That's "Mona"!

Alfie has been liking a piece of picture he tore out from Tempo magazine. The picture is supposed to show Jakarta's landmarks. He recognizes the distinctive Wisma BNI building and calls it "kanto Mama" (from 'kantor mama' - mama's office building). And there is another 'building' he likes to stare at. It's the national monument, Monas. We told him, the name's Monas, and he goes "Mona, mona".

We drove around last Saturday. When we were in Gambir area, suddenly Alfie shouted: "Mona! Mona!" -- he finally was aware that the thing in the picture exists tall and clear. So we stopped the car. And here he is, telling you all: THAT'S MONA!

From Alfie to Aunt Maria

This is Alfie congratulating aunt Maria Boerngen for her successful PhD defense. Congrats, Auntie!

What happened to Coffee Bean?

We used to love Coffee Bean. Now we're at one in Plasa Senayan. We're surprised that our favourite cesar salad is no longer good. The coffee tastes bad, and the tea is served without the bag... So we called a friend who used to work here. It turns out, she quit already. "I quit. Management is lousy now".

But I still like the cup.

Alfie's first picnic

I said I loved holidays and hated the government's take on them. This one's about the love part. It's even more special, because Alfie is involved.

We wanted to enjoy at least one of those many forced dayoffs. We had been quite concerned that the concept of animal Alfie had in mind seemed to be all about Barney the dinosaur and ants.

So we took him to Taman Safari. It turned out, he was amazed by elephants and giraffes and -- to my disappointment -- was less interested in tigers. (How could someone not love tigers?). Oh, there was one more thing he loved: frog. But that one he saw was a stuffed frog at the souvenirs store.

And here is the unintended consequence of the safari: Alfie now refuses to sit the back seat!

Embracing 2008

The end of the year is drawing near. We would like to do a little reflection. First of course, Alfie had his first birthday. It was quite a fun with families and friends to whom we owe thanks. As of today Alfie has made further progress. He's got 7 teeth and about 50 words -- 50 percent of which we are still trying to decode. His best friend is Barney and he enjoys tearing down books and newspapers -- his way of getting complete attention from Papa and Mama. Recently Alfie got a new cousin, Nadia. Alfie tried a school. He didn't like it much. Especially because the Misses there forced him to change 'Papa' to 'Daddy' and 'Mama' to 'Mommy'. He quit that school.

Anna and Aco didn't do too much traveling compared to 2006. But one was special, because they did it together, with Alfie too, who was so happy to meet with his cousins in Tokyo.

Other than that all, it's business as usual. Aco published one article at AJAE, wrote some other working papers, and set up a new blog with Dede Basri. He still has his love-hate relationship with Kompas daily. Anna's year seems more interesting. She got herself a new camera and has been busy collecting books and references on photography. She was offered a new job in an oil company but she decided to stay with her office, location being the prime consideration.

Hope next year will be fun, too. Happy new year, everybody.

Alfie and ballbath

Alfie's first modeling career

Here.

Upcoming and vanishing things (1)

Soon, USB ports/hubs will be available on walls everywhere. And very gradually, those power sockets with holes (the two or three holes) and the corresponding power plugs will vanish.

Posting from Gmail

This is a test. I'm posting from Gmail. See how it plays out.

Questions of the day

1. Why don't wedding parties in general here serve coffee?
2. Why did people invent wasabi?

Kidzania

This is so cool! Good place to teach your kids to become true capitalists...

Off to school

Alfie can't wait to go to school...

What Alfie does when mom and dad are teaching

Sometimes Anna and I have to teach on Saturdays. That's when Alfie enjoys walking around the campus.

Alfie said to Mbak Tary: "Do they people really need that beautiful pond with fountain? Is it because their library has all the good books needed by the students, already?"

Of course he didn't say that.

teaching discipline

At 12 month, Alfie is a very busy baby. He is very eager to explore things around him. I cannot stand his movements around the living room, touching and messing up with remote control, paper, pen, plug, cord, and cupboard.

So, one day, I punished him by putting him next to the fridge, letting him hold it as he cannot walk at that time. I told him: alfie, strap (or straff - in dutch). After 1-2 minutes enjoying the "straff", Alfie felt bored. He started to ask me to help him move (ie release him from the fridge). He almost cried as I didn't offer him my hand to support him walk. However, after 2 to 3 times of "straff", he now requested to be "straffed". He is willing to go to the fridge and hold it and say: strap. For him "straff" is a game.

Well, I need to think something else to teach him discipline.

Ramadhan Paradox?

Ramadhan, the fasting month, is coming. Unfortunately, there are some paradoxes that usually come with it – at least here, in the so-called largest muslim country. First, it is supposed to be peaceful, but that is the time where we see a few people destroy pubs, restaurants, and other places, in the name of religion. Second it is supposed to be a month of full self-control, but it is also the month where we notice some fasting people force everybody else to be in the same situation. As in “Look, I’m fasting, do not eat in front of me”.

And there is the third paradox. That is, the fact that inflation is always high in Ramadhan. We understand that prices go up in the months of non-harvest time, beginning-of-school time, and New Year’s. We also understand that right after the Ramadhan, people celebrate the Eid day with lots of food and new clothes and even new furniture. In the days of Ramadhan, mothers (and young fathers of the recent generation, if you like) cook lots of food. And then follows kolak and coconut water and martabak manis – many of these are absent in non-Ramadhan dinners at home. Nearing the end of the month, we observe a massive flow of people coming home: mudik. And traffic of SMS for Ramadhan greetings is so high; the networks are jammed many times. As result, most families end up with bigger expenditure in Ramadhan. Those in the supply side respond, too, of course. So, yes, finally prices go up quite significantly.

Sounds like there’s nothing wrong about it. Maybe no. But isn’t it strange that the main idea behind the fasting month is to restraint from consuming too much? Or at least, consume less than what you do in the other months? Or, as the sermon says, to experience the life of and therefore to empathize with the poor?

Happy Ramadhan, I wish you all. Maaf lahir batin.

Alfie is one y-o

Alfie, today's August 18 and that means you're one year old. Happy birthday. Thanks for being born and fun, for taking so much space in the bed, for the midnight wake up calls, and for making Dad always want to go home and to even cancel some of his trips. Happy growing, Son. But stay cute.

You can almost walk without help now. You have four teeth. You play with your toys and you can even demand your right to food and all. That's good, Son. You've got character already.

Sorry for sometimes being so busy when you ask me to play with you. But it's OK, you can tear down the new newspapers as you like (but not Dad's comics, please). You can play with the remote controls. You can even throw your mini black jeep to the door or hide Mom's stuff. Don't be shy.

Don't worry we're not gonna force you with all those 'teach-your-baby-how-to's now. You take your time, enjoy your toys, and study whenever you like. But when you can read later, don't rush into Mom's novels or Dad's non-fictions -- because they're probably boring to you. Dad still keeps his Winnetous for you -- the old Pradnja Paramita editions. But he will understand if by the time you can enjoy books, you prefer PlayStation or something like that. Just make us proud in your own way. You don't need to become economist like Dad or an accountant like Mom. Hey, professional painter or pianist sounds great, too. Or mathematician or computer scientist or sport columnist or whatever.

Again, happy birthday.

Bermain petak umpet

Tak terasa, hampir satu tahun usia Alfie. Tanggal 18 Agustus ini, dia akan merayakan ulang tahunnya yang pertama. Ditinjau dari tumbuh kembang bayi seusianya, Alfie termasuk yang cukup maju. Ibaratnya, kalau kita kursus Bahasa Inggris, Alfie ada di tingkat Intermediate. Saat ini Alfie sudah menjadi anak yang sangat sosial, dia senang sekali bertegur sapa dengan orang tak dikenal yang ditemuinya di jalan, lift, mal, taman dan lain-lain. Padahal sebelumnya, Alfie sempat mengalami stranger anxiety pada usia 5 bulan. Dia mulai mengenali orang, hanya mau digendong dengan orang-orang yang sudah dia kenal dekat. Begitu ada orang asing yang mendekat dan ingin menggendongnya, dia langsung menangis sekeras-kerasnya. Namun, lambat laun dia mulai beradaptasi dengan semakin seringnya dia berinteraksi dengan orang-orang di sekitarnya.

Pada usianya yang ke 8 bulan, Alfie sudah bisa duduk sendiri, menendang bola dengan tepat, mengejar dan melemparnya. Kesenangannya akan bola semakin menjadi-jadi sejak pertandingan piala AFC disiarkan di televisi. Alfie suka menonton pertandingan bola. Dia bisa ikut merasakan irama pertandingan dengan bertepuk tangan pada saat gol atau hampir gol, berteriak-teriak saat sedang seru dan ikut memeragakan tendangan dengan kakinya. Sampai-sampai lebih seru menonton Alfie yang sedang menonton bola daripada pertandingannya sendiri.

Sebulan terakhir ini sejak Alfie sedang giat-giatnya belajar berjalan. Sekarang dia sudah berani melangkah sendiri, walau cuma 3-4 langkah, kemudian mulai tidak seimbang dan oleng, dan terjatuh akhirnya.. Beberapa minggu ini, kita sering mengajak Alfie bermain petak umpet, atau tepatnya, mengajar Alfie bermain petak umpet. Bermula dari mulai kolokannya Alfie sama sang mama, setiap kali melihat mamanya menghilang atau keluar ruangan, dia mulai menangis. Maka, kita menyiasatinya dengan bermain ‘cari mama’ yang kemudian berkembang menjadi ‘petak umpet’ versi Alfie. Ternyata menanamkan suatu konsep permainan kepada bayi 11 bulan tidaklah mudah. Beberapa kali kita coba, sampai saat ini dia belum mengerti juga konsep “gantian”. Begini maksudnya, setiap bermain petak umpet dengan Alfie, dia selalu paling senang sebagai yang mencari. Dia mengerti, bahwa dia harus mencari orang yang bersembunyi, dan selama ini dia selalu berhasil ‘menemukan’ kita yang bersembunyi. Dia senang sekali begitu berhasil ‘menemukan’ kita. Nah, biasanya, setelah kita berhasil ‘ditemukan’, kita menyuruh Alfie untuk bersembunyi (gantian). Awalnya, dia tidak mengerti, dia kekeh mau mencari lagi. Setelah beberapa kali bermain, dia mulai mengerti, dan mulailah dia bersembunyi (tentu saja masih dengan di-titah sama pengasuhnya). Tapi, dasar bayi, dia tidak tahan untuk menunggu. Selagi kita pura-pura mencari Alfie yang sembunyi, tiba-tiba dia menongolkan muka dan badannya dari persembunyian dan dia yang berteriak-teriak, seakan-akan dia yang menemukan, hahaha, lucunya.

Privacy

Privacy is some complicated concept, as it turns out. Anna and I were running on treadmill this morning. As usual, she set her TV to BBC and I to MTV (then V-channel then F-channel then MTV again then V-channel again -- OK, I am an easily bored person). We had learned that the earphones provided by the gym were lousy: the noise level was comparable to that of 70s made. I guess that is the reason why only one or two persons use them. The solution should be trivial, maybe: bring your own Bose QuiteComfort! Well, we don't have one, of course. So, we, just like other people, had to listen directly to the TV speaker. We were cautious, though, that the sound might annoy other gym users. So we tried to set the volume as low as possible, while still hearable. (At other time, when closed captioning is available, we prefer to just read it, set the volume to zero, and be free from guilt of annoying anybody -- who needs volume and caption when Kelly Ripa is on air?).

But today. There was this one man who was really annoying. Apparently he was a new member. He was on the treadmill right to the left of Anna -- who was on my left. And he set his TV to ESPN and set the volume so loud -- so loud you could hear it from the entrance. My goodness. Unfortunately, he seemed to have had his guilt nerve cut somewhere, so no matter how people stared at him with a 'dude-turn-that-down-please!' look, he did not care. Anna hypothesized that the guy might be a) technology illterate, b) deaf, or c) mannerless. Then we saw him switching channels, so option 'a' was out. Then he responded to a trainer who greeted him, so option 'b' was also out. We concluded, therefore, he was just another mannerless person in the world.

But then, fitness center is a public place, you say? Not really. (Economist will call it a club good, since members should pay some fee). And, how do you ask for privacy while you yourself is at the margin of intruding other people's privacy? Most importantly, what is 'privacy' anyway?

Well, it is complicated.

But Alfie seemed to understand. He demanded his own, while we were in Tokyo...

Father and Son

Alfie and Bernard