17 August is a special day for us Indonesians, it our independence day. Somehow, this year we are feeling patriotic, so we actually made an appearance at the Indonesian embassy in Manila, all decked in batik clothes. Haha.... well... actually Daddy had a meeting on Friday, and since we did not feel crazy enough to brave the outgoing traffic of Manila on a Friday night.... we decided to stay overnight, which made us 'available' for the 17 Aug celebrations.
On the plus side, we also thought that at four (almost five!) years old, Kecil can already start to appreciate her identity as an Indonesian, and some of the thing that it entails. Like upacara bendera or the flag raising ceremony, something we, as Indonesian students, had to go through on weekly basis in school.
So, Kecil was fascinated enough with the ceremony, although towards the end she did asked quite a few times when we were going to finish with the whole thing. I think she got tired of standing around. But actually I thought the ceremony was quite short, around half an hour in total, and I'm sure it brought back lots of memories for Mama & Daddy.
There was a reception shortly after the ceremony, but we did not stay back for that as we had some other plans (another post!) for the day. It was still quite cool to be there, though. Perhaps next time we should try making appearances on different occasion. Idul Fitri, perhaps?
Well... in the meantime, MERDEKA! (Indonesian word for freedom)
Cool! It's been years since last time I attended a flag ceremony myself hahaha.. Very nice to have that batik touch btw :D
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