SNAKE!

At the moment, I'm sitting in a Warung (the Bahasa word for shop, restaurant, cafe / whatever else it could be) drinking my watermelon juice and patiently waiting for some chicken (mmm). Okay it just arrived and I'm salivating despite having eaten some pasta (that I made) earlier today.

So walking here, I almost stepped on a snake. It was just there slithering along being a snake and I almost stepped on it. There have also been frogs, lizards and dogs that I have nearly stepped on. Bali is just full of random animals roaming around everywhere.

Lately I've been caught up trying to come up with an educational and fun (not the easiest mix) lesson for year 8 science on energy conversions. Decided to do an amazing race around campus. There are things in the school like a gravitational vortex generator, solar panels, biogas and other things that relate to it. It's my role as an intern to be the "good cop" to the students - kinda be their friend but get them to learn. At the moment I think I'm doing a pretty good job...

Hard, hard work.

I never appreciated the work that teachers do until now. Granted, some teachers do less than others, but I appreciate the fact that teachers put in a lot of effort into planning lessons to get the best out of the student (most of the time). Speaking of effort, Monday was Earth Day, and the whole school had basically a big party day filled with activities. Woo for sustainability! Here are some photos.

Cleaning up the neighbourhood

The kids came up dressed in green or animal costumes! How cute!!

Faber fixing up the medicinal garden beds

Making paper!

The plan for Saturday is to hike up Mount Batur, one of the volcanoes in the heart of Bali. Will keep you updated.

A week in Bali

Here ends my first 7 days in Bali... a week...

I made it. I'm still alive.

They say that after your first week in a new place, it's a downhill journey. Whether that's true remains to be seen. This first week has been absolutely hectic. I've been getting lost a lot, getting in touch with my inner hippie and, on the other end of the spectrum, my inner domestic being. I experienced an Om circle?!?! and experienced my first Bali beaches and swim in rapids.

So I moved into my new place on Tuesday after staying at Glenn (the middle school coordinator) and Melinda's for two nights. It is almost perfect... I just don't have a fridge. And it's lonely... and I don't have a fridge.

My non existent fridge

So basically, since I don't have a fridge, I can't buy fresh food and thus can't cook. Not that I'm complaining though, you can get food delivered to your door, and a huge plate of Nasi Goreng or anything comes for about $2 Australian. Despite this convenience, I spent a good hour in the supermarket finding things that I could eat for breakfast, and potentially lunch, which wouldn't need a fridge for the moment

I'm currently living in a neighbourhood in the cultural heart of Bali: Ubud. As a result, there are always a lot of ceremonies going on late into the night and blocking streets. Constant humming throughout the night is something that I am not yet used to. 

Life at school is really cool, I've been "working" i.e. playing with mud and roller coasters (see below), and just generally having a good time, while students think I'm teaching them stuff and teachers think I'm helping them (I might be, but it just isn't the work that I'm used to).

mini roller coaster

There is always so much going on in the school and it's great to see teachers and students with a clear vision of what their school stands for and what kind of impact they want to make in the world. In my opinion, it's this kind of environment that many Australian schools lack - that is, a clear goal that students actually, wholeheartedly believe in. It is clear to me that heaps of these students are going to and already are leaders in their community. One of the year 8s that I'm looking after has already made a startup company making bags and bodyboard bags out of recycled advertising plastic, and has attracted the attention of a famous body boarding guy. If that's not impressive, I don't know what is. And the weirdest thing is that students think it's the norm around here to embark on huge entrepreneurial projects like that.

So where is that culture in schools in Australia?

Just something to think about...

Towards the end of the week, I attended and helped out with the school's annual fundraiser, this year Woodstock themed "Greenstock". It was just cool. Really relaxed, great live music, fun stalls, dancing, you name it. Honestly, it was so expected. A lot of people here can relate to hippies (You know save the Earth woo), so everyone was pretty into it, teachers and parents included. Happy times! There was also a showcase after which was pretty good, considering that many performers were k-6.

So here are some more pictures.

Greenstock preview

The banner

kids

mud building

hippie woo

Koala Lumpy

YO

So today was an interesting day, after a long night last night at Marina Bay with some lovely people, I woke up, missed the free breakfast and decided to visit Chinatown to find an anklet (to get one from every country).

Proceed to get lost in the hardest place to get lost.

Today was a scorcher, solid 40 degree heat with humidity and little cloud cover, add to that the fact that I had a 10kg pack on my back. Hmm.
I decided that I should try some local specialties so I opted for a stall between a Pork Offal restaurant and a beef offal restaurant. In hindsight, I probably should have picked a place that looked a bit cleaner. I ordered the Char Kway Teow and was pretty surprised to find a plate of brown fatty mush. Nevertheless I still ate it (I skipped breakfast remember). In hindsight that was also a bad idea. Immediately afterwards I started getting stomach cramps (related? who knows).

Anyway, cramping up, I trekked a solid distance to find some nice markets in Chinatown with a guy called Brian. Found some stuff, and both harassed and  was in turn harassed by some vendors. By this time, I was sweating like a fountain and like the hypochondriac I am, considering whether I was suffering from dehydration (I probably wasn't). At this point, the highlight of my day: A pineapple quarter for 80 cents. Wow. It was the most amazing fruit I have ever had. The sweet juices, the course texture, I mean, this was the best pineapple I have ever eaten. I had like 3.

Ended up spending overtime at Chinatown, meaning I had to run back to the hotel to get my little suitcase and get a cab to the airport pronto. No worries. I get to the airport with SG$5 left and proceed to check in. All fine. Next, get through the glass doors to the security screening. Nooooooope. A guy checks my ticket and weighs my luggage (an unprecedented case in my experience so far). And he says I'm 8kgs over the weight limit (which I was) and gives me a $160 fine. Awesome.

Oh and I found out on the plane that I lost my bracelet. Great.

So that was my day ruined...

From there it only gets better I guess. I'm in Kuala Lumpur right now, in Malaysia, I haven't planned anything for tomorrow as of yet. KL is a lot scarier than Singapore... the people look dodgier (no racism intended).

I may be $160 poorer, but I'm still alive (at the time of writing at least) and that's something to be thankful for.

Till later, Adios

PS: Check out some photos I took at Marina Bay and on the Singapore Flier:

Santiagogo

Hi all,

For those of you who have read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho will understand me a bit better here. In Paulo Coelho's novel, the protagonist: Santiago, leaves his old life as a shepherd to follow his dream of travelling and to find a treasure.
As I left the world that I knew and felt comfortable in, I felt like Santiago. Sure, there may not be an end treasure in store for me, but I feel like my journey out of home is one where I find myself, my passions, and grow both spiritually with God, mentally and physically.

So tired after my flight...

I am so blessed to have this opportunity, but at the same time it's not as easy as it sounds. Leaving family indefinitely is one of the hardest things to do, especially when these are people who have literally been by my side for all my life. So this trip does signify some sort of independence for me - possibly for the better. I do miss all of you friends and family.

Today I visited Singapore Zoo (alone) and spent a good 7 hours there looking for friends (animals, not people. (Couldn't find one)). I did take some nice (or at least I think they're nice) photos there. If you like me, please take a look on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/matthewshim/

I stay in Singapore for another day before heading to KL in Malaysia.

Stay safe kids!

Visa what?

Itinerary for the 4th of April 2013:

1. Wake up at a personal best of 7:30 am
2. Drive mother to work 8:00 am
3. Drive sister to station 8:30 am
4. Drive to Maroubra to the Indonesian Consulate 9:00 am
5. Wait at consulate for an hour before getting to talk about Visas (Priority to Indonesian Citizens)
6. Find out that I won't get a Visa in time 10:05 am
7. Proceed to beg and plead and try to bribe 10:10 am
8. Cry
9. Leave dejected and unwanted 10:15 am
10. Pick up a friend from the station 10:35 am
11. Forget visa issues and have a BBQ (Because BBQs solve every problem) 12:00 pm
12. Stress eat because you haven't forgotten Visa issues 12:10 pm
13. Consider illegal black-market immigration visa dealers in Singapore to process visa 1:00 pm
14. Watch Pocahontas and eat cheesecake 2:00 pm
15. Drop Jono and Spyro off at the station and pick up sister 4:30 pm
16. Clean 5:00 pm
17. Get berated by father for Visa issues 5:30 pm
18. Send email to Green School about Visa problems 5:35 pm
19. Pick up mother and get chided for not picking up the phone in a reception-free area 5:45 pm
20. Get reply email saying "You should not worry.  You can get a 30 day visa on arrival at the airport and once you are on the island we can work on getting an extension for you.  It will work out fine." 6:00 pm
21. Relax, and hate yourself for stressing out over this.

I cannot say how glad I am that this is all over. I spent the past two days worrying about what Visa I needed for the two months there, and what I needed to do. To be honest, I was pretty keen on the shady Visa dealer thing in Singapore, since it's slightly more exhilarating than all the official stuff, live life on the edge you know? (but probably not a good idea considering that I would be giving my passport to a stranger who is probably linked with criminals).

Anyway, as usual, I brought this on myself with last-minute planning (planning? ha). The Visa takes 5 days to process here in Australia, and I only have 4 working days left. It's all very exciting!

6 days till I fly out! Till later,

Matt

2 Seconds a day 02/04/13

Hello, hello, hello!

Its Tuesday again, and here is the next installment of 2 seconds a day! (Featuring The XX because they're great)

I'll be travelling to Bali next week via Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, so I's pretty excited! Will post photos, videos and whatever else I find interesting. Stay tuned.

M