Slight Update on "Operation: Indonesia"

So,  as my mother has been pressing for an update, looks like it's time to start that now.

 

I have arrived into my new place, Surabaya, Indonesia.  A huge city (though it doesn't feel like it except for when stuck in a taxi in traffic in the streets) on the eastern part of Java.  It's a pretty vibrant city, full of mansion houses and tree-lined streets, huge supermalls and loads of traffic.  As I've only been here a couple days, I'm still figuring out a lot of things, and still rely on taxis and other people to get me around and tell me where I am.

Now it’s been a week, and surprise surprise, I have yet to update.  It’s Sunday night, and I work tomorrow at the early hour of 1:30 pm. That’s the earliest I start all week.  Tuesday and Thursday I start at 3:00 pm, unless I decide to go in early and work.  I finish MWF at 9 pm., and Tuesday Thursday at 7:30 pm.  Not a bad schedule. 

I have started to try to figure out this city, and still have to rely on taxi’s everywhere, which is starting to get expensive.  I am in the search for a gym, to give myself something to wake up for, and one in particular has a pool, which sounds nice, for only about 30 dollars a month.  Pricey compared to my $1.00 a visit gym in Thailand.

The food here is good, and cheap, which is nice, though I haven’t started to explore the culinary options, mainly because I don’t know what is what yet, and how to say anything in Indonesian.  I hope to “start learning” Indonesian soon, but I’m lazy.  The tourism here is pretty dismal, and therefore we’re celebrities wherever we go, which is both humorous and annoying.  Luckily I’m used to this from some time in Thailand.  This being said, they are used to a decent community of expat teachers, probably at least 50+ that I’ve seen, and they’re always out.  However, we still get those fun stares, children pointing, and the general population loving the couple blonds walking down the street together.

All of the teachers are really cool, and range in age from 22-old.  My roommates are 34 and 39, though you wouldn’t guess it, and pretty laid back guys.  Our maid is cool, though I never see her.  When I leave, I make sure all my “to be washed” clothes are in a pile near the door, and that everything is off my bed.  She will come in , sweep, clean, tae my laundry and do it, hang it up and replace it folded and ironed into my closet.  The bed is made and everything is in order. 

 

I will be a very lazy man soon.

I don’t think I have taken any pictures at all, and therefore have nothing to report on that end.  They have Wendy’s, which means Frosties, so that’s good.  Sometimes you get into a taxi, and he known your whole address and house number, which makes directions easy. 

Oh yes, the job.  The school is near the house, $1.50 taxi, and I teach 13 classes a week (plus any I pick up for sick or on holiday teachers).  As of now, I have kids classes (7-9) some teenage classes and two general English classes of young adults-my age students.  They are all pretty well-behaved and the classes are air-conditioned and small and it’s quite a change from Thailand.  We have books to go by, and really just have to follow the grammar points and make sure they know what’s going on.  Ill update more on that once I have my first week (this week) where I have my own schedule and my own classes.

That’s all I got for now.  Still no one has sent pictures of the cabin L but I have got some pretty funny Dom faces.  Can he talk yet? Tell him to get on that…

Figured you'd like a picture of me at work. Yes, I do work. Yes I wear a tie (while teaching) ...sometimes...

Borneo

As a forewarning, this will be two weeks into one blog.  I'm lazy and it's easier this way.  Also, the Nan has already gone through the whole album so you can ask her.

Kota Kinabalu is the capitol of the Sabah state of Malaysia (Eastern Malaysia) and is where I started this journey.  I got into town, which is... alright and walked directly to the movies to use aircon and relax, as I was meeting a couch-surfer in the early evening to get a ride to his house.  

I spent a couple days in KK, which is a nice enough city, but all cities in Borneo lack any source of entertainment, especially at night, and thus get a little boring unless you have plans.  I took a shared taxi (read, some guys car) to Mount Kinabalu National Park, where I trudged through the rain around the grounds for a couple hours hoping to glimpse the famous peak, which sits over 14,000 feet tall and is half the heigh of Mount Everest.  The next morning offered me a good view, but also was time to take the bus across to Semporna for some Scuba diving.  I couldn't find the direct bus (there were issues as I sat on the highway trying to read the bus signs as they sped around a corner and past me) so I took a bus to Sandakan, hoping for a connection.

There wasn't one and I was stuck in t Sandakan, with no nightlife, and went to bed at 8pm.  I woke up early the next morning and got a bus to Semporna, on the southeastern part of the state.  I booked a trip for scuba for the next two days and put my name on every waiting list for Sipadan (google it).  I spent 3 days diving some of the best spots in the world, and it was amazingly fun.

After that I went back to the Sandakan area, to Sipilok to see the orangutans being rehabilitated back into the wild.  We got some good shots, but its sort of lame, just watching the come from the jungle to a feeding platform, eat and leave.  Better to find them in the wild, which is what I did next.  But not after some relaxing hours by the pool and being a complete bum.

After Sipilok, I booked a jungle river cruise for 3 days and 2 nights, where you sleep on a nature reserve and do river boat trips looking for wildlife at 6am and 4 pm, night walks at 8 pm and free time to do some kayaking through the tributaries.  It was really fun, and we saw pygmy elephants, proboscis monkeys, a sleeping shadow of an orangutan, loads of birds, a croc, etc.  These are all wild too, so it makes it much better, because you never know what you're going to see.

Then I went to Brunei, a small oil-rich country on Borneo.  It's known for having one of the richest men in the world, the Sultan, and his brother for stealing and spending billions of dollars.  It's really small, very Muslim, and doesn't allow voting or drinking. Ever.

A couple days in the capitol was enough, and I went back to Luala Lumpur, spent another couple days gathering my things and getting visas, and now I'm at the airport to Indonesia, where I start work on Monday.

Whirlwind tour of Borneo = whirlwind blog update.