December finally came and I couldn't wait to go to Indonesia sans quarantine and all the BS rules (excuse my french).
First destination is Jakarta! We got to meet the latest addition of the vdG, baby M, who is the most zen baby I've met. At least compared to my kids 🤔 . We also got to meet our four-legged nephew and nieces, who are the only ones who seem to not age.
A short but sweet visit to the capital city to get us acclimated before heading to another main island of Sulawesi, to my birthplace Manado. It's a three-hour direct flight to the north of the country. December is rainy season in general and we got quite sizeable waves around this time of the year, so unfortunately diving was off the chart this time.
Our last destination is Bali, which is a three-hour flight south from Manado. My whole family gathered here and what a lovely time to see everyone.
Like a proper Indonesian family, we eat and eat and eat. Who cares about drinks, we literally only eat. Although we did hit a rock once when the whole house had the Bali belly after what was supposedly a wholesome Thai dinner. But..."what doesn't kill you make you stronger", so bring on more food on the plate!
My big bro organized a week venturing to East Bali for new year's eve (quiet and hardly any tourist, exquisite diving sites) and then to Ubud (as much as it sounds touristy, we were in a secluded area so we dodged the traffic of Ubud).
Kids were getting used to listening to me and people around us speaking Indonesian that Valerie understood pretty much everything. Lars less so, but I got to give credit to his progress in Spanish. He doesn't care about mistakes, he just keeps talking. Which is how it should be. I have something to learn from him.
After two weeks of being pampered with good food, massages, and butlers, it's time to say good bye. We were just short of sunshine a bit because of the rainy season 🤔 but the family time made up for everything else.
Til next time! We will be back! With stronger belly and stronger wallet 😂
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