Bali long weekend getaway

I Know it’s not enough, and even a week is not enough of Bali. Or maybe we could agree that we can’t get enough of Bali.

Departing on Friday, 8.50 PM after an hour delay, I sat next to a “bule” that seemed so tortured sitting on Airasia size seat. He hardly could sit stay calm. Airasia, however, still the best choice for most of budget travelers like me. Love and hate it.

Arriving in Bali, one of my kind and generous senior (named mas Ucup) and his wife (mba Lina) picked me up and took me to my host in Denpasar. It took about half an hour to reach my host place.

I found my host through the Couchsurfing (CS). Her name is Varida.

She is a principal in a private owned elementary school, that is just in front of her rented room. She stayed at Jalan Gatot Subroto VI i No. 7. The fence is so unique with lizards decoration. Varida has a very nice room on the second floor. It’s like a studio apartment equipped with a living room, bed room and a bath room. She offered me the sofa bed in the living room to sleep, quite comfortable.

Nina, a CSer from Germany whom I met in Jakarta and travelled together to Bandung earlier, stayed in Kuta area. We managed to meet up on Saturday morning to go to South part of Bali.

Benny, another member of CS in Bali, willing to spend the long weekend with us. He’s a dentist. I met him in Jakarta as he previously stayed before moving to Bali. He drove a car so that we were so comfortable going around Bali. Me and Nina shared for the gasoline.

There we were, 4 of us went around Bali, killing the time. Benny picked us up late since he woke up late. We started the day around 11.00 AM, then we went to Kuta area first to pick up Nina. We arranged to meet at McDonald’s Kuta, but happened that the parking area was quite difficult to find, since it’s a very touristic place. Benny parked the car in Hard Rock Hotel and went to hotel’s toilet while waiting for Nina. Me and Varida went inside too and took some pictures. After Benny finished going to the toilet, we ended up going around the hotel, it’s swimming pool and for sure taking pictures. Yes, we are so camera-addict.

We met Nina in front of Hard Rock Café, as she misunderstood and thought that it was the hotel. She got so tanned already since the last time I met her in Jakarta. Her backpack was so BIG and weighed around 15 kilos.

We enjoyed the trip to the South of Bali, starting with Garuda Wisnu Kencana park. Benny told us that it’s a 10-year-already project that still going on and no body knows when it will be finished. The Garuda statue and the Wisnu was still placed in the separated location.

The Wisnu’s hands even located much more further down. I don’t know how they will put those parts altogether, but I’m sure that when it’s finished, it will be spectacular. Benny said that later on, the complete statue will be seen from the town of Bali. Imagine how big and tall it will be.

Spending quite a long time in this park in a hot weather, we were so thirsty and starving at the same time. The nearest and most comfortable food stall is……Mc Donald’s. We ate our lunch like we haven’t had lunch for days. Everything felt so delicious. Varida ordered chocolate cake that for Nina felt so nice, as a westerner who usually has dessert after the main course.

As the weather starting to get a bit cloudy and the parasailing operator has been waiting for us, we continued our trip to Tanjung Benoa. It’s because of Marvin (another CSer) who happened to have a channel to the watersport operator, we got a special price for parasailing, only Rp. 50.000 per person. Me and Nina were so curious about it and could hardly wait to try it. It was not raining yet when Nina had her turn to parasail, but when it was my turn, the rain was happily pouring me, hehehe. Anyhow, it was cool and I wanted to try again next time I visit Bali.

We planned to go to Dreamland beach, but we thought that we would miss the sunset in Uluwatu. So we decided to go directly to Uluwatu for the sunset (since Nina went to Nusadua beach already, and I forgot to bring my swimsuit at varida’s place). Along the way to Uluwatu, we red a sign board of Bulgari Hotel. As we are young people with high curiousity, we followed the direction to Bulgari hotel. Heard that it is now the most expensive and exclusive hotel in Bali. We almost gave up after quite a long way of driving, we still couldn’t find the hotel. But there’s a clue after the desperation. We managed to find the entrance to the hotel. It was so remote and hidden from the sorroundings. It looked so private and not everybody could enter it. The security guard didn’t directly open the gate upon our coming. They approached us, and asked the purpose of our visit. Benny smoothly said that we were gonna have our afternoon tea. Hahaha….cool way to sneak in. In the lobby, there were several people that we eventually found out that they were waiting for the place in the bar.

The view from the there was awesome. So quite, calm and relaxing with wide open to the large sea scenery. I took a deep breath and felt like to stay forever here. Hm……it was soooo relaxing and stress healing.

After sitting for quite a while, spoiling our eyes with God’s creature and taking pictures here and there, an attendance coming and asked politely: “Are you the one who reserved places for 7 in our bar?” We confidently said no, there were only 4 of us. Then we realized that people who were there when we came, were waiting for places in the bar. We also felt that it was a smooth way to chase us away and drive out. Then we decided to leave and continue our trip to Uluwatu. What a high class service ;-).

Upon arriving at Uluwatu, Benny warned us of the monkeys in, and it’s not a joke. The monkeys were not wild but just they were so curious of everything the visitors were bringing or whatever hanging and on the visitors. They would grab your camera, sandals, hair rope, food and everything that they felt attractive to them. We were suggested to wear sarong that they rent us including the entrance fee, to cover up our knee.

We walked along the hill and tried to get the best place to witness the beautiful sunset. However, we were always nervous and couldn’t relax to enjoy the sunset view, as the monkeys could approach us anytime, anywhere. Benny took fun of my fear of the monkeys. He several times teased me by tickling my foot and making monkey noise. I screamed uncontrollably that caused the people around also got surprised and thought that as if the monkey has done something to me. Naughty Benny……and he managed to do it again and again, argh…….

Done with the sunset, we headed to town again to have dinner. We ended up having dinner in Warung Italia in Seminyak, of course with Italian menu. The prices were so reasonable and the food was soooo delicious, we were satisfied, and moreover, Varida kindly treated us. Yeeeiii……. Then we decided to move to other place for a dessert or drink.

Benny insisted to go to Kudeta, the happening hangout place in Bali, which located by the beach along Kuta. It was sooo full that we couldn’t manage to get the seat by the beach. We sat inside the bar. With all the atmosphere, I felt so relaxed and enjoyed being here. I could see that most of the visitors were foreigners, and they came here to drink and have fun. Somehow I felt that, some clubs or nightlife places which were fully pakced with Indonesian riches, they just competing to be snob each other and sometime they forgot of having fun. But here, I enjoyed it. After Kudeta, we finished Saturday and went home to take a rest and plan tomorrow’s trip.

Sunday also started a bit late, since Benny (again) woke up late. While waiting for Benny, we (me, Varida and Nina) had a brunch in a food stall named Tunjung …..Blablabla…(shoot, I forgot). It’s located nearby Varida’s place, provided Balinese mixed rice and thank God, all meat made of chicken. It tasted so good and the price surprisingly cheap. I ate the rice with Ayam bumbu mata, Sate Lilit (Balinese special) and the vegetables. I felt finely full. All cost only Rp. 7.000. Believe it??

Finally Benny came and we off to Ubud area. Yugi (a college friend) texted me, as he and his friends from Lombok were heading to Bali, we planned to meet somewhere in town. Henry (ex CSer of Jakarta who now staying in Bali) also called me and planned to meet sometime in the evening. Hope I had enough time and managed to meet them along the trip.

Our first destination is Goa Gajah, a small cave which surrounded by very old stones decorations and two sacred ponds. Took some pictures and chill out in the shaded area.

We didn’t spend quite a long time here and continued to next destination, the Tirta Empul. Tirta = water, Empul = something comes out from underground. It’s a spring where the water is used by the religious Hindu people to clean up before praying and believed to bring good luck and long lasting young. Tirta Empul used to have a connecting entrance to the Tampaksiring Palace, where our first President of Soekarno used to stay when he visited Bali. However, after the bomb incident by the terrorist in Bali, the entrance was blocked. We could only see from a distance.

Then we had lunch (another Balinese taste) before helping Nina finding a hostel in Ubud for her stay for the next 2 days. After finding a hostel, we switched to a nice restaurant that Benny highly recommended. It’s named Indus, located in Ubud. It has a great view that inspired us to have a tracking along the high land from one end to another while enjoying the breathtaking scenery around.

Enjoying the comfortable Indus, made us spend quite a long time here and suddenly it was my time to go to depart to Jakarta. Remembering that I still needed to buy things in Denpasar area, made me a bit nervous that I would miss my flight back. We dropped Nina in center of Ubud, as she wanted to look around, and had a bit improper farewell since we were inside Benny’s car.

As Benny and Varida suggested, I didn’t go to Sukowati market to buy things. Sukowati is a traditional market where you can find things in good price (if you are good in bargaining and negotiating). As I’m not good enough in both, and I was running out of time, they suggested me to go to Erlangga 2 store. It’s like a super market that sells Balinese gifts, foods, clothes, sarong, etc. Pretty much you can find here, with reasonable fixed price. I didn’t have to bargain to kill :P. I just bought some Bali beach sarongs, Balinese Kacang Disco and Balinese coffee (just for the sake of fulfilling my curiosity of coffee).

It was a bit in a rush, from Erlangga 2 to the airport. I couldn’t manage to meet up with Yugi who was hanging out in town in Centro with his friends. While Henry managed to meet me up in the airport. I changed my t-shirt inside Benny’s car since it was wet, after being in a hurry catching up my flight. It turned out, my t-shirt was really looked alike what Benny’s wearing. Taraaaa… ;D

I was scheduled to depart on 11.00 PM, Bali time, and I arrived in the airport at 9.45 PM. Pretty close. I checked in first, paid the airport tax and went down again to meet and greet Henry who spared the time to meet me. We sat in Solaria, the closest food place from the departure entrance. Henry had his dinner while me, Benny and Varida just ordered drinks. We had a chit chat inside Solaria, laughing, talking about CS things, how me and Henry met that turned out we were neighbors, as well as Benny and Varida who staying close to each other, even they go to the same Church but never met. The power of CS communities…..

My time to go, it was 10.30 PM. Good bye all my friends…… Hope we can meet again in Bali, Jakarta or other part of the world…… Gonna miss our moments. Eventhough it’s just a short time, but it’s so memorable. Thanks for everything, I had so much fun with you guys……

Remembering.........

Suddenly, I remember about Bima’s mother.
I used to send her a message or call her when she just pop up in my mind, or when her son does. But now, I can’t do anything because I lost her number and her address. I have a feeling that when I miss somebody or remember somebody just all of a sudden, that means that person also just remember me, or simply miss me.

I was totally down when I lost her son. It was just a week before that, I talked to him for the last time, then she called me telling the news. And the day before, I broke up with my boyfriend. I was totally down receiving unpleasant situation two days in a row.

Now I don’t know how to contact her. She and her husband live far away from Jakarta, will take more than 2 hours to reach her house out of town. I just hope that she will contact me very soon because I miss her, I miss his son too.
I do care about his family, I don’t want something bad happens to his family.

One evening, when I was staring at the moon, I wondered whether he was staring at the same moon that I was staring? I miss his soul. I pray that u are rest in peace there. Dear God

Dear God

Dear God,

Please forgive me for being brave enough to write a letter to You.

My loneliness and confusion make me longing for you, want to get closer to You and be friends with You.

I’m not into crying and being melancholic when I talk to You, neither to my friends and families. I prefer to talk in a normal tone, from the heart, in a normal conversation situation. So please forgive once again for not being able to be melancholic when I ask something to You.

I am so grateful for everything You give me, bless me. Eventhough as a human I always want more and more and more than what You have been giving me. This is also my reason to apology.

What I ‘m afraid of right now is that You will take back everything You have been giving me. My families, friends, relatives, my brain(although I’m not smart enough but I m happy with how You show me how to use it), my heart (for being able to be nice and open to various people characteristics). Please keep every precious thing in my life, God, and let me enjoy, use and take care of them.

However, I’m feeling not enough now. Maybe I’m a bit greedy, but I am not satisfied with what I am now. I want and need to do and be more than what I’m doing and being now. Somehow I feel that You are talking to me and asking do I want more?
And somehow I believe that You will give me more, because I believe You love me. I just need to be patient and keep praying, and doing and struggling with this.

The way I’m thinking now is that you are giving me the opportunity to feel how people, who are not as lucky as me, running their lives. How they struggle and solve problems, how they act and response to conditions, etc.

Honestly, I still don’t know what should I do now. Being enough and trying to settle down, or still need to dream and achieve something that honestly I’m still not sure what it is.

Some people say I’m so lucky and blessed with what I am now. But I’m not yet feeling the same way. See, I’m so greedy and feeling not enough. Please forgive me. I should have been so grateful from a very previous time.

Oh, Dear God…. Please help me. Why is everything so confusing and looks like puzzles, mysteries, hidden meanings?

I know and do believe that You always work in mysterious ways.

Perhaps, I’m just not smart enough to realize it.

Sepi........................

Sepi…..
Satu kata itu kynya cocok bgt utk gw di lebaran kali ini.
Ibu dan ade gw yg kecil udah mudik bareng sejak hari Jum’at sebelum lebaran. Ade gw yg satu lagi udah berangkat juga bareng tante gw pas malem takbiran. Bokap gw tentunya (kaya tahun2 sebelumnya) Siaga 1. Maklum abdi negara, pas hari2 besar malah ga bisa kumpul bareng keluarga. Biasanya abis lebaran baru bisa ambil cuti, untuk jemput keluarga yg udah mudik duluan.

Gw?
Ramadhan hari ke-tiga gw seperti mendapat rejeki bulan puasa. Kemaren2 gw Cuma denger bahwa rejeki bulan puasa memang tak terduga, tp blm pernah ngalamin sendiri. Tapi tahun ini, gw merasakannya sendiri. Gw udah 2 bln nganggur. Keputusan resign dari kerjaan sebelumnya di mana gaji lumayan, ternyata menimbulkan opini macem2, dari tmn n keluarga. Mau puasa, apalagi lebaran, company jarang merekrut orang. Biasanya abis lebaran baru rame lagi bursa tenaga kerja. Tapi saat itu gw udah ga bisa mikir jernih lg, setelah kejadian2 yang gw udah ga bisa terima, gw nekat resign. Walopun setelah keluar gw masih ditelponin untuk balik lagi, tp gw ga akan menjilat lagi ludah yg udah keluar.

Ramadhan hari ketiga, pagi2 gw iseng apply. Setengah jam selanjutnya ada panggilan. Percaya ga percaya sih, krn waktu itu gw masih asik chating ama tmn2 yg lg online. Gw dipanggil interview 4 jam kemudian. What??? Ternyata company itu sedang desperate cari orang utk gantiin salah satu karyawannya yg mau cuti melahirkan. So, after that, let see..... Kalo kedua belah pihak (gw and company) cocok, akan ada pembicaraan lagi. Kalo ada salah satu pihak yg ga cocok (either me or the company) ya, that’s it. Thanks and good bye. Tapi waktu mereka tanya, what’s my plan for the next 4 months, gw terus terang lah bahwa gw ada harapan utk kerja di company ini (ya iya lah, siapa jg yg ga mau gawe di giant company ky gitu), baik di departemen ini ato di departemen lain. Tapi ya itu td, 4 bulan rasanya cukup untuk merenung, meresapi, menimbang2 dan berpikir2 utk langkah selanjutnya.

Singkat cerita, gw diterima dan tanggal 8 September/ 8 Ramadhan mulai kerja (pretty fast process) for such a big company. Alhamdulillah….. walopun dengan gaji yg biasa2 aja, namanya juga staff biasa. Sebenernya cukup sih, asal gw bisa menahan diri ga usah kost, jangan sering2 hang out, tahan diri dari godaan sana sini. Tapi karena gw pernah merasakan digaji jauh lebih dari itu, ya berasa perlu waktu aja utk merasa tenang dan cukup dengan sejumlah itu. Dear God, jauhkanlah gw dari kufur nikmat…….. I thank You for everything you give and bless me with. Terlebih working environment-nya enak and company culturenya oke.

Sebagai new employee gw pastinya nurut ama atasan gw, yang kebetulan, kampungnya cuma di Bogor. Dan ternyata dia pula lah yang mengusulkan ga usah ada cuti bersama, dan sialnya disetujui oleh sang direktur HRD. She doesn’t seem enjoying the moment of togetherness with families. Sampe H-1 gw dibuatnya masih masuk kerja dan ketika kerjaan gw udah kelar pun, dibuatnya nunggu sampe jam 2an, baru bisa pulang menyambut malam takbiran. Emang sih kerjaan bakal banyak setelah lebaran nanti, krn akan ada 2 regional trening yg bakal kita handle. Tapi kalo ga kita sendiri yg control, work is really like never
ending…..

So….here I am…..

Libur cuma rabu-kamis pas tanggal merah. Jum’at udah masuk lg, di mana orang2 masih pada maen petasan, salam2an, ketemu sodara2 di kampong masing2.

Agak miris jg pas malem takbiran, gw bnr2 sendiri…ri…ri…ri….
Setelah merenung ttg kesalahan2 gw, gw putuskan ga mau terlalu larut dlm kemelow-an. ….
Yah, sleeping is the best thing to do…….

Kebetulan gw lg ga sholat, jd besok paginya, pas orang2 berangkat sholat Ied, gw sibuk di dapur, manasin opor yang nyokap pesen ke orang, beres2 and menata2 kue di meja.

Sekarang H+ 1, gw jg masih sendiri. Tmn2 pastinya pada sibuk dengan urusan keluarga masing2. Nyokap pastinya lg kumpul keluarga besar, krn keluarga nyokap ada tradisi kumpul keluarga besar pas hari ke-2. Bokap masuk kerja seperti biasa, mengabdi kepada negara.

Gw yg ga punya tmn di sekitar rumah, bingung sendiri mau ngapain. So, after (lagi-lagi) manasin opor dan bersih2 rumah, and after bokap berangkat, gw mengurung diri lagi di rumah. Kadang ngurung di kamar kalo di AXN or Starworld lg ada acara bgs. SMS sana sini, telpon sana sini, but everybody seems busy with various Eid program. Hm….jadi inget si Henry, tetangga n tmn paling deket secara geografis. Pernah pas gw jg lg sendirian (lupa pas moment apa ya), Dia mau dateng bela2in bawa martabak n nemenin ngobrol ampe hampir subuh. Untung ga digrebek saat itu, hehehe.....

Inget setahun lalu, dimana keluarga jg pada mudik dan gw dapet liburnya udah mepet dengan hari H, tiket udah impossible to get. Tapi ada si Mac, tmn Hospitality Club dari London yg lg traveling ke Indonesia. Dia ngajakin ke Kebun Raya hari kedua. Agak aneh bwt gw, tp secara saat itu gw gada kerjaan ya udah deh.....cabut ke KRB. Kaya orang pacaran ajah......:P. Besokannya dia ngajak ke Bandung, lets go....... We had fun but I know the limit lah…..

Tapi kali ini……. Really nothing to do. Halal bi halal terdekat baru hari minggu, di rumah Indah di Bogor. Besok jumat gw kudu kerja dulu L( . Semoga Cuma setengah hari….huh…kynya sih day dreaming nih….

Inget temen2 yg lg di luar…..

Budi di JB, yg baru sebulan merintis karir jd dokter hewan di Malaysia,
Amel di Chiang Mai, yg lg kuliah master,
Fiqrie di Roma, yg ktnya sekarang masih Eurotrip sebelum pulang ke Indo,
Rian di Belanda, yg seharusnya udah pulang brg Mba Mul,
Rahman di SG,

Apa mereka jg kesepian ky gw ya?

Kalo Budi sih kynya iya.....hehehe.....krn kalo lg OL pasti ketemunya dia yg ngadu seharian blm makan lah, blm keluar rumah lah, etc....

Acara2 TV kok ya membosankan......
Nyokap kapan pulang....
Si mba juga..... baju kotor gw udah lumayan menumpuk....huh.....
Ade2 gw, yg walopun kalo ketemu cuman berantem2an, tp kalo gada berasa jg sepinya.

Dita pernah ngajak ke gading, cari makan, krn kebanyakan pada tutup pas lebaran. Rudi jg kebetulan ga mudik ke Brastagi. Let’s go bow......

Tapi besok akyu kerja dulu ya.......sabtu aja jalannya.......
Eh, sabtu ada acara CS, ada bule yg pengen potret seputar jakarta sepanjang jalur busway dari Kota-Blok M......

Jumat malem deh,,,,,,,,,

APN-GCR

I received an email from a friend, i followed the link and found out a vacancy to work in Kobe, Japan. It was such a challenging job because i will have to deal with researchers, policy makers and governmental agencies in Asia Pacific.

So i decided to try and send my CV through email, and the response as follows:

"Dear Ms. Maylina,

"Thank you very much for your interest in the APN and the position of theProgramme Fellow for scientific affairs. Please find attached some moreinformation on the position, which I hope is useful for you.If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me."

Best regards,
Yukihiro IMANARI, Mr.
Executive Manager
APN Secretariat
1-5-1 Wakinohama Kaigan Dori
Chuo-ku, Kobe
651-0073 JAPAN
Tel.: +81-78-230-8017
Fax: +81-78-230-8018

Then i response by telling him thank you for the response and i await for the interview. And, two weeks later another email coming from the same address:

"Dear Ms. Maylina,"

"Thank you very much once again for your interest in the position of APN Programme Fellow for Scientific Affairs. I am pleased to inform you that after careful consideration you have been short-listed for a telephone interview."

"Could you please let me know, by email, your availability for an interview for about 15 minutes on Thursday, 06 March 2008, at 14:00h, Japanese Standard Time (Please remember that the time in Japan is two hours ahead of Western Indonesia Time)?"

"If this time should not be convenient to you I could offer 13:00h Japanese Standard Time on Friday, 07 March 2008. Please advise us your availability as soon as possible."

"Based on the agreed time we will give you a phone call for the interview. Our Scientific Officer, Dr. Linda Stevenson, will lead the interview, but some of the APN Secretariat staff, including myself, will listen to the conversation via a speaker phone. Please also confirm the number we should dial: +62812-878-1912 or +6221-848-4561?Looking forward to hearing from you as soon as possible."

I was excited and quickly answered the email that i would be available on Friday, March 7, 13.00 (Japan Time), would mean 11.00 Western Indonesia Time. I prepared all the things, open the APN website (www.apn-gcr.org) to find out more about the institution.

I was more than ready to receive the phone interview. And i think, it run smoothly. We enjoyed the time of the interview........I do hope and pray for it. The interviewer promised to announce the result on Tuesday (March 11).

Tuesday morning, i open my email with all questions inside my head, and this is what i received:

"Dear Ms. Maylina,"

" I regret to inform you that, after a great deal of due care and consideration, you have not been selected for the position of APN ProgrammeFellow for Scientific Affairs."

"We realize that this news must be of great disappointment to you, but please note that we were extremely impressed with your credentials. Moreover, we will keep your application on record should a suitable position with the APN become available. We would also encourage you to have a look at other global change programmes' websites, as other opportunities may exist."

"In the meantime, we would like to thank you again for your interest in and application to the APN. We also wish you the very best of success with your
future endeavours."

With best regards,
Yukihiro IMANARI, Mr.
Executive Manager
APN Secretariat
1-5-1 Wakinohama Kaigan Dori
Chuo-ku, Kobe
651-0073 JAPAN
Tel.: +81-78-230-8017
Fax: +81-78-230-8018


Tadaaaaa.........

In one hand, i am dissappointed because i want this job so much to escape from this current job, and i think i impressed the interviewer as well at that time. I was so curious to know why they don't take me. And to fulfill my curiousity, i reply the rejection email:

"Dear Mr. Imanari,"

"Thank you for the consideration."

"It is a dissapointment for me, indeed. But i am sure the decision made by very careful consideration of APN. For my information and improvement in the future, i would really appreciate if you could tell me the reason that i failed in this selection."

"Hope APN get the best candidates for the Programme Fellow for the year ahead."

"I also highly appreciate for keeping my application on record. "

"Again, thank you for the opportunity and success for APN."

Best Regards,

Maylina

I'm not sure whether it's a common thing in Japan that interviewee is asking for the reasons why he/ she is rejected. But, my curiousity makes me forget about it and bravely send the email.

Mr. Imanari doesn't make me to wait for hours, i receive the answer just after doing some administrative tasks in my office.

"Dear Maylina,"

"Many thanks for your email. As you can imagine I was one of the secretariat staff who was sitting in the phone interview, while Linda was leading it asshe is the supervisor the new Programme Fellow would have to work under."

"We all thought that your credentials are really impressive. So in our view you haven't failed at all, but simply applied for a job which we thought would not make you happy with: while all of us had the feeling that you would be a great person in communicating with our members and applicants,researchers, government officials, etc. the job we was offering is very muchdesk work, especially managing and filing (by using ACCESS, for instance)the data of applicants and their proposals."

"Would we be offering a position related to public relations, membership development and communications you would be one of the most suitable candidates we could think of. "

"These are my personal view and I am writing these lines without having askedmy colleagues for their opinions. But I am more than sure that they arebasically feeling the same way. I thank you again for your interest in and application to the APN. "

"As said before, we would like to keep your CV on record for any vacancy we may beable to offer at our office in the future."

All the best,
Yuki Imanari
APN Secretariat

He seemed to be very friendly by answering me like that, and i feel we're friends already. I really appreciate he would wrote to me like that, so i replied:

"Hi Mr. Imanari,"

"Thanks a million for the response. I really appreciate it. "

"You are adding the list of people telling me that i am very much into communicating. Now, i am very sure that it is my talent. I am not sure how many times i have said thanks to you but i want to say it again, thank you."

"Ok, we can keep in touch."

Cheers,

Maylina


Oh my GOD....Thanks for everything.....
In my dissappointment, i find a blessing........

Sebenarnya

Iseng- iseng apply lewat jobstreet, pas gw cek status ternyata ada company yang udah ngeliat CV gw selama 4 kali, dan di status tertulis "in process".

Besoknya, gw nerima telpon untuk panggilan psikotes and TOEIC sambil disuruh bawa CV lagi, ijazah, transkrip, sertifikat yg relevan, reference letter, dll.

Kantornya di Plaza Sentral, Sudirman. Kinda easy to find, soalnya kalo mau ke Plangi pasti lewat situ.

Selesai tes TOEIC gw kira mau langsung interview, ternyata hrs nunggu dipanggil dulu bbrp hari kemudian. Yah, gw kira langsung, jd ga ribet ijin dari kantor or bilang sakit :P.

Beberapa hari kemudian dipanggil interview. Kali ini ama seorang team leader marketing dr divisi commerce. Alhamdulillah quite satisfying lah, kayanya semua pertanyaan gw jawab dgn baik, dan (bukannya GR) si interviewer keliatan seneng ama gw. ;)

Singkat kata, lolos lagi gw ke tahap selanjutnya, which is presentasi.

Suatu sore jam 3an ditelpon, besok paginya suruh presentasi. Untung ga mati lampu kantor gw, and untung lg gada kerjaan. Ngebut deh gw bikin power point.

Besoknya presentasi di depan sang team leader itu dan seorang manager marketingnya. Hm....i need some improvement krn dibilang terlalu cepat menyampaikan. Tp afterall, mereka puas ama presentasi gw....Alhamdulillah...
After presentasi, langsung nego gaji......(LAH......jd diterima nih gw???)

Under expectation sih nominalnya, dan gw jg masih kerja di sini kok yg bisa bayar bigger.

In the end, i said NO.........

Interviewer gw bilang gpp, dan mulai bilang pengakuannya:
"I'm telling u as a friend". SEBENERNYA dia manggil gw cuma karena impressed ama CV gw, dan pengen liat gw orangnya ky gimana, ternyata memang satisfying.....HALAH.....

Trus kita malah ngobrol lah ditelpon.....Ngegosip deh....:P

Alhamdulillah ada yg impressed ama CV gw, walaupun gw tolak tawaran kerjanya.....huhuhu

Resolutions???

Naaa.....................................

I don't like this part.


Many people ask about my resolutions in this new year.

Well, maybe i have in my mind what i want to do and achieve, but i would rather keep it for my self than share it.


Actually i never targetting things to be done or achieved. I will just let everything goes and flows and i receive and run what GOD gives me.

I think it will be more interesting to see and face my life without planning it.

I try to be open minded and do whatever i want to do which comes to my mind anytime.


Maybe, i'm just afraid that my plans wouldn't be done, but not really. I'm just not into too targetting person.


However, this year i hope these several wishes can come true:

1. Recover from my FAM, which already been disturbing my mind for years, eventhough it is not a life threatening disease. For this, i am now having a treatment with sort of alternative way, instead of being surgeried. I have been surgeried twice for this disease, and i don't want to spend my life with other surgery. Now, i go to Kelapa Gading area every saturday morning to visit one the alternative treatment guy. I was introduced by my boss. It's quiet strange, the way he does the treatment is by hitting a cigarrette-shaped paper which is put between our feet fingers. And it feels so damn painfull.......I had 3 lumps before, and after 10 times treatment now only 1 left, Alhamdulillah
GOD......i really need your help to recover.

2. Study in Europe. I applied a scholarship that programmed in 2 chosen universities. I chose University of York, in UK for the Political Science and Institute of International Studies in Barcelona, Spain for Public Policy. It is just my first time applying for master scholarship. I do hope and pray to study and travel in Europe.

3. Get closer to Allah, my GOD. I've been recently feeling far from God, maybe because of the metropolitan environment that i am facing right now. I want and need to get closer, in order to be more calm and spiritfull. I need to pray more often, read the Qur'an frequently and do some good and charity to less fortunate people.

4. Closer to my families. I am sort of a rebel. I hardly can walk together with my parents and siblings. I don't feel love among us. I can't feel the sense of family at home. That's why i decided to rent a room in downtown. It's better for me to miss home while i'm away, than debating with parents and quarelling with my bro and sis while i'm at home, right?? For this, i will try to keep positive thinking about my family. They love me, but, maybe just the way they show it that makes me unable to feel it.

5. Be more organized person. I put things everywhere closest to me, then i forget to put them in the place where they should be. I oftenly forget the appoinments i've made, then make others that the timed conflict with. I oftenly postphone some works because of my laziness, untill i feel too many things to do then i finish them improperly because of the hurry. This is quiet hard, because i need somebody else to remind or even yell at me to make things done on time and correctly and not keep on postphoning things. Friends are not always available, eventhough maybe i have a million, and at the moment i am enjoying my single status. So for this, i need quiet a longer time to change.

6. More on exercise and work out. I enjoy of waking up very late on Sunday (which my Mom always screams if i do this at home). I'm not staying in a place where gym is just around the corner. Fitness center is quiet expensive to be a member of it. My family has a domestic helper at home, that it is unecessarily for me to do things unless she is not around. For this, maybe i need to call friends who is also programming to do more exercise. We can go to Senayan together to jogging or swimming or playing volley ball (my favorite that been a long time i don't play).

I still got a lot more wishes and plans actually, that's why i can't write more. I save it in my original software, my brain. I keep on thinking and imagining whatever i want to do and to be. I want to have a life without limits and boundaries (in a good way), i want to express my freedom, i want to be everything i can be best................

Beberapa Persamaan Itu

* Tidak suka binatang/bersentuhan dgn binatang, walaupun tetap tidak mau dan tidak setuju mereka disiksa dan diperlakukan tidak baik.
*Praktikal, tidak mau terlalu terganggu dgn aturan yg complicated yg malah akan membuat kurang fleksibel
*Punya prinsip bahwa bekerja dgn orang lain hrs memiliki rasa aman, nyaman dan trust
*Bergaul di lingkungan yg somehow memposisikan kita adalah the only one (The only woman, the youngest, dll)
*Berusaha baik sama semua orang, walaupun kadang sadar bahwa kebaikan kita disalahgunakan orang yg kurang ajar
*Berani ngomong, ceplas ceplos, kadang ngejeplak utk hal2 yg ga terlalu dikuasai (sebenernya, hehehe), tapi pede aja lagee....;)

Akan ditambahkan lagi kalo gw pas nemu kenyataan2 lagi yg membuat gw merasa, jln hidup gw mungkin akan sama dgn beliau (semoga sih....hehehehe)

Andrea Hirata

Gw terbius membaca novelnya Andrea Hirata. Dia memang penulis yg out of the blue. Blm pernah nulis apa2 sebelumnya, tau2 bikin tetralogy yg bagus bgt. Completely named: Tetralogi Laskar Pelangi. Tp sebenernya Laskar Pelangi itu judul buku pertamanya. Buku kedua: Sang Pemimpi, and Edensor buku ketiganya.


Denger2 sih, dia ga niat utk menerbitkan tulisannya itu, krn niat awalnya cerita itu didedikasikan utk guru SD nya. Then, accidently temennya ga sengaja baca naskah itu dan merasa tulisan dia buagus bgt utk dipublikasi.


Sejalan dengan buku The Secret yg gw baca sebelumnya (hm, sblmnya blm tamat sih bacanya, abis lama2 boring, mengambil quote2 dari orang2 terpelajar gitu). Inti ajarannya kira2: jangan pernah berhenti untuk bermimpi, berpikirlah positif bahwa kita bisa meraih mimpi itu. Dan jangan pernah berhenti utk mencari dan memanfaatkan kesempatan yg dateng utk meraih mimpi itu. Kita ga akan pernah tau jalan yg kita tempuh untuk menuju mimpi itu. Tak ada kejadian sekecil pun yg terjadi karena kebetulan. Tuhan mendengar mimpi kita. Alam memiliki kekuatan untuk menarik segala hal yg kita pikirkan.


Kayany, kalo diinget2 hal2 yg terjadi sama gw sekarang adalah hal2 yg jg sbelumnya gw udah pernah pikirkan, baik dlm waktu dekat atau udah dari kapan2 tau.

Hal2 simple yg gw pernah pikirkan waktu kecil seperti:



Gw pengen punya tmn namanya Rena ( i donno why i had this kind of wish), pas kuliah gw punya 3 tmn namanya Rena.

Gw pengen bisa English aktif, yah secara ga sengaja pas kuliah gw ikutan suatu organisasi yg gada matinya: iaasworld.org

Gw pengen ngerasain kerja di luar negeri, Alhamdulillah udah tercapai, dan ga tanggung2, kerja di luar negeri hampir setahun dgn fasilitas yg wokeee. Ga terbayang bakal sebagus itu sih priviledge yg gw dapet. Alhamdulillah banget.

Gw pengen punya temen buanyaaaakkkk, dr berbagai kalangan. Sekarang gw bisa berakrab2 mulai dari tukang ojek, tukang warnet sampe para pejabat di sana.

dan lain sebagainya yg kayanya buanyaaakkk bgt lamunan2 jaman dulu menjadi kenyataan.

Jadi, gw ga mau berhenti melamun dan mikirin hal2 yg gw mau.

Gw yakin, Allah bisa mendengar dan mengetahui apa yg gw mau dan butuhkan dan akan membuat alam mempersatukan segala kekuatannya utk mewujudkan impian2 dan lamunan2 itu.

Thanx Andrea Hirata, seorang penulis Indonesia yg bisa menggugah gw.

Buku2 lain yg sejenis, pasti karangan orang luar, termasuk The Secret dan Life Without Limit yg gw baca sebelumnya.

Having a good memory of a good friend

Gw tau seharusnya posting kali ini supposed to be lanjutan cerita jalan2 gw bareng Mac.
Hm, tapi biarlah jalan2 itu jadi kenangan gw ama dia aja. Banyak bgt kejadian2 lucu yg kita alami bersama, dan tentu saja Mac, kamu bukanlah nasi yang sudah menjadi bubur ;).....hahaha
Mari buat buburnya jadi enak.

Setelah Mac pergi ke Pangandaran dan lanjut perjalanannya ke Jokja, Surabaya, Madura, Bali, back to Surabaya lagi trus Semarang, akhirnya kita ketemu lg di Jkt. Dia mau lanjut travelnya ke Medan, flightnya dari Jakarta, jd mampir bentar n kita ketemuan.

Lucu banget smsnya ke gw: "Hi, i have a flight to Med from Jkt on thursday. If u want to see rasta hair, u should come to hoka hoka after work on wednesday."
What he means by hoka hoka adalah Hokben, di mall ambasador. Waktu msh di jkt, kita sempet makan di situ. Dia suka duduk di dkt jendela, krn viewnya ada bbrp skyscrapers di Sudirman. Dulu sih dia sempet menyalahkan makanan di hokben krn abis itu dia kena diare. Hm...aneh, dia blg suka makanan jepang and get used to it, masa' sih bikin diare. Yang ada skrg dia ngajak makan disitu lagi.
Ow, he lied to me that his hair is still the same, not rasta style. Bilang aja lo emang pengen ketemu gw kan?? hehehehe....Ga papa kok, gw jg seneng banget ketemu dia ;).

Sambil makan, dia cerita buanyaaaakkk bgt pengalamannya selama travel di pulau Jawa and Bali.
Intinya, he had fun tp sedih at the same time, krn udah liat desa dan penduduk yg miskiiiiin bgt, and he got too involved (as he sent me a message about that as well).

Abis makan kita nonton. Setelah nonton, on the way home, tibalah saat pembicaraan itu. Yah, dia ngungkit lagi ttg hubungan kita. Di mana gw udah ga tertarik utk ngebahasnya. Gw cuma bilang " I don't know".
(When i say "I don't know" it really means I DON'T KNOW).

Yeah, gw emang suka jg ama dia, somehow gw ngerasa click. Gw jg udah jujur kok bilang bahwa i emotionally feel close to him. Saat itu dia cuma senyum (sial, gw rasa dia senyum puas gitu, setelah dulu pas dia blg suka gw cuekin). And honestly, setelah gw putus, cuma dia yg sempet ngisi kekosongan di hati gw. (ceilehhh...jd melo gini. Tp jujur aja sih, gw susah utk suka ama cowo2 yg gw kenal di Jkt ini). Tapi apa daya.......Dia seorang world traveller, abis ini dia mau ke India utk bbrp bulan juga, abis itu dia blm tau mau kerja apa lagi di London sana. dan dia blm bisa mutusin kapan akan hidup settle, ga mengembara terus2an gitu. (see, conversation kita udah cukup mendalam dan jauh ke depan sana).

Jadi, gw jg ga berani to enter into a relationship. So... I really don't know what to do............

Pas udah sampe medan, dia sms yg isinya flirty : "Hi, aku datang Medan sudah. why i suddenly merasa sdkt kesepian? and the bed in the room is too big..."

Gw tantangin aja, n nanya siapa yg dia harap lg terbaring di sampingnya....gyahahahaha

And dia bilang "well, it could have been a nice person who said that she feels emotionally close to me, but it isn't going to be anyone."

Hahaha......

As i told it to mba Mulia, dia bilang utk jadikan teman sehati. kalo suatu saat ketemu lg and masih ada feeling, bisa diterusin, kalo ga ya jd sahabat jauh aja. As it happenned to her with 3 guys.....hahaha....ga nyangka, playgirl juga ya mba ;)

Anyhow, we agree to have a good memory of a good friend.

Really nice to know you......