Second lunch Indonesian style

A Padang meal.

We checked out the scene, food, and restrooms at the Batavia Cafe. Then, after we ordered, we found out that the family didn't like that kind of food and were waiting to eat at a Padang restaurant. We then moved on to a different location for a family style meal. At Padang restaurants they simply bring everything to the table and customers are only charged for those they eat. As a family we pretty much ate everything, including some very spicy and exotic dishes. Laurie and I mostly played it safe to avoid "a dragon inside" problem later. I hated to pass up so much good food. We moved on for further adventures soon afterward.

The men's room at Cafe Batavia

A bit different than what I'm used to but I see there have been some famous visitors...

Family dining at Cafe Batavia

We are enjoying a day in the old Dutch part of Jakarta on a nice day, called Batavia. It feels good to be out walking again too. Batavia is the old name for Jakarta when it was under Dutch occupation. The old palace was turned into a museum (with pretty poor signage).

Meal at the fancy Batavia Cafe. Turns out only Dale, Daniel, and I ordered
here while the rest of the family waited to go to a Padang restaurant.

We stopped for a meal at a fancy colonial restaurant, the Batavia Cafe. We didn't know it but the family stopped there just for us--they preferred spicy Padang food so were waiting to go to another restaurant.

a Minangkabau wedding

I haven't written about the wedding, although Dale has done a good job. So I'll just supplement what he said here.

Nana's family comes from the Minangkabau tribe in Sumatra so the wedding followed the Minangkabau tradition. First there were the vows, which followed Muslim tradition. That was the more important part of the ceremony. Only family and close friends were invited. Nana, her mom, sister, and sister-in-law sat in chairs near the rest of us. Nana was in all white with diamonds and all were beautifully dressed. At a table in the middle, Eko made his vows to Nana's dad, with two witnesses and two other men (I'm not completely sure about their roles). Then Nana came up and there was talk, advice, and the ring. The ceremony was quite short and Nana and Eko were married.

Then we had a break with some food while Nana changed into her Minangkabau outfit. It was quite spectacular, especially the sunting, which is put together piece by piece to make a large, heavy (about 10 pound), very impressive headdress. Nana had to wear that for about 3 hours while greeting the guests. Because of its weight she can't move her head and needed help walking up to the stage. It can also cause a headache and is quite uncomfortable. As Iin said, “beauty is pain.”

After everything was in place and it was time for the reception we all lined up for a procession into the big room. Dale, Daniel, and I were placed at the end of Nana's family but before Eko's family. (Daniel, in case we haven't mentioned it, is a Portuguese friend who Nana met while studying in Japan and who now works for Google in Ireland.) We all followed the bride and groom into the reception room and they went up with their parents on the stage while the rest of us peeled off for the reception. Then there were a couple of dances performed by Minangkabau dancers, and the party began.

People streamed in and went on stage to greet and have their pictures taken with the bride, groom, and parents. This went on for close to 3 hours. About 700 people were expected but, since it was a rainy day and many of the guests only rode motorbikes, fewer people showed up. But it was quite an impressive turnout to us.

Nana's proud parents.

Wedding photos after an truly amazing day!

We had the experience of a lifetime today when we were included as part of Nana's immediate family for her wedding. Yesterday we moved into a nearby hotel to get an early start on the big day and avoid potential problems with Jakarta traffic. We were up at 5 am waiting for further instructions. We were soon whisked over to the large hall that was prepared to handle the estimated 700 close friends and relatives expected. The rains held that number down a bit but a large group turned out to offer their congratulations and witness this event.

All made up with false eyelashes...

Laurie was whisked off to be made up and dressed in the traditional costume tailor-made just for her. I was nearby getting into my costume with the men in the family, including Nana's close friend Daniel who had just flown in from Ireland for the event. We were quickly dressed and joined the seated family for the formal vows and documentation, which was the legal part of the wedding.

...and blingy shoes.

The vows:

Wedding ring during the vows.

After a short break for food and to allow the bride and groom to change into their gorgeous Minangkabau attire, including the amazing headdress that Nana wore, we were back for a formal procession and much greeting and photo taking.

Bride and groom ready to greet the guests.

Nana's family (left to right): Kiki, Koko, Ayu (Koko's wife),
Junizir (Nana's dad), Munaryati (Nana's mom), Iin, Reza, and Didid 

Daniel, Eko, Nana, Dale, Laurie

Sunting (Minangkabau headdress)

We had VIP seating for a huge spread of fancy Indonesian food and met many people including some that offered us places to stay, took our photos, and generally greeted us with open arms. This event lasted 3-4 hours but will be with us for a lifetime.

Iin was the prime organizer of the wedding.

Just some of the delicious food served at the reception.

Reza and Kiki

Dale and Laurie looking good.

Reza and Daniel eating in the VIP area.

Reza's brother and his family with Mama Nana, Dale, Daniel and me.

Bride & groom with parents.

These guys rocked with their
a capella oldies style.

When we got back, the power went out for a couple of hours and we went on visiting and sharing stories about the day and other things. Nana's parents got some much needed rest and Nana's brothers and Daniel have just left along with Nana and Eko who headed out for their first night at their new home. We will have much more to share about this amazing wedding soon, but, for now here are a few photos that capture a little of the scene.

Tomorrow we have some more local adventures planned in Jakarta with Nana and family and then we will head out for new areas.

Nana's wedding--a quick note

Dale in costume.

This is just a quick look at how my clothing came together for the wedding. As the men were dressing I found I couldn't button the jacket over my shirt. Reza quickly returned with one of his t-shirts and saved the day.

We will have much more to say and show about the incredible wedding we just participated in but everyone needs to rest some first. All I can saw right now is what an amazing lifetime experience!

recap and catch up

The problem with having a full-blown adventure is that we're too busy living it (and then too exhausted afterward) to document the activities. This is Day 3 and should be a quiet day. But even a quiet day is full of adventure. We had a wonderful breakfast of bubur ayam (sort of cream of rice with shredded chicken and other goodies on top). Plus our favorite green bread with Skippy peanut butter. 

Meals are always an adventure and always delicious.

Pandan bread with Skippy peanut butter.

Dale went with Nana's dad to take her to her 5-hour salon appointment to get beautiful and relaxed for the wedding tomorrow. I went with Nana's mom and Iin (Nana's sister) and Reza (Iin's husband) to the tailor's house to fix Nana's mom's wedding outfit. She is very beautiful and tiny--the outfit was too large.

Now we wait to all go to the hotel this afternoon so we will be there for the vows, which start early in the morning. Given Jakarta's traffic, there is no way to get across town with any confidence to be there by a specific time. After the vows there will be a reception that will go until 1 pm. They expect about 700 people, most of whom stay for a short time--shake hands, eat, go. Iin had 1000 people at her wedding.

So, a few of the highlights so far:

The plane ride was pretty harrowing for a nonflyer but quite calm and perfect for those who like to be balanced precariously high in the air in a huge machine that's obviously too heavy to stay aloft. But no matter how smooth, it was not fun to be on planes for over 24 hours and we were pretty exhausted and disoriented by the end. We came in about 7 am Jakarta time and Nana, Iin, and Reza were there to meet us. We got the tour of Reza's house where we have a room to ourselves, went out to a fancy mall to find shoes for me (Dale still only has his black Keens because nobody liked the dress shoes), and ate a traditional Indonesian meal. The food is fabulous here and I keep meaning to take photos of my meals but don't think of it until I've almost eaten it all. We also went shopping at a large market and were astounded by the number of fruits we didn't recognize. Went away with dragon fruit, snake fruit, kalanking (?), jackfruit, and others (I can't remember all). My favorite is the snake fruit. We managed to stay up the rest of the day and then went down for a nap around 6 pm that turned into an all-night sleep in the bed that was prepared for Nana's parents.

Next morning we woke to the call to prayers from a local mini-mosque. Very beautiful music and singing that is repeated 5 times a day. There are prayer rooms everywhere in Indonesia--in the airport, the mall, museum, just about everywhere people gather, although our hosts explained that they have had to be creative sometimes to find a place to pray (in the cinema, a park, the train). Nana had to work all day so Iin and Reza were in charge of us. 


We went to the National Museum (they are so gracious--I'm not sure whether they were bored or not), which was much better than we expected. Some great cultural displays. Then to eat at a food court in another mall. Yum. Around 5 we got to the airport to pick up Nana's mom and dad. We will call them Ibu (mother and also a name of respect to women) and Bapok (father, respectful name for men). Ibu is lovely and doesn't speak much English. The first question she asked me is "how old are you?" and, since I had practiced that one, I answered confidently in Bahasa Indonesia "ninety-nine." Guess my language isn't as good as I thought, in fact, I just catch a few words here and there. Very humbling. Bapok surprised us with his ability to speak English, and especially to ask questions. He is charming and outgoing and wants to know all about us, especially Dale. Questions about pensions, cost of gasoline, number of people in Sacramento, number of cars…

There can be no discussion of Jakarta without mentioning traffic. Like Dale says, we need a new word, traffic doesn't begin to describe the situation here. Reza has been our driver for trips all around Jakarta. Iin won't drive and neither will Ibu. I wouldn't consider it, ever. It is beyond anything that can be described, it can only be experienced. The vehicles drive on the left hand side through mostly narrow streets that curve and twist. Cars are going all ways with a river of motorbikes passing constantly on both sides and weaving between cars with inches to spare. Pedestrians walk confidently with their backs to traffic, motorbikes turn around in the middle of the road, a few courageous bicycles ride along (with no lights) in the dark, and all the cars are close enough that we would call it tailgating. Sitting in the car (no seat belts there) I've felt surprisingly calm and relaxed, just fascinated by the kaleidoscope of movement. It actually feels choreographed since every second there is a close call (within inches and seconds) but I've never seen anyone upset, never heard screeching brakes; I have no idea how people survive this but they do. And we hope to also.

Traffic in Jakarta is beyond words and photos are inadequate to describe it.

We still haven't decided what we'll do after the wedding tomorrow. Go on to Jogjakarta? Or Bali? Both are on our list but we still haven't had time to make plans. Nana and Eko have some family visits to do before they go to Bali so we'll get there first. We still haven't met Eko, by the way. Look forward to doing that tonight at the hotel.

Enjoying Jakarta!

We have been in Jakarta for about 36 hours now after our long Singapore Airlines flight that brought us to Seoul via the Bering Strait, and then on to Singapore to wait 5-6 hours at the airport after arriving around 2 am local time. We were up most of this time and the homeopathic meds for jet lag seem to have helped.

Arriving in Jakarta around 7:30 am (Jakarta time--our bodies were 15 hours behind), we proceeded through customs, secured a 30-day visa that will need to be extended, and then rounded up our luggage before finding Nana, Reza, and Iin waiting for us. The humidity was potent upon arrival but the frequent afternoon rains have moderated it and we are adapting. Our hosts are so kind and tolerant and continue to show us a great time in the midst of preparing for what will be a very large family wedding in 2 days. We are enjoying meals out, and seeing Jakarta from the seats of a mini-van where Reza dances through what can only be described as a video game experience. He takes the narrow back streets along with many other autos and even more scooters, which seem to stream in all directions and merge together to occupy the same space without contact. All of this while forward motion is maintained at all costs. I have never experienced anything like it. (Note: there is quite a bit of video capturing action in Jakarta like this "traffic  lesson"). Here's a look at some of the "help" that is available to keep everybody moving too. 

Laurie's princess shoes.

We went out shopping for produce, shoes, and more at a typical shopping center. The shoe shopping was challenging, but we came up with something for Laurie that matches the beautiful costume that has been tailor-made for her. I didn't do as well but have a back-up plan for shoes.

We also attempted to add local micro-sims to our iPhones to take advantage of the wide range of inexpensive telecomm services in Indonesia. We were unable to defeat the protection locked in by ATT so we purchased a cheap phone for $25 and put one of the new micro-sims inside that. The phone has an antenna for TV & radio (which work), a small camera for vid/photos, and many other features that are beyond what would be available in the US. We are still having some trouble sending text msgs but expect this phone to be a big help during our travels. Smart phones are a way of life here with most people seeming to have one or two at all times.

This little phone was a
life-saver throughout Indonesia.

We crashed early last night after dinner and slept through the rest of the night in a room meant for others. A slow start to the morning today included green bread and fruits like snakefruit and dragonfruit and others that we've never seen.

Snakefruit (salak)--yum!!

Dragonfruit--also yum.

Iin and Reza took us to the National Museum where we missed the regular tour in English but saw many exhibits that clearly show the diversity of rich cultures that make up this amazing country and region. Afterwards we crossed town again to arrive at the airport in time to greet Nana's parents for the first time. A brief but very friendly exchange has made us feel even more welcome despite our language barrier. Things will continue to get more busy as the wedding approaches.

Iin and Reza at the National Museum.

Our plans are still fluid after the wedding but will likely include heading across Java towards Bali with a number of stops along the way.

I'm beginning to spot a number of birds unknown to me in spite of being in the middle of a sprawling city with very little green space remaining.

A very happy greeting

After we cleared customs in Jakarta we had a WARM greeting from Nana, Iin, and Reza, as well as the Jakarta weather. Dale and Nana immediately got kopi (coffee addicts that they are). Reza did an amazing job of parking the van as close as physically possible to the arrival gate--on the sidewalk. Try that in Sacramento! This was our first time meeting Iin, Nana's sister, and her husband Reza. Also, our first experience with Jakarta traffic and seatbeltless riding in that unbelievable traffic. 

Greeted at the Jakarta airport by Nana (left), 

Reza (next to Dale), and Iin (right).

My first tiger sighting

So far...

Laurie made the flights without problem

We had a very long trip with a short stop in Seoul, Korea, and a longer 6-hour stop in Singapore (in the middle of the night). It went well and Laurie seemed to enjoy [NOTE FROM LAURIE: enjoy certainly isn't the correct word. I didn't die and that was my goal] most of it including flight tracking, movie watching, vegetarian dining (some), and striking up conversations with a young student from San Jose State who was on his way home to Singapore for Chinese New Year, which he did each year. We took homeopathic jet lag prevention medicine every two hours plus on landings and take-offs which kept us tracking time too.

Laurie pretending to be happy.

The journey begins

Finally on the train.

We're off to quite a multi-modal start for this trip. We car-pooled to the Amtrak station, caught the train to Richmond and then transferred over to BART for a ride down to SFO where we will fly out tomorrow morning. For today, we settled for a shuttle to our hotel (Radisson) to regroup.

We had a little side adventure as we needed to jump back on the shuttle to SFO and do some creative traveling and catch BART to San Bruno and a long walk through huge malls to find a passport shop still open this evening. Turns out we need to have two recent photos each to get our entry visa. Who knew? Well actually it was spelled out at the embassy website...[UPDATE: Turns out we didn't need the photos after all, as we found out when we went to a Visa Service in the middle of Bali to extend our visas 7 more days. Next time we go to Indonesia we'll start with a Visa Service and avoid all the uncertainty and confusion.]

Family photo night and a visa adventure to remember.

We're going to track and leave a few breadcrumbs showing where we are or have been on this trip. To see where we are or have been so far, try this link: http://trackmytour.com/h5vhw#101043

We had a much needed and tasty room service meal and then spent much of the evening going over our packing and trying to wrap up some of the many activities we are about to leave behind.

Getting ready

On one hand, we've had lots of time to get ready for this big adventure. We decided to take the plunge and accept Nana's invitation to come to her wedding in Jakarta months ago. That big step and lots of research and discussion have put us in a position of being very excited and a little nervous about how the trip will go.

On the other hand, there are so many details to consider and that's a lot more than just the questions about what to bring. As I type this, we have things scattered all over the floors and bed while we look for the right solution to all the last minute questions. We spent much of today taking care of other matters, last minute trip shopping, and gathering with family and friends, including Uncle Michael who came from Alaska to visit for a few days.

Uncle Michael reading Lennon a book.

How to prepare for a trip to the tropics while in the middle of winter? What gifts to bring for the many family members we will meet and stay with? As the clock ticks down we are beginning to accept that we will forget some things and are doing the best we can in the midst of coming through the holidays, special events, lots of family time, and in the end most of this is not do or die. One way or the other, we'll be heading for SF tomorrow and then to the airport the next morning. Then the adventure really begins...