My mind has been jumping around a lot lately. Maybe it’s because I’ve now realized we’re past the mid-way point of the trip and I have as much to look back on as I have to look forward to. So in jumping around, shotgun fashion, here are some thoughts.

Foot reflexology & massage. Ouch, but wow, I need to look into some more regular massages when I get back home.

Sweat. Heat. Showers. I’m experiencing a lot of all three.

English-speaking tourists visiting the Borubudur are treated like celebrities, and are often approached by school groups wanting to practice their english.

Indonesians are learning english and they speak it quite well.

Mmmm….sate kambing, fish, soto, gadu gadu, nasi pecuk.

Air conditioning. Thank you to whoever invented it. I suspect you were a homesick Canadian living abroad in Indonesia, wanting to re-create a little piece of home.

There’s some good coffee here, and it seems to be treated like more of an intellectual and even spiritual experience than back home.

My ancestors must’ve been mountain people. If they weren’t, I know I am.

My feet are really smooth. Did I mention the foot reflexology and massage?

I miss sidewalks, runs on the sea wall, and my bike ride home from the climbing gym. I also miss my friends.

Traffic here is crazy, but has a definite zen-like flow to it all.

Someone should start importing asian-made scooters into North America.

Someone should set up a universal coupon-discount-card system in Jakarta.

Augmented-reality mobile apps could have a really big future here in Asia.

They have doughnuts everywhere in the world.

There are some really clever, smart, and savvy people in my family. Maybe I can be one of them too.

I haven’t seen a sunrise or sunset yet. Contrary to my initial belief, it’s not the smog. Being this close to the equator makes sunrises and sunsets nearly instant.

I’m 90% sure that the millions of scooters and cars and trucks driving in the cities have increased the average air temperature of Indonesia by 1-2 degrees celcius.

Indonesian is a beautiful language, similar to Spanish. Indonesian women are beautiful too. Similar to the Spanish.

Internet connectivity has a ways to go here in Indonesia.

Indonesian pop music isn’t all that bad. But I’m still really digging the new Jack Johnson album more than anything else I’ve heard here so far.

I miss my Red River cereal in the morning.

I can’t wait to smell Vancouver air.

I can’t wait to get to Bali.

Working out is one of the best ways for me to feel rejuvenated and back to my normal self.

I need to go for a lot of runs when I get back home.

Indonesia is a very large and diverse place. Much larger and more diverse than I thought.

Random thoughts are easier to write than coherent sentences and paragraphs.

Wealth is a peculiar thing. Happiness is too. One does not make the other, but the two together hand in hand can be a pretty powerful thing.

Negotiating is about creating win-win situations. It’s easier to negotiate when you’re prepared to walk away. Much harder when you actually want that Buddha statue. I walked away with three for the original asking price of one. I felt good about myself, but turns out he still more than doubled his profit. Win-win.

You don’t pick a batik, a batik picks you.

I don’t like putting on mosquito repellant. But I think I’d like hemorrahgic fever even less.

There’s nothing like a nice bed with clean sheets, waiting for you after you take a shower after spending the day outside in the searing heat. Except maybe air conditioning.

There are a lot of varieties of peanut-based foods here. It’s almost like there are as many Indonesia variants of peanuts as there are Inuit words for snow. It’s a good thing I’m not allergic to peanuts. And it’s an even better thing that I like them.

Eat, Pray, Love is a pretty good book. Even for a guy.

Bacon here in a largely muslim country isn’t the same. In fact, I think it might be beef.

Some guy mis-drilled some well and now there’s mud gushing out of Java and the island might one day be split into two because of it. Oops.

Apparently I look like a tourist when I visit my parent’s homeland.

That’s a lot of random thoughts. Maybe I’ll write more tomorrow.