Raymond's wedding weekend in Jakarta

So Raymond finally got married to Grace. We all hope for his happiness and everlasting loving marriage. It was an intimate and beautiful wedding party.
Raymond's sister singing "Loving You" was classic! - well, it is a difficult song to sing.

Matt & I stayed at Four Seasons hotel where the wedding was held.
Emi & Daichan was invited too, so we went together, had few drinks at the lobby bar, as well as at Cork & Screw - Afterall, Saturday was the only night out in Jakarta. At the wedding and at C&S, there were many of those typical salon goer girls posing endlessly for the digicam. It made me feel... (not old) but mature... heh













In the daytime, Vanda, Rani, Puput, Aki-san, Yoshii, Itien and all the children gathered at Mandor.
It felt different to be among my cousins, now that we are mothers/mothers to be.
I was also happy for the Manadonese food... :)













Last day we went to see Dad and went for Italian. Dad was pleasant and also gave me his CDs - ambience, bossa nova, oldies, Japanese etc. Matt also got some golf set and a cover from Daichan. Cool!













Then there's Rikki.
I know I'm related to him so he looks cute to me, but he really is such a heart melting sweetie.
I'm not even confident I can adore any other baby like I do for Rikki. Not even my own...

But! it's so exciting to know I'm going to have a niece!
Yes, Rikki will have a younger sister!
And I will have a boy... oh no...too much for me to even think.

Naomi O'Leary

That's my new name from now until I die.

It's actually more of a big deal in Japan, because people call each other with their surname.
Takeya-san.
When I went to get my new passport at the Japanese Embassy, they called me...
"ORIARII-san! " - that was weird!

I think the sweetest memory of me and my surname would be the PE t-shirts in our Sho-Gakkoo in Japan.
Every year for 6 years, mom with her awkward writing, but better than Emi or I, did her best to write and stitch on the t-shirts for me.
In Chu-Gakkoo everyone's name was printed by the printer, so we were all relieved of the pressure.

Googled and found few people with the same name. And I know, they were first...
Miss Irish Sun is Naomi O'Leary too.

Ned

How cute is he?
Lucy sent photos of him when he's playing in a garden shower.
All kids love fountains and splashing water outdoors!

22 weeks....

Oops! It's a BOY!

Had a thorough scan at another hospital where they checked the organs and parts of the babies' body.
Yes, it has everything it needs...
and more...

20 weeks...

Doctor couldn't tell for sure, and it's not 100% but he said
most likely it is a... Girl!

My 34th Birthday!

Matt is such a sweet heart.
The best partner anyone can have.
He is so thoughtful, smart, cute, funny, eventful, hard working, sensitive and cuddly.

I am so contented just being with him, so when he asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, I could only think of spending time with Matt.
But he surprised me by calling my close friends to my favorite Japanese restaurant and made me feel like I picked the place for 2.





It was a lovely and happy day for me.
I also want to thank all my friends and family who send me messages of well wishes.

And it makes me think...
I'm such a lousy person who can't remember birthdays... I should be more thoughtful from now...