sense of timing

the naked traveler did a piece on people's sense of timing, which reminded me of a graduate class i had a few years ago in america. there were 6 students, each of different nationality. the american would arrive early (even before the professor or purposefully waiting for the professor so that he could walk into class with him - personally I think it's all kiss ass), the Dane right on the dot, the Russian one minute late, the Indian and the Indonesian took turns being second-to-last, and the South Aafrican last, his gait (in my mind) to the beat of reggae. It's genetic, I think.

New additions to the family

Birong died about 6 months ago after living a long 10+ years. For a while we weren't ready for a replacement, but just before the new year we got Tora, 6 months old. He's got very sensitive hearing, barks at everything, jumpy and very cautious. The first couple weeks he was hiding, not wanting to come near us but now he's ok. Not really a playing dog, maybe a tracking dog.

Turki, 2 months old, came last night. He's very friendly, curious and seems to be always hungry. He's a real baby, and was roaming around the yard in no time.

After a few minutes of tension last night, the two are now best buddies. They've lodged themselves behind the bikes, beside the shoes ("Don't even think of licking the shoes!" ). This morning Turki seems to have adopted Tora's cautius stance. Maybe we should switch their names.

I hope they stay a while.

Jewel in the Palace

That's the title of a Korean tv miniseries airing 5 PM daily at Indosiar, the Indonesia tv channels. It's a Korean series that is "is based on the story of a real historical figure (Jang-geum) who was the first and only woman to serve as head physician to the King in the rigidly hierarchical and male-dominated social structure of the Joseon Dynasty" (more here). It's currently still in early stages of its 3-month run, where Jang-geum is working as a cook in the palace. Actually, it's probably the best part of the movie for me: those wonderful warm aromas of Korean cooking wafting through the screen are really comforting (and enticing) in the afternoons of the rainy season.

I was wrong....

that's not RI that i missed, it's DE! Almost as tiny. Actually, counting states I stopped over in (DE, CO, MI) that makes 20, but I'm not counting those I didn't spend significant time in.

Well this has been a particularly useless entry, so to make it up, one of my favorite pictures from AK!

Map your journey...

My sister is on a whirlwhind winter-break-from-grad-school-nervous-breakdown trip across the US and oh I envy her. But here's where I've been in the US, and when I think about it I really shouldn't complain. Notice that AK and HI are on the map--a rare feat even amongst the natives ;-)

If you want a map like this click here (thanks to Loucee for the tip). If you look closely though, in my map RI seems not to be highlighted red, maybe the've got a glitch w/ their program. RI is sooo small it's real easy to miss :-)

Adopt a coral

My sister and I adopted 3 small pieces of acropora to be taken care of by the fishermen/enterpreneur of Les Village in Kecamatan Tejakule, Buleleng District of northern Bali. They will be periodically cleaned of debris--flakes of sand and other particles--so that they'll grow quicker . Once they are large and strong enough to fend for themselves, the acropora will be moved to sections of the reef needing some restoration. I'm excited that I might visit them in the coming few weeks! The acropora will provide sanctuary for fish and other biotas, and play a nano-tiny part in protecting the eroding coasts of northern Bali. Recently, I hear that hordes of tourists are coming out to dive and see the corals being farmed (well, at least before the last bombing....).