New England Trip

I just had a vacation from New England with my husband and my maid of honor.
Two of my very few best friends in the world.
We flew to Boston then drove around for 6 days visiting a Forest park, National park, mountain, sea shores, peninsula, the Atlantic Ocean, a gay town, modern city, quaint towns and... last but not least: an outlet mall.

We drove the top of the mountain to star gaze, then again to see the sunrise, then we dipped our feet in the Atlantic Ocean, walked to a different island on foot during low tide, I ate seafood (which is rare!), cruised to see the whales, dined outdoor, contemplated on seeing a gay nude show (but decided not to), and... last but not least buying t shirts in almost every place we went just like a true tourist would do.

I love traveling. I have been the traveling energizer bunny this year, I went on three vacations and finally my husband said that he thought we have had enough vacation for this year.

Some interesting things to share on my latest vacation:

I love Boston.

If ever I have the chance to chose between living in Chicago or Boston, I think I would pick Boston. And that says a LOT, considering I love my Chi-town. But Boston was just wonderful and I love the smell of the sea.



The locals in New England have a different accent. The 'R's just seem to disappear. Like saying Baa Ha Ba for Bar Harbor and Hahvahd for Harvard.
It's cute.

We went to this vegetarian restaurant near Harvard and I just love my dish. They have bacon tempeh. It made me re-think about my whole career path because I have always wanted to have my own business. Maybe I should open a restaurant?
Food for thought. No pun intended, hehe....

We also went to Acadia National Park. At night we went up to the top of the mountain. Having always been living in big cities, I have never seen the sky so dark that all the stars shone sooo brightlly. Made me feel so small and appreciative of the beauty of the universe.
My cheeky husband kept on talking about the possibility of a Blair Witch jumping from behind the pine trees on the drive up to the top of the mountain, trying to scare us girls. The pitch dark route was quite creepy without him even saying anything. But looking back, it was drive quite thrilling and fun.
We went up there again in the wee hours in the morning, wanting to catch the sunrise. They say the people who sees the sunrise from that top of the mountain are the the first people who sees the sun in the US, since that Acadia is on the on the very east of US. We went there thinking that we would be the only three people there.
Not.
About 50 more people are already there, ready with their camera and tripods. A bunch of Asian tourists too, going to the very front and block people's view. Heh heh....


Then we went to Provincetown in Cape Cod and went on a cruise to see the whales.
Provincetown is a gay town. The rainbow flags were everywhere. Handsome handsome men walking around, but I think even if I walk buck naked there, no one would even notice.
Or they would and say: Honey, you need to workout and get rid of that 'muffin top'.
I love the town though, I really enjoyed my short time there.
I want to go back there one day, and maybe do another whale watching cruise.
There in Provincetown, I had the best fish dish ever in my life! It was their today special, grilled blue fish.
Oooh.. the fish just melted in your mouth, it was excellent.
Sigh...

Some things I brought back from my vacation were some sea shells, and 4 pounds of fat.
My bag's smelly from the seashells, and my pants are tight.
But it was all worth it.

The Maid Enigma in Jakarta

It is kind of weird that I miss being in Jakarta during the Idl Fitr holiday since I'm not celebrating it. I miss the food especially. I guess that's why. And even though I no longer eat meat, I still reminisce how wonderful the food is during the holiday.

I called my mom last week and found out that her maids were going back to their villages for the holiday and my mom was telling me how hard it is not having not a single maid in the house.
She had to hire another temporary maid for Rp. 100,000/day for two weeks.
Huh, that's quite expensive.
I also saw a lot of Facebook postings by my friends about how they will have to bust their butt off while the maids are not around and how tired they are, bla bla bla.

Well... I don't have a maid here. I cook, clean up, do the laundry, walk the dog, and have a full time job.
My husband helps a great deal, though, so we divide the work pretty evenly, but the point is, I have no maid for the whole year. Period.
And my house chores are not bad. My American friends with kids and full time jobs have even a worse time than me and they are surviving. Yes, it is tough, but they are okay.

I see it's really questionable how much dependency the Jakarta residence has when it comes to maids (and nannies for those who have kids). Think about this: The maid recess period only lasts about 14 - 30 days of the 365 days/year, as oppose, like me, I got no maid for the whole 365 days.

I know how convenient it is having some help around the house. I lived in Jakarta for 23 years and I was very dependent to maids too. I threw my jeans on the floor, the next day it is back in my closet. Clean. I speaketh " I want some oxtail soup," then in a few hours, it's ready.
But here, when I cook, I have to chop my own vegetable, when I stain my white dress, I have to clean it up and wash it up myself. After my dinner, I wash the plates that I used. I clean my own bathroom. In fact, when I went home to Jakarta, I found that it was very uncomfortable for me to ask my mom's maid for something, hahaha... I even tipped them for their trouble before going back here.

Having said that, I have got to mention something funny though. About three weeks ago, on my Facebook wall, I posted that I was excited that my maid of honor is coming to town and that my husband was picking her up.
My cousin in Oregon, misread it and thought that I was excited that my maid is coming and my husband was picking her up.
So, after a long time of absence in communication, she called me, left me an urgent message to call her back. And when I called her back, she so curiously asked how did I manage to have a maid sent here to the US to work for me. She was interested to get one too.

Uhm,... awkward...

It was my maid of honor.... you know... like... hum.. how do you call it,.. bridesmaid when I got married. My best friend. Not a maid.
Then she broke into laughter.

This shows that leaving here does not mean that you are maid resistance.
Some people just love them to death and need them like crack.