After a fun week in Bali, Aidan and Sedona were excited to spend some time in our new home and explore Jakarta. We didn’t waste any time and took a walk to Pasar Mayestic to choose fabric so our tailor could make them some new clothes before they headed back to the states. We were lucky enough to celebrate New Years Eve with them, so we made an exception to our usual 10 pm bedtime Read more…
Two of our children finally arrived in Jakarta in December and we didn’t waste any time heading to Bali for the first part of their Christmas vacation! Our trip to the airport was their first real look at the Jakarta traffic. Yikes! The first half of our vacation was to Seminyak, a very busy town in Bali with almost as much traffic as Jakarta! The draw of Seminyak is the consistent surf. Perfect Read more…
From streets lined with antiques to markets filled with name brand knock-offs there are thousands of shopping opportunities in Jakarta. We have Tokopedia, instead of Amazon, pasars instead of downtown shops and wet markets instead of grocery stores. There is one thing we do have that is just like the US. We have MALLS! Malls on every corner that make the Mall of America look like the Manchester Parkade! (The tiny mall of my hometown:-) There are Read more…
Belitung island is a quick 50 minute flight from Jakarta. It is a perfect spot to go for a short weekend. We were able to leave very early on Saturday morning and return on Sunday night, giving us two full days for the beach! We got the the airport bright and early at 5:00 am. The security line in Jakarta is always quick and easy, but on domestic flights they have separate lines for men Read more…
Lombok is a beautiful island east of Bali that was recently devastated by multiple earthquakes. After the earthquake hit, the women’s groups I belong to were quick to raise money and collect needed items for the people of Lombok. Luckily, the airport continued to operate and we were able to get items to Lombok quickly. They are still struggling to provide housing in many areas in Lombok, and they face a long rebuilding process Read more…
Jakarta is not conducive to walking. The sidewalks are in disrepair if they exist at all and there are no crosswalks. Basically, if you want to cross a road you have to hold up your hand and stop the traffic yourself! You definitely cannot walk at night. I tried to walk home from a nearby mall in the evening and almost stepped in a big hole in the sidewalk that I could NOT see the Read more…
The hardest thing about living so far away is that you are all so far away! We consider ourselves extremely lucky that we are able to live in another country at a time when it is so easy to keep in touch. When I studied abroad back in the olden days, my parents were lucky to hear from me via landline or snail mail maybe once a month! Although I now treasure the letters my Read more…
This week I promised to let you all know the secret to finding so much time to enjoy so many trips and activities. I’ve been putting off this post a little because I realize I am beyond spoiled rotten. I was hoping to write at least one post about the trials and tribulations of being an expat first. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I guess, I haven’t faced any difficulties worth writing about! So here is the Read more…
Obviously, one of the biggest draws to living in Indonesia is the easy access to thousands of beautiful tropical islands. This weekend we decided to take the plunge and start exploring! Pulau Macan (Tiger Island) is about an hour and a half speedboat ride from Jakarta. It is one of the “Thousand Islands” off the shores of Jakarta. This cluster of small islands is largely uninhabited but quite a few have “eco-type resorts.” These run Read more…
