Life in Aceh

HOLY COW!

2007-07-17T17:34:00.000+07:00

HOLY COW!

I haven't blogged in nearly 2 months and more importantly, I'm leaving Aceh in less than 2 weeks!

HOLY COW!

I'm sorry that I have ignored you. Life's been, well, life's been pretty craaazy!

The last time you heard, I had just arrived in Beijing, where there was a pork shortage. I spent a total of 24 days in China, gallivanting around the country.

Here's a synopsis of my China adventure. My parents met me in Beijing and the three of us travel south to Chengdu in Sichuan province, the cultural capital of central China, made famous by The Three Kingdoms. Chengdu is famous for its snack culture and spicy hotpot. So needless to say, we ate well here. Highlights included strolling down Jin Li, a renovated cultural street filled with Sichuan arts and crafts. The next day, we flew 45 minutes north to Huang Long and Jiu Zhai Go. Here, we were at an altitude of about 3500 meters and hiked through some beautiful scenery. Snowy peaks, romantic waterfalls, turquoise blue pools. We then returned to Beijing and Dad went back to DC the following day.

After a couple of days hanging out in Beijing, including me spending 3+ hours getting a perm, Mom and I boarded an overnight train to Shanghai where we rendezvoused with K and and spent a great weekend checking out the skyline from our 52 floor posh hotel room, strolling along the Huang Pu River, and introducing K to Chinese culture at Cheng Huang Miao, a Taoist temple and surrounding gardens.

The day after I returned from Shanghai, I got on ANOTHER train...this time an amazingly beautiful 47 hour and 28 minute ride to Lhasa, Tibet. I traveled to Tibet with my uncle. For 10 days, we toured monasteries, temples, palaces, and holy lakes in Tibet...well not to mention all the shopping stops on our package tour. Tea shop, bead shop, weird medicine shop, yak meat jerky shop, just to name a few! Tibet was definitely a memorable experience. By the way, click on all the links above, they're links to my photos!

OK, so now back in Aceh.

Movers are coming next Tuesday to pack up my stuff. My last day of work is Friday the 27th and I fly to Jakarta that night and on to Bali where Scott, Pete and Meg from high school will be joining me for 2 weeks of rest and relaxation in the sun!

That's all for now. More later!

The China Chronicles - Beijing

2007-05-29T23:10:00.000+07:00

After a weekend in Bali, overnight stop overs in Singapore and Bangkok, I finally arrived in Beijing this afternoon. This is my first time in Beijing in 7 years, and the city of my birth has morphed into...well, a place I don't recognize!

Traffic is on par with Bangkok and Jakarta. Posh high rise apartments are everywhere. My family's condo was brand new when I was here 7 years ago, with construction sites surrounding the tower. Today, the apartment is very lived in, my grandfather has plants everywhere - just like the old place in San Fran. Outside, there are rows of fashionable eateries, both domestic and foreign chains. I may just have to go for a dipped cone at Dairy Queen tomorrow.

My favorite so far: on the evening news tonight, the headline news was about the price of pork skyrocketing. People are panicking for the other white meat! Here's an article about it from Financial Times. Love how China's got a "strategic pork reserve" No kidding! Read on.

I will see more of the city in the upcoming weeks. I'm also excited about exploring different parts of the country. Tomorrow, my parents and I head south to Cheng Du, the capital of Sichuan province (home of Ma Po Tofu and all those other flaming dishes that use the famous hot and numbing peppercorn!) I will write more about Cheng Du when I get back in 5 days.

Pork price rises fuel China inflation fear
By Richard McGregor in Beijing and Jamil Anderlini in Hong Kong
A disease killing millions of pigs in China has sharply lifted the price of pork, the country’s staple meat, fuelling fears about inflation and prompting a call from the top leadership for increased production of the meat.
Wen Jiabao, premier, provided confirmation of the seriousness of the crisis with a weekend visit to a market in Shaanxi province, where he said farmers should help “resolve the problem” of providing meat for 1.3bn people.
Pork prices have risen by as much as 30 per cent in Chinese cities over the last week. According to the agriculture ministry, wholesale prices for pigs have gone up even more, rising 71.3 per cent since April.
China’s 500m pigs are the country’s most important source of affordable meat, and any sustained interruption in supply would be a major political problem for the government.
While the price of feed, such as corn, has risen, the main culprit is an epidemic of a mysterious illness known as ‘blue ear’ disease, as well as the more common foot-and-mouth affliction.
“I have heard it has killed as many as 20m hogs,” said an industry executive on Monday.
The government has not issued any estimate of how many pigs have been struck down by disease, and in any case, China’s size and the number of small producers make it difficult to quickly tabulate reliable figures.
But the impact of the shortage of pork is apparent in many areas, from sausage makers switching meats, to rising offal prices, and attempts by Hong Kong to import meat from South America.
China cannot easily find competitively priced pork to replace the shortfall at home, because of its own health-related restrictions on imports from South America, where prices are relatively low. US and European pork is relatively expensive.
The government has a “strategic pork reserve”, established in the late nineties, including both frozen stocks and access to pig farms, which could provide a buffer.
“We are considering releasing some of these reserves into the market in certain targeted areas in order to reduce soaring prices,” said Li Xizhen of the Ministry of Commerce.
“We will not be giving free meat to people, but will sell pork and use market mechanisms to bring down volatility.”
Mr Wen, in his visit to the market, said the government “is going all out to ensure the supply of pork and keep it affordable.”
Soaring pork prices are also expected to add to inflation, already under pressure from rising food prices in other areas.
“The surge in pork prices will likely push year-on-year CPI inflation to above 4 per cent very soon,” said Hong Liang, of Goldman Sachs, in Hong Kong, in a research note.
“Meat constitutes about 7 per cent of the CPI basket, and its price pressures are likely to spread to eggs, fish and other food products.”
Although 4 per cent is above the central bank’s unofficial “tolerance rate” of three, core inflation remains low.

Singapore

2007-05-08T22:39:00.000+07:00

I went to Singapore this weekend. Aside from catching Spiderman 3 on the big screen, we visited the Singapore Botanic Garden. The Orchid Garden was fabulous. Here are 2 of my favorite photos from the outing.

Plumeria aka Frangipani

This orchid makes a fab computer wall paper.
Set background to black, center it.

Things I will miss...

2007-05-07T16:50:00.000+07:00

The countdown continues...I've got only about 50 more days in Banda town. Here are some of the things I will really miss.

Riding out to the beach (the back-back way) catching a beautiful sunset, followed by a dinner of pizza, tomato and avocado salad and pineapple juice at Joel's
Sunday afternoon volleyball
Bags of freshly fried bread fruit, tempeh, and bananas in the office around 4pm
Swinging by Intense Audio to peruse the latest pirated blockbusters and TV series
Stopping by Billy & Mira on a lazy Saturday morning to get a cream bath (hair conditioning treatment + head/shoulder massage)...all for a few bucks
Undercover booze buying
Picking out our dinner of huge prawns and red snapper at the river side restaurants
Being really excited by pork products

Shake Shake Shake

2007-04-27T15:51:00.000+07:00

Earthquake #21

Magnitude? 6.3
Date? Friday, April 27, 15:02:48 AM local time
Epicenter? 50 miles WSW of Banda Aceh or 5.332°N, 94.606°E
What was I doing? Pretending to do work while daydreaming about the upcoming weekend.

This one was the biggest to date. A medium jolt followed by a few seconds of boat-like sway. Then about 10 seconds of big sideway sway. Then about a minute of more boat-like sway.

Cutting Out the Middle Man

2007-04-23T16:21:00.000+07:00

Wanted: Fresh lobsters

About a hour and half south of the city, my project has been support a lobster fattening initiative. So it was the logical we went directly to the source when we had a hankering for lobster this weekend.

Hopped in a car Saturday afternoon and made the bumpy but scenic drive down the coast. When we got to the village, we were told that Pak Thamrin, our lobster connection, was out at sea fishing and won't be back until after dark. The fishermen on shore casually suggested we take a fishing boat and go out to sea and find him. We looked at each other and decided why the heck not? The guy told us to wait while they went to fetch a boat engine for one of the many traditional high-bowed Acehnese fishing boats docked on the beach. Within 10 minutes, we were heading out to open water. How far were we going? Where were the fishermen taking us? We had no idea! By this time, the boat ride was such a left turn in our excursion, we didn't really care if we didn't have lobsters for dinner. The whole process was just too cool.

In about 10 minutes, we sighted a group of fishing boats anchored in the middle of the sea. Waves and smiles were exchanged. Our boat pulled up next to Pak Thamrin's vessal. The fisherman did not skip a beat, as if just about everyday he had a random Bule guy and Chinese girl chance upon his domain in the middle of the Indian Ocean asking for some fresh crustaceans. Pak Thamrin's fishing partner, equipped with his simple face mask, hopped on board and we turned back. About 100 feet offshore was the lobster car - it's essentially four big underwater mesh tanks where the lobstermen chuck in lobsters they find in the reef and feed them until they're a good size and will fetch a good price. There are narrow wooden planks surrounding the tanks. We hopped off the boat and stood on the gang plank and watched as the lobsters were brought up. First some little guys. Slowly bigger dudes emerged. Soon enough we had 8 choice lobsters. Back on terra firma, lobsters were covered in a fine sprinkle of sand and chopped up kelp to keep them alive for transport. Then the feisty creatures were packed into a paper box ready for the 70km ride back to the city.

We had the freshest lobsters possible that night. Juicy meat doused with fresh squeezed lemon juice, clarified butter, and sprinkled with Old Bay (for me). All paired with a cold beer. 2 of us had 6 lobsters - total decadency! Sunday night was a bowl of delicious lobster corn chowder made from the remaining 2 'sters. Cleaned up with some fresh crusty bread from the bakery...

...and you probably thought I was getting by on plain rice and water.

Lobster Chowder
or you can substitute canned crab meat

Serves 4 normal people or 2 really hungry people (with leftovers)

1/2 pack of bacon or any cured meat product, diced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 medium potato, 1/4 inch dice
1/3+ stick of butter
6 cups of milk
1 cup of cream
1/2 can of corn kernels (or fresh kernels of 2 corns)
1 red pepper, diced
2 bay leaves
1 Tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 Tablespoon dried basil
salt
pepper
2 boiled and de-shelled lobster tails cut into large chunks

1. Fry bacon in stock pot.

2. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is transparent

3. Add potato and season with thyme, basil, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes on high heat.

4. Add butter and then add milk slowly, 1 cup at a time. Toss in bay leaves. Make sure everything is submerged under the milk. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce to simmer.

5. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes

6. Add corn and pepper and add additional spices to taste.

7. Add cream and bring to to simmer.

8. Add lobster to soup and turn off the heat after about 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Security Overkill

2007-04-12T17:03:00.000+07:00

I had to go to both the US embassy and the China embassy on Monday while I was in Jakarta.

At the US compound, the buildings are surrounded by a 3-meter tall solid concrete wall, with all sorts of fancy wiring up top. The buildings are set back pretty far from the road. I had my bag searched thoroughly 2 times, walked through 2 metal detectors, and had to pass through 3 heavy metal doors. In addition, my mobile phone and iPod were taken away from me. There were security personnel everywhere and in the visa application area, there were no less than 3 staff directing the very sedated/nervous crowd.

At the Chinese embassy, there was a tall but see-through fence. The building is not set very far back from the busy street. There were a couple of guards at the gate - sipping coffee. At the only metal detector, the guard looked at my bag (including a big plastic shopping bag filled with mint and cilantro) but did not search inside. The visa application area was a zoo, with 6 long lines that people casually walked in and out of line. Everyone was yapping on their phone or busy texting.

Obviously, US embassy is a target in Indonesia (and probably world wide these days) but relationship between China and Indonesia haven't been all that rosy either. As recently as 1999, there were anti-Chinese riots in major Indonesian cities where Chinese were killed and their businesses burned.

'em Q-Tips

2007-03-24T10:10:00.000+07:00

I've had some weird requests when it comes to people asking me what I need from home or other more "civilized" places like Singapore. On multiple occasions, I've asked friends to carry out Q-Tips for me. Upon making the request, they've always answered with "ummm, ok" as if I were a nut (maybe I am).

Please see Exhibit A below. Left is a non-Indonesian Q-Tip, right is an Indonesian Q-Tip.

Exhibit A

Fried Rice Salad

2007-03-23T11:35:00.000+07:00

Thought I'd share my favorite recipe from the Laos cooking class.

Laos cuisine is almost always served with sticky rice,
stored in cute bamboo baskets.

15 g ground pork/chicken/tofu
1/2 kg of cooked white rice
3 egg yolks
1 Tbsp chopped shallot (or red onion)
1/2 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 Tbsp red chili powder
3 Tbsp chopped lemongrass (the top white portion)
1 tsp thinly chopped kaffir lime leaves
3 Tbsp of chopped green onion
3 Tpsp of thinly sliced long beans
3 Tbsp of roasted chopped peanuts
1 Tbsp of chopped red chili peppers (optional)
3 Tbsp of chopped mint leaves

Dressing:

2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soy bean paste
4 Tbsp lime juice

1. Mix rice, ground meat, egg yolks, shallots, and chili powder together.

2. Form mixture into 4 slightly smaller than tennis-sized balls and deep fry in hot oil until crispy golden brown; poke holes in the rice ball to allow oil into the center.

3. Remove balls from oil and let it cool for about 15 minutes.

4. Smash balls into small pieces and mix together with rest of the herbs.

5. Drizzle dressing over the top and stir in mint leaves right before serving.

Laos and Bangkok

2007-03-21T14:57:00.000+07:00

After 10 days on the road, I'm back in Aceh. I spent 5 relaxing yet activity packed days in Luang Prabang, sandwiched by 2 blissful weekends in Bangkok.

Luang Prabang is nested in a valley in north central Laos. The old town is located on a peninsula wedged in between the Mekong and the Khan rivers. When Laos opened its door to tourism, UNESCO deemed Luang Prabang a world heritage site to protect its 500-year old Buddhist temples and French colonial charm. Eco-tourism has also picked up, with many agencies offering multi-day trekking trips through hill tribe villages, kayaking down meandering rivers, hanging out and bathing elephants, mountain biking down dirt paths, and combination of any or all activities to your liking.

I ran into 2 woman, an American and a Brit, both independent travelers as well. We were all on the same plane from Bangkok and coincidently were all staying at the lovely Apsara along the Nam Khan. Over the next 4 days, I went on an elephant ride (bareback), drifted down the river in a bamboo raft (its maiden voyage), wandered aimlessly around town, stumbled across beautifully preserved temples and stalked cute kids with my camera. I took a Laos cooking class one day and learned all about traditional ingredients and put together a yummy pork fried rice salad. In the evenings, a colorful evening market unfolds on the main street and Hmong women set up shop to peddle their intricately embroidered wares and shiny Laos silks.

The only downside to my time at Luang Prabang was the haze that covers much of Northern Thailand and Laos this time of the year. Due to all the rice burning and slash and burn agriculture, the entire place was covered in a gray haze. It was kind of like being in Jakarta, minus all the cars, concrete and pollution.

For the weekends, I was in Bangkok. Linda had a housewarming party the first weekend, and I had a great time seeing familiar faces and meeting new friends. The second weekend, K was in town from Banda and it was nice to hang out with Aceh friends "off campus". We had a great time bumming around Bangkok's shopping malls, eating Mexican food, and enjoying all the amenities a big city like Bangkok had to offer!

Click here for my online album from the trip.

On the Road...Finally

2007-03-12T08:29:00.000+07:00

After 6 weeks in Aceh, I'm finally out! I arrived in Bangkok Saturday afternoon and Iam on my way to Luang Prabang in Northern Laos in 1 hour and 15 minutes!

I had a typical weekend in the big city. Had a very nice dinner at an Italian restaurant with Linda (my awesome hostess for the weekend), Marius (Dutch boy escaping Singapore), Linda's friend Sean (Seattle transplant working in Macau), and 2 of Sean's friends who are teaching English in Bangkok. The fab dinner was followed by a fun party at Linda Lounge which lasted until 4am. Sunday was dim sim lunch, followed by strolling around the Paragon - typical uber posh Asian mall. It happened to be 'Nikon Day 2007' and 3 of us, all photo buffs, got to try out amazing Nikon lenses. Then we went for a Thai massage (ahhh so nice). After sending Marius off in a taxi to the airport, Linda and I went on a shopping spree at the Suan Lum night bizarre. I got this really neat copper lamp...it's hard to describe, but I'll post photos once it's set up...now I just have to figure hot to get it to London (via Aceh and DC).

Off to Laos!

P.S. Only 194 photos taken in Bangkok over 1.5 days.

Poor Babies

2007-03-06T16:07:00.000+07:00

Here are some numbers for you to ponder:

73 - how many staff in my Banda Aceh office
3 - how many healthy babies born to my staff or their spouse in the last 6 months
2 - how many still born babies born to my staff or their spouse in the last 6 months

I've been looking online for neonatal mortality statistics for Aceh province but no luck. According to UNICEF, the neonatal mortality rate for Indonesia is 18 per 1,000 births, based on data from the year 2000.

Before tsunami, I've read that Aceh province had one of the worst health care systems in all of Indonesia due to the 30-yr conflict. Those who could afford it went to Medan or Penang Malaysia for preventative care and for surgery. With the inflow of donor funding post-tsunami, condition and training of hospitals and clinics around the province have improved, but I still hear stories about cockroach infested hospitals or clinics with brown water or...I won't gross you out with other stories.

Back to the two poor babies. Both mothers are college educated. One of the mother is even a doctor (her husband works for me). Both mothers are healthy in their mid-20s. Both families live in Banda Aceh, the city with a robust communication system, a decent transportation network, and the best access to health care in the province. You beginning to wonder what the conditions are like in rural areas.

Alright. Hope for all happy healthy babies for my staff from now on!

Moldy Soybeans

2007-03-05T16:34:00.000+07:00

I'm addicted to moldy soybeans.

Well...the whole soybeans are cultured in a controlled fermentation process and are bound together into cake form by white moldy particles called mycelium. The lovely moldy soybeans are also known as tempeh! Tempeh originated in Indonesia. It's got a nutty flavor and is high in protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins. They're used often in western vegetarian cuisine as a substitute for meat products. It's got kind of a strong taste. Not everyone's a fan.

I was first introduced to tempeh by the neighborhood Whole Foods on P and 14th in DC. They had a curried tempeh salad in the salad bar. Here in Aceh, tempeh is seen as a poor man's food, and my staff often make fun of me for liking it so much. I can get a big hunk of tempeh wrapped in banana leaf for about 20 cents at the local market. Tempeh can be cooked in a variety of ways, since the white moldy part is like a sponge and will soak up any kind of liquid around it. In Java, marinaded tempeh or tempeh bacem is quite popular. The tempeh chunks are marinated in soy, sugar and tamarind. In Aceh, the most common way to have tempeh is thinly fried pieces that kaki-lima (5 leg food stands) sell in the late afternoon to just before evening prayers. The fried stands also fry up banana, sweet potatoes, stuffed tofu, and my favorite - the fried breadfruit! Oooh they're so heavenly when freshly fried and then dipped in the sweet sticky soy sauce with green chili!

The bag full of friend goodies on the coffee table has inspired me to write this post.

Here is a tempeh recipe for you adventurous eaters. You can find tempeh near the packaged tofu in your local high-end grocery store. It'll cost more than 20 cents!

Tempeh Satay

1 package of tempeh, cubed (1/2 inch)
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
red chili
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp lemon zest
1 small piece of ginger, but galangal is better if you can find it
1 lemon grass
1 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp sugar

Put the onion, garlic, red chili, lemon zest, ginger/galangal, lemon grass in a blender.

Mix the spices with coconut milk and boil. Add the tempeh cubes and continue boiling until the liquid is reduced to about half. Cool down.

Put the tempeh cubes onto satay skewers and barbeque each side until golden brown.

6 Weeks in Aceh (Continuously)

2007-02-23T09:19:00.000+07:00

Ooof. I'm beginning to feel a little restless! I've got 2 more weeks before I take off to Bangkok for Linda's housewarming party and then to Laos for 5 days. It's been kind of a crazy 25 days since I got back from my Orangutan trip! Here are some updates on what's been happening in Aceh.

Good friend Marion left Aceh on February 4. People are always coming and going, as it is just how things work here - most people have short 3-months, 6-months contracts, and I'm an anomaly (21 months and counting!) But I was still sad to see her go. She's off to bigger and better things! She'll be working in Sudan for the next 9 months doing monitoring and evaluation for an American NGO. Good luck Marion!

On February 8, Irwandi Yusuf, 46-year old former rebel strategist was sworn in as the first democratically elected governor of Aceh province. He'll be in power for the next 5 years. Irwandi was a political prisoner and escaped from his prison cell when the tsunami waves crushed down the wall. He studied Veterinarian Medicine at Oregon State (down with the Beavers!) and was a professor at the university in town. He won overwhelmingly with 37% of the popular vote in a pool of 8 candidates. Most of his support came from rural areas where there was a strong support for the GAM movement. Many observers are curious to see how he'll interact with the Jakarta-backed provincial parliament, if he will be able to move his agenda forward. His top priorities include providing employment opportunities to ex-rebels, introduce a performance-based system in the civil services, strengthen health and education sectors, and target anti-corruption. He has also said that he will reevaluate the sharia law and its implementation because it discriminates against women and the poor.

Flower boards along the main boulevard
wishing the new governor success

An accountant in our office got married on February 11. She did not tell ANYONE she was getting married, even her friend of 5 years who she carpools everyday. About a week and half before the wedding, everyone had a wedding invitation waiting on their desk in the morning. How do people keep secrets like that? I would just burst!

More wedding photos

The year of the flaming fire pig arrived on February 18! Sheep (baaah = me!!!) are suppose to have a great year. According to some website:

At pig's table, sheep has the seat of honored guest. Luck and good fortune in romance and business are the gifts offered to the lucky sign this year. Gifts of money may surprise the sheep. The pig smiles on family and will shower the sheep who becomes engaged or married during this year with many blessings. Sheep born in this year will receive good fortune from the banquet host. The shy sheep or one who cannot decide may miss the advantage of all the opportunities that this year brings.

To follow tradition (Year of the Cock in DC and Year of Dog in Aceh), I threw a Chinese New Year party last Saturday night. Deb and Graeme were kind enough to let me use their house. Guests were requested to wear red and we had decorations from Medan and even Beijing. Graeme was in Beijing a few weeks prior and picked up all sorts of fun wall hangings, lanterns, and a golden pig filled with candy from the Beijing Wal-Mart! Alexa and I made about 100 wontons and another 100 or so of spring rolls - both big and small. It was good fun and there were lots of beer cans to be cleaned up the next morning! Always a sign of a good party!

Kids having fun

On Monday night (Day number 2 of the flaming pig year) I found out I got into LSE! I had put in an application back in December to study MS in Local Economic Development. So it looks like I will be in London starting the end of September! I'm currently trying to figure out my whereabouts between now and when I land in London. It looks like I'll be leaving Indonesia on July 15 when my work visa runs out. I also have about 30 days of leave that I need to take. So it looks like this is the plan (as of today)

May 24 - 28 -- Bali for Vi's birthday bash
May 28 - June 30 -- China*
July 1 - July 27 -- Aceh to close shop
July 27 - August 15 -- Travel around the region**
August 15 - Sept 20 -- US (August 18 in Rhodes Island for Sarly's wedding)

* Think I'll be in Beijing for a couple of weeks and then will travel around
** Friends! Let me know if you have any suggestions or want to meet up somewhere

Feel free to shoot me an email if you'll be in London next year or if you have friends who are there. I'll need new friends to hang out with!

That's all for now! The end of an era is in sight!

More about Chinese Horoscope for the year of the pig.

Our Red-haired Cousins

2007-01-29T22:48:00.000+07:00

Bukit Lawang

Orangutans are now found only in Sumatra and Borneo (Sarawak/Sabah provinces of Malaysia, and Kalimantan province of Indonesia). Orangutans are the world's largest arboreal mammal, but despite its size, they swing through the jungle canopy with grace and ease. The word orangutan is actually an example of a word in English that's been borrowed from the Melayu language. Orang means people, and utan means forest. Thus, our red cousins are people of the forest!

9 of us met in Medan on Friday evening. Marius flew in from Singapore, Alexa, Vi, and Tom came in from Jakarta, and Graeme, Greg, Marion, Anu, and I from Banda town. We met for a wonderful dinner at Sushi Tei. Most of us had an early night in preparation for the 6:30am departure on Saturday, but 2 boys stayed out until past 4am.

We drove for about 3.5 hours from Medan. The road was rather bumpy, but definitely better than I had imagined. We checked into the EcoLodge in Bukit Lawang and left for our jungle trek before 11:30. On our trek, we saw 5 orangutans, including one cute baby as well as a couple of other monkeys. The orangutans we saw were all female and they had all lived in the rehabilitation center at Bohorok which opened in 1973 to help orangutans readjust to the wild after captivity or displacement through land clearing. The apes were really friendly and we came within inches of them!

The hike included steep uphills and downhills and we had to trek down a slippery river bank for about 20 minutes. Luckily, the rain held until after we came out of the jungle! After a quick nasi goreng and pineapple lunch by the river bank, we hopped into inner tubes and cascaded down the river to where we started our hike. As we got into the river, the sky cracked open and rain poured down. I also got bitten by a large black ant which has left a big red welt on my forearm.

Click here for photos from the trip!

Club Mah Jong

2007-01-26T00:06:00.000+07:00

Jewish grandmothers in Florida play it. Joy Luck Club brought it onto the radar screen of mainstream America. Aid workers in Banda town are now addicted to it.

3 sets of Mah Jong came back with us from Penang in November. Since then, I've hosted Mah Jong night at my house nearly once a week. Usually it's a Friday evening. Delivery pizza or homemade dinner at 7:30, followed by shouts of Pung! Chi! Hu! until about 11:00 and then on over to the WFP for a beer, or 2, or 3...

If we have enough people, there are usually 2 tables, one for the quiet/competitive type, the other for the yappy/social type. I'm sure you can guess which table I belong to. I've somehow been pegged as the really competitive girl, even though I totally am not! Well, I am a little, but not that much more than the normal person! Maybe it's because I've been surrounded by uber-competitive-over-achievers my entire life (GATE Program, GT and AP classes, tennis camp, living with pre-med kids in college and someone who is in the 99.9th %tile after college, and JPAs at the WB). Now that I'm in Banda and surrounded by chilled out aid workers, I guess I am competitive vis-a-vis my cohorts? Oh who knows. I like to win, but I have no problem with losing.

Anyway, back to Mah Jong...the game's caught on like wild fire. I think I've got about 5-6 friends who are now addicted and I know at least of 2 friends who bought sets over Christmas break and brought it home with them.

Anyone know how to keep score? I've played since I was 5 but have never learned how to keep score. I've looked around online but all of the systems are kind of lame.

Since there are always newbies joining. I made a little cheat sheet to help people remember.

The Great Pumpkin Experiment

2007-01-25T17:05:00.000+07:00

I was uninspired to cook after I came back from the Philippines - maybe because I was porked out and was traumatized by the Balut. For a week, I was eating out nearly every lunch and dinner and I decided I had to snap out of it. A friend inspired me to make a pesto pasta with some roasted pumpkin for mahjong night. That idea somehow got transformed into pumpkin risotto since I had inherited a box of Arborio Rice from a friend who left Aceh. I bought this medium-sized pumpkin in the vegetable market. Mind that I've never purchased a pumpkin other than having the intend to carve it. I had made risotto once years ago in Berkeley and it's not high on my "meals to remember" list. I made way too much gummy rice goo that sat in the fridge until it went moldy because my 2 boy roommates were afraid to eat it or throw it out. But I decided 5 years was enough of a gap and I should give risotto another shot. Lesson #1, I only made one portion, Lesson #2, I watched the clock carefully not to overcook the starchy Arborio rice. I had full confidence that this was going to a successful pot of rice goo! With the help of my wonderful stirring partner Shirley, a lovely pot of risotto emerged from my kitchen and was promptly consumed!

But then I had the problem of figuring out what to do with the 3/4 of the remaining pumpkin. I hate to throw things out, ingredients or leftovers. Shirley and I decided to experiment with pumpkin. We decided to cook up some curried pumpkin soup and more of that yummy rice goo. So last night, for dinner we had the soup, the risotto and tossed in a pumpkin pie as well.

Yay the pumpkin is finally gone! I think I'll be able to face another pumpkin in about 3 months. Anyone's got any good pumpkin recipes? Pumpkin bread? Pumpkin muffins? Pumpkin pasta?

My Sweet Bike

2007-01-24T11:52:00.000+07:00

I've had my bike for nearly 4 months now! The other night, the odometer passed 1000! Well...that's 1000 kilometers, not miles. I'm still smitten with my bike. It's great to just take it out for a spin. Hop on it to go to the beach for a run. Cruise down to the market to pick up fruits. It's great! I love not having to rely on drivers anymore! Plus I can stay out as late as I want to!!!

Thrilla in Manila

2007-01-10T17:47:00.000+07:00

Happy New Year!

I spent nearly 2 weeks traveling through Philippines with my college roommate Lillian and her boyfriend Chuck.

Dapitan

This was our first stop. Dapitan is located on the northwestern shore of Mindanao island in the Southern Philippines. This town of 50,000’s claim to fame was that the Filipino national hero Jose Rizal – leader during the Filipino independence from Spain – was exiled there for four years. Lillian’s mother’s family is from the town. Her grandfather and uncle acted as mayor and her aunt is currently the congresswoman from the district. We went to a family wedding, where everyone there was a cousin of Lillian’s. Her parents built a sprawling retirement home here two years ago, although the zen energy of the house is disrupted nightly by the sound of (bad) karaoke from a nearby restaurant and noisy roosters from their neighbor - who raises fighting cocks.

Boracay

We rang in 2007 on Boracay, a tiny island famed for its powdery white sand, located about 1 hour south of Manila (via a Dash 7). Papaw (traditional bamboo sailboats) dot the shore line waiting to take tourists out island hopping, fishing, and snorkeling. The beach is flanked by rows of coconut trees, which also act as a barrier to the hotels, restaurants, and bars that follow most of the 2 mile stretch of White Beach (what a creative name!) On new year’s eve, we bar hopped our way down the beach and eventually ended up lounging on bean bags on the beach listening to live bands reggae-fying classics. It was funny to hear a Filipino with dreadlocks singing “I’m an Englishman in New York.” Talk about cultural hodge-podge!

Banaue and Sagada

We traveled 8 hours north of Manila to Banaue, located deep in the Cordillera Mountains of Central Luzon. Banaue is famous for its 2,000-year-old rice terraces and irrigation system built by the native Ifugao tribe. We did a half day hike in the misty rain, often performing a balancing act – walking on a slippery 20cm wide rock ledge with muddy irrigation canal to one side and steep drop off to the terrace below on the other. It was good to have a low center of gravity! Although we all ended up with wet and muddy shoes! We passed countless waterfalls and meandered through small villages where inhabitants carved wooden masks that are sold in curio shops around town.

In Sagada, we explored an underground cave (with a guide and his kerosene lamp, of course!) I had been in caves before, but they’ve all been “touristfied” complete with stairs, rails, and unnatural colored lights illuminating the formations. This one, was pretty basic when it came to caving amenities! We crawled on all fours, waded through chest-level pools of freezing water, and contorted our bodies to squeezed and shimmy through tight crevasses. I definitely put my headlamp to good use!

Photos from the trip are now at http://picasaweb.google.com/sharonzhao/ThePhilippines

Mmm. Hamburger

2006-12-19T17:31:00.000+07:00

Jakarta Hotel Puts $110 Hamburger on Menu

JAKARTA, December 18 (Reuters) - A hotel in Indonesia is dishing out a hamburger that costs more than twice the monthly minimum wage in some parts of the country.

The $110 hamburger offered by the Four Seasons is made of Kobe beef with foie gras, Portobello mushrooms and Korean pears -- served with french fries, of course.

They're not exactly selling like hot cakes yet, but the hotel says it has sold 20 of the 1.0 million rupiah ($110.1) hamburgers since they were launched this month.

"One burger has 225 grams of Kobe beef. It is so expensive because the flavour is really different," said Erwan Ruswandi, the chief of the restaurant offering the gourmet burger.

"The calves in Kobe get special treatment ... they drink beer mixed with milk, vitamins and eat pesticide-free grass. We add foie gras and also some Korean pears. We import all the materials, and they are high quality so it is so expensive."

The minimum wage in most parts the country of 220 million is as low as around $40 a month.

A tiny number of Indonesians are among the richest people in Asia while millions live in dire poverty in urban slums or shanty towns in the countryside.

Shake Shake Shake!

2006-12-18T10:28:00.000+07:00

Earthquake #20 (well, there have been a bunch of little ones lately)

Magnitude? 5.8
Date? Monday, 18 December, 04:10:21 AM local time
Epicenter? 45 miles SSW of Banda Aceh or 4.891°N, 95.059°E
What was I doing? Sleeping. All the big ones have been during the night. This one was a good shaker!...But I stayed in bed and waited it out. :-)

Pilkada

2006-12-14T17:37:00.000+07:00

Pilkada is the Indonesian word for local elections. Aceh had its general election on Monday December 11. The governor (gubernor), mayors (walikota) and district heads (bupati) were all up for grabs. This is the first time mayors and district are elected democratically.

There's been a ton of coverage in international media and you can read them if you want in-depth coverage. But to give you the overview, there were 8 pairs of gubernatorial candidates. There were 1.5 pairs of GAM-affiliated candidates, but GAM did not officially endorse anyone, thus the candidates ran as independents. The guy who's the projected winner - Irawandi was a political prisoner and was actually in jail in Banda Aceh at the time of the tsunami. The water knocked down the prison and he escaped. He also is a OSU (Oregon) alum and studied veterinarian medicine there. In pre-election polls 2 weeks prior, he was not even in the top 3. The quickcounts have him at 39% (in 2 separate polls). It came as a big shock to most election insiders because the pre-election pools did not have any candidate above 25%. Some have attributed his win to grassroot level mobilization in the previous GAM stronghold areas in North Aceh. That area is also most densely populated area in Aceh. Another reason may be because Irawandi was seen as the traditional Acehnese candidate, not backed by any national party. So, an undecided rural voter would likely vote for him. On a side note, 77% of Acehnese live in a rural setting.

Lobby of the Swissbel

On Monday, I came back from Jakarta around noon, so I missed out on all the election observing hoopla (most polling stations closed around noon). I attended the 2 evening press conferences at the local 4-star hotel that night to hear the results from the 2 separate organizations doing quick count. The hotel lobby was packed with international journalists, local and international NGO reps and election junkies like me.

While we were having dinner, Irawandi walked past our table and sat down in the private glass-enclosed room. He was all smiles.

He's the fuzzy guy sitting down with glasses. We were all star struck.

Gobbling Away in Aceh

2006-11-25T09:07:00.000+07:00

Last year, I had a turkey sandwich at Caswell's with my boss on Thanksgiving Day. It was a rather forgettable Thanksgiving.

This year...did we put on a show!

A friend and I took off from work at 2:30pm and started cooking like a pair of madwoman. The 12.34lb turkey was tenderly massaged with butter and garlic and lovingly rubbed down with sage. It went in the oven promptly at 3:30pm. We then shifted our focus to the pumpkin (completely from scratch) and apple pies, the mashed potatoes and stuffing. We were sipping on white wine, had 2 ovens going, all 4 burners burning, and good cooking music blasting. We were on a roll!

Around 6:30, as we were basting our bird, we realized that the oven was no longer hot! We ran out of gas! Literally! By 7, a new gas tank had arrived and the bird continued roasting. By 8, the little temperature poppy thing was still unpopped and we were late! We took it out anyway and piled everything into a car and headed over to another friend's house to feast. While en route, the poppy thing popped up! We were oh so delighted (didn't really want anyone to get sick from an undercooked turkey!)

The turkey turned out beautifully and so did the mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce (all the way from Jakarta), 2 kinds of stuffing, grilled veggie, corn on a cob, pumpkin pie, apple pie, jell-0, and whipped cream!

Happy Turkey Day from Aceh!

Here are more photos from Thanksgiving in Aceh

Black Magic Woman

2006-11-17T16:47:00.000+07:00

...or rather man. This was in the Jakarta Post today.

Witch Doctor Tries to Jinx Bush's Visit

A man claiming magic powers drank freshly slaughtered animal and snake blood Thursday as part of a ritual he said would jinx the upcoming visit of U.S. President George Bush.

Ki Gendeng Pamungkas slit the throat of a goat, a small snake and stabbed a black crow in the chest, mixed their blood with herbs before drinking the potion and smearing it on his face...he believed the ritual would succeed because "the devil is with me today."

He believed the ritual - performed around one kilometer from the palace in Bogor - would cause Secret Service agents guarding Bush to fall into a trance and believe the U.S. leader was under attack, causing chaos.

Penang Pics!

2006-11-16T23:22:00.000+07:00

Wheeeeeew it's been a long week! It's been all work and no play for Sharon...well...I did take some time off Wednesday night to play some mah-jong, since all 3 of us picked up mah-jong sets in Penang last weekend.

Finally had some quiet time this evening and posted some of the good photos from the trip. Check them out!

Penang Bound!

2006-11-10T00:58:00.000+07:00

After a very very long 4-day week, I'm going to Penang, Malaysia for the long weekend. Here's a recent article about Penang from the NY Times Travel section. In the article, it specificially mentions the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. That's where we're staying!!! Fatt huh???

Will take lots of pictures!

This is what I do in Banda on a Monday night

2006-10-31T01:18:00.000+07:00

It's past 1am. A friend and I just watched the last 5 episodes of Prisonbreak. All done!!!...Until Season 2 makes its debut in Aceh!

What's next? I think Lost.

Ugg, better get to bed.

Bats, Pizza & Fireworks

2006-10-29T13:05:00.000+07:00

I celebrated my birthday yesterday...numero 2 in Aceh.

We went down to the beach at Lampuuk around 5pm to relax and watch the sunset. We sat down at one of the beach bordered by some large caves. Right as the sun dipped under the horizon, thousands and thousands of bats flew out of their home for feeding. As the throng exited their cave, their formation in the sky looked like a long piece of black ribbon being tossed by the sea breeze. It was a pretty amazing sight!

After the bat viewing, we walked to Joel's Restaurant about 5 minutes away from the beach. Joel grew up in Lampuuk and had a restaurant on the beach before the tsunami. Because of his business and the large number of backpackers that passed through Lampuuk previous to the tsunami, he had made many friends from Europe and was living in Italy when the tsunami happened. A couple of months later, he returned to Lampuuk to help to rebuild his community. I met him over a year ago when he first returned. With funding from NGOs, Joel opened his restaurant a few months back with a help of an Italian woman. He built a traditional Acehnese house on stilts, a brick oven and started growing lovely basil plants in the front yard. The restaurant is now a favorite of ours. It serves up fantastic thin crust pizzas, great pastas, and fresh grilled fish.

Mmmm...pizza

Friends surprised me a lovely chocolate cake after we gorged ourselves on 9 pizzas, 2 plates of pasta, a lobster, a gigantic grilled fish, and countless beers. The cake was made by a woman in the village...maybe she had gone through our project's cake making vocational training! :)

Post-dinner activities included fireworks on the beach. During the past couple of weeks, vendors have been selling fireworks on the streets in celebration of Idul Fitri - the end of Ramadan. We stocked up quite a few roman candles, sparklers and a variety of other pyrotechnic paraphernalia.

Pretty cool huh???

Nima enjoying her sparkler

Someone lighting a roman candle in the big fire.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday greetings! You've made this a most memorable birthday!

$5 Addiction

2006-10-26T11:46:00.000+07:00

First there was Alias (it got too confusing and and I gave up after Season 3). Then there was Grey's Anatomy (Seasons 1 & 2). Now there's Prisonbreak.

I'm a total sucker for television series.

For less than a McDonald's Value Meal, I can score myself an entire season here in Banda town. The variety has gotten to be mind boggling: Dawson's Creak, Buffy, CSI from every city there is, Sex and the City, Smallville, L Word, 6 Feet Under, Nip/Tuck, The Simple Life, ER, Seinfeld, Will and Grace, Friends, Lost, The Amazing Race, Entourage...you name it, Banda's got it! Plus the quality of series are typically pretty good. Except once in awhile, they jumble up the order of the episodes!

A friend and I have been cooped up in my room since last Saturday watching 2-5 episodes of Prisonbreak per session. I've got the big projector screen and surround-sound. It's a pretty sweet set up!

We finished Season 1 last night. Will start Season 2 tonight...

...will they break out of Fox River???

My Sweet Bike

2006-10-23T14:36:00.000+07:00

I had been contemplating buying a motorbike for a few months now. Some friends thought it was a great idea and some thought it was just a horrible horrible idea! I came back to Aceh after vacay and was in a total funk and decided that buying a bike would make me really happy. So I went out to the dealership over lunch one day and bought one!

And oh am I happy with my decision!!!

I've gotten to be pretty good at maneuvering it around the Banda town traffic. The traffic circles were a bit daunting at first - as the traffic goes clockwise instead of counter clockwise and there are always 500 bajillion cars and motorbikes around it. But after a couple of whirls around the circles around town, I feel pretty confident now...the trick is to just keep going at the same speed as everyone else! Then the next test was driving through busy market streets and narrow back alleys. So on Saturday, the friend who taught me how to ride and I went around the busy streets and alleys surrounding the central market. The streets are currently even more crowded now than normal because it's the end of Ramadan. Proud to say, I made it out of there alive too!

Here are the specs for my bike...sorry it's in Indonesian.

Yiiiiikes

2006-10-05T09:35:00.000+07:00

Sorry to all those loyal readers out there. I've been a total delinquent blogger!

I spent 3 weeks away from Aceh. First was in Jakarta for a team building session, which turned out to be pretty fun. Saw some friends before hoping on a plane to Singapore, where I met up a relative that I haven't seen in years! Then, 7-hour plane ride to Tokyo and 9 more to San Francisco, where I was greeted by dim sim, trip to Napa, chocolate bouchons, and yummy duck (all within 12 hours of landing). Went to Alcatraz for the first time ever and drove up to Davis (where I lived from '89-'94) and had lunch with a friend who's a soon-to-be mommy. Heaps of thanks to ChoiboyX who let me crash at his place, searched for the perfect fish taco with me (although I ended up having an enchilada) and took me to the airport at 5am!

DC was fantastic as well...well aside from all the medical appointments to make sure that I'm not dying from some asymptomatic tropical disease. I was able to catch up with friends, family and coworkers. It was great timing that a friend from Chicago was in town for law interviews and another from SF was in town for training. Other highlights included a wonderful Sunday afternoon with Can Attack and company where wine consumption paired with experimental and competitive cooking started at 2pm. Went bowling with 3 high school buddies at this new posh bowling alley and almost beat Captain F. Had planned on doing a midnight monument biketrip with a friend, but that fell through...will have to save it for next time! All in all, had a great great time in DC.

From DC, I took the Chinatown bus up to New York for a 2-day jaunt. Stay with Mr. Ironwood (Thanks!!!) in his 6-story walkup (85 steps that nearly killed an IKEA furniture delivery boy). NY is one of those places where everyone seems to end up at some point. I saw friends from high school, college, DAI, and even hung out in Central Park with a coworker from Jakarta!

Now I'm back in Aceh and not totally thrilled to be here. It's been gloomy here with the onset of rain season. Ramadan is in full swing, meaning 3 restaurants are open for lunch and everyone in the office is in a dour mood. Also a bit depressing that friends are leaving the place, meaning if I don't make an effort to make new friends, I'll be stuck watching 'Lost' in my room every night. Blaaaaaaaah. But at least I can now download Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy and I just bought myself a motorbike!!!!...More on that later. So...things are on the upswing!

Health Exam and Koran Reading

2006-09-04T15:05:00.000+07:00

The provincial election that will be held on December 11 will be the largest direct election ever held in Indonesia. Over 200 candidates are running for Governor, 19 Bupati (Head of Regency) and a handful of Mayors. But before each candidate can be officially register, they must pass 2 tests.

The Independent Election Commission (KIP) requires each candidate to undergo a health examination and also tests their ability to recite the Koran. The seven-hour medical examinations will test their mental health, lungs, heart, eyes, ears, nose, abdomen, throat and central nervous system. Candidates found to have a history of drug abuse will be eliminated. They also must pay $200 for the test.

More importantly, each Candidates' ability to recite the Koran will also be tested. Each candidate will be asked to read for 15 minutes!

Homebound!

2006-08-27T16:18:00.000+07:00

I'm going home for 2 weeks in 2 weeks! Just bought my tickets, it's a done deal!

I'll be in SF from Sept 10 - 12 and DC from 13 - 24. I'm also hoping to make it up to New York for a day or two. Drop me an email if you want to be included on the social calendar :)

Tension

2006-08-24T17:08:00.000+07:00

First the 1-year anniversary of the Peace Agreement (August 15), then followed by Independence day (August 17) and the religious police raiding an UN compound (also August 17), tension in Banda is a little high right now. It'll probably remain high until the provincial election that is scheduled for December 11.

On Tuesday, there was a large rally in Banda Aceh in front of the Grand Mosque. The crowd was mostly from outside the city. I was headed to Lhokseumawe that day; on the road we saw caravans of large trucks filled full of demonstrators who were making their way to the provincial capital.

Photo from the Serambi Indonesia newspaper

The center part of the town as well as the University area were closed down, causing major traffic detours. However, the rally was peaceful.

What has been a bigger headache for the international community has been the religious police.
Here's the article from Deutsche Presse-Agenteur

Jakarta- The United Nations has lodged a complaint after Muslim morality police in Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province broke into a UN diplomatic compound and peered through windows at sleeping foreign diplomats, an official confirmed Wednesday. The late-night raid, which violated international conventions on diplomatic privilege and immunity, was the latest incident involving Aceh's controversial "Sharia police," who have illegally detained women for not wearing headscarves and publicly flogged people for drinking alcohol.

The incident occurred at 11 p.m. last Thursday night when 30 men, both Sharia officers and regular city policemen, forced their way into the compound of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, despite protests from UN guards.

"It's a violation of diplomatic rules - a clear violation," Barry Cane, a WFP spokesman, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Cane said the Sharia police, who are civil servants charged with enforcing a controversial Islamic law statute in Aceh, wandered around the compound, which contains both offices and residences for foreign UN workers.

He acknowledged that the policemen peered into the bedroom windows of UN diplomats while they were sleeping.

"I don't even want to speculate" on their motives, Cane said, although another foreign aid worker familiar with the raid told dpa they were hoping to catch the Westerners drinking at their private bar.

"The matter was taken up with the provincial government, which apologized," Cane said, adding that a UN security official was in Aceh investigating the incident, and that the WFP filed a protest with the Aceh police department.

However, Cane said the WFP remained concerned that the Sharia police, who are apparently operating out of control of any authority in Aceh, would attempt to raid the compound again, even though they know it's a diplomatic mission protected by international convention.

The Indonesian parliament allowed Aceh to implement Sharia, or Islamic law, in 2003, despite the rest of the Muslim-majority nation being secular.

Since then, the Sharia police have become a law unto themselves, dragging women off of motorcycles and out of hotel lobbies for not wearing headscarves, making lewd sexual references, and illegally detaining them.

The group's antics have infuriated both Acehnese citizens and foreign relief agencies, which are spending billions of dollars helping Aceh recover from the 2004 Asian tsunami as well as a recently-finished 29-year separatist war.

It remains unknown why the UN or Indonesia's Foreign Ministry did not publicly acknowledge the incident, which occurred on the country's August 17 Independence Day.

"No one wants to make a big deal about it publicly at the moment," one UN official, speaking on background, told dpa. "It's a very sensitive issue, but there was no attempt to cover it up."

Sharia police officials in Aceh could not be reached for comment.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur

Shake Shake Shake!

2006-08-24T16:43:00.000+07:00

Earthquake #19

Magnitude? 5.2
Date? Thursday, 24 August, 01:31:51 AM local time
Epicenter? 55 miles SSW of Banda Aceh or 4.721°N, 95.083°E
What was I doing? Sleeping

There was another earthquake Wednesday afternoon aruond 6pm, a pretty good jolt. But it wasn't on the USGS website!

Decisions Decisions

2006-08-23T18:12:00.000+07:00

Monday night had finally rolled around in KL. I had been there for 3 full days and had tried to do as many non-Aceh things as possible. I watched 2 movies (bad ones), went to an orchestral concert, took public transit, ate scallops, oysters, cherries, roasted chestnuts and pork, and walked and walked and walked.

Then it came to my last meal in a civilzed world and I was just completely overwhelemed with the decision making process. I was at the Suria KLCC, which is the uber-mall underneath the Petronas Twin Towers. It's got a super foodcourt and a multitude of restaurants. What do I have? Do I have some Chicken Shwarma at the Lebanese place in the food court? How about some Beef Fajita at Chili's, or do I go for some sushi at one of the Japanese places? Or maybe some Green Curry with Shrimp at the chic Thai restaurant? Or a lamb chop from the San Francisco Steakhouse. What I really wanted was a couple of fish tacos, Baja style. Unfortunately, Chili's didn't have that on the menu. Oh so sad.

I ended up having a BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad with extra avocado and a bowl of Potato and Leek Soup at the California Pizza Kitchen. HA.

Click here for KL photos.

Greetings from Kuala Lumpur

2006-08-18T17:31:00.000+07:00

I've got a long weekend. Thursday was Indonesia Independence Day (61 years!) and Monday's the Ascension of Muhammad. I took the opportunity and skipped town for a much needed mental break. I arrived in KL last night. What a lovely city! I love how the people here speak pretty good English, Malay (which is 80% similar to Indonesian) and Chinese...so I can get around with no problems at all!

I found a great deal online for a 5-star hotel for about $70 per night and decided to pamper myself. The hotel is located about 2 min away from one of KL's monorail lines, so it's super easy to get around. However, the Monorail/subway systems are owned by several different companies, so transitting between lines is kind of a pain and you have to buy separate tickets. Oh well. It's still nice to be able to take public transit though.

I went shopping at the mall that's at the base of the Patronas Towers this morning. Caught a movie - Mistress of Spices...thumbs down. Then, walked over to the Bukit Bintang area of town and just bought myself a 100GB harddrive for about $100. Not bad! Tonight I'm going to hit up the Chinatown night market.

Sunday is the opening day of the Malaysia Philaharmonic Orchestra, so I'm hoping to catch one of the four free concerts that will be going on during the day. Gotta soak in all that cultural stuff!!!

Shake Shake Shake!

2006-08-13T22:25:00.000+07:00

Earthquake #18

Magnitude? 5.4
Date? Sunday, 13 August, 03:41:46 PM local time
Epicenter? 40 miles W of Banda Aceh or 5.520°N, 94.732°E
What was I doing? Laying in bed, finishing disc 8 of Grey's Anatomy* Season 2.

I'm totally addicted to this show. I bought Season 2 on Tuesday. I finished it this afternoon. 8 discs in 5 days. Nuts!

Protest in my backyard

2006-08-10T15:49:00.001+07:00

A protest organized by the Students Care for Palestine and Lebanon Movement marched upon The European Union house and the UN Compound on Tuesday afternoon. There were about 90 of them. I think this was by far the largest and well-organized protest in Banda Aceh since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah started. The protest was well policed and there were no arrests. Acehnese are used to protesting (usually against the military or the government) so they know pretty much what they can / can't do in a protest without getting in serious trouble.

They burned an Israeli flag, scaled the fence and mounted a banner at both the UN and the EU. They also demanded admission for 10 of it's members to enter the compound and air their grievances. This was refused. They then burned banners at the gate and marched away before dispersing.

On their leaflets, the protesters:

Urges the UN to make a concrete solution to save the civilian in Palestine and Lebanon.
Urges the UN to put Israel on charge for its Military Aggression to Palestine and Israel.
Urges the UN and EU to draw/pull out the US right of veto in the UN.
Stated to support the Peace troops which prepared by TNI to Lebanon.
Asks all the Muslim in Indonesia especially in Aceh to gives material and moral support to what Palestine and Lebanon fights in against Israel Zionist.
Boycott the US products and its allies in Indonesia.

The UN and EU compounds are about a 5 min walk from my office but I was no where near the protest. These photos are from the ADB photographer.

I feel like I'm in Berkeley again!

Climbing the EU Fence

Kind of a cool picture huh?

The banner says: UN should charge Israel;
UN must respond fast, resolute, neutral;
No US veto in UN; UN must prove it's not a US puppet;
Send peacekeepers

Finished!!!

2006-08-09T23:00:00.000+07:00

The rain stayed away, the girls played with big smiles, the boys played their hearts out (5 setter) and the crowed was wild (the home team won). The congressman and family seemed happy which made USAID happy (plus we branded like hell).

So glad it's over. Well, I still got 200+ balls sitting in my office waiting to be picked up and the final reports that need to be turned in. But so glad it's over!

Here are some pictures from the event

Traditional ceremony of blessing the court and the players before the match.

The winning team

Life or No Life?

2006-08-06T17:02:00.000+07:00

How important is your job to you? I have encountered plenty of workaholics in my life. I have close friends back at home who have worked at investment banks where working back-to-back 100 hours a week is not unusual. I’ve had bosses who call me at 10 pm on a Saturday while on vacation to discuss the next site visit. I have friends in Aceh who work six-and-half days a week and toil until 2am revising work plans. With the tsunami rebuilding process being one of the most highly scrutinized humanitarian recovery efforts in history, organizations are under a tremendous amount of pressure to deliver deliver deliver – from the number of houses that are under construction, to how many latrines you’ve built, to how many coconut seedlings you’ve provided, to how many temporary employment opportunities you’ve created. The monitoring indicators are endless and the pressure is often intense from headquarters and donors.

Most people are well informed of the level of pressure involved in the job before signing their name on that contract. But what happens when you have an intense workload and want a life too? Or do you instead feel like you’ve overcommitted yourself and find yourself not doing either very well? Waking up at 3am worrying if you did your best on that proposal because you feel guilty for going out for beers? Cancel dinner plans with friends because you have to submit that report to that demanding 50-yr divorced workaholic boss who doesn’t have a life?

Is it possible to be successful at both?

Sharia Law in Aceh

2006-08-04T09:09:00.000+07:00

In response to fahdp's comment about punishment of adultery in Aceh, International Crisis Group (ICG) has just published a really good article titled Islamic Law and Criminal Justice in Aceh.

The article gives a brief history of how sharia law evolved in Aceh and the issues in enforcement.

Shake Shake Shake!

2006-08-03T15:42:00.000+07:00

Earthquake #17

Magnitude? 4.9
Date? Wednesday, 2 August, 12:26:42 AM local time
Epicenter? 70 miles SE of Banda Aceh or 4.878°N, 96.135°E
What was I doing? Trying not to think about volleyball

This one was one quick jolt followed by some pretty big sways - like I was on a boat.

Balled Out

2006-08-02T08:31:00.000+07:00

My life has been taken over by volleyball. Saturday at 7am, I'm crawling out of bed to give an opening speech at the girls tournament. Monday night at 2am, I'm waking up worrying if my additional 270 balls will arrive on time. Wednesday night at 5am, I'm panicking if it'll rain on Saturday afternoon and the whole thing would have to be scrapped!

Most people don't understand how much preparation goes behind organizing an event this size. I've got 16 villages and 8 schools participating in this 10-day tournament that is sponsored by USAID, Nike and APL, a shipping company. That's 24 teams of 12 players each. The finals will be on this Saturday and the event will be attended by an US Congressman who's decided to drag out his entire family (wife + 3 kids) to Aceh for a 3-day visit as well as the Governor of Aceh Province and a bunch of local officials. I've had to work with Nike on getting their products shipped here (they were suppose to send out 12 balls PER participating team = 288, instead they shipped out 18!), work with the shipping company on getting their money transferred to our village that's hosting the tournament, coming up with a budget that is all encompassing, work with my procurement and accounting staff to make sure that village is spending every dime properly, take care press releases, go on-site to make sure the banners are hung up correctly, make sure the village will prepare enough food for 400 people for the BBQ that's following the awards...OK, my head is beginning to spin just writing this. So I think I better stop.

I plan on getting very drunk on Saturday night. Either celebrating the success of the tournament or the fiasco it might turn out to be.

Another One?

2006-07-27T20:13:00.000+07:00

According to CNN.com just now, a 6.1 earthquake hit Western Indonesia on the island of Sumatra.

I'm ok! Didn't feel a thing! No worries!

'Aceh World'

2006-07-27T19:06:00.000+07:00

Some entrepreneurial Acehnese started an English weekly newspaper. Typically I don't pay much attention to it, but a copy landed on my desk today so I was forced to read it during downtime this afternoon.

This story grabbed my interest in this week's 'Aceh World':

"Italian National Arrested for Adultery"

...An Italian, 30 years of age, who works with an international humanitarian organization in Aceh was arrested by the local sharia police for committing adultery with his translator, an Acehnese woman...The local sharia police received an anonymous text message about the whereabout of the pair...The sharia police broke down the front door and caught them red-handed...The Italian was also caught in possession of dried ganja leaves and alcoholic drinks. The suspect will be charged with the crime of possession of narcotics with a maximum penalty of 10 years prison time. The woman suspect will be charged with a violation of the sharia law for committing adultery.

They were caught red-handed! I wonder what that means...

'Aceh World' is like the Hello! and People and National Enquire for Banda! Maybe I should get a subscription.

Lake Toba

2006-07-25T19:58:00.000+07:00

From Medan to Tebingtinggi to Pematangsiantar and then onto Parapat at the shore of Lake Toba. We drove and drove. First through the non-descriptive urban sprawl of Medan, then past Bridgestone rubber tree plantations and terraced rice paddies. Slowly mosques became churches and we knew we had entered Batak country. The famed Lake Toba lies in the middle of this mystical land. The Lake itself was created some 75,000 years ago after a massive volcanic explosion that was supposedly exponentially more powerful than Krakatoa and Vesuvius. Water filled the collapsed caldera and created the serene 400-square mile lake. Fast forward a few thousand years, as the fault line beneath Toba shifted, another volcano grew and soon enough, it peaked through the water and formed the island of Samosir in the giant lake.

Legend has it that no Westerner laid eyes on Toba until 1863 - at least none who survived the experience. The daunting mountains and the fearsome reputation of the Batak people whose homelands surround the lake - the original ''headhunters of Sumatra'' - had for centuries worked to discourage upcountry wayfaring. The Batak I encountered on my trip were more than friendly. They approached with smiles at the dock wanting to practice their English. They showcased their strong traditions of singing and guitar playing on ferry rides. They returned our request with smiles when asked if we could take photos of their traditional houses with boat-shaped roofs.

On Sunday morning, as we drove through the green plateaus of Samosir, we passed women in their Sunday best clutching bibles and slowly making their way to service. We heard hymns and songs escaping from country churches that dot the expansive landscape. We saw shirtless young boys playing soccer lakeside.

Only too soon did Sunday afternoon approach and it was time to get in the car and drive and drive again. We left behind the lake, the island, the churches, the cool breeze and descended back to where we came from.

2006-07-25T19:19:00.000+07:00

On the road from Medan to Lake Toba. What's wrong with this picture???

2006-07-25T19:18:00.000+07:00

Lake Toba before sunrise...yes I woke up at 5:45 to take pictures!

2006-07-25T19:17:00.001+07:00

Ferry pulling up to Tumok on Samosir Island

2006-07-25T19:17:00.000+07:00

Details on a Batak house

2006-07-25T19:15:00.001+07:00

Nature

2006-07-25T19:15:00.000+07:00

Traditional Batak house

2006-07-25T19:14:00.000+07:00

House

2006-07-25T19:13:00.000+07:00

Horas! = Hello!

2006-07-25T19:12:00.000+07:00

Soccer on Samosir (Island), Toba (Lake) and Sumatra (Island) in the background.

2006-07-25T18:57:00.000+07:00

Going to church

2006-07-25T18:48:00.000+07:00

Being serenaded by 2 Batak boys on the ferry

A Happenin' Place

2006-07-19T18:24:00.000+07:00

Mega tsunami in Aceh...
Bombs in Kuta...
Mud slides in Sulawesi...
Earthquake in Yogya...
Tsunami in Pangandaran...
Bird flu...all over

Thanks for those who were concerned about me. The tsunami hit near the recent Yogya earthquake. Same fault line but different island.

Mangosteens

2006-07-19T18:08:00.001+07:00

It's not a cross between a mango and Bruce Springsteen.

Kingdom: Planta
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Clusiaceae
Genus: Garcinia

Mangosteens are in season at the moment and I'm completely smitten with these beautiful fruits. The purplish outer shell is rather hard. But don't be fooled as they're easily opened after a couple of pokes with your fingernail, or a butter knife - if you're civilized. Inside, a milky white fruit, shaped a peeled mandarin orange is engulfed in a deep wine colored spongy layer waiting to be devoured.

Mangosteens are rarely found in the US because they can only be grown in the tropics and are illegal to import without fumigation due to fears that they harbor the Asian fruit fly.

We went to one of our villages in Leupung district, about 30 minutes south of Banda Aceh. There was a fruit orchard full of ripen mangosteens, rambutans (furry red fruits that taste like lychees) and durians (stinky spiky things). The villagers knew that I liked mangosteens and picked like 20 of them off the tree. I ate most of them there and carried back enough for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I ate all these, plus more!

My fingers are still slightly red!

Export Quality Bags

2006-07-12T10:26:00.000+07:00

The typical plastic bag in Aceh are these thin and wimpy black and pink striped bags. They're pretty inconsequential compared to their hardy and strong American cousins. However, the other day at Pante Pirak, affectionately referred to as PP, which is a local super market chain, I got this hardy and strong American-bound plastic bag with a dollar store graphic on the outside! The cashier didn't even have to double bag for my 4 large boxes of juice! The bag was meant for some dollar store chain in Texas!

The other night, cans of ginger ale arrived in this California-bound bag:

Thank you to Wooly for saving the bag for me! What a great present!!!

"The Development Set"

2006-07-07T19:44:00.000+07:00

Excuse me, friends, I must catch my jet
I'm off to join the Development Set;
My bags are packed, and I've had all my shots
I have traveller's checks and pills for the trots!

The Development Set is bright and noble
Our thoughts are deep and our vision global;
Although we move with the better classes
Our thoughts are always with the masses.

In Sheraton Hotels in scattered nations
We damn multi-national corporations;
injustice seems easy to protest
In such seething hotbeds of social rest.

We discuss malnutrition over steaks
And plan hunger talks during coffee breaks.
Whether Asian floods or African drought,
We face each issue with open mouth.

We bring in consultants whose circumlocution
Raises difficulties for every solution --
Thus guaranteeing continued good eating
By showing the need for another meeting.

The language of the Development Set
Stretches the English alphabet;
We use swell words like "epigenetic"
"Micro", "macro", and "logarithmetic"

It pleasures us to be esoteric --
It's so intellectually atmospheric!
And although establishments may be unmoved,
Our vocabularies are much improved.

When the talk gets deep and you're feeling numb,
You can keep your shame to a minimum:
To show that you, too, are intelligent
Smugly ask, "Is it really development?"

Or say, "That's fine in practice, but don't you see:
It doesn't work out in theory!"
A few may find this incomprehensible,
But most will admire you as deep and sensible.

Development set homes are extremely chic,
Full of carvings, curios, and draped with batik.
Eye-level photographs subtly assure
That your host is at home with the great and the poor.

Enough of these verses - on with the mission!
Our task is as broad as the human condition!
Just pray god the biblical promise is true:
The poor ye shall always have with you.

Ross Coggins
"Adult Education and Development" September 1976

"Aaa-Weeh!"

2006-07-06T17:45:00.000+07:00

That's how the people say A&W here.

A&W has arrived in Banda. My office is filled with these plastic cups they gave out on opening weekend.

The Mozza Burger = CRAP
Fish Sandwich = Not so bad but so tiny!
Chicken Strips = Looks can be deceiving
Rootbeer = Sweeter than I remembered
Curly Fries = Mmmmmmm, soo good

Happy Belated Fourth!

2006-07-06T13:59:00.000+07:00

I was trying to remember what I did last year for the 4th of July. Can't really remember! I had to look back at the blog from last July and seemed like I was busy decorating my pad and dreaming about Salami (Cousin Will- where's the salami you promised?)

All the USAID folks went down to Medan for a party at the American Consulate, which meant 2 less Americans to party with on the Fourth. I also got this brilliant idea of trying to find fireworks in Banda. After checking out a couple of stores in the Chinese part of the town, I ended my search empty handed. No shooting illegal fireworks off of my roof this year. There needs to be an internet site that delivers fireworks to Banda - overnight service preferred.

It's safe to say I did not do anything Americana on the 4th of July. I had lasagna for lunch, watched non-Americans slug it out at Wimbledon and celebrated an Aussie's birthday.

Wait, I did eat some M&Ms. Does that count?!

"I'm Sick Today"

2006-07-03T14:52:00.000+07:00

I don't remember if I've written about this.

Under Indonesian labor laws, when an employee is sick, s/he is entitled to take a sick day. But the number of sick days is unlimited - not like in the States where you accrue a certain number of sick days per month. However, the employee must have a doctors' note if s/he is sick for more than 2 days.

Sounds like a pretty good system, no?

NO!

I must say that the Indonesian workforce is not the most motivated workforce. With the predominant attitude that 'a half-ass job is a good enough job', some employees use unlimited sick days as an excuse to lounge at home.

Today is Monday July 3. Everyone gets tomorrow off because it's a US Embassy holiday. This morning, 5 staff from our Jakarta office called in sick, and another one from Banda called in sick. Hmm, interesting that all these people caught some kind of mystery illness over the weekend!

Hundreds Wearing Robes Force Tourists To Leave Aceh Beach Resorts

2006-06-29T17:19:00.000+07:00

June 27, 2006 09:45 AM

BANDA Aceh, June 26 (Bernama) -- Hundreds of Muslims wearing robes and veils from a number of Islamic boarding schools in East and North Aceh and Bireuen regencies, went to Ujong Blang beach resort in Lhokseumawe on Sunday and told tourists to go home.

According to a report by the Indonesian news agency Antara, the move was apparently aimed at avoiding immoral deeds in the beach resort some five km from Lhokseumawe.

The group believed that wicked deeds could invite disasters like tsunami, which had devastated Aceh at the end of 2004, according to Teuku Abati, who led the action.

Muslims driving away tourists in Ujong Blang beach came from all Islamic boarding schools in Aceh province, he said, adding that the action was part of efforts to avoid the violation of the Syariah (Islamic law) in the province.

"Launching the action two months ago, we have thus far carried out sweepings from Bateilik in Sigli regency to East Aceh, and the action will be continued," Abati said.

He said the group funded their operation out of their own pocket without being exploited by other groups.

The group is hoping that the action will eradicate immoral deeds, especially sexually immoral ones, in recreation places, he explained.

However, the group's action had left an impression of arrogance as when they arrived at the tourist locations, they simply kicked chairs and tables in cafes and at the same time shouted aloud to tourists.

Volleyball!

2006-06-29T16:30:00.000+07:00

We've built about 20 volleyball courts as part of psycho-social rehabilitation of the communities we work in. In turn, we've just finished sponsoring our first tournament that took place in Lhoong - a hamlet that's about 1:15 south of Banda Aceh. Our villages from up and down the coast participated - all together, we were able to pull together enough teams for fill a 16-team single elimination bracket.

I went down to check out the finals and the competition was fierce! On the courts were some of the tallest Acehnese I've ever seen! Or maybe they were mercenaries, since I never see them on a typical field visit. The home team won 3-1 in front of the home crowd and took home 4,000,000 rupiahs! That's $400! Well, if you split it 12 ways, that's like $30 per player, which still ain't bad!

Next up will be a 2-week tournament that'll start the 3rd week of July. This one will be co-sponsored by USAID and Nike. The finals will coincide with a Congressman's visit. I'll have to start the planning process next week, since this one will have both a men's bracket and a women's bracket. We're hoping to fill 8 teams for the women's side. Stay tuned. I may have photos of girls wearing jilbab (headscarves) with a swoosh on it!

Tree Power!

2006-06-26T16:13:00.000+07:00

This is from the World Bank's monthly Aceh Conflict Monitoring Update:

Three separate villages in Aceh are planning to protest bad roads by planting trees in the middle. In three separate incidents from difference corners of Aceh, villagers protested bad roads by planting trees, or by threatening to plant them, in the middle of the road. In on village, villagers planted more than 20 banana and tuber trees in a road that the community claims the government has not maintained in 15 years. On Pulau Weh, villagers have begun planting various types of trees in the middle of the road that leads from the city of Sabang to Kilometer Zero. Finally, in Aceh Barat Daya, villages threatened to plant a road with rice if the government did not immediately repair a road that they have promised to on numerous occasions.

Civil disobedience!

Electricity Headache

2006-06-25T21:29:00.000+07:00

If I don't have electricity for a couple of nights, big whoop. As long as I have flashlight and some water in a tub to pour over myself and some clean water to brush my teeth. I'm pretty low maintenance but I guess I forget how high maintenance some others are.

So for the past week, we've had some out of town visitors staying in the Guesthouse. I got this annoying/semi-nasty email tonight complaining I'm not meeting their needs because there's no electricity at night and no running water. Stuff like this makes me want to scream. You're in Aceh, suck it up!

What pissed me off more was when I came home tonight, I found my satellite TV box smoking. Literally Smokin'! Apparently there is usually a power surge when the generator gets turned on, and it zapped my TV box! Guess there will be no TV watching for awhile. Sucks.

Otherwise, have had a good couple of good food days - Thursday night was tuna cucumber avocado sushi, fried wontons with prawn filling, and seared tuna. Friday was salmon at the Italian place. Saturday was beef and tomato stew with cous cous and golden syrup dumplings (surprisingly good!) and today was banana nutella crepes. Oh, and I forgot to eat dinner tonight.

I'm going to bed now. Hope tomorrow will be a better day in the electric world.

Super Duper!

2006-06-21T10:27:00.000+07:00

Worldcue® Alert
Severity: Informational Alert

Communications/Technology: Electricity supply severed to parts of Aceh since June 18; prolonged power disruptions possible through mid-July.

This alert affects Indonesia.

This alert began 21 Jun 2006 03:02 GMT and is scheduled to expire 15 Jul 2006 23:59 GMT.
A prolonged power outage has been affecting six regencies in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam since late June 18. The East Aceh, North Aceh, Bireuen, Pidie, and Aceh Besar regencies have experienced a total blackout, while parts of Central Aceh and the capital of Banda Aceh are also lacking electricity. Major towns in the blackout area include Lhokseumawe, Bireuen, and Sigli.

The outage resulted from the felling of three metal electricity towers, severing the region's primary power connection to neighboring North Sumatra Province. The vandalism occurred in a sparsely area in the Sungai Raya subdistrict in East Aceh. Power outages caused by saboteurs were relatively common during the 30-year Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement, GAM) rebellion, but authorities have not identified any suspects. GAM officials have denied involvement and former rebels are reportedly helping police locate the perpetrators.

According to officials from the state-run PT PLN utility company, repairs could take longer than three weeks. Some businesses may use generators in larger towns, but expect no electrical service in rural areas in the affected regencies. Natural gas production disruptions are unlikely, but the outage will probably inconvenience many workers in North Aceh.

Finally!

2006-06-20T23:02:00.000+07:00

Ok guys! The photos from my Cambodia trip are finally online! Sorry it took so long. It's been a busy week!

Wow. I've only been back for a week...doesn't feel like it at all!

Click here for Cambodia Pics!

20,000,000,000 Dollars

2006-06-20T16:52:00.000+07:00

Wait. No. That's 20 billion Rupiahs - roughly about 2 million US Dollars! That's how much grant we're suppose to cut by this Friday! So, the Banda office this week has been quite a madhouse. We've got about 20 villagers in the office everyday since Monday learning to write grant proposals. We're at full capacity in the guesthouse as well, with lots of staff from Jakarta up here to chip in - even had someone sleep on my floor last night! To add to the madness, we've had rain rain and more rain since Saturday evening. The rain knocked my new World Cup antenna into pieces! AND last of all, some assholes sabotaged some electric towers down south, affecting the power supply of the entire eastern coastline of Aceh province. I've had a few hours of power on Sunday, virtually no power yesterday, and some today. I've been lucky though, got some friends who haven't had power for 36+ hours and no generator. Sucks. According to the grapevine, it'll take about 10 days to repair the damage. Ack!!!

Damn, should have gone to Cambodia this week!

Remember the Scampies?

2006-06-15T19:52:00.000+07:00

For all of you who are fans of my Scampies, I'm sorry for not giving you updates about them. They're all still alive! But now, after waiting for a couple of months, my friend JC has finished editing the video about my Scampies!!! THANK YOU JC!

Best way is to download the video titled Sharon's Crab Farm and then open it with Windows Media Player, or whatever video-plyaing program you've got. It's kind of funny, you can watch my Scampies scramble around in their Crabitat and take a bath. My housemate Richard also makes a quick appearance.

Ha. Enjoy! Thanks again, JC!

Indovision Sucks

2006-06-14T13:11:00.000+07:00

I'm back in Aceh. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time in Cambodia and a fun 1-day stopover in Jakarta, but it's nice to be back...

...until I found out that we don't get the local channel that shows World Cup at our house because Indovision - the satellite TV provider blocked that channel! Even when I'm paying like $35 a month for it! Sucks!!!

So, my staff went out and bought an antenna just now. Will get to watch the matches in the comfort of my home tonight!

Phnom Penh Phun

2006-06-10T12:12:00.000+07:00

Hello from Phnom Penh.

It's a lovely city situated at the crossing of the Mekong, Tonle Sap and Bassac Rivers. The city was laid out by the French during their occupation, it's got wide boulavards with traffic circles and the streets are laid out in a grid. To make life even easier, all the streets are numbered with even ones going east-west and odd ones going north-south. The city's got some amazing (and cheap) restaurants along its river front. I've def. been eating well since arriving here.

We took an overnight trip to Sihanoukville - a beach town 4 hours south of here on the Gulf of Thailand. Beautiful stretch of beach lined with restaurants and girls selling delicious lobsters/crabs/springrolls/bbq squid.

So far, I've taken about 300 photos. It'll be quite a task to sort through the pics and pick out the best ones for posting! I'll get the photos up once I get back to Aceh!

I fly to Jakarta via Singapore tomorrow. Will spend 2 day in JKT for meetings before finally landing back in Aceh on Tuesday morning.

Hello from Siem Reap

2006-06-03T20:45:00.000+07:00

So I just checked my blog. The template is all weird but I can't really fix it at the moment - currently in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on a road-side internet cafe, typing on the worst keyboard ever.

I arrived here yesterday morning and met up with my friend Ben, who flew in from Bangkok. Today we spent the day exploring the Angkor temple complex. The temples are all really photogenic, meaning I will have lots and lots of photos to post when I return.

It's really really hot here (even hotter than Banda) but at least it's dry heat!

365 Days in Aceh

2006-06-01T12:25:00.000+07:00

A year ago today, I woke up in the big comfy bed of the lux Four Seasons Jakarta, took a nice hot shower (not knowing it was going to be my last one in 2 months), had a sumptuous breakfast buffet (knowing it was going to be my last good meal for awhile), and then was promptly shipped out to Aceh. We touched down in Aceh at around 5:50pm (these were the days when the 12:50 Garuda flight was still the 1:50 flight). My boss decided that we were going to go straight down to Ulee Lheue - the hardest hit part of Banda Aceh to show me some tsunami damage. After a somber car ride, we ended up in Ulee Kareng where I was greeted by all of the project staff - most of them spoke very little English or too scared of me to speak to me. After experiencing my first Kopi Aceh and feeling out of place, we then went to Banda Seafood for dinner (these were the days when it was the only good restaurant in town). By the time we finished dinner, it was past 9pm, and poor jet-lagged me, was about to do a face plant in my udang lada hitam. We finally arrive at the office and guesthouse. First thing the boss wants to do is to give me a grand tour of the compound. By the time I stepped into my room, it was way past 10. I was greeted by a toilet that didn't flush (7 months, 16 days & 23 hours later I found out that it DID flush), cold brown water coming out the shower, and a couple of dead cockroaches around the room. After a year, I can admit that I was on the verge of breaking into tears (ok I did break into tears, but I blame my Malaria meds) and asked myself repeatedly just what the f--- I had gotten myself into. I was not a happy camper that first night. Then of course, the Kopi Aceh did its trick and it was 10am in DC and I couldn't sleep for hours.

Fast-forward to 1 year later.

I'm still here. Things have changed quite a bit here. You can pretty much get your dirty hands on anything you want (if you know the right person - usually a Chinese) - booze, pork, 1 gig memory cards, mini-tripods, tampons, Haagen-Dazs (at $11 a pint), decent Italian food, and apparently there's an abundant source of fresh basil off of some backroad in the mountains...

Last night, as an excuse to go out and have a drink or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5...we went to Pace Bene to celebrate my 1-yr here in Aceh.

Su Lin, Bryan, Justin, me and Rohan enjoying our Lychee Vodka cocktails and Bintangs.
I hope I'm not getting Pace Bene in trouble if the Sharia Police Googles "Booze in Aceh"

I'm kind of surprised I've kept up this blog for so long, as I was never a kid who could keep a journal for more than a couple of weeks. I hope to keep this up for as long as I'm here. Who knows, maybe I'll even have some guest bloggers to give their perspective on life in Aceh.

I'm leaving for Cambodia tonight and hope to blog a little from there.

Hati-Hati

2006-05-29T22:45:00.000+07:00

We went to the beach at Lampuuk on Sunday afternoon. I just got a bulletin saying that someone drowned that afternoon at the same beach. That makes:

5km stretch of beach
8 dead in 11 months
2 Indonesian aid workers
3 international aid workers
3 Indonesian non-aid workers
0 Acehnese
6 deaths over the weekend

Here are the signs at the beach:

Well...did take some good pics at the beach...was def trigger happy. Here are some good ones.

Sunset

Btw, hati-hati means be careful.

Wedding

2006-05-29T16:34:00.000+07:00

A tradition Acehnese wedding is made up of 3 parts. First is the religious ceremony at the mosque and then is the reception/lunch at the bride's home, and then the last part is the party at the groom's. This past weekend, we attend the part 2 of my staff Eddy's wedding.

Being part of the groom's entourage, we all met at a mosque near the bride's house, were Eddy got dressed. Then, we all marched over to the bride's home. After welcome dances performed by the bride's house and the gifts were carried in, everyone had a big lunch and then we lined up to congratulate the new happy couple.

The entourage. Eddy brought about 200 people from his village. All in all, there were 2,000 invitations that were sent out.

Truck full of gifts for the bride's family. Depending on where the groom's from, the gifts are different. Eddy's from Pidie district, so they give sugarcanes, coconuts, lots of bananas and clothing, kitchen stuff.

As we entered the bride's house, we were greeted with girls performing a traditional Acehnese welcoming dance.

We were def the hippest wedding goers

The new couple!

Response to a Comment

2006-05-28T09:45:00.000+07:00

I'm answering to an Anonymous comment posted at 5/28/2006, 12:22:11 AM, local Banda time.

Regarding English bookstores in Banda Aceh. The only place I know that sells English reading material is Caswell's Coffee in Peunayong area, off or Jl. Panglima Polem, across from the original Mie Razali noodle shop.

They have imported fiction and non-fiction and usually stocks the latest Asian edition of weekly news magazines - Newsweek, Forbes, sometimes the Economist. The books are expensive though. You're better off stocking up on books on your next trip to Jakarta or Singapore.

Big Quake

2006-05-28T09:28:00.000+07:00

You've probably heard about the big 6.3 earthquake in Central Java that took place early morning on Saturday, local time.

The earthquake was centered near the historical city of Yogyakarta, where I spent 2 weeks last October attending language school. I've heard that all the teachers from the school are ok!

Just to give you a sense of the geography: Yogya : Aceh :: Houston : Seattle

Pornography in Indonesia

2006-05-26T16:21:00.000+07:00

No sex please, we're Indonesian
May 4th 2006 | JAKARTA | From The Economist print edition

VIRTUALLY naked men, bare-breasted women and sensuous art have been part of Indonesia's diverse culture for centuries. But not for much longer, if a bill on pornography and pornoaksi (actions deemed indecent) completes its journey through parliament. The bill's proponents, a coalition of Islamic political parties, conservative clerics and hardline activists, worry with some justification that pornographic materials are readily available these days. Islamic groups say the only way to stop the rot and protect the younger generation's morality is strict legislation.

Ranged against them is a growing alliance. Ethnic groups fear that their centuries-old customs and costumes will be banned. Women's groups say the bill discriminates against them. Others worry about curtailment of freedom of expression. Artists expect any exhibition of bare flesh to be prohibited.

“The thin end of the Taliban wedge”, is how some describe the legislation. The bill does not just fail to differentiate between pornography, indecency and eroticism. If passed in its current form, spouses will not be allowed to kiss in public, women will not be able to wear shorts for sport in most locations, bikinis will be banned and many traditional dances will be consigned to history.

Indonesia's anti-porn brigade is not waiting for the new bill before cracking down. Playboy, an American soft-porn magazine, launched its Indonesian edition last month, and though it showed far less flesh than many easily available local publications, the outcry was noisy. The police declined to stop the Islamic Defenders Front, a radical group with a thuggish element, from stoning Playboy's office, and they interrogated its editors even though they had broken no laws. Publication of the magazine has now been suspended.

Numerous opponents of the bill have also been intimidated. Both sides have mobilised thousands of demonstrators, and parliament has taken notice. Three teams of experts are now studying the legislation and the volumes of suggestions received from all sides. They are expected to report within weeks. Much of the bill may be scrapped or radically revised. Some room will also be given to the regions to implement it as they see fit. But the debate comes at a time when local authorities are imposing conservative Islamic regulations on dress, behaviour and education, particularly for women. In such circumstances, any bill pandering to the conservatives can only put Indonesia's reputation as a bastion of Islamic moderation at risk.

New Year, New Look

2006-05-24T18:49:00.000+07:00

...well, I wasn't planning on changing the look of the blog, but while I was publishing a new post this afternoon, something weird happened with trusty little blogger.com - instead of my pretty little blog, a bunch of HTML mumble jumble popped up on the screen.

I figured I'd take the moment to give this blog a makeover in celebration of my 1-yr anniversary in Aceh (a week shy, but who's counting?)

Links and other bells and whistles will return shortly.

What do you think of this new look? Does it suit me? Any suggestions?

2 for me. 0 for you.

2006-05-24T17:47:00.000+07:00

So it turns out that I won the Bi-Annual ('bi' here is translated into once every 2 years) photo contest at my company. I guess it's kind of a big deal because they made a coffee table book out of all the photos that made it to the finals and I won $100. Plus another photo of mine now graces the intranet home page, which is pretty cool.

My coworkers at the home office aren't too happy with me. I came in 2nd for the NCAA pool and now this. 2 for me. Zilch for you.

This is the winning photo.

Fun Meetings

2006-05-24T17:14:00.000+07:00

I avoid coordination meetings. You get a bunch of talking heads around a big conference table in a really hot meeting room for a couple of hours and nothing gets done. It always opens with a couple of organizations presenting their fabulous program (scheduled for 15 minutes but drags on for double the time) and then during Q&A, the same 3 guys always seem to take over the discussion and try to promote themselves and the work of their organizations. Then, somehow the discussion always veers towards finger pointing - especially at the government's tsunami rehabilitation coordination agency. Over lunch the other day, a couple of friends came up with this brilliant idea of devoting the first 15 minutes of every meeting to purely finger pointing. This way, you get all the nastiness out of the way and perhaps this bitch-and-moan session can even act as an ice breaker activity! But of course, to counter the finger pointing, you'll also need to set up a "pat the back" session to make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy - not like the meeting room is already hot enough.

I sat in a meeting earlier this week (was bored out of my mind) and started counting the number of people in the room:

30 old men who loves to talk
2 white women
2 Indonesian women
...and me

Today, it was:

16 old men who loves to talk
1 white woman
...and me

You do the math...

Grrrrrrrrrr!

2006-05-21T21:17:00.000+07:00

When I was in Hong Kong in April, I had left my hand phone (what they call cell phones here, pronounced 'ha-pe') at a restaurant, but luckily the proprietors found it and held on to it and I was able to get it back the following day. I had only had the phone for about 2 months until then and I was super sad at the prospect of losing it.

My phone was stolen right off of my desk Friday between the hours of 3:15 and 4:30pm. Someone just took it while I was running around the office. If my phone had been stolen from a restaurant or something, I wouldn't have cared as much. But knowing that someone I know took it from me; it just makes me really really furious. Not to mention that I've lost all of my phone numbers. I've ordered a new sim card, so I'll have my old number back tomorrow, but now I have to repopulate my borrowed phone's contact list. Needless to say, I'm pissed. Really pissed. I wish I had a voodoo doll. I hope the person who stole it will grow ugly, itchy warts on his face.

Buh bye, my beautiful phone.

Zagat Guide (Part 3 of Many)

2006-05-18T16:18:00.000+07:00

Pace Bene is the newest kid on the block catering to the expat crowd. This trendy dig’s main eating area is on the third floor roof deck. On a nice night, it’s the place to be in Banda Aceh. The kitchen, headed by a chef from Turin cooks up only 2 entrees per night, a home made pasta and a fish ($4-$5). Dessert menu is creative but does not change nightly. Be warned, the service is atrocious after 7pm and on a busy night, one or both dishes may run out by the middle of dinner service. Show up early if you want to eat or be prepared for a long evening and ready your nerves for inattentive staff.

Tropicana is a two-storey Chinese establishment in the Chinatown area was around before the tsunami. Its got the most extensive menu in town and includes such delicacies as Shark Fin Soup. Their beef stir fries are top notch and so is the Tom Yom Soup – in a clear broth loaded with seafood. The only flawed dish is the Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup. It’s not hot or sour, just plain salty! The restaurant’s upstairs sitting area is large but claustrophobic with no windows. Late in the evenings there is karaoke as well as salsa dancing. Beer is served here.

The Young and the Restless

2006-05-14T22:48:00.000+07:00

Celebrities like Angelina Jolie have put humanitarian assistance and international development issues on the Hollywood agenda. What do you think about a TV series about the lives a group of young and beautiful international humanitarian workers? The storyline could follow the team from disaster to disaster – fictitious or real…Bosnia, Congo, Afghanistan, Liberia, Columbia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Pakistan, Aceh…all these exotic destinations to pick from! The cast would be composed of hip and adventurous personalities; some could be on a soul-searching mission, while others could be running away from something or someone back at home. Like any good Hollywood drama, there would of course be drug, sex, and violence. But aside from all the typical debauchery, the show would also expose the audience to major challenges in international development and the culture and customs of each location. So it would be like a Melrose Place combined with food, travel, and culture! It’ll be like Lost combined with Beyond Borders and Globe Trekker. Destined to be a hit!

Shake Shake Shake!

2006-05-13T18:21:00.000+07:00

Earthquake #16

Magnitude? 5.6
Date? Saturday, 13 May, 10:11:42 local time
Epicenter? 65 miles W of Banda Aceh or 5.522°N, 94.424°E
What was I doing? In bed watching Game 3 between Clippers and Suns.

Map. Huh? What's a Map?

2006-05-12T09:15:00.000+07:00

I grew up with maps. I had jigsaw puzzles of maps, I had stacks of free AAA maps. I had maps on my walls. I love maps.

When the UN moved in after the tsunami, they took GPS points and created this nice little map with where all the donors and aid organizations set up their offices in order to aid coordination. But many of the streets in Banda Aceh do not have names, or if they do, it's not marked.

When I first arrived, I had to go to the office of Public Works for a coordination meeting. I showed my handy dandy UN map to my driver and pointed out the little number which represented Public Works. My driver laughed at me because even though he had been a driver most of his adult life, he did not know how to read a map. Most people here either just know the places they need to go to or they get verbal directions. Don't even think about using Google Map to get turn-by-turn directions!

Banda Aceh's streets are not plotted out on a grid like Manhattan and they are not named in some coordinated fashion like DC, so getting lost while looking for a place is pretty darn easy - especially at night. Last weekend, there was a BBQ at my friends' new house. The directions sounded pretty straightforward, but it took us about 20 minutes to find the place, which included stopping to ask for directions twice from old men hanging out roadside drinking coffee (good thing here, drivers are not afraid to stop to ask for directions!) and calling my friend and giving her the play-by-play of what I was passing.

Here are some typical Banda Aceh instructions:

Go past the big market, turn left after the police hut, if you see the meat shop, you've gone too far. Turn right at the IMC sign, turn left when the road forks, keep going past the ZAF house. There will be an unfinished mosque on your left and our house is the big pink house that looks like a big wedding cake.

Go down the road where the UN compound is, go past WFP until the end of the road. Turn right and go over the bridge. Turn right at the ECHO sign but don't follow it. Instead, turn right and follow the curves of the road until the end. Turn left and then an immediate right. Our house is at the end of the street with the big green truck in front.

Dia Di Dalam Laut!

2006-05-10T21:20:00.000+07:00

She's inside the ocean!

I went for my first dive on Saturday in Sabang. Fun!

Our instructor was Jeremy, a Minnesotan with dreadlocks. On dry land, he went over the basic concepts of buoyancy, introduced the equipment, and demonstrated some of the skills. Then we suited up - wetsuit, tank, regulator, fins, mask, shoes, flippers, BCD, weights...a full 20 liter air tank is heavy!

We then went into the water and practiced a bunch of the skills first and got comfortable breathing underwater before descending into deeper waters of Gapang Bay. We stayed under for about 40 minutes and saw some cool stuff like this lionfish.

I'm hoping to go back again this weekend to continue with the open water certification. I'll have to complete 3 more dives and do a bunch of "homework".

We stayed at a new place in Iboih, which is about 3 km up the road from Gapang. The bungalows are built on stilts and are located in a slope right over the water. No AC, no fan. Just a bed with a mosquito net and a hammock out front. Basic but oh so idyllic.

The Simple Life

2006-05-05T19:15:00.000+07:00

A couple of nights ago, I picked up a book from one of my housemate’s bookshelf called “How to Simplify Your Life: Seven Practical Steps to Letting Go of Your Burdens and Living a Happier Life”. I’m not one to read self help books, but decided that maybe the book could be somewhat insightful.

Step 1 – Simplify Your Things

I had a lot of things in DC and that was after getting rid of unneeded stuff when I moved twice in 3 years. Here in Banda, I started playing house with 2 suitcases that I carried out (that included packing my pillow). Over the last 11 months, I’ve definitely accumulated some stuff - 3 lamps from 3 different countries, a secondhand TV, myriad of clothes, bags, shoes and accessories, and lots of books and magazine. But when I look around my room, I use everything (including toiletries and makeup) at least once week and I wear all the things in my closet at least once every 2 weeks (except for those pieces of Aceh inappropriate clothing).

Step 2 – Simplify Your Finances

My paycheck gets transferred to my checking and savings accounts on the 10^th of each month. My credit card and student loan get paid automatically on the 15^th. My IRA automatically takes money out once a quarter. I don’t trade my stocks actively (haven’t touched them since I bough them 2 years ago). I have a couple of mutual funds that I don’t touch either. I use my per diem as my pocket money. I only go to the ATM when I have to buy a paper plane ticket.

I’d have to move to the island of Yap to further simplify my finances.

Step 3 – Simplify Your Time

Weekdays

7:30 Get up, jump rope or some other form of exercise and shower

8:00 Watch CNN/BBC while eating breakfast and checking email

9:00 To the office

12:30 Lunch in the office or out with friends

6:30 Out of the office

7:30 Cook dinner in the house or out with friends

8:30 Read/TV/Email/Blog or out for a few beers

11:30 To bed (later on weekend)

Within each Step, the book presents you with ‘Ideas’. Idea 14 is called “Escape Now and Then”. Just look at that list in the sidebar.

Step 4 – Simplify Your Health

I don’t smoke. I led an alcohol-free life for the first 7 months here. But lately, I’ve probably been having one too many beers a little too often. Got to cut back on that. I should follow up on Idea 19 and try to get a massage or cream bath (head massage) more often!

Step 5 – Simplify Your Relationships

Most relationships in Banda are professional relationships. I would like to think I have a really good relationship with my office staff (haven’t made anyone cry yet, and no one’s made me cry yet). Outside of my little microcosm that’s called DAI, I’m by no means completely hooked into the social scene in Banda, but I do have a circle of friends that I can rely on and hang out with regularly and know enough people to get invited to parties.

Step 6 – Simplify Your Life Partnership

Huh? What’s that?

I feel like my personal life has been on || pause the last year. Friends have had life altering moments since I’ve been here: started relationships, ended relationships, gotten engaged, gotten married, had babies, moved to a new city, a new country, a new continent. ‘Life Partnerships’ as the book calls it are difficult to start in Banda. Work is all-consuming for so many people and even when two interesting people meet and sparks fly, he may be in Jakarta next week and Singapore the one after that, and she may be in Calang the week after that.

My life is pretty drama-free here. But my friends’ dramas are enough to keep me entertained. You know who you are…

Step 7 – Simplify Your Self

Here’s where I get into trouble and could probably use some help. The book talks about goals and knowing your weaknesses and strengths. Goals? What goals. I better go figure some out and start thinking about an exit strategy…

Life is never simple, but my life is by far much simpler here than back in DC. Will I get completely spoiled by all this simplicity and go nuts when I return to a society with a complete different set of cultural norms? Only time will tell.

Goin' Diving

2006-05-02T20:49:00.000+07:00

I've just signed up to go diving this weekend. I will take a 45-minute high-speed ferry to just north of the Sumatran mainland to the island of Pulau Weh - also known as Sabang, the name of the main city on the island.

Before the tsunami, Pulau Weh was off the beaten track due to the 30-year conflict in Aceh Province - the gateway to the island. But Sabang was a spot that attracted many backpackers with its idyllic setting - lush tropical forest, crystal clear water, and rich marine life offshore. Many travelers ended up extending their stay; prolonging their original itinerary by months if not years.

The island did suffer from the tsunami, but despite its proximity to Banda Aceh, where over 120,000 people vanished, according to reports, only 12 people on Pulau Weh died. Iboih and Gapang, two of the more popular destinations on the island, suffered substantial damage. Beach front dive shops, bungalows, and restaurants were destroyed. Since then, many of the small businesses have returned because Sabang has become a popular spot for stressed out aid workers to spend the weekend and decompress.

The Lumba Lumba Dive Shop located in Gapang had its roof lifted by the tsunami, but is fully operational once again. A Dutch couple operates the shop and certifies new divers. This weekend, I'm going up there to do an Introductory Dive - which is a half day program that includes basic theory and a dive. If I decide to be fully certified, I will have to go back for 3 more days to complete the certification for Open Water diving.

Soccer Mania

2006-05-01T13:22:00.000+07:00

Everyone is gearing up for the upcoming FIFA World Cup!!! While I was away on vacay, the men on my project decided to organize a soccer team that will compete against other NGOs and organizations in town. They went as far as buying uniforms and organizing practice sessions after work.

They've played 2 matches so far, one against the Sultan Hotel and the other against the Aceh Recovery Forum. Unfortunately, we're 0-2. We're seeking agressive, experienced middies. Any applicants?

F.C. DAI
2006

Front: Faisal, Arafin, Dwi, Halim, Budi
Back: Mirza, Ali, Zubir, Hadi, Nor, Fachrul, Alfie, Kamal

Airplannne!

2006-04-28T17:33:00.000+07:00

I always wondered why the US Embassy in Indonesia strongly recommends for us to fly Garuda Indonesia - the national carrier when flying in Indonesia. In the past few years, a few private airlines have opened up and offer very competitive prices. I've always thought about trying one of the other ones just to see what they're like. BUT not after today!

I got a forward from one of the listserves I subscribe to, and it talked about the age of aircraft fleet for Indonesian airlines. Scary!

Garuda Indonesia's average fleet age is 10.2. Other airlines I see around Banda Aceh and Medan are Adam Air, Lion Air, Mandala Air, and Jatayu Air. They're at 18.1, 17.3, 23.9, and 27.1 years respectively. 27.1! Mandala Air was the one that crashed in September 2005 right outside of Medan, killing 120+ passengers onboard.

To give you some other airlines to compare to: Singapore Airline's fleet averages 6.1 years, JetBlue is at 2.1, Southwest is at 9.4 and United is at a whooping 11.7 years. If you want to check other airlines you frequent, go to www.airfleets.net

But, statistically, it's still safer to fly than to drive! ...Well, maybe that statistic only applies to the US.

Shake Shake Shake!

2006-04-27T22:08:00.000+07:00

Earthquake #15

Magnitude? 5.3
Date? Wednesday, 26 April, 11:38:53 local time
Epicenter? 80 miles SSE of Banda Aceh or 4.499°N, 95.944°E
What was I doing? Sitting in bed writing an email

Rain rain go away

2006-04-26T13:04:00.000+07:00

There's a saying in Aceh that if it rains on Friday, then it'll rain all next week. It's been true so far! Everyday since Friday, there has been rain. And right now, it's pouring like crazy outside.

Lots of rain = lots of standing water = lots of nyamuk - our best pal - mosquitos. I've gotta put this swatter back to work!

On Travel

2006-04-23T22:14:00.000+07:00

This blog is suppose be about my life in Aceh, but as I browse through the posts in the past few months, seems like more entries have been about life on the road versus happenings in Banda Aceh.

I've done quite a bit of traveling the last 11 months, probably the most concentrated period of traveling ever in my life (I do work hard for my job!) This morning, while I was reading on the beach of Sabang, I came across this passage in Paulo Coelho's The Pilgrimage that really hit home:

When you travel, you experience, in a very practical way, the act of rebirth. You confront completely new situations, the day passes more slowly, and on most journeys you don't even understand the language the people speak. So you are like a child just out of the womb. You begin to attach much more importance to the things around you because your survival depends upon them. You begin to be more accessible to others because they may be able to help you in difficult situations. And you accept any small favor from the gods with great delights, as if it were an episode you would remember for the rest of your life.

At the same time, since all things are new, you see only the beauty in them, and you feel happy to be alive.

Here's my list of places to see before I'm done here:

Eastern Malaysia - Sarawak and climb Mt. Kinabalu
Laos - Valley of Jars and Luang Prabang
Myanmar - Yangon and Bagan
Cambodia - Angkor Wat
New Zealand - Hobbit Land :)
Australia - Uluru, Australian Open
Train from Singapore to Changmai (via KL, Penang, Langkawi, Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok)

As you can see, I've defintely got the travel bug and always looking for travel buddies.

Ok. I promise, will write more about Aceh from now on. Gotta pack my bag, going to Lhokseumawe tomorrow morning.

Guest House Livin'

2006-04-20T18:44:00.000+07:00

There are 6-7 hotels in town and I can think of 1 maybe 2, that have been given the sort-of-thumbs-up by the international NGOs and donors. With the massive rebuilding of the entire province, hundreds of consultants come in and out of Aceh each week. Some stay for a few days, while others stay for months at a time. So, you're probably wondering where all these people stay? Some organizations have their own guesthouses (like mine) and provide consultants with housing. Other organizations, especially the smaller ones or the newly set up ones rely instead on Acehnese operated guesthouses.

The Acehnese are very resourceful and entrepreneurial. A lot of homeowners who have a decent size house have fixed up 1 or 2 rooms in their home and brought it up to "western standards," which means installing an AC and a hot water heater. A friend of mine was living in one of these establishments. He thought he was only going to stay for a week a two, but ended up staying way longer than that. In his case, the man of the house is a pretty high up guy in the local government. He and his family moved into the garage in order to rent out as many rooms as possible.

My friend made a short video of his guest house. Click on "Guest House".

Shake Shake Shake!

2006-04-20T10:05:00.000+07:00

Earthquake #14

This was a big one, but it was kind of far away. Def shook for a long time.

Magnitude? 6.0
Date? Thursday, 20 April, 02:36:46 local time
Epicenter? 245 miles SW of Banda Aceh or 2.722°N, 93.133°E
What was I doing? Sleeping