we went to visit Citra's home. they were surprised to see us. her Mum kept saying why Auntie M didn't tell her we were coming! poor Citra. she has fever and was just lying down. we met her other sisters and they are so sweet and cute! Citra's Mum asked her husband to go out and get drinks & food! so much eating in one day! he came back with peanut pancakes & cheesy pancakes...yummy. we talked, asked each other questions and it's weird that everyone spoke to my kids in Bahasa Indonesia and they can only understand English! so i asked if the children in the town learns English in school. they do but it's not a daily spoken language there. even the Chinese spoke Bahasa Indonesia! ;)
i asked if they have English books to read and she told me that they don't. i told her that i will go back home and get some books for the kids. this is a promise. if i don't go back there myself, i'd get my Dad to take it to them. he goes there every week so it's not a problem. :)
Day 2
it's a beautiful morning. the rooster kept crowing waking us up in the wee hours of the morning! we slept well and it felt like we were camping out ;) Auntie M bought cakes & local delights for breakfast. too sweet for my liking but well...we ate them anyways! :))) she asked if we wanted to go to the wet market and of course, i want! we passed the local mosque and more houses on wooden stilts. saw a boat with loads of barrels on it. that's to collect water for storage and each barrel costs about 10cents. i'm still confused with the currency exchange rate!
after we came back from the market, we changed and the plan was to go to Batam and do some shopping at the mall there. we took the small speed boat again...funny how i wasn't scared or felt seasick! i do have a fear of deep water! from the terminal, we took a cab to DC Mall. it's pretty big and air~conditioned!!! hehe... i'm terrible!
we had lunch first. we ate at Godiva Cafe and afterwards we went for a spot of shopping. Auntie M & Mak Piah bought plastic flowers to decorate their homes. Aysha already saw what she wanted and Aneesa too! got Anis a cute pair of Spiderman slippers and this is a first for me...it's one of those noisy slippers that gives out quite an annoying sound when little ones are on their feet! hehe...
Shopping at Batam
well, i can say that there are some stuff that we can't get back home. i enjoyed shopping at the Supermarket. bought lots and lots of biscuits for my little ones and some to give to my nephew & nieces & my friends' kids as well. :) children always have that bright eyed look when they're given something. Dad told me that the Kampong kids love to eat chocolates, as do i and they don't get those like m&ms and toblerone and many other "branded" chocolates that we have access to. which was what i bought when we came. and i'm so so glad i did! :)
we only went to DC Mall, Robinson's and one other that i can't recall! but they've got plenty of goods on sale over there. didn't really want to get more clothes or shoes for ourselves...i just find it totally unnecessary now! at the back of my mind, whatever we've got we somehow tend to take for granted and not appreciate. alot was going in my head now...and the word that kept flashing was "give", "give", "give"!
we took a cab back to the ferry terminal. Uncle Halim picked us up in his sampan speed boat taxi :) because we bought alot of things, we decided to take the "bay~cha" or trishaw to take us back home. Dad preferred to walk as he wanted to push the stroller home. he's been here many times so...leave him be! hehe... the trishaw ride was so much fun! it's been ages since i last rode on one. i remember riding on one back in the 70s when we went marketing with my Mummy. my kids loved it too and i'm so happy they're actually enjoying this holiday! not the usual luxury travel to London or New York but to a small village and getting bitten by mosquitoes and no junk food! :)))
One More Night
after the busy day we had, we came back and showered. Mak Piah came by and asked if we wanted to go for a tour of the island on trishaw. sounds fun but kids were exhausted...well, only Aneesa. she just knocked off and i didn't want to leave her. told Mak Piah maybe we could do it another time. at least we did get a ride in the day earlier. :) but i didn't mind having the fried chicken again from the stall outside. one thing about them, you just say what you want and they are ever so obliging!!! i didn't mind getting it for myself but oh my... this is just the kind of feeling or treatment you would love and enjoy receiving on a daily basis, if possible. and i truly wish more of humankind would be this humbling. and i am so glad we're not uppity or that my kids were demanding at all. Thank God.
ok but i do have one teenie weenie request...that my Dad would consider changing the squat toilet to a sit down one! hahaha... actually, i'll ask hubby to sponsor that and maybe an air~conditioning unit for them. God Willing. :) i'm still getting them books and perhaps some educational toys as well. there are not that many toys over there... i am still in awe how these kids are so happy and contented just by riding bicycles, playing with chickens and cats. i bought them those old style balloon where you place them on a stick and blow it up. the kids love those and how fun seeing little children just being so fulfilled with simple things. :)
i feel truly blessed. i grew up with my Grandparents living in a Kampong back in the 70s in Singapore. we were allowed to be silly, dirty and running around with no care in the world! no parent screaming at us for doing all that. i have to admit, i am that parent at times. but i'm letting them be...anyway each time i tell my kids "no" to some things, they would always always say, "Nevermind. Kids are like that...it's ok." "Biarin, tidak apa~apa." :)
and now, i am so glad that i'm able to bring my kids to this wonderful Kampong and experience this simple lifestyle.
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