Jenny’s Journies

Monday, 29 January 2007 @ 1:03pm.

I have about two more months to go before heading back home. Yay!!! I love Indonesia, but I also really, really miss the States. Because I am in the mindset of going home, I could relate well to the funny quotes listed at the following site: http://www.expat.or.id/info/toolonginindonesia.html

Work is going well. Office folks are great. Health is okay. Food is fine. Hooray for rambutan! Traffic could be a lot better. Pollution could be less. Weather could be drier. Construction at my boarding house could definitely start later in the day as opposed to very early in the morning! That about sums it up.

Oh, and what is this I hear about something called the “Superbowl?”

Thursday, 18 January 2007 @ 7:43pm.

Here are photographs from my recent trip to Singapore. I was only there for one day (Tuesday) on a visa run, but managed to see some of the sights Singapore has to offer:

First stop, the famous Merlion, the symbol of Singapore:

Nearby across the water one can see the Durian-shaped building:

Here is a photograph taken in Chinatown of various stalls:

This is Sri Mariamman Temple, the oldest temple in Singapore (built in 1827). Dedicated to the Mother Goddess, Sri Mariamman, it often provided shelter to Indian immigrants:

Here is a picture of ornate gold jewelry for sale in Little India:

The day before I arrived, there was the Pongal (South India) Festival in Little India. Though I missed it, the organizers still left the special cows around so families could visit them. I got to pet these baby cows.

This is a Chinese memorial I came across near Little India:

Since I hadn’t been out of Indonesia for almost a year, I did experience a bit of culture shock in Singapore: Everyone spoke English. Public transportation was a dream! I got to walk around everywhere. The streets and sidewalks were clean. I saw people from many different Asian cultures. Many signs were in multiple languages. People walked at crosswalks. Cars stopped for pedestrians! Singapore also felt less crowded. It was an interesting experience overall.

Friday, 12 January 2007 @ 4:20pm.

Quotes of the Day:

“Scientific knowledge brought into being ever more wonders. The legends of my ancestors were shamed into silence. No longer did one have to meditate for years to be able to speak with someone across the sea. Some Germans had stretched a sea-cable from England to India! And wires of this sort were proliferating from here to there all across the face of the earth. Now the whole world could observe the actions of a single person. And one could watch the activity of the whole world.” — Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian Writer, b. 1925 (from http://thinkexist.com/quotes/top/nationality/indonesian/)

Proverb: “Masuk kandang kambing mengembik, masuk kandang ayam berkokok.” (“If you enter a goat stable, bleat; if you enter a chicken coop, crow.”)

Did you know…

…that Indonesia is part of the “Ring of Fire” (the Pacific Basin includes about 75% of all the world’s volcanoes)?

…that Indonesia is one the world’s largest producers of nutmeg?

…Indonesians age 17 and above and all married persons regardless of age have the right to vote?

…Indonesians use over 12 million landline phones and over 46 million mobile cellular phones (as of 2005)?

…there are 662 airports in Indonesia?

…the unemployment rate is estimated to be just under 12% (as of 2005)?

…the official type of goverment for Indonesia is a republic?

…there is 54,716 km of coastline in Indonesia?

Tuesday, 09 January 2007.

I took a short vacation during the Christmas break. Here are some photos for you to enjoy!

This is a statue I saw while walking around:

Here is a Kuta Beach sunset picture:

Here is an example of religious offerings. These were placed outside of a storefront:

Bali is set up for tourism, as the following picture shows:

This is a photograph of the Bali Bomb Memorial located in Kuta:

Here is some cool street art:

While on a river rafting trip, our group rested halfway and saw this waterfall:

On Christmas day, I chatted with a group of English students from Palembang, Sumatra at the beach:

Sunday, 07 January 2007 @ 9:27pm.

Unfortunately, 2007 is not off to the best of starts for Indonesia:

The Jakarta Post reported today that “Indonesia stepped up efforts Sunday to locate a jetliner that disappeared with 102 people on board nearly a week ago, adding hundreds of soldiers and six helicopters to the search and rescue mission. Nearly 3,000 soldiers, police and civilians have been battling the dense jungles in search of wreckage, and sonar-equipped ships and an air fleet have been scouring surrounding seas, but so far they have found no trace of AdamAir’s Boeing 737-400. Nearly 700 fresh troops were deployed Sunday to several areas along Sulawesi’s western coast, said military spokesman Capt. Mulyadi.”

The Post also noted yesterday that “A government-sanctioned team tasked with probing the food shortage that afflicted Indonesian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia is expected to begin its investigation early next week. The probe could undermine the position of Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni, if his office is blamed in part for the catering fiasco. The team is scheduled to leave for Saudi Arabia on Monday on a fact-gathering mission. The team’s chairman, former religious affairs minister Tholchah Hassan, was uncertain how the investigation would proceed. “We have no idea what we will do there. We will decide soon after our meeting,” Tholchah said after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here Friday. Yudhoyono established the team Jan. 4 after food shortages affected more than 205,000 Indonesian haj pilgrims.”

Last Friday, the Jakarta Post stated, “Passengers on the ill-fated Senopati Nusantara were probably not informed about safety equipment on board or told how to save themselves in an emergency, a senior official said Thursday. The passenger ferry sank in the Java Sea last Friday, carrying more than 600 people. About 220 people have been found alive and more than 400 are still missing. “We have learned a lot from the tragedy; that we must review our onboard safety instructions for passengers before any ship leaves a seaport,” sea transport director general Harijogi said. “Just like an airline’s in-flight announcements, ships must have instructions that people can follow in times of emergency to save themselves,” he said.”

I happened to mention to one Ibu (older married woman) the other day that it was hot outside. She responded by saying that God was angry. It was not a response I expected to hear. She explained that the weather was hot and unusual for this time of the year (it’s supposed to be raining) and that there were disasters taking place in Indonesia because God is angry with people. Apparently, we are not living well. She said that we all needed to pray. Whether or not one agrees with this logic, I do think we can hope (and pray) for security, peace, and happiness in the coming months.