Indonesia Yang Sangat Kucintai

Wisnu at Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK), Bali

Very precarious ride from Sukawati to Kuta…there was no door.

Gorgeous family at Borobudur temple, Yogyakarta. My uncle (on the left) argued his way into getting me a local ticket (12,000 Rp – about 90p) instead of a foreign ticket (120,000 Rp – about 9 quid). It went something like this:

Uncle: This is my niece! She’s INDONESIAN! She speaks it fluently! Go on Annabel, speak, show them!

Me: …

It was pretty impressive.

Lexi looking cute despite sleep-deprivation!

I leave for London on Sunday… I’m really gonna miss it but it will be good to get back to work, applying for new jobs and having a routine again. I have so many photos but the internet is frustratingly slow here. I’ll have a mega upload day when I get home!

Back in London

Cheery Cherry Man: I’ll only sell you these cherries if you take my picture… I’m very photogenic!

Me: *SNAP*

Cheery Cherry Man: That’ll be £2 then, please!

If you like cherries, I’d recommend these. They’re delicious! His stall is on Berwick Street!

Jo and I went to Bea’s of Bloomsbury. That’s a review that is yet to come (I’ve been lazy), but it is absolutely gorgeous in there! Afternoon tea for £8, enough for two!

I’ve been pretty busy over this past week or two. I’ve been meeting up with people both through forward planning and sheer coincidence. I’ve also been clearing out my life. That is, I’ve been going through my (excessive) belongings and getting rid of them/donating them/selling them on Ebay. I’m trying to scale back my lifestyle and be more thrifty. It’s quite hypocritical to talk about wanting to lift people out of poverty yet live excessively myself. My room is slowly starting to look like my room again. In fact, I love it so much I might share it on here sometime. It’s the one place where I feel 100% at home.

I have many arrangements with friends coming up over the next fortnight so I’ll be sure to take plenty of pictures. It’s sad, really, because the singularly international nature of SOAS means that many of my friends are disappearing off to faraway places. I guess it gives me an excuse to save up and visit them! Once master’s tuition fees are all accounted for, that is (all £8500 of it). The joys of being responsible for your own future. I wouldn’t have it any other way, but the short-term sacrifices do pain me.

Guadalajarrraaaaaaa

On Saturday we decided to hop on a tour bus to Tlaquepaque and around Guadalajara. It was quite the precarious experience. I loved it. We had to keep ducking to avoid tree branches and low bridges.

The precarious bus ride

The man was waving this ugly thing in my face, hence the expression.

So, so pretty

We went into this restaurant that was quite hidden away from everything. There was just this staircase in the middle of a row of shops, but as we went in this really cute restaurant appeared. The food was great and we were serenaded by these two lovely men on a guitar and an accordion.

I’m so tempted to go on the tour bus again, just because it was so hilarious. There were cute Mexican kids to coo over too. I’ve still got loads of photos to sort out from yesterday’s trip to Chapala but it’s just too damn hot here today so I’m going to nap instead.

I also saw Up in Spanish (and 3D) last night, and it was soooo cute. I want a little pudgy-cheeked boy scout kid! Steph’s friends are hilarious and I’ve learnt a number of new Spanish words, the vast majority of which are far too rude to type here.