Fountain of Youth, Surabaya, Hong Kong, then Home

This is my last post for this trip (August). I think the girls think that my posts are too serious. The girls and Martha are much more witty than I am. Sorry, we did not have an internet connection for the last couple of days and therefore could not post anything. So here's our update.

My brother asked me about my mother. She has been staying with her aunt ("Tante Lien" to her but "Oma Lien" to me) who is like a sister to her. Therefore, she has had her own set of activities, including visitors galore at Tante Lien's house. She had a chance to spend some time with her brother, Tiang Kwee and his son's family, Robert and his wife Jen. She also has been attending many of these restaurant "parties."

During her stay, she had a chance to see a Chinese herbalist who promised to make her look younger - just kidding. See pictures below to see if you think she looks 20 years younger.

Not bad for 81 years old!

I'll have to bring some of these Chinese herbs back to the States for my practice (Ancient Chinese Secret)!

Restaurants All Over Indonesia

The last 3 days in Indonesia were quite busy with more restaurant parties. My relatives tell me that this is a way to honor people in Indonesia. It is more special to take people out to a nice restaurant rather than hosting a dinner at their home. Instead of chronological order, I will just show some more pictures of some of the "parties." You will notice that some of these people are suspiciously in some of the same parties. Maybe we can play Where's "Sioe Waldo"?

Oom Freddy and Tante Jane's party at Indonesian Restaurant "Ria Galleria" 

Oom Sioe Pik, Tante Lanny treat us to a hip Chinese restaurant called "Stingray." This restaurant was partly owned by their son-in-law.

Looking at flavors of gelato. The Durian(Smelly Fruit) flavor was authentic and delicious!

Tante Sioe Hwa and Oom Tjing Ham treating us to an Italian restaurant called "Pisa Cafe and Resto."

My cousin Robert and his wife Jen treating us to a Chinese restaurant in West Surabaya called "Ming Garden."

On Sunday August 12th, Cousin Eri, his wife Lenny and son Alfred took us on a tour of Surabaya on a trolley bus sponsored by the cigarette manufacturer "Sampoerna" (which was purchased by Phillip Morris a few years ago).  During this trip, we witnessed a traditional Javanese dance. Ask the girls how much they liked this one! I think that they actually liked this one better than the "Kecak Dance" in Bali.

Tourists aboard the Sampoerna Trolley Bus

Javanese dancers

Eri, Lenny and Alfred also took us to a "Becak" Park that evening which Brayden especially enjoyed. At first, he did not know what to think about the trampoline. But after a few minutes, he loved it!

Becak driver "Pak Brayden"

It's dangerous to let him steer.

Who's having more fun on the bumper cars?

Joyful jumping

Monday August 13th was our last day in Surabaya. I really wanted to visit my childhood home and school. Ngah(Aunt) Lucy was available to show us these places. Unfortunately, my childhood home has been razed. It now has a storefront there. I was able to visit my elementary school and orphanage, "Don Bosco." She also showed us my uncle Oom Djien's beautiful watercolor paintings. Since he had a stroke, he has amazingly painted watercolors with only his left hand.

Don Bosco elementary school and orphanage

We were sad to leave our relatives in Surabaya on the morning of Tuesday, August 14th. Our uncle Oom Sioe Thoen, Eri, Oom Tjing Ham, Ngah Lucy and Oom Djien accompanied us to the airport very early in the morning. Some had to wake up at 4:15 am to help transport us! Wow, what sacrifice! Oom Sioe Thoen and Tante Ing have been very gracious hosts to us. Can you imagine having a family of 7 invading your house for almost 2 weeks! 

We are on our way home! Hong Kong here we come! I picked a hotel with harbor views of Hong Kong overlooking Victoria Harbour. It was a spectacular view from our rooms.

View from our rooms

View from rooftop pool at the Harbour Grand Hotel

"Symphony of Lights" show of Hong Kong at 8 pm each night.

We only had one day to tour Hong Kong, so we took the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour, then went up to the top of Victoria Peak via the Tram. My mom was quite a "trooper" despite much walking. (Martha here:  "Trooper" is an understatement.  I fear she's going to remember this visit to HK as "the day Tjioe and Martha nearly killed her by walking her to death"!) She hasn't had that much exercise in years! I think we took almost every form of transportation in Hong Kong- ferry boat, tram, buses, metro rail, taxis and airplane. Brayden loved it!

Aboard the Star Ferry crossing Victoria Harbour 

Aboard the Peak Tram

Views from the Peak Tram of Hong Kong and Kowloon

"Underwater" photos from side of hotel pool

R & R at the hotel pool after a long day of walking

Everyone was really excited to finally go home. After a long day, we arrived home safely last night at around 10 pm. It was really nice to be in our own beds!

Some funny quotes from the kids upon returning to The States:

"I'm so tired I'm not even going to turn my computer on when I get home." (You know your teen is tired when she says this!)

"Ahhhh, Virginia smells so good!"  

"I'm so used to not wearing a seat belt, I almost didn't remember to put it on!"

"I keep forgetting that other people can understand us when we speak now."

A conversation this morning with a very jet-lagged Brayden before going out to the store:
me (Martha):  "Let's go , Bray. You can play with the walkie-talkies when we get home."
Brayden:  "Which home?"  

Thank you for all of our relatives in Indonesia to make our trip so special and memorable. (There were so many people and places to see, we still have more to write about! More posts coming soon.....after a good, long sleep!) We definitely won't wait another 18 years to visit again.