The Hermantos

new blogspot

2007-12-03T14:51:00.000+07:00

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Loy Krathong

2007-11-23T20:09:00.000+07:00

This is an old traditional Thai celebration. The festifal of Loy Krathong is celebrated annually on the full moon night of twelfth of lunar month. The festifal is believed from hindus/ brahmin in origin. Thai people float the krathong (made from banana leaves and flowers) on the water (especially in the river) wish for goodluck and ask apologize from the goddess of water. Here gendhog cilik celebrated the festifal at school wearing the tradional costume and float her krathong in the pool.

Farah in loy krathong dress

2007-11-23T20:08:00.000+07:00

blow the candles..

2007-11-11T20:23:00.000+07:00

Saturday, Nov 10th. We had a complete nasi uduk for breakfast. The Indigus family was with us. Great !!. Farah and me blew our candles. Our birthday?. Yes, extended...

Birthday

2007-11-11T19:30:00.000+07:00

Whose birthday is it now ?. It's Farah's !. 2 days after my birthday, in November the ninth. She is 5 years old. My boneka, she's smart, nice, beautifull. At around 1 pm, arry and me came to the school. The cake and the goody bags were with me. It was a recess time. Farah and her classmates were still in the playground. I went inside to the classroom and got ready, took out the cake, the plates... The children got back to the class, they were ready now. Miss Helen told them to sing a birthday song after that then Farah cut the cake, I helped her. Farah looked very happy to give the cakes to her all friends, seemed she really enjoyed as a birthday girl. Ha..ha..ha... obviously she's got interest in entertaining, just like her mom.. :p After the kids had finished with their cakes, it was time for goody bags. Farah gave her friends one to each of them. Happy 5th Birthday Farah

2007-11-11T19:16:00.000+07:00

39

2007-11-07T23:06:00.000+07:00

I am 39 years old now.

I was so excited today. Got up earlier than usual.

I cooked and prepared a lot of food !!, yes, my first time to make my own birthday party at home, ha..ha..ha.. I like to make party but never made my own birthday before, till now.

Year ago, my Indonesian friends came to my house and they brought food then May Goetz my Thai friend who's married with a Germany, a hotelier, hosted a birthday party for me at the hotel (Amari). 2 years ago my friends arranged a birthday party for me at a restaurant. Hemm...yes, today I made my own.

Farah got up earlier too, she remembered my birthday. She was the first person who said happy birthday to me. She went down to find me in the kithen, then she went upstairs to wake her brothers up and told them to say happy birthday to mommy right away.!!. he..he.. she's so cute. My husband is still in Indonesia for business trip.

I was so honoured when Debbie made a special birthday cake!. It's a cherrie cheese cake, wow.... it's so perfect. I saw a lot this kind of cheese cakes in the magazines, but now...hemm it is on my table !!. It's real, the whole round cake and big. Maybe 4 pounds cake ?? or 5 pounds ??, dunno.

I'd spread the invitations for 23 persons, but unfortunately Ida robinson is in Singapore & Kati needed to bring her daughter to the doctor. My guests were : Ita Krebs, Arry Indigus, Elen Manurung, Lisa Sofiar, Anni Bimo, Sopie, May Goetz, Eva Kuehs, Toko Suzuki, Janet Seale, Emma Dowd, Debbie Cavanough, Malini Varma, CaiLin Teo, Anna Teo, Lim, Aini, Len Hansen, Alma, Kay Martinezs, Geeta Elliot.

I've got birthday presents from my friends. Thank you girls. You are so thougthful with your presence, gifts and wishes. You are all made my birthday really special.

Today also Malini Varma's birthday, we share our birthday except she is a year younger than me. He..he..he..

Food

2007-11-07T23:00:00.000+07:00

For today's birthday lunch :

On the long buffet : caesar salad, and to acompany nasi lemak are fried small anchovies, fried peanuts, slices of hard boiled eggs, cucumbers slices, ayam bakar bumbu rujak, malbi sapi, sambal bajak, and fried noodle (Arry).

On the big table : dimsum (bought), fruit salad (Lisa Sofiar), kinda beef siomay (Anni), risoles, tuna balls (those are my specialities), bakwan (Ita), nuts (Janet), layer cake-lapis legit (bought in indo), bika ambon (bikin ndiri bo!, pake pondan tapinya), and punch.

On the round table : coffee and tea, kue tape hijau, kue lapis (Elen), beverages.

...

Hallowen

2007-10-31T22:45:00.000+07:00

Participants :

Me and Farah. Ita and her girls -Zara and Clara-. My boys?, they were not excited, just wanted to stay at home.

We went to Burapha houses for treat and trick. Ita and me had prepared goody bags for the kids.

It's not like in the US, the kids there, are not encouraged to wear scary costumes, but cute, beautiful, or kids caracters. Here in Thailand 95% of the little kids liked to wear the scary...scary..... and blody..blody...

Here I did only take Farah and Ita's girls pictures.

Geeta's farewell party

2007-10-30T22:12:00.000+07:00

farewell...farewell....

Lately my blog is about me attending farewell parties ??

This time it's Geeta Elliot from Australia. Her husband's got a new assigment. They're moving to Karachi-Pakistan.

Sad...sad.....sad... since I'll miss another good friend of mine. My son (Emir) and her son (Sanjay)are friends, Farah and Geetanjeli -my daughter and hers- are friends. Hate to say good bye to her, but off course good luck for them.

Geeta is a really nice and very warm person. She has lots of friends !.

At Geeta's house (farewell)

2007-10-30T22:00:00.000+07:00

EID MUBARAK - Lebaran - Hari Raya Eid Ul Fitr

2007-10-15T23:50:00.000+07:00

This year Eid in Thailand was on Saturday, October 13th,07.

We left to Bangkok on Friday. Ita and her 2 girls came with us. Farah was so happy having friends in the car, 2 hours from Pattaya became not boring for her. Arry and her family too went along together with us.

Yes, just like years before, we always celebrate lebaran with other Indonesians.

We broke our fasting in Central Chidlom. It was really nice. Everybody liked the food here. we could find Indonesian food. Very good for buka puasa, indeed.

The next day on Saturday, after had breakfast at the hotel, we went to Indonesian Embassy for sholat Eid and Halal Bihalal-hemm... eating...

Got back at the hotel. We made few phone calls to Indonesia, to Dudi's parents and our siblings. I needed to call my mom in Saudi Arabia. She is there for Umroh. That's why when Dudi had the idea to celebrate lebaran in indo, I was not really excited, I couldn't see my mom, though.

I am so proud to my 2 sons. They did the fasting excellent !!. Full month. This year Emir did puasa for the full day. Maybe for those children in Indonesia puasa are easy for them, but for us here, are not easy. My kids still did PE at school.

Hemm... gw jadi kangen ama suasana lebaran di Amerika. Kita ngerayain lebaran rame2, banyak orang beragama islam. trus banyak acara/games for children and a lots of presents too. Gak kalah deh ama natalan.

I took these pictures before sholat

Me and farah

Ita and her girls, Arry and her girls

Lebaran hari ke-2

2007-10-15T23:32:00.000+07:00

Sunday, October 14th,07. As same as every lebaran eid fitr for the last past several years. Since I've been living in abroad, I'd like to make special food for lebaran. I cooked a lot. I had prepared the food days before, then put them in the freezer. I set the table before we left for Bangkok. For the very special days like now, I took out my antiques porcelaine serving dishes. They were from my mother (which she got from her late father). Too bad I couldn't take out the plates (still in the cupboard). I forgot, yesterday I left the key in my traveling bag (and the bag was with my friend, Arry). In this special day, the kids took shower early, got ready early then sat nice for breakfast. Anyway, breakfast today we had nasi kuning, ketupat, sambal goreng labu siam, opor ayam, rendang, malbi, sambal goreng ati, sambal bajak, krupuk udang and krupuk palembang. Yeepee..... Arif and Emir tried sambel goreng ati. First they didn't want to eat the ati. Hii..... must be spicy and scary....., but then they like it. For dessert we had hot chocolate sundae cake, hhmm... very yummy. The children ate the cake with vanila ice cream plus m&m. They really (especially Arif & Emir) love it, that's why I made 2 recipes for this cake. I also made kue tape. Aduh endang.... bambang deh pokoke.... . then I also have layer cake from Indonesia. Not to mention I baked cookies days before. Ha...ha... complete enough, isn't it ?. Lha wong idul fitri. (fitri artinya makan lho saudara2 sekalian. Bukan suci. Jadi selamat idul fitri itu artinya selamat makan). We had dinner with our special guests from Indonesia. My dear auntie, tante Farida Srihadi (my mom's younger sister) and oom Srihadi Soedarsono. They came with their daughter Rati, son in law Indra and the kids Indira and Ravi. They are here in Thailand with the tour. Dudi, Farah, and me picked them up from the hotel. Ravi, (2 years old) is so cute. He brought his teddy bear (hemm it's not a teddy bear actually, but the cute and fluffy white little goat) with him. I always love to see little kids with their favourite dolls. I reminded Rati (my cousin) our old days when we were still kids, we just did the same. I told my auntie and my uncle that I still kept my teddy bear (which was from them, souvenir from America) in my bookshelf. Hemm... so nice to remember those old days with Rati since we'd grown up together in Bandung. More than last 10 years, my auntie, tante Farida and the family always welcome my mother's big family to their house for lebaran. Open House. The big family from Pangeran ke 11....( and so on... names and titles are so long) is centered here in their house, lots of people !!, olds, youngs, kids, babies (all ages - 4 generations) so I can imagine this year my family in Jakarta. Bet, not as big as usual !. Actually since her mother (my grandma) passed away 2 years ago (at 104 years old), my auntie and her family didn't celebrate lebaran at home. Last year they went to the US visiting their son. And this year they are here. My mom also is not in Indonesia. She is still in Mekkah for Umroh Pilgrim. We were extremely happy and honoured to have my auntie and family. We prepared lots of food & beverages for guests. Our Indonesian friends know us well that our door is always open for trhem. Tonight we also had Dudi's friends (from the office) came to our house. They were Sudung and family, Didi and fam, Bimo and fam, Putut and fam. We got a special cheese cake from Putut family. Hhmm.. yummy... it is definately good, super !!.

Farah's bread

2007-10-10T23:27:00.000+07:00

This is Farah's project at school

she baked !!

Emir and his classic pooh

2007-10-09T23:37:00.000+07:00

Si gundulku yang satu ini (ganteng atau gundul itu panggilang sayang bw Arif&Emir), my second child Emir really loves his bear.

At anytime... at home... always with the pooh.

He didn't know when I took these pictures !.

Gemes !!

The previous pooh -bubu- is too old, getting thinner and fragile. He said yes when I suggested him to put bubu in his closet. Then I gave him his other pooh (I bought it 6 years ago, just in case..). First, he didn't like it. He tried to punch and kick it several times to make it thinner , he..he...he... nothing change, it is still fat. Finally....

Pictures below are Emir with "bubu" (7 months ago). Then "bubu" in his retirement's place (Emir's closet). Emir with "sumo", the fat pooh.

fasting, tired, right away from school... just wanted to be with sumo.

Rine's farewell party

2007-10-06T22:15:00.000+07:00

Ok, another one is leaving now.

It's Rine. One of Indonesians. Her husband, David Cuddon is a General Manager at Sheraton Resort in Pattaya. After quite a long time living in Thailand, now it's time for them to move again. In a few days they will live in Bali, the paradise island. Hemm...what a great place, indeed.

Last night Dudi and me attended their farewell party at Sheraton. The cocktail party started at 6.00 pm. At 5.45 pm, Ita and Martin had dropped their girls off at my house then they went to mbak Rita's house to pick her up. Dudi and me left at 6.30 pm. We arrived at the hotel around 7 pm. Last night the traffic in Pattaya was so bad !!, but we came earlier than Ita.

The hotel is so nice, we dined here several times, not as often as Nia and Lorenz did (when they were still in Pattaya). Ita, Indri and me had breakfast here a couple times.

Rine and David warmly welcomed us. We met a lot of our friends. The party was great. The food was mostly Japanese food. Dudi's favourite not mine, he....he...he.. He enjoyed the food.

As usual we left the party earlier than our friends (obviously, we are not party people, but I like to entertain people at our house).

Thank you Rine and husband for having us, hope you will have a great time in Bali.

Information about the pictures below :

The first and second pictures are : Orr (Thais), Ita, me, Rine Cuddon.

The third picture are Ita, me, Lin (Singaporean) and Anna (Malaysian).

The 13rd our anniversary

2007-09-29T21:54:00.000+07:00

Walaahh... piye toh, kok kita ini dua2nya malah lupa !!, Today is our big day and both of us forgot ! about this 13rd anniversary. This morning Dudi, Farah and me were watching TV in our room, then the couple in the movie celebrated their anniversary, finally we remember. A few days before, Dudi reminded me about the gold bracelet that I want to have it. I told him not only gold..with diamonds off course then he asked me "when will you buy it then ?". Ha..ha..ha.. thanks for asking that. As a person who manage and control the budget in the family, off course I know when is the perfect time to buy this one. Surely not now, hopefully next month ?. I like to shop but wise.... Hemm... I know which one I like.... I really want that "cartier" bracelet. Soo.. simple yet elegant. Mudah2an ada rejeki buat beli yang ini. Amin.

Dining out

2007-09-28T23:40:00.000+07:00

Yes, still had time !! for us (Ita, Arry and me) to have dinner with Indri. Thanks Indri for your last minutes (since they will leave Pattaya tomorrow morning).

We went to Gulliver tonight. Me and my family, Indri (minus Mika -was having farewell party with his co-workers), Ita and her girls and Arry family.

When Arry and family came we were not finished our dinner yet, off course, because we ordered big dinners, since everybody was hungry. Arry seemed to have trouble ordering her food, thinking...and thinking... oh come on...., apparently she wasn't hungry, she did brake her fasting at home, no wonder.. no wonder.. (she had stolen the start, ha..ha..ha..).

After the kids finished their dinner, the smaller kids enjoyed played together, Natasya was seen playing billiard with her dad. My friends and me still busy talking each other.

How are our homemade cookies Indri ??, yes, she already tried them, Ita gave her the kaastengels.

Hemm... yumm..yumm...

From Gulliver, we didnt't want to go home soon. Fortunately my husband and Didi (Arry's husband) were OK with our suggestion. So we headed to have coffees at Mccafe ( inside the newest and coolest mall in Pattaya). We talked a lot. Thumbs up for the husbands !!, they just so patient with us, waited till we were tired ??, but ha..ha..ha... I'm getting older now, wanted to go home soon. Ita needed to go home soon too, her husband was on the way home from the airport. Arry took Indri home.

What a great night.

Gulliver's pictures

2007-09-28T23:19:00.000+07:00

Cookies for Lebaran !

2007-09-27T22:28:00.000+07:00

Today, at Ita's kitchen.

Ita, Arry and me were so busy !!

Look !!

We're planning to make kaastengels, nastars, and putri salju. Please come to our houses when lebaran. Guarantee you won't be dissapointed !, i/ Allah.

To The Ollikainens

2007-09-23T23:17:00.000+07:00

We got invited to have dinner with Mika and Indri tonight.

After we broke our fasting at home, we headed to Benihana Restaurant. This might be our last dinner together in Pattaya, they will leave for good soon. Mika has got a new assignment in Jakarta -Indonesia. Oohh...they will be missed !!.

Indri is my good friend, she's the youngest (and the coolest and the branded one) of us -our gang-. For the last 6 months Mika and Dudi often play golf together.

Back in December 31st, 04, at night, just few hours before new year 2005, me with the whole Hermantos were doing groceries shopping at foodland. Suddenly a cute young lady approached me and Farah then she asked me very politely (oh come on.... she called me ibu, inget nggak ndri) weather Iam an Indonesian. Then we quickly introduced ourselves and our families. I still remember them, they were still very young, young couple. Sure, they are !.

We congratulated New Year 2005 each other thru the text messages. I sent e-mails to Indri and other Indonesian girls ( only few people - back then ) that night, then soon Nia, Indri and me have been very close. We went everywhere togethr, Catuchak (yeah ...baby ! hayoo... siapa yg pertama kali showed you the famous chatucak, hi..hi...biarin yah gw geer!), PILC's events, and so on ... so on.. , you name it. Wow ! I start crying now, even Indri was the first ever who bought our dagangan batik, (remember this Nia, one day in your living room, you just came back from Indo with your luggages full of batiks ??) and she didn't even want to try to bargain !!. How about this one, do u still remember the day when we tried the spa, which looked like nice from outside but was not comfy ??, I forgot the Spa's name.

Indri, who's gonna make the best empal goreng in town ?, I will miss it, and you off course, ha...ha..

OK Mika and Indri, wish you all the very best. We are happy for you. We know for sure, the best friends to meet and visit when we go to Indonesia.

Have a safe trip back...

The Hermantos

Ramadhan Kareem

2007-09-14T22:44:00.000+07:00

Rasanya beda, kalau ada yg perhatiin ttg agama kita di kingdom ini. Terharu. Beberapa hari sebelum puasa, suatu siang, sehabis dari Bkk, gw sedng bersama Indri di dapur, tahu2 supir gw (khun Akhom) tanya : "madam, kapan madam mulai romadhon (padahal dia buka org jawa lho), katanya ?. Hebat nggak. Ada orang sini ngerti puasa. Yah dia sudah menjadi supir kita selama hampir 4 tahun, sejak hari pertama kaki kita menginjak thailand. Memang sebelumnya dia penah kost sama haji selama 15 tahun. Tadi, dah selesai buka dan setelah selesai makan malam, semua sedang sholat. Tahu2 ada yg ngebel rumah. Ya diabiarin atuh, dah lama....banget, selesai sholat. Gw iseng lihat ke luar, siapa tahu masih ada orang yg ngebel tadi. Eh rupanya pembantu gw. "Madam, ini masih hangat untuk madam habis buka puasa. Dia ngasih panganan sejenis kue nagasari. Coba, gimana gw nggak cepet laporan sama suami, ttg kelakuan para staff kita. Terharu. Memang staff di rumah kita, Alhamdullilah, sampai saat ini, i/Alloh seterusnya, pada baik2 dan jujur itu yg penting. Pembantuku malahan karena tinggalnya dibelakang rumah kita, deket masjid. Tetangganya Islam deh rata2. Setiap datang ke rumah kita, selalu bilang Assalamualaikum. Sampai nyokap, mertoku, kakak2ku, sampai heran, kok kamu bisa dapat pembantu agama Islam. Yah bukan, cuman karena dia aja tinggal disini di kampung orang2 beragama Islam, jadi bisa salam. Enaknya lagi kalau aku minta tolong beli makanan, wah dia yg ribut sama yg jual, no moo!, khun islam. Pokoknya kalau beli apa2 dia dah tahu yg ada lambang halal. Supir gw tiap ada rest baru lambang halal aja dia yg kasih tahu. Sayang semuanya di Pattaya, dan biasanya warung2 kecil, mana nih rest besar. Belum lagi satpam di perumahan ini, lha yah kebetulan beragama Islam. Dah gitu kok yah rumah kita ini no1. Jadi pas diujung pintu gerbang, pas didepan si satpam jaga. Jadi setiap mobil gw mau masuk, dia pasti yg buka pagernya, bukan tugas dia lho. Supir gw jadi keenakan, hi..hi.. nggak pernah turun mobil, tunggu si satpam aja. Jadi kita mah disini sering banget disapa Asslammualaikum. Beda lho rasanya kalau tinggal di negri yg mayoritasnya bukan orang yg beragama Islam. Serasa di Indo. Yuk semoga kita bisa menikamati indahnya bulan ramadhan. Ayo pada shaum.... !!. Ibadah.. !! Taqabalallahu Minna Wa Minkum Shiamana Wa Shiamakum.

Bangkok-clean !

2007-09-09T22:26:00.000+07:00

This is in Bangkok not in Singapore. Thai people adalah penganut kebersihan adalah sebagian dari iman, he...he...he... kayaknya slogan ini gw sering denger waktu di Indo.

The girls

2007-09-05T22:16:00.000+07:00

Ita, me, Arry, Indri.

Went to Bkk, today. Before puasa, before Indri for good (move to Jakarta, Indonesia). It's nice, isn'it. Go back and living in Jakarta as an expatriate. Ha...ha..

Second day

2007-08-29T21:33:00.000+07:00

Second day for school but it's Farah's first day for taking a school bus.

Looked nearvous in the morning. Seemed she would cry but she didn't. She was so quiet.

Arif said to Farah :

don't cry

don't scream

don't talk

don't talk to me

do not talk to my friends

do not sit down next to me

just sit down nicely in the front or sitting next to Emir

I'm sitting down on the very back row

you sit down next to the woman in the very front row

"Mas, it's not nice you're saying that to her, you should encourage her", I said to Arif.

Emir told Farah :

it's Ok, Farah

mas Emir is sitting down behind you, ok. You will be fine.

Yeah, that's my boy. When the school bus came, finally, mas Arif who escorted her to the bus. I smiled (big smiled).

I made sure everybody buckled up.

si ganteng chubby Emir

At home, Farah told me that she enjoyed the bus. I'm sure she's ready.

Go back school

2007-08-28T21:01:00.000+07:00

After 9 weeks my kids had holiday, today is the first day for them to go back to school. They were all so excited.

I was also excited yet sad. Maybe some people who knew me were amazed. Yes, despite that I like to go out everyday (well, almost), hang out with my friends, having lunch outside (well, almost), shopping a lot, going to bangkok (well, almost everyweek), but when it comes for holidays and having my kids all day, I am really super duper happy .

It is fun for me being surrounded with all my 3 kids. Yeah I know, they fought each other like they wanted to kill each other. My house was like this : Farah screamed... "mas is bothering me..", and Farah cried and the brothers would say "stop crying" !!, or Emir and Arif fought for the books, the playstation, the games, even the TV channels !!. Oh God..., but it's ok they are still normal for me. They love each other (yeah they should, or else... !).

The boys are getting bigger now, they like to stay at home all the time (I know the reason), they don't want to go outside with mama, especially to Bkk. Sometimes I asked them for having lunch outside. I wanted to take them to fancy rests, and the results were sometimes yes sometimes no, hi..hi.. They liked to go to fast food rests!!, just ordered food and took them home. Haah..?? it was not fair, ya ?. They just wanted to go home as soon as they can, hi..hi..(I'm their mom. I know why), no way guys... "after this we go for groceries shopping" and the boys face were ... you know, not willingly !!. "Come on, better that you just come with me nurut sama mama".

One thing that yhey never say no if I take them to the book stores. Yes everybody in the family love books. Especially the book stores in Bkk !!. Yeah in Bkk the book ranges are so huge and various. They have everything. I'm the one who need to control their books budget otherwise we just buy, buy, buy.... seems like we need them not want them, yeah it seems that all the book need to be bought !!, very important books, hi..hi.. yeah for us sometimes we must think if we want this book or need this book. Otherwise the money for the other things will gone..!!.

While they were at home, I liked to cook and try new recipes and the kids always enjoyed my food, that's why in holidays my kids always look chubby. They are all putting on !!, but Arif always take good care for his shape. He always said that he doesn't want to be fat because he needs to run and jump a lot. He wants to be a basketball player !!. (yeah son, after your finish your..... dasar ibu pemaksa !!). On the contrary, Emir needs to eat a lot, especially next month is ramadhan. Now his weight is perfect.

Anyway, this morning I got up very very early morning (before subuh !), got ready myself, then prepared the breakfast, then the lunch boxes ( 4, including for my dear husband). Everything was perfect ! The kids were easy to get up and get ready (off course, their first day, still going smoothly..), and I made sure Dudi to leave early, cause I needed the car for taking Farah to the school.

Arif now in secondary (year 7, british system), although for american system he is still in the 6th grade. So today was his first day to go to the big building and from now on he's wearing a long pants and a tie (must !!, for daily wear). Wow, he is so ganteng !!. (memang kedua anak lakiku pada ganteng2 !! )

My boys left with the school bus. I went with Farah because I wanted to take her to the school, eventhough today she should be on the school bus with the brothrs.

Ok my kids, my prayers are always be with you... (doa mama menyertaimu nak, hi..hi.. terkesan puitis sekali ?, tapi beneran !! )

Grandparents

2007-08-04T08:52:00.000+07:00

Just 2 days ago, Dudi's parents went back to Indonesia. So sad.... For the last 17 days, we were so happy for having them here. They'd arrived here at the day after Emir's birthday (July 15th). They came with Dudi's niece (Aa). Aa was here (instead of 17 days) for only a week he needed to go back to his campus in Jogjakarta.

This was a second time for mimih and bapak visited us here in Thailand. Farah was so close with her grandpa, almost every morning they had their own routine. It was like this, Farah would ride her bike with mbah de. While she was pedaling her bike (with high speed) mbah walked slowly behind her, far left behind actually, but Farah would be happily going back to mbah, then they went together again... but Farah was speeding up again and she would come back to mbah again. Again..and again. It was so nice to see them.

My kids were just happily to do shalat berjamaah with mbah de as an imam. Most of the times Dudi managed to come home before 7 pm. (which was still sunny a little bit -still summer here in Thailand !!). Did sholat berjamaah and having dinner together.

Despite of her disability (due to her advance stage of osteophorosis -both arms and both legs), my mom in law still has great enthusiasms. Especially when it came for shopping. Liked to go shopping so much !! (mostly for oleh2, off course).

While they were here (mbah ii couldn't go upstairs) so they slept in the TV room, I'd converted it into a bedroom. Nice and cozy. Easy for mbah ii, very close to the dining room and bathroom. Mbah de in his age (78 yo), still in an excellent conditions, for him going upstairs was not a problem. He liked using the upstairs bathroom (because of the hot shower), sholat in the musholla, and spent some time with the boys in my boys room.

I often cought my in laws, in the middle of the night (around 1.00am), they still awoke and did sholat malam, zikir, and ngaji.

I became so creative !. When they were here, I needed to think what to cook so everybody could eat. Mbah de needed to eat something soft but tasty and spicy enough, but for mbah ii not too spicy and she hates terasi -shrimp paste- and to make me more challenge was mbah de loves terasi.

The breakfasts were always heavy and must be Indonesian meals !!. A big NO for simple breakfasts like sandwiches, cereals, omellette, etc (bye..see you next time) oh ya, instead for breakfast I made pancakes (for afternoon tea with filling chocolate chips, and cheese then folded, it was almost like martabak manis). Breakfasts menu usually were nasi uduk dan lauk-lauknya, ketoprak, mie ayam bakso, lontong sayur, nasi goreng and so on... I forgot. You name it, probably I made it. Fortunately I had enough time to prepare them (still holiday... the kids don't go to school, no needed to be in a hurry). Breakfast time moved to 9 am. But this condition couldn't go for Dudi, he leaves at 6.30 am -for the office-, so his breakfast just sticks to his simple sandwich & yoghurt & milk.

I took my in laws to watch Miss Tiffany's show (dancing -performanced by transsexual people-). It was soo...funny. The show is everynight and always full house with the tourists.

Kata bapak : "bapak baru sekali ini lihat banci banyak banget pada nari2"

Kata saya : 'lho jangankan bapak, lisa aja dah 3 tahun disini juga baru sekali"

I am so grateful for my kids they still have 2 grandmas (my mom and dudi's mom) and a grandpa. I remember, one day I told my brother that Farah is really close to her grandpa, and my brother simply said that she's a lucky girl. Yeah I know, she is. My brother and me never knew our grandpas (from both sides -mama and papa-). They'd passed away, long before we're born. We took a lot of pictures !!, but accidently Farah deleted some (almost all !!) from my camera before I'd saved them to the computer. Faraahh..... !!

Below are "the survived pictures" :

The pictures

2007-08-04T08:10:00.000+07:00

My boy's birthday

2007-07-15T21:31:00.000+07:00

Emir is 9 years old now.

After subuh, I went down directly to the kitchen. We would have a special breakfast for this lovely Sunday. A complete Indonesian meal.

Since I had prepared and marinated some food last night, so this morning I was not busy. Not consuming much time. At 9.00 am everybody were ready and we had yellow rice, stir fried vegetables, tahu bacem, sliced plain omelettes, fried chicken a la Jogja, and fried noodle.

After breakfast we went to the sports store. Emir needed a new bike. Then we went to Le Balcony for having a birthday cake.

Weekend a week ago

2007-07-03T16:57:00.000+07:00

Jumat minggu lalu, jemput Dudi di kantor trus langsung ke Bkk. Nginep semalem. Anak2 dirumah saja.

Acara pesta perpisahan dengan presdir kantor Dudi. Makan malam di hotel. Baru kali ini ada perhelatan di thailand dengan suguhan yg sama sekali nggak ada babinya ??. The Mc Gratts sampai bilang, nggak perlu tanya2 kita bisa makan semuanya, sampai ke bakso2, kuahnya aman. Hah? kenapa??. Masa cuma gara2 mikiran kita, 2 keluarga. He..he... lupa, khan presdirnya orang yahu d i. Sama nggak makan babi.

Presdir ini luar biasa baik. Sebelum di thailand ini, pernah bertugas di Indo (3 thn) sebagai presdir juga. Di Thailand dah hampir 8 tahun. Sedih banget deh. Sepanjang 22 tahun terakhir ini dia selalu bertugas di asia. Semua anak2nya sampai nggak ngerasa orang amerika amat, katanya. Setelah mereka kuliah dan berkeluarga baru mereka pulang ke US of A. Sekarang bapak inipun belum kembali ke amrik sana, beliau ditugaskan ke china.

Sang istri pernah cerita padaku, kalau 2 rumahnya di amrik sana semua isinya barang2 dari indonesia, dengan kayu2 jatinya yg kokoh. Yg bangga dia deh tampaknya. Belum katanya rumah anak2nya juga. Hi..hi..gw ikutan seneng secara gw cinta kayu jati indo, the best in the world-lah. Gw kasi kenang2an buku batik terbaru karangan joop ave. Kayaknya pantas untuk mereka.

Keesokan harinya kita ke acara peluncuran mobil baru keluaran dari kantor suamiku. Foto di atas fotonya pak presdir. SUV dari Daewoo (milik GM), kecilan, disesuaikan, cocok bw negara di asia, gak kaya SUV di negaranya sana yg besar dan gagah. Yg ini gedean dikit dari mobil kantor kita minivan zafira yg diambil dari mobil jerman, opel (punya GM juga). Kenapa yah kok nggak ambil yg dari amrik sana. Keren khan. Kaya mobil kantor Dudi dulu disana GMC Yukon Denali.

Our Old friend

2007-07-02T22:54:00.000+07:00

Hello there,

Mbak Petty and the family,

How are you all ?. We miss you so much, much, much...

This is our picture with Timo. She visited us here for the second time. We talked a lot about old times, present and plans in the future..

Hope you all doing fine. See you insya Allah.

Beth's breakfast farewell

2007-07-02T21:28:00.000+07:00

My dear friend Beth Johnson will move out from Thailand very soon. The Johnsons will go back to the US, after been living here for almost 8 years.

She is a very good friend. I met her first time at Geeta's birthday at Geeta's house in 2004 (I just moved to Thailand couple weeks before). I was so brave but made a good decision when I came to Geeta's, she hadn't even known me yet. I invited myself !!. I knew Geeta from the only Indonesian woman in Pattaya at that time. Knowing that her friend would have a birthday party, I was just so excited !!, I wanted to meet everybody. I wanted to have friends in Thailand. Fortunately Geeta and her friends were very nice to me. They all greeted and welcomed me.

Beth and I are good friends. We always amazed with our languages. Phillippino and Bahasa have a lot of similarities. Especially when it comes to the name of the food and the numbers. One time I was so surprised when one of our friends couldn't come a party, and Beth said "ah...sayang !!". "Hah..?, what did you say ??", I asked her. She explained to me the meaning and I just laughed because it is totally same with bahasa. Exactly same pronouncation and same meaning.

I often came to her house. She likes to cook, I like her Philippino cuisine. She also likes to bake. I'm so sure that everybody will miss her red velvet cake and her lemon bar.

We often hang out together. We went to PILC's coffee mornings, friends parties, and learned to play golf !!.

Here we were at Sheraton Hotel. Had buffet breakfast together with Indri, Ita and mbak Rita.

Rine (pink top) soon joined us.

Let's eat G.U.D.E.G

2007-07-02T11:41:00.000+07:00

Ehm.. as all my friends know, I like to cook and entartain.

Couple weeks ago.... when my pembantu, finally, got the whole young jackfruit for me (we can not find the canned young jackfruit here, which is product of thailand), I cooked gudeg, yeah...

To accompany the gudeg, I also made opor ayam, sambal goreng krecek, tahu and tempe bacem. Actually for me as an orang jawa timur, gudeg is not my favourite food, nor my husband's.

To make gudeg I needed extra, extra, super duper patience. Oh..God.. , after hours ( with the low heat ), finally the color of my gudeg went dark and it became thick and was very tasty, because all the spices had absorbed.

Emir seemed OK, though, was not very excited. Arif, yes ! , he liked my gudeg so much, and sambal goreng krecek. This was their first time to eat gudeg. How about Farah ?, emm..maybe next time I'll let her to try. She ate the opor ayam, her favourite. Dudi ? got no complained from him, he just simply said veryyy... good. I was so happy.

And apparently my friends really enjoyed the lunch.

Coffee Morning with moms

2007-06-30T23:56:00.000+07:00

Before the school finishes, and everybody will have gone for their loonnggg... summer holiday -very soon,actually-, here we were at my house.

I made a lot of food. Geeta brought her rice salad (everybody wanted the recipe), Kay made oatmeal cookies (my boys finished them), Misae with apple cider, Anna and Marlene with the cookies, Elen with doughnuts, Sunny brought dragon fruit (so much..), Lyn with longans. Hm... everything went so well with coffee and tea. We really had a good time.

I did interview people for their holiday plans, and these are some of the results :

Elen and fam - back home - Indonesia for 6 weeks,
Geeta go to India (4 weeks),
Marlene - instead going back home, yeah...go to Singapore, baby !! - shopping for couple days (eh padahal murahan disini lagi).
Kay - back home - UK,
Lym and Anna - back home - Malaysia (supposed I asked to bring tupat nona for me),
Lin - back home - Sgp (for the whole holiday !!, she will put her kids at school),
Misae same as Lin- will spend the whole 9 weeks holiday back to Japan (also same reason, needs to take her kids to Japanese school). It means holiday in Thailand but school in their home country. Oh my...my...
how about Sunny ??, my Korean friend, is she gonna put her kids to Korean school as well ??, hhmm.. I wonder, I forgot to ask her.
the rest ?? ( like me ), just stay here in Thailand (maybe going around Thailand)

She's cute, isn't she?

2007-06-30T23:39:00.000+07:00

Swimming at school

Field trip to Sriracha Tiger Zoo

Field Trip to Chiang mai

2007-06-30T18:42:00.000+07:00

Hermanto and Timlin

In June 10th, my eldest son Arif went to Chiang mai -School residential (long field trip)-. He would be away for 5 nights !!. 2 nigths in the train (for going and back) and 3 nights he would spend in Chiang Mai.

This would be the most interesting residential for primary students, not to mention the most expensive.

I took him to the school. The school bus left at 2.15pm and would take them to the train station in Bkk. They would go to Chiang Mai by train. It would be a long night journey. Took 12 hours.

They went to the Karen hilltribe (in Chiang Mai) and they would (teachers and students) stay with them (local people) for a night, and for the rest of 2 nights they stayed at a student center.

Arif really enjoyed this residential. It was a very good experience for all the students according to him. They learned how the local people do some handycrafts, worked in the muddy paddy rice field, tried to ride a buffalo, walked in the rain forest. How about the weather ?? I asked him. "It was cold (hi..hi..lha wong di gunung) and very damp. It rained like 3 times a day."

Below are the conversations between my son and me :

Arif : "Mama I know what was like being poor, I was soo poor there".

Me : shocked, and I asked him "what happened there honey?".

Arif : "the last night, when were in the train, we supposed to buy our own dinner, then I borrowed my friend's money, which he borrowed from the teacher. The teacher gave him 100 B (equal almost US$3, remember people this is in Thailand, food are much much cheaper than other places outside the country, apalagi kalau mau bandingin ama jkt, just admit it di jkt jajanan boleh dikata mahal). Then from that money, we shared. We bought our dinner".

Oh God, hi..hi..hi..(it wasn't funny at all at that time when I heard his story).

Me : "But I gave you more than enough money" (since teachers had given information in advance to parents that we should provide our children with some amounts for last dinner in the train).

Arif : "Yes, then I had purcased books, a t-shirt, a game, a bag of coffee (the famous one from the Chiang mai's tribe), soft drinks, snacks....(oalah..belanja tho nak....)".

Me : Ok then, since you had borrowed, I'll give you the money then you must give it back either to your friend or to your teacher.

Arif : No, I won't pay him back unless he pay back to the teacher otherwise he'll keep my money.

Me : No you can't do that. You must pay back. Owe is owe. Here's the simple rule you owe then you pay, that's it. It's nothing to do with your friend. And anyway you should trust your friend, right ?. (trus karena kita beragama islam, percaya ada surga ada neraka, percaya hukuman dikemudian hari, hari pembalasan, (bukannya reinkarnasi lho) sebelum kalau bisa, masuk surga trus gw ceritain deh cerita yg pernah gw dapat dari ibundaku tercinta, bahwa bagi orang2 yang utang nggak bayar utang akan terus2an memikul utangnya terberat2 sambil cari orang yg diutangi yg nggak ketemu2, hi..! nauzubillahminzalik. Makanya waktu meninggal belum sempet bayar utang, harus dibayar oleh anak atau cucunya. Kalau nggak ada/nggak bisa harus ada orang lain yg bayar (siapa aja yg mau sedekah). Intinya sampai orang tsb bebas utang. Tapi bukan berarti jadi kewajiban orang yg diutangi bw ngebebasin si orang yg berpiutang, enak aja loe!.

Me, then, asked him again : "but I thought you stayed in the small village. Do they have a book store there ? (surprised that they sell english books)

Arif : yes we did stay but before, we went to the market. There is a bookazine (book store) there. Ooh...pantesan no wonder..

By the way Arif bought me a bag of coffee. He bought it from a special coffee shop. Product of the tribe. It smells very good. That is the best coffee from Chiang Mai. Almost everybody bought it, in fact some teachers bought a lot !! for their friends in Pattaya since they had been asked to buy the coffees. Arif told me proudly that the coffee is very cheap. It costs only 100 B per bag, since it should be costs about hundreds if you buy outside the place (with the good bag package and label on it).

I gave him the advices about money. What he should do with his money. He listened, he nodded. He understood.

Thank you again son for the coffee. You're very sweet youngman. I'm so proud of you.

The old friend

2007-06-30T17:21:00.000+07:00

Knowing that we quite a lot to go to Bkk, -either stay over or one day return- Rizki and wife had offered us a few times to stay with them in their appartement. Finally a few weeks ago (June 3rd), we took their offered. We stayed there for 1 night. Left on saturday. Their appartement is located in the most prestisious street in Bkk. Wireless Rd. What a WOW !!. Along the street is where The US Embassy located, an US Ambassador big beautiful and old house -I adore old buildings as you know- with the huge garden (long time ago the house was owned by a prince of Kingdom of Siam), a few of American offices, sky scrappers and a five star hotel. Supposed to be the most safest street in Bkk, maybe, or could be a dangerous street (imagine in Jkt people do the the violent demonstration in front of the embassy gimana kalau orang2nya pada bringas like they want to eat you). Farah was impress with the building when we entering the front security gate, she seemed so surprised. Woww.. the house is so bigg.. (she said house not building), he..he..and mas Arif teased her "look at the garage, there are so many cars...". Farah then realized "it is just like a hotel", she said and wondering at the same time. A fully uniform doorman opened the big glass door and greeted us, soon Rizki went down and welcomed us. Then he verified his fingerprint to open the inner glass door before we reached the lift hall. Wow.. my kids were just more impressed. What a security. Upstair in their appartement Angi and their adorable daughters -a 13 years old Echa and her 7 years old sister Karin welcomed us. Their appartement is huge for Bangkok size. Just like a big house. The bed rooms (2) were ready for us. Very comfortable. Pembantu (btw they have 2, saudara2, ada yg orang Indo pula, hhmm..luksuri dong bw yg tinggal di LN mah..) had fried the empek-empek palembang asli a lot !!, served with cukonyo, they were sent from Palembang. Yum..yum.. and superr spicy, but Arif enjoyed them. We had dinner at a restaurant. Rizki and Angi like to treat their guests. It's like they want to treat all the time !!. Rizki and Dudi were good friends when they were still in the university, 20 years ago..(seems like I'm wrong in counting). Angi, his wife was his few years junior also in the same faculty. Rizki works for a world wide American Company, he is an executive and an expatriate. Now he is taking his PhD degree at abroad university (distant learning, generousity from his employer). Angi his wife is a manager at Sgp office. For her going back Sgp-Bkk is just like going back grocerries store-house for me, he..he.. It's really obvious that tyhey are really live very well. But far from arogant, in fact they are really generous and religious. By the way, the next day on sunday. After the gentlemens had heavy breakfast (nasi uduk ama ayam goreng bo!, apa nggak sewot yah perut suamiku secara dia biasa has light breakfast), they went to the golf course. Again Dudi told me later that he was so touched when he saw his friend knows the people well who work in the golf course and gave so much tips for his caddy, zakat. "Just exactly same I always saw him when he was a youngman 20 years ago..he hasn't changed so much but now more rezeki more zakat", he said. Meanwhile, we -wonderful wifes- he..he..he.., we talked a lot while we were watching our adorable children swam. At noon we went to Central Chidlom for lunch. I wanted to have laksa -singaporean style- and I'm not ngidam lho saudara2. it's true!! really gratefull to have such good friends like they are. Layak panutan, deserve to be good examples for us. Thank you friends. Dudi, Rizki and Angi Angi, Karin and Farah

Good book

2007-06-19T15:44:00.000+07:00

Currently reading this book. Again, someone who very inspiring..... . Very recommended !!

Singapore, day 3 (May 18th)

2007-05-22T15:09:00.000+07:00

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)

2007-05-22T09:54:00.000+07:00

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.

2007-05-21T15:46:00.000+07:00

"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

2007-05-05T23:55:00.000+07:00

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

2007-05-05T23:45:00.000+07:00

is just like her mother

has 3 babies

and very proud of them

ooh...she's so cute !!

Ladies Luncheon

2007-05-04T14:20:00.000+07:00

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

2007-05-01T19:39:00.000+07:00

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 !.

Get-away

2007-04-29T21:54:00.000+07:00

It was a labor day. Stayed in Bkk for one night. Really nice hotel, lot of good food. Love to go to Bangkok cause they have so much choices. Lots of food which is maybe not halal but still not haram (yg penting nggak makan babi or campur babi or dari babi, thai people adore babi so much. Everything is from itu, Oh God. In fact, you can see itu dimana2, digantung2 or dipajang2 ato diguling2 kaya kambing guling). We did nothing except just relaxing and enjoying the day. Buffet here was awesome. Breakfast or lunch and dinner. No rushing in the morning, I mean me. I'm talking about me. Preparing breakfast and the lunch boxes for 4 heads (my 3 precious kids and 1 honey husband), make sure that the boys brush their teeth, etc.. You know what I'm talking , right. You're a normal and adorable mother, right. The 1 day like this (only asking for one day, that's enough, I mean, once at a time), I really appreciate. The next day would be back to normal. Sure. You know what?, Ok I tell you this, actually I like this duties and.... what??, oh...in fact I miss it already, oohh..and soo.. looking forward ??, ooh...my...my..... "I know what I'm gonna do!, I will prepare this..and that.... hhmm... I'm sure my kids gonna like this. Ok in the fridge I have.... Oh..come on... stop it!." ( yah...gw ngelamun terus baru take 1 day off aja dah banyak ide. Cepet bener segernya yah??).

Coffee morning

2007-04-25T21:58:00.000+07:00

This morning I had Kirsi, Indri, Arry and Ita. I made some cakes. Arry brought her new style roti goreng isi - fried sausage sandwich. Hhmm yum...yum.... everything went well with coffee and tea.

Charu called me in the morning, told me that she couldn't come. Needed to do the final shopping, this..and that... She will move to Shanghai (seems the trend now, a lot of people move to Shanghai) and her flight is..."what time is tomorrow ?", what ??, very very..early morning...??.

We'd eaten the soto ayam komplit before we went to the school - pick up our babies.

Farah

2007-04-25T21:37:00.000+07:00

Likes to sleep in mommy's and papa's room first......then Dudi or me will move her later to her own room. Actually sometimes Emir does the same too. You can't see him in this picture. Hiding behind the comforter, Oohh..mama that's embarrasing, he said.

Still you can see a lii..ttlee.. bit of his pyjama. He..he..

Family party

2007-04-22T09:41:00.000+07:00

Yesterday we had party at The Cavanough's. Again....?? Yes, Debby and Ken Cavanough had Dudi and me at their house several times. Debby likes to cook and always has a party at her house. But this time the party was for family too. It started from 2.00 pm till...finished. Debby made a farewell party for (one of the executives at Dudi's office) Tobbyn Williams. He's got new promotion in Shanghai-China. Oohh...I will miss Myra Williams soon. Hate to say goodbye to her, she's so nice and funny. I love her.

Debby told me to bring the swimsuits for my kids. So here they were all the kids were swimming. There were 9 children.

My kids really enjoyed the party. Unlike usual, this time Debby didn't cook. She had caterer from Mantra Restaurant-Amari Hotel. The best restaurant in town. Yum...yum.... we could eat all the food. Oh ya and there were some for vegetarians too. Debby is the best. She always thinks her guests. Jeevan family eat only vegetarian food, the Hermantos and the Mc Gratts are muslims. We don't eat pork. Here we were..., Arif ate the pasta and potato gratin again and again, Emir and Farah enjoyed the satay so much. Chicken satay. (in thailand satay is usually pork). Dudi and me tried everything..., well almost, ha..ha..ha...

Oh I forgot. Debby baked a lot of cakes...... and she made my kids to bring home her cakes. Zip lock this... , zip lock that.... really really yum..yum....

scott, allistor, dudi, tobbyn, kris

Lisa, Myra and a chinese lady (forgot the name-Myra's neighbour)

After Bill ( the president director) gave the speech, it was turn for Tobbyn and Myra to talk. So sad. Finished the speech, there it was which everybody's waiting for...open the presents !!.

From The GM office Myra got a Louis Vuitton bag and for Tobbyn he got a traditional thai gong. The Gong is quite big and heavy. The gong is a GM Thailand's tradition, given for somebody who finished their assigment in Thailand. From the executives they got a replica miniature of the "Thai Royal Barge". It is really beautiful with gold color. They've got so many beautiful presents from everybody.

Hope, they're more than happy

for not going back to the

US yet.

Seemed everybody made an effort for this party. All of the invited guests were here. Including the GM guys from Bkk.

Songkran in Pattaya

2007-04-20T07:39:00.000+07:00

Yesterday was the songkran celebration for pattaya people !. Hmmm.... dangerous !. Supposed just stay at home. But I needed to go to the doctor. To avoid the unbelieveable trafic we took the small road (jln tikus) to go to the hospital.

I don't like the way Thais celebrate their summer holiday. They like to throw water everywhere and to everybody. Even if you like you can throw a galon of water to the police in the street!!. No one gets angry. Everybody just smiles... or you can laugh...( this is the land of smile.....). So, let's smile... people. Wek !!

My driver told me that "the throw water ritual" is not right. The young generations do this. He said in his time the younger had to drop a little amount of water to the older's palm. Blessing. That's it. But now... they're ready with the water trucks on the street. They get drunk and the girls like to put on their white t-shirt. Ya Allah, menjijaykan banget.

Let's see the pictures below. I took some pictures from my closed window car, off course.

hei ndul!, nyebrang aja loe nggak liat2!!

kasihan supir gw, tapi untung bukan gw yg bersihin mobil

biar tambah kotor air campur bedak, keren yah mas, hi..hi..

the boys

2007-04-20T07:30:00.000+07:00

When I asked my boys whether they wanted to go outside to see the pattayas throwing water or even joined them, they just simply said no. Great. They had so much to do. Practising basketball, bycicle around the compound, having friends at home, play ps 3, reading so many books or watching movies. Plus, Emir joined the additional swimming lesson at school. I know they'd really enjoyed staying at home.

During songkran holiday (summer in thailand)

2007-04-18T18:40:00.000+07:00

I just came back from Indo a week ago. I needed to attend ada urusan keluarga. Sounds cliche ?, but it's true. Unfortunately, the kids and Dudi couldn't come with me. We have tighted our belts at the moment. So.... this was not what you have thought guys.... . Last night we had dinner with Debby & Ken, Yoko & Steven, Herwani & John at the restaurant. We talked about our holiday. So.. Debby spent couple nights in Bali, Herwani went to Spain and Yoko went to Dubai. ( oh...God sounds really excited. Seems that I need to go there too ... For shopping!!. Insya Allah, someday ). Till John asked Dudi... "how about you Dudi ??" and Dudi replied "Oh I just stayed at home with the kids. But Lisa went to Jakarta". And everybody was like this "What??!! wow!!" ( oh come on.. it was not really a big deal) "you really had nice holiday, Lisa". "Your husband stayed at home and took care of the kids". And I said oh yeah... and when I got home, surprising me, they're getting bigger!, seems they put some kilos on. But I just went for 5 days.... needed some more time... relax guys.!!, kidding. There was something that really bothered me. Dudi leaves for the office at 6.30 am and comes home around 8 pm. He's so busy. Plays golf in the weekend, gets a massage. Internet all the time, hah!. He traveled a lot. He had come from brazil just 2 days before I left to Jakarta!!. Oohh.. I missed him so much!! I suggested him the weekend idea. Only us. Husband and wife, so we went to Bkk last Friday. Stayed over there for 1 night. We spent quality time, talked a lot. Nice. We had dinner with Indri and husband Mika at a brazil restaurant (Dudi's idea !!). Lovely. Guys.. it was really a great weekend !!. Ehm..you know. Ok, I'm blushing now. Ha..ha...

American Idol

2007-03-30T22:24:00.000+07:00

Gw Takjub bener nih. Sanjaya masih bertahan jadi contestant. Padahal suaranya yah samalah sama gw (ini pasti gw sedang berbohong hue...hue..). Rasa2nya pingin telp temen gw di sana, .... hi..hi.. maaf2 kalau gw salah prasangka. Mustinya diganti tuh namanya jangan american idol. Habis pasti di-idol sama anak2 cewek abg. Mustinya namanya american best singer kek atau apalah jangan pakai kata idol.

The boys and the piano

2007-03-11T18:25:00.000+07:00

These pictures below were taken when they had piano recital in their music academy. Small performance in front of the parents. To be honest they don't like to take piano lesson. But unfortunately their mother won't listen. So they go every saturday to the music academy. Hope someday they will understand its benefit.

I can play piano. I can read the notes. I didn't like to play piano. I learned piano from I was in elementary until high school. But you know... not so so good because on and off and I had to move a lot along with my parents (alasan...)

Maybe (hope) one of my kids have the talent like their oma -my mother-. She played piano very..good. Very talented. In 1950's her dutch teacher advised her parents (my grandpa) to send her to Europe to take more lesson. She almost left. But..the story was gone different.

Anyway...here we are, the boys and the proud parents.

Hi Farah, do you want to join them now ?.

One night

2007-03-11T18:19:00.000+07:00

I just sprayed my boys room with the mosquitoes repellent. While they were waiting until the smell had gone, they wanted to play with their sister in her room. But who is the boy in the far right side had slept already..??. not to mention his bubu, the teddy bear

Harvest

2007-03-01T17:37:00.000+07:00

One afternoon after picked up Farah from school. Arry (my friend) saw the mango tree in my back yard. It has a loott... of mangoesss.. What?? I just realized that. Yeah....It's harvest time!!. But it didn't take long for the people who are living around us to know. They enjoyed our manggoes too!. Everyday there were less and less manggoes. They just took them without permission. Luckly our maid could manage that. We could eat them everyday. Especially for Farah and my husband (not my boys, they don't like it). Even my maid took the manggoes for my mom, sho she could bring them to Indonesia. She was happy and she would share them with her neighbours. Although the manggoes here are still green but surprisingly, the taste is far from sour. It taste sweet. That's why my mother really admire it. C'est bizarre.. It's weird. Green, crunchy, but sweet. When I was a kid living in Surabaya, My late father used to buy manggoes from Pasuruan. Mangga Gadung. This habit still continuing when we moved to Jakarta, he liked to buy those at Pasar Kramat Jati. I miss you dad.

Happy 40th Birthday

2007-02-25T09:35:00.000+07:00

Who's birthday ??. Of course the father of my wonderful kids and he is my husband (sing ngganteng dhewe). Couple days ago. In Feb 22nd.

We had dinner at Indian by Nature. Indian cuisine is one of his favourite foods.

I had lunch with GM ladies at Casa Pascal (not to celebrate his birthday). while I was with them, I kept thinking what's cooking today...hm... needed to cook quick and a lot. Ok I gave up. Not have enough time. A..ha!!. Got an idea. Thinking what cuisine that I'm not really good to cook. Although I'd learned before with an expert Indian lady. Ehm..called Dudi and suggested him to have birthday dinner outside. He's Ok he..he... he's really a good man.

We really had a good dinner that night. The kids like the food so much.

But so sorry, I didnt't have a present for him yet. Need to go to Bkk. (yihaa..!! another excuse to go to Bkk!!)

Selamat ulang tahun papa tersayang........... Doa2 dari kita semua... semoga dikabulkan oleh ALLAH SWT, Amin.

Gala Dinner

2007-02-12T08:21:00.000+07:00

Last saturday in Feb 10th, Dudi and me went to Bkk. We were invited by Bill Botwick (president dir of GM Thailand) to attend again The 50th Years American Chamber of Thailand. When I read the invitation, it's written that this year is 50th years anniversary for american chamber. What??.. again??. Last year was 50th years too. This time the party was held in Royal Thai Navy. Wow I was excited. Since the party would be finished around midnight, so we decided to stay a night in Bkk. We were sitting together in the same table with Ruth and Bill Botwick, Myra Williams (Tobin was in shanghai), Kris & Mario Aldea, Yoko & Steven Small, and Geevan. At the other table there were Debbie & Ken Cavanough and another 3 couples from GM Bkk. Timlins, McGrats, Absilises, and Scott Robinson didn't come. Oh ya everybody asked Bill about the 50th years and he just simply said that this year is the right number. (lho salah tho... jadi yg bener tuh sekarang, he..he..) Anyway we really had a good time here. We left the party at around 11 pm and went back to the hotel. The next day on Sunday. We had lunch together with Nia, Lorenz and baby Nola Kroenert. The Kroenerts were here because they needed to do some final shopping in Bkk, before they leave thailand forgood -going back to Germany-. Since they were here, we decided to invite them for having lunch together in Erawan Grand Hyatt. It was very nice lunch and also sad as well. They will leave soon in the next 2 weeks!!. Nia and me are good friends. Lorenz is Dudi's friend. They play golf together almost every week!!. We couldn't take any pictures because my camera was death-no battery and Nia forgot hers in the car. Too bad...

So blue..

2007-02-09T11:00:00.000+07:00

After spent 1 month here, my mom went back to indonesia yesterday. Nggak enak banget. Hope she had very good times here. We really missed her stories. Especially my kids. Every morning while the kids were having breakfast she liked to tell the stories about Rasulullah SAW. Alhamdulillah, she's still in a very good health. Almost everyday my mom and me went together. We (mom, kids and me) spent alot of times in the kitchen !!. She was so amazed to see Arif really like her sop buntut dan rawon. He's just like his opa!!, she said. (and finally I know now to make the right rawon jawa timur yg uiiteemm.... sampai kedaging2nya, hue..hue..) It was so sweet to see my kids doing homework with my mom helped them!!, right Emir?. And Farah you're such a lucky girl having your oma picked you up at school many times and even sang and danced together with your teachers and friends in your classroom. We left at around 5.am in the morning. It takes 1 1/2 hours to go to the airport. Before we left, my mom went to her grandchildren's rooms, wanted to say goodbye. They're still sleeping. She kissed their heads while she was praying. She always do that. Prays and kisses our head at the same time. My kids managed to get up and salim their oma. I introduced my mom to my indonesian friends. Since I've been living abroad, whenever & wherever my mom came to visit, I'd like to invite my friends come to my house. Thank you friends for coming and even brought foods and gifts for my mother. Girls, you made her so touched. She knows all my friends and liked to be taken pictures with them. She's happy that I have good friends. (off course mom, we have to be nice to people, but when it comes to have friends I always choose them, -tentu aja tho kalau berteman gw pilih2) She had lunch at Indri' s house and Ita's house. Thank you girls for having my mom. It's really appreciated. She liked to do shopping in Bkk. Bought oleh2 for her friends and relatives. Her luagages were so full that she had to leave few things she bought for herself. So, I'll make sure myself to bring them with me next time I visit her in indonesia. For me, having my mother here at my house, melayaninya. I was soo extremely happy and blessed. Maafkan ananda berdua mam kalau ada kekurangan dalam pelayanan. Kalau ada rejeki kesehatan, kesempatan, materiil, Insya Allah, we'll make sure for having her and my in laws at our house again and again in the next years.

Koh Samui

2007-01-28T07:27:00.000+07:00

At the begining we were all not excited to go to koh samui. Everybody was tired. We just came back from Indonesia in Jan 5th and now left again ??...... But like Dudi said if we wanted to change the date we needed to put some more additional fees per person. Ok then..... Ceritanya dari bulan oktober tahun lalu. Dudi lagi iseng2 browsing, then he got cheap tickets to go to Koh Samui by Air Asia. For all of us (berlima) -return- only for $ 200. Are you interested?, should we go?, instead I said no I replied it's up to you. Hua..hua..hua... salah sendiri deh gw. Ok, done the luggage is always my job. Although we only went for 2 days but we're 5. Don't forget everybody's swimsuits, these and those cremes, books, sunglasses, sandals, etc.. We left in Jan 25th (thursday) and would be back in Jan 27th (saturday). Titip ibuku dan rumah sama pembantu, yah aku membiasakan nama -pembantu- ini terhadap anak2ku, karena semua tugas rumah tangga adalah di pundakku, dan tugas dia hanyalah bantu2 mama, helper, yg nolongin mama, bukan sebaliknya kaya rata2 pembantu di indo (nggak semuanya nih jangan kesinggung yah ibu2, gw nggak nyindir kok) yg sepertinya rendah derajat, semua pekerjaan ada di pundak pembantu nyonya tinggal nyuruh2. Anyway, we said good bye to my mom and apoligized to her because this time she couldn't go with us. Besides there was no any tickets available (lha yah dah habis tho, wong pesennya dari 4 bulan yg lalu), plus perjalannya nggak worth it at all. Why? because we went by air asia, so the flight only reaches until...I forgot the name of the place. Pokoknya in the middle of nowhere. After that we needed to continue by bus for 3 hours. Wah.. and still not finished. After waiting for some time (about one hour) we went on the ferry for another 2 hours. Then again another 45 minutes to the hotel by taxi. Oalah....... gombal beeng !!. Ngos2an nggak tuh. We left from our house at 7.30 am ( remember people.... the airport is near bkk) and arrived at the hotel about 5.30 pm. My husband said we supposed to be in Shanghai now. Hue...hue..hue... The hotel is really good. Hhmm... nice......, the kids took a rest in their room. They didn't want to have dinner outside. They had room service. After Farah slept, Dudi and me strolled the beach and had dinner at the restaurant. On Friday (the next day), we just spent the day at the hotel. Swam and played on the beach and in the pool. Taught my kids how to swim correctly. (I'm a preety good swimmer). Breakfast at the hotel, bought some burgers at Mc Donald then had dinner at the hotel. The dinner buffet was superb!!. Saturday was our last day in Koh Samui. Dudi decided to change the flight. Off course this is another additional expenses. Anyway it's worth it. We went on Bangkok Airways (one way). It is directly from Koh Samui to Pattaya and only need 1 hour. Yes, airport in Koh Samui is only for Bangkok Airways (boutique airport owned by bangkok airways). It surprised me, the airport is small and very simple. Even the floor is not tiled. But it's clean and they serve international destinations. When we went inside, wow! they have internet service (high speed) and small corner for snacks and drinks (again, they're free). We arrived at Sattahip-Pattaya Airport ( owned by Thai Navy). My mother picked us up. Hm...what a journey.

Arif's 11 th Birthday

2007-01-20T23:06:00.000+07:00

Ulang tahun anak pertamaku ini jatuh hari Sabtu last week, tepatnya tgl 13 Januari. Aku bikin nasi kuning dan lauk ala kadarnya. Trus beli cake juga. Tapi berhubung hari itu padat banget. Jadi acara tiup lilin jatuh hari seninnya, tgl 15 januari. How come?. This is the story. Directly after my 2 boys finished their piano lesson, we drop off Arif at his friend's birthday party. And we went around Pattaya, then had lunch at the restaurant. Then, went to IT center. After that, pick Arif up. Then had dinner at the restaurant. Arrived at home, all the kids were tired. Lelap semuanya. Including the birthday boy. Sunday?. Very early in the morning we left. Went to Bkk. When we were at home, it was too late. Again, the kids were really tired. Jadi, Seninnya deh... Trus partynya diadakan hari Sabtu tgl 20. Di Hard Rock Hotel (kebagiannya hari ini, penuh bo!, padahal bookednya dah dari bulan november lalu pas ultah farah). Uwak dan tante dah pulang ke Indo. Pesta dimulai dari jam 11.00 am sampai 5.30 pm. Gw yg nungguin. Dudi dan mama nyusul. Pas makan siang, kurleb jam 1. Anak2 pada happy deh. Anak2 total 10 orang. Banyak activitiesnya pesta di sini. Banyak games. Terakhir setelah semua program activitiesnya selesai ada tambahan foam party. Yeah... anak2 nggak jadi selesai deh, main lagi. Puas lah anak2 semua. Farah juga ikutan sih. Tapi nggak bisa lah yau main bareng the boys. She's too small to join with them. Jadi aku yg ngawasin dia bernang2.

Party at Hard rock

2007-01-20T23:00:00.000+07:00

Kakak2 pulang

2007-01-17T23:08:00.000+07:00

Setelah liburan disini selama seminggu. Yahh....akhirnya harinya tiba juga. Tadi pagi subuh, kakak dan mbak Iis pulang. Sepi lagi deh kita. Nggak enak, udah biasa kemaren2 rame. Tapi gimana dong anak2 yg cuman ditemeni para pembantu dah menanti di rumah. Juga kerja menanti. Tapi mama nggak pulang dulu dong. Beliau akan menghabiskan waktu bersama kita disini selama sebulan. Selama mereka disini kita dah bolak balik bkk-pattaya. Sayang waktunya kurang. Tetep aja yg di bkk ada yg belum dikunjungi. Insya Allah lain waktu. Kunjungan ke Bkk meliputi grand palace, paragon, chatuchak, pantip, dan pratunam. Sedang di Pattaya ke crocodile farm, pattaya hill (beautiful view), walking street, oh ya sama nonton muay thai (thai boxing) yg kebetulan lagi ada world championship. Selama kakak disini, arif banyak dibantu his math homework, nggak usah nunggu dudi pulang kantor. Seneng yah punya uwak pinter. Pokoknya Eric Clapton teh dah selesai. Kita datang terlambat kira2 15 menit. Bkk macet cet luar biasa. Sampai kaki gw berdarah2 segala gara2 nyeruduk something sharp in the car. Tapi nggak nyesel lah... Btw, while they were here farah didn't go to school. So she's the one who really happy spent so much time with uwak and tante especially tante loves her so much. Bye..tante, next time you should come here again with uwak, mas hamam.....

Mama datang

2007-01-11T23:42:00.000+07:00

Riangnya hatiku.

Kemaren sore gw dah meluncur lagi deh ke airport. Dalam rangka menjemput ibunda tercinta, my only brother and my sis in law.

Kunjungan ibunda di Thailand ini untuk yg kedua kalinya. Sedang kakakku untuk pertama kalinya mengunjungiku selama ik tinggal di LN. Hi..hi...gw jangan geer dulu. Mengapa ??. Soale bakalan ada performance mas Erik Clapton tgl 15 Jan yad. Jadinya kakakku beserta my sis in law semanagt datang ke thailand gara2 si mr Clapton ini. Trus sambil sekalian nengokin adiknya yg cuman semata wayang. Ealah... nggak kebalik tuh. Hi...hi...

Karena kedua kakakku ini hanya seminggu saja di thailand. Mari kita ngebut.

Pagi ini kita udah meluncur ke Bkk. Kunjungan wisata. The boys went to school. Farah bolos dulu yah. Dudi is in Japan. (yap! pulang dari indo trus dia langsung besoknya ke jepang)

Naik tuktuk kali ini agak kurang memuaskan kakakku. Yah mau bagaimana lagi. Tuktuk nya nggak bisa ngepot dong kalau penumpangnya penuh. Padahal seninya naik tuktuk itu harus ngebut, ngepot2 dan ngerem harus sampai bunyi2 cit..!!cit...!!. Kita2 semua yang perempuan dah pada kecut mukanya. Kecuali kakak gw yg ketawa2 asyik. Sambil pegangan erat

tentunya.

Tiba di rumah

2007-01-06T22:34:00.000+07:00

Alhamdulillah. Selamat sampai di rumah. Jam berapa yah dinihari tadi deh sampai Pattaya. Home sweet home. Tidur ah....istirahat........ zzz....zzz....zzz... Mana bisa..?? itu khan cuma angan2. Sejak pagi tadi. Hayo balik lagi seperti semula. Kerja...... Hi...hi... gw khan home maker. Sampai rumah yah masuk dapur lagi yah beres2 lagi yah ini itu urusan rumah tangga. But really happy..........back to normal. Ssst.....dah malem, semua dah pada istirahat. Got to go now.

Kuningan

2007-01-01T22:23:00.000+07:00

Dalam rangka perayaan pesta kawin emasnya mertuaku. Mertua ingin sekali merayakan di kampung halaman. Berkumpul dengan seluruh sanak saudara. Jadi kali ini sekali lagi kel dudi ramai2 berangkat ke kuningan. Dari Jakarta kita2 dan saudara2 Dudi. Mimih dan bapak udah berangkat ke kuningan 2 hari duluan. Buat persiapan. Berangkat tgl 30. Jadi sekalian lebaran idul adha yah juga sekalian open house terima ucapan selamat dari para saudara2 mertuaku. Habis sholat ziarah ke makam trus pulang ke rumah mertua trus pesta dimulai. Banyak banget saudara2 pada datang. Terharu banget begitu melihat my in-laws duduk berdua berdampingan meneima salam dan ucapan. Anak2 ku semua senang. Karena tiada hari tanpa main playstation (again..), yg kali ini mainnya bareng sama sepupu2nya.

Tanjung Benoa dan Pulau Penyu

2006-12-25T23:20:00.000+07:00

Hari ini tujuan pertama ke Tanjung Benoa. Wuah...!! puanas beeng. Tapi nggak papa kok, seneng. Di tanjung benoa yah anak2 dong yang senang. Karena semua permainan air disinilah tempatnya. Hayo tinggal sebut. Tapi anak2 kita hanya main2 di pantai sajalah, habisnya tampak tidak begitu aman. Walaupun orangnya sih ngomong kalau ini standar internasional. Biarain aja... Yang penting anak2 happy deh, kalau anak2 lain yg lebih besaran sih (baik umur dan berat badan), mungkin nggak masalah. Apalagi dengan permainan yg kaya layang2 itu. Yuhu...terbang tinggi di atas laut. Gw sih serem kalau anak gw yg naik. Lha gimana kalau perahu karetnya tiba2 muter2, pelintir2 di udara. Soalnnya nggak seimbang perahu sama beratnya anak2ku. Selesai main disini kita ke pulau penyu. Terus dilanjutkan ke GWK. Sebenernya kalau proyek GWK ini terlaksana betapa luar biasa megahnya. Tapi sayang nggak ada dana...

My sweet nieces

Hayo...!! balapan menuju pulau penyu

Sukawati, Bedugul, Tanah Lot

2006-12-24T23:42:00.000+07:00

Tour pertama hari ini dimulai dengan jam karet. Menunggu anggota keluarga lainnya siap. Wah biasa deh, layaknya orang indo pada umumnya. Kita sekeluarga sih tepat waktu. Agak lama juga kita nunggu di lobby bersama pak Wayan-pemandu wisata. Ah senengnya pergi ramai2. Rombongan terdiri dari mimih dan bapak (orang tuanya Dudi) yg walaupun mereka sudah sepuh tapi semangat tetap ok dan masih siap bisa pergi bareng anak2, mantu2 dan cucu2 tercinta, mbak Titin sekeluarga (Aa, Adis dan Adit), mbak Tuti sekeluarga (kak Eka, Nisa dan Iim), mas Iwan sekeluarga (kak Yani, Salita dan Icad), Dudi sekeluarga (gw, Arif, Emir dan Farah), and last but not least - ketua panitia yaitu Ida beserta sang suami mas Aryo. Hebat deh tournya. Nggak salah milih travel biro. Thanks to Ida (yg pasti repot pisan ngurusin semua ini). Harga sangat ok. Selain tiket pp, hotel dan akomodasi, juga transportasi selama di Bali. Eh ternyata selama di perjalanan di bis selalu tersedia aneka minuman dan makanan kecil. Selama di perjalanan Farah nggak rewel sama sekali, malahan nyanyi2 dan selalu ingin dipangku sama bapaknya Dudi. Lengket banget ama mbah de-nya. Terharu deh ngeliat dia. Inget gw ama komentar kakakku. Bersyukur Farah bisa ngerasain betapa senengnya masih punya kakek. Farah nggak terlalu kenal sama alm papaku, hanya mengenal opanya selama 2 tahun. Tujuan pertama mampir di tempat placemate dll yg terbuat dari rotan. Wah bagusnya dan rapih banget buatannya. Model2 begini made in thailand juga banyak, tapi kualitasnya jauh banget deh dibanding disini. Gw sampai tergoda pingin beli lagi, dah punya sih tapi tentu aja lain lha wong punyaku buatan thailand, duh gimana yah..mikir..mikir.., hi...hi...untung harganya mahal2 jadi selamat deh nggak belanja kali ini. Trus menuju ke sukowati ada sebuah galeri lukisan. Yak! mampir. Liat..liat.... belum ada yg cucok. Yak selamat lagi kali ini. Nggak belanja. He..he.. Sampai pasar Sukowati. Pilih2 barang yang kualitasnya ok. Cihui..!! dapat patung jatayu idamanku semenjak dulu, lumayan besar. Harga murah bo!. Hayo mari kita belanja... belanja.. akhirnya pertahananku jebol juga. Untungnya kali ini belanjanya sebagian besar untuk oleh2. Menuju Bedugul hujan lebat banget. Lumayan lah nggak terlalu panas. Bedugul masih seperti dulu. Sampai di Tanah Lot, hari masih panas padahal bentar lagi magrib. Oh Indahnya pemandangan, Subhanallah. Sayangnya para turis lokal kebanyakan tidak turut menjaga kebersihan. Tetep wee... mempertahankan kebudayaan yaitu buang sampah sembarangan. Padahal menurut pengamatanku orang bali pembersih.

dipangku mbah

dijemur dulu

bagus ya gebyoknya

bedugul

Semua kumpul

2006-12-23T23:44:00.000+07:00

Hari ke-2 Sarapan bareng mbak Tuti sekeluarga ( kakaknya dudi udah datang duluan dari new zealand sehari sebelum kita ), terus kit berpencar. Anak2 mau ke waterbom. Jadilah kita setengah hari main disana. Tempatnya asyik dan bersih. Enak bermain air disini. Semuanya pada males berhenti, tetapi harus. Kita musti ada di hotel lagi jam 3. Soalnya semua keluarga, siang ini pada datang dari jkt.

Sebelum pulang Emir berjumping2 dahulu. Anakku yg satu ini paling demen kalo pletot2 in badan, jumpalitan kalo nggak di air yah di udara.

Malemnya acara makan malam. Kita sekeluarga besar berangkat dengan bis wisata yg sudah disiapkan oleh travel. Bis wisata ini akan selalu siap selama kita berada di bali. Maklumlah kita semua berjumlah 21 orang. Thanks to ida who arranged all of this.

Liburan

2006-12-22T22:07:00.000+07:00

Akhirnya harinya tiba juga. Rencana ini sudah dipersiapkan sejak setahun yg lalu. Sempet on and off. But happened now!. Bulan Desember ini my in-laws merayakan their 50 th anniversary. Jadi kita semua kel besar dari suami kumpul di Bali. Tadi malem berangkat dari rumah jam10-an. Pesawatnya sih jam 2-an dinihari. sampai di Cgk-Jkt kira2 pukul 7 pagi. Delay bo!, dari Thailand. Kita sampai terburu2 ngejar pesawat yg langsung ke bali. Cuma ada waktu nggak sampe sejam, harus keeluar imigrasi trus lanjut lagi penerbanagan lokal. Tadinya udah nggak bisa tuh, kita harus naik yg penerbangan selanjutnya. Tapi maksa aja judulnya, khan salah sendiri pake delay, hi..hi... Akhirnya nggak tahu deh tuh orang garuda gimana ngaturnya kita bisa berangkat, plus our luggages. Semuanya in time. Tiba di bali. Oh Senangnya. Begitu keluar dari airport, udah kedengaran aja gamelan bali. We were all excited. Pak Wayan (dari tour yg udah diatur semuanya dari jakarta oleh ida - adiknya dudi) sudah memperkenalkan diri, dan kita semua siap menuju hotel. Sesampainya perasaan kita semua dah cape. Tapi nggak mau rugi, jadi keluar lagi deh. Jalan2, makan2 (asyik.. bisa tinggal pesen dan makan gw gak perlu masak2 dulu dah!!), belanja2 dikit, hi..hi..belum2 my boys dah beli aja 2 sepatu basket yg bakalan menuh2in koper. Nggak salah nih. Kata dudi murah nih dibanding thailand (bayangin lebih murah dari thailand je!, padahal thailand khan rajanya murah). Yah sudah beli....!, bis itu ada sendal lucu buat farah beli juga 2 pasang. Selanjutnya selama di bali kita semua pada beli sandal!!. Okei deh koper dah ada penghuni baru tambahan 8 ps alas kaki!!, itu nggak termasuk sandal kita sebelumnya yg bawa dari thailand!!. Pusing...!!, masalahnya yg tukang beres2 koper tuh gw!!. nb : bw neng arry, jadinya so sorry, titipan sandalnya nggak bisa kebeli. Berhubung masih di bali. And masih ada 2 kota lagi yg harus dikunjungi. Long way to go. Perjalanan belanja masih panjang....bo!. Hemat2 koper. He...he..he..

new airport swarnabhummi

dingin...dan ngantuk...!!

Yeah.... Ngurah Rai !!

Very happy

jangan lupa pesen teh botol mas

open house 27/10/06

2006-12-21T20:33:00.000+07:00

Tradisi selama tinggal di LN. Biasanya gw mengadakan open house buat lebaranan. Tapi kali ini open housenya bukan hari kedua. Tapi hari ke-4. Kali ini gw juga mengundang temen dari kantor suami. Maksudnya para istri2. Temen2 Indo datang bawa bala bantuan tambahan suplai hidangan. Asyik.... Menunya kali ini adalah nasi uduk, ketupat, sup tekwan, rendang, opor ayam, malbi, sambal bajak, mie goreng veg ( nia ), bakwan jagung (ani), balado kentang (arry), krupuk (ida). Ohya temen indiaku rajni datang membawa semacam perkedel kentang yg enak. Di meja kecil ada hidangan sampingan yaitu maksubah (ani), risoles, puding tapai hijau, es teler, pisgor coklat keju, dll. Tapi fotonya nggak komplit, berhubung menunggu dari arry nih. Mana bu.... Temenku rajni membawa barang dagangan baju2 sari india. Jadi aja ani, nia dan beth harus menjadi peragawati tanpa sempet latihan...hi..hi..liat aja tampang2 kita yg sedang tersepona.. Beth, Nia and Ani in pose......... Baby Nola is wearing a dress for the first time while her mom (Nia) and me are wearing baju kurung. She's so cute...

lebaran 2

2006-12-21T18:00:00.000+07:00

Hari lebaran ke 2. Kita dah di rumah lagi. Pagi2 siap2in makanan lebaran. Hidangan istimewa ini sudah dipersiapkan hari2 sebelumnya. Toto2 meja yang rapih dan istimewa untuk Hermanto Family. Dudi pagi2 dah pamit bentar mau golf dengan sahabat lama yg berkunjung dari bkk. Mereka sekeluarga (Rizki and fam) nginep di horseshoe point. Akhirnya setelah pada kelaparan.... Dudi datang juga. Kita santap siang bersama. Adalah suatu kesempatan yg langka untuk bisa bersantap bersama sekeluarga di meja makan. Hari2 biasanya... agak2 susah lah yau. Dudi berangkat ke kantor pagi. Anak2 masih baru bangun dan siap2 sekolah. Dudi pulang kantor, anak2 udah pada dinner. Nah sekarang kesempatan istimewa dan hidangan istimewa buat kita. Yuk..kita makan2 di ruang makan depan yg udah mama siapkan. Selain nasi kuning ada ketupat nona. Terus lauknya rendang, opor ayam, sambal goreng ati, sayur labu siam, sambal bajak, krupuk. Waktu puasa sempet bikin kaastengels bareng temen Arry dan Ani, trus punya naastar dikasih sama in law-nya Arry, kue maksubah dibeli sewaktu di Jkt Juli lalu yg gw awetkan di freezer, hi..hi... Buat dessert segala serba coklat, yeah..... kegemaran my boys. Chocolate chips cookies yg fresh from the oven. Brownie dengan vanilla ice cream dan puding coklat andalan. Lumayan rame..... meja gw. Nggak lama temen dudi datang bergabung makan siang bersama yaitu Rizki dan Ai bersama 2 putrinya. Tapi kelupaan nggak foto2. Malamnya kita kedatangan tamu dari warga GM (kantor suami) yg orang Indo. Yaitu kel Didi bersama ortu, kel bimo, kel sudung, kel sonny.

lebaran 24/10

2006-12-21T17:47:00.000+07:00

Wah ini ada yg ketinggalan. Waktu lebaran kemaren. Cerita 2 bulan lalu. Wuehe...he..he...

Seperti biasa, sejak tidak tinggal di tanah air kalau lebaran selalu kita berkumpul dengan masyarakat indonesia lainnya untuk merayakan lebaran bersama. Terasa sekali indahnya berkumpul dan bersilahturami. Apalagi untuk meciptakan suasana lebaran buat anak2. Sholat Ied selain kewajiban juga harus ramai2, salam2an dan maaf2an dan dapat kado lagi yah. Reward for my kids. Alhamdulilalah.

Lebaran pertama di luar negri tahun 2000. Dibela2in nyetir jauh 9 jam dari Michigan ke DC. Emir masih 2 tahun umurnya. Arif 4 tahun. Musim dingin pertama bagi kita. Saljunya tinggii.... sekali. Senengnya bisa sholat di indonesian embassy. Berasa lebaran. Sejak itu setiap lebaran diusahakan bisa berkumpul dengan sesama muslim indonesia lainnya. Alhamdulillah.

Tahun ini seperti tahun2 sebelumnya selama di Thailand. Kita berlebaran di Bkk. Ke Indonesian embassy. Kali ini ada 3 keluarga indonesia lainnya yg berangkat dari Pattaya. Kebetulan ada in laws-nya Arry datang dari Indo.

2 malam di Bkk. Bermalam di sommerset serviced appt. Langganan kita kalau nginep di bkk. Affordable and very nice place.

Ahamdulillah bisa merasakan lebaran. Mudah2an Allah SWT memberi kesempatan bagi keluarga kami lagi untuk menjalankan ramadhan dan lebaran di tahun2 seterusnya yad, mudah2an diberi umur yang panjang, kesehatan lahir batin dan rejeki yang berlimpah ruah, untuk bisa menjalankan ibadah kepada Allah SWT yg sebanyak2nya, seroyal2nya, sebesar2nya, Amin.

Mom.. can I get your coke, please..

I-yin's party

2006-12-21T17:38:00.000+07:00

Farewell Party buat Iyin diadain tgl 28 November yg udah lewat..... Walaupun Farah sekarang udah di Regents tapi ibu2 nya mah tetep ngumpul terus. Yg hebat anak2 kecil itu kalau ketemu yah inget lagi mereka satu sama lain. Masih inget2 nama2 mereka dan inget pula tampang ibu2nya. Contohnya Farah begitu melihat Kirsy langsung aja komentar. Hei...that's Lukas's mom, mommy... oh betul sekali. Terbukti khan Farah inget sama temen lamanya plus ibunya yg mana. Nggak kalah juga anaknya Toko begitu liat aku langsung deh cari2 Farah. Hebat tuh anak2 kok yah inget tho... kalo gw termasuk tipe lupa nama orang. Hari ini kita ngadain acara Farewell buat I-yin. Mamanya Tjatja. Soalnya dia sekeluarga mau pindah tugas ke negara lain. Jadi anak2 pada sekolah kita2 bikin acara sebentar di sebuah reestoran. Iyin nih orangnya baik dan pintar. Yg gw tahu pintar menari. Soalnya temen les salsa. Belum lagi pinter tarian thailnad. Gw sampe bilang ke dia udah tahu tarian bali??. Someday if you have chance to go to bali. Please don't miss that. Must see !! (iklan tea..). Lha gw khan gini2 mantan penari jeh. Dari segede Farah sampai SMA nari bali....terus..!! Menurut saya tarian thailand itu nothing compare to bali dance. I-yin yg suka menari ini gw yakin deh kalau liat tari bali langsung tepar2 kagum bin melotot nggak brenti2 ngeliat para penari. Satu lagi yg bikin gw kagum yaitu punya talent ama bahasa. Yg dah pasti bahasa mandarin, inggris, dan melayu. (she's malaysian). Trus selama di belanda belajar bahasa belanda jadi mahir deh. Sampai gw suruh dia ngomong belanda abis totok banget. Gw jadi mengenang almarhum ayahanda. Disinipun dia belajar bahasa thailand. Waduh bahasa yg satu ini gw males..deh...biasa martabat tea sombong. indonesia lebih tinggi sama theiland jadi ngapainlah. Belum tahu sekarang......indonesia left behind ( far...far... behind). Kok yah jadi orang kok yah sombong toh aku ini. Nggak ada gunanya yah. Musti punya malu. Maaf..maaf... Kalau I-yin ngomong thailand wah kagum deh gw. Salut banget. Ok deh keep in touch yah I-Yin.. Btw gw jadi kehilangan supplier gw buat ketupat nona deh ya...

Thanksgiving 06

2006-12-02T12:57:00.000+07:00

Cerita terlambat nih. Bulan November yg lalu tgl 23. Baru kali ini kita ngadain sendiri thanksgiving day dirumah. Acara yg dibikin mendadak. Sewaktu masih di US, sejak pertamakali tinggal disana sampai keluar, saban tahun kita selalu datang ke acara thanksgivingnya mbak Petty. Beliau nih sudah tinggal di US lebih dari 20 tahun. Gara2nya Suatu hari Arif pernah bilang kalo setiap thanksgiving day anak2 amerika diberikan sepotong turkey di sekolah. Ah masa sih.... tapi ya kalo dipikir2 anak amerika cuman sedikit di sekolah. Hi...hi...ya mungkin aja. Makanya kata arif jangan lupa tunjukkin paspor farah. Nanti biar bisa dapat turkeynya... walah sampai segitu amat mas. Tahu2 Dudi bilang yuk kita ngadain aja acara ini. Gara2 lihat advertising bisa pesen turkey siap santap di foodland. Wah terlalu mendadak ini. Apakah masih bisa terima pesenan. Karena tinggal 2 hari lagi. Apalagi gw belum siap2 lainnya. Gw nggak mau bikin acara dirumah asal2an. Maunya seperfect mungkin. Always do my best. Wah piring2 belum dikeluarin, gelas, flatwares, dan segala tetek bengek perlengkapannya. Akhirnya bisa deh pesen turkeynya, trus cepet2 kasih tahu temen2. Bisa nggak pada hadir. OK semuanya. Ngebut belanja, siap2, toto2, lihat resep. And..masak!!. Baru sekali ini bikin jamuan dirumah tanpa ada satupun menu indonya. (kecuali es teh manis kentel bin strong ala jawa, hi..hi..hi....mana tahan...). Yang udah2 tuh semakin orang asing yg diundang semakin menu indonesia. Anak2ku semua menyambut gembira (yg cowok2). Kirain gembira ada turkey, nggak tahunya yah biasa2 aja tuh liat turkeynya, malah horor!!. Oh so huge..!!??. No sons..this chicken is the smallest. Not even 5 kilos (kurang dikit deng). Happy thanksgiving Farah...(our american little girl yg merantau jauh)

Chokchai Farm

2006-11-25T22:00:00.000+07:00

Acara Kantor Dari kemarennya nih kita. Ada acara dari kantornya suami. Gw sebenernya paling..males deh ikut acara beginian. Habis nggak seru. Tapi dari jauh2 hari Dudi dah bilang kamu dan anak2 ikut yah sekali ini. Ya deh.... Kenapa nggak seru ??. Soalnya ini acara team building buat orang kantor tapi (yg katanya) trus diselingi oleh acara family day. Tapi nggak konsekwen ama judulnya. Mustinya khan yg bawa keluarga banyak yah. Lha wong namanya acara keluarga. Lha ini yg bawa keluarga kita2 lagi (itu2 aja orangnya, orang2 asing). Lah yg orang Thai sini malah jarang yg bawa keluarga. Cuma 2 keluarga aja lho kali ini. Kayaknya kalo kata gw orang sini tuh males yah bawa2 keluarga. Jadi kata Dudi kita harus memberi contoh yg baik. Ya deh..... Perjalanannya jauh...deh. 4 jam. Pengennya sih cemberut, hi...hi..tapi khan nggak mungkin. Nanti anak2 cemberut juga. Sampai2 kata suamiku semalem bilang, kalo hotelnya nggak bagus, kamu boleh pulang deh. (wah...ya nggak mungkin lah yau...orang jauh begitu). Udah gitu si supir teh kemaren siangnya pake ngomong lagi ke gw. Gini katanya : madam kata khun Dudi kalo madam nggak suka tempatnya, madam dan anak2 akan pulang lagi ke Pattaya. Tapi perjalanannya jauh lho madam. 4 jam 1 kali jalan. Tapi menurut saya bagus lho tempatnya. Sudah ngetop itu. Dan sebaiknya madam bawa saja baju2. Nginep atau nggak. ( gile...apa!!. yah tentu aja gw pasti udah siap dong segala perlengkapan). Orang gw udah niatken bakal nginep bagus atau nggak deh itu hotel (sambil berharap yg bagus dong). Yah gw juga khan mikiran si supir, kasian. Bolak balik. Nah ini seperti yg tlah kuduga (2 tahun yg lalu aku dan anak2 pernah ikutan juga team building -family day). Kita2 dicuekkin. Nggak ada acara buat keluarga. Sampai gw kasian nih ama anak2. Pada bete kelihatan dari muka mereka. Nungguin aja orang2 kantor sibuk bergames. Ada acara motor kecil, anak2 udah antusias deh pingin ikutan. tapi kata Dudi itu bahaya lho. Jangan ah. Ya deh... Akhirnya gw, Farah ama Elen dan anak2nya balik aja deh ke kamar. Beres2 koper. (apa??..beres2??..yah nggak ada kerjaan yah beres2 aja deh, sambil farah istirahat.) Arif dan Emir ikut aja ama papanya. Soalnya dah dijanjiin abis ini acara paintball. Anak2 boleh ikutan. Yah gw sebel aja kalo anak2 nggak kebagian acara. Lumayan...the boys selesai dari main paintballs pada happy. Malamnya acara makan malem. Habis itu suamiku kasih ceramah dikit aja. Katanya : terimakasih pada keluarga yg udah dateng. (yg dateng cuma 4 keluarga nih. Yg Thai 2 kel. Sisanya orang asing termasuk kita. Sedangkan pak boss -australian- dan istri sudah pulang dari sorenya). Trus katanya lagi kita udah bisa mencapai ini yah karena dukungan keluarga juga. Trus tolong yg sabar sambil terus keep up the work. Trus bagi keluarganya yg sabar juga kalo istri atau suaminya sibuk banget di kantor. Trus katanya paling nggak kalo mau sampai pensiun yah paling sedikit keadaan begini ini masih terjadi 15 tahun lagi. Jadi sing sabar.... terimakasihlah kalian pada keluarga. Hi..hi...anak2 gw yg cowok pada ketawa2 abis (sambil pelan2, sembunyi2, diem2) denger bapaknya ngomong. Waktu Dudi selesai. Arif ngomong "pa..are you trying to talk to mam". Wah dia nggak denger tuh disindir begitu. Chokchai Farm Besoknya habis sarapan, kita2 pada pulang deh. Oh ya sebelum pulang, Farah dari tadi udah pingin naik kuda aja. OK deh... tetapi ternyata begitu kuda kecilnya datang. Farah takut, dia nggak mau. Ya sudah kasian khan ama tukang kuda kalo nggak jadi. Akhirnya mas Arif ama Emir jadi korban. Mereka naik kuda deh. Masa kata mereka kalo horse riding itu buat anak2 perempuan aja. Soalnya kalo2 di sekolah2 lain itu ini adalah kegiatan ekskul buat the girls. Ah mas nih salah ah. Melanjutkan perjalanan pulang kita mampir deh di Chokchai Farm. Nah kalo ini kita semua pada seneng. Ini ngetop banget di Thailand. Farm sapi pertama di Thailand. Baru pertama kali nih kita masuk farm. Dulu waktu masih di US kalo pergi2 ke states lain mengendarai mobil, yah selalu melewati farm2 yg besuar2 sepanjang perjalanan. Wondering what was inside...... Wuah...seneng banget. Kita ikutan tournya. Memakan waktu 2 1/2 jam. Modern sekali farmnya. Mau masuk, kita2 nih dispray (antibacterial) secara otomatis, buat kepentingan ternak. Abis itu cuci tangan yg bersih lagi2 anti bacterial. Abis itu ambil payung yg besar, kalo2 kepanasan. Farmnya sangat besar, bersih dan modern. Keliling tour menggunakan wagon yg ditarik oleh truck. Anak2 pada antusias melihat cara memeras susu dengan menggunakan mesin modern, membuat ice cream dan segala2 pertunjukan. Yg punya farm ini ceritanya dari kecil udah deket dengan alam dan ternak dan bercita2 pula untuk mempunyai peternakan sapi. Jadi setelah lulus dari sekolah animal di USA tahun 1957. Mulailah beliau dari sedikit2 berusaha sampai saat ini peternakannya sebesar ini. Jumlah sapinya berjumlah2 (saking buanyaknya). Dan sapi2nya itu besuar besuar banget. Pertunjukan2nya sangat menarik bagi anak2. Arif kesampaian deh bisa naik motor gede ATV. Sedang si cantik akhirnya berani juga naik kuda dengan diiringi supportersnya yg sangat semangat 45 yaitu si mas2 Arif dan Emir. Melihat para cowboys beraksi sangat seru. Serasa nonton film cowboy. Asyik melihat para cowboys dengan postur asia (bukan asia young generations yg tinggi2), muka asia tapi hebat banget bercowboy2 an. Lha biasanya khan kalo liat cowboy yah si bule2 dong. Seperti dalam film2 cowboys dengan pemeran utama Clint Eastwood, dll. Trus melihat peternakan ini jadi berpikir dan berharap ada nggak yah di Indonesia model begini. Habisnya gw nih perasaan secara martabat maunya yah lebih tinggi dong dari bangsa Thai. Nggak rela begitu kalo bangsaku tertinggal sama bangsa ini. Tapi dalam banyak hal sangatlah kuakui negara ini jauh lebih maju dari pada negaraku. Walah...gimana tho... Kalo ada rejeki, i/Allah mau juga nginep di farm ini. Kita bisa bermalam di tenda2 nya yg bagus, bersih dan berAC. Habis mahal juga yah. Hitungannya perorang bukan per tent. Satu orang US $100. Dan untuk 1 hari.

Emir's performance

2006-11-22T21:56:00.000+07:00

Biasa...dari pagi2 subuh udah siap2. Banyak yg musti disiapin. Dari rumahnya Anna di burapha, trus urusan di beach road. Urusan apaan tuh...di beach road. Hi..hi..orang itu daerah horror. Kok malahan kesana. Abis itu lari2 lagi jemput farah, abis itu ke gedungnya Emir. Hari ini dia ada performance. Nyanyi2, dancings, poems, dst.....anak gw yg ini kalo ada ibunya malah malu. Gw panggil2 selalu kaya nggak kenal. Hi...I'm your mom, remember.....?? (sambil berharap dia langsung meluk gw, hi..hi..) jadi beginilah fotonya. Abis itu pulangnya ke hospital rame2. Arif needed to see the dermatologist. Luama...banget!! deh nungguin obat. Kenapa sih, pasiennya cuma 2 ama anak gw aja. Sampe rumah masih sempat (harus sempat) menyiapkan makan malam. Habis itu kegiatan2 lainnya......hayo..anak2 mandi, trus makan......trus homework......trus tidur. Udah gitu daku adalah manusia yg paling termalam terlelap dirumah ini, dan bangun terpagi.

Coffee Morning

2006-11-21T21:50:00.000+07:00

Sebenernya udah lama banget nggak ikutan acara coffee morningnya para international ladies se pattaya. Tapi karena hari ini udah janjian pergi bareng Arry, Nia, Ita. Jadi semangat deh. Apalagi tempatnya eh salah makanannya uenak..uenak... Sama sekali nggak rugi. Baru 2 kali nih buffet di sheraton. Habis cukup mahal sih bagi kita. Kurang worth it. Kalau aku sih mendingan ke Bkk deh. Hotel2nya ok, makanannya ok harganya ok. Dan yg semangat buat aku tapi nggak buat anak2, yah itu ke Bkknya. Gw emang kalo ke bkk paling happy..

ketiduran

2006-11-18T21:50:00.000+07:00

Kok bisa sih. Habis mandi trus selesai dan keluar duluan, aku masih melanjutkan membersihkan shower room, begini hasilnya....... Nyenyak lagi sampai dibangunin aja disuruh pindah nggak mau, malah nangis.

Farah, 4 tahun yg lalu

2006-11-17T21:56:00.000+07:00

Masih inget proses melahirkan Farah. Ceritanya begini. Suatu pagi tgl 9 november 2002. Bulan Ramadhan. Gw udah gelisah aja deh. Masalahnya haree genee....aye belum juga melahirkan. Alamakk...!!. Temen2 semua yg kemaren2 bareng hamil teh udah pada senang mendapatkan bayi. Coba deh dimulai dari Meimei, Lili dan Tari. Nih ibu2 sudah gendong2. Mustinya segera menyusul khan gw, abis itu nggak lama kira2 2 mingguan ibu Mei menyusul, trus menyusul lagi ibu Cahya. Lha gw nih pada hari ini udah 9 bulan lebih, bo!!. Dan rasa2nya masih jauh dari tanda2 melahirkan. Padahal gw tuh tipe ibu akrobat, segala pekerjaan rumah dikerjakan, you name it lah, dah gitu termasuk orang yg ngedengerin saran orang yg udah pernah melahirkan (lho padahal khan gw sendiri pengalaman 2 kali melahirkan yak), harus banyak jalan dan ngepel, dll,dll gampil deh gw khan hobby jalan2 apalagi shopping, ngepel mah hobby lha buktinya rumahku always bersih. Pokoknya singkat cerita segala hal dah dilakukan. Tetapi kok kata dokter sini nggak ada hubungannya yah, katanya kalo belum waktunya lahir yah belum. Udah kebayang deh kayaknya 2 minggu lagi gw baru mules2. Masa harus kesalip ama Mei, nggak sopan!!. Udah gitu sebulan lagi ibu gw bakal balik ke Indo. Udah 5 bulan disini. Batas waktu tinggal di US cuman 6 bulan. Masa ntar ibu gw cuman bisa lihat cucunya 2 minggu aja??.... Wah wah harus cari akal nih. Gimana yah..??. Orang2 semua udah ngeri lho lihat my tummy. Guede banget!!, mancung lagi. Emang gw nih dengan kehamilan yg ketiga ini perutnya besar sekali. Untung aja bukan ke badan. Naik berat badan 10 kg total. Cukuplah... Dan gw udah berasa berat banget trus juga pegel di perut. Itu lho, dibatas garis antara perut dan dada. Pegel...banget!!. Khan nggak mungkin gw meliuk2kan badan dibunyi2an prek..prek...gitu lho!, atau diinjek2 punggungnya. Lalu dapatlah ide itu. Emang sepagian ini bayi yg kukandung belum bergerak2. Biasanya wah udah aktif. Waktu itu yakin jabang bayi oke oke juga. Tapi yah penasaran juga kenapa sampai saat ini nggak terlalu aktif?. Khan takut yah..??. Trus telpon ke dokter, di emergency. Disuruh datang. Sekalian gw siap2 juga. Siapa tahu bisa dilahirkan sekarang. Abis titip kedua anakku yang laki2 pada ibuku. Lalu akupun berangkat bersama suamiku. Tiba di hospital, menuju bagian melahirkan. Oh ya sebelumnya kuceritakan dulu dokter2nya. Disini nih gw obgnya banyak. Ada 4. Lho??. Iya disini begitulah peraturannya. Dokter2ku itu berpraktek di sebuah gedung keren di Somerset-Troy di kota tempat tinggalku. Jadi nggak berpraktek di hospital. Kalau melahirkan baru di hospital. Mereka ini hari2 tertentu bisa di hospital di Troy (city) atau hospital di Royal Oak (city). Nama kedua hospital itu Beaumont. Biar beda city, tapi jaraknya deket kok. Di Michigan state (Oakland county), jarak antara kota 1 dengan kota satunya berdeketan. Beda beberapa miles aja udah ganti nama kota. Kaya misalnya pondok indah city sama pondok pinang city di Jkt, hi..hi..deket khan ?? (kira2 begitu...). Gw memilih hospital yg di royal oak. Karena lebih bagus. Cuman agak jauh dikit. 15 menit dari rumah. OK balik lagi ke dokter2 ku tsb. Kita ibu2 hamil nggak bisa milih dokternya. Pokoknya klinik gw itu ada 4 dokter kandungan. Salah satunya dokter senior atau dokter kepala. Setiap periksa kita harus giliran (rotate) dengan para dokter. Hal ini dimaksud agar semua dokter tahu dengan riwayat kita. Karena jika pada waktunya melahirkan, misalnya hari senin si dokter a yg standby, hari selasa si dokter b yg stand by, hari rabu si dokter c, gitu lho. Jadi nggak bisa lah yau milih dokter yg bantu kita melahirkan. Kecuali kalo bisa diatur hari lahirnya mau hari apa (kasus c-section). Di US ini kebetulan umumnya ibu2 disini pada gagah perkasa. Kerja terus...nyupir terus....sampai detik menjelang kelahiran. Jadi gw dah was2 aja. Gimana kalo mendadak mules trus lama nunggu Dudi dari kantor (45 menit dari rumah), apa nyupir sendiri gitu....ealah....srikandi sekalee.. trus ada ide dari temenku Oscar. Gampang Lis! call aja 911. Keren toh. 4 menit dah datang. Loe bisa melahirkan di mobil kok. Secara disini tuh kalau call 911 nanti yg bakalan datang heboh. 4 serangkai yaitu polisi, ambulance, pemadam sama 1 lagi apa yah. Gw lupa. Trus jangan lupa yah sebelumnya foto2 dulu didepan mobil2 dan petugas2 tsb. Hi..hi.. idenya boleh juga kalau kepepet. Secara dia sendiri istrinya melahirkan di pintu rumah. Suaminya bantu istrinya (Meimei) melahirkan dengan panduan telpon dari 911 (walau cuman 3 menit, tapi yah berasa serem bo!). Jadi gw pun disini sama. Gagahwati. Nyupir terus sampe kemarennya sebelum melahirkan. Ibu gw dah serem aja. Pokoknya kamu nggak boleh keluar2 nyupir sendiri walau deket aja tanpa mama. Nanti gimana nyupirnya??. Pokoknya mama harus ikut, gitu kata ibuku. Tapi itu hanya perasaan geerku yg berlebihan. Ternyata sampai saat itu daku tak mules2. OK balik lagi ke cerita gw dah sampe hospital. Dengan sigap gw diperisa sama si obg gw. Waktu itu obg yg bertugas dokter Ohm. Periksa2 selesai. Wah nggak papa kok bayi dan ibu dalam keadaan sehat. Pulang yah. Gundulmu!!. Masa udah 40 minggu, dia dengan santainya bilang kayaknya minggu depan deh. Silakan pulang dulu. Nanti kalau udah 42 minggu belum lahir baru kita usahakan. Waduh!! gw emang dah sadar kalo gw tuh memang riwayatnya kalo melahirkan kandungannya dah tua deh umurnya. Semuanya 40 minggu ke atas. Jadi maunya gw yah itu. Dokter disini kasih apa kek gitu biar gw bisa melahirkan sekarang. Malah suruh pulang!!, balik lagi minggu depan!!. Dokter2 disini tea ketakutan melakukan tindakan, apa2 takut disue. Udah gw ceritain proses riwayat kelahiran anak2 gw sebelumnya. Belum bergeming juga dia. Waduh gw tampangnya belum memelas nih. Coba lagi deh. Usaha lagi deh gw. Ulang cerita lagi. Bahwa gw emang tipe mengandung lama. Model2 42 minggu gitu. Bahwa gw dah biasa prosesnya dicepetin. Diinfus pernah, minum pil pernah. Bahwa gw tuh melahirkan anak ke-2 aja. Habis gw minum obatnya dari dokter, trus 2 jam kemudian ada pendarahan. Trus 3 jam kemudian lagi dah lahir deh si ganteng Emir. Jadi proses melahirkan dari bukaan 1 sampai 9 only took 5 hours!!. Jadi jangan takut dok. hi...hi... nggak salah nih ibu bujukin dokter. Pokoknya singkat cerita dokter gw akhirnya berkenan. Trus segera gw pindah keruangan bersalin dan diinfus. Abis itu gw yg ketakutan, lho khan udah anak ketiga. Makin tahu dong sakitnya kaya apa. Jadi makin serem aja. Waktu anak pertama iya gw takut sakit, tapi khan karna belum tahu sakitnya kaya apa. Anak kedua dah tahu sakitnya kaya apa jadi tambah takut. Sama juga anak ketiga dah pernah tahu rasa sakitnya jadi makin tambah tambah takut. Hi..hi..hi.. Gw selalu berjanji dalam hati kalo setiap melahirkan gw nggak mau teriak2. Gw selalu cuman meringis...aja, sambil nahan sakit sambil pegangan suami. Suami gw seneng ya, istrinya nggak galak, nggak tereak2. Nah ini, disebelah2 kamar gw. Nggak tahu deh kedengaran aja para ibu yg tereak2 menahan sakit. Huh gemes!!, diem dong!! gw makin takut aja. Heran deh orang amrik nih, heboh banget. Berdoa kenapa??. Para nurse aja heran wanita asia selalu calm kalo melahirkan katanya. Jadi santai kitanya. Dr. Ohm dah bilang dengan geernya ok deh, karena sebelumnya you only need 5 hours to deliver your baby. This time I bet in 3 hours you'll have the baby. Gw dah niat minta disuntik epidural, (seperti proses melahirkan anak pertama) dokter anestesi dah ok, katanya harus tunggu pas bukaan ke lima (about setengah jam lagi waktu itu). Ok, sampai bukaan 5 seinget gw, gw masih bisa senyum2. Nurse ampe kagum ama gw. Abis itu....bo!!, gile deh, suakit yg luar biasa, gw belum pernah sakit semules ini selama 2 anak sebelumnya. Pokoknya kalo gw inget2 nih proses melahirkan Farah lah yg paling luar biasa sakitnya. Gw sampe nggak tahan!!. Aduh...berdoa2 semoga bisa melahirkan dengan selamat ibu dan bayi. Astafirullah sakit...nya!!!, gw dah meringis2 minta suami ke anestesi sekarang juga, biar epidural. Suami gw bilang ntar dulu yah 15 menit lagi, belum setengah jam. Aduh...Dudi!! udah nggak bisa, nggak akan tahan, panggil sekarang juga. Trus Suamiku segera panggil dokter anestesi, Oklah katanya yuk siap2. Pas dia periksa.....hah!! anda sudah bukaan 9!!. Apa...??!! trus segera dia kabur, dan datanglah obg gw. Oh ya betul bukaan 9, hayo siap2, tahu tuh dia panggil siapa aja. Pokoknya ruangan ampe penuh. Kata Dudi melahirkan disini heboh yah, udah ruangannya gede banget trus dokter sampe ada 8. Dia diperkenalkan sama semua dokter yg hadir waktu itu. Lupa yah siapa aja, yg inget cuma obg (Dr.Ohm), dokter anestesi, dokter anak, dokter internist, 2 dokter jaga (dokter pemula yg perlu belajar), kalo nggak salah ada spesial jantung, dll. 8 aja pokoknya. Oh ya nurse seinget gw cuman 1. Baik......!!! banget. Gw bilang ama obg, saya rasa saya mau melahirkan sekarang, wah jangan!!, tunggu, tahan dulu kita sedang siap2 (hi..hi...gw masih kebayang deh mukanya dokter), pokoknya heboh deh ruangannya. Tiba2 dari langit2 (atap), keluar secara otomatis lampu2 besar yg teurangg...banget!!, trus deket kaki gw dah keluar aja tuh alat berpijak buat naro kaki. Suster disebelah gw dah mengeluarkan kata2 hiburan yg sangat manis. Dan sungguh gw merasa nyaman. Soalnya semua orang panik deh perasaan. Apa kelihatannya aja kali yah. Karena para proffesional itu bertindak dengan sangat cepat. Tapi bayi yg kukandung ini juga nggak mau kalah, bertindak sangat super cepat!!. Gw inget dokter sampe bilang jangan dipush. Trus gw juga inget gw bilang kalo gw nggak push kok. But she push herself. Tapi pas pada waktunya gw disuruh push, malah lupa cara push, nggak keluar2, sampe berapa kali yah. Sampe akhirnya gw sadar cara push yg benar. Akhirnya....Alhamdulillah..anakku lahir dengan selamat. Semua orang memberi selamat. Selamat juga yah Dudi, anakmu tlah lahir. Hebat dia, semua ketiga anaknya dia yg tungguin selalu setia mendampingiku. Kalo nggak salah kali ini dia yg motong tali pusernya. Tapi nggak tahu deh kok dia lupa tak ingetin. Proses kelahiran Farah sejak diinfus sampai bukaan 9 cuman memerlukan waktu 1 1/2 jam saja. Kira2 dari jam 3 sore sampai jam 1/2 5 sore. Ibu2 yg tadi dah duluan masuk kayaknya kesalip ama gw. Nggak sopan deh!!, gw dijahitnya lama banget. Are you done ??, gw sampe beberapa kali tanya, kok ya nggak selese2. Hi..hi..lha wong yg jahit si dokter jaga ganti2an ama temennya yg satu lagi. Obg gw cuman disebelahnya mengamati. Pantesan lama betul. Gw jadi kelinci percobaan. Gw inget nursenya tanya Dudi tadi kamu ngapain, kalo saya boleh tahu. Rupanya dia penasaran waktu Dudi sedang beradzan di kuping Farah. Lalu suamiku menjelaskan bahwa kita muslim, kita ingin suara yg pertama kali didengar oleh anak2 kita adalah suara yg mengumandangkan adzan, The Most Greatest Allah, The Creator. Oh...nursenya ampe terharu biru. Semoga dia mendapatkan hidayahNya, amin. Kita di hospital cuman 1 hari aja. Karena yah peraturannya begitu. Asuransi tidak mau bayar mahal2. Kalau melahirkan normal dan baik2 saja satu hari disuruh pulang. Hi..hi...sebel!!, kalau di Indo mah gw dah dimanja2 ama suster. Disini habis lahir dah suruh kerja lagi. Tapi boleh milih sih bayinya mau tidur bersama atau di r bayi. Malam itu Farah tidur di r bayi, tapi kalau minum susu baru susternya kasih ke aku. Farah pulang disambut sama kedua kakak2nya yg ganteng2 dan omanya. Anak perempuanku cantik, Gw sampe kalah cantik.

Great party for Farah

2006-11-10T22:15:00.000+07:00

Puas......banget !!. Pokoknya kalo ada temen yg nanyain gimana pesta disini. Maksudnya kalo berminat. Wah highly recommended dah. They're really professional. And for sure the kids are extremely happy. Farah yg umurnya 4 aja seneng apalagi buat temen2nya yg lebih gede ini. Ealah...enjoy berat!!. Gw pun seneng ngeliat anak2 seneng. Acara dimulai pukul 4.00 pm. Yang sebenernya kalau mau yg bener2 asyik dan puas itu weekend dan dimulai dari pukul 11.00am sampai 5.00pm. Tapi berhubung nggak kebagian, fully booked!!, jadi yah terpaksa dilakukan weekday, yah hari ini deh. Games buat mereka2 asyik2 dan top banget. Banyak pilihan and very very fun !!. Asalkan mereka enjoy main pasir dan berenang. Tapi kalo pada nggak suka dengan kegiatan2 tersebut, yah ini bukan tempat yg cocok. Anak2 semua ber 12. Yaitu kakak2 Nadya, Alysha, Natasya, Nabila, the birthday girl, Clara, Zarah, Gabby, Garry, Sharon, Sheri, Tira. Acaranya dimulai dengan bermain2 di kolam air yg berbatu2 dan berpasir2. Ada game cari jelly, asyik deh. Puas bermain disini, abis itu menuju ke poolnya, games lain tlah menanti diantaranya banana boat racing, banana boat tug of war, dll trus selain kegiatan di air ada juga on land activities. Oh ada clown show jugaloh, komplit. Farah was very obvious that she really enjoyed all the programs. Tampaknya semua temen2nya juga. Alhamdulillah. Salut buat all the guys from hard rock hotel for helping and take care the kids. Abis potong kue (yg coklat, yg shapenya gitar, yg rasanya enak), yah main lagi.... . Jam 7 malam acara makan malam. Buffet dinner (nah ini acara yg satu2nya kurang diminati, makannya pada cepet!!) yg uenak2 yaitu ada chicken fried rice, spaghetti with meat sauce (bukan babi lho), fried chicken, mini beef burger, mini muffin and mini choc eclair. Minumannya free flow of water and soft drinks. Selesai dinner ??, yah main lagi...!!. Sebelum pulang, baru deh acara buka kado. Farah dapat kado juga dari hard rock yaitu t-shirt. Makasih yah temen2 semua. Thank you for coming. Hope you all enjoyed the party too...... Di mobil, papanya tanya seneng nggak, dijawab sama Farah dengan anggukan yg lemes. Oh..rupanya tlah pulas...... Selamat malam sayang....... Semoga ananda selalu sehat lahir batin dan berbahagia Semoga tambah cantik hati dan cantik rupa Doa mama selalu menyertai kalian anak2ku semuanya. We're (mama, papa, mas arif and mas emir) really proud of you.

2006-11-10T22:11:00.000+07:00

Anak dan ibu

2006-11-10T11:58:00.000+07:00

Kalo kata suamiku, anak2ku yg laki, ibuku, kakakku dan temen2 yg udah lama kenal, semuanya pada bilang kalo Farah nggak mirip ama ibunya. Tapi kalo kata temen2 yg baru kenal pasti mereka bilang kalau kita mirip. Padahal kita tanggal lahirnya deketan yah. Cuman beda 34 tahun aja... MIRIP NGGAK ??

Si Cantik's birthday

2006-11-10T09:48:00.000+07:00

Kemaren, 9 November si kecil yg cantik ultah ke-4. Lucunya.... Subuh2 dah tak bangunin. Happy Birthday sayang....., begitu bangun langsung aja bilang, "I'm 3 years old now ??". No... you're 4 years old now. Yeah.....!!, langsung aja matanya besuar..and got up!!. Yuk kita ke papa... nungguin papanya sholat subuh sampai nggak sabar. Begitu selesai. Dudi lupa, hai Farah..udah bangun...??. Jadinya dia kuingetin lagi. HI..hi.. untung anaknya nggak papa. Abis itu mas2nya kita bangunin, untuk ucapin selamat. Lucu... gw denger Farah maksa mas Arif untuk cium dia. "Mas...kiss me!!, si mas masih males2an. Selesai semua pada berangkat. Langsung ngebut bikin nasi kuning, mie goreng, perkedel, irisan telor dadar. Perkedel tinggal goreng, kemaren dah disiapkan. Selesai semua, masuk2in ke small plastic container, trus masukkin lagi ke goody bags. Beres. Sebelumnya udah dibantuin sama Farah siapin goody bags. Dia semangat sekali. Di tiap containernya dah aku tulis ingridientsnya. Nggak ada menu meatnya karena mengingat siapa tahu ada yg vegetarian, karena banyak juga yg orang india. Tapi tetep we..ada telornya, gimana yah... yah pokoknya dah ditulis deh, jadi kalau mau disingkirkan bisa. Abis itu ambil pesenan cake. Trus menuju ke sekolah. Farah akan bertiup lilin bersama teman2nya. Seneng banget ngeliat gw datang. Farah kept saying to all of her friends that it's her birthday now. (in case they forgot, hi..hi..). OK, sukses deh acara tiup lilin, potong kue (mom..don't cut the princess !!, I don't want you to cut the princess), nyanyi2, dancing, dan buka kado karena Oshana her best friend, kasih kado baju banyak dan cantik2. Ibunya baik sekali yah. Trus abis itu bagi2in goody bags, trus pulang. Oh..she's very lovely girl. My boneka. She's a really good birthday girl, enjoyed having birthday party at school, enjoyed giving the cake to her friends, enjoyed doing all the dancings, and sang the songs, enjoyed giving the goody bags. In the car, as soon as she sat down on her car seat. She slept..all the way...to our house. And I just kissed and kissed her.

2006-11-10T09:47:00.000+07:00

Thank you tante Arry and tante Ani for coming here, and took pictures.

My Birthday party

2006-11-08T17:08:00.001+07:00

Hm..senengnya hari ultahku kemaren (nov, 7). Alhamdulillah. Dimulai dari subuh2, aku ketiduran di kamar Farah. Biasa deh. Kalau tengah malem atau menjelang subuh, Farah suka kebangun, trus minta ditemenin lagi sebentar di kamarnya sampai dia tidur pules lagi, kadang2 kalau aku nggak bablas yah balik lagi tidur ke kamar kita, tapi kalau bablas yah terus kaya hari ini. Begitulah kira2 menjelang subuh aku nemenin dia, eh ketiduran, bablas, sampe2 tahu2 dibangunin Dudi. Happy birthday mama..., hah !! oh untung dia masih pakai sarung. Artinya belum telat gue mau subuh. Soale seringnya aku yg ngebangunin dia. Abis itu semua anak2 disuruh bangun, cium mamanya sambil merem. Hi..hi.. Setelah suami dan anak2berangkat, beres2 ini itu, kasih petunjuk sama the maid buat bikin nasi kuning yg sambil berharap mudah2an dia ngerti apa yg gw maksud. Khan baru dia. Langsung deh ik ngacir sebentar. Tujuannya ke Deli France. Beli makanan kecil ala kadarnya. Sambil menanti...heh..he...mana nih kiriman bunga. Biasanya datang dari suami tercinta. Nggak lama...eh bener deh datang. Sampei rumah langsung siap2. Trus Indri, Nia + baby Nola datang duluan, bawa makanan2 yummy serta kue tart yg aduhai... Nggak lama temen2 ku yg lainpun pada berdatangan. Cihui...terimakasih kawan2ku yg baik hati. Diabsent dulu yah ada Beth, Ani, Ita, Elen, Ade, Lea. Semuanya pada bawa makanan. Senengnya...., makasih banget2. Habis tiup lilin, eh ada acara buka kado lho. Malamnya acara tiup lilin lagi. Hi..hi...kue tartnya harus kesukaan anak2. Karena peminat utama. Tiba2 baru 2 pictures cameraku death!, baterenya tewas. Nggak ada fotonya suami. Maaf yah pa... kata dia sih itu artinya baterenya minta diganti soalnya cepet abis. Baru juga dicharge. Oh ya tante Indri dan tante Nia udah kasih advance kado buat Farah's birthday. Thank you yah tante2 cantik. (tapi farah nggak ngerti, jadinya kado dari Indri dah dibuka, hi..hi.., thanks yah Indri)

My Birthday

2006-11-07T05:54:00.000+07:00

Hari ini 38 tahun yang lalu aku dilahirkan oleh ibuku tercinta Siti Zahara Nawawi Soedewo. Anak adalah karunia ALLAH SWT. Sekarang akupun seorang istri dan ibu dari anak2ku (oh..my gorgeous and precious kids). Semoga dengan bertambahnya umur, saya bisa menjadi lebih tawakal, bijaksana. Semoga selalu menjadi istri yg berbakti dan ibu yang sabar ( 3 anak bo!, Alhamdulillah ). Semoga selalu menjadi anak yg sholeh untuk ibuku dan alm ayahanda tercinta. ............................. Hanya kepada-NYA aku meminta dan memohon. Hanya ALLAH SWT yg tahu apa saja yg kupanjatkan pada-NYA. Ya ALLAH kabulkanlah segala doa2ku, amin. Happy Birthday myself Lisa Damayanti binti alm Gatot Soedewo

Cerita lama

2006-11-06T17:24:00.000+07:00

Wah ini bikin jurnalnya mundur. Udah lewat berminggu2. Ayo..penonton, liat yah your pictures here..... Sorry telat. Dimulai waktu bulan sept lalu, kita ngadain syukuran buat the boys. 2 September 2006 - Syukuran Syukuran khitanannya kedua gantengku. Acaranya dimulai pukul 11.00. Aku minta tolong Arry nih biar agak cepetan datengnya. Itu lho..tolong parut2in si keju buat makanan kecil. Hi..hi... pekerjaan yg bisa bikin ik gregetan. Abis lama...., udah gitu Arry parut memarutnya lama...banget. Gw ampe stress !! Banyak juga yg datang. Diabsent dulu yah. Ada Ani sekeluarga, Indigus fam, The Tremellings, The Kroenerts, Vera dan kel, Nuri dan kel, Sudung fam, Reno sekeluarga, The Krebs, Beni dan fam, ama yg bujang2 yaitu Andri dan Putut. Begitulah.... pas jam sebelas teng, tamu pertama datang. Yaitu Reno sekeluarga. Dari bangkok. Huebat...on time deh. Nggak lama The Tremellings pun yg dari Bkk, datang menyusul. Wah hebat...nggak nyasar pula. Yg tidk mengherankan malah yg dari Pattaya aduh ngaret yah. Biasa..... Sampei Reno dah selesai potong2 ketupat, lho. Hi..hi.. Makanan yg tersedia (ih ngiler aja deh yg nggak datang...), di teras belakang ada mie bakso komplit, sate ayam, sate kambing, sambal goreng labu siam plus ketupat tambah sambal bajak, krupuk, soft drinks. Di ruang makan depan ada nasi kuning, abon, irisan telor dadar, irisan timun, rendang dan ayam bakar. Di ruang bar aneka makanan kecil yaitu pisang goreng coklat keju, martabak, risoles, rumballs, lapis legit prune, cake beras ketan item (dari Elen), Hot fudge brownie (Maya-Bkk), Bitterballen (Arry), es buah, cheese cake. Hm...enak2 yah. The boys mendapat hadiah dari tante2 dan oom2. Terimakasih banyak..., seperti biasa Emir senyum2 kalau dapat amplop. Kalau mas-nya, dah bisa jaga wibawa kelihatannya.

Apa lagi yg perlu diparut mbak??, ini pertanyaan apa menyindir??, masa risoles aja pengen diberi parutan keju. Ry, udah dong Ry.. slesei..., kok kelihatannya seneng gitu sih, lama amat!, sampe kepalanya pake miring2 segala!

September 24, buka puasa pertama

Ceritanya setiap minggu kita2warga muslim indo di pattaya ngadain buka puasa bersama. Tempatnya gantian. Siapa saja yg pingin rumahnya ketempatan. Hidangannya potluck.

Hari ini hari pertama puasa. Jatuhnya hari Minggu. Kita dapat giliran duluan. Minggu depannya rumah Ita, trus Arry, terakhir Ani.

Habis buka puasa dengan menu kurma, teh manis, kolek, es buah nata de coco, kue2 jajanan pasar, srikaya, risoles, es timun seger, chocolate banana cake. Trus sholat magrib berjamaah.

Selesai sholat, nah ini yg ditunggu2. Makan malam. Temennya nasi ada capcay, ayam kuah manis, rolade, ikan saus santan, rendang, krupuk.

Habis makan malam dilanjutkan dengan sholat isya disambung tarawih. Abis itu makan buah. Acara selesai, pulang..pulang...esok hari senin. Nggak lupa bungkus2 lah yauw...

September, 29 06

Our 12 th Anniversary.

Yah..Dudi lagi di korea. Besoknya baru datang. Hadiahnya ?, boleh cari sendiri. Wah...gimana toh. Nggak ada kejutan, hi..hi..( ntar aku beli yg bisa bikin Dudi terkejut!!)

pictures (syukuran)

2006-11-06T17:19:00.000+07:00

Reno, Lisa, Maya, Arry Yantri, Dudi, Jeff Nia, Ani Arry, Ellen, Neneng

Birthday

2006-11-05T17:08:00.000+07:00

Today is my only brother's birthday. We are 6 years different. 2 days ago, my kids got presents for him. Wow !! A package from Indonesia. Very surprised. They're really happy. Terimakasih uwak Syafik.

Kai

2006-09-22T19:36:00.000+07:00

Emangnya Imbas dari Coup D'etat?. Hi...hi... sejak hari senin kemaren gw keilangan pembantu yg tlah bertaon2 berkarya di rumahku. Khun kai... Sejak aye pertama mnginjakkna kaki di dunia thailand ini dia lah our maid. Handal bo!!. Nggak ada yg merasa kehilangan di rumah ini. Melainkan cuman gw seorang. Lha wong tangan kanan gw kok. Rada gonjang ganjing deh daku. Tapi don't get me wrong. Rumah sih tetap rapi jali, nggak berantakan, setrikaan... cucian...oh jangan salah daku orangnya rapih. hi..hi...memuji diri sendiri. Makanan siap...tapi gw pontang panting nih.... Vas bunga gimana yah nasibnya. Kalau lagi ada party??. Biasanya ada yg merangkai bunga yg diambil aja dari halaman. Secara orang thai nih biasa sesembahan dan sesajenan. Kueren bo! si Khun kai nih kalau urusan tanaman and bunga2an. Gw nggak jago deh dan nggak suka urusan tanaman2. Mending suruh beres2. Wah apa beli bunga tiap mau isi vas bunga??. Lha tanaman di halaman??. Yg menurutku tidak ada deh diluaran di toko2 kembang biasa yg kecakepannya mengatur kembang di vas mengalahkan Khai-ku ini...hi..hi...mewek deh gw. Oh ya dia terpercaya lagi. Kalau dipegangi uang dari kita walaupun dia boros, tapi tidak ditilep apalagi dikorup. Mudah2an dengan tulus aku berharap semoga dia mendapatkan yg lebih baik dari yg sudah didapatkan dari kita. Secara gossip dari supir katanya pacar baru atau suami baru gitu...kurang jelas deh ( tahu ndiri deh orang thai nih rada2 bebas -yg jelas2 nggak sejalan ama gw-). Anyway katanya dia membuka bisnis per-laundry-an. Hebat khan... Kemaren ik sudah mendapat gantinya. Sepertinya pembersih juga. Mudah2an orangnya baik.