Fun in the Park

We are back in Jakarta! But below are a few more pictures from the summer of us taking advantage of the nice weather and great public parks near Ma & Pa's house:

Jake enjoys riding on a swing.


Icha pushes Bella on the 'big kid' swing.


Having fun!


Jake gets ready to go home.... actually we think this picture was taken a few weeks before the others by the looks of his hair.

Pastrami Nation

The summer of 2010 was a fantastic one for the Indomurnanes. We spent 8 wonderful weeks in the USA visiting friends, family and taking numerous trips here and there. Mark was also able to put in some significant work on one of his life long passions: finding the best pastrami sandwich in world.

Dittmer's Deli in Mountain View makes a fine sandwich. Yet was still ranked by our Pastrami expert (Mark) as #2 in the mid-peninsula.


The old stalwart.... while not quite the same as 'back in the day' -- The Village Cheese House still turns out the best pastrami sandwich in the Bay Area.


Langer's Deli of L.A. --- said to have the finest pastrami on the West Coast... and home to several "Entourage" cameos... was unfortunately missed during this research cycle. A full review will be conducted in June of 2011.


Capriotti's of Vegas... sensational hot Pastrami and swiss! Definitely the best sandwich in Sin City.


As this project's ultimate goal is to find the best Pastrami sandwich in the world, we sent our research team to where it all started: Manhattan. One such stalwart of the 'ridiculously huge pile of meat' old world style is the famous Carnegie Deli in Mid-town.


Nothing brings a smile to our staff more than 300 grams of fat on one plate.


Carnegie makes a very good sandwich... but not quite up to our world class standards. For that we headed south about 30 blocks.


The mecca of pastrami: Katz' deli on Houston and 3rd in lower Manhattan.


Katz not only has what may be the world's best pastrami... it was where this iconic moment in film history was made.


No expense was spared in sampling the culinary delights on offer around country.


World's greatest sandwich...? Entirely possible! This ongoing project is yet to be completed... but for now Katz is King.

The Summer Rolls On

The summer of 2010 continues... and the good times roll on! Below is a sample of some of the fun we've been up to these past weeks.

Jake, Icha, Bella and some unidentified freak smile just outside of Disneyland a few weeks back


Ma fools around with Jacob.


Like everyone else in Sam's Army... Jake wonders just why did Bob Bradley start Ricardo Clark over Maurice Edu in the USA's game vs. Ghana?


While Mark & Pa watch the USA run out of gas vs. Ghana... Bella and Jake enjoy day trading away their college fund.


Auntie Ria.... back to NYC! Bella cuddles up with Maria a couple of days before she headed back to the big apple.

Disneyland!

Last week we took a road trip down to Palm Springs and then over to the "Happiest Place on Earth:" Disneyland! At the magic kingdom we met up with some good friends from Jakarta and had a great day going on rides, watching a parade, and of course getting a chance to meet both Goofy and Mickey!

Taking cheese to a whole new level... matching family t-shirts!


Icha and good friend Lorly Koltai in front of the true Disney Castle.


Icha and Lorly smile with the Jake, Bella, Mariska and Katarina.


Mark and Tom Beams all smiles.... Tom's first trip to Disneyland!


It was Jake's first trip to the magic kingdom as well!


Bella and Mariska give Mickey a big hug.


Bella and Goofy!


Bella poses for the camera as she gets ready to dance during the parade... check out the video below!


"Shy" and Bella do not happen very often.


Bella looks like she is ready to join the parade!

Jet lag!

It's taken us a week... but we have finally gotten over our jet lag. Bella pulled her first 'all nighter' the first day we got home. We arrived at Ma and Pa's house at 9pm on Sunday evening... and Bella did NOT sleep the entire night! She finally took a 3 hour nap the next day at noon. It was a challenging week... but all worth it. Bella and Jake are having a great time visiting their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents!

Nothing like a trip to the all night donut shop to help get the boy to sleep.


Check out the clock in background!

America!

Summer is here! Last Sunday we made the long haul (28 hours door to door) from Jakarta to Palo Alto. Jake and Bella did a great job the entire way.... and even slept about 9 straight hours on the flight from Taipei to San Francisco.

Bella and Icha smile as we prepare to check in our luggage at the Jakarta airport.


Bella and Jake enjoy waiting to board our flight. Jake's hair is finally starting to grow in!


A 3 hour lay-over in Taipei gave us time for a snack.


Bella has arrived! Much joy and love.


Bella smiles with her 4 'American cousins' --- big smiles all the way around.


Next Post: Jet Lag! A true story....

A trip to the salon

Last weekend while Icha was off gallavanting with and saying goodbye to her friends for the summer, Mark took both Bella & Jake to the local salon for their 'summer haircuts.' It was good fun all the way around... but for some reason (see below) Mark has been banned from taking Jake to have his haircut in the future!

Our little princess settles in to have her hair washed.


Bella enjoys the life of luxury.


Bella relaxes in her little car while watching Dora.


All smiles...


A fresh cut for a fun summer!


Jake on the other hand wasn't quite as enthusiastic as his big sister!


After a few minutes with the clippers our little boy calmed down a bit.


Ah.... next time we don't think will be getting such a close cut for little Jake! :-)