Our dinner tonight...

One of our simple favorite dinner.



Gomoku gohan: steamed rice with 5 ingredients seasoned with Japanese soy sauce
Toriniku no karaage with negi sauce: fried chicken with leek (spring onion) sauce
Kyuri no ume ae
Tofu and wakame Miso soup

Our family is a big fan of fried food. This tori niku no karaage with negi sauce is one meal served regularly for our dinner. Gomoku gohan used to be Iki's favorite, but somewhat tonight he wasn't as excited as usual (_ _o). It is a very healthy meal indeed, with chicken, shiitake, carrot, bamboo shoots, and gobo inside. A good balance for the oily fried chicken.
Today's side dish is kyuri no ume ae, cucumber with chopped umeboshi (Japanese super salty plum pickles). It's easy to make and I love the combination of cucumber and salty taste of umeboshi. Miso soup is like a must in Japanese meal, and this time I put tofu and wakame as the main ingredients. Tofu and Miso paste are high protein sources, and wakame (seaweed) is rich of fibers.

Oh My God..

I just woke up from my nap with Iki
Did some house chores and turned my PC on to see recipe.

While cleaning the floor I remembered the dream I just had.
I read a short sad poem at Vanie's baby's blog
Her baby passed away.
I was shocked that I woke up.

And I am trembling as I wrote this
As I turned my PC on, I got message from Mariza....
Vanie's baby passed away. At 1:30 pm today

Vanie, vanie....
I'm so sorry....
Hope you'll be strong....

Postpartum Recovery

Look what I found as a draft during labeling my old posts. Written on 19 January 2006, at 22:06. I think it's worth to share:

I thought giving birth was the hardest task.

It is definitely NOT.

What come after were even harder and more painful hahahaha [cegek mode: ON]

1. I must have total rest while taking care of my sleeping-angel-yet-crying-monster baby. Trust me, they're two impossible tasks at the same time without any help! We hired a baby sitter for the first three weeks (only from 9 a.m to 6 p.m, Mon - Sat), but the total damage was 1000 USD a.k.a hampir 10 juta rupiah.
   
2. I must have good nutritous food for the sake of producing good milk, while breastfeeding caused a lot more painful contractions and vomitting to me. How can I give good milk if the food I ate were all always thrown out? It was really frustrating for me and Hiro. He was so worried that he kept asking me to stop breastfeeding. Which was not a solution for me!
   
3. The stitches are painful and must be taken care really well. And once they're almost recovered, they became very itchy. Itchy but couldn't be scratched. Really suffering.
4. The bleeding is
   

I believed it was not finished yet so I kept it in my draft folder. 20 months has passed now, and I'm trying to think of the rest of the list to complete the post, but I couldn't think of any. I thought that time was the hardest moment after we got Iki. Well, I couldn't even get enough time to complete that story, for instance.
But still I couldn't think of any now. Too many things happened afterwards. I think there's no more "hardest" moment while raising a kid. It was nothing comparing to what I had to deal with 6 months ago, and what I had 6 months ago is nothing compared to what I have to deal with today. And all of them are nothing compared to what I have to deal with next year, or next 5 years or next 10 years.

Being a parent is a 24 hours job, 7 days a week, for a lifetime (^__^)

Parking

Bicycle parking is a common sight in Tokyo, though the biggest one I've ever seen was at Amsterdam Central Station (Gosh, it was like TP's parking lot and full of bicycles!! - TP? berlebihan ya? :p). Guess I would end up having one bike and riding Iki everyday for grocery shopping if we moved back to Tokyo. Well, I couldn't drive a car, and even if I could, would Hiro ever let me driving his car?! :p



But I've never seen any baby stroller parking before in my life until I we went to Disneyland Tokyo last month! People just leave their strollers there unattended, no parking cards or whatsoever, and free of charge. Unbelievably safe country!!!!
The photo below was taken just before we rode a train-like attraction, and after we finished, the strollers parked were already twice than before. I almost cried trying to find Iki's stroller considering the fact that it's a Japanese branded one, and almost all the strollers parked there had the same brand, the same type and the same color (@_@). Thanks God it still had airline sticker label on it!

Counting Down

The company has decided Hiro's last working date in Korea, which is just a few days before Christmas this year. We thought we would go back to Japan afterwards. We did apartment hunting already, put in mind important stuffs to be bought -like bed, refrigerator, washing machine, etc etc. We also didn't buy a lot of food supply from Japan last month since we thought we would stay in Korea only for 2.5 months. I even bought Japanese pocket language book that I thought this time I would really need it. Iki's grandparents would be those who are waiting forward of our coming back to Japan the most. We were almost mentally ready to move back there. But few days ago Hiro got news again from the company that he MAY be sent directly to other country. No idea where will it be yet. We might know it by the end of November.

Now I'm counting down. Till the time we know exactly where Hiro will be placed next. It could be in Africa, Middle east, or anywhere in Asia. Wherever it is, I don't mind. As long as we could be together. My worry raised when Hiro told me that there are several countries where family could not be brought along due to security reasons, mostly are countries with unstable political condition.

I am fully aware that until Hiro's retirement day we would be moving around from one country to another. Nobody knows where and when would we be sent until about a month before the departure. Our life is full of surprises, huh? :p. We might live separately due to company's policy, or Iki's education later on, but I actually do not expect it this time. Not this time. Iki is still in his first stage of development. He hasn't even acquire his first languages yet. He surely will forget the father figure if living without Hiro even for a month only, and Hiro will surely miss a lot of his development. I don't want it, I don't expect it.....
Our life based on company's policy. I know it, understand it well. But please, please postpone "the tough" policy for us. Until Iki is big enough. Until he could remember his father perfectly and understand the concept of living separately for working reason.

I am counting down now. We are counting down......

Cute Pudding

Look at these cute puddings I bought at Asahikawa airport last month....



Balloon shape pudding, cute :p



I Put it inside a bowl and stabbed it with a toothpick



The thin plastic cover was removed automatically



Look what was left! Isn't it like condom? hihihi



Served with caramel syrup. Hmmmm it was sooo creamy. Yummy!!!



One of the long-fatty-food-list that spoilt my tummy last month (^__^)

If only...

I'm very busy lately. Gosh I wished I could have more than 24 hours a day. I barely have free time during day time. Iki still doesn't want to "release" me from playing all the time with him. Guess he's lonely after spending 2 weeks with always-ready-to-play grandparents in Tokyo.

I started my Tae Bo again yesterday. Having no exercise for more than two weeks, eating high calorie food, and daily beer consumption made me lost my flat stomach. So quick, huh?! Hiro said that my tummy looks like Jabalaba's tummy (you will know if you watch star wars!). I got pain all over my body only after 35 minutes exercise. Now that I have new "hobby", I could only have 35 minutes exercise a day during Iki's nap time.

I'm making my very first jewelry now. My own design, my own taste. Most of all, no one in this world would ever wear the same design hohoho. I only have less than an hour a day to do this hobby. I must also take a nap at least half an hour to keep my good mood when Iki's awake.

Then the playing time starts again, continued with cooking time, cleaning time, etc etc. Got free time only after Iki's asleep, which sometimes I use for watching drama or movie with Hiro. At last now I can sit and write something here. Wished I have more time for chatting with friends or reading news and playing more with my jewelry tools. It's now almost 3 a.m. Not sleepy yet must go to bed. If only I could have more than 24 hours a day....

The beauty of Hokkaido

Something I would never see either in Tokyo or Incheon.

And this is the beauty of one of the farms in Furano, Hokkaido:

Hope to be able to come back sometimes in the future....Perhaps to see it in white snowy winter? :p

Sushi

What do I love the most about Japan?

Sushi, sushi and sushi!!!!! I couldn't remember how many times I ate sushi during our two weeks stay in Japan.

My first onsen

Beforehand I already looked for information about getting into Japanese public hot spring bath: onsen. I joined Japanese foreign wives mailing list where mostly I got some important tips. So in spite of my embarrassment, basically I'm quite prepared.

The most embarrassing moment would be when I opened the yukata covered my naked body. The mailing list said that there're lockers to put all my stuffs so I could hide behind the door and then grab the towel to cover my front body part. It relieved me to know that so I was so shocked and panicked when I saw there were no lockers in that changing room. Only shelf with numbered baskets to put our stuffs into!! Nowhere to hide and there's nothing to cover me while opening my cloth. I was stunned for some minutes before my mother in law asking me till when would I stand there with opened mouth. Yeah well I had no choice than opening my cloth as fast as possible and covered my front important part with little brown towel from the hotel.

I felt so awkward, but I couldn't help not to look around my surrounding :p. The room was filled with naked women. Those women might have been to onsen since they were babies so being naked around was not something unusual. I was the only woman standing nervous next to the wall (to hide my butt:p) with towel covering my front body part. I've never seen such a lot naked women in my life, and truthfully my eyes couldn't just stop scanning. There were young skinny women, old women, mother with a toddler, and 2 little girls, but proudly I can say that none has better body shape then mine hehehehe (at least I think that none could beat my boobs hahaha) -oh narcist me!!

I started to get back my confidence then. Smiling naughtily, I took off the towel covering me and walked confidently beside my mother in law. Though basically I knew what to do inside the onsen from the information I gathered before, my mother in law was a big help.

So after we got naked, we went to the shower room. There I must clean my body well before entering the pool. Shampoo, rinse, and body soaps were available. There were two kinds of onsen in that hotel. The indoor and the outdoor one. I tried the outdoor one at that time. The pool was small but for me it was really beautiful. I could see the starry sky above me, the trees around me, with night animal sounds as the music. The water was really really hot, so I had to get into the pool really slowly and sometimes got out for some fresh cool air. I did enjoy my first onsen there and got relaxed. I wanted to take photo and share you the pictures, but those naked women would kick me out if I dared :p. Click here for photos from the hotel's homepage (^_^)



We stayed at Shirogane Onsen hotel at the first night and then moved to Asahikawa Paco hotel (inside Asahikawa city) at the second night. In total I went into onsen for three times during that journey. I would love to do that again sometime in the future.

Now we're back in Korea. Dirty house welcomed us yesterday. Today I had a long tiring day, cleaning up the house with squeaking-lonely-Iki. Tomorrow some leftover works are waiting, so I guess I need longer time for sharing our Asahikawa zoo, dining out, and Disneyland stories (^_-)v

Kanno Farm

We're in Hokkaido now.Welcomed by fresh cool air, greeny hills, clear blue sky, and amazing flowers farm. i fell in love with this place at the first sight.
Our main purpose on this journey is the famous zoo all over Japan, Asahiyama Zoo. Iki hates baby seat so we stay in Asahikawa city area.
We went to Furano, beautiful hilly area covered with lavender especially in summer. It's september already so we actually didn't expect to see any flower, but look at the photo above. It was so beautiful!!!
The farm's name is Kanno farm and there we could also buy boiled sweet corn, boiled potato with sugar topping and butter, and fried potato. The corn was so sweet and buttery, and the potato was also very delicious. Iki loved the corn and finished 1.
We went to Furano cheese factory afterwards, bought some cheese products and fresh milk, and then headed to shiroganedai onsen hotel. Stay tuned for my debut onsen story hehehe

Offline meeting

Yesterday I met Nova and Benny and Kiyo. After following their lives through blogging world for months, at last I met them in person.

Kiyo's really a cute boy with his big round eyes. He's such an 'angel' that I can't imagine he could drive Nova crazy at home :p. Benny told us how Sheila turned his English from Zero to advanced, but I assured him that it's simply because he's such a smart person (no offense, La hihihi).

It was really a nice short meeting. I do hope to meet them again and again in the future. Someday I'll cook, and you can eat as much as you want, Nov! hehehe

Today I had a date with 'sleepy' Hiro. We went to Akihabara to help his ex-boss buying new laptop, having DELICIOUS unagi for lunch, and had some beads shopping at Tokyu Hands. There're lots of interesting goods there but Hiro was so sleepy that I had to finish my business in a hurry :(. I sure will come back to Tokyu Hands!

In the train I noticed that the woman standing in front of me was wearing EXACTLY the same shirt with mine, in different color. Hiro laughed out loud, and then even louder when I noticed that she was ALSO wearing the same socks with mine, also in different color (@_@)!!!
What can be worse for a woman than that kind of embarassing coincidence?!?!

Ah ya, I got tagged by Sheila and Ira! I'll do the homework 'later' hehehe. Just finished packing now. We're going to Hokkaido tomorrow morning...

Iki's health check

We started early to go to Iki's hospital in Kanagawa perfercture. Traffic jam slowed down the journey into 2.5 hours, and then we still have to wait at the hospital for 2 hours. Such a long waiting time made me nervous, though prepared, I was actually afraid to hear the result from the doctor. The image from the last operation is still haunting me.

He told Hiro first the check up result and when Hiro told me I was so speechless. I was prepared for the worst that I didn't expect it. After the doctor explaining me more, my brain started to work and I felt this huge rock lifted from my chest. Iki doesn't need to be operated!! He will check Iki next year again, but overall his condition now is good. There's a little curve on his penis, but it doesn't matter anymore. At least for now I feel so good. I also ensured that he won't get 'problem' after getting married. We just have to visit the doctor for check up until Iki's about 12 years old.

Oh how we feel relieved now!!!!

We visited Hiro's sister family afterwards and had dinner together. Iki had so much fun playing with his cousins and I had good rest and nice food.

Just arrived home now and close my day drinking beer with Hiro while waiting for turn to get into bath. What a nice day!!!!

Going to aquarium

After having a 'date' lunch, Hiro and I went back home to pick Iki up. We're going to an aquarium at Sunshine City building in Ikebukuro. Iki slept almost the whole trip so when we arrived he was in good mood already.

The aquarium's not big, but I really had a quality time enjoying it. It's not as crowded as both the aquariums we visited in Seoul. I always enjoy watching fishes, they are beautiful creatures and this time I met some fishes I've never seen before. I did talk to them, and I believe they understood :p.

Iki was very 'busy'. He was running here and there, jumped from one aquarium to another excitedly. I felt so good to see him happy and to hear him screaming excitedly.

And then tonight we had dinner at a yakiniku restaurant. The worst yakiniku I've ever had in Japan (#_#). The meat was hard, too oily and too salty. No wonder Iki didn't eat much. He is a picky eater :p

Ah ya! This morning there was a talkshow program at TV with Billy Bootcamp as the guest. My mother in law said that lots of women are doing it in Japan now and wondering if it really worked. I told her that I did the exercise in Korea and this is what she said: 'ohhh!! No wonder ur stomach is so flat now!!'

Oh I felt so good. My hardwork has a clear result. But then I realised....OMG she really paid a lot of attention to my naked body during the last ofuro!!!! (@_@)

Trash bin

I got the answer why Iki looked so frustrated and drove me crazy before we left Japan.

He's lonely!

He's such a lovely and happy boy here. He played a lot with his grandparents and gives no impression at all to them that he could be such a monster at home. And oh, he totally forgot me except during hungry and sleepy time. Left me feel lonely and bored at home hahaha. The weather was actually nice today, but I got this monthly guest. Made me decided to stay at home instead of going out with stomach pain and bad mood. I ended up cleaning up all the floors in this house. Can't believe I did it. It took 2.5 hours only for vacuuming the floors. I never spent such a long time, effort and ENERGY to clean a house. Not even our house in Korea :p

Hiro has nomikai again with his colleagues today so after Iki slept my parents in law had a talk with me. Actually they have brought this topic since few days ago. They think that now it's time to give Iki a brother or sister. Hiro gave them a blunt NO answer so whenever Hiro's not home they tried to made me change Hiro's mind. My mother in law even cried tonight to convince me how Iki would be lonely without a sibling.

I told them that I also wanted one more kid. But I also explained them that Hiro and I had talked about this and decided that it would be very difficult. Raising a kid in Japan is bloody expensive, and Iki's education is not our only consideration. We've been thinking about the next 20 years for Iki's life. We want him to experience lots of things: entering good school, eating good food, staying at good environment, travelling to many places, and lots of toys :p. Which are impossible if we have two kids.

My father in law understood and amazed that Hiro has been thinking that far for Iki's future, but not my mother in law *sigh*

If we provide Iki with good life and lots of attention, he won't feel lonely. It was the last sentence I said to my mother in law before saying good night. Which was not satisfied her :p

Hiro is busy and I won't be able to have a talk with him at least until day after tomorrow. But I feel much better now after writing this down here hahaha.

My blog is my trash bin? :p

No comment (#_#)

I'm online using my mobile during our stay in Japan. Well, there's actually a PC upstair, but my 'free time' is only at midnight and it's impossible to leave Iki downstair alone.

I'm still updated to blogs through google reader, but I can't comment or reply comments on my blogs. Somewhat the 'publish' button can't be clicked. So thank you for visiting my blog and drop your thought here, but I'm sorry for unable to comment. Anyhow, I still read all of your interesting stories, so keep blogging!! (=_=)v

Today we went to a bookstore at Ikebukuro station. I bought a book about making my own jewelry and some supporting tools. I've been interested to jewelry making (for my own satisfaction and collection) for quite a long time, and now I think I could start learning it since I've got more free time especially at night. Let's hope I could manage to keep it up hehehe.

Got a new Japanese mobile too. Black, simple, thin, and light. Soooo Hiro's style!!! But I like it.
Had contact with Nova this afternoon, we're planning to meet this weekend. I forgot when was the last time I talk to someone on Javanese!!! Brought me back some memories from Surabaya :p.

I did it!!!

At last I showed my naked body to my mother in law!!!!

Tonight Hiro is drinking with his colleagues. It's too far from home that I decided not to join. I was afraid not to be able to arrive home on time for Iki's bath and sleeping time.

Then my mother in law said that she would be glad to bath Iki. But she's very old and father in law was worried to let her alone in bath in Iki, so....as a good daughter I stepped in. I joined them taking ofuro (@_@).

Let's say this is a training for next week's onsen. When I must get naked together with many other strangers inside Japanese style public bath!

I felt so awkward and embarassed, and THANKS to Iki for playing with my breasts and showed them to my mother in law! (_ _;)

First day in Japan

We're in Japan now. What a long exhausting day. We got stuck in a traffic jam for hours (_ _o).

We stay at my parents in law's house in Tokyo. They pampered us with delicious Japanese dinner. Sashimi (raw fish), Ikura (raw salmon eggs), Shirasu (boiled soft anchovy), Hijiki (kind of seaweed, black), best Tofu I've ever had, ham, tarako (fresh Tara fish' egg), yakitori, boiled edamame (Japanese green bean), mozuku (kind of seaweed seasoned with vinegar and soy sauce), avocado with wasabi, fresh sliced octopus, and yakana shouga (kind of ginger) with miso paste.

Loooots of food that we're confused where to start hahaha. Tooo bad I was too tired and hungry that I didn't take any photo (_ _;).

If we're going to be pampered with these kind of food during our two weeks stay here, my body shaping program is sooo going to be ruined!! I'm afraid by the time I have to go naked in onsen with my mother in law, fats will be all over my body again. Huaaaaa!!!

(@_@)

Is he NOT happy spending time with me? He's crying all the time no matter how I'm trying to calm him down. Really is driving me into the edge!

I just can cry silently at the kitchen. So frustrating (@_@)

Broken heart

Iki was too tired and didn't have enough nap today that he kept shrieking and was so irritating after bath time. We were fighting during teeth brushing time, though at the end he was sorry and I could finish brushing his teeth.

But then on the bed he started shrieking again. I knew he was too tired but at last I couldn't stand it and talked to him *a bit* strongly. "Stop it, Iki!"

He looked at me angrily with his almost-crying-shape-lips, wave "bye bye" (means go away, mama!), turned his back to me, and fell asleep in a minute.

My heart was broken into pieces. I couldn't let his angry eyes and waving goodbye hand out of my mind afterwards. So sad.....(_ _o)

My BIG Little Sister

I miss her though it's only been 1.5 months since we last met. Especially when she texted me telling that she's going to be sent to Marampit Island to complete her training program (PTT).

Marampit island? where the hell is that? She just said that it's located at Talaud in North Sulawesi. I googled right away to find information that it is one of the 12 Indonesia's outer small islands which are potentially lead to conflict with the neighboring countries. It is located nearby the border line with Philippine, even closer to Philippine than to our mainland. Transportation depends on weather condition, and only small boat can reach that island once in 3 weeks (or more if the sea's not friendly). During bad weather time people can only eat Keladi (kind of potato?) since it's the only edible plant they can grow (can't even catch fish then). That island is surrounded by deep dangerous sea, and one big earthquake underwater could possibly "wash" it away. Electricity is only from 17:30 - 01:30 and no phone line available. Fresh water is also one luxurious thing. How can I not worry about her?!?!?!

Agnes: Don't worry. I'll bring a lot of food. Mama prepared abon cakalang pedas (dried fried spicy tuna) for 6 months.
Me: Hee? you won't have refrigerator there. It won't last long
Agnes: It's packed separately for each month. And I'll bring also lots of canned food, if you're still worried
Me: What about during bad weather time? you could only eat keladi as the main food
Agnes: I'll bring 20 kgs of rice and rice cooker!
Me: Hahaha RICE?!
Agnes: :p yeah
Me: Water? clean water is difficult to find there
Agnes: I'll bring water filter as well. Don't worry. I'm well prepared
Me: How would you manage to bring all those stuffs?! It would be only YOU
Agnes: I'm a doctor. There will always be someone around to help me. I can't wait to go there. I have lots of plans for that place. Would be tiring yet exciting. I want the people there to trust me and let me help them too. Please wish me luck!

Hmmmmm.....She is not my "little" spoilt sister anymore. She is my BIG little sister (^___^)

OMG!!!!!

I just finished my midnight bath and started to do my midnight routine: "dating" my PC. Accidentally I watched one of Hirai Ken's video clips during blog browsing. My eyes wide opened in a second as I remembered that hot singer.

I fell in love with his voice directly when I heard "Grandfather's clock -Ookina furu tokei" about four years ago during my rafting trip to Probollinggo with Hiro. That song, came out to be "our" song, kept running inside my head for days. I listened to it for so many times, sang it out loud, also used the melody for my cell phone's ringtone. Tick tack tick tack, I remember I made lots of friends frustrated listening to that song again and again :p. Too bad I couldn't find the clip at YouTube (_ _o).

But then I found this video clip. A new one. A rumor that he's a gay once broke my heart, but watching this clip......OMG!!! I don't believe that stupid rumor anymore. OMG OMG OMG. He's sooooo damn hot!!!! (duh sesek napas liatnya, sampe "semriwing semriwing" :p)



And I like this song as well. Hitomi wo Tojite...



Hirai Ken....I'm still in love with you (^________^)

Trying mobile blogging

It's 2:18 a.m now. I'm lying on my bed, in my dark room, typing from
my cell. Just finished watching downloaded Spiderman 3.

It's chilling tonight. The temperature has dropped these past three
days. Still wishing a little more summer sun would come again next
coming week. Though I'm afraid global weather changing has forced
autumn to visit early....

Saturday at Gangnam

"I'm bored. Let's go somewhere else..."

Was my greeting to Hiro when he woke up almost 11 a.m last Saturday. Thus we ended up waiting for the bus to Gangnam at 12.30 a.m; sweating after walking in a hurry in a humid summer day.

It took 1.5 hours to Gangnam. More than half an hour longer due to traffic jam. We were really hungry so we just chose the nearest restaurant we could find (of course after Hiro went in first to check the menu offered there). We stuffed ourselves at a bakery not far from the bus stop. I was too hungry that I didn't take any photo of the bakery or the large amount of tempting bread and pastries displayed. Something we would never find in Incheon, at least for now. The food was really nice, but pity we couldn't spend a little more time there since Iki wanted to get out of that place asap :(.

It was really a hot afternoon, and apparently Gangnam is not a place for relaxing with a baby around. It's a shopping area with lots of shops and cafes and bars, and hawkers along the streets. I used to enjoy Gangnam when I was still pregnant, but somehow I felt different now. Blame it to the heat? :p. At the end of the street we found a big book store, Kyobo. A perfect place to cool down and find something to read.

The foreign books section is not too large and I couldn't really find interesting novels there. But I found a pocket Korean phrase book by LonelyPlanet. Yeah right.....buying Korean language book just few months before we leave Korea?! HAHA!. But still, for me the book is worthed to buy.

We strolled the street once more, so that little Iki could enjoy walking here and there. But again it was too hot (how many times did I mention "HOT" already?! :p), and look what we could only "enjoy" in Gangnam:



People, people and people.
Yes. Lots of people that we could hardly walk. This phenomenon is just sooooo common everywhere we go, either in Incheon or Seoul. That's why we don't dare to go to the zoo or big amusement park. Once experience at an aquarium in Seoul is more than enough actually.

So we decided to go back to Incheon. Again Iki was a really good boy. Didn't sleep but didn't cry during the bus trip. I was dead tired when Hiro said: "At the end people would realize that home is the best place. Did you enjoy the trip, Shierly?"

I smiled and said, "Yes, I did. I could eat that very delicious bread and most of all could spend this saturday afternoon with you and Iki. And oh yes, I also got refreshed :p"

Hiro: "good answer otherwise I would punch you"

Hahahahahahahahaha hey....I did enjoy the trip!! (^__^)

Favourite author(s)

I like reading since I was very young. As far as I could remember, Bobo and Donald Duck were my weekly magazines when I was in early years of elementary schools. Then when I moved back to Banjarmasin from Manado, I started to attach to novels. I spent lots of times at the school libraries, and re-newed the cards often because I borrowed too many novels. My mom was always angry at that time because once I started to open a new novel, I would forget to eat, to nap and to study :p. At Junior high school I was introduced to Japanese comics by my friend and since then I became a big fan of them. Anyway I love reading. It could be novels, or comics, or magazines, or newspapers, or blogs, or even supermarket brochures (esp. SALE page ha ha!)

Now that I don't have much time anymore to read a lot, I become selected to some particular authors. I love Clara NG for Indonesian novels. I read all of her novels by now (not the children books she wrote), and always ask someone to send me one if there's new novel published. Her novels are a good balance of imagination, life values and great humors. All of her novels could make me laugh out loud, especially "The (Un)reality Show". I just couldn't stop laugh and read the book again and again :p

I am also a big fan of Dan Brown. Yeah yeah, because of the famous Da Vinci Code. But actually from all his novels, I love Angels and Demons the most. Dan Brown's novels' are rich of interesting scientific pieces, religion's facts and phenomenons (usually kind of testing my belief hehehe), as well as adventures. I'm waiting forward for his next novel, waiting forward to be drown into his next adventure (^___^)

And other one is OF COURSE Rowling and the best seller Harry Potter series. I believe you all know why I collect all the Harry potter books and intend to bring them whenever I go. I want Iki to read these books also later in the future!! (and perhaps his kids? hahahha)

But it doesn't mean that I don't read other novels. Now I'm reading The Alchemist, a birthday gift from Uti. Some people I know said that this book is a magnificent piece, and I'm going to prove it myself pretty soon (^_-)v

Do you like reading novels? Who is your favorite author(s)?

It's finished.....

It's 2:27 AM, and I just finished reading it. The last book of Harry Potter. Can't believe that the whole series have been finished. Feel relieved that now I know the ending yet feel empty that I won't be able wait (curiously) or read Harry's next adventures.

Anyway I've been enjoying these last four days with Harry. Thanks Ibu Rowling!! For the awesome imagination you shared us. And thanks Hiro for buying me that book and for being so understanding to take care of Iki whenever I felt like reading :p

PS: Anyone wants to know the story? I'd be more than glad to share hehehe

My treasure

This is only one box of treasure I brought from Manado. From instant noodles, canned food, Indonesian tea, beng-beng, kacang hijau to gula merah. From antangin (my only powerful medicine!) to beras kencur. From dried chillies to kemiri.



There's still another box with jars of dried home made food, sambal khas Bu Rudi (I looooveeeeee ENYO!!!!), spiku cake (from Enyo again), and some novels from Valens. Plus additional package sent from my mother with sexy clothes and accessories from Mariza and lots of clothes for Iki. I'm really satisfied though I couldn't bring more boxes here.

And look what I found in my mailbox this afternoon. My Harry Potter. At last I received it after waiting like ages from 21st of July. Pre-ordered means that they sent it on the 21st July and I had to wait like half month to have it delivered. Meanwhile lots other people have finished reading it (including Sheila!). Amazon delivered it in a special Harry Potter edition package. Too bad it will go to my trash bin :p but anyway YAY!!! I'm happy!!!!!!

It means, dear friends....I will take holiday from blogging or chatting for a while since my reading time would only be at night. Same time with my routine blogging or chatting time :p



See you again with the ending of Harry Potter's story ;))

Billy's Bootcamp

Hiro said something alarming 2 days ago:

Hiro: hmmm kamu look fat ne....esp. cheek area
Me: WHAT?! (shocked)
Hiro: fat dan hitam sekali :p
Me: hitam no problem. Fat?! Really??????????

It's really a sensitive matter for me. Well OK, I still have lots of Indonesian food and especially sambal Bu Rudi from Enyo. I know they're responsible to the uncontrollable raised of my weight. Plus the midnight snack I have lately. Deep in my heart I actually realize that I gain some kilos in this past few weeks. But still.....when someone finally really mentioned that I looked fat, oh well I'm freaking out :p

So at 12:30 a.m I grabbed my hula hoop and did some weight lifting as well. It was when Hiro said again that the hula hoop might not help much for my body shaping. He said that he read somewhere about a popular aerobic method in Japan nowadays. We looked for information right away and turned out that the popular method is tae bo workouts.

It's Billy's bootcamp and the reviews said that the DVD series are really effective for body shaping. Almost bought the DVD from Amazon when Hiro realized that it could be downloaded from BitTorrent. Well, his motto is: "Why should I pay for something I can free downloaded?" :p

Anyway then I tried the exercise. Gosh, I only did 20 minutes exercise but it could already sweat me out. Much more than what I had from Yoga practice (what a comparison hahaha). I felt so healthy and great afterwards. When Iki's asleep I tried the full 1 hour exercise. Have been doing it for two days now, can hardly move because of muscle pain all over my body. The result could be seen in about 3 weeks. So let's see how sexy I would be later hahahahaha

Mother tongue

Yesterday I read an email from the foreign wife mailing list in Japan. About a Russian mother who speaks English to her daughter as a mother tongue instead of Russian. It's because of the parents want the girl to speak English and Japanese as the main languages. She said she will teach Russian later after the daughter speaks the first languages well.

This idea got confronted by a British woman. She said that the Russian mother should not teach English to her daughter because it is not her mother tongue. Because the daughter later on would speak "weird" English in term of pronunciation, intonation, and grammar (jahat amat!!)

Anyway those emails made me thinking this whole day. I also speak English to Iki as the main language meanwhile Hiro speaks Japanese to him. Of course he is familiar also with Indonesian because Hiro and I speak "GOOD" mixture of English, Japanese and Indonesian. Now I'm worried if my English is not good enough that Iki will speak "weird" English later on (quoted from that British woman statement). I had a chat with hiro about this mother tongue thing and he insisted that I keep English as the main language to communicate with Iki. No matter how "weird" the English would be. There are lots of English versions in this world. British, American, Australian, Singaporean, and many more. People from different countries speak "different" English. Maybe for that British woman, British English is the only correct English form in the world?! :p

It passed my mind to speak Indonesian to Iki. But even if I want to teach Iki Indonesian as a mother tongue, which "Indonesian" would it be?! The formal Indonesian "EYD"? (Well, I don't even master it :p), Banjarese dialect(I thought it's my mother tongue but in fact I don't use it at all lately), Manadonese dialect? (When I went back there I couldn't speak Manadonese dialect well, and didn't understand LOTS of words), Suroboyoan (I think it's my "language" now but Hiro doesn't understand at all) or The Kondo's Indonesian?! ("very" simplified Indonesian used in this house).
Oh well most likely he will master the Kondo's Indonesian since it's the Indonesian language we use at home. Then Iki's Indonesian will be "really weird", right?!

Look at our conversation few minutes ago:
Me: tadi Iki bangun then kamu ganti pampers dia?
Hiro: ya, sudah yo. tapi after change langsung dia tidur, tidak minum.
Me: oh sudah yo minum
Hiro: minum water? tadi baru dia bangun?
Me: ya, sudah minum banyak

THAT kind of Indonesian. Not to mention the intonation!!!

OK....Make up my mind now!!
I'll stick to English as the main language then hahaha

Additional note based on Sheila's comment (^_^):
Since I'm not an English native, I always switch to Indonesian whenever I don't know how to express something :p. And listening to his parents conversation in "our" Indonesian, Iki understands some Indonesian words pretty well though I don't talk in Indonesian that much to him. That's why he was able to "communicate" with my family back in Manado.
And living in Korea, environment puts some Korean words inside his (quoting Sheila) spongy brain as well. So whenever we go out, he can do greetings in Korean (like bowing when someone said "annyonghasseo") for example. Also can give response to simple Korean questions. I'm really amazed of a baby's brain capability in absorbing new things, including languages! Though he needs longer time to be able to make up his mind of which language to speak first.
Hence Hiro and I are not worried if his speaking ability is a bit late comparing to other children of his age. He's living in 4 languages now though his main languages are English and Japanese.

Why oh why?!

I got my period this morning. Half of me felt relieved. The thought of having another baby with a super-attention-demanding Iki scared me. I was not sure if I could manage to be a good mother of both (and a good wife as well). One baby is already capable to take away almost all the patience I could possibly have.

But "one and half" of me somewhat felt sad. I felt like losing a baby. Somewhat it hurt me to see "it". Perhaps its because we've been talking about it. The consequences we might face if it happened. Hiro said it's OK. We would have to save at least another some hundreds thousand of USD ONLY for his/her education. Especially because having another child at his age is kind of critical. He would get retired before that child graduates from university. But if it really happened, it's really OK. No more traveling or gorgeous dinner or expensive shopping. But he'd feel really happy and blessed (in spite of waking up every two or three hours at the early months :p). Mostly because Iki looks very lonely after our holiday trip. The idea of having one more sibling would probably make him happy, and make our home more cheerful.

Anyway, again, I got my period. Half of him also felt relieved. I tried to forget this the whole day. The result? I bought a small cute wooden cupboard to put my accessories (dasar cewek :p). I almost forgot that I was so obsessed of miniatures of wooden furnitures when I was in university. I also got a haircut. Finally I found a good hair saloon in this city. It's recommended by Hiro's Japanese friend living here (he believes that something recommended by a Japanese must be good haha). Well, it is really good. The hairdresser could speak English and she cut my hair just the way I wanted it. At last I got a haircut again after 5 months :p



But as I finished my day with hot shower few minutes ago, it's coming back again. The feeling of losing.

Why should I feel so sad of losing something I've never had?

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The family

Iki was really a good boy. I'm so proud of him. He made everybody happy. He enjoyed playing with everyone. My family spent really a quality time with him. They got really excited to come along way from Manado early in the morning and spend the whole day with him. We went home also for sure, and visited my grandfather at my father's hometown, Woloan. A village I spent 2 years of my childhood.

On the last day my busy brother and the last two of my uncles joined us at the hotel. It was really nice to meet them and we had last big dinner together at the hotel restaurant. The food was not satisfying yet the togetherness mattered.

As we got back here Iki looks very lonely and bored at home. Spending a full week with a lot of people surrounding made him really happy. I believe my famly in Manado are also missing him as much as he is. I promise myself to bring Iki to meet my family again later when he's bigger :)

Going to Bunaken

We booked a boat from the resort and went to Bunaken with my family (except my brother). It was Iki's first time on the boat as well so he enjoyed it so much. I enjoyed it even more since there were my parents and sister taking care of him almost the whole journey. Hiro and I had snorkeling too. It was my first time and for me the sea garden there was one of the miracle I've ever seen. The fishes were sooo colorful (oh, I saw nemo!!!), the corals were beautiful, pity bit dirty with some potato chips empty packages among the corals! I couldn't remember how many times I screamed of excitement through my snorkel. I felt lucky to wear life vest because the wave was really strong I couldn't swim to the boat by myself. Hiro also got difficulty pulling me so at last we gave sign to the boat and asked them to pick us up nearby. I was really satisfied though Hiro said that Maldive is more beautiful (yeah yeah yeah...!).

We had Ikan bakar by the beach at Bunaken. It was really cheap and 3 times more delicious than hotel meals. The dabu dabu accompanied the fish was perfect too. Everyone enjoyed the food including Iki. He played a lot at the beach and on the boat. Really happy to see him enjoying the trip. It was really satisfying. (and thanks for my sister for NOT taking my pictures snorkeling (@_@))

Indonesian food, the best food in the world :p

My mom prepared most of the food I love to eat. It's just that my eating wish-list was too long that I still couldn't eat many food.
My mom cooked more chinese food like I used to eat during my childhood, and my aunt prepared the manado food when we visited my grandfather. My uncle gave us a huge koi fish from his pond, and Hiro ate his first bat ever there. He was so excited though then when he told his colleague here, he started to worry about the disease a bat could have :p
There were still lots of food I couldn't eat, especially those I could only eat in "warung". Lucky at the airport I found delicious bakso (which was for Hiro tasted like it was full of chemical stuffs :p). That bakso with warung style avocado juice was like a perfect ending for my holiday.

Kima Bajo

We stayed at a resort named Kima Bajo. It's about 40 minutes north of Manado city. It's a resort on a hill with a private volcanic sand beach. Really a place that offers nature. It has a large garden with lots of coconut trees, and banana tress, and many other kind of trees and flowers I couldn't name. I love this place since we could introduce natures to Iki. One thing that is missing in Incheon ( esp. the butterflies, the sea, the stars, the frogs, and many more). We booked a villa there, and even inside the room Iki can still find excitement to see young cockroach, cricket, some other insects, and frog inside the bathtub!!! Thanks God there was no snake during his bath at the outdoor Balinese style bathtub :))

The spa was really nice too. I had traditional massage just after we arrived there and it really satisfied me.

The staffs are really nice and friendly, and sometimes could be good baby sitter for Iki while we're having our meal. It's just that the food was really standard, and Indonesian food on the menu (except ikan rica-rica and grilled squid) were much below our expectation. I ate the yuckiest gado-gado in my whole life there :p.

Anyway we enjoyed our stay there though I'm not sure we would go back there. We even talked about the possibility of naming an-accidentally-could-be Iki's "adek": Kima-chan hahahahahaha

We're back (^_____^)

The holiday has finished. Back to real life again.
It was a really nice getaway. Tiring yet satisfying. Our skin are all well tanned now, including Iki's. Thanks God he has my skin DNA. So it just got dark without suffering from sunburn like Hiro. Everybody was happy. It was not just a holiday. It was family time, and....eating time (especially for me :p). I was the one with camera so back home in Incheon I realized I don't have many pictures of myself (T_T), but here are some that captured our happy moments there.

For all my friends in Surabaya, so sorry I didn't make lots of phone calls and sms. I couldn't find myself alone to grab my cell phone. I didn't expect pulang kampung would be that busy. But hey.....I promise to come to Surabaya one day to show my little boy (^__^)

Transit

8 July 2007, 23 pm

I'm typing this at Changi airport transit hotel. Iki is sleeping
beside me and Hiro is crazily running around the airport, shopping! I
can't imagine what will that shopping freak buy. For him this airport
is heaven hahaha.

Iki was a very good boy today. It really was a very easy and smooth
journey. People around us kept praising how good he is as a baby. He
didn't cry, played and ate well. 180 degree different from my last
journey with him last february. I was alone and he cried from take off
to landing :p.

And I'm also very happy today. Besides at last getting my Louis
Vuitton wallet at Incheon airport, I also got another gift from
singapore airlines: a swarovski neclace. Just because accidentaly the
fork they served me had a sharp broken edge that hurted my finger.
From the stewardess to the chief stewardess came to my seat to
apologize and make sure that my finger stopped bleeding and was
allright. At last the inflight chief also came to apologize and gave
that swarovski gift as a service from Singapore Airlines. Nice, huh?.
SIA is really a first class airlines with a first class service!

　

Satisfying day. Tomorrrow morning we will continue to fly to Manado.
Hope it would be at least as smooth as today.

Damn cough (>.<)

It's been more than a week!!!

I'm tired of taking a rest the whole day yet I must to stop this damn cough getting worse.
This afternoon I went to hospital (again), and there the doctor found out that my old asthma has a role to make this cough getting worse these few days (sigh).
We're leaving to Indonesia in three days and I hate to go on board with this condition. Most of all, I'm afraid I couldn't eat all the food in my "must-be-eaten-list" (which mostly are spicy and hot) to save my throat.
I regularly take the medicine, I have good rest almost the whole day, I keep my neck warm, I drank lemon juice + Indonesian sweet soy sauce (no lime here!), I drank hot ginger drink, even I drank 1/2 cup of tumeric liquid (suggested by my mum this afternoon). Still no sign that this cough will go away soon *desperate*.

Arrgghhhh any other super good idea to cure a sore throat + cough in three days??

Argghhhhhhh

Have a terrible sore throat, my head hammered, and painful muscle all over my body. I believe so does Iki as he also got flu since yesterday. But why did he just want to play (with ME!) the whole day instead of sleeping?!?!

I took some medicine so I also need to have some sleep, but this little boy seemed so healthy playing around with his nose running. I felt to tired and sleepy that I tried to put him into sleep. 1 hour, 2 hour, failed. I took him out on his baby car (usually it worked!), but also failed. He got more excited to play outside. So I brought him back here, let him playing on the living room, and laid down trying to give rest to myself. But he kept coming and pulling me out of bed to play with him.

I put him again on his bed and ignored him, he cried. I thought then he would asleep if I stayed on his bed too. But he didn't. Once I came to his bed, he grinned and started playing again. I left and ignored him again, and he cried again, and grinned back at the second I sit on his bed. It happened again and again that I lost my patience.

So at last I shouted at him, pointing him to sleep on his bed. He was surprised, scared, but laid down. Now it's 3:20 PM. He just felt asleep, but me?

I was too angry that I couldn't close my eyes anymore now. Arghhhhhhhhhh

Seoul one day trip

Well, I did't have a hot date (_ _o). Being too tired drown my mood. Too bad that I blew the only chance we could have to enjoy a personal moment without Iki in Korea. Hiro was a bit mad last night, but then we managad to make it up. Anyway seems that it was the best choice since we had a tiring journey the next day.

Today we went to Seoul. We started in the morning by renting a Jumbo taxi so that everyone could have a big space in the car, and enjoy the journey with a skilled driver. It was much more expensive than using normal taxi, but oh, trust me, I vomitted several times after taking taxi in Korea. They drive like a bemo driver in Surabaya :p

We had lunch soon after we arrived in Seoul. The famous Samgaetang (chicken ginseng soup) at a famous big restaurant nearby Gyengbokgung (one of Seoul's historical tourist attraction). Surprisingly there was a pretty long queue in front of the restaurant. Hiro was a bit complaining already, but I insisted to go in line since we don't have any more lunch option, and it was a very hot afternoon, and I was terribly hungry, and most important was I really wanted to eat that Samgaetang hihihi. The food wes superb as usual, and my parents in law enjoyed it as well. I was even more satisfied when we saw a very very very long queue in front of that restaurant after we finished eating. How lucky we were!



Then we went to Lotte Department. My parents in law wanted to buy some Korean food as souvenirs for their friends. And I used that chance to go to the DFS upstair. There I got my new baby, LOUIS VUITTON WALLET beibehhh!!!! From my parents in law and Hiro as my birthday present this year :p. How I can't wait for our next journey to Indonesia next month, since I could really get that "baby" at Duty Free counter at the airport right before departure!!



After finishing our business there we went to Nandaemun. It's a market selling many kinds of Korean souvenirs and fake branded goods. I bought some Korean souvenirs to bring to Indonesia, and I was really really satisfied with the price I got. I told Hiro not to talk in Japanese and sent my parents in law waiting for me pretty far. There as an Indonesian, and by speaking some Korean words, I could get much cheaper price :p. An Asian woman bought the same thing 1.5 times more expensive no matter how hard she tried to negotiate, and when I gave the seller "confusing" look, she said that I spoke really good Korean. Even better, she put some more free gifts into my plastic bag (might be to shut my mouth up hehehe). I almost forgot the satisfaction of getting a desired price when negotiating during shopping. Oh yeah, shopping orgasm beibehh hahaha



Again it was too hot and too crowded so everybody got tired easily. We decided to go home afterwards. It was only a 6 hours journey but all of us were almost out of battery. Anyway everyone seems enjoyed the journey. Especially ME hehehe (^____^)

A visit

I'd been very busy lately, cleaning up my house. Why? We got a visit. An important visit from the almighty parents in law hahaha.
Yeah, they're here now, sleeping soundlessly in the guest room.
Iki is very happy today to meet his grandparents. He totally forgot me. Spent the whole time playing with An-chan and Jin-chan. He even didn't want to sleep. He cried when I took him from his An-chan and brought him to bed. He finally fell asleep at 11 p.m. The latest ever haha

Since Iki is very happy to play with his grandparents, perhaps tomorrow I could have a date with papa-chan? watching movie would be great, but an hour drinking at a bar is more than OK (^__^)

Nightmare

I woke up in horror with Iki's voice spinning in my head this morning. Mamaaa...mamaaa.
I sat on my bed, and saw Iki standing on his bed. Oh how I felt relieved.

I got a nightmare.
I saw Iki on a bed. A white bed.
He's crying. Loudly. Sadly
Calling mama. Mamaaaa Mamaaa
Calling papa. Papaaa Papaaa
Screaming "itaiiiii, itaiiii*" with his swollen eyes
Trying to reach me. Asking for a hug.
He's crying, crying and crying
He's tied there, on that white bed. Couldn't move.

It's exactly the same view when he just got his operation done last december.

Argggghhhhh I can't see him in that condition anymore
I don't want to
I don't want him to go through it once more time

Yesterday evening Hiro told me: "I made a phone call to Iki's doctor, trying to change the check up time into late september instead of early one. And the doctor said that he wanted to talk a bit more to us since Iki's condition needs to be operated as soon as possible after September check up"

That statement freaked me out. Leading me into that nightmare.



I don't want to see him in that condition again....please, not again...

My first friend

At last, after about 1.5 years living in Korea, I got my first friend.

We met at the park about a month ago. She wanted to practice her English, and I was more than happy to get a friend, so we get along pretty well. Last week she invited me to come to her house, introduced me to Korean households, Korean food, Korean tea, Korea's must be visited places, and I surprisingly enjoyed our conversations (with a help of calculator translator hehehe).

Yesterday I invited her to come to my house. It was the first invitation I made ever since I live in Korea. I mean, my OWN invitation. Because previously there're always Hiro's boss or colleagues coming to our place for dinner (and little drink :p).
I made tiramisu for us, and "baby" tiramisu for the kids (no alcohol); and we enjoyed it with a cup of coffee and some fruits she brought. They loved my tiramisu, and I promised myself to bake them chocolate cake for their next visit :p.

Though I thought that I enjoyed my small circle of life with Hiro and Iki, it's in fact really really nice to have someone else to talk to (though with a help of an electric dictionary). She's Janice, my first ever friend in Korea. The first person who doesn't care about my nationality. The first person who keeps talking to me at the park under the curiosity eyes of other mothers. (But damn, I couldn't remember her Korean name (@_@)!!)

I hope someday.....someday, I would be able to invite my dear friends in Surabaya and made tiramisu for them. Dare to try my food, pals? :p

Thank you

Actually I kno w you'd say that I'm too dru nk to write this.
But I really want tothnk you
NOT ONly for the woderfuyl dinner you prepared
also for the another great year I COUld spend witrh you

Thank you.

For the laugh. love and life that we shar e

What should I do?

Both my brother and sister are doctors now. My brother just got partial scholarship for master education as a thorax surgeon, meanwhile my sister will go to Papua to dedicate her knowledge there. I'm proud of them, and most of all, of my parents. After 1998 economic crisis, we lost almost everything. We're not a rich family. My father is a bemo driver now yet he works really really hard to complete his dream for his children. It was almost impossible. I told my father to stop his ambition. But when he told me that education was the only thing he could give to his children. If he stopped before they're graduated, he would feel that he failed. Failed as a father. I tried to understand and worked 12 hours everyday in Surabaya to support them.

Now they've graduated. Isn't it time for my father to relax now? I thought so, but then my brother told me about that partial scholarship. Well, eventhough "partial", he still needs A LOT of money. Let's say 7000 USD for the first payment with total tuition fee about USD 28,000. Impossible. For Indonesian it's a lot of money. Especially for not a rich family like mine. I told them it would be very difficult.

He's a doctor already. I think it's already a big modal to start earning his future. It's time for my father to take a rest. It's time for my brother to make his own life. If he wanted to study he could work first to collect the money. I talked to him, to my parents, even to my sister. To my surprise they also wanted him to continue his study. No matter how difficult it would be, they will try their best. Even my sister said she would support him as well from what she would earn in Papua. They just need to sell the land in Jakarta, and all the financial problem would be solved.

The thing is, it's not easy to sell a land. How long have they been trying to?! And at the end now they expect me to lend the money.....
I want them to see reality. I want my brother to earn his own life now, not just expecting for helps and miracles to come. So I decided to refuse. Besides Hiro has helped them a lot. I don't have any heart to ask that amount of money from him. He also works hard and wants to enjoy his life. My family problem is not his responsibility. I may sound like a cruel sister, but I believe its for my brother's own sake.

I thought it would stop him. Nope. He's going to go to Papua for a few with my sister to work. He wants to collect as much money as he could to be able to join the class in December. But he hasn't got any news from the hospital in Papua, so what he could do is waiting. Waiting for the news from the hospital and miracle that the land could be sold really fast. My mother will also go to Jakarta next week, to work at a relative's restaurant. Meanwhile my father stays in Manado, working days and nights. So does my sister. They work hard, save money, eat the cheapest food. To collect that impossible amount of money before December. While keep praying and hoping that someone would buy our land in Jakarta.

It breaks my heart.
I live a good life here and I eat the best food. Thinking of my family makes me sad.

Beforehand I planned to go home this summer. I miss them. Terribly. I want to show my little boy to them. But in this kind of situation, I look like a big sister who can spend thousands dollars to come to Manado but doesn't want to help her brother.

What should I do.............??? I can't let this matter out of my mind. I feel like my head is going to explode.

What am I doing?

Life runs so smoothly now. I just have usual exciting routine, taking care of Iki and households, plus some more relaxing time for myself: reading books, watching drama, or simply chatting with my midnight friends: enyo and valens. That's it. Everyday.

Boring? nope. There's little Iki with his new surprises everyday. At least for now I'm enjoying my life.

For short updates of my daily life, I'm using Twitter now. Add me if you're using it too :). It's on my sidebar as well, so follow me at my twitter (^__^)

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What's wrong with my stomach?!?!?!

I couldn't eat Indonesian food recently. Everytime I eat Indonesian food, I would always throw up the whole day. Nasi uduk, sambal terasi, petis, telur dadar, nasi goreng, kerupuk, ayam kalasan, opor ayam, even pisang goreng! Unbelievable!!!!!! The more I tried, the more I felt like there's war inside my stomach, and ended up vomitting. It drives me crazy, and drives Hiro mad.

Why?!?!!??! I love Indonesian food.......(T___________T).

What if I kept vomitting when I go to Indonesia for holiday?! Hiiii thinking of this scared me to death. Going home = eating Indonesian food as much as possible.

What's wrong with my stomach.............? hiks...

PS: Before this story leads into wrong conclusion, FYI, I'm NOT pregnant!

Lovely spring

Spring has come. Sakura has shown its once-a-year beauty. We're lucky that we could see those beautiful trees nearby our apartment, along the main street. A real beauty.



We also have started our small garden at the veranda already. Not much since the temperature is still pretty cold for other plants. I have morning glory flowers in one pot, which have just shown its tiny green leaves yesterday. Two strawberry trees with small flowers blooming already, and one unknown flower that hasn't shown any blooming sign since February *sigh*.



I love this season, andI love this gardening thing, another refreshing from my routine. Give me new little surprise to see every morning :p. Even little Iki also enjoying this new activity.

Damn Expensive Tooth

I got a hole on my left most behind upper tooth. I terribly big one. Actually I knew I had it since I was pregnant. But then the dentist in Surabaya couldn't do anything due to my pregnancy. She asked me to come back after giving birth for that tooth treatment. But then I moved to Korea, and my new busy life here made that tooth forgotten.

Until last week......
When that forgotten unseen tooth started to disturb my life. Yeah, toothache sucks. I'm sure you guys know how it feels that there's no need to describe it :D.

So yesterday afternoon I went to a dentist with Hiro and Iki. I went to this dentist last year to fix a 1 mm diameter hole on my tooth. It costed me 100 USD for that tiny hole so we're pretty worried on how much would it cost this time!

He examined my tooth and explained that I will need root canal treatment. I will have to visit him like 8 times to have my tooth done. One the first treatment he gave damn injection, made me produced a loud long painful scream. Which was felt even more painful as I heard long loud laugh from the waiting room "HUAHAHAHAHAA Iki...Iki...listen to mama. She's screaming like a baby ne......huuhhaahuahahahaha" (@_@). GRRRRRRR

But then he was not laughing anymore as the doctor explained how much the total cost would be. And I was as shocked as him as well. Total cost would be around 600,000 won. Or 600 USD. For a damn single broken tooth. Insurance from Hiro's company would probably cover only 140 USD of treatment fee since the cheapest crown for covering the tooth available in that clinic is not one of those covered by Japanese national insurance. Bah.

As we walked home Hiro announced: "You had better stop snacking chocolate and ice cream!". Eeeeee??? I must live without chocolate....?! (T_T)
And he did prove what he said by eating ice cream BESIDE me while watching drama last night (T_T).....*drooling*

................Damn expensive tooth!!!!!!!!!! !!!