The Tree of Life

2011 here we come.

Christmas Dinner

Charlie, Tom and Daryl organized a Christmas Dinner for all the expats in Medan.
Here's the ticket I put together for the dinner.

Pub Quiz Posters

For a while now Tom, Charlie and I have been doing a Pub Quiz at a German bar in Medan called Roland's. We have done two so far, with our third tonight, and we're hoping that someone else will do the next one so we can actually play.
These are the small and cheesy posters I made for the past quizzes and the two I made for tonight's quiz.

Scott Pilgrim

This is worth checking out. I wasn't sure a while back when I first caught the trailer but it's really well done and not as cheesy as it looks.

This ain't the down it's the upbeat, make it complete.

Got some photos out of the way finally. They were overdue but it felt good to finally complete a little 'project'. One of many.
Guitar is ummm... getting there. Gym is still the gym and it still feels good to be going. It's my longest stretch at the gym yet.
My TEFL course is coming along. I'm just about finished the largest portion of it and then I'll have just a few smaller ones to go.

I went on a Hash run last night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_House_Harriers

It is basically an excuse to get drunk and socialize with a decent little trek before hand.
You show up, pay your fee 45000 rupiah (5 dollars Canadian) and you just gather around meeting the other 'hashers'. Once everyone shows up you head out on the hash. One member has already gone ahead and laid a paper trail on the route through the jungle so you know where to go. We had a group of about 20 plus heading out on this hash and it took a little over an hour to get through the trail. Once you're back at base camp there are showers, food, kegs of beer and someone who cleans your shoes for 2000 rupiah (20 cents). Once everyone's back, showered and had a few they had out punishments.
All the members form a circle around the ring leader who has a tray of beers ready. He basically just goes around the circle taking the piss out of everyone and giving these 'punishments'. The things they call you on could be completely true or just absolutely random. It could be something like 'you were the last one out of the trail so you get a punishment' or 'your shoes are new so now you have to drink a beer from them. When you get called to the middle of the circle they hand you a glass of beer, sing this little song and at the end you have to chug it back.

The new guys get called to the center quite a few times their first night and it was no exception for me of course. I got called in a few times just for being the new guy, no other reason. Once I got called in because I had my hand in my pocket. The ring leader just pointed at me and yelled 'he's wanking! there's no wanking allowed'. For that I had to chug another beer and also have cold water poured down my shorts. That happened to me 3 times. This goes on for quite a while until they announce 'social drinking' where you finally sit down and realize how much beer you just drank.
Got home pretty late and didn't get much done at work today. I'll have to make up for that tomorrow.

Been thinking about Christmas lately. I think it's because they have already put up decorations at my work... Can't decide what to do. I'm kind of wishing I went home for Christmas instead of in the summer. Maybe I miss the winter a little bit.

Anyone want to fly me back?

Arcade Fire

Amazing song. Amazing video.

Stay Positive

Cos this world swallows souls
And when the blues unfold
It gets cold silence burns holes
You're going mad
Perhaps you always were
But when things was good you just didn't care
This is called irony
When you most need to get up you got no energy
Time and time shit'll happen
The dark shit's unwrapping
But no-one's listening your mates are laughing
Your brethren's fucking and then you start hating
Your stomach starts churning and you mind starts turning.
So smoke another draw
It won't matter no more but the next day still feels sore
Rain taps on your window
Always did tho but you didn't hear it when things were so-so
You're on your own now
Your little zone you were born alone and believe me you'll die alone

Feels nice and still
Good thing about brown is it always will
It's easy, no-one blames you
It's that world out there that's fucked you
You know less of a person and if God exists
He still loves you
Just remember that - the more you sink the further back from that brink
Maybe you've lifetime scars and you think tattoos might be more fitting
But who's picking?
Searching for yourself you find demons
Try and be a freeman and grasp that talisman
Cos your the same as I am
We all need our fellow man
We all need our samaritan.
Maybe I'm better looking than you tho
Maybe I've got more dough - but am I happier... no.
Get the love of a good girl and your world will be much richer than my world
And your happiness will uncurl

Stop dreaming
People who say that are blaspheming
They're doing nine to five and moaning
And they don't want you succeeding when they've blown it
And you idols - who are they?
They too dreamt about their day
Positive steps will see your goals.
Whether it's dollars or control, feel the gold.
I ain't helping you climb the ladder
I'm busy climbing mine.
That's how it's been since the dawn of time
If you reach a cul-de-sac
The world turns it's back
This is your zone, it's like blackjack
He might get the ace or the top one
So organise your two's and three's into a run then you'll have fucked him son
And for that you'll be the better one
One last thing before you go though
When you feel better tomorrow you'll be a hero
But never forget today. you could be back here
Things can stray
What if you see me in that window?
You won't help me I know.
That's cool, just keep walking where you go.
Carry on through the estate, stare at the geezers so they know you ain't lightweight
And go see your mates

I hope you understand me
Just trying to stay positive
I ain't no preaching fucker and I ain't no do-goody-goody either
This is about when shit goes pear-shaped
And if you aren't or ever have been at rock bottom then good luck to you in the big wide world
But remember that one day shit might just start crumbling
Your bird might fuck off or you might loose your job
It's when that happens that what I'm talking about will feel much more important to you
So if you ain't feeling it, just be thankful that everything's cool in your world

Where The Circle Ends

No one even lives here
We're too busy crashing our cars every morning in the same house
Paving the same roads
Unwilling to walk them
And even when we extend ourselves, its only to be included
In a moment that stands still
And so often we don't struggle to improve conditions
We struggle for the right to say "We improved conditions"
And so often we form communities
Only to use them as exclusionary devices
And we forget that somewhere man is beside himself with grief
And somewhere people are calling for teachers
And no one's answering

Hello Mister

Again I feel I'm juggling too many things at once. I'm teaching myself how to play guitar, trying to get to the gym 3 days a week, working on photos I have been putting off for ages along with new ones I keep taking, working on school work outside of office hours so I can get a bit ahead with planning and I just started an online TEFL course which has already started chewing up more of my time! A little while back I started to write something as well but I don't really know where that's going at all...

Also a new friend of mine, who I feel I am just starting to get to know, will be leaving Medan soon so I've been spending most of my weekends with her. I'm not complaining about her taking up my time at all. If I did I would probably get a few angry messages back saying "bloody this and bloody that you bloody twat."

Another busy weekend coming up and I know for sure at least one day will be a complete write off... I'll just have to hope for some magical Indonesian holiday to appear, like they do, so I can have some extra time to knock a few things out the way.

Come on indo holiday!!

127 Hours

My favourite director does it again.

Big City Dream

The last words I heard before I slammed the door...
"You gotta be humble in this life."
But my shoulders tell me that ain't right
as I race down the stairs and step out into the night.
I scan the city skyline...
smoking like a neon mechanized Christ.
So I walk with intent towards my salvation.
Thoughts rise and fall... sharpen my mind into a razor.
I try to see into the future.
I try to sense impending danger.
There's a bum on the corner with his shopping cart filled with plastic bags.
Somedays I would wonder how he got there.
Not tonight, I don't care.
Steam rising up from the gutter...
shining in the headlights of passing cars.
The sound of distant sirens drowned out by thick concrete walls.
My state of mind makes me all alone on this platform in this subway station.
If you can make it here...
no one will care.
I see faces cut by lines of weariness.
Intelligent eyes hardened by cynical resignation.
I catch my reflection...
my face is changing too.
I find the reasons while I suffer just like all the others.
Up the stairs into a hazy dream.
I hear the neons scream.
I hear the billboards scream.
Fields of concrete stretching infinitely.
The industries that made us free...
with money to spend on all the wrong things.
I get down on my knees. The crowds rush past me.
I pray to no one and I feel nothing.

TRON TRON TRON

The colours are a bit off in this but you'll have to deal with it.

True Grit

A remake of a classic John Wayne film. It looks like the Coen brothers will do it justice.



Or you could watch the original.

The Fighter

Jalan Labu (Pumpkin Street in English)

The house I live in.

Empire

Something to watch out for.

Radiohead covering Joy Division

Awesome

Far too long...

So in June it was my first time back in Canada for almost two years. It was good to be home and it was definitely worth not telling anyone that I was coming back so I could surprise my family.
I showed up at my parents house, had to wait a few hours for them to come home, but the look on their faces was priceless. It was a bit planned as in I told them I would be calling around 10 that evening. That was the time I would get to their house so they should have been waiting by the phone. It didn't work out perfectly which is why I spent a few hours waiting in the backyard but it was still a great surprise for them nonetheless.
The next day we drove up to Toronto to surprise my sister while she was at work. I really should have just kept doing surprise pop-ins with everyone I knew, that would have been interesting.

It took me a few days to get over the jet lag and get myself moving but when I finally did I was busy.
I wish I would have been a bit busier though. I got to see a lot of friends I hadn't seen in a long time but I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see. I'm talking about people I have known for years but just didn't manage my time well enough to see. If any of you are reading this I'm sorry about that, you should know who you are I hope. Come out here anytime and I will show you some amazing places that you won't ever forget.

I am absolute shit at keeping in touch with people who aren't in the 'six inches in front of my face' (Pacino in any given sunday, anyone?). I have been telling myself this for years. I get so caught up in the here and the now, always have, that I often loose focus on other people and things.
Might have a new years resolution in the works here... Have I tried this one before?
I just hope that old friends are still friends and that new ones stick. Isn't that what we all hope for?

When I got back to Indonesia I dove right into work the next day and feel like I haven't stopped since. I have been doing my usual drinking/being a lazy sod on the weekends. I bought my first guitar ever when I got here. I have always wanted to play but never tried hard enough to get something going. I talked to a few people about it back in Canada and they kept saying "teach yourself", so that's what I'm trying. Picked up a nice acoustic yahama and have been pickin' away at it every week. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Got my hair cut for the first time in over a year which was much needed due to the heat here. I'm much cooler these days, in a temperature sense of course. Speaking of hair, last night I made an interesting bet with Tom. Next week we are going to play pool, best out of 9 games, first to 5 is obviously the winner. Loser has to get a perm. The perm was probably sparked in Tom's head by a New Kids On The Block video we saw earlier in the night. So by next Sunday I may have a perm... Shit...

Will update this more, I hope. I've said that plenty of times...

Inception

I can't stop watching this trailer. This looks damn good.

Java

A few weeks ago I headed over to Java, the Province next to Sumatera, to see a little more of this interesting country.

My main goal was to meet up with Tom and Charlie in a city called Yogyakarta aka Jogja.
After meeting Tom and Charlie there we would rent some bikes and head up to Borobudur.

From Medan I flew into Jakarta, Indo's capital, on the 22nd of March. I would spend the night there and early the next afternoon head back to the airport, destination Jogja. In the morning I was left with a few hours before I had to head to the Airport.
I heading down to the National Monument which wasn't too far from where I was staying. It was basically this tall ass structure similar in shape to Brock's Monument but much taller. If you are from the Niagara Region you should get the reference.

It wasn't much to look at but you are able to pay a few thousand Rupiah to take an elevator to the top. When you get to the top to try and enjoy the view that's when you realize how polluted the city is. As you look around from the top of the tower you can see a fair distance but you also can see where the large parts of the city are heavily polluted.
By this time I was swimming in a pool of my own sweat. I had all my gear with me while I was strolling around the monument because I was heading straight to the airport after. I still had some time to kill so I took a walk through the diorama museum they have under the monument and learned about the country I live in.

There wasn't much else to see around that area so I headed for the train station nearby which has buses to the airport. I hoped on after being told it was only 50000 Rupiah. I saw everyone else was paying 20000. When the man came around collecting money he still asked me for 50000. I told him everyone else is paying 20000 so I will be doing the same. He just smiled and took my 20000.

My friend Christie said the bus ride was going to be a possible hour and a half to two hours because of crazy traffic. The bus got there in a little over half an hour. I was way too early for my flight. So early that the check-in counter wasn't even open.
I was glad I brought a book.

Finally my flight took off and I was headed for Jogja. I got there about 3ish and Tom was at the airport waiting. He had already hired out a bike so he drove me to the guesthouse him and Charlie were staying at.
It was a solid guesthouse. I didn't have to pay all that much and the place had a pool that was never busy. We took full advantage of that one for sure.

I was pretty beat that day after being up quite late the night before but after some decent food and a cold beer I got my energy back. Tom, Charlie and I felt we should go out that night because the following day was Tom's birthday. We headed to this "must go to bar" in Jogja which was just like any other average Discotheque I've been to so far.
It wasn't too busy so we just hung at the bar having some drinks and a bit of dancing. Tom got really into as he always does and at one point was dancing on the bar for everyone. Pulling a few new moves I hadn't seen yet along with a few of his classics.

The next day I hired a bike out in the morning so we could ride up to Borobudur. The ride was nice and we got there in under an hour. We spent pretty much the whole day there. We arrived early afternoon and didn't leave until the sun was going down. We stayed that long because we wanted to be on the temple for when the sun was setting.
Before the sunset we had the hecklers chasing us around trying to sell things. They were really aggressive but I still don't think as aggressive as China. We ducked into a market area to get away from them and grab a light meal.

The sun was on it's way down so we walked back over to the temple. We took a few good group shots of us in front of the temple then we thought we should start back up the temple. As we get back to the stairs we notice a ton of people are coming off it. The security tells us they are closing very shortly and we had time for a few more shots. We get to the top and as we do another security guard is telling us we have to leave. We snapped a few shots each and he kept saying we could pay him some money to stay a little while longer. He wanted about 150,000 (15 dollars) I believe. He called it a "sunset ticket."Charlie told him he was corrupt and we left, not getting any real good sunset shots.
We did however find out later that there happens to actually be a SUNSET TICKET, which if you buy at the gate is about double the price. The security guard was offering us a good deal but we didn't know it.

We rode back to Jogja that night. We took a dip to build up a hunger and then went out for food. We went to a restaurant we saw the night before that offered a few interesting dishes. They had Shark on the menu, which Tom and Charlie were both interested in trying. I was up for something I knew I would like so I stuck with something simple. I did end up trying there shark though. After doing so I wish I had ordered it. Don't pass up shark if it's on a menu.

The next day was our last full day in Jogja. We took our bikes around the city popping into different areas to do some shopping. The city was a little confusing as far as getting around but Tom seemed to have a handle on it so I just followed his lead. After being drained of energy we headed back to our guesthouse area for a beer. Tom and I knew that in the city you could find places that serve Kind Cobra and we had been talking about it throughout the day. After our beers we popped back into the guesthouse for a cool down dip. After that Charlie was pretty wiped so she went to bed. Tom and I still had our cobra mission to take care off. Tom also heard about this coffee that is worth trying in Jogja. The called it KOPI JOSS. It's coffee that they serve up with a burning bit of charcoal in it. We found a sweet spot that overlooked a bit of the city. Anyone can pull up and grab a seat on these mats on the sidewalk and enjoy the view and order some food or drinks. We tried the coffee and were both thoroughly impressed by the coffee. Imagine the taste of burnt coffee. It's damn good.

After that we hoped on our bikes and headed to an area near the train station where we heard the best Cobra would be. Everything around that area was closing down so we had no luck there. We booted around the city for probably a good 40 minutes looking for snake and exploring. We remembering seeing a restaurant near our guesthouse that did offer King Cobra so we headed back that way.
They had two options for King Cobra. I went for the steak and Tom, the satay.
We both had rather large portions of Cobra and we both really enjoyed it. I can't really compare it to anything I have eaten but if you get a chance, try it.
The next day I was heading back to Jakarta and Tom and Charlie were heading to Bandung.

I got back to Jakarta about 1 o'clock in the afternoon and found myself a guesthouse to stay in. I was meeting up with my friend Christie later in the evening to grab some dinner and not much else. We had some dinner in this kick ass buffet in one of the 10,000 plazas in the city.

Christie was a great tour guide, she took me to places I wanted to see and to places I would like to see. We did a bit of shopping that day in a few plazas, some better than others. Later on we heading north to check out this crazy packed market that was in a shell of an old plaza.

When we both got sick of shopping we headed a little further north to see 'old town' Jakarta. It was a pretty cool part of the city but we didn't stay too long, I think because we were just a bit worn out. We headed west from the 'old town' to the waterfront area to grab some dinner. We had dinner on this boardwalk restaurant and watched the sunset. It was a cool spot. Ended off the night just taking it easy and having a beer and going to see a movie. I was off the next day back to Medan.

I really enjoyed my trip. Jogja was amazing. I would really like to go back there again some day. Jakarta was alright as well. I can see why people can be drawn to it from other parts of Indonesia. It's the big city life. It was definitely still Indonesia but I felt like there were splashes of Toronto here and there. It made me miss back home a bit. I'll live.

Ever since I have been back in Medan it just feels like it's been non-stop. I had a ton of exams to mark when I got back to work along with other things to take care of. I am just now feeling like I'm back on track and ready for the few weeks ahead. Busy weeks of course.
My goal for this weekend though is to just kick-it old school. Watch a few movies I have been meaning to see and just take it easy. We'll see how well that works out.

The Force Unleashed II

Big time geek.

The force is strong with this one.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1931187

Regulaters...

MOUNT UP!

Java Trip

So exam week is coming up and I'm taking a little time off to go see a few more places in Indonesia.
I have been wanting to head over to Java since my sister said she was coming out. She wasn't willing to do any heavy traveling when she got here so we took it fairly easy.

Speaking of fairly easy, when I go over to Java soon I won't be doing anything too heavy. I will fly to Jakarta the night of the 22nd, spend the night there, exploring a little, then fly off to Yogyakarta the next afternoon.

When I touch down in Yogyakarta I will meet up with Tom and Charlie, right away renting out a motorbike and heading to Borobudur to spend the night close by and see amazing views like this the next morning...




After spending most of the day at this beautiful place we will eventually head back to Yogyakarta to poke around there for a bit. On Friday mid afternoon I will fly back to Jakarta to see a bit more of it. I have some friends there that can show me around and let me see the best bits. I plan on hanging around in Jakarta until Sunday. My flight heads back early Sunday I really need to change that so I can come back later... perhaps now...

Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now

It has come to the time where my school has asked me if I want to stay for another year. My second contract isn't finished until the end of September this year but they want to know soon because it could take them a bit of time to find someone new. I don't have very long to decide. I want to get a Job in Japan badly, China would be my second choice. So far it seems like it might be a bit easier to get a Job in China but I would much prefer Japan.

As much as I want to leave I know another year here would be a "piece of piss" as they say. I would have another pay increase and would have a real easy time of saving more money next year then I have this year. I could also have more time to better myself as a teacher. Work on getting some certificates and what not. That would give me a bit more confidence to go on to bigger jobs.

After typing this I feel like I am leaning more towards staying another year... I am just getting itchy feet. I could see a bit more of Indonesia if I did stay another year... aduh.

Kicks

Someone please buy me a pair of these in Canada so I have them for whenever I visit...

District 9

Listen to me. Trust me. Watch this film.
After watching the film I was really impressed by how unique it was and how it wasn't anything that I expected.
This version of the trailer couldn't be embedded so follow the link.
DO IT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHihFA8q8xI

Lonely Santa Diaries

Support Jeff Brontman and his friends. Watch all four episodes of Lonely Santa.
This is a very worthy cause to help out a group of independent filmmakers. writers, actors, etc. A lot of people had a part in the making of this project - help them get it out there!!!

EPISODE ONE


EPISODE TWO


EPISODE THREE


EPISODE FOUR