Hi, assalamu alaikum.

This afternoon I went to my sons' school to get their school reports. It means that this is also the last day of school for year 2018-2019.

Time flies!

Mr. Inventor is in 5th grade and Mr. Professor is in 4th grade. Officially.

In 7 years Mr. Inventor will be a college student and Mr. Professor will soon follow.

Related article: Spring Matching Worksheet

College students? Wow, masha Allah. We have been preparing the money for their studies, but yet 7 years will be very quick!

Talking about college, there is a nice way to get $500 for your kid's college expenses (US residents only).


The program is called Limitless Learners Contest for Kids sponsored by Education.com.

What is it?

It is a contest for children to tell the world about a time when they were having so much fun, they
didn’t realize they were learning something new.

Your child must be a student in kindergarten to 5th grade of 2019-2020 school year.

To enter the contest your child have to create a piece of art, write a short story, a journal entry, a poem or a comic strip or a personal narrative by October 31, 2019.

Related article: Our Little Astrophysics Professor

There are 6 prizes for 6 winners:

• $500 to contribute to future education expenses.
• $1000 donation for their school or local library.
• Premium lifetime membership to Education.com for their educator.

Interesting!

For more information see details here.

Hi, assalamu alaikum.

To Gembira Loka Zoo of Jogja!

Yeay!

Three days prior to Eid El-Fitr my husband and I took our kids to a well-known zoo in Jogja: Gembira Loka Zoo.

It is quite close to my mom's house, about 5 km away West.

The day before we arrived in Jogja for Eid's holiday. We always celebrate Eid in my hometown.

My husband asked me about the things we would do during holidays. He wanted me to make a list of places we would visit while in Jogja.

Related article: Dare to Challenge Myself

"Family holiday must be memorable to kids. That's what they will remember about their childhood," that is my husband's motto.

Alright.

Then I chose for them Gembira Loka Zoo. And they all agreed.

First thing first. We had to bring a baby stroller for our toddler, Mr. Admiral.

We wouldn't have had enough energy to chase him running around the zoo. No. And we were fasting. So, it would be wise if we could bring a stroller.

Alhamdulillah, my brother had one. We borrowed it from him and ready to go.

My bigger kids were having a fast. It was Ramadan 28 anyway, so they had been fasting for long enough to keep themselves comfortable with the circumstances.

We left home at about 8.30 a.m. The road was still fine. No traffic jam. It took about 30 minutes to get there.

We chose to take Wonosari Street to West and continued to Kebun Raya Street. It was a nicer route to take as it is a faster way to get to Gembira Loka Zoo.

Related article: Every Travel Has A Story

The parking area was still empty. There were only 3 cars including ours.

My kids soon found out that it was nice to run around the ticket area which is not so far from the parking area.

There are several parking areas anyway. And we chose the Eastern side.

No need to queue while we bought the tickets because it was empty there.

Thirty-five thousand Rupiah for each person, excluded Mr. Admiral because it's free for those who are under 3 years old.

With Mr. Admiral in the stroller, we discovered the zoo.

The Gembira Loka Zoo entrance

My last visit to Gembira Loka Zoo was in 1995. What? 24 years ago, masha Allah. I really thank Allah I could go back there once more.

The zoo is so green. Trees are everywhere. Big ones. And I still captured the same pictures I saw years ago!

I told my kids that I visited the zoo several times and the entrance didn't change at all.

We walked through the pathway and found out that the zoo was clean. There were sounds of the animals. Our guessing was it might be an elephant's.

Follow the signs at Gembira Loka Zoo

The first place we visited was the lake where visitors can enjoy pedalling on the water. But it hadn't opened yet as we came very early. Mr. Professor really wanted to try the lake but he had to wait until 9.00 a.m. and we didn't have time to wait.

"Sorry, Son. There will be another time," said my husband to the complaining boy.

After that we met a line of marching elephants! They crossed the road and we took their pictures.

The elephants at Gembira Loka Zoo

And another lake with its beautiful bridge!

Beautiful bridge at Gembira Loka Zoo

In front of the lake there are some animals' houses. And you know what, one the sounds we heard earlier was from here.

We saw two kinds of Tapir. Asian and Brasilian Tapir. I've seen the Asian Tapir before. But Brasilian Tapir? It was my first time. I first thought that it was a wild pig.

Brasilian Tapir at Gembira Loka Zoo

It looked like a big pig. Very big one. But its tail didn't look like a pig's tail. And the nose was longer than a pig's.

We also saw an ostrich. It was really big. I thought ostrich was not that big. I was wrong again.

Ostrich at Gembira Loka Zoo

We walked and saw more animals. There are wallabies, cassowaries, ankolis (a kind of cow), primates,
and otters! A big family of otters!

They screamed and cried to see us. It was their breakfast time so they asked for food in a unique way.

We were amazed by the noise they made. It was really stunning. Soon after that a guard came and feed them with catfish. They ran and grabbed the food eagerly.

Here is a video of how they behaved:

The last animal we visited was the elephant.

It was a short trip to the zoo as Mr. Admiral got sick. Forget about tigers, camels and even penguins (people said there are penguins at the zoo).

We rushed to the ER as he turned 38.8 °C. He even vomitted and refused to drink nor eat. We visited the doctor and Mr. Admiral was given a paracetamol through his anus.

He soon got well alhamdulillah although his body turned hot again the day after. But, he relieved on the 3rd day. Thank Allah for his recovery.

If we have another chance we will visit the zoo once more to discover more.

For those of you who wants to go there, I suggest you to come early. The gate opens at 8 a.m. so it will be better if you arrive there at that time.

A baby stroller is really a help if you bring your baby or your toddler.

There are signs to follow, so follow the route. If you need some help you can ask the officials there. They are helpful.

Be careful of the mini-train. They pass sometimes along with pedestrian walk.

Mini-train at Gembira Loka Zoo

They have their own route but beware of your children as they may not be too aware of the train's arrival.

Do not feed the animals. It is forbidden and it is dangerous to you and to the animals.

Keep the zoo clean. Don't litter.

Enjoy your visit to Gembira Loka Zoo!

Halo, assalamu alaikum.

Alhamdulillaah, great days are here: Ramadan days.

This year's Ramadan we fast for about 13 hours. It's always like this here in Indonesia, alhamdulillah.

There are days when we fast for 14 hours a day when Ramadan comes in summer time in Southern Hemisphere. This is May, so it's autumn di Southern Hemisphere.

We thank Allah this is a sunny and cheerful Ramadan. Several years ago we had Ramadan on June. The weather was chilly. Alhamdulillah.

Related article: Windy and Chilly August

Ramadan has been 7 days now. Tomorrow morning will be Ramadan 8 insya Allah.

My sons have fasted for 7 consecutive days. They are really grown up now masya Allah. They have been fasting with less and less drama.

I also had no serious problem during these days masya Allah, except for one thing: I feel like losing energy too soon.

After Ramadan Day 1, I felt weaker these last three days. I hope it is because my body is still adapting to new habits.

I usually wake up at 2 or 2.30 for preparing suhoor. From that time I almost didn't have a chance to sleep until my tot's sleeping time.

He sleeps and so do I.

In the morning after fajr prayer I do the laundry. I do it as quick as possible because Mr. Admiral usually wakes up soon after and asks for my attention.

After Mr. Inventor and Mr. Professor have gone to school, I have Mr. Admiral take a shower and have breakfast. After that, I go shopping for groceries, take a rest with my third son and do noon prayer.

Cooking for iftar is in 2 p.m. I finish cooking at about 3 p.m. then I do asr prayer, take a bath an prepare Mr. Admiral's late lunch.

At about 4 p.m. I'm ready for taking a walk with Mr. Admiral.

When magrib comes, we have iftar together at home, do magrib prayer and wait for isya prayer by having conversation with my kids.

I usually take a short sleep after isya azan and wake up for doing isya and taraweeh prayer.

And days will be like that all over again.

What about your Ramadan after day 1?

Hallo, assalamu alaikum.

We are in Ramadan now. Alhamdulillah. Ramadan Day 1 went well, alhamdulillah. No drama, just a little weaknesses, but everything ran well.

Mr. Inventor and Mr. Professor are off school for 4 consecutive days. Alhamdulillah, it's been a great way to start Ramadan.

This year is different for us because we have our Ramadan in our own house! Masya Allah.

After 7 years, we are able to buy the house we used to live in.

Back to Ramadan Day 1.

Unlike previous Ramadan, I didn't feel too hectic preparing meals for suhoor and iftar.

I said to myself and my family that we would have simple and humble menus. 😅😅

I mean I will not try to serve fancy meals such as kolak or es dawet or anything.

"No chill drinks, please," said my husband.

"Alright."

So, the suhoor night I cooked soto ayam. A very simple meal of Indonesian food which is rich in taste and easy to make.

Related article: Ginger, My Best Friend During Ramadan's Suhoor

For me there is no standard soto as I can put any veggies I like in.

I made a minimalist soto last night. There were only carrots, celery and tomatoes in it. With chicken broth ofcourse.

My kids and husband had suhoor with no negative reaction. Well, let say they liked the menu.


When morning broke, my kids went out with my husband. They said they'd like to ride around. What they actually meant was: killing the time.

When they came home, Mr. Professor soon found that he was very tired so he fell to sleep right away. Actually he slept for about 3 hours.

Mr. Inventor said he wondered why his brother slept very easily. But then he followed his brother's step: fell asleep after noon azan.

The boys had some sleep for long enough meant that they wouldn't create dramas.

I was wrong.

It was asar prayer time and Mr. Professor started to complain about his thirst.

"I can bear hunger but not with thirst."

"Can I have some drink?"

I only answered, "No, you can't."

He is almost 9 years old so he should have known that it's sinful to break fast before magrib.

Alhamdulillah, so far so good. I could recite almost one juz this Ramadan 1. My sons were able to finish their first day of Ramadan.

I hope tomorrow will be better.

Mr. Professor even asked, "Mommy, what's for suhoor tomorrow?"

"It will be chicken black soup. Insya Allah."


Wanna try cooking this meal?

Indonesia' General Election 2019 has done. Too many conflicts before it couldn't stop people from voting.

This 2019 GE was different for many of us. Long before it tension in social media has always been high.

But, I'm here not to talk about that. I just want to share the cheerful things during the election day.

The tension was high, yes, true. But somehow we went to the voting venue with eager. Whether it to support our own choices or just had some fun doing a thing that we rarely do.

I went to the voting venue at about 8.30. I thought there would be crowd as usual. But I was wrong. Since the voting venue in my neighbourhood was splitted in to two, there was no long queu. Alhamdulillah.

I went with my husband who was also very eager to vote. This GE was not our first, somehow it felt like it was.

From the very first time I knew who to choose for president. Unlike voting for president, I just didn't know who to choose for legislative members. Actually I always do.

For me, choosing a president is much easier than voting for legislative members. I didn't know them well.

Back to the election day.

I was informed to vote for president first. It was easy peasy for me as there were only two choices.

But, it was another story for voting for legislative members. I opened the sheet, which was large enough, and found myself in big doubt. Who to choose? I didn't know them at all.

My mistake. I should had searched for them earlier to decide which name I should choose.

Instead of not choosing then I chose the party as a replace. I just hoped that my voice was valuable enough to make things better.

Other funny stories came from social media. People showed off their #purplefinger as a proof that they had voted.

Many funny expressions they shared. I also took part in sharing my election day.

An Indonesian star also showed his proof of participation and he successfully shook the internet as it was his only selfie picture on his Instagram.

Voters who showed their purple finger also got the chance to get discounts on several merchants.

I think the election day was the funniest day ever! Instead of showing their serious expression, people created funny photos and captions.

On that day I felt optimistic that life can be brighter and easier after long period of high political tension.

I hope this election really becomes something good for Indonesia. Whoever the chosen president will be.

Hi, assalamu alaikum.

 I was having a late dinner last night. My hubby bought me fried rice. We had a nice conversation that night as it was only us, the kids had gone bed.

 "I love this fried rice. Full of flavor. It has pickles, too," I said.

 "As long as there aren't any chopped bird-eye chilly in it."

Have you ever biten chopped bird-eye chilly in your rice without any prior notice? 

I have. And it was sooo awful. I needed to drink a lot of water to rinse my mouth. The cook cheated me!

Well, life is sometimes like that. It's full of surprises and lessons. Not only in everyday life, even in business.

My brother, who started his own men's fashion shop 2 years ago told me that it's likely being cheated when you run a business.

He was being cheated once. A customer canceled the order of quite great amount of trousers. And it was that bad because my brother didn't sign any contract with the customer.

Blogging as business has its own risks. I myself have once trapped in an unwelcome situation.

I was being contracted by an agency to run a campaign. I was there with several other bloggers.

We created blog posts, boosted them through twitter and facebook and sent the agency reports of our blog post analytics. 

After all duty had been done, we asked for our fees. But, the agency took so long to pay us. I waited for 2 months or so to get paid. 

The pay wasn't big but the effort was. Did they cheat me? I don't know.

I felt being so underappreciated that way. I don't know what had gone wrong with the agency (or the brand who hired us). But one thing for sure, I will not take any job offer from them anymore.

 One is enough. The lesson is: never cheat. And keep others people's trust.

Hi, assalamu alaikum.

Spring is coming! For those of you who live in the Northern Hemisphere, get ready for this special season.

And here is another guest post from Education.com with spring theme. If you are interested in guest posting, please email me to: diah.d.arti@gmail.com.


Invigorate your little one's learning with this spring matching worksheet. For more fun and engaging learning activities, go to Education.com!