Karimunjawa

About a year ago, I developed a serious addiction to Lost. I devoured all six seasons in three short months – I was hooked. Wandering around the shores of the tiny islands that make up Karimunjawa this past weekend, I half-expected Jack or Kate to come running out onto the shore at any minute. The islands were almost straight off the small screen – crystal clear water with shades of turquoise, greens and blues, palm trees and rolling green hills lining the coasts and endless stretches of pure white sand. Amazing.

Like most adventures in Indonesia, the trek to Karimunjawa was impossibly long (which may be a good thing as I’m sure it reduces the number of tourists descending upon the islands). After two buses, a ferry ride and twenty long hours, we arrived on the shores of the main island... and were greeted by rain and grey skies. Great.

But despite the rain clouds, which ignored our prayers and didn’t let up all weekend, the landscapes were amazing. The largest island is home to about three thousand people but you’d never guess from the atmosphere. A tiny paved road or two twists along the island, past small, one-floor houses, a few shops and dozens of chickens and cats. The twenty-six other islands are like dots of sand and palm trees with little more than a family or two living on its shores. If this isn’t the definition of paradise, I don’t know what is.

We stayed in Karimujawa for three nights at a homestay near the harbour, which doubled as our guide’s office (Alex, who was hilarious and had an underwater camera – double score). Each morning, we awoke to roosters wandering around the beach in our backyard and dined on rice, vegetables, tempe, eggs and jasmine tea on the raised, hut-like platform near the sea beside the house. Afterwards we loaded onto the boat with Alex and his crew for a morning of island hopping and snorkelling.

Karimunjawa is a marine national park and I have never in my life seen anything as stunning as what lays under its waters. The coral reefs were like underwater forests with fish and sea life of all colours – neon blues, lime greens, salmon pinks, bright oranges, vivid yellows - living in their shelter. I can only imagine what the scenes would have looked like had the sun been shining through the water.

 
After a solid morning of exploring the reefs, we’d pulled up to one of the dozens of tiny islands for lunch. The boys would immediately get to work cutting up red and green peppers and onions that would later be crushed into a spicy paste called sambal (something I’m convinced no Indonesian can live without). Freshly caught fish were laid out on a grill over a fire of coconut husks, cooking and absorbing the flavours of the smoke. When the meal was ready (it was nice having men cook for the women for a change), we’d spread out a mat on the grass and dig in, Indonesian style (with our hands). Eating rice, vegetables and whole-grilled fish with your fingers is no easy feat but it was somehow so satisfying to be sitting on the ground beside the ocean, scooping up food with your hands and washing up in the seawater afterward.

 
After dinner and an hour or two of chilling out and exploring the shores, we’d head out on the boat again. Over the two days we were there, we stopped at a sand bar in the middle of the ocean, snorkelled at four coral reefs, swam in an enclosure with white-tipped sharks and sea turtles, and wandered around the beaches of four different islands. Unfortunately the sun never did break through the clouds and at times it was even cold (yes, cold!) out on the water, even bundled up in a sarong and rain jacket (although some of us still managed to get sunburns). But, we celebrated Mafalda’s 25th birthday with a cold Bintang (local beer) on the beach and spent both days in a bikini, with sand on our feet and seawater in our hair. I don’t know if life can really get better than that.

After lunch, we’d stretch out on the boat and relax to the roll of the waves (or hold on for dear life, depending on the weather) en route to another coral reef or island. Once the sun started going down in the sky, we’d return from a day on the water, shower (with cold water, as per usual) and relax before dining out in the backyard. Fish was almost always on the menu, as was rice, but the food was home cooked and not unbearably spicy (after tasting a few dishes Lombok, I’m now skeptical about typical island dishes – it really seems the more water you’re surrounded by, the higher your pain threshold should be). Anyway, as it always goes, any food eaten outdoors, even with random insects, cats and chickens coming to investigate, always tastes better.

On Monday morning, we awoke to catch the ferry only to see the first few glimpses of blue sky. Apparently luck was not in our favour that weekend but that only shows just how beautiful Karimunjawa is, rain or no rain. We set off on the ferry and did our best to kill the time among the groups of entire families stretched out on the floor amid food wrappers and other trash. Nearly 24 hours later, we were back in Malang and preparing for our next adventure.

My Indonesian visa is valid for one year, but for whatever the reason, I can only stay in the country for 60 days at a time. It sounds incredibly inconvenient but also gives me a fantastic excuse to go abroad for a while. This weekend marks the end of the project, my 60-day limit, and my halfway point here, so we’re catching a (fifteen-hour-long) train to spend the weekend in Jakarta with Margit, Sarah, Mafalda and Vinicius. After what I’m guessing will be three hot and chaotic days in the nation’s capital, Margit, Sarah and I are off to Singapore, where I’ll be able to meet up with Wini, JS and Kunali (old friends who studied on exchange at my university).

After three days in Singapore, we’ll spend a day in Melaka, Malaysia and then finally end the trip at Kuala Lumpur. I’ll part ways with Sarah and Margit as they head to Bali with Margit’s little sister, who’s flying in from the Netherlands, and spend my last three days in KL travelling solo before flying back to Indonesia. Then, after a week spent back in Malang, Steph and her friend will arrive and I’ll be off once again. Needless to say, the month of April will fly by!

Selamat makan!

I’m pretty sure my Indonesian mom’s favourite thing to say to me is, “Makan, makan!” (“Eat, eat!”). And while I’ve never really been a fan of rice, I have to admit that it’s grown on me in the last six weeks. This is probably a good thing since Indonesians don’t consider a meal (even breakfast) complete without a serving of nasi. Every family has a rice cooker full of rice on the counter at all times and I've actually had to explain myself here if I don’t eat rice with a meal (which isn’t very often).

Meals in Indonesia are enjoyed either with a spoon (and sometimes a fork if something tricky like noodles are involved) or else with your right hand, packing rice and pieces of meat and vegetables together in a little ball and popping it into your mouth. It sounds a lot easier to master than it really is. And while hanging out in a restaurant or cafe with friends is a favourite past time here, families don’t necessarily dine together in the house. My parents used to make it a point that we all sat down around the kitchen table for dinner together, but here it’s really common to eat separately at home. 

There really isn’t much of a difference between what’s on the menu for breakfast, lunch or dinner and sure, eating rice three times a day gets a little monotonous - but the variety of ingredients used in all of the accompanying dishes is more than enough to keep things interesting. Ginger, garlic, peanut sauce, soy sauce, coconut milk, and red or green chilies (in generous amounts) are main flavours and are usually mixed with eggs, tofu, chicken, beef, or fish and boiled vegetables. There’s usually a side of tempe (fried slabs of soybean loaf), tofu and krupuk (a crunchy snack that’s even sold in bags car-to-car on the evening drive home) on the table at my house, which comes in handy when my mouth starts to feel like it’s on fire.

Restaurants here vary from carts pulled behind a bicycle, to little shacks on the side of the road, to fancy Western-looking places with fountains and nice bathrooms. But regardless of the atmosphere, it’s usually pretty hard to find something on the menu for more than two or three dollars. Walk into any restaurant here and you’re almost guaranteed to find nasi goeng (fried rice with egg and chicken), mie goreng (fried noodles with meat and vegetables), and ayam goreng (friend chicken), all served with a generous serving of rice. Indonesians usually douse all of these dishes in sambal, a spicy red chili sauce, or Margit’s favourite, kecup manis (sweet soy sauce).

Freshly made sambal with fried egg, tofu and tempe. And of course, rice.

Other restaurant favourites:
Sate - Skewers of chicken, beef or goat, BBQed and served with peanut sauce
Bakso - Meatballs in chicken broth
Capcay - Vegetables in a thick Chinese sauce
Pecel - Vegetables in a peanut sauce
Pangsit - Noodle soup

And for dessert...
Pisang goreng - Grilled banana with chocolate, cheese and sweet condensed milk
Serabi - Indonesian pancake with your choice of toppings including chocolate, cheese, sweet milk, peanuts and strawberry sauce

Indonesians are pretty big fans of fast food and the Western chains have definitely figured that out. You can find KFC, A&W, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts in most cities, with slight changes to the menu. One of my favourite quotes from Zoe, the Puetro Rican intern here, about sums it up: If you can find rice in Pizza Hut, you can find rice anywhere. Soup, spaghetti, and fried chicken with a side of rice and scrambled eggs is on the menu board at McDonalds, and you have to special order at KFC if you want anything besides rice as a side.

Despite the climate, I haven’t been so impressed by the fresh fruit and vegetables I’ve found here (actually, raw vegetables are almost never served) but I definitely love the tropical fruit - papaya, jack fruit, snake fruit, durian, sirsat, guava, mango, and the best bananas I’ve ever tasted in my life. Fresh fruit juices are on the menu at every restaurant, usually for 40 or 50 cents, as is hot or iced sweet jasmine tea.

Being a coffee addict and living on an island synonymous with great coffee, I’ve found I actually have to seek out a good cup since most people prefer jasmine tea and places usually serve instant coffee rather than the good stuff. My host mom offers to make me a great cup of coffee once in a while, brewing it the traditional way (hot water poured over finely ground coffee beans and sweetening it with a ton of sugar). I still have kopi luwak on my list of things to drink (yes, I know what it’s made from and yes, I still want to try it). One cup of the “world’s most expensive coffee” here is equal to the cost of a large latte at Starbucks back home, so why not?

But all of this food blogging is making me hungry – lunch time! Selamat makan!

Ants, weddings and pancakes

I’m starting to realize that I’m a terrible blogger, at least with my inability to stick to any sort of regular schedule. But I guess I’m just embracing Indonesian culture and their “better late than never” kind of attitude. I also went out in jeans, a jacket and scarf in 25C degree weather tonight and fit half of my family on a motorcycle, so I think I’m slowly becoming more Indonesian every minute.

The project is just over its halfway point and we’re slowly easing into the second term of the entrepreneurship project. We said goodbye to five out of the seven original interns in the last couple of weeks. Sara, Mia, Elvis, Laisa and Matej are all back studying in their home countries (miss you guys!). But we also welcomed a few new faces to the project: Zoe (Puerto Rico), Sarah (Germany), Malfalda (Portugal) and Vinicius (Brazil – actually, he’s been here for three months already but is just now joining the project after some travelling time).

Our focus in the second half will be to introduce the street kids at the NGO to the basics of entrepreneurship and help Mr. Yunus show them how to make something out of nothing (turning recycled goods into sellable products). We’ll also be assisting Mr. Yunus with his marketing strategy and helping to set up an exhibition at the end of April for local small businesses.

So now that the project status is summed up, what else have I been up to in the last week? Hmm... well, the weather is still hot and sunny as always, with the same daily downpour every late afternoon. I think it’s pure luck that I’ve only been caught in the rain on the back of a motorcycle once in the month and a half that I’ve been here. I am starting to get a bit concerned that this heat, even here in “cold” Malang, is ruining me forever for Manitoban summers.

Speaking of summer, I finally had a chance to go camping after almost two years of deprivation! On Laisa and Matej’s last weekend in Indonesia, we drove down to a beach on the south coast of East Java, set up a few rented tents and spent the night meters away from the Indian Ocean. Our efforts to start a fire were futile - we hadn’t even brought newspaper (I’m pretty sure my 10-year-old, Girl Guide self would be disappointed right about now) but luckily Dean’s rescue team buddies came to hang out for the night and assisted us.

While my quest to see the Southern Cross was once again unsuccessful (the constellation you can only see in the Southern hemisphere) and I had to mummify myself with my sarong, raincoat and scarf in an effort to deter whatever it was that was crawling all over me all night, having the chance to spend one more weekend on the beach all together was more than worth tiny ants biting my feet in my sleep.

This weekend I had the chance to see my first Indonesian wedding. Our VP ICX (the AIESEC VP who takes care of the incoming interns), Galuh, invited us to her sister’s wedding on Saturday afternoon. Indonesian weddings happen over two days – the formal ceremony first, and then the party! It was beautiful – all of the girls involved in the wedding were dressed in these amazing, sparkly, traditional dresses and the bride and groom were stunning in their traditional outfits. The bride looked like an Indonesian Barbie doll – so beautiful. There was some sort of ceremony involving baskets of fruit and rice and coins being thrown into the air that I didn’t quite understand, and there was no dancing, but I was blown away by the decor. They had transformed the entire street outside of the bride’s family’s house into a tent draped in orange, red and cream fabrics and even the rain didn’t stop people from enjoying the food and music.

I finally had a chance to cook for my host family this weekend too, and being Sunday, Margit, Sarah, Mafalda and I made a huge, delicious pancake lunch. We were slightly worried we messed up the pancakes (I know - I don’t know how that could even be possible, but there are so many different types of flour here, you wouldn’t believe it) but once we got them out of the pan and did a quick taste test, it was all good. Vira tried her hand at making my second favourite Indonesian food, terang bulan, and luckily for everyone in Manitoba, I’m pretty sure I can pull it off back home. It’s this giant, egg-y dessert that’s part pancake, part cake, spread with your choice of Indonesian fillings, folded in half and cut up. We made ours with chocolate, cheese and sweetened condensed milk. Yes, I said chocolate and cheese – bizarre but so typical here and honestly, it’s an amazing combination if you use something mild like white cheddar. I don’t know why people outside of this country haven’t figured it out.

After discovering all of these amazing Indonesian dishes, I have big plans to start riding a bike to Cinthya’s everyday although I’m a little terrified of the idea. The traffic is bad enough with all of the motorcycles and crazy drivers, let alone a white girl on a bike who keeps looking the wrong way when she crosses the street (they drive on the opposite side of the road here so I’ve just started to look in all directions to cover my bases). Wish me luck that I make it in one piece to Cinthya’s doorstep!

Celebrity Status

Since our project is at its halfway point and on hold until additional interns join us next week, AIESEC invited Margit, Vinicius and me to volunteer at a junior high school in Pasuruan, a city on the north coast of East Java. We really weren’t sure what we were getting into but it sounded interesting so we agreed to spend three days with the school, encouraging the kids to speak English and accompanying one of the classes on a field trip.

It was amazing how incredibly welcoming the entire school was. They were so happy to have us there since one of their first priorities in the school is to make sure their students can speak English and meet international standards for education. And of course, the kids were all so insanely excited to have three bule (foreigners) in their classrooms. This resulted in about five million photos, at least fifty Facebook friend requests and little girls in headscarves literally screaming whenever Vinicius walked into a room (we should really start calling him Vinicius Bieber).

On the first and last day, we were in the classrooms to introduce ourselves, talk about our countries and encourage the students to ask us questions and chat in English. Their energy levels were through the roof. On day two, we went with a grade eight class of about thirty kids to nearby Surabaya. Quite possibly the best part of the whole day was the time spent on the road. To pass the time, the kids took turns singing karaoke into a mic at the front of the bus. In Canada, I’m pretty sure no 14 year old would be caught dead singing karaoke in front of their class but it only took a couple words of encouragement before two girls got up and starting singing an English soft rock song. They even had every single one of the words memorized – I was impressed. This continued throughout the rest of the afternoon and at one point each of us bule were supposed to sing a song from our countries. Vinicius and Margit both sang some traditional songs in Portugese and Dutch but I really couldn’t think of anything good, so I just went for some good ol’ Justin Bieber. I think I was asked about a dozen times whether or not I knew the Bieb during my three days at the school, so I just went with it. At least all of the teenage girls on the bus were happy.

During the three days we spent in Pasuruan, we stayed with such an amazing host family. They made us feel like we were part of the family from the minute we walked in and pampered us like crazy - cooking everything they thought we might like, driving us across town to sample the local sweets (klepon), and even arranging a masseuse to come to the house in the evening.

Massages aside, the most amazing part of the whole experience was our goodbye party at the end of our third day. The teacher who had been showing us around the whole time told us they had just prepared something small to show their appreciation... this turned into every one of the students piling into the front courtyard, singing songs, performing instruments, giving speeches, and presenting us with gifts while all of the kids took photos and again, screamed whenever they said Vincius’s name. We were all so overwhelmed by the response - Indonesian hospitality is incredible. After posing for photos and the teachers acting as body guards as we made our way to the car (and I’m not even over exaggerating) we headed back to Malang, so exhausted but so happy.

Welcome to paradise, darling

A few weeks before I headed to Indonesia, I watched Eat Pray Love. It’s an annoying movie at best, but I have to admit that watching Julia Roberts peddle around Bali had me counting down the days to when I’d have a chance to explore the island.

Bali is (very conveniently) the next-door neighbour to East Java but it’s almost another world. The rice paddies, volcanoes and palm trees are all the same but Bali is home to a Hindu society and instead of mosques and calls to prayer, it’s filled with beautiful altars, temples and flower offerings at every doorstep and entranceway. Along with its amazing culture and history, Bali is also very much a tourist destination, with beer and Western food on the menu at nearly every restaurant in the major centres and blond, tanned vacationers lining the coast.

We spent 8 days in Bali and Lombok, arriving in Bali’s capital of Denpasar after another white-knuckle, overnight drive from Malang last Friday. We explored the south of the island and then caught a ferry to Lombok. After two amazing days on Gili Trawangan, we circled back to visit Lovina on Bali’s north coast before hitting the road back to Malang.

Sunrise on Bali

The time we spent on Bali was nowhere near enough to see the island but we all had an amazing time, going from temples, to the jungle, to the beaches, to the bars in Kuta and back. I have a fear of monkeys now thanks to the evil little creatures that live at Ulu Watu, a temple on the very southern tip of Bali. They warned us before entering, after wrapping purple sarongs and bright yellow sashes around our waists, to take off our glasses, jewelry and keep a tight grip on anything else. The view from around the grounds was stunning – it reminded me of the coast scenes in Lost – but I spent the majority of the time absolutely paranoid of the monkeys. Dean, our Indonesian friend from Surabaya, had both his glasses and a flip flop jacked and I had my water bottle snatched from my hands. Annoying, yes, but I was actually kind of impressed by the flip flop theft: Dean was taking a photo when the monkey snuck up and kind of touched his toes. Of course, Dean yelled and jumped backwards, and just as he lifted up his foot the monkey grabbed his flip flop and ran off. It took two fruit sellers and multiple bags of fruit (which you’re supposed to buy to feed the little monsters) until we finally got it back. Poor Dean.

Denpasar is about half an hour from Bali’s party capital, Kuta. It’s by the beach, packed with Westerns, bars and shops, and was absolutely insane after dark. The crowds of intoxicated and rowdy tourists mixed with the motorcycles and general chaos almost puts Las Vegas to shame.

Kuta was also a fabulous place to learn how to surf. While the beach is sub par compared others, the waves were a perfect height (big enough to ride but not to drown me). Matej and I rented boards from a surfer on the beach (for $2.50/hour each), and paddled out into the ocean to teach ourselves. After the first twenty minutes, I thought I was going to die. My arms were exhausted, my eyes were burning from the salt and I was a little worried about what diseases I could contract from all of the seawater I had swallowed. But after I finally slowed down my pace, waiting for the good waves rather than scrambling around trying to catch every single one I could, I started to get the hang of things and managed to stand up for a few (brief) seconds more than once. It was an incredible feeling and despite the injuries on my feet, knees and being hit in the head by my board while trying to tackle a wave much larger than my skills, I loved it.

The highlight of the trip, though, was probably the two days we spent on Gili Trawangan. The three Gilis are amazing little islands just between Bali and Lombok. There are no cars or motorcycles – the dirt road that runs along the perimeter of the island has ocean on one side and little beach restaurants, bars, and hotels on the other. We spent most of the time on the beach with a cold beverage in hand, soaking up the sun and ridiculously warm seawater, and the nights with another cold beverage in hand, listening to reggae (the official soundtrack of the island I think) and savouring Western fare.

On day two, Margit, Elvis, Vinicus and I went snorkelling off the shores of each of the three islands – amazing. We were thoroughly taken advantage of by thousands of tiny jellyfish on the first stop - apparentlythey weren’t dangerous but they still burned and stung like hell. At first I tried to fight the pain because the coral and sea life underneath were so beautiful but within fifteen minutes we were all out of the water and swearing. The second stop was much better and I got a chance to snorkel behind two sea turtles! One was swimming against the current and I tried so hard to keep up but got no where, while he just kept swimming along like it was nothing.

Our last stop in Bali before going back to Malang took us through the amazing mountains of central Bali (with monkeys sitting along the guard rails; I had an urge to lock the doors) to Lovina. The town is really cute and its main attraction is the dolphins that like to hang out along the coast. We got up at 5:30am and loaded into a few canoe-looking boats. I felt bad for the dolphins since they were being followed by about 25 boats of tourists but they came so close to us that I’m hoping they found it amusing (stupid tourists).

It was the first time I’d ever seen wild dolphins but I my most amazing experience came a few days later when we went to a safari park a couple hours from Malang. Just as the park was closing, we went down to the dolphin tank and found it completely empty of any visitors or workers. As soon as we stood alongside the tank, the two dolphins were right there trying to get attention. We petted them, played games so they could jump up and touch our hands... I’d never even touched a dolphin before that and I’m pretty sure we were all in love (and trying really hard not to think of the documentary The Cove). After twenty minutes with these dolphins, we had to tear ourselves away before the parked closed on us. It was incredible.

I feel like I’ve barely been home in the last two weeks (I guess because I haven’t). I still have half-written post cards from almost three weeks ago sitting on my desk in my room. Within a couple days of being back from Bali, Margit, Vinicius and I were back on the road to Pasuruan (a couple hours north of Malang) to volunteer with a junior high school. More on that insane but awesome experience to follow.

By the way - one of the best parts of living in Indonesia is the cost of living. Eight days in Bali and Lombok, transport, eating, drinking, surfing, snorkelling and everything else that we got up to... all for around CDN$350. How is that even possible?