Didn't we have a "loverly" time the day we went to Bogor

Ah yes, Fiddler's Dram and the song "Day Trip to Bangor"(here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMNrrLBdhuM ), ripe for a parody with the title of this blog entry.

Along with the Christmas Quiz, Ramadan and seeing the Centre Manager in the teachers staffroom, the other anual event is the staff outing. At this time of year, EF Swara pays for all of the teachers and staff from each centre to go away overnight. In my previous years with EF this has seen us go to Puncak, a mountainous, tea growing area outside Jakarta, and last year was a trip to Anyer, a beach resort also near Jakarta. It has to be near Jakarta as we always leave after work on Saturday and have to return early evening Sunday. With traffic that means we can't really get that far at all. Fortunately, there are plenty of amazing places just on the doorstep.

This year, our team from Gading Serpong headed for Bogor.

  

Bogor is a lush, green area in the foothills of Puncak. Famous for Outlet shops, Bebek Goreng (fried duck) and rain, it is also the weekend retreat of many Jakartans desperate to get out of the smog of the city. Such is their desperation that a journey that normaly takes an hour and a half midweek, can often turn into 4 or 5 hours due to volume of traffic and weather.

 

As I said, we can’t leave until after work on Saturday (generosity only stretches so far) and, including translation to Indonesian time, meant that the leaving point of 2 – 3pm ended up being 3.40pm

I actually managed to fall asleep shortly after the journey started and woke ninety minutes later to find that we still hadn’t reached Bintaro (usually 20 minutes away). This was going to be a tough journey.

Fortunately everyone else was in good spirits though and having stopped at a service station for a natural break, we arrived at our destination a little after 7.30pm. The journey, once we had left the toll road, took us climbing into the hills which in the daytime affords you a look at the tropical plantations of banana trees, rice and tea amongst others.

Food was already waiting for us but unfortunately wasn’t hot (the noodles were actually stone cold) but i think people were too hungry to worry and tucked into the fayre. As it happened, this was just the appetizer because on the itinerary to follow dinner was a barbecue. Strange I know but I refer you to the standard response of “well, this is Indonesia”.

 

Earlier in the day Farhan, Alex and I went to the supermarket and bought theingredients for the barbecue which somehow i was encouraged in to organise and prepare. Chicken for sate, two whole Gurame fish, fresh prawns, fresh sweetcorn and minced beef to make homemade burgers with, were backed up by all of the necessary seasonings and sauces. A homemade kecap manis (a sweet, spicy sauce) was made and then i got on with conducting a burger masterclass. I’m not sure but i think the thought of the DoS cooking was amazing many people and many questions were asked as to how i learned to cook, what i like to cook most, the hardest thing i’ve ever cooked and, after eating the burgers, would i cook again please? I actually class cooking as a hobby, i have a few things that i make pretty well and I like to think burgers are one of them.

In the other food preparation corner, led by Nina, chicken was being skewered for the sate, prawns were also being skewered as it’s the easiest way to barbecue them and, as stuff became ready, people devoured it. Nina came across to learn how to cook a burger and once she’d got the hang of not splashing herself with hot grease, did a quite remarkable job. It certainly allowed me to take a breather and enjoy a beer.

 

Beer, and the consumption of it, is a potential divider at times like this. Western people drink, Indonesian catholics drink a little, muslims generally don’t. It had been agreed that we wouldn’t start into the alcohol too early to reduce any offense but once we started, no-one really cared. It’s worth remembering that tolerance and acceptance of cultures goes both ways, which is nice. In my experience it’s the die-hard Bule (western)  drinkers who are the last to call it a day, but this night it was the Indonesians playing sleepover style games, who outlasted the drinkers and were still up early for prayers and breakfast!

 

Breakfast was being served between 7 and 9 with our bonding activities (the real reason for this trip) due to start at 9. But, one factor of this weekend is how laid back it’s been. Breakfast was leisurely with people arriving in their own time and once the games started people genuinely seemed to enjoy themselves, particularly with the arrival of small plastic balls which proved ideal for pelting each other with. It would be fair to say that the day collapsed after this though. Later saw another group of residents monopolising the canoeing area and, as lunch didn’t arrive at its due time,  people pretty much did their own thing which is how i can be writing this now.

The afternoon passed with people relaxing and chatting to the point where we were due to leave. I have to admit that it has been a fun trip with people getting to know alot more about one another which, if it was the reason for the trip, makes it a success. Here's looking forward to next year!