It's been ages since I posted last.  It's Sunday morning here and I can't sleep.  My brain is swirling with Monday-Friday thoughts.  It's really not quite fair.  But I did get some good sleep in last night, probably because I got so tired out playing badminton yesterday.  Badminton... is really fun; perhaps a sign I am becoming more Southeast Asian.

So here are some photos from our last adventure in the outback in April.  It'll be my last adventure of it's sort for a while.  When I worked in LA, I used to sit at my desk and stare out the window, wishing to be outdoors on the trail having an adventure.  When I moved to Indonesia, I thought that those days were over.  But now that we're having a baby and I'll be grounded from flying in a few weeks, I find myself sitting at my desk staring out the window, wishing to be out having an adventure.  Guess it's not the place or the job but the person.


Traditional houses are built on stilts overlooking a central courtyard.  Makes for good people watching.


People coming out of church on Sunday morning.  The area was reached by Dutch protestant missionaries in the 1800s.


Cocoa beans are a local cash crop.  This lady really wanted me to climb up the pile of beans that was drying inside a home we visited.  It was fun.  I like the smell, but they taste bitter.


At the beach.  The road was in disrepair so we parked the car a ways out and walked down for a view of the Indian Ocean.  The island was hit by the 2004 tsunami, but the earthquake a few months later did the most damage.


The best place to wash your pig, your self, or your motorcyle.


A dock near the hotel we stayed at on the way back home.

Eldwin hit the Big 3-0 at the beginning of January.  His mom organized a big Chinese dinner in Monterey Park with lots of food.  It was fun to celebrate with family and friends.  His actual birthday was the day after we arrived back in Jakarta.  Since he loves trying new foods, especially desserts, we got cupcakes in 10 different flavors to share with friends.  The cupcakes were beautiful but ended up looking a lot better than they tasted.  Although I give Eldwin a hard time about being "old," 30 doesn't seem old at all.  But I am starting to see how short a lifetime is... it just flashes by.