Times are Changing...

We had a really terrific night out with several wonderful couples.  Two Australian, one Swedish, and one American/Mexican.  We started out at Plan B for tapas and sangria.  Things were a little different because Jakarta had a handful of confirmed coronavirus cases but nothing was out of the ordinary.

Cheers!!

It was really helpful that Norma could speak Spanish to the owner because she just told him a general idea of what we wanted and he chose all of our dishes.  Then the chef started bringing us experimental dishes he was trying out and we got to sample some pretty delicious offerings.  Always a good time here!

We decided we weren't ready to wrap up the night and went down the street to Happy Puppy.  I knew this was a winning group of folks when everyone agreed to some impromptu karaoke!

 A few hours of singing and laughing together and we went home exhausted and happy.  We had no idea this was going to be our last night together for quite some time.

The next week was gorgeous outside and during a walk on Monday morning, I got the alert that school was closing for two weeks due to Covid-19.  The kids finished the day, had two days off while the teachers planned, and then online classes would begin on Thursday.  There would be a full week of online classes followed by Spring Break.

We took advantage of an unexpected day off school to play 9 holes at Pangakalan Jati.  It was my first time to take the kids out myself and we had a really great afternoon.

The kids had just finished up a round of lessons and were doing so well!

By the last few holes, they were outdriving me! (not that it's hard)

Alex wanted a picture of his last drive, which went about 150 yards.  Wow!

On Thursday, they started home learning and they were pretty excited.  Several classes were live over Zoom, and some were independent.  Alex was finished by 10am.  After lunch, he logged into his Friday classes and finished those as well so he could have a 3-day weekend!

Ben's classes were mostly live so he had a full day on schedule.  Being the talker that he is, the live classes were just what he wanted.

Alex decided to spend some time making brownies as well as a sort of "health" project, although I don't think that's part of the nutrition curriculum.

On Friday afternoon, several of us met for a drink at Satu Lagi and it grew into quite a gathering.  Just as large gatherings were beginning to feel weird.  Several of the JIS admins were there as well and we got the sense that school was going to be online for quite some time.  A lot of our discussion was What Next?  Covid cases in Jakarta were beginning to grow, a few companies were sending expat dependents home, and the uncertainty ahead in a developing country was quite worrisome.  I'm so thankful we had this afternoon for some laughs and camaraderie before everything changed.

Baking Class

Pam and I attended a New York bread baking class from an American chef living in Jakarta.  I had zero experience making my own bread dough so I learned a lot.

In the morning we made pretzels and bagels...two delicious treats that are hard or impossible to find here!

 My shaping could use some work but these turned out pretty delicious...

In the afternoon, we did challah bread, which can be turned into a variety of things.  I chose a loaf and rolls and can't wait to make them again.

I wish we had a decent oven because it's actually really fun baking from scratch here since we can't just run out and find everything we want.  Still, can't wait to make some more pretzels at home and enjoy them hot.

Bali Weekend

Bali is the closest getaway for us so we head there pretty much every chance we get.  This time, Matt had Friday off work and the kids had Monday off school, so we left late on Thursday and actually had complaints from the middle schoolers that they were missing school on Friday.  Once we arrived, everyone was happy and all complaints were forgotten.

We stayed at a Holiday Inn Resort on Kuta and were pleasantly surprised at the food and facilities.  The two must haves at breakfast - pork bacon for Ben and pancakes/waffles/pastries for Alex - were spotted first thing so we were set up for a good weekend!

First thing, we headed up to Kuta for some surfing and the kids both caught great waves.

Lunch at the Boardwalk is always a winner.

Back at our resort, it was almost eerily quiet.  The coronavirus meant all trips from China were cancelled and it was low season for visitors from Australia, so we had most of the place to ourselves.

This is how we travel...you somehow make the adapter fit and improvise a device to keep it in the plug.  It's always an adventure.

Baby gecko out by the pool!

The kids learned how to make kites the local way.  No tape or glue, just incense sticks to melt the plastic together...ingenious!

We hit up the Waterbom water park and had a lot of fun, again with very little crowd and almost no lines.  We left for lunch and found the best place in Kuta - Don Juan's Mexican food!

We were some happy people with our nachos, tacos, and salsa.

That evening, the kids tested out their kites and had a great time with them.  Sadly, we realized they wouldn't fit on the airplane so we had to leave them there.

Nothing like a Balinese sunset to make my heart happy.  It was the middle of rainy season but we were really lucky that it just rained overnight a few times and we had gorgeous skies.  I was anticipating some rainy afternoons.

Envy restaurant was delicious and we ate their every night because it was so convenient.

Sunday morning we woke up to the clearest skies I'd ever seen in Bali!  We could see all the volcanoes.

Matt did a little more surfing while the kids enjoyed the beach and I enjoyed a radler.

One more time back to Don Juan's because there is no telling when we'll get food like this again!

perfection.

Matt had to leave on Sunday afternoon to get back to work but the kids and I got to stay one more night and we soaked up as much pool time as possible.

We spent our last morning in the pool until the exact minute we had to leave.  It was only 10 minutes to the airport so I didn't even have to shower until 2 hours before our flight...Bali is the best!

Ben kicked one of Alex's baby teeth out in the pool - that was a new way to lose a tooth!

And back in Jakarta, where they don't do plastic straws but you can get as many plastic cups for ketchup as you want!

BWA Charity Ball

Matt and I enjoyed our third annual BWA ball at the Shangri La.  A quick picture from our room before we met up with our friends.

The theme this year was Arabian Nights, so lots of lamps and camels everywhere!

Ed, Jo, Jenny, Erik, Pam and Brice

We had quite the international table this year! America, Australia, Sweden, South Africa, and Zimbabwe were all represented.

The tough ladies at table 8! Leigh, Jenny, Benedicte, me, and Jo

Met up at the bar with the two martini lovers, although this year's cocktail was not great.

Before they photoshopped in the flying carpet!

The entertainment this year was great.  My personal favorite was the Jakarta belly dancing school!

We had to check out the crowd downstairs at BATS as well, and enjoyed the latin band.  Matt and I were both diagnosed with a parasite earlier in the day, following a pretty miserable week, so we were troopers to make it till 1am.

Sunday morning, we slept in, started taking antibiotics, and then enjoyed a lazy morning by the pool with the kids. Thank goodness for medicine to get us well again!