Farewell to Jakarta

After much hydrating and sleep I was as good as new, and Erma was amazing.  With all she had to do with work, she still looked after us and wanted to make sure we enjoyed our last day in Indonesia.  She took us for a quick trip to a place called Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.  It’s like an Indonesian version of the Polynesian Cultural Center meets the Smithsonian meets Disneyland with an aviary thrown in for good measure.  They had an area for each province showcasing traditional architecture and wedding clothes.  It was so neat to see the cultural diversity, and I like the symbolism of having the woman’s wedding hat represent the home and her importance in that role.  As for it being a theme park, we were harassed by a generic character who wanted us to pay for a picture with it, and there was a terracotta knockoff of Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

From there we went to a classy Padang restaurant and were allowed to crash the birthday lunch of a CI-Indonesia colleague.  Delicious food and great company, the perfect ending to this trip.  We made one last dash to the mall so I could pick out a few souvenirs and gifts, and then it was the final battle with Jakarta’s traffic on the way to the airport.  We had a late start so it was a stressful drive, but with a few prayers and an alternate route we actually arrived early.  In so many ways, I wasn’t ready to leave but was ready to be home, all at the same time.