Coins

Iki loves to collect coins and put them into his big piggy bank



And this afternoon Hiro "operated" piggy's tummy and brought all the coins to the bank. We thought me might get about 50,000 won - 100,000 won in total (USD 50 - USD 100)



But surprisingly we got 269,600 won = about 269 USD = IDR 2,500,000!!
The coins only filled the piggy's feet area. Couldn't imagine how much would it be if the piggy's full!!

Farewell Dinner

Tonight we had farewell dinner with Hiro's colleagues. Tomorrow is Hiro's last working day. Boiled King Crab was the main menu. Too bad I didn't take photo. I had to take care of Iki who was suddenly full of energy.

Yeah...it was a nice ending. Nice food, nice people, nice goodbyes.

But the farewell party was like a very loud alarm in my head: WAKE UP AND START PACKING, LAZY BUTT!!!!

We're going to move out next week, but I haven't even packed one single box yet (#_#). Arrrgghhhhh

Iki and Snow

It was a bit snowing this morning so Iki asked me to take him out excitedly while pointing out his snowman pictures. He wanted to see snowman outside!!

I still have my flu so actually I planned to stay warm at home today, but I didn't have any heart to see his curious face about snow. Seemed that he didn't have any memory about snow he saw last year (_ _;).

As predicted he was really really happy. The snow was not that much though but the thin layer was enough to make him excited. He tried to catch the snowflakes and stamped his feet around while saying "uwawa...uwawaaa" (means bubbles in Japanese). He thought the snow's the same with soap bubble :p



He didn't want to go home then. Enjoying himself a little bit too much. We stayed outside for more than 1 hour. As the result now I got my body temperature raised (_ _o). Oh my.......!

Last Lasagna

Today we had lasagna for dinner. Our last lasagna in this house. Tomorrow I must clean my oven because we will pass it to a friend this Saturday. The door is broken, thanks to Iki!! (>.<) But it still works, by holding the door tightly until the food is cooked :p



Usually Iki doesn't like to eat lasagna but this time he ate a lot. So happy to see him eating enthusiastically, and somewhat for us that lasagna tasted really really good. Might be the best lasagna I've ever had in this house. It was a very nice farewell to my lovely oven. My very first oven.....

(_ _;)

I'm sick (+_+)

Feel like there's hammer inside my head and muscle pain all over my body. The worst is the vomitting part. I hate to see the food I cooked with all my effort being thrown out.

I have lots of things to do. Haven't started to pack anything yet. Why should I get this sick at this time?!?! Grrhhhh

I hit Iki!!!

Yesterday I hit Iki for the first time (_ _;)

He was driving me nuts. I knew it's because he couldn't pass his BM. He felt uncomfortable but he simply kept he "trash". He was too afraid to push because he always got pain. He asked me to put him on his toilet seat for many times though, but once he felt that "it's really time to push", he got really panicked and jumped out of the toilet (>.<). He didn't want to play by himself, he didn't want to eat, he didn't want to go out, he didn't want to sleep. He was just being clingy the whole day. Meanwhile I also got my period yesterday, with very bad mood because of stomach pain and muscle pain all over my body. One thing leads to another, I couldn't remember the details, I hit Iki on his butt.We both were so shocked. He cried out loud for few minutes while I checked his butt, trembling. I could see my palm's mark on it. I hugged him and said sorry until he stopped crying. He looked at me in the eyes, bowed sorry, smiled and hugged me back. It made me feel even worse. What a terrible mother I am!!!!!!!!!!

I cried silently in the kitchen after he's asleep. I could still hear the loud SPANK in my head. No, I don't say a mother who spanks her baby is bad. It's just I promised myself that I wouldn't hit Iki. I had bad experiences during my childhood so we (Hiro and I) have decided not to hit Iki at all. But I did it yesterday. I'm a horrible mother!!!!!!!



Look how sweet he is....and how could I spank him?!?!?!

I emailed Hiro right away yesterday and last night we had a midnight talk after he got back home. He suggested me to go out of Korea for refreshing and offered a getaway weekend alone to Indonesia. Ehm...getaway WEEKEND?!
Let's say...I'll leave Korea on Saturday morning, arrive in Surabaya at night and have nasi bebek as dinner. Eat ayam penyet Bu Kris for breakfast, buy some traditional snacks, have kwetiau siram Apeng for lunch, eat Bakso pak Salam for second lunch, find tahu tek tek for tea time, and buy mie dok dok to be brought to the plane. Then I'll be back in the plane to Incheon on Sunday night.
Oh oh oh....what a getaway!!!!

I said thanks but I refused. Maybe next time :p

But I promised him not to hit my little boy anymore. Forever!

Kimchi

Early winter has passed. Making kimchi for winter stock season has passed too. I could hardly see people fighting to buy huge Chinese cabbage and radish at supermarket already.

Kimchi is Korean traditional fermented side dish served almost everywhere here in Korea. If as an Indonesian chili sauce is a perfect match for white rice, then for Korean it's Kimchi. There are many kinds of kimchi, and in fact not all Kimchi are spicy as what the world imagine as they heard the word.

Anyway these are type of Kimchi I like the most:



These Kimchi are the most common one, could be found at almost every restaurant. I like the fresh one and those are served at Seolongtan restaurant nearby our apartment are my favourite.

One fact about Kimchi I figured out when I was in Korea already was that the Kimchi served on our table could be some leftover from the previous customers, and the restaurant will also serve our leftover Kimchi to the next customers. And people do not use special spoon or chopstick to take Kimchi from the small saucers. It's the same chopsticks they use for eating (@_@). "Sharing" is one of Korean's important motto.

The Kimchi at that restaurants taste good anyway, so I kept eating it. Hey....if you live in Roma, live like Romans do. I live in Korea so I have to follow at least some of Korean customs :p.

But we're guarded by Hepatitis B injections for safety reason :p

The Tree

I know, I know....!!!!!!
I should have started (at least) thinking to pack our stuffs. But I just couldn't help it when I saw the box....



So this afternoon we (Iki and I) built the christmas tree :p, and we had sooo much fun working together (^__^)



I just wanted to feel christmas in this apartment for the last time.......

Finally...

After waiting nervously for over a month finally we got information from Hiro's company. That we really are going back to Japan!

I'm so relieved. That Hiro is not being sent to Africa this time, that we will still be together for some more months until next placement is decided. But part of me is feeling sad....
I sat quietly beside sleeping Iki this afternoon when I just heard the news. Somewhat I felt so sad to leave my bedroom. To leave my kitchen. To leave our home, our very first home.



We're leaving Korea on 28 December 2007. I'll definitely miss this apartment, this neighborhood and this city.....

*Am thinking where to start packing now (@_@)*

Manicure - pedicure

This morning I left Iki at home with Hiro again. This time I went to nail salon at the same building with the big grocery store we usually go on weekends. It was almost a year ago when I had my last pedicure, so I could understand the woman's shocked face when she saw the 'dirt' she must work with.



I also had my hands done. Felt relax and prettier afterwards :p.



I actually want to have my own manicure and pedicure at home, but I don't have much free time. In addition, the final result is always not satisfying. I don't understand why I couldn't clean the dead skin from me feet completely as what they usually do at nail salon.

Does any of you know about manicure and pedicure by your own at home?

Ganjang Gyejang (간장게장)

Today we had our last Ganjang Gyejang dinner at our favourite restaurant nearby Yeonsu High School. As usual that restaurant is always full of costumers. Ganjang Gyejang is one of Korean most expensive food, so we believe that Ganjang Gyejang there is one of the best in town.



We ordered Ganjang Gyejang for two, and as usual it came in a minute accompanied with lots of side dishes. Various kinds of Kimchi, Mackerel in Korean hot sauce, steamed egg, fresh Korean salad leaves, Kimchi chige, a big bowl of various kinds of veggies in sesame sauce, and steamed rice (mixed with kind of small nuts) in large bowls.

Ganjang Gyejang is soy sauce pickled raw crab. Yes, raw crab, marinated in soy sauce for several days until got fermented. They are then cut into pieces and served on our table.



The beautiful orange parts are the eggs, and the green-yellowish parts are like crab's liver and pancreas (which was believed as crab's shit by some Indonesian). Unlike other Korean food I've ever eaten, we could use our hands to eat this crab since it's almost impossible eating that ONLY with chopsticks and spoon. This Ganjang Gyejang was really really good. The crab meat was tender and tasty, and the eggs were melted in my mouth. Sucking them out of the shells made it even more delicious. It's really salty so steamed rice is a perfect match. With those lots of side dishes mentioned above you'll easily get stuffed.

The best part was eating from the biggest shell, usually after finished eating all other crabs' parts.



I put some rice inside the shell, and mixed it well with the eggs and soy sauce from the shell. It's like the best ending eating this food. I got food orgasm afterwards.

One portion of Ganjang Gyejang costed us 20.000 won, so it was 40.000 won in total (about USD 40). But really worthed. Ganjang Gyejang is one of Korean's best food for us.

We said goodbye to the restaurant owner already. A very friendly middle aged man who likes to explain Korean food and talk to Iki everytime we're there. I would love to come to Incheon and eat Ganjang Gyejang again at that restaurant in the future if we got the chance to visit Korea.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Oh My God....



I want this book (>.<)

A farewell for Harry Potter series from J.K Rowling. Only 7 copies are printed and one of them is being auctioned for about USD 120,000 already now. I don't care if it's handwritten and illustrated by Rowling, or if it's leather covered with silver ornaments. I just want to read the story.....the farewell story of Harry Potter.......

Papa to Musume no Nanokakan

Means "Seven Days of a Daddy and a Daughter"

Is a drama we just finished watching tonight. This home comedy tells the story of Kyoichiro (Hiroshi Tachi) and his teenage daughter Koume (Yui Aragaki). One day, the two ride a train together after visiting Kyoichiro's mother-in-law. He sees it as a chance to get to know his daughter better, but he ends up getting more than that - by some mysterious force, both Kyoichiro and Koume end up with their mind in the other's body! Unfortunately, they have no choice but to swap lives, pretending to be each other at school and work. (synopsis is quoted from Tokyograph)

I found that this drama is hilarious yet touching. 4 out of 5 stars from me. This drama teaches how a father should understand the daughter (especially a teenager), and how a daughter should respect and appreciate a father. A good view for a lost father-daughter relationship, meanwhile it's a great refreshing for us (^__^)

Korean Traditional Porridge (본죽 - Bokjuk)

We saw the Bokjuk restaurants for so many times actually. It can be found like almost everywhere (at least) in this city. But last Saturday was the first time we tried it, this time was the one nearby Lotte Mart. It took about 20 minutes walking from our apartment in a very cold weather, but it worthed!



It was lunch time so the restaurant was pretty crowded. The menu list was in three languages: Korean, English and Japanese so we didn't get any difficulty to decide which one to choose. Toooo bad I forgot to take picture so I couldn't remember the Korean name of porridge we ordered. I had porridge with mushroom and oyster while Hiro had porridge with abalone.



The porridge came in a large bowl with Korean chili paste, kimchi, and braised pork (maybe) in soy sauce as side dishes. The porridge itself had kind of grated nuts and seaweed as topping. It did smell good and I felt starving in a second.
My porridge was really tasty, with rich amount of mushrooms and oysters. The Kimchi was fresh, and for me the pork was really a perfect match for the porridge (I even finished Hiro's). Hiro's porridge was also very delicious but the abalone was cut into tiny pieces, perhaps because abalone is not as cheap as oyster.

This porridge is now on my "Korean Top Food" list. Too bad we only have about 4 weeks left living here, but I hope at least we could have 3 times porridge lunches (we only dine out on Saturday)

Day Out

I'm in Starbucks now, enjoying my hot peppermint mocca alone after fighting against the very VERY cold weather outside.Iki is sleeping at home, Hiro takes care of him today while I'm having my day out. Lately I feel like my patience almost comes to the limit. Its time to go away from home now, alone, even for few hours only.

Looking at the mirror made me feel really bad. I barely knew the woman there. She looked overweight and so ugly in her messy hair, tired face, and darkened eyes. So last friday, I decided to call the hair salon to make an appointment for today. It was my first time making an appointment by phone in Korean. Usually body language helps me a lot in communicating, so I was a bit nervous. But I could make it. Seems that my Korean has improved quite a lot. Too bad during our stay here I couldn't learn this language in an appropriate way (read: language school).

I browsed for Japanese short hair style pictures last night and will show them to the hairdresser. Let's see if I'd feel better after having a haircut today hehehe

So excuse me now, I'll go upstair and have my hair done.

Update:
Hiro's comment once he saw my new haircut was: "APA ITU?!"
Oh yeah....I DID feel "better"! (#_#)

Constipation

Iki gets constipated for months now. At first he passes his bowel movement (BM) once every two days, and then became once in every three days, once every four days, and recently every five days. He holds it because he is afraid of the pain he always gets during passing it out. It makes situation worse for the stool is getting harder. I can't remember when was the last time Iki passing his BM without crying......

I've tried everything I think is possible to help him. I give him good amount of veggies and fruits (this helps my BM but not his BM!), I give him yakult, I give him fiber rich snacks, I massage his stomach, I give some oil and massage his anus (and now he's "enjoying" it!!), I reduce his milk and give some soya milk instead (though he hates it), and even gave him 2 teaspoons of black coffee suggested by Yun (I thought he wouldn't drink it but he liked it).

Didn't work. He still passes his BM every five days, still in pain.

I brought him to doctor last week and got laxatives to soften his stool. It didn't work. This makes him really uncomfortable and becomes a very irritating boy. He's frustrated, and so I am!

Tonight at last he could sleep at 11 p.m with uncomfortably bloating stomach. I feel so useless that i couldn't help him (_ _o), and feel so tired of controlling my patience (@_@).



Tomorrow I'll bring him to doctor again, asking for stronger medicine. Looking at the amount of food he eats everyday, I'm now worrying the amount of "trash" inside his colon. Won't it lead to bigger problem, like bacteria or any colon infection?!

Any idea or suggestion?! I am so desperate looking at him suffering........

Pepero Day

Quoted from Wikipedia:

Pepero Day is an observance in South Korea similar to Valentine's day. It is named after the Korean snack "Pepero" and held on November 11, since the date "11/11" resembles five sticks of Pepero. The holiday is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts.

According to one story, Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls' middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero" (Pepero means "thin like a stick"). However, it is more likely it was initiated by Lotte, the company which produces Pepero.

So last week boxes of Pepero, in various colors, shapes, and sizes decorated the shops all over Korea. I personally don't really like Pepero's taste because somewhat it's too sweet. But this would be our last Pepero Day in Korea so this year I bought one huge box of almond pepero for Hiro.



Happy Pepero Day (^_____^)

Frustrated

I feel so sad

And I can't help myself,
no matter how I tried

I'm simply frustrated
and tired?
and frustrated

Argghhh blame it to the hormon
I'm just frustrated

How many times did I say "frustrated"?!

pms pms pms pms (>.<)

"Beautiful" Meal

I was already amazed when I read how "beautiful" a BABY's meal should be presented in Japanese baby food recipe books. That's why I wrote a posting titled "eating with eyes" early this year. But I was still amazed to read how "interesting" a toddler's food should be served. As far as I could remember, my mom never made such decoration on food for me and my siblings.

From koko-kurabu

So I made some for Iki based on his requests (I showed him the pictures and asked him to choose). Not as beautiful as expected, but he was really excited to eat, though at first he played with them.


When I showed the magazine to Hiro, he was not surprised at all, and said it's completely a normal task for a Japanese mother. Later when Iki goes to school I will have to make obento (lunch box) for him everyday. A beautiful obento, e v e r y d a y.
And I wanted to black out to see the examples.........

From e-obento.com

Other children will bring beautiful lunch boxes and show them off to their friends, so Iki would be very very sad if I couldn't prepare one for him.
Again, I'm one of the most inartistic people in the world (@_@). How could I manage to make such beautiful meal?!?! And how long would it take to make one? What time should I wake up in the morning?)

It's still about 2 more years to go until Iki's kindergarten time, but I'm already horrified!!!!!!!

Ikura

One of my favorite food, is IKURA (salmon roe). I just never get enough of them though Ikura contain very high cholesterol. One reason why I was getting fatter in Japan.
They go well with white rice, so sushi and ikura gohan are two best examples. Ikura are salty, tasty, and melt in my mouth at once. Really really delicious. You definitely should try these if you come to Japan by any chance!

Sushi



Ikura gohan



I couldn't find Ikura at supermarket here, not sure about sushi restaurant though. Everytime I go to Japan I always request this food to my mother in law. It was kind of dream to bring Ikura to Korea, so I was really really happy when I found Ikura in package at Asahikawa airport (when we went to Hokkaido).



So at last I could eat Ikura in Korea. It was as delicious as always, even little Iki also loves it. Look what he bought in Hokkaido. Ikura shape mini car :))



And Hiro just told me about the story of Ikura.....
Ikura are salmons' eggs. Salmons are born in clear water river and then go to the sea to grow up. They will only lay their eggs on the river where they are from, so they have to swim all the way from the sea back to that river. It's really hard to swim back there. River where they can lay eggs is only clean and clear river, which is not deep river. Can you imagine big long salmon, swimming back from the sea into very narrow river. They have to swim against the stream, got wounds and bruises all over their body. And when they finally arrive at that river, ready to lay their eggs, fishermen catch them and take the eggs......which some are inside my refrigerator now!!!

(>.<)

Himitsu so-su

Means secret sauce.

It is actually my precious chilly sauce, that usually are sent or brought from Indonesia. Whenever I took the chilly bin from refrigerator to add flavor to my food, Hiro always "whispers" to Iki "mama no himitsu so-su" (read: mama's secret sauce).

I was running out of stock so yesterday I tried to make it myself. Got simple recipe from my mom but modified based on ingredients availability here.

Sambal goreng ala Imoet



Yum yum yummy :p
(though Hiro gave me this "ewwww" face when he saw it)

Aki

It's autumn now in Incheon. Look at the view from my kitchen's window



Autumn's specialties are also sold everywhere. Like mushrooms (many kinds), sanma (mackerel pike), kaki fruit (Japanese persimmon), pear (huge ones!), grapes and chestnut.
Kuri gohan (chestnut rice) is a common Japanese meal to feel aki (autumn), so I also have to serve it on our dinner table. This year we bought peeled chestnut, much more expensive, but worthed (last year we spent hours peeling chestnuts' hard skin, was really a pain in the ass!)



So here's the photo of our dinner tonight



Kuri gohan (chestnut rice)
Mebaru no ni tsuke (boiled mebaru fish)
Hourensou no ohitashi (boiled spinach seasoned with Japanese soy sauce)
Age nasu (deep fried eggplant seasoned with soy sauce and grated ginger)
Wakame miso soup (seaweed miso soup)

Welcome to "Aki", my favourite season of the year. With its beautiful brown-red-orange-yellow tree leaves. And with its nice cool weather, yet enough sunshine to dry my laundry.

"It's your fault!!"

It was warm today so I brought Iki to the big park this morning. As usual there were no other children there at such time so Iki enjoyed playing by himself. It's like that he owned the whole park.

Then a woman came. Out of sudden she approached Iki and greeted him. Iki, who doesn't like stranger, went away. She kept following him so at last Iki's mood was ruined and just stood behind the slide quietly. I felt pity for him so I took him to the airplane model toy and let him play there by himself. She couldn't disturb him at such a small and high place :p

Then she talked to me. She understood English a little, and my Korean is not that bad anymore so we could communicate pretty well. She asked why Iki was so afraid of stranger. I told her that Iki is a shy and sensitive boy. She told me that Iki is a boy that he shouldn't act like that. And as a mother, it's definitely my fault. She said that it's because I didn't bring him out enough and stayed at home all the time instead.

I was like...WTF!! Everyday we go out. Everyday we play at the park and go shopping. Iki plays with some people he is familiar with, like our apartment security guard, yakult seller, supermarket staffs and cashier, and the postman. It's just that he needs some time to get used with new people.

Again she insisted that still a boy MUST not be as shy as Iki. I must join mothers club and Iki must go to nearby preschool so that he could interact with other children of his age.
Well, I met some mothers at the park regularly. But we have language barrier, and some just looked down on me once they know I'm Indonesian. So our occasional meetings never continued any further.
I also brought Iki to department store's playground, local children library, and to the parks. Lots of children there, but Iki still avoided them and prefer to play by himself. I couldn't force him to play if he doesn't want to. It would make him even scared of other people.

Still she didn't want to accept my explanation. At last, still pointing out that it's my fault, she said that it might be because I don't teach Korean to Iki. It made Iki unfamiliar with people speaking in Korean that he got scared of them.
She might be true in this case. Iki didn't have any problem with new people in Indonesia and Japan. Language matter could be the reason. But it's already hard enough for Iki to cope with 3 languages at a time so he got speaking delayed. In addition, how am I supposed to teach him Korean if I myself don't master it?!
And still she said that it's my fault. I didn't learn Korean well (@_@)
At the end she wanted to bring Iki to Korean preschool. So that Iki could socialize with other children and learn Korean language and culture.

Ha?!?! I mean, WHO THE HELL IS SHE?! blaming me over my son's character and wanting to take over my son's education??!!! I grumbled to Iki as we walked home.
Papa-chan was a shy boy as well. And until Junior high school I used to be a scared shy girl too. At the end both of us became one of the world's narcist people :p

But then....when I enjoyed my hot tub alone and thought about this matter, I started questioning myself....what if she's correct?! What if it's my fault.......?!



Tell me...Is it really my fault?!

Sunset

Sunset view from our apartment's living room yesterday evening. I'll certainly miss this..... :)



Now that we're almost at the end of our stay in Korea, I helplessly become melancholy about everything around me.
This sunset is Iki's favorite. Every evening he sits by the big window watching the sun goes down. Everyday I tell him that the sun's going to sleep by that time, and he starts giving his favorite toys to the sun. The toys he usually brings to bed. And then waves goodbye and gives the sun good night kiss. All using his body language. So cute :p

Happy birthday, papa-chan

Happy birthday, papa...
Happy birthday, papa...
Happy birthday, papa-chan....
Happy birthday, papa....!!!!

The song I taught Iki these few days, though he couldn't sing yet. Last SUnday was Hiro's birthday. What else could I give him as present than food and food and food? :p

Breakfast was Japanese birthday meal. Sekihan, served with sake no shioyaki and wakame miso soup



Steak for dinner. With potato salad, fries and boiled veggies



And closed with Imoet's cheese cake. Don't judge a book from its cover, don't judge a cake from its appearance :p. It looks awful, but it did taste good. Hiro, who adores simplicity, wouldn't be pleased to see his birthday cake covered with 'beautiful' icing. So I just put same amount of candles as his age. But it shows that I REALLY made it, right? :p



Again, happy birthday, papa-chan....

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