EF #17: An Architect or A Designer?

Do you know tedhak siten? It is a Javanese ceremony where babies celebrate their first time stepping on the ground. One part of the ceremony is when the baby is put inside a chicken cage and he should choose one thing around him. The thing he chooses represents his future, according to Javanese belief. Can you guess what I chose? A pencil.

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My Favorite Wedding Souvenir: Financial Note

Beberapa hari lalu, di grup Whatsapp keluarga besar ayah saya ramai berbicara tentang kebiasaan menyimpan struk dan mencatat cashflow. Ternyata kami para sepupu (khususnya wanita) cukup rajin melakukan salah satunya. Saya rajin mencatat pemasukan dan pengeluaran harian, baik ketika masih bekerja maupun sekarang saat menjadi ibu rumah tangga (apalagi!). Struk belanja saya buang ketika nominalnya sudah saya catat di catatan pengeluaran. Ada sih beberapa yang saya simpan, khususnya yang berupa struk transfer atau pengiriman paket.

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EF #16: Fortune Comes to Those Who Are Right

There is not much that I can remember from Indonesian tales in my childhood. I read a lot of books, including comics and encyclopedia that came from varied countries. I remember some beautifully illustrated tale books that I saw in Gramedia at that time, but it was too costly. My father bought me some Indonesian books though, but mostly the illustration was like Balai Pustaka book, haha.. For you who were born in 1990, Balai Pustaka was a publishing company owned by the government. The books for students had a lot or writing and only few pages had black and white illustration. 

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EF #15: Gadgets or Real Games?

As a new parent, I like to browse parenting articles and read parenting magazines. What I can get from most parenting media is that kids now connect a lot with technology, including during their play time. The latest, I bought a book from Parenting Indonesia magazine, titled Raising The Next Genius Part 2: Membesarkan Anak Cerdas di Era Digital. The book is a complete guide for parents about the latest technology or gadget kids may access, what parents should know, how to avoid problems, and cool apps for kids.

Wheew, I read that and feel amazed of what parents now are facing: pornography, cyber bullying, and kidnapping. Whether they give gadget or no, this danger is still around. 

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Terpukau Baby Toilet di IKEA

Jujur saja, saya paling tidak sabar untuk menulis ketika pergi ke suatu tempat dimana fasilitas untuk ibu dan anaknya sangat layak. Langsung deh saya jepret sana jepret sini dan mengumpulkan detil untuk bahan tulisan. Setelah menulis tentang nursing rooms beberapa minggu lalu, kini saya akan share pengalaman saya (sebagai ibu menyusui) berkunjung ke IKEA Alam Sutera.

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Mudik dengan Batita, Naik Apa?

Kenapa saya memilih topik mudik kali ini sementara lebaran masih lama? Untuk para perantau pasti tahu jawabannya. Yak tepat, karena barusan pemesanan tiket mudik kereta api resmi dibuka. Tahun lalu saya gagal mendapat tiket mudik sesuai keinginan walaupun sudah duduk manis di depan laptop sejak jam setengah 12 malam selama 2 hari berturut-turut. Akhirnya, kami bisa mendapat tiket untuk H-1, sampai Jogja hanya sejam sebelum solat Ied.  Cara mendapat tiketnya adalah dengan cara mengikuti tips seorang teman: meminta adiknya untuk booking tiket via warnet di kota asal dengan koneksi cepat.

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EF #14: A Memory of a Sailormoon Addict

1996.

A group of 6^th graders was packed in a 3x3m2 room, laughing out loud. One of them held a comic book while ohers acted as a cat named Luna and a girl named Usagi. They were trying to bring the story in the comic into a play. Although there was no audience, these 4 girls and a boy had a lot of fun.

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Nursing Rooms I Visit Frequently

Sejak menjadi ibu menyusui, saya jadi harus rajin mencari ruang menyusui ketika bepergian. Untuk mal saat ini rata-rata sudah memiliki nursing room, khususnya mal yang usianya relatif baru. Kondisinya memang beragam. Saya sempat menyusui di nursing room sebuah mal yang lokasinya persis bersebelahan dengan toilet sehingga baunya pesing, hingga ke nursing room yang cukup mewah dan luas (serasa milik pribadi, hehe).

Berikut ini adalah beberapa nursing room yang saya pernah kunjungi  dan sempat saya dokumentasikan.

1.                   Mal Ciputra Cibubur

Awalnya, nursing room di mal tiga lantai ini hanya ada di lantai 2, namun sekarang ada juga di lantai 1. Walaupun hanya ada dua nursing room di setiap lantainya, ukurannya sangat luas dengan kondisi bagus dan bersih. Mungkin karena usianya masih baru dan penggunanya tidak terlalu banyak (saya jarang mengantri menggunakannya). Di setiap kamar terdapat satu changing table, dua kursi dengan sandaran, kaca besar lengkap dengan wastafel.

2.                   Cibubur Junction

Nursing room di Cibubur Junction ukurannya seperempat dari nursing room di Mal Ciputra Cibubur. Kondisinya pun biasa saja dengan satu bangku panjang tanpa sandaran serta wastafel. Letaknya di sebelah toilet di lantai 1 kalau tidak salah, dan hanya ada satu kamar.

3.                   Pejaten Village

Saya suka dengan nursing room di sini karena walaupun hanya ada di satu lantai, biliknya banyak (sepertinya lebih dari 5) dengan ruang tamu di pintu masuknya sehingga para ayah bisa menunggu. Biliknya memang sempit tetapi sirkulasi udaranya bagus, dengan wastafel dan kaca, 1 changing table, serta 1 kursi puff. Petugas kebersihan pun selalu stand by karena ketika saya masuk kembali setelah sejam, pintu bilik sudah terbuka lagi (diganjal tong sampah di bagian dalam) dan kasur changing table dalam posisi tersandar di dinding.

4.                   Stasiun Gambir

Senang sekali rasanya ketika di tempat umum ada ruang menyusui. Di Stasiun Gambir, ruang menyusui berada di salah satu sudut di lantai dua. Ukurannya besar walaupun kondisinya pas-pasan, dengan karpet, beberapa jenis kursi (high chair, kursi kantor, kursi tunggu dari logam, kursi kafe). Buat saya, yang penting ACnya menyala, hehe.. Di stasiun lain yang kami lewati ketika sudah di dalam kereta, biasanya ada ruang menyusui walaupun terintegrasi dengan posko kesehatan. Saya pernah mencoba menyusui di Stasiun Purwokerto ketika kereta yang kami tumpangi mendadak harus diperbaiki. Ruangannya lapang, namun seperti ruang tamu dengan sofa tua serta meja kayu.

Semoga saja saya bisa lebih banyak bertualang ke nursing room tempat-tempat lain (dan menceritakannya di sini). Semoga bermanfaat!

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EF#13: Moms, This is How We Do It!

Well, okay, sport. It is something that I really love doing but needs a lot of discipline (not time). Since I am basically an individual lady, I prefer to do sport alone. Thanks to Youtube and cable TV that provide me a lot of exercise videos, from pilates to high impact aerobic.

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A Job for My Soul

Dulu, saya tidak suka anak-anak. Selain merepotkan, saya juga tidak dianugerahi kemampuan untuk berbasa-basi dan mengajak bermain anak kecil. So, tidak pernah terbersit dalam pikiran saya bahwa kelak saya akan menjadi guru yang mengajar anak-anak..! Setidaknya, itulah pelajaran hidup yang saya ingat sampai sekarang: jangan pernah terlalu membenci sesuatu, karena pada akhirnya Alloh akan mendekatkan kita dengan hal-hal yang tidak kita sukai just to show that nothing is bad if we want to know closer (saya sekarang bersahabat dengan “musuh” saya waktu SD, dan tinggal di kota yang saya paling tidak ingin tinggali x-))

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EF #12: The Motorcycle Story

I have been a motorcycle rider since 2002. At that time, my father bought me a red Shogun for my 17^th birthday and I started to celebrate my freedom to go everywhere I liked (without my parents to drive me or nebeng a.k.a sharing ride with friends). 

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EF #11: My Style, My Sweater

I am not a fashion blogger, but I like to read some fashion blogs. I never tried to write anything about fashion because I don’t think I am fashionable. However, I will try my best to write my first fashion related topic in my blog. It’s not that I want it, but it is part of BEC’s EnglishFriday challenge, which is to make a post about OOTD or Outfit Of The Day.

Back then when I hadn’t got any child, I really like to wear sweater. It wasn’t the thick one, so i didn’t feel hot wearing it. Now, i never wear sweater anymore because I am still breastfeeding. Instead, I wear buttoned shirt or very loose shirt to make it easier to breastfeed. Somehow I miss wearing sweater. That’s why I chose my old picture to represent my outfit of THAT day, and the style in the picture below is sooo me.

Sweater. One thing that I like from wearing sweater is that it doesn’t show your body shape. It also still looks fashionable although it is loose. I like to wear ones with interesting pattern like this Argyle pattern on my green sweater. Argyle firstly used by Scottish for their socks, but now it is widely use for cardigan or vest.

This sweater used to be my sister’s but then she gave it to me (because i kept wearing it haha). She bought it in 2011 for about Rp 108.000. I don’t know what kind of fabric it is, but it’s still in a good condition now although I wash it using a top load washing machine.

Earth, natural colors. I feel comfortable wearing natural colors because it is easy to combine, and it is quite effective to avoid saltum. Saltum or salah kostum is an Indonesian slang that describes a wrong outfit that someone wears, although for me it also explains a condition where you wear the wrong combination of clothes. Hence, it doesn’t look good.

The veil, skirt, and shoes are light brown –one of my favorite colors for outfit. The veil was a regular paris veil, while the skirt was a gift from my mom. If i’m not mistaken, she bought it in Karita (a moslem  wear store in Jogja) and it was not even Rp 100.000. I don’t have the skirt anymore since it was to tight for my standard (the shape was like a long pencil skirt) and it has a calf-lenght opening that showed my whole calf if I walked.

Flat shoes. I really feel comfortable wearing flat shoes. All of my shoes are flat ones, except the one for attending wedding party. The reason why I like them is because I am quite tall and I am a fast walker. The shoes I wore were Connexion, which I bought for under Rp 200.000 at Matahari Dept. Store. Shoes there are often on sale, so I like to shop for shoes there.

The last one, woven sling bag. I like sling bag because it is light and i don’t usually bring a lot of stuff (until I have a baby and it all changed).  It also doesn’t hurt our shoulder if we have a long walk. This bag was my sister’s that whe bought in Malioboro for only Rp 35.000.

So, that’s a bit about my classic style. What’s yours?

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