LifeInContrast.com

There’s a big market in downtown Bandung near the town square, and part of that market is dedicated to pirated DVDs and music.  It was closed recently due to a police crackdown, but the appropriate bribes have been paid, and it has been allowed to reopen.  I went there today, and purchased the following:

The Simpsons [...]

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There’s a line from a Louis Armstrong song that goes something like this:
“When you’re showerin’
Oh, when you’re showerin’
The whole room showers with you”
Okay, so I may have taken some artistic liberties with the exact wording. Anyhow, in Indonesia the bathrooms are more like “wet rooms”. That’s especially true since we’ve installed a shower [...]

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I got up at 4:30am to “watch” the Seahawks-Packers game on a live NFL Sports Ticker.  It gives me all the stats & plays as they happen, but it’s not quite the same as the real thing.
The sun is coming up in the crisp morning air, and the world is coming to life as we [...]

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Actually, I’m a multi-millionaire.  Boo-yah.
 
A million Indonesian rupiah is about $100 USD.  But I’m still a millionaire.

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It no longer seems weird to see a steering wheel on the right-hand side of a car.  In fact, it seems weird to think of the wheel being on the left.  I can barely imagine it.
It doesn’t feel uncomfortable anymore to drive my motorcycle on the left side of the road.   It’s almost second-nature now.  [...]

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Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2008 brings you the realization of your aspirations, and the courage to do whatever your heart tells you.
Here is a quote from Udjo Ngalagena, master angklung player and teacher. He is also the founder of the Saung Angklung Udjo center, which promotes understanding, education, and appreciation of [...]

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Roughly seven days ago, my 29 year-old brother lay in the hospital with severe back pain, unable to move or feel his legs.  The doctors were testing him, frantically trying to figure out what the problem was.  When they said there was a possibility that he would never walk again, it was hard to fathom [...]

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Little Known Fact #2: We can see bats any time we want, simply by stepping onto our balcony at night.  I’m not sure why there are so many of them.  I think there are caves in the general vicinity.
They swoop really close to our balcony.  They alight on the branches of the nearby guava tree.  [...]

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There are so many little details about our daily life in Indonesia.  Many of these little details, you’re probably not aware of.  And there are too many to fit into one posting.  So I’ve decided to start a new category - LKF (Little Known Facts).
LKF #1 - We don’t flush our toilet paper, we collect [...]

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To be honest, Thanksgiving came and went without much notice here.  I almost forgot it completely until my boss (from England) asked me if today was the day.
My dinner tonight was nasi rendang, a sort of beef curry dish from Sumatra that is my absolute favorite Indonesian meal.  I eat it a lot, so I [...]

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