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6 years ago this month, I was leaving my work before getting married and moving to different state/country. The plan at that time was to move for 6 months to Bandung, Indonesia then settle in Sunshine Coast, Australia.

I remember one of the managers told me, “Jess, people would usually manage 1 or 2 changes in their life. But you’re braving 3! Change of relationship, change of work and change of house. I wish you all the luck in the world.”

I also remember how his words strucked me, thinking that I must be crazy for doing this to myself. Yet I always felt peace during those days. Deep down I knew that I made the right decision.

6 years on, a lot of things had happened. Some are the things we had planned to: having kids, buying house. God’s grace allowed us to achieve those. Other things are beyond our imagination: moving to Manila. Never once it cross my mind to visit the Philippines, let alone live here.

However here I am. On the same month, 6 years after I packed my Australian life, I’m getting ready to go to Bandung once again.

Life with God surely is adventure. I’m looking forward to the next chapter of our life.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9, NLT

Nathan had his moving up celebration from Senior Pre-K to Kindergarten last Friday. Extra special because my parents came from Indonesia to celebrate with us.

I’m really proud of his social growth this school year. He has learnt to communicate his feelings better and to share his thoughts when he’s upset. He also has learnt to include his friends during playtime.

We are so grateful for his teacher, Teacher Vren, who has patiently loving him throughout the year. Nathan adores her and will surely miss her.

On the celebration Nathan had several tasks:

1. Narrate the story for the Junior Pre-K class
2. Perform “Pete the Cat and his white shoes” song with his classmates
3. Sing “True Color” song
4. Dance to “Can’t Stop the Feeling”
5. Sing moving up song

Through the performances I observed that he enjoyed dancing more than singing. He was also concerned about orders. Few times he looked down to make sure that he was standing on his marked spot. He was bothered when his female classmate sang the “boys part” of the song. Heheh.

Watching him performing with confidence made me a bit teary. My baby has grown so much and soon he’s no longer a little kid. I’m glad that he was in a safe learning community that he enjoyed a lot.

By God’s grace we will always have a love filled community in Indonesia or wherever we live in the future.

I did watch the sequel to PoTO titled “Love Never Dies” in Melbourne, 2011. Phodi and I were already an item that time so we watched this together. I enjoyed it especially its song “The Beauty Underneath”. Phodi however, was almost asleep halfway through!

When I saw the ads that it’s showing soon in Manila, I was excited but didn’t have the heart yet to ask Phodi about it. Then the ads kept on appearing on my igstory roll so I thought I’d ask and see what he said. Of course being he kind husband that he is, he said ok but please find a friend.

Luckily my kind Japanese mom friend is also into musicals. After pinning on the date (which was harder than finding a needle on hay stacks), we booked our tickets for Sunday, March 17. Woohoo! This was our only mom date in Manila as we both are leaving the country soon.

It was a beautiful production indeed. I was captivated by the whole acts when Phantom and Christine went on the boat and came to the Phantom place. Their voices and the stage props (all those “candles”) were just top notch. Pretty sure I hold my breath several times during this part.

I also loved the act when Christine and Raoul sang “All I Ask of You”. It was very intimate and moving. Like I could feel the night breeze on the roof caressing their love. How romatic! Another favourite act of the night.

My only question though, what is the age recommendation for Phantom? The story is definitely not for kids and some of the acts (the surprise hanging scene, the implied killing scene) were definitely not kids friendly. I saw kids as young as 9 or 10 and I wonder what they’re thinking about those.

Anyhow, I’m happy that I’ve watched PoTO. It was beautiful beyond my expectation.

Right after we were back in the condo, I was feeling a bit blue knowing that we only have less than 4 months left in Manila! So many places we want to visit yet so little time.

For one, we haven’t been to the beach eventhough Philippines is famous for its beach. (Although many people said that Indonesia’s beaches are more beautiful). So we’re definitely planning to go to Batangas.

We’re also planning to go to Baguio. Most likely during the flower festival. I know there will be great crowd but I love going to festivals! Even browsing through the photos of the flower floats made me happy. The kids are still young but they’re not babies anymore so let’s go!

I’d also like to visit the newly renovated planetarium. We do have a planetarium in Indonesia (and in fact I have visited Bosscha Observatorium, one of the oldest observatorium in Asia) but still, the planetarium in Manila is new and free. Why not?

We have some more places that we’d like to visit but we want to enjoy the comfort of our condo too. Waiting for the weather to become warmer so we could play in the swimming pool. I’m also hoping to spend more time with my Manila friends.

Let’s make memories!

Not wanting to be trapped in the crazy traffic along C-5, I was determined to choose a destination that doesn’t involve “going south” for our family day trip.

After much consideration, we decided to embark on a day trip to Rizal province. Oh wait, I actually didn’t consider the heat BUT what can you do when it is summer.

Family time

We were tight on days because my brother was only visiting for a short time so we exclude anything that requires an overnight stay (byebye Zambales, Baguio, La Union, La Casas de Filipinas and others). I googled high and low and finally decided on the following itinerary:

Brunch at Rustic Mornings, Marikina

Sightseeing at Pililla Windmill Farm

Calinawan Cave, Tanay

Daranak Falls, Tanay

Tanay Church

Tanay lighthouse

Dinner at Vieux Chalet, Antipolo

So off we go!

First stop: Rustic Mornings, Marikina.

We went here because we saw some people went here the week before and they said it’s a nice hidden sanctuary very near the city.

Verdict: True! They keep the gate closed for whatever reason but there’s an open sign. We enjoy a nice alfresco brunch eventhough it was mid morning. And a plus point for me, their service is pronto. It bugged Phodi and I that food service in Manila is generally very slow but Rustic Morning was very quick. And their hash brown is rosti like! Yummmm

Next stop: Pililla Windmill Farm

1.5 hours away from Manila, is a sustainable renewable energy farm. This amazing farm is an answer for the future guys. The farm at Pililla is the 2nd in the Philippines, with the first windmill farm located in Bangui, Ilocos.

As it is summer, we were practically burned under the sun. Heheh open air, mid-day, on top of the mountain.. Perfect combination. Regardless, we enjoyed the place. They provided extensive information on the structure and the energy usage. I learned new things by visiting this place. Nathan also had fun reading the information.

We noticed that the local government just started building the site to be a tourist attraction. We saw some preparation to shift the road from gravel into cement. So yes, it was very dusty (because of the strong wind.. obviously that’s why they build windmill farm in the area!). But there were CR near the information center. Also as the time we visited, it was free entrance.

Some Pililla Wind Farm trivia:

• there are 27 windmills operating
• they can generate power for 66.000 houses in the area.
• the windmills are imported (from Germany, I think) to Manila Bay and it took 2 days to bring them up to Pililla
• the times when we use most energy (AC and lights), are also the time when winds tend to blow stronger. i.e. 12-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m.
• it’s the 2nd wind farm in the Philippines

My trivia: I enjoyed listening to the constant “whoosh whoosh” sound that the windmill produces

Next stop: Calinawan Cave

My mom, kids and I stayed in the car for this one. My mom and Nathan don’t like darkness and I couldn’t bother going in with a baby. My dad’s verdict? It was good but we have been to a better one in Indonesia. Sorry! The cost per person is P40 and P200 for the guide. Nice photo spot.

Next stop: Daranak Falls

I actually wanted to go to Batlag Falls which google said is better. However, because our driver was quite persistent to go to this one so oklah… lo and behold, it was too crowded even though we went on a weekday. We were prepared to go swimming but I lost interest as soon as we arrived. The cost to go in was P50 per person. The water was a bit murky because there were too many people. I think you can rent a floater for P50 and a tent for P200.

Although we didn’t swim, we still had a nice time there just enjoying the sound of the falls. I think it was also the kids’ first time to see a natural waterfall. Nathan now has a clear picture of waterfall vs fountain. Haha.

Next stop: Tanay Church & Tanay Lighthouse

Nothing too special at the Tanay Church. I barely remember what I saw there. Oh wait, there’s the (cardboard) Pope at the church.

The lighthouse was even more interesting because it is very… short. Haha. Oh but it’s ok, at least we went and saw the view. It was a nice area for the local to hang out while waiting for sunset. Most of all I’m still amazed that there was no one smoking! Thank God that we get to be in the Philippines after the smoking ban imposed.

dessert platter at Vieux Chalet

Next stop: Vieux Chalet in Antipolo

Vieux Chalet is a Swiss restaurant owned by a Swiss – Filipina couple. They said you need to “reserve in advance so we can serve you better”. Truth is, because everything is homemade they need reservation so they could calculate how much to prepare in order to maintain freshness. On the day we dine there were only 1 drink available. Hehe.

Food wise, it was ok. I wouldn’t say fantastic but it’s definitely different. The view though is nice especially because we can see our side of the city from here. Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas is easily seen because the lights make it distinguishable.  Now I know that the mountain view I see everyday from our condo is Antipolo. Anyways, the view and the price of Vieux Chalet make them popular for proposal. In fact, we found out that one of our dgroup friends proposed his then girlfriend here.

To take advantage of the “special occasion” mood in this place, we told the waitress that we’re celebrating my brother’s birthday. His birthday was the day after anyway. He was given a chocolate lava cake on the house. Thank you for the nice gesture!

After a full day adventure around Rizal, we came home pretty much sticky and dusty. I think it was a good day trip to do from Manila though. The main point of interest is definitely the windmill although nothing much can be done there. Would I do it again? Hmm… I don’t think so. Would I recommend it? Maybe if you’re interested to learn about sustainable energy. Otherwise it will be a no.

Wait up Philippines, we’ll travel more!

Buko everyday

I think I’m enjoying life here just fine. Of course I miss my family but thanks to technology we can stay in touch everyday. My parents have also came here twice and the kids still love them to bits. Nathan even asked when they’re coming back to Manila on the morning after my parents left.

Learning about flowers

I’m glad that we have made new friends along the way.

Play all day

I’m happy to see that Nathan can communicate well and make new friends. I’m happy that the kids have a safe and clean environment to play and learn. Nathan graduated from junior Pre-K after 3 months of class

I’m thankful that we have found our new normal in this city. I’m glad that we have found our new routine.

All this Christmas decoration and we have ZERO good family photo!

Merry Christmas from the Philippines! May you all have a blessed Christmas. May Christ be the true source of your joy and peace.

This Christmas is my 3rd time being away from home. My mom family has a gathering tradition at my grandparents’ in Solo. The first time I missed Christmas at home was during my first year in Melbourne. Then I missed another one when I started working in Melbourne. Hopefully I won’t miss anymore Christmas.

When I was younger, I sometimes think of the tradition as a burden. My friends could have Christmas/New Year celebration in Jakarta while I couldn’t because I would always be in Solo. All my friends never invited me to join NYE celebration because they already knew that I won’t be able to. Sad.

However as I grow older, I realize that my grandparents really planted a good seed. Today I enjoy having the accompany and love of my cousins and aunts and uncles. They really are my treasure. And my kids are blessed to have lots of family who showered them with love.

But… This time around we decided not to go back since we just arrived here like 7 weeks ago. It was a hard decision to make but I’m glad we did. A good opportunity came up this week and what a waste it would have been if we had left for holiday. I’m really excited though that my parents would be here in couple of weeks time. Wheeeee.

So anyways, happy holiday!

At 3 years 4 months, my boy unleashed his anger/tiredness/sleepiness/confusion at the worst place and time possible. Imagine this… us waiting in a mall lobby for our ride (which was later cancelled! and we couldn’t get anything for half an hour), with one sleepy baby who demanded to be carried and an angry+sleepy toddler who demanded to be left alone in the mall.

Nathan actually ran back inside the store and the security guard helped us to chase him. We were busy with the stroller and a crying Nadine and trying to book a ride home. Chaos chaos!

Looking back, I’m glad that the whole situation was ok. Far from fine but ok. Nathan’s type of tantrum is squatter. Like those doing demonstration, Nathan will sit on the floor and cry out loud. Screaming for what he wants and crying for attention. He also likes to take off his shoes and socks when he wears them. He’s not the lying and rolling on the floor type.

Actually what bugged me the most was not us creating scene and people looking. What annoyed me the most was him sitting down on the floor shoeless! Grrrr… picking up all the dirts on the floor I had to rinse his clothes before putting them into the washing machine with the other laundry.

Anyway, his tantrum was because he’s sleepy yet couldn’t sleep being too excited looking at Christmas lights. Several hours passed and he snapped because we didn’t let him walk down the escalator. Duh!

In the end I had to carry him while carrying Nadine with the carrier. Ok lah, whatever needed to make him calm. Carried him for few minutes, managed to get him to sit inside the stroller and finally he slept in the stroller. Nadine went to sleep as well during the process. Praise the Lord!

The most comforting thing was that during the tantrum, a lady very kindly smiled at me. I was nursing Nadine while carrying her inside the Ergo, Nathan was sitting and crying on the floor and there she was smiling at me. Then suddenly all the burden lifted up! Thank you for being very understanding instead of judging. You knew I’ve tried my best to calm my little beast. Haha.

So please people, the next time you see a kid throwing tantrum, please smile at the parents. Um.. smile sympathetically.. that will help. They’re trying their best even when their parenting style is different from yours.

And for parents, this too shall pass!

One month has passed since the day we arrived in Manila. Nadine turned 13 months, Nathan turned 3.4 years and I turned 29! Yes I’m going to spend the last of my 20s in this city.

On a less brighter note, my maternal grandmother passed away at the age of 84. She has been sick for a long time that I can’t even remember her voice. A sad truth that I found hard to accept because my most vivid memory of her was when she was memorizing her choir song during holiday. She said she didn’t want to miss her choir performance at church so she needed to catch up.

Thank you Oma for teaching me to take ministry seriously. Now you can sing and praise the Lord again. Thank you Opa and Oma, I’ll see you in due time.

Back to the main topic now. Here are the things I found interesting in Manila… From my eyes as an Indonesian

1. The use of plastic bag is very minimum.

Yes, shops here mostly use brown paper bag. Branded shops (at malls) use fancier paper bag.

Easiest comparison will be Uniqlo. In Indonesia you’d have to pay for a Uniqlo paper bag while here you get a paper bag by default.

This paper bag custom has made me use shopping bag for groceries because doing groceries with brown paper bag and 2 kids is impossible!!! Ridiculously impossible.

Maybe Indonesia can implement this instead of making people pay (way too) cheap for plastic bags?

2. SM owns everything (well most).

There is this company who owns malls and properties and they’re basically everywhere.

There’s SM Centre, SM Aura, SM Megamall, Mall of Asia (owns by SM) and like 60 other SM malls across the country. And they owns Watsons and Toys Kingdom and basically everything. Haha.

Kaching kaching.

3. We share the same roots.

Phodi and I look Filipino but we’re not. So we have to say “Sorry, English please” when people try to converse in Tagalog.

Tagalog and Indonesian languages have similarities.

English – Tagalog – Indonesian.

(Eh please correct me if I’m wrong, ok?)

Umbrella – payong – payung

Stone – bato – batu

Child – anak – anak

What a pity – sayang – sayang

Some words are similar but have different meaning

“Thank you” In Tagalog – Salamat

In Indonesian “selamat” is “good” as in “good morning”

“Bird/Chicken” In Tagalog – Manok (chicken) In Indonesia – “manuk” is bird

At this stage, I don’t feel the urge to learn the language because everybody here understands and speaks English well. I even notice that kids (as in younger than millenials) speak English with no accent. Hardly heard any kids talking in Tagalog.

4. Like in Indonesia, having a maid is common.

Most of our neighbours have yaya (maid/nanny). One time there was a yaya asking Phodi why we don’t have one. Probably because she often sees either one of us at the playground and no yaya.

I’m currently fine with no yaya.. Still deciding on whether we need one. A yaya would be good if Phodi is out of town but as always with helper, I’m scared of the drama that might come with it.

Plus the unit is small and I dislike the thought of having someone at home. But a yaya would be nice for cleaning and ironing.. The later I haven’t done any. Haha.

Do you think I need a yaya?

5. Traffic is BAD.

Ok, here’s the thing.. Jakarta’s traffic is bad but I think Manila’s traffic is worst. Jakarta’s traffic is crowded filled with motorbikes so you kinda know why you can’t go. But Manila’s traffic is another level of jam.

We actually crossed 5.6kms in 1hour and 40 minutes on a Tuesday afternoon. My kids went from normal to lunatic and back to normal during those hours.

From our condo I can see one of the main roads and most nights the traffic is still packed even after midnite. Crazy. But when the weekend comes, traffic is much better. Thank God!

6. The Phillipines have lots of holidays.

Typhoon? Schools are cancelled.

Bigger typhoon? Holiday for all!

and it just happened for us that we had 3 days holiday due to ASEAN Summit, one for Bonifacio Day and there will be one next week. Hmm not complaining there.

7. Pork glorious pork.

Pork can be easily found. The most famous pork sold on the street? Lechon aka crispy roasted pork.

8. Basketball is life.

Basketball in the Philippines is equal to soccer in Indonesia. In Indonesia you see people wearing soccer club jerseys. Here you find people wearing Golden State Warrior.

If you go to the sport section at ToysRUs or Toys Kingdom, you’ll see that there are plenty basketball rings and boxing gears. Cue the Manny Pacquiao. The college (university) basketball league is a real deal.

Anyway congrats to Ateneo for beating Lasalle and winning the 2017 league!

9. Christmas decoration is a serious business.

After living in Bandung for the last 3 years where Christmas wasn’t really celebrated… (it’s really sad in Bandung guys) we’re ecstatic to see marvelous decorations in Manila.

2 years ago we saw the decs in Singapore which was good compared to Jakarta but apparently Manila does it better.

Office buildings put up nativity scene on their lobby or even entrance roof (I’m dead serious but impossible to take photo from the car). Lights everywhere that sometimes my baby was overwhelmed. Haha.

10. Philippinos don’t eat spicy food.

There’s no chilli sauce in McD or KFC as they eat their chicken with gravy. (gasp!)

Lucky me for bringing Ibu Rudy. lol.

Those are the things that I can think of as of now… and I can live with those minus the traffic.

Anyhow, is it just me or anyone else feel like they have cravings of your hometown food when you’re away?

I’m craving for peanut sauce on batagor and spicy beehoon!

Read part 1 here

Day 5 – Thursday, 9 November 2017

Rainy Manila today. It was cloudy when we woke up and I could see some rain in other areas. We had rain from 9 a.m. and it’s still raining now at 10 p.m.

Cooked fried rice in the morning using the left over lauchon (crispy skin pork) then hurrily to the kids to Kindermusik trials.

First class was for Nadine so Nathan was watching from the playroom. We had so much fun because Nadine was delighted being in the class. She was very cautious with the toy dog but she was singing, banging instruments and playing along. Of course she didn’t want me to be far but overall she had fun.

Nathan on the other hand… Didn’t want to do anything. He claimed that the sound was too loud and just wanted to go out. I kinda expect it… but didn’t think that he’ll be very distressed. I think a smaller group will be suitable for Nathan, or even a one-on-one music class. I’ll have to explore and understand him more.

Anyways, the rain is still ongoing now. Do they have flood in Manila? Cos Jakarta would definitely be flooded at this rate.

Day 6 – Friday, 10 November 2017

Our morning was a bit disappointing. We were supposed to have a trial for Nathan’s school but apparently the school was cancelled due to typhoon. We arrived at the school and it was closed. Poor boy was disappointed as he was excited about it.

We missed the news because they news was circulated through twitter. Oh wow.. We haven’t used twitter in ummmm years but apparently it’s still quite big here and used by government to issue official announcement. O.K. noted then.

Went back to the apartment, played with the kids and did some chores. Then I had a bit of meltdown because Nadine was being extremely clingy. She has been very clingy but the last 2 days had been really bad. She wanted to be carried or be put on my lap. Even if I move a bit of my leg, she’d hold on tighter to my shirt.

If I walk away even to the dining table, she’d cry and howl. Like seriouslyyyyyy!! This afternoon it was too much for me so I cried. Ha. Ha. Ha. At least I can laugh about it now.

Sometimes when she’s better she can play with Nathan or even by herself. Busy with duplos or animal figurines. But when she remembers me, she’ll look for me while shouting in panic. I really hope she’ll pass this phase soon. I really do.

In the afternoon we went to the playground for half an hour before it started to drizzle. Right when the kids finished their bath, we had another stormy rain. I love watching the rain from our condo. Such a pretty view of dancing lightning and water going down the windows.

Phodi went home with a cup of Stabucks’ hot chocolate. Nadine had few sips which officially was her first hot chocolate. Quickly seared a piece of salmon fillet for dinner. Kids eat well, everyone’s happy. Day 6 in Manila done.

Day 7 – Saturday, 11 November 2017

I noticed that we tend to wake up earlier here. Umm.. There were days where we woke up at 8.30 but there were days where we woke up at 7. Hmm…

We had a gym trial for Nadine at 9 so when the kids woke up at 7.30, I quickly prepared breakfast. Scramble eggs, leftover salmon and fusilli pasta which both ate with no complain.

Nadine’s gym trial was ok. I think we won’t go ahead with it though. I prefer the Kindermusik class for Nadine as I think she enjoys it better. And the Kindermusik class was more structured and organized. Price wise the Kindermusik was more expensive (almost double?) but with the transport cost they would be similar.

After the trial we went to Shangri-La Plaza. The mall is similar with Jakarta’s but the Christmas decorations they offered ware totally wonderful. We had seen the ones in SM which we thought ware great. But the ones at Rustan’s were so beautiful. Nathan had a hard time resisting his urge to touch everything.

Tomorrow is a Sunday and then we will have 3 days public holidays due to ASEAN Summit. Woohoo!! Phodi will still need to work, I think.. But regardless, it’s a previlege to have him at home for 3 days.

Day 7 done and that was our first week in the Philippines.

Did I enjoy it? I suppose yes, I did. Apart from the transition from 2 day helpers to none at all, I think we’re fine. Nathan’s becoming more independent and so am I.

Expecting greater things to come! Grace grace