Janur Weaving with Heritage Explorers

If you've been to Bali, you've seen the beautiful woven Janur decorations that adorn houses, festivals, and temples all over the island.  Janur is the traditional art of weaving and twisting young leaves of the coconut palm.   

Janur baskets and decorations at a Hindu temple in Bali

The larger pieces are often used for wedding decorations

This week our explorers group travelled to a Javanese house where we learned the basics of Janur weaving.  Although I didn't master the advanced bird head, I managed to create 5 different types and even got a "WOW" from Jeff when he arrived home.

We looked like a group of ladies in a sewing circle

Star student!

Sadly I didn't win the Janur turkey that our teacher made...

Our new centerpiece.

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Tangerang with Heritage Explorers

Its too easy to settle into a routine and before you know it your weeks consist of work, chores, and familiar restaurants.  Jakarta and the surrounding areas are full of interesting cultural experiences, but I can only name a few - sunda kelapa fishing boats, traditional markets, and chinatown.  Wanting to change this, I signed up for the Heritage Explorers group.  Our first excursion was to Tangerang, a Jakarta suburb that Jeff commutes to at least 3 times a week for work.

We started out with a $1 becak (bicycle taxi) ride around the downtown area for some sightseeing.  I must be twice the size of most passengers because I had to really crouch to squeeze in.

After a short presentation, we went to a festival celebrating the upcoming dragon boat races.  The boats were very elaborately decorate, but weren't racing until the following weekend.  My competitive side wanted to join the races until an image of falling into the river came to mind.

There was a ceremony with singing, incense, drumming, praying, and best of all egg balancing.  I was skeptical at first, but it was actually pretty easy to get the eggs balanced on end.  Hopefully this will bring another year of good luck for Jeff and I in Asia.

Our final stop was the Buddhist temple in Chinatown which was built in 1805 and honors the deities for  mercy, courage, and prosperity.

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Pulau Macan Birthday Party

One of Jeff's top selling points when talking up our move to Jakarta was the close proximity to the Thousand Islands.  It took a year for us to get there, but it was worth the wait!  We took a 90 minute boat ride from the stinking Jakarta pier and found ourselves on a pristine little island surrounded by clean air, clear blue water, and coral for snorkeling.  We joined a 30th birthday celebration for our friend Bede and were endlessly entertained by the antics of 16 fellow deviants.

Pulling up to Pulau Macan (Tiger Island)

To cool off, we all immediately jumped into the ocean and snorkeled around enjoying the views.

Jeff has earned quite the reputation in Beersby and never misses an opportunity to up his game.  This weekend was classed up with wine bottles since there was only canned beer on the island - aren't we sophisticated.

The staff on the island were very entertained by our group

Serious game, look at the concentration

After checking into our huts, we all opted to take a nap to recover from the previous night's libations where friends from all over the globe surprised Bede by strolling into a restaurant in Jakarta.

Can't beat this view

For sunset we cracked open the champagne and toasted to another "dirty 30" birthday as the sun went down.

Just before dinner we witnessed the most incredible, intense lightning storm.  We sat on the dock cheering and yelling as the bolts raced across the sky over the ocean.  We capped off the evening with dinner, carrot cake, and college drinking games to prove just how young we still are.

The next morning Jeff and I explored the neighboring islands on paddle boards, savoring the last few hours or the trip before heading back to Jakarta.

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Kuala Lumpur...finally

When we first arrived in Jakarta about almost a year ago, Jeff and I booked a smokin' deal on flights to Kuala Lumpur.  We couldn't resist round trip Air Asia flights for under $50 each.  We counted down the months for ages and finally departed a few weeks ago.  After getting sneers and looks of disgust from Indonesians in regards to Malaysia, we wondered what the heck is the big deal?   Well after a little digging we find out that the rivalry stems from Batik (traditional formal wear) and the Pendet Dance (traditional Balinese dance).  Apparently Malaysia is trying to capitalize on Indonesian culture by claiming these traditions as their own.  Maybe in retaliation Jakarta can steal a few infrastructure ideas from KL such as public transportation, sidewalks, clean waterways, lack of garbage, and sanitary street food.  Rivalry aside, we loved Malaysia and hope to return to Penang for a future weekend trip.

We're often cooped up indoors in Jakarta so the theme of this vacation was wandering around and exploring.  We even fell into the ultimate tourist trap - a double decker bus ride to whisk us to all the important sites.

Istana Negara - The National Palace

Sri Mahamariammam Temple - Oldest Hindue temple in KL

Petronas Twin Towers

To put it mildly, we were crazy for the food in Malaysia.  We couldn't get enough of the local curry houses which serve around a dozen different curries buffet style.  You can get rice, chapati, or dosi and pile the curries on top.  We would fill our plates beyond capacity and somehow still only pay around $5 total.

Might not look like much, but some of the best Indian food ever!

Yes I ate it all and had to waddle around for the next hour

We stayed in Chinatown which had a shortage of Western style breakfast, so we did our best to embrace Chinese food for breakfast.  It took a few bites to get over the feeling that we were eating dinner at 9AM, but the flavors won us over in the end.

The highlight of the trip for Jeff was our adventurous trip to Taps Beer Bar.  It involved wandering around for several hours of trying to find it, but it was well worth it.  The bar would fit perfectly in downtown Portland and the selection of beers made Jeff giddy with excitement as he sipped his IPA and Saison beer.

On our last night we took it up a notch and headed to Sky Bar to take in the legendary views of the Twin Towers.  Jeff managed to sweet talk the manager into the best seat in the house when we arrived.  It was a perfect ending to our long awaited trip!

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Pelabuhan Ratu Surf Weekend

Shamefully Jeff and I haven't used our surfboards since arriving in Indonesia (or in my case ever).  To remedy this we headed to a popular surf beach on Java, about 160 km south of Jakarta.  Our 3 car caravan got an early 4 AM start and enjoyed with a relatively smooth drive clocking in at about 4 hours.

Pelabuhan Ratu location on Java

We arrived at our beautiful villa on Sunset Beach and immediately propped ourselves down to stare at the enormous waves crashing just in front of us.  We watched a brave surfer tried to paddle out against the waves only to give up after being pounded relentlessly.

Enjoying the waves

View from the villa

Seeing that the waves were too big for our group of newbies + Jeff with only 1 paddling arm, we went on a mission the next day to find some anak (child) waves.  We were handsomely rewarded with an almost deserted beach, free of garbage, and full of waves just big enough to give us a rush of adrenaline.  We all caught a few waves, but only Bede our beach-raised Aussie pal managed to stand up.

Beach bums

The excitement continued when we had to get the van back up the near 45 degree rock road.  We walked up the road cheering our driver on and managed to make it out only leaving a bit of tire rubber after spinning out a few times.  We arrived back at the villa to be greeted by the delicious smells of grilled lamb leg (yes I confess I've recently become a complete carnivore) and stunning sunset.

Rubber from our tires

Trying out the HDR setting on my camera

By Saturday the waves on Sunset Beach had calmed down a bit so we all headed out to have another go.  Jeff caught a few waves which boosted his spirits and left him with a big smile the whole day.

Kowabunga dude!

Trying to stand up...

We enjoyed Brendan's fantastic homemade pizzas that night along with lots of wine and beer.  Although I went to sleep early, Jeff had plenty of fun for both of us!  He stumbled into the room at 5 AM with a scratchy voice from hours karaoke and smelling like a slab of bacon.  I won't try to describe the compromising position he was in when I woke up a few hours later, but let's just say the whole crowd loved the reenactment.  I'm still laughing about it and wondering how the heck he managed to get so tangled up.  All in all an epic weekend that was well worth the 7.5 hour stop and go drive back to Jakarta.

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Jakarta Medical Care

Over the last year we've heard a few medical stories that have been either horrific or hilarious.  Thinking this wouldn't be the case for us, we laughed them off and cringed when appropriate not thinking much about it.  The last few weeks we've both tested the level of care at the SOS Clinic where most expats go.  I went suspecting a parasite and Jeff went after a heroic Ultimate Frisbee dive  that tweaked his shoulder, the same one that fell victim to an ice skating crash on a homemade rink after a few shots of tequila.

I was the prizewinner and only had to visit the clinic twice to get the correct prescription and diagnosis.  As a bonus, I asked for Xanax to calm my recently developed flight anxiety (thanks Lion Air).  I was rewarded with a prescription after answering just 1 question - "how many do you want?"  Care-free flying here I come!

About a week later we returned after a highly competitive Frisbee play where Jeff opted to tuck and roll instead of belly-flopping onto the turf.  He heard a loud pop and knew that meant trouble.  We managed to make it home that night and headed to the doc first thing the next morning.  After a mulligan or two by the X-ray tech, he had 2 usable shots of his shoulder.  The local doctor took a 15 second look at the X-ray, concluded everything was fine, and handed us a prescription for muscle relaxants and local brand Bengay cream.  He gave no advice on icing and my probing questions about  physical therapy yielded an indifferent shrug and response of "if you want."  The doc also recommended not to move the shoulder which we later learned is a good way to extend the recovery by locking the muscles up.  

Jeff managed to survive for a few weeks and I picked up the X-rays on my next trip out to the Kemang area.  After a quick peak  it was obvious that there was a BIG difference between his two shoulders.  Why is the collar bone on the left side just floating in space while the right side look attached to another bone?  Why is there 3 times the space on between the shoulder bones on the left side?  

Jeff's X-ray.  Sorry for the building in the background, had to tape this to a window to get a picture.

That night we consulted good ol' Wiki and cringed when the first image for a separated shoulder looked the same as his x-ray.

Here's the Wiki picture of a separated shoulder

Jeff's separated shoulder

It's not all bad news though, we miraculously met a fantastic physical therapist specializing in shoulder injuries at a friends birthday party.  Jeff's just under the cusp for needing surgery.  He's working on his range of motion every night (with a little nagging from the wife) and plans to be better than new in under 8 weeks.

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Indonesian Chicken Curry - Gulai Ayam

After discussing Thai Green Curry during the AWA talk, I moved to Indonesian curries which were originally inspired by India due to the trade relationship.  These curries - kari, gulai, and Rendang have a distinct Indonesian flare because they're fiery and cooked in coconut milk.  Gulai sauce can be quite addicting and it's vibrant orange color is due to the turmeric powder and dried chillies.

First grind the paste.

Then combine the dry spices.

Fry the paste for a few minutes, add the spices, then add the chicken and lemongrass.

Coconut milk and broth go in next and the gulai is simmered until thickened.

Finally, garnish and devour.

Gulai Ayam (Indonesian Chicken Curry)

12 skinless chicken thighs or 6 breast halves

3 Tbsp oil

200 ml thick coconut milk

1-2 cups chicken broth

3 stalks lemongrass, bruised

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 Tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

Spice Paste:

15 shallots

10 dried chillies, soaked in hot water for 20 mins

1 inch galangal

1 inch fresh ginger

4 cloves garlic

6 candlenuts

Dry Spices:

1 Tbsp coriander powder

1 Tbsp cumin powder

1 tsp fennel

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 inch cinnamon stick

1.  Chop spice paste ingredients and grind into a paste, adding water if needed to keep the mix turning.
2. Combine coriander, cumin, fennel and turmeric together in a small bowl and set aside.
3.  Heat oil in wok and gently fry spice paste for 2- 3 minutes until fragrant.
4. Add dry spices and fry, stirring for another 2 minutes.
5. Add chicken and lemongrass and cook, stirring frequently until chicken is well coated with spices.
6. Add coconut milk, 1 cup broth, and salt.
7. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally until chicken is tender and curry has thickened (~20 minutes).  Add additional broth if sauce becomes too thick.
8.   Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice.

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