6th Anniversary

On 23 December, my wife and I celebrated six years of marriage.  Our anniversary tradition is to eat at the Melting Pot for dinner, and buy a traditional gift.  Traditional gift for a six year anniversary is candy or iron.    There are no Melting Pot's in Jakarta, and my wife does not play golf or eat sweets, so I was not in a good place heading into this week.

I thought of buying her some spinach because it is high in iron, but I didn't think that would be much appreciated.  Then I remembered that when my father and sister were visiting, I found iron handicrafts of the local bicycle taxis and the horse-drawn carriages we see a lot at the birthday parties.  I was still planning to look for something else - iron jewelry, flatware - but bought the handicrafts as a failsafe.  On Monday, while I was at the gym, I thought of the perfect gift idea.  My wife has been asking for a personal trainer to help her finish off the baby weight.  Trainers help you lift weight - "pump iron".  So that's what I bought and decided to give her the handicrafts for Christmas.

The day before our anniversary I finally found a restaurant that served fondue - at least the review of the restaurant said it served fondue.  Even better, it was walking distance from our house - though we still used our driver.

The day of our anniversary, I stopped at the flower shop just outside our neighborhood.  Like many places in Jakarta, you can haggle on the price.  I like to haggle.  I also always remember the first rule of negotiation - whoever gives a price first, loses.

I knew I wanted to buy red roses.  I pointed to the bundle of two dozen roses and waited for him to give me a price.  Based on what I know roses cost in the US, and on my last experience at this flower shop, I was planning to counter any offer with a price of $20.  His initial quote for two dozen roses was $10, which I felt fair, so I didn't bother negotiating.

Pictures below are of us in front of the restaurant and the roses.