta expecting it to be a little rustic, with island charm. To a great extent, it has met that expectation. In some areas, it has exceeded expectations. In others, drastically failed to meet expectations.
1) The bathrooms are very old fashioned and plain. A far cry from what we experienced at the JW Marriott though not much different from an experience at a Days Inn except that the toilet handle does not return to its original position so you have to remember to do that so the toilet doesn't run, we had a poisonous millipede in our shower that I had to kill and dispose of, and it does not have any air conditioning, so it is quite hot during the day.
2) The restaurant is mediocre. We eat breakfast there every day because it is included with our room... and we don't know where else we could go. Same three options - Continental, American and Indonesian - available every day. Not much variation between the three options, either.
3) The pools are beautiful. This was to expectation. Everyone raved about how nice the pools were, and they are, indeed, very nice. This includes the main hotel pool and the private pool in our villa.
4) Our villa has stray cats. The entire grounds do. We first noticed them the day we arrived. Two tiny kittens under fed and malnourished. One of them we think died while we were here as it just disappeared. The other one my mother-in-law decided to feed and it seemed to get healthy enough to go somewhere else to look for food as we haven't seen it back in our villa but have seen it elsewhere.
5) Our villa has two levels. The second level covers only a portion of the ground floor, but the roof covers the whole building, including the porch. This leaves a fairly large area under the roof over the first level. At night, we would hear animals running across our bedroom ceiling. We later discovered this to be a family of bats. Pretty creepy.
6) The linens are a dingy gray and very thin. My wife ended up buying pillow cases for her and my daughter to use. I was fine with what the hotel provides.
7) We're pretty sure we heard a dog killed in a less than humane way for the restaurant behind the hotel.
The grounds of the villa are definitely 5-star. I would say the rooms themselves are, too. The service and the linens, however, are not. This can be a great hotel, or a horrible hotel, depending on your expectations. I would return, my wife would not.
We spend the day doing the only things we can - eating, reading and swimming. My daughter is learning to be quite daring and stretch the skills learned in her swimming lessons to new levels. At the age of 2, though she'll be 3 in June, she has begun swimming underwater, coming up for air, and then continuing. She can also swim on her back with her head above water the whole time, taking breaths as she swims. Once we achieved these milestones, I had her jump from the wall into the water, turn around and swim back to the wall and climb out. We were all quite amazed at her swimming accomplishments.
Not much happened today, so I'll take some time and elaborate on the hotel. I long ago realized that opinions - of people, events, places, etc - depend heavily on expectations. Prior to coming to Bali, I did some research online of both the Aneka Kuta - the hotel we're staying at - and the Putra Bali - the hotel the travel agency initially scheduled us in. As expected, both hotels had 5 star ratings and 1 star ratings from prior guests. The rating is never as important to me as the comments the guests leave. Based on what I read, I came to Aneka Kuta expecting it to be a little rustic, with island charm. To a great extent, it has met that expectation. In some areas, it has exceeded expectations. In others, drastically failed to meet expectations.
1) The bathrooms are very old fashioned and plain. A far cry from what we experienced at the JW Marriott though not much different from an experience at a Days Inn except that the toilet handle does not return to its original position so you have to remember to do that so the toilet doesn't run, we had a poisonous millipede in our shower that I had to kill and dispose of, and it does not have any air conditioning, so it is quite hot during the day.
2) The restaurant is mediocre. We eat breakfast there every day because it is included with our room... and we don't know where else we could go. Same three options - Continental, American and Indonesian - available every day. Not much variation between the three options, either.
3) The pools are beautiful. This was to expectation. Everyone raved about how nice the pools were, and they are, indeed, very nice. This includes the main hotel pool and the private pool in our villa.
4) Our villa has stray cats. The entire grounds do. We first noticed them the day we arrived. Two tiny kittens under fed and malnourished. One of them we think died while we were here as it just disappeared. The other one my mother-in-law decided to feed and it seemed to get healthy enough to go somewhere else to look for food as we haven't seen it back in our villa but have seen it elsewhere.
5) Our villa has two levels. The second level covers only a portion of the ground floor, but the roof covers the whole building, including the porch. This leaves a fairly large area under the roof over the first level. At night, we would hear animals running across our bedroom ceiling. We later discovered this to be a family of bats. Pretty creepy.
6) The linens are a dingy gray and very thin. My wife ended up buying pillow cases for her and my daughter to use. I was fine with what the hotel provides.
7) We're pretty sure we heard a dog killed in a less than humane way for the restaurant behind the hotel.
The grounds of the villa are definitely 5-star. I would say the rooms themselves are, too. The service and the linens, however, are not. This can be a great hotel, or a horrible hotel, depending on your expectations. I would return, my wife would not.
Wednesday March 25
Wednesday is our first full day in Bali. After an early morning breakfast, we head to the beach by 9 AM. Being this close the equator (like, on it), and having it be our first day in the sun, I don't want to spend the most intense sunlight hours (10 - 2) outside. Once again, we find the beach virtually deserted, and are quickly surrounded by the local solicitors plying their wares on an all too eager audience. My daughter tries to build a sand castle, without much luck. I build her one which she summarily destroys immediately upon completion. So, I content my self with digging her a hole to the water-line that she can play and splash in while I take a quick, 15 minute run along the beach. This turns out to be a big mistake, however, as I run barefoot and the sharp, stony sand of Kuta beach exfoliates my toes to the point of reddish soreness.
We leave the beach and head into the main part of town for lunch. We are looking for something resembling authentic Balinese cuisine and, oddly enough, end up at another westernized hotel. The main road in Kuta has several restaurants and shops, though they all have a western flair - KFC, The Good Bean, Starbucks - and none met our desired intent. The hotel looked upscale and authentic, and we did not know it was a hotel until we were walking to our seats at the outdoor restaurant. Still trying to set the example of sampling the cultural cuisine, I ordered a dish with fried vegetables, sesame beef and white rice. My wife, daughter and mother-in-law all ordered pizza. So much for diversity.
After lunch, we returned to our hotel and my daughter and I spent sometime swimming at the hotel pool while my wife and her mother returned to the villa to rest and relax by our private pool. My daughter and I joined them after an hour or so and started making plans for the evening. In the middle of the conversation, our phone rang. Today I had planned to have lunch with one of our primary vendors who have their headquarters in Bali. I provided them with my cell phone number so they could contact me and we could confirm the time and location. Unfortunately, on the flight over, my cell phone becamed locked and my daughter was playing with and subsequently lost the piece of paper with my pin number on it. Without internet access at the hotel, I had no way of emailing anyone to ask for the pin. So, when our vendor couldn't reach me, they called my office, who then became worried about our safety and called the hotel. Made us feel pretty special that they would go out of their way with concern over us. They provided me my pin, and I was able to converse with my vendor and reset plans for Monday. Turns out my pin was 1234 (DOH!).
Tonight was supposed to be the Ogoh-Ogoh festival. During Ogoh-ogoh, all of the local villages create totems of their demons and, in elaborate parades, march through the streets and eventually burn them in a dancing ritual. We were really looking forward to it. We had asked around at the hotel and some of the restaurants on the best location to see the rituals and everyone indicated Kuta beach would be a good place. When I spoke with my vendor, however, he indicated that after the recent elections, the new government banned it. We held out hope, however, and made our way down to Kuta beach to watch the sunset, and lingered as long as we felt prudent (as the rest of the crowd cleared out) before determining that, indeed, there would be no ceremony.
We also learned - thanks to a note from the hotel, my conversation with my vendor, and some comments made by my staff before leaving - that the rules of Nyepi are quite strictly adhered to. It is considered a day of silence, and no one is expected to be out on the street, the beach, etc during this time. In fact, the hotel informed us we are not allowed to leave the grounds and from 5 AM Thursday morning until 5 AM Friday morning, we should use any lights sparingly and none that can be viewed from outside the grounds. In fact, they had to obtain an exception from the government to allow them to even have lights and serve food in the restaurant - the latter of which closed promptly at 6 PM. We'll see how it goes, though everything seemed to shut down quite early this evening in preparation.
We leave the beach and head into the main part of town for lunch. We are looking for something resembling authentic Balinese cuisine and, oddly enough, end up at another westernized hotel. The main road in Kuta has several restaurants and shops, though they all have a western flair - KFC, The Good Bean, Starbucks - and none met our desired intent. The hotel looked upscale and authentic, and we did not know it was a hotel until we were walking to our seats at the outdoor restaurant. Still trying to set the example of sampling the cultural cuisine, I ordered a dish with fried vegetables, sesame beef and white rice. My wife, daughter and mother-in-law all ordered pizza. So much for diversity.
After lunch, we returned to our hotel and my daughter and I spent sometime swimming at the hotel pool while my wife and her mother returned to the villa to rest and relax by our private pool. My daughter and I joined them after an hour or so and started making plans for the evening. In the middle of the conversation, our phone rang. Today I had planned to have lunch with one of our primary vendors who have their headquarters in Bali. I provided them with my cell phone number so they could contact me and we could confirm the time and location. Unfortunately, on the flight over, my cell phone becamed locked and my daughter was playing with and subsequently lost the piece of paper with my pin number on it. Without internet access at the hotel, I had no way of emailing anyone to ask for the pin. So, when our vendor couldn't reach me, they called my office, who then became worried about our safety and called the hotel. Made us feel pretty special that they would go out of their way with concern over us. They provided me my pin, and I was able to converse with my vendor and reset plans for Monday. Turns out my pin was 1234 (DOH!).
Tonight was supposed to be the Ogoh-Ogoh festival. During Ogoh-ogoh, all of the local villages create totems of their demons and, in elaborate parades, march through the streets and eventually burn them in a dancing ritual. We were really looking forward to it. We had asked around at the hotel and some of the restaurants on the best location to see the rituals and everyone indicated Kuta beach would be a good place. When I spoke with my vendor, however, he indicated that after the recent elections, the new government banned it. We held out hope, however, and made our way down to Kuta beach to watch the sunset, and lingered as long as we felt prudent (as the rest of the crowd cleared out) before determining that, indeed, there would be no ceremony.
We also learned - thanks to a note from the hotel, my conversation with my vendor, and some comments made by my staff before leaving - that the rules of Nyepi are quite strictly adhered to. It is considered a day of silence, and no one is expected to be out on the street, the beach, etc during this time. In fact, the hotel informed us we are not allowed to leave the grounds and from 5 AM Thursday morning until 5 AM Friday morning, we should use any lights sparingly and none that can be viewed from outside the grounds. In fact, they had to obtain an exception from the government to allow them to even have lights and serve food in the restaurant - the latter of which closed promptly at 6 PM. We'll see how it goes, though everything seemed to shut down quite early this evening in preparation.
Tuesday March 24 - Bali
Our bodies are still accustomed to waking up before the sun, and today is no different. We awake around 4:30 AM and lounge around the room (well, I spent 45 minutes in the gym) before heading down for breakfast at 6:30 AM. Our flight is not until 11:30, and our driver will pick us up at 8:30. We take two cars to the airport - one for the luggage, one for the people. Turns out we should have split the people between the two cars. The trip to the airport utilizes roads that require three passengers. The car with the people arrived at the airport 20 minutes earlier than the car with the luggage.
With 7 bags and a 2 year old, I have not been interested in carrying my own luggage - though I typically do. So, we asked one of the dozens of men awaiting arrivals to assist with our bags. They helped us through the initial security - you have to go through security before they even let you make it to a ticket counter here - took it to the check-in, loaded everything, helped tag the bags, etc. In the US, I would tip $1 per bag. I had no idea what to tip here, so I tried tipping 10,000 IDR (about $1). He wouldn't take it. At first, I thought he was trying to tell me there was no charge. I had seen money changing hands with the airline representatives, so I figured maybe they paid the carriers. Not so. When I tried tipping him 10,000 IDR again, he again refused, but this time laid out his expecations: "7 bags, 100,000". $10 USD. So much for cheap labor in Indonesia. I'm sure I got the 'white guy' price.
Geographically, Bali would be on the eastern most coast of Java (the island that holds Jakarta), if Bali were not on its own island. For the flight, this meant we flew over the island of Java. For such a small island, Java has a lot of rivers. Estimating ground distance from 30,000 feet in the air is not my strength, so I'm guessing when I say there was a large river every 20 miles (38 KM). They ran like long, brown tree roots from the inland island to the sea. Many of them appeared to just spring from nowhere - no lake, no smaller tributaries. I look down, I see a river emptying silty brown water into the sea, I try to trace it back to its beginning and find that it starts in the middle of an open field, as if fed by an underground spring. I'm sure there is a hydrologist or geographer who knows the answer.
We arrive in Bali and met by a representative of my company to once again help us traverse the airport and find our way safely onto transportation to the hotel. Once again, I pay 100,000 IDR for some guys to bring our luggage to the car. Even statues on every corner. We drive past familiar restaurants - McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks - and several nice-looking restaurants obviously targeting the English-speaking tourists. The street is close enough to the beach that we can smell the salt in the air. Before long, we are turning onto the drive to our hotel, which is nestled closely against the Hard Rock Hotel. Directly across from the entrance of our hotel is the beach.
The first thing I notice when we pull into the hotel is the absence of a parking lot. I guess most of the visitors to this hotel are not arriving with their own - or rented - cars. The front desk is small and in the open air. I provide the clerk the hotel certificate I bought from the travel agency in Jakarta. He gives me three sets of keys attached to large brown pieces of wood with three different numbers on them: 604, 605 and 605A. I'm surprised as I thought we were staying in a private villa on the hotel grounds, not three different rooms. The hotel porters bring our luggage to our room (this time, I tip 70,000 IDR; $1 USD per bag), and we follow them down a long, elevated, winding path to the end of the property. There are 2 meter high walls on either side of us and we stop at short wooden doors with the name "Mawar" engraved on a piece of wood above the entrance. The porters open the door, and the first reaction from everyone in my group is "wow".
The pictures don't do the beauty of our accomodations justice. To our immediate left is the pool available for our private use complete with two lounge chairs and umbrella, and an elevated gazebo with two other chairs. In front of us is our villa. A large veranda with a table for four, a couch, two chairs and a coffee table, and a winding staircase to the second floor. There are doors to three rooms: 604, 605 and our kitchen. The two, ground-floor rooms have their own bathrooms attached, and there is a third bathroom - though I'm not sure of its purpose - at the rear of the house. Each room contains a canopy bed with mosquito netting, two chairs, a TV stand with a fridge, and a desk. There is a closet in the bathrooms. Upstairs is 605A and is clearly intended to be the kid's room. Two, twin beds, also canopy with mosquito netting, and a large, open floor for playing with kids toys. In a word, the place is "spectacular".
It is still only mid-afternoon by the time we unpack, take in the beauty of our surroundings, and discover we are sharing our villa with two kittens and a mother cat, so we walk across the street to Kuta Beach, the most popular beach in Bali. I am expecting crowds of tourists, surfers, and locals. We find a nearly deserted beach. On the plus side, finding a place to plant ourselves was easy. On the minus side, we were the only targets for the local "merchants", and my mother-in-law's bright red outfit and hat pegged us quite easily as bule tourists eager to spend money. I learned long ago to dismiss unwanted soliciters with a wave of my hand and an obvious disinterest. My mother-in-law decides to strike up conversations with everyone, which only encourages them to stay. Eventually, she was surrounded by four merchants all trying to sell something - jewelry made of shells, beach wraps, henna tattoos, an odd little contraption that you are supposed to rest your head on while laying on the beach, and even a massage. We end up leaving the beach with beach mats, a few beach wraps, and two of the head-rest contraptions. I didn't dare ask how much money she parted with. I got the impression there was no haggling, so I'm sure she overpaid.
We end the evening with a quiet dinner in the empty hotel restaurant. I'm not sure how many people are staying here - it does not seem to be a lot. Either we picked a time of year that no-one travels - which, with kids in school, is a very likely scenario - or everyone is avoiding the upcoming Nyepi holiday (the Balinese New Year). Time will tell. All I can say is we are happy to be here - and, the hotel does not have any internet, so I'm writing my blog in Notepad until I find an opportunity (ie, an internet connection) when I can post it.
With 7 bags and a 2 year old, I have not been interested in carrying my own luggage - though I typically do. So, we asked one of the dozens of men awaiting arrivals to assist with our bags. They helped us through the initial security - you have to go through security before they even let you make it to a ticket counter here - took it to the check-in, loaded everything, helped tag the bags, etc. In the US, I would tip $1 per bag. I had no idea what to tip here, so I tried tipping 10,000 IDR (about $1). He wouldn't take it. At first, I thought he was trying to tell me there was no charge. I had seen money changing hands with the airline representatives, so I figured maybe they paid the carriers. Not so. When I tried tipping him 10,000 IDR again, he again refused, but this time laid out his expecations: "7 bags, 100,000". $10 USD. So much for cheap labor in Indonesia. I'm sure I got the 'white guy' price.
Geographically, Bali would be on the eastern most coast of Java (the island that holds Jakarta), if Bali were not on its own island. For the flight, this meant we flew over the island of Java. For such a small island, Java has a lot of rivers. Estimating ground distance from 30,000 feet in the air is not my strength, so I'm guessing when I say there was a large river every 20 miles (38 KM). They ran like long, brown tree roots from the inland island to the sea. Many of them appeared to just spring from nowhere - no lake, no smaller tributaries. I look down, I see a river emptying silty brown water into the sea, I try to trace it back to its beginning and find that it starts in the middle of an open field, as if fed by an underground spring. I'm sure there is a hydrologist or geographer who knows the answer.
We arrive in Bali and met by a representative of my company to once again help us traverse the airport and find our way safely onto transportation to the hotel. Once again, I pay 100,000 IDR for some guys to bring our luggage to the car. Even statues on every corner. We drive past familiar restaurants - McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks - and several nice-looking restaurants obviously targeting the English-speaking tourists. The street is close enough to the beach that we can smell the salt in the air. Before long, we are turning onto the drive to our hotel, which is nestled closely against the Hard Rock Hotel. Directly across from the entrance of our hotel is the beach.
The first thing I notice when we pull into the hotel is the absence of a parking lot. I guess most of the visitors to this hotel are not arriving with their own - or rented - cars. The front desk is small and in the open air. I provide the clerk the hotel certificate I bought from the travel agency in Jakarta. He gives me three sets of keys attached to large brown pieces of wood with three different numbers on them: 604, 605 and 605A. I'm surprised as I thought we were staying in a private villa on the hotel grounds, not three different rooms. The hotel porters bring our luggage to our room (this time, I tip 70,000 IDR; $1 USD per bag), and we follow them down a long, elevated, winding path to the end of the property. There are 2 meter high walls on either side of us and we stop at short wooden doors with the name "Mawar" engraved on a piece of wood above the entrance. The porters open the door, and the first reaction from everyone in my group is "wow".
The pictures don't do the beauty of our accomodations justice. To our immediate left is the pool available for our private use complete with two lounge chairs and umbrella, and an elevated gazebo with two other chairs. In front of us is our villa. A large veranda with a table for four, a couch, two chairs and a coffee table, and a winding staircase to the second floor. There are doors to three rooms: 604, 605 and our kitchen. The two, ground-floor rooms have their own bathrooms attached, and there is a third bathroom - though I'm not sure of its purpose - at the rear of the house. Each room contains a canopy bed with mosquito netting, two chairs, a TV stand with a fridge, and a desk. There is a closet in the bathrooms. Upstairs is 605A and is clearly intended to be the kid's room. Two, twin beds, also canopy with mosquito netting, and a large, open floor for playing with kids toys. In a word, the place is "spectacular".
It is still only mid-afternoon by the time we unpack, take in the beauty of our surroundings, and discover we are sharing our villa with two kittens and a mother cat, so we walk across the street to Kuta Beach, the most popular beach in Bali. I am expecting crowds of tourists, surfers, and locals. We find a nearly deserted beach. On the plus side, finding a place to plant ourselves was easy. On the minus side, we were the only targets for the local "merchants", and my mother-in-law's bright red outfit and hat pegged us quite easily as bule tourists eager to spend money. I learned long ago to dismiss unwanted soliciters with a wave of my hand and an obvious disinterest. My mother-in-law decides to strike up conversations with everyone, which only encourages them to stay. Eventually, she was surrounded by four merchants all trying to sell something - jewelry made of shells, beach wraps, henna tattoos, an odd little contraption that you are supposed to rest your head on while laying on the beach, and even a massage. We end up leaving the beach with beach mats, a few beach wraps, and two of the head-rest contraptions. I didn't dare ask how much money she parted with. I got the impression there was no haggling, so I'm sure she overpaid.
We end the evening with a quiet dinner in the empty hotel restaurant. I'm not sure how many people are staying here - it does not seem to be a lot. Either we picked a time of year that no-one travels - which, with kids in school, is a very likely scenario - or everyone is avoiding the upcoming Nyepi holiday (the Balinese New Year). Time will tell. All I can say is we are happy to be here - and, the hotel does not have any internet, so I'm writing my blog in Notepad until I find an opportunity (ie, an internet connection) when I can post it.
Quick Geography Lesson
I need to give everyone a quick geography lesson to help lend understanding to most of my posts. Hopefully I only have to do this once.
Indonesia is comprised of thousands of islands - over 10,000, by the count I heard. Java is an island. Jakarta is a city on the island of Java. Kemang, where we will live, is also a city on the island of Java, south of Jakarta.
Currently, we are in Bali - another island. We are staying in Denpasar, a city in Bali, on the world famous Kuta Beach (an area of Denpasar).
The islands of Indonesia, much like the islands of Hawaii, were all once former volcanoes. Many of the islands remain active volcanoes to this day (again, much like Hawaii). Indonesia is located on the Ring of Fire - a very volatile geographic location. I believe there are three tectonic plates working together to make up the Indonesian archipelago.
Hope that helps.
Indonesia is comprised of thousands of islands - over 10,000, by the count I heard. Java is an island. Jakarta is a city on the island of Java. Kemang, where we will live, is also a city on the island of Java, south of Jakarta.
Currently, we are in Bali - another island. We are staying in Denpasar, a city in Bali, on the world famous Kuta Beach (an area of Denpasar).
The islands of Indonesia, much like the islands of Hawaii, were all once former volcanoes. Many of the islands remain active volcanoes to this day (again, much like Hawaii). Indonesia is located on the Ring of Fire - a very volatile geographic location. I believe there are three tectonic plates working together to make up the Indonesian archipelago.
Hope that helps.
Monday March 23
As I had hoped, we did not need to spend much time in the office to complete our paperwork. This gave us an opportunity to visit our new house. They were in process of cleaning the house when we arrived, and some of the furniture had already arrived. After a quick walk-through of the house that allowed my daughter to find her new hiding space, we took a quick tour of the grounds. My daughter found her new favorite swing at the playground.
The grounds of our complex are much nicer than I had remembered. Two olympic size swimming pools - one with a spa, one with a kiddie pool. Several tennis courts, squash courts and a soccer field. The club house has a fitness center and a spa where a one hour massage will run you $14. Sounds to me like we'll all get a massage each week.
The trip has not been all positives, so far. My daughter is definitely a little out of sorts. I think it really started the day the movers came and packed up her rooms. We wanted to minimize the impact of the move on her, so we decided we would bring everything of hers with us - toys, furniture, everything she recognizes as hers. My wife and I really only brough our clothes, a few pictures, and my golf clubs. When my daughter came home from school to find both of her rooms empty, she didn't quite know how to take it. We told her everything was moved to Jakarta. When we arrived at the new house, the first thing she wanted to see was her toy room. When I showed her what room would be her toy room, she wanted to know where her toys were. She is being quite the trooper with all of the travelling, plane flights, etc and we can tell the time changes, the constant travelling and the strangeness of everything has had its toll. She is, however, seeming to enjoy the hotels and restaurants.
After touring the complex and lunching at Amigos - the Mexican restaurant by our new house - we return to the hotel and all take a nap...for about 3 hours. I am the first to awaken and rouse everyone else to prepare for dinner. We dine at Bunga Rampai. I don't remember the names of the food we ate on my last visit that I enjoyed so much, and our waiter doesn't understand based on my description, so I guess. I order the three things I thought we ate, and get two of them correct. The third dish turns out to be what I can only describe as a meat mud pie. My daughter was cranky the whole time and started to fall asleep at the table - which, as it turns out, started a theme (see future posts). We'll see how often it happens.
As expected, we all fall asleep shortly after arriving back at the hotel. Exhaustion from jet lag knocks us all out by 8:30 in the evening. Bali is one hour ahead of Jakarta, so hopefully we will be better on their timezone - staying up to 10 PM, maybe! Starting to sound like my father on New Year's...
The grounds of our complex are much nicer than I had remembered. Two olympic size swimming pools - one with a spa, one with a kiddie pool. Several tennis courts, squash courts and a soccer field. The club house has a fitness center and a spa where a one hour massage will run you $14. Sounds to me like we'll all get a massage each week.
The trip has not been all positives, so far. My daughter is definitely a little out of sorts. I think it really started the day the movers came and packed up her rooms. We wanted to minimize the impact of the move on her, so we decided we would bring everything of hers with us - toys, furniture, everything she recognizes as hers. My wife and I really only brough our clothes, a few pictures, and my golf clubs. When my daughter came home from school to find both of her rooms empty, she didn't quite know how to take it. We told her everything was moved to Jakarta. When we arrived at the new house, the first thing she wanted to see was her toy room. When I showed her what room would be her toy room, she wanted to know where her toys were. She is being quite the trooper with all of the travelling, plane flights, etc and we can tell the time changes, the constant travelling and the strangeness of everything has had its toll. She is, however, seeming to enjoy the hotels and restaurants.
After touring the complex and lunching at Amigos - the Mexican restaurant by our new house - we return to the hotel and all take a nap...for about 3 hours. I am the first to awaken and rouse everyone else to prepare for dinner. We dine at Bunga Rampai. I don't remember the names of the food we ate on my last visit that I enjoyed so much, and our waiter doesn't understand based on my description, so I guess. I order the three things I thought we ate, and get two of them correct. The third dish turns out to be what I can only describe as a meat mud pie. My daughter was cranky the whole time and started to fall asleep at the table - which, as it turns out, started a theme (see future posts). We'll see how often it happens.
As expected, we all fall asleep shortly after arriving back at the hotel. Exhaustion from jet lag knocks us all out by 8:30 in the evening. Bali is one hour ahead of Jakarta, so hopefully we will be better on their timezone - staying up to 10 PM, maybe! Starting to sound like my father on New Year's...
Monday, March 23, 2009
Arrived in Jakarta
We arrived safely in Jakarta. Not wanting to spend $7 for internet access, I waited until arriving in the office Monday morning to publish this post.
The flight from Hong Kong to Jakarta was uneventful. My daughter watched Peter Pan 2 twice more, my wife slept and I watched the 3 hour Baz Lurhman epic "Australia" - much better than I had heard it was. When we arrived at the airport, employee services greeted us prior to immigration. We gave them our passports and documentation and walked right through while they worked with the immigration officers. They rejoined us while waiting for our luggage. On the way out, two women were fighting mightily with a security guard. I could not understand what they were saying, but they definitely wanted him to let go of their luggage and let them pass. I can only imagine what they were fighting for.
From arrival in Jakarta, getting through immigration, picking up our luggage, checking out through customs and getting to the airport parking lot was, at a maximum, 20 minutes. Absolutely amazing. Our team here in Jakarta knows how to get expedite and treat their visitors right. I think they also anticipated us having much more luggage than we actually did. Between the four of us, we checked 5 bags and a car seat. We had a caravan of cars awaiting us - three, full size SUV's. We loaded our baggage in the trunks of the first two vehicles, and we all piled into the last vehicle. One of the three drivers will be the driver for my wife and daughter while we live in Jakarta. I think they will definitely have to learn some Bahasa to effectively communicate.
Today - Monday - we have to file begin the paperwork process for my wife and daughter that I completed on my last trip. I am unsure how much time we will have to ourselves, today, and how much we will spend with employee services. If we have some free time, I plan to take everyone to the part of town in which we will live. Tonight, we are going to dinner at the restaurant my colleague and I went to on my last visit.
I probably won't post again until we have been in Bali a day or two.
The flight from Hong Kong to Jakarta was uneventful. My daughter watched Peter Pan 2 twice more, my wife slept and I watched the 3 hour Baz Lurhman epic "Australia" - much better than I had heard it was. When we arrived at the airport, employee services greeted us prior to immigration. We gave them our passports and documentation and walked right through while they worked with the immigration officers. They rejoined us while waiting for our luggage. On the way out, two women were fighting mightily with a security guard. I could not understand what they were saying, but they definitely wanted him to let go of their luggage and let them pass. I can only imagine what they were fighting for.
From arrival in Jakarta, getting through immigration, picking up our luggage, checking out through customs and getting to the airport parking lot was, at a maximum, 20 minutes. Absolutely amazing. Our team here in Jakarta knows how to get expedite and treat their visitors right. I think they also anticipated us having much more luggage than we actually did. Between the four of us, we checked 5 bags and a car seat. We had a caravan of cars awaiting us - three, full size SUV's. We loaded our baggage in the trunks of the first two vehicles, and we all piled into the last vehicle. One of the three drivers will be the driver for my wife and daughter while we live in Jakarta. I think they will definitely have to learn some Bahasa to effectively communicate.
Today - Monday - we have to file begin the paperwork process for my wife and daughter that I completed on my last trip. I am unsure how much time we will have to ourselves, today, and how much we will spend with employee services. If we have some free time, I plan to take everyone to the part of town in which we will live. Tonight, we are going to dinner at the restaurant my colleague and I went to on my last visit.
I probably won't post again until we have been in Bali a day or two.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Arrived in Hong Kong
Many of you have asked that I chronicle the journey out as frequently as possible so you are aware of our safety. Rest assured, we are safe in Hong Kong. Los Angeles was a zoo, and the benefits of business class exhibited themselves quite clearly. We checked in with Cathay Pacific and received a "fast pass". Basically, we did not stand in line at security. There was a side door with a security guard. We went to him, he checked us, we had our bags scanned, and off we went. Total time savings - 30 minutes.
Had we not had this opportunity, we would not have been able to spend time in the business class lounge. The trip out is always the best part. I get the lounge in LAX and the lounge in Hong Kong. Drinks, food, showers, internet - all in, usually, a fairly quiet and subdued atmosphere. Not this time. The lounge was absolutely packed. There were no places to sit. We finally grabbed a dirty table the minute someone stood up and I tracked down an employee to clean it for us. Food was good, though, and we needed it to be - it was our dinner.
Of all the people in my travel party - myself, my wife, our daughter, my mother-in-law - I'm the only one who had ever flown business class. I'm not sure if I explained it with enough detail for everyone, though they all seemed quite pleased. My daughter, especially, liked the service. She sat in her big chair with her own personal TV like a little princess. When the stewards came around offering champagne, water or orange juice, they asked her if she wanted orange juice and she very enthusiastically said "Sure!".
My daughter wanted to watch Peter Pan 2 as soon as she saw the option, but fell asleep during take off. When she awoke, the first thing she did was call out for "Daddy!", because she did not really know where she was. I was half asleep myself at this point, but shot up and looked over the wall to see her sitting up on her bed. She looked up at me and said "Can I watch Peter Pan now?" Good memory.
I had seen all the movies already, so I didn't watch any of them again. Instead, I read a little of my book, and finally finished a play I've been writing the last several months. That's something I plan to do a lot more of while we're in Indonesia - write. I have probably 10 novels and plays in various stages of completeness and another 10 or so that are just ideas in my head. Without the distraction of television, I hope to complete them all in the next two years.
Thankfully, we did not sit on the upper deck for our flight. Those seats are a little more difficult to keep track of everyone in your party - plus you have to climb a flight of stairs. The flight was, for the most part, uneventful. It could have been quite an interesting flight, however. A few hours in, they asked if there was a doctor on the flight. Apparently, one of the passengers in business class (two seats behind my wife) needed medical attention. There was not a doctor on the flight, but there was a nurse. This gentleman was in bad enough condition that he required an IV. The nurse was lucky enough to receive an upgrade from coach to business class, so I'm sure she was happy. I only hope that whatever this guy has wasn't dangerous and contagious. We're flying from LA, so it can't be anything to exotic, I would imagine.
Had we not had this opportunity, we would not have been able to spend time in the business class lounge. The trip out is always the best part. I get the lounge in LAX and the lounge in Hong Kong. Drinks, food, showers, internet - all in, usually, a fairly quiet and subdued atmosphere. Not this time. The lounge was absolutely packed. There were no places to sit. We finally grabbed a dirty table the minute someone stood up and I tracked down an employee to clean it for us. Food was good, though, and we needed it to be - it was our dinner.
Of all the people in my travel party - myself, my wife, our daughter, my mother-in-law - I'm the only one who had ever flown business class. I'm not sure if I explained it with enough detail for everyone, though they all seemed quite pleased. My daughter, especially, liked the service. She sat in her big chair with her own personal TV like a little princess. When the stewards came around offering champagne, water or orange juice, they asked her if she wanted orange juice and she very enthusiastically said "Sure!".
My daughter wanted to watch Peter Pan 2 as soon as she saw the option, but fell asleep during take off. When she awoke, the first thing she did was call out for "Daddy!", because she did not really know where she was. I was half asleep myself at this point, but shot up and looked over the wall to see her sitting up on her bed. She looked up at me and said "Can I watch Peter Pan now?" Good memory.
I had seen all the movies already, so I didn't watch any of them again. Instead, I read a little of my book, and finally finished a play I've been writing the last several months. That's something I plan to do a lot more of while we're in Indonesia - write. I have probably 10 novels and plays in various stages of completeness and another 10 or so that are just ideas in my head. Without the distraction of television, I hope to complete them all in the next two years.
Thankfully, we did not sit on the upper deck for our flight. Those seats are a little more difficult to keep track of everyone in your party - plus you have to climb a flight of stairs. The flight was, for the most part, uneventful. It could have been quite an interesting flight, however. A few hours in, they asked if there was a doctor on the flight. Apparently, one of the passengers in business class (two seats behind my wife) needed medical attention. There was not a doctor on the flight, but there was a nurse. This gentleman was in bad enough condition that he required an IV. The nurse was lucky enough to receive an upgrade from coach to business class, so I'm sure she was happy. I only hope that whatever this guy has wasn't dangerous and contagious. We're flying from LA, so it can't be anything to exotic, I would imagine.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The aventure begins
It is Friday, 20 March, 2009. I'm at the Phoenix airport with my family waiting to board the first leg of our flight to Indonesia. The last few days have been full of last minute flurrying, challenges, and good-byes. I think I spoke to everyone I know at least twice in the last week as everyone tried to squeeze in the last conversation, the last visit, the last email before we left.
My boss tells me that on international assignments - he had one earlier in his career in the Philippines - are full of surprises, and they occur on both sides: good, and bad. For this international assignment, we've already had two bad surprises. The first one occurred when we were delayed 3 months as a result of layoffs. The second one occurred this week. On Wednesday, I received an email informing me that my 8 day vacation in Bali could only be 3 days. The reasoning was that the Indonesia government requires us to register for residency within 7 days of arrival, and we must do it in my city of employment - Jakarta.
My immediate response was shock, anger and frustration. I still have the emails from January when I shared my plans with all parties involved - including the person who was now informing me I could no longer spend a week long vacation in Bali with my family. After some back and forth, several phone conversations, and $4,000 of my own money (which I'm not thrilled about), we have reached a compromise. Instead of flying from Phoenix to Bali, staying for 8 days, and then going to Jakarta, we are now flying Phoenix to Jakarta, finishing our immigration paperwork, and flying to Bali 2 days later.
We are very excited about our trip to Bali. We will be there for the Balinese New Year, and all of the accompanying festivities. Several people have also made recommendations we intend to pursue - The Monkey Forest, Kecak Festival at sunset, the Bali water park, and Safari Park. So much for a relaxing beach vacation!
Finally, before signing off, I've been thinking a lot about how I plan to use this blog. Thus far, I've reported my business trips, and the focus has been a mix of work and my cultural experiences. Though I am sure I will still make references to work - it is, after all, the reason we will be in Jakarta - I am shifting the focus of my blog to life as an expatriate in Jakarta. To some extent, I am hoping it will be a resource for other families relocating to Jakarta - restaurants, activities, schools. Most of all, I want it to be the story of our time there: the joys, the sorrows, missing our family, making new friends, seeing this part of the world. Finally, I hope to reach a larger audience.
What it you are not likely to find, as is my philosophy, are names of people. I protect my own privacy, and intend to extend that favor to those with whom I work. At some point I may decide to refer to people using names, as it is easier for the reader to identify with a character by name than by description. If I do so, I will not be using their real names.
One last note - for those who don't know, my wife and I are expecting another child in October. When we arrive, I'll scan and post the few ultrasounds we have - it looks like and is the size of a gummy bear at the moment.
Wish us well, check back often, and post comments and send emails frequently.
My boss tells me that on international assignments - he had one earlier in his career in the Philippines - are full of surprises, and they occur on both sides: good, and bad. For this international assignment, we've already had two bad surprises. The first one occurred when we were delayed 3 months as a result of layoffs. The second one occurred this week. On Wednesday, I received an email informing me that my 8 day vacation in Bali could only be 3 days. The reasoning was that the Indonesia government requires us to register for residency within 7 days of arrival, and we must do it in my city of employment - Jakarta.
My immediate response was shock, anger and frustration. I still have the emails from January when I shared my plans with all parties involved - including the person who was now informing me I could no longer spend a week long vacation in Bali with my family. After some back and forth, several phone conversations, and $4,000 of my own money (which I'm not thrilled about), we have reached a compromise. Instead of flying from Phoenix to Bali, staying for 8 days, and then going to Jakarta, we are now flying Phoenix to Jakarta, finishing our immigration paperwork, and flying to Bali 2 days later.
We are very excited about our trip to Bali. We will be there for the Balinese New Year, and all of the accompanying festivities. Several people have also made recommendations we intend to pursue - The Monkey Forest, Kecak Festival at sunset, the Bali water park, and Safari Park. So much for a relaxing beach vacation!
Finally, before signing off, I've been thinking a lot about how I plan to use this blog. Thus far, I've reported my business trips, and the focus has been a mix of work and my cultural experiences. Though I am sure I will still make references to work - it is, after all, the reason we will be in Jakarta - I am shifting the focus of my blog to life as an expatriate in Jakarta. To some extent, I am hoping it will be a resource for other families relocating to Jakarta - restaurants, activities, schools. Most of all, I want it to be the story of our time there: the joys, the sorrows, missing our family, making new friends, seeing this part of the world. Finally, I hope to reach a larger audience.
What it you are not likely to find, as is my philosophy, are names of people. I protect my own privacy, and intend to extend that favor to those with whom I work. At some point I may decide to refer to people using names, as it is easier for the reader to identify with a character by name than by description. If I do so, I will not be using their real names.
One last note - for those who don't know, my wife and I are expecting another child in October. When we arrive, I'll scan and post the few ultrasounds we have - it looks like and is the size of a gummy bear at the moment.
Wish us well, check back often, and post comments and send emails frequently.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Returning to US
In the few areas I've injected myself, I'm already seeing positive results. My message has been clear, understood, and, it appears, accepted. The true test is what happens when I am gone for a month - do we revert back, or do we continue improving and maintain the same focus. My experience these last few weeks is encouraging to me for my assignment. When I first discussed this role with my management, I believed I had to come here and rebuild an engine. Thankfully, that is not the situation. Instead, I feel more like the expert mechanic called in to make minor adjustments to extract those last few horsepower from the engine. We do not need to make significant changes here, just minor tweaks.
The last few days have been sunny with partly-cloudy skies. This afternoon was a torrential down pour. When I looked out my office window this afternoon, I felt something was missing. I realized the brown cloud I typicall associate with Jakarta was not there. I don't know if I am now acclimated to the pollution, or if the rainy season minimizes the pollution, or if it's actually less than normal. I realize, however, that I never really felt like I could taste pollution when I breathed, or see it in the air this whole trip.
As a result of the rain, the drive to the hotel from my office was absolutely brutal. The half mile trip took more than 90 minutes. I can travel a half mile faster than that crawling, with a broken leg, while pulling a piano. Coincidentally, I had lunch with an expat today who shared some driving horror stories with me. He lives in the same area - Kemang - though not the same neighborhood, that I will. He said most evenings the 4 mile drive from the office to Keman takes an hour. That's a good night. Nights after a heavy rain - like we had today - will take two or three hours. On his worst night, that 4 mile drive took 6 hours. That's less than one mile per hour!
The end of the day was a bit of a scramble around the office. Typically, when I leave, I have to pay the $15 departure tax. Now that I have a work visa, I have to pay the $15 departure tax and a $250 fiscal tax. I was floored! Everytime a national, permanent resident, or foreign national with a work visa leave the country, they are required to pay this fee. That is, unless you can prove you have a tax ID, which means you are paying taxes every year. I learned that, unlike most Western nations, people here don't typically have a national ID card. This enables them to not pay tax on any earnings they might have. A decade or so ago, foreign nationals left in droves after Suhanto became president. They took all of their money and left. So, Suhanto decided to implement a $100 departure tax. This recently elevated to a $250 departure tax from which you are exempt if you have a tax ID card. I don't have such a card, though I will soon. I also do not have enough cash to cover this expense. Office Services, the group helping me with my relocation - and booking my Bali vacation - provided me with a government issued temporary ID and a piece of paper that should be all I require to avoid having to pay the fee.
When I return to Indonesia the next time, I will have my family with me, and our first stop will be the tourist destination of Bali. Still don't know exactly which hotel I'll be staying in, though I have recommended accomodations at a hotel recommended by a colleague who visits Bali a lot - 3 BR villa with a private swimming pool for $100/night. I'm very much looking forward to this experience.
The last few days have been sunny with partly-cloudy skies. This afternoon was a torrential down pour. When I looked out my office window this afternoon, I felt something was missing. I realized the brown cloud I typicall associate with Jakarta was not there. I don't know if I am now acclimated to the pollution, or if the rainy season minimizes the pollution, or if it's actually less than normal. I realize, however, that I never really felt like I could taste pollution when I breathed, or see it in the air this whole trip.
As a result of the rain, the drive to the hotel from my office was absolutely brutal. The half mile trip took more than 90 minutes. I can travel a half mile faster than that crawling, with a broken leg, while pulling a piano. Coincidentally, I had lunch with an expat today who shared some driving horror stories with me. He lives in the same area - Kemang - though not the same neighborhood, that I will. He said most evenings the 4 mile drive from the office to Keman takes an hour. That's a good night. Nights after a heavy rain - like we had today - will take two or three hours. On his worst night, that 4 mile drive took 6 hours. That's less than one mile per hour!
The end of the day was a bit of a scramble around the office. Typically, when I leave, I have to pay the $15 departure tax. Now that I have a work visa, I have to pay the $15 departure tax and a $250 fiscal tax. I was floored! Everytime a national, permanent resident, or foreign national with a work visa leave the country, they are required to pay this fee. That is, unless you can prove you have a tax ID, which means you are paying taxes every year. I learned that, unlike most Western nations, people here don't typically have a national ID card. This enables them to not pay tax on any earnings they might have. A decade or so ago, foreign nationals left in droves after Suhanto became president. They took all of their money and left. So, Suhanto decided to implement a $100 departure tax. This recently elevated to a $250 departure tax from which you are exempt if you have a tax ID card. I don't have such a card, though I will soon. I also do not have enough cash to cover this expense. Office Services, the group helping me with my relocation - and booking my Bali vacation - provided me with a government issued temporary ID and a piece of paper that should be all I require to avoid having to pay the fee.
When I return to Indonesia the next time, I will have my family with me, and our first stop will be the tourist destination of Bali. Still don't know exactly which hotel I'll be staying in, though I have recommended accomodations at a hotel recommended by a colleague who visits Bali a lot - 3 BR villa with a private swimming pool for $100/night. I'm very much looking forward to this experience.
Monday, March 2, 2009
2 is easy, 3 is hard, and things I forgot to mention...
I enjoy traveling. I have always felt sorry for those who want to see the world and, due to their financial circumstances, are unable to. I've also stared ponderously at those who proudly declare they've never left their state, or their part of the country, or even the US. I mean, if you like homogeneity, lack of cultural experiences, and exposure to ideas other than those you already have, then, okay, I guess I see why you are proud of your lack of traveling. Other than that.... HUH!??
There's an interesting thing about traveling, though. When I was in college, I had plans for spring break that, to make a long story short, fell through. I ended up taking a week long cruise by myself. Met some great people, some not so great people and, well, a stalker. Anyway, I discovered something I am rediscovering in week three of my trip. All the experiences you have are hollow when they are experienced alone. I can do a two week business trip any time of the year without blinking. After two weekends away from the family, three weeks from seeing familiar faces, it gets a little tougher. Two is easy, three is hard.
Things I forgot to mention....
1) The Bahasa language is interesting. I've been told it's very easy to learn. I'm finding that to be true, though I am finding it much harder to pronounce. For example, "hari ini" (hah - ree, ee - nee), literally, means "day here", or "today". "Wareng Nasi" (wah-rung nah-see) literally translated means "Shop rice". Rice is an integral part of the diet here. I've been told that a traditional Indonesian doesn't consider it a meal unless they have eaten rice. "Wareng Nasi" - Shop Rice - is the Bahasa word for "Restaurant".
2) I bought a DVD player on Saturday when I was out touring Kemang. The hotel, unlike the Ritz, did not have a DVD player in the room. I rented one for two days last weekend - at $10/day. I bought one this weekend - for $20. It was an interesting experience. I went to "Electronic City" in south Jakarta. I walked in and initially thought it was like any other electronics store - large screen TV's, appliances, computers. Then I started looking for the DVD players...and found more TV's, more appliances. Turns out, the store was not arranged by product, but by brand. LG in one area, HP in another, Sony in another. Fits perfectly with the book I finished - "A Perfect Mess". I'm sure organizing by brand makes sense to some one...but it sure made finding a DVD player impossible. I finally bought a local brand called "Innova" - when it plays a DVD, it vibrates...enough to shake the dresser.
3) Man, this one is hard to write. (For the slow ones, read the title again).
4) I probably should have skipped to Five...if I am to believe the Chinese. Indonesia, like most of SE Asia, is heavily influenced by China - the region's 800 pound (400 KG) gorilla. In China, the word for the number four sounds very much like their word for death. So, my hotel, like all the hotels, apartments, addresses, streets, etc in China, doesn't have a floor that ends in 4. No 4, 14, 24, etc. I haven't seen if any of the rooms end in 4. We also don't have a 13th floor. Apparently the West is influential, too.
5) Will Smith is a great actor who does great movies. One of the movies I bought is "7 Pounds". I had seen a few ads for it back in the States and, it looked interesting. It was an absolutely great movie. Slower moving than I anticipated, but overall great. Highly recommended.
6) I had lunch today with one of the managers who will be working for me. He asked me how many "Pembantu" (Pum-bahn-too) - house help - we would have. I told him it was up to my wife. He said he had two - one to clean, one to watch the kids - both of whom live with him. He said that's the way of life here. If you have kids, you have at least one pembantu, usually two. It's very surprising to me. We'll see how it works for me.
There's an interesting thing about traveling, though. When I was in college, I had plans for spring break that, to make a long story short, fell through. I ended up taking a week long cruise by myself. Met some great people, some not so great people and, well, a stalker. Anyway, I discovered something I am rediscovering in week three of my trip. All the experiences you have are hollow when they are experienced alone. I can do a two week business trip any time of the year without blinking. After two weekends away from the family, three weeks from seeing familiar faces, it gets a little tougher. Two is easy, three is hard.
Things I forgot to mention....
1) The Bahasa language is interesting. I've been told it's very easy to learn. I'm finding that to be true, though I am finding it much harder to pronounce. For example, "hari ini" (hah - ree, ee - nee), literally, means "day here", or "today". "Wareng Nasi" (wah-rung nah-see) literally translated means "Shop rice". Rice is an integral part of the diet here. I've been told that a traditional Indonesian doesn't consider it a meal unless they have eaten rice. "Wareng Nasi" - Shop Rice - is the Bahasa word for "Restaurant".
2) I bought a DVD player on Saturday when I was out touring Kemang. The hotel, unlike the Ritz, did not have a DVD player in the room. I rented one for two days last weekend - at $10/day. I bought one this weekend - for $20. It was an interesting experience. I went to "Electronic City" in south Jakarta. I walked in and initially thought it was like any other electronics store - large screen TV's, appliances, computers. Then I started looking for the DVD players...and found more TV's, more appliances. Turns out, the store was not arranged by product, but by brand. LG in one area, HP in another, Sony in another. Fits perfectly with the book I finished - "A Perfect Mess". I'm sure organizing by brand makes sense to some one...but it sure made finding a DVD player impossible. I finally bought a local brand called "Innova" - when it plays a DVD, it vibrates...enough to shake the dresser.
3) Man, this one is hard to write. (For the slow ones, read the title again).
4) I probably should have skipped to Five...if I am to believe the Chinese. Indonesia, like most of SE Asia, is heavily influenced by China - the region's 800 pound (400 KG) gorilla. In China, the word for the number four sounds very much like their word for death. So, my hotel, like all the hotels, apartments, addresses, streets, etc in China, doesn't have a floor that ends in 4. No 4, 14, 24, etc. I haven't seen if any of the rooms end in 4. We also don't have a 13th floor. Apparently the West is influential, too.
5) Will Smith is a great actor who does great movies. One of the movies I bought is "7 Pounds". I had seen a few ads for it back in the States and, it looked interesting. It was an absolutely great movie. Slower moving than I anticipated, but overall great. Highly recommended.
6) I had lunch today with one of the managers who will be working for me. He asked me how many "Pembantu" (Pum-bahn-too) - house help - we would have. I told him it was up to my wife. He said he had two - one to clean, one to watch the kids - both of whom live with him. He said that's the way of life here. If you have kids, you have at least one pembantu, usually two. It's very surprising to me. We'll see how it works for me.
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