The Diary of a CEO's Wife

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The Gentle Weight of an Ordinary Wednesday

This morning I tagged along with my husband to get the car washed, mostly because I had nothing better to do and partly because I enjoy these tiny slices of life with him. Right next door was Naked Papa, so of course I wandered over for breakfast. I swear I nearly laughed out loud when I opened the door. Ten in the morning and the place was already full with pretty young moms who probably had just dropped off their kids at school. I looked around, amused, before the realization landed softly on my shoulder. I was one of them too! LOL. I had banh mi and an ocha fusion to share with my husband. Simple, nothing dramatic, yet somehow it warmed the morning like sunshine through a kitchen window. After lunch we headed to the new apartment to sign PPJB . One of those milestones that feels both official and surreal. Everything went so smoothly. The notary was kind, the admin staff easy to talk to, and before we knew it the paperwork was done. Less than an hour and a small piece of our future...

A Quiet Tuesday in the Rain

Today felt heavy in that gentle way only a gloomy day can. By the time my husband and I sat down for lunch with the Titipku team at Wee Nam Kee, the rain was pouring hard. It had been so long since our last proper lunch together with the team. This time there were eight of us at the table. Henri, the CEO, led the group with his usual warmth, surrounded by some IT folks, bizdev, sales, and marketing. We talked about ideas. Big ones, small ones, the kind that make you pause and imagine a slightly better version of the world. Titipku has always been that kind of project. In case you don’t know, it’s an app that lets you shop at traditional market without having to leave home. Just a few taps and you’re done. It has saved me more times than I can count, especially on days when life feels too rushed to even think about parking or traffic. Somewhere in the middle of our conversation, Henri mentioned that he’s known us for nine years. Nine. I blinked at that. I didn’t realize it had bee...

Hello, December

December began softly this year, with a simple Sunday-date-on-a-Monday with my husband in PIK 2 . The real reason we were out, of course, was to drop off our eldest at her campus event, Sports and Arts Day at Galaxy Sports Center . She needed to be there from eight in the morning until three. It felt like such a long stretch of time, the kind that invites you to turn errands into moments. Since only a few places open early, we ended up at Starbucks The Land’s End . The sunlight spilled through the windows in that gentle morning way that makes everything feel possible. My husband immediately dove into his marathon of meetings, as usual, while I tried to make the most of the brightness for reading. We avoided sitting near the beach because the heat was already creeping in. Instead, we settled indoors on the second floor, right next to the toilet, which sounds funny now but felt practical at the time. By noon, we left the cool room behind and took a slow walk through The Land’s End area. ...

Returning to the Center

IThis morning felt like a gentle reset. After days of noise, rush, and honestly… zero motivation to cook, I finally stepped back into the kitchen. Nothing fancy. I just reheated leftovers and made a simple omelet. Actually, most of my energy this morning has been poured into shooting product videos on my phone, supposedly for Shopee affiliate posts that never made it to the internet. The irony makes me laugh. So many takes, so many ideas, but somehow none of them felt ready to share. By noon, we were sitting in the last batch of Sunday service , and that quiet space reminded me again of what truly matters. I wrote down notes, not just to remember them, but because each line felt like it was speaking directly into a part of me that needed grounding. Value. The foundation of every value we hold should be born out of our personal relationship with Christ . It made me pause. Do I consider important the things my church community considers important? Do the values I cherish align with the ...

Agak Laen! and Garage Sale

I didn’t expect this Saturday to turn into a full-day adventure with my family. It began innocently enough with lunch at Subway , simply because we had a voucher for four that would expire the next day. Nothing dramatic, nothing planned. Just one of those small domestic moments where you say, let’s just use it. And off we went. After eating, we watch Agak Laen 2: Menyala Pantiku! A nd oh my goodness, my stomach still hurts from laughing. I honestly think it’s funnier than the first one, which already drew nine million people to the cinemas. This sequel feels wilder, sharper, and even more chaotic in the best way. Even my eldest who rarely agrees to go to the cinema, laughing the loudest in the entire theater. After the movie, we were ready to head home. But life had other ideas. As we passed a bus stop, a little electric shuttle rolled by. My eldest suddenly shouted, “ I’ve been wanting to ride that bus for so long! ” Without thinking, I said, “Let’s go then!” And ju...

Full Tummy Full Heart

I spent the late afternoon soaking in a quiet corner at The Breeze, enjoying a little slice of me-time. It felt rare and luxurious, sitting there with Okki Sutanto’s Yang Tak Terkatakan Tentang Menuju Dewasa in my hands. The breeze carried a soft hum of the evening crowd, but somehow my world stayed still with every page I turned. A moment to breathe, to exist, to be gently reminded of the things we learn on our way to becoming an adult, again and again. I headed home when Maghrib approached, just as my husband wrapped up his four-hour office webinar. We exchanged that familiar tired-but-happy smile, the kind that says “long day, ya?” without needing words. I lay down for a quick thirty-minute rest, letting my body soften into the bed before the next thing on the schedule called me back. And then we went downstairs for our biweekly DATE komsel gathering in the apartment’s function room. I thought it would be the usual small circle, but as soon as the door opened, I froze f...

A Circle That Comes Back to Life

I didn’t expect this Thursday to feel like a soft circle closing, but that’s exactly what happened when I followed my husband to Jakarta and got dropped off at JW Marriott Kuningan . I wasn’t there for lunch or a meeting of my own. I was there to see two people who have quietly shaped so much of the way I understand myself and others: my MBTI mentor, Mr. Robbins , and his colleague, Cally , from The Myers-Briggs Company Singapore . It was my first time meeting Cally in person. Until today, she only existed as an email signature and a WhatsApp profile picture, the friendly voice who processed all my MBTI indicator orders . But with Mr. Robbins, it felt like an old movie warming up again. He trained me back in Bali in August 2018. Seven years ago. A different version of me. A different chapter of my life. He greeted me with exactly the kind of scolding you’d expect from someone who knows you well enough to be annoyed. Where have you been. Why don’t you ever contact me. And why, in the...

A Day That Rose Higher Than the City

This Thursday was one of those days that felt like three days folded into one. Full, warm, surprising, exhausting, and in the most unexpected way, deeply meaningful. The morning started with something mundane yet necessary. My husband and I squeezed in a quick visit to CIMB Niaga , the kind of errand you hope goes smoothly. And it did. Everything was taken care of without any drama. Let’s just say that after today, I probably won’t need to queue anymore if I ever go back there. A small victory, but a satisfying one. Time was tight, so we drove straight to Agora Mall for lunch at Su Wah . We didn’t expect much, but the food turned out to be genuinely good. A comforting meal for two at a reasonable price, the kind of lunch that makes you pause and think, Oh, this is nice. Simple joys. Right as we were about to enter the restaurant, we ran into Mba Lurus Ledyati , Director of Arkbase , who had invited us to the Business Network International event that day. After we finished our lunch, ...

What Our Lives Might Look Like Without Each Other

Today I spent the whole day at Bintaro Xchange , and somehow it turned into one of those quiet, unexpected days that end up teaching you something about yourself… and about love. It started with lunch at The People’s Cafe . Just me and my husband, sitting side by side with warm food and even warmer conversations. We found ourselves talking about a question that sounds dramatic but wasn’t meant to be: what would my life look like without you, and what would your life look like without me? It wasn’t a " bucin " moment. It was simply the topic of our #pacaranmingguini, slipped casually between sips of iced tea before he headed off to his mini work meeting. And somehow, without either of us feeling awkward or jealous, the conversation flowed into imagining the alternate versions of our lives. What if he had married his ex. What if I had married mine. What kind of people would we have become. There was no tension. Just curiosity. Just honesty. From that, we drifted into a quieter,...

The Quiet Joys of an Ordinary Monday

Monday felt familiar in the way Mondays always do. My husband disappeared into his marathon meetings, and I faced my own mountain of work that had quietly grown over the weekend. Neither of us had the energy to cook. And with our eldest away in Lampung , the house felt both lighter and a little too quiet. So we surrendered to the simplest decision of the day: let’s eat out. For lunch we tried Omah Mbah Wie , a little place that serves homestyle dishes that taste like they were cooked by someone’s loving grandmother. The moment we stepped inside, it felt like being transported to a village far from the polished streets of BSD . The wooden chairs, the gentle clatter, the warm aroma of spices... all of it wrapped around us like a memory. The food was comforting in a way only home cooking can be. We ate until we were full, sipped our drinks slowly, and somehow the bill was only seventy-two thousand rupiah. I even had leftovers to take home. It made me smile, that simple abundance. By dinne...

Refreshing Sunday

I woke up later than I planned, the kind of late that only happens after a night of absolute exhaustion. Eight in the morning felt like a small luxury in my Jakarta home. I dragged myself out of bed and headed straight to the bathroom, still half-dreaming, still feeling the weight of yesterday clinging to my shoulders. By nine, I slipped next door to pick up the bread I had ordered. I’m not even a bread person, really, but the auntie next door makes the kind that somehow tastes like comfort. Of course, I couldn’t just grab the bread and sprint home. Neighborly life doesn’t work like that. There were stories to exchange, warm laughter to share, the kind of long, winding conversations that make you forget the minutes passing. It was already ten when I finally walked home, arms full of bread, heart a little lighter. Breakfast was waiting. My husband had bought chicken porridge with cheese, and it tasted so good. A little before noon, our guests arrived straight from the airport. They had ...

Saturday That Refused to Slow Down

Today I woke up already feeling like I was running, and by the time the clock struck six, my husband and I were on the road to the airport. Our eldest was flying to Lampung for a campus field trip for 4 days that morning. From the airport, we drove straight to the dorm to pick up our youngest. Just like that, the three of us were complete again, even if only until the next errand called us away. We went home for a short breather, that kind of pause where your body feels still but your mind is already planning the next thing. By eleven, we were back on the move, heading to one of our properties in South Jakarta . The main agenda of the day was simple on paper. Key handover from an outgoing tenant, then supervising Cleansheet rangers to prepare the house for the next person moving in tomorrow. In reality, of course, nothing ever stays simple. We arrived at noon and immediately ordered our favorite sate to be delivered, because cleaning days deserve good food. The rain arrived rig...

A Quiet Friday Full of Small Stories

This Friday felt ordinary on the surface yet carried a string of small stories that lingered long after the day ended. I started the afternoon with my husband, slipping away for a simple lunch at Subway. We paid with a BCA credit card and caught the 50 percent promo for all items except the sets. Two sandwiches for around eighty thousand felt like a tiny victory, the kind that makes you smile because life still surprises you with little pockets of savings. After lunch we moved to Starbucks, where I had promised to meet Mbak Natalia Lukita. She had first reached out through my Instagram DMs, curious about my experience with hysterectomy because she might need the same procedure. I could sense the mix of fear and hope in her questions. I told her what I always tell women who ask. I feel relieved, truly relieved. The risk of uterine cancer, gone completely. The pre-menopause symptoms that once hovered around my days, gone too. And of course, the freedom from monthly periods. That one stil...