We started the day by attending the flag raising ceremony at the Bureau of Statistics. It was impressive to see all the staff dressed in their matching batik and although I didn't understand the Director's speech (given in Bahasa), I'm sure it was very inspiring. Next, we headed over to "Taman Mini", which translates to "Mini Park", where they have buildings representing the style of each major region of Indonesia. It's all centered around a lake, so you drive/walk around the perimeter and tour the country! Inside the park there are also several museums, but the only one we visited was the Reptile Museum--lots of big snakes, crocodiles, and a Komodo Dragon! In my experience, zoos traditionally allow you to look at animals through glass/cages, but here they brought the snakes out, letting anyone who wanted to hold and touch them. I did my photo-op with a couple pythons, but I drew the line at going into the cage with the Komodo Dragon! Jake, however did not. He was eaten. Just kidding. After the park, we heard there would be a parade on one of the main streets in Jakarta, so we went looking for the celebration. We kept wandering and weren't seeing anything, but a few people directed us towards the President's house. Apparently there were ceremonies that you could try to get a glimpse of from the street. Well right was we got there, they were allowing a few people to go inside to fill seats set up just outside the gates and we got to go in! We got to see marching bands and some awesome dragon-costumed dancers, followed by a procession of members of all the different armed forces and the flag-lowering ceremony to end the day. Of course my camera battery died right as we got there, but I felt really l
ucky to be able to see all of it! To cap off the day, we decided that any really good birthday should be celebrated at Benihana, where we toasted Indonesia reaching retirement age.Mmm...ya, I'll stay here, thanks.
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