Ah, the old days…

I’m currently watching Opeth’s DVD The Roundhouse Tapes and it’s more than apparent why I not only started listening to these motherfuckers in the first place (even ‘Under the Weeping Moon’ sounds good here!), but also why I used to confidently say they were my favourite band by no small margin. Things change, but quality never does. As well, I’ve got to say it feels fucking good to watch and listen to this shit played properly. Opeth: legends, full stop. 

2012: A musical recap of sorts

Well, another year has come and gone. Do I really care all that much? Nah, not really. Either way though, 2012 left a decent share of good tunes behind for us to remember it by. My list is just that: a list. I'm not ranking it or writing a load of bullshit that no one cares about. If it's on here, it's good, full stop. Enjoy it or at least pretend to:

Anathema - 'Weather Systems'
Barren Earth - 'The Devil's Resolve'
Cannibal Corpse - 'Torture'
Dead Vertical - 'Perang Neraka Bumi' (War Hell Earth)
Deftones - 'Koi No Yokan'
Enslaved - 'RIITIIR'
Gojira - 'L'Enfant Sauvage'
Katatonia - 'Dead End Kings'
Meshuggah - 'Koloss'
Paradise Lost - 'Tragic Idol'
Poets of The Fall - 'Temple of Thought'
The Rasmus - 'The Rasmus'
Rush - 'Clockwork Angels'
Shining - 'Redefining Darkness'
Soundgarden - 'King Animal'
Stone Sour - 'House of Gold & Bones Part 1'
Swallow The Sun - 'Emerald Forest and the Blackbird'
Testament - 'Dark Roots of Earth'
The Wretched End - 'Inroads'

And that's it for me. I spent the rest of the year listening to tunes from 2011 or from when I was a kid. It wasn't the best year but it wasn't the worst either. Hopefully we'll have some good albums drop in 2013.

All the best,
BK

Rain and Filth

When it rains it most definitely pours. The rains began earlier this evening and while it wasn't full-on, it was on enough. The thoughts of rubbish, plastic and just general filth floating around will be dancing through my head while I sleep tonight. The four-month countdown has now commenced.

Fuck me…

My sanity has reached the end of its ropes

For a nonbeliever like myself, the supernatural is a bit of a joke. However, this holiday—while bringing its own share of surprises—definitely brought the biggest one thus far: I saw a fucking ghost. You can laugh—and you probably should—but it seemed pretty goddamn real when it happened. Now, I’m going to go ahead and put it out there that I’d drunk a few beers before sleeping. However, I don’t think that a few cold ones spread out over a few hours and then about six hours of sleep would cause this.

Anyway, I was sleeping and having a rather vivid dream. I awoke, turned to the right, turned back the left and there the fucker was. It looked like a small man bent down praying. To top it off, he was flashing. I blinked my eyes a few times, turned away, looked back and he was still there. I then blinked again, rubbed my eyes, looked again and there he was still hanging about.

At this point, I raised myself up and he appeared to turn away and walk off. I did the logical thing, which was to reach out and grab him. In turn, I smashed my hand into the wardrobe and that was the end of it. My travel partner rolled around a bit and made a noise or two but that was all. I then took a shower, got dressed and went down to the lobby as it wasn’t even 05.00 yet.

Now, was this all a bit strange? Yes. Did it shake me up a bit? Yes. Do I think it was really a ghost? No. Am I most likely fucked up, crazy and insane? Yes. Do I hope it happens again? I’m not sure.

You’ve just got to love these fucked up holidays.

Pretend know-it-alls

You’ve got to love them really. Nothing gets me harder than a fucking know-it-all. I’ve got to say, Indonesia is full of them and I don’t mean that in a good way. I’ve been yanked around so goddamn much in the nearly three years I’ve been here than ever before. What’s worse is how transparent the whole ruse really is. It’s not cunning at all. In reality it’s just foolish and stupid. Oh, and really funny.

I’ve had it all, man. It runs the gamut from pretend doctors, pretend travel agents, pretend mosquito sprayers, pretend hard-asses, pretend bus owners, pretend taxi drivers, people pretending to have a job and the latest and greatest: the pretend insurance expert. Man, the dogshit just keeps getting deeper. I don’t know where the lies end and reality begins any more.

Anyway, this is a short rant. My disgust has been summed up rather eloquently—and concisely—in two paragraphs. There’s just no need to keep the machine running.

We’re killing our planet and we don’t even care

Every time I fly into Jakarta I realize—well really remember would be a better way to word it—how strikingly bad the level of pollution and environmental damage there is in this country. I don’t notice it so much when I’m in Surabaya to be honest. I mean, Surabaya is polluted as well but not on the scale of Jakarta. I dare say Surabaya is clean compared to the capital but as with many things, clean is relative.

I was here just last week and when I landed, the air was somewhat clear. You could see the buildings clearly and the infamous yellow cloud of who-knows-what wasn’t wrapped around the landscape. The time before was just atrocious. The whole place was just covered in pollution. There are really no other words to describe what it was like.

Today it was back to business as usual. I thought we were flying into a storm but then there was no rain. I then thought that must be smoke due to the color but when we got closer there were no fires. I then thought that maybe, and I mean just maybe, that is fog and haze but no, it was just nasty, polluted, discolored air. Disgusting really but it’s an everyday affair I’m afraid.

Honestly though, it really hammers home just how much damage we’re doing to Earth—our planet, our home—and I just can’t imagine this will somehow fix and reverse course naturally. Nothing can handle being constantly abused and misused and I believe our planet is the same. Yeah, you can now bust my balls for flying since that’s a huge contributor but I do the best I can otherwise. At least I’m trying. I can’t say the same for a large proportion of people here.

I know it isn’t just Indonesia but there are some rather bad things going on here. You’ve got rampant deforestation with a big percentage done by simply burning it down, dubious environmental practices, non-existent waste management, a whole host of other things and corruption as bad as you could ever imagine keeping the whole system rolling right along. It’s fucked beyond all belief but that’s the state of affairs as well as the status quo.

Not too many people seem to really give a damn either and that’s the worst part. It’s the whole “it’s not mine so I’ll turn a blind eye” attitude that really just boils down to pure fucking sloth. Layabouts don’t do much of anything except lay about. I guess trying to get them to toss their garbage in a bin is about like getting them to stop lying about—impossible.

Anyway, I digress. I’ll never change one culture let alone the entire fucking world. I hate to say it but I do actually give a damn. I didn’t use to care all that much but that’s changing. I guess living around people so lazy they can’t be bothered to toss their candy wrapper in a bin will do that to you. The list goes on and on but surely you get the point. “Sparkling Surabaya” and “Keep Surabaya Clean”: words not to live by really.

Is this reality?

I can’t believe it myself but I’m actually going to write about girls and women for a bit. I can’t think of a good reason as to why but I’m going to anyway. Anyway, every day—and I literally mean every day—I swear I see the hottest, prettiest, sexiest or however you want to describe it girl I’ve ever seen. Today it happened in the office. The day before it happened—not just once but twice for fuck’s sake—in a hospital of all places. I’m always baffled and left thinking, “Is this really real?” I often wonder if I’m real.

This isn’t the kind of predicament most people would be upset about but for me, it’s just a case of how much can you handle. Honestly though, you can’t help but be a bit greedy and I can see why people are. Well, I did before but I guess I never thought it would be a problem for me. For better or worse, things have changed. As if my life weren’t already overloaded and overflowing with excess, it most definitely is now.

It sounds ridiculous but I was thinking to myself earlier, “The girl you’re with could give a corpse a hard-on. The last three could as well. Why do you even care about these random people? How can they possibly tempt you?” but that’s exactly what happens. It’s crazy, unexplainable and completely over-the-top, but it’s real. Is this reality? I’m afraid that it is folks.

Are the women here perfect? Of course they aren’t but none are anywhere. There are things to deal with such as culture, independence, religion, family, friends, ways of thinking and the like but on the whole it’s more than achievable. When you add in the layer of fabulous women to wonderful food and drink, generally friendly people, affordable and dare I say a cheap cost of living, restrained chaos, permissible lawlessness, danger at every corner and twelve hours of more or less comfortable weather, you’ve got a winner. With my snappy First Media Internet making it plausible to watch cheesy KISS, Manowar and other castoffs on YouTube daily, I’ve got it made as a layabout. Give me more!!!

Strange Days

Only I would have the bad luck to stop smoking and make a pledge to have one more night of monstrous alcohol consumption before taking a day of rest and then getting back to the gym and the life of health I led before only to be hit with a an illness—or more appropriately illnesses—that absolutely levelled me. I always knew clubs were a bad idea. Really though, I just never knew how bad they were.

I reluctantly went out Saturday night after I had apparently promised to do so. The only problem with the place, Colours, is that it’s outlandishly overpriced, full of smoke (bad for the newly smoke-free), rife with working girls and cocky fools that really have nothing to be cocky about. That said, the house band can fucking play and not only that, those boys are metalheads at the core. Before I lost all awareness of my surroundings they ripped out ‘Ace of Spades’ so there you go.

The last vivid memories I have are of the bartender pouring Finlandia down my throat from above, me instructing my goddess’ friend to get her home safely, fumbling about outside for a minute, paying the parking attendant some stupid amount of money just because and then falling into bed. The rest has been erased if it were ever even recorded in my vodka-drenched brain.

What is vivid though is how I felt when I awoke Sunday morning. I was sure it was just a bad hangover so I did what anyone does and guzzled some water, took a whiz and went back to sleep. When I felt worse the second time up, then the third and then the fourth, I knew something was up. When I never even made it outside of the house on Sunday, that should have been the sign but you know how guys are: we just aren’t all that intelligent at times.

I shovelled down some food, pounded the fluids along with some meds and just went back to sleep. Hell, I even pounded out a day at work Monday like this! Granted, I wasn’t all there and was absolutely freezing—another hint since I’m in the fucking tropics—but I made it till the end. I slammed down an unearthly amount of food, guzzled some water and retired again for the night. Tuesday wasn’t much better so with a little pushing, I finally decided to go to the hospital. It all gets interesting from there.

First, I went by myself and did everything by myself. Not that it’s all that difficult but when you’re in another country, have to use another language and aren’t really sure if what you’re getting is up to par and what not, it’s a bit daunting. I more or less just put my trust in the system and let the cards fall. I didn’t expect much except an exam, maybe a blood screen, a trip to the pharmacist and then back home to sleep again. When I got nailed with “you need to stay overnight” it didn’t really register so I had the doctor go back over the results again just to make sure what I was reading and hearing was correct. In a jiffy, I was getting prepped. It all happened that fast.

Now, I was fine up to this point with just letting things be but then it was the typical garbage of “I’m not a health professional at all but you’ve most likely got Dengue fever because you’re foreign, it’s happened before and you’re symptoms resemble it” and I just wanted to blow my lid. They didn’t test me for Dengue, never mentioned Dengue so where was this shit coming from right? I just wanted to say, “I brought myself here, checked myself in, did the consultation, all the talking, went to the lab, read it, checked it and had it read again. What part did you think I missed?” but I just kept my mouth shut as to just get things moving.

Now, I’ll say this much, if you’re ever in Surabaya, Indonesia and need medical attention, I can’t say enough about Siloam Hospital. The staff, nurses, doctors, food and really just all of it has been great. For the record, I’m writing this while I’m still here. Anyway, aside from the Prince of Snores and Mr. Hacks-up-phlegm-a lot, it’s been relatively great in my own weird way. Only I could find something appealing and interesting about being in the hospital, possibly dying and making jokes out of the whole thing. Fucked up eh?

While I can’t say I’m saddened to leave, I can say that it’s going to be weird going back home. Once you’ve spent a couple of nights in a place, you start to adjust to it no matter how shitty it actually is. Not that the place is shitty but honestly, who in their right mind—save for possibly me—actually wants to spend the night in a fucking hospital? I reckon not too many people.

Anyway, I don’t have Dengue fever (thank fuck!) so I don’t have much of a crazy story to tell to be honest. It’s really just been kind of an interesting experience. The camp and absolutely hilarious doctor was a welcome addition to my life for sure. The attendee physician who examined me as thoroughly as any doctor ever has was a shocker as well. Getting fried rice for breakfast absolutely kicked ass. You know, the US could learn a thing or two about food service from the Indonesians that’s for sure. I actually thought that working as a dietician here might be interesting and I never thought I’d say that again!

Leaving and walking across the street for coffee when I wasn’t even supposed to leave only to have the cute nurse call and ask me to please come back was great too. Hell, just having visitors willy-nilly and at all hours has been great as well. Dare I say it but this has kind of been fun!

Anyway, to wrap this horseshit story up, I guess I’m getting out of here tomorrow morning at some point. I’m going to miss my little corner bed but it’s time to get back to normal life I suppose. That and I need some shitty KISS videos and some proper dodgy food to spice up my life a bit. I’ve been deprived of both for far too long while I’ve been in here. Take it sleazy.

Becak Mbak?

Ugh, how many times can you hear that line from the greaseball ‘becak’ drivers before you want to vomit? Sadly, it’s the same old tired line and it seems that no one is really biting. Well, to my surprise—and yes I can still even be surprised here—there are actually some ingenious and, dare I say it, people out there with a sense of humor. Indonesian humor, save for the dirty stuff, never seems to really make me laugh but this nearly put me on the ground—and by ground I really mean the gutter.

So anyway, as I’m crossing the railroad tracks in search of something to eat, a random geezer gives the same old tired line. His younger smoking counterpart, obviously noticing the fact that I’ve heard this shit a million times before and I’m not going to bite, revolutionized my life with a line—actually just one word but the context was already set and clear—of his own: “helikopter?” I was truly at a loss for words. The only thing I could come out with was “rock n’ roll” (unoriginal I know but imagine the state of shock I was in). It truly was a moment that should—but won’t—go down in the annals of history.

For almost a week I just couldn’t get this shit out of my head. The dude was obviously just being stupid but fuck me it was the funniest thing I heard (and I stress ‘heard’ not ‘saw’) from anyone—myself included—the entire trip. Even though it pales in comparison to the monstrous one-word life-changer above, the Germans even proved me wrong this time around as well. Well-noted is their inability to be funny but when a German girl totally takes the piss out of a valley girl twice and she doesn’t get it, that’s fucking funny!

Funny German: “I’m from zee US.”

Stupid American: “Really. You don’t sound American. Which part?”

Funny German: “Canada.”

Stupid American: “I don’t think you’re telling the truth.”

Me: “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

I took one of the most amazing, outlandish and entertaining bus rides of my entire life as well. Touristy places are notorious for ripping people off and trust me, Indonesia is no exception, but I severely underpaid for this life-altering ride. Now, it took us nearly an hour to get to Magelang from Jombor terminal but let me tell you, going back was a damn slight quicker.

The horn was modified to about 300 times its normal volume and there were no doors so maximal lack of safety could be achieved. This last feature also enables the resident cowboys to hang out of the door and force people off the road, yell at closer range and use the magic hand trick to cut the traffic queue. In other words this was a magic bus of sorts and by the grace of something or someone I was its passenger.

What must have been at least a 1km-long queue, that driver—with unparalleled grace and precision—sliced and diced his way through it, up to the light and off to the right in no less than ten minutes. Had we waited and actually followed the rules (who does that right?), it would have been at least a half-hour and that’s being conservative. We barrelled along through traffic, absolutely raising hell at breakneck speed and pushing fools off the road left and right—literally! I was in the thralls of ecstasy, laughing, egging the guys on and what not while the rest didn’t look so pleased. I’m sure they were thinking, “We paid for this?” while I was thinking, “I only paid x-amount for this!?”.  I was going to request to be dropped off in front of my room as well as for them to be my personal bus for the remainder of the trip—I would’ve sold myself into prostitution to pay for this privilege—when I was abruptly cut off and told to, “stop being stupid, don’t talk to them any more and get off the bus” which I wisely did.  Sometimes reason even resonates with me.

For something a bit serious, I finally managed to stop smoking. Yeah, I know you’re thinking “well that won’t last long” but it’s been nearly a week with zero cigarettes and I can’t see myself falling back into that foolish habit. Over this three-week holiday, I set three goals for myself and the main one was to stop smoking. I’ve accomplished it and I’m rather happy with myself. I’ve nailed the other two as well so I’m a bit over the moon really.

And with that said I have nothing else to say. I’m going to go listen to Mercyful Fate, sit on my ass and do nothing since it’s 08.15 on Friday morning. Take care…\m/

You want to see my art gallery?

Yeah, probably not but I’ll have a laugh at your expense. However, I’ve got to give it to these geezers here in Yogya—damn they are determined and resolute. In all honesty, I quite like it and all that jazz but the annoying—and albeit slightly creepy—old scrubbers that roam the streets flogging absolute garbage put me off a bit. It’s not that I can’t deal with it but I can’t turn every moment of my life into a piss take, right? Or then again, maybe I can.

Anyway, as I’ve been eating my way through Central Java, I’ve come across some rather interesting characters as well as some lovely food. Yogya definitely hasn’t lost its reputation for being cheaper than cheap. Yeah, the food is on the sweet side but more or less, it’s good and that’s all that matters at the end of the day. The best deal so far has been the ‘gado-gado’-esque dish plus beer for 35.000IDR. That’s about what I normally pay for a beer in Surabaya depending on how low I want to go in my choice of the watering hole. So as you can see, Yogya is light on the budget.

Yesterday as well I managed to have the best ‘gudeg’ I’ve ever eaten. It was a bit expensive in comparison to everything else here but the quality was just outstanding. I didn’t even go in to eat. I was only looking for a place to sit down and have some real coffee instead of the shit they call coffee in a sachet. Anyway, it was rock n’ roll and really just reinforced what the hell it’s all about and that’s having a hole in the wall joint that serves up better food than you could get in the nicest restaurant here. That’s just the way it is full stop.

Em, aside from the usual culinary adventures and trying not to get killed, I actually have managed to do some useful things. I did the ‘kraton’ tour and even went back to Prambanan yesterday since the last time I was there a big chunk of the temples were still under renovation. Aside from the usual hordes of culturally and historically ignorant buffoons, it was a success. The weather was spot on and thanks to my company I wasn’t bothered by anyone except for some snooty twats whom I would’ve indulged had they not interrupted me when I was talking. Why do people do that and then wonder why I don’t want to give them the time of day?

The plan today is to head out to Borobudur so I can get a second look at it and hopefully a new, better, fresher and clearer perspective this time around. The weather is absolutely beyond fabulous again today. It’s a crisp, clear and—by Indonesian standards anyway—cool 25°C which is just about perfect for anything really. So yeah, I’m going to get my lazy ass out there and enjoy it is what I’m trying to say!

Aside from this rather long holiday in which I had no plan to do anything at all, things are great overall. I’ve managed to finally free myself of the hooks, anchors and quite frankly bullshit that used to run me as well as ruin me. I’m moving on and it feels good to finally be free of the endless stream of lies, deception, deceit and just general horseshit coming out of the mouths of some people. I can honestly say—and with honesty I also mean conviction—that I’m about as happy as I’ve been in a long, long time. Yeah and with that statement I’m going to cut this short to avoid rambling on about nothing at all and ruining a rather productive writing session this morning.

Take care, roll up your shacking trousers, put some cheesy—but fantastic—80’s era KISS on the stereo and eat some dodgy food. “To the hilt” fuckers!!!

\m/

Indonesia—metal to the max!

It sounds like a contradiction in terms I know, but it’s so fucking true. Basically, if you’re not living your life with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth and sitting around doing nothing with a Mortician hat on, you should just kill yourself now cause you’re a fucking loser. If your little 100cc motorbike doesn’t have a blood red Suffocation sticker on the fender, why wake up and greet the day? By the time you’re a 15 year-old girl, if you don’t sport a Dead Squad hoodie to walk down the street, get fucked! And you thought it was all jilbabs and conservatism—well, it’s not! In a land of extremes, it seems that metal still wins out. It’s not shocking—to me anyway—that it always does.

Apparently somebody cares

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/apnewsbreak-senator-calls-hearing-on-nfl-bounties-will-invite-nhl-mlb-nba-ncaa-to-testify/2012/03/22/gIQAR4VwTS_story.html

First, I guess it should be said that I'm not much of a sports fan and definitely not a fan of American football. I mean, really, it's a bit of a joke. Anyway, the fact that these overweight, uneducated goons go out on a field, put on pads and bang around on each other for an hour—which actually takes a lot longer than that for some nonsensical reason—is proof enough that they aren't so smart. However, what really worries me more—although I guess I shouldn't be shocked—is that politicians in this warped country want to spend time, money and effort on something that should be left to sports news and Internet forums for morons with nothing better to do. Is this really happening? Yes, it is.

This whole Congress hearing sham brings me back to the steroid hearings baseball had back whenever the hell that was. Now, I used to actually like baseball. Actually, I used to really, really like baseball. I used to be somewhat of a sports fan when I was a kid. Now however, I just don't care. These goons are nothing but whiny, chemically juiced, overpaid, uneducated scumbags who in the real world probably couldn't keep a job scrubbing pans at your local greasy spoon or rounding up carts at Wal-Mart. Truth be told, a good portion of them would probably be in jail, hooked on drugs and mixed in with the rest of the riffraff where they belong.

Anyway, I guess that what I'm getting at is that, once again, this shameful and embarrassing country is wasting what little resources it has left on something so trivial, unimportant and banal as some beefed up goons who want to hurt each other for money that it's lost sight of important matters—again. These days, I couldn't be any more ashamed.

Back to the old days

Discriminatory? Probably but who cares! It's all about looks in Indonesia.

I was just wasting time one day and came upon this job advert for a flight attendant. Now, this brings to mind every impression you had of a flight attendant in say the 70's or 80's. Can you imagine how many lawsuits would be filed, women's rights groups up in arms and crummy news stations (i.e. US news) would just jump all over this? It makes for a great ride if you fly Lion Air that's for sure. It also explains why I had two annoying, overweight men and the ugliest women you could ever imagine serving me shit the last time I flew an American airline. One had a mustache and the other a Jersey accent—ugh!

P.S. I just realized that photo is a bit small and hard to read but you can view it full-sized here.

What's with the weather?

Seriously, what the hell is going on? Two weeks ago it was -10, slicing wind and just grey, bleak and grim. Then it suddenly turns sunny, the temperature jumps up to 22, everyone thinks it's spring or early summer and I've got the windows open enjoying the calm and rather pleasant weather. Not only that but we also got massive thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes that ripped the place apart. Last night it goes back down to 0 and today I wake up to snow flurries with snow and sub-zero temperatures forecast again. Huh? I'm just as confused as everyone else is at this point. I'm almost ready to go back to Indonesia for weather reasons alone. At least I know what to expect every day: hot; humid; might rain; might flood; smog and pollution. Seems simpler that way to me.

Yes, I'm still alive.

It's been quite some time since I posted any kind of an update but it's not for lack of material. Honestly, it's more a lack of motivation. I haven't written anything in months. I don't know if it's writer's block or not because I haven't even tried to write anything. The inspiration and desire just hasn't been there. Anyway, I can slowly feel it creeping back so all isn't lost I guess.

So, what's been happening lately? Well, I've been back in my beloved homeland since the very end of November. I didn't do much of anything for a month except for sleep, drink, download anything and everything I didn't have, drive my mother around and go out with my father. Now, I know it doesn't sound like much fun, but it wasn't so bad either. Anyway, I seem to be coming back into some sort of normal existence and it's rather nice. I'm back on a regular exercise regime, eating healthily, going a few days at a time without smoking, drinking much less and just generally living a better life. My body and spirits have been better for it as well.

With that being said though, not everything is rosy. Every time I go out to eat here, I'm generally disgusted by what I find as well as the people there. I've sworn off chain restaurants and vow to never eat anywhere else again except for independent cafes and bars/pubs. For the record, we don't have street food—thanks to our mental laws and regulations—or that would be an option as well. No one seems to understand that hot tea is a normal drink, you don't have to dump ice in my water (or even bring me water at all if I don't ask for it), if I want to eat something I'll actually order it and that by being annoying, pushy and generally a twat won't earn you a larger tip—or a tip at all for that matter.

Why people feel the need to talk to me—or are they talking at me?—constantly is baffling. If I don't know you, don't engage you first or you aren't a female that is remotely attractive, I don't want to hear your mouth. I can clearly see that it's cloudy, rainy, cold, hot, snowing, etc. outside without you telling me. If I buy twelve beers, maybe I'll drink them all myself, maybe I'm stocking up or maybe I'm going to share them with friends. Either way, it's none of your fucking business.

Oh, and while we're speaking of beers, I'm about sick of being insulted by my ID being requested all the time. Seriously, do I really look younger than twenty-one? For that matter, the last time I bought a pack of cigarettes I got carded! It's mildly flattering the first time but after that it's just annoying and insulting. I always use my passport since the photo resembles me now and I'm used to carrying it everywhere. I'm baffled by how many people have asked me where I'm from when it clearly states that the document is a US passport and was issued in the USA. Maybe it's the multiple languages? Who knows.

The general pettiness of people has been getting me down as well. I couldn't tell you how many times it's been too hot, too cold, too loud, too late, too early, too spicy, too bland, too smoky, too dirty or something that is generally meaningless and just another example of how spoiled and pampered a lot of the people here are. I'm just happy to have a place to stay, clothes to wear, food to eat, drinks to drink and a generally comfortable, safe existence. That's more than most people can say so why can't the majority of the populace here appreciate that?

Eh, I guess I'm drifting toward negativity now so I'm going to wrap things up. The job search is ramping itself up quite a bit and hopefully I won't have to endure this much longer. I'm burning to get back on the road, off in another country and having fun again. This mundane, day-to-day existence just isn't for me.

So Blind

http://dailysocial.net/en/2011/09/08/indonesian-government-threatens-rim-with-additional-taxes-over-malaysia-decision/

http://theunspunblog.com/ (see: 'Introspection, not revenge...)

Oh, poor Indonesia. Griping and whining again because Malaysia managed to snag RIM (BlackBerry) from them. It's no small wonder when you live here and get first-hand knowledge of just what Indonesia asks and has asked of RIM to do. Take a read for yourself and it will all make sense. It's so sad because other companies that want to invest here are going to look at this and think, "Why invest there when we can invest and build somewhere civilized and reasonable?" If only the government could pull its head out of its ass and see clearly.

100% bad-assery!!!

I've been an Anthrax fan for a long time. Honestly though, I never fancied their albums with Joey Belladona on vocals nearly as much as the ones with John Bush. 'Persistence of Time' was pretty bad-ass as was ' Among The Living' but I never cared much for the others. A song here and there yeah, but overall, not so much. Even 'Sound of White Noise' was hit and miss for me. It's got what might be my favorite song of theirs ("Only") but other than that, there wasn't much on offer. Then they released 'Stomp 442' and I was a die-hard fan for three years until they released the stinker 'Volume 8'. How they could dip so quickly and drastically with one album still shocks me.

However, they picked it back up with 'We've Come for You All' in 2003. While it wasn't a masterpiece, it was littered with some scorching tunes ("What Doesn't Die", "Refuse to be Denied", "Safe Home"), a revamped enthusiasm, a new guitar player with chops and it left me with hope they still had it. After I saw them play a blistering two-hour plus set, I was sold. That is still one of the best shows I've ever seen and to think that it only cost me $15 is nearly unimaginable now.

So, moving on to their latest offering. To say this album is wonderful, majestic and a fucking masterpiece doesn't do it justice. Everything is spot on with this album. Joey Belladona's voice has never sounded this good. He sounds inspired beyond inspiration and puts in an effort that, to me anyway, trumps everything Anthrax recorded with John Bush. The drumming on this record shows you what Charlie Benante can do. He's frequently cited as a progenitor of metal (thrash) drumming and you can see why on this. He just kills it. Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano shred, riff and solo this album into the stratosphere. It's goddamn auditory ecstasy.

I know I've listened to this at least twenty times already. Seriously, it's that fucking good. I have no qualms in saying this is the best, most complete and all-around album they've released. It's got it all and will leave you coming back for more. I cant' say enough good things about this release. I only hope I'm lucky enough to catch them on tour supporting this beast. If they sound like this live, there's no telling how good the shows will be. Rock on and long live Anthrax!!!

It could be you

I remember hearing about an Australian that turned up dead in a hotel here last year but it never got much press, no one seemed to know much about it and I never really followed up on it either. Then, a few days ago, I read something on a totally unrelated forum, it got me thinking and I did a little research. Turns out an Aussie did turn up dead under very suspicious circumstances. So far as I know, nothing was ever done to solve the case—and if there were, no one has said anything about it. Looks like another suspicious and anonymous death abroad. It could be you.

Check it out here and here. Sorry for those of you that can't read Indonesian. Use Google Translate instead.

Another reason to love or hate

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/jakartajungle/the-bitter-truth-in-jakarta-smoking-in-a-non-smoking-room-is-sadly-normal/462092

Yep, another article on smoking. Like it or not, it's endemic here and probably won't be going away any time soon. Being a rampant smoker myself, I'm not complaining, but apparently other people do. And it's not just Jakarta with their public smoking ban that's a laughing stock. Restaurants or really just about any place that actively and openly prohibits smoking usually won't enforce it. I've only been told to put it out once and that was at Gambir Station in Jakarta. Hell, even then I was outside. I should have known something was up when no one else was smoking. Someone could've given me a heads up but ah well.

Now, this really underscores how big, red "no smoking" signs are enforced in Palembang. So, I'm eating with a rather large group. They were breaking their fast and after stuffing their faces with food and drink, it's time for the smokers to light up since smoking is also forbidden during the day. I've already spotted the "no smoking" sign underneath the fan and am curious how this is going to go down since it was my first time in the place. Being the only one with social graces, I ask. This is how it went down:


Me: Mas. Boleh merokok ngak? (May we smoke or not.)
Server: Boleh. Ngak apa-apa. (You may. No problem.)
Me: Iya, tapi tanda mengatakan ngak boleh. (Yeah, but the sign says "no smoking".)
Server: Benar tapi ngak apa-apa. Merokok aja. (True but it's not a problem. Just smoke.)
Me: Ok. Minta asbak. (Ok. Bring an ashtray.)


And of course after our table lit up, it was like a domino effect. Everyone (well, almost anyway) was puffing away in bliss. I've got to say, it doesn't get much better than that.

Let's take a little look back

Well, I managed to survive my holiday. I obviously didn’t die, no serious injuries to speak of, I didn’t get mugged and I managed to not blow all of my money even though I did go a bit over budget. All in all, I’d chalk it up as a success. Making it to the top of Mt. Kerinci was undoubtedly the crown jewel but Krakatau (well, Anak Krakatau to be exact) wasn’t close behind. Seeing it blow its top again and again and then being able to stand on its shores was a humbling and monumental experience. To say it was worth every bit of money we paid to get there is a vast understatement.

Honestly, we didn’t expect it to be active at all since every bit of news we received was that it wasn’t active—at all. Now, we of course went there expecting to see nothing but when we went around one of the islands about an hour into the journey and I saw the black smoke, I knew what was happening and it was fucking spectacular. I’ve never seen a volcano actively erupt with my own eyes and it was mesmerizing. I couldn’t stop thinking that we were in the same place where an eruption literally changed the world in 1883 with an unimaginable eruption.

All the historical information aside, it was still an amazing experience. To visibly see the Earth spew its guts is something that just has to be seen. Knowing that at any moment that fucker could spew ash and rocks on us at any moment was, well, a bit exciting. Creepy and a tad bit scary yes, but most of the time I just had goosebumps from being there. There is a very mystical air that lingers about and it starts before you even arrive. Honestly, I’d go back again tomorrow if I had the opportunity.

Conquering Mt. Kerinci was definitely more challenging but I can’t say it was any more rewarding. Sure, the views were splendid, the physical exertion was welcomed and the cold weather on the top a welcome change, but it didn’t move me like Krakatau did. When we set up camp, I honestly thought—and subsequently said out loud—“This is going to be my quietest night in Indonesia.” Well, I should have known that would never come to fruition. Not two hours into our attempt to sleep, I saw a massive flash of light and then felt floor-shaking thunder. You can guess what happened after that: yep, it started to rain. When you’re in a third-rate, barely music festival worthy tent, this isn’t comfortable. Add to that the fact that we were literally sleeping under a dilapidated shelter of nothing but steel (read: FUCKING STEEL!) bars with lightning raining down, it wasn’t exactly comforting either.

Now, this little storm did pass but I swear not two hours or so later, I start to hear voices. Now, I’m wondering just who the fuck is up here in the middle of the night and what the hell are they doing. It is Indonesia you know. It turns out that it was another group who, for whatever reason, decided to ascend in the middle of the night. To say that they were loud, obnoxious, ignorant fucks would be putting it mildly. They acted as most Indonesians do with complete indifference to the fact that it was nearly 1.00am, we were obviously in the tent (and probably trying to sleep) and acted like a bunch of wild animals—which I suppose would be appropriate since we were in the forest on a volcano and all. Nevertheless, I quickly realized that even at 3000 meters, you might be able to escape the mosques, but you can’t escape Indo(noise)ia—fuck me.

The transportation problems on this trip were unparalleled by anything I could ever have dreamt up. Sure, transport in this country is generally total shit, but to not be able to cover short distances due to everything being full, landslides, bad roads and idiotic, stupid, uninformed people just about pushed me over the edge. I tried to hold my patience but it was tough. After nearly two days without sleep or even lying down properly to even attempt to sleep, I was a physical and emotional wreck just waiting to blow. Somehow, we finally managed to rent a private car from one of the travel agency owners and got him to drive us to town at the terminus of the rail line. From there, it was relatively smooth sailing to Pagar Alam but my god were we shattered. Then, just to make it 100% Indonesia, our driver (who I must say was a funny, clever son of a bitch) dropped the news on me that a bomb exploded in Lubuk Linggau not one week before. Well, fucking great eh!

Not to be deterred, we procured a very nice, but still rather cheap, hotel that sold over-priced beer with a broken shower rendering it impossible to clean up. After two days of travelling in the tropics, I smelt of everything nasty and hadn’t shaved in well over a week. We just said, “fuck it” and went in search of cold beer to get positively drunk, forget about it all and pass out. After reaching a well-deserved state of intoxication, we managed to waddle to the store to buy more beer, as I wasn’t quite ready to throw in the towel, and make it back to the room. I managed to get two of the four down before I couldn’t stay awake any longer and was asleep at something like 3.00pm. I awoke again around 7.30pm, continued the assault on my liver, made a few phone calls, watched it rain and then went back to sleep uninterrupted until the next morning. Yes, it was a great night.

{Interlude of shit that isn’t important or newsworthy.}

Yes, I do realize I’m skipping around a bit but we did make it back to Palembang where things just got, well, interesting in the best of ways. A hot romance ensued, a massive party went down and things went from great to awful and back to great again—wow! I must say that this place always keeps me on my toes. Just when I think it can’t get worse, it gets great and when I think it can’t get any better, it gets worse. I don’t know if that’s the best way to exist, but well, it’s reality for the time being anyway and in some ways, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So, this is where things get interesting. It’s about to come down to decision-making time and I can honestly say that I don’t know what the hell to do. If I put my faith in one thing, it’s rather easy. If I follow my heart and do what I want to do, it’s rather easy. However, if I factor in reality and outside opinions, it becomes rather difficult and that’s my problem. I’m beginning to feel exactly like I did last time and that is torn. I’m torn between making an easy decision and a hard decision. I’m torn between staying on the same path or making a change. I’m torn between exploring the unknown or taking the path that’s already known. With everything that’s been said and happened, it’s just not clear right now and I don’t know if it will ever be completely clear either.

I guess it comes down to trust and putting your faith in the unknown. But can I do that? Am I ready to do that? What am I willing to do? What is the other person willing to do? Is it possible to achieve what we want to achieve? These are all things that are unanswerable at this point. I wish there were a clear, well-lit path but there just isn’t. I never thought that at twenty-eight I’d even be thinking like this but I am.

I’ve done some great things here and I know that leaving would be hard. Overall, I quite like Indonesia. Even though it’s not always easy to live here, I’d say that most of the time it’s great. It’s unbelievably hard—and even harder to describe—the difficulties in adjusting to a new country, language and especially culture. The way that things are done here and the way people act are so radically different from anything I’ve ever experienced. From the fist day until now, I still make mistakes. I say the wrong thing, I do the wrong things, I’m misunderstood and misinterpreted and it can be frustrating as all hell. However, I’m trying, I’ve been trying and I’ll keep trying until I get it right. Every learning process has its share of mistakes and this one is no different. I can only hope that my efforts are appreciated and not taken for granted because I’m trying harder than anyone probably knows.

Eh, it seems that I’m beginning to get off topic and get into things that I’d rather not right now. All in good time I suppose. All in good time. I’m off until I have another good story to tell.