On Maintenance

People always say that getting older is getting wiser. Well, I wish it's as simple as that. Getting older for women means fiasco on maintenance, because there's a lot of things that we need to take care of. Nora Ephron wrote a chapter about this on her book, I Feel Bad About My Neck, which I used as title of this post. 

Nora said, maintenance is what you  have to do just so you can walk out the door knowing that if you go to the market and bump into a guy who once rejected you, you won't have to hide behind a stack of canned food. It includes the things you have to do daily, weekly, monthly or yearly, to your skin, hair, unwanted hair, nail, etc. 

I always remember this chapter each time I do monthly shopping and trying to choose shampoo. There's shampoo for damaged hair, another shampoo for coloured hair, another shampoo for black and long hair, another shampoo to strengthen hair, etc. What if I need shampoo for black and long hair and also to strengthen hair? Does it mean I have to use 2 kind of shampoo? Why there isn't one kind of shampoo for all kind of hair?

And for face treatment… As a wise woman, I know I have to take care of my skin and make sure I won't have the same disappointment as Nora had, who felt bad about her neck. No, I'm not trying to look younger, but I just don't want to look old. It is different. Recently I'm confused on choosing skin care product for my face. I was using the expensive products because people say it's the best one and suitable for asian women. But what did I get? Pimples all over my face! Geez! 

My forever and hardest battle on maintenance is to reduce my weight and to exercise regularly. Because it needs commitment, consistencies and hard work. I, hardly had those criteria. And I, really love eating. My weight goes ups and downs, depends on how commit and consistent I am on keeping my weight down and exercising 3 times a week. This year, it's getting better, thanks to my personal trainer. I've lost 4 kg and started to get back to my petite figure. My pants has downsized to 28 - 29 and my clothes has downsized to 10. I won't tell you the previous size!

 

But even though women maintenance has high level of complexity, it has never scared me off or made me giving up. I won't stop trying to figure out the best skin care product, the suitable shampoo and the most effective weight loss program. Because hey, that's what wise women do… So help me God… :D

Citizen of The World

Jalan-jalan ke Eropa bulan Maret lalu cukup membuka mata gw bahwa ternyata banyak orang baik di dunia ini, termasuk di belahan dunia sebelah "sana". You know that I'm a skeptic one, right? Jadi mengetahui bahwa masih banyak orang baik di dunia ini cukup bikin lega dan bahagia. Gw coba ceritain beberapa di sini.

Berlin, March 16th, 2014

Pertama, cowo ganteng yang mau usaha mempertahankan cewe yang dia cinta. Untuk kasus ini, ketemuannya ga sengaja sih. Waktu di Berlin, kami bertiga lagi naik Metro dan duduk di dekat seorang cowo ganteng yang sedang sibuk bicara di telepon. Ternyata bicaranya pakai bahasa Inggris, dan mau ga mau kami jadi dengerin dooong (emang dasarnya kepo aja sih :D). Jadi ceritanya, si cowo ini lagi bicara ama cewenya, dan dari bahasanya sepertinya dia berusaha meyakinkan bahwa dia sayang banget ama cewenya. Yang bikin gw ama Cindy melting ga jelas, si cowo ini engga pake bahasa gombal yang sering kita baca di novel, liat di pilem atau mungkin kita denger sendiri dari cowo-cowo gombal di sekitar kita. Dia berusaha meyakinkan pakai alasan-alasan logis, yang bikin gw ama Cindy pengen banget ngerebut itu henpon dan bilang ama cewe di seberang sono dua opsi berikut :

         A. Mba, percaya deh apa yang diomongin ama mas ini. 

              Kami liat wajahnya, liat tulusnya. 

              Kami aja percaya, masa mba engga percaya sih?

                          B. Mba, kalo mba tetep ga percaya, masnya buat saya aja ya.. #loh

Well.. hal tersulit selama acara "nguping" sambil "melting" itu adalah menjaga wajah kita tetep biasa aja supaya cowo itu ga tau kita lagi nguping dan diam aja ga ngebahas karena wajah kita pasti ga bisa bohong. Akhirnya begitu cowo itu turun duluan, baru deh gw ama Cindy pandang-pandangan sambil ter "aaaawwww…"

Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin

Yang kedua masih di Berlin juga sih… Jadi jam 4 pagi kami harus check out dari hotel dan ke stasiun untuk naik kereta jam 6 ke Praha. Jam 4 pagi udah engga ada Metro atau bis jadi kami berencana naik taksi. Alhamdulillah ga susah dapet taksinya. Drivernya adalah orang Iran (kalau ga salah inget), tapi udah lama tinggal di Berlin. Namanya pun sudah ganti jadi Carmello. Dia seneng ketemu orang Indonesia, karena dia punya temen kuliah dari Indonesia bernama Bambang yang baiiikkk banget. Oh, dan Carmello punya 2 gelar doktor loh btw… :)) Nah kalau gitu, kenapa dia masih jadi supir taksi? Ternyata dia jadi supir taksi untuk kegiatan amal, sodara-sodara… Semua pendapatannya dari naksi itu akan disumbangkan ke salah satu negara di Afrika. Di tengah jalan, belom sampai stasiun nih, dia matiin argonya. Katanya, sisanya adalah bantuannya buat kami. Hihihi… baiknyaaa…. Saat mau berpisah di stasiun, dengan sopan dia nanya, boleh ga minta mata uang Indonesia. Cindy langsung serahkan uangnya Rp 10.000 dan Carmello ini kaget trus nolak, ga usah yang gede nominalnya. "Don't worry, it's not even 1 Euro," kata Cindy. Baru deh dia mau terima. And when we said goodbye, dia cium tangan Cindy dan tangan gw… So sweet :))

Yang ketiga, di Venice. Venice adalah salah satu dari 4 kota yang kami singgahi dalam 1 hari saja, datang pagi, pergi lagi malamnya. Surprisingly Venice cukup cepet juga diputerin, jalan kaki loh… Jadi setelah makan siang kami memutuskan untuk segera naik bis menuju bandara. Di terminal, kami bergabung dengan antrian calon penumpang bis lainnya. Kami sudah menunggu hampir sejam lamanya, saat tiba-tiba ada cewe mendekat dan menyapa, "Are you guys waiting for the bus to the airport? Do you know that today the bus crews are having strike and the bus is not operating today?" Deng doooong…. Nah looh, masa iya kita harus ngesot ke bandara. Tapi lagi-lagi cewe itu kasi pencerahan, di luar terminal ada bis menuju bendara yang dioperasikan swasta, dan akan segera berangkat. "That blue bus out there, you'd better be hurry," kata dia. Setelah buru-buru bilang terima kasih, langsung deh angkat backpack dan lari-lari ke bis itu. Entah kenapa cewe itu kasi taunya ke kita ajah, secara banyak penumpang lainnya yang juga nunggu bis di dalam terminal. Mungkin dia kasian liat orang asing bawa-bawa backpack gede kepanasan ngantri bis yang ternyata ga beroperasi karena pekerjanya pada mogok. Hahaha…

Yang keempat di Brussels, cewe cantik nan baik hati. Jadi kunjungan ke Brussels kami putuskan untuk go show aja, ga terlalu detail atur itinerarynya. Point of interest di Brussels mostly di sekitar istana. Kami pun langsung menuju istana, berharap bisa ikut tur dan liat istana kaya waktu di Schonbrunn Palace - Vienna atau Chateau de Versailles dan Louvre di Paris. Ternyata oh ternyata, hari itu Barrack Obama berkunjung ke Brussels juga, ada meeting dengan NATO juga. Akibatnyaaaa…semua jalan sekitar istana dan jalur kunjungan Obama lainnya ditutup dan kendaraan tidak boleh lewat. Batal deh jalan-jalan ke istana dan sekitarnya. Akhirnya kami cuma jalan-jalan ke beberapa tempat aja dan mulai mati gaya, wkwkwkwk… Di salah satu stasiun, kami buka peta dan mulai cari-cari obyek kunjungan berikutnya. Mendadak ada cewe cantik datang dan menawarkan bantuannya, "Hi there! Can I help you find a place on that map or something?". Kami pun bertanya dengan polos, "What do you suggest for us to do or visit in Brussel if we have time only until 6 pm?". Beneran dong, dia usul beberapa tempat bahkan nanyain ke petugas stasiun kereta apa dan jalur mana yang harus kami ambil. Mamaci ya mbaknyaaaa….

Brussels, Belgium

Mungkin ga banyak ya secara cuma 4 cerita, hehehe… Karena sebenarnya banyak orang yang kami temui selama perjalanan dan banyak cerita lainnya. Tapi yang berkesan sih 4 orang itu. Utamanya mas-mas di kereta di Berlin itu. Huhuhuhu… mau dong ketemu cowo macam ituuuuu… :* #teteup Mengingat kebaikan-kebaikan yang kami terima selama di Eropa, gw berencana untuk pay it forward. Kalau gw ketemu turis or backpacker yang nampak perlu bantuan, gw akan usahain bantu. Because all of us are citizen of the world, whoever we are :))

Election Day

On the next 3 days, Indonesia will have a presidential election. What's so special about it? Indonesia is a democratic country, so election is not a new thing. Well… although it's not a new thing, but some things related to this are really new. This time, there's only 2 candidates so election will be held in one round only. It is important to choose the best candidate to lead this country for the next five years. 

Looking back to previous election on 2009, the real winner is "golput". It's not a party nor a candidate. It's a group of people who choosed not to choose, in amount of 30% of all voters. If only it were a party, they are the winner and can have their own candidate. 

But this year, things can be different. Despite all the negative news and black campaign between the two candidates, you can see the rise of people power. Some people do a lot of efforts to make sure they can join the election day. Well, apparently not all people can elect, thanks to the nation's "superb" database, and that's another story. But this can't stop them to vote. They tried all possible ways to make sure they are enlisted as voter and follow the administration procedures, which is not easy to follow.

For me, this is my 4th election, but this is the first time I do care that I have to vote and I do care who we have to vote. Why do I bother so much? Mainly because I believe that unity in diversity (known as Bhinneka Tunggal Ika) is far more important than unity in uniformity. Because unity in diversity is what our founding fathers believed, and it's what brought us into our independence on August 17th, 1945, and it's worth to fight for. Because it's about people power, and the future of Indonesia is in our hands now. So I need to vote, I have to vote, for one candidate. He may not be the best candidate or the best person to lead this country. But I believe that he's sincere and hard worker, he knows what it's like to be common people, who doesn't have silver spoon on his mouth since he was born. For what it's worth, I do hope he wins the election, because he represent the hope itself. On next July 9th 2014, I know I will vote for him. Salam 2 jari!! :))

Konser Salam 2 Jari, GBK, July 5th, 2014

Back To School!

After 14 years graduated from Environment Engineering, I finally decided to go back to school. Yes, I enrolled in a graduate program, majoring in Management. In Indonesia we call it Magister Management. There were many things to consider before I took this decision. But a short but meaningful morning chat with my ex VP (now he's moving to another company, though still in the same holding company), made the decision was easier to take.

One morning, he came to my desk and discussed a project that I was working on. It's not a subject that he was familiar with but somehow he could explain it briefly. I couldn't help myself to ask, how did he do that. He answered that it's just logical thinking that he learnt from graduate school. He took the same major years ago and what he learnt back then was applicable until now. He encouraged me to take the same major, because it will be an added value for me. He also said that he won't transferred me to fields  until I graduate.

So that week I search the program, fees, entry test, etc. I finally choose PPM School of Management. It has good reputation, great networking, reasonable fees and accessible. And since last April 2014, I started to go back to school! Funded by myself btw, not by the company... :))

At first, the main reason was only to stay in Jakarta and not being transferred to fields. But as the program running, I can't help myself feeling excited. I enjoy the classes, the new friends, the subjects, the school, etc. I love going back to school! Maybe this is the best decision I've ever made this year… :D 

Sometimes it's frustrating, trying to match your working schedule with classes schedule, but I am determined to do both. So whatever happens, I will never say "I don't have time" but I will say "I will make time".  It's just going to need extra works. I have to stay awake a little bit late or wake up earlier to do the assignments, to study and finish the program. It's been 2.5 month now and it's a good thing that I'm still excited. I enjoy each class and so far I've never missed a single class or assignments. Somehow, I'll make things works.. :)) 

The Ultimate Trip

When I was a little girl, I knew that I lived in a big world, and all I've ever wanted was travelling around the globe. Maybe that's why I was attracted to geography, history and English lessons. It felt like only a dream and an impossible thing to do, but this year, I finally made it come true. Well, at least I went to some parts of the globe, not all of it, hahaha...

Last March I went to Europe, with my 2 friends, Cindy and Mas Ronny. Eurotrip was my ultimate dream trip so I was very excited doing it. The itinerary was an ambitious one, 8 countries and 10 cities, because it's the first Eurotrip for Cindy and me. We went to Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Venezia, Vatican, Rome, Geneve, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. It made the schedule was very tight. But we've managed to enjoy the ride.. :))

Rome, Italy - March 20th, 2014

What did we get from this trip, other than the pictures of course? That's what our friend from Portugal, Andreia, asked us last night. We've experiences, being citizens of the world. This trip taught us a lot of things, like being patient and empathy for others, experiencing other cultures, meeting new people, tasting delicious food from each city, and many indescribable feelings that I can't explain. We. Had. Fun. Period.

I so wanna tell you the details, but maybe not today. Hopefully I will have time and not becoming too lazy to write or share some photos with you all, hihihi...

Hello 2014!

Well this is actually a very late post, considering it's almost the end of January 2014. Lazy blogger... Ahahahaha...

Jakarta has so much to offer and I just can't find time (and willingness) to write on this blog. Eventhough I have a lot of ideas and stories to write.

January 2014 is almost over, and I can say it has been nice to me. It's a pretty good way to start this year.

I have 4 accomplishment this January, that I'm thankful for. First of all, my visa for the next trip is approved. It's considered as accomplishment because I apply it by myself, without any help from travel agent. Like usual, I do my research through Google first before submit the application. And now I can say, Schengenstaten visa is not a rocket science! Hahahah... Maybe I'll share the detail story later.

My second accomplishment is my cross stitch project is done, and it looks beautifuuuulll. I plan to give it to my mom as a gift, and I already buy the next project. The thing about stitching is, it is soothing and relaxing. Maybe because of its constant movement, or maybe because everything is in order and we just have to follow the pattern.

My third accomplishment is I finally finished my first book. But don't get it wrong. It's a guideline book about work thingy, in which I translated environment regulation into time frame, scope of works, etc. I've always wanted to write a book or a novel, but I've never thought my first book will be a guideline... XD

The last but not the least accomplishment is, I've finished my first 5K! Yes, I joined The Color Run on January 26th, 2014. The Color Run is knowned as The Happiest 5K on Earth. On each KM, they will throw color powder to all the runners, so in the end, the runner will be full of color. And I was happy, indeed. I enjoyed the venue, the running itself, the color splash and of course the music.

Hopefully the upcoming months will be as good as January, or maybe even better, Amiiin... :))