Cheesy Kartini's Day

It was the first time I had to travel and left Alfie at home. I couldn’t find excuse anymore; my HR had been questioning me after I rescheduled the mandatory training four times. So, last Sunday I flew to London.

Being away from home, I started to become melancholic. It was a totally different feeling from what I had expected. I had never been to London and was eager to come and pay a visit to Buckingham Palace, British Museum, Shakespeare’s Corner, etc. I love traveling, and am always looking forward to it. But this time, I could not wait to be home. Life has changed.

Apart from attending the boring training, I used my five days and nights isolated in Milton Keynes for contemplating. Back then, I used to underestimate career women who were married and had children. When it came to me, I realized that it was not easy to be the good one, and too bad some people took it for granted.

Agree or not, a working mom is a good example of a manager; she has to manage her family, her career, her husband as well as herself. To those who spend lots of money attending seminar or motivational session to become a great manager, you’d rather save your money.

On the day I left home, some Indonesian women were enthusiastically celebrating Kartini’s day by wearing traditional outfit - kebaya is one popular example. I couldn’t help laughing seeing waitresses, bank tellers, teachers, sales girls, and others trying very hard to even walk normally in that outfit. It was just too much -- and too far from what a (working) mom means.

locally single

while anna is in london, i spend my nights reading. well at least, that was my plan. i've got lots of books piling up -- most of which i hadn't had time to read. but i guess the plan was too ambitious.

yes, i finished my haruki murakami's "norwegian wood" and "kafka on the shore" in toilet. interesting novels. and i started that biography of ayn rand, a used book i got from aksara couple of days ago. but then, distraction, distraction. this teaching thing, i have to re-read many textbooks also. so i ended up switching back and forth between scarth's "macroeconomics", branden's "the passion of ayn rand", mankiw's "macroeconmics", and some classics: north on intitutional economics and coase on economists.

and the music. recently i've been listening intensively to french classics. satie and ravel being the most. i guess the reason why i love these french guys more than the germans is because they're more subtle, more impressionistic, more, well, free and jazzy.

but of course the greatest joy is still alfie. he now understands what i say. ask him where an ant is, and he will look down at the floor trying to spot it. or, say lamp and gekko, and he'll look up toward the ceiling.

today i have to go to mothercare, i guess. alfie is running out of his cream.

anna, alfie says "cikecakeci" back to you.

Alfie - 8 month

Even though Alfie is having a cold and runny nose, his smile is still very charming. By 6 month he can sit without support. Now he is mastering new skill: bumping on his feet and playing football. He can also crawl and say 'mama'. He hates instant food, ants, and any kind of formula.

Back to Sanity

Since we moved to the apartment, we hadn’t had time to subscribe to cable TV until last weekend. After more than a month, switching from one to another local channel, we have been driven away from sanity. Welcome back NG, Discovery, AXN, and friends :)

The Piano

Anna has a piano at her parents’ home. No one has played it for a long time -- even abandoned as Anna lived in Sidney back then. When she’s back in Jakarta, she’s busy with lots of traveling, never really has time to take care of the piano.

Until last week, this guy, who happens to know stuff about piano, paid a visit to Anna’s dad. And he somehow saw the poor, abandoned piano. He said he wanted to buy that thing. He mentioned his offer price – and it’s a big money. Knowing this, Anna decided not to sell it. Instead, we’re going to take it to a piano doctor, re-tune it, and give it a proper place in our home.

Sometimes you don’t realize the value of a thing until somebody else reveals it.

My teacher is an ant

Have you ever sung one song and before you know it, you have switched into another different song, just because they share common tones? It happens a lot to me. Especially these days when Anna asks me to sing for Alfie (not that I can sing -- far from that).

Like last night. I was out of playlist in my mind when I started to hum some Louis Armstrong's sweet jazzy old songs. But Anna protested, "No jazz, please -- he's a baby!". So I stopped and tried very hard to recall any children song. I came up with "Semut-Semut Kecil". I sang it:

semut-semut kecil
saya mau tanya
adakah kamu
di dalam tanah
punya mama papa

semua baktimu
akan kuukir
di dalam hatiku
s'bagai prasasti
t'rima kasihku
'tuk pengabdianmu...

Then I realized, I have just switched to another song! It became "Terpujilah" (or is that even the right title?). Alfie was not calmed down. Because I was laughing myself outloud. How come an ant became my ... teacher?

Alfie killed James Bond

For Tante Nitse.