Dear Diary
Many things have happened during the past weeks which certainly have had an impact on my life.
Since I haven't written for several weeks (dare I say months? ) all chronological order is lost. Though this doesn't really matter as long as I write it down really.
So today I will tell about my rise and fall at a local Christian school here. So when I just arrived in Indonesia I was volunteered to help out at St Fransiskus Lawang as their current English teacher suddenly left.
While I don't have any formal experience teaching, I figured it would be a good experience and in hindsight it was indeed an interesting one.
Many months of miscommunication, wrong materials and general confusion later I finally started teaching. Previously I assisted them when they planned a school trip to Jawa Timur park as discussed in a previous entry. I got tagged as Mr. Bean as I wasn't able to walk normally then, and my overall posture wasn't correct so with that stigma I was off to a rough start. Mum being an experienced professional advised me to use "Johnny" (a white monkey handpuppet) as an icebreaker. While the monkey was a raving success I faced several obstacles.
As I am not fluent in Javanese or Indonesian and the kids didn't speak a lot of english the communication between me in them was quite difficult. Not to mention the fact I had only 30 minutes per class and lacking the ability to command authority (no experience) caused me to have problems keeping classes under control without the help of the regular teacher.
Every monday I had to teach for classes two upper and two lower. At first I was told that I was able to choose my own materials, only to be told later that I had to use the materials that were 'handed' to me. I was not provided with my own copy so I was forced to just borrow the learning materials from absent children so at times it was difficult to really decide what to do.
I did learn one thing that kids get bored very easily as long as they are busy its fine, but as soon as they are done they are going to cause a ruckus. However, one class was smarter than the other one so while one class took up 30 minutes one exercise the other one breezed through it, causing me to either improvise a bit (which I suck at) or just let them wait the remaining minutes. One of the kids named Lili was constantly crying when she saw me, although she seemed to be just a real crybaby towards everybody.
As Nadya goes to the same school, every monday I took her to school and had to witness the entire Panca Silak over and over again . Don't get me started on the punishment on not praying, from being boxed to Japan (which sounds kinda awesome btw) to being smashed by meteorite if you didn't pray properly.
That aside the final day of the month, one of the teachers who was pregnant fell down and couldn't teach. So I was left alone in front of class full of children without assistance. Initially I thought about teaching about hands and let them draw and keep them busy. I didn't prepapre myself properly as I really didn't want to invest any of my own money getting materials for this school. So while the clock was ticking away my precious seconds I found out there was no real good paper to draw over. Even more problems occurred when some kids had a fight and arguments that had to be settled.
I was never told how to best handle these kind of things, it was really an argh moment. So then our dearest Sister Paskalia was kind enough test me that day, whether I could handle a class totally on my own. So the end of the story is, I was called to her office and she basically without any warning or tips on improvement fired me. I felt rather relieved that I could just leave it all behind though I am kinda sad since I was feeling it was going ok. Never even had the chance to say goodbye to the children, a well. I went outside to my mother and said "Mom guess what??? I got fired!!!!!!!" I won't lose a minute sleep over this.
On a serious note though, for a school that preaches morality they rather lack it themselves. A well screw that blue penguin!
Soon I'll write another piece
Friday, September 10, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Quarterly Reflection
Dear Diary
For a change I didn't want to talk about what has been happening, but rather how I have been doing in the past months. Three months have passed and what have I accomplished. My sister jokingly said 'Its easier to list the things that you have accomplished rather than the things that you need to improve"
- Managed to keep my weight stable on 60 KG
- Digestive system has adapted so I do not have diarrhea constantly
- Outward appearance has improved
- Self confidence has improved
- Had my first dance lesson
- Overal physical stamina has improved by playing Badminton weekly
- Managed to get some friends here
- Improved Indonesian language and customs to much more has to be improved
- Managed to get down some basic cooking skills without burning down the kitchen
- Adapted my sleeping habits to the Indonesian way (waking up at 6 o'clock)
- Willing to show some more initiative
- Walking less like Mr. Bean now
- Blog is going steady though a bit irregular
- Less stingy
I think that basically sums up the things that have improved. I realize there are a lot of things that still require improving, I still need to find my own path in life, and have to try not to cling to mum too much. Even though she is mostly correct, eventually I will have to stand on my own feet though not alone :-).
I feel though that I am not the same person I was 3 months ago, the personal development has been quite spectacular. I feel almost whether I had to rediscover myself, to quote Excalibur "I didn't know how empty was my soul... until it was filled'
Though being truthfully most of the things I am learning now I should have been able to do years ago. Still I am willing to go an extra mile to catch up the time I have lost in that small dusty room. Life is nothing something to be frightful about rather something which should be embraced and enjoyed fully before your time is over, well better get to it!
For a change I didn't want to talk about what has been happening, but rather how I have been doing in the past months. Three months have passed and what have I accomplished. My sister jokingly said 'Its easier to list the things that you have accomplished rather than the things that you need to improve"
- Managed to keep my weight stable on 60 KG
- Digestive system has adapted so I do not have diarrhea constantly
- Outward appearance has improved
- Self confidence has improved
- Had my first dance lesson
- Overal physical stamina has improved by playing Badminton weekly
- Managed to get some friends here
- Improved Indonesian language and customs to much more has to be improved
- Managed to get down some basic cooking skills without burning down the kitchen
- Adapted my sleeping habits to the Indonesian way (waking up at 6 o'clock)
- Willing to show some more initiative
- Walking less like Mr. Bean now
- Blog is going steady though a bit irregular
- Less stingy
I think that basically sums up the things that have improved. I realize there are a lot of things that still require improving, I still need to find my own path in life, and have to try not to cling to mum too much. Even though she is mostly correct, eventually I will have to stand on my own feet though not alone :-).
I feel though that I am not the same person I was 3 months ago, the personal development has been quite spectacular. I feel almost whether I had to rediscover myself, to quote Excalibur "I didn't know how empty was my soul... until it was filled'
Though being truthfully most of the things I am learning now I should have been able to do years ago. Still I am willing to go an extra mile to catch up the time I have lost in that small dusty room. Life is nothing something to be frightful about rather something which should be embraced and enjoyed fully before your time is over, well better get to it!
Rigged I tell you, Rigged!
Dear Diary
So a couple of days have since passed since I last updated my blog.
Well where to start, first lets list some interesting things I came across during my stay here.
Finally I had the opportunity to eat at the Hoka Hoka Bento. Right beside the Matos Mall, so they were offering a Paket Hemat (similar to a dollar menu), so I figured for 10.000 RP you might as well give it a shot.
To be honest it was a bit disappointing its basically just a bowl of rice with some fried stuff. My mother more is able to make more delicious stuff than that gunk. Still my sister Olivia seems to like it a lot, taste differs I suppose.
So we were looking for some food, the store that sold soto was on vacation and the other store that sold bubur ayam was bankrupt. I think we wanted to have a bite to eat before attending yet another fashion contest at the Mall Olympic Garden.
So we went past a store which looked ok albeit a bit colorful, since we had nothing to lose and were at a loss what to eat we figured we could try some eel (belut).
To our surprise the food wasn't half bad, the eel we had was fried (though it wasn't the eel we are used to in Holland this species lives in the sawa). The service was a tad slow, so my mother said "The probably still need to catch the eel at the sawa we just saw before". So I am not sure what happened to the picture but I lost it, so other things we ordered was Es Buah, basically just fruit and ice and it was pretty nice to.
We also came across some interesting pepper.
~Pass the papper please!~
So finally the main event was about to start. After getting there too late as usual, we ran all the way up to the highest floor in the mall. So the fashion show had already commenced although the results were far from being announced. A famous designer attended this contest, so famous that I haven't got a clue who he is. So the fashion shown there was very.....unique. Words cannot express the feelings the clothing evoked in me, judge by yourself.
So when the results were FINALLY announced, at this time my eyes were bleeding because the sound was rather loud again, "drum rolls".
YES SHE DID IT AGAIN.
It is unbelievable but she did it again, with the same photo she managed to get second place again. This is damn impressive. As for her winnings some money, 3 coupons which we haven't used and a ugly clock which is hanging in front of me right now. As for me well........ I lost again to some snotty brats so I have no comment on this matter :-).
BUT I did manage to finish Final Fantasy and Joe Danger, the only trophies that matter to me anyway.
O I managed to get my own Dragon Age T-shirt printed, the picture was completed by my o so talented sister Olivia, cheers to her!
Will write again soon
So a couple of days have since passed since I last updated my blog.
Well where to start, first lets list some interesting things I came across during my stay here.
Finally I had the opportunity to eat at the Hoka Hoka Bento. Right beside the Matos Mall, so they were offering a Paket Hemat (similar to a dollar menu), so I figured for 10.000 RP you might as well give it a shot.
To be honest it was a bit disappointing its basically just a bowl of rice with some fried stuff. My mother more is able to make more delicious stuff than that gunk. Still my sister Olivia seems to like it a lot, taste differs I suppose.
So we were looking for some food, the store that sold soto was on vacation and the other store that sold bubur ayam was bankrupt. I think we wanted to have a bite to eat before attending yet another fashion contest at the Mall Olympic Garden.
So we went past a store which looked ok albeit a bit colorful, since we had nothing to lose and were at a loss what to eat we figured we could try some eel (belut).
To our surprise the food wasn't half bad, the eel we had was fried (though it wasn't the eel we are used to in Holland this species lives in the sawa). The service was a tad slow, so my mother said "The probably still need to catch the eel at the sawa we just saw before". So I am not sure what happened to the picture but I lost it, so other things we ordered was Es Buah, basically just fruit and ice and it was pretty nice to.
~Yes that is a sweatband.......don't ask~
We also came across some interesting pepper.
So finally the main event was about to start. After getting there too late as usual, we ran all the way up to the highest floor in the mall. So the fashion show had already commenced although the results were far from being announced. A famous designer attended this contest, so famous that I haven't got a clue who he is. So the fashion shown there was very.....unique. Words cannot express the feelings the clothing evoked in me, judge by yourself.
~Just take my wallet and please don't kill me~
So when the results were FINALLY announced, at this time my eyes were bleeding because the sound was rather loud again, "drum rolls".
YES SHE DID IT AGAIN.
~BOOM BABY~
It is unbelievable but she did it again, with the same photo she managed to get second place again. This is damn impressive. As for her winnings some money, 3 coupons which we haven't used and a ugly clock which is hanging in front of me right now. As for me well........ I lost again to some snotty brats so I have no comment on this matter :-).
BUT I did manage to finish Final Fantasy and Joe Danger, the only trophies that matter to me anyway.
O I managed to get my own Dragon Age T-shirt printed, the picture was completed by my o so talented sister Olivia, cheers to her!
Will write again soon
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Just chilling
Dear Diary
Finally I gathered enough strength to write a new blog. This time I would like to discuss some of the more positive things and oddities I have encountered.
After a couple of weeks in the hot tropical sun, there was one vital thing which I hadn't done yet. Drinking some nice fresh coconut juice of course!
Close to our home we have a small shop which sells coconut juice in glass or from the shell. Being a foreigner and all I figured it would be more exotic to drink from the nut itself
~I have got a lovely bunch of coconuts!~
To my suprise the young coconut itself doesn't have alot of flavour, this is solved by adding some sweet syrup which can be added per request of the store lady. Also I was amazed how filling one coconut is, it felt like a hearty lunch. I can understand why coconuts can be seen as a gift from God when stranded on a deserted island, it was certainly a must do experience when visiting a tropical country.
Another thing which I learnt was eating with my hands. Now this sounds easy but it certainly isn't. You need to first kneed a small ball of rice and then scoop it up, using your thumb as a spoon to get it in your mouth. Let's just say the first few times I tried the food disintegrated in my hands it became quite a mess
~Nom nom nom~
Let it be known to future generations that Ron ordered a nasi goreng here and kept bragging how it was such an extremely good deal. Only coming to the conclusion that the food was total crap and he didn't FINISH THE PLATE! While our slightly more expensive eggplant dishes were extremely tasty and fresh. In the end he also ordered one.
Other strange things that I encountered was a blue wasp, it was not as I first thought the dreadful blue mosquitos as described by my good friend Cedric, nonetheless there should be a law against blue insects.... just look at this fearsome beast!
~Currently its shielding itself from all physical attacks~
I am pretty sure it would be quite unpleasant to be stung by this little bastard. Speaking of bastards, we were all sitting quietly in our house when we suddenly noticed that there was a big bat sleeping outside in a corner.
He didn't very much appreciate it being moved, making all kinds of screeching noises.
~I want to suck your blood~
We made sure the bat was moved unharmed.
So after all that 'work' we decided to visit the swimming pool in Dieng. My what a beautiful clear blue swimming pool it is, while we visited the pool you simply forget that you are still in Indonesia. Because all Indonesians fear getting a dark skin under the scorching sun, nobody goes swimming during the afternoon. Of course this is not an issue for us, therefore it felt like we had our own private pool. After some swimming it was time to just enjoy the sun.
The pool even had a hot shower facility, and I must say that it was divine being able to enjoy a shower again. We will certainly visit the pool again in the future.
Next day we went to the infamous barber which my mother kept telling me about. The front of his shop was crowded with umm his posse of young boys (to each his own I guess).
He was quite an excentric person to say the least, never in my life have I been only cut with just a pair of small scissors only. I have to admit though the guy knows his stuff! The cost of having your hair cut at his place is 75.000 RP, which is a bit pricey but I guess you have to charge something to uphold a certain way of living.
We also celebrated Ron's birthday at Ikan Bakar Cianjur.
Wow, simply wow the restaurant was built in an old dutch house and the decor inside felt very rustic. The most important part is of course the food, man that ikan Gurami just melts on your tongue and the side dishes were quite nice as well.
Unfortunately Ron didn't have enough money with him so he spend like 30 minutes outside trying to find an ATM. Aside from that small fact it was a nice way to celebrate this occassion with some nice food.
Will continue writing some more soon, have plenty of other things to tell
Finally I gathered enough strength to write a new blog. This time I would like to discuss some of the more positive things and oddities I have encountered.
After a couple of weeks in the hot tropical sun, there was one vital thing which I hadn't done yet. Drinking some nice fresh coconut juice of course!
Close to our home we have a small shop which sells coconut juice in glass or from the shell. Being a foreigner and all I figured it would be more exotic to drink from the nut itself
To my suprise the young coconut itself doesn't have alot of flavour, this is solved by adding some sweet syrup which can be added per request of the store lady. Also I was amazed how filling one coconut is, it felt like a hearty lunch. I can understand why coconuts can be seen as a gift from God when stranded on a deserted island, it was certainly a must do experience when visiting a tropical country.
Another thing which I learnt was eating with my hands. Now this sounds easy but it certainly isn't. You need to first kneed a small ball of rice and then scoop it up, using your thumb as a spoon to get it in your mouth. Let's just say the first few times I tried the food disintegrated in my hands it became quite a mess
Let it be known to future generations that Ron ordered a nasi goreng here and kept bragging how it was such an extremely good deal. Only coming to the conclusion that the food was total crap and he didn't FINISH THE PLATE! While our slightly more expensive eggplant dishes were extremely tasty and fresh. In the end he also ordered one.
Other strange things that I encountered was a blue wasp, it was not as I first thought the dreadful blue mosquitos as described by my good friend Cedric, nonetheless there should be a law against blue insects.... just look at this fearsome beast!
I am pretty sure it would be quite unpleasant to be stung by this little bastard. Speaking of bastards, we were all sitting quietly in our house when we suddenly noticed that there was a big bat sleeping outside in a corner.
He didn't very much appreciate it being moved, making all kinds of screeching noises.
We made sure the bat was moved unharmed.
So after all that 'work' we decided to visit the swimming pool in Dieng. My what a beautiful clear blue swimming pool it is, while we visited the pool you simply forget that you are still in Indonesia. Because all Indonesians fear getting a dark skin under the scorching sun, nobody goes swimming during the afternoon. Of course this is not an issue for us, therefore it felt like we had our own private pool. After some swimming it was time to just enjoy the sun.
The pool even had a hot shower facility, and I must say that it was divine being able to enjoy a shower again. We will certainly visit the pool again in the future.
Next day we went to the infamous barber which my mother kept telling me about. The front of his shop was crowded with umm his posse of young boys (to each his own I guess).
He was quite an excentric person to say the least, never in my life have I been only cut with just a pair of small scissors only. I have to admit though the guy knows his stuff! The cost of having your hair cut at his place is 75.000 RP, which is a bit pricey but I guess you have to charge something to uphold a certain way of living.
We also celebrated Ron's birthday at Ikan Bakar Cianjur.
Wow, simply wow the restaurant was built in an old dutch house and the decor inside felt very rustic. The most important part is of course the food, man that ikan Gurami just melts on your tongue and the side dishes were quite nice as well.
Unfortunately Ron didn't have enough money with him so he spend like 30 minutes outside trying to find an ATM. Aside from that small fact it was a nice way to celebrate this occassion with some nice food.
Will continue writing some more soon, have plenty of other things to tell
Friday, July 9, 2010
Life has its ups and downs part 2
Dear Diary
Continuing from the previous blog post
Mum bought some antibiotics at the local pharmacy here for my eyes, God bless Indonesia for having the possibility to buy dangerous drugs without a doctor's prescription.
After feeling crap for the entire day we went to the local doctor here in Lawang to make sure I didn't come down with something serious. The local doctor or should I say doctor's (they work in shifts here) had quite a small office and a real basic equipment.
After some questions and some poking and prodding it was assumed that I didn't suffer from dengue fever. Although since I just started having flu symptoms it was too early to tell if, however, after a few days my skin showed bloodspots I should immediately go to the hospital.
After receiving a bag of medicine (really it was literally a truckload of medicine excluding vitamines). I returned home where I spend my time recovering, but the eye drops worked quite well. It even prevented the further worsening of the eyes infection (for both me and mum).
Another health crisis occured when Ron's father had to go to the hospital Brawijaya near Lawang to get a check-up since he was having some pain in his groin. Apparently he had a hernia located there and had to have surgery, delaying would cause a life dangering situation.
Anyway we received a brochure from the hospital in which was described what the cost of each room is, ranging from third class to VIP (who says money can't buy health?). Though to be fair atleast you get a choice in Holland the only way your getting a single room is when you are terminally ill or the queen I suppose.
So when Ron's father was admitted to the hospital all family members came to visit him (which was quite a heartwarming occasion).
Continuing from the previous blog post
Mum bought some antibiotics at the local pharmacy here for my eyes, God bless Indonesia for having the possibility to buy dangerous drugs without a doctor's prescription.
After feeling crap for the entire day we went to the local doctor here in Lawang to make sure I didn't come down with something serious. The local doctor or should I say doctor's (they work in shifts here) had quite a small office and a real basic equipment.
After some questions and some poking and prodding it was assumed that I didn't suffer from dengue fever. Although since I just started having flu symptoms it was too early to tell if, however, after a few days my skin showed bloodspots I should immediately go to the hospital.
After receiving a bag of medicine (really it was literally a truckload of medicine excluding vitamines). I returned home where I spend my time recovering, but the eye drops worked quite well. It even prevented the further worsening of the eyes infection (for both me and mum).
Another health crisis occured when Ron's father had to go to the hospital Brawijaya near Lawang to get a check-up since he was having some pain in his groin. Apparently he had a hernia located there and had to have surgery, delaying would cause a life dangering situation.
Anyway we received a brochure from the hospital in which was described what the cost of each room is, ranging from third class to VIP (who says money can't buy health?). Though to be fair atleast you get a choice in Holland the only way your getting a single room is when you are terminally ill or the queen I suppose.
So when Ron's father was admitted to the hospital all family members came to visit him (which was quite a heartwarming occasion).
Sitting in the hospital in front of his room
Ron's dad sitting in his room
Luckily the surgery went without complications, the surgeon even had the initiative to remove his appendix which was about the burst, what could have led to later complications. All the compliments to them for removing it. After a few days he was free to leave the hospital and be merry once more.
In the next blog I would like to discuss some more positive things which have happened in the past week
Cya then
Arthur
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Uppers and downers
Dear Diary
It has been way too long since I last wrote my blog. Its currently almost 1 o clock in the morning and I have been procrastinating for far too long so I will try to finish this post now. The past few weeks have had a lot of ups and downs, lets start at the beginning shall we.
Ashamed as I am, I forgot to mention in my previous blog post that Clovis our cat has run away. Most likely because he was in heat, we had hoped for the past weeks that he would return but it seems that this was to no avail. We have been on the lookout for him when passing the local markets with no luck unfortunately.
While scouting for a pool table which we found quite near our house, by coincidence that family also had a litter of small kittens which were just a few weeks old. We discussed the idea of adopting 2 new kittens, however, my sister didn't like the color of the kittens and that it was too soon to contemplate replacing Clovis.
Another litter of small kittens were also found by a family member, as soon as we saw the kittens we realised they were still only 1-2 weeks old without a mother, so hopefully their mother returned else I fear for the worst....
Arema madness is finally over, for a couple of weeks the local soccer team of Malang has been winning under tutelage of a Dutch coach. This has caused supporters to constantly occupy the road causing traffic jams all over. We even decided to stay home for a few days since its quite dangerous to drive between these maniacs (It is like hitting a beehive, disturb it and you will feel its wrath).
I started taking badminton lessons every Thursday (for 30.000 RP a month) at the local badminton hall here.
While it may not look like much, it is a pretty nice place to play some badminton. You can rent for 10.000 RP per hour (so that is roughly an euro). The owner of the place a Chinese woman whose house is just adjacent to this hall. Every Thursday and Sunday 2 teachers come back to teach badminton, as I am currently already disposed on a Sunday I only follow lessons on Thursday.
As a field trip we went to the tea garden 'Wonosari' in Lawang together with Uncle Husni and his daughter Dita. Unfortunately for us we forgot to bring our wallets. This caused us to have a small financial crisis, Uncle Husni was luckily able to loan us some money so we could at least pay the entrance fee. As soon as we entered the park we had a quick look around. I have visited this place 2 years ago and not much had changed. Unfortunately the pictures that were taken with the Nikon camera I accidentally deleted 2 days ago so I lost some footage of our trip. We did have a look at the caged animals
Apparently the shit of the left one is worth a fortune as the coffee beans he poops out is used to brew expensive coffee. We went to to drink some tea with the sparse funds we had, mum gave me a head massage (I got a splitting headache after my first badminton lesson) after which we went to look at the tea leaves and well there were a lot of them, nothing much more to say about it............
I had my first experience with stir frying in the kitchen.
We planned to eat some rice with some nice freshly stir fried vegetables (broccoli, mushrooms, tofu and bell peppers).
First I added some sauces to spice things up a little, the tofu unfortunately acted as a sponge absorbing all the salty sauces, causing it to be like a brick of salt while the other vegetables didn't seem to have any added flavour at all. So while I started to clumsily tried to stir the vegetables on a low flame (which wasn't the lowest setting apparently) an odor of burning was slowly emanating from the wok.
Immediately my mother came to the rescue and turned off the flame and asking why on earth I didn't turn off the flame? Well I figured I wasn't moving fast enough, so I tried to up the speed while of course I could have just turned off the flame (silly me). Luckily the entire meal wasn't fucked, mom brilliantly came up with the idea of making cap jay instead of the original dish and it worked out surprisingly well. The added water caused the tofu to mellow out and not having that extremely salty taste. Still the end result didn't look that bad wouldn't you agree.
~Yummy~
After creating this 'feast' I started to have gunk coming out of my left eye. Eye infection has been spreading around like crazy first uncle Husni was infected with this affliction (according to him this was due to another another guy who had an eye infection was staring at him and therefore he was also infected). Next to fall victim was our housekeeper having to take a few days off to recover, and I was the next in line.
It was quite an annoying infection, when I went to sleep and woke up I was unable to open my left eye as it was welded shut. I panicked a bit since I could not open my eye, luckily I was able to clean my eye a bit in the bathroom managing to open it. The next day it looked like I was a strangle victim, my left eye was blood shot, and to make matters worse my right eye also started to share the same symptoms (happy days). On top of that I started feeling quite unwell (I had a cough for several days and I couldn't get rid of it) and I just collapsed on my mattress feeling cold shivers going down my spine and sweating profusely. To make matters worse Mum also started to have problems with her eyes. I will continue tomorrow hopefully with the rest of my story.
On a more positive note WE GOT A POOL TABLE!
It has been way too long since I last wrote my blog. Its currently almost 1 o clock in the morning and I have been procrastinating for far too long so I will try to finish this post now. The past few weeks have had a lot of ups and downs, lets start at the beginning shall we.
Ashamed as I am, I forgot to mention in my previous blog post that Clovis our cat has run away. Most likely because he was in heat, we had hoped for the past weeks that he would return but it seems that this was to no avail. We have been on the lookout for him when passing the local markets with no luck unfortunately.
While scouting for a pool table which we found quite near our house, by coincidence that family also had a litter of small kittens which were just a few weeks old. We discussed the idea of adopting 2 new kittens, however, my sister didn't like the color of the kittens and that it was too soon to contemplate replacing Clovis.
Another litter of small kittens were also found by a family member, as soon as we saw the kittens we realised they were still only 1-2 weeks old without a mother, so hopefully their mother returned else I fear for the worst....
Arema madness is finally over, for a couple of weeks the local soccer team of Malang has been winning under tutelage of a Dutch coach. This has caused supporters to constantly occupy the road causing traffic jams all over. We even decided to stay home for a few days since its quite dangerous to drive between these maniacs (It is like hitting a beehive, disturb it and you will feel its wrath).
I started taking badminton lessons every Thursday (for 30.000 RP a month) at the local badminton hall here.
As a field trip we went to the tea garden 'Wonosari' in Lawang together with Uncle Husni and his daughter Dita. Unfortunately for us we forgot to bring our wallets. This caused us to have a small financial crisis, Uncle Husni was luckily able to loan us some money so we could at least pay the entrance fee. As soon as we entered the park we had a quick look around. I have visited this place 2 years ago and not much had changed. Unfortunately the pictures that were taken with the Nikon camera I accidentally deleted 2 days ago so I lost some footage of our trip. We did have a look at the caged animals
Apparently the shit of the left one is worth a fortune as the coffee beans he poops out is used to brew expensive coffee. We went to to drink some tea with the sparse funds we had, mum gave me a head massage (I got a splitting headache after my first badminton lesson) after which we went to look at the tea leaves and well there were a lot of them, nothing much more to say about it............
I had my first experience with stir frying in the kitchen.
~Look at me mom I am cooking!~
First I added some sauces to spice things up a little, the tofu unfortunately acted as a sponge absorbing all the salty sauces, causing it to be like a brick of salt while the other vegetables didn't seem to have any added flavour at all. So while I started to clumsily tried to stir the vegetables on a low flame (which wasn't the lowest setting apparently) an odor of burning was slowly emanating from the wok.
Immediately my mother came to the rescue and turned off the flame and asking why on earth I didn't turn off the flame? Well I figured I wasn't moving fast enough, so I tried to up the speed while of course I could have just turned off the flame (silly me). Luckily the entire meal wasn't fucked, mom brilliantly came up with the idea of making cap jay instead of the original dish and it worked out surprisingly well. The added water caused the tofu to mellow out and not having that extremely salty taste. Still the end result didn't look that bad wouldn't you agree.
After creating this 'feast' I started to have gunk coming out of my left eye. Eye infection has been spreading around like crazy first uncle Husni was infected with this affliction (according to him this was due to another another guy who had an eye infection was staring at him and therefore he was also infected). Next to fall victim was our housekeeper having to take a few days off to recover, and I was the next in line.
It was quite an annoying infection, when I went to sleep and woke up I was unable to open my left eye as it was welded shut. I panicked a bit since I could not open my eye, luckily I was able to clean my eye a bit in the bathroom managing to open it. The next day it looked like I was a strangle victim, my left eye was blood shot, and to make matters worse my right eye also started to share the same symptoms (happy days). On top of that I started feeling quite unwell (I had a cough for several days and I couldn't get rid of it) and I just collapsed on my mattress feeling cold shivers going down my spine and sweating profusely. To make matters worse Mum also started to have problems with her eyes. I will continue tomorrow hopefully with the rest of my story.
On a more positive note WE GOT A POOL TABLE!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Style by Jury
Dear Diary
Was planning to write the next about the fashion show earlier but I was feverishly trying to finish my ps3 game and that caused some delay in my blog posts. Since the power is out today I figured this might be a good time as any to start writing
To celebrate the 5th year anniversary of the assosiasi modeling Malang a fashion show was held at the Matos Mall to celebrate this occasion, furthermore the results of the photo model contest would be announced at a later stage.
Before the actual show we were first entertained by the Lion’s Kid Club which apparantly being held every week. This show features a lot of kids performing on stage, mostly dressed up as…….well judge yourself.
The first kid I saw performing really gave an interesting version of ‘All rise’ by Blue. Emotions welled up inside of me while witnessing this awesome performance. Never in my life have I seen something so FUNNY! Man she totally raped that song, especially when she started rapping, however, as people always say “Things don’t have to be good to be awesome’ and I was very entertained albeit in a different way. Though to be fair there were a girl dressed in pink which could sing and seemed quite in control when on the stage, unfortunately her face looked like a 40 year old (can’t have it all can we?).
After waiting for a few hours between the vibrating boom boxes the kid’s fashion demonstration was finally starting. You certainly should question the parents of the kids who were walking in this show. Their choice of clothing is certainly quite risque, which is quite ironic as we are in an Islamic country.
~Girls, it is a fashion contest not a Halloween show!~
It was quite fun to watch my sister walk during the show between the fuglies so to say, and see seemed to enjoy herself a lot.
~Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?~
Afterwards there was mature fashion show. The show by itself was quite interesting to watch, although the constant booming from the sound boxes caused my ears to be pulverized and they actually started to hurt after some time. The lighting was quite bad, it caused most of the models to appear ghoulish at the end of the catwalk. One of the models made quite an impression on us, she wasn't that beautiful but she was radiating some kind of aura.
~Judge yourself~
Sitting with the other models behind the stage was an interesting experience. For a moment it felt like we part of a world full of glamour. All the people we met seemed nice enough, I even made a picture with Holly Feriston (half German/Indonesian), who is a bit of a celebrity having won the modelling contest in Surabaya.
~Holly left, myself in the middle, Mario right~
Finally the results were finally in, and would you believe it Olivia won third place in the photo modelling contest! Winning a grand sum of 75.000 RP (25.000 RP profit + a nice trophy). When the day started my sister had an extremely foul mood, but as soon as they announced she won all was well again.
~Yea baby!~
To sum up the results my little sister Nadya won a trophy for first place at a local singing contest, Olivia won a trophy 3rd place in the modelling contest, and as for me....... lets just say I won my own kind of trophy :-)
Life has improved for me ever since coming to Indonesia, to make self reflection a bit easier I have taken a recent picture versus the old me of 1.5 years ago. I'll let the reader decide which looks better.
~Judge yourself~
And yes I took up badminton lessons here in Lawang but that will be a tale for another time.
Was planning to write the next about the fashion show earlier but I was feverishly trying to finish my ps3 game and that caused some delay in my blog posts. Since the power is out today I figured this might be a good time as any to start writing
To celebrate the 5th year anniversary of the assosiasi modeling Malang a fashion show was held at the Matos Mall to celebrate this occasion, furthermore the results of the photo model contest would be announced at a later stage.
Before the actual show we were first entertained by the Lion’s Kid Club which apparantly being held every week. This show features a lot of kids performing on stage, mostly dressed up as…….well judge yourself.
The first kid I saw performing really gave an interesting version of ‘All rise’ by Blue. Emotions welled up inside of me while witnessing this awesome performance. Never in my life have I seen something so FUNNY! Man she totally raped that song, especially when she started rapping, however, as people always say “Things don’t have to be good to be awesome’ and I was very entertained albeit in a different way. Though to be fair there were a girl dressed in pink which could sing and seemed quite in control when on the stage, unfortunately her face looked like a 40 year old (can’t have it all can we?).
After waiting for a few hours between the vibrating boom boxes the kid’s fashion demonstration was finally starting. You certainly should question the parents of the kids who were walking in this show. Their choice of clothing is certainly quite risque, which is quite ironic as we are in an Islamic country.
It was quite fun to watch my sister walk during the show between the fuglies so to say, and see seemed to enjoy herself a lot.
Afterwards there was mature fashion show. The show by itself was quite interesting to watch, although the constant booming from the sound boxes caused my ears to be pulverized and they actually started to hurt after some time. The lighting was quite bad, it caused most of the models to appear ghoulish at the end of the catwalk. One of the models made quite an impression on us, she wasn't that beautiful but she was radiating some kind of aura.
~Judge yourself~
Sitting with the other models behind the stage was an interesting experience. For a moment it felt like we part of a world full of glamour. All the people we met seemed nice enough, I even made a picture with Holly Feriston (half German/Indonesian), who is a bit of a celebrity having won the modelling contest in Surabaya.
~Holly left, myself in the middle, Mario right~
Finally the results were finally in, and would you believe it Olivia won third place in the photo modelling contest! Winning a grand sum of 75.000 RP (25.000 RP profit + a nice trophy). When the day started my sister had an extremely foul mood, but as soon as they announced she won all was well again.
To sum up the results my little sister Nadya won a trophy for first place at a local singing contest, Olivia won a trophy 3rd place in the modelling contest, and as for me....... lets just say I won my own kind of trophy :-)
~All hail to the king baby!~
Life has improved for me ever since coming to Indonesia, to make self reflection a bit easier I have taken a recent picture versus the old me of 1.5 years ago. I'll let the reader decide which looks better.
And yes I took up badminton lessons here in Lawang but that will be a tale for another time.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Happy Birthday Olivia
Dear Diary
Its been a while since my last post, and many things have happened since.
First of all my sister became the grand total of 13 years old (she kept reminding us the entire week so it was a tad hard to forget) and what a happy day it was for her.
For starters she received a brand new Nikon camera as her birthday present.
We bought the camera at probably one of the few camera stores in Malang, and man it was impossible to get anything extra, we didn't even get a pouch to put the camera in nor did we get any free lenses (I am sure the Chinese in the store is laughing his ass off). Nevertheless it is a beautiful piece of equipment and I am sure she will have plenty of use for it in the future.
Afterwards we went to Tunjungan Plaza the largest and oldest mall's in Surabaya . While trying to find a parking spot we stumbled across a section called 'Ladies Parking' and as luck should have it there was a spot available near an entrance. When Ron was trying to park we were stopped by an employee there stating it was for women only. Mom tried to persuade the man saying that there were 3 women in the car, however, he wouldn't budge. Taking matters in her own hands Mom got into the driver seat of the car and parked the car herself (silly silly man) demonstrating why there is a need for such a thing as "Ladies Parking"
~Women can't park nuff said~
I don't recall ever going to this place before, but I was amazed how beautiful it is. Olivia wanted to eat sushi for her birthday so me, Nadya and Olivia went to eat at the Sushi Tei. Mom gave us a budget of 300.000 RP to spend as we wished and stated that in this family we don't want to be 'rugi'. With those orders we entered the restaurant.
Its been a while since my last post, and many things have happened since.
First of all my sister became the grand total of 13 years old (she kept reminding us the entire week so it was a tad hard to forget) and what a happy day it was for her.
For starters she received a brand new Nikon camera as her birthday present.
We bought the camera at probably one of the few camera stores in Malang, and man it was impossible to get anything extra, we didn't even get a pouch to put the camera in nor did we get any free lenses (I am sure the Chinese in the store is laughing his ass off). Nevertheless it is a beautiful piece of equipment and I am sure she will have plenty of use for it in the future.
~MINE!!!!!!!!!!!~
I don't recall ever going to this place before, but I was amazed how beautiful it is. Olivia wanted to eat sushi for her birthday so me, Nadya and Olivia went to eat at the Sushi Tei. Mom gave us a budget of 300.000 RP to spend as we wished and stated that in this family we don't want to be 'rugi'. With those orders we entered the restaurant.
After analyzing the menu extensively we decided to pick a sushi plate (80.000 Rp), and wow the salmon is absolutely phenomenal and the rest of the sushi was also very delicious.
Keeping count of the money we spent, I decided it would be best to just pick separate sushi as we preferred some sushi's over the other. I ordered like another 6 salmon sushi's and 4 shrimp sushi's for Nadya. God just thinking of the salmon makes my mouth water, its almost impossible to find fresh salmon here in Indonesia which hasn't start to decompose yet at affordable prices.
~My personal slice of heaven~
After that enjoyable experience we went of to roam the mall. After some cuci mata we decided to check watch shops, where I bought a new Seiko Automatic(1.5 juta rp) which is quite a good price for a Seiko . While the watch is beautiful unfortunately the paint on the wrist band has started to fade so will have to ask the shop keep for a replacement next time I am in Surabaya.
A few days later there was a fashion show at the Matos on which I will elaborate on more tomorrow
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Lights, Camera, Action.....!
Dear Diary
Continuing from yesterday's blog post.
Bina Bingsa is an international school located in Malang. When we had a talk about the results, the dean described Olivia's personality, both mom and me were thinking: "Is this the same Olivia we know and love?.......". I have every bit of confidence in her that she will do well, wish her the best of luck getting lots of new friends, and I will force her to write a guest entry in my blog at a later date in which she will describe her experiences being on an international school in a foreign country.
Decided to work on my self confidence and therefore entered the same course as my sister at Color Models Inc on how to walk on the catwalk. This course is given by Agoeng Soedir Poetra who has quite a big name in the Indonesian fashion scene.
~Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeese~
A lot of famous models come from his school, so perhaps one day my sister will also be a famous star. My feelings about the course were a bit mixed as I wasn't sure what to expect. Mom gave me some pointers before I went to my first class, and her feedback was on point. I walk like a zombie (Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaains)! Seriously though my posture is in dire need of some revamping so I think by following this course is the first step in rehabilitation. Also we made some photographs at Anthony to be used as an entry photo for a modelling contest
My dear family was kind enough of making some video's so that I might use them for self improvement, and of course entertainment for the entire family. Ron was kind enough the leave the room after continuous laughter to the point his stomach started to hurt. He recreated the experience back at home
~Hahahahahahahahahahahha KELIRU!~
The taste was described to me as nano-nano (which apparently means a compilation of different tastes). The color of the drink was purplish and really didn't look all that healthy. The reason for the coloring is probably the red cabbage that was mixed in the drink (can you even create drinks from red cabbages?). I am not sure whether I like the drink as it was a very very weird taste. For a taste experience I would recommend it as an experiment as it will only set you back around 10.000 RP, a better choice taste wise would be the sirsak which my sister ordered, which is cheaper and tastier.
When we visited the Lai-Lai supermarket, which is a supermarket which focuses on import items and really has all the things you as a Westerner could miss in Indonesia. Though the prices are also up there, saw honey on sale for around 30-40 euros which is more expensive than in Holland. One interesting thing Ron bought were dried sea snails, so when offered one how could I say no that that!
While looking quite grotesque, the snail itself didn't taste bad really. If I closed my eyes I would have guessed I was eating fried shrimp crackers or something in that area. Though the price paid for it was kinda expensive (around 16.000 RP). While only a bit more than an euro its quite expensive as you only get a small amount of them.
That is it for today, hope to write again soon!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Welcome............Mrs Odette
Dear Diary
A lot has happened during the past few weeks, and after finally gathering enough photos I decided it is time for yet another blog entry.
I decided to try out and become an English teacher at St Franciskus which is a local primary school located in Lawang (which my little sister Nadya also attends).
Participating in a few classes held in the school and has been very interesting. The day starts with morning aerobics (with a super happy song called Bangun pagi-pagi), after which we can all enjoy singing Ave Maria although it sounded more like A-FE Maria.
Like every representative of a religion here, the kids are being warned that if one doesn't pray properly a meteorite will fall on the Earth and God won't help you since you didn't pray properly (This is a free interpretation of what i was able to understand). I never knew God was so wrathful.
The classes are quite chaotic to say the least, kids are quite boisterous here. During every lunch break total anarchy breaks out, everything is allowed to promote 'creativity'.
Perhaps this behaviour can be accounted for due to the the incredible amount of sugar that is consumed during the break (probably explains why half of their teeth are rotten, Jamie Oliver would turn in his grave if he was dead). My mother recently made an interesting remark
A few days later me and Ron participated in the school trip to Jawa-Timur Park. Let's just say my personal 'meteorite' was about to fall.
There was a bit of a mix up with the name cards, apparently they were of the understanding that my mother would come along. So when checking the name list my name wasn't added to the list but a Mrs Odetta was included, so we were confused from the get go (more confusion because mother's middle name is Odette). This resulted in the following picture
After the necessary preparations were done (I was put in the fish group) we were finally off to Jawa-Timur park. Some of the kids referred to me as Mr. Bean and kept harassing me during the bus trip. I was a bit uncertain how to react to this behaviour, it didn't seem to be mean-spirited, however, at the end of this trip I was ready to take one of them and beat them to a bloody pulp somewhere in the shadows! Will have to work on my attitude towards keeping order.
When we finally arrived at the theme park, hell was about to start. As soon as all the children from our school had gathered we slowly entered the park.
As we entered the park we adopted a certain formation which I like to call the caterpillar, during the ENTIRE trip to the park we walked like this in the park
Walking like this is extremely exhausting (like a geriatric using a walking-aid), other things which didn't help the overall enjoyment was the rather hot weather and the fact that the park was extremely busy that day. Which made 'snaking' through the crowd even slower.
I really felt sorry for the kids in the end they were only able to participate in two or three attractions the rest felt like a speed run through the park. After eating lunch (which consisted out of rice, chicken and some ketchup and sambal) I actually managed to lose my entire group, the only group I was able to find was the cat group, so I decided to join their group rather then getting lost by myself (in hindsight probably one of the better choices I made). The aquarium was actually quite interesting, you were even able to see some turtles swimming in a big basin and even touch them (not sure whether this was allowed). But as the group consisted out of small children we were moving through the entire attraction like a snake covering every corner, instead of everyone checking things on their own.
After this ordeal we went back ahead to the bus, which sounds easier than it was. When we found an exit we first went through a clothing market then a souvenir market then a vegetable/fruit market and then we FINALLY arrived at the damn exit.
Pretty good timing to get back to the bus if I do say so myself, as soon as we left the park it started to drizzle and eventually erupting in a full blown rainstorm. I was one of the few who kept dry during this storm.
Simply falling a sleep during the trip back was of course not an option, after being harassed a bit more I had to listen to the sweet karaoke songs of such great singers like Bartje van Houten and God knows who else.
All I can say as I am glad the trip was over and hopefully will not have to go through that again!
Other interesting things I did was visiting a pameran in Malang. Though only was able to make some pictures outside the pameran, as the battery of my mother's camera failed at a crucial point, the backup battery being back home.
Though most things being sold were shit, there were a couple points of interest. We bought a helmet for Nadya for when she goes to school by motorcycle
The most interesting thing I witnessed there was a dish consisting out offal meat, it looked positively disgusting, I didn't try it but still just look at it.
Of course after we went to the exit it started raining yet again, but it was fun to visit this event, can certainly recommend if you have time to kill.
Another interesting thing I saw in the hipermarket (hypermarket, guess its better than a supermarket) was the Fanta Blueberry, I had to taste this concoction which I was certain would taste as vile as it looked
While as bright as its counterpart Fanta Strawberry, the sugar level doesn't immediately does give you diabetes compared to its counterpart does, nor does it instantly eat away your teeth. Even though it does smell like blueberry the foul radioactive blue liquid does not actually have a lot of taste. Its tastes more like water with synthetic sugar than real blueberry. Nevertheless not recommend unless you want to try it just for kicks (even then just buy a can and not a bottle), and if your really a daredevil go for Fanta Strawberry your dentist will be very grateful to you!
Will write another blog tomorrow about my other experiences.
A lot has happened during the past few weeks, and after finally gathering enough photos I decided it is time for yet another blog entry.
I decided to try out and become an English teacher at St Franciskus which is a local primary school located in Lawang (which my little sister Nadya also attends).
Participating in a few classes held in the school and has been very interesting. The day starts with morning aerobics (with a super happy song called Bangun pagi-pagi), after which we can all enjoy singing Ave Maria although it sounded more like A-FE Maria.
Like every representative of a religion here, the kids are being warned that if one doesn't pray properly a meteorite will fall on the Earth and God won't help you since you didn't pray properly (This is a free interpretation of what i was able to understand). I never knew God was so wrathful.
The classes are quite chaotic to say the least, kids are quite boisterous here. During every lunch break total anarchy breaks out, everything is allowed to promote 'creativity'.
Perhaps this behaviour can be accounted for due to the the incredible amount of sugar that is consumed during the break (probably explains why half of their teeth are rotten, Jamie Oliver would turn in his grave if he was dead). My mother recently made an interesting remark
Even though children here are let loose and aren't given any direction at all, usually at later stage in their life they tend to be obedient, whereas in Western societies where children are under constant supervision tend to rebel at a later stage in life.While this does not apply to everyone it seems to be valid for most cases, very curious indeed.
A few days later me and Ron participated in the school trip to Jawa-Timur Park. Let's just say my personal 'meteorite' was about to fall.
There was a bit of a mix up with the name cards, apparently they were of the understanding that my mother would come along. So when checking the name list my name wasn't added to the list but a Mrs Odetta was included, so we were confused from the get go (more confusion because mother's middle name is Odette). This resulted in the following picture
~Congratulations I see the surgery was successful Mrs Odette~
When we finally arrived at the theme park, hell was about to start. As soon as all the children from our school had gathered we slowly entered the park.
As we entered the park we adopted a certain formation which I like to call the caterpillar, during the ENTIRE trip to the park we walked like this in the park
I really felt sorry for the kids in the end they were only able to participate in two or three attractions the rest felt like a speed run through the park. After eating lunch (which consisted out of rice, chicken and some ketchup and sambal) I actually managed to lose my entire group, the only group I was able to find was the cat group, so I decided to join their group rather then getting lost by myself (in hindsight probably one of the better choices I made). The aquarium was actually quite interesting, you were even able to see some turtles swimming in a big basin and even touch them (not sure whether this was allowed). But as the group consisted out of small children we were moving through the entire attraction like a snake covering every corner, instead of everyone checking things on their own.
Pretty good timing to get back to the bus if I do say so myself, as soon as we left the park it started to drizzle and eventually erupting in a full blown rainstorm. I was one of the few who kept dry during this storm.
Simply falling a sleep during the trip back was of course not an option, after being harassed a bit more I had to listen to the sweet karaoke songs of such great singers like Bartje van Houten and God knows who else.
All I can say as I am glad the trip was over and hopefully will not have to go through that again!
Other interesting things I did was visiting a pameran in Malang. Though only was able to make some pictures outside the pameran, as the battery of my mother's camera failed at a crucial point, the backup battery being back home.
Though most things being sold were shit, there were a couple points of interest. We bought a helmet for Nadya for when she goes to school by motorcycle
~I come in peace, human~
The most interesting thing I witnessed there was a dish consisting out offal meat, it looked positively disgusting, I didn't try it but still just look at it.
~Side of cow lip anyone?~
Of course after we went to the exit it started raining yet again, but it was fun to visit this event, can certainly recommend if you have time to kill.
Another interesting thing I saw in the hipermarket (hypermarket, guess its better than a supermarket) was the Fanta Blueberry, I had to taste this concoction which I was certain would taste as vile as it looked
~Little taste my deary......?~
While as bright as its counterpart Fanta Strawberry, the sugar level doesn't immediately does give you diabetes compared to its counterpart does, nor does it instantly eat away your teeth. Even though it does smell like blueberry the foul radioactive blue liquid does not actually have a lot of taste. Its tastes more like water with synthetic sugar than real blueberry. Nevertheless not recommend unless you want to try it just for kicks (even then just buy a can and not a bottle), and if your really a daredevil go for Fanta Strawberry your dentist will be very grateful to you!
Will write another blog tomorrow about my other experiences.
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