A little bit over two weeks ago, when I received the news from our Japanese father, Tombo-san, I didn’t know what to feel. To deeply sad, or relief.
Mitsuko okaasan, the wife of Tombo-san passed away. For the last four years she had been struggled in the battle of very rare disease called SCD. The illness that attack the red blood cell, hemoglobin, and in result dysfunction multiple organs gradually. But I am not here to talk about the disease. I can’t talk much about Mitsuko okaasan too as we got only limited chance to meet and talk to her over five years ago before she fell to ill and prefer privacy.
I am here for Tombo-san.

Tombo-san, the strong man. His passion for life is huge. His love of outdoor, mount climbing and hiking brought him to places of the world (including our home country Pakistan and the Himalayan alpines) despite of his age. He keep his shape so fit that make climbing in his over 65 y.o. seems so easy. Many times when we spent the nights in his Hakone mountain villa and do the morning hike, me and my hubby can’t catch up his ’so healthy’ pace. He is so determined guy. He decided that he need to pursue his dream about music and just start to learn the organ at his 50s and just in recent year his first recording CD was published.
He is the man of struggle. It always trilled me listen to him and look through his eyes when he tells story about his childhood in very cold North of Japan which is very similar to Oshin story. His family was so poor and his sister role is just like Oshin.
He filled his retirement time so well in many activities and surf through his dream. His schedule is always full.

But all has be cut down when Okaasan got the disease. The disease which kill softly and painfully, physically and emotionally. Many time the situation is so awkward. The one need 100% support from the caregiver. Tombo-san decided to be the one. Not to put her in hospital or care center, but serve and care her by himself at home. No one else at home. Facing the very tough time for his love.
The four years that change Tombo-san life. His dedication and love as a husband has been tested so strong. He sacrifice and  put aside all of his passion. He stayed 100% home minute by minute, nursing Okaasan that for the last years has been on bed only and in roller coaster of emotion. And over two weeks ago, he got to let her go.

The great job well-done.
I am here to congratulate him, to salute and honor his great job, a husband.
Tombo-san, Otsukaresamadeshita.

May Okaasan rest in peace.

Okaasan : Mother
Oshin : A character of famous Japanese movie who live in series of poverty struggle in the prewar in the North of Japan.
Otsukaresamadeshita: Japanese gratitude expression to say when one had been work so hard. Literary mean: "you must be so tired".

Not so soon until the rest time. I am talking about retirement here.

Just announce recently at my work place that the retirement age is increase to 65 years old. Conditions apply like employee’s health, performance, etc. It is voluntary, means, if you choose not too, you can retired at sixty which is the standard in Japan.

At beginning I was curious how this happens since the global policy in the world nowadays is efficiency, cut cost, reduce headcount, so on and on. This policy  is in the opposite direction.

The answer is: the policy is not solely in the corporate I am working for, but it rather all over Japan, as Government regulation.
Number of work force in Japan is keeping on declining, linear with the population decrease, create less money collected from the ‘old days’ tax paid by them which is actually used to pay the monthly stipend of the elder/retiree. In other words, the less young generation, the less money to support the elderly.
Therefore the shortcut solution is to make people work longer, not so soon entering the not productive time and lean to the government pension’s fund.
This policy is welcomed by the Japanese who mostly at their sixty still in a good shape and productive. Live expectancy age for Japan (data 1999): female 84 y.o., male 77 y.o. (just for the curious: Indonesia: female 64.5, male 61).

So, here I am… still have 32 years to go with around $400 deduction each month from the paycheck solely dedicated to support the life of my Japanese grannies….

Yes! Yes!
At last Japan won a gold medal in Turino.
Thanks to Shizuka Arakawa for her splendid performance in Women Figure Skating. Last night was just not the night for Cohen (USA) and Slutskaya (Rusia).
Arakawa, the 24 years old Waseda University graduate and Prince Hotel employee put the pressure behind and just make her famous spirals jump look so easy, five triples, three in combination. Put a big relief for the whole Japan nation who had been bitten the finger seeing Japanese athletes fall one by one even is the first round of this winter Olympics.

Hm….do I sound like a news? Well, I am just so excited for Arakawa. She is brilliant!
Arakawa-san, gambarimashita…Omedetou Gozaimasu!!!

Photo credit: Yahoo Sports!
Arakawa’s famous Gliding lean-back move

Valentine’s day  is a harvest time for 30 billion yen worth chocolate industry in Japan. Thanks to their genius marketer, they succeed to built the consumptive culture to those in the age range from ten to forty or maybe more.
The girl in Valentine’s day, supposed to present a box of chocolate to the boy. Not only to the loved ones, but also to the boss, colleague and male friends. Remember, girls only. Boy/Man in return, will need to present a box of cookies to the girls and female staff/colleague on the White Day, March 14.

The giving culture is something beyond your feeling about giving a present to your loved ones. Beyond your believe or knowledge about what Valentine’s day is about. People spend more in Giri Choco (obligation chocolate) more than Honmei Choco (Beloved chocolate). A man in the office, can received 20+ boxes of chocolate. If he is a boss, count the number of female staff and colleague. Don’t smile, man. You like it or not, you got to buy 20+ boxes of cookies in March. You don’t choose to receive the chocolate and you have no choice other than to return with another gift, else, you are rude.

I don’t like this culture. Being Roman in Rome, I should follow the tradition. Spending ten thousands of yen for those that actually has no place in my heart, very bad idea. Plus receiving many box of cookies will expand my size!
I was in the situation that pushed me to do so years back. But thanks to my dear office management who sent this mail to all employee two years ago.
No more chocolate-cookies giving allowed in the office. Yes!

So this year, I am happy in valentine day by receiving three boxes of chocolate from my husband. No, he didn’t bought that special from me. He got that from his female colleagues.
Like many millions of us, we celebrate love every day.

Related article in The Japan Times

Photo credit: Liberty Orchards

"Mommy, I got a strange dream…" Raisa, my five years old girl this morning ran to my room right after she woke.

"Tell me about it, sweetheart" I replied while put her on my lap.

"I played with Ken and Daddy almost die"

"Oh, sweetheart, it is only a dream"
She just learnt the concept of die since we had several lost in the last couple of months including relative and friend and also the three fishes in her fish tank. Not counting the television role here. This is not the first time she talk about death. Countless discussion about the concept.

"Mommy, who will take care of me if you and Daddy died ?"

"You know, Allah will takes care of you very well"

"I know, you always said that. But who will be my mother, tell me the name?"

It has been a constant not-so-urgent discussion between me and my husband without any solution so far. I want it to be my parents and second option to be my younger sister (even she scream on this idea as she is not so kids oriented Auntie, but she will make it, I know) and he wants from his family line.

"Well, Daddy and I are still thinking about it, Sweetie"

"Hurry up, you have to decide before you die!"

I am frozen. Really I am. I am at the office in the heart of the city, but I feel like in middle of a refrigerator or Alaska or Siberia or anywhere in the winter of the Lapland.
From morning till now, almost lunch time, I couldn’t work well. I’ve been busy sitting on my own hand to give a little bit warmness to my frozen finger. My toes inside my boots feel numb. My knee longing for warm breeze. I wear my coat inside the building!
I know the government has been advising the building organizer to reduce the temperature in the heater thermostat this year (as well as they did to increase in the summer) for the sake of mother earth, save the energy and not to stretch the hole in the ozone layer into bigger, but this is just too much… even my car cabin is warmer!
Now the productivity of the employee going down. Everybody in their many layers of sweat shirt (damn! we look much fatter!) is busy fixing their lap blanket to cover every inch of their body.
I can’t concentrate to work. My frozen brain lazily moving around imagining my warm bed or the cozy sofa in front of the fire place….hot cream soup…hot chocolate… hot springs deep or even relaxing in the beach in a hot hot summer day…
Maybe it is because my office is just at the window corner, I have two glass wall surround me (and I can still see the snow pile from the snow fall two weeks ago- psychologically make me feel colder).
I got to run home and work from my cozy warm home office to be more productive.
Hurry up, the wheather forecast mentioned of snow fall anytime this afternoon.

I actually decided myself not to write some complain or blatant posting, specially those related to Indonesian government. The reason, there are tons and tons of people do that (and do not much in changing the situation–this is one of the many reasons I left Indonesia 8 years ago, where at the office, friends, everybody even the taxi driver, keep on complaining the situation (Habibi at that time), everybody frustrated. Knowingly or not, we turned our life style into a complaint-full life.
I just want to write light things in this so-busy-and-heavy-life already. Peace.
But here I am, I just can’t be quiet to see the fact. I just want to express my sympathy (if I choose the correct word).
I red in the news that the price of sugar is getting out of control lately in Indonesia. It reached Rp.8700 per kg in some area. Sugar, one of the basic commodity in life. I have no sense of price having left the country for long. But I know that things doubled or some even tripled the price when I was living in Jakarta. I don’t know if Rp.8700/kg is that expensive or not.
Two days ago, I went to my nearby Carrefour for usual biweekly groceries. Having the shopping in the hurry 60 minutes after the worktime, I never put too much attention to the price, except those that look irrational expensive. But I determine my self to check the sugar price today. One neatly pack of one kg white sugar cost 118 yen, with the nowadays exchange rate, it equal to Indonesian Rp.8850.
I was surprised. My quick rough economic thinking dancing all over my head. The GDP of Japan (2003) 28,000USD, GDP of Indonesia is 3,100USD. That make the ratio of 9:1. Supposed if the price of sugar in Japan is Rp 8850, in Indonesia it supposed to be around Rp 990 to make it equal. How the people in Indonesia have to afford this crazy expensive price of sugar? How Abang Becak can drink the teh manis (sweet tea) which the sweet is needed for his energy paddling the becak, not like those who consume sugar to fulfill the tastebuds and pile some more fat storage around the waistline? What a sad fact. I feel so sorry for the situation…specially knowing the sugar distribution and supply is monopolized by the six giant appointed companies….
God help my country to be a life-friendly living place for its people…

Disclaimer:
The calculation is rough, the knowledge of GDP base on The World Almanac book data of 2003. Not to go into detail, but to develop the sense of inequality in two different income standard countries, with the same price of basic commodity. Not to be argued.