Eid al-Adha

  • December 31, 2006 12:55 am

I’m back in Batam again, just a stones throw south of Singapore, we can usually see it across the channel but today it is hazy and obscured. I arrived here on the 29th of Dec after flying for nearly two days straight; first to Denver then the LA then across the ocean with Singapore Airlines on an 18hour flight that was perhaps the best I have ever had! When I arrived in LA I had to claim my bags, check in with Sing-air, clear security and get on another plane in less than an hour so to hopefully make things smooth for myself I asked the “Travelers Info” booth guy where to go and how long it would take and whatnot. When I asked if Sing-air had their own check-in his response was “Singapore Airlines? They are the best in the world to fly with” and he didn’t disappoint! They offer lots of room, excellent food, wine, movies and all sorts of things that make the trip worthwhile. If you are ever crossing the pacific I would heartily recommend them!

Batam is just as I remembered and Planet Holiday (our hotel) is still the same; it is kind of nice to know where one is coming back to. I find already that having been here once makes all the difference. I had to grab a cab from the ferry terminal (thankfully not the one that sank!) to the hotel and it was a nearly-normal experience, for which I am grateful.

Our Security Officer came by yesterday, he is a young guy that spent some time in the USA going to school so his English is superb, and he spent some time tutoring us on the ins-and-outs of Bhasa, the Indonesian language. He laughed and just about everything we said saying “That’s so formal! Why are you using the formal language?” but of course, that is how one learns right? He taught us some slang, rather than say tiduk for no, one should just say gaaa. I’ll have to remember that next time the hockers with their carts are yelling at me!

It is the Islamic Holiday of Eid al-Adha (Festival of the Sacrifice) here today which commemorates the prophet Abraham’s willingness to obey Allah by sacrificing his son Ishmael. According to the Qu’ran, just before Abraham sacrificed his son, Allah replaced Ishmael with a ram, thus sparing his life.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/islamicholidays.html#adha
http://www3.kumc.edu/diversity/ethnic_relig/eid-al-adha.html

According to our SO it is a day that stock animals get butchered and then there is a large BBQ held and a lot of the meat goes to the needy people. We walked past a Mosque last night on the way to dinner and they had a few cows and some sheep tied up outside in the parking lot, one the guys suggested we should offer them a last meal but all that was around was McDonald’s and we weren’t sure if they would appreciate cannibalism!

Home for Christmas and gone again

  • December 27, 2006 7:56 am

Christmas was wonderful, I truly enjoyed being at home over the holidays and am looking forward to heading out on the road again. While home I saw lots of family, feasted like a king, got out skiing twice and climbed a mountain too. I went to open houses at friend’s homes and enjoyed pints at the pub and coffees in Kensington.

Tomorrow I’m heading back to Indonesia, via Singapore via LA via Denver; I leave on a Wednesday and arrive on a Friday; somehow that just seems right considering the flying time.

I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas season with merriment and fun and food and all the good things that make Christmas special.

Back in Calgary

  • December 13, 2006 4:06 pm

Hey everyone,

I’m back in Calgary again after a marathon flight across the world. I’ll fill in some of the stories just as soon as I get this mountain of laundry taken care of!

Singapore River Cafes

  • December 11, 2006 1:34 pm

Hey, quick list cause I gotta get up at 4am tomorrow

- I’m in singapore on the way back home again

-  Had dinner at this awesome little cafe beside the river, ate roasted lamb and drank red wine… tremendous!

- If IKEA made hotels, I would be staying at hotel IKEA, as it is The Gallery Hotel is as close as it comes, picture to come
later.

- Not looking forward to a 20hr flight home, but looking forward to getting home

- Routing: Ferry from Batam to Singapore, fly from Singapore to Tokyo, Tokyo to San Francisco, San Fran to Calgary

- I heard some Christmas music in the hotel lobby today and it seemed apropriate somehow, maybe with the return to “christmas-y weather” it’ll seem like it’s really Christmas.

Good couple of days

  • December 4, 2006 4:10 pm

All right, I haven’t done an update in the last few days, so hopefully this will fill in a little. We’ve been working a lot lately and have finished off most of the project which means that we’ll be moving to a Batam possibly as early as tomorrow morning if tonight’s flight goes well. Yesterday was good, we were restricted to only one flight due to some conflict with out permits and so we took the afternoon and did a little sight-seeing. It started actually with a cab ride to an Indian restaurant which was fairly close to the hotel. The cabbie didn’t really speak English and we relied on the bellhop at the hotel to tell him where to go, so as a result we weren’t really sure where we’d end up. I tried to pay attention the whole way there just in case our cabbie home didn’t know where the hotel was or someone tried to scam or us something. We really needn’t have worried, the guy took us along some main streets and then down some twisty “residential” streets and stopped in front of a clean looking Indian place. We piled out of the cab and paid the man and went inside.

It was dark inside with only four or five tables in an area that was maybe 5m per side. We stood there for a moment and a youngish Indian lady came out and grinned at us and gestured at a table and then disappeared back behind some rattan doors into what I can only assume was the kitchen area. A moment later a little 10yr old girl came out looking a little timid and started setting out places and smiling shyly while her mother followed with menus and asked what we’d like. We browsed through the menu and then ordered a few dishes, some chicken and lamb curry, some vegetable dish and the ubiquitous rice and nahn bread as well. When the food arrived it looked wonderful and smelled even better, but it was accompanied by a green dish with square white globules in it and the lady was beaming as she set it down. In broken English she said “really good, you try, you try” we definitely hadn’t ordered it, but it looked pretty good and I asked her what it was and it sounded like Spanish-something or other with cottage cheese in it. Turns out it was spinach with cottage cheese, and it was really really good. All of the food there was wonderful actually, tremendously flavourful with just the right amount of spice, it outdid any Canadian Indian restaurant I’ve ever been to, that’s for sure.

Right across the street was a really neat temple of some kind and so we braved the traffic and went to have a look .

It turned out to be a Hindu temple with carvings of the gods all the way along the outer wall and in small shrines throughout the complex. We took off our shoes and went inside and were shown around by one of the guys who seemed to work/volunteer there. It was a really neat experience; I’d never seen a Hindu temple before. I’d love to see a Budhist temple as well…

I had a feeling that we were near the Sun Plaza Mall that we’d gone to the other day and I’d paid attention to the trip there so I figured I could probably find my way back to the hotel and suggested that we walk back. The guys were into it and we set off down the road. The problems with walking are many, and navigation is the least of them it seems sometimes. We were hassled by cart drivers, honked at by taxis, and hailed by just about everyone all wanting to drive us somewhere. The other fabulous thing is the canals that run either beside the sidewalk or directly under it, and these canals are filled with putrid smelling material that seems to coalesce there, rot, and provide a perfect breeding ground for bugs. Our senses were assaulted by the smells the whole way along our trek, but it was eye opening to say the least. We passed busy shops and darted in and out of traffic risking our lives at every step!

As we got nearer the hotel we had to turn off the main road and take a side road that runs into what I would city planners would describe as a “mixed residential commercial district” and they would be technically correct but totally lacking in the essence of the place. The streets get a little narrower and a little busier and there are two- to three-storey buildings everywhere; the bottom floor is usually taken up by a shop, be it furniture, toys, computers, luggage, or whatever and the next levels are all living accommodations. The shops and houses are all extremely narrow as well, probably only 3-4m wide but they are often crammed with merchandise. The traffic whizzes by with very little shoulder and what little road-shoulder there is is often covered in a sticky putrid mud that is topped off by garbage and litter.

At one point we crossed a bridge over a canal and down either side of it we could see a shanty-town that stretched out of sight. Small shacks made of corrugated iron with laundry hanging out to dry on lines. You know that the muddy brown water in the canal is used for drinking, and washing and cleaning and all at the same time too. The level of poverty is just amazing to me, and what’s even more amazing it that this is how most of the world lives, this isn’t unusual in most places. We considered going for a stroll through the area but it seemed both unwise/unsafe and rude and so we carried on back to the hotel.

Earthquakes and Thunderstorms

  • December 1, 2006 11:00 am

Today was a day of earthquakes and thunderstorms; and I gotta say, the thunderstorm was worse than the earthquake! We were sitting in the hotel room designated as the on-site office working on logistics when I suddenly felt sea-sick, and we’re a long way inland. I looked up and saw the wall swaying back and forth and immediately thought “earthquake!” at least, nothing else in my experience shakes buildings that way. We went out in the hallway and saw a lot of people standing in doorways and then they all headed down the stairs, so we followed suit. I figured it could be a precursor to something larger, and who knows how well these buildings are built anyway. Heading down the stairs we ran into the rest of the crew who had felt it as well but when we got the street level a lot of people hadn’t seemed to notice, it was simply business as usual; I think being 10 floors up probably magnified the event a little bit. Anyway, we all stood around on the street for a while; one of the guys was freaking out a little and wanted to get away from the buildings, good idea, but that’s a long drive around here; and another of the guys was pooh-poohing it, saying that it didn’t even wake him up, which is probably true; for myself, I figured I wouldn’t worry too much until the running and screaming started, there is always running and screaming when things get bad.

Turns out it was a 6.3 quake with the epicentre 50mi SE of here.
Info: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/usvtad.php
So, I’ve survived my first earthquake; here’s to surviving many more!

After the earthshaking events we went out to meet the airplane which had finally gotten customs clearances in Jakarta and was able to fly out here. We started unloading all the gear on-board when a torrential downpour hit; we could see the clouds dark and ominous on the horizon and so I wasn’t too surprised when it hit, but everyone looked like drowned rats by the time we got the plane closed up and had scurried to safety in the hanger. Like most tropical rains (I assume… I haven’t spent much time in the tropics) it only lasted about 30-45mins and then it was over, the only signs were huge puddles and a wet runway.

I haven’t had a lot of time for sight-seeing unfortunately, we are working a fair bit and I’m trying to learn all I can while I still have someone to follow. It’s a little strange, I’d like to get out and see more but the first priority is definitely work, although working here is almost like sight-seeing anyway since everyday I see something I’ve never seen before.
I did take a walk around the block this morning and I felt really uncomfortable the whole time. The streets here are narrow and twisty and all look the same and I was a little afraid of getting lost, hopefully that will decrease as time goes by; but the main thing is that I totally stick out! I’m not talking about Hawaiian-shirt-with-white-socks-and-sandals-tourist sticking out, I’m talking about being pale as a ghost and a good foot-and-a-half taller than everyone else; at home I’m just tall, here I’m a freaking giant! Anyway, it was a good experience, even if a slightly unpleasant one and later today or tomorrow I’ll head out again and try and be a little less uncomfortable, that should hopefully help me not stick out so bad either. The other thing is that it is really hot here, I know, that goes without saying (and it’s freezing at home so shut-up!) but I find I’m tired a lot of the time, whether it’s different food, different location or the heat I’m not totally sure. Hopefully I’ll acclimatise to that as well though.

Hope all is well at home, I haven’t heard from many people since I took off so feel free to give me an update after you read this (c: If you’re interested enough to read what I’m up to, I’m interested enough to read what you’re up to!