Taman Safari Jakarta

On Ben's last break we decided to go and visit the Taman Safari Park here in Jakarta.

It was about two and a half hour drive from Jakarta, which I am glad we went on a week day as I heard from other expats weekends are just to busy to really enjoy the experience.

The road leading up to the safari park was lined with carrot sellers where we stopped to purchase a number of bunches of carrots as when you drive through the park you are allowed to feed the animals in some sections. I don't think I had ever seen so many carrots in the one place.

On arrival to the entrance we were given a map that shows the park is made up of a number of different sections one of which you drive around and see all the animals roaming and some will even come up to you car to take the carrots from you. Paige was really excited to see all the animals but at first she didn't want to feed them through the window but after a while she changed her mind.

While driving you enter a section of the park which has the large cats roaming and it suggests to keep the windows up in the car. I was surprised at how many Indonesian people in their cars kept their windows down, as usual many Indonesians don't think about their safety.

Once we had driven around the section we headed to the section where you could hold some baby animals which we did.

I think for Indonesian standards the park is very well done and the highlight for me was to hold a baby orangutan.

Picture: One of the animals going up to a car

Picture: Ben feeding one of the animals a carrot from the car

Picture: Camels on the parks drive

Picture: Zebra on the parks drive

Picture: Paige patting a tiger cub

Picture: Bernadette & Paige patting a white tiger cub

Picture: Paige holding a baby orangutan

Picture: Bernadette holding a baby orangutan

Picture: Baby orangutan trying to give Bernadette a kiss

Picture: The parks lion bus

Picture: The parks rhino bus

Picture: The parks tiger bus

Cooking Class

Having lived in Indonesia before there are curtain food dishes I really like. This time I thought I would like to learn to cook them so with out wasting any time I arranged with a friends housekeeper, Marnie to teach myself and my house keeper, Isah how to cook Indonesian Chicken Curry.

I have tasted Marie's chicken curry before and really liked it so what better way to spend a morning then learning how to make some Indonesian food.

I think the best part of the morning was eating what we had made for lunch.

Picture: Isah and Marnie

Picture: Marnie picking some ingredients from the garden

Picture: Isah & Marnie cutting up the ingredients

Picture: Combining some ingredients in the mortar and pestle

Picture: Frying the curry mixture

Picture: Chicken curry cooking

Indonesian Chicken Curry

1kg chicken drumsticks or fillets, 1 onion medium diced, 3 salam leaves, 4 candle nuts, 4cm piece of ginger, 4cm piece of galangal, 2cm piece of turmeric, 4 large kaffir lime leaves, 3 garlic cloves, 5 lemongrass Stalks, half tsp black peppercorns, quarter tsp coriander seeds, quarter tsp brown sugar, 200ml coconut milk, 4 tbls light olive oil, 2 carrots sliced, 2 potatoes cubed and a handful of green beans.

Start by pounding the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle, in sequence adding the following to each layer, candle nuts, garlic, galangal, ginger and turmeric.

Trim and bruise the lemongrass stalks.

Heat oil in frying pan and add the onion and fry for 2 minutes, reduce the heat, then add the curry paste and keep frying until all the aromas are released.

To this add the lemongrass and salam and kaffir lime leaves 1 tsp of salt, gently stir for a few minutes, then add quarter cup of water and the chicken.

Stir the chicken to coat all the flavours of curry paste on the pieces, then almost cover the chicken half way with water and put on the lid and simmer for 45 minutes after this add the carrots and potatoes and cook a further 15minutes then add the green beans and cook a further 15minutes stirring occasionally.

When the vegetables are cooked stir the coconut milk through and service with rice.

Our Pet

Picture: Rani our new kitten

Introducing "Rani" our kitten. When we arrived in Jakarta we promised Paige that once we where settled we may look at getting a pet. We have found with many expats coming and going there are always animals looking for new homes so I thought this time we will wait and see.

Well it just so happens that a friend of ours cat had already given birth to a litter of three kittens and two had already found homes so we decided to adopt the last kitten and we name her Rani, which means princess in Bahasa Indonesian. We have had Rani for about a week now and she seems to have become part of the family, Paige is enjoying having Rani around but doesn't like her wanting to play when Paige is trying to sleep.

Picture: The mother cat with the three kittens

In Indonesia we find many cats wondering around the housing complex and you can tell if they are a local cat by their tail as many local cats are missing part or all of their tails. Something I have always wondered when it comes to pets many Indonesians don't like dogs or cats but others do. It is sometimes hard to find staff to work in your home when you have pets so its always best to let them know at the interview stage that you have pets because they will either say yes or no to working for you.

At times I find it a very confusing issue in Indonesia the two main religions are Muslim or Christian and depending on how religious a person is will depend on their tolerance of having animals around.

I decided to do some research on the Internet and found the following explanation:

"It is perfectly acceptable to have dogs outside your home as guard dogs for your house,farm, property, animals ect. It is preferred to not have them in the home in order to keep your home clean and pure for the reason of making salat (prayer) because the angels will be witnessing your salat (praying) and angels are know in Islam to dislike unclean places. It is a kind of respect for your angel to keep your area, room apartment, house clean and free from animal hairs, debris, dirt and even dust. Even owning an indoor cat is permissible if the cat is clean, house trained and you clean up after it. If the cat is causing your home to be unclean then even a cat indoors is haram if it causes you heath or cleanliness issues"

In reading the above I realised why the house maids always like to keep the houses so clean and that might explain why before praying Muslim people wash them selves clean.

Picture: One of the local cats roaming around the housing complex