etc.etera

I answered a few questions about my recent trip to Jogja and was astonished that it amounted to quite a few words. Here's a revised version of that exchange.

We stayed at a hotel called Ibis. Expect a Holiday Inn type place, i.e. not 5 star but then again its not that bad either. Its main redeeming feature is its proximity to Malioboro Street, the main commercial area and tourist trap for the city. If you are looking for a nicer place, I've been told (and cannot vouch for the fact) that Hotel Phoenix will fit the bill.

There are two things that you must see while you are here. The first is the ash spewing volcano that can be seen from every corner of the city. However if your taxi insists on a name tell them that you want to go to Gunung Berapi, which translated means fire mountain or volcano. Indonesia is filled with volcanoes, so I was curious why the locals decided to name this particular one The Volcano. "Because it is the most active one in Indonesia and kills everyone around it every couple of years" our guide said. He also told us that it would take 4 hours to hike up to the top so please plan accordingly. If you are less curious (or suicidal) you can also spend your time instead on the observation towers located safely at the foothills. Personally I was disappointed at not having a chance to stare the mountain right down its mighty A-Hole. You might ask why a normally rational person would assume such a risk. Because I think it is cool. That is all.

Please visit the 2 major temples in the area, namely Borobudor and Prambanan. I prefer Prambanan but you will want to see both to decide for yourself. Each will take at least two hours to savor. Prambanan will have amazing night performances during the weekends so plan for that. What you want to do is spend the afternoon in Borobudor and then head over to Prambanan. Spending a few hours there till it gets dark enough for the dances. What you don't want to do is get to Prambanan at 2pm, then find out about the performances at night and argue whether its worth idling 4 hours till it starts then promising yourself that you'll come tomorrow night instead. And then missing it the next day because you had a massage appointment and then whining to your girlfriend every time you reminiscence about the trip, ruining your relationship and your only chance of having that one love of your life. No, you don't want that.

Crafts, especially things made out of batik are cheap there. I highly recommend a place called the Novi studio. It is a batik painting place that doubles as a batik school for local artists. They sell paintings with styles that range from traditional batik to all sorts of weird abstract art. If you are into massages I recommend a place called Griya Burga, which offers excellent Shiatsu massages and is as far as I know, not dodgy.

The long road between high school and home meant that I had to take long bus rides across town everyday. Lucky for me I had a buddy along for the ride, and time of which we spent debating the merits of Juarassic Park, if Billy Jean was the greatest pop song ever written and other important topics in popular culture (if you think that growing older has changed our talking points I'd like to point out that we just spent the entire week raving about Zee Avi). Occasionally I had to take the ride alone and I'd start to wonder if I could read the minds of people on the bus. I'd focus on the cute girl up front, close my eyes, try to dig up her thoughts and then, nothing. I wasn't able to read a single mind after years of trying,proving once again that wanting and wishing for something just isn't enough. You have to wait for someone to build it instead. These days Twitter gives me all the psychic powers I need. With telepathic precision I can answer questions like: what are the cool people doing this weekend? (Star Trek, then drug induced raves) or who at this very moment is thinking about sex? The next time someone asks me about Twitter I'm gonna be like: "Twitter? That's like a mindreading psychic super power thing man."

I wake up. There's light coming through the curtains, which means it is a little pass 7 now. When I first moved in I got rid of all the clocks to see if it would help me sleep. I don't know whether the plan ever worked but I got pretty good at gauging the time by the amount of light that makes it into the room. Pretty soon it'll be light enough to see and then I'd really need to wake up. Her SMS says 'meow zzz'. It doesn't look like she likes waking up for work yet. She'll get used to it eventually. How many mornings have I spent in this bed alone? I'll need to talk to the boss about getting a new disk for the server. Will need to remember to post last night's pictures. And when is Eric's wedding again? Did I schedule dinner with Colin over the same night? It's impossible to rest when I'm already building a to do list in my head. Might as well get up. I brush, wipe cleanse and change. The whole shuffle took about a dozen minutes. Then I get the keys and head out. Almost forgot to type her a reply.

'How's my kitty? Wish I'm there to hug you awake right now.'

Postscript: Remember the lame essays they forced us to write in school? Describe a day in the park. Or describe your ambition. In 200 words or more. They were easy to score with and easy to write but you can bet I hated them. This is something my English teacher would've titled 'Write about what happens when you wake up in the morning'

She'd been crying all day with me right beside her the whole time. It was the first time I broke up with a girl and I really didn't know what to do. My head was telling me to be decisive and not send any confusing signals. My heart was telling me that I still loved her and that seeing her hurt was just not worth it. How do you tell a girl that things weren't working out anymore? It meant no more good night calls and no more happy surprises in the middle of the day. You would think that this was the end of the world. It was not. All it meant was that it'd been a tough day and we'd both get over it. Like we never happened at all.

I've never really felt attached to this country. At least not the way I've missed autumn in Ames, my room in Penang or walks around San Francisco. Every time I try to love this country it pushes me away with heat and dust. This place is still foreign to me and its my fault. My dad had to work small towns for years and always managed come back to us with stories about people and places he's been to. I've always admired how he could get interested in just about every place he'd been posted to. It is impossible to get me interested in things that I have no interest in.

I met up with Kahn Li for lunch when he was back and amongst other things we started talking about his life in Vancouver. He's an engineer working for small division at Intel in a vibrant city with weather I've always wanted. It sounded eerily close to the life I'd be living if I stayed back in California. The life I craved and wanted. The funny thing is that I just realized as I was talking to him that I don't crave it anymore.

I've changed since I've moved back. I still care about living in a place I love but I care even more about the people I'm with now. I could still start a new life in a new place and I could still be happy when I get there. But I won't leave until she comes with me.

Face it, I'm getting older and nothing makes me feel more 30 than being out with a 21 year old. I wouldn't trade anything to be young again though. Here are some of the things I wish I knew when I was 21.

• Get as much sleep as you can. Waking up badly for months will change the way you look at things. Don't get used to that.
• If you worry about your looks at 21, you're going to have a tough time growing older. Get over how you look, no one really cares about how you look that as much you do.
• Your mind is constantly out to get you. Use it to your advantage.
• Honesty works. I lied because I was afraid of the reaction I'd get. It gets really tiring keeping up a lie. Freedom means not having to carry that sort of weight around.
• A great side effect of being honest all the time is that I'm always forced to do the right thing.
• Good things don't come by as easily as you think.

Other Lists

• Algorithms for life
• What I learned while learning to dance