Saturday, 28Oct06

Highlights: Blok A, Marine Corps Ball

It didn’t occur to me earlier, but as of yet, my knowledge of Jakarta is mostly limited to the beaten path to the embassy, the grocery store, and a few cafes and warung around my house. Most attempts to drive around & see the city are hindered by the unpleasant expectation of burning half of your day stuck in traffic between all points of interest.

The first question, what to do, was answered by Nina’s need to find a flower corsage for her hair tonight, to replace the one she forgot in Yogya last night. A quick trip to the traditional market at Blok A solved that.

Nina and I walking around together become a short-order spectacle. It was hard to convince people that we’re dating,,, and haven’t set wedding plans yet. Setting the record straight every 5 minutes becomes counter-productive, and really- if that’s the worst misunderstanding that happens all day- it’ll still be a pretty good day. (=

Getting ready for the ball took a couple hours… 20 minutes for me, and a couple hours waiting for Nina (= ha ha. But it was well worth the wait. Lydia & I were down in the kitchen when Nina appeared from Lydia’s room, walking down the stairs. She was beautiful. (=