We Love Jakarta

Carniville at Grand Indonesia

Written by welovejakarta on September 9, 2014

In between packing I decided to clean up my desktop and found these photos from the end of Ramadhan when my dearest friend Ulet came to Jakarta for a holiday from Jogja with his gorgeous family. Ulet was one of the first people I met when I first arrived in Jakarta in 2009, at Jakarta Fashion Week, and he has been a great friend ever since, and I am so happy that we also have little boys around the same age.

Where to go on a steaming hot day in Jakarta near the centre of the city to entertain three little boys? Well, we decided to not venture too far and headed to Grand Indonesia to ‘Carniville’, in the East Mall Level 3A, which was a complete sensory overload for the kids. It was pretty busy there and lots of noise coming from all the amusement rides and not to mention excited children running around. They have a carousel, jumping camel, mini ferris wheel, dodge ’em cars, train, air carriages, row boats and a small play area, all of which can be accessed with the pay-per-ride with a FunWorld card.

The boys were excited and went on a few rides, before we stopped and headed upstairs for lunch, only to be followed by a return to Carniville again for them to run and crawl around in the play area. Needless to say they were all fast asleep in the car 5 minutes after leaving on the way home again.

Another funny day in Jakarta and great to catch up with awesome friends and kids.

Gorgeous Lava testing if he’s tall enough to go on the rides..

Hara and Samudra waiting patiently for their turn on the train

Watching the train on the tracks..

Such a super sweet boy!

Our turn at last!

Lava on the carousel

Hara enjoying his ride too

Pita with her beautiful boys

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Boys Don’t Cry..

Written by welovejakarta on September 2, 2014

We were over the moon to receive a spontaneous visit from our dearest friends, Deasy, Tommy and Amaru last school holidays. It’s difficult to catch up these days as they live quite far away thanks to the macet (grrrr….) but seeing as it was the end of Ramadhan and the streets were car free, it was a much easier drive for them and it was awesome to see the kids together now they’re that little bit bigger and able to interact (well, sort of!).

Amaru is surrounded by music at his home as his dad is a musician and band manager and his mum has a beautiful voice and it must be a lovely way to grow up. Samudra loves to make noise and dance whenever there is even the faintest sound of music around, so we decided that when they grow up they can start a band together and call themselves ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ (both babies have proven that this is NOT true and boys DO cry…. alot!). Amaru gave Samudra a drum on this visit and he was loving banging on it and making such a racket. Oh how I miss the days of hanging out around Jakarta watching awesome live bands with Deasy and Tom while having a drink and a big sing along, but this phase of life is also amazing fun too and I’m glad we are experiencing it together.

After their visit Putra and I took Samudra over to Pejaten Village for a ride around the mall in the train. He was loving waving to everyone and having a great time while I sat beside him in the little carriage.

It was a beautiful day overall and we look forward to the next school holidays for more visits!

Amaru giving Samudra a new drum to make more noise.. yah!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Taking a ride on Samudra’s new bike and loving it

Ummmmmm way too much cuteness here..

With my beautiful friend Deasy and our lovely boys

Taking a train ride in Pejaten Village mall.. toot toot!

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Monday Yummy Mummies Play Date

Written by welovejakarta on September 1, 2014

So it’s been very early starts since we returned to Jakarta, with Samudra back to waking in the wee hours and ready to play, which has meant that Putra and I have been up as the sun rises to take Samudra for walks around the complex together. It’s a miracle to see Putra walking anywhere so it’s been great to get up and be motivated together before the days become full and crazy trying to organise everything for us to move house this week. I am certainly going to miss seeing all the beautiful familiar faces of this complex on a daily basis, but hopefully we can find some new friends also in the new neighbourhood.

This morning was the first meet up of a group of lovely mum’s and toddlers in Senayan, and seeing as Samudra and I made it there in miracle time minus unbearable traffic early in the morning, we took a walk around the lush surroundings of mansions and trees and met some lovely people out in the street.

It was a really fun morning catching up with the mum’s and having a song circle with the kids (Samudra decided to start crying as soon as we did this!), then morning tea and a play outdoors in the grass on the slides and in the sandpit. Our lovely host Sarah has the best house for entertaining young ones, with so many toys and a great yard for being outside, shaded from the heat of the sun. In Jakarta it’s really tricky to find any outdoor areas to play in, let alone play areas that you don’t need to pay for which area mostly located inside all the malls, so it’s always fun to get together at people’s houses where it’s more relaxed and a little less hectic.

Thank you for a beautiful start to the week and now time to get back to packing!

Samudra meeting super cute Zoe for the first time

Ash and Carlton at morning tea

What a bunch of cuties.. What are you doing Samudra?

Ash the explorer in the garden

What a great space for the kids..

Samudra and Carlton at the sandpit

Milady was all smiles!

Catch me mummy!

Carlton and Vicky enjoying the slide

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Play Date at Ragunan Zoo

Written by welovejakarta on August 28, 2014

Heeeeeeeeeey!! We’re back!! Samudra and I just returned from a super lovely three week trip back to Melbourne to visit family and friends. The crazy drop in temperature from 30+ degrees to 0 degrees left us both with a dose of flu when we first arrived and knocked us out for two weeks, but it gave us a chance to chill out and unwind after a crazy few months.

So now we’re back, getting ready to move house, and the madness will begin all over again.. so while I have a spare few minutes I thought I would post a quick hello, and to also share some pics from Jakarta before our trip away.

Since having Samudra I have met so many lovely mums and children here, and while it was school holidays just before we left, and so many people had gone pulang kampung to visit families overseas, those of us left decided to have an early morning get together and walk through Ragunan Zoo.

It’s always a great way to start the day and a good place to catch up with friends outdoors, which is a rare find in this crazy city.

So let’s see how I go with trying to be more frequent with my posts from now on… and remembering to pack my camera once again….

Have a beautiful day everyone!

Beautiful Iuna and Finn at the animal wall

Sprung! Trying to sneak a photo..

Watching the elephants feed

Too cute for words..

I LOVE seeing how much these babies have grown each time we visit

Motherly love xox

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Happy 1st Birthday Samudra!

Written by welovejakarta on August 1, 2014

Well today marks the beginning of August.. so July just flew by and I have barely sat at my computer as life has been filled with adventures, play dates, birthdays, voting, Ramadhan, Lebaran, and most importantly for me, July marked the first Birthday of our beautiful boy, Samudra.

Due to school holidays and Ramadhan, most people were leaving the country to go visit family or to enjoy an escape from this city, so Putra and I decided on a very intimate gathering for Samudra, as we had both agreed that he is too young to understand what a birthday party is. So to celebrate his birthday week, firstly I took him on a quick trip to Bali to visit some beautiful friends visiting from Sweden. While we were away swimming and enjoying the fresh air, Putra had other plans going on and had decided to morph the intimate gathering into a big party and cocktail party for after 6pm… it seems Indonesians are happier the bigger the crowd. If you have ever been to an Indonesian wedding, or seen a group of Indonesians travelling together, you will know what I mean!

So on the day, the house filled with lots of kids from the neighbourhood and friends, and then groups of friends came and went until after buka puasa (break fasting for Ramadhan) at 6.00pm and Putra took his place at the bar and mixed up mojito’s and martini’s until the early hours of the next morning.

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all the family and friends who made the day so special, for the embarrassing mountain of gifts that Samudra received, delicious cakes, and giggles.

Happy Birthday to our beautiful ray of sunshine, thank you for filling my days with love and pure bliss, tears, laughter and craziness. I love you from the tips of my toes to the stars and beyond. xoxoxoxoxo

Happy Birthday my beautiful boy!

Happiness to start the day in his new ball pit..

Hanging out with Daffa before the party

Ok, I’m ready!

The kids arrived!

Happy Birthday to you!

Blow out your candles..

..Or maybe I’ll help you sayang..

A sneaky finger into the icing..

Feeling a little overwhelmed by all the love..

Bapak, help!

Jeremy taking some time out with the phone

The birthday boy with his kakek

Delicious birthday cupcakes by Tasya

Azzam enjoying cake with his lovely mum, Fithri

Happy Birthday nenek and Samudra!

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Public Holiday Fun in Jakarta

Written by welovejakarta on July 15, 2014

Jakarta has so many public holidays that it’s difficult to keep up with them, especially when you don’t travel to work in an office so every day feels sort of like a holiday, even if you are working super long hours, because you have a sense of delicious freedom not having to leave the house.

I do LOVE public holidays though as it means I can spend a whole day with Samudra having adventures. I can’t remember exactly when this holiday was exactly due to my backlog, but kakek joined us on an early morning walk through Ragunan Zoo to the primate centre where we watched all the orangutan’s hanging around. I hadn’t walked through the indoor dark cave-like pathways before and it is pitch black in sections with strange rope vines hanging so it’s a little bit freaky but fun to end up at glass sections where you can see the orangutans hanging out. I do feel sorry for them though, outside their enclosures is a big space where the gorillas roam around surrounded by jungle. I guess if the other monkeys were allowed out they would all quickly escape, so instead they have a bare environment with no grass or leaves on trees which is upsetting.

Samudra enjoyed seeing the monkeys with his kakek though, as did loads of other children and families wandering around, and he especially loved to watch the monkeys from Kalimantan making loud musical noises outside in their enclosure as they swung around.

It was a lovely visit to Ragunan and it was time to leave as the sun started getting too hot once again, and the crowds had become huge as is usual for a public holiday.

After a nap at home, Putra and I decided to make the most of the day off and make it a day for Samudra and ended up taking him to Wowzania at Lippo Mall in Kemang. This play centre is overpriced for sure, but there is a section for little kids which Samudra loves to play in, with a ball pit, activity wall, merry go round and slide with water splashing around inside the plastic covering. When you are limited with outdoor activities with a lack of parklands and so much sunshine, sometimes the mall will just have to do.

I hope you all have a lovely day.

Watching the elephants with kakek

The entrance to the primate center

Hanging out in the morning sunshine

A very barren enclosure

Just hanging around..

Playing in the ball pit at Wowzonia, Kemang

Loving the activity wall now he can pull himself up..

Making bapak feel dizzy on the merry-go-round

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Lestari Sayang Anak’s 5th Anniversary

Written by welovejakarta on July 14, 2014

This is another incredibly late post, but I wanted to share some pictures from the anniversary of Lestari Sayang Anak in Cipete. Five years ago, Ingrid and her husbands dream to open an orphanage to improve the life of abandoned babies and toddlers, who cannot be taken care of by their biological families, came to fruition. It was originally set up to look after baby boys but now has a little girl also, as well as Ingrid’s two gorgeous adopted daughters.

I love the energy every time I have had the pleasure to visit them, as the kids get along so well and are so loving and kind towards eachother. It must be so much fun to grow up surrounded by so many best friends and adoring helpers. It is such a loving family environment and since their move to the new location, the kids have so much room to play in and so much equipment to keep them energised and playing.

Their anniversary party was attended by many visitors who had fun playing with the kids, watching a little performance, speeches and a raffle with some gorgeous prizes. There were toy donations and happiness all around and I want to congratulate Ingrid on all her hard work and for all the love that she has for these beautiful children.

Today they will receive a new baby in the orphanage and I know it will be showered with love and affection from all it’s new siblings and I can’t wait to visit and meet the newest addition.

If you would like to visit Ingrid and the children or to make a donation, they would be so happy to hear from you. You can contact them through https://www.facebook.com/lestarisayanganak

Samudra getting some loving cuddles from the boys

Lovely Ingrid and a guest

Happiness with Ingrid’s daughter

Playing with the boys

Singing Happy Birthday..

Happy 5th Anniversary Lestari.. Yum!

So much cuteness!

Sweet little Joshua

Receiving gifts of toys

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Indonesia Creative Week 2014

Written by welovejakarta on July 14, 2014

Today I have decided it’s high time I FINALLY sort out some photos off my desktop and clear my computer as we have many adventures coming in the next few weeks and I need to de-clutter my laptop before it gets out of hand.. and besides, I am so far behind in blog posts that I have had to archive so many photos as the events I went to were so long ago now.. eeek.

One such event was the long anticipated Indonesia Creative Week which is organised by my friend Joe. Since its fruition I have looked forward to attending for weeks, or even months beforehand, only to have last minute barriers stopping me from going, i.e. horrible sickness during pregnancy and unexpected trips out of Jakarta. This year I was certain I would finally make it and was looking forward to seeing bright and inspiring new designs on the catwalk, only to find at the last minute that the event would clash with a work trip to Cirebon. My saving grace was that I would have one day to attend before we had to leave. So my plan was to visit during the day time to check out the market stalls with Samudra, then drop him home and return to take photos of the shows later in the evening.

We headed to Gandaria Mall and walked inside, heading straight for the food section.. ohmygoodness, so many tasty treats, cupcakes, biscuits, vegan food and many others. I couldn’t resist the Ferrero Sandwich oat cookies in a jar, a heart shaped cookie with a gorgeous bird design and a chocolate ball on a stick covered in coloured speckles.

Then it was time to check out the rest of the stalls, full of creations by Indonesian designers, clothes, stationery, shoes, and cool bits and pieces. I made a few purchases, although as usual I wanted everything, so I could support the local designers and then Samudra decided he had had enough of all the attention he was receiving so we headed off to eat and then to catch a taxi home to drop him off. By the time we went to leave, the skies had opened up and it was absolutely pouring with rain! This meant that the taxi line was ridiculously long and the traffic to get home took so long that there was no way I could make it back again for the evening shows! It seems the universe is against me when trying to make it to Indonesia Creative Week shows!

I do love to see the creations of people here and every year it just gets better and better. Here’s hoping in 2015 there will be no obstacles in my way and I’ll get to photograph the shows again. With a wriggling baby pulling on the camera cord as usual and trying to press every button he can get his hands on, my photos are limited… but here’s a little peak of some of the yummy treats that were at ICW..

Makes my mouth water to see these cupcakes and treats!

Merry Go Round Cupcakes and cakes… yum!

What to eat? They all look delicious..

Willpower? What’s that?

Some of my purchases: Notebooks and keyrings by Sancraft, Cool black scarf by Chronicles, Nutella Sandwich cookies by Kukki and biscuits by Merry Go Round. YUM.

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A lovely Sunday morning stroll….

Written by welovejakarta on July 8, 2014

Hello! Remember me? I seem to be neglecting this blog yet again and of course can offer many excuses but really I have just been living and I haven’t had a chance to transfer all my camera memory cards… in WEEKS… now the backlog is making the task of writing quite daunting!

So instead of transferring all my photos, I will just download my phone photos from Sunday mornings adventure with little Samudra. As per usual he was awake super early, and although my eyes were sleepy and my body so tired I asked Putra if he wanted to go to Car Free Day and he answered in the negative, but I couldn’t think how else to entertain Samudra so early on a Sunday morning. As soon as I told the taxi driver our destination he mentioned that there was no Car Free Day because of Ramadan, so in a panic about what to do I just asked him to take us to the Ratu Plaza end of Jl. Sudirman and I would make a decision from there, whether to just go for a walk, or detour over to Taman Suropati. We arrived to see the road was blocked off.. Car Free Day was on! Hip hip hooray! but where were all the people?? No matter, with Samudra in my sling and the sun covered by clouds, we started our walk and it was the quietest walk I have ever had in Jakarta! Is everyone here fasting for Ramadan? There were no more than 100 people on the whole road as we walked for over an hour.. Samudra and I sang the whole way and spun in circles giggling… we practically had the road to ourselves which was an absolute treat!

We did manage to find another great source of entertainment and amusement on our travels though, just as we arrived near Taman Samanggi, I noticed a man with a duck waddling along behind him.. Samudra was so excited so we caught up to them and had a quick chat. The man was enjoying a Sunday walk with his duck, named Boi, and they were having a lovely time! Roads free of bikes and thousand of joggers and sunday strollers, so they were heading all the way up to Monas. The few stragglers along the road came over to take photos and then quickly disappeared in fits of laughters and bewilderment, and we decided to let them enjoy their journey in peace. Only in Jakarta would you find someone taking their duck for a Sunday walk!

Once we arrived at the fountain at Bundaran HI I was again amazed that there were so few people around! There was no buzz of activity, but the sounds of the water splashing about, so we sat and watched it while I caught my breath and we enjoyed the fountain. I thought it was a great ‘calm before the storm’ with the impending Presidential elections to be held on Wednesday 9th July. No doubt the fountain and surrounds will be heaving with people and I will definately be steering clear of the area and keep to the comforts of home.

I hope you all had a beautiful weekend, and for those that can, please use your right to VOTE and just think about who would be the best leader to bring hope to your country… My opinion doesn’t count, but if it did, JOKOWI you have my vote a thousand times over!

Taking his duck for a walk… as you do.

Boi is one seriously fit and happy duck!

Enjoying the flowers which I have never noticed before due to the crowds..

The empty streets of Jakarta… it’s a miracle!

Samudra giggling as we swirl and dance around the road!

We made it to the fountain and enjoyed the tranquility.

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One Fine Sunday… Taman Suropati, Menteng

Written by welovejakarta on June 12, 2014

Another early morning and Putra left for filming in Kelapa Gading at 5.00am so I was wide awake and wondering what to do for entertainment with Samudra on a Sunday. I wasn’t feeling energised enough to make the long walk for Car Free Day but decided we would head to Taman Suropati so Samudra could get back out in nature again on this beautiful day.

By the time we had eaten and showered it was 6.30am, still early, but we headed off to the park in a taxi to beat the morning heat. Again, once we arrived it was already busy with children running around and chasing bubbles, a band playing music with a singer who looked no older than 10, birds flying around, the water fountains splashing water and catching the suns rays creating beautiful rainbows, and laughter all around us.

I sat on a bench to put Samudra’s hat on and two seconds later we were asked to be in some people’s photos, then we were joined by a lovely mum, dad, and their little boy Heru who was only two months older than Samudra. The boys ended up crawling around on the grass and playing ball until we were asked to move off the grass (ooops!), and then were joined by another family and their son Gabriel. It’s very easy to meet people with a baby here and so we spent an hour chatting and playing before the two families had to leave, and Samudra and I ended up sneakily having a breakfast picnic of tofu under a tree on the grass at the edge of the park, where the gardener couldn’t see us. We played some more before the students and teachers of Taman Suropati Chamber arrived. I was really hoping to see Ages and his lovely wife Yasminka, who run TSC, but it was getting too hot and Samudra was getting restless and tired, so we only stayed to watch a couple of songs as they practised for their big upcoming concert, before we walked off to find a taxi home. It was unbearably stifling by the time we finally hailed a cab and both ended up having a nap when we got home.

In the afternoon we went for a little walk around the complex and met some of the boys from the neighbourhood and a lovely mum and her baby that apparently live in the next street up.

It ended up being a super fun day of meeting people, playing and relaxing which was the perfect way to end yet another week. Time really does fly by way too quickly!

I hope you all had a beautiful week too wherever in the world you are.