February 1, 2007 - page 2



restaurants, I would highly recommend this city to travelers who like to leave the beaten path because it and the surrounding cities most accurately reflect the “true” Indonesian way of life.

Our last night of the trip we stayed at a four-star hotel called The Ritzy in downtown Manado. As our group sat around the hotel restaurant listening to a band, requesting songs, and singing along, I realized in the previous 20 days I had made some the most rewarding memories of my life. Also, it finally sunk in that I was graduating soon and this trip symbolized a change in my life. Like the Balinese, like the Javanese, and most of all, like my island friends, I needed to start enjoying

everything I do in life, because it doesn’t last forever. So, as I listened to the Indonesian guitarist rip apart “Hotel California”,
I decided that there was nowhere else I would have rather been than Indonesia during that Centre-term.

In conclusion, I wanted to use this opportunity to provide ten helpful hints to future Indonesian explorers. First, bring spare toilet paper. Secondly, I wouldn’t drink a glass of the water, but you can brush your teeth with it. Third, don’t eat Nasi Goreng for lunch and dinner in the same day. Fourth, when the monkey asks for the peanut, you give him the peanut. Fifth, bicycles rarely include brakes. Sixth, go Snorkeling in