CWA Coffee at the Zoo

Well, here I am again pretending to be Canadian. The Canadian Women's Association decided to try something new for their monthly coffee get together. Instead of just sitting, chatting and talking, a small group of us met at the zoo and walked around while chatting. I hope they do this again. I enjoyed it, though when I mentioned that a start time of 7 am would be better, it wasn't met with enthusiasm. By 9:30 it's hot already. However, during the week, it wasn't very crowded like it is on Saturdays.

An interesting conversation preceded this trip. My driver pointed out that it was due to be raining on the day of this walk. I let him know that an alternative plan was already in place: we would simply meet at a restaurant instead. He paused a bit and then asked, but what if it's not raining and you go to the zoo and then it starts raining. I replied back, "Then I guess I'll get wet!" He laughed. I went prepared for sun, rain, insects, you name it.

The entrance fee situation was really funny. We got charged different prices. The last time B and I went to the zoo, the "ticket" was a piece of paper. Now they have plastic cards like a credit card. Anyway, the most one of us was charged was Rp 30,000. The least was Rp 4,000. The range in US currency ranges from 29 cents to $2.23. Some of us paying Rp 30,000 apparently paid for our driver as well and while they did enter the gate, they didn't go anywhere. They visited in the parking lot. (My driver hadn't seen a friend's driver in quite a while so he had a good time.) Another factor seemed to be the type of car being driven. Some vans were treated as busses- and charged a higher parking fee included in the total amounts I've mentioned. Also, even though all of us have a permanent resident card, we think most of us were charged tourist rates. I should mention that this confusion didn't really have anything to do with language issues. In fact, one of the ladies in the group speaks Bahasa Indonesia fluently and she couldn't get a rational explanation. The last point is that because my driver didn't enter the zoo, there may be another entry still available for use on the plastic card. Guess I'll see next time I'm there.

There is a Primate Center on the zoo grounds and I hadn't been there before. There is a small additional charge for that section so it was pretty quiet. Here is the entrance to the Primate Center (Pusat Primata). The Primate Center covers 32 acres. There is a very lengthy tunnel with viewing windows that look out into the outdoor orangutan exhibit area.

We ended up spending most of our time there. I was able to play zoo docent a little which was fun. We also found a viewing tower to climb some stairs! It overlooks the orangutan outdoor exhibit area but the animals were inside on that day. I didn't really take many photos on this visit so no animal photos. This might have been due to the fact that it was due to storm soon.  In fact, moments after I closed the car door it started raining very hard. Perfect timing except for the traffic that gets worse when it rains.

These mushrooms were really neat. They would great in any garden. Probably 4-5 ft tall.

No we didn't ride it!

Interesting signage in the Primate Center:

Our walking group at the zoo.

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The CWA provided cut up fruit, cold water and some cookies for the post-zoo walk snack. As a group we weren't that interested in the cookies so it was decided to give them away. What was at first a small group of students quickly swelled as my friend handed out cookies.  Yes, the adults with the kids encouraged the kids to take cookies from the non-Indonesian ladies in the zoo parking lot. All of the cookies were given away! Soon after the cookies were all distributed, we hopped into our cars and it started pouring rain. Fun trip home!

Miscellaneous

Some random photos and thoughts. We've completed two more jigsaw puzzles.

We bought the Van Gogh puzzle in Hong Kong. I purchased another puzzle at the AWA Thrift Shop. It's an unopened 1000 piece Gauguin painting.  We will need to find a way to feed the puzzle addiction!

Switching gears, we were out at a  local mall and a school was advertising for new students. Here are some young students that captured our attention.  (Again, users of small, hand-held devices may not be able to view the video.)

We recently had all of the drapes and sheers cleaned. Day 1. Arrive unannounced on a Friday morning while I am out grocery shopping. Wait in the lobby until I return and find out they are here. Step one: remove all of the drapes and leave. Only the sheers remain. All of the rooms seem very bright. Difficult to sleep at night due to all of the lighted billboards and flashing LED TV screen billboards.

Day 2 ( a few days later). Step 1: Arrive unannounced about 2:30 in the afternoon. Step 2: bring back all of the drapes which have been perfumed to such a degree I cannot breathe.  Step 3: remove the sheers. Step 4: hang the returned drapes and start steaming the wrinkles from the drapes. I point out that 2 sets of the drapes are stained. I'm told it is the perfume and it will dry. Hmmm. Step 5: Leave with the sheers. Day 3:  (Another 2 days later) Step 1:Come back to remove two sets of drapes which are now stained and hadn't dried in 2 days. Had made an appointment for 2pm. When I arrived back home at 12:45 they were already here. Take the 2 sets of drapes and leave. Day 4: The plan is that 4 days from now they will return with the 2 pairs of drapes no longer stained and the sheers and finish everything. Appointment is for "after lunch."  Note: we got the drapes back without the stains but I should have let them use the perfume. The cleaner to remove the stains did not have a very pleasant aroma. I haven't had time to tie back all of the drapes properly so they simply hang straight for the time being.

Next topic. This decoration makes me think of Cinderella's carriage for some reason. I think it's really pretty. And it is a touch of fall, so really nice.

New set of sheets and duvet cover. We now have 2 duvet covers we can switch out.

Crafting is the next topic. A couple of my friends are making polyester batting stuffed wool animals. One lady is teaching 2 others. The "teacher's" work is fabulous. The animals look so real. It's fun to watch. It involves a lot of stabbing of the foam block with a sharp tool to compact and shape the batting. 

This is a finished shawl I made all blocked out. Thanks again to a friend who loaned me her blocking kit.

Staying somewhat on topic, there is a Juki shop in this town. They sell Juki sergers (and sewing machines) and I think I will be buying a serger. Juki is a fairly good brand from what I am told. Naturally, once I looked at the different models, I liked the look of the top model they carry. $$$$$ so we'll see. The good news is that I can buy one locally and not have to worry about duty on it to bring one in. 

Switching topics again, we have purple potatoes here. We recently went to a Korean restaurant and this is one of the side dishes we were served. BTW, it was served cold, i.e., refrigerated.  They also had excellent "burgers."

 Lastly, this installment's "green drink", a mint mojito - non-alcoholic of course.

Out and About... more

Another street scene... This food cart is selling fried snacks. This style is pushed by hand to the selling point. Others are bicycle driven or motorcycle driven.There are many other carts behind this one.

Last week some friends and I took a "field trip" to a fabric shop in town. Several of the ladies couldn't make it themselves but they still had a few fabric needs. I believe 3 of us were shopping for others by taking photos of prints, "What'sApping" them to the potential buyer for a yes or no response. It was fun. I purchased two Christmas prints for a friend along with another novelty print that included octopi with bows on them. A "girlie" print for sure. We are usually able to get larger discounts when we go as a group but this time we didn't get the same discount. We only got a 20% discount instead of the usual 30% and that was only on cotton fabrics. Some members of the group purchased linen yardage and received no discount at all. One of my friends seems to always get the 30% discount but she was not with us on this trip. That could be the reason, or it could be that his sales are down. I purchased one piece of fabric for myself. A really pretty tropical cotton print that just screamed Christmas somehow. Another lady also bought some of this print. Really pretty!

At some point it will probably become a blouse. If there's time, I'll get it done for Christmas. After we finished shopping at his store, the owner was kind enough to lead us to a sewing accessories store located nearby. It was down a very narrow alley. The shop itself was small and mainly had zippers. Maybe I'll go back if I can't find the right zipper at my favorite shop in Pasar Mayestic. The accessories shop was in this mall- which was air conditioned!

While we were out and about, we happened near a small demonstration in town. Normally we try to completely avoid them but couldn't this day.

After shopping one day I met some friends at an Indian restaurant I hadn't visited. The US election is a hot topic of conversation here. This was on the TV in the lobby of the restaurant building as it was the day of the last debate. The food was better than the debate and I will take B there soon.

 My helper, Ibu Tin, and I both had to laugh at this pillow slogan:

Lastly, I am not a mayonnaise aficionado even though I realize that is a foreign concept to many cultures. However, we wanted you all to know that if you visit here you can have mayonnaise flavored cashews!