We went to New Sikuai Island for the Idul Fitri holidays. This lies about 40 km south of Pedang, the capital of Sumatera. We went with our friends Donn and Beth. The island was OK, the accommodation quite basic, but the best bit was taking the small boat out to the other islands.
Rozi, Hannah and I took a trip to the Island of Madura in the North East part of Java with "Remote Destinations", a company that specializes in visiting places a bit off the beaten track. The main attraction was the bull racing. There are no hotels of any kind out there and we stayed in a tent camp built especially for us on the beach.
Rozi and Hannah's visit to Texas
Just a short break for Rozi, Hannah and me to see the temples in Jogya and to do some local shopping. Borobudur, the main Buddhist temple complex dates back to the 9th century, so it is really really old.
Rozi went with Beth to Medan, the capital of the province of North Sumatra, to help her friend Linley to paint the childrens' ward of a hospital. This hospital specializes in surgery to repair facial defects such as hair lips.
Short break in Bali staying at the Arsana Estates, a gorgeous luxury villa with two other families.
This trip organized by the American Women's Club. Visited Beijing and Xi'an. Best bits were the Great Wall - which was fantastic, and the Beijing Acrobats. The Terra Cotta warriors were pretty cool too.
Google
Earth linksForbidden City.kmz
Summer Palace.kmz
Tiananmen Square.kmz
Terra Cotta Warriors.kmz
We had a weeks stay at Mark and Jane's hotel in Obertaun. Hannah's friend Sophie came with us from Jakarta. Miranda (Rozi's sister) and Jim and their kids George and Harriet drove down from England to stay as well. Snow was great and the skiing was fun.
Four days at the Tasik Ria Resort (4 hours flight from Jakarta), fantastic boat diving with Eco-Divers at Bunaken, excellent visibility and plenty of "stuff" to look at. Underwater photos taken with Olympus 770 SW (which by the way works all the way down to 18 meters)
Bunaken Island.kmz
Here are some pictures from a morning we spent on an "off the beaten track" tour of the Chinatown area of North Jakarta
My company owns a bungalow up in the hills in Puncak an hour and a half drive south of Jakarta that we go to every now and again. Its about 3500 ft above sea level so it is much cooler and there is no smog. A nice getaway, and we play golf at Cibodas, a nice 9 hole course a bit further into the hills.
