Due to our ever changing immigration status, we have been to Singapore a half dozen times or so. We usually stay for less then 24 hours (and typically it's just me and the kids), but we still try to make the most of being out of Jakarta and exploring a new city. Here are a few pictures from our last few trips to Singapore including the one trip we were able to make with Chris, Debi, and Andy.
A few months ago, in an attempt to explore more of Jakarta, we set out for the Museum Satria Mandala (Armed Forces Museum). The grounds are huge and before you even set foot into the museum, you have the opportunity to touch, climb on, and explore a military tank, helicopter, airplane, rocket, and ship. Once inside, we learned more about Indonesia's fight for independence. In true Indonesia fashion, they had several good diorama type displays and most everything had an explanation in English as well as Bahasa Indonesia. The basement held display case after display case of military arms and even some rockets. We ventured out the back door to find several military vehicles on display including Chris & Andy's favorite (airplanes). The grounds were beautiful and we all had fun learning more about the history of Indonesia while also checking out some cool military equipment.
We had a great Holiday Season in Jakarta! It all started with a surprise package all the way from Phoenix!
Nanny flew in from Arizona and gave Emilie & Dustin quite the surprise! Everyone was so excited to see her! She even got to help us with a few Christmas traditions.
Nanny helped us get some Christmas baking done. We had a fun afternoon decorating cookies. Although, decorations were a little difficult to find. We were able to find heart, star, and bear cookie cutters as well as yellow and green food coloring! Nothing says Christmas quite like a green frosted bear!
On Christmas Eve, we set out with Debi & Andy for a delicious Mexican food dinner at our favorite (only) Mexican food restaurant in Jakarta!
After dinner, we sang Christmas Carols all the way home. I'm sure our driver, Pak Firman, was convinced we had all lost it! Then we were able to take part in one of my favorite Christmas traditions and looked at Christmas lights!
Can you guess which window is ours?
The kids were allowed to open one present from Grammie. They snuggled up in their new PJ's and we watched It's A Wonderful Life (Thanks Grammie!). We drank hot chocolate, read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, set out cookies, milk, cheese & sugar for Santa, checked Santa Tracker and snuggled into bed.
On Christmas morning, we were excited to see Santa found us in Indonesia! Apparently, Emilie and Dustin were very good this year!
We got through all of Santa's gifts as well as Nanny & Papa's and took a little break for some RotiBoy breakfast. Then we dove into FaceTime so we could open presents from Grammie & Papa Touchdown and Cathie while talking to them face to face. After an exhausting morning, we did a little clean-up and headed to the Christmas Buffet downstairs with Debi and Andy.
Next, it was time to put the Christmas Turkey in the oven. We tried to do ham for Christmas dinner, but the only thing I was able to find was a 5 lb. ham for $100. We opted for Turkey instead! Debi and Andy joined us for fun evening of eating, presents and were even GREAT sports about participating in our annual Talent Show! Everyone participated - Emilie & Dustin performed a dance, Andy did a poetry reading, Debi & Dustin performed a stunt they learned at circus class, Jennie played Jingle Bells on the piano/ipad, Nanny read an original poem she wrote herself, and Chris performed his ever popular bump on a log routine!
We spent the next couple of days on FaceTime trying to celebrate with some of the people we missed back in Phoenix. We were even able to participate in Grammie's Annual White Elephant! We had a great Christmas! We missed being able to spend the time with friends and family in Arizona, but we were extra lucky that Nanny was able to be here with us!
Batik is the traditional fabric of Indonesia. You find it EVERYWHERE out here and certain designs can represent different things. Batik shirts range in price from $5 (that's about we paid for Dustin's Batik shirt above) to hundreds of dollars. We recently decided to take a field trip to the Textile Museum (riveting, I know) to learn a little more about Batik. The museum itself was about as exciting as it sounds. Although the fabrics displayed were beautiful, how long can you really spend looking at a bunch of fabric? After our exciting time inside the museum, we were taken to a room behind the museum for a little Batik making of our own! We were the only Westerners in the entire place, but nobody seemed to mind sharing this Indonesian experience with us. Many people there brought their own designs, but we weren't quite that prepared. Lucky for us, they had a huge selection of different designs for us to chose from. We were all a little afraid we were going to have to draw freehand so when they showed us a few of our choices and guided us toward the tracing tables, we all breathed a huge sigh of relief!
Dustin "helping" Debi trace her flower
Emilie also made a flower!
Chris & Dustin's tracing of a fish
After tracing our designs, we were given a quick lesson on using the hot wax. We used these little tools, called cantings, to scoop hot wax into a little copper cup on top of a bamboo handle. We then, tilted the bamboo to apply the hot wax along the lines of our tracings. WOW! THIS TAKES A LOT OF PRACTICE! First, you have to be careful not to spill the hot wax on yourself (Both Emilie and Chris managed to spill on themselves), second, if you tilt the pencil too much, you get splotches. If you tilt it too little, no wax comes out. It takes a steady hand and lots of patience.
Once we finished adding hot wax to the front AND THE BACK of our designs, it was time to dye the material. Lucky for us, there was someone there to do it for us. Our designs were being dyed one color, but most Batik fabrics are dyed in several steps (alternating, wax and dye over and over) with several different colors.
The first step in the dyeing process was adding a film to help seal the wax.
Next, the fabric is rinsed in water, put in the dye and rinsed again.
Then, the fabric is added to boiling water to remove the wax.
Finally, they are hung out to dry (FYI - the drying process works best when it is not raining so we took ours home to dry).
Overall, we had an AMAZING time! We have learned to really appreciate the art of Batik making and have added several Batik items to our home including Christmas Ornaments on our tree! If you decide to make the 10,000 mile trek to Jakarta, I can pretty much guarantee you will be dragged to the textile museum to try your hand at Batik making!
Our Final Products - framed and hanging in our apartment!!!
The kids were allowed to open one present from Grammie. They snuggled up in their new PJ's and we watched It's A Wonderful Life (Thanks Grammie!). We drank hot chocolate, read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, set out cookies, milk, cheese & sugar for Santa, checked Santa Tracker and snuggled into bed.
