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

Wina's New Preschool

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

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

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....

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

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!

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!!!

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

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

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

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

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!!"

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

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.