Kars and I had the privilege of taking a trip to the island of Java last week. Although it is in the same country we live in, it is farther than the distance between Miami and Seattle! We are so blessed to have grandparents in our town to take care of the boys, so we could go without kids for the first time! We spent one day in our "old" town, where we lived during language school. It'd been one year since we were there, so it was good to reconnect with friends. We stayed with some close college friends, who had arrived in town for language school after we had left. So fun to reconnect with them and see them in familiar surroundings (they are attending the same language school we did)! Then, we traveled onto the capital city. It was my first time to be in the city (outside of the airport) and it was like going to a different country! It is a massive city, known for terrible traffic, but also has many stores and restaurants from the West, which we certainly don't have on our island. I had fun taking pictures of the crazy things I spotted (even though Kars rolled his eyes at me). Seriously, I kept thinking, where are we?!
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| Lunch out at one of our favorite restaurants with college friends |
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| Lighting is terrible...but shows the 4 in the family we stayed with |
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| Fun to meet little "E", who we hadn't seen in real life yet! |
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| This "little" guy wasn't even 2-years-old last time we saw him! |
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| Visiting with one of our beloved neighbors |
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| Precious neighbor friend! |
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Not a great picture, but one of the most beautiful spots on the drive to the airport
(shows one of the mountains in the background) |
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| Lots of rice fields in Java! |
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| These guys were leaving the airport in style! |
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| Closer picture of the Becak |
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| Coming into the capital |
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| Those in the US probably have no idea why I took this picture... |
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| Or this one... |
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| Newest addition to our country...but only one, which is in the capital! |
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The IKEA showroom made us feel like we were
walking in a different world (quite overwhelming!)
This kitchen reminded us of Burt and Henny's kitchen in the Netherlands
(not sure they knew we were there to visit, we didn't get any coffee!) |
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| We weren't the only ones shopping at IKEA :) |
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| Tempted to buy these...but the $7 and & $10 price tags changed my mind... |
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Last time I saw this much dairy in one place
(with more than 2 options for cheese) was over a year ago! |
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| Pretty city at night |
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| What a find! |
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| But wait....should we really stay if they don't have this?!? |
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Ok, the burgers were a draw too. These were big enough to be sufficient for a whole year
(likely won't be eating another one until the USA!) |
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| Not from our trip...but we are waiting for these yummy pineapples to ripen in our yard! |
