Alfie's first performance

Happy new year everyone!

... And Alfie makes the headstart

Alwyn can't wait for the holiday season

Smoke gets in presentation

How often do you give a talk where at the same time is allowed to smoke? The last time I saw that happened was in a movie about Indonesian revolution. Today I find this ashtray sitting so nicely next to the microphone. Luckily the topic today has nothing to do with clean environment or climate change and all that...

Bumpy ride

"Hey, look, there's another hole!... Papa, why do we have so many holes on the street?"
"Because we're developing, Son. Holes are good sign"
"But why do they dig it again after they fix it, the street?"
"Ergh, because we're learning how to develop, Son. It's all trial and error..."

Mie ain't no food, Bu

"I think it's time now for Alfie to eat, Bu"

"Er, but he just ate mie. A bowl of noodle, all by himself"

"No, Bu, mie ain't no food, Bu... Alfie has to eat nasi, Bu. Now, that is food, rice..."

He's cool, she's hot

"Papa, what's cool really mean? And what's hot?"
"Ugh 'sejuk' and 'panas'..."
"That's what I thought. That's what my teachers say, too"
"So what's the problem?"
"This dude of mine. Whatever I do great stuff -- rolling, jumping and all -- he goes: you're 'cool', man... And one day I overheard Mr. X said to Ms. Y that Ms. Y is 'hot'..."
"Oh, I see. There's something called slang. Both 'cool' and 'hot' can mean good or great"
"That's confusing"
"I know"

Hi

Alwyn, 3 months, 7.7 kgs, 70 cms

Nursing corner

Further to the post below. Here is their "nursing room". Don't expect too much. It is actually NOT a room. It is a cubicle with wooden wall and two office chairs behind it! Have you been to the nursing room in Plasa Senayan or PIM? This one here is nowhere near it. Isn't it ironic that you have better nursing room in shopping malls than in hospitals?

And this is the best mother and baby hospital in town!

Stinky hospital

We love this hospital, mostly because it is close by and it has good doctors. But this morning it stinks. As we entered the clinic, we immediately sensed a really bad smell. Obviously somebody just threw up. It's a scent of puke all over. Some visitors were covering their nose. Of course we asked the nurses what had happened (surely it's a puke) and why they had not tried getting rid of the smell (which is very easy; if they wanted to). But this is their response: "Smell? What smell?" Can you believe it? As I'm writing this the smell is still bothering.

And this is the best mother and baby hospital in town!

Good boy don't cry

Alfie has been picking up words and words. He is now able to construct them into meaningful sentences, albeit imperfectly. One thing needs more improvement is his associating English sentences used by his teachers with their true meaning. Apparently context is much more important (or probably easier to comprehend) to a toddler, regardless of the lexicographic meaning, i.e. text attached.

So for example, Alfie's understanding of "good boy don't cry" is "throw it into the trash bin". I notice, whenever we ask him to throw stuff into the bin, he goes "Good boy don't cry". As it turns out, at his school, when anybody (mostly boys) happens to cry, the teacher pulls out tissue paper, wipes his tears, and asks him to throw the tissue paper into the bin. In so doing, she keeps saying (presumably in the attempt to calm down the boy): Good boy don't cry.

Isn't language amazing?

Driving in Jakarta

"Papa, why do we always have this heavy traffic jam?"
"Because this is Jakarta. It's supposed to be busy, crowded and noisy"
"I see. Look, you told me red means stop, but why are those motorists crossing it?"
"They're color-blinded"
"And what's with all this honking?"
"We do that. We're friendly"
"Papa, I love Jakarta"

Is Alfie an anomaly?

We'd been worried that Alfie would show his rejection and jealousy in welcoming his younger brother. Every parents that we met always told us and reminded to 'watch out the big brother' or he would hit or do harmful things to his younger brother, out of jealousy. The fact is, Alfie just loves his brother so much. He actually helps me taking care of Alwyn. "Mom, Alwyn is crying, go nurse him" is just an example.

Today, we just found out another anomaly. We had to take a new nanny for him yesterday. His nanny, who had been taking care of him since he was baby, now changed to taking care of Alwyn -- she is an expert of newborn babies; so we needed a replacement for the now-toddler Alfie. So there we were, picking up the new nanny. Again, we were quite anxious. People had been telling us that toddlers would not let go of their nannies easily. As it turned out, we needed not to be that anxious. It took Alfie only two hours to like her new nanny! We were so relieved...

As I'm writing this the two boys are sleeping already. I thank Alfie for being such a nice boy...

Overthonged Spidey

"Papa, why is Spidey's underwear outside?"
"Ugh, because it is what superheroes do..."
"I want to be a superhero. Can I wear my underwear like that"
"No, not until you can fly"
"Hey, in that case, it wouldn't hurt if I let Spidey wear mine as well, would it? After all, he is a superhero"
"..."

Hulk and Alfie

Alfie's new buddy, The Incredible Hulk

Vulgar Bahasa or Bahasa Vulgar, whatever

I know we have taken this for granted since long time ago. We say "banjir kanal" while what we mean is "kanal banjir" or flood channel (or better yet "saluran air" or water channel). We all know that the right Bahasa Indonesia structure follows noun-adjective or noun-adverb order like that of French and unlike that of English. But of course we have violated this here and there. We see people selling "pisang goreng" or fried banana but the sign on the cart says "goreng pisang".

I guess I shouldn't care too much either.

Baby Barack

The New York Times reported that there has been an increasing number of babies named Barack, after the president elect.

It reminds me of an email from Neil McCulloch over at Sussex some time ago. "How are the boys? Since you name your kids after great economists -- Alfie Marshall and Alwyn Young; would the third be Paul?" The email came a week after Krugman got his Nobel.

Actually I've been thinking of Armand -- after Armen Alchian.

But of course Anna says enough is enough.

Don't underestimate kids

We've been irritated by Alfie's new hobby: fridge inspection. Too bad our fridge comes without lock key. Every now and then Alfie opens the refrigerator and takes stuff out or simply reorganizes the things inside, the way he likes it.

So I came up with this brilliant idea. Put a security mechanism on the door. I bought one of those Japanese made household thingies. Then I put it on.

And it took only 5 minutes for Alfie to figure out how to get around the system. Now, instead of a lock he sees it as yet another new toy...

Greetings from Bogor

Papa, will they destroy this statue? You know I heard they just passed a law that prohibits things like this?

The Gas Chamber

This is actually a class room. It so happened the uni got some funding from State Gas Company. As a token of appreciation, the room is named "Ruang Gas Negara" or literally "state gas room". Which always reminds me of gas chamber in those stories about Auschwitchz...