Monday, March 24, 2008

Focus, Awareness & Anticipation!

This afternoon when I was bringing my toddler to the bathroom, I accidentally let him slip. He knocked his head on the bathroom floor and cried intensely. Luckily he did not have any cuts or bumps on his head.

I felt very guilty for not keeping an eye on him when he was walking towards the bathroom. I was trying to get his bath towel from a rack from the side of the bathroom.

This is the second time I let this accident happen. My wife was right to point out the 3 important elements that a parent need:
  1. Focus
  2. Awareness
  3. Anticipation

I felt exteremely remorse about the incident because it reminded me of my grandfather who passed away after slipping in the bathroom some 20 years ago. My toddler would have had the same fate if I was not careful.

I need to spend more time to remind myself to be more FOCUSED, to increase my level of AWARENESS and to ANTICIPATE potential disasters!

No Maid!!!

One of the pros of an Indonesia expatriate include a house maid. Our maid just quit last Tuesday because her mother is sick and required her full attention.

The following are chores that I had to do together with my wife and my visiting mom-in-law while we look for a new maid:
  1. Cooking - my mom-in-law has been doing all the cooking temporarily. For once we have some GREAT chinese style food! My wife also does much better cooking than the maid.
  2. Doing the dishes - I hated doing this task since young because my parents would always force us to wash up every night. It is also back breaking too because of my height.
  3. Sweep and mop the floor - but we managed to find a neighbor's maid who helps clean the house for 1-2 hours/day.
  4. Washing and hanging the clothes - we have a washing machine but we still need to hang the clothes manually.
  5. Folding & ironing the clothes - the neighbor's maid only helps us on ironing.
  6. Baby-sitting my toddler - My wife and I used to have "time without kids" for a relaxing massage or a quiet meal.
  7. Washing the grilles and windows - just have to leave it for the time being.
  8. Gardening - my mom-in-law, wife & toddler son are all currently taking care of the plants.
Maids are not so easy to find in Palembang because people in the city are more selective. Normally the maids in Palembang come from out of town in the small villages.

Only God knows when we will be relieved of the daily labourious work of a maid (hopefully before my mom-in-law leaves in 2 week's time)!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Palembang Wedding

I am a bit behind on my posts this week & could only manage one....

On Saturday afternoon, I was invited to attend a wedding reception. This was the grandest reception that I have ever attended in Palembang throughout the past 1 year. It was held in a huge hall. The decorations were very elaborate and 2000 people attended the wedding.

Several distinct & interesting features of a Palembang wedding are as follows:
  1. Guests put "congratulatory money" into envelopes (called AMPLOP in Indonesian) and they are to be dropped into a box at the wedding registration area.
  2. Plenty of leafy gold ornaments on the "wedding podium".
  3. The bride & groom wear heavy head gears - supposedly Sumatran design.
  4. Guests are to line up, go up the podium and shake hands with the bride, groom & their parents - imagine having to shake 2000 guests' hands!
  5. The wedding menu always comes with servings of rice, beef, chicken, soup & prawn crackers. Fruits and drinking water are served as dessert.
  6. Food is brought back to their seats to be eaten (normally one hand holding their plate and another holding their spoon - forks are not provided because you can't eat with two hands!)
  7. People put all their plates that they have eaten on the ground under their chairs.
Here are some photos that might give you an idea on what I am referring to:


Friday, March 7, 2008

Why Number?

Many might think why is my nickname called NUMBER?

This is actually a nickname given by my high school friends. We were all attending a boy scout's camp one night and I happened to have my favourite Milli Vanilli (the original duo - see below) tape with me. So the whole troop kept listening to this tape for the whole night. Even those who have not heard Milli Vanilli knew how to sing their "Baby Don't Forget My Number" hit song. That was how I got the "Number" nickname!

For those who do not know Milli Vanilli. They were a pop and dance music duo group fronted by Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. The group's debut album achieved high sales internationally which earned them a Grammy Award for Best Artist in 1990. The act sold over 30 million singles, 14 million albums and became one of the most popular pop acts in the late 80s and early 90s. However, their success turned to infamy when their Grammy was revoked after it was revealed that the actual vocals on the record were not the voices of Morvan and Pilatus.

Until now, I still keep in touch with a few of my high school scouts and they still call me "Number".

On the right is a recent photo that I took during Feb 2008's Chinese New Year in Penang with my scout-mates.

It is amazing that we have been friends for more than 20 years! Or maybe an indication that I am OLD too!!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Introduction To The Nomadic Life of Rich

My name is Rich. I created this blog after being encouraged by my wife who is an active blogger to explore the world of blogging.

The reason why I chose the blog name "The Nomadic Life of Rich" is because I have been moving from places to places in search of better work prospects, experiences & lifestyles.

I am currently living in Palembang, Indonesia with my wife and my toddler son. Prior to Indonesia, we stayed in Klang and Penang. I love my hometown Penang, named "The Garden of the Orient". However after spending 20% of my life in Penang, I felt that it was time for a change and move elsewhere to add more excitement in my life.

We often make short excursions back to Australia for a break. We feel that eventually we will end up living in the world down under because it is a better place for bringing up children. But for the time being (while my kid is still not schooling yet), we can still afford to live a nomadic life and experience the world.

p/s: This is my virgin post!

2009/10 United Squad

2009/10 United Squad

Kings of Europe 2007/2008 - Manchester United

Kings of Europe 2007/2008 - Manchester United
UEFA Champions League & English Premier League Champions