5.5 going on 15

Disclaimer : If you don't want to hear totally nonobjective ramblings of a proud Mummy. Don't read any further...

A couple of things happened with the kid this week that I just have to record for posterity. Am still trying to work out how I should react to them, but have decided that for the time being, I'll just channel Yoda (small and silent unless he has something profound to say)...

1) Kiddo has 2 favourite dresses and a shirt/shorts combo that she will wear in preference to absolutely anything else. I'm not kidding. We've tried hiding them, delaying the washing... Nothing works. She will very calmly ask the maid to please wash it today so she can wear it tomorrow. Anyway, I was gazing upon her stuffed wardrobe, eyeing the lovely (expensive) clothes she has and decided that it was time for a little chat about this clothes issue. We went through colours ('it's not about the colour, mom'), flowers ('I just like the flowers on these, mom'), beads ('this one has pretty beads')... Finally, she just looked at me and said, 'Mom, you just can't POSSIBLY persuade me to change my mind...' Accompanied by an exasperated eye roll!! Uh. Dumbstruck mummy. Do I laugh at the statement, or yell about the eye rolling? That night The Man and I had a little discussion on how we would have worded this differently... 'Oi! I'm not changing my mind-lah!' was the general consensus on how we would have responded. Proud mummy was on one hand thinking what a grammatically elegant statement that was, on the other thinking 'Oh no, my kid can out-talk me at 5 and a half!! And what's with the whole eye rolling thing?! '

2) I've always known that kiddo is an advanced reader. After all, she read our Bill Bryson Aussie commentary when she ran out of books on holiday. So I decided to test her using the Sonlight homeschool reading assessment. My biggest worry is always selecting books with the appropriate content for a 5-6 year old. And Sonlight does provide some guidelines on book selection based on age/level. So there we were, reading through lists of words that are supposed to gauge reading readiness. 5 minutes later, kiddo had read all the words including those for level 7 (roughly age 13). The test stops there as beyond that, ability is no longer the limiting factor. Again, befuddled mummy. Then she turned to me and said, 'Mom, what's dominion, and sundry, and capillary and condescend...' Out of the 10 words, she understood none of them!! Ok, ok, some of them even I would have trouble explaining, but my most immediate thought was, 'Crap, what happens if she hasn't understood ANY of the gajillion books we've spent so much money on??' Response to my suddenly rabid insistence that she ask my about ANY word she doesn't understand from now on, 'But I haven't come across a word I don't know in a really long time mom.' So, I've decided that I shall be guided by the Sonlight curriculum and we shall have 'together' reading time so I can make sure she understands at least some of what she reads.

After all this,I feel like a totally inadequate mother. Either I'm complaining she's too mature and out talking me, or that she behaving like a toddler and whining. Poor kid...

I can picture Yoda in my head, perching upon a rock, swivelly ears, walking stick, googly eyes... 'Calm, you must be... For, though smart, child, she be...'

Randon Musings....

Why is it if I give my life for my family I'm a martyr?
Why do I get called overprotective if I'm concerned for my child?

Why is being godly the same as being holier than thou?
And why am I fussy if I choose to be particular?

Being aware of my health REALLY doesn't make my a hypochondriac,
And how does being cautious of strangers mean I'm paranoid?

Does wanting the best for myself mean that I'm selfish?
Does wanting the best for my child mean that I'm demanding?

If my methods of organization differ from yours, why am I the messy one?
If I enjoy certain things done a certain way, how does that make me obsessive-compulsive?

If you speak your mind, you're direct;
If I speak my mind, I'm rude.

How come when you refuse to be budged you're persistent,
but when I refuse I'm obstinate?

When you think, you're a philosopher;
When I think, I'm neurotic.

So if I'm a thinking, concerned, cautious, stay-at-home-mom;
Does that then mean I'm a neurotic, overprotective, paranoid martyr...?

Japan part II : The skiing

View of the main Hirafu runs at night

For The Man and I, this was the second time we had been skiing. First time was in Maria Alm, Austria, and great fun, but it was end of the season, so we had more slush than snow and powder was something we used to prevent chafing. Also, The Man had a rather amusing encounter with our previous ski instructor that put him off group lessons. Our previous ski instructor, to put it mildly, was a hunk. Very, very hunky... He was great with the ladies of the group, but when my big baby fell over, promptly skied up to him and said, 'S*** happens' and skied off again! Hilarious. Less so for my subcoordinated (is uncoordinated more rude? Hmmm...) spouse. So, it's been 7 years since we've donned those cement blocks masquerading as ski boots, and wielded the mighty rapiers of doom... i.e. ski poles.

Well, for those new (or old, or anywhere in between) to the sport, I have 2 words for you. Brian Findlay (http://www.instructoracademy.com). 'Nuff said. Instructor of instructors. The man with the never ending repertoire of analogies from which surely something will trigger the 'Ah-ha!' light bulb moment for you. The man who got my malcoordinated (sound better?) hubby swishing down the slopes with no spills, thrills or wipe outs. Unlike the last time where it was harder to find a non-painful patch of skin than green grass in the arctic circle.

We were pretty hopeless when we met up with him for the first time. Decked out in our new goggles and rented gear (yup, this time we had helmets. Made everything worse. Like I couldn't already see and hear well enough, had to add a handicap...), we did the stiff legged, hip rolling, step, drag walk that seasoned skiers pull off with such panache. Except we looked like marionettes operated by a puppeteer who'd tipped one too many the night before. So there we were, students of the instructor's instructor. I didn't even bother trying to look like I belonged. Anyone who'd seen us schlepping across the snow dragging our skis and poles, and whamming ourselves on the (thankfully helmeted) heads would've been able to tell we were rank amateurs. No class, no style. But I can tell you within the 1st 5mins that helmets are a necessity!!

Then he said the other side of the mountain was better, he'd drive us there. More awkward shuffling. And we piled into his van. Note to self, don't do up the ski boots till you're certain it's time to put the skis on. When you're as short as I am, fastened ski boots mean virtually no movement below the knee. Walking is a weird rocking from heel to toe that make it virtually impossible to climb into a van. I essentially flung myself in full body and dragged myself into a sitting position. Kind of like a seal dragging itself up the beach. And NOT the cute fluffy baby seals at that. Think blubber, flopping, olympic weight lifter grunts...

Reaching our destination, which was only about 5mins away (everything in Hirafu Village is about 5 mins away from everything else), we piled out of the van (I mean that literally). Brian gave us a few refresher tips, and said, 'Well, you know how to snow plow right? Let's head to the lifts!' Waaiiiitttt!!!! Too late. Off he went and we had to follow. I was just praying that I'd a)get there without falling (too embarrassing) b) not knock anyone done in the process (too embarrassing) c) just get there... Well, there's something to be said for jumping in the deep end. Both of us got there without falling, hitting anyone, running into anything... Not very gracefully perhaps, but get there we did. Whew, now for the next step, getting up the ski lift...

This is simple for seasoned skiers. Nothing of great import. Part of daily life. A necessary pause in life that lets them get to the next stage of swishing gracefully down pristine white slopes. Not so for us. More like a stumbling swish, swish trying madly to get to the green line before the chair comes and bashes you behind the knees. Then it's followed by an ungraceful flop into the chair while trying to deal with poles that really want to go somewhere else, skis that would like to cross and wham your seat partner's shins (Imagine 2 beginners on together. Seen Laurel and Hardy?), and the ubiquitous bum shuffle you have to do 'cause you didn't realize you sat right on the edge of a (rapidly) moving seat that is now 500ft (I exaggerate, but it FELT like that) above the ground. Not to mention, NO SEATBELTS (Obviously the higher ones do, but the ones you go up as a beginner don't). Then just as you're about to get comfy, the weight of the boots and skis feel like they're about to yank your feet off at the ankles... Before you know it, you're at the top. Now you have to coordinate standing up at the line, skiing straight down, making sure your weapons don't brain someone in the process, and, most importantly, GETTING OUT OF THE WAY! Then comes the fun part. Trying to get down a slope standing on 2 planks and holding oversized chopsticks. Unbelievable that it can actually be fun!

All in all we had 3 half days with Brian, kiddo had the other halves. Bringing us to a total of 3 full days. Brian's ski school only does private lessons. So I guess you could have a group of pals doing it together, but we found it perfect for us since we were equally inept, and group lessons tended to leave us feeling rather dissatisfied. Kinda like standing at a pub trying to order a drink and the bartender gives you a sprite when you asked for a spritzer. Then has no time to retake your order...

In any case we had an awesome time. Not to mention being thoroughly entertained by Brian who is clearly highly in demand as a ski instructor and has done heliski tours and been privately flown all over the world to give private lessons etc. Like I said, his skills were totally wasted on us. Still, he's been in Niseko for yonks, and had lots of very interesting little snippets of information for us. Not to mention speaking perfect Japanese! Hats off, kowtow, you get what I mean. In 1 day we were as good as we were after 3 days before. We'd also only fallen over twice each. More topples than the screaming, flailing, flashes of your life thing that happened previously. After 2 days, we were as good as we had been after a week. And after the 3 days, we were better than we could've possibly have imagined. We were parallel skiing!! Kinda...ish... Still, yay!!


Brian and the kid on a ski lift


Now onto the kiddy's experience. For the first 3 days, we stuck her in day care when we were having lessons. It was about USD25 for either the morning or the afternoon sessions. These were run by the large hotels and there tended to be very few kids in there. Kiddo put up with it, but after the first day questioned why she had to be there since she wasn't 'a baby'. Tough luck kid, learn to ski and you can be out with us, be belligerent about learning and stay with the babies! Monster mummy rears her head...

Brian was phenomenal with the kid. He started by sticking her on one ski, telling her they were her sharks and scooting her off with him to find food for them. There was something about shark bellies and happy sharks and all. Wasn't listening to the details, but kiddo was burbling on about it for ages after, so whatever it was, it worked. So there they were, skiers were sharks and snowboarders were whales. All of a sudden... 'Auntie N!! She's a white whale' was announced at the top of a piping little voice. ACK!! Oh earth swallow me now... That was unexpected and MORTIFYING!! Luckily N has a good sense of humor and just laughed it off. Not so funny were the declarations of, 'There's a purple/ red/ black whale...'



There were a few worrying moments for daddy and mummy throughout her lessons. We saw the death of all further ski holidays when she mournfully said to Brian, 'Uncle Brian, my sharks aren't hungry anymore. Can we build a snowman instead?' I could see The Man cringing. At USD450 for 5 hours a day of private instruction, this would probably be the most expensive snowman in history... Still, she ended her journal entry for the day with 'I love skiing!' Totally worth it in my mind.


First 2 days were touch and go for the kid. I could see her wavering between 'Hate it, never want to do it again' and 'It's ok, but not my first choice'. Poor Brian spent those 2 days with her pretty exclusively skiing backwards since she wouldn't move without him in front of her. Nail biting for the parents who already had visions of more ski holidays, custom ski boots, etc etc. Not to mention we'd already plonked down the GDP of a small country on goggles, gloves, winter boots for her... She kept us hanging for 2 whole days. What a tease. Then on the third day, all of a sudden it was 'Watch me!! I can go FAST!'. It was a 'whew'/ 'crap' moment. 'Whew' because next year is HAPPENING people! 'Crap' because I now had visions of her turning into a speed demon... Just think of it... Motor bikes, race cars.. oh NO!! Biker boyfriend!!! *swoon* For obvious reasons I didn't mention any of this to my feet on the ground spouse, he might have just tried to smack some sense into me...

Last day of skiing was a revelation. Our little nervous Nellie was zooming down the hill and skidding to a stop 6 inches in front of other skiers. We saw lots of 'startled deer in front of headlight' looks. All were incredibly understanding and seemed more amused than anything. Inside they were probably thinking what an undisciplined brat the kid was. With parents that had obviously no control over her. They certainly weren't far wrong. We have videos of her barreling down the hill with me racing behind yelling, 'Turn!! Stop!! Slow down!!' Kiddo's reply was, 'Why? I know how to stop...' Grrr. Well, I certainly feel like I spent the whole morning apologizing. Though realistically, since she only did the run 5 times, it can't have been that much.

You may wonder why I haven't posted much on the other members of our little group. Well, JT the black whale, and L and P the sharks were in a totally different league. They were talking about going across the ridge and through trees... We never really saw them. Just a bit in the morning and then again for dinner. Last few days, it was dinner capped off with monopoly deal. Action, action!!

That pretty much sums up our experience. We were there from the 22nd of Feb till the 28th of Feb. To us the snow was great, but apparently it was pretty late in the season and wasn't powder. We heard lots of people say that Niseko was THE place to be for powder snow. So next year we'll be aiming to get there earlier in the season. You can bet the first person we call after making our accommodation reservations will be Brian.

PS : Brian's academy also has the same kind of private lessons for snowboarders. After 2 days of abuse to her derriere, N finally hired the snowboard equivalent of Brian. She too ended up singing his praises...

Japan part I : How we got there

February 21st 2010. We set out on our 1st ever ski trip as a family, 1st ever greater than 6 hour journey (it took us 36 hours to get to Niseko due to our desire to cut costs and travel on miles. Normal would have been about 12 if we did the same route), and 1st ever trip to Japan (for me and the kid).

We started out making the short 1.5hr hop to Singapore, then spent the next 10 hours catching up with friends and relatives. In retrospect it was actually a really nice break seeing as I have no idea when we'll next be back. Also, it was a great opportunity to tire the kid out so that she would sleep on the overnighter to Tokyo. Which she thankfully did. Crashed at 12 midnight before the plane even took off and we woke her at the other end at 7-ish when we landed at Narita. We flew the A380!! I'd like to say how fantastic the facilities were and all that, but seeing as I pretty much slept the whole way, all I can say is the movie selection looked good... The man was obviously not best pleased as he kept mentioning the flat beds in business class etc etc. WHATEVER! If you fly the whole family to Japan using points, you ain't gonna have enough to go business... Still, we all got our little sleeps. Me with enough space to really stretch out (Ha! All you people who laugh at my height! Always told you it's better to be 5'1"!! See who has the last laugh now!!), kiddo sleeping horizontally with her legs propped on this little box-like storage space (good seat, space beneath the seat in front and also next to you) next to each window seat (Yup, she takes after her mummy)and the human pretzel also known as daddy... I looked over at some point during the flight and couldn't believe my eyes. He was sleeping diagonally with his head kind of balancing on the head rest, with his legs propped up next to the kid. I'm sure if the plane hit turbulence, he would have hit the floor. Heh...

We got in to Narita at 7ish. Bundled the kid into the toilet (all of you out there with kids would immediately understand why this is even mentioned) and went out to catch the airport transfer to Haneda, our domestic airport transfer to Chitose in Hokkaido. This was another 2 hours-ish in a bus. Which was smooth and really comfy. We all slept through. Which was a bonus as the Man and I were anticipating a lot of 'are we there yeeetttt's. On reaching Haneda, we caught up with my cousin L and his wife P and went to check in for our domestic flight. ANA (the airlines we used) was really helpful, we were early, there were seats on the earlier flight, so voila! We flew early.


View of south Hokkaido from the plane

Another 1.5 hours and more sleep (yay!) for all later, we landed in Chitose airport in Hokkaido. More meeting up with friends N and JT (not THAT one), and we were complete as a group. On to the bus transfer to Niseko... There was a lovely lady giving out what looked like really important information, but I didn't understand a word... Oh well. Unfortunately, we had to wait a bit outside for the bus. It was FREEZING! Poor kiddo had never been this cold in her life, and I REALLY didn't want her woken up fully. The bus ride takes 3 hours. And I was hoping she would sleep more...!



Another lovely, comfy bus. The Man asked kiddo if she wanted to sit with him. Nope, she replied, she wanted Auntie N. After some woeful looks from daddy, the kid replied with, 'Sometimes it's not all about you Daddy...' Hee hee... Got you there. Quoted verbatim!

More sleep...

1.5 hours later, we had a rest stop at a truly amazing rest area. It had fresh produce, lovely little cake things (I tried some of N's 8 then went and bought 16) made fresh with all sorts of filling. The caramel ones are terrific! It also stocked some winter wear, souvenirs...

More sleep... (more like zombified staring at this point)

Hirafu Village!! Finally!! It was probably about 5-ish in the evening and we had been on the road since 9am the previous day. Us parents were pooped. Kiddo was full of beans... Bustling around the welcome centre like a little Michellin man. So comical... We then had ANOTHER transfer, but luckily this was only to the next street where our apartment, Kira-Kira, was. Now this apartment was really the bees knees. 3 separate bedrooms, 1 ensuite, 1 shower/bath, 1 WC with typical Japanese heated seats and warm water washer/ dryer to save you wiping... Cool, but apart from the seat warmer, I couldn't bring myself to use the washer. Lots of partial attempts, but I always chickened out in the end... The apartment had cooking facilities, a full complement of crockery, a dish washer, vacuum, washing machine, tumble dryer... Wall mounted shampoo and soap dispensers, clothes washing powder... And a lovely large dining table and sofa set (that to my mind could easily sleep 2 people ).

Then it was showers all round and out to dinner at Sou. A truly FABULOUS shabu-shabu (Japanese steam boat) restaurant. The beef and pork slices were melt in your mouth tender. And the salmon sashimi absolutely to die for... L had a drink called calpis (try saying it fast... Hee hee) which is some yogurty drink. But don't let that put you off. It's really, really yummy. The girls had Umeshu sodas. This is a plum wine that says 4% alcohol on the box, but obviously if you mix it with soda, it's practically non-alcoholic right?? In any case, it's lluuurrrrvvveeely.... Had LOTS of it in the one week we were there.

After dinner it was a 10min trudge back to the apartment. Uphill!! It had also started snowing heavily and was a wonderful 1st time experience for the kid. Tongue sticking out tasting the snowflakes... Pelting the grownups with snowballs... Or actually I think it was the grownups that were doing the snowballing... Hmmm...




Then the stops for snacks. Hokkaido is famous for it's food. We went back to the apartment laden down with local cereal, bread, milk, umeshu (of course!), ice cream (I know... crazy isn't it. But the apartment was really, really warm), chocolate...

That wrapped up our 1st day in Japan. Next would be the beginning of our ski holiday and all round eating fest.

Race throught the last month

The last month has been very, very hectic... Hong Kong for 4 days, our maid sacking herself (don't ask, a very long and winding road leading to nowhere), a week of being 'mummy-maid', capped by almost 2 fabulous weeks in Japan. Am in the process of downloading the photos. And when I do, it'll be skiing, Disneyland and FOOD!! From now on Japan=Food. Till then...!

I have also come to a conclusion... It is virtually impossible to satisfy your family. No matter what you do as a stay-at-home mom, it will never be enough. When we didn't have the maid, it was endless complaints of laundry taking a long time, missing items, stuff not cleaned up to standard, me being tired, me being in a bad mood (Kiddo devised a 'mood monitor', with 4 options for angry, so she wouldn't have to ask me how I felt 'cause sometimes mummy, your face is just like that, not happy, not sad...' *slap forehead*)... When we DID have the maid, it was complaints about the maid misplacing things, not doing something or the other... Sigh... I give up. 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. Sometime I really want to do the whole Exorcist head spinning thing, then maybe I won't get bugged so much!! Arrrggghhh! As a friend said to me, 'They get used to being pampered and having you deal with everything.' Well, the new maid just started work today. From now on , if I get anymore complaints, I shall say, 'Tough. Do it yourself!'

By the way, I DO love my family...

Long weekend away to Hong Kong

Kiddo and I just returned yesterday from an EXHAUSTING weekend away to Hong Kong. We're trying to pack as many holidays as we can into the next 6 months as Kiddo starts Grade 1 in August. As it is, her teacher is none too happy with the number of 'ponteng' (truant) days we have taken so far. The comment the other day was, 'Is your husband an athlete?? You've taken days off for his triathlon, diving and now skiing!' Um. Weeellll....

Anyhow, this holiday was planned in about 3 weeks. During the Christmas holidays, my Dad mentioned that he would be in Hong Kong for 5 days at the end of January. At that time, I didn't think much of it, but we later found out that the Man had to be there the same time on business. So, long story short, we cobbled together a trip for the same time. We even stayed in the same hotel in Kowloon although we only met for dinner on Saturday and Sunday, and lunch on Monday. Heh, Dad = food. We flew in Friday night and back to Jakarta Tuesday morning. The flight took about 4 hours and was really good. Set up of the video screen and meals was much better than our usual carriers. We flew Cathay Pacific and it was marvelous. Of course, they gave out little kiddy packs too. That always helps.

It's currently winter in Hong Kong. Meaning that for those of us who have lived in the UK, the weather was a balmy 20C with light breezes. A light cardi was all that was needed for the nights. Saw lots of winter coats and knee high boots around. Overkill, but super fashionable.

Saturday saw us hopping on the MTR (Hong Kong version of the London tube) to Disneyland. Brilliant way to travel. Convenient, fast, and announcements are trilingual. Disneyland was lovely. I have always loved Disneyland. Nice clean, organised streets. Cheerfully lit store fronts... Piped music... I want to LIVE there!! Imagine... Address: # Sleeping beauty Avenue, Disneytown. Or, Snow White Glade, Pocahontas Valley... I digress...

We hit easily 90% of the rides. Kiddo wanted to do EVERYTHING. Which was rather a surprise actually. We expected a fair bit of resistance, but once she tried out the Mad Hatter's tea cups, she was on a roll. We didn't even stop for lunch! Peckish? No problem! Box of yummy caramel popcorn while waiting to enter the stage show. Still hungry? Here, have a bite of a foot long hot dog while waiting to go into the Lion King show... That was the 1st time we've been so lax about food, but we knew dinner was going to be a feast, and since she wasn't complaining, and Daddy was given enough to prevent him from morphing into the monster at the climax of MIB I (the slimy roaring one that ate everything it saw!), I decided to just go with the flow... All the usual rides were there: it's a small world, pooh and the hundred acre wood, buzz lightyear, space mountain (we didn't go on that), princess carousel, flying dumbos, tarzan's treehouse (not sure the point of that actually)... The Lion King show was very, very good. Things have certainly changed since the last time we have been to a Disney park. Admittedly that was 10 years ago in Florida and we were still DINKs.

HK Disneyland opens at 10am. We got there just before 11am and stayed till almost 7pm.Prices were HKD 950 for the 3 of us (about RM450/ USD150). Food within the park is pretty expensive. Captive audience and all that. Not that we ate much. Still, as our little princess' 1st visit to a Disney park, it was a rousing success. If not for having to meet my Dad and his friends for dinner, we would have stayed for the fireworks. No matter. Tokyo Disneyland in 3 weeks!

Sunday, we hit the Science musueum in Tsim Tsa Tsui. The original plan was to do both the Science and history museums then go check into the Hotel we stayed in on HK island. Unfortunately, we ended up spending over 3 hours in the Science museum and ran out of time. Oh well, next time. The science museum was very interesting. They had old rotary phones that were exposed so that you could see how the connection went through. And also all sorts of games that illustrated how things worked... Power stations, electricity, phone operators, mobile phone towers... Fantastic. Sunday night we went to a Teo Chew restaurant on HK island. Can't remember the name but it's 37-39 Queen's road West. Incredibly yummy. Had food like my grandmother used to cook. It also cost HKD23,000 (RM12,000/ USD3,000) for the 18 of us. I only found out the cost the next day when I was chatting to my Dad. My jaw dropped and I'm so glad I only found out the next day. No WAY would I have been able to eat it if I knew the price beforehand...!

Monday Hubs had to go to work. So kiddo and I trekked up to Sham Sui Po on Kowloon island to do some bead shopping. Didn't buy much, but kiddo got a look at 'real' HK street shops. As it's nearing Chinese New Year, all the decorations were out, and there were vendors selling wax ducks etc. Wonderful. Lunch saw us wandering off to Harbour view City on the south west coast of Kowloon. We met my Dad and a couple of his friends there and had more good food. Then we walked around the shopping centre which was obscenely huge. LV is 3 stories high (!!). There's a Manolo Blahnik, Kate Spade and Jimmy Choo (drool)... And also any other branded goods store you can possible name. The entire ground level of the Ocean terminal (one end of this store) is devoted to kids stuff. Dior, Tommy Hilfiger... you name it. Tucked into a little corner next to Toys R us is a little bookstore called Book Buddy. Unassuming and messy from the outside, but if you spend a little time checking out the inside, it's chock full of fantastic finds... Kiddo was in heaven. And of course, since grandpa was there, she literally walked out with the whole store. Trust me, I know. I carried ALL of her finds...

Tuesday saw us returning to Jakarta. The Man moved on the Singapore for more work. HK was nice. Though very, very expensive. A bowl of noodles in a small restaurant can easily set you back USD10. Taxis are exorbitant. The meter starts at HKD18 (USD2.50). The MTR is a fantastic alternative. A HKD 100 trip from Kowloon to HK island cost HKD15.50 for kiddo and I. It truly is a shoppers' paradise. And so alive... I love the neon signs suspended over the streets...

All in all. Great trip. I would have liked to take her to Tai O village, a traditional fishing village built on stilts. But apparently it's better in summer. And being over an hour away, we just didn't have the time. End of the day, the only thing I would have done differently would have been to bring a bottle of face scrub along. Believe it or not, I actually think HK is just as dirty pollution wise as Jakarta (not general cleanliness though. Toilets=sparkling, streets=no trash. HKD1500 for littering). 5 days = 5 spots. Gaaakkk!!

Random pics...

Got caught in a Monday morning traffic jam. There I was in my nice, comfy air conditioned car. Having a nice little picnic breakfast... When I looked out and saw this bus ahead. Made me feel very spoilt and over indulgent. This is Jakarta for you.






A scrapbook I made for my friends the Cs'. It contained photos of our holiday together in Sambolo. A lovely beach resort about 4 hours away from Jakarta (with traffic). Unfortunately, you have to lug everything, including microwave and ovenette, along.



A 'clip' board inspired by the 'handmade' magazine that I borrow from my friend and fellow crafter L. Kiddo has many, many clips. But barely uses most of them as they are chucked into a drawer. So she always uses the same 5. This way, she can see all of them and match them with her clothes too! Asked her what words she wanted on the board. Reply, 'Clippy things, of course!'. Hmmm, yes, of course... Duh...



The trampoline in the apartment complex. Kiddo is the one with her legs in the air. The other 2 kids belong to the Cs'. Lovely, sweet kids...



A little accordion photo holder I made for my friend's birthday commemorating her first year in Jakarta.

No more penguins! Yay!

That's it! The end of the whole penguin issue! For those who were not previously aware, kiddo has spent the last 6 weeks rehearsing for a preschool oratorical competition. I know, I know... My first reaction was to burst out laughing and to tell the teacher that there was no way on this green earth that MY kid would ever agree to go up and speak on stage. Nope. Not happening. But Daddy and I thought, well, it's a good opportunity, she should be given the chance and not stopped because of her parent's hang ups... In the end, I'm glad I did.

We rehearsed at home till she was confident, then she practiced a bit in school. But it wasn't till yesterday that I found out that she wasn't doing any of the actions at school because she felt too self-conscious. Oh well, too late to do anything and my kid definitely isn't the performing type anyway. So we spent all yesterday repeating 'Don't forget your actions...!' till I felt like a broken record. All to no avail...

Today's event was organised by the Singapore International School in Kebon Jeruk, just out of central Jakarta. Except we got lost, and spent an hour going around that area. Not nice. Still, we got there on time, and kiddo was quite happily chatting to her friends. Although there WAS a little moment when she spotted the stage and I thought she was going to balk right there and then and demand to go home.

Kiddo was 3rd on the list. Her friends were 1 and 2. Talk about pressure! She was a great little trouper. Delivered her spiel flawlessly. But... NO ACTIONS!!! ARRGHHHH! I could've ripped my hair out! Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic that she did it let alone so smoothly, but she (and we) had been working on it for 6 weeks! For her to suddenly omit it was sooo disappointing... Anyway... What's done is done. The kids who won were very, very good. Regular little show people. Although, I'm convinced that if she did her actions, she would have won *wink*.

In any case, there is much more to life than this. At least now she (and we) know that she is definitely capable of speaking in public. Performing though, is a whole different ball game.

Well done Kiddo! Daddy and Mummy are SUPER proud of you.

Shrink film is the bees knees!!

Yesterday afternoon, I tried out shrink film for the 1st time. I have decided that I love the stuff! In fact, I like the little medallion I made yesterday so much, that I made another today to wear as a pendant. This time, I took blow by blow photos. The shrinking is unbelievable! If you look at the photo, the large circle with flower on the right is the original size. The little one on the left is the finished size.




Step 1 : Cut and stamp. I used a 3 3/4 inch circle die with prepunched hole and a Stampin' up flower stamp from the fifth avenue floral series. The ink was reflective interference ink in sterling frost from the Tsukineko Opalite range. The instructions suggest sanding the film 1st, but I decided to just give it a go with and see what happens... It's pretty slippery, so stamp with steady hands!







Step 2 : Shrink! I used my heat tool instead of the oven although the product sheet says you can do both. I figured I would get better control with my heat gun. Just run the heat tool over the cut and stamped film and watch the show! Try not to get too caught up in the theatrics of it and keep moving the tool around, or your film will look like something out of Picasso's dreams. Not to worry even if it happens though, just flip it occasionally from back to front and it will sort itself out. After that, squash it in between 2 books while it's still a little wobbly, give it a few seconds, and you're done!























Step 3 : I decided to go on and emboss it with some glitter (cause I LIKE sparkly things. No better reason than that...). So I just lightly pressed it on my embossing pad and sprinkled some Tsukineko sparkly embossing powder over it. Don't ask me what colour it is. The only words in English on the bottle are emboss and Tsukineko. Everything else is Japanese. Heat it again like you would embossing paper, and...

Voila!! You're done. Easy peasy lemon squeezy...

Bottom pics are the finished product before and after it became a necklace.

Points to note... Make sure the surface you're heating it on is not going to melt and warp while you're in the middle of your masterpiece. I suggest tweezers 'cause that bit of film can BURN! I found out the hard way.

Fun day with the ladies

Yesterday was a morning of indulgence for me. I packed the kid off to school accompanied by the maid and stayed home to await the arrival of my crafty ladies, L and A.

L is a friend from church who makes the loveliest cards. Check out her blog on . Long story short, we both realised that we like crafting and, well, birds of a feather and all that. Ever so often we troop off to each others homes to oo and aa. She has lots of embellishments, I have a lot's books; she's a traditionally creative cardmaker, I'm an experimenter. Lots of dramatic disasters using my way... but it's fun.

So, the morning was spent with the 3 of us gabbing away like magpies. Not to forget L's yummy food. She has an amazing cook, PakM, and we had otak, siu mai and pound cake. Talk about fusion! L is ALWAYS feeding me. It's embarrassing, but I can't resist it. Isn't that worse!?

A, the other lady who came, is a born entrepreneur. She has, I don't know how many different projects ongoing for various yayasans (charitable foundations). She also sells dried mangos. Very yummy. Apparently, according to a friend in the US embassy, agricultural wastage in Indonesia is around 40%. In the US, it's a rounding error. So A's husband has a friend who taught some local farmers to dry their surplus stock. So far it looks like it's working really well...

After a couple of hours of my showing off all the bits and pieces I've acquired over time from Pasar Mayestik (a fantastic fabric, craft, food and pretty much everything market) which is just around the corner, we decided to head over there anyway. Might as well, since L lives pretty far away and goodness knows when she might next get a chance to head this way.

There we were, 11am and browsing through Toko Maju, the best stocked, messiest, dustiest, most incredible craft shop in town. It's been at least a month since I've been back, and they had new things in. Oooo... ribbons, buttons, clips bases... Lets put it this way, I left a little poorer but very satisfied.

L and A eventually left for home at 2pm. I'm going to head back to play with my 'new toys'... Craft time!!

Parents-teacher conference again

That time of the year again. The quarterly PTC. I was grousing to the man about having to do a round trip of 1.5 hours to spend a total of 20 minutes with Kiddo's teachers, but in retrospect, I'm extremely pleased with the 2 discussions I had.

Kiddo is creeping up to 5 and a half. I'm not hugely concerned about the various subjects, but am interested in whether her behavior is consistent at home and school. After all, to my mind, any problems will cause behavioral mismatches between home and school. In any case, I was reassured by the teacher that she is just as chatty and frustrating to pin down at school as I feel at home. Heh.

The most amazing thing about the PTC though, was how the teachers were sooooo good at presenting further educational plans. I admit, I think my kid is a great one for language (I know, I know, proud mom!!). Her reading ability is at least 12, although when we were in the airport once, she ran out of books and read Bill Bryson's 'Down Under'. Having said that, I have no idea if she understood it. Anyway, the teachers agreed with me that she reads well, but instead of leaving it at that, they told me what additional tasks they were setting for her to improve her assimilation of what she reads. Horizontal learning, they call it.

So, for her homeroom teacher Ms.M, instead of reading her daily book and my signing off, she has to go to school and tell the teacher the story line and characters. Admittedly, 'This is snow, snow is white, snow is cold, I like snow' is not remotely challenging, but they made it slightly more detailed and she refused to do the verbal summary (GRRRR!! Come on Brat!! You witter on and on about whatever princess book you're reading at that point but refuse to tell the teacher about a 10 page book??). Well, the Kiddo does not like to do anything that she might not be 'perfect' at. So Ms.M decided to emphasize effort rather than perfection. Also, Kiddo's writing is appalling. Truly pathetic (I blame Daddy, his is no better. Just smaller...). So Ms.M is going to help her by assigning work on multiple lines instead of on a blank sheet of paper.

Her English teacher, the other Ms.M also agreed that she had no concerns about her reading. Also emphasized understanding. So from her, Kiddo is now being asked to write summaries of books she is assigned. Also, she is being asked to write little compositions that are longer than just 'I went to the beach'. Ms.M challenged her by asking her to include the who, what, when, why's (Light bulb moment! THAT's why she was chanting it non stop last week...). She will also ask for special permission for Kiddo to move away from the kindy section in the library to the grade school section.

Ultimately, I'm delighted with the school. The teachers appear to really know the kids and are tailoring the course work to fit them. Even in kindy. I really hope we stay for a significant part of Kiddo's education. I doubt we'd easily find such a good fit for her... Go ACS!!

Update on the new place

We've been in our new apartment for a month now. I LOVE it!! Wish we had moved in right from the start. Having said that, I may not then have gone on a 3 month shopping tour of Jakarta and found all the shops I did. Nor picked up the various hobbies I have... On the other hand, there are good friends living here that I wished I had met earlier. Still, regrets are pointless. I enjoyed our 2 years in Kemang, and it certainly allowed me to fully appreciate what we now have here.

The complex holds free exercise classes ranging from pilates and yoga to step and cardio. The instructors are good and the classes tend to be full. I have to admit, having the classes right below me makes it very easy to pop down. One of the problems I've always had with exercise classes in the past is the effort involved in getting there. More often than not, I just give up.

If those classes are not enough, then there are also additional classes that one can pay for. Lots of language classes, then taekwondo, ballet etc etc. The choices are endless. Kiddo elected to take additional swimming and piano classes. Maybe I'll take violin classes... never got around to it in the past. Hmmm...

All in all, this place is the bees knees. Everything is so convenient. Unfortunately, it's still subject to the vagaries of Jakarta traffic. Took me 1.5hours to get home today. Reason? Maybe because it's a Monday... Maybe the wind blew wrong...

Werner- the culinary maestro

Back in KL, in an old rehabbed alleyway (Changkat Tung Shin) that used to house dilapidated old buildings (and incidentally, my Dad's old family home), sit 4 of the most amazing European restaurants to be found. There's a wine cellar too, but that's not open yet. They are : El Cerdo (the piggy place), El Cerdito (the Tapas place), Lavaca (the beef place) and Piza (the pizza place (duh), which is the site of my Dad's old family house in the days when Pudu was considered suburban). Actually there's a little sign that says 'Werner's on Changkat Bukit Bintang'. Not sure what it's referring to, but it's very apt since it looks like he might be gradually taking over the whole street. I have but one thing to say... Bring it on Werner! I'll be there! (And so will my Dad, and cousins, and a whole host of other people who think Werner is a genius with food!)

Every time we go back on holiday, it's at least 1 if not 2 trips to El Cerdo. Werner must have started it about 5 years back. Possibly less. But the first I remember of it is my Dad taking me and a very little kiddo there for lunch when we happened to go by his clinic one day. In those days, it was a little, narrow, cubbyhole of a restaurant and honestly, we had our doubts that an upmarket (as opposed to your regular char siew stalls or family Chinese restaurants) piggy restaurant would survive long in a Muslim country. Especially since it was tucked away in a rather awkward place. In those days, there were only a couple of dingy looking pubs there and the parking was impossible. Werner and his nephew Andreas were there all the time, and the place was near deserted the afternoon we went. They were lovely towards kiddo (always a big plus), supplying her with colouring pencils and a piggy picture to colour in even though she was too little to do any of that. Since it was so quiet, the waitresses even came by and helped her do the colouring!! That's service for you... The food was AMAZING!!! The Jamon Serrano with rock melon even better than I remembered having in Spain. They even specially boiled pasta and brocolli for kiddo who, as expected, wouldn't touch anything on the menu.

Fast forward a few years to December 2009. Werner now has the 4 places up and running, countless renovations under his belt, and to hear my Dad describe it, is well on his way to monopolizing that street. There is also ample parking. Yay! And the dingy pubs are no longer dingy. Quite 'happening' now. Dad has got to know Werner quite well, and when Lavaca opened, was given a complimentary table to invite his friends! Wow... Stuff like that NEVER happens to me. According to Dad, Werner has worked all over the world, from Spain to Brazil. Ask him where he's from, and he'll say all over. Never got the details right since I'm usually too busy stuffing my face to pay attention to the 'grown ups' (go home, and I revert to being a kid again!) talk, but I think Werner is either German or Austrian. Hmm... Maybe Swiss... Ok, I'll stop now before I get more off mark.

I am delighted to say that over the past few years, the standards of his offerings have not dropped in the slightest. He's going from strength to strength and I VERY eagerly await what he's going to do next.

Last Saturday though, was truly something to write about... We (The Man, kiddo and I) had been to the new beef place with the Monkey family on the 26th and had a fabulous time. But The Man wanted the roasted suckling pig at ElCerdo, and I wanted MORE beef. After listening to us bicker about it for a while (a very SHORT while, it's my Dad after all, patience of a 2 year old except when it comes to his princess. That's the kiddo folks, not me, I'm just her PA :)... Just KIDDING Dad!!!), he suddenly whipped out his phone and called the ever capable Monica, Werner's right-hand-woman. Next thing you know, he arranged for dinner party of 16(!!) at ElCerdo, with beef coming over from Lavaca! They were willing to do him a favour 'cause he regularly does things like host dinners for 20 I guess. In any case, moos could go to the oink place but not the other way.

All I can says is, I salivate just remembering the food. I also remember that at one point I seriously thought that what the Romans used to do at banquets was very sensible (google it if you haven't got what I mean). The menu was as follows :
Starters - Jamon Serrano from Spain (RM38,~$10), Cesar's Salad (RM26), 4 different mini Sausages with sauerkraut and mash (RM24.50), Prawn cocktail (lost track for a bit while stuffing my face, so didn't get the price for this), Pork shoulder steak with foie gras (a New Year special, no price as not on the main menu- supremely yummy)
Mains - Wagyu rump (RM78- the MOST amazingly tender bum of a cow I've ever had the pleasure of sinking my teeth into *slurp*), Rib Eye (RM108), Slow cooked tender ribs (RM65), Roasted suckling pig (1/2 for 2 RM118, 1 for 4 RM219).
Dessert - Churros dipped in chocolate, apple crumble with ice cream (by now I was in NO shape to even look at the menu, so no prices. Sorry)

Like I said, not cheap, but worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY!!! When the roasted suckling pig is served, they offer you a plate to cut it with as proof of how tender it is. Word to the wise, unless you want to eat piggy chips, go ahead and make the first cut like they want you to, then give it over to the pros... You then have to smash the plate in a bucket. By putting your hands at certain points on the plate, you wish for love or money... Leave it to you to decide if if works. Werner allowed kiddo to smash an extra plate after she had so much fun with the first, thus forever ensuring a loyal customer in her.

They have a great selection of booze. But if you bring your own, be warned that corkage is steep. RM80 for wines and RM130 for hard liquor. They will provide the decanters if needed as well as water/ soda for mixing though.

All in all, Werner's restaurants are not to be missed. Can't wait for March when I go back again...

Back to reality

It's been an amazing Christmas holiday for us. But we're finally back to real life here in Jakarta. One could argue, though, that we are definitely not living in 'reality'. After all, how real can it be when I expect to be picked up and dropped off right at my doorstep? Or, I get annoyed that I have to carry the kid's bags to the car myself? Sure, if one were a billionaire it would be second nature, but we're just normal people... Hard to imagine just a few days ago I was loading and unloading shopping trolleys at carrefour all by myself, and driving around KL looking for parking spaces.

Anyway... We're back to our usual routine, and I shall remind myself that it's totally normal if clothes don't reappear in the closet the day after I chuck them in the wash basket.

Yesterday was kiddo's first day of school. Why a Wednesday? No idea. Except it gave me an extra day in KL, which is always welcome. Waking up was a real chore. Bleary eyes, incoherent speech, uncoordinated limbs... That was me, by the way. The kiddo was so excited with her new alarm clock that she practically leaped out of bed when it rang. Oh, to be young again and actually look forward to alarm clocks!

She also signed up for extra swim classes at the apartment we live in. 'But it's soooo much fun mom!' and also piano classes. 'I looovvveeee the piano!' Yes, we seem to have entered the age of exclamations...

I've come back to my crafty little haven. 3 weeks with no supplies and I was definitely suffering withdrawal symptoms. Eventually made a paper mache bowl just for something to do. Pathetic. At least now I'm back to having a whole bunch of new things to fiddle with. Thanks to finding supplies in the most unexpected places. Craft-haven on the 1Utama 2nd floor promenade would count as a big find this trip home. Together with the online store scrap-n-crop... Who says if you can't do, teach? If you can't do, SHOP! Hee.

Things I need to get on with now... Blog about Werner, restauranteur extraordinaire; finish my crochet projects before the japan trip; photograph my crafty things BEFORE giving them away, penguins...