This blog is way over due. We went to Indonesia in April. While in Indonesia, I had all these great plans of how I was going to write this blog. I even had parts of it written in my head. However, when we came back home, life kinda caught up with us. I had to go back to work, I did a lot of work with the Relay for Life, I hurt my foot, and I avoided writing the blog. I avoided writing the blog for two reasons. One, because I absolutely HATE to write. I don’t think I’m very good at it, and that’s reason enough :-). Two, I didn’t want to overshadow the immense emotions of the trip, and the personal struggle that my wife fought with while we were there. Anita has done an amazing job of describing her struggle in – Going to Indonesia. And meeting my Dad. After twenty years. (Part 1 and 2).

So, after taking a break, getting a bunch done at work and nearly losing my foot doing the Relay for Life (that’s a different blog), here it is. The long awaited blog about Indonesia…

TOP TEN THINGS TO DO WHILE IN INDONESIA:

10: Try the food!

There are so many wonderful things to eat in Indonesia I don’t think I could cover it all! However my absolute favorite? Lemper Ayam – Rice Rolls with Chicken Filling. OH MY GOSH! This stuff was HEAVEN! They have it for breakfast in Indonesia. Basically it is chicken in a very good sauce wrapped in sticky rice and then wrapped in a banana leaf. Nita told me that when I get the ingredients she will make it for me. YUM YUM! We also went (twice actually) to a great Japanese restaurant chain that had the most wonderful teriyaki beef you could imagine.

9: Go to McDonalds.

Okay, I know I mentioned food above, but this one deserves a number all its own. McDonalds in Indonesia is quite an experience! First off, they serve strange things on the menu. What do I mean by strange? I mean fried chicken, sticky rice, chicken noodle soup and Scrambled eggs! And they serve them all together, just like that in a meal. More strange things about McD’s in Indonesia are that instead of giving you ketchup with your fries (yes they still have fries) they give you Sambal Oelek, which is a chili sauce. You have to specifically ask for ketchup, but don’t say ketchup – they don’t know what that is. You have to say “Tomato sauce” and then they look at you funny…silly American! Oh, and one more thing, McDonalds in Jakarta DELIVERS! That’s right, all you have to do is call and order and they will load your happy meal (or chicken meal) on a motorcycle and zip it right over to your house.

8: Take a Tour.

Well we were tourists weren’t we? Luckily there are lots of touristy things to do in Indonesia, unluckily there aren’t many tour guides in Indonesia that can speak English well enough for me to understand it! We went to some great places, to include palaces, temples, museums, the national monument, and heard some great stories – I think. You see, even though apparently speaking English is a job requirement to be a tour guide, speaking it so other English speaking people can understand you, is not. Most of the tour guides spoke very good English, in the sense of they used the right words at the right time, the problem was that their accent was so thick, you had to listen VERY carefully to understand any word they said. Then they would look at you for some type of reaction to what they just told you. You know that awkward time when you don’t know if you should go “Oh I see” or “that’s terrible!” or “hahaha, I never knew that!”. You do know immediately, however, if you’ve said the wrong thing!

7: Go Shopping.

Shopping in Indonesia is crazy, if you are in a traditional shop that is. While in Yogyakarta, Nita, her dad and I went walking along the streets looking at all the sidewalk shops. It was very interesting, and we got some great souvenirs. Luckily we had Nitas dad around though, as the shop owners will ask you for a ridiculously high amount for their wares, and you have to haggle them down about 50% before it’s a fair price. If you are not in the mood to go walking down a long sidewalk to buy souvenirs, simply be a tourist and walk into a touristy place! The shop keepers will come to you, running up to you and pressing their wares into your face and begging you to buy them! You can say no as much as you want, they will keep following you until they see someone more interesting or you enter a building. In one case, the peddler stood outside the building we were in looking through the window until we came out, and then he followed us to our car! Talk about persistent!

6: Ride in a Becak.

A Becak is bicycle type vehicle with bench seating in the front. The Becak driver rides the bike behind the bench seat, pushing it forward. It is a popular mode of transportation in Indonesia (although not in Jakarta as they are now banned). They are lots of fun, however I just couldn’t help but feel guilty for the poor guy driving it!

5: Visit some SUPER OLD temples!

We went to Yogyakarta and visited Borobudur, a Buddhist temple and Prambanan a Hindu temple. We were able to go all the way to the top of Borobudur and see all the cool intricate carvings that tell the story of the life of Buddha. Regretfully we weren’t able to get too close to Prambanan as it had recently been severely damaged by an earthquake and was being repaired.

4: Go for a Drive.

If you want a true Jakarta experience, simply get in a car (or on a motorcycle if you’re crazy enough), buckle your seatbelt and hang on! The traffic in Jakarta is INSANE! There are no speed limits, or road rules and very little traffic lights. It’s to each his own, and everyone knows it! Every time we went for a drive Nita and I were sure we would not make it home alive. The traffic jams in Jakarta are intense and involve hundreds of cars and even more motorcycles all trying to get ahead of you. Have you ever seen a motorcycle break the road rules by going in between two cars or even on the shoulder? Well, in Jakarta, not only is that what EVERY motorcycle does, but it’s also what the cars do! I’ve never seen two cars get so close to each other in my life. A three lane road will be 5-6 cars thick with TONS of motorcycles squeezing through at every possible opening. Seriously, you’d have to see it to believe it. I have some videos of it, if anyone ever wants to see, just let me know.

3: Survive the Horrendous bathrooms!

Wow! I bet you think im kidding…but the bathrooms in Indonesia are scary things to behold. First off, they do not use toilet paper in Indonesia, (im not quite sure why). Instead, they use sprayers…which are kind of hard to get used to. That is of course if you are lucky enough to find a bathroom with one, otherwise you have a squatter (EW!) or a tap with a bucket, that has who knows how many germs on it! Needless to say, we didn’t go to public bathrooms unless it was a SUPER emergency…the bathrooms in the house and in the hotel were nice enough though.

2: Get attacked by an ostrich!

OH MY GOD! Did you see the beak on that thing? They are a LOT scarier when they are 6 inches away from you…I promise! (Oh, and if you didn’t have your volume up when you watched that video, you wasted your time! It’s MUCH better with sound.)


1: Reconnect with family.

I have to say that the number one reason to visit Indonesia (for my wife and I) is definitely to visit our wonderful family. I loved all of them, and although I found out in the end that none of them knew that I was part of the family, I still felt like they treated me as if they had known me forever. They bestowed Nita and I with gifts, food (WAY to much food), a beautiful place to live while we were there, and ENDLESS entertainment. If it weren’t for all of these wonderful people, we wouldn’t have even gone to Indonesia, much less had such a GREAT time while we were there.

It was a trip of a lifetime…and I wouldnt change it for the world.