Another year done, another Christmas looming. Back home in lovely KL again. No matter there being no snow or festive street lights, Christmas has always been one of my favourite times of year. When I worked in the UK, I used to always have the misfortune to be on-call Christmas and New Year. The lovely snow and Oxford Street lights made up for some of it. I choose to ignore the wet and gale force winds and tube strikes... Now, I spend my Christmases in hot, sometimes wet, KL.
There were moments in the plane this time when my life flashed before my eyes. First was when we (seemingly to me) dropped about 200ft out of the blue (am sure in retrospect it was probably more like 10ft). Kiddo was having lunch at that time and her food went flying up out of the box. If I were super mom, no doubt I would have caught the lot with some fancy wielding of the box and fork, but being me, I just shoveled the pile back into the box and asked her if she wanted more. I think the pale face and gritted teeth gave me away (am not a great flyer at best of times). Kiddo took one look at me and started whimpering... Then said, 'I don't think I'm hungry anymore mummy...' Maybe the sweeping up of dropped bits put her off. Don't blame her. The second time was when our delightful air stewardess blithely carried on offering piping hot food and drink to everyone. My seat belt was on so tight I swear I couldn't feel my toes. So, no, nothing in front of me please. I don't fancy a hot coffee shake the next time we hit a bump.
There's just something about flying that makes me totally nervous. Absolutely no control. Inside some huge metal canister that logic tells me shouldn't be able to get off the ground let alone fly... Yes, yes... I know I'm a bit of a control freak.
In any case, we landed safely, albeit with me a little green. The rest of the flight was actually quite smooth, but anticipating the next plummet kept me on tenterhooks and my stomach in knots. Happily kiddo fell asleep. Mind you, the flight only takes 2 hours, and after 'the incident', we only had about an hour to go. I have to say that I was tempted to ask for some wine ('Thanks, just leave the bottle!'), but opted not to since, a)showing my kid that consuming alcohol as a way of dealing with stress is SERIOUSLY bad parenting, and, b)I really didn't want my Dad to pick us up with me looking like a total lush. Dads still need SOME illusions about their daughters even when said daughters are ___ (insert your age here).
We've now been back a day and already hit the Dentist (my old pal J who's an absolutely AMAZING kiddy dentist), Czip Lee (fab stationers), Borders, Art Friend, Think Toys (the old ELC) and Yuzu (yummy Japanese restaurant in the Gardens shopping centre). I also planted a row of loofah all along one wall and hung lights on our Christmas tree and in the front window. Kiddo went garland crazy and did the stair rails. What a day...!
Tomorrow we're off to Book Xcess (unmissable book store in Amcorp mall that does cheap books) and my little niece's birthday in the afternoon. It's wonderful being home...
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year one and all!!
Thursday 17 December 2009
Friday 11 December 2009
And the madness has passed... for now...
We're finally in our new place. The glorious Pakubuwono Residences. Sweet! No more worrying about what stranger has decided to momentarily squat at our place without us knowing, no more Kemang traffic... Hello (many) pools, gym, shop, ATM, Daily Bread, restaurant, dry cleaners, pharmacy, sundry shop... most of all, friends everywhere!!
The moving was amazingly painless. We ended up using IMS (International Movers & Storage) because they had the best telephone etiquette, the most helpful contact person and the most reasonable prices (
1st day, they were 30mins early (I know! Unbelievable!). I wasn't back yet, but they called and I was more than happy for them to start. By the time I got back at 9am after dropping the kid, they had already practically completely packed her room and teams was moving into the master bedroom, kitchen AND dining room. In fact, I seemed to be constantly tripping over them. When I asked the supervisor how many people there were, his reply was, '19, Ibu.' 19?? You're kidding! When we moved from London to KL, we had 4. And it took them 2 days to pack an apartment... In any case, by the time 2pm rolled around, the whole house except for the living room and service areas was packed and loaded. Amazing. Very impressed. Long story short, everything was into the new place by the next day at 3pm. I actually sent them home then although they were suppose to help me unpack. But I was too slow for them and was rather afraid of being overwhelmed by things just sitting on the floor. I hadn't yet decided where to put half the stuff. Only that it was NOT going to be in the same rooms as the old house. Not helpful to them...
The next 2 days were a flurry of unpacking. I found out that The Man is ace at unpacking boxes and shoving things into any available nook and cranny. Except that he DOESN'T really unpack anything! Found out the hard way when I opened a supposedly empty cupboard and a FULL bag fell on me! Aaannnnyyyyyway, we're all (mostly) unpacked and (very happily) settled in now. The only thing IMS messed up was they forgot The Man's sports socks. Those of you who know him know what a disaster that is... A suggestion to buy a temporary pair was greeted with a disgusted snort. HIS socks are SPECIAL... Not the standard CHEAPOS... What. Ever. See if I ever try to help again... Still I eventually found them when I went to hand back the keys. I reckon the movers thought no one wanted them anymore seeing as all were grubby and looked like something the dog rejected (or ejected).
All in all, the last week has flown by. We were somewhere else one day, here the next... The only breakage was by me when I unrolled an interesting looking bubble wrap ball and had a round tealight holder crash to the floor. D'oh! Note to self, bubble wrap= fragile. Don't hold one end and unspool. Luckily it was a Rp10,000 (USD1) tealight holder from ACE and not some irreplaceable family heirloom.
Have decided that from now on, I shall only use IMS for moving. The were great! And hearing some of my friends' horror stories from other 'reputable' companies... No competition at all.
The moving was amazingly painless. We ended up using IMS (International Movers & Storage) because they had the best telephone etiquette, the most helpful contact person and the most reasonable prices (
1st day, they were 30mins early (I know! Unbelievable!). I wasn't back yet, but they called and I was more than happy for them to start. By the time I got back at 9am after dropping the kid, they had already practically completely packed her room and teams was moving into the master bedroom, kitchen AND dining room. In fact, I seemed to be constantly tripping over them. When I asked the supervisor how many people there were, his reply was, '19, Ibu.' 19?? You're kidding! When we moved from London to KL, we had 4. And it took them 2 days to pack an apartment... In any case, by the time 2pm rolled around, the whole house except for the living room and service areas was packed and loaded. Amazing. Very impressed. Long story short, everything was into the new place by the next day at 3pm. I actually sent them home then although they were suppose to help me unpack. But I was too slow for them and was rather afraid of being overwhelmed by things just sitting on the floor. I hadn't yet decided where to put half the stuff. Only that it was NOT going to be in the same rooms as the old house. Not helpful to them...
The next 2 days were a flurry of unpacking. I found out that The Man is ace at unpacking boxes and shoving things into any available nook and cranny. Except that he DOESN'T really unpack anything! Found out the hard way when I opened a supposedly empty cupboard and a FULL bag fell on me! Aaannnnyyyyyway, we're all (mostly) unpacked and (very happily) settled in now. The only thing IMS messed up was they forgot The Man's sports socks. Those of you who know him know what a disaster that is... A suggestion to buy a temporary pair was greeted with a disgusted snort. HIS socks are SPECIAL... Not the standard CHEAPOS... What. Ever. See if I ever try to help again... Still I eventually found them when I went to hand back the keys. I reckon the movers thought no one wanted them anymore seeing as all were grubby and looked like something the dog rejected (or ejected).
All in all, the last week has flown by. We were somewhere else one day, here the next... The only breakage was by me when I unrolled an interesting looking bubble wrap ball and had a round tealight holder crash to the floor. D'oh! Note to self, bubble wrap= fragile. Don't hold one end and unspool. Luckily it was a Rp10,000 (USD1) tealight holder from ACE and not some irreplaceable family heirloom.
Have decided that from now on, I shall only use IMS for moving. The were great! And hearing some of my friends' horror stories from other 'reputable' companies... No competition at all.
Tuesday 1 December 2009
Dummies guide to the stages of sunburn
After having spent the last few days sun burnt ENTIRELY due to my own fault, I feel supremely qualified to expound upon it...
Stage 1 : 'Ooo... What a sunny day. Warm isn't it?' Unless you're flitting from car to air conditioned mall, sunblock might be a reasonable consideration here.
Skin colour : No change, possibly an attractive flush.
Stage 2 : 'Gosh, it's really hot out. Kinda feel prickly...' Even most morons (except me, obviously) would actually, seriously be considering pulling out the SPF 30 here.
Skin colour : Reddening, but nothing too alarming.
Stage 3 : 'Ow, the skin's really starting to hurt. Golly it's fierce out.' Pretty obvious it's get under cover time. But noooo, I was still chasing the kids (who were actually blocked and covered) trying to get some cutesy photos. The sarong about my shoulders was really too little too late.
Skin colour : Boiled lobster.
Stage 4 : 'DON'T TOUCH ME!!! NO hugs please...!' This is generally after you've got in from the sun and are trying to have that post sun shower. Fun and games, fun and games... I had to shower with kiddo's baby bath (my bath gel had exfoliating bits in it. NOT HAPPENING!) and alternate warm and cold water. The burns couldn't tolerate warm water and the normal bits couldn't take cold water. Picture this, hop to the side, turn on cold for burned bits while keeping normal bits away from stream of water. Another little shimmy, turn on a bit of heat, trying to avoid water splashing on the burnt bits. My burnt bits were as follows : face, forearms, upper thighs along bikini line (but only the sides. How??), back (a 2 inch strip between my tank and bikini, and the upper back between the tie and back of the tank), shoulders, back of my left knee (Huh??). Now imagine having to do the above little dance while avoiding all burned/ normal bits...
Skin colour : Over-boiled lobster.
Stage 5 : 'Yuck, starting to flake. Itchy... Hmmm, wonder if I can help it along...' DON'T DO IT!!!! Don't try to help the flaking along. I'm a compulsive fiddler, so I picked at my peeling nose. It got painful and very, VERY red...
Skin colour : Go home Rudolph, I'm leading the sleigh tonight... But if you DON'T pick, then you can be the 'snow' covered tree in the yard.
Stage 6 : 'Ewww, Mummy, you look like a molting snake!! Am I going to look like that too??' Flaking everywhere. Skin very dry, fault lines appear if you even move the skin... More itchy... Incidentally, not a good time to commit a crime. Too much trace evidence, they'd get you just by sweeping the floor...
Skin colour : Patchwork. If you can imagine very poorly sewn shapes that are fraying at the edges.
Stage 7 : When the flaking is over, if you're lucky, you have a uniform tan. IF.
Skin colour : Golden brown if you're lucky. Muddy brown if you're not...
So there you go, sunburns according to me. The whole process usually lasts about a week-ish. I'm hoping that by writing this down I will now, NOT EVER, forget the sunblock. I hope. Really. I will actually post on our Sambolo holiday after our move tomorrow (Yay!) and once I stop flaking all over the keyboard.
Stage 1 : 'Ooo... What a sunny day. Warm isn't it?' Unless you're flitting from car to air conditioned mall, sunblock might be a reasonable consideration here.
Skin colour : No change, possibly an attractive flush.
Stage 2 : 'Gosh, it's really hot out. Kinda feel prickly...' Even most morons (except me, obviously) would actually, seriously be considering pulling out the SPF 30 here.
Skin colour : Reddening, but nothing too alarming.
Stage 3 : 'Ow, the skin's really starting to hurt. Golly it's fierce out.' Pretty obvious it's get under cover time. But noooo, I was still chasing the kids (who were actually blocked and covered) trying to get some cutesy photos. The sarong about my shoulders was really too little too late.
Skin colour : Boiled lobster.
Stage 4 : 'DON'T TOUCH ME!!! NO hugs please...!' This is generally after you've got in from the sun and are trying to have that post sun shower. Fun and games, fun and games... I had to shower with kiddo's baby bath (my bath gel had exfoliating bits in it. NOT HAPPENING!) and alternate warm and cold water. The burns couldn't tolerate warm water and the normal bits couldn't take cold water. Picture this, hop to the side, turn on cold for burned bits while keeping normal bits away from stream of water. Another little shimmy, turn on a bit of heat, trying to avoid water splashing on the burnt bits. My burnt bits were as follows : face, forearms, upper thighs along bikini line (but only the sides. How??), back (a 2 inch strip between my tank and bikini, and the upper back between the tie and back of the tank), shoulders, back of my left knee (Huh??). Now imagine having to do the above little dance while avoiding all burned/ normal bits...
Skin colour : Over-boiled lobster.
Stage 5 : 'Yuck, starting to flake. Itchy... Hmmm, wonder if I can help it along...' DON'T DO IT!!!! Don't try to help the flaking along. I'm a compulsive fiddler, so I picked at my peeling nose. It got painful and very, VERY red...
Skin colour : Go home Rudolph, I'm leading the sleigh tonight... But if you DON'T pick, then you can be the 'snow' covered tree in the yard.
Stage 6 : 'Ewww, Mummy, you look like a molting snake!! Am I going to look like that too??' Flaking everywhere. Skin very dry, fault lines appear if you even move the skin... More itchy... Incidentally, not a good time to commit a crime. Too much trace evidence, they'd get you just by sweeping the floor...
Skin colour : Patchwork. If you can imagine very poorly sewn shapes that are fraying at the edges.
Stage 7 : When the flaking is over, if you're lucky, you have a uniform tan. IF.
Skin colour : Golden brown if you're lucky. Muddy brown if you're not...
So there you go, sunburns according to me. The whole process usually lasts about a week-ish. I'm hoping that by writing this down I will now, NOT EVER, forget the sunblock. I hope. Really. I will actually post on our Sambolo holiday after our move tomorrow (Yay!) and once I stop flaking all over the keyboard.
Thursday 26 November 2009
Temporary tattoos have hidden dangers..
Kiddo was at a friend's birthday party and got a lovely glittery temporary tattoo. I said yes knowing that she's had reactions in the past, but thinking to myself, 'Remember to wash it off later...' Well, what d'ya know, what with rushing to pack for today's Sambolo trip and dashing to the store at 8pm to get daddy a snorkel mask, I TOTALLY FORGOT!! Ugh! *smack self in the head* Added to that it was Daddy who did the bathing, so I didn't even see her till she was all covered up in her PJs.
This morning, kiddo woke up complaining of a tummy ache and when I felt the warm forehead, my heart just sank... I knew it! A forgotten tattoo! Out came the nail polish remover and thus commenced our 15min cleaning session. She was subsequently sent down for breakfast and instructed to drink lots and lots of water to, hopefully, flush out whatever chemical it was that was causing all this. Happily the tummy ache and fever settled within an hour of having the tattoo removed.
Googling temporary tattoos was an eye opener. Nowhere does it list the chemicals that go into them, it just says dyes should be US FDA approved. Then there are the 'water soluble slip layers' and the 'contact adhesives'. A whole lot of 'uh?'.
This has happened several times in the past. At first it was only after parties when we put down the tummy ache and fever to over excitement and junk food the previous day. The fever and tummy ache would go on for several days, probably until the tattoos eventually faded, but I didn't link the two before. Then we got a pack of these tattoos for fun and she had the SAME reactions at home. I could not believe it! But it happened EVERY SINGLE TIME we put it on! Since then, I've been pretty strict, no tattoos except for parties, and they get washed off the moment we get home. Unfortunately last night it got left on, and she had a whole night of marinating in those chemicals. Hopefully we got it off in time and her beach holiday won't be spoiled. Note to self... parties = tattoos! Inspect and WASH!
This morning, kiddo woke up complaining of a tummy ache and when I felt the warm forehead, my heart just sank... I knew it! A forgotten tattoo! Out came the nail polish remover and thus commenced our 15min cleaning session. She was subsequently sent down for breakfast and instructed to drink lots and lots of water to, hopefully, flush out whatever chemical it was that was causing all this. Happily the tummy ache and fever settled within an hour of having the tattoo removed.
Googling temporary tattoos was an eye opener. Nowhere does it list the chemicals that go into them, it just says dyes should be US FDA approved. Then there are the 'water soluble slip layers' and the 'contact adhesives'. A whole lot of 'uh?'.
This has happened several times in the past. At first it was only after parties when we put down the tummy ache and fever to over excitement and junk food the previous day. The fever and tummy ache would go on for several days, probably until the tattoos eventually faded, but I didn't link the two before. Then we got a pack of these tattoos for fun and she had the SAME reactions at home. I could not believe it! But it happened EVERY SINGLE TIME we put it on! Since then, I've been pretty strict, no tattoos except for parties, and they get washed off the moment we get home. Unfortunately last night it got left on, and she had a whole night of marinating in those chemicals. Hopefully we got it off in time and her beach holiday won't be spoiled. Note to self... parties = tattoos! Inspect and WASH!
Tuesday 24 November 2009
End of the bazaar season
Well, this is IT for me. My bazaar season (as a vendor) officially ended at 1pm today in ANZA house. Phew... Am pooped. It's pretty difficult repeating a sales pitch over and over again for up to 4 hours. Hats off to traveling salespeople who do this for a living.
At last total, the orphanage will get in the region of about Rp3.5mil (USD350) from my 2 bazaars and 1 coffee morning. Wish it were more, but I was already encouraging shoppers to round up sales with additional items. Short of randomly grabbing strangers off the path and forcibly removing cash from their wallets, I don't think I could have done better. As hubby likes to say,'Small ticket items give you small profits!'.
I did, however, meet LOADS of people this time. More so than any other previous bazaar. To be honest, the bazaars are my way of meeting people I wouldn't otherwise encounter. Some have turned out to be great friends, others have introduced me to new interests... I love the saying 'A stranger is but a friend you haven't met yet'.
It's off to the Sambolo Beach bungalows for us on Thursday and the move to the new apartment next Wednesday. Busy, busy, busy... Give me my G&T!!
At last total, the orphanage will get in the region of about Rp3.5mil (USD350) from my 2 bazaars and 1 coffee morning. Wish it were more, but I was already encouraging shoppers to round up sales with additional items. Short of randomly grabbing strangers off the path and forcibly removing cash from their wallets, I don't think I could have done better. As hubby likes to say,'Small ticket items give you small profits!'.
I did, however, meet LOADS of people this time. More so than any other previous bazaar. To be honest, the bazaars are my way of meeting people I wouldn't otherwise encounter. Some have turned out to be great friends, others have introduced me to new interests... I love the saying 'A stranger is but a friend you haven't met yet'.
It's off to the Sambolo Beach bungalows for us on Thursday and the move to the new apartment next Wednesday. Busy, busy, busy... Give me my G&T!!
Thursday 19 November 2009
Hit the 'next blog' button for some laughs
I don't know if non-members of blogspot can see this button, but if you do, hit it and see what comes up. Intuitive programming at it's best. The Genius function on iTunes supposedly makes up a playlist for you depending on your tastes when you play a particular song. The 'next blog' button attempts to do the same by randomly selecting blogs for you that you might be interested in.
Well, what they selected for me ranged from absolutely 'uh??', to 'oh yeah, I think I'll come back and check this out.' After a while it got addictive just seeing what they would come up with next.
I got directed to blogs on: Anime (why??), an Indian political site (I think, not sure, but it was all in Tamil(?) and had pictures of people waving flags and marching), a new moms blog (justified), some tech blog with pics of phones (not sure, in Japanese, so have to guess using pictures), some illustrator who draws castles and such (probably got there because I had sooo many posts with the word 'defense/ defender'. Goes to show...). And this is supposed to have been refined. I so do not want to know what it was like previously... Oh well, next time I'm bored, I'll definitely hit it for laughs.
PS how can I forget the one written by the teenage girl that sounded incredibly profound and poetic, yet with a postgraduate degree in medicine, I could not, for the life of me understand. Each word was ok, but strung together they didn't seem to SAY anything... HOW did I end up THERE??
Well, what they selected for me ranged from absolutely 'uh??', to 'oh yeah, I think I'll come back and check this out.' After a while it got addictive just seeing what they would come up with next.
I got directed to blogs on: Anime (why??), an Indian political site (I think, not sure, but it was all in Tamil(?) and had pictures of people waving flags and marching), a new moms blog (justified), some tech blog with pics of phones (not sure, in Japanese, so have to guess using pictures), some illustrator who draws castles and such (probably got there because I had sooo many posts with the word 'defense/ defender'. Goes to show...). And this is supposed to have been refined. I so do not want to know what it was like previously... Oh well, next time I'm bored, I'll definitely hit it for laughs.
PS how can I forget the one written by the teenage girl that sounded incredibly profound and poetic, yet with a postgraduate degree in medicine, I could not, for the life of me understand. Each word was ok, but strung together they didn't seem to SAY anything... HOW did I end up THERE??
The hidden gem of Cibubur
Blogspot has just gone funny and I can't move my photos, so here it is: top is kiddo in her outfit, bottom is our haul for USD75...
From the title, you would assume that I'm referring to some fantastic natural wonder or ancient monolith. I'm sorry to disappoint, but although I'm fairly certain that there are nice landmarks around there, what I went for was winter apparel shopping for our ski trip to Niseko (Japan) next February. Yup, that's right, you didn't mishear at all. Winter apparel shopping. I know, I know, winter is not the first thing that crosses your mind when you think of Jakarta, but seeing as a lot of western clothing brands have their factories in this part of the world, would you be surprised that there are lots of outlet stores too?
The store in Cibubur is called Upscale and is located in Cibubur Times Square (CTS for this post). Opens at 10am. Before you think of spending some time wandering around CTS, let me warn you that CTS is a far cry (more like a whimper) from NY Times Square. Apart from a pretty large ACE hardware, it's practically deserted. So don't bother thinking you could kill some time in the local Starbucks while you wait for it to open. There's a McD's off the toll road and a petrol station KFC nearer CTS. More than that, you would have to go explore...
Walking into the store, you are immediately confronted by lots of lightweight clothes, and only a couple of racks of winter stuff. Thump goes the sound of your heart hitting the floor as you think of all the unnecessary calories in the KFC meal just consumed and the amount of money just spent in impulse buys from the ACE hardware that opens at 9am (Yes, yes, guilty...)! Well, not to worry, head upstairs and be amazed! Racks upon racks of ski jackets, heavy duty winter stuff, sweaters, ski ensembles... Even the cutest little onesies for the little ones. I went totally crazy. My friend KP and I must have tried on at least a dozen items each. Downside was the 'what you see is what you get' policy. If it doesn't fit, move on. Don't bother asking for sizes. Usually it's just the one available. The other thing of note is that sizes don't always correspond with what is printed. So try everything. There's a reason some items are factory rejects...
Well, after an hour of rummaging, I walked away with a jacket, ski pants and a body warmer for kiddo, and a jacket and body warmer for myself. I wasn't really supposed to be shopping for me, but couldn't resist the prices. The whole haul cost me about USD75. Considering my ski jacket and pants bought in London during the sales cost GBP129, it was a definite bargain.
I raved about it to my Dad today, and he's just given me a shopping list for himself! He's also headed to Japan next February, except it's a little earlier and he's doing a eating tour of Hokkaido rather than a ski trip. In any case, I shall take it upon myself to deck him out in unmissable in the dark ski jackets!!! Just kidding... Yes Dad, I heard you, only darks...
Tuesday 17 November 2009
Bazaar No.1 done
Bugs in blogspot, can't organise the pics. Sorry. Top: Me behind my stall. Couldn't stand up straight, so figured peering from around the rack looked better than hunched over the table. All other photos: pics of my haul. Excepting the bear. The bear is kiddo's. She just felt it looked better with he new tutu on...
Today was the first bazaar of the Christmas season for me. Organised by the BWA (British Womens' association). It was held in the Grand Kemang Hotel. Lest anyone think I'm an insatiable bazaar hopper, I actually go to flog stuff for charity. This time it's the Panti Asuhan Pondok Taruna orphanage. With the thought of them needing 70kg of rice a day (costs about Rp500,000/ USD50 per day), I went there totally prepared to be the barracuda salesperson of the year. No taking 'no' for an answer! Everyone who pauses has to buy! Buy! Buy! I say!! Well, within an hour of arriving at the venue (6am for set up!! Ugh!), this barracuda became a minnow... I stupidly bent over to pick up a box forgetting that it was heavy and that I generally have a dinky back. No prizes for guessing what happened next... My back locked up big time, and I was left squirming around trying to pretend that I was looking for something inside the box when in actual fact I could neither fully straighten nor fully bend! I eventually plonked myself onto the sample bean bag I was selling since it allowed me to wriggle into a non excruciating position in order to unpack the offending box. No surprises that everything ended up on the edge of the table. It was as far as I could reach. An emergency call to my co-vendor, who luckily, was only due in later netted me a couple of lifesaving panadols. She was very apologetic about not having anything stronger, but at that point, I would've gratefully settled for anything, even a hammer to my toe as distraction from my back.
In any case, there was selling to be done and people to meet. I love doing the bazaars. Every time I do, I meet someone new, or an old customer. And you never know when you're going to meet a great friend. Like my co-vendor today, V. I met her at the last bazaar a few months back and we got to talking. Now she's a fab friend that I cannot imagine I've only known for a really short time. Even funnier, our girls both have the same name! And we both love crafting... Not to mention we're going on holiday together in 2 weeks and moving into the same apartment complex in 3 weeks. Before you suggest it, no, I'm NOT stalking her...
Well, if there's shopping to be had, I'm the one to call. I can ALWAYS find something to buy. Picked up some lovely little batik covered boxes for gifts, as well as some cutesy little things for the kid. Turns out it's lovely having a co-vendor because we can take turns shopping while the other person mans the stall. And V is as great a shopper as me, which is saying a lot...
All in all, it was go, go, go from the moment the doors opened. I've never been in a bazaar that has been this busy. Barely had time to shop for myself!! *wink* For the first time, I also won a raffle prize! I only know it's to some restaurant. The main thought flowing through my head when going up to get the prize was, 'Suck it in!! Walk upright! OWN the pain! Don't limp!'. Hilarious that as we were walking around the hall, V kept trying to carry my bag. Geesh...!
Back pain or no back pain. A preliminary accounting shows that the orphanage will get Rp1,750,000 (about USD175) from today. That's about 3 days worth of rice or 60 chickens. Rather pleased with that I have to say. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come for the next few events.
PS will post some photos when my back unlocks enough for me to focus my camera higher than my knees...
Saturday 14 November 2009
Eye of the hurricane
It's Saturday. For a change, we're all 3 of us at home just chilling. No looming business trips, nothing particularly pressing. Just our little family enjoying some family time. Ok, at least we're in the same room. Kiddo is reading (as usual), The Man is fiddling with his NEW bike (it sounds like an arthritic old goat. Clackity clackety...) and I'm trying to build mountains on my farmville game...
Next week the chaos starts. Bazaar on Tuesday, coffee morning at ANZA (Aus and NZ womens' association) on Fri, Bazaar again the following Tuesday, long weekend away that Thursday with some great friends to Sambolo. The week after that, we'll be moving to the apartment. Yay!!! I shall be even more a duck than I usually am (why duck? Read the blog description above...).
Yesterday the kiddo had her 2nd lot of boosters. MMR and Varicella. Very stoic through the 1st one with only an 'Ooowwww' at the end. But the 2nd one? Oh my goodness... You would've thought the doctor was skinning her. The howling and wailing...! My poor baby. Worst thing is next month she has a typhoid jab to go for. Sigh. I bought her a bunch of new books as a little reward for the jabs (I know, I know, wasn't supposed to buy anything before the move... But she was such a sad little thing when she found out she had jabs... *sob*). And it DID smooth everything over...
The rest of today shall be family time. Much anticipated since Daddy has been away so much in the last 2 months. Nice lunch at the club... BBQ dinner... Wine... Keep repeating to self, 'I will not obsess about next week, I will not obsess about next week...'
Next week the chaos starts. Bazaar on Tuesday, coffee morning at ANZA (Aus and NZ womens' association) on Fri, Bazaar again the following Tuesday, long weekend away that Thursday with some great friends to Sambolo. The week after that, we'll be moving to the apartment. Yay!!! I shall be even more a duck than I usually am (why duck? Read the blog description above...).
Yesterday the kiddo had her 2nd lot of boosters. MMR and Varicella. Very stoic through the 1st one with only an 'Ooowwww' at the end. But the 2nd one? Oh my goodness... You would've thought the doctor was skinning her. The howling and wailing...! My poor baby. Worst thing is next month she has a typhoid jab to go for. Sigh. I bought her a bunch of new books as a little reward for the jabs (I know, I know, wasn't supposed to buy anything before the move... But she was such a sad little thing when she found out she had jabs... *sob*). And it DID smooth everything over...
The rest of today shall be family time. Much anticipated since Daddy has been away so much in the last 2 months. Nice lunch at the club... BBQ dinner... Wine... Keep repeating to self, 'I will not obsess about next week, I will not obsess about next week...'
Wednesday 11 November 2009
Kiddo's bedtime prayer tonight
'God Bless Daddy, Mummy and Me. Help me get better. Keep Daddy safe on his travels. God Bless Grandpa, Grandma, Ah Kong and Ah Ma. God Bless all the orphans. Let there be no tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes. Help me not whine, moan, cry, and tantrum. God bless all my new friends, old friends, and ab-so-lu-te-ly everyone. Help me sleep well and not wake up late for tomorrow's school trip to the zoo. Good night God. Amen.'
What can I say? A kid's environment certainly affects their thought processes. Much more so than one would imagine. I use prayer time as a guide to what the kid is thinking, and a spring board to talking about stuff. Ever since the recent spate of natural disasters have hit the local papers, she's been including tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes in her nightly prayers (Downside of a kid being able to read the back side of the paper while I'm reading the front).When I talk to her about it, I can tell she's concerned they will happen to us and people she knows. On one occasion, I remember having to sit down with her and the encyclopedia to work out how safe Jakarta, KL and Singapore were for the various friends and relatives she was worried about. And being here where poverty is so visible she has asked about the street children who beg at the car door. So has developed a slight obsession about orphans and their lack of parental love. Sigh... I guess if we were living in London she would pray about blizzards, gale force winds, tube delays and Indian summers.
Being an expat kid, she's had friends in KL, from her old school Tutor Time, and now in ACS. Not to mention the other expat kids that come and go. I can see how distressing that can be. I certainly do feel it when friends move away. The friendships tend to be rather like a summer romance, you know they're going to end right from the start, you make promises to keep in touch no matter what, and parting is wrenching. But once everyone's moved, it's only the occasional email or skype. Sometimes not even that. Thank God for blackberry messenger. These friendships tend to be quickly forged and quite intense, after all, no one really understands what an expat goes through other than another expat... She's also had to get used to Daddy traveling quite a lot. Now when she's had a scolding and says, 'I want to talk to Daddy!', Mummy has to do time zone as well as airline ETA computations. It's no longer just calling and having The Man furtively whisper that he's in a meeting and will call us back.
The moaning, whining bit... Well, that's totally my fault. because of my ear problem, anything above a certain frequency hits my brain like a laser beam and turns it into what feels like a cauldron of boiling lava with nails shooting into my ear drums. Her voice then echoes and reverberates in my skull, bouncing around and causing more churning of the lava and nails... Well, lava explodes, and so does mummy. That's generally when monster mummy makes a visit. My own yelling adds to the mix and I get even more steamed. Not nice for everyone... So every night, without fail, kiddo asks to not moan or whine. Depending on what's gone on at school, some times she adds in, 'help me to cheer not jeer (school lecture) and help me not mock or be smart alecky (heh heh)'
She throws in the 'help me get better' whether she's sick or not. Being an asthmatic and allergic-y kid, there have been times when she's on pills, syrups, puffers, sprays, creams for months on end. This is like a mantra for her. Can't sleep unless she says it. No matter, I don't imagine God would hold it against her...
All this is certainly a change from 2 years ago when her prayers were, 'God Bless Daddy, Mummy and Me. God Bless Grandpa, Grandma, Ah Kong and Ah Ma. God Bless Riesling, Cookie (our dogs), Baileys and Smokey (our cats). God Bless my friends. Help the woodpecker not eat all our fish...'
What can I say? A kid's environment certainly affects their thought processes. Much more so than one would imagine. I use prayer time as a guide to what the kid is thinking, and a spring board to talking about stuff. Ever since the recent spate of natural disasters have hit the local papers, she's been including tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes in her nightly prayers (Downside of a kid being able to read the back side of the paper while I'm reading the front).When I talk to her about it, I can tell she's concerned they will happen to us and people she knows. On one occasion, I remember having to sit down with her and the encyclopedia to work out how safe Jakarta, KL and Singapore were for the various friends and relatives she was worried about. And being here where poverty is so visible she has asked about the street children who beg at the car door. So has developed a slight obsession about orphans and their lack of parental love. Sigh... I guess if we were living in London she would pray about blizzards, gale force winds, tube delays and Indian summers.
Being an expat kid, she's had friends in KL, from her old school Tutor Time, and now in ACS. Not to mention the other expat kids that come and go. I can see how distressing that can be. I certainly do feel it when friends move away. The friendships tend to be rather like a summer romance, you know they're going to end right from the start, you make promises to keep in touch no matter what, and parting is wrenching. But once everyone's moved, it's only the occasional email or skype. Sometimes not even that. Thank God for blackberry messenger. These friendships tend to be quickly forged and quite intense, after all, no one really understands what an expat goes through other than another expat... She's also had to get used to Daddy traveling quite a lot. Now when she's had a scolding and says, 'I want to talk to Daddy!', Mummy has to do time zone as well as airline ETA computations. It's no longer just calling and having The Man furtively whisper that he's in a meeting and will call us back.
The moaning, whining bit... Well, that's totally my fault. because of my ear problem, anything above a certain frequency hits my brain like a laser beam and turns it into what feels like a cauldron of boiling lava with nails shooting into my ear drums. Her voice then echoes and reverberates in my skull, bouncing around and causing more churning of the lava and nails... Well, lava explodes, and so does mummy. That's generally when monster mummy makes a visit. My own yelling adds to the mix and I get even more steamed. Not nice for everyone... So every night, without fail, kiddo asks to not moan or whine. Depending on what's gone on at school, some times she adds in, 'help me to cheer not jeer (school lecture) and help me not mock or be smart alecky (heh heh)'
She throws in the 'help me get better' whether she's sick or not. Being an asthmatic and allergic-y kid, there have been times when she's on pills, syrups, puffers, sprays, creams for months on end. This is like a mantra for her. Can't sleep unless she says it. No matter, I don't imagine God would hold it against her...
All this is certainly a change from 2 years ago when her prayers were, 'God Bless Daddy, Mummy and Me. God Bless Grandpa, Grandma, Ah Kong and Ah Ma. God Bless Riesling, Cookie (our dogs), Baileys and Smokey (our cats). God Bless my friends. Help the woodpecker not eat all our fish...'
Tuesday 10 November 2009
One man's food is another man's poison
It has come to me, rather uncomfortably tonight, that while avoiding shellfish is well and good (I have a horrendous shellfish sensitivity. Gives me heartburn like you wouldn't believe!), I should also, perhaps, be more cautious in scarfing down foods that are somewhat out of my usual menu.
While at Aladdin's cave (Kebayoran Market) yesterday, my maid asked if Mister and Missus would like to try cumi-cumi (cuttlefish). Being Malaysian and generally rather fond of my grub, I immediately said, sure, we'll try anything once... Except innards. I draw the line at that.
Well, IbuI stir-fried up a delicious plate of cuttlefish with chillies and 'stuff' (ginger and something else, I think). It was really yummy. Unfortunately. Because that meant I didn't realize the heartburn was coming on till I stopped for a breath and thought, 'Ooohhhh... My stomach definitely does not like that.' In fact I felt like I had swallowed a pot of chilli padi (for those Western friends who are prone to being the butt of practical jokes by Asian friends, if someone dares you to eat this cute little chilli, SAY NO! It's dynamite!). Totally unexpected. Cuttlefish isn't shellfish is it?!? Poor hubby. He's off to Hong Kong for work tomorrow and instead of some quality time with wifey, he has to put up with my moaning and groaning. Gaakkk...
Moral of the story, if you have ANY sort of food insensitivities/ allergies, BE CAREFUL! Especially if it's a food that you don't often eat. As some supermarkets back home sometimes post 'Come one, come all!' I shall now take myself and the towering inferno that occasionally doubles as my stomach off to bed...
While at Aladdin's cave (Kebayoran Market) yesterday, my maid asked if Mister and Missus would like to try cumi-cumi (cuttlefish). Being Malaysian and generally rather fond of my grub, I immediately said, sure, we'll try anything once... Except innards. I draw the line at that.
Well, IbuI stir-fried up a delicious plate of cuttlefish with chillies and 'stuff' (ginger and something else, I think). It was really yummy. Unfortunately. Because that meant I didn't realize the heartburn was coming on till I stopped for a breath and thought, 'Ooohhhh... My stomach definitely does not like that.' In fact I felt like I had swallowed a pot of chilli padi (for those Western friends who are prone to being the butt of practical jokes by Asian friends, if someone dares you to eat this cute little chilli, SAY NO! It's dynamite!). Totally unexpected. Cuttlefish isn't shellfish is it?!? Poor hubby. He's off to Hong Kong for work tomorrow and instead of some quality time with wifey, he has to put up with my moaning and groaning. Gaakkk...
Moral of the story, if you have ANY sort of food insensitivities/ allergies, BE CAREFUL! Especially if it's a food that you don't often eat. As some supermarkets back home sometimes post 'Come one, come all!' I shall now take myself and the towering inferno that occasionally doubles as my stomach off to bed...
Monday 9 November 2009
Kebayoran Market
Following on from our recipe book acquisitions at the Indo Book Fair, my maid declared that the only place she could get certain ingredients (namely a duck for Bebek Bengil) was at a market. The largest one near us being the Kebayoran market. Neither one of us had been there before, and it fell to Mr.D, to take us to the market. Who needs the Jakarta Shopping Guide when I have a walking, talking version!
1st stop, ducks. There were big ducks, little ducks, super fat ducks (called 'entok'. Don't ask me what it means. Apparently it tastes the same, just fatter). All looked the same to me. My maid IbuI, seemed to do this weird squeezy, pokey thing and would reject some with a scoff and accept others for further consideration. These were live, flapping ducks, mind. They would then be presented to the totally useless money banks (that would be me) for perusal. The vendor would gleefully ask me to personally 'feel' the duck to see how fantastic the meat was. Uh. No. I could see them wallowing in their own poop. No feely for this missy... In any case, 2 ducks set me back Rp80k (about USD8 / RM25). I also bought 3 kampung chickens (free range chickens) for Rp135k. Cue the whole, 'Pegang aje Ibu. Bagus s'kali!!' (Hold it madam. Very good!) again. As I said just 2 minutes ago, NO HOLDING!! Or touching, or pulling of feathers. I ran off when I saw the guy whip out a machete the length of a saber to do the nasty. I insisted on taking home meat instead of a live animal lest my little sunshine decides to adopt dinner. Left D and I supervising the sectioning. My only request... Keep the duck livers. I want to make pate.
Ibu I doing whatever it is she does to get a good duck...
The fowl (foul too!) defeatherer. Birds are dipped in boiling water and tossed in this device. The little rubbery protrusions spin around and smash all the feathers off. Perhaps also adding a tenderizing effect? Out of the holes ooze icky blood and pulverized feather. Note to the curious, don't stand within 5ft of the thing, you'll get covered in the stuff.
After that it was spices, fish (1/3 the price of Hero!!) a wok (yeah, mine's not the right size apparently), some weird looking round, green eggplants for sambal, some tempe, and we were done. Tried to get a photo of the ginormous rat that was slinking around the fish seller, but it ran up a pipe before I could whip out my camera. I would say it was the same size as the rat that came by our place for a visit last week except it's fur was more, well, ratty. Perhaps the food it steals in the market is not quite as good as what is finds in the compound...
The fish alley. Thank God for Crocs and a recent dry spell. Merely somewhat 'pongy'... But the ground was still a little fish gutty... No nice shoes here.
We walked past people selling hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, eels... The was a man challenging people to beat him at chess in 3 moves. He had the king and a castle, the opponents virtually the whole board. It was something along the lines of if you won, he paid you 10k, if you lost, you'd pay him 10k. I wasn't going to pay someone to humiliate me, so onwards we went.
The chess player waiting for his marks...
The coconut grating machine. Watching them do it, I would suggest anyone who wants to eat grated coconut from the market makes sure that it's cooked very, very thoroughly. Goodness knows if the machine is EVER washed...
On the way home, IbuI and I were animatedly discussing the market when we realized that Mr.D was rather conspicuously quiet. Turns out he was amused at us raving about the market because he had only taken us to the periphery of the market as he felt the main bit was too hot and too crowded! What a man!! Sounds like something MY man would've done. Well, IbuI and I were not stinting on the abuse we heaped upon his head! So much more stuff to buy! We probably missed it all! Next time, we're leaving him with the car!! His point was that everything inside can be found outside. Why go in? But, but... What if there IS something different?? 'Nggak lah, Madam. Semuanya same aje...' (Nah Madam. It's all the same) Grrr... Even sounds like something 'Mister' would say.
All in all, I'm hot, sticky and tired. The distances weren't far, but dodging hand-drawn carts can be a rather athletic experience. By the time you hear, 'Permisi!!' (Excuse me), the cart can be practically on top of you. Couple of times, torn between the options of getting run over or cozying up to a bucket of slithery, slimy eels, I opted instead to stand with one foot parallel to the path (so the cart didn't lop off my toes!) and the other suspended over the bucket of eels. Lots of strange looks, but they saw my camera, so most just ignored me.
All in all, a rather interesting experience. Next time though, I will stand 10ft away from IbuI and pretend not to know her. I'm sure (and she agrees) that despite the prices being rather low, they were still artificially inflated when the sellers realized I was the person actually paying. Somehow, they can always spot an expat at 10 paces.
1st stop, ducks. There were big ducks, little ducks, super fat ducks (called 'entok'. Don't ask me what it means. Apparently it tastes the same, just fatter). All looked the same to me. My maid IbuI, seemed to do this weird squeezy, pokey thing and would reject some with a scoff and accept others for further consideration. These were live, flapping ducks, mind. They would then be presented to the totally useless money banks (that would be me) for perusal. The vendor would gleefully ask me to personally 'feel' the duck to see how fantastic the meat was. Uh. No. I could see them wallowing in their own poop. No feely for this missy... In any case, 2 ducks set me back Rp80k (about USD8 / RM25). I also bought 3 kampung chickens (free range chickens) for Rp135k. Cue the whole, 'Pegang aje Ibu. Bagus s'kali!!' (Hold it madam. Very good!) again. As I said just 2 minutes ago, NO HOLDING!! Or touching, or pulling of feathers. I ran off when I saw the guy whip out a machete the length of a saber to do the nasty. I insisted on taking home meat instead of a live animal lest my little sunshine decides to adopt dinner. Left D and I supervising the sectioning. My only request... Keep the duck livers. I want to make pate.
Ibu I doing whatever it is she does to get a good duck...
The fowl (foul too!) defeatherer. Birds are dipped in boiling water and tossed in this device. The little rubbery protrusions spin around and smash all the feathers off. Perhaps also adding a tenderizing effect? Out of the holes ooze icky blood and pulverized feather. Note to the curious, don't stand within 5ft of the thing, you'll get covered in the stuff. After that it was spices, fish (1/3 the price of Hero!!) a wok (yeah, mine's not the right size apparently), some weird looking round, green eggplants for sambal, some tempe, and we were done. Tried to get a photo of the ginormous rat that was slinking around the fish seller, but it ran up a pipe before I could whip out my camera. I would say it was the same size as the rat that came by our place for a visit last week except it's fur was more, well, ratty. Perhaps the food it steals in the market is not quite as good as what is finds in the compound...
The fish alley. Thank God for Crocs and a recent dry spell. Merely somewhat 'pongy'... But the ground was still a little fish gutty... No nice shoes here.We walked past people selling hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, eels... The was a man challenging people to beat him at chess in 3 moves. He had the king and a castle, the opponents virtually the whole board. It was something along the lines of if you won, he paid you 10k, if you lost, you'd pay him 10k. I wasn't going to pay someone to humiliate me, so onwards we went.
The chess player waiting for his marks...
The coconut grating machine. Watching them do it, I would suggest anyone who wants to eat grated coconut from the market makes sure that it's cooked very, very thoroughly. Goodness knows if the machine is EVER washed...On the way home, IbuI and I were animatedly discussing the market when we realized that Mr.D was rather conspicuously quiet. Turns out he was amused at us raving about the market because he had only taken us to the periphery of the market as he felt the main bit was too hot and too crowded! What a man!! Sounds like something MY man would've done. Well, IbuI and I were not stinting on the abuse we heaped upon his head! So much more stuff to buy! We probably missed it all! Next time, we're leaving him with the car!! His point was that everything inside can be found outside. Why go in? But, but... What if there IS something different?? 'Nggak lah, Madam. Semuanya same aje...' (Nah Madam. It's all the same) Grrr... Even sounds like something 'Mister' would say.
All in all, I'm hot, sticky and tired. The distances weren't far, but dodging hand-drawn carts can be a rather athletic experience. By the time you hear, 'Permisi!!' (Excuse me), the cart can be practically on top of you. Couple of times, torn between the options of getting run over or cozying up to a bucket of slithery, slimy eels, I opted instead to stand with one foot parallel to the path (so the cart didn't lop off my toes!) and the other suspended over the bucket of eels. Lots of strange looks, but they saw my camera, so most just ignored me.
All in all, a rather interesting experience. Next time though, I will stand 10ft away from IbuI and pretend not to know her. I'm sure (and she agrees) that despite the prices being rather low, they were still artificially inflated when the sellers realized I was the person actually paying. Somehow, they can always spot an expat at 10 paces.
Friday 6 November 2009
Origami bowls
Fiddly scale : 6 (0 is I can do it plastered, 10 is I couldn't even work out how to start)
Picked up this paper folding book from the Indo book fair and decided to try out one of the projects. Problem is it used washi paper. I don't have any and am too skint to buy some. So I decided to do it using left over scraps of cloth instead. I did the same thing the book suggested to stiffen the paper. I.e. sandwich a piece of aluminum netting in between the pieces of paper and glue the whole shebang together. Anyone who has glued fabric will know that it's messy, fiddly and doesn't ever seem to dry clear even though the bottle says 'dries clear'. Anyway, it worked. Sort of.
1st effort. The glue is visible along the top edges if you look closely.
Today, I decided to give it a go again. I couldn't believe something that appeared so easy could end up so incredibly complicated. This time, I decided to sew a square, stuff the netting inside and slip stitch the open end together. Much better. Though I have to say that someone who has better slip stitch technique would make this look infinitely better. I also managed to smash my thumb with a hammer trying to crease the corners. There is a reason origami is meant for paper...
2nd effort. Better, but wasn't very careful so the edges are a tad wobbly.
3rd effort. It's do-able!! Note to self, take time with measuring and cutting. Rulers were invented so idiots like me don't have to eyeball stuff and have it turn out crooked...
10 days to the bazaar now. I wonder if anyone would buy them for charity??
Picked up this paper folding book from the Indo book fair and decided to try out one of the projects. Problem is it used washi paper. I don't have any and am too skint to buy some. So I decided to do it using left over scraps of cloth instead. I did the same thing the book suggested to stiffen the paper. I.e. sandwich a piece of aluminum netting in between the pieces of paper and glue the whole shebang together. Anyone who has glued fabric will know that it's messy, fiddly and doesn't ever seem to dry clear even though the bottle says 'dries clear'. Anyway, it worked. Sort of.
1st effort. The glue is visible along the top edges if you look closely.Today, I decided to give it a go again. I couldn't believe something that appeared so easy could end up so incredibly complicated. This time, I decided to sew a square, stuff the netting inside and slip stitch the open end together. Much better. Though I have to say that someone who has better slip stitch technique would make this look infinitely better. I also managed to smash my thumb with a hammer trying to crease the corners. There is a reason origami is meant for paper...
2nd effort. Better, but wasn't very careful so the edges are a tad wobbly.
3rd effort. It's do-able!! Note to self, take time with measuring and cutting. Rulers were invented so idiots like me don't have to eyeball stuff and have it turn out crooked...10 days to the bazaar now. I wonder if anyone would buy them for charity??
Return of the red-eyed fanged monster
630am : My alarm rings. No sounds of stirring through the monitor. No matter, kiddo doesn't really have to wake till 640am. Close my eyes for a quick catnap.
645am : Open my eyes thinking, 'Oh s@*#! Late!' Still no signs 0f kiddo stirring. Well, can't be helped, she has to get up. Crawl under the covers with her and try to gently wake her up. My mom used to yank the covers off me and slap a sopping wet towel on my face. Not a nice way to get up... Today though, I can see the virtues of the shock treatment.
650am : STILL not getting up. This is the kid who is usually up on her own at 630am singing! 'Come on kiddo... You're late...' (Mummy getting desperate here...) This is when the monster appeared... 'But moo-oommm, I'm still tired. WHY do I have to go to school now? I WANT it to be a weekend NOW!' Mum, 'It's the weekend tomorrow, you can sleep in and catch up, now quick! Go clean up!' Monster (with the added finger on chalkboard screech thrown in for good measure), 'But I don't wanna sleep in on weekends... I wanna wake up early and go downstairs MYSELF!!' Rapidly losing patience mum, 'Look, I turn off the alarm on weekends, and if you wake too early, then of course I'll ask you to go back to sleep.' Monster, 'NNOOOO!!! I WANNA WAKE UP EARLY' Punctuated with a foot stamp. Really needing a pee mum, ' WHATEVER!!! I need the loo, GO CLEAN UP!!'
7am : Monster still yelling and screaming that she wants to wake up early tomorrow. Totally lost it mum, 'IF YOU'RE NOT DONE AND READY IN 5 MINS I'M COMING IN THERE AND DRAGGING YOU DOWNSTAIRS, AND YOU CAN GO TO SCHOOL IN YOUR PAJAMAS!!! AND IF THIS IS THE WAY YOU BEHAVE AFTER PLAYDATES, THEN NO MORE PLAYDATES!!!!' *cough, cough* I'm out of practice, we haven't had a visit by the monster in a while, obviously my vocal cords need re-conditioning...
705am : Stomping heard on the stairs and down the hall. Minimally effective because it's tiled, but I guess effort counts.
710am : 12mins late. The kiddo is slowly re-appearing. Very grumpy though. So I just left her to a silent breakfast in the car while I hid behind the daily paper. She didn't even want to have her daily chat with my Dad. Left him pretty disappointed too. 'I'll talk to you after school, grandpa...'
740am : 5mins late for school. Assembly already in progress. She was whisked off by her teacher, smiling and chatting. Back to normal... Sigh.
At a quick count, 1 monster = 1 yelling mummy, 1 disappointed grandpa, 2 staff literally hiding from both monster and mummy. Can you believe it, 1 bad tempered kid spoils the morning for 4 people...!
645am : Open my eyes thinking, 'Oh s@*#! Late!' Still no signs 0f kiddo stirring. Well, can't be helped, she has to get up. Crawl under the covers with her and try to gently wake her up. My mom used to yank the covers off me and slap a sopping wet towel on my face. Not a nice way to get up... Today though, I can see the virtues of the shock treatment.
650am : STILL not getting up. This is the kid who is usually up on her own at 630am singing! 'Come on kiddo... You're late...' (Mummy getting desperate here...) This is when the monster appeared... 'But moo-oommm, I'm still tired. WHY do I have to go to school now? I WANT it to be a weekend NOW!' Mum, 'It's the weekend tomorrow, you can sleep in and catch up, now quick! Go clean up!' Monster (with the added finger on chalkboard screech thrown in for good measure), 'But I don't wanna sleep in on weekends... I wanna wake up early and go downstairs MYSELF!!' Rapidly losing patience mum, 'Look, I turn off the alarm on weekends, and if you wake too early, then of course I'll ask you to go back to sleep.' Monster, 'NNOOOO!!! I WANNA WAKE UP EARLY' Punctuated with a foot stamp. Really needing a pee mum, ' WHATEVER!!! I need the loo, GO CLEAN UP!!'
7am : Monster still yelling and screaming that she wants to wake up early tomorrow. Totally lost it mum, 'IF YOU'RE NOT DONE AND READY IN 5 MINS I'M COMING IN THERE AND DRAGGING YOU DOWNSTAIRS, AND YOU CAN GO TO SCHOOL IN YOUR PAJAMAS!!! AND IF THIS IS THE WAY YOU BEHAVE AFTER PLAYDATES, THEN NO MORE PLAYDATES!!!!' *cough, cough* I'm out of practice, we haven't had a visit by the monster in a while, obviously my vocal cords need re-conditioning...
705am : Stomping heard on the stairs and down the hall. Minimally effective because it's tiled, but I guess effort counts.
710am : 12mins late. The kiddo is slowly re-appearing. Very grumpy though. So I just left her to a silent breakfast in the car while I hid behind the daily paper. She didn't even want to have her daily chat with my Dad. Left him pretty disappointed too. 'I'll talk to you after school, grandpa...'
740am : 5mins late for school. Assembly already in progress. She was whisked off by her teacher, smiling and chatting. Back to normal... Sigh.
At a quick count, 1 monster = 1 yelling mummy, 1 disappointed grandpa, 2 staff literally hiding from both monster and mummy. Can you believe it, 1 bad tempered kid spoils the morning for 4 people...!
Thursday 5 November 2009
Indo book fair 2009
Book fair=No money... I should just leave it at that.
The 29th Indonesian Book Fair started yesterday the 4th and will run through to the 8th. I went with rather low expectations of everything being in Bahasa and me not finding anything to buy, but since the entry fee was only Rp5,000 (USD0.5), I figured that even if I only found 1 book, it would still be a bargain... Yeah, right, like I've ever left a bookstore without buying more than 1 book.
In any case, I was there bright and early at 945am waiting for the 10am opening. Walking in I thought, 'Wow, I didn't know there were so many book sellers in Indonesia.' The English books were mostly outside in the foyer. Well represented by some standard shops, Periplus, Aksara, Times. However, compared to some of the others, their selection was pitiful. It was like they had brought out all the trashed up, totally not in demand titles. Periplus was better than the other 2, at least I managed to pick up some craft books. The Times stall was truly dismal, I had vouchers to spend and after going through everything twice eventually walked off with 'The enormous crocodile' by Roald Dahl for kiddo.
The inner hall was filled with offerings from local publishing houses. Never heard of 99% of them. But I DID find the Femina magazine stall that was selling their recipe books cheap. Yay!! I bought books on Manado, East Jawa, and Minang cooking, Street food, banana and corn recipes. Matter of interest, I found a recipe for Bebek Bengil!!! Had a whole discussion with the maid on where to get the ingredients. She reckons we have to buy the whole duck from the market. I'm totally ok with that as long as she doesn't come home with one still quacking. No doubt kiddo will adopt it, and there goes my Bebek Bengil.
I also figured that since I was there, I would look out for some Bahasa books for the staffs' children. From speaking to them, it doesn't sound like they can afford leisure books. Wandering around, everything was 'cinta' this and 'cinta' (love) that. Ugh. I ended up at the Islamic book store being served by a goateed little guy who was amazingly helpful. He picked a few books and gave me a synopsis of them. Apparently, the titles often have nothing to do with the content, they use words like 'cinta' only to catch the attention of teens. He also suggested 2 books on avoiding celebrity chasing and girls not looking for early marriages. That gives you an idea of the issues affecting local teenagers...
All in all, it was a morning well spent. Very, very satisfied with my haul, though in retrospect I should have grabbed the other 2 art books I was looking at. Sigh. The only downside was that the Comtec fair was bigger and noisier and right next door. So traffic was pretty bad. Although nothing like for the bazaars. Conclusion being books and tech stuff are less popular than fashion, home dec and kid stuff?
Anyway, I'm off to try my hand at some of the crafts featured in the books I bought. Tin foil here I come!!!
The 29th Indonesian Book Fair started yesterday the 4th and will run through to the 8th. I went with rather low expectations of everything being in Bahasa and me not finding anything to buy, but since the entry fee was only Rp5,000 (USD0.5), I figured that even if I only found 1 book, it would still be a bargain... Yeah, right, like I've ever left a bookstore without buying more than 1 book.
In any case, I was there bright and early at 945am waiting for the 10am opening. Walking in I thought, 'Wow, I didn't know there were so many book sellers in Indonesia.' The English books were mostly outside in the foyer. Well represented by some standard shops, Periplus, Aksara, Times. However, compared to some of the others, their selection was pitiful. It was like they had brought out all the trashed up, totally not in demand titles. Periplus was better than the other 2, at least I managed to pick up some craft books. The Times stall was truly dismal, I had vouchers to spend and after going through everything twice eventually walked off with 'The enormous crocodile' by Roald Dahl for kiddo.
The inner hall was filled with offerings from local publishing houses. Never heard of 99% of them. But I DID find the Femina magazine stall that was selling their recipe books cheap. Yay!! I bought books on Manado, East Jawa, and Minang cooking, Street food, banana and corn recipes. Matter of interest, I found a recipe for Bebek Bengil!!! Had a whole discussion with the maid on where to get the ingredients. She reckons we have to buy the whole duck from the market. I'm totally ok with that as long as she doesn't come home with one still quacking. No doubt kiddo will adopt it, and there goes my Bebek Bengil.
I also figured that since I was there, I would look out for some Bahasa books for the staffs' children. From speaking to them, it doesn't sound like they can afford leisure books. Wandering around, everything was 'cinta' this and 'cinta' (love) that. Ugh. I ended up at the Islamic book store being served by a goateed little guy who was amazingly helpful. He picked a few books and gave me a synopsis of them. Apparently, the titles often have nothing to do with the content, they use words like 'cinta' only to catch the attention of teens. He also suggested 2 books on avoiding celebrity chasing and girls not looking for early marriages. That gives you an idea of the issues affecting local teenagers...
All in all, it was a morning well spent. Very, very satisfied with my haul, though in retrospect I should have grabbed the other 2 art books I was looking at. Sigh. The only downside was that the Comtec fair was bigger and noisier and right next door. So traffic was pretty bad. Although nothing like for the bazaars. Conclusion being books and tech stuff are less popular than fashion, home dec and kid stuff?
Anyway, I'm off to try my hand at some of the crafts featured in the books I bought. Tin foil here I come!!!
Tuesday 3 November 2009
Green day at school
Today was green day at school. All the kids had to wear a green top. There was a presentation by the WWF and the elementary kids will be having a recycled paper making session after school. I'm pretty impressed by the recycling efforts at her school. They have recycle bins everywhere. The kids don't really have an opportunity to not recycle actually. No regular bins. Only 'paper', 'plastic' and 'waste food' bins in groups of 3 wherever you go. Good idea really.
Anyhow, we've been home for a bit. I'm messing on the computer and she's reading something when all of a sudden, she comes up to me and says, 'Mummy, don't put your juice box in the bin. It has to be recycled. We have to look after the environment or the endangered rhinoceres (rhinoceri?) will have nothing to eat. There are only 60 left! Also, if we chop down trees to make paper, the squirrels will have no homes and no nuts. So recycle your paper ok? The lady was asking people to adopt rhinos in school today. Can we adopt one?' As I sit there a bit stunned by this deluge of information, my automatic reaction is, 'Sure. Let's adopt a rhino.' Then it occurs to me that kiddo might think we can bring the fellow home! So I cautiously say, 'You DO know that we can't bring it home right?' Kiddo, 'Of course mummy! They live in the national park and eat leaves and stuff. We just have to go there everyday to give it some love!' Riiiggghhhttt. 'Everyday?' I say, trying not to fall on the floor screaming with laughter. Bad for the child's self esteem, you know. 'Ye-ah' she says matter-of-factly, 'after school everyday, we'll just go to the park and play with it.'
Now, I have full respect for the WWF presenters having to deal with a bunch of yelling fidgety kids, but if I EVER see any of them I shall very strongly suggest that presentations to impressionable young kids include the statement, 'Adopting means your parents PAY for us to look after the animal. You may not visit, touch, or play with said animal.' Capisce??
Anyhow, we've been home for a bit. I'm messing on the computer and she's reading something when all of a sudden, she comes up to me and says, 'Mummy, don't put your juice box in the bin. It has to be recycled. We have to look after the environment or the endangered rhinoceres (rhinoceri?) will have nothing to eat. There are only 60 left! Also, if we chop down trees to make paper, the squirrels will have no homes and no nuts. So recycle your paper ok? The lady was asking people to adopt rhinos in school today. Can we adopt one?' As I sit there a bit stunned by this deluge of information, my automatic reaction is, 'Sure. Let's adopt a rhino.' Then it occurs to me that kiddo might think we can bring the fellow home! So I cautiously say, 'You DO know that we can't bring it home right?' Kiddo, 'Of course mummy! They live in the national park and eat leaves and stuff. We just have to go there everyday to give it some love!' Riiiggghhhttt. 'Everyday?' I say, trying not to fall on the floor screaming with laughter. Bad for the child's self esteem, you know. 'Ye-ah' she says matter-of-factly, 'after school everyday, we'll just go to the park and play with it.'
Now, I have full respect for the WWF presenters having to deal with a bunch of yelling fidgety kids, but if I EVER see any of them I shall very strongly suggest that presentations to impressionable young kids include the statement, 'Adopting means your parents PAY for us to look after the animal. You may not visit, touch, or play with said animal.' Capisce??
Porn
Hubby and I were perusing our much over crowded workroom when he suddenly declared, 'You have too much porn.' I looked at him and was debating whether to slap first and ask questions later or just pretend my ears were acting up, when he continued with, 'Look at your shelf, it's full of books on beading, candle making, origami, sewing, painting, scrapbooking... And that's just what I can see! And I don't even know when you add something, the piles just get bigger!' Ohhh. Ookkaaay. Well, I was feeling rather unfairly attacked so I came back with, ' Oh yeah?! What about all your running and triathlon magazines? And your collection of running shoes that look perfect but YOU say they have gone past their distance limit and you need a new one? And your bike? And the indoor trainer? And the mammoth bike case when you've only ever gone for ONE triathlon?'
This is my work table. I admit it's a LITTLE messy.
Part of my craft book collection.
The Man's new bike. Brought it back all the way from New York.
His running shoe collection. Except the white pair on the right. Those are his super special bike shoes. Not in the picture are the ones he took into work for his daily running session at the gym. Also, to be fair, what looks like an extra 3 pairs is actually a reflection off the mirror. Don't ask why there's a mirror under the table. That's a whole different story...
The Man's collection of Runner's World and Triathlon magazines. And all the other various running and tri training books. Also the running and tri dvd's. He's forever in search of the perfect technique...
Let's put it this way, we both think the other is spending more on their 'porn' but I think it's pretty equal. I could've bought at least 100 craft books with what his bike costs!
As I said before, I love my crafts. Sometimes I buy books on crafts that I probably won't have time to learn anytime soon, but I love looking at the lovely pictures and filing it in my 'to-get-to-at-some-point' mental box. I reckon this is the main difference between the way Hubs' brain is wired and mine. He has his little interests, but they come one at a time. First, photography. When that was over, running, with biking and swimming now tacked on.
Carrying on with our little contretemps, I said, 'Anyway, porn is the wrong word. I don't know about you, but I CERTAINLY don't derive any sexual gratification from my crafting! It keeps me sane! I spend less on gifts! Don't you like my scrapbooks!' Well, The Man has THE MOST amazing ability to just suddenly switch off. His answer was, 'Hey, whatever tickles your tackle babes...' Followed by him whipping out the latest Runners World magazine. Grrr... Annoying Y chromosome carrier, I wasn't even finished with the discussion! We love each other. Honestly. We do.
This is my work table. I admit it's a LITTLE messy.
Part of my craft book collection.
The Man's new bike. Brought it back all the way from New York.
His running shoe collection. Except the white pair on the right. Those are his super special bike shoes. Not in the picture are the ones he took into work for his daily running session at the gym. Also, to be fair, what looks like an extra 3 pairs is actually a reflection off the mirror. Don't ask why there's a mirror under the table. That's a whole different story...
The Man's collection of Runner's World and Triathlon magazines. And all the other various running and tri training books. Also the running and tri dvd's. He's forever in search of the perfect technique...Let's put it this way, we both think the other is spending more on their 'porn' but I think it's pretty equal. I could've bought at least 100 craft books with what his bike costs!
As I said before, I love my crafts. Sometimes I buy books on crafts that I probably won't have time to learn anytime soon, but I love looking at the lovely pictures and filing it in my 'to-get-to-at-some-point' mental box. I reckon this is the main difference between the way Hubs' brain is wired and mine. He has his little interests, but they come one at a time. First, photography. When that was over, running, with biking and swimming now tacked on.
Carrying on with our little contretemps, I said, 'Anyway, porn is the wrong word. I don't know about you, but I CERTAINLY don't derive any sexual gratification from my crafting! It keeps me sane! I spend less on gifts! Don't you like my scrapbooks!' Well, The Man has THE MOST amazing ability to just suddenly switch off. His answer was, 'Hey, whatever tickles your tackle babes...' Followed by him whipping out the latest Runners World magazine. Grrr... Annoying Y chromosome carrier, I wasn't even finished with the discussion! We love each other. Honestly. We do.
Sunday 1 November 2009
Out of the mouths of babes
I just HAD to write this down before I forget it. Never mind that I'd give a kidney for my bed right now.
Tonight, right after bath time as I was snipping kiddo's nails, she suddenly turned to me and said, 'Mummy, when I grow up, I want to be a doctor.' Ok, nothing new there, but knowing my experience and with the benefit of a bunch of horrific over night shifts behind me, I calmly (while yelling 'No! No! No!' inside) said, 'Well, it's a lot of hard work you know, and mummy decided I'd rather spend my time with you and Daddy. BUT, you can do whatever you want...!' Never forget equality and female emancipation! Nor hold your kids back because of your own prejudices... So say all the books. Kiddo replied, 'That's ok, then I'll just be a teacher, like you. But I also want to be a scientist... So I'll be a doctor 1st, then a teacher when I get tired of being a doctor, then a scientist when I get tired of being a teacher!' Um. Well. 'Kiddo, it's hard to earn money if you keep changing jobs like that you know. And it takes a long time to study for each thing, so why don't you have a good think about it. You have plenty of time to decide.' Reply, 'Hmmm, yes, I also want to earn lots of coins like daddy.' Ulp. Too much farmville perhaps? Then, 'That's ok, I'll just stay home like you. And do stuff I like. Like being a doctor, a teacher, a scientist...' Me (out-talked by now), 'Baby, you can't earn money by staying home and just working a bit here and there you know...' Kid, 'You do.' Urk!! Beleaguered mummy, 'Mummy was very blessed because daddy makes enough money so I can stay home to look after my little baby.' Kid, 'That's ok, I'll just stay at home and be your grown-up little baby...!' Me (in a bit of a panic now), 'Where are you going to get your money from?' Answer, 'Daddy.' *slams head against the wall* What have I done?!?!
Tonight, right after bath time as I was snipping kiddo's nails, she suddenly turned to me and said, 'Mummy, when I grow up, I want to be a doctor.' Ok, nothing new there, but knowing my experience and with the benefit of a bunch of horrific over night shifts behind me, I calmly (while yelling 'No! No! No!' inside) said, 'Well, it's a lot of hard work you know, and mummy decided I'd rather spend my time with you and Daddy. BUT, you can do whatever you want...!' Never forget equality and female emancipation! Nor hold your kids back because of your own prejudices... So say all the books. Kiddo replied, 'That's ok, then I'll just be a teacher, like you. But I also want to be a scientist... So I'll be a doctor 1st, then a teacher when I get tired of being a doctor, then a scientist when I get tired of being a teacher!' Um. Well. 'Kiddo, it's hard to earn money if you keep changing jobs like that you know. And it takes a long time to study for each thing, so why don't you have a good think about it. You have plenty of time to decide.' Reply, 'Hmmm, yes, I also want to earn lots of coins like daddy.' Ulp. Too much farmville perhaps? Then, 'That's ok, I'll just stay home like you. And do stuff I like. Like being a doctor, a teacher, a scientist...' Me (out-talked by now), 'Baby, you can't earn money by staying home and just working a bit here and there you know...' Kid, 'You do.' Urk!! Beleaguered mummy, 'Mummy was very blessed because daddy makes enough money so I can stay home to look after my little baby.' Kid, 'That's ok, I'll just stay at home and be your grown-up little baby...!' Me (in a bit of a panic now), 'Where are you going to get your money from?' Answer, 'Daddy.' *slams head against the wall* What have I done?!?!
Saturday 31 October 2009
Halloween party
Kiddo and I attended our 1st ever Halloween party today. Costumes required for all attendees. Parents included. Being cheapo mummy, I decided to make my own. After all, why pay loads of money for something I would only ever wear once? My home made fairy costume cost about US$10 and 2 hours of time. It will now be cut down to kiddo size. Voila!! More money saved on costumes.
The morning was spent helping N carve pumpkins at her place. Great fun. The kids played all morning and then some, but that meant we were free to unleash our artistic abilities (google images is great!) without interruption (or not much anyway)... After multiple different knives and tools (some of which names I couldn't even tell you on pain of death) including a drill set, we had our 7 carved pumpkins. N was initially thinking 20, but just the 7 took us from 930am till 2pm to complete. With a short lunch break, of course. At that point, we realized 20 was clearly unmanageable. All in all, pretty proud of our efforts. No injuries either, bar a small nick on my left thumb that probably happened as I was trying to stab a hole with the knife angled towards myself. D'oh!! Still, it didn't bleed (or was pasted shut by pumpkin goo), hence forgettable in my books. Especially since I only just noticed it while hitting the space bar rather vigorously after the computer hung (AGAIN!!) as I was trying to upload photos...
Photos taken by kiddo before any knives or drills were put to use.
The fruits of our labour. Far left is a cat. Middle small is hello kitty, on top of the medium beigy pumpkin on right is my version of a 'pocket God' pygmy (You really have gotta be playing iPhone games a lot to get this one)
All lit up. For some reason, the hello kitty candle kept blowing out. Oh well. No one could be bothered to keep relighting it...
After that, it was nap time for kiddo and mummy. Daddy is in Bali on some team building thing so no tag team parenting this weekend. Monster mummy's just begging to emerge. Safer if everyone gets lots of sleep. Then hopefully it'll just be growling instead of screaming and raving... I hope...
The dressed up mummies. That's me in the pink fairy outfit (with the cheapo skirt) in the middle...
By 530 we were dressed and tiara'd up. For the 1st time ever, I pulled out my green and blue eyeshadow. I was aiming for the whole glittery butterfly look, but to be honest, I couldn't see the difference between that and using my normal brown eyeshadow. That shows you how little skill I have for applying makeup. Later I found out that in order to make the colours more vibrant, I should have started with a layer of concealer. Too bad, I don't own any. Should have just gone for kiddo's face paints.
The party was a riot. Sat down and margaritas started magically appearing in front of us. The kids were wonderfully occupied by professional entertainers. And parents could eat and chat to their hearts content. Funny how all the men just ended up propping up the bar. We had a surfeit of vampires tonight. One of them was so artfully made up by his wife that his kids wouldn't go near him. Even after all the red lippie complete with faux dripping blood was wiped off. Hilarious. The girls, by and large, were princesses and fairies, with the boys generally superheros of some sort. Not very up to date on superheros I must admit, though I could probably recite the cast of pixie hollow given a chance.
Later, we had a modified trick or treat session. Parents brought tents and sat inside while the kiddies came around. I'm pretty certain I handed out stuff multiple times to the same kids, but who cares, it's not like we're going to eat the sweets. Kiddo doesn't like sweets (weird, but I'm certainly not complaining), so her stash will be carefully examined and subsequently redistributed to our staffs' kids.
I scooted off with kiddo at 9pm. 2 hours past her usual bedtime. She was still going strong. But if I waited till she was tired, no doubt fairy princess mummy would have morphed into evil fairy princess mummy. As it is, grumpy fairy princess mummy was definitely in charge, despite several margaritas (exactly how many I couldn't say, the barman was a fantastic topper-upper). Hopefully by tomorrow calm mummy will be back in charge...
The morning was spent helping N carve pumpkins at her place. Great fun. The kids played all morning and then some, but that meant we were free to unleash our artistic abilities (google images is great!) without interruption (or not much anyway)... After multiple different knives and tools (some of which names I couldn't even tell you on pain of death) including a drill set, we had our 7 carved pumpkins. N was initially thinking 20, but just the 7 took us from 930am till 2pm to complete. With a short lunch break, of course. At that point, we realized 20 was clearly unmanageable. All in all, pretty proud of our efforts. No injuries either, bar a small nick on my left thumb that probably happened as I was trying to stab a hole with the knife angled towards myself. D'oh!! Still, it didn't bleed (or was pasted shut by pumpkin goo), hence forgettable in my books. Especially since I only just noticed it while hitting the space bar rather vigorously after the computer hung (AGAIN!!) as I was trying to upload photos...
Photos taken by kiddo before any knives or drills were put to use.
The fruits of our labour. Far left is a cat. Middle small is hello kitty, on top of the medium beigy pumpkin on right is my version of a 'pocket God' pygmy (You really have gotta be playing iPhone games a lot to get this one)
All lit up. For some reason, the hello kitty candle kept blowing out. Oh well. No one could be bothered to keep relighting it...After that, it was nap time for kiddo and mummy. Daddy is in Bali on some team building thing so no tag team parenting this weekend. Monster mummy's just begging to emerge. Safer if everyone gets lots of sleep. Then hopefully it'll just be growling instead of screaming and raving... I hope...
The dressed up mummies. That's me in the pink fairy outfit (with the cheapo skirt) in the middle...By 530 we were dressed and tiara'd up. For the 1st time ever, I pulled out my green and blue eyeshadow. I was aiming for the whole glittery butterfly look, but to be honest, I couldn't see the difference between that and using my normal brown eyeshadow. That shows you how little skill I have for applying makeup. Later I found out that in order to make the colours more vibrant, I should have started with a layer of concealer. Too bad, I don't own any. Should have just gone for kiddo's face paints.
The party was a riot. Sat down and margaritas started magically appearing in front of us. The kids were wonderfully occupied by professional entertainers. And parents could eat and chat to their hearts content. Funny how all the men just ended up propping up the bar. We had a surfeit of vampires tonight. One of them was so artfully made up by his wife that his kids wouldn't go near him. Even after all the red lippie complete with faux dripping blood was wiped off. Hilarious. The girls, by and large, were princesses and fairies, with the boys generally superheros of some sort. Not very up to date on superheros I must admit, though I could probably recite the cast of pixie hollow given a chance.
Later, we had a modified trick or treat session. Parents brought tents and sat inside while the kiddies came around. I'm pretty certain I handed out stuff multiple times to the same kids, but who cares, it's not like we're going to eat the sweets. Kiddo doesn't like sweets (weird, but I'm certainly not complaining), so her stash will be carefully examined and subsequently redistributed to our staffs' kids.
I scooted off with kiddo at 9pm. 2 hours past her usual bedtime. She was still going strong. But if I waited till she was tired, no doubt fairy princess mummy would have morphed into evil fairy princess mummy. As it is, grumpy fairy princess mummy was definitely in charge, despite several margaritas (exactly how many I couldn't say, the barman was a fantastic topper-upper). Hopefully by tomorrow calm mummy will be back in charge...
Friday 30 October 2009
New country, new hobbies
Some people have hobbies, some don't. Some people are collectors, some aren't. Some people are obsessive-compulsive, some laid back... I'm a compulsive hobby collector. And (not so) proud of it.
When I was growing up, I did the usual girlie crochet and knitting bit. That was about all. School and golf left very little time for anything else apart from story books in the car and while waiting around. Hmmm... that's probably how I developed the habit of always carrying a book or two in my bag wherever I go.
When I was working in London, knitting and crochet (and the books, of course) were portable. I could take them on the tube with me. They were great stress busters. Very soothing. Except the time when I completed a sweater and realized it was too small! Very annoying. I think I chucked it in the bin in a fit of pique. Anyway, we moved back to KL and had kiddo. She consumed all of my time for the 1st two years of her life (What can I say? Obsessive 1st time mom) until she started school, and there I was, at loose ends, with NO hobbies! Knitting in a tropical country is pretty pointless, and after the 5th doily, even crochet gets pretty dull. So I started taking beading classes. That went on for several years, pretty much everyone in the family got stuff thrown at them whether they liked it or not. Rosaries, necklaces, bracelets, whatever...
Then... Jakarta. The land of cheap materials. I carried on doing my beading initially, then a friend, BR, who paints the most gorgeous plates, introduced me to ceramic painting. Initially I was very resistant. After all, I was the kid my art teacher told never to give up my day job 'cause I would starve as an artist. But after some persuasion and lots of, 'It's ok to copy stuff you know.' I finally capitulated. Me being me, I bought every colour paint I could find. I had 2 different browns, 2 different greens, 2 different reds etc. That year, my parents got painted plates for Christmas.
Since then, I have added, to my hobby collection, scrapbooking and sewing. I still do the other stuff. But depending on mood, sometimes I feel like something completely different, so out come the sewing machine, or the beads, or the paints... The Man got so fed up with only having about 2 sq.ft. on a 2m long dining table for meals that he 'gave' me the dining table and bought a new one. It's now covered with 'works in progress'. Some I don't think I'll ever complete, but if it's in front of me, perhaps I can fool myself into thinking they'll get done at some point. The powers of self deception...
====================================
My 'boredom busters'. Some of the things I've done over the last 2 years... (I just dragged and dropped the photos wherever. This whole uploading photos business stumps me...)
When I was growing up, I did the usual girlie crochet and knitting bit. That was about all. School and golf left very little time for anything else apart from story books in the car and while waiting around. Hmmm... that's probably how I developed the habit of always carrying a book or two in my bag wherever I go.
When I was working in London, knitting and crochet (and the books, of course) were portable. I could take them on the tube with me. They were great stress busters. Very soothing. Except the time when I completed a sweater and realized it was too small! Very annoying. I think I chucked it in the bin in a fit of pique. Anyway, we moved back to KL and had kiddo. She consumed all of my time for the 1st two years of her life (What can I say? Obsessive 1st time mom) until she started school, and there I was, at loose ends, with NO hobbies! Knitting in a tropical country is pretty pointless, and after the 5th doily, even crochet gets pretty dull. So I started taking beading classes. That went on for several years, pretty much everyone in the family got stuff thrown at them whether they liked it or not. Rosaries, necklaces, bracelets, whatever...
Then... Jakarta. The land of cheap materials. I carried on doing my beading initially, then a friend, BR, who paints the most gorgeous plates, introduced me to ceramic painting. Initially I was very resistant. After all, I was the kid my art teacher told never to give up my day job 'cause I would starve as an artist. But after some persuasion and lots of, 'It's ok to copy stuff you know.' I finally capitulated. Me being me, I bought every colour paint I could find. I had 2 different browns, 2 different greens, 2 different reds etc. That year, my parents got painted plates for Christmas.
Since then, I have added, to my hobby collection, scrapbooking and sewing. I still do the other stuff. But depending on mood, sometimes I feel like something completely different, so out come the sewing machine, or the beads, or the paints... The Man got so fed up with only having about 2 sq.ft. on a 2m long dining table for meals that he 'gave' me the dining table and bought a new one. It's now covered with 'works in progress'. Some I don't think I'll ever complete, but if it's in front of me, perhaps I can fool myself into thinking they'll get done at some point. The powers of self deception...
====================================
My 'boredom busters'. Some of the things I've done over the last 2 years... (I just dragged and dropped the photos wherever. This whole uploading photos business stumps me...)
Thursday 29 October 2009
Here we go again
It coming up to the end of our 2 year lease on our Kemang house. We've been here officially for 2 years now. The search for a new place begins again...
Here in Jakarta, leases are signed for at least 2 years with payment in advance. That's the full 2 years rental upfront. No moolah, no house... Thank goodness for employers that pay first and then deduct monthly.
So, 2 years in a house. We've decided that our next place will be an apartment. The house is lovely, but the Kemang traffic is soul destroying. As Mr.D, my go-to guide is fond of saying, there will always be traffic jams in Jakarta. It's a fact of life. But Kemang traffic is not only unpredictable, but so bad that if you come out and there's no congestion, you feel a little suspicious that you're the only one missing some huge event.
Another thing about houses is the staffing issue. The staff have their separate quarters. That's just standard for Jakarta houses. In this current house, the staff area is downstairs, and I rarely go down. Occasionally I will pop my head down only to be greeted by strange male voices. Yikes. I freely admit I'm not the most courageous of people. When I worked in London, I was the only A+E doctor I know who ran away from a patient who's fist seemed to have an attraction for my face (ok, so he was drunk). Anyhow, strange men in my home freak me out. When I call the maid up, it's always 'my husband', 'my son', 'my other son' blah blah... Enough already! At least in an apartment you can tell security not to let anyone but the maid up. Big plus point.
The other thing we miss is the sense of community. This particular compound doesn't seem to have many kids at all. And they're either much older, or much younger than little miss. There's also a limit to the number of times I can wander over to AL's house. She hasn't started drawing the curtains when I walk up the driveway yet, but let's not risk it...
In a nutshell, my 'current' top 3 issues in apartment hunting : Security, community, staff problems.
Our lovely agent T took me round some houses today. Gorgeous in the typically overblown, lavishness of Jakarta houses. One was not too bad, 3 bedrooms, a large sitting room, large extra multipurpose room (craft room, of course), large open kitchen-dining room. Huge garden with lap pool. Only downside was only the master bedroom has an onsuite bathroom. Meaning kiddo would have to go through 2 doors to reach the bathroom at night. While bypassing the stairs AND the master bedroom door. A detour to either is NOT ok at 3am.
The next house was totally a show piece The agent told me with a grin that it is a good house to look at, but she didn't think I would be renting it. HUGE. 3 levels plus roof garden. Pool on a deck outside the living and master rooms. Downstairs wet kitchen connected to upstairs dining room (that has it's own dry kitchen!). Looked around for the little tinkling bell Victorian ladies used to summon 'cookie' but I guess in a house like that an intercom would be more the thing. Not to mention the entryway (which I thought was the living room except, ugh horrid electrical box on the wall!) and activity room that were both the size of my KL living room. Whew. One way glass windows all around... Something like 8 bathrooms. Every door that looked a little out of place was a bathroom. It's almost like the owner just shoved bathrooms in spaces so they wouldn't be empty. Under the stairs, between oddly aligned walls... Still, if kiddo were 10, I would seriously consider it. The rental was not that much higher than the apartment we looked at. And imagine, sunset, walking from the bedroom straight to the pool with a G+T in hand, billowing white kaftan... Sigh. The fantasy kinda sputters out there 'cause other houses and the contractors on the house opposite can see right onto the pool deck. So no white kaftan or G+Ts from the bedroom in any case. Oh well.
The quest shall continue...
Here in Jakarta, leases are signed for at least 2 years with payment in advance. That's the full 2 years rental upfront. No moolah, no house... Thank goodness for employers that pay first and then deduct monthly.
So, 2 years in a house. We've decided that our next place will be an apartment. The house is lovely, but the Kemang traffic is soul destroying. As Mr.D, my go-to guide is fond of saying, there will always be traffic jams in Jakarta. It's a fact of life. But Kemang traffic is not only unpredictable, but so bad that if you come out and there's no congestion, you feel a little suspicious that you're the only one missing some huge event.
Another thing about houses is the staffing issue. The staff have their separate quarters. That's just standard for Jakarta houses. In this current house, the staff area is downstairs, and I rarely go down. Occasionally I will pop my head down only to be greeted by strange male voices. Yikes. I freely admit I'm not the most courageous of people. When I worked in London, I was the only A+E doctor I know who ran away from a patient who's fist seemed to have an attraction for my face (ok, so he was drunk). Anyhow, strange men in my home freak me out. When I call the maid up, it's always 'my husband', 'my son', 'my other son' blah blah... Enough already! At least in an apartment you can tell security not to let anyone but the maid up. Big plus point.
The other thing we miss is the sense of community. This particular compound doesn't seem to have many kids at all. And they're either much older, or much younger than little miss. There's also a limit to the number of times I can wander over to AL's house. She hasn't started drawing the curtains when I walk up the driveway yet, but let's not risk it...
In a nutshell, my 'current' top 3 issues in apartment hunting : Security, community, staff problems.
Our lovely agent T took me round some houses today. Gorgeous in the typically overblown, lavishness of Jakarta houses. One was not too bad, 3 bedrooms, a large sitting room, large extra multipurpose room (craft room, of course), large open kitchen-dining room. Huge garden with lap pool. Only downside was only the master bedroom has an onsuite bathroom. Meaning kiddo would have to go through 2 doors to reach the bathroom at night. While bypassing the stairs AND the master bedroom door. A detour to either is NOT ok at 3am.
The next house was totally a show piece The agent told me with a grin that it is a good house to look at, but she didn't think I would be renting it. HUGE. 3 levels plus roof garden. Pool on a deck outside the living and master rooms. Downstairs wet kitchen connected to upstairs dining room (that has it's own dry kitchen!). Looked around for the little tinkling bell Victorian ladies used to summon 'cookie' but I guess in a house like that an intercom would be more the thing. Not to mention the entryway (which I thought was the living room except, ugh horrid electrical box on the wall!) and activity room that were both the size of my KL living room. Whew. One way glass windows all around... Something like 8 bathrooms. Every door that looked a little out of place was a bathroom. It's almost like the owner just shoved bathrooms in spaces so they wouldn't be empty. Under the stairs, between oddly aligned walls... Still, if kiddo were 10, I would seriously consider it. The rental was not that much higher than the apartment we looked at. And imagine, sunset, walking from the bedroom straight to the pool with a G+T in hand, billowing white kaftan... Sigh. The fantasy kinda sputters out there 'cause other houses and the contractors on the house opposite can see right onto the pool deck. So no white kaftan or G+Ts from the bedroom in any case. Oh well.
The quest shall continue...
Wednesday 28 October 2009
The ongoing mozzie battle
Jakarta = mosquitoes. No escaping that undeniable fact. There are days I sit on my bed at night and point out all my bites to The Man. Usually he's reading his Triathlon magazine and isn't even listening... But so far, the record is 27 bites. Yup. I counted them all twice to make sure. Kiddo's record so far is 15. That was when we first arrived here. Hence our ongoing battle...
We've tried most remedies, including the esoteric ones you read about on the net. Some actually do work! But as I sit here scratching my fifth bite of the evening , I realize that my goal is actually to protect the kiddo. I've pretty much acknowledged that the mozzies have me beat. 'Sweet blood' the folks say. I'm probably the best mozzie repellent you could have. Put me anywhere within 5 feet of you and I guarantee none will bite you. They'll all come for me.
Anyway, getting back to anti-moz solutions. I've tried to include everything that worked for me. If anyone has anything else, please, PLEASE speak up. As they say in Defender Chronicles, 'We may have lost the battle, but we can STILL win the war!!' (Yes, I agree, I'm somewhat obsessed with that game)
Checking the house for stagnant water
When we first moved here, we used to get attacked by swarms of mosquitoes. Nothing we did worked. Nothing. I looked over the whole house, but there were no empty flower pots or buckets. I was stumped. Then came the water leak into the service area. It was eventually traced to the air well that we weren't using. When they scooped up the pretty, white, decorative stones, I saw 6 inches of soaking wet mud. Yes, MUD! Cue swarms of mozzies headed straight for me. Well, Madam legged it straight for the car yelling, 'Tak mau batu!! Buang semua batu dalam rumah!! Lumpur juga!!' (Don't want stones! Throw away all the stones in the house! Mud too!) For sure they thought I had lost it, but hey, no way was I sticking around to see if the mozzies would pick me over the work men... Well, no more swarms after that, just insidious sneak attacks mixed in with some lightning strikes.
Electrified mosquito bats
This is sanctioned violence at it's best. The bats are rechargeable, and when y
ou hit an insect it gives this really satisfying pffffsszzzttt sound accompanied by a mini explosion (the more blood sucked, the bigger the explosion). Hah! Die you bloodsucking spawn of evil, die!!! In Hubby's hands though, it's a weapon to rival a light saber. Witness the lunging and swiping as he attacks the little blighters... mosquitos, flies, whatever... bring 'em on. Then he bounces (flies usually) them on the bat a few times... pfffzzt, pffzt, fzttt, zzt... spark, spark, spark. And looks up with this beatific smile. 'I got one, Babes' Huh. I'd be cowering under the table by then... People, word of warning, it bloody HURTS to get hit by one of those things!!! I DON'T CARE if it's an accident!!!
Mosquito repellent
For kiddo we use Zwitsal, which contains citronella. DEET free. Slather it on
many, many times a day and usually there won't be many bites. But you have to keep up with it. Advantage is it soothes the already existing bites too. For us adults, we used to use Off. But it contains DEET. Jungle formula, if you can get it, is great. There are various roll on formulations. Generally they're quite effective if you remember to keep applying. I didn't like the idea of having kiddo slathered in chemicals all day, so the search went on for something else.
Mozzie patches and bands
Right now, this is our method of choice. I stick a MozzOut patch on her unifo
rm before school and it keeps her bite free there. Although the patch supposedly stays effective for 8 hours, I've found that a new one after school will take her through to bedtime. So I reckon 5-6 hours max. They cost about Rp50,000 for 24. Available at Dharmawangsa Square. The band I bought at Mothercare also seems pretty good. It's bright pink, so kiddo's more than happy to wear it. Around her wrist, or ankle, or dangling from some toy... Smells really strong though (not unpleasant, just eye wateringly strong). I'm pretty sensitive to smells, and it was just too strong for me.
Sound wave pest repellents
In KL, there are these little gadgets for sale, apparently they emit a sound wave that humans can't hear, but that disrupt the nervous system of pests. Including rats! Well, we have them everywhere. It seemed to work really well in KL, but I'm less convinced it's actually beneficial here. No real difference to my spot count with and without. Ditto for the key chain version that you can hang on yourself when you go outdoors. We do it anyway, just in case, but even when I forget, there aren't any more or less bites on the kid.
Mosquito nets
There is no doubt these work. You can get beautiful drapy ones that hang from the ceiling and make your bed look all princessey, but beware the dust trapping, mozzie trapping, and tripping that can happen. Also if it doesn't hang well, the mozzies can get in anyway. Tota
lly not an option for dust sensitive, asthmatic kiddo. Until we found the Javan bed canopy... This is the ultimate!! A tent-like mozzie net that folds into a circle (yay for holidays!) and springs out like a tent (yay, no folds to trap anything!). It sits snug on top of the bed (single, queen AND king sizes), is accessed by zippered openings on each side and has the added advantage of stopping a restless sleeper from hitting the floor. Although I'm sure if you rolled fully against the side, the floor would be the final destination anyway, though perhaps a prolonged sinking rather than a crash. Initially we had some toilet emergencies while kiddo got used to the whole zipper system, but we seem to be over that. So now I might only occasionally hear the zipper through the monitor as she's goes about her way in the middle of the night.
Light bug traps
Another fantastic invention. Varying sizes. Usually a uv light followed by a fan underneath and a bug reservoir. They're great. You can get super big ones, or cutesy animal ones like kiddo has in her bedroom. Doubles as a night light too. We empty them out periodically, and although I would say kiddo has the most mozzie free room in the house, we still get at least a dozen or so in there at every check.
Plug in chemical emitters
These are the ones where you plug the liquid canister into the wall or use the hot plate and chemical mat. Kiddo is sensitive to the liquid ones. They were effective, but she kept wheezing. So no go. She's ok with the vape mat, so that's also on in her room every night.
Blocking doorways
I really have no idea if the mozzies fly under the door to kiddo's room. Perhaps I give them too much credit for strategy and planning. But just in case, I sewed up a long tube, filled it with prefrozen green beans and plugged the bottom of the door. At least it keeps the air conditioning in...
Outdoor burners
You can get lovely burners and torches for citronella oil in most stores here. They look great, smell great too. But I don't think they work. I don't like smelling of smoke, so perhaps I'm just not near enough. Mozzie coils work well, but beware the feet. Accidentally brushing against one is funny only to your mates as they watch your frenzied leaping about.
Dishwashing liquid
I got an email from my mom. There was this article floating around saying that if you put lemon (only lemon, not lime or anything else) dishwashing liquid in some water in a WHITE dish, all the bugs would fly in. I did it. Bugs of all sorts did go in. Can't say it changed my life any though. Apart from having to avoid dishes of water in the room. If you do this, be prepared for very strange looks from your staff. Trying to explain it to my maid didn't work very well. Could be perhaps because she already thinks I don't play with a full deck.
Listerin spray
Another email gem. Dilute original (original 'cause the other flavours apparently leave a sticky residue) flavour listerin half and half in a spray bottle and spray around all entryways and where you're sitting. All I can say is if it's a hot day, the evaporation of the Listerin pretty much guarantees all living organisms in the vicinity end up rather dopey. Humans included! I ended up feeling like I'd had a couple of glasses of wine (I was VERY liberal with the spray). Maybe I was bitten, maybe not... Dunno. Hee... Couldn't even see straight... Suppose it could be effective in the open where the fumes are less likely to overpower you.
So far, that's all I've tried. Since I suppose you can't really avoid all bites, I have tubes of Eurax (see photo above), the most effective anti-itch cream around, all over the house. At last resort, there is also the pool. Our water supply comes from underground, and maybe it's the minerals, maybe the temperature (it's usually freezing even at noon), maybe both, but it works wonders at reducing the redness and swelling of bites.
Again, if anyone has any other methods of mosquito prevention, PLEASE TELL ME!!! I'll happily try (almost) anything...
We've tried most remedies, including the esoteric ones you read about on the net. Some actually do work! But as I sit here scratching my fifth bite of the evening , I realize that my goal is actually to protect the kiddo. I've pretty much acknowledged that the mozzies have me beat. 'Sweet blood' the folks say. I'm probably the best mozzie repellent you could have. Put me anywhere within 5 feet of you and I guarantee none will bite you. They'll all come for me.
Anyway, getting back to anti-moz solutions. I've tried to include everything that worked for me. If anyone has anything else, please, PLEASE speak up. As they say in Defender Chronicles, 'We may have lost the battle, but we can STILL win the war!!' (Yes, I agree, I'm somewhat obsessed with that game)
Checking the house for stagnant water
When we first moved here, we used to get attacked by swarms of mosquitoes. Nothing we did worked. Nothing. I looked over the whole house, but there were no empty flower pots or buckets. I was stumped. Then came the water leak into the service area. It was eventually traced to the air well that we weren't using. When they scooped up the pretty, white, decorative stones, I saw 6 inches of soaking wet mud. Yes, MUD! Cue swarms of mozzies headed straight for me. Well, Madam legged it straight for the car yelling, 'Tak mau batu!! Buang semua batu dalam rumah!! Lumpur juga!!' (Don't want stones! Throw away all the stones in the house! Mud too!) For sure they thought I had lost it, but hey, no way was I sticking around to see if the mozzies would pick me over the work men... Well, no more swarms after that, just insidious sneak attacks mixed in with some lightning strikes.
Electrified mosquito bats
This is sanctioned violence at it's best. The bats are rechargeable, and when y
ou hit an insect it gives this really satisfying pffffsszzzttt sound accompanied by a mini explosion (the more blood sucked, the bigger the explosion). Hah! Die you bloodsucking spawn of evil, die!!! In Hubby's hands though, it's a weapon to rival a light saber. Witness the lunging and swiping as he attacks the little blighters... mosquitos, flies, whatever... bring 'em on. Then he bounces (flies usually) them on the bat a few times... pfffzzt, pffzt, fzttt, zzt... spark, spark, spark. And looks up with this beatific smile. 'I got one, Babes' Huh. I'd be cowering under the table by then... People, word of warning, it bloody HURTS to get hit by one of those things!!! I DON'T CARE if it's an accident!!!Mosquito repellent
For kiddo we use Zwitsal, which contains citronella. DEET free. Slather it on
many, many times a day and usually there won't be many bites. But you have to keep up with it. Advantage is it soothes the already existing bites too. For us adults, we used to use Off. But it contains DEET. Jungle formula, if you can get it, is great. There are various roll on formulations. Generally they're quite effective if you remember to keep applying. I didn't like the idea of having kiddo slathered in chemicals all day, so the search went on for something else.Mozzie patches and bands
Right now, this is our method of choice. I stick a MozzOut patch on her unifo
rm before school and it keeps her bite free there. Although the patch supposedly stays effective for 8 hours, I've found that a new one after school will take her through to bedtime. So I reckon 5-6 hours max. They cost about Rp50,000 for 24. Available at Dharmawangsa Square. The band I bought at Mothercare also seems pretty good. It's bright pink, so kiddo's more than happy to wear it. Around her wrist, or ankle, or dangling from some toy... Smells really strong though (not unpleasant, just eye wateringly strong). I'm pretty sensitive to smells, and it was just too strong for me.Sound wave pest repellents
In KL, there are these little gadgets for sale, apparently they emit a sound wave that humans can't hear, but that disrupt the nervous system of pests. Including rats! Well, we have them everywhere. It seemed to work really well in KL, but I'm less convinced it's actually beneficial here. No real difference to my spot count with and without. Ditto for the key chain version that you can hang on yourself when you go outdoors. We do it anyway, just in case, but even when I forget, there aren't any more or less bites on the kid.
Mosquito nets
There is no doubt these work. You can get beautiful drapy ones that hang from the ceiling and make your bed look all princessey, but beware the dust trapping, mozzie trapping, and tripping that can happen. Also if it doesn't hang well, the mozzies can get in anyway. Tota
lly not an option for dust sensitive, asthmatic kiddo. Until we found the Javan bed canopy... This is the ultimate!! A tent-like mozzie net that folds into a circle (yay for holidays!) and springs out like a tent (yay, no folds to trap anything!). It sits snug on top of the bed (single, queen AND king sizes), is accessed by zippered openings on each side and has the added advantage of stopping a restless sleeper from hitting the floor. Although I'm sure if you rolled fully against the side, the floor would be the final destination anyway, though perhaps a prolonged sinking rather than a crash. Initially we had some toilet emergencies while kiddo got used to the whole zipper system, but we seem to be over that. So now I might only occasionally hear the zipper through the monitor as she's goes about her way in the middle of the night.Light bug traps
Another fantastic invention. Varying sizes. Usually a uv light followed by a fan underneath and a bug reservoir. They're great. You can get super big ones, or cutesy animal ones like kiddo has in her bedroom. Doubles as a night light too. We empty them out periodically, and although I would say kiddo has the most mozzie free room in the house, we still get at least a dozen or so in there at every check.
Plug in chemical emitters
These are the ones where you plug the liquid canister into the wall or use the hot plate and chemical mat. Kiddo is sensitive to the liquid ones. They were effective, but she kept wheezing. So no go. She's ok with the vape mat, so that's also on in her room every night.
Blocking doorways
I really have no idea if the mozzies fly under the door to kiddo's room. Perhaps I give them too much credit for strategy and planning. But just in case, I sewed up a long tube, filled it with prefrozen green beans and plugged the bottom of the door. At least it keeps the air conditioning in...
Outdoor burners
You can get lovely burners and torches for citronella oil in most stores here. They look great, smell great too. But I don't think they work. I don't like smelling of smoke, so perhaps I'm just not near enough. Mozzie coils work well, but beware the feet. Accidentally brushing against one is funny only to your mates as they watch your frenzied leaping about.
Dishwashing liquid
I got an email from my mom. There was this article floating around saying that if you put lemon (only lemon, not lime or anything else) dishwashing liquid in some water in a WHITE dish, all the bugs would fly in. I did it. Bugs of all sorts did go in. Can't say it changed my life any though. Apart from having to avoid dishes of water in the room. If you do this, be prepared for very strange looks from your staff. Trying to explain it to my maid didn't work very well. Could be perhaps because she already thinks I don't play with a full deck.
Listerin spray
Another email gem. Dilute original (original 'cause the other flavours apparently leave a sticky residue) flavour listerin half and half in a spray bottle and spray around all entryways and where you're sitting. All I can say is if it's a hot day, the evaporation of the Listerin pretty much guarantees all living organisms in the vicinity end up rather dopey. Humans included! I ended up feeling like I'd had a couple of glasses of wine (I was VERY liberal with the spray). Maybe I was bitten, maybe not... Dunno. Hee... Couldn't even see straight... Suppose it could be effective in the open where the fumes are less likely to overpower you.
So far, that's all I've tried. Since I suppose you can't really avoid all bites, I have tubes of Eurax (see photo above), the most effective anti-itch cream around, all over the house. At last resort, there is also the pool. Our water supply comes from underground, and maybe it's the minerals, maybe the temperature (it's usually freezing even at noon), maybe both, but it works wonders at reducing the redness and swelling of bites.
Again, if anyone has any other methods of mosquito prevention, PLEASE TELL ME!!! I'll happily try (almost) anything...
Beat the traffic blues
I hate car journeys. I absolutely detest being stuck in the car for any longer than 30mins max. It's worse when I have to listen to the kid fidgeting and moaning. Endless 'are we there yet' and 'how many minutes more'. Grrr... We'll get there when we get there!!! For self preservation, I now do the following...
1. Have a decent sized bin in the car. Or at least one that fits the kid's bum. No matter how conscientious she is about peeing before we go out, Jakarta traffic means that sometimes, we get caught out. A friend uses left over diapers, gets the kids to go into the back row to pee in them. But it doesn't solve the occasional poop problem. 'Nuff said... Adults, you're on your own...
2. Teach the kids to have meals in the car. Was totally against the whole eating in the car business till we moved here. Now she's up at 630am, in the car and breakfasting at 7am. Pick her up at 1pm, and she finishes lunch in the car. It takes over an hour to get home, so if we wait, it's past 2pm by the time she eats.
3. Have wet wipes, hand sanitisers, tissues, spare newspapers, spare bin bags. This is really to facilitate the above.
4. Have small bottles of drinking water in the car. Even if you're not thirsty when you start your journey, after 3 hours of being stuck in the car, even the most stoic of passengers will be in need of a little something. The snack issue I leave to your own discretion. Food in the car sometimes means uninvited passengers like cockroaches...
5. Pack a bag of books before you go out. We've worked out that rainbow fairy books last about 45mins. So a minimum of 3 of those if we're going down the road for dinner. You never know. Traffic jams here can appear out of the blue for no reason known to man.
6. Pack a pillow. At the very least you can hide your head under it if the whining gets too unbearable. No, no... don't smother the kid/ husband, they're really not (I hope) trying to be difficult...
7. It's an advantage if you have a third row and/ or seats that recline. Believe me, no matter how much you adore your hubby, after 3 hours (or 3mins if he's particularly fractious that day) of sitting next to a fidgeting, complaining, overgrown kid, you would pay ANYTHING to have a back row. You're never too old for time out.
8. Some people swear by portable DVD's. For us it's the iPhones (GO APPLE!!!). With daddy in the car too, it's 2 iPhones. Someone has to do without, but it's never the kid. Her whining is worse than fingernails on chalkboard. We're waiting with baited breath for the Apple tablet thingey. Ooo... Defender chronicles on an A4 sized screen...
9. Books for adults too. I'm generally pretty prone to motion sickness, even the kiddy rides in the amusement parks can make me green. But traffic being what it is, sometimes I can get through 2 full length novels a day.
10. Remind yourself that despite the traffic, there are other fabulous things you get for living in Jakarta... maid(s), driver, cheap craft stuff, good food, nice house, good friends, endless malls... If all that fails, get out and take an Ojek. (Just KIDDING!! Unless you're a good deal braver than I am)
1. Have a decent sized bin in the car. Or at least one that fits the kid's bum. No matter how conscientious she is about peeing before we go out, Jakarta traffic means that sometimes, we get caught out. A friend uses left over diapers, gets the kids to go into the back row to pee in them. But it doesn't solve the occasional poop problem. 'Nuff said... Adults, you're on your own...
2. Teach the kids to have meals in the car. Was totally against the whole eating in the car business till we moved here. Now she's up at 630am, in the car and breakfasting at 7am. Pick her up at 1pm, and she finishes lunch in the car. It takes over an hour to get home, so if we wait, it's past 2pm by the time she eats.
3. Have wet wipes, hand sanitisers, tissues, spare newspapers, spare bin bags. This is really to facilitate the above.
4. Have small bottles of drinking water in the car. Even if you're not thirsty when you start your journey, after 3 hours of being stuck in the car, even the most stoic of passengers will be in need of a little something. The snack issue I leave to your own discretion. Food in the car sometimes means uninvited passengers like cockroaches...
5. Pack a bag of books before you go out. We've worked out that rainbow fairy books last about 45mins. So a minimum of 3 of those if we're going down the road for dinner. You never know. Traffic jams here can appear out of the blue for no reason known to man.
6. Pack a pillow. At the very least you can hide your head under it if the whining gets too unbearable. No, no... don't smother the kid/ husband, they're really not (I hope) trying to be difficult...
7. It's an advantage if you have a third row and/ or seats that recline. Believe me, no matter how much you adore your hubby, after 3 hours (or 3mins if he's particularly fractious that day) of sitting next to a fidgeting, complaining, overgrown kid, you would pay ANYTHING to have a back row. You're never too old for time out.
8. Some people swear by portable DVD's. For us it's the iPhones (GO APPLE!!!). With daddy in the car too, it's 2 iPhones. Someone has to do without, but it's never the kid. Her whining is worse than fingernails on chalkboard. We're waiting with baited breath for the Apple tablet thingey. Ooo... Defender chronicles on an A4 sized screen...
9. Books for adults too. I'm generally pretty prone to motion sickness, even the kiddy rides in the amusement parks can make me green. But traffic being what it is, sometimes I can get through 2 full length novels a day.
10. Remind yourself that despite the traffic, there are other fabulous things you get for living in Jakarta... maid(s), driver, cheap craft stuff, good food, nice house, good friends, endless malls... If all that fails, get out and take an Ojek. (Just KIDDING!! Unless you're a good deal braver than I am)
Tuesday 27 October 2009
You know you've been in Jakarta too long when...
The following list is what I've noticed in no particular order...
1. You forget how to open and close doors.
2. You forget that going down to the corner shop shouldn't take 30mins.
3. You forget that you can actually walk 10m to the shop next door and not take the car.
4. You stop feeling self conscious at being greeted by rows of bowing sales people if you are the 1st person in a shop that morning.
5. You start to believe that traffic lights are advisory and not mandatory.
6. People saying 'tergantung' (depends) doesn't make your blood boil anymore.
7. You don't notice when people drop 'kok' into their sentences.
8. You don't lurch around the back seat in alarm anymore when you see oncoming traffic in your lane or people driving on the kerbs.
9. You think tipping more than Rp10,000 (USD1) for anything is a rip off.
10. You automatically assume everyone is nice and smiley, and feel very miffed if someone isn't.
11. You fantasize about playing a round of golf without once touching your golf ball (that came from The Man. Obviously)
12. You forget that there is a boot attached to the back of your car. Or that you need to load or unload it. Shopping magically disappears into it...
13. Your kid forgets what clean up means.
14. You feel a twinge of nervousness every time the maid goes off. Then another twinge on Sunday night thinking she may not come back.
15. You're the go to person whenever someone wants to buy anything esoteric.
16. You've run out of shopping centres to while away the school hours.
17. You now have a 'face' you have to put on every morning (moisturizer alone doesn't count)
18. You forget that you have house keys.
19. You go on holiday and are horrified when offered tap water to drink.
20. The signals and horn on your car are to be used as frequently as the brakes.
21. It no longer surprises you to see 1 kid, 1 nanny, 1 driver, 1 car families.
22. Bali as a holiday destination no longer excites you.
23. You stop being able to live without your (social not work) Blackberry.
24. You get used to reconnecting your internet 5 times an hour.
25. When you order something and are given a delivery date, you automatically add at least a week (a month for furniture) to it and are amazed if it is completed earlier.
26. You take for granted that trips to the immigration office take only 15mins.
27. You start to carry wet wipes in your travel cases not for kiddo, but to wipe off the chalk marks on your suitcases that customs put on to indicate a further check is warranted.
28. Your kid sings Bahasa songs as adeptly as standard nursery rhymes. Understanding is a different matter though.
29. You get used to schools having indoor tennis courts, swimming pools, multiple football fields, indoor basketball courts, multilevel auditoriums.
30. You realize that after writing the above list of 30 things, that it's just the tip of the iceberg, but are too tired to write anymore...
1. You forget how to open and close doors.
2. You forget that going down to the corner shop shouldn't take 30mins.
3. You forget that you can actually walk 10m to the shop next door and not take the car.
4. You stop feeling self conscious at being greeted by rows of bowing sales people if you are the 1st person in a shop that morning.
5. You start to believe that traffic lights are advisory and not mandatory.
6. People saying 'tergantung' (depends) doesn't make your blood boil anymore.
7. You don't notice when people drop 'kok' into their sentences.
8. You don't lurch around the back seat in alarm anymore when you see oncoming traffic in your lane or people driving on the kerbs.
9. You think tipping more than Rp10,000 (USD1) for anything is a rip off.
10. You automatically assume everyone is nice and smiley, and feel very miffed if someone isn't.
11. You fantasize about playing a round of golf without once touching your golf ball (that came from The Man. Obviously)
12. You forget that there is a boot attached to the back of your car. Or that you need to load or unload it. Shopping magically disappears into it...
13. Your kid forgets what clean up means.
14. You feel a twinge of nervousness every time the maid goes off. Then another twinge on Sunday night thinking she may not come back.
15. You're the go to person whenever someone wants to buy anything esoteric.
16. You've run out of shopping centres to while away the school hours.
17. You now have a 'face' you have to put on every morning (moisturizer alone doesn't count)
18. You forget that you have house keys.
19. You go on holiday and are horrified when offered tap water to drink.
20. The signals and horn on your car are to be used as frequently as the brakes.
21. It no longer surprises you to see 1 kid, 1 nanny, 1 driver, 1 car families.
22. Bali as a holiday destination no longer excites you.
23. You stop being able to live without your (social not work) Blackberry.
24. You get used to reconnecting your internet 5 times an hour.
25. When you order something and are given a delivery date, you automatically add at least a week (a month for furniture) to it and are amazed if it is completed earlier.
26. You take for granted that trips to the immigration office take only 15mins.
27. You start to carry wet wipes in your travel cases not for kiddo, but to wipe off the chalk marks on your suitcases that customs put on to indicate a further check is warranted.
28. Your kid sings Bahasa songs as adeptly as standard nursery rhymes. Understanding is a different matter though.
29. You get used to schools having indoor tennis courts, swimming pools, multiple football fields, indoor basketball courts, multilevel auditoriums.
30. You realize that after writing the above list of 30 things, that it's just the tip of the iceberg, but are too tired to write anymore...
I *heart* my phones
All my adult life, I've been the proud bearer of whatever free or cheap phone came with my mobile subscription in London. Nothing fancy, not too many fancy geegaws if you please. Just phone and texting. Maybe the odd game thrown in for boredom busting during those long tube/ train journeys. Phones were for communication, little else. Then, we moved back to KL, and for whatever reason, I upgraded. Then again. And again. Finally ending up with the Samsung dual chip (1 chip for KL, 1 for Jakarta). I was honestly quite happy at that point. The Man had a blackberry (work), iPhone (social, but I was the only one who had the number!), and Palm Treo (KL). So mine were for communication, and his iPhone for the occasional games. Everyone happy right? So you would think.
2 years on. I now carry a blackberry AND an iPhone (Hubby's discard. He now has the new iPhone 3Gs or some such alphabet combo). Here in Jakarta, most folks go, 'Ya? What's your berry pin?' In KL, (usually from my parent's) the reaction goes something like that, '2 phones?? What for? You can only use 1 at a time! Not like earrings where you hang 1 on each ear!' (Last bit from my dad who carries an obsolete Nokia and gets furious if you change his ring tone 'cause he doesn't know how to change it back) Others say I should be in one camp or the other. Berry or iPhone, and never the twain shall meet. Well, the twain are meeting very well in our little family. Both daddy and mommy have Berrys and iPhones. In fact, I adore both my phones.
Initially, before I got my berry. Hubs and I had a little discussion weighing up the pros and cons of it. Seriously, why on earth would I need a Blackberry. Well, here in Jakarta, you can have unlimited data services using several of the prepaid providers. Mine is Telkomsel Simpati and I pay Rp180,000 (about USD18) for a month. In KL, I had to activate berry services on my Maxis postpaid line, and for unlimited data, it was well over RM100 (about USD30+) a month. Still, compared with about Rp60,000/month for only phone services, it was 3x the price... The unit itself cost Rp4.7mil (about USD 470) though, so not really more than my previous Samsung. So this is what we came up with in that little discussion: (assuming the package is unlimited)
1. Messaging between berry users is free
2. Messaging photos between berry users is free. Great for sending daddy photos of the stuff kiddo gets up to during the day. Sometimes I don't have my camera with me, but my phone, always.
3. Unlimited surfing all the time. Think 3 hour traffic jams and you begin to see how it might be a clincher in this discussion.
4. Most of my friends are on it. Makes it much easier to communicate. Especially since there is a status option that lets you post short messages. Saves the overseas roaming charges if your friends know not to call you when you're out of town.
5. My email goes straight there. No more missing important bank stuff because I couldn't be bothered to check my email.
6. Connection problem happen only rarely. So no cursing at the computer for disconnecting out of the blue.
7. Better relationships with family/ friends who live in other parts of the world who also carry berrys.
Ok, so there you go. I got me a berry... Now for the iPhone. Yes, yes, you're rolling your eyes. Still, I need something to stick my KL chip in, and since Hubby was upgrading to his iPhone alphabet soup, I might as well take his old iPhone right? See... Logic at it's best. Anyway, I love my iPhone too! Loads of fun applications to download from iTunes stores. Some free, some a couple of bucks. Lots of stuff for kids. I just downloaded a math program for kiddo that does addition and subtraction (Kidcalc). So what if I have to sit through endless kiddy voices saying, 'Twelve. Pumpkins. Minus. Three. Pumpkins. Equals. Nine. Pumpkins'...Kiddo likes it. And since math is really not her strongest subject, I guess it's good she's playing and learning at the same time.
As for me. I have my Defender Chronicles and Fieldrunners. 2 tower defense games that are so addictive it's not true. Think 2am fixed, bloodshot, stare at the little iPhone screen waiting to see if your 15th strategy of the night will keep the little scurrying enemies from reaching your home. Initially I would stare at them so hard that my lids would stick together if I tried to blink. Ugh. Let's not go there... Then there is the hypnotic game Enigmo, where you have to make all these little droplets of water bounce into a pot. And to cap it off, the puzzle game where you have to make a ladybird push boxes across the screen and avoid getting squashed by spiky balls (Ynth). Ooo... not to mention the penguin game where you crash penguins into polar bears (crazy penguin catapult) or the one where you have to milk your cows before they explode (milk panic)...
It's amusing at times when Hubby and I have to gather up all our phones and juggle them with other bits of paraphernalia just moving from one part of the house to another, but that's a tiny price to pay for the sheer enjoyment we get out of our phones...
2 years on. I now carry a blackberry AND an iPhone (Hubby's discard. He now has the new iPhone 3Gs or some such alphabet combo). Here in Jakarta, most folks go, 'Ya? What's your berry pin?' In KL, (usually from my parent's) the reaction goes something like that, '2 phones?? What for? You can only use 1 at a time! Not like earrings where you hang 1 on each ear!' (Last bit from my dad who carries an obsolete Nokia and gets furious if you change his ring tone 'cause he doesn't know how to change it back) Others say I should be in one camp or the other. Berry or iPhone, and never the twain shall meet. Well, the twain are meeting very well in our little family. Both daddy and mommy have Berrys and iPhones. In fact, I adore both my phones.
Initially, before I got my berry. Hubs and I had a little discussion weighing up the pros and cons of it. Seriously, why on earth would I need a Blackberry. Well, here in Jakarta, you can have unlimited data services using several of the prepaid providers. Mine is Telkomsel Simpati and I pay Rp180,000 (about USD18) for a month. In KL, I had to activate berry services on my Maxis postpaid line, and for unlimited data, it was well over RM100 (about USD30+) a month. Still, compared with about Rp60,000/month for only phone services, it was 3x the price... The unit itself cost Rp4.7mil (about USD 470) though, so not really more than my previous Samsung. So this is what we came up with in that little discussion: (assuming the package is unlimited)
1. Messaging between berry users is free
2. Messaging photos between berry users is free. Great for sending daddy photos of the stuff kiddo gets up to during the day. Sometimes I don't have my camera with me, but my phone, always.
3. Unlimited surfing all the time. Think 3 hour traffic jams and you begin to see how it might be a clincher in this discussion.
4. Most of my friends are on it. Makes it much easier to communicate. Especially since there is a status option that lets you post short messages. Saves the overseas roaming charges if your friends know not to call you when you're out of town.
5. My email goes straight there. No more missing important bank stuff because I couldn't be bothered to check my email.
6. Connection problem happen only rarely. So no cursing at the computer for disconnecting out of the blue.
7. Better relationships with family/ friends who live in other parts of the world who also carry berrys.
Ok, so there you go. I got me a berry... Now for the iPhone. Yes, yes, you're rolling your eyes. Still, I need something to stick my KL chip in, and since Hubby was upgrading to his iPhone alphabet soup, I might as well take his old iPhone right? See... Logic at it's best. Anyway, I love my iPhone too! Loads of fun applications to download from iTunes stores. Some free, some a couple of bucks. Lots of stuff for kids. I just downloaded a math program for kiddo that does addition and subtraction (Kidcalc). So what if I have to sit through endless kiddy voices saying, 'Twelve. Pumpkins. Minus. Three. Pumpkins. Equals. Nine. Pumpkins'...Kiddo likes it. And since math is really not her strongest subject, I guess it's good she's playing and learning at the same time.
As for me. I have my Defender Chronicles and Fieldrunners. 2 tower defense games that are so addictive it's not true. Think 2am fixed, bloodshot, stare at the little iPhone screen waiting to see if your 15th strategy of the night will keep the little scurrying enemies from reaching your home. Initially I would stare at them so hard that my lids would stick together if I tried to blink. Ugh. Let's not go there... Then there is the hypnotic game Enigmo, where you have to make all these little droplets of water bounce into a pot. And to cap it off, the puzzle game where you have to make a ladybird push boxes across the screen and avoid getting squashed by spiky balls (Ynth). Ooo... not to mention the penguin game where you crash penguins into polar bears (crazy penguin catapult) or the one where you have to milk your cows before they explode (milk panic)...
It's amusing at times when Hubby and I have to gather up all our phones and juggle them with other bits of paraphernalia just moving from one part of the house to another, but that's a tiny price to pay for the sheer enjoyment we get out of our phones...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)