In our final week before moving to Singapore for two months, we wanted to show my visiting cousin more about Jakarta and pay one last visit to a favorite place of our daughter.
Saturday closed out the birthday party and the adults needed rest. Sunday, usually our "day without staff", we instead went to Kidzania. They've added new activities and move others since our last visit, so it was like being there for the first time again. Our daughter tried activities she hadn't done before - making cookies and bottled water, and then did some old favorites - getting a tattoo and watching the Peter Pan play. She wore the tattoo for well over a week.
No trip visit to Jakarta is complete without a trip to Hacienda, so after Kidzania, we took everyone there for a late lunch. This was, amazingly, the first time we brought my cousin to the restaurant. She's not a spicy food eater, but she was a trooper and tried the Jalapeno Poppers.
The other culinary experience we try to offer our visitors is traditional Indonesian food. We had yet to do this with my cousin, too, so I found a day during the week that I could take a long lunch and we went to a local restaurant for traditional Indonesian fare. We sampled Rendang (beef cooked in coconut milk and pepper spices), Sate (beef and chicken on a stick), a salad with sweet peanut sauce dressing, and a broccoli and beef dish. The desserts were the most bizarre for our visitor. Ever had cooked mushed banana flavored with a strong cheese? She has. It's a local favorite. It has a unique taste that I can tolerate but don't truly enjoy. When compared to the other local favorite - Durian - I wonder why Indonesians like desserts that smell like rancid trash instead of that smell sweet.
Our week ended with the reason for us remaining so long in Jakarta. My wife is 34 weeks pregnant. With our first son, we moved to Singapore when she was 32 weeks. Airlines don't like pregnant women flying past 30 weeks, and we have to obtain a note from an airline approved doctor to do so. Our daughter's school program, something she spends six months preparing for, was on 28 May. There was no way we were moving to Singapore before she was able to perform. Saturday was her performance, and, as always, she did great. The theme was sea-life, and, in one of her five scenes, our daughter was a seahorse. The underlying message of the program - which followed the travails of a great white shark trying to make friends with sea-life other than sharks - was to celebrate your own uniqueness and also not be afraid to be friends with those who are different. Our daughter's one line, which she said when the shark asked if he could be their friends, was: "Great White Shark, are you crazy?"
As with the prior two shows, parents, in their attempt to get the PERFECT shot of their little scion, were rude and inconsiderate of those around them. My wife tried to take a few pictures and got nothing more than the backs of the people standing in front of her blocking her view. She eventually joined me upstairs - a location I knew from the prior two shows was the only place to video the performance - so she could actually see. Five must also be the age at which rivalry begins. One of my daughter's "friends" made fun of the way she gave her line, saying she mumbled it. What I am learning very quickly is how much kids, especially at a young age, are a reflection of their parents. Forces me to be on my best behavior.
Saturday closed out the birthday party and the adults needed rest. Sunday, usually our "day without staff", we instead went to Kidzania. They've added new activities and move others since our last visit, so it was like being there for the first time again. Our daughter tried activities she hadn't done before - making cookies and bottled water, and then did some old favorites - getting a tattoo and watching the Peter Pan play. She wore the tattoo for well over a week.
No trip visit to Jakarta is complete without a trip to Hacienda, so after Kidzania, we took everyone there for a late lunch. This was, amazingly, the first time we brought my cousin to the restaurant. She's not a spicy food eater, but she was a trooper and tried the Jalapeno Poppers.
The other culinary experience we try to offer our visitors is traditional Indonesian food. We had yet to do this with my cousin, too, so I found a day during the week that I could take a long lunch and we went to a local restaurant for traditional Indonesian fare. We sampled Rendang (beef cooked in coconut milk and pepper spices), Sate (beef and chicken on a stick), a salad with sweet peanut sauce dressing, and a broccoli and beef dish. The desserts were the most bizarre for our visitor. Ever had cooked mushed banana flavored with a strong cheese? She has. It's a local favorite. It has a unique taste that I can tolerate but don't truly enjoy. When compared to the other local favorite - Durian - I wonder why Indonesians like desserts that smell like rancid trash instead of that smell sweet.
Our week ended with the reason for us remaining so long in Jakarta. My wife is 34 weeks pregnant. With our first son, we moved to Singapore when she was 32 weeks. Airlines don't like pregnant women flying past 30 weeks, and we have to obtain a note from an airline approved doctor to do so. Our daughter's school program, something she spends six months preparing for, was on 28 May. There was no way we were moving to Singapore before she was able to perform. Saturday was her performance, and, as always, she did great. The theme was sea-life, and, in one of her five scenes, our daughter was a seahorse. The underlying message of the program - which followed the travails of a great white shark trying to make friends with sea-life other than sharks - was to celebrate your own uniqueness and also not be afraid to be friends with those who are different. Our daughter's one line, which she said when the shark asked if he could be their friends, was: "Great White Shark, are you crazy?"
As with the prior two shows, parents, in their attempt to get the PERFECT shot of their little scion, were rude and inconsiderate of those around them. My wife tried to take a few pictures and got nothing more than the backs of the people standing in front of her blocking her view. She eventually joined me upstairs - a location I knew from the prior two shows was the only place to video the performance - so she could actually see. Five must also be the age at which rivalry begins. One of my daughter's "friends" made fun of the way she gave her line, saying she mumbled it. What I am learning very quickly is how much kids, especially at a young age, are a reflection of their parents. Forces me to be on my best behavior.
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