Birthday Galore at the Frakarsas Family

Birthday galore at the Frakarsas

Happy happy birthday!

December is a triple special for me and my family. It’s all about birthdays, birthdays, and birthdays! Plus vacation LOL.

I believe I have been telling my dearest blog readers that I am surrounded by 3 Sagitarians. My hubby, my son and my daughter. Good thing I am a Leo ♌️ so I can handle them (if you know what I mean  😉).

So this time, in this super special 2020 thanks to the pandemic, we actually managed to do things differently. We celebrated 2 birthdays in Bali (yaaaaay) and 1 in Jakarta with the my big families.

We started the birthday galore with Obi, my daughter. Although I was in the middle of preparation for meetings, we still get a chance to celebrate it in our hotel bedroom in Nusa Dua, Bali. We even had the mini birthday cake with cherries and chocolate on top 🍒.

So Happiest birthday to my baby bunny, ma mija, the brightest girl in the house (after mama hahahahaha) 🥰♥️🥰. No .. I was kidding. I bet you will be even brighter, smarter, more fun and more soleha ya love. I can’t tell you enough how proud I am to see you grow this gracefully all these years. Have blessed days head, gorgeous! May Allah SWT bless us all. Always!

Then the second birthday is super duper special as we celebrate my hubby’s born day and our anniversary as well. 16 years and still so much in love, complete with everything in between! We were in Ubud, staying in one of our favorite private villas there, and had a blast!

When people ask me how I - or perhaps ‘we’ can survive our relationship this long (9 years dating & 16 years of marriage and counting 🥰.), I might say I don’t now. I just enjoy the journey, - no matter how absurd and horrible it may be 😬🤭 , complete with its ups and downs;  be true to myself and try to ensure respect is on our day-to-day menu. Obviously, it’s not always a rose-colored glasses world we have, but it sure is colorful enough to make you realize how blessed and lucky you are to have each other. You don’t always have the privilege to spend your life with someone that makes you feel super comfortable being yourself. With Udi, I have been through hell and heaven and he still stands by me until this very moment. I sincerely hope I can do the same! Here’s to 16 (or 25 from the scratch 😙🥰) years and counting ya love 🌺♥️. 

Finally, the finale for this year’s birthday galore in the Frakarsas family is abang Bo’s. My first born son.

I still remember vividly when I came to Monash medical Center in Melbourne twice before I delivered my first born. It was quite an experience and an adventure for me and my hubby @frakarsa because it was only the two of us at the time and we were far away from home. Alhamdulillaaaah all was well and we celebrated the joy of being new parents merrily. But Bo has been a lovely and understanding kid since the very beginning as I have no trouble at all in raising him until now when puberty hits LOL. And he’s been traveling around since a tender age of 7 days, accompanying me to the boxing day sale then flew back home to Jakarta when he was only 39 days old!  

Now, he is still a soft-hearted and loving boy who is not afraid to show his love to mama, yours truly, Bapak et Obi. He hugs me before going to bed and says I love you to us. He helps with household chores and cooks well! And he’s our cats’ favorite!

Thanks for being a unique and helpful you, Bang.. here’s to being 14 and more brilliant years to come 🎉♥️! Bismillahirrahmanirrahiiim ♥️♥️♥️

Before his birthday, we had photo session taken during our last visit to Bali and during our stay in Conrad Hotel, Bali. I love all the result and really thank Conrad for these wonderful shots and beautiful memories we share in there ♥️💜♥️.

So that’s our birthday galore this year. We are so grateful for all the beautiful things Allah SWT has bestowed us. May we all be blessed. Always.

Wonderful Wednesday with My Purple World, Oh My Heartsie Girls and Friends

I hope everyone is safe, happy, and healthy wherever one is!

I have been following the news and see the continued spiking numbers of COVID-19 cases in so many countries, including Indonesia. It's sad to hear the news and some happened to somebody we know. 

As I have shared before, I have been traveling for work and this week, my family and I explored Bali. It's good to be back on the road as we all love traveling. But at them same time, we cannot deny that we get anxious whenever we meet big group of people or traveling to a place packed with visitors. Of course we are trying our best to seriously implement new normal norms and health protocol. It becomes the new SOP and standard whenever we have to make contact with others or travel for work. Hopefully that will help us prevent the spread of the virus.

Happy happy birthday, mija

Amidst the pandemic, we are blessed to spend my daughter's 10th birthday in Bali. I had a meeting and my kids had their final exam but before we started anything, we managed to have a little celebration. Just the 4 of us, in our hotel room. Nothing fancy, but we have a little birthday cake and candle blowing session. Alhamdulillah Obi, or Nadine, has healthily grown. Tons of love, mija, and may Allah SWT bestow you with abundant blessings. Always.

Here comes the kisses LOL.. look at her face!

While in Bali, we decided to pay a visit to Nusa Penida Island. It's simply AMAZING!

Kelingking beach, Broken Beach, Angel's Billabong and Chrystal Bay are on our itinerary and through a private tour for a safe and healthy trip, we finally enjoyed this breathtaking beauty. Check out some photos at WW: The Amazing Kelingking Beach, Nusa Penida, Bali. More photos and stories are certainly coming!

Now, let's enjoy Wonderful Wednesday with My Purple World, Oh My Heartsie Girls and Friends.

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Happy Graduation, Bo

Happy Graduation, Bo!

So proud to see that you manage to study well amidst the many challenges and adjustments you, as well as we, have done in order to nail it!

I know exactly that it is not that easy at all.

You can imagine..moving back from New York City after almost 5 years there.

It took years to adjust when we just arrived there and then when we need to move back to Indonesia, similar efforts have to be taken.

He went through elementary as well as intermediate schools at PS 122 Mamie Fey and IS 141 Steinway in Astoria, New York City.

I still remember his first day at school. 

It was September 2014.

Beautiful day in autumn.

With new bag and clothes he chose by himself (unlike Indonesia, students in public school in NYC do not wear uniforms), we walked from our house to PS 122. Month before, in June, we came to the school to register him as the 2nd grade student. But since he was born in December 2006, he was eligible to continue the 3rd grade. 

We were not so sure about it in the beginning since we just moved in and Bo spoke English but not that fluent at that time. But the teachers and the vice principle of PS 122, who interviewed (or rather chatted with Bo) Bo said that we could try first and gave Bo an extra ELA class to learn more about English. Once he passed the test, he wouldn't have to take extra classes or summer school anymore. and Bo managed to pass the test in flying colors. He got honor rolls and best students in several level and we couldn't be happier!

That's one of the differences we have in Indonesia and NYC. In Indonesia, kids who were born in October and later, will usually have to join the class lower than those born in November year before to early October at the same year. So Bo, who was born in December, will always be in lower class compared to his friends who were born earlier at the same year. 

Bo left Jakarta, Indonesia, when he was only on the 1st grade. He hasn't even finished the 1st grade when we had to move to the Big Apple. The he skipped the 2nd grade and continued to the 3rd grade until he graduated the elementary school (at the 5th grade) then continue to IS 141 or the 6th grade, as a junior high school student. Unlike Indonesia which finishes the elementary school on the 6th grade, Bo skipped another level and finished his 6th grade well and admitted to Einstein class or special class for those with good grades.

Well, different system, different languages, different approach are what we have, yet we need to move on and continue our journey at home. 

In Indonesia, Bo has to struggle from day 1 at school again. He was admitted to SMP Tugasku, one of the private schools in Jakarta which combines the Islamic values and modern teaching. Ho likes it because the class is not too big and many of his friends and teachers here speak English too. Nevertheless, with lessons, books and test were presented and discussed in Bahasa Indonesia, Bo had to work extra hard just to understand the questions and materials given. Many times we got so distressed but with the help of all the teachers at SMP Tugasku as well as Bo's circle of friends, he kept improving. We didn't put him on extra classes or tutorials other than that provided by the school. We knew it was hard already for him and extra pressures wouldn't help.

So, long story short, it was the graduation time already!

Time flew!

Due to Corona virus, Bo didn't have to take national final exam because it was omitted. He just had to finish his school exams which were done full digitally. I don't know whether it was a blessing in disguise but Bo managed to pass it. Then all the graduation process was conducted virtually through Zoom meeting.

It was started with opening and speeches from the Head Master, as well as the representatives of the students and the parents. Well, the kids were sad because they actually had prepared many things for the graduation. Live in program, graduation party, and class trip. Everything has to be cancelled thanks to Corona :(. But again, life must go on. And there we were, all parents and the graduates, flocking together in Zoom meeting. But still, for Bo and us, this graduation is an important milestones and the true labour of sweat and love.

Bo's batch, AECROVINLAZEX (don't ask me what it means :)) or batch 15th, prepared a special video as their token of appreciation to all the teachers and the staff in SMP Tugasku and they also got a best wishes video from their juniors.

All the very best for Bo and all batch 15 of the SMP Tugasku.

Nothing else to say but good luck for the near future.

Senior High school is waiting and I hope you all will enjoy it while at the same time, developing your skills, passion and interest.

Bon courage!

Bismillahirrahmanirrahiim..

Wonderful Wednesday with My Purple World, Oh My Heartsie Girls, and Others

June is half way and I feel like it's slipping away.

I have been back to the office and we certainly did many adjustments in terms of scheduling and work load. I had my rapid test already and alhamdulillah, the rapid test is not reactive, so meaning I am fit and healthy. For now. and hopefully always..

We are not operating fully in the office and only have skeleton crews so far. Nevertheless, we have so many urgent issues to address and my team, most of the time, are coming to the office. Believe me, even during the pandemic, we tend to have more issues to take care of compared to pre-COVID-19 era. Well, it is only natural that we have many discussions and negotiations to make in order to address the pandemic and the aftermath. Wish us luck!

On the other hand, my son, Bo, has graduated from Junior High school!

Yaaaaay..... 

It was quite a rollercoaster ride for him, and us as well as his parents, as we made tons of adjustments, extra works and discipline in order to address the challenges we have along the way. Kuddos, kid! I am so proud of your achievements and we gotta keep up the great works indeed. The graduation was done virtually and we were a bit mellow because we actually had many interesting plants to celebrate it. But as Corona strikes, this is the best we can do. We have registered him to one of the Islamic private schools near our house and we all are excited to see what comes in the future.

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