Jungle Lady (Written on 18th of January 2011)

We are now in Sumatra. We met Mag at the airport yesterday in Medan (not my favourite place in the world) with a sign for 'Aunty Maggie'. It was so ace to see her and we talked the whole way in the car ride to the jungle (in fact I talked about Will the whole way in the car, despite him telling me, prior to leaving Penang, that I shouldn't bore Mag with all my talk of he and I - :oP ).

The jungle is Bukit Lawang. It's where the orangutan feeding station is, set in the UNESCO world heritage listed national park. We arrived to find that we had a 15 minute walk to get to our guesthouse.

Indonesia is dirtier and more polluted and more poverty stricken than anywhere I've ever been. We walked through some evidence of this in our 15 minute walk to the guesthouse. But at the end of the walk, at the end of the 15 minutes, we arrived at what could possibly be the most surprising place I've ever seen. (photos to follow soon)

Our room, up some crazy steep steps, is on the side of the hill with a waterfall outside our bathroom window!

No shit!

We are in a tropical jungle paradise, facing a white water river, in a valley surrounded by jungle trees, with a waterfall running literally next to us and with more crazy lookin' bugs than you ever knew existed.

When one looks around this little jungle paradise river, one is reminded of divinity and grace. When we arrived, we were greeted by everyone who we passed, or who passed us, with a much better word than hello, everyone said 'Welcome!' to us - tourists and locals alike.

We met a young family who runs a restaurant and guesthouse, they have two little boys, one is two and a half, who Harper shared his lunch and fab football (soccer) skills with, the other is only three months old and so adorable I just wanted to squash him!!! They are always smiling, they're business seems lucrative enough, they are surrounded by such peace.

Later the mother of those boys was washing some blankets in the river.

We climbed a mountain today.

We fell in the mud. A number of times.

The Bean cried, a lot.

We saw the men of the jungle and heard about all that ails them. Namely, the men of the rest of the planet.

I am humbled.

Things The Bean has said:
On the descent down the mountain, to the guesthouse. There had been a promise of lunch at the resto we'd had dinner at last night.

TB: *cries*
Me: We're nearly there babe, we can have a shower then we can go get some lunch.
TB: At the place with the racing car? (sit in buggy car type thing for little people)
Me: If you speak nicely to mama, you can play in the racing car.
TB: *cries* but Mama, I don't need a shower! (insert intolerable whiney voice)
Me: What did i just say?! Look at yourself, you're covered in mud! We're both covered in mud. We need a shower! (insert grouchy, over it, covered in mud with sore arms from carrying a Bean halfway down a mountain voice)
TB: *cries*
Me: *cries*
TB: *cries*
Me: *cries*
TB: Ok, shower and then some lunch so I can play in that racing car.

I left my heart in Pulau Pinang (Written on 16th January)

We were in Penang for 9 days.

After we arrived, we had a nap. When we woke up we got to see an old friend who gave us a big hug and greeted us with a great big smile of friendship.

We went outside and I met a man. Three minutes later I knew that he was something special.

I fell in love with this man and he spent the majority of those 9 days with us, making me laugh, talking about life and love and dreams and, more than anything, making me shine.

Meeting on 'Love Lane' has to be a sign, huh? ;o)


Things The Bean has said:
Not long after leaving Penang, standing in a lift in a hotel in Medan. I may have been a little teary and exhausted.

TB: Mama, you're sad because we forget Will at the other hotel.
Me: *nods*

Langkawi part 3 (written on January 5th 2011)

When one is confronted with difficulty at home, there is a series of safeguards that help to support one.. When one is away, those safeguards are further away and for bigger reasons, and if one needs a flight home, or a consular consultation, a hospital or an interpreter, the world is a fairly giving place.

However, when one is away from home, and all familiar safeguards, and is feeling a little tired or tested or, dare I say it, hormonal, one's needs of the safeguard of a hug from another adult become quite a big issue..

I think I might, just today, need a hug..

Mum?

Hormones aside, our holiday is going well. I was watching The Bean on the beach today as he was throwing sand over himself (I'm not throwing it mama, I'm having a sand shower) and I was feeling guilty for feeling a bit flat on holiday and how extremely bourgeois and passé of me. But I got over myself, and guessed I was just craving some adult conversation. Where I didn't need to justify why it was time to eat, or time to go to bed, or time not to throw sand on me..

And I looked around and although we've been here before, and although we've been here this time for about 5 days, I was still surprised by the beauty, even in this touristy part of town, of the idea of tropical paradise.

And I started to thinking that I don't need to justify anything. I don't need to take The Bean on endless tourist destination overseas adventures to prove how ace a mum I am. Especially not while he's little, especially not while he's really hard work.

We can go to a place that we love. That we know. A place where we have made some friends. Where we (read, I) love the food. A place where we can relax. Where we are forced to relax in such a wonderful and idyllic way.

We love Langkawi. Who says we can't come back?

And since when do I do what anyone else says to do anyway?


Thing The Bean has said:
Looking in the mirror, after "cleaning" his teeth (read biting the tooth brush and swallowing whole globs of toothpaste)

TB: Mama, my mouth's all red. But don't worry, it's always all red.