Fall Break October 2014

My parents came to visit me in Arizona over my 4 day weekend (Fall Break) in earlier this month (October) since I hadn't seen them since last February. We did a lot while they were here. They arrived Thursday about the time I got done with school, so I introduced them to fellow staff. Then, we went and dropped some of their stuff off and they got to see my new place. After that we went downtown to Beale Street Gallery, so that I could show them some art and where I bought a couple of their gifts. After that we went to Boston Antiques and looked around. I have gotten some awesome antique oriental furniture from Boston Antiques, so I wanted to show them that place. On Friday morning we got up and I took them out to Colbaugh Processing, so they could see the showroom of the local Turquoise mine. They also have some other neat gemstone beads. After that we headed towards Flagstaff. We stopped in Seligman and Williams and did some looking around.
We didn't travel up to the Grand Canyon from there because by that time it was late afternoon. We did check out the train ride information to maybe do on a future visit. My dad made us a hotel reservation at Twin Arrows Casino and resort because he thought it was up by the Grand Canyon, but it was actually past Flagstaff and on the corner of the Indian Reservation. We don't gamble, but it was still a really nice hotel. We ate there for dinner. The next morning, Saturday, we got up and drove down to Sedona. On the way into Sedona we stopped at the Native American roadside stands as a friend recommended we do that. They had lots of different things to sell. Then we continued down into Sedona. They were having an art festival at the high school, so we went to that. They had lots and lots of booths and lots of great art. I enjoyed just walking around and admiring it all. Next we went to one of the vortexes.

Amitabha Stupa

Sedona has a few, but my Mom's knee was bothering her, so I didn't want to do one that was going to be a super long hike. So, we went to the Amitabha Stupa. It was pretty awesome after having lived in Asia to see a stupa in the United States. It was pretty easy to get to and we stayed for a little while. I think I would have liked to have stayed longer but it was hot out and so we probably only stayed half an hour. I definitely want to go back though. After that we drove down through Cottonwood and Camp Verde. I wanted to stop at Montezuma Castle and Well, but by the time we got down there they were both closed for the day. We decided to just drive back up to Flagstaff where we were staying. We ate dinner at Salsa Brava. I had blackened Salmon fish tacos with mango salsa. So delicious. It was worth the wait. On Sunday we got up and drove up to the Grand Canyon. My parents were last there in 1976 on their honeymoon. It was my first time going there. We stopped in Cameron, Arizona as I have a brother named Cameron. We stopped at the Cameron Trading Post. I got my brother a postcard and I wanted to mail it to him from the Cameron post office, but since it was Sunday they were closed and I had no way to get any stamps. I was kind of bummed about that. I took a picture of my parents in front of the Cameron, Arizona post office.

Cameron Trading Post 

After that we drove over to the Grand Canyon and stopped at lots of spots along the way to look down into the Canyon. We did go to the Mary Coulter, Desertview Watchtower. We went up into the tower and were able to look way down into the Canyon and way into the distance. We didn't do everything there was to do as there was more than we could do in one day, but we made notes of things that we would like to do the next time we go to the Grand Canyon.  We also stopped at the Tusayan museum and ruins. My dad really wanted to stop there and look around. We drove down through Tusayan (the town) and stopped at the IMAX to watch a film on the mysteries of the Grand Canyon.

It was very enjoyable. We ate at a pizza and pasta place before driving back to Flagstaff. On the way back it was dark out and my dad was driving. We saw a huge elk that was thinking about crossing the road. My dad still has good reflexes and neither the elk or us was hurt. On Monday morning we got up and did a little bit of looking around Flagstaff. There was a photographer I met about 5 years ago at an art festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He now has a studio in Flagstaff, so I went to visit his studio. Shane Knight has a great gallery. He has this one photograph of the Tetons that I hope someday I have enough money to buy. The Tetons are very special to me and it is the only photograph that has really stood out to me enough that I would like to have it. We ate lunch at Cuvee 928. It was a delicious lunch and I was full enough that I didn't have room for Cold Stone. After that we headed back towards the Grand Canyon Caverns and took a tour. I was there last January and really enjoyed it. I thought my parents would like to go and they did. After that we headed back to my place because I had to get groceries and some things ready for the next day since I had to go back to work. It was an enjoyable trip and I am glad I got to see and spend some time with my parents.

Grand Canyon West 26th Anniversary

Eagle Point 

I was invited to go to the 26^th Anniversary celebration of Grand Canyon West. It was Saturday April 26, 2014. I went with another co-worker and then we met up with another co-worker, her husband, their daughter and a nephew. It was raining on the way up and then snowing when we got up there. I had gotten out a sweatshirt, but then left it thinking that I was taking too much stuff with my rain/wind jacket and hat. I ended up buying a sweatshirt at the gift shop there because it was too cold for just my light jacket. After I did that we went and got in line to take the bus to the Skywalk. My co-workers husband picked up the shirt they were giving out to everyone for each of us. We rode the bus to the Skywalk and Eagle Point. We took pictures of the Eagle in the rock, why it is named Eagle Point and looking down into the canyon.It was kind of scary because this little kid was running around with no parents around and we were afraid she was going to take too big of a risk and fall. We walked around and looked at the different examples of houses: teepees, and huts. After that the co-worker, that I rode up with and I got in line for the Skywalk. I am not afraid of heights, but am afraid of falling, so I thought being up on the Skywalk where I could look down below me would make me freak me out.

Skywalk

We aren’t allowed to take cameras or cell phones up there. They say that it is to preserve the glass by preventing those items being dropped on it. We had to put all of our stuff in the complementary lockers. It was a long line, but the wait wasn’t too bad. Fog started coming in while we were waiting. Once we got up there we could see that they had rugs laid on the one side to walk on so that people wouldn’t slip and fall on the glass since it had been raining and snowing. I actually wasn’t afraid at all. There was a photographer assigned to our group to take pictures, so we would walk a little bit and then he would stop us to take pictures. You don’t really get to spend a long time up there but kind of get herded along. After that we went back into the main building to look at our pictures and decide which ones we wanted to purchase. Since we had these purple wristbands it was not as expensive as normal, which was a good thing for me since I didn’t have much money to spend. I was able to get three pictures. I got one by myself, a nice one of my co-worker and I and a silly one of the two of us. After that we went through the line and got the free lunch, another deal with the purple bands. They were doing a presentation for the Anniversary. It was a nice and informative presentation. After that we went to look for our other co-worker and her family but we couldn’t find them and the cell service was non-existent. So, we hopped on the bus and went to the next point, Guano point, and walked out a ways almost to the historic tram and looked there. The sun was starting to come out so we decided to head back to see if we could get the helicopter ride. We rode the bus back to the starting point and went and got tickets for the helicopter and boat ride. It was also discounted because of the purple wristbands, which was nice because I definitely would not have been able to afford it otherwise. The timing was perfect and we didn’t have to wait at all. I was a little nervous since it was windy. I hate turbulence in planes and so wasn’t sure how I would handle being in a helicopter.

 When we took off I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to laugh or cry. I really enjoy it though and loved getting to see out of the helicopter. We flew to the bottom and took a short boat ride up and down the Colorado River. Then we ended up having to wait for awhile until the helicopter came back, but I didn’t mind as I was thoroughly enjoying being there. After that we flew back up and got in the vehicle and headed back to down. We went out to sushi for dinner and one of the choices I had was the Grand Canyon roll, as I thought it was fitting. It was a great day and I am glad I had the opportunity to go.

A Ghost town, A hot air balloon festival and caverns

Over Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend, I started working on exploring Arizona. First on Sunday we went to Oatman, a ghost town, on Route 66. It is advertised as the ghost town that won't die. It kind of reminds me of Keystone in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It has a main street and little shops all up and down the street. We pretty much went in every shop and looked around. There were lots of donkeys that are loose on the street. People take pictures with them and feed them food. I am not really sure why there are all these donkeys. Oatman is located on Route 66. After that we drove to Lake Havasu. They were having a hot air balloon festival. We saw the London Bridge and actually drove over to it. I was so not impressed. I thought it would be much more elaborate. We also walked under the bridge and along the river down to a park. We were trying to figure out where the hot air balloons were because we couldn't see them. We ended up getting back in the vehicle and driving a little bit before we got to the place and then we had to walk a long way to get to the place where they were. There was also a band that was playing and lots of food and vendors selling different things. When the sun started going down the balloons started landing and some they inflated again. When it got dark they had the glow event. We were able to stand in the middle and watch the balloons light up. Sometimes they flickered, sometimes they went in time to music and other times they did full on blasts. It was so awesome. We were surrounded by these huge hot air balloons and just watching them light up was awesome. We eventually left after watching for a long time and they were still going when we left.

On Monday we went to the Grand Canyons Caverns. It was awesome. There were no stalagmites and stalactites. The crystals weren't as impressive as in some of the caverns I've seen in South Dakota but it was still interesting. I liked learning the history of the caverns. It is a dry cavern 220 feet below the earth's surface. There aren't many dry caverns in the world. The guy who discovered the caverns thought that he had discovered a mine that had silver, gold and diamonds all together but after it was tested found out it was just crystals. After that he started setting up tours for $00.25. The person was given a lantern and lowered into the cavern by hanging onto a rope. This is where the saying "dope on a rope" originated. Later he had a swinging  bridge and stairs that people used for $00.50. The humidity is only 3%down there. At one time they were trying to figure out where the air was coming from, so they released red smoke and waited up top to see where it came out. Two weeks later they got a call from people that work at the Grand Canyon saying that red smoke was coming out of the walls. That is why they changed the name to Grand Canyon Caverns.

There is a mummified bobcat in the cavern. She had fallen down the hole and broken her hip but still tried to get out. Since there is so little moisture down there and nothing grows she ended up mummifying and they left her down there for people to see. They also have a replica of a huge sloth that also fell down the hole and tried to get out. One can still see the claw marks that she made. She broke her back. They removed her to investigate what happened to her so she didn't mummify, but they wanted a replica made so people could see how huge she was. There have been some people that have gotten married down in the cavern. They also have a suite set up so people can stay the night there. They have a band stage and they used to have concerts down there and said they plan to start again. It is also set up as a shelter. They set it up as a shelter during the Cuban missile crisis. They still have supplies there and could still use it as a shelter but because the population of the near-by towns have grown they wouldn't be able to accommodate everyone like they used to be able to do.  We had a great tour guide and he was very informative and funny.

Bali

Sanur beach behind hotel 

I have been putting off going to Bali for a variety of reasons, but decided I better go soon so that I didn't put it off too long and never go. Especially since I am living in Indonesia and it is so close. It is less than an hour flight from where I live and it would be silly to not go while I am so close.

Temple at hotel 

We had Thursday and Friday off May 9 and 10, 2013. Thursday was a religious holiday and Friday was mid-term break. I went with a few friends and one of my friend's birthday was that Saturday. They moved our flight to 6:00 a.m. on Thursday morning so I had to leave my house by 4 a.m. to get to the airport in time.  I have never flown to any other places in Indonesia so it was interesting. The flight didn't actually leave at 6. We went through the boarding gate and then walked down these steps and outside and had to wait for a bus to come get us and drive us to the airplane. We had booked our tickets through a travel agent instead of the internet and their English was very limited. (I would have preferred the internet, but one of the other people wanted to do it this way.) So, I thought we had booked seats at the front, but we had to sit in the second to last row from the back. The back is my least favorite place to get sit because I get sick easily at the back of planes and I didn't feel that good having gotten up at 2:30 in the morning.

ARMA

Luckily the flight was very smooth and I felt fine when we landed. We also didn't crash which was good, because the day we had booked our flights a plane and overshot the runway and crashed into the ocean. We stayed in Sanur. We got to the hotel and only my room was ready because it was like 8:30 a.m. and check in wasn't actually until 2 p.m.We dropped everything off in my room and my roommate decided to take a nap while the rest of us went to get some food to eat.

After getting some food I went back to take a nap while others went to swim or take a nap. I slept for about an hour and then went up and down the beach looking at the different stalls and buying some gifts to take back with me. Once I got back my roommmate was finally up from sleeping so we walked down the beach for dinner while the other three people went to dinner. (There had been a bit of a problem between two of the people, so we had to split up most of the time.) My roommate and I walked quite a ways down the beach at at at Minami and had Sushi. After that we looked at some of the shops. I bought postcards to send to people. Then we went and sat on the beach. I like to sit on the beach at night to look at the stars and clouds and listen to the waves. We sat out for quite awhile and then we went back to the room. I went looking for ice cream while my roommate when to bed.

Friday morning we got up and three of us went to Ubud for the day while the other two went to the water park. First we went to ARMA (Agung Rai Museum of Art)  musuem and resort. The art did not really appeal to me ( a few pieces were ok), but I loved the buildings and the grounds. It was very beautiful there. After we had lunch there we went to the Monkey forest. I think monkeys are cute, but the people weren't very nice to the monkeys and I definitely didn't want them to climb on me or take any of my stuff.

Charlie

 Luckily they left me alone. After that we walked to the center of town and looked at as many shops as we could. We spent lots of time going back and forth because we would see something but want to think about it and then walk back if we decided we wanted to buy it. We didn't get very far up the street. We went to dinner at the Three Monkeys restaurant. Before we got to the restaurant we stopped by this Inn that has a fruit bat that lives there. His name is Charlie. My friend had stayed at that place before and had seen him. Supposedly he has something wrong with him, but he seems content to live there and people don't bother him. He does leave to go hunting and to fly but always comes back. At the Three Monkeys restaurant, I had an interesting pizza. It was caramelized onions, blue cheese and dried figs. It was ok, but I am glad I tried it. After dinner we walked to this one spot to watch Legong dancing, but they didn't have a show that night, so we backtracked to the Palace in the center and watched it there. It was really good and I really enjoyed it. After that we headed back to Sanur. There was lots more that I would have liked to have done in Ubud, but there was just not enough time. After we got back my roommate and I went back and sat on the beach. I stayed out much later than she did.

On Saturday morning I got up early while my roommate slept and joined the other people to travel to a jewelry store that had nice silver jewelry. We were there for a couple hours. After that we went back to our hotel. My roommate was still sleeping, so I joined one of the other ladies for lunch as it was her birthday. We walked back down to Minami and had sushi again. I tried Sake for the first time. After that we kept walking down the beach. Apparently there are some hotels that let women go topless on the beach. Then we walked back into town and stopped at some shops my friend had seen before but had been closed. On our way back to the hotel there were all these people dressed in white and lots of them were sitting on the beach. Obviously there was some sort of ceremony going on so we stayed for awhile and watch. My roommate got up during that time and went back to Minami to read while I got ready for dinner. We all went to dinner together as it was my one friend's birthday. We went to an Italian restaurant, Massimo for dinner. It was very, very good. There were between 5 and 10 other birthdays that night. They kept turning off the lights to bring out cakes and sing happy birthday. My friend didn't want that so we didn't do it. After we got back I wanted to sit out on the beach one last time but it was too crowded and noisy.

On Sunday I basically got up and got ready, packing my bags while my roommate slept. We didn't all fly down together so my roommate's flight wasn't until later. They had moved the rest of our flights up from 5:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. After I finished packing I wrote my postcards and then went and sat out on the beach. We had to take two different cabs as we wouldn't all fit in one. So, I left with two of my friends and then my roommate and my other friend took another cab shortly after us.

So, overall it was a nice trip and I am glad I did it.

Chinese New Year 2013

Shop at Kasongan

On Saturday February 10^th 2013 two friends, the young son and pembantu of one friend, and I went to Jogjakarta for our three day weekend over Chinese New Year. We rode the train both directions. It took about 5 hours. On the way to Jogja we left at 7:30a.m. We had to catch a cab starting at 6:15a.m. We all live in different neighborhoods. We got executive class. I am not sure if there are different companies, but in talking with some of the locals and seeing their pictures it did not seem as if ours was executive. We stopped at several towns to pick up or let off passengers. Also, we had vendors come and sell food products when we were stopped at the different towns. The ride was pretty bumpy. Also, there was a toilet and it was open to the ground, so basically anything that went in there went straight onto the ground in the tracks. When we got to Jogjakarta we met up with the friends of the pembantu that were going to drive us around. They took us to the hotel that one of the ladies had booked and we decided it was not the right place. Not in good condition and not in a good location. I had a hotel that a friend recommended the Bladok Loesman. We really liked it but it did not have cable tv for the son. I knew we needed a pool but not cable tv. We spent two hours looking at hotels. We ended up staying at the Malioboro Inn just down the street from the Bladok Loesman. After we had picked out the hotel we had lunch at the Bladok Loesman restaurant. Then, we had the driver and friend drive us to Kasongan (tempat kerajinana gerabah), the pottery and handicraft/woven road. The street was just filled with all sorts of incredible shops. Many of the shops had great things but I don’t have any where to put them. One of them had an awesome fountain that I really liked but I wouldn’t be able take it with me someday when I move. Our next stop was Kota gede (tempat kerajinan perak) and Tom’s Silver shop. They had lots of beautiful silver jewelry and other items made out of silver. We thought about stopping at Gerega Ganjuran (a church) but we were very tired so we went back to the Bladok for dinner. We looked at a few other restaurants but they all were very quiet and the other two were nervous about eating in a place with so few customers. After that we went to bed.

Borobudur temple

 On Sunday we got up pretty early again. First we went to Boroburdur (Buddhist) temple. Most pictures that I have seen only take pictures of the top, so it wasn’t what I expected but incredible. The only drawback was there were at least a thousand students there. It wasn’t that I minded the students being there, but every few steps I was stopped by a group asking to practice their English and to take their pictures with me. At first they wanted individual pictures. Eventually I had to tell them I would only do one group picture. I told them that I was willing to do one picture but that I wanted to enjoy Borobudur and was spending so much time answering questions and taking pictures. My friends were also asked but not as much as I was. Once we got to the bottom and were leaving I was flocked by men wanting to sell me souvenirs. I remember looking up at one point and my friends were already way past them. On the way to the next stop we went by Mendut. We didn't stop but I did take a picture.

Borobudur

 Next we went to Sendangsono Ziarah Maria. I was told it was close to Borobudur but it took us two hours to get there. If we would have gone straight from Jogjakarta it would have only been an hour. We had all agreed on it but one friend decided that it was taking too long and wanted to turn around.  Plus, we couldn’t find it any of our books. My other friend said that we should just stick it out since it is what I had picked and we were going to her choice after.  The driver knew the general area but had to stop a couple times for directions. This place was way off the beaten path. We had to keep going up and up a hill. We eventually got to the church. They were doing some performance next door to the church under a roofed area. We went in and looked at the church and then we got back in the vehicle and drove to the pilgrimage site. It was another two kilometers. Then we had to walk up this path that was lined with carts full of rosaries, candles, bottles for the water, etc. Finally, we arrived at the building. Next to it was a Virgin Mary statue that had people lighting candles, placing flowers, and praying in front of it. I had read there was a stream that had holy water, so I wanted to get some for my friend that had recommended I came to this place. There were so many different little buildings and stairs everywhere. I saw one place that had a pump and then walked up a flight and there was a graveyard and more stairs but I came back. There was a bridge that we crossed and down below were all these faucets but we had already filled up the bottle up at the pump so wasn’t sure what those were for. I didn’t get much time to enjoy it because the other friend was waiting since she hadn’t wanted to come up after it took so long.

Prambanan

After that we drove two hours to Prambanan, a Hindu temple. Right across from the entrance was a beautiful mosque that we stopped by, but didn’t go in. So for Chinese New Year I saw a Buddhist temple, Catholic pilgrimage site, Hindu temple and Mosque. After that we went back to Bladok Loeseman for dinner. They didn’t want to go anywhere else. I kind of wanted to try the Jogja specialty, Gudeg,  but was tired, so it was ok.

Underground Mosque

On Monday morning we split up. One friend went back to the Pottery street to by some items. My other friend and I went to Kraton (Sultan’spalace). We rode in a becak. We had a hard time fitting both of us. Some are very small. I noticed that they have motorcycles, becaks, horse drawn carriages, and vehicles on the street. It had a couple large buildings, but other than a few pictures in the main building and one building with all these different statues of people there really wasn’t much to see. After that I wanted to see Taman Sari (the water castle). This guy that worked at the palace told us that Taman Sari was closed until noon for renonvations. He told us not to go the Batik shops in the area because they were like the mob and all of their items were really expensive. We were told instead to go to the Government Batik place where the batik was inexpensive. 

Taman Sari

We thanked him and decided to choose another place on my list. As we were coming out becak (baycheck) drivers pointed us the way to the water castle. One man took us down this small alley. I finally got him to leave us and let us find our own way. It was a long roundabout journey because no one would point us in the direct way because they wanted us to stop at their shops and by stuff. At one point there were these arches that looked like they might be the entrance but the sign pointed to the left. So we started walking to the left and then we were pointed down another alley. My friend didn’t feel comfortable following men down alleys. We kept going to the left but then we ran into a whole group that told us we were going the long way around and to go back to the alley. So we went down the alley and the guy caught up with us and passed us. We tried to let him get way ahead of us but he kept stopping telling us we should believe him. We told him it wasn’t that we didn’t believe him we just didn’t want him to lead us. He led us up by people’s houses and above some roofs.  

Taman Sari

 We found the ruins of the Taman Sari and saw the arches that were the entrance to the place. We went down and there were some buildings that had been pointed out. One led us to an underground Mosque, but it didn’t look like a Mosque. It was a circular building. We went down another one and when I came up I had put my hat back on. It was a low stone arch and I thought I was clear but I smacked my head really hard. After that we were done looking at this place. It was ok, but we were tired of guys trying to lead us here and there. Looking at the pictures as I write this post. It doesn't look nearly as nice as on the internet. So we walked back to the hotel and stopped in a few shops. We ate at the Bladok Loesman one last time. Then we took cabs to the train station. The train ride back seemed so much longer. The door on our compartment was broken so most of the time it was left open and it was so noisy.

6 months in Indonesia

Pool at  Ciputra club

I have now lived in Indonesia for 6 months. I decided since this is my second country overseas instead of blogging about all the little differences I have noticed I would just summarize and put into one post.  I have also made some comparisons between Malaysia and Indonesia.

School-  In Malaysia I taught at a school, using American curriculum, of 70 students (the 2nd year I was there-55 the first) from grades 7-12 with students from 20 different countries. The whole school was only 5 rooms and the second year I was there they brought in a portable building. Although, they are working on building a bigger school with the rapid increase of students. We increased to 9 teachers by the middle of my second year. Plus, the Director of Studies who also taught part time, two secretaries, the owner, a housekeeper and a bus driver. In Indonesia the school is an IB World School using the International Baccalaureate curriculum with PYP, MYP, and DP. They also have the Indonesian program. The school has three buildings and goes from toddler all the way up to year 12 and has 1,100 students total. Most of the students are from Indonesia with a handful of International students. There are about 70 staff members in just the high school alone.

Angkor Wat

Housing accommodations- In Malaysia I was just in a boarding house that was pretty restrictive. No cooking, or people over. I got permission my second year there to do laundry on Saturday.  The first year I had to take my laundry to friend's houses or a dobi (where they do the laundry). There were more rules, but that will give the reader a base for my comparison. In Indonesia I have a house. It is 3 bedrooms and three bathrooms. It is close to the size of my home that I had been living in before I moved overseas. I have a small front and back yard. There is also a washing machine that I can use any time I need to use it. I have a nice, little kitchen that I can with both stove and oven. I also bout a microwave, so I can pretty much cook or bake anything that I can find ingredients for (more on that later). I have a kitchen table and living room so I can have people over, I haven't yet as I have been busy getting settled.

Floating village in Cambodia

Transportation- In Malaysia I used an occasional taxi as they didn't have as many and were harder to get them to pick me up. I had people give me rides most of the time. I also had a lady I hired the second year to drive me to work and back and the occasional errand if I scheduled ahead of time. In Indonesia I have my own vehicle. I can drive myself to and from work, to the Super Mall (which is the end of my comfort zone) and other places around where I live. It is also super easy to get a taxi so when I need to go somewhere on the other side of town it is easy to get a taxi there and back.

In Seoul

Social- This is a larger school that I am working in so there are more employees. In Malaysia my school had two expats. The other expat had lived in Malaysia for 20 some years and was married to a local lady with a family. I did hang out quite a bit with the local teachers. They are all wonderful people and created some amazing experiences and memories for me by all that they invite me to do to learn about Malaysia. There were some other expat families in the town I lived in but most of the women did not work, so many of the activities were done during the day. In Indonesia there are about 15 other expats that work at my school. Plus, just across the field is another International school and not too far down the road is a third International school. I am also still trying to get to know the locals and do things with them. This is a much bigger city so there are more places to eat, movie theaters, malls, shops, etc.

In Seoul

Technology- In Malaysia I had a USB modem that I just plugged into my computer and could use anywhere around town. I was able to pay my monthly bill online with my bank account. In Indonesia I tried a portable wifi but the connection never seemed very good. Plus, it just used a cell phone sim card and I constantly had to run to the nearest mall to top it up. I recently got Internet through the telephone line and wifi. It does seem to work much better.

In Malaysia I didn't have cable television. In Indonesia I have satellite tv.
In Malaysia I had one sim card. I could put three different RM amounts on my phone using the Internet and my bank account and I could use talk for several hours to my parents back home before I had to top up on the Internet. In Indonesia I have a sim card and I have to go to the closest super market or mall and have them top it up or get them to give me a scratch card to put money on my sim card. I have learned to always carry a spare one. I have tried calling back home and will go through a whole Rp100.00 card in 10 minutes. So now I try to use Skype.

Seoul Tower

Help- In Malaysia since I just had a room and bathroom I did all the cleaning myself and once a month the servants would come in for an inspection and clean to make sure everything was up to snuff. In Indonesia, I recently got a pembantu or helper. It was a big adjustment for me. I resisted it for the first six months as it was not something I wanted to do. But as time has gone on I can see how having one can be helpful especially with the language barrier. The lady that I got speaks pretty good English. She is more knowledgeable than I am about where to get things done or how to do things. I think it will make things easier for me and take less time to do certain things. I also learned today how grateful she is to have a job and be making money. So, I am glad I revised my thinking. I still try to make things easy and not create a huge mess for her to clean up or anything like that.

Karanggongso beach

Weather- In Malaysia it was hot and humid all the time. During monsoon season it would rain for days at a time, all day long. In Indonesia it is hotter than Malaysia all the time. Probably because this city is not on the coast. It is not as humid all the time, but during rainy season it is just as humid. It does not rain as much. I might rain for 20 minutes to a couple hours and be done until the next day or the day after. This breeds more mosquitoes instead of getting rid of them.  I definitely get way more bites here. I am trying everything anyone is recommending to keep from getting bit but so far nothing has stopped them. I am worried that at some point I will get dengue, but in the meantime I am still trying to get them to quit biting me.

campsite at Karanggongso beach

Other- For the second time in my life I went camping. The last time I was two years old and it was in the mountains. This time I was on the beach at Karanggongso with students and other teachers for a total of around 70 people. It was an adventure.

I traveled to both Cambodia and South Korea on my two breaks earlier in August and October, respectively.

I went on a tour of East Java that included a botanical garden, tea plantation, Kaliandra and a temple. It was a great way to see some of the other amazing sites outside of the city. I am looking forward to another one this spring. 

I went to my first Sweet 17 birthday party and was amazed. It felt almost like I was on the MTV's show " My Super Sweet 16" only it was in Indonesian.

On East Java Tour

Every break from August 2011- October 2012 I traveled. I loved to travel and I want to make the most of living close to all these countries that I have always wanted to visit. For my Christmas break December 20, 2012- January 14, 2013 but nothing worked out. So for the first time in my life I spent Christmas and New Year's alone without my family. It was tough and I chose not to celebrate them, so I hope that I am not in that position again, but I survived. I didn't do much but relax, sleep, watch movies, read, and run errands. Sometimes it was boring but I had lots of things to think about and it gave me the time to do that.

At Kaliandra

Less people speak English here and more things things are written in Indonesian. It is more challenging in Indonesia to buy things, order at restaurants, etc. Most people in Malaysia spoke English and most things were in English, so it was much easier to buy things, get around and get things done.

At Kaliandra

Both Indonesians and Malaysian are a really wonderful group of people. I am truly glad that I have had the opportunity to live overseas for however long it lasts. I think it has made me a better person. I feel like I was open minded before I moved overseas, but I feel that I am even more open minded now. Media does not always portray the positive aspects of people and places, so I am glad I have seen and experienced many wonderful things and met many wonderful people in both countries.

East Java Tour

Purwodadi Botanical Garden

A man who has lived in Surabaya for around 24 years does tours of different parts of East Java on weekends. They are just day trips. I signed up for the Discover East Java Tour that took place on Sunday, November 25, 2012. We assembled at the meeting place and got on a small bus. There were a few people from my school that went on the tour and several from two other International schools that are close by. There was a little over 20 of us. A few people were sick and so they were unable to make it, but it was a nice number of people.

Purwodadi Botanical Garden

Our first destination was Purwodadi Botanical Gardens located in Pasuruan. We took an hour tour. We started off in a large cluster but they broke off into smaller groups. It was a nice place. There were not as many flowers as I thought there would be. I know botanical gardens aren't just flowers, but since we are in a tropical climate I thought there would be more of them.  I think the gardens are probably much larger than I realize, but with only an hour we did a quick walk through some of the areas. I don't remember seeing anything remarkable, but it was nice. There was supposed to be a huge suspension bridge, but we did not find it before we ran out of time. Maybe if the small group I was with had chosen a different route.

Haunted Hotel

 On our way to our next stop we passed this hotel. We were told that it is haunted because it used to be this guy's house and he didn't want his daughters to marry so they committed suicide by jumping off the roof to their death.

Wonosai Tea Plantation

Our next stop was the Wonosari Tea Planation. It is situation on the slopes of Mount Arjuna in Malang. I thoroughly enjoyed this place. I have heard of tea planations and there is one in Malaysia that some of the students, of my former school,  did an overnight field trip too, but the timing wasn't right, so I decided to stay back with the students at school. I really didn't know how tea was made. I knew there are tea bags and tea leaves, but I didn't even know what a tea plant looked like. They employ mostly women at the plant to do the picking of the tea leaves. It is a huge plantation. They also have houses for some of the more senior level workers. Plus, bungalows that people rent on the weekend and stay there. They even have ponies that give children rides. I am not sure if I would stay there only because I don't know what else there is to do in the area, but maybe if I had more knowledge I would. I could also see it was a nice weekend getaway for locals. It was very educational and we had a nice lady, that spoke fluent English that gave us a tour. The only part that was a bummer was that since it was a Sunday we didn't actually get to see the different steps in the process of making tea.

Chart that explains process

The lady did open up the plant for us and did explain each step, but since I am a visual person it would have been nice to see the actual process. At the end of our tour we got to sample some of their tea and then buy tea. I love tea, so it was great. I learned that the older tea leaves that are lower quality are what they use for tea bags and the process that they use for them is that they make tea quickly and dark. I learned that the new leaves are the best quality and make tea that is lighter in color and takes a bit longer to seep. They also had white tea leaves, but I passed on buying any of them. They were expensive and I wasn't sure if I would like the flavor. I like my tea very strong and with no sugar, milk or anything else.

After the Tea plantation we traveled to Kaliandra Sejati Foundation. I think this was my favorite part of the trip. We pulled up to this beautiful house. It is the owner's childhood dream house. The foundation was founded by Atmadja Tjiptobiantoro. It is to help improve the welfare of the people of Kaliandra, preserve Javanese culture, and help with reforestation of Mount Arjuna. His gardens are incredible. He has several peacocks and what look like deer. Plus, a few other birds I was not sure what they were.

Looking back on the main house

 
They do organic farming and bring the vegetables to Surabaya to sell in some of the grocery stores, they even will deliver to a person's home. I was able to buy actual lettuce and have been able to eat salads again. After having a snack we toured the grounds. People can stay at Kaliandra. They have rooms in the main house where people have stayed. They have bungalows that are accomodations for groups of up to six people. I loved the layout of them. They had an outdoor bathtub and shower as well as an indoor shower.

One of many beautiful buildings

 They have cottages for up to 12-15 people. They also had dorm style cottages for up to 70 people. One of the upper elementary grades at my school stays here for their camp week. One of the other schools has some of their students stay there as well. They had a villa that had a private pool for honeymooning couples. Since this is located on a mountain we were told it can get cool at night. They also had huge mosquitoes. I could see if I were to get married while I lived in East Java I would stay there are part of my honeymoon. We walked up to their restaurant. The food was pretty good. Next to it was a roofed but open sided area that had the Gamelan musical instruments.

Looking from back of main house

Another features was a plunge pool surrounded by Hindu deities. We were also told they do massages. Before we even got to the main house we saw they have a ropes course that they use with different groups for leadership and team building.  They also have packages for activities for people staying there: hikes, cultral experiences, tours, golfing, etc. It is also looks like they do quite a bit to help the people and the community to help them be successful.

Bungalows

Our last stop was Jawi Temple. We were supposed to have another stop besides this one but we were running behind all day and so early on we knew we wouldn't make that. It was a Hindu ritual bath. I kind of had a feeling when I read the original itinerary on the first e-mail that it seemed too much to accomplish in just one day and with travel time and making sure we stayed on schedule. I figured getting to see some of them was better than staying at my house and not seeing any of them. By the time we reached the Jawi temple it was already dark out. Our tour guide knew that sometimes they have rituals or celebrations at night and that many times it is still open. Luck was not on our side that day and the gate was closed, there  was one small light by the entrance gate but it was not enough to light up the temple and the moon didn't really provide enough light either.  I did take a picture, but it is really hard to discern what is in the picture. There were also tons of flying bugs by the light that kept attacking us. So we were just a few minutes before calling it quits and heading back to Surabaya.

We were told at the end of the day that sometime in the spring of 2013 there will be another tour to different sights and places. I am looking forward to going. 

Majapahit Hotel and Spa

This is from walking back to the Spa

I have been to the spa at the Majapahit Hotel three times and once to Sarkies restaraunt. I have to say it is my favorite place in Surabaya. I would like to go there more often, but with traffic it is almost an hour's journey.  I have gone for three spa packages. I have done the Eastern Princesss, once and the Chinese Empress, twice. I thought their prices were great and the experiences, wonderful. The Eastern Princess took four hours. I started with a facial, followed by a massage, steam bath, scrub, bath in a mixture of herbs, and then a smoke treatment.  I had never had a smoke treatment before, so I didn't know what to expect. The smoke was placed under me but I was wearing some clothing, not knowing that I was supposed to, so I don't think it really achieved its purpose. I felt wonderful after it was all done.

Another view walking back to Spa

The Chinese Empress Ritual is 2 and a half hours. It consists of feet washing, a massage, and a facial. It is not elaborate as the first one, but definitely still more than meets my requirements and I feel amazing after I am done. I am not sure how many rooms they have total, but I have been in three different rooms. I have been in small room for a facial. I was in a large room with a bathtub, shower, steamer (not sure proper name), and massage bed. This last time since I was by myself there was no switching of rooms. I was in a medium room with a tub, massage table, shower, and steamer. The two larger rooms are very nicely decorated and feel very calming.

Indigo restaurant

I have eaten at both Sarkies and Indigo. I went to Sarkies on a non-spa trip. There was a small group of us and we had dim sum. I really enjoyed the dim sum. After my latest Chinese Empress spa I decided that I wanted to eat at the hotel. I wasn't sure about trying to do dim sum for one person though, so I walked around on the main floor and discovered Indigo. Indigo has more Western food. What drew me in was their Chef salad, but then I ended up eating their club sandwich. I wanted both, but the waitress said the salad was large and I asked which one she recommended and she recommended the sandwich. The sandwich was good. They also had lamb on the menu, so I am hoping next time I go I will do a afternoon appointment and then eat dinner there. One thing I have noticed is that the hotel, spa and restaurants are never busy. The first three times I was there it was on a Saturday. This last time it was a Wednesday. My work has the week off, but I know that most people are probably back to work. I don't mind the quietness at all, it is just an observation.

The Pool

They do offer other things at this hotel, but these are the ones that I have personally experienced and recommend.