Bittersweet Birthday

I am about to post this one in Bahasa (well, I am gonna use mixed language, but most of them is in Bahasa). I apologize but I'll be back with English in my next post.

Jadi, Sabtu kemarin adalah ulang tahun gue yang ke 23 (sigh). This year I wasn't feeling anything. Maksud gue, tau gak sih perasaan deg-degan kalo hari ulang tahun mau datang? Do you feel it? Or is it just me? :D

Apa gara-gara udah mulai tua juga ya, jadi gak ngerasa ada special feeling? Atau karena kerjaan ya ridiculously super banyak?

Tapi ternyata hari Sabtu kemarin quite superb. Gue bingung sebenarnya, gue bahagia, tapi gue juga marah. Kesal. Sedih. So, this is the story.

Jadi pagi hari Sabtu, gue pergi sama Wulan ke Depok buat nonton Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows part 2. Yeah, poor us, in our hometown, there is no cinema. At all. But, why's so sad, when anywhere and anytime you can buy pirate dvd? :D

Perjalanan ok, macet dikit-dikit, since I thought everyone were going out welcoming Ramadhan. Singkat cerita, akhirnya gue sama Wulan sampai ke Depok, dimana Wulan's boyfriend sudah menunggu disana.

Eits, where's mine?

Hal pertama yang bikin gue kesal adalah ternyata cowok gue lagi nungguin cakes delivery yang gak dateng-dateng. Jadi, dia order birthday cakes gitu, janjian ketemuan jam 9, tapi sampe jam 11 orangnya masih di jalan. Oh my God, emang dia dari luar kota gitu?

I was so disappointed. Yeah, not my boyfriend's fault, but still... Masa gue harus ngintilin Wulan sama Teguh (cowoknya) kemana-mana sih? Yeah rite, akhirnya karena si orang kue gak dateng-dateng, gue akhirnya bilang ke cowok gue, just leave that cake and cakeperson, cause I don't give a damn about it anymore. Oh, silly, but I need him more than that stupid cake!

Akhirnya sang pacar datang, perasaan gue sudah mulai membaik, trus kita makan sambil tiup lilin! Dan buka kado. *grin*

Okay, I'll admit. I didn't blow the candle, we didn't even light it on. I just put the candle for the documentation use. :D

Stupid cake! But that's the sweet of him, bring me this!

The gift from my boyfriend. Thank you, Love!

Abis makan, nonton HPDH part 2. Been waiting this moment since... I don't know. Pertama nonton Harry Potter, adalah filmnya yang kedua, Chamber of Secret, bareng Wulan (yes, dimulai dengan Wulan,diakhiri juga dengan Wulan), waktu kelas 1 SMA, and we were 15 years old back then! Amazing right? It's been 8 years since the second movie, 10 years since the first one.

The film was good. Gue nangis di beberapa adegan, tapi sejujurnya untuk Battle of Hogwarts, imajinasi gue lebih liar pas baca bukunya. Hehe, a friend said, kalo misalnya mau nurutin imajinasi gue, filmnya mungkin baru dibuat tahun 2020! Tapi secara keseluruhan filmnya sangat menghibur, kecuali bagian akhir yang menurut gue sinetron banget. :D

Thanks buat Teguh yang mau bela-belain pulang kantor mampir dulu buat beli tiket ya!

Selesai nonton, kita makan lagi (oh my God), but this time is my treat. :D

Do you notice that my friend, Wulan, wears t-shirt with number "3" on it? It was her 3rd anniversary with her boyfriend! yeah, happy anniversary. Well, it should be my 2nd anniversary too, but I am not very sure when exactly my boyfriend and me started to date. :D He insists that it was July 30th, but I am not quite sure. :p

Selesai makan gue pisah sama Wulan, karena dia sama Teguh mau berangkat futsal (eh, am I right? Lupa gw, I didn't really pay attention), dan gue mau ke rumah cowok gue di daerah Kampung Rambutan. Nah, tibalah saat-saat menyakitkan itu dimulai.

Normalnya dari Depok ke Kampung Rambutan itu sekitar 45 menit. 1 jam kalo udah ditambah macet-macet dikit. Gue udah mulai curiga pas taksinya merayap terus gak abis-abis. Biasanya emang gak kayak gitu, malam Minggu sekalipun. Kecurigaan gue mulai bertambah saat liat ada truk bawa orang-orang berbaju putih ngibar-ngibarin bendera dengan tulisan-tulisan Arab diatasnya.

Awalnya gue mikir, oh, ini konvoi orang-orang yang mau pengajian. Biasa kan, mereka kalau konvoi mau datang ke suatu pengajian (yang habibnya dari Arab itu tuh), atau mau ada acara tabligh akbar, atau apapun, emang suka rada bikin macet. Tapi biasanya gak separah ini.

Dan jreng, jreng! Setelah dua jam macet, dan sampai ke suatu persimpangan, gue lihat apa sebenernya bikin macet. Jadi ada satu jalur jalan di daerah Tanjung Barat (dari Pasar Minggu arah ke Depok) yang orang-orang itu tutup, dan mereka ngadain pengajian disitu. Iya, di jalan raya. Literally gelar tiker di atas aspal. Nutup jalan, mengakibatkan arus yang dari Pasar Minggu gak bisa lurus langsung ke Depok, harus muter di putaran Rancho dulu. Dan, stupidly lagi mereka maksa buat bikin jalan Depok ke arah Pasar Minggu yang awalnya satu arah, jadi dua arah, padahal jalan itu dari Depok udah macet parah!

Gue gak tau yang mana yang lebih stupid, panitia acara itu apa yang ngijinin acara itu diselenggarakan disitu. I didn't take any pictures, BB gw sama pacar udah mati dari kapan tau. What the hell they are doing there? Maksud gue, apa mereka gak punya tempat lain yang lebih proper apa? Mesjid? Lapangan? Kenapa harus jalan raya yang notabene adalah milik orang banyak? Kenapa harus cari pahala dengan cara menyusahkan orang lain?

Gue sama sekali gak antipati sama pengajiannya, gw juga Muslim. Tapi kalau kayak gini caranya, jangankan mau ngambil hati yang non-Muslim, gue aja caci maki terus orang-orang itu. Mungkin gue emang gak ada keperluan ya, gw lagi gak in hurry, tapi gimana sama bapak-bapak yang abis pulang kantor pingin cepet ketemu istri anaknya? Gimana sama ibu-ibu yang capek diatas motornya? Gue mulai nangis, pas supir taksi gue ngomong (padahal sepanjang jalan dia diem lho), "saya baru keluar, setoran belum dapat sama sekali, dan ini udah hampir 3 jam..". How could they do this to us?

Tapi kan cuma sekali seminggu? Atau sekali sebulan? Yeah, right, jadi kalo misalnya cuma sekali sebulan, lo gapapa nyusahin orang gitu? Kalo cuma sekali sebulan, gapapa lo ngambil hak orang lain? Kalo gitu, ijinin aja koruptor keliaran, pencuri keliaran, dengan syarat mereka cuma boleh nyolong sekali sebulan. What's the difference, anyway?

Dan akhirnya gue sampai di Kampung Rambutan dalam waktu... 5 JAM. Itu pun dengan menyemangati bapak taksi buat ambil kanan masuk pintu tol di depan Gedung Antam. Di dalam tol, gue masih liat arah ke Pasar Rebo macet luar biasa, dan mungkin kalo gue gak masuk tol, gue bakal berakhir dengan nyampe subuh ke Kampung Rambutan.

It's silly. Gue bukannya menyesali kenapa ini semua terjadi di ulang tahun gue. Gue cuma mikir, kenapa masih ada sekelompok orang-orang bodoh yang berpikiran sempit seperti itu. Kenapa harus di jalan raya sih? Pingin dilihat orang? Trus apa bedanya sama riya? Gue benar-benar ingin melakukan sesuatu, tapi gue gak tahu harus apa. Posting ini yang cuma bisa gw tulis untuk ngasih tau ke orang-orang banyak apa yang terjadi.

So that was my birthday. Sweet beginning, bitter ending. Tapi gue masih bersyukur Allah udah menjaga gue selama 23 tahun ini, dan mudah-mudahan akan begitu terus selama tahun-tahun mendatang. Amin!

It's sign for 2 and 3, my age now. 23! I am getting old! :D

Lovely Leave (part 2)

Felt a bit sorry, because I don't plan this holiday very well, but I was quite satisfied with the result. I was only hanging in Jakarta and around after going back from Tidung. My next stop is Jakarta Book Fair in Istora Senayan. For me, it's like a heaven, seeing so many books from many publishers, sold with cheap prize, and good discount! I didn't take many pictures (of course, I was busy shopping, what do you expect?), and ended with, umm, okey.. a lot of books. Feel guilty, because even now I haven't finished all those books yet. But, anyway, why's so hurry? :)

My babies! Sorry for bad quality, I am not into photography, and only took this with BB camera. I have read The Da Vinci Code, but I couldn't stand to see that they sell its special edition with good price! :D I've read some of them, and as far my favorite is Nasional.is.me by Pandji. Inspiring book with a lot of touching quotes!

Actually I didn't buy Madre at the book fair, I got it delivered a day before, so I guess  it's still counted as holiday purchasing. :p The book is awesome, quite interesting, with an unique topics, but it will be better if we discuss it in another blog. :p

Along with the book fair, there were many events held at those weekend. There are Sound Festive, which presented Boyce Avenue. I was so tempted, but it's found later that I am too tired after spending time around, so I decided to go home. Buuut, before going home, I found JakCloth, a festive which presents local brands from Indonesia, held in Plaza Tenggara GBK. So, I thought, why not put a visit? :D

I didn't buy a lot, but quite impressed with a booth named Cotton Island. It sold many beautiful shawl, cardigan, wide leg pants, all made from cotton. Its price is affordable, and when I got there, they gave big discount. Yay!!! You can visit their shop here!

Wearing one of Cotton Island's shawl

Last day on my leave, I went to my best friend's wedding in Bogor. It was beautiful, decorated with pink and gray theme, I honestly never see people using pink in wedding before, but it's really cute. Meet some college friends there, what a perfect day! Wedding always bring me an extraordinary happiness, to see my friends grow up, and ready to start a new life, new challenge in their life!

Look at the pink ornaments behind. It was pretty. And they put a lot of pink and white roses everywhere!

Happy Wedding, friend!

Well, this is it! I guess I was having some fun, refreshed from all daily activities. Hope I can take another leave soon! And at this time, I'll make sure that I've planned it well.

Evil World

From the beginning, I know life is not always running well. There should be obstacles everywhere, every time. I've also known that people are not always be good. We've learned that people can be so evil, mean in their own way. That's all I've already learned, but when it comes down on me, it just bang! Like an unexpected event, with no sign, bad thing happens to me.

I really have no idea, why people can be so evil. When you think you've already done well, and even you've tried to achieve the best from you, there comes people who try to let you down, accuse you with something that you didn't do, spread bad word about you. How come they? There we go, to every human's weakness. Money. When it comes to money, it's like they can do whatever they like. They do everything without noticing, whether people they've blamed is have feelings, have family ( who hurt by their accusation).

Feels so sad about it, but lesson learned. I do believe in God, and I am quite sure that He will protect us, and treat us equally. So, until it comes, may the innocent be patient.

Lovely Leave (part 1)

After waiting for a year (with no holiday), finally I got permission for 10 day leave. I got many plans, where to go,what to do, too bad, because it's weekday, it's a little bit hard to get a companion. Thank God, my boyfriend was permitted to take a leave for two days, and with some friends, we went to Tidung Island in Kepulauan Seribu. It was so beautiful place, and most important is you can enjoy the trip with limited budget.

Bicycling around the island

At the bridge, which connects Tidung Island and Tidung Kecil Island

Guess, sunset or sunrise??

At the west dock, when first arriving in island

I stayed for two days and a night, it was tiring day, because we had all activities packed in two days! Bicycling, snorkeling, taking a walk around the island (you can visit the whole island by taking a walk, it's a tiny pretty island!). Well, I definitely want to come back the other holiday. :)
If you are interested, you can visit Tidung Island from Muara Angke port or Marina port. It takes about 2.5 hours to reach the island by ship. There are many travel packaging to there too.

I'll continue my holiday story in next post. Hope it won't bother you! :D

Enchanted July

Finally! This June is crazily busy. Totally. Well, I am really glad it's finally over, and we're welcoming July! July is one of my favorite month, mainly because I was born in July, secondary because my boss approved my leave. Glad to know that finally I'll be having my holidays (nine days exactly), although I have no idea where to go, what to do. I've planned some, go to the beach, get complete facial treatment, buy a lot of books, learn to cook, but to be honest, after arranging my schedule, I still have a free week. My oh my, way too excited, even I almost couldn't sleep last night! :D

I am turning 23 this year, how old! I have some birthday wishes, but nothing is more important than this. Will tell you later about it, they said it's forbidden to talk about it, until you're sure that it'll happen.

About my review blog, uh-oh, I feel so guilty. The thing is when first I created this blog, I was thinking that I'm doing something that I love, and I don't want to feel pushed doing it. So, I feel sorry for you, who wait for my posts, but they don't come as fast as you hope. Life happens, and I should prioritize what most important for me. But, you should check these two, Fanda and Ana. Both of them are great reviewer, and I should confess that they inspire me a lot. :)

So, how's your life? Hope it's enchanting like ever!

Wandering

This morning, I was wandering my friend's notes, and found this one *sobs* I miss them! Very much!

Barusan dapet 2 kabar gembira dari 2 temen gw. Satu dr temen KKN Ardan Afwal Maulana yg diterima di pertamina (kayaknya udah lama cm gw baru tau), satunya lagi dr temen kos lama dulu di Semarang Arfiani Lina yg diterima di ODP Mandiri. Very proud to both of you guys!! Suddenly, pikiran gw jadi ke mana2, ke temen2, sekolah, kuliah, waktu yg gw habiskan bersama semua temen2. And here we are, kalo kata dosen gw Pak Agung, sampailah kita pada titik kritis hidup kita yang kedua, menentukan arah jalan hidup mau kerja di mana atau di bidang apa( yang pertama menentukan jurusan kuliah, yg ketiga menentukan pasangan hidup). Setaun belakangan ini gw ngerasain kondisi kritis ini, dan kebanyakan dari temen2 gw, yg notabennya emang seumuran ma gw, juga mengalami hal yg sama. Dan kebanyakan dari mereka(bisa dibilang temen2 seperjuangan) dapet pekerjaan yg bagus track recordnya. Bangga gw! Selamat buat yg diterima di BUMN, Departemen, Pemda, Perusahaan Swasta dan yg meneruskan S2. Buat yg masih berjuang nyelesein TA, ato masih jadi job seeker jangan putus asa. Untuk yg masih mengabdi sama dosen ato belajar kerja, you’re the best from all, gw pernah merasakannya, n itu pengabdian dan pembelajaran yg sebenarnya. Semuanya jangan puas dengan apa yg udah dicapai (semoga gw pun bisa begitu), belajar dan belajar untuk menjadi orang2 hebat. I know u will guys!! Suatu saat nanti gw akan bilang ke anak2 gw “mentri itu kan temen kuliah mama dulu, pengusaha ini temen mama SMA, ketua anu temen maen mama dulu jaman muda, penulis buku itu temen kos mama, artis x ini dulu mama yg nyontekin ulangan, bla..bla…bla..”. Kalo kata temen kuliah gw Risang “dan kita akan berjalan sendiri2” (kurang lebih begitu). Jalankan peran kita masing2 di hidup ini sebaik mungkin. Yang terpenting mungkin bagaimana kita bisa bermanfaat buat orang lain, sederhananya bermanfaat buat orang terdekat, muluknya bermanfaat buat bangsa dan Negara! Ayo saling mengingatkan!

This post was written by Vega Fitria. 
Thank you for reminding me of those great days. :) :)

First Love

They say it lasts forever. Well, I am kinda agree about it.
Forever in maybe we'll laugh everything about it, if somehow we are reminded of it, giggle our foolishness and wonder how we could do such a silly things, like obsessed with some (called cool) boys (or girls). Forever in someday we're going to tell our story to our children, and grandchildren, and make sure that they won't repeat the same mistakes, like we did.
We fell in love, then we leave, found another leave, then leave. It's beautiful to have all the stories, because (I think I've said it before), we can forget names, places, time, but we can't forget feeling. The beautiful feeling that we had it before, it still feels beautiful right, even when we don't have it anymore.
So, it doesn't mean you're unfaithful, when you say it lasts forever. It's like we remove a file in a recycle bin, it's there, but we don't need it anymore. :D

It's All About Money!!!

As a young, who just start in independent working life (it's almost three years actually), I've tried to support myself without parents help. People may think it's easy, but it's not actually. I am not a spoiled child, my family live properly, we are not rich, but we can't feed ourselves well. :p I could buy stuffs I wanted by saving, my mother rarely buy me stuffs, except on my birthday, or some celebrations, but usually I should work to get it. In my college, I rarely bought any clothes, shoes, accessories, because I used to spend my allowance in books.

There, when I started working and get my own salary, I feel satisfied. A lot. It's a lot of money, and I've earned it by myself (well, although after now, I don't look it as a lot of money, but still I should be grateful). At that time, I thought since I never had chance to buy fancy things, why not now? So, I shopped, shopped, and shopped. Without realizing, I've spent my first year of working without having any savings.

Thanks God, I never had to ask from my parents, think I have big ego for it. But, then, one afternoon, my mother asked me jokingly, how much I have saved throughout my working period. Then, bam! Uh-oh, such an awareness was hitting me, then I think, could I put aside small amount of my payment into saving account? Yes, of course, I can. :)

Now, after almost three years, I must confess that I still struggle with this saving thing. It's still hard for me, although I've specified percentage of saving every months, but when temptations come (shoes and books! they kill me! argh!!), I still did a little cheating, and cut the percentage. Shame on me. But at least, I've tried, and I never miss a month. For saving. Not cheating. Thanks God again, I have a boyfriend, who saves diligently, and always remind me how important saving is.

PS. After learning a lot from books, friends, websites, I've tempted to do some investments, but I've reminded that I still had this short term goal. Hope I can accomplish it one by one, amin.. amin! :) :)