M-Cafe

Ice cream lovers .... grab onto your seats. It's the ultimate Magnum royal treatment; and although we here in Indo don't pride ourselves on our selection of Magnum bars (well, in comparison to Australia anyway) ... we instead bring a cafe which is so much greater.

Located on the 5th floor of the Grand Indonesia mall, resides a place that Jarkatans will waste one hour of their lives waiting in a line for a magnificent Magnum creation.

This is me at the end of the
waiting game

People can either experience the ambiance of creating their very own signature ‘Belgium-covered-chocolate-ice cream-dish’ ... OR ... they can gaze & select from a wide array of creations including that of the Waffle de Aristocrat.

This piece of art includes a stack of crispy Belgium caramel filled waffle, topped with a roasted caramelised banana, a sweet wafer, and two sticks of Magnum ice cream. If Nath was writing this I'm sure he'd concur that the caramel waffle had a subtle crunch to every bite with a sweetness that happily balanced the creamy ice cream, caramel and chocolate sauce (Sound Matt Preston enough?). Although a portion to share .... he happily demolished singly.

Can you see the second hiding
magnum bar?

Myself being a 'last-meal-on-this-earth-and-choosing-ice-cream' kinda' girl was in earthly-heaven. I enjoyed the Deconstructed cheesecake which was as the name suggests. I gleefully poured it down with a slurp, burp and brain freeze.

My Dad enjoyed a melting moment fondue package which was all too extravagant and overly satisfying. I was quick to assist him in the clean up of that sweet-runny choc.

But what's better than any of this .... is that this place is shockingly cheap! Creations like this range from a conservative 3 to 5 Aussie bucks. It makes the experience oh so much better when you're handed a cheap bill coupled with an Indonesian smile :)

So .... if you have managed to drool, I do not at all apologise. That was totally my intention and please know, these visual don't even begin to encapsulate the taste!

xo

A note from Missy

I’m not one for words. I’d prefer to talk with my ears and my tail. But I think it’s about time you hear on here about how life has been for me.

I won't lie, it's been tough but I don’t tend to think about what happened yesterday or what will happen tomorrow. I prefer to live in the now. So despite what's happened, I don’t really care because as long as I’m with my two-legged, elongated Mum and Dad, I’m doin just fine.

So to start, the trip over was not a highlight. I think I'd prefer to delete it from my black-bushy brain-box. I didn't know what was going on. It was dark ..... cold ..... and really really noisy. I was determined to hold on to my contents ... but it was just all too much, and far too long {please don't judge me}. Since then, that blue cage that I spent all day and all night in, has reappeared on regular occasions. Nowadays, I’m always given something of the food variety post entering, so the association with that expedition has been mostly erased.

On arrival to this new place, I was initially shocked by the thick, humid air that I was forced to breathe in. It was so different to what I knew. I soon worked out that most of my days here would be spent on the inside – so I was pretty pumped with that. I actually think I’ve got it better over here.  I wake my Dad and Mum up every single morning before the sun rises and they take me on a run. These runs tend to exhaust me to the point of sleeping all day.
 

My skin has done weird things since being here. I started feeling itchy all over at one point. Then, a weird tiny creature clung to my skin. It was 'sorta' hard to show my Mum so I just went with it and didn’t complain. My saving grace came when my Mum and Dad rocked up at their usual evening time slot with a gasp and a cry. I wasn’t sure what was going on. All I knew was that my face was really hard to carry. I felt like it was bigger than usual. Anyway, my paranoid Mum held my head still for a while, picked at something under my mouth that they called a tick and within minutes, my swollen head felt light again. Needless to say, I started getting regular bath time again much to my dismay.
 

Anyway, the itchy skin thing was really annoying. I have a history of allergies however it has now completely subsided since I started eating this new food that they give me. It’s pretty yummy. I eat brown rice, egg, broccoli and chicken heart. It keeps my tail wagging and I tend to revolve my day around it. Oh and I got these super sniffable and tasty biccys at Christmas. Thanks to my far away Nanna-Lea :) The red Christmas neck-tie was not a massive high point but thanks for thinking of me team-Meinel!

 

 

The other part of my day is waiting for my family to return. It goes really quickly. It 'kinda' feels like the moment they leave, they return. Works well for me.

I miss being patted and pampered by complete strangers. Over here, I get attention still but of a different variety. I’m not quite sure why everyone is scared of me but they get out of my way with a sharpness which suits me just fine. I mostly miss my friends. I want to send out a big roof to Leia, Lucus, Frankie, Mustard, Buster, Jazzie and the dog who gave me conjunctivitis at the dog park. I miss sniffing your bums and chasing each other in a circular motion. But I’m happier being where my family is, and although the choice to come was not of mine – I’m content where I’m at.

I know I bring a great joy and strength to my Mum and Dad; and I’m proud to welcome them home everyday to the place I now call home. Sometimes I wish I could walk along the beautiful manicured garden paths or run with the sea breeze on my face; but my job role now has changed. I’m here to comfort, love and bring joy to my family on days I sense have been tough! I’m happy to give all of me because that’s what I do best and that’s .... how I was created!

On that note, I better get back to my sleeping – this has exhausted me.

Here’s a big lick and sniff to you all from me Missy B

Turning 30 ~

I have spent most of my living and growing days claiming that I'm just a baby! I'm the youngest of three girls and married to someone four years my senior; so I have simply always considered myself a fresh whipper snapper ... but then last Monday came.

On April the 15th back in the early 80's - my bottle brush head was born. I'm not going to say that my age crept up on me, nor that I am unsure to where these last 30 years disappeared to; but I will admit a moment in which I simply couldn't fathom the fact that the choice to not be thirty was not a choice of mine. It was a quirky yet surreal thought.

I compare it to when you're single, in a relationship or married - people expect you to find a partner, get married or have kids. There's this unspoken pressure to make the coming of thirty a big event; and the question was asked on numerous occasions what it was that I was planning to do to celebrate. So instead, and to - in the words of the great John Farnam - take the pressure down, I decided to leave it in the very reliable hands of my Nath, Mum and Dad. Not surprisingly, they beautifully wrapped up all my favourite things and delivered me a superb-weekend-present.

This present started on the morning of last Saturday. After sipping caramel macchiato’s, I was whisked off in a taxi to a spacious overnight room at the opulent Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Jakarta. Not too long after settling into the room, I was sent ‘like a parcel’ to a two hour almond ritual spa treatment.

The cute masseuse was certainly NOT going to let my age take over my skin. I was washed, wrapped, painted on and molded - my silky smooth skin was rejoicing and my torn muscles were singing' praises!

 Then this happened .....

Ten of my newly-found friends surprised me for a sit down buffet dinner. It was a lovely night of great food and conversation; and I felt very honored and cared for by this tribe of people.

Then Sunday came, the eve of my day of birth. Just when I thought that by packing my bags it was over - it was only getting started. After being fussed over on my morning workout, I entered the breakfast room - & It.was.a.a.amazing! I felt like I was Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone 2 ….. eager and way to excited about all the things to see, try and do.  The array of gourmet goodness at this breakie was all too much; and very appropriately I claimed that it was "...the best breakfast in my thirty year existence" ... These photos simply don't do it justice.

Lastly and before calling it an occasion – Nath and I rested and sunned ourselves whilst being delivered ongoing serves of sorbet and freshly squeezed juice ‘on the house’ no less. It was a great end to a memorable celebration and I felt humbled and grateful for the generosity bestowed on me.

I think I read this quote in some trashy women’s mag at some point, but I haven’t forgotten it - "Everything I know, I learned after I was thirty". In reflecting on my adult years - I've studied and changed careers twice. I've moved houses close to a dozen times. I've travelled to approximately twenty countries; and more recently I have moved my life to a third world country - So if this statement is anything to go by, I don't know if I should be excited or scared! Still, I'm learning to be content where I am; and it's taken me until now to be able to say that. I feel extremely blessed to still be here in good holistic health, surrounded by people who care about me enough ... to celebrate my thirty years of life.

Thanks to those who sent me an email, facebook or mobile phone message.

xo

The land of milk & honey

So I've got a tonne of work to do; report cards lurking around the corner; and a body suffering jet lag that doesn't know if it should be sleeping, eating or working. However, I am in desperate need of an outpouring about our latest venture - and due to it being a long time between blogs - I figure my blogging is justified!

So we have just returned from a journey through the Middle Eastern countries of Jordan and Israel. Together with 25 people, a tour guide, a bible teacher, and a tourist  police officer - we travelled, visited and contemplated the beautiful land of milk and honey, and followed the footsteps of the great Moses; the Israelites he was leading; the quirky John the Baptist; and of course, the earth-walking Jesus.

To say this experience was enjoyable would be the great understatement. It was so much more than that. It has profoundly rearranged the way I think, read and see Jesus and His human-inspired book. Discovering this lands' geography and its’ ancient artifacts acutely deepened my understanding of Jesus and His ministry. To walk in the footsteps of biblical and historical greats - & to see their culture and experience the diversity of this part of the world - was a massive spiritual encouragement.
  
So I've created a picture book for you below to lead you through some of our musings; but I wanna steal your attention a tad longer with a personal thought -

On this trip, it seemed grammatically appropriate to talk about Jesus in the past tense; and feel almost star-struck by the memorial sights that commemorated His fame and history. I'd honestly catch myself searching and wondering about the physical traces of Jesus - & whether or not His earth-ridden sandals set foot on a particular road or piece of land. But I had this prominent and consistent whisper going on in my head that reminded me that He’s not in the past nor caught in the future. He’s so very alive and well … & He was in this place .... but better than that - He walks with me everyday! You don’t needa go to no holy land to be part of Him. It was a nice lesson to take me home!

Please continue on if you you're interested to see some of our captures and related text.

 

Mt Nebo is the place where Moses ascended to look into the
Promised Land. You can see why it was called the land
of 'milk and honey'. The lush, green Jordan Valley
(top left corner ) is surrounded by the arid plains of Moab.

Petra has to be seen to be believed.
It is an ancient city that grew to the height
of it's power during the first century
thanks to it's place on ancient trade routes.
Paul came through here many times
both before his ministry years
and also during his ministry years.

Sitting outside John the Baptists 'prison cave'
learning about his ministry and
Herod's evil deeds. 

Sitting on the Mount of Olives, looking across at the
Old City of Jerusalem. Down the base of this hill
is the Garden of Gethsemane in the Kidron Valley.
Up the top of this hill (the direction that Nath is looking)
and over the crest is Bethany where Jesus would
stay when he visited the Old City.
It was home to Lazarus, Mary and Martha.



The western wall was a hive of activity.
Orthodox Jews were fervently reciting
the Torah as it was the week leading
up to the Passover Festival.

Orthodox Jews flooded into the city
for the Passover week.  

This is the pool of Bethesda where Jesus
healed the sick man in John 5.

A reenactment of how they think
Jesus spent His time working in Nazareth.
(in all truth He was probably more a stone mason than
carpenter but that is for another time)

Nazareths' country side - full of mustard
(yellow flowers) and olive trees.

Note that Port Power supporters are not
welcome in the town of Capernaum.
However, Jesus based himself there during
His ministry years. His best mate Peter
also has a house there.

This is the site of the Capernaum Synagogue.
No doubt Jesus spent many a day
teaching on this site.

Looking towards the Sea of Galilee down the
face of the Mt of Beatitudes.

Floating on the Sea of Galilee, looking back to the
shore line that Jesus first found the disciples.
Thinking about the many stories of what happened
on or around this area.

Hey, I'm impressed if you got to this point. Thanks for caring :)

Nomes

Assembly time!

I wasn't going to blog about this particular event due to lack of photographic evidence; but when I got sent some copies of this proud-punching moment, I just couldn't refuse. WARNING: The content and images you are about to witness are all school-related, so if this bores you ... look away now!

The panic, stress, organisation and logistical process leading up to this event was enormous. My new teachers' brain was completely over-awed at the thought of orchestrating twenty-four 8 year olds to learn lines; remember cues; speak clearly into a microphone (& not drop it); and put on a performance in front of their fellow elementary school goers .... ALL ... on my own (might I add). There was plenty of hair-raising, jaw-dropping and sleepless moments leading up to this time; however, like always in my life, the good ol' 'stress less' lesson reoccured; & as the big guy so graciously teaches me - 'It all worked out in the end'.

Still, I started this process pretty early and forced practise on my sweet grade twoers for an hour a day from Christmas break to Feb 8. But it was on this delightful day, that these little guys rock and rolled the stage so bright! All twenty four of em' totally blew me away with their clear speaking and expressive performing. Although just a snapshot, here is a picture of the much anticipated, much talked about (sorry fam) Grade Two assembly - entitled 'Health and Safety'.

I'd like to end and say a decent thank you to my sweet mother in law Lea (and of course you too Neil); my precious mother and father; and my loving sisters from Oz who sent me endless messages of encouragement and gracious words of prayer. You guys are great and def worth this mention!

xo

Happy Jak'Aussie day!

Last weekend, we managed to light up the Aussie day spirit here in Jakka's. Minus the beaches, beers and bikinis, we celebrated Australia with snags and flags; and proudly represented the land down under!

We devoured lamingtons;

 enjoyed good hearty meat;

and got all patriotic with Aussie hats, capes and arm warmers.

It was a sweet and meaty time of good food and solid friends; and we are very thankful to these fun American folk who ignited their patriotic spirit in selfless reverence to our homeland.



Happy post Australia day to those we know and love!

Nomes xo