Cassava Root

I tried Cassava root today in the office; the chef in our office makes lunch and an afternoon snack everyday. Today she made Cassava root and potatoes, both lightly pan fried. She gave me the potatoes unsure if I would like Cassava but it was pretty good; tasted just like a potato actually.
In case anyone is interested cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world, with Africa its largest center of production.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava

Not that anyone is jealous but the other she made home made mango smoothies, which if you liked mangos (I don't) looked pretty darn good!

Bali

The time finally came and I managed to sneak away for a weekend to Bali and let me say it was worth it. It wasn't as nice as I thought it might be but it was still a fun time. My coworker and I went to the Seminyak area which is just north of Kuta (which is where all the bars, etc are located). It was great to finally be able to wear shorts and to be able to walk around safely, oh and to get some smog free air!! (Jakarta has so much pollution, the air quality is terrible). Anyway we stayed in this great little resort that had a wonderful outdoor bathroom and shower.
Had tons of good food, some fun drinks and were a bit social, all and all a pretty perfect weekend. One cool thing is that the waves and surfing in Bali were amazing; I don't think I have ever seen waves this large before and they rolled in nonstop. It was pretty cool to just watch them as we hung out on the beach.
Below is a picture of the memorial they built after the 2002 bombing in Bali.
Well off for dinner and drinks since tomorrow is a Holiday here in Indonesia. Have a good one everyone.

Semarang

I had to head off to Semarang for work; which is about an hour flight from Jakarta heading east on the island of Java. It was a nice city, actually pretty clean and much smaller then Jakarta. The coolest part of the trip however was seeing the ring of fire or some of it from the plane.

Just the Bun

Ok I don't know if people will find this as funny as I did but my coworker and I went to lunch today at this mall in Jakarta. We both got a burger with no mayo, no mustard, and no tomato so we told the woman exactly that. Well let's just say most folks do not speak much english. So we tried to reiterate that we wanted no sauce as Rhona put it; the woman repeated the order back (which they do in every restaurant) saying bun, and lettuce. Well the chef came out of the kitchen about 15 minutes later asking if we wanted no meat and just wanted a bun and lettuce. It was pretty hilarious if you were there and par for the course here. Not sure if this will as funny for someone who wasn't there but just goes to show you what happens in a typical day out eating in Jakarta.

A Thousand Islands

Kota Island

So I think these pictures say it all! I finally made it to the beach today and oh my was it worth very second of the 90 minute boat ride out there! Indonesia has these thousand islands off the north cost of the island of Java (where Jakarta is located). We went to the island of Kota which was beautiful, amazing, and isolated from the world. It actual felt as if you were on a deserted island. We had our pick of locations on the beach since there were only about 25 people on the entire island. Everything was pretty much perfect, soft sand, warm clear water, lots of fish, birds chipping overhead, waves crashing next to us and the sun which made for a well needed perfect day!One of the spots we relaxed at

Oh exciting part of the day was that there are these lizards on the island (apparently they are common in Indonesia and Malaysia). This one lizard was about 3 ft long and about 5 ft away from us when we heard him moving around.

If anyone wants to see more pictures; check out this link http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=zxikmmn.c3yqocvv&Uy=-wcvkn&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=495485645041_885461972603&localeid=en_US

International SOS

Well that pretty much sums up my Friday night; I was planning to head to Bali tossed out after I got ill last night. I thought I could fight it but was persuaded a bit that a fever, but that got chills, etc are not to be messed with in a developing country. So I went to a medical clinic in Jakarta and I can now add another item to my list of never done that before. Actually it was really fine and they just give you the antibiotics right away and they are apparently much stronger then in the US so hopefully I will be all better by the end of the weekend just in time for work! So in case anyone wants to know where I'll be tomorrow, see below

Very hungry coil in the lobby (Jen they remind me of east 79th st a bit).Below are some shots of Central Jakarta as I have said before I was a bit shocked by how many buildings they had in their skyline.

Malls and Spas

So the title of this blog is very fitting; after spending a weekend in Jakarta I have learned that it consists of Malls and Spas. This is apparently everyone's initial reaction when you ask them what there is to do in Jakarta.
My first weekend here has pretty much consisted of shopping, getting a massage, eating and drinking so I guess a fairly typical weekend here and similar to what I might be doing in SF if I were home. I did get to try some authentic Indonesian food as well as some Malaysian Roti (which was Delicious and I recommend if anyone gets a chance!).
I actually like the local beer which is Bintang; it is very similar to Amstel light. Last night I went to a bar that had a local band playing. About half the songs were cover songs for Indonesian bands in Bahasa (which is the most commonly used language here) and the other half were American songs sung in English. They were actually pretty good and the crowd was really into the music so it was a fun atmosphere.
Today I finally ventured outside my little hotel bubble and met up with some ex-pats (thanks Alex!) who have been living in Jakarta for about 2 years now. It was great to talk with people about all the things to do/see and the best place for a massage (which for 1 hour can be anywhere from $5 - $30).
Well that is all for tonight... except that I have learned one phase in Bahasa so far - terima kasih which means thanks so....terima kasih and good night!

Selamat malam Jakarta

I have made it to Jakarta after only 14 hours worth of flying time from London. All said it wasn't that horrible; Singapore Airlines has excellent service even in economy and tons of movies or tv shows to watch.
Jakarta is a bit different from what I expected; it is more developed and somewhat cosmopolitan as some have said. The traffic however is very much like the traffic in India although it is a bit more organized and there are a handful of actual traffic lights. Similar to India it does take about 30-45 minutes to drive about 3 miles.
The place I'm staying is a very nice boutique hotel which kind of reminds me a bit of a W hotel in the states. I figured I would take a quick shot of my living area along with the rooftop outdoor pool which overlooks the Kemang Raya area of Jakarta. Although one of the best feature of the room is that it is wired with speakers that are hooked up to an iPod loaded with various kinds of music (it is very relaxing and GREAT). Below are some pictures from my room/balcony...

I started my first day in the field today and everyone was very friendly and I am looking forward to working with everyone from the Indonesian offices. I have yet to have any authentic Indonesia food but I look forward to trying some soon; it seems the area I am staying is catered to many ex-pats so there are lots of Italian, India, Pizza joints and Starbucks to go around.

Oppps

I was so kindly reminded by my nephews that I didn't have any pictures of them when they were visiting in DC. First thank you to my parents, baba, Kath, Dave, Andrew, James and Will for coming to visit me a couple of weeks ago in DC. I had a great time and I appreciate everyone making the trip down to visit!

Ok I'm off to training and then to Jakarta tonight; more in two days when I get there :)

London Calling

After two jam packed weeks in Arlington I was off to London on the 4th of July (little ironic). Oh before I forget it was great to see everyone while I was in Arlington, thanks for making the time (special thanks to Matt and Christine for some amazing home cooked meals!)
Anyway I made it safe and sound to London on Sat. morning. I actually got to catch some of the 4th of July fireworks from the plane in Washington Dulles which was a first and pretty cool to see as we were taking off. London has been pretty amazing thus far; I forgot how much I liked this city. It was sunny and beautiful yesterday which is rare but I took full advantage by having an afternoon brew at the local farmers market with my co-worker and some of her friends.

However, today has been more along the standard lines of weather for London as it rained on and off most of the day. I managed to take the Tube and walk around to all different parts of the city. I love how all Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park have those lounge chairs everywhere. I did however manage to find a Whole Foods; shocker I know but I just happened upon it after leaving Kensington Gardens and well of course I needed to stop in and see how it compared with our states counterparts. This might come as a big shock but it kind of put ours to shame; they had entire dining sections (not like the ones in the US which just have a section for take out) this was more made to order pizza's etc. Well I start my training class tomorrow and then off to Jakarta on Tuesday evening......