We Interrupt this International Tour for a BIG Birthday Announcement!

Yep, we have had or will have two birthdays while on this trip.

Olivia spent most of her 15th birthday in the air somewhere over China and Hong Kong but had just a few hours of it left when she arrived here on the 31st.  I tell her to look at it as a unique birthday that most folks will never get to experience.  She's not sure she sees it that way.  :)

But there's another BIG birthday happening tomorrow (Sunday).  This one is "starts-with-f-rhymes-with nifty" BIG.  :)

Tomorrow August experiences one of the very few birthdays he has experienced here in Indonesia.  I think this might be the 8th one.  And he gets to do it surrounded by so many people who have known him since childhood.  I think that's probably the biggest gift of all for him.  Also, his cousin with whom we stayed in Malang, shares the same birthday.  So we will have a birthday lunch celebration with them.

But since we're not at home to do our traditional special birthday things we like to do - special breakfast, birthday person gets to choose dinner, give gifts - I thought maybe the folks who are reading here might want to leave birthday greetings in the comments for him.  It will be a nice surprise when he wakes in the morning (it's 11 p.m. here now).

So, happy birthday, Honey.  I love you and am so thankful for you and all you did to make the trip happen.

"The Indonesian Way"

This is August commenting. I wanted to give a "brief" summary of the trip from my viewpoint.

I also wanted to express the gratitude I feel towards all of my relatives. My family has been showered with love and welcoming beyond our imagination. Everyday has been filled with activities in order to entertain us that we have not had that much time to blog. Just a few examples:

Thursday, August 2

On our trip to Malang, we met with my cousin Kongah Thjiang and his wife Giokkie. When we arrived, we were treated with Indonesian treats. I wish that I had taken pictures of all the treats. It was quite a welcome after 2 1/2 hours of driving from Surabaya to Malang. I initially thought that it was our lunch, but as it turns out,  they took us to an Indonesian cafe which served delicious dumplings, fried rice, excellent fried fish, and other foods.

 We then proceeded to go to a very nice hotel called the Pohon Inn (Pohon means "tree" in Indonesian) in the city of Batu(which means "rock" in Indonesian. This is beautiful city in the mountains with cooler temperatures.)  From the pictures, you can see why this is called the "Pohon Inn."

Pohon Inn- looks like the stump of a tree. It is beautiful on the inside.

 I had asked my cousin to book this hotel before we cane to Indonesia to make sure we had reservations. Little did I know that he would not only make the reservations, but pay for our 3 rooms at the hotel. He would not let me pay him back and said this is the "Indonesian way." This seems to be a theme throughout our stay here in Indonesia. Anytime we are treated at restaurants, we offer to pay, but we are quickly rebuffed. I had to resort to trickery on one occasion(leaving for the restroom in order to pay the bill before they did) to try to reciprocate. "That is not the Indonesian way!"

The view from our balcony at the Pohon Inn

Our trip to Batu was quite a treat. Since we arrived there in the late afternoon and the kids were tired, we opted not to go the zoo and museum(next door to the Pohon Inn) since they closed at 5 pm. Instead, we went to the "Batu Night Spectacular." Although not as "spectacular' as advertised, it was quite fun. It was like a "carnival" with merry-go-rounds, rides, and arcades. Olivia, Juliette, Eliza and myself raced on some go-carts, before the place closed down for about an hour. This was because the Muslim fast for the month of Rahmadan would end at 5:30 pm and  everyone would "pig out" at that time. Therefore, we had to wait until after the fast. We went to the food court and it was even closed. Our crew was somewhat leery of the food anyway. We were concerned about food safety. So we headed back to the hotel restaurant to eat. This was probably the only disappointment in restaurants thus far.

Batu Night Spectacular

Olivia preparing for her driver's license

Friday, August 3

The next morning we went to "Batu's Secret Zoo." We were all pleasantly surprised how great of a zoo this was. It was clean, well arranged and had a large variety of animals including lions, bengal tigers, giraffes, kangaroos, and many more. It even had a reptile section and an aquarium with sharks and other fishes. The only thing I didn't see was penguins. Below are some pictures. 

Olivia, Brayden and Eliza

Afterwards, we went to the museum which was similar to the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. It also had a nice large selection of "stuffed animals." It even had dinosaurs which reminded me of the movie, "Night at the Museum."

After the Zoo and museum, we went on a 3 hour ride through the dangerous Indonesian roads to Blitar. Blitar is the hometown of my grandparents, "Engkong" Sie Wie Bo(grandfather) and"Emak" Oie Tiauw Nio. They along with my aunt and uncle("Wakko" Sie Giok Lie and "Empek" Liem Khing Liong, the parents of Kongah and Kodee) actually took care of me when I was 1 y/o(while my mother went to the United States to be with my father for 1 year while he did his pathology residency in Richmond, VA.) We saw the house of my grandparents, the factory for the "Ketjap Manis" or Sweet Soy Sauce. My cousin "Kodee" Liem Hoo Gwan met us at his parent's home in Blitar. Of course, the first order of business is Indonesian food. Again we ate! More Indonesian goodies and something I've been craving for over 18 years. This is "Es Drop" which is a coconut and other flavors(including soy beans). He had about 15 or more of these to give us. The girls tried it, but was clearly not as enthusiastic as I was. They had heard me talk about this treat for weeks, but I think I may have overdone it. In any case, I was in Heaven. I think I ate 3 or 4 in a 2 hour period. 

We then visited the graves of my grandparents as well as my aunt and uncles. This grave also had many of the "Sie" family relatives from generations ago. Our names(my brother, sister and my names were on some of the gravestones). It was really neat and it gave me a sense of history of my origins. The gravestones were more like monuments. They must have been quite wealthy. 

My family sprinkling flower petals on my grandparents gravestone with Kohdee

We left the gravesite and Blitar to make the trek back to Malang. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive. We were quite tired. My cousin Kongah and his wife welcomed us into their home.

Saturday, August 4

After a good night's rest, they took us to Selecta, Indonesia. This is a beautiful mountain resort with beautiful views, several pools and playgrounds. We went to the Hotel Selecta to visit the pools and gardens. It was spectacular. Much more spectacular than the "Batu Night Spectacular." The pool had a giant slide. Unfortunately, our children felt that the water was too cold to swim. We were treated to lunch by my cousin and his wife again and headed back to Surabaya.

Views from the Hotel Selecta in the mountains

The "Becak" swing, one of Brayden's favorites

We still had more activities planned for us when we arrived in Surabaya. Our day was not over.

This time, my cousin on my mother's side(actually 1st cousin once removed) Sioe Ham and his wife Ratna invited us to a fancy restaurant with about 25-30 other guests. It was quite another wonderful meal and time with family. We slept well that night.

My mom, her brother and "Gwat Hwa" a cousin of my mom's

Lenny, Linda, Ratna and my family at Sioe Ham's restaurant gathering

Sunday, August 5

The following day, we went to Mass at the Cathedral in Surabaya. Although it was in Indonesian, most Catholic masses are the same everywhere('universal') so we knew essentially what was being said except for the sermon. After Mass, we were escorted to a beautiful and new mall which contained a well known "Chinese" restaurant. This was a chain similar to PF Chang's in the US. The food was again delicious. This time my aunt and her husband(Koh Tjoe and Oom Ing Bie) on my father's side treated. They had planned this for weeks. They had invited my other aunts(Tante Cisca, Tante Olga from Jakarta and Ngah Lucy from Surabaya and their families) to join us. There were about 40-50 people at this restaurant. We had the entire "party room" in the back of the restaurant to ourselves. Many pictures were taken. 

Relatives, too many to name(at Koh Tjoe and Oom Ing Bie's  party)

I had a chance to speak to many relatives whom I had not seen in decades, including my cousins Cecil and Albert(children of Koh Tjoe and Oom Ing Bie.) After the 3 hour "party," we shopped some in the mall with Albert and his family. Eventually his family went home, but Albert treated us for some ice cream and again would not let me pay, "it is the Indonesian way."

Albert has been so helpful to my family. Before our trip, he booked us our airplane flight from Surabaya to Bali, saving us $1,200(Indonesians pay less than foreigners.) He also obtained 3 cell phones with service for us to use(Sioe Hwa also got us a cell phone, so we have 4, one for my mother.) Again, "the Indonesian way." On the way back home, he took us to an Indonesian souvenir store(I tried to buy some postcards there, but of course he would not let me pay) and took a taxi home. He would not let us take him home first saying it would take more time. I think he was probably trying to save us time, since the children were tired. We had plans that night to go with my 2nd cousin Eri and his family to a "Becak(backwards tricycle transport) Park", but unfortunately his son was sick. We had to reschedule. Instead we took a trip to the Galaxy Mall, a large beautiful mall in Surabaya. Of course, Tante Ing had to accompany us and treat us to dinner at the mall. I think she ordered 9 or 10 dishes. We had to take some of it home. 

These are just some examples of my extended family's generosity. I will continue my narrative for another day.

I met Kevin!

Hello, all. Told you I'd be back. Yesterday was a rough day: Before leaving for Bali, Bray had already thrown up twice (he's still a little sick and could use some divine intervention *hint hint*); *and* our car was infested with a nest of tiny little spider bugs. Liv and I did the freak-out dance together. Fortunately, our driver hardly understands a word of English, so maybe he thought it was excited-freak-out, not scared-beyond-anything-freak-out

Anyway, we arrived in Bali safely--albeit somewhat permanently affected by our spider encounter--and so now I finally have time to bestow upon you my second set of little tips/notes (although there really wasn't much to write about). You'll thank me later.

Let's pick up where we left off, shall we?

August 3

14. When an Indonesian stranger tries to tell/ask you something and you can understand only a word of it, just smile, nod, and move on. Pray it was a yes-or-no question.

16. Just heard a song and was touched by the lyrics, so I thought I'd share them with you.

"Jumpin' out of bed, YAHOO MONKEY!!
Jumpin' out of bed, YAHOO MONKEY!!"

I can't be *sure* that's what they were saying--it's just a rough translation--but it's my best guess.
If you wanna hear how it sounds, call me, and I'll serenade you.

17. I met Kevin today and even got a picture. I know you're jealous.

See the resemblance? (ok, maybe it's a stretch)

I guess that means that *I'm*....

oh.

18. When meandering through a zoo, keep in mind that other members of Kingdom Animalia may produce an offensive odor. Use protection.

22. Driving Rule #3: When a human has stationed themselves in the middle of the road, use intimidation. Honk and drive faster.*

*I am not liable for any damage caused.

23. Observation is key here. If someone looks or talks or smells different, stare at them like a dingo watches a human baby.

You might be quizzed later.

August 6

31. What America's Missing #2: Chickencycles.
I can just imagine a guy zooming over US 29 with a chicken cage strapped to the back of his motorcycle.

32. Just got pulled over for *not* running a red light.

LOGIC, Y U NO HERE???

33. Summary of what's allowed in Indonesia:

"Are we doing anything illegal?"

"Doesn't matter: They only care if we're doing something *not* illegal."

34. You know you're in Indonesia when your driver's making fun of your accent. :/

Maybe I'll just stick to Latin. 

There's no one around to correct me.

Oh, except for my choirmaster.

(Look at those scary eyes.)

36. I think God was thinking of Indonesian driving when he gave us guardian angels.

August 7

41. I'm going to have my honeymoon here at this Bali Hyatt. Guess I'd better find a husband first--any takers?



I'll try and put up some pictures of the Bali Hyatt and stuff later. Right now, it's off to bed... We're twelve hours ahead of y'all!

Until then,

Marina Grace Cecilia Joan Scholastica

A Typical Day

It's about 6:15 a.m. here on Tuesday morning.  I love this time of day, so quiet and still, just me, my coffee, and the cars and motorcycles whizzing by outside.  The maids are already up - setting the table, mopping, preparing breakfast.  The kids are all still asleep except for Brayden who's lying next to me not feeling so well this morning.

Normally we all begin to stir between 6 and 7 each morning and slowly make our way down to breakfast.  Breakfast has been a variety of traditional indonesian foods - gado gado (a sort of "salad" of vegetables, potatoes, boiled eggs with a peanut sauce), rawon (spicy beef soup served over rice), krupuk (shrimp chips), as well as some more american foods - toast with Nutella or jam, fruit, yogurt.  There are also some really delicious juices here. I've been pleasantly surprised to watch the girls often choose the indonesian foods over the american ones.

After breakfast, I usually gather our laundry for the maids.  (I could really get used to this.)

We've arranged a driver to be here each day at 9 a.m.  It's typical for many chinese indonesian families to employ a driver on a daily basis.  Traffic here really is crazy so it's a great relief to have someone who is experienced in the traffic madness to maneuver us around.  "Metro" has been a huge blessing. It's has also been fun (at least mostly fun) to have so much time together as a family while Metro drives us around.  He must think we're crazy, attempting to pronounce words we see or snapping pics constantly.  I often hear him chuckle at us.  We have him until 9 p.m. each day so he has lots of opportunity to be amused at us!  :)

In the mornings we often have plans with various family members.  Yesterday, August's cousin Eri and wife, Lenny, took us to see a huge bridge that has been constructed to connect the islands of Java and Madura.  This bridge is a really big deal because until it was completed, they had to use a ferry to cross the Java Sea from island to island.  They treated us to a really fun lunch at a Pizza Hut which was in a huge mall.

Our afternoons usually include some time for rest and are a nice break from the heat.  (It's HOT here, and muggy too, but not as muggy as back home, believe it or not.)

Our evenings have been filled with dinner invitations or parties.  Last night, we were treated to dinner by another of August's cousins.  They decided maybe we needed a break from asian food and took us to a really wonderful italian restaurant.  You could have plunked this place right down in the middle of Charlottesville and never have known you were in Indonesia.  The food was that authentic.

We have had so much incredible food - indonesian, chinese, fast, and italian.  Ironically, one of the many delicious meals we've had was here at this little...well,  let's just call it a "road side cafe".  :)

(And see those red bottles line up?  Those are bottles of kecap manis or indonesian sweet soy sauce.  But what's so unique about this kecap manis is that it was made and distributed by August's cousin, Kohdeh, using the same recipe used by August's great grandfather when they started the business back in 1901 in the town of Blitar! So cool!!!)



We're usually pretty tired at the end of the day and are in bed early.  It's a nice change since we're typically night-owls back at home.

August's aunt and uncle have been INCREDIBLE hosts.  We've been given the entire upper floor (3 bedrooms and 2 baths!) of their home.  I can't imagine what it must be like for them to have a family of seven move in with them for two weeks!  Yet they are so kind and hospitable.  The maids are always smiling as well.  Let me tell you, if I were a maid here and seven visitors (and all their laundry) came to stay for two weeks, I would not be smiling.  Yet, they are constantly friendly and hospitable. It's very unusual to see a family with more than three children here and most have even less.  So I'm sure we are entertaining for them.

We head to Bali today for four days.  It's sort of like a mini-vacation in the midst of a vacation.  It's just an hour flight from one island to the next.  The view from the plane should be beautiful.  More later!

PS - Marina, my grammar queen, isn't up yet to proof read this post.  So be forgiving as you read!  And my apologies for any misspelled indonesian names!!

...and our adventure continues...

Hi,

Olivia here. Sorry I haven't been around lately. My life has been busy. But I'm here now to tell you why. :D

Since your last real update, we've been to a zoo, attended 2 parties, and gotten pulled over by the indonesian 'polisi'. All very pleasant experiences, as you can imagine. :D

Yesterday we went to an Indonesian mass. It was...interesting. By the end I had learn like 4 Indonesian words!! I was so proud. Unfortunately the other 42,754 (just a random guess) words that were spoken I didn't get at all. No matter. I got the gist.

We all nearly cried in delight today when we realized we were going to Pizza Hut for lunch. Real, actual, American pizza. It was amazing. Don't think I've ever enjoyed Pizza Hut as much as today...:)

One of the things I miss the most from home is my music. I mean, I have the music on my iPod but no dock, no Pandora, no dancing around the kitchen. When I get home I'm gonna blast everyone's ears out  and scream and dance through the whole house. Until then, you're welcome to do it for me...(tell me how it goes. I'd love to know how much your family members enjoy it)

By the way, did I mention our driver's name is Metro? Go figure. He also seems to find us amusing often, which is funny because he understands like1% of what we say. If he understood all 100%, I'm not sure he'd have agreed to drive us places 12 hours a day...

Apparently, we look like celebrities. I know, I know...you already knew that one. :P But in their movies here, apparently most of the actors are half-Asian--like us. So like we really do look like celebrities. For once in my life I can feel famous. :D

The mosquitos would like you to know how incredibly tasty I am. They seem to like me the most of all 7 of us, which is a shame since I don't really appreciate the compliment for once. At once point, I had like 8 bites on my face which made me look sorta polka-dotted. Not that flattering. Thanks for everything, mosquitos, but please stay away from now on...

Our trip to Bali starts tomorrow!!! We're all pretty psyched...pray it'll go well!

(Sorry for the lack of pictures. I didn't feel like uploading anything. Look forward to another Marina post comin' soon...:D)

Love y'all!
~Olivia~

When Your Food Stares Back at You

To say the past 3 days has been a whirlwind would be an understatement.  There is really soooooo much I could tell.  I've known August has lots and lots and LOTS of relatives here but it didn't occur to me that they would all want to schedule time with us!  Our wonderful hostess (August's Tante Inga) has had to manage our social calendar this week!  :)

Since last posting, we've been on a lovely trip to the more mountainous region of Java (the island on which Surabaya is located).  The beauty and magnificence of the landscape is overwhelming at times with mountains (some volcanic, some not) and terraced rice fields as far as you can see.  I think Marina and Olivia may be planning to write more about our trip so I'll leave that for them.

I did want to wrap up our first day though by describing our dinner out that night.  We were taken by our hosts (Om Sioe Thoen and Tante Ing) as well as their daughter-in-law and grandson to a popular fish restaurant.  I was very hesitant because we really don't eat much fish back home.  So when they placed three or four of these guys on our table, I became very, very afraid.  (Yes, that's Marina's "friend" from the previous post.) I just knew the kids and I would go home starving.  I'm so pleased to share that I was WRONG!  

This was truly some of the best fish I've ever eaten - crunchy crispness on the outside and flaky white on the inside with a very mild flavor.  It was served with sweet Indonesian soy sauce.  Once I got past the appearance (and avoided eye contact!) I think I probably ate more than my share.  Some at the table went so far as to break off fins for munching.  I drew the line there!

Rainbow Dump Trucks and Dogfood

Hi, it's me. I promised Mom I would write a somewhat coherent blog post 'cause she's been so exhausted (plus she had to sit in the middle seat for our 3-hour drive up here to Malang (from Surabaya)).

My friend Heather suggested I bring a journal to write down my thoughts, and I realized she was probably right; but since I don't have the patience to sit down and actually write a whole entry (unlike her, I'm not a writer), I just took a few notes here and there all day. Here they are; see what you think.

(and yes, I numbered them. I like numbers; it's the way I think)

1. Glad to have about 3 English TV channels; granted, they're Disney, Nickelodeon, and Animal Planet, but hey--it's better than nothing.

2. The ratio of motorcycles to cars must be at least 2:1. Yes, I counted. Also, the white lines on the road (when present) are not meant to be taken seriously.

3. I think drivers must be immortal I've never seen ours eat, drink, or sleep. He drives us somewhere and then sits outside on a bench to wait until we come back out--everyday from 9am-9pm. Sometimes I wonder if we're paying him to have no life.

4. Summary of our driving experience from the eyes of a 2-yr.-old:

"I saw a guy, and I said 'Please don't hit that guy.'"

5. Everyday, I'm realize more that America's missing. Today, it was rainbow dump trucks. Pink, green, blue, yellow.... Oh, and there goes a purple one. Apparently, we Americans have no sense of dump truck style.


6. Yesterday, I met some fruit that had swag.

Rock those clothes, mistah! (*livin' the life as a well-dressed fruit*)

7. In Virginia, we count cows. In Surabaya, we count mosques. Right now we're at 27 mph--27 mosques per hour, that is. (we eventually got up to over 100 in 3 hours)


8. Perhaps I have a preconceived bias against food that stares through my soul....

(I see you.)

...but actually, this was some of the best fish I've ever eaten.


9. The Rules on When It's Appropriate to Honk:


You may honk before, during, and after passing someone, at cars and motorcycles and random people in the middle of the road or when there's nothing at all to honk at, as many times as you feel is necessary, or whenever you feel bored. When in doubt, honk.


10. Instead of waving in costumes of Lady Liberty, we have random ladies dressed up in red and wearing clown masks while dancing in the middle of the street. Be scared.


11. If it smells like dogfood and looks like dogfood, chances are it probably tastes like dogfood as well. Use caution.


12. When all you've heard for the past three hours is an Indonesian lady singing a high-pitched spiritual-chant-type-thing and then you walk into the hotel cafeteria to hear an American pop song, you instantly fall in love with it--even though it might possibly hypothetically maybe be a Justin Bieber song.


13.

Thanks, hotel staff, for letting me know. That's good to get off my chest.


Gotta go... It's almost 10pm over here, and the hotel staff is giving me strange looks. Maybe they think I'm a journalist, with my notebook and pen and laptop!!! Oh, wait... I'm in my pajamas--never mind.


Ah, well. Bye for now; I'll be back later!


I remain your humble and obedient servant,
Marina Grace Cecilia Joan Scholastica


(...not really the humble and obedient part, but I wanted a romantic way to sign out. This works, right?)