HAPPY WEEKEND

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Feels like my first weekend back. Last weekend just didn't count - think I pretty much slept through most of that. It's been a interesting week, getting back into the swing of things. Unpacking, stocking back up, organizing some of the new stuff we brought back and getting rid of some of the old, checking out the new stuff in town and seeing who's coming, going and still around.

Might be a good time this weekend to de-ant the house. I mean get rid of the multitude of little sugar ants that are trying to move in. The downside of living in the tropics - ANTS. Might have to use up a whole can of Baygon on those things. Note: They might be small - but there's millions of them. (And I intend to take care of each and every one of them - at least for this week.)

Jury is still out on the new Memory Foam. Think we'll have to sleep on that a bit more. (Maybe this afternoon.) Value for dollar (rupiah) ....... not too sure about that yet.

BBC Friday last night .............. and the forever changing regular crowd. They do have some new stuff on the menu - and so far everything I've tried is really good. My favorite - the Mushroom Spring Rolls. Good food and good company too last night. Enjoyed the silly SMSing too. ........... by the way - Ace opens a 4 p.m. in Sharjah and don't worry Peter, we paid the tab for you.

TODAY: Good day to have BLTs for lunch. START and FINISH reading the book "Mister Pip". Need to get that done cepat-cepat (that mean's fast) ....... by Tuesday night. Ooops - forgot about that. And an afternoon nap I think.

Off to BIWA's Chinese New Year Celebration tonight at the Blue Sky Hotel. Dancing Dragons, live band and some real Chinese food. (maybe Peking Duck?) Lets hope they don't serve any of that Chinese Whiskey we had last year - YUCK! Should be fun. Yup, better have a afternoon nap I think. ......... and find something RED to wear - for good luck.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Good to Go!

GROW

.......... and some of you shook your heads. See - seeds DO grow here. And fast. This is day 4.

.......... and at this rate - I'm wondering if they're the "Jack and the Bean Stock" variety. No they're not food - just what we need - more flowers.

So apparently, I'm back to looking like a bule again. (white folk) At least that's what I'm told. I actually always thought I did look like one. .............. and that's what happens after 2 months of no sun. The tan is gone. Back to looking like a expat who hasn't seen the sun.

Not sure what the heck was going on this morning, but NO water in our house. Not even a drop coming out of the tap. I'd like to know who has control over the ON/OFF switch around here. Good thing that's over with. ............. and my sources tell me it wasn't just our complex either. Maybe all of Balikpapan.

TODAY: The usual dull grey morning sky. Rain today - maybe yes, maybe no. We'll see. It is the rainy season. Good thing we're not in Jakarta - big flooding going on there. But at least it's not snow.

TODAY: Need to send out some emails. Sort some stuff on the desk, and get a few other things done before the weekend begins. Lots going on this weekend too. Going to head back over to Index this afternoon. Going to buy a Memory Foam for the bed ................... will let you know tomorrow how that goes.

Good to Go!

DOWNTURN

DOWNTURN. I am not even going to go there. We all get enough of that on CNN. But it does provide the perfect opportunity for me to show off one of Balikpapan's many, many road signs. (Not a lot of traffic lights here, and considering that the electric is frequently OFF, they don't really work anyways.)

These signs and their counterparts (the ones without the line through it) are everywhere here in Balikpapan - and a big necessity too. It's doesn't take long to figure out how they work either. U-turns or turn-abouts, are a big part of the driving (motoring about) experience here. Basically almost all the roads here are long, long distances, and where ever you're aiming to go, is always on the other side of the road. So you wait till you find a spot where the U-turn is allowed. Turn around and drive all the way back. (Note: Balikpapan is not a big city - but twice the distance to almost everywhere you want to go.)

Not much to report on here today. I have however decided that Roger Hodgson's Supertramp song "It's Raining Again" should be Balikpapan's theme song of the month. Yup, it's raining again. ............... but it's green. And there is no snow.

TODAY: Back on the ORG PLAN, and whatever else happens to come about. There's a new version of the Billiards Tournament going on tonight. Might have to check that out.

.......... and just as suspected - yes, the price of beer went up. But at least they have some. Lots in fact.

Ok, Good to Go!

ACE

Hey Wednesday. Way to go NEW COFFEE POT. The coffee was really good this morning. Gotta like that.

Some happenings here around Balikpapan; for starters - there's a whole lot less imported foods these days. The story I got - apparently exports (food exports) are way down. No surprise about that, and you're not alone on that one either Indonesia. So - the government here has decided to limit the amount of imported foods to try and offset the shortfall.

This is not good news for all those little shops we like to frequent and get our reminiscent tastes of home. This is not good news for those of us who happen to like some of those things. But, on the plus side of that - the stuff was outrageously expensive anyways. So guess we'll all start saving a little more Rupiahs soon. Big boost for the rice industry I guess. (And wholly am I glad I have 2 brand new jars of Cheez Whiz.)

I'm not sure how this is going to effect everything else we can buy here. Ace Hardware is full of imported stuff. Full of expensive imported stuff - but it's still good to have all this stuff. And right now the store is really full. I wonder if there is some anticipation going on or is it just that some competition has finally moved to town.

The other big story; is all about the ALCOHOL TAX. Now up to 400% on wine I'm told - WOW - good thing I don't need any of that. The last I heard the cheapest bottle of wine in town (if you can find one) is about $40 USD. Tomorrow I'm due to make a beer run - it'll be interesting to see if there is any and what will be the price of that.

TODAY: Whizzing by in a big hurry. Already more than half done.

I'm still busy sorting and rearranging and putting things away. Good thing I'm not in a hurry about that. Made a quick stop at the BBC this afternoon. Rather was suppose to be a quick stop - ended up sampling a whole bunch of food. Good stuff guys + love the new batiks.

That's it for today folks. Good to Go!

HELLO TUESDAY

Hello Tuesday. How are you? Looks like we are about to find out.

My yesterday was a good one. Found a coffee machine with a whole lot less effort than I thought it take. Only took 4 stops - and just when I was about to give up ........ managed to get the last one (most likely the only one) off the shelf at the HERO Store. Thank you HERO store. I sure appreciate that. And the coffee this morning ........... mmmmm GOOD. And it didn't end up spilling from the counter and onto the floor - BIG BONUS #1. (What an awesome start to a day.)

Let me explain about the existence of coffee and coffee pots in Indonesia. My version of the facts: firstly, tea probably ranks above coffee. And both are sweetened up a whole lot. And I do mean LOTS. Spoonfuls of gula (sugar). A little over the top in fact. So coffee, is usually the instant version and it does not very often come from a coffee machine or a pot. I think this may have something to do with the fact that electricity is not something to be relied upon here, and there are a whole bunch of people here that have none. Fortunately, as expats, we happen to be some of the lucky ones.

So, back to the instant coffee - even the restaurants serve it. And, in most cases you're choices are either Nescafe or a thing called 3 in 1. I prefer 3 in 1. That's a premixed version of coffee, cream and sugar. I'm going to guess that now you've probably figured out all the excitement about the NEW Starbucks. COMING SOON. A first in Kalimantan. (At least that's what the sign says.)

And to everyone making the move to Balikpapan, best bring your coffee machine with you.

Last night we ended up at our favorite place (Note: we have a few favorites here). Not a late night, but it sure was nice to see everyone. Slowly, slowly, everyone's making there way back after the holidays. And slowly, slowly everyone's getting over differing versions of jet lag. Another week and we'll all be back on the same clock and have all our sleep patterns sorted out. A 15 hour nap - believe it or not I can do that. Didn't beat my record of 17 though, but I think I'm back on the clock.

TODAY: First thing this morning is maintenance, time to get the AC freshened up and cleaned out. BIG BONUS #2.

TODAY: Organization Day. Starting with my brand new 2009 Day Timer. Yeah I'm a little late - but that's OK. And clean-up, sort-out, put-away, through-away all the piles of stuff around here that have built up. And that will be BIG BONUS #3. (Here's hoping that works out.)

And on top of that - I'm Good to Go!

TIME OUT

TIME OUT. I was going to call it my sabbatical but I think in retrospect, it might be better to refer to the last couple of months as a TIME OUT.

TIME OUT - I think I like the sound of that. Everyone deserves a TIME OUT. Make time to take a TIME OUT. Trust me, it's a good thing.

YES, I took a bit of a break. But I'm back. Back to warm weather, big heavy duty rainstorms, a driver, a housekeeper, my pillow, rice, rice, and more rice (oops - did I already mention that?). Anyways it's good to be back.

There are a few changes here in town. The NEW Hypermart - pretty impressive. A&W - definitely on the list of things to do. A few new or rather more bumps on the roads. And lots of people moving to and from Balikpapan. Still trying to catch up on all the news. ....... still no Starbucks. I'm sure that sign said December 2008 - maybe they meant 2009.

And speaking of NEW. I have some NEW things I'm planning for the Blog. With a little help from some friends - we're going to try and make things a little more interesting. So, keep watching, and over the next couple of weeks - we'll see how we do.

TODAY: Coffee Machine. Yup - need to find a new one of those. And in Balikpapan - that is no easy task.

OK, time to get back to it everyone. Good to Go!

SO LONG SANTA

SO LONG SANTA .................

............. and cold weather gear. Almost time for the pack-up. Almost time to go. Times up - Holidays are almost over.

OMG ITS COLD!!! What's going on here people? What's with that? I definitely will NOT miss the cold. I am so looking forward to 30 above. Sunshine + sandals + no more sweaters or winter gloves. Gonna miss everyone here though ............ big time. It's been a blast everyone.

The WEATHER Channel - yes there is a weather channel here. A TV show dedicated to the weather - 24 hours a day. All day long and through the night - one can check to see whats going on. One can get pretty excited to see that the temp rose from minus 22 to minus 21. I don't think I'm going to need a weather Channel when I get home to Balikpapan.

TODAY: Just a busy - lazy day. Good day to get some suitcases packed. (Secretly seeing how much room is left. Still might get 1 more shopping trip in. I think there's still room for some flat stuff yet.)

Today - a good day to warm the car before you go - ANY PLACE. It's cold out there today. Out for dinner later tonight and the rest of the day - just a good day to hang out. And hanging out - I'm doing just that.

Stay warm. Good to Go!