Living in a dream

Decades ago, when I started work in the big city, just broken up my high school boyfriend, I thought that I might probably end up alone, in an apartment, with a cat, sipping a mug of hot tea sitting in the balcony, looking at the city light, so relaxing.

Little did I know, that years later, I did live in apartment that forbids cat, with a balcony too small to sit, I was able to stand and sip tea, but looking my neighbor window in the other apartment building, not so relaxing... 

Sometimes, dreams do come true but sometimes life also gives us unexpected things. As a person that always see the glass is half full, I always keep optimistic in whatever challenges that life throws at me and I always dream big!

Few years ago, I gave birth and desperately sad having to get back to the office when my maternity leave ends, my husband said that, now my challenge is balancing between mothering and working. As an optimist, absolutely I said "OK! I CAN DO IT" - so I am juggling working (while pumping - lucky to have a supportive environment so I can working, meeting even presenting while pumping when it's my schedule to pump) and taking care of my precious baby. Sometimes, being optimist is tiring, some days, when life is too hard, the travelling back home is too long, the assignment is too much and other unpleasant things happen - I just think, it would be better if I can quit my job, but I enjoy my work, ah, it would be perfect if I can just stay at home, while doing my work! It would be a dream job!

Little did I know, a pandemic happens in 2020 that changes our life... jeng... jeng... jeng... we work from home (WFH) mostly - 5 days a week! I am living in a dream!

At the first weeks of WFH, we were still adjusting, as optimist, things are going great, meeting is just one click away! 

But when I had no domestic assistant (we decide we didn't need assistant in 2020 before pandemic), means now I am juggling work, take care my kid basic needs (eat, poo, pee, kiss, hugs, plays, etc) and take care of the house.

I decided to be realistic, not to push, if my kid hasn't taken a shower, when it's already my meeting schedule - let it be. It the meeting is near lunch time, I have to prepare lunch while meeting - let it be. I am thankful that I have supportive colleagues and most people also WFH, so kid crying in the background is acceptable (by me at least).

But, sometimes life throws too much at me, I get angry easily (usually in the afternoon - the darker the sky gets, the darker it becomes my mood as well) the peak is when I had to take training for a certification (preparation for the test and interview), my day to day works (mountain of assignments) and kid toilet training, not a good combo - I was in a pre-test (it was 30 or 15 minutes test) and my kid had to pee and of course she did peeing next to me on the floor - this happens twice. I put on the diapers the next day, postponed the toilet training (I also want to resign and cry during my performance evaluation in front of my boss because it's too much for me to handle).

I've been living in a dream for quite sometimes, more than a year (probably more?) and I am grateful. Looking back to decisions I have made during this dreamy period, some decisions I am not proud to make and sometimes it makes me feel like I am a bad person a bad mother. But, I want to let my self know, that every decision I made, I made in the best interest of my kid at that time, given the (limited) sources that I have. I really hope I could do better, be better - you know I always try to.

 

Hallo Japan!

Hallo,

I know this has been a long time... but my 2017 resolution requires me to write again :)
So, here I am writing on Sunday raining morning instead of cuddling with my lovely husband Kaki Berbulu (literally translated to be Hairy Foot).

Since, the easiest subject is about travelling so, here's the story about our holiday in Japan. Well, we have been travelling to several places since we get together, each year to Bali (must go place) and if we have more money once a year overseas or any where in Indonesia of we can't afford to go anywhere overseas. Our dream is to go to Turkey, Japan, UK (hubby), Paris (me).

During two first year of our marriage in accordance to our Long Term Budgeting Plan (It's a book with a picture of cat that we use to make travelling plan since we're dating, that draws all the big plan detailing to monthly - sometimes weekly if we (read: I) feel ambitious - which opened only when we make the plans! - in my defense, yes I did remember all of those plan! so we didn't have to open it all the time) all the monies go to saving for car (first year) and house (second year).

Well, because our (read: my) lousy money handling it's extended to our fourth year (blame it on me, house investor maniacs with money from God knows where that you can read here and all Tumi bags). One sunny weekend in September 2015 (fourth year of marriage), Kaki Berbulu tells me that he's dying to go travelling (and yes such thing exist for us) so, we visit Garuda Travel Fair.

Our initial plan is to go on next year September 2016 because always make big travel plan a year ahead. The thing is the promotion ticket travel date is until end of March 2016, so what we did is we sat on a corner in JCC, start to calculate the budget planning and as a devoted reliable wife with great financial management skill, I will make that happen... After 30 minutes of calculating - I never speculating! - I said we can make it, thus we bought ticket to Japan for Feb 2016! Yay!!!!

The thing from September to February is 4 months to go, limited budget (limited buffer for error) and as a planner you need a robust plan. This is what you can do:

1. Make detail calculation means you need to have a detail plan. Start with the place you want to visit and things you want to eat (that's the main purpose of travelling to see and to eat) then you can start building your itinerary, to the detail of cost of every trains/subway trip, food to eat and entry ticket of place to visit. Sometimes buying pass is cheaper (bus pass in Kyoto and bundling ticket for ICOCA+Haruka from KIX to downtown Osaka), however in our case buying JR Pass is more expensive than paying single ride using ICOCA (for Osaka and Kyoto) or SUICA (for Tokyo). 
2. Split transaction (especially big one) - we purchase accommodation earlier and we split one transaction per month.
3. Use cash wisely - in Japan most small restaurant don't accept card. So, split your payment and use cash or credit card wisely. Check, your place to visit whether they accept card or not.

Nothing is impossible, so if you want it you will find a way to make it.

Later on I will share the Japan Journey! I need to go Kaki Berbulu already wakes up :)

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?

Aku Pulang

Gue heran kenapa hasrat menulis tidak timbul-timbul, but anyway i need to tell this... 

Pekerja ibu kota tuh hebat. Bangun subuh untuk kerja, pulang dengan usaha luar biasa, dari macet dijalan, desak2an di angkutan umum, effortnya luar biasa sekali. Gue gak habis pikir, apa yang membuat mereka tahan, well mungkin kalau elo sudah 10 tahun menjalani itu, baca tulisan gue cuma "ya elah biasa aja kali". Tapi maksud gue adalah alasan orang-orang ini mau melakukan itu semua... 

Gue inget lagunya Iwan Fals, orang pinggiran, owaeo... Lupa teksnya hehe, intinya orang pinggiran ini betul-betul pekerja keras. Salut.

Tapi gue sendiri, setelah 6 tahun kerja, gak mau terus menerus seperti ini (ya elah naik kereta rutin baru 2 minggu), maksud gue adalah, alangkah baiknya ada cara yang lebih baik untuk pergi kerja. Bagaimana caranya? Entah lah, pasti ada. 

Pemimpin Indonesia nanti tu harusnya berfikir untuk membela kaum pinggiran ini. Kaum pekerja yang sejak pagi buta berangkat kerja, banting tulang untuk menggerakan roda perekonomian, kemudian harus pulang dengan bersusah payah demi bertemu keluarganya.

Kaum ini adalah tulang punggung keluarga, bagaimana caranya? Buatlah sistem transportasi umum, murah, cepat, aman dengan akses yang mudah.

Dengan sisa-sisa kecerdasan gue berfikir (otak kecerdasan gue ud habis digerus2 bos sama mikir maksi dmn siang ini), kalau saja transportasi bisa mudah dan murah, ongkos hidup akan turun. Insya Allah, gaji bersisa buat rekreasi atau bangun istana di atas gunung... Hehe..

Siapa tau gak ada lagi tuntutan naikin UMR, buruh pada bilang "soriiih pak, gaji saya ud cukup segini aja, lebih-lebih malah..."

Bukan hanya uang yang bersisa, waktu pun bersisa banyak, pulang masih bisa masak opor ayam, bantu anak bikin PR, atau sekedar nonton DVD... 

Kalau transportasi umum baik, mobil pribadi berkurang, macet berkurang... Hemat bbm, Insya Allah ongkir baju di online shop turun... 

Demikian saya sampaikan, harapan saya sore ini, setelah mengejar kereta sampai jantung mau meledak rasanya. Dengan penuh harap semoga presiden yang terpilih nanti agar baik jalannya, hei! Tuk tik tak tik tuk tik tak tik tuk tik tak tik tuk...

Cheers,

Si Muka Lebar

Wrap up - My Stories

Gue dilanda malas menulis, hampir 2 tahun nih... So many stories to tell, so resolusi 2014 (yang baru gue putuskan hari ini) adalah mulai rajin nulis blog lagi...

Karena ada beberapa tempat baru yang pertama kali kita (si Muka Lebar dan Kaki Berbulu) datangi, atau gue sendiri (I've been travel a lot lately), so many stories to tell...

tapi kali ini tiba-tiba pusing, jadi males lagi... uda yah uda yah... dahhh... oh iya, hari ini kita makan Yunus

Mie Yunus masih lumayan enak, namun sambelnya pucat warnanya sekarang, kayanya merica aja pake tepung (sotoy), cabe mahal sih.... tempat baru yang harus di share adalah Lombok, Java Trip, hotel baru di Yogya (selain Rumah Mertua), hotel lucu di Solo dan Pulau Macan...

dan project ambisius 2014... renovasi rumah...

Oke, sakit kepala, ciao!

Rain = Hujan

Hujan itu rejeki dan pengingat bagi umat manusia kalau,
1. Buang sampah jng sembarangan
2. Got jangan ditimbun
3. Pohon Dan daerah resapan air itu penting
4. Kalo selain pny sepeda motor dirumah itu memudahkan embak belanja ke pasar, pny perahu karet juga memudahkan dikala hujan besar... Sukur2 ada rejeki beli helikopter...

Intinya hujan ini blessing in disguise... Kenapa gue bisa nulis jam segini, krn di gue pusing, ntr pulang gmn? Dan karena prajurit level tinggi dan tertinggi, termasuk prajurit pengganti pimpinan sementara Starship troopers sedang meeting semua diluar kota, ngomongin strategi expansi tahun ini...

Pas banget benernya tidur siang di siang mendung ini, damn si muka lebar banyak kerjaan..

Jadi intinya, gue berdoa semoga orang2 yg mampu beli rumah dan mampu membuat perumahan, orang yg mampu mengatur infrastruktur, Tata Kota, aliran sungai, pematusan dan bina marga negeri ini diberikan kemampuan untuk berfikir, gimana melakukan pembangunan yg berkesinambungan....

Karena mau lo naikin jalan 1 km juga, bukan itu masalahnya... Tp kemana harus mengalir itu air...

Jd kalo kita ga mau banjir minimal kita Bantu tu air ngalir... Caranya gmn? Goggling aja bos... Hp jng dipake wasap, twiter sama path doang... Jangan whining aje...

Seperti kata orang bijak "if you dont like it, change it.... Stop bitchin' and do nothing about it"...

Selamat bekerja lagi...

Meee! I'm here!

Over the weekend we plan to spend our weekend in a young adult, mature activity, such as reading.

So here we are, reading. Now, i guess so...

My husband loves to read... We both lover to read, but I easily get distracted or get bored.... So most of the time it's just my husband reading.

When he do reading, he is so focus... Won't listen to me, and me trying so hard getting his attention.

I  did many things, call him, chat (more like me talking he's nggeremeng 'hmm') with him, put my hand on his book (jangan ditiru ini tidak sopan), or any thing else, 

jeez it doesnt work, so it ends up, this mature activity, my husband keep reading his book, and me meracau, ngeblog, and merengek minta pulang atau makan.

Ah, so much for reading book on weekend... I better eat.

#late post, written some day in Nov 2013

A Monday Pray

Ya Tuhan, mudahkan lah jalan pulang kami, berikan kami kekuatan dan kesabaran, untuk sampai ke rumah ditengah dinginnya hujan dan macetnya jalan.
Limpahkan lah rahmat-Mu kepada orang yang berusaha dan bersabar untuk pulang hari ini, lindungi mereka yang tidak sabaran dan berikan petunjuk kepada pemimpin kami, bagamana menyelesaikan permasalahan macet di Jakarta.
Amin.
#I have nothing to say for today traffic...

My (Imaginary) Life

I am an adventurer.

but i feel like i am trapped in this life, in the job my profession.

I love the idea of trying new things and sometime I make it comes true. I am young and there is so many things in this world i haven't tried. yet.

one time I have the idea of being a writer. resign from my job and live in a house above the hill at Cimahi and write a novel about a girl kills her bff because a boy or a rich girl from rusia, K, try to escape with her sister and twin brother... from the people destroy their family and killed her parents. or about a women working her ass off for dream she never had.

another time, after having a very adventurous trip at Borneo, I wish i am a photographer or journalist. i travel around the globe to write about people and places. i want to resign and applied for a job at NGO involve in forestry or orangutan or tiger issue... or whatever.

some time i wish i was someone else who is not me.

I imagine, I resigned, me my self have 4 kids. feed them my self, clean them my self. take them to school, helping them out with the homework. living in a my dream house, big garden and big window. have 3 cats. amazing imaginary life.

and i realise, the only writing i made, is this blog and my adventure only happens when i am lucky there is  business calls to mother nature (considering my profession, the calls is very rare!) and my 4 kids' name are GSA (gas sales agreement), Major Contract, Minor Contract and BPA (blanket purchase agreement).
Maybe my imagination is just resigned from my work. i feel desperate, suicidal and pessimistic that's all.

BUT to be honest with my self, i don't mind at all... well life is hard. but i am not gonna stop... not now not today. so i will keep imagining things that i am not and do what ever i am today at my best.

What a lovely life i have.... aaaahhh....

Canteen, H-2 to Chrismast with a glass of Hara Kiwi  (even the cocktail sound suicidal) and margarita pizza (nice thin pizza with mozzarella fresh tomatoes, rocket and blackpapper).

Kedai Kopi: Boring Hours

Mulai kapan tau itu gue janji kepada diri sendiri untuk lebih rajin menulis. Penting untuk kesehatan jiwa.

Banyak hal yang sudah lama tidak gue lakukan stelah pindah ke Starship, jadi Starship troopers bisa tampak mudah sih, gampil kalo dibanding jadi peri-peri di lawfirm in wonderland... eh gak juga deng... maklum Starship stakeholdernya banyak... supernya lagi gue kagak bole cuti karena beberapa project besar on going sampai akhir tahun ini. So, disabar-sabarin deh mau main dipantai...

Balik ke hal yang sudah lama tidak dilakukan, salah satunya adalah permukabukuan... buset itu lama bgt, gue buka cuma pas si Susepah kakak perguruan mo ngeliat bocah main (yang ternyata gue lupa passwordnya--yaaaaah...) iseng gue buka hari ini, makin aneh aja bentukannya. tutup langsung!

Berkicau kadang-kadang gue lakukan saat mati ide atau boker. Inget boker gue jadi kangen si Kebo, gue suka telpon dia saat sembelit, entahlah ngobrol sama dia suka bikin mules, damn i miss her! Tiap pagi gue suka telpon dia, ngomong berapa menit gue lngs udahan, belom selesai cerita, pdhl gue yg telpon... akhirnya dia tanya "teh, kenapa?..." pas gue jelasin, dia malah misuh-misuh "Jan**k!". Mungkin itu sebabnya sekarang dia jarang angkat telpon dia, gue mau coba kalo gue sembelit, masi mempan gak suara dia....

Sabtu kemarin gue ketemuan sama rombongan sirkus, si wanita iblis setan-Wabistan, Cabidut sama Ciput. Singkat kata, setelah bertahun-tahun Ciput ud kewong sama Pak Polisi yang Baik Hati, sedangkan si Muka Lebar, cabidut dan wabistan masih single di KTP (salahin si KUA buah batu, buku nikah gue kagak beres!), occasionnya simple si Cabidut mo kewong! Bagi-bagi seragam dong...

Gue menyadari kalau seragam kawinan org2 sungguh banyak dilemari, sebagian udah dilego dan laku, sebagian terlalu aneh edgy... state of the art! (termasuk salah satunya kostum vasco de gamma, harus menunggu penikmat seni sejati yang paham keindahannya). Daaaan eng ing eng... seragamnya Cabidut kuning (ternyata seragam ke-2 kuning gue -- gue pulak yang bantu milih, lupa ud pny kuning), gue mulai give up juga model aneh2 (mostly karena makin aneh makin mahal jahitnya makin besar kemungkinan gagal, kecuali gue jahit sendiri), gua jahit simple2 aja...

Maunya kaya artis favorit gue si Ajol di web ini... Eh, inget gue, kawinannya di mesjid agung, bisa lempar jumroh orang gue pake baju anonoh... Jadi gimana dong? Gue merasa sejak malam itu, gue berubah, tidak terlalu bersemangat, tidak ada ide gila segar mengalir, mati ide... Entah mengapa. I feel tired, cuma pengen tidur bobok makan pizza sambil nonton film sampah di TV. Arghhh, I really holiday!

Indonesia: Dari Sabang sampai Marauke*

Gue bukan nasionalis. Jujur saja,gue bangga jd bangsa Indonesia, tapi ga seniat temen2 gue yang mau demo ke jln untuk nasib bangsa, atau jadi pns untuk mengabdi pada negara, atau pusing2 mikirin isu bangsa ini, apalagi sampe masuk organisasi kebangsaan (kecuali isu pariwisata mau deh gue ikut mikirin).

Hari ini adalah hari terakhir suatu workshop tentang human rights, yang bahasannya ga jelas antara human rights, business process apa kepastian hukum, ya pokoknya seputaran itu. Bukan materi workshop yang mau gue ceritain, tapi gue ketemu sama seorang gadis (kira2 begitu lah kan belom kewong cynn...) yang berasal dari Aceh. Karena dia dari Aceh, dan kemarin baru aja gempa Sukabumi yang katanya 6.1 SR (ini adalah skala ritcher, bkn tmn gue yg br melahirkan dan gue kira bayinya cowo pdhl cewe), kita ngobrol lah soal gempa. Satu statement dari dia yg bikin gue kaget "setelah gempa relawan asing lngs dtg, hari pertama stlh gempa, bantuan org Indonesia gak ada sama sekali. Gue sampe sebel, bener #$& (menyebut nama gerakan sparatis di daerahnya) ngapain jadi bangsa Indonesia. Gue benci.." selanjutnya dia cerita bagaimana distribusi bantuan yg ga cepat disalurkan, bantuan yg tertahan di Medan, sampai kadarluwasa, terlebih lagi bantuan evakuasi lewat udara yang dilakukan salah satu maskapai penerbangan nasional yang menurut dia birokrasinya bertele-tele. Dia sendiri dievakuasi ke Medan dengan pesawat Australia, yang menurut dia tanpa birokrasi yg lngs memuat warga selama kapasitas pesawat masih cukup.

Gue otomatis bilang ke dia "gue minta maaf (atas nama bangsa ini???) tapi mungkin saat itu bangsa kita sedang koordinasi bantuan, kita kan ga pernah kena bencana besar sebelumnya..blablabla" mulai lah gue membela mengapa bantuan terlambat, yang gue kagetkan selain statement teman baru gue ini, adalah reaksi gue yg langsung minta maaf, dan membuat justifikasi agar sang teman baru tidak merasa ditinggalkan... Ya mungkin pointless, karena peristiwa itu sudah 8 tahun berlalu, alasan pembenar gue juga mungkin ga benar sama sekali, atau mungkin semoga dia sudah lupa dan memaafkan atau memahami ketidak mampuan pemerintahan untuk cepat tanggap dalam keadaan darurat. Tapi bagian cerita dia sempat ga mau dan benci jadi bangsa Indonesia, bikin gue kepikiran sampe malem ini...

Gue baca dibuku Sejarah Kecil Indonesia-nya Rosihah Anwar (pastinya bukan buku gue tp buku suami gue si Kaki Berbulu) gimana sejarah Aceh dahulu, ya sedikit2 lo tau lah sejarahnya... Ya, mungkin ketidak sukaan itu ada ya, (ya elaah pemerintah  apalagi kelakuan anggota dewan yg bikin enek siape sih yg suka...) tapi sampai memikirkan mau merdeka, pasti sedih sekali rasanya... gue   ga bs membiarkan teman gue memikirkan hal semacam itu, jadi ga tenang gue skrg, jadi kepikiran, dia masih mikir gitu gak yah... I hope she is not. It was years ago, she was young and devastated...

Lesson learned today, gue peduli sama Indonesia ini walaupun gue gak ikutan demo dijalan. Gue peduli Indonesia itu adalah dari Sabang sampai Marauke. Gue pernah baca buku tua di library fakultas hukum, judulnya Indonesia motherland ato apa gitu, yg nulis Mutatuli kalo ga salah, itu buku tua, dan si penulis menggambarkan Indonesia dengan bahasa yg bikin seluruh bulu kuduk lo bediri.... Gue sedih sama org Indonesia yg gak mau jd org Indonesia... Kecuali ikut suami (kodrat istri kan ikut suami cynnn) rasanya kalo harus gak jd orang Indonesia lg pasti sedih bgt...

I dont know what other people think, tapi kalau kesempatan itu ada gue ingin seperti lagu nasional, Indonesia Pusaka ciptaan Ismail Marzuki  "Indonesia tanah lahir beta, ... disana tempat lahir beta, dibuai dibesarkan bunda,.... tempat akhir menutup mata..."**


*ditulis sudah lama --thanks to sinyal penthouse yang kacrutnya luarbiasa--, dan baru dipublish sekarang
**baru dapet googling, sumbernya disini.

Early birds get more worms*

Terlama sepanjang sejarah umat manusia gue gak ngeblog.... Argh I miss writing (other than legal stuffs)... Oke quick catch up in my life:

I am still alive, and I am still strugling in this city, to make a life... a decent one :p

My life consists of Work is amazingly complicated (plenty of them), because I have less girl friends around, only few times I spend with them (and it makes every time I meet them so precious), family away so not much seeing them also, and husband-wife time... full time on weekend. We don't seeing and talking to each other much on work days... We both works so hard so that we can buy a island in the middle of nowhere living in a beach house, reading books and drink coffee all the time, no more drafting agreement and taking care of someone else's billions transactions :D *keep on dreaming*

"Hidup itu perjuangan, bung!" itu kata siapa ya? Entah lah, but I believe it is... Karena babeh (bukan yang gede, he is my butut's husband) mengajarkan bahwa kalo kamu mau sesuatu ya harus usaha... dulu mau beli apa-apa disuruh nulis dulu, bikin karangan. nothing comes for free... malah kadang-kadang udah bikin karangan ga dibeliin (my writing not good enough or babeh ga punya duit aja buat beliin hahaha...)

Sejak kerja di Starship, I go to work early in the morning 5.30 atau 5.45, dan jalanan sudah padat, terkadang merayap penuh sesak dengan kendaraan para pekerja... they are all hard workers! berangkat sebelum matahari terbit dan pulang setelah matahari terbenam...(si kaki berbulu dengan datarnya bilang "karena mereka males macet aja makanya pagi..."---- tapi bukankah macet juga karena banyaknya pekerja yang mau bekerja?).

Gue pulang naik ojek, kadang-kadang busway, with all the other workers... we have to beat the traffic (human traffic bagi pengguna kendaraan umum seperti busway dan bis kota*you know what I mean  if you are using public transportation*), dan gue kagum dengan semua orang yang melalui seluruh perjuangan berangkat-kerja-pulang kerja ini...terlebih lagi kalau sampai rumah masih harus masak, ngurus anak, nyuci-nyuci... betapa hidup adalah perjuangan.

Gue sendiri ritual pulang gue adalah mandi, umbah-umbah, langsung rebahan minum susu sambil baca buku... (terima kasih kepada laundry kiloan di bawah penthouse) kalo gak ngantuk dan dikomplen si kaki berbulu karena kotor, gue nyapu penthouse yang luasnya bisa dipake sebagai tempat turnamen futsal buat 15 tim sekaligus (tim tomcat)... beruntungnya hidup gue =P gak pake masak (maklum si kaki berbulu biasanya pulang setelah gue bobok hehehe)


Most people, yang gue ceritain ritme baru hidup gue (well work in Starship and the marriage life are new things to me) menyeringai, entah kasihan, sedih, merasa aneh, gak normal, orang terdekat terkadang terus terang bilang "are you ok with that?" *kira-kira begitu lah*

Apa yang membuat kita semua mau aja berangkat pagi pulang malem, super tired, but we never stop, we will do it again tomorrow and the next day... well, we do it for many reasons, buat hobi, dari pada bengong, buat beli rubikon, nyekolahin anak, to keep alive... kl gue ya buat beach house tadi, disamping gue suka aja naik busway dan ojek *preeeet*

Menurut gue dengan segala rutinitas weekday gue, setiap weekend adalah kemewahan. Gue akan bersyukur bangun di atas jam 8, bersyukur bs bercengkarama dengan my lovely kaki berbulu, dan sangat bersyukur bs naik mobil kemana-mana, bisa makan di mol (terkadang bak orang susah aja kelakuan gue haha).... bahagia dan nikmatnya itu tidak akan sebanding kalau misalnya tiap workday gue bangun siang (I was living that way), lantas apa spesialnya kalau weekend gue bangun siang?

Bahagia itu sesungguhnya adalah menjadi sederhana, semakin sederhana kita hidup, semakin mudah kita bahagia... Some people may say, I live a pathetic life... but I gladly say that I live my pathetic life happily... Everyone want to be happy, dont they? and if being pathetic (said others that dont understand) makes them happy, just let it be...

*"Early birds get more worms" adalah kata-kata seorang sahabat, di pagi hari di ruang baca kampus. Saat ini kami sedang sama-sama berusaha, dengan cara kami masing-masing. Good luck, B!

GOD: Hello Weekend

Nothing better than waking up in the morning and listening to rock weekend. Maximum volume... Doing nothing. Just listening.

best with the rhythm  I remember from the good old days... When everything is fun, lover is our friends, life was easier...

Few months back, I was visiting a town across the sea, for a best friend wedding... And the journey brought me back to the good old days memories, the best 6 years of my life... I walked and tracked back my path....

The walks, the road, the schools, the shops, the restaurants... I am glad, many have changed (they are bigger and better) but the feeling stays.
I went into my old school, it changed  a lot. (@ratihebat we wont be able to guess a shoes anymore. Tempat wudhu is moved, and we can't see a thing from our class anymore. The view is blocked by a building. So, we won't be able to choose boys by their shoes anymore.)Thank god they did it after we  graduated :D

And there is no more kafe kuning, I am a bit sad, where the berandalans go? Where to eat for hopeless kid who don't want to eat in senior mi titi care (eating deng) or don't want to eat in headmaster care (which makes him richer).... Deep inside I miss the old headmaster R.P.H who always stands every morning in the middle of our school, holding his hands to his chest as if he is the centre of universe... Watching people pass by (or being late)

I always remember those good old days, when our favorite drink is es merah pasti pewarna textile  but we dont care. Sirup susu and nasi kuning kosgoro, burger longga....

The days when blink is all the small things, I go under the bus get hit by a train, keep falling in love, and I will never dedicte my love to somebody else's lover...
When Padi with Sobat is only an opening act at local band festival...
When we want to skip school for MTV music awards and pretending to be reporters to the hotel operator just to talk to So7 on the phone...




And to all those people who spent the good old days with me. I miss you all guys...
Ahhh enough for the memories of the good old days.
People enjoy weekend!
*still listening to rock weekend*

Finally it's on

Well, I have been waiting to live on my own. Decorating my own place... Too much to tell, we'll talk about this later, let's get straight to the point.

According to my plan I will have a grey theme room. It's edgy, modern simple futuristic, anyhow, by the time I moved here my curtain was not ready.

Since we can't live without sun light blocker, the curtain provider give us a substitute curtain, which is not the color we want, arrghdistrubinglyugly, gold and based on my artisty value, I better put the
flag as my curtain (as si Kaki Berbulu did to our balcony glass door), they promise us to replace the curtain on tuesday, which is working day, we can't.

On saturday, I came to them, and they said it was not ready, ok I left with less patience. Today, after having an intense not intimate a bit intimidating high tone discussion and followed by a few destructive actions with si Kaki Berbulu, I came to the curtain provider with a high expectation of my curtain that I can see my edgy grey curtain, and put it on my window. But she said, they are not ready.

My first response was "i'll wait here until it's ready". After few minutes of sitting, she finally told me, that my curtain fabrics was not available due to increase of crude oil price, iraq bombing, and kate middleton also wants it so bad, she buys all the fabrics and wrap her self. Then she told me that the workers are busy, too many orders because it seems that the entire world order the same curtain at the same time ofmy order, and I have to wait several more days...

And then there goes my patience. I am fat angry bitch who wants her grey curtain. And the best part was, when they checked the list, actually based on the list THEY MADE, my curtain is already DONE. Please miss, are you kidding me?

So, here I am enjoying my grey curtain. Ah... I think I can do this all day, starring at my curtain match my bed sheet. Sweet!

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Don't ever...

Don't ever... ever... ever... say..

U will get home early and end up your day watching TV...
It will turn out the otherwise...

Ahhhh.....

My oh My...

Si Muka Lebar bekerja di kantor konsultan, yang gedungnya yang suka kekurangan supply listrik PLN, jadi ase-nya suka gak dingin (yang menurut teori si Kaki Berbulu kalo Senin suka panas karena weekend mati, jadi karena baru dihidupin, gak langsung dingin. Padahal jam 8 juga udah mati tu AC, panas ajee...)

Well anyway kerja di gedung tinggi ada enak enggaknya. Enaknya gaya... Ditanya orang "lantai berapa?" jawab "Lantai 150!" (*banyangan si Muka Lebar the villager kerja di gedung tinggi keren, makin tinggi makin keren*). Walaupun my beloved Butut dulu waktu tes di kantor ini dengan lebainya bilang "Ya ampuuun teteh, kamu sendirian, itu harii minguuuu, gak ada orang, lantai berapa? haaahhh tinggi bangettt... nanti kau ada apa-apa gimana naaakkk?????", padahal waktu test kaya ada 250 peserta lainnya (yah yg ini mark up jumlahnya). Yang mana pas ada gempa aja si emak gak nelpon ayeee... (yang turun lewat tangga darurat sekian puluh lantai sampe bawah gempor). Mana yang mustinya khawatir deh...

Enaknya lagi dipaling atas ada restoran mahal! Sama VIP karoke, sama Bar atau apapun lah... (halah kaya yang ke sana aja, kesnaa juga gak pesen apa-apa, "Larang Cuk!" kalo kata si Wabistan), Seumur hidup si Muka Lebar pernah ke resto itu dua kali, sekali ada selametan apa gitu ("celebrate" kalo kata orang kantor, yang lupa apaan yang di celebrate-in) yang kedua salah pencet lift... kalo lembur, pulangnya kita bisa selift sama mba-mba sexy dan mas-mas trendi yang wangi-wangi.

Emang di kantor orang-orangnya suka lembur, kecuali si Muka Lebar. Yang penting kerjaan kan beres (alesan). Well, gak kaya si Kaki Berbulu yang demen banget ke kantor, ada kerjaan tiba-tiba (*malam-malam) yang bisa dikerjain di rumah (kalo si Muka Lebar), kalo si Kaki Berbulu bisa balik ke kantor...

Seperti yang dilakukan beberapa saat lalu. Jadi si Muka Lebar dengan alasan hemat energi memutuskan untuk menurunkan suhu kulkas. Pas pulang. Banjir. Esnya Mencair. Basah kemana-mana. Maka mau gak mau, bongkar-bongkar lah itu kardus, box, kotak, piring, gelas, panci. Karena air setitik rusak semua barang-barang. Dan karena sudah nanggung sekalian lah beres-beres kamar yang udah kaya kapal pecah.

The good news is, telah diamankan makanan expired. Sehingga don't worry be happy, kalo datang ke tempat si Muka Lebar no more expired food (*bangga*). Bad news is, rangkaian beres-beres adalah, bongkar barang-buang yang gak penting-lap pel kering-sapu-kembalikan semuanya-cuci yang kotor (yang kotor ternyata segunung sebagian cucian piring beberapa minggu hari lalu, sebagian kotor kena air kulkas dan sebagian tupperware buat nero berbagai biscuit, snack, cookies yang diduga telah berada disitu sejak lebaran tahun lalu... atau tahun yang sebelumnya tahun lalu...). Tugas dibagi, si Muka Lebar lap, pel, sapu dan beres-beres dan si Kaki Berbulu buang barang dan cuci piring. Then he left... karena sebeb yang diceritakan di atas. Ya ampoon... Jadi lah si Muka Lebar lembur beberes kamar, disambi nonton Master chef Junior,  kelar beberes perut pun lapar, tandas lah mie cepat saji yang expired bulan Mei. Cari-cari makanan lain yg udah deket expired gak ada...

Jadi pelajaran hari ini adalah, totalitas.
1. Habiskan makanan sebelom expired! (kalo roti asal belom jamuran gpp kayanya!)
2. Jangan ngecilin suhu kulkas kalo bunga esnya banyak...
3. Sedia kain gombal sebelom ngecilin suhu kulkas...

Sekian.

The Apple Project

Sebagaimana diketahui bersama. Kalo si Muka Lebar suka makan dan si Muka Lebar cinta dessert. Bukan sembarang dessert. Chocolate warm cake/chocolate volcano/sebutan lainnya boleh jadi enak. Tapi tak ada yang seenak dessert yang pake apel. Yes. Apple pie, apple tarlet, apple crumble, apple cobbler are all delicious.

Mari dibahas, sebagai mana telah disebut dalam posting sebelomnya. Tidak ada yang mengalahkan kelezatan grandma's apple tarlet-nya ninety nine. Apel manis lembut diatas, pie kering gurih hangat, dengan es krim vanilla, dengan bubuk kayu manis, dan saus karamel sebagai pemanis. Heaven!

Si Muka Lebar favorite!

Setipe dengan yang diatas ada Bakerzin, juga pernah dibahas sebelomnya

Bakerzin apple pie

dengan komposisi nyaris sama, crusty apple pie, dengan vanilla ice cream on top of it dan apple fillingnya ada kismisnya. Apelnya juga lebih generous, tp tekstur dan rasa pie-nya, rasanya oke yang Ninety nine. Jadi apple pie hangat dan ice cream dingin, rasanya selalu Enak!

Ada yang baru dicoba si Muka Lebar Apple Cobbler di Spaggedis.

The giant apple cobbler

Jadi ini adalah semacam apple pie dengan pinggiran yang padat, semacam based cookies untuk cheesecake. Rasanya dasarnya tidak terlalu manis, tidak keras dan diatasnya ada apel yang sudah dimasak dengan kayu manis, diatasnya ada crumble, remahan kacang-kacangan (macademia, walnut, almond?) dan si pie yang jadi dasar (sepertinya) disajikan dengan eskrim vanilla. Asiknya porsi hidangan ini JUMBO! Rasanya sendiri lumayan, karena si Muka Lebar suka semua kecuali bagian kacangnya. Jadi tidak begitu spesial selain porsinya yang gede, rasanya ya apple cobbler.

Sodaranya dijual tepat diseberang si Apple Cobbler, yaitu Apple Crumble di Coffee Club.

The pretty apple crumble

Porsinya lebih standard. Tidak besar. Lapisan dasar pienya jelas, dan layering apel sebagai isi pienya lebih jelas. Sungguh cantik dilihat dari samping, diatasnya ada remahan pie. Ditaburi gula halus dan cinnamon powder dan ice cream vanilla. Rasanya yummy !! Pie-nya lebih keras dan gurih, apelnya lembut dan tidak telalu manis, crumble pie-nya juga renyah dan manis karena gula putih diatasnya. Worth to try!

Si Muka Lebar pernah makan apple pie di sebuah restoran mahal, tetapi memilih untuk tidak membahasnya, karena kecewa. Apelnya asem sekali. Walaupun pie basednya enak. Hiks sebal.

Selain dessert apel dengan bahan dasar pie, Seribu Rasa dengan cita masakan peranakannya punya apple and banana crepe (lupa judulnya to kayanya crepe deh) digulung dalam crepe lembut yang hangat jangan lupa sausnya, karamel dan apel, dengan es krim vanilla dan lagi-lagi si cinnamon powder. Enak sekali!

Menurut si Muka Lebar, dessert apple yang enak itu adalah pie gurih renyah yang hangat dengan apple filling yang manis (jangan kemanisan) with a hint of cinnamon dan vanilla ice cream yang light. Suatu hari nanti si Muka Lebar bercita-cita pasti akan membuat pie apple yang enak. Hahahahaha!

*selama masi belom bisa bikin, beli aja dulu. Hohoho. Pic yang di Seribu Rasa menyusul yah.

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Ujung Genteng #4: Adios!

Oke, waktu pelepasan penyu dimulai pukul 5 lebih. Cuaca mendung, ombak cukup kencang, dan berangin. Dari kejauhan banyak anjing kampung yang masuk pantai, apa memang habitatnya? Atau tau hari ini jadwal makanan dilepas. Di langit mendung tidak terlihat elang (tadi di pantai muara sebelum hujan badai sempet lihat elang terbang).

Bapak penjaga membawa ember hitam, berisi penyu yang dilepas. Jumlahnya, 50? Lupa banyak lah. Pengunjung lain mengerumuni si anak penyu, dan penyu dibagi-bagikan untuk dilepas pengunjung...

Peserta pelepasan dan petugas penangkaran

Well, hati-hati dijalan...
It's time to say good bye... Adios little fellas!

Small step of our little fella

Adios!

Dielus-elus dulu sebelum pergi

Waaw, ada ombak

Byuurr,,,

Eh, yang ini kebalik kena ombak

Belasan penyu lain... berjalan ke bibir pantai

Sea we are cominggg...

Penyu adalah binatang yang dilindungi, memperjual belikan induk penyu itu dilarang, membunuh penyu juga. Dilarang membuang sampah di pantai penyu, terutama, alasan penyu memilih pantai karena pasir yang halus dan bersih. Penyu yang peka cahaya sehingga ada baiknya untuk tidak menggunakan blitz pada saat memotret penyu. Semoga penyu-penyu kecil bisa tumbuh jadi penyu dewasa. Btw, fakta tentang penyu, penyu kecil tidak bisa dibedakan laki-laki dan perempuannya sampai mereka besar. Hohoho,...

Visa ohh visa

Hm, hasrat jalan-jalan yang besar ditambah dengan cuti panjang tanpa rencana ternyata membuat gue berakhir tidak di tempat liburan eksotis atau negeri disebrang sana, karena keterbatasan dokat, hepeng alias du to the it, here i am... di Surabaya. The hottest city (i have ever lived) yang udah berhari-hari ini (sejak gue dateng) dilanda mendung, hujan badai dan kadang gerimis. Which is good karena gak panas, dan menjadi gak oke, karena eike ga bisa menjajal si Cantik untuk memotret tempat-tempat menarik disini. Boring. Jadi kegiatan gue adalah baca buku, yang akhirnya juga gue nikmati, ud lama ga baca buku, tenang dan tak terganggu (tentunya bacanya saat nyokap ga ada, karena nyokap punya kecendrungan manggil-manggil "Teeeehhh... teeehhhh... teehhhh" *gak berhenti kalo ga dateng, asli* trus memberdayakan kita *gue* yang nganggur ini, buat macem2 ngambil barang, beres2, nganterin, dengerin cerita ga penting, liat sesuatu, dll). Ngomong soal surabaya, sekarang banyak banget Mall baru buka, ckckck. Yang penting ruang publiknya dijaga walaupun panas harus tetep cakeb!

Stuck di Surabaya, ingin deh rasanya jalan-jalan jauh, kemana gitu, tapi apa daya, kemampuan finansial terbatas. Hiks. Sedih, well anyway, setelah browsing ngalor ngidul, setelah tau ribetnya ngurus visa (ya elah ngurus aja belom) ulang setalah tau ribetnya mencoba mengurus visa ke Eropa, mari kita berpaling ke negara yang lebih bersahabat memberikan fasilitas Visa on Arrival atau bebas Visa dengan kata lain, kita tidak perlu sibuk mengurus visa di kedubes negara bersangkutan untuk mengunjungi negara tersebut, negara-negara yang memberika fasilitas Visa on Arrival atau bebas Visa bagi pemegang Passport (hijau) Indonesia adalah:

Asia
Thailand -- bebas visa untuk 30 hari.
Singapore -- bebas visa untuk 30 hari.
Vietnam -- bebas visa untuk 30 hari.
Malaysia -- bebas visa untuk 30 hari.
Kamboja -- Visa on Arrival (http://www.cambodia-travel.com/information/cambodia-visa.htm for more info)

Sisanya banyak (males nulis), pls check http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paspor_Indonesia atau website lain yang bisa dijadikan suber berita tentang perlu atau tidaknya visa untuk mengunjungi negara tertentu.

Oh, iya katanya Turki sekarang bebas visa loh! (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-indonesia-to-lift-visa-requirements-2010-06-29). Tapi yang paling aman tanya lah teman, kawan, kerabat, saudara, famili semenda tiga keatas dan kebawah, tetangga, pacar, selingkuhan, tentang perlu visa/tidaknya tempat yang dituju atau hubungi kedutaan besar yang bersangkutan. Nih ada blog yang nulis alamat kedutaan besar http://djakartanews.blogspot.com/2010/03/daftar-kedutaan-besar-di-jakarta.html.

Yang penting sebelom pergi adalah mencari informasi sebanyak-banyaknya soal tempat tersebut. Biar ga melongo, liburan tenang dan lancar. Cihuy!

Ps: jangan lupa oleh-oleh

singapore journey is about to begin - pusing tujuh keliling

Literally, now I am having a massive headache. *when I'm writing this post*

I woke up with headache, and it's getting worse,  I lost orientation and I can't focus...

It's begun with cheap cab drama...
Kaki Berbulu wanted a cheap cab, he refused to use dozen Blue Bird cabs park on the road, near the place we were standing... He decided to cross the street (we are on a boulevard). He left me, on the side walk, and he made me to cross the street over and over again (Kaki Berbulu said it was my own fault because I was following the wrong cab) until I finally stopped in the middle of the street, and people were looking at me like "is she crazy or something?", and Kaki Berbulu on the other side of the road yelled "what are you doing?"
I didn't know what I am doing, so I decided to go to the other side sidewalk (opposite to where Kaki Berbulu was standing) and he said "the cab is here!" and I'm really tired (lazy) to cross the street and said "oh, u turn around and pick me here!". He finally got on the cab and pick me on the other side...

We arrived at the airport check in, registered for tax free, and here we are sitting on starbucks, waiting for our flights. I bought pain killer for the headache, it doesn't work sofar... And kaki berbulu is trying to learn the books and maps we bought few days ago, like we will have a big test coming...


And suddenly, I remember this song by RHCP
"How long.. How long.. Will I slide... Seperate my side... I don't, I don't believe it's baaadd... Slit in my throat it's all I ever...
Hmmm... Into the paper cut... A cemetary where I marry the sea...
Hmmm -mumbling- you gotta take me on the other side... Take me on... Take me onn..."*


*maap kalo salah lupa-lupa ingat; that was years ago when I was in junior high school... I love RHCP*