batik mania

I love batik since I was in high school... about 18 years ago. the love began when my family and I went for a trip accompanying my Dutch pen-friend, Tessa, to Yogyakarta. we went to many places there, and one of the most fun thing is to go to Beringharjo market. we hunt for old batik. I got a couple of batik long pants, batik shorts, and batik shirts. at that time there were no young ladies wearing batik. batik was considered 'old fashion'. only mbok and old grandmas wearing batik.

now, in year 2008, jakarta is flooded not only with water but also batik. you will find someone's wearing batik wherever you go. every store sells batik. on many occasions, the dress code will be batik. last week oma nina and I went to an exhibition at senayan. there were so many things to see from batik, embroidery, kids clothes, to comforter. but amazingly enough, the most packed kiosks were the antique batik ones. there were 3 kiosks packed with ladies hunting for batik. the sellers came from Beringharjo market. it was so smelly not because of the ladies, but the smell came from the antique batik:) I sneezed so many times. I got 2 throws and 1 king size comforter for only 400 thousand rupiahs. cool!

an angel at home

One day a baby was ready to be delivered to this world...

He asked his God: "All angels here told me that tomorrow You will send me to the world. But how could I survive? I am so weak and tiny..."
God replied: "I had chosen an angel for you. She will always love you forever, and take good care of you."
"But here in Heaven I sing and laugh all the time. I am happy."
"Well, your angel will sing and smile for you every single day so you will be a happy baby."
"How could I know what people say if I don't understand their language?"
"Your angel will talk to you with all her patience and kind attention. She will teach you how to talk."
"What should I do if I want to communicate with You?
"Your angel will teach you how to pray."
"I heard that there are so many bad guys on Earth. Who will protect me?"
"Your angel will protect you even it will harm her."
"But I am very sad because I wouldn't see You again."
"Your angel will tell you about Me. She will teach you how to get back to Me, although I will always be at your side."

It was very quiet in Heaven so the baby could hear voices from Earth. He asked: "God, if I have to go now, could You tell me what's the angel's name?"
God replied: "You will call her.... mama."

Always remember your mom's unconditional love. Pray for her. And... love her forever.....

malaikat di rumahmu

oma mawly sent me this message. it touches my heart. thank you so much, oma... I hope this message will remind me not to nag around too much :)


MALAIKAT DI RUMAHMU .....
Suatu hari seorang bayi siap untuk dilahirkan ke dunia. Dia bertanya kepada Tuhan :

"Para malaikat disini mengatakan bahwa besok Engkau akan mengirimku ke dunia, tetapi bagaimana cara saya hidup disana, saya begitu kecil dan lemah ?”
Dan Tuhan menjawab, "Saya telah memilih satu malaikat untukmu. Ia akan menjaga dan mengasihimu".
"Tapi disini, di dalam surga, apa yang pernah saya lakukan hanyalah bernyanyi dan tertawa. Ini sudah cukup bagi saya untuk berbahagia".
"Malaikatmu akan bernyanyi dan tersenyum untukmu setiap hari. Dan kamu akan merasakan kehangatan cintanya dan menjadi lebih berbahagia".
"Dan bagaimana saya bisa mengerti saat orang-orang berbicara kepadaku jika saya tidak mengerti bahasa mereka ?"
"Malaikatmu akan berbicara kepadamu dengan bahasa yang paling indah yang pernah kamu dengar; dan dengan penuh kesabaran dan perhatian, dia akan mengajarkan bagaimana cara kamu berbicara".
"Dan apa yang akan saya lakukan saat saya ingin berbicara kepadaMu ?"
"Malaikatmu akan mengajarkan bagaimana cara kamu berdoa".
"Saya mendengar bahwa di Bumi banyak orang jahat. Siapa yang akan melindungi saya ?"
"Malaikatmu akan melindungimu, walaupun hal tersebut mungkin dapat mengancam jiwanya".
"Tapi, saya pasti akan merasa sedih karena tidak melihatMu lagi".
"Malaikatmu akan menceritakan padamu tentang Saya, dan akan mengajarkan bagaimana agar kamu bisa kembali kepadaKu, walaupun sesungguhnya Aku akan selalu berada di sisimu".

Saat itu Surga begitu tenangnya sehingga suara dari Bumi dapat terdengar, dan sang anak bertanya perlahan, "Tuhan, jika saya harus pergi sekarang, bisakah Engkau memberitahuku nama malaikat tersebut ?"
"Kamu akan memanggil malaikatmu, ....... Ibu."

Ingatlah selalu kasih sayang ibu, berdoalah untuknya dan cintailah dia sepanjang masa.

back to garden

last week I was super duper busy cleaning up the house. the main point was I had to prepare kaka nina's room. he was moving to his own room! and he had a play date with with close friends by the end of last week. he has his own 'mario club' which made nina sad because she's not a part of the club.

now I am going back to my garden. I usually spend 3 hours there from 8 to 11am. so I guess my garden looks neat again. and... I picked plenty of 'daun ginseng' and stir-fried it with a lot of chillis. sooo yummy! when I ran out of food and I'm too lazy to do groceries I have this 'daun ginseng' menu.

'daun ginseng' is very easy to grow. I started plant it from buying the 'daun ginseng' from groceries store. instead of cooking it, I just planted it to the ground. within a couple of days the roots growing and in a couple of weeks I harvested this 'daun ginseng'.

school

lately, I involve in conversations about sending kids to good school. everyone off course has his or her opinion about definition of 'good school'. for not ambitious parent like me (meaning, I don't care about rank and grades), I like montessori or high/scope learning methode which I said they both use the same methode (but high/scope claim it has different methode from montessori). learning things need process. and each kid has his or her own pace. therefore, montessori and high/scope learning methode are considered slow to many ambitious parents.

we sent kaka nina to montessori school (for 4 years from toddler through kindergarten level) while we lived in los angeles, and since we moved to jakarta in 2005 we send nina and kaka nina to high/scope indonesia. so far I have no academic problem with kaka nina. he is in 3 grade now. and nina do well in preschool.

if I may compare montessori (M) and high/scope (HS)methode school with traditional (TR) school, some example such as:

1. M and HS students learn less subjects than TR students.
2. M and HS students do their assessment at school without any notice. While TR students has to learn days before assessment day come.
3. M and HS students don't have to do tons of homework. TR students have to do tons of homework everyday.
4. Parents of TR students are very stressful of their kids assessments. (I saw a lady write a summary for her son's social studies assessment... ehm... who's going to school? and who's suppose to learn how to summarize? it's your kid).

above of all, we have to send our kids to a school which is fit for our kids ability, and for our budget :)