All good here in the Big Durian as Jakarta is affectionately known to it’s residents. Not sure why – maybe because it’s difficult to get into and really stinky but an acquired taste which people get really passionate about. Guess we need to stay here a bit longer!
I realise it’s almost a year since my blog, we’ve been having a few problems with the webpage, in fact the ftp site with all the files disappeared! Still have no explanation but . . . now you see it, now you don’t! So we spent weeks (well actually months) re-building the site and all the blogs, fun fun fun! Anyway I think it is now almost back to August 2011 and apologies if you find any broken links.
We’ve just got back from a summer trip to Europe which was brilliant as usual. When we arrived the weather was appalling, it had been raining for a couple of months and everyone was sick of it. We spent five wet days in Devon with Mum and between the showers we managed to fit in shopping trips, visits to the pub and a bit of falconry! Having a barn owl landing on my arm and seeing it close to was quite special. We were also very happy to catch up with Suzie and Fiona Cummings for lunch in Exemouth, really great to see them looking so well and hear all their news.
Then it was over to Lagos to see Toby, chase down some good weather and laze on the beach for a while. Josephine, Mimi and Andre flew in from Geneva to meet us there, it was awesome to all be together again!! The week flew by, we spent a couple of days surfing on the west coast, a day in Albufeira chasing down bargains, visited the hippie market, kayaked around the grotto – an action packed trip. Toby worked and Andre chased a little white ball around the golf course and we all met up in the evening for a feast. It was a very good week.
A change of pace, we enjoyed sitting in the garden, walking the dogs and had time to relax and enjoy a good chat. It was a great surprise to see Luke Bland, he was visiting on the day we arrived so we several hours catching up on the 15+ years that have passed since we last met. Good stuff!!
On the way home we had a couple of days in Berlin. Wow – what an awesome city, so vibrant and so full of history. We spent most of our time in the old East. The first night we tracked down a restaurant recommended to us – “white trash fast food”, it was cool and loud and fun. We stopped in a few bier stube as we wove back to Alexanderplatz.
The next day we joined a walking tour of the city and saw all the sites with commentary by a very witty and informative guide who was really up on his European history, it was very interesting. Later we met up with our great friend Sandy and her partner Andreas. They are living on a farm near Wittenberg which has been in his family since the 17th century. It was wonderful to see Sandy and fascinating to chat to Andreas but it was all over too quickly and too soon we were on the flight home.
Puasa (Ramadan) started while we were on holiday and I’ve decided to join the fasting fun which basically means no eating or drinking from sun up to sun down i.e. from 6am – 6pm. There are other rules – no smoking, no sex – but I’ve decided to start with the basics! A lot of people have asked me why? Firstly I guess it’s out of curiosity. Fasting for a month sounds really tough but people all around me are doing it so I want to know how difficult it is.
Secondly I’m doing the fasting because I feel a need to practice a little self restraint after all the unconstrained eating and drinking in Europe. Lastly fasting is an opportunity for the body to detoxify so, for the full detox effect, I’ve given up the booze for a month as well. My body will certainly be a temple at the end of it!
Needless to say Neil has not joined me on the wagon! I’ll let you know how it goes . . .
Suzy and Neil