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.
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