Indonesia

Day 1: Thursday, September 25th

I woke up this morning with a stuffed up nose and a whopper of a cough. Unfortunately I had to go to school because if I didn’t payroll would consider my sick day as an extension of a holiday. Aghh lucky for me I have an easy Thursday set of classes. After I taught my 2 hours I went to the staff room and rested on the couch until it was time to clock out. I had 2 hours to pack before it was time to head to the airport. At the airport we ate at McDonalds as it is a tradition that Amanda and I do before we go on vacation. Our flight to Abu Dhabi was delayed about an 1 ½ so we sat at McDonalds with Carla and Marieke and played UNO until it was time to board.
In Abu Dhabi Amanda and I didn’t have much time before we had to board for our next flight. It was nice not to have to wait around in the airport for once. The flight to Jakarta, Indonesia was terrible because I was sick and it wasn’t very cool on the plane. This is odd because usually I am freezing on the airplane. My head felt like it was going to explode. My tummy hurt. I was having hot and cold flashes and couldn’t sleep or concentrate enough to put on a movie. For 8 ½ hours I went to the bathroom every 30minutes to 1 hour. People who were awake watched as I went back and forth. The bathroom was nice and cool and if I sat with my head between my legs I would drift into a sleep..then I would wake up and realize I was still on the toilet. Oh it was not a pleasant flight.

Day 2: Friday, September 26th

We arrived in Jakarta delayed of course. The visa on arrival was very fast and we didn’t have to wait in line which was nice. The line up was at Immigration. Finally we made it and were greeted by Arnold; Amanda’s friend from Residence at University of Manitoba. Arnold and is family are from Indonesia so he decided to take his holidays when ours were and show us around Jakarta. His plane landed only 1 hour before ours so it worked out perfectly for him to wait around for us to arrive.

Arnolds driver Selamat (translated means safe) picked us up at the airport. Arnold’s mother send Arnold his favorite Indonesian food to eat on the way and she also sent Amanda and I some bakery goods. My favorite was the Chocolate Éclairs. The traffic was very heavy so instead of only taking 1 hour to get to Arnold’s house it took 2!!! When we arrived we met Arnold’s mother(Winny), father (Arie) and older sister (Anthea). Originally we were supposed to stay with Arnold’s grandmother but she was nervous about having us stay with her so we stayed with Arnold’s parents instead. Our room was small but air-conditioned. We got a quick tour of the house and then decided we needed a nap before supper. When my head hit the pillow I was out. I heard a quiet knock at the door. It was Arnold. He was unpacking his bags and was delivering my package from home. I didn’t open it right away.

For supper we had red rice, a curry that wasn’t too spicy, chicken and some other Indonesian foods. All quite tasty. Then it was desert. Arnold’s grandmother cooked his favorites. Everything had coconut inside it and they called it Jelly Cakes. It was okay, but in small doses. There wasn’t too much flavor and the look of the pieces of coconut did not make the dish look too appetizing. I really liked the Coconut ice cream. After supper I went to directly to bed. I was hoping that if I got a good nights rest that I would feel better in the morning. Amanda went with Arnold and Anthea to Carefour for some munchies and beer to take with us to the Villa. I wanted to go too but decided it was a better idea to go to bed. We had an early morning ahead of us because we were heading out of the city to a Villa for the weekend.

Day 3 – Saturday, September 27th

We woke up and had previously packed our suitcases on request of Arnold’s father. He wanted to get on the road before the traffic. However, we did not end up leaving on time as Arnold’s mother takes a long time to get ready in the morning! For breakfast Amanda bought some Mangos which were soo good and juicy. I couldn’t get enough of them.
We stopped at Starbucks for a coffee as we waited for Arnold’s parents’ friends to meet us and take us to their Villa. The villa was located in Tanjung Lesung (translated to Dimple Bay). The chalet we went to was located in a private Villa. This chalet was owned by a family Sofia and her husband who have 3 children (boys) and their parents. The children spoke very good English as they go to an international school. Brian the oldest is in grade 6. He showed us everything he could around the area. His twin brothers Barry and Brandon were age 7. It seemed like every time I was in the kitchen there was food on the table and someone was eating. I told Arnold Indonesian people eat 24 hours a day. He laughed and said they want to make sure that Indonesian people want to make sure you have the best time possible and that you are happy and fulfilled when you leave their place.

After eating we went and walked in the ocean. The water was very warm. We looked at the coral and even saw some tiny fish. I walked along the shoreline and collected sea shells. Then it was time to go back to the chalet and eat some more. I had a coconut and drank the milk using a strawberry flavored syrup. The milk was warm. Not my favorite thing to drink. I did not eat the inside as my tummy was doing flip flops plus I do not like how Indonesian coconuts are soft and mushy inside. For supper we had fresh fish that Sophia’s husband had caught that day. I loved fish. They do not fillet the fish they bbq it bones and all. Then we went for a walk to see if we could see any monkeys..we think we might have seen one. We could hear them!! Amanda and I had planned to go and take a boat to see the ACTIVE VOLCANO at Krakatau the next day. Unfortunately the southern winds had picked up and they didn’t know if they were going to have the trip. It was going to cost 5.5 million Indonesian dollars to go on the trip. Which is just over $800.00 Canadian dollars. It was a private boat but Amanda and I figured it would cost us around 200 each for us to go. Not to mention because it was active we couldn’t hike the volcano anymore. So because it wasn’t safe we didn’t end up going. That night we chatted and played a board game with the boys and then went to bed.

Day 4 – Sunday, September 28th

I did not feel well when I woke up. I had shooting pain in my stomach. When I got up to go to the washroom I felt like I was going to faint. Amanda got me water and I laid in bed trying to get into a position where the pain would stop hurting me. Then a few hours later Amanda said she had a sore stomach too. I slept until lunch time. When I was up I was disappointed I missed Brian’s pancakes. He had said the previous day he was going to make them for us. I had some green tea and then went and laid down again as the pains came back. Amanda went to the pool with the boys while I slept. I got up off and on drinking more tea and finally having some toast with strawberry jam. Sophia said to take 10 carbon pills to soak up the poisons in my body. So I did and for the rest of the trip my poop was shades of green and black. Definitely had some infection in my body that I couldn’t seem to get rid of. Sophia and her husband and the 3 boys went home and I went to bed.

Day 5 – Monday, September 29th

I felt better in the morning and was able to eat the noodles for breakfast. Amanda, Arnold and I went for a walk and then went to the pool at the hotel. The pool had nice jets that I let beat against my back. Then I laid in the sun and burnt which later I paid for.
We had lunch and the cleaned up and headed back to Jakarta. Arnold’s father decided that Amanda and I need to eat and that Pizza Hut would be a good choice because it was something familiar for our bodies. He was right, for $40.00 Canadian we got 4 large pizzas, chicken wings, 3 salads and everyone ordered drinks. It was CHEAP! I couldn’t get over it. One large pizza was only $5.00 however; it was the size of a medium at home. Arnold had made plans to meet one of his friends from high school her name was Mia. She was gorgeous and dressed to kill. Amanda and I were not looking as classy as she was. She took us to a restaurant that had booze and was revolving. We had some appetizers and chatted. It was a really nice evening. The next day we were going shopping.

Day 6 – Tuesday, September 30th

We got up and went to a shopping outlet called Mangga Dua. Here is where you could buy clothes for cheap cheap. I got a few shirts. There wasn’t a lot of knock off brand names like I thought there would be. Amanda was in her glory she loves to shop and she did quite well. Most of the clothes were one size fits all. We had supper at McDonalds and at 4:00 had to head home because we had manicure and pedicure appointments at the house. I paid $10.00 total and gave the lady a $5.00 tip because a) I don’t really have nails…and b) because she came on what we would consider our Christmas Eve.

Day 7 – Wednesday, October 1st

We woke up early only to wait for Anthea to get ready. Indonesian women take a long time to beautify themselves and are not on time! We went to National Monument which is located in the center of Jakarta. We stood in line for over 1 hour to go up to the top of the monument to see the view. The heat did not make me feel well at all and I found myself squatting and drinking lots of water as we waiting in line. Then we went and saw the oldest Catholic Church in Jakarta. It was beautiful inside. It was right across from the Mesjid Istiqual one of the largest mosques in South East Asia. Close to that we drove past the presidential palace. Then we could tour anymore until we went for gelato ice cream. Then we went to an area close to China town. Here we wanted to see the canons. A legend says if you touch the canon you will have good fertility. However, this particular canon was inside the museum which was closed for eid. Across from the museum was a puppet museum so we took a quick tour inside. We took pictures beside the other canons that had no legends. We went to the harbor next and saw the boats. Then we went to Arnold’s cousins house where we met Adi and his mother. Adi has autism. He is very smart and loves technology and cars. He was very shy and didn’t speak very much as we were new people. We went to the mall for supper where I had A & W…I wished they had onion rings but I had to settle for curly fries.

Day 8 – Thursday, October 2nd

We got up again early to beat the traffic and went to Bogor. Adi and his mom came with us shopping too. He was very talkative when we saw him today as we weren’t complete strangers anymore! We were going shopping for purses and shoes. We went to the Tajur (purse heaven). Brand name purses for cheap cheap just like China. I bought 2 purses and a pair of shoes. It was here that I finally got my picture taken with a Toyota Krista. We saw them all over the road but never stopped to take my picture with one. Arnold made plans for us to meet his Muslim friend Anteida. We went and ate supper at an Italian restaurant at the mall. It was delicious, my appetite was back! One of the dishes I had a ceasar salad and I think I might be allergic to something as one side of my face was hard to move and felt swollen. None the less I am a trooper and the night must go on. We drove around for a bit looking for clubs but nothing was open because of Eid. Finally I couldn’t keep my swollen eye / cheeks going and laid down in the back seat and fell asleep until we got back to Arnold’s house.

Day 9 – Thursday, October 3rd

We woke up and began packing. Amanda and I both were ready to leave. We had a good time in Indonesia but were ready to go and crawl into our own beds. Arnold’s parents wanted to take us out for sea food before our plane left. However, the restaurant they wanted to take us was closed. We had to settle for another restaurant that only served fish and chicken…no lobster or shrimp so I was kinda sad. However, the lunch was still excellent and had lots of flavor. At the airport we checked our bags and paid our $10.00 can airport tax. Then we opened a cooler / beer and drank it in the airport before we said our good byes.
We arrived in Abu Dhabi at 8:30pm..and went to Marina Mall and watched the movie Tropic Thunder. It was a stupid comedy but a good way to pass the time. I was especially excited about the nachos and cheese. Then we went back to the airport at 1:00am and slept on the floor until 7:00am.

Day 10 – Friday, October 4th

We started the day off with a cinnamon bun and a Carmel macchiato coffee at the airport. Our flight left at 8:45 am. It’s nice to be back in Kuwait. The weather is lots cooler now. However I still have my stuffy nose and cough. I hope it goes away soon. I am tired of looking like Rudolph and on top of that my burn is peeling and it looks terrible. None the less it is great to be back. I have to go and buy groceries as my fridge is empty. My maid is coming to do my laundry. Life is good.