Day 196 – 13 February 2010: a circus train to Yogyakarta

We catch the train just after six in the morning. The train doubles as a hawker market as streams of people march up and down the aisles, many of them shouting a mantra of ‘pop-me!’ which it turns out are Indonesian pot noodles. This continues for several hours, while beggars also get on and off the train for single stop journeys.

Getting some fresh air and a breeze through the hair is easy as the doors of the train are open with passengers sitting down by them watching the landscape speed by. Some policemen pass through the carriage carrying automatic weapons. I feel sorry for any fare dodgers on board, although I have reason to doubt that there are many people on the train with tickets. After most of the hawkers have disappeared, a couple of not entirely convincing lady boys with too much make up on come dancing down the aisle, one strumming a ukulele, and the other jangling a tambourine and they are both singing a rather catchy ditty with universal words of a-wallah-wallah-wa, a-wallah-wallah-wa. I’m sure there’s at least one hit wonder potential here.

The train eventually arrives at Yogyakarta nine and a half hours after we left Jakarta. On first impressions, there’s rusticity about the place, with a bit of bohemian undercurrent. This should be no surprise as it is the home of Batik painting and everyone here seems to be an artist of some sort. Batik actually refers to the cloth. Instead of paint and a canvass, textiles and dyes are used to create very colourful and, you could say, psychedelic images, although this may be a more recent development because the traditional natural dyes are brown, white and indigo which represent the Hindu Gods Brahma, Visnu and Shiva.

Waiting outside our hotel we are treated to a not entirely appealing show involving a monkey on a bike. The kids in the alley are excited by it, and it is a well trained monkey, but it is receiving its instruction via a chain around its neck. Nobody gives the trainer any money for the show.

The hotel is comfortable but dirty (another one run with no women in site). There is a gallery around the corner from the hotel and I let myself get tiredly talked into buying a batik painting for 30 USD, which must be the most expensive item I have bought on this whole trip. It is a highly vibrant image of a fish looking at you like it knows you’re on acid, but I can’t help feeling I’ve bought a highly colourful dishcloth, without meaning to insult the art. The gallery owner, who introduces himself as Eddie, has an undeniably friendly charm. Before I leave, I accept an offer of a glass of local wine, which is like cheap but not undrinkable port.

Jen has refused to let me take her out to dinner for Valentine’s Day, boo.

1,2,3 a-wallah walla wa, a-wallah walla wa

only playing dead, though perhaps it wishes it wasn't

Day 195 – 12 February 2010: an invitation to Jakarta’s Police Station

We arrived at our hotel last night, which could do with a woman’s touch, shall we say. I’m not sure the last time anything was cleaned. There’s a cigarette butt in the sink by the shared bathroom. There’s no towels, toilet paper (‘you buy at shop, it’s very cheap’, says the hotel owner) and no air conditioning either, so with the high humidity I have a very sweaty night. By the shower outside my room, there’s an open part of the roof with a ladder up to a sort of roof top terrace, but there’s no space to sit and it looks as if there were some repairs left undone up there.

Hotel comforts at Jakarta

 

There is nothing in Jakarta that I am particularly keen to see. I spend the early part of the day wondering around with Just John, little Dan and Martin, diving into various shopping malls merely to experience their air conditioning.

We had a look at what films were on at a cinema and I later go back with Jen and Lu to see Valentine’s Day. It’s a chick flick, but I have had a few beers already in my boredom, so I find it tolerably funny. Coming out of the theatre, that ‘Everybody Dance Now!’ song is playing loudly so I start doing a gyrating dance with Jen but then suddenly remember I am in a Muslim country so I quickly stop.

In the evening, I reflect that my experience of Jakarta has been quite dull, but then something quite interesting happens. Earlier in the day, Lu had been finding out what the best transport would be to get to Yogyakarta. She had talked non-committedly to a street-side travel agent about booking a bus, but found instead that it would be quicker and cheaper to go by train. However, when she bumps into the travel agent in the street and tells him that she has booked the train instead, he says that he wants the money because he has booked a bus. When she refuses, he says ‘I kill you’, accusing her of a breach of trust. He actually phones the police, who come to the hotel with the mad travel agent. Here the man repeats his threat to kill Lu. The police don’t speak English and are receiving a translation from the hotel owner. Our friendly translator suggests that Lu just give the mad travel agent some money and the police suggest the same, instead of arresting the man for threatening Lu’s life. Lu is taking no bullshit, so the police decide she needs to go to the police station to resolve the matter. Just John, Jen and I go with her in a taxi.

At the police station, I borrow a mobile phone to call the British Foreign Office emergency number, the British Embassy being closed as it is now late in the evening. However, they decide that having a man threaten to kill someone followed by the police asking the target of the threat to give this man some money is just a petty dispute that they do not get involved in, despite the fact that Lu has effectively now been arrested. I should add that Lu is actually a Kiwi, but they don’t have an embassy in Indonesia so the British Embassy acts for NZ nationals here. All they do is offer me a list of lawyers.

However, at the police station, there are some devoted ‘tourist police’, who do speak English, and are a lot more conscious of the impression this experience gives of Indonesia, and Lu is told she can go after an hour. The travel agent, who has repeated his threats to kill Lu in front of the English speaking police, is held longer, perhaps overnight so that we will have left town by the time he gets out. But we don’t know for sure.

We are happy that we are leaving on the train early the next morning.

Day 194 – 11 February 2010: a stormy night and a surprise change at the helm

I woke up in the middle of the night feeling very sweaty, which is not helped by the vinyl mats. I went outside for a cigarette and realised that there had been a heavy storm and the deck was still wet with puddles. Mario and Jana, the German adventurers who tend to keep themselves to themselves, chose to sleep outside last night. This may or may not have anything to do with them having beds next to mine. I learn later that, during the height of the storm, the ship’s crew offered them shelter in the control deck, and Mario was even allowed to take the helm for a while.

It was never going to be easy to have a lie in this morning on an open plan deck, but it is made impossible by the man on the bed next to me who plays music loudly on his phone at six in the morning. I go outside for a bit, but am then disturbed by the call to prayer from the mosque on the upper deck at the back of the ship.

Breakfast this morning is slightly more edible than dinner last night, consisting of an omelette with rice and chillies. For lunch, we are back to the dry fish heads. I think the first class cabins get the rest of the fish. There is some more edible food available, but it costs extra.

I spend most of the day lolling around reading, with the occasional foray outside to sample the air and pollute it with my cigarette smoke.

Day 193 – 10 February 2010: A star is born

our ferry to Java

 

our accommodation

We are not staying on Batam so we are back to the ferry terminal to catch a 26 hour ferry to Java. Lu, who has now earned the title of ‘sir’, had been told by various staff at the ticket office that the ferry would leave at any time between 11am to 5pm, but most probably from one o’clock to half past two, we take the precaution of being at the terminal for 11:30. Thereby, there is a long wait until 5pm when the ferry arrives, and then another couple of hours before we board, and another two hours before we actually depart.

I find the people of Indonesia very friendly and, for a change, most of them express no desire to sell something to you. I chat to a few of the fellow passengers, of which there are several hundred. Apparently, this is off-peak and there are usually a few hundred more. Many of the passengers are traders and are carrying sack loads of goods with them, which is part of the reason it takes so long to get on board.

We had been warned that we would probably want to ‘upgrade’ to cabins, the economy class being huge dormitories of side by side beds. However, with plenty of storage space under each of the beds and though the mattresses are little more than mats, it is far more comfortable than my night time ferry ride from Ko Tao. I suppose there was a worry that we would be surrounded by hawkers hustling us their wares, but while many passengers are curious, they are genuine, and the only people trying to sell anything are selling snacks and tidbits and they all get off the ferry before it departs. I should have bought some food off them because, although meals are included with the price of the ticket, these consist of a fish head and some rice.

Although there is not a legal prohibition, I correctly guessed that no alcohol would be sold on board, Indonesia being the largest Muslim country in the world. In fact the small print on the back of the ferry ticket does include a warning that no ‘strong’ alcohol can be consumed on board. I had stocked up on some beer at port and having finished them, I lead a group of us to an on board karaoke café I discovered. Me being the only one of board who has brought enough beer to find myself slightly tipsy, I am also the only one drunk enough to take up singing duties.

The song list largely consists of Indonesian pop. There are a few familiar British or American names, but often the songs are their less familiar ones. One CD has the sole Stones song ‘I Got the Blues’, but also features two Mick Jagger solo songs, so if you ever wondered who bought those records Keef…..suffice to say, there are no Fall songs on the playlist.

I had only intended to sing a couple of songs, but soon the others are submitting a long list and volunteering me to sing them. I start with House of the Rising Sun, and then a serenading (to Jen) version of Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. After that, I don’t even know half the songs I end up singing, with Shay having submitted some Westlife thing. Finally I belt out All by Myself which I am only familiar with through childhood memories of MOR American radio. Having pondered what I will do with myself when I eventually return home, I am fuelled by a new ambition to be a cruise ship warbler.

Link to All By Myself video

Day 192 – 09 February 2010: Exit Singapore, goodbye to champion numbskull of the day and beloved companion, but no not that beloved, and enter Indonesia

Singapore Pictures link

Having said goodbye to Laurie’s boyfriend Gary last night, it is now time to say goodbye to Laurie. The UK to OZ group having gathered at the ferry port to Indonesia with everyone worried about whether their luggage, including tents and sleeping bags, is under the 20kg limit. Laurie comes with us to say goodbye and becomes quite emotional as the group of us wait to catch the ferry to Batam.

The previous night Laurie had come around to the hostel, having stayed with Gary in a hotel, and reproached me for not writing a song for her. Pressurized, I sang one for her but, although I had anticipated the situation and had thought up a couple of rhymes for the purpose, I make up most of the song on the spot. Laurie seemed convinced enough though, so I think I got away with it….until this confession.

There are hugs and kisses not just for me, but also for the handsome Irishman Shay, though the latter’s liaisons with the immaculately figured American Stacie meant this was not totally welcome.

The motored Catamaran ferry is a quick hour ride. At the other end, we catch taxis to the ’99 Hotel’. When the taxis turn off the main road towards the hotel, the initial site is not promising as we go along a dirt track surrounded by run down homes and piles of rubbish. However, the hotel itself is by no means the worst we have stayed at and I have a comfortable night, although I am sharing a (double!) bed with Brian.

I join a gang of us to go into town for dinner. Although this looks like a poor area, there are signs of the growing wealth of Indonesia including a new shopping mall. Here we find a nearly empty restaurant with a very western menu and we order a round of steaks. They are pretty good too, if excusing the fact that the steaks came randomly as either ‘blue’ or well done regardless of what was ordered.

A room with a view

 

Day 191 – 08 February 2010: Zoo Pizza

Singapore Zoo is home to a plethora of exotic animals as well as many that are relatively abundant in the wild. I am fortunate to catch the tail end of a tour of feeding time, including white tigers. As cats you wouldn’t expect them to be very fond of going for a swim, but they are not reluctant to do it as long as big joints of beef are being thrown into the stream in their enclosure.

Of course it is not as satisfying as seeing these animals in the wild, but with white tigers and, to some extent, manatees and orangutans, it is impossible to do so. I don’t suppose I will be seeing too many polar bears or penguins in the wild either. Unfortunately, we will miss out on Borneo and won’t be going to Sumatra, so it is nice to see the orangutans playing as the sunset nears. The dominant male’s favourite activity seems to be ripping apart the roofs of the elevated platforms and then chucking the remnants down at the underlings who respond by trying to build hard wood nests on the ground. There is quite a lot of teasing and showboating by the congress (a group of orangutans) and the president and it’s fun to watch.

I should also give a mention to the baboon troop. I once heard Stephen Fry (polymath English ‘treasure’) say that nature is always more beautiful than anything man-made. He has obviously never seen a baboon’s arse.

I also see an Elephant show where the keepers get them to do tricks like balancing on a tree trunk before picking it up and putting in the steam at the front of the show arena, but I am no longer surprised at the intelligence of these animals.

The polar bears here, I have to say, just look bored.

I hang around for the sun to set to visit the night zoo, which has an oft repeated claim to be Singapore’s number one tourist experience. This is supposed to be to enable visitor’s to see the more nocturnal animals, but I am tired and find it much like going about a zoo where you can’t see much, and many of the animals such as the leopards don’t seem to do anything more or less than what they do in the daytime. In fact, nocturnal animals in a zoo don’t seem to do much in general. Why would they, if they are guaranteed a feeding, like the feckless on benefits, ha!

Spending so little time in Singapore, to complete my pizza tour of the world I have to have a slice from the pizza stall at the zoo. It’s not at all bad in considering, but a lack of menu choice left me with a slice of chicken tikka pizza, which I have always thought of as one of many corruptions of the art. 7/10.

a mightily big croc

fire throwing dancers at the zoo

 For more pictures of Singapore and the zoo click here