
The adventures continued today as we ventured to check out the "Old Town" area of Jakarta, which is where the original Dutch settlers lived. It is about 6 miles away but it took almost an hour because of traffic. I kid you not, there is no city in all of America, not even LA, NYC or Atlanta, that can compare to the traffic in this country. It is beyond anything I've ever seen, and something I just noticed today is all the taxis here are on standard/manual shift! OMG, that is crazy! The cab driver today said he drives 12 hours a day, I can't even imagine.

When we arrived to the Old Town/Dutch area there is a pathway that leads to a large open square with vendors, colored bicycles with hats to match, and people selling their wares. We were surprised to see a little monkey! Yes, that's right, a monkey! He was a spunky little thing and super feisty! We ventured over to the puppet museum that we had heard of from some of the other cast members and decided to check it out. At the entrance there were kittens sitting outside, that were 2 weeks old! One didn't look like he was going to see the 3rd week, it was very sad. There are strays everywhere, even in the flea market malls, it's nuts! As we entered the museum, we took some photos in front of giant puppet structures. The museum building itself was quite interesting, it was built back in the late 1700s and the floors were the original floors and they were beautiful. The puppets were incredibly interesting as well and they had some from all over the world.
There were a handful of other visitors too, and something I've not mentioned before is that people here have been fascinated with Bridget and have asked to take photos with her, lots and lots of selfies, while we are out and about. They seem quite bewildered that she has very dark, almost black hair, but such fair porcelain skin. People stare at her and seem fascinated with her. It's kind of nuts and certainly not something we are used to. I don't think they have a clue who she is (meaning Annie stuff), they just are mesmerized with her looks. It's very strange.
After we visited the museum, we were ushered down an alley/marketplace, and were taken to the puppeteers studio where he creates some of these masterpieces. He was so warm and friendly and put on a show for the kids (see a clip below of part of it), even included references in his puppet show to the USA, Obama, and Justin Bieber! It was hysterical and the kids loved it! Some of these puppets he made are flat, but movable, and told us that they are created on water buffalo hide, and then holes are punched through to create the design, and then natural dyes are used to help the color stay longer. One of the puppets on the wall of his studio was created 120 years ago and some of the color is still in tact. So incredible. He said that if he makes a mistake punching the holes to make the design, then he has to start all over again. There are symbols on the flat puppet he showed us, with Heaven being on the front side, and hell being on the other side. The tiger on the front is the symbol of ambition, the Buffalo is a sign of strength, the monkeys are for wisdom, the dragon for luck and then the branches are a symbol of family. It was so beautiful! The holes are placed in the puppet so that when light is cast in front of it, it creates shadows and those are the shadows that are seen through the white screen, it was truly fascinating. The puppeter maker's first name is Aldi, but he had 60 last names. I guess it's tradition with every Indonesian generation to add another last name. He started saying them all and our mouths were wide open. But thankfully we just had to call him Aldi and not worry about remembering his last name. LOL
There were a handful of other visitors too, and something I've not mentioned before is that people here have been fascinated with Bridget and have asked to take photos with her, lots and lots of selfies, while we are out and about. They seem quite bewildered that she has very dark, almost black hair, but such fair porcelain skin. People stare at her and seem fascinated with her. It's kind of nuts and certainly not something we are used to. I don't think they have a clue who she is (meaning Annie stuff), they just are mesmerized with her looks. It's very strange.
After we visited the museum, we were ushered down an alley/marketplace, and were taken to the puppeteers studio where he creates some of these masterpieces. He was so warm and friendly and put on a show for the kids (see a clip below of part of it), even included references in his puppet show to the USA, Obama, and Justin Bieber! It was hysterical and the kids loved it! Some of these puppets he made are flat, but movable, and told us that they are created on water buffalo hide, and then holes are punched through to create the design, and then natural dyes are used to help the color stay longer. One of the puppets on the wall of his studio was created 120 years ago and some of the color is still in tact. So incredible. He said that if he makes a mistake punching the holes to make the design, then he has to start all over again. There are symbols on the flat puppet he showed us, with Heaven being on the front side, and hell being on the other side. The tiger on the front is the symbol of ambition, the Buffalo is a sign of strength, the monkeys are for wisdom, the dragon for luck and then the branches are a symbol of family. It was so beautiful! The holes are placed in the puppet so that when light is cast in front of it, it creates shadows and those are the shadows that are seen through the white screen, it was truly fascinating. The puppeter maker's first name is Aldi, but he had 60 last names. I guess it's tradition with every Indonesian generation to add another last name. He started saying them all and our mouths were wide open. But thankfully we just had to call him Aldi and not worry about remembering his last name. LOL

After the puppet show, we were starving so we stopped in at Cafe Batavia and had the most delicious lunch. It was as though we were transported in time to the old dutch era and everything seemed very east indies. The architecture, the furnishings, the food, all of it! It was a nice respite before heading back to the hotel, which took almost an hour and a half this time to go 6 miles. I can't even. Some of the sights we saw was the President's home, the National Monument, hotels galore, and flags in red and white, adorning the streets of Jakarta. Next week on August 17th, they will be celebrating 71 years of Independence!
Overall it was a fantastic day, and the kids enjoyed it, as well as their parents. :-) I've posted more photos on the Annie Tour Pics link so check them out! Tomorrow will be our last full day before heading into a 5 show weekend, so we might take it easy a bit and just go swimming and enjoy some downtime. Thanks as always for tuning in. It's so hard to communicate back home with such a big time difference, so this blog has been a wonderful way for all of us to connect. Feel free to leave comments, etc., we love hearing from you!
Overall it was a fantastic day, and the kids enjoyed it, as well as their parents. :-) I've posted more photos on the Annie Tour Pics link so check them out! Tomorrow will be our last full day before heading into a 5 show weekend, so we might take it easy a bit and just go swimming and enjoy some downtime. Thanks as always for tuning in. It's so hard to communicate back home with such a big time difference, so this blog has been a wonderful way for all of us to connect. Feel free to leave comments, etc., we love hearing from you!