We've both been very busy at work and haven't had a moment to spare. We spent a great weekend last week at the same beach house we've been frequenting, Pelabuhan Ratu for those who are keeping up, as a going away party for one of our friends who is headed back to the States. It was the most relaxing weekend there yet - we never even left the house this time except to walk down to the beach, which I am not sure counts. Someone else made the fish market run and the ocean and beach were just way too inviting to go anywhere else. It was delightful, but of course went by too quickly. We're hoping for some downtime soon, but it does not look like that will happen for a few weeks...
We're off to climb a volcano this weekend, but I thought I'd throw a video from my morning commute by ojek (motorcycle taxi) to work online first. It's not so thrilling and kind of looks like a video game because I sped the video up to make my 15 minute commute 3 and a half minutes. I take a taxi most days - they are the same price, about $1.50, but the ojek gets you there in half the time. The catch is that you have to suck in bus fumes and risk life and limb.
(Just noticed that the quality is really bad. I have a better copy and will upload it next week, so feel free to ignore it for now.)
Friday, August 31, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Happy Independence Day Indonesia!
To celebrate the long weekend Howie and I headed to Bengkulu, Sumatra with our friends Mel and Drew. Why Bengkulu? Well, no one was 100% sure, even Mel who booked the tickets without even looking the town up in the Lonely Planet, but it turned out to be more than we all expected.
Independence Day celebrations last the entire weekend and different neighborhoods, or kampung as they are called, hold celebrations throughout the weekend. Celebrations mainly focus on the children of the kampung, but as we found out the woman are also big participants in all the events, with the exception only of the greased coconut tree climbing. Yes, you read that right. Teams of men climb a greased coconut tree, although since these are city folk, it is more like a greased pole and instead of coconuts at the top, there are prizes that include bikes, money, woks, spatulas and much, much more.
We did not join in the climbing fun, although the men were tempted, but we did each participate in the “rice sack race”, the “marble in the spoon” race and the ever popular tie a chili around your waist and try to get it into the bottle competition. Mel and I had no chance in that one – those women have been squatting with much more expertise for years. We also had the chance to watch the Bengkulu official town celebrations where we saw some excellent performances from the local marching bands.
Other than Independence Day celebrations, we also rented a car in search for the Raffelasia – the world’s largest flower. Our book said it blooms between August and November and that we were in the right part of the country to see it, despite its being rare and hard to find. Well, depending who you ask, it bloomed last week, it is blooming next week or you will never find it no matter how hard you look, we found it. Shockingly easily, at that. In fact not minutes after the driver told us we should give up hope, he pulled over to a sign that said “Welcome Miss Universe” and said, “Would you like to see raffelasia?” Um, yeah…after about 10 steps into the jungle with about 5 Indonesians following us and clicking their camera phones, there it was. And it was still in bloom! Even with the hype, it was pretty impressive and quite a large flower. Clearly not at it’s peak of beauty, but still pretty cool. As we had taken a car and driver on the search and it went much faster than expected, we took full advantage and headed further from “town” to some hot springs for some real relaxation.
Our last day in town we hit the local traditional market, the fort, and the beach before heading back to Jakarta. It was a really nice weekend and if you ever meet anyone from Bengkulu, ask to see the pictures on their camera, chances are we are in them.
We too went a little picture crazy and there is a nice sampling in the web album. Howie will soon post a video montage of our adventures as well. http://picasaweb.google.com/howieandhaviva/IndependenceDayInBengkulu
Independence Day celebrations last the entire weekend and different neighborhoods, or kampung as they are called, hold celebrations throughout the weekend. Celebrations mainly focus on the children of the kampung, but as we found out the woman are also big participants in all the events, with the exception only of the greased coconut tree climbing. Yes, you read that right. Teams of men climb a greased coconut tree, although since these are city folk, it is more like a greased pole and instead of coconuts at the top, there are prizes that include bikes, money, woks, spatulas and much, much more.
We did not join in the climbing fun, although the men were tempted, but we did each participate in the “rice sack race”, the “marble in the spoon” race and the ever popular tie a chili around your waist and try to get it into the bottle competition. Mel and I had no chance in that one – those women have been squatting with much more expertise for years. We also had the chance to watch the Bengkulu official town celebrations where we saw some excellent performances from the local marching bands.
Other than Independence Day celebrations, we also rented a car in search for the Raffelasia – the world’s largest flower. Our book said it blooms between August and November and that we were in the right part of the country to see it, despite its being rare and hard to find. Well, depending who you ask, it bloomed last week, it is blooming next week or you will never find it no matter how hard you look, we found it. Shockingly easily, at that. In fact not minutes after the driver told us we should give up hope, he pulled over to a sign that said “Welcome Miss Universe” and said, “Would you like to see raffelasia?” Um, yeah…after about 10 steps into the jungle with about 5 Indonesians following us and clicking their camera phones, there it was. And it was still in bloom! Even with the hype, it was pretty impressive and quite a large flower. Clearly not at it’s peak of beauty, but still pretty cool. As we had taken a car and driver on the search and it went much faster than expected, we took full advantage and headed further from “town” to some hot springs for some real relaxation.
Our last day in town we hit the local traditional market, the fort, and the beach before heading back to Jakarta. It was a really nice weekend and if you ever meet anyone from Bengkulu, ask to see the pictures on their camera, chances are we are in them.
We too went a little picture crazy and there is a nice sampling in the web album. Howie will soon post a video montage of our adventures as well. http://picasaweb.google.com/howieandhaviva/IndependenceDayInBengkulu
Friday, August 10, 2007
Election Day
Ok, enough about the earthquake. It's sounding more and more like the only people in the city that were really scared by it were highrise dwellers like us.In other news, it was Election Day on Wednesday. Jakartans were able to vote for their first directly elected governor (really the mayor, but because Jakarta is its own province he's technically a governor). Most offices were closed all day and it was treated as a semi-public holiday. Of course Haviva and I had to work, though.
The best part of Election Day was the placement of our local polling station. It was set up directly across the street from our apartment. Well, not quite across the street... more under the street. You'll notice from the 
photos that they set it up under the overpass directly in front of Casablanca Mansions - the same smelly underpass that it used as a public toilet by vendors and as a place to nap for the homeless. Seems like they could have found a better spot, but at least it was shady, I guess.
photos that they set it up under the overpass directly in front of Casablanca Mansions - the same smelly underpass that it used as a public toilet by vendors and as a place to nap for the homeless. Seems like they could have found a better spot, but at least it was shady, I guess.Thursday, August 09, 2007
I felt the earth shake under my feet....
As the news now tells us, what we experienced last night was a lateral earthquake measuring a 7.5 on the Richter scale. It was pretty deep underground, hence no tsunami warnings or strongly felt aftershocks (if any at all.) Judging from the complete normalcy this morning, damage was minimal and there are no reports of injuries, etc. In fact, this morning I got a text message from my friend Mel who lives in a high rise about 2 miles from our place, on a low floor, that read "Was there an earthquake last night?" Apparently, they felt something that woke them up. but Mel thought it was something trapped in her bathroom. Anything goes in Indonesia I guess. Being on the 32nd floor definitely made us feel strong effects and 7.5 is nothing to poo poo, but all in all the news is good. For our first, and hopefully last quake, we did well.
Our initial reaction after the quake was to get out as fast as possible. For Howie and I, that meant grabbing passports and cash and heading out the door. After getting those things, we scurried a bit wondering what else to grab, where to go and why the halls were so quiet. When we saw we had a good internet connection (at a moment I think when Howie was actually considering grabbing the laptop to take with us) we immediately started contacting friends in Jakarta to see how they were and family at home to tell them we were fine. In hindsight, we probably should have just evacuated....When we did evacuate about an hour after the quake we went to the lobby to find tons of people hanging out in they PJ's and most of them had suitcases packed. It seemed like everyone was fleeing, but not in any urgent way and for that matter, they were all using the elevator to get back up to their apartments to get their things. I do not know much about quakes, but I am pretty sure the elevator is the number one no no. We caught glimpses of people with bags of "important documents" and photo albums. Hmm...should we have grabbed more? And come to think of it we now feel a bit badly for leaving Bert, Ernie and Norman behind...what a sight that would have been. Two white people kind of dressed, pockets clearly stuffed, two turtles and what looks like a bowl of dirt with some veggies in it....
Thanks to all who emailed and sorry to all who worried. We are fine, both at work and doing well.
Our initial reaction after the quake was to get out as fast as possible. For Howie and I, that meant grabbing passports and cash and heading out the door. After getting those things, we scurried a bit wondering what else to grab, where to go and why the halls were so quiet. When we saw we had a good internet connection (at a moment I think when Howie was actually considering grabbing the laptop to take with us) we immediately started contacting friends in Jakarta to see how they were and family at home to tell them we were fine. In hindsight, we probably should have just evacuated....When we did evacuate about an hour after the quake we went to the lobby to find tons of people hanging out in they PJ's and most of them had suitcases packed. It seemed like everyone was fleeing, but not in any urgent way and for that matter, they were all using the elevator to get back up to their apartments to get their things. I do not know much about quakes, but I am pretty sure the elevator is the number one no no. We caught glimpses of people with bags of "important documents" and photo albums. Hmm...should we have grabbed more? And come to think of it we now feel a bit badly for leaving Bert, Ernie and Norman behind...what a sight that would have been. Two white people kind of dressed, pockets clearly stuffed, two turtles and what looks like a bowl of dirt with some veggies in it....
Thanks to all who emailed and sorry to all who worried. We are fine, both at work and doing well.
Earthquake
Hi everyone. Just a quick post to let you know we are fine. We were awakened about half an hour ago by the earthquake that you may soon hear about. Very scary, but we're fine. After about a minute of swaying back and forth we jumped out of bed, grabbed our money, passports and flashlights and started to get ready to leave for a long time, but we've checked in with friends around the city and things seem to be okay.
Can't believe we've got power and internet, but we'll keep you up to date as much as possible. Got to say that from the feeling of it I expected the city to be in chaos right now but I don't hear a single siren, so maybe we underestimate our fair city. -- H&H
Can't believe we've got power and internet, but we'll keep you up to date as much as possible. Got to say that from the feeling of it I expected the city to be in chaos right now but I don't hear a single siren, so maybe we underestimate our fair city. -- H&H
Monday, August 06, 2007
Quick trip for a happy occasion
Well, it is official – Michal and Chad are married!! It was a wonderful wedding and great excuse to catch up with some family and friends (even though we did not make it to see everyone and do everything we wanted.). The day itself was amazing and nothing could have been better than schlepping 9000 miles and seeing Michal so freaking happy.
Highlights of the trip included the wedding (of course!), the birth of Tessa Grossman, – who we sadly only got to meet days before her arrival – a pregnant Kelly, a quick visit from the Parnes all the way from Arizona, and a killer tan after spending a few days on Long Beach Island with the Cohen clan. The water on LBI was a bit colder than we are used to, but it was really refreshing and we had a blast swimming with the nieces and nephews and chowing down on meat grilled by none other than the grill-master herself, Sharon Cohen. Despite Howie’s parasite, or “little illegal immigrant to America” as I like to call him, we ate well only missing a few key food groups. Poor Howie was stuck with non-alcoholic beer in the land of Sam Adams and Harpoon. We were happily introduced to a few new places, like the ever delicious pastries at Flour (I challenge you to find one thing there that is not good) and that awesome corn dish thingy at Toro. If you are in the Boston area you really need to get to both these places ASAP.
And before we go any further, we need to thank Aliza for letting us basically take over her apartment. The bed was great and the parking spot, DVR, and spare keys could not have made life any easier for us nomads. If you are in Boston and need a place to crash, let me recommend Chez Aliza. She even let Howie’s illegal immigrant join in the fun!
Now we are back in Jakarta. Howie is working full time these days and things here are as busy as ever. Next week we are back to our adventures though; off to some random village on Sumatra that Lonely Planet touts are hard to get to, not many people make it there, but well worth the while if you do. Just our kind of adventure.
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