The Beauty of Technology

Have so many stories to tell, but haven't been in the mood to blog or blog-hop. Yesterday my brother was online at night in Indo and then we tried using the "call" feature in Yahoo Messenger. He was using his laptop without any headset, whereas I had to use my headset to speak. We also both used our webcams. Fortunately I could hear their voices even though their internet connection wasn't that great - the voice quality wasn't that great, but it was OK enough for me to hear as long as I wasn't talking at the same time as they were saying something to me.

At that time, Ken was still awake, so I could hear him sing and count from one to 10 - I was AMAZED 'coz he said the numbers VERY quickly (as though he knew them by heart already). He'll be 2 years old in two months and he knows his ABCs already and he can sing many songs from start to end. Of course his pronunciation is still cutish in some parts (for example he calls me Aunty Ameh instead of Amel), but I could still understand many things he said he he he...

One time my bro and wife asked him to sing a song and then Ken sang it and after that he clapped his hands HA HA HA HA HA...It's just AMAZING to be able to see his progress in learning many things. I was SO happy 'coz I could hear his voice AND see him in action through the webcam (though the webcam picture streaming wasn't too smooth and there was a delay but it was OK). I realized even more how precious it was to be able to communicate this way with my family in Bandung. THANK GOD for technology!!!

Yesterday's phone and chat conference made me want to go back to Indo again so badly. Can't wait for next year - hope next year there won't be any obstacle for BOTH of us to go back to Indo. I want to play with Ken and I bet next year he'll be even MORE chattier than now he he he he he...

Anyway, here's a pic of Ken with my Mom taken at least a few months ago...

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...)

3BT: Random Days

1. When my cold hand accidentally touched hubby's bare back last night when we went to bed, he shrieked in surprise, but didn't get angry. Instead, after realizing that my hand was cold, he grabbed it gently with his hand and he pressed it onto his super warm back. I don't need diamonds or expensive gifts to show your love, just keep on treating me this way for the rest of my life...

2. Being able to see my brother, Ken, my bro's wife, and Mom through webcam.

3. Fresh cold blended mixture of apple, strawberries, and bananas (a litre of it). Yum yum...

4. Having a very positive mother who always encourages me and supports me.

5. Memoriesssss...beautiful memoriessss...let me also share here some old pics of me and my friends...Looking at these photos took me back to those beautiful moments spent with my friends.

First pic: I was around 15 years old. It was probably taken in 1993.


I forgot when this one was taken. Probably around 1998 or 1999. So at least 10 years ago.


This one was taken on my friend's farewell party before she flew to Holland. September 2003.


This last one was a pic of me and my ex-campus friends in 2004 when one of them visited Bandung again after having lived in USA for a few years.