Paddle boating on the pond.
I think this was called the monorail bicycle or something. Heidi said that the track was pretty rickety.
I don't think these photos need any explanation.
Millers in Shanghai
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Photos: A Few More Taman Safari
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Photos: Celebrity at Taman Safari Indonesia
As we walked through the crocodile section of the park, we were stopped by a group of people wanting to see Mallory. They hovered over her in her stroller, touched her face, and one lady even kissed Mallory on the head. The boys think their sister is a celebrity in Indonesia.
Photos: Waterfall
I took this photo of Luke and Grant on the way back from the waterfall -- in the background you can see the terrain and vegetation of this part of the jungle in Java.
This is the waterfall we went to near the Wild West Show. Who looks more excited to see it -- the people in the picture above, or these three boys in the picture below?
I love this plant. I have seen smaller versions of this one in our neighborhood, and at Taman Safari Indonesia we saw this huge one. You may not be able to tell from this photo, but the leaves have jagged edges.
Photos: Wild West Show at Taman Safari Indonesia
The Wild West Show at Taman Safari Indonesia was really funny. At one point in the show, the action came right in front of us. They asked Grant to help beat up one of the outlaws.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Letter 15 August 2005
Time just keeps going by. Things are going well for us. The adjustment hasn’t been too bad. We all have our days, but at least they usually aren’t all at once and they are getting far and few between. I feel that we have been blessed in this aspect. It has been a relatively easy adjustment for all of us.
I had an interesting experience figuring out how to pay all the bills last week. It took me two hours to drive from bank to bank. Things aren’t easy here. Each bill had to be paid at a different bank. I asked everyone if there was an easier way to do this and everyone said no. The phone company is supposed to send you your bill, but apparently, they only do it if they feel like it. You’re supposed to call a number and find out how much you owe and then get it in before the 15th or they’ll cut off your phone immediately. I tried for 8 days to get the total and the number was always busy. Finally, I asked my driver to call for me. He called a totally different number and found our total. Luckily, I can send him to pay our phone bill and our water bill. That helped me a lot. It was interesting.
School started last Thursday, the 11th. It was a very happy day in this household. Nash was so excited he could hardly sleep the night before. We had gone up to the school the day before to see who their teachers were and where their classrooms were. That was a relief to Nash. He was most concerned about finding his class. We walked around a bit so they would feel a little more comfortable.
School starts at 7:30am so they were all up very early. Creed and I had a new parents’ meeting that morning so we took them to their classes, met their teachers, and looked around a bit. I went with the driver at noon to pick up Luke and I couldn’t find him. He apparently had told his teacher I was going to pick him up in the office. He misunderstood me. It made me a bit nervous when I couldn’t find him. He had had a great day and made some new friends.
Nash liked the first day as well. He’s happy to be in fifth grade and is thrilled to have a male teacher. He had his first swimming class today and really liked it and also had technology. He said it was kind of hard because they just learned keyboarding. I told him he will be so happy to be able to type faster on the computer.
Grant loves second grade. He was so happy to find out his teacher is from the UK and speaks with an accent. He said a new boy just moved in today and is from Finland. They are meeting people from all over the world. He has made quite a few friends and is really enjoying things. He likes all the classes he can take and really likes seeing Luke sometimes. His classroom is just above Luke’s.
We went to a place called Taman Safari Indonesia on Saturday. It was great! It is about 90 minutes from Jakarta as you head up into the mountains. In the first part of the park, you can drive your car through and the animals can get really close. The zebras and lamas and deer would come right up to your car. Mallory was going crazy. She could hardly contain herself. She loves animals. She was bouncing up and down and her whole body was just tight with excitement. We saw camels, bears, lions, tigers, elephants and all sorts of monkeys. After the safari ride, we went into the more traditional zoo area. They allow you to hold baby animals! I’m not talking about cute cuddly little things. I mean baby lions, cheetahs, tigers, pythons, and the best of all, orangutans! We will attach pictures. It was amazing. We went on a few country fair-type rides, and we also saw a ‘Wild West Show,’ which was quite hysterical. It was funny to see their perception of an American Wild West show. We also walked a little bit further to a trail that leads to a waterfall. We saw several other animals that are only in Indonesia. It was really fun.
Our sea shipment arrived today and I feel overwhelmed at the task I have before me. If I had places to put everything that would be different. We don’t really have closets besides the ones in our rooms. We have no basement and not really anywhere to store things. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the holiday decorations because if I store them in the huge room that is attached to the staff quarters then they are subject to a lot of heat and humidity. I’m afraid they will get ruined. I’m regretting bringing so much, but I keep reminding myself what life was like during those short two months we knew we were coming. It was just impossible for me to go through everything. Of course, there are a few things that I’m kicking myself for bringing, like the three boxes of videos and nothing to play them on! They don’t even sell VCR’s here. Soooo, we boxed them all up and put them at the top of Luke’s closet. Our staff has been helping me unpack all day. I’m so grateful to them.
Here’s this week’s odd thing about Indonesia. The telephones don’t just ring here. They play songs. For example, our home phone plays, ‘Oh Suzanna’ ‘Dixie’ and one other song. Our cordless phone plays ‘The Rocky Theme Song’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and a couple of pop songs.
On Sunday afternoon we went to a monthly branch potluck dinner, right after the regular church meetings. It was at the home of one of the members here. It was good to get together with everyone and get to know them a little bit better. We can tell that it is a really close group. The boys had fun playing with their new friends, of course.
Heidi
I had an interesting experience figuring out how to pay all the bills last week. It took me two hours to drive from bank to bank. Things aren’t easy here. Each bill had to be paid at a different bank. I asked everyone if there was an easier way to do this and everyone said no. The phone company is supposed to send you your bill, but apparently, they only do it if they feel like it. You’re supposed to call a number and find out how much you owe and then get it in before the 15th or they’ll cut off your phone immediately. I tried for 8 days to get the total and the number was always busy. Finally, I asked my driver to call for me. He called a totally different number and found our total. Luckily, I can send him to pay our phone bill and our water bill. That helped me a lot. It was interesting.
School started last Thursday, the 11th. It was a very happy day in this household. Nash was so excited he could hardly sleep the night before. We had gone up to the school the day before to see who their teachers were and where their classrooms were. That was a relief to Nash. He was most concerned about finding his class. We walked around a bit so they would feel a little more comfortable.
School starts at 7:30am so they were all up very early. Creed and I had a new parents’ meeting that morning so we took them to their classes, met their teachers, and looked around a bit. I went with the driver at noon to pick up Luke and I couldn’t find him. He apparently had told his teacher I was going to pick him up in the office. He misunderstood me. It made me a bit nervous when I couldn’t find him. He had had a great day and made some new friends.
Nash liked the first day as well. He’s happy to be in fifth grade and is thrilled to have a male teacher. He had his first swimming class today and really liked it and also had technology. He said it was kind of hard because they just learned keyboarding. I told him he will be so happy to be able to type faster on the computer.
Grant loves second grade. He was so happy to find out his teacher is from the UK and speaks with an accent. He said a new boy just moved in today and is from Finland. They are meeting people from all over the world. He has made quite a few friends and is really enjoying things. He likes all the classes he can take and really likes seeing Luke sometimes. His classroom is just above Luke’s.
We went to a place called Taman Safari Indonesia on Saturday. It was great! It is about 90 minutes from Jakarta as you head up into the mountains. In the first part of the park, you can drive your car through and the animals can get really close. The zebras and lamas and deer would come right up to your car. Mallory was going crazy. She could hardly contain herself. She loves animals. She was bouncing up and down and her whole body was just tight with excitement. We saw camels, bears, lions, tigers, elephants and all sorts of monkeys. After the safari ride, we went into the more traditional zoo area. They allow you to hold baby animals! I’m not talking about cute cuddly little things. I mean baby lions, cheetahs, tigers, pythons, and the best of all, orangutans! We will attach pictures. It was amazing. We went on a few country fair-type rides, and we also saw a ‘Wild West Show,’ which was quite hysterical. It was funny to see their perception of an American Wild West show. We also walked a little bit further to a trail that leads to a waterfall. We saw several other animals that are only in Indonesia. It was really fun.
Our sea shipment arrived today and I feel overwhelmed at the task I have before me. If I had places to put everything that would be different. We don’t really have closets besides the ones in our rooms. We have no basement and not really anywhere to store things. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the holiday decorations because if I store them in the huge room that is attached to the staff quarters then they are subject to a lot of heat and humidity. I’m afraid they will get ruined. I’m regretting bringing so much, but I keep reminding myself what life was like during those short two months we knew we were coming. It was just impossible for me to go through everything. Of course, there are a few things that I’m kicking myself for bringing, like the three boxes of videos and nothing to play them on! They don’t even sell VCR’s here. Soooo, we boxed them all up and put them at the top of Luke’s closet. Our staff has been helping me unpack all day. I’m so grateful to them.
Here’s this week’s odd thing about Indonesia. The telephones don’t just ring here. They play songs. For example, our home phone plays, ‘Oh Suzanna’ ‘Dixie’ and one other song. Our cordless phone plays ‘The Rocky Theme Song’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and a couple of pop songs.
On Sunday afternoon we went to a monthly branch potluck dinner, right after the regular church meetings. It was at the home of one of the members here. It was good to get together with everyone and get to know them a little bit better. We can tell that it is a really close group. The boys had fun playing with their new friends, of course.
Heidi
Photos 13 Aug 2005: Orangutan and White Tiger
Everyone (except me) took a turn holding the baby orangutan. The white thing the orangutan has in its mouth is a toy whistle.
Do you think Siegfied & Roy know that one of their white tigers is missing? I'm sure at least one of our boys will be embarrassed by this photo in a few years.
Photos: Taman Safari Indonesia August 13th
One of the first animals we saw at Taman Safari Indonesia. I put this photo in so you could see the setting of this park (taman) -- up in the hills near the mountains about 1 1/2 hours south of Jakarta.
Mallory absolutely loved the drive-through safari part of the park. She got so excited when the animals got close to the car. Don't worry, though, we rolled up the window when we drove through the tiger section.
Photos of Grant and me holding a very large baby lion. You can't see it in the photo, but the lion does have a chain around its neck (I think the chain is fastened to the floor). That's not much consolation, though, if you are holding the cat and it decides you look like a meal.
First Day of School - 11 August 2005
Nash, Grant, and Luke ready for their first day at Jakarta International School.
Everyone enjoying the waffles Heidi made for breakfast on the boys' first day of school.
Sunday, August 7, 2005
August 7, 2005
Hi everyone,
I thought I’d write about a few things I find interesting that have been going on at work. Ford Motor Indonesia has only been around for about 4 years, and everyone in my department of about 10 people (including finance, accounting, and purchasing) is relatively young. Most of the staff joined Ford with a few years of work experience at another international company in Jakarta. Everyone in the department is Indonesian, about half men and half women, and they come from a variety of different cities and cultures. Reflecting the national averages, most of the staff is Muslim, and there is at least one Hindu and one other Christian person.
I have had two people in my department tell me they had been considering quitting, but I think I have talked them out of it, for the time being. Ford Motor Indonesia is growing, and so is the workload, so some people are feeling stressed and over-worked. I have had a couple of interviews with candidates for an accounting supervisor position. In one interview I had last week I could tell the guy I was interviewing was really nervous. He graduated from the one of the best universities in Jakarta and has worked for a Big 5 accounting firm for about 3 years. After I asked him the normal interview questions, I asked him if he had any questions for me – about the job, the position, the company, etc. He stared at his hands for a few minutes (what seemed like an eternity), then I saw a spark in his eye as he thought of a question. He turned to me and said “How old are you?” I was dumbfounded, shocked, and amused at the same time. I really tried to maintain my composure. I answered him in the form of an age range and ended the interview. We decided not to hire him (not just for the age question, though).
Ford Motor Indonesia is primarily a marketing, sales, and service company (we do not manufacture any vehicles here). We often buy promotional materials and small gifts to give out to potential customers (hats, note pads, pencils, shirts, etc.). They often pass out samples to each employee, as well. They just had some new promotional items made for the introduction of the Ford Focus here in the fall, and they handed them out at the last all-employee meeting. Imagine my surprise when they handed me my very own black, long-sleeved turtle neck Ford Focus sweater. Yes, we live just a few degrees south of the equator on a tropical island that is mostly jungle. I’m not sure who approved ordering black turtle neck sweaters (granted, they are very thin sweaters), but I am positive that my sweater is going to stay in the closet until I return to Michigan.
Well, we are driving (or shall I say riding in) a new car. We inherited a Volvo XC-90 from a Volvo employee in our office who was just transferred to Kuala Lumpur. It is a nice vehicle. The boys are having fun figuring out how everything works in it. And Mom, it is dark blue.
This week Cartim (our driver) informed Heidi that it was taking Kandar (our gardener) two full days to cut the grass…by hand. So Heidi went to the store and bought a lawn mower for him, the non-electric type. I’m sure it will only take him a few hours now instead of a few days.
On my way to work every day I take the highway, and there are homes about 50 feet from the road on one of the exit ramps. This week I saw a red mattress sitting on the ground in between the road and the houses, and a couple of days this week I saw a guy sleeping there. This was about 7:00 in the morning and there was a lot of traffic. I’m not sure how he slept, but it looked like he had been sleeping there all night.
You may have known that Indonesia is a right-hand drive market, which means that the driver sits on the right side of the vehicle, and that traffic goes down the left side of the road. Well, did you know that hallways and stairways are also right-hand drive? I cannot tell you how many times I have approached someone in the hallway and started to go to the right side to get out of the way, and we end up with one of those awkward almost-running-into-each-other moments.
Many of you know that Luke loves to play chess. We have often noticed our house help playing chess outside in the garage (during one of their union-mandated breaks, I’m sure). So a couple of days this week when Luke couldn’t find anyone in the family to play chess with him, he went to the garage to play chess with Cartim and Ajis. Apparently they are pretty impressed with his chess skills (the next Garry Kasparov, perhaps?).
Heidi and I went shopping for a microwave this week at Carrefour (a large hypermarket where we do a lot of shopping – and no, this ain’t no Super Target). As we looked at the different models, all we were hoping for was a microwave with a “Popcorn” button. Unfortunately, most models only had a “Chicken Teriyaki,” “Porridge,” or “Steamed Fish” button – not much use for us. Luckily, we finally found one with a “Popcorn” button.
Heidi took the three boys into the international school this week for their official interviews / evaluations. When I came home from work that day, Nash said he cannot wait for August 11th, which is the first day of school. They (and Heidi) are really excited and ready for it.
Adios,
Creed (and Heidi)
I thought I’d write about a few things I find interesting that have been going on at work. Ford Motor Indonesia has only been around for about 4 years, and everyone in my department of about 10 people (including finance, accounting, and purchasing) is relatively young. Most of the staff joined Ford with a few years of work experience at another international company in Jakarta. Everyone in the department is Indonesian, about half men and half women, and they come from a variety of different cities and cultures. Reflecting the national averages, most of the staff is Muslim, and there is at least one Hindu and one other Christian person.
I have had two people in my department tell me they had been considering quitting, but I think I have talked them out of it, for the time being. Ford Motor Indonesia is growing, and so is the workload, so some people are feeling stressed and over-worked. I have had a couple of interviews with candidates for an accounting supervisor position. In one interview I had last week I could tell the guy I was interviewing was really nervous. He graduated from the one of the best universities in Jakarta and has worked for a Big 5 accounting firm for about 3 years. After I asked him the normal interview questions, I asked him if he had any questions for me – about the job, the position, the company, etc. He stared at his hands for a few minutes (what seemed like an eternity), then I saw a spark in his eye as he thought of a question. He turned to me and said “How old are you?” I was dumbfounded, shocked, and amused at the same time. I really tried to maintain my composure. I answered him in the form of an age range and ended the interview. We decided not to hire him (not just for the age question, though).
Ford Motor Indonesia is primarily a marketing, sales, and service company (we do not manufacture any vehicles here). We often buy promotional materials and small gifts to give out to potential customers (hats, note pads, pencils, shirts, etc.). They often pass out samples to each employee, as well. They just had some new promotional items made for the introduction of the Ford Focus here in the fall, and they handed them out at the last all-employee meeting. Imagine my surprise when they handed me my very own black, long-sleeved turtle neck Ford Focus sweater. Yes, we live just a few degrees south of the equator on a tropical island that is mostly jungle. I’m not sure who approved ordering black turtle neck sweaters (granted, they are very thin sweaters), but I am positive that my sweater is going to stay in the closet until I return to Michigan.
Well, we are driving (or shall I say riding in) a new car. We inherited a Volvo XC-90 from a Volvo employee in our office who was just transferred to Kuala Lumpur. It is a nice vehicle. The boys are having fun figuring out how everything works in it. And Mom, it is dark blue.
This week Cartim (our driver) informed Heidi that it was taking Kandar (our gardener) two full days to cut the grass…by hand. So Heidi went to the store and bought a lawn mower for him, the non-electric type. I’m sure it will only take him a few hours now instead of a few days.
On my way to work every day I take the highway, and there are homes about 50 feet from the road on one of the exit ramps. This week I saw a red mattress sitting on the ground in between the road and the houses, and a couple of days this week I saw a guy sleeping there. This was about 7:00 in the morning and there was a lot of traffic. I’m not sure how he slept, but it looked like he had been sleeping there all night.
You may have known that Indonesia is a right-hand drive market, which means that the driver sits on the right side of the vehicle, and that traffic goes down the left side of the road. Well, did you know that hallways and stairways are also right-hand drive? I cannot tell you how many times I have approached someone in the hallway and started to go to the right side to get out of the way, and we end up with one of those awkward almost-running-into-each-other moments.
Many of you know that Luke loves to play chess. We have often noticed our house help playing chess outside in the garage (during one of their union-mandated breaks, I’m sure). So a couple of days this week when Luke couldn’t find anyone in the family to play chess with him, he went to the garage to play chess with Cartim and Ajis. Apparently they are pretty impressed with his chess skills (the next Garry Kasparov, perhaps?).
Heidi and I went shopping for a microwave this week at Carrefour (a large hypermarket where we do a lot of shopping – and no, this ain’t no Super Target). As we looked at the different models, all we were hoping for was a microwave with a “Popcorn” button. Unfortunately, most models only had a “Chicken Teriyaki,” “Porridge,” or “Steamed Fish” button – not much use for us. Luckily, we finally found one with a “Popcorn” button.
Heidi took the three boys into the international school this week for their official interviews / evaluations. When I came home from work that day, Nash said he cannot wait for August 11th, which is the first day of school. They (and Heidi) are really excited and ready for it.
Adios,
Creed (and Heidi)
Chess & Swim Goggles
Luke playing "Harry Potter" chess in the garage with Cartim (Ajis is watching).
One day this week I came home from work and found the family sitting at the table, eating dinner. I cracked up when I saw Luke's swim mask on top of his head, like sunglasses. Nash, Grant, and Luke had been swimming right before dinner when Heidi called them inside. By the way, the watermelon (and many other fruits) here are excellent.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
July 31, 2005
Dear Family,
I can’t believe we’ve been here a month already. Time is going by so quickly. We are adjusting just fine and enjoying the different things about living in Jakarta. The weather is hot, but not nearly as bad as I had imagined. Mind you, it’s very warm, but I thought it would be unbearable and it really isn’t. Maybe I’m getting used to it.
We have spent the past few weeks trying to keep ourselves entertained and also continuing to get settled by having several pieces of furniture made. The sofa, loveseat and computer desk we had made were all delivered this week. It’s fun to start feeling like this is our home and not some place that feels very temporary. We went and looked at the furniture for our Family Room and our sitting room yesterday. They make the frame and put the padding on and then have you look at it, sit on it and test it to make sure you like it before they put the fabric on it. It’s funny to see furniture without the material. That furniture should be finished in about three weeks. We also went and ordered a carpet (like American carpet) to be cut and bound for our living room.
We are all hoping our sea shipment comes in the next couple of weeks. We have been informed that it is supposed to be at the dock on the 6th of August. We’ve heard it usually takes a couple of weeks after that for it to clear customs and then get to us. The boys are anxious to get their bikes and rollerblades and some of their other toys.
We spent the morning yesterday at a place called Ancol. Sea World Indonesia is there (not affiliated with the Sea World in the states) and there is also a water park, amusement park, and several other attractions. It is on the coast, but there aren’t really any beaches (most of the coastline near Jakarta is for commercial use - shipping, fishing, marinas, etc.). It was fun to see everything and be somewhere besides the city. At Sea World Mallory especially liked seeing all the fish and she loved the shark tank. When one of the sharks would swim by her she would get so excited she could hardly contain herself. Her little legs would start kicking and she would make as much noise as possible. She’s funny. We also took a gondola ride that goes above several of the attractions, then along the beach for a while. We enjoyed looking out over the ocean and seeing some islands just north of Jakarta (part of the Thousand Islands – which number approximately 150 in total, not 1,000). By the way, they put Thousand Island dressing on everything here.
I took the boys into the clinic to have their x-rays for TB. They have to have them for school. It was interesting. The clinic is nice, but they just do things a little backwards -- something I need to get used to. The boys got a lot of attention (they usually do whenever we go out) when they all filed into the x-ray room.
We met Creed at the office on Friday night and then went further downtown to a huge mall. It’s really nice with very upscale stores. We ate at the Hard Rock Café and really enjoyed having nachos (something I had been dreaming about) and hamburgers and Creed had his dream meal, fajitas. While we were there, the people sitting next to us asked to hold Mallory and to take pictures with her. She usually doesn’t mind, she just smiles and charms them. I’m glad she’s so easy going about the whole thing. We still get people asking us if she is a boy. No, the pink shirt doesn’t give it away. Apparently they don’t use the pink for girls and blue for boys thing here.
We asked our maid to cook some Indonesian food for us on Monday night. She said she was going to make BBQ beef (what they call BBQ beef, anyway). It smelled good enough, but I really couldn’t eat much of it and neither could anyone else. It was funny, all of us sitting around the table with our maid around the corner at the kitchen sink doing dishes and we’re trying to cover up the fact that we didn’t like it. We were able to tell her nicely that we didn’t like it. She laughed and apologized. They eat a lot of noodles and veggies here -- I guess I should have told her that’s what we really wanted.
There are a lot of perks living here. Having furniture custom made for cheap is great. We have really enjoyed picking things out. Being chauffeured around town is nice, as well. We also love having a household staff (7 people are at our house, besides our family, all the time). Things just seem to magically happen. Tonight, I noticed the kitchen trash was getting full. A little while later, I went to throw something away and realized it had been emptied. Okay, I didn’t even notice Kandar (our gardener) come in the house, let alone empty the trash! Things like that happen all the time. Sundays are a reminder at how much work they all do because it is our housekeepers’ day off (a husband and wife) so we have to take care of everything just like it was in Michigan, only no dishwasher. Our maid even takes the plastic grocery bags and wraps them up into tiny little shapes to save room.
While there are many perks, there are things that are difficult, as well. Despite our best efforts at keeping the kitchen counters clean, there are constantly a dozen or so ants roaming around (not to mention the ones that are on the floor). We also have been finding dead (or dying) bees in our house. We had a mosquito net installed in Mallory’s room this week to cover her crib because she has so many mosquito bites on her tiny little body. In addition to the bug infestation, the pollution in this city is horrible. The air quality is so bad you can’t see very far when you get into the city. Luckily, it’s not as bad here in Pondok Indah. The rivers are horribly polluted. People just throw trash out their windows and dump it anywhere they want. I kind of chuckle when I think about all the environmentalists in the US. They would freak out if they saw what people were living in here. Creed and I were talking the other night about not understanding why people don’t strive to have better lives for themselves here. They don’t seem to care that they don’t have many green spaces or that their children don’t have any place to play. The poor areas of town (just behind all the buildings on the streets, you don’t have to look very far) make us all sad. The houses are just built out of whatever people can find. It has definitely opened all of our eyes. As much as people in the states complain about how things are, things really are good there. Living here just this short time has made us grateful for what we have been blessed with and also made us aware of the world around us and the need to help.
Okay, enough of the serious talk. The boys are thrilled to start school in a week and a half. They will go this week to have their evaluations and to look at the school. I’m excited to have them start, as well. I can’t believe Luke is going to be in Kindergarten. He is really looking forward to it.
Our branch has grown by leaps and bounds. There have been 4 pretty good sized families (including us) that have moved in this summer. It is nice to see some more children. We were thrilled that one family has children the same ages as our boys. We are going to have them over this week to swim.
We hope you’re all doing well. We miss everyone.
Heidi (and Creed)
I can’t believe we’ve been here a month already. Time is going by so quickly. We are adjusting just fine and enjoying the different things about living in Jakarta. The weather is hot, but not nearly as bad as I had imagined. Mind you, it’s very warm, but I thought it would be unbearable and it really isn’t. Maybe I’m getting used to it.
We have spent the past few weeks trying to keep ourselves entertained and also continuing to get settled by having several pieces of furniture made. The sofa, loveseat and computer desk we had made were all delivered this week. It’s fun to start feeling like this is our home and not some place that feels very temporary. We went and looked at the furniture for our Family Room and our sitting room yesterday. They make the frame and put the padding on and then have you look at it, sit on it and test it to make sure you like it before they put the fabric on it. It’s funny to see furniture without the material. That furniture should be finished in about three weeks. We also went and ordered a carpet (like American carpet) to be cut and bound for our living room.
We are all hoping our sea shipment comes in the next couple of weeks. We have been informed that it is supposed to be at the dock on the 6th of August. We’ve heard it usually takes a couple of weeks after that for it to clear customs and then get to us. The boys are anxious to get their bikes and rollerblades and some of their other toys.
We spent the morning yesterday at a place called Ancol. Sea World Indonesia is there (not affiliated with the Sea World in the states) and there is also a water park, amusement park, and several other attractions. It is on the coast, but there aren’t really any beaches (most of the coastline near Jakarta is for commercial use - shipping, fishing, marinas, etc.). It was fun to see everything and be somewhere besides the city. At Sea World Mallory especially liked seeing all the fish and she loved the shark tank. When one of the sharks would swim by her she would get so excited she could hardly contain herself. Her little legs would start kicking and she would make as much noise as possible. She’s funny. We also took a gondola ride that goes above several of the attractions, then along the beach for a while. We enjoyed looking out over the ocean and seeing some islands just north of Jakarta (part of the Thousand Islands – which number approximately 150 in total, not 1,000). By the way, they put Thousand Island dressing on everything here.
I took the boys into the clinic to have their x-rays for TB. They have to have them for school. It was interesting. The clinic is nice, but they just do things a little backwards -- something I need to get used to. The boys got a lot of attention (they usually do whenever we go out) when they all filed into the x-ray room.
We met Creed at the office on Friday night and then went further downtown to a huge mall. It’s really nice with very upscale stores. We ate at the Hard Rock Café and really enjoyed having nachos (something I had been dreaming about) and hamburgers and Creed had his dream meal, fajitas. While we were there, the people sitting next to us asked to hold Mallory and to take pictures with her. She usually doesn’t mind, she just smiles and charms them. I’m glad she’s so easy going about the whole thing. We still get people asking us if she is a boy. No, the pink shirt doesn’t give it away. Apparently they don’t use the pink for girls and blue for boys thing here.
We asked our maid to cook some Indonesian food for us on Monday night. She said she was going to make BBQ beef (what they call BBQ beef, anyway). It smelled good enough, but I really couldn’t eat much of it and neither could anyone else. It was funny, all of us sitting around the table with our maid around the corner at the kitchen sink doing dishes and we’re trying to cover up the fact that we didn’t like it. We were able to tell her nicely that we didn’t like it. She laughed and apologized. They eat a lot of noodles and veggies here -- I guess I should have told her that’s what we really wanted.
There are a lot of perks living here. Having furniture custom made for cheap is great. We have really enjoyed picking things out. Being chauffeured around town is nice, as well. We also love having a household staff (7 people are at our house, besides our family, all the time). Things just seem to magically happen. Tonight, I noticed the kitchen trash was getting full. A little while later, I went to throw something away and realized it had been emptied. Okay, I didn’t even notice Kandar (our gardener) come in the house, let alone empty the trash! Things like that happen all the time. Sundays are a reminder at how much work they all do because it is our housekeepers’ day off (a husband and wife) so we have to take care of everything just like it was in Michigan, only no dishwasher. Our maid even takes the plastic grocery bags and wraps them up into tiny little shapes to save room.
While there are many perks, there are things that are difficult, as well. Despite our best efforts at keeping the kitchen counters clean, there are constantly a dozen or so ants roaming around (not to mention the ones that are on the floor). We also have been finding dead (or dying) bees in our house. We had a mosquito net installed in Mallory’s room this week to cover her crib because she has so many mosquito bites on her tiny little body. In addition to the bug infestation, the pollution in this city is horrible. The air quality is so bad you can’t see very far when you get into the city. Luckily, it’s not as bad here in Pondok Indah. The rivers are horribly polluted. People just throw trash out their windows and dump it anywhere they want. I kind of chuckle when I think about all the environmentalists in the US. They would freak out if they saw what people were living in here. Creed and I were talking the other night about not understanding why people don’t strive to have better lives for themselves here. They don’t seem to care that they don’t have many green spaces or that their children don’t have any place to play. The poor areas of town (just behind all the buildings on the streets, you don’t have to look very far) make us all sad. The houses are just built out of whatever people can find. It has definitely opened all of our eyes. As much as people in the states complain about how things are, things really are good there. Living here just this short time has made us grateful for what we have been blessed with and also made us aware of the world around us and the need to help.
Okay, enough of the serious talk. The boys are thrilled to start school in a week and a half. They will go this week to have their evaluations and to look at the school. I’m excited to have them start, as well. I can’t believe Luke is going to be in Kindergarten. He is really looking forward to it.
Our branch has grown by leaps and bounds. There have been 4 pretty good sized families (including us) that have moved in this summer. It is nice to see some more children. We were thrilled that one family has children the same ages as our boys. We are going to have them over this week to swim.
We hope you’re all doing well. We miss everyone.
Heidi (and Creed)
Photos - July 31
Mosquito netting for Mallory's crib.
One of the benefits of having household staff: they fold up your plastic grocery bags.
The new desk & couch.
Photos: July 19 - July 31, 2005
As far as we can tell, Mallory is the cutest little girl in Jakarta. 
In the US, this is known as a dish-drying rack. In Indonesia, this is also known as a fruit & vegetable drying rack. After the process of cleaning fruits & vegetables with the special soap solution, we rinse them in bottled water. The dish-drying rack seems to be a convenient place to put fruits & vegetables, as well.
We arrived home one night and found a huge snail on our front porch. Our security guard found another one and brought it over to our front porch, as well. Apparently snails this size aren't very common because the security guard, Cartim (our driver), and Ajis all thought they were interesting, too.
Sea World / Ancol - July 30 Photos
A sea horse bench at Seaworld Indonesia.
Luke liked the fish trash cans.
Grant and Luke reaching in to touch manta rays and sharks.
The family after visiting Sea World - you can see Grant's and Luke's shirts are still wet.
Grant, Creed, and Mallory on the gondola ride.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
July 17th
Hello again,
We have made some progress this last week in getting our house feeling like we are a little more settled in, but it will probably take a good 6 weeks. Our air shipment arrived last Thursday (quicker than we expected), and it had quite a few toys for the boys, a lot of our kitchen dishes, pots, and pans, and Mallory’s crib and dresser. Our sea shipment will not arrive for another month, though.
This week Heidi went to an interior decorating place and ordered some family room furniture (sofas and chairs) as well as a couple of chairs for our bedroom. Later that day, the same decorator came to our home to measure our windows for window coverings. The sofas will be finished in about 5 weeks and the window blinds will probably take 2 weeks. Having furniture custom made in Jakarta is very reasonable compared to the US (probably half the price in the US). It will be nice to get some furniture in our house that looks the way we’d like it to look and to replace the rented sofas in our family room.
Here’s something for the embarrassing file. We found out that we’ve been saying our housekeepers name incorrectly. We’ve been calling her Wasiah, when her name is really Warsi. We feel badly that she hasn’t told us we’ve been saying it incorrectly. She always just smiled and answered when called. It is probably like calling Nash “Nick” or something.
On Saturday (yesterday) we went to a place about 40 minutes south of Jakarta called Sentul – a city / housing development in the hills on the way to the mountains closest to Jakarta. For work we had arranged an event for the employees to test drive the new Ford Focus being launched here in a couple of months, as well as compare it to the prior version of the product and to competition. It was great to get out of the city and to see Indonesia outside of Jakarta. It is really beautiful here. The whole family went to the test drive event, then afterward we took the boys to an equestrian center and had them go on a pony ride (see Grant’s description in his note, as well as a picture or two).
Yesterday afternoon Heidi and I went to the mall so that we could do a little bit of shopping and so that I could get a haircut (long over due). My barber in Canton took about 15 minutes – including washing my hair at the beginning. At the place I got my hair cut yesterday it took over 45 minutes. 3 different people worked on my hair – one to wash it at the beginning (that took at least 15 minutes), then a different guy cut my hair – 1 millimeter at a time, and 1 hair at a time. After he cut my hair, another person rinsed my hair off. I hope all haircut places in Jakarta aren’t like that one – it took way too long.
It has rained several times this week (though the rainy season doesn’t start until November, we hear). Traffic here is bad enough, but when it rains, traffic is even worse. After shopping at the mall and the eternal haircut, we called our driver, Cartem (pronounced char-team), to pick us up at the entrance. It took him more than 30 minutes to get from the mall parking lot to the place to pick us up. It was raining so hard that the traffic was backed up to get into and out of the mall, and things were moving slowly. It was quite frustrating.
Here’s another observation – we see all sorts of American restaurants here: Outback Steakhouse, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, even Sizzler. But the American restaurants we see the most are A&W and Kentucky Fried Chicken. I am sure there are more of those two restaurants per capita in Jakarta than in Detroit. It is so funny to go into those places. For the most part the menu is the same (but they add rice as a side order alternative to French fries, as well as a few other Asian menu items), and if you eat in the restaurant they serve it on stoneware plates. It is fast food, like the US, but they put your food on a very heavy plate.
Well, that’s about it for now.
Adios,
Creed & Heidi
We have made some progress this last week in getting our house feeling like we are a little more settled in, but it will probably take a good 6 weeks. Our air shipment arrived last Thursday (quicker than we expected), and it had quite a few toys for the boys, a lot of our kitchen dishes, pots, and pans, and Mallory’s crib and dresser. Our sea shipment will not arrive for another month, though.
This week Heidi went to an interior decorating place and ordered some family room furniture (sofas and chairs) as well as a couple of chairs for our bedroom. Later that day, the same decorator came to our home to measure our windows for window coverings. The sofas will be finished in about 5 weeks and the window blinds will probably take 2 weeks. Having furniture custom made in Jakarta is very reasonable compared to the US (probably half the price in the US). It will be nice to get some furniture in our house that looks the way we’d like it to look and to replace the rented sofas in our family room.
Here’s something for the embarrassing file. We found out that we’ve been saying our housekeepers name incorrectly. We’ve been calling her Wasiah, when her name is really Warsi. We feel badly that she hasn’t told us we’ve been saying it incorrectly. She always just smiled and answered when called. It is probably like calling Nash “Nick” or something.
On Saturday (yesterday) we went to a place about 40 minutes south of Jakarta called Sentul – a city / housing development in the hills on the way to the mountains closest to Jakarta. For work we had arranged an event for the employees to test drive the new Ford Focus being launched here in a couple of months, as well as compare it to the prior version of the product and to competition. It was great to get out of the city and to see Indonesia outside of Jakarta. It is really beautiful here. The whole family went to the test drive event, then afterward we took the boys to an equestrian center and had them go on a pony ride (see Grant’s description in his note, as well as a picture or two).
Yesterday afternoon Heidi and I went to the mall so that we could do a little bit of shopping and so that I could get a haircut (long over due). My barber in Canton took about 15 minutes – including washing my hair at the beginning. At the place I got my hair cut yesterday it took over 45 minutes. 3 different people worked on my hair – one to wash it at the beginning (that took at least 15 minutes), then a different guy cut my hair – 1 millimeter at a time, and 1 hair at a time. After he cut my hair, another person rinsed my hair off. I hope all haircut places in Jakarta aren’t like that one – it took way too long.
It has rained several times this week (though the rainy season doesn’t start until November, we hear). Traffic here is bad enough, but when it rains, traffic is even worse. After shopping at the mall and the eternal haircut, we called our driver, Cartem (pronounced char-team), to pick us up at the entrance. It took him more than 30 minutes to get from the mall parking lot to the place to pick us up. It was raining so hard that the traffic was backed up to get into and out of the mall, and things were moving slowly. It was quite frustrating.
Here’s another observation – we see all sorts of American restaurants here: Outback Steakhouse, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, even Sizzler. But the American restaurants we see the most are A&W and Kentucky Fried Chicken. I am sure there are more of those two restaurants per capita in Jakarta than in Detroit. It is so funny to go into those places. For the most part the menu is the same (but they add rice as a side order alternative to French fries, as well as a few other Asian menu items), and if you eat in the restaurant they serve it on stoneware plates. It is fast food, like the US, but they put your food on a very heavy plate.
Well, that’s about it for now.
Adios,
Creed & Heidi
Cecak Photo
Here's a picture Heidi took of a cecak last night -- we'll try to take a better photo later and post it, but they are pretty quick. This one was on the roof of one of the balconies. It is about 4 inches in total length - head to tail. Their size ranges from 2 inches to 6 inches. The one that fell on Luke's head the first night in our house was about 6 inches.
Grant - July 17th
Dear family & friends,
It has been really nice living here. The house is great. My room is really tall. It has windows about 25 feet tall. It has also has a balcony. The pool is FUN!! It has a waterfall.
I went to Singapore for fun. I went to a fun aqaurium that had really cool animals. I saw sea turtles, sharks, starfish, jellyfish, and big, ginormous fish. I also saw some really wierd animals.
Yesterday I went horseback riding in the forest. The horse went over a log. The horse was going too slow, so the guide to me to kick the horse. When I kicked the horse it went faster, and I went ahead of Nash, then I was in the front. After the ride I fed my horse carrots.
It has been really nice living here. The house is great. My room is really tall. It has windows about 25 feet tall. It has also has a balcony. The pool is FUN!! It has a waterfall.
I went to Singapore for fun. I went to a fun aqaurium that had really cool animals. I saw sea turtles, sharks, starfish, jellyfish, and big, ginormous fish. I also saw some really wierd animals.
Yesterday I went horseback riding in the forest. The horse went over a log. The horse was going too slow, so the guide to me to kick the horse. When I kicked the horse it went faster, and I went ahead of Nash, then I was in the front. After the ride I fed my horse carrots.
My favorite restaurant here is a place called The Tamani Kafe. It has a delicious drink there called "Orange Freeze." I love it.
From,
Grant
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