To Thailand, Stop Number One

The boxes were shipped... (5 boxes coming in at almost exactly 20 kilos each, keep your fingers crossed they make it across the ocean...)The goodbyes and the "See you in Bali in April!" were said and we were off (with about 10 of our friends all flying Air Asia to Bangkok for the frisbee tourney. An excellent ease into leaving.)Howie had a good, if not sweltering hot, tournament. He was camo, perhaps only a slightly less ugly colored shirt to carry with you for a long journey than neon green, and while his team did not do stellar, they had fun and won the most spirited team award. Howie played a lot, and well, and has some nice looking scrapes on his knees from some good laying out for the disc. I spent my days split between mornings out and about with our friends Dana and Gilles who were in Bangkok hanging out for the weekend and afternoons on the fields, cheering the many Jakarta players on. I, of course, ate well and had a lot of fun on the side lines.After the tournament, we headed out to Sukothai, a stop on the way to Chiang Mai that has some ancient temple ruins. Sukothai is HOT. I mean really sweaty, hot. But that did not stop us. We arrived in the late afternoon and did some wandering, checking out the little local markets and enjoying local culture. While Sukothai has its tourists, it is still a small, quaint little town, with only a few backpacker hangouts. It is still weird for us to see so many foreigners around, and hear so many languages spoken.
Today we took some local transport into the Old City, rented some bikes and checked the ruins out. Good lord was it hot, but we persevered. The ruins are quite spread out, although no Angkor Wat in size, and there are nice roads leading you around from chedi to chedi and Buddha to Buddha. What is nice is that, despite the bus loads of people we saw entering the park, it was really peaceful, there were very few vendors (none of whom were pushy at all) and at times it felt like we had the place to ourselves. We were there from about 10 AM to 3 PM when we finally withered and were ruined-out (so to speak). Despite the heat, it was a really nice day. For anyone who plans this in the future, pack a lunch. It would have been a great place to cycle around and then plo down somewhere and have a nice bite to eat.

Tomorrow we are off to Chiang Mai, about 5 1/2 hours from here. We are hoping to take a cooking class and maybe a Thai massage, but not sure about that yet... We will keep you posted!

A tailor met too late, a dress just in time

I found this batik fabric on a trip to Solo way back when and finally found a fabulous tailor who made this dress. I am so bummed I met this woman so late. She came to the apartment, measured me and was not interested in small talk; all business with Ibu Nana. I handed off the material, made an appointment for one week later and, poof!, she showed up with this. Yay! If you live in Jakarta and want to get some stuff made, give her a call: 0811862920.

Too many goodbyes

This past week has been very bittersweet, with far too many goodbyes for our taste. It started on Friday the 13th (ominous!) with a trip to the office with cheesecake. As is the Indonesian tradition, when you have anything special happen in your life, you bring the treats. The office was VERY excited about the arrival of the cheesecakes. So excited in fact, they devoured them in mere minutes and Howie and I did not even get a taste.

Following the cheesecake excitement, I headed to a new wine bar in town for my last "Ladies Night." I passed the torch and this one was organized by another lady and it was a huge success. There were 25 ladies and many, many bottles of wine consumed, much to everyone's delight. But it is not all about the wine, we also had the first book auction, where, for a minimal price, I auctioned off books that are not making the trip back to the US. Books are really hard to come by here so this was a big hit and all the proceeds went the final (very large) bill from the evening. Everyone wins!

Sunday night we invited the reporters from HighEnd and HighEnd teen over for dinner. While we may have some choice words to say about some of the management, etc. at HighEnd, we love the reporters. They are a really sweet group and while I think the reports on the Mexican meal we made might be mixed, we had a great time. It was hard to say goodbye - especially since they performed a little song for us and presented us with a really nice book of letters and pictures from them. It was incredibly heartwarming and we will miss those guys a lot.

Finally, today we also had to say goodbye to our favorite slimy friend, Norman. The farm has moved to some new swanky digs and they were not opposed to taking Norman back again. It was very hard to part with the little guy, but he is definitely in good hands. And the new farm is looking great. They have partnered with some good people and seem to be steady on their feet, which is wonderful as it is a project we really like.

The Bagel Maven of Jakarta

This was batch one and it was delish. He started with plain and has since made another batch, this time zataar. Who knows what flavor will be next, but what I am trying to figure out is why we did not do this sooner.

Good Waves and Good Friends

It was another weekend of chillaxing at our favorite little beach spot, Pelabuhan Ratu. We filled both villas with some of our favorite Jakarta friends and spent most of the time playing in the waves or hanging out around the table or under the gazebo overlooking the beach.

For once, Howie and I were not on deadline, so Howie got to enjoy the hammock sans laptop, which was a huge pleasure. People staggered in throughout Friday and then Saturday, after the day started with pancakes and banana bread french toast (a la Howie), we had a huge fish BBQ for dinner prepared by the Ibu (the maid/woman of the house). All I can say is that Howie and the Ibu are darn good cooks. I did my part with a chocolate cake for our friend Gilles who celebrated 33 over the weekend, and eggs in a hole (rocky mountain toast, whatever you want to call it) for breakfast Sunday. It was a delicious weekend in addition to a fun one.

We totally lucked out on the weather as we are in the heart of rainy season here. It poured pretty much the whole ride down on Friday, but we only had a couple small and quick passing storms over the rest of the weekend.

Now we are back in Jakarta and with under 2 weeks to go, we are busy running around taking care of last minute things and packing. It is pretty insane to think that our over 2 years are coming to an end and, in fact, I think we are both doing our best not to think about it much. It is weekends like this we will definitely miss the most. Good friends, the beach and good food - it does not get better than that!

The Year of the Ox

Happy Chinese New Year! (or as it is known here, Imlek)

To celebrate Howie, Chad, Trish and I headed to Glodok, Jakarta's Chinatown, to check out what was going on. I have to admit that I was not expecting much. The last time Howie and I went almost 2 years ago we were significantly underwhelmed. Today was quite the opposite. It was great.

The first stop was Gloria market, which was totally hopping. There were tons of little red envelopes for Chinese New Year money gifts, lanterns, ox adorned everything, incense and flowers for temple visits and delightful little snacks that only come out this time of year. We wandered the alleys and picked up a few things - some sort of rice flour, palm sugar thing that you are supposedly supposed to fry and eat, some delish smelling coffee beans that had been roasted with sesame seeds, custard apples (these are a fruit) and along the way a quick stop for some handmade dumplings.We breezed by the many frogs on the way to being only frog legs, turtles on the way to being turtle soup, leeches for medicinal purposes and snakes for lord knows what.We also made a visit to a couple temples. There are quite a few tucked away throughout Glodok and then main one was really a sight to see. It was packed with both worshippers and beggars who we are told come from far and wide this time of year to receive the generosity of some guys who distribute about Rp. 3000 (about 30 cents) to anyone who is there. Supposedly they come every day for a week and just pass out the cash. We cannot really understand how this is lucrative enough to come from afar, but someone must have done the math (and realized that this is not the most orderly system of passing out money so you are able to collect more than once.) We decided not to stick around to see it all happen as the crowds were huge and it seemed like chaos was sure to ensue.Inside the temple, the smoke from incense was intense and there are huge candles (we are talking 6 feet tall and 1 foot wide and bigger) all around. It was amazing to watch everyone lighting candles (small ones), incense and throwing their paper wishes into the fire. It was easy to forget where you were, and we were both quickly taken back to China and memories of celebrating there.

Fifi and Dani Get Married

Fifi is one of our friends from the marketing department at HighEnd and the other week she plopped a wedding invite on our desks. This was quite a shock since we did not even know that Fifi had a boyfriend. What came as a double shock was when she said she had actually been married for about 6 months and this was just the party (what I lovingly refer to as the bash for cash.) Very typical of Indonesian weddings - the intricate and complicated Javanese ceremony, the part we find the most interesting, is intimate and only for family - and the big party is open to anyone and everyone.As you might remember from our last wedding, the process is basically put on your batik, head to the enormous hall (this particular one was near our old place and was holding 6 weddings on the same night, we are disappointed we had not crashed weddings there when we lived in the neighborhood), sign the book, drop your money filled envelope in the box, receive a weird and somewhat random gift (this time a lovely batik tissue box holder... eek), wait on line to shake hands and say congrats to the bride and groom, eat and leave.There were well over 1,000 people at the wedding and poor Fifi and Dani spent the whole two hours shaking hands, her with an insanely heavy looking headdress on. We had fun eating whatever we could, it was a good spread, and hanging out with other work people.

Yum!!!

A box of these showed up, along with a press release, in our office today. Ick.

Our Inaugural Ball

As you may have seen on CNN, we attended the Democrats Abroad celebration in Jakarta on Inauguration Day. We made a brief appearance on CNN International in a clip they've been airing about the event. We're also in a Reuters photo that's been picked up online in a bunch of places... (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//090120/ids_photos_wl/r4009770437.jpg)The event was a lot of fun. There were maybe 600 people and a lot of excitement in the air. The room was decorated with lots of Obama election memorabilia (all of which was up for auction at the end of the evening) and they had some bands, a trivia contest (which a team of Indonesians won) and the CNN International live viewing started at 10:30 PM. There was Obama cheering, Bush booing and everything you would expect. Truly the "people's party" this event was free, while the celebs and big-wigs partied at the Ritz at about 100 bucks a pop. Our low end event proved to contain what we believe was every white person we know or have met here in Jakarta. It was honestly a little overwhelming - we have not been in a room with that many non-Indonesians in a long, long time. But, considering the event, I guess it was appropriate and to be expected.

There were also a good number of Indonesians there, some even with their faces painted in red, white and blue. This particular mom and kid really gave us a giggle, she was uber excited and I think he came for the ice cream. There are few moments living here as expats that we are proud to be American and we relished in it last night.

A Night at the Symphony

Last weekend we attended a performance of the Symphonia Vienna, who were in town for a couple of HighEnd-sponsored concerts.  We're not big symphony fans, but it was fun.  The star of the show was Rama Widi, a famed Indonesian teen harpist.  There was also a fantastic yodeler. 

The highlight of the show was the premiere of a new piece of music by a local composer, which was accompanied by traditional dancers.  The best part were the Balinese hats they made the poor European musicians wear.

 

An Awkward Farewell

At the beginning of last week an email appeared in the inboxes of everyone in the office inviting us all to lunch.  It seemed like a nice holiday season-type lunch invite, but it wasn't really specific on the reason behind the invite.  

The next day we all went to lunch at Times Square restaurant in one of the fancier malls.  It was an all-you-can-eat buffet run by the Kempinski hotel and was actually pretty good food.  There were no speeches, no toasts and no mention of it being a special occasion.  We all went back to work afterward and proceeded with a normal afternoon.  

About half an hour after returning to the office we were all called in to a meeting.  There, the owner of the company started the meeting with something like, "Howie & Haviva - we hope you enjoyed your special farewell lunch."  I think I responded something like, "er, um, that was for us... I mean, thank you."   She and her daughter (the editor in chief) then presented us with traditional puppets as a going away gift.  

A good, though awkward, time was had by all.  

Norman

There is no way you know a cuter snail.

Happy New Year!

With 11 days of vacation, Howie and I lit the Hanukkah candles on December 26th and headed out the next morning for Pulau Weh - a not so small island off the coast of Sumatra.

Actually, Weh is only about a one hour ferry ride from the tragically famous Banda Aceh, where the tsunami hit 4 years ago. Our flight arrived in Banda at about noon and then ferry was not until 4, so with some time to kill, we decided to take the now popular tsunami tour. We grabbed a driver outside the airport, Miswardi, and struck a deal for 3 hours including lunch and a tour of Banda.

Lunch was mie aceh - a variation on the typical Indonesian fried noodles here, but these are extra spicy and come with delightful pickled shallots that add a really nice touch. 

There is some rumor that one of the things that gives mie aceh its distinct flavor is marijuana, which we were told is commonly used in Acehnese cooking, but we did not see any actual evidence of this. The place Miswardi took us was clearly a local hot spot and we had a good meal, feeling merely satiated when it was over, nothing more.

From there, Miswardi took us to one of the famous tsunami sights - a boat that landed 5 km inland into the middle of a kampung (village). I do not know what we were expecting, but this was not it. This is not just a boat, it was a huge boat. A ship. Just sitting there in the middle of the kampung, houses around it and, clearly, houses under it as well. While quite a few boats washed inland, most have been or are in the process of, being broken down and taken away. 

This huge ship will stay where it is and act as a monument to the memory of the tsunami.The ship itself is in shockingly good shape, with no parts pilfered. If it were not in the middle of the neighborhood, one might deem it sea worthy and send it on its way. Next to the ship, they have also built a small park and a little museum, which were impressive, as well.From there we went to another neighborhood where this boat sits on top of a couple houses, also right in the middle of a kampung. Even seeing it, the tragedy is hard to understand.To lighten the mood and take part in another thing Aceh is famous for, we hit the local famous coffee shop, Chek Yoke. Along the canal, this open air place is a favorite local hangout for young people in Banda. Since there is no drinking in Banda, coffee and cakes are the next best thing. The coffee was great and the table full of kue, even better. Kue are usually cakes, but the word is used loosely with snacks. They are served here like tapas - small plates with usually 4 pieces on each - and the table gets a variety of sweet and savory, steamed and fried goodies. The little pancakes filled with what was very close to dulce de leche were our favorite.

From there it was finally on to Pulau Weh. Weh is a much bigger island than we expected with a crazy coastline. There is not that much beach, but the rocky coast is a great place to just plop in the water and go for a snorkel. We spent the better part of the 6 days there in the water near

 Iboih beach - a popular diving and backpacker hangout.

We met our friends Barb and Scott there and, since they are big divers, we head out with them in the morning on the dive boat, snorkeled, came back for lunch, went out again with the dive boat in the afternoon and then spent the rest of the day on our little deck reading and napping. It was VERY relaxing and we saw some great stuff snorkeling, including an octopus that was out and about for all to see, lobsters, massive stingrays and some amazing huge schools of fish. Visibility was pretty incredible and we were really lucky with the weather.
New Year's itself was very low key. We met up with about 25 other travelers at one of the cafes where they had a special new year meal and then everyone went down to the beach for a little

 countdown, a few sad fireworks and few stolen kisses in the dark. It was a really nice way to ring in the new year as far as I am concerned. Anytime there is a little sand between my toes I am happy.
We headed back to Banda the next day, made sure Barb and Scott enjoyed a coffee and kue at Chek Yoke and then made our way back to Jakarta. It is hard to believe it is 2009 and for that matter that we have only one month left on our contracts, most likely about six weeks left as residents of Jakarta. Should be a pretty exciting year to come...

Jews in Jakarta

We went to a Shabbat dinner last weekend that a member of the American embassy held in memorial for the rabbi and his wife that were killed in Mumbai. She had served in Mumbai before Jakarta and had been quite close to them. It was held at the American Club, which is basically Jakarta's version of a country club for American expats. I was expecting the evening to be like our Passover - mix of Jewish and non-Jewish expats, a few prayers and some food.

I knew there were Jews from Indonesia, but from what I could find out they lived in Surabaya (the other side of Java), the only synagogue there had closed a while ago and there were very few, if any, really around. Boy, was I misinformed. Turns out there is a Jewish community right here in Jakarta and they even have a head of the community, who by the way looks like he was plucked out of any community in Boca Raton, comb over and all.

Walking in the door, the first shock was a black hatter that was clearly Indonesian, which was followed by the surprise of the yenta sitting across from us who also Indonesian, but somehow a complete stereotype of a person she has most likely never met. The rabbi it turns out was educated in Singapore and has a "schul" in Manado, a mostly Christian city on the island of Sulawesi. (Schul is in quotes as I could not get a congragent number nor a real location.) He was particularly excited by the black hat and get up he got from Chabad, who I think would take it away had they seen him chatting on his cell phone and taking a cab... on Shabbat. But boy, was he excited.

The yenta and the "Jewish ciommunity leader" let us know that most of the Jews in Jakarta, and also from Aceh, are of Dutch ancestry. The Jews of Surabaya, they say, come from Bagdahd. It was unclear exactly when they were driven out of Indonesia, but they were and since then they have been practicing secretly in people's homes. They gather for holidays and these days most head to Bali for the big holidays where, they import rabbis from Australia. There was a Passover Seder of about 150 this year. While they cannot declare Judaism as a religion on their resident cards, practicing is a bit easier and a little less secret than it was. Athough I gather not 100% out in the open either.

The hysterical part of the evening was when I was introduced to this woman:
You cannot tell quite how crazy she is from this picture, but the fact that she has proclaimed me her daughter and tried to set me up with her son ("He has 6 degrees - BA, BS, MBA, PhD...") with Howie sitting right there should tell you something. Turns out we share a common name - Cohen - and she was VERY excited about that. Her mother was Indonesian and father a Dutch Jew. Her mom died when she was 3 and her father left her with Christians and fled the country. Forty years later, she found out her dad was Yaakov Cohen and she was Jewish. She is now an active member of the Jakarta Jewish community. She spent a good deal of the nigth with her arm around me repeating "I am Cohen. You are Cohen! You are my daughter! You should meet my son...." Those migth be the only words she knows in English...

Stunning views, beautiful beaches and too much work

Sorry it has been a while since our last posting. It seems these days we are always on deadline, but that is hardly a good excuse.

Rainy season has hit Indonesia hard and this morning we woke to a stunning sight. Who knew there were volcanoes within view of our building? It was a great thing to wake up to, especially since the rest of the day was pretty much s*&^.

Because of Christmas and New Years and another Indonesian holiday stuck in there, the January magazine has been going at full steam since the end of November. Luckily, the month started with a uber long holiday that we got to spend in a stunning villa in Bali. It was the same villa we stayed at with Howie's parents when they were here, but this time we were with our friends John and Shelley, who now live in E. Timor, and Peter and Chirstina (they live here in Jakarta).The villa itself was great - it has a fabulous private pool that we spent a lot of time in - but they were a little less giving of the freebies this time around. We each were offered a 1/2 hour free massage, but this time it was non-transferable. Last time Howie's mom and I each got an hour when the guys were not interested, but I am guessing I am not going to get much sympathy for that complaint.
Anyway, we ate, drank, caught up, did some snorkeling, played on the awesome deserted beach only a 5 min walk away and even made it into town for our two favorite restaurants - Zulas, the organic vegan place that has amazing falafel and Mykonos, a delish Greek place. Great weekend and a perfect way to start a very crazy month.

Oh! And the added perk - I saw myself on an EF billboard on our way out of town! Too bad I look a little crazy.

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!