Fun Day

On saturday, Mommy and Daddy decided to take the kids to explore North Jakarta.  First we went to Sunda Kelapa Harbor to see the old schooners. The boats look really old, but they are still in use.  It was a busy harbor where lots of cargo was being loaded and unloaded.

Next we decided to head to the old town of Batavia that is now known as Kota Tua (Old Town).  Batavia was the hub of Dutch Colonial Indonesia.

Fatahillah Square-cobblestone area lined with old colonial buildings

Old building that is now an art museum

Old Town Hall built in 1627

Sadly, most of the old buildings in Kota have either been torn down or are in really bad shape.  



We then headed to Glodok (Chinatown) to look around and get some lunch.  The kids really wanted some dumplings.  Unfortunately, we didn't find the right part of Chinatown that had the old temples and the traditional street markets where they sell skinned frogs, live bugs, and other interesting things.  We also didn't find any dumplings. We'll try and go again another time.  We did find a somewhat traditional street market where there were some food stalls and people selling fruits and other miscellaneous items. We stopped and had lunch at a place that was surrounded by food stalls.  As a whole, Chinatown was rather run down and very crowded.

We thought the kids would be tired after lunch, but they said they wanted to go to a playground.  Mommy had heard there was a cool pirateship playground in Ancol Recreation Park so off we went.

Daddy wanted to take a boat ride so we rented a boat and went for a 20 minute ride.

The guide caught the kids some jellyfish. We got to keep them, but we convinced the kids that they should stay at the park so we eventually let them go.

The kids loved the boat ride and kept asking to do it again.

After the boat ride, the kids wanted to look for the pirateship playground.  We finally found it, which is pretty amazing since Ancol Recreation park is enormous (300 hectares!)



It was hard to convince the kids that we should leave the playground and do some more exploring, but they finally agreed.  We came across a beach area and the kids got to play in the water for awhile before we headed home.  Good thing Mommy had brought extra clothes...just in case.

Mommy and Daddy had not expected to stay out all day, but we had such a great time.  We feel very blessed to live in such a beautiful country.  We have already had the opportunity to go so many different places and see many things.  We are trying to make the most of our time here in Indonesia since we don't know how long we will be living here.

Birthday in Dubai

On the way back to Jakarta, we had a 9 hour layover in Dubai.  We had a complimentary hotel room courtesy of Emirates Airlines so we left the airport.  We dropped our things off at the hotel and booked a 2-hour bus tour of Dubai.  To celebrate his birthday, Daddy really wanted to take a tour of the city.  By the time we reached our hotel room in Dubai, there were only 4 hours left before Daddy's birthday was over. 

The kids were none too happy about taking a bus tour after getting off of a 16 hour flight and having already spent more than a full day traveling.  However, Mommy convinced them they should be nice to Daddy and go on the tour.  Poor kids actually took turns falling asleep on the bus only to be woken up at various stops. The bus tour was really a great way to see the city.

After the tour, we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant, rested for about an hour, and then headed back to the airport.  We had a 4 am flight so we had to be to the airport by 2am.   We didn't really get to sleep in the hotel, but it was nice to get a shower and clean up a little before embarking on the next long leg of our journey.

Releasing pent-up energy at the hotel room

Waiting for the bus tour

On the bus...we are in the very back

 At the Hotel Atlantis on Palm Jumeirah, an artifical island shaped like a palm tree.

 The kids are oh so happy to be woken up to take a tour of the Hotel Atlantis.

The hotel had the largest indoor aquarium we have ever seen anywhere...amazing!

Burj Al Arab Hotel, also on an artificial island in the Persian Gulf...room rates are $2000-$9000 US per night!

Another view of Burj Al Arab

The kids got to get their feet wet in the Persian Gulf!

Jumeirah Mosque

The tallest building in the world!