Indonesia Adventures

Day 3

Little Man got to ride a taxi to church! A missionary from Utah was kind enough to translate sacrament meeting for us. Amy taught the 4 little kids & Marc taught the 3 older ones. The 3rd hour was hard because we didn't understand a word! Then we cleaned the church & went home to rest.

We then had the rare privilege to go to the Consul General's home for a Thanksgiving dinner/gathering. She was so kind to have croquet set up for the kids & then she brought out Legos for the boys. The food was inside & there were tables set up outside with bottles of mosquito repellant on them! The house was amazing & had all sorts of items from all over the world in it. Such a neat experience that we won't forget!

Amy asked Little Man if he was hot & sweaty. He replied, "I've been sweaty since I got off the plane!"

We went home & stayed up late playing games & visiting.

Day 4

We went to the House of Sampoerna, a cigarette factory. It was really neat to see how they roll cigarettes by hand. They won't let you take pictures of the actual "sweat shop" but here is a link to what it looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lst3dESeAbM

There was an area that had a cart where the boys were pretending to sell things to us!

We dropped the boys off at home, then Marc & Amy took us to lunch. We sat at the table known as the "Bali Hut" & Marc & Amy ordered for us. When they brought out a chicken with the neck & head still attached, Andrea was a little skeptical! The food was really spicy, but good.

We took a visit to the Surabaya International School where we got a tour & then met a few of the teachers. Very fascinating, especially to Andrea! The library was huge!

This is what we had for dinner & then had Family Home Evening.

Indonesia-Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My!

Day 2

Marc & Amy rented a 12 passenger van so we could all drive together to Taman Safari.

We made a pit stop on the way & stopped to see the mud flats. A company was drilling & struck mud so they up & left. The mud destroyed the city & still bubbles today. You have to climb up these make-shift stairs to see the flats.

This place was amazing! You drive your car along the path while looking at all the animals. This tiger was about 10 feet away from us, just walking by.

We had plenty of bananas to feed the orangutans. They would raise their arm when they were ready for more!

Some of the animals would stick their head through the window to get more food!

After you drive through the animals, you park & then walk into something similar to an Animal Park type of amusment park. We had lunch at the restaurant, while watching the white tigers on the other side of the glass.

We walked through the park & saw many more animals. Marc & Ryan were having fun with this bird, whistling at it.

We added this little addition to our family for a photo op. Her name is Claudia.

Claudia loved the kids & did not want the Diva to leave!

We watched an elephant show & the boys were able to feed the elephants at the end.

Then we all got to ride a camel AND an elephant!

We passed this rice field on the way home & decided that Indonesia has better looking rice fields than the Philippines! Sorry, Connie.

The safari was such an amazing adventure! Most of us fell asleep on the 1.5 hour trip home.

Next Stop ... Indonesia!

We flew from Manila to Singapore & slept in a hotel for a few hours.

The Singapore Airport was incredible! It has a hotel, swimming pool, movie theater, fitness center, playground, koi pond, & tons of shopping! It was almost like a mall. We never left the airport so we did not get our passports stamped.

Finally on our way to Indonesia!

We finally arrived! We dropped the kids off at the house then went to lunch & got a tour of the consulate, where Marc works.

The kids have been talking about their cousins for weeks & were finally able to play & go swimming with them!

They took us to a mall where you can put your feet in this pool & these little fish eat the dead skin off your feet. It tickled the kids & Ryan but felt like a spa pedicure for Andrea.

We are glad to be here & stayed up late playing games & talking.