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	<title>About Indonesia</title>
	<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com</link>
	<description>One expat exploring and trying to understand more about Indonesia</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:52:23 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<item>
		<title>Earthquake hits Padang, West Sumatra</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Just after today&#8217;s 8.0 earthquake in Samoa, a 7.6 earthquake has hit West Sumatra near Padang.
Initially there were tsunami warnings, but they have since been scaled down.  While there might be some damage to buildings, it doesn&#8217;t look like there has been any serious injuries yet or loss of life.  
It is still early to tell though.  The earthquake could be felt in Malaysia and Singapore according to CNN.
Update: CNN has reported that 13 people have died in the quake.
]]></description>
		<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com/earthquake-hits-padang-west-sumatra/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>New site on Lake Toba</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I have been to Lake Toba a few times now and always have a great time staying there.  It is one of the most quiet and relaxing places I have ever been to.
The people are very friendly and it is a very cheap place to stay.  I am planning on adding more information to the site in the coming months.
www.laketoba.info

]]></description>
		<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com/new-site-on-lake-toba/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Bombs go off in Jakarta hotels</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Two foreign hotels in Jakarta have been hit by suicide bombers killing at least 9 people and injuring many more.  
I was hopeful that terrorism in Indonesia had died along with the 2005 Bali bombers, but it seems as though Indonesia is again under threat from further senseless acts of violence aimed at western interests in Indonesia.
Some parts of tourism had just started recovering in Indonesia and now the bomb blasts are going to resurface the previous attacks in Jakarta and Bali.
It just makes me sad, as I have ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com/bombs-go-off-in-jakarta-hotels/</link>
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		<title>Miss Indonesia planning to learn&#8230; Indonesian?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[There has been quite a lot of controversy in the letters section of the Jakarta Post over the fact that the new Miss Indonesia Kerenina Sunny Halim can&#8217;t even speak Bahasa Indonesia.  She impressed the judges with her English ability but need a translator when it came to answering questions in Indonesian.
&#8220;It&#8217;s been hard for me *to speak Indonesian*, because I use English every day,&#8221; says the half-American woman. &#8220;But I will learn. Indonesian is an easy language, as long as we&#8217;re willing to learn.&#8221;
Since she will be representing ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com/miss-indonesia-planning-to-learn-indonesian/</link>
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		<title>Experiencing heavy rain in Jakarta</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I am in Jakarta now for a few days and experienced heavy rains here for the first time.  Of course it rained often in Medan where I have been living, but the drainage system seems to work well there.  Not so in Jakarta.  I was using the free wifi in a hotel restaurant and when I thought the rain had subsided, I tried making a quick dash back to my hotel in backpacker ghetto of Jalan Jaksa.
The street looked more like a river.  The footpaths along ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com/experiencing-heavy-rain-in-jakarta/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Price of Apple iPhones drop in Indonesia</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Telkomsel is celebrating its 14th anniversary this month and they are launching a new promotion for the Apple iPhone, cutting the price of the handset by 1 million rupiah.  The 8GB model will sell for around 3 million and the 16GB for 4 million, with a 12-month contract.
I just bought an unlocked Nokia E63 here for 3 million.  I would have loved to have an iPhone, but I would expect the 12-month contract you have to sign up for, would not be a cheap proposition.  The iPhone ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com/price-of-apple-iphones-drop-in-indonesia/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Ten days of no sex for presidential candidate Megawati</title>
		<description><![CDATA[You can&#8217;t help coming across some interesting stories in Indonesian newspapers.  It&#8217;s getting closer now to the presidential elections and all presidential candidates and their running mates are required to undertake a medical examination.
For female candidates which will likely just be Megawati, they must abstain from sex ten days before their examination.  
From the Jakarta Post:
The requirement for a female candidate to avoid having sex is to prevent the outcome of her medical checkup from showing “biased” results, IDI chairman Fachmi Idris said without elaborating.
I wonder how having ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com/ten-days-of-no-sex-for-presidential-candidate-megawati/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Muslim clerics want rules to be made for Facebook</title>
		<description><![CDATA[While I am sure some Muslim clerics in Indonesia would like to see a total ban of the social networking site Facebook, at recent meeting of clerics or imams, they are proposing a set of guidelines and rules for muslims using the site.
Facebook has seen a surge of users in Indonesia using the website since 2008, with around 831,000 users.
From the Jakarta Post:
The clerics think it is necessary to set an edict on virtual networking, because this online relationship could lead to lust, which is forbidden in Islam,&#8221; said Nabil ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com/muslim-clerics-want-rules-to-be-made-for-facebook/</link>
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		<title>U-turn</title>
		<description><![CDATA[After catching our flight to Padang and a bus the next day to Bukittinggi, due to an illness in my girlfriend&#8217;s family we had to go back to Medan.  
We only had about a half-day sightseeing in in Bukittinggi.  All of the flights were full back to Medan so we had to take the economy bus.  It was about an 18-hour trip, which was a little painful at times, but an interesting experience.  
If you look at a map the distance isn&#8217;t so great, but the ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com/u-turn/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>The start of a journey</title>
		<description><![CDATA[With a fresh new visa stamp in my passport I am starting another mini-adventure in Indonesia.  The first leg of the trip will be from Medan to Padang.  I checked my Lonely Planet and it said the bus takes around 20 hours.  I don&#8217;t mind traveling by bus or train, but I have a tolerance level of around 10 hours.  So I decided it would be better to fly.
Indonesia Matters has a great article on the pros and cons of booking airline tickets in Indonesia.  ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.aboutindonesia.com/the-start-of-a-journey/</link>
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