Monday, February 26, 2024

The last day was purposefully scheduled for a slow day. I wanted to spend time with my daughter in her apartment for as much time as I could. I wanted to do laundry, so I would not have to do laundry when I got home, and so I could pack well. I also wanted to go back to the place where we ate that delicious cheese katsu since I was sure I wouldn’t get it again for another 4-5 years.

And we did all of that, plus I got to visit the embassy since my daughter works there.

We all need to remember that slow days are perfectly acceptable on vacations. This time was especially important to me because I won’t be able to see my daughter again in person for another year and because I was going directly back to work from the airport when I got back to the States.

One of the great things about my daughter’s apartment is that it’s within walking distance from her job. The only time I have ever been that close to my job is when I worked at Togiak Fisheries. As the website says, it’s remote. You can see it from the picture on the site. You basically lived at company across the bay from the actual village of Togiak, Alaska.

Clearly, this walk to her work was very different from my walk from the bunkhouse to the boxing facility at Togiak Fisheries.

I only have one picture of the embassy because once inside, you are not allowed to take pictures. It is a really lovely building on the inside with lots of well-lit work space. I got to see my daughter’s cubicle, which I told her she could never complain about because it is huge. There are people on my campus whose offices are smaller than her cubicle. My old office is smaller.

It’s so nice going to visit my children in their own spaces. It makes me so proud of them because it’s clear that people know them and like them and aren’t just being polite because their mom has shown up.

I also found it funny how surprised they were at how many places and things we had done in my short amount of time. I don’t blame them. I’m still surprised by that, too!

Several of them asked Kiana about how she arranged the trips because many of them had never been to several of the places even though they had heard of them.

I also thought it was funny how shocked her boss was when he found out how much I liked riding ojeks. Apparently, he thinks they are scary and dangerous and has tried to convince her several times to take a taxi back from somewhere rather than an ojek even though the latter is cheaper and faster. It makes me happy that she has a boss looking out for her though, so I don’t mind if her boss thinks I’m a bit crazy. That’s probably not a bad thing either.

After the tour of the embassy, we left to go to the mall for lunch. I got the same thing, but Kiana got a beef katsu where you had to cook it on hot plate at table. I have never seen that before. She said it was okay. My choice was just as divine as it was the first time.

Afterwards, we headed to the grocery store in the mall. Kiana needed to buy food. She hadn’t really done much grocery shopping before I came because we really weren’t home that much to eat a lot of food.

I took the above right picture for my friend in tje States who always seemed to be going to Cold Stone Creamery. I also took the picture of the durians because this was where I understood the smell people were talking about.

Remember when I tasted durian for the first time, I didn’t really notice a smell. However, that wasn’t the case in the store. I remember asking Kiana, before I even saw the durian, what that smell was–a combination of gasoline and a mild fart. And she pointed to the stack of durian. Now I know why they don’t want you bringing them on the train.

I also took a picture of the self-rising flour for my mom who has been complaining that it is harder and harder to find self-rising flour in the states. The last two pictures were for me because I wanted to remember how there were two rows of different kinds of rice. Both the bottom pictures are of rice!

I also wanted to buy more masks that are more comfortable. I still have some K-95 masks. I like the way they fit my face, but the straps are too short and pull on my ears. This is fine if I am wearing them for a short time, but I still mask up while being on the airplane, especially on the way to Seoul when I was really trying to be careful not to get sick before visiting Seunghye’s mom. My ears were sore by the time I got to Seoul.

Because air pollution is so bad in Jakarta, there are lots of places and varieties of masks to buy that are cheaper than what I can get at home. So I stocked up on a couple of different kinds.

I took pictures of the grocery items I bought when I unpacked. When I did the packing, I was concentrating more on making sure everything fit not documentation.

I didn’t buy the item on top left. Kiana bought it for me because I liked Indonesian fried rice so much. It’s a flavor packet to make my own here. The next picture is of their brand of spicy chips. I want to see if I like them as much as I like the spicy chips from South Korea. I wanted to buy cinnamon because King Arthur flour company sells Indonesian cinnamon and Vietnamese cinnamon for a LOT more than regualr cinnamon, and I wanted to know if Indonesian cinnamon is different. I know that vanilla from other countries is way better than the vanilla we can get in grocery stores in States (shout out to my friend, Meg, for bringing back vanilla from Mexico), so I wanted to see how different it is.

Finally, there are two items that topped my lists of tastes from being in Indonesia. A couple of the dipping sauces, specifically the one we had at Namu Tuang Cafe & Resto, had at their base kecap manis, Indonesian sweet soy sauce. I loved the taste and bought two different brands to see which I liked best.

Then finally, last but definitely not least, I bought a bag of sambal, Indonesian chili paste. It’s frequently served as a sauce on the side, and I loved it in all its versions everywhere I went. It never failed to make everything taste better. It does have a kick but the flavor! I had never heard of it before, but that’s because I’m ignorant of half the world’s great foods. Read more about it in the link.

After the shopping, we went back to the apartment, and I did laundry and figured out how to pack everything properly, including the new clothes I bought, the tea (Korea) and coffee (Indonesia), the bowls, and the spices.

I also remembered that I wanted to take some pictures from outside the windows of her apartment, to remember the sights and sounds of the neighborhood.

I also remembered that I hadn’t taken a picture of the cheese in her freezer without all of the wrapping.

I got everything done and ready in time, but before she confirmed our taxi, Kiana suggested I check on the flight again. I’m so glad I did because they had delayed the flight for two hours. This was great not only because it meant that we didn’t leave too early, but I hadn’t been able to find one of the locks for my luggage. I also had forgotten the lumbar support I alway travel with for airline seats. I had forgotten it in the closet in the bed room. I would have been miserable without it on that long flight back!

Eventually, we did leave. The drive to the airport was uneventful as was the check-in. As you can see below, it wasn’t very crowded at all. Maybe because it was a Monday night?

I was a little concerned about the layover in Seoul since we had less time now withthe flight delay, but no one seemed to be that worried at the desk. They did put a special “short connection” tag on my bag though, which I had never seen before. I don’t know if this is a new thing or if it’s just a Korean Air thing, but I did appreciate it.

I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t cry. That last picture of me and Kiana was me putting on a brave face for the picture right before I cried. I hate leaving my kids!

I had plenty of time to wait once I got to my gate. I bought some water and some ice cream (to help with my sadness).

Once again, I slept most of the way to Seoul. It was really difficult hearing the announcements, but I do remember them saying as we were preparing to land that they people who have connections need to be prepared to get off quickly. That woke me up right quick!

I got off the plane and learned that a good strategy is to follow nuns. People make way for nuns. I don’t know what connection they had, but we were all booking it through the airport to our gates. Following them gave me an advantage.

I also love how Korean air texts to let you know that your bags have made the flight. I couldn’t help thinking, “Okay, but what if I don’t?”

It ended up not being a problem. I got there in time: enough for a quick trip to the bathroom, but not enough to get food.

Pretty quickly, I was back in the air, leaving Seoul.

Another peaceful flight with me alternating between sleeping and watching the drama about Julia Child and eating my Paris Baguette/Korean Air partner sandwich. Okay, most of the time it was really me sleeping.

I left Seoul at around 9:45 am on that Tuesday and arrived at Boston Logan at around 9 am on that Tuesday. I think I slept at least ten of the 16+ hours I was on that flight. Arriving at a pretty laid back airport. I really should always try to travel on a Tuesday or Wednesday. There are hardly any lines anywhere, even at customs. I was basically waiting ofr the Logan Express bus by myself.

So my trip came to a close. I took the bus to Framingham, got in my car, and went atraight to work. I had hoped to make it for the beginning of a meeting, but I just missed a bus and had to wait for a half hour for the next one (they run every half hour). It was fun surprising people in the middle of the meeting. I felt pretty cool bopping in like Indiana Jones in my backpack still ready to take on the day.

People were impressed and surprised but shouldn’t have been. I have not been that rested in years! I had probably slept for at least 13-14 hours in the last 24. I got a LOT of work done that day and the next. It’s amazing what good sleep can do for a person.

This is the last post about the trip, but I’m going to try to work on another post just about ojeks since I love them so much, but only if I can figure out how to get more video off my phone and onto this blog.