I arrived in Vietnam yesterday and of course soon I will tell you more about that. But first, I wanted to share some information on the internet about what to expect when you arrive in Vietnam.
I will just tell you about my experience with getting the visa, and this concerns a one month single entry visa. I arrived at the airport in Ho Chi Minh City. And I believe (have been told, but have not confirmed) that this process is only applicable when you arrive in one of the major international airports.
First, there are some things you have to arrange beforehand.
I did not know this. They call it a Visa On Arrival, which usually means you can just get it at the airport. And you can, but you need some documents first.
But, you need some sort of letter that says you can enter the country. You have to pay for this letter so I suspect it’s just a way to get more money out of tourists, because there is really no other use for the letter.
There are several sites offering this paid service, just google. I won’t tell you where I got it, because I wouldn’t recommend the website. I paid for a 4 hour service (I was not informed about the visa process in Vietnam) and I received the letter within 8 hours. Actually, I am going to share with you where this was: http://www.govietnamvisa.com. I’m still trying to get a partial refund.
So, do this at least two (working) days in advance and make sure you have a printer available to you.
Also, and this I didn’t do… Print out this form and fill it out. It will make your process go faster.
Thirdly, make sure you have 25 US dollars with you, to pay for the visa. It has to be in dollars. Why some countries insist on using a currency that is not their own is beyond me.
When you arrive, you will see two things, none of which is information about what to do next. There is a very small window with the words “landing visa” and long lines at the passport control. You have to get the visa first.
So you stand in line at the window. I had to do this two times, because the first time they just gave me the form, of which I told you to print it beforehand. So if you do that, you only have to get in line once. You just hand in all the documents and then they tell you (quite brusquely, I might add) to sit and wait. They will (try) to call your name. At least, they had to say mine twice, because I have a difficult name to pronounce in English. You go up to the cashier window and pay the $25. Then they give you your passport and you’re all set!
On a lot of websites it says you need two ID pictures and two copies of your passport. I only needed one picture and no copy of my passport. Although when I got the form they took my passport, so it was good that I had my copy so I could fill out my passport details. Just to be sure, I guess it couldn’t hurt to be prepared and bring these things anyway.
I haven’t always been grateful to my mother. When I was a teenager I could be a real bitch to her (and to my brother, although he wasn’t always nice to me either). When you are that age, you don’t realize that everything is not normal. It is not normal that your mother raises you all by herself, it is not normal that she spends all her money on you and your brother, but she doesn’t buy nice things for herself and it is not normal that she doesn’t always do everything for you so you learn to do things for yourself.
Back then, if she wouldn’t drive me to school when it rained, I thought she was being selfish. And when I had to start doing my own laundry, I didn’t like the extra chores. When my brother and I both had to start cooking every week, I felt annoyed because I didn’t like to cook and I wasn’t any good at it. I took it for granted when she spent a lot of money on redecorating my room, just because I wanted to move to the attic and get a bigger space.
And now I am so grateful for it all. Because now, I know how to cook, I know how to do my laundry, and when I left my mothers nest at age 17 I was a lot more developed than many other students my age.
I learned practical skills from her like fixing the television and putting together IKEA furniture. Once, I helped a friend move, and even though I showed up in high heels and a skirt (which was not really practical, but it looked pretty nonetheless) when it came to putting together a very difficult IKEA table, I could do it without any help, leaving my friend and her family with a look of surprise on their faces.
I know now that I shouldn’t take all her sacrifices for granted and being (sort of) an adult myself now, I don’t know if I would ever be able to do what she did. (How ’bout it mom, getting teary yet?)
I always called her when I just left home. I called her with the smallest questions, like: at how many degrees do I wash my red sweater, or how long do I need to cook potatoes, how do I install a new program on my computer… She always answered patiently and now I don’t have to call so often. I learned a lot of the things I know from her (although she still has to teach me how to use silver polish, because up until now I have only been using her skills for that) and now I don’t have to call her so often anymore. And now I can even give her advice or teach her something occasionally ;)
Whenever I need to make a big decision, I always call her. And it’s not even because I expect her to tell me what to do, because she doesn’t. But by telling her the whole story, I get some perspective myself, and usually by the end of the conversation, I will know what to do. And sometimes, I even already knew before starting the conversation.
She taught me to think for myself, instead of letting other people think for me. Because of my mother, I am independent. I can take care of myself and I do. And I believe that that is one of the main reasons why I am able to go on an adventure like this.
So, credit where credit’s due. And in this case, a lot of the credit goes out to mommy dearest. Even if I were as annoying as Stewie, she would have kept her patience.
I love you mom, and I am very, very grateful for the way you raised me and the way you continue to support me in everything I do. I’m definitely not taking it for granted anymore and I am well aware of your part in how my life turned out.
Now that I’m almost leaving Jakarta, you may wonder how it went with the resolutions (see the resolutions here, check out the first update here).
Well, some things were easier than others, but all in all, I think I failed a little.
It was easy to eat fruit and yes, I ate a lot of rice and a lot of vegetables. So that’s good. I’ve tried exotic and weird fruits, such as dragonfruit, snakeskin fruit (yes, it’s a thing), starfruit, papaya and the best mango’s in the world. The food here is fantastic, but, even though I thought it would be very healthy, it turned out to consist of a lot of oil, sometimes a lot of sugar… Yes, they use fresh ingredients, but a lot of the food contained some not so healthy additions as well. So that was a downside.
Walking to work is something I did every day, and most of the times I walked back also. Sometimes I had plans after work, or I just felt lazy and ordered a Go-jek.
The thing about Indonesia is that it is hot. And the warmth makes you feel lazy and slow, which made it very hard for me to get off my but and hit the gym. So I only did this a couple of times and I wasted perfectly good money on the membership. So even though I did walk to work everyday, and back, most of the times, I didn’t really run or jump or whatever. In the next few months I will let this resolution go also, because with all the travel it will be tricky, but there will be a lot of walking. And then when I move to the next location for a longer period of time, I will create a new plan.
I really wanted to learn yoga while I was here, but I didn’t. I feel bad about that, but my new plans include a ten-day meditation retreat in Thailand, in March, where the morning includes an hour of yoga. So I hope that will give me the basis I need to start doing more yoga.
So yeah, not all my resolutions were accomplished, but that is basically how they work though, isn’t it? I have many resolutions for my time in Paris as well, but we’ll just see how they go. But right now, I am assuming I will accomplish them all then, so I can go on a guilt-free trip the next month and a half.
(full disclosure, the picture at the top was taken in Singapore)
When I arrived in Singapore it was quite a contrast with Indonesia and I was happy to be able to say I have now been in two Asian countries. We arrived in the evening and took a taxi to our hostel, and right away I noticed how quiet it was in the streets. Sure, it was the middle of the night, but in Jakarta that really doesn’t make a difference. There is always traffic. Not in Singapore.
Another shock I had was that everybody stopped at the traffic lights when they were red. In Indonesia, it’s really more like a suggestion. And this kind of became a general idea during our stay in Singapore. People would simply stick to the rules. And I’m not just talking about written rules, such as no chewing gum (which is literally a law), no food in the subway and no smoking in a lot of places. I’m also talking about the unwritten rules, like getting up for the elderly in the subway or in the bus, like staying quiet in the street when it is late at night… And all these unwritten rules have written forms that really impressed me. One of the things I kept noticing in Singapore is the amazing marketing skills they have. Look at some of the signs below, that really speak to you and make you want to stick to the rules. #standupstacey
I really felt like Singapore is a city that really focuses on making it as comfortable as possible to live in. There are plenty of subway stations and busses to get around, they have many parks and benches, places to relax… They even had a charging station in one of the subway stations, which I thought was such good service!
The trip to Singapore already started great. I met my friend at the airport and together we waited for our flight to Singapore (where she had a layover a few hours before, which we didn’t know beforehand). We saw a sign there, in Indonesian, which I roughly translated to: you cannot shout the word ‘bomb’ at the airport.
When we were in the airplane, I explained to my friend that everybody in Indonesia asks you ‘where are you going?’ instead of ‘how are you?’ I told her how you just give them the simple answer, like: I’m going to the office. But you won’t tell them what you’ll be doing there, like: I’m going to the office to plant a bomb.
‘I thought you couldn’t say bomb?’ my friend asked.
‘No, you cannot shout it,’ I clarified, even though that was just my interpretation of the sign.
A few minutes later I started playing a game on my phone (not because we were already sick of each other, but because I was restless and needed something to do) and I decided on Fruitninja. For those of you who don’t know the game: what rock have you been living under?
In the game, there are pieces of fruit and there are bombs. Can you see where I’m going with this?
After a while I hit a bomb and in the heat of the moment, I yelled: Ah, no, I hit a bomb!
There were no consequences and I think nobody paid attention to the two loud bules in the airplane, but I thought it was kind of a funny moment.
What they say about Singapore is true. It is very clean. And I expected it all to be very modern and fancy, but the truth is, Singapore has many different areas. We went to Little India (where we stayed in a hostel also), to Chinatown, to Arab street, and in each of these places the atmosphere is totally different and a lot of people from these countries lived there.
The food was amazing. We went to this one restaurant that was a one minute walk from our hostel, where they made the most amazing sauce to go with the mini springrolls. So we ordered that a lot, even if it was just for a late night snack. We ate a huge plate of vegetables and some falafel in Arab street and in Chinatown we were adventurous and ordered some stuff off the menu of which we had no idea what to expect. Plus, I found a salad bar that became my favorite place in Singapore on day one, so we went back one more time later that weekend.
We also spent one morning in a great natural park, where we were planning on hiking for 5 kilometers, but we ended up walking only a fifth of that. It was so hot. But it was beautiful and we also saw a bit of the natural activities there, like an ant migration and a monkey running through the playground.
One of the main activities during this trip was making small videos, usually of us singing. When I edited this all together, I will share some of those moments with you. Some may say it’s embarrassing I just say we were having fun.
And we did.
But until I can upload the videos, you’ll have to do with the photographs below.
And then I will leave Jakarta. For good? I don’t think so. But for now.
I had such a good time here. I learned so much about the Indonesian culture, about working in a multicultural atmosphere and about myself. I made friends I will miss so much and I met people that entertained me for a day and I know I will never see again.
I always thought that when I was older and I needed to settle down (whatever that means) I would do so in The Netherlands. The thing is… now I’m not so sure. Honestly, it was not hard for me to adjust to a different culture and country. I blended in smoothly (despite everybody looking at me) and I was even able to learn some of the language during my time here. So now that homesickness and fear won’t be a factor, I can really live anywhere. And that is both a liberating thought, as well as a scary one. And a very difficult one, because how do I ever choose a place to live forever?
The answer is I don’t know yet, and I don’t need to know yet. I will know eventually and even if I don’t, I can always move around until I find my place under the sun (but I would prefer to have some sun, so that is -1 for The Netherlands).
In my last week here I will try to write many blogs, because I am far behind and have so much to tell and show you. There will be some very funny videos from my time here with a friend that visited me and I will post many pictures from my latest trips.
So there is much to come. But there will be even more later. Because even though I will leave Jakarta, I will not leave Asia, as I will be traveling through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia before I leave.
So yeah, my life is still awesome. And I’m happy every day that it won’t end soon.
In contrast to what you may suspect after seeing this title, this post is about food, not technology. In Indonesia, there is this thing. This amazing thing. It is the kind of restaurant that they should have everywhere. Actually, a variant of this does exist in several countries under the name of ‘buffet restaurant’. But it is not the same.
In a warteg (Warung Tegal, named after a certain region in Indonesia), they have many different features, which all create a technological idea causing many people to name these kinds of restaurants a touchscreen restaurant.
Feature one: touchscreen. You can look at the different kinds of food, and point at what looks good. Then, the seller will put it on a plate for you (if you want to eat there) or wrap it up in paper (if you want to take away). It’s very easy.
Feature two: voice-activated search. If you are not sure what you’re looking at (which is not uncommon with Indonesian food) you can try to use the voice-activated search feature. If you want to eat some vegetables, you just say ‘sayuran’ (vegetables) and the seller will point at one of the plates that has vegetables on it, all the while looking at you questioningly. If it looks good, nod once. If it does not look good, shake your had, or give a small wave of the hand.
This kind of restaurant is really great. There is something for everyone. But, most of these restaurants make the food in the morning and they will leave it out until it it sold. So if you go there for dinner, you should know that the food won’t be very fresh. For me, a person who doesn’t eat meat, fish or egg, that’s not a problem. But I wouldn’t recommend buying these foodgroups late at night (but, me being me, I wouldn’t recommend buying these foodgroups at all :) ).
This will be the only piece of vegan propaganda on this blog, I promise :)
A funny thing is that when you want to eat at a warteg and your friend wants to eat at the street-cart outside… there is no problem. One of you can just get the food and sit at the other establishment (if you can call them establishments). You can also bring your own drink to the warteg if you want. Oh, and, you will probably never spend more than a euro when you eat at a warteg. They also have loads of krupuk, free for the taking. But you have to pay afterwards ;)
There is also another kind of shops, called warkop (warung kopi). Literally translated this means coffeeshop, which is funny because I am from The Netherlands. While at the warteg they sell full sized meals, at the warkop they sell snack-like foods. To go with your coffee, or tea.
And remember, if all else fails: NASI is everywhere.
So, my 31st of December did not go as planned. At all. I was staying in Yogyakarta during New Years and had planned to go to the celebration at Borobudur. The plan was as follows: I was supposed to go to the Borobudur temple around the beginning of the afternoon and then stay there until the celebration. Then, in the night, I could go back to Yogya.
I had not really thought this through, I was just sort of assuming everything would work out. But the first wrong turn was when I woke up and my host took me to lunch, because it all took a lot longer than a simple lunch should have. So eventually I got ready to go to Borobudur, but then he said I should come to his office first, and from there I could get transport. But there was no way to go to Borobodur by Go-jek, like we hoped, and all the other options took a lot longer. Normally, that’s not a problem, but seeing how it was already three o’clock at this point, I did not want to arrive at the largest Buddhist temple with limited time to see the damn thing. I also did not want to pay 40 euros for these limitations.
After sitting in the office of my host for a while, thinking about the best solution, I felt a little desperate. It was the 31st of December and if I didn’t go to the Borobudur celebration, I had NO celebration.
Simply. Not. An. Option.
So, I made a new plan. I would go there in the evening, party all night, and go to the Borobudur when it opened, at 6 AM the next morning. It seemed like a solid plan, and my host thought so too.
The next issue that arose, was the transportation. Man, this story is going to become so long, because the whole day felt like that and having to figure all of this stuff out, I really wasn’t having much fun. The options were to go by bus, having to transfer two times and it would take very long. The other option was to borrow the motorbike from my host and go by myself. At that point I did not know the roads would be rather good, so I was scared to go by myself. But it seemed like the best option. However, the minute I decided that yes, I was going to conquer my fears and go on a motorbike, by myself, in the dark, to a place 40 kilometers away, my host started telling me horror stories and said that as a woman alone I would run into criminals.
‘So, what, they will rob me?’ I asked, a little scared. ‘I just won’t bring much money. And I can drive away quickly on the motorbike.’
‘No, no, they won’t rob you. But maybe they will stab you.’
Okay. So I won’t be going by myself then.
The final option was that my host would bring me (BRING ME) and then drive back with his cousin. She was arriving from Semarang that evening (but what bus did she take?) and instead of going all the way to Yogya, so that my host would have to stay at home to let her in, she would get out in Borobudur so she could drive the rest of the way with my host. A very elaborate construction, that was so nice of them so that I could go to the celebration.
So, we left the house around 9 or 9.30, which I thought was a little late, but okay. Then we made a lot of stops on the way, to get gas, to go by his office, and finally we were on our way. It was a very long ride. By now I am very much used to being on the back of a motorbike, but this was just… so long. Maybe it is unnecessary to say, but my ass hurt when I finally got to hop off.
During the motorbike ride, my host turned to me and asked:
‘So where are you staying tonight?’
Uh. What? I thought this party was going to go on all night. We talked about me staying up all night, but he never mentioned that the party would be finished around 1 AM. So what am I supposed to do for five hours, until the opening of the park? Well, I brought my Kindle, so I supposed I could just walk into a random hotel and asked if I could hang out in their lobby, reading. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but I was feeling adventurous.
We arrived at the temple and a new problem surfaced. Where the hell was the entrance to this party?!
The temple is big and there were several entrances. We kept walking around and finally we found the way in. At this point, it was already after 11 o’clock. So even though I reserved a ticket, we didn’t pick it up. And it was unnecessary because there was a gate, but there were many people outside the gate as well, and from there you could see the stage and the festivities really well. So it was good. I was there, at the celebration.
And then…
My host had to leave. I figured he would at least join in some of the celebration, together with his cousin. I didn’t realize he was JUST going to drop me off. So I looked around, desperate for some company, and then I saw two people with long blonde hair. If anything, they were bound to speak English, so I approached them. I introduced myself. I asked them if I could hang out with them for the duration of the party, because I was all alone. They said yes. My host left.
And so I made new friends, friends that were my best friends for two whole hours. And this is a perfect segway for me, into a wise lesson that I learned.
Sometimes you just have to accept that your contact is short term and you won’t see each other again. And you can enjoy it and be okay with it.
For a long time I just thought of social contacts as something that was an opportunity to grow. I didn’t really feel like hanging out with new people if I knew it would just be for one evening (travelers for instance). I wouldn’t get something out of it in the long term. And I know this sounds horrible, but that is how I reasoned sometimes. I can actually be a very selfish person and I am totally aware of that.
But now I don’t feel that way anymore. Because each person you meet teaches you a lesson. Maybe it is a lesson about their culture, about communication differences, about yourself… But a lesson it will be. As well as a memory. And now I am collecting these lessons and memories and I treasure each and every one of them. I get inspired daily while traveling and meeting many people from all over the world. They show me different views on things, tell me different opinions, share stories about their lives, which may differ from mine in so many ways.
I have short term contact all the time now, and they continuously brighten my day.
Alright, enough of that. The story continues. The two blondes had a friend that was Indonesian (saying the world is small is the understatement of the century when we realized that the guy actually lived two streets away from me in Jakarta!!!) and this friend had two more friends. (I can feel this story boring you, but please, stick with it. It is about to become one of those weird experiences that you only gain when you travel or live your life in a crazy spontaneous way)
He told me that those friends would go to a hotel of another friend of them and that I could join them. Well, didn’t that just seem like the perfect solution. I was happy as a clam.
When the clock struck twelve I wished my temporary friends a happy new year, I texted some people back in The Netherlands (actually no, I sent them a video) and it was about an hour later when they were planning to go back to Yogyakarta. And if I didn’t want to see the Borobudur I would have probably been able to catch a ride with them, but that was not the plan. No, the plan now, was to go to a hotel with two strangers to hang out with said strangers until the sun came up.
O boy.
They introduced me to the two friends of the guy (I’m sorry, I did not remember their names so you’ll just have to do with my non-descriptive descriptives) and they were two policemen who had to oversee the event. Do you see where I’m going with this?
They told me they would be a little bit longer to round everybody up and do their debriefing or whatever, but I could wait in their car and we would leave shortly. Next thing I know, we are walking to their car, I get in the backseat and wait for my newest two friends to come back and drive me to the hotel.
I was giddy with anticipation and with the way my day was turning around. And when they came back after half an hour they drove me to the hotel, where I met the owner. He had studied in Belgium for six years and spoke perfect Dutch. Who would have guessed?!
Picture from booking.com
He made me a sandwich, I got some water, and we hung out in one of the small wooden thingies… (what to call them…? See the picture) I was totally set, the evening turned out great and while having a conversation in a mixture of English, Indonesian and Dutch, the owner mentioned he actually had some mats to sleep on, if I wanted to get some shut-eye.
Picture from originalasia.nl
Well, I wanted, so after a few more minutes I went to the back where he laid out a bed and went to sleep for a little bit.
As it turns out, the Borobudur temple actually offered a sunrise tour, so around 5 AM the owner drove me to the entrance of the park and I watched the sun rise at the Borobudur temple. It was a bit rainy and there were many clouds, but honestly, who cares. It was great.
I was there by myself, alone with my thoughts. I walked around, studied every nook and corner and when it was just after 6AM, I got a drunken call from two of my best friends to wish me a happy new year.
So yes, full disclosure, I felt a little bit lonely at that point. They were on the phone, in the midst of insane noises of fireworks going off, people having fun. And I was alone at this amazing temple. I got over it pretty quickly, but I missed my friends at that point and was really honored that they would spend twenty of their drunken minutes with me (of which their recollection the next morning was foggy, at best).
Also, I was amazed by modern technology, that would offer me the possibility to talk to my friends, basically for free (whatsapp call) while staring at an amazing artwork of a building.
So that’s it. That is the crazy story that saluted my new year in style and that will probably set an example for the rest of my travels. And if all my failed plans and changed itineraries will be anything like this… I’m truly going to have the time of my life.
actually no, I sent them a video) and it was about an hour later when they were planning to go back to Yogyakarta. And if I didn’t want to see the Borobudur I would have probably been able to catch a ride with them, but that was not the plan. No, the plan now, was to go to a hotel with two strangers to hang out with said strangers until the sun came up.
Sunny's Travels 