Sunday - Palembang

A Fun Afternoon with New Friends ~


Nick & I did our usual and stepped into a mini-bus to get across town...we are getting better at this all the time!

We headed over to Steve & Tamara's
house and looked forward to spending the afternoon with them.  We would be meeting Rumeni from Aceh, Sumatra too!  Rumeni is staying with the family for while.

We arrived to their neighborhood and street and were welcomed and sat down to a refreshing cold glass of water and a fan blowing our way!
Ahhhhhh!!!!!  Thank you so much!  We enjoyed the family time together and meeting Rumeni who goes by "Meni" pronounced Minnie.  It was so nice to just sit and chat and hear the stories and how it came they moved to Palembang.  Tamara had prepared lunch for us and so we all sat around the table to a nice meal!  How kind!

They had suggested we go for a boat ride on the Musi River - but would have to be back by 3 pm for the boys coming to visit....well let's do it!  So we went...all piled into the car and down the river to the boat rental area.

Tamara was approached by a guy and they began to negotiate a price...she had an idea what the fee would be - but nevertheless -  there was still a little negotiating going on.  An agreed price was set and so we followed him to the boat!

 It seems to be the way ~

We were to step into this boat and so we all comfortably settled into it and Captain Eli took the controls...yeah Eli!

 

 We sat there for a while and waited...thinking...he wants more passengers - although we had filled the boat with our group....and all at once.....................................

He gives us instructions to get onto this other boat a very small one that came along side our boat....huh? 

 And it was way lower then the one we were on...do you notice that?????

Tall as we all were...yep he wanted us to crawl down into it...the metal landing was HOT.....we had "roasted" bippy!  
                       But Lo & Behold...we all piled into this little boat....

 and off we went down the river - full blast! That little boat made of wood - tore down the river....hold on for dear life!  

We zipped down the river towards the island ~ 

 Meni laughed and Indah held on and we laughed...

Passing big boats in the river....

The Musi River is very large...and ships come in from the Singapore area to Palembang ~

We arrived at the Kermaro Island and the boat & driver dropped us off and would come back in about 40 mins to pick us up! 

 The Kermaro Island has a Buddhist shrine on it.  It was a park like setting where people gathered for a day's outing with the family!  ...and that is what we were doing too!

Eli and Steve stood by the dragon...and it was a big one!

He even had on a red ribbon - would you believe it?

 Families came to us and were so friendly and wanted a picture with us....we are all pretty tall and we seem to kind of stick out a bit!

Meni asked for a picture too for her family in Aceh!  

and then the boat came back and we did a "crawl" again....

"how low can YOU go????"

 Well we did it again- quite a drop and such a tiny area to climb down into...the seat too were tiny....we all did it.... laughing....where there's a will there's a way!!!!

We headed back to the house - for Eli was going to have some neighborhood friends come by for some afternoon play.


Look at this ...what a picture huh .....a mix of purple and white!  

                                                                       Yes it is real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Wow - how we are blessed with God's creation! 

We sat out on the porch while everyone just hung out - so' nice and Steve & Tamara can speak Indonesian so well!  Eli and Indah the kids too!  Meni went off for a weekend visit with her brother Ashton, who  lives in Palembang!  

The boys were climbing up on the jungle gym and in the distance was a path way into a community of homes the village - a kampung behind the house...(clusters of small homes)

If you look there in the distance - you will see some children looking over to the yard here...

 Can you see the children waving to us there on the cemented road?  They waved and waved and looked over to this yard and say the boys playing....we waved back!  That walk way went into the village behind their house.


Nick & I headed back to the hotel...we had had a good afternoon with the Fairbanks' family!  Thanks you guys!

 Heading back to the hotel we walked through a neighborhood of homes and there was this unique tree I had not seen before!!!!

Look at those leaves...and trunk - the leaves they just might close up towards the evening...the tree was not full of branches - kind of bare really, but oh the leaves closing up like this...different huh?

We walked through this other kampung neighborhood and families just congregated with one another...sometimes I feel a bit intrusive walking in such close proximity to their homes - such small dwellings - but they are ever so friendly..."hey Mister" "How are you?" and we smile and say Selamat Sore Good evening!   apa kabar "How are you?" and they get such a kick out of that! 

We had a great day...and stopped at a restaurant to have a light meal and the manager came to our table to have a talk with us.  His name was Morris and he had worked on a cruise ship and had traveled to the States and other countries - he was very friendly and he heard we might be looking for a place to rent for a month - well tomorrow at 4 pm he asked if we could come back and he would show us something that might work...well sure we will - thank you Morris!  

See you tomorrow!  Terima Kasih! 

(We did go meet him the next day - but it wasn't a good fit for us..a bedroom with a toilet - no sink - no shower, but a water spout with spray gun only. "Use of" a kitchen work station outside on the courtyard - no - I would like a little more privacy too.  But we appreciated seeing it.)