Its been a year of  ………. difference.

Its a year when I’ve been able to look back and say, “God is still so amazing!”

Its a year when I’ve been blessed to live out one of my childhood dreams, traveling, and with a great companion too!  

Its a year when I took the plunge to study again  - well, not huge, just a TESOL certificate course

Its a year of sending another child off and walking two through their public exams

Its a year of facing the reality that my eldest child is 21 – totally adult now

Its a year when my better half turned half a century old

Its a year we realize we can now fit what’s left of the entire family into a Kancil

I think there’s probably a lot more that I haven’t digested yet, but then another difference just surfaced.

This is the year we offered to home school Andrea.

Its nothing new for some families but its something I never imagined I would be doing. I threw the idea away many years ago because I didn’t have the confidence to do it. The desire to spend more time with her, and having a hand in moulding good character gave us the courage to plunge in. Of course it helps that some local colleges are now “home school friendly”. 

Well, technology has certainly given home schooling a boost. You’ll see why soon.

I’m sharing this in the hope that others considering home schooling their children will be helped.

As far as I know, there are 4 methods of home schooling.

1) Traditional home schooling where the parents teach the children entirely using books from either a home schooling (or a few different ones) centre or from a government syllabus.

2) Home schooling using CDs or hard drives sent by home schooling centres, or by downloading materials from the internet.

3) Online homeschooling where the student learns everything from the home schooling centre via the internet. This does not have to be in real time.

4) “Private school” home schooling where the students are sent to a place with other home schoolers and are taught by one or a few teachers.

We decided on option 3 as I do not feel I can handle form 4/grade 10 work. So Andrea is now home schooling under the Alpha Omega Online Academy. Basically, she is using the American Grade 10 High School syllabus, but doing her studies online, and on her own. My role is to guide and to teach if necessary. All assignments, tests and quizzes are uploaded and marked by the academy teachers. All academic records are kept by them too. There is a guided schedule given, but there’s nothing to stop a student from completing work ahead of schedule and then taking a few days break.

So, after some teething problems (basically we didn’t understand how things were to be done), we have kind of settled into a pattern of some sort. 

The first thing I did was to transform Andy’s room into a classroom.

The stuff on the wall are the course outlines for the 7 subjects Andrea is taking. 

Her subjects for Grade 10 are Biology, English II, French I, Geometry, World History, New Testament Survey and an interesting subject called Fitness Fundamentals.

I call it interesting because Andrea doesn’t particularly like exercising but this course demands that she exercises 3 times a week, consisting of 90 minutes of cardio, 30 mins of strength training and stretching. Its also interesting because its getting me back to the gym after 2 years’ leave of absence!

So, its really going to be good for both Andrea and I, as far as being fit is concerned! 

So, how is Andrea finding this? I really think she’s enjoying the work much more than what she was doing in school. Is it too soon to tell? Maybe, but the choice was hers and so far, I don’t see her having any regrets. We don’t have any either

If there is ONE thing you MUST remember, its that you MUST have 150,000.00 IDR in CASH when you leave Indonesia – Yes, per person!

The poor guy in the queue ahead of me didn’t have sufficient IDRs and his proposal to pay in US$ or credit card was rejected at the check in counter. Imagine if you’re late for boarding and still have to dash to the money changer or the ATM?

The Hongkong Bank in Jakarta has its branch within the airport, and so they have a lounge there too. Cardholders enter at 1 IDR but I think others use the lounge for a higher fee. 

Its a pretty comfortable place to rest in, complete with free wifi, TV, reading materials, food, rest room and flight info.

The food didn’t make much of a difference to us since we were flying on MAS but it certainly would have been useful if we were on Air Asia.

The spread is just nice in terms of the variety – not too much and not too little

This is the Premier side, apparently the Platinum members have a better spread on the other side of the room

Goodbye Jakarta

Although there is one more post to go for the Jakarta series of blogs, I need to put this blog up first, because this is important to us.

Angie came to this world loudly announced – she was on the FRONT page of the Star Metro newspaper nation wide

Her specialty? Well, she was chosen to arrive on Christmas Day, four years exactly after her sister, Anna was born.

We have 2 Christmas babies in our family. This picture with Anna and I, was taken a few days after she was born. 

A special moment with big brother, Andy whom she loves to bits

Angie has always been and still is, the most cheerful girl in the home

She is very accommodating, incredibly active and  fiercely independent (and sometimes stubborn)

That’s Angie on the right and Andrea in the centre but do you know who the girl on the left is?

So why the sudden write up about Angie?

Well, we have been through a lot with her. We loved and enjoyed her cheerfulness and cheeky naughtiness but we also struggled with her where her education was concerned. Angie just took a long time to decide that as long as she was a student, 
studying was her responsibility. There were very difficult times when she didn’t do well at all.

But today, she graduated from her high school ………

….. Angie didn’t attend the most prestigious cluster or smart school in Malaysia ……..

……. she didn’t get straight A’s for her final exams …….

…… but she worked hard and ……..

graduated TOP of her class!!! 

And we are the proudest and happiest parents in the whole wide world

With Joanne

her classmates

We’re SO PROUD of you, Angie, not only because of your academic achievements but because you determined to change, you determined to work hard and you allowed God to mould you into the beautiful person you are today.

And we know this is not the last time you’re going to be wearing that graduation gown – we’re looking forward to the next graduation

In most of the hotels I’ve stayed in, there is always the standard “What to do in a fire” leaflet, write ups about the hotel, the coffee house menu, some writing paper and the occasional Gideon’s Bible.

In Jakarta, they had this :

rather scary. I’d say!

decided that since I knew NOTHING about what to do during an earthquake, I’d better do some reading!

Erm, the fact that the hotel was built “with every consideration given to earthquake safety” was mildly reassuring :p

REMAIN CALM – sure….. I think I can handle that 

Cartoons to make reading more enjoyable

I looked around and the only place I could possibly avoid all the things on this list is the 6 inches of space underneath the ceiling beam ………

……….. IF I still had my senses with me to do that

Note item 2 : DO NOT RUSH OUTSIDE, STAY ON THE SAME FLOOR THAT YOU ARE ON, UNTIL THE NOISE STOPS. My first instinct would be ……. RUNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!! 

I really don’t think I’d stay on the 16th floor of a swaying building, although this IS the PROFESSIONAL advice given!

What if the whole building collapses before the earthquake is over? On the other hand, the building might topple over me when I’m outside, running away from it. Gulp!

What would you do? Follow these instructions or your instincts? 

PASAR PAGI MANGGA DUA – a wholesale centre in the Mangga Dua shopping area. After a while, it gets rather tiring seeing the enormous amount of clothes, shoes, bags, etc, etc, etc!

They open at about 10 am and close early at 6pm

See what I mean about getting tired?

If the price is not displayed, better ask before ordering the food – we made the mistake of forgetting to ask and paid 25,000 IDR (RM9.17) for this small plate of rojak. A fair price would be between 10,000 to 15,000 IDR. When we complained about the price, the lady said something about the high cost of rent!

IT Mall – all things IT. I know that these things are cheaper in Malaysia, so don’t bother.

CARREFOUR INSIDE MANGGA DUA SQUARE, another mall in the area.

As you can see, the cost of food is not that cheap in Jakarta. Fuji apples are 2435 IDR per 100 g (RM8.93 per kg)

hmm, the eggs are big though

and sold loose, pretty amusing to me.

More amusing is that they are sold by the kg (RM4.58 per kg)

IF you are from Malaysia or the surrounding ASEAN countries, you might have the same “stomach bacteria”, so hawker food might not do you any harm. I’m not sure if I’ll advise you to try street hawker food if you’re not used to it. Erm, wouldn’t want you to have food poisoning. We had hawker food and didn’t suffer for it. Maybe we’re just used to it.

This area is in the night market area near the IBIS Mangga Dua hotel.

All these for 29,000 IDR (RM10.64). Dinner for 2 – compare that to the Rojak we paid 25,000 for!

Ais Kacang with Avocado and Jackfruit – delicious

The night market – not very different from the KL night markets.

The stall from which we bought our dinner.

JAKARTA OLD CITY BY CAB

Yeah, I think this is by far, the best way to have a quick look around the old city. The air is too polluted and the weather too hot to have a walkabout. Besides, TAXI FARES ARE CHEAP

Motorcycles are EVERYWHERE!

Its unfortunate that old buildings are not restored and maintained

A lot of old buildings are abandoned

Railway station

Traffic jam is a regular nightmare for the people here

Traffic systems at junctions seem chaotic but the drivers seem to know what to do

This modern building is the …….

Pasar Glodok – in direct translation, it means “market” but that’s what they call their malls here

Glodok is Chinatown 

Mini cabs cost as much as taxis, but are useful when you’re on the busy streets and can’t hail a cab.

Chinatown wet market area

Think I should spray my Kancil this color? Hot, eh?

Glodok Pancoran is a different area from Pancoran, which is pretty far from Central Jakarta. We had our breakfast here and forgot to ask the price before ordering again! WHAM! It was a hefty 65,000 IDR (RM23.85) for both of us! 

Mini cabs in a row

Having dirt, smoke and dust fun in a mini cab

There seem to be MANY taxis in Jakarta – see these Blue Bird cabs all waiting just outside the Ibis hotel?

Our breakfast whether at home or abroad remains the same – FRUITS

Our supplier, Pak Budi (actually he is a chinese) kindly sent us to the airport. He is such a hardworking man but what we really liked about him is his obvious honesty as a business man.

Notice how high the river level is…….

……. so high that its spilt over to the road

Next: What to do in an earthquake 

As the title suggests, the stuff in this blog are for travelers who either need to or want to be budget conscious. And for those who are reading this from my Facebook, and can’t understand why I have it there, well, its because my blog is linked to my Facebook Notes. Anything I blog about goes there automatically.

Our trip to Jakarta was made at the 12th hour and mainly because we needed to get some stuff that we ordered. The courier charges more or less equalled 2 air tickets, so we decided to spend the money on ourselves. 

Right, lets get straight into it.

1) KNOW that you are spoiled for choice between MAS, AIR ASIA and KLM – just google all 3 websites for the best deal

2) KNOW that you can book hotel rooms through the internet (we looked at Agoda and Latestays.com) OR you can book your room at the Jakarta airport after immigration – the extra edge is that you can bargain for free airport/hotel transfer.

3) Choose to arrive in the morning after rush hour, or you will get to experience Jakarta traffic first-hand – NOT nice!

4) Exchange rates are BETTER in KL. For a 1 night/2 day stay, 700,000 rupiah per person is sufficient for your transport, food and AIRPORT TAX. Hotel accommodation and shopping NOT included. To make calculations easier, every 10,000Rp=RM3.70. Every RM1=2,725Rp

5) PLEASE REMEMBER to set aside 150,000 rupiah per person for your AIRPORT EXIT TAX – they only accept RUPIAH!

6) ONLY take taxis that use the meter – we use the BLUE BIRD company (SILVER BIRD if you want a limousine)

Okie, here are the pics.

MAS doing pretty ok with the food as usual, nice breakfast for a 1 hour 45 mins flight, Ferrero Rocher for everyone KL-Jakarta. 

Allan with his nasi lemak

Me want Roti!!

Thousands of sheep floating in the sky

Approaching Jakarta

Jakarta North

Taxi stands are just outside the airport, go to the counter you want and inform the attendants that you want a cab

Silver Bird is the metered limousine service

Blue Bird is the normal cab service

Humbled to see that the best car I drive is but a taxi in Jakarta  (the other 2 cars we have are a Kancil and a Datsun 120Y) 

This is where you wait for the Blue Bird cab

Don’t fret if you don’t see any cabs here cos the attendant will call for one and there are so many cabs around that its pretty efficient. Can’t vouch for peak hours though.

The blue cab is ……………. a blue cab 

We paid 100,000 Rp for our cab to Mangga Dua Square although the meter was only 79,000 Rp. Just doing our bit to make a cabbie happy

When waiting in a standstill car, there are certain rules to remember:

1) Lock all doors

2) Close all windows

3) Do NOT look or make eye contact with the “traders” who are walking up and down between the cars. 

I managed to “steal” a few shots

Life is not easy for the man on the street in Jakarta

Canals or rivers run into Jakarta. Sometimes they spill over to the road when there is high tide

Mangga Dua is the place to stay if all you want to do is shop. Frankly, there is nothing much else to do in Jakarta. Don’t get me wrong, there are lovely places in Indonesia for touring, but I’d say that Jakarta is more towards business and shopping.

Our hotel, the Ibis Mangga Dua – smack right in the heart of the shopping mecca with China town and Mangga Dua Square within walking distance.

There was a 6.1 strength earth quake 2 days before we arrived, so the coward practical and wise being in me asked for the lowest floor. Unfortunately, all their non-smoking floors were situated from the 15th floor upwards. Since I preferred that, I asked for the lowest non-smoking floor and got the 16th floor. Taking the key, I envisaged myself running down 16 flights of stairs, trying not to trip over! Just before leaving, I found out that Ibis was “designed and constructed with every consideration given to earthquake safety” and that I should STAY in my room in the event of an earthquake. But that’s going to be in another day’s post  :)

Paid USD51+ for our room, no breakfast. It retails for slightly more if you walk in, but you might not get a room cos this is a popular hotel.

Room is comfortably big – Decorations and man in the picture NOT included in the price of the room.

Another view of the room without the distracting man

Room has a TV, connecting shower/toilet, fridge but no safe

Everything OK in the bathroom except there is no hairdryer and no conditioner – no problem for me, but those who need it might want to note this.

What we came to Jakarta for

We didn’t order this, but the smart business streak in them quickly advertised this “D—-” look alike to us – hoping we would buy more

We had 7 mascots and tried to squeeze them into less packages.

Took us almost 2 hours, but we finally decided on 3 boxes and 1 bag. Left 3 mascots to be sent by post.

Next, Mangga Dua Square and Chinatown PLUS FOOD!!!

Keep your eyes on this blog for a “Tips for a short trip to Jakarta”

We’re having a PARTY!

And not just any party – its a celebration for our post UPSR and PMR candidates

SO,

who gets to attend?

YOU!!

If you have just completed your exams, then we want you to celebrate 

AND

If you have not, we want you to be here to help them celebrate

Who is coming?

Well, all of you, and us, and

UNCLE ALLAN with his puppets!

SO,

SEE YOU 

ON SATURDAY, 24th OCTOBER 2009 

FROM 5 – 8PM

AT AMPANG GOSPEL CENTRE

For more info, please contact

Winson Chai @ 016 684 9272

or 

Glen Wai @ 016 3030 579

I meant to post this 2 weeks ago, but was too busy. Anyway, its about Jeff. 

Before Charlie the Clown a.k.a. Jeff Mun was born, he was getting into the food business. However, it was short-lived because the guy he chose to learn the business from was going to do it the traditional way, i.e., you work real hard, from the bottom (washing dishes, peeling onions, etc) and you get paid real low. 

Well, long story cut short, he ended up at Allan & Friends’ Studios – and started training as a clown. I can honestly say that Charlie was one of our better clowns, but he finally called it quits after 9 years.

Jeff (charlie de clown) in the centre, front row.

Jeff tried getting into a couple of different jobs but finally, a few weeks back, decided to go ahead with what I think is one of his passions in life – dealing with food.

So, Jeff Mun became his own boss. You can find Jeff’s stall behind Wisma Lim Foo Yong from 12 – 2pm.

We went to visit and show our support for him 2 weeks back and took some pics.

So Jeff, our prayers are with you in your new undertaking and here’s wishing you God’s richest blessings

My cousin posted this link on her Face Book page and I really like it

Its from here:

Sam Tsui – Vocals

Kurt Schneider – Arrangement, Production

Want your a cappella group to sing this arrangement? Send me a message for the sheet music. Arranged for SATB.