Aussie in Indonesia

All good here, busy as ever but only 3 more weeks to the holidays! Looking
forward to it. We are driving down to the coast then catching a ferry (with
car on board) to Bali on the 26th, then staying on the northern beaches of
Bali, far away from the heavy tourist areas and by all accounts very
peaceful and lovely. We should be gone for about 12 days so that will be
nice!

Xmas day will be spent with a few other expat families who are not going
home for Xmas (tho most are). Should be good, they always make us feel
welcome.

The big event of the year is coming up, the expat Xmas dinner on the 9th of
December and everyone is gearing up for that. It will be at a five star
hotel not too far away from here. It's supposed to be black tie but I gather
most men are wearing black suits instead so I will be as well, tho all the
expat women are getting seriously ready for it and the seam mistresses in
Surabaya are, according to all reports, working furiously into the early
hours. C bought a lovely dress so she has avoided all the hassle!

C has started a two hour a week job as an instructor for conversational
English at a private English college. She does it on Friday afternoon and
just started this week. She says she enjoyed it. There is a university
opening up near here next July and they are looking for ppl with her
qualifications so she is going to put her name down there. It's run by the
same group who own our school thus we already have a foot in the door. Be
good if she did get something using her qualifications.

Saturday C brought the children bowling with another woman friend and her
children, and they all had a good time. I opted out and spent the afternoon
wandering around the mall etc.

Today, Sunday, we got together with some colleagues from work and had lunch
at an Australian restaurant, the chef trained in Sydney! Very good food and
extremely cheap by Aussie standards. Presentation of food is outstanding and
the restaurant is fast becoming a favourite.

Lazy afternoon this afternoon, had a nap and woke feeling better for it.
Lil C is doing well as ever, and has a playmate called John of a Canadian
father and Indonesian mother. They live just a few houses away and they are
best of friends. She and John were in a class play the other day and John
asked "Will you marry me?" as part of the script. Lil C said "Yes" (also
part of the script) then turned around and in a large stage whisper said
"John, you know we won't really get married, we're just too young!" Needless
to say, the audience of parents & teachers cracked up. I would have loved to have seen this!

Still difficult to get her to eat much, but we did have a victory last week
with fried rice, the first time she has eaten anything like it. So hopefully
we can start building on this. Lil D, on the other hand, will eat anything
offered.

Last w'end we all went on a hash run, tho we all walked. Took Lil C along
and she had two other children around her age with her. So we walked it, it
rained, it got very muddy (going across fields etc) and the children loved
it! Amazed that Lil C stayed the course as it was a good one hour walk, but
the other children didn't complain so she didn't either. Only carried her
the last few minutes when I could see she was tired but still not saying
anything. Not like at the mall when she is complaining of walking after ten
minutes. It was a good experience for her and we will do it again. They have
it every Sunday but we will pick and choose so as not to do it too much.
Lil D is still teething and having restless nights, last night woke up at 12
am and then at 4 am, and didn't go back to bed until 9 am! Be good when the
teething is over and done with. He is very bright and very cuddly so it's
easy to forgive him for the broken sleeps!

The rainy season is stating to set in and we have been getting showers in
the afternoons, tho still not every day but this will soon change I'm told.
Electricity is playing up a bit but should settle down when they get the
lines all fixed after such a long hot season.

I played my first game of golf during the idul fitri break. We had A and P
who I used to work with in Jakarta come out for three days and Andy is a mad
keen golfer so we all went out with another friend early one morning for a
7am tee off. I lasted five holes, then just putted the greens, then stopped
at 9 holes and went and had a shower and relaxed at the club (next door to
the golf course www.ciputragolf.com this is the website for the golf club and also the family club that we use
regularly). The others all played on and put me to shame by playing a full
18 holes. Not sure if I enjoyed it enough to make a habit of it but thinking
I'll play a few more games and see how it goes, after all, it is virtually
free, just have to pay for the caddie, (and the golf cart if one is feeling
lazy) so why not?

Haven't been out much on my bike recently, wet when I get home or just too
tired, but planning on doing a few rides with friends during the holidays.
Will also start going to the gym soon, need to lose some weight and get fit,
have been on the liver cleansing diet for two weeks and will keep that going
until I feel a bit different. Still smoking I'm afraid, not good for me and
very aware of it now. C has found a Chinese acupuncturist who helps who
giving up so planning on going and seeing him next week. Would be nice to
have stopped by Xmas. This time I really do want to quit so will see how I
go.

Thursday night tennis has started up and we have been talking about going to
that. Haven't played before but the opportunity is there so again, will try
to take advantage of it. If not, there is also a regular game of squash and
I remember that I used to enjoy playing that in the early years!