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

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

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

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

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

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

Have a great day!

Good to Go!

SMILE

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!