The "I" Factor

It is all very exciting when you get the chance to live overseas and having lived in a couple of different countries before it doesn't matter where in the world I have lived there are things that have me asking "Why", "I don't understand" or "I just cant believe it" all comes down to one thing which I like to call the " _ factor". It is just a matter of filling in the blank with an "I" as we are living in Indonesia.

The "I factor" seems to cover things like;

• When the washing machine is repaired then you are told "It all OK Mrs" and a day later the same problem occurs, you put it down to the "I factor".


• Your stuck in traffic and you start to think "There must be an accident" , so when you pass the policeman directing traffic he seems to be not helping the traffic flow at all you put it down to the "I factor"


• When your driver first started working for you, you made sure you told him that you do not lend money and then he asks to borrow money and as well seems not to be able to work a full month without there being some sort of problem, you put it down to the "I factor".


• You make an appointment for the maintenance man or sales person to meet you at your house at 1pm but they do not show up until 3pm, you put it down to the "I factor".


• You finally find your favorite box of breakfast cereal in a supermarket and then you look at the price which is $15 and you refuse to buy it, you put it down to the "I factor"


• You catch the same flight every two weeks and the flight never arrives on time, you put it down to the "I factor".


• You give simple instructions to be followed and you ask "Do you understand what needs to be done" the person answers "Yes Mrs" and you find out the wrong thing has been done, you put it down to the "I factor".

Living in Jakarta I think there hasn't been a day that has gone by I don't hear myself saying "Oh the "I" factor. The joys of living in a different place other then Australia.

Moved In

I can now finally say we have moved into the house here in Jakarta. It only took 54 days but who's counting. With a little paint and a bit of tlc I think the house has come up looking really good from the work which I requested.

Our Items arrived on the 23rd of June and by Thursday the 24th June we where sleeping in the house. Moving from the apartment into the house was quite easy as both are located in the some complex because we didn't have many items in the apartment the move didn't take very long. Thanks to Isah (our house keeper) Marina and Marnie (Marina's house keeper) unpacking our shipment went really fast. Herman our driver kept Paige busy unwrapping items so it went all very smoothly.

With moving into anywhere new there are always teething problems that need to be sorted out and one was the washing machine. The problem was the drain hose for the water was too high up for the water to drain away. You would think it would be easy to fix just take the pipe out of the wall, put the hose through the wall then add extra draining pipe to the hose then all would be good. Well that's what I suggested in the first place but after a number of attempts from the maintenance department of cutting down the pipe twice, making a platform for sit the washing machine to sit on then realising I was right and the men did what I said and the problem was solved, it only took five days to get the washing machine draining correctly. Isah our house keeper said "Mrs you said how to fix the problem at the start and they not listen, these men are crazy".

With the washing machine sorted and some leaks from pipes fixed I think we have ironed out some problems. Paige was really happy to see all her toys and her bike again it does make a big difference having some of our own items around us.

It is starting to feel like home away from home.

So let me tell you about the house;

The house is what I would call a villa or town house. It consists of two stories, which the ground floor consists of open plan living and dining area, a small study area, toilet room, a small second living room which is Paige's playroom, enclosed outdoor area, a laundry area and house keepers area at the back of the house.

The second floor consists of three bedrooms, plus study room which could be used as a bedroom, two bathrooms and a small storage cupboard.

Below are some photos of what the house looks like now to see before photos visit the blog post "House 21 Waiting to Move In" under May 2010.

I am very happy with the end results.

Picture: A map of the house layout

OUT SIDE

Picture: View looking down street right hand side of driveway

Picture: View from driveway

Picture: Front of the house

Picture: View from front door

Picture: Front side of house looking from road

Picture: Side garden area looking down from front yard

Picture: Back yard area looking towards side of house

Picture: Back yard looking towards neighbours house

GROUND FLOOR

Picture: Enclosed outdoor area

Picture: Lounge room looking from front door, there is an out door area behind dinning table

Picture: Dining area looking from kitchen bench area

Picture: Kitchen looking through kitchen door



Picture: Kitchen looking from dinning room

Picture: Paige's playroom looking from the kitchen

FIRST FLOOR

Picture: Guest room cupboards opposite Paige's bedroom

Picture: Upstairs hallway looking from stairs

Picture: Paige's Bedroom

Picture: Paige's Bathroom

Picture: Ben & Bernadette's Bedroom

Our Staff

Getting settled in Jakarta always takes time but finding the right staff also takes time as well. Having lived in Indonesia before I must admit it was easier this time around knowing how to find staff also how important it is to set the ground rules straight away or sometimes things don't go to plan. Doing research on salaries is also important so before hiring staff I made sure I asked many questions on salaries to other expats and what tasks their staff was expected to do.

My golden rules are staff must be on time to work, must be honest, not ask to lend money as the answer will always be no and if you don't understand something please ask.

For people who haven't had house staff before I know these rules sound pretty straight forward but living in Indonesia is never straight forward so I made sure that these rules were communicated very well and was understood.

Our house keeper "Isah" I found through a friend of a friends house keeper and our driver "Herman" I found through a friends driver. He is also contracted through where we hirer the car from so you could say we are lucky that all fell into place regarding our staff.

So let me tell you a bit about them;

Isah is 44 years old, isn't married and has no children. She speaks English and her house is two hours away from where we live. This means Isah is a live in house keeper who works Monday to Friday from 6am to anywhere between 5pm or 6pm. If I need Isah to work weekends or extra hours of a night doing baby sitting I make sure I give her extra days off during the following week. Isah is very nice and has made my life settling into Jakarta really easy. There are times I have been stuck in traffic that when Paige gets home from school I know she is here to take care of Paige. Apart from babysitting which I need as Ben works away 10 days at a time, she does the house keeping duties and helps me to deal with the maintenance department and helps translate things when I need it.

Picture: Paige & Isah, our house keeper

Herman our driver is 37 years old, married with 4 children (3 boys & 1 girl). He lives half an hour away from where we live and travels to and from our house on his motor bike each day. His normal working hours are from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Hours out of those times as well as weekends isclassed as overtime. Herman duties are to drive us where ever it is we need to go. There are times when I have needed a hand with things and he is only to happy to help. If you asked Paige what Herman's job was she would say he has to give her door service (open and close the car door for her) its funny to see as Herman is a really good sport with Paige and plays along with her.

Only time will tell how things work out with our staff fingers crossed it will all work out just fine.

Picture: Paige & Herman our driver

Picture: What a driver does when he isn't driving

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

House 21 Waiting To Move In

What is it with living overseas and finding somewhere to live, that is always such a pain in the bum?

After we arrived having looked at different houses in the different locations in Jakarta we decided that we wanted to stay on in the housing complex we are currently staying in with the apartment.

I decided that I would look at the different style housing here and see what would meet our budget. When you view houses they don't really tell you the rental costs until you choose something. What I did was I viewed about ten different houses, some empty and some that would be free in about four six to eight weeks and rated them from my first choice to last choice. Then I had to wait to see what was in our budget. Most where out of our budget being the first price quoted from the complex. Then we had to start negotiating the prices down hoping that one of the houses on the top of our list would be in budget.

Here in Indonesia you also have to consider VAT which is a tax not included in the rental so that always makes the TOTAL cost of rentals quite high.

Other quite common practises here in Indonesia is landlords would rather have a house remain empty then to bring the rent down, empty houses are never maintained until someone decides they will rent the property then and only then will any extra money be spent fixing it up.

We did decide on one house which we could of moved into straight away but the complex wouldn't come to the party in meeting our budget. So it felt like I was back to the drawing board looking again. Another day another couple of viewings. This time a couple of houses that had been vacant for quite a while and in need of some repairs looked promising.

You always ask for items that you want done in the house before signing a contract here because once a contract is signed you never get extra things done. After submitting a five page list of requests which ranged from minor to major items I can say that the decision is made and we have found a house. We have been in the apartment coming up to four weeks now so I am hoping at the longest it will only be another three weeks until we move in to the house. There is so much to do from painting, knocking out a wall, replacing the bathroom and kitchen the finish line seems a long way off. Below are some pictures of the progress so far.

Picture: House 21 is were we will be living


Picture: A wall in the kitchen is being taken out




Picture: Lounge room ceiling being repaired

Picture: Old kitchen is being replaced

Picture: One of the bathrooms is being re done

Picture: Cupboards being built in


Picture: Louver windows being replaced with other windows

Picture: Air cons being added to the main bedroom

Picture: Ceiling and windows being fixed in small second living area

Picture: Side garden needs cleaning up

Picture: Back yard needs cleaning up

Picture: Back area needs cleaning up