Another example of People Power

This photo would have been a whole lot more interesting if I had my camera on my lap and out of its case, waiting for action.

During the time that I unzipped my bag, got the camera out, pulled it out of the case and snapped, the guy pulling this huge load was actually jumping up and down to prevent his cart from toppling backwards during the red light.

Internet all the time!

In 1995, I fell in love with the internet. I still remember sometimes using a UNIX based computer at the university that had the black background with bright green text for old style IM-ing. At home, web surfing was slow and painful on a 14.4kbps Modem but I didn't notice it back then. When we were making the decision to move here to Palembang, the first thing I asked was "Do they have Broadband?". If they didn't, I wouldn't have moved.

I came across an interesting article yesterday about the Mobile Web. Its all about accessing the internet via mobile phones like the iPhone or just pure mobile internet devices like the Nokia N810.

Now I'm definitely not one of those people who likes to stay up to date with the latest mobile phone. In fact, I haven't purchased any with my own money. They have either been company phones or hand-me-downs from family members who have upgraded.

BUT, I would buy myself an iPhone or whatever equivalent there is when we move back to a place where I can sign up for mobile internet services. (No, I won't become like one of those constant SMS-ers....I'll have it under control). Just a few weeks ago I thought that the only thing Fitness First (with 10,000 TVs and personalised volume control) was lacking was internet access. There are so many instances in our lives where access to the internet would make the time much more interesting. The mobile web (or accessing the internet from mobile devices) is probably still not mature enough now but I'll be here for another year. Thats plenty of time in the Telecommunications industry! Right now, accessing the internet from a mobile phone is still not a mainstream activity yet.

Its interesting to think about the new businesses just waiting to reap the rewards when this does get mainstream. Companies will need Mobile Websites that are customized for use on a mobile phone's browser. I think its called a wap site. I'm a bit behind in my technology news these days and only recently read about SMS marketing but I imagine Mobile marketing will be the next up and coming thing too.

*sigh* The world is so exciting! So many cool gadgets and technologies out there. I can't wait to share it all with Aaron but not quite yet. His undivided attention on me is limited and I'm not going to share it with the internet or computer games any time soon. There are only so many years that I can be the sole influencer on my son's values and attitudes.

I think he's got it!

Serina Hope at Laughter, Love and Madness had a post today about having a song for most occasions. Sometimes I get like that too. Usually, its a word or a phrase that will trigger a song in my head. For example, the first time I found out that I was being sent to Phoenix, Arizona, I had:

"Is anybody going to San Antone or Phoenix Arizona?"

The strange part is that I have no idea (even now) what song this is!

Anyway, tonight I have 'The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain'. More specifically, the part where Prof. Higgins sings:

"By George, she's got it. By George, she's got it. Now once again, where does it rain?"

So who's got what? Aaron's got it of course! As I was putting him to sleep tonight, he started pointing at his toy dog and saying something that sounded like 'Picard'. Thats what the dog is called. He then started identifying Picard's ears, mouth and tail. After that it was identification of his own mouth, teeth and tongue. He's been able to point out all these body parts for some time but he's never said the words spontaneously before. I kept repeating the words after he says it his way and he repeated back again, improving each time. By the time he was ready to go to sleep, he could say the words pretty well. I hope he doesn't forget it overnight.

7 days

We've only been back a week and Brisbane is already a distant memory. The transition back to life in Palembang has been hot/sweaty/sticky but smooth. It looks like we'll be sticking to the daily routine of waking up at 4.30am when the first prayers of the day are sung over a loud speaker from the nearby mosque. Sometimes Aaron manages to fall back asleep but even then, he'll be up by 5am anyway. From then on its a cycle of 3hr stretches when he's awake followed by 45mins or 90mins (depending on noise levels) of nap time for the rest of the day.

I'm enthusiastic about filling the 3 hours he's awake with fun and stimulating activities. Once I stop procrastinating, I'll have my list of 30 min activities written up so that I can plan each day.

Today we started with sing-a-longs at home. Very similar to the ones we had at the library in Brisbane but much more active. Perhaps TOO active because I was exhausted and hoarse after the 30 mins. I stacked some pillows against the wall for 'Humpty Dumpty' and each time Humpty fell off, I got Aaron to fall down to the mattress. My legs also became Yankee Doodle's pony. And finally, I got a good abs workout having him sit on me to row the boat. All his actions are so exaggerated and he keeps giving me the sign language for more. And more. And more. After each song....more. Well, at least I know he likes it. He'll have MORE tomorrow.

Curly eyelashes and white skin

Here in Palembang, it is a common sight to see women slouched down in hair salon chairs with their eyes closed and a thick white eye-liner at the edge of their eyelids. It turns out that they are getting their eye lashes permed. I guess they want something a little more permanent than what an eye-lash curler will give.

I've also been told that many women who work as farmers in the villages often come here to the city to get their skin bleached. I think its done in just a few days somehow. Its funny that in the West, people are getting skin cancer from tanning and over here, people are bleaching themselves to get white. And just like tanning, the bleach doesn't last. Within a few days of being back in the fields, they're back to their old selves again.

On the surface, these two procedures may seem extreme but as I gave it more thought, its no more drastic that cosmetic surgery in other countries. I watched a documentary about women in China having their shins broken so that they could re-grow slightly longer legs with the help of a brace. And what about breast implants, liposuction and botox? They are in the media so much that I'm starting to think people visit the cosmetic surgeons more often then their dentists. Liposuction seems especially scary to me after watching clips of a doctor moving that suctioning instrument back and forth like a vacuum cleaner.

You can probably tell that I'm not one for cosmetic surgery or even the less invasive procedures like eye-lash perming. Its natural for every woman to want to be attractive but I truly believe that a person's attractiveness can be boosted just by having more confidence. I've also heard two separate men list 'plump' and 'hairy arms' as being attractive to them. So there you go.....you never know what men find attractive anyway!

Construction in Palembang

This is the house being constructed diagonally behind ours. The 'Kayu Gelam' scaffolding that you see is used in construction of all buildings large or small. 'Kayu' means wood and 'Gelam' is the name of the tree. I did some quick googling and the Gelam tree is called Melaleuca in English and is part of the myrtle family.

I'm always looking at how things are done here because their ways seems so basic. There is very little machinery used to help laborers. Before the construction on this site, there was actually an older house there. This was demolished by a group of men using large hammers. They just hammered away at it until it was all gone. Labour is cheap here so PEOPLE POWER is the way to go instead of expensive mechanised tools. I guess its just from experience that the men know which walls or support beams to knock down first without causing the whole structure to bury them.

Parks in Palembang

I think I've found myself a mission. After visiting 8 out of the Top 10 parks in Brisbane, I'll make a list of the Top 10 in Palembang.

This park is about 200m from our house and is the only park in the neighborhood. There is absolutely no grass on it, just concrete and tiles (weird). In the background, you can see my daily 4.30am wake-up call - the mosque. By the way, it doesn't matter where you live in Indonesia, you'll still be within blasting distance of a mosque's loud speakers. Five times a day with extra prayers on Thursday nights and Friday mornings. I try to use it as a reminder to say my own prayers.






















We drove to the Pusri Compound in the afternoon to check out a park that Richard had noticed. Plenty of grass in that area but everything was broken.

















It will be very interesting to see what my Top 10 list will be like. Yes, I know that these two parks look pathetic but Aaron seemed to enjoy them so who am I to comment? The criteria for my list will be based on Aaron's enjoyment.

Now I must go find out if there are at least ten parks in Palembang.