A Birthday Swim with Dolphins

I've reached the point in my life where I have both everything I need, and everything I want.  Not because I have everything, but because I am finally able to live the adage: "A wealthy man doesn't have what he wants, he wants what he has."

This makes my birthday a challenging time for my wife.  I told her I don't want things, I want experiences.  I've found that experiences last longer than things, anyway.  So this year, the experience she bought for my birthday was a swim with dolphins at Samudra water park in Ancol.

Samudra is a water/animal park that also has a few rides and 4D theater.  We'd been to it once before in our early days in Jakarta but had not yet returned.  This was well worth the return.

Like many things with children, the idea of swimming with dolphins was far more exciting than the reality.  It didn't help that when we began our initial interactions with the large mammals one of them butted my leg fairly hard with the end of his nose and all three of them kept rising out of the water with their mouths wide open.  I decided I had to set the example and get in first.  It was still another fifteen minutes before my wife would join me.  The kids got in when she did.  Our daughter never fully felt comfortable, but our son loved it.  I think fear takes a few years to settle in.

After the dolphin swim, we let the kids to one ride before we returned to our hotel (more on that later) for the day.

Great time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rangunan Zoo

The same Saturday we hosted my work colleagues for an Indonesian feast, we needed something quick to do with the kids to spend some time with them before dinner.  The Rangunan zoo is nearby our home, but we never really went to it because of our first experience.  It was, however, a perfect activity for a few hours before preparing for our dinner.

We arrived early, which helped with the crowds.  We also moved quickly.  Our kids were riding their scooters and had no intention of sharing with over-eager locals.

 


The camel rides are always a hit.

 

We even ran across a dance troupe practicing a traditional Javanese dance

Our daughter found time to use her roller blades for the first time.

 

Final Team Event: Trans Studio, Bandung

Every year, my team in Jakarta has a team building event away from work.  In my first year, we had the event shortly after my arrival.  We went bowling and had pizza.  The following year, we decided to raise it up a few notches and did the first of our two rafting adventures.  This year, my final year, we wanted to have the team event before I left.  The dry season is not conducive to rafting, so we had to determine a new location.  After several weeks of discussion, we settled on an indoor amusement park in Bandung called Trans Studio.

Like any other event in Indonesia that requires driving more than a few hours, our day started at 5 AM.  Bandung is a two hour drive from Jakarta, and we needed to arrive there with enough time to have our event, have dinner, and return to Jakarta by 11 PM.  A long, full day.  We met at the office, loaded on the buses, and drove to Bandung.

Upon arriving at Trans Studio, we spent the first few hours doing team exercises.  The first event was mathematical.  Everyone was assigned a value.  Men were 100, women were 75, anyone with a hat was 50 and women with short hair were 25 points.  The emcee would then call out a number - "350" - and everyone had to group together so that the sum of their values totalled that number.  Anyone who couldn't join a group sum was eliminated.  We played until three people remained.

In the second event we had to create the longest contiguous line possible using only items we had on us.  If this took place in Europe I think we would have had several people standing around in their underwear.  In Jakarta it meant removing shoe laces and belts.  I had the idea of also laying end to end.  My team's line was the longest.

The final event was balloon popping.  Each member of the eight teams tied a balloon to their ankle.  One team was red, one team was white.  Single elimination determined a champion.  My team was in the fourth and final group of the first round.  I got the bright idea that if the other team couldn't reach our balloons, they couldn't pop them.  I was chasing people while hopping on one foot.  This was effective at preventing my balloon from popping.  It wasn't so effective at popping any of theirs.  We changed tactics, but it was too late.  We lost badly.  I don't think we popped a single balloon.

After the team events we had free time to wander the park ride the rides, see the shows and visit the science museum (which is where I spent most of my time, solving the puzzles they had out).  I did take in a show and a few rides.  While watching the show, I noticed a little girl wasn't eating her ice cream, so I finished it for her (at least the picture makes it look that way!).

We ended our day with a dinner at a hotel in Bandung.  Excellent buffet spread.  After a few speeches, we took another team photo and hopped on the bus for our return trip to Jakarta.

For those interested in going to Trans Studio, think of it as a smaller version of Universal Studios.  It has a roller coaster, a free fall, and several spinning rides.  There is a haunted house ride and several shows throughout the day, including a parade just before closing.  Probably not enough for young children, but for kids tall enough to ride the high speed rides, there is plenty to do to fill a day.  But, Dunia Fantasia in Jakarta is a better option for your money. Trans Studio can add to your trip to Bandung, but should not be considered a destination on its own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End of School

When my boss asked me to extend my overseas assignment, the request was for another year.  That would have had us returning in April.  When we agreed to do it, is was under the condition it was until the end of the school year.  That happened the first week of June.

Our daughter, attending the Jakarta International School, ended her year with what they call a "Work Share Day".  This is an opportunity for the children to share the work they've accomplished throghout the year in every subject.  Our daughter shared with us the books she'd read, the stories she'd written, the plant she grew in her science class, the pictures she painted and sculptures she made in art class, and, finally, the kids all sang some songs for us to demonstrate what they had learned in music class.

This event occurred on a Tuesday morning the second day of my boss's visit from the US.  The Montessori school my son attended this year, the same my daughter attended for two years, always holds their event on a Saturday so father's can attend.  I was one of three fathers attending this event.  Mothers were in abundance.

We left very impressed with all our daughter had accomplished throughout the year.  We're very proud of her.

Our son's program was the following Saturday.  This year's theme was Bugs.  Per usual, their songs and speaking had a strong emphasis on good citizenship, caring for the environment, and having confidence in oneself.

This was our son's first ever performance for anyone other than family (unless you count the time at Universal Studios that music resulted in his spontaneous transformation to "dance mode").  He was excited and practiced for us for several weeks in advance.  We were looking forward to seeing the songs he practiced within the greater context of the larger performance.  As it turned out, none of the songs and dances he did for us were part of his routine.  They were from the older classes, but he apparently enjoyed them more.

When he walked down the aisle with his class, we remarked how cute he looked in his costume.  "He is such a cute caterpillar", my wife said.  "Why is he white?", I asked.  In the car ride home, we learned the answer.

"What were you dressed as?", my wife asked him.

With as much pride as a two year old can muster, he replied:  "A maggot."

Lovely.