Tieske's Adventures

The last leg on our trip is Singapore, a city and country in one. My friend Jason lives here with his family and he’s picking us up from the airport. As we’re on our way down on the escalator I suddenly hear “ Up Dog”  (related to a joke he used to make when I last saw him 9 years ago) and immediately I know it is him. Singapore Airport is like no other airport I’ve seen so far: it has amazing art and amenities like a pool, a movie theater and water fountains. Jason shows us around the airport (a sight by itself) before he takes us home and introduces us to his family.  Jason is on a temporary assignment in Singapore and found himself an apartment with an amazing view. We quickly drop our stuff and head out to explore the city. Singapore is very different from what we’ve seen in Indonesia. It is more ‘westernized’, way more expensive and there is no trash to be found on the streets. You can’t smoke, eat or drink in public spaces without getting fined heavily. “ Sing...

A boat with a broken air conditioner brings us from the harbor of Gili T to the shores of Bali. From there it is another hour to Ubud with the shuttle bus. The taxi drivers waiting on the dock try to convince us it will be at least 4 hours. “ Come with me! It will be much faster! There will be five stops across Bali and you’ll be in a bus with 20 people!”  We’ve heard about this scam, and kindly decline their offer. We end up in a little bus with 9 people who are all going to the same place. It’s easy to make friends in the bus: “ Where are you from? How long are you staying in Bali?”  When the topic changes to ‘music’, I pull out my ukulele and start playing in the bus. Zach from Canada has been playing the guitar for many years and he picks up the ukulele chords pretty quick. We start jamming together and the other people in the bus sing along. “ Somewhere over the rainbow.. ” So much fun!  When we arrive in Ubud we notice we’re in the jungle as monkeys are l...

The boat from Lombok drops off right in front of the hotel in Gili T (Trawangang). How convenient! Immediately we notice a totally different atmosphere compared to what we’ve seen in Indonesia so far. The majority of people on the street are western tourists, there is a strip of bars and restaurants and drunk youngsters think they ‘own this town’. Welcome to Gili T: Indonesia’s party island. If I didn’t know any better I would have believed I was in Ibiza. Our hotel has a bar in the pool which makes it easy to gain new friends. Except for the fact that the people in the pool (undoubtedly influenced by alcohol) are picking a fight with each other a few minutes after we’ve made our entrance. A drunk English lady finds it necessary to announce that she hates all Germans. Not the smartest thing to say if there are a few Germans in the pool. Luckily it ends with name-calling and some looks. “ Get out of the pool you f*ck#*g b*tch!”  Koen and I look at each other and think the same...

“ Dear passengers, we like to remind you that carrying or trafficking of drugs is a serious crime and results in the penalty of death. Welcome on our flight to Lombok... ” A somewhat unusual welcome to a flight, but least they can’t say that it wasn’t made clear. As we arrive at the airport the usual negotiations start to find a cab to our hotel: “Where are you going sir?”  <we give them our destination>  “I’ll give you a good price! 150K.”  “We’ll pay 50K.”  “No sir, I can’t do that.”  “No problem, we’ll find someone else.”  <we keep walking while negotiating> “OK sir! 80K!”  “OK, where is your car?” It is quiet at our hotel. There aren’t many guests and there is hardly any sound, except for the wind riffling through the palm trees and the sound of a lost cricket. We drink a beer on the balcony and meet our Australian neighbor who came over for a few days to catch some waves.  In the morning we rent a...