The return from R&R

I type this from a free internet access point in the swanky Singapore airport, my first taste of technology in over a week. I'm soaking up the final hours of vacation relaxation, despite the overpriced airport food (also irresistable--how can I pass up Starbucks and an oreo McFlurry?!) and a sore back from sleeping on the Jakarta airport floor last night (the cockroaches in the cracks deterred us from the otherwise desirable wooden benches).

One of the perks--er, stipulations--of a business visa in South Asia is the requirement to take a trip to another country just before the 6-month marker. Though I've been in-country just shy of 3 months, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a "visa run" with two other IJM interns and get my passport stamped in Indonesia.

A few highlights before my fifteen minutes of freedom to roam cyberspace are up:

* The food. A favorite and repeated dish: Nasi Goreng with (Fish) Satay. Out of this world (or at least any world I'd ever been in) fried rice teeming with ultra-fresh seafood and a blend of fabulous spices; fish grilled to savory perfection on skewer-like sticks and smothered in a delicious, not-too-heavy gravy. Key ingredients: coconut, peanut and fresh, fresh, fresh fish. Average price: One or two bucks at a Warung, a roadside cafe/plastic chairs and a wok--frequented by the locals. Or splurge and spend $8- $10 to enjoy this top-notch cuisine in an ambient restaurant cooled by ocean breezes, candlelight and funky glass lanterns and/or chandeliers.

* Holding a cobalt blue starfish in my hands and swimming a few feet above a majestic (and surprisingly fast!) loggerhead sea turtle as I snorkeled off the pristine, hardly touristy beach of Gili Meno, Lombok.

* Sitting on the terrace of our "bungalow" (perhaps more appropriately, "villa") in Ubud, Bali, staring at the stars in the clear sky and fireflies in the surrounding rice paddies, listening to the bamboo chimes and distant instruments of a parade processing to temple to celebrate the new moon.

* Walking behind and beside countless monkeys--greedy, mangy and adorable--in the Sacred Monkey Forest. I tested the limits of my luck and tentatively (of course also courageously) posed for a picture sitting right next to one loner who was busy peeling a banana.

* Exploring the streets of Seminyak, Bali and oohing and ahhing over every single window display. Think: Anthropologie's inspiration--in everything from product to presentation (except a sliver of the price). Good thing this was our last stop and my Rupiah were quite limited. (Example: last night we stopped into a convenience store where we whittled away our purchases to the bare necessities--not even splurging on Mentos mints--to share one water bottle and a tube of aloe-vera gel. Proud of our efforts to use up every bit of small change and stick to our budgets, we were devastated when we arrived at the airport and had to withdraw from the ATM to pay a whopping fifteen bucks each in taxes...hence the forgoed hotels on either end of the trip and exciting overnights spent in the dimly lit--but of course safe!--Jakarta airport.)

* The transportation. We traveled intentionally light, with only our backpacks, one Lonely Planet: Indonesia and open minds; the theme of our trip was spontanaeity, but we encountered our fair share of initial frustration. Our first 48 hours: a train, three flights on three different budget airlines, a bus, a ferry (and a liar of a salesguy to accompany that ticket--we're almost at the laughing-about-it-after-the-fact point), a couple of taxi's, a wooden fisherman's boat crowded with us and non-English speaking Indonesians, and a rickety horse/mule/? drawn cart. All totally worth it as soon as we dumped our bags in our respective rooms and walked the 20 yards to the peaceful Indian ocean.