Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

These elegant birds live in Swan Lake area, inside Nusantara Flower Park (Cipanas, West Java, Indonesia). When we reached this small lake, we saw this couple. Do you know that they are monogamous? Male and female swans share the care of their nest, and once they have cygnets (baby swans); they will also share to look for food. So sweet!

The name 'mute' derives from it being less vocal than other swan species. Measuring 125 to 170 centimeters in length, this large swan is completely white in plumage with an orange bill bordered with black. It is recognizable by its marked knob atop the bill.

Compared to the other Northern white swans, the Mute Swan can simply be notable by its curved neck and orange, black-knobbed bill. Unlike most other Northern swan species (who usually live in only wetlands without regular human interfering), the Mute Swan has, in some parts of the world, become habituated and nearly fearless towards humans. Such swans are often seen at close range in urban areas with bodies of water.
Data source:Wikipedia

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Couple’s Corner: Our First Sweet Moments

I can’t remember our first moments. It was him who attracted to me first. At that time, he and several friends had a company on agribusiness field. After my Mom died and I resigned from my last job, I wanted to be a small investor in one Agribusiness Company. I knew the company from the ad in the newspaper.

I came to his office with my father and it’s the first time we met. So, I was his client. Later, he said that he was amazed with my beauty from the first time he saw me (he,he,he).

Well, I’m a kind of a woman who is hard to fall in love. The man who can melt my heart is the man with big persistence and patience. He came to my house every night, after work hours. As the client, he also invited me to see my plants in the field regularly.

Little by little, I realize that he is a kind, caring, and patient person. I felt comfortable every time we were together. We can talk for hours about everything. This ‘process’ happened for about six months. When he started to talk about our future marriage, I still didn’t accept it with excitement.

But then, there’s a turning point. That night, he told me that he met my Mom in his dream. He can describe what she looked like and what kind of dress she wore. In his dream, my Mom introduced herself and gave her blessing. He never saw my Mom, but he’s able to explain perfectly my Mom’s favorite sleeping dress (the color and pattern) and hair style. After knowing his amazing dream, I had no doubt again. He’s the right man for my future life. But I still don’t remember my first exciting moments, hehehe.

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The Beautiful Water Feature

It’s another favorite spot inside Nusantara Flower Park (Cipanas, West Java, Indonesia). You’ll see this long and beautiful water feature as soon as you pass through the entrance. When it was captured, the park has just opened. There were only a few visitors including us. Several hours later, this area was full of people.

My entry for Watery Wednesday

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For New Dads : Finding Ways to Bond with Your Baby

Congrats to a new Dad! If it’s your first time, perhaps you still feel awkward in the role of Dad. Don’t worry, I found an article that will help you through the process entering fatherhood.

New Dads should understand first that the bonding with baby is a process; it isn’t something that happens immediately. Hogan Hilling, the author of The Man Who would be Dad, said that new dads should build a relationship and it will need time. New Moms already have the bonding, since they had a nine-month head start and carried the baby inside.

Bonding around Breastfeeding
Of course, you can’t breastfeed, but you can help in the process.
-Ask your wife to wake you up every time she wants to breastfeed the baby.
-Bring the baby to Mom and rock the baby to sleep after the feeding.
-Attending a breastfeeding class with your wife. It will make you more understand what is involved in breastfeeding a baby.
-Communicate with your wife’s lactation consultant, and be the middleman. If your wife faces a trouble breastfeeding, you can give some input that will help the lactation consultant to resolve it.

Don’t be hesitant to talk about your baby in your work place.
Hilling said that it’s a good thing. Let your employer and coworkers know that family is very important to you and how proud you are as a new dad. The aim is : if you ask your employer the afternoon or morning off to take your baby to doctor visits or other occasion, your employer will understand.

Consider taking your baby to the doctor alone. Tell your wife that you want to have the time alone with your baby. Ensure your wife that she can really trust you!

Simple things but can be the sweetest ways: changing diapers, bathing, feeding, singing, taking walks. Each minute you spend with the baby will enhance your bond with the baby.

Though you’re in the middle of bonding process, don’t forget your wife. Hilling mentioned some tips for you to connect with your wife throughout pregnancy and beyond:

• Call your wife from work occasionally. Offer her comfortable words or just have a conversation with her. Tell your wife how excited you feel for her and you in becoming parents.


• Give her permission to call you at work. It will give her great comfort in knowing that you still love her and think about her.


• Send your wife a "Love You" or "Mother's Day" card in the mail, either to your house or her place of work.


• Take your wife out for a lunch date.


• Give her massages.


• Say the words "I love you" often.

Data source :babyzone.com

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Animal Topiary (2)

I have flu symptoms since yesterday. My body wants me to lie down, but my mind wants me to write some blog updates first.

Last week I’ve shared some animal topiary inside Nusantara Flower Park (Cipanas, West Java, Indonesia). This time I’ll share the other topiary. I wish you can enjoy them, have a great week end!

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Couple’s Corner : We Promise

Keeping marriage happy and harmonic needs efforts from both husband and wife. Since the topic of this week is about what we could promise to keep our marriage; I’ll mention first a little about promise. It’s said that a promise is your word to someone else. The promise is important and not to be taken lightly. Don’t say “I promise” if you aren’t sure and there’s still a doubt in your mind. Other people will appreciate and trust you more if you always keep your promises.

But when it comes to promises in our marriage, it’s only between me and my hubby. I agree with the saying: Marriage is a promise of love and a commitment to life. In a marriage, two people are trying to reach equal physical and emotional relationship, and it’s promised for a lifetime.

Well, to keep our marriage happy, we’ll try to do these: better open communication, keep the faith, love, trust and romantic between us, and do better ways to solve any problem. We still don’t have a child, and I know that it can cause a broken marriage. But we’ve promised that it won’t break our marriage, as we always keep our love together.

We believe that every marriage has its own path of life. Only God knows the right time for us to have a child. Sorry for writing here, but I always have this bad mood every time I’m getting older. Birthday isn’t a happy moment for me. I still can’t stop the negative feeling that the older I become, the harder for me to get my dream.

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To Give a Worry-Free Life to Your Family

We have realized that our future is really unknown; anything –even the most terrible situation- can occur in the future. That’s why insurance is needed to protect you from unpredictable conditions in your future. Nowadays, there are already many insurance types offered by insurance companies. But with the current economy situation and limited budget, getting protection in affordable rates is becoming one of most people’s concerns.

Have you noticed that funeral cost can be so expensive? At present time, it’s not a taboo anymore to prepare things for your own funeral, such as getting funeral or final expense or burial insurance. You need burial insurance to make sure that all of your funeral costs are paid for and there won’t be any hassle with your burial ceremony. You don’t want to make your family worry about your expensive funeral cost, right? At BurialInsurance.org, you’ll find out that you’ll get all information that you need; including obtaining free

final expense insurance rates, just by filling out their simple form.

If you are a senior citizen that needs more coverage than funeral expenses, you can consider getting the other type of insurance like senior life insurance. You should visit BurialInsurance.org to know more about senior life insurance policy. Since your family is the most important thing in your life, investing in senior life insurance could be the best decision to ensure their continuing happiness, after you leave them for good. 

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