B'day Boy

I and D' Boyz

Happy birthday to my baby boy! OMG...he is no longer a baby, he is a toddler now! But he will still a baby for me, maybe forever:) Can't believe a whole year has gone by since I gave birth! A lot has happened, in his life and mine, and it has been amazing for all of us.

We were in Cyprus on that day. So not much we can do other than had a big chinese lunch in a fancy chinese restaurant near the old kyrenia harbour. It was pricey but the food was good. Evan had lots of shrimp crackers and had his first birthday fried-noodle. Surprisingly, I found one of the waitress name is Putu, and of course she was a Balinese. I didn't expect to see any indonesian in that island, but I'm happy to finally found Indonesian who doesn't work as a maid. She was nice, looked smart and skilled.

It was late when we finally found a patisserie shop and they only have small cakes, so we bought a few. We used the only round cake for candle and photo. But Evan was so excited so that he smashed the poor little cake:).


we had to hold his hands so he wouldn't smashed the cake again. We were so busy with the b'day boy so didn't realise the candle was the other way around. (;p)

We had his b'day present at home. So the only present he got on that day was from the landlord of the villa we stayed in. It was a card, a pin, and 20 euro money, which then we use it for buying toys in the airport.

On the way back that day, we dropped by to a Church where packed with people. Apparently they were rehearsing for something that night. Not able to light a candle and pray, we ended up with talking with an African priest who then prayed with us for Evan's b'day! How special, heh?! :)

I and hubby look forward to watch him grow and to bring more happiness to our family. May God bless him.

Look at Evan's transformation since he was born!

A Year Has Gone

What did we do on new year eve? We got exhausted and fell asleep at 10! I was hoping to wake up from the sound of fireworks as we stayed in a hotel near the marina. But nope, we were all fast asleep and year 2008 gone just like that. It was of course year 2009 when I woke up to feed Evan at 3am. And apparently there were no fireworks or other event whatsoever. Everything's cancelled due to security reason, they said.

But at least we were out the house, and out of town this time. After all of the countries and places we planned to go we finally only manage to go down south of Jordan, Aqaba. It's a city at the seaside where the weather is good throughout the year, and where all the water activity is available. It's a small and touristic town about 4 hours drive from Amman.

The temperature around 17 degree, enough for us to wear coat while strolling outdoor. Still, warmer than Amman. The private beach at the hotel we stayed in was quite nice. But the water quite cold. Evan didn't like it, so we didn't play in the beach much. But it's nice to finally see real beach and sea. Other than that we enjoyed strolling along the town. Bit strange to see some couples walking hand in hand (as it wasn't allowed in the town we live in), or girls with short pants, or girls with bikinis.

Anyway, year 2008 was great. I have a baby boy, my sister got married - then pregnant, my little sister graduated and got a job, my mum visiting us in la la land, and we went to new and amazing places. What a busy year.

Year 2009 is here. This year will be another busy and exciting year with new things going on. Hope everything will goes as smooth as planned.

Happy New Year everyone.

Note: our holiday photos are available on the 'images'.

First Christmas

Christmas has finally here. This year was rather special. It's a first Christmas for Evan, first christmas for me to spend with 2 boys, first christmas with christmas tree and presents under the tree, first christmas without going to the church, and last Christmas here in Amman.

The little boy was spoiled with lots of presents. He looked a bit confused about what was going on. We let him unwrapped all the the presents including ours, which he enjoyed.

We were hoping to have a white christmas as winter came early this year, but we only have grey instead. It was a misserable grey, windy, wet, and cold day. Yet we have a warm house and heart. The only thing missing was a christmas Mass. It was hard to match the little boy's and mass' schedule. Was a relaxing, fun and warm christmas this year with the boys.

Merry Christmas. Peace in everyone's heart, peace on earth.

Before Year End

Some people asked me how I went with my pregnancy. Just realise that I didn't put much stories about it here. That was simply because I have other journal where I post the development of the bub every week and all the joy and complaint related to the pregnancy, including photos, ultrasound, and videos. But it requires permission if you want to have a look at it. Unlike other people who are pretty open to show her own tummy to anyone, for me I thought it's rather private. But I'll be happy to share it with my friends. Just send me message or email me.

In this time of the year, I thought I'll share with you a bit from my preggy journal.
Last Saturday I went to obgyn for another monthly check up and had another ultrasound. As I only can feel bub's nudges, and don't feel the kick yet, I asked the Doc if that's normal. He said the bub is kicking but I might not feel it because he is still small and this is my first so I might not sensitive enough to feel it. We could see through the ultrasound that the bub is moving a lot, and his heart is beating. Doc also said that the bub is now weight 900 gr. Good news is all are looking good, perfect baby, nothing to worry about. Doc also said to Hubby that I am worry too much!! Hhhh.... Hubby just laughed, very happy to get a partner in crime who agree with him since he's also been telling me over and over that I am worry too much about everything. (*ugh*). But I couldn't help being worry. I guess, it will happen to all women on their first pregnancy. I still think I'm normal! (*stubborn grin*) ....

Recently I'm craving for sweets more than usual. I even couldn't help myself to get a donut after ordering cheese croissant when I had small lunch with my friend last week. My friend noticed and said, ooh,.. I don't know if you like donut! :D Well, not that I like donut so much, usually I will not be bother. I was just looking at it and it look sooo tempting that time :) Also I started to eat more sweet, cakes, and biscuits at home.. and coke and teh botol!

I also do have itchy skin lately! around my belly, hips, thighs, and legs. I've been using body lotion and butter cream from Body Shop to reduce the itch and stretch mark. However, I haven't seen any stretch mark on my tummy by far. Hopefully never!

As for pregnant 'shape',... o ya,... I definitely have that shape now. Tummy is really growing, and it's getting bigger and rounder. I weight 56 kg, gained around 9 kg so far. I feel heavy on my lower back, and have a very bad back ache, particularly at the up left side. It's a hard work every night lately to be able to sleep well at night since it was very hard to find comfortable position to balance tummy and back.

The pregnancy went very fast without I even realised. It is only around 4 months more to go. I'm sure it will go very quick too. New Year is coming soon, next year will be very different and merrier for me and Hubby, with little bub come into our life. Can't wait!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Hope 2008 brings lots of great things your way, good health and happiness.

End of 2007, 24 weeks preggy.

So It Is Christmas

So Christmas is finally here. I was wishing for a white christmas, but unfortunately (or luckily), no snow today. :)

This year we are celebrating Christmas differently. No presents - as we thought we already have too much presents for ourselves during the holiday last month, we had no roast which Andrew usually make for Christmas lunch - as we didn't have time to do it. We went to church at 12pm on christmas day and invited to dinner at friend's house in the evening, and no church on christmas eve as we usually do every year - as I still not feeling too well and Andrew was tired from work. Yeah,... it sounds like very ordinary day.

But Christmas not always about presents, festive, and roast. We called and talked with both of our families in 2 countries, and we are glad they are all healthy and celebrated christmas safe and sound. We are thankful for our families and their support, thankful with our partner's warm companion, and especially thankful for the little bub coming. In the evening we had a great time at dinner with friends.

I feel blessed and happy. That's all I need on Christmas day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!
from both of us :)

Something I Missed From May

It was 13th of May last year,
when I firstly start this blog
accidentally,
just for fun.

didn't think I will go this far

didn't think I'm going to write this much

didn't think I'm going to post this much
didn't think I'm going to have so much fun

a bit too much so I didn't realised a year has passed

This might be a little bit too late

but I'm proud to say

happy 1st anniversary to my own blog ;p

Paskahan

Tahun ini jadi juga saya Paskahan di negeri kangguru. Apa sih serunya? Ternyata menarik. Paskah termasuk hari raya penting umat Kristen di seluruh dunia, dimulai dari hari Jumat (Good Friday), Saturday, lalu Easter Sunday dan Easter Monday. Yep,... disini hari Senin juga masih libur nasional. Karena baru pertama kali saya merayakan Paskah di luar negeri, saya jadi membanding-bandingkan dengan perayaan Paskah di Jakarta.

Perayaan Paskah di Jakarta bisa dibilang cukup besar, juga termasuk di Gereja saya, yang kebetulan salah satu Gereja Katolik di bilangan Kemanggisan, Jakarta Barat. Karena Gereja saya besar dan jumlah umatnya sangat banyak, sampai-sampai dibutuhkan panitia yang solid dan cekatan terutama selama masa tri hari suci. Mereka harus mengurus segalanya demi kelancaran dan keamanan misa mulai dari parkir, sampai klinik P3K. Dimulai seminggu sebelum hari Paskah, yaitu Minggu Palma, lalu Kamis putih, Jumat Agung, Sabtu suci, dan hari Paskah itu sendiri, sejumlah ritual misa yang tidak biasa dijalankan. Hanya dibutuhkan 10-15 menit dari rumah ke Gereja pada hari minggu biasa. Tapi pada 3 hari sebelum Paskah kami harus menyediakan waktu ekstra, berangkat sekitar 1.5 -2 jam lebih awal untuk mendapatkan parkir dan tempat duduk di dalam Gereja. Tenda dan bangku tambahan memenuhi halaman dan jalanan di sekitar Gereja. Bahkan diadakan Misa pada jam yang sama di Aula yang berjarak tidak jauh dari Gereja agar bisa menampung semua umat yang datang pada jam yang sama. Panitia pun harus siap dengan perlengkapan video, TV, sound sistem, kipas angin, dan lain-lain agar umat yang berada di luar gedung Gereja bisa mengikuti Misa dengan baik. Misa pada hari-hari tersebut juga bisa dibilang 'spesial', sehingga membutuhkan waktu lebih lama dari biasa. Jumlah umat yang datang terutama pada hari Jumat Agung sore bisa mencapai 2000 atau lebih orang. Maka kami bisa menghabiskan sekitar 6 jam dari berangkat sampai tiba di rumah lagi. Sangat melelahkan. Tidak jarang tim P3K sibuk dengan orang yang pingsan atau pusing. Heboh dan cape banget kayaknya ke Gereja aja ya. :)

Tapi di sini, tepatnya di Darwin, saya hanya sempat ke Gereja pada hari Jumat Agung dan Sabtu Suci. Seperti di Jakarta, ternyata misa terbesar pada hari Jumat adalah jam 3 sore. Tidak seperti hari Minggu biasa, ternyata kali ini Katedral cukup penuh. Dan tidak seperti biasa pula, misa dipimpin oleh Uskup disertai 4 Romo. Misa hari Jumat Agung di Jakarta biasanya super lama karena ada pembacaan kisah sengsara Yesus disalib yang dibacakan beberapa orang sambil bernyanyi. Di sini, kisah sengsara Yesus dibacakan tanpa bernyanyi oleh beberapa orang, dan umat di ikutsertakan dengan menjadi 'orang Yahudi'. Sepanjang pembacaan injil yang cukup panjang itu semua umat berdiri. Entah mengapa, dengan cara seperti itu malah membuat saya lebih bisa meresapi pembacaan injil tersebut. Apalagi dengan menjadi orang Yahudi....rasanya aneh untuk ikut-ikut meneriaki dan menuntut Yesus untuk disalib. Di Jakarta, saat pembacaan injil ini saya biasanya ngantuk dan bisa tertidur (psssst ! ;p). Tidak disangka pula, ternyata ada acara cium salib. Hanya ada satu salib, terbuat dari kayu dan besar, mungkin sebesar saya ;p. Salib dipegang oleh 2 orang di kanan dan kiri dengan dasar salib menyentuh tangga altar. Rata-rata orang harus berlutut bila ingin menghormati salib dengan mencium kaki Yesus. Tapi beberapa orang hanya menempelkan tangan pada salib sambil sebelumnya menyentuh bibir mereka sendiri. Total misa selesai dalam waktu 1,5 jam saja, dan hanya dibutuhkan waktu 10 menit buat datang dan pulang ke rumah. Gak ada macet.

Pada hari Sabtu suci, ada Misa yang disebut Easter Vigil dimulai jam 10 malam. Seperti kebiasaan saya di Jakarta, maka saya pun datang mengikuti misa malam Paskah tersebut. Di Jakarta malam Paskah dimeriahi dengan misa panjang dengan perarakan lilin Paskah, pemberkatan air suci dan pembaharuan janji baptis. Saya pun datang ke Gereja malam itu dengan satu tujuan, harus datang dan ikut Misa malam itu karena saya meragukan kami akan punya energi cukup buat ke Gereja hari minggu paskah (karena akan mengundang tamu untuk makan siang bersama, sehingga kami pasti sibuk masak dan bersih-bersih seharian penuh). Tidak berharap akan ada misa meriah dan lama seperti di Jakarta. Waktu kami datang, Gereja masih gelap, dan umat yang datang gak banyak. Dari jauh keliatan seperti tidak akan ada Misa. Saya sempat bingung... apakah kami salah jam ??.... Tapi ternyata tidak. Tidak berapa lama setelah kami datang dan duduk, ada orang yang menawarkan lilin. Waah! Ternyata misanya pake lilin juga! Tidak berapa lama Romo memberitahu umat untuk semuanya pergi ke luar, ke halaman depan gereja dengan membawa lilin dan tas. Maka kita semua, mungkin hanya ada sekitar 80-100 umat berjalan ke luar. Tepat di depan Gereja, ternyata sudah siap Uskup dan beberapa Romo dan panitia yang sedang membuat api unggun. Woow... I was excited! Kami pun menunggu sampai api cukup besar, lalu misa dimulai. Ada pemberkatan api, lalu pemberkatan lilin - saya belum pernah melihat perarakan dan pemberkatan lilin Paskah begitu dekat. Biasanya di Jakarta saya melihatnya lewat layar monitor TV yang di pasang di salah satu sudut Gereja, atau cuma denger suara saja. Lalu tentu saja lilin dinyalakan dan doa-doa dan nyanyian. Lalu kami mengikuti lilin Paskah yang diarak ke halaman samping Gereja. Disana ternyata sudah disiapkan beberapa bangku. Saya dan suami yang tidak dapat bangku duduk di rumput sambil lilin terus dinyalakan. Nice! Sayang mereka tidak pakai microphone, jadi saya kurang bisa mendengar beberapa injil dan doa yang sedang dibacakan. Tapi toh saya senang. Kapan lagi misa dengan lilin dipayungi awan dan bulan dan bintang. Setelah sekitar satu jam kami misa di luar Gereja, kemudian lilin pun di pindah ke dalam Gereja, dengan perarakan dan kami mengikuti dibelakannya. Setelah kami semua di dalam Gereja, koor menyanyikan lagu disertai kerincing lonceng di dalam Gereja dan lonceng besar di luar Gereja pun berdentang ramai. Lalu misa dilanjutkan dengan pemberkatan air suci, pemercikan air, pembaharuan janji baptis, dan lain-lain... sama seperti di Jakarta. Alhasil misa kali ini berlangsung lebih lama, sekitar 2 jam. Misa terlama di Darwin yang pernah saya ikuti, dengan jumlah umat tidak lebih dari 100 orang.

Waktu pulang, saya melewati gereja Katolik Ortodoks yang ternyata ramai banget. Orang-orang bahkan sampai mengikuti misa di jalan dan seberang jalan gereja! Bisa dibilang ini pemandangan langka di negeri kangguru ini, dimana orang banyak banget berkumpul di Gereja. Amazed! Saya jadi merasa Paskah, terutama malam paskah lebih meriah daripada Natal. Apalagi dengan berbagai ritual Misa yang jauh lebih dari biasa, bahkan lebih dari misa malam Natal. Jadi lebih berasa gregetnya (lho?...). Tapi satu hal, ternyata misa Gereja Katolik dimana aja bener-bener sama lho. Sudah terbukti. :D

Anyway,... Happy Easter everyone.

Christmas Story

Christmas is finally here.

For me who had lived for many years in Jakarta, I would expect Christmas in other country would be different. Not sure how different, but you know... Christmas in western country.. at least I expected will be merrier....

This is my 2nd christmas in this country. Last year we were in Adelaide. Both of us were quite a "new comer" at that time, we didn't have many friends. So only 2 of us, I was busy with hubby, didn't really look around the town and paid no attention to what's going on in the city.

Here, in Darwin, we had hot, humid, overcast, and rain instead of cold weather and snow, just like in Jakarta! Christmas tree were everywehere, but I could not see extravagant Christmas Tree in town (you know, the one that make you say "woooow..." and will feel like taking a picture of it..), no christmas parade, and no children singing christmas carols in the malls or streets. I even may say the christmas decorations in all places (cities, streets, malls) are not as nice and luxurious as in Jakarta. I also hardly hear Christmas songs in public places, until only few days before Christmas. So, it's pretty plain. But I saw nice christmas light and decorations in front of houses, and christmas shopping rush was different. Shops opened for late shopping, mall and shops full of people who bought presents and foods, and all are in the holiday mood. Yes, Christmas here is like Lebaran. Majority of people are celebrating it. Most of them gone to their home town, spend time with families, have a long break from work, and the shops are closed on the day.

But this year were were busier than last year. We had party, midnight Mass, lunch, friends, and lots of presents...! Yay! On Christmas eve, we were invited to an open house 'all night long' party. It was fun. Food was great. Wish we could stay longer for karaoke, games, and exchange gifts. :)

Around midgnight, we went to the Midnight Mass at the St Mary Cathedral. Although the weather was hot and sticky, the Mass and carols were beautiful. Glad to see the Church was full of people. Reminded me to my lovely old church in Jakarta. :)

Today, we invited some friends to come to our place for Christmas Lunch. Andrew cooked (of course). He's done a great job. We had a yummo roast pork and chicken. Plus lots of snacks, chocolate and lollies. We had nice friends coming over. Hope they are all enjoyed and had fun too.

Thank you for having us as guests on X'mas eve, and thank you for everyone for coming to lunch and thank you for the prezzies!
I guess I have had a merry Christmas this year. Surrounded by friends and spend time with lovely hubby (I wish our family could be here too... ).

Christmas is about love, peace, and share. Merry Christmas to you all, wish for peace on earth, peace in our hearts now and forever.

X-Mas Spirit

We are entering the end of month of the year. Another year will come very soon. But it also means Christmas is coming!

I did not think much about Christmas much until yesterday. After went through a tense Christmas shopping for my family in Jakarta (buying people gifts is a stressful task for me. I guess that was because I am so much want to make people happy, and so I would be busy thinking what to buy, and busy worrying if the person will like my gift, will it be suit, will it be fit, will it be useable, will it make them happy, etc etc etc...). Anyway, I finally got everything (i guessed),... and I spent lot of time yesterday wrapping and packing. It's now ready to be sent. Will do more Christmas shopping next week for Andrew's fam,.. means: another stress. :)

Heard couple of Christmas songs yesterday in the office. Instead of making me happy, it made me rather sad. Especially the melow sweet songs like White Christmas, I'll Be Home for Christmas, and Silent Nights. It reminds me to my family in Jakarta, and how we usually spend Christmas together. It did not feel special when I was there. But being here now, far away from them makes me realised how I missed that moments and how I missed and love them so much *sob..sob*

Today I felt a bit relax and all of a sudden I feel like doing things that relates to Christmas. I took out Christmas decorations and started to decor my little apartment. I even decored my blog and change the music. Haha.... It's a disco remix style of Jingle Bells. Just want to share a Christmas spirit to you all. Let's dance, Let's cheer, and prepare this Christmas with humble and peace in our heart.

This evening I planned to go to the Christmas Carol by Candle Light in Darwin's Botanical Garden. Hope it won't rain. It's a bit cloudy and windy now... Andrew has made a roast lamb this morning. We gonna bring it with other foods to share with friends there. :)

Another Celebration

November is such an important month for me and Andrew. It’s the busiest of the year... celebrating us getting older.... :)

After celebrating our birthdays few days ago, its time for another one,... Wedding Anniversary! Yes,…it’s been a year! I still remember all the tense, the stress, the sweet, and happy moments on the same day last year. Time has flies.. so quick! It also been a wonderful year with lot of love, fun and happiness, as well as a challenging year for us. Moving out, moving in, journey, trip, changes, etc. May I call this first as a time for us to settle in, to adjust to each other, to get to know each other better, to accept each other’s weaknesses, enjoyed each other companion and take pleasure in each other strength. Would be a lie if I said we never have our head bumped to each other. But I think we've made it good so far, hey?

Last year will become precious memories as we’ve made it together. Wish to have many wonderful years ahead and some more adventures together in the future.

Oh,.. and it is the time to enjoy the wedding cake, (again)! We had 3 storey wedding cake on our wedding. It's an old tradition of saving a piece of wedding cake, which that some couples, including us still hold to today. The custom is said that it was a sign of wealth for a couple to freeze the top portion of their wedding cake, thaw it out and eat it on their first anniversary. So that we kept the top portion of our wedding cake all these time. It was placed in a sealed box and been travelling with us all along. I dont know how it managed, but it survived during the movement and has been stored in the freezer most of the time. Here is the pic. I took it today. Some of the flowers were broken, but it still look lovely, isn't it?

Felt sooo bad to take all the decoration and icing. But I have to! I don't think the cake can wait any longer. It is a fruit cake, and has lot of rum, which could be a good preservative. Most cakes don't freeze well for long periods of time, but this one has been prepared with a freezer-safe layer that will last the year in the freezer. It might be still in a good condition, or might be not. Anyhoo, I finally managed to cut it. See the pic... By the look and smell of it, i think it's still eatable :) And we ate it. No tummy ache, and still Yum!. Who want some ??

Forever Young

Ouch, I'm getting 1 year older today! What's wrong with getting older? hmmm.... actually, it scared me a bit.

Same as many other people, I wish I could be 'forever' young! :) Life seems much easier when we were young. No need to worry about anything. Only worry about studies, and the rest is about fun, fun, and fun :)

I just recently noticed that I can easily get along well with people under my age. Some people did not believe if I am that old. I wonder if it was that because acted like twenty?? Or because don't look like mature enough? Was that because the way I dressed? But.... It doesn't matter if I acted as a child or adult.

I am who I am.

Be a good wife, good employee, good daughter to my parents and in-laws, good sisters, and good person to friends and everyone surround me. Enjoy life, Love, Laugh, be Happy, be Healthy, Pray and Praise.

It's been a wonderful life, i'm grateful for what I am and what I have.

I just simply want to be a better human....

Notes: Today I was still quite sick. Off from work, stay at home all day, did not do anything much. It was pelting down this morning, the first heavy rain in the wet season. Was such a gloomy, cloudy, and cool day. Perfect day for a b'day 'sick' princie. :)

Anyway, I felt better in the evening, and Andrew took me to a Thailicious for dinner. It was such a lovely place. We sat on the mat and cushions, surrounded by Thai's ornaments and statues. The food was also not disappointing at all. All good, including the price. We definitely will go back there :)

Thank you for the birthday wishes (and presents), everyone :)

Hubby Birthday

Happy birthday, babe!

Yep, today is Andrew's birthday. I only had small things and card for him. I handed them to him when he woke up. We agreed to have a lazy and (may be) shopping day today.

So I went back to sleep :) About noon, we went to the church to lit candles and prayed. Had lunch at chinese restaurant in town after that, and of course we had noodle. This time we also had yummy yum cha. Then shopping time!.... Andrew got few clothes, boxer shorts and formal shoes. He is happy like a little happy boy. :) Happy for you too, sayang! ;p

Anniversaries on Weekend

Last Saturday was a 'Territory Day', Northern Territory's 28th anniversary. To celebrate it, people permitted to let off their own firecrackers or watch a community fireworks display. That day was one day a year where amateurs can let off fireworks legally in Darwin. That night, people waited patiently on the beach for the professionals to start their performance, while in the streets and at homes amateurs upstaged them with the constant bang-bang of cheap fireworks. The opening salvo from the professionals, right on time, lighting up the sky making it very clear what the difference is between amateurs and professionals. We saw it from distance. Far away from the crowd. I heard there were about 10.000 people at Mindil Beach that night. However, we went to a quiet place for dinner instead. We went to the chinese 'sea food' restaurant in Fannie Bay, which the foods tasted like the "real" chinese food. Reminded me of the food in Hongkong and China I had back in 2003! Sooo yummy :) Anyway, eventhough the legal time to let off the firecrakers was only from 5pm-10pm, the bang-bang, sounds enough like gunfire continued until dawn!! It awoke me few times. Reminded me of the Ramadhan months in Jakarta. It's good that they are only allowed to do it in 1 day in a year.

Sunday, 2 July 2006 was 100 days anniversary of my grandma passing away. Besides of praying for her in the church, I and Andrew went to the beach for respecting and remembering her. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered over the sea. Floating flowers into the sea and pray, that is now how I paying her a respect. It was a sad moments but after all we've been through, only good and happy memories with her stay in mind, which I always treasure.......