I admit, still have a nose for luxury. Got to this town, immediately sniffed out a mall & followed the scent.

Although it was a tough scent to pick up... this city's bigger than Chicago... picture a $10 room there... not surprisingly, my hotel's in the slums, surrounded by beggars & rotting filth...

But found it! Complete with a Banana Republic store that gave me the frenzied shakes! Tried everything on but was good & didn't open my wallet. Proceeded to an internet coffee shop, had a lovely conversation with an Indonesian man who did not hit on me! Then went to buy a movie for the night. Disappointingly, discovered the videos here are in the $10, not $1-3 range I'm used to. So rambled about...

AND found a movie theater... with American movies! In English! Saw 'The Water Horse' - with hot popcorn & all! Perfect! (Total, $3)

It finished after dark, so to be safe, took a rickshaw home & bargained the guy down from 30,000 to 5,000Rp.

(Again, this is a modern city, most people drive. So picture me sitting like a queen on the uncovered bench, with a guy cycling the bike behind me, pushing me headfirst down a 6-lane road, cars swerving around us.)

And to top of my perfect evening, there was a thermos of hot tea on the table outside my room waiting for me.