belly bali lembongan

Jakarta ain't easy

JKT black and white

     a view from Kalibata City estate, South Jakarta

    secondary school students, Kota, Central Jakarta

    motorbikes take every free space, here Kota, Central Jakarta

     Kota station, Central Jakarta

     plastic bottles are source of extra, if not the only, income for less fortunate, Central Jakarta 

     cadets leaving mess after lunch, Marunda, North Jakarta

    a man sleeping in Kota Station, Central Jakarta

how to win with indonesian immigration office?

1. Be patient. As you can see from picture below, visa extension is a long beaurocratic process. In my case it took four visits, even though the whole thing could be done within two visits (I know it, cos for first extension I had go exactly twice).

 
2. Come, smile and have solid backup, such as one of STIP (abbreviation of school I teach in) uniformed teachers by your side. A uniform is definitely on of your bests friend in Indonesia!

3. Speak Bahasa, otherwise you're lost, unless you go to Kantor Imigrasi Jakarta Utara, where charming Lukito does his best to serve non-Bahasa speakers.

4. Or just forget about hassle with immigration office, book unbelievably cheap tickets (20 quid round-trip!) to Singapore or KL and then get a Visa On Arrival, which costs exactly same as visa extension.
 

Done!

olympus mju II JKT

developed pics!!!

a bizarre postcard from Bali - WTF is Potong Gigi?!?

Found this odd postcard in Padang Bai, Bali. Potong gigi means 'tooth filling' and it's a ceremony performed in order to to get rid of invisible forces of evil; according to Balinese tradition, teeth are symbol of greed, insobriety, jealousy and even confusion (?). Filing the teeth therefore renders someone both more physically and more spiritually beautiful, as well as symbolises the rite of passage from an adolescent into adulthood.

Tools used for Potong Gigi include a file, a small hammer and a carver (!).

If anyone wants to get this postcard, let me know your address.

BAlibanky*

Dunno really how to start my supposedly epic (*joke*) post on this blog. Bali was… well, Bali is, yeah, definitely IS a place to be. Neither because of Kuta with its vibrant nightlife, dingy hostels and hordes of Aussies nor because of superior white sand beaches and crystal clear sea… Bali is diverse, you can get utterly angry with monkey that has destroyed your glasses in Uluwatu, then go 50 km north to Ubud and get overwhelmed with spectacular beauty of rice paddies. From peaceful, vivid green little isle called Nusa Ceningan to loud 5-storey discotheque in Kuta. There were few things in Bali I wanted to experience, one of them was Kecak dance which both, visually and auditory, blew my mind. Below you can see a fragment from “Baraka” movie that perfectly depicts spirit of Kecak performance.

Other than that I had impression that my stay was sort of unlucky: loss of glasses, credit card, lens error in my silly digital camera and finally sore throat I had for most of the days, however I meet this French traveller, , whose story was way more, no, not unlucky, in a way she was very lucky. What do you say for a motorbike accident and following car accident few days later? No fractures gained, just bruises and some serious wounds, still Julie kept her spirit and decided to complete her one-year-around-globe travel.

To sum up, Bali definitely deserves to be revisited, just Ramayama, please, keep me away from Kuta and far enough from overrated Padang Bai, just let me hang up somewhere between Nusa Ceningan and Petulu village.

  
*) cz.líbánky = honeymoon

my inspiration has abandoned me, so pics only