What an unexpected weekend..

Ariq had been complaining about the pain in his throat, since he came home from school on Wednesday afternoon.. There was a little trace of white on his right tonsil, which could have been a fish bone or a scratch from something that hit it on the way into his tummy..

I tried to persuade him to see the doctor, but he was still afraid, although at the same time, he was struggling with anything going in his throat.. He finally agreed to see the doctor on Saturday..

We got an appointment for him to see an ear, nose and throat specialist (THT) at the hospital, at 2 p.m., after my appointment with the obgyn (for routine pregnancy check up).

When the doctor checked Ariq, she believed it was a fish bone. However, Ariq was very uncooperative during the treatment -he kept pushing the doctor's hands by reflex, but he also refused to have his hands held by his dad- so the doctor gave up after Ariq came into her room twice!

We decided to go to the special hospital for ear, nose and throat, where I often take Ariq and Aza to have their ears cleaned. We were hoping with the familiar place and faces, Ariq could feel more comfortable.

However, it didn't happen like we expected!

The exact same thing happened, and the doctor didn't want to push Ariq too much, afraid that it would cause a trauma for him.

At the same time, the doctor told us that Ariq's tonsils were very big, and they would be a problem in the future -if they hadn't yet-. We explained to the doctor that Ariq very often suffered cough and fever for every little thing, from getting unexpected rain, eating snacks, etc.

The doctor suggested to take Ariq's tonsils, which would mean, saving Ariq's the problem in the future, and the fish bone will be taken out too.. The operation would be very short and quite safe.. Ariq would only need to stay one night at the hospital.

So, we agreed to take Ariq back to the hospital on Sunday morning to be observed before the operation on Sunday afternoon. Throughout the observation, Ariq looked well for the operation.

He put up quite a fight when the nurses were taking his blood sample, but apart from that, he was behaving quite well.. :-)

An unexpected thing happened when the anesthetic doctor came into Ariq's room to introduce himself before the operation. He checked Ariq's throat and spoke to Ariq in a friendly manner. Then, he asked everyone in the room -especially my husband and myself- if we had anything we would like to discuss about the operation.

We tried to collect our thoughts, but nothing specific came to our minds.. but suddenly, Ariq raised his hand,

"I have a question!" He said to the anesthetic doctor.

"Yes, what is it?" The doctor replied eagerly.

"I don't want to be anesthesised with a needle. I want to inhale." Confidently he spoke.

"Sure! OK! You got it! I'll get the 'balloon' ready!" The doctor raised two thumbs up to Ariq and then shook Ariq's hand to 'close the deal'.

Well, Ariq knew that he had a choice of anesthesising method because he asked me about my tonsil operation years back (I was about 5.5 years old then). I explained to him that the nurses put a piece of cloth over my mouth and nose and put some drips of liquid, which caused me to feel sleepy when I inhaled it.

Still, all of us in that room were surprised to see how he confidently asked the doctor about it! My mother-in-law told him how brave, he was and how proud she was with him. Her compliments definitely made him feel very proud of himself and made him less afraid of the thought of the operation.

A little worry came to cross our minds of what might happen once he had to walk into the operation room. I was really worried -clearly remembering that I TRIED TO RUN BACK TO MY ROOM AND CURLING UP ON THE AISLE FLOOR trying not to be operated- when I was going through my operation. Our worry disappeared, as Ariq confidently walked himself into the operation room and sat himself on the operation bed -well, he hesitated to, a little, on the side of the bed, but no struggle at all-

The next impressive moment was when he had started inhaling the anesthetic fume, and he realised that it smelled bad..

He was surprised that he had to inhale from a mask, instead of a piece of cloth. He turned to me and asked, "Mum, you said that I had a third choice!"

Ugh! I knew I had to give him the 'believable' answer according to his understanding.. So, in a split second -as the doctors and nurses looked at me- I gave my answer, "That was a long time ago, Ariq.. the piece of cloth and drops of liquid has been banned by the United Nations because it is not good for children.. it causes rashes around children's mouth and nose due to the direct contact with soft skin. There are only 2 options now, needle or mask."

"Are you sure?" Ariq asked me.

I took a deep breath and answered, "Of course I'm sure. Let's search in google after your operation."

He still refused to be anesthesised while laying down (he wanted to inhale while sitting up). However, after a few more sniffs, he finally lost most of his energy, and it wasn't so hard for 6 adults to put him in laying down position, as he was drifting off..

He kept saying, "I don't want to lay down.. I don't want to lay down.." But after a few seconds, he was already completely down.. and the doctor asked me to wait in Ariq's room.

Fifteen minutes later, the doctor showed up, informing us that the operation had been successfully done and Ariq could go home the next morning. We were relieved with this news..

The more relieving news brought by the doctor was that by having the operation, it was clear that Ariq's tonsils were actually in very bad condition, and the fish bone had nothing to do with it except giving us a way to have them removed!

The abscess was inside the tonsils, and it was not visible to the outside because the swollen tonsils looked just like big tonsils.. if the fish bone never got stuck on it, the abscess could have become worse until it was too late.. That was why every time Ariq had a cough, and we took him to a doctor, the doctor always said that it was a bad sore throat..

Ah, some things in life just happen unexpectedly.. but for a very important reason.. :-)

Ariq is recovering now.. he hates soft food.. but he must put up with it for a couple more days.. he is also still drowsy from the drugs, although since yesterday, he has asked me to reduce the dose of the painkiller from 3 times a day to twice a day..

He has asked me to come with him to school tomorrow, because he is already missing his teachers and friends.. He said that he might not last the whole day at school, but at least he gets to meet everyone..

Really.. watching an active kid like Ariq being stranded in bed like this makes me feel sad.. but I also know that even the strongest person needs to have a rest sometimes.. :-)

I am now hoping that after this operation, Ariq will start having a stronger body and healthier life.. :-)

Ooppsss... I forgot..

I just opened Aza's folder on the computer.. and guess what??!! There are two of Aza's work there!

WOW! I completely forgot that I successfully saved those two for future viewing.. ;-)

These pictures are not his best, but, these are the ones I managed to save..

The abstract drawing was done with Kid Pix Deluxe 4.. He was only playing with the colour PINK..

While the house.. well, Aza asked me to draw it for him, but then he decided it wasn't good enough for him to colour! Ugh!

At least with this one, he put dots on the roof and planted a small tree over my flower.. my other house drawing.. he completely scribbled over it.. He said that the house collapsed because of the big hurricane! Hmmppff...

Ssshhh! Don't tell Ariq..

Please don't tell Ariq that I broke his secret plan.. ;-)

I know that Ariq is planning on putting this artwork on his blog.. but I just can't resist putting it up here..

He did this last night with me watching him.. It is another of his artwork done with 'Kid Pix Deluxe 4'.. This program is a real treat for children, as they can be creative and having fun at the same time..

He called this picture..

'Ariq Loves Indri'

I just love it!!!

Cutting and gluing..

Aza really loves cutting and gluing shapes..

I saw this creativity pack in the supermarket, I thought he might like it, although I wasn't sure whether the creativity pack would be too hard or too easy for him..

It turned out that Aza enjoyed the project very much.. He let Ariq cut one shape and he let me cut two.. But the rest, he did himself.. with only little help gluing the cut shapes to the paper board using sticky tape.. :-)

Nice work!

Kid Pix Deluxe

Watching Ariq and Aza being creative with Kid Pix Deluxe made me feel creative too..

This is just a trial.. I will save and display the ones created by the boys in the future.. :-)

History is repeating itself..

The other morning, Aza, my 3-year-old son, said to me, "Mum, last night I called Nabila using your phone."

Instictively, I checked the log but I didn't see any new outgoing calls. So I said to him, "Was it in your dream?"

He grinned and nodded.

End of story.. or, so I thought..


At midday, a message arrived on my mobile phone, from my friend, Nabila's mother, "Do you know that last night Aza chatted with Nabila on mobile phone? Watch your phone! He can dial people now and spend your credit!"

OUCH!!! It wasn't in his dream!! It just didn't show on the log.. somehow..!!!

I checked my mobile phone credit.. and.. what left was only enough to send 2 messages!

I replied my friend's text message, "So, it was for real! He told me he did but the call did not show on the log, so I thought he was only dreaming about calling Nabila."

My friend replied again, "Oh, it was for real! They chatted, they even talked about Ariq a little.. It was cute.."

Hhmmpphh.. Three years ago, I had to watch my mobile phone closely, when Ariq started memorising phone numbers and calling people he knew.. and now, it's Aza's turn to go through that phase..

History is repeating itself.. and.. I have to turn into Merlin (or Albus Dumbledore?), to keep things in order.. :-P

Advanced Puzzle..

Hihihihi... I found mum's mobile phone.. It is soooo much better than the puzzle boards she bought me!























OK.. Let's see which goes where.. Here comes the back cover..























Oooo.. I don't think I want this game to be over yet.. Let's take a deep breath and finish it later!


Children toys companies should really consider making 3D jigsaw puzzle based on every day things, such as mobile phones, television, computer and peripherals, stereo systems, etc.

Those things are far more interesting and challenging for children compared to the currently available jigsaw puzzle in toy stores..

Those companies just need to keep the prices 'friendly' for parents.. ;-)

Nice to meet you, Miss Mannequin...

Does Ariq think that this mannequin is pretty.. or.. he just wants an excuse to be photographed in the middle of the mall?

Hmm.. let's see if he says anything about it in his blog later.. hahaha...

Studying Together..

Hmm.. finally, Aza decides that studying together IS NOT much different from playing together..

The important thing is.. he can be with Ariq... (rather than being separated for a couple of hours, during Ariq's study time.. Aza finally chooses to sit and open Ariq's book..)

I hope it can last until they need their own time and space to do their own studying.. ;-)

Me vs. Pre-schooler..

Taking age into consideration.. Aza definitely can draw better than me.. :-)

The first picture is Aza's drawing of a very big 'Dragon Sword'..

The second picture is the artist with his masterpiece.. and a picture of his family.. :-D

A simple dream...

Every body has a dream.. to be able to do something that they cannot do yet!

Well, all my life, I always want to be able to draw, or paint, or (at least) sketch.. I mean properly!

I'm telling the truth here.. that I passed my Junior High School art grade, because my art teacher asked me to do each assignment TWICE, then he ADDED both my grades (for the same assignment) to make up for the PASS grades!

My art teacher, Pak Wedo, was such a kind person, so that regardless how bad I was in creating art pieces, I still keep my dream until this very moment.. I want to be able to draw sketches (if painting is such a far-fetched dream) of all the things I see and find interesting, such as the afternoon sky, beautiful blooming flowers, my children's face expressions, mountain side view with rice fields, etc. ..

There is a picture up on the corner of the bedroom that my husband drew when he was a kid, and a painting that he painted of one of his friends, and I think they are amazing! People who can express their mind in art pieces are just AMAZING!!

Anyway.. without any intention to 'promote' my work.. because I really only want to share my story with you.. here I am attaching the sketch I did the other night while watching with the boys playing on the computer..

The boys think the sketch is beautiful, although I'm sure, they think that just because their age!

Hats from Ariq...

These are old photos.. but I just had the right idea to put with them.. :-)




One of the best things of having a big brother is that you get to wear nice hats.. the one he made at school and one he made at home..

Aza loved his 'General Hat' and his 'Pirate Hat' from Ariq...

Smile is out of stock..

Yes, smile has been out of my inventory list for almost a couple of weeks now..

The week before last, it was cloudy and humid for almost the whole week, and the air inside the house was not fresh at all -even when we opened the windows and doors almost all day- and all sorts of insect were starting to be 'visible' around the house..

Not sure which one decided to pick a fight with us, the boys and I got bitten.. and I got the worst case! At first I thought it was the red ants, but red ant's bit usually went away pretty quickly and did not cause a rash this bad..

This insect (we never saw it bit, we just felt the pain afterwards) caused a bite that stings at first, then it became itchy followed by swelling. After being treated with Dettol or Betadine for a couple of days -which accompanied by heavy-like feeling around the swollen parts-, the poison started coming out and the swelling would flatten.

It might sound that it was becoming better, but actually not really yet.. Once the poison was out and the swelling was gone, the area where the insect had originally bitten would be open (I suspected that the sting came out along with the poison), then the wound would start to feel painful, just like when your skin is scraped by accident..

Phew.. my wound is in healing process, as it looks quite dry today, but after I changed the bandage earlier this evening, the stinging still stayed somehow.. It's just making me hard to sleep.. I'm still grateful though because last week, when the wound was still swollen, I couldn't walk almost at all (I got bitten on my foot, near the toes). I'm also grateful that the boys' got less serious cases than mine..

I'm still not sure what had bitten us, but thankfully, the sun has been brightly shining this week and the air inside the house has been much better..

I haven't turned into an angry monster or anything as scary.. it's just it's hard to smile when I wince a lot.. I'm really hoping this wound will completely heal in a couple of days so I can have a beautiful weekend instead of staying at home and bored again...

Beautiful Sky

These are pictures of one sunset afternoon that I took in the backyard.. I just thought that the sky looked very beautiful and I wanted to take a picture (I ended up taking several)..

I actually took this picture about a year ago, but somehow it ended up being stored in my sister-in-law's laptop.. (could be during the time my laptop was broken).

These pictures are nowhere near as beautiful as the real view, since I was only using a personal (pocket) digital camera and I had pretty much no photography skill at all, but at least I have these pictures to remind me of how beautiful the sky was that day..

Lovely sunset..

Family Day on Motorbike

I have been on motorbike rides (as passenger, of course) many times, but it was always for compulsory travels (getting lift from my parents' driver, to and from work) or going to hawker's place with my husband.

Yesterday, my husband decided to take Ariq and me on his motorbike to 'Cilandak Town Square' for the Kidz Sunday event that the shopping area always has every Sunday. The ride was actually nice, we managed to get there without getting stuck in the traffic too much (the downside of driving a car in Jakarta).

My husband and I decided to take Ariq out for a treat (lunch and Timezone) after receiving Ariq's report book on Saturday and the result was above our expectation!

Nooo.. of course it's not A+ for all subjects, as we still received 'news' from school about detentions, etc., but the fact that Ariq managed to get good grades (especially science and computer) while he was still easily distracted in class during sessions, really surprised and relieved us at the same time.

Ariq's teachers say that Ariq is very analytical and he absorbs the study materials very fast, he only needs to improve his patient in keeping his focus in class -meaning: staying put and concentrating even when the subject being delivered is not his favourite one, and in conveying his ideas in to other people -meaning: he needs to be more structured and more polite in putting his ideas forward.

Gladly, Ariq's school has a special unit to help students with their personal development needs, from simple routine exercises to improve students' learning and/or social skills to specific and advanced treatment for special needs students. (I'm really glad that we have enrolled Ariq in this inclusive school, where students are not only taught about academic side but also the non-academic side of life, which I believe plays a far more important role in every person's life).

Anyway.. Ariq really loved the treat. His choice of lunch was pretty simple actually; his all-time favourite 'Spaghetti Bolognese'. As it was Kidz Sunday at the shopping complex, for any shopping or meal purchased at any outlet in the shopping complex for Rp 100.000,- (about US$12), we would receive a set of game tickets (about 10 different tickets) to play all the games setup by the complex management around the area for free.

After going around with Ariq (from one game to another), my husband and I decided to sit down at Burger King after putting some Timezone credit in Ariq's card. He played there for about 15 minutes then he came to sit with us.

We went home after getting t-shirts for Aza. This little guy is now at the stage of choosing his own outfit after every shower and the whole house is getting a headache because he won't wear anything with tags at the neck, and he won't wear anything without transformers, ben10, dragons, ghosts, swords or skeleton (no, the t-shirts don't have to be scary, but they have rules!).. so, we were happy to find one with Voltus-V holding the sword, one with cartoon Hellboy, and one with Chewbacca (I told him it was a nice ghost, and he loved it!).

Ah, it was a very nice day altogether.. :-)

Done?? Is it? Really???

Wow! I can't believe it!

The 86-page journal of my mother-in-law performing the pilgrimage to Mecca with her parents (who at that time were already over 80 years old), is completely done and ready to be taken to the publisher.

Mother actually had taken the first 'final' draft to the publisher before the New Year, but the people in the publishing company were already busy with catching up with last minute work and year-end reports, so they informed her that they were not going to start new readings until after the new year (it's really nice of them to be honest)..

Therefore, mother gave the journal another look and made a few final adjustments (little ones but I agree with her that these changes are important to make). I edited her adjustments over the holiday and today, the draft was finally done! (I even managed to give it a new-and-better cover page).

Yay! I'm happy about it.. :-)

At the same time, though.. I'm getting a feeling that I often have after completing a big task/assignment.. it is almost like an anti-climax when reading a suspense story.. It is done! But is it really??? Did I forget something? Do I need to come back again later?

Mother is now in the middle of her new book. This time it's about.. (ouch! I'm not going to reveal anything yet).. Anyway, it is a very interesting book.. I really can't wait to read and edit it!

End-of-Year Holiday

I was away from the internet for a little over a week, since my husband and I are trying to make up for Ariq's sad holiday (last end of academic year in June). Gladly both Ariq and Aza have been well this holiday so that we managed to have a wonderful time together...

The best trip was last Saturday to the Miniature Park of Indonesia (Taman Mini Indonesia Indah), where all Indonesian cultures are shown in the park (real size traditional houses with manequins (is it the correct spelling?) wearing the traditional dresses inside the houses with scheduled shows of traditional dances in the open spaces of the traditional houses.

In the park, first we went to see a 4-D movie, where we didn't only see the picture in 3-D images, but also feel some of the effects (like wind breeze and sprinkle of water). The kids were very excited and tried to reach and grasp all the images 'coming out' of the screen..

Then, we visited the Reptile Museum and Komodo Park. Various live snakes, lizzards and crocodiles were displayed. In most of the reptile's cages, there were also a few little chicks for the reptiles' prey. At first I felt pity for the little chicks, but then, I understood that it was the chain of food at work.

The reptiles did not disturb the little chicks at all, even when they were running around and often accidently walked all over the sleeping reptiles. One cobra was freightening the 'all too loudly chirping' little chicks by standing up and hissing for a few minutes, but then, it just pulled its head underneath its curled up body (I associated it with humans hiding their heads under a thick pillow when putting up with kids' screaming and shouting, after trying to tell the kids to quiet down)..

We were lucky to see a komodo dragon, who had just shed, and the keeper was kneeling next to the dragon pulling some of the old skin left unshed. It was an amazing sight that we don't come across every day.. so I took a picture of it and gladly it came out well..

We also had a chance to touch a big live snake (a constricting one), who also just shed and was sleeping deeply.. Ariq and Aza saw the 'touch area' and we thought there would be little non-venomous snakes and tame lizzards for kids entertainment.. How surprised we were when we realized that the snakes they displayed there were big sleeping ones!! Ariq was a little scared of touching the snake, but Aza did not hesitate to lie down, roll around and patting the snake.. .. We kept saying to him, "Gentle, Aza.. Gentle.. you don't want to wake the snake!" ..

The keeper was sitting next to Aza, smiling and saying to us not to worry, as the snake would sleep for a long time and touches and pats would not disturb it at all..

After the kids had had enough playing in the Reptile Museum, we moved on to the Kids' Castle, where there were various kids rides and a fairy tale-like castle. The castle had a upper ground area where people could take pictures with the surrounding areas as backgrounds. Ariq and Aza chose a little fairy hole under a castle tower to have their picture taken..

It was really an exciting and full-of-fun holiday for the four of us..

Oh, a little note for all of you.. it seems like middle of the rainy season (end of year) like this is the time for tropical reptiles to shed and rest. So, if you are considering to travel to tropical places and have a glimpse of reptile lives, this time of year would be the perfect time to plan the trip.. the reptiles' skins are new and very beautifully shiny.. and they are all in very deep sleep, so there is a very good chance that visitors of reptile parks can have an experience of touching or sitting next to the reptiles and have photographs taken..

Big brother..

I always know that deep down Ariq loves his little brother very much, but in this stage, they are just young children with their own ego and mischief..

What happened tonight really touched me, because Ariq really showed the 'big-brother' side of him, in one of his most exhausting days..

Today, Ariq had an excursion with the rest of Grade 1 students and I went with him since I am one of the 4 class coordinators (we are supposed to help the teachers in coordinating the students during school events and field trips).

Ariq had a tiring day, after going to the 'Miniature Park of Indonesia' (this is the place where people can have a glimpse of almost all the things related to Indonesian culture and history). We visited the 4D Screen to watch a cartoon movie about underwater life, the fresh water museum (all the fish in there are actually still alive), the insect museum (the insects are not alive here, except the butterflies which live in a dome-like garden), and finally the Al-Qur'an museum, which happened to have a calligraphy expo going.

The children exceptionally enjoyed the fresh water museum, with all the kinds of fish from around the world and some of them looked really interesting...

We arrived back at the school in the afternoon. As soon as we got home, Ariq had lunch (he didn't finish his lunch at the park because playing with his friends was far more an interesting choice than sitting down finishing his food), then we tried to get some rest. Ariq wanted snacks after his lunch, so I sent Aza and his nanny to the minimarket closeby to buy some.

Once he got back, Aza knocked on the bedroom door to give Ariq his chips. Ariq opened the door, slightly irritated because he was drifting off..

I calmly said to Aza, "Ariq is still resting, would you wait about half-an-hour?"

Aza nodded, "Alright". Then, he sat right there, on the steps in front of the bedroom door.

Ariq looked at his brother while closing the door and suddenly reopened the door, "Why don't you go play with your nanny while waiting?"

Aza replied, "No, I will wait here."

Ariq went quiet for some time, then finally opened the door wide, "Just come inside then, but be quiet, alright!"

Aza hesitated for a second but then he followed Ariq inside.

Once they were both inside, as you can guess, neither of me nor Ariq could get any rest anymore.. but Aza was very happy to be with both of us, after being left alone all day..

Later that evening, Ariq had to do his math project, which was to build some 3D shapes from hard paper. Ariq actually wanted to make pyramid, cone, cube and sphere. I planned to do the pyramid first and then the cube, because those two are the ones I was more familiar with.

As we started to draw the shapes, Aza wanted to join in, but he wanted to handle the pencil, ruler and the hard paper! Making it impossible for us to do any work.. I was starting to get a little impatient, but Ariq was really good, he took a pair of scissors and cut 1/3 of the hard paper and gave it to Aza, along with a small ruler and a pencil..

Unfortunately, Aza was still persistent in 'working' with Ariq's project..

Gladly, Aza's nanny and my mother-in-law quickly joined in and 'entertained' Aza, so Ariq and I could get to work. However, since I was already very tired and Aza still interfered a few times, I couldn't fully understand the exact way Ariq wanted the cube to be built and I ended up drawing the cube wrong, causing the end result to have an opening on one corner.. To add to it, Ariq cut the wrong part of the cube too..

But Ariq only shrugged and said, "It's OK, don't worry about it." Then, we just tried to make additional part to be attached to fix the unfinished cube. Once the cube was done, he decided we should just stop there after I told him I really didn't know how to build a sphere, and he said that he wasn't that desperate to make the cone either (his teacher didn't specify the minimum number of shapes each student had to build at home).

Either Ariq was too tired to make a fuss, or he sort of understood that under the circumstance, we had given our best, and there was nothing more that we could do with our half-closed eyes..

I was very touched with Ariq's attitude tonight.. and very impressed! I'm sure they missed each other, and Aza didn't know yet how to express his feelings.. I'm really glad that Ariq showed his 'big-brother' heart for his little brother, although I know for sure, he was really really tired, because I am beyond tired (I'm having trouble sleeping tonight, unsurprisingly Ariq fell asleep much faster than Aza)..

So, I just had another interesting day.. again..

Done for the day..

I'm finally done, restructuring adsense on my blogs.. I might need to check the success in a week or two, but, I'm hoping I can track the performance better now..

I'm also very happy with this Google Sidewiki. Every time I need to post something on one of my blogs, I can just start writing and decide which blog to post it later.. saving a lot of time logging in and getting to the 'New Post' page.

I really suggest everyone using blogspot to try Google Sidewiki, especially if you have more than one blog to maintain. It is a great help.

At last, have a pleasant day!

in reference to: Blogger: Dashboard (view on Google Sidewiki)

Testing my Sidewiki

I have just installed Sidewiki.. and this is my first Sidewiki entry.. I hope it works well..

in reference to: Features : Post Sidewiki entries to Blogger - Toolbar Help (view on Google Sidewiki)

About Batak...

Last Tuesday, I had to go to the insurance company. Since I left the house after rush hour, I decided that taking the bus would be fine. So I did.

It was quite a nice day, so after I finished what I had to do at the insurance company (which was not far from my husband's office), I called my husband to ask if he had time to have lunch with me and he did.

The challenge of the trip finally happened after the lunch!

As soon as I got on the bus to the interchange, a heavy rain started to fall. It continued until the bus reached the interchange. Gladly all the stops were well covered so I didn't get wet.

As soon as I was on the platform, waiting for the bus home to arrive, I could see the bus, at the far end (entry side) of the platform, not moving! The Transportation Dept. personnel who was supervising the platform quickly approached the bus to see if it was having problems.

When I saw the man waving and pointing firmly to the driver, I knew that the driver was just taking his time, trying to wait for more people before departing. With drivers like this, my trip would not be as comfortable as I hoped, but waiting for another bus could take a long time, especially in a heavy rain like that! (normal buses in Indonesia only have routes with no time schedules).

So, I decided (reluctantly) to get on the bus.. Sure enough, the true-selves of the driver and conductor quickly showed..

Not far from the interchange, an elderly woman asked to get off. The driver, however, was too busy trying to overtake other buses which were on the same route.

I knocked repeatedly on the window and some other passengers shouted to the driver and the conductor to pull over and make a stop, but the driver was far too busy to listen to any of us. He finally made a stop at the intersection which was probably about 200m away from where the elderly woman asked the first time!

The elderly woman said to the the driver, "I kept asking you to stop, why didn't you do it?"

The driver looked at her harshly without answering her question and just said to her, "Quick, quick, quick!"

The elderly woman turned to the conductor, "Help me, take these first!" She spoke as she was handing her belonging, a handbag and a plastic bag, while she was standing at the bus door with her walking stick.

Unexpected by any of us, the conductor swore at her, which she quickly replied to, "Why are you swearing at me? I only asked to be let off and helped while getting off!"

A street musician, who was getting ready to start singing, quickly grabbed the elderly lady's hand and handed her belonging to the conductor. The conductor couldn't refuse anymore, for the street musician was a guy about his size. The street musician helped the elderly woman until she was safely off the bus and received her belongings back.

A little later, the driver and the conductor talked to each other in their native language, which I recognised as my own from my dad's side (Batak -an ethnic group from North Sumatra). I sighed heavily...

It was the moment in my life, when I really regretted that I didn't speak the language almost at all..

I understand the culture of the ethnic group enough to know what I could've said to the driver and the conductor to make them feel sorry of what they have done. However, since I was younger, every time I asked my father to teach me his ethnic language, he always refused because he didn't speak the polite form of the language, which means, if he taught me the language, it would only be the form which I could use to friends and rough workers (not the language to be used to speak to older people).

Batak culture places parents and elders above almost anything else in life, and my father once told me that the worst insult (while children were playing) was to pick a leaf from the tree and let it fall to the ground while saying to the person to be insulted, "This is your father!" Then, stepped on the leaf. This kind of insult was the one known to cause kids to fight the most.

On that bus, I knew the perfect line to say to the driver and the conductor to make them behave better towards the elderly lady, "Imagine if someone does that to your mother!"

The only problem was, if I said it in Indonesian, they wouldn't associate it with their native culture, also, it might cause unneccessary outrage on the bus (from other passengers who witnessed the scene). However, if I said it in their ethnic language, they would be able to see straight away that the person who was saying it understood perfectly where the line was coming from (culturally), and it would have a different/much better effect. Plus, other passengers would not understand what I was saying..

Maybe some of you are thinking why I didn't want people to know what I was saying at those guys.. Again, it is something about Batak people..

People from Sumatra, especially the Northerners (Batak), are known as straight forward people in Indonesia. They are also known to be hard workers and not afraid of being rough workers. The Southeners, which are closer to West Sumatra, are slightly softer in character, although not as reserved as Javanese people.

The good points of these people are hints (especially bad ones) don't get to them. The way they speak is rough and loud, but they don't stay angry for a long time.

In real life, some occupations in Indonesia where Batak people are generally found are; education (as teachers) and; law practice (as lawyers).. Despite what you might think, not that many Batak people are interested in becoming armed-forces or police officers..

The bad points (according to other people), they are known to be bus drivers, bus conductors and sometimes.. bus pickpockets!

In general, no Batak peole takes real offense of these generalisations, but still, Batak people are proud people. They might not care about what people talk about them behind their back (meaning they won't take any drastic measure against it), but when someone non-Batak says something to their face, especially in public, they have to answer accordingly.

At a glance, I don't really look like a Batak person, plus I'm a muslim wearing a headcover, while most Batak people are Protestants. The only way people recognised me as a Batak is when they ask for my name or hear me talking in the language. This was why I held myself from saying the line in Indonesian in front of all other passengers. I was looking for remorse, not a bus brawl!

My father used to tell me that in the past, Batak peole came to Java to study or find work without bringing any money or belonging from their villages. They hid on ships on the mercy of the crew. Therefore, as soon as they reached Java island, they would work in whatever field they could find (my father himself used to be a bus conductor and later on a gardener, while doing his landscape degree).

Javanese people are calm, polite and reserved. Standing on the bus door while shouting to attract passengers were not their best points, while Batak people never have any problem with shouting!

As time goes by, more and more Batak people got married with Javanese people. Maybe they finally found that the combination would somehow bring some balance in general life in Indonesia.. and I happened to be one of the children of these mixed marriages.. My father is Batak and my mother is mix Javanese-Sundanese (Sundanese is West Javanese).

I still think about what happened on the bus yesterday, and wish that I could have said something.. something to bring remorse to the driver and the conductor.. but time cannot be reversed, I just hope that Batak people can teach themselves that roughness does not mean rudeness.. not being afraid does not mean disrespect.. and being strong does not mean being heartless..

Little guests

The other day, as I was looking out the open window of my bedroom, I spotted this little red dragonfly. It looked beautiful sitting right on the cactus.




It was a little difficult to get the pictures, as I had to slide my mobile phone through the window steel bar and try to get the best focus leaning my arm on the steel bar.







A few days after, my husband called me from the front yard to have a look at a pretty little cricket sitting on the side of the car.




It was indeed beautiful..





I'm pretty sure that neither the red dragonfly nor the little cricket was a permanent member of our yard since I never saw them before. However, I hope that they stick around so I could get better shots at them next time.. :-)

My Old Nanny (Ma' Tua)

I haven't written much lately, apart from being busy with the start of Ramadhan (fasting month), also because I still couldn't bring myself to write about something that was really hard for me.

Even though it didn't take too long for me to accept what happened, I still needed some silent time just to move on.. after my old nanny passed away on Thursday, 6th of August 09..

She was the person who always took care of me since I was born. Then, by the time I had my sons, she loved them even when she didn't have any strength to chase them around like she did with me :-)

After I was old enough to be without a nanny, she concentrated in cooking for my family. Each of us had a different favourite, but we would all agree that she made the best Beef Rendang. Some of my friends who used to come to our house a lot (during high school time) also had their favourites..

She retired from working with us two years ago, right after Idul Fitri and stayed with her daugher's family since then, but she always came to stay for a few days at my parents' home at the end of each month (at the time of local community religion gathering). So, we could still enjoy her cooking once a month.

The last three months (May, June and July), many things (Ariq's end of school year performance, for one) had kept me tied down so that I couldn't stay at my parents' home at the same time as my nanny did.

During that time, I missed her so much, and my mother always told me that she was always asking about me and that she missed me so much too.

I kept telling myself that once everything was over and I had some control back over my life I would ask her to stay for a few days here.

But, who could deny fate?

That Wednesday, my father came over to see the grandchildren, and my mother spoke to me over the phone, telling me that my nanny had been in hospital since that Sunday because she had been having difficulty breathing. I was having bad flu and fever at that time, so I called my nanny's daughter to ask about her condition and told her that I would come to visit once I felt better.

She told me that her mother was much better and she had started asking the doctor when he would release her to go home. The doctor however wanted to be sure that everything was completely fine, so they were not rushing to go home.

The next morning, at dawn, my mother called me to tell me that my nanny had passed away..

After Ariq had left for school, my parents picked me up to go to my nanny's daughter's home and we saw her there, laying on the bed, looking peaceful as if she was sleeping.. My nanny's daughter told us that she didn't know that her mother had gone either that morning.. she thought she was only sleeping, until the nurse who was going to check her blood pressure came in, found out that she was gone and told her daughter.

My nanny's daughter also told us that all her mother's lab tests came out good. In general, she was healthy. I believe her good health was because of her love of walking. For over 30 years, she always walked to the market and walked back with the shopping. She used to take me to the market too, whenever I was on school holidays..

I couldn't find any strength to perform her last bath, but her daughter and grandchildren were all there.. After the bath, however, I finally found some strength to dress her in her final piece of cloth without any drop of tears.. I'm so glad I did.. It was the least I could do out of respect for the person who had loved and cared for me since I was born..

I guess the hardest part for me was the fact that everyone else still met her during the her final three months, while I didn't.. but now I understand it was fate.. Maybe it was meant to happen that way so that my love and respect for her would stay deep in my heart for a very long time, because I consider myself to be the person closest to her, yet I had to lose her the first, before everyone else did..

The best thought that my mother had was that she let my nanny retire two years ago so that she spent the last two years of her life living with her family, after having lived with us for over 30 years!

I still miss her a lot.. how could I not?! I still remember she bathed me, hand-fed me, lulled me to sleep while rubbing my back, carried me on her back, played with me, told me off when I came home late from school, taught me to cook, and later on.. had arguments over various things with me but always ended up in giving in to me.. :-)

I still miss her.. but I find comfort in knowing that her departure was without suffering and that she is now in a better place..

I love you always, Ma' Tua.. :-)

Me and Malaysia

While I had travelled to many far away places, one place very very close kept being put at the end of my destination list, Malaysia.. until two and a half years ago..

When my husband's contract in Yemen was over, he received an offer for a position in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and he accepted the offer, considering that KL is very close to Jakarta and airfare was affordable for monthly visits. After he worked in KL for about 4 months, our baby (Aza was just born when my husband came home from Yemen) was 6 months old and in good condition to travel, so we went to KL to visit my husband.. Ariq, Aza, my parents-in-law and me.

Many things were quite similar to Jakarta but certain things were very special and different. Some of those things became my favourites..

Nasi Lemak or Roti Canai + Lamb Curry for breakfast, accompanied by hot Teh Tarik

Choices of Restaurant at The Curve for Lunch (our favourites are Secret Recipe and Pho Hoa).

Johnny's Steamboat in 1Utama for Dinner

Late Night Supper at hawker stands (there was one place where they served variety of food, well-presented like restaurant/hotel menu, at hawker prices)

The ones I miss the most are the breakfast choices..

My favourite places in KL are The Curve and Masjid India.. The Curve is a really nice place to hang out with family and friends and I seriously think Masjid India is the best place for head scarves and Malay dress materials..

After my first (and second) trip to KL, my parents-in-law asked my husband and me to represent them in my brother-in-law's wedding ceremony in Sabah (Borneo, East Malaysia). As the journey there was long and rough, and my parents-in-law were not up to such travels anymore, we agreed to go.

The schedule was very tight and the village where my brother-in-law's wife came from was 2 hours away from the airport. Despite the fact that I spotted a few interesting places (such as Ape Reservation and Crocodile Farm), we didn't have any time to visit any of those places.

My husband and I really hope that we can find a good time to go to Borneo again (both Malaysia and Indonesia lands) to see the nature and do a few days trip there..

In my last trip to KL, we went to Genting Highland and spent a day in the Theme Park, which Ariq was having the time of his life.. As all theme parks around the world, it is something more of the modern world than local culture.. but anyone with kids would find it a great choice to visit..

There are a lot more interesting things about Malaysia, the ones I wrote here are just the ones that became my favourites.. so, don't take my word for it, you should come and visit yourselves and find out what are your favourites..

News Flash

News flash...

I'm still down with the flu (considering last week I didn't stop 'moving around' carrying the virus in me)

Aza is now very very comfortable in using the computer to play games by himself, so... I have to compete with him (and Ariq) every time I need to use the computer.. fuuhhh... :-P

I will write again soon..

Perfect Saturday..

One note before I start writing.. even the term 'Perfect' is subject to some level of relativity..

A rainy Saturday is definitely not a perfect weekend if I was planning to do an outing, but, since I have been feeling very sleepy and tired since yesterday and keeping the thought of doing nothing at home today.. well, today turned out to be a perfect Saturday.. it has been raining since midday, not a big heavy rain, but a nice soft cooling down rain..

Ariq is also feeling a little tired today (Thursday and Friday were his first days at school and school had gone full-time). So, it was really orientation days for the both of us..

Aza, my 3 year-old son, on the other hand, has been very very 'up and running' today. He woke up at 7 and went straight to the backyard to water the trees and plants there. A bit later, he went to the front yard where my brother-in-law was washing the car, to joined in.. He finally needed a rest around midday when he curled up in his crib (his crib is custom-made 90cm x 160cm, which practically serves as his daytime bedroom and playpen).

I just finished my coffee while listening to the sound of the rain..

Just beautiful..

I hope all of you are having a beautiful weekend too..

Where is My Spider?

After three weeks having no time to take a look around.. I finally had a little chance of saying 'hi' to the pretty spider in front of the car garage. Guess what?? I could only find her web and it was already in damaged condition! The web owner was nowhere to be seen and I don't know where she had moved.

Three weeks is not really that long, but it is definitely long enough for a spider to feel the need to move out and build a new web.

I hope I won't cross path with her unexpectedly (I am still afraid of spider in general). I would really like to see her again, though, and I hope she is well..

The Saddest School Holiday...

Ariq had school holiday (finishing KG to start Grade 1) for 3 weeks (yes, school holiday in Indonesia is very very short).. but this holiday was the saddest for him (I really wish he would never have to go through another holiday like this again)..

Ariq started his holiday mid June, shortly after his end of academic year performance, then, we were planning to stay in the Safari Park Caravan Camp for one night, but it turned out that everything happened very differently from what we planned.

At the night of our wedding anniversary (23rd of June), my husband and I cancelled our dinner plan since my father-in-law had to be taken to the hospital where his haematologist practiced. My husband, one of his auntie and my mother-in-law went with him.

Past midnight, that night, my husband called and told me that they were still in the hospital waiting room! (They left the house around 8.00 which most likely they reached the hospital at around 10.00) They were organising my father-in-law to be transferred to the hospital near home. He was transferred by an ambulance early that morning. My father-in-law was in very weak condition and was admitted straight in the ICU (intensive care unit). His condition on the next day was much better, but during the following two days, his condition was much worse, until finally on Saturday (27th of June), he passed away.

Ariq was the most affected by his grandfather's departure, as he was not allowed in the ICU being under 12 years old. As we laid my father-in-law's body at home waiting for the burial the next morning (Sunday), Ariq started to understand that his grandfather was never coming back at all. From Sunday to Tuesday, Ariq lost his appetite and almost didn't talk at all. I decided to take him away from our home and move to my parents' place for a few days.

In my parents' home Ariq started eating and talking again, but the things he talked about the most was how he wanted to be with his grandfather..

Once he was eating well again, I took him home (Sunday), and he asked my mother-in-law to go to the grave. They went there next morning (Monday). The next day, Ariq woke up with a high fever, and I gave him Panadol syrup to cool it down. The fever kept going up and down until the next day, so we took him to ER and the doctor gave an instruction for a blood test the next day. When we got the result of the blood test, the doctor said that Ariq needed to be hospitalised because there was a chance that he had Dengue Fever.

My mother-in-law still couldn't bear the thought of walking into the hospital near home where my father-in-law spent his last moments in, so we took Ariq to the hospital near my parents' home. On the 2nd day in the hospital (5th day of the fever), it was positive that Ariq had the Dengue Fever (fortunately not the strain D which was the most dangerous one).

I quietly cried everytime his fever ran high and he wouldn't stop asking about his grandfather.. why he couldn't be with him and what he could do to be with him..Holding back my tears while trying to give him confidence was not an easy thing to do..

He stayed at the hospital for 6 days, the 5th and 6th day he was almost fully recovered.. He was allowed to go home Thursday last week (2nd and last day of his school orientation program) but he needed to stay home until he had seen the doctor for post-hospitalisation check up, which was last Tuesday (first day of school).

Ariq's 3 weeks holiday was not the holiday he expected it to be, but he is back at school now (he just started going to school today), and when my husband and I quietly watched him from the window, he looked happy with his teachers and friends..

I don't know how to make it up to little kids when their losses are just too great, but I guess as time goes by and life goes on, children will gain understanding and grow wiser in life too..we can only pray and be there for them.. :-)

Life goes on.. Even after the saddest moment..

The departure of a loved one always leaves a deep mark on our heart and soul.

My first experience was my grandfather (my mother's father), when I was 13.

My grandfather (my mother's father) used to do his Friday prayer at my school mosque. Somehow, after he had departed for several weeks, I completely forgot about him not being around anymore.

I sat on the lowest step of the mosque staircase from the time when the prayer ended (slightly after lunch), until about 3 pm. Then, it suddenly hit me that the person I was waiting for would never come out of the mosque, no matter how long I waited there..

I went home holding back my tears.. and when my worried mother (there was no mobile phones yet around that time) asked me why I was so late coming home from school. I lost my voice for a moment, before I choked while answering, "I was waiting for 'Eyang' (grandparent in Javanese language), until I finally remembered that he wasn't in the mosque.."

I could see my mother's eyes suddenly were glassy with tears, but she tried to hold back her tears to give me strength and she tried to smile as she hugged me tight, "Poor girl! It's alright.. Things like this happen to everyone. The most important thing is that you are safely home now."

Ah, I still miss my grandfather to this day.. and my memory of that day stays with me forever..