112. JAKARTA ROCKS!

This Grand Dame's 87th gave me an insight into the private lives of the well-to-do Indonesian Chinese in Jakarta.  The house party was in their large home in an exclusive suburb. The luncheon was a grand affair for family and employees of the matriarch. It was so old world and gracious.

The set-up in the garden...complete with chandeliers and mist fans

The buffet spread...the house has a large collection of family heirlooms, antiques and artefacts...
Having visited the homes of several family members before, this is typical - the Chinese here seem more Chinese than the Singaporean Chinese. They proudly preserve the mores, the culture and heritage of their ancestors, which is predominantly Confusian. They worry the younger lot might be losing all this. It's beautiful to see - they may be Chinese not speaking Chinese, not using their Chinese names yet are proudly Chinese. At the same time, they are nationalistic about being Indonesian. The dress code was batik.

               Mistress of all I survey - for a day...

Live Bands - there was the melodious strain of Javanese gamelan music and songs... the instuments are from the family's private collection of antiques...

....and amateur violinists.....the youngest members of the extended family. So old world....so genteel....I felt transported to another time another place...the rest of the day, old style Indonesian music came from their collection of vinyl records played on a turntable...still working... 

                              
                             Beauty Overload....!

Heard that bit about older women? They are like good wine - they get better with age. Smart thinking men enjoy their scintillating company for their sparkling conversation...only those with good self-esteem are not intimidated...

The Indonesian Muslims I've met are really special - they don't have problems with dogs. Some guests were Muslims, there was pork at the buffet table, none flinched. The serving staff did not have hangups serving the dish nor clearing and washing up the dishes. The family dogs sniffed around their feet, none of the staff looked nor jumped...
We've driven into Muslim heartlands in Central and West Java with at least 1 dog, nobody created any fuss...

I'm going to spend more time checking out the most populous Muslim country in the world...with a road trip into East Java from Bali...can't wait...