Continuing my journey

Welcome to my blog about my journey to my roots in Indonesia and Malaysia. I started this journey because I wanted to know where I come from. My whole life I’ve listened to all the stories of my grandmother, mother, uncle and aunts. I’ve seen many pictures and off course I know the delicious food from family recipes and family celebrations.

Finally in 2018 I was able to go to Indonesia for the first time and see what it’s like there myself. It felt like coming home. Eventhough it’s a whole different world, the food, the smells, the habits and many more things are very familiar to me. I’ve made many friends and seen wonderful places in Indonesia during my travels. And there is so much more to see. So I went back twice in 2019.

During the lockdown I was able to find out more about my ancestors in the online archives of the East India Company in the British Librairy and Singapore National Archive. I had seen a small portrait of an ancestor and there were some stories about a guy who went from Scotland to Indonesia a few hundred years ago and married an Indonesian girl. I was able to find out who they were and where they (and the next generations) lived.

Now I’m finally back and continue my story.