Back to "Normal"

We know life will never go back to exactly the way things were before Covid, but we've settled into our new "normal" in Jakarta.  Mostly, it means we stay home unless were going golfing, because that's one of the only outdoor activities we can safely enjoy.

Jakarta has very little green space so being on a golf course is a pretty enjoyable way to get out of the city.

I also discovered the Cilandak driving range, where the attendant on the putting green will line up balls for as long as you want to hit them.  So much fun!

Outdoor walks have been another favorite and I've found so many sweet kittens to feed.  These little girls were living in a gutter around the corner.

Several major streets are still blocked around the neighborhood, which is pretty annoying for driving but nice for walking because the traffic has decreased enormously.

We were very surprised one morning to find an extra lovebird in our backyard.  He was trying his best to get into our cages and find himself a girlfriend.  The kids were dying to keep him but couldn't catch him.

The rogue lovebird finally gave up and started working on a cage across the street, so the guards there caught him and gave him to our maid, Tina.  Success!

Alex and I went to my favorite street lined with pet shops after school and bought him a new home with a girlfriend.

It's a match made in heaven!  We now have two happy lovebird couples on the porch to keep the parakeets and cockatiels company.

It's mango and jackfruit season, so we find some interesting fruit along the road right now.

This vegetable hawker had particularly pretty baskets one day.

Love a random piece of fruit in the road with a smile to make my morning!

 

Bali Weekend

We took advantage of a Thursday public holiday to escape to Bali, which recently reopened to domestic tourists.  Hotel deals were in abundance and I booked us into our favorite place on Jimbaran beach with a buy one night, get one free special.  Since the fourth night was free regardless, I took the opportunity to go a deal early by myself and have a little quiet time!  On Wednesday, the view at the airport had my dying to get to the blue skies of Bali.

The Intercontinental was shockingly empty.  There were 30 guests when I checked in.  I don't know the capacity, but it's in the thousands.  It was almost creepy.

The beach was deserted as well.  We expected things to be quiet (which is perfect in social distancing times) but not like this.  It was heartbreaking to drive down streets with half of the stores shuttered.

I enjoyed every minute of my quiet afternoon and evening.  I read an entire book, walked on the beach, and enjoyed room service in my robe.  Blissful!

On Thursday morning, Matt and the boys arrived just in time to get breakfast before we all went out to play.

The all-important pork bacon was plentiful for our carnivore.

I loved this woman's motorbike with all its dog holders!

Kuta beach...a little quieter than usual.  This is normally one of the most crowded places.  On the upside, there was almost no trash!

My favorite spot in the world - a sunset over Jimbaran Bay.

Without the crowds around, the monitor lizards were really active and easy to find all over the resort.

One guy even joined us briefly at breakfast!

Friday was Matt's flex day off but it was not a holiday for the kids.  We were the mean parents who made our kids log into their classes from a vacation resort.  Ben chose to do his on the porch.

Alex took the living room.

In the meantime, Matt and I went back to Kuta so he could surf and I could enjoy the perfect breeze and sunshine.

Even better, I had Mexican food delivered by go-jek right to the beach.  Does it get any better than this??

We made it back to the hotel just in time to catch Alex's favorite - high tea.

And another gorgeous sunset!

The hotel only had one restaurant open (understandably) with a very limited menu, so we decided to walk down the beach to another hotel for dinner.

Perfect picture!

On Saturday, we enjoyed another postcard perfect day at Kuta with some surfing and playing in the waves.

Sadly, Ben's flip flops somehow disappeared, maybe accidentally by the group of Aussies near the surfboard stands.  Thank goodness Don Juan's doesn't have a rule against barefoot guests.  Most of the little shops along the main road were closed so we weren't even able to buy him another pair.

It was so odd but fun to have the main pool all to ourselves.  We did see other guests at the hotel occasionally but there were plenty of pools for everyone.

Ben borrowed Matt's shoes for breakfast! Thankfully, Matt had a pair of flip flops as well so Ben was able to wear those home.

It was an amazing few days of having fun as a family and enjoying the peace and quiet of a resort island with virtually no tourists.

Indonesia is such a beautiful country.  How can we ever get tired of seeing volcanoes from the airplane?

 

Back in Jakarta

It is sure great to be home! We missed our house and our things a lot over the past several months and it was wonderful to be back to normal.  Feels pretty normal when one kid is trying to kill the other.

Even though our pool is much colder than the ones in Texas, it was so much fun to be back in it and have some fun afternoons playing together.

We are naturally staying home most of the time but I did have to run out to the mall a few times for some necessities.  Things were mostly normal but social distancing and hand washing/sanitizing were being encouraged everywhere.  That's great news for a country where hand washing isn't a given.

Other things haven't change - like the durian at the front of every grocery store.  Gross.

Our weekend fun has been golfing as a family because it's easy to isolate when no one else is around!

We've had two happy and very willing drivers!  The boys have started lessons with their old coach and they're improving every week.

I've enjoyed my morning walks while I'm trying to shed all the Texas weight I put on eating Mexican food and Blue Bell.

Alex wanted to make some more macarons and I happily obliged (just before the diet started!)

They use every bowl we have but they're so worth the effort.

The results were pretty delicious!

Ben also tried his hand at making beef jerky.  We've come up with a pretty good recipe and now have one less thing we need to bring back in our suitcases.

Matt and I enjoyed a date night for the first time in a VERY long time and it was incredible.  The rooftop at Hakkasan recently reopened and we enjoyed amazing food and views together.

Perfect place to be alone together!  And so wonderful to be reunited and starting year 4 in Jakarta together.