Hump Day

Today is hump day in more than one way. It is Wednesday. It also the middle of my time in Indonesia. Starting tomorrow I will have been in Indonesia for more days than I have remaining. It is hard to believe that time has gone by so quickly.

The count down begins, 38 days until I return to - my apartment complete with its little kitchen (it has been almost two months since I have baked cookies), the Very Versatile Versa (my car) and my ability to negotiate traffic free Little Rock (never again will I complain about traffic), reliable internet (I will enjoy being able to stream television and having my smart phone back), and of course me friends and family (Aunt MissE - I never doubted that you would remember to pick me up at the airport on August 6).

Muffins

Carmelita Bars

There are also many things that I will miss from my time in Indonesia - fresh juices (pineapple, mango, avocado which I still have to try), the foods (especially the Tahu Kari from my favorite dinner restaurant and tempe and green beans from my favorite lunch spot), and my Indonesian friends.

Nasi Campur

Pineapple Juice at Tanah Lot

Today was also a day for goodbyes. Before coming into work this morning I put my mom in a taxi to head to the airport and then back to the states. She was a little apprehensive about actually making it to the airport. We did have a little mix-up on our way to Bali. I assured her that I had no special ability to ensure that the taxi driver dropped her off at the International Terminal. As I have learned, it is not that the taxi driver is trying to drop you off in the wrong place, they genuinely do not know where they are going. I will miss my mom and travel partner, she has traveled 5 of the 7 continents with me. Though she claims to have traveled to all 7 before me, I still discount a day trip to Morocco as Africa.

Australia

Asia

Antartica

  

B is for Buffy, Bali, Borobudur, Batik

It has been a little while since my last blog post. Here are the highlights, which all happen to start with the letter B!

Buffy: It has been 12 days since my mom landed in Jakarta. We have two more days together before I put her in a taxi back to the airport to fly home. It has been great to have my mom come visit. First because she brought me creature comforts from home including my favorite Cliff Bar Kids. It also gave me an excuse to take a week of work and travel around Indonesia.

Bali: The first stop on our travels was to Beautiful Bali where we hiked Mt. Batur and Bicycled. Our first day was spent walking around Ubud trying to look at all the sights while avoiding all the holes in the sidewalk. The next morning we woke up at 2 am to leave for Mt. Batur. We were hiking to the top to see sunrise. The hike was exhausting partly because we had tiny flashlights that were not effective at lighting the path. We made it to the top thanks to the help of the coke salesman who pulled my mom along with his backpack full of soda bottles. While the sunrise was a little cloudy and the weather a little chilly, it was fun to explore the top of the volcano which is inhabited by some monkeys. The next day we went bicycling through the rice fields. It was a exhilarating way to see Bali, just be careful not to fall into the rice paddies. It takes a lot of concentration to stay on the narrow pathways. The final day in Bali was spent at the Beach in Kota. We also took a drive to see sunset over Tanah Lot, a cool temple that sits on a cliff in the ocean. You can only really walk to it during low tide.

Mt. Batur

Monkey at the top of Mt. Batur

Trying Luwak Coffee

View from Mt. Batur

Crater at the top of Mt. Batur

Rice Paddy

Ducks!!

   

Monkey Forest

Kecak Dancing

Tanah Lot

Borobudur and Batik: The next stop was Yogyakarta back on the island of Java. The highlights included seeing sunrise on Borobudur and Batik shopping. The first day was spent walking in downtown Yogya exploring the plethora of batik shops, it was a lot of fun scouring the racks for interesting clothing. Our second day we woke up early to see sunrise on Borobudur. The afternoon featured a stop at Chocolate Monggo for some tasting and purchasing. The third day we traveled to Prambanan, a Hindu temple, and then climbed the 300 steps to Imogiri, a Javanese cemetery. Before catching our flight on the last day we stopped at the Kraton (Sultan's Palace), Taman Sari (Water Palace), and some more shopping.

Sunrise on Borobudur

Prambanan - still has a lot of earthquake damage.

Imogiri

Happy to be walking down the stairs that lead to Imogiri.

Taman Sari

Kraton and Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppets)

Making Batik

Big Durian: Though the traveling was fun, it was great to get back to Jakarta, to the familiar even with its traffic and pollution.

Beautiful Bali

For the next week I will be traveling with my mom. Yesterday, we left Jakarta for Bali. There was a moment of panic as the taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong terminal, but we were able to get to the correct terminal with enough time to enjoy my first Indonesian Starbucks!

Yesterday was spent exploring Ubud. We had an early night as we woke up at 1:30 for a sunrise hike of Gunung Batur. Afterwards we stopped at a coffee plantation for my first and probably last cup of coffee luwak.

Time for some more exploring. I will post more pictures when I return to Jakarta.

First Starbucks in Indonesia

Statue in Ubud

Coffee Plantation

Kickin' It in Kota

I spent this weekend hanging out in the old town of Batavia or Kota. This is the northern part of Jakarta that was the center of Dutch colonialism. In between the smog, trash, traffic, and people you can imagine the grand area that it once was. Many of the buildings are rotting away but some have been kept as museums.

Saturday, I went down to Kota. The first stop of the day was the Mandiri Bank Museum. Complete with creepy mannequins, this museum aims to representing banking as it was back in the 1930s. 

After the bank museum it was the Wayang Museum. Daniel, a puppet maker and owner, kept popping up to give us an impromptu tour. 

 

After the Wayang Museum it was a fancy lunch at Cafe Batavia. It overlooks the central square in Kota. While the building and views were impressive, the food not so much. There was so more wandering around before heading home.

On Sunday, I met Jessie, an intern from work, at Anomali for breakfast. I ordered the creme brulee latte, which includes caramelizing the sugar on top with a torch. Jessie got a hot chocolate, which includes getting your portrait drawn on top in chocolate. 

 

 

We then headed down to Kota for some more exploring. Jessie had not been yet. We had some minor transportation difficulties, but eventually arrived at our destination. We soon learned we were as much of a tourist attraction as the sights in Kota. We took at least ten photos including one family portrait complete with mom, baby, and son. Here are some sights from Taman Fatahillah that were captured between taking photos with Indonesians.

  

We then went to the art and ceramics museum and back to the Wayang Puppet Museum where we actually got to see the last ten minutes of a show. Finally we walked to the old watchtower to get a view of the harbor. 

 

  

 

Our last stop of the the day was Plaza Indonesia for dinner and some window shopping. From the bus overpass I got a good view of the Welcome Statue. We had a delicious dinner complete with exotic fruit blends, blueberry cardamon and pomegranate ginger.