I apologize dear people, for it has been quite a while since I've posted anything on my blog. You should know though, that I'm a very happy girl at the moment. Very happy. So yeah.. Things are still going great haha. I'll tell you all about Bali pretty soon, left the island with pain in my heart really, but also with excitement, since the next stop would be Australia! And well, here I am.. In Melbourne. Oh how I am enjoying Melbourne. Absolutely love the coffee, that's for sure! Haven't had coffee this excellent in a longg time. I've met some amazing people too.. Yeah, I'm quite happy.
I've also uploaded a selection of my photos in Bali, so if you're interested.. Check my Picasa webalbum!
Lots of Love from Melbourne,
Florencia
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
No worries: alive and well!
Indonesia is nothing but remarkable and extraordinary. Oh how I love the food, how I enjoy the beautiful nature and how I admire the ever hardworking people on the streets. It's amazing how once we get stuck in traffic - either on the highway or in town - or when we're standing still at the traffic lights people always seem to suddenly show up selling food, drinks, newspapers or whatever.. Trying to wash your car, children trying to wash the many motorcycles, young people playing the guitar (or other instruments), blind or sick people begging for money, etc. Every now and then you get to see insane people walking the streets, sometimes entirely naked (looking like bushmen). Truly remarkable, there always seems to be something going on in this country.
Anyhow... Once again a quick update! I've been through a lot and I've seen so many things. I won't be able to post everything on this blog, hope you all will be able to understand, haha.
The 23rd of January I've celebrated ''Tahun Baru Imlek'' (Chinese new year or ''sincia'') for the first time. My grandmother's tradition is being continued by the newer generations. We didn't celebrate it entirely the same like she used to, but I enjoyed it a lot afterall. Malls and other larger buildings were decorated with dragons and Chinese lanterns, on the streets there were banners shouting ''Gong xi fa cai!'', Chinese Indonesians were dressed in red (so were we), visiting familymembers to tell them ''kiong hi'' and receiving lots of ''angpao'' (they say that giving the younger generations money brings them good luck). And just to give this all a subtle Dutch twist my mother made ''oliebollen'' haha. I had to miss them on New Year's Eve. Made the day perfect.
When we were driving towards Bogor a couple of weeks ago we passed Cibodas' Kebun Raya and took a quick look around: wonderful area, lots of trees and lots of nature. We also drove through the Puncak Pass. Puncak.. Beautiful with its huge tea plantations, mysteriously covered with thick fog, now and then made visible by the strong blowing wind. It's so refreshingly cool there, wonderful. And in the night I was blown away by the oh so many lights on the giant hills, looking like stars, brightly shining.
It is truly an amazing experience to be here in Indonesia. I get to see in which area my father was brought up (an artistic village described as Indonesia's center of pottery and ceramic manufacturers; maybe that's where he got his creativity from), where my mother used to live and work; I get to hear stories about them I've never heard before and for a moment I join them in my mind, travelling back in time.
Last week I've once again soaked myself in another hotspring. This time we went to Ciater. And oh goodness me.. So extremely delightful and CLEAN! So much better than the last time. Total relaxation... I felt reborn, haha.
We didn't go to Ujung Genteng anymore, since there seem to be a lot of drugsdealers and other criminal activities going on there at the moment, so it's quite dangerous, which is why we went to Pangandaran instead to enjoy the beach. It was so quiet, since it's not ''liburan'': children aren't free from school, so we practically were the only ones (apart from the fishermen and the locals). Got ourselves a very nice bungalow with two bedrooms with airconditioning, two bathrooms with hot and cold water, a living room with tv and a kitchen, a nice looking garden and chickens walking around. Large enough for five people; cost us about 25 euros a night. Sweet!
Pangandaran was hit hard by a tsunami in 2006. You can still see the scars of the incident, buildings ruined by the incredible strength of the waves, some houses miraculously enough remained untouched. We got to hear an old man's story and how his family ''alhamdulillah'' got spared.
We visited Batu Hiu: a beach with beautiful rocks and palmtrees and somewhere in the middle of the sea a rock that is shaped as a shark (''batu hiu'' means shark's rock). And when the day came to an end, I enjoyed the warm waves while looking at the beautiful evening twilight.
The next morning I woke up early, because I wanted to see the morning break with my own eyes. So I got up at five, showered, climbed over the fence (since the bungalow complex was still closed) and walked towards the beach. My oh my.. What did I see there? Going to the beach in the early morning pays off for sure, haha. I saw deer! On the beach! Where did they come from? Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap them with my camera, since the fishermen chased them away, probably afraid that they would damage their boats. But I took mental pictures. Oh man.. How beautiful it was to see them elegantly rush away along the shore. I walked around and continued enjoying the sound of the waves and the breaking of the early morning before returning to the bungalow.
These days in Indonesia have all been about relaxing, not having to worry about looking for a place to lay my head down or where to get some food. My days here have been about enjoying the lovely warmth of my welcoming family, getting to know more about my parents' histories and getting to learn more about this beautiful country and the habits of the people. I've gained so much experience and I'm oh so thankful. Next stop will be Bali!
You are still on my mind,
Florencia
Anyhow... Once again a quick update! I've been through a lot and I've seen so many things. I won't be able to post everything on this blog, hope you all will be able to understand, haha.
The 23rd of January I've celebrated ''Tahun Baru Imlek'' (Chinese new year or ''sincia'') for the first time. My grandmother's tradition is being continued by the newer generations. We didn't celebrate it entirely the same like she used to, but I enjoyed it a lot afterall. Malls and other larger buildings were decorated with dragons and Chinese lanterns, on the streets there were banners shouting ''Gong xi fa cai!'', Chinese Indonesians were dressed in red (so were we), visiting familymembers to tell them ''kiong hi'' and receiving lots of ''angpao'' (they say that giving the younger generations money brings them good luck). And just to give this all a subtle Dutch twist my mother made ''oliebollen'' haha. I had to miss them on New Year's Eve. Made the day perfect.
When we were driving towards Bogor a couple of weeks ago we passed Cibodas' Kebun Raya and took a quick look around: wonderful area, lots of trees and lots of nature. We also drove through the Puncak Pass. Puncak.. Beautiful with its huge tea plantations, mysteriously covered with thick fog, now and then made visible by the strong blowing wind. It's so refreshingly cool there, wonderful. And in the night I was blown away by the oh so many lights on the giant hills, looking like stars, brightly shining.
It is truly an amazing experience to be here in Indonesia. I get to see in which area my father was brought up (an artistic village described as Indonesia's center of pottery and ceramic manufacturers; maybe that's where he got his creativity from), where my mother used to live and work; I get to hear stories about them I've never heard before and for a moment I join them in my mind, travelling back in time.
Last week I've once again soaked myself in another hotspring. This time we went to Ciater. And oh goodness me.. So extremely delightful and CLEAN! So much better than the last time. Total relaxation... I felt reborn, haha.
We didn't go to Ujung Genteng anymore, since there seem to be a lot of drugsdealers and other criminal activities going on there at the moment, so it's quite dangerous, which is why we went to Pangandaran instead to enjoy the beach. It was so quiet, since it's not ''liburan'': children aren't free from school, so we practically were the only ones (apart from the fishermen and the locals). Got ourselves a very nice bungalow with two bedrooms with airconditioning, two bathrooms with hot and cold water, a living room with tv and a kitchen, a nice looking garden and chickens walking around. Large enough for five people; cost us about 25 euros a night. Sweet!
Pangandaran was hit hard by a tsunami in 2006. You can still see the scars of the incident, buildings ruined by the incredible strength of the waves, some houses miraculously enough remained untouched. We got to hear an old man's story and how his family ''alhamdulillah'' got spared.
We visited Batu Hiu: a beach with beautiful rocks and palmtrees and somewhere in the middle of the sea a rock that is shaped as a shark (''batu hiu'' means shark's rock). And when the day came to an end, I enjoyed the warm waves while looking at the beautiful evening twilight.
The next morning I woke up early, because I wanted to see the morning break with my own eyes. So I got up at five, showered, climbed over the fence (since the bungalow complex was still closed) and walked towards the beach. My oh my.. What did I see there? Going to the beach in the early morning pays off for sure, haha. I saw deer! On the beach! Where did they come from? Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap them with my camera, since the fishermen chased them away, probably afraid that they would damage their boats. But I took mental pictures. Oh man.. How beautiful it was to see them elegantly rush away along the shore. I walked around and continued enjoying the sound of the waves and the breaking of the early morning before returning to the bungalow.
These days in Indonesia have all been about relaxing, not having to worry about looking for a place to lay my head down or where to get some food. My days here have been about enjoying the lovely warmth of my welcoming family, getting to know more about my parents' histories and getting to learn more about this beautiful country and the habits of the people. I've gained so much experience and I'm oh so thankful. Next stop will be Bali!
You are still on my mind,
Florencia
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