Indonesian(ish) Phones

so, in a transaction taking 60-odd seconds and costing four of your english pounds, we have availed ourselves of two local sim cards with the following numbers: jay +62 (0) 858 5754 1865 & nis +62 (0) 858 5754 1866 we will no doubt recommence the rounds of telephony, starting today with a birthday call to Aunty Ba (Happy Birthday, Aunty Ba!), but if you feel like getting in touch, unburdening yourselves, or just shooting the breeze, then by all means pick up the phone and give us a bell . incoming calls are free.... for us. :) p.s. calling from Skype looks to be reasonable, at something around 8p per minute. terima kasih!

0 Comments

Palola Lumpur

i'm quite fond of Dumps' designation for Kuala Lumpur. Despite being told the correct pronunciation, he politely replied that he would rather say it his way. Which is another way of saying that we made it here safely, with only the usual hurdles of car sickness, wrestling matches, switched currencies, luggage limits, queues for queues and tipping protocols to overcome. Even more encouraging, it looks as though the Indonesian government may see fit to issue a visa to our little band of cage fighters, processing the social visa required for more than a 30 day stay despite what looked like some potentially daunting circumstances (tickets to Bali already booked for Friday, Indonesian embassy closed tomorrow, being sent round the houses at the Embassy to a lot of shaking heads, being told by one person that we all needed to apply in person - did they know what they were letting themselves in for?). Finally, a kindly lady took pity on me, and we went through the labyrinth of forms together, asking some very unrelated questions in the process. With a bit of luck, our passports will be up in a few hours, and sighs of relief can become official. KL itself reminds me of a sort of Tropical Toronto: large boulevards, laid out fairly griddish, and jammed with cars, a skyline featuring some monstrous skyscrapers (both the Petronas and KL tower are visible from half an hour away), a forest of condominium buildings, many under construction, and a general open friendliness on the part of the locals (gleaned, albeit hastily, from experiences with taxi, hotel, and street vendors). And (good lord) there is air conditioning everywhere. My feet nearly left the ground for sheer optimism on the way back from the embassy. Then i saw something very worrying: Deep Purple concert posters. Massive ones. Everywhere. the long-suffering Bacon rinses off another coat of sick Egg tries to improvise a bed…

4 Comments

Dumps sings the classics….

i was treated to a rare medley of tunes from his royal Dumps, including the classics "1,2,3,4,5", "Etikatinova", and a new updated version of "Old Macdonald". watch your back, Manilow, there's a new kid in town....

3 Comments

April Abridged

...we're continuing to feed shambolic one month at a time. Here be the pics for April As ever, would be interested to know your favourites. suggested captions also encouraged. A big shout to Fleur for last month's Giant Straw suggestion. It's a print and hot beverage of your choice if (when?) we get back to London, young lady. here is my #1 contender: Dumpede

0 Comments

Sandy and Jamie’s Big Day Out

As we are reminded by the eternally wise creators of South Park, every good story needs a montage. This one is about my parent's whirlwind visit this month (these things always go too quickly), which took in many beaches, even more restaurants, quite a few kingfishers, and a lot of quality time with the grandrunts. Have to reiterate thanks for the huge case of essentials and luxury items sent by everyone in Cannadia and dutifully carried by the folks. Life saving in some cases (see Tash's blog re: chocolate and coffee). freshly arrived, with optimism still intact setting forth for untold adventures Jake's final days as a Beatle Gramps gets a lesson in double ended surfing the Ladies put the surf board to good effect Sandy, Jamie and 'the wife' .... at Mallikarjun temple you'd never guess these two just arrived Easy Rider style... Jimmy's first two-wheeled excursion ice cream-induced befuddlement befalls our intrepid crew at Old Goa Anjuna Beach Another happy customer Granny teaches Eggie the ropes at the Oceanic Egg is closer than he appears the obligatory Johnston money shot

0 Comments

elbow room

I had a bicycle ruck back in london (while racing to get our indian visas, no less) that just kept on swelling. so the other day i had the rather strange experience of an arm-lancing in our local hospital... thankfully, after some 8 oz's of the good stuff were taken out, the prognosis looks good. Total bill? £14. Thanks to the good Dr Farouk, for the remote diagnosis. and by the way, if you're feeling a little queasy, best look away now... Dhavalikar Hospital - where you can ride yourself off into the sunset only ten minutes after a local anaesthetic! Alien Elbow the scene of the crime - looks clean enough? Ok, i faked this one while waiting. pretty convincing, huh? (have been debating whether or not to draw attention to the blood splattered table cover...?) unsightly, ungainly and, thankfully now, unbandaged. I consider myself a little wiser as to the hazards of corners, pavement, fixed gear bicycles and the Indian Visa office...

7 Comments