WOW…July is almost over? Hard to believe how fast the weeks has gone by.

Here are some updates from my side of the world:

• I had join SITS in doing the ProBlogger‘s 31 Days to Build A Better Blog (31DBBB) since last Monday (July 19, 2010). Actually, I had ‘attempt’ to do this in January but never get to finish it so when the SITS girls came up with this I signed up and it’s more enjoyable to do this as a community. So far I’ve ‘met’ new fantastic bloggers through the challenge and although it’s not easy to keep up with the task especially during the weekend, I truly enjoy this challenge and hope to complete it along with so many other great SITStahs out there. Not only we get to learn many new things about building a better blog, it’s amazing to see how powerful these women can be working together as a team. Thanks SITS! It’s never too late to join in. Just click on the button below.

• On the job front: I had another job interview last Thursday at one of a prominent PR companies here in Jakarta. It was one something different, because although I did studied PR in college I never work as a Public Relation before and after finally admitting that I am too old by Indonesian standards to return to my previous career path as an Executive Secretary, I thought I’d finally give this PR thing a try. The company looks very promising, Love their atmosphere immediately but we shall see if I make it or not.

• Toddlerhood wise: Now I realize why I’m not suppose to be bone stick skinny again – because let’s face it, there’s no way a skinny body can endure such roughhousing Lil’ A loves to do! With a busy Daddy who travels a lot for business, he’s left with a Mommy to take on that part. Sigh! It is fun playing roughhousing with him although my back really begs for mercy. He’s over 40 pounds so yeah…Bengay here I come!

• Last Saturday I went on my first Photo Walk. It was a great experience – from my photography passion side but it’s also kind of sad because I got to see how poverty is still a huge problem in this country.

• On a lighter note: Tatter Scoops is being featured on Top Mommy Blogs and I really am stoked about it. Thank you so much for you who had voted. If you haven’t can you please vote for me? Pretty please, with a cherry on top?

Hope you had a great week and will have a better week ahead!

Couple of months ago when I went shopping at one of the ‘average malls’ here in Jakarta and in between trying on some blouses the very helpful sales associate asked me something that no one…had ever asked me before.

“Are you married to a bule*?”

My hands stopped mid-air while handing her back some of the blouses I just tried on.

“Uhm, yes. Why?” Someone ask you that, you just have to know why and I knew DH was at the play area with Lil’ A.

“Oh, it’s just your style…” she hesitated for a moment. “You just looked like that type of girl a bule will hook up with.”

*insert dropped jaws here…*

Of course she got me more curious and I tried to dig it out of her what is exactly a ‘typical bule style’ that she meant. She apologized first then went on to explain that she’s been working in a store for a long time and she can tell the difference just by the way her customers are dressing up.

Mind you that day I had a light tunic sleeveless top, an old super comfy jeans, bunch of bangles, a small messenger bag, a sandal, not much make-up, hair pulled up because that mall is pretty hot.

Was that a ‘bule-taste-style?’ I asked her to elaborate.

Shyly she said she thinks so. Most ‘bule wives’ are much more relaxed than other local women, according to her observations.

I asked her back “So because I don’t wear tons of make-ups and doesn’t wear sexy heels just to go to the mall, I look like a typical bule wife – do you mean that famous maid resemblance that some bule seems to be attracted to?”

Quickly she apologized for the second time.

Oh, I’ve seen so much of these stereotyping when it comes to a white guy and an Indonesian girl. Of course beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and sometimes the contrasts differences between a mix couple can be so ‘visually loud’ that people comes to think that all white guys only after those “dark complexion, buck teeth, and a high forehead typically found among remote mountain villagers in Java” as described by Thang D. Nguyen on his blog (too bad he shut down his blog!) but here’s an excerpts:

As my friend and I sipped our coffees last Sunday afternoon at Plaza Indonesia, he asked, “Don’t you think that many of the Indonesian women that white foreigners (buleh) go out with or marry are so unattractive?”

“They look like maids, don’t they” he continued.

“Not necessarily so,” I replied.

Beauty, like many things in life, is bound by the rule of relativity. In other words, what one man considers beautiful is ugly in the eyes of another.

Being an Indonesian himself, my friend’s view of a beautiful woman is that of a fair-skinned one, who has the look of a financially independent, educated, and classy lady.

Thus, in his eyes, an Indonesian woman with a dark complexion, buck teeth, and a high forehead typically found among remote mountain villagers in Java, is not beautiful.

A mix couple here still stood out like a sore thumb and no my skin is not too dark – it was darker back in States actually! I don’t have buck teeth and my forehead is pretty average – but still, I married someone with a white skin.

Back in the US these things never bother me…maybe because it’s been a country of such a huge ‘melting pot’ that people there are more open to interracial dating although there are some racist out there like mentioned by Paul from The Butler Way.

Here in Jakarta, I’m more self conscious when it comes to going places with my Mr. Bule. Why? Easy, because people stare more at us even with a screaming toddler in tow! Dress too sexily people will have that ‘Oh she’s an ayam**!’ look on their eyes, dress too casually then you fall into that maid stereotype.

I have to admit I’m somewhat more laid back now that I’m a mommy..yes I still love those heels and love wearing sexy things but it’s no fun wearing them and chasing down a toddler with the risk of breaking my neck or my ankle? Uhm…not cool! So for now, comforts are no.1 unless of course the boy is staying home.

If you’re a mix couple how do you handle this? If you’re not a mix couple, what do you think of one?

PS: *Bule = white people

**Ayam = chicks in a negative term

Darren from ProBlogger give this 7 Link Challenge that sounds like fun so I’m gonna jump and give it a try.

• Your first post

Well, this one is a bit tough since I’ve been blogging since 2005 first on Blogspot but I had deleted that blog then move to Multiply and when I moved here to Tatter Scoops just last year I ‘brought’ back some of my old posts. Read my frustration of having a Not-So-Asian-Figure.

• A post you enjoyed writing the most

I Used To Dream of Pink Bows. This is the one post where I poured my heart out and yes, it involved some tears typing it down. Another one is Chasing Away Bad Dreams because that’s the first short but heartfelt post I ever written – I’m used to write long blog posts.

• A post which had a great discussion

One of my latest post actually generated some great discussion about Marital Culture Shock and I just love how people shared their own experiences. Another one would be Formula vs Fresh Milk where I have strangers coming and sharing their own thoughts on the topic.

• A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written

Sex tape, schmex tape. Can’t It Get Any Sillier?? This post was written by my new favorite blogger, an Indonesian name Rima Fauzi who lives in Belgium. Having just recently discover her blog from another blogger friend, I am so smitten by how great this girl can write. Wish I can write that post!

• Your most helpful post

Maybe my Flying Alone With Kids posts such as 10 Packing Tips For International Flight With Children and Flying Alone With A Child? Read This! Both has been translated and published in one of the leading Indonesian Mom website here in Jakarta.

• A post with a title that you are proud of

I have to admit I have to work on this department but I really like this title Sweetheart, I’m Not A Rich Bitch!

• A post that you wish more people had read

The one about my Grandmother, it’s almost like a tribute to her. Another one would be Want To Marry Indonesian Woman? You Better Be Rich, Really Rich! because it’s a topic that is very close to my heart and I pray that our government won’t pass that bill.

Phew! There you go…this has been fun reading through my old posts.

This is a more serious spin on my suppose-to-be-entertaining-list of things you’ll face after you married your foreigner husband.

Marriages between two Indonesians with different tribes can cause problems, so a marriage with a foreigner means you’ll need bigger efforts to bridge the cultural differences, we did came from a totally different worlds so to speak.

Although my past of living around expatriates did help to understand the western cultures, it doesn’t mean that it’s a smooth sailing for me – or for my husband. He will talk about it more so stay tuned.

Marriage life means both parties needs to synchronize their differences and the process actually started before we got our marriage certificates. But surely dating and actually living under the same roof are different.

One example of two different cultures between American and Indonesian is the way Indonesian families are tightly bound together. We have a saying here that when two people get married, they are not only married to one another but they got married to the family as well. Families sticks together helping out one another is the Indonesian way. Americans are more independent with children leaving their parents house for college and become independents individuals. My husband grandmother, Mimi is one example of strong independent lady that still live in her own house alone at the age of 87 (Mom, please correct me if I’m wrong).

Another example, I’ve seen a mix marriage falling apart because the Indonesian wives keep sending large amount of money to her family back home and even gave money to her brothers to start a company much to the husband’s objections. You see, this is where I believe the wive should be able to put her new family first, meaning her husband. No, I’m not saying we should ditch the strong family ties we have back home, more like learn to compromise what will works for the newlywed. Mind you, I’m not a marriage counselor but that’s what I learned from mine

For me, the biggest adjustment I had to make after marrying DH and moving to the States was learning how to tell him about what is bothering me without him pulling a tooth out! It’s not easy as I hate confrontation and usually I can’t control my emotions (still working on this department) so it’s easier to just keep it to myself and pout.

The speak my mind part was also a learning process which caused some people to thinks I’m too Americanized now even when I already have this trait but only used them at the work place before.

Another adjustment was cooking! Seriously, I’m so used to take outs when I was single so experimenting in the kitchen was a new territory. Luckily, I married someone who’s not fussy and demanding a 7 course meals! He even do some cooking himself and would chomp down anything I cook.

I think these are the major adjustments issues we got in our marriage. Yes, there are other minor adjustments but it weren’t a big deal. The huge culture shock that I imagined wasn’t there at all, I quickly adapt to my adoptive new home. It wasn’t until we moved to Dothan that I felt a small dose of culture shock.

From trying to understand the thick Southern accents – which eventually I got used to even fell in love with some of their wordings such as “Bless your heart!” to trying to cope with living in that very small town. After living in Jakarta for years, I’m used to be independently mobile. Even when we were living in Upstate NY, I managed to get myself a job, rode public buses to and from work. While in Dothan, the only public transportation is taxi and I was too afraid to drive. Some of my friends had to re-learn to drive there since we, Indonesians drive on the wrong side of the road – right hand driving!

Had heard stories of some major culture shocks Indonesian women married to their white husbands had to face in a forum before. That’s why I put those housewife chores on my fun list! Most Indonesians can afford domestic helpers so getting down and dirty scrubbing the toilet might be a new experience for some women.

You see, some Indonesians never leave their parents’ house until the day they got married. Except for some families, like mine who decided to sent me to the big city. Actually, I had to thanks my parents for sending me to Jakarta only after I finished Junior High, yes I was only 15! Living far from families, I was forced to be independent and doing things on my own so if it wasn’t because of that, I too would suffer from ‘housewife chores’ shock.

One thing that I think really important is to have the willingness to face whatever your new country’s cultures, traditions, or languages with an open mind to get you survived. Remember the old Indonesian saying “Dimana bumi dipijak disitu langit dijunjung.” (when in Rome do as the Romans do)? Keep that in mind and you’ll do just fine!

At the end, the love that brought two people from two different countries should be strong enough help you through these culture shocks or adjustments periods of being married to a ‘bule’ or living in a totally new country.

Do you have any ‘marital culture shock’ experiences?

photo credit: Robboguy

An old friend from college chatted with me a couple of days ago asking one of the ‘famous’ questions that us Indonesian women who married to white men often hears.

“Do you know a single bule* guy?”

Apparently she has a friend, let’s name her “Betty” who just broke up with a white guy here and that girl is so brokenhearted but not wanting to date Indonesians.

Now, I’m not going to attack that girl for her taste in dating white guys because I too had actually stopped dating locals’ years before I met DH. It got nothing to do with the ‘trending lifestyle’ as some would put it, for me it’s a matter of personal choices. Without sounding like a racist – just the way some people prefer strawberry ice-cream, I like vanilla better!

I know how broken heart felt like so I can sympathize to a certain level especially since most of the white guys that lives and works in Jakarta are well known to be a player. How so? Simple, because let’s face it, they have these brown exotic girls throwing themselves at them. Supplies and demands play a factor.

But, what I do not sympathize is that fact that Betty dated a married guy! This is where I can’t feel sorry for their broken relationship. Granted, it takes two to tango but as the one who is not attached, she shouldn’t get carried away with the affair.

I will write about this affair thing in a later post as it deserves a whole new post.

Back to my friend’s question, I told her that no, I don’t have any single white guy friends so I can’t play the role of matchmaker for Betty. Plus DH is not working in a foreign company where he would be associated with other expats and we only have a few expats friends here but they’re also married. Where he works now there are only 2 expatriates, him and a married British guy.

When I suggest that Betty try the plenty of dating sites out there, my friend said Betty would prefer someone who’s a friend of someone. Well, make sense…but tough luck because I can’t be any help. Plus, honestly…I’m not comfortable playing matchmaker in the first place. If both parties are mature enough then great but if one of them will point fingers at me if their ‘thing’ doesn’t work out…well that would just be too weird and awkward. So, even if I know someone I wouldn’t want to get involved in playing cupid.

From a small survey I did yesterday on my Facebook profile, I found out most of my friends who are in a mix marriage basically have the will to help out if the opportunity is there, meaning if the ‘bule’ is available but what they doesn’t appreciate is the nagging to find one. One girl replied that some of her friends went so far to give her deadlines of when to find Mr. Perfect White Guys for them with specific characteristics. Now, isn’t that something?

If you’re Indonesian and married to a white guy, have you ever get asked the same request? How did you handle it? If you’re not Indonesian, how do you feel about such request?

*bule = Indonesian slang for white skin

After your dream wedding, you’re now officially Mrs. Someone. Your new life as a couple will start in a foreign country if you decided to follow your husband, which is usually the case.

There are many many adjustments we – the Indonesian wives have to deal with and here are just some fun list of things that you might face after you got married and supposedly moved to your husband’s foreign country:

• People will stare at you less: Ehm…remember those annoying stares you used to get in Jakarta (or Indonesia in general)? Well, the natives in your husband’s country won’t stare at you from head to toes – at least maybe not as obvious as Indonesian does.

• Housewife chores: Yes, my dear…chances are maids or domestic helpers will be way too expensive unlike back home in Indonesia. Get used to cleaning, cooking and doing everything independently!

• When strangers approached and tell you “Nice, shoes!” or “Pretty dress!” they actually genuinely meant the compliment so take it and stop getting suspicious! You’re not in Jakarta where I’d question if that person have any hidden agenda or trying to hypnotize me.

• Snows are pretty. First time in the snow? Don’t worry about your spouse making fun of how you walk…since there is no snow in Indonesia. Bundle up…and Chapstick is your best friend!

• You will crave Indonesian foods and if your spouse can’t stomach too much of them, chances are you will be sneaking to cook it while he’s at work and raised your shoulder pretend not knowing why your whole house smells like terasi (shrimp paste) or better yet ikan asin (salty fish).  — thanks God I never have to do this but I heard stories from friends that they had to opened all windows so the smell evaporates!

• Get used to people asking if you’re from the Philippines and some won’t even know where Indonesia is just tell them South East Asia, unless of course you have the time to explain that Indonesia is not in Bali.

• If you are tiny itty bitty Indonesian lady, chances are you will find their clothing sizes too big but don’t worry they do have size 0!  If you’re not itty bitty like myself – consider yourself lucky! You’ll find clothes that fit you perfectly.

Ever since I was little I knew I’m a dog person.

As much as I love dogs, growing up we never have any dog in our house. It wasn’t until years later while I was working; my two younger brothers were in college living with me in a rental home when Danny (my youngest brother) got a pug. He was the cutest puppy ever. It was love at the first sight.

He was my baby although ‘legally’ he belongs to my brother. Danny was busy with college or girlfriend(s) or whichever comes first so I took care of Bogel (means: Shorty in Indonesian’s slang) most of the time.

Sadly he got sick, a skin conditions that mostly happened to pugs. Can’t really remember the names but we spent tons taking him to the vets. He lost a lot of his once beautiful fawn hair, he even made me itchy from his disease but still he’s my baby.

When it was time for me to moved to the States my heart broke leaving him behind but I was consoled later to find out there’s a new family for him as my brothers can’t afford to keep up with his medical needs anymore. The family that adopt him treated him well and continues his treatments. I was happy but I still miss him.

The first three months after I came to Upstate NY was a little hard. I had no job (yet), no friends and I was lonely when DH is at work.

Just days before our wedding, DH came home a bit late than usual. He called and said he had to go pick up something after work with one of the guy from work, Josh, so I said alrighty.

Few hours later I heard Josh’ truck pulled over in our drive way. He’s home…as I went to the kitchen to greeted him (that house is different – we use the back door instead of the front door) what I heard was that  familiar footsteps and even more familiar breath.

“What?” I was shocked…and that’s all I could said when DH stepped in with a big wide grin on his face.

“He’s yours, Baby!” he said as I kneel down and patted the pug…his curly tail wagging in excitement.

Turned out DH had went to pick up a dog, for me!

Other bride gets jewelry and the likes from their husband to be. Me…I was in heaven because mine gave me what I miss the most…a dog, a pug! We named him Elvis. He was a bit old around 7 years old when DH adopted him.

As expected, Elvis became my baby and I’m his Mommy. I love that dog rotten!

When Lil’ A was born, Elvis took the role as our baby monitor! He would barked and woke us up when Lil’ A got up for his middle-of-the-night-feeding or just wake up any time of the day. Elvis would sleep by his baby bassinet then later by his crib. Later when Lil’ A was crawling, Elvis became the most patience dog in the world. God only know how many times Lil’ A pulled his tail, grabbed his collar, or ears yet he was always gentle, if he had too much he’d grunted and went hiding under the couch. I pictured the two of them becoming best friends…

Then we were hit with a sad blow, Elvis got sick. He had seizures that scared the hell out of me. The vet confirmed my ‘Google diagnosis’ later on…he had epilepsy.

He was on pain killer and other medication since then and he seemed fine until one night he got major seizures that lasted almost the whole night. We rushed him to the vet and they said he might not even make it thru the night, but to everyone’s amazement, he pulled through. Sadly, he’s not the same dog anymore…he has changed. He can’t seem to hear us and had turned into a puppy again, he had blank look in his eyes. The vet said his brain might be damaged but there’s no way to know for sure since they don’t have a CAT scan machine and we can’t afford to bring to Birmingham, AL where they have a bigger veterinary hospital. He advised that it would be best to put him to sleep. We struggled with that option and pray a miracle would happen.

His epilepsy had robbed him, he had accidents inside daily, that drove me crazy. There I was a new mommy with a baby and a very sick dog. I was overwhelmed and felt guilty at the same time.

In the final 4 weeks of his life, everything just went downhill. He turned into this lump that barely had enough energy to walk to his water bowl let alone eat, DH had to feed him with spoon. He kept losing weight; he howls all night long, he can’t control his bowel movements. It’s just painful to see him like that. On February 20, 2008, he had more seizures and late that night, we finally decided it is time to put him out of his misery.

DH buried him in the backyard…

It’s been over 2 years and I still miss him, he was my baby, the first dog that was truly mine, he was my companion…this poem got me through my sadness but yes I still miss him terribly.

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….

…Author unknown…

This is a very special Guest Blogger – if you can call him that way. It’s a story that is very near and dear to my heart and very religious. So if you can’t stand reading something like this, feel free to browse along other posts. I present you my Dad…he wrote this himself and I proofread.

My Near Death Experienced actually happened way back, on 25^th of January 1999, an experienced that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

This is the story……………….

25^th January 1999.

At the time I was still working with one of the biggest Coal Mine Company in Indonesia. On this particular day,  I was working to start  a new safety training.

That morning I thought I might had catch a cold, my joints aches but it kept getting worst by the hours.  I decided to took some anti influenza tablets from the office.

A few minutes later, the pain became almost unbearable so I  decided to go to the hospital.  Since I  didn’t think  I had enough strength to go myself, one of my staff drove  for me. When we arrived in the emergency room my condition deteriorated badly where I can’t even walk by myself.

They took me directly to the emergency room. To the on-call doctor I explained the pain of how I felt all muscles on my left shoulder down to my arm was in excruciating pain. As if someone was ripping all my muscles out.

I glanced at the clock on the ER room, and it was 9:50am.

The Doctor instructed the nurses to put an ECG machine on me to monitor my heart.  “Sir….your heartbeat not function normally and the beat does not run at a normal rhythm at all.” said the doctor after looking at the monitor for a few minutes. I tried to digest the news…I was having a heart attack!

That was the last thing I heard.

My nephew who came to the ER later said he saw the flat line on the ECG monitor and my lung stops at the same time. I was technically dead!

The doctor gave me a DC shock to start my heart, but there was no reaction, that’s when the head of the hospital (an Australian Senior Doctor) came to the ER and took over everything.

The Doctor injected something directly to my heart and maximized the voltage on the DC shock unit, then gave me a second DC shock. This time it works and brought me back alive after for my heart and lung collapsed and stopped working for 15 seconds.

This 15 seconds window of no heart and lung activities, gave me an experience that I will never forget for my whole life.

This is my experience…………

photo credit: petersandbach

Somehow I saw myself standing on the front edge of a big wooden ship, my wife and my 3 children standing by the port and looking at the ship, they were crying calling me. The view around the port was beautiful but I know I don’t want to go, I tried to jump out but was paralyzed, as if there were plenty of people holding me still.

The ship was on a right angle to the port and started to reverse to the open sea, and after awhile I knew that I can’t jump out anymore. I thought this is the time that I have to returned to the Lord.

Suddenly I heard a quite clear voice:  “What have you done in your entire life for Jesus Christ? “ This question came twice, and I saw a playback of my whole life in front of my eyes, everything was shown to me…one at a time.  Based on what I had seen, it shows there are too many sins that I had done compare to the good deeds. And I came to an understanding that Hell is a direction I deserved and heading to.

I managed to say a simplest prayer to Jesus Christ, I said Lord Jesus, please forgive my sins and give me a second change to become a better Christian, I repeated my prayer twice.

Quickly after that I saw that I’ve been lifted up to the air by two persons, I can’t see their faces as it were covered by wings. I saw myself flying high up in the air, and passed a black sea with fire flaming on top of the sea. We flew lower and I recognized what I saw, it is not a black sea, but people heads screams for help, I believe that this must be hell.

I saw big bible opened in-front of me, it is the New Testament, John 15:1-8

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. ⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! ⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.

After I read all of these verses I woke up and find myself in the ER room. The Senior Doctor called my name and smile at me. Thanks God, I was brought back to life.

On the same day, the doctor along with a senior nurse flew me to a nearby city which is Balikpapan and took me to a hospital for further treatments. Staying at the ICU for 7 days, my condition didn’t changed at all. I was evacuated to Jakarta where I was taken to a special hospital for heart treatment.

Since then I had 3 heart surgeries within a year. The first one, a balloon was inserted to open the blocked vein, 3 months later I went for another surgery place a stent for the doctor to insert a tube inside my collapsed artery – preventing another blockage. Six months later we decided an open heart surgery was a better approach. The last surgery took 7 hours.

After being released from the hospital, my family and I went to a church on a Sunday, and there was a testimony from a lady who had a near death experienced. She said that when she’s entering the world of death, she had to walk a narrow path and she hears a clear voice asking: “What have you done for Christ in your life?”. I said to my wife and families, that testimony sounds just like mine, I had this identical experienced, being asked the same question.

After a long consultation with a pastor, I decided to serve God continuously, not by becoming a pastor but to change my life and become a better Christian.

We don’t know what will happen with our life, no one really knows when our time here on earth is up. We might not be able to see the sun shines tomorrow, but the biggest question was, if tonight we have to see the Lord, are we ready to be judged for all of  our sins? To be honest, I don’t think so. Most people that I shared my Near Death Experience gave me the same answer; most people thinks they will die of old age. The saddest thing was, regret always came too late…and this apply to me as well…I wish that I could serve the Lord better before my life ends…I was lucky, very lucky and blessed to be given a second chance.

We don’t have to be a pastor to serve God, but be a good person, follow and demonstrate God’s teachings,  live a life of a good Christian so there will be no regret when our times come. Some people said, I wish I had enough time to do good things in life…But we do not have a direct control of our life, what if tomorrow is our last day, are we ready?

Since 2003, my family and I had chosen to be born again Christian. I had made a commitment to serve God within my abilities and talents given by God.

This is my own commitment; to share my experience to everyone who is willing to hear this, even through my daughter’s blog. I’m not a perfect person – no one is, only our God – but I had received a “Returned ticket of life”, a luxury that not everyone receive from the Lord. And I yearn to use what’s left of my days here wisely and be a good Christian, not only as a good listener but a doer that willing to apply all God’s word into actions, one step at a time. This is not as easy as it says, but I believe I’m only able to do things with God’s blessing, not relying on my own power.

I have been sharing this testimony to so many relatives, friends at work and God allowed me to share this at different churches in Indonesia, Congo and Zambia (where I’m currently working at). With God’s grace, I will continue doing this until my time ends. Praise the Lord!

God Bless You.

This might well be the hardest post I ever make because it’s so far out of my comfort zone but what the heck, I’m posting it anyway…

Brilliant Gigi from Kludgy Mom and Melissa from Miel et Lait has join forces to bring us a brand spanking new place that will take bloggers behind the scenes of the blogsphere and to do so you must write a blog post of why your blog should be consider as an A-lister.

So here’s me in all my glory…

What makes this blog different? From all the blog groups I joined from mommy ones to non-mommy ones, I found there aren’t many blog quite like mine out there. Yes, there are some big famous Indonesian bloggers out there but I can count with one hand ones that combines being in a mix marriage, mommyhood, toddlerhood and occasional traveling into the chaos. Not many Indonesian – and Americanized blogger out there that quite fit my situation. Tatter Scoops talks about everything in the loop from potty training, discipline issues down to how to fix this city’s horrible horrible traffic jam problems.

Here’s where I’m writing you from – see that little star with Jakarta on its side? Yeah, that’s where I am in Jakarta.

Who is this girl behind Tatter Scoops: 100% Indonesian by birth, married to her American husband and mommy to one toddler called Lil’ A. After living abroad in America for several years and in China for a short period of time, my blog now is talking about readjusting myself to living back in my own country, even about my love-hate relationship with this city. It wasn’t always a smooth sailing as I talked about my Reverse Culture Shock or about how I had to grow thicker skin to face the many misconception about being married to a white guy, and other little adventures we ran into our lives. But now just a year since we officially moved back and DH starts working here things are starting to settle in for me. Challenges will always be there for us and will keep me blogging about it so life is great!

And all of these are being done in English – which by the way is not my native language – I hate to use it as an excuse because it is a learning process to write something great and most importantly worth reading in a language that is not your own.

So there you go, my dear readers…some glimpse of what makes Tatter Scoops so awesome and worth to be a part of the A-lister over at The Blogger’s Concierge

That got you wondering what the heck I’m talking about?

I’m talking about the recent scandal of sex tapes involving a singer, and two model/actresses that crowded not only the airwaves but also became Twitter trending topic. Everyday their news are on TV from major news time slots down to those infotainment gossip shows.

A sex tape(s) is a sex tape(s)…deal with it…move on already!

Not so much! This thing had caused so much uproar in Indonesia that the parliament members feels it is important to hold a special meeting to discuss it? Holly cow, Batman!

Ridiculous is an understatement, many Indonesians doesn’t even know that a pretty big earthquake at 7.1-magnitute struck Papua province last week, June 16, 2010. Why? Because everyone is too busy talking about these stupid sex tapes! What about the quake in Sumatra just last month? These people deserves more attention than these so-called porn stars wannabes.

People are living in poor conditions there and all the parliament can talk about is the sex tapes scandal? Way to go!

Using the anti-pornography law as an ‘excuse’ this has been dragged for far too long while people in these quake stricken areas can’t even have clean water! My heart breaks and enraged seeing the news as it clearly shows the priorities of our government. There are way too many problems in this country from corruptions to poverty so why on earth two sex tapes took over these big guys’ concern is beyond me!

When will our government really shake up and prioritize? Maybe in 20 years from now…well one can hope can’t I?