Day 1 and 2 or is it 3 LOL

It's very weird when traveling to SE Asia and you really loose a day going here and you leave and get back the same time you left. I left Lansing via my friend Chuck Roberts and he drove me to Grand Rapids at 8:30 am. I got to Lisa's house and we drove to Kalamazoo to pick up Tom. Then we drove to Chicago. Check in was a little more difficult than I had hoped but it all worked. We left at 4:30 pm from Chicago and got into Tokyo it was a 13 hour flight. We did a quick passport control and security check and had about 3 hours. Tried to find food but really no options. Then got on the plane to Jakarta and that was another 7 hours. I don't really sleep on planes so I've been up for quite awhile but gave me a lot of time to ponder life. LOL I was so blessed that I was able to get window seats like I like and no middle seat. So travel was as comfortable as it was going to get for these long flights. I stress about stuff like this but if there is one thing I continue to learn from Talia is she was always telling me to just trust God and it'll work out. She was right. Miss her so much yet but kind of feel so much of her in my spirit if that makes sense and I may be kind of off on that but I feel I'm doing a lot of her mannerisms and sayings etc.. The people from D'Jazz in Jakarta have been so hospitable and made customs and entry so easy. It was so nice!!! Thank you to Dennis and Steven whom I've met today. Tom, Lisa, and I are having great fellowship and eating good food in our first day. We are 12 hours different then USA.

​ I have learned Dad had to go back in the hospital so continuing to lift him up and again thank you all so much for all the love you have shown. That in itself is overwhelming! I am indeed blessed. 

I'll comment on pictures here because it's easy than in the gallery. We took off out of Chicago. They had 2 cameras you could look at from the plane one out the front and one that looked at the bottom. That was kind of cool. My window was pretty dirty and made it difficult to take pictures because as I zoomed it was focus on the dirt on the window! LOL But I got a few. So in the distance is Chicago in one pict. I think the next one may be like Green Bay, I'm not sure. We had a sunset for literally like 7 hours. As we just kept heading NW we just kept chasing the sun. That was fun. I was so enthralled with Alaska as you can see! LOL I thought maybe this is Narnia! LOL Then the next is pictures from Tokyo which was much different flying in then the last time I was here because I was at the other airport and you see the city more on this one and being here once before now I knew what to look for. Although both times I have not seen Mt. Fuji which I really want to see. Lisa got us this incredible sponge cake in the airport. As is always the case I can't ever get pictures of the moon. But it was really cool and red as you can see. I was looking at the map and just thinking how many wars have been fought in this reason to me. I was able to get a quick picture of Manila but the rest of the time it was dark or raining on the way to Jakarta. Next is our first few moments in Jakarta and meeting Dennis who was so nice. The traffic here is unlike anything I've ever seen. Not just because of the busyness but the lack of rules. Every 2 seconds I think someone is going to get hit on a motorbike. There are so many people that based on your license plate beginning odd or even you can't get on the express way at rush hour on that day then it switches to the next day. unreal. I can see food is going to be a great part of the trip. Next is our hotel. 

I had to take a picture of this too. The plane had a messaging system that you could type on the screen to another person on the plane. Talia was always so private and if we would travel, even if she was standing next to me, she would text me so nobody could hear what she would say. Even at the house she would whisper in the summer to me if the windows were open so the neighbors couldn't hear us. That was my Talia so I immediately thought of her when I saw this messaging thing because I know for a fact she would be typing everything to me. LOL 
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Now for the really funny part. Not everyone takes visa so they said it would be good to have a little cash on hand. So I went to the atm and I knew the conversion rate was nuts but I ended up getting out 100.000 Rupiah. I was like this has to be enough and man I'm feeling like the richest man in the world. When I got back to the van, they asked me how much I got out and I told them 100.000 and they were cracking up so hard. After I looked at my fees and stuff I basically had gotten out like $6 that's right pretty much $6=100,000. So it's hilarious to look at like gas prices and what a bottle of water costs, etc.. yes, I'd like that steak for 400,000 dollars. LOL  
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