BIG MAC

Ok, so having some serious Internet issues here today. Off and on, and slow and starting and stopping and all that other stuff. Makes a person sooooo frustrated - can't believe I haven't just given up and quit. No idea what time or day I will actually get to post this but.....

So anyways, about the Samarinda trip; ah, every once in while a person needs to laugh at one self a little bit. Doh. Honest - we didn't know half of Samarinda was in the midst of a week long flood. (Regardless of a little, little article in the Jakarta Post all about that.) Guess we should have paid a bit closer attention to that. Ooops. Next time I guess.

Oh well, despite getting turned back a few times - the trip still worked out quite alright. We didn't get to the Museum we thought we'd go to or the Matahari Mall. (Under a meter of water we were told and the roads are impassable too.) But we did do some shopping, and McDonalds for lunch. Checked out the turtle eggs for sale along the road and saw the biggest I've ever seen mosque. Mesjid Raya Darussalam. Beautiful building in fact. Brand new I think. Not too sure about this, but my guide book talks about a mosque in Samarinda being the largest in all of Southeast Asia - but I'm really not certain whether or not this is it.


So imagine having your first BIG MAC. Good old McDonalds. Back home in North America, I don't even actually like the stuff. However, when it's not readily available to you - all of a sudden it rockets itself to the top of the food chain list. So anyways, turns out my driver has never been to a McDonalds before. (In his whole life.) First time for everything I guess.

So when it came our turn to order, he didn't know what to have. He does not ever eat chicken (?) - so that was totally off the list. Note: The Golden Arches do serve chicken and rice here. (And that does make sense.)

"Do you like burgers?"
"Yes."
"What kind do you like?"
"Hmmm, maybe you pick"
"Do you like cheese?"
"Yes."

So we got him a BIG MAC. And it was worth every single cent (rupiah) to see the look on his face when it was put in front of him and he saw the size of it.

"Sorry Mrs. Me not hungry yet"

Bless him - I think my friend said. So in the end he did take-away and that was a big surprise for him too. That BIG MAC made the trip all the way back to Balikpapan with him. And later that night, he shared it with his wife and his kids. Nothing like a cold BIG MAC.

TODAY: Suns out. Enjoy the the day. Happy weekend!

Good to Go!

FRIDAY RECAP

AWESOME! Ok, so where do I begin? This might end up being a little bit longer than the norm post. Need to do a bit of a recap I think.

The Crocodile Field Trip on Wednesday with the English Class - what a blast. I'm hoping if they do that again - they'll invite me back. What a great bunch. I must point out - I was invited along so the students would have an English as a first language person to practice with. And they did a great job of it too.


This was not my first trip to the Crocodile Farm - in fact I've been there quite a number of times - but it has been awhile. Note: This is a FARM and not a ZOO. Yes, there are a whole lot of crocodiles there - quite likely a thousand perhaps (maybe more). Big ones, VERY VERY BIG ones, medium to large ones - little ones (babies) and a whole bunch of sizes in between. I should also add there are a number of species there too. And if you so choose ......... they have crocodile meat (satay) to try too.

We didn't just see crocodiles there either. There's a few other things you can can see and do there too. There's monkeys, turtles, a pair of elephants (that offer rides on the weekends) and another weird looking thing that reminds me of a badge, but most impressive to me and the scariest - the snakes. Definitely the snakes - boa constrictors. The little snakes in the top photo are actually 2 baby ones that were found in someone's house. (Special Note: I am completely horrified of snakes.)

Oh yeah, and about the soccer (football) on the right. Well after all that, we ended up at the Pantai Manggar for a bit of football on the beach and fresh coconut drinks. Great fun everyone - Thanks for asking me.

And about Samarinda, now that's a whole 'nother story. But, enough for this post. Let's just say it was a long one. Will write about that next post. (Have some good photos too.)

TODAY: What can I say? It's Friday! And the usual pre-weekend stuff. Most importantly though - off to pick up plane tickets for next week.

Good to Go!

.....LATER

YESTERDAY: The Crocodile Farm. More later about that.

TODAY: Off to Samarinda. Gotta Go.

Good to Go!

KARTINI BATIK DAY

Hello sun shinny day. Ready to go.

So yesterday proved to be a bit of a challenge. All was going well until the whole world seemed to get a shook-up. Stop changing the rules people - I don't much like that. Stop moving your offices with out giving notice - I don't like that either. And please - if you say your going to do something - just do it! Enough said about that - sometimes a person's just got to rant a little bit.

Our plan is set for the Samarinda trip later this week - all geared up and ready to go do that. Tomorrow is the Croc Farm Field Trip - more about that after I actually do it. And very close to nailing down all the details for the Manado trip. Love it when a plan comes together.

TODAY: Today is a special day. Kartini Day in Indonesia - a celebration of sorts. The birthday of Raden Ajeng Kartini, (April 21, 1879–September 17, 1904) a prominent leader in the women's movement in Indonesia and a national heroine in fact. The government declared Kartina a national heroine in 1964 and every year since then, April 21st has been observed as Kartini Day. On this day, women in Indonesia celebrate her life and wear their batiks.

Book Club thing to do tonight. And I have in fact finished the book. Yeah for me in. Pat myself on the back.

And for the rest of the day - no plan just yet - but I have this feeling, as it always does, this day will soon get filled up.

Good to Go!

OK MONDAY

Ok Monday. Let's roll.

In answer to the question. "Can you drink the water here"? NO. Absolutely not. At least I don't (would not). We all get our water (quite commonly known as AQUA) from the Water Shop.

Oh, what a beautiful weekend it was. Perfect weather - gentle breeze(s) and lots of sun. That was great. ..... just the way we like it.

Not sure what happened to me this weekend - seems the alter ego or second self came out. I seem to have turned into an organizing, purging and cleaning freak. Some times you've just got to do it I guess. Must be SPRING.

Have a few plans underway for this week and possibly the next. Later this week - myself and a friend are heading to Samarinda. What/where/why Samarinda you ask? Samarinda is the capital city. Capital of East Kalimantan. About a 2 - 3 hour drive north of here - pending traffic. Why are we doing that? Just because we can I guess. Actually we think we might do some shopping there (heard it's better than Balikpapan) and maybe a museum and even maybe stop and see if we can get a Big Mac. Yes believe it or not there's a McDonalds there.

....... and if all goes well, we might do Manado next week. Still working on that.

And now you're probably wondering - why do we do all this crazy kinda stuff? Well, in fact, there's not a whole lot to do in Balikpapan. And some times you just have to invent stuff for yourself. It is what you make it I guess - and I like it like that.

TODAY: Have a ton of things to do and get done. On the run. Ok Monday - let's go!

Good to Go!