BBQ and Birthday Bash

As I mentioned in the other post - we celebrated Roy's birthday with our community group from church and combined it with other birthdays and the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival.  The See family who host our community group each week had 3 birthdays in September as well, so it was quite a fun evening.  Mr. See fired up the grill and we BBQd chicken wings and sausages.  People brought all kinds of good food - fried rice (not like what you get at a Chinese take away shop in the US!), fried noodles, a japanese soup, salads, fresh fruit and satay with spicy peanut sauce.  

We hung up lanterns with little candles insides.  One caught on fire, but was quickly put out!  

We sang happy birthday to Roy, Aaron, Sue Ann, Jen Ann, and Aunty...

And then we played games.  Our CG loves to play games and Roy and I have a bunch that we brought with us from the US.  Previously, we tried Cranium with the group, but ran into problems with too many cultural references that others didn't get.  Like when Roy had to imitate someone and I was the only one who understood, "And that's the way it is." (said in a gruff voice like a news anchor). Unfortunately for Roy, I was on the other team.  So this night we brought some other games - like Set, Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase.  Oh wow!  We had a blast.  It was so much fun.  It is a great blessing to have such a wonderful group of friends here.  

Roy's Birthday Cake

Roy's birthday is September 13 which this year fell on the same weekend as the Mid-Autumn Festival/Lantern Festival/Mooncake Festival in the Chinese calendar.  September is also a big birthday month for our community group, so the group decided to have a big BBQ to celebrate everything at once.  (see other blog for more on that).  So, my friend Hannah and I got to talking and decided to combine forces to make a spectacular birthday cake.  She has been taking a cake decorating class and wanted to try her hand at fondant (thick paste of sugar and water that covers cakes and makes them look smooth). I would make the cake.  We met and my house about 11 a.m. and started the work. It took 6 hours!  It was lot of fun and I learned a lot - especially to be very appreciative of those bakers who do this for a living.  Here are some photos of the process!  

Making the daisies:

Daisies drying:
Buttercream frosting first to make a good contact area for the fondant:
We used the leftover cake batter to make cupcakes for each birthday person (there were 7!)  We colored the buttercream frosting yellow to match the fondant on the cake.
Hannah rolling out the fondant.  The cake was two layers and each one is done separately.
Attaching the daisies with gum paste.
Ta Da!  The finished product:  

Jakarta

Roy and I went to Jakarta, Indonesia earlier this month.  Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world with over 179 million Muslims (222 million total population).  It is spread out over an area as large as the US with over 17,000 islands!  Jakarta is a bustling capital city with lots of traffic and smog - crowded with more motorcycles than you've ever seen.  But there is a new building against the skyline now - a beautiful church building.  Roy and I were able to attend the dedication of the Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia's (GRII) newest sanctuary - the Messiah Cathedral.  The complex includes the sanctuary, a concert hall, a museum, offices and dormitories for seminary students.  Stephen Tong, who is the head of the GRII, has been ministering in Asia for 50+ years.  He travels each week to Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong to lead Bible studies.  The one in Malaysia has over 1200 people attend and is in both Chinese and English.  Here is a photo of the new church:

While we were in Jakarta, we attended a classical music concert at the church as well as an evangelistic rally at one of the large stadiums.  On Saturday morning, thousands gathered to sing and rejoice for the gift of this new church complex.  

It is very difficult to get permits to build new church buildings in countries like Indonesia.  Many churches meet in office buildings.  The permits for this new church took 15 years!  It is to the glory of God that it has been completed.  We are thankful for the opportunity to have joined in the celebration.

Landscaping

When we rented the house it was a little bare on the outside.  I wanted to get some plants and fix it up a little.  So I hired a landscaper and he fixed things up a bit.  I had him lay some sod around the lipstick palm and add some plants.  I also bought a jasmine which is in the pot next to the grass.  We joked that instead of a riding lawn mower, we ought to get a remote control lawnmower!  

The outside flower beds were filled with weeds and so they started from scratch pulling the old out and putting in some new plants.  
I bought this bougainvillea at a local nursery.  It has been blooming beautifully and I'm hoping it will grow larger and climb up the column.
I bought some hanging plants as well.  Here is one of the petunias.  I also got some impatiens, a chinese rose plant, a philodendron and something the lady called a monkey plant.  
It's nice to have some color out in the yard and we are enjoying the greenery.