The View from Balikpapan

BEACH HOUSE

2009-11-06T09:54:00.010+08:00

Check out that beach. This is the view we had at lunch yesterday from our awesome spot under the cabana at the Beach House. The pic is from my phone - believe it or not. (I'm impressed actually) Like a dumby, I forgot to take the camera yesterday. doh!

So things are really buzzing today in Balikpapan - getting ready for the Xmas Bazaar tomorrow. And another B Day event tonight, and a darts thing tomorrow and a dinner party. I think we need more days in a week here . More days in the weekend would help too.

My friend is off to Singapore today. Don't forget the M-A-G-I-C (broom).

TODAY: Go! Go! Go! Notice I italicized that to put some emphasize the busy-ness I/we have going on here today.

Not sure where's the sun's at today, but at least it's not raining. Not yet - anyways. And I'm sure hoping it stays that way. Makes the Go! Go! Go! a whole bunch easier.

Ok, driver's waiting - I gotta go.

Good to Go!

MARKET STUFF

2009-11-05T09:19:00.018+08:00

I promised myself I was going to do this today. Before lunch. ....... and I'm doing it. Yeah! I'm actually home this morning for the first time this week. This has definitely been one of my busiest weeks.

So, yesterday was a market day. The place you get to utilize your bargaining skills. At the market - bargaining is a must.

Above - Pasir Inpres and some beaded purses plus + plus* that you can buy in this market. The bead work on these things is absolutely amazing. And, I'm sure hours and hours have gone into these. Those are traditional Kaltim designs. Kal = Kalimantan, our propinsi (as in state or province). Tim = Timor or east. You see it on almost every T-shirt here. And there are loads and loads of this stuff here. Plus all the other stuff. Including 3 humongous pineapples for $3. I love the market.

*PLUS + PLUS is pretty common phrase around here. Almost everything involves a bit of the plus + plus.

TODAY: Sun's out. And the girls are having a fortnight Happy Birthday lunch. Good day to go hang out at the Beach House. ..... at least for a little while today. Sure looks to me like it's shaping up to be a pretty good day.

Good to Go!

OOOPS

2009-11-04T18:22:00.003+08:00

OOOPS. Yeah, I know - so much for getting a post out every day. I had good intentions though - and I've got some pretty good (?) excuses too. It's been a darn busy week so far, and yesterday was the Melbourne Cup. ...... and we did have a load of fun at the Melbourne Cup yesterday. Yes we did, the whole bunch of us - hats and all. (and we started at 9:30 a.m. by the way)

The BIWA Xmas Bazaar is happening this weekend (Saturday) and has a whole lot of people pretty busy and buzzing around here these days. Seems very strange to be having Christmas already. And, it definitely takes a bit more effort to get into the Christmas thing living here. Like it's 33c outside. (most days anyways) And there's no snow, or much for Christmas trees, lights and all the other seasonal stuff. Ace Hardware has a few decorations out (mostly tacky dollar store kind of stuff and some very expensive Christmas trees) - but that's pretty much it around here.

So, the BIWA Xmas Bazaar ........ is going to work out just right. Shopping, shopping, shopping and mulled wine and minced pies (I know lots of you folks like that stuff - but for me, that's a big YUCK), Christmas carols and Santa and Elves. Certainly sounds like Christmas to me.

Special Note: In reply to an email I recently received, regarding those M-A-G-I-C brooms that were parked out front of the house the other day. Very funny (?) Oh my dear friend - looks like you and me are busted. Oh well, guess now they know how we manage to do all the shopping we can do in one day.

Special, Special Note: Those M-A-G-I-C brooms are of the special fold-up type and fit very nicely in a couple of suitcases, especially handy when going on extended shopping trips (Christmas) to places like say SURABAYA or SINGAPORE. Go Brooms Go!

TODAY: Another one of those days that we pretty much just buzzed right through. This and that and all kinds of stuff. Did manage to find time to get to my favorite market (Pasir Inpres) in the later part of the day though. And, I actually didn't even buy anything - but my friend did. I love the market!

Ok, it's pretty much the end of the day-light part of the day here (that's about 6:30 p.m.) the other Me has just walked in and is giving me a really bad time about a missing post yesterday and what he assumes is going to happen again here real soon today. I'm on it. Sudah! Already. Done.

Good to Go!

I HEART MONDAY

2009-11-02T11:52:00.000+08:00

Hello Monday! My favorite day of the week. I know most people prefer Fridays or Saturdays or even Hump Day Wednesdays. But for for me, Monday is the one. Monday is, by far, the best day of the week.

Just think. A new beginning and a whole new fresh start. It's a little like having a New Years every week. Complete with resolutions if you like. So my resolution this week - is to actually do a blog post every day this week. And today, well, here's number 1 for the week - we'll just have to wait and see come Saturday how well I actually do.

So yesterday was the end of the F1 season. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. And a "Pit Crew" afternoon - which turned into evening and so on and so on. We had fun. Sebastian Vettel won the race and finished the year off in second place. Right behind Brawn's Jenson Button who is this year's Number One. It's been a great season and we (me and the other me) sure enjoyed our F1 Sundays and afternoons. Thanks Pit Crew.

Note: Grown men racing through the house on wheelie chairs ........ you guys are so silly. Too much fun.

TODAY: Almost half done. And I'm on a roll today. I'm getting all sorts of stuff done. .............. and if I can keep it up. Later this afternoon I just might get a massage and my hair done.

...... and then there is the pic of the day. Not a very good one. Better get out there and get some more pics today too.

Happy Monday! Good to Go!

TODAY IS

2009-10-31T08:49:00.000+08:00

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

2009-10-30T09:02:00.000+08:00

Believe it or not - this is about 20 minutes from my house. Nice isn't it? Balikpapan does have some special spots.

Busy time in Balikpapan. All kinds of stuff going on. Of course Halloween this weekend. And for a place that doesn't actually even acknowledge this, you'd hardly even know it. And it's not just the kids that are having fun either. I should point out - there are no Halloween treats (candy), store bought costumes or BIG orange Pumpkins here. You pretty much have to improvise for almost all of it.

Tuesday coming up is the Melbourne Cup. (Aussie horse race) And that's a big deal (*hat) day too. And next weekend is the BIWA Christmas Bazaar. (hard to believe we're at that point already) Not hard to be busy around here.

*hat - I'll explain the hat part come Tuesday.

YESTERDAY: Lunched with the girls. It has been a long time since we did that. A very long time in fact. And it was really nice. Really enjoyed that.

TODAY: Clean-up time in the office. What a mess! Sheesh. A Birthday Cake gathering this afternoon. Some things I should have done yesterday and a Halloween Party at Yuli's tonight.

I'M HERE

2009-10-28T20:44:00.005+08:00

Are these not the coolest flowers? Ever? I have no idea what these are - but they are so cool. ..... and definitely not in Balikpapan.

I'm still doing the all over the map sort-of thing, but for the moment - I'm here.

TODAY: Whew! Been a busy one. And, pretty much done.

ALL OVER THE MAP

2009-10-16T16:14:00.001+08:00

Couldn't decide what pic I wanted to use today. Day or night? Day or night? Oh, what the heck ........ why not just use both? Right?

By the way - it's not raining in the day-time pic. It's called smog. Jakarta Smog. And it really isn't even that bad. (least not for Jakarta, anyway) And just so you know, in Balikpapan if it's not raining - the sky is blue. There's definitely a lot to be said for a small place.

Ok, so about the all over the map bit. Well, here's the deal. I am going to be all over the map for the next couple of weeks. Doing all kinds of stuff. So ............ the Blog as you will soon see, is going to take a backseat to all the rest. That doesn't mean I'm calling it quits or anything like that. It just means I might not be very consistent over the next little bit. (just trying to give you a little heads-up about that)

Question of the day? What's the heck is up with Garuda these days? Why are all their planes late? Hours and hours late in fact! Nothing like sitting in and waiting in the airport.

TODAY: Drink lots of green tea in between all the other stuff I need to do.

Ok, Good to Go!

AWAY

2009-10-13T10:04:00.000+08:00

TODAY: I'm not actually here today. Still away with the other Me.

Have a great day!

Good to Go!

SMILE

2009-10-12T08:07:00.019+08:00

Whew! We had a great day yesterday. And a very big thank you to everyone that came along and helped us with the festivities. It was a good day. We had fun. Now if we can just figure out how to get the *Bocce Ball (jack) off the roof of our house. (and replace a flowerpot)

*Bocce Ball: Never did manage to find or get some made here. These we brought back from North American with us.

TODAY: Big sunshine day around here today.

And I'm tagging along with the other Me today. Going to the big city.

Good to Go!

SWEET & GREEN

2009-10-10T16:08:00.001+08:00

SWEET: Some really good friends I have here and some very special gifts they gave me yesterday. One of which is now hanging at the front door. And another one, on my wrist. Sweet! You guys rock! (least last night you sure did [new band playing at Yuli's Pizza House] along with a whole lot of other folks too)

GREEN: My second attempt at home grown lettuce here. The first try was a wash. The garden flooded out in the rain and I suspect all those little seeds ended up down the got (sewer) and washed out to sea. So far so good this time round - this time we're trying it in a flowerpot. Time will tell I guess. We'll see.

CURIOSITY: NASA - shooting the moon. (?) More like messing with the moon perhaps. (?) What do the rest of you think about that?

TODAY: Organize. Track down a few items I need for some festivities we're having tomorrow. Make pie. (2) Put on long sleeves. I know I can't believe it either - it's raining and it's 25°. (It's cold today) That's about 10 degrees less than what we're normally used to.

......... and just because it's the weekend. Here's some items off the YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEEN IN ASIA TOO LONG IF list, that showed up in my In Box this week.

:: You own a rice cooker.

:: You find it saves time to stand and retrieve your cabin baggage while the plane is on final approach.

:: A bathroom with four attendants is so disgustingly filthy that you wouldn't step into it back home ........ and one of those attendants sole job is to hand you flimsy, single-ply toilet paper to dry your hands with.

:: You're willing to pay to use a toilet you wouldn't go to within a kilometer of at home.

:: The footprints on the toilet seat are your own.

:: You can shake your hands almost perfectly dry before wiping them on your pants.

Good to Go!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

2009-10-09T17:07:00.005+08:00

IT'S FRIDAY! ......... and the day is almost done and I'm now, just getting around to doing today's post. It has been a busy one. As is quite often the case on a Friday.

Today's photo - just a little street scene I happened to get a photo of yesterday. We actually pulled over just so we could a good pic of these guys going by. (the driver, I'm sure, thinks I'm a little bit nuts. But that's Ok, by now I think, he's pretty much gotten used to me) They were running - out getting some exercise. I'm not entirely sure what BRIMOB stands for. (?) Police? Military? Or perhaps, something in between. Maybe one of you guys out there knows?

TODAY: No rain today. A full day of sun. That's a bit of treat.

Ok, that's it, have a great weekend everyone.

Good to Go!

OH YA - I FORGOT

2009-10-08T12:28:00.003+08:00

The gardeners got me so pee-ed off this morning, I forgot to to tell you all, explain, why I deleted that comment that showed up yesterday in the COMMENT SPOT.

This is MY Blog. And this is an AD FREE blog. So please don't try and advertise the sale of your NFL T-shirts or anything else here.

Anyways, check this out. Supertramp rocks. And so does this video. (thanks Robyn)

......... by the way - if I was to Take the Long Way Home - it probably would involve flying past the North Pole. And just so you know, I don't think penguins actually live there.

Good to Go!

CHASING DRAGONS

2009-10-08T10:09:00.000+08:00

Alright - here we go. The tail-gone-missing-mini-dragon post. I don't know about the rest of you. But it sure looks like a dragon to me. The cat thought so too. What else could it be? To say the least - it's one of the weirdest looking things I've ever seen.

And about the tail (?) Gone missing perhaps (?) No idea - maybe the cat knows something about that.

This just in!!!! Just happened to look out the side door and see ............ the dam gardeners have chopped down all my flowers. AGAIN!!! For @#$! sakes! I thought I asked you not to do that anymore. (?) (?) @#$! I don't normally get too upset about stupid things - but geeze ................. Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to get them to look like that?

We now have little sticks ..... where all the flowers had been. And there isn't a single solitary bloom left out there anymore! And hardly even a single leaf left in what I used to refer to as the hedge. I'm sure you all (gardens) think you're saving yourself a whole bunch of work - like not having to come back over here for a long time again. Ahhhhhhhhhh....................

TODAY: I'm attempting bread. Making some. Maybe. We'll see

We finally have a little reprieve from the rain today. Perhaps (?) Never know - cloud filled sky this morning - never know about that around here. Maybe we'll be back to more rain come this afternoon. Anyways - it's all a good thing. Things are looking green. Scatch that out, scratch out GREEN - at my house all we have left is twigs!

If I had more time I'd post a pic of what those darn gardeners just did. Maybe tomorrow. Ok, Sorry - I've had enough of this for today.

Gotta Go!

MORE:KAMBING:LAGI

2009-10-07T10:12:00.005+08:00

Strange but true. Only in Balikpapan - this truly is an interesting place.

Sometimes - the funniest and weirdest things happen around here. By coincidence. Yesterday, as I was patiently (yes, I can do patient*) waiting for the internet/blogger to load the daily post - I caught something out of the corner of my eye peeking in the window, looking in at me. And although that wouldn't exactly be all that uncommon around here - this time it was. This time it was not a person, it was Billy. Billy the goat in fact. A kambing.

Checking in on yesterday's photo of his bar-b-qued cousin perhaps?

So my first thought was to run and get the camera - cause, nobody's ever going to believe this. By now - I'm sure you're all thinking that I made this whole thing up. As I myself would do. And as I thought (think) all of you might too. So - by the time I ran and got the camera, ran and got new batteries for it, and then had to run and get a camera card for it too, I pretty much blew that photo op. By the time I got my you know what straightened out - Billy had already run around the house and was hiding out the back. Chewing up all trees. (see photo above)

I think he was a little freaked out perhaps. As I would be too. After seeing that shocking photo, of the terrible fate that awaits him.

Strange but true. A few interesting things I should point out about all of the above.

#1 - I know nothing about goats. Except that they make great cheese and in Indonesia they're called kambing.

#2 - How in the heck did Billy find his way in? Snuck past the security gate (?) jumped the 2 meter high fence (?) Hmmmmm.

#3 - I swear, I have not made any of this up. (except for the part about his name and the part about him actually seeing the photo of his kin) Enough stuff happens around here, that you never need to make stories up. Strange but true.

* Patient. Patience is a virtue here. You have to do patient to live here.

TODAY: The other Me is away for the day. Up the road in fact. And I sure hope you took your duck suit with you. It's raining today. It's really raining today.

Today, a little bit of Illustrator and a bit of Photoshop. Tomorrow, I'll finally get to the "tail-gone-missing-mini-dragon". So make sure and check back. Thanks for reading.

Good to Go!

KAMBING:GOAT

2009-10-06T12:35:00.003+08:00

Ok, so, me and the other Me were at an afternoon Garden Party this past weekend. The above was on the menu. I had fish. This is kambing (goat). Sorry - it was kambing. I had fish. The other Me ate fruit. Not sure what possessed me to take a picture of it. Not sure why it was on display for everyone to see. (right next to our table) And not really sure why they left if there like that - with a knife stuck in it.

Needless to say - neither me or the other Me could bring ourselves to actually eating it. Did I mention I had fish? Oh well, at least they had cold beer.

This morning I noticed a couple of guys over at the *Martha/Joy's empty-in-the-morning parking lot. With metal detectors in hand - you know the type you look for buried treasure with. Somebody, must have lost their keys last night. (?)

On an entirely different note - and just so you know I don't really do a whole lot of web surfing, pretty much can't because of our wonderful internet that mostly works like crap. But, I did come across this, Days With My Father. This is a project, done by photographer Philip Toledano - it's the story of a father/son relationship. Anyways, it's pretty cool, with beautiful photography - at least that's what I think.

*Martha's and Joy's are like [world] famous Balikpapan drinking spots. And been here forever I think too.

TODAY: Home-made soup for lunch. Is there any other kind? Not in Balikpapan at least. Unless you like Campbells tomato. (about $2 a can)

It's raining today - a wee bit. A Balikpapan style of a wee bit anyways. And the temperature +28c. No dripping in the house just yet.

Please note: that the dripping sound we hear up in the roof at our house (almost all the time) - will never stop. And will never be really fully fixed. Around here, as long as it (the rain) does not come in - then considered fixed. Good enough.

Good to Go!

HOUSEPLANTS GALORE

2009-10-05T15:42:00.000+08:00

So over the weekend, I happened across a few interesting photo opportunities of which I shall share over the next couple of days. Including a close up of the "tail-gone-missing-mini-dragon" that we (me and the cat) spotted lolly-gagging around in our little garden yesterday. Be sure to stop back later this week and check them out.

Today - instead. I'm just going to vent a little bit. About houseplants and such. About a little issue I've been having trying to keep the houseplants in and the non ones out. You see (above) I'm having a bit of a struggle with this lately.

The above is not an in-door houseplant nor is it even in a flower pot. So - to the dear house keeper (who we do love a lot) please stop. Please stop bringing in (trading out-door for in-door) flower pots with earthworms and other creepy crawly things in them that wiggle themselves out of these pots in the wee hours of the night and commit suicide on the cold tile floors.

Yes, I know this is a rather trivial thing. And by now I'm sure you're all thinking "spoilt". Yes I am and trust me ever time I see an earthworm crawling across the floor - I know it.

TODAY: Meeting in the morning. And. Meeting in the afternoon.

Replace the said extension cord we use each and every morning to plug in the coffee pot. (?) Perhaps a bit of a power surge over the weekend that has pretty much melted it and done it in.

Try and super-glue into place all the remaining flower pots.

Good to Go!

TYPHOONS, TSUNAMIS AND EARTHQUAKES

2009-10-03T12:03:00.012+08:00

TYPHOONS, TSUNAMIS AND EARTHQUAKES - this week. This side of the world has certainly had enough.

The earthquakes in Indonesia this week have been devastating to say the very least. You should all see what we're seeing on our TV. Not quite the same as on BBC or CNN. And so happy we live in our little place in Balikpapan where not much happens - least nothing like this.

Yesterday - was not one of my better days. It happens. Frustrated with some stuff I'm suppose to be getting done. I was grumpy I guess. I was very grumpy in fact. Not to worry though, that was the first part of the day - it got much better after that.

TODAY: The other Me decided I needed a sleep-in this morning. And I did. I think the other Me is the one that actually needed the sleep-in - and I don't doubt he's wishing it could have been him.

This weekend in Balikpapan is the SPE Weekend. The SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) golf tournament thing is happening in town this weekend. And pretty much anybody and everyone will be at that. Golf today and the big banquet tonight.

Tomorrow another F1 Sunday. The F1 people are trying to mess with us I think. Firstly it hasn't been the customary every 2nd weekend and this time the race is at 1 p.m. Hmmmm - still trying to sort out how we're going to do that. (?) This is going to be a very exciting race. My Jensen Button - might just finish things up for the season and take first place. All he need to do is come in at least fourth in this race. Go Button!

Have a happy weekend. Good to Go!

BATIK

2009-10-02T13:19:00.006+08:00

Sorry people - only time for a quick photo and a wee bit today. I shall just use the word B-U-S-Y and it's Friday! 2 perfect things today.

TODAY: As declared by UNESCO a world heritage - today is BATIK INDONESIA Day.

Have a good one. Gotta go.

Good to Go!

HELLO OCTOBER

2009-10-01T11:45:00.002+08:00

Hello October. Wholly - Molely! (I'm not even sure how to spell that) What a bunch of days it's been. No boredom around here - I can certainly tell you that.

Let's start with the very busy weekend we had, and most of it - without internet. We had a big darts night. (loads of fun) A very big farewell party. (100 people +) A great F1 Sunday. (best race to date I think so far) and a rush to get some plane tickets and to pack-up a suitcase.

A quick trip to the big city for the first part of this week. Jakarta. Yes Jakarta is BIG. I'm not really certain how many people live there 17 or 19 million perhaps. I can't imagine how anyone would even be able to keep track. What ever the case, in a lot of other places in the world - that would be the size of a whole country in fact. This was not really an unplanned event, but true to Balikpapan style - it was a bit last minute. Anyways - great trip. And now I'm safely back.

.... and then of course. Completely, and totally missed the BLOGOVERSARY yesterday. Imagine. (?) And I even had great stuff planned for that. Like Celebrate! So for those of you who don't know what a Blogoversary is; it means I've been at this Blog thing for 1 whole year. And this - from a person who really doesn't have much talent or even the ambition to write. Even I have a hard time imagining that.

TODAY: Not sure where to begin. Need to do little bit of catching-up on things first I think.

This morning I'm sorting through what seems like a million emails and what I need to/should do and don't need to do. Quite possibly, if had a real job - I'd actually have less to do I think. Wholly - Molely!

......... and a big welcome back to my friend today too. I think it's time for a fortnight lunch pretty soon - don't you think?

Ok, better get a go on. Good to Go!

IT'S A FRIDAY THING

2009-09-25T10:12:00.001+08:00

Off to a great start this sunny Balikpapan Friday. Have done all my reading this morning; emails, blogs, 2 newspapers* (scroll down and I'll explain about that), and I've even managed a chapter in the book club book.

About the white envelope mission yesterday. No, that didn't quite work out - least not in the way I had initially thought. But, when in Indonesia - do as the Indonesian do. Find another way. So I did just that. All good in fact. ........... and I just know in about another month or so from now - every darn envelope in town will end up being the colour white. (today every shop I went to will be ordering white envelopes in the off chance the bule [me] comes back) All good.

Gulash: Toronto asks, "How is it that you are from North America but you know good old fashioned Gulyas. Isn't that Hungarian dish?"

It's actually my mother-in-law's recipe. (Thank you Mother) Hungarian? I have no idea about that. She's not Hungarian. And as far as I know - all recipes in North America come from somewhere else. Except for maybe beef jerky, poutine, ceasars or bannok. And then there's my Aunt Margaret's recipe for "Baked Gopher". I actually think she was joking about that (I hope) - but she did submit it into the family cookbook. Page 42 in fact. And I can assure you - I have never, nor will I ever; try that.

*2 newspapers - in one day. Ok, well first off the English language newspaper we have here come from Jakarta (The Jakarta Globe). Delivered on a plane that comes in at 4 o'clock (p.m.) and then raced over to our house via motorcycle by the newspaper man. Not sure what happened yesterday. Either (A) he took Wednesday off. Or (B) they didn't fly the paper in that day. Anyways, yesterday he delivered both of them as he has never missed a day. ...... and now I have 2 crossword puzzles for today.

TODAY: I'm not exactly certain how I'll spend the rest of this day, except for the Darts Open the Season event that's happening later tonight. This will be one of those wide open days. I might just carry on doing the same thing I've been doing all morning in fact.

I might even manage to do those 2 (two) crossword puzzles from those newspapers today. I'm actually stuck (crossword puzzle #1) on 8 Across - a five letter word for an epicurean event. Hmmmmm.

Oh yeah. TAMBAL means patch. Bet you can figure out what they do at that little shop.

Have a great Friday.

Good to Go!

TOKO AMPLOP

2009-09-24T12:37:00.000+08:00

Ok, life has returned to Balikpapan. Back to normal. Almost - or at least close enough anyways. The stores (above), restaurants, bars, cafes, etc., etc. are opening up. Driver is back. And we are on track to do a whole lot of things today. And gear-up for the very busy and full weekend we have ahead of us. Darts night - a farewell - and an F1 Sunday. Busy, busy.

Wined and dined at the BBC last night. First time we've been there in quite a bit. And so it seems to be the trend here these days, (change) the BBC is not without a few changes of it's own too. They are manager-less. And some of the old staff are back. And I think they're gearing up for a few more changes too. Anyways, last night; good drinks (buy 2 get 1 free) - good company - good food.

TODAY: Failing miserably on my first attempts at today's tasks. Blogger or the internet or both are working like crap. And ...... you'd think buying a white envelope in this town (city) would be an easy thing to accomplish. Not. There must be a million colours of paper out there but every single darn envelope - brown. What's with that? But, I have not given up. Not yet. And on the plus I have learned - an AMPLOP is the same as an envelope. (who'd ever guess that?)

Still have loads of day left and lots of things I'd to do.

Good to Go!

BE A WALK

2009-09-23T12:14:00.000+08:00

Check out this guy. He was lurking around out the kitchen window the other morning. His name is BIAWAK. Pronounced: BE-A-WALK. Usually he's pretty shy, lying in wait in the gutters out front, but with all the quietness around here over the long weekend he must have decided it was safe to venture out. As mean as he looks - he's pretty harmless and mostly scared of anything and everything that moves.

It's still feeling a little bit like the weekend around here. A lot of people took the whole week off. In fact a number of local businesses have pretty much closed up shop until after next weekend too. These guys know how have a holiday I think.

TODAY: Yeah! The housekeeper is back. Nice surprise this morning when we saw the full coffee pot. (We are spoiled - aren't we?)

Very much a raining off and on all morning with a mix of some intense sun around here today. And for a change that's a good thing. The perfect weather day. Even the trees are enjoying it.

I have a full day of hanging in the office with a bunch of stuff to do. The Things To Do list - is getting attacked. Well, slowly. Starting to put a few check marks on some of the things listed there. It's setting up to be a pretty good day I think.

Good to Go!

HAPPY TUESDAY

2009-09-22T11:54:00.000+08:00

Hi Tuesday. Ok - holiday weekend is over (sort-of) at least for us. So. Better get back at things here and write. What a great weekend, it was (is) good. And I'm certain today will be too.

I'm even braving that funny looking thing called a washing machine today. Woo-hoo. With complete success. Still staff-less. ......... and yes we're surviving without - just fine thanks. Thanks for the coffee this morning other Me too.

Note: AYAM = chicken. pronunciation = I am.

TODAY: Empty house. The other Me's at the office. The staff are still away. Think I'm just going to turn up the music real loud and rearrange a bunch of stuff in this house today.

More later.

Good to Go!

A LONG WEEKEND TOO!

2009-09-18T16:07:00.000+08:00

....... as promised - the Furniture Salesman out selling his wares.

Ahhhh - Friday at last. And a long weekend too. Long as in L-O-N-G. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and possibly Wednesday too. Not exactly sure when it starts or ends. There is the official version (government) and then there's the Muslim version (which correlates with the fazes of the moon). For some people though - it started today at noon.

Anyways, a long weekend ahead of us and sure looking forward to it. Starting tomorrow, possibly in the p.m. - we're giving the staff a whole bunch of days off. That means no driver (everything's closed anyways) and no housekeeper* too.

Why (?) you ask would one be looking forward to that? As much as I/we do love having them here with us (and they are the best) sometimes you just need a rest. Every once in awhile it's nice to step out of the shower without the bucket of cleaning supplies waiting on the other side of the door beckoning you to hurry your little (big) butt up and get dressed. Sometimes, you need to wash your own clothes. (not really) And sometimes you need to cook your own food. (yes!) And sometimes you just need to clean up your own mess.

Now that being said - in a couple of days I'll probably need to come back here and re-read that last paragraph I just wrote. Did I ever tell you the story about the one and only time I attempted to wash a load of laundry in that very strange looking washing machine we have here, all by myself .............. (?)

*housekeeper - more commonly known as the house manager around here.

TODAY: Ok, so like the dumbie (doh) that I am ................. this morning, I took on another one of those help-the-world-projects. Actually it's a very, very small thing if you're measuring it on the world scale. But. For a very good reason and I just know if I don't step up to the plate on this one and do what I do .............. well whatever, at least I'll be doing something that I love to do.

Pretty much the whole day has whizzed past already. Already way into the afternoon. I have a couple things left to get finished and do. Like wish a special someone a very BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! (love you) and then I'm off. Promised I'd buy a friend a beer - you know, the one disguised in a coffee cup.

It's hot out and I'm thirsty too. Happy Friday!

Good to Go!

TRAFFIC

2009-09-17T10:16:00.002+08:00

TRAFFIC .......... and this would be the reason things took such a long time yesterday. For an appointment that took all of about 10 minutes. (yuck)

.... and I should tell you, just so you know (but it can be) - the traffic isn't always like this. Although there are a lot of motorcycles here. This week however is the big build-up to Idul Fitri next week. Kind of like joining the masses at the mall the week before Christmas. On the plus side, the stores are all stocked up. The down side, everyone in town is there, hence the whole lot of traffic. I should mention this is not at the mall but very near the market. ....... and in typical Balikpapan fashion - everything is always left to the very last possible minute.

A pretty uneventful day yesterday aside from the morning thunder, lightning, wind (should have added that in there yesterday) and rain storm and my trip into the mega traffic zone. And my afternoon nap. However, as always, no day ever takes place around here without something that makes a person smile. (at least a little bit) Like the Sponge Bob Square Pants caught up in the power lines and floating in the air high above the traditional market. Guess you have to be here to appreciate things like that, somewhat surreal in fact. A 21st Century Sponge Bob floating around a market that probably hasn't changed much from the past.

.......... and then there was the traveling (motorcycle) furniture salesman that we passed. Tomorrow I'll post a picture of that.

TODAY: Clean up the IN box and everything else in here. (the office - my favorite room in the house in fact - hence the interminable need for always having to clean it up)

Brave the masses and head over to the mall. Need to get to the grocery store before the holidays when everything will be closed-up. I'm still not exactly certain how many days this holiday will take - there's a few different versions out there. Long story, but it looks like 3 red calendar days coming up.

Tonight Ladies' Night at Blue Sky ....................

Good to Go!

RAIN DAY

2009-09-16T07:18:00.000+08:00

Good Day all! Good early morning is more like it.

So, not sure of the reason for it, but - pick any one (or two) or all of the following.....

A) ..... last night, asleep and in my bed by 8 o'clock.

B) ..... the thunder, lightning, pouring rain storm that rolled through here in the wee hours of the morning. (yeah for rain - we're in the middle of the dry season)

OR

C) ..... the early morning call to mosque.

...... this morning - I've been wide awake since 5 o'clock. And have pretty much already emptied the coffee pot.

So this is the first real rain we've had in a long time around here. Things are pretty dry here these days. (even the 1 cm. high grass - I'll never understand that) A welcomed rain I guess - and trust me this morning everything and anything around here is pretty much soaking wet. An then there's that insistent dripping in the roof (ceiling) above my bed (hey - maybe that's what woke me up [?]) and everywhere else in the house that seems to never stop. I'm just waiting - for any time now a new hole or holes is/are going to open up. Yeah for the maintenance men. Better keep an eye on that.

Q and A: Regarding PMC - turns out I just happen to have a picture of that. Have a number of friends that live there too. Send me your email address and I'll hook you up with someone who can help you out with that.

TODAY: I have things to. An appointment this morning (and no, of course I'm not ready or organized for that), way on the other side of town. Not that way on the other side is really all that far, but - sometimes it takes a bit to get all the way over there and then back. Need to seriously get some new photos and by this afternoon - I'm sure I'll be ready for a nap.

Good to Go!

KELAPA

2009-09-15T16:57:00.029+08:00

KELAPA, aka coconuts. At least these are the Balikpapan type. Yes I know they don't look anything like the outrageously over priced sort you see in the North American supermarket. But these are what you get here, and right now there are truck loads of them and piles alongside the roads all over the place. Fresh by the way - and they really do taste great. Oh yeah - these are about a dollar each. In season I guess. Just in time for Ramadan.

Something else I should point out is the popularity of fireworks and fire crackers around here these days. Including the ones someone decided to set off (fire crackers) in the middle of the pizza house the other night. Every night - and I do mean every night, starting just around 7 p.m. all the fireworks comes out. Just in time with Ramadan too. .......... a 30 day build up to the big night. Idul Fitri is next week in fact.

BIWA Coffee Morning day here today. At the brand new Arts & Culture Center. Which as it turns out, is a really nice place and with an awesome view. First coffee morning I've been to in quite a long time in fact. Good to see all the familiar faces that have come back (holidays) and a whole lot of new ones too. Welcome to Balikpapan everyone - hope you enjoy your time here as much as I do.

TODAY: aka THIS AFTERNOON. I think we need to get some pool time in. Tomorrow is shaping up to be a busy day - think I'm going to head over and enjoy the sun while I have the chance.

Good to Go!

THE BAD BLOGGER

2009-09-14T10:24:00.003+08:00

The Bad, Bad, Blogger. Yup. I know. And I am. And I can't even come up with a good excuse for it. I'll try a little harder this week.

A very full and eventful weekend it was for us. A BIG birthday (not mine) party. A BLACK & WHITE bar-b-que. And of course the F1 Sunday event. ....... and WOW, what an exciting end there was to that. Imagine spinning out and loosing control on your last lap. Ooooo. Poor Mr. Hamilton.

So, I'm sure by now you all know about the electrical supply issues we have around here. And this morning of course was no exception to that. It wasn't that we didn't have any - just only in half the house. And it took the better part of 2 hours for myself and 2 maintenance men to figure it out. DOH!

NOTE TO SOMEONE ELSE: When watering plants in the early a.m. - do not, do not spray with the garden hose, copious amounts of water onto the outside wall with the electrical outlet on it.

So now for a a little about the brand new E-Walk. (photo above) The new mall. Ok, if you're here in town - you best go check this place out. Wholly, Balikpapan - we are moving up. And believe it or not - there's really, really going to be a Starbucks! And about 6 other brand new coffee shops. Figure that out.

TODAY: Bills to pay. Emails to read/write and catch up. Today is all about the go.

Good to Go!

HELL PLANT

2009-09-11T17:11:00.001+08:00

Let's start with HELL PLANT shall we. Don't worry, there's been some good parts in the last couple of days too - just thought I'd tell you this bit first and get it out of the way. So this thing has to rank up there as one of the nastiest of the nasty plants. Check out the spikes on that thing. I have no idea what kind of plant this is. (?) Cactaceous anyway. Bears spines. Has leaves and bright flowers. (?)

Anyways HELL PLANT pretty much died while we were away. And yesterday just happened to be a pretty good day to something about it. Like throw it away. (Somehow though, it ended up in another pot [rescue mission perhaps] that I still have to deal with another day.)

So here's how it went:

:: Discovered that my still brand-new, no-thorns-will-ever-poke-through-these gardening gloves that I've probably only worn 5 times have somehow managed to get themselves worn out and thrown in the trash. (?)

:: Trained in the art of using balled up old newspapers in the palm of your hands instead. (?) Whatever - it worked.

:: Got stung by a bee (twice) same bee possibly. Discovered that my Auntie Olga's remedy of holding a stainless steel knife on top of the said stung spot or spots for a few seconds to draw the stinger out - WORKS! (?)

:: ........ and I had a helper in all of that. Hence the rescue mission and the transfer to a new pot.

.... To be continued another day.

TODAY: Trying very hard to get this post done, but that's not really working out today. Spending too much time sitting out and drinking iced coffee today. Must try and make up for yesterday.

Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend too.

Good to Go!

09.09.09

2009-09-09T10:48:00.000+08:00

NINE. NINE. NINE.
Days. Months. Years (actually 2,009 of those). I'm told this is a lucky day over here. I wonder if 10.10.10 will be too? Hmmm

Anyways, on to something new. Check this out (photo above). We have new money. Just when most countries are trying to rid themselves of denominations - the opposite is happening here.

I think this is a prelude of what's to come. I'm going to guess - the price of parking is going up. Rather the price of backing up. Now, instead of handing the usual 1,oooRp note out the car window to the guy (or her - but only once) with the annoying whistle that helps you back your car up - we're going to be giving him a nice brand new crispy one of these instead.

Note: 2,000Rp = 20 cents US today. (Rp = Rupiah)

TODAY: Wide open. Think we'll just let this day happen and unfold all by itself. Who knows. (?)

Good to Go!

TUESDAY

2009-09-08T15:42:00.000+08:00

Exciting news for all us Balikpapan-ites! On 09.09.09 (tomorrow) a new place is opening up. The E-Walk at Balikpapan Superblok. Not exactly sure what an E-Walk is. (?) (interesting name) And certainly won't be going by there tomorrow to find out. We'll wait a few days and let the crowd thin out before we try that.

But just the same ............... the sign out front - has the Starbucks on it. And a Dunkin Donuts too! Wholly - can this possibly be true?

Side Note: The future home of the Jolly Rogers, still way in the future I guess. Not a thing has happen there in the past year - just a few more vines and climby plants to cover everything up.

TODAY: New wheels - as in tires (roda). The whole entire afternoon to myself (nice) and Book Group get together later tonight (even nicer yet).

Have a good one. Good to Go!

MONDAY

2009-09-07T11:57:00.000+08:00

AHHHH. Hi Monday. It was a lovely weekend. Not a long one (unlike some other people we know had) but it was nice just the same. How was yours?

I've decided I must be building up to something BIG. Not sure what BIG is just yet. ....... but BIG usually comes after I get over the clean-up, sort out and organize all things around and about me. Hmmm (?) Will let you know.

TODAY: Sun is shinning and it's hot out. Good day for a nice iced mocha latte I think. Yup. And maybe even a bit of Yuli's Special pizza later tonight.

Good to Go!

100% OF FULL

2009-09-05T11:15:00.010+08:00

100% of full today. Maybe that explains today's shitty internet. (?) Probably not I guess. But I can assure you I AM struggling with it.

SATURDAY + BALIKPAPAN + INTERNET = PROBLEM LOADING PAGE (Hopeless)

Good day to go do something else I guess.

TODAY: Anything that doesn't involve the internet. Have a great weekend everyone!

Good to Go!

GAME ON!

2009-09-04T10:13:00.027+08:00

Ok, I'm back. I'm officially back. Holiday done and finished. Yes, I am over it. And wholly crap - that went by way toooo fast.

......... and looks like I took a little bit* of a Blogger hiatus. I can honestly say - I did not look at, read or even contemplate writing any Blogs for the whole entire time in fact. Sometimes, a person (me) has just got to do that.

So! A Blog photo of the day? NOT. Sorry but haven't managed to get around to that. Today, this is as good as it gets. And I had to dig way deep for this one. A badly scanned photo I had from way back. (circa 1999 perhaps) A place called Pangandaran. Not very far from Wednesday's earthquake. 7.3 or 7.4 - depends on where you get your information from I guess. (and, no we didn't feel it here - we're way too far away for that) Yes, toured all those places that did feel it though. Can't even begin to imagine what's left.

Anyways - life is (has gotten)(suitcases unpacked) pretty much back to normal. Aside from the earthquake and the fact that we're smack in the middle (almost middle) of Ramadan around here. Back to the usual electric outages, tea water (that's what I call it - water that looks the colour of tea), shitty internet and the best nasi goreng (fried rice) on the planet. Good to back.

Fish 1 and Fish 3 are alive and well and swimming a million of laps. They've doubled in size in fact. (I think) Should've put more effort into figuring out how to put a grow chart on that tank. If this keeps up - I just know I'm going to end up buying another little fish tank. Man-O-Man. And here I thought they were going to be cute little fish.

* Actually a bit more than a little bit. WINK. WINK.

TODAY/TONIGHT: All the usual Friday stuff. And tonight, head over to our favorite spot where everyone meets up. For an added twist, tonight we'll all be drinking beer/spirits out of coffee cups. Yup, that's the way you do things here. During Ramadan. Disguise the alcohol. Yup, tonight we're all drinking iced cappuccino, lattes and ginger tea I think. WINK. WINK. Cheers everyone.

Good to Go!

SOON!

2009-07-22T01:00:00.000+08:00

I don't usually do this - post pictures of people I know. But what the heck - once in while it's OK I guess.

See you soon boys. I'm on my way!

Good to Go!

GO

2009-07-21T09:20:00.000+08:00

Ok, here we GO. With any luck I'm actually on the plane now. Waiting for take off. Hopefully not too long - but you know how that goes.

I should be settling into my seat right now. Seat 49K. (gotta love Cathy Pacific - checked in yesterday over the internet) And hopefully there's no really really big person seating in the seat next me, encroaching on MY space. Or worse yet - some smelly person, someone who likes to talk a lot or a crying baby. Let's hope not. (?)

Anyways, have books, crossword puzzles, need to a pit stop in Hong Kong and many miles to go. Ok, guess I'm ready.

Good to Go!

HI MONDAY

2009-07-20T13:50:00.000+08:00

Hi Monday! Cute isn't it?

Ok, back to business around here today - even though it is sort of suppose to be a holiday. Oh, that's just the way things go. We had a great weekend here though.

TODAY: Well, surprising even myself today. Didn't think I'd have time for this. Didn't I'd find time to post. I truly thought I'd be going at a rather quick pace. Today is packing day. Today is the start of the long haul.

12,726 kilometers or 7,908 miles or 6,872 nautical miles to go! Hmmmmm. Thinking this just might take awhile.

Ok well guess it's time to go.

Good to Go!

WHY

2009-07-18T10:34:00.016+08:00

A very sad day yesterday. "Kenapa" or "why" - that pretty much was the reaction to the news yesterday. "tidak mengerti" "no understand"............. (?) neither do I. A lot of hearts were broken in this country yesterday. This is not what this country needed. Yesterday was a very sad day.

Everyone I know that is/was in Jakarta yesterday - are all accounted for and fine. And a big thanks for that.

The Jakarta Post

The Jakarta Globe

TODAY: Get ready - time to organize and pack. Today is a full day.

.......... and looking forward to the big Birthday Bash tonight, too.

Enjoy the weekend.

Good to Go!

HARI JU'MAT

2009-07-17T09:55:00.002+08:00

A big fat ZERO on the posting thing yesterday. (sorry about that) That's just the kind of day it was. Too many other things to do. Anyways, I would just have had to brag about the big prawn fest I went to the other night. Oooo. Look at that. Just happened to get it in there anyways in fact.

..... and tell you about the new massage place my friend took me to. Yup, I made time for that.

Officially, today I will get the suitcase(s) out. Or at least figure out what kind of size I'm going to need for next week. Yup - I'm out of here next week. Me and a whole lot of other people too. This year - so it seems, August would be the time to go. (sure hope it's warm over there)

........ and probably good timing too. As the drinking water supply (aqua) in Balikpapan has almost run out. We're down to using the little bottles now. At least gotta have water for the morning coffee pot. I didn't realize up until now (never actually even thought about it), but all the Aqua we get here is shipped in. And the sea is just too rough right now (the past week +) for that to happen. Oh well, no worries, pretty soon - I'll be drinking water from the tap. Wholly, imagine the novelty of that.

Just realized this morning that the 1 year Blogoversay is coming up. 76 days in fact. And including today's that makes 182 posts. Wholly - hard to believe I've managed that. I think that puts it on or about October 1st. I wonder where we'll actually be around about then? Sure would be nice if we could do that from here - but. Never know about that. We crossed the 2 year mark a few months back - and well, hey never know, maybe by then our time here - will be up. Or not. (?) Hmmmm - guess it's time to start thinking about that.

TODAY: Out and about to do a pre-stock-up. Need to get stocked up in advance of coming back. Balikpapan will be full into Ramadan when we get back. And there's a lot of things we need to do in advance of that. Like buy beer and a whole bunch of other very-limited-during-Ramadan stuff. Every year it changes - and you just never know what the (new) rules are going to be.

Ok, lots to do - let's get at it.

Good to Go!

LIFE'S A BEACH

2009-07-15T09:42:00.003+08:00

This could just turn out to be another short on words day, we'll see. We'll see how much rambling I can do in a short bit of time.

Had the most wonderful lunch yesterday with a whole bunch of girls. Sitting outside, under the trees enjoying the breeze. This is what living in the tropics is suppose to be all about. Love it.

Also have some of the itchiest ever in the world bug bits after my time at the pool the other day. Not mosquitoes - but these tiny little things called AGUS. Let me tell you. They are the nastiest *annoyingliest things ever. Just like No-see-ems, they are so small you don't even know they're there but wholly when they bite - the itch is incredible. And lasts forever so it seems. And would be another one of those what living in the tropics is all about. But sure don't love it.

Anyways, in my desperation for the perfect anti-itch stuff - I'm trying a local remedy. Putting Tiger Balm on it. And believe it or not. It works in fact. I also didn't realize Tiger Balm comes in HOT and NOT SO HOT. Interesting.

*annoyingliest - I'm quite certain I just invented that word. Perhaps. (?)

TODAY: First thing this morning they've turned our water off. Pipe maintenance again. Seems they're always working on that. Sure makes a person appreciate running water. Hopefully they'll get it turned back on some time this afternoon.

Taking a trip to one of my favorite spots in Balikpapan this morning. Off to see Mr. Blue Sapphire. Need to go see what's new over there. One just never knows.

And a whole bunch of other stuff. I think this might just turn into a full day perhaps.

Ok, that's it for this post.

Good to Go!

BASTILLE DAY

2009-07-14T09:48:00.000+08:00

Ahhhh. So now we know where all the French wine went. Not very often you get the perfect op to post up a picture like this. Except for today. Two things you can always count on when it comes to the French. Good wine and awesome cheese, and lots of it. To all my French friends. Happy Bastille Day - Fete National. Enjoy your day!

TODAY: Let's just go with lots! Lots and lots. Good thing I had a time out at the pool yesterday.

Light on words today. It's one of those kind of days. Gotta Go.

Good to Go!

MIDDLE OF MONDAY: AND + AND

2009-07-13T15:28:00.001+08:00

No particular reason for this photo today - except that I just happen to like it.

Celebrated Bastille Day (July 14th) here on Saturday night. Both of us, Me and the other Me awoke yesterday morning to pretty horrible headaches. Ooooo. Probably all I need to say about that.

F1 Sunday was Australia Day at the German Grand Prix. First win ever for Webber (Aussie) in fact. And we know someone who was more than happy about that. (apparently they only played the first verse of the Australian national anthem though) It was a good race last night. I think everyone enjoyed it. Too bad my guy Jensen Button didn't do so well though. But hey - he's already got loads of points. He can afford a little bit of a break from that.

Special Note to the MIA part of the *Pit Crew: Don't worry we all missed you.

*Pit Crew. Not my words - but I like it and have so decided I'm going to go with that.

TODAY: Already Middle of Monday so I'll just do a quick re-cap.

Video-Skyped with almost the whole group called family on the other side of the planet this morn. And that was certainly nice. Very cool. Until the laptop on the other side decided to call it quits for the rest of their night. Worked out quite alright anyways though as I ended up having to rush like mad person to get to one of those rare occasions when I actually have a morning meeting here.

And then, I managed to embarrass the heck out of myself trying to purchase freshly-baked-this-morning bread too. Ooops, forgot to take some money with me. Ended up having to put almost all of it back. No option here to pay for it with debit. And no-one here is going to let you put 36,000Rp ($3.51) on your credit card. Ooops.

And I've been hard at it trying to sort out and finish off a bunch of computer/office pre-trip sort of stuff.

And even though Blogger says I'm saving this. This is like my third attempt at posting and re-writing this. Grrrrrr.

And I think this is the perfect time for me to give up and go to the pool.

Good to Go!

GOOD TO GO!

2009-07-11T12:32:00.001+08:00

Interesting - isn't it? I'll just say this - "Thank God (?) there wasn't a person riding in it." and if there was, I wouldn't even be surprised by that. LOL. Gotta love it.

So here it is the weekend again. And not long before it's time to embark on the big trip. We (Me and the other Me) have decided that since we're passing through it, we might as well stop in Hong Kong for a bit and go and have a little look see. But not until we're on the way back. Have decided, we need to do this and that. Pretty cool. Isn't it?

The Polar Pacer Project: So - Big Sis & Brother-In-Law have had this in the works for quite some time now. (reality: quite some time means, they've been working their butts off towards this) Officially - they are now really doing it. (and a big huge congrats to the both of them too) Not so long ago they kicked the habit of going to work, sold almost everything - including the house, packed up the rest and moved onto their boat* The Polar Pacer. And in the not so distant future they will be making their way towards the Atlantic. But, not before they drive all the way west, through Canada and the U.S., sell the car and fly all the way back. So starting now, from the other side of the planet - I am going to attempt to (stalk) keep track of them. Kinda like GPS. (scroll down to the bottom of this post - eventually I'll get it in the side bar - but need to write some HTML before we can do that)

*boat - I'm quite certain Brother-In-Law would not exactly describe it like that. It's not just a boat. There's actually way more to it than that. ............ and if Brother-In-Law would like, he can always add some comments in here about that.

TODAY: Getting ready for the Wake-less F1 Sunday tomorrow afternoon/evening. Which means I need to go out and do a little bit of shopping (the hunter/gatherer thing) this afternoon.

Alright have a good one. I'm out of here.

Good to Go!

The Polar Pacer Project
Current Location: Unknown
Last Known Location: Enjoying the comforts of a hotel room some place west of Chicago, Il. U.S.
Last Known Direction: West
Current Direction: Hopefully west.

HI HO HI HO

2009-07-10T10:14:00.000+08:00

Good day all. Good Friday to you!

Well, not sure what happened to me this morning, but ......... seems I forgot to get out of the bed this morning. The other Me managed to sneak, actually, not really sure if he was sneaking, but in any event he got out of the house this morning before I managed to get myself up. And it looks like he most likely saved my sorry a** and took a whole bunch of those peanut butter cookies with him like I promised people he would. Thank you, thank you.

Tough life I live here - isn't it?

So you've probably noticed over the last couple/three days I've posted a bunch of photos from all over town. Thought it might be nice to show all you that in Balikpapan - we really do have some nice stuff.

I have officially decided that Skype is one of the best things going right now on the Internet. This morning I video-conferenced with Big Sis on the other side of the planet. And I can certainly see where we're going to be doing this a lot. So, Big Sis and Brother-in-law are embarking on Part 1 of living the dream. From here on in, I shall refer to it as the Polar Pacer Project. And over the next little bit I'll tell you all about it. Right now though - at this particular moment - they're nicely nestled in a hotel room somewhere in the vicinity of Chicago.

TODAY: The maintenance guys are up to their weird stuff again. This morning there is (was)(?) a slight drip in the laundry room tap. They fixed it. Are fixing it. With crazy glue in fact? Where in the world do they come up with this stuff? You never know - it just might work. (?)

This morning there are tiny little ants walking all over the desk. Great. Guess I better do something about that.

The weekend is upon us. That means I need to go out and do all the regular Friday stuff. And prepare for a Wakeless F1 Sunday coming up. And the Bastille Day celebration tomorrow night. And. And. And. Gonna be a busy one.

Good to Go!

ALL OVER THE PLACE

2009-07-09T15:34:00.000+08:00

Ok, prepare yourself - today, I just might ramble a bit. I can feel it.

Election over. And all back to norm again. Looks like the old Pres. (SBY) is now the new Pres. With a new Vice President. Officially the vote counting will most likely take until the end of the month - but so far, he's got 60% of the counted votes - looks like he's in again. I don't think this comes as any big surprise to most. Things pretty much went the way most people were predicting it.

Being President here, is a five year term. Can you imagine doing the same thing for 5 years? And then signing up to do it all over again. I certainly can't. But looks like he's pretty much ready to do just that. I couldn't do it. Not the same thing over again. Change is a good thing for me I guess.

Seriously time for me to get my you know what sorted out before the big trip across the pond that most people refer to as the Pacific. Long trip ahead of me. Like 25+ hours plus a lot of waiting and waiting in airports. (gotta love airports) Going to try a new route this time. Like I even have a choice with that? The options these days (credit crunch) are getting less and less. One real noticeable difference - is that the prices sure have come down - and lots.

You probably noticed by now that I've ditched the FEEDJIT gadget. Firstly, the thing hardly even works at the best of times. Possible due to our ever so reliable internet. Secondly - I've decided it's kind of like stalking. In reverse. Yes, I'll admit - it's kinda nice looking at the map and seeing where everyone is from. But. Is it worth it? Probably not. Anyways, I think it just slows down my internet. So, for now at least I'm ditching it.

TODAY: I hate to admit, but, I had myself some pretty awesome peanut-butter-chocolate-chip cookies for breakfast this morning. They are the best by the way.

Sometimes, (like yesterday) unless you're really in the mood for surprises (off and on I guess) - you need to grab the recipe out of your one and only cookbook (quietly) and see if you can actually handle it all by yourself. I did quite alright with the quietly part until I had to get the mixer out. However, less than 2 minutes into it - I relinquished. (surprise)(I don't think the housekeeper thinks I can even do it) And she was suppose to be having a day off. Hmmmmm. (?)

Ok, I've rambled enough for one day. Time to get on with it.

Good to Go!

WINNNNNDY

2009-07-08T11:18:00.000+08:00

WINDY! Just a little bit. Wholly - you'd think something was blowing in yesterday - but in the end it didn't. (?) One of those dull, gloomy, GREY days. I don't know how people can stand to live in places where it rains a lot. I need sunshine - and lots of it!

Election Day today. Presidential Election actually. That means most people (as in local people - not expats) will get the first half of this day off to go and vote. Oh, heck - might as well take the whole day off. Why not? That's usually the way it works around here. Voters here today get to vote for their favorite out of 3, choosing a new President (maybe) and a new Vice-President.

Some interesting facts about the election: Indonesia is the world's 3rd-largest democracy, and this is only the 2nd direct presidential election ever here. Things change - don't they? We'll see.

I had the greatest hair-fix-up-shoulder-massage thing yesterday. That for certain is one of things I will surely miss when I leave here. .........don't go getting excited - no news of me leaving here anytime soon. Not yet. Besides - I rather quite like living here. For now anyways, staying put.

TODAY: First thing this morning - I had to turn the TV to OFF. No disrespect, but - I'm sorry when it comes to hearing the Michael Jackson stuff - over and over and over again. I've had enough! My apologies, but, I just can't do it.

And today - our house STINKS! Need to try and do something about the horrid smell in our house. Smells like a frickin' sewer in fact. Sewer gas. YUCK! So what we initially thought was a bad smell coming from the laundry room drain - is really coming from every toilet, tub, shower, and sink in this place. Sorry maintenance men - but putting duck tape over the drain IS NOT (I repeat) IS NOT, going to fix this. This would be one of the downsides of living here - every time it rains a whole bunch.

As soon as we get some butter thawed out we're going to make about 4 dozen cookies and with any luck we'll soon mask over the horrid smell with a slightly pungent burnt peanut butter scent.

One last thing before I close this up for today. Just a little favor I need - can some one please, please wish a Very Happy HAPPY Birthday!!! to my mom from me and the other Me. Thx.

Ok, that's it. Good to Go!

HANG ON KITTY CAT(S)

2009-07-07T07:20:00.000+08:00

Hang on Kitty Cat. Look at this poor little thing. Now how the heck did you end up in there? Speeding down the plant stall road and then another really big long street we have around here after that, past my house too in fact - in the back of a beat-up something or other kind of truck. (with a huge gaping hole in the tailgate) Made me cringe and grit my teeth (driver too) every single bump that beat-up truck hit (lots). Hang on Kitty Cats. I can't believe they (turns out there were three of them - see below)(count 'em) didn't get themselves bumped out of there.
Yes, this is a true a story. I just happen to be in the passenger seat following behind this truck and the camera just happened to be sitting there. I certainly did not expect to see this. And you should see how many pictures I had to take.

BAHAYA - that's the word I learnt last week. It means dangerous. And TAKUT, the word I learnt before that - is afraid. Funny how a person can learn a new word here - and then get to re-enforce the use of it. Like the Bahaya Story the driver told to me yesterday when he came to work. Before the Hang on Kitty Cat(s) incident.

So, the Bahaya Story. Turns out, while he (driver) was out fishing with all his buddies on Sunday, his wife, (not sure what she was doing with the thing - possibly cutting back bamboo or grass) somehow dropped a big long knife/sword/machete sort of thing (he refers to it as the samurai sword) point down into the ground and pierced right through her foot. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Bahaya!

Wholly I need to start learning some better words than that I think.

And ........ I have no idea what happened to those three cats.

TODAY: Off to the salon first thing this morning. Hair fix-up and a massage to start the day with. Yup, feeling it. Gonna be a good day I think.

Side Note: Can someone please tell my mother, I need her donut recipe.

Thanks for reading. Good to Go!

....... AFTER THE WEEKEND

2009-07-06T11:58:00.001+08:00

Hello Monday! So you probably noticed I pretty much took the weekend off. Not such a bad idea either. I just might do that more often I think. We'll see. Saturday was just plain busy and yesterday me and the other Me did the 'go blah thing'.

It was a very nice weekend around here for us. But, it did rain a lot. (no leaks though - not yet) Today we've gotten our sun back - and a nice little breeze. Great way to start a week.

TODAY: Have lots of ends I need to try and clear up. Things I need to start, finish and get done. Time to get organized - before I make the big trip. Any big trip around here requires a bit of thinking ahead - pre-planing.

I'll tell you all about the big trip another time - still working on and making the plan for that. Let's just say I will be enjoying a Bartels & James real soon - or two or three. Looking forward to that - and of course seeing everyone! Yeah for big trips.

Till tomorrow then.

Good to Go!

OOOOH FRIDAY

2009-07-03T13:18:00.001+08:00

Ooooh Friday!

Oh Me Oh My! Slow start to this day. What were we thinking? Me and the other Me. Thought we were going to be home by 9 last night. Not after midnight! You'd think we'd know better than that. (??) Doh!

Awesome day yesterday. The whole entire bit of it.

Q and A (because inquiring minds want to know)

1. How far is Balikpapan from Bali? Not that far actually - and well worth the trip. About a 3 hour flight.

2. Where is Balikpapan? On the east coast of Borneo (Kalimantan) Indonesia - Southeast Asia. 1°15'S 116°50E We're about as close to the equator as you can get without actually standing on it.

3. Is there a McDonalds in Balikpapan? Nope. Sorry but the closest one is about a 2 hour drive north of us. And every once in awhile it's also worth the trip.

4. What's expat life like in Balikpapan? Great! One of the world's best kept secrets. At least that's what I think.

5. What's a cousin gotta do to get friended by you on Facebook? That I don't know - for some reason Facebook won't let me. Maybe you should email me or check on your wife's.

TODAY: Working hard trying to clean up the mess I have going on with the iTunes music. That somehow got away on me. I swear iTunes just re-invents itself whenever it feels like it.

So not sure why - but - lately, I've had a hankering to learn how to make donuts. Yes - that's a little weird - I know. But. So I've been doing an internet search for the perfect donut recipe. The best one I've come up with so far, uses 11 cups of flour and promises to make 120 donuts. No way that's going to work. I might as well open up my own little store if I do that. If anyone out there has a good recipe - please send it on to me.

Ok, that's it for today. Have a good one.

Good to Go!

HI JAN

2009-07-02T09:19:00.003+08:00

Hi JAN. Hey everyone this is Jan. He, yes he - Jan is a boy cat, that lives in our neighbourhood. Just like the whole wack of other cats that do. There's a big population of cats around here these days. Anyways, Jan is actually a bit of a special cat. First off - he's got a cool name, it's even an expat name I think. (I wonder how he got that) The cat that lives at our house likes him. (weird) He's got a real full length tail. (even more weird) And he's got beautiful ginger and white hair. (even his eyes match) Too cool. I think somebody should adopt him - don't you?

Finally (as you can see) got the internet back again yesterday - late afternoon. Yeah! For how long? We'll just have to wait and see. I'm rushing with this morning's post though - just in case.

Yesterday ended up being one of those kind of days. One of those days that I did a whole bunch of things I didn't plan to do - but worked out just fine anyways. Took care of a bunch of that procrastination stuff yesterday. You know the stuff you really should be doing - but - way easier to just put it off for another day. Seriously kicked a bunch of that in the butt yesterday.

....... oh, and just so you know - the roof didn't leak. Not yet anyways. Saving that for another day. We do have some pretty mushy looking patches in the ceiling though. What's life without a little bit of excitement? eh?

TODAY: All kinds of plans for today - making up for all the stuff I didn't do yesterday. Starting with a lunch. One of my friends really, really needs a lunch day. She's a very busy lady these days and could just use a couple hours to just escape and get away.

All kinds of events coming up over the next couple of days. We have a dinner (BBQ) party to go to tonight, and, with that in mind - we're off to shake up the world today.

Ok, Thursday. Let's roll!

Good to Go!

MAU?

2009-07-01T15:57:00.000+08:00

MAU? = WANT?

All I MAU? is a reliable working internet connection. I know better than to ask for fast.!!!

Ok, a complete zilch/zero on the "internet is working scale" around here this morning. Not sure really, when or if I'll ever get to post this. Waiting on the READY at this point.

Our internet went down yesterday shortly after I posted in the middle of the rain storm and didn't come back on until sometime in the afternoon. Sometime in the afternoon - late in the afternoon. Two internet repair guys showed up at the house - only to discover it had fixed itself. This morning - back to square 1. Arghhhhh!

Note: If you're one of those people who rely on the internet or just really like having a working internet - then this is NOT the place you want be.

So about the Mau? Early last week all these Mau? signs went up all over town - all over the place, and lot's and lot's of them too. Mau with a question mark is asking a question - normally you don't worry too much about punctuation around here. Anyways, I think this is an awesome Ad Campaign. Had me curious - I ended up jotting down the web address, just so I could look it up on the internet (it was actually working that day).

Mau? What exactly is it that they think we might want? Turns out it's a new service provider for hand phones (cell phones). www.three.co Brilliant I think. I wonder how well that would go over in English back home? WANT? Can you imagine a whole bunch of Want? signs going up. Maybe someone should try it and see.

TODAY: Sun is out this morning - making up for yesterday!

Have a bunch of things I want to do today. That don't require the Internet. Thankfully. But apparently the internet repair guys are coming back - whenever that happens (waiting, waiting)? We'll have to see. Here goes.

Good to Go!

MORE DURIAN

2009-06-30T09:15:00.004+08:00

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

2009-06-29T22:15:00.001+08:00

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

2009-06-27T11:16:00.000+08:00

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

2009-06-26T10:44:00.000+08:00

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

2009-06-25T22:00:00.000+08:00

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.

2009-06-24T10:51:00.003+08:00

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?

2009-06-23T11:04:00.000+08:00

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

2009-06-22T13:30:00.000+08:00

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!

2009-06-20T14:46:00.000+08:00

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

2009-06-19T11:40:00.000+08:00

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

2009-06-18T09:39:00.005+08:00

....... 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

2009-06-17T09:04:00.024+08:00

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

2009-06-16T10:18:00.001+08:00

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

2009-06-15T08:40:00.023+08:00

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?

2009-06-12T14:24:00.001+08:00

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

2009-06-11T09:45:00.001+08:00

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

2009-06-10T10:14:00.000+08:00

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

2009-06-09T14:04:00.000+08:00

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

2009-06-08T11:58:00.006+08:00

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

2009-06-06T11:11:00.025+08:00

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

2009-06-05T10:11:00.002+08:00

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

2009-06-04T20:13:00.005+08:00

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

2009-06-04T08:40:00.002+08:00

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

2009-06-03T13:23:00.001+08:00

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

2009-06-02T11:11:00.001+08:00

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

2009-06-01T11:31:00.001+08:00

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!

TGIF

2009-05-29T05:53:00.001+08:00

TGIF!

Yesterday was a very busy day! Good day yesterday. Got all the stuff done that I should have done and then some.

All is good in the Aquarium.

The other Me made it home.

And the cat came back. Guess she likes us after all.

Curiosity Thought: Who buys the fake car antennas for sale at the Hero Store and why?

TODAY: Peanut Butter Cookie Day. Perhaps? Not sure how's she's doing it but the housekeeper this morning is making peanut butter cookies - just noticed she's got the wrong recipe. Hmmmm

Meeting up with girls this morning for yummy coffees somewhere (?) and then lunch after that.

So gotta go. Happy weekend!

Good to Go!

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

2009-05-28T10:40:00.005+08:00

Ok, this whole keeping fish as pets thing is turning into a bloody mess. What was I thinking?

So what started out as an inexpensive fish bowl and two tiny little fish - has now turned into ............ first a new replacement fish, and then yesterday, an actual aquarium to keep them in, a pump for the new said aquarium, special water for the aquarium and a jerry can to haul the special water in. A splitter wall receptacle thingy for the plug-in, and now believe it it or not, I still need an electrical extension cord to actually plug it all in. Which and of course, in Balikpapan - you can't actually buy one of them. You have to build it. Some electrical cable and two ends.

........ and, now that we have an aquarium, slightly bigger than the original fish bowl we started with - I just have this feeling, when the other Me gets back into town, we're going to end up heading out this weekend and getting more fish.

What was I thinking?

A couple other things: The cat that is (was) attached to our house, is so fed up with with all the rest of the little ones that keep hanging about. She's pretty much moved out. Found a new house to hang at for awhile - but at least she comes for a visit every now and then.

A huge fire in Balikpapan Tuesday night. In Kampung Baru Ujung. Way on the other side of town - where the houses are mostly built from wood and very, very tightly packed in. Where one house fire very quickly and easily almost immediately turns into 10. Last count I heard was 100.

TODAY: I'm busy. Busy with a whole bunch of stuff.

And here's an interesting thing, something that came in my in-box this morning.

IRONY AT ITS BEST
90 people get the Swine Flu and everybody wants to wear a mask.
Millions of people have AIDS and no one wants to wear a condom.

Hmmmm. Thanks for reading everyone.

Good to Go!

LIFE IN THE FISH BOWL

2009-05-27T10:09:00.000+08:00

I think maybe I'll title this photo "How to cross a river when you can't find a bridge". That works, doesn't it?

Looks like I'm in for an interesting day. Woke up this morning to an empty fish bowl. What (?) What's that all about you ask? Hmmmm. Has me wondering too.

Fortunately the housekeeper managed to rescue the poor fish before they were completely out of water and dead. They now have a temporary home in a plastic (pink) bucket instead. Seems sometime in the middle night the fish bowl gained a few cracks. Lots of cracks in fact. Faulty glass? Perhaps?

TODAY: Buy a new fish bowl! And fast!

Good to Go!

FISH 3

2009-05-26T08:08:00.012+08:00

Well that was pretty easy task. Welcome Fish #3. Was a little worried at first. It was looking like Fish 1 wasn't too happy about the new room mate, but alas, they're both doing circles now. Happy Fish ...... I think.

The other Me is off this morning on a road trip. That means the house almost all to myself + the housekeeper + cats (outdoor cats) + fish. I wonder how quiet it's going to get?

TODAY: Today I think I'm Blog stuck. Not much. :)

Good to Go!

FISH TALES

2009-05-25T11:11:00.001+08:00

Helloooooo Monday! Did you know? This is the last May Monday of the year 2009. After this one we're moving into June.

I'll get to the FISH TALES in a moment - first let me tell you about the cats. And no these are not related stories. So these two cats are just a few of the many, many that like to hang out near our house. And I should point out, the cat that's actually attached to the house is having some serious stress issues with this too. Poor thing.

So anyways these two, I'm guessing are related, as in kinship (brother and sister perhaps) - cause there's definitely some of that going on here. And they are an inseparable pair too. Found themselves the only dry patch around this place to have a nice nap after the flooding rain we got hit with on Saturday afternoon. Too cute don't you think?

FISH TALE. Fish 1 and Fish 2. Well, turns out it's a good thing we didn't get around to naming these guys yet. Sad to say but the orange fellow (Fish 2) didn't make it through the night over the weekend. Yup, woke up Sunday morning to see the black guy (Fish 1) no longer has a play mate. Now it seems he's been doing victory laps around the fish bowl for the last 24 hours too. ......... just you wait, this afternoon I'm going out and picking up Fish #3.

Special Note: If we end up with Fish 14 and 27............

I've made the decision to support J. Button in the F1. Not only does he have a cool name, but, he's now won 5 out of this year's 6 races. And since this is my first year of actually getting into this (watching) sport (can you actually call it a sport?) I think it's only fitting that I throw all my support to this guy and his team.

We did manage to come up with the F1 Drink. Let's just say it involved a blender, three types of liqueur, a whole lot of frozen strawberries and even a plastic spatula that managed to get itself in there and got all chopped up too. And it was pink. (the drink + a few bits of white plastic too)

:: The AC is still not fixed. Still waiting and waiting on that.

:: Ants have now moved into our bathroom.

:: And my friend - seriously did in her toe!! OUCH! Ouch! ouch!

TODAY: Purchase Fish #3.

After thought: All the cats in this compound are related to each other. Doh!

Good to Go!

SATURDAYNESS

2009-05-23T14:04:00.001+08:00

Saturdayness, that's probably not a real word - but .......

Ok, so remember, I said I might slip in a few old photos every now and then. Well. here go - here's one of them. This (these) were actually taken quite some time ago, and sadly I have to admit I haven't been back out to where these guys live at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) at Samboja in quite awhile either. Go ahead - click on Samboja and check it out.

Big thanks for all the fish names - and there are some really good ones. Baskin & Robbins, Jake & Ellwood, Ying & Yang, Fish & Chips (?), etc. etc.and my personal favorite - Black & Decker. Sorry, but we haven't made a decision yet. Maybe over the weekend we'll manage to get settled on that.

Took me 2 tries yesterday, but I think I did manage to get the hand phone bill paid. Maybe (?) Maybe not (?) Computers were all down so ended up with a handwritten receipt. And so far, they haven't cut my service off, least, not yet. (FYI - I was queue #531)

So the new Yuli's Cafe and Pizza restaurant opened this week - last night was their soft opening event. And of course we went. Wouldn't have miss it. We've been watching this place come to life over the last few months. (remember the shopping trip - Bali and Lombok) Nice place.

We have a group coming over for dinner and the F1 Race (Monaco) tomorrow night. And apparently, I'm told, we're even going to invent or rather *re-invent the F1 Cocktail. (oh, those crazies from the UK)

*re-invent - looks like there already is one. It's called The MacLaren F1. (think I'll pass on that)

1 oz Malibu® Coconut Rum
1 oz Pernod® Licorice Liqueur
1 oz Dubonnet® Rouge Vermouth
Stir ingredients together in a cocktail glass, and serve

TODAY: Perogie making morning in our house - in preparation for tomorrow night. A couple little errands to do and then we'll see about the rest. Have a great weekend!

Good to Go!

FISH 1 AND FISH 2

2009-05-22T10:24:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was (Ascension Day) another one of those Red Calendar Days here - that means public holiday. Public Holiday number (?) - I don't know what. We have lots of holidays here.

Ok, so about yesterday's fish. Lets just say they were a present. A Happy Something Day kind of gift. Might even go down as a "Remember the year you gave me the fish?" thing. Long story - but let's just say these guys have moved in with us. Kinda like having new room mates I guess.

So some background on the fish. Except that one's orange and the other one black - I have no idea what kind they are or where they originate from. They were not bought off the back of a motorcycle, but they were displayed along with a whole bunch of other fish (*parana) hung up in neat little rows in their nice clear plastic bags. (see photo here) Clear plastic bags are used for selling just about anything and everything here. Water, ice, drinks, snacks, etc. etc. and fish.

Anyways - so now we are tasked with naming these fish. These guys have no names as of yet. I like to call them Fish 1 and Fish 2. (no idea which one is which) The other Me's not too crazy about that. Any suggestions out there? Names for fish?

* To my surprise (and I'm not sure why I would/should be surprised by this) (scared the %#@! out of me in fact) as I went up for a closer look - they tried to attack. These things have teeth. Big ones in fact. Who in their right mind would ever want to have that in their fish tank? Geeeeez - I'm sure if you didn't keep a lid on the tank they'd jump out and get you in fact.

We got to see the new Star Trek movie last night. (pirated copy of course) And, I think they did a pretty darn good job of it too. No, I don't have a uniform hanging in my closet and I can't speak Klingon either, but, I am one of those fans who grew up watching the inescapable after-school reruns over and over and over again. Didn't you? If you haven't yet - do yourself a favor and go see it.

TODAY: Lots of stuff!!! First off I need to get the hand phone bill and pay it before it gets cut off. And that entails getting in the queue with everyone else. (God I miss internet banking) Oh well that's just the way it is here I guess.

Live long and prosper all you fish. TGIF!

Good to Go!

RED CALENDAR DAY

2009-05-21T17:49:00.006+08:00

Red Calendar Day! That means Holiday (day off)!

Will tell you all the fish story tomorrow.

TODAY: Have a good one.

Good to Go!

HAVE A NICE DAY

2009-05-19T18:11:00.036+08:00

Ok, so since the internet has turned into a give-me-grief thing here this morning, I've had lots of time to sort through all the photos I never seem to do anything with. Be prepared - over the next while you might even get to see some.

No, this not my furniture - trust me, I would never let that happen in my house. I can assure you of that. It is in fact from a hotel room I had on a trip to Mataram, Lombok. Aside from the fact that the hot and cold water were on opposing sides of the bathroom, it was actually a really great place to stay - totally awesome people. Not too sure about the decorating issues they have going on. The carved eagle was, believe it or not, the head of the bed. Imagine sleeping with that thing looking down on you all night. And there was even a matching make-up table and a set of arm chairs. (all with eagles of course)

Had a nice day yesterday. I think I like Tuesday the best. The South American cooking class was great. And I've decided I especially like Ponche Crema. It's a Venezuelan drink - with Rum. Yum.

A trip to the mall yesterday afternoon with an added bonus of finding pre-made pizza crusts. (need to get back there and buy them all up) (before someone else does) Me and the other Me, even managed to find time to go way across town for a massage last night. And that was nice.

A few interesting observations from my trip to the mall yesterday - aside from the fact that there is actually a new store (with nothing in it). And I should point out that this may only be a little interesting (or strange) to me.

Interesting Observation #1: Young boys working in the Body Shop selling women's skin products. And make-up. Hmmmm - something just seems terribly wrong with this.

Interesting Observation #2: The Stereophonics' Have A Nice Day playing at an incredibly high decibel through-out the super market (Hero Store) and more than one customer singing along with it. I wonder if they think maybe we'll all hang out and listen and buy more stuff. Maybe they're on to something - sure beats elevator music. (and of course, now I've got the have a nice day lyrics stuck in my head)

Interesting Observation #3: A new shipment of brightly coloured plastic liter box pooper scoopers have arrived at the super market (Hero Store) and if you happen to be looking for one - they've hung them up with all the nice shinny spatulas and serving spoons and whisks, in the kitchen utensils isle. Somebody seriously needs to go help them out with that one.

Interesting Observation #4: This didn't actually happen at the mall, but .............. why is it that a Traditional Massage changes every time you get one? There must be a whole lot of versions of traditional floating about.

TODAY: Oh, who knows. So far this morning things have totally gone off the rails. My I-was-planning-to-do-in-the-a.m. list, will now all become afternoon stuff. And that's OK.

...... and some news just in from home. Congratulations to a special someone.

Have a nice day.

Good to Go!

TUESDAY AGAIN

2009-05-19T12:26:00.002+08:00

Look at that - here it is, Tuesday again.

Ok, so check this out. This is an article that appeared recently in the Jakarta Post. (if you want to read the whole thing - go here) Is there any other country in the world that does this? Not a bad idea in fact. ......... examine the mental and physical capabilities of presidential candidates. Maybe all the Presidential (Prime Minister) hopefuls of the world should first go for a check-up before they're allowed to run. Interesting concept.

Yesterday turned into a rather busy + interesting + do what you really like (paint) kind-of-day. Managed to get myself way over to the other side of town and picked up my birthday gift from my favorite 'rock shop'. And it is totally awesome. #1. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a picture of that.

Turned out, that while I was there, so were 3 gentlemen from Sri Lanka - dressed entirely in white, sitting on the floor behind the counter, sorting though handfuls of sapphires - for resale here. WOW. Big WOW. ...... more sapphires than you can ever imagine. Lots and lots and lots of them and almost every colour you could ever want. Including a blue sapphire almost as big as an American dime. I didn't even dare ask them "how much?", but at least I got to touch it. Impressive to say the least.

TODAY: Already rolling right along. Started the morning with a South American cooking class. Yum. They truly do make the best food I think.

This afternoon - have some errands to run, some stuff to drop off and some stuff for pick up.

.......... and this just in. Its looking like the other Me is working on getting some (1 week) time off. Good deal. Good enough to get out of here, and go some place nice.

Have a good one. Good to Go!

COLOUR ME PINK

2009-05-18T09:26:00.000+08:00

Good Sunday to you all! ....... and a good Monday too!

So I truly did make an attempt at a post yesterday afternoon (Sunday), but that just didn't work out. Me and the other Me were enjoying a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon, listening to some Sappy Sunday Music when we got a phone call - and very soon afterwards whisked ourselves off and away to something else. Call it spontaneous.

Spon-ta-ne-ous: If you're the kind of person who acts first and thinks about it later, your friends are likely to describe you as spontaneous, which means that you behave in a very natural way, without prompting or premeditation. Yup, that would be us. Life is so full of rules - every now and then you just need spontaneous.

So you're wondering what's been going on? It has been a busy bunch.

:: Girl's Night Out. As always - it was great .......... and of course as always - it was a late night out.

:: The other Me found a snake skin out on the patio - fortunately no snake was attached. But wholly @#*! - I do not like that. And now I'm on the constant look out. I especially don't want to see the black (cobra) ones. More about snakes another time.

:: The Big Birthday Bash. Best I don't say anything about that.

:: International Food Fair. Fabulous! An amazing amount of cooking took place and good on everyone involved in that. My favorite - the Argentine Empanadas of course. It was all good. Very, very good in fact. I don't need to eat now for at least another week after that.

:: The house keeper - took the weekend off. Off to see her sister.

:: I polished almost every single silver thing in this house.

:: The cat got beat up. Poor cat. And I'm referring to the cat that is actually attached to this house - not all the other ones that show up. We even made an attempt to keep her in the house last night, but she sooned turned into a big purry pest - so we had to put her out.

:: Got a call from some friends who have recently relocated to a place way north of Perth in Australia. So good to talk to them. "When are you coming to see us?" Hmmm - we'll have to work on that.

:: ........and of course life and all the other regular stuff.

TODAY: I feel great! Amazing what more than 5 hours sleep will do.

Helping out a friend with a bunch of stuff. Let's just say I've got some work to get done. (Tell you all about that in a later post)

And answering the call of an SMS I got over the weekend - my Birthday present is ready for pick-up.

Good to Go!

PERFECT

2009-05-14T11:05:00.000+08:00

PERFECT: Suns out and we have Internet.

THE PERFECT FIX: Well (?) ....... maybe, not too sure yet about that. So the internet Gods were at it again. Yesterday was a NO internet day around here. The whole day. Cut off from the rest of the world. .......... nice surprise this morning though, to see we've got it back. And possible a little faster too. Give it some time though and then we'll see about that.

THE PERFECT FIT: The drawer insert thing-am-a-gig cutlery thing is now a perfect fit. Not sure how they did that so quick, but it's a fit. They re-sized something (?) and now it fits. No more forks messing with the spoons.

THE PERFECT MATCH: The new bookshelf arrived. And a perfect match (size, colour, shape and all that other stuff) to the ones we already had. If we keep this up we'll end up with no wall space left. (I don't think you can ever have too many book shelves.) Still need to load it up with all the good junk stuff.

THE PERFECT BIRTHDAY GIFT: Ok, nothing beats picking out (designing) your own Birthday Gift - totally inspired by the other Me. (The other Me rocks!) Yes, it was in fact my birthday a number of weeks ago (maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about that). Anyways, I know it's taken me awhile, but - yesterday I finally did it. Yup, I did it. Bought 1 diamond, 2 blue sapphires, 2 emeralds and a peridot. Now I'm just waiting for them to get set. It's journey thing. Promise, I'll post a photo when I get it.

PURRR - FECT: (?) Not sure why, but lately there's a whole lot of cats thinking they should live at our house. Why is that?

TODAY: Is PERFECT and already going by fast. And I have a whole bunch of catching up on things to do.

Need to get our favorite AC fixed. Over-use is starting to take it's toll on it. Think maybe the bearings are all worn out. Have the perpetual high pitch hummmmm going on here, that you can hear everywhere in this house. Hope they can fix it - PERFECT.

Tonight is the start of 3 nights out in a row (not including last night). Tonight - girls night out. Tomorrow - a big birthday bash. And Saturday - the BIWA Food Fair event.

Perfect.

Good to Go!

SELASA

2009-05-12T10:35:00.001+08:00

Ok, Tuesday - let's roll! By the way, Tuesday is called Selasa around here. Actually Hari Selasa to be exact. The Hari part is day. (And even though I've been here for more than a short bit - I still keep getting Selasa and Senin mixed-up.)

Yesterday the furniture shop called to let me know my new bookshelf and drawer insert thing-am-a-gig cutlery thing is ready. That was fast. A totally best part of living in this place is all the custom made furniture (wood) you can get. They'll make almost anything you can dream up.

The bookshelf they'll deliver today - I hope. Need to clear some of the stuff (good junk) out of the way and make room for that. Very much looking forward to having the new bookshelf. Nothing beats getting a nice new empty shelf to load up with stuff. (even better junk) The thing-am-a-gig, was so darn excited to get that I stopped by and picked up. Well, dammed if it doesn't fit. Too big in fact - like 2mm too big. Guess that's going back. They're going to have to shave a wee bit off of that.

Got the pluperfect word figured (I think) - (what a weird word) and (no idea how to pronounce it?), also called past perfect in English, is a perfect tense that exists in most Indo-European languages, used to refer to an event that has been completed before another past action - Or - more than perfect; pertaining to action completed before or at the same time as another. So I think what that means is, a series of events - and in the case of J Button's F1 Race - all good.

TODAY: All kinds of stuff to do around here. Yesterday was the lull, and I guess I should have had that nap.

BIWA's AGM lunch this morning/afternoon. (Sorry other Me - miss you at lunch)

Good to Go!

COME WHAT MAY

2009-05-11T10:09:00.027+08:00

Look at that. Already the middle of May this week. Amazing - isn't it? Come what MAY.

Busier than usual weekend around here for us. We sure didn't get much rest. Sometimes weekends are just like that.

Said goodbye to the TOURIST yesterday. He's headed home. Hope you enjoyed your time here - see you next time back. (Maybe in my next life I should be a tour guide - I enjoyed that) And this weekend we visited with some friends we haven't seen in a very long time and played some very silly games of chess. That was fun - had a blast.

And yesterday, the every second Sunday thing - was F1. Slowly, slowly, I'm starting to understand it. Maybe I'm a good omen for J Button - seems if I watch he comes in number 1. In fact he's the only one I've ever seen win. Four wins so far this season in fact. Pluperfect - "Brawn GP’s Jenson Button drove a pluperfect two-stop race ....." that's the way the F1 Website called it. pluperfect - whats that? Must be a F1 Racing word I guess. Think I better look that up.

TODAY: Re-group and gear-up for the rest of the week. ........... and an overwhelming urge to today, to take a nap.

Good to Go!

MOM

2009-05-10T08:25:00.002+08:00

VESAK 2553

2009-05-09T09:54:00.011+08:00

So - it's another one of those RED calendar days here today. A holiday. Vesak Day 2553. What the heck is that? I have no idea about this one. Guess maybe I should try and get on the internet and do some surfing to figure it out. (if I can even get on the darn internet) I think someone should make it a law that they have to supply a manual that comes with the calendars here - that might help.

Of course we did the BBC thing (BBC Friday) last night. The BBC turned into venturing off to another place and then an another place ............. and well, heck. I'm sure you can guess about all the rest. So, we're off to a pretty slow start here this morning. Things are tiny bit cloudy in fact.

Special Note: To the select few; No I don't dip onion rings in tomato soup. Even when you're not looking. That would be like having chocolate on toast. And to all the rest of you; Don't even ask - let's just not even go there.

Sorry about the photo today, or rather lack of - but I thought the map might be interesting to share. This a like the where all you followers are reading this Blog from map. I think it's really cool. It's real-time updated and I absolutely love checking out where all of you guys are from. Plus, I do kinda have a big thing for maps. Can you find yourself?

TODAY: Well, I do believe (last night) I agreed or suggested a bunch of stuff. ??? Hmmm. I know I have to do the grocery store thing today - but I'm not sure why or for what. And I think me and the other Me have maybe kinda of double/triple booked ourselves for today/tonight. Hmm - better figure all this out.

Ok, better get more coffee and get on the go.

Good to Go!

FANTASTIC ITS FRIDAY!

2009-05-08T12:46:00.024+08:00

Last photo for for Manado bunch - time to move on to something else. I'm sure you can tell - I really do like the place. This is the view we had every day from the hotel we stayed at, with the island (volcano) Manado Tua (old Manado) in the back. And there's a huge coral reef out there too - that people come to, from all over the world to see. Next week they'll be hosting the WOC (World Ocean Conference) and the Coral Triangle Summit. Good on them I think!

So I spent my yesterday hanging out with the TOURIST. The TOURIST is visiting from Australia this week. This is his first trip to this town. First trip to Indonesia in fact.

Just so you know - a tourist guide I'm not. But I tried. And now he's got a whole lot of funky, baggy, batik Balikpapan pants to take back. Even took him to the Gems Blue Sapphire shop. (No I didn't buy anything - not yet, but I'm working on that.) We pretty much did the whole circle trip around this town. And spent the afternoon back at that Crocodile Farm (seems I've been going there a lot). And last night, the TOURIST and some other folks came over for lasagna, darts and rum. Yeah, I know, a bit of a strange mix - really strange actually - but we sure had fun.

...... Blue Sapphires - as well, I do really like those too. Truth is, I just about like anything that's blue. And even though they're not my birthstone - I'm still planning on getting some.

TODAY: This morning - coffee and cake. The afternoon is an errand run, and later tonight me and the TOURIST will join up with some other folks. Time to head into the weekend. Thanks for reading. Have a good one.

Good to Go!

MAGIC

2009-05-07T08:02:00.018+08:00

Ok, so just a quick little bit about the lake (photo). This is Danau (lake) Linow in the Minahasa Highlands. Same place as the I PREDICT - DAY NO. 1 photo. New photo though, from the recent trip. Danau Linow is quite a beautiful and strange place. (Just like MAGIC.)It's a sulfuric lake that changes colours. Although I've only ever seen it green (differing shades of green), I'm told it's sometimes red or sometimes blue. I'd like to see that - guess I'm just going to have to make the trip back.

Good day yesterday - got a whole ton of stuff done. Everything on the list and then some. The 'and then some' includes taking care of (repair and paint) a little bit of an scratch (it was small) that we ended up with on the front of the vehicle. And I'm in total shock of the great job they did and fast (less than 5 hours) and cheap. Very nice in fact. There's some things you just gotta love about this place!

TODAY: Up and out of here early this morning. Making a trip to the other side of town. The other Me thinks I need a present from Gems Blue Sapphire. Who can argue with - sounds good to me.

Good to Go!

MINAHASA BUDDHAYANA

2009-05-06T11:11:00.001+08:00

Good Morning Wednesday! Suns out!

MINAHASA BUDDHAYANA. Now that's a mouth-full isn't it. Go ahead - try and say it.

You're probably wondering about the photo - no doubt. I love it. I guess every once in a while my weird side comes out. Just about makes a person want to write a fairy tale book about it. Kinda has a Lord of the Rings character feel to him - don't you think?

So this photo, along with all the other little ones at the bottom of the post were taken at the Vihara Buddhayana Complex, a Buddist Temple in the Minahasa Highlands (North Sulawesi) near a place called Tomohon (aka, 'The Flower City' - and for good reason it has that name in fact - flowers galore, everywhere in that place). The mountain in the back, is Gunung Lokon - an active volcano. We were told it last erupted a couple of months ago, but I'm not so certain of that. Depends on who's version of what erupted means I guess.

There's a bit of a funny story, a legend about the earthquakes and the rumblings of volcanoes in this place. And yes they have lots. So apparently when the wild pigs (boars, and no - didn't see one) rub their bodies against the trees - the vibrations cause earthquakes. If a small pig rubs it's back, then the earthquake won't be strong - but if it's a big wild pig then it'll be a strong one. Apparently these guys also have a habit of scratching in the the dirt - and if this happens, then the earthquake will be a really, really big one, causing houses and bridges to collapse. (And that, explains why there seemed to be so much construction going on.)

Anyways back to the Buddhas - it's a really cool place and definitely worth the look. If you take into account that the main houses of worship here and all over this area are churches (loads and loads of them - hardly a mosque about) this Buddhist Temple is some what of an interesting phenomena. Seems a little some what out of place, as do the Many Faces of Buddha, a whole row of Buddha statues that line the entrance road into the place.

YESTERDAY: Was busy. Just all sorts of stuff. Unpack. A visitor (tourist) that needed to go out. First trip to Balikpapan - first trip to Indonesia in fact. A Stal Kuda stop. A whole bunch of Photo-shopping. Emails - a whole whack of that. ....... and a nice great big bunch of WANT-TO-DO stuff. It was a good one. Gotta like it when you have days like that!

TODAY: Ah well, once again you start out the day with a plan and not long into it - it gets all re-arranged and blown about. Now I need to re-think and re-org a whole bunch of stuff. No worries though - we'll get it.

....... and I have this incredible urge to get some fresh flowers in the house.

Good to Go!

AWED

2009-05-05T16:57:00.000+08:00

Made it. I'm back. Blogger worked great on the pre-post stuff but having all kinds of trouble with it today. Must think I'm still out having a holiday or something like that. Ok well. I don't know - but I guess.

The Mini Trip - turned out fantastic, as always and of course. Except for the 4 a.m. wake-up to get the plane back - I had a fabulous trip with lots of sun, shopping, and of course, eating. Very good trip.

My predictions? Did I get it right? - not quite. I did get to have all of those views just not even close to that order and NO white water rafting at all in fact. (booked completely - no spot for us) The first day turned into the last day, the last day was the first and the second day was almost right. In fact that little island on the second day was the view we had every day. ....... and then there were the sunsets. It's funny how great sunsets make a person want to whisper. Totally AWED and PERFECT. Gotta like that.

Mini Trip highlights: Many many flowers, full bloom everywhere - in gardens, in pots, lots and lots of flower pots, on trees, and in your hair, great views - so green, volcanoes, lakes, rice paddy after rice paddy, veg gardens every where, lots of little horse carts, and cows and coconuts, great people, good food (including the corn on the cob cooked in the hot springs), shitty local vodka (oh well, lesson learnt about that), a nice fat rat that joined us one night out on our deck (didn't even get an eek out of us) and total sun (zero rain - not even one drop). We had a great trip!

TODAY: Well, looking like the day is in fact, pretty much done. And it was, as usual another busy one. Catch-up. And I'm done (sleep awaits me). More tomorrow everyone.

Good to Go!

I PREDICT - DAY NO. 3

2009-05-03T11:11:00.002+08:00

Day 3. Ok, if we've managed to get this far - that means the scheduler worked and I'm on my
last full day of a really awesome trip. See you soon other Me.

TODAY'S PREDICTION: Good day to get the the city. Manado. (and get some shopping done) Heaven knows we've got to get our shopping done.

Note: We might have already done this part, but, today we'll most likely be back on a return trip. (and if I recall correctly - the other night, someone might have said the credit card was paid off - right?)

P.S. Happy Birthday to a special someone!!!

I PREDICT - DAY NO. 2

2009-05-02T11:11:00.003+08:00

Day 2 of the great escape - and testing out the Blogger scheduler thingy - here's hoping it works.

TODAY'S PREDICTION: Out to sea. I think today we'll be out to sea. Soaking up the rays and enjoying some sun. Out of all the guess work - this is will most likely turn out to be my best guess.