As soon as I woke this morning I decided it would be fun to take Samudra to visit the baby elephants at Ragunan Zoo to start our day. I googled opening times and it said 7.00am-5.00pm so I played with Samudra first and went to leave the house at 6.30am, planning to catch a taxi from Jl Ampera Raya. Kakek and nenek were up as we went to leave so kakek offered to drop us off at the zoo as he was going to practise golf nearby.
The roads were empty as we made the short distance to the zoo, so I can only assume that people are taking an extended Easter holiday here as it is usually packed with morning traffic. Samudra was giggling on the way and I was so excited to be taking him to see the animals, although I don’t agree at all with the awful conditions most of them are subjected to at Ragunan. We arrived to find that they have put a new regulation in place and the zoo will be opening from 9.00am daily! Oh no! So no animals for us on this beautiful morning and instead we joined with kakek as he practised golf at a range nearby. Luckily we didn’t make it to the zoo as I soon realised that I had forgotten the memory card for the camera yet again! Samudra and I wandered around the course and looked at the lake, played on the still damp grass, watched the roosters scratching around in their tiny pens, and ate some delicious tahu telor (tofu cooked in eggs). I realised that my eyesight must be getting worse as every time we watched kakek hit the ball off the tee, I never saw where it landed, except for once!
In the late afternoon I put Samudra back on the sling on my hip and we went for a big walk around the complex again. We met so many kids along the way, who all decided to follow us on our walk and ask us millions of questions along the way, like what is our religion, what colour fence does our house have, do we like nasi goreng and can they all come to our house to play? I felt like the pied piper as we wound our way through the streets with a trail of kids behind us! I guess it’s true what they say about Indonesia (http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2012/02/and-the-worlds-unhappiest-country-is-officially.html), Indonesia is the happiest country in the world! We also watched as two old ladies chased baby chickens down the road and swooped them up in their straw like brooms. One of the old ladies invited us into her house to play, but when I looked up and saw just how many chooks and roosters she actually had wandering around in her house I had to politely refuse while hiding the shock on my face at the same time!
It was a fun afternoon walk and a chance for me to spend more time alone with Samudra without arms stretching out to grab him from me as had been the case all day long. I love spending time with him more than anything else these days as it’s so entertaining and he is just so sweet!
I hope you all had a beautiful day too wherever in the world you are.
Day 83: Some of the kids we met that followed us on our walk today. Happiness.
Day 83: Watch me jump! Happiness.
Day 83: Now everyone wants to jump! Happiness.
Day 83: Playing with their home-made kite. Happiness.
Dearest Tash I am so much enjoying reading you! It s like a good novel . hope you can come and visit us in the west sometimes soon I miss you and I have not yet met Samudra although with all the photos I feel I know him a bit. Off to France for 4 months at the end of may parents getting old. As i am still a stranger to Facebook I dont even know whether this is private . Massive hug to you Vero
Vero!!! It’s sooo lovely to hear from you and glad you are enjoying the blog..I’m just writing it wondering if anyone ever looks at it, and whether or not they do, it is a great way to remember what has been happening with Samudra here and a record to show him growing for me to keep!
Funny that you should mention visiting the West as I was just looking at flights from Jakarta to Perth on Tuesday night as I have had it in my head that it would be great to see you and Dad and also get some fresh air and open space for Samudra, but all the flights listed seemed to make stopovers in KL and would take over 20 hours to get to Perth! That temporarily put me off the idea! Perhaps I should try searching Bali to Perth flights instead!
How exciting that you will be going back to France for 4 months. I’m sure your parents love having you around so frequently and how fortunate for you to have the best of both worlds… time in the ultra chic France, and relaxation time in paradise in W.A.! Sounds perfect to me!
Thanks again for your message and biggest love to you and Dad xoxo