Christmas eve's day was not very amazing. I went to ITC to go to Carrefour and shop some jewelry for bringing home.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home, until Andreas, Eva, Maj-Britt, Johan and I left Casaluna at 18.45 to go and have our Christmas dinner.
Maj-Britt had ordered a table at Kampus (http://www.kampusjakarta.com/), where they served a nice Christmas buffet. Kampus has a turning restaurant with huge windows. That way you get to see most of the city, if you stay long enough in the restaurant.
An Indonesian Santa was walking around Kampus while we had our dinner. I had seen him giving presents to some children, so I was flirting heavily - until I realized that all children and woman got a present: A monkey teddy bear and two pieces of chocolate.
But I have two monkeys now, since Maj-Britt didn't want hers!
On the picture above you see the sofa style furniture they put in a lot of restaurants. It looks very nice, but it is not good for having a dinner...
In the background of the picture you see some of the lights from the buildings in Jakarta.
After Kampus we were looking a bit around to find another place to have some finishing of drinks. After a while we settled with Ritz (http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Jakarta/Information/Default.htm?om_b=10_information) in Mega Kuningan.
Ritz was very beautiful decorated for Christmas.
And after Ritz we walked home to go to bed. They say that turkey makes you tired... Maybe it is true!
The 25th was relaxation again! And I slept almost all day until Maj-Britt and I left to go to a Christmas party that we had been invited to by Helen, an external consultant at the embassy, at 16.30 ish.
Helen had made wonderful food and she and her husband, Ken, had made sure that everything should be just as "Christmassy" as possible! It was very lovely! And Helen really gets credit for her food. Below the menu:
Drinks:
- Almost everything (but I mostly got white vine)
Snacks:
- Mushrooms with Spinach & Ricotta
- Turkish Cigarettes
- Samosa & Spring Rolls
- Peach-Champagne & Strawberry-Almond Soup
- Roast Turkey
- Gravy
- Traditional Dressing
- Cranberry Sauce
- Mustard Glazed Ham
- Mashed Potatoes Casserole
- Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes
- Golden Dome Cauliflower
- Julienned Carrot & Zucchini with Honey
- Rolls & Butter
- Frozen Lemon Meringue Torte
- Coffee/Tea/Liquer
- Butter Tarts
- Mince Tarts
- Meringues
- Chocolate Snow Cookies
- Mandarin Oranges
Wonderful! And than they had "Santa" visiting, who brought a present for everyone! Maj-Britt and I got a bottle of red vine from Santa. That is something we don't get often here, which makes it even more special to enjoy a nice glass of red vine!
Ken took some of us guests for a little walk around the neighbourhood to show us a "house" down their road. And someone really lost it. A very rich Indonesian has build a copy of Bukingham Palace on a small and poor street in Jakarta. "They must be confused with all that money!"
Today I have been sleeping again! Afterwards I went to Carrefour and ITC, thereafter to Fitness First. On my way there I saw a kind of silent demonstration in front of the Chinese Embassy. Some Chinese were sitting on the sidewalk in a meditation position. I was thinking whether I should stay and watch them and see when someone came to move them. But unfortunately I didn't. And when I came back - they were gone. And I do not believe that they went because they just wanted to...
I went further. And here it was! In front of Ambassador Mall some of the ojek drivers that stand here every day were hunting a cobra they had chased out of a field between our embassy and Ambassador Mall. It is the field where whole Mega Kuningan is supposed to be evacuated to, if there is a fire or and earthquake. And in this field apparently there are cobras... Enjoy!
I must have been looking quite astoned, cause suddenly it was funny to show me how they could make the cobra rise and attack and two men were hitting the ground around the poor animal with stocks, which definitely did not make it less aggressive...
And one of them was offering me to catch one for me for 40.000Rp... I have no clue what a cobra should cost.
They showed me another cobra they had catched today in this field. They had put it into a plastic bottle. And there was poison everywhere around this poor thing in the bottle, since it had been attacking the plastic walls all the time.
The cobras were a bit small and I got the impression that they were baby cobra's. They were not very thick and they have probably been around 40 - 50 cm long (but again I'm really bad at making such estimations...). But when they rose up to attack they got a huge head!
Since that I've been sleeping and relaxing again... So not much new under the sun!
Jakarta is filled with mosquitos lately and on the 25th I really got bitten, so now my legs look as if I have some kind of bad itchy disease...
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