Walk With Wina

Swimming

2008-11-24T19:44:00.005+08:00

Wina loves swimming! Nothing more that a good day of swimming for her. That's also the reason why her skin isn't as light as it used to be. On every weekend of November 2008, we enjoyed nice swim at Waterbom Pantai Indah Kapuk. May I say, this is the finest waterbom in Jakarta.

Selamat Idul Fitri

2008-10-03T00:17:00.003+08:00

Happy Ied Fitr! Please forgive our past or recent mistakes.....

Bali escape

2008-08-27T00:15:00.002+08:00

So we're taking a couple of days of for a rest and relax in Bali. This time we stayed at Conrad. It's simply breathtaking, quiet, and distinct (in a good way). This we actually didn't go anywhere outside the hotel area except the last day. Conrad provides all you need for a perfect getaway.

Wina is having a blast!! Two of her favorite things combined and unlimited time. Beach and swimming! You bet, she is as tan as she can be now.

Teddy Bear Graduation day!

2008-06-07T18:03:00.000+08:00

Wina graduated from her preschool today! Yay!!! Lol, these days.... even preschool has a graduation :)

She's moving up to kindergarten now. I don't think I wanna move her out of Teddy Bear yet. Wina has settled nicely here, made a lot of friends, familiar enviorement and teachers. I don't think she's ready to adjust to a new enviroment any time soon. Let's just give her a couple more years, then I'll put her in one of the best primary school near area.

Angklung Musical in Minang Traditional dress (left), Ballet Group (right)

She got to perform on her Graduation Day, angklung performances wearing Minang traditional costume, and a ballet group. Bravo Wina, you really have improve and outcome the stage fear!

Wina is 4 years old today!!!

2008-06-04T22:21:00.001+08:00

Happy birthday, dear Wina! *kiss kiss*

Our little baby has grown up quite fast......

We were committed not to have a birthday bash until her 5th birthday, so we just have a small celebration at school with her classmates. It's very different from her 3rd birthday where she cried during her celebration at her schools. I'm glad she didn't cried today... ooopss, she did it again! Just a little teary eyes from Wina watching he mommy recorded all her moves. That's okay dear, ever a major improvement sometimes need a step back.

Wina has gain a lot of skills and knowledges for the past year. Now she can write, talkative, mingle withe her friends, cutting & drawing are her favorite activities. She knows how to spell & write her name, she recognize all the alphabets, can write some of them. And she can count to 100, although she missed the 20, 30, 40, 50 etc. For that numbers, she would ask her mom to say it, lol.

You will always be our darling, Wina!! We love you!

Stand by Me, just purrfect!

2008-05-10T00:21:00.000+08:00

Top 4 American Idol 7, Archie (I'm just gonna call him that from now on, cos David Archuleta is too long and there's another David in the competition, so just to make it clear) sang two songs, Stand by Me and Love Me Tender. I love both of them honestly, but between the two, it's more fun to hear Archie in an upbeat song. He hasn't been doing any upbeat in quite a while, well actually he did when they hit the big stage at TOP 12, but he was too nervous and he was carrying this big torch since his spectacular 'Imagine', and he forgot the lyrics. Poor Archie! I can imagine how he felt. I actually liked We can work it out. It sounded really fun.

Anyway, this is a big hit since he brought Shop Around down the house on Top 24. And he's quite a flirty here. Aawww Archie!

Top 8 AI7

2008-04-11T20:44:00.004+08:00

So, this is my favorite show.... ever. Year by year it's fun to watch all the contestant and i liked to see all the hype, the madness, the bitter. This year however, is more special to me, coz after all this year never liking some one in particular since Clay Aiken dayz, I finally star strucked on David Archuleta, the 17 years old boy that just captivated a lot more people with his voice. I actually have been pimping him since the audition, yet I wasn't move to put the vibe on my blog. And although I looooooovveeed his "Imagine" and "Smokey Mountain Memories", I was still not rushing to my blog and write about him. Incase you haven't noticed, I have been quite of laid back in updating anything lately, lol.
Anyway, this is the Top 8 AI group medley from Rent, Seasons of Love. I just so looove the song, and David Archuleta in it! Yay!

David Archuleta - Imagine

2008-03-01T00:08:00.001+08:00

Oh my god, this is da bomb!!!! And it's only at the TOP 20 week. I hope he doesn't peak too early. I want him to win this thing.

He's just stunning!! Very beautiful rendition, takes my heart away everytime I hear it. Just lovely!

The most beautiful song ever written sang by a beautiful voice.

Korea so delicious!

2008-01-30T10:49:00.002+08:00

So finally we stepped our foot at Seoul, Korea! Anyeong haseo, Hangul!! Yippiiee...

We actually have been planning to visit this country since Feb 2007 when we were still living in HK, where the tickets and hotel booking won't be as expensive as in Jakarta, but Toni were requested back to Jakarta unexpectedly. So, there goes our plan. But, we finally made it!! Well, the actual plan was to have winter family holiday with my parents in Europe, but it was a last minute booking which have to squeeze in a very busy schedule of someone (Pawo!), and ended up with an unmatched date. So we had to cancel it. Apparently, someone's have to work at X-mas (rediculous!). Still, no Europe. The the plan changed to some several different places, but we were tired of following an uncertain plan. So, I came up with the idea to go to Korea. Not so far, not an expensive holiday compare to Europe, and there's winter. So Pawo made some checking (well, for the rest of us, free time in holiday because it is holiday season except for Pawo), and yes! That's how we finally arrived in Incheon, via Kuala Lumpur, in a breezy friday morning, Dec 21st.

Korean people are very friendly. In the highway toll booth, shoutings of greetings and thank you are heard once we opened the window. Wow, never heard such a hostile welcome anywhere before.

So we stayed at Lotte Hotel, a glam hotel with it's own department stores & cinema. Not far is the the city hall where they also put giant Xmas tree and ice skating ring, where a long lined up people waiting to get the skate shoes. It was definitely breezing there. Wina had a couple of tantrums, she didn't want to wear the jacket, coats, glove and all the warming stuff. So once, we just took her out with one piece of clothes on her body so she knew how cold it is...... it did get her attention and stopped the tantrum, hahaha....

We took the city tour, as a safe option, knowing that English is't a popular language there. We went to Gyeongnokgung - the grandest palace is Seoul, Cheouwadae - the blue house/ presidential house, Deoksugung- another beautiful palace in the heart of the city, Seoul Tower and Namsan- folk village. The weather was cool, the city was clean and fresh, the people were friendly, too bad the don't speak English.

Then we went to Muju, a ski resort. Yippiee!!! This is the first time for me and Toni skiing. We had such a blast. First we entered the ski school, learned some basics. Then it's on our own. And we loved it!!! It's a real exercise. I mean, you have to be able to lift your butt up everytime we fell down. That's really frustrating if you are overweight or not in good shape. no wonder this sport isn't popular among Indonesia. My dad told me, he went on a ski with his friends, it started with the whole group, but because it's difficult and hard, only two of 'em that can hold on till the rest of the day. yay! I was actually kinda natural in skiing, but i think it's too "show off" if I put my picture skiing down the mountain, lol....

It was fun staying in Seoul. The only downside is that English isn't a common language, and shopping here was quite expensive compared to Hong Kong. Wina really settle with Korean food, anykind anywhere. Looking forward to come back here someday!

Padang full of Adventures

2007-12-19T23:06:00.000+08:00

So this is our first trip (beside back to HK) since we're back in Indonesia. After all the ups and downs from Wina incident. So Wina enjoyed her school, I enjoyed my new job, Toni also got held up in his work. We're going to Korea tomorrow for holiday season, but we got a chance to visit my parents hometown, Payakumbuh.

Payakumbuh is one of the city in West Sumatra. It's 1,5 hour flight from Jakarta to Padang, West Sumatra capital city. Then we have to take a car ride for 3 hours to Payakumbuh. The view is fantastic, the air is so fresh.

I seriously believe that I gained wight in Padang, but I don't wanna check it on the scale with my bare eyes. It's too hurtful. . Coz every time we dropped by at someone's house we have to eat. So the first the day in Padang, I think I ate about 6 times. My God!!! And then again on the second day. And everytime there's someone asking me if I'm expecting. Hiks, my belly was that big! Believe me!!
Wina & Ziko at Rumah Gadang

Along with my parents in law, me Toni & Wina had 4 days of fun and adventure in Padang & Payakumbuh, especially Wina. Actually only 3 days for me, coz I'm a lil tight up back in Jkt. There's a lot of her first time here. Like the first time to hold a kitten, touch a buffalo, ride a motorcycle, on a horse wheel carriage, etc. It was a great learning & experience for her. I'm glad we went there.

Touching a buffalo for the first time ----- playing at Nirwarna Beach, Padang

We visited a lot of relatives. The first night we stayed at my ancestor's Rumah Gadang (traditional Minangkabau house) in Talang Maur, a village in Payakumbuh. The air was so clean and cool, it was so refreshing. But we couldn't stay long because of tight schedule. Tante Ayu, Mutia, Mona and Om Ujang accompany us in kampung (village). Nenek Nismah and Mak Odang was staying in Nenek Rasyidah's house (dad's mom) till Lebaran. We also visited nenek buyut (Wina's great great grandmother) who seem to be healthier since staying in Payakumbuh with Om Yan and Tante Susy. We went around a lot. Visited a lot of relatives. Ate and ate and ate. Pheeewww, I hope my belly exploded.

On a horse wheel carriage in Payakumbuh ----- With Ayek's monkey in her home, Talang Maur

The last day, Wina had a friend. It's her cousin, Azra and Anshari. She was happier, screaming a lot, running around and a lot of smiles. So as a gift for her happiness that day, we took her to the beach, Pantai Nirwana. Almost nobody was there, so the beach was ours. The kids found a tiny steam, and for a while they were playing and splashing and owning the stream. Ah, it's a relax afternoon before heading back to rainy and busy Jakarta.

Anshari, Wina & Azra ------- Along the stream in Nirwarna

Wina's New Preschool

2007-10-18T01:30:00.000+08:00

Wina finally started her school back. She had holidays for the whole 3 months (well, couldn't consider it as holiday, coz we're going back and fourth to the hospital due to her arm broke).

I remembered Wendy told me to put Wina to 5 days a week school coz she's the active school type. Well, she was right. So after her hand healed completely (2 months later after the accident), I put her in Teddy Bear Preschool that's not far for home.

Wina entered the school early October 2007. She was very anxious following the activities. Basically she's a shy girl, so took time for her to opened up & mingled around. But still not changing the old habit, she reluctant to squeeze in if I'm around, hahaha......

Anyway, this new school of her has a permanent program for every friday. It's the performing day. Every class (class divided by the range of age) are given certain time to perform any kind of stage art, whether singing, dancing, playing music, or rhyming.

Before Lebaran, they held a Lebaran Celebrating Performing Friday. Half of her classmates are Japanese, so this is some kind of festivities for them. The school also tried to make a universal Lebaran theme. I was hoping she would finally be on the stage coz it's already 2 weeks passed without her joining in. So I prepared my camera to take some lovely pictures of her on stage. But as you guess, till now Wina still doesn't want to go on stage. Well, at least I could get the Blue Bear Class Posing together...phewwww.

Lebaran this Year

2007-10-12T06:16:00.001+08:00

Not sure how to describe lebaran 2007. Ramadhan (puasa) started from Sept 12 - Oct 12. I can tell one thing for sure, this year traffics are the worst I've seen in my life. Everyday, every hour, any road I take, I was stucked in jam somewhere. There's no smooth ride anymore.
This month i got a new job, Wina entered a new school with 50% of the kids are Japanese (I think I need to learn simple Japanese, hai'!), I'm joining a new health club (my tummy is my other nightmare, I myself can't even look at it, too booth!!#$*@^!), Uda wants to go haji, I'm having this thing for flower-decoration.... quite much happening around here!

Anyway, I'm thinking of trying the property business, but with my lack of experience, I'm not sure how it'll go. I know I have quite a good taste (well, not that bad) in home interior and stuff, I enjoyed the activities too... maybe I should just give it a shot! Like they say, 'Won't know how to do it, until you do it'. Aarrgghh, somebody please encourage me!

My dad's not around this year, work-travelling in Europe. Mom.... her house is quite far from ours, so we meet only once in while. My sis & bro... Rara is MIA, Kennet on the other hand is right here, staying here for a couple of nite. Uda's family are all here, there'll be a festive at Wina's kakek house. Another must visit is to Mak Odang's house, the elder of my big family. Hmm, no fun without my dad's around (most of my family lives in Jkt are from my dad's).
Another downside is, we wanted to go to Hong Kong at Lebaran holiday, but all the flights are fully booked since 3 weeks ago (I just can't believe that). I really miss HK, Wina too! Damned!!

Well, don't get my mood affect you. We wish you a forgivefull Ied, Minal aidin wal faidzin, Happy Idul Fitri!

Wina & Mbak Rinda

2007-10-05T00:06:00.000+08:00

It's been 3 months since we left Hong Kong. Yet, Wina still remember Mbak Rinda, our helper in HK that was so close to Wina. Wina was so close to her, although some of the other job wasn't done as I wanted, we kept her till the end. We won't get another 'Mbak Rinda' in Jkt, becoz our helper now doesn't speak English (although I taught her some simple word).
Wina still speak English here, I try to maintain it in her, so that she speaks it natively. While it's fun for her to communicate with us and watching English children TV programs, it's also a barrier for her in making friends, coz her cousins and friends at school doesn't speak English in conversation.
Life is never been easy. If I speak bahasa with her, it won't been long till she forgets her native. If I speak English, her bahasa won't be perfect till she get a formal education. Which one to choose? Can't decide....

Back to Mbak Rinda, She also won't get another Wina. No child is nicer than her in attitude. She's a fun girl to take care, right Rin? Wina has has been asking to go to HK. I wanted that too, but the amount of people going to HK this Lebaran holiday are CRAZY. All the flights are full, even the business class. We're still in the waiting list for both classes.

Anyway, she's married now, with the man of her dream. We wish you happiness ever after, mbak Rinda!

How Time Fly Away....

2007-09-26T12:30:00.000+08:00

Wow, it's been along time since i last updated my dear blog. Miss u a lot, blog!
We moved back to Jkt, redecorated the house, get together with family, wina fell of her bike and broke her arm!! i spent 2 months just taking care of her. Time just speed away....

Moving back home

2007-06-19T22:30:00.000+08:00

So life is not always perfect or well-planned. We supposed to live in HK for about 2-3 years, but now, after living here 1,5 year, we have to move back to Jakarta. In a sudden. That's what happened if you work in a company full of expats. Due to remanagement, in just 2 weeks, Toni had to be in Jkt to start working. Well, it's gonna be 2 more weeks till i leave HK. I'm trying to make the best out of it, going places I've never been. So I've been having trouble to update my dear blog, since my mom also came here (with my aunt) to replace uda as my companion till moving day, that also needed me to take them around. So technically, i don't have time to check the web. But, practically, I steal time once in a while, he he...

Happy 3rd birthday Wina!

2007-06-04T21:32:00.000+08:00

la la la... wina is 3 years old now! Horrraaayyy......

It's not the perfect birthday so far. Ayah wasn't around, Wina keep tangling on me becoz of the new room mates at home (mama*her grandma* and nenek Ayu), and it's a little bit raining here and there.

So, first i planned for a barbeque birthday party in our club house. Uda rejected the idea, becoz he didn't want to spend HK$2500 for a party that he can't attend. Plan B, we can rent a school playground for HK$1000 (cake not include). I like this idea, but again, a lot of money for a party that Ayah cannot attend, will he let us? Naaaaahh.... no way!

So finally we settled with having the birthday party at her school. Wina go to 2 schools, so we celebrated her birthday twice, with 2 different groups & different cakes. With the cakes and the take away gifts, still much more to save than the first 2 plans.

I thought, kids would LOVE birthday parties. I haven't seen any kids that's not happy with a birthday. And now i do. Wina cried all along in her celebration, both! It was disasters. Every time she saw me, she cried, holding my skirt tight, won't let me go even for a sec (and i was the cameraman). Uuuurrrgghh, it was so annoying! I almost lost my temper. If i walked just a little bit, she blowed her tears right out. When everybody finished singing the birthday song, she cried even louder! haha, i can't hold my laughter here... She won't blow the candles, didn't eat the cake, no smiling, full of tears, she wasn't happy at all. OMG, it was horrible.

So, let this be a memory to remember : "Wina's Crappy 3rd birthday"

Kennet&friends are here!!!

2007-05-31T01:28:00.000+08:00

Finally Manet (Wina's name for Kennet) visited us in HK. Kennet is my little brother. I was afraid that he's not gonna have a chance. He's a bit different. Anyway, we wasn't so sure that he's coming or not, becoz he didn't let us know weather he was gonna come or not..... until the last day!!!!! Uuuurrggghh, if only he's not my brother.....

Wina was so happy and shy to meet Manet, hahaha.... it was so cute to see her that way. I know that it's kindda rare to have the chance for holiday with friends, so i thought that Kennet & friends will make the best out of this trip. Unfortunately, i was wrong. So, the day they arrived, Saturday night, they went for a stroll around Causeway Bay. On Sunday, we went to Ocean Park. Monday, shopping from morning to 7pm, then tested our breath to get to Victoria Harbour as fast we could, which we couldn't. We were too late. Symphony of Light has already finished when we got there. But they had fun taking picture along the harbour. Tuesday, shopping from morning till the end of the day. Pheewww!!! Shop till you drop! What's with all the shopping? Like there's no tomorrow, or it's the last time going overseas. That's just too bad, trip with friends turned out to be trip for shopping and buying gift. There are so many places and attractions that they could go to, yet they didn't take advantage on that. I mean, it's not like you can take a trip with friends overseas as often as you are with your parents, right!?

Anyway, most of all i feel bad for Kennet, coz this is his first visit to HK and he's waisting a lot of precious time accompanying friends for shopping, while actually he could use his time for visiting The Peak or Ngong Ping, for instance. That's just an immature dependency, that i find a lot back home. It's gonna be a loooong time for him to step his feet back in HK. At least he had a one day with Wina from all the five days in HK....

Cheung Chau Bun Festival

2007-05-27T23:55:00.000+08:00

As the birthday of Buddha falls on May 24, so nobody went to work that day. So i spurged myself and intended to take part of the festivities, wondering how the locals celebrates Buddha birthday. There was a lot going on that day all around HK, birthday of Buddha, Cheng Chau Bun Festival, Birthday of Tam Kung (fisherman's saviour). Most of the temple in HK are called Tin Hau Temple. So don't be mistaken if you get to HK and want to visit Tin Hau Temple, there's more than one, from small to big. But the temples here are nothing compare to China's(i mean small). So if u ever visited China, don't bother to go to the temples here, a lot of better attractions to visit here. Even i didn't go the temple near Giant Buddha(we just took pics upfront). Talking about Giant Buddha, must be crowded there this time of day. But i preferred that we go to somewhere we've never been, Cheng Chau Island!

Cheng Chau is a small island that's about 1 hour slow ferry ride from Central Pier. As you get closer to the island, you can see modern dan traditional boats 'parked' in rows. It's a very beautiful view. Cheng Chau Bun Festival is an annual six day celebration of Buddha birthday that offers colorful event that hits off on May 24 where children & teenagers dressed as mythological figures, held aloft on hidden rods appear to float above the heads of the crowd. The parade starts from Pak Tai Temple walks around the villages streets and ends back to the temple where tall towers covered in sweet buns have been placed and towered. Ther are a lot of bun towers. Wina was excited to watch a historical Chinese play. It was very crowded that day, policemen were guarding all the parade streets, blocking the way to cross over. Heck, we were stuck in this tiny street no shortcut for almost 40 minutes. In the end we couldn't see the parade, with so many heads and umbrellas blocking the view. And the street was so tiny, u have to fight to get a peep. So enough with the parade, we went straight ahead to the temple where bun towers piled up. We could find and see buns everywhere. The only thing that can beat the amount of buns is the people. Loads loads of people all over the village, pheww!! Bun scrambling competition started at midnight, wow! that must be exciting.

Cheng Chau is a notorious fishing village, with clean & white sand Tung Wan beach, & delicious seafood eatery spread over the island. Found some very cute accessories in the local souvenir store. Definitely gonna be back to taste the beach and more shopping! Quote Wina, "Aah, i'm so tired i want to go to sleep!" Hahaha... it has been a loooong hot day, time to go home!

Birthday Reunion

2007-05-24T23:48:00.000+08:00

Moo, Utie, Dc, Ayu, Ira, Ojid n Panya, Mira, Riri, U, Dewi BF(sori), Dewi

Susah bgt ngumpulin anak fikom! Dari dulu janji2 manis doang. Buat ketemuan aja susah bgt, sibuknya ngalah2in ajudan presiden. Padahal ngumpul tuh paling 2-3 jam dalam sehari, gak bakal ngabisin waktu seharian(sikon bisa berubah kalo seru). Emang sih, pada punya beda kepentingan semua. Tp seperti disebut diatas (janji manis=jarang ketemu), bisa ketemu semua 1x setahun aja udah rekor (pdhl hampir semuanya tgl di Jkt).... yg biasanya terjadi kalo ada yg merit (makanya harus ada yg merit tiap bbrp bulan ya!). So gw (yg kebetulan ga tgl di Jkt) tiap kali pulang usahain biar bisa ketemu. Everybody need a reason right!? I don't mind if it's me, hehehe.... jualanlah, titipan, kangen(ini alasan yg sebener2nya) dan ultah!

Temen2 yg ultah mei banyak bgt... Moo, Meylin, Kristi, Panya, gw, Fajar, Benil, dll(sori kalo ada yg ga kesebut). Banyak kaaan! No excuses, we had to meet! I missed them! Dan alhamdulillah, akhirnya kita bisa berkumpul malem minggu, 19 Mei di Gelato. Thanx for showing up guys! Sama buat yg beli2, hehehe....

R, P, I, U, A, O, Kristi n Charlie's Angel n Ibod, P, U, M, A, Rara, I, O @Forbidden City

PS. Berminat dgn fotonya? Buat original size&foto2 yg laen pesen lewat comment di post ini ok! ^,^

Rainy Days in Jakarta

2007-05-22T22:30:00.001+08:00

Last week was a long weekend in Jakarta, so we thought we go back to meet family & friends.... which we assumed wrong! My parents went to China, Dela to Lampung, and Eja in Bali. Phew! Didn't see that coming. Apparently people are also taking advantage for holiday in that long weekend. But anyway, there are still other people living in Jakarta. Spending time with Uda's family, my sister and my friends from college.

May is a special months for me. It's my birthday, Uda's birthday and a bunch of my friends birthday (made me realized people surrounding me plenty of them are Taurus). Another year added to my age, but this year didn't struck me more than last year. I passed my birthday with a calm reaction, hehe. Last year i felt so old... this year I was happy I finally pass another year. Confused? Well, only me who knows what that means. It's just something that got to do with what I'm going thru living here in HK. I'm very glad i met my friends on Saturday night. It's always great bringing back memories which we can laugh at together (although lot of the stories are about me & ayu, my true companion in the youth of wilderness, haha).

Rain showered Jakarta thru the weekend. But there was rainbow! Wina got pretty well acquainted with her niece, Salsa. FYI, they never get along before. Wina was a very shy girl, and she has this 'not playing with younger kids' thing . And because she didn't meet with Kakek & Nenek (Uda's parent) and Uda family often so she always pulled herself back, won't be touched or play together or even cried. Now he can breath happily. We are all delighted!

Discovery Bay Beach

2007-05-13T22:09:00.000+08:00

I'm all tanned after today! But no sexy tan, just the malay skin tan, urghh... Today we head off to Discovery Bay/Dbay for a relax on the beach. It's about 30 minutes ferry ride from Central Pier. ON the MTR station, we passed by Disneyland Line which had a huge Disney Wallpaper. We almost couldn't leave coz Wina kept lying on the wall.We went down to the beach with Erica & her son Connor, and Annie. Last time she played at the beach was in Bali 2 years ago(OMG, that long?!!). Wina totally forgot about it. Didn't wanna get in the water, afraid of the small wave. Hah! So she just played with the sand, covering her leg... while Connor running around in and out of the water. Connor was so full of wet sands, Erica had to take off his undies. Hahaha, Connor rules! But i can tell, she's having fun! By the time we finished and i asked her to wash, she said, "No!" strongly, hehe. The weather was great, i would stay all day.

Majorly expats live in DBay, so i didn't see a lot of locals there. It's like we were in another country. Before we head home, we had mexican for dinner. Wina was running around with Connor. Lovely! I think we will go back to Dbay again, pretty soon.

"Happy Birthday Ayaaahhh!!"

2007-05-12T08:55:00.000+08:00

shout Wina excited. "Shhhht, don't shout, people are looking," calm bunda.

Slamat ulang tahun ya Uda! It's so sad that we can't be together in this wonderful day, we have missed you so much..... ... but don't worry be happy, tuesday Jkt here we come!! Love & miss u a lot!

We're With you Wherever Whenever

muah mmuuaahh

Jan 2006: Padang, the Hometown

2007-05-05T22:39:00.000+08:00

Ngelanjutin cerita Walk With Wina 'flashback' yg cerita2 sebelumnya bisa dibaca disini. Dgn alasan bakal susah pulang kalo udah di HK (yg boong bgt, tnyata stelah di HK malah sering tugas ke Jkt. Alasan yg sama gak ikutan ke Eropa. Nyebelin kaaan!!), Lebaran Idul Adha 2006 kita jalan2 ke Padang. Akhirnya Wina ngeliat kampung halaman. Nginep di rumah Uda, Tante Ayu, dan kampung di Payakumbuh.... Wina belajar sesuatu yg baru, binatang!!! hehe, Wina ngeliat langsung hewan2 seperti kucing2, kambing, sapi, ayam, rusa (yg ini di bonbin) wuaaahh Wina seneng banget! Trus ketemu sodara2, om tante & datuk nenek. Untungnya Wina gak rewelan. Pas kita jalan darat dari Makasar ke Toraja yg makan waktu 7 jam-an aja, Wina malah enak2 tidur. Puas main di kampung halaman, balik lagi deh ke Jakarta yg hiruk pikuk.

Blake Lewis hawt on Bon Jovi night

2007-05-03T09:22:00.000+08:00

I always love Bon Jovi songs. I grew up in the middle up 90's genre, but somehow I was very familiar with their song. There's just something about Bon Jovi, he's the greatest rocker ever! And i must say, it was an awesome Bon Jovi night in American Idol. I really enjoyed it! The top 6 sang their best, and brought out the best. My favorite song is Livin' on Prayer (badly performed by Jordin Spark), but my favorite of the night is Blake Lewis singing You Give Love a Bad Name. He's so talented, so different, so enjoyable. Hope he makes it to the finale!

Just the two of Us!

2007-05-01T22:30:00.000+08:00

click the blue button to play the song while reading this

powered by ODEO

It's Labour Day holiday today. So Rinda (our helper) has her day off. Uda aka toni aka Ayah at Jakarta. That leaves just the two of us for the whole day. I woke up on the right side of bed this morning, feeling fresh and energetic. Wondering what should we do today, where we can go without having to bring her stroller.
First i thought of Lamma Island, i haven't been there: don't think so, poor Wina if she has to walk after 45 minutes boat ride & poor me if i have to end up carrying her. Then Tsing Ma bridge, it is said to be the longest road-and-rail suspension bridge with a main span: again no, coz it's just the two of us that means i won't be in the pictures and it's more beautiful to go there on sunset. Thinking and thinking, then we... i mean I decided for us to have a relax afternoon by the sea. So Central Pier here we come!

Central Pier gives a magnificent view of Kowloon or Victoria Harbour. With the uncertain weather HK have, so i grabbed our sweater just in case it get windy. After having lunch at Wina's favorite fast food in Times Square, she asked me for a lift ride, haha... so we went inside the Times Square panoramic lift to the 13th floor. Afterward, we jumped into the tram that took us to Central. Walked on the connecting bridge till we got to Central Pier. The pier is just in front of IFC, the tallest building in HK, which is also the airport express station. The weather was perfect. Funny thing, we went to the public toilet, as we went inside, tuns out t wasn't a seat toilet... you know the traditional toilet where you have to bent, and she cried out loud refusing to use it! haha... then we found seat toilet for disabled people, but the mood was gone. Total loss!

There are 9 pier with ferry destinations to all the island around HK. Pier 9 is the public pier, for some semi private jet, attraction ships, for sitting around, relaxing, and even fishing. We had fun today, taking pictures, running around, sitting down surrounded by the sea breeze and watching the ships come & go. Big hug to Wina, she's a good companion for walking distance, bravo dear!

Happy Couple Saeed & Aysha

2007-04-30T23:31:00.000+08:00

It was such a happy day for Saeed & Aysha. Finally they tied the knot on Saturday, April 28th 2007. We had a great party that nite, wonderful place, delicious dinner, excellent wine, nice music. Saeed is one of Toni's good friends from the company here. Soon they're gonna be moving to Pakistan after honeymoon, might not be seeing them again in HK. But we're hoping to see them again, either in Jakarta or Pakistan.. or any other places perhaps. Best wishes on the new exciting beginning for both of you, congratulation!

My laptop crashed!

2007-04-22T02:24:00.000+08:00

Phiuuuuuhh, finally i'm back!!!
Last whole week i couldn't get online. My laptop crashed. It was so error, i couldn't turned it off, it kept restarting. I have to hibernate it to switch it off. So i brought my laptop to the store where we bought it, they fixed it, didn't tell me what the cause , except it's a virus (any dumb would know that!). I asked if i should avoid any installment, they said don't worry. So i installed all my softwares back, and it crashed even worse. I was thinking of fix it myself (i do have the manual), but scared of might made it worst, i decided to bring it back to the store.

Oh MFAH! They didn't do anything to it. I brought there at 1pm, called at 6 they said still not finished, called at 8 they told me to let it stay overnite becos they haven't done anything to it cos so busy. I stormed out!!!! They made me really mad. Just wanna rip that guy into pieces! & no way i'm gonna let my baby stayout even for one night coz that's not the deal. Did he think carrying laptop is not heavy??! I made it perfectly clear on my first visit that it's heavy, and i didn't wanna keep coming back, so fix it correctly. Which he didn't!!!
Urgghhhh, i just felt like eating him alive!Thinking that he's selling the most respected gadget brand, but not giving a satisfying service... So, althou i told him i'd come back next morning, i didn't. This time i was really determined to fix it myself. You just can't count on somebody else. & this is not something that's beyond my power, you just have to click, follow directions, & trust your instinct. So, i did it!!! If you can read this now, that means my computer if perfectly fine.

I've recovered it, updated it, customized it, et voila! But the price of it, it's a wider screen & smaller content (don't know how to enlarge the whole package -not just the font size- any idea?) & i can't install any ungenuine softwares. Hiks...hiks.... I have to remove my PS CS2, coz it started crashing back just after i installed it, & i don't want to reinstall the whole system again. PhotoShop CS3 is so expensive, no way i can buy that one, hiks hiks.... and it's one of the most important software ever. Bye bye bajakan!

F1 Sepang, Malaysia, hawt!

2007-04-16T16:31:00.000+08:00

Hot hot hot in Sepang. By hot, i mean the real definition. & the worst thing, i lost my sunglasses. So there i was, just covered by a hat. Thank god our seats are on a roof deck. Anyway, i sat on Platinum K1, which view the start point, pit, and 2 curves. At least i saw the car quite longer in a lap. But Toni, he's in paddock, the best place ever. Same building with the pit, had acces to Kimi Raikonnen & Phillipe Massa chambers, got the VIP treat, so lucky!

Alonso came first. But the man of the day is Hamilton, a newcomer came in second. Hats off for him.

F1 fan must know who's behind

Jumpa di Kuala Lumpur

2007-04-16T15:49:00.000+08:00

Lama tak singgah ke KL. Long weekend, akhirnya kita dapat pergi ke Malaysia dengan Wina. Alangkah senangnya! Berjumpa sama Pawo, Mama, Datuk Saiyo, Maknet & ete', semua ada!......

Huahh, i don't think i can speak malay good, so back to english... Long weekend 5-9Apr, its public holiday in HK & there's F1, so we made a family gathering in KL. F1 is part of Uda's job, Pawo wanted to watch it live, the other just want to meet Wina and get together, so there we were.
We stayed at Boulevard Hotel, Mid Valley, nice... the room is minimalist design. Next to the hotel is this huge mall, Megamall. We went to have a look around, hoping to spot something eye catching.... Not!Apparently stuffs here are more expensive than in HK, so Shopping=Cancelled. Lots of changes in KL, it's cleaner and more neat.

Friday, Wina played in the Mall playground. After lunch we wnt to KL Tower, Petronas Twin Tower, lunch at Suria KLCC, in the afternoon Ma'net & Ete arrived, horray....

Saturday, around the city with Om Khilal & family. First stop to Putrajaya, the government city. Everything related to governmance, offices, courts, officers employees home complex was relocated to Putrajaya. Awesome! Then the guys wanted to dropped by at Sepang, to wathc the qualifications which the girls including me didn't have any interest. And it was so not fun waiting in the car, waisting time!After 2 hours of torture, finally we left to grab our late lunch (really late, it's 3pm). Struggled to find a restaurant, finally made the decision to eat at Sunway Lagoon, about 45 minutes from Sepang. OMG! We lost our appetite.

Sunday, Wina played again at the playground while we watched F1 at sepang! Phiuuuuhh, extremely hot in Sepang!!
Monday, we visited Genting Highland & Sungai Wang near Golden Triangle. There's a big theme park in Genting, so Wina had a blast there.
I ike KL, the city is very clean and lot's of nice palces to visit. To bad, a lot of the pictures take came from Mama's camera that she took it home to Jakarta. I only have some. So forgive me, Manet & Datuk Ci'in, i don't have your pics. Next time I'd like to go to the states such as Selangor, Malaka, Kota Kinabalu etc.

Pawo's Birthday

2007-04-15T20:16:00.000+08:00

Recently back from Kuala Lumpur, haven't had the chance to update new posts although it was a loooong Easter holiday here. But now I'm ready to start my engine again, hopefully. There's a problem with my computer, kept showing this stop error message, & i can't turned it off, it kept restarting. I did report this to Microsoft, and they said that this is caused by new hardware/software installation, which i don't recall doing any recently. OMG, maybe because of some viruses???! Anyway, tomorrow gonna bring it to doctor Sony, i don't want it to break down, it's my next best friend.

Well, Wina have this silliness thing for putting her undies on her head. Hahahaha.... and a couple of days ago we caught her on tape. Aaaand, today is Pawo's 53rd birthday.

Happy Birthday Pawo!!!

Ballet Class

2007-04-03T22:46:00.000+08:00

Today is Wina's first ballet lesson officially. Before she already had ballet trial TWICE (the school is so kindhearted). The second time was actually me taking her on a permanent class. But becoz we came at the second week, the officer told us to start at April and that time just do a trial. Yippie, free class!hehe... Wina enjoyed dancing so much, i wanted her to get a formal lesson. And she look adorable on her ballet outfit. Put the dress on, wear the tutu, tidy the hair (so hard to do with Wina's curly hair), and... "I'm ready, bunda!"

Wina can do it!

2007-04-02T17:26:00.000+08:00

Update! Up to today, Wina can:

ask for help & answer questions
brush & hand painting (haha, who couldn't!)
brush her teeth & wash her hand
count 1-20 & point number 1-15 (Yay!)
draw circle & connect lines
design her own cookie (yummy!!)
finish her puzzles
hold her belongings
know few letters
make statement & question without leaving the grammar behind
say sorry, please, excuse me & thank you correctly
sing Twinkle2 Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row2 Your Boat completely
toilet trained

Good job Wina!

Bad Face Day

2007-03-31T21:30:00.000+08:00

I have been mistaken about my skin type all this years!! Wow! First, let me describe my face skin. It's very dry on the cheeks, fine lines, big pores, blackheads (komedo) on the nose, whiteheads (kaya jerawat putih kecil2), occasional breakout (jerawat), and acne scars (bekas jerawat). I thought I have a dry skin, so I always bought the skin care for dry skin. Anyway... 2 months ago I have this major breakout and my face hasn't healed since. I don't know what i did wrong, but it got really horrible.

So one sunny day, I stopped by at Origins shop, and i asked the sales girl to examined my face. And she said I have a combination to oily skin. BUMP! Very far away from what I thought my skin type was. She gave me this whole range of products, starting from cleansing to moisturizer, that suits my skin. I didn't buy all of 'em (it can cost me a fortune), but she gave me samples to the ones that i didn't buy. Yippie! And it actually worked! Later on I went to Kiehl's & Biotherm, they gave me a better explanation. My skin is combination to oily but very dehydrated, and dry skin around my eyes. OMG was I WRONG! No wonder I always have breakouts. I was using the wrong skin care products. The only thing that worked fabulous for me back in Jkt was the green Ponds cleanser -which they don't sell here-. For others (moisturizer, foundation, etc..) I could never find the right one.

Since then i learned that it's very important to know my skin type & skin type can change depends on the season or hormones. Don't hesitate to go to the cosmetic counter (ngerti bgt..kadang males aja gitu mampir ke Clarins misalnya, harganya suka ngagetin, tp mereka nyediain konsultasi kulit gratis sebenernya), tell the sales girl what u think your skin condition is, asked her to diagnose yours, then let her show the skin care range that is suitable for you (psst, slalu cek muka SPGnya tanpa makeup mulus gak, krn mereka sbenernya dapet diskon/gratisan pake produk jualan. Kalo gak, brarti mreka pake merk lain &bagiannya dijual ato gak ngerti produknya. Kalo udah gini, mending ke kaunter brktnya). If you feel the price is too much, just buy one -they might give samples for the rest- (ato cuek aja gak beli), then buy something cheaper that has the same function. Still bow out (males)? U can always go online, almost every skin care range have their online consultation and it's absolutely FREE (gw cek di i'net grupnya Martha Tilaar jg ada konsultasi, tp lebih berupa tanya jawab, bukan diagnosa kulit).

I also think it's important for sales girl in beauty counter to know their client's skin and give the right products. They should all be knowledgeable. I remember I went to FANCL counter in Sogo Jkt, asked about my skin condition, i bought one of their products, but rather than smoothing it, it gave me more breakout. Another example, my mom skin -very oily- never gets better, even she uses some good range like Estee Lauder.

After 2 weeks, the result hasn't make a dramatic changes, but there are nice improvement. If not, Uda will raise his voice for what i have spent this last months for skin care, hehe...
(kapok kapok deh Uda, tp kan banyakan reviewnya drpd belinya kok).

Dec 2005 : First time in HK

2007-03-27T16:32:00.000+08:00

This is our first visit to HK. The weather was good, not warm but not too cold. Stayed in Park Lane, we enjoyed every moment taking Wina around. Victoria Park, Stanley Market & Ocean Park. Coz this visit was to checked on our future flat, so we didn't do a lot of exploring.

Ain't no mountain high!

2007-03-26T17:28:00.000+08:00

Found this video song i love (originally sang by Marvin Gaye&Tammy Terrell) featuring the NG's (behind the scene) of my all time favorite series "Friends"!

I also love the original duet version

Snoopy World

2007-03-25T11:38:00.000+08:00

We went to Snoopy World couple of days ago. It's quite far, at Shatin. We have to change mtr train 3 times to get there (it's in the new territories). It's the first time for Wina to know Snoopy characters. She kept saying "doggie, doggie.." hahaha. I thought it was something like a mini town that I went when I was little in London, but it's not the same. There's nothing mini about it.

Playgrounds

2007-03-24T11:16:00.000+08:00

Places for Wina to play are A LOT here. There are many free big playgrounds that's safe, well maintained & have various rides (ini yg Jkt gak punya). Besides in the apartment playground, there's also in Happy Valley, HV Library, Victoria Park - the nearest to our home -. There's still bunch out there spreaded all over HK island.

---------- apartment's ---------------- Victoria Park's -----------------Happy Valley-----------

Nov 2005 : Europetrip part.1, Italy

2007-03-21T00:37:00.000+08:00

Bonjorno! Wow, this was fun! We went to 4 countries: Italy, Vatican City, Austria & Germany. ITALY was a huge explore, even only in 3 cities we had so many beautiful spot to see. We went there on Lebaran holiday, for about 2 weeks. Coz of we were going to move to Hong Kong after New Year 2006, so Uda (aka Wina's dad) didn't come along. He wanted to celebrate Lebaran with his parents and family.

ROME. Beautiful city with the Colloseum, the famous Fontana di Trevi where you throw coins into the fountain while saying your wish; the Roman Forum, ruins of Roman; the Arch of Constantine; Piazza di Spagna, lots and lots of piazza there; Spanish Steps where you can sit, relax and look at all the people passing by; Vittoriano Monument in front of a big circle traffic turnover; and the Pantheon. No other word to say but beautiful.

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

VATICAN. It's quite irony, we visited Vatican City on our Lebaran holiday.... BUT we were just admiring the country(?!!), which was just 5 minutes walk from down town Rome. Yes! It's a small country in the middle of Rome, just about 0.44 square kilometres, with around 600 citizens (wow!). Wina was having fun playing with hundreds of friendly pigeons there. St. Peter's Square, dome of St. Peter's Basilica -is said to be pioneered by Michaelangelo (man, i'm learning art history here, phew!) , and the attractive dressed Swiss Guard.

VENICE. My favorite. City in the middle of the sea. Piazza San Marco, Grand Canal, Rialto's Bridge, Gondolas, San Marco Basilica and Campeline, & the enormous Doger Palace. Window shopping was exciting here, coz they were selling things that you couldn't find anywhere else, like the Romeo & Juliet kind of masque, really really unusual designed clock, & jewelry i can't afford to buy, hehe...

Venice by Gondola

San Marco Square early morning

FLORENCE. It was a short stop before we headed to Pisa. OMG, the buildings are all beautiful. We took some shots at Duomo & Campanile (big clock tower), horse riding around it. Then the driver took us to a spot where we can see overview of Florence. Nice! Ciao!!

Duomo @ Florence

Favorite Spot

2007-03-16T12:59:00.000+08:00

This is the spot where she puts all her toys up when playing and watching dvd. Spot to jump up and down. Also the spot to count how many buses and trams passing by (never ending game). Anyway, can you guess which one is wina? hehehe.....

Dc & Meylin in town

2007-03-12T22:41:00.000+08:00

@ Victoria Park n AIA HK World Carnival

Another friends came to HK. Dc, Fina & Dini were going on backpacker's trip, from Singapore Macau to HK. Well, i wouldn't say they backpackers, coz -my gosh- they're here for SHOPPING! Their bags were overloaded, hahaha.... Stayed at our house for 2 nights, its kinda fun. We had a girls nite out! Went to Lan Kwai Fong -the night life street- where u don't feel in HK coz of too many caucasians. Ride on the bus and tram, saw the carnival(almost cried for not getting to ride one), Admiralty, Wanchai and Causeway Bay. Meylin join the next nite. She's on a tour, so didn't have much free time, which is sad, coz missed some real fun. Oh, it's so nice to meet old friends here. Who's next?! ^^

on the tram n Lan Kwai Fong n Happy Valley Horserace Stadium

PS Fin,Des,Din. Thanx 4 the gift. Wina loves it!

Painting @home

2007-03-12T21:56:00.000+08:00

Our apartment is at the 38th floor building on a hill. O ho, it's high! The view is spectacular. One side shows the sea between Hong Kong and Kowloon & tall buildings, the other side shows the mountain, peak and horse race stadium. At night, it's never too dark, & by day, u can see the eagle fly in front of u. It's just a tiny little house, with Wina's toys all over the place. She owns the house, haha. Anyway, she plays in her cozy room with tent, small couch and comfy bed surround. I usually spend most of the other time behind laptop, travel thru internet. But the place where it all happen: living room.

Wina has this thing for art. She loves painting, so everyday we have a small session to paint. I don't mind the house get a little messy, as long as she can be creative. It's not like u can't clean it afterward. She's a cleaner too. Wash your hands after you r done!

August 2005 : Bali

2007-03-11T12:35:00.000+08:00

Bali Bali Bali. Always a great place to visit! When i was living in Indonesia, we usually went there almost every year (it's about 1,5 hour flight from Jkt). This time with Wina, we went to Bali Bird Park, Ubud, Water Boom, and of course, the beach! We stayed at Nusa Dua, and enjoyed the pool, sandy beach, paragliding, and jet skis. She had a blast playing with the water and animals. Too bad, some people here think Bali as quite a dangerous place. OMG, no way! The tragedy on 2002 changed the people perception. So sad to hear that. I can guarantee now Bali is as safe as your home..

Lunar New Year in Jakarta

2007-03-08T11:06:00.000+08:00

Hehe, libur panjang di Jkt. Rencananya cuma seminggu jadi 2 minggu. Yg kepikiran les mandarinku jd berantakan d, suka gak connect ama gurunya.
Hwa, seneng2 di jkt. Minggu pertama ujan mulu, minggu kedua baru deh cuacanya enak. Wina ketemu Maknetnya seneng bgt (lg nyari fotonya nih). Sempet ke Bdg, ketemu Dela Udin Eja & Mira, Wina main ama sepupunya (Saffa, Salsa, Najwa& Aisha), yah get together with familylah.
Sayangnya gara2 kamera kena air, foto2nya hampir ilang semua, hiks hiks. Need to find away to restore it back. Paling seru sih di Puncak, stay di villa, berenang, hangliding, yg sisa harinya ujan jadi karaokean ajah. Again, wina malu2 mau ma Maknet, hihi...lucu ngeliatnya.

May 2005 : Makassar

2007-03-07T09:43:00.000+08:00

We visited uda's parents whose dad at the time being was working in a Cement Company there. Makassar is beautiful, famous for it's seafood -ikan dabu-dabu is one of my favorite-, big spacious city with old culture still attached. Makassar is in Sulawesi island, about 1,5 hours flight from jakarta. We stayed at kakek's house in a district that's about an hour driving from Makassar.

We also visited Toraja, a famous tourist spot that still hold their ancient culture and has beautiful view of muntains and forest, and the village houses. It took us about 7 hours driving from kakek and nenek house. Wina start showing that she;s a true traveller, didn't have tantrum and just sleep along the way. One of the attractions is that they buried the dead people in the mountain rock and make a doll to indicate the ones that is putted there. Oh, it's a little scary getting in the cave.

Love U I Do

2007-03-06T11:47:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday on my way back home to HK, while Wina were sleeping, I watched Dreamgirls. OMG, it was good! I was so touched, i couldn't stop the feeling get thru my eyes. So corny.. i know.. but i just got a lil bit sensitive lately. The acting was good, the song were BRILLIANT.
It was about this 3 women chasing their dreams to stardom, but when they got there, things weren't going well. Well, i definitely recommend the soundtracks, just love the songs. My favorite : Love u i do

April 2005 : Singapore

2007-03-05T00:02:00.000+08:00

Hoho, Wina first flight. You can't tell she was excited or not, i didn't even think she knew what's going on... until the plane took off & most probably hurted her ears. But we were prepare! earplugs are on, baby!!!

This trip was actually a refreshing point 4 me, after i made it alive out of 'bootcamp'. And i got some days off before starting to work, and it's a long weekend, so we were all in for a vacation.

We went to Singapore Zoo (it was raining), the Botanic Garden (beautiful, but Wina was way to attractive hehe), swimming, and exploring Orchad Road. Usually i would rush in excitement for shopping, but with my new mommy body, i didn't have any desire or whatsoever. So my sis had all the fun herself.

There are a lot of interesting places to visit in Singapore, like Sentosa Island, Jurong Bird Park etc. But it's a short visit, the weather was uncertain. Another thing is i was carrying her through the day. Oh, she's heavy! but thank god i got a lot of helping back.

Aside of the raining, everything was great! hope to visit it again in the future n

Diandra, friend 4 the whole week

2007-02-13T22:25:00.000+08:00

Wina was so excited! Kak Dian was here for a week. The two got along very well. Fajar, Eni and Diandra stayed in Hong Kong on vacation. We went everywhere, the carnival, Disneyland, the parks, Ladies Market, some shopping, whoooow... just have fun!

Mommy Eny, come again with Dian & Daddy. We love 2 have u here!

Best Song of 2006

2007-02-02T21:21:00.000+08:00

Gotta say this is my best song of 2006. Actually I have 3 (not gonna tell ya) but Daniel Powter won my heart. Even a really bad day turned bright just hearing the song. Everytime Uda heard "if u have a bad day....", he gave me this glimpse like 'r u having a bad day now', hahaha. Rise as the goodbye song for eliminated Top 24 American Idol last year, it got more attention than that. Anyway, enjoy BAD DAY!

Om Umar jalan jalan

2007-01-30T21:55:00.000+08:00

Ada Om Umar nih! Jalan-jalan di HK. Om Umar ini temen baik ayah sejak masa kuliah. Cuma sebentar sih... tapi Wina dapet buanyak boneka hasil kemenangan main di AIA HK Carnival, hehehe. Ayah seneng banget Om Umar dateng berkunjung.

-----msh di apt---------Om Umar coba peruntungan---------Gedean bonekanya drpd Wina---

Beijing Freezing

2007-01-28T14:19:00.000+08:00

Beijing, is a huge city like Jkt, but more structured, cleaner, wide pathway and public transport friendly (that doesn't sound like jkt, eih?). We went there on Jan 4-7, already knew that the temperature is below 10. But what we didn't expect is the wind that made the current temp add -10. Brrrr...it's freezing!!

We went to the Summer Palace (get the idea why it's called SP, coz it's only beatiful if u go there on summer), Great Wall Badaling, Beijing Zoo, Temple of Heaven, Tiannamen Square and Forbidden City (huge..HUGE palace square). We went to some other park and palace, but those mentioned are the must visit. Too bad we didn't have the time to ride any hutong (a.k.a becak), and also missed the Great Tomb. Oh, but we saw a big mosque. Fyi, there's quite a population of moslem chinese living in the city, and we got to see some of em walking with their peci on.

Anyway, the most coldest time is when were at the top of Badaling. Man... we couldn't even stand straight coz the wind keep blowing us off our feet. And withWina in her stroller, we couldn't go strolling the wall up and down in stream stairs. So there we were, only made it for about 15 minutes on the Badaling Wall. Fiuhhh! Hands and feets r all frozen -almost had frozzbite-.

The only barrier is language. The people doesn't speak english. When we got in the cab from airport to hotel, cab driver didn't know our hotel. Apparently, they turned avery single word into chinese. Do you know what Hilton or Hyatt in chinese? I can't even say it! So, everytime we went out, we stoped by at the concierge to get the chinese writing for every place we tended to visit. Phew!!

Macau Watchout

2007-01-26T22:21:00.000+08:00

Finally we stepped our foot in Macau, after living for quite a while in HK -as if we're such a busy person, hehehe-. By ferry, we went there with Mama & Pawo & we were lucky enough to get fist class lounge with normal price (thanx to our patience being a waiting list for earlier ride). I thought 6 hours in Macau wasn't enough to see all the sightseeing, but it was done in 4 hours. Wow! Macau was actually small -didn't expect that-. Well... we didn't cover all, just the famous attractions, and we didn't gamble nor shopped, so it pretty much done in 4 hours. We saw Portuguese signs everywhere, & they say that it's the official language (& Chinese), so we assumed the citizen can speak Portuguese. "No we don't. I think even the government officers barely speak Portuguese," said the driver. Shocking!

First we stopped by at the famous St. Paul's Ruins (this place is like "u r not in Macau if u don't visit this". Next to it is Monte Fort, that give a splendid views of Macao on top. Then the driver passed by a lot of casinos down town -huge casinos-. We stopped at one of the casinos just to watch a dancing water fountain in front of it, pretty. Macau museum is also inside the Fort.

----------- St. Paul's Ruins ----------------- Mont Fort ----------------- Macau Museum ----------

Then the driver took us to some temples like A Ma Temple, another one i forgot. But it was nothing compare to China's and Hong Kong's. Not interesting. Macao Tower is very tall, but it look similar with Auckland's Sky Tower, though Macau is taller. There's a bungy jumping nearby, I was so eager to try it, but it was on maintenance check. Not lucky!

---------- Garden ---------------------------------- Fisherman's Wharf ----------------------------

At the end of the trip, the driver dropped us at Macau Fisherman's Wharf. Naaaahh, this is the best attraction in Macau. It's a theme park that replicates Cape Town, Italy, and Amsterdam. Hehehe, at last Wina feel fun in Macau.

Overall, i must say if you are not gambling in Macau, the place is less interesting. But, it wouldn't hurt to visit just to take a glimpse of this beautiful man made city that offers mortality excitement.

Mama's here, horraayy!!

2007-01-24T16:52:00.000+08:00

Mama tinggal di HK selama 2 miggu akhir tahun 2006, Wina seneng banget! Lagi suasana natal di HK, jadi meriah deh jalan. Mama beliin Wina big Elmo, trus nganterin Wina skolah, belanja, maen ke taman, ada juga x'mas party(cuma ngeramein aja) di skolah Wina ikutan juga. Wina sempet sakit beberapa hari, jadi gak kemana2 deh. Trus 3 hari sebelom natal, pawo dateng bergabung. Baru deh jalan2 serius, naik Ngong Ping, liat Giant Buddha (guede benerr). Haha, pas naik cable carnya agak2 seyyem, soalnya puannjaaanng banget. Gak lupa ke Harbour jg, dan the Peak(wajib bo).

Precious Moments

2007-01-19T22:04:00.000+08:00

Just as what the title say, first of all i must tell you who Wina is. Full name is Jausha Winayla Dewita, born at Jun 4th 2004, Jakarta, produced by me and Toni as a gift from our hawtt honeymoon, hehe. The first two years she grew up between PI house and her mama's house, in Duren Sawit. Breastfeed her till 8 months, gotta stop coz of work 'bootcamp', i was isolated the whole month, missed her and her dad so much. I was no longer a full time mommy, the title goes to her grandma, mama. I worked as a PR in a national electricity company.

So many unforgettable stories, like on the day she was born i was enjoying Mcd in the morning. At 6 months, she fell from a 10 steps of stairs while playing in her baby wheel. She stayed in a hospital due to a virus just in her 7 months age, saddest moment. She had seasons of smile and laugh (one day it was giggling laugh, next months it was princess laugh!????). First word, first stand, first walk, first birthday, first run, first tantrum...... my very precious two years!

Konichiwa Tokyo!

2006-09-28T02:40:00.000+08:00

Moshi moshi. We're at Tokyo! Huhuhu, I was so excited!!! I mean, this is the second Asia city most wanted to visit in my list. JUst going off the plane my body giggled happily..... hehehe.

Toni was on a meeting here for three days. But we extended longeg so we could take a look around Tokyo. As usual, getting around with Toni is getting around independently. He's very different from my dad. My dad would take some time to study the city that we're gonna visit and tried to cover as many places as we can, take all the important city tour, as if we might never go back there. Toni... he would think a lot of her lil girl, won't take exhausting trip, won't take trip that would make him nausea... Seems like we're in a hurry yet the trip we're taking are trivial.

But anyway, I'm just glad I finally stepped my foot here in Tokyo. Yada!!!!!

So on the days on his meeting, we stayed at Hyatt, but on our own expenses holiday, we moved to Prince Shinjuku Hotel, hehehe..... so moved in and out of Shinjuku. Shinjuku is the central Tokyo. Thank god it wasn't too far from Shinjuku Station, where there's a shuttle bus to Hyatt. The airport was very far away, and we were also caught up by traffic on the highway.

Tokyo is a big city like Jakarta. It has a lot of districts. We didn't covered all the district, there are 23 of 'em. But we did go the famous districts, such as Shibuya, Harajuku, Ginza, Odaiba, and Shinjuku of course.

The only tour we took is to Hakone, is at the foot of Mount Fuji, where there are a lot of hot spring water, Lake Ashi -a popular tourist attraction- and Hakone Ropeway, cable car alongside the Lake which goes to the top of Mount Komagatake. We didn't hopped on to Hakone Ropeway becoz Toni couldn't ride it (he has a high phobia) and I couldn't ride it alone, leaving Wina with him. So we just enjoyed the hot spring. It's really fascinating how they design the hot spring, there are many kind of water; green tea, coffee, mud sea... or entertaining type; stream, slides etc.

Fashion is also something else to look at there. Either they are very conservative or very girlish.

Lots of barbiedoll lookalike in every corner of Shinjuku to Harajuku. What's also amazed me is how they just wear a short skirt in a very cold windy temperature. So fashion victims!

Another unforgetable experience is that we rode a Gigantic Ferris Wheel on a tranparent cubic. OMG, i couldn't move my head and body, and I was shaking like crazy. Toni and Wina ddin't seem to have trouble looking around, while I am dead-frost! I will never forget the feeling, and never ever gonna ride on any transparent thing in a high places. But the good news is, since then, I never had any high phobia in getting to very high places. How weird and lucky! hehehe....

Hellow blog!

2006-09-01T21:02:00.000+08:00

Hello!!! It's my first post in my own blog!! Finally i made a blog, it's about time! I have so much to write about, so it looks like i'm going back and forth in filling it, just like Memento. So many journeys we made before and after living in Hong Kong -not to mention future trips-, quite enchanting moments, with Wina tagging along everywhere, haha... She's a very lucky baby i guess! So slowly but surely, I'm gonna fill the blank pages in this blogs until u won't noticed the page templates anymore. Good luck to me! I hope i don't loose the mood (I'm such a moody person) n