Cilegon and Carita in brief
In Rumah Sakit Krakatau Medika, they are still using mercury filled thermometers as well as hand pumped blood pressure measuring devices. The facilities are not as modern but it is the best hospital in the area. They had brought him to another medical facility initially but the meds were not helping. Interestingly, the same medication was administered to Ian and it was only 2 days later that they switched to stronger meds. It took 2 days for them to diagnose acute tonsilitis- something my neighbourhood GP could have done in 5 minutes or less.
I slept on the sofa bed in Ian's room and helped him about because he was on a drip and it was very inconvenient to use the loo, bath and to do anything at all. There was nothing much to do really and we'd listen to Joel Osteen sermons on our phones. TV was mostly in Bahasa Indonesia with only the evening movie being in English. =) We had great fun trying to make sense of the ads and programmes. Sometimes we'd even come up with fake dialogue to go with what is on telly for a laugh. =D
As it is the fasting month for the muslim populace, the hospital canteen was shut for most of the day and I had to head out to the mall to grab bites for lunch. The canteen opened at 6pm though and after a siren is played throughout the hospital, and the muslim prayer is done, people flocked to the canteen for bites. Food sold out really fast.
Cilegon felt pretty backward at first but it does have its modern convenience like the Hypermart (a bit like Carrefour), Pizza Hut, A & W, Hoka Hoka Bento (where I got my lunch mostly) and all these are contained in Mayofield Mall which feels like an old Chinatown mall.
I'd take a cab from the hospital to Mayofield and back. It was hard at first to book a cab because the operators speak Bahasa and my first attempt drove me literally to tears as they couldn't understand me and vice versa. I was tired, hungry (for some reason the shops would not allow eat-ins that day and we are not allowed to eat in view of the muslims) and I really wanted to get back to the hospital that day. A kind stranger stopped to help make sense of the madness. Phew!
======================
We left Cilegon for Carita on Saturday after a lot of confusion over paperwork for the insurance company. The drive took an hour and a half.
We went past industrial factories then passed some desolate roads before we started traversing across Anyer, where they were initially supposed to be located at. I had my first glimpse of the azure sea, a lighthouse and several resorts. We went past what is their town centre - really very kampung in feel, then more quiet roads before we hit Carita.
The resorts in Carita were more run down, more quiet and the town centre here was really just some quiet stores, a few push carts of street food and the most modern structure of it all - a small convenience store not unlike 7-11 or Cheers, but it does not stay open for 24 hours.
The hotel we are in requires us to go through a pretty long, winding gravel path shaded by bamboo plants. Upon entering the resort through the security guard post, we are greeted by cottages that are falling apart. There are 2-3 "streets" of these and later on at night, it looks really spooky - like an abandoned village.
Ian's suite overlooks a small pond but we generally keep the curtains shut for privacy sake. The room is well furnished and looks quite romantic. Our only gripe? The lack of a blanket. All that was provided was a bedsheet to be used as a blanket. After we kept our things, we headed to the restaurant for bites.
The restaurant faces the swimming pool and the sea. Rusty fans are only turned on when there are patrons, and only the fan closest to the customer is switched on. Buffet tables and containers are empty, the restaurant is empty and the set-up looks very cheesy. A cement oyster with a cement pearl sit at a mini waterfall. An ugly seaside mural graces the wall. Flies buzz about and swarm over to the food when they are laid on the table.
We bravely decided to check the food carts outside for dinner. It is really a very dark walk outside - long, dusty, dark and one can hear the wails of the muslim prayer call. It is almost a fruitless walk but for the trip to the Indomaret convenience store, and a purchase of satay from a store that had attracted my nose with its delicious aroma. The couple tending the store are really nice, friendly people.
======================
The production set is called the Jermal. It is an impressive kelong-like structure. The video village sits nearby on the breakwaters- this is where all the monitors and other equipment is located in. The Production Office is where the internet access is and the first time I enter it, I almost choked as I struggled to breathe. The air in here is thick with cigarette smoke and smells like a British pub in England. Crew chain smoke as they work. (In fact, 5 days of this later, I notice my eye whites are a little yellow. I believe that it has no other effects on me whatsoever though and both Ian & I are more than healthy in Christ! =D )
Food is served at a makeshift "canteen" and there are so many flies and mosquitoes here. To be honest, I expected more after what Ian said. There is a lot but not quite as many as the flies I saw at a Cambodian market a decade ago. When the food looks less than appealing or has become cold, I choose to order bites from the hotel that the production office is located at. Nasi Goreng Sunset with Telur Ceplok is my favourite thing to order.
The set is a challenging one to shoot at. The structural integrity of the Jermal is always a concern and the equipment is heavy. Many people squeeze on to the Jermal and there are times we have to spread out for fear that a platform might give way. Sawing and hammering are always going on at the Jermal as people prepare the set for a scene or reinforce the floor boards for the equipment. When it rains, the shoot has to stop as rain water leaks all over the place in the Jermal. It makes one appreciate the solid roof we have over our heads in Singapore.
Work starts with a 6.30am call time and we wrap around 11pm at night. The Indonesian crew party almost every night till 2-3am in the morning at the Cottage (think chalet) they are located in. For the Singaporeans, sleep is more of a priority than singing, dancing and barbecues. We never head down because by the time we get back, all we want to do is SHOWER (we come back to the hotel room dusty, sweaty, salty) , change into our PJs and SLEEP!
======================
Well, I will be bidding Carita farewell tomorrow. I've not been blogging regularly in Indonesia as the internet access is on and off and on again. We experienced a black out yesterday that took 5 tries to get the electricity going again- and at a lower voltage than before.
Ian is merrily counting down the shoot days. They have 4 more days of shoot to go here before they pack up and (finally) return to Singapore on the 17th of Sept! Woohoo! =D Can't wait for all 3 members of the Bear Family to be together again- watch a movie together, teach Kae how to cycle together...
Carita has been an interesting experience so far and I just can't wait to be home again. =)
I slept on the sofa bed in Ian's room and helped him about because he was on a drip and it was very inconvenient to use the loo, bath and to do anything at all. There was nothing much to do really and we'd listen to Joel Osteen sermons on our phones. TV was mostly in Bahasa Indonesia with only the evening movie being in English. =) We had great fun trying to make sense of the ads and programmes. Sometimes we'd even come up with fake dialogue to go with what is on telly for a laugh. =D
As it is the fasting month for the muslim populace, the hospital canteen was shut for most of the day and I had to head out to the mall to grab bites for lunch. The canteen opened at 6pm though and after a siren is played throughout the hospital, and the muslim prayer is done, people flocked to the canteen for bites. Food sold out really fast.
Cilegon felt pretty backward at first but it does have its modern convenience like the Hypermart (a bit like Carrefour), Pizza Hut, A & W, Hoka Hoka Bento (where I got my lunch mostly) and all these are contained in Mayofield Mall which feels like an old Chinatown mall.
I'd take a cab from the hospital to Mayofield and back. It was hard at first to book a cab because the operators speak Bahasa and my first attempt drove me literally to tears as they couldn't understand me and vice versa. I was tired, hungry (for some reason the shops would not allow eat-ins that day and we are not allowed to eat in view of the muslims) and I really wanted to get back to the hospital that day. A kind stranger stopped to help make sense of the madness. Phew!
======================
We left Cilegon for Carita on Saturday after a lot of confusion over paperwork for the insurance company. The drive took an hour and a half.
We went past industrial factories then passed some desolate roads before we started traversing across Anyer, where they were initially supposed to be located at. I had my first glimpse of the azure sea, a lighthouse and several resorts. We went past what is their town centre - really very kampung in feel, then more quiet roads before we hit Carita.
The resorts in Carita were more run down, more quiet and the town centre here was really just some quiet stores, a few push carts of street food and the most modern structure of it all - a small convenience store not unlike 7-11 or Cheers, but it does not stay open for 24 hours.
The hotel we are in requires us to go through a pretty long, winding gravel path shaded by bamboo plants. Upon entering the resort through the security guard post, we are greeted by cottages that are falling apart. There are 2-3 "streets" of these and later on at night, it looks really spooky - like an abandoned village.
Ian's suite overlooks a small pond but we generally keep the curtains shut for privacy sake. The room is well furnished and looks quite romantic. Our only gripe? The lack of a blanket. All that was provided was a bedsheet to be used as a blanket. After we kept our things, we headed to the restaurant for bites.
The restaurant faces the swimming pool and the sea. Rusty fans are only turned on when there are patrons, and only the fan closest to the customer is switched on. Buffet tables and containers are empty, the restaurant is empty and the set-up looks very cheesy. A cement oyster with a cement pearl sit at a mini waterfall. An ugly seaside mural graces the wall. Flies buzz about and swarm over to the food when they are laid on the table.
We bravely decided to check the food carts outside for dinner. It is really a very dark walk outside - long, dusty, dark and one can hear the wails of the muslim prayer call. It is almost a fruitless walk but for the trip to the Indomaret convenience store, and a purchase of satay from a store that had attracted my nose with its delicious aroma. The couple tending the store are really nice, friendly people.
======================
The production set is called the Jermal. It is an impressive kelong-like structure. The video village sits nearby on the breakwaters- this is where all the monitors and other equipment is located in. The Production Office is where the internet access is and the first time I enter it, I almost choked as I struggled to breathe. The air in here is thick with cigarette smoke and smells like a British pub in England. Crew chain smoke as they work. (In fact, 5 days of this later, I notice my eye whites are a little yellow. I believe that it has no other effects on me whatsoever though and both Ian & I are more than healthy in Christ! =D )
Food is served at a makeshift "canteen" and there are so many flies and mosquitoes here. To be honest, I expected more after what Ian said. There is a lot but not quite as many as the flies I saw at a Cambodian market a decade ago. When the food looks less than appealing or has become cold, I choose to order bites from the hotel that the production office is located at. Nasi Goreng Sunset with Telur Ceplok is my favourite thing to order.
The set is a challenging one to shoot at. The structural integrity of the Jermal is always a concern and the equipment is heavy. Many people squeeze on to the Jermal and there are times we have to spread out for fear that a platform might give way. Sawing and hammering are always going on at the Jermal as people prepare the set for a scene or reinforce the floor boards for the equipment. When it rains, the shoot has to stop as rain water leaks all over the place in the Jermal. It makes one appreciate the solid roof we have over our heads in Singapore.
Work starts with a 6.30am call time and we wrap around 11pm at night. The Indonesian crew party almost every night till 2-3am in the morning at the Cottage (think chalet) they are located in. For the Singaporeans, sleep is more of a priority than singing, dancing and barbecues. We never head down because by the time we get back, all we want to do is SHOWER (we come back to the hotel room dusty, sweaty, salty) , change into our PJs and SLEEP!
======================
Well, I will be bidding Carita farewell tomorrow. I've not been blogging regularly in Indonesia as the internet access is on and off and on again. We experienced a black out yesterday that took 5 tries to get the electricity going again- and at a lower voltage than before.
Ian is merrily counting down the shoot days. They have 4 more days of shoot to go here before they pack up and (finally) return to Singapore on the 17th of Sept! Woohoo! =D Can't wait for all 3 members of the Bear Family to be together again- watch a movie together, teach Kae how to cycle together...
Carita has been an interesting experience so far and I just can't wait to be home again. =)
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