An Expat Thanksgiving

HAPPY TURKEY DAY EVERYONE!

Our Thanksgiving meal was as traditional as you can get here with a potluck. We started off with wine and cheese and then there was pumpkin soup, turkey (imported from Iowa of all places), garlic/shallot mashed potatoes, spicy creamed spinach, ratatouille stuffing, cranberry sauce (from a can sadly, but still good) apple pie and mango crumble (that might be the most Indonesian touch of the evening.)

It was an international crowd consisting of 7 Americans, 1 Brit, 1 Canadian and an Australian, but that is to be expected in these parts. My friend Christina came over during the day and we cooked up a storm and then lugged all the goodies off to the Ritz, where Christina and Peter live, for dinner. Our place was just too small and the Ritz generously contributed a big table, chairs, table settings for 10 and maids who clean everything up the next day. How could we pass that up? The staff was VERY excited when we arrived with all the food and very curious to know all about the turkey. There was a moment of fear in the elevator where we suspected the bell boy was not going to let us out without getting a taste.In line with Thanksgiving everywhere, we ate, we drank, we laughed and had a great time. Of course we were missing home a bit, but that is how it goes and it was nice to have an expat family to celebrate with. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for!
Hope you all had a good holiday as well!

Our High End Lives

It's been a high end couple of weeks for the Parnes'. We have finally started to take much-deserved advantage of our jobs. Last weekend we flew to Lombok on a work assignment to write about the hottest new luxury boutique hotel on the island.  It opened a few months ago, so they invited us out to check it out.

We arrived to find out that we were the only guests for the first night and that two other rooms would fill on the second night.  It turned out the other two rooms were for a photographer and fashion model in town to do a shoot, so we basically had the place to ourselves.  

The hotel is on a deserted stretch of beach in the northeast corner of Lombok. It's part of a small chain (this is property #4) of 'art hotels' that are each absolutely gorgeous.  We expected it to be impressive, but it was unreal.  

Being the only people there, we were given the best suite (which goes for $450+/nt) and treated like royalty.  Our suite was easily the nicest room we will ever stay in in our lives.  The entire footprint of the suite was 140 square meters, which included the private plunge pool overlooking the ocean, koi pond and enormous outdoor bathroom.  The room itself was 80 square meters, which is bigger than our two-bedroom apartment in Jakarta.

We spent two full days lounging, getting massages, snorkeling and just enjoying the luxurious surroundings. We also enjoyed a lovely romantic private dinner on the beach. Needless to say, we'll have nice things to say in the magazine.

This past weekend I was flown to Singapore to report about a luxury hotel there.  I took Haviva with me out of pity. While it wasn't a beachfront hotel all our own, it was an executive room with access to the non-stop buffet and open bar of the executive lounge.  It was also inclusive of a ridiculous complimentary dinner at the upscale Cantonese restaurant downstairs. 

The highlight of the weekend was our pair of fourth row seats to the Saturday matinee of Avenue Q, which the theater comped us for having written a nice story about them.  It was the cast and crew of the Filipino production, and it was fantastic.  Neither of us has seen the Broadway production, but it's hard to believe it is any better. 

Sunday we spent the day at the Singapore Zoo, enjoying the fresh air and organized splendor that is Singapore.

Back to reality this week as it's crunch time for getting our December issues out...   

There's a Haviva in Australia!

Our friends the Holdaways have a farm in Australia and recently I was honored to find out that a new calf was named Haviva. I have no idea what I did for the honor, but I am more flattered than I think the Holdaways thought I would be.

Obama-rama

History was made yesterday and while we were not in the U.S. to cast a ballot and feel really American, we were able to celebrate here with Democrats Abroad. In typical Indonesian fashion, the celebration was at a mall, but it was easy to forget where you were and just revel in the moment none the less. As many of you know, Americans are not the only ones happy with this result and there was a pretty diverse crowd, adding to a more American feel.

They sold some great t-shirts, showed the speech on the big screen and even dropped red, white and blue balloons from the ceiling. Some of Obama’s old classmates from Jakarta were there as well, and it was great to see how excited Indonesians are about all this. There is an incredible sense of pride for them that the next American president has such a connection to their country.

It was a great night and while we are missing America more than ever, we are thrilled it will be a very different country whenever it is we get back there.