Pigtails pixie

Sometime during our summer trip, Eyang Putri got it into her mind to braid Kecil's hair into a pair of pigtails, and she did. And Kecil loved it soo much, she kept asking for Mama for such tails ever since.

She wore her 'tails' in Bali, in Yogyakarta, in Bogor, even back when she went back to Skool! It was definitely a relief for Mama, who had been getting the itchy fingers about Kecil's hair, especially on days when it was just left unbraided, messy.... you know. Something like this....

Ahaha... big hair! Well... actually, given the fine texture, Kecil's hair will never compete with Mama's, but still. Anyway... Mama had resigned herself to dealing with Kecil's hair as is, especially when Kecil said she wanted to keep the hair long. But maybe Mama cheated a bit. Still remember the car wash?

It was a very hot day then, a perfect day for washing the car, don't you think? I guess the heat really got into Kecil, for straight from there, she actually asked for a hair cut. Haha! Score! And since it was a big deal (right after her pledge to be like Rapunzel!), Mama thought it warranted a trip to a proper hairdresser.

So... to a hairdresser we went, and Kecil got too shy to climb on the chair. Haha... but finally we managed, and suddenly, we ended up with a little, cute pixie.

It was just a straight cut right above the neck. Perhaps we can try a bit of bob next time. In the mean time, she seems to like it, and Mama and Daddy too. A little Pixie. How cool is that?

Carwash adventures

So.... Mama and Kecil went for a long holiday to Indonesia, and what did we do? Apart from taking pictures, that is. And please don't mind the pixelated picture, but Kecil happened to use a card that has some sensitive information on it.
Why, we took the car to a carwash, of course.

It's the rainy season, you see. And what happened during rain? The roads get muddy, and the car got dirty. Not to mention the fact that Daddy drove before sunrise to pick us up means the windshield got all buggy and yucky. So... carwash it was.

And since there were quite  a few things on Mama's plate that day, Mama decided to get the car washed right before going to Skool. So... there Kecil was, in uniform and all. We even brought her lunch that day, I think, not pictured, as usual. Mama no good with food pictures. Like... the food would be gone before the camera got out.

Anyway... pictures.

This was by far not Kecil's only trip to the carwash. Still remember the jackfruit tree? Back when Kecil was smaller (and chubbier!) that was. She still enjoyed watching the car being washed. Her favourite part is when the car was all covered in foam. She said, the car looked like a cupcake!

Later that week, Mama took Kecil to yet another carwash, this time to get the undercarriage cleaned.

It happened that it was PE day at Skool, so the joke that I told Kecil was that she exercised so well, she became strong enough the carry the car. Haha....
Well... it was not the easiest thing to direct my little model that day, because apparently she needed to use the toilet then, so... you all just have to pretend to believe the joke, OK?

Sometimes, Kecil liked to ask us to bring her to the zoo or something, because she wanted to do another 'field trip'. This Mama just rolled her eyes. Well... kiddo, if you just want to learn something (that's the purpose of a field trip, right?), you can have field trip anywhere any time yah. And that anywhere certainly include trips to the carwash, where you can see hydraulic pumps in action, oil changing, whatever. We can go to the zoo some other time, perhaps when we are in the vicinity of a better zoo that what we have right now. Seriously.

In the meantime, let's just do our weekly carwash, I'm pretty sure they can be quite fun. Like carrying the car on your palm kind of fun. Haha...

Summer Indo Trip: Yogya Trips part 2

Feeling very much 'cultured' from all the dances at the temple and the palace, we moved on with architectural marvel, Candi Borobudur.
Both Mama and Daddy had been here back in the days, both with our respective families and at least once with our respective schools. Indeed, apparently the Grand Temple is the single most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia. I guess that kind of account for the major development of the whole site.

Not far from the parking, there was a complex of stalls offering food and various knick and knacks. They also sold all kinds of hats and umbrellas for those tourist who came unprepared for the weather. Indeed, the weather that day was not sunny, but it was hot and humid still!

As I said before, there were many school kids around, and boy, were they excited at the sight of Uncle Martin! I suppose he might well be the first 'real' Caucasian they see outside the television or something. Ha! Anyway.....

Here is some shots of the temple. It was big, and the climb up to the top was really not for the faint-hearted (or less than fit, ha!). The humidity and heat were not helping either. I guess that was partly why this Mama found herself with a grumpy Little Kid on top.

Actually she did not even want to have her picture taken. Mama just sneaked that picture after taking Tante's pic at the other stupa:

We did not stay too long up there, simply because there were so many people! Not to mention the fact that a steep set of steps going up meant a pretty scary way going down.

Good things Kecil is no stranger to steps, going up or down. She's a trooper. Still remember our trip to Mount Bromo? Yeah, so even this time, she went before Mama.

Looking back, I think she managed to be quite impressed by her own feat of climbing up and down the Temple. Or maybe she was just waiting for her Tante and Uncle, who definitely took the steps with more caution. Haha...

Straight from the Temple, I think we went straight to our lunch venue, a resort in a refurbished coffee plantation.

It was quite a long ride to the resort, but it was quite worth it. The place was beautiful and the food (most importantly) was good. As usual, apart from the food, Mama took quite a few picture.

Why, Mama even took one or two of Mama!

Kecil was fascinated with the flowers adorning the stairs, mostly because it was arranged beautifully in a basin of water.

We spent a bit of time looking around, ostensibly doing a site inspection of the place. It was a beautiful place overlooking the mountains.

So, perhaps when we get a windfall of some sort (win the lottery, yeah!) we can drop by for a week or so. Haha.... In any case, bearing in mind the long trip back to the hotel, it was already time to make our way back.

It was quite a fun day going around the area, even with the long car-ride, on our last day in Yogya. The following day we were to catch the flight back to Surabaya, parting ways with all the Tantes. We would see them again the following weekend, but that would be another story/post. Stay tuned!

Tutu Chronicles

Remember Kecil's ballet lessons? It is still currently on hold, as the teacher went back for holidays following her school age kids. Lack of lessons, however, does not mean a respite for Kecil's fascination. Or the hunt for the perfect outfit.

So it happened during our Summer Trip to Indonesia, we had to make a night's stopover in Singapore. And while we were having dinner at the mall, there it was, right across our seats that night, tutu skirts of various sizes and colors, including one in fuschia pink.
By the time dinner was over, this Mama so did not stand a chance against all the badgering and mini-food-strikes. So, we bought it. Anyway, Kecil looks kind of cute in it, or so this Mama consoles herself.

Since we got the tutu on our way to Indonesia, it did travel with us, but Mama did limit its use due to the washing requirement (handwash, or at least, in a net if using washing machine).
Once we got home and stuck inside thanks to all the thunderstorms, out came the tutu, and Kecil got on with her own version of ballet lessons.

Oh, and if I can direct your attention to her sunglasses, somehow it just made strange appearances for rainy days indoors, but not quite for sunny days outside. Real strange.

Once the rain stopped, however, it was time for walkies! And since it was outdoor, off went the ballet slippers and on came her heartsy pink boots!
You know, I have seen so many pictures of little girls in tutus and boots online, but I am quite sure that Kecil had never seen one before. I suppose certain things are just universal, huh? After all, the boot's practical nature is just the balance needed for the super frou frou tutu. On a humid afternoon, right after the rain.

The following day turned out sunny, so, again, we took the newly shaven Dog out for her daily walkies.
The weather was really kind of nice, which really encouraged the Little One to do all kinds of antics in her tutu and boots:

... climbing up the fence, dancing, posing.....

Of course, Mama was busy taking pictures.... Why, we even scored a keeper or two:

... not to mention meeting a friend on the way:

Hahaha.... It was a good walkie, in tutu and all. Here's for more pretty, photogenic walkies ahead! Cheers!

Summer Indo Trip: Yogya Trips part 1

So, you know where we stayed while we were in Yogya. But what did we do while we were there? Apart from taking picture, that is.

Well... the first night, we went for a special dinner. Duh! Obviously we have to eat, like 3 times a day, but this one is special. Because the dinner was part of a package, which include a special dance performance, with the Grand Temple Prambanan as the background.

You might remember us visiting the temple a while back, during the day. This time, we did not go quite to the temple itself, but it was clearly visible, beautifully lit, serving as a spectacular backdrop to the dance performance.

The dance was actually a retelling of the epic story, Ramayana, albeit very much abridged. Eyang Putri informed us that in fact, the story used to be told over so many weeks, with every night the dancers dancing different (small) part of the story. Well, I guess it's hard to cater to the international (read: transient) audience with that kind of arrangement. Hence, we had the whole story in one sitting.

It was a beautiful performance, even Kecil was transfixed. She kept asking about the story. It was a good thing we sat right next to Eyang Putri, who was very familiar with the story. The highlight of the whole performance? Real fire burning (specially prepared) huts above the stage, serving as secondary backdrop. So cool!

When the dance was over, Kecil requested that she take picture with the Princess (Shinta). She seemed very much taken by the beautiful princess. Unfortunately, Shinta was standing right next to the Hanuman, of which Kecil was quite scared. So, we settled on one of the lesser dancers, one of the fish, as a matter of fact, part of Rama's mighty army.

The following day, after a leisurely breakfast, we went to visit the heart of the city, the Sultan's palace, the Keraton of Yogyakarta.
This is not to be mixed up with the keraton of Surakarta, which we visited 2 years back on our trip to Solo.

Although the 2 keratons are somewhat similar in design (a complex of low buildings amidst lush greeneries with plenty of open spaces), we immediately felt that the atmosphere was quite different. Here, in Yogya, it was definitely more crowded with tourists, but more than that, it was also alive! Of course, the liveliness might have something to do with the presence of in-house dancing 'academy'.

Indeed, within keraton, you can actually learn the traditional Javanese dance. I believe it was held every Sunday. While we were there, there was actually 'classes' going on, with groups of dancers trying out in one of the pavilion. There were many girls, but there were also young (and some not so young) men learning how to dance. Of course, the men learn slightly different movements from the girls. Why, some of their stances were quite acrobatic, involving some delicate balancing on single foot.

In a different pavilion that day, there was also a 'proper' dance performance, this time with proper costumes and such. Instead of large groups, the three performances only had a group of 3 dancers, a pair of male dancers, and one solo piece. Seats were available in front of the stage, however, you can always take a seat anywhere around the pavilion. It was a free and easy arrangement, which allows anyone to come and go as they wish, as long as they don't disturb the performance.

Now, Kecil had been watching all the dancing, both during classes and the performance, wide-eyed. So... it was no surprise at all that she repeated her request from the previous night: she wanted to take picture with the beautiful dancers. And so she did. Accompanied by Tante Lia, of course, because the Little Girl was just kind of shy.

Or, maybe she was still a bit scared of the big giant guarding the front door?

In any case, it was a good morning, and overall a very 'cultured' weekend in Yogyakarta, and it was not even over yet! We'll stop here first, and continue with part 2 of the Yogya trip. Cheers!