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tis the season to sit back and reflect on the triumphs of the previous year, mainly getting Christmas presents.  It was during this season that I learned a valuable lesson that I feel is only fitting that I pass it on to the rest of humanity.

Check out the product returns.

That's right, the great moral victory to be learned from last year is "Go check out the returns!"  To break that down for you, you have a look a typical shopping flier experience.  You see something in a flier for a great price that would be a perfect gift.  You make some time a day or two later to go to the corresponding store and find out that the item in question is long ago sold out, but an equivalent model is only 300X more expensive.

But here's the great wisdom.  In today's "no questions asked"-return-policy-world, there are a number of people that will buy that great priced product, just because its a great deal and then will think to themselves, "what was I thinking?" and will take it back, where it will get stocked in a pile in the back of the customer service desk, ne'r to be thought of again.  I discovered that they will sell you stuff right out of the return pile if you would only ask, and most of the time, the great priced perfect gift will be there en mass.

So there you have it… wisdom from me to you.  Happy new year!

Many of you know and a lot of you have asked for info about our trip to Indonesia. So let me start by saying that I was in Indonesia 28 years ago, when I was 4. Our family was involved in some missions type work and we were in Indonesia for about 12 months of my life.  I was young, and let's face it, we don't remember too many details from 3 and 4 years old.  I do have to say that I remember a few small things from back then, like the sate vendor coming down the street and tugging on my dad's clothes trying to get him to go out and get some.  (Sate - (S-ah-tay) - is chicken or pork or mistery-red-meat cooked on a skewer over open coals, which is not all that exiting, but the sause they cook it in is to die for.)

So having the oportunity to go back was to say the least, "Cool"!  The "job" was to follow around a local missionary and video and photograph what they are doing.  Apparently it is really hard to capture that kind of media when you are actually doing the work.  When we got there, I was immediately returned to smells of my childhood.  I could go on about how the sense of smell impacts your memory, but lets just say, I remember more than sate from my childhood now.

Immigration and all of the government there is interesting.  We were being greeted by people that were friends with a previous president, so while we were there, we didn't have to go through immigration, or security or anything else.  Interesting.  At one point I was asked while boarding a plane if I had a knife. They didn't check my bags, or even screen them.  I gave them the look that is supposed to say "What are you doing? If you treated everyone on this plane like this, then there is no security and I am not safe getting on this plane."  But apparently in Indonesian the look meant, "No".  So off we went.

We travelled in country a bit and here are a few pics…

This is from a Bogi wedding.  This is where the "Boogy Man" comes from.  Apparently the "Bogy men" are known for piracy and the saying when travelling the waters in the South-Pacific was "Be careful or the Bogi men will get you."  Click on the picture and look at the detail in her makeup and hair.  Very cool to see this.

There are lots of rice terraces in Indonesia.  The views are breath-taking, but never seem to show up with the same awe in a picture.

Gotta love kids and their impression of the "Western" world.  Have a look at the girls in the left.  There are two girls teaching one girl how to flip the middle finger.  I have lots of pictures of school kids, as we visited some schools with kids that we sponsor and to teach English, and in almost every picture an in every video there are kids flipping their middle fingers.  In a way its really funny, but it also makes it hard to edit the footage so that I can show you these sweet little kids that you will want sponsor.

Notice the big hole in the ground in the first picture. That's a real live well.  How would you like one of those built right into your kitchen?  The girls in the first photo made us the meal that I am displaying in the second photo.  They made the food in the extremely sanitary (Not) kitchen in the first photo.

Sate Ayam = Chicken Sate.  I waited 28 years to have that exact taste again. mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

This is a mountain market that we stopped at. We were served the greatest cup of coffee ever here. The villagers pick wild coffee, but they pick it like we pick wild berries… they only pick the ripe stuff.  the local markets roast and grind the stuff into a very fine powder. They put it in the bottom of a pot and then pour hot water on top, let it sit for a few minutes and then pour the coffee without straining it.  It comes out so thick that you could stand a spoon up in it, has a powerful coffee taste, but is 0% bitter and has no aftertaste.  Outside the market they had this cool fruit called in English, "snake skin fruit."  Tastes a bit like pears.

Well, I've got more photos of Indonesia, but I'll save some for another post on another day.  If you ever get the chance to go, jump on it (and try to get the ex-president's friend to escort you around.)

Cheers,