Third Day in Lille

On Saturday, we went looking for another store of our favorite (?) hypermarket: Auchan, in the village of Fache-Thumesnil. I got a small universal carrying case for my iPod with nice colors: black with an orange lining = very cheerful!. Unfortunately my iPod doesn’t fit in it, so now I’m using it for my cellphone instead…

In the afternoon, we went back to Carrefour at the Euralille train station, to search for an inexpensive ‘cabin size’ suitcase that I had seen in an ad in the TV guide. We found it, and unlike the well-known Delsey and Samsonite brands, which only come in red and black, this “Faraway” brand (from China, where else?) had a nice BROWN color. So it will require a lot less effort to recognize it on an airport conveyor belt (for those times I can’t keep it in the cabin). Will show a picture of it later.

For dinner we went to Le Palais du Dragon on the corner; I just couldn’t stand having stayed in that area for 5 times without having tried the Chinese restaurant there. We had
- fried fish fillet with lemon
- fried fish fillet on a hot plate with sweet&sour sauce.
- beef with “satay sauce”: my dad got this, but was disappointed by the curry-like taste of it.

Back in the West

So we’re back in the western world; with many memories of spectacular sights, fantastic food, and especially wonderful people. Now remains the task of selecting the best from nearly 1400 (!) pictures. It’s all my new camera’s fault: it switches on fast, and also reloads fast, so before you know it you suddenly have taken 200 pictures a day! And of course not having been to Asia in 20 years helps create the idea (illusion) that everything is interesting.

In addition, I want to write some entries about specific topics, rather than bore you with a daily record of the events of that day (which I do keep, but just for myself). Topics screaming to be described include: food (why did I stay away so long?), people’s attitudes, working life & living standards in Asia, shopping experiences, differences between China, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and maybe family reunions. Oh, and of course the Search for our Roots.

(Luckily all the diseases we feared stayed away, like diarrhea, malaria, and EV-71)

So stay tuned for more!

Souvenir Touts

On Friday, June 6 (incidentally Sweden’s National Day), we hit the road to drive from Yogyakarta (near the south coast) to Semarang (on the north coast). In between, we stopped at the Borobudur temple complex for some must-have snapshots, and in the small town of Wonosobo, where my Mom lived between age 4 and 8.

Having come this far, my uncle felt (rightly) we just had to make a quick stop a the famous temple complex. As legend has it, if you can touch the statue inside the “bells with holes”, you will be guaranteed numerous offspring. As the temperature was rising fast, and the coveted statues required mounting a substantial number of steps, we decided to keep our feet firmly on the ground.

What was a bit interesting / slash / annoying about this (touristic) place, was all the souvenir touts: people trying to sell you the usual crap. Having gained a bit of experience at waving them off in Shanghai, our skills proved grossly insufficient here. These people were REALLY persistent / hard to get rid off. They followed us all the way around the temple, and then even back to the car.

After this, we drove to Wonosobo, a small town where my mother lived between age 4 and 8. It once won an award for the cleanest town in Indonesia, and it showed. We had lunch in Hotel Kresna, which was built in the Dutch colonial era. Now it was frequented, apart from us, by 2 Danish tourists armed with a Lonely Planet guide.
After lunch, we looked for the house where my mom had lived, and fortunately found it. It reminded me of “Nu wonen daar andere mensen”, a famous book in Dutch: Now other people live there.

I also managed to get an Indonesian prepaid SIM-card there, and although we paid 2000 Rp more than necessary, the sales people who addressed us as “Boss”, were so kind as to register the card for us. Nomally you need an Indo ID card for that, but in this country, a little bit of money opens all doors in this country. And it’s really nothing: Rp 2000 is about € 0,15. Altogether Rp 17000 ~ € 1,30 is such a small price to pay for “Citizenship”…
I am now a mobile citizen for: Canada, Sweden, China, and Indonesia
Only in Italy it was “impossibile” to find a shop selling prepaid SIM cards.

After this we proceeded to Semarang on the north coast, the city where my mother was born.

Yo, Yogyakarta

Yes, we made it to Yogyakarta (Indonesia) in one piece.
As soon as we had gotten off the plane, we were treated to a fine sample of bureaucratic inefficiency. We were handed Customs Declaration forms, stating we did not bring in plants, too many cigarettes, weapons, or drugs. But for 200 passengers there were 3 small counters / tables to write on, so everyone tried to conquer either a piece of wall, or squatted and used their knees as a table. Way to go!

Then 1 of our suitcases was inspected, including some of the food wrapped as presents, which they made my dad open them. Fortunately nothing was confiscated.

And then we exited the airport hall, into the overwhelming heat, and one by one the things they said about Indo came true: the road from the airport was crowded, the sidewalks pretty dirty, and the shops along it in poor condition. Stupid governments that have created and nurtured the huge divide between rich and poor. What a difference with Malaysia, and even China…

Hopefully things will be a bit better on our way to Semarang tomorrow.

Ready to go!

Last night was the last night in a comfy bed at my parents’ for the coming 3, almost 4 weeks. Gee, can’t remember when was the last time I had 3 whole weeks (even more) off. Maybe in 1994 after my MSc graduation?

For the record: my big blue suitcase weighs 18.9 kg, and my carry-on bag is 5.2 kg. This includes a bottle of water of 400g, which will be emptied before going thru customs. Wonderfully useless security measures… Much more useful will be the ASUS Eee PC I got especially for this trip, to avoid having to lug a normal laptop with me.

Write to you again from Shanghai, hopefully!