{Our Bird Cages from Exotic Indonesia}

• Living and working in Indonesia did give us many opportunities for exploring exotic places and also for finding unique gifts to bring home with us. 
• On November 29 of 1999 we did go to a huge market for birdcages. Pasar Ngasem west of Kraton Palace in Yogyakarta, was the place to go to! BATIK DARMO Sangkar Burung & Aneka Kerajinan.
• Speaking the language is always helpful in finding out where exactly to go for certain items. In one of our hotels in Yogyakarta those birdcages were hanging above the buffet line in the restaurant. It was at the Hotel Santika Jogja. 
• Most people have no idea  how exotic Indonesia really is!

This is the one hanging in our Veranda...

Also did get one for dear friend Becky.

Those were the days we could still travel with additional luggage; not as many restrictions then!

Two large ones, now finding me two smaller ones... One for my sister Diny  and one hangs in our Living Room. Links are shown below post.

How I would have loved to take lots of them home but when flying, there is a limit!

Asians in general do keep birds in cages so the choice is big!

Does any of you have a bird or a bird cage for decoration?

This makes a nice Indonesian corner in our Veranda (see link below post) with the Bali wood carved statue and the Balinese silk batik, framed on the wall. The larger bird cage just hangs from the ceiling down, in front of my hand crocheted curtains.

The blue Delftware houses show that we made many trips back and forth to Indonesia; 21 times we went for work on KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines.

The smaller one, hanging in our Living Room, see link below post.

This is available here in the USA from Cost Plus World Market... and you also find them here on their FB Cost Plus World Market's Page. We came home with our bird cages on the plane; four of them and we paid probably a fraction of the sales price elsewhere with our Rupiah 250,000 but that is also several years ago. It was at the time we were still millionairs... see post about that below as well!

Related links:
{Our Veranda} | previous post by me where you can see the large bird cage
{Our Living Room} | previous post by me where you can see the smaller bird cage
{Winter Sale | At the time we were Millionaires} | previous post by me

{Winter Sale | At the time we were Millionaires}

When we were living and working in Indonesia we instantly became Millionaires too. At the time we resided there, it was 2,000 Indonesian Rupiah to every US Dollar. Adding three digits to our salary made us feel rich indeed! By the end of 1998 it went even as high as Rupiah 8,500 to every US Dollar. So when we did arrive from the USA in Jakarta, Indonesia on one of our consulting trips, we did go SHOPPING. Winter Sale was a bargain for us. 

We just had arrived the previous day in Jakarta, Indonesia. Here we are at the Hyatt Aryaduta hotel for a coffee/tea after we went to the Leprosy Project in Tangerang with our driver. That is about an hour to the west from the capitol of Jakarta, Indonesia. We always hand delivered cash that got raised by the Dublin Rotary Club and by some private donors. That time we safely handed over US $ 9,600.00 to Father Binzler, a German Jesuit that was the head of the compound. Sadly he got killed by a car in Jakarta a couple of years later...

We went to Plaza Indonesia for our shopping.

Just back from the Sogo Department store in Jakarta. Sogo used to be a Japanese department store in Indonesia and targeting the upper-class market. Its name has now changed and we have not been there since 2001. From niece Maartje in The Netherlands, we had a very sweet drawing and a note on bear stationery, the morning before we departed from the USA. So we did stop at the Versus Versace boutique and found her a beautiful Young Versace jeans in black, that was marked down from Rupiah 940,000.00 to Rupiah 470,000.00. Maartje got lucky! We also found her a nice hibiscus dress at Sogo and matching hair bows for all outfits.

Wearing my Majorica 14mm pearls.

Brother Martin made a picture of her dress, without the matching top that we bought with it.

Rupiah 940,000.00 for half off is only 470,000.00

BUT that was no more than US 58.78...

Weird for having to deal with that many numbers!

Sogo Department Store at Plaza Indonesia in Jakarta Center

This was for the dress...

Not too bad for the dress, converted back into US $

Sogo Department hair bows and barrettes

Hair bows and barrettes converted into US $

We have always traveled with suitcases full of things to Indonesia, to give to the poor Leprosy patients and to the deaf children that visited our home frequently from the boarding school.

When traveling to the Netherlands we had always one suitcase full with GIFTS for nieces and nephews etc. 

Weight in the luggage and number of luggage pieces was not that restricted as it is now. 

 Coach Class did allow Two (2) pieces of 70 pounds / 32 kilograms each!

At that time we also frequently did send parcels but with the very high postage, that is no longer possible.

We both loved to be generous and make others happy.

Even though once we stopped arriving with full suitcases to give to family members, they stopped being interested. 

We seldom hear from them... 

Sorry, but living off just one pension with three people, we no longer can afford playing Santa Claus.

Related links:

{AJOUR KNIT JACKET FOR MY NIECE MAARTJE} previous post by me

{Our arrival in Jakarta, Indonesia}

As promised in my previous post Fly with us to Jakarta, Indonesia, now I show you some photos of our arrival in Jakarta at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Click on the hyperlink's photo gallery to see this beautiful airport. It is designed by French architect Paul Andreu, who also designed the Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, France.

Of course it makes one longing for a shower and a good bed after two nights on the plane. Our last years of consulting we were fortunate to use the day-hotel of Mercure Schiphol Terminal in The Netherlands. That way at least you can sleep for several hours during the 12-hour lay-over and get a refreshing shower.

After arriving in Jakarta, we always used a taxi from the Blue Bird Group, for taking us to the  Aryaduta Hotel. This used to be Hyatt, now it is under the Lippo group. Driving the toll road it gets you into the busy city of over 9 million people. Arrival at the airport would be around 16:00 o'clock in the afternoon. Remember that between Georgia, USA and Java, Indonesia there is a time difference of 12 hours. Our night is their day! Actually we did make this commute to our work in Indonesia a total of 21 times, from Atlanta, USA.

Good morning Jakarta; Selamat pagi Jakarta...

Naturally we would wake up very early the next morning, almost before dawn... Sunrise in Indonesia is around 6:00 o'clock, year round. Sunset is around 18:00 o'clock, also year round. One has to get used to the shorter days as this country is right on the equator.

The view from our room at the Aryaduta hotel was incredible, almost like a painting...

A bustling city is waking up!

This is taken from the Hyatt lounge where we had our breakfast with great view from the huge windows.

 Packed up and ready for the last leg of our journey to work... waiting in the lobby of the Aryaduta hotel.

It feels great for having had a nice bed + shower...

My leather journal has been written and the newspaper read.

Here you can see where we are and where we are heading to.

Indonesia is the 4th most populous country in the world and is very spread out. See my link below (Fly with us to Jakarta Indonesia) for a map of Indonesia in relation to the USA. 

The flight on KLM Royal Dutch Airlnes made a stop in Singapore, before reaching the capital of Indonesia; Jakarta.

Our final destination is Yogyakarta by plane, but this trip we will go by helicopter...

At Halim, the military airport of Jakarta.

Getting our luggage into this helicopter... 

Ready for the last leg of the journey...

Baggage handling is easy.

Pieter is already  seated and I will have to get next to him in the center seat...

Take off...

The view from the heli was breathtaking but it is very hard to capture on camera...

Two pilots are on board as is necessary in Indonesia, a country that is full with vulcanoes. Mount Merapi which is near Yogyakarta is 2,930 m (9,613 ft) and last erupted in November 2010. Previous large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before the Yogyakarta earthquake.

Indonesia is in the ring of fire, an area with a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Due to the clouds coming in, we could not reach our final destination in Central Java on the Dieng plateau. So one more hotel night in Yogyakarta and early morning we finally arrived.

English is widely spoken but often in a funny way.

As is here used on the sign of Hellypad instead of Heli Pad...

This is in the mountains, at one of the mushroom plants' location.

Stay tuned for more about our consulting work in Indonesia near the Indonesian Twin Volcano Sumbing-Sindoro...

Related link:
{Fly with us to Jakarta, Indonesia} | Previous post by me
{Yes; I was at an Yves Saint Laurent Prêt-À-Porter Show in Jakarta!} | Previous post by me
{Angels engraved on lucky calendar coin of 1969} | Previous post by me
{Batik Birds from Indonesia on Silk and Cotton} | Previous post by me
{My Batik Creations} | Previous post by me
{Did I loose my strength?... Like in Samson and Delilah?} | Previous post by me
{My 8th Blog Award - Sunshine from Japan} | Previous post by me
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{Fly with us to Jakarta, Indonesia}

You might know about our work and many travels as international consultants. We have been in the air for some 1,500,000 miles. That is for over 3.5 months up in the blue skies, roughly converted into time! That's a LOT, enough to make your 'derrière' almost square. Together we did make a total of 21 round trips to Jakarta, Indonesia, where we have lived and worked for about 3 years, staying for 2 months at a time, 4 x per year. So preparing for our commute to work, from the USA, was quite something. We would fly out from Atlanta on KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, then partner with Northwest Airlines. Below you will also see our total miles flown...

• Atlanta Airport, waiting for boarding. We would fly over night to Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

• After a nine hour direct flight we were in Amsterdam, at Schiphol airport in The Netherlands.
• Making a long phone call with my Parents...
• Yeah, you see my shopping tote from Escada Company Store (my favorite outlet store).

• Here I am waiting for 40 minutes at Schiphol airport, for being able to check into Mercure Hotel Schiphol Terminal click the link.
• For the 12 hour lay over this is the best one can do. You have a quiet room without any windows, twin beds and a shower and you book it for 12 hours at a time. That makes you able for continuing the longest leg of the journey fresh.

link Indonesia US Locator

• From the orange (USA) to the green (Indonesia) is about 19,000 km or 11,806 miles of flight distance one way (from Atlanta, Georgia).
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands is where the blue arrow is...

• With the yellow marker I've marked off the island of Java where we are heading towards...
• Link of: Compare US to Indonesia with more info about Indonesia.
• Our flight to Jakarta would always be on a KLM Boeing 747-400 or on a Boeing 747 Combi.
• Also called La Grande Dame... check link for photo.

• This is the total of Pieter's WorldPerks miles as of July 17, 2007: 1,262,856
• Pieter did accumulate some more miles than I did as he's been to New Zealand for Campbell's Soup by himself... 
• Also he was sent by Campbell's Soup with the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program to China besides his travel within the USA and Canada for Campbell's Soup.

• This is my total of WorldPerks miles as of July 7, 2007: 1,133,546

• Those were the great days of service!
• We of course did both have a Royal Wing Courtesy Card from KLM and often got an upgrade into Business Class. 
• Thanks to the Royal Wing Card we could always check in at the Business Class counter and also were allowed the extra carry on piece.
• Can you imagine that at that time we could pack TWO suitcases of 32 kilograms (70 pounds) each...
• So many things happened since then. 
• We both are fortunate for having been up in the sky during that time...
• Stay tuned for the next story where we travel from Jakarta to our destination...

Remember, this was going to work; not on vacation!

Many have followed us...

{Silk and Wool Birds as Gift from Pond's India}

Before, I did show you our birds as artwork from India, that we purchased.

Today I want to show you some special birds, made by hand in wool and silk.

 Distinctive chain stitch embroidery, done in Kashmir, the northern part of India. We both received the bigger wool chain stitch embroidery for our work period from Pond's India. It has a canvas back and it shows lots of birds in it. Most of you know the Pashmina shawls from Kashmir, they have been quite a fashion statement. Luckily for those poor people, for having an outlet for their artistic work.

Above it is on top of our solid French oak blanket chest in the guest bedroom.
It used to be just an open planter box but my talented brother Harry made a solid oak lid for it. We carried it back on the plane with us... 
Those were the good days without stupid restrictions on maximum baggage weight!

My husband Pieter has seen the women in Kashmir actually make this kind of embroidery during his trip to Kashmir earlier.
He was sent in 1981 by the Dutch government as a committee member, of the special Mission of H.R.H. Prince Claus, see link below post.
 Women did this work but their teacher was a man. Somewhere we must have slides from it, but for now I cannot add them... one day when I find them I will do that! Look below; link has been added!

For another work period as consultants, both of us did receive an identical chain stitch embroidery done in silk. That fit beautifully  above the two solid French oak twin beds in our guest bedroom. 

Detail of the silk chain stitch embroidery, worked on a cotton Aida cloth. 

The silk embroidery has a very nice hand; meticulously done.

We proudly came home on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines with these treasures.

They make for a lasting memory, of working with pleasure over a decade for a great company!

Related link:

{The Mission of H.R.H. Prince Claus - Husband Pieter's Trip to India} | previous post by me

{Part X Husband Pieter's Trip to India - Srinagar, J & K Silk & Wool Rugs - Pashminas} | previous post by me showing the embroidery being done