Yogyakarta to Surabaya (Day 15, Monday, 081009)

David's left earlier this morning--back to Singapore for him. No doubt he's relieved to return to culinary civilization.

And Eric's hacking his lungs out. The air pollution here is off the hook.

Breakfast: toast and scramble (I know, I know). Pack. Pedicab to the train station to find that the first train to Surabaya left at 7:30, and the next is at 14:22. We toss our bags in lockers, then head back to town center.

Kill time at an internet cafe. Back to the mall where Eric and I take a load off at a coffee shop called "Exotica." Eric insists on a Black Forest cake, and I have a lychee tea. Yerm. Rummy.

Pharmacy for what Eric thinks is allergies. A gander at whitening products in person--I've seen a number of commercials for whitening body washes on Indo TV.

White is right!

I'm mistaken for Vietnamese, and told, adamantly, that I. am. not. Japanese.

Thanks, dawg. I'll try not to forget that.

Eric's on a mission for a Buddha head, lunch at a place thematically decorated with geckos (gah!), have another soda gembira (I lerv these thangs), a disappointing coconut banana pancake, and a chicken and shrimp mie goreng.

ESEKUTIF class. Funny how this seems so much more "interesting" than taking the train back home--the Amtrak from New York to New Hampshire doesn't have quite the same charm, even balanced against the buzzing of mosquito herds inside our car.



I head out to the gangway and douse myself in bug spray, then return to my seat. Whereupon a pack of mosquitoes promptly descends on me ("She's back!"). I amuse myself with watching the scenery ("There's a man taking a shit in the open!") and clapping mosquitoes out of the air.

There's something immensely satisfying about the tiny carcass splayed against your palm, the pinched legs askew, and a smear of someone's (your own?) blood. I'm sure my hands are being colonized by a host of tiny, mosquito-borne parasites.

(Researchers, as well as the FBI and other law enforcement agencies nationwide, have linked animal cruelty to domestic violence, child abuse, serial killings, and to the recent rash of killings by school-age children, according to Dr. Randall Lockwood, vice president of Training Initiatives for The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).)--I'm just sayin'.

Eric feasts on train food: beefsteak that looks like lukewarm dog food, and a 30 cent rice/tofu/tempe/bean sprout/peanut butter sauce concoction wrapped in banana leaf.



Outside: corrugated roofs and innumerable scooters.