Japan Trip Day 1-2 : TOKYO

Day 1: Saturday, 29 March 2014 – TOKYO Day 1

Itinerary :       Hanami at Chidorigafuchi and Kitanomaru no Koen

                      Hanami at Yoshino Baigo Ume Matsuri

                      Ginza

The previous night, we arrived at Haneda at 11.30 PM so we had to take taxi because train service had already shut off. The driver couldn’t speak English (as expected) but we had prepared the hotel and address name in both Romanji (our common letters) and Japanese letters (katakana + kanji). The driver didn’t recognize it but he easily switched-on his GPS and hoopla! We were fascinated by the quietness of Tokyo’s road. We knew that Kamata (area near Haneda) was not the city center, but we expected it to be noisy just like many roads in suburbs of Jakarta. In Kamata, there were not many cars and the drivers weren’t noisy; no beeps at all! We arrived safely at our hotel (Grand Park Hotel Panex Tokyo) for less than an hour and paid for about JPY 3000.

Check-in process was fast (hotel was already fully paid via Agoda) and we were told to go up to our room using the elevator. No bell boy (of course, it was a budget hotel) but we didn’t need one. The room was warm compared to the chilly air outside. Too warm for me who was 3 months pregnant at that time; I didn’t sleep very well but hubby looked fine. AC was centralized so I couldn’t do anything to lower the temperature. The bed I ordered was semi-double (I thought it would be fine since the weather would be cold, but hell I was wrong. I felt sweaty!) and the room was also small (small indoor bathroom + TV console + wardrobe) just like budget hotel rooms in HK. However, the room was clean and quite comfortable. Receptionists were quite helpful but most of them couldn't speak English. They tried their best to explain the direction when asked about kombini (convenient store aka minimart) and other places.

We woke up at 8.30. Considering our usual schedule, it was late. But hey, I slept at 3 AM (to overcome insomnia, I played Candy Crush and passed the level that had been stuck for about 2 months! Yeaayy!). We hurried to take a bath and then we went for a cheap breakfast at a minimart in Kamata Station (just 5-minutes-walk from the hotel, what a convenience) since we had decided that we wouldn’t splurge in such expensive city. We bought a packed-2-onigiris with chicken karaage and boiled egg. It was less than JPY500. By that time, the pattern has formed: hubby would take care of the money and I'd take care of the communication.

Our next mission is to obtain train tickets! Ooh, felt like we were in Amazing Race (hyperbolic, I know, but everything was so new and the language barrier was a bit scary). We had learned the train system, schedule, and how to use ticket vending machines from japan-guide.com and Hyperdia. We bought two Shinkansen tickets to Hiroshima at Midori no Madoguchi (JPY 37,500 for two) for Monday and two one-trip tickets to Kanda Station, one of the biggest stations in Tokyo. We immediately went to Kanda, and there we bought our Suica cards. Suica cards are sold only at several places (airports and large stations). You can learn about prepaid IC cards in Japan here.

Using our Suica, we used JR train to go to Kitanomaru no Koen and Chidorigafuchi. Chidorigafuchi is a big cemetery complex filled with many sakura trees. It wasn’t globally famous for hanami as Yasukuni Jinja or other big parks like Ueno or Rikugien, but I purposefully searched for a place that wasn’t too crowded. Getting out of the station, we followed the families with old grannies and small children walking at the same direction. It seemed that even though the sakura in Tokyo hadn’t reached mankai (full-bloom), Japanese families want to utilize their spring weekend to the fullest. To be noted: Tokyo’s children are ALL cute!!! *rubbing stomach wishing for a healthy cute kid*

At Kitanomaru no Koen

Sakura to aoi sora

Tired of walking around, we decided to get a lunch. We found a small ramen store near Nakano Station. Oh, the joy of finding cheap yet delicious ramen in Japan! The noodle is chewy; the soup is a bit too salty but it was savory. We paid JPY 1000 for 2 bowls of ramen. We observed that most of Japanese restaurants provide a jar of cold water in every table and it was free. We didn’t take it for granted; we gulped half a jar! Hahaha haus apa rakuuss...

The waitress tried really hard to explain the menu to us!

No time to take a better-looking pic, it smelled too good!!!

We continued our train journey to Hinatawada Station. It’s located quite far at the suburb; my husband thought that I kidnapped him, haha! The station doesn’t have many Romanji signage like big stations. We simply follow the crowds walking in the same direction until we found a large directions board telling us where to go. Ume Matsuri! It was located about 1 KM from the station (if I’m not mistaken and if my sense of distance had got better haha).

Even outside the koen (garden), some ume (plum) trees bloomed beautifully. We paid JPY400 for 2 entrance tickets and got postcards. The garden is bigger than I expected! Too bad I didn’t feel too well due to my pregnancy, so after a while I took a rest and let my husband walked deeper inside the garden. We took beautiful pics but the real scene was God-sent. Beyond beautiful! I read somewhere that the ume matsuri in 2014 would be the last one for the next 8-10 years because the trees got virus or something and the garden need to be regrown. How sad! We felt so lucky to be able to go there.

with hubby and baby L in my tummy at Yoshino Baigo

Colorful ume (plum) blossoms

The view of Ume blossoms from up the hill

We spend so much time walking that we got thirsty easily; our bottle of water had replenished. There were many canned and bottled beverages vending machines but most of them were empty! Other people got thirsty, too. I suggest you to bring your own beverage when you go to public areas and tourist attractions if you don’t want to spend much money. Beverages in Japan cost about 2-3 times more expensive than in Jakarta.

I got too tired to try to go to Yoshikawa Eiji Museum as I planned so we walked back to Hinatawada Station. I was a bit disappointed since I really like novels Musashi and Taiko, and I was a bit curious about the museum, but well… there’ll always be next time!

We continued our long journey back to the city and decided to go to Ginza. We stopped at Yurakucho Station and had our dinner at Yoshinoya. We had a shake package each for JPY 430. It consisted of a bowl of delicious fluffy white rice, soup, yakiniku and grilled fish. I think it was much more delicious than Indonesia Yoshinoya’s menu, with better value for money.

The weather started to get cooler as the sun set. We found a department store with Uniqlo in it so we got inside to look around. We heard Ginza had the first and biggest Uniqlo store, so we kinda disappointed because the items were not even better than its Indonesian counterpart. I just bought a blouse and hubby nothing. Later we finally realized that the Uniqlo store we visited is just a branch and not the largest store people talked about! Silly us! We decided that we would look for the store in the next day.

We stopped by a minimart near our hotel to buy breakfast and a clear umbrella (just like the ones we saw in doramas! LOL). We spent total about JPY 1000. After we got back to our room, we took a bath, browsed the internet a little to find more info for our next day’s itinerary, and went to sleep. The room was still too warm for me that I had to open the window a little to let some fresh cold air get in. I got better sleep than the night before.

Day 2: Sunday, 30 March 2014 – Tokyo Day 2

Itinerary:      National Museum of Nature and Science at Ueno no Koen

                    Kitkat Store at Seibu Department Store

                    Uniqlo Ginza

                    Tokyo Metro Government Office at Shinjuku

We got up at 8 AM, took a bath, and ate bento we bought the night before at the minimart. It is filled with white rice, croquette, karaage, and a kind of otak2 (fish cakes).

We went to Ueno directly from Kamata Station via Keihin-Tohoku JR Line. It was a cloudy morning and when we arrived at the Ueno no Koen, small rain started to pour. Thankfully we had seen the weather forecast (I can say that more than 90% of Japan weather forecasts are correct, and they make it hourly!) and bought an umbrella the day before. Some families took their children and even brought strollers with weather covers. I was quite amazed, since in Jakarta, if we took our children outside in windy weather (not to say rainy) – even if use stroller’s cover or umbrellas – people will fret! Ha! However, we must note that the air in Tokyo is much cleaner than Jakarta.

There are many interesting big museums in Ueno Garden. Here is Ueno no Koen’s main attraction according to JapanGuide. I think I’ll need a week to explore them all but we had limited time so we had to choose one so we chose National Museum of Nature and Science. Entrance ticket costs JPY 600. Not expensive for such a big collection. My morning sick made me have to sit down and got rest several times. Poor hubby. He was being so considerate and thoughtful during this slow-paced trip. We used to be able to have a long fast-paced walk in our previous trips.

One non-queasy moment so we can take pics

When we got out of the museum, it was still rainy and very windy. Oh well, rain in Tokyo somehow was more romantic than in Jakarta (no flood and minimum pool on the street). The wind tortured us more than the rain. We decided to have a lunch at nearest restaurant which is located at the front of Ueno no Koen. If the rain stopped after we finished eating, we would continue our hanami at Ueno no Koen. It was a rather small yet cozy resto. We got in queue line, and thankfully it was quite a long queue! Why? Because I needed time to read the menu (it was all in katakana and I'm not that good in it)! Hahaha I read it all one by one to my husband reeeaally slowly. But hubby said that he’d be clueless if I wasn’t there, since he couldn’t reach any Japanese letter. We ordered spaghetti Bolognese, beef curry, chamomile tea, and orange juice. They were all good.

The rain hadn’t stopped when we finished our lunch so we cancelled our hanami plan (apa asiknya liat bunga sambil ujan-ujanan, ntar masuk angin). We went to Kitkat Store at Seibu Department Store in Ikebukuro. Walked around and around and found nothing, we had to ask the information service for the whereabouts of the store. Turned out that Seibu provided a building story for selling condiments and Kitkat store was located at the corner. Arrrggh, we had to passed so many cute Japanese condiments stall (tahan diriii). Thankfully they were so expensive and we were cheapskates hahaha! We bought some special Kitkat chocs (green tea with sakura, cream cheese, and chilli) for souvenirs.

The queue

Some of the special edition Kitkat

We continued our journey (still raining outside) to Ginza. Ginza’s road was closed for vehicles on Sundays so we could walked in the middle of the street and took some pics. Car free day ala Ginza mah bikin pengen prewed lagi deh hahaha… And FINALLY we found the location of Uniqlo building! Shopping spree!!! We bought some clothes, sandal, etc.

syuting video clip, cyiiinn?

We got back to our hotel to drop our luggage, packed our stuff (since we would depart early in the morning at the next day), took a bath and rested a while. The burden of walking around for 2 days had finally assaulted our legs. We got out of our hotel again at 6 PM to have dinner then go to TMGO. There was an izakaya (traditional resto) near our hotel whose name we couldn’t even spell. We knew that it would be quite hard to communicate with the staffs. However, we really wanted to try an authentic izakaya once in a while. We got in, welcomed cheerfully and politely, took off our shoes. Dan kerempongan dimulai!

The staffs couldn’t speak English, not even a word. It was quite laughable. I chose the first word from the server’s mouth that I could muster: ‘ika’. Cumi. I pointed a picture of fish on the menu. We asked for gohan (nasi) and atsui ocha (teh panas). And while we waited, we explored our table excitedly. Turned out that the specialty of the resto is clams. Too bad we didn’t realize it. But our order arrived, a fresh squid! The server prepared it directly on our table, cut it and grilled it. She pointed to sauce and told us to dip the squid in it. It was good. How about the rice and miso soup? Superb!! The best miso soup we ever tasted. It got seaweed too. Nyuummm! We paid JPY 2000 for all the dishes (not too expensive, I think) and thanked them profusely for taking care of us. It must be hard to communicate with non-Japanese customers.

We used train to go to Shinjuku Station and walked quite a long way via underground to TMGO. The underground passage was filled with homeless men. It was sad seeing them. They look healthy, clean, and intelligent (some of them were reading books) compared to homeless people in Jakarta.

At the north tower, we queue to get into the elevator that will bring us up to the observation deck for free *wajib digaris bawah*. The city view was okay (from 202 meter high), but it was rainy and the deck was covered with window glasses so we couldn’t get a decent pic. The journey in the elevator kinda made me feel claustrophobic (it was new and started when I got pregnant, weird huh?).

Rain & indoor light made it impossible to get a clear pic

On the way back, hubby was reluctant to walk via underground again, so we took the longer way. It was also a good chance to see the business district at night (dark and empty, of course). I was so tired and the air was so windy but my piercing gaze had no effect to my husband (who was excitedly stopping and taking pics of everything LOL). He begged me to go to one more place since it was very near to the station: BIC Camera. I thought that he would buy me a new lens for my Sony camera, but instead, he was looking for a wristwatch. Haahaa geer aja siihh… He didn’t find one that he wanted so we got back to the hotel and took some rest.

 

NOTE:

There was a place that we didn't visit and I still regret it: Ghibli Museum! We didn't find any Lawson store so we couldn't buy the ticket and I didn't want to fuss too much about it, since our time in Tokyo was very short and I already made our pace slower. Nevermind, we'll go next time with our children! 

Other things in Tokyo I'd like to try:
1. Disneysea.
2. Trying its culinary like FUGU (puffer fish) at Torafugutei Kamata, Yurakucho gadoshita dining (didn't find it last time), Hidakaya ramen, Yakitori at Iseya Sohonten Izakaya. Eating sashimi at Tsujiki fish market (maybe). Hahaha... I'm not really interested to do it, since it demands us to wake up very early and queue for quite a long time.
3. Going around Hamamatsucho (blowing bubbles at Hamarikyu Garden, water bus ride on Sumida River).
4. Getting around Ueno Garden more!
5. See the weeping sakura at Rikugien, hanami at Megurogawa.
6. Ikebukuro Sunshine 60 Observatory Deck (outdoor). Sayang mihil masuknya JPY 620.

Persiapan Melahirkan: Isi Tas Rumah Sakit

Sok iye banget ya saya bikin daftar isi tas yang harus dibawa ke rumah sakit, padahal waktu baby El lahir, saya bener-bener cuman bawa diri sama baju yang nempel di badan aja tuh, gara-gara panik ketuban pecah jam 4 subuh dan HPL (hari perkiraan lahir) masih 4 mingguan lagi. Yaa... bawa handuk kecil doang lah buat nahan rembesan cairan ketuban hahaha... Saya sama sekali belom nyiapin tas RS karena ngira bakal lahiran di Bandung. Barang-barang akhirnya nyusul dibawain secara nyicil sama adek ipar, tante, dan suami. Kacau deh... untung rumah-RS cuma 15-minutes-drive jaraknya (BTW, perjalanan ke RS jam 4 itu was the longest 15 minutes in my life).

Kalau berdasar pengalaman saya, barang-barang basic yang waktu itu saya butuhkan (selain kartu RS dan kartu asuransi) adalah:

1. Pengisi waktu selagi nunggu bukaan/waktu operasi tiba (HP/tablet/Kindle/iPod & chargernya, buku, snack dll). Kalo lahiran normal mungkin harus banyak jalan ya, tapi saya waktu itu harus diem total di ranjang selama 6-7 jam untuk mencegah cairan ketuban habis.
2. Baju ganti untuk pulang (selama di RS pakai piyama/kimono RS). Bawa yang nyaman untuk breastfeeding dan mudah dikenakan (in case of caesar dan susah gerak).
3. Pakaian dalam & gurita ibu/korset perut (jangan yang nyambung ke celana). Kalo mau nyusuin, langsung bawa bra menyusui aja. Saya sih waktu itu caesar tetep pake gurita, dan buat saya malah rasanya lebih nyaman daripada nggak pakai.
4. Pembalut (saya lebih suka pembalut night wing daripada pembalut postpartum yang disediain RS, pakainya yang ukuran paling panjang ato pakai sekaligus 2).
5. Pakaian baby untuk pulang (baju & celana/setelan, topi, selimut/bedong, kaos kaki & kaos tangan). Selama di RS, baby-ku pakai baju dan selimut RS (selimutnya dicharge lho di Omni hahaha).
6. Peralatan mandi (sisir, sabun muka & badan, sikat & pasta gigi, shampoo & hair dryer kalo diizinin keramas sama keluarga hahaha). Handuk biasanya disediakan RS.
7. Comforters yang beda-beda tiap orang (misalnya: ikat rambut/bandana, kaos kaki, sandal rumah, minyak kayu putih, guling, gym ball, dll).
8. Breastpump dan botolnya, wadah ASI, sabun cuci (kalau ga bisa ikut nyuci di pantry-nya baby room). Seharusnya baby dibiasain langsung ngisep dada ibunya sih, tapi baby El prematur dan masih sukanya tidur terus, sedangkan ASI akan lebih cepet keluar kalo terus dipancing. Kalo di Omni bisa nitip ASI perah di kulkas pantry baby room dan sekalian nyuci+sterilisasi peralatannya. Pompa lebih baik bawa sendiri, kadang pompa RS lagi dipinjam orang lah, susternya lupa lah, apa lah. Waktu itu aku minta aja ga dikasi-kasi tuh sampe 3 hari. Keburu waktunya check out, suss....
9. Perlengkapan bayi: popok newborn, kapas pembersih/baby wipes, selimut, dan susu formula beserta alat ngasih susunya (kalau ASI belom keluar dan ga tega liat baby nangis; tapi sebisa mungkin newborn jangan dikasih dot deh. Ceritanya nyusul ya). Di Omni disediakan tapi harganya jauhhh lebih mahal.
10. Perlengkapan kalo suami ikut nginap di RS (baju tidur, pakaian dan daleman, sandal, alat mandi termasuk handuk, dll). Cek aja kamarnya, perlu bawa bantal & selimut nggak. Yang pasti suami MUSTI BAWA DOMPET hahahaa....
11. Dokumen keluarga buat urus akta kelahiran (kalo diurusin sama RSnya): akta lahir dan KTP suami-istri, KK, surat nikah.

Nah berikut list yang menurut saya bebas sesuai kebutuhan masing-masing orang aja:

1. Kamera dan/atau handycam. Jangan lupa memory cardnya kosong dan batre penuh, jangan ketuker hahaha...
2. Peralatan dandan (bedak, lipgloss, dll).
3. Parsel/kue ucapan terima kasih ke para suster. Saya sih beliin donat aja 2 lusin biar gampang hehe..
4. Apron menyusui, nipple cream (buat saya sih ga terpakai), dan breast pads.
5. Baby cream atau diaper rash cream, minyak telon atau minyak kayu putih. 
6. Obat-obatan dasar dan vitamin (buat suami). Ingat, ibu menyusui jangan sembarangan makan obat ya kalau belum konsultasi ke dokter.
7. Car seat (yang bisa untuk newborn).
8. Souvenir lahiran untuk para pengunjung. Saya tadinya mau sedia, taunya anaknya lahir kecepetan. Panik mendera deh waktu itu hahaha... Akhirnya bikin versi dadakan dan simple aja. 
9. Buat nanti lahiran anak kedua, mau bawain hadiah buat El sebagai congratulations gift jadi kakak. Ceritanya biar doi ga sirik dan ikut excited, gituu hehehe...
10. Kitab suci dan perlengkapan religius. Kalo saya waktu itu berdoa dalem ati aja.
11. Suporter buat gantian nemenin selagi nunggu bukaan (cari yang sehati sejiwa). Some mothers-to-be lebih suka bonding sama hubby, tapi suamiku waktu itu malah panik dengan laptopnya nyelesein kerjaan supaya bisa langsung cuti. Puji Tuhan ada sodara-sodara dan temen baikku Anita yang nemenin. Lumayan bisa mengalihkan dari tegangnya mau dioperasi dan sakitnya kontraksi hehe...

Saya sarankan, waktu milih RS, tanya-tanya barang apa aja yang provided. Saya waktu itu nggak plan ke Omni jadi nggak tahu. Keperluan mendasar seperti popok, kapas, dan pembalut pasti tersedia, tapi dicharge dengan harga hampir 2x lipat pasaran. Selimut juga dicharge per hari, sebagaimana halnya dengan ranjang dorong baby. Yang dikasih gratis (alias udah included di biaya persalinan dan kamar) adalah sabun pembersih vagina Sebamed dan nipple cream. Kami juga dapat sample product krim telon Bebe Roosie dan saya suka banget baunya, jadi sampai sekarang pun masih pakai (bukan iklan lho ya).

Di link ini ada list versi superlengkap dan dia pisah-pisahkan tas mana yang harus langsung dibawa, mana yang nyusul kalau udah pindah dari kamar bersalin ke kamar rawat inap, mana yang stay di mobil dll. Yang bikin list ini bule, dan dia juga buat list barang apa aja yang sebaiknya udah distok di rumah supaya pas baby dah pulang, papa mamanya ga ribet belanja-belanja lagi. Quite helpful!

Nah, kalo ada yang mau share, apa barang yang menurut Anda perlu ada di tas rumah sakit tapi belum saya masukkan di atas? Bagi dong tipsnyaa...

Daftar Kebutuhan Ibu Bekerja & Menyusui (Breastfeeding Working Mom's Must-Have Items) beserta Review

1. Electric Breastpump

Namanya pompa sih katanya cocok2an, tapi untuk working mom yang milk-flownya lambat kaya aku sih, pompa musti yang elektrik. Wasting time dan pegel banget kalo pake yang manual. Waktu ditanya wishlist lahiran, langsung ngajuin Medela Swing dan dibeliin deh sama rekan-rekan kerja si suami hehe…

Minus :
- Medela Swing pakai open system dan open system ini bikin ASI kadang bocor ke selang. Untungnya sampe sekarang ga pernah kejadian pas ketiduran, jadi begitu ASI masuk selang langsung matiin mesin dan cuci selang. Kalo masuk mesin, musti cuci mesinnya (ga susah sih tapi malesin aja hehe).

- Suaranya agak berisik kalo mompa subuh. Untungnya bayiku sih cuek-cuek aja. Tapi kata orang mah pompa lain jauh lebih berisik.

Plus :

- Open system ini bikin tarikan lebih kerasa.

- Ada 2 phase (ritme kenyotan beda) buat mancing LDR jadi mancing ASI keluar seperti isapan bayi.

- Bisa diatur kekuatan sedotannya jadi lebih lembut atau lebih kencang.

- Bisa sambil kerja. Awalnya saya beli bra khusus buat mompa jadi bisa hands free, tangan dipake ngetik (mompanya di depan laptop dengan pintu ruangan terkunci).  Lama-lama bisa pakai bra menyusui juga. Bisa ketahan kok asal pakai mode sedotannya kenceng dan isi botolnya belum terlalu berat.

- Kalau mati listrik, masih bisa pake batre AA 6 biji, tapi ga bisa sering-sering juga sih, baterainya cepet abis dan tarikannya suka kurang pol. 

- Corongnya bisa bongkar pasang jadi ukuran simpan dan nyucinya lebih praktis. 
- Service centernya dan garansinya oke. Pernah tiba-tiba si pompa ga mau nyala sama sekali, buru-buru aku call dan kirim via JNE (karena service centernya di Kelapa Gading nan jauh di mata). Dalam beberapa hari udah kelar (ternyata kemasukan ASI) dan mereka kirim balik. Free reparasi karena masih dalam masa garansi 1 tahun, aku cuma bayar ongkir baliknya aja.

Medela Swing

Di blog ASIBayi ada petunjuk cara memodif Medela Swing menjadi closed-system menggunakan part breastpump merk Unimom supaya ASInya ga bocor ke selang. Karena kebetulan saya punya pompa manual Unimom (waktu itu beli untuk mancing ASI yang nggak langsung keluar setelah lahiran), saya tinggal beli sparepart lain senilai sekitar Rp 200 ribu buat memodifikasi si Medela Swing ini. Kelemahannya: tarikannya emang jadi kurang kenceng. Tapi lumayan kalo mompa subuh-subuh, jadi ga takut ketiduran karena ASI pasti ga akan masuk ke pompa.
Perangkat yang sama juga bisa saya gunakan untuk memodif Swing ini menjadi double pump lho, cukup tambahkan T-connector selang akuarium (harganya ga nyampe ceceng)!

Saya juga sempat sewa Unimom Forte supaya bisa double pump di kantor. Alasannya karena biasanya hasil perahan saya cuma di 500-an cc, padahal kebutuhan si kecil 600 cc.

Minus :
- Berat. Pake banget. Bawa 2 kg kalo naek bus mah bisa gempor jadinya saya tinggal aja di kantor.
- Printilan agak banyak, tapi ya wajar kan double pump. Corong Unimom juga ukurannya besar, mayan menuhin cooler bag. Dan bersihin bagian dalam corong agak susah, musti pakai sikat kecil (sikat dot).
- Cuma bisa atur kekuatan sedotan, ga bisa atur ritme. Jadi 1 phase aja.
- Tergantung sama listrik, ga bisa pake batre. Tapi kalo mati listrik, semua pompa elektrik Unimom gampang diconvert ke manual (diconvert jadi Mezzo), asal punya convert kit-nya aja (harganya pun nggak mahal).
- Berisiikk... walo katanya jauh lebih berisik Minel (Medela Mini Electric). 

Plus :
- Pompa ini udah hospital grade, berarti dia pakai closed system. ASI ga akan masuk selang  dan bisa double pump (bisa diconvert ke manual juga, banyak yang jual udah sekalian convert kitnya). Pompa hospital grade juga lebih kuat diabuse. Mesinnya cepat panas sih tapi kuat-kuat aja tuh diabuse mompa 2 jam sekali.
- Harganya lumayan dibanding pompa dengan spec sejenis.
- Tarikannya oke.

Kadang plus kadang minus:
Corongnya ada cushionnya, buat beberapa ibu yang cocok, ini bagaikan Avent Comfort yang harganya lebih comfortable hahahaa.. Tapi buat ibu-ibu lain (incl. me), malah bikin tarikan kurang kerasa dan ASI masuk ke sela-sela cushion dan corong. Akhirrnya cushionnya kulepas.

Unimom Forte

Saya ga tertarik nyoba pompa wideneck karena biasanya cuma cocok sama botol dari merknya sendiri aja, misalnya Tommee Tippee atau Avent. 

2. Breastmilk storage (wadah penyimpanan ASI perah)

Saya udah nyoba pake breastmilk bag, botol plastik, dan botol kaca.

Breastmilk bag (kantong plastik untuk ASI): ringan, muatan banyak (bisa sekitar 150-180ml), tapi mubazir karena ga bisa dipakai ulang (berasa nggak go green deh), harganya juga mahal. Takarannya juga susah dipastikan, musti diukur di botol dulu baru tuang ke bag & tulisi jumlahnya. Untuk menghangatkan, biasanya ASIP dipindahkan dulu ke botol sebanyak kebutuhan baby lalu sisanya (yang masih ada di bag) disimpan lagi di kulkas karena kalau sudah dihangatkan ASI sebaiknya tidak didinginkan lagi. Lebih cocok untuk penyimpanan jangka panjang (misal untuk dibekukan) tapi musti ngitung pemakaian juga. Agak repot kalau pemakaian minim, takutnya ASI sudah 24 jam mencair malah belum terpakai, jadi harus dibuang. Akhirnya cuma saya gunakan kalau harus keluar kota dan sebagai back up kalau botol masih pada disterilisasi.

Botol plastik: cukup ringan, muatan variatif 50-150ml (ada juga botol-botol besar ukuran 240ml dll, tinggal beli sesuai kebutuhan). Yang standard neck bisa langsung ditempel ke pompa Medela atau Unimom. Reusable tapi agak nakutin dari segi bahannya. Walau dinyatakan aman untuk disterilisasi, saya lama-lama waswas juga karena melihat botol susu anak saya merk Pigeon tidak ada keterangan nomor jenis plastiknya. Nyari bahan PP yang nomor 5 (yang dinyatakan aman) juga agak susah dan mahal. Saya suka botol merek Medela karena udah PP5 dan kalau ditaruh bisa cepat kering sendiri. Walau pakai PP5, saya kurang suka botol plastik Unimom karena cepet ilang cetakan takarannya dan kurang akurat.

Botol kaca: awalnya pakai botol tutup karet BKA baru yang ada emboss takarannya, tapi ukurannya cuma 100ml sedangkan anak saya minumnya 120ml, jadi mama saya (yang ngasuh cucunya kalau saya ngantor) agak repot tuang-tuang susu sambil gendong si bayi yang bau tangan hehe. Riskan kalau anaknya ga bisa diem trus kesenggol. Botol ini emang kayanya lebih cocok buat newborn sampai 3 bulan yang minumnya masih dikit-dikit. Penyimpanan juga harus hati-hati, pastikan tutup botol dan mulut botol kering supaya tutup karetnya tidak lepas (saya mah selotipin lagi buat pengamanan ekstra). Botol ini muat ASI sampai 120ml tapi saya ga sarankan isi lebih dari 100ml kalau untuk dibawa-bawa. Pengalaman dibawa di cooler bag dan tutupnya lepas, tumpah deh ke mana-mana. Pediihh liat ASInya kebuang.

Pernah juga dikasih botol UC1000 sama mertua. Temen juga ada yang suggest pake itu aja. Tapi lama-lama ga sreg karena susah dibersihkan (mulut botolnya kan kecil banget tuh, sikat botol aja susah masuk) dan ga ada ukuran ml-nya. Bahan tutupnya juga bikin kuatir, takut karatan (walau so far nggak pernah) jadi saya beli tutup botol plastiknya di Tokopedia. Murah sih harga tutupnya. Lumayan buat cadangan kalau semua botol lagi terpakai.

Setelah browsing, saya coba botol kaca BabyPax ukuran 150ml. Takarannya juga diemboss kaya BKA dan desain leher botolnya menyerupai botol plastik standard neck, jadi bisa langsung dipasangkan ke pompa. Tutup botolnya juga bisa dipasangi dot. Tapi mungkin nanti kalau anaknya sudah ingin pegang botol sendiri, botolnya musti dilapisi Siliskin, pelindung silicon supaya ga licin dan ga panas. Kekurangannya, ni botol gede dan berat, bikin cooler bag makin beraat. Botol ini juga gampang lepas dari si pompa Medela Swing, jadi waswas meganginnya. Anehnya, kalau dipasang di pompa Unimom sih kenceng-kenceng aja tuh. Babypax juga jual botol ukuran 90 ml.



Ada baby shop online yang bilang kalo botol kaca RBS lebih bagus dari Babypax (dia ga jual RBS jadi aku percaya testinya haha) jadi kucoba beli juga. Bahannya kaca borosilikat. Sekilas lihat saja sudah nampak kalau buatannya memang lebih halus dari Babypax. Tutupnya juga lebih rapat dan rapi dibanding Babypax. Kalau kita pakaikan dot ada tutup dotnya. Kelemahannya: takaran ml-nya dicetak dan ga per 10 ml. Yang tercantum hanya 30, 50, 70, 100, dan 120 ml. Kalau botol ini langsung klop sama pompa Medela, tapi malah agak keras muternya kalo di pompa Unimom.

   

3. Cooler bag dan ice pack

Dibeliin cooler bag merk Igloo sama temen (thank you Lin); katanya supaya ga terlalu keliatan kaya tas ASI pas naik bus hehe… Jadi inget di blog orang lain yang cerita dia bawa cooler box, sampe dikira jualan es sama supir angkot hahaha.

Muatan Igloo ini gedee banget, ada 2 kompartemen. Kompartemen depan saya pakai buat simpan ASI. Kompartemen belakang buat bawa pompa (ga lupa tetap dibungkus dulu sama sarung pompanya, in case kena dingin dari kompartemen sebelah), breastmilk bag, dan printilan-printilan kaya pembersih tangan dan botol sabun kecil. Kadang dompet juga saya masukin situ haha… tapi saya bungkus terpisah sama barang-barang lain. Tasnya kuat dan enteng. Emang agak gede sih, lebarnya aja 1 jengkal, tapi masih mirip-mirip hand bag lah kalo dari segi ukuran.

Karena tasnya gede, saya beli ice gel ukuran besar juga (yang lekuk 3) harganya Rp 37 ribu. Saya juga pikir kalau yang besar jadi lebih lama melelehnya, karena setelah ngantor harus bawa bagnya sekitar 12 jam di luar rumah. Risikonya ya jadi berat aja sih. Untuk pemakaian singkat (4-5 jam) baru saya pakai ice pack yang kecilan, tapi karena tasnya gede saya tetap pakai 2 ice pack. Takut kurang dingin.
Tas ini juga gampang dibersihkan. Bagian luarnya saya sikat pakai air sabun dan bagian dalam dilap dengan lap basah.

4   4. Sterilizer

Dikasih steam sterilizer Chicco sama temen (nuhun ya ceu). Muat 6 botol ukuran standard + aksesoris di rak atasnya. Ukuran dan kinerja standar lah (sudah dicompare dengan sterilizer merk Crown, IQ Baby, dan Boster). Jangan males bersihin aja, karena lama-lama kotor juga kan. Sisa uap airnya suka nempel di tutupnya lalu netes lagi ke dalam sterilizernya.

Saya juga request Panasonic dish dryer di wishlist dan dibeliin sama temen-temen ex-kantor lama (makasih ya Jeng2). Sekarang belom dipake karena ni alat gede bener, baik dari ukuran maupun pemakaian listrik. Rencananya nanti buat sterilin peralatan makan kalo si baby mulai dikasih MPASI dan mainannya yang dishwasher-friendly.

5. Baju dan pakaian dalam yang nyaman untuk menyusui dan mompa, dan kalo bisa bra yang bisa mompa hands-free.

Selain bra menyusui, saya beli bra khusus mompa hands-free di ASIBayi. Sebenernya sih bisa coba buat sendiri pakai sport bra yang dipotong tengahnya (tapi mana ada waktu). Sayangnya bra ini mahal (Rp 400ribuan) jadi ga saya pakai setiap hari (kan harus dicuci lah yaw). Bra ukuran S (sesuai petunjuk ukuran di websitenya) juga agak kekecilan, takutnya menghambat produksi ASI karena terlalu menekan dada, jadi cuma saya pakai saat mompa aja. 


6. Feeder (sarana pemberian ASIP ke bayi)

Sarana yang disarankan untuk memberikan ASI adalah pipet, sendok, dan cup feeder. Tapi sejujurnya, saya nggak seidealis ibu-ibu lain yang sama sekali ga kasih babynya dot. Bayi saya emang pernah bingung puting waktu baru lahir (sampe harus relaktasi segala) tapi setelah usia 2,5 bulan saya cobakan dia pakai dot lagi dan dia bisa tuh. Malam saya tetap nyusuin dia langsung buat bonding dan mancing produksi (kenyotan baby biasanya lebih bisa mancing produksi daripada pompa lho). 

Untuk pemberian ASIP ke bayi saya, saya awalnya menggunakan dot Pigeon standar, lalu saya gonta-ganti dengan Tommee Tippee closer to nature (kemakan iklan hahaha.. Ceritanya bentuknya lebih menyerupai nipple tapi in the end buat bayi mah ga ada yang seasoy nenen mamanya). Katanya ada juga bayi yang baru bingput umur 7-8 bulanan dan salah satu cara cegahnya ya dengan gonta-ganti tipe dot. Kelemahannya si Tomtip: nipplenya khusus musti dari merk tsb, ga bisa ganti merk lain walau sama-sama wide neck. Saya kasih nipple 0+ yang slow flow ke si baby supaya lebih sesuai aliran ASI saya kalo dia nyusu langsung ke saya. So far ga ada masalah sih dari si bayi.


7. Makanan yang bergizi dan occasional supplement
FYI, booster ASI yang betulan manjur tuh cuma 1: ibu yang bahagia. Ibu yang hepi akan percaya diri dan oksitosinnya membuat ASI lancar. Booster-booster lain sih hanya menambah kepercayaaan diri ibu alias buat sugesti aja. Brol ngobrol sama bu ibuk lain, rata-rata pada pernah coba Lancar ASI, MamaSoya, VSOY, ASI booster tea, dan milkmother tea. Saya sih cukup daun katuk (dan occasionally duren) aja deh, abisnya booster lain ga gitu ngaruh. Ibu-ibu lain juga banyak yang gitu, akhirnya malah boosternya martabak ato apa gitu hahaha...


8. Pengetahuan dan panduan cara memerah, menyimpan, dan memberikan ASI perah dengan benar. Bisa dicari di website Asosiasi Ibu Menyusui Indonesia dan website Babycenter.com. Kellymom juga bagus, scientific dan nggak judgemental.


9. Nursing apron, kadang butuh kalo mompanya di tempat umum. Beberapa teman saya mompa di cubicle atau di mushola, jadi mereka sedia nursing cover. Saya pun pernah mompa di mobil pakai nursing cover hehehe...