Obama, Obama Bagus

I have had the same conversation with pretty much every taxi driver. After telling the driver where I want to go, the next question is inevitably "dari mana" (where are you from). Once I give the answer, America, the next phrase without fail is "Obama, Obama bagus (good)." Indonesian, particularly taxi drivers in Jakarta, have a fondness for the 44th President. As a result, you can find this odd little statue in front of an elementary school in Menteng (an upscale neighborhood in central Jakarta) that proclaims, " A young boy named Barry played with his mother, Ann in Menteng area. He grew up to be the 444th President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Barack Obama." After taking my photo, I was on my way again, jalan-jalan (walking walking). It took about 45 minutes to get there, after 6 weeks of trying, and I looked at the statue for a total of maybe 5 minutes. At least, I have my photo. 

  

Here are some other highlights from this past week, which included completing the remaining Jakarta tourist attractions and listening to some jazz. Unfortunately, I was not able to take the elevator to the top of MONAS as it was being repaired. In Indonesia, you quickly learn that nothing goes according to plans or schedule.

Waiting to go into MONAS

MONAS

Inside the National Mosque

Mom and Security Officer/Tour Guide

Portuguese Church

Happy Knife Sharpener who helped my mom and I cross the street. He also insisted I take his photo. 

Oran Etkins and Indonesian Friends - Saturday night jazz.

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.

Bon Voyage Berkeley

 I have spent the past two days in Berkeley visiting my bother. My first day was spent walking all around Berkeley. We strolled through campus which provided my brother a great opportunity to tell me  how much better UC Berkeley is than the Clinton School. Even while tuning out his commentary I did get to enjoy many sites and tastes in Berkeley include: a cup of coffee from Philz (it is brewed one cup at a time, the tesoro with mint was quite good), a piece of pizza from the Cheeseboard (the flavor of the day include roasted potatoes and key lime, my verdict is still out on this pizza combination), and the view from the Berkeley Rose Garden. The picture on the right is the Campanile on campus.

Today was taken up exploring the sites in San Francisco. Below are some of the pictures from the day. It was a little sad to say goodbye to my brother and board the BART (train) for SFO, but I am excited to be on my way.

My brother did leave me with one thing to think about on the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong … what are my goals for my time in Indonesia, and more importantly what is my plan to accomplish them? Maybe I will contemplate this after I sleep on the plane.