2nd Trip to Komodo Island - July 2014

July 2014

It was such an amazing experience to see the giant lizards and the islands around Flores that I had to take my husband, Mitch to the islands this time. Besides, I want to introduce to Mitch my newly adopted family whom I found by accident from my previous trip. We flew from the island of Bali on Wings Air to Labuan Bajo, Flores. Checked in the Bintang Resort and contacted Christian and Doddy, the tour guide and boat crew that I met during my first trip to Komodo island. I had announced to Christian that I was coming with Mitch and that Mitch and I would like to take his wife and children for a boat trip for the day to a nearby island before Mitch and I took the long boat trip to dive around Komodo island.

Christian's family lives in Ruteng, a town about 7 hours drive by car from Labuan Bajo. I had developed a good relationship with the family and have been staying in touch since March 2014. Christian only gets to meet his wife and children once every 3 months because of distance and financial reasons. His family had never been to Labuan Bajo where Christian works, so Mitch and I decided to invite them to join us for a family mini vacation while we are visiting Flores and Komodo. We chartered a small boat for the 7 of us plus 2 other boat crew members. Christian and Doddy had prepared a picnic basket for lunch. The small island that we achored the boat on was quiet. There was nobody else on the island but us. The lunch was delightful.

Island Hopping around Komodo

March 2014

Being able to speak Bahasa Indonesia enables me to communicate with the local people anywhere I travel in this nation of 17,000 islands. My first geography lesson in elementary school gave me very little ideas of what those shapely floating lands on the map were actually like when you step on them. My eyes began to open when my uncle flew me from Java to the island of Sumatra in 1979. The sky was clear..and I could see what was underneath the plane! Then with a friend I flew to Bali and then by boat, we hopped on to the next island of Lombok, east of Bali. I could see the mountain afar from the ferry deck. From then on, I got fascinated by the possibilities of discovering more islands and perhaps ... countries.. If my father had been a sailor, I wonder how many islands I would have stepped on. As an Indonesian, growing up in the much competitive city, our idea of traveling was to go out of Indonesia..... a place that would require a passport! That said, we were not encouraged to get to know our nation's geography in the real sense, by our parents or teachers. Rather, just like many young people, especially those who major in English, we were enamoured with the dream of visiting an English speaking country. And here I am, after dozens of passport stamps and so many countries later ..... I revisit my childhood dream.... island hopping within the Indonesian archipelago, by traditional boats, small boats, big boats....any boat... The only way to forget how awful the ozone layer has now become (I am taking some responsibilities in that I do travel quite a bit by plane).

These photos below are small islands between the islands of Flores, Rinca, and Komodo where the last dinosaurs live.

Komodo - the last dinosaurs

March 2014 Our journey began in the city of Semarang, island of Java where three of us (Neneng, Anggie and I) hopped on a bus to travel 12 hours to the eastern tip of the island (the Ketapang harbor, in the town of Banyuwangi) to catch a ferry to the westernmost point of Bali island (Gilimanuk harbor). The overnight journey was rewarded by the greeting of sunrise which we enjoyed with a cup of coffee on the ferry deck to Bali. Short, 45-minute ride, perfect ! The bus was also with us on the same ferry, continued our journey to Denpasar, the capital of Bali. Bali is always a nice hub to go island hopping on this huge Indonesian archipelago. After enjoying the tourist capital of Indonesia for 3 days, the two of us (Neneng and I) flew 2.5 hours on Wings Air to Labuan Bajo, island of Flores. Labuan Bajo (LBJ) is the nearest airport to get to dragon island. The town is building a new airport terminal at the time, but we still had to use the old and inadequate structure, where I couldn't possibly drag my suitcase on the unpaved road from the tarmac to the building. Kind of neat, actually, since I have never seen anything like this before. A porter carried our suitcase on his shoulder to the building while I looked around for our contact person. In this town, though remote from civilization, has begun to attract so many italian investors. I am lucky enough to know someone who owns an italian restaurant in the town. We spent the evening at the restaurant while getting my bearing. In the meantime, we met a group of single women travelers from England and Russia who joined us at the bar. We agreed to meet the next morning to share a traditional boat to take us for an overnight trip to the island of Komodo. Playing with the Komodo dragon Komodo crossing

Reunion at the Artotel, Jakarta, Indonesia - A Note to Myself

Semarang, the Capital of Central Java province, island of Java. January 20th, 2014. After 36 hours of travel from San Francisco to Frankfurt then Bangkok, I arrived in Jakarta on January 18th. Our daughter Thalita and son Irwan are already at the arrival gate ready to hug me. Negotiated a taxi to the hotel for $20 (one hour ride) and arrived at the Artotel on Jalan Thamrin where we would stay for 2 nights. Our son Shindu who works at MetroTV as an online journalist joined us later that evening. The three of them had dinner together and I caught up with my jet lag in my room. Thalita and I stayed in one room and Irwan and Shindu in another. The next day they went to the historic Old Batavia while I made appointments to receive some friends from college. Indrawati Utomo came first, then Donnie Perdanawati, whom I hadn't seen in over 33 years arrived. We gathered in my room which is located on the 6th floor or called "Eddie Hara Floor". A floor dedicated to our college classmate Eddie Haradityohadi who decorated all the rooms and also the hotel lobby/restaurant with his awesome artwork. Eddie and I went to college in Semarang in the late 70s and had not seen him since 1980. Many of us girls like Eddie, not only because he's nice and a bit shy, but he was also different from the rest of the campus. In the most conservative environment, he was wearing a stud earing. The first time for me to see a guy wearing an earing. 33 years later and living in several different countries (Holland, USA, and now Switzerland), his earings are getting larger, and so is his fame. I surprised him on my check out as he checked in the hotel. We hugged at the lobby and caught up for 30 minutes. Our daughter Thalita was thrilled to have finally met the famous artist.

Mentoring Rofi for 4 days

December 18, 2012. The young university graduates barely left me when Rofi "came on board" to stay with me for 4 days, replacing Irwan. Irwan had made a suggestion that I spend a few days giving Rofi the kind of mentoring that he had received from me early last year. He said that it would benefit Rofi a lot, as it had benefited him and made a big change in his way of thinking and appreciating life. I said okay, and Irwan went to Gilbert Camp #2 to accompany Ahmad and to help setting up our small library for the kids. Rofi is one of our 16 sponsored children. I met him about 8 months ago when I was attending Irwan's High School graduation in the small village of Gringsing. At the graduation, I gave away 2 door prizes for a 4-day getaway to the "big city" of Semarang. Rofi, the leader of the students body in his school, picked one of the 2 lucky numbers. For 4 days in May 2012, I got acquainted with Rofi a little bit. Not enough to know him since my attention was divided for 3 other teenagers at the time. During the visit in May last year, I asked him what he wanted to do now that he had graduated from high school. He said he needed to be looking for a job to help his family, but he had a problem with one of his eyes. Apparently while helping his neighbor fixing their roof, something had gotten in his eye and it got infected. He had tried to go to an eye doctor, but the doctor could only do so much. He still had a blur in his vision and said it looks like there's water. So I took him to a specialist in Semarang. With some eye medication, he continued his regular doctor visits, and he felt a bit of improvement.

In the photo shown here, Rofi is the one on the most left. Rofi continued to be in touch with me via email till after I returned to the United States in June 2012. He said he was looking for a job but couldn't find any. Didn't know what to do since there was not many jobs available especially for high school graduates. The only factory in his town didn't have any opening. My heart ached for him. I had sent him to a driving school in Semarang, I thought with a driving license, he could be more competitive in his job hunting, especially in Semarang since the city is booming. Not many people his age know how to drive. Cars are very expensive, most people ride motorcycles. After he finished his driving course and got his license, his job hunting had not resulted in anything. I had told him that I was going back to Indonesia in November,2012 and we could talk. It's been 2 months now since Rofi joined "our family". I had offered to send him to a vocational school where he could learn some technical skills in 3 months, after which he could go hunting for a job again, or even start his own little enterprise as "the handy man who can fix many things". He said he would like to attend a computer college like Irwan does.

The Three University Graduates Who Call Me Mommy

December 15, 2012. Three young people, fresh graduates from the University of Atma Jaya Yogyakarta arrived in Semarang. I had reserved a hotel room not too far from our house for Titus and Videz because there aren't enough rooms for everybody at our place. But as soon as they arrived, they asked if they could spend the nights with us instead of staying at the hotel (even though I was paying), even if they had to sleep on the floor. I could feel the spirits in them when they said that they wanted to be part of "the family", and I should have known.... for it is part of the Indonesian culture to be in their "comfort zone", that is: " it's fun to be under one roof". Our "son", Irwan, had put a deposit to hold the hotel room, and although it wasn't refundable, at the end it was worth to cancel the room. We had such a great time at our house for 4 days. Once again, I was surrounded by young university graduates who are smart, trained in critical thinking, and thirsty for information and advice. We brainstormed about every topics such as world politics, government policies, social challenges, future education, career planning and also ....their current romantics. We had discussions after discussions till midnight sometimes till early the next morning .... and at every meal time possible. We also had lots of laughter. I am so blessed to have them. Having them was one of the best entertainment in my life. By the time they left me to go back to Yogya, they all called me Mommy. Thalita, the Vice President of Yogya Debate Forum,whose dream is to become an Indonesian Ambassador asked me if she could

stay one more night .... how could I refuse such a bright young woman ?

Early Christmas Party in Semarang

Friday, December 7, 2012. With my best friend Endang, I went to an early Christmas party, the merriest I had ever had in Semarang. I met nice people who were mostly expats. If you are a westerner, you can expect that when you party with the expats you get to drink at least wine or beer. Most Indonesians don't drink and alcoholic beverages except for beer, are relatively expensive in Indonesia. If you are a visitor and you want to enjoy a meal with wine, you would have to go to a hotel's restaurant with a bar. In Bali and Jakarta, however, you might find some high end restaurants that serve wines. Ian and Sandra (husband and wife) from Australia were so generous to throw a very nice party at their beautiful home. Located on the hill of Semarang (literally on a cliff), a bit tugged away from the traffic, their home has a spectacular view of Semarang. Many of the guests were expats who were also members of Semarang Hash (cross country run). The foods that the hosts served were not typical Indonesian, the recipes are defintely "imported", hence some of the ingredients. Many of the guests are foreign investors who, in partnership with local businesses, make various goods such as furniture, candles, eye glasses, garments, which are exported to European countries, Australia, and the United States. Ian works as a general manager of a prominent hotel in Semarang. That same evening Endang and I were invited to another couple's home, Judith (a Phillippina) whose husband is French. They are renting an old colonial house (built during the Dutch occupation in the early 1900's), in Candi (the oldest elite area of Semarang). Again, we all had a grand time with them and their guests. Lots of laughter. Judith loves cooking, and her husband does share his bar with guests .....