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How I Deal With Homesickness

4 Aug posted by
Indonesian style snack

HOME SICKCreative Commons Licensephotocredit:caseywest

Was married to an American and having lived abroad, homesickness was something I had to dealt with a lot.

Technically, I had left home since I moved to Jakarta for High School when I was 15 years old so homesickness is not something that I never feel before. But when you live thousands of miles away – in another continent, homesick feels a lot stronger and here’s how I deal with them:

Communications, communications, communication…

Back then I – or sometimes Mr. X – always made sure I bought enough calling cards to call my parents on every weekend. This was before we got Vonage who gave us the best international call rates!

During the weekdays, chatting online helps too especially the video chat kinds as grandparents can see their grandson.

With how advance our communications technology these days, it is a lot more easier and cheaper to maintain communications back home.

Cooking…

Did that got you frowning? Yeah, so was I! But believe me when you feel homesick some native foods will ease that feelings at least a bit. If you lived in the middle of no where like we did back in Dothan, where there’s no Indonesian restaurant unless we drive 6 hours to Atlanta, then you will just have to do with slaving down in the kitchen yourself!

Cooking isn’t exactly my passion but to fulfill those craving for Indonesian foods, I who had never cook anything more than fried rice before – had made some pretty cool stuffs myself from recipes that I found online. Who knew I could made this:

Indonesian style snack

Sate Babi

The power of Community

There will always be communities of people from your country in just about every country unless you live in a really remote area. Yet, if you have access to the internet then it is easy to find these types of community.

My first time in Upstate, NY. Indonesian community there invited me to a gathering to celebrate Eid and that was great opportunity to meet other Indonesians. For some reasons, when you’re far away from your country you will feel this certain bonds with fellow ‘immigrants’. This at least is true for me – not for my Mr. X but that’s another topic!

Indonesian Gathering

I joined several Indonesian communities back then and made friends with lots of people. What started from online forums became real life friendships. Talking with these friends over the phone in Indonesian language also helps to ease out the homesickness.

If you live in the same town as some of your communities, do try to make the effort to join them on their events. Independence Days usually is the time where communities group held their biggest event.

Here in Jakarta, we went to American Association Halloween Party last year and it was fun as that was the first Halloween party Lil’ A had.

So, don’t underestimate the power of communities groups.

The News…

Following news from your native country also ease out the homesick feelings as you feel up to date with what’s going on there. Even catching up on TV shows from your country is easier these days.

So how do you deal with being homesick?

33 Comments
Filed Under: Mix Marriage, Travel

12 Unique Facts About Indonesia

20 Jul posted by

Being Indonesian, let me introduce you to 12 Unique Facts About Indonesia

  • With over 17,000 islands – approximately 6000 of them still inhabited, Indonesia is the largest archipelago country in the world.
  • Over 580 languages and dialects, Bahasa Indonesia is the formal language (I only knows several traditional languages and dialects)
  • Rice is the main food staple in Indonesia. That’s why most Indonesians will say they haven’t had their meal before they had rice even after they had eaten pizza or hamburger!
  • Indonesia is home to one of the previous 7 Wonders of the world – The Borobudur Temple. It’s the biggest Buddhist temple in the world built in 9th century. Still one of the huge tourism spot in Indonesia. Sadly, on the new 7 Wonders of The World, Indonesia fell off the list.

    • The only dragon in the world can be found in Indonesia at the Komodo Island where the Komodo dragon resides.
    • One of the largest Muslim population in the world but Indonesia IS NOT a Muslim country. The government only recognized 6 religions here: Islam, Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu and Konghucu.
    • One of the world’s unique funeral procession takes place in a Toraja, a small town in Sulawesi island. Funeral procession will took around 7 days and cost a fortune. That’s why families usually save up their money for years before they can buried their loved ones. Where do they keep the body? In their house! Traditional embalming involved.
    • Bali has been famous for years but Lombok is the most happening place among others beautiful places in Indonesia. Remember, being a country with so many islands there are plenty of beautiful beaches scattered all over Indonesia.Tanjung Aan Beach in Lombok, photographed by JavaTourism.com

Creative Commons License photo credit: java tourism

    • The Dutch (or was known back then as the Dutch East Indies) colonized Indonesia for 350 years.  That’s why many older Indonesians speak fluent Dutch and plenty of Indonesian word derived from their language.
    • Java island where Jakarta is situated is as big as New York State
    • Indonesia is home to the largest flower in the world called The Rafflesia aka The Corps flower. Reaching 5ft high and 4ft wide, it only blooms for 3 days and for 8 hours of these 3 days, the flower gives out the rotting flesh smell.

Rafflesia

Creative Commons License photo credit: NeilsPhotography

 

  • Indonesian loves spicy foods! Order a pizza or hamburger here, you will get some chili packages!

 

83 Comments
Filed Under: Indonesia, Travel

Hit The Road – Baby On Board!

24 Jun posted by
Somewhere in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The first road trip Lil’ A and I did was almost a near suicide mission!

Yeah, it’s that bad…

Okay, before I scared the heck out of you – calm down! Each babies are different, some can tolerate a road trip better than others. If you’re lucky, your baby will be an angel during the whole trip.

It was in August 2007, Lil’ A was only 8 months old and his Mommy was crazy or brave enough to agreed to go on a road trip with another mommy friend + her toddler (her little girl was around 1.5 years old at the time) to Houston, Texas from Dothan, Alabama. She actually drove to pick us up from Sarasota, Florida. So yeah, we’re two nuts mamas!

Now, do I got you wondering what’s the motivation behind making such a brave trip? A baby is hard enough but add a toddler in the mix and no husbands? It was all for the sake of gathering with a bunch of Indonesian girlfriends and of course the foods…oh the foods and also to celebrated Indonesia Independence Day! When you live on the other side of the world, you will be tempted to do these crazy stuffs.

Based on Mapquest it suppose to be a 10.5 hours drive to reach Houston – but of course they didn’t calculate having a baby and a toddler in the car!

We left Dothan early in the morning, looking like two runaway mamas,  her car was packed! So packed there’s almost no room left in the back other than for the two car-seats.

It started pretty good…we passed beautiful coastal areas and got to see traces of Katrina along the shore. Got a bit lost in Baton Rouge, Louisiana – no she doesn’t have a GPS on her car – we relied heavily on the print out maps from both Yahoo Map & Mapquest!

Then all hell broke loose! Lil’ A wasn’t happy being strapped down that long and started to get bored – tears quickly turned into full blown screams and melt down  I was so afraid he will hurt himself from it. My friend said he’s fine…I just have to learn to ignore it. Even after our plenty of stops for diaper changing and snacks for the baby & toddler someone was definitely not happy and not afraid to show it!

At one point – I can’t even remember where we were but it was dark, I squeezed my big behind in between the two car-seats to comfort Lil’ A. He was fine for awhile then it started all over again.

With every screams my heart ripped! I was so close to beg my friend to pull over in the highway and let us get off, that it was a big huge mistake to do this road trip and clearly we were both wasn’t ready but no – I swallowed it all, tried not to cry or pulling my hair off in frustrations and did everything humanely possible in a car to entertained Lil’ A. He eventually fell asleep after awhile, thanks God!

We reached Houston well after 9 PM…so that means we had been on the road for over 12 hours! Go figure…

Regardless of the miserable nearly unbearable first trip we did had fun in Houston. Not just the mommies but also the babies and kiddos alike as they too got to mingle with their peers.

Our trip back home was much more calm and I almost believe he actually enjoyed it. He did cried but not as much.

Here’s what I learned from our first road trip:

  • Pack enough toys – even better go grab those portable DVD players that you can hooked up in the car (some you can even attach on the headrest) – to entertain the wee ones.
  • Strap a toy to a pacifier holder attached to the car-seat, even if your baby doesn’t use pacifier you will be glad!
  • If your baby have a favorite blanket, stuffed toys or whatever – DO NOT FORGET TO BRING THEM!
  • Do stops as often as possible and let the baby out of the car – let them crawl on the grass if they wants to. Being strapped in a car-seat for a long trip might be hard especially for first timers. Babies can get cramped and uncomfortable!
  • In every ‘pit-stops’ do nurse – feed – change – anything necessary.
  • Sometimes it is better to travel around the baby’s bed time, chances are they will fall asleep.
  • Musics – plays soothing music or any kinds of music that your baby likes from lullabies to children songs to calm down the nerves. It works to calm you too, believe me!
  • Sunshade – make sure your window is well covered to keep those glaring sun from blinding your baby – not to mention to protect their skins, some sunscreens for babies won’t hurt too.
  • Plastic bags – from soiled diaper to dirty wet clothes, it will comes in handy.
  • If your baby is formula fed it’s better to put them already measured in several empty bottles and bring lots of bottled water. All you have to do is pour the water and shake. If your baby like their formula warms maybe you can pack a thermos with hot water, mine will take any so it was never a problem although I love those one servings cans of formula – pricey but easier to maneuver in a moving car, just open and pour in a bottle.
  • Just as you would if you are flying with a baby – pack your patience, plenty of them! If you stays calm and collected your baby will be most likely to quickly calm down too.
  • Be flexible – very flexible that you would put a gymnast into shame! If you think your baby just had enough – pull over, find a motel/hotel to call it a night and start fresh the next day.

Having a baby doesn’t mean you need to stop enjoying a road trip! Only means you have to plan it better. Enjoy your summer time.

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Filed Under: Travel

About Our Short Visit To Singapore

9 Jun posted by
Singapore Flyer

All of these times Singapore has only been a transit spot for me, meaning I (or we) would fly there, stay at the airport then hopped into another flight out so I never really get a chance to explore the city before.

We left Jakarta with the first flight out at 7AM that meant we left to the airport at 4AM. That’s one thing I hate about early flight but Lil’ A was excited and super giddy!

Tickets were taken care of by DH as we flew with the airline he’s working for and our hotel in Singapore was taken care of by my brother who’s working for Marriott Hotel and have employee’s discounts for the rooms! Double advantages I should say.

The waiting line at immigration in Singapore was pretty long we had to wait for over 30 minutes and being as excited as he was and since he’s been up since 4AM, Lil’ A was all over the place – I wouldn’t call it hyper – but he just gets that way when he’s tired, instead of being quiet he’ll act as if he’s an energizer bunny on steroid! He was a handful to put it mildly! So when this older guy standing behind me started making comments about him and even took the time to diagnosed Lil’ A as a boy who have autism just like his grandson, I started to get annoyed.

Between stopping Lil’ A from hopping straight up to the front of the line and holding both our passports with another hand plus a heavy camera backpack strapped to my back, I just smiled and told the guy “No, he doesn’t have autism, he’s perfectly normal for his age!” the guy persisted that there is indeed something wrong with Lil’ A. Finally, between annoyed and tired – mind you I only slept for less than 4 hours the night before – I look at the guy straight in his eyes and asked him “Are you a doctor, Sir?” he replied “No…” and I snapped “Then please do not play one and diagnose my perfectly healthy son! Thank you very much!” and turned my back away from him before I said something rude. Seesh, some people!

After being a mommy to Lil’ A for almost 4 years now, I know him too well that’s just how he gets when he’s overtired. Sure enough by the time we hopped into a taxi on our way to the hotel he fell asleep!

Our room was great, located right on the heart of Orchard Road; it’s facing the big Ion Mall and within a walking distance to many shopping places there.

Been awhile since I heard the Singlish (Singapore English) accent and I always find it amusing to hear them.

Lil’ A was almost fully charged with energy by the time we got to the room that he refused to take a nap. So we strolled to a nearby Far East Plaza before crossing over to the other side of Orchard Rd. for lunch.

Singapore has a very different dynamic than Jakarta and I especially love how clean and orderly the city is. Everyone just very discipline! They even form a line inside the public restrooms! Although the island is small but they seems to make the most out of it and there are plenty of green lush parks and trees everywhere, not to mention the wide sidewalks on every street!

We went to ride the Singapore Flyer that afternoon, at first we wish to catch the sunset but we got there early and turned out the sun didn’t sent until after 7PM! We had a blast anyway. I had bought the tickets online the night before so we just went straight up then they took our picture in front of a green background & the added the background later. After picture we went up again to ‘board’ the capsule. Here’s how the picture looks like, pretty neat.

After the ride you can pick up that picture they took of you for SGD $18, our picture looks pretty cool with it’s own holder!

Not long after we got off the Flyer, Lil’ A fell asleep. Poor boy was so wiped out, he didn’t even wake up and slept for 14 hours straight! Heaven but I had to stay in the room with him while everyone went out for dinner that night LOL.

On our second day is the big day for Lil’ A as he got to go see The Wiggles live in concert.

We got back to the hotel around 5PM and just went out for dinner nearby.

As much as I love my family and enjoyed going on a vacation with them, I wish they have more adventurous side on them! That’s when I miss my DH so much! We both doesn’t really like malls and would rather explore the city, trying their street foods!

I had even asked the concierge guy where is the nearest street hawker place from our hotel and he said Newton Place. When I offer my family this idea they quickly shoot it down! Sigh!

Jakarta is already packed with malls and high end ones too so I’m so not interested in seeing them in Singapore because really there’s not much difference! But I can’t just go out on my own and leaving Lil’ A behind so I had to forget about going to Little India and so on!

On the third day, Sunday, we went to Universal Studio and that took all day. With my mom who can’t walk too much, it totally tired her out so we failed to go Marina Bay to check out the famous Merlion statue.

For our last day there – Monday, we didn’t do much. We checked out from the hotel at around 10AM and left our bags at the concierge and just stroll around Orchard Road again before heading to the airport for our flight back home.

I keep telling myself the trip is mainly for Lil’ A and his Wiggles obsession so when DH said he will have an audit trip there sometimes soon I quickly asked if Lil’ A and I can tag along. :D

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Filed Under: Travel

Infos on Universal Studio Singapore

8 Jun posted by

Another reason why we went to Singapore was to check out the newly open (well, they’re still on a soft-opening stage really) Universal Studio Singapore. It’s the first one opened in South East Asia.

Location:

Universal Studio Singapore is located within the Resort World Sentosa, on Sentosa Island. Reachable by cab, MRT or by bus. Easiest way would be to take a cab to Vivo City Mall like we did, only cost us around SGD$ 9 by cab from our hotel at the downtown Orchard Rd. From there we took the Sentosa Express (SGD $3/person) and stop right at Universal Studio a mere few minutes ride away.

Opening Hours:

Monday – Sunday: 10:00 am to 7:00 pm
Thursday  – Sunday: 7:00pm to 10:00pm (For the month of June, at Hollywood Boulevard only)

Ticket Price:
For Adult: (Monday – Friday)
1 Day Pass SGD $66.00
2 Day Pass SGD $118.00
Weekend: (Saturday & Sunday)
1 Day Pass SGD 72.00
2 Day Pass SGD 118.000

For Children (4-12 years)
1 Day Pass SGD $48.00
2 Day Pass SGD $88.00
Weekend:
1 Day Pass SGD $52.00
2 Day Pass SGD $88.00

Children under 4 years old is free!

When visiting with small children it would be best to get their Express Pass for SGD $68.00 as this will allow you to bypass the regular waiting lines which at times can be pretty long and take up to 1 hour.

Get your tickets days ahead by buying it online and print it at the comfort of your own home. The day we went there, the tickets were already sold out!

After you arrived at the park you will receive Meal Discounts Coupons of SGD $10 and Merchandise Discounts Coupons of SGD $5. For those who didn’t bring strollers, after entering the park just turn to your right and you’ll see their rental place. For SGD $10.00 you can rent one.

Zones:

Hollywood: Based on Hollywood Boulevard, this will be the first part of the park you’ll see upon entering it. Here you can buy plenty of souvenirs as well.

New York: This is my favorite zone just because I love NYC!

Sci-fi City: Here they have the biggest roller coaster in the whole park called the Battlestar Galactica. Too bad no one wants to ride it so we skipped it altogether.

Ancient Egypt: Their Revenge of The Mummy’s waiting line was too packed and since we didn’t buy the Express Pass we decided not to wait.

The Lost World: Here we waited for about one hour to ride their Canopy Flyer because Lil’ A has been pouting about riding one. It took less than 5 minutes to ride it and our boy had so much fun!

Far Far Away: Shrek 4-D show was the main attractions here. It was fun and Lil’ A had a blast being ‘spit’ by donkey. Also, we finally got the boy his wish come true. He rode a roller coaster for the first time. I was worried – of course – but they said he’s tall enough to ride with an adult company. I screamed and the boy just laugh and said “Weeee….”

Madagascar: Here we just rode the King Julien’s Beach Party-Go-Round.

Suggestions:

  • Lather yourself up with sunblocks – the weather can get really really really hot and humid!
  • Bring extra t-shirt – again you will be sweating a lot just from walking around also there are some attractions like one at the Water World that will splash you wet.
  • Bring an umbrella – it doesn’t hurt with that kind of heat.
  • Drinks plenty of water – you will sweat-a-ton, believe me!
  • Have patience – the long waiting line at their restaurants can be a turn off especially during high seasons around June – July.
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Filed Under: Photoblog, Travel

The Wiggles Concert

8 Jun posted by

The main reason for our weekend getaway was actually The Wiggles!

Too bad I found out about their concert in Singapore a tad too late and all the front row seats were sold out! Gasp! I did got us some tickets – not the best seats available – but I was excited for Lil’ A anyway. The Wiggles concert in Singapore was scheduled for Saturday (June 5th, 2010)  – Sunday (June 6th, 2010) with 2 shows on Saturday.

My brother, Reggy was kind enough to go with us.

By the time we got to the venue, Singapore Indoor Stadium, it was slightly raining but that doesn’t stop all the parents from bringing their little ones.

Thanks God they didn’t use the whole stadium like I thought they would – or else they would just look like tiny ants from our seats – the seats were quickly packed and the show started almost on time.

It was so much fun with the theme of The Wiggles Circus – it was loaded with circus-a-like actions – even the parents got to enjoy it.

Lil’ A did so good considering that was his very first concert ever, he was busy dancing & clapping his hands.

We were so surprised when The Wiggles themselves plus Captain Feathersword and some of their crews marched up the podium where we were seated and waved also shook hands with people. My brother, Reggy who was snapping pictures for me had my telephoto zoom lens and of course it was hard to snap their picture when they were that close. They circled our rows and I lift Lil’ A on my lap so he can look up and waved.

Murray – the red Wiggles actually stopped and shook Lil’ A’s hand. Double surprise! Too bad it happened way too fast and we didn’t have a point & shoot camera to capture that moment. Lil’ A was so happy he said “Murray shook my hand, Mommy! My hand is hot!” LOL

After the show was over Lil’ A said “More Wiggles…more Wiggles”.  It was impossible to find a cab after so the three of us happily took the MRT (subway) back to the hotel.

Such a fun concert!

9 Comments
Filed Under: Photoblog, Toddlerhood, Travel
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