Cerita Si Oma

Sudah lebih dari 1 bulan semenjak saya mengunggah tulisan saya lagi di Facebook dan blog, atas dukungan Ega. Dan sudah lebih dari 1 bulan juga saya absen nulis. Well, janji tinggallah janji. Tapi lebih baik terlambat daripada tidak sama sekali, right? Daripada kita off topic , mendingan saya ceritakan alasan saya tiba-tiba menghilang dr dunia socmed. Well, bukan menghilang, tp lay low. Tp ada temen yang sampek nyangka saya deactivate account gara-gara jarang eksis. Sejak sebelum lebaran, saya diminta boss untuk bantuin mengecek budget marketing untuk tahun depan. Well, how hard can it be? Boss bilang saya disuruh ngecek semua angka match up dan itung2annya bener. Ok sip! Ternyata job description 'membantu' itu sangat ambigu, sodara-sodara. Yang ada, saya ikut mengerjakan budget itu dan semua teori akuntansi yang pernah saya pelajari dalam hidup, harus dikeluarkan. Sayangnya, saya hampir tidak pernah belajar akuntansi. Waktu SMA, saya selalu bolos atau bahasa kerennya ...

In life, change is inevitable. Kadang perubahan itu adalah sesuatu yang baik, tapi kadang kita berubah menjadi lebih negatif. Namun baik buruknya sebuah perubahan, itu sangat tergantung standard apa yang digunakan. Perantauan saya ke negeri kincir angin membawa banyak sekali perubahan. Dalam hal kedisiplinan, pola pikir, makanan, gaya hidup, dan masih banyak lagi. Kadang perubahan ini bisa dinilai oleh 'orang timur' seperti Indonesia, sebagai suatu hal yang buruk. Contohnya beberapa tahun lalu, setelah beberapa tahun tidak pulang kampung, saya pulang ke Indonesia. Hari Minggu, saya ikut ke gereja bersama kedua orang tua saya. Selama di Belanda, saya ke sebuah gereja presbyterian yang open pada semua jenis kalangan dari latar belakang apapun. Sangat santai. Bahkan di musim panas, pendetanya pun akan berkhotbah dengan menggunakan polo shirt, celana pendek, dan sandal jepit. Worship leadernya bertato dan rambutnya gondrong! So, kira-kira bisa bayangin kan, waktu saya d...

Setelah lebih dari 8 tahun hidup merantau di negeri orang, pulang ke rumah, ke negeri dimana saya dilahirkan, bukanlah hal yang mudah. Benar, saya bicara bahasanya, saya mengerti budayanya, saya memiliki keluarga dan teman-teman di Indonesia, tetapi sedikit banyak saya mengalami tantangan untuk kembali menjadi seorang warga negara Indonesia.  Beberapa postingan selanjutnya akan saya isi dengan cerita-cerita menarik, kadang lucu, kadang menyebalkan, tentang pengalaman saya kembali ke Surabaya, setelah hidup 8 tahun di Belanda. Saya akan awali transition the series dengan cerita tentang kesukaan saya dengan matahari. At least, selama saya hidup di Belanda. Belanda adalah negara dengan 4 musim, dengan jumlah musim panas paling sedikit dibanding musim-musim lainnya. Di musim panas pun, hujan, badai dan hujan es pun bisa terjadi. Suhu bisa panas banget sampai 38C dan bisa dingin sampai 15C. So, kalo melihat matahari dan langit yang biru, semua orang Belanda, plus o...

Health is a choice. Learn how to choose it. Hari ini saya akan sedikit sok menjadi ahli kesehatan.  Kemarin saya ngobrol di Line dengan food blogger and photographer dari Surabaya, Jie, yang ternyata lagi ngga enak badan. Flu-ish alias deman-demam kayak mau flu gitu. Saya kasih beberapa resep "ramuan-ramuan" andalan keluarga saya, yang sudah diuji keampuhannya. Dan ternyata, Jie belum pernah dengar tips ini sebelumnya. Keluarga saya adalah keluarga yang tidak suka minum obat. Kalau sakit, obatnya tidur, minum air putih yang banyak, dan membuat ramuan penangkal flu ini.  Buat kalian yang lagi flu atau merasa ngga enak badan, mungkin bisa dicoba resep ramuan-ramuan berikut ini: 1. Jahe coklat Minuman ini sangat ampuh untuk yang lagi pilek, demam, atau masuk angin. Di Jawa Tengah, khususnya di Salatiga, wedang jahe coklat ini adalah minuman wajib di warung-warung pinggir jalan. Yang lebih menarik, minuman ini mirip dengan minuman dari Spanyol/Mexico...

Thanks banget buat respon kalian semua atas tulisan saya kemarin. Ngga nyangka, masih ada pembaca setia dari blog-blog saya sebelumnya! Dan ternyata benar Ega lho, menulis itu nagih. Tadi pagi saya sudah langsung mikir, kira-kira malam ini nulis apa yaaa. Speaking of tadi pagi, tadi pagi saya mendapat kejutan istimewa! Begitu saya melek mata, ada yang masuk bawa secangkir kopi, roti mantau, corned beef dan omelet. Seperti adegan film hollywood gitu. Well, kalau di adegan-adegan film Hollywood, biasanya ceweknya yang masuk ke kamar membawakan breakfast in bed. Hehe, kali ini suami saya. Harap maklum. Selama 13 tahun bersama, ini kali pertama saya diperlakukan seperti ini! Bahkan di hari valentine, atau hari anniversary jadian di bulan Maret kemarin, tidak ada hal romantis apapun yang dilakukan Stefy. Di tengah usaha saya untuk bangun dari dunia mimpi, pelan-pelan saya berpikir, hari apakah ini? Dalam rangka apa saya dijamu breakfast in bed. Hari ini tanggal 10 Agustus. Hari Sabtu...

Sudah lama saya ‘mati suri’ dalam dunia menulis. Bagi penggemar setia blog saya, dulu mulai SMA, kuliah, dan waktu masih kerja di Indonesia, pasti rajin memaja blog Free Prayer atau Cerita Si Oma. Mulai dari curhatan anak SMA tentang cinta, persahabatan, sampai merambah dunia politik, ekonomi dan masalah-masalah sosial dan agama. Dulu saya rajin menulis. Setiap kejadian, setiap perasaan, pasti ingin dituangkan dalam sebuah tulisan. Suami saya dulu juga sering dapat kiriman-kiriman puisi dari saya. Beberapa saat lalu dia tiba-tiba nyeletuk “kamu kok sudah ngga pernah nulis puisi lagi?” Hari ini, di hari terakhir liburan Lebaran di Indonesia, saya berhasil duduk (baca:  ndlosor ) di belakang laptop dan menulis. Bukan menulis report buat kantor, buat kejar deadline translate paper, tapi hanya menulis, seperti dulu lagi. Salah satu motivasi terbesar saya untuk menulis lagi adalah Bung Ega dan Nulis Buku , yang tidak bosan-bosannya menanyakan kapan buku saya diselesaikan....

I bet you have heard or read about the Miss Korea contestants look alike issue? If you haven't, click here to read it Agreeing to the Geek in Heels' post, I too have nothing against plastic surgery - if you have the need and/or the money. Many people who have undergone a plastic surgery either needed it or wanted it. The prior is often caused by accident or some parts of the body that becomes of disturbance as one gets older. The latter is caused by trend and public opinion. Whether you need it or want it, a strong financial support will be required. I agree to the prior reason and despise the latter. I just cannot understand why someone needs to look like JLo or Angelina Jolie or even Barbie.     And the ugly truth is, you can't hide your plastic surgery forever. Ever heard the case about a woman being sued by her (ex)husband because she didn't mention about her plastic surgery and in result, their kids look really....oh well no kids ar...

What can we learn from Jack Carroll? A LOT! You should watch this video, if you haven't. I was in tears watching this video.  Not only was he funny, but he was very positive, despite his circumstances. "Sometimes our weaknesses can be our strengths!" How often do we say that and really mean it? Jack said it and did really mean it. May this video remind us of the many things we should be grateful. And if we were in a deep trouble, may we dare to say "our weakness can be our strengths!"

In my previous post, I shared that I joined this movement called prayer 7:14. Well, actualy it ended a couple of weeks ago, but my works got the better of me. Let me share briefly what Mr. S and I have learned during the 8-days of praying and (social media and watch-soccer) fasting. Mr. S and I have never been a serious prayer. We prayed regularly - before our meals, before going to bed, and in the morning. But if you know what I mean, the prayer time is very regular. It is something we do - rituals - so we never had the longing or calling to pray. This 7:14 movement has actually challenged us, or me personally, to really want to pray; and to learn to pray unselfishly. I often prayed only for family, myself, my spouse, my work, my day, my health, and ask forgivenes for my sins. It's all about me. This time, we prayed for a lot of things, not only for ourselves. When we kicked off on Sunday, we felt like 14 minutes were very long. How could we pray in 14 minutes? So the...

source: AG.org Praying and fasting for 8 days? This is new to me. All my life, I have told myself that I am not someone who has been given a gift to pray or fast. I am sure that I am more a doer than a prayer. I'd go overseas to save the less fortunate people, I'd do anything to help people who are in trouble or in hunger. But sit down and stay at home and pray and fast, well, I always said "it's not for me!" These previous weeks, my church, ICA , has been announcing that they'd take part of this 7:14 movement . When hearing it for the first time, I thought, never would I be able to do this. But I kept thinking about it. And the more interesting thing was my husband was also thinking of joining. Fyi, he is even less of a prayer than I am. But thank goodness, we often remind each other. So when I don't feel like praying before going to bed, he'd wake me up and ask me to join in prayer. Or the other way around. So, when I knew he was o...

Am I the last person in Indonesia, who found out about Beauty Treats?? I think I might be, because everybody seems to have been talking about it. I just subscribe for 3 months subscription to get the beauty box. If you haven't heard about this, well basically you subscribe for it, you get a beauty box evey month, which contains different samples, and that's it! From the marketing point of view, this will be a great opportunity test products and get a feedback. Also, this is very good to get coverage: beauty bloggers will write about the favorite or least favorite products they find in the beauty box. Right now, the list of products is not yet announced, so I thought, well why not subscribing for 3 months (here is where my Chinese way of thinking kicks in - by subscribing for 3 months, I save IDR 10,000 :P LOL). And then we'll see, if the products are those average products that I can get in the drugstore or supermarket, then I think I'll stop. But if the...

I follow and read this particular personal blog, owned by Leony . I don't know her in person, and I don't even remember how I came to this blog. But I really like her writing: honest and light. A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon one of her posts that talked about Asian lifestyle . She shared this: An average middle-class CAUCASIAN will purchase: $20 basic white dinner plate from Crate & Barrel $39.90 bedroom slippers from Marks & Spencer $20 whisk from Franc Franc $40 cushion cover from Tangs $39 garlic press from WMF $29 chef's knife from Ikea $25 weekday work lunch at Din Tai Fung $170 shoes from Steve Madden $150 handbag from Zara (on sale from $199.90) An average middle-class ASIAN will purchase: $2 basic white dinner plate from Daiso $2 bedroom slippers from Daiso $2 whisk from Daiso $2 cushion cover from Daiso $0 garlic press (no need for a garlic press, using a knife would suffice) $2 chef's knife from Daiso $4.50 weekday ...

After more than 3 months of being a wife, I would say there are ups and downs. I would say, I enjoy it most of the time, but there are times when I really feel like strangling someone – this has to do with the second and third parts of the titles (I will come to that later). Well, being married means spending the rest of your life just with one person – and that starts at home. Living in home just with the two of us – thank God for this! – we spend most of our time watching DVD or cooking at home. I don’t know whether this is a post honey moon period, or is this something that we enjoy. But the point is we love spending time at home. Mr. S (well, let’s call him that from now on, as calling him Bang Tepy wouldn’t do him any justice anymore) is working more than 8 hours a day. And he is mostly mobile. So, when it is time to come home, he savors every minute of it – watch TV (especially football highlights or any random football programs, which I hate so much – well I come to t...

Always look at the bright side of life - Monty Phyton This song has been sung during the Olympics closing ceremony last year; and this has been my cheer up song ever since. Thus, referring to my earlier blog about how I was not happy with the way we got married, well, I tried to look back and to see the bright side of that circumstance. So if I could share a few things, which might be helpful to you, who are in the middle of preparing a wedding, here they are: 1. Wedding dress I was really happy with my wedding dress. I love the designer, Fifi Firianty , which was very helpful and very professional, and of course her work is stunning. From the first time I met her, I knew there was a click. So, if you look for a designer, who has a European style, please do consider her.  But just some tips, make sure you ask to have you dress fitted one day before the wedding. I had it measure 3 days before the wedding, but in the last 3 days, I ate almost nothing. So this dress...

Almost every girl has ever dreamt of her wedding day – what she would wear, who would come, who the prince charming is. I would say, every girl must have a certain expectation and standard when it comes to a wedding: it could be grand, small celebration, family only, destination wedding – you name it. My dream wedding happens to me a small, close friends and family only wedding. If you grew up in the 90s, you would know a boy band called 98 degree. They had a song titled ‘I do’. If you search on YouTube, you will find the video clip, which shows a beautiful wedding ceremony. That’s my dream wedding! My whole life, I was picturing that. Twelve years ago, I started dating this guy, who is now my husband. His family background is very different than mine. Among other things – which we thankfully have tolerated and worked on – the way to throw a wedding party is totally different. His dream wedding party is ‘tell the world I am getting married’-kind of party. Yes, he wanted grand...

Well, when was the last time I wrote something in my blog. *see the blog post below and be amazed!* One and only excuse would be because I just went through such a hectic period of my life. Okay, let me went through it quickly and hope you enjoy the ride. September 2012 I left Holland, the country that has given me so much love and experience and moved back to Indonesia, the country to which I belong. It was quite an easy transition. I'd always longed to go back to my home town. Living in with my parents again was not that difficult (having been living myself for 9 years, I was expecting drama !), I reckon it's because I didn't really see them that often, due to my busy schedule.  October 2012 Whilst I was extremely busy and feeling dramatic preparing our wedding, I was blessed (or may be not so blessed) with a new job. The job was offered when I was still in Holland. My manager shared my homecoming to his fellow managers in Asia. It appeared that one Mar...