Last Weekend in Indonesia

It’s Saturday Evening here in Surabaya; time for today’s top stories.

We’ve had a good past couple of days with a mixture of final recovery from a little stomach bug and spending some great time out with ourselves and friends. We’ve gone to karaoke again (I sang more, trying to find artists I can actually sing instead of butcher) and had dinner with some Couch Surf friends. Last night we even went out to an outdoor club for a little bit and saw our buddy Rob with his new coworkers. Rob teaches English with an Indonesian program called, ‘English First’ and there were dozens of other English teachers from around the globe. It was interesting to chat with everyone; most of them were astonished/surprised when we told them what WE were doing. Everyone is most interested in the cargo ship travel so far.

We have train travel reserved for Tuesday. We’re taking the midnight train (going anywhere?) to Jakarta in prep for our flight to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. One of the workers here at the hotel was kind enough to drive me up there on his motorbike (read: 125cc scooter.) Speeding through Surabaya, weaving in and out of traffic; it was exhilarating! It made me remember how much I miss my motorcycle. I told him that I had one, and he perked up. “What kind?” he asked. When I told him a Kawasaki 400, he laughed deliriously. “That’s big!” he said. You see, roads here aren’t amazing and there are so many people that a bike of that size would be useless. You don’t really get over 40 mph often. Plus they’re harder to maneuver around other vehicles. Back home, many serious bikers would smile apologetically at my 1978 motorcycle. Here, I would be king.

I’ve decided to take a bit better care of myself. I’m exercising every day…a little bit, not a ton, but some crunches, push ups, etc. I’d like to continue losing weight (I’ve lost about 20 lbs since leaving the states) and shape up a bit. Indi’s weight loss is going well, too. Not sure where she’s at but you can really see it. She’s naturally very excited about this.

Tonight we have plans to go bowling with Rob’s English Teaching Troupe (RETT) and then dancin’ at a club. Should be good times, yet again. Sunday Lupi is taking us to a friend’s wedding, which is being held at a village nearby. That should be interesting in an entirely different way.