Out and About

Ramadhan and the Idul Fitri (celebrating the end of Ramadhan) are a thing of the past.  Ramadhan is one month long and it is followed by 2 days of Idul Fitri. This year, as they do most years, the government extended the holiday to 10 days. It is to allow a better exodus to the villages as well as ensure all can go home safely.  Banks were closed for 2 weeks, though ATMs were "open" as long as they didn't run out of cash. Here are just a few images of holiday decor this month.

This one is a composite shot. The thing was massive and inside a mall. I couldn't get far enough away to get it all in one photo.

 Decorations for every holiday appear and disappear in the area surrounding our apartment.

In the mall we walk to on most Sundays they constructed an immense garden with benches and many spots for just the "perfect photo." The area was usually packed with people but we guess we didn't take any photos of the gardens. We were focused on the ceiling decor.

I've mentioned before that millions of people leave town for holidays in the 2 weeks surrounding Idul Fitri. As a result, on many days traffic is more normalized. We can travel around town fairly quickly if we time it right. Another potential side-benefit is that with fewer people the air is cleaner- well sometimes.Many days during the holiday were like this.

One day we had a lovely sunset.

And on another day we had honest to goodness blue skies for a few hours in the morning. I can't explain how it happened, but I definitely had to take a photo !

During previous Idul Fitri holidays we were able to see the ocean from our apartment (though you needed binoculars to confirm that is what it was), but that didn't happen this year. Too many days like the first photo.

Our peace lily on the balcony is blooming!

I don't really know why this seemed funny to me but I just had to snap a photo. There appeared to be a single loose or cracked marble section in the floor and there were 6 guys standing there discussing it.

These two photos were also taken during the Idul Fitri holiday. I saw this horse drawn cart very near our apartment. That is a rare sighting.

 I couldn't identify the brand of tire!

On a recent Saturday, during Idul Fitri when there are fewer people in town, we arrived at the zoo before 7 am and took a nice walk for 2-3 hours. Rather than a zoo, we like to think of it as a large green area in which to walk.

Not all of the walkways are as nice as this. This one is brand new!
This spotted deer was very interested in us. Perhaps some of the guests feed them?

In English, this sign says, " Please do not give any feed to any animals and don't throw anything into the cage because it is dangerous for the safety of the animals."

An elephant statue but real pelicans in this water feature.

A really interesting tree with fascinating root growth.

Just following the map...

We found a statue of Raden Salah- famous Indonesian painter. I've mentioned him before.

I am pretty sure this is a new area at the zoo for the giraffe. I don't remember seeing it before. It is possible, though, we just hadn't gotten to this part of the park.

I didn't do it, but look what I found at the zoo. The state owned water supply company's initials are PAM. I suspect this patch of cement was at one time a manhole cover.

One Saturday we went to the movies and B found a new friend in the lobby.

I am really impressed at seeing camp stools with dots! We spotted these somewhere (pun intended).

These mints looked interesting so we had to buy a pack.  Green tea mints with dragonfruit? As labeled? There was a noticeable mint, but the green tea was very minor and the dragonfruit really not there at all. The mints didn't have black dots either. I sort of expected that. We definitely fell for the advertising on the package.

And what about green drinks? We've got 'em!

First up is a green apple slush (next to a November sea breeze- I think it had cranberry juice and soda water with a third ingredient.

 And here is a kale, lime, banana, pineapple smoothie!