BxC Park

This saturday was so exciting as my sister and her family were coming to our small house but sadly it was due to the haze that has gotten worse in Pekanbaru, where they have lived for the last two years. Around  11.oo pm when they arrived, I was still awake just doing a piece of blog writing, while both of my nephews was falling asleep. We just did short chit-chatting before going to bed as they had been on 18 hours journey from Pekanbaru-Padang-Jakarta because no flight could be accessed directly from Pekanbaru; instead, they had to depart trough Padang.

On Sunday afternoon we planned to go to BxC Park, the beautiful and happening one in Bintaro, located in the Bintaro CBD, just beside the Bintaro Exchange Mall (BxC Mall). Our little family often spend time here, especially to enjoy the greenery, the fish ponds as well as the cuisine sold in the BxC food court when getting hungry after an hour of playing in the park. That's why I definitely wanted to bring my nephews there as I'm sure they would enjoy this beautiful open space.

When we arrived (at 5 p.m.), fortunately it was also easy to find the available car park since we often experience a lack of such space if we come on the weekend. We then bought some bread for all of us as the traffic jam, which took almost 1 hour made us a bit hungry hehe. My daughter had her meal while the others ate the bread. Finishing with the meal, we explore one side of the park, taking some photographs and accompanying the children to play maze made of shrubs. These are what I like most from BxC Park, it's spacious, green and children friendly. Also, every Saturday night, there is a gig taken place in the center of the park, but we have never experienced that.

We fell relaxed afterall and I'm happy just seeing their enthusiasm and cheerful faces. :)

When PDT was over.....

Finally, my 4.5 months journey was going to an end, which meant a good news on one hand and an uncomfortable feeling on the other hand. Why? As I would not have to sleep late at night dealing with assignments as well as self-studying, I can definitely spend more times doing other activities as opposed to learning, haahaha. However, since I still had to wait for almost 2 weeks long for the IELTS result, surely it made me difficult just to stay calm before knowing the score. 

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So, what happened with going back to the office? A bit awkward if I could say. I've met lots of new colleagues also a new boss, but fortunately, the same job hehehe making me feel like entering a new office back in early 2011 when I firstly came to this place. Meanwhile, I must have dealt with what so called "jet lag" with this new routine as well, although I still have to start commuting at a similar time, going home at 5 and then arriving around 1.5 hours later seems too hard for me. I've really missed heading off from IALF at 3 and so seeing the sunlight when arriving home, absolutely I do miss accompanying my daughter to enjoy the afternoon just in our neighborhood :( And for sure, I am about to lost my comfort zone during the PDT with an enjoyable learning, a cozy place to study (a.k.a. resource center) and off course great classmates.

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Well, I must admit that these 13 people with their own uniqueness have completed this journey. The duo Phd students, Mas Toto and Mas Agus are like our role models regarding their skills, abilities and also experience, hopefully we could be like them as we reach our mature age hahaha. Another "mature" student is Mas Cahya, the one who got an unconditional offer long before our course ended up, lucky u! no more worries about what the IELTS would be hehe. Our class leader, Mas Bram, is the energetic one organizing our outside-class activities such as munggahan and other eating out moments. He also intended to arrange our video performance for the end-of-course event, but, unfortunately the IALF management didn't give us permission. Pandu, together with Mas Toto and Mas Bram, were my partners in speaking study group in which we each other criticized and gave and received many inputs and constructing comments, these meant a lot for me, guys! Rizky, those showing me how to go home by train from Sudirman Station, is a reading master and thus we called him Reading Wicaksono hahaha. Cahyo, Rizky's BFF I suppose because they will go to the same state, Adelaide, and come from the same institution, is the one who often sends "wrong" messages into our WA group haha crazy! Thariq, the youngest guy in this class, a businessman wanna be but trapping himself being a government officer currently, is the hilarious one. Puji, mr. cheerful, is those never looked angry or sad, thanks for reminding me to avoid saying "but I'm not sure" in every discussion hehehe you now it is unconsciously said :p  Mas Danang, my ex-colleague, is the calm one, I've almost never seen him in a hurry, indeed he did his presentation in an attractive way; thus although exceeding the time limit, he still got good grade, unlike me hehe. Lastly, the women, Putri whose has a British accent is very fluent in speaking and able to stay calm even when given an unexpected topic, amazing! Mba Wulan, coming from Binjai makes her being called "miss Binjai" by Mas Tohari. She is also the funny one with a unique dialect and a well-organized person. And, Novi, another young guy in this class, was the only one who disappeared in the event in Decanter haha. She was always copying the weekly timetables for me, Putri and Mba Wulan, thanks!

Us...at the closing ceremony, 9 Oct 2015

By all of the ups and downs we have passed, I would undoubtedly miss those moments. I hope Allah will allow us to have such a reunion Down Under and ease our study as well...aamiin. Don't forget also with our wonderful plan in the future, Hotchkiss and Partner Consulting Firm hahaha

Tightening a Mother-Daughter Relationship

Image taken from www.ummulhasanaat.co.za

As a working mom, I should realize that I might have limited time with my little daughter, which often make me blame myself of an unintended situation between me and her. However, a  regret would not change it unless I do something matter. It then pushes me to gradually deal with my ego, which previously make me always sad when my daughter preferred to be with my mom rather than me. Although I am conscious that my melancholy is a natural emotion of a mother, this must be relaxed. And now, I am still trying to enhance the relationship.

First and foremost, finding the right time to be with her has been a proven way. For example, in the last lebaran holiday, I decided to have quality time with my daughter as I started my course break by allowing my mom visit my sister in Pekanbaru earlier. The result is that she became reliant to me, so it eased my next journey to Bengkulu when there would be only me, my husband and her, without my mom.

Another good way to tighten the bond is spending my time to play with her, which do not need to go to some places, instead, staying at home during the weekend will be more effective. Sometimes, going out could reduce the boredom, but it would also lead to distracting your child's attention. Indeed, children would only be focused to what he/she sees in malls, for example, rather than to the parents. In contrast, when I was staying and playing just at home, we could have a more intensive conversation in addition to some games we played together.

Lastly, it was bedtime session, which I can use to easily talk to her about anything, let's say, how to pray before going to sleep. Meanwhile, touching her forehead and caressing her hair during that time would make her comfort and thus she would fall asleep simply.

Thank you my daughter for teaching me how to deal with myself, be patient and remember me that you are the most important present in my life. Hopefully, there will be better situation in the future that we as a family will have more time being closely together.

Bengkulu for the Lebaran Holiday

Being our routines in the last four years, we go to Bengkulu during this Lebaran holiday. Differently, my husband only took three days work leave whereas I was luckily given the two-week break from the course so I could use my work leave deposit in other occasions. Therefore, I started the holiday earlier and had time with my daughter while my mom went to Pekanbaru to visit her other grandchild. 

We went to Bengkulu on Thursday morning, early morning to be exact since we had to leave our house at 5 a.m. to reach soekarno-hatta airport. Initially, I planned to have more time to spend there and feed my child for her breakfast before the boarding time. Unfortunately, there was a long queue at check-in process and so we finished that lately. It resulted in an unfinished breakfast for Kiki as we only had around 30 minutes before the airline called us. Alhamdulillah, the flight was on-schedule although we had to wait to take off due to the heavy air-traffic. Similarly, the flight was also enjoyable as three of us could fall asleep during that flight hihihi. Arriving in Bengkulu at 10 a.m., my in-laws were already there in the airport to pick us up. After finishing with our luggage, we met them.

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the Lebaran Day

The day is just a day after we arrived in Bengkulu. That's why when we touched down at oma-opa's house, there were so many foods available, from any kinds of snacks and pempek to the food that usually prepared for lebaran day, such as lontong, gulai, etc.

Early in the morning at the day, we all prepared to go to the Ied praying place, which is quite close to the house but as we are in a hurry, we needed to go by car. I prepared Kiki's stuffs that keeping her calm during my praying activity. I also brought her mukena in case she wanted to wear that as all of the people going there would wear that. Alhamdulillah she stayed nice during the time and then we went back to the house afterwards.We then had our breakfast before visiting our relatives. We went to my parents in law' sister then to their extended family. At 12 we had finished doing those activities.

Surprisingly, she was pretty calm during my pray :)

Going to Lais Region

At the day after, we planned to go to Lais Region, which is around 1 hour drive from Bengkulu city. Unlike our initial plan, we went lately because we have to wait other family members who wanted to join us. Kiki fell a sleep during the journey, but woke up before we reached Lais. After arriving at Lais, she told me wanna have a pee...oh  my there was no toilet as we were in a village where the grave of my hubby's grandpa is in. Suddenly, I just decided to go to one house and ask the owner whether we can use their toilet hehe, and they allowed us...many thanks. We then went back to Bengkulu and had a short break seeing Lais beach.

Beaching at Pantai Panjang

Pantai Panjang is the most prominent landmark in Bengkulu, where most people spend their free time. Indeed, in each visit to this city, me and my family always go there. To be honest, this beach is even better than those in Bali, for example, because of the white sand, the cleanliness, and is also far less crowded compared to Bali's.

And, in this occasion, again we visited Pantai Panjang since Kinanthi loves going to beach. Just like the previous, she didn't want to end and go home, ha ha ha. Going there at 5 p.m., at that moment we simply enjoyed the waves, the sand and absolutely the beautiful sunset.  

Looks good yeah :P

Going Back to Jakarta
After spending almost 10 days in Bengkulu, we should go back to Jakarta, back to the reality, with the crowd and the traffic jam we never met during our stay in Bengkulu, but I think it was exciting for Kinanthi because she will see Uti again he he he.

a Book Review: "Dear Venny, Dear Saffron" by Gary Crew and Libby Hathorn

Image is taken from www.brotherhoodbooks.org.au

This is a romantic novel authored by two Australians. Although simple, this book is interesting regarding the plot, the character of the figures, and also the way the authors use to present the story. Overall, I would recommend this book, especially for those who are in favor of such genre and need an easy novel to be digested.

The story begins when Venny (Venero Merlo's nickname), a 16 years old Australian boy, has to send mail to Saffron Duval, a pen friend to be, as part of English course accomplishment. Initially, he views it as a silly task but it changes as time goes by. 

Saffron, who base in New York, is an orphaned girl living with her aunt named Beatrice. She has a rollercoaster life since her parents were dead, and she thus has to follow her aunt. She does a home-schooling due to her unsuccessful school days with some jerk mates who ruin her physiologically. On the other hand, Venny coming from a well family in Australia is a cheerful person who then starts a career in modeling before a physical accident comes up and changes his life since then. It is not a coincidence that Saffron loves art painting and similarly Venny then realize his talent in sculpture.

After a long journey of becoming penpals with almost  three-year shares of ups and downs in each other's personal lives, they realize that it has been a start of a love story, although they have never met yet. At that time, Venny admits that he loves Saffron, who give a similar response. Long story short, even though separated by continents and oceans, Venny make a promise to visit Saffron one day, and he is working thereon.

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P.S. Thanks to Barbara, who recommended this novel as I used to be bored with reading activity. 

AAS45m1 Class

This one has been my second home for the last two months and will be continued until the next two months, which means we almost reached half of this course. We are fourteen people with a similarity in our major to be taken in the next study. We are under a general economics course, while I particularly plan to take master's degree in taxation, still closely related apparently. We have Simon Hotchkiss as our core teacher, Barbara Wiechecki as our cross-cultural instructor, Simone Samuels as study skill specialist,

Rina Dewanti as our library instructor and also Dedy Satriadhi as the computer-class instructor. Fortunately, we all are government officials with a range of institutions, such as State Audit Board, Directorate General of Taxes, LIPI, State University, also Echelon I under the Ministry of Finance.

at Our Munggahan Moment, before Starting the Holy Ramadhan

I, personally feel so thankful of having this class with good teachers which are beyond my expectation, as well as friends who always share joy, happiness also assignments (pfiuhhh) together. In addition, to keep in our memories, we already have a hoodie and a shirt with our class name and AAS icon thereon. Looks cool yeah :P Hopefully our friendship will be last forever...

Above (left-right): putri, mas cahya, mas agus, simon, mba wulan, mas tohari, puji, thariq
Below: rizki, pandu, cahyo, mas bram, me, novi, mas danang

6-7th week: Battles before Deserving a Holiday

Yeaaa...I am writing this post in my early holiday. During the last two weeks of my course in IALF, I would say that it was not that easy to pass through because I had to pass the third practice test in week 6, as well as do the IELTS pre-test and submit my 500-word essay draft in week 7.

The practice test was going like the previous, but I felt unfocused during the listening session and it resulted in a remained constant score compared to my preceding. Similarly, I thought that my writing also showed a decrease huhuhu. But, at least it was over right? and hopefully there will be an improvement since then. Moreover, as days went by, I also realized that I should regularly practice for the task 1 writing, I think it's getting harder now with a variety of the questions and thus the sample answers.

How about the pre-test? Honestly, I did no preparation for this one. But, surprisingly it made me feel relax during the test. I just tried to enjoy doing the listening and reading tests. Hehehe, so it might be true that doing something for pleasure could benefit more.

Lastly, the essay assignment, which I initially thought as a hard one, was ended up. I should admit that I really enjoy the writing and the research but not for the short time-limit. It was stressful to finish reading the journals, making the annotated bibliography and also writing the essay in the given time. But, one thing I thereby learned is that having an adequated annotated bibliography would definitely help you easily and quickly accomplishing the writing. I proved it. Thus, it becomes a good bridging into my future assignments in uni, in sya Allah. And alhamdulillah I got a good feedback from my teacher yet "there are still a few structural problems in the first and second main bodies" he said. It will be my another homework for the rest of the holiday because it may be too early to revise right now. Hope the holiday could be a refreshment before starting the second half of the course. :)

       

5th Week: Dealing with Paraphrasing and Summarising

Let's talk about what I have done in this week. We got so much new knowledge also experience, which were mostly about writing skill. Paraphrasing and summaring...yaa we all know and must be already familiar with this tasks, but I then realised that it was not as simple as my previous thought. How come?

Parapharasing...mainly, this technique becomes essential for referencing someone's writing. In paraphrasing, we only restate the paragraphs (or sentences) in a different style. Otherwise, we would be considered to do plagiarism if we just copy the sentence although we put the citations. At the same time, we should retain the same meaning. 

While, in summarising, we would deal with reducing unnecessary details and examples yet stressing the key information in order to have a quick and easy understanding. Before doing this task, a note-taking is suggested since it helps us getting the key words as well as the main ideas.

Both of them are very useful, I think, as in our future study we will get many books and also journals to read so these techniques will enable us to grasp their substances. Furthermore, it will help us coping with the assignment which is mainly writing tasks. I really should thank the teacher for introducing me the proper methods...hehe. In fact, the teacher also gave us  an assignment to summarise an article which was due on friday. To finish this task, I did reading first, making note, drafting and ended up with a proofreading by my classmate. I also got some comments from Putri, and finally it triggered me to revise some parts.

Image was taken from www.ournettalks.com

Visa and Family Entry --- Getting an Update

According to my initial plan, I was sure that I, Kinanthi also my mom could depart to Australia concurrently. Yet, after attending a briefing held by AAS pre-award team, I was disappointed as they said that it would only possible for a particular case, such as a breastfeeding mom. huhuhu Moreover, I, again, confirmed my case to their representative when conducting another briefing session. Unfortunately, I got the same answer. They asked me to check out avac website in order to get information of visa. Also, they suggested that it is better for my husband applying visitor visa, instead of dependent visa during his 3-months-stay plan in Australia next year because of an insurance requirement for a dependent visa which costs significantly.

Regarding the visitor visa's features, they told me that this visa allows a tourist staying in Australia for 3 months period only. It means that my mom who will accompany me and Kinanthi should return to Indonesia every 3 months :( I still can not imagine since my mom is almost sixty regardless that she usually travels alone when going to Semarang to visit papa's grave, but travelling overseas is different. Later on, I will contact avac office to get detail information about visa features and other related requirements. I hope there will be an easy way for me, Kinanthi, my mom also my husband arriving and staying in Australia as our prior plan...in sya Allah.

4th Week: Road to Practice Test 2

Image is taken from www.canstockphoto.com

So many things happened this week, the 2nd speaking practice test on Monday, doing CC-Seminar, receiving assignment comment, as well as having 2nd practice test on Friday (usually IALF conducts practice test once in every two weeks). 

Well, I had no preparation for the speaking test, even though I have already seen in the timetable that we would occupy the language laboratory on Monday :D. Consequently, I still felt bad with my performance. However, I realised that I seldom practice speaking, apart from the class activities so I plan to increase my speaking-practice activities since then. 

That's why I seriously did a rehearsal, a day before having the CC seminar. I thought this would be a good opportunity to improve my speaking skill. The seminar was done relatively smooth because luckily I got such a great group which each member considered this seminar as a sharing session, so there was no reason for being challenged, nervous and so on. We, therefore, had an exciting discussion and definitely I should thank Barbara for giving us this project since we got so much useful information helping us to cope with transportation matters in Australia, etc without doing research for that topics. 

Next, I also obtained comments for my one-sided essay assignment. The teacher pointed out on my language which, in some parts, still need to be improved while overall he gave me a relatively good grade (Alhamdulillah :)). However, it motivated me to do more writing exercises and keep improving my writing skill.

Lastly, we had our practice test again huh. As usual, I was struggling with the reading and listening as well while surprisingly I have finished my writing tasks, unlike the first test (although I am not sure with the result). I hope that the more we have practice test the more well-prepared we will be for the real battle.

3rd Week: Reflection

Image is taken from www.theodysseyonline.com

In this week, I experienced getting the first practice test result, finishing cross-cultural studies assignment also attending the one-on-one consultation with the teacher. 

The test result was relatively similar to my predictions, hehe. I had many comments from the teacher on the writing tasks since I have not finished both. It's ok, I will consider this as a part of my journey in learning. For the task 1, actually I knew from the teacher that the main points are having clear overview and reporting key features (also making comparison between the figures), while previously I also thought that paraphrasing the question would mark point. Moreover, the supporting data should be provided as an important element of task achievement. In contrast, the teacher's comments on my writing task 2 slightly relieved my regret since I thought earlier that I will lose a lot of points. In fact, according to the comments, I still had several positives regarding the ideas also the structures. Similarly, my reading still needs improvements, especially in speed and skim reading ability, also in coping with different types of questions. Otherwise, I was surprised with my listening result. Alhamdulillah...yet I should do practicing more, especially in the listening conversations, discussions, also lectures. I have borrowed an IELTS book from the library and copy some podcasts from my friend. Let's practice harder!

Recently, I have finished my group task in CC. Later on, we will have presentation session with the other class member. It will be challenging because would be prepared for any questions. Next week should be the end of this project, hi hi hi hopefully.

Lastly, I also had a one-on-one consultation with the teacher. He asked some questions about my strengths and weaknesses in learning English, and give me some advice to boost my skills. He wondered why I'm not confident with my listening skill while my previous result showed relatively good. I explained that my critical point is listening to conversations also lectures (including his lectures hahaha). I revealed that sometimes I cannot fully understand of what he said and just try to guess :D.

That's all :)

Sedentary Mother Leads to Fatter Offspring

In recent years, corpulence in childhood and adulthood are booming, however, there is also a situation when leaner people still exist. In fact, we are living in an environment that promotes obesity. Edward Archer, a physiologist and obesity theorist, argues that sedentary habits overtake the genes and the eating greediness as the root cause of this. He found enough evidence supporting his theory.

The first one is based on his finding that when two mice, genetically identical, ate identical food resulted in different body mass. So, food and DNA weren't the overweight factors. Then he also found that pregnant mice without wheels practice delivered the fatter descents. This is getting worse in the subsequent generations. Moreover, regarding his literature review, Edward also pointed out the metabolism differences between active pregnant mother and the inactive. The fetuses grow so fast within the inactive cases.

Second, the study of born babies by egg donation convinced that the egg donor's body mass, her own birth weight and the birth weight of her other children have no relationship with the birth weight of the baby from the donated egg.

Image is taken from well.blogs.nytimes.com 

Overall, the level of physical activities become the underlying aspect of obesity. It is suggested that having physical exercises will lead to a better metabolism within moms-to-be that surely will increase the possibility of bearing healthier children.

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It is summarized from an essay titled "The Mother of All Problems" published in NewScientist 28 February 2015 edition

2nd Week: Challenge

Image taken from: www.quora.com

Hosh hosh this week I have been struggling on writing tasks. The teacher gave us materials also tips in order to help us dealing with our essays. It became an enlightenment for me since I still got bad writing score on my preceding IELTS test. There are some tips to boost my writing skill, like creating daily journal of our study, summarizing the articles we read, and surely we still have to read (whatever english -written sources) as many as possible to grasp various topics. This will help us have a habitual writing, thus it will be easier doing the writing part on IELTS test.

So, what I have been doing? Yaa, since 2 weeks ago I have intended to have blog-posts in english as often as possible. And the result is, I already had 2 posts in english hehe ...seems a good start yaa :) Well, I think I will continue this routine, just keep writing even in a simple topic.

Then, how about my speaking? Actually, I feel bad in organizing my speaking into simple and to-the-point sentences. Sometimes I take long time just thinking way to tell others. Besides, I also have a problem at lack of ideas when discussing a particular topic. Correspondingly, I should put solutions over these different problems. First, I should practice speaking regularly in order to make me easily expressing my opinion then it should increase my fluency also. Fortunately, last week I did have my turn in our group discussion (GD). We used the interlude between EAP classes to have our first GD which involved three of my classmates. Taking only around 30 minutes, we just gave our opinion about historical building we recently visited. According to my mate, I was fluent enough when speaking, but I still had trouble in speaking systematically. Hahaha I could not agree more :p. Next week we are going to have the second session. Second, regarding my limitation on some topics, the teacher has been asked us to read articles, journals or other references. It is better to have several short readings than struggling to accomplish just one thick book. Oke, I prefer to have the simple articles first and then improve to the more complex ones.

Beyond the EAP classes, Barbara class was also challenging for me. We were given a class assignment, deciding one topic regarding to cross-cultural syllabus then doing a research on it. We have chosen "accomodation" as our research topic. Then, we should submit the outline and after she approve it we will present our topic to other-class member, in the next 2 weeks. Yeah, I will enjoy it yet it must be very stressful thinking of the presentation :( Hope all is well...

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Finally the second week was ended up with IELTS practice test. Initially, I tried not to be so serious about this test and consider this as a way to know our study progress. Nevertheless, I felt a bit frustrated as the test was over. I have not finished my writing on both tasks :((( . I also felt bad with the reading part :((( So, I am prepared for any of the teacher's comment at Monday T.T

Computers Hardly Take Over Teacher's Role in Education

The improvement of information technology and the expanding range of computerization contribute changes in education system. It is believed that no more teacher needed in the classroom. However, I believe that teacher will still exist with three reasons while computer becomes more popular.

First of all, as Indonesia comprises wide range of islands, there are disparities amid one another. It seems difficult to consider all of the islands under one assumption in which having good information technology infrastructure. There are many remote areas where people struggle to have a better education with limited building, poor network connection also a little number of individuals who are familiar using computer. Thus, it is impractical to utilize computers as a primary tool in educating people of these areas. Teachers are still playing important role to assist them.

Second, interaction between teachers and students instills moral values which will affect their interpersonal relationship in the future. Teachers with good communication skill and ability to develop a pleasant learning environment will better attract students so that they will replicate that method in their personal life. Moreover, in an early learning, children will easily do good behavior as their teacher give them good real examples, such as how to politely shake hand, how should they greet other people with a nice way, etc. Since it involves emotion it is nearly impossible to be overtaken by computer media.

 

Lastly, teachers also have an important role as a motivator of their students related to study also a substitute of parents within educating their children. Teachers can benefit from direct interaction with their students to psychologically understand exactly what become learning problems then they can propose a suitable solutions that will motivate their student keep spirit for studying. In addition, when parents entrust children's education to an educational institution, it means that the school should take over half of parents' responsibilities. The existence of teacher make it possible help children in learning activity and take control over them.       

It should be like that (Image taken from www.gettyimages.com)

All in all, teachers will never been replaceable due to their vital role in education both technical and emotional. For the sake of successful teaching, it seems unthinkable computers will do as good as teachers. It should be used as supporting tools for teachers in learning process as it will benefit in efficiency effectiveness. 

First Week of Studying

Image taken from www.gettyimages.com

Since beginning of the last week, I have been free from office job...alhamdulillah :) How come? yes, fortunately I got a chance to learn english for IELTS purpose at IALF Jakarta. This is part of Pre Departure Training (PDT), the first milestone after awarded the AAS (Australia Awards Scholarship).

So what happen at this first week? Fantastic! hehehe First, the PDT is not just studying english, but also filled by other skills, computer skill, learning skill and cross-cultural studies. It seems to be a complete package making me become well-prepared for studying in Australia. Second, we normally start the class at 9 am except they add particular subject such as computer or cross-cultural and finish at 3 pm, so it means more times for playing with my daughter after finishing the classes.

The EAP class (english studies class) is the core course. It provide me some theories, techniques, also practical skills in handling reading, speaking and writing part. In addition, I am also pushed to be familiar listening english from native, it sounds challenging, right? hehe. The cross-cultural class gives me introductions to Australian culture, and the first one was how to shake hand with Australian style hahaha. Lastly, the computer class seems to be way out of finishing my essay-work effectively.

Well, the first week was gone without a heap of assignment papers. But, let's see in the upcoming weeeks. Hope it will be exciting.

Menyapih dengan "Cinta"

وَالْوَالِدَاتُ يُرْضِعْنَ أَوْلَادَهُنَّ حَوْلَيْنِ كَامِلَيْنِ لِمَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ يُتِمَّ الرَّضَاعَةَ

“Para ibu hendaklah menyusukan anak-anaknya selama dua tahun penuh, yaitu bagi yang ingin menyempurnakan penyusuan.” (QS. Al-Baqarah: 233).

Alhamdulillah...perjalanan menyusui selama 2 tahun usai sudah. Bersyukur banget diberi banyak kemudahan dari mulai Ayah yang support asi buat Kinanthi dan Uti yang top abis serta super sabar memberikan asi perah saat saya tak bersama Kinanthi, maaf ya Nak, sampai stok asi yang alhamdulillah cukuup sampai Kinanthi berusia 2 tahun.

Tak dipungkiri ya... tantangan dan kegalauan pasti ada.Tapi dengan bekal sedikit ilmu semenjak hamil serta dukungan 2 supporter utama tadi, alhamdulillah kesulitan yang dihadapi justru menjadikan saya lebih kuat dan gak panikan hehe

Duluu, ketika Kinanthi baru lahir, yang dipikirin adalah gimana caranya produksi asi makin banyak dan Kinanthi mimiknya kuat. Kini saat si bocah sudah menginjak 2 tahun, bingung mikirin gimana caranya Kinanthi bisa berhenti menyusu dengan ikhlas...istilah kerennya Weaning with Love (WWL). Yaa...WWL memang jadi keinginan saya saat suatu ketika menyapih Kinanthi. No pait-pait, no lipstik dan hal-hal yang akan membuat Kinanthi takut.

Jauh sebelum usia 2 tahun, Ayah udah wanti-wanti kalau saya mesti mulai sounding ke Kinanthi kalau dia tidak boleh nenen lagi selepas usia 2 tahun. Namun apa daya, karena hati kecil belum ikhlas dan khawatir jika sounding/sugesti yang saya berikan ke Kinanthi akan langsung ngefek saat itu juga alias Kinanthi tiba-tiba gak mau nenen meski belum 2 tahun, maka saya putuskan no sounding2an sebelum usia 2 tahun. Saya berkaca dari pengalaman yang lalu, saat saya harus dinas luar kota kemudian saya mensugesti Kinanthi agar mau tidur sama Ayah atau Uti kalau malam, eh gak taunya si sugesti tadi manjur dan Kinanthi malah minta tidur sama Uti beneran padahal saya belum juga berangkat dinas :(

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Setelah rampung berkutat dengan ultah Kinanthi, saya tersadar harus mulai benar-benar memikirkan bagaimana WWL bisa dilakukan. sehari...dua hari...tiga hari...eh Kinanthi justru makin craving nenen, saat saya gak memperbolehkan, khususnya nenen malem, yang memang sudah jadi kebiasaannya, mungkin ada yang hilang yaa... Dan saya pun tidak tega, luluh juga akhirnya.

Lima hari berlalu, tak ada perubahan... namun tekad saya untuk WWL masih kuat, karena inginnya sama-sama ikhlas. Ideal yaa hehe. Tetapi saya tersentak oleh kata-kata Uti, "Kamu kalo mau dia berhenti nenen ya jangan begitu caranya, gak mau ngasih pait-pait tapi juga gak mau kasih nenen kalo dia minta, itu namanya nyiksa" Deg...dipikir-pikir...ada benarnya juga, namanya anak baru 2 tahun dan kita minta mengerti, rasanya sedikit mustahil, kecuali saya memang spare waktu beberapa bulan kedepan sampai Kinanthi lepas nenen sendiri. Namun kondisinya, saya sendiri merasa kesakitan ketika sesi menyusu, disamping volume asi yang sudah pasti jauuuh berkurang karena di kantor juga sudah tidak memerah, ditambah Kinanthi yang semakin asi sedikit/tidak keluar justru semakin memperkuat isapannya.

Akhirnya, saya menuruti saran Uti, untuk oles-oles kencur di area isapan. Selesai mengoles, saya menunggu saat Kinanthi minta nenen, penasaran juga liat reaksinya melihat warna kuning dan rasa kencur saat dia nenen. Ternyata Kinanthi tak kunjung minta nenen, ada kali 2 jam sejak ritual oles saya lakukan. Setelah akhirnya Kinanthi minta nenen, eh lanjut aja loh meski awalnya mengernyit dulu, bahkan saat saya bilang "nenen ibu gak enak, kotor tuh ada kuning-kuningnya" dia spontan aja jawab "dibersihin dulu" Hahaha saya malah dalam hati ngakak... Gagal deh percobaan pertama.

Percobaan kedua, hari selanjutnya, saya putuskan menggunakan olesan air jeruk nipis. Tips ini saya dapatkan saat membaca forum, saya lupa entah di theurbanmama.com atau mommiesdaily.com. Saya sudah nothing to lose saja sebenarnya. Namun, tak dinyana, si bocah setelah mencicipi nenen seperti biasa, langsung bilang "nenen ibu basi" ditambah beberapa bulir jeruk menempel yang memang sengaja saya biarkan, membuat Kinanthi lantas enggan melirik nenen lagi.

Dan alhamdulillah, sejak saat itu, tak sekali pun Kinanthi merengek lagi minta nenen. Di satu sisi saya bahagia berhasil menyapih, tanpa drama, karena keesokannya pun Kinanthi hanya sedikit saja rewel saat mau tidur, tapi tetap tidak minta nenen. Di sisi lain, saya pun harus menata hati untuk mengikhlaskan bahwa memang sudah saatnya Kinanthi tak lagi menyusu yang menurut saya selalu menjadi sesi yang intim sekali antara ibu dan anak, merasa dibutuhkan banget itu rasanya tak terkira :). Tapi saya yakin, ini akan menjadi awal yang baik untuk perjalanannya kedepan.

Kinanthi sudah punya rutinitas baru, tidur alhamdulillah mudah dan lanjuuut sampe pagi, tanpa sesi minta minum di malam hari. Alhamdulillah, nikmat Allah mana lagi yang hendak saya dustakan... Kini... tampaknya Kinanthi sedang beradaptasi setelah masa penyapihan, agak lebih sensitif sama ibunya, dan lagi manja-manjanya sama si Ayah. Ada sedih juga yang saya rasakan, namun Ayah menguatkan dan mengingatkan saya akan kisah serupa yang menimpa Kakak saya dengan si bungsunya. In sya Allah tak ada yang perlu ditakutkan :)

Source: www.gurl.com

Second Birthday Archive

It was been a while from the date you were born...

Leave your first year of life...

You started to walk at 1 year and 2 weeks
No need to be worry of falling
You just needed a balance to strongly stand and walk
Put your bravery then you would be ready to run

You became more fluent to converse
Reveal what you like and dislike
Choosing your preference
Having a pray before your meal

You learned to understand of feeling
You showed an enthusiast of hellokitty, cat and rabbit
You enjoyed your swimming time
You also considered of every detail on your wearing

There will still be long journey to your future
Keep grateful of Allah's grace
Stay patience when in hard situation
Be focus on your life goal
Yes...life goal must be your purpose

And it should be
Mind your words
Be careful of your doing
Maintain your qolbu pure
Because of your loving to Allah

This late memoar is written
On my 30 birthday
As a gratitude expression
of having you
forever and after

Love you always,


Ibu 

Weekend di Ocean Park BSD

Sudah menjadi rutinitas di keluarga kecil kami, Sabtu adalah harinya jalan-jalan. Saya selalu saja cari-cari ide mau jalan kemana. Sekedar mengunjungi pasar pun buat kami bisa loh dilabeli "jalan-jalan weekend" hehehe. Si ayah sampe heran, saya selalu aja ada alasan buat keluar rumah di hari sabtu #ngikik.

Weekend kali ini terinspirasi oleh Kinanthi yang seriiing banget berimajinasi tentang kolam renang kalo lagi main, entah dengan boneka-bonekanya atau ketika main building block. Kemudian saya baru sadar, udah lama juga ya gak renang. Oke, destinasi weekend kali ini diputuskan kolam renang.

Sejak kamis sebelumnya, saya asiik aja cari-cari info kolam renang yang ada di seputaran bintaro, plus nanya juga ke ibu-ibu komplek yang lebih tau. Dapetlah referensi kolam renang di seputaran bintaro. Tiba-tiba saya tercetus, kayanya seru juga ya kalo renang di waterboom or whatsoever. Langsung kebayang Kinanthi bakalan hepi banget dengan segala macam wahana di sana yang memang lebih banyak permainan airnya, gak kaya di kolam renang biasa.

Hari berikutnya saya fokus cari info waterboom yang ada di jakarta dan sekitarnya (baca: tangerang). Tiga waterboom yang sempat menjadi opsi saya, yaitu, PIM waterpark, Mekarsari Water Kingdom, dan Ocean Park BSD. Selanjutnya, saya mencari review atas ketiga lokasi tersebut. Selain itu, info promo kartu kredit juga menjadi pertimbangan saya.

Berdasarkan hasil survei kecil-kecilan di blog dan grup WA, saya coret Mekarsari Water Kingdom. Saya pun mengeliminasi PIM Waterpark dengan alasan tiket masuknya yang cukup menguras kantong, FYI semua pengunjung lokasi tersebut harus membayar tiket yang sama meski hanya duduk-duduk saja. Akhirnya, pilihan jatuh kepada Ocean Park BSD, di samping lokasinya yang paling dekat dengan tempat tinggal kami, juga ada promo buy 1 get 1 bagi pengguna kartu kerdit BCA, Mandiri dan CIMB. Yeeaayy!!!

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Sabtu pagi, Kinanthi, yang semalam sebelumnya sudah diberi tahu kalau besok pagi bakal renang, udah sibuk banget plus heboh mau nyiapin baju renang plus ban renangnya sendiri. Saya pun demikian, sibuk menyiapkan baju ganti dan perbekalan Kinanthi selama di sana. Setelah Kinanthi selesai sarapan, kami pun berangkat.

Belum sampai jam 08.00 pagi kami sudah tiba di lokasi, yang ternyata dekeeet banget dari pintu tol dan tak jauh dari Teras Kota BSD. Alhamdulillah parkirannya sudah buka hihihi sehingga kami bisa masuk dan menunggu Ocean Park buka, yang menurut jadwal adalah jam 08.00. Sembari menunggu, saya dan Kinanthi melihat-lihat beberapa kios yang menjual perlengkapan renang dan merchandise Ocean Park, sementara Uti dan Ayah duduk di lobi.

Menunggu loket buka, di Lobi

Tepat pukul 08.00 konter tiket pun dibuka. Ayah lalu bergegas membeli tiket terlebih dahulu. Baru kami tahu, ternyata 1 kartu kredit hanya bisa membeli 1 tiket saja (plus 1 free tiket), karena kami berempat jadi harus menggunakan 2 kartu kredit. HTM Ocean Park IDR 80.000/per orang saat weekend, dengan promo kami bisa mendapatkan 2 tiket untuk harga tersebut. Tiket sudah di tangat, kami segera masuk ke wahana Ocean Park, yang ternyata luas banget dan setidaknya ada 4 theme, kiddy pool, toddler pool, wave pool dan kolam arus yang mengelilingi area Ocean Park.

Toddler Pool

Kami lalu mengokupasi bangku di dekat toddler pool (untuk anak 2-5 tahun) yang tak jauh dari pintu masuk. Uti yang tak mau bermain air dengan kami, memilih duduk-duduk saja. Bagi pengunjung juga disediakan loker untuk menyimpan barang bawaan yang berada di bawah tangga setelah entrance gate. Kami tak menggunakan fasilitas ini, sehingga tidak tahu berapa harga coin untuk 1 lokernya.

Melihat banyaknya permainan dan kolam air yang menarik, benar saja Kinanthi seneng banget dan pastinya udah gak sabar buat nyemplung hihihi. Saya yang biasanya duduk-duduk saja saat menemani Kinanthi berenang, merasa sayang banget untuk gak main air disini, selain juga karena bayar tiket dengan harga yang sama yaa #perhitungan dong ya. Mulailah kami bertiga main air, dari toddler pool, kiddy pool dan dilanjutkan mengelilingi setengah kolam arus dengan berjalan di air #pfiuhh sementara Kinanthi menggunakan ban bergambar Nemo-nya yang baru dibeli di kios Ocean Park tadi #ketahuan deh :P.


 

Kiddy Pool

Kurang lebih 1 jam bermain air, kami beristirahat dahulu, sambil memesan makanan yang dijual di kios-kios di dalam Ocean Park. Penjualnya sengaja berkeliling untuk menawarkan apakah kami akan memesan makanan/minuman. Karena kami awalnya berpikir bahwa tidak boleh membawa makanan dari luar, maka perbekalan yang kami bawa pun hanya susu UHT buat Kinanthi dan air minumnya. Akhirnya Uti memesan nasi gudeg (IDR 30.000 sudah termasuk minum), saya memesan mie goreng (IDR 28.000 sudah termasuk minum), sosis goreng untuk Kinanthi (IDR 10.000) dan Ayah memesan batagor (lupa harganya :D). Harga yang dibanderol untuk makanan dan minuman pun masih cukup rasional lah yaa, pun demikian rasanya tak mengecewakan...nyammm. Setelah menghabiskan makanan, kami kembali bermain air, Kinanthi pun sudah tak sabar "Mau renang lagii..." hihihi

Sisi lain Kiddy Pool

Kami penasaran juga mencoba mengelilingi kolam arus kembali, namun kali ini dengan menggunakan ban besar yang kami sewa dengan membayar IDR 25.000. Alhamdulillah Kinanthi cukup kooperatif selama duduk di atas ban. Setelah lelah bermain air (baca: ayah dan ibu) kami memutuskan menyudahi bermain air, ternyata waktu juga sudah menunjukkan pukul 11.00. Tidak bagi Kinanthi karena belum puas sepertinya, sampai harus dipaksa untuk mandi, disertai nangis-nangis tentunya #hufh. Lain kali ya Nak, kita ke sini lagi :). Oya, sebelum menyudahi permainan, saya dan Ayah sempat mencoba wahana sliding lho hihihi...seruuu.

Selesai mandi kami pun meninggalkan Ocean Park, diiringi gerimis kecil.

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