Am 27!

Monday afternoon, when I was doing some houseworks
Hiro: Let's go Seoul and stay at Park Hyatt Hotel. Now...!
Me: eee? now?
Hiro: Un. Aku reserve sekarang ya. How long do you need to get ready?
Me: eee? expensive yo disana!
Hiro: Gak apa-apa. Kita celebrate your birthday.

So last monday we had an early celebration for my birthday. We enjoyed the best hotel in Seoul and had the best food I've ever had in Korea *drooling thinking of those food*. Couldn't take any picture since Hiro said with alarming eyes: "Jangan take foto disini, malu yo!" hahaha, but the memory was carved in my mind. Best of all, I thank God that I could celebrate my birthday with the people I love. No words to describe my feeling that night. Especially when another surprise came. What a perfect dinner, can't help not to cry. Hahaha dasar cengeng :p.



Thanks, Hiro. For taking care of Iki and let me have a great rest and keep surprising me with your always-last-minute plans (^_-).

And yeah, I also got a surprise from Iki. He got diarrhea as we got back home from Seoul, and became very very very VERY clingy ever since (_ _o). Even during his nap and sleeping time (can't believe how sensitive his "mama radar" is!).

Had spaghetti carbonara as my birthday noodle and big bowl of tiramisu to close that day. Both are Shierly-made. Perfect.



I am 27. Already 27. Can't believe how fast time runs. I was still celebrating my 25th birthday in Surabaya with my friends, and then so many things happened. Changed my life upside down. Suddenly now here I am. 27 Years old, a mother, a wife, and still live my life to the fullest.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. By emails, offline messages, chats, friendster testimonials and phone calls. Really really made my day. Completed my 27th birthday.
Mariza (you're the first one), Mee, Valens (waiting forward for the books), Enyo (for the diamond ring huehehe), Yendy, Shantee, Anita, Ekke-chan, Annerie, Cindy, Octa, Tina. Pei (thanks for waking me up, otherwise couldn't have my birthday tiramisu hihihi), Nina (for the happy birthday song, ur voice is still as wonderful as I could remember). Yunita, Ella, Martin (masih curious about u :p) ,Vanie (better late than never hihihi), and Carla (I am so touched, thanks yo!)
Sorry I haven't replied almost all emails and messages. Again, my boy is still having his diarrhea :p

Again, thank you (^______^) *nyengir sampe mulutnya lebaaarr*

Gōngxǐ fācái

Chinese New Year is one of important holidays in Korea since Korean calendar is following this lunar calendar. Gift package sets are now can be found in all supermarket and shopping mall, dominating almost 80% space there. People are going to their hometown to celebrate it. At some places I could see them bringing big luggage in one hand and Hanbok (Korean traditional cloth) in other hand. Hiro got 5 days holiday now, but this time we're not going anywhere.

Missing home, this chinese new year celebration brings me back to my childhood time. Born from a mother whose Indonesian-chinese blood line, I experienced this chinese-Indonesian tradition when I spent my childhood in Banjarmasin. A city where my mother comes from and has almost all her family there. I lived in a big long house where traditionally all the family members are all packed there. Almost 16 cousins were living together.

Chinese new year in my mind was a busy happy time to celebrate. Days before that, our mothers bought us new red clothes for welcoming it. Chinese believe that red is a symbol of happiness so especially during chinese New Year, red color is a must for our new clothes. Early in the morning we would all wake up, got dressed, and rushed to the main room of the big house. There was already a big dining table full of various food in the living room, right in front of the main door. There's "Engkong" (my grandfather)'s black and white picture in the middle, with burnt incents on the left and right side of it. In front of that, all the delicious food were beautifully decorated.

At first my grandmother lit the first incents and prayed in front of the table. After that she put the incents inside that glass standing beside my engkong's picture. After that all her children would do the same ceremony one by one, starting from the eldest. Then we, all the grandchildren got our turn one by one. The table would remain there the whole day, giving chance for any guest who visited us to pray for our grandfather and to wish us a prosperous New Year. Usually at the end of the day, all the children would wait nearby the table until our grandmother cleaned it up. What for? of course for the delicious food and sweets hahahah

After the praying ceremony in the morning, usually the children got the red small envelopes with money inside called ANGPAU from the parents and elderly. As long as I can remember, this was the best part of New Year for us as a kid. We spent the whole day visiting relatives and friends to wish them New Year, and of course....to get more and more Angpau hahaha.

Can't really remember when, but maybe when I was in Junior High my grandmother didn't do the table praying tradition anymore because Catholic church said that it's forbidden. Of course we still did the Angpao hunting :p years after. But I then as I moved to Surabaya to study at a university there, I stopped following the tradition. Chinese New Year for me now is only a childhood memory. I even just knew the real story behind Chinese New Year celebration after reading Ceplas ceplos blog :p

And to all my friends who celebrate this Chinese New Year: May you have a prosperous and a very happy New Year. Gōngxǐ fācái Xīnián kuàilè.

Happy valentine

My small and very simple valentine surprise for my two men:



Our valentine was full of joy and love and hunger hahahaha. The cake was vanished within seconds.

Happy valentine, dear all my friends!!!!!!!!!!!
Whatever has happened in your life, may love be the reason

A break

Yes. A mother needs a break.
Last two weeks I had 2.5 hours manicure and pedicure at a nail salon nearby. I left Iki at home with Hiro. Really felt good. Both because I got my hands and feet done, and I felt relax going away alone. It was the first time, and I got Iki hated me because I left him hahahaha. He cried and didn't want me to hug and feed him, just wanted papa to hold him (>_<).

Then this weekend Hiro reserved a face massage for me at home. A 1.5 hours relaxation in my own living room meanwhile Hiro took care of Iki and brought him out to the park. That massage left my skin freshened, my muscle relaxed, and my brain calmed. I enjoyed it so much and thanks Hiro that I will have this massage twice a month.

And yes. A father also needs a break.
After working and taking care of Iki at home, Hiro definitely needs a break too.
So he also had his nail done, and face massage right after I got massaged hahaha.

This is how we enjoy living in Korea and give a break to ourselves.

New haircut

Oh yeah!! this definitely is one of a must in my to-do-list everytime I go to Japan. Hair dressers in Korea sucks. I got three times experience cutting my hair here and wanted to cry looking at the mirror and saw what they did to my precious hair. Well, maybe not in all over Korea, but three times experience scared me enough to try the forth one.

This time I cut my hair in Yokohama, since I stayed at Hiro's sister house in that city. Going there alone freed my from Hiro's domineering attitude in choosing my hair style hahahahah. Using my extremely broken Japanese, I explained the hair stylist what I expected and asked for her best recommendation.

So now I got my new hair cut, and I loveeeeeee this style so much. It's not as conservative as before (again, there was no Hiro there hehehe). Still short, but modern. Looks sporty and matured at the same time. First word from my mother in law: Kakkoiiii!!!! (KEREN!)

Happy (^__^)

Keluh kesah :p

Ah...lagi pingin nulis sesuatu pake bahasa Indonesia. Tepatnya lagi pengen berkeluh kesah, paling puas ngomel kan pake bahasa sendiriiiii :p

Baru pulang dari Jepang tadi malam. Bawa Iki cek lagi. Wah sedih deh denger hasilnya, tapi keputusan butuh operasi lagi apa enggak nanti awal September. Harus ke Jepang lagi. Rodok kesel seh...selain sekarang Iki di pesawat super nakal, awal September benerannya udah bikin rencana mo ke Indo. Haiyahh. Buyar kabeh rencanaku.

Akhir2 ini kesepian banget. Rasanya terisolir abis2an dari dunia luar. Tiap hari ya ngurusin Iki aja. Temen gak punya disini. Gak nyangka orang2 dilingkunganku tinggal segitu besarnya diskriminasi ke aku. Jadi yah...cuma Iki sama Hiro. Seakrang bahasaku ya jadi bahasa anak-anak kali yah. Abis ngomongnya cuma sama Iki tok. Kalo malam Hiro pulang ya harus fokus ke Iki. Kalo di meja makan, misalnya mama papa ngobrol sendiri, si Iki marah2. Pokoknya harus perhatian full ke Iki. Akhir2 ini kalo nidurin Iki juga aku ikut ketiduran. Bangun2 dah jam 1 malam harus mulai bersih2 dapur. Abis itu ngenet bentar trus tidur. Benerannya pengen ngobrol2 sama Hiro. Tapi Hiro juga sibuk ama hobi komputer sama handphone-nya. Abis dia kerja seharian, pulang masih ngurusin Iki. Kasihan kalo pas dia mau nyantai aku juga nuntut waktunya dia buat aku. Jadi yah....ngalah deh....Tau gak gimana aku sama Hiro komunikasi? banyakan lewat chatting ato sms singkat hahahah *ketawa getir*

Sekarang gak tau mo curhat-curhat sama siapa lagi. Chatting kalo siang juga impossible. Mana boleh ama mr. Iki?! Bisanya online malam, tapi temen2 gak ada yang online hahah. Kapan hari masih bisa nelpon2 murah pakai Skype. Tapi barusan tariffnya Skype berubah, jadi mahal. Jadi kalo nelpon2 diomelin :p. Jadi sekarang chatting gak bisa, nelpon ya cuma nelpon mama. Ngobrol juga gak bisa. Bener2 tinggal sama Iki lah bisa ngomong. Bener2 kesepian. Bener2 kerasa sendiri.

Akibatnya? jadi frustasi sendiri. Emosi susah di kontrol. Tapi ya itu tadi. Lagi2 gak tau mau disalurkan dimana. Jadi ditekan kuat2 didada. Kadang2 sampe rasanya sesak napas hahaha

Udah ah keluh kesahnya. Masih harus bongkar koper ama bersih-bersih. Abis ngomel gini aku kerasa enakan gak yaaaa :p