Is SoCal SEA?

I was lucky enough to have a four day weekend last weekend.  I didn't even have to take any days off work.  I worked four tens last week and the same this week. I was even luckier to get out of town. SoCal is a great place for some debauchery. 

I flew out Friday morning to Long Beach California to visit the incomparable Ana.  She's what qualifies as an "old friend" these days as we met in Jakarta.  She's so much like me it's scary fantastic. We are like two versions of the same person. She gets me like few others do because she is the same way. 

The trip was a mental health visit for us both.  It was so nice to talk to someone who knows how tough reintegrating into American culture can be, who can laugh at the ways SoCal is like Southeast Asia (more to come on that), who remembers the hard times and reminsces about the same people. We were like giddy eight year olds when she picked me up.

The comparisons started nearly immediately.  Southern California is like Southeast Asia because:

There was a short, brown man in full pants and sleeves in 80 degree weather at the side of the highway off ramp selling flowers.  A woman who could've been his sister tried to sell flowers in the bar that night.

We saw more that one person pushing/pulling a shopping cart/suitcase down the sidewalk. Also someone crashed out sleeping under the awning of a closed shop.

We got hit on by a Japanese and a Phillipino gentleman.

There was lots of liver abuse, wobbling walking out of the bar, ridiculous dancing by others, trashy hookups (also by other), being sick, me oggling the white boys, random music played by a cover band and other such bar related mischief.

Becak/pedicab in the tourist area.

An Asian woman on the beach boardwalk, in the sun, with knit sleeves on. Not the whole sweater, just the sleeves, and a big floppy hat.

Oakwood Apartments

Christmas tree lights on Palm trees near an outdoor mall that looked like Clarke Quay in Singapore.

Cute surfers, Aussies, beach and palm trees made me think BALI, BALI, BALI. As did the tiny shorts, the drunken, bleach-blonde teenagers, the women trying to look like the blonde drunken teenagers, drinking on the beach and the beach shops.

Reminders that is really was California? In n' Out burger, white boys everywhere, the prices ($$!!), the ability to walk places, hearing (mostly) English.

Ana, what did I forget for our list?

It was a well needed break from work and the rain.  It seems I've even managed to bring a bit of sun back, along with pink shoulders. I may try to get a photo or two on here but FB is blocked!

Thank you Ana, Tom and Anna for hosting and putting up with me.  My offer for Seattle hosting stands.  SoCal - I'll be back.  Next month as a matter of fact.  Save some sun for me!

Singapore Sequel

Not being one to pass up an alliteration (and complete the Singapore triumvirate), we continued on to part three.

After exiting the emergency room I decided I could be miserable in my armpit of a hostel room OOOORRRR I could go meet Alysson for "lunch".  It was lunch in theory but I sure as hell didn't have an appetite.

We met near Clarke Quay, pronounced Clarke Key though I haven't the slightest idea how quay is key.  It's a riverfront area tucked next to downtown in as a well-to-do neighborhood along the Singapore river.  On one side of the river are governmental buildings with a wide array of architectural styles:

There's a building that looks like it has a flying saucer on the top that I missed just off the left side of this picture.

That is a boat on top of that building.  It's a casino.

Opposite theses photos is a row of bars and restaurants where we sat at The Mexican, and I watched Alysson eat and drink.  Ha ha.  Had I been well, I'd have been right there with her.  As it was the view and the company were good enough to sustain me.  We met an American and a Brit who were both friendly, as well as two older women who commiserated about the awful Dylan performance. 

Farther down the water front is an area that's basically just for eats.  We went to a tapas bar called Octapas with a great mertopus/ meropus /octomaid ? It's not a mermaid because she's got tentacles instead of a fish tail). We walked about just enjoying the night air.  It was fantastic even when I was in pain.

pretty colorful shop fronts.

Wednesday I was waiting to catch an evening flight.  I thought I'd have a walk around Chijmes (an orphanage/nunnery turned into a restaurant haven) but was thwarted by thunderstorms. I did get a bottle of Bundaberg rum and a bag of mini Reese's peanut butter cups on my way out of the country, which I was told by the doctor the next day that I couldn't eat.   I don't think I'll go back to Singapore, unless it's a visa run.  A day there still has it's pluses (ahem, cough, duty-free, cough), but I think I've seen most of what there is to see.

Singapore Second

I'll try to pick up the pace a bit since in the last post I only managed to get through the concert, which was a mere day and a quarter of my six days in Singapura.

I spent the next two days (Sunday and Monday) seeking things that cannot be found in Jakarta: walkable green spaces with clean air.  Sunday I took a twelve person ferry fifteen minutes to Pulau Ubin, or Ubin Island.  It's a little island just off the southeastern corner of Singapore, near Sentosa I think.  There are no cars on the island, just bikes to be rented.  I spent four hours peddaling around on a clunker with squeaky brakes and the world's most uncomfortable seat.  I nearly hit a three foot long monitor lizard, followed a monkey down the street and caught a fleeting view of a wild boar. I was mosquito bitten and very tired when I left, but undeniably happier than when I'd arrived.

This is the farthest SE section of the island. The pink line is a boardwalk that does extend over the water and through mangrove wetlands.

A coastline view from the boardwalk.

View from the top of an observation tower in the mangrove wetlands.

On Monday I headed to the gigantic Singapore Botanical Gardens.  They cover 160 hectares (if you know what a hectare is without looking, you must have gotten a more complete education than I did). There is an orchid garden, an Evolution Garden which would never fly in The States, an herb garden,a ginger garden (I did not realize how many plants are part of the ginger family) a teaching garden, and probably a couple more I missed. I sat and read, found a university cafeteria for lunch, walked, wandered, moseyed and roamed through the park for six hours.  I was happy as a clam. . . .until my stomach started acting up.  If you missed that crisis, go back to the Amongst the living post.

Swan Lake.  I sat on a bench here and read for an hour.  Then made friends and had a moment with a turtle before sneaking around some swans.

Waterfall near the ginger garden and where I got some chocolate ice cream.

It was so nice to have large, smooth sidewalks to walk on or footpaths in the garden.  The air was very clean.  The cars drove according to the painted lines on the street. I got to a place I could enjoy nature didn't take a three hour car ride and crushing blow to my carbon footprint.  Why am I in Jakarta and not Singapore?  The final installment will be the next blog.  It's more city scene and my departure.

Singapore Shuffle

Now that I am firmly planted in the recovery ward, I can, as promised, fill you in on the recent Singapore trip.

As expected, it was really nice to be there for more than six hours.  Many people here have little or no interest in Singapore because it is such an oft visited site.  Since I'd never gotten out of the downtown area, I couldn't really tell you what else was there before. This Singapore rehash will be a two-potentially-three-parter I imagine as I try to keep my posts a reasonable length.

I left for Singa on Friday and made the flight by the skin of my teeth as the taxi driver insisted it was terminal three more persistently than I said it was terminal two.  To which we went to the wrong terminal and then I made him take me, fare free, to the correct terminal.  Luckily, the plane was actually at terminal three so after checking in at terminal two and going through security we all had to bus on over to the plane.  Don't ask me.  The only customs center is at Terminal two but the parking spaces are at terminal three.  Welcome to flying budget airlines in Jakarta.

Upon arrival, I headed to the hostel, had the same conversation three times with three different people about my reservations before I got a key and left my bag to head to the concert.  This concert was the catalyst for the trip.  Erin asked if I would be interested in seeing John Legend and (her favorite) Imogen Heap on Saturday.  After looking at the line up I immediately decided that I must also go for Friday as Bob Dylan and Michael Franti and Spearhead were playing.  I'm not a Dylan fan to be honest, but he's 69 and going to die soon.  Now I can say I saw him.  On the other hand, I am a huge HUGE Michael Franti and Spearhead fan.

The concert was strategically located between the Singapore Flyer (think London Eye/huge Ferris Wheel) and the waterfront, a placed called Marina Promenade.  The show is called Rock and Roots; its in its second year.  Attendance each night was probably 400-600, but I'm lousy at estimating that kind of thing.  Compared to Bumbershoot in Seattle it was small and cozy.

Singapore Flyer lit up right above the stage

Pros:  The venue was small, lots of toilets, sufficient food stall, multiple beer stalls to control lines, easy crowd flow, great stage view from the right side, big video screens, breezes from the ocean.

Cons: Lousy line of sight and acoustics on the left side, large VIP section that was cordoned off, Dylan requesting the video screens be shut off.

Dylan was awful.  One part him, one part poorly adjusted acoustics.  I nearly fell asleep during his show and only endured it to get to the performer after. After Dylan many of the VIP folks left and at Franti's request, they opened the front section up for the real fans.  I spent the nearly two hours of his show at the front bar, jumping around like crazy.  By the end I was drenched in sweat and couldn't wipe the smile off my face.  His positivity and joyful sound are contagious.  He was out in the crowd, walking through and high fiving everyone.  He brought people on to the stage. He brought two other performers from earlier in the night out to play.  It was an AMAZING show. To think, only two years ago I had no idea who they were.  I stumbled upon them at the Bumbershoot Festival of 2009.

Michael Franti and Spearhead were kicking off their world tour here.  This is the logo.

Michael Franti glows from the inside out.

Saturday was fun because my friend Erin, her friend Loni, Loni's friend Kevin and my friend Alysson all joined me for the show.  We divied up a bottle of duty-free vodka in mixers before the show and trouped in.  We weren't especially transfixed by the music the way I'd been the night before. The notable exception was Erin when Imogen Heap was on.  I really enjoyed the music of Trombone Shorty, an up-and-coming artist with energy to spare and a hot body.

Trombone Shorty.  Look at those guns.

Alright dear reader.  I'll leave you there and carry on in the next installment.  If you are interested to see me in the same photo as Michael Franti go to http://www.rockandroots.com.sg/.  Go to the gallery and click on April 15, 2001.  Then you'll have to scroll through to a photo of Franti in the crowd.  Look on the right at the tall shirtless guy and see if you can find me between him and Michael.  If anyone can tell me how to steal that photo, I'd be grateful!

Back amongst the living

I have survived the worst of it now I figure.  Of course, knowing me, now that I've said that I'll end up hospitalized with Dengue or The Plague. Here's a condensed rendition of the events of the past two-plus weeks of Melissa health news.

I'd been sick for about six or seven weeks with nondescript digestive issues. I eventually went to the doctor and was told I had a bacterial infection in my intestines.  Pills and patience was the prescription and I seems to be on the mend.

I went to Singapore (blog to follow about that) for 6 days.  I arrived Friday and really enjoyed myself until Monday afternoon.  Prior to Monday I did have a few little digestive "hiccups" which I attributed to too much curry or the change from Indonesian food.  By Monday afternoon I was in a fair amount of pain and I limped back to my hostel.  I didn't sleep more than an hour Monday night as I was in agony.  I believe that I have a high pain tolerance.  I may whine but I'll trek on through most things.  This pain absolutely felled me.  It felt like I was being stabbed on either side of my belly button.  It was sharp and radiated back to my spine. By the wee hours of Tuesday morning I'd set a deadline: If I didn't feel at least marginally better by 7 am I would go to the hospital. I gave in at 6:15 and caught a cab. 

When I got to Singapore General Hospital I was nearly in tears.  I couldn't breath deeply or stand up straight.  I was flashing back to my father's bouts with pancreatitis which were the only times in his life I'd seen him in tears.  I thought it must be that, or my appendix, or something else equally serious for me to be in that much pain.  I was sent to registration, then triage, and then to the waiting room.  I probably was there only twenty minutes or so before I was seen but if felt like two days.  Once I was called, a tiny nurse, no more than a third my size, insisted on taking my arm to assist me as I was hunching over and moving the speed of an injured snail.

The doctor was a tall, big boned Asian looking man who's face I never saw from behind his mask.  He asked a few perfunctory questions, listed to my heart, felt my abdomen and drew blood.  I'd submitted for a urinalysis upon entry. The put an IV in my hand and ran what would eventually be two liters. Then off to x-ray.  The tech there helped be undress, and by this I mean she physically man-handled me to undress me as I was more of less incapable. I took out my bellybutton ring and lost it at some point before I left.  The two x-rays were torture as it hurt to stretch out and lie flat.

Back to the observation room until the labs were back.  I did nod off there for a couple hours.  Id been there about three hours when the nurse woke me to say it was a bladder infection.  I was a bit dazed and not able to understand how that was but didn't ask many questions.  The IV was removed, and I was sent "home". All in all the trip was much more affordable than I feared.  The visit which in The States would have run into the hundreds easily, cost me 95.55 SGD ($78, or 52 Euros). That included all the diagnostics and prescriptions.

It was then Tuesday and I was determined not to miss out on the last of my holiday so out I went to meet Alysson for lunch.  I continued to feel really bad until I threw up in the restaurant toilet and it was about that time I started to seriously doubt it was a bladder infection. I took the medications for two days without much change or relief.

I arrived back to Jakarta Wednesday night and pledged to go to the doctor again on Thursday.  Returning to the doctor (Dr. Melissa) that I'd seen before, I still had some of the bacteria around from before but now also had a massive yeast infection in my intestines.  WHAT?  I thought that was a lady parts problem.  Apparently not, one can get a yeast infection in the kidneys, stomach, mouth and throat additionally. It's been a long, sloooooow road to feeling (mostly) well again.  That road contained four medications (one an anti-fungal which sounds revolting), two weeks without carbohydrates and sugars, and several backsliding moments of increased pain. Today is my last day in carb banishment but I've just found out it needs to be another three weeks sugar free. SIGH! I do feel much better aside from the nasty cough I picked up yesterday morning so I'll carry on sugar free.  My friend Julia swears I've lost some weight, if I haven't I'll be pissed.  At least I can answer the call of the Bintang beer that's been whispering my name for over a week.

Everyone seems surprised that Singapore totally muffed the diagnosis and Jakarta got it right.  I think the docs here are more accustomed to dealing with dodgy stomachs but who knows.  Until I really real 100% I'll be taking any good juju or positive thoughts you can send my way.

And now to return you to your regularly scheduled program

Apologies once more as I haven't managed to blog regularly.  There's enough that's happened in the last week that I'll break it into at least three blog, in no specific order.

Monday brought another trip to Singapore for a work visa.  I'm still unsure why we have to leave Indonesia to get the visa, though someone told me that it works that way in most countries.  Since this is the only country I've gotten a work visa in, I cannot attest to that.  Most people go to Singapore once a year at most.  In fourteen months I've made three trips now.  I'm not necessarily complaining.  It's nice to get out of smelly, chaotic Jakarta for clean, orderly Singapore.  The food in Little India alone is worth the trip.  The shopping is different too.  I made it to an Ikea there.  It's the only place I could find butter knifes. I am now the owner of three. Don't ask me why Jakarta doesn't have butter knives. When I had this discussion with a friend she pointed out that I should just use a spoon.  I said the spoon wouldn't fit in the jar.  That's what the handle is for she said.  Right, so the I can grab the handle five minutes later only to be cover in peanut butter.  I'm more and more convinced that this country was founded on the principle of deciding what is logical and then doing the opposite.

Singapore has not one but TWO Ikeas.  Jealous!

Going to Singapore again reminded me of the incident that provoked me to start this blog.  Again I was the only non-Korean in the group.  I followed not by understanding what was going on, but from a heightened understanding of body language.  The longer you live in places that you can't understand what is said, the better this ability gets. I had to explain three times that I didn't want to do the tour since it would be entirely in Korean, which I don't speak, and I'd been to Singapore twice previously. At that, I was told to get out quickly and meet at 5pm, Airport terminal 3, gate 1. Right 5, 3, 1.  Got it. I had Ms. Kim's (no fake name needed) mobile number.

I went to Little India for lunch and shopping.  The kidney beans and dhal (lentils) that I bought would be warmly received by co-workers who promised to bring me a share of the results. I also stocked up on dhall and curry sauces for myself.  At 2 SGD per 500gm, it was a steal and worth lugging around all day. Then an MRT subway ride with two transfers to IKEA.  Butter knives, a frying pan, two items for a friend and a stop at the food center there made me a happy camper.  Carrying all the crap after didn't.

I arrived back at the airport at 4.  I figured early was better than late.  Plus I'd get my passport, process my Tax rebate, go to Duty Free for the required liquor purchase, grab a snack and be on my way.  Best laid plans.  The woman was 45 minutes late.  I tried to call, no luck.  Though my phone worked when I arrived, both smsing and bbm, neither were working by the end.  Luckily (I suppose) my flight was delayed from 1830 to 1900 and eventually to 1930 for departure.  This meant rushing to get things done and then hurrying to the gate only to sit and wait 40 minutes.  Sigh.  Nothing here is ever easy.

Though the office personnel who handle visas assure me that there isn't a problem with the visa, I'm unconvinced.  My visa says 12 month visa.  Start February 28, 2011, expiry May 29, 2011.  I'm told that's the processing window.  If I'm deported in four months, we'll know why. I made my concerns know to the administrative staff and my departmental head who is Korean.  They brushed it off.  As they did with my monetary complains.  We are the only school I know of that doesn't provide either the school car or money for a taxi to go to and from the airport.  I had to argue to get them to pay the airport tax (150,000Rp) and lunch (100,000Rp).  The taxis alone cost me about 300,000Rp.  Plus getting photos taken, another 75,000Rp.  It all boils down to one more way the school is about nickel and dime-ing us to death while pushing programs that we don't want or endorse but they spend heaps of money on.

Highlights of the trip were shopping, being reminded that usable public transport exists and seeing Michael Jackson.  At least he looked like him.  Down to the slightly too short pants, and sparkly white socks under his loafers. Maybe he had the plastic surgery and whitening treatments reversed?

The catalyst

I realized I had to start writing when I ended up in Singapore on a Korean tour bus to get a work visa for Indonesia.
No one seems to understand why it's required that we go OUT of Indonesia to process a work visa for work IN Indonesia. Since I've just changed jobs, I had to head out to Singapore again.  I'm not complaining. Singapore is clean and organized. It has great Indian food and cheap shopping.  Last time I went (February) to process my visa for EF, I was on my own.  EF gave me a half a page of vague instructions; the most unsettling of which was "go find the man sitting under the umbrella in front of McDonald's.  give him your passport, your visa paper work provided by EF, and X,000 Rupiah".  I  have not met a single other person who completed this process for EF without a flash of doubt about doing this.  Who in their right mind just hands over money and their passport to a guy in front of McDonald's?  Well, we all do.  And for the most part we get the passports back.  I got lost in the mall on the way back to meet him.  To get to the street from the MRT (mass rapid transit-think subway) to the correct corner of the street takes some doing.  The malls connect underground and you must pass from one to the other underground because you are prohibited from crossing the streets above.  Singapore does love its rules.  I kept getting turned around in the 2 floors and 6 turns, 4 escalators and 200 meters to walk that it took to get out (funny enough I only went out that way once this trip and did it without a problem).  Because of this inane system I showed up at 4:10 instead of 4pm to meet him.  He wasn't there.  He refused to leave my passport with a girl I'd met earlier that day from another EF; good to know there were some safety precautions. The next ten minutes were filled with me panicking.  I couldn't find him, couldn't reach him or the EF office on my cell or a payphone and the realization that not only did I not get the visa (kitas) I wouldn't even be able to leave Singapore without my passport.   This mystery man, who had shown himself at the drop off to be less than friendly, turned up and proceeded to lecture me about not being late before summarily dumping my passport in my hands and swiftly walking away.
This time around was so completely different that I couldn't complain.
 I  was met at the airport by a Korean woman.  After 8 of us had gathered there we went out and got in a small mini bus.  It was quite nice inside.  I was the only "foreigner".  None of us were from Singapore, but they were all Korean. We trolled around the airport, waiting in the bus while the overly busy woman jumped in and out, for almost an hour.  We then proceeded into town.  I had to get new photos take because the ones given to me by the school were the wrong size. This was the point where, luckily, the woman pulled to the side.  she confirmed that I had been to Singapore before and asked if there was a part of the city I'd like to go to.  I said Little Indian. She promised they'd drop me there.  In the mean time, the tour started.  I was reading Paulo Coelho in English while the woman gave a narrative in Korean that sounded to me like "blah blah blah Chinatown blah blah blah Singapore".  I was grateful to get out and be on my own in Little India.  4 hours of shopping, roti prata, more shopping and walking later, I met the group at a hotel to head back to the airport.  She seemed genuinely surprised that I had a good day.  I had a good shop in the airport, especially the pharmacy, and managed to buy two bottle of alcohol to bring (sneak) home. Then headed to Jakarta.
I was relieved to see my ojek driver at the airport waiting.  That morning he'd been 20 minutes late to pick me up, we hit construction on the way and he had to stop for gas (though I'd asked him the previous day to make sure he was ready to go to the airport) and I ended up with a 500M sprint to and through the airport to the ticketing booth where the agent chided me as cutting the time close. More about the ojek issues to follow.