Snow

This morning as I opened the curtain I saw thin white snow covered the city.
Beautiful....first snow of this winter.



It would be very cold outside. I remember last year I slipped many times walking on the ice.
And as I'm typing this, the snow is falling again outside. A quite heavy one.
It's been cold these past two weeks, but today as I saw this snow, I got this strong feeling that "winter has really come"

Indonesian traditional medication

Hiro DID NOT believe Indonesian traditional medication. He always said that I did stupid things scratching my back using coins, that I used stupid dirty black paste on my body and drank disgusting drinks after I gave birth, that I used smelly oil (telon oil or kayuputih oil) as warming oil or massage oil, and that I took smelly tablets whenever I caught a cold.

But In fact, he must admit that all of those medications works best in this house.

I used Indonesian traditional medication to cure myself after giving birth.



The result?!
I got 7 kgs weight reduced a week after delivering a baby, and within 3 months I got my normal body weight back. Without any food diet since I was breastfeeding at that time. I also got no stretchmarks at all. OK, for body shaping I wore wacoal's garter he bought in Japan, but I believed the Indonesian traditional medicine helped a lot.

Indonesian warming oil works best for me. Hiro never used it, fine. But this so called smelly oil also works for Iki. If he got constipated and stomachache, I just applied some oil on his stomach and voila!! he can finish his stool business ;-).

And now? still Hiro doesn't believe Indonesian traditional medication?!
HOHOHO

Once he got all his body painful, I insisted scratching his back with coin. He felt much much better right after that.

These two weeks Hiro got flu. And yesterday he got fever and felt very bad. I made him drink ANTANGIN I my mother just sent me. Of course he did complain when he took the medicine. That it was so smelly, that the more he drank the more he can feel the smell, that the medicine left yucky taste in his throat bla bla bla... BUT....He got his flu fully recovered!



Still don't believe Indonesian traditional medication? (^_-)

Going to Seoul

Last Saturday we went to Seoul. Actually we only wanted to go to Duty Free Shop in Lotte Department Store and then directly go to wedding party, but at the end we couldn't manage to arrive at the reception on time, so we just decided to stay in Seoul.

Christmas decorations can already be seen. Iki was very happy, pointing here and there, screaming and laughing.



I couldn't find what I want in DFS, so after getting Louis Vuitton bag for Hiro's sister, we went for a short walk in Myeongdong.
Now Iki likes to explore all places. He doesn't want to sit quietly on my lap anymore. So most likely in restaurant, he always disturbs us by crawling around (@_@). So either Hiro or I must watch him closely.


crawling in starbucks

I don't know if this is right or wrong, but we let him do what he wants as long as it's not dangerous. Of course he becomes dirty and invites other people's curious eyes. But he's very happy and active and satisfied!

After Hiro got a new handphone (again) for him, we went back to Incheon.

The trip was exhausting, but when I looked how happy was Iki and Hiro, it's not a tiring day anymore (^_^)

Handphones in our house

Hiro is soooo crazy about technology. He can spend hours in front of computer reading information about latest technology on earth, spend nights setting all computers in our house (there're 5 here), and now setting mobile phones.

Sometimes I just can't understand. For me, 1 computer and 1 handphone is more than enough. But for Hiro?!

Look at the handphones in this house:



8 Handphones!!!
And I'm afraid the number will increase as technology is a never ending process (@_@)

Durian

Today when we went shopping I screamed as I saw big durian displayed in the supermarket.
Waaaaa durian! durian! durian!! Durian in Korea!!!!



But then I screamed louder as I saw the price:



WTF!!! 110,000 Won = 110 USD = 1.000.000 Rupiah!!!!
My mind was like: "Ancik!!! Durian sejuta pekkk!!!"
Though I wanted it badly, OF COURSE....I didn't buy it (T_T)

Ofuro

According to Wikipedia, ofuro is a type of bathtub commonly used in Japan. Ofuro are part of a Japanese ritual of bathing. They are not used for washing but for relaxing. Washing is carried out separately outside the ofuro. The water is usually approximately 39 to 40 degrees Celsius.

Ella's comment on my previous post inspired me to write about this Japanese ritual that i still find hard to do in JAPAN.
In Japan only? in JAPANESE HOUSES for precise. I can enjoy hot tub bath in my own house, or hotels, but not in Japanese houses. No matter in whose housewas. If I stayed in my parents in law's house, my mother in law always reminded me EVERYNIGHT to get into ofuro. That also Iki-chan MUST be put into ofuro. She said that Iki's a Japanese and that he must get used to this habit (meanwhile I put Iki into ofuro more for "cold temperature" reason). Sometimes to make her satisfied I said "yes" but just took a "long" hot shower instead (well, she wouldn't know if I really get into ofuro or not, right? :p)

Why?

In Japan, everybody in a house gets into the ofuro everynight, using the same water. Yes...same water. They install kind of device that can keep the temperature as wished (usually around 40-41 degree Celcius) so that everyone can use the water in warm condition. But still, THE SAME WATER. Before getting into the tub, one must take shower first, to clean their body perfectly so that the ofuro will remind clean when they get into it. SAME WATER?! :p

Yeah, right. SAME WATER matters here for me. I don't have to explain it here, but I guess you can guess what I mean. I can't share same water for bath. Well, definitely OK sharing it with mu husband and son, but not with other people. It about something private.

Honestly I feel like becoming dirty again after getting into ofuro hehehhe. Well...SAME WATER!!
One example, once when I was inside ofuro and looked into the water around me, accidentally I captured 'hair' right in front of my nose. I jumped out in a second!

But I guess next month I can't get rid of ofuro. It's winter and would be very cold there (T_T).

I think I'll just take another shower to clean my body again after getting out of ofuro :P.

Christmas tree

It's still November but I already got the mood to decorate my christmas tree hehehe.
This time I put it in veranda to avoid Iki's little hand's touch there. From downstair, I can see our aparment is decorated with colorful lights at night, though I can't see the tree from there :p.

Hope next month Iki and I can manage to go back to Korea on time so that we can spend Christmas together with papa-chan at home (^__^) ===> My Christmas wish hehehe

My smartphone, my smart friend

I will spend almost the whole next month in Japan. To let me stay connected with the world (I'll stay isolated at my in parents in law's house), Hiro bought me this smartphone: HTC X01HT



A palm size phone with lots of features:

Network	GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 / WCDMA
Dimensions	58 × 112.5 × 21.95 mm
Weight in g	176
SAR in W/kg
Display Type	TFT
Display Size	240 × 320
Touchscreen	Yes
Memory in MB	64MB SDRAM ;128MB ROM
Card Slot	mini SD Slot
Connectivity	Bluetooth IrDA USB WLAN
Flight Mode	No
inbuilt Handsfree	No
Messaging	SMS MMS Mail
Videocall	No
Camera	2MP
Audio	poly Ringtone
Applications	Sync Java Games
others	Windows Mobile 5.0
Standby/ Talktime	250/3h
Office Applications	Calendar Pocket Office(Word, Excel, Outlook)

How much? For 2 years contract, we have to pay 0 Yen. Yes, true. "0" = zero = free!!
It was locked only for Japanese softbank's SIM CARD, but Hiro successfully unlocked it. So Now I can use it as a phone anywhere in the world, except Korea.

I can use this device as a phone (of course!) and organizer. And also most important that I can use the internet for 2 months for free. We had to buy Agile Messenger software so that I can chat with my friends for 15 euro, but it worthed.
And most of all... it uses windows mobile so I can install skype there and make a mobile phone call to anywhere in the world for a very cheap price. Nice, huh?

I'm sorry, my boy......

Last monday I took Iki to hospital for final check up before operation. This time I travelled to Japan without Hiro so I drove whole my in laws family worried. They were afraid if I couldn't reach the hospital. If Iki was crying, If I couldn't get seat in the train because it was Japan's rush hour, if I couldn't get taxi and so on and so on. I assured them that I would be OK, that I'd travelled all the way from Korea to Japan only with Iki, so they shouldn't be worried that much.

And indeed they shouldn't. The journey to the hospital was surprisingly smooth. I got seat in the train, I got taxi soon after I went off the station, and so as the journey back. God really blessed me (^__^).
Iki was also such a good boy. More than a half way in the train to the hospital he was really a quiet boy. A beautiful young woman was standing in front of us and he just sat nicely while watching her :p. And on the way back home, he slept well the whole journey.

But as we arrived at the hospital, he became very naughty. Taking out all the stuffs from my big bag and throwing them away to the floor, pulling people's hair sitting behind us, screaming and crying if he couldn't get what he want. We still had to wait for 1 hour there so I felt so fed up trying to calm him down.

But then as we entered the doctor's room and Iki had to start his examinations and health tests there, I felt so helpless watching. Iki cried cried and cried. I could feel that he felt so painful from his cries. He cried until he became very weak and had no power. Just stared at me, squeaking helplessly. His eyes were asking me to help him.
During his 3.5 hours examinations. I didn't see him smiling at all. All were tears.

When we're home. He didn't want anyone taking him from me at all. He was just there inside my arm, hugging me tightly. I knew he was trauma. Whenever someone took him from me in the hospital, he would be in pain.

My heart broke. I wanted to but I couldn't cry. In front of him I must smile and be strong. For they were the only supports I could give him.

I felt guilty that he had to get through all of that pains. It was not even the operations yet. And was not the post-operations pain that according to doctor would make him suffering.

I felt guilty.
Guilty.
Guilty.
It was all because of me. It was because I didn't take much care of myself during my pregnancy that I had to give birth to him prematurely.
If only I let him stayed inside me until all of him perfectly developed.
If only....if only.....

And now as I'm watching him sleeping, I want to tell him that if possible I want to take all the pains from him. That I want to lay on the operation table for him.
That I am so sorry.......

Sudden cold

Last couple of weeks the weather was still really really friendly here. Let's say it was still about 20-23 degree at the highest. Korean news said that it was the warmest October since 1973. I still enjoyed lots of outdoor activities with Iki.

But yesterday, the temperature suddenly dropped. It was 5 degree celcius at the highest, and this morning it was -1 degree celcius. Eastern part of Korean peninsula even had heavy snowfall yesterday.

What an extreme weather (>_<).

So....I guess we have to welcome this sudden winter. Time to wear my new coat then :p

Refreshing

Following up some comments on my previous post about being too tired, I planned to have 2 hours refreshing this weekend.
Going to nail salon was on my top list. So after shopping and finishing some houseworks, I was thinking to go out alone.
But then after all the works done, and Hiro brought Iki out to the park, I can't resist not to lay on the bed. Especially when suddenly total silence came into the house and I found myself alone. All alone in my house.
So I did have my resfreshing. 2 hours nap instead of going out alone =)).
At first I thought that my "refreshing" means going out alone and have some time away from all the works at home. It's not true, huh? :p. Sleeping can be a great refresher as well. Nap is something I can't do on weekdays anyway :p.

I feel good now. Ready for another "challenging" week with Iki (^_-)!

Custom made shoes

I have small feet that it's very difficult for me to find shoes at the right size. When I was in Indonesia, though not easy, the possibility to find one was not as difficult as trying to find one in Japan. Especially women's shoes. Last year I had to buy shoes at the children corner -with children's style (@_@).

I was in a need of new pair of shoes. As guessed, it was difficult to find simple shoes of my size. We almost gave up that I was thinking to buy any low first heels shoes with my size we could find, until I found this pair of shoes. Simple yet elegant. Suitable for various occasions. But again....the smallest size was too big for me.

Surprisingly the shopkeeper said that I could order my size's shoes, and would be ready in a week. At first we just thought that the smaller size stocks will come in a week, but he asked me to open my shoes and measured my feet. OH!!! I was surprised and happy. Shoes of my size!!!



One English speaking customer then explained to us, that in all Korean's Department Stores we can find these order made shoes shops' counters. Really good for people whose feet are too small or too big, right *wink*

That pair of simple order made shoes costs us 138,600 won after 30% discounts (about 140 USD). Hmmmm I hope the quality won't be dissapointing :p