Happy Birthday to Me

I realize now that I’m posting this almost exactly six months after the fact; it’s taking me longer to write up the trip than the trip itself took! When I was in Morocco I said that what I wanted to bring back with me, lifestyle-wise, was more writing and more reading and more cooking with fresh ingredients; so far I’ve done two out of three (I’ve been eating with fresh ingredients but not cooking a lot). The question at the time was, and the question still is, can I do it while working? And can I be less involved and active in other things so that I have more time for the reading and writing and cooking? In Morocco there weren’t that many other things to do – no baseball games, few museums, no concerts, no places to go out to dinner. So far I’ve had a good balance here in Southampton, but that’s because there aren’t that many other things to do here either – there are just enough. And, of course, I haven’t been working! I hope to continue to write – it is good for my soul – but there’s also the possibility that when I’m working I won’t have as many interesting things to write about! Well, I’ll likely travel now and then, and therefore may always have things to add to this blog. And I have some other ideas. And maybe writing will be a component of my work and I will get some soul satisfaction then. Too much contemplation? I guess a birthday is a good time to take stock, and even though I didn’t do it that day, I can take stock while writing about the day!

The trip was in part a post-service trip, but it was also a birthday trip. I don’t want to say which birthday it was (nor do I want to see mention of it in the comment section), but it was a milestone. I didn’t feel I had to be anywhere or do anything special on the exact day, since the whole trip was a birthday trip, but I did have a happy day when all was said and done.

I flew to Yogyakarta and immediately fell under the spell of Indonesia. Jakarta is a big city; Yogyakarta (nicknamed Jogja) is much more manageable. I happened to stay in my favorite hotel of the trip, the Yogya Village Inn – meant to replicate an Indonesian Village, it had two floors of rooms around a central courtyard that had a garden, pool, massage hut and open-air dining area. I put my things down in my cozy boutique room and took off for the Sultan’s Palace, which closes early on Sundays – otherwise I wouldn’t have rushed out; caught the tail end of a dance and then toured the grounds and saw the sultan’s collections – it’s good to be the sultan! He had all sorts of valuable things – but what I found notable were what seemed to be ordinary cooking utensils!




I walked around the neighborhood and went into a Wayang puppet-maker’s studio; Yogyakarta is the center of culture on Java. Wayang is an ancient art, handed down from generations – both the puppet-making and, the story-telling. It’s always the same story – the Ramayana – and all the characters are well-known. I ended up buying some for myself, even though I have no practical use for them. They’re special! Up until then I had bought gifts for others and for myself just a few clothes, jewelry or other things that I could see a use for. Then again, the puppets I bought bring love and protection, and I could use those!


I went through the bird market, too (no avian flu in Indonesia – I think; I didn’t get it, at any rate) and then I had to find an ATM and I had to get something to eat – I was running low on both money and energy. I started towards the market area to look for batik when I was hit by the irresistible urge to go back to the hotel, sit by the pool, swim, and relax, so I had a bicycle becak take me back there. There were mosques in every direction from the hotel, and the call to prayer resounding all around was magical – I tried to be in the garden and/or pool for at least one call every day. Then, I finally had some satay! It’s my favorite Indonesian dish, but I hadn’t had any in Jakarta. The open-air poolside restaurant had wi-fi, too. And since it was my birthday and it had been about a week since my last massage, I had a traditional Javanese massage, followed by a body scrub and a bucket bath. All in all, a great day!