Catching up

It's been a while since I've posted an update. I'd like to say that visiting family, work demands, and other commitments kept me busy. They have, but the real reason I haven't posted is I've just been lazy. So, let me get everyone caught up.

My father and sister arrived from the on 5 December. I took the day off work so I could meet them at the airport. After a quick trip back to the house to drop off the luggage, we all went to Hacienda for dinner and then crashed for the evening. They'd had a long day, I'd had a long week.

Saturday we all went to Taman Safari. The drive there and back is always horrible, but the park never gets old. We've never actually been to everything there, so there is always something new. We stopped in the small town we drive through so I could buy fruit. The carrots offered by the dozens of stands on the main road leading to the zoo are sufficient for the deer and other cloven hoofed beasts, but the monkeys, bears and elephants require a slightly more delectable meal. For the monkeys - which, by the way, are wild, not part of the zoo - I bought oranges. For the bears I bought mangoes. I surprised everyone in the car by buying watermelons for the elephants. The elephants loved the watermelons, and the crowd loved watching us feed them.

While driving through the lions area, I rolled down our window and growled at them...really, more like a ROAR!! Surprisingly, they didn't like that. They literally stalked our car until we left. I think we all feared they may actually attack us and that the windows may not be sufficient defense against such an attack.

The wild cats at the petting zoo were much more our speed. The lion cub was nearly asleep as my father and sister held it for their pictures. The leopard - the full grown leopard - was definitely awake, and apparently in the mood for tasting humans. It spent much of its time licking their arms. The sandpaper tongue actually drew blood on my dads arm. Good think it didn't try a little nibble. The full grown white tiger wasn't in the mood for licking, but it wasn't in the mood for pictures either. It was rather ornery. The "smile" on my father's and sister's faces had a subtle hint of nervousness and they exited quickly once the picture was taken.

The other new experience for me was actually petting one of the kangaroos. On our last visit, one came and stood right next to me, but wouldn't let me pet it. This time, I was able to reach out and touch it. The fur is soft as velvet.

Sunday we went to a children's production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I wasn't sure how good it would be, or if my daughter would enjoy it. Luckily, the musical itself was pretty good, and my daughter loved it. She really got into it and was visibly sad when Charlie didn't have a ticket in his first candy bar. The production was a bunch of expat children aged 5 - 10. We'll probably go to the next one they do.

Monday we toured Jakarta. I asked around the office for areas of the city that would be a good representation of the "Jakarta Experience". We were able to visit areas of the city I had never seen before. We went to Sunda Kelapa, which is a port in Old Jakarta. It's a journey back in time to 100 years ago. The boats used for shipping out of Sunda Kelapa are the same wooden boats that they used in the 19th century. The original Indonesian headquarters of the Dutch East India company is still in use.

Nearby the old port is a neighborhood of extreme wealth and a 7-star hotel under construction. These homes are as large as the White House and have million dollar yachts tied to a dock in the back. I asked my driver who lived in them. He said "the mafia". Apparently crime really pays in Jakarta.

After a quick tour of the city, we visited Cafe Batavia, a famous Jakartan restaurant frequented by expats. It's located on a square of one of the original Dutch forts. The interior of the restaurant is decorated with black and white photos of Hollywood celebrities. The menu is a fusion of Asian and Western foods. I ordered the black pepper steak ribs, hoping it would be like the Sapi Lada Hitam I enjoy so much - it was okay, but not like my normal black pepper beef. My dad, every the adventurous foodie, ordered a salmon sandwich.

My dad left on Wednesday morning. Wednesday night we took my sister salsa dancing at Hacienda. My wife and I watched while she tore up the floor with some of the locals. Friday night, our community hosted a party at the club house. There was traditional Balinese dancing, music....and Mexican food. Interesting combination, but it worked.

Saturday my company's President Director hosted a holiday gathering at his home. My sister watched the kiddies while my wife and I dressed in our best Batik-wear and attended the party. The company choir sang Christmas carols - and they were absolutely phenomenal. Then they had professional singers perform and lead the attendees in dancing. I made the mistake of dancing in my chair to one of the Latin beats. The singer saw me, and during the Cha Cha, pulled me up in front of the entire party and had me dance with her. When we finished, the other expats came over and thanked me for, as they put it, "Taking the grenade for the group". I guess one of the expats has to dance or sing at the party to make it complete.

It is now Monday and my sister has left. Our house is back to normal and we have no visitors on the horizon until January when my father-in-law will visit for two weeks. During his visit we'll take a quick trip to the location I've been looking forward to ever since we arrived: Borobudur. Borobudur is a 9th century Buddhist monument and a World Heritage site. I am hoping to stay at this hotel just outside Yogayakarta.

The rest of this month we'll have four-day work weeks. This Friday is a major Muslim holiday. The following Friday's are Christmas and New Years. We do not have Christmas Eve off. We have no plans, and we see that as a blessing. It was good to see everyone. We're also glad everyone is gone and we have time to ourselves again.

One last thing. My daughter, at age 3, counts to 39 in English, 10 in Spanish and 5 in Indonesian. She knows all her letters and numbers by site, and has started writing many of them. My son, at 4 weeks old started lifting his head. At 5 weeks, he started rolling over. At 7 weeks, he won't sleep through the night, but he can lift himself up on his forearms and roll over from front to back at will. Should be an interesting twenty years or so.