Our Christmas Day in Jakarta

Christmas day started later than in Queensland....we weren't downstairs until 6.30pm...two whole hours later than usual LOL.( the sun doesn't rise here until about 5.45am)
Santa was very generous to all!

This is Janny's antique silver horse, Ben's connector thingy set and the girls Wii.


Lunch was a lovely selection of cold meat and seafood, and a little Moet!
There was the new Christmas tradition......table top dancing

The evening wound to a close with family reading. We all received a plethora of fantastic books


And then off to bed for a good nights sleep after a wonderful family day.

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

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.

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.

RWR BBQ party 28.7.07

The girls did this all by themselves...

They lined the pool fence with Frangipanis for the guests-so Martha! LOL

We had a blast of a party last weekend.......as I am sure you will be able to tell from the photos.

J has found a wig to wear to the Roaring 20's ball we are all attending; of course we all had to try it out (even the pig and duck!).





The chocolate fountain made another award winning appearance. It has more adoring fans waiting for the next tour to be announced.

Here we all are posing in my "Pondok Indah" (beautiful hut)

Pavlovas in Jakarta

We had an Aussie BBQ on the weekend for some of GJ's colleagues. GJ has had many questions over the last few months on what Australian food is like. It is a hard one to answer as Australian cooking is so multicultural. We have everyday food staples from all over the world.

At home all our entertaining was done on the deck, summer or winter. The food was always something on the BBQ, an outdoors roast in the Weber and/or big platters of fresh seafood. This is what we put on for our guests here in Jakarta.
GJ cooked up rissoles, steaks, sausages and kebabs and we had three different styles of salads. I think the highlight of the party was the desserts. GJ had been telling everyone at work about Pavlovas.......yes he told them all I would whip one up........
Pavlovas can be easy to make or difficult, failures or successes; it all depends on the way the wind is blowing. At home I could always cheat and go to the local Cheese Cake shop and pick up a dressed Pavlova.
In Jakarta I had to conquer a lot of obstacles; An unfamiliar gas oven with no fan, Indonesian eggs, humidity etc.
I can not believe how well this Pavlova came out...it was the best ever.....The outside retained its height and crispness, the inside was packed full of the lightest fluffiest meringue, it was divine if I do say so myself. It was a big hit!
But the hugest hit of the night was the chocolate fountain.....yes, it came with us to Jakarta, how could we leave it behind!
We had a great time and I think we managed to show case a little of Aussie dining.


This is the playroom. All the kids had a great time- the mixture of languages was Indonesian, Mandarin, Danish and English but all the kids had no trouble communicating.

Robbie has organised a suprise

Robbie organised a new thing for me while he was here........my own blog domain.

It will take a while for him to get it up and running, but I will soon be jenjenqld.com!!!!!!!

Rob is the big boss of a web design company, and he organised my own email domain two years ago. He also trying to get me to move from the blogger platform to the dot net nuke program, but it looks very hard/complex......or translated I have to get out of my comfort zone and get with the times.
Georgia and Chelsea have their own email addresses...

princessgeorgia@the(insert our surname)s.com.au
princesschelsea@the(insert our surname)s.com.au
and they would love to hear from their friends and family.
GJand I are also available at this address, I am jenny andGJ, is well you know...

Putri Island, Thousand Islands, Indonesia

We have had an AMAZING weekend- our first getaway from Jakarta.

We went to Putri Island, part of the chain of islands known as the Thousand Islands. I went berserk taking photos, but I always do LOL. Our party consisted of three Australian families all who brought three kids , all of the same age groups, as well as Rob.

This chain of islands is located off north Jakarta. We caught the boat from the marina at Ancol and it took about 1.5 hours to reach Putri island.
The harbour at Ancol was sickening.....the stench of the thick, black ,foul water was almost enough to make you throw up. We were all doing light shallow breathing....I could not imaging how we were going to be able to swim in crystal clear water only a little way from this. The pollution this week has been extra bad, on Saturday morning we were unable to see city high rises if they were more than two blocks away. When the boat was underway it was like sailing off the face of the earth as you could not see anything but brown smog all around. The trip over was very smooth and after an hour we started to be able to see islands in the distance.
Five minutes before we docked Ben decided that his chocolate milkshake would feel better all over the deck, himself and GJ's shoes. I was most impressed that Ben saved this for his daddy as he had spent most of the hour and a half trip on my lap!

Arrival:

There was two lovely dancers at the end of the jetty to great us all as well as a tank of eels. Ben thought that Jo was me and was happily holding her hand until he realised.

The air was much clearer and the water WAS crystal clear. After dumping the bags it was time for a swim in the pool.

The bungalows were average. We were in a unrenovated one which was basic and only average in the cleanliness department. I wasn't overly worried as we didn't spend much time inside. I would class it at 2.5-3 stars.

This is the area directly outside our bungalow.......I felt like I was in paradise. I got the view from my sun lounger, plus Rob's and GJ's toes as well as my own. The shot of the sun light filtering through the trees is what was above my head. The kids wear able to play on the little sandy beach in complete shade while we watched and sipped a small alcoholic beverage.

The resort has an underwater tunnel which the kids loved walking through.

After more swimming and a quick rest for Ben it was time for a sunset cruise around the neighbouring islands. We got seats on the top deck of the boat and the kids were screaming with joy every time the boat rolled over a wave. When the boat was slowly cruising up close to islands the kids were able to lie out on the bow.

Dinner buffet started at 7pm. The food was average...a chicken and a beef stir fry and a whole fish cooked Indo style with 3 fruits for dessert. We packed an esky full of snacks and drinks as we knew the kids wouldn't eat much at the restaurant.

The band was loud and unacceptable to Ben's ears, hence the shot of him with his fingers in his ears. In between sets a dancer came on stage and kept the kids rapt. Ben was on the dance floor trying to imitate the moves. Behind the stage was a large aquarium filled with sharks...the kids were fascinated. The last shots are of all the kids in the bar, they were the only patrons. We all had a laugh that it was the Australian kids that were in the bar.


After dinner we all met up for cheese (.....cheese is VERY expensive in Indonesia!!!!!), dips and chips washed down with bubbles, beer and scotch. We were sitting right on the beach with a warm balmy breeze blowing all the mozzies away having the best time.
The Baileys on ice was a lovely dessert. I made it to 9.30pm.....GJ, Rob and two others made it to midnight!- we are getting old LOL

This was the kids first time at snorkeling in the ocean. They have only ever tried snorkeling in our pool. They LOVED it.

This is Ben's set of photos. He worked out the perfect way to snorkel when you can't swim- he lay on GJ's back and just stuck his head down. He was so happy cruising around looking at the coral and the fish.

This is Chelsea's photo set. Chelsea is a natural at this. She jumped straight in and wouldn't get out, she must of spent nearly four hours floating around. The water became very deep out from the edge of the coral and she quickly worked out how to dive down and to clear her snorkel with out coming up.
Here is Georgia's set.

Georgia was very hesitant at first about getting in, she needed to be holding hands with an adult and be part of a group- for the first half an hour. She didn't end up being as adventurous as Chelsea but did manage to conquer her fear and jump off the pier.
Here is a link to the Islands blog which lists prices as well as facilities. For our family of five we paid 3 950 000RP about AU$565; so it was an expensive weekend. This fee covered all meals(4), accommodation and transport. It was a wonderful way to escape the pollution and noise of Jakarta

Monas Monument, Jakarta Indonesia

We had a great time climbing the National monument- "The Monas Monument". The pollution was particularly bad on the day so the view wasn't as good as could be. We walked through Medan Merdeka Park (and ran into Georgia's tae kwondo teacher) and saw lots of families flying kites.
We eventually worked out where to enter and I paid our 60 000rp entrance fee. Yadi, our driver came with us, I don't think he had ever been here before. We walked around the base and went inside to the independence museum. An enterprising "guide" approached us and offered us a tour.....for a price. In hindsight I think I have just joined in the bribery/corruption life style of Jakarta.
We were asked if we had made a booking for a private tour and if not he could backdate a tour and take us around for the standard fee of 350 000rp ($50 aust.) It was very hot and humid, the queue to get the lift to the top was at least four hours long so I paid. It was worth it, the guy spoke excellent English and pointed out all the landmarks for us, and being able to bypass the queue was magnificent.
At the top of the monument we were all far more interesting than the view.
A women kept standing really close to the back of me and leaning against me, I soon worked out it was because I was holding Ben and he was facing that way. Hoards (I kid you not!) were following us around sticking cameras at us or mobile phones if they didn't have a camera.
In the end we just had to stand still and do group shots while every one had a turn posing with us!
This was my Hollywood/paparazzi moment LOL.
It was too much for Georgia, she started to look a bit thunderous after a while. I asked her to smile and just get it over with and she got the funniest faces, a scowl and a smile! The other people thought it was hilarious when I started to take photos of them taking photos of us.

Next time we visit I will make sure that it is not a Sunday and not a day where a marathon and a giant expo event are running beside.

Click on the photos to see a larger shot with comments

This is all the info I find on Google which I have cut and pasted. Some of the links got lost and of course I can't find them again, so please forgive a little plagiarism.

Standing at 132 meters and topped with 35 kilograms of gold, this imposing obelisk is Jakarta's most famous landmark. Construction started in 1961 under President Soekarno but was not completed until 1975, under President Soeharto.

The Freedom Hall depicts Indonesia's struggle for independence through a series of dioramas, whereas the Hall of Contemplation displays the original Declaration of Independence document and a recording of the speech.

An elevator takes you to the observation platform, which has a bird's-eye view of the cityscape.

The form of the Monas Monument was carefully thought out by President Soekarno and his followers. The Monument was built to symbolise the spirit of the Indonesian people as well as mark the independence of the nation.
Situated in the centre of Medan Mederka (Freedom Square) the Monas Monument is the landmark most associated with Jakarta. Medan Mederka was once the Dutch Military training ground in the city until Indonesia proclaimed independence.
The monument stands in the shape of an “Alu” or rice pestle on top of a cup form-like “Lumpang” or mortar. This shape symbolises eternal life as well as signifying the struggle for independence and the pride and nobility of the resulting victory to stand alone as a nation.

The flame at the top of the Monument symbolises the spirit of an independent Indonesian nation.

The building specifications of the Monas Monument deliberately focus on the date which President Soekarno proclaimed independence for Indonesia – 17th of August 1945. Therefore, most of the measurements of the monument and the associated buildings have the numbers 17, 8 and 45 associated with them.

- The interior of the Museum hall in the basement is 8-metres high and the main hall measures 80metres x 80metres.

- The base of the monument in the shape of the rice mortar is 45x45 metres wide.

Istiqlal Mosque

Click on the photos for a larger view with captions.

This is the most amazing place to visit. We went on a Sunday morning and there was hardly any one there. We all dressed in long pants and had no problems getting in. Our driver came in with us to organze a guide. A nice young man with excellent English took us on a tour and explained all about the architecture with the symbolism of dates bulit into the proportions. Unfortunatley I cannot remember all the relevant detail and can't find them in English on the web.

Istiqlal is the largest mosque in Southeast Asia and the third largest in the world, capable of holding up to 175,000 people. The building of this mosque began on August 24th, 1961, and was finished in 1967 or 1975(depending on which web site you believe) but its official opening did not occur until 1978.The mosque was designed by a Christian architect, Frederick Silaban, to symbolize religious harmony in Indonesia
It is located opposite to the Roman Catholic Cathedral (built 1901)
The area of the mosque takes a surface of 9 and half hectares. The main building is 5 stories high. There is a large drum in an outer corner which was made in Borneo. The opposite ends are covered in a male and female cow skin and is used in Friday prayers
The rectangular main prayer hall building is covered by a 45 meter diameter central spherical dome. The dome is supported by twelve round columns and the prayer hall lined by rectangular piers carrying four levels of balcony. Staircases at the corners of the building give access to all floors. The main hall is reached through an entrance covered by a dome 10 meters in diameter. The latter structure is directly connected to the arcades which run around the large courtyard. The walls, walkways and floors are almost entirely covered with marble from Tulungagung, East Java. Stainless steel is used for the fret work. The mosque is completely open, no windows just large balconies to keep out the weather. The interior is cool from this ventilation.
Wachid Hasyim – Indonesia’s first Minister of Religion and the father of Indonesia’s fourth president, Abdurrahman Wahid – is the pioneer of this mosque. He wanted Indonesia to have something to commemorate its independence. That’s why the name Istiqlal was chosen, because Istiqlal is an Arabic word means ‘liberty’.
The floor tiles have all been laid so as to face towards Mecca. The size of the floor tiles in the main hall is the right size for one person. From memory it is 1 x 1.6 m. In the outer areas the floor tiles are colored and are the same size and also pointing towards Mecca.
All the dimensions of the building have a special significance, the heights, widths etc all are important dates in Indonesian history, predominantly the date of Independence -17th August 1945.
Next time I go back I will take a note pad and pencil to get down all the facts; it was amazing how all the details had a special significance. Our guide mentioned that the mosque is usually filled to capacity twice a year. It would be fascinating to see the mosque so full and to hear the prayers.
This is a great place to visit; I would highly recommend it to any one visiting Jakarta. It has a lovely cool serenity and is a great insight to Islam.
We all wore long pants and I wore a long sleeve top, dressing modestly is important as is cleanliness; you must bathe before visiting and wash your hands, face and feet on entering. You also have to remove your shoes. I took a scarf to cover my hair, but didn’t need to use it.

nearly there.................

I have nearly finished sorting all the photos and are now googling all the places we visited to check facts...unfortunately all the things guides have told us have whizzed through one ear and out the other!!!
I should be right to start to post tomorrow....
Stay tuned.

WOW...in Jakarta

We have had so many exciting adventures in the last three days......There is more happening today so I can't get it all down now.

Rest assured I have taken many many MANY photos. Here is a little teaser of what is to come.

Istiqlal_Mosque, was amazing, Monas monument( and the bribery) was fantastic!!!!

More to come when we stop to take a breath..................

Dom Perignon

We had a wonderful family Easter.

Good Friday is the only Easter public holiday here in Indonesia, which meant GJ had Janny and Tan Tan’s last day in Jakarta at home with us all (well all except the quick trip to Pondok Indah Mall we made for the last minute shopping LOL).
We spent the afternoon snacking and chatting in the lounge room about how great a time we have all had here together in Jakarta.
Jan and Tan are going to try and come back for Christmas.
To celebrate we opened my first ever bottle of Dom Pérignon. GJ had picked a bottle up as part of my Birthday presents when he was in Singapore.
My verdict – spectacular. It was great to be able to share it with my mum and sister but I would have also liked to be able to share it with my special champagne friend Robbie!
As I re-read this sentence I realize that there are many more special friends I would like to share with (De, Fi, Trina, Alicia and Deb W to name a few), GJ had better buy a case next time LOL
In Brisbane, Easter has always been a time for family get-togethers. Over the years we have developed a ritual of a seafood smorgasbord on our deck overlooking the pool with GJ’s family and a few special friends.
We received a lovely message from GJ’s sister letting us know that they were heading off to the fish markets for Sunday lunch with a big ‘I miss you”.
We had been invited to GJ’s boss’s house for a BBQ lunch. It was a wonderful substitute.
Mr. K, a Dane, is the CEO and his wife Mrs. A (my mentor in Indonesia) is from the Philippines, the Sales manager is also Danish and is married to a Taiwanese lady and then the Service manager--AKA GJ (and us) are Australian. We had a very eclectic mix for lunch and before we realized it is was nearly 7pm. The kids had a great time and were very sorry to leave.

We had a wonderful family Easter.


The Easter Bunny comes to Jakarta

Very unglamourous shot, but oh well!
Janny with her new photo album and a glass of Dom.

Janny is not used to looking at photos on the computer, she still prefers the an old fashion photo. On our last day in Jakarta Tan and I ordered a pile of photos and put then in an album, labeled. We thought that we were supremely organised, not many people travel home from a holiday their photos done. LOL The girls in the new outfits to go out for Easter Sunday lunch.
Ben, as tidy as a little boy can be