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A Rainy Day That Refused to Be Quiet

I slept at 2 a.m. and woke up at 8, not because my body was ready, but because my best friend Detha was already in the apartment lobby. She had told me several days before that she might come by. Might, in best-friend language, usually means definitely. The plan was wholesome and optimistic. A morning walk around the botanical garden, chasing sweat and pretending we’re disciplined adults. Reality had other plans. Rain. Endless rain. The kind of rain that makes your bed whisper, come back, don’t be a hero. Honestly, rainy mornings like that are made for sleeping in, not cardio. So since the entire household was still asleep, I went down alone and we talked in the lobby instead. Life updates flowed easily. Surgery stories, health check-ins, holiday plans, and then heavier things, like the bullying her teenager has been facing at school. The kind of conversation that reminds you how friendship isn’t about constant laughter, but about being able to say hard things without rehearsing. At 10...
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Back on Track and Slightly Out of Breath

After two days of forced rest because of a stubborn headache, today I was officially back on track. Or at least trying to be. The calendar was full and life clearly did not get the memo that I had just been sick. First agenda started early. At 9.30 we headed to Depok to drop my mom at my sister’s house. She was going to accompany my youngest nephew who would otherwise be home alone while his mom was on a work trip to Surabaya. When we arrived, he was not alone at all. My younger sibling, her husband, and their child had arrived thirty minutes earlier.  We had another reason to meet there. I had ordered ready to cook marinated food to support my sibling’s brand new business. After years of encouragement, mild pressure, and enthusiastic pep talks, she finally started. My husband and I were ridiculously excited. Supporting family's business feels extra personal. We stayed until around 12.30, talking, advising, and imagining this small business growing bigger and braver. Agenda number ...

Being Cared For, One Bowl at a Time

I woke up with my head still heavy, like yesterday had refused to let go. The kind of dizziness that makes you negotiate with the ceiling before you sit up. Thankfully, my youngest stepped in like a quiet hero. She cooked for the whole family, tidied up after, and made it all feel normal, like taking care of your mother is just another item on a to-do list. After food and medicine, the pain softened. Not gone, just kinder. Kind enough for me to walk to IMAX with my husband and daughter and watch   Zootopia . The movie for me was… so-so. As usual, I fell asleep somewhere in the middle. But the ending caught me. That pairing felt oddly familiar: the zen, emotionally clumsy fox next to the endlessly chatty bunny . Some dynamics really do repeat themselves in different costumes. Before heading home, I took photos of my husband in front of a SpongeBob installation. For reasons I still don’t understand, Patrick was wearing a thong. Slightly disturbing. Slightly inappropriate. We laughe...

A Day the Body Spoke Louder

I woke up with a heavy head. The kind that makes you pause before opening your eyes. Last night’s headache had already demanded medicine, and I naïvely assumed sleep and paracetamol would negotiate a truce. It didn’t. By morning, the pain was still there, louder, more insistent. By ten, I knew I wouldn’t be going downstairs. The BCA relationship manager was scheduled to visit for their annual courtesy call, bringing Christmas and birthday gifts for my husband. Normally I would have joined, smiled politely, exchanged small talk. Today, my role was strictly horizontal. So my husband went alone, meeting them in the lobby while I stayed upstairs, negotiating peace with my own head. When he came back, he brought stories and a generous set of gifts: an Exquise hamper , planners, calendars. A proper, thoughtful spread. Thank you, BCA. I appreciated it quietly, from the bed, with the blurry gratitude of someone slightly dizzy from medication. The rest of the day dissolved into rest. I slept. ...

Of Time, Trust, and Free Joy

Sunday morning unfolded the way it usually does in our house: slow, forgiving, unbothered. Lunch was a happy reunion of leftovers from last night’s Christmas gathering; proof that celebrations don’t really end, they just quietly continue in reheated portions. At one in the afternoon we headed to church for the two o’clock service. In the parking lot, we ran into an old friend: Richard Fang , who once co-founded tiket.com with my husband, along with his wife Karen and their daughter. Turns out we were worshipping in the same building, just different sessions. We introduced our daughter, designer to designer, and almost instinctively Richard said, “Learn AI.” I laughed. My husband has been saying the exact same thing at home, and has been gently but consistently rejected. Our daughter is an idealist. She believes AI steals creative jobs. I get it. But the truth is, AI isn’t something you fight. It’s something you learn to walk with, to master, so you don’t get left behind. Funny how God...

Gathered and Tired

Saturday began the way Saturdays should: unhurried, a little sleepy, and quietly happy. My husband went to pick up our youngest from the dorm, officially checking her out for a long holiday. A whole month. Just saying that still makes my heart stretch a bit wider. There’s something deeply comforting about knowing your child is coming home not just for a weekend, but long enough to fully exhale. By lunchtime, we were finally four again. I cooked bakso soup using Sony’s bakso that our eldest brought from Lampung some time ago. That bakso never fails. It’s the kind of food that doesn’t need compliments, it just gets quiet nods and second helpings. The table felt fuller than usual, not because of the food, but because everyone was there. Complete. Present. The calm didn’t last long. Saturday afternoon shifted gears quickly as we headed to Pondok Gede for our annual regional Christmas gathering, hosted at my in-laws’ house. As expected, it was busy in that familiar, communal way. Helping wi...

Fruitful Friday

Friday started sweet, quite literally. By morning, there's a cake delivery from Mba Lydia Chandra, and a lovely hamper from Mba Claudia. Thoughtful, generous, unprompted. Thank you so much. It felt like the day was quietly conspiring to be kind. My husband spent the morning in motion. Dropping our eldest off, washing the car, dropping me at the salon, picking our eldest up again, then coming back for me. A full loop of small, faithful errands that somehow said love louder than any grand gesture. I tried a new salon, in the same building where my child’s campus used to be before it moved to a newer space. Nostalgia did most of the work that day, because honestly, the salon itself was just so so. Not terrible, not memorable. I missed the old one that had shut down. Some places leave before we are ready to say goodbye. We had lunch at home, just the three of us, then headed out again. This time for work. Or what I like to call purposeful connecting. My agenda was to introduce Titipku ...

Sushi & Priority

After my husband wrapped up his meeting and dropped our eldest at campus, we headed to Senopati around ten. By eleven sharp, we arrived at Kintaro Sushi , right on time for brunch with Pak Thomas Sugiarto and his wife, Bu Lusiana Wibowo . On the way there, we listened to Pak Thomas on the Big Thinker podcast , sharing his life journey. A migrant from Riau who built his business from scratch in Jakarta , side by side with his wife who walks the same professional path. Their house is right behind Kintaro Sushi. Just a short walk. Living in such a strategic spot is quite luxury.  Over sushi, salmon sashimi, rice bowls, and unlimited ocha , the conversation flowed effortlessly. Business. Marriage. Faith. Parenting. Life in general. One topic melted into another until suddenly it was past two. Three hours of non stop talking without realizing time had slipped away. We took a few photos, said our goodbyes, and left with full hearts and fuller stomachs. Thank you so much, Pak Thomas an...

Terra Drone

Last night’s news sat heavy on my chest. Twenty two lives lost in a Terra Drone office building fire, triggered by an exploding drone battery that spread faster than anyone could outrun. Just like that, an entire building burnt. My deepest condolences. Some news does not just inform you, it rearranges your breathing. Stories like this make risk feel personal. Lithium batteries, drones, electric cars, all the conveniences we welcome so casually into our lives suddenly demand respect. I found myself spiraling into mitigation mode, imagining scenarios I never wanted to imagine. What if an electric car explodes. What if the fire spreads too fast. What if people do not know where to run. So I did the only thing that calms my anxiety. I turned it into action. I sent a message to the management team of my co living property in Bendungan Hilir. Check the fire extinguishers. Run a fire drill. Make evacuation routes and exit signs impossible to miss. Nothing dramatic. Just quiet preparation. B...

Christmas Market

Today’s highlight was, without question, the Christmas market at my youngest’s school. And when I say highlight, I mean   full sensory experience, heart included . We arrived just in time for snowfall. Yes, it was artificial. Yes, we knew that. No, it didn’t make it any less magical. Snow is snow when it falls at the right moment. We wandered from stall to stall, deliberately skipping lunch beforehand, because strategy matters in places like this. I had pork noodle from a stall run by the parent of one of the students which somehow made it taste warmer and more earnest. My husband went for a kebab. I had coffee from a café fully run by the students themselves as part of their entrepreneurship program, which made every sip feel hopeful. My husband opted for iced orange juice, because consistency is a personality trait. It wasn’t just food. There were little trinkets, thoughtful knick-knacks, and cheerful clutters. Big brands showed up too McDonald’s, Teazzi, Tiramisu standing comfor...

When Fever Meets Favor

I woke up with a throbbing head and a body slightly on fire, courtesy of my eldest who had generously shared her flu. Not ideal timing, but then again, life rarely checks your temperature before handing you milestones. The show must go on, they say. And so it did. By 10 a.m., slightly dizzy but fully committed, we landed at the marketing gallery of a new apartment. From there, straight to the bank to deal with the DP. One foot in logistics mode, the other quietly negotiating with my immune system. Somewhere in between signatures and small talk, I kept thinking,   just get through today. We waited at The People’s  for brunch while the bank people made their way to us. Eggs, coffee, patience. Exactly at noon, they arrived. Papers were signed. Hands were shaken. And just like that, the akad was done.  Super smooth. Almost suspiciously smooth.  I kept waiting for a plot twist that never came. Everything flowed. No drama. No delays. No last-minute surprises. Just grace, s...

A Year That Asked Us to Shed Our Skin

I asked the internet a simple question: what tests did you go through in 2025? I shared mine first, lightly, as if listing them might make them less heavy. Former employees threatened my family. Ten months without a salary. My husband was sick for two long months. And in one stretch of hospital time, I went through a hysterectomy , an appendectomy , and kidney stone surgery . It sounds brutal when written down like that. Yet here I am, still standing. Still breathing. Still grateful. Because somehow, in the middle of it all, I never felt abandoned. I truly believe I have a bigger God than my problems. And now, thank God, all is well. What I didn’t expect was how heavy the replies would be. Cancer diagnoses . Consecutive deaths in one family. Betrayals. Scams. Losses layered upon losses. I read them slowly, one by one, my chest tightening. It really has been that kind of year. A year that forces shedding. Like a snake changing its skin, painfully, unwillingly, letting go of what no long...

Dev Fest 2025 and Beyond

5am sharp I was awake to pee but then when I opened the window, wow, the sun was slowly rising. I kept the curtain open and enjoyed the golden sky until I fell asleep again 😅 At 7am I woke up again, took my time at the john and showered, and finally get ready for breakfast at the restaurant with hubby at 08:30.  When we arrived at the restaurant it was so full! The breakfast options was quite plenty but not too much. The taste was so so, nothing extraordinary. Well maybe except bubur sumsum . But the most annoying part was that the food stalls was put outside, in the smoking area. I hate to line up with smoke everywhere.  After breakfast we went back to the room so that hubby had enough time to unload the food hehe. Then at 09:45 we left the hotel off to Selah hall . There's hiccup when we were about to pass the gate because our plat number was unidentifiable by the system, thus we were 12 minute late when we arrived the venue.  Thankfully the PIC of the event was quick ...

Bandung Trip

At 8:30 in the morning, my husband and I dropped our eldest off at campus. No rush, no drama. Just the quiet efficiency of parents doing what needs to be done. From there, without much ceremony, we continued driving to Bandung .  Breakfast was simple: boiled eggs and fruit pudding from Mbak Eva yesterday. Around 10, we stopped at the first rest area. I suddenly craved tahu bulat . No particular reason. Just one of those very specific cravings that arrives unannounced and insists on being fulfilled. Unfortunately, none were there. We moved on.  Thirty minutes later, the second rest area delivered. Tahu bulat at last. A small, silly joy. We added Kopi Kenangan to keep ourselves awake, though in the excitement I forgot one very basic thing. I needed to pee. So yes, we stopped again at the third rest area at 11.  Right in front of the restroom stood a singer with a surprisingly beautiful voice. I paused for a moment and gave a small donation. Some things deserve appreciatio...