Tangkuban Parahu with Mom

This morning we slept in a little, and met the driver at the Sheraton at 9:00 am. We headed North of Bandung today to explore Tangkuban Parahu, a volcano with steaming craters. Billy and I had been there before, several months ago, on a very hot and crowded day. Today it was quite cool and misty, and since it wasn’t a weekend there weren’t many people. The last time we’d gone we were hounded by a bunch of “guides” that wanted to help us on the walk down to the crater, then try to get us to pay them. This time with some knowledge of the Indonesian language we were able to shrug them off early, and they didn’t follow us.

One of the craters at Tangkuban Parahu is right next to the parking lot. This one you can’t walk down into, you can only admire it from a distance.

We enjoyed the quiet, but slippery, walk down the clay, wood and stone trail to another volcanic crater, Kawah Domas. At points the trail was treacherous due to the mix of clay and rain. Mom slipped a couple times, but Billy took care of her, and was a great guide.

We stopped about half way down the 1.2 km (3/4 mile) walk to rest and have some hot bandrek from a food stall. The view there was incredible! You could see the forest below us, and lush green tea plantations carpeting the rolling hills.

Once we got down to the Domas crater, we stopped at the food stall there and had some cold Bintang beer. We walked around the crater for a few minutes and looked at the hot springs there, then started the 1.2 km walk to the lower parking lot to meet our driver.

The walk from Kawah Domas to the lower parking lot was much easier and more beautiful than the walk from the upper parking lot to the crater. Unfortunately my pictures from this part of our trip didn’t turn out since there was a lot of mist and shade. It was incredible though, with giant tree ferns that were 10-15 feet tall, vine-covered tree trunks stretching up into a high canopy, Angel’s Trumpet flowers, and what I think was some kind of ginger with white flowers. I think Mom enjoyed this part of the walk more than anything else she saw at Tangkuban Parahu.

We went to Ciater hot springs after leaving Tangkuban Parahu. This area North of Bandung is really scenic, and we had to stop for a couple of pictures of Lembang.

We had lunch at a restaurant at Sari Ater resort, then relaxed in the hot swimming pools there. It was fantastic, and we left feeling very relaxed.

Kawah Putih with Mom

Yesterday we headed out from the Sheraton at 8:00 am. We wanted to go to Kawah Putih, and understood that the fog usually rolls in during the afternoon, so we wanted to get there early. Even though Kawah Putih is only about 40 km (25 miles) from Bandung, it took 2 hours to get there. The roads are narrow and have a lot of traffic. Still, it’s fun to visit the White Crater, and enjoy the cold weather there. There are many vendors around the parking lot that sell strawberries, fresh grilled corn on the cob, hot tea, and bandrek (a traditional hot drink made with ginger, spices and sugar).

Between Bandung and Kawah Putih there’s a lot of land used for farming. There are rice paddies and strawberry fields, and any number of other kinds of produce are grown in the rich volcanic soil. Here are a couple of pictures I took as we went through Ciwidey:

Merry Christmas!

We started Christmas Day with a brunch at the Sheraton. The food was great, and there were so many things, I probably only tried half of them. They had some Indonesian food, and a lot of western food as well. They also had a big dessert table with lots of goodies. I think one of my favorite foods was an Irish Cream pudding that made me think of an Irish Cream pie my Dad makes. It was delicious! Here we are enjoying our brunch:

It was so funny hearing Christmas music while we sat eating all the wonderful food. I heard “Winter Wonderland”, and as they sang about walking in a winter wonderland, my Mom pointed out some of the colorful butterflies that had landed on the Birds of Paradise flowers nearby. It was just so much different from any other Christmas I’ve spent with my Mom.

After brunch we headed back to our place to open presents. My Dad and Judy sent us a large box, and Billy’s parents sent a package, too. Our friend Russell stopped by earlier in the day to drop off presents as well. Russell gave us some cool books. Billy’s parents gave Billy a wallet and me some jewelry supplies including a clay pendant with a gecko on it, and some static-cling snowflakes for our windows. My Dad and Judy sent us a bunch of Seattle things: a Seattle calendar with photos, smoked salmon, cocoa, Snoqualmie Falls Lodge oatmeal, Seattle’s Best Coffee, Seattle Truffles and other goodies, and a Christmas ornament that says “Merry Christmas” in bahasa Indonesia (Selamat Hari Natal).

We decided to invite Russell and his girlfriend over to join us for some snacks and Christmas music. Billy had his laptop on and chose the music. I opened the smoked salmon my Mom brought for us, and we had that with Ritz crackers and cream cheese. I also opened the Applets and Cotlets that my Mom gave us. We drank a little beer and wine and relaxed.

My Mom also brought us some demo CDs and T-shirts from my brother. We listened to the demo CD, and were all impressed by how good it sounded… well, all of us except Russell’s girlfriend who really prefers pop music… She didn’t seem to enjoy it at all… Oh well. My brother gave us 8 CDs and several shirts to distribute for him. One of Billy’s co-workers is always asking me about my brother’s band, and he loves metal. I think he’ll really like the demo, and proudly wear a t-shirt.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to call home to talk to my brother, my Dad and Judy, and whoever else I can reach. For now, it’s off to bed.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

My Mom’s here!

My Mom arrived safely on Sunday, and we’ve been really enjoying her company here in Bandung. I’ve been really impressed by her attitude and her seemingly endless supply of energy. Billy and I can hardly keep up with her.

We left at 9am on Sunday to go to the airport in Jakarta. My Mom’s plane landed around 1pm, and we met her at about 1:30. She looked a bit weary, but once she started talking to us she seemed pretty energetic. She didn’t want to sleep in the car on the way to the hotel. She just talked with us, and looked out the window saying “wow” a lot… The same way I was when we arrived in Indonesia.

After we took Mom to the Sheraton around 5pm and escorted her to her beautiful room, we left her so she could take a shower and relax. She called us at about 7 and said she wanted to go out for a while. We took her to one of our favorite hangouts, Cloud 9, about a 5 minute drive North of the Sheraton. We had pizza and a couple beers and enjoyed the view of Bandung’s city lights. We also met up with our friend Russell, and ran into some other teachers that were quite friendly and talkative with Mom.

We took Mom back to her hotel at around 9:30, and she seemed to have a nice time on her first day in Bandung.

Billy and I planned to take Mom to Paris Van Java (PVJ) on Christmas Eve, as Billy had suggested that it’s a pretty “Christmasy” shopping mall. We didn’t have a driver for the day, and we thought that it’d be fun for Mom to experience some different forms of transport here anyway. We walked to our house from the Sheraton, and decided to take motorcycle taxis back to the Sheraton later. It’s a pretty short distance, and the drivers are safe. Mom said it was exhilarating, but didn’t seem to like all the speed bumps that are on our street.

When we got to the Sheraton we hopped on a mini-bus (angkot) to head down the hill and try to find a taxi. There was a lot of traffic, and after we got off the angkot we tried to hail a cab. The cabs would stop, but when we told them where we wanted to go they’d tell us that they were en route to a place that had called them already, so they couldn’t go out of their way. It was pretty frustrating. We caught another angkot and just decided to go to CiWalk, which is a mall that’s close to my work, and just forget about Paris Van Java.

We wandered around CiWalk and stopped for some nice gelato at an Italian Cafe. After a couple hours around CiWalk and the surrounding stores, Billy and I were beat. We decided we needed to go home for a nap. My Mom was somehow still going strong!

Earlier in the day I’d received a text message from a woman that’s the Mother of my Mom’s friend and co-worker, Adriane. She invited us out to Chinese food. They picked us up at the Sheraton and took us to PVJ and treated us to some fantastic Chinese food at Duck King. It was easily the best Chinese food Billy and I have had in Bandung. Adriane’s parents are incredibly nice and generous people, and they keep saying that my Mom needs to either stay longer in Bandung, or come back again.

My Mom’s coming tomorrow!

At 9 tomorrow morning we’re meeting a driver at the Sheraton near our house, and heading to Jakarta. My Mom’s flight is set to arrive at 1:30 pm and it’s normally about a 3 hour drive to Jakarta. Since it’s Christmas weekend we imagine that traffic is going to be pretty horrendous, so we’re getting an early start. I still can’t believe my Mom will be here.

I remember talking to my Mom on the phone after we’d been here about a month. She told me she wanted to come visit, but I didn’t think she’s actually come. I mentioned that we’d have time off around Christmas, and the next thing I know, she sends me an email with an itinerary!

I can’t wait to see my Mom, and show her around our new city. It’ll be fun to try to see things through her eyes. We’re planning a few day-trips, but we’ll mostly be staying around Bandung. My Mom’s co-worker Adriane’s parents live in Bandung, and they’re letting us use their driver for a few days.  I still haven’t met any of Adriane’s family, but I appreciate the hospitality so much. They’ve invited us over for dinner for one of the nights my Mom’s here, too.

Now, if only I can talk my Dad and Step-Mom into visiting….

Christmas decorations

Considering how the majority of Indonesia’s population is Muslim, it’s surprising how many Christmas decorations there are everywhere. Every shopping mall has Christmas trees and Christmas music playing. Ace Hardware (there are two in Bandung) has several kinds of fake Christmas Trees available, and all the ornaments to go with them. Although so many Christmas things are available, the prices tend to be pretty high.

Billy and I didn’t get a Christmas tree this year, but it’s okay because even in Seattle I hadn’t bought one for the last few Christmases. Last week I decided to look online to see if I could find how to make paper snowflakes. I found a really basic site, but it showed that with the same way of folding paper to make snowflakes, you could also make cool 3-D stars. I spent most of the day Saturday working on a garland for the upstairs of our house. I had a pretty simple idea at first, but I kept adding to it… After I’d cut everything out, I used some sewing thread to put it all together. Here’s the end result:

You can see in this picture that the ceiling is discolored. We had a leaking roof that started with the rainy season this year. We got it repaired a while ago, but the ceiling looks awful. This week we have painters repainting the whole inside of our house, so hopefully when my Mom arrives on Sunday things will look much better.

Grease is the word…

Well, after more than 7 months without seeing any live theater, I went to see Grease Saturday night. The big Christian University in Bandung, called Maranatha, has an English Department that puts on plays in English. Apparently it’s a requirement for all students in their 5th semester with the English Department to participate in the production. I thought it was quite impressive, especially considering that most of the people on stage weren’t normally actors, singers or dancers. It was really amusing to see a bunch of Indonesian college students trying to act like Americans. Some of the girls were really good, but I thought the guy that played Danny was really silly. Everything he did just seemed so exaggerated. Some of the actors didn’t project their voices very well, so it was difficult to hear some of the lines, but they had mics for the singing. They all did quite well with the singing and dancing. The Director of the production is also an English teacher at my school.

Before we went to the play, we had Indian food at a nearby restaurant. We went with our friend Russell, and met up with our friend Sisca and her husband. The food was fantastic… and the restaurant even had a full bar with a pool table! My kinda place. The restaurant was pretty interesting though, in that it’s an Indian/German restaurant. What a combo!

After the play, we went to a pool hall with Russell. I seemed to hit a groove for a while, and was making some great shots… but I lost the groove after a few beers. I hate it when that happens.

It was a fun night, and it was really nice to be in a theater again.

So, this is December?

It’s so weird to me that it’s December right now. Yesterday I went to the mall by my office, and stopped by Starbucks. I had a peppermint mocha, and sat on the balcony there sipping it and listening to Christmas music that was being piped through the speakers inside and outside the mall. There’s something so surreal about hearing Frosty the Snowman while I’m sitting outside in the heat sweating and wearing a skirt and short sleeves. And to think it’s been snowing in Seattle? And flooding, too?

It is the rainy season here in Bandung, but it usually just means that there’s a rainstorm in the afternoon or evening, then it’s back to fairly clear skies. We do get lightning quite often at night, and sometimes when I’m teaching in the evenings there’s a sudden rumbling of thunder.

For the most part I like the rainy season here. It keeps everything green, and washes away garbage. What I don’t like about the rainy season is that it drives a lot of bugs into buildings. Billy found a HUGE spider in our bathroom this morning. It’s leg-span was about the size of the palm of your hand. I didn’t see it when it was alive, but Billy said that it ran really fast, and whenever he’d hit it, the spider would just try to start running again.

This evening while I was teaching I had the classroom door open because I was in a class that doesn’t have A/C. A big termite flew in, and started flying around my head. I was swatting at it, and making a little scene in front of my students (who’re all in their late teens-early twenties). They all giggled a bit… then another termite flew in, so I closed the door, and stomped on them. The students seemed a bit surprised that I killed the things, but they were driving me crazy. I explained that if we’d had any geckos in the classroom, I would’ve let them have the bugs, but since there weren’t any geckos I had to get rid of them myself. During the rest of that class I could see a few termites outside bouncing into the window, trying to get in… and a gecko perched on the windowsill outside getting his fill of them.

When I got home at about 8 tonight there were tons of termite wings around our front door, and wingless termites wandering around the area. When I walked into the house I was greeted by maybe 100 termites on the floor in various stages of death… some still with wings, others wingless, and many being carried off by ants. Not the most relaxing thing to come home to, but at least they don’t move very quickly, and they’re easy to sweep up and throw outside.

Termites are attracted to lights, and we have a front porch light that’s on the same switch as a light just inside our front door. We leave the porch light on all day, so we can find our way in more easily at night. Unfortunately, there are cinder blocks built into the wall up toward the ceiling by our front door, so if bugs outside see the light inside there’s nothing to prevent them from coming in.

It’s all so different from life in Seattle… I heard today that the Bothell Police Dept issued a mandatory evacuation for the building I used to work in. Apparently the flooding is just awful, and most of the roads around my old building are under water. I’ve been IMing with my friend and former coworker Sally. She’s lived in Bothell for many years, and said she’s never seen anything like this there.

Hope everyone’s staying safe and dry… and bug-free.

Nothin’s shaking in Bandung

So, I heard there were a couple of quakes in Indonesia yesterday. Just thought I’d let everyone know that they were both very far away from us, and we didn’t feel a thing. Ahhh, the excitement of living in the “ring of fire”.

I am thankful

So, yesterday morning here was Thanksgiving evening back in Seattle, and I spoke with most of my family. My Dad had told me a few weeks ago that he and his girlfriend had a Thanksgiving surprise, and he’d call me around 9am my time to share it. He called from home and had his girlfriend Judy’s family there. They’d just finished their big Thanksgiving dinner… and I was still lying in bed. He put me on speaker phone, then told everyone that the Thanksgiving surprise was that he and Judy were getting married… in a few minutes! WOW! I figured that they were going to announce their engagement to the family, I mean they’ve been together for 8 years… but I didn’t expect that it would be a same-day wedding announcement. I was on speaker phone for the ceremony, and it sounded beautiful. I just wish I could’ve been there. It’s difficult missing huge things like that.

After talking to my Dad for a while I called my Grandmother and spoke to everyone there: My Mom, my aunts, my Grandmother, and one of my cousins. It was really nice to talk with everyone.

Being Thanksgiving, it all made me reflect on my life and my blessings. So, I’m feeling thankful for so many things (in no particular order)…

• My fantastic husband – He’s my fellow adventurer, and I can’t imagine moving around the world with anyone else.

• My supportive friends and family – When Billy and I decided to move to Indonesia to teach English I think we shocked a lot of people. Everyone was quite supportive of our decision though, and it’s nice to be able to keep in touch with the people I love back home… as well as continuing to make new friends here.

• My Mom coming to visit – She’ll be here in a month! I look forward to sharing our new world with her.

• My job – It has helped me to grow in so many ways in just 6 months time. I feel quite comfortable teaching, and enjoy building relationships with my co-workers and students. It’s also great that it allows me to live comfortably in a tropical country!

• Butterflies – I love the abundance and diversity of the butterflies around our home here. I can see a dozen different sizes, colors, and shapes of butterflies when I’m sitting out on our balcony.

• Thunderstorms on a really hot day – Some days it feels so hot and stuffy, and you can see the rainclouds slowly drifting by. When they finally open up and release the rain it cools everything down and makes the air feel so fresh and clean.

• Our Pembantu (maid) – She’s such a sweet, honest woman. We never have to tell her what we want her to do. She sees dishes in the sink, and she washes them for us. She hand-washes all of our clothes, and irons them. She even brings us fresh fruit from her yard… bananas and whatever kinds of mangoes are in season. And she always has sparkling eyes and a wonderful smile.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!