Day 11, March 19th

We began our last morning in Jakarta by meeting Brent's dad for breakfast one more morning at the hotel breakfast. We then took a car to the airport to both catch flights. We were flying to Bali and Barry was flying back to Lampung. Back to the domestic terminal we headed. We checked our luggage and went to pay our exit tax. Brent gave me the money and we paid and went and waited at the gate. Later, I found out that Brent had given me the money on purpose to see what the airport employee would do. I didn't notice anything but Brent told me later that when I handed the guy the money he looked at Brent with a "look." There is still a touch of "women are second class citizens" there and I think Brent wanted to test the guy and see what he would do. I was oblivious to the whole situation.

I got to take a picture of a volcano while in flight.
Here was one of the Hindu statues at the airport.When we got to the airport, our driver met us at the airport. Brent had used this same driver two years ago and he remembered what Brent and his dad had done on their last trip to Bali. We decided to head straight to the best fire dance on the island. It is on the side of a cliff, with a gorgeous view of the sunset. It is a traditional Balinese fire dance where everything means something. This is a holy man who was using some kind of oil and incense to bless everything.

I can't remember what all the people represented but I do know that the person in the green is supposed to be a boy god and the other is some kind of girl god. It was amazing.

This was looking to the right of where I was sitting.

And then the part where they actually use fire. It was quite amazing!

After we left there we went to a wonderful restaurant where you got to pick your seafood, literally! Here I am picking out the red snapper!

This is where they take it to cook it.

Our view of the beach. BTW, there was a singing group serenading people on the beach, singing American songs. We actually heard them sing "Sweet Home Alabama!"

It was wonderful!!!

Day 10, March 18th

We began this day by eating yet another buffet, this time at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel in Jakarta. It was wonderful. We then took a cab to Jakarta International School where Brent graduated from. This is the front of it where you have to go through security. Here is another picture of their security. You can't just drive on the campus. It is like a fortress. This picture was from inside the campus, looking back at where you would drive out.

Can you believe that this is a high school campus. Gorgeous fountain!

Here is one of the "hallways."

This was down by the track. I was standing in the "lunch room" when I took this picture, but it is all so open, that I don't know if you would even call it a room.

I just took this picture so you could see the fence that is around the whole school. Look how high it is!

After that, we went to a mall to do some shopping. This was the ceiling where the escalators were in the store.

Just a typical picture of the streets. I took this from the window of the mall.

Just had to include this one!

This was in the middle of another mall. There is stuff everywhere. We were on the second floor.

And this is looking up to the other levels. Most of these stores are electronics stores, and they seem to all have about the same things.

We took this picture for the boys. They love Buzz and Woody!

That night we met some family friends at a different mall for supper. We ate dumplings and they might have been the best I have had in a long time. Afterwards we went to a gelato shop and had some yummy dessert. I got strawberry gelato and it was so good! I kicked myself later for not getting any pictures of everyone together but oh well.

I can't forget Brooks

In the past I have put some funny things on here that the children say, and more and more it has become funny things that Reese says. Naturally because he is 2, the statements he makes are funnier. However, in the past two days Brooks has made me laugh out loud quite a bit.

B: "Mom, what is one million plus one hundred?"
Me: "What do you think?"
B: "Umm....seven thousand."


B: "Friend (name withheld) at school got his car moved to red today."
Me: "Oh my, that is awful. What did he do?"
B: "He said a bad word to his friend. He said the "S" word and then he said the "P" word, the "D" word and the "O" word."
(I didn't ask what these words were. The "S" word was probably "stupid". I can only imagine what the "O" word was.)

And then today, he and Reese were playing like they were my mother's dogs. They were jumping around and barking etc.

B: "Reese, sometimes Chou-Chou would play with Dolly like this."

Everyone please picture in your head what a male dog sometimes will do to a female dog for fun. That is what Brooks was about to do to Reese when we stopped it. I could not look at my parents for awhile after that.

Day 9, March 17th

This was going to be our last day at the Sheraton, so I took a picture of where we ate breakfast each morning. We were always the only ones to sit inside, while everyone else sat outside. Brent said everyone else knew we were Americans because of it. (It was hot!) I guess others are just used to it and it doesn't bother them.Here was the buffet. I wished I had gotten pictures of more of it, because there was 3 times as much as you see in this picture.

This was on the way to the airport. Brent's dad said that there is no weight limit on trucks over there, so they just pile things up as much as they can. Kind of scary!

This was the plane we took to Jakarta. We watched it land and then we walked out to get on it.

Fixing to leave

An island

Well, we knew we were getting close to Jakarta because of all the smog.

Getting ready to land.

At the domestic terminal, where we got stared at like we were aliens.

This was the McDonalds that Brent and his brother stood in line for hours when it first opened back in the 90s. He said it was worth it. Also in that complex is the Chili's we ate at.

Some sites while driving through Jakarta.

This was looking out our hotel window.

And for a little late night snack:
I used to love Pepsi Blue, but they don't make it in the U.S. It didn't taste exactly like it did when they made it here, but then again, none of the soft drinks taste the same. They all are a little flat and not as sweet, supposedly so that they are easy to drink, even if they are not cold, because not very many people have access to refrigeration. The KitKat was from New Zealand and tasted a little different too, but I didn't care. I enjoyed every crumb and drop of them!

Thanks Reese

I was helping Reese go potty tonight before bed.
As he is getting up he somehow got tee-tee on his hand. So what does he do?

He wipes it on my face.


Um......thank you son.

Disney on Ice

We went to Disney on Ice today and as always, it did not disappoint. It seems that any show they bring to the coliseum is a big production, because Disney doesn't do anything small. We had a great time and were glad that Brent's mother got to go with us too! The boy's favorite part was the Cars, and it didn't last that long. They still had a wonderful "magical" time.

(you can click to enlarge the collage)

Day 8, March 16th

We started the day by going to visit a famous buoy in town. This buoy washed up in the city after the volcano Krakatau exploded in 1883. When it exploded it caused a tidal wave that killed an estimated 35,000 people. It also caused this buoy to be displaced.

I wish you could see just how far it is from the sea. Unbelievable! My guess is that it is 6 or 7 miles from the shore. Just a guess though.

While we were there, a group of government people came up to us and began talking to us, asking us all kinds of questions. We found out later that they were from the department of tourism, so that is why they were asking questions. One guy in particular spoke really good english and was very easy to talk to. He will be mentioned later in this post.

We found these signs while we were out sight seeing. They are made from flowers!

Some more of the city.

Some of the transportation that you can use to get around.

This is where we ate lunch.

At this restaurant, they bring out everything they have in bowls, and then you only pay for what you eat. And yes, I tried one of these. (You eat them whole.)

Me, Brent, Alex, and all the food.

After lunch we went to where one of the church members (Bertha) has an English school. She was so nice and fun to meet with. When we walked in, the same guy we had met earlier at the buoy was there. WHAT ARE THE ODDS! Come to find out, he is one of the teachers at the school. Such a small world.

A view from the school.

I just had to include this next picture. I like to call it, "Steps of Death." These are the stairs at Brent's parents house. I took Brent's picture while he was CLIMBING them. Look how steep they are!

That afternoon we met at Akademi Alkitab Sumatra bagian Selatan, (known to us in America as Southern Sumatra Bible College) to take a group photo of all the students. Brent's dad founded this school in 1989.

Our sunday school class donated neck ties to the guys in the class. They seemed to really like them. There were even two Auburn ties in the lot.

We had such a good time visiting with everyone.

That night we ate at Khuailok with all the staff and their spouses from the school.

When you walk in they have all of these tanks that you can pick out what you want to eat from.
Our food had already been ordered when the staff made the reservations. I don't even remember what all we had but it was good!

It was a great day.

Oh, I just had to include this shot just to show what they Indonesian money looks like. It isn't too often that you get to hold a bill that has the number 100000 on it. What is interesting is that around 12,000 Rupiah make one US dollar. They do not really have any units of money less than 100 Rupiah. This hasn't always been the case. When Brent lived there while he was in high-school the value of the money wasn't as inflated as it is now. He kept a coin as a souvenier from back then that is 5 Sen. And 100 Sen makes 1 Rupiah. So it is mind boggling to think of what that coin is worth now:

12000 Sen = 1 US cent

so

5 Sen = .0004 of a penny

(it is worth more for the metal than what it is worth monetarialy)