Ngarep Indo...

Its a funny thing about life, there is so many twists are turns in it. We all make plans and even when they are set in motion, the results can sometimes surprises you. I try not to make plans here in Jakarta. I have started living my life day by day, waking up in the morning to a day full of surprises. That was the reality of my last trip to Bandung. With no expectations life is open bring many experiences that I never would imagine. This is the story of a road trip people. When at times it seems like we have written the script for what is supposed to happen, life comes along with white out and makes little changes that forever sculpt unforgettable experiences.

We left our kos kasan bright and early last Saturday morning. I have adjusted my internal clock to Indonesian time (where 7:00 am really means about 7:30). Z, Yuna, Tika, and myself jam into our car and zoom on down the toll road towards Bandung. Traffic, is to say the least, unique in Indonesia. 100% of the time there is a traffic jam, and unless you drive like a F-1 racer you are going to be stuck behind a hundred motorcycles as people cruise to their daily routine. Thank god for Tika's driving. See I used to be scared of cars, and Tika is by far the craziest driver I have ever seen. Dodging in and out of traffic, driving on the opposite side of the road, even off road and into the shoulder is the only way to reach your destination in a moderate amount of time. She does all this while still holding a conversation. Now I never had much faith in god, or the will to prayer, but times like these call for some hail Marys. In the end, her aggresiveness is the only way we would have made it there in one piece. Nice driving Tika!

Along the toll rode it is tradition to jump out of your car and take pictures of the beautiful agricultural landscape. Tagging along with the gang, these pictures turn in to professional photo shoots, with each of us striking a pose Vogue style. As traffic zooms by and people honk and yell, here we are four friends having the time of our lives taking random pictures of the side of a busy freeway. Problem being is that while most of everything is perfectly legal in Jakarta ("No problem!" ~Donny) apparently stopping your car on the side of the road is not.

"Back to the car!"

Polisi in this country don't like people making spectacles of themselves. We dart back to the car in what has become a high speed chase to ditch the patrolman. So much excitement and we haven't even stopped for lunch. Oh Sate Merangi, best place on earth to grab a quick bite to eat. A truly memorable meal.

When we arrive in Bandung the fun really begins. Bandung is known around Indonesia as "Paris van Jawa." It is a holiday town where people leave the busy life of Jakarta to go shopping and sip coffee in cafes. They also have some incredible fruit stands and juices that are locally produced. Nothing is better than the strawberries from here. As you can see, I can hardly even wait to pick them from the vine from the House of Stroberi. See it is this place, the House of Stroberi, where this trip turned upside down. This was supposed to be a very relaxing, easy trip to Bandung. Shopping here... eating... I can be so naive. This was when the Water Ball incident happened.

t Now we see here is a gigantic beach yeah? This my friends is a water ball. The thing about this wonderful invention is that you are actually supposed to get in the ball and sprint across the water. We have the fantastic idea of actually doing it. So Yuna and Tika get in their ball, roll off the deck, and Boom! immediately fall flat on their faces. Z and I laugh a bit... get a little cocky... step into our ball.... roll of the deck... and Boom! fall flat on our faces. We stand up for a second then Boom! on our faces again. Now you should know that I am not built for this country. I can not fit inside of some stores, tables, chairs... you name it. But I was especially not built for water ball. As me and Z go tumbling through this pool falling on our faces, I finally land flat down on the zipper of the water ball. Pop! Water comes pouring in and their is only one thing to do! "Jump inside the nasty toilet poolwater!" Splash head first I go diving out of the water ball only to find that the pool is about a foot deep. Head to toe I am soaked in some of the most polluted water I have ever seen. My wallet and cell phone are drenched to the bone. Z had his blackberry on him, and yep you guessed it: broken. See now water ball seems fun in the concept. Step in the ball, walk across the water like a Jesus gerbil, nothing but good times! But great times happen when you break the water ball. A crowd of locals come running to watch as the tiniest of Indos and the largest bule you will ever see now are wrestling in the water. See we make the most of our time here... when life takes you one way... roll with it...just don't fall down flat on your face more than three times... you will end up wet. Water ball was a great time!

Until you are forced to sit in the back of the car... with no change of clothes.

Later on after shopping around in the Distros (Indo outlet stores for little people) and finding a pair of jeans that actually fit me; we headed to this beautiful little cafe called Congo. It is this gorgeous cafe up on the peak of a mountain by Bandung. It has this view of the town that you could only imagine. Total desktop wallpaper type of view of the town. Its this nice little cafe with live jazz music playing Michael Jackson covers and terrific coffee. But here goes my next mistake of the trip. See I made the mistake of bringing the game of Cheers Governor to Indonesia. Y'all know the drinking game that we used to play in college... and well since we were not drinking it resulted to another form of punishment... Lipstick. Here we are sitting in this nice classy cafe, with the letters U-K-F-C written across my face and neck while others look like cats and clowns. Being this my game, I thought that I would have no problem cruising through without looking like an idiot. I was wrong like I always am. Word of advice: do not let Indonesians play drinking games with you. They will win every time.

Oh and another weird experience to share! So the next day we went to this little water park. While we sat there and ate some food, watching families enjoy the beautiful weather of this town, my friend Ardi suggest that we try something called Dr. Fish. Maybe you have seen this on the travel channel or some other bizarre show, but Dr. Fish is a way of relaxation. It involves sticking your feet or hands in an aquarium and having a thousand fish eat whatever is on your skin. That's right... my feet are feeding these fish for the day. Imagine having leeches (no they are fish but imagine) sit there on your feet eating away the dead skin cells. It tickles, its uncomfortable, its disgusting, its not relaxing, it makes you tingle up on the inside, but after you settle down, it is amazing. Its like sticking your feet into a pool of vibrating water. If you can ignore the fact of these big suckers trying to tear off your toes... oh that feels nice! Caution: do not try this at home!

Okay so there has to be a reason why I share this trip, the deeper side to things. I have a ton of experiences in Indonesia that are hard for me to convey through words. I can not describe the mentality, the experience, the inner feelings I have here through a blog. But they said something to me that means a lot to me this trip. They have started calling me "Ngarep Indo." Now my friends get a kick out of making fun of me. I love it. Its exactly what I would do to my friends. See I try my hardest to adapt to life here. When in Rome right? See Ngarep Indo means "Indonesian wannabe." I might stick out like a sore thumb here in this country, I might never feel as if this place will truly accept me as part of their culture. Well hell I am not. But the people around me have noticed my efforts in trying. That's all I ask for. Now if that's makes me a wannabe then yep that's what I wannabe.

Indonesia has become part of me in these two short months. It has opened my eyes to life outside my comfort zone. It has shown me sides of myself that I never knew existed. It has shown me that the concept of myself is actually a very fluid thing. I think of myself no longer as a "laid-back" person but someone who is adaptable. It just takes a baptism through murky water to show that. Thanks life... whats next?

Trip to Anyer

I have started to notice a trend while in living in Jakarta. When it comes to the weekend, you try your hardest to get out and away from your life in this city. While it all may seem new and exciting to me, for those who have lived here long enough know you need to escape on the weekends. Even though the mentality here is laid back and easy going, the hustle of city life can wear away at the soul. It takes a weekend of exploring Java to refresh my sense of Indonesia and keep my spirits high throughout the week.

We took a trip out to Anyer this last weekend. This is a coastal town out in West Java. Not knowing what to expect as usual, it has become my mentality to just let go of all expectations and reservations and simply live life in the present. I have found this to be a pretty rewarding mind frame in adapting to life in such a different country. Life here is radically different than expected, yet there are universal truths that seem to keep the whole world ticking. My trip to Anyer opened up my eyes to this perspective.

Evan, Josue, Annie, Z (pronounced Zet) and I left at the crack of dawn on Saturday. You have to learn to adjust to avoiding traffic here in Jakarta. If it's even close to traffic time here, forget about whatever it is you have to do. We arrived in Anyer a little past noon and there is only one word to describe this place:remote. There is no way that me or Evan could have found this place without having Indonesian friends. My travels in Jakarta are not for the tourist type. We are going elbow deep here my friends...why hold back now?

When I originally thought about a trip to Anyer, I was thinking I would spend my days chilling on a beach with a beer in hand watching the waves roll in and out. I could not be more blown away by this place. Turquoise water that is crystal clear, coral reef surrounding the ocean front, and of course the palm trees! What I didn't expect was the banana boat ride. Lets take all the dudes (minus Annie cause she's just a wee bit pregnant- 8 months) and strap them on the back of a huge banana raft behind a speed boat, and then drag them around the ocean tides. Better yet, lets pay the guys some extra cash to go faster and dump us off. Thing was like a jet-ski tube ride on crack. Lots of fun...

When we jumped off the banana boat is when this whole experience started to turn surreal. I was treated to a coconut. Now we have all had coconut in the States. It's a shaved sugary sweet artificial blend of white Styrofoam. This folks is the real thing. That's right...local with a machete hacking away at the husk...cracking it open...insert straw...enjoy. The water inside this thing is amazing. It is so refreshing and has the slightest hing of real coconut flavor. You then eat the meat of the nut with a spoon made from the husk that the local makes. It's magical. This is the beauty of Indonesia. There is something magical about something so simple. This will become a common theme among my blogs I believe...finding the beauty in simplicity.


We started walking towards the main beach at Anyer. Since Annie is about to pop we relaxed underneath some of those grass hut gazebos that you can only see in postcards of the South Pacific. The beauty on those postcards is no joke. This country is gorgeous if you can look at it in a new perspective. If you learn to embrace the unknown and case aside all fear this is a luxurious place. Learn to live outside your comfort zone and the world is your oyster; especially in this country.


I thought I was going to surf at the main beach. As we walk down closer and closer along the main beach, we start to notice the clouds start to darken. Rain here happens out of nowhere, and these rain storms are like monsoons. As we hit the main beach Josue and Annie decide to take off just looking at the freakish storm about to developEvan, Zet and I catch a group of kids start to stare at us (nothing new here folks.) We see that one of them is carrying a soccer ball. You know what the means: game on! What went from a surfing trip in my mind became one of the best experiences of my life. Imagine a pickup soccer game played on the beach with twenty local kids, in and out of the waves, in the middle of a insane monsoon. What a great time! Maybe it was playing soccer again, maybe it was the kids smiling as two adult white guys are schooled by an eight year old on the field, maybe it was the rainstorm flooding the sand, and maybe it was the lightning cracking the skies overhead, but something clicked inside me. Its that old familiar feeling I haven't felt in a long time: love.

Where else in the world can you say hello to complete strangers without them looking at you like you are going to kidnap their child? Where else can a smile at complete strangers break down the barriers of two radically different worlds? Where else will complete strangers embrace you as family? Bob Marley described it as "One Love." I am starting to understand his lyrics more and more. Funny how we learn by doing.

You are probably wondering why I decided to call my blog "A Bule's Eye." Well for two reasons. Bule in Indonesia is a term for white people who come to this country. It literally means "great white buffalo." You can kind of get the picture of an Indo's perspective for most expats. No real need for explanation here, but realize most expats live up to this nickname. It's sad but true. Expats here seem to push their way around, and not adapt to life here. I am trying my best not to be a typical Bule. Yet at the same time, no matter how hard I try to adopt an Indonesian lifestyle, I will always view this country through my own perspective. So therefore I will try to become that bule, maybe the same kind of buffalo Native Americans used to believe in. Maybe you got the bulls-eye reference too?