I hope I don't get into trouble for this, but I guess here goes...



I don't know who you are Pak, I don't know your name. Your face is also not visible, but I wanted everyone out there to know that I am so disappointed in some of the police officers out there.

I have been somewhat "lucky" when dealing with police. I do something wrong, they pull me over, I plead guilty and ask for my ticket. SO FAR, not one single one has given me an actual ticket. I would like to believe it's because of my sweet smile and innocent face, but I think it is more because they expect me to buy myself out of trouble. I try to face my mistakes and if I did make a mistake, then let me suffer the consequences. I will NOT pay out of my mistakes. So, like I said, I have been lucky. They always let me go with a "Don't make the same mistake again!"

However, last Sunday, hubby dearest also made a mistake. He is not so stiff and righteous as me and quickly asked the police officer for "help." And me, I swiftly took out my camera because I knew what was going to happen next. I was shaking from fear he'd see my camera, and smash it to pieces or something like that... (I know my imagination has a tendency to run...). But I got away with my little scheme :D, and I'm now able to tell you all about it. I can't really use any of this for reporting purposes anyway. I don't know his name, I didn't get his face... so I think nobody is going to get too mad at me. It's a reality that this happens all the time. We just don't have the guts to report it. Like me!!

I wish I could say that we are improving overall... you know, our country's moral values is getting better. The government is cracking down on bribery... but life lessons tell me that it isn't happening fast enough. "Ayuk pak, jangan bikin malu semua orang Indonesia ya... Let's build a better Indonesia!!"

Umph... been back to school - with teachers - not students. So life has been back to busy.

Requisite Family Car Shot

Wanted to update my chronicle of this holiday. On Day 4 we went to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. A friend of Frank's had given us free tickets to see the Celebration of Lights at one of the locations. So we decided to make it a photo session day. We went in orange. First comes the requisite of picture in the car with me in the driver's seat... tada...

Sulawesi Utara Site

However, as is true to the Mamahit Family tradition, we had a lazy morning, got going quite late and didn't get in enough hours to do proper photo shooting.

We got to Taman Mini and went to the Sulawesi Utara area. Got some shots in. It took a while to fiddle with the camera equipment. It's been a while since we pulled out all our gear and used it. Here are some of the ones from the Sulawesi Utara area.

Food and Entertainment

Since it was late, our tummies needed some nourishment. The only decent food we could find was some fast food. I guess we were hungry because I thought that the food wasn't so bad after all. Thank you CFC. Hmm.. as a constructive comment though, you need to clean up your restaurants because it was rather smelly in there...

As entertainment while we ate, there was a man with his monkey showing us their tricks outside. So after lunch Adriel got a little friendly with the little guy.

Keong Emas IMAX

After our nourishment, we went to Keong Emas to see the IMAX show. It was a dinosaur Flying Monster film. It was also very old looking in the theater, and also movie, but I think Adriel enjoyed learning about the flying dinosaurs. When he gets a little older I'll have to induct him on my view of dinosaurs. Hehehehe... Here we are inside the theater.

Kereta Gantung

After the Theater we still had some time to get on the Kereta Gantung. The ticket lady told us, quick... they are going to close the Kereta Gantung soon. Oh no... so we made a quick trip on it and took a few shots. None as noteworthy as our own sweaty faces!! Hehehe...

The Hidden Gem of our Trip

We still had daylight, so we drove around trying to find a good spot to take pictures. All the little areas were starting to close. We saw this bleak looking chinese "taman" but didn't think it worth stopping there. So we passed it the first time. We couldn't find any place else, so I suggested we just find any green or garden area and stop there. So we stopped at this chinese garden (the one we passed by earlier). Even I asked Frank to stay in the car while Adriel and I checked it out to see if it was worth the stop. Lo and behold it was quite nice. We found a few photo-worthy locations. Hehehehe... here we are!!



I think this was the best place we visited in TMII. It was a great find.

The Lights and Air

And finally, we come to the reason for our trip. It was ok this part. The lights were spread out and I guess they really did work hard on it. However, it wasn't what I expected. We took a few pictures, but we aren't that familiar with night shots yet so we didn't get any great shots. Here's Adriel posing for his Mommy. He was being a good sport.



We did go for a little unexpected splurge. We went on the air balloon. It was a little pricey, but I'm pretty sure it will be a once in a life time experience. When else will we ride on a hot air balloon?? So we did it and had fun. It was a long day, and Adriel no longer wanted to take ANY MORE photos!! Hehehehe...



After the ride, we plopped down to eat the only available food. Pasta and Noodles. I think we were too exhausted to take any more photos.

And that was Day 4. We enjoyed it overall. It's been another long post, so I'll wait another day for Day 5.

We got a slow start to the day. Everyone is in a holiday mood, and for the Mamahit Family, holiday means sleep in. We left the house about noon, stopped by the local mini mart to top up our e-toll card and get some munchies for the trip. We got to puncak and got some lunch at Raffles Restaurant. It was pretty yummy, but we didn't bother taking too many pics. So none to share here.

I wasn't prepared with cash, but good thing they do accept Debt BCA at Taman Safari. So that was a life saver. Each of us was charged Rp. 100.000,- plus another Rp. 50.000,- for the car I think. If you are bule, I think they have a different price list for you. Hehehe... don't ask me why.

Anyway, this was a first for us, so we were quite excited. We went in and immediately were greeted by the different animals, mainly because the cars ahead of us were smart enough to buy carrots from the locals on the drive to the Taman Safari. Frank did tell me that the reason the sellers were offering the carrots was for the animals, but I think of carrots as people food, so didn't think he was serious. Hey, they sell nice juicy carrots, and how am I supposed to know they'll end up as zebra snacks?

So anyway, here are the first few pics:


Then we moved on to the watery part where we saw hippos. These hippos were also hungry. This guy below opened his mouth wide so people could throw carrots and bananas in. I didn't have anything to offer, so he gave me a smile. He's a cutie.


Here's another cutie:


Oh, and I found another cutie:


We also got stuck watching these little fellas having dinner. They had cuts of fish thrown in their pond, and they would dive for a cut, bring it up on the rock, and munch-munch-munch, pulling up their necks for a swallow. It was fun watching them. In their area, there was a sign. "These animals are fish eaters, please do not feed them carrots or other things." And guess what we would see on the bottom of the pond? Uh-huh... carrots!! It makes you wonder...


I got lots of giraffe pics, but this sultry lady looked sweet:


Close to the last part of the trip, we saw this huge tall gate in front of our car. Hmmm... is this the end of the trip? Is that all? The gates opened and we were in double gates. Something scary must be within. Once you are in, you cannot get out. There were signs everywhere. "Do not get out of the car." "Shut your windows." This got Adriel in a command mode. "Daddy, obey the instructions!" So when I rolled down the windows to get some shots, he was freaking out and panicking. They wouldn't give those instructions if they didn't mean it right? But in the end in calmed down and we got some good pics.


On a side note, there was a couple who were trying to mate in the middle of the road. Some pretty annoying cars were just getting in the way. Haha.


Then, out of the Safari, and into the recreational area. Adriel got to ride the bumper car once, and we got some drinks and food where the power went kaput. So we ate in the dark for a while before hurrying out because we were the last ones there.


That was Day 3, and what a day it was.

As I noticed that I only have one photo to upload for this day 2... I decided to just do it quickly. Day 2 is a Sunday and therefore we go to church first. It's blood drive day and both Frank and I fulfilled our duty to first, get the quota for the church, and second, we want to do a bit of kindness for others with what we are able to do. So yes, we both donated our blood before going for choir rehearsal.

After church we went to the ice rink in Taman Anggrek Mall. Adriel is getting quite adept at ice skating, but needs practice from time to time so I accommodate him when I can. He never got proper training, just Mommy training on ice, so we take it slow. Here he is...



After that we did go somewhere else, but unrecorded. Hehehe...

This holiday I have a really, short time to spend with Frank and Adriel. So we decided to jam-pack it into a few but fun filled days.

This is day one. Saturday. Last year we went to PRJ and had fun because there were rides and bumper cars that Adriel enjoyed. We went shopping and splurged a bit for me, but other than that it was just bumper cars, hotdogs, and getting sick on the rides :D

This was in the car, on the way there:


This is Adriel bored waiting for us:


Adriel went on the bumper cars, like, 5 times!!


Then we went on some of the rides:


Last of all, dinner close to home, at our favorite spot!!


Tomorrow maybe I'll post day 2 and 3.

Dear Adriel,

It has been a really, really long time since Mommy last wrote to you. Actually, you can read by now, you recently turned 7 and probably would enjoy reading some of the things Mommy has written to you.

So today, Mommy would like to drop a quick note of admiration, for your eagerness to read God's word each and every day. Sometimes, Mommy wonders if it is a sleep-delaying tactic that you use on your Mom... but most of the time, Mommy sees your sincerity.

Every night, after we finished our bedtime ritual of drink milk, wash-up, brush-teeth and plop in the bed, you get up and take out your Bible. It's not the Baby Bible, it's not the kid's Bible, but it's the small blue Bahasa Indonesia Bible that you got from Pdt. Gunawan on the day we "gave you back to God" in the "Penyerahan Anak" ceremony at church.

One day a few months ago, we told you to read Pdt. Gunawan's letter to you, with the Bible that came along with it. You opened the letter and read it. Then, one day, not long after that you were telling Mommy that you had read it all the way to Raja-Raja. The book of Kings. Mommy has no idea how you got that far, but you said you did, and you know most of what happened, so Mommy believes you.

Since then, every time before we pray, you get the Bible and read a bit from it. It's an inspiration for your Mom. Thank you for that dear.

That's just a bit for now. Later after work, Mommy will pick you up from your cousin's after spending the last 2 nights with them.

Love you much,
Mommy

I know I haven't updated like I promised. We're back at school after lebaran break and back to being busy, but got something done that I was stressing about. So I just wanted to shout out I'M SO HAPPY!!

hehehehe...

Yeah, I know... updates coming soon...

Yesterday was Ascension Day and we had a service at church combined with a special event they called "Grogol Got Talent." Not a competition, but an event where children up to 15 years of age were invited to show their talent to the congregation.

On the very last day of sign up Adriel finally was convinced to sign up by the committee. I think he partially agreed because even though it's only for children the committee assured Adriel he could sing with his Daddy if he wanted to.

So we were thinking of what to sing. I always liked the song "Kasih Yesus" but knew I wanted to combine it with another fun song because if I wanted Adriel to participate it wasn't for the "singing" talent that he had, but I just wanted to have him experience singing and performing in front of our church.

I kept thinking of a song I could combine it with until I also remembered that Adriel also loves to sing Justin Bieber's Baby. And after singing a part of it with my new wording to Frank he agreed. He also gave me the honors of coming up with the complete wording to go along with Kasih Yesus. Yeah, he's so sweet that way isn't he ;-)

After figuring out the wording we practiced for about a week. After a few days he had gotten all the words memorized, but still needed work on the melody. Then we needed another few days to get the motions in place.

This is what we ended up with:


People kept commenting, "Wah, anak band nih... anak band..." They also clapped a lot and were laughing in fun... I think that made him even more nervous and that's why he canceled all the motions. You could see his face was all serious and a bit frowning. He didn't understand that people enjoyed it. That's because everyone was mostly quiet during everyone else's performance...

Now, he didn't completely hit all the right tones, he was too nervous to do all the motions we learned but he did do a great job that his Mommy is so proud of. Afterwards, we went to the mall to have lunch and also we got him a watch. That's also a long story.

Anyway, here are the wordings, sorry Justin Bieber, no royalty for you, we just wanted to have fun with our boy at church :D

Kasih Yesus indah, indah, oh indah
Kasih Yesus indah, indah, oh indah

Lebih indah dari pelangi. |
Lebih indah dari bintang di langit. |. 2x
Lebih indah dari bunga di padang. |
Oh Yesusku... |

Kasih Yesus indah oh...
Kasih Yesus manis oh..
Kasin Yesus indah oh...
Lebih indah dari pelangi...

Saat ku main
Saat tidur
Pergi sekolah
Main di rumah
Kasih Yesus
Selalu ada
Dan tak akan pernah meninggalkanku...

KasihNya indah
KasinNya mulia
Lingkupiku
Sertaiku
Dia janji kasihNya s'lalu baru
Dan indah bagaikan pelangi
Ku nyanyi...

Kasih Yesus indah oh...
Kasih Yesus manis oh..
Kasin Yesus indah oh...
Lebih indah dari pelangi...

Kasih Yesus indah, indah, oh indah
Kasih Yesus indah, indah, oh indah

Lebih indah dari pelangi.
Lebih indah dari bintang di langit.
Lebih indah dari bunga di padang.
Oh Yesusku...

Kasih Yesus indah oh...
Kasih Yesus manis oh..
Kasin Yesus indah oh...
Lebih indah dari pelangi...

Dihidupku
Dihidupmu
Dihidupku
Dihidupmu
Kasih Yesus

Aaaah... weird but true.

Why is it that sometimes we love to torture ourselves? Knowing that doing something is bad for you, you keep wanting to do it. When the access was there, I knew looking something up wasn't going to do me any good. But when the opportunity was there, I just couldn't resist. I kept wanting to look it up. I kept checking it. And it kept hurting me. It kept putting more stress on me. But I couldn't resist. I kept going back.

But today, I apparently did a huge no-no... and then the access was cut off from me. I was not one of the privileged any longer. And *POOF* the burden is now gone. I still have that itch. I wanna know what else is going on there... and I might look into it... but since that access is not as easy as it used to be... you know what? It has actually set me free. I don't know what's going on right now, but now I don't have to see the words that torture me... I don't have to see those hurtful words. I don't have to endure the shame and pain any longer. The feeling is so physical I can actually feel the muscles in my shoulders actually relax...

And there I see Frank smiling and singing "Words won't hurt me no more..." Oh yeahh....