Swimming

 

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

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

Bali escape

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!

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!!!

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!

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

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

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!

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

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