Tuesday 30 November 2010

Our little hasher

We went on the family hash run this evening. I can't remember if I have explained what hash running is on this blog. In a nutshell, the organisers set the course about an hour before the run and drop little bits of paper on the trail for you to follow. The trail winds it's way through the little bits of jungle that remain in Balikpapan and across interesting landscapes. Usually the hash is an all out run around the course to see who can finish first but the family hash is a bit gentler and you can walk if you want to.



We have been going to the hash run as a family for the last five weeks. Mr Pickle had to be carried for the first one we went on and cried quite alot that he was tired when he was walking. We almost thought that we would give this up as a bad job.


The next week his royal pickleness was keen to go along to see 'My Liesbeth' so we gave in with him promising that he would walk at least half of the course. He did just that. Over the last few weeks he has built up his walking to the point that he walked the whole way tonight.


Tonight we walked up hills, across big holes and through a little bit of mud. We are very proud of our little hash runner and we only had to bribe him on the home stretch with the promise of 'double fizzy' (two sprites) if he kept going. He can't drink that much so mummy helped him with his reward.

Saturday 27 November 2010

Not sure about the egg

I went out for local breakfast yesterday with some ladies who have taken me in as a waif and stray. One of the group is Indonesian and she selected the cafe where we would eat.

There is a local market where everyone buys their fruit and veg and the place was not far from there, just two doors up from the 'Happy Puppy' karaoke bar. Enough said.


We had yellow rice, noodles and a hard boiled egg for breakfast. I have to say that the rice was very tasty but I was too scared to eat the hard boiled egg and gave it to one of my braver companions! 


One day on and my stomach contents are still in place.

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Where are my shipping boxes?

Our shipping boxes are still not here! Having packed them off with the shipping company mid August, I had ever expectation that by mid November they would be safely with us. The estimated time for shipping was 6 to 10 weeks. Mid November provided for the maximum time and then a bit more.

I emailed the shipping company again last week, I bet I am their favourite customer at the moment, and received a reply today that our 'goods' are currently residing in their hub in Asia. I am thinking that this is the standard response when the company has no clue where the boxes have gone.

I have sent a shirty reply with a request for a copy of the confirmation from the hub in Asia that our boxes are actually there and also asked where this hub is. For all we know it is here! Doubt it though. I have also asked the question 'have you actually misplaced our boxes'. I suspect that the reply will say:


'your goods are in our Asia hub and we will email you with details when we receive them'.

My hopes, that they will arrive before Christmas, are slowly being eroded away and I am very glad that we have bought Oscar a bike for his present as we told him the shipping, bearing his toys, would be here for Christmas. He will have stored that little gem away for production at a later date.

Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish. 

Sunday 21 November 2010

Not so strange anymore

Balikpapan does not seem such a strange place anymore.

It is still a very random and odd place to live but the longer we are here, the less you notice the strangeness. I have been driving myself around and I don't even notice the crazy people on the roads because I have clearly become.........da da da.........one of them!

We have been Hash Running on the family day. It is not as hard going as the usual hash run and we can walk with Mr Pickle. We actually end up carrying him half of the way but it is nice to be out in the fresh air and walking about.

Yesterday I went to an 8 to Midnight sale at the local 'hardware store'. I found the best bike for Mr Pickle for Christmas from us and it was 50% off. It is green camoflage in colour, has a banana seat, a backrest, a basket on the front in the shape of a helmet and a little bear in a aeroplane on the handle bars that plays 'It's a Small World'. What more could a three year old boy want from a bike! Mr Pickle is going to burst when he sees it. For those of you who witnessed the garage ding excitement of last Christmas, we are hoping for a repeat performance.

I went on an adventure to find trimmings for homemade Christmas decorations with one of my new friends here. I bought 100 buttons for about £1 and whole rolls of ribbon for pennies. Food is expensive here though. We pay the same, if not more, for food as you would in the UK.

Another thing that is expensive here is bedding. You can't buy duvets, you buy a quilt but you cannot buy a flat sheet to use under it for less than £60. It takes ages to wash and dry this quilt once a week (now you all know how often we change our bedding) and we only have the one becuase a) they are bogging expensive and b) they are mostly gopping in colour/pattern. This was confirmed when one of my new friends came over for the grand tour and laughed when she saw we have the same bed set as her. Quite clerarly the only nice one in Balikpapan that we could afford without remortgageing.

We have had a work crew painting the front of the house and freshening up the wood work. The crew had a little mishap with our quilt on their last day with us. It was drying on the airer in the sun and they must have spilt  varnish on it when clearing up! They didn't tell us. Instead they took turps to our bedding and scrubbed it! So now our quilt smells of turps, even after the third wash. There is also a stain on it from the varnish and a faded patch where the furious scrubbing must have taken place. 

I was all for complaining to the rental agents but Jeremy thinks it is not that big a deal. I think that I feel so annoyed by this occurrence because we still don't have our shipping boxes and we haven't got many belongings here! I have decided that part of the issue is that it shouldn't have been being washed on such a regular basis. Flat sheets are a must.

Today we ventured into the textile quarter. We bought an offcut piece of carpet that has been stitched arond the edge for £18 rather than the £400 that the interior shops in town wanted us to pay. We also found a fabric 'shop' selling bed sheeting and I have made a king size flat sheet and pillow cases to match for about £10 and about an hour and a half of my time. Much easier on the pocket than £60 and a much better fabric.

We also had a full day without any accidents of the potty training variety.

Sunday 14 November 2010

Can I play with you?

Yesterday Jeremy and I went shopping to the local hardware shop to buy a Christmas tree. While I was trying to prevent Oscar from costing us a fortune in broken glass decorations (I presumed that the sign in Indonesian said ALL BREAKAGES WILL BE PAID FOR) an ex-pat family with a small boy, who looked about the same age as Oscar appeared and smiled as they walked by.

Jeremy was looking for door handles (mum - we've been having to huff on our hands to open the sliding doors) and he saw the family too.

We don't see many people who look like us and when we re-grouped downstairs we decided to go and introduce ourselves. We were still chatting with them half an hour later and had exchanged telephone numbers. They agreed with our thoughts that it is hard to met other ex-pat families.

In the afternoon we took Oscar to the swimming pool. There was an ex-pat family there too.

Bouyed by his earlier success, Jeremy got out of the pool and strode over to the family enjoying their snack and introduced himself. Once again, the family didn't whip out their pepper spray! 

It is a little bit like being five again when you're on holiday and don't know anyone. You have to be brazen and just go up and ask if you can play with any children that look like they are having fun.

Oscar played with their boys in the water for the next hour, we sat and chatted with the parents about how unsocial and lonely it is in Balikpapan and decided that we should go out for dinner together that evening to celebrate having found each other.

We met up at Balikpapan Super Block, had dinner at a restaurant and then coffee at Starbucks where I bought the coffee cups that Jeremy has been looking for for years. All in all a 100% successful mission.

Add to that the fact that in the morning I drove myself to the Tupperware shop (check out my motivation to brave the roads and crazies on them here) to purchase a drawer full of plastic to keep our food Tupperware fresh! Fabulous.

Saturday 6 November 2010

No Touchies!

Today we went to the Hypermart complex in downtown Balikpapan to buy groceries and a much needed DVD player to watch all of the DVDs that we have bought for about 70 pence each. I am sure they are real because they have been purchased from actual shops.


Mr Pickle got very worked up and upset today while we were out. Having endured day after day of local people trying to touch him on the face because he is both blonde and in one side of cute and out the other, he started to shriek at the person who was insistent on pressing his flesh. It had the desired effect of them pulling back in horror but it took me a little while and the promise of ice cream to calm him down.


We do not understand these people's need to touch our precious child or the fact that they ignore our pleas to leave him alone because he doesn't like it.


We thought about making a sign for his forehead that says either 'No touchies' or 'I Bite' but being a) in English and therefore not understood or b) ignored because these people cannot keep their hands to themselves, this would probably be a pointless exercise.


Instead we have gone for some karate for tots. This evening we ran through some drills with Mr Pickle and we are confident that the next time a hand comes in from the left it will be met with a 'wax on' coupled with the shout of 'TIDAK!' and a hand from the right will trigger the 'wax on' manouver. 
Maybe we should get a sign made that says 'I know karate' or maybe go for the Neo line of 'I know kung fu'.


We have explained to him that if he doesn't want the scary big stranger to touch him, he doesn't have to let them and it is fine to swat them away and say 'No' in Indonesian. He seems much more relaxed about the potential touchies.

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Melbourne Cup and Cross Stitch

I went to a ladies day to watch the Melbourne Cup with the Balikpapan International Women's Association (BIWA) yesterday. We were all dressed to the nines and those who have been here a while were wearing appropriate head wear (think Ascot).

Before the race we had a fashion show. In the back of beyond, we were sat in the spacious home of the current president watching models (also members of BIWA) sweep down the huge staircase in couture (made by a member of BIWA). To say that it was surreal would be an understatement, it was also fabulous to be in the company of women in my position and in such a civilised atmosphere.

We all took part in the sweepstake, watched the race and then had a delicious three course lunch, catered by the local Novatel. I met some really nice people and we exchanged numbers. I also found out about the crafty sewing group which meets on a Wednesday morning.

I knew I had packed the cross stich stuff in my suitcase for a reason! I planned an alphabet sampler for our forthcoming baby way back when we didn't even know what flavour baba was coming. Today I put the first stitches onto the fabric. By the time Oscar is 21 he will have a lovely Apple Tree Farm picture for his bedroom.

I met a like minded stitcher today and I spent more time chatting than sewing, which is why it will take me a further 18 years to finish the sampler, and had a generally lovely relaxed morning while Mr Pickle was entertained in pre-school. Fabulous.

Mr Pickle and I spent the afternoon together making playdoh chickens for him to cut up while I chopped up our most recent purchase of poultry. Once again, I forgot to take pictures!

Oooooooo spooky

I managed to find a whole pumpkin in one of the local supermarkets. The person that weighs the produce and puts a sticker on it for the till was most perturbed that we wanted the whole thing and not a slice!

Clearly they do not get many people coming in for members of the squash family to carve into spooky effigies!

Mr Pickle did not want to help me with the pumpkin scraping, he was freaked out by the seeds inside and ran away shouting 'Nooooo' at the top of his voice after he had touched the slimy innards.



I hollowed out the pumpkin and then together we made our spooky ghoul. As you can see in the pictures, the pumpkin may have been small but was perfectly formed!

There was one snag. No candle! I tried to burn all sorts of things inside the pumpkin, eventually I got a sizeable flame from a combination of screwed up paper, tissue and cooking oil. Any children reading this should only attempt such pyromanic activities with a responsible adult present.

I have also made a perfectly formed pumpkin pie with ingredients scrabbled together from a number of supermarkets.

The shipping boxes still have not arrived and Oscar's halloween outfit is inside one of them. Once they arrive I am sure we will have a small skeleton running around shouting boo randomly. Maybe for Christmas! That's something to look forward to on the blog, a Christmas skeleton.