100 Days of Happiness – Day 62

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Today was another ‘camera free’ day as I didn’t feel the strength to face the heat outside for any adventures with my beautiful boy.  We have spent so much time meeting new people and exploring lately, that it was nice to stay home again and play and to be able to start to FINALLY begin to update my design website thanks to Putra and his incredible patience with working out the new wordpress theme!

Putra also found a new nanny for Samudra who will start working tomorrow. To be honest I nearly had a heart attack when he told me as I cannot stand the thought of someone I have never met looking after my baby.  I realise that it is normal for children in Indonesia to grow up with a nanny, but for me it is such a foreign concept and I would much rather do it myself.  As exhausting as it is at times, and although there have been many tears over the months from lack of sleep and no personal space at all, I wouldn’t take back a single second to change a thing because Samudra has changed so much and I realise just how precious every moment is.

It is easy to be confused in Indonesia about who is the actual mother of many children you see, unless of course they are made to wear the pink or blue standard uniforms to show exactly who they are, as they follow parents around the mall while holding their children. It is such a different world to what I grew up in, so it somehow made me feel so over protective and clingy with Samudra after I heard the news, anyone would have thought he was about to pack his bags and move out of home the way my heart was feeling!  It seems no-one else has a problem with getting some help so why do I feel so nervous and uncomfortable? At least it is a relative of Iyah, so at least there is some connection and I really like Iyah and Samudra loves her too.. so let’s just see!

So it was lots of cuddles today, being productive and short walk outside and that’s about all I managed to do today.. oh, and it was sooo cute to find Samudra’s first ever hand written birthday party invitation sitting on the table.  I have no idea who the actual child is, but I guess I will find out tomorrow as it has to be one of the super cute kids in the complex.

I hope you had a beautiful day too wherever in the world you are.

Day 62: Samudra’s first written party invitation. Happiness.

100 Days of Happiness – Day 61

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My alarm went off at 4.00am this morning, and I could hear everyone in the house already up and ready to go to their morning prayers at the mosque.  I don’t know how anyone can get up at this time every morning and not be exhausted all day long, but at the same time, it’s almost the best part of the day as it’s quiet and the air is cool before the sun rises along with the onset of stifling humidity.

Our taxi arrived at 4.30am and it was time to say our goodbyes to Antar and his lovely parents.  It has been fun to stay in and explore a new part of Jogja as I always seem to stay in the same central area around Jl. Marlioboro, so it was great to get to see Kotagede this time around. I felt sad to be leaving, but also looking forward to getting back to our own space, a hot shower and some clean clothes.

This time we caught a Citilink flight and arrived in Halim Airport in South Jakarta and this was my first time to see this airport and oh what bliss! It was clean, quiet, and only took 30 mins to get back home along the traffic free toll road, rather than the usual 1.5 or more hours to Soekarno Hatta Airport, depending on traffic.

I was so happy to see our new bookshelf has been finished and in the bedroom! This makes such a difference as I have been living out of boxes for so long as there has been nowhere to unload my belongings as Samudra’s toys take up every available space.  You have to LOVE Indonesia when you can get a handmade bookshelf made (better than the example I gave of an Ikea bookshelf picture), in your own backyard, without having to go shopping and made to your own specifications.  I think you could stay at home forever and never have to go without anything as whatever you can imagine can be delivered right to your doorstep. How amazing is that?

So it was a lazy day, looking after Samudra at home as he was crying a lot and very clingy with me, which makes me think he is still not feeling 100%. A day of staying indoors and no adventures is just what I felt like too and the hours flew by!

I hope you had a beautiful day wherever you are in the world too.

Day 61: Our new bookshelf! Happiness.

100 Days of Happiness – Day 60

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Now this was my kind of morning! We got up early and headed down the road to the Monggo Chocolate Factory, how had I not heard it was so close before today?? Unfortunately the factory was closed today due to the long weekend, which was probably a good thing, but I still managed to buy some chocolate bars from the little shop at the front at a much cheaper price than you can get them for at the shops. Monggo chocolate is mainly dark chocolate, but they also have a milk bar and white chocolate and for a chocolate addict like myself I can’t decide which flavour is the best!

Next we headed back closer to the centre of town near Kraton Palace to visit another local-made chocolate shop, and I tried so many of the taster buds which were delicious, especially the lemon grass flavour, but I was most impressed with the packaging – such fun illustrations!  Of course I had to get more chocolate as oleh-oleh but I’m not liking my chances of being able to resist eating it all myself before we return to Jakarta.

At Putra’s insistence we returned to Madam Tan’s again for more vegetarian food and I really would have loved to catch up with our friends Lynne and Thomas at Phoenix Hotel across the road but we didn’t have time before we had to return to Kiki’s uncle’s house in Bantul to return the motorbike and say our farewells.  When we arrived at the house there was a huge bucket filled with another 3000 quail eggs yet again and Kiki’s aunty and her sister were sitting on the floor shelling them all.  Apparently they do this every day and then sell the eggs at the market in the mornings. I just can’t imagine how many birds there must be to be producing this many eggs every day and the thought of the sound of those birds made me feel sick! It was good to see Kiki again and I felt really sad to be leaving her again and I hope that she is well looked after by her relatives and I hope that she can make many new friends once she enrols in a local school in the area.

We returned to the guest house in the late afternoon and relaxed for an hour before heading off on foot to try and find a taxi so we could go for dinner.  Eventually we found a becak and the old driver pedalled us down the road until we finally found a taxi to take us to a pizza restaurant which was great! Thin crust pizzas, followed by hot chocolate cake and ice-cream. This eating frenzy needs to stop!

As we made our way back to the front gate at the guest house we saw that the whole front porch and steps were covered in people sitting, eating and talking and that Antar’s father had paid for a soto seller to come to the house and provide all their guests with chicken soto for the night. This was a family gathering of just the family members that live in the kampung outside the guest house.. There were 50 in total! Who has that many relatives living in the same area?? I was absolutely amazed and got into bed thinking it may be a long night ahead with lots of laughing outside the bedroom window, but actually everyone left not long after.  It really has been a funny stay in the guest house with Antar and his lovely parents!

I hope you had a beautiful day wherever in the world you are too.

Day 60: Samudra and I at the Monggo Chocolate factory. Happiness.

Day 60: More locally produced chocolate in Kraton. Happiness.

Day 60: How cute is the chocolate packaging? Happiness.

Day 60: Cuddles goodbye for Kiki. Happiness.

100 Days of Happiness – Day 59

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It was an early start to the morning as Samudra woke me by pulling on my nose and lips as usual and wasn’t interested in going back to sleep, so I got up and took him for a morning walk around the surrounding kampung as the sun rose. There were so many mothers and grandmothers in the alleyways with babies in slings feeding them rice by hand and they all wanted to know where we were staying and were we friends with Antar. How did they all know? News travels fast in little kampungs.  I was surprised to see so many new houses in the area and later found out from Antar’s father that many people had to rebuild after Mount Merapi erupted in 2006 and the earthquakes damaged most of the surrounding houses back then.

Once Putra woke up we went to visit the bakery I had been to previously and the area was so crowded with the morning markets out on the streets.  With becaks, motorbikes, stalls set up on the sides of the streets, it looked so picturesque but again too tricky to take photos with Samudra in the sling unfortunately.  Instead we sat on a stool in the bakery and watched the hustle and bustle out on the street and then I walked home while Putra went off filming again.  We were stopped by many people calling out Samudra’s name and it made me laugh that it’s always the same wherever we go.. people are just so incredibly friendly here!

Another fun day which ended up with us back at Mila’s vegetarian restaurant (we are so predictable) and this time there was a long waiting line for tables just as we sat on the cushions in one of the bungalows so perfect timing for us.  The waiter also returned Samudra’s baby bottle that I had left behind a couple of days ago.. how good is that? That would never likely happen in Jakarta.

I hope you had a fun day wherever in the world you are too.

Day 59: Becak driver at the morning market. Happiness.

Day 59: Watching the bread rolls being made and filled with strawberry jam at the bakery… yum! Happiness.

100 Days of Happiness – Day 58

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This morning Putra left at 5.00am to go filming so when Samudra woke an hour or so later, we walked down the street and I noticed a little bakery so we went inside and the girls working there were so excited and all came to pinch Samudra’s cheeks.  It was incredibly hot yet again as we stepped back outside and I spied a Pasar (market) across the street so I quickly walked inside to get some shade and it was like a tin shed sauna in there, but it was amazing! So much food for sale and ladies sitting at their stalls with sun rays beaming on them through cracks in the roof calling out to us.  They came to try and take Samudra out of his sling for a hold, but he wasn’t feeling the love in the heat and didn’t want to let go of my arm, so we braved the sun again and practically ran back to the house as there was no shade on the road.

We sat and chatted with Tika and her beautiful boy Jagad (his name translates to ‘universe’), so Samudra and Jagad have the universe, ocean and sky covered with their names! We had funny conversations as I struggled with my Indonesian and Tika spoke very little English but we managed to have a lovely time together until Putra came and picked us up to take us by motorbike to head to Loving Hut for lunch on Jl. Dagen.  By now the sun was unbearable and I was almost in tears as Samudra screamed and wriggled to try and get free of the sling as we rode along, but there are very few drive-by taxis in Kotagede so as soon as we found one (very close to our destination in the end!), I got off and asked the driver to turn up the a/c so Samudra and I could cool down and calm down. Once we had eaten at Loving Hut I walked up to the mall to get some food for Samudra and bought a gift for Kiki to hopefully bring some love to her on the day of her mum’s memorial.

The prayer service was held at Kiki’s mum’s place and it was a big mix of interesting people and funny characters but I had to miss most of it as it was too warm inside and I didn’t want to disturb anyone with Samudra crying and I didn’t want to ruin Putra’s filming.  So we sat outside and there were plenty of funny people there to talk to and children crowding around us from the kampung. I wish I had taken photos of everyone but it was rather difficult and Putra has captured everyone so will just have to wait until his documentary is finished.  Kiki was amazing and I haven’t seen her shed a tear although I know she misses her mum terribly and it must be so hard having to move and live with a whole new family. She did ask jokingly if she could come to Jakarta to be with Samudra and I so wish I could take her, but unfortunately it’s just not that easy.

Another meal back at Bladok as it was the closest destination by becak in the evening rain and then I caught a taxi back to the guest house and had a funny time giving Samudra a wash with the bucket and ladle. I don’t think I will ever get used to this way of showering as I love warm running water too much and can’t bare the thought of pouring cold water down my back! How very un-Indonesian of me..

I hope you had a beautiful day today wherever in the world you are.

Day 58: Good Morning! Happiness.

Day 58: Many friends were reading prayers for Maryani. Bless.

Day 58: More loving for Samudra at the memorial. Happiness.

100 Days of Happiness – Day 57

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How blessed are we? Antar’s mum and aunty were up very early preparing a delicious vegetarian breakfast at the house just for us, and I felt incredibly spoilt as we ate more fresh vegetables with tempe and tahu. The food in Jogja tastes so much fresher and healthier to me and maybe that’s why my eating here has been out of control! I used to be lucky if I ate one proper meal a day because the heat made me not want to eat, just drink copious amounts of iced lemon tea, but now there’s no stopping me!

Putra was off filming again and I decided to take a quick walk down the main street of Kotagede to check out the silver stores and see what is in the area.  Thankfully I didn’t bring my wallet with me, although the prices were really cheap for handmade silver jewellery, but I seem to lose everything and Samudra just pulls at any jewellery I wear so better I go without for now.  It was fun to see all the becak drivers and people going about their daily lives on the street but the heat, oh the heat! We then joined Putra as he went to film one of his subjects who owns and lives in a very large complex in an old part of the city.  The houses there are amazing and you cannot see the horizon anywhere as you pass through winding alleyways and high walls of all the houses. It’s quite a magical place to visit.

Next we visited an NGO office, before heading back to Mila’s vegetarian restaurant and eating some delicious spinach, egg and cheese nasi gorgeng and tempe mendoan. Yum! Then it was back to Kotagede to watch some dancing and Samudra and I took a walk through the winding streets and checked out the kampung and met so many friendly people along the way who bombarded us with questions about where we are from, what are we doing in the area, how long is the flight from Jakarta to Jogja, how come Samudra doesn’t have a nose like mine! etc. I still find it funny no matter how many times I get asked the same questions.

It was another fun day for us and I hope you had a beautiful day too wherever you are in the world.

Day 57: Samudra’s new friend. Happiness.

Day 57: Hanging out in Kotagede and making new friends. Happiness.

Day 57: Watching a Waria dance performance. Happiness.

Day 57: The winding streets of the old city in Kotagede. Happiness.

100 Days of Happiness – Day 56

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Happy 8 Months today Samudra. I am loving your new two bottom teeth every time you smile – no more gummy smiles and belly laughs from our little angel!

Being a creature of habit, I couldn’t resist heading back to Bladok again for more chocolate pancakes and this time we ran into the chef there who I haven’t seen for almost two years, but he made himself at home, sitting at our table and he held Samudra while we ate.. and it was good to catch up again with another familiar face!

Putra headed off for more filming and it was too hot for us to follow, so I took Samudra up to the mall on Jl Marlioboro and discovered they have a HUGE Hero Supermarket on the ground floor. So we sat in a cafe and took advantage of the a/c and Samudra ate some yoghurt while he was busily flirting with a baby girl on the table next to us.  So adorable! It was then off to Bantul for us to meet Kiki at her uncle’s home where she will now be living.  It is so green and beautiful in the area with rice fields everywhere although the kampung is very quiet compared to where Kiki was living with her mum.  Kiki’s young cousin took Samudra and I for a walk around the kampung, through the winding streets and we met some very funny older ladies while all the local young kids stood around checking out the strange foreigners in their area. I am guessing they don’t get many visitors around there as they were incredibly excited and wouldn’t stop staring at the ‘bule‘ baby.

As I watched Kiki sitting on the floor with her aunty with the crazy mission ahead of shelling 300 quail eggs, I was reminded of the quail that used to live in a cage outside my bedroom window when I lived with Treen in 2013. I used to cry every night as the noise of it made me seriously feel INSANE and I didn’t sleep a wink for months, and had to resort to staying in hotels every now and then just so I could get some sleep.  Where on earth did these 3000 quail eggs come from and who could possibly stand to live near that many of those crazy birds?? They make noise all through the night with a one second break in between… I used to be in agony with the pitching sounds and Treen even paid someone to give the owners money to buy their birds, only to have the person return the birds the next day… so we HAD to all move out of the house to regain our sanity as our pleas to the neighbours fell upon deaf ears!

From Bantul we headed to Kotagede to stay in the guest house of one of Putra’s friends, Antar.  Kotagede is the old part of Jogja and is the home to many silver smiths and silver shops everywhere and I had only visited the area briefly once a few years ago and was happy to be staying somewhere new.  Antar took us out to an amazing vegetarian restaurant, Mila’s, for dinner where we sat in an open air bungalow and enjoyed the most delicious healthy and fresh food, all of which is grown organically by the owners and then used in the restaurant.

Overall it was a full and fun day and I hope you had a beautiful day wherever in the world you are too.

Day 56: Samudra meeting a very old lady in Bantul. Happiness.

Day 56: Local boys hanging out in the kampung in Bantul. Happiness.

Day 56: Shelling quail eggs to sell. Happiness.

Day 56: Caught in the afternoon sun. Happiness.

Day 56: Visiting Kiki and her relatives. Happiness.

Day 56: At Mila’s Vegetarian Restaurant. Happiness.

100 Days of Happiness – Day 55

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Oooops! It seems that I am so far behind with my updates as we have been away for the past week that I got confused with my last post and mixed up some photos along the way! So let me correct myself here.. Sorry!

For the first three years that I travelled to Jogja I always stayed at Bladok Losmen which is close to Jl Sosrowijian and for three years we had problems with bed bugs, but for some reason I kept going back! I think I just liked the staff and loved the food, so this morning we headed to their cafe for chocolate pancakes – enak! They were just as good as I last remembered..

After more filming and meeting up with people we headed out for yet more food, at our new favourite restaurant, Madam Tan’s near Tugu Statue. I haven’t been eating too much rice for awhile now and on these last trips to Jogja I can’t seem to get enough of the delicious nasi merah (red rice), it’s a new addiction of mine!

We rested back at the Hotel and enjoyed the a/c in our room and the boys slept while I watched some strange Indo TV station that I couldn’t understand but had me laughing out loud! Once they woke up it was off for a night swim in the pool before we headed to EFM Cafe for some dinner and I was SO HAPPY to run into an old friend, Diaz, who was back working there once again.  Treen and I first met Diaz back in 2009 on a trip to Jogja and I have returned many times and seen him but the last year or so we kept missing eachother in Jogj and Jakarta so it was great to finally catch up again.

Putra and I decided to stop for one quick drink at Lucifer Bar as a detour on our way back to the Hotel, but Samudra had other ideas and was too tired and started crying just as our drinks arrived, so a super quick drink and we settled back into our room for the night after a fun but relaxing day.

I hope you had a beautiful day wherever in the world you are too.

Day 55: Splashing around in the pool with bapak. Happiness.

Day 55: Wrapped up for cuddles after their night swim. Happiness.

Day 55: Meeting up with an old friend, Diaz. Happiness.

100 Days of Happiness – Day 54

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This morning was another early start for Samudra and I as we headed to the airport to fly back to Jogja to be with Putra and most importantly, to make sure that young Kiki is okay.  It was raining as we reached the toll road and the taxi driver started speeding as the traffic was light for a change.  I started to feel scared as I felt us picking up speed and had to yell at him to please slow down as I looked at the speedometer to see we were going more than 130km/hr in the rain!!! Add to the fact that I had Samudra wrapped tightly in my arms on my lap and had so many visions of all that could go wrong, but thankfully the driver slowed right down and we arrived at the airport in one piece.

Once again everyone was incredibly helpful as I tried to juggle carrying Samudra in my arms, and pull our luggage along and the one hour flight passed by smoothly with us having three seats to ourselves. We caught a taxi to meet Putra and checked into the Batik Hotel on Jl. Sosrowijian where Putra used to stay with his family when he was just a young kid, and it was a two minute walk to Jl. Marlioboro and a short becak ride to Kiki’s house, so a perfect location for us.

We met up with Kiki and she was so happy to see Samudra again and I felt so sad for her, having just lost her mum, so we took her out to Loving Hut for lunch but I’m not sure she was such a fan of vegetarian food. Ooops. I am so glad that Putra has been here looking out for her as she has been staying alone in the house and she is so young. Bless.

Putra headed back to Kiki’s place for filming in the evening after dinner so I took Samudra in the sling for a walk down Jl. Marlioboro.  It was steaming hot even as the sun had already set for the night and I was covered in a film of sweat as we dodged the hundreds of people who also had the same idea to go for a night walk through the markets.  I do love the atmosphere and people were so friendly and chatting to us and by the time I turned to walk back to the hotel after some browsing, Samudra was fast asleep in the baby sling.

I hope you all had a beautiful day too wherever in the world you are.

Day 54: Samudra making a new friend again on our visit to Maryani’s house. Happiness.

Day 54: So Aussie! Wishing he could open and drink that can of Milo! Happiness.

100 Days of Happiness – Day 53

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Last night we received some sad news from beautiful young Kiki in Jogja who I posted a photo of last week so it was a restless night and I didn’t manage to sleep until almost 3.00am and then was woken by Samudra so many times that I felt incredibly tired by the time I finally got out of bed in the morning.  Putra left early to fly back to Jogja and Samudra and I will go and join him there tomorrow morning until the end of the week, so it’s going to be quiet again here as I won’t be bringing my computer along to be able to post updates.  My biggest love goes to Kiki and I feel blessed to have had the chance to meet her amazing mother even if only briefly last week. May she rest in peace.

Samudra and I caught a taxi to Senayan City to meet Treen and Alonda for lunch at Kitchenette today and it my cheese and mushroom crepe and home-made lemonade was as delicious as ever. We didn’t stay too long as my little one was exhausted which was a great excuse for me to not go window shopping and be tempted by things I do not need!  In saying that, Treen and I did make a quick detour to Ratu Plaza on the way home to buy some more dvd’s and so Treen could get some more new releases to give to our family when she goes back to Melbourne for a quick holiday next week..

I went for a quick walk with Samudra in the late afternoon sunshine and met some lovely people as always and it was a nice way to end an emotional day for me.

I hope you had a beautiful and peaceful day wherever in the world you are.

Day 53: Samudra and Alonda chilling out. Happiness.

Day 53: Meeting a new friend, Ryan at Kitchenette. Happiness.