Saturday, November 23, 2013

Indonesia part one: Deiters vs. Volcano


Indonesia: Massages and Monkey temples and 5 days in Ubud.

Welcome back all, I am writing from the courtyard in our hotel after three days of being absolutely spoiled in Ubud. When we left the airport and were instantly enveloped by 10 million mopeds and marginally observed traffic laws we knew we were back. Ahh southeast asia, with your cheap delicious food and cheaper beer, your 7dollar hour long massages and frantic street touts offering phonetically spelled goods like a “taksi(taxi)” at a “cheap price boss.” Boss huh? And they said I’d never make it to management. Our first Indonesian destination is Ubud, a town about an hour and a half from the airport that’s just far enough away to preserve some of its indigenous charm and style. We picked literally the cheapest accommodation (the happy mango tree hostel for $16 a night) and we were a little nervous because its only been open for 3 weeks and has had very few reviews. Adding to the butterfly’s in our stomach was the fact that there was no street address and the website said to go halfway up the street and look for the “red and white turd that you really can’t miss” so that’s gotta be a misprint right? Nope, it was a 3 foot by 3 foot red and white spotted dog turd. So we checked into our room called “the love shack” which is complete with 3 nudes on the wall and a coat rack made of penis's. Oh south east asia you whimsical fool, we love you. Dinner that night was at a rooftop café that gives part of its proceeds to a free health clinic in the area. We had “mei goreng” which is the main Indonesian noodle dish that is good and filling but somewhat unremarkable (it could sneak onto your plate as a side dish from a Chinese takeout and not be noticed). The highlight was when the restaurant gave us an umbrella to use on the walk home because the sky opened up. “just bring it back tomorrow maybe,” sure thing south east asia. Day 2 was a walkabout (I picked that one up in Australia) where we went around to get the lay of the land, booked our activities (a cooking class and volcano sunrise hike – deiters love activities) and had our first massage. We picked a place that looked reputable and went in for a Balinese massage. We were shown into a room with two tables and handed a lipstick sized plastic packs “for your underwear to change” After exchanging laughs and looks we put on what amounts to a hairnet with leg holes cut into it. We’ll spare you a pic (even though it would make our blog blow up with thousands of hits) but trust us its hilarious. The massage was outstanding, our two tiny iron fisted masseurs kept it classy and turned our muscles into jelly. (no need to comment that mine were already jelly- Maradei) We melted off the table and back to the street where we had dinner laying down lounge style at the “nomad café” I’m just gonna say it right now. It’s ridiculous that we in the west eat sitting up, who are we trying to impress, when you’re lounged out on the ground you’re basically already in nap position. Is this a meal, or a job interview? Do yourself a favor and saw off the legs on your kitchen table, throw down a bunch of pillows and eat your way into a food coma. The next day was our cooking class where $30 each buys you a trip to the market to see where they get the ingredients and then out into the country to a family compound where stern but smiling “aunti pusba” teaches you how to cook 8 different dishes. Its hilarious because you’re all set up at cooking stations with like six other couples and its 2 tbsp of this and a pinch of that and next thing you know you’re digging into an 8 course meal that you kinda made. All kidding aside the meal was great and the welcome we received into their home was genuine and its sure to be a highlight of our time in Indonesia. From there we headed to the “monkey temple” with 2 girls from our cooking class who are stars of “K-town” an internet based reality tv show about Korean American kids in LA that is in its third season and is produced by Tyrese. (yup, not much else I can say about that). The monkey temple is a highlight of ubud and focuses on praying to one of the hindu monkey gods. Naturally it is jam packed with monkeys who eye you up as you enter the temple like its your first day in federal prision. I made the mistake of purchasing bananas and before I turned around a monkey had grabed my leg, then my shirt, then my bananas and he was off. It was a one of a kind experience and totally worth the 2$ entrance fee but be sure to keep your hands out of your pockets so the monkeys don’t think you’re “hiding something.” I tapped out when I bent down to take a pic of a tiny baby money and a bigger non baby monkey hopped right up on my back (good thing I have my hair helmet to protect me.) From there we went home and rested before going out to “naughty nuris” which is not a shady massage parlour but rather a place with some of the best ribs iv’e ever tasted and what Antony Bourdain called “the best martini outside of manhatten.” The food did not disappoint but the bill kinda did and it topped out at $70 which stings when you can get great food and beer for like $6. That being said it was a surreal spot to have delicious ribs and martini’s and a good capper to an awesome day. The next day brought brunch at the famous “ibu oka” which serves suckling pig. It was tremendously priced at $4 per person and featured out of this world pulled porkish stuff and a whole bunch of other unidentifiable fried parts that we were assured were pig. We washed it down with a tall cold bin tang (the local beer) and went out to do some shopping and other lazy day activities. We booked a boat to our next destination at a reduced price and celebrated with another massage/pedicure for tish. As I type were back at the love shack sippin on gin and tonics with limes from the market getting ready to head out to a sunset dinner in the rice paddies and a hike to a sunrise on an active volcano. Well played Ubud. One A.M. comes early after a few gin and seanics but we Deiters shook off the rust and headed out past the sleeping "security gaurd" who hours earlier was the "bartender" and is a sunrise away from being "the waiter." As you sit in the dark looking at an empty road you get little confidence that the index card sized piece of paper in your hands with "Natacha and Sean" and Paid stamped on it will summon your ride to the volcano. How do they know where our hotel is? Why has the ticket office been closed and locked up since we paid for the trip? Why are we sitting out here again? These questions get louder as you ease past the 2 am pickup time until headlights peak around the corner and a head pokes out asking "you go to volcano?" Yes, yes we go to volcano, somehow stuff just works here. An hour in the car brings us to a breakfast of 2 types of coffee, 4 types of tea and one banana pancake. The "restaurant where we ate also offered lawak coffee which is made when a small mammalish kinda monkey/cat/bear thing eats ripe coffee cherries, umm processes them... and then the intact beans are collected and refined as non fecal coffee would be. we passed on the "cat-poo chino" (their joke not mine) partly because of the price and partly because we were concerned that this was a hilarious practical joke that the indo's are playing on outsiders. "I bet we can get them to pay five dollars to drink cat poop." From there we drove to the basecamp, ok that's a bit dramatic, it was a parking lot...but it was a pretty big parking lot, and we met our guide. We put on our headlamps and headed off, stumbling over volcanic rocks as we made our way up the volcano. Now you might be surprised to learn this but months of getting day drunk and living in a van does not put you in peak physical condition (I know, I was shocked too). So the 1.5 hours to the top were a grind and made us tap into our inner Deiter-mination to get to the summit. The view from the top was stunning despite the fact that clouds obscured the actual sunrise and we milled around taking pictures before enjoying a breakfast of banana sandwiches and hard boiled eggs (mmmm just like mom used to make). The volcano has erupted several times (as recently as the 1960's) and from the summit you can see several distinct dried lava flow fields from each eruption as well as a volcanic lake below the clouds, it was beautiful. After bumbling our way down the mountain we headed back to the love shack to get packed up for our departure tomorrow morning. Dinner that night was the best we had in Indonesia to date. After getting shut out at a few places because we didn't have a reservation we settled on a place called café dewa, because it was packed and because it reminds us of the coolest blind guy we know (his name is Duwayne, Duwa to his friends, and you might see him driving around Raliegh N.C. in a classic convertible ...seriously) The place was completely unpretentious with picnic benches and a get to know your neighbors kinda vibe. We had cheap beer and a ridiculously good soup called soto ayam (later translated to mean chicken soup) along with a pork dish and chicken curry. The place was an out of the way find much like Ubud itself and was a great way to end our time here. Tomorrow its off to the beaches of the Gili islands so stay tuned for another exciting episode coming your way real soon.

 

Friday, November 22, 2013

Lovin life in indonesia

Hello all, we're in Indonesia on an island called Gili Air. It's absolutely beautiful but the internet is busted, we just wanted to check in to let everyone know we're alive and still having a great time. We want everyone to have a great thanksgiving and eat some turkey for us. We're heading out on a four day cruise to Komodo island on Monday and will be totally off the air at that point. We promise to be safe and will provide a big Indonesian update at some point when we get back to the mainland. Gotta run, it's happy hour. Love Tash and Sean

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

life in OZ

11 days in OZ:
Hey Deiter fans, we’re checking in from the back porch of our hotel (hostle) room in Ubud in Bali with a quick update of our time in Australia, our room is called the “love shack” and is tastefully decked out with a phallic coat hanger and multiple nude paintings, more on that later (stay classy ubud). But for now its back to Australia, we had an absolute bi-costal blast and found that we could dodge the notorious budget busting expense of “Oz” by simply crashing on friend’s couches (or air mattresses) and sheepishly starring at our feet when “the matter of the bill” came up. I’m kidding of course, but we were exposed to some of the world class hospitality that Aussies are known for and had an amazing time as a result. We started in Melbourne on the south eastern coast where we crashed with our friend, the lovely and talented Sarah Weatherby. We met Sarah the way you meet most good friends, at an elephant camp in Laos on your honeymoon, and then hosted her for a night in Philly on the 4th of july last year when she was in town for work. We must have done something right because she really rolled out the red carpet for us Deiters (I think it was my man Walt Rizzo’s 5 start fourth of July fire works EXTRAVAGANZA). With Sarah as our guide we toured the laneways, bars, museums, bars, restaurants, bars and bars of this fine city. From what I can remember it’s a pretty sweet town. All kidding aside we got to see Melbourne as it prepped for “the Melbourne Cup,” think our horse racing triple crown on steroids which drew a crowd of 150,000 last year. People were in a festive mood with suits, sundresses and funky hats called “fascinator’s” being the order of the day. We also spend a day in “St. Kilda” which is a beachfront area and took in a pretty good band while sipping sparkling white wine and playing with a bunch of dogs that I’m certain Sarah arranged to be there for me. Not wanting to let us escape without a bit of culture Sarah took us to the “Healsville sanctuary” where we saw Roo’s, koalas, dingo’s, duck billed platypuses, and my new favorite animal the wombat (they are cute and lazy and they don’t care who knows it).  All in all Melbourne was an amazing city made more so by the hospitality of our dear friend Sarah (she’s single if your shorter that 5’5 fellas) –plus the Browns won. From there we headed west to Perth (the most isolated major city in the world) to stay with my fellow Drexel Dragon/super nurse Kate Hansen and my Australian best friend Bryn. Once again all stops were pulled out to ensure maximum Deiter satisfaction. Kate picked us up at the airport at 10pm on the back end of 9 straight days in the ER (no worries mate) and Bryn treated us to some of his homemade beer when we got to the house. Also in residence was the Aussie dogs on blogs winner, 6 month old super pup “lewie.” Kate had the balls to ask me if I minded if they have a dog. Our time out west produced what might be the most stacked day of the trip so far. First we went to a “dog beach” (yeah, I know right?) where we swam and ran around with Lewie and a bunch of other dogs. Then we headed to the “little Creatures” brewery for some grub, delicious beer and a tour (I “sampled” the IPA like 7 times). After that we headed home for some more home brew and “a snack” which is Australian for a giant pile of fish and chips, before heading out into the country a ways for dinner at our second brewery of the day (feral brewery) which had more awards than space on their walls, and fantastic brews that helped wash down a perfectly cooked porterhouse. Ridiculous. Things just got better from there. We went to the birthday party for “Jorja” who was turning 1 and was the definition of a happy baby (she is the daughter of one of Bryn’s “best mates”), we saw comedian Arj Barker who was funny as hell and is currently touring western Australia if you’re in town.  Tash and I hit Scarborough beach for sunset on the recommendation of my best mate nick who studied abroad in Perth back when his hair wasn’t whiter than Santa Clauses Beard. And we finished it all off with a true Australian Barbie on the “foreshore” across the swan river from Perth with some tall cool ones and our first taste of kangaroo meat (kinda like buffalo). All in all we were blown away by the hospitality and kindness of our hosts and can’t wait to return the favor when they come to the states. Good on ya Australia.
 
 
 
 
 
Me and Sarah with a facinator
just quieting down some haters
breakfast in a "laneway"
Tash and at the beach in St Kilda
"umm can I have a fry"


3 amigo's at the beach bar
tash and sarah
looking glamorous late night
a dog I foung
same
2 baby wombats with a baby roo watchin


that's a Tasmanian devil
baby wombat
a roo
a komodo cousin
you stay behind the fence, i'm goin in
just doin what dingo's do
sleepy koala
same
and again
our new favorite snack
sarah on raceday
sarah and tish
giant sushi roll with gold fish shaped soy sauce
rhinos on skateboards, number one killer of man in Australia
me bryn and kate at the brewery
the four of us in front of perth
now just me and tish
Lewie lookin vicious thanks to the go pro
now just drinkin the water
scarborough beach at sunset


I forget what this guy is but he's cute
an emu




tash in front of Melbourne


sarahs' friend with a suspiciously phallic dessert
artsy fartsy at a mall
big ole bowls of paella
and porchetta
lewie goin for a swim at the dog beach
here's the whole crew
it says "you can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline, it helps if you have some kind of a football team or some nuclear weapons but at the very least you need a beer. - Frank Zappa
some of the "little creature beers"
lewie takin a snooze at the brewery- he got soooooo hammered
a truck at the brewery
an American pit pup at Jorja's party
the birthday girl
"who you lookin at?"
me on a Harley
"it was like this when you left I swear"
from the comedy show
then we got kebabs
The "surfers code"
tash at scarborough beach at sunset
now us walkin
sunset
same
same,


another country in the books. Thanks Australia and we'll be seeing all of you real soon. P.S. it looks like its going to be a komodo thanksgiving for the Deiters, more on that real soon.