Australia day 2011

The weather was absolutely glorious today for Australia Day. We lounged on the deck and in the pool with family and friends.

TGIF

This was a TGIF moment, a week or two after the bombs. Rachael's toast was wonderful and poignant:

"here's to friends come and gone, here's to friends lost and found"

Anza Ball, Jakarta 2008

The annual Anza ball was held last Saturday at the Ritz Carlton (20.09.08). We all had a wonderful night! It was a credit to the organizing committee.
These kids were from the New Zealand school and kicked of the show with an amazing Haka performance.

The entertainment was very diverse; Dr Harry Darsono performed and showcased his Haute Couture collection, the Batavia Dance Group were wonderful, as were the Salsa and Flamenco dancers. Opera singer, Christine Tambunan voice was breath taking, truly wonderful.

DJ Kate was wonderful, she played music that was perfect for the majority of guests...mostly over 30+ lol.

It was nice to be able to walk and dance at this ball, last year I was in a wheel chair with a broken ankle....We just made it home by 3am.

A great night at Anza

We had a busy day yesterday, visitors, studying, lots of kids. Late in the afternoon my friend convinced us to come out for a BBQ at ANZA.

You know sometimes how all you want to do is have a quiet night with a wine and be in bed by 8pm........It was one of those days; especially as I had finally completed a big science essay...at last!

It is just as well my friend won't take no for an answer!

It was a great night and we met lots of interesting, fun new people.

We couldn't get a sitter so we took the kids and luckily other people had brought theirs as well so there was lots of kids having fun.

It is the end of the summer holidays here in Jakarta and most of the new batch of expats have arrived. We got a chance to meet a few new families; it felt strange being an "old timer" in Jakarta after 18 months. LOL

After a few wines and lots of chit chat I hear a OMG your JenJen!!!!!!!! I was recognized from this blog.

I felt very special lol!

Brunch at the Ritz Carlton Jakarta

We had yet another wonderful brunch at the Ritz on Sunday.
I can not see any reason to go any where but the best (we did try here and it was a shocker!!!!!).
I think we might of outstayed our welcome...they turned the lights out on us (it was 5pm and they did close at 3.30pm.......). We are trying to fit in lots of functions with Shannon and Dave before they head off on their next overseas posting.
In every single photo, EVERY single person had a smile on their face!
(oh well except Prince Benny...see below)


As usual the kids loved the kids club......They even got to keep the balloons once it closed!

I had to put this collage of Prince Ben in.
We call him Prince because that is what he thinks he is....King of the world, aged four! I do so tire of his royal behaviour and love it when GJ catches it and swiftly brings him into line. This would have to be a major drawback of being an expat in Indonesia. Most people here are so nice to the kids that they can easily take it for granted and forget common courtesy.

Look at those choppy little cheeks!!!!!!! My bloggy friend, Heidi from Irish triplets was uncannily spot on with her comment on this post......He is the spitting image of GJ and he does like sneaking GJ's scotch LOL.

It was sorting out these photos that made me realise I had forgotten about the ball photos from the previous post.

I do have a little note to self....next time champagne finishes.....don't get just one more round.....not if you want to stay awake after 7pm and go to school the next day and be a responsible educator.

Yet another wonderful weekend in Jakarta

Sat afternoon, clean, rested and fresh
synchronized pool fun
Mud mining and construction
Backyard soccer
Saturday AND Sunday night; dinner with friends

humongous garden snails
What the floor looked like on Monday morning....courtesy of the mud construction and Mowgli.
Monday at rest time...
First ever full-blown tantrum from too much excitement over the weekend.
Yes, all books thrown across room and chocolate milk smeared on walls.........
I don't think he will do that ever again.........
He packed them all up too, although his wall cleaning skills leave a lot to be desired.