Childhood Memories: French Baguette

One of the memorable treats that we got when we were children was the long French baguettes. At that period of life in my hometown, it was quite a rarity. At that time kids were still playing folk games with their friends and computers were unheard of. Plenty of my neighbours didn't have any fridge yet. There were no big malls, just small private owned stores selling daily needs and snacks and goodies. It was a very different period of life.
 
At that time there was this HUGE supermarket in Dago Street catering to expats and rich people in Bandung. Well, the place looked especially huge for small children with short legs, though if I compare them to the huge malls all over that city nowadays, it's not that huge after all. 

Anyway, this particular supermarket sold plenty of exquisite goods at a rather high price and at the back of it there was a bakery. The bakery sold lots of things, but we only went there to buy French baguettes and some ham or sausage. The ham and sausage were so delicious when eaten with the freshly baked baguette, but we knew they cost a lot of money, so it was a rare treat and we enjoyed every bite of it. :-D


Until now I still remember clearly coming home on a motorcycle behind Dad while holding the French baguette in my hand tightly while the neighbours' children looked at the long bread in awe, because it wasn't something that you could find everywhere. I remember feeling as though I was holding a Light Sabre in my hand HA HA HA HA...I don't know if the supermarket is still there now or not. The last time I was there years and years ago, I think the supermarket chain has changed owner or something (my memory is getting blurry), but don't know what happens to it now. 

Do you have any special childhood treat that you remember fondly? 
 

Motorcycle + Emotional Quotient

In Indonesia, the legal age to drive a motorcycle is 17 years old. However, of course you can "get around law" and get a driver's license even when you're 15 years old. My brother and I went to the same Junior High School, but different High School. Dad used to take us to school until my brother got his own motorcycle.

At first my parents were going to let him get a driver's license when he was 15 years old, but then something happened that made them change their mind. My cousin, who was going 21 years old, died in a motorcycle accident a few months before my brother was going to get his driver's license. My cousin had just visited his girlfriend's house and since it was late already, he decided to speed up so that his mother wouldn't be too worried. Along one empty street there was this bump on the road and he didn't see it. Some witnesses saw his motorbike turn several times in the air before landing on the ground.

He hit his head so hard on the ground that he must've died in an instant. His whole body was intact, except for some blood coming out of his ear and a cut on his ear. It was such a devastating death, especially since the family had lost the father years back due to some illness. So the only ones left was the mother and the eldest son. (Now the son's gotten married and he has two kids already)

Anyway, that incident made my parents wait in giving my brother a driver's license. They thought that younger kids were more impressionable, so if somebody challenged them to speed or do something stupid, they were more likely to do it. So they told my brother to be patient and wait for two years.

He was patient enough to wait for two years and I must say that until now (and I hope until forever) he's never had an accident. It's tough to know how much trust and responsibility you should give to your kids, since sometimes every child is different in the process of growing up. My Mom says that a parent should get to know the kids' character and deal with (or approach) the kids according to their different personalities.

I'm not a parent yet, so I'm just trying to gather all the important lessons from other mothers and parents. One thing I heard from my friend Michelle rang VERY true to me. She said something along this line, "Education is important, but it's not everything. What matters most for me is that my kids have a BALANCED life (she means that they have a good Emotional Quotient). They need love."--- Btw, if you wanna know your EQ, click on the link and do the test. My result was average hi hi hi hi hi...

glitter-graphics.com