a totally innocent one day insight into Banda Aceh

Ok folks, this post might or might not be based on a biased opinion, but well its Banda Aceh. :) As Matthias is working in Aceh, I have often heard about his rave experiences in Indonesia. From then on I have secretly cultivated a love hate relationship with Aceh. Finally, after 8 long months of hesitation and falsified impressions, I went on to courageously confront them! From Matthias's stories, I get the idea that Aceh:
1) harbours one of the strictest practices of Islam. You basically know what I mean.
2) enforces the local law that no local women can go out sleeveless, with anything shorter than above the ankles, with open toed shoes. In other words, we are all dressed fairly indecently here.
3) does not allow free love. Thank God we are so liberal.
4) mass produces rice since all they could eat is nasi all day long. I quite appreciate the variety we have here in Singapore.
5) houses their expats the most comfortably, judging from the pictures I have seen.
6) segregates the expats and the locals. Well...
7) is still suffering from the post 2004 tsunami attack. The country needs more help.
8) needs to import huge quantities of power generators since its always required in cases of blackouts, which is highly frequent.
9) requires internet towers built in your backyards to ensure the smooth running of internet connection. Which by the way, is the third party between me and Matthias. It's a total pain in the ass I tell you.
10) will not welcome me since I am Asian, looks like one of them and do not wear a head dress!
Ok, I know all these points sound ridiculous and severe, but they are indeed ridiculous and if they are ridiculous, they are ridiculous for a good reason. Let's move on to see the real picture of Banda Aceh!
Lets start with the dangerous motorbike ride through the busy streets of Banda Aceh... You really never know how many motorbikes you get on the extremely polluted streets of the city. Motorbikes everywhere and the most amazing sight would be the things they carry on their rides. Little boy sandwiched between his father and a heavily pregnant mother with an infant in her arms, sacks of rice, long bamboo poles... everything that is prohibited in Singapore, you get it there. And *GULP, 70% of them do not wear helmets nor 30% of them have their headlights on at nights. We abide by the law with our helmets!

Starting from what everyone would like to know, what has become of Aceh after the tsunami in 2004? The borders for the wasteland seemed never ending... I had to imagine the city standing right before my eyes.

Seems like they found a use for the remains of the disaster...

I supposed everything has been left the way it is ever since then? I just cannot imagine what you can still find beneath the waste sludge...

The biggest electrical company power ship that got washed 5 km inshore by the waves.... Look what could even be crushed beneath it.

And accompanied by the smaller fleet... Stopping for some gas.

On the way once again..

See what's in the distance? It's not a new house being built, rather it is something that was standing before. Or still standing now. At least part of it.

I'm always amused by the mobile 'coffee shop'! It's like the ice cream uncle we catch along Orchard Road, except that he was selling rojak, bak so mee and fruits.

Reminders that stay: ''The owner of this house is still alive. Tsunami 26 Dec 2004.'' Translated from Indonesian.

Here we go. Time for new houses. However some aren't equipped yet with electricity and water lines since the start of the construction, so u can't really blame the people for not moving their asses off the Red Cross shelter homes.This is supposed to be the most beautiful new house donated, from the Turkish. Probably the rooves look better.

This was the hot topic after the tsunami as well, the only monument that was so close to the sea yet the only one that remained undestroyed after the disaster struck and washed out millions of homes. Was it really because of a religious reason? Or if u study science like me, u know what I will say.

Finally we made it to the beach at Lhokna. I couldn't help thinking what would be my immediate reaction when the coastline suddenly draws back and we should expect a tsunami in 30 minutes. Matthias said he would climb towards higher grounds, starting from the mountains next to the beach. See here:I mean, I really wouldn't immediately think about doing that! With 30 minutes, how far can u climb? I thought I would actually just take the motorbike and ride as fast as I can away from the pre-disaster scene! However life goes on perfectly normal post disaster....And beautiful beautiful sunset for the final verdict...

If u ask me again, Banda Aceh is really: 60% no rules, 30% natural and 10% rural, which makes it totally 100% interesting! If you are somebody who hates to get sweaty, prefers toilet seats rather than squatting pans and totally has no sense of adventure, I suggest u never visit Banda Aceh. Look at Matthias's disbelief, he couldn't believe I LIKED my short trip to Indonesia so much!