A perfect blend of Jogya batik pattern and Spider Man.

Prambanan

Borobudur

Borobudur. Our guide told us that the Dutch painted the entire temple complex yellow so it glowed at night under lights. Some of the yellow paint couldn't be removed and is still visible today.

Hangzhou and Beijing

Sweet olive is the city flower. The flowers are in full bloom in October. The whole city smells sweet.

scene of the West Lake

scene of the West Lake

Bus in Hangzhou. Each bus is equipped with 2 TV screens. Most of the time, passengers can only watch commercials. But they also get a few minutes of news and other TV shows. And the fare? About 30 cents per ride.

The kids tried to determine what kind boat to take: a small one or a big one. Rock, paper, scissor, shoe is probably the best way to end a dispute.

Garden of an old residential house of the famous Dr. Hu Xueyan in Hangzhou. The house is now a city museum.

This is one of the heroes who climbed the Great Wall.+

Two troopers.

After a day of climbing the Great Wall, it's time to enjoy a hearty meal -- the famous Beijing Roast Duck at Quanjude Restaurant.

Beihai Park

Some retirees found peace and harmony by practicing calligraphy on cement floor with a gigantic brush.

After Elizabeth went to bed, Eddy, in his PJ, got a chance to play with Panda.

Elizabeth finally got what she wanted - a kitten -- after two years of persistent requests. Panda came to us today. He's about 2-months old and has been living outdoors for a while. After Elizabeth saw Panda's pictures, she couldn't resist the temptation of adopting a kitten.



Panda is curious about his new home.

Elizabeth watches Panda cleaning himself.

Elizabeth said that people should blink very slowly when staring at cats. She knows more about cats than I do, so I won't comment on that.

Tanjung Lesung Sailing Club

On the past 3-day weekend, we went to Tanjung Lesung Sailing Club. We weren't sure if the kids would love it because the accommodation there is very basic, which means there's no hot water and TV. But it turned out that everyone had a lot of fun. The kids found some new friends right away and played with them throughout the weekend. We also met two pairs of parents of those kids. They're very nice people and invited us on a boat trip out on an island (it's next to Ted's head in the first picture if you can tell) for snorkeling and fishing. The waters off the island is pristine and sand is white. There is a long, winding stretch of shallow waters where we walked out just for fun. The kids found some fish swimming around seaweeds and collected seashells.

Now, Elizabeth wants to book our next vacation there.

Out on the beach the first day. The water is shallow but there's a lot of mud and seaweed. It didn't bother the kids, though. They still had a lot of fun and rolled in the water and on the beach for hours.

Sunrise. Didn't get the moment when the Sun jumped out of the sea. The fishing village is visible in distance.

Kids decorate the canoe with mud after canoeing. Somehow this could be such a fun activity for the kids.

Canoeing. Eddy was the first one to make friends with those boys on the beach.

Eddy got off the fishing boat.

Eddy was carried to the shore.

First catch. It's beautiful little fish and was returned to the sea.

Expedition on the shallow waters. We walked out on the shallow part of the waters and it was really fun!!! Waves came in from both sides and smashed on our ankles.

Snorkeling. This is Elizabeth's first time to snorkel. She saw 3 fish, including a clown fish. She was super excited and wanted to come back to the Sailing Club for the next vacation.

fishermen on a passing boat. They were so happy and friendly!

Bonfire. It kept kids busy for an hour. They couldn't wait for the fire to go down before they roasted their marshmallows.

On the way back to Jakarta, we passed the capital of the Banten Province. The government building looks very interesting.

Bali - Nusa Dua and Ubud

Hindu temple in Bali. This is one of many Hindu temples we spotted in Bali. We got a chance to go inside and toured around by ourselves because there was no ceremony going on at the time of our visit. The architecture and stone carving are out of this world.

Inside the temple

On our way to Ubud, there're stores like this all along the street. I wish I could buy a few for our house.

Nusa Dua beach - view from our hotel. Luxurious hotels dotted along Nusa Dua beach, which is free from hawkers and warungs.

Carved door at Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa.

Balinese dancers after performance

Balinese Dance

Anyer

We heard a lot about Anyer, a resort town in West Java, and its approximity to Krakatau. On the Easter weekend, we headed to Anyer with the whole family, and a lot of food supplies. Sol Marbella, mentioned in Lonely Planet, is supposed to be the ONLY five-star hotel. And the review of the hotel and its beach in Lonely Planet seemed very appealing. However, everything in Anyer disappointed us, except a Chinese restaurant we went to across the street of Sol Marbella. The beach was very crowded with thousands of people, and the sanitation condition is worrysome. Many tourists threw trash directly on the beach. Nevertheless, our kids had a good time in Anyer. They swam a lot in the pools and played on the blackish beach. I called it black sand, and Ted said it's dirty. If we ever visit West Java beach again, we'd prefer stay at somewhere else. Here are some pictures from that trip.

Scene of fields on our way to Anyer.

Scene from the beach.

The beach is very crowded during weekend with hundreds of tourists, and maybe another few hundreds of vendors. This is a tatoo stand on the beach.

These young girls with picnic mats were exchanging information and looking for potential clients for massage.


A massage lady at work.

Coconut on the beach of Anyer. Coconut vendors trash coconut husks directly on the beach, and seafood warungs use coconut husts to cook/grill seafood. I guess that's why the sand is blackish.

Vendors and warungs on the beach. When tides are high, the entire beach would submerge under tide water. We bought fresh prawn from a vendor and tasted yummy grilled prawn. Elizabeth requested that we buy again the following day 'cause it's so tasty.

Vendors on the beach are busy setting up their stalls and looking for customers. Each time I appeared on the beach with the kids, there were dozens of people approaching us, trying to convince me to rent their buggy boards. Ted actually did rent once.