MORE DURIAN

Mmmmmmm. More Durian. Check this out. Guess durian season hasn't quite ended here yet. The smell should have given that away.

Wholly thunder/lightning storm this morning. And I should probably not (NOT!)(NOT!) be on the internet. It is incredibly dark in the house this morning, right now, it's pouring buckets of rain and in every single room in this house there's that incessant drip, drip, drip sound coming from up above, again. Just what we needed - some excitement. Nothing like a bit of excitement to start the day.

So, not like we ever make the weather map around here. CNN, BBC or the Australian Network. BUT. (actually - that's probably not quite true, I think it may have happened twice now in the last 2 years) But, this morning all you could see on the weather map, (left-hand bottom corner just below everywhere else) was a big mother of all cloud covering this whole island up. You'd think Borneo (Kalimantan) disappeared. It's going to be an all rainy day here.

...... and right about NOW, the thunder is getting louder, closer and more of it. The Gots are filling (filled) up. The electric is going off and on (a lot) .............. and it's definitely, time for me to get the heck off the internet.

Ready the buckets!

TODAY: First off - we'll just have to wait and see if the rain goes away. Or how much we actually get. Or if we totally loose electric. Or the internet. Or spring a leak. And end up with a tarp over the top of the house. Or. Or. Or.

......... might have to re-think the plan for today. It's early, and it's already shaping up for an interesting day.

Good to Go!

HERE WE GO

Goodbye weekend - hello Monday. Here we go.

Busy day today - right from GO! I fully intended to do a post first thing off the bat this morning - but then the whole entire day got in way. ..........and that's the kind of day it's been. My kind of day.

We had a really nice weekend. We did errands, had naps, ate fish* (I'll get to that), watched movies, had visitors, played darts and even got out and about for bit. Serious - it was awesome. Nice! NICE! Gotta like that.

So another farewell again coming up this week, yes there's been a lot of those lately and just as many newcomers too by the way. Balikpapan is not emptying out - least not where I live anyway. We have all kinds of new neighbours moving in. (starting to feel a bit like the Welcome Wagon Lady) Our longtime countryman/been in Balikpapan forever (5+ years) friend is finally on his way. All the empty corn flake boxes he threw out over the weekend pretty much gave that away. Anyways had a nice dinner with him last night, gave him his 'Get of Jail Free' card** and wished him on his way. Oman - he's on his way. I think today, the other me starting checking out his options for a new cell mate.

** Apparently after 5 years it can feel like that. I even know a few other people who would most likely confirm that for me. Guess I haven't been here long enough yet - not quite.

* Ate Fish. I think I've gotten my asterisks mixed up. Oh well - I did eat fish though. Fabulous BBQ fish (at 10:30 a.m.)(with loads of chilies) - that the driver's wife cooked and sent over for me. Awww. That was nice. Real nice.

Weekend Sides Notes:

:: Just because you asked - my Dengue Fever friend is on the mend. Looking like things are going to be Ok.

:: It's like 49.5°C in Sharjah (Dubai). Wholly HOT!

:: "........ I don't do that joining letters together thing." I think you meant hand writing. Right?

TODAY: It's Monday! (down to the last little bit of it by now though) HERE WE GO! Let's do this week.

Good to Go!

HELLO DUBAI

Hello Dubai. How are you? You've made the map.

Bet you're wondering about the photo? Right? (it has absolutely nothing to do with Dubai by the way) We followed this vehicle yesterday afternoon - for quite some time down the one main road that we have here. Anyways, decided I needed to get a photo of it. I'm told it's the vehicle prisoners from the police station get transferred to the prison with. Maybe, I guess. I don't really know.

...... pretty rough though - I don't even think it has AC.

So, apparently there's some huge rugby thing going on today. An 8 hour RUGBY EXTRAVANGANZA starting at 3p.m. And I imagine one way or another we'll end up getting swallowed up into it. Maybe I should figure something out about this. Maybe I should learn the rules. Maybe I should find out who's playing and who's not. Guess I better check this out on the internet.

TODAY: It's early. Who knows what kind of day it'll shape up to be. I have the urge to paint. We'll see. (?)

Good to Go!

MAXI SWALAYAN

Helloooo Friday! Well, decided today would be as good a day as any to do some real Balikpapan kinda of stuff. (instead of the usual ramble bit) (never know though - that might happen yet too)

Anyways, here goes. Welcome to MAXI SWALAYAN. This is one of (the newest one) of a chain of local supermarkets here in Balikpapan. This place is full of dry goods and canned stuff. No fresh produce, no meats (fish/chicken) or dairy or cheese or anything like that. You need to go to the market or another place if that's what you want. No one stop shopping here in Balikpapan.

Notice the little girl trying to get on the motorcycle with mom. Notice mom is riding a motorcycle with a skirt on. Notice mom, only has flip-flops on for shoes. Notice neither have helmets. That's the way they do things here. Welcome to Balikpapan.

Special Note: We still don't have that Starbucks - that sign has been up for more than 2 years now. I think maybe they've given up. I give up. ...... and it's looking like that new Jolly Rogers is going to be a bust too.

TODAY: Seems like the perfect timing for a Friday, and all the usual Friday things to do. Too early to tell just yet, but big BBQ happening at Yuli's tonight - maybe (?) we'll just have to wait and see about that.

I can sense it - great day on the horizon. Today's a good day to say 'hi' to someone.

Good to Go!

STICKY RICE

STICKY RICE - that's what's in the basket. I'll get to the rest of the story in a little bit.

For starters, this morning, I slept in .......... and ever since then, my whole day's pretty much been jumbled up. Out of pattern. Out of sync. Oh well, that's the kind of day it's been. I knew eventually .......... I'd get around to doing this post.

Obviously - too much news. Why is it (?) that every time a Governor from the United States has an affair - they plaster it all over the news? Honestly - who cares (?) what difference does it make (?) and doesn't the world have bigger problems than that? (my apologies - but I just don't get it) Honestly - too much news. (all over the newsthis morning when I did eventually get up)

Indonesia reported it's first case of H1N1 today. Hmmmm .......... guess it's here now too.

Ok, about the Sticky Rice. If don't know what sticky rice is here goes; glue-like-glutenous-sticky-white-rice. Rice that you don't usually eat with a fork or a spoon. That pretty much sums it up I think. Anyways, a group of girls at the restaurant (waitresses) hanging out together and having a big-ol-chat (there were actually suppose to be working) ............. were told (yelled at) (by the boss) to quit acting like Sticky Rice. As in: Spread out, it's busy in here, this place is big and we're packed. First time I ever heard that. I like that.

TODAY: Had lunch with a couple of countrymen (ladies). One of them leaving (transferred) and one just in (transferred). It's always nice to have lunch with someone from the same place as you. You get to do the "what's the name of that place? I think it has Valley in it?" "have you ever been to?" "do you know so-and-so?" (?) Anyways, it was nice. A very nice afternoon.

.......... and today, my friend is leaving too. On a very, very long summer leave. Have a good time. Guess I can't exactly say see you soon.

Well, that's it for today folks. Think I'm off to bed pretty soon.

Good to Go!

TEMP.

Hello everyone!

gon⋅fa⋅non – (noun) a gonfalon that hangs directly from a pole, esp. from the shaft of a lance just below the lance head.

So turns out gonfanon is a real word. Apparently it's used in the French language a lot. I had a few emails yesterday that informed me of that. (thanks) Too funny in fact. Now how was I suppose to know that? Where I come from we don't use lances. Or words like that. ........... and just so you know - it's game over and Cheater Girl lost.

The above thermometer; yes that's mine - in my past life back home I was commonly known in the office as the weather girl - I was a bit obsessed with that. I always knew what the temperature was - especially when it was cold. And I employed a rain gauge too in fact. In fact so did one of my office mates, who lived on the other side of town - and every now and then, IF it rained we'd do a comparison of that. (maybe in my next life - I should be a weather girl) (?)

Anyways - today that's where we're at. And that's pretty much the temperature here any given day. Things don't much fluctuate from that - aside from the odd degree or two. The weather is pretty simple here - it's either raining or it's not. (I think next time I go - I'll bring a rain gauge back)

Yesterday's little get together at the Beach House was great. We picked the perfect spot. If you happen to be in Balikpapan - you'd better check out this new spot. Very, very nice in fact. Too bad I forgot the camera at home, as I'd planned to post a bunch of pics for everyone to see. Guess I'm just going to have to go back. .......... I think I can do that.

TODAY: Hmmmmm. Oh heck, we'll see.

By the way, I understand guava juice - tastes like crap!

Good to Go!

GONFANON? WHAT?

GONFANON? Ok, I've got 3 dictionaries here - and that word doesn't exist.

Guess I just don't get it. (people cheat) Like com'mon - it's a game a scrabble for heaven's sake. Why would a person do that? (cheat) If you're gonna use a word like that - you a least better know what the meaning is. And really - you expect me to believe you came up with 4 eight letter words right off the start - all by yourself? I doubt that. I was actually willing to give you credit for using GONFANON up until you did that. Give me a break! The rule is - if you're gonna cheat - you better at least be good at it.

Anyways - short of the story is - I can beat you at that!

Somehow - about a year ago I managed to get myself sucked in to playing silly scrabble games over the Internet. LEXULOUS.

Ok - enough. I just needed to RANT about that.

So, about a week or so ago a fellow Blogger from Belize posed a question to me. "........... what are you doing in Balikpapan?" Now do you mean - how did I get here (Balikpapan)? OR what do I actually do here (in Balikpapan)? Ever since you asked - I've been trying to figure out an answer for that.

And ....... turns out someone I know here has been diagnosed as having contacted Dengue. That sucks and yes, unfortunately, sometimes that happens here. Thankfully it's not the really bad type and on the plus side of things - I understand the worst is already over with. Now all that's needed is a whole bunch of rest and a whole bunch of sleep. ......... and apparently guava juice too. (Not about the why behind that - traditional medicine I guess). Anyways - here's wishing for a speedy recovery for you.

Special message: Hey my friend in Kuala Lumpur. I'm thinking about you too. Heard what happened. Hope you at least had a good holiday before all that. ........... if you're really bored - we can always hook-up and play Scrabble over the Internet.

TODAY: Is shaping up and into a busy sort of day. All kinds of things to do. Might just be a good day for making a big list.

Looks like rain. Maybe - maybe not (?) I hope not. Planning to sit at the beach (Beach House Restaurant) and have a see-you-later lunch this afternoon with a friend that is soon off and away on her summer leave. Gonna miss you.

Good to Go!

MONDAY

Monday at last. Bet you don't hear that too often.

Another busy weekend - including a little bit of visiting, shopping, F1-ing, darts, eating, eating and more eating (last night we had 2 deserts - yum), and trying to rescue the key board I spilt a WHOLE CUP OF COFFEE IN! ......... and thats the kind of weekend it's been.

The good news is: this morning, I think I've gotten the key board all dried out again. So far, it seems to be working again - gone are the mysterious cryptic letters it was putting out yesterday. Thankfully it didn't end up in the laptop. Whew!

Happy to report - we managed to hook up the Sony Sound System + Sony TV + Apple TV + Time Capsule + Laptop without too much grief. This time round we actually started at step 1. And that makes a big, big difference.

F1 Sunday: My guy, Jensen Button didn't make it. He ended up coming in 6th place. The Red Bull team pretty much dominated that race, taking 1st and 2nd place. Can't win them all I guess. But just wait until the next race - in Germany.

TODAY: Home in the morning and out and about this afternoon. And for the rest of the day - we'll see.

Good to Go!

HI SATURDAY!

HI SATURDAY! Short, sweet and not too chatty today. Just a quick little post. I'll tell you all about the weekend - come Monday.

TODAY: Out and about this afternoon in preparation for tomorrow's Santander British Grand Prix (F1)(Go Button Go). Squeeze in time for a nap (priority). ...... and later tonight - another farewell party.

Good to Go!

IT'S FRIDAY

IT'S FRIIIIIDAY! I have an Argentinian girlfriend that absolutely loves to say that. Sometimes - she'll even email it to you too. And FRIDAYS are actually pretty cool. There's a lot of significance to Fridays in fact - all over the world.

Updates from yesterday: NO I did not buy anymore more fish. As tempting as it was (seemed) - I some how managed to put the brakes on and exercised some self restraint and avoided all that. But trust me, this was not no easy thing to do. They had some really cool fish at that new shop - tiny little blue glow-in-the-dark fish. (cool!) I almost had myself convinced of getting some - UNTIL - until I saw the size of the duplicates of our fish. Of what our fish are going to be. Those are big fish. Wholly crap, we are going to end up with pretty big fish it seems. Geeez.

The new SONY is in the house. And all hooked-up too. And as predicted, it did take us awhile to get everything wired and working the way it should be. Something I'd rather not even talk about now. Let's just say - there's a lot to be said for starting at STEP 1 and not skipping to page 32! (wink, wink, other Me)

........ and as predicted - now we're gonna need a new TV stand too.

TODAY: Another long list of stuff to do. The usually Friday get-ready-for-the-weekend kind of stuff to do. (F1 Sunday coming up)

........ and the other Me is going to survive his not feeling so good too. Surprising what some rest, doctor visits and good medicine can do.

Happy weekend everyone. IT'S FRIIIIIDAY!

Good to Go!

AND ANOTHER THING

....... and that's the kind of day it was. L-A-Z-Y. I needed that - maybe? I guess? I have to admit - I sure enjoyed the day yesterday. (lazed at the pool almost the whole afternoon - getting some sun) I don't do that very often - maybe not often enough. Sitting still is NOT something I'm very good at.

TODAY: I've got a long list of things I need to do today.

I'm off to find a new fish place this morning. Have the other Me freaked out a little bit. I've been telling him we need a new room mate for Fish 1 and Fish 3. He He He. Maybe I better not. As the last time I did that (fish 3) - It just led to more stuff. From one thing to another thing to another thing. Funny how that happens - isn't it? We'll see. (?)

So me and the other Me have decided it's finally time for a new sound system. (granted the old Sony thing we have has lasted us - hmmm, a very, very long time in fact - and it still sort-of works) But, we've decided it's time we improve on that. Time to get into the new century and get a home theater I guess. Already done the research and we know exactly what we want. A new SONY. Exactly what we're going to get. A new SONY. And later in the day I'm going to attempt to buy that. A new SONY. .......... and I just have this feeling it's going to be another one of those things that leads to another thing and another thing - but first we're going have to figure out how to hook it all up.

And this just in. OMG! Believe it or not? (happening just as I'm sitting here typing this) Maybe you're not as amazed (amused) as I am, but the gardeners are finally taking care of the lawns around house. I'm sure it's been a least a couple weeks. (seems to me the only good reason for tall grass is to create a place for snakes to hide in) Anyways - there out there this morning with their edgers and brooms. And that's the way they do things here - not a lawn mower in sight. And then after it's all cut, along come the girls with their brooms and they sweep it all up. (right away - I'm going to sneak out and try and get a picture of that.)

Ok, driver's waiting and time to go.

Good to Go!

ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

Sorry folks, not much in the way of words today. Truth is .......... I think I'm just lazy. : )

TODAY: Is my ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES day.

There's a whole bunch, actually just 1 thing that requires a whole bunch of things I really should being doing today - but. BUT. Sometimes you just have to stop everything and go have a do-whatever-you-want kind of day. A day of endless possibilities. So I think, I'm going just going to go hang out with one of my local friends today.

Have a good one.

Good to Go!

THIS AND THAT

Good news! I'm totally back on track. Over the hump of being sick. I think I got myself back on track again yesterday. Had a very productive day yesterday. And thank God for that. A sick person is something I am NOT very good at. G-R-U-M-P is a good way to describe that. Now unfortunately though ......... it's the other Me's turn. (guess I better be nice - think maybe I owe him one in fact)

Even managed to get out yesterday and get a couple of new photos too. They (someone) just keeps on putting new buildings up. Can anyone guess where this is at?

Yesterday even included a stop at the new YULI'S CAFE & PIZZA for a burger last night. Best burger in town I'd say. Totally awesome - it was really good in fact.

TODAY: I'm pumped! And this day is already off to a flying start - up early, and on the go. Have a lot of stuff I'd like to get done and a whole bunch of things I need to get done. I'm on a mission to get this big, big project of mine over and done.

....... and then I can move on to more interesting stuff.

Good to Go!

BACK ON TRACK

Well what a lousy weekend that one was. The FLU got the best of me. Been a very long time since I had to deal with something like that. Certainly wasn't a whole lot of fun for the other Me either, hanging out with me. (poor guy) Anyways, today I'm determined to get BACK ON TRACK.

The only plus to being sick over the weekend - I finally finished reading that really good book I've been working at. A book I must thank my brother-in-law for. Thank you brother-in-law for sharing the book. And yes you were right - it's a really good book. The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. Published as Someone Knows My Name in the USA. Check it out - here.

We did manage to check out a new spot for a bit on Friday night. The long awaited Beach House, has finally opened up. What a nice spot. And if a person didn't know better - you'd think you were transported to Bali or some other place like that.

This morning, the sky has opened up. Having a monster of a rain storm at the moment. Right now all the flower beds and gots are filling up. (gots = drains) Now that the dry season has come finally come around, we just get MORE less often now it seems. Here's hoping the roof holds out.

TODAY: NOT SURE JUST YET. Heading out. Have errands to run this afternoon and determined to get BACK ON TRACK.

Happy Monday - have a good one.

Good to Go!

BINTANG SMELL?

So you want to know about the Bintang smell? One day I should do a post about the importance of all the letters in the alphabet. Every once in a while here (actually, more often than not in fact), you see something here that just makes you smile. Like the clothing shop that had a sign hung up out front (for what seemed like months) Buy one Get one FREE! T-shits. What actually amazes me most though - is that they just leave it like that.

So the 'Bintang smell', was just one of a couple of humorous things that happened to be on the menu yesterday at our Fortnight Lunch. A couple notes to get you up to speed on this - Bintang is a local beer, and 28,000Rp (rupiah) works out to about $2.75US. The smell part - I think maybe this is a spelling error or maybe it was switched out for what they intended to be small. Surely, they don't mean you only get to smell it. Least I hope not. (?)

By the way - Bintang beer (bintang in bahasa means 'star') is considered by most as the lowest of low on the beer quality scale - and can't imagine anyone would ever want to smell it.

We had a great lunch yesterday. Always nice to go and check out new spots. And always nice to hang out with those girls too. Gotta like that.

Oh yeah, Girl's night out - that was pretty good too!

TODAY: As much as I'd like today to be a rest day - I still have that big, big project to do. And I better get going on that.

Alrighty then ....... let's go.

Good to Go!

COINCIDENCE

Good Morning everyone! Hey - check this out. The Jakarta Post yesterday ran a story (front page) about the opening of that Suramadu Bridge I posted about a couple of days ago. The bridge was officially opened yesterday. Pretty cool isn't it? Now is that coincident or what?

A great lunch with everyone yesterday afternoon. And wow, what a lot of new faces there are here these days. And my God, I'm having a hard time with all these new names. (unusual names too in fact) Remembering names is definitely NOT my strength. Lots of folks transferring in and out of here these days. People on the move. There's a big rumor (maybe more truth than rumor in fact) - seems BHP is closing up shop and moving out of town. And so, that pretty much means, there's going to be a whole bunch more people moving on from here.

Today's photo - nothing in particular, just something that caught my eye I guess. That blue bottle is LPG. (without regulator or any other sort of safety check, and more often than not hooked up with a garden hose - in fact I heard the big fire last week was started with a gas bottle, possibly just like this) The Bahasa pronunciation for LPG is exactly the same as us. However, EL-PI-GI is way it's spelt.

TODAY: The sun is out and shinning full force this morning, hardly a cloud in the sky - and that can only mean all good things + it's going to be hot.

This morning the other Me has hit the road again. Back on his way out of town. I have the Fortnight Lunch thing to do this afternoon and later tonight a bunch of us girls are going out on the town. Going to check out a new night spot that's opened up at the Novotel.

Good to Go!

RED ROOF

Red Roof, RED ROOF! I just had to this get in. And I just happen to have one more cool photo from Surabaya that I happen like too. Anyways - I think it's rather amazing - all those red roofs. This was the view we had from a window on the 19th floor of the Sheraton Hotel we stayed at. A very nice hotel too. Pretty cool!

Yesterday went pretty smooth. I got a lot done yesterday - I made some serious progress on that big, big project of mine. And that is so cool - gotta love it when that happens. Now if I can just keep this momentum going, I'm going to have this thing wrapped up in no time. (I hope)

The AC - is finally fixed. It was definitely a third time lucky thing. I'm not sure who is more happy about this. Me, the other Me or the three maintenance men that were stuck here for the whole day yesterday.

TODAY: Is going to be an odds and bits kind of day. this, that and some other things too. Starting with - electric on, electric off, electric on, electric off. Grrrrrr. Some days that can just about drive a person c-r-a-z-y!!

The sky around the house this morning is a smoky mess. Not sure why or what that's all about. Quite likely the brick making people across the street and in a ways, have a big order to fill today. And the slight breeze that is blowing out there, is bringing all the smoke they make - my way. I don't even know if the sun is shinning out there yet.

Today have a lunch thing to do. Meeting up with a bunch before they all do the great escape on their summer leave. A lunch buffet kind-of-thing-to-do. And my friend's last day of work here today too, before her summer leave. Maybe tonight - we'll celebrate?

I'm hoping, later this afternoon I'm going to get back on to that big, big project of mine for awhile too. Need to put some more serious time into that thing. And then, just maybe a bit of time clearing up all those little its and bits of paper that have piled up all over the desk too.

Ok, time to get this show on the road.

Good to Go!

EMPTY-NESS

EMPTY-NESS: So this week is the start of 'The Exodus'. What a lot of people here refer to as their summer leave. A time when Silk Air tries to make all the money they can for the whole year off the flight from here to Singapore. (this is the time of the year the price seems to go up) The American School finished up their school year last week and the Australian school isn't far behind. So almost all the expats are packing up and heading out of town. Even the ones that don't have kids.

This is pretty much the norm here every year this time. When Balikpapan in a weird sort of way - thins out. When whatever is left in the supermarket will quite likely will disappear and not get restocked. When things get a little bit quieter around here and it doesn't quite rain as much. And then - come late August, early September everyone and everything will all be filtering back in here again.

Last year I stayed in town through the whole of it - rather enjoyed it in fact. Instead of the usual stuff - you just find a whole lot of other things to do.

TODAY: What I really need to do is get at this big, big project that I need to do. At least get a giant start on it! And given that this is my second time around on this - you'd think it would be easier. Not. Note to Self: Next time don't sign up.

AC: Their back - working on it this morning again. This time with 3 maintenance men instead of the usual one. I am confident - this time they're get it. (most things here are a three try fix)

FYI: Goalies in the NHL - played without masks up until the year 1959. Ouch! Note: NHL = the (North American) National Hockey League. (you know, the game they play on ice, chasing a (puck) hard black disk around with sticks, all the while with ice skates - and pretty much aiming it at the goalie all the while too)

SURAMADU

The Suramadu Bridge, or Surabaya-Madura Bridge, between Surabaya, on the island of Java and the town of Bangkalan on the island of Madura. The longest bridge in Indonesia, 5.4 kilometers, and the first land link between the two islands. ................ expected to open to the public in June 2009. (I'm not certain if this has actually happened yet) (?)

Great weekend! And just like all the others blew by way too fast. Nice night out on Saturday night and a fabulous F1 Sunday too. The F1 Sunday thing that grew. What started out as a couple of us .......... well, in short - every go around now the crowd seems to grow by two. And what a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

F1 Sunday: The Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul - Jenson Button, does it again! Number 1. Good thing I've pledged my allegiance to him. He's a winner. 6 out of this year's 7 races are are now his. And I'm sure all the Brawn-Mercedes people are pretty darn happy with that. Next up - June 21, the Santander British Grand Prix.

Some good news - the AC is sort-of fixed. No more loud screeching sounds coming out of it anymore at least. Now it just intermixes with blowing hot and cold air - never quite sure what it's going to do. But we're working on it - this morning the maintenance guy has been here again and again and with any luck pretty soon things will be working just like new again. (fingers crossed)

Special Note: I figured out what that exclamation mark road sign meant from a last week post. I accidentally came across it in a children's English/Bahasa translation dictionary book. Be Careful. Hmmm - surprised I haven't seen a lot more of them.

TODAY: Cloudy day in paradise. Just have to wait and see.

Good to Go!

MADE IT

Finally made it home last night. Finally (?) - because our plane was almost three hours late. The first time I ever saw the word REFRESHMENT listed on the arrivals/departures board along with ARRIVED, DEPARTED and DELAYED at the airport too. Yes - believe it or not, the airlines here, freely feed you if your plane is more than a little late. That was cool.

Great shopping trip. We both came home with some really great stuff. Next time though, think we'd better add another day or two.

........ and you know you live in Balikpapan when, you bring 3 dozen donuts home on the airplane with you too.

TODAY: Nothing like cruising the streets of Balikpapan listening to a rendition of Billy Ray Cyrus's 'Acky Breaky Heart' on the radio. In Bahasa Indonesian. It just amazes me how many languages they can do that song in too. Good for dancing I think is what the driver called it - he loves this song and knows all the words too.

Shopping day today (groceries) and I even managed a nice big sleep in this morning too. So far this day is looking really, really good.

F1 Sunday tomorrow. So Go J Button Go!

Good to Go!

I AM HERE - I PREDICT

This is where I'm at. Tunjungan Plaza Shopping Mall in Surabaya. Getting all the last minute shopping in - before I head back. This morning, I'm guessing in the SOGO store.

Have a good one and see you when I get back.

Good to Go!

UPDATE FROM SURABAYA

Hey all - just enjoying an nice cold ice lemon tea at my newest favorite mall. This place is awesome - there's pretty much nothing you can't buy here. All good and STILL have money left.

Next stop SOGO!

And free internet. (that actually works kickass) (and we even have electric) (and you can buy beer in the grocery store) and, and, and ........

Good to Go!

GONE SHOPPING

And so, just what do you think is the meaning of this? I have no idea - just a good guess(es). Yield? Caution? PAY ATTENTION! Perhaps? Darn good thing I don't drive around here.

There are all kinds of strange (interesting) (weird) road signs around here just like that. This one has certainly seen a better day. A little worse for wear I think. Sure needs a good wash - and looks like a big truck passing by might have caught the corner and bent it a bit.

Ah - so maybe yield, caution or PAY ATTENTION isn't what they meant. Or is it?

TODAY: The electric keeps going off. And I have a plane to catch.

Today is the day me and my friend are heading off on our little shopping trip. We're doing the The Surabaya Shopping Trip. Empty suitcases and we're ready to go. We are so ready for this. And I'm sure hoping they have a Starbucks there too. (cause the one they keep promising in this town - still hasn't happened yet!)

This is what I pulled off the internet - Plaza Tunjungan with an exciting retail space of about 111,700 square meters, accommodates more than 500 retailers - wholly, now I'm scared. Are we going to have enough time to do all this?

Tell you all about it - when I get back.

Good to Go!

OH ........ BUSY DAY

Just when you start thinking this whole Blogging thing is bordering a little bit on the side of ridiculous, and maybe just a few of you are getting tired of all the blabbering on and ranting I do (possibly an outlet for all the talking I can do) - someone out there (actually a few of you) sends an email or a comment that just makes the whole thing worth while. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thanks, all of you.

Ok, enough of that - I'm in a hurry, let's get on with it. Today's photo - well that's just something you see around here - a lot. Funny looking plants - in ugly pots. I swear, almost every single flower pot here is made with cement. And yes they weigh a lot. (Note: Cement is spelled S-E-M-E-N here) (?) Hmmmm.

So all the pots are cement and then have a couple of layers of really bad paint smelling paint covering them up. (and you would know this, if you've ever driven down the plant stall road on pot painting days with your windows open) When I first arrived, the only colours you could actually get were red or green. I even wondered if that was the only colour paint you could get. Got to the point where I actually had to break down and buy paint and paint my own flower pots. And now unfortunately, with all the rain we get - they're just about ready for round number two.

TODAY: Have a lot of errands to do. Some things I need to head out and pick-up and some things for dropping off. And couple projects I promised I get finished this afternoon too.

Need to figure how to make Mint Sauce. Don't ask - let's just go with I promised somebody I would. Any body out there have a recipe for this stuff? (I know absolutely nothing about mint sauce - but I do actually have lots and lots of mint)

Need to pack a large suitcase (with nothing in it) for tomorrow's shopping trip.

........ and a dinner engagement later this evening too. South American Food - yahoo!

BTW. Just because some of you asked. The water runs clear again. The fish are fine. The cat is fine. The driver and the house keeper are fine. Me and the other Me are fine too. Now if we could just get the @**!ing AC fixed.

Have a good one.

Good to Go!

HELLO TUESDAY

Hello Tuesday! How are you?

The photo - this would be the new look (and I must say - it's looking good) of Mal Fantasi and with a new name too. 'Mal Balikpapan Baru'. Now how long do you think it's going take to get everyone on the same page with that. Changing names here is a difficult thing I think. Ever since I first came to Balikpapan the Le Grandeur Hotel (that's the real name) has been called by it's former name the Dusit. And this mall is getting a face lift too. They're finally painting over all those colouful bits that gave it the Walt Disney effect.

About the travel agent yesterday - off on a plane trip. To Surabaya later this week. Yes, I'll be missing in action again for a coupe of days. Me and a friend are off on a shopping trip. An over night shopping trip. We're heading to Surabaya's Tunjungan Plaza Shopping Mall - time for us to go check it out. We're told it's the 2nd largest shopping center in all of South East Asia. So we're taking with us empty suitcases and plan on filling them up for the trip back. Scarry isn't it?

TODAY: Ok, so starting at 9 a.m. - we officially have had all the water shut off. Pipe maintenance day ahead. Unofficially, maybe we'll go from tea water (water the colour of tea) to clear water instead. Things are looking good.

I have all kinds of plans for the day - and we'll soon see how it all works out. Things never seem to go quite as planned here. Flexibility rules - and then, before you know this day will be filled up and all will work out.

Just noticed, this whole post today seems to have a bit of a shopping mall theme to it. Hmmmm

Ok Tuesday - let's do it!

Good to Go!

THE 1ST OF JUNE

Finally. FINALLY. Finally, here it is - today - the 1st of June. And a post that I procrastinated with (about) all the while the weekend was passing into oblivion. An awesome weekend. Thank you. Managed to even sneak in a rest day too. Gotta like that.

Today's photo: Just another Balikpapan scene. Ankot - are all the little buses we have here in town. Yellow, blue and green. (possible more colours too - but these are the only ones I've ever seen) For a minimal amount of rupiah, one can get around all over town in these. And most times, rather tightly fit in.

Ok, so lets get back up to speed and updated on all the goings on around here over the last few days. Let's start with those horrible things I shall refer to as cookies.

Cookies: So what should (could) have been (peanut butter chocolate chip) turned out to be - little round blobs (an indeterminate mass) of dried out cookie dough with too much butter and bits of chocolate chip and oatmeal in-between. Yuck! Honestly, no person on earth can actually ever eat these things.

So over the weekend me and the other Me secretly conspired a plan to get rid of the horrid little things. Secretly, as neither me nor the other Me have the heart to tell the housekeeper how bad these things really are. She's actually a fabulous cook, and we certainly don't want to ever discourage that. Her talent in cooking real things. So, later this afternoon - the other Me is going to take a BIG bag FULL of them to the office and find an unsuspecting waste bin to drop them in.

Happy Birthday(s): This should really have preceded cookies on my list. Happy Birthday to a couple of my favorite people. The first happy birthday wish, goes to my youngest sister (like the way I got the young part in?) - and the second goes to someone celebrating Happy Birthday #10!

Friday lunch & coffee: That replayed and extended itself into the wee hours of the evening. I shall just say great. My newest favorite thing. Udung Mayonaise. (udung = prawns = big shimp) Yum! Makes up for the horrible cookies.

Fish 1 and Fish 3: All good. No longer are they swimming circles - in the new aquarium, they prefer the formidable task of swimming laps it seems.

The situation with cats: So over the weekend 2 big Tom cats showed up at our place. Caterwauling unsterilized Toms cruising for queens. Thank god (?) for inventing the garden hose and quite possibly bad cookies.

And this just in. Some people - really - just don't have enough to occupy their time with. Check this out.

TODAY: Still dealing with the problems related to the AC! Rather ACs. Yes the problem has now escalated to more than just the original one.

..... and off to see the travel agent again. Tomorrow, I'll have more info and will fill you all in.

Good to Go!