A group of friends and I took the long weekend holiday to visit Belitung, an island on the east coast of Sumatra (approx 1 hour by plane from Jakarta). The island lived up to its reputation for stunning white beaches and clear turquoise coloured waters. We were fortunate to see dolphins on our boat outing which took us to a few of the small islands and reef formations just off from the cottages we stayed at.
I attended two weddings this past Sunday and they continue to amaze me with the grandees and cultural heritage. The smallest wedding I went to was in Bandung for one of the drivers from work, with about 100 people. Despite the humble setting in a small house in a kampung, it was still grand in its own way. The largest was for a glamorous couple (above), which had well over 2,000 people in attendance at a 5 star hotel in Jakarta. With such a public display involving multiple generations of family and their friends, it’s no wonder couples in Indonesia have a low divorce rate!
Aside from the opportunity to travel to unique places, one of the great joys I get from working in my job is the contrast of experiences I can participate in. I arrived back in Jakarta yesterday afternoon after staying at a remote exploration camp in the middle of a jungle, by the evening I attended an recital by a renowned Indonesian pianist, Ferdy Tumakaka, who performed works from Bach, Shubert, Godowsky and Chopin.
Each experience heightened my appreciation of the other.
A fresh site for me in North Sumatra. This time its a gold/silver mine situated an hours flight + 2 hours by car from Medan in a place called Martabe. The mine has had multiple owners over the last 6 years and its finally on track to start production.
The flight to and from from Medan was on Susi Air, a small passenger and cargo airline that has an interesting history. Started by Susie Pudjiastuti and her partner, it was originally formed to service her family’s seafood business. Since then it has grown and has a small fleet of new planes and they employ expatriate pilots. They have become known for being the training ground for Indonesian pilots before they are poached or are lured by the bigger airlines like Garuda and AirAsia.
The camp site itself reminded me of a mountain retreat. Clean, green and scenic. Most of the structures are temporary and use 20 and 40 foot containers. The accommodation facility reminded me of a Japanese capsule hotel.
Surprisingly, the food was excellent and was better than most of the sites I have already visited. The workforce agree and they seem to quite happy with where they are.
No helicopter ride this time, but a very scenic and unique flight experience back to Medan flying over Lake Toba. My colleague and I took the back seats and enjoyed the best leg room we’ve ever had. When we landed we saw an abandoned plane which we were glad wasn’t our interconnecting flight.
After visiting a local private hospital in Medan, I stayed the night at the Aryaduta hotel which is a luxury hotel but priced at a very affordable (corporate) rate. Highly recommended and the food, particularly Chinese, is excellent.
After just over 12 months of living in one of asia’s most polluted, mega cities, I decided to setup a project to help fellow health conscious expats and Indonesians navigate the challenges that exist. Like anyplace in the world, information itself is rarely the answer (though sometimes it can help).
It’s still at a beta phase and I am doing it in collaboration with a range of health and medical professionals, so your feedback is welcome. Please check out the website:
Almost 2 months into the new year. It goes quick!
An Indonesian colleague of mine got married to a celebrity who he met when he entered a Mr Jakarta contest several years ago. Several thousand people were in attendance and not a drop of alcohol, which is a huge contrast to a typical wedding in Australia.
Prasya and Indah Kirana
I was fortunate to have my first dive in over 20 years off the spectacular Bunaken Island. I tagged on a weekend after a work trip to a couple of mining sites that got me to Manado, which is 45 mins by boat to the famed national marine park. This series of dives is part of my mission to dive the top 5 sites in Indonesia this year.
Dives (Photos courtesy of Gloria Ngoi)
Novotel Manado
After sleeping at mine sites for 2 weeks, the luxury of a nice hotel room was a great way to spend the weekend. The Novotel in Manado is recommended. Quality accommodation at very affordable rates and very friendly, attentive staff.
This was my 2nd trip to the same mine. See earlier post for the first trip.
After flying into Ternete from Gosowong where I was visiting a gold mine, I met with my colleague Dr Areswari, who was visiting local hospitals. Ternete is a town and island and was once the world’s single major producer of cloves. In the precolonial era, Ternate was the dominant political and economic power over most of the “Spice Islands” of Maluku.
As we had time before our chopper ride to WedaBay, we went for lunch at a great restaurant overlooking the sea and the cone shaped islands which are featured on the 1,000 rupiah note.
Lunch at Florida restaurant – A great view!
Our ride to Halmahera
Medical Team
Sunset at WedaBay
Bali is perhaps the default choice for most people living in Jakarta for the Christmas/New Years holiday break. I spent a short week there with a group of friends from Indonesia, Australia, India, USA, Canada and Saipan.
Sanur
La Lucciola
Rock Bar at Ayana Hotel
Mykonos Greek Restaurant – Seminyak
Jimbaran – Seafood on the beach
La Sal
