A DAY AT THE MALL

Assalamualaikum.... 

Good morning to you, and you, and yes you too :]

How is everyone doing today? 

It's actually still dark outside, twelve past five in the morning to be precise.

I honestly have been neglecting blogging, so sorry about it. 

It seems like the windows of my imagination have been shut for a while, hehehhe. I'm such a brag.

There's good news. My sis-in-law is going to be interviewed tomorrow regarding the civil servant job vacancy at the Trade Ministry. She is not only excited about it, but also does she feel so nervous about what it will be like. I was told that there would be four interviewers, and there's also a possibility the interview would be in English, thus she is a bit stressed out. Insya Allah she'll do well, Amin.

And me, hum I don't know. There is no announcement yet. So I'll just have to wait. 

Last Sunday, we had our lunch at D'Cost, and it was seriously tummy filling. Most of my family members are Indonesian food lovers, especially mom. She or her tongue doesn't adapt with KFCs or McDonalds or any type of Japanese food very well. Her preference always goes to a typical Indonesian meal; rice with either fish or chicken, tofu, soybean cake (tempe), soup, ground chili (sambal ulek), and raw veggies. Whereas I and my two brothers can eat almost anything. Well even though I have never heard of my two siblings wanting to have sushi or ramen noodles or vegetable salad. And for my daughter, we kinda have noticed that Kei is more or less like her grandmother. She isn't really into sugarcoated donuts or pizza or spaghetti or burger. She eats whatever my mother eats, which goes around traditional Indonesian snacks and meals. I enjoy most types of foods, except the ones I find disgusting, strange, and the haram ones. I love sushi, udon noodles, gado-gado (Indonesian veggies with peanut sauce), karedok (similar to gado-gado but with raw veggies), shabu-shabu, steak, curry, spicy and sour dishes, nearly anything.

Kei and her grandma

playing after her meal

pretty naresh 

humph, i should've put on a cardigan with longer sleeves :'/

Well, hope this Sunday will shine as bright as a mother's smile when she sees her child after a tiring day at work.

Tmelania

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Jakarta oh jakarta

Last post i made on similar topic is about the extreme hot weather in Jakarta. It is getting hotter and hotter nowadays and we are getting used to ACs and manual fans now, *giggles*
I have fully understood how heat can drive people insane. Especially for bus drivers on the streets of Jakarta. They drive as if they’re the only ones in the vehicle. They have no concern on the passengers riding in their buses. These passengers are like blocks of ice or logs i guess. 
Bus drivers, mostly if I can not say all, spees and speed, stop whenever and wherever they like, they use busway lanes, they smoke while driving (for the non-AC ones), they sometimes yell at the passengers (normally when passengers move too slowly).

I dont mean that heat is the only cause of these bus drivers’ reckless attitude. They behave like they do perhaps because they are so used to it. They need to feed their familie, they need to buy cigarettes, i guess. 
Most of them rent a bus daily, and then they have to pay a fixed amount of money to the bus owner. There, to be able to get more money, it means they have to try to get as many passengers as they can. Thats why they speed and stop wherever they like. When they see a passenger ahead, they just stop. Thats it! They dont care if there are other vehicles or motorcycles behind their bus. They just stop. These bus drivers need to learn the Zuhud way of living! Everyone has their own fortune. It will never be confused with somebody else’s. Relax and work hard.
They couldnt care less about other people’s lives. As long as they can get money that is enough.

Another related thing on this lovely (dugh) city is malls. Jakarta is a heaven of malls. True! You see malls on every corner of the city. Small sized malls, medium sized malls, even enormous malls.
You get everything here. What is similar from these malls? You can do everything, from shopping to eating to taking your children for some fun to watching movies to buying souvenirs. for those who are new in Jakarta check this out
For teenagers, i guess malls is a place to hang out and to show off, to drink branded coffee, and to meet up with friends.  No specific reason.
You go to malls everytime you want to.
What else can we do here?
We want to visit a park? Hardly any.
Visit relatives? Many Jakartans are very individualistic nowadays. They dont really talk to their cousins anymore. Even to visit a friens, in the past we used to knock on doors; now, we sms or bbm our friend(s) and wait outside. No more excuse me or greeting parents i assume.
Go to museums in Jakarta? Last option. 

I, personally, am not a mall-person. I dont hate malls but i dont worship them. I go to a mall when i need to buy something or meet up with a friend or when my  brother takes me there for a meal with other family members. Thats it. Oh yep when i do the monthly shopping.
Plaza Senayan, Pacific Place, Grand Indonesia are names of malls selling high quality branded names. I almost never go there. Too expensive. Even for lunch.

Ciputra/Citraland Mall is a mall in west jakarta providing nearly everything, from the cheapest price to the most expensive one. Dont go to this mall during school holidays. Its as crowded as the bus stations 

Gorengan/Fried Snacks. Including Tempe Goreng (Fried Soybean Cake), Tahu Goreng (Fried Tofu), Pisang Goreng (Fried Banana), Ubi Goreng (Fried Sweet Potato), Bakwan Goreng (Fried Mixed Veggies). Gorengan is super popular not only in Jakarta. We love to eat these very affordable snacks (except for the fried banana) with raw chillies. Spicy but memorable. Most foreigners refuse to eat gorengan because they are considered dirty.
Are they? Yep. To be frank, the oil these fried food sellers is usually used more than a dozen times i guess. Over and over (thats how they cut down on expenses). Sometimes, rumors say, they also include plastic straws in their oil to make their snacks stay crunchy. I have never seen it myself, but news has it all. With hidden cameras of course.
I was once buying some of these fried snacks nearby my then workplace, then i saw some cut outs of the sweet potato that hadn’t been fried. They were dark and nearly rotten i think. So i was like.. i discarded my snacks after paying.. here's how it normally is sold
People know this fact but still consume it. Because it’s cheap and savory.

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Free Trial Class di Rumah Bermain Cikal Di FX Mall, Sudirman

Sore semuanya. Lagi ujan gede nih di daerah kebon jeruk dan sekitarnya. Saya kebetulan lagi sendiri karna kei lagi dipinjem omanya, hahaa.. lumayan ada waktu santai barang satu dua jam.

Tadi pagi saya ajak kei coba gratis di sekolah cikal yg ada di FX Mall daerah senayan. Kepingin tau banget sebenernya materi dan metode apaan aja yang bisa diajarin ke bayi 6 bulan sampe setahun. Sebenernya bukan saya yang inisiatif cari-cari kegiatan seperti ini, ada yang ajakin kakaknya calon adek ipar saya (insya Allah). Dia kan juga punya bayi yang sedikit lebih kecil dari kei, dan dia juga yang udah bookingin untuk saya. Dan bener deh, gak nyesel. Pas sampe di depan sekolah kecilnya ini, di dalem mall lho jadi keliatan seperti toko barang anak-anak, kecuali memang ada tempat mandi bola di bagian depannya. Saya masuk dan langsung konfirmasi ulang sama consultant yang ada disitu, dan mereka lumayan ramah dan ngga belagu gitu  untuk ukuran tempat bermain anak-anak yang cukup mahal. Buat satu sesi (70 menit) mereka bandrol di harga 150 ribu rupiah (saja) katanya, dan untuk 10 sesi dikenakan 1 juta 350ribu. Nah buat saya yang kadang masih ngos-ngosan kalo untuk beli segala macem hal untuk kei (yang sering sebenernya ga diperlukan), mahallah harga segitu. 
Soalnya saya pernah membandingkan sama temen yang anaknya waktu itu umur 2,5 th sebulan 8 sesi dikenain kurang dari 300 ribu. Tapi mungkin juga sih yah rasio perbandingan guru-murid beda, dan fasilitas yg  ditawarkan itu pastinya jauhlah.
Sesampainya disana, kami harus daftar ulang dulu, agar pasti siapa anak dan ibunya. Konsultannya sih menginformasikan bahwa biasanya kelas berlangsung selama 70 menitan. Di lantai yang sama, semua toko dan restoran bertema anak'', sepertinya memang target market lantai itu ya anak'' kecil.

Balik lagi ke topiknya deh yah, pas masuk ke dalam ternyata saya engeh kalo isinya menarik dan bagus banget, sepertinya memang sengaja dibuat mendekati rumah beneran. Ada dapurnya, ada ruang musik yg dibikin kaya ruang tamu dengan pianonya. Sayangnya saya ga sempet liat ke seluruh kelas-kelasnya. Foto-foto aja ga sempet karna terus megangin kei sambil terpesona kesana kemari, hahaaha.

Masuklah ke ruang kelas bayi-bayi. Ruangannya dipenuhi kaca. Jadi kayak mau latian dance aja rasanya haha. Plus banyak mainan, trus view keluarnya adem banget secara abis ujan gitu jadi excitementnya masih tinggi:D. Udah ada dua instrukturnya, perempuan dan berjilbab dan memang ramah dan excited sekali ketemu anak-anak kecil gitu. Kalo saya ngajar kebanyakan anak kecil, malah parno duluan biasanya karna kita kan gak tau apa yg bisa diperbuat anak anak, semuanya unpredictable.

Karna saat itu baru ada kei dan satu bayi lainnya, kei umur 7 bulan dan chikal beda 5 hari lebih muda darinya, dan karena sepi sekali itu jadi kelas agak ditunda beberapa menitlah, saya sih ga keberatan karna kei jadi bisa bereksplorasi sama mainan-mainan yg tersedia. Saya ambilin aja puzzle kayu gitu, secara kei belum punya dirumah. Btw, kei awalnya menikmati mandangin dirinya sendiri di kaca. Dia pikir wah siapa yah cewe cantik di depan gw yah, hahahaa..emaknya GR mode on.

sibuk sendiri

Ini saat kei sibuk sama puzzlesnya, mamanya dicuekin tuh. Nengoknya kalo ngga ke puzzle ya ke kaca. Alhamdulillah banget kei sama sekali gak malu-malu. Ga nangis dan ga ngerengek minta gendong. Justru dia rame dengan nyanyiannya yg sering gak jelas gitu. Teriak-teriak, menggeram, biasalah kebiasannya di rumah terbawa sampe ke mall.

Oiya kelas dimulai saat chikal dan kenji sampe. Jadi total ada 4 bayi dan 4 ibu-ibu hehehee.. Pertama ada proses berdoa gitu sambil dinyanyiin tentunya. Terus berlanjut ke lomba ambil bola, merangkak, sobek dan remes kertas terus nari di depan kaca. Duh saya lupa urutannya. Waktu sesi merangkak, anak si ibu siapa gitu yang namanya Rafa yg paling dulu. Tiga bayi lainnya entah diem ditempat, ada yg merangkak mundur, kalo kei ogah merangkak tapi ngesot ke belakang, maless bener nak.. Tapi gpplah, intinya bayi-bayi itu seneng, emak-emanya lelaaah. Cape bo, bener deh tapi seru. Pengalaman kaya gini nyenengin banget ternyata. Sekarang saya baru tau rasanya jadi ibu-ibu yang nemenin anak-anaknya di dalem kelas di hari pertama.
Oiya, untuk jadwal lengkap rumah bermain cikal ini, klik aja link berikut.
Saya sih pernah diskusi sama suami, mau masukin kei sekolah bermain gitu minimal dia 2,5 tahun. Saya toh bisa ngajarin kei yang simple simple aja di rumah, yang penting fasilitasnya ada. Nomor satu udah pasti buku cerita! Soalnya lewat buku, anak (menurut saya) imajinasinya berkembang, kosakatanya meluas juga, dan bisa belajar berempati kalo ada moral lesson di tiap cerita yg dia baca, selain itu biar terus deket sama mama papanya soalnya baca bukunya kan sama mama papanya hahhaa..
Oiya ini ada satu foto sama ibu-ibu lainnya (saya paling tua, hhuhuuu jadi dipanggil Ka deh hiks)

Ibu Dewi (ibunya Chikal), Ibu Deasy (Mamanya Kenji), sama saya n Kei yg sdg bobo

Pengalaman baru jadi ibu, gak hanya melulu soal asi dan bikin makan sehat untuk kei. Cheers, have a great weekend semuanya

reade more... Résuméabuiyad