Foods of Indonesia

We've had the opportunity to eat/try a few interesting options in culinary arts. Our first was dog meat at a dinner in Jakarta soon after our arrival. Sister Kusumarmanto cooked dog meat at the request of one of the missionary couples (not us). It tasted a bit like chicken--just kidding. It was the texture of beef, but was prepared in a spicy sauce.

Sister Kusumarmanto and I at the couple's conference.

Our next food adventure was at the first zone conference in Surabaya. After the conference President Groberg always takes the missionaries to lunch at a buffet near the church. There we had the opportunity to try chicken feet.  Actually, we only nibbled on the coating--not brave at all.

Elders in back row: Mulyono, Rondonuwu, Hernandez, Jameson,..., Quinn, Go, Widodo, Tjoe, ..., Damavandi, Marsudi.
Sisters are Suryono and Blake. Elder and Sister Seiter, Pres. and Sister Groberg, Elder and Sister Jerry and Nadene Kepler. 

When we started visiting the members of the Surabaya First Branch, Sister Martoya and her daughter Maria fed us fried snails. They're not bad! 

After the Young Single Adult conference in the mountains east of Solo, Rhama took us to a specialty restaurant that serves porcupine and squirrel. We tried the porcupine in two different forms and really enjoyed it! Maybe we'll have to take up raising porcupines--or maybe not.

While visiting a member in Blitar, about 2 hours west and a little south of Malang, we were invited to go to lunch at a restaurant that had Chinese food. Personally, we can't distinguish between the Asian foods. They all have rice and many interesting ingredients that we can't name. Unfortunately, we like all the foods quite well and have put on some weight. We do draw the line when it comes to rice two times a day and two days in a row. Meity, an inactive member in Blitar, gave us 4 black eggs as we were leaving, along with some unusual fruit. I'm not even going to begin to catalog the interesting fruits that are found here. The black eggs, we are told, are very old. The green ones are sold hard cooked in salt brine, from what we can understand. We added both to corned beef for some very delicious sandwiches. 

Our latest culinary adventure was at a restaurant south and east of Malang while we were out visiting members who live more than an hour from the church. We stopped for a very late lunch and much needed bathroom stop. Here we ordered some quail eggs since we often see them for sale in the grocery stores and have never tasted them.

The fish is tilapia, quail eggs top right and a dish of vegetables
top left. The little brown thing with the fish is made from
shredded cassava, sweetened and fried. Great meal!

Rinda and Darrell Visit Indonesia!

They arrived on October 17th, just after we moved to Malang. We picked them up at the Surabaya airport, spent the night there, and put them to work at the zoo service project early the next morning. No time for jet lag with our schedule!

Darrell Hatch, Jerry Kepler and Steve worked on fitting
the new doors on the garbage bins. The Church logo
is on the bottom of each door!

Rinda and Nadene Kepler taking pictures at the zoo.

A motorcycle ride around Lapinda Mud Volcano was next on the agenda.

 

We rented a boat in Pasuraun to take us out to see the whale sharks, then stopped for lunch at a typical Indonesian restaurant.

             Mount Bromo never stops being one of the most beautiful sites to see in Indonesia!

Bromo Volcano (left) was spitting this morning at sunrise, so they wouldn't
let us go to the large volcano's floor to climb Bromo. Darn! The volcano in
center background was also sending up smoke periodically.

This is the view from our hotel, Bromo Cottages.

Up close and personal in Taman Safari near Malang.

We spent two peaceful days in Malang, just resting, going for walks,
working on some service for the zoo, and playing games. Monday
we were in Surabaya for a zone conference and Tuesday in Jogja.
Here is a class of students who accosted us to practice their English
on and then included us in their class picture.

Borabudur is a famous Buddhist World Heritage Site. It was occupied from 9th to 14th century AD.
Below our guide and Darrell pose in one of the prayer positions. They look pretty authentic, don't they?

Many beautiful stone carvings tell stories along the walls.

Rinda, Darrell, Shara-Dee, Steve, and Rhama

Our driver is so much more than just a driver! He's now
demonstrating his umbrella holding skills, one of his many duties. We
were sure grateful for those umbrellas in the heat of the morning!

Prambanan Hindu Temple is another World Heritage Site near Jogjakarta. We visited this area the last morning of Rinda
and Darrell's visit. Below are some of the stone carvings at the site. Looks like the guy on the right did quite
a number with his handy bat in his hand. I love the sly smile on his face!

It was with some sadness that we bid farewell to Rinda and Darrell at the Jogjakarta airport
 October 24th and headed to the Young Single Adult Conference in Tawangmangu.

Elder and Sister Seiter are transferred!

Since our driver is from Malang and his family still lives there, we suggested to President Groberg that it might be nice for us to move to Malang when our lease was over at the Waterplace Apartments in Surabaya. We had already been working in the mountainous town 3-4 days each month, renting a hotel room. We felt that we had done all we could do in Surabaya First Branch and needed to work full time in Malang. President Groberg readily agreed with us and authorized us to rent a place there and prepare to move. We spent a couple days looking at houses, since apartment buildings are non-existent in Malang and found a beautiful little house. Then we spent two different trips moving things up and doing some cleaning in preparation for the big move. Elder and Sister Kepler were big helps, loading their car to the brim for the move on October 9, 2012.

This is our little house in Malang. Steve planted the petunias and cannas and more flowers in the back.

Front room, looking outside.

"Family room" in the "great room" area.

This is my kitchen area--I love the stylish brick wall.

Just kidding... here's part of the outdoor kitchen.

Here's the other half. We added the cabinets, microwave

and toaster oven when we moved in.

Study

Bedroom

This is the back yard with Tweetie in the center. The

washer is around the corner on the right and we hang

up our clothes to dry on a rack we put in the sun.

This is the front yard--just the right size!

Baptisms in Indonesia

We've been involved in a few baptisms in one way or another here in Indonesia. The first was in Surabaya 1st Branch, December 11, 2011. Ofni Frangki Yesaya Erugan was our driver for 8 months before he moved to his home town near Manado, Sulawesi. Joseph Scaffidi was baptized the same day in our branch. He's American, married to Dian Siswoyo, an Indonesian returned missionary. What a happy day for everyone!

Elders Mulia and Go, Marc Murri (he baptized Ofni and was Ofni's employer before us),
Elder Quinn and Elder Mulyono

Fiona Siswoyo, Joe, Dian, and Dian and Fiona's younger sister.

Michael, Ofni and Ruth

                          The next baptism was for Novi, Chendika (Bro. Sandi) Kusuma's fiancee.
 Chendika, Novi, President Utomo (Chendika's father), Elders Earls and Radianto.
Chendika and Novi were married a couple months later and Chendika was
called to be a counselor in the branch presidency.

This darling family live in Malang. They are from left to right,
 Wahyuni, Agnes, Angga and Ayub, the dad.We visited them on a Sunday evening
with the elders who had been teaching the father and children.
 The mother had been an inactive member for several years.
What a wonderful thing to have the family baptized and the mother become active!

Southern Coast of Java

Balekambang has to be one of the most picturesque places in Indonesia. This Hindu temple is on the island of Pulau Ismoyo, connected by a footbridge to the mainland.  August 11, 2012,  we visited a member of the Church who lives about 2 hours from Malang, near this beach. Good excuse for some wonderful sightseeing! 

Talk about beautiful white sandy beaches!

Elder and Sister Kepler came along with us for our delightful weekend in Malang and the southern beaches.

On the road to our next member's home, Rhama pointed out some clove trees growing along the narrow highway. We stopped and bought a small bag of freshly dried cloves from this darling woman. As Steve took a picture of the woman and I together, I surreptitiously snapped the picture of her feet. We wondered if she'd ever worn shoes in her life. What a delightful stop that was!

Our second beach stop was at Sendangbiru--you can see the island of Pulau Sempu in the background. While we were walking along the beach for a few moments, Rhama struck up a conversation with some local fishermen. One of them asked what the "bules" eat for lunch. When Rhama told them that we had bread and jam (meaning, peanut butter sandwiches) for lunch, the questioner said, "See? Just like I told you! They eat bread and pills, just like the astronauts and they get full!" So there you have it.

 

Trucks full of chickens are a common sight, as are motorcycles with huge loads. This one is carrying sugar cane. We're constantly impressed with the nice highways, although there are many that need work.

A beautiful mosque in the middle of rice paddies.