Hello from the other side*

Hallo...

Well its been quite a while since my last post. I made some posts through blog mobile application, somehow it failed and the story is lost between draft or posted, oh i don't know...
I gave up easily on mobile application, as easy as i give up on Jakarta rush hours traffic...

So many things going on since my last post, I plan to write on the house project and latest travelling story of Si Muka Lebar and Kaki Berbulu.
But this post today is about perspective.

As i grow up, I realize that life is not like what we always think. I used to have an idea that living in Bekasi (25 km to my office) is a waste of time, well having lived in Kalibata (less than 10 km from my office) for 3 years, spending 20 minutes (in Ied holiday no traffic at all) to 2 hours driving (average driving is 1 hour) to the office, and by living in Bekasi I only spent 45 minutes to 2 hours to the office (average driving is 50 minutes). It turned out it's so much easier living in Bekasi than in Kalibata, LOL, I must be crazy if I say this 2 years ago. That how I lived, we tend to live under a perspective, wait until you stand on the other side, and see that from a different perspective, you will have a different view.

I found this story, when i browsed for our soon to be new country president in the Starship (curiosity killed the cat... I don't want to be curious, as the Starship director interviewed him, i went on line looking for his track record as well, hihi it turned out that he is a leader that is loved and respected by his employee), he told this story to his employee...
There is a picture of a beautiful beach, and he asked the employee what does this picture tells you? It's a a beautiful beach, white sands and blue water... Then the picture zoomed out, it turn out to be a view from an airplane window... Further zoom out it's a post card showing a airplane interior with a window showing the beautiful beach (more or less that's the story, i forgot the exact story ha-ha!).

that's a perspective, the way you think of something it's really depend on your perspective. So, try to see a thing from different perspective you might get a better idea of a thing.

Don't judge a book by it's cover. you will never know what it has until you are in the very end of the chapter. but not all people have time to read through a book, how do we know if it's good? You might get a summary of a book but back again to perspective, the summary writer might have a different perspective from ours. So, there is no short cut in undestanding things, if you new in a thing, walk it step by step, unless you like surprises, pick a guess, go with it and get lost in possibilities...

The point of what I want to say in this post is, judging is boring, so try to look into a different perspective, you might get a different new brighter better view.

Happy Sunday!
*I believe it's part of Adele's song lyrics, called "Hallo"

What did you see in this picture?

Let's build a nest - Part 1

A wife need a house, a new bigger nest to put all this books, plates, bowls, bags, shoes and clothes... Seriously. Kalibata is about to blow up, with all the stuffs we collect along the journey.

We've been trying to make this post for a long time, and now it's the time....


This story is started from Muka Lebar dream to have a perfect house, not only a house but a place she called home, that meets her criteria:

1. A garden
2. No balcony
3. No walls between rooms other than bathroom and bed room.
4. The land should be at least 100 meters sq.

On our second years of marriage, we finally have budget (limited) to start looking for a house. YAAAAY!!!

This is the real challenge, property price in Jakarta is insanely high! 

For our budget, definitely. We try to look at the outskirt area (Ragunan, Cilandak KKO, Depok, we won't bother to see a house in BSD, price is too high and too far...) and it brings nightmare only by going to see the house... the traffic is really bad, small alley, small street, one car street... on a 90 meters land, build a 120 meters building, very high price (unbelievable). 

It suffocates me, every time:

1. Trip to see the house (more than 2 hours, can you imagine how to go to work in this traffic?)
2. Open house, (welcome! walk few steps another wall, end of the house...)
3. Price list (there are more the digits on the price list than the steps you can take from the front door to the back door....); and
4. journey back to our home in Kalibata (another hours on the traffic).

The seller/mid man has this NASTY trick, they put on a price with our budget on the adv. and when we visit the house, the price is not they advertised! It's a big disappointment, when we arrived there (after going through 2 hours traffic) knowing the property they sell is not what they advertised. I wish I can claim them by hourly rate, for the hours spent wasted on their fake advertisement. 

After 6 months, having this weekend routine, it breaks my spirit. I'am sick of looking for a house and started to see a bigger apartment.

Which bring more headache. I did fell in love with a unit and booked one, turns out the developer do not have cooperation with my bank (cancelled), then I fell in love (I fell so hard it hurts) with another unit, with price double our budget. Ha-ha! 

It's like a journey to find your significant other, you find one, getting to know each other, you fell in love but it just did not work. you broke up, it's gone.... 

I wonder, why it is so hard to find a home? is it me? or is it the property blood sucking market, that demand too much from me? 

I have a serious standard of a home and when the perfect price charming come, it shoves me away down to the gutter.... Only Mbak-mbak and Mas-mas coming with European cars that can afford the real good property, or some people with money from God know where that can afford them. It's unbelievable, I come to a low point and wonder how could a good honest hard worker couples like us, cannot afford to buy a property in the city we work our ass off? 

So, desperate, we start looking at a place the least expected, Bekasi.

• Advantages: It has good access to Jakarta, (plenty of choices for access) All you have to do just pick a high good ground free from flood (but all Jakarta area are flooded in heavy rain... so flood is normal... right?!)
• Disadvantages: My in laws live in Bekasi. Self-explanatory.

We visited 4 houses in total, here's the summary:

House 1 - Rumah Nenek.

• Advantages

Spacious, High ceiling, 170sqm land, 120sqm house, perfect.

Smelly house because a 90 y.o. old lady we called "Nenek" live alone (no problem, we can renovate the house).

good price

• Disadvantages

Family drama. I love drama, i will tell you the 'brief'story (can you imagine the complete detail of the drama? I will took pages!)

The house attached with the youngest son of this old lady and the son despite he is a 40 year old man, acts like a little boy.

Here is the story, Nenek is from Padang, with matrilineal bloodline (means the woman continue the family bloodline, not the man). Nenek only has 2 kid, the eldest daughter and the youngest son. In accordance to their culture, if Nenek passed away, all of her property shall be owned by the daughter. This is the problem, when Nenek try to sell the house to us, the youngest son try to protest her mother decision, afraid that the money from the sales will be for his older sister. After fighting in front of us, Nenek is upset and said that She has the right over the house and the money will be for her, since she will spent her old days in Europe with all her friends (then we know that Nenek is world traveler, just like me!) and the next day we come to take the copy of certificate to apply the house loan. What happen next? It never happens. The certificate of the house is gone, either Nenek forget where to keep it or someone took the certificate, it remains mystery that I do not want to solve.

House 2 - Rumah Ibu (Nenek's Daughter) - Yes, daugther lives nearby

• Advantages

Spacious, High ceiling, 190sqm land, 150sqm house, perfect.

Need serious fix (no problem, we can renovate the house).

good price

• Disadvantages

The actual land is bigger than in the certificate, and this might jeopardize our loan application with the discrepancy. 

House 3 - Rumah Mbak  I 

• Advantages

Spacious, High ceiling, 170sqm land, 150sqm house, perfect.

Old house but in good condition 

• Disadvantages

30% above our budget.

House 4 - Rumah Mbak  II (sister of Mbak I) - yes, the sister lives side by side.

• Advantages

Spacious, High ceiling, 170sqm land, 150sqm house, perfect.

good price 

• Disadvantages

house is 50cm below the street level, even the water level is higher then the house. So it needs a serous fix, not just a renovation but we need to demolish the house and re-build it (need more money to re-build a house!)

Note: All of this house located in the same street with my in-laws. Purrrrfect.....

Some say, picking a house is like picking a husband/wife... if you are meant to be with each other you will be... no matter how hard, difficult, impossible it may seem, you will be together.

We'll see, which house is meant to be with us....