Departing from Padang ~
We had a good trip yesterday - took the taxi out of Padang and drove the 55 minutes to the airport.
We waited for a few hours for our flight to 
depart.
It would be a 2 hr flight to Jakarta...right in front of us were some Dutchies traveling too...they too were on a trip with another couple revisiting their Birth country (same background as Nick!) It was enjoyable to talk a bit with them. They had already visited some of the same places we had and so enjoyed the sights thus far!
Arriving in to Jakarta we had to change planes - thankfully our suitcases were forwarded to the next flight - same airline.
We waited for a few hours for our flight to depart. Arriving in to Jakarta we had to change planes - thankfully our suitcases were forwarded to the next flight - same airline.  |
| This sign was right there when you arrived into the terminal at Jakarta...pretty serious don't you think??? |
We took a quick coffee break at Starbucks and was even able to find the travel book at the book store...yeah!!! We arrived into Palembang at 8:30 pm and Steve was there to meet us at the airport...he kindly offered to pick us up and bring us to our hotel! Very nice! We had agreed to meet up the next evening after the kids got out of school...terrific!
Wow - Nick was in his birth town...how special is that! I was so pleased to share it with him! He had been here 24 yrs ago and found it had really grown...! How fun to go and discover this town Nick! Time to go to sleep and see what the new day will bring us tomorrow!
Gosh we woke up late..but .rested....but late for breakfast! So we quickly got presentable and raced down stairs! They were already closing things down for the breakfast - but we were able to get a little something still to eat - we thought it was till 10 am but it was wrong - 9 am! Whoops - tomorrow we'll do a better job of showing up on time!
Nick & I decided to see a bit of the town, and started to walk again...heading down the street from our hotel for several blocks to find a mini-bus or public bus to get us to a store for some needs we had.
We traveled with the local bus...and someone came into the bus and began to sing...how sweet is that?
who encourages people to use the bus...so he is always jumping off the bus at stops when people raise their hand to flag him down. 3000 rupiah's 30 cents one way...can't beat that! He ticks on the glass and door to let people know - a continuous ticking while he waits for passengers to come on board....Every bus is privately owned and all decked out - each one different. This one Bus we took back had a BOOM BOX in it and we were rocking..and all the other passengers too...gosh talk about LOUD! It was a cool Bus you guys!......we were Stylin'!We told him the street we needed to stop at...and suddenly we heard "Mister Mister!" and knew we were being called to get off here! Everyone looked at us because they knew that call was for us!
We got back to the hotel and Steve had responded by email that he would pick us up at our hotel at 4:30 pm when the kids get out of school.
At 4:30 pm there they were...Steve & Tamara and Indah Gracie and Elisha Steven - the kids speak fluent Bahasa and Steve & Tamara too.....amazing to hear! Indah stands for "beautiful" in Bahasa and she is a very cute 12 yr old! Eli is 8 yrs...and we had a lovely
evening taking a stroll at a open plaza area along the river and talking to the people there...they were full of smiles looking at these tall Americans walking together! 
 |
| As it got darker more people showed up - little stools were set out so people could eat what the street food stands were cooking up! |
Steven was born in Dallas, Oregon and his family now live in Tillamook on the coast of Oregon. Tamara is from Montana and they met in Boise ID...and the connection was that we met someone in service at Bend Naz who had just moved from Tillamook to Bend. Howard & his wife sat next to us in the pew and that was the last two weeks before departure. Nick talked to Howard and welcomed him to Bend and Nick said you are moving into town and we are moving out for a year of travel - and will spend a year in Indonesia! Oh said Howard - we know a couple in Indonesia - children of our good friends in Tillamook...maybe you can connect with them when you are there? Well that is exactly what happened - THANK YOU HOWARD...WE SO APPRECIATE IT! So here we are - in Palembang meeting such a nice family and so many other people who live here!
After enjoying the stroll, Steve & Tamara took us to Riverside Restaurant - a Big barge with a restaurant on it. There in the distance was the Ampera Bridge - a very large bridge built over the Sungei Musi River. The Sun goes down early here...starting at 5:30 - and dark at 6:30 pm. 
Tamara said to take a picture...yes a beautiful shot with the Bridge now all lighted up!
"Say Cheese!"
The man sitting behind me noticed my tight squeeze...and saw me laughing - and he too smiled and understood my situation!
We found a coffee shop and saw some goodies that looked so pretty......
Look how colorful these pastries were....Wow...fancy or what?
Tomorrow is Friday and we hope to find a registry where we can find Nick's Birthday certificate records. We asked a Muslim gal named Widi in the bus and she was ever so gracious and kind and wrote down an address for tomorrow! I told her she spoke English so well and that I enjoyed talking to her and she put her hand on her heart and said Amen...and I repeated it and did the same! We had such nice communication together and she pointed out where she worked at the building and again gave us a warm smile when she stepped off the bus. She said "use this bus Trans Musi bus - better bus...city bus better! No more other bus...not good bus" OK Widi!
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