Girlfriend

Maap yak buat para pembaca (halah kaya banyak yg baca aja)... Posting gw banyak yg ber-aura negatif. Ya abis gw pikir daripada gw ngomel2 di dunia nyata trus gw ngomongin orang di belakang, atau ngehina-hina orang di depan, trus nyakitin, mending gw nulis-nulis aja deh. Enggak, bukan karena gw munafik, bener gw ga munafiiikkk. Sampe ada temen gw yang bilang kalo gw ga suka sama orang, keliatan banget dari mata gw. Cuman gw bener-bener menjaga apa yang keluar dari mulut gw. Karena ada perkataan:

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything"

dan

"Yang keluar dari mulut, meluap dari hati"

Makanya biarpun hati gw sebel bener, tapi ya tetep lah mulut dijaga. Mudah-mudahan lama-lama gw ga sebel-sebel lagi biar hati lebih tenang gitu loh. Plus lingkungan gw saat ini kebanyakan orang yang toleran dan menerima satu sama lain. Jadi jarang deh ngomongin orang (apa gw yang ga tau aja yah?). Saling nyela atau menjatuhkan aja ga pernah kok. Kadang gw merasa kok sok suci banget, ya tapi emang bener sih, kudu begitu. Apa jadinya kalo pertemanan dipenuhi dengan celaan (yang bukan bercanda), saling ngomongin di belakang, dan saling menjatuhkan?

Kemaren itu gw lagi galau. Gw sebel sama seseorang cuman males cerita ke suami. Karena yaaaa... nanti juga tanggepannya lempeng gitu. Either "cuekin aja" atau "ya udahlah ga usah dipikirin", dan sejenisnya. Atau malah gw jadi merasa bersalah sendiri karena gw sebel sama tuh orang.

Untungnya salah satu sohib nun jauh di sana yang suka menjadikan gw tong sampahnya, pas lagi manggil gw. Jadi setelah ngobrol-ngobrol sambil gosip-gosip update-update berita terbaru gw mulai lah cerita kalo gw sebel sama si itu karena blablabla. Tetep sih gw merasa bersalah karena sebel sama dia plus ngomongin ke orang lain. Cuman untungnya karena yang gw ceritain dan si topik utama tidak berteman (saling tau sih), jadi ya okelah ya. Dibanding gw ngomongin temen segeng sama temen segeng yg lain?

Senengnya, ternyata kesebelan gw didukung lah sama dia. Katanya, wajar kok, emang tingkah kaya begitu 'unlikable'. I feel better after that (gw ga jahat-jahat amat ternyata). Ahhhh... memang biarpun udah merid, butuh dah temen cewe buat curhat-curhat ala cewe begini.... Dan secara gw sama temen gw ini udah bertemen hampir seumur hidup kita, ya udah ngerti satu sama lain lah ya. Tau gimana cara merespon dan membuat si pencurhat jadi merasa baikan.

But still, gw masih merasa bersalah sih sebel sama orang, cuman karena menurut gw dia gengges, sok asik, dan suka pamer. HAHOOHAOHAOHOHAOHAOH.... Apakah gw sirik? Ya mungkin aja sih. Prioritas dan kondisi kita beda. Apakah karena gw berbeda kepribadian? Ya mungkin aja sih. Dia emang suka jadi center of attention, sedangkan gw? Makhluk DC gitu loh, kaga ada people-person nya.

Ya stralah... cuman mau ngoceh doank. Mungkin dengan nge-mute dia dari socmed bisa membuat hati gw lebih tentram. Tapi ada yang ga bisa di-mute bo. Group chattingan. Ya stralah....

Cantik?

Ciehhh... sekalinya ngeblog langsung aja dua postingan. Mumpung inget nih...

Gw tuh emang istri tiri banget kalo pagi. Catet ya, cuman pagi doank. Soalnya gw ga bisa bangun pagi. Jadi biasanya si suami berangkat kantor jam 7:20-7:30, gw masih tidur. Paling dia pamit trus cium gw. Gw sih kebangun dikit dan bergumam ga jelas tp ga sampe bener2 melek. Baru bangun beneran jam 7:45.

Tadi pagi:
Suami: kamu cantik deh, lagi tidur aja cantik.... Nanti pasti anak kita cakep kaya kamu...
Gw (senyum2 sambil merem): daaahhhh... ati2 ya...

Di kantor gw mikir2. Tadi itu ngimpi apa beneran yaaaa... Gw tanyalah suami gw via watsap.

Gw: tadi pagi kamu bilang aku cantik ya? Apa aku ngimpi?
Suami: iya kok...

Arghhhhhhh.... *berbunga-bunga*

Engga... belom hamilllll... lagi mencoba. Doakan ya!

My messy desk

Gw hari ini pindah ruangan. Sebenernya sih balik ke ruangan gw 2 tahun yg lalu. Entah kenapa ya diping-pong begini. Ya sudahlah, bagus juga gw jadi dipaksa untuk de-cluttered meja gw. Sementara ini sudah buangin kertas lumayan lah... Setara 5 pohon kali *lebay* Eh tapi gw ngumpulin kertas2 yang 1 sisinya masih kosong kok, buat ngeprint dokumen2 yang ga terlalu penting *pembelaan diri*

Dan bagus juga lah gw bisa meninggalkan debu2 di sudut2 yang ga kesapu selama 2 tahun sama OB (karena gw numpuk dokumen seenaknya). Haohaoahoahohoa...

Waktu gw nyoba DISC Assesment, gw dinobatkan menjadi orang D-C. D-nya sih iya gw tauk. Dari dulu gw tauk. Tapi C nya? Hmmmm... Meja gw sangat tidak menggambarkan itu sih. Oh iya, filing di komputer gw juga engga. Apalagi email. C nya gw di mana ya?

1. Gw sayang banget sama buku2 gw. Dari komik/novel/buku pelajaran pasti licin. Makanya gw paling sebel kalo orang yg pinjem buku gw ga bisa ngerawat. Temen gw yang temenan ma gw dari jaman TK, paling segan kalo minjem novel ma gw. Takut dimarahin katanya. Hhuauhauhauhahu...  Pernah guru piano gw jaman gw ngeles privat di rumah bawa anaknya (lebih muda dikit dari gw). Karena dia bengong2 nungguin gw ngeles, nyokap gw bawa dia ke rak buku gw. Milihlah dia sebiji. Muka gw dah asem aja tuh. Trus pas gw kelar ngeles, dia belom kelar baca. Jadilah dia bawa tuh buku pulang. Dibalikin sih... cuman lecek. Keseeeellll rasanya.

2. Sebel kalo berubah2 rencana. Pagi2 atau hari sebelumnya biasanya gw udah punya rencana di otak gw. Gw mau gini-gini-gini. Gw dah plan naik apa, lewat mana, bagaimanalah supaya efektif dan murah. Kalo ada orang yg mengacaukan, gw biasanya sebel. Apalagi kalo biayanya jadi lebih mahal *itu mah pelit yak...*

3. Katanya org C tunduk sama peraturan. Iya sih gw ga nyontek dulu pas sekolah. Gw juga bukan orang yang bisa ngerayu2 polisi biar ga kena tilang (pernah sih dilepasin), tapi kebanyakan ya... sutralah. Tilang saja saya pak!

Nah kombinasi D-C kan artinya task-minded, bukan people-person. Gw baru menyadari setelah dijelasin ttg DISC Assessment ini... Dulu kan gw nyangka gw cukup gaul lahhhh... Temen banyak. Ga terlalu eksklusif ngegeng, jadi gw cukup bisa berbaur dengan teman2 dari banyak kalangan. Eh semakin dewasa gw semakin individualis (pengaruh tinggal di negara barat kali yeh). Ternyata ini dia yang menjelaskan kenapa gw kaya gini. Task-minded, not people-person. Hahhahahahah...

About my readings

It's time to talk about my other hobby beside traveling (I babbled to much about traveling here): Readings.

I read since I was 4 years-old. My mom n auntie said that even before I could read by myself, I was able to memorize all the words in the book properly. So I would know if someone who's reading it for me skipped some words. Ha ha!

During primary and junior high school, lots of time my name was listed on the bookworm lists in the school library. In the primary, we were allowed to borrow 1 fiction and 1 non-fiction. So I picked up an Enid Blyton or other teenage novels for the fiction, and folklore tales for the non-fiction (I was not interested in science book or others so both were actually stories). In junior high, we were allowed to borrow 2 fiction books at a time. So, no doubt I did not visit the non-fiction section at all unless it was for school assignment. Not happening in high school, because none of my close friend liked to go to the library. My mom was seldom upset because I read too much, she felt that I didn't study enough. Heyy! My grade were still good.

When I was in college, I didn't read too much fiction. I think at that time I was busy with internet unless someone came from Indo (or I went home) and brought Indo novels. My roomie and I can spend a day inside the apartment quietly and feeling content surrounded by the books.

Nowadays, thanks to e-books. My hubby bought me a kindle couple years ago (before we got married), and he knew if I didn't contact him that night, I was cheating with my kindle. Even till now. We were happily lying in bed, me with my kindle, him with his smartphone playing games.

I tried to put as many books I remember I have read to the apps in the left side of this blog, but it will take some times since I believe I have read thousands of books for the last let's say 20 years. The apps here showing what book I am reading now. I bet if you scroll it, you can see what I have read? Arghhh... Gaptek nih ueuhehueuhhue... However, I rated some of the books I felt recommendable (is there such word? Ha ha). But you are welcome to ask my review about the book I have read (if I still remember). Of course this only lists books in English. So I cannot put my Indonesian books in there. But I do read Indonesian novels, the non-lebay ones. :p

Anybody likes to read too? Give me some recommendation!

Traveling, where do you like to go?

Nulis pake inggris apa indo ya? -mikir- Maap yak kalau bakalan campur-campur.

Anyway.... I've been addicted to traveling these past years. During my childhood, almost every year my parents brought us (my siblings and I) traveled with travel agent. Even when we went to Medan, we were with travel agent. Ngerasa rugiiiii banget, karena waktu itu seisi tour cuman bisa makan yang halal, padahal kan Medan gitu loh!!! Akhirnya kita cuman makan babi sekali doank, nyari restoran kecil deket hotel. How sad....

Pas SMA, gw gabung sama grup pencinta awal (yg akhirnya dibubarkan olrh kepsek baru yg nyebelin dan menganggap anak2 pencinta alam pemberontak semua. Hiks). Emang sih sebelumnya juga pernah lah yg namanya camping Pramuka, atau hiking waktu retreat, tapi sejak ngerasain yg namanya camping beneran (ga ada listrik dan kamar mandi sama sekali... ) dan ngeliat sunrise di atas gunung, Wowwww... it seems like there is a different side of traveling.

Kuliah di luar, gw ga banyak jalan2... gara2 disuruh pulang terus sama bokap (yg kangen sama anaknya. *uhuk*). Pas udah kerja baru deh mulai kesana kemari, planning trips instead of ngikut tour, doing outdoor activities which is very convenient compare to here in Jakarta (ya eyalah... di Jakarta kan gersang, beton semuah). Dan semua mulai menggila waktu gw pulang for good ke Jakarta.

Di Jakarta: sumpek, pengap, macet, kerjaan yaaaa begitu2 aja. What keeps me alive is travel (and its planning). Plus, I met some people who have same preferences in traveling. I am a traveler who maximize experience rather than comfort and companion. Honestly, I choose where I wanna go, do some research and ask people around who wants to join. If not, well, plan is still on, with my dear hubby (dulunya masih pacar) (reluctantly) tagging along.

I have this circle of girlfriends, sebagian di Jakarta, sebagian di kota lain. Once we (or they? I don't remember I pledge to this) said to meet up once every year. One year we decided to go to Singapore. I didn't mind cos I haven't been to Singapore in a very long time. The next year (after long debate) we decided to go to Bali (during my birthday week because of schedule conflict with everyone), and I gotta spend a lot more money than I wanted to, due to:
1. one person demanded a private villa with pool
2. one person demanded a luxury spa (alternatif yg gw kasih dan harganya cuman sepertiga, sukses ditolak)
I even had to literally beg to spend a night in Ubud, because the others wants to just stay in Seminyak for 3 nights (2 yrs before, I went to Bali and stayed in Seminyak for 3 nights) by saying "gw udah ngalah mau ke Bali, kenapa sih ga mau stay di Ubud semalem doank?". Hahahhahaha. Baru deh yg lain iya2. Huh. The next year, I finally said "no, I'm not going". Not because I don't like being with them, but it's just too much money to spend for something I didn't really want. The plan was to go to a city in Java by plane (yg gw sering pergi krn ada sodara di situ), and do nothing except eating and spa-ing. No, thank you. Secara gw juga sering ketemu mereka... ya at least in the past 6 months masih ketemu lah. So the term of "reunion" didn't work either. Anyway, kalo ada yg baca dan merasa, well, I still love you as a good friend but maybe our travel preference are not suit to each other so just accept it. Eh tp sebenernya sebagian dari temen2 yg itu sih bisa dijadiin travel companion, ga semuanya ajah.

If you are still wondering what kind of a traveler I am, I'm just gonna list the trip I did these past years with brief explanation (in not chronological order). Kalo ada pembaca yang mau gw bikinin posting terpisah, let me know (Halah! kayak ada yg baca ajah).

1. Karimun Jawa. 4D/3N, flight to Semarang, car to Jepara,  ferry (plus a sick fisherman boat) to Karimun Jawa, decent hotel with AC, and cost only around 1,7mil per person all inclusive.

2. Pulau Tidung n Pramuka, 3D/2N, public boat from Muara Angke, homestay, and other usual activities there, cost me only around 400-500k.

3. Lombok, 5D/4N. City tour on the first day then hike up Mt Rinjani to its crater and lake (not summit) and camp for 2N (it is hard core OMG. but worth it). And back to nice hotel in Senggigi for the last night cos we missed the boat to Gili Trawangan. Ya maap dehhhh... dengkul gw sakit banget pas turun gunung hiks. And at that time I found out I had iliotibial band syndrome a.k.a knee pain for hikers. Ah, sudah tua. I forgot the cost, may be around 3-4mil. Dan sekarang pas gw lihat harganya, buseeeetttt... naik jauh loh dari 2 tahun lalu hueueuheuhe. Gara2 pindah airport dan BBM naik.

4. Tanjung Puting, 4D/3N. 2N stay on the boat (klotok), and 1N in the hotel in town. It was an life-changing experience seeing the palm oil - forest destruction - orang utan in there plus relaxing journey by sleeping on the deck with mosquito net and mattress and watching bekantan and monkeys jumping all around you. Ahhh, and went to Pasar Malem di kotanya. Cost: 3mil ++.

5. Kepulauan Derawan, 4D/3N. I think it turned out quite affordable, like around 3 mil. We did one day of diving, 1 day of snorkel plus swimming with Manta Rays which were awesomeeeee!!!! Not to forget the most important point-of-interest: Kakaban Lake with non-stinging jellyfish.

6. Belitung, 4D/3N. Went with my cousins and their parents, so I don't know how much it cost. Hahahahha... And my aunt even said it was more beautiful than Hawaii.

7. Citarik rafting + 1N camping. About 500k. Biasalah ya yg ini....

8. Buniayu cave, 2D/1N. Caving + rappelling in waterfall nearby. It was awesomeee! But not to repeat though ahahhaha... It was 5 hours hike in the cave, lots of weird and beautiful rocks plus bugs with no eyes. Cost: 350rb.

9. Gn Gede. 2D/1N. Reliving my high school memory though the hike trail is not as natural as it used to be (the stones hurt my knees), but well... I can still manage to climb up to the top! Cost: 350rb.

10. Gn Papandayan. 2D/1N. Asli deh ga kebayang ada gunung sebagus ini di deket Jakarta. Gampang pula naiknya... those of you unexperienced hiker, go check this out. So worth it! Cost: 600rb.

That's all I guess. There were few other expensive trips sponsored by my parents. I won't be paying for myself any expensive trips because I prefer save the money for other stuff (like renovating the house) and other trips! Tapi sekarang lagi planning buat Flores-Komodo trip, yang kaga bisa murah! Hiks.

The point of writing about this is, I feel bad for people who don't want to travel to some beautiful place because of their lack of facilities. Especially in Indonesia, lots of beautiful places still don't have a good transportation and infrastructure, tourist management, or star hotels. Like Rinjani, it's a hardwork to go there, and I said to hubby at that time "if it is in some developed country, I bet there are already cable cars here. I hope I can take my kids with cable cars in the future". Tapi jangan salah, makanan yg dimasak oleh porter2 di sana sekelas sama masakan restoran loh. Cobain deh kalo ga percaya.

Buat kamu2 yg ga mau pergi cuman karena takut ini dan itu, hotelnya jelek, pesawat kecil, kapalnya kayu lah... percaya deh, rasa petualangan itu akan mengalahkan ketidaknyamanan. Gw aja yg suka insomnia kalo tidur di tempat baru bisa survive, why don't you? :) And it's lucky for us who can experience both worlds :)

Get these out of my chest!

I know I shouldn't post negative thoughts or complaints but I need to vent it away:

1. You know you really are married when your travel peeps no longer ask you to join them. When I asked, they made excuses such as it's not them who arrange it and I might be have something else important because I'm freaking married. Thanks.

2. This landlady who almost got us in trouble because she was late in paying the maintenance fee asked for a raise in rent. Blegh.

3. It seems my waist-to-hip ration increases quite a bit and tonight I got a fitting for my dress for my cousin's wedding. Let's see. -cubit2 pinggang-

Visiting Chicago for Indonesians

My friend and her hubby are going to Chicago. Not only it's her first time to Chicago but also to US. So I emailed her this guide to use up her 4 days in Chicago wisely. I copied it from my email, I haven't edited anything due to my laziness *ha ha* But I bet it will be helpful to some people. I left Chicago 4 yrs ago, hopefully this is still okay. And please note, some of the attractions are only suitable for summer (temen gw pergi pas summer soalnya)

_________________________________________________________________________________
Yay! You're going to Chicago!!

Essentials:

- public transport: http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/

kalau dari airport bisa naik blue line ke Downtown. Kalo hotel elo di magnificent mile, my best guess is it's near red line. 

- ada jg yg namanya Metra. Commuter train buat ke suburbs. Dulu gw kerja naek ini.

Sight Seeing, Picture Spot:

- Magnificent mile. Di peta sepanjang jln 41: N Lake Shore Drive. Itu bisa sambil jalan kaki/jogging, nyusurin pantai aja ke south, nanti ketemu:

- N Michigan Ave. Kanan kirinya toko2... bs lanjut ke: 

- S Michigan Ave/Millenium Park n Grant Park. Ada Buckingham Fountain, the Bean, ada semacem teater outdoor, kalo wiken biasanya ada show. Atau hari biasa siang2 ada rehearsal. Lanjut lg ke

- Navy pier. Kaya Port gitu, bisa duduk2 n foto2 makan es krim. Ada Children Museum, Glass Museum n Bianglala gitu. Terus ikut:

- Boat tour: waktu itu gw ambil yg ini http://www.wendellaboats.com/ yg lake n river tour. Tp kalo bisa mending ambil yg Chicago Sunset. Make sure book first.

- Museum Campus. Nah kalo sini waktu sunset/malem yak. Bisa foto2 dengan latar belakang Chicago Skyline. Best spot is the road between Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium. Kalo ke sininya siang jg bagus foto2 di depan Field Museum.

Total di atas ini bisa diselesaiin sehari asal ga lelet2 jalannya ya hehehehe... Kalau naik mobil, sedia 25sen yg banyak buat parkir di pinggir jalan. belum tentu ada gedung parkir dan kalaupun ada pasti mahal bgt.

Museum:

- Museum campus: Field museum, Shedd aquarium, Adler Planetarium. Kalo ada wkatu ke Field boleh, lainnya membosankan ehuuhehuehue... Kalo cuman sebentar di Chicago sih foto2 ajalah di sini...

- Chicago Art Institute, nah ini di Millenium park. Bagus juga kalau suka lukisan2.

- Museum Science and Industry. Nah ini seruuu... http://www.msichicago.org/ lagi ada special exhibit: The Animal Kingdom. Sayangnya bukan Body World... kalo iya pasti Andi suka :p

Shopping

- N Michigan Ave for branded items (ada sih yg standard mall gitu). Cari parkir susah n super mahal (up to $30 per hour). Naik train/bus aja. 

- My fave mall: Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie, North of Chicago. Jauh sih kalo ga punya mobil...

- The 2nd biggest mall in the US: Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, West of Chicago. Ga penting sih... kalo kelebihan waktu banget baru ke sini :p

- Gurnee Mills Outlet. Sejam ke North

- Chicago Premium Outlet kalo mo belanja di sini enak nih... http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=63 Nun jauh di west tapi ya.

- Pleasant Prairie outlet. Nah ini lebih jauh lagi dr Gurnee, jd kalo mo ke sini cuman kalo lo mau ke Renaissance Faire (see below) http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=90

Other attractions outside the city

- Six Flags Gurnee Mills, very recommended kalo demen sama jetcoaster. Ini extreme. bukan kaya Disneyland atau dufan. Isinya jetcoster doank plus bbrp yg serem2 lainnya. 

- Milwaukee. 2 hrs driving north. 

- Bristol Renaissance Faire http://www.renfair.com/bristol/. Nah ini jg jauh di north di perbatasan Wisconsin. Seru sih kalo ada waktu yg bisa di-spare. Kalo mau ke sini, bisa sekalian ke premium outlet Pleasant Prairie, tp lebih kecil dr yg Aurora

Culinary Chicago/American-Style:

- Deep Dish Pizza. This is the signature of Chicago. Gw sukanya yg di restoran Lou Malnati's cuman kayanya di downtown agak jarang. Giordano's or Gino's will do too.

- Chicago-style Hot Dog. restoran: Portillo. 

- kalo Garrett belom buka di Singapur, I will direct you to Garrett. Tp since udah ada yaaa... kalo ketemu aja ya. Ada di downtown. Jangan ke yg Mich Ave karena pasti ngantre, ke yg State St aja. 

- Cobain Jamba Juice deh. smoothies, seger n sehat banget.

- Cheesecake Factory (it's a restaurant) in N Mich Ave. Entah kenapa ngantrenya gila2an... gw sih biasa aja ehuuehhuehu...

- Original Pancake House, for breakfast

- The Bongo Room, for breakfast also, gw sih biasa aja sama ini cuman entah kenapa terkenal bener :p

Culinary- Others:

- Brazillian: Fogo de Chao. Ini All u can eat daging2an. 

- Spanish Tapas: Cafe Iberico. Lumayan murah dibanding resto lain. The paella and white sangria are great 

- Peruvian: Machu Piccu, Ashland Ave. Steak2an jg sih. Cuman gw demen bgt sama stuffed mushroomnya (ga nyambung yak auhhuauha)

- Greek... nah ini gw lupa yg pernah gw makan apa. Cuman ada GreekTown di Chicago.

Culinary-Asian: 

- Ken-Kee, New ChinaTown. the best fish in special sake sauce, u can't find it anywhere else (sambil ngiler deh gw nulisnya)

- Lao Sze Chuan, Old China Town. Tony's Chicken, again u can't find it anywhere else. Kalo pada demen pedes bisa ke sini

- BBQ King, New China Town. Barbeque pork, roast pork, roast duck

- Green Tea Japanese Restaurant, Lincoln Park. Entah kenapa Salmon suhinya enak bener

- Joy-Yee bubble drink, New China Town. You gotta try! Ini pake juice asli semua. Durian, avocado, mango, dan yg lain2 enak :p 

- Seven Treasures, Old China Town. Braised noodlenya enak... biasanya gw pesen sama roast duck dan roast pork (gembul bener...)

(Old n New China Town tuh sebelahan. Naek aja red line, turun di Cermak)

- San Soo Gab San, Korean Town (a bit north of downtown). Korean BBQ gitu lah

- Tang Noodle, Vietnam Town (a bit north of downtown). favorite gw jauh di west... yg ini lumayan :p

- Star of Siam (Thai), Downtown. Favorite gw jauh di North sih, yg ini lumayan juga lah.

Itu aja kali yaaa... Moga2 bermanfaat. Have fun!!

Meal Management

Salah satu issue saat gw sudah memulai kehidupan pernikahan adalah meal management. Ga tau sih bener ga istilahnya kaya gitu, intinya planning gw beli bahan2 makanan ga pernah beres. Jarang sih sampe kekurangan, biasanya kelebihan sampe busuk2 (terutama sayur hijau).

Awal merid, gw dan suami belanja bareng dan memikirkan sekitar 3 set menu yang bakal kita masak selama minggu itu. Tiap set menu cukup untuk 3 porsi. 2 porsi dimakan malem itu, 1 porsinya dibawa suami ke kantor buat makan siang besoknya (gw dapet makan di kantor). Abis itu kita kecapean.... karena ga ada pembantu sama sekali (yang dateng harian juga engga), ya otomatis kita yang musti beresin semuanya. Cape lah ya... apalagi kita berdua baru pulang ke rumah jam 7-7:30 pm selama hari kerja.

Akhirnya kita mengurangi belanjaan kita jadi 2 set menu saja. Jadi rencananya masak cuman 2 kali doank selama seminggu. Yang lain? ada kalanya emang kita pergi cellgroup yang dapet makan, atau suami abis customer gathering dan bawa sisa makanan dari resto, makan keluar atau dapet makanan dari ortu/mertua atau tante.

Contoh minggu ini. Hari minggu kemaren kita belanja untuk:
1. mie/bihun bakso (karena udah punya bakso)
2. mie goreng (karena udah punya lapchiong)
3. extra daging buat bikin pasta kalo kurang

Dan rencana kita adalah:
Senin malem: makan rumah inc. bekal suami
Selasa malem: makan luar karena kita ada 4 voucher makan yang expired di minggu pertama Juni -tepok jidat-
Rabu malem: cell group
Kamis malem: makan rumah
Jumat malem: makan rumah
Sabtu-Minggu: bersosialisasi, kondangan plus ngabisin sisa voucher makan karena weekend2 depan kita belum tentu sempat.

Dan sementara ini:
Senin malem: kita jadi masak dan makan mie/bihun bakso. Mertua nganterin seporsi bibimbap (suami ga suka, jadi disimpen buat gw). Ada sisa bihun digoreng tadinya mau dibawa suami ke kantor tp dia br inget Selasa dan Rabu dia dapet makan di kantor karena training.
Selasa malem: terpaksa makan di rumah karena ada bihun goreng dan bibimbap PLUS pembantu nyokap gw ngirimin gw SE-EMBER lauk.
Rabu malem: tetep cell group
Kamis malem: makan rumah
Jumat malem: makan rumah
Sabtu siang: makan di resto baru temen
Sabtu malem: kondangan dua bijik
Minggu: HARUS pake voucher (tapi ya cuman bisa maks 2 yak... 2 nya lagi apa kabar donk?)

Sekarang gw pusing ngeliatin seember lauk itu. Ember ini berawal dari percakapan gw ke mbak weekend kemaren pas gw visit bokap:
Gw: mbak, jangan ngasi ayam woku atau ayam bumbu rujak terus donk... kan bosen
Mbak: ya maunya apa? abis kamu kan suka ayam woku, Ben suka ayam bumbu rujak...
Gw: apa yg lain gitu... oseng tempe boleh tuh... terong balado juga aku suka, pindang juga boleh.

Hasilnya hari ini gw dibawain seember makanan isi: oseng tempe, terong balado dan pindang (ga tau pindang ayam atau ikan, belum diintip). -lapkeringet-

Anyway, terima kasih Tuhan atas berkatMu...

Orang Jakartah...

Sebagai orang yang hidup di Jakarta sejak lahir, ada beberapa hal yang gw kurang men-Jakarta:

1. Belum pernah masuk ke Monas. Beneran loh, somehow pas gw ekskursi jaman2 SD-SMP ga pernah kebagian ke Monas. Padahal kakak/adek kelas gw ada jadwal ke Monas. Hasilnya baru sekitar 3-4 taun yg lalu gw memasuki wilayah Monas karena lagi sepedaan pas car-free-day, tapi tetep donk sampai sekarang belom masuk juga ke dalem.

2. Ga suka makan kerak telor dan soto betawi. Entah kenapa, gw punya love-hate relationship sama kelapa. Dibikin es-es-an suka, dibikin santen, ada yang gw suka, ada yang engga. Rendang suka, tapi lodeh engga. Soto pake santen? Engga suka donk. Cemilan pake kelapa parut (kerak telor kan pake kelapa parut ya)? kebanyakan ga sukanya.

3. Tidak pernah kebanjiran (tadinya mau nulis 'belum' tapi dengan iman gw ganti jadi 'tidak' uheuheuheuh. Amin!). Thanks to my parents, gw tinggal di daerah yang tidak kena banjir. Seinget gw sih waktu gw kecil, pernah depan rumah gw banjir sampe selutut, tapi gw ya ga keluar rumah kan. Jadi ga pernah sampe ngobyok di banjir. Nah, kalo kakak gw sekolah di SMU yang langganan kebanjira, sering deh tuh dia ngobyok masuk sekolah. Gw juga (thank God) ga pernah naik mobil ngelewatin banjir yang gimana, kalo yang 10 cm mah ya pernah, tapi kan masih aman yak. Waktu bulan Februari barusan, komplek mertua gw kena banjir, jadi suami gw jemput dia untuk tinggal di apartemen kita, cuman gw ga ikut jemput, jadi ya tetep ga pernah. Sekarang juga kita tinggal di daerah yang termasuk paling tinggi-nya Jakarta. Biarpun jalan rayanya suka 'tergenang' kalau abis hujan deras.

4. Ga sebegitunya sama Mall. Kalo bisa sih sebenernya gw lebih pilih belanja groceries atau makan di luar mall. Cari parkir lebih gampang, ga ribet. Tapi namanya Jakarta yah, ada aja keperluannya ke mall seperti ketemu orang atau mau belanja baju yang pastinya lebih praktis di mall karena tokonya banyak. Ada 1 mall yang gw sukaaaa banget pas gw tinggal di Amrik, namanya Westfield Old Orchard Mall. Lokasinya ga deket2 amat sih, tapi gw suka bela2in nyetir ke sini kalau perlu ke mall karena... ya enak aja gitu, outdoor, rapih, ga terlalu rame, tokonya juga OK. Nih fotonya kaya begini. Itu outdoor beneran loh, bukan pake langit2 awan kaya di Dharmawangsa Square hueuheuheuhuhe. Dan bayangin ajah, kalo winter, salju2 numpuk, gw tetep suka ke sana... berkeliaran sambil makan ColdStone! Hehuheuheuheuh... gendeng yak

PS. Ada cerita tentang Mall di Jakarta. Waktu itu gw belum kenal sama si suami. Tapi gw punya temen deket yang tinggal di Kelapa Gading. Hari itu adalah Earth Day. Gw lagi dengerin HardRo*k FM, dan penyiarnya nanya, apa yang elo mau rubah seandainya bisa sehubungan dengan Earth Day. Ada cewe yang nelp, dia bilang dia tinggal di Kelapa Gading. Dan yang dia mau rubah adalah: hilangkan itu mall2 dari Kelapa Gading (Iya yak, cuman 1 komplek tapi mall nya buanyak bener... ada yang rame bener, ada yang sepi buanget pula). Trus ditanya sama penyiarnya: "jadi kalau mau hangout kemana donk?". Si cewe: "ya ke resto2 ajalah yang di selatan gitu....". Gw langsung ngakak sendirian di mobil dan cerita ke temen baek gw yang orang Gading.

Later on ketemu suami, ya gw cerita juga donk buat ngeledek dia. Yup, suami orang Gading, gw orang Selatan. Hheuuheuheuheuh....

Ketemuan temen?

Bisa dibilang temen gw lumayan lah... banyak banget kaya social butterfly sih engga, tp waktu masa single sih ada aja 2-3 kali per minggu ngumpul sama temen yg berbeda2. Sampe pas awal2 pacaran, gw jarang pergi berduaan, soalnya udah terlanjur janjian sama temen2, jd ya gabung sekalian deh.

Udah agak lama pacaran, kumpul2 sama temen jadi otomatis berkurang sendiri. Kenapa yah? huhuhu... sedih loh, padahal masih suka ngumpul2... Minggu lalu gw mikir, kok sekarang jarang banget ketemuan sama temen yah. Ada sih bbrp yg masih agak rutin tp kebanyakan udah jarang.

Trus inget profile pic salah satu temen yg ada kata2 gini "Why complicate life? Wanna meet up? Invite!". Iseng aja ngomong sama salah satu temen gw buat ketemuan (udah 2 bulanan ga ketemu. Atau baru? ahahhaha), dia langsung OK, dan kita janjian buat ketemuan bbrp hari kemudian. Trus besokannya ada temen gw yg tiba2 ngajakin olahraga bareng (dulu sering sih waktu dia belum pindah kota), kebetulan gw bisa, ya gw iyain. Ini jg udah ga ketemu 2-3 bulan (agak lupa terakhir ketemu kapan). Seneng :D Ada lagi a group of my friends yg lagi atur waktu mau ketemu, tp belom dapet kesepakatan ahahhaha. Terakhir ketemu ada yg baru 2 minggu, ada yg 2 bulanan jg sih.

Dulu pas balik dari Amrik, gw lumayan kenalan sama banyak org baru, tapi end up nya ga banyak yg tetep temenan. Kebanyakan yang gw masih temenan ya yg temen2 lama. Temen baru hanya sekedar jadi 'kenalan'. Gw juga ga mau maksa sih, males juga kalo harus maksain ikut kegiatan mereka atau ngomongin hal2 yang mereka suka padahal kita ga nyambung. Nah ada nih sekelompok temen yg suka ngumpul dan kadang ngajakin gw n hubby, tapi kita suka males. Gayanya aja kali ya yg ga cocok. Kalo clubbing gitu kan gw ga suka.

Nah, planningnya sih pengen ngajakin temen lain ketemuan. Yg 1 terakhir ketemu pas gw merid (dia nyanyi pas pemberkatan). Dulu pas single, lumayan sering nih pegi ama dia. Olahraga bareng lah, nonton bareng lah, brunch bareng lah... Ada 1 lagi juga yang udah lama ga ketemu, terakhir waktu wedding gw juga, nah dia ini nari di wedding gw. (keliatan banget ya gw memanfaatkan teman2 ahahhaha). Nah ada sepasang lagi dulu juga sering ketemuan. Sekarang entah kenapa jadi menjauh gitu. Mungkin mereka sibuk juga sih, let's see deh, terwujud ga.

Generosity... a hard lesson...

So, this month's theme at church is Generosity. It was just great timing!! Since we got married, we haven't got a month where our financial is predictable. Plus, having in-laws that needed support didn't make it easier. I was so used to using my money just for myself (well, I also didn't ask my parents for extra money). I was content with what I could buy and I was good at building my saving.

And the Bible says:
24 The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. 25 The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.
(Proverbs 11)

Wow. It didn't slap me right away but through the weeks when I was faced with unpredictable expenses and I tried to protect myself with my own power. I kept saying to myself that "is this the lifestyle we deserve to live?", "Whereelse can I cut my expense?", even to a cruel question such as "Why does my hubby only get this amount of income?"

Then, we were challenged to give excellent sacrifice in this week of Easter. I was thinking of the amount of X, which is the same as last year's sacrifice as a single. Then hubby said, "yes it's an easy number, but is it excellent enough? Do we want to put our faith in God's hands?" Wow. And I prepared my heart and said "OK, how about 2X?".

We know the theory that God will give back in multiplication, but whatever, we just want to give our sacrifice, Our blessings is not for us to demand, but it's in God's timing and favor. But the next day I was calling around for one thing that I urgently needed to buy, and peace of God overflowed my heart (it is till now) finding that I can get that one thing at a much lower price than what I would have guessed. And the next day after that, hubby said that suddenly out of nowhere, his boss gave him some shopping vouchers. It was not that big of an amount (not even covered the price for that "thing"), but for me it is the proof that Godly theory of generosity does work.

³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ 
(Acts 20)

Like to read, not like to write

Hah! It's been a year since my last post. Even we don't use the nickname I used for the blog name anymore. -sigh-

I was thinking to document my wedding planning, but didn't do it. So now, here we are.. have been married for 3 months already. I won't go back to review all stuffs about wedding, but will go forward with anything I want to write. Might be random, since lately I've been in needs of a place to babble about things.

I like reading even before I can read. My mom said that I loved when somebody read for me and I would memorized the words so I could pretend to read from book. There were many times when my mom scolded/punished me in my school years due to excessive readings while I should've been doing homework or studying. Well mom, I did well at school.

And now, in the midst of internet era, I love blog-walking so much. There are some blogs that I've been silent-reading, and I was reluctant to put comments since I didn't have a proper blog. Hope after I routinely fill my blog, I would start connecting with other bloggers.

That's for now. TGIF!

What have I achieved so far?

Haduh, lotsa things happened. Jadi ceritanya si Gembul dijanjiin promosi sama bosnya sesaat sebelum si bos dipindahkan ke divisi lain. Katanya sih awal tahun ini (biasa kenaikan gaji resmi diumumkan/berlaku di bulan Feb). Mulailah dia menghitung2 dan merencanakan kebutuhan tahun ini yang emang so significant and life-changing itu. Turned out, the reality is not as predicted. Mulai deh kebat-kebit. Gw juga ikutan stress. But he said: "kamu ngapain ikut stress? Biar aku aja yg mikirin...". Dalam hati: 'Ya iyalah, kan nyangkut ke hidup gw juga...". Time goes by, ada beberapa titik terang yang muncul. Sepertinya keadaannya ga seburuk itu. Gw mulai yakin lagi kalo memang Tuhan berkenan, Tuhan yang akan menyediakan (ya sebelumnya juga yakin sih... tapi kan jadi lebih mantep gituh).

Kemarin waktu telponan sama Gembul, dia cerita tentang beberapa hal yg terjadi di komunitas cell groupnya. And I was very very proud of him. Not something formal or grand, but I know God wants to bring him up and be blessings to others around him. So proud of him and I told him: "Promotion from work can be postponed, but God promotes you. It's more precious". In the same time, I was thinking: 'How about me? What have I achieved so far?'.

One thing for sure, I found someone I can look up to. I remember on my first year of college, if I was asked what my criteria of choosing a partner, I would say: "yang bisa membuat kita masing-masing menjadi lebih baik lagi". Dan tahun-tahun berikutnya membuat gw yakin bahwa kalau memang di dalam hubungan, orang menjadi semakin mundur (terutama dalam karakter dan rohani), hampir pasti deh Tuhan tidak berkenan. Dan 1,5 tahun gw bersama Gembul, I've been seeing him improving in many different aspects. And again I was thinking: 'How about me? What have I achieved so far?'.

*terharu*

Last month, there's a good friend of Gembul went back to Jakarta to start a new business/department here supported by one of the multinational company. He offered Gembul a position  which he thought Gembul could manage although didn't have a lotta experience in that. Of course the salary would be bigger than what he got now. But he was concerned about the benefits he would lose if he left the bank he's currently working as well as the security (who knows what's gonna happen with a start-up in several months?). Long story short, Gembul said to his friend "Sorry I can't take it. If you asked me two year ago, I would jump right away. But now, she's my priority" -looking at me-.

*meleleh* *padahal gw masih sibuk pengen travel sana sini* *hayoloh*

Better than nothing

I have been abandoning this blog although I have a lotta stuff in my mind that can be turned into a worthy blogpost. I'm just gonna force myself to write, even if it is brief to keep this blog going.

I was blown away by this verse yesterday during the cell group: For the Scriptures say, "If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. (1 Peter 3:10, NLT)

I once was reading The book of Proverbs and thinking: Wow, we actually don't need to read self-help or motivational speech. The guidance of living you life is all in the Bible. And that's exactly what appeared in my mind last night when I read this verse.

So, people, let's say to ourself "today will be a great day!".

Bengong...

8:54 pm dan gw masih di kantor... Nungguin bokap gw yang rada workaholic (iya gw kerja sama bokap gw). Karena dia mau cuti lusa, jadi tadi dia bilang bakal pulang agak maleman, paling pagi jam 7... jam 7 bo! Molor 2 jam.... Tapi gw ga enak buat buru2in dia gara2 kemaren gw udah ngeburu2in dia drop-in gw ketemu temen2... Hufffff... Serba salah yah, mo bawa mobil, males nyetir n kena macetnya... Nebeng, kok ya ga fleksibel. Melayanglah niat gw bersantai ria di rumah malam ini...

Dan kenapa ya, niat gw tuh on-off banget buat olahraga. Niatnya kan mau rutin donk, at least 3 kali seminggu. Gw ga gendut kok, BMI 21 tapi lemak di mana2. Dan herannya si Gembul selalu bilang gw gendut padalah BMI dia udah masuk ke kategori obesitas. HUH! Untungnya belakangan udah agak nyadar. Sampe sering gw sindir "mantan kamu ceking semua ya? cewe2 ga berlemak?". No, fortunately I haven't met his exes. Jadi inget ini (sorry, I'm an engineer):

Taken from facebook page: Trust me, I'm an "engineer"

I just have to post this...

Go to the link to view others "What we should have been taught in our senior year of high school"

My Fetish on Shoes

So I got this thing for shoes. Fortunately, I got a display-size feet (EUR 37), which makes it so easy to try on shoes wherever and whenever. Not boasting but most shoes look good on me, but not necessarily are comfortable. My feet are flat and it's not easy to find high heels that fit the arch of my feet. In addition to that, the bone at the inner side of the foot near the thumb protrudes out more than most people's. But in the other hand, my forefingers are the longest among other fingers which make it beautifully in line with the front curve of the open toes shoes' soles. I should have posted a picture rather than rambling about it hahaha.

When I moved to a big city from my university town, I was so amazed with all the shoes I could find (I know, I know, it's sad). That year, I bought a pair of shoes EVERY month which resulted in 13 pair of shoes at the end of the year (hey, people got their 13th salary!). Eventually I had about 30+ pair of shoes which half of them didn't make it back to Jakarta with me (I gave them to friends, donated and threw them away).

Back in Jakarta, still I bought some shoes here and there but found out that I have this not so usual curve (which I didn't realize before, stupid me), and it turned out, the brand that fits my curve is a little bit over my usual budget. And Gembul also realized that I often hurt my feet after few hours of walking or standing. He tried to buy me sponges or gels, and also asked me to put a pair of sandals in his car.

Yesterday, we were walking in a mall, I wore cheap but quite cute sandals that he bought me few months ago (again, because my feet hurts at that time). Eventually he asked if my feet hurt because he felt I was walking differently. Then he said that he wants to buy me sandals again. I was confused, why? I didn't take his word seriously, we were walking around, and he said again that I need to consider buying Hush Puppies sandals. I was like "I know it would be comfy, but it's ugly! So grandma-like". Gembul insisted.

We went to 3 places (Metro, Hush Puppies shop, and Sogo), he proposed a bulky flip flops and I rejected. I had a similar one from Crocs which I rarely wear. In the Hush Puppies shop, I showed Gembul high heels sandals that I quite liked and he was "high heels? I was thinking a flat sandals!". Me (posing) : "But it's cute!". Then we went to the last place (which I actually had some vouchers left from my dad a while ago), and found that those bulky sandals were marked 20% off from the tag price (the tag prices were all the same throughout the 3 stores). No, I still didn't buy it. Instead I found a pair of wedges that looked quite pretty (although not prettier than the previous high heel sandals in the 2nd store but comfier), and costed double my voucher worths. Gembul insisted me choose this one because it's more comfortable and he'd pay the rest! He was joking "I need to keep those till Christmas!".

I wore the shoes right away. It felt better than my cheap sandals :D And it makes me thinking of how I need to be more picky about buying shoes and put comfort over price and style (sound so grandma!)

Clothes never look any good... food just makes me fatter... shoes always fit. (In Her Shoes, 2005)

World Way Vs Jesus Way

There's this women forum I like to browse. Mainly it talks about fashion and beauty, but there are also some threads about love and life. There was this woman shared about her abusive husband, how her husband bet her in front of her 1-yo-daughter. The conversation has ran about a week and all the other forum members told her to divorce or at least leave his husband. Then, there was another woman wrote that she had an abusive boyfriend but more emotionally than physically. She had to answer his call right away, couldn't go out with her friends, etc etc. She knew it wasn't a healthy relationship but she was to scared to leave him after the 5-yr-relationship. The responses from the forum members were kinda similar, leave him! The first one was more complicated of course because it involved a little kid, a life together and in-laws.

I agreed that the second woman should definitely leave her boyfriend. But for the first woman, well... you and him are one! I brought up the Christian perspective of marriage that the vow was unconditional (although I wasn't sure in her religion there was such a vow). It doesn't justify you to break the promise if he breaks his. The vow didn't say "I will love and respect you if you love me back, if you care for me, if you make a lot of money" but it said "I will love and respect you in sickness, in health, in happiness, in sorrow, in rich, in poor etc etc". This woman also wrote that his husband moved to her city because she wanted to keep her job. And till now (after about 2 years of marriage), the husband was still jobless. He was looking for a job but then after they had a kid he said he didn't want to leave the kid with a babysitter.  I was pretty sure that one of the main reason of the abusive behavior was the jobless situation. The husband must be depressed and humiliated that the wife became the breadwinner of the family. I didn't know if the wife already gave him a fair chance to find a job or not. But she said that his husband hid his situation from his family and she had to agree because if not her in-laws would force this couple to live with them. I was thinking, one way to save the marriage was move to the in-laws' city and let the husband be the hero of the family.

Well, I did write my point of view, hopefully it didn't offend that woman so much and I was ready to get harsh responses from the other members. Yup I got two in few hours. But that women hasn't replied yet. I am a very defensive person but I'm trying to hold back. One person said that I could have that ideal thinking because I wasn't married yet. Yes, it's true but I hope when I am married, I still have that ideal thinking. And she also said "why keep your promise while the other do not?" And someone also said that marriage is about love, when there is no love, what for? I could not preach about Christianity in the forum or I'll be banned.

So, I don't know how to defend my point because the only reason is "Because Jesus loves you and your husband and that is the marriage Jesus wants you to have" and I can't write that.

Jesus, I pray so that you touch that woman's heart. Strengthen and protect her and her daughter although they don't know you. I can't talk about it but only You can make your point. Give her and her husband wisdom and more more love toward each other. I also pray for the other people who reads my writings, may you also touch them. In the name of Jesus, may your kingdom come to the earth.

Touch and Words

In the last posting I wrote how I was surprised by Gembul's (admitted) love languages. We talked a little bit more about this and I successfully convinced him that he must have Physical Touch somewhere at the top three. Not talking about anything sexual, but he loves holding, stroking, and kissing my hand so much. Finally, he decided to change his answers in the love languages form. Touch (no 1), Words (no 2), Quality Time (no 3). Yay! Turned out my answers were not that wrong. If you wonder why he literally needed to change his answer on paper, it's because it's gonna be submitted to the workshop. We'll be tested during the last interview after the pre-marital class (if we make it).

Was having a little conversation with my dear friend, let's call her Cartoon, in twitter.
Cartoon: Some people wanna convince me that I'm too scared to fall in love. U know? When u thought something was love then u look back and it's got lust written all over it.
Me: It's better to use your mind before feelings. Feelings can follow as long as he's not too ugly :p
Cartoon: That's the thing. Sometimes my brain takes sabbatical when there's a smooth talker around
Me: Haha. Just laugh at him. Your heart is precious. Is your love language word?
Cartoon: Yea... Words words words

It's okay my darling Cartoon, God will send His defined poet for you :)