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Written by Ron B
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Saturday, 17 January 2009 |
Students from Makassar Sayang, one of Hendra's nieces, was travelling with other university students from Makassar on a tour of Bali and Java. Rajia arranged to meet the bus at Glilmanuk as it came off the ferry, then guide it here to Baliv Vnew. |  Bus arriving in Jalan Tulip |  Shoes at the door |  Eating at the table |  Eating by the pool |  In the Pool |  Pool again |  Photo opportunity |  Chatting |  Around the table |  A presentation (1) |  A presentation (2) |  Farewell begins |  And ... |  Continues |  Departing to the bus | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 17 January 2009 )
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Written by Ron B
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Saturday, 22 November 2008 |
 Little Pond, Sanur | A Week in PenangOur flight out was to be at 6am, suggesting we should get to the airport at 4:30am. So we discovered a new affordable spot to stay in Sanur - about 25 minutes from the airport. It is Little Pond on Jl Danau Tamblingan and is Rp90,000 (about US$9) for a fan room. Here, Lyndall and Linda are in the pool. | I caused a minor drama at the airport next morning. I had totally forgotten that I needed to get an exit permit. This was discovered at passport check so quickly to the immigration office where the staff were changing shifts. They eventually arrange an Emergency Permit (at a price) - so as Lyndall pleaded with Air Asia to hold the flight, we rushed through the paperwork etc and only held up the flight by 5 min - but it was a bit of a panic and we arrived at the plane without boarding passes, but nobody seemed to mind.
|  Ngurah Rai Airport |  Food Court near Pinang Gallery | One of the many food-courts in Penang. On the bus from KL to Penang Hendra had been creating some jokes which he related at meal times. Here is one of them. A geeky nerd arrives for the after-life and finds himself facing God. So he asks God for direction to Heaven. God says "Take the first left, then the second right, and then go right to the end and you will find the pearly gates on your left - and they will open for you". The nerd follows the directions carefully, finds the gates, but they don't open. He curses under his breath and waits - still they do not open. So he re-traces his steps and finds God still there. He says "I think I followed your directions correctly, but the gates did not open". God says that he will come and check - so they go back together to the gates which now open. God says "Wait a moment while I check what is happening". He returns, the gates close, and he says "You should not be asking me - you should be Googling it". | Here we are on the waterfront near the old town and fort. We are looking north-west to Gurney Drive which has a string of high rise hotels and up-market apartments. There were many cafes and restaurants - but not so cheap.
|  Waterfront near Pinang Gallery |  Street Market with Hardware | Here is one of many street markets in the older area of Georgetown. This one specialzed in hardware and services like key cutting.
| | Queensbay Mall is some distance to the south of Georgetown, so you take a bus or taxi. It claims to be the longest and biggest and is not quite 1 year old yet. Many designer labels, coffee shops and food outlets. |  Queensbay Mall |  Sudoku Contest | Here in the basement, a Sudoku contest was underway. After several heats, this was the final for the day, and the winners would go on to a national competition The girl facing us on the left of the photo has just finished (she's first) and in a couple more moments the boy in the yellow shirt also finishes. There are many temples and heritage houses to come - you may need to click "More ..." |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 22 November 2008 )
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Read more...
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 20 October 2008 |
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Rote (or Roti) IslandRote Island is off the western end of Timor and is the southern most part of Indonesia. The first Google Earth Image shows it in the context of other eastern Indonesian islands, and north-west Australia. The distance from Rote Island the the eastern tip of Timor Leste is about 500 Km, and the distance to Australia is also about 500 Km. The second Google earth image shows the ferry route (about 80 Km) and then the cross island path to Nembrala (about 40 Km). |  Timor between Australia and other Indo islands |  Rote Island off west of Timor | You get ot Rote on a fast boat that covers the 80 Km in 2.5 hours. In January 2006 a boat (similar to this) sank with loss of about 30 lives (from a total of about 160 on the boat). Apparently the seas were heavy, then the motor failed, the boat swung helplessly until side on to the swell, then tipped over and sank. When crossing the Rote Strait between Timor and Rote, the full force of the Indian Ocean swell comes through.
|  Bahari Express - boat to Rote |  Executive Class on Bahari Express | The boat arrives at Ba'a, and you cross to Nembrala by road - about 1.5 hr for the 40 Km. You can rent a car, if available, or else a bemo - both are Rp250,000 but the car can only take 4 while the bemo can take 6 or more. We found a German couple who had secured a bemo but needed more passengers so we joined them. The bemo turned out to be old and sick, and before we had climbed the hill out of Ba'a it got a flat tyre. They changed to the spare which turned out to be in poor condition, so half way across the island we got a second flat. This time another bemo stopped and lent us their very bald spare. On a couple of steep hills, the driver messed up his change to 1st gear so we stopped, and then he could not manage the hill start unless we got out and pushed - then he would go to the crest of the hill and let us in again.
|  Our Bemo - first flat tyre |  Our Bemo - second flat tyre | Nembrala has a beautiful white sand beach, and is protected from the surf by a reef. Surfers go beond the reef, and get good left breaks from about March till October. Being the west end of the island, the sunsets into the ocean - unless there is a cloud bank for it to sink in.
|  Nembrala Beach looking north |  Sunset at Nembrala | There are pigs along the beach, and the use their long snouts to gouge furrows along the sand. Every now and then they dig more - I guess it is crabs that they want. The homestays here run like surf camps and provide 3 meals a day as well as the bed. We stayed at Anugerah which is a bit more expensive than others - but seemed to have better dining facilites.
|  Nembrala - pigmakes a furrow with snout |  Anugerah homestay - dining room |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 22 October 2008 )
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