Indonesia, Conclusion
Well, despite all the discomfort, the visit was nice. It was great to see Emma and my parents together for the first time. Emma was grandpa’s little girl. Not too crazy about my mom but she loved Grandpa Swan.
I got to see my brother and his wife and also got to visit Malang where I visited my high school and uncle’s family. I saw many of my past teachers. Of course many couldn’t exactly remember my name (I wasn’t the brightest or the naughtiest) but those whom I was very fond of remembered me. It was very nice. Seeing the rest of my cousins and aunts and uncles were nice too. Many were still so young and now they’re close to getting married and having a family of their own.
After two weeks in Indonesia, I must say that I was a bit disappointed. It just wasn’t how it use to be and the changes wasn’t for the better. Compare to 2003, the crowdedness seemed to have multiplied. I did notice that the trash weren’t as bad as the previous visits. Maybe the government did do something good on that aspect. I was able to see the water in the river (not trash filled river) and the trash were in more designated locations. There were more toll roads and more motorcycles.
Maybe next time I should visit a less populated area and maybe there I can feel the Indonesia that I use to know. Maybe living there you can’t really feel the difference but to me there was a huge difference. For a developing country, many are poor, there are so many temptations to buy something. There’s not a single corner it seemed where there’s not somebody selling something. Wow!
Another thing that I didn’t do much is to eat as many of the food that I grew up with. Many of the owners have passed away and it’s just not the same. In Malang I did eat a few items, bakso and soto Malang, they were still good, so I was quite happy. Plus, I think because my diet has changed so much, many of the food doesn’t quite entice me anymore. I felt like if I ate the food, all the natural and organic goodness would be a waste.
I wish I could have seen my grandpa but he’s happy where he is now and every so often I get to see him in my dreams.