~Pelangi Riri~

It's the beginning of 2012...

2012-01-01T23:47:00.000+07:00

...and I could still enjoying my night-walk home under the half-moon sky.

Seriously, when I was a kid, I thought by this year, I would already travel in my flying car. *grin*

The fact is, nothing is really heading to that direction yet. We're still driving and riding the 'normal-on-the-ground' cars. Even I, still could enjoying the beauty of the night sky on foot.

Previously, when I was on the public transport tonight, on my way home, I saw the sad part of the new year's effect. My town turned into a huge garbage field. Eww. I could see litters along the road outside of the Bogor presidential palace! Yeah, maybe the cleaning service is taking a day off today but that's not the point! The point is, those people who 'celebrated' the new year on the road last night should have had better awareness about keeping the town clean. And I can't even talk about behaviour here, that would need another century for these people to understand. *sighs* This is 2012 and instead of driving a flying car, I'm still suffocated by the 'inability' of certain individuals to understand the importance of keeping the public places clean, let alone preserving the environment.

So, what's the meaning of the new year?

(Of course, it means that you have to change the calendar on the wall!)

Clearly to some people it is just a time to be festive, decorating the night sky with fireworks, and polluting the town with paper-trumpet's sound and (later on) trashes on public places. And to me, that's sad. Well, it's fine with me if people want to go out celebrating and partying hard, who am I to tell what to do? But at least do it responsibly. The earth's getting old, the technology's advancing, but the behaviour's degrading? Such a new year, huh?

However, I believe that there's a lot more positive things happening out there that I don't see it, and those things are balancing the life. There's always good prayers and millions of good hopes being enchanted. A lot of gratitudes being soared up to the higher being or the universe. Like mine, my first day at the new year was spent with the dear friends and a grateful feeling of still being able to walk peacefully home, with my head turned up to the sky to see the beautiful half-moon.

The 3rd Terminal

2011-12-30T11:15:00.002+07:00

--This post below is originally scribbled on December 16, 2011, on my way to Bali Island :) --

Just before I forget everything, I try to capture what I experience today.

Being at the 3rd terminal of Soekarno Hatta Airport, Indoneisa, for the first time, is almost give me the 'wow' moment. I said almost, because it is really different than the other terminals, even the usual international terminal feels 'so old' compares to this one. The design is a bit futuristic -according to my perception, and I'm not an architect, very spacious, bright, and clean. However, compare to the other 'modern' airports' terminals in several other countries, this terminal is still pretty modest. Because I've been, umm, almost lost in a tunnel at Frankfurt Am Mein Airport :p Anyhow, it is a breakthrough for me. The brave usage of glass, metals, and thin materials that supply the effect of brightness could still hide the 'service' are. You can almost see no one cleaning up the floor, but I did! They're subtly doing their job. If I didn't see it myself, I would have thought that the oompa-loompa are working here, doing the cleaning! :D

Wait! I believe that if something is too good to be true, then it is too good to be true! That saying is applied to this terminal! Ha! While I'm seating at the boarding lounge, there's three cans of trash bin which has title on each of it: 'dry', 'wet', 'recycle' with pictures of things that belong to each category, such as paper for dry, banana peel for wet, and plastic bottle for recycle. Isn't it great? Yes, it is indeed… if the people who use it are really 'looking' and 'reading' the bins' purpose attentively. Unfortunately not all people 'understand' that easily. During my seating there, I saw a man dropped a paper box into the 'recycle' one and a crumbled tissue into the 'wet' one. Kids are more reliable. Some kids took a moment in front of the bins, read the titles carefully and dropped the right items into the right bins.

The spacious lounge somehow gives the feeling of being in the public place but has personal space at the same time. We can pretty much choose where we are going to sit, spending our time while waiting for boarding to the plane without 'invading' the others' comfort zone. You can just slumped yourself to the floor while charging your laptop and/or other gadgets or just enjoying your own reading time --while detaching from the rest of the 'waiting flocks'. Or, like myself now, busying myself scribbling all these things down! :)

A lot like love.

2011-12-11T19:40:00.000+07:00

There are times when the connection with your loved ones is off. No news, no text, no chat, no phone call. Should we wait and start guessing what happen at the other end? Should we start thinking the unthinkable and worried about it? We might be, but we shouldn't. Well, I cannot tell you not to though, at least that's what I'm telling myself. I don't assume. I must not assume. Just as the role I used to do at work as facilitators, we always remind ourselves, "facilitators don't assume". We have to ask, probe, find out what actually is going on.

The same applied to my personal life. So when I feel the connection is somewhat absent, I take time to stop and check myself. If nothing seems unusual then it could be nothing about us. I've learned to not even judge a situation --it must be a story behind it, a reason. If something did happen before, either one of us was angry or sad, then it could be the reason. Thus, I have to be patient and embrace the circumstances. And it is not as easy as when I type it down. It's an uncomfortable feeling, and even sometimes could lead to other negative feelings. Keep breathing and praying does help. At least for me.

However, men and women facing their hard times differently. Men tend to 'shut down' and detach themselves from the world, goes to their 'cave' to calm down and think about things that bothering them. They need to take their own time, alone. Until God-knows-how-long, mostly they'll feel better and open up like they used to be. On the contrary, women need to talk to ease up their burdens. The brains between these two species just work in a different way. Women have to discuss their problem openly and talk it through, that what makes them feel better.

Then, here comes the BIGGER problem. Men don't want to talk, women need to talk. Men need to be quiet and being alone, women feel alienated if their men refuse to talk to them. Then, who needs to understand this difference of needs? Both of them. But again, it is not as easy as flipping your hands.

There is egos, that mask themselves as love, to get the attention.

There is sadness, that disguises as love, to get all the comfort.

There is anger, that goes undercover as love, to force the intention faster.

Those are hurtful, because they are not love. They took the chance to stir up the mind, mimicking love, to be a lot like love. Unfortunately, we often get fooled by them.

Love is not like those above. Love is a great gift from God, that's why it brings happiness, sincerity, forgiveness, honesty, trust, care, and responsibility. Now, if you excuse me, I need to ensure that love is not absent from my life.

November, the month that got away...

2011-12-11T16:02:00.001+07:00

When I flipped the calendar and found that it was already December, I was short of taken aback and thinking, "Oh, gosh! It's December already! What did I do in November? Why is it going without significant traces?" Then I sat back, tried to trace back what was already happened in my life throughout November, because then I also realised that I didn't even write a single post on my blog here! Despite the fact that I drafted three writings. What a shame.

Then I remembered, November was quite a hectic month for me, since I made several decisions in my life. One of it was I decided to go back home. Yep, moved in into my own room at the family house. Occupied my little chamber which I left most of the time for the past five years. So, I packed up. Left my little nest at the capital...and now squeezing myself in amongst boxes, bags, luggages, pillows, and I don't know what else. I'm a refugee inside my own home! Well, look like one though.

Being in the middle of all these clutters, I almost lost into insanity and being depressed. OK, OK, I was exaggerating :p Bottom line, I was tired seeing all these things around me but being at the family house also means I couldn't just move things the way I want it. The least I could do is reclaimed my furniture! Ha! Umm, by saying furniture, I mean a bookshelves that has been invaded into a toy-junk shelves full of God-knows-what things belong to my nephew and niece :p

So, one day in November, my cute little niece helped me getting rid of their clutters out of my bookshelves. It's amazing to find the things they've kept for years in there; from colouring books, broken crayons, dolls, papers, bags, broken toy cars, marbles, missing wheels of whatever toy, to medicine left overs! Oh gosh! No wonder it got so packed up, they've been filling it up for around five years :))

The 'finally empty' bookshelves!

With a cold heart, I determined to restrictedly forbid anything went into the shelves other than books, and on my permission only! Ha! I didn't give a pity when those junk went into a big boxes. I must returned the dignity of my books that have been abandoned inside the boxes (some even put under the bed!) when I was away from home for years. It felt so good to see my books went back into the place their belongs. Some of them are still missing though, it was quite upsetting when I found out. But I have to except the fact that those book might still captured in one of the other boxes somewhere in the house (hopefully!). I know this sounded a bit funny, but when I was away from home years ago, I got my stuffs packed and moved around, so my original room could be used for other purpose. Not really pleasing but that's the consequences when you are being away from home for too long. *sighs*

And finally, those books which safely packed inside the boxes, could go out and put on the proper place! My books are not very many but all are meaningful to me. I just love them dearly! Hahaha. I bought most of it, some were when I was still in primary school. Several books were gifts on my birthday. Yes, most of my friends know how I love books and that made an easy option to pick the best birthday gift for me :)

The 'filled-in' bookshelves :)

The main sections

Fictions --mostly in English

Fictions --mostly from my childhood

Non-fictions

Trying to be part of the shelves: some collection of cassettes, CDs, DVDs, and magazines

The 'higher' section

So, even though the month seemed gotten away, I managed to do something good in November. And I felt good about it :)

I've been planting wings...

2011-10-28T00:43:00.000+07:00

...to my dreams.

It's about to fly now, soaring high, with God's permission. I will tell you what it is. Or no. I think it will be even better if I just write it down, every sweat, tear, and smile of it.

These days I see and hear concerns, doubts, sneers, smirks in some of the eyes and voice, but also worries and encouragements. I don't mind at all what those are. They don't know me and they will not stop me from living my dream -again. I'm going my way, flapping the wings of my dream that I've been planting for so long.

I heart my daddy though. To me, he is the only person who has the right to stop me from soaring high and reach the intangible sky. But he never do that. He never use his right. He is the dearest creature on earth --after my mom up there. He would say yes to this extraordinary girl, his girl, me. He keeps the confusion and questions about my choice of dreams, he just chose to keep it for himself, and instead prays for me. I just know that. I feel that all the time. And all the time it brings tears into my eyes.

Life is a perspective. Thing that some people would see as 'crazy' could be viewed as 'passion' to another. Unfortunately, most of the time I'm in that 'crazy' perspective to others. Just because I dare to plant the wings to some unpopular choices of dream. But again, it just the matter of perspective.

The Promise.

2011-10-19T20:41:00.000+07:00

What would you react if out of blue someone 'delivered' a promise that you don't even remember about it?

I was stunned. It happened days ago, someone from my past sent me a short message. Apart from the gratitude, well wishes and the content of the message itself, what really awed me was the fact that it was a promise to me that now being fulfilled.

I'm sorry, but it has been almost a decade, I guess --and I don't have any recollection about it. Thus, I didn't really know how to react about it. I didn't even sure if I felt something about it. With all due respect, I tried to trace back my memory about 'the promise' --unfortunately, I couldn't find that particular one, instead I 'found' another promise that has had made and violated. All have been forgiven and forgotten apparently, by me. That's why any other promises afterwards were unnecessarily kept.

Suatu hari di dalam kopaja...

2011-10-15T20:20:00.000+07:00

Kemarin sore, dari Jakarta Pusat en route pulang ke arah selatan Jakarta saya duduk di Kopaja 19 ke arah Blok M. Tidak lama kemudian, naiklah seorang lelaki dan duduk di bangku depan (arah diagonal) saya. Sore itu penumpangnya tidak banyak, jadi hampir semua penumpang duduk sendiri-sendiri. Saat kopaja hendak melintasi terowongan di depan Plaza Semanggi, lelaki di depan saya mengambil ponselnya. Saya melirik dan tersenyum. Bukan apa-apa, saya takjub, lelaki itu masih memakai ponsel 'sejuta umat jaman pertama' lho! Bukan hanya itu, ponselnya pun memakai cover bergambar Batman berwarna biru cerah :)) Duh, saya iseng banget sih, sampai perhatiin ponsel orang ya?

Saya tidak mendengar suara ponsel berbunyi sih, tetapi tiba-tiba lelaki itu berbicara keraaaas sekali di ponselnya. Saya kaget. Saya pikir, kalau ada orang yang jalan di trotoar saat kopaja ini melintas, pasti orang itu juga bisa dengar, hehehe. Jadi bukannya maksud saya untuk nguping lho... Lha, wong, seisi kopaja saja pasti dengar apa 'obrolan' lelaki itu di ponsel --well, orang yang di sebelah sana sih, memang nggak kedengaran :p

Saya ingat saat itu kopaja sedang melambat di depan Polda Metro Jaya, saat lelaki itu berbicara pada orang di ponselnya:

Lelaki (L): Halo, apa? Saya udah di Ratu Plaza nih...di mana?

Saya dalam hati: Ih, dia bohong...ini kan masih jauh. Ratu Plaza masih tiga halte lagi!

L: Ya udah, saya tungguin. Ketemu di Senayan aja ya, di FOT KURT ya!

Saya lagi mbatin: Eh? Apaan tuh? --Ternyata orang yang di seberang sana juga bertanya hal yang sama...

L: Itu lho, tempat yang jual makanan-makanan...

Saya geli dalam hati: Oalaaaaah! FOOD COURT tho! Dia ternyata spellingnya terbalik :p Kalo mau juga bilangnya FUT KORT, pak! Mau keren tapi salah, jadi aja orang yang diajak ngomong nggak ngerti deh. Saya aja bingung! :p Saya nyinyir sendiri dalam hati.

L: Iya, di situ aja. Senayan ya. Senayan City. Iya, iya, saya udah di Ratu Plaza nih... Kenapa? Ya udah deh, kalo nggak tau di Ratu Plaza aja. Iya, di halte depan Ratu Plaza ya. Ya udah ya, saya tungguin di halte depannya itu.

Saya memandang tengkuk orang itu dengan takjub sambil putar-putar bola mata. Ternyata yang diajak ketemuan nggak tahu di mana Senayan City, dan ujung-ujungnya mereka bertemu di halte depan Ratu Plaza. Hihihi, sok tahu deh saya :p

Tidak lama sambil mengantongi ponselnya lelaki itu beranjak berdiri dan menabrak ibu-ibu yang sudah berdiri di ujung pintu untuk juga turun di halte Ratu Plaza. Ibu-ibu itu hanya melirik sebal. Lagi-lagi saya putar bola mata, melengos ke arah jendela dan nyengir :))

Genuinely Happy

2011-10-10T01:09:00.000+07:00

When was the last time you feel genuinely happy for someone's else life? For the good things that happen to them? For feeling the warmth in your heart even though the things have nothing to do with you at all?

The most important thing, you have no intention of being part of that happiness. You don't care whether the person would 'remember' you and tag you along or not. You just simply happy for them.

So, have you ever feel it?

Luckily, I have. And I'm grateful for that. For being happy for the people that close to my heart. It doesn't matter whether they feel the same about me or not. It doesn't matter if that happiness 'contained' my contribution or not. I'm just happy for them.

I remember when one day, my loved one told me that his organisation managed to secure some funding. He was just über excited and thanked me for the sleepless night of editing the proposal. I might have done something small there, but it wasn't that. I was just feeling so blessed for being part of something so important to him. I loved to see him grinning and in his uplifted mood constantly started planning around with the work around the funding. He got what he wanted to achieve, it happened, and that's what important to me.

Recently, a dear friend of mine is on her way to chase her dream and make it comes true. She travels half the globe to reach it --it parts of the process. The thing that made me almost burst into tears are when she told me cheerfully that she arrived safely and was eating her breakfast -at that moment. I can imagine how happy she is. And I'm just simply happy for her. And surely pray for a better thing to happen to her.

But, those are my stories. Yours must be different.

Another point that just came across my mind: Can we just keep genuinely happy for the people that we say 'we love and care'? Like;

Stop expecting to be the bridesmaid just because we are their childhood neighbour, let the bride be happy in whatever wedding she choose.
Give the gift to the birthday girl/boy without expecting a fancy dinner party later on. Or simply, just wish them a sincere birthday prayer.
Let your buddies enjoy their little escape abroad without nagging about bringing home some souvenirs.
Some colleagues deserve to get some raise because of the hard work. They earned it. So, since when they have the obligation to treat the whole department?
The not-so-pretty cousin suddenly married to the richest man in the neighbourhood. Just be happy for her, wish her well, stop all the fuss!

If those illustrations seem familiar, maybe because that's how it used to happen. But we often forget that everyone has their own stories behind their 'happy story' that we mostly don't know.

So, I think we'll be happier if we can just genuinely happy for them. Or even better, say, 'I'm really happy for you' whenever the good thing happen to them.

Smile :)

2011-10-03T14:00:00.000+07:00

This is sort of a magic mantra. Whenever I feel sad, I would just automatically sing this song. It's not always work its magic though, to just cheer me up in no time, but it always works to remind me...to at least put a smile :)

One day at Plaza Senayan

2011-09-23T16:49:00.000+07:00

This mall could be one of the 'eldest' malls in Jakarta, since there are a lot more new emerging malls raised up in this town for the past 5 years. However, this mall still hold its title as the most favourite mall... in my heart :) Some part of it seems old, but to me it never lose its 'classiness'.

Its signature that keeps gaining attentions from its shopper is the 'musical clock'. There's a big round clock on the atrium (centre) of this mall which always 'performs' a music with 'dancing' dolls pop out from the right and left columns. The performance occurs every hour for about three minutes.

It could be nothing fancy to some mall-goers, but what amazed me, there are still a lot of shoppers who would stop to just enjoy the performance, take pictures and even videos. For me personally, this clock's performance is still the genuine touch of this mall which keeps the old feeling of being attached to this place.

You are so lucky!

2011-09-22T01:26:00.004+07:00

That's what my friends said whenever I told them that I just got something for free or won something :)

It's nothing big, just a small daily fun things that I love to get and to do. Umm, ok, it's getting absurd. Let's get more concrete over here...

As I remember, I've been quite often win or get something since a little child...like won something from a quiz or lucky draw, something like that. My first 'free' gift that I got --that I still remember-- was a cosmetic pouch and I wasn't even a teenager yet! Hahaha. It was my aunt, she wore cologne with a certain brand, then one day the company made a lucky draw on the newspaper for those who sent the labels of the cologne. She got plenty bottles of that cologne at that time, so she allowed me to send them. I did that apparently. And won that pouch! :D

Not really many that I remember actually, but maybe I've gotten a lot than what I remember. Ah, I got a bottle of perfume from a door prize in a magazine's marketing gathering back then in 2001 and the following year I got a very chic Alba gold-patented watch from the same event. I was like 'wow!' And I --a bit forgot the detail but remembered-- attending an event held by the same magazine, and I was playing a mini putting golf game and successfully won a DKNY watch! I still have those watches until now! Then, I once got a free sim-card for cell phone given by a bank in 2003, and I used that number ever since, until now. I won a CD of slow music compilation "Slow Machine' album from Cosmopolitan magazine in 2004, I think. Then I don't or never track my 'luck' anymore...

Then lately, my 'luck' has been coming back to me, after I opened my Twitter account and followed several stores or radio station that I like the most. Actually just to get updated on their latest products but who knows that I started winning something again... :)

Earlier this year, I got two concert tickets of 'Swara Sang Dewi' by Titi DJ (one of Indonesia's 'Divas') that I won because of my 'environmental awareness' tweet that I sent to The Body Shop Indonesia. Yes, they were one of the sponsors and TBS spread out the tickets through social media platforms. I didn't expect anything actually, it was only one tweet, except for the fact that I was really wanted to see the performance. I had it in my dream like for a month before. I was almost obsessed about coming to the concert but didn't really want to spend my money for the ticket at that time. So? I was thrilled when I knew I won the tickets! And the concert was awesome!

Me in front of the sponsor booth :)

The ticket!

I thought it was going to be the biggest deal for me this year. But I was too early to predict :) I forgot that it was only January when I got the concert tickets. So, my hunch starts kicking in again when another store that I followed on Twitter --that also my favourite place-- Times Bookstore Indonesia, one day in March, made a 'review' on Twitter about 10 books that their readers find it most interesting to read that year. Again, I didn't expect anything at first because I was just happily shared what I thought interesting to read. My list included two of my favourite books like the classic 'The Wizard of Oz', Jane Austen's 'Emma' and the witty 'The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-time'. But then, after several days, Times Bookstore revealed their 'bomb' that actually they would pick some readers to accept a book as the reward of the review. The book is the 'Eat, Pray, Love'... SIGNED by Elizabeth Gilbert herself!

Whoa! That's getting too much to bear! "I want it, I want it, I want it!" I kept telling myself and somehow I believed that I've shared a quite interesting list of books and I would win the prize! A Liz Gilbert's signed book! :D Then the fact came: I won the book! It's not about I couldn't afford to buy the book, it's a different feeling. And the book was signed by the author! Hahahaha...

Liz Gilbert's autograph! :)

After those two momentums, I realised that I just need to keep my dream (to win something :p) alive. So, when I got a hunch that I might want something, I just kept focusing on the thing that I want, because I might get it for free :) Well, so far, I'm doing okay with that... I already got a picnic bag from a cosmetic brand (just because I was a 'generous' customer and it was a no-promo day), 3 tickets for the 'Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part 2' movie, from an internet provider, and a quite generous amount of dine-in vouchers of one of the hippest Japanese restaurants, given by a radio station! Not bad, huh? :p

Actually, my 'luck' is not really something shocking, yet I'm really grateful for those I got. But my friend recently got a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 from a lucky draw in an event that she attended. Envy, huh! And the coolest thing I've ever seen was my late mom. She once won a motorcycle from a lucky draw in a supermarket! Hahaha. No kidding! How awesome was that?

So, it's all in the mind... that's how I told myself. I might be luckier than some others --thank God for that!-- but a lot other people are actually luckier than myself. It just the matter of being grateful, keep our positive thoughts, dream and believe in awesome things that might come to us! :D

Thank God for Friends!

2011-09-21T00:21:00.000+07:00

Everything happens for a reason. God knows well what the reason really is. I tried to, but I don't get it most of the time. So, instead of being stubbornly in deadlock, I prefer enjoying the greatness of the things that happened to me, and be grateful about it.

Earlier this month, just when I decided to take a break from my hustle-bustle life, all of the sudden God brought me most of the people I haven't seen or hear for years, in a funny way!

One day, last week on my way to the day spa, it was a super hot morning and I was about too late to my appointment with the spa. I tried to cross a hectic intersection almost impatiently when I heard somebody in a motorcycle yelled my name. He pulled over to the road side and in seconds I recognised him as one of my best friends in university, well actually we even went to the same school since junior high. He is like my own brother that I've never had. So, putting the thought of my late appointment at the back of my head, we chatted on the road side, trying hard to catch up with each other's news and wrapped everything up in ten minutes. Which was hilariously exciting yet unsatisfying. We did send text message or make phone call if big thing happens or comment on the Facebook page once in a while and it was really rare.

The last time I saw him: almost nine years ago, when he accompanied me until past midnight on the day my mother passed away.

On the same day, somebody called me on the phone and she is my former housemate back then in Meulaboh! She suddenly made the same decision as I did, took a break and flew to my hometown! How crazy that was sounded? I was really excited to hear from her again, so we did met the next day for morning coffee and lunch. We had plenty of time to catch up and update our stories. And since she'll do volunteer work in my town, I'll have the chance to meet her again soon :)

The last time I saw her: almost three years ago, when I moved out from our rent house in Meulaboh to be posted in Banda Aceh.

Two days afterwards, a text message came in. It was from my former staff back then in Banda Aceh. He was on the training in Jakarta and wanted to catch up with me. He was on the craziest dude back then. A nice guy with a sweet wife and cute son. We were close enough then. Even after my assignment ended, he still look up for me, and ask for advise or just chatted. So, since he knows nothing about the southern part of Jakarta, I made it easy for him to just meet me at the nearest mall from his training place. He was just as he was, crazily giggling and bouncing once in a while like a little child. Crazy. :) It was really good dinner time, he didn't eat though, for he had had too much food during the training. But we emptied a big pitcher of ice lemon tea originally for 4 pax! We tried to catch up with all the stories we missed, since he had to catch his flight early the next morning. It was fun. The same crazy dude.

The last time I saw him: one and a half years ago, when the program in Banda Aceh was closed down and he had to go early.

The most bizarre one was the last one. Several days ago, in the afternoon, an unknown number showed up on my cellphone. I wouldn't think about that person even the slightest. The caller was a former choir friends that I didn't even know if he has my phone number! It was a bit odd, honestly. But apart from the point why he called me, it was a good thing to reconnect to an old friend especially those who used to be one of the closest ones. He chatted the most, an hour or so, but I feel warm to at least being remembered as a good person that he'd like to call again.

The last time I saw him: 10 years ago, when I left Bandung for good.

Life can be that amazing. You just take a little break time then suddenly you reconnect with the long lost friends. Maybe, when you're too busy you just don't have the time. Maybe that's the reason...

Jomblo Geografis

2011-09-19T01:36:00.003+07:00

Sering dengar kalimat, "Single itu pilihan, jomblo itu nasib!"? Well, menurut saya sih, itu sama saja. Lha, wong cuma beda bahasa saja kok, single=sendiri, jomblo=sendiri juga, ya tho? *siap-siap diamuk masa* Maksudnya, menurut saya, mau ngaku single kek, atau jomblo kek, masalahnya hanya soal siap atau nggak siap. Kalau memang siap jadi jomblo, berarti kan itu 'pilihan' :D

Anyway, sebenarnya bukan soal itu juga sih, yang mau dibahas... tapi soal yang bukan jomblo tapi 'nasibnya' kayak jomblo. Nah, lho! Ini adalah mereka-mereka yang sering ngaku punya pacar/pasangan tapi pacar/pasangannya hampir nggak pernah ditenteng (tas kali ya?) ke ranah publik. Bukan karena punya pacar rahasia, tapi karena pacarnya jauh adanya, alias Pacaran Jarak Jauh (PJJ) atau yang lebih duluan beken Long Distance Relationship (LDR). Salah satu teman saya menyebutnya 'jomblo geografis' yaitu, sebabnya jomblo karena beda lokasi di atas bumi => yang ini definisi ngarang ala saya lho ya! :) *nggak boleh diprotes*

Jomblo Geografis bisa dibagi menjadi beberapa kategori:

Jomblo AKDP (Antar Kota Dalam Propinsi) - Perbedaannya hanya di kode SLJJ (Sambungan Langsung Jarak Jauh) telepon, itupun kalau masih pakai telepon rumah... Hari ini pasti sudah pada pakai ponsel kan? :p Kalau mau ketemu, masih relatif mudah, kan bisa naik travel, bis, atau kereta api, pokoknya masih relatif mudah dan murah untuk ketemu. Lagipula, gubernurnya kan masih sama! *apa hubungannya sih? :p*
Jomblo AKAP (Antar Kota Antar Propinsi/Pulau) - Selain pasti beda SLJJ, udah pasti beda gubernur pula :p *kekeuh amat sih* dan alat transportasi ketemunya sudah bisa ditambah dengan pesawat terbang atau kapal laut :D Eh, tapi kalau AKAPnya hanya seputar DKI-Banten-Jabar sih, nggak berlaku kali yeee... Alat komunikasi yang juga memudahkan adalah internet untuk dipakai chatting atau video calling.
Jomblo AKAN (Antar Kota Antar Negara) - Ini sudah pasti berat! Kalau mau telepon, harus pakai SLI (Sambungan Langsung Internasional) atau IDD (International Direct Dialling) yang sudah pasti akan menguras kantong. Alat transportasi yang bisa diandalkan sudah pasti pesawat terbang. Boleh aja sih, kalau mau pakai kapal laut, tapi pasti keburu lumutan deh, saking lama dan jauhnya. Berenang menyeberangi laut juga bukan pilihan yang baik, karena sudah mulai harus lewat laut lepas atau samudera luas...bahaya banget, bisa dimakan ikan hiu! Jadi, satu-satunya alat ketemu yang relatif murah adalah internet yang memiliki koneksi super kenceng. Iya lho, harus kenceng... kalau lelet, pusing deh lihat wajah pasangan mencong-mencong terus 'freeze' di layar video call... *lho, kok curcol?* Plusnya jomblo AKAN, nggak perlu terlalu pusing mikirin tempat makan/nongkrong di malam minggu. Kan, ketemunya bisa sambil selonjoran pas nonton bola di tivi! :D

Intinya sih, jenis jomblo geografis apapun dirimu (ealah kok jenis...) yang penting tetap dijaga adalah komunikasi yang baik, kalau mau punya hubungan yang baik juga. Biarpun bukan jomblo geografis dan punya pacar yang tinggal satu kelurahan, kalau hobinya saling curiga, pasti juga nggak akan menyenangkan kan, hubungannya?

Saat ngopi-ngopi minggu lalu, seorang teman berkomentar, "Gue emang milih masih jomblo, daripada gue punya pasangan, married, terus harus tinggal terpisah jauh. Gue di mana, dia di mana. Buat apa? Tapi... kalau memang gue harus ngalamin punya pasangan, terus hidup terpisah jauh begitu, gue tutup mata aja deh kalau gue beneran cinta... Maksudnya, ya, gue terima konsekuensi kalau dia harus 'cari yang lain' juga di tempat lain itu..."

Konsekuensi! Itu yang teman saya garis bawahi, baik sebagai jomblo atau jika harus jadi jomblo geografis. Tapi tentunya, semua kembali kepada individunya kan? Kalau rejekinya sekarang harus jadi jomblo geografis, ya dinikmati aja deh... ya, kan? :)

Love and the universe will love you back!

2011-09-08T00:17:00.000+07:00

So, is this love?

Yes, it is a question. Well then, it's a retoric, perhaps, because I think I am in love.

In this stage, it doesn't necessarily for me to justify whether I'm falling for someone or not, but I am sure that I feel the love for the universe and it is returned to me.

Of course it's not as naive as it looks like. You cannot just fall for someone and that person would love you back in return in an instance. It's somewhere between a metaphor and faith, so you just need to believe that what goes around comes around.

There was time when I stopped talking to certain people out of disappointment and empty promises they delivered, then my former mentor reminded me, "Write them emails, say hi, tell them how you're doing... please, don't burn the bridge just because they're too big and too busy to remember you..." I did what my mentor said. They did returned my email and genuinely happy to hear about me even though seemed to forget what they promised me. But life is like that, so I kept moving on.

Then in another circumstance I faced the most unbearable moment that, I thought at that time, I even deserve to be in rage. But then, a tweet from someone I follow on Twitter said, "Don't slam the door behind you, just in case you have to go back in through that door" and I inhaled deeply every single day thinking about just the good thing until I found out the way off that circumstance. It ended okay. Neither fancy nor nasty.

Then I thought, I'm so blessed and lucky for having people who love me, a home to live in, close people to hug and kiss, life to live in and laugh at, food to chew, hot coffee to drink, clean water to bath, ten fingers to type on my macbook, and everything else that I cannot even count... Those things are the reason to smile and love for everything around me. How cannot I be grateful for being given so much love by the universe?

Thus, I start feeling grateful for no need to lie to anyone, for being honest of who I am, for have not much money but no debt either, for being able keeping my integrity and never sacrificing my value in the name of image.

Surely things like rejections, disapproval, and expectations do exist but why bother? We can't control those things that come from outside, but we do can control how we project ourselves out and react to things that happen to us.

Smile, give away, and good deeds that we give out are not always come back from the same sources we give them into. Most of the time, those come back to us through the completely unexpected different sources. So, if you smile to someone and that person returns it with frown, don't mind it, just keep smiling to others. You don't know that the universe will give even wider smile back!

if wishes came true...

2011-09-07T23:29:00.000+07:00

That's actually an old song that currently playing in my iTunes and I don't even remember when I got the song inside my playlist. But that song makes me thinking... What do I wish for at the moment? These days? In the near future? Surprisingly, my usually rapid thought goes blank. I don't know the answer.

Maybe because I just left the most undefinable phase of my life. One time, I felt like I went astray but on the other hand that phase gave me time to somehow share the very compassionate part of me for others. I still in the process of learning the value of it. It was the most bizarre one so far, for I still shaking my head sometimes. One thing I know for sure, I won the battle of listening to my guts and uphold my values. The most relieving part is, the loved ones around me confirmed that they love me unconditionally.

So, I know that I have to rebuild a new wish list and recreate my dream book. That's an easy quick part. The real work would be defining the true wish I have inside...and make it comes true.

All About Coffee (infographics)

2011-08-25T17:25:00.019+07:00

I just found a fulfilling way to satisfy my nerd needs of Macchiato and infographics. Too bizarre to chew, huh? Enjoy these pictures below! :)

via

Fate.

2011-08-23T17:27:00.001+07:00

Life is a mystery. You don't know when it will go up or down, flip, twist, or even stop. You can have the constant dramatic or peaceful uneventful ones. Or the variety of both. You surely can 'drive' where it suppose to go, but how it turns to be is surely handled by the invisible hands; fate.

This post is not about creed. Nothing at all. Just a reflection of some events that I believe is happening because of it. Fate. You are welcome to disagree of course :)

Like a bolt out of the blue

Fate steps in and sees you through

When you wish upon a star

Your dream comes true...

(OST Pinocchio | Disney version 1940 | - 'When You Wish upon a Star' )

Everything happens for a reason. There's always something we could learn after 'an event' is happening to us. A birth, a loss, a surprise, a lie, a death, to name a few, those are things that could bring changes to our life, at the minimum, change our point of view, perspective, perception, even behaviour.

We just changed. Sometimes for indefinite reasons. Then oftentimes we say that it's fate. To me, it's not. That's our consciousness that drive us to shift or drift. But fate is different. That's something we have to 'deal with' despite our desire, efforts, prayers, wishes. Fate is something to embrace wholeheartedly, gratefully, whether it is good or not. However, who are we to judge which one is good or not for us?

Playing around with Visual.ly

2011-08-23T14:43:00.001+07:00

This is fun!

Happy Independence Day, Indonesia!

2011-08-17T05:44:00.000+07:00

"This country, the Republic of Indonesia, does not belong to any group, nor to any religion, nor to any ethnic group, nor to any group with customs and traditions, but the property of all of us from Sabang to Merauke!"

— Soekarno

Picture of Indonesian flag "Sang Merah Putih" above was taken at the front of the building of Lembaga Penjamin Mutu Pendidikan (LPMP) in Abepura, Papua - July 2011

~ Indonesia - August 17, 1945 - 2011 ~

Komunikasi: Dulu vs Sekarang

2011-08-16T14:53:00.000+07:00

Masih ingat saat habis jadian dengan pacar? Atau saat masih masa-masa PDKT (pendekatan, red.)? Pasti banyak sekali pesan-pesan singkat (SMS) bernada mesra yang dikirim olehmu atau sang pacar. Mulai dari bilang kangen, sampai pertanyaan, "malam ini dinner-nya apa?".

Nggak penting kan?

Tapi namanya cinta *uhuuy* ke-lebay-an semacam itu justru bikin hati berbunga-bunga. Frekuensi pesannya? Mmm, bisa sehari 3 kali kayaknya, atau bahkan lebih! Kalau masih ada yang rajin menyimpan --atau kebetulan belum sempat menghapusnya dari ponsel-- coba deh baca lagi, pasti bakal senyum-senyum sendiri :)

Itu baru yang di ponsel. Yang di email, YM, Gtalk atau skype? Kayaknya nggak kalah serunya deh *sok tau* Tapi benar, kan? *maksa* Soalnya ini baru kejadian kemarin *lho, kok curhat?* Saya nggak sengaja 'bersihin' pesan-pesan di ponsel. Biasa kan, mau lebaran, SMS suka membludak dan bikin ponsel jadi hang :p Nah, di sela-sela acara bersih-bersih pesan nggak terpakai itulah, saya menemukan beberapa pesan yang bikin bingung. Lho, kok malah bikin bingung? Iya, bingung, kok bisa ya dulu sampai segitu lenje-nya nulis pesan...hahaha. Tapi lucunya, kalau dibaca lagi masih bisa lho bikin perut geli-geli kayak kemasukan kupu-kupu....*halah bahasanya...*

Tunggu, saya mau nulis apa sih sebenarnya?

Mmm, oh iya. Tapi itu kan dulu ya, waktu jaman pe-de-ka-te, waktu jaman 'I love you' masih murah, maklum, masih fresh jadi pacar. Kalau sekarang setelah berbulan-bulan atau bertahun-bertahun sama-sama kesandung batu kecil, stres sama kerjaan, berantem gara-gara email nggak dibales, ribet urusan keluarga, harga bensin naik *ih, apa hubungannya ya?*, apa masih sama 'kerenyahan' pesannya?

Mungkin bisa sama, bisa lebih renyah (baca: lenje :p), atau justru lebih adem... tergantung masing-masing pasangan dan orangnya juga sih. Tapi, biasanya, kalau sudah lama bareng justru lebih tenang dan nggak penuh basa-basi. Contohnya, kemarin *nah, ini curhat lagi... :p* waktu ehm, kami lagi puasa ngomong gara-gara sibuk dengan kerjaan masing-masing, ada satu momen di mana akhirnya kami ngobrol sedikit di skype:

(S)aya: Hey, bebi, si X barusan nge-add aku di FB. Aku konfirm nggak ya?

(D)ia: Yeah. Kenapa tanya aku?

Aduh, please, deh.

S: Hahaha

Aku nggak tau

Cuma pengen nanya kamu aja

Soalnya dia kan temen kamu :p

D: Ya udah, konfirm aja.

S: OK

D: Thanks.

S: Hahaha, kenapa thanks?

D: Aku ambil balik deh :p

S: Ya, silly, ambil balik sana :)

D: Udah, kok ;)

S: Bagus deh ;)

Nah, nggak jelas kan?

Urusan yang jadi subyek pembicaraan sebenarnya nggak penting kan? Intinya, sebenarnya kita hanya perlu berkomunikasi kok. Nggak perlu bicara berat, bicara cinta, atau bicara masa depan. Berbagi satu menit dengan konyol itu juga cukup dan bisa membuat masing-masing merasa penting untuk pasangannya.

Boleh setuju, boleh enggak sih. Saya kan cuma curhat... hehehe...

Love According To Me...

2011-08-08T17:10:00.032+07:00

... is a good thought that you maintain in your head.
... is a positive attitude, no matter how negative the things that hit you, your reaction to overcome it, is the one that count!
... is a sincere heart. When you give, then you give. You don't think about expecting anything in return.
... is maturity. Where insecurity and jealously exist in a healthy dose of awareness, not possession.
... is God's blessing. If you cannot feel love, then you are a bitter person.
... is healing. It is us, who often use it for hurting.
... is the a good thing you accept from other creatures.
... is when your heart feels warm.
... is something inevitable.
... is the most absurd thing that can make you smile or grin out of the blue.
... is around us to give, not to seek.
... is acceptance. Of you and everything else around you.
... always wears the face of the persons closest to your heart

How to Get to Bogor?

2011-08-01T14:30:00.002+07:00

If you happened to be a non-native Indonesian, you might want to visit this town named Bogor. Only approximately 2 hours drive from Jakarta (the Indonesia's capital) to the southern part. You can check via Google Maps to know exactly where it's located.

View Larger Map

Umm, before you're expecting too much from this post, I'd like to inform you that this is not an official tourist page. But, as a native to this town, I felt compel to write something after seeing three foreigners got a bit confused yesterday at the Lebak Bulus bus terminal, in South Jakarta.

First: How to get there (and get out of there :p)

Yesterday, I saw three ladies with a super big and (seemed) very heavy carrier on their backs approached my bus. It was at Lebak Bulus terminal. They looked tired and confused, trying to ask around about the ticket to get to the bus. I was almost jump off my seat and help them, but then I saw a young man approached and informed them something. So then, finally the three ladies got in into my bus, to get to Bogor.

So, if you want to travel to Bogor by bus from Jakarta, go to Lebak Bulus terminal. You have to pay IDR 200 (2.5 cent US) to get inside the terminal. Then, find a RED bus named AgraMas with route: Lebak Bulus - Bogor and get in to the first bus on the line. You don't have to buy a bus ticket at the ticket counter, instead you have to pay on the bus en route to Bogor, for currently IDR 11,500 (1.36 USD). The counters that sell tickets are mostly for the bus heading to Central Java and East Java. So, don't worry about bus ticket. You just need to find the red bus. The last trip to Bogor with this bus is at 9 PM. So, make sure you reach the terminal before that time.

The bus is air conditioned, so no smoking allowed. The trip will take around 45 minutes from Lebak Bulus terminal to Baranang Siang terminal in Bogor. But, if the traffic jam on the tollway is bad, then it might take up to 1 hour or more. Err, yes, that last part is the bad news. The terminal located at the heart of the town -almost seems like the door to the town. Within walking distance you can reach some restaurants, American fast food franchise restaurant, a mall named Botani Square, a shopping center with bookstore, another American fast food restaurant, and supermarket, some hotels, the Bogor Botanical Garden and the Bogor Agricultural Institute. Also, if you already thinking of escaping the town so fast (which is very unrecommended :p) and flying back to your country, there's another bus terminal (DAMRI terminal) across the Baranang Siang terminal, that provide special bus to the Soekarno Hatta International airport. The bus leaves every one hour.

Second: What to do in Bogor

If you like nature, the first place to visit is absolutely the Bogor Botanical Garden. This is the forest in the middle of the town and home to thousands of species of vegetation. Even the most rare flowers.
If you want to go sight seeing around the botanical garden, step around to see the Bogor Palace with vast beautiful lawn and home to hundreds of deer. In special dates and occasions, the palace is open for public.
If you love culinary, this place is a heaven of food. But of course, you might need a local guide to take you to the right places... to drool!
If you like history, other than some graveyard and buildings inside the botanical garden that you can visit, there's also Bogor Zoological Museum, located nearby the main gate of the botanical garden.
If you like to meet local people, go to the traditional market next to the botanical garden. You can find anything from vegetables, fruits, rabbits, more foods, and handicrafts. The flop: it can be very wet, filthy and smelly during the rainy days.
If you like a bit fancy places, you can visit the factory outlets along the Pajajaran Road where you can find clothes, clothes, and more clothes. Or, go the Botani Square or Plaza Ekalokasari to find some shops with air conditioner, middle end boutiques, cafes, and restaurants.

This post might not help you at all, since I cannot see very well from the inside. And my favourite thing to do when I'm home on the weekend is being at home -literally- and have some sleep! Anyhow, hope there's a bit of this that can help! :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2011-07-08T10:40:00.001+07:00

You must be very happy today, mom, for it is your birthday and you are in the best place possibly ever exist :) If I could, I would run home later today, catch the night bus, grab a nice birthday cake with a candle on top of it, and celebrate a little birthday bash for you. But I'm not be able to do that anymore. I'm such a bad daughter, aren't I? Never have time to do wonderful thing for you, ever again. I'm sorry, mom.

It was a weekend on July 2002, we planned to hang out and having a mother-daughter day. We randomly hopped in and out some stores and finally went in to a shoe store at the chinatown. You fell in love with a beautiful black leather strappy sandals with a little sparkling stones on top of it. I remember you couldn't take your eyes off of that sandals. It was beautiful indeed. But you said you wouldn't take it because it cost too much for you 125,000 rupiah (around 14 USD with today's exchange rate). You insisted to leave the store but instead I said I'd pay for that sandals. You said it was too expensive, but I insisted that nothing is too expensive if my mom wants it. So, I said to her, "It's okay to have an expensive thing once in a while, and it's your birthday give, mom."

We left the store with wide grins and content hearts. Then went to a new factory outlet at the eastern part of the town. Mocked and made comments on almost all of their out-of-the-planet clothing designs, tried some clothes and giggling all over. Finally, we agreed to buy an orange tube top with a spider web printing on it --for me! We thought we're out of our mind, and kept giggling all the way home. We really had a great time that day.

It was the last one. No more crazy mother-daughter day afterwards, for I was too busy at work. My bad. And you left me, us, three months later that year. Who would have thought? You've never had any health problems in your entire life. But I felt it when you put your had on my lap on our way to the hospital, that I have to be ready to let you go. Only two days, then you gone with the doctor's verdict of blood cancer. You never being unconscious within those painful two days. You even left us with your sweetest smile, in our hands. You left us beautifully.

Almost nine years ago. I still can remember it as fresh as it was just yesterday. Oddly, I never remember all those things on the date you passed away, but always on your birthday. It is because to me, you are always live. You indeed are still living in my heart. You are perfect from the moment I can remember you until the day I kissed your cold smiling lips for the last time. I love you, mom... oh, and happy birthday!

Me Cooking :p

2011-06-02T02:43:00.001+07:00

Pasta Alfredo with Chilli Butter Fried Chicken

For those who happened to be my roomies might know that I do can cook. Not the fancy food though, but at least my food was always proved to be edible :D

The downside, I rarely get the mood to really start cooking, even when I'm home alone with fridge full of meat and veggies. I often prefer to just call the delivery service. But last week was the exception, I determined to cook the pasta I bought from supermarket. It was my first trial on that one, never before. But I love pasta, so I was confident to make it worked :D

I wasn't really prepare for the additional topping, like meat, chicken or mushroom. Thank God there were chicken on the fridge. So, with a little experiment and patience --almost couldn't bear the time needed to make it al dente!-- the delicious pasta was served for lunch :D

When I was 21...

2011-05-03T00:00:00.002+07:00

Life can be tough sometimes, but again it's just the matter of relativity. Even a perspective. Toughness has no certain gauge although we can use, for example: maturity, persistent, honesty, self-esteem, or integrity as part of the elements to measure. But again, it's all about relativity. No certain formula to measure it because different people face it differently.

My lesson learned today is when I reacted frantically on 'a family' problem faces by the loved one. I put all my perspectives --the best one according to me-- on the table and the result was nothing. I didn't get anything good according to my standard because, first of all, it's not my problem directly, and second of all, those are my perspective, which was not working at all. Here, the relativity plays the role. My so-called wisdom was not working because my loved one had totally different perspective on the problem itself. His persistent and integrity took lead over my maturity --well, because I think I'm more mature in that area. I was so darn worried but he just said, life is like that, he'd deal with it. But then I realised, I was wrong because I haven't tried to put myself on his shoes.

Later today, on my way home, I was thinking what did I do when I was considered myself as 'supposedly mature' by the world standard? Let's say what did I do when I was 21? And surprisingly I did make a big different in my life, almost like a 'quantum leap' --well, that's an exaggeration of course! Even though it couldn't be great according to my age-standard now, but then I understand that again, it's all about perspective.

So, when I was 21...

I completed my advanced English with the native speakers and got my diploma in TAFE. I officially completed my whole life of formal education in English. Well, actually it took 9 years since I was 13
I won the deal with my parents for staying within the university choir if I could keep my GPA above 3.0
I proposed my dad to allow me to go to Europe and get the passport all by myself from the immigration office, used my savings for singing with my choir! Ha! It was a tearful debate session as I remember, but at the end my parents sent me some money and were really proud of me :))
I went abroad for the first time, without my parents. Actually it was with my choir, for a singing competition.
I was chosen as project leader for an international simulation event for hundreds of senior student.
I always too tired and fell asleep most of the time during the International Law class --the last hour of the day. Hahahaha. It was not an accomplishment though. But my accomplishment was, that I passed the subject beautifully :)) Oh, and the lecturer never caught me sleeping in his class! :p

The point is, even I myself have forgotten how important those big things were (and actually are) for me. Putting my old shoes back, now I can feel it again, that I was brave enough to face anything in the world that came to me. Life was tough according to my standard at that time. But the most important thing was, I took the decision and responsibility in facing those 'tough' things in my life. It might be tough but it had to be dealt with, because life is like that.

...and with that I learned that reflection is a good way to learn better about ourselves.