TheTravelingTeacher: Jakarta

Thanks to the high school basketball tournament over the weekend, we celebrated our fifth 3-day weekend since Christmas break by taking a trip to Jakarta. It was a much-needed getaway to civilization. I don't mean that to sound derogatory towards where I currently reside, but high-speed internet and air-conditioning are nice once in awhile! Here's a quick instagram overview of our trip:

We got up Saturday morning and drove to Solo, about an hour away. Luckily our flight was only delayed an hour (which is a comparatively short delay in Indonesia). Upon arriving, Kari and I hit up Grand Indonesian mall for some much needed culinary normalcy. After browsing the food court, we topped off our meal with a Dairy Queen Blizzard. Yes, Blizzard. Yum.

Our hotel was super posh and in a great location across from two malls. But, getting there involved walking across a footbridge littered with various Indonesian trinkets for sale. Here's a view of the infamous Jakarta traffic from the bridge:

The next day, we woke up and went to church...real church. We even got a headset with an English translation. After the service, we immediately hopped on a bus to the nearest Domino's.

Indonesia has left me feeling somewhat pizza deprived, thanks to many ketchup substitutes, so I'm proud to say that I downed a whole 10" pizza, by myself. It even had real pepperoni's. I also got to enjoy the big-city conveniences of an English-language bookstore and Coffee Bean. Simultaneously. I also discovered the joys of bubble tea.

The weekend culminated with the piercing of my cartlidge. The internet is a bit slow this week so I can't upload the video, compliments of Kriston (it involves some squealing) but with a sealed, sterilized needle and some latex gloves it was a success!