Lot's to update! But too much for 1 sitting, so I am going to break it up. This particular post will be alll about my health. It'll get gruesome...so I'll hide it for those that dont want to read about it. For those that do read, though, be warned that you'll never be able to unlearn those things about me. Certainly not for the faint of heart. Anyways, shall we?
And, by the way, this post is gonna sound really complainy....so just bear with me.
So my time in Indonesia has been loads of fun, but I always have digestive tract...issues...whenever I come here. It was mostly just stomach aches and loose stools, your usual traveller's diarrhea. Then it got worse. I would eat, then about 1-2 hours later I would be in pain. The pain made it so I felt really sick, as if i was nauseous. But I never threw up. I would just spend three hours on my bed because I couldn't really do anything else. I thought it was just some sort of bug (I had something similar the last time I went to Indonesia, it eventually disappeared). I thought I'd just wait it out.
The problem with waiting it out was that I really couldn't eat anything in the meantime. Eat a meal? Boom stomach pain and a wasted afternoon. A handful of fruit? Nope. I resorted to drinking a formula of Ensure each morning (in hopes that I could stave off malnutrition for a while) and a few bites of things here and there. It was a serious deficit of calories though...so I resorted going to a doctor on the insistence of my family.
Stomach Ulcer(s)(the wikipedia page is called Peptic Ulcer), apparently. Or somewhere in my gut. They prescribed be a drug called omeprazole that I take before I eat. Works like magic! And apparently my mom and grandma on my mom's side has had this problem before. So the omeprazole definitely keeps the pain pretty much gone. If i forget to take the pill though...hurts like it was day one again...haha.
So that was the stomach problem. Now for the butt problem!
Here is the quick and clean version: I had something in my behind that made it really hard to sit down. After about 2 weeks of this, the something started to swell like crazy. I went to the doctor, and he said is was from an infection, due to my poor diet (great, thanks tummy). It was an abscess, which meant it was filled with, yup, pus! gross huh? Oh we haven't even started yet. The doctor gave me antibiotics and told me to eat more fiber and drink more water. Things got worse and I went to see the doctor again the next day (I could barely walk at this point). He looked at it, poked it, and said it was surgery time. You can look up "fistulotomy" if you want a better understand of what was wrong with me. Well I underwent surgery that night, I was discharged the next day, and I am still in recovery mode. Surgery was Wednesday night, this is currently Monday night. Lets just say recovery is a pain in the butt!
This is the long version of what happened. Read at your own risk.
STARTS HERE------->
So the abscess was located right next to my anus, like about a centimeter away. The swelling was disgusting, just this huge freaking lump right on my butt. I couldn't sit down. After my trip to the doctor, the swelling got worse. That night, the pressure from the swelling got so intense, I couldn't sleep. I could barely even walk. My abscess was hot to the touch and throbbing. I was crying, and I don't cry from pain tooooo often (cuz I'm such a manly guy). I went to the ER at the hospital, limping in, tears just streaming down my face. I struggled onto the gurney thing. They had me pull my pants off and turned me over to examine the abscess. That was when I felt it. As they turned me, it felt like a knife plunged into my abscess. The ER docs and nurses asked where it was. I was very confused, as I thought a huge bulge would be pretty obvious. They poked around, prodding different...areas.... which only added to my confusion. How could they miss this swollen bulge growing out of my ass?! I had to point it out, telling them this is where it hurt. So, of course, they gave it a few good pokes, to my increasing dismay. They turned me back around, pulled up my pants, and said they couldn't do anything for me at the moment. They gave me a shot of acetaminophen (that's just Tylenol, by the way) and told me to contact a specialist in the morning. The weird thing was that my abscess didn't hurt quite as much, and I noticed this before they gave me my pain shot. I have a feeling something, somewhere must have popped. It was hard to tell with my tears and screaming and terror sweat though.
Well, I went home and managed to fall asleep. I was up the next morning asking if we could go to the specialist right away, seeing as that abscess could start swelling again. If you recall, my experience had taught me that we really didn't want that happening again. The family said that we would have to wait till 4 pm to see the doctor that I had seen the day before. Oh, the one who just gave me antibiotics and sent me home? Yup. So I spent my day in bed, and all I can say is that I am sure as hell glad Tylenol actually works as a pain med! I never take pain meds, so they are kind of like this magical thing to me now. I could feel my abscess growing, though, just as it had done the day before.
We got to the doctor, and he said we needed to wait an hour for him (he was in the middle of a surgery, so I guess he kind of had a good excuse). 2 hours later, he called me in and looked at the abscess. He poked it, and said yup, I'd need to stay the night.
Haha, wait, stay the night?
Why?
Surgery.
oh
Me and my aunt spent a while looking for a room for me to stay in at the hospital, cuz they are like an airline and like to overbook apparently. After two hours, they took me to my overnight room, which I will admit was quite nice. I signed some papers (oh what? Anaesthetics can kill? Okay yes I'll sign my life away, sure, just make the pain stop) and was off to surgery. That was fast.
I found out that I was only going under local anaesthesia, which meant they only numbed me from my torso down. They put in an IV line (on the second try, mind you. And here's a tip, if you miss the vein, don't dig around for it. My hand is still swollen because of the needle that just wreaked havoc on my hand veins). Then the anaesthetist gave me my spinal injections, which, as it turns out, hurt. I don't exactly know what happened next because I started to hallucinate and the ceiling started to start doing a wave thing. After sometime, I started to piece things together. I was drugged up with something, and it felt absolutely amazing. My legs felt like they were locked in pillows and my arms were strapped down. I looked around and I could see the anaesthesiologist. Naturally, I called him over and asked him what was going on. He told me we were twenty minutes into the surgery. I looked down and noticed that there were some green curtains up and I couldn't see anything. I then talked to the doctor about want to be a doctor and we had quite a pleasant conversation during my surgery.
I was eventually carted back to my room, still quite awake and rather...high. I fell asleep before the anaesthesia wore off, and slept with a night full of hallucinations of people being in my room. It was jolly good fun. The numbness wore off around 6 am, which was a logical time for me to wake up as the pain was rather...strong. It felt like I had the worst wedgie, mixed with blood, of course. I then realized I hadn't gone poop for about 3 days...which couldn't be good...so I had the nurse try to help me. It ended in failure, as in no Bowel Movement. Then they took the three tampons that had been stuffed up my butt out of my butt. Why they didn't do that before I tried to poop is beyond me. Luckily it didn't lead to anything more coming out of my butt, though. I bled over the rest of the floor as I hobbled back to bed.
Some of my doctor friends from the hospital I am observing at stopped by to say hi and see how I was doing, which I thought was really sweet. Then my family came and see me. Then some of my other friends came, so I wasn't alone. The doctor came by and said I was free to go home if I wanted.
The procedure they did was they cut that abscess open, which let all the pus drain out. The problem, though, is that the infection needs to heal itself. If they close the wound, then it'll just became another abscess. So what can you do? Leave that wound open and let it heal on it's own. So, as it is, I have a cut about an inch and a half long that originates from my anus and goes in the direction of my right leg. Maybe "cut is the wrong word, how about "chunk of skin that is missing." Anyways, its a huge open wound where it's generally quite difficult to keep clean (what with all the poopies and whatnot). It is pretty common for recurrence, such that I would get another abscess. If this thing does not heal properly, in that the skin heals before the infection wound thing heals, I'll have to do surgery again. I'd really rather not have that happen. Remember, though, I am also in Indonesia. Indonesia isn't known for being the cleanest of places, and it has its fair share of exotic bacteria.
So I could stay in the hospital, or go home and try to fend for myself. I elected to go home (I don't like the helplessness of being in a hospital bed).
These last few days have been....rough. I wake up in the morning, spend about 10 minutes that I need to take off the bandage from the night before, cry as it comes off, examine the bandage, take a shower, tenderly wash my wound with soap and water, soak my wound (and butt) in a woefully-small-but-workable metal dish thing with warm water (it's supposed to help?), clean out my wound with a battery of wet wipes, alcohol, and gauze, look at the wound, notice that it doesn't look like anything is changing, apply a salve that's an extract from cow placenta (??? look up bioplacenton, your guess is as good as mine), then apply a gauze bandage in a way that makes it feel like I have a perma-wedgie, and stick two extra Kleenex up there for good measure. I do the whole process in the afternoon and at night again. At first it seemed like a horror movie, but it has gotten better and easier to do. It just takes about 45 minutes :/
"But Aaron, how do you poop?" you may be asking. Well, it's shitty. Every time I poop, you guessed it, poop goes into the wound. There is absolutely no way of preventing this from happening. So I just gotta make super duper sure that I get all the little fecal matters out of the wound before closing it up again. If I don't clean it out enough, or if I don't apply the salve ALL the way into the wound (which means up my anus!), I could get another abscess. And that is what is getting me through this. That if I mess up, I could be back to square one. And I don't want that. Like, I really don't want that.
The doctor said that, if everything goes well, I should be all good to play grab-ass again in 4-6 weeks. So only 4-6 more weeks of this cleaning....hooray
<--------ENDS HERE
But other than these problems, everything is going well! Ill update on the work at the hospital when I feel like writing again haha.
-Aaron Brown
Monday, July 28, 2014
Friday, June 27, 2014
The end of Bali, and the Beginning of Java
~Pemuteran (Contd)~
We traveled to a hot springs at the Mimpi (dream) Resort. We had to get there by riding the angkottan kota, which is basically an unreliable and large van. It's really kind of a mix between a bus and a taxi because it has a designated route, but it stops anywhere along that route. Also, you can haggle the price, as my mom so often does. The hot springs was basically just a large hot tub, and it was nice, I suppose. Not really much to say about it. We left and had to walk rather far to get to the route that the bus-taxis take, and that was when I realized just how hot Pemuteran is. After about 5 minutes of walking I would just be drenched in sweat. I wipe myself on the towel my brother was using so he wouldn't get any more sun burnt (he was lobster red), then I'd be covered in sweat again soon enough.
So we walk for a while and get to the route, but the angkot doesn't come for a really long time (I said they were unreliable). This thing seats about 12, but a dude is carrying a bundle of leaves, and a few families are packed in there. We make it work, and I am crammed in the back. One of the families attempts to carry a conversation with me, and I stagger my way through a conversation with them. They gave me two oily oranges (oranges in Bali are small and green...meaning they look exactly like limes) and I thanked them out of habit. We got back to the hotel and I just tried to keep my mind off the heat. Don't let that stop you from visiting Pemuteran! It was still pretty relaxing.
That night we signed up for this special dinner and got to watch the Balinese traditional dancing. Balinese dancing isn't the most technical thing in the world, but it does involved a lot of finger, eye, and head movement. It's very interesting to watch. All the while there is the distinct sound of gamelan music playing. I have absolutely no idea how they synchronize the dancing because the music sounds exactly the same and has, to the untrained ear, almost no distinguishing patterns. Must just be because I am not very in-tune with the Balinese culture. Look it up on YouTube, "Balinese traditional gamelan dancing," you'll see what I'm talking about.
~Ubud~
We left the next day to go to Ubud, a town that's more or less in the middle of Bali in the mountains. Once again, we made a trip through the crowded, windy, and steep mountain passes. We did at least have a knowledgeable driver that knew the area and made a few stops along the way that made the drive less unbearable. We stopped at a restaurant that specialized in this thing called Kopi Lewak, which is special coffee roasted from the coffee beans that civets eat. It's not drinking their poo perse, but basically what happens is this: Civets are cute little mammals(they'll tear out your jugular) that like to eat the most ripe and sweat coffee beans. The beans pass through their digestive tracts (what gets dissolved and actually eaten is the skin or something, not entirely sure) and harvested by humans. The beans are cleaned by being boiled a few times, then roasted and turned into coffee. We tried it and determined it wasn't half bad. It's just expensive as hell due to the intense "manufacturing" process.
We got to Ubud and checked into my favorite hotel: Tegal Sari. You gotta book this place months and months in advance to get a spot. The reasons it's so popular is because it's beautiful. It's situated within the rice fields of Ubud and just so serene and peaceful. Definitely recommend this place. Here we met up with my mom's family friends and nearly got lost as we tried to find one of our favorite places to eat. While we were getting lost, we found that Ubud had become a little more developed since we had last visited, which has it's pros and cons. The major con was that there was a ton more traffic, which kinda took the allure of peaceful Ubud away a little bit. Just sad to see my favorite place so developed. As our family friends put it, Ubud is starting to become a Kuta :(
The next day we did some more walking (Ubud is slightly less hot than Pemuteran, but you'll still bake if you walk that many miles), saw some long tailed macaques at the monkey forest, ate the BEST suckling pig that has ever been on this earth at Ibu Oka's restaurant (seriously, if you ever find yourself in Bali, make it a point to come here for the suckling pig. It's only open for lunch though), and did some light shopping at the outdoor....marketplace thing. I am seriously in awe of my mom's haggling skills, it's almost insulting how low my mom pays.
The next day we went on a bike ride. It was myself, my brother, and the two kids from the family friends, Nayaka and Bunga. We didn't fully realize what we were getting ourselves into when we signed up for the trip....But they picked us up in the morning and drove us to some coffee plantation for some reason. There they let us sample some coffee and showed us some of those civet things I had talked about earlier. We were confused but went along with it. They then took us farther up the mountain and served us some friend bananas (a fairly common dessert in Indonesia, it's a bit weird at first...some people like it I guess though). They then put us on some mountain bikes, which, surprisingly, weren't in terrible shape, and sent us down the mountain with a guide and two Australians.
We rode on the side of rather unbusy roads for about an hour before we stopped for a bit. The ride was...fun? There wasn't really a whole lot going on. The only thing that was noticeable was that my ass was getting more and more sore on the bike seat and that my bike was woefully small for myself. Then we rode a while till we got to stop and take a tour of a traditional Balinese house. I was just damn thankful to be off the bike. The house was...interesting. It's broken up into parts with a yard, a temple, a kitchen, and bedrooms for different ages. As they age, they move up in the housing levels. They also had a pig pen where they kept a few pigs (gasp), which they keep as currency and sell off to pay for food and supplies.
We got back on the bikes, much to my chagrin, and rode some more. Luckily it started raining, so we got to get wet too. Eventually our tour guide said that we had made it half way! Some more riding occurred and we were led through some rice fields, which were actually quite beautiful but also tricky to traverse with the Bali Bikes. We finally got to the end of the ride after about 4 hours of mostly sitting on that uncomfortable small bike saddle. I was just glad to be done with it....Umm I cant say that I would terribly recommend it unless you really like biking. I don't think my mom would have been able to make the trip due to the physical demands, and I was quite sore afterwards. Yeah. They did give us the food we paid for at the end though.
I spent the rest of the day recuperating and we spent our last night at some rather fancy restaurant called Ibu Rai's or something along those lines. The next day we had to leave our family friends and Ubud and Bali to get to the main Island of Java.
~Surabaya~
We flew Garuda Indonesia from Bali to Surabaya, which is on the East part of Java. I think Garuda has the least amount of planes lost of all the Indonesian airlines, so take them when you travel, as opposed to Lion and Adam Air, which lose planes apparently. We got to our hotel and then went to visit one of my moms college friends. It took so long to get anywhere in Surabaya due to the crazy amount of traffic that just seemed to always be there. We went over some new bridge that connected Java to the small island of Madura. We then met with some of my family relatives that lived five hours away but came all the way to see us cuz my mom said they had to. And so began the parade of cousins that we met.
So, as far as I know, this is the story of my family in Indonesia. My great grandfather came to Indonesia from China with his dad and two brothers. He had a few kids, as did his brothers, and those kids also had kids. It's actually quite a net of people I am related to. So far we meet about 4 people I had never heard of before every day.
Anyways, the day after we get to Surabaya we meet up with cousins I do know, the ones that I had stayed with the previous time I was in Indonesia. I got to see my two little nieces, Neva (7) and Felicia (4) and the 9 of us (my mom, stepdad, brother, me, great aunt, second cousin, her husband, and the two kids) bussed out to a little town in the mountains called Batu.
~Batu~
Batu is actually really nice. It's cold here, as in upper 60's lower 70's cold. We continue to keep meeting cousins and our bus driver gets lost all the time as he is not even from near around here. It's fun taking care of the two kids though...at least when they aren't fighting.
Today we got to go to the Batu secret zoo, which was freaking huge. For a scant 12 USD each, we got to see a ton of exotic birds, monkeys, plants, fishies, tigers, lions, small mammals, and just everything. Also, halfway through the zoo was a theme park with rides and stuff. We barely made through the whole thing in the 7 hours that we stayed there and we were way too pooped to do anything else. Ill try to upload some pictures to this thingy somehow....
And we stay in Batu till tomorrow, when we will go back to Surabaya, then go to Semarang the next day. So much traveling, I think I may die.
~General Comments~
So we totally forgot to get me a special Visa to stay in Indonesia for as long as we had planned my stay...so we have been doing the best we can to find out ways to extend my Visa. We have had to do a number of sketchy things, including giving my passport to some guy to delliver to some place and just hope he brings it back, which he did. Hopefully we will find a way to extend it a second time, which is kind of what this whole go to the hospital thing is riding on...haha...ha...
The bugs are freeeeeaking huge here. I have probably said that before at some point, but jesus I just have to make that comment again. The ants are the size of my fingernail, flying things are the size of fingers, and the lizards are just everywhere. Girls like swarms of things right? I counted about 10 lizards on my ceiling the other day. Luckily they eat all the malaria and denguefever carrying mosquitos.
Well, thats all for now. Stay tuned!
We traveled to a hot springs at the Mimpi (dream) Resort. We had to get there by riding the angkottan kota, which is basically an unreliable and large van. It's really kind of a mix between a bus and a taxi because it has a designated route, but it stops anywhere along that route. Also, you can haggle the price, as my mom so often does. The hot springs was basically just a large hot tub, and it was nice, I suppose. Not really much to say about it. We left and had to walk rather far to get to the route that the bus-taxis take, and that was when I realized just how hot Pemuteran is. After about 5 minutes of walking I would just be drenched in sweat. I wipe myself on the towel my brother was using so he wouldn't get any more sun burnt (he was lobster red), then I'd be covered in sweat again soon enough.
So we walk for a while and get to the route, but the angkot doesn't come for a really long time (I said they were unreliable). This thing seats about 12, but a dude is carrying a bundle of leaves, and a few families are packed in there. We make it work, and I am crammed in the back. One of the families attempts to carry a conversation with me, and I stagger my way through a conversation with them. They gave me two oily oranges (oranges in Bali are small and green...meaning they look exactly like limes) and I thanked them out of habit. We got back to the hotel and I just tried to keep my mind off the heat. Don't let that stop you from visiting Pemuteran! It was still pretty relaxing.
That night we signed up for this special dinner and got to watch the Balinese traditional dancing. Balinese dancing isn't the most technical thing in the world, but it does involved a lot of finger, eye, and head movement. It's very interesting to watch. All the while there is the distinct sound of gamelan music playing. I have absolutely no idea how they synchronize the dancing because the music sounds exactly the same and has, to the untrained ear, almost no distinguishing patterns. Must just be because I am not very in-tune with the Balinese culture. Look it up on YouTube, "Balinese traditional gamelan dancing," you'll see what I'm talking about.
~Ubud~
We left the next day to go to Ubud, a town that's more or less in the middle of Bali in the mountains. Once again, we made a trip through the crowded, windy, and steep mountain passes. We did at least have a knowledgeable driver that knew the area and made a few stops along the way that made the drive less unbearable. We stopped at a restaurant that specialized in this thing called Kopi Lewak, which is special coffee roasted from the coffee beans that civets eat. It's not drinking their poo perse, but basically what happens is this: Civets are cute little mammals(they'll tear out your jugular) that like to eat the most ripe and sweat coffee beans. The beans pass through their digestive tracts (what gets dissolved and actually eaten is the skin or something, not entirely sure) and harvested by humans. The beans are cleaned by being boiled a few times, then roasted and turned into coffee. We tried it and determined it wasn't half bad. It's just expensive as hell due to the intense "manufacturing" process.
We got to Ubud and checked into my favorite hotel: Tegal Sari. You gotta book this place months and months in advance to get a spot. The reasons it's so popular is because it's beautiful. It's situated within the rice fields of Ubud and just so serene and peaceful. Definitely recommend this place. Here we met up with my mom's family friends and nearly got lost as we tried to find one of our favorite places to eat. While we were getting lost, we found that Ubud had become a little more developed since we had last visited, which has it's pros and cons. The major con was that there was a ton more traffic, which kinda took the allure of peaceful Ubud away a little bit. Just sad to see my favorite place so developed. As our family friends put it, Ubud is starting to become a Kuta :(
The next day we did some more walking (Ubud is slightly less hot than Pemuteran, but you'll still bake if you walk that many miles), saw some long tailed macaques at the monkey forest, ate the BEST suckling pig that has ever been on this earth at Ibu Oka's restaurant (seriously, if you ever find yourself in Bali, make it a point to come here for the suckling pig. It's only open for lunch though), and did some light shopping at the outdoor....marketplace thing. I am seriously in awe of my mom's haggling skills, it's almost insulting how low my mom pays.
The next day we went on a bike ride. It was myself, my brother, and the two kids from the family friends, Nayaka and Bunga. We didn't fully realize what we were getting ourselves into when we signed up for the trip....But they picked us up in the morning and drove us to some coffee plantation for some reason. There they let us sample some coffee and showed us some of those civet things I had talked about earlier. We were confused but went along with it. They then took us farther up the mountain and served us some friend bananas (a fairly common dessert in Indonesia, it's a bit weird at first...some people like it I guess though). They then put us on some mountain bikes, which, surprisingly, weren't in terrible shape, and sent us down the mountain with a guide and two Australians.
We rode on the side of rather unbusy roads for about an hour before we stopped for a bit. The ride was...fun? There wasn't really a whole lot going on. The only thing that was noticeable was that my ass was getting more and more sore on the bike seat and that my bike was woefully small for myself. Then we rode a while till we got to stop and take a tour of a traditional Balinese house. I was just damn thankful to be off the bike. The house was...interesting. It's broken up into parts with a yard, a temple, a kitchen, and bedrooms for different ages. As they age, they move up in the housing levels. They also had a pig pen where they kept a few pigs (gasp), which they keep as currency and sell off to pay for food and supplies.
We got back on the bikes, much to my chagrin, and rode some more. Luckily it started raining, so we got to get wet too. Eventually our tour guide said that we had made it half way! Some more riding occurred and we were led through some rice fields, which were actually quite beautiful but also tricky to traverse with the Bali Bikes. We finally got to the end of the ride after about 4 hours of mostly sitting on that uncomfortable small bike saddle. I was just glad to be done with it....Umm I cant say that I would terribly recommend it unless you really like biking. I don't think my mom would have been able to make the trip due to the physical demands, and I was quite sore afterwards. Yeah. They did give us the food we paid for at the end though.
I spent the rest of the day recuperating and we spent our last night at some rather fancy restaurant called Ibu Rai's or something along those lines. The next day we had to leave our family friends and Ubud and Bali to get to the main Island of Java.
~Surabaya~
We flew Garuda Indonesia from Bali to Surabaya, which is on the East part of Java. I think Garuda has the least amount of planes lost of all the Indonesian airlines, so take them when you travel, as opposed to Lion and Adam Air, which lose planes apparently. We got to our hotel and then went to visit one of my moms college friends. It took so long to get anywhere in Surabaya due to the crazy amount of traffic that just seemed to always be there. We went over some new bridge that connected Java to the small island of Madura. We then met with some of my family relatives that lived five hours away but came all the way to see us cuz my mom said they had to. And so began the parade of cousins that we met.
So, as far as I know, this is the story of my family in Indonesia. My great grandfather came to Indonesia from China with his dad and two brothers. He had a few kids, as did his brothers, and those kids also had kids. It's actually quite a net of people I am related to. So far we meet about 4 people I had never heard of before every day.
Anyways, the day after we get to Surabaya we meet up with cousins I do know, the ones that I had stayed with the previous time I was in Indonesia. I got to see my two little nieces, Neva (7) and Felicia (4) and the 9 of us (my mom, stepdad, brother, me, great aunt, second cousin, her husband, and the two kids) bussed out to a little town in the mountains called Batu.
~Batu~
Batu is actually really nice. It's cold here, as in upper 60's lower 70's cold. We continue to keep meeting cousins and our bus driver gets lost all the time as he is not even from near around here. It's fun taking care of the two kids though...at least when they aren't fighting.
Today we got to go to the Batu secret zoo, which was freaking huge. For a scant 12 USD each, we got to see a ton of exotic birds, monkeys, plants, fishies, tigers, lions, small mammals, and just everything. Also, halfway through the zoo was a theme park with rides and stuff. We barely made through the whole thing in the 7 hours that we stayed there and we were way too pooped to do anything else. Ill try to upload some pictures to this thingy somehow....
And we stay in Batu till tomorrow, when we will go back to Surabaya, then go to Semarang the next day. So much traveling, I think I may die.
~General Comments~
So we totally forgot to get me a special Visa to stay in Indonesia for as long as we had planned my stay...so we have been doing the best we can to find out ways to extend my Visa. We have had to do a number of sketchy things, including giving my passport to some guy to delliver to some place and just hope he brings it back, which he did. Hopefully we will find a way to extend it a second time, which is kind of what this whole go to the hospital thing is riding on...haha...ha...
The bugs are freeeeeaking huge here. I have probably said that before at some point, but jesus I just have to make that comment again. The ants are the size of my fingernail, flying things are the size of fingers, and the lizards are just everywhere. Girls like swarms of things right? I counted about 10 lizards on my ceiling the other day. Luckily they eat all the malaria and denguefever carrying mosquitos.
Well, thats all for now. Stay tuned!
Friday, June 20, 2014
Oh man! What an adventure it has been so far. I'll break up what happened into segments.
Travel!
I left from San Jose airport and arrived in Japan roughly ten hours later. I flew ANA Air and actually enjoyed the in flight meals as they were all Japanese. Each seat had it's own little TV thing packed with new movies and games. There was a short 2 hour layoever in Japan before a 6 hour flight to Bangkok via Thai Airways. My layover in Bangkok was 12 hours, though, so I had already booked a room in a very cheap hotel. When I say cheap, I mean I could hear everything through the walls. For some reason I was waking up every fifteen mintues :/ I then left at 6 in the morning to catch the flight to Bali and waited at the airport for my family to catch up to me.
All in all, it was about 36 hours of transit. I have made the trip dozens of times, but it does not make it any easier. The worst thing about traveling is perhaps the constant state of jet lag as you pass into new time zones waiting for your body and mind to catch up. Oh well, just another price to pay to get to far off places I suppose.
All in all, it was about 36 hours of transit. I have made the trip dozens of times, but it does not make it any easier. The worst thing about traveling is perhaps the constant state of jet lag as you pass into new time zones waiting for your body and mind to catch up. Oh well, just another price to pay to get to far off places I suppose.
Kuta Beach!
This was our first stop in Bali and a major tourist destination. Bars, nightclubs, and Starbucks litter the streets. This place is just crowded and noisy. But it's not without its charm. The hotels are extravagent and exotic. The one we stayed at had a beautiful balcony pool that overlooked the ocean.
The first night was pretty boring since the entire family was jetlagged. My brother and I tried to explore the nightlife, so we walked around for about 2 hours before giving up and going home since we were so tired.
The next day we lounged around(it's vacation right, we dont always have to be doing stuff) and got full body massages. Here's the funny thing about massages though. They always sound like a great idea. Who wouldnt want to get all the tension out of their muscles and become utterly relaxed as the massuse works away all the stress. But then the massage starts, and you start remembering why massages might not be so great. First they douse you in body oil. Then they start with the pressure. I have never quite understood how such a tiny massuse can generate so much force, but I guess that is just another one of those "mysteries of life" kinda deals. After about 5 mintues, your skin feels like it is going to fall off. Sweet, only 55 more mintues of this. The rest is just a pure test of will power and the mind over matter thing. Thankfully I survived, and all I can think is how I never want a massage again.
The rest of the day was spent hunting jewelry for my mom. We then went to one of my favorite restaurants, Made's Warung, and walked around the shops. I don't particularly like shopping, so I just looked around and walked. We finally made it back to the hotel, and I just lounged around the pool for the evening.
The next day was our last day in Kuta, and I spent it trying to learn how to surf (again). For a scant 12 USD, you can rent a board, a rash guard (I cannot understate the importance of the rash guard. Without it, I had a very tender underbelly...and nipples), and an instructor. They are nice enough to teach you the basics on land and then they take you out a bit into the ocean and push you into the waves. It was quite fun, and I managed to get up a few times. Luckily we werent in very deep water, so my ocean-phobia didnt set in too much.
The next day we lounged around(it's vacation right, we dont always have to be doing stuff) and got full body massages. Here's the funny thing about massages though. They always sound like a great idea. Who wouldnt want to get all the tension out of their muscles and become utterly relaxed as the massuse works away all the stress. But then the massage starts, and you start remembering why massages might not be so great. First they douse you in body oil. Then they start with the pressure. I have never quite understood how such a tiny massuse can generate so much force, but I guess that is just another one of those "mysteries of life" kinda deals. After about 5 mintues, your skin feels like it is going to fall off. Sweet, only 55 more mintues of this. The rest is just a pure test of will power and the mind over matter thing. Thankfully I survived, and all I can think is how I never want a massage again.
The rest of the day was spent hunting jewelry for my mom. We then went to one of my favorite restaurants, Made's Warung, and walked around the shops. I don't particularly like shopping, so I just looked around and walked. We finally made it back to the hotel, and I just lounged around the pool for the evening.
The next day was our last day in Kuta, and I spent it trying to learn how to surf (again). For a scant 12 USD, you can rent a board, a rash guard (I cannot understate the importance of the rash guard. Without it, I had a very tender underbelly...and nipples), and an instructor. They are nice enough to teach you the basics on land and then they take you out a bit into the ocean and push you into the waves. It was quite fun, and I managed to get up a few times. Luckily we werent in very deep water, so my ocean-phobia didnt set in too much.
Pemuteran!
Once we left Kuta, we undertook a 5 hour journey to a place called Pemuteran, which is on the Northwest part of Bali. We all packed into a Toyota Avanza (not available in the US) and went up super windy and super narrow (I mean like two cars barely fit on the road narrow) roads. That centerline in the middle of a road is an exact measurement and tells drivers just how far another car will come out. Luckily I was asleep most of the time so I was not clinging for dear life as we narrowly avoided other cars/motorcycles/chickens/free falls.
I gotta say though, Pemuteran is one of the better bits of Bali. It's very small, and the scene is almost the opposite of Kuta. There is nothing to do here, in a good way. The hotel pool is about 20 feet from the ocean. The beach is very short and lined with chairs and trees. It is very calm and soothing to just sit on the beach and listen to the waves hit the shore. I especially enjoy that no one is in my face trying to sell me stuff. So, if you are into relaxing and beautiful, try out Pemuteran!
Today, I went out for a bit of snorkeling. I saw some fish, along with some coral, and I was back on shore kissing the ground. I love the ocean, I just dont love being inside of it. Afterwards I got a nice relaxing facial. Oh man, it was probably the most relaxed I have been in a while. I got some time to think and just not be around my family haha.
General Comments:
So here is just some general observations I have made about my trip so far:
-The drivers here are super scary, but they are also super good at driving. You feel like your life is about to come to an end at nearly every moment, yet these guys know the exact dimensions of their cars and are able to pull off some pretty crazy stuff. I dont think I ever want to drive here...
-The price of living is very cheap in Bali. Getting a nice house would probably cost under a thousand a month. The food is very cheap, roughly 5USD for a good meal. Alcohol, on the other hand, is quite expensive.
Anyways, more to come! I am enjoying this trip very much and you should all think about coming to Bali!
Once we left Kuta, we undertook a 5 hour journey to a place called Pemuteran, which is on the Northwest part of Bali. We all packed into a Toyota Avanza (not available in the US) and went up super windy and super narrow (I mean like two cars barely fit on the road narrow) roads. That centerline in the middle of a road is an exact measurement and tells drivers just how far another car will come out. Luckily I was asleep most of the time so I was not clinging for dear life as we narrowly avoided other cars/motorcycles/chickens/free falls.
I gotta say though, Pemuteran is one of the better bits of Bali. It's very small, and the scene is almost the opposite of Kuta. There is nothing to do here, in a good way. The hotel pool is about 20 feet from the ocean. The beach is very short and lined with chairs and trees. It is very calm and soothing to just sit on the beach and listen to the waves hit the shore. I especially enjoy that no one is in my face trying to sell me stuff. So, if you are into relaxing and beautiful, try out Pemuteran!
Today, I went out for a bit of snorkeling. I saw some fish, along with some coral, and I was back on shore kissing the ground. I love the ocean, I just dont love being inside of it. Afterwards I got a nice relaxing facial. Oh man, it was probably the most relaxed I have been in a while. I got some time to think and just not be around my family haha.
General Comments:
So here is just some general observations I have made about my trip so far:
-The drivers here are super scary, but they are also super good at driving. You feel like your life is about to come to an end at nearly every moment, yet these guys know the exact dimensions of their cars and are able to pull off some pretty crazy stuff. I dont think I ever want to drive here...
-The price of living is very cheap in Bali. Getting a nice house would probably cost under a thousand a month. The food is very cheap, roughly 5USD for a good meal. Alcohol, on the other hand, is quite expensive.
Anyways, more to come! I am enjoying this trip very much and you should all think about coming to Bali!
Monday, June 16, 2014
Going back to Indonesia!
I am at the San Jose airport awaiting my flight to Tokyo, where I will catch a flight to Bangkok, wait for twelve hours, and then make my way to Bali. I believe my travling should be finished within two days...hooray! Anyways, just wanted to say I am bringing this blog back to life, and I'll post all about what I see and hear as I go through Indonesia and observe in the hospital again. Subscribe if you want to incessantly follow me :D
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Semarang so far...
Well we left Jogjakarta a few days ago. We stopped by Muntilan, which is the town my mom grew up in, on our way to Semarang. We visited some old friends and then went over to the Buddhist temple in Mendut to visit the monk who is responsible for my name. Aruna is my Sanskrit name, and it is supposed to mean the morning light. But i heard this interesting story about the Sala Flower. Banta Panya (the monk) told us that on the bottom of the flower, there is a small mound that is supposed to represent the Buddha. Surrounding the mound is a lot of little stalks, which are supposed to represent the monks listening to his teachings. Above them are the longer stalks, which represent the deities. I thought it was pretty interesting. Then we started the long driver to Semarang (okay only 3 hours, but long in my mind). But driving in Indonesia isnt like driving in the US. hahahaha. There may be lines on the road, but they are mere suggestions as to where cars should be. A good was to describe it is to imagine the Harry Potter night bus scene. Then dont change anything. Except that every car is like the nightbus, there are more chickens, horses, and motorcycles, and the roadsigns dont really make much sense. So yeah, if you ever come to Indonesia, i suggest trying to sleep in the car, or at least close your eyes because you will get sick if you see the kind of crap that your driver is pulling (it's a constant game of chicken). I wish i was kidding.
Well we got to Semarang still alive somehow, and then we went to dinner at some vegetarian restaurant (didnt know they existed here). It is considerably hotter in Semarang than in Jogja and Bali, and there are a ton more mosquitoes. It's not like they carry any infectious diseases though right? oh wait....
The next day we spent bumming around town. We went to the Paragon mall, found that there is nothing there, and then my brother and I went to a game place to play some more games. After i developed a mild case of carpel tunnel syndrome, we went back to the paragon mall to eat. I had the luxury of eating food that made me cry because it was so freakin spicy (that was my fauly though. we had soup and i put in three helpings of chili sauce after my mom said it wasnt hot at all. Thanks Mom). Then something very strange happened to me.
I like to think of myself as someone who is perceptive and aware of their surroundings. Not much gets passed me. Well now im pretty sure there is a lot that does after what happened. Well we were waiting in a lobbyish place of a parking garage and i sat down on a bench/couch thing. This is what happened according to what i saw: I sat down at the edge of the bench. There was some guy next to me but not too close. I started playing with a balloon with my niece. The man got up at some point and some woman sat down in his place, she was dressed completely in black, but i ddint really see anything else. didnt see her face at all. I continued playing with the balloon and then my aunt comes and sits right next to me. I thought it was strange but didnt think much of it. Then we left. Here is the story according to my aunt and brother: When the man left and the woman dressed in black sat down, she was a prostitute seeing me as a potential victim. Not just a regular prostitute though, a transvestite prostitute wearing lots of heavy makeup. "She" kept making eyes at me and playing with her ear and stuff while looking directly at me. So my aunt came to my rescue and sat between us. I NEVER NOTICED THIS! After we left, my aunt told me about it. needless to say, i kind of freaked out and was quite surprised i never noticed a thing. So this means two things: prostitutes are so subtle that i would never be able to tell a prostitute from a regular person, and i am completely oblivious of my surroundings.
Well we then went home and i got foot reflexology done on me by my aunt. Usually a foot massage is a pleasant things and i was looking forward to it. She uses these little metal tools to get pressure points too. I guess i forgot how much they hurt. Things started well as she was reteaching me all the pressure points on the foot and what part of the body they correspond to (it is, after all, one of my objectives to learn reflexology again). Then she started using the metal things. It was so freakin painful, my entire foot went numb. But she said that was normal as i screamed out in pain. I dont think i have ever made anyone elses foot numb...at least i hope not. But she said my intestines were in pain cuz of the transition from vegetarian to eating meat again.
The next day (yesterday) we went to the fruit garden. I learned a lot about the different fruits that are grown in Indonesia. There is Dragon fruit which kind of tastes like a less sweet kiwi, Rambutan (tastes like...hmm lychee sort of....), Longan (like lychee but with a pit that is hard to not eatcuz it sticks to the fruit), Durian (the king fruit, tastes very interesting and smells so strong that most hotels wont allow them in the rooms), and Papaya. It was a very interesting tour. Very informational too, or at least im sure it was. If i could understand what the tour guide was saying i might be more help....
We left there and stopped by tofu making "factory" and had some interesting soy milk...then continued on our way to koepang. In Koepang, it isnt a billion degrees but a very chilly mid 70s. Oh, and there is a high ropes course with flying foxes and all sorts of aerial obstacles. It was so much fun. My hands had all sorts of blisters afterwards though haha. maybe ill upload some real pictures soon...maybe. If i can
Well that has been my days so far in Semarang. not sure what is up next but im sure itll be not boring.
Well we got to Semarang still alive somehow, and then we went to dinner at some vegetarian restaurant (didnt know they existed here). It is considerably hotter in Semarang than in Jogja and Bali, and there are a ton more mosquitoes. It's not like they carry any infectious diseases though right? oh wait....
The next day we spent bumming around town. We went to the Paragon mall, found that there is nothing there, and then my brother and I went to a game place to play some more games. After i developed a mild case of carpel tunnel syndrome, we went back to the paragon mall to eat. I had the luxury of eating food that made me cry because it was so freakin spicy (that was my fauly though. we had soup and i put in three helpings of chili sauce after my mom said it wasnt hot at all. Thanks Mom). Then something very strange happened to me.
I like to think of myself as someone who is perceptive and aware of their surroundings. Not much gets passed me. Well now im pretty sure there is a lot that does after what happened. Well we were waiting in a lobbyish place of a parking garage and i sat down on a bench/couch thing. This is what happened according to what i saw: I sat down at the edge of the bench. There was some guy next to me but not too close. I started playing with a balloon with my niece. The man got up at some point and some woman sat down in his place, she was dressed completely in black, but i ddint really see anything else. didnt see her face at all. I continued playing with the balloon and then my aunt comes and sits right next to me. I thought it was strange but didnt think much of it. Then we left. Here is the story according to my aunt and brother: When the man left and the woman dressed in black sat down, she was a prostitute seeing me as a potential victim. Not just a regular prostitute though, a transvestite prostitute wearing lots of heavy makeup. "She" kept making eyes at me and playing with her ear and stuff while looking directly at me. So my aunt came to my rescue and sat between us. I NEVER NOTICED THIS! After we left, my aunt told me about it. needless to say, i kind of freaked out and was quite surprised i never noticed a thing. So this means two things: prostitutes are so subtle that i would never be able to tell a prostitute from a regular person, and i am completely oblivious of my surroundings.
Well we then went home and i got foot reflexology done on me by my aunt. Usually a foot massage is a pleasant things and i was looking forward to it. She uses these little metal tools to get pressure points too. I guess i forgot how much they hurt. Things started well as she was reteaching me all the pressure points on the foot and what part of the body they correspond to (it is, after all, one of my objectives to learn reflexology again). Then she started using the metal things. It was so freakin painful, my entire foot went numb. But she said that was normal as i screamed out in pain. I dont think i have ever made anyone elses foot numb...at least i hope not. But she said my intestines were in pain cuz of the transition from vegetarian to eating meat again.
The next day (yesterday) we went to the fruit garden. I learned a lot about the different fruits that are grown in Indonesia. There is Dragon fruit which kind of tastes like a less sweet kiwi, Rambutan (tastes like...hmm lychee sort of....), Longan (like lychee but with a pit that is hard to not eatcuz it sticks to the fruit), Durian (the king fruit, tastes very interesting and smells so strong that most hotels wont allow them in the rooms), and Papaya. It was a very interesting tour. Very informational too, or at least im sure it was. If i could understand what the tour guide was saying i might be more help....
We left there and stopped by tofu making "factory" and had some interesting soy milk...then continued on our way to koepang. In Koepang, it isnt a billion degrees but a very chilly mid 70s. Oh, and there is a high ropes course with flying foxes and all sorts of aerial obstacles. It was so much fun. My hands had all sorts of blisters afterwards though haha. maybe ill upload some real pictures soon...maybe. If i can
Well that has been my days so far in Semarang. not sure what is up next but im sure itll be not boring.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Beechdai
Well i made it home yesterday haha, and i didnt even die one time! After the internet cafe yesterday, i met up with my mum and some of her friends at this bakso place (bakso is a soup with what are essentially indonesian meatballs. one of my more favorite foods i must say. along with sate , rendang , and gado-gado to name a few.). Then we had my moms friend's driver take us to find that damned computer game place. We eventually found it and played there for three hours! after my eyes started bleeding, we decided it was a good time to leave. We went back home and my mom took us out to dinner to get the famous fried chicken at Suharti's. I think they pressure cook it because you can eat the bones of the chicken. Not the bigger ones but the rib cage and all of he wing. Pretty nifty.
All we do on this trip is eat i swear. haha. if i dont come back 300 pounds heavier itll be a miracle. After dinner we went back home and slept.
This morning i finally did a mini workout and we went to the beach. We went to the south sea, however, which is a very treacherous place. treacherous as in you swim in the ocean, you die (i kid i kid...*cough*). Well it was a nice two hour driver from Jogjakarta and the beach we went to has sentimental value for my family. It is the place which we throw the family ashes into. Although we didnt swim in the water (seriously i was scared by just looking at the waves....but i get like that at home too so my word doesnt have much weight to it...), we were able to explore the tide pools. There was a lot of different colors and we got to see some sea urchins. I think i also saw a jellyfish with a sail just sitting there. pretty cool stuff. We also ate more food on that beach haha.
Well those were some good adventures for the day. Tomorrow we are supposed to leave for Semarang, which is my final destination on this trip (ill be staying there till the 25th of August). But we are trying to stay one more night in Jogja. Who knows whatll happen.
-Aaron "Antelope" Brown
All we do on this trip is eat i swear. haha. if i dont come back 300 pounds heavier itll be a miracle. After dinner we went back home and slept.
This morning i finally did a mini workout and we went to the beach. We went to the south sea, however, which is a very treacherous place. treacherous as in you swim in the ocean, you die (i kid i kid...*cough*). Well it was a nice two hour driver from Jogjakarta and the beach we went to has sentimental value for my family. It is the place which we throw the family ashes into. Although we didnt swim in the water (seriously i was scared by just looking at the waves....but i get like that at home too so my word doesnt have much weight to it...), we were able to explore the tide pools. There was a lot of different colors and we got to see some sea urchins. I think i also saw a jellyfish with a sail just sitting there. pretty cool stuff. We also ate more food on that beach haha.
Well those were some good adventures for the day. Tomorrow we are supposed to leave for Semarang, which is my final destination on this trip (ill be staying there till the 25th of August). But we are trying to stay one more night in Jogja. Who knows whatll happen.
-Aaron "Antelope" Brown
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Jogjkarta!
Well my Adventures in Bali are over. But my adventures on Java begin (Java is one of the islands in Indonesia. It is the one with Jakarta on it.) I did end up going surfing one last time yesterday. met quite a few people in the ocean, some dude from Holland and another guy from Japan. Didnt catch many waves (more like 3) but it was still fun nonetheless. I had to walk about 5 blocks in Bali in the sun and i was just roasting. I was sweating as if i had completed an intense workout. next time, perhaps, i will take a cab instead....But then we left Bali and came over to Jogjakarta, which is the big city near where my mom grew up.
So this morning my brother and i were trying to get to a place where you can play games online (like counterstrike and dota and whatnot). THe name is called Rumah Mirota.We have no clue as to where it is located and all we can say is "its a place you can play games." So we first took a becak , which is a carriage pushed by a bike rider. Now, the driver we had was old and pretty dainty. He was pushing these two rather large Americans in this carriage by a bike. I was scared he would die of exhaustion right on the spot. He did not, but he took us to this restaurant by the name of Rumah Mirota. We explained that this was the wrong place, so he then took us to a batik clothing store by the name of Rumah Mirota. We said that this was the place and just let him leave, as he clearly had no clue as to what we were talking about. My brother and i then walked a bit and asked another becak driver,(this becak was different because it was motorized) to take us to the game place. He said he knew it, and he drove us to a shopping mall by the name of Rumah Mirota Kampus. So, my brother an I, out ten bucks from transportation costs, just gave up and now we are at an internet cafe. Maybe, one day, we will find the place we are looking for....
I was at least slightly proud of myself though. I could kind of navigate a foreign city right? I mean, the places we went were of the same name. Its just like when you use autocorrect and it corrects bad to badger. sorta correct right? whatever.
So hopefully we will be able to find our way back to the hotel. Because honestly, i have no idea where we are right now. :D
-Aaron "A Hopelessly lost person" Brown
So this morning my brother and i were trying to get to a place where you can play games online (like counterstrike and dota and whatnot). THe name is called Rumah Mirota.We have no clue as to where it is located and all we can say is "its a place you can play games." So we first took a becak , which is a carriage pushed by a bike rider. Now, the driver we had was old and pretty dainty. He was pushing these two rather large Americans in this carriage by a bike. I was scared he would die of exhaustion right on the spot. He did not, but he took us to this restaurant by the name of Rumah Mirota. We explained that this was the wrong place, so he then took us to a batik clothing store by the name of Rumah Mirota. We said that this was the place and just let him leave, as he clearly had no clue as to what we were talking about. My brother and i then walked a bit and asked another becak driver,(this becak was different because it was motorized) to take us to the game place. He said he knew it, and he drove us to a shopping mall by the name of Rumah Mirota Kampus. So, my brother an I, out ten bucks from transportation costs, just gave up and now we are at an internet cafe. Maybe, one day, we will find the place we are looking for....
I was at least slightly proud of myself though. I could kind of navigate a foreign city right? I mean, the places we went were of the same name. Its just like when you use autocorrect and it corrects bad to badger. sorta correct right? whatever.
So hopefully we will be able to find our way back to the hotel. Because honestly, i have no idea where we are right now. :D
-Aaron "A Hopelessly lost person" Brown
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