Big Family Weekend at the Park Lane

These pictures were taken last weekend while we were staying overnight with our big family from my hub side at the Park Lane Hotel.


Hotel Orientation Team

Cousin Akhtar, looked really cheerful

Dinner at Rawon Setan Mbak Endang, Casablanca

Although they were not feeling very well, they seemed to really enjoy the swimming time


Jacuzzi time ...

Disney on Ice

After looking everywhere to get Disney on Ice tickets since the tickets were sold out in most ticket stores, finally I got them, although they were of a bit higher class than what we planned. But, well, for the girls, I would be willing to pay for them. Anyway, it's not that Disney on Ice comes to our city every year.

Al last, last week, on 1 May 2008, we went to see Disney on Ice at Kemayoran. At first glance of the stage, it looked a bit disappointing. The stage looked quite small, compared to the previous shows such as Barney's show and Holiday on Ice. And the decor was not quite impressive. But, as long as the girls were happy, who were we to complain?

The theme was Mickey & Minnie's Amazing Journey. This show included 5 well known Disney's movies and their characters, like The Lion King, 101 Dalmatians, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, and Lilo & Stitch. My girls, of course, loved Little Mermaid show the most, with their beloved character Ariel looked so pretty. And it turned out that the show itself was quite impressive, with lots of bright colors, great characters and their costumes, and surprising stage accessories to make the shows look like the movies. Some examples were Captain Hook's ship, Lilo's bedroom, and Peter Pan's flying acts. The most disappointing show was the Lion King one. But anyway, since the girls were very happy, so I should also be happy then.

Granny's Birthday at Pizza Marzano

These pictures were taken when we were dining out at Pizza Marzano, celebrating my mom's birthday. Those were my big family, with my mom and dad, my husband and the girls, my two younger brothers (those two men with similar styles :) ), and my sister-in-law and her family. It was not quite so often for all of us to get together, so whenever someone had a birthday, we always tried to eat out together.

The place was great, but the food was ... well, I would say adequate. Even the girls didn't really enjoy the food. Anyway, it was less than I expected. Lucky for me, they had my beloved Caesar Salad, and it tasted quite nice.

Zoo Fun Walk

Last Saturday there was a family gathering, held by my Kayla’s school. The theme was “Zoo Fun Walk”, started early in the morning (6am) with morning exercise together, then proceed with the fun walk around the zoo, and ended with picnic in the zoo. It was quite amazing of how at 6am in the morning there were already so many people, parents, children, and teachers, gathering at the zoo. It was quite fun, especially since we’ve never had a picnic in the zoo before.

Dance Competition

On 19 April 2008 there was Kindergarten competition for the whole Jakarta, and one of the competition was dance competition. Since Shayna had dance class as one of her after school activities, she and her group participated in the dance competition. The title of her dance performance was Farming (Bertani).

This kind of performance, regardless of the result of the competition, is really good for boosting young children self confidence as well as give them experiences they will never forget. And I had to admit that these girls were quite tough, considering the fact that they had to wait outdoor for almost two hours before performing. And they still could perform well and cheerfully.

This Week's MADING

One way to build children's creativity and self confidence is by displays. Most children love and feel proud to have their creativity put on displays. That is why most schools have a board, specifically used for displaying student's creativity.

This week's MADING (Majalah Dinding, i.e. School Wall Magazines, i.e. Displays of Student Creativity) was for Kayla's class to show their creativity. Kayla's was the drawing one. The most important thing was that she was proud of her work that she asked me and my husband to come to school and see the display.

Waiting at Sheraton Bandara

Last Wednesday morning, on 9 April 2008, I and the girls were picking up my husband who just got back from Umroh in Mecca. His group would be having the closing ceremony at Sheraton Bandara Hotel, near the airport, before going home. So, we just went to that hotel and waited for him there.

We got off from home at around 6.30 in the morning, in anticipation of the traffic. We got to the hotel at around 8. It turned out that the closing ceremony took a longer time than we expected. While waiting, I took the girls to look around the hotel. It was not bad at all. The swimming pool was great, with children pool also available. There was also an adequate children playground in the back of the hotel.

After the girls played for around 1 hour, they got tired. But that ceremony hadn't finished. So, since I was hungry, and the girls were also hungry, we just had Oriental breakfast at the restaurant. Their collection of breakfast meal was not so impressive, but ... it was quite OK. I could eat bread and salad, had cuppo, and girls could grab some cereals.

Finally, at around 9.30, the ceremony finished, and we went home. Welcome home, papi!

Jarrah Coffee and Caesar Salad

This is what I call great snack time, with instant Jarrah Vienna style coffee and Caesar salad.

I bought this Jarrah coffee 2 days ago. At first I thought that this Jarrah is not so expensive after all, considering that one bottle can be used for 20 serves (cup serving size). But ... it seemed that one day I can drank at least 2 mugs (be advised that my serving size is mug serving size, not cup serving size). Thus, when I saw the bottle and it was only half full, I came to the conclusion that it was not cheap after all.

As for the Caesar salad, it tasted good. The seller said that they used Roman lettuce, whatever that veggie is. And, I really like Caesar dressing, with that salty flavour. Hhmmm ....

We'll be Having Star Fruit Party in a Few Months

Seeing all of those star fruits to be on the star fruit tree in granny's house, I'm sure that in a few months we'll be having star fruit party. :) Actually, it was quite amazing, since my parents just bought that tree about less than 2 years ago, and that tree suffered the flood about 1 year ago. And by the look of the tree, it doesn't look like big tough tree, right?

That tree, along with several other trees, are survivors. And we all also need to be survivors; don't give up on anything. It sounds non sense, but ... What am I talking about anyway? :)

Shayna - My House

Computer drawing using Paint application, by Shayna.