On Wednesday, 23 April 2009, Rafif and his classmates from 3 to 6 English Course had a cooking class. This was the first experience for Rafif, so he was enthusiastic. The cooking class was held at Bogasari Kitchen near the PTC mall.
The Chef, Mr. Suyanto from Bogasari welcomed the kids by giving them chocolate wafer. After giving explanation, the Chef and teachers assisted the kids to make mini pizza.
Rafif and his friends were excited when they put mushroom, beef, sausage, cheese and paprika on the mini pizza. They can choose the topping they want for their pizza. I laughed when I saw Rafif ate a piece of mushroom, but then he said,” Yuck! What is this? I don’t like this!”
When the pizzas were ready, they seemed so delicious. The kids ate them and brought some pizzas home. Rafif gave the pizzas to Anin, Dea, and his Nanny. He said “I made pizza by myself.” proudly…
Andy, one of my old friends called me this morning. He wanted to come to Palembang on the next two week to see his mother, his sisters and also his nephew and niece. Andy, a handsome man who has been living in Australia for 9 years, is still single. I don’t understand why he hasn’t decided to marry someone; although I know he really want to have his own happy family.
He said the main reason he came to Palembang is to see his nephew and niece, Deny (3 years old) and Farah (2 years old). He has never seen them before. His sister sent him their photos through e-mail.
Andy told me that he wanted to give something special for Deny and Farah, but he didn’t have any idea. He wanted to bring the gifts when he comes to Palembang. So, I told him to shop at Shop Wiki, a site where a shopper can find anything sale on the web.
I suggest Andy to buy children books which can stimulate reading interest of children. He can read them story book to build uncle-nephew bond and creates a fun experience together.
There are a lot more options he can choose for the gifts. Toddler Clothing is a good option, but since he has never seen the children, maybe he would find difficulty to choose the clothing size.
Toys and Games could be the best option. He could find toys which are not only safe for children but also have educational element.
Andy said he couldn’t wait to come to Palembang, he promised me to see me too. He thanked me, because he had already knew what special things he would bring for Deny and Farah.
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Last Sunday, Rafif got asthma relapse.The day before, he ate a bar of chocolate while he got cough. It was my mistake. I shouldn’t give him chocolate until he is fit.I didn’t have the heart seeing him breathed, seemed so hard. He refused any food I gave him. That was never happen if he’s healthy.
I called Doctor Aditiawati, the pediatrician. She didn’t answer the phone. Then I sent her sms. Several minutes later she replied, she said that she was in Jakarta.
Soon, I took Rafif to the Emergency Unit of Charitas Hospital. Susan, his nanny and Anin accompanied us. The nurse there helped him to get inhalation trough nebulizer. The doctor gave me prescription. Then we went to the drug store to get the medicine.
His condition wasn’t getting better although I had given him the medicine twice.That evening, I took him again to the Emergency Unit. He got inhalation again, and again. “Mama, I want to go home…” H e said. The doctor suggested me to continue to give him the medicine.
“Honey, if only I could substitute, let me bear the illness..” I cried in my heart.
Thank God, now he is getting better. I’m so happy to see him smile and laugh again.
Anin has been waiting for this day. It's her birthday. Actually she wanted to have a small birthday party with the whole family, but we couldn’t do that because we were still in Bogor. So I asked her what kind of birthday present she wanted. The answer was so simple; she wanted to play at “The Jungle”. The Jungle is an adventurous water park located near our new house, at Bogor Nirwana Residence.
So, we went there. The first time I took the picture of this place, but then, when I was inside the area of The Jungle, I forget everything. I forget to take the picture of many fun things there because I was too excited and too busy enjoying the racer slide, leisure pool, lazy river, etc with my husband and kids. Next time I will write about The Jungle and post the photos of this adventurous water park.
On the afternoon, I and my husband went to furniture store to order beds for our new house. On the way home, we saw “Michele Bakery”, a cake shop which was recommended by Ori the day before. So we bought a small birthday cake there.
Anin was happy when she saw the cake. I put a “9” candle on the cake, and then Dea and Rafif were so enthusiastic to blow on the candle. We celebrated Anin’s birthday in our new house. Happy Birthday Anin!
It’s about my new house and also my kid’s safety. Since I heard the bad news from my neighbor that her kid, Lita (2 years old), had fallen from the stair at her house, I was worried. I was afraid the terrible things like that would happen to my kids.
Next June, we will move to our new house in Bogor. There are a stairs and two balconies there in my new house. That’s what makes me worry. Rafif, my youngest boy, is really active. He likes playing at the stairs and near the balcony. I couldn’t stop thinking about what to do to keep him safe until I found KidSafe.
KidSafe offers a satisfied solution to ease my anxiety. There are wide range home safety products to keep the kid and baby safe. The products such as baby stairway gates, deck shield, child safety locks, electrical safety, toilet lock, bed rails, and many more seem to be the solution to keep my kids safe at home.
It’s great, because as long as I know it’s difficult to find the home safety products on the ordinary retail stores and supermarket. The other interesting thing I got from KidSafe was the child safety tips to prevent the household accidents.
Now, there’s no more anxiety. Just like the motto of KidSafe “Safer homes for kids. Peace of mind for parents”
Anin and Dea asked their father to take them swimming. So, after having breakfast at Taman Kencana, we went to Bogor Nirwana Residence (BNR). It was sunny day, so from the entrance of BNR, the view of Salak and Pangrango mounts as the background of BNR looked so amazing. It was beautiful!
When we arrived at the club house near our new house, Anin and Dea ran towards the swimming pool. They did warming up and stretching at the pool side. I laughed when I saw Dea acted like an instructor and taught her sister how to do stretching. Then they plunged into the swimming pool joyously. Rafif was reluctant to swim. He was afraid of water. So he just played at the playground and ran excitedly around the club house.
I, my mom and my husband enjoyed the sight seeing and the fresh air. Near the swimming pool, there is an artificial river with its artificial water fall extend outward along the center of the cluster. The sound of water fall was enjoyable and soothed my mind.
When I went upstairs to the club house, the view looked more beautiful. My husband sat on the sofa and began to work with his laptop. He could finish some report of his job but then he yawned. The peaceful atmosphere made him sleepy.
After swimming, I helped Anin and Dea to take a bath. We went to our new house to clean it up. It was a beautiful day I’ll never forget. Hopefully we will be happy living in this beautiful place next June.
Life turned to be complicated for Derrek Knighton, 65 years old, since he retired from his job. He was on a fixed income but the costs of his necessities tend to increase. Some parts of his beautiful house needed to be repaired. Besides that, he needed more money to pay someone to clean up his house since he couldn’t do it by himself. His rheumatism kept him from doing it.
He thought about starting his own business to get extra money to fulfill his need. But he didn’t get any idea how to get the other source of cash for the capital.
One day, his friend, Ben Johnson told him about reverse mortgages. Johnson said Knighton could use his home as collateral for “loans you don’t have to repay”. At the first time Knighton was skeptical. He tried to get more information about reverse mortgage from internet. When he knew that he could receive money and he would still own his house, he took out a home equity.
Now, Knighton feels relief. He can pay his bills, he still owns his house, and even he is starting his own business. Besides extra cash, he got one more thing from reverse mortgage. It was medicare supplemental insurance which was the solution for his health problems. Life soon turns to be so beautiful for him now.
I and my family plus My Mom went to Bogor again. This time our agenda were to settle the process of purchasing the house and also to find school for my kids.
We went by car at 6.30 in the morning. I was worried of two things when we left from Palembang. The first, I was worried about the road. Last time we passed trans-Sumatra highway, the condition of the road was so bad. The car should move slowly and choose the path to avoid big cavities on the road. And the second, I was worried about the sea waves. I saw the news on, there were a lot of Ships couldn’t sail because of the high sea-waves.
Thanks God, everything was ok. The trans-Sumatera high way had been repaired, although the condition wasn’t 100% good, but it was adequate.And, we could across the sea smoothly because the sea waves were in the normal condition.
We arrived in Bogor at 9 in the evening. The cool atmosphere of Bogor welcomed us, so that we felt comfortable. We stayed in our favorite hotel, Terra Nostra Boutique Hotel on Jl. Salak no.8. The cozy room made us got sleep well so that we could wake up in the next morning freshly.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
In the morning, we went to Taman Kencana near the hotel. There were a lot of people sold many kinds of food there. We could find bakso ( meat ball), gado-gado and karedok ( salad ala Indonesia), siomay, batagor, cireng, soto, rawon, sate and chicken porridge.
On the center of Taman Kencana, there is a group of artist performing traditional dance and wayang golek show. Wayang golek is wooden doll puppet operated by someone which is called “dalang”. The show was funny and entertaining!
Traditional dance and Wayang Golek Show at Taman Kencana, Bogor
After having breakfast and enjoying the show, we went back to the hotel. Mamah Ar, my Mom’s niece came to the hotel with her daughter, Nella, her son-in-law, Suhartono, and her two grandchildren, Qashmal and Vira. Then, aunt Yati, the other niece of my mom, also came with her son, Bima. Soon, our room was crowded, and became an arena of family reunion. What a pleasure!
Henry White didn’t realize that his identity was stolen until one day he received invoice of credit card with a very huge amount, the amount which didn’t make a sense for him. He wondered how someone could use his credit card to buy those expensive things as mentioned on the invoice. The impact was so bad. Henry was left on the hook for debt that was not his. He had been spending hours and hours trying to clear his good name.
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Around Masjidil Haram, at the flat yard near the row of stores there were a lot of pigeons. It seemed that those pigeons had become the pet of people in Makkah. Every morning, there were some men fed the pigeons. The seeds were spread on the yard and the pigeons gathered to enjoy their meal.
The pigeons looked a little bit fatter then those I usually saw in Indonesia. They also seemed healthy.The people in Makkah didn’t afraid of being infected by Avian Virus. The weather there was extremely hot and dry so Avian virus can not live there in Makkah.
I spent some minutes to observe those beautiful creatures every time I passed by the yard. They seemed so tame but when I tried to get closer to them, they would fly away.
Our first destination was a place where the goats and camels were slaughtered, and the meat would be given to the needy people.
Here we saw so many camels and goats from pilgrims were slaughtered. The people who butchered were professional; they could do their job very fast. It took only a few minutes from bringing the camels in, executing and cutting them into pieces of meat. I didn’t have the heart to see the process, so I let my husband took the photos.
Next, we went to Jabal Nur. On the top of Jabal Nur there’s Hira cave (Gua Hira) where the prophet Muhammad SAW received the first revelation from God, which was Al-Quran surah Al Alaq 1-5. Unfortunately, we couldn’t climb the Jabal Nur to see Hira cave, because it was too risky.
Jabal Nur
The most interesting place we visited that day was Jabal Rahmah. It located on Arafah field. It was the place where prophet Adam AS and Siti Hawa, his wife, were re-united after separated for a long time.
Jabal Rahmah
Stone for jewelries in Jabal Rahmah
In this place, there were many people sold stone for jewelries in various color. They were cheap and beautiful.
My second daughter, Dea, is very fond of games. Since she knew that she could download computer games from internet, she became a game addict. She always plays computer games on her leisure time.
One day I saw her played games enthusiastically. She said that she downloaded mac games and iphone games, and she really enjoyed those fun games.
Well, I don't mind she plays games as long as she still does her homework, study her lesson,and get good score on her examination at school. Playing games is a kind of refreshment for her, and I believe it also stimulates her brain to be more creative.
I felt my heart beat rapidly, when finally we arrived to Masjidil Haram. “Oh my God, I can’t believe what has happened. Finally I’m here, standing in front of the greatest mosque in the world. The mosque surrounds the Ka’bah, which is the most sacred spot in the earth. I just can wait to see Ka’bah with my own eyes!” That’s what I thought.
Masjidil Haram today covers an area of 356,800 square meters including the outdoor and the indoor praying spaces. It can accommodate up to 1.2 million worshippers during the hajj period.
When we entered the mosque, I tried to calm my heart down, but it was highly affected by an emotion, a very strong emotion that was hard to describe. The climax was when I saw the Ka’bah, I cried. I just can’t hold my tears from falling. I felt I was so close to God.
So, this is it. The most sacred spot on the earth is a black-draped square shrine called Ka’bah, which stands in the central courtyard of the vast Al- Haram mosque. The whole building is constructed out of the layers of gray blue stone from the hills surrounding Mekkah. The four walls are covered with a curtain ( Kiswah ) which is usually black brocade with Shahadat outlined in the weave of the fabric. About two-thirds of the way up runs a gold embroidered band covered with Qur’an text.
My husband and I after performing Umrah
Ka’bah symbolizes unity in worshipping one God. Ka’bah is the Qibla or the direction that Muslims turn to in their prayer. And it is the goal of every devout Muslims to make a pilgrimage to Ka’bah at least once in a lifetime.
