On the road again…

Another day, another road trip. This time we’re headed off to Bandung. Please note the pronunciation is BAHN-doong. Not Ban-duhng. I don’t care if Anthony Bourdain says it the latter way. He’s wrong. I’m right.



After a couple of hiccups trying to find a restaurant that is fairly well-known and kid friendly… AND CLOSED, we ended up at “House of Risoles”. The food was very tasty. But the ice was deadly. But more on that later.

Here's a pic of the kids outside the restaurant...

Bandung is reknowned mainly for one thing: OUTLET SHOPS. Now I’m still not sure if “outlet shop” means “fell off a truck” or an actual outlet. Our destination in Bandung was Rumah Mode (roo-mah mo-duh) where I scored an Old Navy skirt for $10 and a Ralph Lauren top for $12 as well as authentic (if not really out of season) Disney Store merch. for $5 each. Picked up some Thomas “take-along” toys for $3 each, too. Unfortunately, the kids were antsy and I was feeling REALLY odd. Like passing out odd while there, so we cut our trip short. Remember what I said about the ice being deadly?


By the time we were on the way home, I was almost delirious and singing the theme songs to “Green Acres”, “Bonanza!” and “Mister Ed” in the car. My children were miserable and annoyed. But I had fun shopping, so the after effects of the “batu es” (glass of ice) were well worth it.


To Be Continued…

To Amerika with Love

Dear American Expats and Tourists,

We know that sometimes you get lonely for home. So to honor your 4th Juli celebration, we offer you (overpriced) American magazines and "homemade American treats". You can stuff yourselves with tortilla chips, oatmeal raisin cookies, bread, cookies on sticks, cinnamon rolls and yes, even apple pie.

So have a happy 4th of July and enjoy!

Mal Taman Anggrek

or "Orchid Garden Mall" as it would be known in English, is home to a variety of shops and department stores, hair & makeup salons (at least 6), luxury textile stores, bridal salons, children's play areas, Starbucks AND The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, McDonald's, Wendy's, Popyes, A&W, KFC and a couple other US Imports as well as a fitness center, full size skating rink and 21 screen movie theatre (currently showing Toy Story 3, Knight and Day, Eclipse and who knows whatall else) AND 8 towers worth of condo/apartments. But the main attraction is generally what's happening in the main lobby area (Ground Level). During Christmas holidays, it snows and Santa Claus and his elves/reindeer are there. Barbie has been there and during the time leading up to Chinese New Year, the area has been decorated to celebrate, complete with exhibitions and whatnot. You just never know quite what to expect from T-A (tay-ahh as it's called here). Did I mention that the mall is 6 stories tall? That's roughly 3 times the size of our local mall back in Sunny FLA.

Anyways, today when the mall opened, the back-to-school partay was in full swing. School resumes for the new term in just a couple of weeks, so EVERYTHING is on sale with "back-to-school specials". Between that and the Jakarta Great Sale (22 Juni-25 Juli 2010) to celebrate 487 years since the city's founding, there is MASSIVE shopping to be done.

The Body Shop has the entire lobby arena area set up with their new line of products and their wares are being sold by a most energetic group of young adults. What they lack in trained skill, they more than make up for with enthusiasm! Perhaps if the shopkeepers in the US had choreography to go along with their product, the recession might move along?

car shopping, an exercise in futility

The title says it all. Once upon a time, we were a two car family. Two paid in full cars. Until one got stolen. And it didn't have theft insurance because it was such a beater. And so we perservered with one car for one year because we didn't want to make a "rash" decision and then another five months because we didn't have adequate fundage to commit to such a purchase and because gas was SO HIGH and we were used to it all. Now the time has come to purchase a second car. And loathe as we are to take financing, it's just going to have to happen. We're not picky, really. If we were going to write a personal ad, it would look like this:

Hot mama needs hot car. Fuel guzzling road hogs need not apply. Import a
plus, and if you're RED, so much the better. Leather seats turn me on. Must have
adequate entertainment features for those long hauls.

The reality is, finding a CLEAN, low miles, appropriate (think three kids in car seats) vehicle that is in our price range is nearly impossible. Bah humbug. It's not like we're on a deadline or anything. It's not like August 24th is LOOOOOOOOMING or nuthin'.

Harumph.

If the shoe fits...

Shove it in a box until you find the "perfect" outfit to wear it with...

Anyone who has known me for a long time, knows that my former nickname (like before "The Empress") was "Imelda" for I have collected shoes of all kinds for many years. It didn't even matter if they fit or I wore them more than once. If I found a quirky pair of shoes, they must be mine.

Eventually, however, I became a more discriminating connoisseur of footwear. However, I still can't resist a retro-inspired pair of shoes ... or three...

Here they are - my three personal faves - in all their glory:

Check out the detail on these:

These I've worn maybe three times. I'm still looking for the perfect 1920s/1930s outfit to go with them. I've ordered this:
from Patterns From The Past because it looks like a good fit. I can't wait to get it and make it up.

On to my most worn (out) pair of shoes:

This picture shows the little ivory button but not how worn out they are. They even have a matching handbag.

As for the delightful brown shoes? I've got some fabric set aside to match and a pattern that I'm not really committed to it yet. Maybe something better will come along.

Gong Xi Fat Cai!

Happy Chinese New Year... A little early.

You may be asking yourself "Why is she posting about Chinese New Year when we haven't got through Advent, Hanukah or Christmas yet? Does she even I celebrate all of those?"

The short answer to the former is "sheer consumerism". The latter is more complicated.

Look, if "they" can put out Christmas the day after Halloween and have it all marked on clearance the day before Thanksgiving, then why can't I pimp out advertise the Chen Emporium? That's right, Crazy Mama Chen has FINALLY opened the doors to the CafePress shop known as Chenporium.

So if you need any cute stuff for 4707 (2009), get it now! Oscar the Spokes-Ox will be departing after the Spring Festival is over.

As for celebrating multi-culturally? Well, we celebrate Advent and Christmas. We're learning about Hanukkah because the kids are BFFs with my parents' neighbors. Neighbor guy is Jewish and while hanging Christmas lights on his house, he says to my dad "Jesus saves, Moses invests". Neighbor guy and wife are cool folks. The girls adore them and want to go hang out with them All The Time. Of course, the oldest was really confused when she found out that Neighbor Guy didn't celebrate Christmas. And middle child said "He's Jewess?" which totally cracked me up. Apparently, she hasn't quite figured out the -ish sound yet. Of course, I'm not entirely surprised. The color yellow was "lellow" until she turned four. So this year, we're celebrating or honoring a variety of religious holidays. Don't tell the neighbors that the girls are handpainting a menorah for them. It'll be our secret.

It's Just Like Christmas In July...

But it's October...

So yesterday was Dad's birthday. I *think* he turned 63. I lost count after 60. Anyhow, after getting the requisite Superman stuff from the grandkids, he got THIS nifty thing.

It's a turntable that is USB and regular old RCA line-out. It rocks. Now, you may be asking yourself "If dad got this, then WHY is she blogging about it?"

Gentle readers, THIS is why. I didn't just buy one for dad, I bought one for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Costco has them for $119.99 each. We saw them last weekend and I told the Prince Consort that I WANTED ONE NOW!!! He of course laughed and said "Maybe for Christmas". I whined a bit more and conceded that Christmas was OK but that I STILL WANTED ONE NOW!!!!!!

So when I went to Costco yesterday to pick up the one for dad and couldn't find them, I freaked out. WHERE were they? And would I get one for Christmas??? I asked a person who looked like they were in charge (and gracious me, they actually WERE in charge) and that person (Hank?) helped me locate them. He told me they had been flying off the shelves. And when we found them, there were quite a few less than there were the week before. So, I was all set to check out, got in line and then realized that I might not get mine if I didn't do it NOW. So back I went and got ANOTHER one.

Let me tell you that this thing is AMAZING. I love it. I'm capturing albums (those 12" vinyl platter thingies) into digital format and it is good. Some of the albums I have are rare, out-of-print stuff that has never been and never will be released digitally. But now I have them captured forever muahahahahahahahahahahahahah.