I admit it. This picture was taken a few years ago, but I think I still look vaguely like that. Depends on the day (and the time of day). And today, just before I uploaded this picture, an Indonesian English student told me how much she liked my nose. I heard that a lot in Indonesia. Apparently, a large nose like mine is a good …
Read the full story »Changing Hotels and Meeting the People of Tanjungbalai
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
In the past, I’ve always had either a notebook and a pen (a very slow method of writing for me), or my AlphaSmart NEO (which is a brilliant and simple writing keyboard). This is the first time I’ve had a laptop computer let alone a laptop and a smartphone. It’s a bit overwhelming to have all this power at my fingertips, particularly …
The Obstacle Course – Walking in Tanjungbalai
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
I seem to be stuck in a time loop. Every morning is exactly like the previous one. I wake up after a long sleep but still feel fatigued. Then I hear the rain drumming on the roof. This morning was a bit different in that I also heard loud peals of thunder. My understanding was that during the monsoon season, it would …
First Full Day in Tanjungbalai, Sumatra
Monday, November 16, 2015
Well, according to my smartphone (which has access to the Internet), it is 8:30 in the morning. According to my watch, alarm clock, and computer, it is 9:30. It seems that the Internet is much smarter than me because it knew that the time in Sumatra was one hour different from the time in Malaysia. I honestly had no idea. The trip …
From Malaysia to Sumatra by Bicycle and Ferry
Sunday, November 15, 2015
I’m already in Sumatra inside a fairly grubby little hotel in the coastal and port town of Tanjungbalai. However, before I describe the hotel, I should go back to getting the tourist visa. For Indonesia, that can be challenging because they have a lot of rules about visas, and they change their rules often. Then they aren’t very good about keeping their …
Trip to Penang to Get an Indonesian Tourist Visa
Thursday, November 5, 2015
It’s been a while, so I thought it was time for a note from the “road.” It still isn’t much of a road, but at least it isn’t Kuala Lumpur. I’m in the George Town district of Penang about 5 hours by bus north of KL.
My journey here falls pretty firmly into the “things like this only seem to happen to me” …
Buying a Smartphone – Samsung Galaxy J7
I finally got around to buying a smartphone. I thought’d I’d do a little experiment and type something up on the NEO and then hook the NEO up to the phone (using the keyboard emulator function) and see how easy it is to send an email.
The story of this smartphone could already take up a few hundred words, but I’ll try to keep it under …
Quick Trip – Kuala Lumpur to Singapore
I’m writing from Singapore, and for the first time, I have my laptop out in a coffee shop. I never really took it outside of the hostel in Kuala Lumpur. It’s not like the NEO. Not quite so portable and all that stuff. Taking this computer feels like I should be doing something important. And it’s a lot heavier. Everything feels a lot more complicated …
Pros and Cons of Trailers for Bike Touring
I’ve recently been thinking about buying a trailer to replace some or all of my pannier bags, and I put together a list of pros and cons to help me make up my mind. I just thought I’d share them here to help out anyone else trying to make the same decision.
My experience with trailers is limited to two trips on which I used a …