Team OT (Mum and Oscar) had a few early days in Lombok before we arrived, so Team ML (Dad and Miles) stayed on for two extra days in Jakarta at the end.
We're heading home this evening, but we've had a whirlwind 48hrs since we arrived. The 30km taxi trip from Jakarta airport to our hotel on Friday afternoon took a scarcely believable 3hrs in some of the worst traffic I've ever seen. The Hotel Kempinski was impressive on arrival, though. Short of time before ML's bed time, we opted for dinner at the hotel's Italian restaurant. It was whole lot more posh than would normally suit Miles, but they fussed over him plenty, made him a special penne bolognese and weren't the least bit upset when he threw serviettes around and spilt food.
On Saturday we attempted some sightseeing on the double decker tourist punter bus. It crawled along at walking pace for no appreciable reason and Miles lost interest by the time we'd had a quick look at Monas (the big pointy monument in the centre of the city). Of way more interest to Miles was Carniville, the huge indoor amusement park in the shopping centre adjoining the hotel. Think Coney Island, but way better and much newer. He had an absolute blast for two hours (until he did an accidental wee on the climbing frame), came back for a nap, then went back for two more hours. He made some good local mates who thankfully bossed him back when he tried to assert himself as usual. Top, top fun for a high energy three-year-old.
Today, like every Sunday, is car free day in Jakarta, and the locals make the most of it by pouring out into the street with market stalls, bicycles everywhere, kids' TV characters and protest marches on any number of topics. When not having his chubby cheeks pinched by every female passerby, Miles was enthralled with the local skateboard dudes and their awesome stunt skills, cheering them on loudly. After a quick burst of Hi 5 on the room TV (a favourite with all the boys in the family), we headed back to use up the rest of Carniville credits, had a quick lunch, now it's bath and nap time before heading to our evening flight.
A cracking boys weekend and my little guy has been in largely top form throughout.
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| Zany traffic, everyone is a stunt driver |
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| Cop on a motorbike trying to get cars to stop using the shoulder. Our driver treated him like a police escort. |
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"Daddy, look! Just like my Lego policeman."
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Early morning view from our hotel room
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| Fraying at the edges on the slow, dull tour bus ride |
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| Phallic monument |
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| Much more fun to be had on rides at Carniville |
Indoor canoeing!
Street skating on car free day
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| Bath with a view, a telly, some chocolate and ... |
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| ... out for the count. |
