Last weekend, we went to the local DVD store in Mall Fantasy (“Mal Fantasi” in Indonesian) here in Balikpapan, as we often do during the weekends, to check out if there’s any new DVD titles. To my surprise, I noticed a Norwegian film, see the DVD cover below. It cost Rp 10,000 (less than a […]
It is difficult to find ATM machines dispensing Rp 100,000 bills. I know about only 2 here in Balikpapan. Most ATMs, like the Bank Mandiri ATM shown here, dispense only Rp 50,000 bills. And the maximum number of dispensed banknotes is usually 25. Why is this a problem? It is a problem if you are […]
On Monday 16 February I considered it was time to apply for another visa extension here at the local immigration office. And again, it was a rather painless process, with the only exception that one of the officers hinted for an extra payment “under the table”, even though my application already was approved and my […]
On the evening of Sunday 1 February I flew to Jakarta on Mandala (Rp 400,000) to pick up my brand new passport at my embassy. Well arrived at Soekarno-Hatta, I took a taxi to the usual dump near jl Jaksa, still @80,000 Rp a night. On Monday morning I picked up my new passport, thereafter […]
I was driving around in Balikpapan this evening when I spotted a symbol on a garage. Don’t know the reason for putting this up. Swastika symbol.