Taman Safari

The Cub Scouts planned the first campout of the year at Taman Safari, a drive-thru safari, zoo and amusement park about 40 miles south of our house.  Sounds like a quick drive, right?  Unfortunately, heading to Bogor is one of the worst directions to drive.  Traffic can be a nightmare and sometimes roads are closed without warning when the police make them one way (!).  We left plenty early but still got caught in a massive jam outside of Bogor.  Our 1.5 hour ideal trip took over 3 hours, but it got pretty entertaining in the heaviest traffic.  All these people started appearing on the highway selling food and drinks.

 

Want a picture with an angry bird?

Or how about some kind of princess?  (I love this picture, too, because you can see that the shoulder is a perfectly acceptable lane as well)

Toys, anyone?

This brave man has his cart in the middle of the freeway.  I guess he's seen it long enough to know that the traffic wasn't going to speed up for hours.

This was an interesting shot as well - I hope these men got half price on their tickets!

Finally, we were headed up the road toward Taman Safari and there were vendors lining the entire stretch selling bananas and carrots to feed the animals.  We filled the car with treats for our furry friends.

Finally at our destination!  The night safari (safari malam) was just one of the exhibits we planned to visit.

Once we got inside the safari, we were immediately enthralled.  The Asian elephants were so much fun to watch.

These wild monkeys had figured out the good deal the other animals were getting and happily caught bananas for free snacks.

Seriously, don't get out of the car...you never know what's right around the corner.

Like a big ole hippo!

This was a hungry, hungry hippo!  Enjoy Alex's sound effects.

 

It was hard to drive away from this awesome mouth...

...but we had so many new friends to meet and feed.

Zoom in to see the gorgeous leopard in the tree.

They even had several owls on display.

I wanted this picture to remember the river crossings.  The safari is built on the slope of the Pangrango volcano and gets significant rainfall, so I have no idea what happens when it rains heavily uphill.  Thank goodness we didn't have to find out that day.

Nom nom...

Alex loved getting the zebras to reach in the car for his carrots.

The drive thru areas with the big cats were incredible.  They were completely gated, of course, but the cats were free to roam around inside.  Seriously, don't get out of the car here!

Pretty incredible to see lions and tigers wandering around us.

This guy was happy to watch all the cars stop and gawk at him.

I've never been so close to rhinos, either.

Slow down!  Hippos have the right of way.

Zoom in to see the beautiful black leopards.

We did choose a safe spot so Ben could get his requisite Asian picture :)

Overall, it was impressive and I'd love to go back and see the exhibits we missed.  What a cool experience!

Disco Dance

Alex's school had a 3rd-5th grade black light disco dance night...how cool is that?!

 

He and his buddy Minan danced for the entire 90 minutes and they were sweaty and thrilled when I came to pick him up. While he was busting his moves and eating pizza, Matt, Ben and I were enjoying smoked ribs at home from a fabulous barbecue guy here that delivers.  We were all in heaven!

 

 If you're curious (as I was) about what 4th graders do at a disco dance party, enjoy the videos...

 

 

Fun Pictures

One of the things Alex was most excited to get from the shipment with his birthday duck float.  Cause every kids needs a massive inflatable duck with sunglasses, right?

 

Good to know that our bird cage came with a free cat bed!

Love these handsome boys!  They were a bit excited to eat at Amigo's after church.  It's a little bit of an incentive to drive farther to church when it's really close to the best Mexican food in town.

This boy was also happy to find out Tostitos were in stock at Ranch Market.  This should last him a while!

We got an amazing gift from my friend Anne, who visited from Singapore!  The kids couldn't thank her enough. Even though I forgot to take a single picture of us together, I won't forget how wonderful it was to spend time with a "local" friend before she moves back to the US.

I love this sweet picture of  Alex sleeping with his light on :)

Expat Wife Adventures

It's interesting having some free time in a new country and I'm always looking for ways to explore and meet new people. I joined an adventure group through the Indonesian Heritage Society and once a month we visit local places of interest.  So many people asked about food that they created a Food Explorers group and I couldn't wait for our first meeting.  Dozens of lovely ladies from all over the globe met up to learn about Sop Buntut, Javanese oxtail soup.

We had it fried, grilled, and in the soup.  I was a pretty big fan of every variation.

The oxtail is a bit hard to eat because of the bones but the Indonesians don't waste any good meat.  It's worth the effort!  We also got to sample and share several other Indonesian dishes and enjoy the company of other adventurous eaters.

 

 For dessert, we had fresh local fruit dipped in sambal peanut sauce, which sounded terrible but tasted fantastic, especially on the tangy pineapple.

 

Another new adventure for me was a Melbourne Cup brunch downtown.  The Australia/New Zealand women's group hosts it as a huge fundraiser for local charities and it was a lot of fun to get dressed up and spend time with friends.  Thank goodness several of us carpooled - the 6.2 miles took two hours in traffic!

Most of the lovely ladies at the two American tables.  Andrea (sitting on the swing) won best hat for her awesome creation.

It was a lovely setting and we enjoyed a fashion show, best-dressed prizes, and several raffles while we had our brunch.

Finally it was time for the big race!  My horse finished fourth, so no winnings for me, but the morning was such a fun experience.

Cultural Week and UN Day

The elementary school had an entire week of Indonesian cultural experiences, which led up to UN Day, where the kids all celebrate their home countries.  It was a really incredible experience and made me a little teary missing home but being so excited to experience this amazing melting pot where differences are celebrated and make us special and unique.

Monday morning kicked off with a parade and batik shirt day.

 

Dancers and drummers led the kids around the parking lot and into the Melati theater for some performances.
 

 During the week, the kids got to learn about Indonesian history, try local instruments like the gamelan, ride in a tuk-tuk, and eat lots of interesting dishes.  Finally on Friday it was time to celebrate all the countries.  I loved that the teachers had some of the best outfits at the UN Day parade.

 

Each country was represented by the flag and all the students coming from that nation.  Egypt had two very well-dressed kids.

The French kids (and Alex's favorite little buddy Minan) were adorable in their berets.

The Korean kids were stunning!  I had no idea the school had such a Korean population.

The one boy from Papua was very impressive.

Two teachers from the UK stopped the parade for a spot of tea!

Near the end of the alphabetical order, the United States!

My favorite little American!

After the parade, all the parents filled up the theater for the country performances and the flags lined the side.  I counted 54 countries represented at the elementary school...pretty awesome.

First off, the choir performed and I got a wave from my sweet singer.

 Next, Indonesia kicked off the performances.

Japan was really entertaining with their Kung Fu dance routine.

Again, the Korean girls were simply stunning and their performance with their fans was just incredible.

Sweden had a sweet little skit about Mayday.

The Netherlands had a quick tour of their country.

Australia chose a song that explained their entire history in 2 minutes.

Central and South America grouped together to sing and dance, each in their own country's colors.

America did a tribute to Walt Disney with the Mickey Mouse clubhouse song, "Life is a Highway" (from Cars), and Mary Poppins.

America was the last country so they chose to start singing "It's a Small World" as all the kids came back in for the finale. It was pretty incredible and moving to see all the different kids come together.  I really love this school!

Afterward, I got to enjoy lunch with Alex outside.

Several handsome Americans!

On Saturday, the choir did another performance at the Holiday Bazaar.  Can you tell who missed the memo about white shirts??