From Balinese traditional dances to line dancing.

             As a new Blackberry owner and without a single clue of what "BBMing*" meant at the time, I had no other choice but to seek the advice and help of a Smartphone expert; a title that applies to the majority of locals in Jakarta, including my neighbor Indree. 

With over 10 million 3G users and a Blackberry market growth reaching 500% in 2009, Indonesia is predicated to be the third largest mobile market in Asia after China and India. (Blackberry in Indonesia, Jason Liew).

       As I was getting closer to Indree's house I could hear blasting music coming from that direction...The closer I got, the more familiar it appeared. Echoes of the song "Achy Breaky heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus were suddenly giving rhythm to my steps and I could not wait to cross the front door. 

Line dancing in a mall.

        And there it was: a dozen Indonesian men and women line dancing to the sound of classic American cowboy music. Chasse, grapevine, triple step, shuffle step... you name it! I happily joined the ongoing dance class and quickly forgot all about my Blackberry issues. We spent the following hour switching from country to Salsa, to Rumba, onto Merengue and took a few breaks to snack on some Nagasari cake, a traditional chinese new year cake in Indonesia. How 'bout that for a Sunday afternoon.

Love C-

*Bbming is - a short term used to describe the use of blackberry messenger.

The real housewives of JAKARTA.

                 Following the recurrent bag snatches in the neighborhood (of which I was a victim in mid-December), I had the honor to be invited to my very first Arisan by an Indonesian school parent, Lina who happens to live a couple of doors down the street.  

Arisan is a common term for a monthly social gathering between friends and relatives who chip in money to be won in turns through a lucky draw. From villagers in far-flung areas to urban professionals in big cities, arisan -- initially born as a type of support network for ethnic Chinese merchants -- is hugely popular among Indonesia's 210 million people, especially housewives.

Popular Indonesian sweet made with coconut.

              I arrived at the woman's house hosting the Arisan at 11 a.m. The beautiful living room was already filled with a very "religiously" contrasted but all so gracious bunch of Indonesian women sitting around the living room coffee table. A couple of children accompanied by their nannies were there too and greeted me with a polite Sa'laam (bowing head).


sa·laam  (s-läm)

n.

1. A ceremonious act of deference or obeisance, especially a low bow performed while placing the right palm on the forehead.

2. A respectful ceremonial greeting performed especially in Islamic countries.

tr. & intr.v. sa·laamed, sa·laam·ing, sa·laams

To greet with or perform a salaam.

         Lina offered me different starters and explained to me that each appetizer reflected one woman's home region and culture. That day I tried: Pastel Goreng, Dodol, Ongol-Ongol, a popular indonesian sweet, Lemper, Resoles... and way more for lunch. :) 

Dodol, a delicacy from Manadau.

      

        

           The robbery matters were dealt among the RT: neighborhood leader (without whom you cannot declare a relative's death or birth) and the neighborhood's security officer exceptionally invited, while the women started their money chipping. 

At last but not least the book keeper/event coordinator of the event asked me if I wanted to be part of the  Arisan from now on, which I proudly accepted. 

JAKARTA FREE SPIRIT

             By the end of November 2010, after 3 months of intensive in-door training and a busy first trimester as a teacher, I was slowly sinking into the "hostility zone". Indeed my "happy mood" barometer had reached a critical point and I was in great need of new goals. On December 6th 2010, I was officially signed up for the May 25th 2011 Singapore half-marathon... and could not wait to start training!

           Running a half-marathon is a considerable effort as such; running a half-marathon in Singapore where the average temperature is set to 88° Fahrenheit and the humidity is in the range of 70%-80% is something one definitely needs to train for. Yet the only training places I could think of were dry, ultra air-conditioned indonesian fitness gyms... Until a friend from work told me about a group called JAKARTA FREE SPIRIT:

This is a Jakarta Indonesia based running group that gets together to run the jalans* and kampungs* of the city. We are also know to be crazy enough to training for Marathons held in Singapore and other locales around the world. Facebook.

*jalan: road

*kampung: village

          Jakarta Free Spirit organizes practice runs every Saturday (6.30 a.m.) and Sunday mornings (5. a.m.). Yes, this is Jakarta: if you want to avoid millions of people and cars and atrocious humidity, you need to wake up early. 

This morning the group (all expatriates) met up at the one and only somewhat green, somewhat clean area in Jakarta: the Ragunan Zoo in Pasar Minggu. We ran a couple sweaty yet reinvigorating 5Ks and were done about an hour later. We congratulated ourselves with a nice cup of coffee, discussed upcoming practice races and were home by 9. 

Love C- (Jakarta Free Spirit 2011 registered member :) )

P.S: Thanks Mom for the awesome running gear. Love you.

Back from the outback (the country not the steak-house)

       3,100 km, 30 towns, 18 days, 16 backpackers, a dozen kangaroos, 6 Emus and 3 Koala bears later, we are back in Jakarta. That's right the vacation I had been waiting for for so long has come to an end... and what a trip it was. 

Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Western Australia is Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world. It has 2.2 million inhabitants (10% of the national total), 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state. Wikipedia

   2.2 million people in the entire state. In Jakarta we have 5 times the population.. in one city. Driving for miles and miles without seeing a single soul was exactly what we needed. 

Pinnacles desert

    Our initial plan was to drive up to Broome from Perth, explore the North West outback and fly back to Perth for New Year's. However after enjoying our first week cruising at sunset through the Pinnacles desert, eating Cervantes famous lobster, descending into Kalbarri spectacular gorges and witnessing a world heritage site in Shark Bay ... we had to turn around. 

Kalbarri National Park

Indeed the roads up North had been hit by a recent cyclone and were closed until further notice. Although we were sad to miss out on Nigaloo Reef national park,  we quickly made up our minds and decided to drive south and hit the Aussie wineries. :) 

Hay Shed Hill Winery

             The South West is one of Australia's most attractive regions.  The mediterranean type forests, the eucalyptus trees woodlands and stunning wineries are gorgeous. We spent Xmas eve in Bunbury on the coast and travelled our way up to Margaret River on Boxing day. We sipped on glasses of wine during the whole following day and scrupulously elected 2009 hay Shed Hill Botrytis Riesling  favorite bottle of our trip. :)

Our tent with the outdoor kitchen

    On our way back to Perth we took the inland route and arrived in a beautiful small town on the blackwood river called Nannup.  We looked for the local budget accommodation and were delighted to book into the Black Cockatoo hotel. The place was set in a wild garden and strangely reminded me of the Oregon Country Fair with its crazy fairytale objects hidden all around the trees and tents. All tents were furnished with real individual beds, fine linen as well as a private outdoor kitchen... which made it our most comfortable nights of the whole trip. Both our days in Nannup were spent hiking to beautiful natural pools on the Timberline trail and indulging in delicious red wine and ginger beers in the evenings.

  

We ended our trip in the neighborhood of North bridge in Perth and spent New Year's eve bar hopping and had a blast. Thank you to Fanny for being an amazing trip partner and for making this trip so much fun.  Now, back to work. 

Love- C

Watch out for snakes.

 bush: 

• Land covered with dense vegetation or undergrowth.
• Land remote from settlement: the Australian bush.

      Western Australia counts 7 of the 10 most poisonous snakes in the world, including the mainland tiger snakes, the Eastern Brown snake, and the Inland Taipan.... often encountered by tourists while bushwalking. Although it is recommended to wear long pants and closed shoes , there are no real prevention to venomous snake bites except to keep your eyes open.

     On our Australian adventure we were told to watch out for snakes almost every day. Although the idea of seeing or stepping on a snake scared me to death, I decided to conquer my fear and experience a dozen or more incredible Australian bush trails, including the Kalbarri National Park Loop trail. 

The window - Kalbarri National Park

Kalbarri National Park

The loop - 8 km

          By the time we arrived at the trail head of the Loop 8K by mid morning the temperature had already reached 32 degrees Celsius. A couple of kilometers later it occurred to me that I did not remember where I had put the car keys... Neither I nor Fanny could find them.  At this point we had gone too far to turn around so we agreed to keep our fingers crossed and check on our way back. Fortunately the outstanding views and magnificent colors of the Kalbarri gorges soon took our minds away from the key incident and we were off walking our way through the bush in no time. 

Fanny in the gorges.

      An hour or so later we were descending into the gorges . 

Summer temperatures may reach 45ºC and the weather is often dry and windy. It is advised to exercise extreme caution as deaths from exposure to heat have occurred. Temperatures in the park gorges are often 10oC above the ambient temperature... and keep getting worse as you descend.

 As I was cautiously following the narrow trail, I suddenly heard rocks crumbling on the side of the trail. With the thought of snakes in mind, I ran away as fast as I could and quickly jumped on the highest rock of all. My legs still shaking, I turned around and faced our Aussie journey's first false snake alert.... a hopping Kangaroo. 

        On our way back our car was still in the parking lot, the doors were open and the keys... on the back seat.  We successfully finished the snake-free Loop under 2 1/2 hrs and left the trail relieved and happy.

Head stand maniac

Love, C-