Category: LIFE

As a child, I camped with the Girl Scouts and with the YMCA’s Indian Princesses, but I have never camped as an adult.  I was a bit nervous.  Jackson has camped with his dad a few times, but he was also both excited and nervous.

We got up at 4:30am on Saturday morning to finish our packing and load up the taxi.  We had bags for swimming, rain gear, food, and general stuff.  We took two foldable camping chairs and a foldable wagon.  (Items my generous colleague lent to us)  It seemed like we had everything but the kitchen sink!

We met the group at the meeting location, but one of the busses was delayed.  We waited on the corner of the street for about 30 minutes before we could load our gear.  Once on the road, we drove about 4 hours out of Jakarta to a campground called Caldera River Resort.  (The highlight of the journey was a bathroom stop that had a Starbucks nearby!  I dragged Jackson down the hill and grabbed a cappuccino before the busses took off again!)  We drove up and down and all around the mountain/volcano and upon arrival at the camp, we drove down the hill to our tent location and the bus got stuck in the mud!!

Thankfully, our tents were set up and ‘beds’ were made.  (We had foam mats under a sheet, a pillow, and a top sheet.)  The group met up under the dining pavilion for a potluck lunch.  There was a wide variety of food items, consisting of American, Indonesian, and Chinese cuisine.  After lunch, the group walked over to the rafting site.  Everyone was outfitted with a helmet and vest and hopped into their rafts.  It was so much fun to see each raft (about 10!) launch into the river.  Jackson LOVED this and can’t wait to go rafting again. 

After rafting, everyone changed into dry clothes and headed over to the ‘Flying Fox’ and had a turn at zip lining over the raging river!!  The kids put on helmets and harnesses before walking over a suspension bridge and clipping onto the line from a platform where they jumped (or were pushed!).  They zipped across the river and a worker pulled on the (rope) brakes for them.

While the Webelos and Arrow of Light kids made dinner, Jackson wrapped up his Bear Claws requirement.  (he can now have his pocket knife with him at scouting events) For dinner, we had hot dogs and a beef soup.  It was camping food, but no one went hungry.  Luckily, there was support at the campsite, and a helper washed all of the dishes for us.  😊  One of the volunteers borrowed Jackson’s pocket knife to peel the vegetables, and when washing the knife, it slipped and went down the drain of the outside sink!!  Of course, I said it was ‘fine’, but it was Jackson’s first knife, and he had literally JUST earned the privilege of using it!!!  I did not want to have to tell him that it was gone.  As it turned out, his knife was returned to him, and it was another knife that went down the drain!!!  EEK!

After dinner was cleaned up, I showered, and Jackson fell and hurt his arm.  As I was trying to navigate the rustic shower facilities, a little girl yelled in “Is Jackson’s mom in here?!”  I shouted back that I was, and she let me know that he was hurt and in the dining pavilion.  I dried off as quickly as I could, trying not to step in the muddy areas, and trying not to get the bottoms of my pants wet – and ran to find Jackson.  He was OK, but his arm was sore.

After putting up my shower stuff, we sat around a lovely bonfire and roasted marshmallows and made s’mores.  Jackson has not been a fan of s’mores in the past, but this time, he decided he liked them!  He had two, and even made one for me!  The fire was large, and in comparison, the marshmallow roasting sticks seemed short.  It was hard to get the marshmallows roasted, as we had to stand too far back to avoid being scorched ourselves.  We had pink Haribo marshmallows and thick Hershey’s Nuggets, but the kids didn’t know any different.  They just enjoyed the excitement of the evening.

When the fire died down, it was time for bed.  We climbed into our tent, turned on the battery powered fan, and tried to go to sleep.  Sleep did not come easy.  Jackson wanted to go home.  (I wanted to go home), and we heard a little voice outside of our tent saying “I want to go home!”…it seemed everyone was ready to go home, and yet we had to spend the night sleeping on the ground.  We were next to the raging river and we could hear it roaring all night.  There was another group at the campground.  They were adults, on what seemed to be a team building excursion.  They were in the bungalows near us and playing LOUD disco music.  Then the rain came.  Jackson had to use the bathroom.  I stepped on my glasses trying to get out of the tent.  Jackson’s arm was hurting, and he needed some Tylenol.  The battery on the fan died.  I was imaging that spiders and mosquitos were in the tent with us.  Finally, morning came, and we got up and started packing our gear.

Breakfast was quite lovely.  The moms, along with a few Webelos, made eggs and bacon on camping stoves.  Jackson made his own PBJ sandwich.  I tried instant coffee, and it was not too bad.  The helper washed the dishes.  The group went for a muddy hike through nearby rice fields. 

We finally packed up the buses and made the 4-hour drive home.  What an adventure!

This year we celebrated 247 years of the Marine Corps.  The Marines in Jakarta planned a fancy ball to celebrate, and the tickets were sold out before I even arrived in Indonesia.  My office was kind enough to save a ticket for me so that I did not miss out.

This was not my first Marine Ball.  In fact, my first one was in 1987.  😊

I’ve been lucky to attend a few more since then.  They are always special, memorable, and a fun time.  The ladies are typically in ballgowns, and the men are in tuxedos.  I did not bring a gown with me (and my shipment is not yet here), but I did have some fancy clothes that I had planned to wear on the cruise in August.  It is HOT here, so they worked out just fine.  I took some time off from work and went to have my nails done at a local salon.

When it was time to leave home for the ball, I took a taxi, and really had no trouble at all.  I arrived during the cocktail hour and received a rose at check-in – all the ladies did!  Drinks were available for purchase, but there was only one bar, and the line was a mile long, so skipped the drink and I mingled with my colleagues until it was time to go in for dinner.  The ceremony was moving, as always.  The Marines presented colors, meaning they brought in the U.S. flag, and special guests sang our national anthems.  Then the Marines had the cake cutting ceremony, where the oldest Marine and youngest Marine participate – each getting one of the first pieces of cake and then we toasted the Marines with champagne.  We heard speeches from the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, the U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN, a Marine Lieutenant General who was the Guest Speaker, and we even watched video remarks from the Marine Commandant. 

For dinner, they first served dinner rolls.  Then mushroom soup, that was delicious.  And then our entrées were served.  When we purchased our tickets, we chose our entrees.  I selected chicken.  It was served with mashed potatoes and gravy, and edamame.  For dessert, we had some sort of flourless chocolate cake.  It was rich and delicious!  There were nearly 500 guests, so while dinner was being served to everyone, we enjoyed watching dance performances from dancers of the varying regions of Indonesia, and we listened to music performed by a local band.  The dancers were lovely, and the band played some classic American tunes.   

Unfortunately, I had to leave after dinner, as I had an early start the next morning.  Others stayed, dancing until midnight!

2012 – Mumbai, India

2015 – on my way to the ball in Baku, Azerbaijan

I was not in the office on Bosses Day this year, so my greetings were a bit delayed.  However, I did make this cute card and some chocolate chip cookies for my new boss.

He was tickled.  He had never heard of bosses day, so was not concerned at all about me being late with my wishes. 

October 23, 2022

We spent Saturday morning at the Jakarta History Museum.  Jackson’s favorites were the prisons.  One prison for the women and one for the men.  The women’s prison was smaller, with no windows.  The men’s prison was larger, and with barred windows.

My favorites were the furniture and textiles.

It was a fun morning and then we went to a local historic restaurant called Batavia.  We cooled off in the air conditioning and had fresh squeezed orange juice and a fried noodle dish to share.  It was delicious, but I was envious of those who ordered the almond croissants.  They were huge and fluffy and looked fabulous!  Some folks in our group ordered coconut water – in the coconuts! 

October 16, 2022

It was Uniting Nations week at school.  Everyone was asked to bring in a food item that represented their home country, to share with their classmates.

Tollhouse Chocolate chip cookies are my ‘go-to’, so after stumbling through the neighbor treats, I felt ready.  We also had rice crispy treats, deviled eggs, and pumpkin muffins from the other Americans in his class.

In my attempt at learning Adobe Illustrator, I studied a lot of tutorials, downloaded some ‘assets’, and whipped up this map of the United States, with a few of Jackson’s favorite things.  I think it turned out so cute.  The cookies were a hit.  And Jackson was so happy that I was able to join the potluck.  It was a really nice day.

We’d just arrived in Indonesia and I jumped in a bit prematurely to join this hike.  We needed to pack our lunch and provide negative Covid antigen test results before joining the group.  For anyone else, that doesn’t seem too challenging, but our cupboards were bare, and I did not bring any antigen tests in our suitcases.

Well, I was able to download an app that would deliver some bread and fruit to the house so I could pack a lunch.

Finding the test kits proved to be a bit more challenging.  I asked at work and they did not have extras for personal use.  I asked the house helper to purchase them while I was at work.  She advised that she could not purchase them without a passport.  Time was running out and someone suggested using another app to order the test kits and to have them delivered to the house, or I could book a clinic to come to the house and test us.  I could not get the app to work.  I was out of energy and did not want to deal with trying to book a clinic to come to the house.  I do not speak the local language, and it was about 7pm the night before the hike.  I finally cried UNCLE and called to cancel our plans.  I’m still not sure if I was lucky or unlucky, but the person organizing the hike had extra test kits and had her driver deliver them to me!  We were back in the game! 

Up and out the door at 5:30am on a Saturday morning, we met at the rendezvous point for a 6am departure.  2.5 hours later, we arrived at the other end, to meet our guides.  We used the ‘toilet’…Jackson’s first experience with a ‘squatty potty’!  We stretched, re-boarded the bus and made our way to the starting point.  Water and walking sticks were distributed.  There was a mention that there might be a McDonald’s at the end of the trail, so the kids were awake and ready to hike.

Over little bamboo bridges, up stony hills, past the Indonesian military doing their drills, an hour and a half later, we made it to the top of the mountain.  The intrepid adventurers continued down the other side of the mountain and were rewarded with views of a lovely waterfall.  (I was not one of them…and stayed on top of the mountain with the park ranger and the bees)

The pack leader led Jackson back up the mountain to me (apparently some of the bees stayed with him), and we headed back to the cars, while the others splashed around in the river for a bit.

It was just as challenging going down the slippery stones as it was climbing up.  Jackson slipped and busted his knee while fighting off the bees.  We encountered the Indonesian military hiding in the bushes at several junctions.  I’m sure they had a good laugh as we poked our way out of their jungle. 

After the hike, the parents popped into a coffee shop for a boost to survive the 3-hour journey home.  I stayed on the bus with a sleeping kid (not mine), but I’m told they had to pay to enter the coffee shop and there were familiar toilets available!  I did get an iced coffee, and it was just like Starbucks!

We met up with our ‘escort’ that helped us navigate the horrendous traffic on the way back into Jakarta.  It was still a three-hour journey and I can’t imagine what the trip would have been like without our escort!

This was really hard, but we did it!!  (and in case you were wondering, there was NO McDonald’s on the mountain.)

Mount Salak (Indonesian: Gunung Salak, Sundanese: Gunung Salak) is an eroded volcano in West Java, Indonesia. It has several satellite cones on its southeast flank and the northern foot, along with two additional craters at the summit. Mount Salak has been evaluated for geothermal power development.^[1] According to a popular belief, the name “Salak” is derived from salak, a tropical fruit with scaly skin; however, according to Sundanese tradition, the name was derived from the Sanskrit word Salaka which means “silver“. Mount Salak can be translated to “Silver Mountain” or “Mount Silver”.