The Mall the Zoo and Valentine's Day

The traffic here is TERRIBLE!  We are staying at a C&MA guest house and can use many modes of transportation to get from point A to point B.  Thankfully none of our options are too expensive and we've used quite a variety depending on different factors.  

This is us in a 'bajaj'.  It's a 3 wheeled contraption that has a bench seat in the back.  We can all squeeze in, but it's a little crowded and hot.  They are smaller than cars, though, so they can squeeze through traffic a little more easily and can also use back roads/alleyways that the taxis can't.

 If we have a lot of stuff or it's late at night, we'll take a taxi.  My favorite is probably an 'ojek' which is a motorcycle taxi.  That is easily the fastest way to get anywhere, although, probably not the safest...

There are so many malls here, and most of them are really nice.  They are huge and have hundreds of stores and restaurants.  Of course they are super expensive and we don't really buy much at the Gucci and Tiffany & Co. stores, but there are some fun things to do!

Gideon was the train conductor

 Daddy and Roman were his passengers:)

 Raquel and I rode on the carousel

 Then all three kids went on these flying camels.  We thought they were just going to spin around, but they ended up going up and down while spinning really fast.  It looked kind of crazy and I was a little concerned about Roman, but he thought it was great:)

 On Valentine's day we headed to the Zoo!  We had heard about it from another family who had been staying at the guest house and it sounded like fun.  You can't beat the price- 45 cents for adults and 35 cents for children 3 and up.  It was a beautiful day and it was mostly deserted.  The kids had a blast running around, following the signs and finding their favorite animals.

Raquel got to pet the horse!

 I learned something new at the zoo.  We are often called 'bule' by the people here.  It's just a slang term for white people.  I didn't know that it really means 'albino':)

 Gideon was saying "Hi ducks" to the pelicans

 There were some racoons from America.  Do they have racoons in the zoos in the States?

 This tiger was pretty crazy.

 We're pretty sure he wanted to eat our children...

 We bought the kids some popsicles from a little vendor and I'm sure they were full of horrible things.  Here Gideon shows how it stained his skin.  It took a while to wash it off.  Yummy!

 Love that toothless grin:)

 

The kids also loved the bus ride home.

 

FYI- you may not bring your dog or knife on the bus, and keep your hands off the ladies' skirts!

 After tiring the kids out, we put them to bed and then, when they were asleep, we got to go out on a date!  It was the first time in about 4 months that we've done that.  So fun to be able to go out on Valentine's day!  We went to a nearby mall and had a delicious meal at a fun restaurant.  We even got a Caesar salad!  That might not sound like a big deal, but Caesar salads don't exist where we live normally.  Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!