All ye complainants about my dearth of artistic output on this thing, well, I should punch you all in the mouths for not commenting and thus not helping to propagate the cycle of positive feedback that keeps me motivated to produce.
Nonetheless.
It has been suggested to me by a pal that you might be interested in what has become a somewhat regular occurence in my life. In fact, to be precise, it has occurred every week since I started working, barring the public holiday.
Monday night drinks.
With fellow travellers Miss Maude and Uncle Brad, we stake out our little spot at a watering hole quite close to our respective places of work and engage in a few hours of errr, watering. In fact Miss Maude and I had tactily and over a period of weeks begun to work our way through the white wine menu (Tim Adams Pinot Gris mmmmmm - eyes glaze over) but Uncle Brad says no, we must drink Shiraz. This often results in tense words, gulped down with a tasty mouthful of tapas. Compromises often include Shiraz Viognier blends and Pinot Noir's. Don't get me wrong, I love a red, but I like to feel that my fellow drinkers are at ease.
I sound like a total prat talking about wine like this. But having lived 6 months in Indonesia without it, you can just indulge me awhile.
A special feature of Monday night drinks is "special guests". As the consistent attendees, Claudia and I have seen an interesting range of friends attend on at least 3 occasions now. Officer Cox, Mr P, Masters and the evergreen Philbo.
Last weeks special guest was Philbo - who was just home after four months at Summer Camp in the States. She had many a travel tale to tell, and clearly was rejuvenated and vibrant after delighting in the pleasures of "handles" of vodka. 1.5 litres in one o those thing if u don't mind!
Politics is a frequent feature of Monday Night Drinks discussion. Uncle Brad scoffed at me this week for declaring that Climate Change is an issue that could with the election for the ALP. But I told him to mark my words, he said he would write them down on a serviette. Let's just watch that one eh?
So I expect you will all be lining up for a guernsey to MND's now won't you. Yeah uhuh.
In other news, I have a sparklingnewcrown on my tooth. A little bigger and buckier than I had hoped, but at least it isn't grey.
And on that note, time to give my haemoglobin a kick with some red meat for dinner. Going to Sydders on the weekend for a totally radical weekend on the ermm wheatgrass so need to rejuvenate my cells before I go!!!!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Monday, October 02, 2006
Pirates and Wenches
Maybe if I put more photos like this on my blog u will all comment.
Whats new?
Went to a party with the above theme on Saturday. Made the horrifyingly poor choice of drinking red vodka cruisers and paid dearly yesterday morning - sugar overload. Eurgh.
Last week bankrupted myself by buying a new laptop and Ipod on the same day. But I am so technologied up right now it ain't funny.
I currently have a false front tooth- preparations for replacement of "greytooth" commenced on Friday. So have a dodgy, wonky, badly colour matched front tooth. It is really attractive. No really, it is.
I have an interview on Friday for a scholarship and am learning in the other spare 5 minutes i have every day for my exam. Don't really have any peculiar vocab to share with you. It numbs ur brain after a while.
Life keeps chugging along. Going to Sydney for the Mitsui reunion in a couple of weeks, and I really cannot wait for that. It will be so cool to catch up with all my fellow travellers! Yay.
Might upload some more photo's in a minute from my birthday - but none of them are even remotely as interesting as Becky, Myself and Kate dressed as pirates and wenches. He he he.
Whats new?
Went to a party with the above theme on Saturday. Made the horrifyingly poor choice of drinking red vodka cruisers and paid dearly yesterday morning - sugar overload. Eurgh.
Last week bankrupted myself by buying a new laptop and Ipod on the same day. But I am so technologied up right now it ain't funny.
I currently have a false front tooth- preparations for replacement of "greytooth" commenced on Friday. So have a dodgy, wonky, badly colour matched front tooth. It is really attractive. No really, it is.
I have an interview on Friday for a scholarship and am learning in the other spare 5 minutes i have every day for my exam. Don't really have any peculiar vocab to share with you. It numbs ur brain after a while.
Life keeps chugging along. Going to Sydney for the Mitsui reunion in a couple of weeks, and I really cannot wait for that. It will be so cool to catch up with all my fellow travellers! Yay.
Might upload some more photo's in a minute from my birthday - but none of them are even remotely as interesting as Becky, Myself and Kate dressed as pirates and wenches. He he he.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
I'm Old
Well it was my birthday yesterday. Am thoroughly unimpressed to have shifted demographic into the mid-twenties range. Eurgh.
Yesterday was actually a pretty interesting day. My boss was hosting a National meeting of her fellow Ministers and there were some international guests from the Pacific invited.
I was entrusted with the responsibilty of collecting the Tongan Attorney General and her aide from the airport. Because of crappy planning by the Federal Government, I had to do som fast-talking and fast-rearranging to accomodate the poor visitors who unbeknownst to them were supposed to be joining a formal dinner after around 12 hours on aeroplanes.
Anyways, long story short, this woman is the first woman to be appointed to the Tongan Cabinet, and I told her how I was a (pretend) lawyer, and she said to me "We need young women like you in Tonga. You should come and work for me if you get the chance". I was like, "Yes Minister! Very well Minister, whatever you say Minister."
That is not one word of a lie - I have a job waiting in Tonga, should I lose interest in the current one! Hilarious! I told the Chief of Staff and the boss that they have to be nice to me all the time now, otherwise I might pack up and hit the Pacific.
Meanwhile, I sat at the same lunch table as the guest from the Solomon Islands. There are no women in the SI Parliament, but she is the highest polling woman ever in their most recent elections. She was really interesting to talk to. I have to pinch myself sometimes and be thankful that at least I am able to pursue the opportunities available to me, cos in places like SI and Tonga, they are stuck back where Western women were 70 years ago.
Well that's that then. Am busy learning vocab vocab vocab for the GRE that I have to take in around a month. It's the exam you have to take to get into grad school in America. I also have to revise all the irritating maths stuff that fell out of my head years ago....
Vocab examples:
Apocryphal - of dubious authenticity, fictitious
Germane - applicable, pertinent, relevant
Stentorian - extremely loud and powerful
Jejune - vapid, uninteresting, childish, immature
Welcome to my hell. :)
Yesterday was actually a pretty interesting day. My boss was hosting a National meeting of her fellow Ministers and there were some international guests from the Pacific invited.
I was entrusted with the responsibilty of collecting the Tongan Attorney General and her aide from the airport. Because of crappy planning by the Federal Government, I had to do som fast-talking and fast-rearranging to accomodate the poor visitors who unbeknownst to them were supposed to be joining a formal dinner after around 12 hours on aeroplanes.
Anyways, long story short, this woman is the first woman to be appointed to the Tongan Cabinet, and I told her how I was a (pretend) lawyer, and she said to me "We need young women like you in Tonga. You should come and work for me if you get the chance". I was like, "Yes Minister! Very well Minister, whatever you say Minister."
That is not one word of a lie - I have a job waiting in Tonga, should I lose interest in the current one! Hilarious! I told the Chief of Staff and the boss that they have to be nice to me all the time now, otherwise I might pack up and hit the Pacific.
Meanwhile, I sat at the same lunch table as the guest from the Solomon Islands. There are no women in the SI Parliament, but she is the highest polling woman ever in their most recent elections. She was really interesting to talk to. I have to pinch myself sometimes and be thankful that at least I am able to pursue the opportunities available to me, cos in places like SI and Tonga, they are stuck back where Western women were 70 years ago.
Well that's that then. Am busy learning vocab vocab vocab for the GRE that I have to take in around a month. It's the exam you have to take to get into grad school in America. I also have to revise all the irritating maths stuff that fell out of my head years ago....
Vocab examples:
Apocryphal - of dubious authenticity, fictitious
Germane - applicable, pertinent, relevant
Stentorian - extremely loud and powerful
Jejune - vapid, uninteresting, childish, immature
Welcome to my hell. :)
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Friday, September 08, 2006
Bol-bol-bollywood
Well, am finished work for the day - but not for the week, because tomorrow the Bollywood film that is in production in Adelaide right now, needs to use my office balcony for camera work!!! So we need to do shifts "minding the office" and I am on the 10.30 to 1.30 shift. If it wasn't for a Bollywood film I would have been totally annoyed about working on the weekend, but it is so i'm not. And since it will likely overlap with the footy, I will be watching that here too, cos I ain't missin a minute! ;-)
More tomorrow - including pictures hopefully!
More tomorrow - including pictures hopefully!
Friday, September 01, 2006
Hear hear
John Howard is not known for his open-armed approach to "foreigners" (unless they have the initials GWB!), but today's comments about Muslims in Australia "needing to learn the language, and treat women as equals" are about the most unstrategic I can remember in recent times. Talk about dropping a bomb.
I think this article from Crikey sums it up very well.
4. Muslims aren't the only migrants in Australia who resist integration
Former Federal Liberal candidate Irfan Yusuf writes:
There's a tiny minority of migrants resisting integration. They don't accept Australian values, don't treat women as equals and won't learn English.
I know elderly Indian Sikhs who've lived here for decades but can't speak English. I know Lebanese Catholics who'd disown their daughters for marrying outside their ancestral village. They're a tiny minority. But they do exist.
So why does Mr Howard only mention that segment of this multi-faith church? Why focus on such people from the Islamic population? Let's apply his tests of integration.
This weekend, Muslim women from across Australia gather in Canberra for a Federally-funded national women's conference launched by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward.
Goward should brief Howard on how oppressed delegates are forced to work in demeaning fields like academia, legal practice, primary and secondary education, journalism, publishing, social work, film production and police.
Delegates will discuss unAustralian topics like film production, law enforcement, publishing and women in business. Conference proceedings will be in that foreign language called English.
Such women are the rule, not the exception, in Muslim communities across the Western world. Muslims in North America have just elected an all-American woman to lead their peak body.
Howard's term "Islamic community" is as meaningless as speaking about a "Christian community". What kind of Christians? Christadelphians? Low-church Anglicans? Roman Catholics?
Migrants have many layers of identity. Religion is only one of them. Usually the most important identity layer is the one where they feel most vulnerable. My parents arrived in Canberra in 1965. My mum's first friend here was a Hindi-speaking Jewish woman. Language was the primary source of my mother's identity. It was also the area where she felt most vulnerable.
What possible gains in national security or integration are achieved by singling out one group from the multi-faith broad church of insufficiently integrated Australians? Why identify this group according to one aspect of their identity? And why make ethno-religious heritage a vulnerable point?
Millions of our tax dollars are spent on national security. John Howard frequently says that Islamist terrorists fight us because of our way of life. But when he singles out Muslims for adverse comment, he's manufacturing a larger pool of marginalised Muslims. This only benefits extremists in the long run.
I think this article from Crikey sums it up very well.
4. Muslims aren't the only migrants in Australia who resist integration
Former Federal Liberal candidate Irfan Yusuf writes:
There's a tiny minority of migrants resisting integration. They don't accept Australian values, don't treat women as equals and won't learn English.
I know elderly Indian Sikhs who've lived here for decades but can't speak English. I know Lebanese Catholics who'd disown their daughters for marrying outside their ancestral village. They're a tiny minority. But they do exist.
So why does Mr Howard only mention that segment of this multi-faith church? Why focus on such people from the Islamic population? Let's apply his tests of integration.
This weekend, Muslim women from across Australia gather in Canberra for a Federally-funded national women's conference launched by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward.
Goward should brief Howard on how oppressed delegates are forced to work in demeaning fields like academia, legal practice, primary and secondary education, journalism, publishing, social work, film production and police.
Delegates will discuss unAustralian topics like film production, law enforcement, publishing and women in business. Conference proceedings will be in that foreign language called English.
Such women are the rule, not the exception, in Muslim communities across the Western world. Muslims in North America have just elected an all-American woman to lead their peak body.
Howard's term "Islamic community" is as meaningless as speaking about a "Christian community". What kind of Christians? Christadelphians? Low-church Anglicans? Roman Catholics?
Migrants have many layers of identity. Religion is only one of them. Usually the most important identity layer is the one where they feel most vulnerable. My parents arrived in Canberra in 1965. My mum's first friend here was a Hindi-speaking Jewish woman. Language was the primary source of my mother's identity. It was also the area where she felt most vulnerable.
What possible gains in national security or integration are achieved by singling out one group from the multi-faith broad church of insufficiently integrated Australians? Why identify this group according to one aspect of their identity? And why make ethno-religious heritage a vulnerable point?
Millions of our tax dollars are spent on national security. John Howard frequently says that Islamist terrorists fight us because of our way of life. But when he singles out Muslims for adverse comment, he's manufacturing a larger pool of marginalised Muslims. This only benefits extremists in the long run.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Daffodil
Well the weather is indeed warming up (although some days it still does NOT feel like it!). We even have real daffodils coming out of the ground.
My job is cool. I have been doing a lot of going out to "engagements" with my boss - where it is nice to see the interection between the stuff from the office and it's impact on various groups in the community. I have to work pretty long hours (though not as long as in the firm in JKT) but I don't mind.
The other exciting thing is that I get paid next week. Paid, real money! Weeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
This week I spent every night finishing my scholarship applications (and they have to be done today). But on Thursday night I got to go and see Gomez play at the Governor Hindmarsh.
I must admit that I had big expectations, having watched Gomez play about 5 years ago, and remembering the gig as my favourite of all-time. They didn't disappoint. Apparently they had spent a long time travelling to get here the day before they played in Adelaide, and one guy was sick, so they were a bit grumpy. But they pumped up a bit when they saw how keen the crowd was. :-) I did realise at the show though, that I have missed about two quite recent albums (as well as the one's I knew I didn't have) cos a load of the songs were unfamiliar. I went and bought 2 from the back catalogue the next day, but still have a couple to go...... Anyway, conclusion - they were amazing, and the Gov was even a pretty good venue.
Oh and the Vasko Era were the support, and I have never seen a band be so cruel to their instruments on stage ever. Ha! But they were pretty cool, if a somewhat odd choice for a Gomez support slot.
Hmmmm. Anyways, happy birthday to Lauren. I sent her an SMS calling her old, but the flaw in my logic is that I too will be 24 in about three weeks time, so of course she had the perfect comeback.
And as for my "reading my way through missed classics" - I have a Jane Austen book waiting to read, as well as two Thomas Hardy books that Dad pulled out of a box, from his old days at Manchester Uni. But I haven't had time to start them yet. Will do will do.
My job is cool. I have been doing a lot of going out to "engagements" with my boss - where it is nice to see the interection between the stuff from the office and it's impact on various groups in the community. I have to work pretty long hours (though not as long as in the firm in JKT) but I don't mind.
The other exciting thing is that I get paid next week. Paid, real money! Weeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
This week I spent every night finishing my scholarship applications (and they have to be done today). But on Thursday night I got to go and see Gomez play at the Governor Hindmarsh.
I must admit that I had big expectations, having watched Gomez play about 5 years ago, and remembering the gig as my favourite of all-time. They didn't disappoint. Apparently they had spent a long time travelling to get here the day before they played in Adelaide, and one guy was sick, so they were a bit grumpy. But they pumped up a bit when they saw how keen the crowd was. :-) I did realise at the show though, that I have missed about two quite recent albums (as well as the one's I knew I didn't have) cos a load of the songs were unfamiliar. I went and bought 2 from the back catalogue the next day, but still have a couple to go...... Anyway, conclusion - they were amazing, and the Gov was even a pretty good venue.
Oh and the Vasko Era were the support, and I have never seen a band be so cruel to their instruments on stage ever. Ha! But they were pretty cool, if a somewhat odd choice for a Gomez support slot.
Hmmmm. Anyways, happy birthday to Lauren. I sent her an SMS calling her old, but the flaw in my logic is that I too will be 24 in about three weeks time, so of course she had the perfect comeback.
And as for my "reading my way through missed classics" - I have a Jane Austen book waiting to read, as well as two Thomas Hardy books that Dad pulled out of a box, from his old days at Manchester Uni. But I haven't had time to start them yet. Will do will do.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Scout's Music Revue
I start my job tomorrow, Ministerial Liaison for something-something, writing speeches something-something, blah-blah. Can't wait for some income dum-dum.
And continuing in my "reading books I shoulda read ages ago" phase - I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Perhaps this might explain why ah cayan't stop tawkin lahk ah gowt a suthun acceyant.
I want to talk about music for a minute. Up until several weeks ago, if people had asked what was my favourite album of the year, I would have answered Madonna-Confessions on a Dancefloor (which I think, ironically, was released last year). Nonetheless, in spite of your audible booing and hissing about that previous statement, I have stumbled upon some great muzaks the past few weeks.
For a start, in Bali I bought a pirate copy of Ben Harper-Both Sides of the Gun after hearing it played in Bintang in Yogya, and my-wordy, that is a toe-tapping revelation of a hoe-down soundtrack. What am I talking about? Hmmm, well anyway, its a good album. Much lighter than other offerings yet still mighty serious. Radicool.
Then the other day, in celebration of the end of my period of unemployment, I bought a couple of CD's, one being Thom Yorke's Eraser and the second being Goldfrapp-Supernature.
Well, on first listen, Eraser was a thoroughly unlistenable hotch-potch of blips and beeps, but having been a long-long-time fan of Radiohead I have listened again, and goddarnit, if there wasn't the odd melody in there that I didn't hear to begin with. Who wudda thunk it? It is growing on me, like some kind of blippy-bleepy disease. :-)
The Goldfrapp CD is also good. "Hell-80's" as kids on tha street mite say. But well worth 8.95 from the JB's bargain bin. Infact, possible even worth 28.95. Aduh.
I had also heard some stuff about the most recent Fiona Apple record, Extradordinary Machine, but they didn't have it in the shop, so I didn't get it. Then happened to mention this sequence of events to my brother when I got home, who said, "I bought that stupid CD months ago. I hate it. You can have it." To which I replied "Are you sure?", and he said something along the lines of "Well put it this way, I can keep it in my CD stand and never listen to it again, or you can have it in your CD stand and possibly turn it into something less than a waste of my money." And, it is pretty cool. Very eccentric, and dare I say, unlike past works, and I am still warming up to it, but after several listens yesterday, I can say, I. like. it.
Ok, prattle prattle. What have been your favourite albums this year?? And what are some other books I can add to my "Books I Shoulda Read Ages Ago" list? I already have Wuthering Heights (thanx to Sam).
And continuing in my "reading books I shoulda read ages ago" phase - I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Perhaps this might explain why ah cayan't stop tawkin lahk ah gowt a suthun acceyant.
I want to talk about music for a minute. Up until several weeks ago, if people had asked what was my favourite album of the year, I would have answered Madonna-Confessions on a Dancefloor (which I think, ironically, was released last year). Nonetheless, in spite of your audible booing and hissing about that previous statement, I have stumbled upon some great muzaks the past few weeks.
For a start, in Bali I bought a pirate copy of Ben Harper-Both Sides of the Gun after hearing it played in Bintang in Yogya, and my-wordy, that is a toe-tapping revelation of a hoe-down soundtrack. What am I talking about? Hmmm, well anyway, its a good album. Much lighter than other offerings yet still mighty serious. Radicool.
Then the other day, in celebration of the end of my period of unemployment, I bought a couple of CD's, one being Thom Yorke's Eraser and the second being Goldfrapp-Supernature.
Well, on first listen, Eraser was a thoroughly unlistenable hotch-potch of blips and beeps, but having been a long-long-time fan of Radiohead I have listened again, and goddarnit, if there wasn't the odd melody in there that I didn't hear to begin with. Who wudda thunk it? It is growing on me, like some kind of blippy-bleepy disease. :-)
The Goldfrapp CD is also good. "Hell-80's" as kids on tha street mite say. But well worth 8.95 from the JB's bargain bin. Infact, possible even worth 28.95. Aduh.
I had also heard some stuff about the most recent Fiona Apple record, Extradordinary Machine, but they didn't have it in the shop, so I didn't get it. Then happened to mention this sequence of events to my brother when I got home, who said, "I bought that stupid CD months ago. I hate it. You can have it." To which I replied "Are you sure?", and he said something along the lines of "Well put it this way, I can keep it in my CD stand and never listen to it again, or you can have it in your CD stand and possibly turn it into something less than a waste of my money." And, it is pretty cool. Very eccentric, and dare I say, unlike past works, and I am still warming up to it, but after several listens yesterday, I can say, I. like. it.
Ok, prattle prattle. What have been your favourite albums this year?? And what are some other books I can add to my "Books I Shoulda Read Ages Ago" list? I already have Wuthering Heights (thanx to Sam).
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Occurrences
Ok, this week I have
a) Finished Great Gatsby (and added it to my all-time favourite books list)
b) Finally watched Garden State (cool movie)
c) Got a job (more on that one later)
d) Conceded that my front tooth is turning a strange colour and that I need to get it fixed (if only I hadn't chipped in that handball game in Year 6....damned gutter)
e) Made an appointment to get my hair done
f) Unpacked another box of stuff
g) Bought new shoes and mascara and various skin products aimed at resolving my war on open pores
h) Went to the movies to watch Beyond The Sea with Kevin Spacey about the life of Bobby Darin (I hadn't heard of him either, it's ok!). Good film, but the little kid was annoying and irrelevant if you ask me.
i) Thought about the Middle East and how depressing that whole situation is (feeling increasingly angry at Israel's behaviour)
j) Watched Indonesian news and seen that there is some kind of natural disaster in Surabaya (what is lumpor panas?)
k) Found 30 CD's in my little sister's cupboard (realised I wasn't losing my mind, and that some of my best CD's were actually missing until I found them again)
l) Found a bunch of my clothes in my little sister's cupboard (see note above)
m) Acclimatised a little bit more.
So life is well and truly back to normal.
Oh and a question- if y'all were gonna learn a new language what would it be?? And why?
a) Finished Great Gatsby (and added it to my all-time favourite books list)
b) Finally watched Garden State (cool movie)
c) Got a job (more on that one later)
d) Conceded that my front tooth is turning a strange colour and that I need to get it fixed (if only I hadn't chipped in that handball game in Year 6....damned gutter)
e) Made an appointment to get my hair done
f) Unpacked another box of stuff
g) Bought new shoes and mascara and various skin products aimed at resolving my war on open pores
h) Went to the movies to watch Beyond The Sea with Kevin Spacey about the life of Bobby Darin (I hadn't heard of him either, it's ok!). Good film, but the little kid was annoying and irrelevant if you ask me.
i) Thought about the Middle East and how depressing that whole situation is (feeling increasingly angry at Israel's behaviour)
j) Watched Indonesian news and seen that there is some kind of natural disaster in Surabaya (what is lumpor panas?)
k) Found 30 CD's in my little sister's cupboard (realised I wasn't losing my mind, and that some of my best CD's were actually missing until I found them again)
l) Found a bunch of my clothes in my little sister's cupboard (see note above)
m) Acclimatised a little bit more.
So life is well and truly back to normal.
Oh and a question- if y'all were gonna learn a new language what would it be?? And why?
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Not quite a Gili Islands Picture
In response to complaints from some of my siblings that I never posted a pic of them on my blog (which was btw incorrect) and also because my blog looks boring without photo's and also because there is not much interesting stuff at this point in time for me to show you......here is a photo of me and my crazy younger sibbles. Jonathon, Gabrielle and D-andy, oops I mean, Sandy.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Reacclimatisationising
Adelaide is still cold- and no matter how much the people around me try to tell me that 20 degrees celcius is warm, i won't accept it. It is not warm when the mercury spends all day shivering it's way up the stem of the themometer only to reach 20 for a microsecond and turn around again. And all of you people currently living in cooler climes- shut your mouths - let me have my whinge just for a few more days...
No, no, no. My blood is tropicalised. And it ain't detropicalising without a fight.
So the past week I have been sitting at the computer, hittin the keys, typing up cover letters and CV's and sending them off. And now I wait.
And my scholarships are due soon enough, so i shall let u know, kasitahu, about that.
I have seen my adorable little new family members, Anderson and Madison. Both super-cute and cuddly. And though they are both my cousins, I hope they call me Aunty - cos the chances of one of my siblings spawning offspring anytime soon is slim methinks.
I watched one of my Indo VCD's tonight - to check whether i still understand the language after 10 days (I did)- I watched "Janji Joni"- and it is actually a cool little Indo indie flick. I really enjoyed it, and it is pretty funny. Unlike virtually every other Indonesian film I have seen. And, it wasn't sponsored by a tobacco company, so there were no pointed and random shots of someone lighting up a ciggy, totally unrelated to the plot. I also recognised a lot of the Jakarta city scenes they used - at one stage I am pretty sure he drives past Plaza Semanggi - where I would often go when I was pulang kantor - going home from the office!
I didn't quite get the same exhilarating feeling about seeing a mall I recognised, as when they are scaling the walls of the Vatican in MI:3 and I could lean to my neighbour and say "I've been there" but it was still cool to see it.
And before I go some additions to the Crappy/Good Things About Being Home list:
Happy
1) Seeing my friends - ( & calling them on the phone and not having to worry if my phone credit will run out.)
2) Red Wine
3) My champion Grandparents - who are still super-happy after circling the globe in their mini-world-tour.
4) My Tax Return!!!!! (Woohoo!)
5) Broadband internet
Crappy
1) After not using moisturiser for the entire time in Indo, applying 2-3 times a day to avoid having skin like paper.
2) Losing my hard-earned tan.
3) Not bein able to walk 10m down the road at lunchtime, pay 50c for my lunch, and walk home.
4) Missin my friends in Indo, and the relaxed vibe of Yogya, and of course, Bar Bintang.
5) I do not know how to make Telur Dadar like Ibu Kos, and as for adding jagung - ha- gak mungkin! (If anyone has that recipe - please tell me)
But all in all, being home is better than I expected. And I will be back in Indo many times in the future I suppose.
Oh and my family are the newest in a long line of sambal addicts - i made some on the weekend and my psycho brother is having it on toast. Aduh. Gila banget!
Rite, time to read more of "The Great Gatsby" - I am still trying to work out if I can include it in my favourite books list......
No, no, no. My blood is tropicalised. And it ain't detropicalising without a fight.
So the past week I have been sitting at the computer, hittin the keys, typing up cover letters and CV's and sending them off. And now I wait.
And my scholarships are due soon enough, so i shall let u know, kasitahu, about that.
I have seen my adorable little new family members, Anderson and Madison. Both super-cute and cuddly. And though they are both my cousins, I hope they call me Aunty - cos the chances of one of my siblings spawning offspring anytime soon is slim methinks.
I watched one of my Indo VCD's tonight - to check whether i still understand the language after 10 days (I did)- I watched "Janji Joni"- and it is actually a cool little Indo indie flick. I really enjoyed it, and it is pretty funny. Unlike virtually every other Indonesian film I have seen. And, it wasn't sponsored by a tobacco company, so there were no pointed and random shots of someone lighting up a ciggy, totally unrelated to the plot. I also recognised a lot of the Jakarta city scenes they used - at one stage I am pretty sure he drives past Plaza Semanggi - where I would often go when I was pulang kantor - going home from the office!
I didn't quite get the same exhilarating feeling about seeing a mall I recognised, as when they are scaling the walls of the Vatican in MI:3 and I could lean to my neighbour and say "I've been there" but it was still cool to see it.
And before I go some additions to the Crappy/Good Things About Being Home list:
Happy
1) Seeing my friends - ( & calling them on the phone and not having to worry if my phone credit will run out.)
2) Red Wine
3) My champion Grandparents - who are still super-happy after circling the globe in their mini-world-tour.
4) My Tax Return!!!!! (Woohoo!)
5) Broadband internet
Crappy
1) After not using moisturiser for the entire time in Indo, applying 2-3 times a day to avoid having skin like paper.
2) Losing my hard-earned tan.
3) Not bein able to walk 10m down the road at lunchtime, pay 50c for my lunch, and walk home.
4) Missin my friends in Indo, and the relaxed vibe of Yogya, and of course, Bar Bintang.
5) I do not know how to make Telur Dadar like Ibu Kos, and as for adding jagung - ha- gak mungkin! (If anyone has that recipe - please tell me)
But all in all, being home is better than I expected. And I will be back in Indo many times in the future I suppose.
Oh and my family are the newest in a long line of sambal addicts - i made some on the weekend and my psycho brother is having it on toast. Aduh. Gila banget!
Rite, time to read more of "The Great Gatsby" - I am still trying to work out if I can include it in my favourite books list......
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Novelties that Don't Wear Off (and those that do....)
Happy things about being home
1) Seeing my family & friends
2) Seeing my cousin's gorgeous new little baby, and my new cousin!
3) Being able to go the fridge and cut a piece of CHEESE as I wish, and eat it, with my left hand, as I wish!
4) Being able to drive my car
5) Being reunited with my CD's
Crappy things about being home
1) It is bloody freezing
2) Adelaide does not change, at all.
3) I have no money and no job
4) Did I mention it is bloody freezing?
5) Um, the last time I spoke Indonesian was when I stepped on the plane in Bali. Fab.
Anyway's luckily I have managed thus far to avoid the post-travel blues, as I have so many damned things to do, I ain't got no time to feel sorry for myself.
To all my regular commentors, thankyou.
To all my anonymous commentors- if you knew me, you would know how much i want to know who you are :-).
And to all my non-commenting readers, thanks for nuthin punks! Ha ha. Only kidding.
The guardian angel who sits on my shoulder has been telling me all who you are anyway. So don't think I don't know......
No seriously. I derive a lot of pleasure from writing this blog, and sharing all the crazy stuff I do with you, even if my grammar is bad, my expression colloquial, and my point often unclear.
Not sure how prolific I will be in the next few months - perhaps I need to take a show of hands from my O/S readers to see just how interested they are in my hum drum Adelaide life. Sampe nanti.
1) Seeing my family & friends
2) Seeing my cousin's gorgeous new little baby, and my new cousin!
3) Being able to go the fridge and cut a piece of CHEESE as I wish, and eat it, with my left hand, as I wish!
4) Being able to drive my car
5) Being reunited with my CD's
Crappy things about being home
1) It is bloody freezing
2) Adelaide does not change, at all.
3) I have no money and no job
4) Did I mention it is bloody freezing?
5) Um, the last time I spoke Indonesian was when I stepped on the plane in Bali. Fab.
Anyway's luckily I have managed thus far to avoid the post-travel blues, as I have so many damned things to do, I ain't got no time to feel sorry for myself.
To all my regular commentors, thankyou.
To all my anonymous commentors- if you knew me, you would know how much i want to know who you are :-).
And to all my non-commenting readers, thanks for nuthin punks! Ha ha. Only kidding.
The guardian angel who sits on my shoulder has been telling me all who you are anyway. So don't think I don't know......
No seriously. I derive a lot of pleasure from writing this blog, and sharing all the crazy stuff I do with you, even if my grammar is bad, my expression colloquial, and my point often unclear.
Not sure how prolific I will be in the next few months - perhaps I need to take a show of hands from my O/S readers to see just how interested they are in my hum drum Adelaide life. Sampe nanti.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Gili Gaga
Well I am home in Adelaide - arrived back to a delightful 9 degrees - hard to believe that 3 days ago I was sitting having this photo taken.
The Gili's were fantastic. Imagine snorkelling 10 metres of a beach and seeing sea turtles, tropical fish of every imaginable colour and drifting one Km on the current as the sea world passes you by. So cool!
Another thing about the Gili's is the hilarious combination of Europeans who stumble their way across Indonesia and find themselves in paradise. I hardly met any Australians there - on the other hand - Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards, Slovenes, Belgians, Swiss, Irish & British were there in abundance. The vibe is so remarkable relaxed, it is impossible to stress about anything while you are there.
I travelled there with Sam, and Alana joined us a few days later. Accomodation was great value, and so were the drinks. Aduh - just writing this I was wish I was still there. I even managed to get a tan!
So now I am sitting at the computer in my parents new house, wearing 7 layers of clothing and with the central heating cranked up, scouring the net for employment opportunities and contemplating scholarship options for a Masters next year. Talk about jerking me back to reality. :-)
But its all good. Will gradually catch up with my mates this week and sink back into the groove. Plan my next move and freeze in the process.
Sigh, so I bid Indonesian farewell. Had a great 6 months. Met amazing people. Did crazy stuff. Fantastic. Hebat.
The Gili's were fantastic. Imagine snorkelling 10 metres of a beach and seeing sea turtles, tropical fish of every imaginable colour and drifting one Km on the current as the sea world passes you by. So cool!
Another thing about the Gili's is the hilarious combination of Europeans who stumble their way across Indonesia and find themselves in paradise. I hardly met any Australians there - on the other hand - Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards, Slovenes, Belgians, Swiss, Irish & British were there in abundance. The vibe is so remarkable relaxed, it is impossible to stress about anything while you are there.
I travelled there with Sam, and Alana joined us a few days later. Accomodation was great value, and so were the drinks. Aduh - just writing this I was wish I was still there. I even managed to get a tan!
So now I am sitting at the computer in my parents new house, wearing 7 layers of clothing and with the central heating cranked up, scouring the net for employment opportunities and contemplating scholarship options for a Masters next year. Talk about jerking me back to reality. :-)
But its all good. Will gradually catch up with my mates this week and sink back into the groove. Plan my next move and freeze in the process.
Sigh, so I bid Indonesian farewell. Had a great 6 months. Met amazing people. Did crazy stuff. Fantastic. Hebat.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Bali Dreaming
Well just a short post to say I am in Bali, staying with Alana - and the three of us are having a great time!
In a little while Sam and I are going up on a bike to Ubud to have lunch with Alana and her mum, and then tonight we are going to stay at a beach called of all things Dreamland.
After that I will be off to the Gili's on Monday, and I don't think there is internet there, so you might not hear from me. So if not, I will write again when I get home.
Yay! Sun!
In a little while Sam and I are going up on a bike to Ubud to have lunch with Alana and her mum, and then tonight we are going to stay at a beach called of all things Dreamland.
After that I will be off to the Gili's on Monday, and I don't think there is internet there, so you might not hear from me. So if not, I will write again when I get home.
Yay! Sun!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
A Shadow In Sosro
Well, it is my second to last day in Yogyakarta. My Exit Permit will be ready tomorrow, and I am fairly confident I will be jumping on a plane tomorrow afternoon and heading over to Bali.
I am staying in Jalan Sosrowijayan, which is one of the two tourist- areas in Yogya. My losmen is costing about $6 a night and it is really nice. I am so happy I decided to try and see Yogya from a different perspective because I have noticed new things in the last few days, even though I have driven down this street countless times.
Today I am going to go to Kota Gede, the silver city, to try and pick up a nice souvenir. Later I am going to head over to my old kos and get rid of some of my stuff. I have a ridiculous quantity of luggage - all books. And because I was an idiot and flew Qantas, the letter I have from my University asking for leniency RE weight of luggage, doesn't have any effect.
Anyhoo, thankfully, I was nowhere near the Tsunami/Earthquake that happened the other day. I left Jakarta three hours before the ground shook again. Some of my office friends said they felt the shake on Level 23 of the Jakarta Stock Exchange. I am not sure how well I would have coped had I been there......
Right, time to go and keep pretending to be a tourist!
I am staying in Jalan Sosrowijayan, which is one of the two tourist- areas in Yogya. My losmen is costing about $6 a night and it is really nice. I am so happy I decided to try and see Yogya from a different perspective because I have noticed new things in the last few days, even though I have driven down this street countless times.
Today I am going to go to Kota Gede, the silver city, to try and pick up a nice souvenir. Later I am going to head over to my old kos and get rid of some of my stuff. I have a ridiculous quantity of luggage - all books. And because I was an idiot and flew Qantas, the letter I have from my University asking for leniency RE weight of luggage, doesn't have any effect.
Anyhoo, thankfully, I was nowhere near the Tsunami/Earthquake that happened the other day. I left Jakarta three hours before the ground shook again. Some of my office friends said they felt the shake on Level 23 of the Jakarta Stock Exchange. I am not sure how well I would have coped had I been there......
Right, time to go and keep pretending to be a tourist!
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Last Day (Pretending to Work)
I'd like to pretend that I wasn't just posing for this one, but then, that would be lying.
Indian MTV
I just flicked on TV to get my sporadically required fix of Indian MTV, and by some bizarre coincidence (or tasteless joke), or cultural quirk, they are screening India’s best ever “Rail” tracks. Given what happened in Mumbai this week it seems like a strange choice of special feature, but I am not sure whether I am more surprised by the fact that there seems to be a genre of music in India devoted to music about trains. I just watched two film clips- one with a Bollywood star who I see every time I turn on the channel, running along the roof of a train, and another one with some happy looking guy hanging out the side of a train and smiling at all the girls picking tea. Of course, I can’t understand anything that they are singing about, or what the VJ’s are saying, but if anyone can provide an explanation on this apparent love affair Indian MTV has with trains I might be able to go some way toward actually understanding why the hell they would be screening this crazy stuff in the same week that a bunch of trains got blown up. Aku lagi bingung.
Anyway. I had my last day in the firm yesterday, and was kinda sad to finish there. The people have been so absolutely lovely, from the “office boys” to the partners, they were all very welcoming to me, as well as patient and kind. I got some good feedback on my project from my Supervisor – it is going to be made into a guide for the office on Broadcasting in Indonesia, and apparently I even get my name printed in it, which is kinda cool. It is tradition in Indonesia to buy cakes, or noodles or something on a special occasion like birthday, last day or whatever, and I bought some nice sponge cakes from a shop nearby. It was amusing to see some of the lawyers that I had never seen before emerge from their offices to eat it. Hehehe!
I then had dinner with my fellow “magangs”, that is interns, as well as Ryan and Rizky, at my favourite restaurant so far in Jakarta- the Italian restaurant Trattoria at Pondok Indah. It is the closest service I have come to that is reminiscent of Australia, and even better, they give you free appetizers and a chocolate liqueur free for dessert. I had warned them all that the dinner would be “Australian” style, i.e. I would not be paying for their food, because for that kind of function here it would also be usual to pay for your guests. However when the bill arrived and for the 12 of us who ate the bill was like about $120 including wine and beer, I decided to bring out the card and pay for everyone. Being on occasion a bit of a dunderhead, I didn’t realize that they didn’t accept credit, and ended up looking silly because I only had enough cash to cover about a third of the bill.
Luckily, one of the partners had showed up late to eat dinner on his way home (which by the way was also cool because it was just us interns there) and he put in another third of the bill, leaving the rest to be split between the others. In true Indo style, or perhaps true Australian style, the Indonesian’s left leaving myself and Ryan (mate from Yogya who is also here) to sit at the bar and drink a quiet beer. We started talking to the owner of the place and the chef, who from the looks are maybe a tiny bit older than me – and they gave us some more free beer. I highly recommend that place to anyone who comes to Jakarta. Fabulous food.
So we finished the beer and went on to that old favourite bar of mine Second Floor. Ryan and I got another beer, took a seat at some random table and within about 10 minutes were drinking Chivas Regal…..gratis. Rizky showed up a while later and we hung out with his friends, who were also buying us drinks. To cut a long story short, I had a headache this morning which is from a combination of over-consumption and hitting my head on the sink in my bathroom before I went out yesterday because the electricity was dead and I am unco. I stayed in bed for a long time today feeling sorry for my head and watching the Lost marathon, and now I am about to go out and watch Rizky’s band one last time.
I fly out of here Monday morning (I lost my paper ticket at the office– so I have to practice the dramatic “Oh dear I must have left it at home” thing), after I stop off at the office one more time to say goodbye to the head of the firm, an Aussie, who was in China last week. I will then be arriving in Yogya midday-ish, dropping off my bags at a Losmen (cheap hotel) in the tourist area, and get to Immigration so that I can get my exit permit within the week and head to Bali to join Alana.
It’s all action. I am gonna do Yogyakarta like a (budget) tourist this time. See all the things I missed last time, and see how things are going after the earthquake.
I am not exactly sad to be leaving Jakarta, I think it would be hard not to look forward to less traffic and fresher air. However, I could easily have stayed here longer if the opportunity had arisen. I have really liked my kos, maybe because I haven’t been in it a lot (I still haven’t really met anyone else who lives here, I have come to the conclusion that they are either ghosts or werewolves) but having cable has been fun. I will be very unhappy not to be able to watch Lost, Project Runway, Rockstar Supernova and CSI whenever I feel like it. On the other hand, perhaps I should stop rotting my brain and start reading, or having intelligent conversations, or pondering on life’s mysteries.
Ok, enough, rambling rambling rambling. See some of you soon, and others of you sooner.
Anyway. I had my last day in the firm yesterday, and was kinda sad to finish there. The people have been so absolutely lovely, from the “office boys” to the partners, they were all very welcoming to me, as well as patient and kind. I got some good feedback on my project from my Supervisor – it is going to be made into a guide for the office on Broadcasting in Indonesia, and apparently I even get my name printed in it, which is kinda cool. It is tradition in Indonesia to buy cakes, or noodles or something on a special occasion like birthday, last day or whatever, and I bought some nice sponge cakes from a shop nearby. It was amusing to see some of the lawyers that I had never seen before emerge from their offices to eat it. Hehehe!
I then had dinner with my fellow “magangs”, that is interns, as well as Ryan and Rizky, at my favourite restaurant so far in Jakarta- the Italian restaurant Trattoria at Pondok Indah. It is the closest service I have come to that is reminiscent of Australia, and even better, they give you free appetizers and a chocolate liqueur free for dessert. I had warned them all that the dinner would be “Australian” style, i.e. I would not be paying for their food, because for that kind of function here it would also be usual to pay for your guests. However when the bill arrived and for the 12 of us who ate the bill was like about $120 including wine and beer, I decided to bring out the card and pay for everyone. Being on occasion a bit of a dunderhead, I didn’t realize that they didn’t accept credit, and ended up looking silly because I only had enough cash to cover about a third of the bill.
Luckily, one of the partners had showed up late to eat dinner on his way home (which by the way was also cool because it was just us interns there) and he put in another third of the bill, leaving the rest to be split between the others. In true Indo style, or perhaps true Australian style, the Indonesian’s left leaving myself and Ryan (mate from Yogya who is also here) to sit at the bar and drink a quiet beer. We started talking to the owner of the place and the chef, who from the looks are maybe a tiny bit older than me – and they gave us some more free beer. I highly recommend that place to anyone who comes to Jakarta. Fabulous food.
So we finished the beer and went on to that old favourite bar of mine Second Floor. Ryan and I got another beer, took a seat at some random table and within about 10 minutes were drinking Chivas Regal…..gratis. Rizky showed up a while later and we hung out with his friends, who were also buying us drinks. To cut a long story short, I had a headache this morning which is from a combination of over-consumption and hitting my head on the sink in my bathroom before I went out yesterday because the electricity was dead and I am unco. I stayed in bed for a long time today feeling sorry for my head and watching the Lost marathon, and now I am about to go out and watch Rizky’s band one last time.
I fly out of here Monday morning (I lost my paper ticket at the office– so I have to practice the dramatic “Oh dear I must have left it at home” thing), after I stop off at the office one more time to say goodbye to the head of the firm, an Aussie, who was in China last week. I will then be arriving in Yogya midday-ish, dropping off my bags at a Losmen (cheap hotel) in the tourist area, and get to Immigration so that I can get my exit permit within the week and head to Bali to join Alana.
It’s all action. I am gonna do Yogyakarta like a (budget) tourist this time. See all the things I missed last time, and see how things are going after the earthquake.
I am not exactly sad to be leaving Jakarta, I think it would be hard not to look forward to less traffic and fresher air. However, I could easily have stayed here longer if the opportunity had arisen. I have really liked my kos, maybe because I haven’t been in it a lot (I still haven’t really met anyone else who lives here, I have come to the conclusion that they are either ghosts or werewolves) but having cable has been fun. I will be very unhappy not to be able to watch Lost, Project Runway, Rockstar Supernova and CSI whenever I feel like it. On the other hand, perhaps I should stop rotting my brain and start reading, or having intelligent conversations, or pondering on life’s mysteries.
Ok, enough, rambling rambling rambling. See some of you soon, and others of you sooner.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Burn Your Rubbish
How is it that I once more sit writing this blog post in my kos, having just eaten pop-mee and watching the Crows play again?? And this afternoon I will once more be going shopping…. Weird.
Anyways, am about to enter my final week of my time in Jakarta. I gotta heap of work to finish before I finish my internship, which I have a feeling is going to entail several later than usual finishes. But the good news is, there is a silver lining on the horizon – very soon I will be in Bali/Gili Islands getting a tan, so that I don’t get back to Australia and have to face your incredulous questions about where I have been living because of the enduring whiteness of my skin!
So anyway, today I am going to tell you about something that amuses/dismays me everytime I ride along Jalan Casablanca on my way to work on the back of the motorbike with a scarf tied around my face to block the pollution.
Jakarta has some of the worst air quality in the world, it also has some of the worst traffic in the world. The government, having in it’s wisdom decided that these two things may actually be connected, in an effort to ease the congestion in the CBD, implemented a law that says that between certain hours of the day any car on the road must have a minimum of three passengers.
Ok, cool. But because some people just couldn’t care less about complying with the spirit of that law, that is by organizing for example (shock horror) ‘car-pooling’, a few enterprising young souls realized that they could earn some spare cash by standing on the side of the road, and jumping in the cars of the law-breakers, earning probably the equivalent of a dollar or less, and then jumping out when the risk of the driver getting a fine has passed. It looks to me like the kids who stand on the side of the road, and who by the way are probably homeless/unemployed/orphaned or all three, have regular “customers” who pick them up everyday. Good on the kids I reckon, but in the meantime, absolutely nothing is being done about the pollution problem.
That is one thing that gets to me about Indonesia. Everything comes wrapped in 27 layers of plastic, people look at you like you have three heads when you say you don’t need a plastic bag, and the idea of throwing rubbish in for example, a bin, as opposed to the street or a public waterway, is quite a foreign concept. Burning rubbish is also contributing like mad to the poor air quality. Even many of my exceptionally well-educated friends that I have met through the internship don’t quite get the idea of taking care of the environment. Nonchalance about the environment is systemic, endemic, epidemic, call it what you will. Sadly, the Western world can put their shopping in recyclable “green” bags as much as we want, but while this kind of ignorance prevails in the developing world, it seems hard to see anything improving. Of course, this is all anecdotal and based on observation only, as opposed to facts and statistics, but I am pretty most people who have lived here will understand what I am saying. And my the way, I don’t attribute blame toIndonesian people generally. In the absence of a government that prioritises the environment, and strong civil society with influential and well-resourced NGO’s, it is probably not surprising.
Ok, enough ranting. One thing I realized the other day is how little I have mentioned the importance that music has had for me while I have been here. Right now I have a minor obsession with Gnarls Barkley, who I saw on MTV two weeks ago (that song Crazy…) and as yet, have been unable to find the CD. I bought the new Keane album the other day though, and that is very good. What else have I been listening to here?? Madonna-Confessions on a Dance Floor (yes I am a remarkably daggy Madonna devotee, still), Peterpan – Alexandria Soundtrack, Jamie Cullum, Neil Young and James Taylor, Tiesto, Pete Murray, m-FLO, Joanna Newsom, Kanye West- Late Registration (I still can’t get sick of that hip-hop masterpiece), Ween, John Legend, Goodnight Electric (of course), Kyoto Jazz Massive, Radiohead (of course), a Coldplay MP3 CD that I bought and has about 200 songs on it, and Nihtin Sawnhey! And a heap more of course, but there are some of the particularly important musix that now have memories of Indonesia embedded in their choruses and hooks. ;-)
Anyway, I’ve had my whinge. Time to go an upload this baby onto the blog. And if anyone can tell me more about Gnarls Barkley I will be, forever in your debt. Oh and btw, I am going to add a link to vimeo to my blog soon, which will let you see my video’s. I haven’t made many, but now I can share them I will make more. Sip!
Anyways, am about to enter my final week of my time in Jakarta. I gotta heap of work to finish before I finish my internship, which I have a feeling is going to entail several later than usual finishes. But the good news is, there is a silver lining on the horizon – very soon I will be in Bali/Gili Islands getting a tan, so that I don’t get back to Australia and have to face your incredulous questions about where I have been living because of the enduring whiteness of my skin!
So anyway, today I am going to tell you about something that amuses/dismays me everytime I ride along Jalan Casablanca on my way to work on the back of the motorbike with a scarf tied around my face to block the pollution.
Jakarta has some of the worst air quality in the world, it also has some of the worst traffic in the world. The government, having in it’s wisdom decided that these two things may actually be connected, in an effort to ease the congestion in the CBD, implemented a law that says that between certain hours of the day any car on the road must have a minimum of three passengers.
Ok, cool. But because some people just couldn’t care less about complying with the spirit of that law, that is by organizing for example (shock horror) ‘car-pooling’, a few enterprising young souls realized that they could earn some spare cash by standing on the side of the road, and jumping in the cars of the law-breakers, earning probably the equivalent of a dollar or less, and then jumping out when the risk of the driver getting a fine has passed. It looks to me like the kids who stand on the side of the road, and who by the way are probably homeless/unemployed/orphaned or all three, have regular “customers” who pick them up everyday. Good on the kids I reckon, but in the meantime, absolutely nothing is being done about the pollution problem.
That is one thing that gets to me about Indonesia. Everything comes wrapped in 27 layers of plastic, people look at you like you have three heads when you say you don’t need a plastic bag, and the idea of throwing rubbish in for example, a bin, as opposed to the street or a public waterway, is quite a foreign concept. Burning rubbish is also contributing like mad to the poor air quality. Even many of my exceptionally well-educated friends that I have met through the internship don’t quite get the idea of taking care of the environment. Nonchalance about the environment is systemic, endemic, epidemic, call it what you will. Sadly, the Western world can put their shopping in recyclable “green” bags as much as we want, but while this kind of ignorance prevails in the developing world, it seems hard to see anything improving. Of course, this is all anecdotal and based on observation only, as opposed to facts and statistics, but I am pretty most people who have lived here will understand what I am saying. And my the way, I don’t attribute blame toIndonesian people generally. In the absence of a government that prioritises the environment, and strong civil society with influential and well-resourced NGO’s, it is probably not surprising.
Ok, enough ranting. One thing I realized the other day is how little I have mentioned the importance that music has had for me while I have been here. Right now I have a minor obsession with Gnarls Barkley, who I saw on MTV two weeks ago (that song Crazy…) and as yet, have been unable to find the CD. I bought the new Keane album the other day though, and that is very good. What else have I been listening to here?? Madonna-Confessions on a Dance Floor (yes I am a remarkably daggy Madonna devotee, still), Peterpan – Alexandria Soundtrack, Jamie Cullum, Neil Young and James Taylor, Tiesto, Pete Murray, m-FLO, Joanna Newsom, Kanye West- Late Registration (I still can’t get sick of that hip-hop masterpiece), Ween, John Legend, Goodnight Electric (of course), Kyoto Jazz Massive, Radiohead (of course), a Coldplay MP3 CD that I bought and has about 200 songs on it, and Nihtin Sawnhey! And a heap more of course, but there are some of the particularly important musix that now have memories of Indonesia embedded in their choruses and hooks. ;-)
Anyway, I’ve had my whinge. Time to go an upload this baby onto the blog. And if anyone can tell me more about Gnarls Barkley I will be, forever in your debt. Oh and btw, I am going to add a link to vimeo to my blog soon, which will let you see my video’s. I haven’t made many, but now I can share them I will make more. Sip!
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