BUDDHA

Yesterday - BUDDHA moved in. Buddha comes from Thailand. It's a long story, but yesterday, Buddha and some other paintings needed a place to stay. Not sure how long Buddha will be with us. Maybe we've adopted her?

Yesterday was one of those days .................. my North American printer ran out of TINTA (ink).
Problem: The tiny little chip in the printer cartridges here can not and will not, be recognized by the exact same printer I bought in Canada as you can buy here.
Solution: Veneta System Refill Centre. Sorry folks; but short of buying another printer - that is the only option here. (Kinda like photocopying books - that's just the way things are done here. Welcome to Balikpapan) There is an added bonus though - it only cost $3 bucks.
Next Problem: Shop A, where I always go; well apparently this day - not possible, they can not nor have they ever been able to refill a cartridge bought in North America. Hmmm, how can this be? I've done this before.
Solution: Try the sister shop. I guess shop A has already had enough business for one day.
Moral of the Story: In Balikpapan - there is always another way.

TODAY: Well I should be going to the pool this morning, but the rain clouds just won't stay away. Oh well, that's OK. It's sort of like having a bonus day.

Today, I need to get to the bank. Need to replenish the Rupiah supply. Last week all the banks were closed the whole week and most of the ATM machines went dry. Just something you get used to here. Like the shipment of fresh milk that didn't come in. No sour cream for 2 months. The BENZIN HABIS sign at the petrol station (means out of gas) and temporary shortages of just about anything. But, just like ink cartridges, in Balikpapan - there is always another way.

Time to do some printing and enjoy my day. Good to Go.

BLUE SKY

Blue Sky this morning. No clouds - just lots of sunshine. It's going to be a hot (35°+) day in Balikpapan.

Yesterday, myself and some other ladies from the BIWA group were invited to a lunch at the Blue Sky Hotel. www.blueskybalikpapan.com. BIWA is planning a Chinese New Year celebration for January. Great experience, and we really enjoyed sampling the menu. My favorite was the Fish with Sweet and Sour Mango Sauce.

Balikpapan is a great place to experience culture. It's all around us - no avoiding it. Imagine 7 of us enjoying a Chinese lunch, from 6 different countries and not one of us are Chinese. We were shown the proper way to do a Chinese salad. Mix + dress + serve. And of course those darn chop sticks had to get in the way. How in the world do they manage to do that. I am not a fan of Chop Sticks. And by the way - Indonesians don't use chop sticks either.

And about BIWA. Balikpapan International Women's Association. It's a big group, we have lots of fun, come from all kinds of places, have loads of social activities and lots and lots of charity work too.

TODAY: Have a bunch of errands to run today, a Coffee morning in PMC and lots of odds and ends to get done. Need to clean up that desk again too. How does that always happen anyway?

Ok, it's time to put on the sunglasses and GO!

CHEEZ WHIZ

For the love of CHEEZ WHIZ............ my jar's empty.

What a way to start a day and a new week. So far this morning; my Monday changed to Tuesday, Tuesday changed to Friday. Now I'm back on for Monday, next Monday? Maybe. I think. Hmmmmm ...... and I'm out of Cheez Whiz. A brand new jar of Cheez Whiz - boy, would I ever appreciate that. There is NO Cheez Whiz in this country.

We had a great weekend. Nice weather; sunshine and a marvellously cool tropical breeze. A BBQ with friends on Saturday. Great company and great food, including the improvised/re-invented Triffle they made with Glayva Liqueur. And we still have half of the half of the chicken you sent us home with. Thanks guys. In Balikpapan they call that TAKE AWAY. Hope we made a dent in the foodstuffs you're trying to get rid of before the big move. We're really going to miss you guys.

TODAY: On with today. Busssssssy. Pouring rain this morning so cancel the pool thing at 10:00 a.m. The goodbye lunch I thought I was going to go to - postponed until the stress settles down and the packers are out of the way. Going to miss you too Katheen. Way too many people moving this month.

So, guess now I can go to the other lunch with the BIWA girls and still make it to my mini-meeting this afternoon.

Have to pick up the copies (and I do mean copies - photocopies) of the book for this month's read in the Book Club. Unfortunately there are no English books here in Balikpapan so have to get creative if you really want to read something. Need to get them all dropped off too. This month we are reading "Saman by Ayu Utami" an Indonesian novel translated to English. Should be a good read. Last month we did "Into The Wild" by Jon Krakauer. And just so you know - Scott, we did not have to make photocopies, everyone has one and everyone loved the book. Made for a great discussion too. Thanks for bringing the book.

Ok, time to get this week on the go. Good to Go!

HELLO SATURDAY

Hello Saturday. Goodbye week with 2 red calendar days. I just checked the calendar and I don't see another red day until December. Whoa - long time.

Things are slowly starting to get back to regular life here. The stores (although the shelves are basically empty) are all getting back to the norm. Restaurants are opening up again ............ and all the bars and clubs and karaoke spots that were closed for the last month (Ramadan) will be open for business again. It's going to be a busy night in town tonight.

We had a really nice dinner last night. Thanks Emi, for having all us girls for one last get together at the BBC. The guys enjoyed themselves too. And Oxtail soup, (despite the name) - OK I can do that. Oh, and by the way Emi - the new beach side patio you have, it's AWESOME.

AWESOME - apparently I have a really cool way of saying that. Must be my accent.

TODAY: A BBQ with some really good friends. And we're really looking forward to that. See you this afternoon.

Going to hang out in the office this morning and listen to what will hopefully be a really good football (CFL) game. I'm taking tomorrow off - no posting on Sundays. That's the rule - that's my lazy day.

Ok, Happy Saturday everyone. Good to GO.

GO Riders GO!

MIX IT UP A LITTLE

Ok. Yesterday felt like Sunday, today feels like Monday. This is a whole day and tomorrow is a half. Hmmmm. That's what happens when you have a holiday. I guess by middle of next week things will come around again. That's OK. Good to mix things up and have one of those remember when......... Good to Mix it Up a Little - makes life more interesting.

Yesterday afternoon we found ourselves at one of our favorite places. The BBC. Batakan Beach Cafe. It was a great afternoon. Saw some friends we haven't seen for awhile. Sun was shinning, watched the guys play a whole pile of games of KILLER (billiards) drank Es Lemon Teh and ate Onion Rings and Cumi Cumi (talk about spoil yourself) and was just a really nice afternoon.

I'm hoping the garbage guys are working today. We have a pretty big pile of STUFF (mostly boxes) out front that really needs to disappear. The best option for a box to store something in here is from Anchor Beer. In the mad frenzy of cleaning up the storage room yesterday we developed a pretty good size pile of those. Looks like all we did for the last 2 days was drink beer. PLEASE come and take them away!

Oh... and I finished that really boring book. "The Birth of Venus" by Simon Schama. Not sure how it got on the Chapters best seller list - not my kind of a read. Hopefully the next book will be better.

TODAY: Semmi is back. Just when I was about to start the laundry myself. Boy am I lucky. She had a nice holiday with her family (sister) in Samarinda. A 3 hour bus ride north of Balikpapan. Good to have you back. Missed you Semmi. So did Nu Nu.

Today is go to the pool morning. Sun is shinning and looks like it will be another HOT day in Balikpapan. Time to get some exercise. See you in about an hour Fendi. And tonight I have a dinner with friends thing to do. A BBQ tomorrow. 8 Business cards to design by Monday. Some letter heads, envelopes and cards to get ready for the printers next week .................. Ok, I'm busy.

Good to GO! Better GO!

ANOTHER RED CALENDAR DAY

Ok, turns out............it wasn't a quiet day after all. After a zillion SMSs (text messages to all you North Americans) and phone calls we finally gave in and joined with friends and their families and other friends to take part in Idul Fitri celebrations. It was really nice. Made some new friends and tried some new food. Just like a Christmas dinner - and the food. Yummy. But wholly hot. I mean PEDAS!!! That's spicy hot. Many thanks Ina and Elias.

TODAY: Today is another Red Calendar day. Yeah!! We don't get too many of those here. Not even going to pretend it's going to be quiet day. It was a great morning to have a bit of a sleep in though. Yes, did get the office cleaned up yesterday. We'll see how long that lasts.

And today, we are cleaning out the storage room. It's amazing how quickly one can come here with next to nothing, and in a very short time manage to find enough stuff to throw, give or just put out. Including a funny little cat named Nu Nu that somehow learnt how to open the side door and come in whenever she wants. Nu Nu is a local, and she is the house cat. That means outdoors (most of the time) and she's NOT my cat. But she did get a new collar for Idul Fitri.

Yeah Red Calendar Day! Good to GO!

BALIKPAPAN

I'm an Expat and I live in a place called Balikpapan. Pronounced Ball-ee-pa-pan, silent "K" and no this not Bali. Nor is the view. Balikpapan, is an Indonesian city (small) on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo (big) or Kalimantan as the locals call it. We are almost on the equator, just a little south. 1.15°S And yes it's warm (hot) here - all the time.

Balikpapan does have an international airport - but only 1 flight a day that gets you out of here and the only international place we can go, is Singapore. But it's fast and there are loads of other places we can go with-in Indonesia. Like Manado and Jakarta and Surabaya and Lombok and Bali. Love Bali. (I'll have to post some Bali pictures - later)

It's a pretty cool place to be an expat. We like it here......and for now it's home. At least for the last 16 months and 4 days it has been. I should have started this blog when we first got here. After a while things become norm and not quite as interesting (or unusual) as they were to start. Like a family of 4 or 5 on 1 little, little motorcycle. This isn't paradise - but it's a pretty good place to be.

TODAY: Today is a quiet day - at least so far, but most days start out that way. Today is a red calendar day. A holiday. IDUL FITRI. Idul Fitri is the first day after Ramadan - the fasting month for Muslims. Today is a day for everyone to enjoy the day with family and friends. Unfortunately it is also a rainy day. We've had lots of those days lately. Somehow the dry season missed us. (Just like all the weather reports - those usually miss us too.)

All the shops, the markets, the restaurants and pretty much everything is closed up for the day. Most people celebrating Idul Fitri are gone. By plane, by boat, by bus and by any other means to their home towns. (If they were fortunate enough to get a ticket with a price that's double or triple the norm.)

It's a quiet day in Balikpapan and not much for a view. A good day to sort through emails and clean up the office. Kick back and watch some really bad TV, listen to my favorite radio station www.radioparadise.com and try to finish reading a really boring book.

Good to GO!