Andie Summerkiss

This afternoon I managed to steal a couple of hours off work to replenish my painting supplies.

It is near impossible to buy artists’ quality paints in the city so a group of young artists open a small painting supplies shop plus gallery to cater for the groups’ needs. I don’t normally shop there as they have limited colours and collection, but when I need some urgently, I would get them at their shop.

Long story short, I saw some quite good pieces by this new young artist that I have always liked. His works have improved quite a lot since the last time I met him. (I am sorry for the bad quality of the photos taken. There were windows on every corner, which explains the unnecessary glares)

Art is subjective, what ticks me off might not arouse others.

my favourite

cool and bold strokes

footprint by charcoal

this is the biggest one of the whole lot

love this!

Today Indonesia’s president tried to get ahead of the Global Warming and Climate Change Conference by UN in Bali early next month. He vowed that the government will plant 10 million trees to make up for the massive deforestation all over Indonesia! I guess I have to respect him for even making it an effort. Even people must have realised that they are doing it to impress the incoming delegates of the event.

Earlier this month, I received an unexpected email from a friend. He sent the same emails to all his friends and invited them to his upcoming wedding which is gonna be in a beautiful island off Bali. He said that he is not going to print any wedding invitations as an act of supporting the limit use of papers to save the forest and all.

Ironically, this guy owns a lot of palm plantations off the Riau area (Central Sumatra - where the deforestation for palm plantation is at its worst) and also he is working on a permit to flatten a big chunk of forest at Kalimantan to plant more palm trees.

Okay, nothing else needs to be said here. I don’t want to kiss and tell, so I would just wish him and bride-to-be the best in luck in their union.   

Currently, palm tree plantation and refinery factory are the most profitable industry in South East Asia. The crude palm oil never goes down in price and always in high demand. It does make a lot of money for the country, but a lot of other factors are also affected by it. The forests and animals are just a couple of the most notable ones. The least spoken but nonetheless important is the people’s livelihoods who depend on the forest for their living now have to work in the plantation. I bet they are glad of the president’s act today, if they manage to plant those trees and keep them alive before illegal loggers get hold of them.

I wish somebody would just give this country a break!

Ever heard of a plant called anthurium? Local website listed anthurium can be found here.

It all started when mum innocently bought a couple of small anthurium a couple of years ago, and without realising, they had turned into great looking plants. Lucky for her, the craze over the species has increased the price of the plants like gold (I’d say). Somebody approached her and made an offer. She sold both plants for USD 2,000. (that was a very good ROI, she paid USD 10 for both plants)

Mum’s Anthurium plants (brown pots) on display at the plant exhibition

After selling her plants, she was given a couple of smaller plants by the buyer as thank you present. I bet he sold it for far a lot more than his buying price.

Anyway, mum planted the new small anthurium in a pot, placed outside our main door. Two days ago, it got stolen. Our guess is that the thief climbed the gate and took the plant, and climbed back out. Everything else was left untouched.

the stolen plant

Who would steal a plant? It is such a crazy obsession over anthurium here. Seriously. This website listed the selling price of a fully grown plant is IDR 37,5m (equivalent of USD 4,000). Anyway, it is a dangerous bet. People who buy those expensive plants expect to sell the seeds and baby plants to nurseries or new fans. But how can anyone tell when Christmas is over?

This was the third attempt trying to steal my mum’s precious plants. The first and second one happened a couple of months ago, before she sold the big ones. They did it in broad day light both times! My dad who was at home at the time screamed and they climbed out the gate and ran.

I guess they got it, finally. I am quite relief that it’s gone. Nothing is worth a couple of silly plants, right. Weird, weird, weird …

I feel like we are heading straight back to the dark age. The government power company (PLN - Perusahaan Listrik Negara) is starting its usual trick again.

For more than 6 months, the power in Medan was shut off in 4 hour shift, three times a day. That was from February till September 2007. Meaning : in one day, we had to go through 12 hours in total without electricity. The black out shift was lifted during the Ramadhan (fasting) month in September. In October the city was also brightly lit to rejoice the arrival of Idul Fitri (Muslim new year).

This week, the blackout shift starts again, this time is not bad, only two shifts of 4 hour. Eight hours in total. Nevertheless, that is bad news for business owners. They do not give us warning of what time the power will be out. So in my shop, we have two generators. Everybody in town has generator.

garden view - from my room

At home, we use emergency lamps. My father is still not yet convinced to buy a generator. Our house is strategically located, behind the headquarter of national army and we share their power lines. So we normally don’t get black out as other areas. But now it seems to be getting worse. We got black out like everybody else. The fish died, by the way.

The power company said that it is cheaper to keep on repairing old-battered turbine machine than investing in new ones. We do know what that means, right. They use a lot of brokers in getting the machine fixed and serviced. Also in buying spare-parts, there are a lot of yummy holes to be taken advantage of. The impact of this to small businesses has been devastating.

The most upsetting thing is, if the power is out 12 hours a day, theoretically our bill should be at least 40% cheaper. But ..  no, they are still the same amount, as if the power has been on 24 hour a day. When we ask the power company meter guy, he just shrugged it off “This is Indonesia.”

Yes, indeed it is.

In the mean time, I’d better stock up on aromatheraphy candles - to make the black out more exciting experience!

My second meme from Jennic at sweetisu.com.

When researching the meaning of number 8, I came across of a lot of fun trivia I wouldn’t have known if not because of this meme.

Eight facts on number 8 :

• In Mathematics, 8 is a Fibonacci number (as 3 plus 5), same way as Dr Robert Langdon of The Da Vinci Code viewed it

• In Science, an octopus has 8 tentacles - that’s a lot of hands if planning to get pedicure, but wait … it doesn’t have fingers!

• In Chemistry, 8 is atomic number for oxygen - that’s pretty cool

• In ancient tradition of Chinese, 8 immortals are most popular deities - my most favourite ones, they cover symbols of all good things in life

• In Tarot, card number 8 is “strength” - don’t know much about tarot

• In culinary experience, 8 courses-dinner is a must for a Chinese-style wedding banquet - yeah, that’s a lot of food

• In Astrology, Scorpio is the 8th sign in zodiac

• In Chinese culture, 8 is a lucky number because pronounced the same way as “wealth”, “prosper” (I know, this one is old news, but still worth mentioning!)

Eight things I am passionate about

• Family & husband (the usual stuff)
• Work & shop - it feels great to be apart of something else outside family
• Home - we live in a beautiful tropical home. There’s really nothing like home!
• Great furniture - I love good quality wood furniture, I know it’s not very rain-forest friendly, but sturdy teak high quality furniture last forever!
• Electronic gadgets - I am not techie, but great cool gadgets amazed me. They make me feel cool and chic, even when I don’t know a thing about them
• Shoes and clothes and makeups - I am a shoe gal. Boots, open sandal, strappy, flats, pumps, blablabla. The others explain themselves ..
• Art work - I support local artists! I collect paintings, sculptures, ceramics, mix-media art
• Food - I love good food and great restaurants

Eight things I want to do before I die

• Get a tatoo on private place, before cellulite get its hold on me!
• Grow something in our garden, flowers, vegetables, or even cactus .. anything
• Get my parents cruise trip to Alaska
• Learn to cook and bake properly
• Start an organisation that provides free books and computers to third world children
• Travel the world, go to Italy and have spaghetti, go to New York for pizza - the whole culinary tour
• Write children books
• Learn to speak and write Mandarin!

Eight things I say often

• I am so so sorry I forgot
• Hunggryyy …
• Hey poop tongue
• Clean the crumbs!
• Can I call you later?
• Let’s go out for lunch!
• !@#$%*&!! <– swearing in Hokkien (chinese dialect)
• #+%*!@$?!! <– swearing in Indonesian

Eight books I read recently

• To kill a mocking bird - Harper Lee
• The Broker - John Grisham
• Treasure Island - Robert Stevenson
• Archie Comics
• The Angel and Demon - Dan Brown
• Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
• Total Feng Shui - Lilian Too
  

Eight songs I could listen to over and over

• Norah Jones - Come away with me
• Sheryl Crow - Good is good
• Willie Nelson - Don’t give up
• Macy Gray - I try
• Alanis Morisette - Now is the time
• Pearl Jam - Last kiss
• Sarah McLachlan - I will remember you
• Sade - I’ll be there

Eight things that attract me to my best friends

• Trustworthy - I have lots of deep dark secrets ..
• Reliable
• Fun
• Outgoing
• Great listener - I could talk for hours and hours ..
• Kind
• Like me for who I am
• Helpful

Eight people who should do this meme

hmmm ….. ????

Dear friends,

The typhoon has changed course, heading for Manila for some reason. D is in Legaspi City. So he is safe and weather is clearing up.

Thank you all for your prayers and wishes. We will continue hoping and praying for the big bad typhoon to keep off our seas and coasts where people live, Philippine, Vietnam, Hongkong, or China.

Best wishes,

Andie

I am joining this week’s weekly winners by Sarcastic Mom.

These are my shots, they are a bit out of this world, I know. But it’s everyday life in this part of the world.

Old Batak men waiting for meal - Tarutung (about 6 hour drive from Medan)

Typical village view in Sumatra, with terrace-rice paddy fields (Tarutung)

View of Lake Toba, North Sumatra - otw to Tarutung

Friends and family waiting for the wedding ceremony ala Batak (Tarutung)

Auntie Cindy shopping for fruit at traditional street-side market (Kabanjahe)

Typical breakfast scene at home

Our fish pond

D is still in the Philippines.

The typhoon is heading for eastern part of the country. They are already evacuating people who lives in the coastal regions. D has moved to their temporary office. They are still rebuilding houses wrecked by last year’s typhoons.  

Businesses and banks are closed in the city where he is currently posted. Internet and phone could be out if the Minag typhoon gains strength tomorrow. Now it is already subsiding, but they are expecting the level 1 typhoon to pick up speed to at least level 3 or 4 by Sunday.

That’s quite upsetting news.  I hope everything’s alright.

When we watch news on natural disasters, most of the times we feel nothing. News is just news. When we have loved ones in those places, we long for nothing but more news telling us that things are improving.  I am waiting for that to happen tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my mother’s birthday.

I got her a gift hamper with her favourite stuff (that I can actually afford, she has expensive taste). 

I am still puzzled at the fact that the older you get, the less important birthdays seem to be. Which supposed to be the other way around, don’t you think. If we live for 80 years, the least important birthdays are going to be the 1st birthdays, the 21st birthdays and maybe, the 30th birthdays. Because you still have 79 birthdays, 59 birthdays, 50 birthdays to go respectively. Don’t you think the most important birthdays will be the 50th birthdays onwards?

But maybe that has got something to do with the fact that the older we get, the less things in life that we are celebrating for? That’s quite sad.

Hi. I am Polyethylene Terephthalate aka PET. I am the most popular product of modern instant-lifestyle after a mobile phone. You hold me in the left hand, and a mobile phone in the right hand. I am a single-used water bottle container. Everybody in the world should have at least 3 bottles of 600ml water a day. Do the math of how much of us are used each day if everybody drinks water as much as they are supposed to. Even if they don’t, that is a lot of us.

After you finish drinking the water, I will be thrown in the trash. The average time of me sitting in the supermarket shelves till the time I am thrown away is 3 hours. After that, I will have to wait to be burned away with the other trash. Even then, I produce toxic smoke when burnt. That is bad news for the ozone. Yes, I help creating green house gases. If they don’t incinerate me, I will sit in the landfill and refuse to degrade for 700 years! Poor me.

If you recycle me, I can be made into carpet, t-shirt, sweater, even bath sponges and a lot of other home products. I can actually be reused, if stored correctly, washed and dried between uses. If you want to be safe, you can sanitize me by diluting 1 teaspoon of bleach, 1 teaspon of baking soda in 1 quart of water. Let the solution to sit in me overnight, and then thoroughly rince and dry me. I am all new again!

If you really want to help, you can refill your drinking water in pretty and stylish water containers before leaving your home everyday. That will save your money and help the  environment!

Thanks, guys.

By the way, you can treat my brothers, the aluminium soda cans and beer glass bottle the same way.   

House-work is very simple for those of us who don’t normally do them. We thought that going out to work and actually earn a living is much harder and we should be getting credits to be able to pull it off. I did think that way for a while, until we moved out of my parents’ house and lived by ourselves.

I went to work in the morning and came back in the evening, I had to make dinner, then had dinner together, and then wash the dishes. After all that, I had to do the laundry. While waiting for the laundry, I did the ironing. Then dealt with the wet clothes. That alone take up to four hours in the evening. When we left in the morning for work, I would still be tired. In the evening, I would come home and the whole routine started all over. That was not a pleasant period of my life. And the dishes, oh I hate those the most!

andie’s most hated housework

I have new respect for women who stay home, take care of the house and the children without any helps. That is the hardest career in my opinion, it is so not easy to do that. I think a lot of women can go out and get a job easily (putting aside whether or not she is successful in that job), but not a lot of us can become good home-makers. It takes a lot of hard work, long hour, creativity and also patience. I lack of all those. I think I will need to buy this book, Home Comfort. It comes highly recommended by some women magazine I read not long ago. Maybe after reading that, I will enjoy doing my bed, cleaning the toilet and a lot more!

• I managed to finish watching 24 season 6 in two nights - that’s my excuse to be blog-less
• Ugly Betty must be one strange show, I just watched the episode where Daniel’s brother who’s supposed to be killed in skiing accident has undergone gender change and now magically turned into a hot woman! And I had just started to like the show ..
• If PETA is against cruelty against animal and I am totally agree with them, is it wrong when I love the smell of good quality leather couch? I am not sure if I like non-leather leather couch
• The most difficult thing to do is to choose birthday presents - sometimes people are so thoughtless in choosing gifts. But of course, something is better than nothing. A well thought gift will mean so so much more. Which is why I only get cash for my birthday presents these days. Who knows what I want better than myself?
• What happened to Christmas cards? I don’t celebrate Christmas, but I love getting Christmas cards from snail mail. Only one friend keeps sending me one year after year. I tried looking for one to send her this year (finally), couldn’t find any. Wishing people happy holidays through e-cards and mass text messages are also fine, but they are not the same