Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Brownies with the puppies



1 week in Jakarta

23 April 2008

It has been a while since I updated my blog. I am just going to do a quick up date:
April 10th, My in-laws dog, brownies, just gave birth to 5 puppies, 1 died, 4 survived, 2 black and 2 brown.
April 13 to 19, I spend the whole week in Jakarta since my sisters were away in China.
Lots of interesting things happened:

· American teachers got into a big brawl at school
· Brought my resto staffs to Dufan on Monday, ended we only played 6 rides and it rained the whole day…. All in all, the trip was definitely dampen by the rain.
· Order overseas books and they got me the wrong books
· The unprofessional company that we served cancelled 3 classes at the last minute and cost us 75 million deals.
· One of the Indian teachers that I knew of, finally managed to get pregnant after 4 years of trial. I am glad that she is finally pregnant since Indian, Hindu people too, values women from whether the women are capable of giving birth or not.
· Got a high speed high tech CPU for my husband for his birthday ( got to make him earn more money faster) ; -).

Looking back, my life in Bandung might be uneventful and boring at times but in comparison to the stress that I had in Jakarta for one week. I can confidently say that Bandung people will definitely live longer and healthier compared to those in Jakarta. Now, I begin to appreciate my husband effort of “ not to make” me work , other than serving his meals and clothing. I supposed I should not complain since he does mean well.

23rd-28th April 2008 – my sisters will be doing their exhibition at the MKG and this will be the first time that I did not get to support their marketing effort. I felt really guilty about not helping them. I guess that is one of the things that I have to sacrifice once I got married.
Not living with in-laws has always been a plus for me. I got to do things my way.

Soon, I will be joining my in laws business in the bag. However, I am hesitant in getting into the business right now because my father-in-law is very conservative and he changed his mind every other day.

If you did it right, he would be saying “ Untung aja! ( just by luck)” if I failed ; it would be “ Hm…graduate from overseas, so what… still stupid ( bego)… can’t even get things right”. This is the time where I am so glad that my parents are supportive of what we did, no matter whether it is successful or failure. Thus, right now I still have 2 weeks to consider whether I should meddle with family business or not. Like what people say, “ Once you get your feet wet, it would be easy to dry it again”

One other good news is to hear my best friend, Vebby is pregnant too. This is the 4th pregnancy I heard in April. Danny ( my engagement photographer man who got married on the same day as me), Dinky ( the Indian teacher), vebby ( my best friend), yulie ( my good friend’s sister). All the babies are fighting to get into this world… Hope we can preserve it as it is and not making it worse by more pollution and contamination.

23rd April, Johan my relatives just sms me today and surprised me by informing me that he has returned for good to Indonesia for the Palm tree business. Still remember when we were kids, we used to be the ‘wedding couple’ and now both of us are married and he already has two kids… How time flies. Suddenly, it hit on me that I have been married for almost 3 months now.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Housewife's Budgeting.....

One of the most important lesson that I have to learn as soon as I go into the 3rd month of my marriage. The difference of accounting for bachelors and accounting for household. I become more conscious of my spending as now I can not depend on My mom to supply my household spending anymore. Now, one begins to appreciate what one used to have even more.

Just sharing with my hubby's wife the other day,

She said: "My friend is amazing. A household of 3 adults and 2 young children only need Rp. 600.000/month for food expense puchased at the wet market."

Imagine what is going on in my mind: Rp. 600.000/ 30 days = Rp.20.000/day, Rp.20.000/ 3 meals/ 5 people = Rp. 1333.30/ person / meal.... Well, She is amazing... my mind wonders what does she cook everyday... tofu, Tempe and egg? with egg price climbing up to 10.300/kg and cooking oil hiking up... one wonders... how does she manage?

That is lesson number 1 : My challenge of the month ; Use budget of Rp. 600.000 for the month for the 2 of us ( Handy and I )

If successful : award will be dining out with Handy with a budget of Rp. 200.000/ meal. I am aiming already at the japanese restaurant in Jakarta or Thai Palace in Bandung

Monday, March 31, 2008

Raining hail in Bandung - Global warming effects



These pictures are taken on Sunday, 30 th March 2008 in front of an automotive store. Look at that piece of ice block... No wonder the roof top leaked...

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Frequently Ask Questions for the newly married

Most Frequently Asked Questions.

How is life after marriage?

First, if you are married and not MBA… Life will still be the same. : -)
Everything will sort of still be the same.
I still sleep on the same side of bed.
I still keep 90% of wardrobe with my stuffs and he got 10% of the wardrobe space. :-)
I managed to monopoly the toilet with 80% of my stuffs and he got 10 % with 10% for others.
Overall, I get 80% of space in the house… Kitchen - my territory, Living room - my territory, garden - my territory and shoes cabinet of course - my territory.
And now, I got a hubby who loves me a lot and take care of me.

I think more or less, life has improved. : -)

However with more territory acquired, it comes with more responsibility and sense of belongings, thus all those above mentioned area… becomes part of my " JOB " too.

How do you like Bandung?

I like Bandung. The weather is good, and having our own space is great. There is less traffic and one really learnt how to slow down and enjoy life. Overall, if you want to get rest or retire, Bandung is a great place for that. It is very cooling during the rainy season, 14 C at night and 19 C in the afternoon. For Summer time, I have yet to find out.


Do you live with your-in-laws?

Nope, I don't live with my in-laws. In a way, it is good when we just got married and want to have more time for ourselves. And another thing, my hubby does not complain about my cooking, whether he likes it or not. I supposed that is the one most important thing about NOT living with in-laws… Different Queen of the house have different rules and taste buds. :-)

Do you know the roads in Bandung now?

Sorry, still do not know and most of the roads are one-way street. So it ain't easy. Just got my Grand Livina last week and have only driven it once on my own to my in-laws house. Have been driven by my hubby for the past month and NO, I don't pay attention to the roads when I am not behind the wheels.


Today : 4 dishes for 2

Tom Yum Chicken Soup
Bok Choy with Chicken meat
Mayonaise Prawns
Steamed Fish
Appel Juice

And we finished it all

Have you gained any weight since marriage?

Yes for me and No for my hubby… Don't ask me WHY… ; -(

Are you filled yet? = Are you pregnant yet?

NO… Don't plan to end my honeymoon season yet. : -)

So that is all for now… Will post more soon… ; -)

Monday, March 10, 2008

A new beginning, a new dawn

It is fairly common to hear " Wish you have a good beginning in this new journey" - " Selamat Menempuh Hidup Baru" - now these sentences bring a new meaning to me. Before, I often wonder how much different could it be between married and single life - surely I can handle everything smoothly.

Cinderella ended with a "Happily ever after" at the end of the story - I think the author of the story knew that things are not as easy as " Happily ever after" and just want to spare us the details of marriage life. On another side, I guess if you are as rich as the king to be in the story, then you might not have all the problems of common people like me. :-)

Now that I have entered marriage life for 1 month officially last 27th February 2008. I can only say " We are still on the honeymoon period" ;-) still calling each other with endearment and trying to be husband and wife as pictured in the fairly tale.