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Published: January 11th 2010
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JFS 27km run
Pelabuhan Ratu Selamat Natal & Tahun Baru!! Yet another festive season spent in Indonesia! 😉
Let's summarise my last couple of months in Jakarta
I. A couple of interesting runs
II. A few nights out
III. A day trip to Bidadari Island - Pulau Seribu
My 2 running groups always give me ample opportunity to explore the surrounding areas and increase the distance in the legs.
So I joined a couple of TGIS Hash runs again and got up at very ungodly hours on my sunday morning to get to some remote place selected by a fellow runner.. BUT the runs are always more than worth it!
One sunday morning we ventured out to Pelabuhan Ratu (West coast of Java) at 3am in the morning (approx 2h drive) to hit the (off-)road at sunrise. It was an amazing 26km run and about half way we got to stop and cool off in a small waterfall on the side of the road and take in the scenery! The unfortunate ending to this great sunday morning was a 6h traffic jam on the way back to Jakarta... Welcome to Indonesia! 😊
I also ran my first 21.1km race in Jakarta. Not
JFS 27km run
Pelabuhan Ratu the biggest turn out, and since running is not too popular amongst the female population, I actually managed to win the race! Very good for the ego :D
The day trip to Pulau Seribu was also an excellent break from the city life. Just a 20min boat trip to a tiny island called Bidadari. It is one of the closest to the coast, so not too exotic, but you can travel to up to 3hours to reach the more northern islands, which are said to be much more unspoiled! But none the less, nice scenery and sunshine for a day!
I also completed my last STOTT exam and passed with flying colours this time 😉 The poor girl had to do a full hour of advanced exercises and worked up a serious sweat :D
I was also the body for a photo shoot for a local fitness magazine! I was quite honoured I must say! I just received this months magazine and was happily surprised with the result of the 6-page pilates article!
After all that it was time to go on holiday! 😉 My first stop was
Mataram - where I stayed with an
JFS 27km run
Pelabuhan Ratu awesome CS host. Meindert & Zee and their 2 month old son, Tostari.
Got to eat loads of great local food, got some good tips to shop at the local market after joining Zee on her weekly grocery shopping, enjoyed sate & kelapa madu (young coconut juice) on the beach in Sengiggi while watching the sunset and learned a bit more about how to deal with 2 month old babies 😉
I got a smooth ride to the harbour of Bangsal on the back of Meindert's motorbike along the densely forested roads of Lombok, to start my diving course on Gili Air!
So the second stop was the Blue Marlin dive shop on
Gili Air. I started my 4-day course straight away and was lucky to be the only one that day to start the course! So private attention for Liz on my first couple of underwater adventures!
I didnt quite expect to spend my first few days on the island with my nose in a studying book, but it was worth it in the end. A whole new world opened up! Even more to be explored in Indonesia now!
The remaining of my holiday was spent surrounded by
JFS 27km run
Pelabuhan Ratu dear friends. I had a couple of Jakarta friends visiting and also met amazing people on the island! As usual days pass quickly while doing nothing... I did a few snorkelling trips with the dive shop (free trips on the boat to the other islands if you did your course with them! NICE!), tried to run around the island a couple of times every day (uhuum... ok, maybe not EVERY day :D), read a book, catch a tan and talk rubbish with the girls!
What a life! Xmass evening was spent with some nice people from CS, while listening to live music at the local bar. And on New Years eve I had my feet in the sand and a G&T in my hand while dodging stray fire works. Overall, yet again, an awesome holiday!
But all too soon I was hit back to reality as I had a client at 7am on monday morning! Welcome back to the big & currently rain city!
But after a few days of holiday blues I was ready to celebrate my 26th Bday full steam!
I had a great dinner with my 2 girlfriends - Hellen & Nina. They got an over-the-top
decadent chocolate cake for dessert, so I licked my fingers and unbuttoned the pants in satisfaction... :D
After I recovered from the sugar rush we went to Immigrant, a nice bar in the area, where I was meeting the rest of my friends for a celebratory drink! Their DJ wasnt really up to standard so we all decided to move on to X2, one of the well known clubs. So I finally got my Jakarta clubbing experience and stayed on the dance floor until 4am! I therefore decided to give the 5am running group a break for just this once! :D
For the SA peeps - I will be back in CT from the 10th-20th! Hope to meet you all!
The Belgian peeps might just have to wait an ietsie-pietsie longer....
Kisses & speak soon!
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Familie Bleys
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News from Bizzy Lizzy
Hi Liz! Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to you!! Weeral en mooi verslag vanuit Indonesië! 't is altijd fijn om te horen hoe het met je gaat en natuurlijk via de foto's te zien waar je verblijft. Hier is 't echt putje winter, ééntje met veel sneeuw en ijs op de weg...van binnenuit gezien mooi als een postkaart of om in de natuur te wandelen maar minder plezant als je 's morgens de baan op moet. Ons Caroline zit nog 3 weken in de examens en dan gaat ze nog een beetje méér sneeuw in Oostenrijk opzoeken om te snowboarden. Ik veronderstel dat je van 10 tot 20 februari in Cape Town verblijft. Geniet van het weerziens met mam en pap en de vrienden. Wij wensen je het allerbeste met alles wat je onderneemt en tot wederhoren hé! Véél liefs van Roger, Rita en Caroline xxx