The final ‘challenge’ was to get from the earthquake zone to Pekenbaru, only a 4 hour bus ride away, get a boat ticket to Pulau Batam and then a quick hop on a ferry to Singapore….easy peasy…on paper at least! In Bukuttinggi (sorry spelling awful) we discovered the es krem goreng (deep fried – like everything in this country I am surprised they are not all obese – icecream.) and also the weird pancake which was like chewy cake with sweetcorn, cheese and condensed milk – wierdly nice but filling and also bad for the waistline. (more…)

If you can get over the fact that in the last two weeks in Indonesia there have been fatal aircrashes, an earthquake, a landslide and a ferry setting on fire and sinking. Then there have also been less fatal but also worrying active volcanoes bubbling, typhoons, H5N1, typhoid and malaria scares. Then if you can also get over your recent dog bite (family pet and I have already had the jabs but still pretty mental looking!), attempted pickpocketing in Jakarta and the constant stream of ‘Miss Miss, you want this, that, the other, where you from?’ 24/7 then Indonesia is great! Phew! (more…)

I have to say I am now sure that flying is the most souless and crap experiences maybe I am biased but…. After crying my way to the airport on the shuttle bus (which I am pleased to say was full!) and being invited to go to Noosa on holiday instead with a pisshead whose wife had just dumped him – tempting! I brave the airport. I have not had any security checks to speak of all trip, only one small glance in my bag when I arrived in Australia, so perhaps I was a bit naive but carrying matches and a fork in my luggage as well as trying to photograph the planes ‘Security!’ were not too clever!

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