Died and Gone to Heaven...

...in a banana muffin.

Yum.

Yummy.

Yummy in my tummy.

Anyway you say it, I have consumed a large number of banana muffins over the last 18 hours. Mmmmm...

I don't know it it was because it has been so long since I have had baked goods or if my Ibu  just works magic with a banana and a mixer but seriously, these muffins have been the highlight of my week.  Maybe my month.  Any hope of losing weight is completely out the window.

Alrighty, now that that is out of the way, I will take you on a little photo tour of the little everyday things of life here -- the things you may no recognize and certainly don't have in your house.

I'll start in the kitchen...

Here is our little two burner stove.  Indonesian kitchens don't usually have a full size stove/oven in them and while we will probably get one at some point, this is working well for us.  A friend of ours suggested (and I am so glad she did!) to find one with a small grill in the middle.  It has been great for grilling chicken, hamburgers, etc.

And here is the "box oven" that Ibu brought yesterday.  It is made of thin metal and as you can see, sits just over the burner.

Does it work?  Well, you saw (and read about) the banana muffins. And last night for dinner I made pizza.  Yep, works really well.  Best $18 I have spent in a while!

And yes, I made this from scratch. Not bad if I do say so myself!

Here is my very large kettle.  This is for boiling water for dishes

And here was my ingenious way of reheating my cup of coffee.  We have since purchased a microwave. I'm willing to take the "not so easy" approach to many things but this was bordering on the ridiculous.  I would have just made a new cup but I was running low on coffee creamer and didn't want to waste what I had. I boiled some water, put it in a bowl, and then placed my half-finished mug in the boiling water. Worked great.  Microwave is even better ;)

On to our water dispenser -- much like you would find in office work spaces.  There are three buttons -- cold, room temperature, and hot. The hot button has a child lock on it to keep the little ones safe.

Here is our electrical nightmare.  No fire codes here.  Those of you who live in the US in a semi-modern house with electrical outlets no more than four feet apart -- ENJOY.  Be THANKFUL.  We are lucky to have one outlet in a room.  And a place like the kitchen? Don't even ask. We need to remedy this situation because this overloaded outlet is right next to a door to the outside.  We have learned that when it rains the water just start pouring in under the door.  Water + electricity = something HAS to be done.

On to laundry -- here is our little washer.  The washer is currently sitting in our bathroom upstairs.  There is no hot water in there so we don't use the shower.  I like having the laundry upstairs. There are no hook-ups like you would have in the states.  Just a faucet and you are set.

And here is our dryer...

A few more pictures...

Our water bottles in the bathroom -- for drinks of water and brushing teeth.

Our tankless (gas powered) water heater

One more...Houses in Asia (and in most of the world) don't have closets.  All rooms will have a wardrobe or "lemari"

And just a few more pictures of things you might see around our house right now...

Apparently school is wearing Cabe out.  I am not sure what Levi's excuse is seeing as this photo was taken in the middle of the afternoon and he is still in his jammies.

The boys love having time to play cars with Mommy

And Katelynn gets loved on by Ibu while Mommy is busy smashing cars into one another and making the boys laugh

And last, but CERTAINLY not least, are my new wheels!

We are still working on trying to find a car (oh what I wouldn't give to be able to walk onto a used car lot, pick something out, and drive out!)  In the meantime, though, I am loving riding on my little electric bike.  It is perfect for our development.  I can get the kids to school, get to the club, to other people's houses.  I just plug it in at night to charge it up and away I go.  It's great since I don't have to be licensed or tagged like I would if I had a motorcycle (which I may get at some point).  Thanks to Kimberly for the idea.  I would never have thought to look for one.

Have a great day!  Tomorrow we are off to Singapore for a few days to get our Indonesian visas.

Comments

[Hollie]

Glad you got some type of transportation, Janet! It looks so beautiful there outside. Is there anything like a rainy season there, or is it humid? And can you pass along your scratch recipe for your pizza crust and sauce??? It looks sooooooo yummy!

[MandaKay]

It's all just completely and utterly fascinating to me! I love how you share all this with us! Those banana muffins do look YUMMO - I would be eating down non-stop too! Awesome pics!

[Margie S.]

Thanks for posting the pics! I was curious what it was like there. We atleast get a regular size stove here even though it's small to US it's bigger than where you are! Love your wheels :) Still praying for you to find a car!!

[Donna (kygirl)]

Janet, I'm so glad you're sharing this. It's not all that different from the way I grew up in rural Kentucky back in the 60s. Except we didn't have an Ibu, just a great aunt who lived with us. Glad to see you and your family settling in.

[Jenn]

Wow! I love getting to peek into your life in Indonesia...Keep the updates coming! You guys are awesome!

[SteinyGirl]

LOVED your pics - it's so true!! There's lots of things I'm grateful for in Malaysia. Cute wheels, btw! Now that I could handle!! Have a a safe trip to Singapore.

[Gretchen]

that was such an interesting post...I never realized how differant things would be there..thanks for sharing! I love reading about your adventures;D

[Jacq]

Hi Janet. I sent you an email, off you received it.

[Rona]

your wheels look cool! :) It's great to hear how you and your family are adjusting to everything so well!

[Nicole]

Glad to hear you are all settled and doing well - it looks so beautiful! Your photos and commentary cracked about what is in your house cracked me up - we've had all of those things (except for the box oven) at one point or another while living in Honduras, Venezuela and Japan. I am also glad you have such a wonderful helper - one of the wonderful blessings of living in that part of the world!

[MandaKay]

FYI: You've been tagged as a blog I love! :)

[Holly in Japan]

Hi Janet,
Your appliances are exactly the same as I was using here years ago. The washing machine is still the same now too. Never did get one of those nifty ovens though. Wonderful. Life in rural asia seems to be set at a slower pace, and things take so much longer to get done. What an interesting and wonderful experience for your and your family. Please keep the photos coming!

[Kimberly Geswein]

I love your electric bike!!! They're teh best aren't they??? I'm glad you're settling in to your new (old) expat life! :)