Getting used to the scooter

The first time I sat on my bike I thought it felt huge and unwieldy. Now I’m realizing how well-balanced it is, and relatively light. I can be creeping along in traffic, going really slowly, and still keep my balance.

I drove to work 2 days this week. It was a bit nerve-racking driving to work for the first time by myself, and when I got to work I was a little shaky. The second day driving in was a lot more comfortable. I decided not to take my scooter in on Friday, because there’s a lot of weekend traffic from Jakarta that starts on Friday afternoons. Since I’m still learning, I didn’t want to have the challenge of all the traffic.

Taking my scooter out on the road

Last Friday I had lunch with my friend Russell, and drove my scooter around a new housing development that’s being built just North of our neighborhood. It’s really odd because there are nice roads and a sprinkler system along the roadside with landscaping of palm trees and flowers… but there are barely any houses. There are few people and the roads are smooth and wide. A great place to start practicing riding a motorcycle.

This morning the Honda dealership called me to say that my license plates were ready. I picked them up on my way into work today, and put them on my bike as soon as I got home this evening.

Billy and I had a quick dinner, then we went out for a ride. Billy was on his own motorcycle behind me, and we drove all the way to my school and back. The ride there was pretty easy, though there was some traffic, and parts where I had to drive really slowly. On the way back from school a car started to drift over to me and I couldn’t find my horn. I hit the breaks, and discovered what happens when you put your feet down when you aren’t stopped. Billy said it looked like I was jogging on my bike. I recovered pretty quickly and didn’t hit anyone or fall off my bike, but it got my adrenaline going a bit.

I’m thinking about driving my bike into work tomorrow. I’m so excited to have my own transportation!

My new wheels…

I bought a scooter yesterday. I absolutely love it already. It’s a Honda Vario, and it’s Arctic Blue. I have to wait a couple of weeks for the license plates and registration, so for now I can only practice riding it around our neighborhood. It’s an automatic, and really easy to ride. I think it’ll make my second year here even more enjoyable, since I’ll have the freedom to go anywhere at anytime. Yay!

Nachos

Our first night back in Bandung we went to our neighborhood pub, Erla’s “Mexican Cafe”. When I was in Seattle I told a lot of people about the pub’s nachos. They’re served on a saucer, and it’s a single layer of tortilla chips sprinkled with a little shredded “cheddar”, with a single diced tomato on each chip. The cheese isn’t melted, but the chips are kinda warm. They’re served with a tiny side of guacamole. A far cry from the mound of nachos you get in American establishments. Still, it was nice to get back to the warmth and comfort of Bandung.

On our way back to Indonesia

We’re in Taipei, Taiwan right now. We survived the 12 hour flight from Seattle, but I think that was the most turbulence I’ve ever been through… So much that I had to reach for the airsickness bag a few times, just in case. Luckily it never came down to that, but my stomach was queasy for most of the flight. We have a 3 hour layover, then a flight to Jakarta, followed by a 3-hour car ride back to Bandung.

I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep tonight in our own bed.

What I miss about Indonesia…

I’m having a great time in Seattle spending time with family and friends. I have missed some things about Indonesia though, and I’ll be happy to return in a few weeks. Here are some of the things I miss:

• Nasi Rendang - My favorite Indonesian food. Beef cooked in coconut milk and spices, served with rice, cassava leaves and young jackfruit.
• Warmth - It’s spring in Seattle, but it hasn’t really felt like it. Yesterday morning the temperature was close to freezing. Billy and I had to go to a thrift store to buy some warm clothes, because we didn’t really have any.
• Butterflies - There are so many varieties of butterflies around our home in Bandung. It’s so nice being able to sit on the balcony in the morning there, and watch them.
• Friends - In one year we’ve made a lot of great friends.

Things I don’t miss about Indonesia:

• Angkots - These are the public transportation in Bandung… Mini-buses with crazy drivers that drive very unpredictably.
• Air quality (or lack of) - There’s a lot of pollution in Bandung. The air in Seattle feels and smells so fresh and clean.

Back in Seattle!

We arrived back in Seattle safely on Tuesday night. Billy and I have both been feeling a bit sick, and I’ve been hit pretty hard by the jet lag this time around, but it’s nice to be home. We’re looking forward to seeing a bunch of people at an Open House tomorrow night that my Dad & Step-Mom are hosting for us.

The air smells so good, and everything’s so clean!

Yogyakarta

We had a fantastic time exploring Yogyakarta. It’s a beautiful place, with so much art and culture. Very fascinating. I don’t really feel like going into all the details about the trip, so I’ll just make this a brief entry with photos.

We stayed at a really nice guesthouse-type place, called Setia Kawan Losmen. There’s a beautiful mural on the wall in each room. This was our room:

We went to Borobudur, the 8th century Buddhist temple about 1/2 hour from Yogyakarta. We left our place at 5am to make it there just after sunrise. It was beautiful.

The next day we went to Prambanan, a group of ancient Hindu temples. Unfortunately many of the temples were damaged by an earthquake, so there are a lot of people working on reconstructing them right now. As a result, we weren’t allowed to get very close to the temples.

My last doctor’s visit

I went to the hospital again on Friday to have my collar bone checked out. I had another x-ray, and it shows that the bone has started to mend, though the doctor told me it will probably be 2-3 months before it’s completely healed. Since the bone has started mending I don’t need to wear the horribly uncomfortable brace anymore. Hooray!

I played pool last night for the first time since the accident. I only played 4 games, and I played them all left-handed, as my right shoulder and arm are still quite sore. I did pretty well considering… Even won a game, but it’s because Billy scratched on the 8 ball. Even so, the other games I only had 1 or 2 balls left on the table when my opponents won. Can’t wait to go back to playing right-handed though. It’s so much easier.

Along with the broken collar bone, I’ve been fighting a throat infection. I took all the antibiotics the Dr gave me, but it seems that this stuff is lingering… Maybe my immune system is a bit weaker than usual since my body’s trying to heal a broken bone? I’ve been trying to get a lot of vitamin C and calcium to help, but I’m still feeling rough. It’ll be nice to have a long holiday to go home for a while soon, and not have to work.

Only a week of work left

I can’t believe how fast a year’s flown by. Thursday is the last day of our contract. We’ll go to Yogyakarta in Central Java for a short vacation before we head home to Seattle. Yogyakarta has many ancient historical buildings and temples in and around the city, including:

• Borobudur - said to be the largest Buddhist monument in the world, dating back to the 9th century.
• Prambanan - a collection of Hindu temples, that were built during the 10th century.
• Kraton - the palace of the sultan of Yogyakarta.

We’ll be in Yogyakarta for a few days, then back to Bandung, and on to Seattle for a month.