Indonesia, so far

Apa kabar, bitches!

I'm nearing my fourth month here in Jakarta, and what a ride it has been. I'm primarily talking about my work, perhaps the most intense job I've ever held. But that's as far as I can tell you about work-related stuff. This blog and work just don't mix.

So let's talk about the glitter I've been spreading in this side of the world, shall we? Which is not saying much actually given how terribly hectic work has been.

I've managed to squeeze in a couple of short holidays though. Once in Gili Trawangan (an island off Lombok) last May, and then recently I visited Yogyakarta and Borobudur in Central Java.

In a country of over seventeen thousand islands, one never runs out of places to visit... so I'm taking it one island at at a time (if I have the bloody time!).

Anyway, here are the two obligatory post-holiday videos of my holidays.

Marching On

Yikes, it's already March! I don't intend to do a monthly post in this blog... But sadly, I've been completely negligent of my duty to my six readers. For the past weeks I have not been compelled to write something simply because of good old laziness.

I couldn't blame lack of material. I've seen amazing movies in February, and had been to a few Pinoy mafia raids, and the fashion weeks in NY, Milan, and Paris have come and gone. None of these compelled me to write. Sigh.

If there's anything occupying my head this past month it has been swimming. Owing to my dramatic weight gain these past months, I finally took control of my expanding waistline (the diet of peanuts and water is hardly werking) by going to the pool four times a week. Anyone who follows me on Twitter must be quite annoyed at my constant updates on my progress in my strokes and breathing and all that shit.

Yes, I'm taking swimming very seriously. I swim one hour per session and always trying to swim better. I like challenging my self, otherwise what's the point of doing something? I do drills, read blogs, and watch Youtube videos to improve my technique.

On the weight part, yes, swimming is werking. I'm way trimmer now. I'm making swimming work for me and I'm very happy because I see results after only about five weeks of constantly going to the pool. So there, I'm definitely serious on channeling my inner Little Mermaid in the name of vanity (what else?).

OK, so what else is there to look forward to in March?

This weekend magsasanib pwersa ang mga Pinoy Bayots from San Francisco and mainland Southeast Asia (read: Bangkok and Siem Reap) on a trip to the Island of the Gods... Baliwag Balisawsaw Balintatanaw... BALI. This is going to be a major holiday full of camp and flame, my dahlings.

Imagine, Lyka Bergen meets Fuchsiaboy? Bubbles meets Mama O? Kawadjan meets Ekra Tan? Need I say more? So beware, I'm going to flood this blog with photos of all the gay terror we will spread in Bali.

Many thanks to the Las Tres Estrellas of San Francisco for dragging us along on their bakasyon grande.

Anyway, after Bali I'm heading to Las Islas Filipinas, Perlas ng Silangan, for a visit to the family. My sister is finally getting hitched... and girl listen to this, I'm walking her down the aisle along with my mom.

Carolina Herrera or Inno Sotto? Givenchy or Patis Tesoro? Ok, I've decided to settle for Puey Quinones. Charing!

My only wish is that I DON'T overshadow my sister on perhaps the biggest day of her life. But I'm not saying I won't... if I can help it. Who knows?

On top of that, I'm going home with the bf, which means he would see the little city I grew up in, meet my relatives and friends (he has met my family about a year ago), and we'd have time together (more than anything else). Gosh, it's been five looooong months since we last saw each other, no? I'm eagerly counting the days until we meet again that's why I can't wait for this month's days to just move along.

Back from Depok

I was away last week to attend a meeting in Indonesia. It was my second trip to Java and this time around we stayed in Depok, a town two hours away from Jakarta. I had no prior idea on what Depok is all about, except that the University of Indonesia is found there. I soon found out that it's rather nondescript; the dusty streets are clogged with traffic.

We got to see some malls, but that's the last thing we wanted to visit... if only Depok has other attractions. One note about the malls, people are allowed to smoke inside. I don't know if it's allowed all over Indonesia because that's what I saw as well when I visited Bogor last year.

Anyway, back to Depok... on our last day there we were brought to a massive mosque with a golden dome. I was quite struck by the sheer size of the building. I haven't been to a mosque before. Too bad we could not go inside.

It was early evening when we went there. Hordes of people were spilling out of buses, perhaps to say their evening prayers. There's something frenzied about the place as people dashed from every direction. We opted to stay outside the mosque because there were people praying inside.

When I'm in Indonesia I always feel like I'm home. Basta, there's something about Indonesians that remind me of Pinoys.

Stuck in Bogor

I arrived home tonight from an official trip to Bogor, a city in the slopes of a mountain, two hours from Jakarta. Because it was for work, there's none of the usual campiness. I did not have the chance to see much of Bogor, anyway.

My memories of Indonesia would be the view of pale blue mountains that I see every morning from the window of the bungalow I stayed in.

And endless traffic jams, which we endured when we visited Jakarta for a few hours yesterday... and those hours were mostly spent on the skyway and highway. Haggard much?

If I'm going back to Indonesia, I'd definitely skip their capital next time.

All right, so that's pretty much what I can say about my first time in Indonesia, primarily because I did not have the chance to see more parts of it.

Let's post some pictures instead, shall we?

Tomorrow I leave for Davao, a place I called home for nearly five years. Cannot wait!!!

Three weeks in Las Islas Filipinas: Davao, Surigao, Manille. Looking forward to see many of my dear old amigas and spend time with la familia.

Will try to update this blog as much as I can while I'm away. But for now, I'm stuffing my self with Davao bananas and pomelo.