Going back to Indonesia part III

And so our second week began and the actual reason I wanted to take my mom here in the first place, to bring her back home. Ari drove us to Semarang, we had to leave somewhat early so that Ari could show us the hospital my mom was born in as well as the house she lived in when she was younger and get back to his own family at a reasonable time. The trip was about 4 hours and of course we stopped on the way for kopi tubruk (also known as kopi prut by some Dutch Indonesian).

When we got closer, the city surroundings turned into mountains and sawa's. My mom finally felt home again, surrounded by mountains. Her dad always told her that they protected them. We first looked for the Saint Elisabeth hospital, which wasn't too hard to find as Ari was also born there and knew where to find it. My mom didn't recognize much, but kept talking about a white Maria statue. We walked through the property and I even checked to see if her birth records were still there, but unfortunately they only went back 50 or 60 years. The place itself was beautiful, very peaceful and nothing compared to the hospitals we know here. We then got in the car and drove off and as we passed the front (we apparently were at the back), we caught a glimpse of the white Maria statue my mom was looking for and so we got out and went in to take a look.

After that we drove to two cemeteries in search of any Mehlbaums, but didn't find any there. We then drove to the house. From my sisters' visit in 2010, I knew the address was Semboja 14. And like I mentioned before, I had asked Ari if he could ask the current owner if we could take a look inside. Once we got closer, I also told my mom that. My mom said she didn't want to as my sister had told her it was now gated new villas with camera's and security and so it wouldn't mean anything to her anymore. Once we drove down the street though, my mom looked to the left and said 'that's the house'! It was amazing, the house was still there. The property was split up though and the new villas were to the right of it. But the house was also still there! Ari asked around and it turned out the new owner was home. He was the son of the family that bought the house right after our family had left. The views and big yard weren't there anymore but my mom did recognize the porch and some of the design. We took some pictures and there was one of her on the porch in which she has such a huge smile that it made me see the young girl in her, that used to play and live in Indonesia without a care. It was such a beautiful moment. We then talked to the owner some more and he showed us some pictures before we thanked him and left. My mom told me that if this was it, it was ok. In which I replied, luckily we have another 7 nights here…sigh… But this was the reason I wanted to do all of this. My mom later said that not only did I bring her home, but I also made her find herself again.

And yes, this would have been a perfect ending to our trip, but we still had about a week left. I didn’t have a lot of surprises after this in Semarang. We went for a city tour, to a train museum, a huge Maria statue and had yet another kopi tubruk in old town. We also explored the city on foot and walked to the postal office (Kantor Pos) and posted our cards. We walked through a few local markets and again went to old town. And I of course, again, enjoyed the private pool at the hotel. Most people went swimming in the morning or later in the day, so on most of our trip, I always had the pool all to myself during the day :)! My last and final surprise was a trip to a nearby island, Karimunjawa.

We left early in the morning by car to Jepara, our departure point to Karimunjawa. As we sat there waiting for our boat, my mom asked me how many times I had been in Asia. I asked her why as I was silently doing my Sudoku puzzle and she had been walking around seeing the sights. And she said, because it all seems so normal to you. Haha, I guess it does. I get used to it so fast, because it isn't new to me. I sometimes do miss that feeling of everything being new and an adventure. But then again, I also love seeing it in other people, when they go through a whole new experience.

The trip to the island was meant for my mom to relax and process all she had seen. I think she's still processing all of it haha, but I hope it helped. I arranged two separate rooms here, because it was the only way to have an Ocean view. The place we stayed at just opened 3 months ago, The Happinezz Hills, and it was gorgeous! I loved our rooms and our showers, everything really! We didn’t do much here, visited a few beaches, the night market, the city centre. I went in the pool a few times again. The morning we had to leave, there was an early knock on the door. There was a storm coming and the boat was leaving earlier so we had to leave right away! The sea was a bit rough on the way back and it took an extra hour or so to get back.

We were picked up again and dropped off at our final hotel, a 5 star hotel :)! We went to the mall next door for some food, a mani-/pedicure and I even got a haircut! It was all so cheap! My mom gave me a card for my birthday the next day and we went to sleep. When I woke up, I was 31, in Indonesia anyway. We had breakfast, went to the pool and checked out. We then went to the bar for lunch and a beer until we had to leave for the airport. And that's when it happened…our bags had disappeared!! WHAAAT!! And on my birthday!! Are you kidding me…never ever…and this is a 5 star hotel! After a lot of frustration and patience, our bags were brought back and we made it to the airport in time. The flight and transfer on the way back were fine.

We landed in Amsterdam and the paradise had gone, rain, fog, cold weather…yuck! Luckily my sister and her boyfriend came to greet us at the airport and brought us a bit of sunshine :)!

It was a wonderful trip and I am so happy to have been able to do this with my mom. I made her a photo album for Christmas, it took me about a month…printed the pictures, cutting them, making collages, etc. But I hope it helps her relive our adventure :).

Two weeks until my next adventure, a 4 month trip! Until then, happy new year!!

Cheers,

T.

Going back to Indonesia part II

Next stop after Makassar, flying to Surabaya, merely a transit though. And I was glad I only booked one night as my mom told me, when we were there, she had no good memories of Surabaya as it was there where they had to leave for Holland and she remembered her rocking horse that she had to leave behind. Right away, we noticed the difference in surroundings. It was a big and busy city.  There was a mall next to the hotel and we found a hair salon! My mom had wanted to get her hair cut in Indonesia since the day we landed. And so she did while I was stuck video chatting to one of the staffs best friend who moved to Holland years ago. Hair looked great and we went back to the hotel. Again, a great pool with good views all over the city. And finally Happy Hour...which was cancelled because the bar was under construction. It was very different from Makassar, as we saw no green and heard a lot of traffic and police cars.

We went to the train station the next morning to take a 4-5hour train ride to Yogya(karta). I told my mom before we went to sleep that we were taking a train the next morning and she liked the idea! Every day is a new experience for my mom and I see how she is always looking around and is amazed by how people go about their daily routines. She also mentioned a few times that it's too much or a lot with all she sees and so I'm not sure, even now at the end of this trip, if she's processes all of it.

The train ride to Yogya was nice, at the beginning I asked my mom what she thought of it and she had noticed the poverty, the poor side of Indonesia that she hadn't seen before. The seats on the train were very comfortable btw and staff passed by a few times to sell drinks and food, because nothing in Indonesia can be done without a full belly. The views got a bit more diverse as well, which also showcased the contrasts between rich and poor right next door to eachother.

And then there it was, our first meeting with our driver for our 4nights in Yogya and eventually also our transfer to Semarang, Ari. There was an instant connection and it turned out Ari was also born in Semarang. As our driver there, he knew what activities we had planned whilst in Yogya. He was very bad at keeping secrets though (as he called it, I called it surprises) and so it became a very funny ordeal. I managed to keep most of them for my mom though! On our first night, we both found our favourite satay (my mom likes goat and I like chicken). Ari picked us up after dinner to see a Wayang show (puppet shadow play) which I've seen bits and pieces of (demos) at the pasar malams I always go to with my mom in Holland so seeing it here was cool.

Oh yeah and the place we stayed at was amazing. I looked forward to this the most because I knew my mom would LOVE it. It was an upstairs 'villa' as they call it, all in traditional Indonesian style with a huge balcony and surrounded by, let's say an -oases- of peace. Trees, fishpond, swimming pool. The only downside was the 4am mosque prayers 'blasting' through the speakers each morning which woke me up, my mom didn't notice any of it and was sound asleep (the other prayers were during the day).

The activity for our next day, another one I was really looking forward to, also to tell my mom that morning, was a batik workshop!  We both loved the idea but soon found out that it took a LOT more work than either of us imagined. It was a fun day though and the results were very nice!! We headed back to the hotel by Grab, super cheap!! And I went in for a dip since we had a few hours to kill. My mom mostly sat on the balcony listening to the radio that was in the room and that she had brought outside. After a while, we decided to go to Malioboro street at night in search of souvenirs and what not. It was fun and this one guy kept following me with bags. I saw a bag I liked but since we are a bit taller than them, the length of the straps was too short. So this guy kept popping up at different parts of the markets with different bags. Unfortunately, they were all the same and so I didn't buy anything from him. We took a 'becak' back to the hotel. I had discussions with my mom about taking a 'becak' before we even went to Indonesia. She had seen this documentary stating it was very bad for the people cycling one, carrying the heavy load of passengers and all. I told her it might have been like that in the past, but not anymore, but I couldn't persuade her. She then told me she did want to take one of the horse and carriages which I didn't want to do, feeling bad for the horses. We settled on a motorized 'becak' :)!

Another day, another surprise! Hey mom, guess what? We're going cycling today! This was quite the adventure but so much fun. We stopped by a kroepoek factory, a locals bank, rice fields, brick making and some other stuff. I even worked with some of the locals, taking grains of plants and moulding my own bricks! The local back consisted of cows, which was also very interesting to see. And it was a hot but super fun day. And that wasn't the end of it! After a few hours of rest, Ari picked us up to go to the Borobudur. My mom told me this was one of the things she wanted to visit but once there she right away refused to go all the way to the top. It was simple to much after the bikeride. Luckily we had a guide with her that took it 'floor' by 'floor' and she made it to the top!! The history was quite interesting and impressive but other than that, I mostly liked the views J. My mom unfortunately didn't recognize anything of an earlier visit when we were there. We slowly made our way down and went back to our hotel for a good night sleep!

Today's surprise; Prambanan visit + sunset and Ramayana Ballet with a buffet dinner overlooking Prambanan by night. Since we didn't have to go until later that day, I decided to again, relax at the pool. My mom joined me a bit later and we made a few funny pool pictures! It took a few hours to get to Prambanan and we again had a guide. A young girl that was learning Dutch. After that we walked around the complex, there were more temples. And we then headed back to Prambanan for sunset where I told my mom that we also would go for a buffet dinner and Ramayana ballet. We had a reserved table outside on the grass across from Prambanan, which at that time was beautifully lit up! We also had VIP seats at the ballet, which meant big cushioned chairs with arms (that could use replacement) unlike the non-VIPS, who had to sit on stone benches with or without a separate pillow.

Because I was in contact with our driver Ari, a lot, we had discussed our next plans and destination. He had arranged to be our driver to Semarang since we'd had so much fun in our time together. He also told my mom he would be happy to stop by the hospital she was born in. Ari was born in the same hospital. I texted Ari after we had discussed this with my mom and asked him if he could maybe also try and find my mom's old house. And he was happy to do so if we left in time but I'll tell you more about that in my next blog J!

Cheers,

T.

Going back to Indonesia, back home - Part I

I had this plan a few years back that I wanted to take my mom back to Indonesia, back home, for her 65th birthday. I finally told her about it last year and on my birthday she told me she díd want to go and so that when it all started.

Weeks, even months before this trip was happening, I was looking forward to it. Even when I went to Dublin for the weekend earlier this year, I was thinking about this trip and that there was still so much to plan. 

So I finally booked our plane tickets at the end of June and that was it then, I kind of left it for a bit after that. I am always best at last minute planning and there was so much to do and see plus the fact that I wanted to make it a comfortable trip for my mom (as I am writing this now, we are on a boat back to Semarang. The sea is rough because it's very windy and it's the slow ferry going today, that means it's about 5 hours back. My mom is finally sleeping but didn't feel so well, mission failed I'd say as far as comfortable goes ^_^). I thought about the trip a lot and did more research than ever before, for a trip and found so much fun stuff that I thought my mom would really enjoy. It was just the constant being on the move that I was worried about.

My moms must-do's;
- Makassar (her dads place of birth)
- Borobudur (because she went there with her mom when she was a little girl)
- Semarang (her place of birth)

The plan I finally came up with;
- Makassar incl 1daytrip (3nights)
- Flight to Surabaya (1night)
- Train to Yogyakarta incl Wayang puppet show, batik workshop, cycling tour, Borobudur, Prambanan sunset, dinner and Ramayana ballet (4nights)
- Private transfer to Semarang incl 1daytrip (3nights)
- Boat (fast ferry) to Karimunjawa (3nights)
- Boat (slow ferry) to Semarang (1night)

The 1 night in Surabaya was only to get to Java and then take the train to Yogya (described as a beautiful route and one of the things I instantly felt like something we had to do). My choice for Karimunjawa was so that my mom could hopefully let it all sink in. All my mom knew were her must-do's. The rest was a surprise which I mostly told her in the morning of the actual day it was planned or the evening before. This was a bit of a challenge in Yogya as our driver knew the programm there and was bad at keeping it to himself haha.

The trip to Indonesia was not without challenges either. Our first flight was delayed making it very hard to make our second flight as we had to cross the entire airport, we did though with only minutes to spare but were both exhausted.

We arrived in Makassar and my mom was instantly hit by the heath. Luckily, it didn't take long before we were driven to the hotel (car with a/c). My mom looked out of the window, her first impressions of Indonesia.

There was a bit of a mix up at the hotel and we had to wait in the lobby for about 2hours in which my mom fell asleep feeling exhausted from the trip. I felt bad for that and tried to work it out with the hotel asap!

I was glad that I picked this place though, with great views of the Java sea, a nearby island and some tropical trees (that my mom called a jungle and looking back as if she was still a 4 year old, it could be one). But with all that already went wrong, I just hoped the rest of the trip would go according to plan.

I booked a sea view room and my mom loved it, unfortunately she thought it also had a balcony which it did not (can't have it all, but I did make sure the rest of our bookings had outdoor seating attached to the room). The hotel did have different outdoor seating downstairs with the same views :). I booked three nights so that my mom would have time to, if necessary, get over a jetlag and get used to the weather, etc. And we also had a daytrip planned, outside of the city, to Rammang Rammang. We walked around in Makassar as well, but there wasn't much to do. 

We mostly hung around by the pool whenever we could, it had the same amazing views and beautiful sunsets as well. And went on our daytrip to Rammang Rammang. Our driver/guide for the day was Adil (he spoke Dutch), easy to remember he said if you think of Aldi. He was an hour late, another thing that did not go according to plan... he explained he was working on finding 'lost Indo's' for a foundation and had forgotten about being a guide today. He was very nice and showed us around the city, Fort Rotterdam, the harbour, some other stuff and Rammang Rammang which we did by small boat and also stopped a few times on the way. It was a beautiful day full of nice nature walks, nothing too intense because my mom was too hot (panas panas, panas means hot). But the time on the boat was nice, refreshing and windy.

I remember my mom saying in the first few days of being here; "I don't understand these prices. How can it be so cheap?!" 
"Welcome to Indonesia mom", I replied.

Living the life of a snowbird ^_^ !

It's been a while since I last posted something and even though I did have some stuff ready, it wasn't completed yet and so I decided to combine my trip to Benidorm with the one to Florida. "Living the life of a snowbird". A snowbird is someone (usually elderly) that (yearly) visits warm and sunny destinations to avoid (cold) winters at home. And that's kind of what me and my friend Santousha did.

Wow what a gem! I was invited for a hen (bachelorette) party in Benidorm! Benidorm?!  Isn't that where all the seniors live? Yes, my thoughts exactly but boy, did I have a great time!! I asked my best friend to come along and I would split my time between her and the hen party, but she was welcomed in to join! And so off we went! We flew to Alicante and from there took a pre-booked bus to Benidorm. We had to wait for a while, since we were the firsts to arrive, for the rest of the people on our bus. Pretty much all English. We learned that it is a hotspot for the Brits, cheap drinks, flights, accommodation, sun, beach, etc.

The drive to Benidorm was nice, even though it was at night and pretty dark. We drove through, what looked like sand hills and the moon was almost full and huge! Once we got closer to Benidorm, it was one tall building after another. We wondered where we would end up at, having no idea where it was. My friends were in this place and so I just booked the same place. Because it was dark, we couldn't see a lot and it seemed like we ended up in the middle of nowhere. I asked the reception to put us close to our friends and so we got a room on the same floor. Unfortunately for us, they already fell asleep by the time we got there and so we went to bed as well,…hungry!!

We woke up pretty early and headed for the balcony, the views were AMAZING! It was beautiful!! Lots of high buildings, but also beach, sun! And so we knew, we weren't in the middle of nowhere after all hehe. Anyways, headed to the beach for breakfast and soon realized it was booze paradise. When we had our breakfast with tea and coffee, people next to us were drinking cocktails, beers and sangria. We soon ended up doing the same ^_^.  We found a place on the beach in the sun and started drinking cocktails (after noon of course). Our friends joined us when they finally got out of bed haha. And I saw my friend Ellen again!! It was her hen-party. I met Ellen in New Zealand 5 years ago and we also went to Bali together and met up in London a few years ago (and because it took forever to finish this blog, I also already went to her wedding in the UK in April). We drank, then had some food, then took naps/rested and went out for her big night dressed in matching t-shirts. What happened that night..? What happens in Benidorm stays in Benidorm ;-).

I loved Benidorm though. I feel sad for the elderly a lot of the time here, but there, man, they know how to live!! Taking one step at the time, or one scooterride at the time hehe. Instead of a rental place for bikes, you were able to rent 4wheels electric scooters or even a tandem ones (for the elderly)! And they were just enjoying life. There was a booth in the middle of the beach where they could read a book or play chess. I loved watching them. And because it was in low season, it wasn't too busy and the weather was fantastic! And there were palm trees everywhere. I would go back every year if I could, haha. It's the European Bali or Florida!

A few weeks after Benidorm, Florida followed. Me and Santousha had a great flight, drinking prosecco and eating a crème brûlée dessert, way to go Swiss Air J! We rented a car for our trip since we were doing a bit of a road trip. I've been to Florida so many times that this time I wanted to explore it a bit more. We started in Miami South Beach of course, which was not like I had ever seen it before. You see, it was Spring Break. So super busy and youngsters out on the street at night!! We had some dinner after we arrived at our hotel and then went to bed at a normal time. Because of that, we woke up early and walked to the beach for a beautiful sunrise. It was times like these that I missed my yearly trips to Florida and realized how much I love going here. We had breakfast at the beach and walked around for a bit. We also did a hop on hop off bus (only it was the last one so not a lot of 'hopping off'), my first ever there. It was a great way to start our trip and we didn't need the car, because everything was walkable.

The rest of our time in Florida was great as well! A lot of driving though….almost 2000km! One of our first drives was through the Everglades and we spotted a few alligators along the way, that was pretty cool!! We also visited Fort Myers and Sanibel Island. Sanibel island is small and has a kind of Key West vibe. It's known for its shelling, meaning beaches are filled with shells and people from all over the world come down here to collect shells. Of course Santousha and me joined in the fun but soon realized we were such amateurs not bringing any buckets or shovels haha.

More new things followed soon, such as visiting Downtown Orlando for St. Patricks Day and spending a day at the Kennedy Space Centre. Also very cool! We did have a bit of rain, and a lot on our way to Boca, it was like nothing I had ever seen before in all my visits to Florida. And after getting yet another room out looking the pool, I wondered if we were able to use it at this hotel. And man oh man, did we J!! We spent about 5-6 days in Boca, seeing friends, chilling at the pool, getting acquainted with the bar staff, seeing family again, having cocktails, shopping, etc. It was nice to be at one hotel for more than 2 days but we still had to drive a lot. After that we went back to Miami for our last few nights, the views from our balcony were to die for! Fantastic!! And I also went to another sunrise at the beach, which completed the circle for me :)!

Well there you have it. Me and Santousha living the life of snowbirds, returning in winter with a tan!

Until next time,

T.