Last Day of the Year 2009

It's the last day of 2009! 31 December 2009!
Gee...time flies....

Reviewing of what we have done and achieved this year.
Lots of things that I have learnt this year too.
We travelled a lot this year.

Benny had a new job, which brings us all around the world.
In February 2009, we visited USA. Visited San Francisco and Los Angeles.
In May - June 2009, we went to China. Nanjing, Suzhou, Dan Yang.
In September - November 2009, we went to United Kingdom.
We stayed there for 2 months, travelled around England.
Southampton, Leicester, Cambridge, Manchester, Nottingham, Land's End, Penzene,
Dartmore, Holly Hill, Swanick.

When we arrived England, the leaves on the tree were still green.
Then it turned into autumn, where the leaves turned into yellow and brown.
By the time we went back, the leaves have fallen off.

We witnessed the changes of season.
Lovely!

Timmy had developed his physical skills at England.
Coz we visited the playpark a lot and he played with his cousin Cynthia who is very active. hehehehe..

This year, Timmy moved to his new school, Pahoa.
I hope that he will become a better person.

Lastly, we moved to our new house few days ago. On 29 December 2009.
We love our new house and may this house be our house of love,
where love will blossom and grow for years to come...

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year 2010.

A Swim at Aquamarine Club

Yesterday, we went for our first swim at Aquamarine Club.

I love the fact that there are now a lot of people enjoying the facility.
More and more families are moving in, with lots of kids around.

Yeay! That means that Timmy will have lots of frinds to play and hang out with.

Last Day of School

This morning I told Timmy as he woke up that today will be his last day of school.
His first initial response was: "Horray!"

I was amused and amazed at his response.
Hey! Even a preschooler loves holiday.

Timmy's handphone ringtone

As Timmy was playing with his toys, he found his pretend handphone.
He started singing songs for his 'handphone' ringtone.
Each time he finished 1 song, he would press a button, for another ringtone,
then started singing a different type of song. hahahahaha..

I found it so cute!

His grandma was looking at him smiling.

After singing several songs, Timmy commented:
"I have so many ringtones on my handphone."

Aquamarine Club House

While I was waiting for Timmy the other day,
I visited the swimming pool at Aquamarine Club House.
The view is absolutely stunning.

Enjoyed myself for sometime there while reading Donald Duck. :))
hehehehehe...

Bookstore

I just looooveee bookstore.

Today, when I got a bad mood, I ended up being in a bookstore by myself.
And all those bad mood just vanished up into the air,
and gave me a realllly good feeling.........
Hmmmmmmmmmmm....Nice.

Bookstore is just great!

Timmy's conversation with his best friend, Delvin

Yesterday, I overheard Timmy's conversation with his best friend Delvin,
and found kids conversation cute.

Timmy:"Tadi aku jatoh."
Delvin: "Jatoh dimana?"
Timmy: "Di parkiran, di belakang mobil."
Delvin: "Sakit gak?"
Timmy: "Sakit."

Then Delvin kneel to look at Timmy's knee.

Not long after, Delvin saw his friends were going up the stairs towards the classroom.
Delvin: "Itu, temen-temen udah pada naik. Kita naik yuk Timmy."

Then both of them, walked hand in hand together, went up the stairs.
Delvin looked back at me, smile and waved goodbye.

So cute.

Hickory Dickory Dock

On the way to school today, I told Timmy that when he was little
he used to love this Hickory Dickory Dock song,
and I started singing it...

Apparently he still loves it and asked me to sing it over and over and over again.
Hence, I was singing all the way through from Jalan Panjang until Gading Serpong.
hahahahahahaha...

I was so thirsty by the time we reached school.
Hahahahaha..

Fried Egg

Today, I brought BreadTalk bread for Timmy to bring to school tomorrow.
Right at dinner time, he saw it and ate it right then.

I told him that it was supposed to be for his school tomorrow.
If you eat it now, what are you gonna bring to school tomorrow?
Timmy answered me: "Fried Egg Mom."

Geez, he loves fried egg.

Ps. After that piece of bread, he also ate the beef that I cooked,
and gobbled up 2 cups of strawberry yoghurt.
He said: Yum Mum, this yoghurt is cold and tastes like ice cream.
It's cold because I put it in the fridge.

Hahahaha...kids.

Sisil and I

Sisil and I have been best buddy since our days at Monash,
and we still keep in touch till today; which I'm really glad of. :)

Today, both of us had a bizarre day. hehehehehe...
I just find it funny how the two of us are separated by distance, over countries; over the sea... yet the two of us were having a havoc day today. hihihi...

Saturday vs Monday

Timmy asked me on Saturday morning: "Mom, do I need to go to school today?"
Me: "No Tim, you don't have to. It's Saturday, so you have a holiday."
Tim: "Holiday? Like Jill, she was having a holiday. Am I gonna see her?"
Me: "No Tim, coz she is having a holiday at England. It's far away."

Monday morning:
Me: "Tim, you have to go to school today."
Tim: "Why Mom? I wanna have a holiday."
Me: "You have to go to school every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
You'll have a holiday on Saturday and Sunday."
Tim: "I like Saturday and Sunday Mom, so I can have a holiday."

Hahahahaha...even 4 years old boy loves the weekend and dislikes Monday :))

Wrong exit

The first day back at school, I took the wrong exit at the highway.
Supposed to get out at Gading Serpong, but took the Alam Sutra Serpong exit instead.

I told Timmy "Tim, Mama took the wrong exit."

His reply quite surprises me: "Mom, Oh Oh... You should take the right exit Mom.
But don't worry, I'm Lipstikola Map. I know the way.... I'll help you find the right way. Can you go back Mom?

I told Timmy: "We can't go back Tim, coz this is the high way and it is dangerous to retreat. But it's Ok. We can find another way.

Tim" You should use the right way next time Mom."

Me: "I know Tim, it's ok. In life, sometimes we make mistakes and we learn from the mistake, so next time we won't do the same mistake again. It's human to make mistakes, as long as we learn from it."

I really do enjoy talking to Timmy these days.

I come across to an interesting article

Quote:
Pelajaran Berharga Mengenai Takdir dan Kepuasan..
Senin, 9 November 2009 11:39 WIB

Pelajaran Berharga Mengenai Takdir dan Kepuasan
Foto oleh Vibizlife/Daniel Otto. Lokasi : Lombok, Indonesia


Di dalam dunia ini..
Manusia selalu mencari kepuasan di dalam hatinya..
Segala cara yang ada ditempuh untuk mencapai hal yang diinginkannya..
Dan seringkali manusia ingin menjadi seperti orang lain yang terlihat sempurna menurut pandangannya..

Seringkali..ketika seseorang merasa tidak puas di dalam hidupnya..
Ia menjadi pribadi yang ambisius dan tidak bahagia..
Ia hanya mengejar apa yang menjadi keinginannya..
Dan tak pernah menyadari keindahan hidup yang dianugerahkan oleh Sang Pencipta..

Sesungguhnya..kepuasan hanya didapatkan ketika kita mau membuka diri untuk menerima apa yang Sang Pencipta telah tetapkan bagi hidup kita..
Ya..kita memang tidak perlu menjadi seperti orang lain untuk mencapai ambisi kita..
Kita tidak perlu menginginkan untuk menjadi seseorang yang mungkin memiliki kelebihan yang kita inginkan di dalam hidup..

Kita memang perlu belajar dari orang lain yang merupakan teladan yang baik..
Namun..pada akhirnya..pribadi kita tetaplah bukan pribadi orang tersebut..
Karena Tuhan telah memberikan takdir yang berbeda bagi setiap orang..
Dan di mata Sang Pencipta..tidak ada satu orangpun yang lebih baik satu dengan yang lainnya..
Karena Ia menciptakan setiap orang memiliki keunikan dan kelebihan yang berbeda-beda namun semua itu indah di mataNya..

Di dalam hidup..jangan pernah memandang bahwa bunga tetangga yang terlihat merah merekah adalah yang bunga yang terindah dibandingkan bunga kita yang tidak berwarna merah..
Ketahuilah..meskipun bunga kita tidak berwarna merah seperti yang dimiliki yang lain..bunga itu tetap merupakan bunga yang indah menurut warnanya..
Ya..jika bunga kita berwarna jingga, merah jambu, kuning, putih, atau ungu, kita tetap merupakan bunga yang indah dengan warnanya masing-masing..
Nah.. seperti bunga-bunga tersebut yang indah menurut warnanya masing-masing..
Sang Pencipta juga sudah menciptakan takdir yang indah bagi setiap orang menurut pandanganNya..

Karena itu..bersyukurlah atas apa yang telah ditetapkan Sang Pencipta dalam hidupmu..
Dengan apa yang telah Ia berikan dan percayakan padaMu..lakukanlah yang terbaik untuk menyenangkan hati Sang Pencipta, dirimu sendiri, dan juga orang lain yang ada di sekitarmu..
Hilangkanlah pemikiran negatif dan ambisi berlebihan yang ada pada dirimu..
Dan percayalah..bahwa kepuasan di dalam hidup hanya ada pada rasa pengucapan syukur atas takdir dan rencana yang telah Sang Pencipta berikan padamu..

(Fanya Jodie/FJ/VBL)
Unquote.

Back at Jakarta

We're back at Jakarta.
What a long lovely journey we have had...
Finally back in our hometown, Jakarta....

First impression: hot.
Once we get into the traffic: Oh no!
hahahahaha...

I've got jet lag.
Hopefully will be over very soon.

The moment I arrived home, first thing I did was: shower!
Cool myself down, then gave Timmy a bath.
Went to pasar kopro with Mama.

After that: drop dead tired!
Slept till 20.00 pm, waking up feeling hungry.
Had dinner, run the errands, till around midnight, had another meal.
hahahahahaha....what a day!

A visit to the Rutland County Library, United Kingdom

We visited Oakham yesterday.

Oakham, the county town of Rutland, is a classic English market town, mentioned in the Domesday Book fo 1086. There are many beautiful buildings, historic sites and traditional retail outlets found there.

Plenty for us to see including a castle, a museum, a market place with butter cross and stocks plus a famous old school, as well as a magnificent parish church.

We had a chance to visit the Rutland County Library.
It's an excellent library, with plenty of children books.
Timmy loves the collection of chickens soft toys there. hehehehehehe...
Even before we left the library, he said good bye to the chicks. :)

Autumn, Timmy and Cynthia

Timmy and Cynthia were posing for photos at Southampton Old Town.
I find the pose are cute. hehehehhee..

Blaby Park, Leicester, United Kingdom

Timmy and I visited Blaby Park yesterday.
We had lots of fun.
Here are the pictures:

Update from the UK

Morning!

Timmy and I visited Blaby Park yesterday.
It's a nice big park within walking distance from our hotel, Westfield House Hotel.
We get a nice big new room this time, with additional sofa bed. Yippee!
Ensuring our good night sleep. hehehehehe...

Timmy is becoming friendly to the housekeeping at this hotel.
She talked to the lady a lot. Chit chatting all the time. :))
He was amazed when the lady showed him that she got the card that can open 48 doors in this hotel, while his card can only open his room. hehehehehehe...

For breakfast, Timmy loves to order egg and bacon.
His favorite menu, and now he can order for himself... :)
and eat by himself sitting nicely. :))

After breakfast, Timmy and I walked together with Benny and Ferry heading to their office. We walked together until the big roundabout. Benny and Ferry continued walking, while Timmy and I headed back to our hotel.

It was a fun morning walk, looking at the surrounding environment of Blably.

I find the people at Blaby are very friendly.
Even when we walked in the afternoon, there will be someone smiling at us.
An old lady with her dog came across us yesterday and she asked Timmy whether Timmy would like to feed her dog? She gave out this biscuit to Timmy to feed his dog and he did! Then the lady gave an antibacterial liquid for Timmy to wipe his hands.
Lovely!

Timmy achieved another milestone while we are at the UK,
now he can wear his own pants, almost all the time...every each bath.
Go to the toilet to pee, with each every step, undo his pants, until flushing and wear his pants again. :))
Each time before we go out, he wears his own socks, shoes and zippering his jacket.

Last night, we had chinese food for our dinner.
There's a lovely chinese restaurant, right next door from our hotel, Double Dragon Restaurant. We had Roast Duck with Plum sauce, and sweet and sour chicken, with a bowl of cracker.

Timmy loves the duck, he ate around 6-7 pieces of duck. Wow!
The other night, he ate more than me. hehehehehehe...

It's day light saving here, both Benny and Timmy are still asleep.
I get the change to update my blog. hehehehehehehe..Nice!

Leicester, United Kingdom

We are back at Leicester.
This morning we depart at 7.00 am from Southampton.
This time we stayed at Westfield House.
A nice hotel with the swimming pool. The hotel is an English style hotel.

We got an attic room. Interesting.
I've been wondering how is it to live in an attic room, due to the TV. hehehehe.
Now, got to experience it myself.

The location of the hotel is very close to the Blaby shopping town.
Just walking distance away...

Today, we visited the local Blaby Library.
Timmy read so many books there. Even found a little duck to hug and move around. hehehehe..

The librarian was very kind, she gave Timmy a big Treasure Box, with lots of books and coloring pencil and a sharpener in it! Cool.

Lunch...we had a nice chicken and mushroom pie from the local bakery. Yum.
Dinner...had Chinese food, just next door. Golden Dragon restaurant.
Nice and warm soup, Duck with ginger and pineapple, another Duck with Black bean sauce.

Time to sleep soon. Night night.

Nottingham

We visited Green's Windmill...
a unique working windmill that was home to the 19th century mathematical miller George Green.

They host range of products and fun science.

Timmy wrote Mom!

Timmy is learning to write and the day before yesterday,
he suddenly grabbed a pen and wrote: MOM

I was soo happy when I saw that! hehehehehe...

Yesterday, he wrote his own first name: Timotius. :)

I'm proud of you Tim!

Holly Hill

We went to Holly Hill yesterday. There was a duck pool, Timmy had fun watching the ducks swimming. We saw a family with their dogs. The dogs were smart, it could ran into the water and catch the twig!

Blue Pool

The Blue Pool....

We discovered the luxury of silence and a friendly welcome at the Blue Pool.

The water changes its color minute to minute from shades of green to beautiful turquoise - a truly fascinating phenomenon. Set like a jewel in a forest...
Blue Pool is surrounded by 25 acres of heath, woodland and interlaced with sandy paths.... Seems like taking us to another world....

A tranquil oasis within a holiday schedule.

The pool isn't always the same colour, depending on the weather and temperature.
Sometimes green, sometimes turquoise.












After visiting the Lullworth Cove, we went to the Blue Pool.

Back to Nature time! Yippee!

Timmy and Cynthia played at the playground there.

Jurrasic Coast

Jurrasic Coast is England's first natural World Heritage Site.
This unique stretch of coastline has joined the ranks of the Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon as one of the wonders of the natural world.

The Jurrasic Coast is stunningly beautiful, with and unparalleled range of natural features. Landslides, beaches, bays and cliffs...

Explore Jurrasic Coast!





Last week, we visited Jurrasic Coast at Lulworth.
It was the coast where they found lots of fossil.
Today, it is a nice cove beach.

Lulworth is famous for its unique and dramatic natural features, such as the Cove and Durdle Door.

We had lunch at a restaurant near the Lullworth Castle.
Timmy and Cynthia were playing the slide at the backyard playground of the restaurant.

Lulworth Castle is the traditional seat of the Weld family and is situated in the picturesque village of East Lulworth.

After lunch, we headed to Lullworth Cove.
The view there is excellent.
We bought ice cream there.
Timmy and Cynthia took turn in feeding each other with their ice cream.

While eating ice cream, we ran up the hill.
I told the kids: "Come on kids, let's run up the hill like Jack and Jill."
There was an English couple who was lying down on the grass.
The moment I said that, the lady sing the rhyme:

Jack and Jill went up the hill,
to fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
and Jill come tumbling after...

hehehehehe...

Moore Crescent

We stay at Netley Abbey, Southampton, UK.
It is a quiet, nice environment.
Around the neighbourhood, we can see blueberry tree. Cool!

Timmy got a chance to pick the blueberry. hehehehe...

I found one of the street sign here, quite cute.
Snail crossing the road, 20 is plenty. Slow down. :)