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The Traveling Couples

Adventurous couple: Bruno Frebourg and Isabelle Frebourg pose with Honorary Consul to France Raphael Devianne at the French Consulate in Sanur, Bali on June 28, 2012. The couple has pedaled across 45 countries on their ongoing bicycle journey. BD/Ni Komang, link

 

I've heard stories about friends having to change their life styles after they are married. Some have to cut on times to hangout and some others have to stop traveling because their spouses dislike the idea of traveling. As a single travel enthusiast, I find those stories a bit disheartening. But here are three couples who shares passion for globetrotting with their spouses and blog about it.

Jeff & Diana

Indonesian couple Jeff and Diana, who were married in 2004, live by Dalai Lama's saying:"Once a year, go someplace you've never been before." They have been traveling to Asia (China, Macau, Hong Kong), Australia and Europe (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia and Switzerland) as well as visiting the local tourism destinations. In Bahasa.

Dua Ransel

Dua Ransel, which means Two Backpacks, chronicles the journey of Surabaya-born Dina and her Canadian husband Ryan going across the globe with only two backpacks. In 2009, they sold their stuffs and embarked on what was planned to be a one-year trip. But then, they changed their minds. They called themselves permanent travelers, nomads or even vagabonds. In Bahasa and English.

Mr&Mrs Globetrot

American couple Julia and Yuriy kicked off their marriage life by taking a six-month honeymoon across the world. The couple, who work as photographers, also visited Indonesia during those six months. Their latest trip was to Iceland! *nosebleed* In English.

Have a lovely Monday!

While The Boss Is Away, Let's Post Some Conversations :D

Because the following conversations are too good to be kept by myself :).

What Scholarship Is All About
NPM: Have you taken your Master degree?
Me: Not yet, I'm looking for a scholarship to do that.
NPM: You must remember that you have two goals upon receiving a scholarship: ijazah (the degree) and ijabsah (a word play on ijab/wedding oath and sah/official).
Me: -_-

Where's The Phone?
NPM: (Hold a laptop on his right hand and note pads on his left hand) Let's have the meeting now. Wait a minute, where's my mobilephone?
(Spend the next three minutes rummaging his desk, bag, pockets. He's about to use the office phone to call his mobile when I noticed something...)
Me: Isn't that your mobilephone on your left hand? Between those note pads?
NPM: Oh, you're right.

Music Taste Does Not Lie
NPM: We are going to get a visit from KDI on Friday. Please prepare everything.
PFC: KDI as in Kontes Dangdut Indonesia (the Indonesian Dangdut Contest)?
NPM: -_- No, KDI stands for Korean Development Institute.

Because Good Boss Gives Two Days Off
Situation: Friday afternoon
Me: (sneezing)
NPM: Who's sneezing?
Me: I did
NPM: Okay, you can take two days off, starting tomorrow. I'm a good boss, see?
Me: -_- But tomorrow and the day after are days off

Why Can't Indonesians Speak English As A Second Language?

That was the question asked by my Boss CO. He reminisced how he traveled to the small cities in the Philippines and asked directions to a scavenger, who surprisingly could speak English quite well. He said it's the same thing in Cambodia and Laos, where you could just stop any person on the street and he/she could speak English.

Since Southeast Asians share so many similarities, one can't help comparing an ASEAN member to another member. Let's just omit Singapore and Malaysia, who had the Commonwealth connection, from this discussion.

Does this mean we have less linguistic ability compared to our neighbors? No. When I went to Mt. Kelimutu in Flores island a couple of weeks ago, I met this lovely hostel lady who speaks English. She is a simple homemaker and learns the European language through daily interaction with her guests. So yeah, when demands are pressing, many Indonesians can speak any foreign language.

I've been trying to find the answer for the question in the post title and come up with several factors on the why English in Indonesia is an exclusive language spoken only by the young, the hip and the upper crust.

1. Most Indonesians have to learn many languages since early youth, and it confused them. Taking from my own experience, I have a Sundanese father and a Javanese mother, I spent my childhood with my Sundanese-speaking grandma then I learned Bahasa Indonesia at school.

FYI, there are two types of Javanese languages: kromo (the refined one, spoken when with the elders and people we respect) and ngoko (the casual, used amongst friends and like-minded company), while Sundanese has three types: (1) the one used for the elders, (2) the one used for people of the same age and (3) the one used for younger people (Other Sundanese-speaking people out there, please correct me if I'm wrong).

So, by the time Indonesians enroll at school, study Bahasa Indonesia and then study English, they have a mixed up comprehension on the grammar. Before they have a thorough understanding of their mother language, they have to learn the national language, which has a totally different structure.

I believe that if you want to master a foreign language, you should fully understand your own native language (whatever language that is). I had been very fortunate that D worked as a language editor at a publishing company as he had laid a solid foundation on my linguistic ability.

2. Indonesia is a vast archipelago and the distribution of competent English language teachers has been a bit dispersed compared to Cambodia.

3. Many international tourists usually only visit the tourist-packed places, such as Bali island (because it's more convenient in terms of transportation and accommodation, of course). But if they go to far-flung places and interact with the locals, I'm sure that the locals will be able to pick up a word or two from them.

Things have developed for the better. Let's hope that there will be more Indonesians blogging in English to spread the word out.

Anyway, instead of demanding Indonesians to be fluent in English, why don't we introduce Bahasa Indonesia to the tourists? Afterall, this link says Bahasa Indonesia is an easy one to master:).

What do you think? This random rambling is brought to you by the absence of Boss NPM (He's on a business trip to Poland for one week. Oh happiness, oh freedom!). Oh, and have a magnificent Monday! :)

Scientists Announce Discovery of A New Fish Species In East Nusa Tenggara

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Well, well, what do you know? You've just left East Nusa Tenggara and the next news you read is about a new fish species found there. You've got to be kidding me, Universe. This makes a good reason to come back, though.

Going Bananas

A neighbor gave me these bananas. We call this type of bananas Pisang Tanduk (horn banana). D wanted to have it fried, M liked it steamed while I ate them raw. How do you like your banana?

The 2013 Trans Flores Trip

After the Komodo tour, my friends and I went on a Trans Flores trip that started from Ende then on to Bajawa and Ruteng before ended in Labuan Bajo again. We flew to Ende and rented a car. It's a road trip in the spice island :).

Flores, which means flower in Portuguese, is like a living and breathing laboratory waiting for people to discover its beauty. It's not the first time I go to Flores. I went to Ende in 2010 (you can read the experience here, here and here). Yet I was once again mesmerized by the beautiful landscape. 

Instead of boring you with the minutiae of the trip, I'll just post the highlight.

My cousin and friends said the trip had changed their preconceived perceptions about Flores island: (1) They thought the whole Flores island was as hot as Labuan Bajo, but Bajawa and Ruteng were cool as they were located in the mountainous area, (2) They thought Flores people were rude and brash due to the rough facial features (dark skin and big eyes that result in intense gaze) as well as the fact that many thugs in Jakarta come from Flores, but actually Flores people are kind and friendly (this post here is proof). 

Nevertheless Pak Kanis, our tour guide for Komodo-Rinca islands who is a native Flores people, jokingly said,"Javanese people are born smiling, but Flores people have to learn to smile. It takes millions of Rupiah to make them smile. We still have a lot to learn about tourism and hospitality."

 Candlenuts under the sun

Allow me to tell you about Filosofi Kemiri (Candlenut Philosophy). When I came to Ende in December 2010, the people were drying candlenuts in front of their homes. The candlenuts were dark-colored and hard-shelled, so hard that we can not crack them open. But once the candlenuts dry, we can crack them by tapping them with palm leaf stalks. 

A Flores people told me,"The candlenuts are perhaps the best metaphor to describe Flores people. We are dark-skinned and look rough on the outside, but if you know how to treat us, we are so easy to crack open. And our hearts are as white as the candlenuts inside the shell."

For me and Cousin Dina, the trip felt like a homecoming journey to our late Grandma's home in Kebumen, Central Java. The road is winding, hugging the hills and mountains. When we flew over Flores (flying from Labuan Bajo to Ende), we saw the massif crawling all over the island. It looks like the roots of a huge plant and has a soul.

Not only that Flores is beautiful in nature, it also has rich culture. Each regencies, or perhaps each village, has its own vocabulary and language. For example, in Labuan Bajo, a young man is called Nana, while in Ende, it's Eja. They can tell which part of Flores a person comes from just to hear the words he/she is using. Now, this is where my ability to mimic local dialect comes handy:). 

With my darkened skin tone (after all those trekking and snorkeling) and the adopted dialect, sometimes they think I come from Flores. As a result, I got a good price for a bag of coffee in Bajawa and a Rp50,000 discount in a hotel in Labuan Bajo when I told the hotel receptionist I just came from Ruteng (well, it's not totally a lie, I did go to Ruteng).    

We took a journey to the darkness of Gua Batu Cermin (Mirror Stone Cave). Courtesy of travel buddy Mbak Polina.

 Pine trees along the road to Mt. Kelimutu. Yeah, I came there for the second time. I wouldn't mind going there again for the third, fourth, fifth and so on:).

Begonia kelimutuensis, a type of begonia that only grows in Mt. Kelimutu. You can find them in the arboretum. Besides learning about the plants, the arboretum makes a great place to listen to the chirping of the birds. Courtesy of travel buddy Mbak Polina

 A candid photo of me on the way to Mt. Kelimutu by travel buddy Faradilla. The sky was so blue!

 We passed Wologai traditional village, which had just been burned down due to a short circuit. Legend has it that the village has a drum made of human skin. The fire destroyed everything and only these musical instruments survived. They are in the process of rebuilding and plan to finish everything by February 2014.

 Menhirs in Bena village

A Flores woman and the hand-made weaving products that she made in Bena village

Maria Krisanti, 3 years old, one of the youngest residents in Bena village. She calls herself Ican. Her mother works as a kindergarten teacher in a neighboring village, and so she lives with her doting grandparents. Isn't she adorable? :)

A Catholic parochial church in Ngada

This building is right across the church.

 A church and a mosque stand side by side in Bajawa. Catholic and Christian dominate this island. If you are a Muslim and want to take a road trip in Flores, hire a Muslim driver so he can point you to halal restaurants. If you can't find a Muslim driver, then you should resort to Padang cuisines.

The mystery of Mt. Inerie

 The paddy fields in Flores follow the land contour

 The farmers in Flores utilise their tractor as a means of transportation. They connect the machine to a carriage and use it to take people and other tools

Instead of using ounces/grams, vendors sell the coffee powder by glasses. I asked this vendor in Bajawa market with local dialect and she offered a glass for Rp 5000 and three glasses for Rp 10,000. After we asked around, she happened to be the only vendor who offered such cheap prices. We bought all of her supply and she had to borrow coffee from the other vendors in order to fulfill our demands. The vendors roast and grind their own coffee, so each vendor has different product quality. It's custom-made coffee :). Courtesy of travel buddy Mbak Polina

My holiday face was grinning cheek to cheek at Soa hot spring. Courtesy of Cousin Dina.

My feet in Soa hot spring, Bajawa.

Another view of my feet at Pantai Batu Hijau. Oh look, my T-shirt matched the pebbles.

 The spider web rice field in Cancar, Ruteng. It looks as if the aliens came and made it. Courtesy of Cousin Dina

 My travel buddies and the Catholic nuns in Susteran Maria Berduka Cita (the Grieving Mary Nunnery) in Ruteng. They stayed for one night in the nunnery. I was not in the picture because I had left for Labuan Bajo. Rather than the nunnery, I'd prefer to stay in a monastery (just kidding!). Courtesy of Mbak Polina

Due to the limited days of leave, I have to skip Ruteng and head straight to Labuan Bajo-Denpasar-Jakarta. There are many other sites I'd like to visit in Flores island, such as Wae Rebo village and Liang Bua cave (where the hobbit fossil was found). I will definitely come again to Flores. Well, perhaps two or three years from now, because the trip to eastern Indonesia really makes holes in my wallet :P.