Shopping is okay once in a while...and when you go abroad, it is even more exciting because it is MUCH cheaper!!!! I was very excited about that, but the thing is that it depends WHERE you go and the body type you have...
So, I went shopping for some work clothes. The women must wear skirts Monday to Thursday and they are allowed to wear pants on Friday and Saturday (yeah, they have school on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!). But somehow, I didn't bring ANY skirts...I thought I would buy some here, in Indonesia....
ERROR, ERROR, ERRORRRRRR!!!!!! Man, everything is made for small women! It is SUPER embarassing too! I know I am not small, but here, I am considered pretty big....(A dude in the street was like woooooah! Your big! (I am not sure in what sense that meant...)) I don't care....actually makes me feel more safe cuz I know I can kick someone's ass if they misbehave...hehehe!!!! ;)
So, I tried some batik clothes (traditional pattern here in Java) over the weekend and it is too tight on the shoulders and too loose around my waist...And because we arrived late at the store (15 minutes before they were closing), all the salespeople were looking at me in a top and skirt that were just NOT made for me...hehehe! Pretty funny...Basically, I think I will have to get custom-made clothes!
So, next time you go abroad to shop, choose your destination CAREFULLY if your goal is to shop...hehehe!
Monday, February 20, 2006
Sunday, February 19, 2006
National or International Travel?!?!?!
Soooooooo, I know I haven't been REALLY loyal to my fans...SORRY! I don't have regular access with my pics and stuff, so it makes it harder to have great stories on this blog!!! Anyways...
I have a question for all of you, actually a poll!!!! I am not sure of what I will do after my internship. I mean, of course I will travel but I have 2 options:
1-I stay in Indonesia and visit Bali and Lombok for about 1.5 weeks each and learn surfing and also travel on the island of Java...(Borobodur where there are GREAT temples, Semarang and Bandung, where I met people at the conference...)
OR
2- 4/5 days in each Bali and Lombok and I then travel to Singapore, Malaysia and the south of Thailand...(Sample the delicious food of Thailand and maybe see IAS and chillax on a beach in Phuket.)
So, I want to know what you think!!! PLEASE post some comments because I want to know what you think! Thanks and I promise that I will write more as of Thursday. You see, I have to prepare a 2 hour session about environmental issues for 100 students...So, I still have tons to do, but I promise that I will go spend 2 hours at a WARNET to upload pics and my tales of the last weeks...
In the meantime, VOTE!!!! :D
I have a question for all of you, actually a poll!!!! I am not sure of what I will do after my internship. I mean, of course I will travel but I have 2 options:
1-I stay in Indonesia and visit Bali and Lombok for about 1.5 weeks each and learn surfing and also travel on the island of Java...(Borobodur where there are GREAT temples, Semarang and Bandung, where I met people at the conference...)
OR
2- 4/5 days in each Bali and Lombok and I then travel to Singapore, Malaysia and the south of Thailand...(Sample the delicious food of Thailand and maybe see IAS and chillax on a beach in Phuket.)
So, I want to know what you think!!! PLEASE post some comments because I want to know what you think! Thanks and I promise that I will write more as of Thursday. You see, I have to prepare a 2 hour session about environmental issues for 100 students...So, I still have tons to do, but I promise that I will go spend 2 hours at a WARNET to upload pics and my tales of the last weeks...
In the meantime, VOTE!!!! :D
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Pictures from Bromo Trip
We couldn't see anything at the top of the mountain. See the wall of clouds!
View while going up Bromo. 
This is the Bromo volcano!
This is inside the volcano...can you see the sulfur smoke!!!!!
This view is from our hotel...AMAZING!
And the truely proud Canadian backpacker.... :PThursday, February 09, 2006
@ Episode in Jakarta
Arrived in Malang from Bromo the day before, I was leaving on Jan 31st to go to Jakarta by train. I remember when NC used the train, but it turns out that the 7 other people with whom I travelled didn't choose the Economy (60,000IDR) nor the Business (about 150,000-180,000IDR) but the Excecutif class (220,000IDR). So the toilets weren't nearly as bad as what you've experienced, NC! We even got pillows and blankets, a meal, movies and a A/C wagon.
Anyways, so the ride was 18 hours or so and I didn't get much sleep because of the way we were sitting. We were hitting each other every time someone turned so we woke the others up...and I was moving a lot... hehehe!!!! Anyways, saw a bit of Jakarta, but man there are cars...and lotsa pollution! We arrived at the venue, sleepy and groggy, but whatever! Contrairy to the conferences I went to in the past, this one started at like 1pm or so. So, from 1-10:30pm, we worked....and I was disturbing like hell...hehehe! My nakal side :P Anyways, no party tonight because everyone was tired! (This was the activities of Feb 1st!)
Feb 2nd: I decided to leave the conference today to do some sightseeing in the morning! With the 2 LO's (Liaison Officers taking care of our delegation), we went to Monas, short for Tugu Monument Nasional. There is a joke related to it because one of the early presidents 'erected' it...hehehe!!!! We went up and then we saw the history which was in the lower part of the monument. Quite interesting...and then we went to Batavvia, the area where the Dutch settled in the past... Then we came back for the lunch and then I participated in the rest of the activities during the conference. After supper, there was the question period for the MCP candidate. She was asked random questions, mainly about bribery. REALLY interesting and then we had Q&A's. She had the AIESEC spirit, but NO direction at all...My personal opinion, but it turned out that I am not the only one. AIESEC Indonesia voted: non-confident. So they had to do KLB, where anyone can apply and the next evening, they would do the same procedures! We had a Sexy Marketing Party, which lasted 45 minutes. We played a game: making an ad for flowers...man, the @ parties I know aren't nearly like that....hehehe! So I had a chat with a friend and we had tons of fun with chocolate cake...pic to come!
The next day, Feb 3rd, I left with my Organizing Committee President to see Jakarta. We wanted to see Mini Indonesia, but we didn't have enough time. One thing I find REALLY interesting is that they let other people drive their cars. What I mean is that this dude I don't know offered his car so we could go to Mini Indonesia, which is a really nice park and something to see in Jakarta. I don't think it is something we do in Canada, right?Anwyays, there are TONS of malls in Jakarta, but not much to see, in my opinion! So we chilled the whole day and spoke about the YES project, the project I work on while here in Indonesia. I went back for supper and then we had voting once again. The girl who first applied was finally selected! :) We then partied in the colors of Indonesia, red and white. And I showed the Free from Desire song.....ahhhhhhhhhhhh good times!!! :P I decided to wash my hair & go to bed: MISTAKE!!!!
Feb 4th: Today was DLD, Developing Leader's Day. We honestly slept like 3 hours and I was feeling shitty because the room was A/C and with wet hair, it is a recipe for disaster! Anyways, I fell asleep in the first class...I looked like a moron! I am surprised no one mentioned that in the gossip box!?!! The session were really interesting but everyone was falling asleep....hehehe! Anwyays, for lunch, I mistakenly ate a chili....MAN, there is REALLY fire in your mouth....the people from my local, UB, were laughing at me!!! :P Anwyays, no party tonight and just catching up on some ZzZzZzZzs!
Feb 5th: This was the last day and people were writting lotsa sugar cubes. It is basically a nice message to people you met during the conference! I met great people! A couple of cool boys too, but like I was thinking, no hooking up...hehehe!!!! I got numbers and e-mails...:P Anwyays, we took the plane in the afternoon!
The conference was much more theoretical and there were about 120 people or so! The conference was nonetheless great and I enjoyed my time...Bonded more with the UB crew! And I was also dubbed a Bule Gila, crazy Bule!!!!!! Yup, I am rarely serious and have tons of fun! :) Any questions?
Anyways, so the ride was 18 hours or so and I didn't get much sleep because of the way we were sitting. We were hitting each other every time someone turned so we woke the others up...and I was moving a lot... hehehe!!!! Anyways, saw a bit of Jakarta, but man there are cars...and lotsa pollution! We arrived at the venue, sleepy and groggy, but whatever! Contrairy to the conferences I went to in the past, this one started at like 1pm or so. So, from 1-10:30pm, we worked....and I was disturbing like hell...hehehe! My nakal side :P Anyways, no party tonight because everyone was tired! (This was the activities of Feb 1st!)
Feb 2nd: I decided to leave the conference today to do some sightseeing in the morning! With the 2 LO's (Liaison Officers taking care of our delegation), we went to Monas, short for Tugu Monument Nasional. There is a joke related to it because one of the early presidents 'erected' it...hehehe!!!! We went up and then we saw the history which was in the lower part of the monument. Quite interesting...and then we went to Batavvia, the area where the Dutch settled in the past... Then we came back for the lunch and then I participated in the rest of the activities during the conference. After supper, there was the question period for the MCP candidate. She was asked random questions, mainly about bribery. REALLY interesting and then we had Q&A's. She had the AIESEC spirit, but NO direction at all...My personal opinion, but it turned out that I am not the only one. AIESEC Indonesia voted: non-confident. So they had to do KLB, where anyone can apply and the next evening, they would do the same procedures! We had a Sexy Marketing Party, which lasted 45 minutes. We played a game: making an ad for flowers...man, the @ parties I know aren't nearly like that....hehehe! So I had a chat with a friend and we had tons of fun with chocolate cake...pic to come!
The next day, Feb 3rd, I left with my Organizing Committee President to see Jakarta. We wanted to see Mini Indonesia, but we didn't have enough time. One thing I find REALLY interesting is that they let other people drive their cars. What I mean is that this dude I don't know offered his car so we could go to Mini Indonesia, which is a really nice park and something to see in Jakarta. I don't think it is something we do in Canada, right?Anwyays, there are TONS of malls in Jakarta, but not much to see, in my opinion! So we chilled the whole day and spoke about the YES project, the project I work on while here in Indonesia. I went back for supper and then we had voting once again. The girl who first applied was finally selected! :) We then partied in the colors of Indonesia, red and white. And I showed the Free from Desire song.....ahhhhhhhhhhhh good times!!! :P I decided to wash my hair & go to bed: MISTAKE!!!!
Feb 4th: Today was DLD, Developing Leader's Day. We honestly slept like 3 hours and I was feeling shitty because the room was A/C and with wet hair, it is a recipe for disaster! Anyways, I fell asleep in the first class...I looked like a moron! I am surprised no one mentioned that in the gossip box!?!! The session were really interesting but everyone was falling asleep....hehehe! Anwyays, for lunch, I mistakenly ate a chili....MAN, there is REALLY fire in your mouth....the people from my local, UB, were laughing at me!!! :P Anwyays, no party tonight and just catching up on some ZzZzZzZzs!
Feb 5th: This was the last day and people were writting lotsa sugar cubes. It is basically a nice message to people you met during the conference! I met great people! A couple of cool boys too, but like I was thinking, no hooking up...hehehe!!!! I got numbers and e-mails...:P Anwyays, we took the plane in the afternoon!
The conference was much more theoretical and there were about 120 people or so! The conference was nonetheless great and I enjoyed my time...Bonded more with the UB crew! And I was also dubbed a Bule Gila, crazy Bule!!!!!! Yup, I am rarely serious and have tons of fun! :) Any questions?
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Jalan-jalan di Bromo
So YD came from Jakarta today, Jan 27th and we decide to go to Bromo this weekend. I have Monday and Tuesday off, which means that I can stay longer in Bromo. So we left Saturday after my class. The bus was supposed to leave at 4, but we left at 5! I was in good company so it passed rather quickly. It cost me 17,000IDR, which is exactly $2CAD for a 3 hour ride that leaves from Malang and goes to Probolinggo!!!! For $2CAD, you can't do much in Canada, other than watch dollar movies....I love the fact that everything is cheap!!!! :D
Arrived in Probolinggo, it was night time. There was a dude there greeting tourists. So we decide to go on a tour with a Jeep, leaving the hotel at 4am. We then decide to take the private transport to reach the hotels. So we saw one, Cemara Inday Hotel. It was night so we couldn't see how the landscape looked like. We took a look at different places and finally decided to stay at Cemara Indah. They had a room with 2 rooms, one foot between and that is it. Being a girl, I wanted hot water, the reason being that it was really cold up here too (ok, not as cold as I am used to, but cold in terms of Indonesian weather!), and YD wanted his throne...hahaha!!!! So we both decided to take a better room. We got what we wanted...Of course more expensive due to the touristic area, but whatever! Then, we had to hurry to grab food at the restaurant before they closed, but we chilled until 11pm, and then decide to go to bed.
Waking up at 3:20am. We (2 English girls, 2 French girls and 1 American girl, YD and me) left for the PHKA Post in a Jeep. There were lotsa other jeeps and people walking too! Anyways, got at the post and everyone tries to sell you something, of course! But we went to the post and waited...it was like a comfortable autumn day! Anyways, DISAPPOINTMENT! We didn't see ANYTHING from the top. I took a picture just for fun and it is like you stand before a white wall...too much fog! Here is how it looked like:
Disappointed, we took the jeep back down to go to Bromo, the crater! The whole area was a volcanic area!!!! And then, there it was! BEAUTIFUL cone shaped mini-volcanoes!!!! The Austrian girls mentioned to me that they look like plum pudding cones...hehehe!
Further we went with the Jeep and to Bromo. It was an active volcano. We could have taken the easy way and went up with a horse. A lot of people did that, but we used our legs...need exercise with all the fried food I eat!!!! :S Anyways, halfway, we had to climb 253 stairs! Once you reach the last 10 stairs at the top, it hits you. Sulfur fumes! The volcano is active and it is mainly sulfur. It hurts the lungs, the eyes, the skin and there is less air. The mountain is only about 2,300 meters, but still! The view was gorgeous and really worth climbing up there. (I'll post pics soon!) Then we left to go back to the hotel. The view from the hotel was AWESOME. Of course not from our room, but still. You could see all the mountains, or almost! We had breakfast with the girls and we went to bed. It was like 8/8:30am at this point!
I met the American and English girls at noonish, while YD was still sleeping. We talked and decided to grab food. The English girls had been travelling for a couple of months now, going to India and in Asia. They were all heading to Bali, incl. YD. They made good use of my lonely planet. :) After food, we went back to the hotel.
At 2pm, YD and myself decided to go atop Bromo once again and walk around the edge of the crater and go to the mountain between Bromo and Batok...Our own little adventure! You'll see in the picture. It was really cool. Halfway around, it started to rain...then poured. Imagine this: stuck on top of a volcano while it was raining and thundering (lightning!). We stayed there for a while and then decided to 'rebrousser chemin'. So at this point we were wet and decided to leave and go to the hotel. It took us a while to go home and let's just say that the warm/hot water was pretty useful! I slept with my tuque and a scarf cuz the place was freezing and my body too!
Then, the Monday, Jan 30th, we went our separate ways. We took the public transport and man was it crowded! I think that a vehicle a little bit bigger than a van had 20-25 people. It was crowded but fun. We really got to see the scenery since we didn't on our way to Bromo. Arrived at the station, someone was there to show me the way to the bus to go to Malang. He asked for 55,000IDR. WHAT!!!!!!!! I took a A/C bus for 17,000 and u want me to take a shitty bus with NO A/C for 55,000IDR???? Is loser written on my forehead? Anyways, that was my first encounter with negotiation! (I used to hate it!) I somehow managed to pay 30,000IDR, but I KNOW I got ripped off. I felt disappointed, but whatever, I am on the bus, right! I am going to be a bit more aggressive in my next negotiation encounters! :)
YD gave/lend me a book: The Da Vinci Code....Too bad I didn't get a chance to read Angles and Demons before, but MAN it is good. Like we say in French, 'je l'ai devore!'. I have almost 100 pages to go and it is hard to teach knowing I have a great book in my bag...hehehe! I read a good chunk in the bus and I am finishing it soon!
Anyways, Bromo was great but I hope I'll be able to go once more to see it better! :)
Arrived in Probolinggo, it was night time. There was a dude there greeting tourists. So we decide to go on a tour with a Jeep, leaving the hotel at 4am. We then decide to take the private transport to reach the hotels. So we saw one, Cemara Inday Hotel. It was night so we couldn't see how the landscape looked like. We took a look at different places and finally decided to stay at Cemara Indah. They had a room with 2 rooms, one foot between and that is it. Being a girl, I wanted hot water, the reason being that it was really cold up here too (ok, not as cold as I am used to, but cold in terms of Indonesian weather!), and YD wanted his throne...hahaha!!!! So we both decided to take a better room. We got what we wanted...Of course more expensive due to the touristic area, but whatever! Then, we had to hurry to grab food at the restaurant before they closed, but we chilled until 11pm, and then decide to go to bed.
Waking up at 3:20am. We (2 English girls, 2 French girls and 1 American girl, YD and me) left for the PHKA Post in a Jeep. There were lotsa other jeeps and people walking too! Anyways, got at the post and everyone tries to sell you something, of course! But we went to the post and waited...it was like a comfortable autumn day! Anyways, DISAPPOINTMENT! We didn't see ANYTHING from the top. I took a picture just for fun and it is like you stand before a white wall...too much fog! Here is how it looked like:
Disappointed, we took the jeep back down to go to Bromo, the crater! The whole area was a volcanic area!!!! And then, there it was! BEAUTIFUL cone shaped mini-volcanoes!!!! The Austrian girls mentioned to me that they look like plum pudding cones...hehehe!
Further we went with the Jeep and to Bromo. It was an active volcano. We could have taken the easy way and went up with a horse. A lot of people did that, but we used our legs...need exercise with all the fried food I eat!!!! :S Anyways, halfway, we had to climb 253 stairs! Once you reach the last 10 stairs at the top, it hits you. Sulfur fumes! The volcano is active and it is mainly sulfur. It hurts the lungs, the eyes, the skin and there is less air. The mountain is only about 2,300 meters, but still! The view was gorgeous and really worth climbing up there. (I'll post pics soon!) Then we left to go back to the hotel. The view from the hotel was AWESOME. Of course not from our room, but still. You could see all the mountains, or almost! We had breakfast with the girls and we went to bed. It was like 8/8:30am at this point!
I met the American and English girls at noonish, while YD was still sleeping. We talked and decided to grab food. The English girls had been travelling for a couple of months now, going to India and in Asia. They were all heading to Bali, incl. YD. They made good use of my lonely planet. :) After food, we went back to the hotel.
At 2pm, YD and myself decided to go atop Bromo once again and walk around the edge of the crater and go to the mountain between Bromo and Batok...Our own little adventure! You'll see in the picture. It was really cool. Halfway around, it started to rain...then poured. Imagine this: stuck on top of a volcano while it was raining and thundering (lightning!). We stayed there for a while and then decided to 'rebrousser chemin'. So at this point we were wet and decided to leave and go to the hotel. It took us a while to go home and let's just say that the warm/hot water was pretty useful! I slept with my tuque and a scarf cuz the place was freezing and my body too!
Then, the Monday, Jan 30th, we went our separate ways. We took the public transport and man was it crowded! I think that a vehicle a little bit bigger than a van had 20-25 people. It was crowded but fun. We really got to see the scenery since we didn't on our way to Bromo. Arrived at the station, someone was there to show me the way to the bus to go to Malang. He asked for 55,000IDR. WHAT!!!!!!!! I took a A/C bus for 17,000 and u want me to take a shitty bus with NO A/C for 55,000IDR???? Is loser written on my forehead? Anyways, that was my first encounter with negotiation! (I used to hate it!) I somehow managed to pay 30,000IDR, but I KNOW I got ripped off. I felt disappointed, but whatever, I am on the bus, right! I am going to be a bit more aggressive in my next negotiation encounters! :)
YD gave/lend me a book: The Da Vinci Code....Too bad I didn't get a chance to read Angles and Demons before, but MAN it is good. Like we say in French, 'je l'ai devore!'. I have almost 100 pages to go and it is hard to teach knowing I have a great book in my bag...hehehe! I read a good chunk in the bus and I am finishing it soon!
Anyways, Bromo was great but I hope I'll be able to go once more to see it better! :)
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