Field trip!

Both Jaffa and Eben's classes headed to the National Museum on Friday, and I happened to be late putting myself forward as chaperone for either class and didn't make the cut.  Oh nuts.  But now I have promised to send an email to both teachers asking to be top of the list for the next one. 

Double nuts.

 

I heard from multiple mother sources that it was a good trip with lots of storytelling about the legends of Indonesia based on the statues at the museum.  I heard from my children all about people who ate themselves from their feet to their necks at the king's orders, and others where young maidens burned the beautiful princess out of jealousy.. all useful lessons for primary school kids.

 

[Though Eben is not in the girls' class, apparently he snuck around to be with them as much as he could.  So is the nature of BFFFFs.]

 

the whole gang!!

6 candles and a lot of caramel

5 + 1

51

 

[there really aren't emergency fire services here so we figured it was best not to risk it]

 

happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..

brown sugar cake with gooey and chewy pecan caramel and lots of whipped cream

it was pretty yum

and very sticky

we haven't lost any fillings yet

23 seconds

Had to get a little creative for the birthday boy.. after all, he had the day off (MLK day), and we'd already had massages for my birthday (and more than one a week would be just.. well, decadent.. but anyway).   Zeric has been accumulating the right equipment for good coffee: last year an espresso maker, this year a coffee roaster.. and Indonesia has great coffee, and great coffee people.  So, I found Pak Agus at Caswell's Coffee (http://www.caswellscoffee.com/) who does a great coffee class, and signed up for a six-hour class just for the two of us.

 

 

 

We showed up at 9:30am and we were ready.  Even if we weren't ready, we would have gotten ready fast because we started off with Agus making us a great latte.  Agus is two-time barista of the year for Indonesia (2006, 2009) and so we got to learn all about the competitions.  Tough stuff!  We began the class with a coffee cupping (tasting).  Come to find out, tasting coffee is just as complicated--if not more--than tasting wine.  We tasted three coffees and rated them against six criteria. Crazy how you taste so many different things, based on what you're paying attention to.

 

 

Remember to slurp loud and fast when you taste!  

 

 

Coffee's flavor depends on the bean, and the terroir, and the weather, and the transport and storage, and the agtron number (how dark it is roasted) and the brewing technique.  And probably a bunch of other things I have forgotten.  After we talked about all of those things and tasted the difference, we headed downstairs to see the roasting.  The roaster was huge (Zeric will be asking for one of those next year for the holidays), and the smell was fantastic.  Beans are only roasted between 6 and 20 minutes, and crack once (like a popcorn pop), twice if you're roasting them very dark.  Who knew?

 

 

Next, back upstairs to learn how to make the perfect espresso.  It's not easy!!

 

Pak Agus says: it takes between four and five years for a coffee tree to bear fruit that's drinkable, it takes at least one month to get the beans from the farmer to the roaster, and between six and twenty minutes to roast the beans. 

 

And then, it takes just 23 seconds to ruin it all.  23 seconds is the proper time to brew an espresso.  It should be between 25 and 40 ml .. and there are many things that affect whether it all works out: the grind of the beans, how much coffee you use, how tightly you pack it, how hot the water is.

 

We practiced and practiced, and then we learned how to steam the milk properly.  And then, our test:
     1 espresso
     1 latte
     1 cappuccino
     1 macchiato
     1 Americano
Each.

Phew.  We must of passed!!

And then, Pak Agus showed off a little.  Foam flowers will have to be the next class!!

 

 

A big thanks to Pak Agus for all of the insights and instruction, and patience and fun. He is a great instructor, and a really nice guy!!

 

Happy birthday, Zeric <3

Bagels!

There are not too many sources of good bagels here in Jakarta, so I've been practicing. 
Seems to be working out okay.. so say my culinary fans ;)

Mercy goes to the doctor

Today was the day that we have been waiting for for a number of months.  Dr. Deni is the only doctor in Jakarta that does ultrasounds on animals.  It takes months to get an appointment.  We have been wanting to know how all of Mercy's insides are doing (heart, liver, girl parts, spleen) so that we can be sure that we are doing the right things, and to make sure that there's nothing big going wrong. 

 

The news was really good!  Her heart is okay, and everything else is normal.. except that she might have to go on prescription food for bladder stones (like Olivia was), but that's really the only thing he found--and one that's good to find early. Big sigh of relief.

 

With that news in hand, the funniest thing about today's adventure to the doctor is that our long-awaited appointment was at the same time as the boys' football game. Hmmmmm.. At our awesome driver Sukijan's advice, we took a bajaj (pronounced bajayeeee, also known as a tuk tuk).  It was pretty freakin' funny.

Of course the driver changed me more than usual for the 7 minute ride, but it was totally worth the photos!!  This second one is fuzzy because the thing vibrates sooo much and is soooo loud.  Memere swears it has a lawnmower engine!

Little League ... Football!

 

What a couple of cuties, eh?  Imagine them in about 10 years.. yikes!!

 

With Coach Zeric on the sidelines, the French school's youngest team is

holding their own in the international school league. 

It's competitive! 

Eben has been trying his hand at goalie.

 

Both boys come home rather sweaty.. and these days muddy, but very happy!!

A fabulous threesome

As you have seen before, Eben, Jaffa, and Amira really like playing together.  They had a playdate this week again, and they have so much fun together! 

Hmmmm.. forty-two

This year, I shared a birthday with the prophet Mohammad.  We had a national holiday, there was very little traffic.. and it didn't rain too much.  It was a great day!  The kids had school, though, so Zeric and I had to find a way to spend the day.. we made a cheesecake, we went for massages, and then I took a nap.  Ahhhhhhhh!!

 

And he got me roses :)

 

We waited for the kids to bust into the cheesecake.  Jaffa mentioned how many months it had been since she had had cheesecake.  Thanks to memere for bringing the cheesecake in her suitcase!!!!

 

 

The kids sang happy birthday to me .. and I look like a monkey.. before they could get to “and you smell like one too” I interrupted and sang, “and I birthed two of them too”  They weren’t impressed!  I thought I was wicked witty!!  Between them, they must have made me 8 cards and given me 3 zillion kisses ad hugs.  It was awesome.  They even got me face paints as a gift.. so I know what we’ll be doing this weekend!!

 

 

The one thing that bugged me a little, I have to admit, was the Google-big-brother factor. 

Not sure how I feel about that.

I do think that 42 is going to be a good year :)

Gatsby

The French have some pretty kickin' parties.. and this one was fantastic!  A Great Gatsby theme.. it was so much fun putting our outfits together.. looking back at 1920s fashion and realizing how much of it we still love to wear.

 

Photo shoot on the way in..

 

Nadege and Babet doing it right!

Bertrand and Marie (the mustache was just right, but not his!)

 

The hostess was rockin'!!

Some things were not period appropriate, but I didn't have enough cover-up..

It was a fun party!!

Jumping into Kurt Wenner's paintings

Last weekend, we went to a Kurt Wenner exhibit (he's the guy who invented 3D sidewalk art) with our friends Afia, Arno and Amira. We had a great time imaging ourselves riding eagles, hanging from totem poles.. holding on for dear life on the top of a cliff!

 

Waaaaaaah!!  Walk out for the bajaj (pronounced bajayeeee) crashing through the wall! 

Ebenfly

 

 

Zeric did an interview about what he thought of the exhibit..

...and two days later our driver told us that his wife say it on TV!

 

Jackpot!!

 

Jaffafly

 

Zeric chasing Afia.. she probably had refused to give him her fabulous Pakistani food.

 

Eben's note about how much he loved the exhibit.. you can tell that he loved the eagles!

What a fun visit!!

 

 

 

 

 



Keranjang cantik!

Beautiful baskets!!

And you know how I feel about baskets :)

 

We walked into two HUUUUUUUGE ones. Wow, imagine all of the people we could store in those..

 

..and we got to see the workshop too.

 

Lou, Copeland and the kids gave it a try.

 

These ladies are very patient, as each basket has tens of thousands of stitches.

Glad we found the right place.. congrats to them on the award!

 

Delivering an order.  Not a heavy load.. but where does the driver sit??