Rob's Christmas in Jakarta.........

The kids were so pleased that their favourite pool toy of all time came to visit!
Yet again I managed to get Rob the perfect gift that he didn't know he desperately need! I always try to get him something practical that when he opens I am sure he says in his head "what........". Last year it was an electric toothbrush. A week later he told me he was in love with it. This year I was almost stumped until he arrived and I realized that he can't fit his swollen ex broken ankle in shoes. He is now the proud owner of 2 pairs of Crocs! And he is a convert.....the poor thing has resisted getting any of these very ugly shoes for years, but now knows how supremely comfortable they are LOL.

Here we are comparing broken ankles.

Unfortunately I don't know if he will ever come back to Jakarta.....

On his first trip in June Rob picked up a Bali belly bug on his 2nd day. This trip Rob picked up a chest infection that left him as sick as I have ever seen. He and GJ only emerged briefly on Christmas day for presents and then food.

I will have to get him a big plastic disinfected bubble to walk around in if he ever comes back!
Luckily he is improving fast and is enjoying the last week in Bali.

(where we are going in mid January yipee!)

Things Tan Tan saw

Its great to have visitors and see things with fresh eyes.

Tan loves the flower stalls in Kemang as well as the 3 wheeled baja's.

On the bottom row are some goats along the side of the road waiting for Idul Adha

The Ritz Carlton Jakarta, Sunday Brunch

We have been kicking up our heels again at the Sunday brunch at the Ritz Carlton. It truly is a great place for meeting up with friends and VERY kid friendly.

There is always a free kids club for the kids, which they love.

Over Christmas, the kids club had a special theme of "Lunch with Mrs Claus". For a slightly exorbitant fee the kids got to play with Mrs Claus, decorate HUGE ginger bread cookies, receive photos and a goodie bag. As well as music, fun activities and story time. The kids participated on our first visit and just did the free stuff the next week.

These are the photos from the lunch with Mrs Claus, Tan loved how the kids lunch was served on a bain marie at kids height!
Here is some other photos of around the Ritz. We take K, our sweet junior maid with us (1st picture with my Mom)She makes sure Ben doesn't get into mischief. The kids club is through the foyer and across the hotel from brunch...I don't think that management would approve Ben running through to check on me LOL. I am pretty sure that K likes the food at the Ritz as much as we do.

All these photos are from two separate brunches we went to in December.

Ben is treated like royalty here....after drinking melted chocolate from a bowl (scooped from the chocolate fountain) a lovely waiter brought over linen napkins and gently wiped his grotty face!


The best thing about writing this is that I have already booked the next visit!

Blogging will resume today

I have been told by numerous sources that blogging HAS to recommence ASAP!

Today I will.

Do not expect greatness as the dreaded Typhoid has returned.
Silver lining......I have now lost 7kg (15.4 lb). Hope it stays lost.

I also need quiet a few hours to sort through the nearly 2000 photos I took in December!
Expect photos...many, MANY photos

Mangga Dua shopping

I had my first shopping experience at Mangga Dua last week. Mangga Dua is suburb in the northern section of Jakarta. It is renown as being a bargain shoppers paradise. It also has a large electronic and computer centre.

This centre was 7 stories high, packed to the rafters with EVERYTHING! There is not much fixed pricing, you need to bargain HARD. My friend Sharon took us and she gets her driver to come and help us bargain.
The array of fake designer handbags and shoes was enormous.

We finished the day off at Sharons favourite nail salon.....a quick manicure and pedicure for all.
The salon was KooKoo in Keb. Baru. It was a great place, not the cheapest but very professional.

Christmas carols at home

The girls treated us to an impromptu performance of Christmas carols the other night.
They were so cute!
Georgia, her friend AJ and Chelsea.

Borobudur Monument, Yogjakarta, Indonesia

A big, HUGE night out in Jakarta

I had heaps of sentences planed for this post......
for starters...... what a fun family night at Amigos and how it developed into an all nighter......




BUT as I type GJ, ACE, JP and Tan and now CJ are off for another all nighter..............



Yes this this is the elusive Ace T
...having fun with my sister and my friend Jo


This is at 6am when they have arrived home and after I have grounded them.........

GJ was slightly tired.....
I did not let Tan tan sleep...we had to pick up CJ from the airport ( I didn't know what he looked like) so absolutely no sleep for her.

Here is Tan Tan and Janny at Tamman Anggrek after a quick shopping trip before getting to airport. Tan completely missed a nights sleep.

As I type this they have all just head out again for another night on the town.....they do have to be home by 3.30am as we have an early start for our Borobudur adventure....


I have the flu now...yes typhoid was not enough, we need to add the flu as well......

We are off to Jogjakarta tomorrow at an VERY early hour then we will be back...I am sure we will have LOTS of photos.

I am SSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sick, this is so hard to type.

Please read this now...I am sure I will come back from Jogjakarta and be mortified by my spelling and grammar mistakes and delete this post,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Flash flood in Kemang

A 5 min deluge flooded Kemang Raya for about 15 minutes this afternoon.

Here is Tan Tan on her second day in Jakarta.

First guests have arrived

Jan and Tan have arrived!!!!!!!!

Mom and sis got in late last night!

Now I have the internet access, but no time to post LOL!
Will have lots of photos soon.

IndosatM2 internet and multimedia services

We are back on...finally.

Here is a wonderful post about the customer service dept at indosatM2

No internet yet again

If any one knows how to speak to a person in Indosat PLEASE let me know!

Hopefully internet will be back on soon.......

Family sun protection policy

We have a strict family policy on sun exposure......it is basically

no unprotected skin in the sun EVER

We all wear hats (I am very disappointed that my kids and about 2 others are the only kids that wear hats at school play times) and we all apply sunscreen every day after cleaning teeth. The kids even know to apply sunscreen on their ears and necks.
We also live in the tropics, the sun is strong 365 days a year. There is so much light around us we don't have to worry about lack of vitamin D either.
We have all fair skin....Chelsea and GJ are the fairest. Chelsea is an almost blueish white. We don't tan, we just go lobster red then peel. GJ and I have already started the "cut out the skin cancers from your youth" routine......I don't want the kids to have to go through this.
So this makes me so mad......
Georgia went on an end of year school excursion to a water park. With sunscreen on and in her bag.........but no reminders to reapply+ she "forgot".....Her face is red raw, she is in pain and will probably blister and peel.
I hope she learns why we are so insistent on sunblock and that this never happens again.


more health updates........

Georgia went back to school on Monday. She has been complaining of intermittent pains on her RHS as well as depositing her dinner over GJ and I and the floors and walls the other night........so back to the doctors.
We decided to go back to the tried and tested SOS clinic instead of the new convenient Global doctors clinic. At least this time the nurse was able to get the blood sample from Georgia with out incident. The last attempt needed two stabs and the nurse sucking the blood out by pulling on the syringe over about 18 minutes.
We are both on the mend, Georgia has no active Typhiod left and is fine. I'm improving except I now have a kidney and toe infection as well......
The upside, I have lost 4kgs (8.8lb)!
So we are both improving well.

Funny bit
Georgia has grown up with a camera in her face, she smiles and poses like a professional. Yet this morning when I was trying to get a shot of her face it took 16 shots to get one with her eyes open! We were all laughing so hard!

My Baby Niece

My baby niece is not a baby any more....
She has morphed into a vision of loveliness.

The photo below is taken with her YOUNGER brother, my nephew Jeremy (6'3" at 15!)

Sarah has just graduated from high school and is eagerly waiting university placement(10 more days...).
These photos were taken at the schools graduation ball, isn't she gorgeous!

They all hired a hummer to take them to the ball, it created a huge fuss..I didn't even know they had hummers in Brisbane!

I still remember the day when her mum got the 1st inkling that she was pregnant with her......it only seems like yesterday!

I can't wait for Sarah to come and have a fun holiday in Jakarta!

A stunning candlabra or not?

Georgia won this candelabra at the school bazaar......She thinks it is divine, me ummmmm not!

We compromised on placement, it now decorates our outdoor table with pride.
It just doesn't seem to be liking the heat though......LOL.

Little patches of beauty

We were back at Ibu Sabines house on the weekend, I was sitting on her front porch feeling like death warmed up while GJ organized the financial stuff. The most horrible cloud of smoke, smelling of burning, rotting garbage was all around me. The constant noise from the traffic just outside the gates was throbbing through my head.

I looked up and saw this patch of lush, green beauty.

On that day it summed up my version of Jakarta.........
Dirty, smelly, noisy with pockets of amazing beauty.

This Cinderella didn't make it to the Scottish ball

I had the dress, I had a ticket, I really wanted to go BUT I did not have the stamina to go to the Scottish ball. This was to be my first ever ball I could walk into (My first ever ball I went in a wheel chair).


This is GJ and his blind date........an empty ball gown LOLI spent the afternoon ringing around trying to find GJ a date (it seemed a shame to waste my ticket). How strange does that sound, a wife trying to find her husband a nice date! As it is the end of year, festive season most people had prior arrangements. My friends husband was stuck in transit somewhere in Asia so GJ was able to escort T. T's husband and GJ's "date" arrived at dessert in time to catch all the fun.

I would love to see all the photos GJ took, but he left the camera in J's handbag!

Apparently all had a great time, GJ made it home before daylight...just! They skipped the breakfast part of the ball, yes the Scottish know how to do a ball......Dinner, midnight supper, early morning snack and then breakfast!

But the highlight for me was that GJ won a raffle prize
2 business class tickets to Bali and 3 nights accommodation in a villa!
We won't have to be the only Australians in Jakarta that have NEVER, EVER been to Bali!

When I get the camera back I will share some more Ball photos.