Posts

Less Fighting, More Understanding

-
Image
Sunday mornings have this magical way of stretching out slowly, like they don’t want to end. This morning was one of those slow mornings, the kind where the house hums gently, everyone moves at their own pace, and there’s no rush to do anything other than exist. We had plans to go to church, but of course, life had its own little lesson in patience: the War Ticket frenzy. Thousands of people rushing online just to get a spot for worship every week; it’s kind of insane when you think about it. Praise the Lord indeed for the technology that lets us all battle for our pews without elbowing anyone physically. After church, we went for a late lunch, and that’s when I discovered MOKKA tucked away in a corner of the mall. I’ve walked past this mall so many times, but I never noticed it before. It’s funny how sometimes good things are hiding in plain sight, waiting for someone else to point them out. The restaurant was quiet compared to the line at Lekko just down the hall. And while MOKKA’s f...
Read more

Waiting and Celebrating

-
Image
This morning was wonderfully slow, the kind of slow where time doesn’t feel wasted but savored. Everyone in the house had their own lazy rhythm. No alarms, no rush, just soft hours unfolding. By two in the afternoon, we finally left for Pondok Gede to check our first house.  We had it lightly renovated: The old, tired canopy was taken down, so the two-story house could breathe and look elegant again. The walls and fence got a fresh coat of white paint, giving it that “new beginnings” look. The cracked tiles were replaced, no more tripping hazards waiting for unsuspecting guests. The windows were repainted, catching a bit of shine when the sun hits. House for sell or rent, near Mall Pondok Gede. Contact here. Now it’s neat, clean, and... how do I say this... ready to meet its "jodoh".  Although we don’t know yet if the match is a buyer or a tenant. Should we sell it? Should we rent it out? We don’t have the answer yet. And for someone like me, uncertainty is both fascinating a...
Read more

The Beauty of Differences

-
Image
After a week of service in Toraja with 39 other students, our youngest finally came home today. My husband and I picked her up at Terminal 2D. She looked radiant, chatty, full of stories. No sign of exhaustion, even though the week must have been packed with activities.  One of her stories made me chuckle: she got carsick and threw up because the driver was speeding through bad roads right after she had stuffed herself with food.  But then, just like flipping a switch, she was all fired up again telling us how she trained her high school friends there on making a business model. She even used her daddy’s story about Tiket versus Traveloka. Not to mention that she still have editing project to be done later. This kid, I tell you, she seems to have a battery pack that never runs out. On the way home, she begged for a haircut. Honestly, the first thing we noticed at the airport was her very long hair. I mean, she’s a girl, so that’s normal, but still... she looked more like she h...
Read more

Not Winning, Still Blooming

-
Image
Every year, my husband and I get invited to the BCA Wealth Summit at the Grand Ballroom Kempinski, Jakarta. Same venue, same buzz, same format, even the same familiar faces. One of them is Ko Michael, who insists on   not   being called “Pak” because it sounds too old, hehe. It’s always nice to catch up with him, exchanging updates on investments, startups, and the comfort of knowing we’re still orbiting in the same world. With ko Michael the owner of King Foto Indonesia at BCA Wealth Summit One of the things that always makes the Summit worthwhile are the sessions that stretch my mind. Mari Elka Pangestu, Vice Chairwoman of the National Economic Council, talked about   The New Trade Paradigm and Its Implications to Indonesia .   One line stayed with me: in a world shifting from globalization to regional blocs, Indonesia needs to think less like a passive participant and more like a proactive designer of its role. It reminded me that wealth is not just about assets,...
Read more

Permission to Pause

-
Image
Today was pure delight. Three things I’d been wanting for ages finally happened: a creambath, smoked tuna jaw (so good!), and meeting Mba Fit again. Jackpot. Of course, I still have to be careful not to move around too much (I don’t want to risk spotting again), but honestly, it was safe. Basically just self-pampering, food, and conversations. That’s it. And yet, it felt like a full day. Mba Fit picked me up at 10am. We went straight to our favorite salon in Bintaro. She had reflexology and a creambath. I had a creambath plus blow-dry. We walked out glowing. Not just from shiny hair, but from that smug little joy you get after pampering yourself. Next stop: smoked tuna jaw. While waiting for the food, we bumped into the owner, someone we know. He dropped some behind-the-scenes stories and business tips. A side of gossip with our fish. Perfect. By 2 p.m., I was back home. My husband was still locked in endless meetings, no lunch in sight. I whipped something up and sat with him for a la...
Read more

When Life Forgets to Press the Button

-
Image
It was one of those days that felt like a sitcom episode written without a script. You know, the kind where the main character thinks she has everything under control, only to discover she forgot the most important part: literally pressing the “cook” button on the rice cooker. Yes, that was me. And yes, the rice remained uncooked until it was too late, and my guest left with an empty stomach but a full care package of fried cassava and tofu.  To make it worse (or funnier, depending on your sense of humor), the boiled eggs I packed for our guest weren’t even fully cooked. Turns out our shiny new egg maker wasn’t as foolproof as we thought. The yolks were still runny, which would have been fine if we were making ramen, but less ideal as a polite snack offering. LOL.  The guest wasn’t actually mine. My husband invited our eldest daughter’s best friend for a free mentoring session. Except my daughter wasn’t home; she was stuck in class all day. So it was just the three of us, me h...
Read more

Chill to Heal

-
Image
I woke up from a strange long vivid dream this morning. The kind of dream that felt so real I had to blink twice to make sure I was actually back in my room. My brain apparently runs its own cinema franchise at night. I rushed to open my laptop before the scenes slipped away, and yes, I also asked ChatGPT what it could possibly mean. When I copy-pasted it to hubby's whatsapp, his comment: "Your dream is like Korean drama series, long and detailed. How come you could memorize it all?" LOL The day started pretty well. I had scheduled ShopeeFood from last night: twelve kinds of veggies and proteins from the nearest warteg. I opened the fridge and it looked like I was ready to survive an apocalypse. Or at least a busy week without cooking. My oldest daughter took charge of Monday’s cooking shift anyway, frying calamari without all-purpose flour. Breadcrumbs did the job just fine, and honestly, it tasted like restaurant food. Good job!  Later I munched on roasted almonds, sti...
Read more

Hurt vs Harm

-
Image
Sunday, 14 September 2025 I don’t know if this happens to you too, but sometimes my days feel like a long grocery receipt filled with random items that don’t seem to belong together. Like today: I went to church, had communion, heard a sermon about distinguishing hurt from harm (profound, right?), then later found myself eating pork knuckle while listening to live saxophone in a food court. By evening, I was hunting down half-cooked kue cubit on ShopeeFood, and because that wasn’t enough, I threw in a 50% off Sate Padang for good measure. Somewhere in between all that, I also watched a hilariously awkward Filipino movie called   Kontrabida Academy . See what I mean? Grocery receipt. But out of all those bits, what stuck with me wasn’t the pork belly or the kue cubit (though trust me, they were memorable). It was the sermon by Pastor Sidney Mohede :   the difference between hurt and harm . I think many of us confuse the two. I know sometimes I still do.  When something hu...
Read more

The Rooms Inside Us (MBTI)

-
Image
Saturday, 13 September 2025 I first learned about MBTI back in 2014 during one of my postgraduate counseling classes. My lecturer told us we could bring our partners to sit in because, according to him, MBTI wasn’t just useful for clients; it worked wonders for couples too. Out of all the students, guess who was the only partner who showed up? My husband. Not only did he come, he sat right in the front row and took meticulous notes like a model student.  That day gave us a lot of   aha   moments. For instance, we finally understood why our fights often escalated into mini soap operas. It turned out I was very   Judging;  my motto being “if it can be done now, why wait?”. On contrary, my husband was peak   Perceiving , living by the philosophy “if it can be done later, why rush now?” Naturally, the collision was inevitable. MBTI helped us laugh at these differences instead of weaponizing them. It also explained why I often felt “too emotional” (hello, Feelin...
Read more