No, these are not your regular branded bags like most women dream about! These are camera bags. The first camera bag I ever own is a LowePro CompuDayPack, that I got over a year ago. It’s big and holds up nicely but I am a women after all (don’t forget a mother!) and I only use my CompuDayPack when we’re going out of town, for day to day basis I dream of that one perfect camera bag that won’t scream “I-am-loaded-with-expensive-toys” kinda bag. After much search online I found these bags:
1. Jill-e Medium Black Leather Camera/Carry-all Bag: This one looks perfect for doing some daily errands and I could easily slip in a pack of baby wipes, my small wallet, keys, and other little things that I usually carry. The price tag? US$ 239.99, rather pricey.
2. The Kelly Moore Bag: Now this one is chic and stylish enough even for a working girl/photography lovers. I love the look of this bag. It’s bigger than the Jill-e one with a price tag of US$ 249.00, slightly cheaper with more room to put your stuffs.
3. Epiphanie Bags: With this one I’m torn between Ginger and Lola. Not only that I think they are way more pretty than the previous two but the price is way cheaper, again compare to the other twos for US$ 164.99. Lola captured my heart the most simply because Red is my favorite color.
Unfortunately only the Kelly Moore offer shipping to Jakarta. When I put in my data to get the shipping quote it came up with two options first by USPS Priority Mail International for US$43.50 and the other one by UPS Worldwide Expedited for US$146.15. Pricey! Not to mention the risk of dealing with the Indonesian Postal Service…ugh I don’t think so! Guess I’ll just have to safe and the next time we went back to the States, I’ll order one of them (or two hopefully!). What do you think?
The last time I went to Makassar was in 2007, I went to visit my Oma (that’s how I calls our Grandmas in the family) there with my Mom and brother. Little A was only 8 months old. We wanted to make sure my Oma got to see her first great grandson since at the time we were all still living in Dothan, Alabama.
This time when I walked into the nursing home, they were having their daily sermon (the place is run by a church) and although I told them not to disturb, we can wait, someone did go in to get her. From the distance, I could not believe my eyes…that can’t be my Oma! She looks so frail and someone had to help her walk, she was so skinny. Her changes break my heart! As hard as I want to deny it, she has aged so much since the last time we met.
Tears were just streaming out of my eyes when I saw her and hold her fragile little body. She cried too. Unfortunately, Little A was afraid of her…of the whole place. He screamed his head off the moment we tried to walk inside the nursing home. One of my Aunts stayed outside with him where he happily played in a becak. Oma said not to push him and to let him be, she said she’s happy she could see him from afar.
We sat down at the porch and she started talking in Bahasa, usually she’ll speak more Dutch to me. The first thing she said to me was “I don’t know why Jesus hasn’t come and call me home…I’m so tired…” my mouth felt numb to that, thankfully my Aunt Jane was there and she’s a church activist that actively involved in nursing home visitations. It was my Aunt who rescued that awkward situation and said “That’s because Jesus still loves you, Oma. Jesus wants you to see your families and when it is His time, you will be going home.” Again, tears just flow out of me. My aunt Jane asked how old Oma is and she replied in all seriousness that she’s 297 years old. She’s 94 (for some reasons I always thought she’s 97!).
When I asked why she’s so skinny now, she whispered “The foods here are not good!” I asked her what she liked to eat, “Chicken satay!” was her answered. So I told her that she will get her satay tonight or any other night she feels like it! That’s when I slipped her some money. My mom had told me not to give her a 100 thousand bills (the 10 thousands bills and 100 thousands have almost a similar pinkish color) since sometimes she got confused and people will take advantage of that. Shame on you to lied and steals from an old grandmother! Later, I told the lady who works there to please let her eat whatever she wants to. Being 94 years old and in her conditions, I would try to make her happy!
“You know, my husband went to sea and never came back…” she said with a faraway look and I was hit with such a huge sadness because I know how my Opa (Grandfather) died so young in 1973 and I never get to meet him. I never really know the details as it was never discussed in my family so I never ask thinking that it was too painful to talk about. She went on to say that he had come and ask her to go with him but she said not yet. Superstitious or not, I’ve heard similar conversations about how the passed away loved ones ‘came back’ to the near death family members. My other Opa (from my mother’s side of the family) said the same thing a few days before he passed away. Her words gave me goose bumps! The lady who works there told me that the week before I came; one of the nursing home residents woke her up at 3 in the morning because my Oma was in the bathroom. When she was asked what she was doing she said “A man had told me to go and get a bath, it’s time to go.”
I asked her if I can go inside and see her bedroom. We went inside and she told me to grab this big black suitcase sitting collecting dust on top of her closet. It was heavy, and when she told me to open it I found a lot of her photo albums, some are really really old. She wanted me to keep them! I was honored and sad at the same time. That’s her legacy, her precious memories well kept in hundreds of pictures. When I hugged her tightly and cried thanking her for the pictures, she rubs my back and said “It’s ok Non, this is life. Sometimes we’re up, sometimes we’re down.” She always calls me Non it’s from the word Nona (means miss or girl). I find that moment very emotional and sad that it was her who comforted me as I was too engulfed in sadness to comfort her.
Her condition is fast deteriorating and I realized, we might not have long before we have to bid her farewell. She asked about my father, her only son’s left. She only has 2 sons and the eldest, my Uncle Jimmy had died awhile ago. From Uncle Jimmy, Oma have 2 grandchildren, one of them too had died of a sudden death in 1991. So that left her with one granddaughter who’s now living in Makassar too. When she said every afternoon, she’d sit down by the porch waiting to see if someone would come by and see her. She’s lonely and I can feel it. Although I had spent 2 precious days with her and I know that made her really happy as she clutched my hand also DH’s on our last day there before we had to go to the airport, I wish I could stay longer. On the second day I was there, she saw DH and gave him a thumb up. She started talking in Dutch almost the whole time we were there, maybe because she saw DH and thought he’s Dutch. DH was being so sweet, he sat there…holding her hands and nodded although he doesn’t understand a word she was saying.
In my heart, I knew she’s waiting on my Dad to come and see her, maybe for the last time. She kept telling me how my Dad always works so far from her. I left her that day with a very heavy heart filled with guilt and regrets because for nearly all of my life, we always lives far away from her and she’s too settled there to move anywhere else. My Dad promised he would come and see her when he’s home for his leave the end of March. He’s currently working in Zambia, Africa.
Going through her pictures I had a rude awakening that I really didn’t know all that much about her, especially about her past. These precious pictures went back as far as the 1920s, when she was a little girl. I cried for not having the chance to listen to her stories, some that she might have forgot already and I’m sure she has a lot of memories to share. Her neat penmanship in some of these photo albums might permanently be a mystery to me since I can’t read Dutch.
She was born in 1916…in time where this country was still under Dutch colonialism, no wonder she speaks Dutch and write them so fluently. From her stories, I know she still have relatives in the Netherlands but I don’t know them and sadly will probably never will. She went there once a long time ago with my cousin so she might remember them. From her pictures, I can tell that she was a smart young lady back then even for that era. She traveled a lot and had lived in beautiful parts of Indonesia. Some of her childhood pictures stated Malang, Surabaya and other parts of Java Island, will have to wait on my father to read the rest of it. Assuming she took some of the pictures herself, I can tell she’s a great photographer because some of them are so stunningly beautiful. In a way, I found where this love for photography came from! She’s 6 years older than her husband, which is something that’s probably a little uncommon back then when they got married. For as long as I could remember, she’s always sewing or stitching something. She was a great seamstress too and that’s how she managed to survived for so long after my Opa died, not only that, she also had a lot of students for it. I believe most of her dresses are handmade. The strong independent woman is still in there somewhere behind that frail little body that trapped her soul now.
I can only pray that God will given my Dad a chance to see his mother this April and he would be strong enough to let her go if her time comes.
Ik hou van je voor altijd, je zal altijd in mijn hart, Oma!
Knowing that I was born and still have families in Makassar, South Sulawesi, DH decided to took us along with him for one of the outstation audit program. Since my mom and bothers couldn’t make it, I took my aunt with us.
We suppose to leave Jakarta at 4:30 PM but around 10:00 AM, DH called and told me an accident had happened with one of their fleet so he will have to stay behind and took care of things but he will try to hop on the last flight to Makassar that night or the first flight out in the morning. Thanks God my aunt was there! Our flight was delayed for almost an hour and it’s really hard keeping a plane crazed little boy to stay put at the gate. I was in a bit of a foul mood after knowing DH can’t come with us and I was worried that he won’t be able to make it after all, so when a guy cut me right in front of the cashier in a small café I really can’t help but asking him “Are you in a hurry, Sir?” he looked puzzled and said “No…” then I snapped at him “Then why are you cutting me off? I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m waiting in line here before you came out of nowhere?!!!” Gosh, I hate people like this and I don’t care if you’re way older than me, if you can’t wait in line and cut me off I’ll voice my objections! Same thing happened when we were called for boarding, my Aunt was holding Little A’ when a woman just cut right in front of her and pushed them aside. “Hey! Pushing your way to the plane won’t make you get to Makassar any faster, won’t it????!!!” I yelled at that inconsiderate woman! Good Lord!
We had to do a 15 minutes transit in Surabaya. I never been to Surabaya’s Adiscipto airport before, but OMG that place was filthy! I mean FILTHY with garbage cans overflows and scattered garbage on the floor of their waiting area. We reached Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar after 9:00 PM local time. Someone from the airline was already there at the bottom stairs to pick us up. He handed our luggage tags to another guy and we were ushered inside the arrival terminal where my Aunt Jane, her husband Uncle Ferdy and their daughter Ella greeted us. I was impressed with the new airport, it was modern and big.
After the staff collected our entire luggage, we parted ways with my Aunts. They went to go get dinner then meet me back at the hotel. The staffs drove me and Lil’ A to the hotel, I wasn’t familiar with the roads anymore but I was flabbergasted when we got off the new toll road and passed rows after rows of pubs and clubs with so many ‘chicks’ looking for their ‘job’. Too bad I couldn’t reach my camera from my bag since Lil’ A fell asleep on my lap. Never seen a red light district in Makassar before but then again I haven’t been there for ages.
The staffs took us to Sahid Hotel, it’s an old hotel but it looks pretty nice on the outside and their lobby. Check-in was a breeze but I was greeted by an unpleasant smells when we stepped out of the elevator on the 4th floor. The room smells like old closet that you haven’t open in years! Since Little A and I were obviously too tired after the trip, I didn’t even bother to take any pictures or ask for another room, heck we didn’t even take a shower as tired as we were. The carpet was so dirty (proof showing on Lil’ A’s feet!), the bathroom smells so old and rusty. I couldn’t really sleep that night because the smell was strong but Lil’ A slept the whole night through. In the morning, I found out that the hot water is not running and the old tub was clogged. “We are doing some maintenance work, Ma’am.” explained the receptionist when I called downstairs. DH couldn’t make it that night so I messaged him and told him I want to move to another hotel. So I spent the early part of that morning looking for a new hotel and most of them are full considering it was the weekend and with Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day fell on the same day, I guess most of the hotels are only selling twin rooms. (I should know since I was once a reservationist in a hotel!)
Around 11:00 PM I found a hotel, Mercure’s Royal Regency Hotel and we quickly checked out and I briefly called the station Manager there to informed him of my decision to move. I explained to him, I don’t mind if the room doesn’t have internet access or other little things and it’s not that I want a 5 stars hotel (although I wouldn’t refuse it either!) but if they don’t even have any hot water, I’m out! Lil’ A likes his warm bath/showers. He apologized and asked if we needed a ride to the new hotel and when I told him no thank you, my uncle will take us there he said he will personally drive DH to the new hotel.
DH didn’t showed up to the new hotel until after 2:00 PM. Then we all went out for a late lunch, the best Coto Makassar in town! A driver picked DH up back at the hotel at around 5:00 PM; it is after all a business trip. After DH left back for work, the rest of us went to the nursing home to visit my Grandmother.
From the nursing home, we all went to my other Grandmother’s house, which is now owned by Aunt Jane and her family. There, I got to meet some old childhood friends, I had spent 1 year living in Makassar to finish elementary school before we moved to Borneo. It’s quite amusing to watch Little A ran around with the other kids, on the very same little street where I used to do the same thing many years ago.
When we returned to the hotel, DH was already there and he was done with his audit but he still have to do some more work on the phone and computer. We decided not to go out for dinner with the family because Little A was already so tired from the long day. After he fell asleep, I decided to ventured out and find us some late dinner. Took a becak ride down to the beach side, an area called Pantai Losari. The place had changed a lot and all the street food sellers that used to line up the beach side has been temporarily moved to one spot while the government is building a manmade island to place them in the future. All these information came from the becak driver who happily fills me in on how much the area had changed.
On Sunday, our last day in Makassar, after we checked out and left all our stuffs at the concierge, we went out to find some food & souvenirs but unfortunately because it was the Chinese New Year’s most stores and restaurants were closed. My Aunt Jane teased us that we couldn’t picked the worst timing to come there LOL! Fortunately, we did found one souvenirs store that’s open. Boy, DH went overboard with the stuffs there! Too bad we couldn’t bring home the famous pork bakpao (Chinese buns) or the delicious Makassar’s fried noodles. DH asked if we could eat seafood so Uncle Ferdy took us to this seafood restaurant, I forgot the name of the area. That place was packed! It’s two stories and seems like since most restaurants were closed, people went there instead. The seafood’s were fantastic and super fresh!
We stopped by at the nursing home after lunch so I can see Grandma one last time before we left and to introduce DH to her, they never met before. From there we found Pisang Epe (grilled press banana served with durian and brown sugar sauce) seller on the side of a road and we ordered some to bring back to Jakarta. At 3:30 PM a driver from the office were already waiting at the hotel to take us to the airport to catch our 5:25 PM flight. We said goodbye to Aunt Jane, Uncle Ferdy and Ella.
By the time we reached the airport, it was raining so hard you could barely see the road. Oh and since they changed our flights to the later time, we doesn’t have any tickets whatsoever, fortunately DH’s badges works like charm! We checked in, and went upstairs.
The new airport kind of remind me of the Baiyun airport in Guangzhou, China, and I like the new design, way better than how it used to be. The bathrooms were pretty decent and clean. Unfortunately, I saw some spots where it leaks! I was told that they built the airport in such a hurry to finish it up alongside the new toll road that connects it to the city. Things were a little chaotic by the designated Gate for our flight because the passengers were not allowed to go inside. Some people were already complaining and the flight was obviously delayed again. DH immediately got busy. I can’t write too much about that here but let’s just say that I too gave a piece of my mind to one of the airline’s staff.
Our flight finally left for Jakarta after 6:00 PM. An hour delay! A weekend is definitely not enough to enjoy Makassar!
