It all started with hamburgers. I thought it was a simple enough meal to try to prepare for tea last night (Monday night). Mmm...not so sure now.

I did the grocery shopping during the morning at a large-ish chain of grocery stores that generally and  reliably have a lot of imported stuff and Western foods for us "delicate" and "fussy" expats!  This day...no bread rolls or hamburger buns.  (all were the sweetened Asian bread...yecch!!) Great start (not!!) for our hamburgers, that by now I had my heart (or rather stomach!!) set on (and I'd told the children, so HAD to happen!!). So, I peeled back and grabbed some breadmix. Easy...I'll chuck it in the breadmaker while making the other components of the burgers...too easy.

Raced around during the day, went out to collect cherubs from school and attend a work meeting...and bammo, one Mother of a thunderstorm just as we were all leaving my meeting at round 3.45pm.  Yay. Chaos on the roads, localised flooding everywhere, very hairy driving conditions, and everyone was a bit frazzled when we got home. Made it safely though.

Still pouring rain.

After we unloaded everything, and by the time I came back from the bathroom, D1 & D2 had spread themselves out in the kitchen AGAIN...and have icing and cake EVERYWHERE!!!! Arrrrgggghhhh!!! We had all this on Sunday, and it drove me nuts!! It was lovely that they want to cook, but the mess that they generate is enormously exponentially larger than the end results!! (And on Sunday...our house helper has they day off...great!!) And, of course, D1 and D2 do not "see" cleaning up as part of the deal.

Still pouring rain. Road at front of our house - flooding.

I elbowed my way in to the kitchen, and at least put the bread mixer on to start making the dough.  And left the kitchen...with instructions that they hurry up and finish what they're doing and CLEAN UP!!!  (At  least our home helper was there to help with cleaning up...phew...some sanity preserved!!)

Still pouring rain. Road at front of our house - flooding. Yard flooding, pool filling up...

I eventually got back into a clean-ish kitchen, and mixed the mince for the rissoles/patties, chucked the fresh beetroot in the microwave to steam, cut up the onions and mushrooms and put them on low to cook and caramelize, cut up the tomato and lettuce...and tried to dodge three other people in the kitchen.

Still pouring rain. Road at front of our house - flooding. Yard flooding, pool filling up... Thunder and lightning...

D1 comes out with attitude to boot saying her shower is not working properly, and that her shower has no hot water.

Pouring rain. Road at front of our house - flooding. Yard flooding, pool filling up... Thunder and lightning... Noisy, noisy with rain so heavy!

I decided to let our gardener/guard/home handy person know there was potentially a problem with the hot water.  I checked the circuit board...all OK. The circuit board decided to spectacularly fry itself on Thursday last week, and burnt through a safety switch...all very dramatic stuff.  Thankfully we were home and our  gardener/guard/home handy person rapidly shut the main switch off averting most probably a house fire.  I shudder to think.  Anyhow, this was not the current problem.  Thankfully our gardener/guard/home handy person went to investigate and realised that the hot water system that supplies D1's bathroom (and D2's/S1's bathroom and laundry) had blown a hose! So, in fact the water dripping down all over the windows of the laundry was water from the hot water system...not the pelting down noisy rain! I think I probably would have even missed that that what it was...but thank goodness gardener/guard/home handy person didn't! He checked that the pipes etc were not live (by touching them!!! Aaaaaarrrggghh!!!) then turned the power off.  Then he tried to tackle the hose pipe spraying hot water everywhere full bore.  No taps to turn it off, water spraying into the laundry now.  At least he managed to redirect the water to the garden.  I'm not sure how long it had been spraying water everywhere, but all the laundry hanging out under cover to dry was now drenched, and so were the gardener/guard/home handy person and his wife.

Still pouring rain. Road at front of our house - flooding. Yard flooding, pool filling up... Thunder and lightning... Noisy, noisy with rain so heavy! Now people talking loudly, children asking a million questions loudly...

At this point, I poured myself a glass of wine.

That didn't fix the problem surprisingly...the water was still gushing.  Full bore. More wine...

Our gardener/guard/home handy person was now doing his impression of the boy and his finger and a dyke...

I tried to call the number we have for house maintenance and problems.  No English.  Get desperate and ring real estate agent.  He gave me the home owner's mobile number...call them. 5.30-6 pm. She is not impressed...tough.  She agrees to send someone...TOMORROW!!!!! No, no, no...not good enough sorry.  She agrees to send someone tonight...much better thank you very much.

Burgers are burning...

Wine still not fixing problem.

Staff getting panicky.

Call my husband...making staff much happier.  Of course...a man will fix it and know what to do...although I admit in this case, they're probably right...but, he's still yet to arrive home!  Finally husband and driver arrive home and driver is amazing and knows where and how to shut off all water to house.  Phew!! Temporary relief of crisis.  The men manage to isolate water and just shut off water to that part of the house that is affected. Phew!! We rang owner back to apologise, and say we would be ok until tomorrow if needed, but by now of course, repairman has arrived.  Problem inspected and they will return to fix tomorrow. (I think.)

Onions and mushrooms and burgers now burning...

At 6.30pm we all sat down to a hamburger each, homemade buns, homemade meat pattie, fresh steamed beetroot and salad with caramelized onions and mushrooms....not bad if I do say so myself.

What a day!!

Life in Jakarta continues to be a challenge!!!