Not His Story: Summer break with Ready-Made-Friends

 “God made us cousins, because he knew our moms couldn’t handle us as sisters (and brothers).”

Cousins from my father's side: FULL TEAM

Exactly!

As the only one kid in my family, I don't really know how to grow up with someone else except with my parents. But, since I have a lot of cousins from both side, I can get another experience and fun with people other than my mom & dad. I have 8 cousins from my father's side, and 13 from my mom's. From 22 cousins that I have, I'm very close to Dyah, my cousin from father's side (she's my dad's older brother's second daughter). She was born in 1994 and we live in the same neighborhood since we were very young. We went to same school (she's my junior) for 12 years and long time ago, when my maid back to her hometown, I always go to her home, play together, until my mom pick me up. No wonder, we're close until today (and forever, d'oh!). She's my partner in crime for gossiping, watching movie, and spending our saturday night with sleep over on our grandparent's home & run during Car Free Day on Sunday morning.

Early June, my other cousins (still from my father's side), Marsha, came back to Jakarta from Shanghai to do some university test. I'm not really close but since we have social media (twitter, instagram, and path) we know how each other life everyday and make us closer. Last tuesday, we went to Kota Tua and Monas just because she and her brother haven't been there (fun fact: They had lived in Jakarta before!). 

My father's family LOVES swimming, we grow up to love this kind of sport. So, after a suggestion from my aunt, I arranged a cousin day out yesterday, exactly a day before Ramadhan. It was superb fun!! We began our day out by swimming in Cilandak Sport Center, South Jakarta. Six of us (Me, Dyah, Marsha, Dio (marsha's brother), Priska (my other cousins), and Nisya (Priska's sister)) swam for about 2 hours. Not only swimming in the pool, we also do crazy thing like underwater selfie (yes, WE ALL LOVE SELFIE, except the only guy :p), hunchback each other in the pool and talk like crazy. I haven't got this experience before, so I'm very happy that we did it all. After swimming, we had lunch in Billie Chick, Cilandak Town Square, South Jakarta (less than 3 min walk from the sport center) with our aunt (Marsha&Dio's mom) and our uncle (Priska&Nisya's father). Then, my aunt took a picture of us to make our other cousins jealous, LOL. 

After lunch, we drove to Grand Indonesia to experience Transformers: Age of Extinction in 4DX3D. Unfortunately, the tickets already SOLD OUT and will be available on next Tuesday (CRAZY!). So, we decided to watch it on 3D. After such a long time waiting, we got 6 tickets for Transformers on 17.20 WIB, yayness!. While waiting until 17.20, we tried the hippest place for nitro gelato in Grand Indonesia named RON'S LABORATORY. It located on 5th floor (just use the escalator from 8th floor) West Mall of Grand Indonesia. We ordered 3 kind of gelato: Red Velvet (with double injection of cheese), Chocolate Windproof (gelato with Tolak Angin & an injection of chocolate), and Bubble Gum (with PUYO puding & injection of strawberry jam). 

Each cup cost us around 60.000IDR (except the Bubble gum, it's 50.000IDR) and each injection cost us 8000IDR (I think you can ask for no injection, especially the red velvet because it already has cheese injection). We spent, totally almost 200.000IDR. Quite expensive but it made using nitrogen, the liquid one. The place also cozy and you can see the creation of the gelato while waiting. The most important thing, I spent my quality time with my family..PRICELESS!

                                

                                

Don't forget to take selfie! Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our monopod :(

After movie, we went to our grandparent's house and ate Sate Sambas for late dinner. 

I love yesterday because I spent my time with people that God creates as my other friend...friend by blood. I'm looking for another chance to go somewhere with my cousin (from both side!). Next plan is going to Yogyakarta with Marsha and Priska on July...so excited!!

Anyway, Happy Ramadhan! See ya on the next post :)

Not His Story: The Old City

I've been to this place for few times, but I think yesterday was my first in 2014. The change of this place wasn't much since my last visit on 2013. I personally love this place, the vintage aura always be the reason for me to keep coming back. And don't forget, the culinary! Kerak Telor is the other reason for me to visit this beautiful place, LOL.

Kota Tua Jakarta, Tuesday June 24 2014

So, It's such an easy peasy to visit this beautiful place. You can reach it using your own vehicle or the easiest (and for me, the most fun thing) using public transportation such as Trans Jakarta or KA Commuter JABODETABEK. By Trans Jakarta, you need to stop on KOTA bus stop (Corridor 1). And if you use the Commuter, you have to stop on JAKARTA KOTA station. Then, you can walk on the underground way to Museum Fatahillah (the underground way will bring you to the Bank Mandiri Museum, and then you can walk to north and found Kota Tua).

Commuter Line Route

Trans Jakarta Corridors

I recommend you to visit Kota Tua area first before visiting my favorite museum, Bank Indonesia Museum. It located next to Kota Tua and it's a modern museum. No entering fee, it's all free, and you'll get a ticket (it's free, you'll get the ticket..sounds great huh?! especially if you love scrapbook-ing). Anyway, don't forget to keep your bag to the front desk, you're allowed to bring camera, phone, and your wallet. In the museum, you can see the history of banking in Indonesia since the first time European touch the land. 

In Kota Tua area, you may enjoy the view or visiting some museums (Fatahillah and Puppet Museum). If you have your student card, don't forget to show it when you buy the ticket because you can get a cheaper price! (Student for 2000IDR  and College Student for 3000IDR instead of 5000IDR each)

Fatahillah museum used to be the colonial government building. It located on near the harbor to facilitate the people from Netherland to visit Jakarta (Batavia at that time) and monitoring the people. The point behind the making of the Kota Tua area by the Netherlander to block Batavia from their enemy, since Batavia was very close to the sea. Then, the Puppet Museum was the church. If you visit this place, you will found a small garden with the written wall. It used to be the cemetery but all moved from that place and now, that's what we called Puppet Museum.

One thing that i found different yesterday was Fatahillah Museum, the icon of Kota Tua. Last year, after bought the ticket, we can go everywhere inside the museum with our own shoes. But now, you need to change your shoes with the hotel sandal. And you can't go anywhere you want, there's a specific way to enjoy this place. Too bad, i think the museum isn't completed yet with the collection. I found lot of room seems so empty. Not good at all actually.

Anyway, beside of the museums, you need to taste some delicious and also famous foods from Jakarta and all around Indonesia. You can found Chicken Noodle (Mie Ayam), Ketoprak, Gado-gado, Batagor, Siomay, Tahu Gejrot, Rujak, Bakso, and my all time favorite: Kerak Telor. For my favorite, there are two seller in Kota Tua area, one in the backyard of Fatahillah Museum and the other one located near the Ceramics Museum. I like them both but i prefer the one in the backyard for some reason. For the price, kerak telor with duck egg is 20.000IDR (recommended!) and with chicken egg is 15.000IDR.

Kota Tua is the perfect place to throwback to the years before Indonesia is independent. You can take A LOT of cool picture for your instagram, enjoying the ride with old bicycle for 20.000IDR/30min, or taking picture with some unique peoples for any price!

Now, it's your turn to visit and enjoy it. I hope you'll get a great day!!

Not His Story: Put a heart in every work you do

"Paul and I, we never thought that we would make much money out of the thing. We just loved writing software."      - Bill Gates

Working on something that we like will give more joy than money could do, right? and if we're getting rich because of it, it's another advantage. That's the point that I use to live right now. In real life, maybe i can't be too picky..but at least we HAVE to love our job and we should figure it out by our self about how to love our job.

For the last hmm 3 month, i do something that i love: wasting time in front of my laptop, creating thing using design application such as Photoshop and the latest one, inDesign. I'm a layout-woman for ANTROPOS, a division from He-MAn (hempunan mahasiswa antropologi) UI 2014. I don't get paid for that, but to be honest, there's a happiness when i finished it and it get published, online and offline. I work in team, but i'm the person behind its layout. Even-though i'm still a newbie, I believe I can do more and more and i also believe that it could be my stepping stone to work in magazine someday (lately, I know what my passion is...). 

Well, if you want to know how i do with my job and also want to know more about anthropology, you can check the latest edition (first one!) of ANTROPOS Magazine on Issuu. 

Remember this, your brain has the power to make you in love with something (and someone). You will be powerful if you're able to control it and make something that you don't really like into something you love. When you work with love, you can do the best of you. 

xoxo 

Not His Story: We just Don't Care (?)

Beberapa waktu lalu, saya sempat sedikit mengungkapkan uneg-uneg seputar 'perdebatan' saya dengan salah seorang teman mengenai public display affection melalui social media, sebut saja di PATH. Well, gak lama setelah itu teman saya yang agak hobi ber-PDA ria sudah mulai gak aktif-aktif banget untuk share her intimate moment on socmed, entah karena sadar atau memang kebetulan aja dia mulai males melakukan hal tersebut...honeymoon period will face its ends, right?!

Saya kali ini gak akan membicarakan apa yang terjadi dengan kebiasaan PDA dari sahabat saya itu, tapi disini saya mau sedikit membahas masalah kehidupan online dan offline  kita. Kebetulan, di semester 4 ini, saya memperoleh mata kuliah Analisa Jaringan Sosial dan di salah satu soal UAS yang baru saja dikumpulkan kemarin, ada pertanyaan yang membuat saya semakin ingin kembali membahas hal itu di blog ini. Kurang lebih isi soalnya sebagai berikut:

"Di dunia online, pengguna punya kemampuan yang lebih besar untuk mengelola informasi mengenai identitas dirinya. Pengguna relatif lebih bebas untuk menentukan username, avatar, dan identitas lainnya juga bisa membebaskan diri dari prejudice dan stereotype yang berlaku di dunia offline. Oleh karenanya, pengguna lebih bebas berbicara/bertindak apa saja karena tidak takut akan sanksi. Bagaimana pendapat anda tentang hal ini?"

Public Display Affection di social media bisa jadi salah satu bentuk unjuk kebebasan berbicara dan bertindak di dunia online karena, terutama di Indonesia, menunjukkan kasih sayang di ruang publik bisa memberikan anggapan bahwa pelaku melanggar nilai dan norma orang Indonesia sebagai negara, yang katanya, Islam. So, karena di social media kita bisa jadi siapa saja, apa saja, dan berbuat apa saja, PDA dianggap hal yang biasa. Contoh PDA di sosial media misalnya mengucapkan 'selamat pagi', atau 'semangat ya sayang' dan sebagainya. Saya pribadi akan menganggap jika hal tersebut dilakukan satu atau dua kali, atau dalam rentang waktu yang berjauhan atau dalam waktu-waktu spesial, hal tersebut akan jadi hal yang biasa saja. Tapi apa yang terjadi kalau salah seorang yang kita follow melakukan hal tersebut SETIAP SAAT, padahal logikanya nih...mengucapkan selamat pagi itu bisa dilakukan by phone atau by text...kalau saya pribadi rasanya terganggu, sangat terganggu. 

Anggapan bahwa ada kebebasan di dunia online seharusnya kembali jadi perhatian kita, si pengguna dua dunia. Tahu dong kalau ketika membuat suatu akun di sebuah website kita akan dihadang terlebih dahulu dengan sebuah surat 'perjanjian' mengenai aturan main di website tersebut? Mayoritas akan langsung men-skip surat tersebut dan langsung men-klik agree. Sadarkah kita bahwa keberadaan aturan tersebut pada dasarnya menjadi suatu batasan untuk kita di dunia online? Jadi, siapa bilang hidup di dunia maya itu bisa bebas sebebas-bebasnya?

Contoh lain, untuk kembali menyadarkan bahwa kita tidak bisa 'bebas' di dunia maya, secara sadar ataupun tidak, ketika kita ingin menuliskan sesuatu atu men-share sesuatu, kita sempatkan waktu untuk mencari padanan kata yang pas atau kalaupun sudah di share, merasa menyesal dengan apa yang kita bagikan ke dunia online tersebut. Atau pastinya pernah berfikir sesuatu terhadap apa yang di bagikan oleh teman kita di sosial media, entah apa yang ia bagikan itu membuat kita berfikir bahwa dia adalah wanita yang materialistis atau wanita yang tidak bisa hidup tanpa pria, atau bahkan pria yang tidak jantan karena selalu galau di sosial media....Kemudian, masih yakin bahwa dunia online bebas dari praduga para penggunanya?

Dunia online tidak sebebas apa yang kita bayangkan. Kenapa?  karena kita sebagai manusia masih tidak bisa memisahkan apa yang harusnya tetap berada di dunia nyata dan apa yang harus dibawa ke dunia maya. Seperti apa yang sempat saya tulis di beberapa post sebelumnya bahwa kita masuk menjadi pengguna salah satu laman web atau applikasi di dunia maya untuk masuk kesuatu jaringan yang kita inginkan. Kita akan melakukan berbagai usaha untuk tetap ada dalam jaringan tersebut. Apakah kita yakin jika salah seorang teman dekat kita di dunia nyata tiba-tiba men-unfollow atau unfriend akun milik kita, kemudian kita akan merasa biasa saja? Pasti akan muncul pertanyaan 'kenapa' dia melakukan itu atau apa yang salah dengan kita. Jika kamu telah berhasil untuk tidak merasa demikian, selamat..kamu berhasil melepaskan apa yang ada di dunia nyata untuk masuk ke dunia maya. 

Hubungan sosial yang terjalin di dunia online maupun offline akan terus menerus menjadi pendorong kita untuk menentukan apa yang baik dan buruk untuk menjaga image kita di masyarakat, well..setidaknya di kelompok tempat kita bernaung.Saya sendiri merasa agak sulit untuk bisa memisahkan kehidupan online dan offline karena keduanya terdiri dari orang-orang dari jaringan yang sama, sehingga apapun yang saya lakukan kemudian akan berpengaruh di kedua dunia tersebut.

Intisari yang saya coba capai dalam tulisan ini adalah, kita harus lebih peduli dengan aturan-aturan yang berlaku di dunia nyata maupun maya. Alasannya sederhana, karena kedua dunia tersebut saling bersinggungan. Dengan orang yang kita kenal maupun tidak, prejudice itu akan terus menerus muncul karena sifat tersebut sudah jadi satu dengan kehidupan manusia. So, bagi yang masih suka ber-PDA dalam skala yang berlebihan, coba mulai dikurangi...karena kita hidup di dunia sosial dimana setiap orang akan terus menilai diri kita untuk kemudian dibawa kedalam kehidupan sehari-hari.

In the end, saran dan kritik para pembaca (bagi yang memang membaca) dibutuhkan...supaya menambah pandangan baru. 

Have a great summer!

Not His Story: She V.2.1

This is my description of June:

Summer, Sunny Day, Holiday, Sleeping, Birthday, Wishes, Sweat

My favorite month in a year, simply because of my description. Especially the birthday part, i'm a year older than last year! When I was a kid, birthday for me is like surprise, lot of wishes, present, favorite cake, and that's all. But since last year, when I turned 20, birthday is more than that. Getting older means we have to be wiser than a day before our birthday, we have to do something better than yesterday, we have to be more focus to our life goal, and we have to be more grateful. 

Cake by Cheese Cake Factory (that i brought in my own container), candle by friend

For the last one year, i feel blessed. My insecurity about going to college or meeting new people just like disappearing from my life. I feel more confidence, especially since i have a gut to post my #ootd on social media. I mean, i don't really care about my physical appearance, as long as I enjoy my life and do my best, people will stop judging about my look and focus on another thing in my life. I feel more creative, much much better that when I was 19 years old. I feel different. 

To be honest, I am so grateful to have a life like today, with my family, friend, boyfriend, frienemy around...i feel so alive. And I keep hoping that I will keep doing better and better each day. 

Before I end this post and thinking what should i do on the next post, I wanna say thank you for the presents my dearest people xoxo

Earpod from my boyfriend! Much better than a ring :D

Agents of SHIELD iPhone Case from Dyah. And as a celebration, we watch Maleficent on 4DX

actually not a birthday gift, it's a present from a quiz on twitter by Creative Disc

Purple shawl from Nadya, and others from my aunt :)

cute stationary from Sindi

See ya next year, June 6th!