Summer Indo Trip: Family meals

While an outing with Mama's sisters was definitely fun, a week in Surabaya meant also meeting other part of the family, namely from Daddy's side. So, taking advantage of a public holiday during the week, we went out for lunch with Eyang Kakung's side of the family.

It was quite interesting to observe that apparently little girls of a certain age just gravitate towards a certain colour, certain Disney character, certain type of accessories.....  Well, both Ocha and Kecil were a bit shy that day, so they did not get to play a lot together, but ... well... who knows, maybe next time.

There was Eyang Kakung, trying to take Kecil's picture with his phone...

And there was, of course, Eyang Putri ...

And a bunch of others. Unfortunately Mama does not have a good pic of the whole group. Suffice to say, we had a good time.

Later that week, we also had a smaller dinner with Kecil's Tantes (except for 1), which happened to coincide with the celebration of Mama's birthday.

Ah, and also, Tante Ela's birthday (Mama's and Tante Ela's birthday are actually a few years minus 3 days apart)!

So, Tante Lia was the busy one with all the picture taking:

It was a lovely dinner, even if Kecil got a bit cranky due to the lateness of the hour. She tended to sleep earlier during the holidays, which was good.

It was also a kind of Tante Tara's farewell dinner to Surabaya, as we moved on to the next destination the following morning. We were going to take the train to Yogyakarta! And given that the train will start very early the following morning, we did not dawdle after dinner. Mama still had to pack! But we dawdled enough just to grab that picture of Kecil and Mama's sisters.

Haha... well... we don't get to do this often enough. Cheers!

One Rainy Afternoon

It was a rainy afternoon that day, so we just stayed inside the house, making up things to do indoors.

It so happen that we just bought a world map for Kecil's room, which she gleefully installed on the wall.
Why a world map, you might ask. Well... as a citizen of the world, it's only right that Kecil should know about all the countries that she's been hearing about, you know? Otherwise, they all make no sense to her: "I am from Indonesia, Ami is from Japan, but we all stays in the Philippines".

It was a nice, colourful map, and, trust me, she's learning some countries already. Haha...

But actually the main attraction that day was a certain basket inside her drawer, the one filled with all her 'jewelries': necklaces, rings, bangles, even earrings.

So... all bedecked and glamorous, she complied with Mama's request to pose by the window. Haha... Unfortunately, our photo session was interrupted by somebody walking through the backyard, causing our valiant guardian to rise to the occasion:

Haha.... Oh yes, we have an impressive guardian, indeed. Why, she's bigger (and heavier still!) than Kecil! The only thing our guardian fears is to be left alone, especially during rainy (read: stormy) days when there are thunder. Which is why, the sight below is pretty common:

The Dog cowering, sharing a corner in the bathroom while the Little One blissfully played with her bath toys while it rains outside.

Ah... the days that we have to spend indoors due to the rain. We'll definitely have to be more creative in coming up with various activities to occupy each other during the rains.
What do you do when the rains come and keep you indoors?

Sunny walkies

It's a been a while since we did a 'walkie-post', you know, a post about walkies? During summer, we took walkies almost everyday (for the benefit of Mama and the Dog, mainly), that at times it almost become a chore, what with the heat and everything.

Now that the rainy season is in, we never know when the sun will come back again, and seriously, after a whole week stretch of rain, we are so going to celebrate the sun!

So out came the sunglasses, the pink walkie shoes (new, mind you, from the Summer Indo Trip), the long-languishing bicycle.... all in matching fuschia pink, of course.

Straight into the sun we went, Mama following at the back, taking pictures.

And of course, since they all knew that Mama was taking pictures, they even stopped to pose for Mama. Such accommodating off-spring, this Mama has. Haha...

Nice and sunny, don't you think? Although given that today would already be the third day straight with sun, this Mama almost wishes for the rains to come back. At least it would be cooler.

Still... the present is here to be grabbed, not to be used wishing for things other that what we have now, right? So... on we go, perhaps with more walkies post next time. Here's one last pic of my very stylish off-spring:

I am still trying to keep up with the Summer Trip series. Most probably the series will continue, alternating with any currents stories that Mama has on the disk. Cheers!

Summer Indo Trip: Soerabaja daytime outing

Surabaya, as the starting point of our Indo Trip last summer, was indeed a good place to start. For one, the city was the (long time) residence of Eyang Kakung and Eyang Putri. In the last few years, Tante Ela had also made the city her residence. It was just fitting that given our sojourn there, Tante Lia also joined us there, before tagging along to Jogjakarta later on. That afternoon, we went out together, 3 sisters with Kecil in tow.

First, we went for some snacks at the supermarket. Tante Lia was behind the camera. Then, after we got tired walking around, we parked at A&W while waiting for the car to come to pick us up. So... while waiting, we took more pictures! There were pictures of Kecil ...

... pictures of Mama & the Tantes (taken by Mama or one of the Tantes, usually) ....

... until Mama got fed up and asked Kecil to become the photographer of the day:

Haa??? Ahem... there was a bit of a glitch as Kecil fumbled with Tante Lia's phone (the best camera we had on hand that day), something she was not familiar with, which kind of make her a bit nervous. With a bit of encouragement, she managed to get a nice pic of Mama and the Tantes:

The three of us were so happy with it, we showered Kecil with compliments, which I think made her a wee bit shy:

Well, cute Little Girl, as it happened, Mama was very proud of you! Thank you for being our photographer that day!

Visiting the Vet

This weekend, we took the Dog out to the Vet.

The story was that Mama found a patch of dried blood on the Dog on Friday night, which sent her a bit into panic mode. The Dog had a history of mange, you see, and it was really bad, with clumps of dog hair falling off, bouts of itchiness.... let's just say it was not an experience Mama wanted to repeat, even if it was only second hand in nature. So we hurried to get the Dog checked.



The Dog couldn't sit still at the Vet's/pet shop. Some might mistake the whole thing as a very funny dog, so excited to see the vet. Yeah, right. This Mama would say the Dog was TERRIFIED at the prospect.



Kecil was heroically trying to keep the Dog still and calm her down despite the fact that the Dog outweighs her by quite a margin. She's sweet like that, no?

And as Mama said, the Dog was terrified. When it came to her turn, the Dog had to be carried into the Vet's office. Ha! After the visit, the Dog even had to be further calmed down.

And it was a good time to take a quick pic!



The Vet's verdict? It would seem that the Dog is suffering from hot spots. For the time being, she is being treated with topical antibiotics, followed with a bath in special shampoo. Daddy is championing shaving the Dog, something that we might just do after the special bath. In a week's time, we are to have a follow up visit to the Vet. Let's hope it will be better by then.



With a panicky Dog in tow (who had a bit of shave to expose the affected areas), we did not linger too long, and went home immediately to start the treatment regime. Our best wishes for Penny, the Dog, that she'll be fine soon. I'm sure Penny is hoping for the same thing as well, since she's being collared to prevent her from scratching her skin (and hence, exacerbating her condition).

Get well soon, Doggie!

Summer Indonesian Trip: Oma

The Summer Indonesian Trip series had been going well, with many pictures and collages offering but a taste of the hundreds of pictures that Mama took over the course of just a few weeks. Then it just simply stopped. Despite all the pictures, despite all the happy stories, despite having come back to home ground once again.
This Mama do apologise, but truth to be told, it was a bit difficult to write again, all because of the knowledge that we have lost one faithful reader here in this space.

On 1st June, Kecil's Oma had passed away after her 1 year plus battle with multiple myeloma.

It was, indeed, somewhat sudden. Why, last holiday she still managed to play with Kecil on the field in front of the new house. Even this holiday, we still managed to sneak in a picture or two (albeit not as many as Mama would like).

In the last weekend of her life, Oma even managed to celebrate the 33th anniversary of her marriage with Opa. It was a low key celebration, just with the family at her bed in the hospital, but it was a celebration nevertheless.

Although we did not know it then, we also took the last family picture with her. It's a pity that Daddy was not there too, but at least all the girls are there.

Oma's condition worsened rapidly not long after the celebration. The week that followed was pretty hectic, with Oma being treated in the ICU, going to another hospital and back and to yet another hospital before finally back to this hospital where she finally took her last breath.

There was a rainbow in the sky that morning when Oma passed away.
The wake was held for 2 days straight, allowing enough time for Oma's great circle of friends, students, acquaintances to pay their respect. A great many of them turned up.

Kecil was there for the 2nd night of the wake (she came together with Eyangs and Tante Rina), but she missed seeing Oma because the coffin was closed on the 1st night. Daddy arrived just in time for the funeral.

The burial ground was located on a hill facing the mountain. It was a beautiful, green spot. We do hope that Oma will rest peacefully there.

We believe Kecil quite understand the idea that Oma is no longer with us. I guess the fact that she saw how Oma was sick for a while kind of help. Before we went back home, we did visit Oma's grave to put some flowers. Both times, Kecil came along....

... and both times, she actually got a 'share' of Oma's flowers. You see the flowers in her hand? She asked Oma for them. For her. Haha....

She even asked for a flower or two from the bouquets that were sent to the house:

I guess those flowers ARE beautiful, very much irresistible for a girly girly little girl like Kecil.

Kecil and Mama are coming back sometime next month for the 40 days memorial service. In the meantime, our prayers are with Oma. We all would like to think that she's already smiling at us from wherever she is now.

Take care, Oma!

Back to Skool

After a long long summer holiday, which included the unfinished Summer Indo Trip series (ha!), we are finally back into the rainy season, and also, the Skool season. Ohoho!!!
Somehow Daddy was called to his Manila office during the first week of school, and so, on the second day of Skool, we took public transport.
Turned out to be a good thing too, as then Mama managed to take this shot.

This Mama had not covered the Skool for a long while, but as you know, they've moved to a new building, with many exciting improvements inside the Skool.
Also, this term being a new study year, Kecil is now no longer in Nursery, she is now a Kindergarten student!

There were new friends, new classroom, new teachers, and after 3 long months, Kecil was back into her shy, clingy self. Ow, there were dramas and tears, all right, but she's getting better. It helps that she generally perked up after a while. Why, every time Mama picked her up at the end of the Skool day, she was usually all smiles!

It's lovely to see her in uniform again, even if she insisted on various 'unique' touches such as those gargantuan Minnie ears. I guess Kecil will not be Kecil without them, hm?

We are looking forward to the rest of the term, homework, activities and all. Oh, and don't forget the rains! The rainy (punctuated by storms) season has started while we were away. Let's see how that will affect our updates here. Ha!

Cheers!

As for the Summer Indo Trip series, Mama is not giving up on it yet, just that Mama is currently working on one big stumbling block of a post. Hopefully once that one is out of the way, we'll continue the series as there are still a huge stack of beautiful pics to share. Gambatte, Mama!

Happy Father's Day 2013

Although Father's day was not spent doing anything special yesterday, we would still like to drop by to show appreciation to all the important men in Kecil's life so far:
Eyang Kakung, Opa, and of course, Daddy.

And to all fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers, and even fathers-to-be out there, Happy Father's Day!