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| dirt paths |
After arriving at our hostel I left pretty quickly, taking
my bike (free rental with the bungalow rental) and taking random turns at every
dirt path I met. I had no idea where I was going, but what did I care? I had
nowhere to be, and no one to answer to. I came across many a wild, but tame
animal, lots of Indonesians doing farm work/cooking, and a few men carrying
machetes who said “Siang!” (good afternoon) as I passed. Eventually I came to a
beach on the other side of the island and decided that this would be the
perfect place to have a beer as my lunch for the day (I had previously stopped
for gelato.) I asked for a large Bintang at a random bar, because this one had
some nice shaded bungalows overlooking the beach where I could sit and read.
They said the large Bintang wasn’t cold, so I began looking in their fridge and
what should I see but Storm beer!
So a little side note to explain my excitement: Being me,
when I first began researching Indonesia I researched the beer. No surprise
there. I found this beer rating site and on it the Storm Iron Stout had the
highest rating of all Indonesian made beers. It had even won international
awards. So, of course I’ve been looking for it since I arrived. No success in
Jakarta, but I did manage to find the Storm IPA which was delicious. The
problem is that the bar I found it at only had 2 left, and I drank them both.
I’ve been asking all over since then, but everywhere seems to be out. I did
some research online and found a forum that said that the company has recently
gone out of business. I was very depressed. A girl can really only drink so
much pilsner before wanting to swear off beer completely.
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| Storm IPA! |
Since I saw it in the fridge at this random bar, on this
random beach, on this random island, I decided to try the Stout. Being a Stout
fan and all, I have to say I did not enjoy it. Mostly because the beach is the
complete wrong setting for such a heavy beer. Lucky for me, I had seen several
other kinds in the fridge so I asked for an IPA. They did not have it. I was
starting to lose hope. The white guy behind me said he’d have it later that
night. I mentioned I was a huge beer fan, particularly of IPA and he responded
by saying I must be a very smart girl and introducing himself as the co-owner
of the Storm Brewing company. He told me about the 5 beers they brewed, and I
decided to try a bronze ale. He of course yelled at the poor Indonesian
bartender for not serving it in a glass the way it was meant to be served.
We had a nice chat about the beers, how they are brewed (all
natural) and about the law suit they are currently going through. I asked if
the company was shutting down and he informed that it is not likely. Mostly he
said I would see Storm beer disappear for 3-6 months, and then hopefully it
would re-emerge. Can you say relief. I might be able to go to a bar and drink a
decent beer in a few months! Robert ended up finding me and low and behold, the
guy is also a DJ, and him and Robert had tons to talk about. After trying all
of the beer I’d have to say that the Bronze is my favorite. What the Storm IPA
lacks in flavor is made up for in this hoppy red ale. Yummy!
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| Enjoying my beer in the water |
After a few more beers I realized I hadn’t eaten anything
since breakfast and it was now 5:00pm, so Robert and I made the best of our
slightly goofy bike ride back to the bungalow to pick up Scott for dinner. We
ended up eating at a very chill place and all getting delicious prawns, rice,
and veggies. It was a satisfying meal but I was still starving since I hadn’t
really eaten all day. I opted to head back to the beach joint for 2 cold IPAs.
We rode the bikes home in the pitch black under the stars. I almost wiped out a
few times, mostly because I was slightly intoxicated, but also because I kept
wanting to look up at the stars.
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| sunset |
The following morning I woke up with a migraine, after
listing to pounding trance music from a distance until late into the night, and
not being able to sleep. I pounded water, drank a coffee, put on my suit, and
headed out to find breakfast. I ate in a bungalow along the shore and had a
veggie omelet and orange juice for about $4. We are talking fresh squeezed
orange juice here, by the way. I managed to bike almost the entire perimeter of
the island, stopping to take pictures, and to walk it through the super sandy
spots, in about an hour. I sat at a bar and drank a fresh bloody mary (they cut
the tomatoes in front of me, and blended them to make juice) and read. Then, I
needed more water, so I went back to the hostel and skyped with my mom, had a
bit of me time to write, and then went to meet Scott and Robert for lunch.
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| should have named this bike.... |
I had a delicious veggie wrap and salad and pineapple juice
for $5. Where is the food culture in Jakarta? I need more than Nasi Goreng
world!
After watching the sea for a few hours while Scott and
Robert played chess I decided to head home to do some serious writing. I was
really needing this me time after 12 days, and I was desperate for time to
write. Perfect afternoon in the garden. Just me, my thoughts, some music,
coffee, and the occasional interruption by the world’s cutest person ever sending me text messages.
Then I decided to head back out to do a little more
exploring, grab an ice cream and watch the sunset, however this was quickly
interrupted by a teeny tiny bit of rain. I biked back to the hostel and opted
to lay in the hammock and read until it was time for dinner. We took the back
roads back to a restaurant and sat and played cards while we sipped on drinks
and ate food. Eventually I was tired enough to leave the gang and head home.
After my scary bike ride in the dark (I was not slightly intoxicated and thus
largely aware of the darkness that encompassed me) I got through the gate only
to realize I had no key. Lucky for me the owner was doing some late night
gardening work and ran and got the spare while I sat and looked at stars. Once
inside I almost immediately passed out.
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| Breakfast! |
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