Author Archives: Squatter

The end of the wet season – not just yet

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To whoever it was I said “I think the wet season is over as the early morning and evening humidity has dropped dramatically” … well, that’s why I am not a meteorologist.  Over the last hour or so, it could well have been the heaviest bucketing this year or just that if you are caught in it, it just seems worse.

The house is surrounded by a 4 inch deep lake as is everywhere I have been over the last hour.  I actually feel drenched and cold.  I also looked out to sea and thought “wow, the world biggest low tide stretching out twice as far as I have seen it”.  Then it started sinking in, that’s not low tide, that’s garbage floating several hundred metres out.  Tons of it.

It is not pretty.  If the roads can be repaired in super-fast time just for the President’s return then stuff can obviously be done but this rubbish thing is getting out of hand.

Another reason I thought the wet may be over was the amount of dust in the air yesterday.  I’ll take a punt and suggest that there was a massive amount of extra sweeping yesterday just to make the street spotless for the President’s homecoming.  Now I know where all the swept away stuff is !

The return of the President

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This is the time to be brushing up on the old Ben Hur movie as tomorrow’s welcome back for President Ramos-Horta is looking like it could be bigger than Ben.

Tomorrow has been called a “day of tolerance” and I believe this means tomorrow morning is a public holiday which might mean not much going on in government offices.

The President arrives at 8am which will be followed by a brief Press Conference.  The population are being encouraged to line the roads to welcome back the President.  I think it was decided it would be a good thing not to encourage people to swamp the airport.

Meanwhile the next move in the rebel stakes is that Gastao Salsinha has promised to hand himself in on 27 April.  I am not sure of the significance of this date but it may mean the “state of emergency” will continue past the current 22 April finish date.

The President’s return has been a magnificent thing for the roads from town out to his residence near the Christo Rei statue – except if you actually wanted to use that road during the roadworks of the past week or so.  I used that road on the weekend and can only say I am looking forward to the final result which in theory, must be finished by 8am tomorrow.

This is but one way to schedule roadworks.  But you need a lot of Presidents if you want the whole country done.

Food crisis

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Until now I thought the world food shortage would have little impact on the typical ex-pat here in Dili.  That’s until I re-stocked the Mrs.Macs pie supplies at lunchtime.  Good grief, US$3-75 for a frozen pie.  This is certainly crisis material.

At last look, an Asian sourced 3-minute noodles was still 15 cents if you looked hard enough.  That’s 25 packets of noodles per pie.  Anyone for an eat-off – I’ll take the pie, you take the 25 packets of noodles.  I’ll even share the sauce.

Roadworks 101

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I know it has been raining a bit lately.  And the roads have been steadily deteriorating but the current roadworks from “Pig Bridge” to the Hera turn-off are trying the patience of the most sturdy of characters.

Most of the remaining bitumen has been ripped up and numerous mounds of soil have been dumped on the road surface.  Travel times to the Christo Rei statue have doubled.  By the living Je***, its hard to cycle down there now !

The slow pace has meant more time to observe the fact that “Thai Foods” has morphed (ever so briefly) to “Thai Reterong” to “Thai Moon” restaurant.

My love of dogs has taken a severe battering lately after the dog bite.  Its now 2 weeks and the “hole” in my leg is still struggling to heal.  When a chunk of flesh goes missing, its pretty hard to facilitate a neat healing process.

I am due to visit the site of the bite incident next week and I will be taking the cricket bat as protection – vengeance will be mine !

Dog 1, Me 0

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Nothing much happening really.  Lots of afternoon rain lately.  Lots of roof leaks.  Yesterday, a foul smell started emanating from the house.  Today, the smell is now in the bedroom and very suggestive of a dead rat festering away in a pool of water in the ceiling.

Got bitten by a dog recently.  Lots of blood.  Bruising like I have been beaten with a baseball bat.  Even more colourful language of the lumberjack variety.  Rabies booster.  Sore leg.  Poor sleeping.  Mood swings.

Otherwise not much happening here.

11 February – there is still an opera in all this

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I have been reluctant to comment on the events of 11 February.  I wasn’t there and I thought that eventually some facts must come out.  There have all sorts of speculation on motives, the actual movements of the players and the odd bits of information here and there but there are still information gaps to be filled.

Key phrases in all this are : Who did it ? Why did they do it ?  What did they hope to achieve ? Why was Alfredo in a fresh and very expensive army uniform ?  Why the money in his pockets ?  What role did Angelita play ?  Were mind altering substances involved ?  Was it a carefully planned event or a complete balls-up ?

One day we may know.   Meanwhile, night curfew continues from 11pm to 5am until 22 April.  Afternoon rains have been fairly consistent over the last week thus upsetting my exercise schedule.  Beer prices over the bar have increased in most places to US$3 per tinny except for … where I will be this evening.  Sadly, the comic opera I once proposed for Major Alfredo may have to be re-written into tragedy (the operatic form I mean).

Easter curfew & eating

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I am sure I am going to get this wrong but if I understand correctly, curfew hours were changed to 1am to 5am for the Easter period and will revert to 11pm to 5am after Easter.  Thats one more hour at night and in the morning.  Most people can not understand why there is a curfew at all but it does encourage better sleeping for some.

The restaurants and bars will be happier.  Down in the Metiaut area, the Enigma nightclub has morphed itself into the “Nelayan Restaurant” as the 100% nightclub scene has taken a big hit.  Across the road, the “Thai Foods” restaurant has had a name change to “Siam Reterong” but I think the staff and management are the same.

Easter has been very quiet.  At times, the churches are packed to the gunnels and if the F-FDTL roadblock near the lighthouse hasn’t caused enough traffic problems, the thousands of people standing in the streets just to participate in the services at Motael Church pretty much blocked the area completely.  The Pope would be pleased with turn-outs like this around the world.

Some restaurants are closed but numbers of eaters are down considerably so it is understandable.  Even Lita supermarket seemed to be closed today at lunchtime so Tiger Fuel became the spot for milk.  I guess things will loosen up over the rest of the weekend and I am not talking about my gastric system here.

Mobile phones and banking – just for Wade

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In response to Wade who asks about mobile phones and the ANZ bank :

As far as I know, your foreign SIM chip will not do you any good here.  You can get a mobile phone on-contract or more commonly buy a pre-pay chip.  Right now, you can buy a phone plus pre-pay chip for US$30 including $5 worth of calls.

For more details on rates, go here : http://www.timortelecom.tp/eng/planos_mobile_uk.html

There is one ANZ bank which has an ATM machine at the branch and ATMs at Leader supermarket and Tiger Fuel.  These days, the ATMs work fine – it was not always like this.  I don’t regularly open bank accounts but I found no significant difference in opening an account then anywhere else.  I didn’t need a buttock print like in some places.  It all works for me these days.

As long as people don’t beat up the ATM machine (happened once) or the phone lines are not stolen for the copper value, they seem to work.

Wade, is there anything else I can do for you ?  Laundry ?  Personal training ?

St.Patricks Day

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In Dili, this is my one day of the year when Guinness takes priority over all other forms of ingestible substances.  In fact, its the only day at all in Dili when it is possible to imbibe of the elixir of life – well, its the elixir until tomorrow morning.  It dredges up memories of evenings at Filthy McFaddens and afternoons around the keg …….

Getting back to reality for just a moment, the Riung Kuring restaurant seems to be now known as the “Wasabi” Japanese/Indonesian restaurant – card marked.  I think I recently called the “Sabai Sabai” restaurant (ex Soupys/Bangkok Thai) the Sabia.  You know what’s its like … you try to remember : “when I get home, its the Sabai, Sabai, Sabai,  Sabai,  Sabai,  Sabai”.  Then you get home and its the Sabia.  What was I thinking ?

These days, there is a new establishment next to the Sabai Sabai called the ???? which does body maintenance or something like that.  Presume I mean massage, hair cut or something along those lines.  I couldn’t remember that one by the time I got home either.

Its not all gravy though.  I once did the Guinness brewery tour and I wasn’t sure if I was in Disneyland Dublin-style or not.