Summer Indonesian Trip: The Itinerary

Just in case you miss the memo the fact that the pictures shared of the trip so far had been taken in various locations, this Mama would like to confirm that, as usual, our trip to the homeland include a pretty long itinerary. I guess it can't be helped considering that the extended family is quite spread out in different places. So... since we have to travel anyway, why not add just a wee bit more, just for fun, right?

As usual, our base for the trip is Surabaya, where Eyang's house is. From there, we took a train, came back with airplane, then took another airplane.... let's just say we took quite a few mode of transportations, yes?

The train took us to Jogjakarta, where we stayed for a couple of days. You might remember us taking a train to Solo in our Epic holiday two years back. The reason for the Jogja trip was to visit some of the amazing sights in the vicinity, a wish expressed by Kecil's uncle from across the ocean. It was definitely an educational trip for Kecil, stories of which Mama will try to cover in the next few posts.

 After spending another few days in Surabaya, we flew again the following weekend, this time to Bali, to visit Kecil's other tante who works and make Bali her current home.

From Bali, we flew straight to Jakarta, from whence we took Opa's car to Bogor, where Opa & Oma's house is. Very much more settled after longer period of habitation this time round, Kecil seems to enjoy busying about the house very much despite her protests to the contrary.

You think it was a busy trip? Well.. I guess that's why we are taking it easy during this leg in Bogor. That's how Mama is getting all the time to tell you all these stories, see? We still have a bit of time to spend in Indonesia before going back home to Daddy, Skool and all that jazz. Although all the exciting plans seem to be over already, I am sure we'll still get more adventures down the line, and enjoy ourselves crazy in the process.

See you around!

Visit from an old friend

Two years back, when Mama and Kecil visited Opa and Oma in their old house, Mama's old friend (who dated back all the way to our primary school days) came for a visit, bringing along her baby girl, just a few months younger than Kecil.

It took way too long, but we managed to meet up again (finally) during this summer trip, with both girls obviously being bigger.

They might be a bit shy and reticent at first with each other, but it was not long before they started playing together. It only took about half an hour (I think) and a trip upstairs to raid Oma's stash of wrapping paper to bring them together.

There was a picnic for two, with biscuits and chocolates, there was a musical recital, there was even a game outside!

Despite our differences, Mama & Mama's friend had gone a long way, indeed. Sometimes, that friendship still feel a bit like a surprise, yet something I am very grateful for, and one that I would certainly wish for Kecil in the future as well. Well... I suppose we are surely planting the seeds for those lifelong friendships, even if the seeds seem to be scattered in more and further places in the case of Kecil. Ha!

Both Mamas are very proud of both girls, especially in the way they seemed to play so well together (minus ONE minor fight for a piece of knick knacks from th house), such that the Mama's can play some catching up with each other.

Thank you very much for coming, Kezia! We sure hope to see you again!

This Mama has given hope of doing a chronological series of the stories of the summer trip, thanks to the deluge of pictures. We'll just push whatever ready stories first and I'll just provide a chronological list at the end of the whole thing should you want to read the stories in proper chronological order. Cheers!

Summer Indonesian Trip: The Cast

It was Kecil's Summer Trip to Indonesia, so... obviously she was the star cast of the trip.
But obviously, there were many others.

There was, for one, Eyang Kakung, who managed to get figuratively kicked out to the curb shooed outside while he was smoking next to Kecil (who was watching TV in Eyang's house that day!)
Disclaimer: The pic above was Eyang Kakung smoking while waiting for our ride, definitely NOT outside because he was asked to go out by Kecil.

There was Eyang Putri, from whom Kecil had managed to wiggle a mermaid Barbie doll (and still some more toys, according to Kecil. Doubtful, according to Mama)

There was Tante Tara, who came all the way halfway across the globe just to see the Little One for her long overdue holidays, with the added bonus of meeting the Little One, of course.

There was Uncle Martin, whose scary face was good enough to put Kecil at ease (finally!).

There was Tante Rina, who finally got the chance to show off the Little One in person to everyone at her workplace (all of whom apparently had been shown various digital versions of the Little One).

There was Opa, whose coffee drinking habit apparently did not escape Kecil's notice.
She actually questioned Opa, "How many cups do you drink everyday?"

There was Oma, from whom Kecil had managed to fleece out plenty of paper products, including the shiny wrap in her hand above.

There was Tante Lia, from whom I am pretty sure Kecil got her modelling genes from. She sure did not get it from her Mama!

There is Tante Ela, who gamely carried, play with and generally entertained the Little One (when she let go of her Mama, that is).

And of course, there is always Mama, more often behind the camera, but she's there all right. Not to forget, Daddy, who receives daily report via Skype or Facetime.

There are still other supporting cast, I suppose, like Sandy, the resort Dog:

Some new friends who recommended the flowers from the stinky market:

And I'm sure there will other friends (not to mention other exciting activities way ahead). Are you excited yet? Yeah, so is Mama. Just stay in tune, all right? Cheers!

Summer Indonesian Trip: the Objective

As summer (in the Philippines) rolled in (with its soaring temperatures, blazing sun, and all the hallmark of proper summer), Mama was wondering the other day about Kecil's schedule of activities, especially given the unbelievably long school holidays. Two things happened then: an offer from Daddy to have Mama & Kecil visiting the grandparents while leaving Daddy at home, and an announcement from Kecil's Tante (the one who lives halfway across the globe) that she would be taking a long overdue holiday and visit to the motherland. It just seem like a too good opportunity to pass up, Kecil might be able to join some schooling to learn a bit of her 'mother's language' while visiting her extended family. So we jumped.

I suppose it would a bit too much to hope for a lazy, laid back holiday of just Kecil going to school everyday while Mama attend to the errands that brought her to the motherland. Not that we are really complaining, of course. That first weekend, the whirlwind already started, with a train trip, a beautiful hotel that was made on palace grounds, ...

There were meals to meet the extended family, meals to celebrate birthdays, ...

Getting together with Mama's side of the family ....

Getting together with Daddy's side of the family (even without Daddy in tow).

Needless to say, there were a great many photo taking opportunities. (Oh yeah, Mama is quite drowning in a sea of unsorted, unedited, not yet shared pics).
The best part? We are barely halfway through the trip, but with a slightly looser schedule (not to mention better working station), Mama finally managed to carve sometime to do some sorting, editing, uploading, and updating. I should continue in the same vein at least for the next couple of days.

Looking forward to more updates, I hope you are as well. Cheers!

Yum!

During our last Indonesian trip, this Mama got into a LOT of difficulty getting this Little One to eat. So much so that Mama often simply uses that trip as a scapegoat for Kecil's weight loss. (She does lose quite a bit of weight as compared to the previous year. I miss those chubby cheeks!) But I suppose that was more of a normal kid losing her baby fat.

It is kind of strange, considering that this Mama already has a list of 'approved food stuff': Western junk foods (especially spaghetti and burgers), noodles (fried or soup), eggs, sausage, and most importantly, nothing too spicy. I guess a lot of our 'failure' then stems more on Mama's never-ending effort to expand Kecil's palate.

Oh well.... thankfully, Kecil seems to be eating better this holiday. Better still, she's found the joy of roadside dining, such as mie bakso. Wahahaha..... I am one happy and amused Mama.
We do hope that this holiday would not prove another scapegoat for yet another weight loss on Kecil's part. Any gain on Mama's part, however, is not to be discussed, yes?

Cheers!

Yet another adventure

In the month in which we have been absent from this space, Mama and Kecil had been busy: Kecil trying out a new school, Mama juggling with a new schedule and school requirement, only the camera had been sitting it all out, collecting dust at one corner of the house.

Well... not anymore. As Kecil embarked on yet another (month-long) adventure, this Mama (and the camera) is ready to follow closely at Kecil's heels, hopefully documenting some of the adventure.

Just a bit background regarding the adventure, however, ....

You see, back when Kecil was still a wee baby, we were barely 2 hours flight away from her grandparents, a fact that made for frequent grandparental visits possible. Now that we are almost a half day trip away (drive + transit + flight combined), we don't really get that many visits anymore.

Moreover, thanks to Mama's penchant for talking in English, unfortunately Kecil has not learnt any Indonesian. Not much, anyway, which is a shame. So, this summer (summer holidays in the Phils, anyway), we decided to send her to Indonesia, get some exposure of Indonesian, as well as meeting her grandparents, both sides.

The timing turned out quite well too, since one of her Tante is also visiting home all the way from the states.

Well... so it's mostly spending time with her Tantes and Eyangs so far, before finally flying off to visit the other side of the family next week. Mama has taken many pictures, indeed, but it will be a while before Mama finishes all the culling, editing, not to mention live sharing with the present parties involved. Haha.... Still... here's one gem. Cheers!