Indonesia Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Letterbox on the Lane

Singapore – 2024

The morning after Jackson’s birthday party, we jetted off to Singapore for the long weekend!

This trip had a bit of a learning curve for us.

My plan was to stay on Sentosa island, go to Universal Studios, and also visit Legoland in neighboring Malaysia.

The first challenge was to find an affordable hotel. As it turns out, Taylor Swift was performing in Singapore this weekend. The prices of the expensive island rose considerably. I felt lucky to book a room at the Sofitel resort on Sentosa island.

The next hurdle, which I was not able to overcome was the transportation to Malaysia from Singapore. To hire a private car, the hotel quoted me $600. I found a few other private drivers, but their mornings were booked, and could only collect us after lunch. They quoted prices around $400. I also reached out to Klook to jump on a bus, but the bus departed Singapore before our flight arrived. Taking a local bus or taxi was risky, as you had to hop out of the vehicle at the border, and find another ride on the other side. I was not willing to take that risk. I ended up cancelling the trip to Legoland before we even departed Jakarta.

The flight was uneventful. I used my Grab app and booked a taxi to the hotel. Here I made a rookie mistake. I did not get Singapore dollars from an ATM and I did not look into getting a Singapore SIM card.

It was a bit of a challenge to find the taxi pickup point, but we eventually connected with our taxi and were on our way.

As I mentioned, we were staying on Sentosa island. The island is quite small and popular, so there are schemes to reduce the number of cars on the island. If you don’t have proof of a hotel reservation (or other documentation that you should be on the island), then you must pay a fee. I went to pull up the hotel confirmation on my phone, and discovered that I had no data. This caused me quite a bit of stress until I found the email was available on my phone without data.

One crisis averted.

Next up, we arrive at the hotel, and the driver wants paid in cash. I advised that I booked through the app. My balance should be billed. I can pay by credit card. (Remember – I did not stop for cash at the airport!)

He was irritated with me. He pointed out that the app showed I had to pay him cash. He suggested I speak with the concierge of the hotel. Perhaps they could pay, and then bill my room. The hotel was filled with Swifties attempting to check in and check out – the concierge was not happy with me. He checked with the hotel manager, who was slammed with lines of customers – and told the concierge to just deal with me. The concierge pulled out his wallet and paid my taxi bill with his own money. This vacation was really off to a rocky start.

It doesn’t get much better. When I booked the room, check-in was at 3pm, but my ‘package’ promised an early check-in, if available. I attempted to check in around 1pm, and was advised that they were still checking guests out, and could not possibly check anyone in yet. At this point, I was regretting not booking the afternoon transport to Legoland. Jackson and I had lunch at the hotel, we lounged by the pool with tropical drinks. We checked back in with the front desk several times, and finally, at 5pm, our room was ready. I was REALLY agitated, but was trying to show outward calm, to set a good example for Jackson. This was hard.

We went for a swim and had $36 chicken tenders from the poolside bar for dinner, as the food was just exorbitantly expensive. I cringed when he said he was still hungry and asked for more.

The next day, we headed to Universal Studios. It was quite easy to get there from the hotel. We walked down the driveway and out to the main road to catch a shuttle bus. We then had to catch a tram to the park. It was a bit of walking, but really not too bad.

I had already purchased the tickets online but was not able to buy the fast passes. I bought them at a kiosk outside of the park and we finally headed in. Our spirits were high, we were ready for an adventure. We found that it was quite a small park. Some rides cautioned that they were not suitable for all ‘body sizes’, so I assumed that meant me. We skipped those rides – such as the Revenge of the Mummy ride. We rode others and had a lovely time. The lines were short, and there was absolutely no need for the fast passes. Then, the clouds burst open and it started pouring down rain. We bought ponchos and went inside a restaurant for lunch. We had ramen, chicken nuggets, and fresh fruit. The rain cleared so we wandered a bit more, until I got sick to my stomach and I just wanted to go ‘home’. We made a dash back to the hotel. Walking quickly to the tram, and then finding the shuttle bus. We stopped at all the stops on the way. My tummy was raging. By the time we got to our stop, it was pouring rain. With our ponchos on, we splashed through the puddles to get up to the hotel and to our room. This was par for the course on this less than perfect adventure.

I couldn’t justify spending $60 on chicken nuggets again, so I worked on my Grab app, updated it to a Singapore account, and ordered burgers from Shake Shack. (This update also allowed me to book a taxi back to the airport and be able to pay for it!!!)

On our last morning, I was concerned about going out into town and not being able to call a taxi to get back to the hotel or to the airport, so we hung out at the hotel. We enjoyed the amazing hotel breakfast, went for a swim, put our feet into the fish pond and allowed the fish to nibble our feet, and then we followed two peacocks around. It was actually a really nice, relaxed morning…full of discovery.

Many colleagues in Jakarta enjoy getting away to Singapore, but we do not feel an urgent need to go back.

CELEBRATE, LIFE, PARTY

Minecraft 10th Birthday party – 2024

Birthday Party setup — Let the fun begin!

Jackson turned 10 this year – double digits!! After much deliberation, he decided that he wanted a Minecraft party and so I got started with the planning.

Creating games and activities that stayed on theme, but also had elements of math, science, and art was quite a challenge – but in the end, I was quite happy – and so were the kids.

The party was scheduled after school on a Friday – so we had a pizza party. When the kids arrived, they were each given a personalized VIP all access pass and then selected the toppings that they wanted on their individual pizzas. The kids ran around for a bit as their pizzas cooked and then after our bellies were full, we started with the activities.

Kids decoding an encrypted clue — Deciphering the encrypted clue

Activity 1: Mining: Geocaching/Scavenger Hunt

This one was a challenge! I wanted a geocaching hunt, but I was unable to set the coordinates for each cache, with enough accuracy for the kids to find them. I tried lots of apps and re-set coordinates a few times before deciding to focus on the ‘hints’, and to scrap the coordinates part of the activity. I encrypted each hint using the classic substitution cipher to make it bit more challenging.

It was dark and pouring down rain. We were all running around outside in the rain, trying to find the clue to the next cache, which held the clue to the next one. In the midst of all this madness, we discovered that one of the clues was missing! I’m not sure whether the wind/rain blew it away or whether it was the ‘suspicious looking’ older kids that watched me hide them! I ended up telling the kids where to go next. Most of the kids were really engaged and enjoyed this activity. (especially finding a clue in the locked ice cream cooler and frantically asking the venue staff to unlock the cooler so that they could reach their next clue!) I had two that were totally not into it.

The last clue led us to a ‘diamond’. It was actually an egg-shaped ball of tissue paper filled with candy and treats. We played a quick game of ‘pass the parcel’ before sitting down for an art project.

Activity 2: Dyeing: Painting creeper and pigs pixelated/graphs

Earlier in the week, Jackson and I painted 12×12 square canvases with a background of green for creepers and pink for pigs, and created grid marks with chalk. I got the idea from Pinterest.

At the party, the kids used a pattern to color in the grids using different hues and shades. This was a bit messy, and the kids could really be creative. Everyone seemed to enjoy this activity, and they all took their canvases home.

We sang Happy Birthday and had cake and ice cream before moving on to the final activity.

Activity 3: Hunting: Nighttime swimming with a bouncy slide!

It was dark and the rain had stopped. I threw inflated cows and pigs into the pool, and the kids had to ‘hunt’ for them. They were supposed to pose for a picture with the Instax camera when they caught their ‘meat’, but it was too dark. And the kids were having too much fun! They got to swim for about an hour before the pool closed.

I’m glad that I decided to use an outside venue to host, so that I could enjoy more of the party. It worked out great. I was so happy to have a few extra hands to help. I did have to pack up all of my party decorations and supplies and drag them home, but otherwise, they did all of the cleanup.

The kids took home party bags with 3x3x1 Rubic’s cubes, pickaxe pencils, Minecraft vinyl stickers, ring pops, licorice TNT, their canvases, and their VIP name tags/lanyards. I had also planned for them to take a few instant photos of themselves enjoying the party, but they just did not turn out.

The party was a success! And a week or two later, a mom randomly approached me and said they were at the venue the night of the party. She said our party looked like so much fun, that now her son also wants a Minecraft party!!

Cub Scouts, LIFE, TRAVEL

Cub Scout Camping – Caldera – February 2024

Our second camping trip of the Scout year found us back at Caldera Adventure River Resort in Citarik: https://calderaindonesia.com, about a three-hour drive outside of Jakarta. We started our journey at 5:30am, and we broke up the trip with a pit stop at a Starbucks along the way.

According to my standards, we were not glamping this time. Actual tents on the ground, but they did have mattresses and electric cords supplied. And the tents were put up for us prior to our arrival…so some may call that glamping!! It was so damp. Everything felt wet…including the mattresses and bedding.

This camping trip really stretched our comfort zones, and Jackson and I agreed that we would not do any more camping after this.

The day started with a ‘baby’ hike that ‘anyone’ could do. I even asked in advance about the challenge level, and if there was an ‘out’, should I decide not to continue. I was assured that it was an easy hike and I could just turn back if it became too much. After hiking up the mountain in 90-degree temperatures, I could feel myself getting overheated. (It was my own fault – I was ill-prepared. We did not bring water bottles, had not had breakfast, etc.) I was ready to turn back. I was confident that Jackson could make it to the end, but I was not confident that he could make it with ease, so I had him return with me. At this point, we were in the middle of the rice terraces. The guide brought in two others on motorbikes, and Jackson and I were ferried back to camp on the backs of the motorbikes. This was both terrifying and exhilarating. We later learned that the hike finished with the scouts climbing a near vertical hill to get out of the rice terraces, clutching at roots to pull themselves up!! (It was after this that we agreed that camping was not for us!!)

Next up was the river rafting. Jackson joined the group, while I sat out and continued to calm my nerves. He had a blast! This is his favorite part of camping at Caldera. While they were out, the sunny skies turned black and then opened up on us. We were in for a wet weekend!

Altoids tin filled with Band-Aids and Neosporin — I had to pull out the first aid kit, and bandage up a Boy Scout.

We managed to learn some new things and worked on our adventures. The Webelos worked on Into the Woods and some of the activities for the World Conservation Award. It was pouring cats and dogs at dinner time. Working on the Castaway adventure, the goal was for the kids to make two recipes without using pots/pans. The plan was for them to build a fire and cook pizza breads in foil and hard-boiled eggs in paper cups over their fire. The rain put a damper on the kids starting a fire to cook their food, so we attempted to make the pizzas on a camp stove. Although the pizza breads were wrapped in heavy duty foil, the blast from the camp stove was too much. The foil melted and the pizza tasted like fuel. Luckily, there were enough hot dogs for everyone!

There was enough of a pause in the rain that we did have a bonfire after dinner – and as the Caldera Team was setting up the bonfire, the Webelos set out to build a fire without matches. It was amazing to watch as they each took turns using cotton balls and string, toilet paper rolls, a flint and striker, and magnesium to light their own fires! After safely extinguishing the Webelos fires, we joined the group and enjoyed s’mores, watched the Boy Scouts perform a few skits, and then performed our own.

Thankfully, Jackson was exhausted and was able to fall asleep. I lay in the sweltering damp tent, thinking about the large spider the size of my hand that I saw in the dining hut and the 12-inch centipede that was in the bathroom and sent Facebook messages to my dad, complaining about the day. He told me “sounds like you are making memories!”. Dad was right. I tried to look at it from that point of view and tried to get some rest.

The next day, it was still raining. Everyone was ready to go home. We were standing by in hopes of getting cleared to do the Flying Fox (zipline). It was not to be, so we packed up camp and headed home – hot, wet, muddy, exhausted – memories made.

CELEBRATE, FOOD, PARTY

Halloween in Indonesia – 2023

What a fun time we had for our second Halloween in Indonesia – decorating, pumpkin carving, and trick or treating!

Halloween Decorations

Restraining myself, I waited until mid-October to pull out the Halloween decorations! I reused many of the items from our Harry Potter birthday party, taped paper bats to the windows, hung a black feather wreath on the front door, and pulled out my spider web door mat and skeleton dishes that I picked up at Kirklands last year, while I was in the U.S. (squeezing everything into my suitcases!)

rinted-Trick-or-Treat-invitation-to-the-neighborhood-Halloween-Gathering

We made a special trip to the fancy grocery store in search of a pumpkin for carving – and we felt so lucky when we found one! We took it home and carved it the very next day. My Indonesian colleague was so intrigued with this real pumpkin that looked just like my fake Halloween pumpkins!! I showed her how we scooped out the insides…this one was definitely real!

I even used an actual recipe to roast the pumpkin seeds. I’ve never added more than just oil and salt, but this time I added garlic powder, pepper, and some chili powder (I was out of the paprika that the recipe called for). They turned out quite nice.

Pumpkin Carving

umpkin-with-top-removed-and-seeds-and-pulp-scooped-out-onto-the-table

Seasoned-Pumpkin-Seeds-ready-for-Toasting

Carved-Jack-o-Lantern-with-Halloween-Decorations

Trick or Treating

The neighbors stopped in after the kids were done trick or treating and I whipped up a pitcher of my ‘go to’ red wine sangria – it really fit the Halloween theme, a Texas Sheet cake – enough chocolate cake for a crowd – with purple and orange confetti sprinkles on top! I love this butter toffee popcorn recipe. I made two batches. The first batch was crispy, buttery, and delicious. Unfortunately, it was late when I made the second batch. I took the tray out of the oven to cool, and went to bed. When I got up the next morning, the popcorn went soft – the humidity here was just too much. I did put the popcorn in a ziplock bag with a slice of bread, to see if that would help…but it didn’t.

Well, we couldn’t have ALL sweets, so we also had the Pioneer Woman’s Nachos. I made these for my dad for dinner last summer (I told him it was taco salad!) and he could not get enough of them! I had the same reaction here on Halloween. My neighbors gobbled them up! This recipe is definitely a keeper!

We also had the roasted pumpkin seeds, fresh watermelon slices, and ice-cold lemonade for the thirsty trick or treaters.

Dripping-Wax-Candles-on-wall-candelabra-

Halloween-Urli-Flower-bowl-with-flowers-and-candles

Texas-Sheet-Cake-with-Halloween-Sprinkles-and-Butter-Toffee-popcorn-in-a-glass-jar

Our second Halloween in Indonesia will be hard to top next year!!

FOOD, LIFE, LOVE, TRAVEL

Cub Scout Camping at Lodges Ekologika – Portibi Farms in West Java

Another campout with the cub scouts is in the books.

We departed around 6:00am Saturday morning and traveled by hired bus for about 1.5 hours to the Lodges Ekologika – Portibi Farms in West Java. http://portibi.com/

When we arrived, we dropped our bags in our respective bungalows, huts, and tents and then enjoyed a light breakfast of bagels, toast, banana bread, fresh fruit, etc. We filled our tummies and then headed off on a hike. The Webelos scouts recited their Outdoor Code and Leave No Trace principles.

Bungalow en suite at Portibi Farms, Indonesia

After the hike, we had lunch – enjoying many of the delicacies of the farm. Lots of fresh salads, local specialties, hot soup, and beef tenderloin sandwiches.

People serving themselves from a lunch buffet of sandwiches and soup.

Then, the kids moved on to a lesson in first aide, before heading down the hill to do some farming.

They discovered that cinnamon grows on TREES! They harvested lettuce, nutmeg, rosemary, cassava. I understand there was also a bit of fighting over whose turn it was to fertilize the plants with goat poop! While the kids were farming, the adults had afternoon tea – Indonesian farm style. Lots of hot tea and fried snacks – like fried bananas – and we had fresh fruits like watermelon, honeydew, and orange slices.

Cassava is also known as yuca or manioc, Cassava is a type of root vegetable that is high on vitamin C. It can be boiled, fried, grated, or pureed.

When the kids returned, the Webelos had a cooking lesson – peeling, chopping, and boiling their cassava. While dinner was cooking – and to keep the kids out of the rain that had started – it was time for some art practice. The Webelos needed to create two self-portraits – using two different mediums. All the kids joined in and we did pencil drawings with colored pencils and then paintings with water based acrylic paints. It was so much fun to see all of the kids sitting together and showing off their creativity. We had to stop at 5:00pm, so dinner could be set up, but I think some of the kids would have been happy to keep on creating.

At 6pm, we had a lovely dinner of beef tenderloin, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes made with purple ‘sweet potatoes’. We topped them with some butter and pesto! We had French fries made with the purple sweet potatoes, and delicious salads.

Of course, it would not be a cub scout campout without a bonfire and s’mores. So, after dinner, we went in search of the bonfire. It was at the very bottom of the hill. We had to navigate our way down a narrow path lined with stepping stones, and it was getting quite dark. Luckily, we had our flashlights and (battery operated) lanterns. The kids enjoyed roasting their marshmallows and lining up for mini chocolate bars and graham crackers to make s’mores. What a fun-filled day. We all wound our way back up the mountain to find our beds. Jackson and I were lucky to have a shower (with hot water!) in our bungalow. However, another mom was in a ‘hut’, and although she was dripping sweat from climbing the mountain in the heat and humidity, she did not want to venture out in the dark to the shared shower room, so she used her fan to cool off before drifting off to sleep. (I think we are all glad to be back to ‘civilization’!!)

Sunday morning included a lovely breakfast of mini waffles, eggs, bagels, and some local favorites such as Nasi Goreng (fried rice). The kids learned to tie square knots and then we packed up and headed home.

We had loads of fun and made new friends.

CELEBRATE, FOOD

Promotions Celebration!

In my line of work, promotions are hard to come by – we compete against our peers to fill a designated number of spots at the next pay grade. Even if you have been recommended for promotion by the promotion boards, there might not be enough spots. In this instance, you miss out on the promotion, and start all over again the next year.

I should have been thrilled when the stars aligned and I was finally promoted. However, I learned that I had received a promotion on the same morning that I learned my mom’s passing was imminent. It was an awful morning, and I was certainly in no mood to celebrate.

Now that a few weeks have passed, I took advantage of the Columbus Day holiday and invited a few colleagues (who were also promoted!) over for lunch. We had the day off, but the kids had school, so we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon talking about how we got to where we are today, and the next steps – for our next promotions!

We started with a glass of champagne to toast our success.

I added fresh squeezed lime juice, lime wedges, and simple syrup to the tray. Then of course, I opened the champagne!

We had fresh lime sodas and mango juice to drink.

We had Italian wedding soup, Greek salad, fresh Italian bread, and baked ziti for lunch.

And for dessert we had tiramisu and pizzelles, served with hot tea and coffee.

I made the tiramisu using this recipe from All Recipes.

All of the tips I read insisted that I use real espresso. So, I had some delivered from Paul cafe!

I’ve tried this recipe before, cooking the eggs in the pan, and my eggs curdled. I now use a ‘double boiler’.

A friend gifted me her Kitchen Aid stand mixer when she received a new one. It is still running strong on the transformer! (Note the UHT (shelf stable) whipping cream.)

Most recipes call for Marsala wine. I didn’t have that, and I didn’t have any rum, so I used cognac.

I tried dipping the ladyfingers into the coffee on a shallow plate, but I ended up dunking them in the measuring cup with tongs. That worked best for me.

After they were chilled, and ready to be served, I sprinkled them each with a bit of unsweetened Hershey’s cocoa powder.

The table was set – ready for food and guests! I put each tiramisu cup on the little boards, with a fresh mint leaf – plucked from our herb garden.

I mentioned earlier that promotions are hard earned, oftentimes taking 6, 8, 10 years or more to achieve. Technically, I am competing against each of these ladies for future promotions, but this was a warm, friendly gathering – each of us sincere in celebrating each other and encouraging success.

CELEBRATE

Cub Scouts Blue and Gold Breakfast 2023

I volunteered to help with the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet this year.

It turns out that the banquet is actually a breakfast that we combine with the bi-annual awards ceremony, the Arrow of Light (AOL) ceremony, and the crossing over (to Boy Scouts) ceremony.

Collaborating with the scout leaders, I designed the program: Awards first, then crossover, and lastly, our Blue and Gold celebration. This program included blue, yellow, white, and green candles. I did not have colored candles, but I did have acrylic paint. I painted clear glass votive cups to match the required colors. The program also called for colored face paint. I could not get my hands on safe/quality face paints in time, so I used water-based/non-toxic paints mixed with zinc-based sunscreen. The colors were vibrant, did not stain the kids faces, and most importantly, were safe.

I then designed the coordinating e-invitation, welcome posters, thank you tags for the parent volunteers (these were attached to blue and yellow iced fleur-de-lis shaped sugar cookies), and personalized AOL photos of the kids crossing over to Boy Scouts.

Luckily, I had lots of help decorating: blowing up balloons, hanging streamers, setting up the awards tables. Everyone had a great time, and we’ve set the bar for next year!

Painting votive cups for the AOL crossover ceremony.

CELEBRATE

Flamingle

Administrative Professionals Day 2023 was on Wednesday, April 26 and I organized a team building ‘flamingle’!

We had a tropical theme, with lots of pineapples and flamingos.

We played a few games like Administrative Professionals MadLibs and Would you Rather.

We had tea, coffee, and lots of baked goodies like banana bread, raspberry white chocolate scones, and carrot cake.

The event was a huge success and everyone is looking forward to doing it again next year!

LIFE, TRAVEL

Desa Laguna Camping

Our second camping trip with the Cub Scouts was much more our speed.

We arrived by speed boat. It was an hour and a half trip, and the last part of it was wild! The water in the Java Sea was a bit rough. The boat hit the white caps, and we sailed into the air, and then landed hard. Over and over again. My head was pounding by the time we arrived.

We were greeted with cold drinks and snacks such as sandwiches and tropical fruit, and then we took a quick tour of the island and found our assigned tents. The tent was right on the water – with beautiful views. We were in a ‘glamping’ tent, so the tent was raised off the ground on a wooden platform. We had mattresses and little tables inside the tent. (I put my glasses on the table this time, so I didn’t step on them in the middle of the night!) We also had a ‘power brick’ that kept a fan running all night. I was also able to use it to charge my phone and camera batteries.

This was an eco-adventure and the kids did a beach clean up and planted mangrove trees to help the environment. But mostly, they just played in the sand. The island was small enough to let the kids run around. They also went fishing, they found crabs, played with sticks, and went paddleboarding and snorkeling. They earned their whittling chip and Bear Claws adventure. We even had another bonfire and roasted marshmallows. Jackson loved roasting them and then turning them into s’mores for me! As we crawled into the tent, we were both feeling pretty good. Neither of us said “I want to go home”. The second day was just as fun and relaxing, but by lunch we were ready to go home.