Lazy Days In Ipoh

Finally, I get some time at the computer. Its not that we have been extremely busy. Instead, this computer seems to be busy doing things that it shouldn't be doing and slowing everything else down. We've tried scanning if of viruses, defragmenting it, getting rid of those *.tmp files and lots of other things but I think we need to call in the professionals here. Its tolerable now but by tomorrow morning, I think it will be back to changing screens at the speed of snails again.

We haven't done all that much since arriving late Tuesday night. We've spent quite a bit of time at my maternal grandmother's house. She's got a swing in her garden and also a cute dog so there is a lot of attraction there for Aaron.

Aaron really loves animals at the moment. At least, he thinks he loves them but it has always been from a distance. So far, he has been watching the cats outside our Palembang gate, or the birds playing in the puddles, or more frequently, the animals from Disney's animation, The Jungle Book. He tries to get close to any stray dogs or cats we see in Palembang but we always stop him.

The dog in my grandmother's house, Sue, is nearly a year old and extremely playful. Aaron was shocked at first and still spends a lot of the time just watching from the safety of a chair with his legs tucked in but little by little, the two of them have been making friends. Sue seems very patient with him too.



This afternoon, I drove my mother to an old part of Ipoh. We were double parked outside so I waited in the car. Here is a photo of the shop she went in. Regular readers, doesn't it look very similar to some of the scenes from Palembang?



One of the first things my mother said on her first trip to Palembang was that it looked like Ipoh 50 years ago. Yet, I'm sure that a person from Palembang might feel that there are plenty of similarities right now.

I like that Ipoh still has many old areas and have always hoped that the city would refurbish the old buildings but it doesn't look like thats a priority at the moment.

Alright, I'm off to take a look at what all of you have been up to.

Heading to Ipoh, Malaysia

Today is one of those days that just drag on and on. Aaron and I are going back to Malaysia this afternoon but the flight isn't until 4.30pm. It used to be at 1pm, which was good - wake up, breakfast, play awhile, nap and then we're off. Today, he knows that we're going sometime in the afternoon but what exactly is the "afternoon" to a nearly three year old excited about getting on a plane?? Anyway, its 1.30pm now so we'll leave in an hour or so. Nearly there.

We're going back to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday. It is also going to be a celebration of my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. Can you imagine 60 years?? I'd like to say that they still walk hand in hand and whisper sweet nothings to each other but the truth is my grandmother is usually hanging on to her walking stick and my grandfather is quite deaf. They still make a very good looking couple though.

In a way, I'm glad the news articles on the swine flu have dropped significantly from a week ago. I know its still out there but I don't need to be reminded of it by five new articles each time I go to read the news.

I don't really want to think about the 1hr 30 mins I will be in an enclosed area with recycled air. I have two masks with me but can't decide if we will use it. I'm sure it will just make Aaron fiddle with his face more. Still thinking. Do I need to wipe down the trolley with my alcohol wipes? If I do that, I might as well do it for the seat, the windows, the tray table etc. And when we get to Kuala Lumpur, the Low Cost Carrier Terminal is so incredibly crowded. They have very few chairs so people are just standing, walking, sneezing and coughing around everywhere. Its like a crowded market. Alright then, I'm not going to get carried away....

So, I'm off now. Look out for posts from Ipoh, Malaysia over the next few days.

Reminders Of The Early Days

I saw a one month old baby yesterday. He was still tiny, pinkish and pretty much helpless. As I looked at him, I couldn't help realizing that I don't have any real memories of Aaron from that age. All I have is a general hazy idea of that period but no solid images of any particular moments in my mind. I felt a little sad for not burning things into my brain at the time. Instead, what I recall is nursing him about 20 times a day and then spending the remainder of that time trying to put him to sleep. Thank goodness I have hundreds of photos of those early, sleep deprived days.

The long ago time when he didn't move much.


We also met up with some friends who had a 13 month old. He's on the verge of taking those first few steps. I was carrying him for a little while and he pretty much leaned his body in every direction to get me to go wherever his little legs weren't taking him yet. I remember that age well and have many more vivid memories of Aaron. Thank goodness we were getting more sleep by then even though lots more hard work was around the corner.

First contact with grass.



And when I went to bed last night, I saw my own 32 month old who is no longer a baby. We are so far from that 1 month and even the 13 month old stage. Just like every other night, I like to go snuggle with Aaron for awhile. After all the early months, struggling to make him sleep (and keep him sleeping), I often find myself hoping that he will wake up. Some times I feel as if I wouldn't mind at all if he woke up at 11pm and wanted to go make a bridge with his legos. (Moms of those littler ones must think I'm crazy.) On nights that he does wake up, I'm happy to cuddle him to sleep again. During the day, I do look forward to his nap time but once I've had a bit of a break, I want him to be busy around the house again. By 11pm, we've usually been clear of him for about 4 hours and I guess I start to miss that noisy little boy.

I was chatting with John on Facebook a couple of days ago and he mentioned that going to the Prom (or its future equivalent for Aaron) will happen sooner than I think. I've got about 13 years left before that happens but I am sure he is right. He also has a very apt post today on the simple pleasures in life. I don't know why but recently, I keep wanting to have simple days with Aaron.

He can now help me weed.

Too Much Of A Good Thing

I've had an incredibly laid back Sunday. Including an early Mother's Day present - an afternoon off to pamper myself. Richard and another dad teamed up to look after the two little boys so that the other mom and I could spend 90 mins relaxing. We got head, shoulders, feet and hand massages (skipped the whole middle part of our bodies). I not only enjoyed the massage but the company. Another reminder of how lucky I feel to finally have found some friends here.

Anyway, after all that relaxing, I'm in a completely lazy mood now and taking a night off blogging.

See you all tomorrow.

Is It Ever Ok To Be Rude?

I try to be a polite person and I get extremely annoyed if I hear Richard being rude to anyone. He's actually extremely polite person but there is something about speaking in Indonesian that makes him come across as condescending and rude. I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean it. Anyway, it was only this morning that I was telling him about this. Then, it was my turn.

I think this post is before any of my regular readers started reading. Its all about our electricity woes here in this house. Recently, things have been getting worse and we often have 4 or 5 power trips each night. It seems to happen more at night than in the day time.

We finally called Palembang's power office and they sent somebody over to check things. The guy checked things out and tried to tell me we had too many appliances on and that we don't really get to use the full 2200W because some is lost on the way. He said some other stuff as well and started to pack up. He was going to leave!

In my limited Indonesian, I kept trying to ask him why things have been different recently with the 4 or 5 trips each night even though we have no new appliances and have even reduced the number of lights we turn on in the hope of stopping them.

This was when I think I might have offended him. I think I said something about paying free money because all the trips mean that I don't actually end up using any of the electricity. After that, he seemed to just ignore me.

The good thing is that he agreed to check outside as well. Maybe he was too lazy to do this in the first place:


With the aid of a rope, he scampered up and down there without his shirt or pants touching the rusty pole!

After he fiddled around, he announced that we now have additional voltage coming in. A whole 10 volts extra I think. Not the full amount to power 2200W worth of appliances but a little bit more.

I felt bad when the guy started ignoring me. I think he was offended. And I felt bad that I offended him because he's really just the technician working for the power company. I was irritated with trying to explain things to him but I think I could have been nicer. I still think he was trying to get out of doing some work but that was no reason for me to be rude.


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Four Less Teeth For The Perfect Smile

I'm running late today and I don't have a stash of cartoons to dig into like Bilbo does. Or even saved email jokes as Mike seems to have.

So instead, I have this link. Its about a petite politician who had her legs broken so that she could grow an additional 8cm. Obviously, it must have been extremely painful but 8cm sounds incredible. Initially, I thought her actions were drastic but then I remembered the two horrendous years I spent with braces.

What is the difference between having your legs broken and have four perfectly good teeth yanked out for the sake of a perfect smile? I don't know if they still do that but when I was 14 and my brother 12, we both had 4 teeth extracted. That day is forever burned into my mind. Those four teeth were SO HEALTHY that the dentist had to shake them back and forth endlessly. I could hear cracking sounds every so often and catch glimpses of what he was doing from the reflection in the light above.

So after all that, we had our teeth wired up - for more pain. Each month's visit to the orthodontist was excruciating. If anybody is in need of a torture technique, they should just put braces on a person, tighten it, and then force them to eat a big loaf of chewy stale bread. Not that our parents fed that to us but no matter what we ate, it hurt.

On top of that, I had to have the external head gear thing that wrapped around the back of the neck and hooked to the side teeth so that you couldn't close your mouth properly. There was no way I was going to wear that to school. And I mustn't forget to mention the clear plate (saliva collector) that I had to wear for six months after the braces came off.

Oh, I haven't mentioned that I didn't have crooked teeth in the first place. Just a mild (to me) overbite. I don't remember asking for the braces - must have been my parent's idea. Anyway, after all the suffering, I had a perfect smile, that people noticed, for about 5 years. And then two annoying teeth started to move. I believe its because I grind my teeth when I sleep. So now, instead of an overbite, I have almost perfectly straight teeth, except for the two rebels that are becoming more obvious as I age.

Its still good to smile. Lets all practice one now. :)

Threety Three Today

Its here. I'm officially thirty three. Richard gave me a surprise birthday party last Saturday - his first ever! And I was impressed. He arranged for a decoy to get us out and then the remaining friends gathered here in our house. I really enjoyed the afternoon and felt so blessed to finally have some friends here in Palembang.

Today is just like any other day except that I've been told I don't need to cook any of the meals. Great! Thats as good a birthday present as any.

Friends from all over the place have been sending birthday wishes today. One particular one sticks out. Somebody actually wrote "So, what does it feel like growing old?". First of all, I'm thirty three. And secondly, we live in the 21st century. That is NOT old.

But what have I got to show for my thirty three years? Plenty! I'm contented, in good health and have everything I need. I have a fantastic family. And, I don't have a boss (really hated having one!). I like where I'm at now.

I don't have much to show by way of material wealth or rungs climbed on the corporate ladder. However, as I was thinking about that today, one of the measures of what I've achieved is actually the fact that I can honestly say that I don't carry any envy or jealousy towards other people who have "made it". They worked for it, they got it and I am happy for them.

I am sure people sometimes see this as being unambitious but it is really all the comparing and "why-not-me" attitudes that make people lose sight of what they already have. Or even what their potential is. Of course I have ideas and plans for us but its going to be our own motivation that drives us and not a scramble to have what somebody else has.

Anyway, I'm going back to Aaron. The one thing I wanted to do today was have an extra special day with him. Thats my present to me.