A Tropical Island Getaway

A few weeks ago, Kathy and I spent the weekend on Tiger Island, a tiny island with an eco resort, which is part of The 1000 Islands Group. We were picked up at 8:00 am Saturday at the port in Jakarta for what was supposed to be a 2 hour trip. We weren't long on the boat before it got really rough and brought back memories of our trip to Krakatoa. The good thing was that this was a bigger speed boat. We were speeding over the waves and crashing down into the troughs so hard that we came off the seat. The young American beside me, who was a sailor, said they were 10 foot swells. He thought he was amusing when he whistled the tune from Gilligan's Island! The boat stopped after we had been travelling for about half an hour. We had read that this was common as sometimes things get caught in the propeller. We got going again after a few minutes then stopped again for a longer time. Eventually, we stopped for a third time at an island and waited there for another boat to come and pick us up. I guess it was more than propeller problems. So our 2 hour trip turned into 4 hours but it was all worth it when we got to Tiger Island. We had a beach hut built with a deck out over the water. It had no walls, just bamboo shades that could be rolled up and down and mosquito netting around the beds. There was great snorkeling and an even tinier, uninhabited island that you could walk or swim across to which really made you feel like Robinson Crusoe.
It was a fun get away and the best part? The ride home was smooth as glass!

Funny Things About Indonesia

There are many things that strike me as funny about Indonesia and one of them is the fact that the number 4 is considered unlucky. In my apartment building there is no 4th floor, or 14, 24, 34 etc. In the huge malls nearby, they go to great effort to avoid the number 4, but still have malls with many levels. There is a Basement level, then Ground followed by Upper Ground, 1, 2, 3, 3A, so a 7 level mall without ever getting to 4!


Another thing is that it is uncommon to have hot water in the kitchen, except for in the fancier homes. In my apartment the only hot water is in the shower. The kitchen and bathroom sinks have only cold. The good thing is that the "cold" is actually tepid. No cold showers here!


Another rare thing, at least in apartments, are ovens. Most apartments come only with a stove top. I think that may be because most Indonesians seem to eat out rather than cook. There are small cafes and food carts everywhere. Speaking of eating out, some more funny things; water is always served at room temperature unless you specifically ask for cold (mostly foreigners), you could sit all day and they would never bring you the bill until you ask for it but once they bring it they stand by the table waiting while everyone sorts out the money.


The movie theatres are amazing. There are the regular theatres which are spacious with comfortable seats and are really cheap, ($3 for newly released movies) and then there are the more expensive theatres. For a few dollars more, you sit in a comfy reclining seat (like a lazy boy), configured in twos with a table in between to hold drinks and snacks which you order from a waiter. In the drawer of the table are freshly cleaned blankets to cuddle up with while you watch the latest release and wait for your drink and snacks to be delivered.

Some men here have only one name.


One last thing - you don't go to  "pick up a dozen eggs" because the cartons here hold 10!

A Crazy School Day

Yesterday will go down as one of the craziest school days I've had here. It is common for parents to ask if they can come in with a birthday cake on their child's birthday. They usually contact me a few days ahead and we find a time that works. We sing happy birthday in three languages and all have a piece of cake. Yesterday was William's birthday. He is from one of the families labeled VVIP which usually indicates they are related to the owner of the school and are afforded special privileges.  The mother's personal assistant came to the classroom door partway through the morning with a gigantic cake box in her arms. When I looked surprised, she said that she was here for the birthday party. I told her that the class was busy and that I hadn't been expecting her. By this time, William was aware of the cake and super excited. I told the PA to wait while we cleaned up and we could have the cake then. A few minutes later when I opened the door for her, an entourage followed; there were several siblings and cousins from various other classes and their nannies, a couple of aunts and uncles,William's private Chinese tutor, and best of all, their professional photographer! I asked the PA to light the candles so we could get started and she said, "Oh no, the mommy isn't here yet!" "Where is the mommy?" I asked. "Stuck in traffic," was the answer (of course). We played a couple of games, with the photographer snapping photos the whole time, while I was privately seething at the whole interruption to our day. I was just about to send everyone away when mom and dad arrived with a couple of extra relations. On with the party! We sang, had more photos, and passed out cake. That's when the  personal assistant mentioned that the lunch was late. "What lunch?" I asked.  A few minutes later boxes of pizza, burgers and fries arrived. By this time, I realized the morning was shot and decided to go with the flow. But, I guess they picked up on some of my frustration because this morning there was an apology in my inbox... not from the mom and day but from their personal assistant!

Thailand with Glen and Cathy

We left for Bangkok on the first day of my October break and arrived mid afternoon. The traffic was heavy, similar to Jakarta and the taxi driver joked that Jakarta is famous for the worst traffic jam ever at 47 kilometers long and that Bangkok came second. "That's not good enough," he said, "Bangkok must be first!" Actually, Bangkok is much better than Jakarta as they have about the same population but two rapid transit systems and a third being built, whereas Jakarta has nothing.
We arrived at our hotel which was right on the river. There was constant traffic going up and down the river, tugs with freighters, longtail boats with passengers commuting from one area to another and bigger tour boats. The river was high because of all the flooding in the North and there was lots of debris in the water.
We got settled in the hotel then went for a walk on a path along the river. We decided to take a longtail boat ride to see some of the city without all the traffic. It was very hot and along the way a very smiley women floated up in her boat trying to sell us trinkets. We didn't bite on those but couldn't resist the cold beer that she pulled out of a cooler! We later found out that we had paid about twice as much as we should have - no wonder she was so smiley!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we left early by bus for Ayutia, the ancient capital of Thailand. We stopped first at the summer palace of the King. It was a large acreage, beautifully landscaped and with buildings reflecting the King's interest in Asian and European architecture.

 

 

After the summer palace we went to several temples, before boarding a large boat for the two hour cruise back to Bangkok with a delicious buffet lunch as part of the package. After the hot morning tour, it was nice to relax in the air conditioning of the boat and watch the sights along the river.

 

We left Bangkok early the next morning and flew to Phuket, where a driver met us and took us North for 2 1/2 hours to where the longtail boat picked us up for the 1/2 hour ride to our ecostay on Koh Ra. It is an isolated, mountainous island in the Andamen Sea. We were given two very basic cabins on the beach with only a bed and a mosquito net in the front room and a cement floored bathroom with a toilet that had to be flushed by scooping water out of a barrel. We were the only guests, so had the beach to ourselves. It was very quiet but we amused ourselves with beachcombing, sea kayaking, walks through the jungle, bird watching and reading. We had hoped for good snorkeling but apparently we were about a week too early and the water was still murky from the rainy season. I did manage to get stung by a large, pink jellyfish! Because of the poor snorkeling, we decided to leave two days early. Lory helped us book accommodation in Phuket for our last two nights and a snorkeling tour to Phi Phi Island.

The longtail boat to Koh Ra

 

Liana vine

The Sensitive plant - it closes up when you touch it.

"Our" beach at Koh Ra

More of our beach.

The view from our cabins.

Crab patterns in the sand.

The jellyfish that stung me.

Kayaking through the mangrove swamp.

Snorkeling at Phi Phi Island.

The area where The Beach with Leonardo Di Caprio was filmed.

 

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It was a great holiday and so special to share it with Glen and Cathy. Thanks for the photos, Glen, especially the underwater ones.