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!

Homecoming: Opa & Oma

So, we've been to their house, but have yet to meet the VIPs: Opa and Oma.
Opa & Oma are Mama's daddy and mama. Oma is still in the process of recovering from some major health issue, but she looked fine while we were there. One likes to think that perhaps Kecil's presence (her only grandkid yet) might have something to do with that.

As it was, last holiday, Oma was game enough to try chasing and playing with the Little One.

But of course, this Mama would say that Oma had the advantage so early in the morning. Look at Kecil's 'normal' face in the mornings:

Ha! All sleepy, bleary eyed, groggy and so on and so forth. She soon perked up with the prospect of playing with water, though.

Oma actually taught her to help Oma spray Oma's orchids. Of course, Kecil did not limit herself to JUST orchids. She proceeded to spray the rest of the plants as well. Why, later in the afternoon, under Oma's encouragement, she even chased a few local kids around with that spray bottle. Ha! Still remember this one?

Yeah. So... if you are ever wondering where Kecil got her 'mischievous' genes from... look no more. Yes?

Then there also Opa, of course.

Here is yet another set of mischievous genes to inherit, Opa's. Well... we first tried to just take a normal picture. Then of course Kecil wouldn't stay still, so Opa had to ... 'manhandled' the Kid, which she loved, of course.

Kecil loves her Opa, indeed, even from her baby days. Opa is always full of funny noises, physical games, things that are guaranteed to bring out her lovely gales of laughter, indeed. It kind of help that Opa is tall and lanky. The picture was one of their favourite game since Kecil started walking!
(Shh... this is a secret. But the game must have taken more than Opa expected, for he went off for a much needed nap once we left with our plans for the day, with more than a sigh of relief on Opa's part, I'm sure. Hihi...)

Kecil even tried playing the same game with Oma. Oh dear! Oma is not that strong yet, my dear!

Luckily there was always Daddy. Hahaha....
Mama? Well... Mama was on camera duty, right?

Then there was also Tante, Mama's sister, who came for a visit while Kecil was around.

In fact, the whole family was actually together, if only for a while quite late at night.
And we managed to coax the tired little girl for just a quick snap of the whole family. Many thanks to MasBru, Tante's beau, for taking the pic!

Kecil was already in her PJs! Haha....

It was great to see Opa and Oma, especially to see them with Kecil. Of course, having the whole family together came a close second as well.

So... Opa Oma, do take care and be well. We so look forward to seeing you again sometime this year. And perhaps to make more beautiful memories such as these...

Until then!

(The first and the last pictures are Mama's personal favourites. Which ones are yours? Like to share it in the comments?)

Homecoming: All over Surabaya

Today, we are back with some more Homecoming stories.
Or, have you forgotten that the series are not done yet? Haha... Oh yeah, that's Mama all right. Still not done with Halloween (look at those pumpkins!), even through the new year.
Anyway....

As you recall, our homecoming trips usually involve at least 2 cities, as Kecil's 2 sets of grandparents live in two different cities. So, here are the few things we did while we were in Surabaya:

We basically went for many drives around the city. Among other things, we were very interested to see the new bridge connecting the city to the island of Madura.
The brand new bridge (less than a year old, then) was really quite a sight. Long and tall, as long as you don't start comparing the view, I suppose it can compete with some of the bridges in Hong Kong!
Of course we had to pay for the privilege. At approximately 3 USD one way per car, this Mama personally think it was pretty close to outright extortion. Good thing we were just tourists up for one shot gawk. Imagine if you have to cross the bridge daily on your way to work or something. Still, it was an impressive sight.

We also had lunch on the island, just for the fun of it.

The following day was actually spent visiting an Aladdin castle... not.

The place was actually a waterpark, which means that it was not quite a place to swim as it was a place to play in water. Just take a look at what Kecil did inside:

Well, actually she did go to other pools as well, but this was the only one where Mama took pictures. Mama was busy playing in water too, you know. Good thing Tante and Eyang came along so Mama and Daddy managed to ride the adult slides as well.

We didn't forget to take the genie picture. Daddy looks pretty convincing as the genie.This Mama so did not realise that the other hole is meant for boys. Grrr....

There were many visits to various malls with Tante (while Mama and Daddy laze around at home!) from which Kecil got her girly girl dresses. Too bad Tante's holiday ended earlier than ours, so we had to say goodbye to Tante as she took her flight back to work.

I guess we did not quite take a lot of picture in Surabaya. Still, we did manage to spend time with the family (and shop for the stuff we needed, like more girly dresses for Kecil), so... I'd say it was a good holiday in Surabaya. Next post on Homecoming, we'll go to Bogor! I can't quite wait for that one.

Until then!

Here's what we have so far on the Homecoming:
MIA announcement featuring our family photo at the mountain, the beginning, outbound ports, mountain trip part 1, part 2, part 3, baa.
Here's hoping that you are enjoying the series so far. Cheers!

Get well soon, Oma!

Kecil's Oma just went through a major surgery yesterday. Having not been present in person for the whole series of events, all we know had come from the intermittent updates from overseas, through emails and various chats.
We did, however, hear that Oma had come through the surgery quite well, and is in the process of recovery.

Between work, school and sheer physical distance, it's not always the easiest thing to drop everything in order to get at Oma's side for this major occurrence, however, we do hope to be able to visit soon.
In the mean time, our prayers are for Oma, for quick recovery, for days ahead.

Get well soon, Oma!

Swimming with Daddy

Last week must have been a week of blue moon.
Such a rare happening, we actually had a combination of good weather and Daddy coming home really early, on a weekday!
And since Daddy decided to have a dip at the pool, we three trailed along:

Kecil: to play in the pool with Daddy
Mama: to take pics of her beautiful people in the pool
the Dog: (in her own 'words') I don't want to be left alone in the house!
So off we ALL went to the pool.

As usual, swimming with Kecil involves lots of splashing, jumping, 'fake swimming' and of course, smiles all around
Especially Kecil. She LOVES playing in the pool and would continue playing despite the cold water
Even as she protested that her fingers had shriveled like Opa/Eyang!

You see how Daddy had to 'force' Kecil out of the pool.

It was a delight watching the two of them in water. And as I looked through these pictures again, this Mama is ever so thankful for oh so many things:

• For Daddy's proximity to work/schedule that allows this kind of moments happening
• For easy access to the pool nearby
• For the camera that captured those beautiful pair of eyes, full of delight, full of joy
• For this blog that give Mama the chance to both capture and share these with you

There are times when we just need to count our blessings. Have you counted yours lately?

{this moment}

{this moment} A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. via SouleMama

Nesat & Nalgae

The Backyard after the Typhoons

It had been an interesting week last week, with two typhoons after the other
In fact, Nesat was definitely the strongest typhoon we had ever encountered in our stay here
With signal 3 alert applied to the city and its vicinity, we all hunkered down in the house (including Daddy!) listening to the wind and watching the storm wreaked its havoc.

There were some grumpy faces, as one realized there will be no school, the other no walkies, another no blogging time, yet other (not pictured) more work to make up for lost days....
But I guess it will be too much out of the usual character not to make the best use of what we got
So we spent some time at home, at times sans electricity, being cheerful as we can, enjoying each others' company.... the likes.

So, we did some creative hair-styling, take some self-photos (yes, Kecil as well!), take some Mama & Kecil photos...

Eat some instant noodles and watch some YouTube (because the cable TV was the first thing that went down as the storm hit, and when the lights started flickering, Mama deemed it more prudent to stick with noodles rather than taking chances with the electric stove and coming up with half-cooked dish)

And since Daddy was home, Kecil took the opportunity to 'get' her own uhmmm... jungle gym?
(Usually it was Mama's privilege to be such. Arr... I guess now I know why parents buy their kids stuff like jungle gym and mini playground equipment for indoor use: to avoid being used as one. Hmm...)

Mama got to take pictures of her beautiful people (yes, they are mine, all mine!!!)

We might not quite like having typhoons at our doorstep too often. But once in a while, I am sure we can deal with. Perhaps with more instant noodle and battery power (for alternative sources of sustenance, light and entertainment).
There is sun outside today, so maybe we'll stop here just so Mama and Kecil can go out to enjoy ourselves before yet another storm. The storm season is not yet over!

Wishing you good weather and fun!