Monday, June 28, 2010

Driving Miss Judi


On Sunday, sweetums and I attended a wedding (actually a reception following the wedding) in a town called Bandung which is south east of Jakarta. This was not only our first Indonesian wedding reception, but it was also our first trip out of Jakarta by car.

First off, let me say when you say the word wedding or wedding reception, it brings to mind bad bride's maids dresses, organ music and little pink and green butter mints (that is really showing my age and my point of origin). That is not exactly what happened here. I knew that the western idea of a wedding was most likely not going to be what we would see and would have been a little disappointed if that is what we got.

Prior to our trip, honey bun decided he needed to have a long sleeve batik shirt. A long sleeve batik shirt is about as dressed up as you get at many affairs in a very tropical environment. Off to the store we go on Saturday morning and secure appropriate attire. It is determined that I can get by with a blouse and skirt and maybe a pretty batik scarf to top things off. I therefore bought lovely batik scarves (notice it is plural - it is like potato chips - one is never enough)and honey's shirt and returned home.

Bandung is about 180km away (since I am living in a metric world, I am going to make you do the math). We left around 7:20 Sunday morning as the traffic can be really bad since it is a very popular destination from Jakarta.

Bandung is at an elevation of about 2,500 feet. It is sometimes cooler up there, but on Sunday that was not the case. I am going to let Wikipedia take over here and do some of the typing:
Bandung (pronounced [bʌnduŋ]) Indonesian: Kota Bandung) is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area, with 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 m (2,520 ft) above sea level, Bandung has relatively year-around cooler temperature than most other Indonesian cities. The city lies on a river basin and surrounded by volcanic mountains. This topography provides the city with a good natural defense system, which was the primary reason of Dutch East Indies government's plan to move the colony capital from Batavia to Bandung.

The Dutch colonials first opened tea plantations around the mountains in the eighteenth century, followed by a road construction connecting the plantation area to the capital (180 km or 112 miles to the northwest). The European inhabitants of the city demanded the establishment of a municipality (gemeente), which was granted in 1906 and Bandung gradually developed itself into a resort city for the plantation owners. Luxurious hotels, restaurants, cafes and European boutiques were opened of which the city was dubbed as Parijs van Java (Dutch: "The Paris of Java").

Thanks for the hand Wikipedia.

Since we were attending a function, we didn't really get to explore the Paris analogy. And since I have never been to Paris, I still might not have appreciated its similarities. Be that as it may, I am looking forward to returning to Bandung and explore more of what the city has to offer.

Should mention here that it is not unusual for couples to have a private ceremony earlier in the day and then have a big reception following. To get this shin-dig started, the couple is introduced and they lead a procession down a red carpet that leads them to a stage. They are followed by both sets of parents. The stage is decorated with beautiful flowers and there are wide, heavy wooden chairs that the couple and their parents get to sit on very infrequently.

The bride and groom are so handsome together. The bride is absolutely stunning. I don't think I looked anywhere nearly that beautiful on my wedding day. She is wearing a rich, claret color full-length skirt with a striking floral motif on it. A long sheer over-blouse of a very light peach hue(close to flesh color) covers a long sleeve cream top. The over-blouse has wide trim that has the wine color repeated in it along with accents of gold. She has a beautiful broach at her throat. Her head covering has a wide wine color band with the same trim. On the side of her head covering are orchids that repeat this wine and cream color scheme. The rest of the wedding party are dressed in the same colors and look most dashing. The couple both have long strings of jasmine that have been strung with gold beads in between the blossoms. They are five strands of flowers wide so it looks like a floral scarf. Hanging behind the wedding party are colorful flower arrangements with more of the delicious jasmine hanging down. Different groups are invited up on stage to congratulate the couple. When it was our turn I couldn't inhale enough of the jasmine's delicious scent.

After all the various well-wishing groups are called and have said their piece, it is then photo and buffet time. The different groups who have come to share in the celebration of this union are once again called on stage to pose with the couple and their families for a photo. The folks waiting for their photo op hit the buffet line and begin scooping rice(nasi)on to their plates and then add a little beef something and a little chicken something, a little veggie combo something, a little fruit salad. At the end of the buffet table is a pot of steaming broth that has chilies, garlic and I think chunks of tofu (No comments please. I happen to like tofu. It is amazingly versatile). You ladle the broth over nasi and the meat and veggie goodies and chow down. I really only have a vague idea about what I was eating, but it was pretty tasty stuff.

After I finished eating, I went to take a few pictures of the activities. When I return, hubby poo had a small container of ice cream waiting for me. I asked the flavor and was told it was durian. Not sure how familiar those of you reading are with durian. But the stuff smells absolutely horrible. It is ban from many grocery stores as it can make your stomach roll over and you seriously think you don't ever want to eat anything ever again. Kind of runs counter intuitive to the philosophy of grocery shopping when you are sprinting from the store gagging instead of filling up a shopping cart.

I smile sweetly at my mate and am aware of several sets of eyes upon me to see what I am going to do about this situation. Most likely, the thought running through their minds was who can I place a bet with to see if the bule eats it or bolts. They should have bet on me as I did take the frozen treat and began to eat it. There are a couple of problems with this dessert. First, the ice cream smells just like the fruit only slightly less intense. You must hold your breath until you have it in your mouth or it just isn't going to get past your lips. Second, while the taste isn't bad (but you are holding your breath so I am not 100% sure about it), you burp up the noxious fumes for hours afterward. Nothing like a dessert that just keeps on giving.

Some of you may have heard the story of when sweetie pie and I were first married and the retired gentleman down the street took up wine making as a hobby. He had a Dixie Cup dispenser right next to his brewing apparatus. Sonoma didn't have anything on him with all their fancy wine tasting experiences. Anyway, dear Mr. Hines served us corn cob wine. Once. Trying to be polite, we took sips from our little wax coated cups and at first it tasted kind of sweet. The after-taste was the gotcha. It tasted very much like really, really nasty, sweaty sneakers smell. Thank goodness the cups were the bathroom size because I wouldn't have made it through anything any larger. I would equate durian to that experience.

I can tell you that this is not a dessert that will be on my favorites list at any time in the near future. Most likely it will NEVER be on my favorites list. If you come to my house to visit, rest assured you will not be served durian ice cream.

After our congratulating, eating and hobnobbing with the other attendees, we headed back to Jakarta. I had noted on the trip up, some beautiful things that I wanted to stop and photograph but couldn't since I was in heels and a skirt. On the road home, I swapped out my skirt for capri pants and sandals, and began planning where I was going to stop first. There were beautiful terraced rice fields (padi)in many stages of the whole rice growing process. Some where lush green and waiting for harvest. Some were bare where the rice had been removed. Some had been sprigged with new bright green rice plants and some were brown and dry where they were harvesting the grain.

It was not only beautiful, but fascinating as well. The fields where people were harvesting were a soft brown and there were ducks all around enjoying the spoils of the harvest. The ducks (bebeks) were the same color of brown as the stalks of the plants and were gobbling up what ever they could. At first I didn't really see them until I realized that it was animal not vegetable that was moving around around the legs of the workers. I think this was allowed because the grains of rice would have been difficult to recover and a fat little bebek would make for a tasty meal later.

At another stop, there was a woman who was scooping up the un-husked rice in a broad, flat basket. She would lift the basket in to the air and slowly pour the rice out. As she did this, tiny bits of debris was blown away by the wind.

We also came upon a guy who had the most awesome hat and was tending a water buffalo. Our driver, Akil spotted him and pulled over. I think Akil is going to get in to the whole photo safari thing. The water buffalo is all covered in dirt and mud. His underside is still wet. The gentleman stilling on a rock watching him, to make sure he doesn't go to far away, sees me coming. I ask if I can take his picture by lots of smiling and pointing. He nods yes. His hat is very broad brimmed. He isn't a really big fellow so his hat appears to be almost as big as he. He has a SERIOUS looking knife tucked in the back of his pants. The reason I think it is serious is that the handle on that sucker is huge. Somehow I don't think something the size of a paring knife was on the other end. Not sure what he uses it for, but I wasn't going to do anything to find out. I take his picture and thank him and tip him. Wow! Did his face light up. I was happy. He was happy. The water buffalo didn't show any emotion.

A little further down the road, Akil sees a cute little old man tending some cows and goats and sheep. Once again we stop, I ask permission to photograph and tip the model. A smile as big as Java crosses his face. If you have ever seen the movie "The Gods Must be Crazy" the little bushman in the movie is about the same size of the fellow I photographed.

All of this was given to me as a gift on Sunday. I didn't have to go driving off the beaten path, even though it looks like I did. All of this glorious stuff was along the side of the toll road that runs between Jakarta and Bandung. Makes you wonder what marvelous things you will see if you travel even just a little off the highway.

The Gods were most definitely not crazy on Sunday. They were too busy smiling on me.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Carless in Jakarta


This morning, my driver had to take the car in for service. This meant that I was carless all day. Hmmm. What is a girl to do when she has invited three dinner guests and still has shopping to do?

As I made out my list of remaining items to purchase, I decided that Manisem and I would just walk to the store and bring the items back. Did I mention that it was raining when I got up at 5AM? It was still raining about 9AM when I decided to break out of the house and go to the store.

I gave Manisem an umbrella and I took one and off we trudged. It was quiet on the way to the store. Not a lot of traffic, which was very pleasant, and the rain actually quit just about the time we arrived at Hero, our local grocery store. We split up and I got the items I needed for appetizers and Manisem got the items we needed for soto ayam (mentioned before - just in case you forgot - it is a rockin' Indonesian chicken soup) Some how or the other we manage to fill up a cart with items. Oh brother, now I have to decide if she and I can carry all of this stuff back or use other means to get home.

Standing in the checkout line Manisem decides that she will go get a bajaj for us to take home while ibu finishes paying for the goods, as all good ibus must do. Off she scurries. As the young woman is ringing up my purchase she asks me if I am having soto ayam. Apparently, as a native you know exactly what kind of things should go in this soup. After all, I think it is the National Soup of Indonesia so it wasn't too difficult for her to extrapolate my dinner plans. I told her yes and that I love it, which is no exaggeration.

As I push the cart out the door, there is Manisem and a trusty little bajaj. I have been eye-balling these things since we got here and have wanted to ride in one. Well, sports fans, today was my big day. We gather all the bags up and climb in to the back of the bajaj. The driver shuts the little door, the side flaps are rolled up and we are ready to rock and roll.

Around the Hero parking lot we go. We stop at the gate to pay to get out. Since I had bought more stuff than we could carry home, it means that I have spent enough money to qualify for free parking. Yipeee! Through the gate and putt-putt-putt along we go past the flower stands. OMG, this is really fun. It is kind of like riding in a three wheel go-cart with a bench seat in the back only higher off the ground. Since the traffic is light, we aren't getting a face and a lung full of exhaust. Lucky me. I must have picked the perfect day for this kind of adventure.

We go over the speed bumps they love to place across many of the residential streets. We are being bounced around in the back. Many of these speed bumps (or polici tedure ((sleeping police) as the locals call them) are so well disguised, that you don't see them until you are right on top of them. By then, it is too late and you are almost pitched off the back seat. But I digress. We chug along and turn up the street that goes to our house, which by the way, has a fair amount of incline to it. It is a bajaj full and it sounds like it is having to work hard to get up the hill. Hmmm. There goes that bajaj's tip.

I must say our trip ends way, way too soon. We are in front of the house before I have gotten my fill of bajaj riding. I am grinning like some kind of idiot and want the driver to drive back to the store and then bring me back again. Unfortunately, there is someone waiting for me at the house and I sadly get out. All this pleasure costs me 10,000 rupiah or about $1.00 US (remember the rule of 4 I talked about earlier?). Obviously, I am a cheap date.

I know this may sound like a really silly thing to get excited about. But you haven't see the bajajs in person. They would win you over in a heart beat. I now want to own one so I can drive it around when ever I want to. I somehow doubt seriously that I could make the thing street legal in the US so I will have to get an Indonesian driver's license so I can drive one here. The expectations are pretty low with it so people just go around you and don't really expect you to get out of the way. I am not even sure if they have to really obey traffic laws. Well, that is the norm here, but I think bajajs get even more special dispensation.

My only regret is that there was no one to take my picture. I think my face must have looked like a kid on their very first ride at the fair. My plan is to take one again and make a movie of it with my camera and post it either here or on facebook. It would be just like being here, only without the exhaust smell.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Pruney fingers and other pleasures


Today marks the first full week of living in the "hood" (guess I should say "pung" since we could be sort of considered a very upscale kampung - as you might remember a kampung is a village). Much like my experience photographing sports, being on the ground is a very different experience than being in the stands.

In our current location, we are a short walk from a grocery, a great coffee shop, a small(but nice)book store, a Mexican restaurant (will expand on that later), two beautiful flower stalls, a whole bevy of bajaj's (those little 3 wheel carts that I featured in an earlier post and yes there are two j's in bajaj), a school, and three home accessory store. Hard to grasp that all of that is a five minute walk from our new abode.

Our house has a pool. Well, our backyard IS the pool. This is the first time we have ever had a pool and so far we are enjoying it. Sweetie pie and I have the pruney fingers and toes to prove it. One of the nice parts of having a pool for a backyard is that we can literally open a door from our bathroom and step down a couple of steps and start doing the crawl. It is a bit odd not having a real backyard, but the pool isn't a bad trade off. So, I'll just have lots of potted plants on the patio instead to satisfy the need to have greenery around me.

Another interesting feature in our home is that we have what is called a wet kitchen and a dry kitchen. This is not an unusual set up for this side of the world apparently. My sister-in-law, Dottie, asked some colleagues about it and was told it is partly because the style of cooking here is rather messy so it is even more separated than in a normal kitchen. Maybe I have needed this wet/dry kitchen set-up for a long time. Hubby says I can dirty up more stuff while I am cooking than anyone he knows. What can I say? It is true, but sometimes creativity gets a little messy.

We have a kind of Balinese style bath. What that means is that it is open to the outside, sort of. It is an un-air conditioned area with a small rock garden off to the side. The rock garden area acts as a kind of exhaust shaft in that the warm air rises up and goes out the screened in top, which does have a small roof on it that kind of keeps out the rain (an issue we are going to have to figure out how to alter just a bit since when it rains it runs down the newly painted walls of the rock garden area and splashes on to the tiles of the main bath area).

No air conditioning vents in the bath sounds like it would be uncomfortable, but it isn't too bad. I have a floor fan to move the air around when we are showering and it keeps things pretty pleasant. However, I don't think it is very pleasant when I have to get up in the middle of the night to answer nature's call and the humidity level is about 95% and no air is stirring at all.

Also, with the bath open to the outside, you start your day with unobstructed participation in the call to prayer going on at 4:15AM. The bonus is that you get to hear the vendors with their own special little calls, and smell when someone is burning trash (that is not really a bonus) and the birds waking up and calling out. Sweetums equates it to camping in a very large tent. It is much like when I was little and most houses weren't air conditioned. Folks opened the windows in the summer to keep it cooler and you could hear the neighbors mowing the lawn, the birds chirping, and the kids playing down the street. Guess I have moved half-way around the world to re-live my childhood. That is what we call ironic.

The majority of the house has marble tiles on the floor. The baths have ceramic tiles. Since we have just moved in and have limited furnishings, it is a little on the loud side. We will get that taken care of soon as we begin to get settled and decorated.

It is a two story home which I swore I would not do again. However, it does give me a very pleasant view down the street from the bedroom on the front of the house. I can see the vendors pushing their carts around the neighborhood and the kids out playing with their nannies keeping watch. The guards, that most folks have, all like to stand and visit with the nannies and the vendors. As I mentioned before, it is a very social place here. Much like the way we were when we didn't have air conditioning and we sat outside to catch a cool breeze, snap some beans or shell some peas in the shade of a big tree. Many times the neighbor was taking the laundry down from her clothes line and you would chat and swap stories about mundane things, offer or be offered lemonade or icy cold tea. Before I get all "Prairie Home Companion", I will get back to our current life here.

We are in the process of hiring the previously mentioned multi-task guy. Right now he is working for another expat family bound for an assignment in Australia. Therefore, Warno comes twice a week to clean the pool and sweep-up leaf litter outside after he has finished at the other family's home. At the end of the month he will come and work for us full time. At the moment, Warno likes to show up before lunch and eat here. I find it all very amusing. Don't know if the grub is better or he is just feeling how things are before he gets in to this thing full time. We are hoping Warno works out and will mesh well with the other staff.

The house is bringing a new aspect to life here. There is lots to learn and figure out. I am enjoying having more room and seem to be personally trying to help the Indonesian government pay down any debt they might have by shopping for goods that I was unable to or just didn't have a clue to bring or have fried and must replace due to the difference in the voltage. Live and learn.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Changes in latitudes. Changes in attitudes

On Tuesday, June 1, we got the word that it was time to move to our much anticipated house. The list is long as to why this took just over 4 months to achieve. I will not go in to that in this post. Trust me, it will save us all a lot of grief if I don't.

On Monday, June 7, the big hand off will take place. We will begin relocating the goods we have acquired during our four months of bliss in the care of the various Shangri-La facilities to a house in an area of South Jakarta known as Kemang. On Tuesday the moving truck will arrive with the goods that we haven't seen in so long that I don't even remember most of what is in there. It will be a happy "Let's get reacquainted" party for sure. I do know that my camera gear has been greatly missed and the other half of our clothing will be embraced with great joy. It will also be nice to have more cooking paraphernalia.

The move is a step in the right direction. I am hoping that we will now be able to build a home and a life in this wacky place known as Jakarta. Hubby's commute will be long due to traffic and not so much distance. We will see how all of that works out. Will take a little while to figure out new schedules and such.

With the move to a house also comes a new staff member to hire. We are looking for a gardener/pool guy/houseboy. The reason for the long title is that the yard is very, very small at this particular house so there won't be much gardening to do so to employ him full time he will also maintain our pool and help wash windows and mop floors.

With this addition, we will be responsible for paychecks to three employees; a driver, a housekeeper/sometimes cook and the above mentioned Mr. Multi-function guy. Also added to the mix are four guards who control who comes and goes on our property and who enters the house. Honey bunch's employer requires these guys to be there guarding us and our worldly belongings 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This will take some getting used to. Between guards, razor wire, spikes and some broken glass thrown in for good measure, it will be like Fort Knox at our humble abode in Kemang.

In many ways this seems to have turned in to our very own private United Way project. We will be responsible for feeding the staff while on the premises. The housekeeper/cook will live with us as she has been a live-in for a long time and has nowhere else to go. Most of the expats living in Indonesia are having similar experiences with staff as sugar pie and I. Some, who have children, employ nannies and an additional person to just handle laundry. Pretty far out stuff for a little Tarheel girl to grasp.

Part of what makes this unfamiliar territory is the fact that sweetie and I have been empty-nesters for the last four years. Now suddenly, we will be surrounded by people every day. Is that going to be weird or what? Not to mention the weirdness of saying you have "staff." That sounds so pretentious to anyone you say it to except other expats living here. So please, those of you reading this, I am not getting all uppity. That is just what life is bringing my way and it will certainly add to the tales we tell when we get together with folks (do I hear groaning?). This entire experience is one huge tale. Many times I feel like it is all make-believe. Does it sound that way to you who are reading it?

As we looked upon the little kampung we have come to call our own this last weekend, we were graced with yet another unexpected site. The owner of the goat herd we have enjoyed watching the last 6 or 8 weeks was carrying the cutest little newly-born twin goats down the street. The mother goat was not especially happy about this arrangement. She kept nervously bumping the man and running around him as he walked carrying her precious little ones. I assume he was moving them from their birth place to a more secure area on his farmette. He carried the babies through his house, with the mom following along with him. Out the back of the house the entire four-some came. He gently placed the babies on the ground and then proceeded to fill a bucket with water for the the mom. I know, this isn't a particularly unusual thing to see. I've seen it in Texas and North Carolina on multiple occasions. But it is under such odd circumstances that I viewed this site that I think it makes it noteworthy. It is just so unexpected to see baby goats being born next to a 5 star hotel/residence, a large mosque, the motorcycle parking lot for the hotel and 20 and 30 story apartments and businesses. It is just not something that I expected to see from my luxury apartment balcony.

This is my last post from the haven known as the Shangri-La. The staff at the residence is just as wonderful as the staff at the hotel. I really have enjoyed getting to know them and have appreciated their care and attention. My life would have been immensely more difficult without them. They have helped to ease my stress with their smiles and greetings. I work very hard to always smile around them as they are trying so hard to make my life easier in a place that still doesn't always make a lot of sense.

Till we meet again Shangri-la. Thanks for the memories and helping us get our feet wet. You eased us in to things and provided us a friendly place to begin our journey when much of the time we felt overwhelmed and unprepared.

Terima kasih.