Hercule Poirot

In Japan, this week is offically the beginning of spring. In Honjo, however, the temperature is still 10-15C and the wind is still freezing as it has been for the last 4 months. The Honjo sakura tree which is supposed to be seen in Hanami festival (stands for festival to SEE the sakura flowers) on April 3rd, is still bold without any flowers at all:( Imagine that! Eja found an excuse for this still freezing and hard-blowing wind as geographically unfortunate -meaning: we are just so d**m unlucky because our city is surrounded by mountains that blow their cold wind down to us. Since I'm not a geography expert, I'm not going to comment on that.
Anyway, here I am still freezing from this unfriendly weather and still watching the weather forecast for any good news like TOMORROW WILL BE SUNNY AND WARM (in Japanese) -because IT IS sunny BUT NOT warm. Unfortunately, it seems like the only persons who think that it is STILL cold are JUST the two of US. While the rest of Honjo population already wear their spring apparels: you know, light sweater, T-shirt, and thin trousers, we are still wearing our winter clothes: winter jacket, double long-sleeved shirts, double thick trousers. Worst, I'm still wearing my wool cap, wool scarf, and winter gloves. There's no way I'm going to change this 'uniform' with a lighter one!!!
Today, we went to some stores a little bit far from house by bike. The sun appeared AND the wind still blew hard. I still wore my uniform. After biking for sometime, I realized something: the only people who wear these thick clothes....... are just the ELDERLY, the grandmas and granpas. Even kids wear lighter clothes!!! Then I realized something else: I just ridiculously look like the great detective Hercule Poirot who is famous for being overly dressed despite the weather...



Well, at least, he is famous...

HOMESICK -literally

I'm homesick!
No, not that I miss (or don't miss) my family, my friends, my favorite food: lasagna and pizza with a lot of cheese, other things like mie pangsit kampung, bubur ayam sepeda yang lewat di depan rumah, gorengan: cireng, tahu isi, bakwan, bakwan malang, siomay, pangsit goreng, mie ayam, gado-gado, ketoprak, TEH BOTOL, kopi nescafe kaleng yang Arabica, fried chicken, eat-able Jap food like HHBento. I miss taking a taxi everywhere I go -even if it's just 2-3 kilo away. I miss screaming to my faithful maid to make me any food when I'm hungry. I miss my friends gossiping about other friends....... you know..... of course I miss them all.
BUT, they just seem insignificant right now.
I've been feeling miserable knowing that I'm really really HOME-SICK. I'm sick because I miss my HOME, my HOUSE -the BRICKS and STONES!!!


My old house which is even older than myself, and is perhaps as old as my father, which I've known dearly since I was 4 months old, has the memories of my childhood, my adolescence, my adulthood.
My very house has my foot steps and finger prints everywhere, has a big bathroom that I used to spend hours in it, owns green-old-stoned floor tiles that are not made anymore, and it also houses a very naughty genie (or two?),
My dear house also has a garden that smells like the grass after the rain comes, has pohon jambu air that was planted the moment I moved to that house some 30 years ago (that tree has served me well since my childhood. It has became my place of climbing practice, my place of hiding from adults since they couldn't climb it or just a place to eat its fruits), has a big old mango tree that was planted when the house was built some 60 years ago, and it was once painted with Hikari's drawing (used to, now it's clean, my mom said). I miss my house. (I think Hikari misses it as much as I do because he always loved to play in its not-so-sophisticated-but-very-nice garden). Even worst, I couldn't enjoy my house anymore when I'm back, simply because............ it won't be ours any longer.
My parents will move away and the house will be somebody else's............................................................
(May be I shouldn't return at all)
ps: I don't know if you can understand that I CAN miss my house that much. It means a lot to me. It is my home.

PENANTIAN YANG SINGKAT -Tangkisan Letug

Mengertilah engkau akan waktumu kawan,
Awan akan berlalu, panas dan dingin pun tunduk,
Mengapa mesti bumi terus dipaksa jadi angkasa?

Hidup kita adalah penantian yang singkat
Saat dimana duka dan ria berciuman mesra
Kesedihan selalu disana menyertai setiap saat hidup kita
Tiada kegembiraan yang murni putih di dunia
Bahkan dalam saat puncak kebahagiaan kita
Masih tersampir duka
Dalam setiap kepuasan atas sukses kita
Masih tersampir iri di dalam dada
Dalam setiap senyum
Masih ada tersimpan air mata
Dalam setiap rangkulan hangat
Masih tertanam kesepian seorang manusia
Dalam setiap persahabatan
Masih ada waktu perpisahan
Dalam setiap sudut terang
Masih ada titik kegelapan

Bila ironi itu terus saja menyertai kita
Mestikah kita dimakan duka?
Mestikah kita ditelah gembira?

Sia-sia, semuanya serba sia-sia,
Sia-sia, semuanya yang sedang gila kuasa,
Sia-sia, semuanya yang sedang bertopeng dusta,
Sia-sia, semuanya yang sedang lupa
Sia-sia, semuanya yang menggenggam maya.

Hanya penantian kita saja
Yang bila dihidupi sungguh
Ia akan membawa sunyata
Menjungkirkan segala di depan mata
Dan menuntun kita ke jernih segarnya air telaga
Yang abadi memberikan puas bagi jiwa

(Susanne's gift for my birthday of the year 2004: How true this is still)

My Everyday Life (in Japan)

Ever since I moved to Japan, I keep having questions like "what do you do there?".
Well, it has a lot of answers and at first I was thinking of giving you pictures... you know... let them speak for themselves. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of me.. cooking, washing the dishes, laundrying, ironing, cleaning the house, watching a lot of dvds, emailing you, telephoning my mom, listening to cds, reading cooking recipes, studying the recipes, reading best-seller novels, watching boring tv programs, WATCHING WEATHER REPORTS, playing with Hikari, munching, staring at the snow from our backside glass door, being tortured by the cold, shopping for groceries or for fun, taking Hikari to the amusement section (in a department store), strolling to a supermarket, visiting a supermarket, window shopping in a supermarket :)), riding a bike everywhere, taking a train everywhere, and above all I don't have pictures of me spending hours in hot shower!!
I've however managed to get some photos from japan-guide.com to show you a little bit of what I do here. There are some things I don't do, though: 1) We never take a taxi because it is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE! 2) We don't have the chance -yet- to ride in a bus because these buses just don't go where we go. Besides, they are slower than train but more costly. 3) We don't have the chance -yet- to travel by a Shinkansen because it's too expensive to ride one if the destination is 'too' near!



So, basically, what I do here consists of doing household chores, cycling to every part of the town (we have two bikes, the one seen here is not ours), shopping, travelling by train, and ENJOYING LIFE........... What else could a (wo)man possibly want???

Never have the chance to ride one

Never Take One: Too Expensive

Ticket Gate to Your Train

Train Map (It is as confusing as it looks)

Things in a supermarket

(Not My) Bicycle: They all look the same anyway

The view of our 'backyard' from the 3rd floor

This is the view from our terrace at the back side of the apato on the 3rd floor. It's still covered with snow.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS WITH THE WEATHER GUYS

Aaaaaarrrgghhhh........ I still have an unfinished business with these weather guys on tv. They make me a paranoid. It seems like they are haunting me to wherever I go and whatever I do.....
If I ignore them, I will end up crawling on some windy cold street in Tokyo -wet from head to toe- or end up crying over a huge pile of wet laundry at home in Honjo. If I miss watching the weather forcast on tv at night, every plan I have made during the previous day would soon be ruined................ To make it worst, internet forcasting is not as accurate as the tv forcast :( Argghh.. what's the matter with you, guys???!!?? There goes my peace of mind...... everynight!!! The most wonderful moment in my everyday life becomes the sight of a sun symbol and a weather man saying tomorrow will be sunny and nicely warm........huahuahuahuaaaaa :( :( :(

TEMENNYA

Hari ini paket dari Jakarta dateng. Senaaaaaaaaannggg sekali, karena isinya semua yg aku tunggu-tunggu sejak sebulan lalu: BUMBU MASAK & BUKU MASAK... ehekhekeheehe...
Lalu ada juga pelembab muka yg aku titip dari temanku, Nuniek BARBARA Ratnindyah. Pelembab-pelembab ini punya cerita yg panjang & lebar. Karena anda sekalian pasti bete sama yg panjang & lebar, aku persingkat saja ya. Jadi begini, sejak dateng kesini (weleh weleh.. kayaknya tetep panjang n lebar nih) aku terkena 'penyakit winter' yaitu kulit ku (muka, kaki, tangan, ya pokoknya yg ada kulitnya lah) jadi kering semua. Yg parah ya muka. Kering, terkelupas n perih gitu (tapi buat fans gw, jangan kuatir. Gw tetep cute n pintar hehehe). Lebih parah lagi karena produk kosmetik buat muka kering disini, GAK bisa KEBACA labelnya. Lalu aku nekat beli satu produk P***S yg tulisannya cold cream. TERNYATA... ;P itu bukan buat pelembab tapi buat cleanser -itu tuh yg buat bersihin muka (pantes waktu pertama pake si Eja komentar kenapa krim bikin orang jadi jelek begitu... aaaaaaAAA). Pendeknya, aku minta tolong temanku yang baik hati, pintar, dan tidak sombong itu (hmm... yang terakhir sih, relatif deh) untuk beliin pelembab. Dan inilah dia barang-barangnya ada di depan mataku. Nyamnyamnyam.. Yang bikin aku pengen share cerita ini disini adalah surat dari dia:
Mamahikari, Ini titipanmu, aku beliin set vit. E-nya... blablabla...
-moisturizer + SPF u/ kalo keluar & tkena sinar matahari, -moisturizer krim (botol) u/ pemakaian setiap hari yg tidak terekspos matahari, -krim malam PENTIIIIING!!! wajib kudu musti harus pake tiap malem, -kantong plastik warna ping (beneran loh begini dia tulis) emang dapet karena lagi promosi. (kalimat ini yang bikin ngakak) Biarpun gak cocok ama your personality traits (huahaha), terima aja. toh matching ama produknya.
Hihihihi... emang bener2 deh temanku ini... PAS banget komentarnya... Aku senang karena ternyata temanku masih inget personality aku..... hihihihiiiiihihiihi ;p Thanks ya Barb!

Now, Time to Explore Honjo

We've been to some places in Tokyo and Yokohama, sorry to say, we'd never had a chance to explore our own 'neighborhood': HONJO. Until Tuesday, March 15.
The guys in Honjo city hall set up a one-day trip around Honjo for international students in Waseda university. It's supposed to introduce us with the life in Honjo. They've done quite a good job. Interesting places and a very nice bus, on behalf of the city hall (call it kewalikotaan if you like). Well, from 4 places that we visited -glass factory, resto, shrine, market- the resto and the shrine are especially unique.
We went to this Famous Soba-udon Resto for lunch. The resto is nice and the food -I'm certain- is delicious. I'm certain? Well, the thing is I'm not that adventurous when it comes to trying out food. So, I couldn't finish this must-have-been-quite-delicious soba (COLD noodle) because.... hmm... because... IT IS COLD! The noodle is cold!
After that we went to a temple/shrine. It's called Jinja, in Japanese. It's Kanasana Jinja. We watched Shinto wedding ceremony. They say these days there are not many Japanese who want to have a wedding ceremony in Shinto way. So, it's really a very rare opportunity! I took some photographs around the Jinja, and my friends took more photographs of me at the Jinja. Unfortunately, the rest of the photographs are still in my friends' camera. I'll upload them later when I get them:)) It's been quite a day.

In front of Honjo famous soba-udon restaurant

Famous Soba-Udon Restaurant in Honjo

Serving the Shrine

The Bridge in the Shrine

The Forest around Kanasana Jinja

Ancient Music in Kanasana Jinja

Creating a Woman

My friend, Susanne, emailed me this. It's beautiful and I can't agree more on what it says. This reminds me of my Mom..

By the time the Lord made woman, he was into his sixth day

of working overtime.

An angel appeared and said, "Why are you spending so much time on this one?"
And the Lord answered, "Have you seen my spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic, have over 200 movable parts, all replaceable and able to run on diet coke and leftovers, have a lap that can hold four children at one time, have a kiss that can cure
anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart -and she will do everything with only two hands."
The angel was astounded at the requirements. "Only two hands!? No way!
And that's just on the standard model? That's too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish."
But I won't," the Lord protested. "I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart. She already heals herself when she is sick AND can work 18 hour days."
The angel moved closer and touched the woman. "But you have made her so soft, Lord."
"She is soft," the Lord agreed, "but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish."
"Will she be able to think?" asked the angel.
The Lord replied, "Not only will she be able to think, she will be able to reason and negotiate."
The angel then noticed something, and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek. "Oops, it looks like you have a leak in this model. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one." "That's not a leak," the Lord corrected, "that's a tear!"
"What's the tear for?" the angel asked.
The Lord said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love, her loneliness, her grief and her pride."
The angel was impressed. "You are a genius, Lord. You thought of everything! Woman is truly amazing."
And she is! Women have strengths that amaze men. They bear
hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy.
They smile when they want to scream. They sing when they want to cry. They
cry when they are happy, and laugh when they are nervous. They fight for
what they believe in. They stand up to injustice. They don't take "no" for an answer when they believe there is a better solution. They go without, so their family can have. They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They love unconditionally. They cry when their children excel and cheer
when their friends get awards. They are happy when they hear about a birth
or a wedding. Their hearts break when a friend dies. They grieve at the
loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no
strength left. They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They'll drive, fly, walk, run
or e-mail you to show how much they care about you. The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning. They bring joy, hope and love.
They have compassion and ideals. They give moral support to their family
and friends. Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise

Sunday, 13 April 2005, 09:30 AM we started our 3-hour-train-ride trip to
Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise. It's a trip that started from the mountain to the seaside! Jauh memang but it's worth the effort. The Sea Paradise is a kind of amusement park combined with a sea-world park. Marina, DUFAN and Jakarta Sea World in one biggggg area.

Kita emang niat banget pergi karena dipaksain subuh2 udah bangun (read: morning time = 10 AM). Ternyata, these Japanese people had already been up and around the train station. It turned out we chose the wrong Sunday to travel. For some reason (I couldn't figure out till now), everyone in Japan was traveling somewhere so the train was incredibly full. At the first 2-hour-train ride, we had no seat. Except for Hikari who sat comfortably in his stroller.

After changing 3 trains -including the one with automatic operation (read: NO MASINIS)- Yokohama sea shore was insight. The Sea Paradise was located at the beach. After we got off the train, we walked about 500 meters or so (I didn't count. You know why)along the beach to reach the gate. You could see the photo. The beach is below us. Then there were roller coaster that was so high I didn't even feel to ride it, a falling tower (I don't know the name, but it's tower where you are supposed to fall from it on your seat... understand?) which is a lot taller than Monas, merry-go-round, the niagara-fall thing, the kora-kora thing, and stuff like that. Next to it, there is the Aqua musium consisting of the Aqua theater -it's a giant aquarium where you walk in it, and the Aqua stadium -you know, where you pay for the dolphins and whales to dance and splash water on you.

There was one moment when I actually felt pretty and flattered: in the Aquarium I was standing against the wall waiting for Hikari and Eja watching the fish, and people who passed me always stopped and glanced at me. Children, young, old. I thought "wow, it must be my new hair"...... Hmm, well, later I realized I was standing in front of the SITE MAP with my back covering it......

It was great actually except that we couldn't watch the splashing dolphins and whales because the weather turned out bad at 3 PM. We even couldn't go up to the Sea Paradise tower where we can see the whole compound because suddenly the snow fell down. No, the snow didn't fall down; it stormed down. Well, actually, the Saturday night news had already informed us that the weather would be nice only until 3, but after that snow would come. But as Indonesians, we were not taught to really believe those weather guys:( Besides, those guys on TV spoke Japanese so fast that we didn't quite sure what they were talking about. Oo.. ternyata maksudnya begitu......

Anyway, it's really a nice trip. It's worth all the effort... and money, of course. I also found out that one station hires this very cute train conductor:)) So, the moral of the story here is Obey your mother. Obey your weatherman!

It's the Seaside Paradise Yokohama Hakkeijima

Jalan ke Seaside Paradise

The Seakeeper

The dolphin is behind us!!

The Aquarium

The belugas are dancing around

Look at me do the fishlips

Flashing jellyfish

Cutest than the seals around

Around Seaside Paradise

Yokohama seashore

Ueno park in winter

Ueno zoo, its resident & the fan

Mom wouldn't let me play w/ the forks: I'm mad...

7-day hardwork

the future Mr. President

Asakusa and my new hat

Strange food is yummy when I'm with you

Hikari the animals' friend

Ueno Hard Rock Cafe and the fans

together in cold

showing you the ski

See... we're in snow

Yellow in White

haircutting in Japanese

MY FIRST HAIRCUT IN JAPAN! That's a thrilling experience. Believe me!
Haircutting is NOT an easy business for me. It'll give me bad dreams if it turns out 'bad'! SO....
How would you tell your hairstylist what s/he should do with you hair if both of you don't speak the same language? Gestures? Forget it! They don't work for haircutting. Imagine my hair! (not difficult, isn't it) Messy, irregular, curly, wavy, you name it. It's not long, not short. Some is flowing inside, other flowing outside. Really stubborn hair! Bad hair!
So I went to this salon called Cute Cut (hah?). This friendly (Thank GOD) stylist asked for something (something! because I don't understand what she said). I answered Nihonggo.. chotto (free translation: please please I don't speak Japanese that fluent! Could you speak Indonesian? Or English???!!!)... She was.. umm... confused (a bit flustered because she doesn't speak English). Then she handed me magazines showing types of hair. I pointed out one picture and then she began talking again with gestures. Both languages I don't understand, I've got a feeling though that she meant 'probably it won't look exactly the same as the picture because bla bla bla bla... So I said.. OK. WHATEVER. JUST CUT IT BUT DON'T CUT IT SHORT. I WANT TO HAVE LONG HAIR. NO SHORT CUT! NO SHORT! (I said exactly all of those sentences in English and Japanese. Broken Japanese. Really Broken Japanese! Just like broken leg, broken arm, broken neck) Fortunately all the rituals before cutting like washing, massaging, and all are EXCELLENT. Even the washing chair is excellent. No sore neck!
Then IT HAPPENED. SHE CUT MY HAIR. S-H-O-R-T!
OH MY GOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD...................
Thank GOD, it turned out good. No nightmares! Just short hair. Excellent, cute, smart, simple, shaggy short hair.
Wish you can see me....:)

Our snowy 'backyard'

sayur bayam

never knew sayur bayam could be delicious

Birthday blessing

Today is my birthday.
Though there are no flowers, candle-light dinner, gifts, or a celebration, I feel blessed for being able to live the day -especially for having the chance to see my son's face, still. I am blessed because I am healthy and I have everything a man (or a woman, in this case) possibly needs.
I am blessed because I have done a lot of mistakes, yet, Allah still loves me.
There are so many unfortunate people out there and I am thankful I am not one of them.
Allah loves me. Alhamdulillah.
That's the greatest gift in life: knowing that at this age after so many years, Allah still loves me.
Amien.

jungkir balik

Nih, Romo, pesenan elu. Sumpah mati gw kblinger sama si go_blog ini pdhal gw masih jungkir balik belajar buku resep masakan

And the Oscar goes to........

Today, I feel like a winner. Why? I have finished juggling with this page and finally I can launch this blog.
Just like those winners in the Oscard award, I think I'd like to thank some people for their contribution:
1) My hubby who inspired me to create this blog though it's not at all romantic in any sense. He is supposed to be the one who has to keep HIS BLOG running. Despite the pressure his friends have over him to always update his blog, he secretly confessed that he was not an inspiring writer. For that reason, I decided to have a blog of my own (see.. told you it's nothing romantic! But, he's not lying, guys. He is NOT an inspiring writer!).
2) Romodon who ACTUALLY and LITERALLY created this blog and cleaned up the mess I've done with this blog... (Now, I've said it. Satisfied?)
3) Linda, Romo, Asept, Nia, etc. who always push us to write our 'story' in Japan so that we don't lose track of each other.
4) Tony Hutabarat who sent me an invitation to join a website which provides a journal writing. I took that as "pleaseeeee don't send long email and un-open photos". Hahaha.... kidding:))
5) And finally to the most handsome, intelligent, kind-hearted, and loveliest person in the world: HIKARI RADZA HARDIAN who becomes my inspiration for everything good in this life.