NEWSLETTERDecember 2014/ January 2015

Situated in Bintaro, south-west Jakarta, the British International School houses a series of uniquely designed buildings set in extensive grounds and providing an attractive, well-planned, healthy environment where fresh air and open space abound, and keep learning free from distraction.

Classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards and computers, making for a stimulating environment. Other facilities include a well-equipped music department; computer suites; science laboratories; language centre; workrooms for design and technology; a state-of-the-art theatre; modern secondary library; Olympic-size swimming pool with touch-pad time recording equipment; tennis courts and ample

playing elds. These resources support a demanding and successful academic programme.

The British International School follows the English National Curriculum (for children 3 to 14 years), I/GCSE (15 to 16 years), followed by the International Baccalaureate programme (17 to 18 years); all conveniently located on one campus. Guided by experienced and caring overseas teachers, who engage the students constantly, the emphasis is on providing students with the very best educational environment, equal to any school across the world and creating happy and responsible citizens of tomorrow who share our values.

What are your values?

For further information about the British International School, please contact the Admission of ce at Tel: (62-21) 745-1670 • Fax: (62-21) 745-1671 • E-mail: admissions@bis.or.id • www.bis.or.id

Cover Photograph by Soma Mitra-Chubb. Decorations supplied by Kalingga Home Gallery

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CONTENTSFeatures Christmas Behind the Iron Curtain 9Fashion Show: Producers' Diary 14Silent Night 17Saving Indonesia’s Orangutans 22

regularsEditor’s Note 2Chairwoman’s Message 3Newcomers' Message 5Social Welfare: Yayasan Yakin Trip 6Report back: November Coffee Morning 8 BWA Christmas Bazaar 26Expat Bloke: The Rewards of Running 12Social Diary: JSAS Ball 13 Halloween Quiz 24 And elsewhere in Jakarta... 22Recipes: Christmas Family Favourites 18Book Reviews 21The Blog: Christmas in Jakarta 31Advice: Dear Santa 38Notice Board 39Classifieds 40

traVelBali's Wild West 28

FamilyTrip to Taman Safari 34

HealtHFour Ways to Stay Fit and Healthy 32

COmmuNityThe Jolly Golfers 37

Situated in Bintaro, south-west Jakarta, the British International School houses a series of uniquely designed buildings set in extensive grounds and providing an attractive, well-planned, healthy environment where fresh air and open space abound, and keep learning free from distraction.

Classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards and computers, making for a stimulating environment. Other facilities include a well-equipped music department; computer suites; science laboratories; language centre; workrooms for design and technology; a state-of-the-art theatre; modern secondary library; Olympic-size swimming pool with touch-pad time recording equipment; tennis courts and ample

playing elds. These resources support a demanding and successful academic programme.

The British International School follows the English National Curriculum (for children 3 to 14 years), I/GCSE (15 to 16 years), followed by the International Baccalaureate programme (17 to 18 years); all conveniently located on one campus. Guided by experienced and caring overseas teachers, who engage the students constantly, the emphasis is on providing students with the very best educational environment, equal to any school across the world and creating happy and responsible citizens of tomorrow who share our values.

What are your values?

For further information about the British International School, please contact the Admission of ce at Tel: (62-21) 745-1670 • Fax: (62-21) 745-1671 • E-mail: admissions@bis.or.id • www.bis.or.id

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EDITOR

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eDitOrDesigNCONtriButOrs

GrapevineDECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

soma mitra-Chubbsoma mitra-ChubbBrian Proudfoot, Denise Hession , eszter redmond, Fiona Forsyth, laura thompson, lorraine gibbons, Nell Costello, rachel Provest, richard Chubb, stephanie Brooks, sunshine Biskaps, tamzin Bianchi

tHe GRAPEVINE team

Many of you will have noted that, as Noddy Holder keeps pointing out, it's Chriiiiiistmasssss! Is it me, or did the decorations go up extra early this year? One of the problems with expat life is that many of us go away in mid-December, necessitating a much earlier start to the usual rituals of Tree-Decorating and Mince Pie-making. Where once you would wait till the 15th of December, now we barely seem to make it past Thanksgiving before tree, lights and cheesy Christmas music are all in place - in some cases, even sooner (you know who you are...).

This month's edition is an extra long one - 40 pages as opposed to the usual 32. The reasons for this are twofold: it's a double issue, as there will be no separate January edition (to give the writers and me a break over the holidays). In addition, there has been quite a lot going on and we decided to devote a few extra pages to events, not just within the BWA but also wider afield.

To mark the season, we have some Christmas themed features: first up is 'Christmas Behind the Iron Curtain,' detailing what the holiday was like in Eastern Europe in the late 70s and early 80s. Thank you to all three contributors for patiently answering my questions. Richard Chubb has also written a piece on that most famous carol, Silent Night. Sunshine Biskaps' article gives readers a few tips on how to stay healthy in the holiday season. There are non-Christmas stories as well. For those of you who missed the October coffee morning, Jacqui Sunderland Groves took the time to write about the work done by BOS, the organisation which helps to rescue and rehabilitate orangutans in Borneo. Tamzin Bianchi shares her experience of Producing the Fashion Show in Producers' Diary. In Travel, Stephanie Brook has contributed a piece on buffalo racing in Bali.

I'd like to welcome a new writer, Rachel Provest, who has contributed a book review. Expect to see much more from her in the future!

Events this month have been too many to name: a quick thank you to Brian Proudfoot for heroically writing up the St Andrew's Ball at short notice, to Fiona Forsyth for her coverage of the Halloween Quiz, to Nell Costello for various write-ups including one on 'The Jolly Golfers' and to Laura Thompson for telling us about Social Welfare's recent trip to the shoe shops. No, they weren't indulging in the Trailing Spouses Favourite Pastime, but taking a group of disadvantaged teenagers to buy shoes for the first time in their lives.

In addition, we have the usual round up of regular features: book reviews, blog, health, agony, Expat Bloke and of course the recipes. Thank you to both contestants in our Recipe Competition who contributed to our Christmas special. There are many more articles contained in this double issue - I'll leave it to you to discover them for yourself!

FROM THE EDITOR

CHAIRWOMAN

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Postal address: P.O. Box 7923JKSM Jakarta 12079email: bwa@bwajakarta.orgweb page: www.bwajakarta.org

B WAC O M M I T T E E

2014-2015Honorary President rachel malik

Chairwoman elaine tucker

Vice-Chairwoman suki Brar Khangura

general secretary Debbie Baxter

treasurer Zem Chefeke

grapevine editor soma mitra-Chubb

social Welfare louise macdonaldCo-ordinators & Jackie Buchanan

Newcomers’ lorraine gibbonsCo-ordinator

sponsorship sareena Barnes, Co-ordinators shweta Dakin Bazaar Coordinator tess gunasekera

membership Deborah minicolaCo-ordinator

House/Food & Beverage armalina sibson & Co-ordinators Christina van Veerdegem

Programmes Nell Costello Co-ordinator

event Co-ordinator Berni Crockford

Website & eszter redmond Communications Co-ordinator

general members Fiona Forsyth & amanda Hough

This publication is not for sale. It is distributed free to members of the British Women’s Association (BWA) in Indonesia.

The BWA and the Grapevine team will not accept responsibility for unsatisfactory service arising from any of our advertising,

or the misuse of this newsletter.

Dear MembersThe festive season has started here in crazy town

and I'm sure you're all looking forward to the holidays! Whether you are heading back to your home country, going on holiday elsewhere or staying here in Jakarta, I wish you all the best for Christmas and the New Year! Christmas here is quite nice and all of the hotels do lovely Christmas Day brunches.

Here in Jakarta it seems to be non-stop parties! As I type this I am heading to the JSAS Ball, wondering if I will ever get there with floods everywhere! This weekend we have our Children's Christmas party with Santa's Grotto on Sunday and the famous BWA Christmas Lunch on Monday!

I would like to give a big BWA welcome to Mrs Rachel Malik, wife of His Excellency Mr Moazzam Malik, British Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia. Mrs Malik has agreed to take on the role of Honorary President of the BWA. The BWA was founded by an Ambassador's wife way back in 1969/70 and it has been a long tradition to invite the Ambassador's wife to be our Honorary President so I'm delighted Mrs Malik has accepted.

Occasionally we give Honorary Membership to long-term members who have given the BWA a lot of support. This year we voted to give it to Chris Laurence and Laura Thompson. Chris has been a member for many years and a constant presence in the house on Tuesdays for coffee and Thursdays for Mahjong when she is in town. She always stands out at parties either with imaginative fancy dress for the Christmas Lunch or beautiful dresses and hats for the Melbourne Cup. The other honorary membership was awarded to Laura Thompson, who has spent her time here serving on practically every committee over the years. She's been on the main committee, been a Fashion Show Producer twice, and is currently a part of the Social Welfare Group.

Debbie Manderson and Lina Sibson have been doing a great job as House Managers and the Christmas decorations look amazing! However, they could only take it on on a temporary basis and Christina Van Veerdegem will take on the role from mid-December.

Don't forget our coffee mornings every Tuesday and if you're not leaving early for the holidays we're having a fun craft morning making little Christmas trees on Friday 5th December. The house will be open until Christmas week so feel free to drop in as usual. Elaine

FROM THE CHAIRWOMAN

NEWCOMERS

Message froM the Newcomers’ Coordinator

Welcome to Jakarta. And an even bigger welcome to the British Women’s Association.It’s here! Hujan.If this is your first rainy season in Jakarta be prepared for some

interesting experiences in the next few months.I love storms. The excitement that comes with the flashes and the crackle

and rumble of thunder is thrilling. However, even I was perturbed when one storm felt like an earthquake as the ground seemed to rumble and the window frames were vibrating. Many rain showers here are accompanied by thunder and lightning. I do think you start to acclimatise to this, so it’s not as shocking after you’ve survived a few!

The traffic is a challenge the rest of the year, but rainy season presents extra hurdles. You will see the millions of motorcycle riders quickly pull over to the side of the road, wherever they happen to be, to slide into their waterproofs. If the rain is too heavy to see through, they need to take shelter. Where better than under a bridge. Ah, but there are no pavements. Let’s just use the inside lane then, they think. And what effect does that have on the other road users? Total mayhem as the road has lost a lane or narrowed down so much that the traffic has to slow down to squeeze through.

During rainy season, one may be tempted to try walking as it, in theory, should be faster than sitting in the car. It is a good idea to keep supplies in the car, such as wellington boots. However, be aware that the perils of walking here are even worse than in the hot sun. Those gaping holes and gullies you see normally cannot be seen in flood water…

If you walk through the water, you can’t see what’s under the surface as it’s so murky. Then you feel something attach to your leg as you’re wading through. Is it newspaper, a snake or something from a latrine? I’d suggest not looking and hope that it washes off of its own accord.

If you have children, do keep a snack and water in the car just in case. It has taken me and the kids over 3 hours to get home from school a few times. Thank goodness I had some crisps in the car and they didn’t need the loo!

Make sure you have a good book or other entertainment to hand and treat the delays as ‘me time’. Everyone experiences horrendous delays and misses meetings/lunches/coffees. It’s part of the character of this city, good or bad. It will give you some great stories to tell in the future.

Please do contact me if you have any questions or need a chat. The BWA was set up to offer support to you. Please join us, get to know your fellow expats and let us know how we can help.

Regards

Lorraine GibbonsEmail: sheppardlorraine@hotmail.comMobile: 08111 803 657

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great BritisH COFFee mOrNiNg First tuesday of the month—guest speaker

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Yayasan Yakin trip to the shoe shop

On Sunday, 16th November, the BWA Social Welfare Group organised to take a group of chil-dren from Yayasan Yakin for a little trip. Yayasan Yakin is an orphanage located in Pejaten Barat, close to the BWA. As they are practically neigh-bours, we wanted to do something for them. As many of them have never had a new pair of shoes in their lives, we decided to buy them some school shoes. In the weeks prior to the event, the call was sent out to BWA members for donations.

Around 20 or so orphans boarded the buses to be taken to the nearest shoe shop. As we’d been told that they needed school shoes, we duly headed over to the section with the Mary Janes and the Boat shoes. We could see a cou-

ple of the older teenagers rolling their eyes – clearly, they thought the shoes were far too boring. Thankfully, Angela stepped in and ex-plained that they could have any sort of shoe, as long as they were black. Once it was OK’d, they charged straight towards the cool shoes – the Converse, North Star and other types of trainers. The Bata staff were great, helping to measure the children and get them their sizes. One little boy (he was only 8 years old) desper-ately wanted a pair of trainers with luminous neon green laces. Thankfully, he was able to buy them too.

After the shopping trip, we got back in the bus-es for Phase Two – the fun part. After a quick stop at a mosque to pray, we went on to Laser

SOCIAL WELFARE

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Game, where they’d kindly set aside a room for us. The children all had KFC and free flow drinks for lunch. Then it was time for the La-ser games. We had a couple of students with us, Gaby and Emily, who were along as part of their community project. They took part in the games and helped the children figure it out.

The children played a couple of games and had really good fun. You could see them heading over to the screens as soon as they emerged, wanting to see how they had scored. It got quite competitive with the boys versus the girls.

After a couple of hours, with the children clutching their precious new shoes, it was time to head back to the orphanage. It was a really positive day and the children had great fun. A big thank you to all the BWA members, too many to name, who donated money for the children.

Laura Thompson

SOCIAL WELFARE

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REPORT BACK

november Coffee morning

TuESDAY 4 NOvEMBER

The November Coffee morning was surprisingly well attended, despite the competing attractions of the Melbourne Cup on the same morning. With Elaine away, Nell, our Programmes Coordinator did the honours,

introducing speakers, making announcements and conducting the prize draws.Our Guest Speaker was Petty Elliot, President of Wisma Cheshire home for Parapelgics who

spoke about the challenges faced by the residents. Next, Nell had a very special presentation to make – it had been Hani’s 70th birthday the day before, and she was presented with some birthday flowers. With the main order of business out of the way it was time for raffles, shopping and enjoying the delicious buffet.

Soma Mitra-Chubb

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FEATURE

CHRISTMAS BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN

Christmas today is a behemoth of gifts, consumerism and the sound of Slade blasting at you from every corner. But what was Christmas like in Eastern Europe in the years before the fall of Communism?

This year, the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, three Jakartans who grew up behind the Iron Curtain tell us what it was like.

Hungary-Eszter RedmondChristmas to me has always been a private, family holiday. Despite the cruelty of Communism which saw its last phase in the 80s, Hungary thankfully managed to keep its Christmas traditions.

In Hungary, Santa Claus doesn’t come for Christmas, instead he visits families earlier, on December 6th and is known as ‘Mikulas’ (St Nicholas). Well-behaved children would get candies, chocolates and fruits in their well polished boots that were put in front of the door. His servant known as the ‘Krampusz’ (red horned little devil) gave golden birches to the mischievous ones. I remember my brother getting plenty of them every year! Tropical fruits were very hard to come by and prices reflected this. I will never forget peeling a banana and taking tiny bites so it would last longer knowing that I would probably have to wait until next Christmas to get another one.

Christmas Eve, called ‘Szenteste’ meaning ‘Holy Evening’, was special in every way. Our family – and I think most people – followed the old tradition that the Christmas tree is brought by angels. The parents would put up

the tree in a room and the children weren’t allowed in until they heard the bell ringing. We would either play outdoors in the snow or in a different room but the room where the tree stood was off limits!

Hungarian Christmas chocolate, called ‘Szaloncukor.‘ was a must on every tree. The candies were made of fondant covered with chocolate and wrapped in silver or golden paper tied in a bow on each side. I will never forget tying them on strings; the room where we prepared them was covered in chocolate. What a mess - though so much fun!

After the bell rang, we all entered the room, stood around the tree and sang Christmas carols. No one was allowed to touch the gifts until we were finished. We then opened each present and spent the night together.

For the Christmas meal, we usually ate cabbage and the special bread roll called ‘beigli’ which is either filled with poppy seeds or walnut.

What did we get? Hmm..again, we got some oranges and bananas, since tropical fruits were only recently introduced to this part of the world and were considered luxury items. We also got new clothes and maybe one or two small toys or books. We usually got most of our clothes and shoes from the ‘Saturday Market’ or second hand shops.

I have to mention the Rubik Cube, one of the most famous Hungarian inventions, which was reasonably new to the market and was an ever popular Christmas gift.

Our uncle who lived in Germany used to visit us every Christmas. What a special day

FEATURE

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that was! I never forget getting my first talking doll from him, not to mention those delicious white chocolate bars.

The 1980s saw the last phase of Communism when religion - with all its traditions and holidays - was a hidden agenda. Thankfully, Christmas still remained a holiday, though Jesus and the three wise men were never mentioned. People were discouraged from going to Christmas masses. If you went to church, you were not a good Communist and would be threatened with punishment for such an act. My father would never enter a church, whether for Christmas or even a wedding. He would always wait outside until the ceremony is over.

Slovakia -Sasa PopovicovaWhen I was young, Christmas was merely tolerated. I came from a family of teachers and if you were a teacher you couldn’t really display your religion, so we didn’t go to church in general. However in the 80s, the families who did want to go to church could – you didn’t have hidden masses as you would in an earlier era.

In central Europe, we celebrate on the 24th. So for Christmas Eve we would have a big meal. During Communism we didn’t have certain things. We could get oranges only from time to time and bananas only rarely. Still, I didn’t feel like I was I missing anything. In Slovakia, Christmas dinner was a very grand affair – around seven courses of food. We would typically start with some special Christmas wafers, a bit like the Host. After the wafer we were given raw garlic dipped in honey to keep you healthy through the year.

Then we would have sour cabbage soup and little pastries, followed by potato salad with fish. The fish was usually carp, because herring was quite scarce at this time of year. You would buy a (live) carp and keep it in your bathtub

for a few weeks; sometimes we even gave it a name. And then on the 24th the poor thing disappeared!

Then there was Pirogi, which were stuffed dumplings. We didn’t eat turkey. I think from a religious perspective we were not supposed to eat meat, so we ate fish or vegetables.

For dessert, we baked cakes - lots of cakes. I used to help my mother make gingerbread in the kitchen. In my family we used to make little puffy bread cakes called Bobalky. You pour hot milk over it and mix it with honey and ground poppy seeds. That was traditionally the last dish in our meal – delicious!

By tradition you had to eat at least one spoon of each course. After this you were so full that you have to lie down!

In terms of presents, we would get more practical things – socks or pyjamas. Although things like Barbies were available at the time, they were not very easy to get – you had to go to a special shop and you had to buy special money (called bon) to use there. So then you could buy Barbies and appliances or cool pencil cases…these things seemed amazing to us.

I do remember when I eventually got my Barbie doll – my dad nearly had a heart attack, saying “what’s this thing? Why does she need it?” But my mum made him buy it for me.

FEATURE

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After the communist regime fell, it was even harder. Before, you had certain securities – if you had grandparents in the village, they provided you with potatoes and chickens and so on. Afterwards, there were lots of bankruptcies – with no more subsidies, many businesses collapsed and people lost their jobs. So for the first five years we were actually worse off than before. I was a teenager by then and I could actually notice it.

Most of the people had less money, the whole system became private and most people didn’t know how to deal with this. There was a black market with people smuggling in jeans, toys, clothes and alcohol but there were expensive. Christmas in those days was poorer for us in terms of presents that we received.

Russia-Ivan Kupin

During the Soviet years, the typical Russian Christmas was modified. The festival itself was discouraged because of its religious connotations, so it was simply combined with the New Year. Everything else was pretty much the same. We had a New Year tree (same as a Christmas tree), a family meal, presents under the tree – it all just happened for the New Year instead of Christmas.

What has happened since the fall of communism is that Christmas has been officially declared a holiday again. As Russian religious holidays are based on the Gregorian calendar, orthodox Christmas is celebrated on the 7th of January.

A typical Russian Christmas lunch would consist of meat – pork or goose stuffed with apples. People who are religious would go to church for the service and then come back for a big Christmas lunch.

When I was growing up, our presents were mostly toys. It wasn’t really such a commercial

thing as it is today. There were decorated Christmas trees in the city square or in gift shops. Presents were mostly for the children, though; not many adults exchanged gifts.

We did have imports, mainly from other Eastern Bloc countries. Once I got an East German railroad set – that was very special. We didn’t have the abundance of goods that you see today; it was fairly limited but my family did a good job with what they had.

We also had the tradition of Ded Moroz - ‘Grandfather Frost;‘ an old man and his Granddaughter. Snegurochka, who is the ‘snow maiden.’

Grandfather Frost would wear an outfit similar to Father Christmas and carried a bag full of gifts. Snow Maiden wore all white with snowflakes. If the parents had arranged for it, they would knock on your door to deliver gifts to the children.

On the 31st of December, when the clock struck midnight, you would open your window to let the old year out and open your door to let the New Year in.

as told to Soma Mitra-Chubb

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If you’ve been reading carefully over some of my past columns, you’ll know that I have a bit of a soft spot for running. Since I started entering some of the running events here in Jakarta, I’ve been introduced to a vibrant and increasingly popular side of our host country. Pretty much every month there is an event somewhere in which roads are closed for thousands of enthusiastic runners to pound the streets in search of glory, weight loss or cold, hard cash.

Now putting to one side the slightly “niche” pleasure of running 21km around Glodok on a Sunday morning, there are also myriad opportunities to earn some serious rupiah. I would like to show you just a couple of ways in which very enterprising individuals can earn a tidy sum of money.

The obvious way is, unsurprisingly, to run very fast indeed. Most races offer pretty decent prize money. I’d always been aware of the international athletics circuit so, a professional athlete earning money by winning races is no surprise. However, what intrigued me was just how far this occupation can reach. Here in Indonesia, we seem to have a very enterprising set of East African athletes who go from event to event, trouncing the local opposition and pocketing the prize money. I have to say that, lining up on the start line for my first run (the enticingly named “Jakarta Wine and Cheese 10km”), the minimal confidence in my chances of winning evaporated entirely when I looked around me and saw ten or so very impressive looking Kenyan athletes.

These runners were every bit as impressive as they looked. Following a mate’s advice to avoid being tripped up at the start, I sprinted the first hundred metres, thereby giving myself clear space to run in. As I slowed down to normal running pace, I reflected on the fact that my Kenyan pals were already well over the horizon- my fastest sprint had been way slower than the ”jogging” pace they were sticking to for the full 10k! unsurprisingly, Kenyans versus balding executives ended up in a mismatch, resulting in the former standing on a podium collecting a fat cheque, while the latter offered up polite applause while tucking into some post-race cheese and wine!

Clearly, we have an enterprising group of people who earn regular money here. A quick glance at the results of some of the races I’ve

entered recently shows the same guy who won the Wine and Cheese 10k also won last year’s Nusa Dua Half Marathon, finished third at the Jakarta Half Marathon in October and won last weekend’s Standard Chartered Half Marathon! Fair play to him though- he certainly uses his talents to best effect, even if he makes me look like a sloth trying out his special slow motion action moves!

However, if nature hasn’t blessed you with an athlete’s talent, then why not use brains instead? I tripped over a golden way of earning money from entering races without even leaving your warm, cosy bed.

Now, for those unfamiliar with these races, here’s the score. You register in advance, paying perhaps IDR 250,000. For this sum, you get your running bib, with timing chip attached (ensures you can enter the race and that your official time is known to all when they publish the results). In addition you get a goody bag full of discount vouchers, a very nice running vest and a host of other gifts.

Now, registration for these events is limited and often runs out fast. This happened to a good mate of mine who decided at the last minute that he wanted to join me on the Standard Chartered Half Marathon. unable to register, he found a bloke online who was willing to give him his registration to use. Clearly, living in Sumatra, the guy had no real intention of running but for some reason he’d registered anyway.

Now the deal seemed very fair indeed. My mate didn’t have to pay a penny beyond the cost of postage. However, he was required to post back the finisher’s medal, the running vest and the full pack of goodies offered to runners. So, for his IDR 250,000 outlay, our Sumatran friend received a IDR 200,000 running vest, a IDR 500,000 discount voucher on running shoes and other easily saleable goodies worth another IDR 500,000. On top of that, he also had a finisher’s medal and documented “proof” that he’d just run a very respectable half marathon time! Do that a couple of times a month and you’ve a nice bit of pocket money plus a reputation as a serious athlete to boot!

I guess the lesson of these races is clear- you make the best of what you have. Sometimes you earn money from winning races, sometimes you earn money without being within 100 miles of a running shoe! Brains or brawn- it’s all about how you use it! Expat Bloke

EXPAT BLOKE

THe reWArDS of rUnningjava st andrew's ball

saturday 28th november

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SOCIAL DIARY

Having gone through 28kg of haggis, 55 bottles of scotch and leaving a dance floor that looks like an earthquake just hit it, with 400 guests and a wee bit over $7000 in the charity pot, the 2014 ball can be regarded as a success.

Despite being drenched by the obligatory storm delaying the commencement of the night, the whisky and music of Bahookie soon raised the spirits. The slaying of the mighty haggis took place much to the amusement of guests from countries from all round the world.

One particular Canadian guest said, "I really enjoyed the haggis, it reminds me of eating moose in the Canadian wilderness!" This link between Canadian and Scottish cuisine may be the reason for over 30 Canadian guests being present!

The evening progressed into the ceilidh where the masses descended onto the floor, bouncing around with gusto, even where it was obvious that this may have been their first effort "stripping the willow" or a "gay Gordon." What they lacked in ability they made up for with enthusiasm and the dance floor did actually begin to come apart.

With the annual last bounce to Auld Lang Syne and the equally traditional Proclaimers’ 500 Miles, it was off to the Chieftain's breakfast where the Braveheart survivors were entertained by the Perth Highland Pipe Band who were accompanied by the morning call to prayer as Jakarta was awakening.

A weary band then made their way to bed as the sun came up just to reflect on another successful St Andrew's Ball!

Another twist to the story was the discovery of a pair of glass slippers left by the dance floor.......we are happy to say Cinderella has since been reunited with her slippers!

For anyone interested in a bit more of what Scotland does best, the Robert Burns’ Supper will be held on 30th January 2015. Tickets are available at a 10% discount pre-Christmas from chieftain@javastandrewsociety.com. The event will feature more music, more haggis, more whisky, more dance and some of the top entertainment you will ever see in Jakarta! Book now!

Brian Proudfoot

java st andrew's ballsaturday 28th november

So if you have seen a couple of ladies walking around the BWA House, with either a deer in headlights expression, a glimmer of cheekiness in their eyes or carrying on like an old married couple, chances are you have probably seen Shweta and me on some form of 2015 Fashion Show mission.

We knew we had some pretty impressive and seasoned shoes to fill with the releasing of the reins by Laura and Asli ,yet we decided it was a challenge for the pair of us at

this stage in our Expat lives. So we took on the Producer’s role as a joint effort. We had danced in the marvellous 2014 BWA Express London to Jakarta show and had a fabulous time. OK, truth be told, on the morning of the Fashion Show come volunteer coffee morning a certain young lady, with a two million dollar smile, did just that at Shweta and me and this, accompanied by the stare down by a certain chairwoman pushed us over the edge.

So here we are today in the thick of fashion show madness, and let me tell you that it is crazy! Who knew how much goes into this event! The respect we have for the attention and devotion previous committees have had to the long running success of such a momentous event is huge! We also forget how tirelessly the entire Fashion Show team works over the eight months prior to the big event and that they are all non paid volunteers!

In the last few months we have pored over previous show folders and reports, picked the brains of previous committee members, roped in (or do I mean skilfully recruited?) FS committee members, had numerous coffees, wines, G & Ts, bubbles and more meetings than either of us could have possibly imagined!

We have excitedly discussed and agreed on the theme, the music is done and wow what a list it is!! Oh and seriously how much do we love the cloak of mystery surrounding everything! It gives the show that edge, leaving the audience in suspense from now till

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FASHION SHOW

BWa FasHiON sHOW 2015 PrODuCers' Diary

opening through closing! So yes, if you come across us sitting at a table and we go all quiet, it’s just us, talking Fashion Show!

The Chefs at the venue are chomping at the bit and we actually had to pop their bubble a little as they went a little too mad with the ideas. The Asian Tigers team are twitching with excitement at the thought of our set and foyer design. The poster, brochure and tickets are in the beginning phases of production and we have the brilliant Now Jakarta team working very closely with us. We are getting all flashy and loud with Bernhard our sound and light man who will, as always, help to bring the night alive. Our Design and Hair and Make up teams are walking the walk and talking the talk with some brilliant people who will bring together the looks we are after. Then there is the rest of the team who help to keep this fashion show machine oiled and greased.

Both Shweta and I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thanks to the 2015 Fashion Show Committee for so far putting up with our craziness and the few tumbleweed moments, and we ask you all to please keep laughing and enjoying the moment with us. We are all a fantastic team and we love you all!

It is now December and the last few months have flown by so we are about to slow down a little to enjoy the holiday break before we ramp everything up again in January. We will meet the latest recruits and watch as they learn who their fellow models and choreographers are and thus will begin the gluing of all this fantasticness together and we cannot wait to bring you more.........

Tam & Shweta xx

PS: Remember to save the date! May 9th 2015 it’s going to be a toot too- no wait, a blast!

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FASHION SHOW

BWa FasHiON sHOW 2015 PrODuCers' Diary

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2014 was the year in which the global economy turned a significant corner after the crash. In addition, global economic growth is expected to strengthen further to 3.4 and 3.5 per cent in 2015 and 2016, respectively, according to The World Bank.

This is all, typically, good news for expatriates and international investors.

However, deVere Indonesia, part of deVere Group, which has 80,000 clients worldwide and more than $10bn under advice and management, believes that it is fundamentally imperative that no-one should ever rest on their financial laurels.

A company spokesperson comments: “The world of finance moves quickly and shifts can have far-reaching effects on our lifestyles and on the lifestyles of our families. As such, we must always be diligent.”

So, what are the top three key steps deVere advocates to its clients to continue on the path to financial security in 2015?

John Brophy, deVere Group’s Divisional Manager of the ASEAN region comments:

“As various studies have shown, the Number One thing everybody should do to get on the path to financial freedom is to work with a professional, independent financial adviser to devise a tailor-made, long-term plan.

“This is, in my opinion, especially important for ‘global citizens’ who have always required specialist advice to truly take financial advantage of their status as an expatriate.

“In other areas of life, such as sport and business, all the pros have a coach or mentor, and your wealth - which affords you and your family your lifestyle - is too important and mistakes are too costly not to seek advice from a ‘financial coach.’ A good adviser will make sure you’re always on target to reach, even exceed, your financial objectives.

“Interestingly, last year, deVere did a survey of almost 700 people who had over £1million in investable assets. It found that over half of them (57 per cent) regretted failing to devise a strategy for their personal finances sooner.”

He continues: “A major part of the robust financial strategy that you make with your adviser will be to save. And saving is the second pillar of financial freedom.

“Saving is essential in today’s world as being financially secure in retirement is ever-more a personal responsibility, due to the burgeoning pensions crisis in most developed markets.

“The message is clear, the earlier you start saving for your future, the easier it will be. The longer you leave it, the harder it will be to accumulate the amount of money you need in order to be able to enjoy the retirement you desire. The time to act is now. Remember, with only 120 paydays in a decade, there really is no time to lose.”

Mr Brophy concludes: “The third must-do step is to cut out, or at least successfully manage, debt.

“Being in debt will typically hold you back in achieving your primary financial goals, so it is critical to tackle debt issues as soon as possible, rather than stick your head in the sand and ignore them.

“Typically, part of this strategy will involve man-aging credit cards because with a high rate of interest, these are often the most expensive forms of debt. Once you have paid off the most expen-sive card, look at your next most costly debt and progress from there.

“By adhering to the three guidelines I have set out, I believe you will avoid many of the serious poten-tial money pitfalls and be on the path to financial freedom.”

Website : www.devere-group.com

2015: the Year to beCoMe trulY ‘fiNaNcially fit’

FEATURE

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Here’s an easy Christmas quiz question for you. Which famous singer was the driving force behind the 1994 Christmas hit “All I Want For Christmas is You”? I’d imagine that even the most regular wooden spoon holder at the BWA quiz would be able to come up with Mariah Carey, right? Her song has sold in excess of 14 million copies over the past twenty or so years so. Assuming that for everyone who bought a copy, at least twenty people know the song, then we could perhaps assume that up-wards of 250 million people can connect Mariah Carey to her warbly little Christmas hit.

So far, so obvious. The tune is known to so many of us so, surely, it goes without saying that we’d know who wrote it, right?

So, who wrote the music to the Christmas carol Silent Night?

Silent Night is right up there among the most recognizable pieces of music in the western world. I’ve not yet come across a European or North Amer-ican who wouldn’t be able to pick it out in a split second. Given that the population of these two continents alone is currently running at close to 1 billion and the song has been around for over a century, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that over twice that number will have encountered it at one time or another. Let’s not forget that its cultural impact was so widespread that, even be-fore the advent of a global media, when the Allied and German troops initiated an informal Christmas ceasefire in 1914, it was Stille Nacht that was first sung over the trenches on the basis that it was a song well known to both sides.

So why do we all know one musician but are largely oblivious to someone whose output has touched so many more of us?

Perhaps to find the answer to this, we need to take a look at who came up with this iconic melody. Now, when I asked the question to a few friends of mine, the immediate assumption was that the tune was one of those folk tunes that had been round since time immemorial. This is not so. For anyone

looking to mug up for a Christmas Quiz, both the music and the lyrics are fewer than 200 years old.

The words to Stille Nacht were written in Austria by a young Catholic priest called Joseph Mohr, al-most two centuries ago in 1816. A couple of years later, he sought someone to put his poem to music so that it could be performed in church. Living at that time in the tiny village of Oberndorf bei Salz-burg, he turned to the local church organist, Franz Xaver Gruber, and asked him for a melody.

Gruber duly obliged and, after an appropriately Christmassy jamming session, the two performed their new song a few days later in church. I’d imag-ine this collaboration was not as drink fuelled as, say, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, but it certainly had a very long lasting and widespread cultural im-pact.

When you look closely at the life ambitions of these guys, it’s clear that neither were into this short lived collaboration for the fame or the for-tune. Mohr just wanted to be able to sing his poem and Gruber’s biggest ambition was to write nice music and run a successful school. It would seem that fame was never sought and, self-evidently, never really attained.

So, there you are. Mariah Carey is a career musi-cian for whom fame and fortune are given promi-nence alongside any of her undoubtedly significant musical accomplishments. Her musical entourage is perhaps eclipsed by her publicity machine and consequently achieves wealth and global recogni-tion disproportionate to her actual achievement. Good luck to her, I guess.

However the relative anonymity of the compos-ers behind a song with far greater and longer last-ing cultural impact than anything produced in my lifetime shows that perhaps fame attaches itself to those who go looking for it far more readily than those who may deserve it. I wonder how many more hidden diamonds have made quiet contribu-tions to Christmas as we know and love it.

Richard Chubb

silent night

RECIPES

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1 punnet blueberriesSome mint and icing sugar to decorate

Pre-heat oven to 1600C.Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually

add 1 tbsp sugar at a time to egg whites till dissolved (you should not feel any grains between your fingers when dissolved). Add vanilla essence to egg mixture and stir in.

Line a swiss roll tin or line a biscuit oven tray with non stick baking paper (Tip: use some of the beaten egg white to stick corners of baking paper down onto tray)

Pour over egg white mixture onto tray, making it into a flat rectangular shape. Use a knife or spatula to help shape it. I like to make little peaks on top of the egg white using a knife, then sprinkle on the almonds.

Place tray in oven for 15-20 min. Once cooked I like to cool it in the oven (with the oven turned off) and with the oven door slightly opened to let the hot air escape (place a wooden spoon between the door of the oven if it won’t stay open)

Once cooled, take pavlova out of oven and take off baking tray along with the baking paper (this will help you flip the pavlova over). Flip the pavlova onto another clean sheet of baking paper (this will help with the rolling process). Take the first baking paper off the slab.

For the filling, whip up the cream then spoon the cream onto the slab. Add some of the sliced strawberries and blueberries. Leave a few centimeters from border of slab free from cream and berries.

Gently pick up the long side of the baking paper and let it help you roll your roulade (as though you were making sushi rolls!) until you reach the end of the slab.

Gently pick up the roulade and transfer it onto a serving platter and then sift some icing sugar on top of roulade to give it a festive snow look.

Decorate more with the sliced strawberries and blueberries and piped whipped cream around it if desired and mint to garnish.

For best results, do not add the cream and fruit filling until just before serving to your guests as this could result in a soggy looking roulade!

Enjoy!

ChristMas faMilY faVouritesWe asked you to send in your Christmas favourites, and you did! a great big thank you to teressia Wetherall and Cilla takahashi for sharing their Christmas delights. teressia and Cilla both get vouchers at our favourite cafe in Kemang.

By Cilla Takahashi

1cbatter stays together, and why not, if you have them chuck in a small handful of berries!

By Cilla Takahashi

2 cups cranberries (fresh, tinned or frozen)1 cup raisins1 apple (peeled, cored and diced)1 orange (peeled and diced) (and ½ mango too if you like)¼ cup of orange juice 1 cup sugar1 cinnamon stick, 6 whole cloves, 6 whole allspice1 tbsp Grand Marnier

Measure first 6 ingredients into large saucepan.Tie cinnamon stick, cloves and allspice in double layer cheesecloth, or improvise! Add to saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring often. Boil slowly for about 15 minutes until thickened. Discard spice bag.Stir in Grand Marnier. Pour into hot sterilized jars. May also be frozen.

TereSSiA’S CHriSTmAS PAvlovA roUlADe

CHriSTmAS CrAnberry reliSH

By Teressia Wetherall. Serves about 6

4 large egg whites, 1/2 cup caster sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence.300 ml thickened cream whippedA small handful of flaked almonds (slightly crushed)1 punnet strawberries, sliced

RECIPES

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oliebollen (DUTCH DoUgHnUTS) Home-mADe CHriSTmAS minCemeAT

Taken from Dutch Delight by Sylvia Pessireron. Makes about 20

250g flour5g salt5g cinnamon250ml milk luke warm12g dried yeastsmall egg, lightly beatenknob of butter20ml syrup- pancake, maple syrup whatever you have in the cupboard100g currants and/or raisinsgrated rind of half a lemon25g finely chopped candied peel (optional)half an apple chopped (optional)oil for frying

Place the flour salt and cinnamon into a bowl. Stir to combine and make a well in the centre.

Dissolve yeast in half of the milk and add to mixture with egg, mix.

Add a little more milk to make a smooth batterLeave to rest in a warm spot until it starts to get

frothy.Melt butter in a saucapan, add remaining milk

and syrup and mix to combine.Add the wet mix to the batter and mix till smoothAdd currants, sultanas and grated lemon peel.Cover batter with damp tea towel and leave in a

warm place to double it size.Heat enough oil to completely immerse the

Olliebollen.Stir in candied peel and apple if using.Oil a large metal spoon or ice cream scoop, fill

either with the batter and and gently slide batter into hot oil.

To test if the oil is hot enough allow first Olliebollen to become golden colour all over and when done remove and cut in half. If cooked all the way through you are at the right temperature, adjust stove if not cooked.

Fry remaining batter one scoop at a time, be careful if cooking a couple at a time they do not touch.

Drain on kitchen paper and serve warm sprinkled with icing sugar.

Taken from Delia’s Happy Christmas. Makes approx 6 x 350ml Jars450g Bramley apples, cored and chopped small, no need to peel. I used Granny Smith apples225g shredded suet, I used butter350g raisins225g sultanas, I used cranberries225g currants225g finely chopped candied peel350g soft brown sugar2 x oranges, grated zest and juice2 x lemons, grated zest and juice50g slivered almonds14g mixed ground spice2g cinnamonPinch of grated nutmeg86ml brandy

Combine all ingredients, except brandy, in a large mixing bowl, stir until very well combined.Cover bowl with clingfilm and leave in cool place overnight or for at least 12 hours for the flavours to develop.

After 12 hours, preheat the oven to 1200C, cover bowl loosely with aluminium foil and place in oven for 3 hours.

Remove bowl from oven and as it cools, stir occasionally. The mince-meat will not be appealing at this stage as it looks as though it is swimming in fat. As it cools and with occasional stirring it will cover the fruit and nut mixture.

While cooling sterilize jars (see Notes below).When cold stir in brandy and pack in jars. Store in a cool dark cupboard, I pop mine in the fridge.notes

To sterilise, wash and dry the jars and lids and pop them in a medium oven for 5 minutes. Fill jars while they are still warm. Before putting the lid on, dip a clean cloth in vinegar and wipe around the top of the jar and the lid before sealing. Don’t drench the cloth in vinegar.

My picture below shows how the butter separates slightly while it is stored in the fridge, when it comes back to room temperature or is cooked the butter blends back in with mixture.

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Java Koelkast, Serial No 2996, NV Vereenigde Ijsfabrieken Soerabaia-Batavia-Semarang

Evenings & Sundays by app’t : Donna 0818 772 577Open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 7pm

This Ice Box, dating back to around 1900, comes complete with the original brass serial plate as above. There is not a more stylish way to keep those extra beverages or fresh salads cool at your next party. As a piece of Dutch East

Indie history, this company, United Ice Factories, was the key provider of ice and ice boxes for the home and agricultural industries in the region until its dissolution during the Japanese occupation prior to WWII .

BOOK REVIEWS

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EMMA: A MODERN RETELLING By Alexander McCall Smith

JUlIA'S JIHADBy Julia Suryakusuma

Alexander McCall Smith is one of six writers selected to take part in the Austen Project, in which Jane Austen’s greats are rewritten with a con-temporary twist. Whilst having carved out a name for himself with the brilliance and charm of ‘The No.1 ladies Detective Agency’ and ’44 Scotland Street’, the sense with ‘Emma – A Modern Retelling’ is that his agent shoehorned it into his schedule against his will.

Half the brilliance of the original Emma was Austen’s decision to throw writing convention to the wind, by making her heroine pretty dislikable. McCall Smith has taken it one step further, making her abhorrent. After

the runaway success of the film Clueless, which set this classic story in Beverley Hills, Mc-Call Smith fails to deliver anything so original. It feels rushed and predictable. Lost is the juxtaposition of Austen’s keen judgement and her lovable characters that one might have expected. The references to the modern day aren’t exactly surprising - emails, Mini Coop-ers and gastropubs. But the areas that would have allowed some interesting comparison between eras, such as ethical and moral values, haven’t been touched at all. Given all that has changed with the turn of centuries, this is a great disappointment. The only posi-tive to be pulled from this book is that hopefully it might make cheated readers dig out the original in quest of a real read.

rachel Provest

Julia's Jihad is a compilation of the author’s regular columns. Its subtitle, “tales of the politically, sexually and religiously incorrect: living in the chaos of the biggest Muslim democracy” more or less sums up the content. It’s a collection of stories, both personal and anecdotal, outlining life in Indonesia: the daily struggles, the little and large hypocrisies; her attempts to provide solutions to many problems faced by this great nation. Julia herself describes it as a 'mosaic' of Indonesia, which she gradually builds up into a portrait of both Indonesia and Islam.

Thus we have stories such as the one in which her driver decides that the best way to stop getting his wife pregnant is to take a mistress; her thoughts on the anti-beggar policy; her cook Yayah's despair at her daughter's teenage marriage and a host of other issues. As the foreword says, the book will “force you to re-examine your notions of gender, culture, family and political life” and this is exactly what it does. Julia doesn't hesitate to tackle the bigger issues such as women's rights, ethnic discrimination, her own interpretations of Islam and is absolutely scathing on such issues as intolerant spiritual leaders and political corruption.

For me, this book answered the question: “what do educated, middle class Indonesians think?” (The answer was: “pretty much the same as we do.”)

soma mitra-Chubb

FEATURE

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saving indonesia’s Orangutans

It is no easy task caring for just under 750 orphaned orangutans, but that’s one of the challenges the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation is tasked with. Our dedicated team of 400 individuals works tirelessly to improve the conservation prospects for orangutans and we focus on all areas of orangutan conservation from rescue, rehabilitation, reintroduction, wild orangutan conservation and habitat protection, together with the local people surrounding the orangutan habitat.

Orangutans are protected by international and national law, however they are threatened across their range due to habitat loss and hunting. As huge swathes of forest are converted to plantations, mining and for other human development initiatives, orangutan populations have become fragmented and are rapidly decreasing. Currently only 54,000 orangutans remain on the island of Borneo and only 6,500 continue to survive on Sumatra. This is the only great ape species found in Asia and without urgent conservation action their future survival looks very bleak.

But there is hope! Here at the BOS Foundation we manage two orangutan rehabilitation centres; one in East Kalimantan-Samboja Lestari and one in Central Kalimantan-Nyaru Menteng, two reintroduction forests and a 309,000 hectare peat swamp forest which provides habitat to 3,000 wild orangutans. Within our two rehabilitation centres we care for just under 750 orangutans, the majority of who have been orphaned and displaced from natural forest due to habitat conversion. Orangutans of all ages and in all conditions arrive with us and each and everyone has a similarly sad story.

Our first job starts through the rescue of orangutans. When natural habitat is destroyed, orangutans are often found hungry and roaming into oil palm plantations or peoples’ vegetable gardens searching for food. Our teams together with the local authorities are on continuous rescue missions to safely retrieve these individuals or confiscate orangutans illegally held as pets. Some do not survive the terrible ordeal they have endured.

Once we have rescued an orangutan, our top priority is to make sure the individual is healthy both physically and mentally. Orangutans are gentle, sentient beings and as one of our closest living relatives, sharing 97% DNA with humans, they are extremely

FEATURE

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intelligent. They feel emotions and can suffer from depression as well as being able to contract all human diseases which they would not normally be exposed to in the wild. In the wild, a baby orangutan would spend the first 6-8 years with his or her mother and during this time she teaches him or her how to survive in the forest; what to eat, how to build a nest and how to avoid predators. When a baby is taken from its mother at a young age, it loses a whole lifetime of learning and in place of the mother we must act as a surrogate and teach our orangutans these skills. Babies arriving at our centres spend the first year with dedicated babysitters and as they grow in their abilities they progress on to baby nursery then up through the different levels of Forest School. When they are old enough and demonstrate they have the necessary capabilities to survive in the wild, we reintroduce them into safe areas of natural habitat where we have full time field monitoring teams tracking their adaptation and health. This is the single most difficult thing any of our orangutans has to do; to completely leave behind any reliance on humans and once again survive in the wild.

This is the biggest great ape reintroduction program in the world and it is working! Since early 2012, we have successfully reintroduced over 160 orangutans to natural habitat and even welcomed our first two newborn babies in the forest. It is critical that we continue our reintroduction program as without this, there is no option for the remaining 750 orangutans under our care, except a lifetime in captivity.

Jacqui Sunderland Groves

Anyone can help us save orangutans by simply donating or adopting some of our gorgeous babies! Or maybe you can run a fundraising event for us! Please see how you can adopt, donate and support our work by visiting www.orangutan.or.id or email bosfundraising@orangutan.or.id. Any help whether big or small makes a huge difference. Thank you from the entire BOS Family (both humans and orangutans alike)!

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SOCIAL DIARY

HALLOWEEN QUIZ(ONLy tHE WItcHEs ANd ALcOHOLIcs cAME tHAt NIgHt... )

Saturday 1st November saw the second instalment with Jim and Bernie Crockford taking to the stage. The Quizmaster and his able assistant didn’t disappoint again serving up another great evening of themed entertainment!

A reasonably healthy turn out of members were in fine form especially as the evening drew on and the drinks took their toll. The winners this month were Frightfully Wrong. Congratulations to the team (even if they did have a couple of extra members), they trounced all the other teams even after Jim deducted them a number of points to try and even it up a little!!

Several members chose to dress up for the entertainment and well done to Elaine Tucker, Nell Costello and..er... me, for winning the prize for 'Best Dressed' on the night. Many of the attendees didn’t even recognise us until we spoke, the scary eyes alone were deserving of a prize given the time and effort spent trying to get those contacts in!! Jim’s costume too was deserving of a prize, many were surprised his voice didn’t go up a couple of octaves given the pressure it seemed to exert around the nether regions!

The food was yet again a success with servings of chicken curry, chicken pies and vegetarian lasagne to keep the stomachs lined and allow the alcohol to con-tinue to flow.

The next quiz will be our last of the year, the usual Christmas quiz before many of us depart Jakarta for our Christmas break. Please put Saturday 6th Decem-ber in your diaries and get your names down early to avoid disappointment. See you all then for the last gathering of the year for the chance to catch up with friends, partake in a few choice drinks and of course exchange a little lighthearted banter during the quiz.

Fiona Forsyth

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SOCIAL DIARY

and elsewhere in Jakarta...We bring you a round-up of the best events of November

First up on 4th November was the ANZA MEL-BOuRNE CuP CHARITY BRuNCH 2014. Fascina-tors and frocks were very much the order of the day, and participants had great fun posing with the annual Styrofoam horse (replaced each year as it usually doesn't survive the day), drinking champagne and making "educated guesses" on which horse would win.

Next, on 7th November the ASSOCIACIAN IBERIOAMERICANA hosted their annual event at the Shangri-la Hotel, Jakarta. The theme for this year’s gala was "our beats", showcas-ing dance and music from the region. A chilled glass of champagne and feathered

Mardi-Gras style dancers heralded an evening of stimulating music and tasty food. Fusions of quinoa and zesty mango were enjoyed on a well-executed menu. Guest musical artists included accomplished concert pianists and traditional Indonesian musicians, playing eerily similar sounds of Andean hill music. A well cho-reographed display of dances followed, includ-ing the tango and salsa. Suitably impressed, the seated crowd flooded the dance floor with their stylish moves as soon as the live band took over.

On 8th November, it was the Society of Petro-leum Engineers’ ANNuAL SHRIMP BOIL. We’d never been before, and it was quite an experi-ence: long lines of trestle tables had been set up in a marquee and hundreds of hungry at-tendees got stuck into kilo after kilo of prawns (sorry, uS friends!). After a polite pause (where

was the cutlery? where were the plates?), we joined in the feast, shredding prawns, dipping them into the special sauce and tearing apart the baby back ribs, all with our bare hands. It was all very medieval and strangely satisfying.

Then there was the uS MARINE CORPS BALL – Friday 14th November was their annual “Birth-day Party,” celebrating the 239th anniversary of

the founding of the uS Marine Corps. The ticket this year was a special com-memorative coin customised with the invitee’s name – very clever.As with all Balls, the attire was black-tie, with the exception of the Marines themselves, who were turned out im-peccably in their starched uniforms. Is anyone else thinking of Tom Cruise in

A Few Good Men? As usual, they had the cake cutting ceremony with the youngest (20 year old) and oldest (nearly 75 year old) Marines do-ing the honours together.

And finally, 19th and 20th No-vember saw the Women's International Club (WIC) BAZAAR, attended by 45 embassies and over 200 ven-dors including our very own BCC (British Com-munity Committee). The BCC, headed by Laura Thompson, did their usual brisk trade in fine

china and got to meet the new First Lady of Indonesia, Ibu Iriana W i d o d o . Over two days, an es-

timated 1500 people attended the WIC Bazaar, making it Jakarta's largest Bazaar.

Thanks to Nell Costello, Ingrid Baker and Danielle Gallagher for their input.

Photographs by Nell , Jim and Rinaldy

REPORT BACK

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baZaar VoiCes: We asked a selection of people what they thought of the bazaar.

ibu Josephine, our oldest vendor (Batik Pillow Nusantara)

I’ll be 80 next year and I’ve spent half my life at Bazaars in Jakarta.

I joined the BWA Bazaar since 1970. In fact, I was the founder of the very first BWA bazaar. The very first bazaar was held in the ICAC (the Indonesian Community Association Centre) office close to Kemang. First there was the AWA then BWA and then all other communities asked us to join. Then ICAC moved. So they held a bazaar for the first time in a hotel in the Hilton. Then followed the Mandarin, then hotel Sahir. Today it is in the grandkemang. So far they’re OK. Good for unloading and loading. I hear from visitors that they love to come here, because it’s not too far from their homes.

It’s much bigger now, maybe too big. It is very crowded. Before we could breathe a little. Maybe they should select all the vendor with large racks and put them in a special place so they don’t bother the other vendors.

But I wish you always good.

nina borthwiCk, first-time vendorI absolutely loved it. I was overwhelmed by

the lovely comments about my stuff, but also overwhelmed by the atmosphere, when we came in this morning and there was christmas music playing. For me the BWA bazaar is the start of the christmas season. The thing I love most is having a laugh and a giggle with the other vendors, especially the cake stall ladies. I for one would definitely do this again.

Wednesday 12th December saw a record-breaking number of visitors at the BWA Christmas Bazaar. visitors to the grandkemang hotel thronged to buy the huge variety of clothes, bags, jewellery, decorations and Christmas treats on offer.

From the very outset, the BWA team were rushed off their feet greeting visitors, selling raffle tickets, cakes from the cake stall and a variety of goods from the white elephant stall.

Thank you to our event partners, Allied Pickfords and grandkemang hotel, and well done to the entire Bazaar team!

A huge thank you to our raffle prize donors: Bags & Bling , Beeqa Jewelry, B'jeweled by Bindu, Creatink Moments, Desert Diamonds, Fine Carpets, Glory Frames, H & Z Gallery, House Of Beads, Jean Christian, Klots Home Furniture, Lucy's Batik, Manacika Beaded Basket Bali, Nina Heyer, Nina Bee, RAM Wine Shop, Rumah Sabine, Turkuaz, vidz handbags and Zann Jewelry Design.

BWA CHRISTMAS BAZAAR

REPORT BACK

the white elephant ladiesKate: We’ve done very well. We’ve had a lot of

expats coming in as well - it’s not just hotel staff.Lorraine: we’ve had a good cop/bad cop thing

going on with Jackie and Angela being the bad cops and me, Kate and Melinda being the good cops.

There’s been a lot of hard bargaining going on and we may have made some permanent enemies with the hotel staff over prices!

One of our ladies accused one man of stealing (well, we have had some people here who do walk out with stuff without paying). So when she saw this man furtively putting something in his pocket, she confronted him, asking “what’s that you put in your pocket?” He sheepishly took it out again and said “my handphone!”

gea Veenstra, visitorI think that you have a lot to offer at this bazaar.

I’m not really a shopper: I don’t buy the batik and the clothes or jewellery - but I’ve just bought this old picture of Batavia which I love. I also bought the Bombay mix from the Indian lady. The best thing for me is the social side – you meet a lot of people here. The social side is the half of it. I think. Otherwise I doubt that people would come.

kuku bobb, long standing vendor (Ita’s Toko)

When I came in here I was amazed at the space. I’m a vendor and this is the best bazaar this season. It’s also very leisurely, not frantic. I have done well, I made double of what I did last year. On the whole you have a good choice However as someone who

has been doing bazaars for over 20 years, I think it would be good to get some new things in.

JennY CaMpbell-blaCk, visitorIt’s my first big

Jakarta bazaar and I think it’s just fabulous. There is so much here. I’ve bought a batik business card holder and I’ve also bought a

bag to put it in. So you really have everything here: the gifts as well as the wrapping!

Julia Johnson, Cake StallIt started straight away and didn’t stop till we

sold out at 1pm. The volunteers were great, we had loads of d o n at i o ns and we were rushed off our feet.

It’s down to the people who made the cakes – it's hard it find the right ingredients, so hats off to anybody who provided the cakes.

We did have a lovely creamy cake that simply melted...so we had to eat it. It didn't go to waste, though, since we were all hungry and no one had had time to go and get any food. We have decided that next year we might ask for cakes with no icing or cream.

Christine Van VeerdegeM, visitorThis was our first bazaar in Jakarta. I found it very

interesting with a good display of products. I reckon that there was quiet a lot of repetition in the type of products being sold there such as jewellery.

The best thing I bought is big statues representing the Indonesian population. Beautiful. What I found strange is the selling of organic smoothie in the middle of batiks and jewellery. Never saw that in a bazaar, I must say.

(as told to Soma Mitra-Chubb)

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TRAVEL

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West Bali is a remote area, rich in culture and offers the visitor something quite out of the ordinary. Expect loud, excited crowd roars at the Buffalo races in Jembrana, West Bali as the track bursts into life, colour and action. It’s quite a fast and furious sight to behold as you watch the buffalos gallop at full pace with the rider hanging on for dear life.

Two-wheeled chariots take on the field as they race against their opponents with whips cracking, knuckle clenching rein gripping and lots of sweat. If you want to feel the thrill, intensity and excitement of the race then position yourself on the corner of the track and be prepared for a few accidents to occur, as the rider and buffalo come hurtling around the corners at great speed.

The riders not only need speed, but precision and control, and a lot of bravery to compete in events such as The Jembrana Cup (known

as The Governor’s Cup) and the Regent's Cup, held in Negara in August and November every year. The mastery these fine riders have over their buffalo is something you simply must see for yourself.

In the weeks leading up to a major event, there is excitement in the air and the whole town is alive with activity in preparation for the event. Every Sunday the buffalo riders practice at one of the seven circuits in and around town. Before the race starts the buffalos are paraded in a fashion show. They are adorned with bright, colorful ribbons and sashes and each animal represents a different village in the Jembrana regency.

Winning the big prize is two fold for the local competitors. The monetary prize is a healthy buffalo (worth thousands of dollars), along with several lesser (but very valuable) prizes. The other lure and possibly the more

Bali's Wild West – Buffalo Magic in Jembrana

TRAVEL

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important one, is the honour these men bring back to their village in respect to their courage, strength and masculinity. Returning home as victors is paramount.

Another attraction in the town of Negara is a visit to the harbor, where you can watch the Bugis boats returning at sunrise with the previous night’s seafood catch. The sights and sounds of hundreds of brightly coloured 10-meter long boats lining the horizon not only treats you to a spectacle of colour but also heartwarming songs as the Bugis fisherman return to shore, singing songs to the Gods of the sea, if they have treated them kindly.

Culturally, this area is one of the most interesting in Bali, with various art forms found nowhere else on the island. Catching a performance of the Gamelan Jegog is well worth it. These bamboo instruments produce a very deep bass sound, which is mesmerising, as the players strike the keys with heavy mallets, in perfect unison accompanied by the delicate sound of a flute. When combined with the Jegog Dance, (not performed anywhere else in Bali), you seem to melt into the music as the dancers, dressed in bright yellow silk, gracefully move in unison to the deep ancient traditional sounds. You will soon realize why a visit to this part of Bali is well worth the effort.

Story by Stephanie Brookes and David Metcalf

Photographs by David Metcalfwww.davidmetcalfphotography.com

Want to learn more about photography? Join ubud based photographer David

Metcalf on a half-day tour and discover the inner world of Bali. You will be taken to traditional village ceremonies (by invitation) and venture into a world seldom seen by tourists. Photographic tips and guidance from masterclass photographer David Metcalf will move you to the next level of photography. Learn invaluable photo tips and see incredible places with one-on-one tuition from David. Read recent guest comments on trip advisor via www.davidmetcalfphotography.com

30Grapevine Ads-3-ol.indd 1 5/2/2014 3:12:48 PM

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THE BLOG

christmas in jakartaI'm hardly Adi Roche, but having spent one hour in the company of people living in a

Kampung in Jakarta, I have found myself calculating how many chickens I could buy for the price of a Kenneth Cole dress.

It was my Christmas Charity Deed (Act one, Scene one). We had packed all our unwanted clothing, shoes, toiletries etc. into neat parcels to give to the poor living just outside the gates of “Executive Paradise”. (Incidentally, surely there could no worse salt in a wound, than living in squalor and looking at the name “Executive Paradise” splayed across the wall in front of you in bold Italic letters.)

To supplement our donations, we took a trip to the supermarket and made up “food bags” which contained a chicken, a bag of rice, a dozen eggs, chillies, bananas, dried fruit and fresh vegetables & fruit. The cost of this bags of necessities cost in the region of Rp150,000.

The plan was to walk out of the compound, and down into a nearby Kampung to distribute the gifts and food bags evenly. However, the technicalities of doing this were rather different. Firstly, the driver informed me that I would need security for the task. Secondly, he said I would need to inform and work with the Kampung leader to guide me through the Kampung, knock on doors etc. Luckily in Jakarta, getting three armed security guards to accompany you, your driver and a Kampung leader is not an issue; we were able to borrow three of the plethora of security guards that hover at the compound gate. Suddenly the trip had taken on an air of aplomb as we started walking through filthy side-streets, an unlikely looking group of white people wearing Santa hats carrying gifts and surrounded by armed guards understandably caused an immediate stir midst the Kampung as heads and bodies appeared from every orifice of this shantytown. We followed the Kampung leader and he steered us down alleyways and across open sewers to the most needy. Everyone seemed needy to me, but hey, who am I to argue with a Kampung leader.

The thinking behind the security was fear that we would accosted and that our food packages would fall into the wrong hands. But walking through these streets, it didn’t seem like there were any wrong hands. Going from door to door we entered some of these houses and stood open mouthed at the condition in which these people were living. Aware that it is a custom to take off ones shoes on entering, but fearful of my Nikes getting snatched, I chose to plead ignorance to the unwritten rule. Standing in one house in a room, which was considered the sitting room, we were able to catch glimpses of the stars through the torn tarpaulin roof. The exposed cables leading to a single light bulb was wrapped in cloth in an effort to keep the rain off. It was obvious that the earthen floor of the kitchen had gotten a recent shower as water pooled forming a hot moist haven for the mosquitos.

Despite the desperate surroundings, the lady of house, a smiling woman in her fifties, welcomed us into her home and showed us around like she had just moved into a show house in Mount Oval.

We accepted her offer to sit, as she pulled out the avocado green plastic patio chairs, two matching, one not. We declined the tea which she brought out on a tray, poured from tin pitcher in the aforementioned kitchen.

Hoards of children gathered outside the door waiting for the visitors to emerge and when we did, they followed us along the street, a parade of happy followers, happy to accept the flavoured milk and biscuits we handed them.

The common traits everywhere we went was a broad smile, and a genuine gratitude devoid of all expectation. Totally disarming were the sights of young mothers standing in doorways with no outstretched hands grabbing, just happy to see their children happy. In a country where there is no social welfare and no hand-outs, these people were embarrassingly thankful for the little they got and admirably proud of the little they had.

If less is more, is everything nothing?

denisehession@gmail.comhttp://thereluctantemigrant.wordpress.com

HEALTH

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It’s hard enough to stay motivated to exercise and eat healthy and with the upcoming holiday season and both work and family commitments, it makes it nearly impossible. Whether you are traveling or preparing to host guests, it’s too easy to get off track. Consistency is key when you are looking to lose weight, and you need to stay motivated throughout the year, particularly this time of the year. Here are four ways to help you celebrate with family and friends this holiday season without adding on a few dress sizes and increasing your chances of being spotted on Google Earth.

plan aheadMake sure you have a plan to workout.

Put it in your calendar and execute it. If it’s written down and you allocate time in your schedule for it, it’s more likely to get done. Time management is crucial with all that you have to fit into your days: decorating, shopping, and exchanging those socks and undies from Grandma for the tenth year in a row. Sneak away from the dinner party at a reasonable time to get to bed early in order to wake up early and get your workout done before the kids wake up. It’s easier to get it done first thing in the morning before you

need to make pancakes for the stampede of children. You’ll also feel more accomplished and energised. Another way to plan ahead is to bring your gym membership card if you belong to a large chain and you know there’s one in the city you are visiting. Most chain gyms will let you use other locations within the same company when you are traveling.

If working out at a gym is not your thing, you can also pack workout equipment to stay active. Resistance bands and tubes are great for strength training and a jump rope is excellent for cardiovascular training. Another way to plan ahead is by packing your own healthy snacks or meals. If you know you have a long wait at the airport or there will be unhealthy foods at a party, bring along canned tuna, rice cakes, and a Tupperware or plastic bag with fresh carrot sticks and bell pepper slices. If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.

use Your body weightSometimes, you may not be able to

make it to the gym and luckily, many great exercises require only your own body weight. Do push-ups, pull-ups, mountain climbers, planks, squats, squat jumps, star jump, lunges, wall sits, step-ups, and jumping jacks. You always carry around your own body weight everywhere you go, so you can’t make the excuse of not having weights for resistance training. Go to the playground and use monkey bars for pull-ups. You can use the retaining wall in front of your mother’s house to do step-ups. Also, work on your balance by doing exercises

four ways to stay fit and healthy ...during Christmas

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HEALTH

on one foot, instead of two, such as pistol squats instead of regular squats. If you need more weights, put little Johnny on your back and do push-ups or run around the living room piggy-backing him and annoying Grandpa. Get creative with what you have access to, and of course, stay safe doing so. Otherwise, you’d have to explain to the kids why Santa has crutches this year and so does Daddy.

recruit a workout buddyTo stay fit, you need to stay accountable.

If you cannot be accountable to yourself, recruit a workout buddy in a similar fitness level and with similar goals as you. Why not catch up on the latest gossip with Auntie Kate and her weird new boyfriend while getting fit with cousin Suzie? Find out about what’s going on in your friend’s lives while walking on side-by-side treadmills. During cardio, use the talk test to determine your intensity level. If you are able to talk comfortably, you are working at low intensity. Meanwhile, if it is slightly difficult for you to talk, you are at moderate intensity. Lastly, if you’re out of breath, need to conserve every ounce of energy to finish your goals and conversing with your mate is unthinkable, you are at high intensity. If you are at high intensity, you can get your cardio done in half the time, leaving more time to get back to eat Christmas fruit cake with the rest of the family

indulge in ModerationWhen your mother-in-law makes her

delicious almond bread and resisting temptations becomes difficult, don’t fight

the urge. It’s okay to have a sugar cookie or two, just save the rest for Santa. It’s quite fine to drink a glass of wine, just share with friends, instead of drinking the whole bottle yourself. Life is too fabulous to deprive yourself of all the awesome and delicious things in it. Just be mindful that too much of a good thing is not a good thing. Therefore, limit yourself and be cautious of what you are putting into your body. Make sure that the majority of what you eat is of the highest quality nutrients. Once in a while, splurge and indulge in the goodness of those holiday chocolates, and keep in mind that balance is key.

Overall, you can have a fantastic holiday,

celebrating with friends and family while staying fit and healthy. By planning ahead, using your own body weight, recruiting a workout buddy and indulging in moderation, you will stay consistent and most likely even inspire others close to you to a healthy lifestyle. These tips can be used throughout the year, not just during ugly Christmas sweater season. Happy holidays and if you are leaving town, safe travels!!

Sunshine Biskaps

About the Authorsunshine Biskaps grew up in maryland,

usa and relocated to Jakarta in June 2014. she is a certified personal trainer and certified weight loss specialist through the National academy of sports medicine. sunshine keeps herself busy practicing yoga, pole dancing and playing tennis and golf. she was recently featured on Dr Oz indonesia about calf sizes and its correlation to strokes. she can be reached at

contact@sunshinejennifer.com

FAMILY

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After four months of living in Jakarta, my family and I were more than ready to escape from the hustle and bustle of this vibrant city and Taman Safari seemed like a perfect destination to do that. Situated about 1.5 hour drive from South Ja-karta (on weekdays!), Taman Safari is definitely one of the shining jewels of Indonesia. There are so many things to see and do, it's almost impossible to do everything in one trip. Many people warned us not to go on Fridays or weekends due to traffic so we decided to wait until the school autumn break. It was well worth the wait! We had a smooth ride all the way to Cisaura then it was like being back in Jakarta all over again. Overly-excited children, hungry dad and impatient mum was not a great combination at the time but being bless-ed with a wonderful driver helped calm those itchy feet and nerves. Before your reach the entrance of the safari, buying some treats for the animals is a must. There are many, many stalls along the road and traffic moves quickly there. It’s very cheap so do buy plenty; we got three bunches of carrots and a bunch of bananas for Rp20,000. The very last stall is run by a dad and his two children no older than eight years. Needless to say, that’s where we made our purchase. Seeing the smile on their faces was worth every Rupiah!

The entrance ticket to the safari includes access to all the shows (there are about 15 a day, each lasting 30 minutes) inside the park. We took our driver and so had to pay entry for him also

which was absolutely fine, but I’ve mentioned it just so you know. The zoo itself is a drive-through park. It was truly an amazing experience to see all the ani-mals coming to your car to be fed. Obviously, they are used to people feeding them from car windows. We fed zebras, deer, antelope, hip-pos, elephants and so on. Don’t be afraid to pull down the windows and do let the children feed them, too. They all looked very healthy and content in their environment.

There is only one area where you are absolutely not allowed to roll your windows (unless you want to be their lunch!). This is where the lions and tigers co-exist.At one stage we drove through an area with shallow water. I have to say I was a bit nervous especially when I saw the crocodiles and hip-pos next to our car. As we drove out of the park, we were just about to eat the rest of the bananas when we spotted these tiny monkeys running down the hills to greet us. I must say they looked a bit ag-gressive but the children still had a ball throw-ing bananas at them. They peeled and ate them in an incredible speed...what a laugh we had! If you asked our children what they enjoyed the most, I’m nearly sure that they would say the Baby Zoo. Be prepared to pay extra here if you want to take pictures with all those cute lit-tle fellows such baby tiger, leopard and orang-utan.Food and drinks are available at the entrance

Trip to Taman Safari

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FAMILY

of the park. We arrived quite hungry and were looking forward to some local specialities. Sadly, there aren’t any nice restaurants on site. We ended up having KFC style fast food but it wasn’t ideal. Next time, I would definitely bring food and drink supplies with us. Personally, the highlight of the Safari was the last part of the trip; swimming with three amaz-

ing dolphins. It was like a dream come true! Taman Safari Indonesia is truly an experience to bring our children closer to nature's wonder-ful animals and the perfect destination to enjoy some fresh air and mountain scenery.We extended our stay by booking into the Roy-al Safari Garden Resort and Convention Center. Facility-wise, for a family with kids the hotel is great as it has lots of facilities to choose from: a water park, mini golf, bumper cars, pony ride, horse and elephant riding and flying fox to mention a few. If that wasn't enough, perhaps one of the

main attractions was the chance to sit right next to a leopard while having breakfast! The cottages were quite dated but served the pur-pose. We stayed in the dolphin section which was very handy for the water park. We can’t wait to return!

Eszter Redmond

top tipsspend a night at a nearby resort. the following day, drive up to the puncak mountains, have lunch at puncak pass resort. amazing view! en route back, stop by at the tea plantation. Check out what time the tour starts; we missed it so instead my husband and son rode horses through the plantation (with me running after them to capture the memories)where to stay: royal safari garden www.royalsafarigarden.comlinks: taman safari Jl raya puncak no.601 Cisarua Jawa barat, bo-gor, indonesia t: +62 251 8250 000www.tamansafari.compuncak pass resort www.puncakpassresort.com

Oi, Alan!Alan!Al!Alan!

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Java St. Andrew SocietyRobert Burns Supper30th January 2015

Details and tickets contact: chieftain@javastandrewsociety

10% discount for tickets booked and paid for pre-Christmas!!

The BWA has always facilitated golfing groups from novice to expert. For a variety of reasons, and despite the humidity and high temperatures, many of us still seek the Great Outdoors. unfortunately in Jakarta, few city parks and open spaces truly exist. This, and the low cost of midweek green fees may explain why golf is a welcome placebo for the desire to be outdoors. Also, it really is easy to learn to play basic golf here. The caddies are great at selecting clubs and guiding to help you improve and learn. Many newcomers prefer the relaxed on-course learning that the Fatmawati caddies provide, though professionals would lament the lack of rigid adherence to rules and regulations.

The Jolly Golfers started with no handicap requirements or serious criteria to join. We just thought we would try and play golf. We've been playing at the very rough and almost ready Fatmawati course on Mondays. Tee is off 8.30-9ish, traffic pending. If you are nervous, unskilled, rusty, injured, apprehensive and non-competitive, with or without all the gear and no idea, you will be welcomed. Nobody truly keeps scores, there is plenty of supportive applause for the good, bad and ugly shots. Our Bahasa is significantly improving, and everyone understands 'satu lagi' which is obviously essential for life here.

We can help to book lessons in a group/individual, and we try to lift share. Next year, we really will play another course (or two). Some days we don't feel the golf love, but just being outdoors and having the chance to take a walk around a green space is relaxing in itself. If you are skilled, it's a chance to practice your long game and we can help you find more accomplished partners to stretch your ability. I think we have all enjoyed our games this year, good and bad. We have so many talented players who really do have great skills and natural talent.

In the traffic, what makes me smile is our collective whatsapp group’s spelling and grammatical funnies, so here's a selection of our witty nonsense (names have not been included to protect the identities of the guilty).

“Hi, I'm drooping your clubs off, I'm in my way, I am fishing for balls, you can give you a lift, it's a ladies golf grope, I didn't shirt change my caddy, must have thought I was a tight grip, you forgot your milk at Hero, wow- no shag pile carpet, I'm drooping 'Mr' off under the flyover."

A lovely Mainly Margarita lunch at Amigos was enjoyed this week before everyone heads off for Christmas to the many corners of our globe. It really has been great fun!

Nell Costello

the Jolly golfers

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AGS_Jakarta_A5_FR_3OCT_HiRes.pdf 1 2014/10/03 08:56:16 AM

ADVICE

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Dear Father Christmasi’m going to spend Christmas with my wife’s family. However, i always come under pressure to “enjoy” their homemade bread sauce, spoonful by agonizing spoonful. How can i politely avoid ruining my Christmas lunch? What is with you Brits? You take the blandest meat known to man, and what do you do to liven it up? You mix some bread and milk and ladle it out so it looks like a beige snowman vomited on your turkey! However, family is family. Consider it your special Christmas present to your loved ones and suck it up- literally!

Dear st Nicholasi’m in a bit of a moral pickle here. i’m having a big Christmas party and want to include festive hits from places other than the uK. One reliable hit is “six White Boomers”, sung by rolf Harris. However, under the current circumstances is it socially acceptable to be playing his music? Sorry, I’m not sure what you’re driving at here. When has it ever been socially acceptable to play Rolf Harris’ music in public?

santa Baby...i am already a little out of shape and know that by the time Christmas is over i’ll be several kilos heavier than i am already. What can i do to shed the pounds in time for the Fashion show? Err, well you could write to the show’s producers to ask them to delay the show a month or two. To be honest, without seeing you, I’m not sure how much time we’ve got to play with here. Let’s be honest anyway, I’m one of the most iconic, most illustrated individuals in history- do you see a washboard stomach anywhere among those pictures? Getting to the point, I’m not sure I’m the guy you need to

be asking for weight loss tips.

Dear santai love the holiday season, but am not really looking forward to my upcoming Christmas party. i love entertaining, really, but there’s always one guest who refuses to leave with the rest, and hangs around until the wee hours, keeping me awake and drinking my best whiskey. How do i politely indicate that it’s time to leave? Well, in the old days you could just serve them coffee and they’d generally take the hint. Nowadays, however, people aren’t quite as well versed in the art of etiquette as you’d like. I’d suggest that you use my father in law’s trick. He would go upstairs, change into his pyjamas and come back downstairs winding up an enormous alarm clock. That should get the job done…

Dear mr Clausi’m feeling a little short of festive cheer right now. the reason is that the members of the local Wi to which i belong haven’t been playing together very nicely this year. What can i do to bring back a little bit of seasonal goodwill and ensure we all wake up happy on Christmas morning? Look dear, my elves are always fighting and arguing over the tiniest things, especially when they’ve been on the magic wine! Regardless of how good or bad you’ve been, you’ll all get a present from me. Whether that present is the latest iPhone or a sloppy visit from Rudolph and his mistletoe boils down to how you behave between now and the big day. Hopefully you’ll all declare a festive truce and make a new year’s resolution to get on a bit better in 2015. That’s all I’ve got- yo ho ho and a Merry Christmas to you all!

Dear Santa...

39

NOTICEBOARD

INFORMATION FOREXPATRIATES IN JAKARTA

http://www.expat.or.id

yayasaN Wisma CHesHire

A Home in Cilandak, South Jakarta for 30 paraplegics of both sexes and any religion. Wisma Cheshire is part of the British worldwide

Leonard Cheshire Disability organisation.

VOluNteers are alWays NeeDeDto help with Woodwork, Handicrafts,

stock taking and admin.

It need take no more than a few hours of your time each week and is rewarding and interesting work.

Please contact:Petty elliott 0816 922 099

What’s new? Latest business?Social & Sporting Events

http://www.whatsnewjakarta.com

tHe eXPlOrersat The Indonesian Heritage Society meet on Wednesdays for tours, talks, taking

part in Indonesian daily activities.Join one of several groups who meet

weekly, fortnightly or monthlyCan’t make Wednesdays? Explorers also has a monthly Saturday group.

Sessions start in september, February and June.

www.heritagejkt.org for more information

explorers@heritagejkt.orgor call 021 2572 5870

The IHS is a non-profit organization offering the opportunity to learn more about

cultural heritage of Indonesia.

Young children? Want to know… Schools and sportWhere can I buy?Keeping them busy

F a m i l y g u i d e t o J a k a r t a

is available as a book (great for the car)and now on the internet at

http://www.familyguidetojakarta.web.id

mONDay : bahasa indonesia 10am (beginner) 11 am (intermediates); Coyote Dancing 12tuesDay : Coffee morning 9.30amrusty racquets Tennis 8am WeDNesDay : yoga 8.30am, Canasta 10.30am tHursDay : mah Jong 9.30am, baby group 9.30amWOulD yOu liKe tO set uP aN aCtiVity?Contact chairwoman@bwajakarta.org

DeCemBer 2014/JaNuary 2015BWa aCtiVities

Private Bali villa in the ricefields.villa Damee, ubud is a splendid place to chill out and recharge the batteries.

A private 3-bedroom villa set in the rice fields located in an ancient Balinese

village and only 4.5 kms out of ubud. This beautiful villa comes complete with

a villa cook, AC and WI FI. Breakfast included. The villa has a huge pool, free complimentary village tour and guided

walk to the beautiful pristine river adjoining the villa with hidden temples in

the rocks.

BWa serViCes / FOr HireSupport BWA charities by renting the

’geraldine Johnson Wheelchair’ Also available at the BWA House are a pair of Crutches.

Contact BWA House or bwa@bwajakarta.orgBaby travel cot for hire

Rp200,000 donation per week or part of a week.

BWa HOuse Hire:Having a party? The BWA House is availabe to both mem-bers and non-members for a very reasonable fee. You get the use of the House, tables, chairs, napkins, crockery, cut-lery, and also staff to help with the cleaning up! Children's parties, evening events, all needs catered to. Please contact housemanager@bwajakarta.org

BWA House 0812 9880 3437British Embassy, Jakarta 2356 5200

emergency NumbersPolice 110Fire 113Ambulance 118 / 119

medicalInternational SOS 750 5973 (office)Jl Puri Sakti 10, Cipete 750 6001 (24 hr emergencies)

Global Doctors 719 4565 Jl Kemang Raya 87, Kemang 718 2029 (24 hr call centre)

Rumah Sakit Pondok Indah 765 7525Jl Metro Duta Kav UE, Pondok Indah

Metropolitan Medical Centre 520 3435 (24 hrs)Jl HR Rasuna Said Kav C-21, Kuningan

Medic One 725 9111Jl Prapanca Raya 6A, Jakarta 12160

schoolsAustralian Independent School 717 90437British School Jakarta 745 1670Jakarta School 769 2555

taxisSilver Bird/Blue Bird 794 1234

travelSoekarno-Hatta International Airport 550 5179www.jakartaairportonline.com

Information/Departures/Arrivalswww.jakartaairportonline.com/flight-status-arrivals-departures

airlinesAir Asia www.airasia.comAir France KLM www.airfrance.comBritish Airways www.britishairways.comCathay Pacific www.cathaypacific.comGaruda www.garuda-indonesia.comLufthansa www.lufthansa.comQantas www.qantas.comSingapore Airways www.singaporeair.comThai Airways www.thaiairways.comTurkish Airlines www.turkishairlines.com

gOt aNy ODDs aND eNDs? If you’re leaving and want to get rid of odds and ends which threaten to overload your container, do consider donating to the BWA. Items can either be sold in the thrift shop, at the White Elephant Sales or donated to one of the numerous projects that we support. We can always find a home for items in good condition such as used towels and bedding, clothes (sorted into male/female/adult/children), tinned or dried food, medicines, eyeglasses, hearing aids, toys, cleaning products, pots and pans and even old Christmas cards and foreign stamps. All proceeds go to the BWA and its charities.

indonesian yellow Pageshttp://www.yellowpages.co.id/index.aspx

tHe lOyal sOCietiesJAVA ST ANDREW SOCIETY www.javastandrewsociety.comST DAVID’S SOCIETY janegllew@gmail.comST GEORGE’S SOCIETY www.stgeorgesjakartaST PATRICK’S SOCIETY www.stpatricksjakarta.org

JaKarta aNimal aiD NetWOrK (JaaN)JAAN works on Improving Animal Welfare in Indonesia through various Wildlife and Domestic Animal Protection, Rescue, Rehabilitation and Education Programs. If you’re interested in Adopting a stray dog or cat, Volunteering at the shelter, Sponsoring an Animal or making a Donation, please visit JAAN’s office at Kemang Timur 17A and/or website at www.Jakartaanimalaid.com. thank you.

CLASSIFIED

useFul NumBers / WeBsites

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