well, after finding the perfect kos, i can't move in until the 15th of feb!
basically, i was sharing lisa's room until the 5th when my room was to be vacated, but now the person in my future room is staying till the 15th (can't leave country- she had an air paradise ticket too!) so i have to find somewhere else, because it isn't fair to encroach on lisa's space for 2 more weeks. the other thing is that for 2 days (20th and 21st) the parents of one of the girls at the kos, Esther, will come down for her graduation, and they booked that room, so i have to bunk with lisa then too!
so in true indo style i have to make a rapid change of plans. i met a girl today called Deeko who has a spare room at her house (share house) and she says i can stay there for free. (of course i will give her some money if i go there). am checking it out with Dini tomorrow. sigh.
enrolment also didn't happen today. we enrol wednesday now, and it looks like I will take the plunge and study a law subject.... means i have to stay a little longer here though...
anyway, meeting some ppl for dinner.
my indonesian feels useless today, my head is spinning. i think i am just a bit annoyed about the kos! oh well, nggak apa-apa, as they say here- no worries!
Monday, January 30, 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Lesahan Breakfast at Warung on Bulevar
This morning we walked across the road from our hotel to eat breakfast at a roadside stall (perfectly fine mum- relax!). For three of us to eat banana pancake, have a drink and me to have lonton (glutinous rice in broth) it cost 12000- or about $1.50. Murah sekali ya!
Moved into kos this arvo....... dinner at the Director's house tonight. Then tomorrow- enrolment! Yikes!
Moved into kos this arvo....... dinner at the Director's house tonight. Then tomorrow- enrolment! Yikes!
Saturday, January 28, 2006
accomodasi ya!
i found a kos! at least for one month anyway- i have a room in a lean-to attached to a family house about 10 minutes walk from uni. lisa (my traveling partner and good friend from uni) is taking the other inside room and there are 20 outside rooms where indonesian girls live.
i have no curfew (rare) double bed, fridge, fully furnished as well, shower (currently broken but will be fixed), no AC but a fan, and my laundry is included. all for the princely sum of 550,000 rupiah a month- which is about $77! unbelievable.
it is the same place i looked at yesterday and i have a really good feeling about it- especially since the ibu kos (kos mother) saved the room for me- actually turned people away- because she was hoping i would come back! so we move our stuff there tomorrow and then we will go shopping for stuff to make it homely- TV, cushions, etc.
i went to a party last night at the rumah kontrakan (contract house) of an ACICIS student who is heading off to Malang for a semester. It was a very cool house- everyone sat on the marble floor which is raised, temple-like above the main level of the house. there were lots of people from INCULS there- the centre where foreign students study language at Gadjah Mada Uni- i met a russian, a german, an austrian, and there were japanese, koreans, french and south americans there too. the only thing is after 1 and a half small bintangs i felt like i had drunk a carton of big bintangs! so i had an early night before going to look for kos today!
i don't think i mentioned yesterday that I found out that my uni here is ranked #56 by the Times education supplement- it is like the Harvard of Indonesia and carries a lot of weight around the entire country! bonus....! the campus is impressive from a distance- i haven't been there yet- that is on monday for enrolment - but when i find a warnet that actually lets me use USB i will upload some pictures. they are explaining the course options etc to us today..... still not sure how i will go in immersion subjects, and reluctant to take a class that has an exam, but will keep my mind open nonetheless.
what else??? my helper- princess dini- is taking me to see a gym about 15 minutes from my kos where they have a pool, aerobics and equipment- and i could join until i leave for about $100. a lot of the girls who have been here a while have said that it is easy to gain weight- and i am not interested in getting fat, so i have to find a way to overcome all of the palm oil, and palm sugar that is in the food! mind, swatting the scary dengue mosquito's should burn a few kilojoules!!!!
anyway, speaking of food, it is nearly lunch time and for the first time in a few days i am really hungry, so it is back to the hotel to prepare to move to my new home and decide what on earth i will study this semester!
i have no curfew (rare) double bed, fridge, fully furnished as well, shower (currently broken but will be fixed), no AC but a fan, and my laundry is included. all for the princely sum of 550,000 rupiah a month- which is about $77! unbelievable.
it is the same place i looked at yesterday and i have a really good feeling about it- especially since the ibu kos (kos mother) saved the room for me- actually turned people away- because she was hoping i would come back! so we move our stuff there tomorrow and then we will go shopping for stuff to make it homely- TV, cushions, etc.
i went to a party last night at the rumah kontrakan (contract house) of an ACICIS student who is heading off to Malang for a semester. It was a very cool house- everyone sat on the marble floor which is raised, temple-like above the main level of the house. there were lots of people from INCULS there- the centre where foreign students study language at Gadjah Mada Uni- i met a russian, a german, an austrian, and there were japanese, koreans, french and south americans there too. the only thing is after 1 and a half small bintangs i felt like i had drunk a carton of big bintangs! so i had an early night before going to look for kos today!
i don't think i mentioned yesterday that I found out that my uni here is ranked #56 by the Times education supplement- it is like the Harvard of Indonesia and carries a lot of weight around the entire country! bonus....! the campus is impressive from a distance- i haven't been there yet- that is on monday for enrolment - but when i find a warnet that actually lets me use USB i will upload some pictures. they are explaining the course options etc to us today..... still not sure how i will go in immersion subjects, and reluctant to take a class that has an exam, but will keep my mind open nonetheless.
what else??? my helper- princess dini- is taking me to see a gym about 15 minutes from my kos where they have a pool, aerobics and equipment- and i could join until i leave for about $100. a lot of the girls who have been here a while have said that it is easy to gain weight- and i am not interested in getting fat, so i have to find a way to overcome all of the palm oil, and palm sugar that is in the food! mind, swatting the scary dengue mosquito's should burn a few kilojoules!!!!
anyway, speaking of food, it is nearly lunch time and for the first time in a few days i am really hungry, so it is back to the hotel to prepare to move to my new home and decide what on earth i will study this semester!
Friday, January 27, 2006
torrential rain and lost bags
wow! it feels like i left about 10 days ago and it was only wednesday that I embarked upon this crazy journey...
for those of you not in the know- i was without luggage for a full 36 rather stressful and unclean hours, as my bags, along with Lisa's got left in Sydney. We arrived in Bali and watched for 15 minutes as the luggage carousel went around and around with no sign of our bags. we got stuck in bali for the night which was a bit crap, but we were lucky to be helped out by some lovely Malaysian business people (a husband and wife) who helped de-stress us somewhat by offering to share their transport and taking us to a hotel.
bali was a bit sad- there are no wisatawan (tourists) there and the hotels are only at about 3% of capacity. we drove through kuta and had a look at the memorial which was also quite sad, but interesting to see. but honestly, i don't feel too compelled to return to bali on this trip anyway. i think there is plenty here in java to explore!
so anyway we arrived in the same clothes we flew from australia in, to meet for the first time, our fellow ACICIS students at the Wisma Gadjah Mada. i must admit, having only had 2 hours sleep, wearing the same gross clothes for 36 hours and being generally out of sorts was not conducive to producing my sparkling best, but i struggled through and eventually our bags arrived (well 3 out of 4 anyway) at 9.30 pm last night. Lisa's other bag will arrive tonight.
last night we met our pendampings - our indonesian helpers who help us to find accomodation and just generally be our friend. mine is called dini- she is a regular little princess- a self-confessed "bad muslim" who wears stilleto heels and blue contact lenses!!!! but she is well in the know about all the important things such as where i can get my nails attended to and which is the best gym. she also took me looking at kos today which are boarding houses for students. i looked at 6 ranging from $50 per month to $100 per month. i have found a nice one which i will go and look at again- there are two rooms attached to the family house for "bule" - foreigners, and then about 20 rooms where indonesian girls live. it seems friendly and there is a servant who will apparently cater to all my culinary requests! it is a bout 10 minutes walk from uni....
speaking of uni- it is going to be an interesting experience methinks. we enrol next week and dini said i should try to take some law classes in indonesian. i think i would be hopeless, but apparently you adjust pretty quickly. my indonesian is going ok- there are some people here who are really fluent and some a lot worse than me- so i am not a complete dunce...... i can understand much more than i can say, that is for sure. so i will update you as i am further immersed- bearing in mind that i am currently staying in a hotel with aussie students and therefore able to speak english......
aside form that- the ACICIS crew are quite cool- there are actually 2 families here and quite a number of mature age students too. we did administrative stuff today- got finger-printed by the local police, and filled in very tedious visa forms- we also got the low-down on health- an assurance that we will get sick at least once! apparently people have had typhoid even with the innoculation- which is a worry. dengue fever is endemic here too- carried by these enormous very scary mosquito's- so you have to wear long pants and sleeves at dawn and dusk...... but it is really isn't that bad if you are sensible. and the health system is very very good for people who can pay...... sad, but true.
there has been torrential rain today and i have got three lots of soggy clothes in my room now. it is unbelievable- reminding me that yes, i am in the tropics in the wet season.
anyways, this is rather long and probably boring, so i will go. but please comment, i will try to get on here again soon with some updates on my indonesian learning and other things.
but here is a parting thought- yesterday i went to the supermarket and bought 3 litres of spring water, some ice tea, a gatorade and some snacks, all for 11000 rupiah- or about $1.50. so yeah, money goes far!~
for those of you not in the know- i was without luggage for a full 36 rather stressful and unclean hours, as my bags, along with Lisa's got left in Sydney. We arrived in Bali and watched for 15 minutes as the luggage carousel went around and around with no sign of our bags. we got stuck in bali for the night which was a bit crap, but we were lucky to be helped out by some lovely Malaysian business people (a husband and wife) who helped de-stress us somewhat by offering to share their transport and taking us to a hotel.
bali was a bit sad- there are no wisatawan (tourists) there and the hotels are only at about 3% of capacity. we drove through kuta and had a look at the memorial which was also quite sad, but interesting to see. but honestly, i don't feel too compelled to return to bali on this trip anyway. i think there is plenty here in java to explore!
so anyway we arrived in the same clothes we flew from australia in, to meet for the first time, our fellow ACICIS students at the Wisma Gadjah Mada. i must admit, having only had 2 hours sleep, wearing the same gross clothes for 36 hours and being generally out of sorts was not conducive to producing my sparkling best, but i struggled through and eventually our bags arrived (well 3 out of 4 anyway) at 9.30 pm last night. Lisa's other bag will arrive tonight.
last night we met our pendampings - our indonesian helpers who help us to find accomodation and just generally be our friend. mine is called dini- she is a regular little princess- a self-confessed "bad muslim" who wears stilleto heels and blue contact lenses!!!! but she is well in the know about all the important things such as where i can get my nails attended to and which is the best gym. she also took me looking at kos today which are boarding houses for students. i looked at 6 ranging from $50 per month to $100 per month. i have found a nice one which i will go and look at again- there are two rooms attached to the family house for "bule" - foreigners, and then about 20 rooms where indonesian girls live. it seems friendly and there is a servant who will apparently cater to all my culinary requests! it is a bout 10 minutes walk from uni....
speaking of uni- it is going to be an interesting experience methinks. we enrol next week and dini said i should try to take some law classes in indonesian. i think i would be hopeless, but apparently you adjust pretty quickly. my indonesian is going ok- there are some people here who are really fluent and some a lot worse than me- so i am not a complete dunce...... i can understand much more than i can say, that is for sure. so i will update you as i am further immersed- bearing in mind that i am currently staying in a hotel with aussie students and therefore able to speak english......
aside form that- the ACICIS crew are quite cool- there are actually 2 families here and quite a number of mature age students too. we did administrative stuff today- got finger-printed by the local police, and filled in very tedious visa forms- we also got the low-down on health- an assurance that we will get sick at least once! apparently people have had typhoid even with the innoculation- which is a worry. dengue fever is endemic here too- carried by these enormous very scary mosquito's- so you have to wear long pants and sleeves at dawn and dusk...... but it is really isn't that bad if you are sensible. and the health system is very very good for people who can pay...... sad, but true.
there has been torrential rain today and i have got three lots of soggy clothes in my room now. it is unbelievable- reminding me that yes, i am in the tropics in the wet season.
anyways, this is rather long and probably boring, so i will go. but please comment, i will try to get on here again soon with some updates on my indonesian learning and other things.
but here is a parting thought- yesterday i went to the supermarket and bought 3 litres of spring water, some ice tea, a gatorade and some snacks, all for 11000 rupiah- or about $1.50. so yeah, money goes far!~
Monday, January 23, 2006
ciao 4 now
The last few days have been rather frantic- between all the goodbyes, washing, ironing, packing, last minute purchasing etc, I forget at times where I am even going! But, surely enough, this time tomorrow I will be in transit, on the way to Sydney, and then Denpasar, and then Yogyakarta. For 5 whole months!
So without further ado, sayonara, sampai jumpa, later, catcha. And then next time you hear from me, I will be in a Wartel (net café) in Yogya……
So without further ado, sayonara, sampai jumpa, later, catcha. And then next time you hear from me, I will be in a Wartel (net café) in Yogya……
Chums
Claudia, Me, Kate, Paul, Lauren and Mark. This was AFTER we found the air conditioning- it was still 39 degrees at 10 at night (or something equally ridiculous).
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Wink
Walking out of my last shift at "crappy-part time job". It was 9pm and still about 38 degrees. But it was a happy moment, nonetheless.
Oh, and I have had my hair died brown! Can you tell?? For practical reasons while in Indonesia I thought brown hair might be a little easier to maintain- I hope I was right because I really don't like it! Anyway- tonight it is bon voyage drinks, tomorrow is bon voyage barbecue and then 2 days till I go!!!!
Oh, and I have had my hair died brown! Can you tell?? For practical reasons while in Indonesia I thought brown hair might be a little easier to maintain- I hope I was right because I really don't like it! Anyway- tonight it is bon voyage drinks, tomorrow is bon voyage barbecue and then 2 days till I go!!!!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Memoirs of a Geisha
Memoirs of a Geisha was released in Australia yesterday and I ventured out to see it, after my second-to-last shift at my yucky part-time job!
I have only found out since watching it that it has been reviewed pretty badly. But I (perhaps with some level of bias having just visited Japan) found it to be a mesmerising and beautiful story. I am yet to read the book, so that might have made a difference. I did think it was peculiar that all of the main geisha were played by Chinese actors though, and I am curious to see whether that will impact upon the film's reception in Japan. This had an effect on the English accent that each had- i.e. it did not sound like a Japanese accent, but to criticise the way the English was spoken (ala The Movie Show) I think was a bit rich! Watching geisha shuffle around with American accents for example, would have been absolutely ridiculous.
(See: http://www20.sbs.com.au/movieshow/index.php?action=review&id=1865)
Anyway, I enjoyed it and I am fussy about films! I am curious to see what other people think.
I have only found out since watching it that it has been reviewed pretty badly. But I (perhaps with some level of bias having just visited Japan) found it to be a mesmerising and beautiful story. I am yet to read the book, so that might have made a difference. I did think it was peculiar that all of the main geisha were played by Chinese actors though, and I am curious to see whether that will impact upon the film's reception in Japan. This had an effect on the English accent that each had- i.e. it did not sound like a Japanese accent, but to criticise the way the English was spoken (ala The Movie Show) I think was a bit rich! Watching geisha shuffle around with American accents for example, would have been absolutely ridiculous.
(See: http://www20.sbs.com.au/movieshow/index.php?action=review&id=1865)
Anyway, I enjoyed it and I am fussy about films! I am curious to see what other people think.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Pirate-Eye Reprisal
Keith is a champion- I received a new Graniph t-shirt in the post today- it is super-Kawai!
In other news, I had to send this letter to the insurer for the Japan tour today and when I re-read it I thought it was rather funny:
Tuesday, 17 January 2006
To whom it may concern
On December 7th while in Japan, I was preparing to leave my hotel room when I felt something fall into my eye. Assuming that it would eventually fall out by itself, I proceeded to try and ignore it. However, the irritant caused my eye to become extremely watery, red and sore. It remained in my eye all day, and it became very swollen overnight. After approximately 36 hours with the irritant in my eye, it was decided that Eri-Chan would accompany me to an ophthalmologist. The tomato-sauce-smelling ophthalmologist removed what he believed to be a piece of bark from my eye, and fortunately, I experienced instant relief and required no further treatment.
Yours Sincerely
“Pirate Eye”
AKA
(L)Adelle N
N.B Some names may have been changed.
In other news, I had to send this letter to the insurer for the Japan tour today and when I re-read it I thought it was rather funny:
Tuesday, 17 January 2006
To whom it may concern
On December 7th while in Japan, I was preparing to leave my hotel room when I felt something fall into my eye. Assuming that it would eventually fall out by itself, I proceeded to try and ignore it. However, the irritant caused my eye to become extremely watery, red and sore. It remained in my eye all day, and it became very swollen overnight. After approximately 36 hours with the irritant in my eye, it was decided that Eri-Chan would accompany me to an ophthalmologist. The tomato-sauce-smelling ophthalmologist removed what he believed to be a piece of bark from my eye, and fortunately, I experienced instant relief and required no further treatment.
Yours Sincerely
“Pirate Eye”
AKA
(L)Adelle N
N.B Some names may have been changed.
Monday, January 16, 2006
And now for something else completely different.....
Well, actually life is just ticking away right now. I have 8 days till departure and I hve my visa and my tickets and my insurance and all that stuff...... Now it's a case of buying all the things I need 6 months worth of that I won't be able to buy there.... Naturally i have extended this logic to clothing and have purchased virtually an entire new wardrobe to take! He he he. Any 'xcuse'll do.
So yes, it is nice hot weather here, and such phenomena as the rainbow depicted below are nice distractions from things like packing my bag, packing up my room (parents are moving while I am away) etc etc etc. And the next few days will be hectic with catching up with friends, and last days at both my jobs and getting my hair dyed a more managemable colour than blonde! And so it goes.
Please don't stop reading my blog btw, just because I am boring right now....... I promise to be more interesting in 9 days time!
So yes, it is nice hot weather here, and such phenomena as the rainbow depicted below are nice distractions from things like packing my bag, packing up my room (parents are moving while I am away) etc etc etc. And the next few days will be hectic with catching up with friends, and last days at both my jobs and getting my hair dyed a more managemable colour than blonde! And so it goes.
Please don't stop reading my blog btw, just because I am boring right now....... I promise to be more interesting in 9 days time!
I Can Blog a Rainbow
I suppose one pleasant by-product of Adelaide's increasingly humid, global-warmed climate is that if the conditions are right, a crappy shift at a crappy part-time job can be brightened by the appearance of a rainbow.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
i got my visa, i got my visa, i got my visa
I got my visa for indonesia.
I got my passport back.
Yay, phew!
I got my passport back.
Yay, phew!
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Odaiba Lemonade Bottle in Adelaide!
Look what I found at Genki Roll (sushi bar) today!!!!! It is the exact lemonade that I had in Odaiba (Tokyo) where you push a ball bearing into the bottle and it goes all fizzy! How bizarre!
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
humdrumhum
It has been rather a while since I blogged hasn't it....... To be honest since New Year life has been rather quiet..... although final preparations for Indonesia are consuming a lot of time and my cousin Charlotte's wedding was also a wonderful distraction from the humdrumhum of everyday life!
I am still waiting for my passport to be returned from the Indonesian Consulate in Perth which is rather alarming given that I leave 2 weeks tomorrow- but ACICIS (Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies) assures me that they will arrive on time, so I am not going to stress. I also managed to get my hands on some Tami-Flu the anti-bird flu drug. I hear it is relatively ineffective or has side-effects or something- so it might be $29 wasted, but on the other hand it might be $29 well spent.
I have also been typing up my final report for Mitsui which is due by Friday. I have actually really enjoyed writing it, though I did have a slight heart-attack the other day when my computer stopped working. I was pushing the power button and nothing was happening. Turns out that for the first time since I have had it- it overheated, so after several rather frantic phonecalls and rapid consideration of where I would find funds to purchase a new laptop, crisis was averted.
And finally, as you may have noticed from the photo's below- I was in my cousin's wedding on Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny day, quite hot actually (33 degrees) but really perfect for the ceremony. The reception was also at home, and catered in the back garden. Compared to other weddings I have been to, it was very relaxed and enjoyable. Charlotte and Michael are now enjoying their honeymoon in Vanuatu! Lucky for some eh??!
Anyway, must get back to my report and other miscellaneous things that need doing....
Sampai bertemu lagi!
I am still waiting for my passport to be returned from the Indonesian Consulate in Perth which is rather alarming given that I leave 2 weeks tomorrow- but ACICIS (Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies) assures me that they will arrive on time, so I am not going to stress. I also managed to get my hands on some Tami-Flu the anti-bird flu drug. I hear it is relatively ineffective or has side-effects or something- so it might be $29 wasted, but on the other hand it might be $29 well spent.
I have also been typing up my final report for Mitsui which is due by Friday. I have actually really enjoyed writing it, though I did have a slight heart-attack the other day when my computer stopped working. I was pushing the power button and nothing was happening. Turns out that for the first time since I have had it- it overheated, so after several rather frantic phonecalls and rapid consideration of where I would find funds to purchase a new laptop, crisis was averted.
And finally, as you may have noticed from the photo's below- I was in my cousin's wedding on Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny day, quite hot actually (33 degrees) but really perfect for the ceremony. The reception was also at home, and catered in the back garden. Compared to other weddings I have been to, it was very relaxed and enjoyable. Charlotte and Michael are now enjoying their honeymoon in Vanuatu! Lucky for some eh??!
Anyway, must get back to my report and other miscellaneous things that need doing....
Sampai bertemu lagi!
The Bridal Party
My cousin's wedding was truly Aussie style- a garden wedding, at her parent's home with the gorgeous gum-trees as backdrop! I am standing on the far-left and my sister is next to me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
