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| 09:00 Sunday, June 26, 2005 DaNang, Vietnam Yesterday we spent time in Singapore, Cambodia, and Viet Nam. The Cambodia visit was a surprise of sorts. We had booked a flight on Silk Air from Singapore to Da Nang, not knowing that it involved a stop in Siem Reap, Cambodia – the airport nearest the famous Angkor Wat temples. Our arrival into Siem Reap was unusual in that winds forced us to abort the landing and come back around for a second (successful) attempt. We weren’t in a position to visit the temples, given that we had only 45 minutes, but now we know where to find them. We were all rather jet lagged and exhausted once we finally got settled into the lovely rooms at the Furama Resort in Da Nang. Arianna, Alissa, and Christopher had a quick swim and then the four of us barely managed to keep our heads up through a light dinner. Arianna woke up this morning at about 4:30am and hopped into bed with her Mum and Dud (who were also just dozing in and out by that hour). We’ve since breakfasted, looked into the day’s offerings, digested, and are about to begin adventuring. 27 June – July 03, 2005 Da Nang, Singapore, and Jakarta We’ve done a bit in the intervening week, like visiting the ancient city of Hoi An, where we each had two or three articles of silk clothing handmade to our specifications; venturing into the Pacific in a “bucket boat”* so we could go snorkeling above coral populated by blue starfish; and taking a “cyclo tour” of Da Nang, featuring stops at a large local market and a visit to the museum of the Cham culture. This was all punctuated with leisurely lunches beside the pool, a rousing 6:30am game of tennis (we could never sleep past 6:00am), massages, manicures, and countless naps. Don’t think us slackers, it’s just that we had to adjust to that 12-hour time change. We had two adjoining rooms at the Furama and kept wondering why the parents’ room was always so much cooler than the girls’ room. Around 10: 00pm of our last night, the ceiling in the cooler of the rooms began to drip condensation, then began a thin trickle, and ultimately a steady stream of water – pouring from the light fixture, no less. Alissa and Christopher moved rooms around that time. Maintenance cleared everything up by 6:00am, and everyone lived through the episode. After another round of massages and facials, we headed back to Singapore Wednesday night, 29 June. We spent the night in a modest and forgettable little hotel, collected the bags we’d left in storage in Singapore (bringing our baggage total to 23 pieces, including carry-ons), and boarded our flight home. Our entry into Jakarta was made easy by the presence of the company formalities man, who met us off the jetway, collected our passports, and quickly dealt with the officials. We never stopped at a desk or spoke with any of the many uniformed individuals at the airport. The drivers helped us load our bags into two cars and we were taken directly to the new house. Several folks were in the house when we arrived and we spent a few hours rearranging the furniture that had already been delivered, directing the placement of the beds that arrived later, and introducing ourselves to Nani, who will be our cook/housekeeper, and Musli, who may or may not continue to be our gardener/pool man. We also met whichever of the security guards was on shift at the time, but they patrol 24 hours a day and we’ve seen about five of them so far, so we haven’t yet got names down. That was Thursday morning, and this is Sunday afternoon; we’ve only seen a little of Jakarta since then. Traveling anywhere within the city can be trying. The streets are bustling and daunting, but orderly compared to Da Nang. At least here everyone seems to flow in the same direction within any given lane. We’ve been told of a recent surge in motorcycle ownership in Jakarta (a decent motorbike apparently costs about $600 now). As such, if there is a handlebar-wide space between two cars, there will soon be a motorcycle snaking through the gap. At one point we were progressing haltingly along a particularly congested section of three-lane roadway. Vendors appeared amongst the slower traffic, playing a nonchalant but nervy game of daring with the motorcyclists darting up the unorderly lanes. Alissa had her first day of work on Friday and we spent much of Saturday shopping for a few basics for the house. We don’t want to get too much because our shipment from Texas includes many items we needn’t duplicate. But we do have to supply the staff with certain things. For example, as part of their salary package each is to receive a provision of rice and an allotment of food stuffs. We’ve sampled three different grocery stores and have established an easy favorite. We can readily find many familiar products in the Ranch Market (several branches around town). We also bought several lamps, fans for the staff quarters, a few cordless phones, a kitchen stepstool for Nani (she can’t possibly be five feet tall and the second shelves of our kitchen cabinets are a reach for Christopher). We are reluctant to use some of the American electrical items we’ve brought with us (especially the laptop) since the first thing we plugged in – an alarm clock supposedly designed to work on 110 or 220 voltage – exploded immediately. Granted, that was Christopher’s fault for not flipping the switch on the clock to “220,” but it seemed a cautionary lesson nonetheless. We’re not sure if we have internet access yet. There is a cable coming in the wall in the study, but it’s just a bare wire with no plug or jack or fitting on its end. We’re therefore uncertain how long it will take to get this portion of our Indonesian adventurelog published. More as it occurs.
reject that identifier and call it, simply, the Pacific. We inquired about the construction materials for the bucket boats – 8-foot-diameter, bowl-shaped, woven, and remarkably stable vessels. The dive leader said they were made of bamboo and “cowsht.” Come again? “Cowsht,” he said. The same question was later put to our guide on the cyclo tour, who said “bamboo and botanical oils.” Oh, we laughed; we thought the dive leader had been saying, “cow shit.” Oh indeed, said the tour guide, really it is cow shit… we just prefer to tell people it’s botanical oils. Our bucket boat hadn’t leaked a drop. |
Javalogue 1: 26 June -- 03 July 2005
that pool down by the beach;
Furama Hotel, Da Nang, Vietnam
this stretch of sand has at times
been called China Beach
Furama Hotel, Da Nang, Vietnam
this stretch of sand has at times
been called China Beach
Silk Lanterns;
Hoi An, Vietnam
There was one more blue
lantern in that top row, but it's in
Arianna's bedroom now.
Hoi An, Vietnam
There was one more blue
lantern in that top row, but it's in
Arianna's bedroom now.
the Javalogue
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the Cyclo Tour;
DaNang, Vietnam
Sure, it looks fine here, but riding
in front also means you're the
first one thrust into oncoming
traffic.
DaNang, Vietnam
Sure, it looks fine here, but riding
in front also means you're the
first one thrust into oncoming
traffic.
the Silk Tailor's;
Hoi An, Vietnam
Here we saw silk worms in
action, picked our styles, and
had several silk garments made
to order (next-morning delivery).
Hoi An, Vietnam
Here we saw silk worms in
action, picked our styles, and
had several silk garments made
to order (next-morning delivery).
The terminal at Siem Reap,
Cambodia
Just to prove we've been there.
Cambodia
Just to prove we've been there.
The girls struggled to adapt to
flying Business Class on
Singapore Airlines
Don't fret for them; they managed.
flying Business Class on
Singapore Airlines
Don't fret for them; they managed.
Flower display in open market
DaNang, Vietnam
Arianna took this picture and the
two photos on the bottom of this
page while in the DaNang market.
Amazingly, we escaped the stall
on the bottom without a single
acquisition.
DaNang, Vietnam
Arianna took this picture and the
two photos on the bottom of this
page while in the DaNang market.
Amazingly, we escaped the stall
on the bottom without a single
acquisition.
