The Acne Prone Wife

Walking down a street in Deira area a couple months ago, we stumbled upon this little store that specializes in selling Indonesian hair care and body care products. Weird. There are not so many Indonesian people here. So we went inside the store, talked to the store owner and asked his permission to take a couple of pictures. We were fascinated. The store owner said that business is quite good. There are always people who come looking for Indonesian products. I suddenly remember that I've been looking for hair tonic in numerous department stores in Dubai with no luck at all. They only have hair oil (sounds yuck). They do not have any knowledge of hair tonic at all. I should go visit this store again. Rudy Hadisuwarno. Who in Indonesia doesn't know him? Balsem Otot Geliga! Pegal Kembali Lega! You can even see the POM number :)) The infamous Citra (or Citra Hand Body as we know it) The store. I also heard that Sharjah (a town next to Dubai) has Indomaret! ...

It is such a cliche to say don't take anything for granted, be grateful instead, bla bla bla. The fact is that we hear sayings so many times a day (blame Blackberry Broadcast Message for that) they feel so lame and worn out. I hate cliches. And I take things for granted. But a recent stroll to the supermarket changed me. A bit ;) These pictures (all prices are approximate) show how fruits that I got so easily (and cheaply!) in Indonesia cost an enormous amount of Dirham that I don't want to spend. Papaya. IDR 67,500 per kg. In Indonesia: IDR 3,000 per kg. Coconut. IDR 20,000 per piece. In Indonesia: IDR 5,000 per piece. Rambutan. IDR 42,500 per pack. In Indonesia: IDR 10,000 per kg (less for that pack!) Durian. IDR 90,000 per kg. In Indonesia: IDR 20,000 per kg. Crazy, eh? They say that all fruits here are imported. But look at the prices! Fruits from Southeast Asia are so exotic and expensive here in the desert. No longer will I take fruits for granted when I go back to Indon...

I just want to share my Christmas service. Christmas at United Christian Church of Dubai (UCCD). No decoration at all. And the sermon went something like this: Christmas is to remind us of the deeply disturbing, the ugly: our sins. No one deserves Christmas. If we realize we are sinners, then indeed, merry is the news of Christmas. The one who we should be saved from is the one who saves us: Christ. My effort to hold my tears almost would not let me sing "Amazing Grace" after the sermon. Why can't Christmas be celebrated like this every year, in the whole world? Lord, have mercy on us. Kyrie, Eleison. Christ, have mercy on us. Christe, Eleison.

Because this is a blog belongs to an acne prone wife, I think it's about time I talk about acne :) I had to say goodbye to clear skin since the last year of senior high school. My acne started to run havoc on my face since I was around 17. Since then, I have tried to get rid of those bumps by getting drugstore products, seeing the doctor, going to skin clinic, etc. They sometimes got better, they sometimes got worse. But I would consider my acne mild. It's nothing a little powder cannot cover ;) Anyway, in these last couple of years, I have found an HG (holy grail) facial wash that has kept my acne at bay. May I present: Himalaya Herbals Neem & Turmeric Soap . Image is from the website Gently cleanses. Keeps skin soft & smooth. Fortified with Azadirachta indica (Neem) and Curcuma longa (Turmeric) that remove problem causing bacteria and protect your skin keeping it refreshed and healthy. It is not specifically designed for facial wash, but when I first bought it in Si...

I know that in Money Talks I said I wanted to talk about Emergency Fund first. But after thinking it through, I think I'm comfortable with first talking about Retirement Fund. Note: This post will talk about money in IDR currency. Everyone plans to retire someday, right? To be able to enjoy your senior years without struggling about work and money anymore. Now, let's do some math with the help of http://tujuanloapa.qmfinancial.com Please click it for bigger image. So if I am now 28 years old, and I want to retire working at 55 years old, and I expect to live until 80 years old, that means I have 25 years of enjoying my retirement life. The problem is I will still have expenses, right? And because I will have retired, I will no longer have income. 25 years of having to spend for expenses without income. Oh no. Perhaps you will say that it will be easy because by then we will already have saving. So now, let's calculate how much we need for that 25 years of my retirement lif...

Have you ever been disappointed by how a company/store serves customers? In the past I had some complaints about this and that, here and there. Especially in Dubai, everyone seems to have a bad temper. Store keepers are usually very snappy and rarely say thank you. I had disappointments, but never bitterness, until yesterday. Yesterday I went to a branch of HSBC in Deira, Dubai to cash my hard-earned-first-ever check (from my first freelance job - I will talk more about that in another post). That's the building. But I grabbed the image from here . I walked in the big building, confused which counter to go, then asked the receptionist. The beautiful receptionist did not so much as look at me while answering my question with mumbled words. I grasped only a part of what she said, and decided to look for the counter myself. I found the counter, got a queuing ticket. A man behind a counter was available and he called me. I showed him my check, and he mumbled something, pointing at the ...

So the husband got quite a long weekend a couple of weeks ago because of a national holiday, so we decided we were going somewhere out of town. We googled and found out that Oman is a neighboring country that can be reached with land transportation. And what a pleasant surprise it was when a friend invited to go with his family after called him to ask about visa to Oman. So the somewhat winding journey began :) The view when we were near the border We left from Dubai to Oman border at 8 am, and reached Dubai-Oman border at 10 am. The process at the Dubai immigration was fast although somewhat confusing. There were no signs of which counter to go first. Things got worse when we hit Oman immigration. There were NO building to queue to get our passports stamped. We were to queue under the dessert sun. Unbelievable. See? And the immigration officer worked quite slow. It took us three hours to clear the immigration, from 10 am until 1 pm! Luckily the gentlemen of our group sacrificed themse...