We had the opportunity to visit the newly built Church of Our Lady of Akita at PIK, designed to resemble the original church in Akita, Japan.
This church is well known for the supernatural phenomenon where a statue of Mother Mary shed tears 101 times—scientifically confirmed to be human tears.
The atmosphere was solemn and serene. We took a moment for a short prayer, giving thanks for the past year and asking for blessings of good health, joy, peace, hope, love, and prosperity in the new year.
We had our Chinese New Year reunion dinner at Sentral Restaurant and were glad we chose the first session from 5:00–7:00 PM. Shortly after, heavy rain poured down, causing traffic jams and flooding everywhere.
Thankfully, we made it back to our hotel by 8:30 PM and had a good night’s rest.
The next day, we visited our grandparents' house to reunite with family and relatives. We also caught up with friends, as well as my brother and his kids—since we only get to meet once a year.
Grateful that everyone is healthy and well.
As usual, we traveled back to Jakarta for our Chinese New Year reunion. The day started with unexpected drama. Since our flight was at 7:35 AM on CNY Eve—a busy time when people are either traveling or preparing for reunion dinners—we decided to book a maxi cab in advance, paying a premium for the convenience.
Unfortunately, the driver forgot about our booking. We waited for 15 minutes, but with no sign of the cab and no option for online check-in, we had to reach the airport by 6:30 AM. By 6:00 AM, we had no choice but to book the first available Grab or taxi. Thankfully, both options arrived at the same time around 6:05 AM.
Checking Google Maps, we saw an estimated arrival time of 6:40 AM—technically too late for check-in. Panic? Of course!
I tried to stay calm and prayed the rosary during the ride, reflecting on what lesson I could take from this stressful situation. And then, a miracle happened. Papa, Trom and Ted arrived at the check-in counter a minute or two before mama and kook Richie. When I checked the time, it was 6:34 AM.
By God’s grace, the counter was still open, and we were the last passengers to check in.
This experience taught me two important lessons:
In the end, we arrived safely—earlier than expected—and met our parents, who picked us up at the airport. After that, we had lunch at CP, followed by haircuts for mama and the kids at TA before our reunion dinner.
As Bali is getting overcrowded and traffic jam everywhere and we didn't want to waste our time on the road and visit the places that we had visited before, we decided to visit new place within one route which is
1. Bali Farm House (Singaraja)
It's a newly opened farm house near Bedugul, the temperature is cooling and not many people. We saw many new animals that we never saw it before like Alpaca, Donkey, Big fatty chicken (I don't know the name).
The kids were having fun there feeding Alpaca.
2. Jatiluwih rice terrace
It's a new experience for the kids to see rice terrace where the rice produced. We had a small trekking for 2.5km along the way. It's a beautiful view that we took for granted.
3. Jatiwangi coffee plantation
Nearby, we visited luwak coffee plantation where they explained how luwak coffee made and gave us tasting of infused coffee and tea
4. Desa Coklat Bali
We visited cocoa plantation and factory where they explained how chocolate bar made from the bean until become bar, then we had chocolate dessert where we can taste the cocoa pod and nibs. It's kinda like mangosteen, sweet and sour.
5. Kuta beach
Bali without beach is not completed, thus we spent an hour in the morning to enjoy the breeze and the waves at Kuta beach while watching people learning surfing.
