Having a Baby While Doing Post-Grad Study - Departure

We knew we're going to be parents about 3 months before departure. Setting and packing everything up for a long flight is daunting task. Coming to know that I have to make sure my wife and our baby safe is an extra responsible, yet we don't see it as an extra problem. As soon as we knew there was a baby in my wife's tummy, we rang a women and children hospital to have our daughter checked. We're fortunate to had already visited the hospital a few times beforehand. Several months in advance, We visited a gynecologist in the hospital to plan a pregnancy program. It was a several simple medical treatment to help us having a baby as we're already married 3 years and my wife have not been pregnant.

The first concern was the pregnancy age eligible for a flight. Some say that we should have no problem once the pregnancy reaches 3 months. Other say it is preferably 5 months old. The earlier was confirmed by the doctor, however, he stressed that it was his own opinion and put no pressure on us. 

In the end, we departed from Indonesia for Birmingham, UK on the 25th of July, 2021. This was quite long flight. The plane took off from Jakarta at 11.30 PM Indonesia time and touched down in Birmingham International Airport on the 26th of July at 17.00 PM. 

Having a pregnant wife in a long flight was a fun experience for me. Having a baby is such a great news and everyone who knew it during the flight extended good wishes, congratulations and other nice words. In the first airplane, Emirates, the stewardess provided an extra mineral water for my wife without being asked. And two stewardess in the last airplane, KLM, gave my wife a pack of extra full snack, souvenirs and a sweet greeting and wishes on a post card. 

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Mandalika

I'm not a dead fans of MotoGP but the first event of the year that held in Indonesia catches my attention. Today is a day away from the main race. Many other Indonesia folks are just as excited as I am. The last motogp race hold in the country was about 15 years ago. At that time, as far as I can remember, Valentino Rossi was still in his prime and he was still in his 20's I guess. What makes this particular event feels special is the circumstance that is the pandemic is still going on.  In this difficult situation the government of Indonesia and all related partners manage to organize a world class event.

For your information, a motogp race is a series of four race. The first three race are practice riding. Racers are learning the circuit and get use with every curve. On the fourth they will struggle to die for being the champion. Overall, motogp series is a competition where racers collect points from every race they completed. In other words, the world champion motogp 2022 is the one who has the highest accumulated points of all.

Picture source: @motogp instagram

The circuit is located in Mandalika, Lombok. Lombok is a small island next to Bali. It is so close to Bali. That's why traveling to Lombok from Bali takes much less time than travelling to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Like Bali, Lombok has rich culture and many exotic beaches. In fact, the circuit is just about 20 minutes walking to the nearby beach.   

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Indonesian Student in Birmingham: Places I've Visited

My first impression in England was quite boring. Arriving in the United Kingdom during pandemic, I had to spend 10 days in quarantine hotel. I was not allowed to leave the hotel except for small walk for about 15 minutes in the hotel car park. It was not a wonderful situation but it was not awful either. In spite of this, at least I was with my wife. That way I had someone to talk to. Another thing that made the quarantine less miserable was food. We brought many Indonesian food. So, to kill the time and wierd-tasted food which served by the hotel, we ate the food earlier. I mean, the food was supposed to consume once we arrived at our home. But "emergency" situation made us to change the plan.

After 10 days, we managed to leave the hotel and the first interesting place we visited was Birmingham City Centre and Bullring Market. The later is familiar since I watched several video about this market on youtube. What makes this market outstanding is the way people sell the goods which is mostly veggies and fruits. They, the sellers, offer the goods in such a way people from Asia selling their products. The market is crowded and loud. The sellers who are mainly immigrant in my view, yell and shout to catch visitors attention. Exactly they share the same passion and enthusiasm as the sellers in Indonesia. Regarding the prices, they are affordable and when it is approaching 5 PM, it is the time when the market closed, the prices go down. In the morning you can get a bowl of apple for 1 pound but late in the afternoon you can get three bowls of them for 2 pound. Next, the city centre. In the surrounding you can find big malls and many big stores, banks, restaurants, hotels and tourist destinations such as museum (Baskerville house), Gas Street Canal, Victoria Square and city library. In short, the city centre is a one stop destination where you can visit places in one day walking.

Gas Street Basin, The Canal Side, Birmingham

I want to talk about Birmingham Arena separately. Why? Because the Birmingham Arena has close connection with Indonesia. As the venue of one of major badminton event, many Indonesian athletes have won the championships for numerous times. The last event, the all England 2021, that's how the championship officially named, our male-double athletes was undefeated and became the champion. The arena is right on the side of the canal. It's the opposite of sea world. If you take a bus from the city centre using bus number 23 or 24, you will see it on your left after 7/8 stops. On the other side of the arena, the one closer to the canal, Lego Land is waiting for you and your family to be explored. I had a chance to take a photograph on the site (see picture). The building is very active. Every now and then, music concerts, exhibitions or conferences are held.

Lego Land. Right behind the Birmingham Arena
where the All England is annually held.

I think that's it. In conclusion, there are many places to enjoy in this West Midland region. And the city centre is the best place to start as many interesting places are scattered around and accessible by foot in less than one day. Highly recommended. See you later.    

Does anyone know Ozzy Ozbourne of Black Sabbath
is from Birmingham? You can find the Black Sabbath Bridge built
to honor the singer right on the Gas Street Canal. 

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Snow

Being foreigner in a four-season country has made me striving for first-hand experience of touching snow.

This would be wonderful experience for me. I imagined I would running around like a little child, playing with snow chunk or building snow man. But thinking that I'm a grown-up man, I would be more behave. staying calm and take picture. 

Coming from Indonesia, a popular tropical country, I was struggling keeping myself warm during winter. I used to warm, damp and hot air. Spending time in a cold England makes me unbelievably fortunate being born in a tropical country. I was playing with mud and earthy-smell soil. You can say that those are equal to white cold snow.   

As a tropical man, I know inside and out the process of rain manufactured. So, I'd love to learn how snow come into being. I have never seen a simple picture portraying the mechanic behind the creation of snow. I thought I have read about that long time ago, but I'm not sure.

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