faraway

Zachary Sings O Canada

2009-01-03T10:47:00.009+07:00

This year is the first time Zachary has lived and attended school in Canada. All his life, he has been somewhat confused as to his national identity. His mother is Indonesian and he lived in Jakarta for the first four years of his life. Then he has lived in Cambodia for the last two years. His father is Canadian but his heritage is Chinese: Hong Kong Chinese on his father side and Indonesian Chinese on his mother side. Since starting school Zachary has begun to learn about begin Canadian. When I pick him up in the afternoon, he jumps out of the bus without his gloves on in the middle of winter. I scold him to put his gloves on and he replies, “But Dad, I’m not cold. I’m a real Canadian!”

Zachary has become very interested in the Canadian National Anthem. He sings it to himself all the time and listens to the French version on YouTube. Of course, in the international school system which Zachary attended in Indonesia and Cambodia, there are no national anthems because the students come from many different nations. Here in Toronto, “O Canada” plays on the classroom loudspeaker every morning and the whole school stands at attention and sings together. To Zachary, who had never experienced this before, this was very strange and he had many questions about national anthems for me when he first started school. We explored the national anthems of other countries on YouTube: Indonesia, United States, France and Japan.

Here is Zachary singing the English Canadian National Anthem with pride.

A Cocoon (Sindentosca)

2008-12-11T21:46:00.004+07:00

before, we were friends, such warm friends
warmer than the sun
before we were friends, friends like a caterpillar
wishing to be a butterfly
now, we have walked far apart
you avoided me because of something
maybe I went too far
however that was because I cared for you

Reff:
friendship is like a cocoon
which changes the caterpillar into a butterfly
friendship is like a cocoon
something difficult becomes beautiful
friendship is like a cocoon
understanding friend, facing differences
friendship is like a cocoon
nananananana......

leave everything from the past in the past
as warm as the sun
afternoon turns to night
hiding the rays of the sun, until it shines again
now, we have walked far apart
you avoided me because of something
maybe I went too far
however that was because I cared for you

Back to reff.

(translation from the song "Kepompong" by Sindentosca that is playing in the left sidebar)

Cleaning with Baking Soda

2008-12-05T12:49:00.003+07:00

Another tip from my mother in laws on how to clean the dirty pots. Little, if any, scrubbing is needed to clean even the dirtiest pots, you can use baking soda to have spotless pots.

Fill pot with 1 to 2 inches of water, and add about 2 tablespoon of baking soda; simmer 15 minutes, then scrape tough spots on bottom with a wooden spoon as needed.

It is nonabrasive and environmentally friendly.

A Walk on a November’s Day

2008-11-30T22:56:00.009+07:00

Galuh, the kids and I took a long afternoon walk in the conservation area in East Don Parklands today. It was a balmy three degrees centigrade but the sun came out to cheer our progress. A trail follows the path of the Don River which winds its way towards Lake Ontario through our neighbourhood. Footbridges cross the course of the Don at various points. The snow from last week was all but gone and the kids had no problem racing along by bike (Jacob) and scooter (Zachary).

We found a frozen pond surrounded by barren trees. The boys were fascinated by the ice and tried hard to crack it with sticks. What is it about ice that makes boys want to break it? I noticed a number of other large sticks, even logs out on the ice. My boys were not the first ones to try. Later the kids spotted some ducks swimming in the river and we watched them for a while. Jacob in particular was mesmerized. We explored a new trail that heads south, passes under the railway and ends up near North York General Hospital not too far from my mother’s clinic on Sheppard Ave.

After copious snacks consumed by the children, we headed home. Jacob grew tired and I carried him on my shoulders where he fell asleep at once. We arrived at home as the sun set and were welcomed by a full house as my mother opened the front door for my sister, her husband Tim and their three kids as they arrived at just the same time for dinner.

How to Clean your Tiles

2008-11-22T22:10:00.002+07:00

My mother in law taught me a new thing today. She asked me to use vinegar instead of soap or other kind of toxic products when I mop the tiles in the kitchen. She said that vinegar can remove any kind of stains on tiles.

I doubted what she said.

So after finished cooking, I put the water in the basket; poured two table spoons of vinegar; and then mixed it with the mop. I mopped the tiles in the kitchen and as the result the tiles were very clean, all the stains were removed, and the tiles were very bright again.

It is amazing!!! It is cheap and save the world!

REMEMBER NOT TO USE VINEGAR FOR MARBLES FLOORS. The vinegar only works for tiles.

Jacob’s Third Birthday

2008-11-16T23:41:00.001+07:00

Dear Second Son,
On your Third Birthday,
May your next year of life
Be full of Love, Laughter and Learning.
May you flourish and thrive
In your new homeland in the north.
May your boundless exuberance
Discover limitless potential,
As Baby becomes Boy
And fills his parents with pride and joy
On your Third Birthday
(from your Daddy)

Donlands Parkway

2008-10-26T23:27:00.000+07:00

Just five minutes’ walk from my parents house is the Donlands Parkway. This system of pathways traces the Don river’s path as it winds its way southward through the Bayview Village neighbourhood. It is a beautiful and tranquil retreat from the suburban traffic along Finch St. The pathway has been upgraded since I left Toronto and it’s great for biking and walking. The City even built a pedestrian bridge across the Don so now we can make a long circle around the neighbourhood. The kids love the walk and hours can be spent there (as long as we bring plenty of snacks!).

Thanksgiving in Peterborough

2008-10-20T23:17:00.000+07:00

It was probably my first time to celebrate a Canadian Thanksgiving in over ten years. The insurmountable Francina, my sister-in-law, invited and provided for the extended family – nearly thirty people (including a horde of kids) for a lavish turkey dinner.

A driveway floor hockey game was organized and both Zach and Galuh played for the first time. Zach learned how to ride a bike that weekend. The kids watched a Jackie Chan Kung Fu flick on my brother’s massive flatscreen TV. Later the kids bedded down in the basement in sleeping bags. Zach ended up with a coughing fit(his asthma) and Jacob inexplicably ended up in the middle of the night with a bleeding nose (probably due to the dry air that his tropical nose is not used to.

The next day, as per tradition, Francina organized a clan picture with our steadfast family photographer, Mark Van Dam who has been capturing our group portrait for years. Whenever, the Cheung clan is reunited in Peterborough, Francina has been sure to whip together an outdoor photo shoot – no easy feat with the growing number of unruly kids. Nature accommodated us with a fabulous day and a spectacular show of colours painted in the autumn leaves.

Riverdale Farm

2008-10-16T23:10:00.000+07:00

A rural oasis hidden in the middle of Toronto just off the Don Valley Parkway. Pastoral peacefulness and lots of cute animals for the kiddies. Jacob liked the animals but loved the freshly baked cookies that were on sale at the canteen even more.

Back in Canada

2008-10-10T22:46:00.000+07:00

Some expatriates call it “re-entry”, like the fiery and bumpy descent back to earth of a returning spacecraft. That’s no coincidence since oddly enough coming home from more than a decade working abroad can be both fiery and bumpy.

In September I was offered a job in Sri Lanka and another one in Jakarta but instead I decided that I wanted to come back to Canada. Now in Toronto, we are working on settling into Canadian life. It is full of both joy and frustrations. It is a joy to see family and friends again. It is a joy to my youngest son, Jacob’s glee when riding his little bike in the big park in our neighbourhood. My older son, Zachary, is happy at his new school, likes his teacher and has made new friends. He comes home with big smiles and lots of questions.

The frustrations include looking for a job that won’t bore me stiff and adapting to the cold weather. For now, we are taking life one day at a time.

I suppose, it is the potential of life here that I missed. Here there is the potential to learn something new or play a new sport or be inspired by art. Because it is small and life for expatriates is transitory, life in Cambodia sorely lacked those facets.

Ballu and Shivani Visit Cambodia

2008-09-02T09:52:00.004+07:00

Our good friends Ballu and Shivani came to visit us in Cambodia at the end of July. It was a great visit, the perfect decompression for me after a frantic several months working for the Cambodian National Assembly election. After hanging out in Penh Penh for a few days, we headed down south to the Sokha Hotel in Sihanoukville. We piled the children into a big van and drove for four hours.

The beach was beautiful as usual and Ballu and Shivani loved it. We hung out at the beach all day. All the kids loved it. I took Zach and Nileesh for a ride in the kayak. Nileesh and I got swamped by a wave and fell into the water. That was fun.

Zach has been asking to go visit Nileesh and Meena in Toronto.

Sea Caves in Thailand

2008-04-27T14:25:00.020+07:00

To the east of Phuket Islands in the Andaman Sea are a group of small limestone islands. On our Thailand vacation we went on a unique tour of these islands with John Gray's SeaCanoe Company. John Gray is white bearded guy who has been exploring these islands by kayak and canoe for decades. We actually got this tour as a freebie for going to a marketing promotion provided by J.W. Marriot Hotel.

Our host is jolly thin man named Sunny. He explains the safety precautions and is a humorous and gentle host. He takes a liking to Zach, saying “he is a good boy, his English is good.” Later after the tour is over, we find out that most of the crew are Thai Muslims.

These islands stick up out of the sea like pegs or the crooked teeth of some undersea giant. The tides and currents have eroded the limestone over a millennia and created intricate tunnels and spectacular caverns in the islands. The tour guys shuttled us out to the island in this big boat. Jacob and Zach were in high spirits. It was a big adventure. The first island we visited was Panuk Island which is an undulating series of sharp peaks sticking out of the sea like a crocodile spine. The base of the island has been carved and scooped away by the sea leaving impossible-looking fingers of rock stick downwards. There are holes and shallow caves everywhere.

As we approached the island, we were greeted by a dozen brown eagle-like birds. I don’t know the species but they looked cool. The crew threw chicken skins (leftovers from the galley’s lunch preparation) out to sea behind the boat. The birds careened, swooped and dived fearlessly to the surface of the water to snatch the free meals. This island is their home and I suppose it’s a just toll that we paid to enter their domain.

We arrive at the cave mouth. The crew takes all the passengers in small groups in yellow inflatable sea canoes. Our guide, Han, is a calm, sharp-eyed young man. Our family fit into one canoe. Zach was in the front with a flashlight, Galuh in middle with camera, Jacob and I in the back. Han sat in the very back with a kayak paddle. The cave opening is enormous and we find ourselves in a long water tunnel. Another tour of boisterous tourists streamed by us, their excited voices echoing in the dark chamber, Zach’s flashlight briefly illuminating their faces, occasionally their blue rubber canoes colliding with ours. For a moment I feel like I am on some subterranean water thoroughfare highway. Then suddenly they are gone and the tunnel is quiet.

This tunnel opens into an enormous hole in the middle of the island. Sheer cliffs rise around us and above the sky is dotted with clouds. We floated there for some time, appreciating the mystery of the place. I told Zach that if we were pirates this would make a good secret hideaway.

After lunch, our boat proceeds to Hong Island. This island looks like a castle with massive towers guarding its sides. Another tunnel awaits us, narrower and darker than the previous one. In certain places we all have to lie down in the canoe to pass through. That part was fun. There a big rock on the ceiling of the cave which glitters were we shire light on it. As a result they call the cave diamond cave. I doubt it’s really diamonds. Someone would have hammered it out by now. Beyond that is another cliff enclosure, rocky wall towering above us on all side. This one has a gap by which we departure. The gap is dominated by another tower of rock.

Before dinner, the guides led all the passengers in a Thai arts and craft lesson as we created special offerings to the sea goddess from banana leaves and stem, flowers, incense and candles. After dinner, in the middle of the dark ocean, we return to Hong Island, with offerings. Back in the rock enclosure, the candles were lighted and the offerings set off to float. The many candle lights on the dark water formed an enchanted magical glow.

During this trip we also saw a lot of animals that we have only seen on Animal Planet such as bats, mucky fish, a kingfisher, jelly fish, and crabs.

We had the best day trip ever. Enjoy the other pictures below!

Boy in the Bubble

2008-04-26T17:14:00.006+07:00

photograph by Galuh
model on the cover is Zachary
location at Jungceylon Mall, Patong, Phuket
date was April 16, 2008

how I train my kids to clean up the room

2008-04-09T21:14:00.003+07:00

This video was taken when we were in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam last year. Zach came to our room and made up our bed meanwhile Jake cleaned up our suitcase. They did not suppose to do that since there was a housekeeping that cleaned our room everyday but that was how they showed their love to us. Also, they were a good team, weren’t they?

Headlight with Dinosaur Sound

2008-04-09T20:27:00.004+07:00

Today, I opened the old toy box and pulled out the forgotten old toys to be cleaned. I thought that Jacob would love to play with Zach's old favorite toys. The headlight with Dinosaur sound becomes his favorite for today. He has been wearing it for a day and did not want to take it off when I would bath him.

Zach's Riding

2008-03-30T21:55:00.015+07:00

We are proud that Zach rides well, he is in Pony 2 now. He still often forgets to breathe when he is trotting and sometimes forgets to shorten his reins. He fell down from the horse once when the horse gallopped, but he still loves trotting. Watch the video below.

Choun Nat Statue

2008-03-20T22:14:00.006+07:00

Today, when I was on the way to the Pencil Supermarket, I passed the new statue of a famous monk called Choun Nat in Phnom Penh which the government just inaugurated a few weeks ago. I decided to stop by and take few pictures. This statue, which was made of copper and gold, is located in Hun Sen Park and over two meters in height. Choun Nat (1883-1969) was former Buddhism Patriarch or Chief of Cambodian monks. He is known as the most impressive literature and cultural promoter that Cambodia ever produced. He is also known as linguist, poet, and writer.

how I am inspired by my son

2008-03-19T21:15:00.008+07:00

Yesterday when I picked Zachary up from the school, I met with his teacher. She told me that Zach has been a wonderful student in the class and very good-thinker. He asked many questions, very active in the discussions, and a good-reader. She said that Zach is the youngest student in the class but the smartest. I am very proud of him ….

Zach has grown up as a smart, easy-going and agile kid. He is still 5 years old but his physical and emotional behavior is like older kids. People often think that he is 7 or 8 years old especially after they talk to him. He is not even in the Grade I yet, he is in the “Primary Years Reception” (in Indonesia, it is called as TK Besar)

He is very friendly and good-natured person with an obvious sense of humor. He has become a very effective communicator. I am often amazed when he explained something to me, the way he did it was by using pictures, explaining, and asking me questions to explore my understanding about that topic. He is a logical thinker with a good knowledge and is able to give clear and detailed explanations.

He really enjoys stories before bed-time. He listens very well and asks a lot of questions. He is still into Dinosaurs. It is amazing that he has been into Dinosaurs since he was 3 years old. He knows everything about Dinosaurs (the names, where they were found, when they lived and in which period, etc). One of our friend calls him as “A Walking Dinosaurs Dictionary.” She said that she never met 5 years old kid who knows everything about Dinosaurs. In the last few days, he has been talking a lot about planets. Planets have become his second favorite for this moment.

He has made good progress with his reading and become a more confident reader. Every day he brings home-reading level 12-14 from his school.

He is a good swimmer and diver too. He likes us to throw toys or rocks in the pool and he dives to get them. Jerome is often amazed by how he swims and how strong he is. He said that when he was at Zach’s age, he could not do what Zach does. Zach can already do butterfly-style!

Computer games are one of his favorite things to do before he goes to the bed. His recent favorite online games are on Ben 10 Cartoon Network, Harry Potter, and Dinosaurs websites.

He loves drawing; there is no day without drawing. We have a lot of his drawing collections. But he is very much perfectionist, when he cannot draw something or he thinks that his drawing is not good (based on his perception), he will get very frustrated and sometimes cry. One day, he told me that his friends had Pokemon cards and he really wanted to have them. Then, he made 8 Pokemon Cards. He drew and cut them as a card. We love them but when he brought them to the school and his friends said that the cards were not real and only 8 pieces, he was very sad … when I picked him up he cried in the car and told me that his friends did not like his cards. Poor him … Zach and I together with my friend, David, have made a painting. We played around with the colors and made tons of dots and the result was very gorgeous! Those butterflies were made by Zachary.

Since we live in Phnom Penh, Zach’s asthma or allergy has become worse. He has lost a lot of weight. He is not as chubby as before. Phnom Penh has less pollution than Jakarta, but because he spends a lot of his time outside he is exposed more to dust. He is allergic to dust mite. We use hypo-allergenic bed sheets for his bed. Every time we go on vacation and stay at a hotel, he has a bad reaction and starts coughing a lot. We figure it is the dust mites in the pillows or mattress or both since we always book an extra bed for him. We are thinking that we have to bring hypo-allergenic bed sheets especially for him when we are traveling.

Zach is still very active boy. He does not like just to stay at home, he loves his school and his friends. When he does not have activity after school, he will ask me to set up a play-date for him. He is learning Mandarin and Islamic Studies every Tuesday and Thursday and horse-riding every Saturday.

The Cheung Boy's Expression When They Are Watching TV

2008-03-18T13:46:00.005+07:00

A Long Weekend in Kep

2008-03-15T19:05:00.011+07:00

Kep is a sleepy coastal town about a three-hour drive south of Phnom Penh. We arrived at 2pm in the heat of the afternoon and drove slowly through the quiet streets. Galuh brought sandwiches from home and we ate them across the road from our hotel under a tree by the main beach. The beach is a thin sandy crescent surrounded by lush green mountains on all sides. It’s a beautiful little spot and the sunsets are spectacular.

Kep is dotted by many seemingly abandoned houses, perhaps built by the French colonials. Kep was occupied by the Khmer Rouge in the 70s and many of the buildings were burned. They give the town a mysterious atmosphere.

On our second day we drove to Kompot, a nearby town. We amused ourselves along the way by counting the motorcycles carrying ridiculously large baskets. Cambodians use motorcycles the way Canadians use trucks. Kompot is only slight less sleepy that Kep. It too has the feel of a decaying colonial town, and there is a beautiful broad river flowing through the center of town spanned by a rusting metal bridge. There’s a decrepit market by the river and the riverside is lined with restaurants and guesthouses.

For dinners, we feasted on seafood for which Kep is famous. Zach and Jacob really liked it. It was fund to watch the kids munch the crab meat with their eyes popping out. Even Galuh who doesn’t eat seafood much enjoyed it.

One day, we took a boat over to Rabbit Island across from Kep beach. This was Jacob’s first time on a boat. The island is a big forest-covered rock in the sea surrounded by a sandy beach dotted by palm trees. Up and down the beach, residents have set up bamboo platforms and hammocks for the tourists. There are big inner tubes available for floating around. The water is warm and calm. The shallow water stretches out 20-30 meters from the beach. There are little huts for those who want to spend the night.

In the first ten minutes of swimming Jacob was stung by a jellyfish. He had these nasty welts on his left arm, left knee and chin. I never saw the jellyfish so it could have been dead tentacles that were floating around. These can still sting if separated from the jellyfish. I got some ice and applied it to his welts which relieved the pain somewhat. Still Jacob was pretty miserable for a couple of hours, whining and crying. But eventually the welts disappeared and a smile returned to his face.

We ate some more great fried crab taken straight from a bamboo cage floating in the sea by the beach. A man from the little restaurant which “managed” our spot on the beach waded out into the sea to retrieve 7-8 little crabs still click and clacking. These were fried up in a yummy sauce. We devoured them quickly. Yum!

Happy Birthday King Norodom Sihamoni

2007-10-29T20:12:00.000+07:00

We joined the throngs of Cambodian Celebrating King Sihamoni's birthday in front of the palace this evening with fireworks exploding overhead.

Victim of Purse Snatching

2007-10-29T20:00:00.000+07:00

On Saturday we went out trick or treating. Because of only foreigners gave out candy for Halloween, we were taking a tuk-tuk (motorcyle rickshaw)from house to Halloween house. Suddently, my purse snatched by two thieves on the motorcycle who drove past our tuk-tuk and grabbed the purse as they went by. It took us totally by surpraise. I was shocked, traumatized, and upset. I lost passport, money, cell phone, credit cards, licences (both Indonesia and Cambodia), BCA account book and identity cards. Saturday night, I had to cancel all my credit cards.

By losing a passport, I had to renew my passport, Canadian visa, and Cambodian visa. On Sunday, I was depressed to face the Cambodian polices who did not want to give me a stamp on the robbery report which I really needed to process my new passport. I spent three hours in the police office without result. BUT lucky for me, just before left to the immigration office this Monday morning, there was a nice Cambodian man who found my passport on Sotheros Boulevard and returned it to me. I think the thieves did not need the passport and left it for someone to find it again.

Trick or Treat in Phnom Penh

2007-10-28T01:29:00.000+07:00

Our friends, Brian and Anne, have been arranging Halloween Party in Phnom Penh for last four years. While Halloween is October 31, the party was on Saturday, 27 October for this year. Thanks to them who have arranged a Halloween Party for us, that was VERY great!!

The houses that gave out candy for the kids put a sign “Halloween House” on their gate. Some houses have decorated with pumpkins, scary pictures and lights (looked like a haunted house). Our house was also one of them even though we did not decorate our house.

For this year, there were around 150-200 kids with their favorite costumes (princess, superhero, rap singer, favorite animals, witches, Harry Potter, skeletons, and other scary things). Zach was a Harry Potter and Jacob was a Superman. Some adults dressed up. Trick or Treating in the neighborhood began at 4.30. The tuk-tuk, a kind of hybrid moto-chariot, took around the kids and their parents around the houses.

On that afternoon, the Boeung Keng Kang 1 Street filled with costumed-kids, adults and tuk-tuk.

Pizza Party, completed with beer, soft drinks, at Brian and Anne’s house at 6pm. Unfortunately, we did not go to the party since I got my purse snatched but Zach (thanks to Sydney who has taken care of Zach) went to the Pizza Party. The kids were very happy even though the snatcher has ruined my kid’s happiness.

Zach with his Art Teacher, David, Standing in front of his Drawing

2007-10-20T22:30:00.000+07:00

The Beauty of A Sunset

2007-10-13T01:06:00.000+07:00

I love a sunset. I love watching the beauty of the sun when disappears below the horizon in the west. The colour of the sun and the sky will turn into red and gold or orange and grey or other wonderful mixed-colours. The colours are very beautiful, soft and gentle like a lovers soft embrace ... (Galuh)

Below is a sunset at Jericho Beach in Vancouver:

this one is a sunset in Phnom Penh

and another below is a sunset at English Bay Vancouver

Popsicles

2007-10-12T22:56:00.000+07:00

Zach has been talking about popsicles for last two months. His friend's Mom, Helen, gave him popsicles when he had playdate with James. But I could not get it here. Fortunately, Sydney, our new Canadian friend in Phnom Penh, had extra Popsicle Molds. She gave it to us (Thanks a lot Sydney!).

Instead of the kids, I love this popsicle molds too. This molds are fun for the kids to help make their own popsicles. So far, we have filled the popsicle molds with any flavors of juices (apple, orange, dark grapes, cranberry) and chocolate milk (we call it "chokinae"). They are also a great way to sneak in some extra whole foods into your kid's diet. I am thinking to look for recipes for popsicle molds so then we can try the healthier popsicles. I am also thinking to collect more popsicle molds. I love the shapes and the designs. Hm ... I can not wait until we go to Singapore or Canada to get it.

Cambodian Monks

2007-10-05T10:09:00.000+07:00

The picture were taken by Galuh. Location was in Oudong, an hour west of Phnom Penh. Oudong was the capital of Cambodia from the early 7th century until 1866 when the capital was moved to Phnom Penh.

First Drawing

2007-10-03T13:32:00.000+07:00

Zach met David Huang, who is an artist from Taipei (Taiwan) and the owner of Two Fish Gallery in Phnom Penh, three weeks ago when we bought David's painting. After chatted with Zach for awhile, David said that Zach has a talent in drawing/painting because he has good imaginations (those gene surely came from Jerome!). He said that was the key to be an artist.

We told him that Zach has been into drawing for last two months, he drew everyday and mostly he drew cartoon’s characters. He offered us to privately teach Zach in drawing. He asked me to bring all his drawings in the first class. When I showed him all Zach's paintings, he proudly told me that he was right about Zach. He liked all Zach's ideas, even he was surprised that Zach is only 5 years old.

Below is Zach’s first drawing at David’s class. David has framed it and wanted us to keep it. This drawing has finished after two times lessons.

Last night, David asked our permission to involve Zach in his next exhibition on 19 October 2007 at his gallery, other Cambodian kids will also involve in this exhibition. The drawings will be for sale and the money will go for charity.

For next two weeks, Zach has to make other drawings for David’s charity exhibition.

Zach's Horseback Riding Boots

2007-10-01T13:42:00.000+07:00

Zach's boots and chaps were finished yesterday. Not perfect but cheap. Good enough for a kid who is still learning to ride.

Jacob-22 Months

2007-09-28T13:17:00.000+07:00

I have an impression that Jacob will be pretty smart as his brother, Zachary. He quickly absorbs almost EVERYTHING that Zach is into at the moment. I think that is the advantage of being the second child, has a role model (which could be a disadvantage too).

Lately Jacob’s favourite things to say are “go a way” and “mine”. He is quite possessive about everything that he is into it. But after we tell him about sharing in awhile, he would like to share it.

Emotional
He is a happy baby. Always smile! I notice that if he does not smile, that means he is sick. I remember when he was sick two weeks ago, he did not smile for a week! We missed his smile a lot.

Jacob is a very affectionate kid. When his big brother cries, he’ll put his hand on Zach’s back and pat it. He likes to plant me with kisses and cuddles. He likes to kiss my cheeks, my arms, my lips, even my tummy. When I say “Senyum Jacob mana?” (where is your smile) and then he will give me his best smile.

Zach and Jacob are very close and LOVE each other. When they hurt each other feeling, they will say sorry and hug each other.

Language
Jacob speaks a LOT of words, but not long sentences yet. His languages are mixed up. He speaks some Indonesia words, English words, and Khmer words and then he will mix all those words in a sentence.

English, He can say "doity"; “please”; “thank yu”; “car”; “head”; “seat here”; “yummy”; "good"; "more"; "bum bum"; "God"; etc.

Indonesia, He can say "maem"; "jatuh"; "minum"; "sikat gigi"; "mandi"; "sekolah"; "mau"; etc.

Khmer, He can say "eek" (disgusting); "yum" (eat); "echai" (schavenger); "ot ban" (can not); etc.

Playtime
Jacob is very good at getting around. He’s agile, coordinated and has excellent balance. He is not afraid of everything and easy to figure out ANYTHING especially gadgets. He knows how to turn on/off the TV, AC, cell phone, etc. When we visit friends or family’s houses, he will know how to operate all those gadgets stuff. I think he is a thinker and has no fear!

He loves to play cars and LEGO. He can spend a lot more time with those toys.

He loves to dance and play drums.

He has two best friends who always visit him everyday, Michael (Swedish) and Paloma (American), in the afternoon if he goes to school and he will visit them in the morning when he does not go to school.

Sleeptime
Jacob still takes a nap in the afternoon around 12.15pm until 2pm.

We put him to sleep at 7pm or 7.30pm. He will ask us to read a book for him by saying “Bach .. bach ..”(baca or read). Usually, we have to wait until he falls a sleep and then we leave him alone. Zach and Jacob sleep in the same bedroom. Sometimes he’d be awake in middle of the night for couple minutes and then goes to sleep again. I really love when he wakes up and calls my name "Mummy ... Mummy" and when I came into his room, he is sitting on his bed waiting for me by rubbing his eyes. Soooo cute!

Horseback Riding Lesson

2007-09-27T09:31:00.000+07:00

There is a Cambodian Equestrian Center in Cambodia. It takes about 20 minutes to get there, it is quite far in Phnom Penh. We were surprised when we were there for the first time. It was a beautiful place with beautiful view and good horses. This place was managed by a French-couple. Most of the teachers are French.

Zach has started to take a horseback riding lesson since in January. He loves it. We have to arrive 15 minute before the lesson so then the kid can look after his/her horse and choose a helmet. For last five months, the teacher has taught the basic skills in horse riding such as how to rein in, how to sit on the horse properly, how to ask the horse to move, how to stop the horse. Besides, each kid was guided by a Cambodian-man to help the kids in managing the horse.

Since this month, Zach felt that the lesson became harder. He has to manage the horse by himself. He has started to look after the horse by his own, do trotting, and give a direction to the horse to turn right or left. Zach loves trotting!

Last week, Zach’s horse moved very slowly and Zach did not kick the horse strong enough. We kept telling him “kick harder … kick harder!” We thought that might be because of his shoes. He wore running shoes. We thought that he needed a long riding boots. On Sunday, we have ordered the boots for him. He was disappointed though because he could not wear it this Saturday since the boots would not be finished until this Sunday.

Reading A Book

2007-09-05T12:37:00.000+07:00

Zach can read a book! Last night, Zach read "Story of Dinosaurs" that he borrowed from his school library. Jerome asked him to try to read it by himself. Actually he could read by spelling simple words but he was reluctant to practice it by reading simple books.

Firstly, he slowly spelled the words one by one, then he started to enjoy the book and felt easier in spelling. He memorized some words that he had spelled before and started to spell the words faster. He insisted to finish reading it when Jerome asked him to go sleep and continue it tomorrow night. He spelled, read, and asked the meaning of some words that he did not know. Sometimes he tried to quess the words though. Finally, he read the book until the end. "I can read Man ...!" cheered Zach at the end. He was very proud.

Congratulation Zach ... we are proud of you!

First Day at Tchou-Tchou

2007-09-04T10:25:00.000+07:00

Today, Jake has started his school at Tchou-Tchou, a franch language-based school, after waiting for three months. He cried when I left him there but I was sure that he would be fine. He will go to school three times a week for three hours a day. I will pick him up in an hour, can not wait to see his reactions when see me.

Sleeping and Drooling

2007-09-01T14:40:00.000+07:00

Responsibility

2007-09-01T14:13:00.000+07:00

Last Wednesday, we bought Zach three fishes. He was very happy. He said that he had a responsibility to take care the pets and a plant that he brought from school last semester. Zach has been learning about responsibility last two weeks. The good thing is he wants to do all his responsibilities, he'll put all the toys back in the self after playing; put all the plates and glasses in the sink after eat; put his library books back in the folder, put his dirty cloths in the basket, etc. The bad thing is he does not want to do when we want him to do something (he will say that that is not his repsonsibility!)

Our Garden

2007-08-17T13:44:00.000+07:00

We have a small garden at our duplex. I am obsessed with it. We thought that our garden was looking a bit plain and the grass needed trimming. It needed tidying. It needed a whole lot of colour and flowers. Yesterday, I trimmed the grass, bought some ready-potted plants and planted some plants. Firstly, I was looking for seeds (because it was cheaper) but I could not find it here. The best thing was I found 'jasmine'. I was surprised that they had it.

Now, the hardest part is waiting for everything to grow bigger. Grrrrrr ... I hate waiting.

Shaun The Sheep

2007-08-13T11:38:00.000+07:00

I love watching Shaun The Sheep at Disney Channel with the kids. This show is SO funny, super cute, and charming. Everytime I watch this show, I am giggling like a little girl even though everything in this show is only communicated with actions, expressions, musics and sound effects. I am totally in love with this little sheep (though, Zach likes Mr. Bean-the animation version more).

It has also a great website where you can download screenshots, make and do, video, games, etc (I do not show it to Zach yet, but I am sure he will love this website!)

Teddy Bear

2007-08-12T12:07:00.000+07:00

Jacob loves the Teddy Bear that Mom gave it to Zach when he was a small. Jakes loves to play with Teddy. This morning, he was trying to put Teddy sleep by saying "Teddy bobok ... bobok ... " (Teddy sleeps). He also likes to untie Teddy's tie.

Splash Water Park

2007-08-12T10:03:00.000+07:00

Wishing that Phnom Penh has a Splash Water Park like in Canada so then we could bring the kids there. Miss Canada already. Those pictures were taken by Tammy when we had a picnic at the park near her house.

Big Log

2007-08-09T20:26:00.000+07:00

This fallen tree in Stanley Park was more than 800 years old! Cool.

Sunset Picnic at Jericho Beach

2007-08-09T20:03:00.000+07:00

Our ever resourceful friend Tammy oganized a sunset barbie with beer at Jericho Beach. Galuh got some kayak time and the kids rolled in the same. Jacob ate sand. We started a mini fire, toasted marshmellows and made smores. Zach ate two.

Day at Niagara Falls

2007-07-12T10:44:00.000+07:00

A wet ride on Maid of the Mist. We all looked like blue condoms. Jacob really didn't like his condom and tore it trying to take it off.

A fine day at the world's greatest water fall end with a rainbow as we walked to the parking lot.

Exploring Temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia

2007-02-12T10:37:00.000+07:00

The Angkorian temple complex north of Siem Reap is massive containing hundreds of sites. Although Angkor Wat is the most well known, our favorite temple is the over-grown Ba Phrom; left in the state that it was discivered in, it is eerie and beautiful. Crumbled buildings and stone blocks left in the embrace of hundred-year old trees which reclaimed the site after its abandonment.

Happy First Birthday, Jacob

2006-11-07T22:00:00.000+07:00

To our wonderful, smiley, energetic one year old baby boy. Happy birthday! You have made our life full of delight with your four-tooth smiles, baby dancing and speed crawling. Congratulation on your funny walking. Today he ate his first birthday cake. For your second year, you have some things to achieve. Stop drooling chewing remotes. Enjoy the presents from Kakak Zach.

We will have a birthday party next year for you in a new place.

with love,

Dad, Mom and Kakak Zach

Zach's Questions and Jake's Crawling

2006-10-18T21:28:00.000+07:00

Zach is growing now and he become very sensitive. Since Jerome travels a lot, he often misses his Daddy. When Jerome was in Cambodia recently, he asked "does Daddy still love me?". He wants a lot of attention from us (maybe because most of our attention goes to Jake now). He likes to give us attention by making drawings or paintings or gives me flowers that he picked at downstairs or his school.

He still likes to give us a lot of questions. Sometimes we can not answer it. Even, Jerome asked our neighbour through email to find out the answer of Zach's question "Why does ice float?". He asked this question when we were at Jeremy Gross's house warming party on 26 August 2006. We had a long discussion about this in email.

Following is other Zach's questions that I remember.
"Daddy why is concrete sticky?"

"Why does wind put out the candle?"

And the best one:
Zach: "Daddy who is Jesus?"

Jerome: "Uhm, Jesus was avery wise man who lived a very long ime ago."

Zach: "So, why do you say his name so much?"

Please let me know if you have the answers to any of the questions above.

Jake is about 11 months old now. He can crawl, stand for a brief time and walk about two steps on his own. When Jerome and I come home from work, he speeds across the floor on all fours heading straight for us. His little hands make tiny "slap .. slap" sounds on our marble floor. He holds up his arms to asks us to pick him up.

He understand few words, "duduk" (sit) - "minum" (drink) - "No" - Mommy - Daddy - Kakak Zach - "sudah" (finish). Every time, we say those words, he will understand and follow what we ask him to do. He can say "sudah". He will say this word when he finishes eating, drinking or bathing.

He still drools a lot. Seems that another tooth will come soon. He likes to dance, everytime he hear the rhytm of music and he wiggles his bum, move his fingers up and down, and with his big smile he will look at us to ask us to dance with him. He likes to watch Pocoyo at Disney Channel.

He does not like formula milk yet but he eats a lot. He likes to eat both baby and adult food.

Aceh Rebuilding

2006-10-11T11:13:00.000+07:00

I spent the weekend in Aceh. I am working with Aceh groups to audit the voter registration list. I was with my long-time staffer and friend, Anastasia Soeryadinata. Our task is to evaluate the quality of the voter list. Together we have organized more than 500 volunteers to go out all across Aceh and check the accuracy of the voters list by interviewing voters.

I spend Sunday driving around to spot check on some of our volunteers while Anas stayed in Banda Aceh (the provincial capital) to troubleshoot. The most interesting location I visited was a newly re-built village, Lam Isek. All the houses are practically the same, cookie cutter style, white square structures with tin roofs. There is lumber piled up everywhere as construction of more new houses continues. There are no trees, the tsunami just snapped them off, tore everything away.

The tsunami completely wiped out this village. You can still see foundations of houses, the squat toilets and ceramic tiles left by the tsunami after it swept every other structure and carried it away. I spoke to the village teacher, Mr. Nasar. He told me an incredible story of survival. The tsunami killed all but two of the women from this village. His wife was one of the two. When the tsunami hit, the men were mostly at work and the women were at home. Nasar’s wife was walking home when the tsunami reached her. She lost consciousness as the tsunami swept her up. When she awoke, she was encased in a house-sized ball of vegetation, leaves and branches. She called for help and eventually people came to pull her out of the cocoon of vegetation that both saved her but now threaten to imprison her. She found herself in the foothills of the mountain several kilometers from her village. But she walked away without a scratch.

Now Lam Isek is being slowly repopulated. There are almost 200 houses but merely 50 villagers. Many villagers are still living where they took shelter after the tsunami. Many had to find jobs to earn money or schools for their children and it is difficult to move back. Mr. Nasar told me that at least there are 20 women in the village now. Many men have remarried over the past two years since the devastation. And there are children, playing amidst the jumble of construction materials afraid of my camera but alive and well.

I drove down the coast. The views are stunning and beautiful. On the right there are sandy beaches pounded by a heavy green-blue surf. To the left there is a solid wall of mountains covered in lush emerald forests. Here and there stand massive bulbous hill – more like massive rocks -- almost as high as the mountains, also covered in forests. Dotted along the coasts, communities are re-building their homes with the help of foreign donors and NGOs. Logos and foreign flags cover all these projects. There is construction everywhere.

I am amazed and humbled at how resilient these people are. People who have lost entire families, who have lived through a three-decade civil war, who are still quite impoverished are putting their lives back together brick by brick.

Jerome

Daddy doesn't love us anymore ...

2006-10-09T14:25:00.000+07:00

Last Sunday, Zach woke up early. He went to my room and jumped into my bed. As usual, he woke Jake up and automatically woke me up too. Knew that I already opened my eyes, he asked me why his Daddy was still in Aceh and did not come back last night. I told him that his Daddy would be in Aceh until Monday night.

Suddenly, he said “Daddy does not love us anymore Mom.”
I was shocked when heard that, “Why did you say that?”
“Because he does not want to stay with us anymore. He often go away and leave us alone.”
His answer touched my feeling; I said “Zach, Daddy is working in Aceh. He is looking for money for us so then he can pay your school and buy you a toy?”
He was thinking a little bit and then asked me again “Is there a night in Aceh?”
I answered “Yes of course. Why?”
“So … why Daddy does not want to come back at our house at night?”
How smart my son. I told him that Aceh was very far from Jakarta, Daddy could not easily come back to Jakarta in addition no plane that available in every hour. He did not satisfy by my answer and he sighed “but Daddy does not love us anymore and I do not love him either. I only love you and Jake … I want to stay with you and Jake forever.”
“Zach, don’t be like that. You know, Daddy loves you right? He works hard for us. You love him right?”
Then, he said yes.
“Do you want to call Daddy tonight?” I asked him.
“Of course, tonight yah Mom.”
Then, he asked me to massage his arm by saying "Pijit dong Mom." He was funny when he talked in Bahasa.

In the afternoon, when we were on the way to the Senayan City Mall, he asked me why his Daddy did not call us. He told me again that his Daddy did not love us anymore. I did not know why Zach had a thought like that.

I told Jerome about that when he called me in the afternoon. At night, Jerome called us again and privately talked to Zach. After talked to his Daddy, I asked him whether he loves his Daddy. He said “I love Daddy, Jake and Mom.” Then, he gave me a kiss and asked me to massage his back.

During weekend, Zach was a good boy and tried to help me in taking care of Jake. He looked after his brother when I cooked or took a bath. He really loves his brother.

On Thursday, Jerome will go to Bangkok and Cambodia for a week. I do not know what Zach gonna ask. Today, when I got home, he showed me his drawings. He drew a framed-family picture. He said that he drew us, Daddy-Mommy-Jake-and him. He made two drawings, one for me and one for his Daddy. He asked me to keep it. I do not know why he was such a grown up little boy.

A Private Tub for Jake

2006-09-02T20:00:00.000+07:00

For the first time, Jake enjoyed his bath in our tub by his self. Usually, I bathed him in the baby tub. Sometimes, Jake took a bath in our tub together with Zach. Because I had to hold and watch him to not let him drink the water, I did not let him stay in the tub for more than five minute.

Today, I let him enjoying his bath in our tub without Zach and I did not hold him. He really enjoyed his freedom. I think he stayed in the tub for more than twenty minute. He laughed, played and splashed the water, played with his toys, sometimes rocked his body and clapped his hands when I sang a song for him. He tried to imitate Zach who liked to swim in the tub. He kicked his legs and tried to catch his toys.

wall-climbing

2006-09-01T15:16:00.000+07:00

Last sunday, for the second time, we went for wall-climbing. Two weeks ago, on Sunday, Jerome had an idea to try the wall-climbing in Pondok Indah Mall. Since four years ago, we really wanted to try the wall but we did not know why we never tried before. A month ago, Zach saw the wall and started asking us to try it.

Anyway, we did it and we had fun. Zach really loved it.

Usually, there were so many kids who climbed the wall in the weekends. We were surpraised that many small kids were good on climbing. Jerome and I tried the hardest one with a big overhang, meanwhile Zach tried the easiest one, usually for kids. Firstly, he was afraid and after he climbed three or four steps he would ask to go down. He liked to look down. I kept telling him to look up and concentrate with the rock and his legs. He liked when he went down, he tried to push the wall with his legs.

Last sunday, Zach could climb higher, half of the wall length. That was good. At least, he started to feel comfortable when he climbed. I think also because so many kids could climb higher than him and he felt to do better than him. He liked to compete with other kids.

Jerome and I liked it too eventhough the wall was not as big as the one in Vancouver. At least, we could do little bit exercises for strengthen our body muscles. We would like to do it more often. We are thinking to buy climbing harnest and shoes someday.

Pictures from last Sunday

2006-09-01T14:32:00.000+07:00

The pictures aboved were taken when our boys were waiting for us to go for wall-climbing and having dinner at Sushi Tei in Pondok Indah Mall. Zach was busy with his trains, while Jake was busy with his drum stick and crowled around the bathroom.

Zach and Jake

2006-08-31T10:49:00.000+07:00

Zach is a big boy now. He has a big and muscle body. Therefore, most people thought that he was five or six years old. Jerome kept telling me that Zach had a big bum and big thighs. He said that Zach would be a good runner.

Zach talks a lot. He talks everywhere and everytime. Sometimes, he drives us crazy with all his questions, even he often does not give us time to talk. He bravely talk with strangers and has chat with them.

Zach still likes swimming a lot. He likes to dive in the pool. Swim in the beach is become his hit now. A week after we got back from Hongkong, he asked us to go to Bali because he wanted to swim in the beach. We had to tell him that we had to save money again because we had no money anymore after Hongkong. Finally, he could understand and stop asking us.

He can swim without his life jacket now. He is quite good in using his frog style already. He can spend time in the pool for hours. When we were in Solo, he spent eight hours in the pool. His skin became darker now.

After a long summer holiday, he has started his school again since two weeks ago. He is in the first kindergarten class. Seemed that he did not enjoy the class yet. He said he liked holidays because he could go to the beach and spend time with us. But since this week, his taekwondo lessons was started and it made him happy. He likes taekwondo so much.

Jacob will be ten months old next week. He is still fat, but I do not know exactly how much his weight now. We will see his doctor next two weeks.

Jacob is a smiling baby. He loves to laugh and smile at people. He likes the rythime and dance. Everytime he hears the music, he will stop all his activities and start to rock his body up and down and clap his hands. He is so cute and squishy.

He has four teeth, therefore he likes to chew everything. When he cries, we will give him something to chew, bread crumps or fruits, in to his mouth or turn on the music then he suddently will stop crying.

He likes to crawl everywhere. He likes to stand up and can stand up by his self for few seconds. He also understand few words such as no, sleep, "tepuk tangan" or claps. If we say one of those words, he will do it but particularly for "No" sometimes he did not do it what we ask eventhough he understand that we did not want him to do it.

So far, Zach and Jake can still play together nicely. Zach likes to play and take a bath with his brother. It is fun to watch their interaction while they are playing together. Jake often wants to take Zach's toys and put it into his mouth, Zach really hates when Jake do that. He would say "Baby ... don't put my toys into your mouth. That's disgusting!". And I think Jake could understand it because he would put the toys back into the place and find something else to chew it. Funny boy!

Both my boys have a nice smile. Their smiles can brighten up my days. I love them so much and will do everything to make them happy.

A Week in Hong Kong

2006-08-17T22:00:00.001+07:00

Hong Kong is a spectacular, seemly singular concrete construction that crowds around its harbour and emerges out of the slopes of the island’s moody mountains. It seemed clear to me that Hong Kong was obviously Ridely Scott’s inspiration for the futuristic LA in Blade Runner. Arriving at night at Hong Kong’s colossal airport swarming with passengers, we caught a shuttle bus to the city. The trip from Lantau Island (where the airport is located) through Kowloon and over to Hong Kong lsland is done over enormous bridges, through mountain and a harbour tunnel. Galuh kept remarking on how often she would spot the word "Cheung" written on buildings, billboards and tunnels. Yes, we have a common name. We were all wide-eyed on our approach to Hong Kong Island as its dramatic skyline and astonishing architecture came into view. The city is like a immense crown bejeweled with multicoloured neon lights.

My favorite days during our week in Hong Kong were probably the first and the last. Both involved a ferry crossing. On the first day, a Sunday, we ventured out of our hotel onto the bustling streets of Hong Kong. After making our way through some narrow and winding streets and descending some stairs (Hong Kong loses to Singapore in terms of public accessibility) we found the Tram line. It was crowded ride but Zach was fascinated as we climbed to the top deck and watched busy Hennesy Street roll by. We descended at a public square near the Star Ferry dock. The area was filled with Filipino women, domestic workers gather here on they’re one day off. They sat on the sides of the sidewalk having picnic of homemade food eaten from plastic containers (Tupperware) in small and animated groups. Their chatter was a buzz in the underground walkway (in Hong Kong called a “subway” not to be confused with the underground mass transit system, the MTR) that lead to the Star Ferry dock. At the end some activists displayed banner and handed out pamphlets in Tegalog.

We caught the tour Star Ferry which sails around the harbour. Nice views but the day was cloudy and grey casting an unpleasant light on Hong Kong’s wall of buildings. We got off on the Kowloon side and had lunch at a Starbucks. We made the mistake of first trying to get Chinese food for lunch on a Sunday. I should have known, given the long Sunday waits my family faced in Toronto for most of my childhood. After trying our fourth restaurant, we gave up and settled for sandwiches at Starbucks.

It turns out, the public viewing space on the Kowloon side is the Indonesian domestic workers’ Sunday hangout spot. After lunch as we strolled back over to the ferry, Galuh could catch phrases of Javanese spoken by the similar small picnicking groups of young women. We caught the ferry back across to Hong Kong and from there took the MTR back to the Hotel. We had assumed that there was a station right under the hotel because I spotted this staircase labeled “subway”. Being from Toronto, I assumed this was the MTR. When we got off at the Causeway bay station, we followed the signs to the Cosmopolitan Hotel, walking what seemed like a kilometer through tunnels underground. The people of Hong Kong walk far more than Jakartans because of all these underground tunnels. Finally we emerged in Times Square and were told that the Hotel was still another 15 minutes walk outside. However we could catch a taxi on Russel street. Emerging onto Russel Street, I got my first impression of Hong Kong’s density. A solid mass of people were moving slowly but inexorably on Russel Street. We tried to find a cab but there was an considerable queue. Later we would discover there is a shuttle to the hotel that picks-up once every hour on Sharp Street. But unaware of that we decided to walk back to the hotel. We arrived sweaty and exhausted but I felt a sense of accomplishment in having successfully navigated this intimidatingly complex and vast city. For Zach he had ridden the Tram (on the top deck no less), the Star Ferry and the MRT.

Our kids are tough. Zach complained a lot but I was impressed how much he walked in the Hong Kong’s summer heat. Although, the moment Jacob was lifted from the stroller, Zach was quick to take his place. Jake survived long hot days.

Our last day, for me, was our best. Galuh suggested we explore Lamma Island which is south of Lantau. We took a ferry from Central. You can pay with the Octopus transit cards. That was cool and futuristic. The small island is a quieter, earthier place. No cars are allowed on the island although they have these noisy four wheeled motorized carts which they call We-We trucks, maybe because they look like little trucks. Lots of people use bikes as we could see from the mass of bike parked along the ferry pier. It was raining lightly as we came off the ferry which added to the mystique of the place. I love rain and the tone it brings to any environment.

All the roads are narrow and aside from the We-we trucks and bikes are quiet and lined with cozy-looking bars and seafood restaurants. Here and there are little shops selling trinkets and souvenirs. We had lunch at a leftly little restaurant called the Bookworm Café, its walls covered with used books and magazine from do-gooding NGOs (Oxfam, Greenpeace and Amnesty all well represented). After a light lunch we walked to the beach. Another long, hot walk and Zach kept peppering me with “Dad, when will we get there?”. Thankfully the entire path is covered by asphalt and Jake slept all the way in his stroller. He looks like a little Buddha when he sleeps there. Finally we reached the small beach. It was clean and there were a few people there but it was mostly quiet. I was impressed that there were lifeguards here, something mostly absent on Indonesian beaches. While Galuh and Jacob rested at a park bench, Zach and I ventured into the surf. The waves are perfect for a four-year old. Zach loves water. He loves to play in the waves. He was sad to leave.

We had dinner at another little restaurant. The manager was very helpful and eaeger to please us. He gave us great advice on our order. Everybody was hungry, even Jacob. The seafood was great and I tried a new beer, Blue Lady. We had a delicate steamed fish, clams and calamari (almost entirely devoured by Zach). Jacob liked the fish. He got a fishcheek. Satisfied, we headed back to the ferry pier, took in a clouded sunset and sailed back to Hong Kong.

Jerome

PS : For the pictures of our trip in Hongkong, please open "our Yahoo Photo Albums"

Jake's First Tooth

2006-07-03T08:49:00.000+07:00

Family and Friends,

Please join us in congratulating Jacob on his first tooth! Bottom left, we noticed it yesterday when he was wailing in the plane from Yogya.

Jerome

Father Day

2006-06-18T21:31:00.000+07:00

Happy Father's Day to all of fathers in this world.

Today is a special day to honor our father. Zach has made a feet-painting for his Daddy and he wrote (of course, Mommy helped him):

above are my little footprint

one day they will fit in your shoes

I watch what you are doing

because Daddy I want to be like you

Sayang, thanks a lot for being a good Daddy and a bestfriend for our kids. You always give us the best, you always here with us, you always give us smiles, kissess and hugs eventhough you are tired, your love and your patience always make me want to be a better wife and Mom, and I am the luckiest woman in this earth because you are mine.

the luckiest wife

Below are our greetings to our fathers

Dear Dad,

Happy Father's Day to my Dad! Thank you for all that you have given me. I wish I was not so far away. As a new dad, I appreciate all that you have done for your kids and now try to do the same for mine. I'm happy to hear your health is improving and look to seeing you soon. Have a happy Father's Day!

Your first son,
Jerome

Buat Bapak, terimakasih banyak atas semua bimbingan dan doanya. Bapak adalah idola, guru dan temanku. Dari Bapak, aku mendapat banyak pelajaran dalam memahami makna kehidupan ini dan terutama dalam membantu diriku mencari jawaban atas pertanyaan-pertanyaan "nyelenehku" tentang arti kehidupan ini. Makasih banyak Bapak .... dan Selamat Hari Bapak!

anak wedhok dhewe,
galuh

Joyeux Anniversaire à mes fils

2006-06-13T22:26:00.000+07:00

Yesterday was Zach's 4th Birthday. He had been waiting this moment for last few months. He counted month by month and in June, he started to count day by day. He also asked for Roboraptor as his birthday present. Jerome took a leave yesterday. We committed to gave a best day for Zach. We spent most of the day together with Zach.

Firstly, we doubted that we would get Roboraptor in Jakarta. Jerome looked in the internet where we could get it and the closest place was in Singapore. We thought to ask Leanna and Jo to buy it in Canada and bring it when they were here, but we thought that it was not a good idea since the toy are very big. Fortunately, when we looked for a present for Mira's son, Jerome saw it in the toy store in Plaza Senayan last two months. We decided to buy it right away because the store only had 5 roboraptor. We wrapped and put it in our storage for two months (thanks God, Zach did not see it).

A night before Zach's birthday, we put all his presents on the table in living room so he could find them when he woke up in the morning. I woke up early yesterday and Zach did not woke up yet. I just opened my room door so that I could see Zach's reaction when he saw his presents. Usually when he wakes up he will come to our room. Andddd ..... when he woke up, he stood in front of our door and looked the presents for a long time. Then, he asked me "why I have two presents Mom?". I said "do you want one or two presents?". Without looking at me, he said that he wanted two presents. He read our card first then he came to our room and said "Mom, Dad, I am very surpraised!Thank you for the presents!" He gave us hugs and kisses. Then, together with his Daddy, he opened all presents. We were very happy that he loved his presents.

His Nanny and Jeremy (our neighbour downstair) also gave him presents that morning. Zach was happier and said "Wow, I have so many presents today. I am a lucky boy!" Yes, you were a lucky boy and so many people love you!

For this year, we decided to celebrate his birthday in his school since he has a strong social emotional with his friends. I ordered a dragon chocolate cake and made t-shirts with the picture of Zach's class friends and teachers on it as a present for his friends and teachers. We sang a happy birthday song in the hall of the school, afterward Zach blew the candle. His class friends sang a special song for him too.

In the class, we sang a happy birthday song for Zach again and Zach gave his present to each of his classmates. Everytime he gave the present, he also gave a hug. He was so cute.

He also got many presents from his friends and his school. Even today, he said that he was very happy because he got many presents from his friends again. Well, happy birthday my boy. Hope you had a great day yesterday. You are our bigger boy now. We are proud of you and we are happy to have an intelligent boy like you. We are lucky to have you. Mommy and Daddy love you so much.

Galuh
Today, after Zach got back from school, he gave me hugs and kisses. He said that he was very happy for his birthday

Yogya Needs your Help

2006-05-30T23:10:00.000+07:00

On 27 May 2006, Saturday, we were still in Sanur Bali. We woke up early that day because we, together with Leanna and Jo, were going to Ubud in Bali which took one hour to get there from Sanur.

At 7am I turned my cell phone on and got a text message from my brother in Yogya, Edo. I can not remember what time he sent it to me, but I think around 6 am.
He said “Kak, barusan ono gempa gedhe!” (sister, there were an earthquake this morning).
I replied “kuwi kan lak biasa tho .. ning Yogya kan wis kerep gempa” (that was usual, was not it? Yogya often had earthquakes).
“yang ini gedhe tenan Kak, air kolam kita yang gedhe sampai muncrat ke atas dan tinggal setengah!” (this time, the earthquake was very big, our pond water was lurching up and leaving half) he replied.
Suddently, I thought about my parents and tried to call his cell but could not get through. Then I sent him a message again “kok telpon omah gak urip seh. Piye Bapak Ibu dan adik2 yang lain, lan piye omah?” (Why the phone at home is not working? How is our parents and brothers, how is the house?).
He replied “Listrik mati dan HP juga gak bisa dihubungi. Ortu selamat dan rumah juga gak ada yang rusak cuma bbrp barang terutama koleksi keramiknya ibu yang pecah.” (The electricity was dead include the phone. They are all fine, the house are also fine. Just some stuffs broken but nothing serious).
Whew, I felt released …

Then, I turned on the TV but no news about it yet. We thought maybe because it was very early and no news about the eartquake yet. I tried to call home in Yogya but the line was cut off. Tried to call my parents’s cells were also no network.

We decided to have a breakfast and try to call them again later.

In Ubud, I kept trying to call my house in Yogya and still did not get through. Eventhough I was not very worried about them but I wanted to hear their voices and made sure that they were fine and were not traumatized. Finally at 2pm, I could talk to my Mom and Dad. They were fine, they were happy after talked to Zach (for my parents, a call from their grandson can brighten their life). My Dad told me about the earthquake, which buildings were destroyed, how many victims in Sardjito Hospital. We also talked about the relation between earthquake- tsunami-Merapi Mountain. This earthquake has predicted by the scientists since the tsunami, but ironically, everyone has been watching Mt. Merapi.

I was thinking, how many richter scale was the earthquake. Was it same with tsunami? How many number of people who were affected, whether as many as tsunami? How were my friends and their family in Yogya?

Then, I tried to call my friends in Yogya but nobody picked up their cell. So I decided to send them a text message and waited for their reply.

At night in the hotel, I called Dodok, my friend in Yogya. I asked him about the condition of our friends. He said that everybody was fine, just many of our friends’s relatives were died. I felt very sorry to hear that.

Until now, I do not do anything yet. I really want to go to Yogya but the situation is still unpredictable. The condition is not appropriate for the kids. I felt sad because by my limitation, I could not do much for them yet. I am just helping a few organizations in Yogya to collect the donations.

Yogya is my home, a place where I grew up. A beautiful place! But on 27 May 2006, in early morning, an earthquake with a strength of 5.9 on the richter scale has hit my hometown. The number of people who were died around 6300, injured 46.000 and homes damaged or destroyed 139.000. This numbers are still continuing to rise. Yogya needs our help. I am urging to all of you, wherever you are, to help them by doing whatever you can do ….

Galuh
Thank you for all of you who had called or sent me a text message to find out about my family in Yogya. They are all fine.

Happy Birthday

2006-05-24T17:59:00.000+07:00

Yesterday was Jerome's Birthday. We were not doing anything special yesterday. I just made a wonderful breakfast in the bed and gave him some nice presents including coffee-makers, next shirt dan framed family picture. I asked Zach to make a hand-painting in the framed family picture and wrote Happy Birthday for Daddy. Jerome brought the framed family picture to his office and showed to his colleagues, everybody was very like it. I got so many compliments from them.

We are going to Bali tomorrow and will meet Leanna and Jo there. Bali trip is for Jerome's birthday too.

For my best friend and husband, Happy Birthday Say. Hope you had a good day yesterday. We love you so much. Thank you for being a good husband and the best daddy in the world. Thank you for these wonderful years together. Love you ...

Galuh

The Ending of Exclusive Breastfeed and the Beginning of Solid Food

2006-05-10T16:17:00.000+07:00

Three days ago, Jake was six months old. That means I was successfully finished my exclusive brestfeeding. Whew, I felt very happy that I could achieve my mission. To achieve this mission, I had to give up my job so that I could get a longer maternity leave since in Indonesia the maternity leave only for 3 months. Also, I was happier because my butterball is a healthy boy. His weight was 9.8kg (my ex-boss called him as a giant baby).

Yesterday, I started to give him a solid food. A baby-cookie mixed with formula. But he did not like it, he cried. And then I gave him cereal mixed with formula, he did not like it either. Everytime I put the spoon in to his mouth, he tightly closed his mouth and did not want to look at me. Well, I gave up and would like to try the next day. Today, in the morning I made a mixed-fruit puree (apple, banana, and orange). When I gave it to him, he still closed his mouth but I kept putting the spoon into his mouth, meanwhile Jerome tried to make him laugh. And it worked, he ate it eventhough only for 6 small spoon. But we were happy, well done for us as a team work!

In the afternoon, I tried to give him a solid food again but he did not want it. He cried very loud. I gave up and just gave him breastmilk. Well, it will be a hard work. I remember when Zach was eight months old and I started to give him solid food and formula. I need at least two months to get Zach's appetite in solid food and drink formula.

Wish me luck!

Galuh

Jacob at Five Months

2006-04-10T21:25:00.000+07:00

At five months Jacob can sit up supported by his arms on his own. He still loves to smile and drool alot. He still spits up milks alot and leaves white spots everywhere on his parents cloths. In Javanese, baby spit is called "gumoh" and smiley children are called sumeh", so I call Jacob my gu-meh boy.

But his smiles are beautiful and I like to tickle him to hear his laugh. Also we like to put a towel over his head which makes him laugh as well.

As of last week, Jake weighted in at 9.2 kilos. He's a massive baby. My arms are quickly tired after carrying him for an hour. But he loves to be carried and cries if we set him down. I think actually he feels the acuteness of being the only person in the family who can't walk. He hates being left behind in his crib while we all have dinner. He studies Zach closely when his big brother jumps up and down. He loves to try to stand up with the support of an adult and pushes with his fat legs to support himself.

He also hates to go to sleep, although sometimes he is very very tired and cranky. I think he doesn't want to miss out on all the fun, and fights the sleepiness. So I usually have to close the bedroom door because inevitably Zachary is creating some sort of noise or jumping off the table and landing with big thumps. Once the room is quiet, I cradle Jake despite his whinning until he falls asleep. Watching children fall to sleep is wonderful. Their little faces are angelic when they sleep and Jake usually starts scratching his head with his little hand just before he falls asleep. that's the sure sign he's about to sleep. It's also very cute.

We have started letting Jake try sucking on fruit. He loves jambu and banana and yesterday he was sucking the top of my fruit drink bottle. He is a much more oral kid than Zach. Zach never really put stuff in his mouth but Jake loves to suck and bite things. He has bitten Galuh's nipples on many occassion. I hear a yelp from the bedroom and I run to the bed to find contently Jake nibbling on Galuh as she grimaces in discomfort.

Jerome

Dinner on Saturday

2006-03-26T21:09:00.000+07:00

Taken by Byron

We had a nice dinner on saturday night at our house. The dinner was for sending off Byron, Dian and Settena to Yogyakarta. Byron will start his new job with CUSO as Knowledge Management Officer next week. Court, Jeremy Stones and family also came to the dinner.

I cooked lasagna, salad, sweet-spiced squash, and pesto toast. Thanks to Parni (our housekeeper) who helped me to cook the lasagna. For the dissert, Court brought apple struddle. Unfortunately, I did not take the picture of my cooking. Ugh I can not show you how beautiful and yummy my cooking. Though, seemed that everybody liked the foods. At least, Court and Jeremy gave me a compliment for my cooking. Jerome also said that the squash was good with lasagna. He even wants to have another dinner with same menu as above for his other friends.

Also, Jerome opened his old wine. Fondation Barton&Guestier, Bordeaux 1990. Very yummy!Usually I can not finish my glass of wine but at that night I could finish it all!

Zach had a great time too because he got new friends, Frea (1.5years, Jeremy's daughter) and Settena (10 months, Byron's daughter). They played together at Zach's room. Zach and Frea run around the house and played nicely together. Meanwhile, Settena crowled around the house.

Galuh

Visit to Aceh

2006-03-25T23:00:00.000+07:00

Upon arriving at the airport in Banda Aceh, Aceh’s provincial capital, I was struck by two things. First, foreigners were everywhere; something exceptionally rare the last time I was in Aceh during the 2002 ceasefire. Now the passengers descending from the aircraft sitting on the airfield were mostly foreigners, picking up their backpacks and laptops, looking for their rides – usually big utility vehicles boldly marked with logos and national flags. Over here was a friend who works at CIDA chatting with a couple of western men. Over there was Wakabayashi from the Japanese Embassy trying to organize his transport. After being picked up by a staffer, Anastasia, conspicuously wearing a head scarf (she is Catholic), we bumped into an old friend, Reza Primahendra from Indonesia’s biggest NGO, Bina Swadaya. Aceh, it is clear, is now the epicenter of a massive aid and NGO industry. It is like East Timor during the UN administration minus the bars and foreign military.

The second thing that struck me was how normal Banda Aceh seemed for Indonesia. The last time I was there, the ceasefire was breaking down and people were careful to venture out doors. Even during the day, the city seemed dull, quiet and dusty. As Anas and I drove into town, Banda Aceh seemed like any other Indonesian city: chaotic traffic mixing vehicles from various eras, the irrepressible Indonesian food stall, the warung is everywhere, crossroads festooned with countless banners, shops spilling with goods and coffee shops everywhere.

Afrizal as the facilitator

Anas and I were in town to run a workshop with local organizations to start planning activities for the upcoming local elections. Sometime this year – the date has yet to be set – Acehnese will finally be able to choose their governor and district heads directly in what we hope will be free and fair elections. NDI has been requested to assist local organizations to prepare to play a role as election monitors.

We stayed in a new hotel, on the edge of one of Banda Aceh’s main fields -- the one with the World War Two era Dakota aircraft which Aceh contributed to Indonesia’s Independence struggle. At night, across the field we could see Acehnese relaxing by the plane, chatting, meeting friends. Towards the coast, the effects of the tsunami are still obvious. He land here is mostly empty dotted by damaged buildings. A massive barge is still perched atop a house where it was deposited as the waters receded. Yet here and there, new houses are being build, land is being resettled. There are even a few warungs.

I also met some old friends. Some I hadn’t seen for years. Others were newly repatriated from Jakarta, having decided this was the time to come back and try to rebuild their home province. Others, of course, were just gone, like so many others taken by the tsunami. Despite the semblance of normality, the memory of the dead reminded intruded on me everyday. Some days, it is the sight of sad, empty fields where the unidentified bodies are buried en mass. Sometimes it is a suddenly remembered friend in the middle of nostalgic conversation. While chatting with old friend Afrizal Tjeotral, we abruptly thought of his lost colleague Maimul Fidar. Former teacher and human rights activist, he survived the war to be lost in the tsunami. On another day, I was having late afternoon coffee with friends from our meetings. At one point, one man looked around and joked, “it’s a gathering of widowers” as many of them had lost their wives.

On Friday, I flew to Jakarta, arriving home late in the evening. The boys were sleeping around Galuh. I bent to kiss her and gave thanks for the living.

Jerome

Swim Day

2006-03-12T18:37:00.000+07:00

Today was a lovely day. We decided to swim at downstair and enjoyed the weather. We have not used the pool for ages.

Today is Jake's first swim in Indonesia. His first swim was at Jerome's parents's house in Toronto when he was two months old. At that time, he did not cry at all, he laughed a lot. Maybe because the water was warm. But here the water was colder, there is no heater. When Jerome put Jake's body in the water, he started to cry. Jerome tried to hug him and slowly they together went into water. After a while, he got used to it and started to enjoy the pool.

As usual, Zach enjoyed playing in the pool. He played with his noodle, and sometimes pretended to be a dinosaur.

I just watched all my men in the pool, read my newspaper, and of course took some pictures which you see here.

Galuh

Jake, four months old

2006-03-07T20:41:00.000+07:00

Time flies, Jake is already 4 months old now.

I can still remember the whole pregnancy time that I had been through. Much of it was spent in various states of nausea and was admitted to the hospital for dehydration. And I can still remember how difficult the delivery process which Jake was very slow to come out because of the umbilical cord wrapped partly around his neck.

Now, he is growing a lot. He is a big boy. His weight is 9.15kg (20.1 pounds). His length is 64 cm. He is very chubby, sometimes I am afraid that he is getting too fat but the doctor said that nothing to be worried as long as the baby is still exclusively breastfeeding.

Jerome calls him “GUMEH” which stands for “sumeh” (smile a lot, even with strangers) and “gumoh” (spits up). Yup, Jake likes to smile to other people and he likes to spit up after he drinks his breastmilk.

Jake already can do many things at this stage. He can roll over in one way, grasp a rattle or other things held to backs or tips of fingers, follow an object, turn in the direction of voice, and keep his head level with their body when he is pulled to a sitting position. The thing that he does not like the most is when we do not involve him in the conversation or leave him alone either in his car seat or crib. If we attend or have a party, he does not want to sleep or does not like to leave him alone in his car seat. He wants us to hold him and be part of the party and can be awake until in the middle of the night.

He likes to put a thing in his mouth. He likes to stand up. He likes to mumble and say ah goo, ah, or dad de (sounds like Daddy) and other similar words.

Until now, he does still not like a tummy time. Maybe because he is too fat.

Galuh

Arrived in Toronto

2006-01-25T11:23:00.000+07:00

We arrived in TO last night. The whole trip was fine. The flight took only 4 hours and the kids were well behaved throughout it. We were amazed with the sophisticated, computized system for check-in at Air Canada which is a self service check-in done through touch-screens. We could choose our own seats, entered our Aeroplan numbers and checked-in our own bags by ourselves.

Self Service Check-In

People with the Machine

We spent our last day in Vancouver running around doing errands and eating sushi at “Ichiban Restaurant” downtown just off Robson Street. In the evening, John Finley and Tammy Hoblak visited us in our hotel room. We watched the national election result together. Zach was very excited and was bouncing all over the hotel room. He especially liked John’s manic energy. It was sad to say goodbye to Tammy. We wished her well on her big southern Africa trip.

living room of our hotel

Jake in the living room

And then, we packed.

On Tuesday morning, we started our day early for once with breakfast together. Zach did not want to eat his breakfast bagel though. He claimed he was full, although he probably just wanted to play with his toys. Before we left, we took some picture of our room at Coast Hotel. Hopefully, we can stay there again next year with the same price.

Jerome&Zach in Vancouver Airport

Zach with our Luggage

After we checked out, we drove directly to the car rental place at the airport. It was very convenient. We just dropped the car off, paid, and push our huge trolley of luggage up to terminal M to for our flight check-in (since we are traveling in the winter, we brought so many winter clothes).

We arrived in TO at 7.14 pm, but we had to wait for half an hour to get our luggage. Jerome was astounded by the new domestic terminal. Zach was very thirsty and kept asking for water. He finally got a drink at a public fountain. He loves public fountains in Canada. Probably because Indonesia has none, so they are such a novelty for him.

On the Air Canada Plane

Waiting for Michelle

The Toronto night was colder than Vancouver, and we waited out in the cold for a few minutes before Jerome’s sister, Michelle arrived to pick us up. Zach was excited and was full of questions for Auntie Michelle. He talked to her almost constantly throughout the thirty-minute drive to Jerome’s parent’s house. We got to the Cheung house around 9 pm. Then, we had dinner together. Michelle did not join the dinner because she had to prepare a big trial.

Zach&Jake at Mama's House

Jake at Mama's House

The difference time between Vancouver and Toronto is three hours. We were still jet-lagged from Jakarta time, and now we has to adjust with TO’s time. Jerome and I slept at 4 am last night because Jake did not want to sleep.

Today, Jerome and Zach woke up at 11 am. Jake and I woke up at 1.20 pm. We sepnt our first day in TO by hanging out at house. In the evening, together with Jeorme's Dad, we went to the Fairview Village Mall to buy FIDO pre-paid sim card, diapers and presents for Deb and Jovin. We will meet Deb, Akas and their son on Friday.

Galuh

Snow Play at Cypress

2006-01-22T23:59:00.000+07:00

Before I start our story today, I would like to say thank you to Tammy who has showered us with presents and loves to introduce us to new experiences. Tammy, you are wonderful and we love you. Today was yet another example of this.

We woke up very late again but at least it was not raining. We decided to go to Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver in search of snow for Zach. We picked up Tammy at her house. Tammy was ready with her ski equipment, extra warm cloths for us and a red toboggan for Zach! We drove across the Second Narrows Bridge and up to Cypress. It only took 30 minutes to get there and as we climbed the mountain it started to snow. When we arrived at there everything was covered in snow. Tammy said that she was there last week and there was no snow. We were lucky today!

Zach Ready for Snow

Jake got ready for snow

This was Zach first time to see snow. He was so excited. He made his first snow ball. We tried to interest him in making a snowman but he was really into the snowballs. He liked the toboggan a lot. He liked running after Tammy and Jerome with snowballs. Zach has been asking to see snow for more than six months. He must have seen snow on tv. His first snow experience was so fantastic, it was snowing and the snow was perfect for snowball. It was great to see him so happy.

Tammy with Zach

Jerome-Jake on Toboggan-Tammy

Jerome with Zach

Us with Snow

I borrowed Tammy’s skis and tried cross-country skiing for the first time. I fell a lot of times but I really liked it. I felt like doing an aerobic. Wish someday I will have a chance to learn how to play ski and will get my own level and pace. Jerome promised that he will buy me ski equipment when we move here (but do not know when ha … ha…).

Me:My first skiing

While we were enjoying the snow, Jake was stuck in his carseat covered by the plastic raincover. He slept through most of it but occasionally cried when he felt loney. Sometimes we felt guilty because we just left him alone. He must be very cold!

Tammy-Jerome-Ian-Zach

Our Dinner

Our Family in Orange

After we finished playing, we decided to go back to Tammy’s house. We hung up at her house for awhile, drank beer/wine. Then, we decided to have dinner at Pink Pearl Restaurant. It was a chinesse restaurant. We celebrated upcoming chinesse new year with Tammy earlier since we will leave Vancouver on Tuesday. We had chicken fried rice, sticky rice, hot pot vegetables with chicken, five spice tofu, green beans, and of course Peking Duck. The food was very good. For the dessert, Tammy and I had mango pudding. Tammy treated us to dinner. Thanks again Tammy!

Today was a wonderful day, we had an unforgettable experience. For Zach and Jake, it was his first time to see snow. For Jerome, it was his first time to see snow again after years. And for me, it was my first time to play cross-country skiing.

Galuh

Fun with Fish and Dinner with Dean

2006-01-21T23:59:00.000+07:00

Last night, Jake could not sleep and kept us up most of the night. He is still jet lagged. The reward for the sleepless night is a sleeping baby throughout the day.

Zach with Galuh in Aquarium

Dolphin

Zach with Jelly Fish

We woke up very late today and found it was a very rainy day. So we decided not go to Grouse or Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver in search of snow for Zach. We decided to go to Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park with Tammy. Zach was very excited at seeing all the kinds of fishes, beluga, dolphins, whales, etc. We watched all the shows. Zach ran around in great excitement and is generally very cute. He asks a million “why” questions that I have a hard time answering.

Dolphin Show

Beluga Show

Tammy bought Zach a bag of plastic sea creatures. Right away he said, “Mommy, let’s go back to the hotel!” Because he wanted to play with them right away.

Dinner at Dean's House

Welcome Cake

Later we had dinner at Dean and Madeline. I was surprised at how tall Merlin had grown and how much he resembled his father, Peter. Peter and Karen Mahon were there as well. Karen’s son Aiden and Merlin’s sister Phoebe were there. Phoebe turns sixteen next Tuesday. It was a wonderful dinner topped of with a “Welcome to Canada” cake. Thanks guys!

Dean and Madeline

Phoebe-Aiden-Merlin

Karen

Peter

The dinner was accompanied by the usual frivolity that is expected of any gathering at Dean and Mad’s. Phoebe and Karen took silly self-portraits with our camera. Dean, Aiden and Merlin tested their ability to support the weight of each other on all fours. Zach played with Spot the Dog, tossing a squeaky Santa doll which she would fetch. One of Zach’s tossed ended up smoldering on the candles, narrowly missing Galuh’s wine glass. Merlin sowed off his ab muscles, his “six pack” for some reason, insisting that everyone feel them. Phoebe applied make up to Karen and Galuh. Far too much lipstick for Galuh. Merlin, Aiden and Phoebe dressed Karen up in Merlin’s clothes.

Phoebe&Karen

Galuh before make up

Galuh after Make Up

Jerome
Zach and Jake also enjoyed the dinner. They had a great time there!

Zach & Jake at Dean's

Jake

Maplewood Farm and Deep Cove

2006-01-20T23:53:00.000+07:00

Today is a sunny day. We decided to go to Maplewood Farm in the North Vancouver, on the way to Seymour River. It is a petting zoo. It only took 20 minutes to get there.

The first thing that Zach saw when we arrived at the farm was a cow sign on top of the roof of the ticketing building. He was excited to see the real cows in the farm. The admission fee is only CAN$ 4.25 for adults and CAN$2.5 for children. There are two scarecrows at the front entrance gate. Zach wanted us to take a picture of him with them.

There are so many animals at the farm such as cows, horses, chickens, peacocks, sheeps, goats, turkeys, rabbits, ducks, etc. The best thing is that you can touch and play with the animals but you are not allowed to feed them. Zach really liked petting them.

Jerome and Zach with the Goats

Zach with Cow

Zach with Rabbits

Jerome and Zach with Turkey

Galuh-Jake infront of the Barn

This farm was very big and beautiful. We took a walk along a stream, I thought it was a stream off of Seymour River. There are many big trees at this farm. The view was beautiful. The other good thing is that it has a playground for kids. Zach enjoyed the train.

After that, we went up to Deep Cove. This is Jerome’s favourite place, he wants to retire in this place. He said this place is kind of mysterious because of the cloud and mist on the mountains surrounding the cove. This place is kind of like a small village, quite and peaceful. The mountain tops were covered by snow. Today, the sun seemed to follow the trees, so gorgeous.

Before we went to the park, we went to the Arms Beach Bistro to get a snack. Zach and I had not eaten lunch yet. This restaurant was very nice, had good food and great view. Jerome loved the old church pews that they use for some of the seating. We are hoping to have a chance to have dinner there before we go on to Toronto.

Later, we walked down to the beach and Zach played down there. He loves throwing sticks into the water. the water was very still and clean.

Theresa

From Deep Cove, we went to Theresa Beer’s house to have dinner. She has a beautiful new house. It's small but very artistic. She owns it with Yasmin. Cheeying and Tom also came with their two year old son, Wei Tien. The dinner was excellent, chicken, salad, roasted vegetables and mushrooms plus dessert! Before we left, Theresa and Cheeying said that they are ready to help us to find jobs in Vancouver if we want to move here. They are very nice. Thanks for the dinner Theresa!

Galuh

Arrived in Vancouver

2006-01-19T11:37:00.000+07:00

On Wednesday, 18 January, we woke up at 5 am to leave for the airport at 6.30 am. Fortunately, we did not have a hard time waking Zach up. He was very excited about this trip and has been waiting for long time. He put his toys in his turtle backpack to bring to Canada. He brought a shovel for digging snow, a robot, a small brachiasaurus, a small car, and his cousin, Maddy's picture (he said that because he misses Maddy a lot and wanted to give Maddy's picture to her). We left our house at 6.30 am.

After checking in at Cathay finished the immigration process, we still had time to have for breakfast at Starbucks. We got a nice spot to sit, so that we could change Jake's diaper before getting on the plane. Jerome took the shot at Starbuck below.

Galuh-Jake-Zach at Starbuck

As usual, we left our stroller at the gate so that we could use it in Hong Kong Airport. Our stroller divides into two pieces, the car seat and the wheels. We put the wheels in its bag and the Cathay's person put a special tag on both the car seat and bag.

Jerome and Zach on CX 718

After 4.5 hours in the plane (CX 718), finally we arrived at Hong Kong Airport at 2.30 pm. We only had 2 hours to transit and catch our next flight which would depart at 4.40 pm. Unfortunately, we had to wait for long time at the gate to get our stroller back. They misplaced the wheels. One of the Cathay guys said that because we put it in the bag, they did not know that it was a stroller and brought it to the next plane. Of course that doesn't explain why they put those special tags on the stoller. At that time, we thought that it was lost. But we tried to keep a positive attitude, hoping we would get the wheels at the gate in Vancouver as the Cathy guy promised. Of course, Jerome had to carry Jake in his car seat all the way to the next gate.

At 4pm, we got on our plane that would bring us to Vancouver. But when we checked our boarding passes, we noticed that we were not seated in the same row . I was in the bassinette row with Jake while Jerome and Zach were seated five rows behind me. I was very mad at that time. I insisted that we be seated together. We had booked the seats earlier (two days before). After almost thirty minutes waiting and arguing with the airline attendants, they finally arranged to have us seated together.

Our flight to Vancouver was quite short at this time, from Hong Kong it only took 12 hours! We did not why. We arrived at Vancouver at 1 pm. Whew, after such a long flight, we finally we arrived in Vancouver.

Canada Customs was very busy, it took almost 2 hours to get our turn. So many people arrived in Vancouver at that time. Maybe most of them want to celebrate Chinese New Year in Vancouver. Then we went to the Budget Car Rental at the airport, picked up our car then we went to our hotel.

Vancouver welcomed us with a bright, sunny day without rain. Yes, there was sun in Vancouver during the winter. We thought that it like summer. Jerome said that it was a good sign for our vaccation in Canada.

We arrived at the Coast Plaza Hotel on Comox Street at almost 5 pm. We got a very good deal for our suite for one king size bed room with living room and kitchen plus free wifi internet connection and a daily newspaper. In addition, this hotel is very close to Stanley Park. We were enjoying the room and the view when Tammy called us. Then, we walked down to English Bay Beach. Zach was not tired at all. He was very excited. He ran around on the beach. He loves the beach. We met Tammy on the beach and then had dinner at the Tampopo Garden sushi restaurant nearby.

Vancouver View from our Room

Zach in English Bay Beach Vancouver

Jake in his crib at Coast

We all are very jet-lagged. This morning, we woke up at 1pm and we had to cancel our lunch appointment with our friends, Dean and Madeline. After lunch, went to Oakridge Mall to buy boots for Zach and warm clothes for Jake. We had dinner at the White Spot Restaurant.

So far, the kids and I can adjust to the cold weather here. The weather is not really cold, just around 4 celcius and there is no snow.

galuh

Zachary's Drawings

2006-01-10T20:01:00.000+07:00

Last Sunday, Zach suddenly came to us with drawings he had made. He said "Daddy, these are the pictures of our family!" He drew himself, Daddy, Mommy, his nanny (Mbak Lastri) and our housekeeper (Mbak Parni). We were surprised when we saw his drawings because they were quite good (we're biased). Below, you can see his drawings.

Zachary : A Self Portrait

Portrait of Daddy by Zachary Cheung

Portrait of Mommy by Zachary Cheung

Portrait of Mbak Parni by Zachary Cheung

Portrait of Mbak Lastri by Zachary Cheung

I think his drawings are quite good for his age. Am I right?

Jerome put all his drawing on the wall. When Zach saw them, he started to notice that the his Daddy's drawing has no nose. Then, he asked "why do you have no nose on that picture?". Jerome laughed and said "I don't know Zach, you drew it. Why didn't you draw my nose?" "I do not know, Dad!" he said. Then he also realized by saying "I forgot to draw the eyebrows too!"

Galuh

Our Reflections on 2005

2006-01-04T23:18:00.000+07:00

2005 was a busy year for our family. It sometimes stressful, sometimes boring and sometimes fun.

Galuh was pregnant for nine months. Much of it was spent in various states of nausea. At one point, she was so sick that she was admitted to the hospital for dehydration. Zach was very sad to see her there. On top of that, she was very busy. She had to wrap up her HIV/AIDS project at Project Concern International because her contract ended. She also helped out with PCI's Aceh program. Galuh also had to give up her acceptance to the Univsersity of Indonesia for a master's program in Communications because of the pregnancy. Galuh also won a philanthrophy research award from Ford Foundation and Pirac Foundation but had to give that up too due to the pregnancy. However, Galuh was able to complete her Guide to Volunteer Management book which has just been published in January 2006 by Mizan Books.

Jerome began the year by turning down two job offers, one in East Timor and the other in Nepal. Jerome decided to stay with the NDI Indonesia program to start a new program three year program in budget monitoring. That has turned out to be full of administrative problems which has been very frustrating. However, Jerome also had a chance to work in NDI's East Timor office in the early part of the year. Although this mean being away from the family for weeks at a time, the work in East Timor was very rewarding because the program is at village level. Jerome also went to Washington, DC this year to spend time at the NDI head office. Jerome also joined the regional board of Resource Alliance and attended a Board Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand in May. Jerome also monitored four local elections in Indonesia.

Galuh and Jerome gave a two-day training for WALHI in fundraising and volunteer management. Zach was there as well.

Jerome turned 40 in May and began the slow decline of middle age. But he joined a Fitness Club which he attends occasionally.

Galuh gave birth to Jacob in early November. The birth was a normal and pretty fast. Our trusted obstetrician, Dr. Harahap, delivered Jacob with the same competence as he did Zachary. Our deep gratitude to all his help. The arrival of Lil' Jake, as Zachary is fond of calling him, has rearranged our lives.

In 2005, Zachary has clearly established his position as the family three year old. The frequency that he askes "why" has reached at least twenty times a day. He likes to say "no". He wants to do everything by himself (like using knives). He plays with his toys all over the apartment so they can be found everywhere. He is very imaginative and very, very talkative. He likes Taekwondo, Mandarin and bugging girls. Despite that he is popular at playgroup. He still loves dinosaurs this year and especially likes to roar at people. He learned how to use a mouse and play computer games.

Jacob doubled his weight in one month. Way to go, Jake!

As a family, we travelled to East Timor, Singapore (twice for Zach and I), and vacationed on Bali and Lombok. We didn't make it to South Africa as we had hoped because of Jacob's birth. Maybe next year.

We bought a car which makes us feel like a real middle class family now.

Other blessing that we received in 2005 was we had a new canadian best friend, Court. We have been known him for 3 years but in 2005 our relationship become closer. He comes to our house every weekend. Zach asks us if he did not come at our house in the weekend. We really love him. But, this year we also lost one of our canadian best friends in Indonesia, Deb and Akas. They decided to go back to Canada. However, they are still our bestfriend eventhough they are in Canada. All the best for Deb and Akas.

Jerome and Galuh, Jakarta

Answering Zachary's Questions

2005-12-25T10:20:00.000+07:00

My three-year old son loves to ask some of the most unanswerable questions. If you have an answer please share them with me.

1. Why do I have ten fingers?

2. Why does a lion have a mane?

3. Why is poo brown?

4. Why does a cow have a tail?

5. Why does a roadrunner live on the road?

Jerome

Sunday Pony Ride in the Puncak

2005-12-07T22:00:00.002+07:00

Last Sunday, our friends Angela and Dan invited us to visit them at Canada House, the villa maintained by the embassy in the Puncak. It’s a beautiful property with an expansive view of the Puncak valley framed between the massive triangular shapes of two volcanoes. Red is the predominant colour of the villa and decorative maple leaves are everywhere. Kitchy, but for Canadians away from home, it's nice.

Angela arranged for a pony-ride for our kids. She has two kids, Kai and Takeo. The horses and their handlers came to the villa to pick us up. Angela, Court and I came along. Zach was very excited.

The handlers suggested we make the trek to a nearby waterfall. It was an hour and a half walk there. Okay, we decided to be ambitious. I suppose it ended up being more like a two hour walk almost entirely uphill and an hour back. The kids had fun on their horse while the adults laboured up the hill in the hot sun. What parents won’t do for their kids! Actually, despite the sweat and sore feet, it was great hike. The road to the waterfall, Curug Panjang is beautiful. We passed many beautiful villas, several villages with curious onlookers, forests, fields, look-out points over the valley, and even a Police Training Center. Outside of the occasional motorcycle and the clip-clop of the pony hooves, the road was quiet. Why can't Jakarta be like that?

We finally arrived at the waterfall; paid the "foreign entry" fee (the kids, horses and handlers got in free) with a bit of grumbling. Just past the gate, we parked the ponies. The kids ran down a narrow dirt path, forded a brook that ran down a cliff and across then path, and across a bamboo foot bridge. Past the bridge was a green valley with a short waterfall that tumbled into rapids over big round rocks. Some families were having a picnic and a group of youths were camped out along the side of the rapids. The three kids hopped down to the water and Kai and Zach immediately wanted to jump in. Being the protective Dad, I fluttered nervously around Zach as he hopped around in the shallow water. Court was splashing his head in the cool water and Zach vaguely imitated.

The walk back was much more pleasant since it was all downhill. Angela, Court and I munched on pathetic skinny peanuts that I had picked up at a roadside kios. It began to rain and I didn’t mind getting wet since I was so hot. The kids were real troopers and they didn’t seem to mind the rain either. I put on Zach's red Roots vest that Galuh had teased me about bringing: "you bring so much stuff!" To which I had responded as the erstwhile boyscout: "It's better to be prepared!" She grew up in the topics, I in the temporates. That's our difference.

Anyways, the rain changed the colour of everything; all the greens were darker. It almost seemed like a different road on the way back. Takeo became very sleepy making his handler very nervous. Occasionally I would call out to him, “Takeo, keep a lookout for ice cream!” He would suddenly straighten up, his eyes would grow very large and he would make a valiant attempt to fight off the drowsiness, before drooping again into sleepiness. It was very cute and he made it back without falling off his horse.

We made it back and Dan had a great lunch prepared which we devoured on the patio overlooking the Puncak valley. Zach was pleased with the pony-ride and was asking when he could do it again.

Jerome

Lebaran Celebration

2005-11-21T10:21:00.000+07:00

Jake, 10 days old baby, came to the two Lebaran Celebration at the Kinderland School for the first time.

Ied Mubarak or Idul Fitri, which in Indonesia is more commonly known as Lebaran, is the celebration that comes at the end of the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan. Lebaran is also known as the Syawal Month. The meaning of Idul Fitri is "becoming holy again." In Indonesia, this is the time when Muslims visit their family and friends to ask for forgiveness for any wrongs they have committed in the previous year. During Syawal Month many schools, offices, organizations amd companys hold lebaran celebrations.

Last friday, Zach's playgroup, Kinderland had a lebaran celebration. They invited all parents to watch student performances. Zach was very brave in his performance and he could sing and dance perfectly. We were very proud of him.

On Sunday, we went to Bekasi to visit Hanung and Kunthi to celebrate lebaran with my university friends. We very rarely meet each other even though we still live in the same city, Jakarta. That was why we used lebaran as an excuse to get together again. Thanks to Hanung and Kunthi for their willingness to be a host and thanks to DJ for arranging it. We had a great time, it was very nice to see all of you again. Bisa ketemu anak Agis dan Nita yang baru lahir di bumi ini 1,5 bulan yang lalu. Akhirnya bisa ketemu Tetet! Gila ya Tet, sejak kamu di Amerika dan kemudian pindah ke Jakarta kita hanya komunikasi lewat email dan telepon, 3.5 tahun gak tau ketemuan. Ketemu Yulias dan Adi dengan kedua putri mereka yang cantik-cantik, Giri dan Wulan dengan dua jagoannya. Akhirnya juga bisa ketemu Gania anake Dewi Arya. Ketemu ama Wulan yang baru menikah, tapi sayang Wulan gak datang bareng suaminya. Dan yang pasti juga bisa ketemu ama teman-teman yang masih single, masih cerewet, masih lucu, masih cantik dan tentu saja masih dalam pencarian soul-mate mereka. Ada DJ, Hinay, Kristin, Ina, Lely ... you'll find your man soon, go girls and never give up!

Zach with Ditra

Jerome with Jake

My Friends

Look at How's Happy They Are

Wuih ... seneng tenan aku iso ketemuan maneh. Semoga aja tali silaturahmi ini gak akan pernah putus sampai kita mati yah. Semoga celetukan Lely kalo anak-anak kita bisa menjadi tim pencinta alam seperti bapak-ibunya bisa tercapai, mereka bisa berarung jeram-menjelajah gua-panjang tebing bareng-bareng. Pasti lucu deh! Cah, yen iso kerep ketemuan yo! Love you all friends!

Galuh

What is up with Zach?

2005-11-20T22:00:00.000+07:00

For last two weeks, I never pay attention to Zach anymore. I have been very busy with Jacob. I never bath Zach, read a book for him before he go sleep, play with him, and so on. Today, after we came back from my friend's house at Bekasi, Zach asked me whether I want to bath him. He also said that he missed me. How he told me, make me aware that I should pay attention to him again.

What's up with Zach?

Yeah, this time I'd like to write about Zach in last three weeks (since one week before I gave birth). I am trying to recall my mind about him for last three weeks.

In last week of October, Zach felt really missed Maddy. He kept saying "I miss Maddy, let's go to Toronto. I want to see her." He took Maddy's picture on the fridge and hold it all the time. He even asked his Daddy to dial Maddy's phone number. They talked on the phone for half an hour. Because we promised to him that we will go to Canada on January after the baby came out, then he kept asking us when the baby would come out. He seemed that he could not wait anymore!

Miss Maddy

From his education side, he is still studying at Kinderland School. He is in Nursery 2 Class now. In September, he started to take Mandarin Class but because the teacher was sick for a month, then he moved to Taekwondo Class. We never decide what courses that Zach should have. We always ask him what course he want to take, we always give him choices. Firstly, he prefered to take Mandarin class than Taewondo. Anyway, he said that he like his taekwondo class. All of you can see how happy he is with his taekwondo's uniform.

Zach in Taekwondo Cloth

Zach is also like a computer game now. He is expert in using the mouse and know how to operate the computer. We bought many computer games for him and we found many kids games through internet such as Stanley's game, Harry with his bucket of dinosaurs's game, etc. When he says "I am bored Mommy" or "I am bored Daddy", it means that he wants to play with his computer games. My old laptop have became his laptop now. Sometimes, I feel funny when my two boys (Jerome and Zach) are playing game. They totally look same, very concentrate with their game! Hm ... like father like son!

Playing Computer Game

Playing Computer Game before School

There is one favourite computer game that Zach likes to play with his Daddy which is called "Republic Commando". Usually Zach will start with :
"I am bored Daddy. Let's play Republic Commando!"
Then Jerome will say "Oke. Go get your chair."
Then Jerome will turn on his laptop and Zach go get his chair.
"Are you ready Zach?" ask Jerome.
"Ready boss Commando!" answer Zach.
If Jerome dies in the game, Zach always says "Aw, you're dead Daddy!"
And then he will say "try agin (again) Daddy."
He always want to decide which gun Jerome should use by saying "do not use that gun Daddy, use this gun aja!"

Hm ... they are very cute. Zach seems that he has same interest with Jerome especially in gadgety things. He likes computer, computer games, and PDA.

Galuh

Jake's One Week Birthday

2005-11-14T22:59:00.000+07:00

Today is Jake's one week birthday. We ordered a black forest cake to celebrate it but of course Jake would not get any. I suppose he will indirectly get some through my breast milk.

Jake had a circumcision on Friday and it has already healed. His umbilical cord also has come out. And today we brought him to see Dr. Wati, our lovely pediatrician. I felt relieved after seeing her and she said that Jake was fine. She is the best pediatrician in Indonesia (as far as we know). After seeing Dr. Wati, we had our dinner and cake together.

Zach is a good brother, he is not jealous yet. He wants to play with Jake but unfortunately Jake is still too small to play with him. He also wants to share his toys, hugs Jake, kisses him, and at the beginning he did not want to go to school, he just wanted to stay with Jake. He keeps saying "baby Jake is adorable" or "baby Jake is cuuuute" or "cooci cooci coo". We didn't teach him any of these words. He just picked them up on Disney Channel. All of you can see in these pictures how happy he is with his young brother.

Tonight, we also decided to give Jacob a nickname: "Coby" taken from the last syllable of his name. Canadians use first syllables for nicknames but it is the Indonesian to use the last. (Jerome often calls me "'Luh", pronounced Loo) Zach insists on calling him "little Jake" though!

Galuh

Introducing Our Son: Jacob Augustine Harahap Cheung

2005-11-09T23:28:00.000+07:00

Our new boy Jacob Augustine Harahap Cheung came home today. Tonight our whole family is reunited under one roof. Jacob's big brother, Zachary was very sad that Jacob and Mommy had to stay in the hospital for three days.

We have choosen "Jacob" because I like the name "Jake". The name is also known in both Western Judeo-Christian and Muslim-Indonesian traditions. We have choosen "Augustine" to honour my father. "Harahap" is Galuh's father's last name, the Batak clan name from South Tapanuli. Zachary also has "Harahap" in his name. Just by coincidence our obstetrician (for both Zachary and Jake) is Dr. Amru Harahap. And "Cheung" is my surname. Jake also has a Cantonese name: "Tak Hing" which means Prosperity and was the name of a famous kung fu master in the old days.

Welcome to our family Jake!

Welcome to Our New Baby Boy!

2005-11-07T04:39:00.000+07:00

Galuh gave birth to a beautiful 3.4 kg baby boy just before 2 AM or at 01.55 AM(Jakarta), this Monday morning 7 November 2005. His length is 51 cm. Both mother and child are well and resting after a somewhat difficult 3 hour labour.

Galuh's contractions began yesterday evening and we decided to go to the hospital at 11 PM. The labour progressed quickly as would be expected given the speed of Zachary's birth. But for some reason, despite the rapid contractions, the child was slow to come out. Galuh gave a herculean effort of pushing (I will remember the look of concentration mixed with pain on my wife's face forever). As the head emerged, it seemed to get harder to come out. Doctor Amru and a nurse together had to really pull the baby by the chin. As the neck emerged, the doctor and nurses tried to conceal their concern when they saw the umbilical cord wrapped partly around the next. I also said nothing, fearing to break Galuh's concentration. However, once the shoulder came out, the doctor deftly moved the cord out of the way and the rest of the body quickly slipped out. At first the baby did not cry, even after being placed on Galuh's chest. It seemed like an eternity but finally he let out a yelp and we all breathed a sign of relief. It's been a long Monday morning but an incredible one as well.

Zachary fell asleep before we went to the hospital (we left him with Lastri, our nanny. Fortunately, she just arrived from her hometown and we asked her to come to our house to take care of Zach). I bet he'll be surprised tomorrow!

Jerome, A Happy Daddy!
At home, after the long delivery process

End of Jerome's Fasting

2005-11-03T11:15:00.000+07:00

Last night I finished my one month of fasting for the Holy Muslim month of Ramadhan. This is the fourth year in a row that I have fasted. The fasting begins at sunrise and is broken at sunset. In Jakarta, that means starting the fast at just before 5 AM and breaking the fast at just before 6 PM.

I am hardly the most devout Muslim. I doubt that I ever will be. I was never a good Catholic either. At least I am consistent. But there is something deeply spiritual that appeals to me in Ramadan fasting and it is the one religious observance that I take seriously. The ritual aspect of most organized religions has never moved me. Due in part to my sceptical nature I regard prayer, congregation and pilgrmage as suspiciously reinforcing hierarchy. Islam on the other hand (despite its contemporary manifestations) is an extremely egalitatian philosophy and this best demostrated by Ramadhan.

The first powerful spiritual element that I enjoy about Ramadan is the reminder of the importance of restraint discipline and patience. In today's world the average individual can consume a diversity of goods and material that former generations could only dream of (with the accompanying waste). Any appetite can be easily sated in today's consumer society (witness fast food, hypermarkets, Internet shopping). The restraint that Muslim fasters practice for a month every year deeply appeals to my belief in the restraint humans must accept as the responsible custodians of our irreplacable planet. Ramadan annually reminds me of the difference between what I need and what I want.

Fasting Muslims must also demonstrate great kindness, refrain from anger or strong emotions during Ramadan despite our hunger pangs. This is not easy but and it tests our displine and patience.

Ramadan is not just about fasting, we are obliged to give alms to the poor as well. For me Allah intended these two juxtaposed religious obligations to forever warn Muslims of the cruel reality that poverty and deprivation will always exist and that anytime, anybody can suddenly lose everything. Nobody is exempt: rich or poor, the powerful or the weak. Even in extremely equalitarian nations with widespread social programs, fate remains blind. Natural and/or human-made disasters alike make no distinction between prince or pauper. You can lose everything you own overnight. These last twelve months have provided ample examples in the form of the Asian Tsunami, Huricane Katrina or the South Asian Earthquake. Likewise, modern diseases like HIV/AIDs, SARS and Avian Flu can instantly ruin lives and underline the need for the world, not to mention communities, to work together. Allah's message was "Never forget how it feels to be hungry. Never refuse to help out those less fortunate than yourself."

I enjoy Ramadan because it makes me reflect and recall my values, beliefs and course in life. When I fast, I remember my hungry anxiety when I lived for six months in a rural West African village in 1991 with a poor local family. I ate what they ate and how much they ate. Basically I was getting only half as much calories as I did in Canada. I was hungry all the time. When I fast, I am reminded that we must reduce and restrain our appetites to heal our wounded earth. When I give alms to the poor, I remember that charity and philanthropy can change lives of those less fortunate than myself.

Jerome

How to Make a Pregnancy Cast

2005-10-28T21:52:00.008+07:00

I was thinking to make a pregnancy cast when I was pregnant with Zachary, my first son but unfortunately I was unable to realize it due to my work travels schedules. Since my second pregnancy will be my last time I will ever be pregnant, I keep saying to myself that I have to make it work otherwise I will not have a memory that capture my shape in three dimensions.

Finally, with my husband’s help, I made a pregnancy cast. It is very easy and beautiful. It only took us 20 minutes to do it.

Materials:
Bandages impregnated with plaster of Paris. Amount may vary with the size and thickness of your cast (I used 4 bandages which each bandage was 4 meters);

Vaseline Petrolium Jelly;

Water;

Old newspapers or cloths to cover the floor. I did it in the bathtub to avoid spilling plaster of Paris.

To make a pregnancy cast, you have to have your PARTNER or FRIEND to help you. I did it in the bathroom. I cut the bandages in small pieces; it was around 15cm each. I put all of them next to the sink. Fill the sink or basin with water which it will be used for moistening the bandages. Rub vaseline on the pregnancy belly and breasts. Once you are ready, you can find a comfortable position to do it either stand up or lie down in the bathtub. Then, put each strip of bandages in the water and lay it on the pregnancy belly. The strips of bandages should be crossing on top of each other. You have to make sure that it is thick enough.

When it is finished, you wait for 5 minutes until the cast is dry. After dry, your partner/friend can take it out and put it on the floor. You can do some finishing touch to fix some parts that are not strong enough by putting more strips of bandages on it.

Halloween Party

2005-10-23T22:24:00.000+07:00

Yesterday, on Saturday, was a busy day for Zach. In the morning, he went to the Lawrence Rowland’s 4th birthday party and in the afternoon he went to aHalloween Party. It was his first “trick or treat.” The Halloween Party was hosted by the Jones’ family (Casey and Courtney) at Executive Paradise. Actually, it was their 4th Annual Hosting of Trick or Treat. We were invited through Stephanie Lynn, Lawrence's mom. Thanks Stephanie!

Zach wore a Dash Costume from the Incredibles. We borrowed it from Lawrence Rowland. Firstly, Zach wanted to be a cow, and we had to order a comstume there was no time. Anyway, he was quite happy with his costume even though there was no mask.

The party was well organized. When we arrived at the Jones’s house, there already were many kids (of course in their costumes) and their parents (some in costume). They were waiting for starting the “trick or treat”. Then, we started to do the “trick or treat” around Executive Paradise. The neighbours were ready with their candies and chocolate. Zach was really excited, everytime he went into the somebody’s house he would say “trick or treat!” and asked for candies. Because of he is too small, sometimes the host did not see him and he would ask “how about me? Give me candy please!”. He was really cute! Jerome and I followed him and sometimes helped him to bring his big bag. He had the biggest bag of all the kids but only got a little bit of candy.

Unfortunately, after we went to 8 houses, it started to rain. A really heavy rain! Casey asked us to come back to his house. I think most of the kids enjoyed the rain, including Zach and Jerome. At Jones’s house, the food was waiting. Because of the rain, we felt very hungry and for those who were fasting it was the time for breaking their fast. Jones’s family had prepared Pizza, pumpkin cookies, bat cookies, chips and sate for us.

Look at Zach and Jerome, they look like they really enjoy their dinner. Yummy Pizza hah!

For Casey and Courtney, thanks for having us for Halloween and surely, next year we won’t miss your Halloween party. It was a lot of fun (despite the rain or maybe because of it!). We had a great time!

Galuh

Three of Zach’s Expressions

2005-10-21T22:23:00.000+07:00

Below are Zach’s expressions before he went to the school for celebrating the United Nation Day on 21 October 2005. He wore a suit for representing his Canadian citizenship.

My Birthday

2005-10-18T23:47:00.000+07:00

Today is my birthday.

Yes, I am 31 years old now. Yesterday, I contemplated what I have done so far and try to remember what my future plans include my career, my family, my kids, and other priorities. I felt that I did not achieve any significant progress yet, I could still not realize most of my dreams. In my birthday, I always feel that I did not do anything and my dreams were far from reached. But I have someone, my lovely husband, who always remind me that I have done so many great things and I have a lovely family. Yes, he is true … I have a wonderful husband who always love and support me, a healthy and smart boy who always lighten up my life, a lovely family who always love me, and an upcoming baby boy who will come in our life in next 2-3 weeks.

Jerome, you are very adorable. You always make my birthday become very special. Thank you for the romantic and wonderful dinner today. That was really surprised me!

Yesterday, Jerome gave a birthday present. An ipod and a bundle of Desperate Housewives’s DVD.

Today, Jerome brought us (Zach and I) to a special dinner at Jakarta Restaurant in Darmawangsa Hotel (the most luxurious hotel in Jakarta). This dinner was very … very … romantic. The hotel has made the place to be very romantic as Jerome’s plan. I were welcomed with a bundle of roses and a card. Jerome knows that I really like red rose.

In the card, I found a poem from Jerome (honey, I really love your poems) :

To : Galuh

My beloved wife
And cherished partner in life :
Life is like a rose
Sometimes silky like the petals,
Sometimes cruel like the thorns,
Silky or cruel,
Life is always cool,
As long as it lived with you!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY

From : Your Cool Husband, Jerome

We had great food at Jakarta Restaurant. For dessert, Jerome had ordered a special cake for me, a blackforest. Specially, Zach sang a birthday song for me and blew the candle. He was really cute! He asked me how old I am now ….

Sayang, again, thank you for making my birthday be so special.

For Mom and Dad Cheung, Michelle, Vince and Franc, thank you for the greetings and wishing me well. I love and miss you all!

For friends (Lely, Endang, Deb, Anas, Yuli, Dewi Arya, Noer Hikmah, etc) who remember my birthday and gave me a call or send me a text messages, thank you for your love, friendship and being my truly bestfriends.

Galuh, 18 Oct 2005

Dad & Son Conversation

2005-10-03T22:36:00.000+07:00

Below are conversations between Zach and his Dad.

BOLONG (Hole)
Zach and his Daddy were sitting on the sofa.
Zach looked down on his Dad's black socks,
and saw his Dad's toes through several holes at the end of the socks.
He leaped down from the sofa, put his fingers into the holes,
then he looked up at his Dad and exclaimed,
"bolong!"
"Why your socks bolong, Daddy?"

Fourty
"Why you fourteen, Daddy?"
"Four-ty, Zach, fourty."
"Why you fourty, Daddy?"
"I was born fourty years ago,"
Pause
"Who's your teacher, Daddy?"
"I had many teachers, Zach."
"Where's your school?"
"My school is in Toronto."
"My school is in Jalan Pakubowono."
"Do you know the name of your school Zach?"
Zach looked at his Daddy for the answer,
"Your school is Kinderland."
"Kinderland," he repeated,
"Is your school brown, Daddy?"

Zach and Dad's Big Adventure in Singapore

2005-09-29T18:19:00.000+07:00

Our visas ran out at the end of September so Zach and I made the proverbial Singapore "visa-run". For expatriat residents of Jakarta, Singapore is like a regional hyperstore. A country of full of services and malls. All the things lacking in Jakarta are to found at great convenience in Singapore. For me it was a new high-tech stroller for the new baby, for Galuh it was smart materity clothes and for Zach it was the $5 styrofoam "noodle" for playing in pool. Lawrence Rowland has one and Zach just loved it. When we went swimming at the Rowland "villa" in Bogor, Zach stayed in the pool for nearly three hours playing with Lawrence's "noodle". Stephanie actually brought it all the way from Canada.

Zach really liked the flight from Jakarta. We had a bumpy landing and he turned to me with a big smile and exclaimed, "I like airplanes Daddy! Why is it bumpy?"

The immigration lady was very nice and friendly and told Zach to be a good boy.

Singapore has a great Zoo. It's kid friendly (strollers for rent), clean and has a great collection of animal held in fantastic displays. Zach has been there three time. Our main objective on this trip: the elephant ride. Tom Cormier, a collegue from work, came along. Tom is the Master of Bad Puns (MBP)and love to crack them in an uninterupted stream of punning. I think my cheeks were bruised after a day groaning at his puns. But Tom is great with kids and even though Zach didn't understand a fraction of the puns (I don't think he got even one), he liked Tom's goofy attitude. Zach likes me to tell him bedtime stories which are a retelling of the days evens in the third person. "Once upon a time, a little boy and his dad went to the Singapore Zoo..." I started. Zach quickly corrected me, "...and Tom!"

We made the elephant ride and Zach loved that. We also saw an active polar bear and a beautiful peacock and cool Manatee. Tom said "cool" alot. Zach also found a tiny statue of a stegasaurus which he liked a lot and kept asking me "why" it was there. But his favorite animal was this cow statue in front of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream concession where we stopped for a break at the end of our visit. Zach was fascinated by the udders and practiced milking the cow. He was very convincing.

Zach's favorite thing in Singapore are the kiddy coin rides in the mall attached to our hotel (Novotel Clark Quay). There are two new ones there since our last stay in Feb. In Feb, there was a cute yellow riverboat and Zach was looking forward to that. But it had been replaced by two even better kiddy coin ride: a train engine (recall Zach love Thomas the Train Engine) and a helicopter. The helicopter was very popular and I have intimidate a kid who was hogging the ride into giving Zach a turn. The helicopter part is attached to a large mechanical arm which lift and swivel about a meter in the air. Pretty innovative and Zach loved it. Every night he would ask me constantly to go down and try the rides.

Outside of that, Zach and I did a lot of stolling about. He got to try out the cool new Quinny stroller. I got to stretch my legs in a walkable city. Clark Quay is very beautiful and historic. We would walk down the canal and watch the sun set over the city.

Jerome

Another Cow for Anas

2005-09-26T19:34:00.000+07:00

Zachary says to Auntie Anas: "This cow is very cuuuuute, isn't it. I wanted to bring it home for you but there was no more room in baggage! Sorry, Auntie Anas."

Zach

Coming Soon

2005-09-26T07:16:00.000+07:00

"akan datang" means "coming soon"
Yes, in 7 weeks the baby will come. We can't wait to see him ...

Jerome-Galuh-Zach

Our Fourth Wedding Anniversary

2005-09-14T19:05:00.000+07:00

Today is our fourth wedding anniversary. We celebrated with a dozen red roses and a heart-shaped almond-chocolate at home. Yum! (We could not make our special dinner tonight because Zach is sick)

In our four years together we have raised a three-year old and conceived a second baby. We have built a home together. We fought alot. We travelled as a family alot. We took a lot of nice vacations together. We watched many movies together at home alot. We took care a sick baby together. We rely on each other. We argued a lot. And the most important that we realized how our love has became stronger every day.

We are looking forward to fourty more years ....

Galuh & Jerome, A Happy Couple
I love you forever (Jerome's card)
Happy Anniversary, with lots of love (Galuh's card)

Thirty Weeks of My Second Pregnancy

2005-09-13T19:31:00.000+07:00

Time went very fast. I could not believe when the doctor said that my pregnancy was already 30 weeks. He also said that I have to start to take a pregnancy exercise and have to see him every two weeks. Make me realized that we have to start to prepare everything for welcoming our baby since the baby can born anytime and we already gave all Zach's baby stuffs to our friends. We have to buy baby cloths, blankets, etc. The most important thing is to prepare all documents for getting our baby's citizenship, passport, and visa to live in Indonesia.

The baby moves a lot. But when his mom is very busy, he will be quiet. Our sweetpea weight was 1824 gram, the doctor said that our sweetpea was a big baby. His head was already in the bottom. My weight gained for 4.5 kg this month. So far, my weight has gained 12kg. My feet did not swell yet, but I started to feel that my belly is very heavy.

Galuh

Bapak and Zach

2005-08-26T19:05:00.000+07:00

I like the picture below a lot. Maybe because both Bapak and Zach were in the natural expression and seemed that they did not know that Jerome took their moment. Both have a very nice smile. We also can see how different their skin, totally different like sky and earth (kayak langit dan bumi). This picture always make me feel missing my Bapak a lot.

Model : Bapak and Zach
T-shirt : Personal Collection
Location : Jl. Panglima Polim, South Jakarta
Photographer : Jerome Cheung
Taken on June 18, 2005
Camera : Kyocera Finecam SL400R

Galuh
In the office, just after finished writting my project final evaluation

Our New X-Trail

2005-08-22T21:52:00.000+07:00

Our New Car

So we finally bought a car in early July, a Nissan X-Trail. On the practical side, our X-trail can deal with the neighbourhood potholes and the annual Jakarta flooding. On the style side, it's black and very cool. It's the largest purchase either of us have ever made together. So it took a lot of debate and research and counter-debate before we could decide on the model.

Jerome love driving it

Zach in his portable car seat with his favourite teddy bear

Zach loves "his new car" and now Galuh doesn't have to walk home from work (six-months pregnant) or take a noisy, smelly Bajaj. Daily, Galuh drive it to the office or other places. I just love driving it. Every weekend I drive it. I am surprised that I know how to drive in Jakarta. I must have picked up the basics in all those years riding with those veteran Silverbird taxi drivers.

Mom and Dad pitched in for this car so thanks are due. Thanks.

Jerome

Life in Jakarta: Shannon's Birthday Party

2005-08-20T09:57:00.000+07:00

Once upon a time, in a city called Jakarta, a little girl named Shannon invited all her friends to her birthday party held at the prestigious Mandarin Hotel. Shannon's school friend, Zachary arrived at the Hotel's main lobby and rode two sets of escalators up to the party reception table. Here he was greeted by two women hosts wearing enormous orange tophats. They ushered him through a portal decorated by Winnie the Pooh. Inside was an enormous room. Shannon greeted him, dressed like a princess in frilly pink. All the kids got a Winnie the Pooh clock as a present and a cup cake from Shannon. At the end of the room was a huge stage also decorated with the characters from Winnie the Pooh. A bulbous Winnie the Pooh and Piglet emerged from a side door and posed for pictures with Zachary, Shannon and the other children. Soon a strange man wearing funky glasses and spikey hair began to sing and arrange party games for the several score of children who had arrived at Shannon's party. After the starnge man, a couple of Indonesia television performers, Rio and Liddia Lau, sangs songs for the children. One of the songs was in Mandarin. The ponderous Pooh and Piglet cavorted with the dancing children. Unfortunately all of this seemed too much for three-year old Shannon, who cried and did not want to dance. The singing and dancing was followed by a massive banquet for the hundreds of guests. Just before the magic show, Zachary slipped out of the party eager to eat his cup cake.

Jerome

No Crab in Makassar

2005-08-17T11:44:00.000+07:00

Last week I visited Makassar City in South Sulawesi to meet some Non-government Organizations for our new Budget Monitoring Project. I went with Eni Widyastuti and Ihsan Haerudin from my office.

It has been nearly seven years since I last visited. Back then I was working for USC Canada and came to monitor several projects we were funding through our Jakarta-based partner, YAPPIKA. I was happy to meet some old NGO aquaintences and meet new people doing interesting things there.

Makassar, being a sea port, is famed for fresh seafood.

The high point of our trip was an amazing seafood meal at an unasuming restaurant called, Lae-Lae not far from our hotel. It has no decor nor scenic view yet it seems to be always full of appreciative diners. We ordered a huge meal of grilled fish, boiled mussels and grilled prawn. Unfortunately, I could not order the crab (my favorite) because my wife is pregnant. Believe me I really wanted to. This crab-fast is due to a Javanese belief that when a husband breaks the shell of the crab, it hurts the unborn baby. (I invite Javanese blogger to please explain the rationale behind that). Sadly for me, my wife strictly enforces this prohibition. I took a picture of our meal to prove my faithful compliance to Javanese wisdom.

Jerome, at home
A National Holiday for Indonesia Independence Day

No Crab in Manado

2005-08-17T10:02:00.000+07:00

In June, I spent a week in Manado to observe the North Sulawesi local elections (on 21 June). We organized a Quick Count with our local partners, PuBliKa Manado. It was very successful and thanks to a cooperation with Manado TV, NDI and PuBliKa had our 15 minutes of fame in North Sulawesi. (You can read about the Quick Count at www.jurdil.org) After an evening interactive interview on Manado TV, PuBliKa director Ismail Dahab and I went for seafood at a well known seaside area. A table of diners next to our table recognized us from the interview and congratulated us.

Manado is also a seaport and is well known for its fresh seafood. We ordered a fanatistic seafood meal but as usual I was bound by the Javanese prohibition on eating crab. There is a Javanese belief that if a prospective father breaks the shell of crab, it will harm the unborn child carried by the mother. The crab in Manado is huge (!) and would have been awesome. In addition, I don't get to Manado often. So I trust my wife, appreciates the sacrifice this entailed.

Jerome, at home

Aceh Peace Pact in Helsinki

2005-08-16T17:28:00.000+07:00

Aceh community wants a peace and a normal life. Because of that, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) had decided to not continue the rebellion with GoI in fighting a freedom for Aceh. (Zaini Abdullah. Prominent Figure of GAM)

Aceh Kids in Cot Jeumpa

Yesterday, 15 August 2005, The Indonesian Government (GoI) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed a peace accord after six months of negotiations, paving the way for an end to three decades of bloodshed that has claimed about 15.000 lives.

There are many debates amongs the politicians about this accord. Many people are happy with it but others are pessimistic with the implementation of this accord and the role of foreigners in monitoring the implementations of the deal. Because of the items that appear on the peace accord have more benefits for GAM than GoI, many people also said that this peace accord was the way how GAM will get their freedom in future.

Personally, I do not know about politic and I do not care about the reactions of Indonesia politicians. I just thought that this is a good step for building a peace in Aceh. I was touched by Aceh community’s reactions when the agreement was signed. They looked very happy, they had been waiting this peace agreement for 30 years. They want to live in a peace, they want to have a normal life. My friend, Bang Afrizal, said “Galuh, we are very happy and after this we will go to the Baiturrahman Mosque for sujud syukur (Thank God)”. From the bottom of my heart, I really hope that this deal will truly bring a peace in Aceh.

Hopefully both GAM and GoI will keep their promise in implementing the items of the deal. And hopefully in near future, we will not see children who lose their fathers, we will not see women who raped by military or GAM, we will not see children who become soldier, we will not see women who cry because she has lost her children or husband, and we will not see any other violences-rebellions-conflicts-disasters in Aceh.

Galuh, 16 August 2005
1 (one) day after Aceh Peace Pact was signed

My 25th Weeks Pregnancy

2005-08-10T18:30:00.000+07:00

On Monday we went to see our doctor, dr. Amru, to do general check up for the baby. Everything is fine. The baby’s weight was 862 gram and the heart beat was 152. The doctor found a penis as part of the baby body for second time. He called it “Monas” (National Monument in Jakarta).

My weight has gained for 8 kg. This month I just gained for 2 kg. The doctor said that was good. He said the weight should only gain maximum 2 kg. Last month, my weight gained for 4 kg. The doctor reminded me to not gain too much. I think he is right. At my previous pregnancy, my weight gained for 25 kg. And the impacts were I had a lot of strechmark and I could not come back to my normal weight.

Now, my belly is growing bigger and my old strechmark become appear again.

The pictures above were taken when my pregnancy was 24th weeks.

Galuh, 10 August 2005

A Busy Weekend

2005-08-08T23:47:00.000+07:00

Our weekend this week was fulled with socialization with friends.

Firstly, I would like to mention here that at the beginning of July we finally bought a car, Nissan X-Trail. We call it “our first big investment”. After we saved money for 4 years, finally we could afford it. Jerome is very happy with that car and me too since I also contributed my saving too. And as you can guess, this car has been the focus of our private lives for the past four weeks. Of course, this car has kind of changed our lives. Getting around is easier and we are much more easier to go out of town. Well, Jerome promised that he will post a story about our car include the pictures someday.

As I mentioned before, this weekend we were very busy. In Friday night, we attended a 14th anniversary of YAPPIKA at Hotel Cemara. The party was very entertaining, the presented their documentations about their journey in past 14 years and during the dinner they entertained us with music. We met our old friends. We also met Eep Syaifullah and his wife, Sandrina Malakiano. Zach was very enjoy the party and wanted to shake all people that he met. He said “Hi, I am Zachary.” He was really cute. He tried to imitate us.

On Saturday, we went up to Bogor. Jerome’s boss, Paul and Stephanie, invited us to come to their rented-villa in Desa Cilember. Nice villa, the building seems like dutch-style building with old-antique furnitures. It had three big beautiful bedrooms with big bathrooms. There was outdoor-swimming pool with beautiful views (rice-paddy fields, villager houses, and river). Of course with fresh air, no pollution. Hm … unfortunately we forgot to bring our camera, we can not show you how beautiful that place.

Except us, Tom and his dog (Hurley) also came and they stayed overnight. Then, we spent our time chatting, lunch outside, swimming, playing with kids and hurley, and playing billiard. Zach and Lawrence (Paul and Stephanie’s son) was very good when they played together. They shared the toys. Zach was really like the pool (read : billiard), he tried to play it but the stick was very big for him so he just played with the balls.

In the late of afternoon we decided to go back to Jakarta. During our way back to Jakarta, Courtney called us. He just got back from Canada and Yogyakarta and wanted to get together on Sunday but fortunately we got an information from him that Maggie was going back to Toronto on Sunday morning. So we decided to have dinner with them, at least for saying good-bye to Maggie. We picked them up and then we went to Plaza Indonesia. We decided to eat sushi at Sushi Tei Restaurant. We instantly finished all the foods, maybe because we all were hungry. At 9.30 pm, we decided to go home and of course we wish Maggie with good luck for her future in Canada. Seemed that she was little bit nervous for going back to Canada. Anyway, good luck Maggie for your new lives in Canada and hopefully can see you in January next year when we visit our family in Toronto.

On Sunday, we woke up very late, at 9 am!. Then we had our breakfast and afterward just hanging around in the house. I read my book (Petir by Dee), Jerome played his new game in his new work laptop, and Zach played with his dinosaur toys. At 2 pm, Courtney came and then they (Courtney, Jerome and Zach) went swimming at downstair. I just read a TEMPO magazine when they were swimming. Then we had a chat while Zach was still swimming by his self. We stayed at the pool for 2.5 hours.

And then, Jerome and Courtney went to the Darmawangsa Squire to buy our weekly necessities and get our dinner. Meanwhile, Zach had his early dinner before he went sleep. After his dinner, Zach immediately fell asleep. He slept through the night.

Jerome and Courtney bought special beers (I can not remember the brand). They drank it during the dinner. After dinner, we just had a chat about games, work, and our friends. Courtney left our house around 10 pm. After he left, I watched Oprah show. It was about Jon Steward, the host of Daily Show. He is very cuteeeeeee and funny.

That was a story about our weekend. Very tired but fun!

Galuh, 8 August 2005 at 5 pm

What Could We Do If Peace Become A Reality In Aceh?

2005-08-03T17:07:00.000+07:00

This is certainly very interesting question.

This morning, I got an email from my boss which tittled the question above. He mentioned that his email was a brainstorming and an invitation to have internal discussion about programming angles should the Helsinky-talks peace arrangement materialized in Aceh. Of course, those brainstormings and discussions should be related with our current and potential future programmes in Aceh.

One of the impacts if the Helsinky-talks provide an successfully agreement between GAM (Freedom Aceh Movement) and GoI (Government of Indonesia) with whatever requirements that agreed by both sides, then there is going to be a return or reintegration of GAM (Freedom Aceh Movement) members into their original communities. Personally, I thought that reintegrating ex-GAM in communities could have two possibilities, create a peace or create another forms of disputes in Aceh. Of course, we hope that it will create a peace in Aceh. But as my collegue said (and I agreed with him), there are certainly many cases (in other parts of the world) where fighters returning to their previous communities after the formal cessation of conflict had a hard time reintegrating into the community. There have been bad disputes over land and livelihoods, and conflicts related to desired for revenge and lack-of-education among the fighters, etc. For Aceh that still has to face the impacts of tsunami disaster on 26 December 2004, those matters could be even more difficult to address where land and livelihood issues are already problematic and the social fabric is already torn.

For all NGOs in Aceh, specifically us, should start to think how we will anticipate those situations from now, how is our position to respond or be prepared better. A lot of questions came up from my collegues and me : What will happen at the communities if the return and reintegration happens? How will that effect our programs? Our strategies/methodologies certainly has to be adapted so that we can be inclusive and can accommodate the participation of ex-GAM members in whatever ways we do? Do we have a realistic sense of how many GAM members are living outside their communities and may return? Mostly GAM members are young men, if it is correct, how much will this add to the gender imbalance created by the tsunami?What impact will any change in systems/processes of local governance have on our projects? And so on .. so on … still so many questions that I can not write it down in this blog.

We (my colleagues and I) do not know all the answers yet, but at least we are aware with all those questions and should keep this kind of dialogues continue. We need to respond and adapt.

And for all of you who read this posting, welcome if you have any inputs/comments/questions to respond the question as tittled of this posting. I am excitedly waiting for all your responds.

Food for thought …..

Galuh, 3 August 2005 at 12.00
During my lunch time

My 21st Weeks Belly Versus Bikini

2005-07-15T14:37:00.000+07:00

When we were on the island of Lombok, Jerome took few pictures of me in bikini. He wanted to show me how big my belly now. I think he just realized when saw me in bikini. He kept saying "Wow your belly is very big now, Sayang!"

My pregnancy was 21st weeks at that time and I felt that my belly was not too big eventhough I realized that my weight had gained for 5kg. Even my bikini was still fit on me.

After you looked at three pictures above, is my belly very big?

Galuh, 15 July 2005

What is happening with Indonesia?

2005-07-13T20:29:00.000+07:00

When we flied to Lombok on 2nd of July 2005, I read about teachers, schools, ‘failing students’ in Jakarta Post on the plane. This news about the failure of students in the national examinations. This year, the Government of Indonesia (GoI) conducted a national examinations for the first time. One of the purpose was to measure the students’ competency through centralized national examinations. Most of failure students were surpraised for their result, even they cried.

My first expression was “what a crazy and stupid government”. Jerome said “Why are you very emotional about that?” I am sorry to say that I feel very disappointed with GoI now. My personal opinion was the GoI could start to set higher standards after all conditions are met. The conditions are including the competent and quality teachers, sufficient infrastructure and contextuality to local conditions.

Two days before we flied to Lombok, I read many news about how expensive the education costs in Indonesia now. Money is everything to get higher education. I thought this is crazy because only rich people can get higher education. I believe that poor people can not afford it, even for my father who is a civil servant will be not able to afford it (but fortunately his last kid was already in university now). I know that the higher education fee is one of the impact of regional decentralization. I know that regional decentralization is part of our democratization process but I feel why the poor people get more bad impacts on this process. The health problems (polio outbreaks, malnutritions), unemployments, poverty, and education problems are totally getting worse and drastically the rate is increase.

The government had promised that by increasing the price of gasoline, they will allocate the subsidize for health and education. In other word the GoI had commitment to the poor. But until now, our GoI can not prove its commitment.

I was more upset when I watched news in TV about the long queue in many gas stations in all provinces in Indonesia. Indonesia had no enough gasoline stocks. Wow its crazy! Indonesia has so many gasoline resources, how come we have no more stocks! I thought it must be “corruption!”. Then a question came up in my mind, Will Indonesia in worse crisis economic situation again like in 1965 and 1997? Should we do demonstration and provide our GoI with other Tritura like in 1965?

TRITURA or Tiga Tuntutan Rakyat (three community demands?) happened in 1965 which were concist of (1) disperse PKI or Indonesia Communist Association, (2) decrease the price of community necessities, and (3) return to UUD 1945 or the constitution 1945.

Well I can not write anymore to describe it. The last but not least, I can not see more poor-people suffering because of bad politics and corruptions. I am hoping that the situation will be better soon and the GoI can prove its commitment to the poor-people. GoI has to start in realizing their promises to its citizens. I am hoping that I will find the way how I can help those poor-people.

Galuh, 12 July 2005 at 23.00 PM
I still want to write more but I could not describe my feeling in words especially in English. I believe that if all of you often read or watch news about Indonesia, you can understand my feeling.

Is the Baby a Boy?

2005-07-12T07:02:00.000+07:00

Every monday in the first of the month, we go to see a doctor to do a routine check up for my pregnancy. Yesterday, we went to see our doctor. As usual, the queue was very long. We were there since 4.30 pm and got our turn at 8 pm. The hospital still use a traditional administration system, we even can not make appointment in advance.

Every month the doctor will do an ultrasound. Due to the condition of this country, we agree that we should do an ultrasound routinely for checking the baby's health. Yesterday, we asked the doctor to check the gender of the baby since my pregnancy is already 22 weeks now. And we found big testicles in the screen. Did it mean the baby will be a boy?

We were sorry to say that we both were a bit disappointed. Yeah, we were hoping that our second baby would be a girl since I am the only girl in my family and Jerome has only one sister, in addition we will feel "complete" if we have a girl. The doctor knew that we were bit disappointed because I said "Yeah, laki-laki lagi ya Dok?" (Is a boy again, Doc?) and he said "maybe I am wrong."

Our expectation for a baby girl has been getting higher because my pregnancy has been totally different than with Zach and most people often say "the baby will be a girl". Eventhough I never say yes or no to them, in my deepest heart I was hoping that their opinion would be true. I try to not expect too much and got a feeling since beginning that the baby will be a boy. But still I was feel a bit disappointed too yesterday.

Well that is a life. People can have many dreams or expectation but God will decide. At least, I will have 3 men in my life for taking care of me and will be the most beautiful woman in our family. I also think that at least Zach will have a friend at home. Now, I am only expecting that the baby will be born safely and healthy.

Galuh, 12 July 2005 at 6.30 am
Before go to the office