Doing The Trip Alone

As you probably know, my Indo trip was the first time I had ever been separated for a long time with hubby after I moved to Finland on March 2007. A part of me didn't want to go, yet another part of me was SO excited to go back to Indo.

The weird thing was that, during my trip back and forth, SLEEPYHEAD ME couldn't sleep on the planes. That's something I wasn't expecting. Even last year when R2 and I went to Indo, I could still sleep on the planes, but this time I couldn't. Dunno why. I was SO frustrated 'coz my eyes were SO tired and heavy and I could feel something pounding behind my eyes after a long while. I threw up twice on the way to Indo. Good thing was that I didn't get sick on the way back - I think it had something to do with the fact that I spent a night at Marriott Hotel nearby Hong Kong airport so that I got at least a 7-hour decent sleep despite the long journey.

I had a terrible jet lag when I arrived in Indo (had a HARD time sleeping for a few days at least - this didn't happen last year) and R2 also had trouble sleeping (he woke up almost every night and had a hard time going back to sleep). So my heart was torn in two - 'coz R2 suffered as well.

Thankfully my brother has bought a laptop and subscribed to a better inet connection, so R2 and I could chat a few times a week and we could also use our webcams to see each other. The bad thing was that my bro's inet connection wasn't strong enough to stream two webcams at the same time (Yahoo Messenger kept on shutting itself down), so we had to take turns in seeing each other ha ha ha ha...but all in all it helped a lot. R2 also called me using Skype a few times. THANK GOD for technology!!!

The first week in Bandung was TERRIBLY hot (around 30-32'C), but then it started raining almost daily, so the temperature got down. One morning I found out that it was only 22.5'C he he he...nicely cool!!! Mind you that when I left Finland, it was -5'C.

After being in Bandung for about 2.5 weeks, I felt like wanting to go back to Finland again. This time I didn't have too many things to do, so it felt like I was doing nothing much except eat, sleep, talk with my family and friends, go to the mall, etc. I did enjoy my time there, but I THINK the longer I stay in Sodankylä, the more I'll feel that Bandung is TOO chaotic, crowded, and noisy.

I have to admit that it feels like my elbow room is WAY too restricted (I almost felt like wanting to scream to the people there: "Move away from me!" - crazy, eh?). I feel that there are too many people, too many vehicles, too many street sellers (some of them put their stalls almost in the middle of the street!), too many wild drivers in Bandung. It's pretty logical why I feel this way...let's look at this info from Wikipedia:

The population in Sodankylä in 2009: 0.76/km²
The population in Bandung in 2004: 14,976/km²

Anyway, I did eat a lot of different kinds of food he he he...to make my posts not too long, let me just share a pic of a tropical fruit called "manggis" in Indo (for some reason I don't remember the English name) that I managed to find in Bandung that I can never find here in Sodankylä:


Notice the 7 "petals" at the bottom of the fruit...they represent the number of "pieces" of manggis there are inside. When I was a kid, whenever manggis was in season, we used to play this guessing game...we'd cover up the bottom part and ask our friend to guess how many manggis pieces there were inside he he he...


The inside of the fruit...you can eat the white parts (there are seeds inside the big ones, but you can swallow them too). See? There are exactly 7 pieces he he...If I remember correctly, there are usually around 4-7 pieces (no more, no less).


I've taken plenty of videos of Ken, as well, so I'll share them later along with other stories and pics. I still have plenty of things to do now...such as blog-hop ha ha ha...Btw, THANK YOU for all the birthday wishes! :-))) My birthday was spent in my in-laws' where we had moose and potatoes and also a chocolate cake he he he he...;-D (And I don't feel a year older WA HA HA HA HA HA...)

Home At Last

After such a tiring journey I'm finally back home. I've got tons of stories to tell, but right now I have to upload some pictures and read all the unread emails first and sort out what I need to do first. So many things to do he he he...Just wanna let you know that I'm fine. The plane landed in Rovaniemi when it was snowing. Beautiful, but it made driving rather dangerous. But all in all everything went well despite a few bad things that happened (I'll let you know later, OK?).

I'll blog hop later this week. Just a short note to let you know that I'm alive and well despite the fact that Sleepyhead Me - for some weird reason - couldn't sleep during the long flights (ugh!).

Feels GREAT to be back home and one GREAT thing about leaving R2 for 4 weeks is that when I came back yesterday, it felt like HONEYMOON all over again HUA HA HA HA HA HA...*wink wink*

Why Didn't I?

A few months ago I read a blog post on Blur Ting's sons helping her out doing house chores and I wondered why I didn't help my Mom more often when I was younger. Then I remembered something that happened when I did try to help her.

First of all, mind you that I was such a sensitive child. Secondly, back then my Mom sold food in the traditional market, so she had to cook a lot of dishes when she came back home from the market (other than the fact that she had to cook our meals, too). Thirdly, my Mom had been working in the kitchen since she was very young, so she knew which was which and she had learnt to be a fast cooker, chopper, or whatever she had to do.





While I was still in Elementary School, sometimes I wanted to help out in the kitchen...BUT due to my inexpertise and slowness, my Mom sometimes snapped at my "incompetence". My little heart was SO hurt by her words and impatience that I just refused to help out too much back then. I remember writing in my diaries how I "hated" experts 'coz they were so impatient.


Now, looking back, I realized that she didn't mean those words and that she was a driven woman who was used to working at her own pace and she had demands to fulfill (she knew how many types of food she had to cook each day and how long it'd take to do it and I was just "on the way" 'coz she had to teach me from ground zero). So, she probably felt it was MUCH better to do things by herself 'coz of the reasons mentioned above.

This made me realize, as well, that in order to get help, you have to be willing to receive it - even if it means that you need to "teach" the helper. If the helper can't deliver what you expect him/her to be, you can either stop getting the help from them (if you have that choice) or you can try to teach them to do things the way you want them to be.

P.S. I'm happy to say that now that my Mom's grown older, she's grown to be more patient (esp. 'coz she can't do things as SUPER fast as she used to anymore).

Wii Sports Resorts

R2 ordered Wii Sports Resorts plus the Wii Motion Plus devices a while ago. However, they ran out of the CD, so the devices came first without our being able to do anything about it. The CD came two days before I flew to Indo and that day we spent hours trying out the new games in the CD.

It was SO much fun!!! Of course I lost in many games - I've never been too good at games like this and for games that focuses on speed, I tend to be SO stressed out that I react later than I want my body to react he he he he he...

For example, in one game you and another person should try to follow the direction on screen - whether you have to slice things vertically, horizontally, or even diagonally...and I tried concentrating too hard that my reaction time became SO bad...ugh!!!






Funny thing is that if I got very bad records and I started looking so sad, R2 would feel bad about that, esp. if I had tried a few times with similar "lousy" results hi hi hi hi...However, if we're almost equal in a particular game, then we'll become downright competitors and whenever one of us gets a new record, the winner will be doing a "happy dance" whereas the loser would be lolling his/her tongue out HA HA HA HA HA...

I think my fave game so far is the swordplay. Makes me feel like a ninja when I play that game hi hi...I'm telling ya that it's SO tiring, as well. Hours after we stopped gaming, my arms started to HURT so much that even combing my hair felt more like a chore than just a simple act. I felt like a granny already ha ha ha ha...bad bad stamina!!! I'm sure after I come back from Indo, we'll be having more fun playing the game. ;-D Can't wait to go back home!!! ;-D

glitter-graphics.com

The Ink Blot Test

WOW!!! I can't believe how accurate this test is about the relationship between me and my Dad!!! Why don't you try it, people, and then if you wish, I'd love to read your results! :-D I'm not so sure about the first result, though he he...

You Are Driven and Focused

You view people with suspicion. There is a lot of interpersonal conflict in your life. You had more conflict with your father than your mother. Your relationship with him was healthy but challenging. You deal with stress in a fairly normal way. Stress presents a struggle for you, but you're usually able to neutralize your emotions. You are the type of person who knows how to get a lot done. However, sometimes you can't help but get overwhelmed by life.

The Inkblot Test

The First Rule of Blogthings Is: You Don't Talk About Blogthings

The Chair Test

I LIKE the result HO HO HO HO HO...

You Are Curious and Questioning

You're the type of person who can sit all day and listen to someone's life story. You take a genuine interest in other people. You are a bit of a voyeur. The lives of others fascinate you. You give a first impression of being passive and simple. In truth, you are very active and analytical. You are an armchair psychologist. You find human interaction to be incredibly fascinating.

The Chair Test

Blogthings: If Quizzes Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Take Quizzes

Ken's Latest Pictures

A day before I was supposed to fly to Indo, my brother sent me these latest pics of Ken. Now I'm finally able to see his laughing faces he he he he...Can't believe he's a year already! WOW!!!

Second pic: Look at his first car!!! He got it as a birthday present from his grandpa he he...

This last pic is my FAVE one!!! I'm going to take many video clips of him later on HO HO HO HO...I wanna see him in action and hear his voice! :-D

Blog Blast for Peace

Today bloggers join together to blog about peace. Weird thing is, whenever I try to think about peace, what came up was always The Serenity Prayer (the one that I wrote down in my peace globe above). I think the prayer sums up many important things in life.

I'm not going to write anything much here...I'd just like to ask all of us to think of ways to create and maintain peace in our lives...in our day-to-day lives...so that the lives of those around us may be impacted, too...Let's each begin putting a drop of peace in the big ocean of life...to create a ripple across the globe...

Here's to peace!!!

November 5, 2009

The Peace Globe Gallery

3rd Wedding Anniversary

Dear Bonbon,

Three years ago we stood in front of my priest, exchanging vows. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. Nothing else mattered and everybody else in the whole room seemed to vanish when we said those words to each other. It was our moment, our big step in life.

Back then I didn't know full well the prices I had to pay to marry you and move halfway around the world. It never crossed my mind that it would be so hard to have your heart split into two: my new family in Finland and my family in Indo. I'm writing this letter a few days before I have to fly to Indo and I feel a mixture of sadness and joy: sadness for having to leave you and your parents, joy for being able to meet my family. And the same thing will happen again the day when I'm supposed to fly back to Indo. 


There are also other prices that came up only after I moved to Finland, but the most important thing is that you're worth the prices I have to pay. We are worth each and every one of it. What we have is worth the fight. I don't know how much more time God gives us, but I promise I'm going to do my best to cherish each and every moment I have with you. 

glitter-graphics.com

To be honest, before I moved to Finland, I also didn't know how right my choice was to marry you (I bet you also felt the same - at least the logical part of the brain would say so). After all, we never really dated "normally" and we had only been together in real life for more or less 3 weeks in total before our wedding day. Before I moved to Finland, I knew you were funny, but I never knew you're THIS funny. You make me laugh so easily. You make me feel cherished, loved, supported, accepted. You never make me feel like I'm stupid, even when I make silly mistakes and you're always ready to comfort me when I need it. You never give me any unsolicited advice and you never criticize me. Even when I'm SO cranky, you always keep your cool and you put up with it. I'm SO grateful for that!!!


Up to now, we've had some disagreements, but they never escalated into any fights. There were times when I wondered about this, you know? There were times when I wondered if it was "healthy" to never having fights after living together for almost three years. There were times when I wondered if there were "ticking bombs" in our marriage...but one day I realized the answer. It's a simple as ABC. You've always brought out the best in me. I don't exactly know how you do it, but you do. I guess you're just one of those people who "click" with me - who are in the opposite end from those people who get into my nerves so easily even though they probably don't really mean to do it.


That was one of the reasons why I knew you were and are the one for me. Even though there were some occasions when I wanted to get REALLY angry at you, I just couldn't lash out. If I had been with someone else, I couldn't guarantee that things would calm down the way they were with you. But you...you've always managed to douse my flames so quickly. Always. Every single time. I'm amazed at that. I guess my instinct was right after all - about your being the one for me even before we met. Time has proven this even better than I could have imagined it. 

glitter-graphics.com

Even though life in Sodankylä is not all roses and flowers and sometimes I do feel frustrated about "finding my place in here" (esp. in terms of finding a suitable occupation that would bring me some income), I love my life with you. I love the way you treat me. I love the way you move (so sexy, oh yeah!). I love the way you smile. I love your crazy jokes. I love how I can be totally crazy in front of you - and still feel like I'm the most precious person on earth instead of feeling silly. I love all the little things you do that I can't possibly write down here (tee hee...). 

I wish right now I could hold you SO tightly to let you know how much you mean to me...but 'coz I'm halfway around the world, I hope this note warms up your heart until I come back to your arms again (and then I can "attack you properly, passionately, tenderly"). I just want to say THANK YOU for being you, THANK YOU for everything. I'm PROUD to be your wife and I'm SO lucky to be able to love you, hold you, kiss you, make love to you, cook for you, clean your ears, tickle you, scratch your back, stare at you, smell your fart (OK, OK, I know that oftentimes they don't smell - unlike mine), help you cut your hair, listen to your heartbeats, nibble you, tuck you up on the sofa sometimes when you take a nap...and the list goes on.


I LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU more than before...the longer I am with you, the more I adore you...I can't wait to go back home to you...because you are my home...my safe haven on earth...my "bunny in a bag"...


Your crazy wife (who's crazily in love with you),

AMEL

P.S. Sorry, I don't allow comments for this post 'coz it's a very personal post.

What's Your Best Trait?

Yeah, just for fun he he...this quiz reminded me of what one of my best friends said to me once. She said: "Once you've made a decision, whatever other people say doesn't matter anymore. You'll just find more and more explanations for them to justify your decisions." So I guess I AM persistent in a way he he he...

Your Best Trait is Persistence

You are strong willed and very stubborn. You don't give up, even when everyone else thinks you should. You are good at selecting a goal, figuring out how to achieve, and putting your nose to the grindstone until you've got it. You've got true grit. You may not be the richest or luckiest person you know, but you're definitely the toughest. You are independent and always do things your own way. If people question your tactics, it only makes you more determined.

What's Your Best Trait?

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone