Singapore here I come!!!

Three and a half weeks into my move and I will be traveling to Singapore next week!! Since we decided to only get my visitors visa I am required to leave the country every 30 days to renew it. Travis has some restrictions on his travel due to work and his visa so I will be traveling solo. I am very excited to see what Singapore has to offer in my short 1-2 day trip. The purpose of my trip is to renew my visa but I might as well check it out since I'm there. This first month has flown by quickly and I can hardly believe its time for me to renew my visa already.

Work at the clinic has been great. We usually go in together on Mon, Tues and Fri at least. I am training the marketing staff on how to perform spinal screenings and also helping fine tune office procedures and train the clinic staff. Travis is already busier than most docs here and as far as I know he is the only corrective care / wellness doctor in Indonesia. Most others are mainly pain relief and don't educate their patients very well. The patients are responding well to his educational corrective approach and are able to see amazing and lasting results. Just last week one of his patients Mac Yim took us out for lunch as a thank you for the care he is getting. We went to a little place around the corner for a traditional Indonesian family style lunch. They order a dozen or so meals and all share them. Lets start off by saying I had NO idea what I was eating...but they were actually putting food on my plate from theirs. I ate everything happily not wanting be considered rude if I didn't accept. Everything I ate was wonderful, however they do seem to use and extraordinary amount of spice in everything they eat which in my case will take some getting used to. The sights and smells were something to see. Everything from a large whole fish fried to a crisp with the eye, spike, bones and scales included. They showed me how to eat with my hands and assured me I was suppose to eat everything...bones included :) Next I had some mussels and prawn fritters, BBQ chicken leg, bowls of something that resembled wet spinach, tofu and of course a mandatory heaping serving of rice. We drank sweet tea after.

When not at work we have been spending time working on things for the office. One of my favorite things to do is go out to eat. There are so many amazing places to experience here. Its also my favorite because, and I'm not sure why they do this, but when Travis pays the bill they deliver the change to me :) We go out for sushi at least once a week. Last Wednesday we went to a wonderful authentic Italian restaurant. The food and homemade breads were to fantastic! We also go to a movie at least once a week. Have seen Star Trek, Terminator, Transformers, and The missing Lynx. We go to the Premier theater here and it is top notch. They have full sized lazy boy recliners with blankets and they serve you anything you want... a meal, popcorn, cocktails or even a coffee latte. But my favorite past time has to be THE SPA! I have been to the spa 3 times already and each time was uniquely spectacular. Last Thurs we went to a great spa called Puri Santi. The place was beautiful with running water, bamboo and stones everywhere. Travis upgraded us to the VIP couples massage suite so we got our own personal suite where we each received a 2 1/2 hour massage I also had a cucumber and honey facial and pedicure. They served us ginger tea outside. (yes I know my life is rough here)

I have also had the opportunity to meet some of Travis' great friends. His friend Marianna is having us over to her party tonight and last night we went out to a nice roof top club with another. Everyone I have met here has been very nice. All the people seem to be very helpful. I have been able to pick up some Indonesian but very little. I need to study it start trying to use it more.

To sum up my first month: I have been having an amazing time. We have done so much already and our trips have not even yet begun. I seriously have nothing to complain about and as you can read Travis is going a great job of spoiling me :)

Love and miss you all and look forward to seeing everyone in October!

I have included some pics from the Healthy lifestyles & Chiropractic seminar Travis gave at Danaman Bank. They have already asked us to come back.

fun, fun, fun

Wow Its only Saturday and I feel like I have done so much already. I am having a great time re-organizing Travis' clinic and had my first CA training with the staff yesterday. Everyone seemed to respond very positively to the changes and training and I am excited to see the impact this makes on the clinic. The current front desk manager is going back to school so her last day was Fri. To celebrate her new adventure we took the staff out for a nice dinner.

Travis seems to have a handle on all the great places to eat in Jakarta so we have been to a lot of really interesting places. Cork & Screw may have been my favorite so far..that's where we took the staff for dinner on Wed. Thursday we went to a chamber event at the ridiculously nice Kempinski Hotel. Free wine, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres but it was a bit stuffy for us so we kicked out and went across the street to Immigrant for pizza and margiritas!!! Friday night was pretty laid back and I was excited because I finally got to cook! I made pesto & mushroom penne pasta w/ chicken and devoured almost an entire bottle of wine while watching Bridget Jones Diary.

Today I'm off on another shopping adventure (yes, I know my life is horrible) I hear there is a huge sale at Grand Indonesia Mall and I feel its my duty to confirm this report first hand :) Then possibly a nap by the pool before we head out to a party tonight!

1 week down

Well its Monday night and I have only been here about a week but lots of exciting things are happening already. Looks like I will be joining a gym and I'm looking forward to taking the classes there. One of them has Tai Chi which I enjoy. I have also already started a list for training ideas for the clinic. I am very excited about the challenge of incorporating everything I know into the different culture of the clinic here. TRIPS! We have planned several trips already. We will be going to Kuala Lumpur (Malasia) and also will be traveling to Bali again over the holiday in July. This time we are going to Seminyak, Bali which is much more quiet than Kuta where we were the last time. We are also planing to go to Lombok and the Gili Islands in August.

I just returned from a shopping adventure in Kemang area looking for things for the apartment. Found a specialty health food store with gluten free products, a coffee pot, toaster, and glasses of all sorts along with a bunch of other odds and ends. I had such a great time shopping I must have forgot I had to lug all those bags around by myself and take a cab home...but had a great time and I survived my first trip out alone and made it back just fine. Tomorrow I plan to attend my first hot yoga class and spend the day walking about the apartment complex. Its HUGE and I need to be able to find my way around a bit more.

I am looking forward to meeting some new friends and have been having a great time here! First week was a Sucess!!!

First Day

My first day in Jakarta

I arrived in Jakarta at about 1PM and was picked up by Travis' wonderful assistant Nuki. She was my guide buddy for the day since Travis had patients until about 7PM. She gave me a new phone and told me that everything had been prepared for me and we were going to the apartment first. I had no idea what she meant but the first thing on my list of things to do was a shower after my 30 hours of travel.

After a short cab ride through some crazy traffic we arrived and the apartment. It is small but very nice and on the 36th floor so we have an amazing view! As soon as I opened the door I was welcomed by a beautiful orchid with a card saying "Welcome Home Sara". I was then told to hurry and shower because Travis had booked a "jet lag" spa package for me. Yipee...I have only been here an hour and I'm already going to the spa. I can tell you that is exactly what I needed after such a long flight. The spa was amazing. It had a waterfall, bamboo hallway and a lava rock floor (to massage your feet as you walk) I eagerly relaxed as she started with washing my feet and listened to the sound of chirping frogs. After the best 1 1/2 hours of massage I have ever had I was taken to the Spa Cafe to have my tea. Night was falling as I was sipping my ginger tea overlooking the city and thinking to myself...ahhhh, I think I'm starting to like my new home very much!

After my tea I went back to wait for Travis to come home. Thankfully he came home prepared...I was starving and he had pizza! After the pizza we drank a bottle of Asti on the balcony. It was so great to see him again. We had a great time catching up and drinking our wine. My first day in Jakarta had been a wonderful one. I couldn't have been welcomed home any better!