Singapore, day 3 (May 18th)

My last day in Sgp. I woke up and a cup of coffee was ready for me. Thanks Dolek.

After Dolek's kids went to school and we left Dolek's house, we just realized that both of us forgot to take our pictures with the kids. Ohh.. too bad !!

Dolek took me to Kinokuniya. Bought some more books. Heavy..heavy..heavy. I couldn't avoid them. Needed the books so much. But unfortunately I couldn't find the sholat book for my kids. Had breakfast and coffee (again) here. Hmm..just liked the old times. Dolek and me used to have coffee together either at a coffee shop or at my house or at her house.

We were still here at some shops at Orchard Rd, bought this and this. Met Luki and Adam. Thank you so much Luki you gave me the sholat book and a couple dvds for mengaji.

Dolek took me to the Restaurant Padang. I needed to buy gulai ayam padang asli for my husband.

Finally time for me to leave my best friends. Hu..hu..hu.. so sad. Dolek took me to the airport. She needed to pick up her husband Tony at the airport too.

At the airport just before went inside the flight. The officer told me that Singapore just released the new regulation. I couldn't carry my rendang and gulai ayam to the cabin. I must put them in the baggage. Ah..too late. But I don't know why, maybe because my expression (want to cry, man..), suddenly he just allowed me to carry them, only 1 of my sambals. He throw it away. Oh...thank you so much. Selamet...selamet..., Alhamdulillah.

Above all, I'm really gratefull I met my friends...... See you here guys (Luki and fam, Dolek and fam) in Pattaya...... . You're very welcome.

Dolek thank you so much for everything. Pls give my warm regards to Tony and the kids. Btw Dolek, how much you spent for the parking, since we took hours...hours...hours..... Thank you again.

Singapore, day 2 (May 17th)

Luki and me took Nadira to the school bus. The school bus stops in front of Luki's building every school day. It was around 6.30 am in the morning. Hei....! it wasn't like in Pattaya, here to my surprise it was still dark and cold, but I liked the fresh air. Hhmm.... Bye Nadira...see you in the afternoon. I promised her to go swimming together after school. This morning nyonya rumah made martabak manis with -chocolate flakes and cheese grated filling- for breakfast. (Jangan lupa resepnya tolong diupdate di blog yah bu). It looked soo..yummy!, and very tempting. Hi..hi..(I promised myself to eat them later) but too bad I didn't try it. I can't have breakfast too early. We (Luki, Adam and me) left Luki's house at 9.30 (it's not my breakfast time). About 10.00 am we were here in IKEA. The shop was just opened. Yuhu... I was very happy. I like to find nick nacks for my kitchen and for my house. Soon Dolek and his son joined us. Jason (Dolek's son) used to play together with Farah. He and Farah only 2 years different. Obviously Jason's grown up very quickly. He's so tall and his face is not babyish anymore although I hadn't seen Dolek family only for 1 year since they moved to Singapore last July. We did browsing in IKEA very quick!. Ooh.. I adore the bed sheets and the comforters in the children departement. Very affordable prices!!, but still I couldn't buy them, baggage !!, too bulky and heavy, passed. I was still browsing around...... . Wow..!! the stainless steell pots, they're so shiny and good quality, passed again, cause so heavy. Dangerous !! they are soo many things with affordable prices but still I needed to pass them. Huh!!, heavy..heavy..heavy. Ok finally I bought a few things not too much but still heavy, hi..hi...hi.. I know for sure since I bought some metal things and the ceramic small dishes for Farah's picnic toys. They're so cute. Now Dolek's car trunk is so full. Seemed everybody did the shopping. Ha...ha...ha.... Everybody was hungry, but we still needed to go to some other places at Orchard rd. So we had no time for even had coffees in IKEA. We went to a very nice shop (selling cooking needs and tools, etc). Didn't buy any. No needed anything here. Moved. We went to another shop (selling baking needs and tools, etc). Ok I bought something here. Ooh come on quick guys.... !! Finally we were here, at Orchard rd now. Let's eat!!. Hu...hu....hu.. everybody wanted to have Indonesian food but me. Hei..! excuse me.. I wanna have laksa please or maybe other singaporean food. But nobody listened to me. Anyway here we were. We had lunch at an Indonesian Restaurant. The food was not bad at all, in fact I bought some rendang for my husband and Arif to take away (take away to Pattaya!!). Luki needed to leave soon. Her daughter was at home already, had came from school. Dolek, Jason and me still moving around. Borders, bought a lot of books. Tangs, bought a thing. I can use it for entartaining, party at home. And I bought a lot of chocolates. At Luki's house, we're getting ready and .... come on Nadira, let's jump to the pool. And....splash !! she's a good swimmer. Awesome. Nadira, Jason, Adam and me. We were so awesome, hi..hi..hi.. swim..swim...and swim. Yes the other 2 mothers (Luki and Dolek), they can only watching us. (sambil ngobrol2 and makan2 martabak!, nggak sopan, sisain lho). After took a shower. It was time for me to leave. Tonight I stayed at Dolek's house. Bye Nadira.. please come visit us in Thailand. Thank you (Luki and fam) for your hospitality and having me (hah !! forgot !! the martabak!!, I didn't eat it). Dolek's place is big. 2 storey. I met Adella (Dolek's daughter). Again, I was surpised. She is a young lady now. How old is she again ??, 12??, 13 ??, .... are you sure..?, maybe I need to check her driving licence hi..hi... not driving yet... . OK. Or.... her ID ?... or maybe her birth certificate. How come she's grown up so fast in only 1 year. She is so tall now. A very nice and sweet young lady. Dolek and me talked a lot in the kitchen hi...hi..hi.. I made pisang goreng at that night. So yummy.., of course. Finally we went sleep at 12.30 am !! (btw, Luki, you surprised me when you still remember that I used to make goreng pisang in US, in fact, until now, they are often ready on my table. Pisang goreng for afternoon tea at my house). to be continued

Visited my friends.

"Just Go. That's ok. Only for 2 days". My husband said to me. And when he saw me cooking, "you don't need to cook. We just do the delivery. And anyway I'm too lazy to reheat it. No time.". But still, I made some food for the kids. Off course, by the way, how about if my kids are hungry after school. Wait for him until he's got home ??. 8 pm ??, oh no.... poor them. Obviously he didn't realize it.

I prepared everything and told pembantu to do this and that. Including waited until Khun Dudi's at home then she could go home or came very early in the morning (before 6.30 am) before Khun Dudi left for the office. And make sure the kids have breakfast, school lunch, and dinner. Oh ya and please don't forget to remind them to take a shower and brush their teeth..... oh God, poor my pembantu. Lots of work.

This time was different. When I (alone) went (kinda must) to Indo (for 5 days) last month, Dudi and the kids were on holiday. So they had their father all day. But now ??, I told him to try to come home not too late ( seemed impossible !! ).

I told my husband "please take care of my kids (by the way my kids are his too, he..he.. )". Hmm feeling little bit guilty ??. Yes, because it was like a holiday (but alone). To visit my old friends !!. Luki and Dolek. Sounds very exciting !!. Yes It was.

Anyway here I went.

SINGAPORE, DAY 1 ( MAY 16 th)

Left home at 5.30 am - to the airport (outside Bkk). My flight was at 9.25 am (bkk time). Needed to go early because the driver had to go back to Pattaya (needed to take Farah to the school). Arrived at Changi Singapore at 12.40 pm (Sgp time). There they were !!. My 2 gorgeous and kind friends picked me up !!. helloo.. !!. (I was waving). Hi....hi.. hi... apparently they were too serious, tried to find me, and they didn't see me. (hei I haven't changed a lot, have I??). Oh God...!!. Do you know how it felt to see them ??. Wonderful !!. We hugged each other. Luki is the youngest of us. We were friends when we both were still in Michigan USA. (temen masak2, temen pengajian, temen hang out and of course temen belanja deh). Now she is a mother of 2. She brought his second, Adam. First time I met him. When I left America 3 years ago, she was pregnant. Luki, you haven't changed at all. Dolek too, still the same. Always stylish.

From the airport, we headed straight to Luki's house. In the car, we catched up with each other......till the sexy driver (Dolek) lost her way..... missed the exit way (excuse me, is Sgp really big?? or did we just go around and around). From the airport to Luki's took about 1 hour !!. But it was really ok for me. At The Luki's, the homemade siomay was ready. Wow..!! and we were so hungry, come on girls let's attack !!. Hhmm.. really really yummy. Yum..yum.. ohh..and the peanut dressing was no.1 (Luki, do you remember we had made bakso together at Erna's and your sambel goreng cirebonan is the best).

I had dinner with The Prabowos at the seafood restaurant (the best in town). Bagus (Luki's husband) came straight away from his office. "Come on mbak, just enjoy your vacation here" when he noticed me that I was like a little bit lost ( thinking about my family I left there, of course, hi..hi..dasar ibu2!!). Yes, I should be. My generous husband had gave me his permission.

It was very wonderful dinner. We talked about our old days in US, very good experinces and memories. Thank you Bagus and family. Please come visit us in Thailand.

I spent a night at the Prabowo's house. Nadira (Luki's daughter) slept with me tonight. She is so sweet and adorable. Yeah I remember first time I met Luki and Nadira (she's about 2 years old), they just moved to Michigan-US. It was fall season and it was cold. We had lunch together at my house with other Indonesian girls. I was still young at that time and Luki's even younger, he..he...much below 30's.

Oh.. God very good experienced there in The US. I'm so thankful. Btw, Luki, remember this ??, back then, we ( you-Luki Prabowo, me-Lisa Hermanto, Mei Dena, Tari Prabowo-different prabowo of course, Erna Sigit ) drove our minivan cars, he..he.. the long one with 8 seaters, yeah right, big cars, remember this is in america, very very american mother's car. So big and long enough for our grocerries and our baby's car seats and of course the strollers. You know the car seats, and the strollers, ooh..they're so big and bulky. Remember this also ?, You, Mei and me, we used to drive soo fast !!, Oh ok, still in the speed limit for sure. But we kinda pembalap- the racers. Yihaa.. and you were very brave with the map, the simple one (I don't want to say the old one, he..he..). I wasn't brave enough to use that, thank you very much. I liked to use the yahoomapquest. It's very detailed. Comes with the number, directions, intersections, the names, etc. Oh ya and the On Star of course, the modern technology one.

continued

Arif

From his room : "mama come on here, quick".

"Look mama, she can beat me !."

He..he.. I know your trick, Hermanto!. But anyway thank you for being her big brother.

Farah

is just like her mother

has 3 babies

and very proud of them

ooh...she's so cute !!

Ladies Luncheon

The menu was : Singaporean laksa and Nasi Lemak. First time I'd made the laksa from the scratch. From the original recipe. Oh..oh...very brave. The laksa has to be eaten with white noodles, bean sprouts, and sambal. To accompany Nasi lemak, I made chicken curry, fried small fish, fried peanut, cucumber slices, sambal bajak and the shrimp crackers. Participants : My Indonesian friends are : Arry, Ita, Indri, Santi, Elen, Anni, Rine, Anna, Dian, Yuni. My farang friends are : Kirsi, Eva, Beth and Lea. Couldn't come : Lisa Sofiar, mbak Rita and mbak Rida ( both are out of the country), Ida (attended another appointment), Vera (still tired, just came back from Indo).

Lots of food !!. Kirsi brought chocolate trifle, Ita brought hazelnut cake (she is the queen of cake, you name it, she bakes it), Indri with sambal bajak (spicy ya...), Elen with butter cake, Eva with the fruit, Dian - another fruit, Anna made hard boiled eggs (sliced and eaten with nasi lemak), Arry brought sambal goreng rebon -not spicy- and sambal goreng kentang. Beth and Lea ( they're sisters ) with the apple cake.

Obviously everybody like the food (geer lah...) and my laksa was success. Real Singaporean taste!, not Indonesian taste.

Surprising me, my farang friends told me that the food was not spicy at all !!, in fact Kirsi and Eva said "next time you can put some more chillies". What ??, Unbelieveable !!, but I'm sure I will. Don't worry girls. Just wait for another lunch ya..??.

ps : For my friend Nia in Germany. I still remember when you were here. Kita baru sama2 pindah di pattaya. Cuman kita yg Indonesians. Tiap kali kita2 ngadain gathering, kita pasti sibuk cari2 siapa2 lagi yg mau kita undang yah. Only you, Indri and me. Sisanya kawan2 asing kita. Pokoknya jumlah tamu dicari2 biar pas sama tempat duduk meja makan kita yah jumlahnya. Sekarang keluarga Indo dah buanyak. Malahan musti dibagi per gang. Indonesians saja, asings saja, ato indo mix asing tergantung gang-nya.

ps again : If your name is Arry, please stop reading here or else !!. Do not continue, pls. He...he..he... Girls, I'll tell you this -a good news for you- maybe you don't realise. I've noticed, if we have parties, she's (Arry) the one who always gives the ideas to herself. Something like this : "Oh so you will cook that, Ok then, and I will bring this". If she mentions 1 food, it means she will bring 2 kinds of food. If she said 2 foods it means she will bring more than 2 foods, and so forth. He..he..very good !. Next time if we want to have a party just tell Arry, She will bring the food. If you read this Arry, I only can say just keep up the good work !!. Thank you. Jangan bosen ya say.... gw seneng kok, meja jadi banyak macemnya.

Anni is giving the brief instructions to Kirsi

how to eat your laksa.

"A lot of soup on the noodles.."

in line, pls....

while waiting our turn to take the food

table 1

table 2

Got the book

When Arry came back from Indonesia 2 weeks ago, she brought this book for me. The book is new arrival in the bookstore. I hadn't bought it before because it's so heavy.

"It's not that heavy", she said & "I will bring it for you".

So There it is.....very beautiful !!

Thank you so much much... for Arry and family. Love you !.