Mailboxes in Palembang

Did I ever mention that the majority of houses here do not have mailboxes? Its true. (Bilbo, when your letters come, the mailman throws it in the same way the paperboy throws the morning papers.)

I've asked several people and nobody has given me a satisfactory answer yet as to why this is the case. One person mentioned that it is because the mail that people get is usually registered mail that needs to be signed for anyway. So, there is no need for a box.

As for things like the electricity and water bill, a guy comes in to read the meter and hands you the bill anyway. So, no use for a mailbox there either.

The good part to all this is that there is almost zero junk mail. Occasionally, I still get something like the latest Pizza Hut menu. The menu is put in a clear plastic sleeve. A piece of string is then tied to the sleeve so that the menu can be hung on the front gate of each house. (By the way, this is the same method that we have adopted to distribute our Toy Drive flyers. Lots of work!)

Alright, since I know a letter from Bilbo is on its way, perhaps I should try to do something like this:



I took the photo last January when we went to Pangkor Island and have been meaning to copy the idea ever since.

News and Young Children

So far, Aaron doesn't watch any normal TV at home. I play Wiggles, Thomas & Friends or other DVDs for him but thats it. And, whenever he's awake, we don't watch TV (except his DVDs). I'm not sure why I started off doing things this way but I am glad that he doesn't really know that there is so much more to the TV.

Recently, while waiting for me in the foyer area of the gym, he watched the news. And as you all know, this world is full of violence or disasters. The images were either of the dam that burst in Jakarta (killing 98), a bloody man in some war torn country or some other similarly disturbing image.

I'm glad I finished my workout when I did and he didn't watch all that much. Aaron is at the stage of processing images, stories and any conversation around him. I could see him trying to make sense of all the news clips but not quite understanding it. Its hard enough for him to watch any 'scary' scenes in Thomas let alone these real life ones.

I definitely don't want to coddle him or bubble wrap him. But, I'm not about to explain the news to him at this age either. We have our whole lives to be disturbed by the horrific crimes and unexplained sadness that the news often reports on.

Now all I need to do is figure out when and how to tell him about the big bad world. I'm sure there will be many instances where he 'accidentally' watches something and reality will slowly seep into his perfect world. I wonder how other parents deal with this.

Its all about happy endings at the moment. How much more time do I have to push this aside?

This Week's Foot Reflexology

It has been a busy couple of days over here. I'm finally making a move on the Toy Drive I mentioned three weeks ago.

We've also had some little visitors over for Aaron to play with. I get a little nervous when that happens but I know he's got to learn to socialize sooner or later.

And somewhere during the week, we must have come in contact with somebody with a cold because Aaron has picked up his second one in 3 weeks! Whats happening to his immunity?? Has this got anything to do with weaning?

Richard gave me a nice afternoon off by watching Aaron while I went for some relaxing foot reflexology. After what happened last week, I went to a different place today. At IDR 75,000 (USD 6.52), it is IDR 30,000 (USD 2.61) more expensive that the last place. These prices sound so cheap yet it is all professional and extremely relaxing. I'd go every day if Aaron was willing to sit quietly beside me and read or whatever.

The new place has a much wider range of massages and other pampering packages. Here are a few interesting points that I jotted down from their price list.

1) 4 day Beautiful Bride package costs USD104. Amongst the massages, facials, waxing and hair treatments, the package also offers "pelvic floor exercises" (which I always thought were internal exercises that only be done personally) and "intimacy care" whatever that means! I'm too much of a prude to ask....

2) They also have a 4 day Groom's package for USD87. This includes everything the bride gets, including pelvic floor exercises but not the "intimacy care".

3) And finally, there was the Post-Maternity Package (6 days). I forgot to write the price down but I think it was much more expensive at around USD350. Now here, they will give you "Back re-education" and "Pelvic Preneal or Uro-gynocological re-education". I copied it down exactly! I think the "preneal" was meant to be "perineal". What exactly do they do?? LOL!

I asked for the book with their price list and was reading through it while the lady was massaging my feet. After I got over the giggling and smiling while I studied their packages, I got out my pen and paper so that I wouldn't forget. I liked the therapist, very professional. She would discreetly look at what I was doing but never said anything. Unlike last week's chatterboxes!

*sigh* Its been a good afternoon. I hope you all had a relaxing weekend too.

When the boss is in town....

Richard's bosses are in town. I hate it when that happens. It means that Richard is away for lunch and dinner and we only get to meet up in the mornings before he leaves for work.

From the little I hear, the mornings at work are full of talk about how the doom and gloom of the current world economy is going to impact the business.

Yet, each night is filled with expensive dinners, more expensive karaoke sessions (with accompanying girls) and then 1am forays into the local discos. I find it odd to use the word 'disco' but thats what they call it here.

The bosses are in town with some suppliers. So, they don't need to pay a cent. In fact, they take full advantage of the fact that somebody else is obliged to pick up the bill for everything. Food, girls, multiple bottles of whisky per night....I'm sure all this is eventually billed back to the bosses through expensive spare parts!

I don't care. I'm just ranting. I know Richard doesn't care for any of this either but he's obligated to join in. Supposedly he hates their visits as much as I do (I wonder...)

His bosses are both in their 40s. Both with several kids at home. They behave as if they have been let out of prison! I usually refrain from commenting on people's body size but Richard's boss is one extremely rotund person with a matching bowl haircut. So imagine the middle aged, rotund man with bangs, prancing into the disco after midnight. He makes it sound as if his home life is so horrible that he mustn't waste a single second asleep when he is on business trips (which is something like 2 out of every 4 weeks). Sleeping can be done at home.

OK then, its time to make dinner for one and a half.

Exercise DVDs and Me

Years and years ago, my mother (or was it my father?) bought a Jane Fonda workout video. I remember the first time that the video was played, the whole family joined in. My parents must have been in their 30s (perhaps just a little older than I am now), my brother around 7 years old and I was around 9 years old. I remember thinking that it was something fun to do.

When we moved from Ipoh, Malaysia to Brisbane, Australia, that video moved too. In my teens, a chubby me would dig that video out on occasion and slog away to it in the summer heat. I hated it! And it didn't work anyway.

Then came the years of joining a gym and going to group fitness classes. I loved that. Really really enjoyed it. But, that all came to a screeching halt when I moved back to Malaysia after graduation. I did join a gym but it wasn't very well equipped and there weren't really any good classes. So, I went back to exercise DVDs.

Group exercise to a DVD to be precise :). We got a few friends together, used the empty aerobics room at the gym, and played the DVD there. Its a bit pathetic when you think about it but the little group we had was disciplined. We were there almost everyday after work. And I felt that the DVDs did a good job on me.

When I moved to Klang (another city in Malaysia), there was no more gym. So, it was just me and my library of exercise DVDs. When I got pregnant, one of the first things I did was jump on to Amazon.com and ordered myself some pre-natal ones.

Why am I blogging about this today? I don't know. After a two and a half year break from those DVDs (after Aaron was born), I dusted them off last week. We've met up regularly since then and I'm enjoying it. Yes, it looks like we're best friends again. So far, I've been doing the Yoga ones. DVDs in the morning, gym in the afternoon.

(I can't believe I'm nearly the same age as my parents were when they bought that Jane Fonda Video!)

Timber!

There was a scene outside our house this morning that reminded me of the old Looney Tunes cartoons where an axe wielding man would yell out "TIMBER!" and then you see a tree fall side ways.

The neighbor is clearing all the trees from his garden. Unfortunately, this means no more shade on our side!

They called in the same guy that we had called in to fix our roof. Anyway, he shows up with the helmet he wears when he rides his motorbike and his parang.

First, he climbed and cleared all the branches away. He did all that alone, without even a ladder. His friend just watched this initial part. No good pictures there because of all the branches obviously!

After that, he started working on the tree trunk.



Here, you can see the other man holding on to some rope that is used to pull the top part of the tree down once its been chopped enough.



If you look in the middle of the photo, you can see the top part of the tree on its way down.



Its not that I've never watched a tree being lopped down before. But all those other times, it usually involves 3 men, one of those cherry picker machines, and a chain saw.

This is one of the things I like about living here. You never know what you might see just looking out your window!

Famous Sate Soepardi

We've finally tried the famous satay restaurant in Palembang. Well, "sate" as the locals call it. In Malaysia, we call it "satay" but its pronounced the same way.

According to Wikipedia, sate may have originated in Indonesia. However, I see a lot more of it in Malaysia than here. In any case, several people we know in Palembang have raved about this particular restaurant but it has taken us 2 years to give it a go.

Maybe I had some unrealistic expectations after hearing so many good things about it because I'm not raving about the place yet. Richard and Aaron seemed to enjoy it but, while it was good, it didn't seem particularly special to me. I'll have to try it again since my expectations have now been lowered to a more reasonable level. I hate that about myself. I'm always building up my expectations on things.