#100HappyDays - Day 22 - Roof top rave party (random Jogja adventures)

Photo: Dave Hodgkin

Rocked up to a #SoundCloudYogyakarta meetup last night. On a rooftop of a milkbar karaoke club. The host recognises me, drags me up in front of the crowd and interviews me like some kind of celebrity. Then we watch a cool live electronica act, and when the performer runs out of prepared material, he invites anyone from the audience to jam with him. No one else seemed keen, so why the heck not?

Photo: Dave Hodgkin

So I'm randomly jamming with a Jogja DJ/Producer, playing electro bass lines completely unrehearsed to a crowd of maybe 70 or so Indonesians. This city, and the random, crazy stuff that happens if you let it - happy days indeed. 

#100HappyDays - Day 21 - A long-awaited party

The return of the king and so many friends on the one place was sure cause for celebration. Great company, food, beer, gin and extremely generous pours of Aberlour A'bunadh (whisky). It's so easy over here, away from almost everyone you know, to forget how important socialising is, and how important nights like this are for your happiness. A reminder that, when this adventure ends, I should make more time for friends and family (and drink in moderation).

#100HappyDays - Day 20 - Chilled out cherub

Another day, another baby massage - this time while Nanna and Poppy are getting their relax on in the room next door. And again, reaching out for the comfort of Dad's hand is just so special.
(playing catch up, as I've missed a few days)

#100HappyDays - Day 19 - Getting my geek on

Getting geeky, building a raspbmc audio box/file server.

#100HappyDays - Day 18 - Rice and joy

Father and son had fun making and playing with coloured rice, but the arrival of Nanna and Poppy in the afternoon was just pure joy for all of us - especially for Charlie.

#100HappyDays = Day 17 - Health tonic

A bottle of aloe vera drink goes way too well with gin. Especially at lunchtime. You know, for the health benefits.

#100HappyDays - Day 16 - Beard props

There were a lot of things to be grateful for yesterday, like a successful trip to the optometrist (overcoming language barrier), a riverside walk, shopping with my family...

But I probably smiled most when I was stopped on Jl Malioboro (Jogja's busiest shopping street) by a random Indonesian man. Being where I was, I presumed he was trying to sell me something. But no, he just wanted to congratulate me on my facial hair!

He went on to tell of his efforts as a young man to encourage his own beard growth, rubbing herbal ointment on his face - but it didn't seem to work.

Random, happy meetings.

#100HappyDays - Day 15 - Home invasion

Charlie just rode his bike up someone's driveway and into their living room this morning. Inside was a woman and a four year old girl. The boy just made himself home, sitting on their mat and started playing with her toys. Before long, and with only a handful of words in Indonesian, he'd made a new friend.

A short time later two of her friends arrived, and next thing you know, Charlie is putting on a clown show. So amazing to watch how quickly he adapts.

#100HappyDays - Day 14 - a hand to hold

Went for a family massage yesterday, which on its own is worthy of gratitude. But Charlie lying on the massage table next to me for his "baby massage", looking over and reaching out for my hand to hold - those sorts of moments make parenting worthwhile.

#100HappyDays - Day 13 - Blue-eyed boy

The wife was off to see the doctor, so boys' night out. Dinner at Rumah Budaya, including this funky green and pink jelly drink. Charlie was pretty well behaved, and turned on the blue-eyed charm when I whipped out the camera phone. Love this kid a gazillion.

#100HappyDays - Day 12 - Presents!

Still sick, but The Bug came back from Bandung with a present for me - this awesome t-shirt. You rock, Bug.

#100HappyDays - Day 11 - Support

I'm sick today, having picked up the bug my wife has been struggling with all week. Harder to find the positivity on days like this. But feeling grateful for my wife understanding how yuck I've felt and giving me space and support to rest and recover.

#100HappyDays - Day 10 - Funky hair and musical frogs

A head lice outbreak at the wee lad's playgroup, so one of the carers busted out the coconut oil which apparently wards them off. Charlie's hair showed no signs of the little critters, but the oil gave him an awesome hair style!

Also, spent some time today working on some music for the first time in a while. Left to have dinner, and came back to find this little dude sitting on my laptop. Rock on, Froggy.

#100HappyDays - Day 09 - Fruit from a stranger

Yesterday the kind old bapak (father, Mister) who lives up the street, whose name I don't yet know despite regularly exchanging pleasantries whenever we pass, stopped me as I rode past his rumah (home, house). I didn't quite understand what he said, but the general gist was "wait here, I have something for Charlie". He went inside and returned with a bag of fruit. Turns out to be jambu air, also known as water apple, rose apple, Java apple or bell fruit. Certainly made for an interesting breakfast, and set is up for a happy and productive day.

Shot with Sony Xperia Z1

Three months and 'otherness'

May 6 – the day I started writing this entry – was an auspicious occasion; exactly three months since we left Australia. A quarter of our time here already gone; our Jogja experience slipping by unbelievably quickly.

View from D'Omah restaurant, where I write this.

The open-air gym at D'Omah hotel.

On that day, and again today, I have treated myself to a gym workout, a swim, a few minutes of sun-bathing, and a brief meditation at D'Omah Hotel, about 3 minutes walk from our Tembi home. Now I'm not much of a gym guy; the five sessions on the treadmill at the hotel gym this past fortnight is the only exercise I've done in about five months, courtesy of a severely sprained ankle courtesy of Ultimate Frisbee. Nor am I a swimmer, but try running 2.5 kms on a treadmill in 34 degree apparent heat and tropical humidity of 80%+; you'll never appreciate a pool more! Anyone who has ever seen my white flesh can vouch for how seldom the sun touches this skin. And to be honest, my efforts at meditation are only very recent too; an attempt to slow my mind down and claw back some headspace. But the combination of all these things this morning has been therapeutic, and got me feeling all reflective (I think that was an accidental joke about my tan – hey, I cracked a funny!).

Looking skyward from a D'Omah sunbed

Much has happened in three months, but the infrequent blog updates suggest I'm not good at making time to document my experiences. Joining the #100HappyDays movement has certainly helped me feel more grateful and positive, but it does reduce the impetus to blog in detail. There's usually way more than one thing worth writing about each day, and even the negative experiences have value (at least retrospectively). Feel free to let me know in the comments whether or not you like the addition of the #100HappyDays.

Actually, the lack of updates to the blog has been weighing me down a little of late, as I enjoy writing and feel like I'm failing somehow by not updating the blog frequently. This is a weight of expectation that I've put on myself, and I think in my current mood I am realising how destructive this is. Timely then that after my morning wellbeing-for-beginners session I watched that “Look Up" video that's been doing the rounds on Facebook lately. I must say, I'm as guilty as any of you reading this, when it comes to the role social media and modern technology plays in my life. After watching this, I can't help but wonder how many awesome experiences I might be missing because I'm too busy stressing over writing a blog about the experiences I've already had!

In the interests of brevity, so that you can go out and have some experiences of our own instead of reading about mine, perhaps the best approach would be to share just a few photos from the adventure so far and then sum up how I am feeling now, three months in to this life changing experience.

First, the photos. My god there are loads to choose from. In fact, I will limit this to just a few selected highlights from just the first week or this post will break the internet. Apologies to those reading on mobile.

Bye bye, dry brown land. Shot from the plane on Sony Xperia Z1	Charlie at play in paradisal pool. Kusnadi hotel, Legian, Bali. Shot with a Canon 700D
Happy boy in Tembi Tembi village, Bantul. Shot with a Canon 700D	Getting arty in Tembi Tembi village, Bantul, Yogyakarta. Shot with a Canon 700D
I love the sky here, the way the clouds play in the light. Rumah Budaya, Tembi Yogyakarta. Shot with Sony Xperia Z1	More Charlie, but what a fantastic model! Tembi village, Bantul, Yogyakarta. Shot with a Canon 700D

And to sum up the current mood: the “otherness” is fading. The breath-taking, exhilarating feeling as you round a bend and see sights you've never seen before is less frequent and less dramatic as it was. The satisfaction of getting 'found' after having gotten lost - accidentally or deliberately - is no longer as strong. The fact that it's a different culture and a different landscape seems to be less immediate, replaced by a comfortable familiarity – that sense of “home”.

This onset of familiarity happens subtly, creeping up on you until one day a busy road into Jogja could be a busy road into Sydney or Melbourne or any other city you have only vague familiarity with. Sure it's all still very distinctly Indonesian, unmistakably so - if you look. But that's just it; you stop actively looking, stop noticing, and that sense of "otherness" disappears.

Here's a challenge: on your next commute to or from work, trip to the local shops, or any other journey you have done a thousand times, try and notice something you've never consciously noticed before. Safely, of course – I don't want to be responsible for a spate of accidents. But I bet you'll find there are hundreds of things, even really obvious ones, that you've not noticed because you've long since stopped looking at the world around you.

I think this is the thrill of travelling, especially travelling to new places: getting away from familiar scenes, getting uncomfortable, so you can re-learn how to be 'aware' of your surroundings and once again see the magic and the beauty and order and chaos all around you. And that's the feeling that is slipping for me a bit now. It's all still there, abundantly - but I now need to 'try' to see it. Three months in Jogja and I'm not "travelling" any more, I've "moved home". The otherness is fading.

#100HappyDays - Day 08 - Like a local

Felt really settled in to this place tonight. Both the wife and I coming down with a flu-type bug (it must have been a week since the last round of ill health!), so had a very lazy day. But I left wife and son at home and went true local for dinner at the warung around the corner. Sitting on the floor, drinking a wedang jahe (ginger tea), eating pick and mix Indo food (tempe, skewers with chicken heart or something like it, rice, sambal), all for about $1.50. Delicious, cheap, local food - and I'm the only bule here. Somewhat less local by watching an episode of Breaking Bad on the tablet, mind you - but to be fair there were some young Indonesian lads watching something on a laptop at the next table.

#100HappyDays - Day 07 - Mother's Day Food and Swim

Celebrated Mother's Day with fluffy scrambled eggs and chai for breakfast, followed by a swim in the local hotel pool, then a trip to the Sheraton Hotel for a delicious (if slightly expensive by Jogja standards) Indian meal for lunch. And capped it off with swimming in the incredible Sheraton pool (as seen from the 8th floor restaurant in top right of the collage below). A lovely family day. Happy Mother's Day!

#100HappyDays - Day 06 - Spec Shopping

Went shopping this afternoon with the always wonderful Bakti, looking for new glasses. Overwhelmed by choice I've come away empty handed, but the Bug bought some for herself, of course. Fun was had. Here's is us goofing around,  trying on glasses we ordinarily wouldn't choose. What do you think?

#100HappyDays - Day 05 - Medicinal movies in bed

Woke up with a headache, but relaxing in bed with a movie, snacks and my lovely wife was healing.

#100HappyDays - Day 04 - Sawah Sunrise

Yesterday the sawahs next to our house were empty fields of mud, but on waking this morning they were full of water and beautiful in the early light.

#100HappyDays - Day 03 - Bumpy Lunch

Lunch date today, at an odd prison-themed restaurant called Bong Kopitown (www.bongkopitown.com) with my lovely wife and the bump within. I love my family.

#100HappyDays - Day 02 - Gecko friend

This little gecko kept me company, climbing all over me, while I ate lunch alone at Waroeng Pohon. He smiled right at me, and I smiled back.

#100HappyDays - Day 01 - The Mountain Watches

Blue sky morning riding up Jl Bantul on the way to the lad's playgroup, the majestic Mount Merapi looms to the north. Not always visible due to smog or clouds, seeing it reminds me of just where in the world I am.

(Photo enhanced to emphasise the volcano - but no camera can show the volcano as large as it looks to the human eye.)

#100HappyDays - Day Zero

I know it's a bit done already, but I am jumping on the #100HappyDays bandwagon.

This is primarily because am struggling to find the time to stop and document my experiences in full blog format. And there are so many experiences, so much to be grateful for that I'd hate to leave them out. I'll filter them from the main blog, but if want to read them, click on the #100HappyDays link at the top of the page.

Hopefully I'll do one a day, with a pic if possible - but I don't want to turn it into chore, so forgive me if I miss a day here or there.