Hmmmm

Bugger.
Gymboree was a total wash-out. We knew it was relatively expensive, but we thought it would be worth it for Iola to be able to hang out with some other kids and for Tash to meet some other parents to play with while I'm at work.
First off, they hadn't mentioned the hidden costs (eg a 1.3 million joining fee). Secondly, we hadn't realised that the sessions go for a grand total of 45 minutes. Thirdly, yesterday's session consisted of 40 minutes worth of fifteen babies sitting in their pembantu's laps while being given tambourine's to shake and scarves to play peek-a-boo with, followed by five minutes of a bright young thing saying, "Now put your baby on your shoulder and rock her to sleep!"
Put Iola on your shoulder and rock her to sleep after forty minutes of banging on things and being teased by not being able to grab the other kids? Please.
So basically we would be looking at forking out approximately twice what it would cost us to have a fulltime, live-in nanny for two forty-five minute sessions a week of highly structured activity. Bugger that.
I think the clincher for Tash was when the lady from Gymboree asked her what kind of learning programme we have Iola on. Tash's reply? "She's nine months old. She has a cardboard box she likes to play in."
But all is not lost.
Pretty much every mall we've been to (including the one ten minutes walk up the road) is well stocked with elaborate, 3D children's playgrounds that cost about a dollar an hour to use if supervised by an adult, two dollars if you want to leave your little cherub to the tender mercies of their staff.
They're actually quite amazing. I don't know if they still exist in this litigious age, but when we were kids there used to be these fun-house type constructions at Moomba and the Royal Easter/Melbourne Shows. They usually had a few tunnels and rope bridges, and maybe a room or two with padded pillars that kids could bounce themselves (and each other) off. They were very popular, but in retrospect there wasn't a whole lot to them.
Now, imagine you're eight years old again, and you are given a chance to design your own fun-house. You've got as much money as it takes, a team of architects and engineers to make your every whim concrete, and an unlimited supply of padded vinyl in primary colours. The result is pretty much what you'd find in any mall in Surabaya. I'll have to get some pictures of them--you won't truly grasp how damn cool they are unless you actually see them.
I suppose, given that Surabaya is a typically Asian, high-density city, these kind of take the place of parks. There are a few parks around, but if all the parents who can afford to go to malls took their kids there to play, there'd be nowhere for the street kids to sleep!
So we reckon we'll start taking Iola to those more often. She's way too little to take full advantage of them, but she loved the playground at Alpha Zone (where the ball room photos were taken), and it'll be good for her to play with other kids.