my o my...how a month flies by

The wedding was most definitely an event to see. I am so glad we were able to be here for Yoan and Andry's wedding.  The traditions in a Chinese wedding are much different than your typical American nuptials.  I know everyone is familiar with the red colors of a Chinese holiday.  During Chinese New Year, ONLY the children receive red envelopes with money from family members called an ong-pao.  Well you also get one when you get married from family and friends...no registry in this country! Right beside the guest book is a huge box with red envelopes to give your ong-pao.

Grace's part as a flower girl was not like a typical flower girl.  The actual ceremony is in the morning at a church.  But the party happens at 7 pm in a banquet hall draped with pink and white chiffon from the ceiling.

The stage, yes I said stage, has red traditional chinese decorations with furniture covered in gold fabric.  Grace's part was to hold the groom's hand as he walked down the aisle to meet my cousin with her bouquet.  There they are announced as husband and wife and Grace walked in front throwing gold shiny confetti on the ground.  She did great.

I will post pictures once we are back home but some of my facebook friends have seen our pageant hair and makeup. I am not sure I ever wore that much makeup for any one event. And the hairspray...can we say cotton candy hairdo.  I had to wash 2 times to remove all the hairspray. But it really was sooooo fun!

Well the visit is now over.  We are leaving on the train to Jakarta in 6 hours. Yesterday we made our last trip to Guci. Its a natural hot spring swimming pool in the mountains.  On the last trip Grace found 40,000 rupiahs on the bottom of the pool.  She is so excited she goes back and finds 10,000 more.  For those of you who don't know the exchange rate, its only $6.02.  But Grace doesn't care she is on cloud 9.  So yesterday she is determined to find some more money. With goggles in hand, she is off to the pool.  She found 5,000 more! We couldn't believe it.  Now she wants to know what she can buy.  I told her a couple of ice creams is about it.

So today we got our the last 65,000 rupiah massage for a while.  How many massage therapist do you know that would give an hour and a half for $7.22! Not too many. I have to say my muscles are a little sore from all the rubbing and massage this past month! Now back to the real world of cry babies and cavity bugs! I have to honestly say I missed my routine, my husband and sweet little boy! Will update all posts with pictures back in the states.

Finally back in Tegal

I didn't think I would be saying that...
Let me go back and update the trip.  Typing on an iphone is not very easy.

The last dive in Manado was beautiful.  The weather was great.  We only did 2 dives on the last day due to the flight schedule.  My cousin and I started having some ear troubles due to water not clearing.  So the day after diving we went to visit the town ENT.  I felt like I was in a clinic from Cider House Rules.  But he confirmed what we knew...ear infections for each one of us. 

The day we were scheduled to fly out of Manado we stopped at the local market area.  I have always defended my "peeps" saying they don't eat dogs.  Well guess what? They DO! Only in some areas. Many areas are not allowed to sell or eat dogs at all. But this area has a market to buy dogs, bats and rats.  All the animals are incinerated to remove the hair and then chopped up.  It was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen.  And I have seen some pretty disgusting things in my years as a dental hygienist.  I actually threw up outside of the market area. 

So after the market, we are on the way to Bali. One layover turns into 2 due to a canceled flight.  We have a party of 12 that manage to all get on another flight that is boarding now. We look like a Chinese version of Home Alone running throught the airport. Everyone is sitting on a different row.  I give Grace her boarding pass because of the seat number.  It actually has the boarding pass for the next flight stapled to the back. There is some confusion with another passenger's seat number.  The flight attendant takes Grace's boarding pass and doesn't return it.  Long story short, Grace doesn't have a boarding pass. She is crying because she thinks she will not be able to board the plane.  Thank goodness for E tickets! Now we are all on the final plane to Bali, but our luggage is not.  It does come in on the 1am flight. 

That night in Bali, we are listening to the band in the Hard Rock Hotel and having cocktails.  My cousin tells me there is something around my purse moving.  I tell her "you must have had too much to drink."  Well the next morning I am looking for something in my purse when something black with a tail is moving around.  Let me just say~ if you were asleep on my hallway...you weren't after that moment! I drop the purse and jump on the bed. My sister shakes my purse and a big black gecko runs out!! I am so glad I didn't see it on the plane.

Now its Friday the 24th and we are on a plane for Phuket, Thialand.  It is breath taking. We book 1 dive excursion off the main island.  The scenery in Phuket may be beautiful, but the diving in Manado is much better. We spend the next day swimming in the pool and shopping.  I am not a bargain shopper, just ask my husband.  So this kind of shopping is exhausting to me. But thanks to my mother we are able to buy lots of things.  We also go to a show called Simon Caberet.  It was a very interesting show about all the different cultures...Chinese, Korean, Japanese, American. The women are stunningly gorgeous. Skin, hair, makeup and guess what they are ALL or were men at one time.  Its a must see if you are ever in the area. www.phuket-simoncaberet.com/.

The flight home is uneventful except for the 2:30 am wakeup call to catch a 6 am flight. And the almost lost passport that was in someone else's bag! We spend one night in Jakarta before taking a train to Tegal.  This time of the year is busy in Indonesia due to the children being on a holiday.  So our group splits up to catch the train.  I am so thankful to live in a country wear most traffic rules are obeyed such as not sharing a lane with a motorcycle.  Traffic in the capitol is an absolute nightmare.  Imagine the worst city to drive in... now take away the redlights. The point is we missed the 4:45 train by 7 minutes.  I couldn't even understand what my mother, cousin and aunt were saying and I was stressed out.  Luckily there was room on the 7pm train.  Guess what~it was 10 minutes late!
So we finally arrived back in Tegal at 1:30 am.
12 planes in 24 days, 3 stamps in our passports and some really brown skin.

Dive day 2 in Manado

Today was a beautiful day for scuba diving. Overcast and breezy. 2 less passengers on today's excursion, my mother and aunt. The other seasickers took some Dramamine and were great. I took pictures today with an underwater camera. The next time I see and underwater photo, I will know how hard it was to capture the photo. Imagine trying to take a picture of a moving object that is afraid of "you", trying not to move while bubbles are coming out of your mouth and a little current pushing you along. But the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. Hopefully I will have some good ones.

One of the most important rules learned in our scuba lessons was "do not touch" unless you are sure it's safe. They don't even want you to touch the coral, due to many great efforts to preserve it's ecosystems. I am honestly afraid the coral will move and I will freak out under water! Well I accident touched some "fire" coral. The name actually implies how it will make your skin feel! Treatment is ammonia. If you are on a ship that means urine or menthol works, too. My arms and face were so red and literally felt on fire! And remember the rule says don't touch unless you are sure it's safe. Well, Nemo is on the do not touch list. My crazy cousin thought she could just scoop him out of his anemone. Well he bit her wrist! It actually drew blood. So we go again tomorrow for our last dive here. Then off to Bali for one day then more diving in Phuket, Thailand.

Welcome to Manado

It's the end of day one's diving. We had to travel on a boat about 30 minutes out to start first dive. The boat ride was definitely no carnival cruise ship! Lots of green faces by the time we reach our destination. Glad to say one was not me. Under the ocean is absolutely breath taking! 3 total dives today included lots of bright colored fish, 1 nemo, a sea turtle, sea horses, a sting ray and we even saw an octopus "ink" himself! We even saw clams that were about 150 years old. We feed some fish a banana right out of our hand. My mother got a super fast scuba lesson and managed to make it down 5 meters! Grace even got to snorkle and see lots of fish. Our party of 12 had at least 4 hanging overboard by the end. We shall see what tomorrow brings!

stinky feet fruit

If you saw my facebook post about trying the durian fruit.  We got home late lastnight and my mom says its better cold. So Brandi and I will try it when we get back from this morning's diving.  So stay tuned...

getting ready to go again

We are going to the pool this morning to check out the scuba gear.  My uncle has borrowed some regulators and vests for the trip and need to make sure everything in in working order.  Yesterday we went to Gucci, a natural hot spring olympic size swimming pool in the mountains.  It was absolutely fabulous to be a little chilly up there. Grace used a towel for a blanket on the way home! 

So we leave in the morning on a train back to Jakarta...at 5:30am! My uncle says you want to go shopping, we will get there at 11 so more time for shopping. Early train ticket is cheaper! 

Our party of 12 flies out for Manado on Saturday morning! I believe we stay there for 4 or 5 days. All flights have been arranged to allow 24 hours before and after diving. (Or you may get decompression sickness.) Then we go to Bali for a day or 2, then to Phuket, Thailand for more scuba diving, back to Bali for a day, then back to Jakarta. And another train to Tegal! Grace may get her whole lifetime max of flying by the age of 9! 

I am hoping to get some pictures uploaded this afternoon.  Another uncle is having to make me a disk from my memory card.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Well it is Saturday morning here and we had a big day yesterday.  Brandi and I are certified "pool divers." We don't become official "open water divers" until our first open water dive in Manado on June 11th.  It is honestly the most quiet and surreal feeling.  All you hear is your own breathing. Can't wait to actually see some "Memo's" as Ian would say.  I hope to take some underwater pictures with my uncle's underwater camera.  

So I mentioned the doctor...my mother and Grace are sick but much better today.  First my mom starts running fever yesterday morning around 100 and going up.  So she goes to the doctor.  Then Grace starts running fever of 100 around 3pm and going up.  So we decide to go to the doctor at 7:30 pm here.  The phrase "it takes a village" was definitely intended for last night. My grandmother comes and looks at Grace. She gives her "Chinese" medicine woman diagnosis. Something about if her legs are hot or cold. My mom makes a call for one of her brothers to take us to the doctor because Grace is running fever. He comes with his wife and 2 daughters, 1 daughter is a doctor. Then here comes a sister and her husband.  Then the other brother, who lives in the house we are staying, comes home.  They are ALL giving their opinions about her sickness in another language! I can understand conversation more than I can speak, so I just listen. It was a classic moment of true family!

So in summary Grace and my mom just have a cold with upper respiratory infection.  Grace gets prescription of anitbiotic and cough expectorant. No fever today and feeling much better.

Scuba lessons

So about a month ago my mom says "Do you want to go scuba diving?" I say sure but I think we have to be certified. Her brother wants to make plans for us to go diving but needs to make reservations.  He says there is a class and you can do it when we get there. So yesterday for the 1st class.

Scuba lesson 1:  4 hours of instruction  with 2 videos and 2 tests.  Results: Jenny and Brandi about to fall asleep at 7pm from severe jetlag.

Scuba lesson 2:  3 hour pool lesson, 4 hours of instruction with 2 video and 2 tests. Results: Jenny and Brandi viewing the bottom of 15 foot deep public pool...and total exhaustion!

Tomorrow and last day: back to pool at 6:30am to do diving test and final exam.

This certificate may be my prized possession from this journey! 

Who knew there was so much information to scuba dive. 

Everyone else is good. Grace swam today while we had scuba instruction. She also had a cheese pizza from Pizza Hut! It looked like the real thing and better yet my girl ate the whole pizza between lunch and dinner.  I packed so much stuff in my suitcases, I started to forget what I was bringing and why.  Well in my packing rampage, I forgot hydrocortisone creme.  Did you know they don't sell it here, in a country that's full of mosquitos!!!! So we have resorted to home remedy items with my friend google.  Trying aloe vera tonight. If that doesn't work, next is a paste made from witch hazel and baking soda. Leave me a message if you have any ideas with stuff that's available here.

Off to finish the first book of my trip...Heaven is for real.  A MUST READ FOR EVERYONE!

Stay tuned to see if Jenny and Brandi become certified scuba divers!