1/16 - Bali Coffee and Cigarettes
The Bali coffee situation is somewhat odd. On all menus you have the option of "Kopi" which is almost always Nescafe instant. Right below it is usually "Kopi Bali" which tends to be about 1000Rp cheaper. So I'd assumed that, in keeping with the world's strangeness, Kopi Bali was actual coffee, and that enough people preferred the Nescafe that it was served at a higher price. Excitedly, I ordered a Kopi Bali the other night and found it to be rather chalky, with a fine sludge at the bottom, much like the Nescafe. Thankfully the most recent cup I had actually tasted okay, though the sludge was still in force. Needless to say, I haven't quite figured out the system.
Meanwhile, the majority of cigarettes smoked in Indonesia are clove cigarettes, called "kretek" for their tendency to crackle and, once in a while, to send burning clove embers leaping out toward the face of the smoker. They're pretty tasty and there's a lot of variety here so Aubrie and I have tried a few. Yesterday I had one, purchased for the design on the pack, and found that it contained a whopping 33mg of tar. For the sake of reference- depending upon where you are, a pack of Marlboro Reds will have around 15mg I believe. My father smokes Japanese Casters which contain 3mg. He should really be quitting though. Dad, I think it's time to quit, low tar or not....
Departing from the main thesis of this entry, I'd like to make note of a certain phenomenon, that being the foreigners who walk around this place who've clearly been here a long time, and have no plans in particular for departure. They are most often shirtless, long-haired, walk lightly and slowly as if their destination doesn't particularly concern them, and tend to look a bit drugged out in that long-term kind of way. Other important characteristics: they eat with their hands, and they wear baggy, non Western-looking cloth trousers. The one I noticed yesterday in one of our favorite food spots, the Warung Indonesia, held a small yellow flower in his hand, which he brought to his nose intermittently, and ordered a fruit shake, in Indonesian of course.
Speaking of Bahasa Indonesia ("bahasa" means "language") I should also make note of the phone call I attempted to make to the Denpasar train reservation number yesterday. I spoke to all three men in the office, all of whom spoke very little English. Aubrie had managed previously to find the departure time for the Banyuwangi-Surabaya train online. So, my question for these guys was whether or not we would need to buy a ticket in advance. Over ten minutes I phrased the question many different ways, and I always got one of three answers: 1) "Yes?" (when it was not a yes or no question, 2) "Banyuwangi to Surabaya, yes", or 3) "Do you speak Indonesian?" The third guy finally hung up on me, which, though I could understand where he was coming from, angered me. Therefore, the whole thing remains a little open-ended. It looks like we'll head to Denpasar tomorrow (the 17th), as we're feeling done with this place, and try to buy a ticket for that evening's departure from Banyuwangi, then, if successful, make our way over there via bus and ferry. If unsuccesful, we'll get tickets for the next evening's departure, and head out to West Bali, spending a night somewhere near the ferry, and completing the journey the next day.
Actually, this was our first real language difficulty. Almost everyone here speaks English, presumably because of all the tourists. I actually saw one Indonesian woman in a store the other day speaking passable Japanese to some tourists from there. I would really like to learn Indonesian at some point. It uses a roman alphabet and the pronunciation is pretty easy and also fun.
Speaking of which, another thing I'd like to work on during this trip is being able to initiate conversation with Japanese tourists in Japanese, who would no doubt find it amusing coming from me, which would in turn no doubt spark some good discussion and give me some practice. I had a golden opportunity to do this last night, and failed to speak. What am I afraid of exactly?, I might ask myself. Initiating conversation has always been a point of hesitation for me though, in any language, if I'm being perfectly honest. Somehow the thought that they are other people with consciousnesses and that I am a person, also with a consciousness, in the same space, asking for their attention, to make me the center of their focus for the time being....it's all just too much.
I'd like to thank all those who have posted comments.
Randy, we'll be in Thailand on Feb. 4th, but hopefully with no remaining Rupiah. It's about 40 Baht to the US Dollar though, so there's another small math exercise, if you were looking for one. The forcefields are holding up strong, but are they meant to also hold up against stomach bugs, or would that have been a different exercise? Aubrie seems to have caught one today. For those feeling out of the loop- Michelle Fiordaliso gave us anti-harm protective fields before our respective departures from the NY Metro Area.
Kurt, we have no music players with us. I almost brough an iPod but decided I'd be too stressed out about damaging and/or losing it. So far though, I've been alright without any portable music. I'll report back after the upcoming long train journeys, however, and I may feel differently then. Oh, and Kuta is a town in South Bali.
Brad, thanks for the kind words....
I want to load a few photos on here but it'll depend on the upload speed of these comptuers, which I've just been informed is rather pathetic. So maybe we'll get some photos on here, and maybe you'll have to wait until I reach Singapore on the 25th. And the Hong Kong memoirs- still pending.
Speak to you next from Java, unless we get stranded somewhere else.
Meanwhile, the majority of cigarettes smoked in Indonesia are clove cigarettes, called "kretek" for their tendency to crackle and, once in a while, to send burning clove embers leaping out toward the face of the smoker. They're pretty tasty and there's a lot of variety here so Aubrie and I have tried a few. Yesterday I had one, purchased for the design on the pack, and found that it contained a whopping 33mg of tar. For the sake of reference- depending upon where you are, a pack of Marlboro Reds will have around 15mg I believe. My father smokes Japanese Casters which contain 3mg. He should really be quitting though. Dad, I think it's time to quit, low tar or not....
Departing from the main thesis of this entry, I'd like to make note of a certain phenomenon, that being the foreigners who walk around this place who've clearly been here a long time, and have no plans in particular for departure. They are most often shirtless, long-haired, walk lightly and slowly as if their destination doesn't particularly concern them, and tend to look a bit drugged out in that long-term kind of way. Other important characteristics: they eat with their hands, and they wear baggy, non Western-looking cloth trousers. The one I noticed yesterday in one of our favorite food spots, the Warung Indonesia, held a small yellow flower in his hand, which he brought to his nose intermittently, and ordered a fruit shake, in Indonesian of course.
Speaking of Bahasa Indonesia ("bahasa" means "language") I should also make note of the phone call I attempted to make to the Denpasar train reservation number yesterday. I spoke to all three men in the office, all of whom spoke very little English. Aubrie had managed previously to find the departure time for the Banyuwangi-Surabaya train online. So, my question for these guys was whether or not we would need to buy a ticket in advance. Over ten minutes I phrased the question many different ways, and I always got one of three answers: 1) "Yes?" (when it was not a yes or no question, 2) "Banyuwangi to Surabaya, yes", or 3) "Do you speak Indonesian?" The third guy finally hung up on me, which, though I could understand where he was coming from, angered me. Therefore, the whole thing remains a little open-ended. It looks like we'll head to Denpasar tomorrow (the 17th), as we're feeling done with this place, and try to buy a ticket for that evening's departure from Banyuwangi, then, if successful, make our way over there via bus and ferry. If unsuccesful, we'll get tickets for the next evening's departure, and head out to West Bali, spending a night somewhere near the ferry, and completing the journey the next day.
Actually, this was our first real language difficulty. Almost everyone here speaks English, presumably because of all the tourists. I actually saw one Indonesian woman in a store the other day speaking passable Japanese to some tourists from there. I would really like to learn Indonesian at some point. It uses a roman alphabet and the pronunciation is pretty easy and also fun.
Speaking of which, another thing I'd like to work on during this trip is being able to initiate conversation with Japanese tourists in Japanese, who would no doubt find it amusing coming from me, which would in turn no doubt spark some good discussion and give me some practice. I had a golden opportunity to do this last night, and failed to speak. What am I afraid of exactly?, I might ask myself. Initiating conversation has always been a point of hesitation for me though, in any language, if I'm being perfectly honest. Somehow the thought that they are other people with consciousnesses and that I am a person, also with a consciousness, in the same space, asking for their attention, to make me the center of their focus for the time being....it's all just too much.
I'd like to thank all those who have posted comments.
Randy, we'll be in Thailand on Feb. 4th, but hopefully with no remaining Rupiah. It's about 40 Baht to the US Dollar though, so there's another small math exercise, if you were looking for one. The forcefields are holding up strong, but are they meant to also hold up against stomach bugs, or would that have been a different exercise? Aubrie seems to have caught one today. For those feeling out of the loop- Michelle Fiordaliso gave us anti-harm protective fields before our respective departures from the NY Metro Area.
Kurt, we have no music players with us. I almost brough an iPod but decided I'd be too stressed out about damaging and/or losing it. So far though, I've been alright without any portable music. I'll report back after the upcoming long train journeys, however, and I may feel differently then. Oh, and Kuta is a town in South Bali.
Brad, thanks for the kind words....
I want to load a few photos on here but it'll depend on the upload speed of these comptuers, which I've just been informed is rather pathetic. So maybe we'll get some photos on here, and maybe you'll have to wait until I reach Singapore on the 25th. And the Hong Kong memoirs- still pending.
Speak to you next from Java, unless we get stranded somewhere else.
posted by Gabriel Leigh at 3:31 PM
5 Comments:
Hi Gabe and Aubrie. How are you doing? I'm at Michelle's house and it took us a while to figure out how to post a comment. Maybe other less tenacious souls are having difficulty, too, and you're not enjoying the voluminous feedback you'd like. We had to click on the time of your entry which took us to a page that listed that entry exclusively. Then we could click on 'post anonymously' and here we are. When I just clicked on the envelope there was no 'post anonymously' option and the rigmarole required to post a comment or send an e-mail was overwhelming. I don't remember it being that convoluted the other day when I did it. In any case, glad to hear you're doing well. I'm also excited that you will be making a conscious effort to engage other bipeds in conversation in various languages. But why aren't you fluent in Indonesian yet? In other news, the Jets lost in overtime to the Steelers and my show last night went very well. Now, it's off to brunch at Belleville with Samantha, our visiting professor from Cleveland. Love, Randy P.S. Still seeking information about that greenish brown lizard.
Brooklyn feels a bit empty without you. Why deprive all those Japanese and English speaking people, as the case may be, of your consciousness? As for the forcefield. For the sake of the other readers allow me to explain. The whole concept of the protective forcefield was initiated by my best friend's grandmother Mana (she is a Cuban Jew and one of the most mystical people I know) when we went on a trip to Jamaica in 1995. I became a Reiki Master in 1996 - a Japanese modality of healing using energy (Ki - also known as Chi - Prana - The Holy Spirit) - and started to do the forcefield on myself and friends whenever they traveled. White light is traditionally used as a protective coating - it sets an intention. Mostly it is to protect one from bodily damage (e.g. death), so protection against a stomach bug would not be included in the warantee and therefore no refund is available at this time. If in fact there is damage to your physical form (e.g. death) you could indeed apply for a refund but I still haven't quite figured out how correspondence from the "other side" would work and I'm not sure what the point would be exactly. I fear that I am beginning to sound like Sam in Husbands and Wives, however, and, in all seriousness, when I placed the forcefield around you and Aubrie - they were both moments of deep consciousness for me where I set sincere intentions for you beyond the insured security of your lives - those intentions included that you would have facile communication, laughter, inspired creativity, interesting companions on your journey and growth inducing experiences. When in doubt just picture it gleaming all around you and, if all else fails, click your heels and wish for home wherever that may be.
Hey, Gabe/
In case you hadn't heard, Apple has added the iPod Shuffle to their product line, a flash memory mp3 player smaller than a pack of gum and weighing about as much as a car key. Goes for $99 and holds 240 songs. The advertising slogan: "Enjoy uncertainty." The drawback: no screen nor menus. Sounds like a good fit for our peripatetic blogger.
Hope Aubrie gets well soon. Watch out for those exploding cloves. And by all means, initiate conversation with Japanese travelers in their language. They'll know they're not in Kansas...make that Kansai, anymore!
Safe Journey,
John E.
Sonny Boy/ Lillte Missy
After two weeks of resisting the urge to smoke in Japan, my son left for Indonesia so that he could light up without guilt (some residual notwithstanding). Is that the real reason he went? Well, that, and the sludge coffee. Aubrie says that if it ignites and produces smoke, it's a cigarette.
Not necessarily true. Damp from an hour of snow shoveling this morning, my fleece shirt inadvertantly caught fire as I stood at the stove, under the cone.
Ignition, smoke. Okay, I was smoking at the time.
And just in case the Brooklyn Master's manipulation of your Ki, Chi and Ochazuke doesn't quite do the trick, be advised that I secretly blew a protective Caster smoke ring around your head on the morning of your departure.
Aubrie, my darling: How can a woman with a 5 kilo bag of drugs at her disposal fall prey to a lowly bug? It boggles the mind of a bug, and a man.
By the way, G, I actually posted an entry on my Blog. Check it out when time allows and let me know.
Much love to you both//dbl
Aubrie darling, you simply must take better care of yourself!!!!Please let me know how you are. We would love to hear some of your comments. Hi gabe....
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