I have set up shop in Tuk Tuk, Indonesia. The town is on the island of Samosir in Lake Toba, Sumatra.
Lake Toba used to be on the backpacker trail but it has fallen on quiet times of late. There are lots of vacant rooms here and you can rent a cottage by the lake for $6 USD a night.
Lake front cottages
There is no wireless on this island, only internet cafes, so my work day requires some planning. I go to the net cafe in the morning, plug in my laptop and save what I need for the day. I then do all of my work offline, return to the net cafe in the evening and save my work.
Office with lake view
I always thought that I would need wireless to live somewhere, but I have found that my productivity has actually increased without it. I don’t have the distractions of news sites, facebook and random surfing. I just have to get on with the job of writing and making websites.
Of course it is not all work. When I need a break I can step outside and jump into the swimming pool that is Lake Toba.
My front yard swimming pool
There is no bridge to this island so there isn’t as much traffic as you find on “mainland” Sumatra. This makes it a great place for me to stay for a while.
Sunset on Lake Toba
Air Asia was voted as world’s best low-cost airline for 2009. I’ve been writing plenty about AirAsia, but how can I not when they keep offering up great fares. A return fare from Melbourne to KL for $292 AUD is an offer too good to refuse, so I have taken up the offer and will be basing myself in Indonesia for a month.
World's best low cost airline - Air Asia Kuala Lumpur
AirAsiaX has inter-seat chat available on some of its flights. The service is free, even if you don’t buy the entertainment service.
To get started select the chat option, then select the seat of the person you want to chat with.
Chat seat selection
You then get a message box where you type via the touch screen.
Write message
When you send the message the recipient will get a message like this.
You have a chat message
I guess it would be handy if you have a friend sitting in another row, but I wonder how it goes with talking to strangers?
I was flying solo so I had no one to try it out on. I don’t know what the inter-seat chat etiquette is with sending a message to a stranger. Do you walk up and down the isles first checking out anyone you fancy and note down their seat number?
Have you used this service before on AirAsia, or any other airline? Share your experience in the comments.
I have always thought that the daily changing of sheets at hotels was unnecessarily wasteful. So I was happy to see this good idea when I checked into my room at Tune Hotels in Kuala Lumpur.
Optional Linen Change
Tune Hotels is a “low cost hotel”, brought to you by the man behind Air Asia, Tony Fernandes. Like a low cost airline, this hotel chain employ an a la Carte pricing method to your hotel bill. So you pay for your room, then choose any extra’s such as internet and air-conditioning (fan rooms come as standard).
Reducing their laundry bill is another way they are reducing costs, but I like how they remind you that it is the environmentally friendly thing to do.
The Brit’s got their marching orders from Malaya over 60 years ago but they left the art of queueing, at least at KL Sentral Train Station.
KL Sentral Platform Queue
The British are famous for queueing, but I have never seen a line this orderly in the London Underground. Maybe the art of queueing went out with the bowler hat.
I am mad for Indian food so I always like coming to Malaysia. Malaysians of Indian descent make up about 7% of the population of Malaysia. This means there are decent Indian restaurants all over KL.
I always make my way to the Brickfields area, which is not far from KL Sentral train station. The area is famous for banana leaf meals, which is cheap and filling.
Banana Leaf Meal
I got the train from Singapore to KL which is a great way to travel between the capitals. The onboard entertainment selection though had me wishing I had an ipod. Todays selection was the movie “RV”.
Onboard Movie
I was seated in the second row from the TV screen so I couldn’t not watch it. Once was hard enough, but it was on three times. If there is a TV on I am naturally drawn to it, even if it is a movie that rates 23% at Rotten Tomatoes.
Protected Place - Singapore
This is the window seat view from a plane at Denpasar Airport in Bali.
Surf at Denpasar Airport - Bali
How many surfer’s over the years have drooled as they looked out the window upon landing in Bali to see waves breaking off the edge of the airport.
This motorbike sticker sums it up for me.
Indonesia Travel Warning
