Paige's 7th Birthday

Paige and her new scooter

For Paige's 7th birthday she was lucky to have two birthday cakes this year. Her birthday fell on a Thursday so we decided to have one cake on her actual birthday and then another at her birthday party.

Paige blowing out her candles on her first birthday cake

Paige invited three friends to join her at an indoor play centre called "Lollipops" here in Jakarta. The girls had a wonderful time running around, climbing up and down the different levels of the play centre. Paige's favorite part was the flying fox where had to wear a safety harness and went flying across the nets to the other side of the play centre.

We then headed to Pizza Hut and Paige and her friends enjoyed pizza and milkshakes.

We then came home and played some party games and have birthday cake.

I don't know who was more tired by the end of the afternoon, Paige and her friends or Ben and I.

The girls pulling funny faces in the car

Paige and her friends at Lollipops indoor play centre

Paige waiting for her turn on the flying fox

Paige on the flying fox

The girls waiting for their pizzas

Paige's second birthday cake, it was a cheese cake

Paige blowing out her candles

Paige and her friends blowing out the candles again on Paige's birthday cake

Paige and her friends playing in Paige's tent at home

Ragunan Zoo Jakarta

We decided to go and visit the Ragunan Zoo here in Jakarta as we want to see a bit more of the sites around Jakarta. On our outing we where joined by Isha, our house keeper and driver Yamin as they were quite keen to come along.

What can I say the grounds themselves are large and very lush but the animal housing sure needs updating.

It was sad to see that this zoo today is quite out dated.

Concrete, tiled and bared housing are the norm here.

The zoo grounds them selves are great for walking in and even riding your bike here but for the animals that are housed here I feel sorry for them.

I am sure if the members from the political parties were put in these animal houses they would then spend the money on this zoo.

I didn't know what to expect on visiting this zoo but after hearing how much money is spent on the Indonesian schools hear from other countries what hope has this zoo got with getting an money for the bettering of the animals housing from the government.

Tacky fake elephants as you walk in the zoo

Walking through the bird house
One of the monkeys in his cage

The snake pit

Children playing with blocks of ice
Isha, Yamin and Paige
Isha standing in front of an real elephant

Attending A Wedding

On the weekend I was invited to my driver's brother's wedding. As I have been to a couple of Indonesian wedding before I have learnt that they can go all day so I decided to attend after the ceremony.

When Indonesians usually get married they will hold the ceremony at the local mosque then the local community will attend through out the day for the so called reception at invited times to eat food.

The reception is usually held under cover in an area that is able to hold a large number of people. Depending on how big the wedding is it is usually held in the play ground of the local school or in the front of a house which the surrounds roads are close off.

When I arrived at the wedding the area of the wedding was set up like a stage show where I walked past the arranged chairs, past the VIP guests table at the front then I greet the bride and groom on stage. It is tradition to place a white envelope with money in a wooden box before or after greeting the bride and groom which I did.

Yamin my driver was very happy I attended the reception, he waited until I arrived to eat his food. As a westerner we are treated as VIP so I was allowed to sit at the special table and eat the food which was on offer. It was lovely to meet my drivers family and extended family.

There was an expected 900 people who would visit and eat throughout the day. In Indonesian weddings the local neighbours, their families as well as friends and family members attend the reception so I watched a number of people come and go while I was at the reception.

At the reception the bride and groom will change at fits three times so I enjoyed seeing two of the traditional outfits, I had a wonderful afternoon experiencing a local Indonesian wedding.

Bride and Grooms first outfit

Bride and Grooms second out fit

From left Yamin and some of his family members

Bernadette with Bride and Groom

Wedding guests greet the bride and groom

My driver's wife and driver Yamin

Yamin's wife and son


Yamin's son

Sunda Kelapa

This blog sees us visiting the Sunda Kelapa distract here in Jakarta.

It is an older area of Jakarta and we wanted to explore the dock area where the Makassar Schooners are located.

When we arrived we could see a number of schooners lining the docks just as they have for many years, most of the schooners are at least 60 years old.

The dock stretchers for hundreds of meters, we saw many of the schooners being loaded either by hand or with a small crain. We ended up taking one of the tour guilds up on his offer to show us around which set us back 100,000rp ($10). It was money well spent as we where told so much information about the workings of the dock and a little history. We where also able to board one of the schooners and get a good look at the boat. To board the boat we had to walk up on two planks of wood which was easier said then done, all I saw was the black water below so it took me a little time to get aboard I didn't want to fall in at all.

Looking at the water level, it was amazing how much below the water line the dock sat, the walls to the dock had been built up over the years to stop the tide flowing onto the dock. I didn't realise how far Jakarta was below sea level until seeing the dock.

We looked around the boat and was able to go below the deck and see where the crew members sleep also see where the captain operates the boat from. Many years ago the schooners where only under sail power but these days the sails have been replaced by engines. The shipments that go out to all the islands of Indonesia consists of many things from, rice, cardboard, motorcycles, bamboo and amazing amounts of cement. As you walked along the dock you could even smell the cement in the air. You name it, it get shipped from here. If it wasn't for the modern trucks, cars and motor cycles you would think that we had stepped back in time as these schooners were a sight to see. Many of the boats seemed be getting worked on by the crew while there wasn't much else to do. We where told that the boats themselves are not really insured it's the cargo that is the important item.

Small boats across from the dock

The sea wall

Men standing on lifeboats doing some boat maintenance

Boat load of illegal coal

Water line on the boats to mark when boat is fully loaded

Ben with the tour guild

Ben waking on the wooden planks onto one of the boats

Rice loaded in the hull of the boat

Government stamp for the rice bags





Captain Bernadette





In the captains area on the boat



Looking at the front of the boat

Captains area

One of the crew member in his sleeping area

Bernadette climbing the stairs from the bottom of the boat

Bernadette climbing on the planks of wood to get off the boat

Men loading a boat

Men loading the boat by hand

Tour guild talking about the dried palm oil



Our driver playing around

After finishing at the dock we headed to the Fatahillah Square where we found an interesting amount of buildings and a large amount of bikes for hire. We decided to try the Cafe Batavia and was surprised at how once again we felt like we had stepped back in history and to the year of the the 1940's due to the decor of the cafe.

Bikes in the square

Post office in the square


One of the building lining the square

Cafe Batavia




The second floor bar area of Cafe Batavia

Pictures lined the stair case in the cafe



The second floor dining room

The men's toilet had floor to ceiling mirrors

We then headed to the Maritime Museum which we found the building itself very interesting.

The building was built in 1645 and was a VOC warehouse. Through the museum we found many different models of the different types of boats that belonged to the Indonesian history. The museum was little boring and run down but the building its self was interesting to see and walk through.

Walk way between two of the buildings of the museum


Ben standing next to one of the wood pillars in the building



One boat model

Another boat model

Another boat model

Captain Ben

We stopped to look at the Watch Tower which is only about 500 meters away from the museum. The Watch Tower was built in 1839 to sight and direct traffic to the port. We climbed the tower to see the view over the port. It was amazing to see how much land has been reclaimed since 1839. The tower is quite far from the start of the port these days.

Small garden at the Watch Tower

The Watch Tower

Bernadette taking in the view

One view from the watch tower

View of the port from the watch tower

Old run down buildings in the area


One the streets of Sunda Kelapa

Two houses on one of the streets