Quick Weekender

Went to Yogyakarta 

(I don't know how to say it correctly.  I think JoeJakarta might be right)

This greets you on the end of a runway when you land

My friend asked me if I would join her on a weekend getaway a couple of months ago.  I, of course, said yes.  I have never been to Indonesia, but I do know someone from there, so I figured it would be worth the trip.

My friend booked the hotel and I'm happy to say that she picked a great hotel.  Staff were super nice and helpful. The rooms were really clean and nice.

Our hotel entrance

It looks as nice on the outside as the inside.

As seems to be the norm, there was controversy in meeting up with my friend.  She was coming from Thailand and I was coming from Malaysia.  She couldn't get on her connecting flight, so I had to spend the first night alone.  Not the best way to start a short vacation, but I've learned a valuable lesson from my travels.  The first thing you do is get a SIM card for your phone so you can communicate.  Because I did this, I didn't spend a lot of time wandering around the airport waiting uselessly.

The next morning she made it and we started planning what we would do.  Our first order of business was to rent a car with a driver.  He would then take us to Mt. Merapi, an active volcano, for sunset.  I thought this would be a super exciting excursion.

my friend and me

As you can see, not much of a sunset.  The ride up to the top of the mountain (I'm assuming this was the top) was an adventure in itself.  Once you get there you then have to rent a Jeep and get driven up to the top.  The roads are really rough, but lots of fun if you are into off-roading.

I think the lava from the volcano came this way.

The remains of the settlements after the volcano was done.

A local rock quarry

A lot of devastation was left in the wake of the volcano but there was also a lot of nice scenery.

There was a small museum on the way to the top

Alien Head rock.  I c an sort of see it.

Here's our transport to the top.

Off-roading in a Toyota Landcruiser disguised as a Jeep Renegade

After a rough ride around the top of Mt. Merapi we made it home safe and sound.  Once back to the hotel we immediately had to go to bed because we were going to do the sunrise trip to Borobudur Temple.  It left at 3:30am.  I wasn't to excited about it, but sunrises are usually pretty nice, so I was in.

Sunrise

As you can see, sunrise was about as successful as sunset was the day before.  Having said that, there was certainly some nice scenery to be seen around here.

The walk up to the top of this hill wasn't to hard, but by the time I got to the top I was completely soaked with sweat.  This country is very humid.

After the sun rose we went to Borobudur Temple to look around.  This is a really old Buddhist temple, and it is actually a nice looking monument.

Path to the temple

Borobudur from a distance

Yes, I was really there.

We got there nice and early, so there wasn't to many people wandering around.  It didn't take long though, for school tours to come and that means trouble for foreigners.

Picture Please!

It's a good thing my friend is very attractive, they always wanted pictures with her and not me.

Replacement Head

Nice looking park

Once we were done with that we got back to the hotel around 11am.  What to do with the rest of the day?  We went to the Water Palace.  Stupid me thought, hey it's only a 45min walk by way of google maps.  We went to at least two different places before we finally found it two hours later.

underground passage 

It's a pretty nice looking place.  Lots of work to get to unless you take one of the bike taxi's.  It only took about 15mins to get back to the hotel.

That night we just relaxed and took it easy.  Had some good eats at a guesthouse restaurant nearby.  Food was really good and filling.

I ate all of this, except the salad's

The next day we both went to the airport and traveled back to our respective homes.  I had a five hour layover in Kuala Lumpur and I had made arrangements with Hertz rentals to leave my car keys where I could get them, but of course they forgot.  I had to wait about an hour and a half for someone to come and give me the keys to my car, but I finally made it home safe and sound.  As tiring as the trip was it was exactly what I needed to feel a little work stress relief.  It was well worth it all and I would do it again, especially when you consider I only spent about $500.00 for everything.  One of the cheapest vacations I've ever been on.

Observations at the end of the road

At the end of November I started a long vacation period.  I decided to go back home to Canada and visit some of my family.  It was kind of a weird sensation how much I was looking forward to going home.  I'm not usually much about food, but I had the full intention of gaining a lot of weight when I got back.  Mmmmm....chilly cheese fries, bacon double cheese burgers, bacon and egg with hash browns, and pizza galore.  Thankfully, my family doesn't have any scales, so I never managed to find out how much weight I gained.

The first three weeks were uneventful, with me hanging out with my brother and sisters, getting reacquainted with my nieces and nephews and eating fit to burst my stomach which many days I actually thought might happen).  I got all my shopping done for both myself and Christmas, money was flowing out of my account like it was afraid to be in there.

The part of the vacation that wasn't so good is that my father (for all my friends in Canada, this is my biological father not the man that raised me), who has been sick for a few years now, was staying in a nursing home.  He had suffered from a couple of strokes and other ailments.  As uncomfortable as it was to go visit him, I sucked it up and went a few times with my brother Terry and sisters Tammy and Tracy.  He was sleeping every time I went, so I didn't really get to visit him.  After a couple of weeks here, his health took a turn for the worse and he was moved to a hospital.  The whole family came to see him at the hospital.  As unhappy as everyone was, I was happy to see that they were all keeping a positive outlook.

My father has always had the attitude that he didn't want to be a burden on his family and once he got sick I think he was hoping his life would end quickly and not drag on.  In a way his wish wasn't granted as he spent a couple of years in ill health.  Once he was in the hospital things changed. Within a few short hours the doctors determined that any help they gave him would only prolong his pain and suffering, so it was decided that he would move into palliative care and they would  slowly stop his meds and manage his pain until he passed away.  I have to say that I don't usually care much for doctors, but they fulfilled their promise here of him passing away pain free and as comfortable as he possibly could be.

While he was being moved to the care suite in the hospital the rest of us took a break and did some things.  My brother took me back to Brantford so I could take a shower and when we got back to the hospital my father was settled in and the family was surrounding him.  I think there were 13 people in the room when we returned.  The impression I got from the hospital staff was that was an unusually large amount of people to be around at the same time, but I think they felt it was a good thing.  I know it says allot about what kind of man he was that that many people would be there for him at the end.

When I walked into the room the first time I was struck by the scene.  His wife sitting by the bed holding his hand, the rest of the family arrayed around the bed.  It was quiet and somber but it didn't take long before people had relaxed and started talking.  As I said earlier my father didn't want people sitting around crying for him and I'm proud to say my family accommodated his wishes.  Many stories were being told about their memories of life around him.  Lots of jokes were told and funny stories about life lived.  Periodically there would be short silences of remembrance, but never uncomfortable.

My sister Tammy and brother Terry stayed the whole time, never leaving the hospital until the end.  I'm thankful that I could be in the country during this time and I was blessed with the honor of being in the room when he took his last breath.  I've always felt that there is some sort of ethereal connection between people and in this instance I feel like that belief was reinforced.  My sister Tracy and brother Terry were in the room with me, everyone else had stepped out to get a bite to eat or have a smoke outside, and were talking about something, I don't remember what, when both Tracy and Terry looked at my father and we all realized he hadn't taken a breath for awhile.  It became apparent that he was gone.  We all took a short moment to grieve in our own ways and then the nurse was called in to confirm what we knew.  Then the rest of the family was found and told.

Once everyone was back in the room all the love this family has for each other came out and the grieving started.  It was subdued, but it felt right. I was encouraged to see that as sad as this occasion was everyone was calm and I think my father would have been very happy with the way things went.  There was sorrow for the loss but it didn't take long and everyone was celebrating his life again.

I feel like I have been very lucky in life.  Not many people have past away during my life and I have never had to live through some thing like this before.  I was a little afraid of what it would be like.  In a couple of ways it was as I expected it to be, but in most others it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  Truly, having the love and support of your family around you in times like these does make it a lot easier to handle.

The ease with which my father passed and the way my family handled it has made me very proud to be a part of this family.  I love everyone in this family and I can only hope that when I go I will have a family around me to match what I saw here the past few days.  As tragic as it is to have this happen during the holidays, I am thankful that I was here to be a part of it.

September was a crazy awesome month!

on vacation

My birthday was at the beginning of September and it was a pretty amazing day.  I got a phone call from my project manager asking me if I would like a promotion.  Originally I didn't want to consider anything until January because I was really enjoying the job in Kota Tinggi and the teachers I was working with were some of the nicest people I have met in my travels.  They all welcomed me into their work lives and trusted in the things I was telling them.  I wanted to finish the school year with them, but alas it was not to be.  I have moved into another area of Malaysia called Pontian.  Ocean side town, fairly quiet and, as usual in Malaysia, filled with nice people.


Now I am living in another house.   I think these places are called terrace houses.  All connected, side by side.

The front of my new place

This place is a lot smaller then the last place I had (which I am happy about.  I miss my one room apt's in Japan.  Can't collect as much stuff in those places.).  It's also a lot older, but its been kept in pretty good shape by the owners, so it will do the trick for the next year.

The view from the front door.  I have a workstation and a dinning room table.  There was one of those free standing screen thingy's so I put it up so that the neighbors can't see me walking around in my undies when I get up.

The view from the hallway looking at my living space.  The land lord bought a smallish TV for me.  I have cable coming sometime in the next week. (just got internet today.)

My bedrroom.  Still a little messed up, but working on it.  I managed to collect a lot of things in my six months in Kota Tinggi.  I came to Malaysia with 2 suitcases and a backpack.  Now I had a full car load of stuff I will need to get rid of next year.

My bathroom.  Probably the most Japanese thing I've seen in this country.  I barely have enough room to sit on the crapper and taking a shower in this room isn't much easier.  The positive thing is the water heater has more pressure then the last place I was living, so that's something at least.

And finally the kitchen.  Lots of room here and even lots of cupboard space for me to put all the new stuff I collect.

All in all, I am happy with this new place.  I am paying the same amount that I did in Kota Tinggi even though this is only half the place that was.  But considering what I saw in this town for RM1000/mth I think this is the best I can do.  I'm happy.



As far as the job goes, I am enjoying it a lot so far.  Even though there were a lot of challenges at the very beginning and there are a few more in the coming weeks, I think it will be a very good experience for me.  In the end I hope it works out better then the last two times I dipped my toe in the management pool, but even if it doesn't, it will only be for one year and I think I can handle that.

The teachers here are very nice and I feel like most of them have welcomed me into their work environment without any drama.  I hope I can build as good a relationship with them as I did with the teachers in Kota Tinggi.

If that was all that had happened in September it would have been a good month, but I went to Vietnam for the first time.  At first I was a little uninterested in going here.  After I had booked my trip I realized I didn't really want to go by myself, but then an amazing thing happened.  Not two days after booking one of my friends from Japan contacted me and asked when I was going because she had some vacation days coming and she wanted to join me there.  Now, I was more excited to go.

say hi to Noriko.  One of my favorite Japanese people

She was only there for the first two days that I was there, so we tried to do as many things as we could.  On the first day we went to china town and looked at a couple of temples.

This is inside one of the temples.  For some reason I don't like seeing markets inside temples and churches.  I think its from a sunday school lesson I had when I was little.  But it is interesting seeing how other parts of the world view their holy places and its uses.  But there was some really nice statues in the middle of the temple.

 Noriko isn't a statue but I think she would make a good muse for one.

 Me, not so much.

This was a refreshing area inside the hustle and bustle of making a living for the Vietnamese.  The vendors in these markets are hard core.  They will actually grab a hold of your arm to prevent you from moving past their stall.  The first time this happened to me I wasn't expecting it and I almost punched them, thankfully I restrained myself and tried to compress my sense of personal space.

 I think this was the temple Noriko wanted to see the most.

After a lot of walking around we took a taxi back to district one and went up what I think is the tallest building in Ho Chi Minh City.

 there is a bar two floors up from here.  I didn't find out about it until the next day.

The big red building in the middle of this pic is the Cho Ben Thanh market

 For dinner we were going on a river cruise.  I guessed that this was the boat we would go on. (the brown one.)

Like I said we had booked a river cruise dinner date.  I was really looking forward to it cuz, you know, I love floating around in boats.  Here is the boat we had booked.

As you can see I guessed correctly.  A very nice Chinese Junk.  The meal was pretty tasty too.  I don't have a picture of the food cuz I always forget to take pictures.  By the time I remembered I was almost finished eating.  But the inside of the Junk was nicely done.

The next day we met up with Noriko's brother who lives in Ho Chi Minh City.  He showed us around the markets and district one.  We went to a palace and looked around inside.

There is an underground bunker in this building that was used during the war.  Got to see sleeping chambers and radio rooms and strategy rooms. It was pretty interesting .

After this day Noriko went back to Japan, I got a little depressed being there by myself so I went to the market and spent a lot of money on watches and silk things.  Made me feel better.

One of three watches I bought.  I know they are all knock-offs but I really like them and so far they are still working, so I say money well spent.  I look almost respectable when I am wearing them.

After moping around for a day and spending far to much money I decided I should book some day trips to fill the rest of my time in HCMC.  I chose the tunnels (I had heard of them before I came) and a trip to the Mekong Delta.

The tunnels were interesting and if I was considerably smaller I might have been able to get some pics inside the tunnels, but I barely fit inside them so I didn't have enough room or interest to try.

 There was a time when I could fit into a hole that small, but it was about 50-60 pounds ago.

 another entrance to the tunnel system which was over 200kms long. 

a couple of traps the Vietnamese set to catch/injure Americans

If you ever go to this place I highly recommend you do not watch the documentary at the end.  It is one hundred percent propaganda and promotes hatred of Americans.  It really disappointed me.  Having said that, most of their musuems (at least in HCMC) seem to be dedicated to hating Americans (because they were the only ones fighting in that war apparently).  The war remnants museum is another example of this.  All the military equipment is American and there are several rooms dedicated to showing you the results of the American campaign to use Agent Orange on the Vietnamese peoples.

Anyways, the next day was probably my favorite of the trip.  I went to the Mekong Delta and rode around on a boat.  It rained most of the day but that didn't stop me from enjoying the ride.

highway rest stop on the way to the boat

 Not the boat we took, but one exactly like it.

 This lady rowed some of us down this channel.  The others went with different rowers.

 Life in Vietnam.  In some ways I think it would be amazing. Getting back to nature and all.

I think these people live on these boats and sell fruits to people as they pass by.

My last two days I decided to take it easy.  I spent a lot of time in a couple of the nice parks they have in the city.

A looked at some of the architecture in the city.

 Notre Dame Church HCMC not the one in Paris

The Post Office.  

There was a lot more I did in HCMC and I took pictures of a lot of it, but you will have to go to my facebook page to look at all the other pictures I have. 

 Here's a link:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152227227801307.1073741846.720066306&type=1&l=5497c59cc5

That's about all for September.  My next big event will be my trip back to Canada for the first time in three years.  Looking forward to that.

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