‘The usual island life’ you know?!
Hi there, back for a new update. Since we have last spoken, I have opened the restaurant. First for three nights in the weekend but starting this week every night of the week except for Thursday. The island isn’t very busy yet but since March the weather has really taken a turn and more weekenders have come back to the island. Mostly Indonesian guests but also some expats living in Indonesia. Redy had his first group of guests last weekend and it was very fun to be back in the game.
Currently, we are working on some new ideas to continue growing Basa-basi in 2021, although the market will not be as filled with opportunities as in usual years. However, we do believe if we manage to put our plans in place, we are going to have a very fun and profitable year. Then imagine how things are going to be as soon as the western guest comes back to the island. I know some of you might think, Fleur don’t take too much on your plate. I completely agree so that is why we now have a partime manager who helps me out with running the restaurant part of the week and some online work she can assist me with.
Besides my work for Mercedes in Holland, I also started helping an old business contact with his furniture factory in Jepara. He needed some extra hands and eyes, as he isn’t able to travel to Indonesia currently so I am giving him a hand. I went on a little trip for him the other day, to Jepara, and it was actually a very nice break from everything going on over here! So juggling a lot at the moment but I hope I can pass on some of my responsibilities at Basa-basi to my new team too. If you don’t follow us yet, go and follow Basa-basi because lots is going to happen there soon!! Hopefully hehe…
My ankle is almost back to normal so I finally started doing some real exercise again. I try to have less phone time and more brain breaks. I am still disappointed in myself about keeping in touch with everybody over there but it keeps being a struggle I can’t figure out to do right. More about that in another post. Friends and family here are good. Everybody is busy with their own little projects and lives. Joyce’s hotel is going very well and she just left for Jepara to give birth to her second son. Astrid is finishing up the renovation of her bungalow and started doing these very cool online Yoga classes. She has been a yoga instructor now for a while and her classes are getting more popular, so if you are looking for something cool to do from your living room or garden on the weekend. Go and check her out.
Sheila just moved to a new house and she and I are thinking about starting something together this summer. Margo has been busy traveling around like Redy and me, but is back at Alam Kita (her resort) and is doing the necessary renovations for the new year. Redy and I are good as always, our worlds are not as intertwined as usual as his business requests a lot of his time at the moment but with the guest coming back, I think that we will work together more in the future. Oh and we had our first wedding anniversary, of course, time is flying… Also, we started really enjoying cruising around on his little motorboat in the afternoons. Normal island life, how funny that may sound to your ears.
Easter is coming up so hopefully, we will have a full house here at the restaurant and maybe some tours. After that, it’s my birthday weekend before Ramadan starts on the 13th of April. I don’t think I will follow the fasting this year but I will tell you more about that later when Ramadan is here. Before I forget to mention it, we have a nice promo for the week before Easter, our eBook is on sale until the end of Easter Sunday. If you didn’t purchase it yet or haven’t even checked it out. Have a look over here, the girls worked very hard on it and would be so happy to hear that everybody is checking their recipes.
Stay visually up to date and check out my personal Instagram Highlights. Talk to you soon!
