How I Met U....

                                                                        source from here

 

Kids…

Back to my twenties, I was highly an unconfident person. Didn’t mean that I was shy, like never talk to anyone and sitting in the corner without anyone noticing me. I was very talkative though, still am. I just didn’t like anything about myself. I didn’t see me capable to do anything big. I saw everyone is better. Simply put, I was a loser.

I spent 20ish years of my life being clueless. I took geology because your grandpa Ben suggested it to me. I tried hard to graduate because I didn’t have other option. Still I chose to be a geologist when applying a job. The only situation that made me work hard was when I was in probation before becoming a permanent employee. After that, I did everything averagely. I woke up, went to work, went to bed then woke up again the next morning to work again. Something was missing in my life. I knew it well, but I didn’t know yet what was it at that moment.

Then I met him…

Nothing was different, on the surface. But he had woken up something inside me that I didn’t even know I have. When I got compliment from something I had done, I usually felt uncomfortable. I thought I didn’t deserve that. I thought it was just a small matter, everybody could do it. Nothing was special about my work. He successfully made me believe I deserved those compliments, believed I can do more, dream big and also can make it come true.

He introduced me to my work. Something I never tried to do before. How come you learn to love something without knowing it well? I spent more time in the office, tried to know detail about my job. I’m a development geologist, I tried to befriend with my fields. Knew their histories and made plan for their future. Not only in development geologist ways of thinking but also explorationist, reservoir, production, safety engineer, even from legal people’s point of view. The more I befriended my job, the more I knew which parts that I love, and which parts that I liked less. Then I made plan for my future, chose to be more advance in something I have passion in. Something I did terribly late, but Wiseman says “Better late than never” right?

Years I worked as an employee, I never dare to lock target for myself. I didn’t dare to dream I can be on top rank. This company didn’t fire me yet because I was too stupid was enough for me. Silly right? When I wrote this to you, kids, I already did it, with plan to make it come true, short term and long term. In short term I submitted myself to magister program (something that never crossed in the mind of my old self). I got some offer letters from universities. I chose The University of Manchester, in England.

When I told him I was going to study abroad, I also told him I would only be away for a year. He could see me next year. So when he told me he also left, I was stunned. Guess he could easily read my facial expression that changed very sudden. I stopped eating corn from his plate and I couldn’t look him in the eye. Yes, I was happy for him. I just didn’t think it would come this fast. As selfish as I was ever, I wanted him to always be here for me, be my supporter and motivator.

The day I wrote this piece was his last day as my coworker. It broke my heart, but this was for the best. I knew this place was too small for him to spread his wings. I knew he was destined to do something bigger than his role right now. I said my farewell to him, wished him all the best, and kept praying from afar.

Kids,

This is not the story of How I Met Uncle R. This is the story of how meeting him, changed my life.

I hope when you read this, I already become something that you’re proud of.

I hope your grandpa and grandma also proud of me.

I hope I keep my word, focus on my target and do everything I could to make my dream come true (as long as it gets Ridha Allah).

I hope we (you two, your daddy and me) are happy.

I hope he and his family are happy.

Maybe right now, I already forget his face, but I’ll never forget what he had done to me.

He is the person who made me dare to dream. He makes me believe in myself. He is my laserlight.



                                                                                                                                       Love,
                                                                                                                                       Mom

                                                                   source from here


*inspired by How I Met Your Mother

Tanah Surga...Katanya

sumber: dari sini

Minggu lalu gw kelar nonton film lokal yang judulnya “Tanah Surga...Katanya”. Film satir luar biasa menggigit, produksi patungan Deddy Mizwar dan Aa Gatot Brajamusti yang dulu terkenal pas heboh perceraian Reza dan Alm. Adjie Massaid (loh, kok jadi bahas gosip? Fokus Elsa….fokus…). Film ini disutradarai oleh Herwin Novianto.

Tanah Surga...Katanya kurang publikasi (mungkin masalah keterbatasan dana), jadi cuma sedikit yang tau keberadaannya. Dan setelah kurang lebih 3 minggu tayang di jaringan bioskop 21, dia pun harus turun layar.

Gw yakin film ini gak balik modal, atau malah lebih parah, merugi.

Jadi….karena dia udah gak tayang di bioskop lagi, gw mau menceritakan film ini dengan bebas, dengan spoiler dimana-mana. Semoga filmnya akan beredar dengan format DVD. Yang berminat beli DVDnya, silakan STOP baca sampe disini yaaa….

Tanah Surga...Katanya, mengambil setting di Kalimantan Barat, bukan di ibukota provinsi, Pontianak, tapi di perbatasan antara Indonesia dan Malaysia. Nama daerahnya Kabupaten Kubu Raya (kalau gak salah). Banyak “berita lama” tertuang dengan sangat menyakitkan disini. Fokusnya tentang ketidak pemerataan pembangunan.

Gw sudah dengar isu ini sejak lama. Gw tundukkan muka gw dalam2, malu teramat malu, karena walaupun gw tau, karena gak ngerasain sendiri, gw tidak pernah peduli. Alasan macam apa itu?

Kubu Raya punya alam yang gak kalah Indah dibanding daerah-daerah lain di Indonesia. Tapi kepedulian pemerintah kita sangat minim. Untuk masalah akses jalan aja, di film itu digambarkan  sangat buruk. Kita harus keluar masuk hutan, karena gak ada jalan. Untuk ke rumah sakit harus menyeberangi sungai dengan perahu dan harga sewa perahunya pun sangat mahal. Sedangkan di tempat yang sama tetapi milik negara tetangga, sudah beraspal.

Walaupun terletak di Indonesia, mata uang yang dipake ringgit, rupiah gak laku, malah dikira uang palsu. Untuk bertahan hidup, saudara sebangsa tapi gak senasib sama gw itu disana harus sangat mengais2 rezeki. Banyak yang mencari makan ke Malaysia, membuat kerajinan lalu dijual ke tetangga, lalu dibayar dengan ringgit. Sembako pun dari Malaysia, karena  produk Indonesia harganya mahal. Jadi, jangan salahkan mereka kalau taunya ringgit. karena mereka butuh ringgit untuk hidup. Rupiah? Apa itu???

Penduduknya banyak yg bermigrasi ke tetangga, kewarganegaraan pun diganti. Disana lebih nyaman dan fasilitas lebih lengkap. Bagaimana kita bisa menghakimi mereka tidak nasionalis?

Kubu Raya cuma punya satu sekolah, itu pun SD. Gurunya satu, ruang kelasnya pun satu, untuk kelas 3 dan 4. Papan tulis kapur ditengah ditarik garis lurus, sebelah kiri untuk kelas 3, kanan kelas 4. Anak-anak tidak bisa belajar dengan maksimal, karena sarana & prasarana serba terbatas. Hasil ujian banyak yang dapet nol, yang paling tinggi nilainya 4. Bukan karena mereka bodoh…bukan…

Mimpi anak-anak itu sangat indah dan beraneka ragam, ada yang mau jadi presiden katanya, mau membawa perubahan katanya…dan gw pun terharu :’(

Anak-anak SD itu tidak tau lagu Indonesia Raya, tidak tau bendera merah putih, tidak tau upacara bendera. Tidak ada yang mengajarkan…

Sampai akhirnya, daerah itu kedatangan dokter baru. Dokter Anwar (Ringgo Agus Rahman) namanya, tapi penduduk di sana memanggilnya dokter Intel. Dia datang menggantikan dokter lama yang baru saja meninggal dunia. Jangan bayangkan dia datang dengan peralatan kesehatan yang memadai ya. Cuma berbekal stetoskop, alat ukur tensi, dan obat-obatan berkotak-kotak. Tidak ada klinik, Pak Dokter menumpang tinggal di rumah sederhana Pak Bupati.

Pak Dokter bantu mengajar murid-murid SD itu disaat Bu Guru Astuti (Astri Nurdin) harus ke kota mengambil gaji. Terkaget-kagetlah dia dengan pengetahuan minim murid-muridnya. Jauh banget di bawah standar anak SD di Jakarta, ya Dok?

Setelah Pak Dokter ngobrol dengan Bu Guru, murid-murid SD lalu diajarkan lagu Indonesia Raya. Bu Guru berkeliling kabupaten, mencari bendera merah putih, akhirnya dapet dari Pak Hasyim. Disimpan dengan hati-hati oleh beliau, bendera pusaka yang sudah puluhan tahun tidak  dikibarkan. Akhirnya, diselenggarakanlah upacara bendera. Sang Saka Merah putih melambai kokoh di tiang bendera diiringi lantunan suara murid-murid SD yang menyanyikan lagu Indonesia Raya. Air mata gw pun meleleh…

Peran utama di film ini adalah anak kecil (kelas 4 SD) bernama Salman (Osa Aji Santoso). Ibunya sudah meninggal. Ayahnya bernama Haris (Ence Bagus),  sudah menikah lagi dengan orang Malaysia dan tinggal disana. Haris ingin membawa keluarganya pindah ke tetangga, karena kehidupan disana lebih baik. Tapi Hasyim (Fuad Idris), ayah Haris yang sudah tua dan sakit-sakitan tidak setuju. Hasyim mantan pejuang. Dia cinta negeri ini, walau sebesar apapun dia telah dikecewakan. Karena Hasyim tidak setuju, pergilah Haris ke Malaysia dengan membawa anaknya yang bungsu. Salman tinggal di Indonesia, dengan kakeknya.

Salman bekerja sepulang sekolah, membuat kerajinan lalu dijual ke negeri tetangga. Penghasilannya ditabung untuk membayar biaya perahu yang akan digunakan untuk menyeberangkan kakek Hasyim berobat ke kota. Dia butuh 400 ringgit.

Dari salah satu kunjungannya ke pasar di negeri tetangga, Salman liat bendera merah putih dijadikan alas barang dagangan. Dia tersinggung lalu protes, tapi malang dia malah diusir.

Di rumah, Salman liat sarung Hasyim sudah sangat usang dan berlubang-lubang. Saat bepergian ke tetangga sambil menjual barang dagangan, diniatkannya untuk membeli sarung. Dia beli dua, satu untuk kakeknya, satu lagi untuk bapak pedagang yang memakai bendera merah putih sebagai alas dagangan. Dia barter. Pedagang menerima sarung dengan senang hati. Salman pun girang luar biasa, pulang dengan berlari dan melambaikan bendera pusaka.

Sakit Hasyim makin parah. Harus segera dibawa ke rumah sakit. Pergilah Salman dan Hasyim, dengan dianter Pak Dokter dan Bu Guru, ke kota dengan menaiki perahu. Di tengah jalan, Hasyim menyerah dan menghembuskan nafasnya yang terakhir, diiringi teriakan dan tangisan pilu cucu kesayangannya. Sementara di seberang sana, Haris, anaknya, sedang memekikkan kegembiraannya atas kemenangan Tim Harimau Malaysia menekuk Tim Garuda Indonesia di final Piala AFF. Ironis...

Apa yang gw rasa habis nonton film ini?

MARAH

Marah dengan ketidakmampuan pemerintah untuk melakukan pemerataan pembangunan. Di Jakarta berdiri dengan megah gedung-gedung pencakar langit, sekolah-sekolah bertaburan, mall-mall yang tidak perlu berdiri di tiap sudut jalan. Sedangkan disana, jalanan beraspal aja gak ada, sekolah cuma satu, dengan kondisi yang memprihatinkan pula. Belum lagi kesulitan ini itu ini itu yang udah gw ceritain di atas, ngenes.

Marah dengan KORUPTOR. Tiap gw abis nerima gaji , trus liat potongan untuk pajak, trus inget pajak itu dikemplang sama Gayus dan komplotannya, rasanya sakit ati banget. Itu gw loh ya, yang dengan dipotong pajak pun, masih mampu hidup layak sehari-hari dan menabung. Dan kalau potongan pajak gw itu gak dikorupsi dan benar-benar digunakan untuk pembangunan negeri ini, gw ikhlas kok. Malah itu harus. Nah ini, wakil rakyat kok tega banget, makan uang rakyat dan berfoya-foya dengan itu, disaat orang-orang yang haknya dia makan itu hidup dengan susahnya, dan hampir tidak ada yang menolong?

Wahai para koruptor, SADARLAH…TOBATLAH…KEMBALIKAN HAK MEREKA…JADI BERGUNALAH…sebelum kamu semua membusuk di neraka jahanam milik Allah SWT, amin.

MALU

Gw denger soal ketidakpemerataan pembangunan ini udah lama. Cuma denger doang. Apakah gw mencoba memvisualisasikan berita-berita itu? Tidak. Apakah gw mencoba mencari tau lebih dalam? Tidak. Apakah gw melakukan tindakan untuk membantu? Tidak. Gw marah-marah ke pemerintah, tapi gw sendiri berpangku tangan. Gak malu, Sa? Malu bangettttt….Sekarang gw lagi merencanakan sesuatu, mudah-mudahan ada gunanya. Bismillah….

SAKIT HATI

Gw beruntung terlahir di keluarga yang tidak kekurangan dan di kota dengan fasilitas yang lumayan memadai. Bedanya gw sama mereka cuma itu. Kami sama-sama Warga Negara Indonesia, tapi kenapa perlakuannya begitu berbeda? Sakit hati gw melihat penderitaan mereka yang tergambar dalam film ini. Sesak napas gw menyaksikan ketidakadilan yang mereka alami. Hangat hati gw melihat mereka masih bersemangat dan masih mencintai negeri ini….

PEMERINTAH, BANGUNNN!!!

RAKYAT INDONESIA YANG PUNYA NASIB LEBIH BAIK, BUKA MATA!!!! AYO BERGERAK!!!

KORUPTOR, TOBATTT!!!

TOLONG PERBAIKI NEGERI INI

TOLONG BANTU SAUDARA2 KITA DI PELOSOK-PELOSOK NEGERI. MEREKA BUTUH BANTUAN KITA

DEMI MEREKA, DEMI KITA, DEMI NEGERI KITA TERCINTA, INDONESIA JJJ

*Tulisan yang satu ini khusus gw buat dalam bahasa yang gw gunakan sehari-hari, bahasa paling gw cintai dan paling gw kuasai, BAHASA INDONESIA.

About A Friend

I have this particular friend who my feeling towards him along the years we've been known each other is mmm let say fluctuated.

Fluctuation as it changed dramatically over and over like women's feeling during period.

He is easy to love, easy to hate, and easy to ignore and abandon ;p

He's moody, complicated, stubborn, perfectionist and a whiner. To describe him in one word, difficult, yes he is.

I've met him 5 years ago in a job interview. First impression: a sneaky snob. At the end of the day, mr. snob and I didn't get the job.

We've met again in another job interview. The one that we both got in. Yes, he is my coworker.

I continued to dislike him until we and other coworkers went to Jogja for a convention. At day lights we attended the event and at nights we went sightseeing the city. We talked a lot during that "holiday" and as we went home to Jakarta, he is no longer Mr. Snob.

There when we started our friendship. It's not only me and him in the ship, we actually have 2-3 more cabin crews. I've talked about them already in my previous posts.

We're pretty close, inside and out as they were also my neighbors. We went to the office and went home together. We often spend our weekend together as well. We both like karaoke and when there is new movie came out, we went watching it together.

Mr. Perfectionist always has a way to ruin the day. We went to a new cafe or restaurant and usually the food didn't taste good for him. We went to the cinema and then he whined about how bad the movie afterwards. We got promotion at work, then he was disappointed about the increasing salary he got. Below his expectation, he said. Oh mister, do you know how often you gave me headaches?

Now go to the romantics department. From first I knew him to 4 years later, he was in a relationship with girl A. He told me when his relationship was in trouble. He also told me when it was over. I knew when he likes a new girl. Yes, he told. Right now, he is in a relationship with a girl whom I like. The girl is sooo patient to him. She is a psychologist. Maybe that's why. I don't think an ordinary person can be strong enough to handle him. Well, obviously I'm not :p. I hope their relationship will have a happy ending, Amin.

He is well informed about my lovey dovey  life as well. As matter of fact he was once my savior. He got me out from almost a relationship. The shitty one. Thank God and thanks to him, it is over.

Our relationship is not always as smooth as a highway road (with understanding of his temper, of course it is not ;p). We faced a rocky era too, when I  lost my patience. I was mad at him. Very mad. That kind of mad that I previously always walked away from the person I was mad  at without explanation. To him I acted differently (why? Dunno, I just did it without thinking) after a month of silent, I explained to him clearly why I was mad. He knew. He said he gave me sometime apart since he made several attempts to make amends and failed. I knew the attempts ;)

He changes a lot after that. He was even willing to accompany me watching movie that is his least favorite or if I may say, he hates (Indonesian drama movie). His genre is movies that contain a lot of special effects and the villain doesn't lose so easily. Indonesian drama movie is nothing like that.

Everytime he went traveling (which is very seldom :p), he brought something for me, include when he went home to Duri or Batu Sangkar. My two favourite snacks from his hometown: karakaliang & kerupuk kuniang. Even though the most famous snack from West Sumatra is keripik sanjay, I like these two better. I don't know either I told him or he just observed. He once gave me and the gank durian too. We ate it together with ketan (west sumatrans way to eat durian) and with ice and milk (my way to eat durian :p). He just gave me a miniature of rumah gadang recently (also with karakaliang and kerupuk kuniang of course).

Two days a go was my birthday. He and Girl B bought me a cake (lapis legit) and candles and sang me happy birthday. I got a car vacuum cleaner as my birthday present (strange birthday present, right? Well it's not).

I have a story about that. Since I tasted Maktuo Net's lapis legit a long long time a go, it is always been my favorite. My sister knew it well. So, lapis legit as a birthday cake is special.

Days before my birthday I had this following conversation in my head. "it's been a while from last time I washed my car, since the place I usually washed my car in -which i'm a member- is now permanently closed. In my apartment, there is a guy who I pay to wash my car everyday, but only the body part. Inside, the car is a mess. I need to go to a car washer to get it vacuumed and clean" Taa daa...a car vacuum cleaner as a birthday present.

I don't know it was just a coincidence or he did that as a result from an observation. But I quietly believe it's a result of his visit to my messy car -___-.

Well, now I'm asking my self. If he is really that annoying why I want to be his friend? Why we can be this close? The answer is: We Are Alike. I am as moody, complicated, and stubborn as he is. We both chatty. When we talked we go like "lalala hohoho blablabla" while his girl and my sister quietly listening and giving each other "they're nuts, they're so full of drama, right?" look.

You can tell a person's personality from his/her surrounding. What kind of person I am? I can answer it with one word and I know I'm right. Difficult, yes I am.

As he's willing to change and compromise, so am I :)

The Beautiful Jailolo

Do you know Jailolo? What is it? Kind of food?  Name of a brand? A dance? What?

Jailolo is one of districts in West Halmahera, East Indonesia. Since 4 years ago, this district holds a festival once a year, called Jailolo Bay Festival (Festival Teluk Jailolo). Theme of this year (2012) is The Amazing of Golden Spice Islands.

This attracted Jemblink –a friend- and his friends to visit Jailolo. Before he asked me to join them, I had never heard about Jailolo. Till the day I departed from Jakarta, my knowledge about this district didn’t increase, at all. The only thing I knew was our flight destination is to Ternate and we will continue the trip to Jailolo by speed boat. Jemblink gave me some brochures and websites addresses that have information about Jailolo tho, but why bother trying to find out when he already handled everything :p

From the airplane ticket I knew we will depart at 00.30 and arrive at Ternate at 7.10. Almost 7 hours trip OMG, even trip to Hong Kong doesn’t take this long!! I forgot about time difference, and I also forgot that this wasn’t a direct flight, we were gonna transit to Makassar first. First problem from my ignorance, maybe if I read the reading materials first, I wouldn’t be so hesitate asking permission from my parents to go there :p

Long story short, after transited to Makassar (btw Sultan Hasanuddin Airport is awesome, I think it is the best airport in Indonesia. Hope Soetta Airport after renovation would be as good as or better than this airport *crossed fingers*), we arrived in Sultan Babullah Airport. Beautiful scenery of Mount Gamalama welcomed us to Ternate. Beside the mount itself :p, there were already people from the festival committee who welcoming us and preparing  a vehicle to take us to the pier. It took 10-15 minutes from the airport before we arrived, then as our plan, we went to Jailolo by speed boat.



Jailolo is beautiful, but you know what, my country has many beautiful places, some of them are more beautiful than Jailolo. So what makes it special? For me it’s the festival. Several events held in it such as Ritual Bersih Laut – Sigofi Ngolo, Fun Diving, Festival Bakar Ikan, Golden Spice Adventure, Parade Gerobak Sapi, Cultural Party  - Horom Sasadu and of course, Cabaret of The Sea. We sailed and danced on the boat with traditional Halmahera music (I don’t know what it’s called) to Babua Island in Sigofi Ngolo. We skipped diving since none of us has a license to dive :p. We hungrily participated in Festival Bakar Ikan, but none of them offered us the fish, oops! Our bad, we were too shy to ask. This Festival Bakar Ikan holds a record as the longest grilling fishes in Indonesia by MURI (MUseum Rekor Indonesia). It length was about six km, wow!

Ritual Bersih Laut - Sigofi Ngolo

I skip story about the Golden Spice because I didn’t really enjoy that. But to you whom like history, this would be interesting. You know our country had been colonized by Holland for 350 years for the spices, rite?

 

We went to two cultural parties. The first one was a small party held by Sanggar Seni Ngalara. We tried their traditional culinary such as nasi tou, nasi kukusan, wajik, sagu, popeda and saguer. All tasted delicious, except popeda, I wasn't brave enough to try that one. We also watched their traditional dancing with us dancing altogether in the end. I had so much fun. And I met the living legend, Christine Hakim and took a picture with her!! Yeayy…

Second party was the big one, Horom Sasadu in Gamtala Village. I thought It’s gonna be all dancing like the other one but I was wrong. Yes some of them dancing, but this party was more like a dinner with music and alcohol. They have a famous alcoholic drink called Cap Tikus (CT). My friends tried it and they said it’s so strong, even stronger than vodka. It was so funny witnessing how they behaved after CT. But dude, I don’t recommend you to drink that. However, between the two parties, I personally  like the small one more.

Eventhough Jailolo is special to me from the festival, we had an one day festival-free. We rent a car and went around Jailolo. We thought we were gonna miss Parade Gerobak Sapi while we went sight seeing, but thank God, when we had breakfast, this parade pass through in front of our restaurant. Of course we didn’t waste this chance and took some pictures with the cows. Then we continued the day by visiting Bobo Bay, Bobo Beach and Payo Pier. Bobo is a volcanism beach. You won’t find white sand there, the sand is black and hot. The water is also hot, combined with its hot weathered, there goes our super exotic tan skins (yea rite, you wish). Payo Pier has super beautiful scenery. We took a lot of pictures here, I show you some of them.



Payo Pier


One thing I'm dissapointed, Jailolo has many beautiful sites to visit, but there is no sign to guide us to the sites. For example, we had to ask to the locals several time for Bobo beach. We were missdirected to Bobo Bay first and got all dirty from muds before we finally found Bobo Beach -___-“

Night when we arrived to Jailolo, we rent some motorcycles to go catching sunset (that we failed) then to go to Jailolo’s famous restaurant Dapur Halbar. Instead of eating the traditional culinary, we ate Manado food there, krik krik..But all tasted good, so we didn’t mind we ate no Halbar food that nite. There was a funny story about this restaurant. Our original plan, we were gonna eat lunch there. We asked a policeman the direction to it, he said it is far, about 500 meter. We tried to go there on foot and after a while we gave up and chose to eat in the nearest food stall we found. We ate Coto Makassar that day. When we rent motorcycles, it took us 4 km and several stops for asking direction to the locals before we arrived to Dapur Halbar. Mr. Policeman, 500 meter my ass!! Ooops :p

For closing the festival, there goes Cabaret of The Sea. A magnificent art performance from Jailolo’s local people. *cmiiw* None of them are pros, and they practiced a year long for this cabaret. This show proves me that talent only takes the small portion of your success.  The biggest one comes from good intention and hard work. Jailolo people have proven it.

Cabaret of The Sea

Night before we departed to Ternate, we all tourists, divers, photographers and festival committees got an invitation from the Mayor to have dinner in his house. Another dancing party with free flow of good food and beer bintang. The music was good, traditional musics from several area in Indonesia, such as Poco-poco and Sajojo. I didn’t dance this time, but I saw people who were dancing and they all look really enjoyed the moment.

Thank you Jemblink for joining me to your Jailolo trip team. I had so much fun during the trip. Meeting new friends (Nikka & Ryan) and not so new friends :p (Tata & Rubon) and had this awesome adventure together. I wish someday I would have a chance to visit Jailolo again, including the beautiful Loloda and Morotai regions.

Believe Your Instinct (But Don't Ignore The Fact)

A million years ago, this guy was my person, the closest one. Then we got into a big fight, I was hurt, I cried, and he cried too. At the happy end, we stopped the fight and apologizing to each other. I practically ignored him for days before we made up. He told me, he used all the bad words to hurt me, to get my attention, because my ignorance, he said, was devastated him.

Then I went for a vacation. We had a limited contact during that and when I came back, my friend told me he was seeing a girl. I chose not to believe him and trusted my person (I can’t say he was my guy, since he never really was). Rumor was spreading everywhere and I believe none of them. Big part of me thought this was his way of punishing me, he didn’t really have feeling for her, or they were just friends, or this was just a nightmare and unreal. I supposed this would end, he would explain everything to me and I had nothing to be worried about. I just had to be patient, he would come.

He did.

He came and explained, not everything, just the important part. Yes, he was dating her. He said “I’m sorry” then he left.

Every experience got us lesson to learn. Dude, believe your instinct but don’t ignore the fact. I got so many proofs but I threw them away. When the fact came, act! You decide whether you want to fight or let go. Do not live in your fake fairy tale and pretend all the facts didn’t exist! In the end, it will strike back and you will be the one who left alone in pain.

Spotted: Me At Several Places in Asia

A girl who likes movies and traveling

I post that in my blog profile, then I made several posts about movies but none about traveling. Isn't it unfair?

Well, in my defense,  i'm not good in describing things and in memorizing detail. I'm also a lazy writer so I never took note while vacationing. I forgot about the detail things like "how to get there" or "how does it cost" or something, but I really really want to share you guys, pics from  amazing places that I've been visited, hopefully more and more beautiful places to visit in the future.

Note: every single place is special & I have no regret visiting them.

Around West Sumatra, Indonesia

Windows of The World, Shenzhen

Macau

Phuket, Thailand

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Bali, Indonesia

Maya Bay, Phi Phi, Thailand

Madame Tussaud, Hong Kong

Krabi, Thailand

Universal Studios, Singapore

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Royal Palace, Bangkok, Thailand

Mini Siam, Pattaya, Thailand

Disneyland, Hong Kong

Next Destination: South Korea! (inshaAllah)

Johnny and June Carter Cash

I knew Reese Witherspoon got Oscar from Walk The Line, but before Katy Perry released her “The One That Got Away” I didn’t know who June and Johnny Cash are.

I was June and you were my Johnny Cash

Never one without the other

We made a pact
(Katy Perry - The One That Got Away)

For Katy implying two people that always are together through times as Johnny and June Cash, I knew they are a legend.  Then I started browsing.

And fall in love

With Johnny and June Carter Cash.

Source: here

They were country singers with Grammys and some bestselling albums all over the world. They began touring together in the 50s and became good friends.

Johnny was previously married to Vivian Liberto, together they have four daughters before She filed for divorce in 1966, citing his drug and alcohol abuse, constant touring, affairs with other women, and his close relationship with June Carter for the causes of their divorce.

June was married twice before. To singer Carl Smith (they have 1 daughter) and to a former football player, police officer and race car driver Edwin “Rip” Nix (1 daughter). June last married before to Johnny Cash surely also led to divorce in 1966.

Johnny first met June when he was an unknown struggling new artist (while June was already popular). From then on, she stayed with him, when he was no one, when he was a superstar and when he was a drugs and alcohol addicts.

In 1968, 13 years after Johhny and June first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, He proposed to her, during a live performance in London, Ontario, marrying on March 1, 1968, in Franklin, Kentucky. For the next 35 years they worked, recorded songs, toured, and basically always together, never one without the other. Even when June passed away on May 15, 2003, Johnny followed her 4 months later, on September 12, 2003.

Long lasting married in Hollywood is rare, but they have it. Just like the quotes “we will meet several wrong people before meeting the right one”. They did, and when they met, they stuck to each other until death do them part.

Walk the Line is a biographical drama movie about Johnny and June Carter Cash. As I mentioned before, Reese Witherspoon got Oscar for her role as June. For you whom haven’t watched it yet, go watch it. The acting was great and the songs were epic. You should listen to Jackson, Time's A Wastin, Ring of Fire and of course I Walk The Line. I got relax watching it on my comfy couch with my blanket. Thumbs up for the movie and for the romantic couple Johnny and June Carter Cash.

Source: here and there

Everybody's Changing

Four years ago when I was just a trainee in my office, I and other 19 trainees went to Puncak for an English camp.

In one of the several nights we spent there, I was engaged to a conversation with two female trainees about having children. Girl A couldn’t wait to have one after she got married (at that time she was in a 3 years relationship with her boyfriend), Girl B was afraid that she couldn't have a baby (she was just afraid, not like she had disease or something that avoid her for being pregnant), and I….

I said to them I don’t want to have a child. I felt it is too selfish to have a kid in this crazy world full of untrusted and evil people. I can’t imagine him socialize with them and turns into one. I can take care of my kid and educate them well (maybe?) but I can’t prevent him from making sins, and every sin has consequence. I also cannot bear thinking I will raise a kid in this full pollution country with unpredictable weather. For this case, yes, I saw my glass half empty.

Four years later.

I still work together with those girls in the same company. They’re married. Girl A married to her boyfriend that she dated for four years. They have a daughter now. Girl B broke up with her boyfriend, then dated senior in her Post Graduate class and they got married last year. She is pregnant now. Me?

So little time
Try to understand that I'm
Trying to make a move just to stay in the game
I try to stay awake and remember my name
But everybody's changing
And I don't feel the same
(Keane - Everybody's Changing)

Sorry Keane, I disagree

I don't see me and the girls changing at all. We focused on our goals and became what we talked about 4 years ago.

When a person changed, he’s not exactly changing, he is just showing his other side that I don’t see before.

I'm not changing, I’m just becoming more myself than I was 4 years ago.

Do I need to get married, now?

According to hadits HR. Tirmizi, An Nasai and Ibnu Majah, I summarized (CMIIW), one of those who Allah will grant their wishes to be married is one of those who needs to be married.

I am 27, old enough to get married and I want to be married.

The question is, do I need it?

I am female, 27 years old, who live in Jakarta, work for a developing company, with well I can say, nice monthly payment. I can feed myself and treat myself to travel abroad (so far, around Asia only) once or twice a year. I have my own car and my company grants me a housing loan. I am not rich but insyaALLAH, financially secured. Do I want a husband to feed me? I do. Do I need a husband to feed me? Nah…

I am female, working as geologist. I work with fellow geologists, geophysicists and engineers. Most of them are males. Some of them are my good friends. Friends I hang out with -watching movies, going karaoke or traveling, or others- and friends who I can ask for help and who will help me when I need a favor. I feel secured around them. And I also feel secured by myself. I run my errands, take my car to the service station every five thousands kilometer, go to the clinic when I get sick, do this and do that by myself. I’m fine with that and I’m proud of myself for that. I don’t need husband, only to make me feel secured.

I now live with my sister. She also works in Jakarta. There was time when I felt empty every time I went home, because there was no family welcoming me home and no one asking how my day was going. But now I have her. Before, I like had thousand things to do before going home, now I just want to go home as soon as I can, to meet her, to ask her how her day was going. We talk, we smile, we laugh and sometimes we argue. I’m happy living together with her. So, I don’t need a hubby to do this either.

Of course I want to get married. Of course I want to have my own family. Of course I want to live in a house surrounded by smiles and laughs from my hubby, my kids, and me. But I guess, now, I just don’t need it yet.

Well, I don't know when I will need to be married. Maybe, when I need to share everything of me with someone else and to accept every difference we may have. To change “I” to “we”, “mine” to “our”. I guess from his assessment, Allah thinks now I’m still too selfish to have that.

my twenty seven

This is September, my month of birthday. I blew candles and had some lunches and dinners with family and friends. I’m surrounded by happiness.

Thank you all for the wishes, for the cake, for the present and for having great time with me on my birthday and birth month :p

Thank you, Papa, for taking us to a fancy dinner. It was a super great night that I will always remember. When we were at home in Balikpapan, Papa barely took us out for a dinner, but that night was different. Not only we went out for it, but also we went to a quite fancy restaurant and had seafood for our dinner. There was no gulai cancang or gulai limpa or rendang involved :p

Thank you, you, even though you did it awkwardly and hesitantly, beside my family, you were mmm kinda the first person who greeted happy birthday to me in the early morning. And also thanks for the singing ;)

Thank you, RAB, for your email. The fact that you still remember it, flattered me. Above all ups and downs we’ve been through, I’m glad we’re still friends.

I was like hoping nothing for this twenty seven, but you guys really gave me a blast birthday.

THANK YOU!

Something Borrowed

I can’t choose to whom I’ll be attracted to, but the choice to be more involve and let my self fall in love or simply let the feeling go and be faithful to my partner, keep my relationship safe, is in my hand  –my ex crush, 2010–

The thought that he tried to share me is quite similar with the story in my latest favorite novel, Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin.

Disclaimer: the following sentences contain spoiler, please stop reading if you intend to read or haven't finished reading this novel.

Dex liked Rachel since they were still law school students. Eventhough Rachel liked him also, she - assuming herself as regular and unattractive, considering him as way out of her league-  thought that he was just being nice. She refused the possibility of them being more than friends. Instead, she introduced her bestfriend, a beautiful and confident Darcy to Dex, leaving him with a conclusion that Rachel had zero interest to him.

Seven years later, Dex and Darcy were engaged. On Rachel 30th birthday party, when she and Dex unintentionally got drunk together in a pub, she confessed her feeling to him. The next morning, they woke up together in bed in her apartment. Both cheated on Darcy.

As per my ex crush said, Dex and Rachel could choose to forget what they did, thought it just as one mistake that Darcy shouldn’t have to know. Or come clean to her and move on. But they drowned deeper. The affair became more serious and at the end, he left Darcy and cancelled the wedding. He said he did care about Darcy, he just felt it didn’t fair for her if he was marrying her but his feeling goes for Rachel. He and Rachel ended up together, married with two kids. Both never cheated from each other to date.

Dex once said, people don’t cheat in a healthy relationship. I do agree. If you are happy home, you won’t try to find your happiness outside.

It may hard for you to like the primary characters only by reading this post. But soon after you read the novel yourself, I guess you will. You will like Rachel, but not her passiveness and how she always put herself under Darcy’s shadow. You will also get to know a cool, calm, smart and loveable Dex, and how their affair became interesting to read.

However, Something Borrowed is already in a major motion picture. Actually i watched the movie first then bought the novel. Impressed by themovie was the main reason why I bought this Novel. But after i finished reading it,  I think this movie had violently changed some important part of the novel. Dex character became clueless, and Darcy looked entertaining and less mean on the screen. The reason why Dex chose to continue his wedding and left Rachel heartbroken is cheesy. He’s 34 and can hardly make a decision for himself without interruption from his dad? C’mon!!

After greatly liking Something Borrowed, I also bought two other Emily Giffin’s novels. Here they are:

Something Blue

Story of Darcy, Dex and Rachel from Darcy’s point of view and how did Darcy’s life continue post her break up with Dex. The setting took place mostly in London, starting when Darcy visiting her & Rachel’s childhood friend, Ethan, who now working in London as a writer.

Heart of The Matter

The primary characters are Dex’s sister and her husband, Tessa and Nick Russo, who live in Boston. This couple’s life had changed after a little accident happened on their 7th anniversary. You can take a peek of Dex and Rachel’s life years after their affair in Something Borrowed.

Hello Ghost

source: http://static.koreandrama.us/images/asiandrama1/dramas/3386.jpg

I went to Blitzmegaplex and found this amazing movie, Hello Ghost. It’s a 2010 Korean kinda comedy flick. The story began with Sang Man (Cha Tae Hyun) multiple failures in attempting suicide. He’s an orphan and a lifetime loner. Frustrating with his lonely life is the reason why he wanted to end it.  His attempts might be unsuccessful but soon after he woke up after trying to sink himself, he found out he can see ghosts.

There are 4 ghosts that he sees, a heavy smoker male taxi driver, a pervert old man who loves drinking, a lady who always cries and a little boy who crazies over sweet stuffs. Unluckily (or luckily) for him, these 4 ghosts start following him to everywhere, they even live together with him in his flat.

Then Sang Man goes to paranormal. This paranormal (just like the others) appears eccentric with garments that he brought from mmm let say the monarchy era ;p. He told Sang Man, to get rid of the ghosts he must fulfill their wishes, each of them, completely. And the sweet journey of him and the ghosts begins.

I usually underrated Korean movie that - in my opinion - is not as good as their tv series, but this movie is an exception. It went flat at the beginning but just like ride a rollercoaster, it will make your emotion turn upside down, and when you finish watching it, you’re gonna recommend it to your friends, just like I did ;p

Pssstt….don’t forget to bring tissues ;p

We’ll Keep On Fighting And We’ll Be Here For You, Kiddo

I am the eldest in my family. I have two younger sisters. One is recently graduated from architecture ITB and the youngest is in the process of entering university.

When I was in high school, I was pretty a rebel. At least my family regarded my actions back then as kinds of rebellion. I often slept in the class and skipped several classes whenever I got bored. I was placed 20-ish in the class and my class was not even a favorite.

At the end of my high school time, I was confused. I didn’t know what I wanted to be in this life. Did I wanna be a doctor, a dentist, a business woman or what? I tried to take PMDK – easy way to enter university if you are a student with great accomplishment along your high school time –, but even though I chose the unpopular major with the fewest participants, I still didn’t succeed.

I went to Bandung and took an one month preparation course to enter university in Ganesha Operation. Every major of study in every public university (or state university?) has a passing grade. We have to do a test (in my time, it was called SPMB, now SNMPTN Tertulis) and if our test score is bigger than the passing grade, we pass and we can enter the university and the major that we had chosen. If it isn’t, then choose private universities with higher education and tuition costs.

That one month I studied quite hard. Since I was lazy in high school, there were very few materials of every subject (like physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics) that I understood. I had to replace my 3 years study time in high school (that I wasted) with one month studied in GO. It was kind of impossible job, but I tried to do my best.

In case I didn’t pass the SPMB, I registered myself to private universities in Bandung. And again, I failed the tests. I did some blunders though. I am not an artist and I don’t have any skill in drawing, but I registered in architecture which the highest point of the test result was got from the drawing test. I failed the second test because I don’t like the university. My aunts and uncles pushed me to do the test so I did it to make them happy. I came to that university, entered the test room, answered not more than 5 questions and went home. Of course I failed ;p

I was a very lazy student in high school, but I did my best when studied in GO. I had been more responsible for my future after living in Bandung. I did the SPMB and after I calculated my score I was confident I could pass it. Alhamdulillah I did it. I didn’t get my first choice, ITB, but Unpad accepted me.

After almost six years of study in geology Unpad, I graduated and now I’m working in an oil company as a geologist. I’m now doing what I like as a job and I’m paid more than enough. People might say I’m lucky and I will say that Allah loves me. My six years in Unpad wasn’t that smooth. If it was smooth, it was gonna be four years not six. My weakness in high school subjects (math, physics, and chemistry) let me to get bad score in my first semester. I got C for math and D for physics and I had to retake those classes the next year ;)

My thesis period also was not easy. But now, when I’m looking back to my past, I'm feeling very grateful. I barely got what I want easily, but in the end I usually still got it. Allah gave me a lot to learn and Allah gives this life for me to fight.

My sisters are different. Delvi was very diligent in high school. She is smart and she already knew what she wanted to be after high school since she was a kid. She wanted to be an architect. She did and passed the test, and voila, she became an architecture student in ITB until she graduated this year. Her journey throughout her time in university wasn’t so easy either. But I’m proud, she finished it.

Chessie, the baby of this family, has another story. This kiddo got first rank along her elementary school period. Her focus was distracted in junior high when she joined marching band but she got it back in high school. She was the best in her class, a favorite class. Her average score for National Exam (UN) was 9.18. She studied really hard because she wants to be a med student in UI. She joined national biology competition in Yogyakarta held by UGM and got bronze medal. She was just a small town student from Balikpapan, competed with participants from most of high schools in Indonesia. The gold and silver medal went to the top high school in big cities like Bandung and Yogyakarta. So, this bronze medal is worth more than its real worth for me.

She is just a small town student with a big dream and big effort to achieve the dream. My effort to enter Unpad was not even a half of her effort to enter UI. I often told her to stop study and continue it tomorrow because it was midnight and she didn’t even close her book yet and went to sleep. SNMPTN Undangan, her first way to enter university announced their result in 17 May 2011. Chessie was not one of the students that passed the selection to enter medicine faculty in UI. She cried a lot and it broke my heart to see her disappointed. She took SNMPTN Tertulis and the result will announce by the end of this month. I pray for her to pass the test. She deserves it.

Passing SNMPTN Tertulis is our Plan A. If it doesn’t work out that way, we have to prepare Plan B. Chessie registers to Simak UI, SMUP Unpad and UM UGM. All to medical faculty. Hope one of them will accept her as their med student. Chessie is a smart girl, and she tries so hard to be a med student. She wants to be a doctor. And she deserves to get her dream come true.

Kiddo, maybe this road isn’t as easy as my road or Delvi’s when entering university. Allah tested me with my laziness and gave me second chance before gave me life that i have today. That is Allah way to show me He loves me. Maybe this is a test from Allah, for you, for our family, before Allah gives you your gift. You are not getting it yet doesn’t  mean you will not get it. You will, insya Allah. We’ll keep on fighting and we’ll always be here for you, supporting you.