A little R&R for W&R

Thursday, December 26, 2024 to Saturday

W and I are barely functional after a very arduous Christmas month. Our last big event is over. IbuS comes to do a deep clean on the house.

W decides we have to leave home for a break. I'm delighted. In our 10.5 years here, we've done one other staycation, in a hotel on the next mountain. This time we go all the way into the city. Bandung is noisy, polluted, and crowded with continual traffic jams of honking, smoking buses, cars, horse carts, and thousands of motorcycles. We ride downhill into Bandung before lunch for our 2-night "city-cation" escape.

At the historic Savoy Hotel down the street, I take a bath a day. A tub was part of the criteria by which W chose the hotel, along with good ratings and great prices, of course. For a few days, we walk and explore our city. We eat at restaurants we like, including #Hutanika, a new oasis of calm and planted courtyards two blocks from the hotel. What a good break from regular life.

We have a classic hotel room with beautiful art deco touches. It's clean but could use some maintenance: the bathroom door is missing the lock. The air con rattles at high volume during the night. (We turn it off.) We have to pay for extra towels and have to ask for hand towels. W pays a refundable deposit on a second key for me.

Friday morning we follow the foodies' advice to the "best bubur" (rice porridge) breakfast. The little food cart is on the sidewalk of a sister restaurant to one of our favorites on our hill: Ethnic Resto. There's a lineup at the cart and another lineup of people eating on the curb bench. We stand for a while before we realize that going inside the restaurant will get us faster service.

It's been in business a long time. Pictures of historical Bandung hang on the walls.

We love the mix of dried onions, chicken, sesame oil, and parsley, with hot sauce on the side.

We come at the right time. By the time we leave, there's a long line of hungry clients waiting to get inside and the cart lineup is much longer.

Through Saturday, we walk a lot. W trips off a curb and falls onto his finger. Ouch, though it's almost better by week's end.

We see few Caucasians (5? 10?) despite the crowds. The demographics of this formerly international city have shifted. A decade ago, foreigners - working or tourists - were abundant. They came from all over SE Asia, as well as from Australia, Europe, and North America. Now, life and attractions are geared for locals.

During COVID, the government closed the local airport to public use and reserved it for the military. A brand new airport was opened 1/2- to 2-hours from the city. Few foreign tourists bother to come because the new airport has almost no international flights. Those flights are often cancelled or delayed if the planes don't fill up. There is much easier travel access going elsewhere.

Hoards of Jakartans drive to Bandung on weekends but the Malaysians, Dutch, and others are gone. Their money flows into other destinations so the city is less prosperous. That attrition has reduced the middle class by cutting thousands of jobs that depended on tourism and accessible business travel. With few middle-income jobs, skilled workers and university graduates migrate from Bandung to Jakarta or other places.

Most expats have relocated to a neighboring city as well. Besides having a fast-train into Jakarta (1/2 hour instead of a 3-hour drive), KBP has a good international school, curbed streets (straight! not built around tree roots), and feels like an old American suburb. It reminds us of Vancouver's shift into self-segregated suburbs: the Indians moved to Surrey and the Chinese moved to Richmond. A drawback is that KBP is 3o-5oC hotter. Most foreigners' homes need air-con, unlike on our hill where the mountain winds bring more temperate weather.

Downtown Bandung? Swarms of locals hang around, chatting, shopping, and eating snacks around the central mosque. Some people smile and are friendly. Others? not so much. That's a change, too. Regular chants are piped from loudspeakers in the twin towers of the mosque.

In our wanderings, we step inside an electronics shop where we picked up gifts for our Christmas Day exchange. We buy a leftover-warmer but the cashier refuses to check that it works. W plugs it in next to our lunch table. It burns out immediately. Nothing is returnable so that's $3 wasted.

Lunch is at a Vietnamese restaurant.

Spring rolls are one of my favorite foods but I've never combined one with peanut butter and jam before. Usually they come with a side of peanut sauce.

I take a picture from the top of the stairs at the second storey. The risers are 12"/30cm tall. And each step is short: 10"/25cm or less. It's worth touching the railing as we descend.

At the hotel, we cash in our vouchers for tea at the Sidewalk Cafe. We order a lava cake to share. The chocolate is not quite warm and the ice cream is a Mini-Magnum ice cream bar. Oh well.

Saturday, we have one final meal - brunch - at Hutanika. We often eat at Nara, a few blocks from our house. This is its 'new sister' eatery downtown. Off the busy street, you step into quiet courtyards surrounded by tropical foliage. It's like arriving at a resort miles away from the car-to-car traffic on the other side of the wall.

I enjoy the chicken tortellini.

We check out at noon Saturday, catch a Grab taxi up the hill, and enter the narrow tree-covered streets of our neighborhood. What a contrast this is to the crowded city center, where gritty ruins-on-ruins and buildings-on-buildings are memorials of Dutch colonial rule. The buildings are well-constructed but few old government and trade buildings have been maintained. Plants have seeded in the cracks in walls and on their roofs. Plaster and carvings are crumbling away in the tropical heat.

We enter our yard with relief, greeted loudly by our dogs and marveling at the garden filled with flowers. A few blocks away, an influencer has tigers, bearcats, ostriches and more exotic animals. Read about him here. Our creatures are tamer.

We wash a few items from the kitchen wholesaler and heat up Thursday's leftovers for a late lunch. We're unpacked by 2 PM and spend the day preparing for Sunday and catching up on messages and reading.

I pirate last week's flower arrangement for 12 simple Round Table bouquets: cypress, pine, and red berries.

The leftover plants make 2 sweet little bouquets for the coffee table.

Sunday

We're back to the routines, this last Sunday of 2024. The word I chose for 2024 year was "Transition" There have been many of those. After prayer and contemplation, I choose the word "Hope" for 2025. Let's see how God works that out.

At the hall, we sit around tables to ask each other: "What has God done this year in your life?" Many people have spent the year trying to recover "life before COVID," with limited success. We choose a year-end verse from the center of the table. Then we share what that scripture speaks to us. Happy asks if we can take a selfie in front of the bulletin board. Sure. Meanwhile, Daniel and Martin take the hall apart, moving tables back and deconstructing the Christmas decorations.

Rocky and his family hand over a package of delicious ribs, which make a fine lunch.

I have some new "floaters" in my eyes. W suggests that we walk to the nearest pharmacy for medicine that made the last batch disappear (be reabsorbed). A vine along the street flowers with flame lookalikes.

As usual, W edits and uploads the recording from the morning Gathering, posting it to YouTube before unwinding and relaxing.

Read more:

*Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done. Proverbs 19:17

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. Luke 6:38

Moravian Prayer: Generous God, you have blessed us beyond measure, and you call us to be a blessing. May we consider what more we can share, what more we can offer to be of service to you. Amen.

Christmas week! 2024 - thanks be to God

Sunday, December 22, 2024 - 4th Sunday of Advent

We enjoy time with the IES Bandung family. Though many are away, other travelers join us. We sing Christmas carols and talk about the peace of Christ that the angels proclaimed.

Titik has worked her magic with flowers.

The eldest person lights the candle of "peace" for the fourth Advent Sunday.

What a joy to be together.

Roadside, there's a star-shaped flower on a tall weed.

These little stars fall from the trees and punctuate the street.

W takes a closeup photo of one.

And pink bulbs have burst into bloom along the street.

Monday

Jane and I enjoy the morning on the Porch with tea and baked goods. Some friends have sent cakes and pastries. Jane takes along a few books for her kids to read.

We start preparing the house for Christmas Day, cleaning and paring away. We're cleaning, baking bread, and doing final shopping. We drop off our favorite curry cubes for Alice, who is cooking for her family. Breakfast sausages and curry cream are a favorite at movie nights and other events.

Our simple 4-ingredient curry recipe+water: 

1. Heat 1-2 T of oil in a medium-hot saucepan or pot. 

2. Stir-fry 1/2 chopped onion for 3 min. until it loses its color. 

3. Add a block of curry*, gradually adding a liter (4 c) of coconut cream. 

The point is to have the curry absorb the cream and onion flavors. The sauce should thicken each time.

4. Stir and sauté the curry slurry for 5 min between each addition of cream. It will be thick.

5. Once all the cream is added (about 1/2 hour?), gradually add hot water (up to 2/3 the amount of cream.) Simmer uncovered for 10-20 minutes. Should be creamy and fragrant. 

That's it. If you hate onions, go straight for 'sauté curry in coconut cream'. The sauce bubbles as soon as water is added so I sometimes make it in a soup pot.

* Hint: we make a huge batch so we combine a block of mild and a block of medium curry. It freezes well. Whisk it as you heat it up and it's like freshly-made.

There's even a Christmas aisle at Toko Setiabudi.

The garden is in fine color.

Tuesday - Christmas Eve

One last batch of cookies: these are star shapes. They make 7 batches. They're still cooling when they go home.

We're at the hall at 4:30 for carols rehearsal. I can't believe how relaxing it is to play with a band. We have a good drummer, bass, and guitar - plus Eki brings his violin. My hands do their own thing by reflex. "We didn't know you played," say many of our regulars. What? (I prefer to let others learn to play keyboard in process, so rarely play myself.) 

We go through all 11 carols before  the Candlelight service at 6:00.

It's a wonderful time of community. We read a portion of the Story from scripture, then sing a carol. 

At the end, W lights his candle from the Advent candles at the front of the hall. We pass the light around and sing Silent Night.

Alice and her crew have hot chocolate and cookies ready. People stand around and greet each other, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

Wednesday - Christmas Day

W's got the water boiling in the big stockpot before I get to work at 5 AM. We never know how many people to expect (80 come, the same as last year). The sauces are done but I cook spaghetti, and bake sausages and meatballs. The women come at 9 AM to cut salad, wash dishes, and cook rice.

We decide on savories inside (kitchen) and desserts outside. The tablecloths are on, anti-fly fans are whirring, and the food gets piled on the tables. We use rattan plates with paper liners and recycle cutlery and cups.

At 11 AM, guests of every age start arriving. They're from every continent. 

The best surprise is when Herbert, our Tanzanian former team member, shows up. We didn't even know he'd returned to Indonesia! I tear up, seeing him.

How close these young people grow to us. We don't have birth family nearby, but these are children and grandkids of the heart.

As always, it's a joy to read the Story together, eat, and open gifts. I package about 30 extras for those who forget to bring a gift for the exchange. After, we put the extras away for next year.

It gets noisier and noisier! as gifts are swapped, stolen, and opened.

Every corner of the yard is full of conversation. Those who come as strangers make at least a few new friends.

After the last guests leave, W and I clean up a bit, give the helpers their Christmas bonus, and relax. Nara has sent over a feast (Beef Wellington) that makes an amazing supper. Thank you, Paulina and staff!

Thanks be to God for the wonderful gift of his Son, Jesus. This has been a month of Advent (expectancy) and celebration.

Read more: (The birth of Jesus)

*In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her  firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you 

good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2)

*I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Exodus 6:7

*And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

*See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are. 1 John 3:1

Moravian Prayer: Wonderful God, we rejoice that you have called us to be your people, and we see the responsibility that calling brings. Strengthen us for the task at hand and make us worthy of this task. Amen.

Tea parties and cookies galore

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

A week from today is Christmas. The house smells of baking. Today the helpers make dough for another 1500 cookies and baking starts. The rest of the dough goes in the fridge for tomorrow and Thursday.

Mid-afternoon, the book group arrives for tea. It's relaxing to set out china and serving pieces brought from our life in Seattle. There's little chance to use it here since meals and events tend to be informal. I figure the women won't judge me for using good dishes and cloth napkins.

What You Are Looking For is in the Library is this month's book, a pleasant series of life-changing encounters with a librarian and books. It's a delight to discuss how each month's assignment affects group members. We have different personalities and backgrounds, which makes sitting around the table even more interesting.

They leave as W and Melvi come back from a birthday party at 6 PM. Food is put away and dishes are done within an hour. Whereupon I fall into bed with a book ...

Wednesday

W and I eat leftovers and drink hot chocolate for breakfast before calling our moms.

The Mastermind group, meeting online from around the world, gives me good counsel (guten Rat.) I follow up their advice immediately. What a relief to have trusted backup voices affirming what I know = some projects don't belong on my plate. Twisting myself into others' timelines for volunteer work is a wasted effort; neither the work nor the satisfaction are good.

Baking day. The house smells of peanut butter cookies and melted chocolate, spread on ginger cookies while the butter comes to room temperature.

IbuS and I work together though the bulk of the work is hers. I shove ChaChas (Indonesian M&Ms) into the tops of the cookies and put them onto cooling racks. They're stored in whatever we find - bread savers, cake domes turned upside down, and plastic boxes. Between, IbuS makes lunch: marinated tofu, egg sandwiches from yesterday, rice, and veggies. Pretty good.

Innumerable cups of tea get me through the day. A surprising hit yesterday was the Twinings Gingerbread Joy tea, a variation on chai flavors.

Thursday

Due to slippery conditions, rain, and Christmas proximity, the mountain hike is cancelled. Group members wish each other Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas, depending on the country of origin.

Instead of a hike, W and I walk along the river to Dalaraos for Sunda food. It's mid-morning as we eat but we wander up the hill before catching an angkot (taxi bus) partway up to our intersection.

The string needed to close our cookie bags is nowhere in sight, said an admin. Since hearing that, we've tried to find colored string in several shops, including this stationer.

From the outside, the stationary shop looks like a dark hole with graffiti sprayed on its corrugated walls. When you move to a new location, you get used to a different storefronts as well as sorting out what's available inside.

The beloved (or hated) durian fruit is ripe next door at the new fruit shop. Each spiny oval is 10-15" (25-35cm). The rack might be outside the shop, but you can smell the fruit from inside and from the street.

When we get home at 11 AM, IbuS and IbuA are baking and chatting. I remind IbuA that she needs to finish the chocolate dough for 1200 cookies today. She whips up 7 or 8 double-batches and bags them. In the last month, we've gone through at least 12-15 kg of butter, bags of flour, and more sugar than I could track.

While the mixer whirs, IbuS bakes cookie sheet after sheet in several ovens. The timers ding ding ding all day. I lift the cookies off the sheets onto cooling racks and put them away. The last batch is baked before they go home. The full bins and boxes are stowed in tubs, along with about 2500 other cookies, made over the last few weeks. Tomorrow we package!

Friday

W and I drop into the hall to check where the string is to close the bags. We've been told they're not at the hall so we ransacked our house, to no avail. This morning on the way home from the walk, we pop into the IES storage basement to root through all the bins. We check various rooms at the hall. Nada.

Before we go home in defeat, I decide on another look in the kids-classrooms. On the shelf is the colored string we've wasted time trying to find. It is in plain sight. We take it home and I cut the string before anyone arrives.

When everyone shows up, the assembly line starts on the first batch of 140 bags. IbuA has agreed to work an extra day and Alice helps us get this DONE. It's one task per person until you have capacity to help someone else. Then you hop over and help others catch up.

• open the bag and put in 2 kinds of cookies - IbuS
• put in a specialty (frosted) cookie and 2 more kinds of cookies - IbuA
• pull the string through a label
• close the bag with a bow and put it into the "finished" tub - Alice and I.

It's efficient and we finish the first run in record time. The second (120 X5 cookies) is packaged before the second batch of labels arrive. when they do, we add the labels onto the strings and tuck those away. The third run (+100 X4 cookies) goes even faster.

We've made 370 bags before 11 AM. The helpers wash the emptied storage boxes and the floor, make lunch for themselves and PakG, and leave for home by noon. They take the cookie discards for their families to enjoy.

SO... MANY... cookies.

W and I walk to Miss Bee to get away from the smell of baking. These flowers are worth a second look.

The shapes and colors are exotic.

Dead seed pods, split open by their fall from the trees above, look festive.

I order linguine, so rich that I can eat only half. W enjoys his fish and chips.

After work, we head to Robin's for supper. His home is an artist's showcase, with prototypes of his furniture and artwork. I like these end tables, designed for ships on a cruise line.

He shows us his grandma's recipe for Rösti, a Swiss method of preparing grated potatoes. 

And I learn how to make chopped chicken the German way. It's a taste of home at Christmas time, which is comfort to a soul far away from family.

Saturday

Fresh baking arrives from Dr I. W and I enjoy one each for breakfast and a second for lunch, along with yesterday's pasta leftovers.

After a massage to unkink my back, W and I head to the hall where the worship team is rehearsing. Back by noon, there's time to write the talk for the final Sunday of the year.

It's a 3-book Saturday. Before our walk, I finish a novel Her Sanctuary about the witness protection program. Managing Leadership Anxiety has come highly recommended by several trusted leaders. I listen to the audiobook while my body is being pummeled.

The final book is Still Alice, the story of early-onset Alzheimer's. My closest cousin died of that 4 years ago; how little I knew of her struggle and her family's loss, even when she tried to explain how her memory was failing. All three books are the kind I like to learn from: well-written and engaging.

The groomers arrive to clip poodle hair in time for Christmas. Our friend's little dog joins the pack while they're gone overnight. I wonder what our family and friends are doing this weekend. Feels like they are very far away ...

Read more:

*For justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. Psalm 94:15

*A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit..The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. Isaiah 11:1-5

*Jesus said, “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.” Luke 18:7-8

Moravian Prayer: Gracious God, we long for restoration on our own schedule, but we know your time is not our time. We have no doubt that you have heard our cries and will answer them. We thank you for your faithfulness. Amen.