Days update

We're back to Bogor for some days now. Everything went OK in Singapore, which is a very different country compared to Indonesia. We went there for our visa was about to expire and that was the easier way. Our permanent visa is taking longer than expected. Back 'home' we just dove into Ramadan, which has started the 1st of August this year. Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar and also the month of fasting. Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, no food nor drink.

So since we arrived we've been experiencing how Ramadan is lived at least here in our neighbourhood. Muslims are encouraged to read the Qur'an so in the evening by the time of the last prayer of the day the recitations are longer on the speakers. Sometimes I've the feeling they go all night long. Around 2 am or 3 am (I cannot precise) someone passes in the streets singing and playing drums for people to wake up and start preparing breakfast (I believe I never payed attention to this word: break-fast!! The evening fast.) which is before sunrise. At dinner, just after sunset when finally Muslims can eat and drink again, they start the meal with dates (like the prophet Muhammad) and nata de coco which I came to appreciate a lot. Nata de coco is a fermented of coconut cream and it looks like coconut jelly but maybe a bit harder.

We're not fasting but I am trying to eat less and to fast from not so positive thoughts and feelings to help redirect my heart away from worldly activities, cleanse my inner soul and free it from harm (in source).

I cannot help myself from sharing what is in my heart today. I've learned that a dear friend of mine is gone. I received this news with some commotion in me though I knew she was ill for quite a while now. So today like in some other days she has been in my thoughts. I've very fond memories of her that I shall keep forever. I just wonder how it will feel like when one day I'll return to Portugal and she won't be there anymore. Today I celebrate her life and having met her. Thank you. May you rest in peace, dear Trisha.

As-Salamu Alaykum everyone (Peace be upon you)

Saturday

On Saturday we went to a bambu furniture shop. In a couple of weeks we'll hopefully be moving to our new home and we need to plan what'll buy for our daily needs. We went to the outskirts of Bogor city to get local price and we end up finding the shop/makers that supply other bambu shops of the city center. The cool thing about this is that we can also design and have customized pieces of furniture. We're also quite impressed with the proposed budget, we would say it is very goedkoop. It seems after spending some years in The Netherlands you pick up the merchant vein, he he. On our way back home, Pak Budhi took us to a fish restaurant, the Fish Palace. There we sat in a little house over the water where we ate grilled fish. It is a big place where you can also fish and if you wish you can even have the fished fish cooked. It is a very popular place where a lot of Jakarta citizens come to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. The kids were specially amused not only for the environment in itself but also because we ate at a traditional table, which is very low and we sit on the floor. Finally, we eat at a children table! We now plan on having one for our place too.

First day

We've arrived to Bogor, Indonesia. The flight trip was great, the kids slept almost all the way and we had space to stretch the legs, wow! Our hosts are very friendly and we're very happy to be spending our first days here with them. The weather is hot and wet and the town busy. We feel a bit tired but the kids look like they've been here for ages, kids aren't fragile as sometimes we're led to believe. By the end of our first day a tropical rain poured down and the children just took a joyful shower. Selemat malam.