Oliver Udah Jalan Sendiri Looo ...

Duh, Mommy nih sibuk sibuk and sibuk ajaa yaa, sampe ada milestone besar juga blon sempet posting. Oliver sekarang udah ... jalan sendiri loh!! Hihihi, Mommy's so proud of you, Oliver!! Ceritanya gini ...

Thursday, Jan 20, 2005
Daddy hari ini kerja malem, jadi Mommy jemput Oliver dari sekolah terus pulang deh. Main2 berdua terus dinner, terus mo mandiin Oliver khan? Pas Mommy bukain bajunya, loh, barusan itu Oliver coba jalan yaa, 1.5 langkah gitu. Terus, dengan harap2 banget, Mommy kasih semanget ke Oliver yang tinggal pake diaper doang. "Ayo, Oliver sayang ... sini jalan ke Mommy ..." Eh, Oliver mau loh, mulai 1-2 langkah. Akhirnya dalam 10 menit itu latihan jalan sendiri, Oliver udah sampe 6-7 langkah loh! Wah, Mommy seneng banget. Oliver juga keliatan seneng dan excited banget!!! Soalnya selama ini Oliver takut2 terus kalo jalan sendiri, ga berani. Maunya selalu pake walker ... kalo pake walker udah bisa ngebuttt dan ngepottt segala loh. Terus kalo dipegangin tangan dua mau, tangan satu tadinya masih ga stabil. Mommy juga tau, si Oliver sebenernya kakinya udah kuat, cuman dia jadi dependent banget sama walker dia, apalagi walker di rumah ama di sekolah exactly the same.

Friday, Jan 21, 2005
Pagi2 pas anterin Oliver ke sekolah, Mommy dengan bangganya cerita ke teachersnya Oliver kalo Oliver tadi malem udah mulai jalan. Yay! Miss Rebecca ama Miss Bonnie seneng banget dengernya. Sahabat Oliver, si Amelia, baru umur 1 tahun tapi udah jalan sekitar 4 minggu dan starting the week of Jan 24 mulai pindah ke kelas toddler. Jadi Oliver bakal kehilangan Amelia deh *hiks*. Tapi mudah2an ga bakal lama karena di kelas Amelia yang baru ada 1 spot yang sekarang agak2 di-reserve buat Oliver. Kalo Oliver cepet mantep jalannya, bakal naik kelas dan sekelas lagi sama Amelia. Guru2 di kelas toddler yang itu juga udah pada kenal sama Oliver dan udah nge-cup Oliver "I want HIM in my class!" kata Miss Lulu and Miss Jolene (Toddler class).

Weekend, Jan 22-23, 2005
Hari Sabtu Mommy dan Oliver seperti biasa spending time together ... time to relax, main2 berdua, baca2 buku, terus nap time Mommy temenin sambil beres2. Daddy seperti biasa kerja. Spending time with Oliver, just the two of us, is really relaxing and has been one of my favorite times. Oh ya, Mommy belum cerita kalo sebulan terakhir ini Oliver udah bisa omong "Oh ow ...". Kalo ada barang jatuh, selain bilang "JATOH!" Oliver juga bisa bilang "Oh ow ...". Lucu deh logatnya kayak orang bule ... hihihi.

Minggu Malem Mommy Daddy dan Oliver diundang sama temen kerja Mommy di Boulder, rumahnya di gunung loh, kayak jalan ke luar kota aja. Ceritanya gini, Mommy kan ada temen2 interns dari Korea. Mereka udah 2 minggu ini internship di company Mommy. Mommy seneng deh spend time sama mereka, pada masih kecil2 loh, paling 19-21 an gitu. Jadi Mommy berasa muda aja yaa ... hehehe. Dan mereka tadinya kirain Mommy masih kecil juga gitu dan menganga waktu tau Mommy udah punya Oliver sayang. Hihihi ... Nah, anak2 Korea nih mo masakin kita dinner masakan Korea di rumah temen Mommy itu. So, we had a wonderful time there. Mommy kalo ngobrol sama mereka selalu inget masa2 Mommy baru pertama ke US, pas di ALI dulu deh. Oh, masa muda ... hihihi ...

Tuesday, Jan 25, 2005
Lupa cerita nih, kemarin di sekolah katanya Oliver udah jalan2 terus seharian. Terus Mommy Daddy udah pesen ke teachers nya Oliver untuk jangan keluarin walkernya, biar Oliver belajar jalan sendiri. Dan hari ini Oliver udah jalan sampe 8 meter ga jatoh loh, dan udah bisa belok juga.

Oliver's 1st Visit to the Zoo

Wah, long weekend kemarin benar2 menyenangkan. Setelah Jumat Sabtu dingin dan Mommy sempet kuatir apa jadi ke zoo hari Senin, akhirnya kunjungan Oliver ke bonbin untuk pertama kali dapat terwujud.

Pagi2 Oliver udah bangun jam 6:30 AM, terus sampe jam 8:30 AM pas Oliver breakfast kok masih mendung dan dingin aja yah? Daddy sibuk telpon2 janji appointment kerjaan ga tau jam berapa. Tadinya mau jam 11 AM, weeeeeh, jangan dong, bisa2 ga keburu ke zoo (zoo nya buka jam 10 ampe jam 5 sore). Akhirnya Mommy bilang, appointmentnya setelah jam 3:00 PM aja. Dan Daddy setuju.

Kita langsung ke zoo yang lumayan jauh dari rumah. Sempet beli bagel dogs dulu untuk Mommy Daddy, sama ice coffee biar ga ngantuk. Oliver bobo sepanjang perjalanan, siap2 tenaga untuk nanti di zoo. BTW, Oliver dibuntel abisss sama Mommy loh, karena akan jalan2 di udara terbuka, bukan hanya dari mobil ke gedung. Onesis, sleeper yang sampe kaki, sepatu, winter jacket, topi dan sarung tangan. Tinggal keliatan muka aja deeh.

Daddy pake nyasar2 dulu karena ini baru kedua kali Mommy Daddy ke Denver Zoo. Pertama juga free day, acara kantor Daddy yang dulu. Dalam hati Mommy pikir, wah dingin2 begini jangan2 kosong nih, paling 3-5 mobil gitu. Bener loh, Mommy mikir gitu.

Ga taunya pas nyampe sana jam 11 AM, parkiran udah puenuhhhhhhhh, banyak banget yang ke zoo. Hihihi, Mommy sampe ketawa2 bilang Daddy, orang2 diumpanin ke zoo gratis ya mau yaa ... Harusnya 1 adult bayar $9.00, under 3 years old Free, 3-12 years old bayar $5.00. Parkirnya agak jauh, tapi Daddy udah siapin stroller dan Oliver pas bangun.

Pas masuk, seneng sekali loh, suasananya seperti Dufan, jadi inget masa kecil. Anak2 di mana2 dan stroller juga banyak banget. Daddy langsung ambil map dan liat jadwal. Eh, 11:30 AM ada show gajah dikasih makan jadi kita langsung menuju tempat oom gajah. Ini dia foto2nya ...

Dolly (46 yrs old!) lagi makan apel

Cheetah lagi mejeng

Rams - Colorado Native ;)

Peacock/burung merak

Satu lagi yang seru, di zoo ini banyaaaaak sekali burung merak tapi mereka ga dikandangin loh. Dilepas aja gitu ikut jalan2 sama kita. Mereka jinak ga menyerang anak2 kecil ato ketakutan. Jalan aja pelan2 kayak pengunjung ... Ini Mommy mejeng sama salah satu peacock yang kita ikutin.


Peacock and Mommy + Oliver di stroller

Foto dulu ah sama oom Rhino

Foto sama Daddy and the camels

Pokoknya kita puter2 deh, liat bermacam-macam binatang yang ga bisa disebutkan satu persatu. Daddy sibuk foto karena Daddy seneng foto2in binatang. Ga lama matahari mulai keluar dan akhirnya Oliver bisa dilepas sarung tangannya dan sibuk makan2 animal crackers.

Foto di depan seal, Oliver lagi makan animal crackers

Polar Bear nya lagi bobo jemuran di atas batu

Akhirnya ga kerasa jam udah menunjukkan pukul 1:30 PM dan kita musti cepet2 takut Daddy terlambat appointment jam 3:00 PM. Tapi kita sempet liat semua kok, termasuk favorit Oliver dan Daddy ...

Favorit Oliver, selain gajah

Favorit Daddy ...

Kesimpulan Oliver paling seneng liat gajah, jerapah sama ... bebek2 yang lagi main di atas danau beku. Dan yang paling ngagetin, pas pulang dan Mommy tunjukin boneka2 zoo Oliver, Oliver kayaknya ngenalin gajah dan jerapah loh! Wah, kecil2 ternyata inget ...

We are sure that yesterday's visit was the first of the many visits that we will do in the coming years ...

Oliver Mo Ke BonBin

Teman2,
Hari Senin nanti Mommy libur Martin Luther King Jr. jadi sekarang kita lagi long wiken-an loh. Tadi siang sampe sore Daddy kerja. Oliver sama Mommy di rumah dan Oliver ditemenin bobo siang sampe 2 jam 40 menit loh. Nah, dalam rangka Martin Luther King Jr. ini, Oliver mo ke BonBin alias kebun binatang Denver/Denver Zoo, karena Senin ini bonbin nya buka FREE for all Colorado Residents! Hihihi, asiknya, ini bakalan Oliver ke kebun binatang untuk pertama kalinya loh. Semoga cuacanya mendukung alias ga terlalu dingin. Oh ya, kalo teman2 mau ikut, daftar sama Mommy aja yaa. Daddy mo kerja dulu paginya jadi early afternoon kita baru berangkat. Ditunggu kehadiran teman2 semua ... Love, Oliver ...

Bacang, Mommy Jual Es, and more ...

Oliver's Bacang
Mommy seneng sekali karena Oliver yang makannya susah/picky eater sekarang lagi seneng sekali bacang ketan. Hihihi, persis banget kayak Mommy nya yang cinta bacang ketan deh. Nemu di pasar Asia, bacangnya kecil dan dibungkusnya persegi aja. Kali sekitar 1/3 bacang Indo. Isinya seafood, udang kering, juhi, dan mushrooms. Uenakkkk dehh. Pertama Mommy beli terus dicobain ke Oliver, eeh, Oliver suka sekali. Sekali makan bisa setengah, tadi dinner dia makan 2/3.

Ice Cream Sale
Tadi siang pas lunch time di kantor Mommy jualan ice cream cari dana buat Tsunami. Pertama-tama ga begitu laku karena belum banyak yang pergi lunch. Tapi lama2 laku juga loh sampe udah mo abis deeh. Satunya dijual $2.00 tapi banyak yang kasih lebih, ga minta kembalian. Kebanyakan kasih $5.00, beberapa kasih $10.00. Seneng sekali deh Mommy volunteer begitu rasanya bisa bantu sedikit.

Selain ice cream, company Mommy juga bikin t-shirt. Satunya dijual $10.00. Tapi sekali lagi banyak yang kasih lebih, temen Mommy ada satu lagi Mommy panggil2 terus dia kasih $60.00. Mommy sampe makasih makasih deh sama orang2 yang pada beli ice cream sama t-shirt.

Satu lagi, banyak yang ditawarin ice cream/fruit bar ga mau deh. Mereka kan baru New Year Resolution pada diet ato mutusin cut back gitu. Tapi mereka2 tetep kasih donasi loh, mereka bilang ga mau ice cream ga mau kaos.

Masak2
Mommy Daddy sekarang lebih effektive deh penggunaan waktu nya. Tiap malem sekarang masak2 dan makan bertiga. Oliver juga mulai mau disuapin nasi pake sayur. Mommy seneng sekali ...

Oliver's New Evening Schedule
Nah, new schedule Oliver tuh sekarang dinner sama Mommy Daddy, mandi, terus Mommy bacain buku2, minum susu, terus bobo deh sekitar jam 7:30 PM. And it's been doing really well ...

Oliver Suka Gaya
Mommy belum cerita kalo Oliver tuh suka gaya deh belakangan ini. Pertama kalo pake kacamata item pasti aja heppi dan terus muter2/main2 sambil pake kacamata item. Terus winter kan udaranya kering, musti sering pake lotion. Kalo mukanya mo dipakein lotion, begitu liat Mommy ambil lotion di tangan, langsung diem konsentrasi terus mukanya dimajuin, diemmm ... minta diolesin rata ke pipi2 dahi dan dagu. Lucu deh expressinya. Terus Oliver suka sekali sisiran. Kalo abis mandi ato mau pergi sekolah pagi, diambilin sisir, langsung konsentrasi juga, diem dan nunggu sampe sisiran selesai, terus sisirnya diminta dan mulai coba2 sisir2 sendiri. Last but not least, kalo sikat gigi sekarang maunya sendiri, gimana dooong? Oliver kan belum bisa seluruhnya nanti ga bersih gimana ... Oliver oh Oliver ...

"Oliver Pegi Skola Dulu ya Maaa ..."

Sibuk main sebelum dianter skola ama Daddy ...


Foto ama Daddy dulu ah ...

... "Oliver skola dulu ya Maaaa ..." (si Oliver kan belum bisa bilang Mommy, manggilnya selalu Mamaaaa Maa ...)

So much for Our Last New Year Resolution!!!

Huahahahahahahaha, Mommy, Mommy. Setelah 2 x 24 hours dengan suhu dalam rumah 68 F, Mommy memutuskan untuk 'ga jadi aja deh New Year Resolution-nya' ... hihihi. Abisss, dingin loh, meskipun udah rangkep2. Naik lagi deh ke 72 F, tapi paling engga kita sekarang lebih merhatiin kalo rumah ditinggal diturunin suhunya, jadi lebih irit dikitttttt. Mommy mikir, ngapain juga 'nyangsara maneh' kalo kata si mamah mah, Sunda pisan yaa ... maksudnya 'nyusahin diri sendiri'. Cape2 tiap hari pulang kerja musti ngadepin ... dingin dingin dan dingin. Mommy paling ga mau lah ... nanti kalo sakit pigimana? Mo irit malah sakitt. So, New Year Resolution udah rontok satu pada hari ke-7. Laporan selesai ...

Thank you God for giving this warm room temperature for our family ...

Our New Year Resolutions & More Around Tsunami

Bundled Up!
Hari ini hari ke-5 di tahun 2005. Mommy Daddy memutuskan satu lagi New Year Resolution, kali ini sekitar penghematan. Hari ini kan dingin sekali, high nya -10 C dan low nya -18 C. Oliver ga sekolah, kita stay di rumah karena ga tega kalo Oliver dikirim ke sekolah dingin2 begini. Mommy seperti biasa kerja di rumah dan snow turun terus ampir sepanjang hari.

Biasanya kita setel heater min 73 F dan max 75 F. Dulu waktu Mommy Daddy masih di apartment, setelan heater kalo winter 63 F, tapi ini karena memang jendela2nya pada bocor, angin masuk dan heaternya udah tua, ga bisa anget. Juga jadi Mommy sering sakit (hehehehe), karena meskipun setelan 63 F, pasti deh lebih dingin karena jendela yang pada bocor itu. Maklum apartmentnya udah tua. Pas di rumah pertama setelannya 69-70 F. Terus kita pindah rumah dan setelah Oliver lahir, dokter dan RS bilang kalo suhu dalem rumah musti disetel min 72 F. Sejak itulah Mommy Daddy pasang heater antara 73-75 F.

Nah, minggu lalu Mommy shock waktu terima tagihan gas (untuk heater rumah). Masa bulan lalu kita spent sampe $180! Wah, lemes juga deh, soalnya bulan kemarinnya tagihan udah $100 aja Mommy kira bakal max deh, ga akan lebih lagi. Taunya melonjak.

Akhirnya Mommy tanya2 sama temen2 satu team, mereka pasang berapa sih kalo winter? Yang satu pasang 60-61 F, satu lagi 65 F. Tapi mereka nih masih muda2, anak2 team lah, jadi pada lebih muda dari Mommy dan ga ada anak kecil. Terus tanya boss yang dulu, dia punya anak 2, satu umur 8-an satu 5-an. During the day dia setel 68 F, during the night 60 F. Wah, Mommy jadi sadar kalo kita setelnya terlalu anget, jadi gasnya borossssss. Satu lagi yang Mommy tanya adalah boss yang baru punya anak umur 3 bulan. Dia setelnya 68 juga sepanjang hari. Dan setelah Mommy cek buku, katanya suhu rumah untuk anak di atas 6 bulan boleh antara 68-72 F.

Mommy jadi sadar, pantesan aja Mommy Daddy kalo di rumah pake baju kayak di Indo aja. Kaos selapis, celana pendek, ga pake kaos kaki. Kalo keluar rumah baru buntelan deh. Tapi sekarang engga lagi. Heater udah disetel untuk nyala kalo di bawah 68 F saja, all day long. Jadi Oliver juga dibuntel sajha, baju 4 lapis dan kaos kaki 2 lapis ... juga Mommy buntelan, pake kaos kaki dan celana panjang dan robe panjang. Demi menghemat. Semoga rencana berjalan lancar dan kita oke2 saja ... ga papa sih kalo pake baju layered bisa anget juga.

Memang kalo winter pengeluaran jadi lebih berat deh. Juga pas sebelum Christmas mobil Daddy tau2 masuk bengkel lagi dan kita spent $300!!! Yah, begitulah, selalu pasti ada pengeluaran2 yang bikin surprised. Semoga engga2 lagi.


Masuk kamar jam 9 PM
Mommy Daddy juga sekarang jam 9 PM udah masuk kamar. Demi kesehatan, nurut dokter deh. Jam 10 jadi bisa tidur. Dari jam 9-10 tuh dokter juga menganjurkan ngobrol, santai, juga kita mulai berdoa bersama lagi. Mommy Daddy bersyukur karena kita sekarang bisa menjalankan schedule baru ini. We need to work on our marriage so it will go stronger and stronger, meskipun sibuk kerja dan sibuk udah ada anak. We decided that our little family gets NUMBER ONE priority in our life.


Kerjaan
Kemarin Mommy iseng masukin lamaran kerja loh. Masih satu company tapi bidangnya lain. Ini bidangnya Web Marketing untuk external sites. Ampir 5 tahun terakhir kan Mommy bidangnya Intranet terus. Tapi ga tau deh, iseng aja. Itu juga ga sengaja nyari, tau2 liat aja, terus Managernya kenal juga. Mommy sih masih seneng bidang yang sekarang, terus sekarang kan punya Team, Mommy jadi Lead dan dapet exposure untuk kerja sama Directors and VPs. Kalo di posisi yang external itu Mommy musti banyak belajar, menarik juga sih. Yah, Mommy sih ga terlalu berharap ato gimana. Namanya juga iseng dan Mommy serahin 100% sama Tuhan aja.


More Around Tsunami
Mommy Daddy beberapa hari ini mulai mengikuti berita2 Tsunami. Bener2 menyedihkan. Terutama, Mommy mikirin anak2 yang 1 million itu, yang banyak sekali jadi orphan. Gilanya, ada orang yang berhati setan dan menculik/menjual anak2 itu untuk sex trade! Bener2 ga abis pikir. Mommy cuman bisa berdoa aja, meskipun tiap kali denger berita di TV air mata mau keluar terus. Daddy tapi hibur Mommy kalo kita ga boleh sedih terus sampe depressi, kita bantu semampu kita, juga doa doa dan doa. Kalo ada waktu please read Mommy's posting, ada orang kantor yang ngalamin tsunami di Sri Lanka.

May God Bless Us Always ...

Real Story: Tsunami Experience

Dear OliverMD Friends,

The following is a letter from one of the employees where I work. His wife was born and raised in Shrilanka and they were visiting there with their two children ... I know the letter is kinda long, but reading it would make you realize how fortunate our families are and how bad the tsunami was (and the effect of the tsunami is).

God Bless,
Oliver - MOM & DAD

Thanks for your thoughts and best wishes. I can't tell you how relieved
I am to be able to read them!

We had an extremely narrow escape...

The first wave was much smaller, in that it barely made it more than a third of a mile inland and did limited damage to the village as a whole. As nobody knew the cause, many folks thought it was a "freak" one-off incident. However, the properties right on the beach did take a bit of a beating and there were a few casualties. I went right down to the beach to see what was going on and to assist where possible. A few tourists had been visiting the turtle sanctuary by the beach and had some minor wounds from being battered by the first wave. We put them
in my cousins van and sent them off to the district medical officer.

Once I got to the beach, I soon realised something was wrong. Where had the sea gone? It was like the most amazing low tide you could imagine, the sea had retreated probably about 200 metres beyond it's normal low-tide point, exposing huge amounts of sand. I mentioned to one of my local friends that this suggested that another wave was coming (although we had no idea that it would be any larger than the first one). Anyway, despite this most people stuck around to watch or help. I went back inland to our land where the house and seafood processing factory is located to give folks the news. I stopped on the way at the junior school to chat quickly with the village tailor and his daughters to tell them that another one was probably coming, then went on my way.

Once at the gates of the factory, I met up with Lakshmi (who had my elder daughter Ayesha with her) and told her what I had seen. As we were talking, we heard screams behind us (from the beach side) and turned to see a massive amount of water come bursting up between the houses. Lakshmi grabbed Ayesha and started running up the stairs to the office above the factory. She yelled at me to get Chaya (our baby
daughter) who was sleeping in the house across the land from the factory.

I ran to the house, got baby, mother-in-law and the two kitchen girls and we started running back to the factory office. However, we barely made it half way when the wave hit the big concrete wall that runs along the front of our land (in front of the factory and house). It simply disintegrated right in front of us! We couldn't make it to the office so we turned and ran towards a water tower behind the factory and literally just leapt up the steps as the wave crashed past beneath us. I later
found out that poor Lakshmi was going beserk in the office because she couldn't see us and had no idea that we made it. Vehicles, debris, etc., rushed passed causing serious damage and the wave went on another mile or so inland. Fortunately although the walls were collapsing everywhere the tower remained upright (less resistance from pillars than a wall, plus it was built to take the weight of a 5000 litre tank) so it stayed upright.

Unsurprisingly, the phone system collapsed partly through physical damage but mostly through being overloaded. I had my mobile/cell phone with me but it took about 20 attempts before I could get any word out.

Once the bulk of the water subsided, we waded to the office and started to look around. The destruction was terrible and the loss of life horrific. The tailor and his two daughters that I spoke to earlier were gone. His body had been washed inland and then back again to the roadside near us. The two girls were later found inland. Many, many others also lost their lives that day. It was a heart-rending scene. So many children! Each time I saw one I couldn't help but think that there but for the grace of god (and 10 seconds) lies my baby. These poor people had no chance.

Anyway, the immediate priority was making some kind of shelter. The roads were naturally impassable and we could be stuck there for some time. We did salvage some snacks from the local shop (what was left of it) but the big worry was drinking water. In that heat, it wouldn't take long before people started dropping with dehydration. We set up "base camp" in the office and I managed to salvage my first aid kit from the house. I got one of our factory boys to cut down some coconuts, as
they would probably provide the only drinking water as there was no mains supply and the ground was still flooded with black,contaminated water. We did our best to get the "cut coconuts" message to as much of the village as possible.

Then came the waiting and if anything, that was harder because of the uncertainty. Many people were fleeing inland in panic but, of course, this had to be done on foot and given the distance the previous wave had gone it was going to take a fair amount of time. Hmm...was another wave coming? If so, how big? Should we take the family and make a run for it or stay put and ride it out? The consequences of making the wrong decision are severe and it was probably the hardest decision I ever had
to make. If we venture out, then another wave (even a smaller one) would be fatal if it came in while we were walking. You cannot outrun these, they're frighteningly quick. On the other hand, perhaps our building was weakened? We'd lost the exterior walls and had no idea if there was another, possibly bigger, wave on its way right now.

By then I had received an SMS telling me about the quake and given the high probability of aftershocks etc., it was very likely that another wave could come in. On the other hand, the factory was fortunately build very sturdily with steel-reinforced concrete, not the cheaper and less substantial stuff that the outside border walls were. On balance, rather than risk getting caught outside with the kids etc., I decided we should stay put and dig in. I managed to get through to my
brother-in-law in the UK and informed him about my decision, so that he'd know the "what and why" should my decision turn out to be the wrong one. Fortunately, the ensuing waves were substantially smaller and didn't make it far enough inland to put my decision to the test.

We holed up there for 12 hours until one of our guys (in Colombo) made it down to us in a 4x4 to get us out of there. I managed to recover our passports (wet but legible) and a few personal effects but basically everything had gone. The house was trashed - only the walls remained in the same place. What clothes remained were buried in inches of black mud.

We got back to Colombo around 1am, showered and put the kiddies to bed. Then I spent an hour with a bottle of scotch! :) It's only once it's over that the sheer luck of our escape sinks in. Poor old Laksh got very faint and nauseous, partly with shock mixed in with relief.

Anyway, the rebuilding effort is already underway (spent yesterday planning out generators, tube wells, etc.) and now we're home - safe but tired. On the plane, the flight staff organised an impromptu whip-round and raised 300,000 rupees (approx US$3000) from the passengers. That's enough to start building very basic housing! Laksh and I will also be helping to rebuild her mothers and younger brothers home, not to mention the factory on which about 60 local villagers depend for employment and income.

Our money, particularly western money (dollars, pounds and euros) goes a long way over there. For example, I'm told the average salary in Sri Lanka for a police officer is about US$60 per month! If you can donate anything at all to help the affected countries, be assured that even a modest donation will make a BIG difference.

Thanks again to all and we're glad to be back.

Foto2 Oliver

Mommy mau posting 2 foto Oliver nih ... Yang pertama pas Oliver lagi gaya pake kacamata item, satu lagi pas lagi main di Oliver's Little Zoo, kado Natal dari Mommy Daddy ...

Asyik main sambil pake kacamata item


Seru main di Oliver's Little Zoo

Enjoy!