Not too fast, people…
For us who has been smiling, enjoying the reduced price of gasoline for the last 30 days, now have to face the bitter fact.
It only stood for April. As of today the price of gasoline officially soar up by at least 30 yen (that is, 25%).
At my neighborhood gas stand, per-liter price was a handsome 119 yen last night, this morning,  a crazy 153 yen.
Blame to the political fight between political parties, between Lower and Upper House. Detail here.

I am now seriously thinking to be like typical Japanese salary man; use car only in the weekend.
Dear bicycle, after the long hiatus of winter, you will be my best friend again.

Yesterday, after two years, I did it again.
It was very uncomfortable.
Expose your naked breast. Put them in between two plates and flatten squeezed. From side to side, from up and down.
The machine looks like something you would see in a gym. But this one not to squeeze your muscle, but your breast.
I felt like a cow. Very uncomfortable fifteen minutes process.
But what is uncomfortable fifteen minutes, compare to long painful emotionally drain process a breast cancer can penetrate in you?
It can be years, it can be fatal.
One of my close friend was there.

This is an open invitation to all girlfriends. Beside self exam you do after shower, go, go, go to do your Mammograms.
No matter how uncomfortable it is. Do it.

Let me remind you the statistic:
One in 25 women in Japan has it. One of 7 of us during life, have risk to it. Every 3 minutes, a women is diagnosed with breast cancer in the world.

April never been my favorite month. Not only because the pollen allergic, not only because the gloomy days of never-ending Spring rains, but most of all it is the month of lots of farewell.
No matter how many times we say good bye, never master it, never good in it.
April. The cut-off date for business. The start of school year.
People come and go.
We stay.
This year, we said good bye to two very good family friends whose study and job are done in Japan. The two families whose so dear in our heart.
The Fajar’s ( Fajar, Cici, Tata, Ian) went back to Bandung.
The Ghaar’s (AG, Nihal, Ganna) left back to Cairo.

This week, Raisa received a letter from Tata, two weeks after she went back to Bandung.
Tata has been her best buddy for the last 2,5 years. Two first-graders hand in hand in most of the weekends.
With her permission, I posted the letter:

らいさちゃんへ
らいさちゃん　おげんきですか？
いまのあたしはとってもおしあわせです。
オイノリレッソンをしています。らいさちゃんのおかげです。
じぶんのへやでじぶんでねることもぜんぶぜんぶぜんぶらいさちゃんのおかげです。
そちもらいさちゃんしあわせでね。
さよなら。

Dear Raisa,
How are you? Are you well?
I am now very happy here.
I’m learning how to pray, that’s thank to you.
I started to sleep in my own room, by my own, for that I really thank you.
You also, please be happy there.
Sayonara.

It touched me. I didn’t know that their friendship was so encouraging. Was positively impact each other.
(Despite some girls fight every now and then)
Raisa learnt how to be more brave from Tata. Not to cry when she bruised her knee.
To give jet coaster a try. Even though she hated it so much, but Tata encouraged her.
I didn’t know that Raisa encouraged Tata to be brave to sleep at her own room, and to pray.

The night she said good-bye to Tata, she cried.  She said, she prayed to God that one day they can be together again.

On the happy news, I should share this one.
The government of Japan decided not to extend the expiry rule of fuel-tax which expired end of March this year.
That resulted, price of gasoline reduce by 25 yen per liter from April 2008. Nearby gasoline stand reduced the per liter price to 121 yen/liter from 145 yen/liter the night before. A significant one.
Yay! Time for driving out town, anyone?

Some asked me why I never write about Ken.
I don’t know, maybe the fact being number two child, the milestone was not as new and excited as the first child? Maybe I am just bad.
But let me try.

For the 1089th time this morning I heard again this song. Love Hurts by Rod Stewart. I used to like this song. But after the rolling repeating uncounted times for the last three months, I got intoxication. Not only I loose interest but I dislike the song.
Ken loves loves loves this song. Don’t know why (perhaps the fact that Stewart birthday is the same with Ken’s Mommy? : P).
Never ever he sits in the car without pointing the iPod dock and said: "Itai-Itai song !". Itai means "hurt" in Japanese. As for his connotation hurt means like when his knees hurt after trip down and bruised when playing in the park, when he listened this song, he will hold his knee.

The song is too melancholy and depressive, not the one that you want your child to hear over and over again. But if I refused to put the song, he will have that super sad face like really understand that love is really hurting  (even when I put another happy song).
So here we are. Morning driving from home to Day Care, two roll of Love Hurts. Evening, at least three or more roll of Love Hurts. Weekend….don’t ask.

He started to memorized the lyric (in his own pronunciation) and with the age gap only 60 years, he sing aloud together with Grandpa Stewart, sharing the misserable feeling a man can get from love…

He started to love this song since hubby banned his previous love song: Mr. Cab Driver as it contain the f**k word.
Don’t ask me why he loves adult song. He just does.
He jumps from Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star when he was two years old to No Woman No Cry (Bob Marley), Mr. Cab Driver (Lenny Kravitz), and now when he is three, Love Hurts.
I know the song is too sad and depressive for a three years old. But if I don’t put the song, he gets really depressed.

And aside of the song time, he is a happy, crazy, little adorable monkey (sometime monster).

I still remember the early days of her piano lesson, when she encountered problem with her music notation, when she cried staring at the song partitures in frustration.
I told her, she can stop if this is not make her happy. Mommy doesn’t want to push you to do something you don’t like. But if she likes the music, want to be able to play piano, she needs to work hard, not to give up.
So she chooses not to giving up. She keeps on practicing and practicing.
Last week she proved her hard work resulted.
Her first stage performance.
Dressed in purple of her own choice. She looked so pretty.
The song "Sampo" the opening song of movie: Tonari no Totoro or My Neighbor Totoro was played perfectly by Raisa.

the happy face….