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| new photos |
| 05.30.04 (12:58 am) [edit] |
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I added a photo of the elevator air freshners in Indonesia which was the topic of my May 11 entry scroll down if your interested. Also I have noticed that sometimes quotation marks sometimes turn into question marks. If I fix it once by editing the entry it seems to be OK but then it might revert back to question marks later?? I don't know why.
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| love fest |
| 05.29.04 (11:40 pm) [edit] |
Lovefest! My wife and kids came and we had a love fest together. After some delays and tears over whether they should come or not, they arrived Wednesday and stayed one week. It was so nice to see them all. From the moment they arrived it felt special, probably because of the earlier problems.
I had the maid ready and waiting with dinner when we arrived back from the airport. Thursday was spent at a safari park outside Jakarta which was so great. So many tigers and other big cats. The boys and I even had our photo taken with a leopard while it was sitting on our laps. The orangutans were great. They just walk around in certain parts of the park and you can go up and shake their hands. They are so affectionate. They put their arms around us and seemed so comfortable just sitting there holding our hands. We patted pythons and elephants, rode camels and watched a tiger and lion show.
Friday morning we went to check out an international school. It was good but my wife thought it was too Indian. I then went to work but had lunch with my family and Japanese woman who has lived here for 7 years and so she able to tell my wife all about life here. My wife felt more at ease about things like the children getting sick etc. after that.
Friday afternoon my wife went shopping and then we had a dinner date just the two of us at a traditional performance restaurant. We were the only customers there and there were about 8 performers, 5 waiters and obviously a number people cooking just for us. The show was good. The funniest part was when they did short versions of different types of music from around Indonesia. They started with Bali. It was quiet as the musicians got ready and then all of a sudden there was a rain of crashing, banging and hitting. It was so loud and chaotic. There was a sense behind it I think, but a sense of what I’m not sure. It went for 10 seconds. 10 full seconds of full sound, then suddenly stopped dead, followed by “That was music from Bali” in a most somber voice. My wife and just looked at each other and burst out laughing. We lost it for a while. We were like “What the fuck was that!” The music came and went in a flash. We tried to control our giggles to be polite to the performers who were very much focused on their only audience and trying very hard, but it was tough for us to stifle our laughter. We calmed down a little by the time the next music started. Thankfully it went on for a few minutes this time and was more subdued otherwise we would have been on the floor throwing up our gado-gado from laughing too much.
Saturday was spent by the pool here. Saturday night we went to a dinner for work. A group of donors from an international women’s charity organization were coming to Japan to meet their Jakarta counterparts and we were invited for a friendship signing dinner. So my wife and I went to that and left the boys watching the Cat in the Hat VCD on the computer with the maid and my Indonesian teacher who speaks English.
Saturday we all went to a town outside of Jakarta in mini-bus, which I had organized with the Japanese women and some of their Indonesian counterparts. We went to a tea plantation and had a tea factory tour with an English guide and me interpreting into Japanese. The there was tea tasting and souvenir buying. It was chaotic. There were 6 Japanese women. They bought between about 100 big boxes of tea. 100!! The only reason they didn’t buy more was because the tea plantation ran out of stock!!! This is like a 100-acre tea plantation. It’s huge and it ran out stock. One lady bought 40 boxes. They also bought hats, honey, toys, paintings, and postcards from the various vendors hanging around like hyenas around a lion kill. I was interpreting Japanese/English/Indonesi an (badly). I didn’t even get to taste any tea!!
Then we were off to lunch at a mountain pass restaurant that was great. Good food, nice décor, and clean enough for the Japanese women. There were no incidents here except to say it was good. Then to a local orphanage where we had arranged sewing machines, mattresses and a chicken-raising program with money they had donated. It was good see everyone happy. The Japanese women gave them t-shirts, towels and bags they had brought from Japan and the orphans showed what they had learnt in the last week with the sewing machines. When we said goodbye, there were a few teary eyes which always nice too see.
Monday and Tuesday we all went to an Island of the coast from Jakarta. It was fantastic. There are hundreds of Islands off the coast of Jakarta and they are popular with tourists. Some are very developed but we chose one that still had jungle, only simple accommodation and good snorkeling. Our hut didn’t have walls and was located in an isolated corner of the island set a little back from the beach surrounded by jungle. It was spacious and looked beautiful. All meals were included and we didn’t have to do anything. We all went snorkeling together including my 2 yo. He had a ring float around him and a pair of goggles. He has always loved the water and so was soon sticking his head under the water to look at the fish. It was so nice to be swimming around the tropical water looking at the coral and fish as a family. The coral was badly damaged and there was rubbish here and there but it was still beautiful and we had a great time. There were well-maintained walking tracks criss-crossing the island which helped to explore the island under the captaincy of boy no. 1 who directed us on how to find the deer on the island. There were only 3 small deer on the island and we didn’t see any in the end, but he had a great time being captain. There were big lizards also, like goannas in Australia, all over the island. We saw plenty of them. Tuesday night back in Jakarta my wife and played tennis while the boys watched Mr. Bean on VCD. It was the first time for the boys to see Mr. Bean and they were both nearly wetting their pants they were laughing so much. We can back from tennis and watched the last part with them and soon we were all laughing together.
Then it was Wednesday. I went to work and my wife went shopping. I came home early and then we went swimming one last time, had dinner at the poolside restaurant and then went to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye but I felt so happy that we able to come if only for week. It made me feel so much different and gave me strength to work hard over the next couple of months to do a good job and then bring them over here to live. It was really a week when I felt my life is blessed. Thank you universe.:D
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The pool which we all enjoyed
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The view from the office window. Certainly a long way from Afghanistan!
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| hisashiburi ni |
| 05.16.04 (2:02 am) [edit] |
最近全& #28982;日本&# 35486;でブ 2525;グし 390;いな{ 56;のでߡ 0;日久し ;ぶりに 日本語& #12391;書く&# 12290;イン 2489;ネシ 450;ではĄ 85;本語ӗ 1;話す機 ;会はあ まりな& #12356;。本&# 37096;と日 6412;語で 424;くメ} 40;ルでӚ 0;り取り ;してい るが、& #38651;話で&# 35441;す機 0250;は少 394;い。
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僕が一& #20154;でガ&# 12513;ラン 2434;聞い 390;いた{ 92;思っӗ 0;いたが ;、振り 返った& #12425;、そ&# 12398;日本 0154;も聞 356;てい{ 83;。こӓ 8;いうこ ;とを普 通にあ& #12414;りし&# 12394;いが 2289;地球 398;歩きĄ 41;で働ӓ 6;ている ;かどう か聞き& #12383;かっ&# 12383;ので 2289;勇気 434;出し{ 90;彼にࣤ 8;をかけ ;た。や はり、& #22320;球の&# 27497;き方 2391;働き 289;今来ñ 80;度に࠲ 6;版され ;るイン ドネシ& #12450;のガ&# 12452;ドブ 2483;クの 383;めのţ 19;査をඡ 2;ってい ;た。結 局、２& #26178;間ぐ&# 12425;い話 2375;てい 390;、や{ 87;ぱりӌ 9;結構面 ;白い仕 事だな& #12354;と思&# 12387;た。 1069;原さ 435;とい{ 58;方だӔ 9;ど、フ ;リーラ ンスの& #12488;ラベ&# 12523;ライ 2479;ーで 320;球のĒ 97;き方Ӗ 4;けでは ;なく、 いろい& #12429;なガ&# 12452;ドブ 2483;クや 488;ラベ} 23;情報ӗ 8;出版物 ;のため に働い& #12390;いる&# 12290;ほと 2435;ど世 028;中をÞ 38;ってӓ 6;るが、 ;一番好 きなと& #12371;ろは&# 12450;ジア 2289;特に 452;ンド| 93;シアӖ 4;そうだ ;。なぜ インド& #12493;シア&# 12364;すき 2394;のか 392;聞い{ 83;ら、ਵ 2;の日本 ;の田舎 の風景& #12364;多い&# 12363;らだ 2392;答え 383;。僕{ 99;インӠ 9;ネシア ;での経 験はま& #12384;まだ&# 27973;いが 2289;それ 434;聞い{ 83;ら、ӎ 0;なるほ ;ど」と 無意識& #12395;考え&# 12383;。凧 5562;げを 375;たりz 89;おもӖ 5;ゃなし ;での外 遊びし& #12383;り、&# 33258;由に 6208;りま 431;った| 26;する 3;水が垂 ;れてい る子供& #12383;ちが&# 26412;当に 7963;気で 322;れ、Ð 03;気よӔ 7;生きて ;いる風 景がイ& #12531;ドネ&# 12471;アで 2424;く見 427;。
翌日の& #37329;曜日&# 12395;中央 2472;ャワ 798;の超Ĭ 00;舎のਬ 1;に行っ ;た時、 おばあ& #12373;ん達&# 12434;イン 2479;ビュ 540;したz 90;家はࡣ 6;い日本 ;の農家 みたい& #12394;もの&# 12391;、皆 2399;素朴 395;生活{ 75;ていӚ 7;なあと ;思った 。農家& #12392;言っ&# 12390;も、 0170;まだ 085;本にē 31;ってӓ 6;る立派 ;な農家 ではな& #12367;、お&# 12400;あさ 2435;達の$ 786;家はë 67;さくӗ 0;、土間 ;しかな い、板& #12391;でき&# 12383;壁に 2399;隙間 364;いっ| 01;いあӚ 6;、昔の ;貧しい 日本の& #12424;うな&# 39080;景だ 2387;た。% 329;銭的{ 95;そのӔ 2;ばあさ ;ん達は 貧しく& #12390;いろ&# 12356;ろな 4847;味で 983;活がä 23;変だӔ 4;、心が ;温かく て、僕& #12383;ちを&# 27475;迎し 2390;くれ 383;。飲| 15;物や 8;家製お ;菓子を 出し、& #29105;心に&# 12452;ンド 2493;シア# 486;で「{ 93;こかӚ 5;来たの ;」や「 何か食& #12409;るの&# 12301;とい 2358;典型 340;なイ} 31;ドネӟ 1;アでの ;挨拶を してく& #12428;た。&# 30342;と握 5163;し、 163;を心{ 95;付けӗ 0;「どぞ ;どぞお 入りく& #12384;さい&# 12301;とニ 2467;ニコ 375;なが| 25;、僕Ӗ 3;ちを迎 ;えた。
もちろ& #12435;現代&# 12398;日本 2395;はそ 398;よう{ 94;暖かӓ 6;歓迎が ;まだあ るが少& #12394;くな&# 12387;てい 2427;とい 358;気が{ 77;る。ਰ 5;本が豊 ;かにな り、お& #23458;さん&# 12395;お菓 3376;を出 377;のはô 03;たり࠺ 9;のこと ;になっ た。こ& #12371;でも&# 12354;る意 1619;で当 383;り前{ 84;が、Ӕ 2;菓子の ;高級さ よりも& #12289;感じ&# 12425;れる 2398;はど 398;ぐら{ 56;その 8;家製の ;お菓子 に心が& #36796;めて&# 12356;るの 2363;とい 358;こと{ 84;。貧ӕ 5;いのに ;心から うれし& #12367;他人&# 12434;迎え 2427;人は 371;の国z 89;特にஸ 0;舎に多 ;いと思 います& #12290;飲み&# 29289;やお 3747;子を 986;して{ 63;ら、࠶ 9;の部屋 ;に行っ て晴れ& #30528;に着&# 26367;えた 2290;夫は 429;うけ{ 88;染めӗ 8;シャツ ;、妻は 鮮やか& #12394;ドレ&# 12473;に着 6367;えた 290;確か{ 95;プラӝ 2;ドが高 ;いが、 それは& #12356;いこ&# 12392;だと 4605;う。
６月に& #65299;週間&# 31243;度、 9694;地調 619;を行{ 58;予定Ӕ 4;ある。 ;ほとん ど田舎& #12391;人と&# 35441;し会 2387;たり 289;情報Ö 54;集しӖ 3;り、車 ;で移動 したり& #12377;ると&# 24605;う。 2381;の機 250;でさ| 25;にイӥ 1;ドネシ ;アを知 るよう& #12395;なれ&# 12400;、い 2356;なあ 392;希望{ 75;ていӚ 7;。 :D
この下& #12398;はガ&# 12513;ラン 2398;パフ 457;ーマ} 31;スだӔ 4;ちょっ ;と暗い 。ごめ& #12435;！
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この下& #12398;は出&# 24373;から 2398;写真 391;す。Ď 05;しんӗ 1;くださ ;い。
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| photos |
| 05.15.04 (8:23 am) [edit] |
Well I finally put in some effort to work out the photobucket thing and it was surprisingly easy. Just cut and paste the tag. Anyway I will add some photos to previous entries. For the moment here is me in Afghanistan with a beard. It is the only time I'va had a beard. But it looks OK I reckon! :P
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| corrupt! |
| 05.15.04 (7:13 am) [edit] |
Corruption is so rife here in Indonesia. It is embedded in the official system so much that there is only a fine line between bribes and official fees. It is common and accepted practice. Let me give you a few examples.
As a foreigner working here in this highly bureaucratic government centric society I must gain obtain various permits for working, residency, travel to hotspots etc. I must register with several related government departments and fill in almost endless paperwork. To have this paper work processed I sometimes have to pay two sets of fees usually. One is the official fee for which I receive an official receipt on nicely itemized and printed paper. The other type of fees I pay are called "commission". This is unofficial fee.
Or maybe semi-official would be a better description. "Semi" because it is almost common practice across some government departments. Some will even sign a receipt for you for your own accounting purposes. In Indonesia many small shops and taxis etc. don't have their own receipts so what many companies and organizations do, including us, is to have our own receipt books which we fill in ourselves and then get the taxi driver or shop keeper to sign. Obviously, it is open to abuse (Though we are honest! Really!). Anyway, the government bureaucrats are usually willing to sign one these unofficial receipts are the name of "commission" even if it is a blatant bribe. Some don't really sign but just scibble something so that they can't be identified but it is still valid for accounting purposes for us. The unofficial receipts are accepted by professional accountants and auditors. Bribery is part of the system.
Another crazy thing is the level of organization of the bribery. For example, if I have to pay a "commission" of 200,000 rupiah ($25) and I bring in two Rp100,000 notes they won't accept it. I have to bring in four Rp.50,000 notes so the four top officials in on the scam (even saying "in on the scam" isn't right because it is no secret) can split it evenly without having to worry about breaking the notes. They don't like giving change either. They want their bribes made easy. The rate of the bribes and the number of officials on the recipient list is set though it varies from department to department and depends on the type of permission sought. You can ring up and enquire to the relevant bureaucrat.
So what happens if you refuse to pay "commission"? Your application gets lost or just gets stuck in the system for months. I am pretty sure that nearly all foreign companies and organizations (no matter how high minded some NGOs maybe??!!) pay these commissions. I wonder if Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other strongly anti-corruption organizations pay? If anyone knows please tell me.
Granted that government workers don't get paid much, but some of them don't work much either and have almost 100% job security for life. The other day I went to the State Secretariat. Something like the Ministry for the Interior or Home Affairs. Anyway, there are about 100 blue government buses in the car park. Because Jakarta is so huge and congested these buses chug around arriving at the office about 10am. People work for a couple of hours, have lunch for an hour and then the buses leave again at about 3pm. Tough life! NOT!
Even though the corporate sector pays much better it is still a great honor for parents to have their children working as a public servant. (You really have to question the use of the word "public servant" in situations like this as not all of them are serving the public) It is secure, easy, guaranteed of regular promotion regardless of ability, and there is a great retirement package to look forward too. Not a bad life. :?
Below is a uncorrupt Indonesian. The majority of Indonesians are uncorrupt. The owner of this great smile is a woman from Central Java I was interviewing for monitoring a project we are supporting.
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| Air Fresheners in Indonesia |
| 05.10.04 (7:04 am) [edit] |
Indonesians love air fresheners. And I?m not talking aromatherapy here. They like typical cheap ?natural & fresh lemon zinger? fragrance type fresheners that you would expect to find in granny?s outback dunny. But they don?t just put these overwhelmingly strong fresheners in toilets but in all sorts on small confined areas so the smell can overwhelm your senses like in elevators. Almost any elevator in a modern building in Jakarta has a special freshener dispenser stuck on the wall made by a reputable company. You can tell when the dispenser has been renewed because it is difficult to breath. I have asked several Indonesians about this phenomenon and they all like it saying it smells natural. Natural!! What a load of shit! Maybe because they live in Jakarta they have lost touch with nature. :?
Maybe Indonesians fart a lot in elevators and the fresheners are there to save face and lungs. They must be really smelly farts to have to use so much freshener. If this new theory is correct then I can probably put with ?natural & fresh lemon zinger? rather than be exposed to what is supposed to be masking. Long live natural & fresh lemon zinger. :lol:
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An elevator air freshner!!!! beware!!
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| Not much |
| 05.07.04 (4:31 am) [edit] |
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I have sent so many emails today. Here I am working in a far away, so would exotic land, and I am just sending emails all day. Well, at least it is Friday and I have some adventures planned for the weekend. On Sunday on going on half a business and half a pleasure trip to the mountains to see aome botanical gardens and volcanos. I ahve to go to the Embassy on Monday afternoon. I feel a bit nervous for some reason but I shouldn't. Well at least I think I shouldn't. That's it. 8)
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| Funny experiences |
| 05.05.04 (4:45 am) [edit] |
Well the weekend was a long one but I got sick again with diarrhea. But Ive had some funny experiences in the last couple of days and one is related to the diarrhea! But first the gay encounter.
On Sunday, after a major bout of diarrhea I went for a walk to the national monument or Monas as it is called here. The monument is surrounded by extensive open grounds and a scattering of trees. It is a huge space in the center of the city but theres not enough trees. Anyway, the trees have nothing to do with the story. So after walking around for a while I sat down on a bench and this local guy comes up and says hello as Indonesians like to do. I said hello back and he started talking to me in broken English and some Bahasa. We talk about my wife and kids, work, weather, just stuff. After a while he says he likes me. Mmmmmm, I think. So I ask him what does like mean. So he says he likes me with a big grin. So just to confirm (my gaydar is about as sharp as a bowling ball!) I say you mean as a friend or what and hes like No I like to touch you. Oh I say. But I just told you I am married with 2 children and hes like it doesnt matter, lots of people are like this even if they are married. Lots??!!
So anyway after he gets the idea that he is not getting down my pants, we start talking about gay life in Jakarta. All the places to find gays, the websites, his experience with some English guy (who was apparently married to a woman) who paid him $100 which he used to pay university fees, his future (he wants to get married but doubts whether he can give up the gay life), gaydar (I dont know if this is Australian slang or not but it is the ability to know if a person is gay or not just by looking at them or talking to them) and more. I asked him why he approached me and he said he thought I might be gay. Well I laughed and thought well gays are supposed to be more fashionable and stylish so it could be considered a compliment to be thought of as gay maybe. Anyway, he wanted my contact details which I refused saying clearly but laughingly why. He finally gave me his phone number and told me to introduce him to my gay foreigner friends in Jakarta despite my pointing out that I have no gay friends anywhere in the world. I think Ive already lost his number. It was a funny experience.:D
Story number 2 is that after the come back of my horror diarrhea I went to the doctor Tuesday morning. The clinic I went to is in the building that the office is in and is aimed at Japanese. Many of the offices in this building are Japanese companies. So I go there and everyone is Indonesian but speaking Japanese from the receptionist to the nurses to the doctor. Im like what parallel universe is this? I ask the doctor (in Japanese) if Japanese or English is better and of course he says Japanese. So I talk to him, describing my symptoms and answering his questions in Japanese.
His Japanese was great. Although he and most of nurses had an Indonesian intonation, the grammar and specialized words were spot on. But it wasnt just the language that made the experience Japanese-ish. There were Japanese newspapers (just yesterdays) on the coffee table and the medicine bags had instructions only in Japanese.
Anyway so they made me poo in a plastic bottle the size of a film canister (They really should provide instructions on how to poo with such accuracy especially if you have watery diarrhea. Maybe I could have asked the doctor to hold the canister under my ring and just tell him when the explosion of liquid diarrhea was about to be unleashed with force of a fire hose. The scene would be so ugly. Just imagine shooting a fire hose into a film canister and you can get the image). Anyway in the end I somehow managed. Then they decided to put me on a drip. This is common practice in Japanese hospitals for everything from colds to feeling tired. Put on a drip and get some nutrition into em they say. So I lay there for one and a half hours taking in this pink liquid (later I did my first pink pee ever!) and then the doctor gives me 6 different kinds of medicine. Japanese doctors love giving medicine because they get a cut from the pharmaceutical companies for all the prescriptions they give. I dont know the system here but this guy had the whole Japanese doctor thing down. I then got the bill. It was about US$90. A nice Japanese price! Im glad the insurance will be paying because thats a lot of money for some diarrhea. :shock:
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