VIVA MEXICO!

Check back soon.

MOVED ON?

Moved on? ....... yup, moved on. Took the long way round; and landed right back. In Indonesia.

Ter-balik. Kembali. Returned. This time Jakarta town.

And so .......... seems Blogging, is also on it's way back. [Into fashion once again], just like that. We can thank Instagram for that. Keep your eye on BLOG.STAGRAM. I think some interesting things are going to start happening there.

So, initially, I thought I'd post this big long list of all that's happened. Things I have/ haven't done, or learnt, or not (spanning my elapse). Will save us all a bit of time and just skip right over that.

So here we are. In Jakarta. On the edge of Christmas, the Rainy Season and 2014.

Let's do this! Let's see if any body notices - we're back.

Good to Go!

BEACH HOUSE

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

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

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

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