i just turned 38 last Friday, hopefully getting wiser though.
thank you so much for sending me the birthday’ wishes, a very thoughtful of you :
to you, who flew from overseas all the way to hanoi to comfort me and celebrate my birthday few days in advance with the birthday present that made my jaw dropped and the cute birthday dinner. dan ibadah jamaah bersamanya.
to you, who managed to send the wish just few seconds after midnight through yahoo messenger.
to you and you, who sent text messages few minutes also after midnight and during sahur time.
to my daughter, your hugs and kisses in the morning …. were unspeakable.
to all of you, whom conveyed the birthday’ wishes through text messages, yahoo messenger, facebook, friendster, multiply, and internations.
to all of you, who called me from overseas.
to you, who managed to come for an interesting powerful morning chit-chat with flowers.
to all of you, for sending me so many birthday cards and beautiful flower bouquets which make me like an instant flower shop owner - it’s like a dream comes true.
to you, who came for afternoon coffee at my place with gorgeous crystal gift.
to you, who came with buckets of ice cream, your smiles and usual warmth laughs made my apartment alive at early evening.
and…. to you, yes… to you who sent belated birthday’s wish via email.
it’s been over a month i am here in manado. cemara is still having another 2 weeks holiday. she has obtained an open water diving course from euro divers. thanks a zillion to pak moel, for all your assistance! some of her underwater photos (courtesy of pak moel) could be found on my flickr.
i salute cemara for learning how to dive ! now she could do one thing that both of her parents could not do, diving. keep on rocking girl !
how’s the holiday ? it’s been great. blue sky, white cotton clouds, sea breeze, warm sands, good food to name a few. i could not ask for more. holiday is also the best time for me to read books.
just finished eat, pray, love by elizabeth gilbert, thanks for the memories by cecelia ahern (the author of p.s. i love you) and i managed to get divortiare by ika natassa from gramedia in here. i highly recommend the last book ! ika, thank you for sending the extended version. can’t wait for your 3rd book. the next one awaits : the beach house by jane green.
oh.. let me tell you, do you want to know the bad thing about the holiday? i am loosing my photography interest. hiks….
A snap shot during less than an hour stopped at Langoan Market on my recent trip to Manado, last February. I wander how the ducks will be cooked. Especially to know whether it will be cooked in Manado way of cooking style. Perhaps, it won’t be roasted like the Chinese style of Peking Duck, where there is a process of pumped up the air underneath their skin.
I joined Anzac Day 2008 Golf Tournament held by Australian Embassy at Chi Linh Star Golf and Country Club on 25th April and managed to come out to be a Ladies Winner !
The time that I invested by practicing at the driving range in between the daily routines of cooking, baking and other house chores is slightly paid off with the glass trophy seen above.
Public holidays will start tomorrow in Vietnam (30th April is Victory Day in here) while the 1st of May would be a holiday every where due to Labour Day. I will take these 2 days holiday in a slow phase this time, no golf, stay at home, perhaps watch a piling up DVDs, bake and eat nice home cooking dishes.
keterangan photo: (dokumen pribadi) nama : nani tingkat kenakalan : di atas batas maksimum tingkat keingintahuan : nyaris merengut nyawa minuman favorit : air, sesekali kopi dan red wine buah favorit : mangga mainan favorit : bola pimpong dan apa saja yang berbulu-bulu tempat bobo favorit : dimana saja yang penting empuk gemar main air : sangat kegiatan yang sedang ditekuni : nonton kegiatan memasak di dapur
Sudah satu tahun tinggal di Hanoi. Belum pernah juga nonton film di bioskop. Mau tunggu film drama bagus berkualitas berikutnya. Untuk rekam dengan seksama rasanya duduk di dalam bioskop lagi.
* Photo taken in front of a local cinema at Heho Market. Ticket price was Kyats 400 or ~ Rp. 3,000. Central Myanmar - January 2007.
Hari ini : Earth Day. Ingin berpartisipasi? Banyak hal yang bisa dilakukan. Ada banyak kampanye juga di TV tentang hari ini. Salah satu iklan yang paling menohok saya pribadi : matikan keran air ketika menggosok gigi.
For year(s), I let the water run while brushing my teeth.
Jaman kecil dulu, sekali-sekali suka menginap di rumah sepupu di Jalan Kantor Batu (Bogor). Menu makan malamnya suka ditambah ayam goreng Sukabumi. Belinya di Jembatan Merah dekat pasar Mantarena.
Sepertinya hawa kangen tanah air kembali mendera. * Picture taken at Heho Market. Central Myanmar. January 2007.
Melihat tumpukan batu batere dengan warna menyala ini mengingatkan akan konter battery Eveready di Pekan Raya Jakarta di era tahun 70′an. Jamannya Pekan Raya Jakarta masih di Monas. Masih ada Taman Ria Monas juga. Arrrghhh… jadi pingin gulali dalam plastik warna merah muda moronyoi.
For me, Taman Ria = gulali.
* Picture taken at Heho Market. Central Myanmar. January 2007.
Kangen sama coklat wafer yang suka ada di dalam kotak biskuit kalengan. Biasanya terbungkus plastik, untuk membukanya ada tali pita yang harus ditarik, terbuat dari plastik berwarna merah marun. Bicara wafer, jadi kepingin coklat Superman juga deh tuh. Hu..hu..hu..
* Picture taken at Nyaung Shwe Market. Central Myanmar - January 2007. During photo hunting with Bona and Ferdy. Bon, when are we going to go on the road again ?
Setiap lewat tukang minuman dingin di jalan, botol bening dengan cairan warna kopi susu selalu menyita perhatian. Lucunya yang ada di pikiran setiap melihat botol itu adalah ini. Begini kali ya kalau kepingin sesuatu yang tidak ada, jadi melihat sesuatu yang mirip yang terbayang ya yang tidak ada itu, seperti gerai Starbucks Coffee.
Masih dari hasil berburu foto Rabu kemarin - botol air susu kedelai pun terekam dengan jelas. Hei, botol Fanta lucu ya bentuknya seperti angka 8. Minum berwarna oranye mengingatkan minuman dengan jenis yang sama di jaman baheula, Green Spot!
Pertama kali lihat penjual ikan hias di Hanoi selalu janji di dalam hati, harus punya fotonya, harus punya fotonya. Karena cantik sekali dilihat ikan-ikannya dimasukan ke plastik - pokoknya mencuri perhatian. Sering sekali lihat ikan hias ini di atas sepeda di jalan, tapi ya itu kebetulan lagi tidak bawa kamera, kalau kebetulan bawa - hasilnya tidak memuaskan.
Jamannya masih jadi anak SD di sekolah ada mamang yang jual ikan hias juga, tapi di botol kaca. Ada juga ikan cupang yang diantara botolnya dibatasi kertas. Nanti kalau mudik Syl mau ke SD Mexico, jajan lagi di sekolah.
Perburuan foto hari Rabu kemarin memang mengasyikan - dan sepertinya sedang beruntung, mamang tukang hias lewat. Ikan hias, ikan hias . . .
Beberapa minggu terakhir ini di koran ada berita tentang wabah diare di beberapa wilayah sekitar Hanoi. Pemerintah menyatakan bahwa ada 16 kota yang sedang di bawah pengawasan ketat sejak diare epidemi menyerang kembali di awal bulan Maret. Pemerintah menganjurkan warganya untuk lebih memperhatikan tentang kebersihan, juga kepada para pedagang makanan kaki lima.
Apakah makanan kaki lima Vietnam jorok ? Ya, tergantung siapa yang melihat. Untuk para Westerner tentu saja standar kebersihannya tidak bisa diterima oleh kamusnya. Arrrggghh…. jadi kangen jajan makanan kaki lima di Pasar Mayestik.
Foto diambil di tengah kegiatan berburu photo hari Rabu kemarin. Si ibu sang empunya barang-barang di atas ramah sekali, tersipu sambil terheran-heran kok ya, bakul piring-piring kotor mau difoto. ‘Saya mau coba rekam cahaya matahari yang jatuh di baskom coklatnya, Bu’.
If you notice it lately - Sony has a new advertisement on TV of their latest handy cam product. The whole ad is just so entertaining, hypnotizing, and makes me smile. Nge-gemesin judulnya lihat anak-anak di iklan ini dan kepala dijamin geleng-geleng terus lihatnya. Kids with their curiosities and energy, all the scenes are absolutely possible!
The ad simply brings back old sweet memories of Cemara. When she was 1 year old, she could catch the small fishes from the aquarium bowl and put them all on the carpet . You have grown, Darling . . .
I am wandering the lyric of the background song behind this advertisement - yes! I want to sing it. Don’t you want? Finally I found the lyric : (no guarantee of accuracy!)
Aleh Abu Nabu Kabuni Aleh Abu Nabu Kabuni
Ah Pongyoma Hey Bai Kondola Lika Pay Puka Yoo Pow Mau
Abi Pocky Pocky Lau Wika Bubuha Pika Pika Dika Day My Booni
Ah Pongyoma Hey Bai Kondola Lika Pei Puka Yoo Pow Pow
Abi Pocky Pocky La Yika Buhuda Pika Pika Dika Day My Booni
Ha Hoo Wadaleh Yana Nong Da La Ha Nana Heh Hakapu Gi
Da Shoogie Doogie Hey Wada Poom Bala Lika Wek Hakabo My Booni
Ah Pongyoma Hey Bai Kondola Lika Pei Puka Yoo Pow Pow
Abi Pocky Pocky La Yika Buhuda Pika Pika Dika Day My Booni
Ah Pongyoma Hey Bai Kondola Lika Pei Puka Yoo Pow Pow
