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
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, July 23, 2007
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?
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?
Friday, July 20, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
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 :)
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 (@_@))
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.
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
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 (^__^)
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 (^__^)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
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.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
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??
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??
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