A Home For My Thoughts

In this extraordinary life, I would be a teacher still.  Helping people to understand even some little things to make them feel worthy and understand themselves better. It seems that teaching has become a calling for me. Not about teaching such specific subject like mathematics or so, but more like... I like to give new perspectives for people, and having them saying "Oh.... I see..." is satisfying for me. Of course, by teaching I can learn so many new perspectives from different people too. It's like the more I teach the more I learn, and that is so true. Maybe more like a guide. I like giving guidance to people who needs it. No, I don't like giving unsolicited guiding. I like to guide people who wants to be guided. I'd teach them how to love, love themselves first. Yea sure when we are talking about things, they would say "do useful things like engineering, plumbing, this and that" but they tend to forget that we need some balance in life. Not saying t...

Sticker from eco-bali recycling October is funny month. We have this crisis of burning landfield in Bali, and they haven't pick up my trash for 2 months. Probably over two months now. We're like "Okay it's time to swap to the sustainable options" Yea we've been thinking about composting, but I do not know where to start. Because, you know, when you did it wrong it can be stinky and worm-y and not working out well. Turns out, they have composting company that provide the bin, the pickup, and even got the compost back monthly or per 6 months. I did not know that but of course my husband found it and planned to sign up for it.  The week where we had that plan on mind, suddenly in the morning there was a guy from this company came to our house delivering the composting bin. "No we did not order this, yet" Apparently the neighbor ordered their service but they got the address wrong. The next day, the same guy came again, brought his empty composting bin f...

steamed chicken and broccoli Yes, I finally found the joy I have when cooking. I am not a good cook really. I only cook when I had to. Usually when I cook, I just did it halfheartedly because I had to eat right? Though I really love food, but cooking was not part of it.  But lately after I came back from The Netherland, I saw them always cooking things (of course, there are no warung that sell cheap ready to eat food) and they usually are tasty. A bit before I came back to Bali I was craving for good bakso. It's hard to find good Bakso Malang in Bali. Oh yes I am picky for this. Then I was also craving for other simple yet hearty food.  steamed chicken Then I decided to just buy whatever I need, start to really cooking stuff with good recipes. Recipe here is the one that will give you proper 1 tablespoon of salt, not a pinch of salt, you know what I mean.  Though I was craving for good bakso, the first thing I made was steamed chicken recipe from Wilgoz. I bought a new st...

Be it something or someone, they will be coming and going, in and out your life. I believe that something/someone has their own period to be in your life.  I used to be so attached to something, rarely to someone though. I remember the first time I felt that I lost something important in my life was when I had my favorite hair tie with me. It was part of the dress that I had, it was blue, nice dress. I loved it. That happened when I was around 10 I think. I had that hair tie on, then took it off when I took shower after beach day.  When I take it off, I told myself to remember to take it back with me. But of course I forgot it, I remembered that I left it when I was already in my grandma's house. I was so sad because it was my favorite. Even weirder that I vividly remember that even now.  I used to say that I can't live without my sammy (that old samsung laptop) until it stopped working like I wanted due to the ... well... it got to 9 years of usage so he served me well. ...

Bentheim Gw tau Jerman tuh emang meticulous banget, tapi gw nggak sangka bakal se- meticulous itu. Kira-kira bulan Maret gw apply Schengen via Jerman. Kenapa via Jerman? Karena Belanda nggak ada slot heheheee. Rencana perginya bulan April kalau nggak salah waktu itu. Karena suami ada libur tapi cuma pendek banget, dan dia pengen banget pulang ke sana, yaudah lah coba aja. Dapet antrian, mana bayarnya 700ribu pula 😅 lalu pergilah gw submit semua dokumen gw.  Gw bukan yang pertama kali mengajukan Schengen, jadi gw udah "tau" harus submit apa aja. Karena sebagai orang yang menikah dengan warga EU, kami berhak untuk tidak menunjukkan buku tabungan (yg penting tabungan pasangan yang EU yg ditampilkan), dll. Dengan ina inu, eh ternyata diminta surat kerja lah, kalau freelancer harus kasih tau bukti kerjaan juga. Gw rasa ribet ya karena nggak formal kerjanya, jadi ya udah gw tulis ibu rumah tangga. Itu juga masih harus bikin surat pernyataan siapa yg membiayai biaya hidup gw kala...

Gw kira gelas aja yang bisa collapsible , menstrual cup juga bisa ternyata.  Gw tertarik beli si menstrual cup ini karena kok unik ya bisa dilipet gitu. Meskipun pada dasarnya umur menstrual cup sendiri bisa di atas 5 tahun. Tapi sayangnya menstrual cup yang udah gw pake tiga tahun itu  gw simpan di kamar mandi, saat Bali berminggu-minggu hujan yang menyebabkan dia jadi berjamur. Ini murni keteledoran gw. Waktu gw liat tempatnya "eh kok jamuran ya" lalu kulihat menstrual cup nya yang juga jamuran. Yaudah nggak mau ambil resiko. Makanan berjamur dikit aja gw buang apalagi ini yang masuk ke tubuh lewat bagian yang juga bisa rawan terserang jamur.  Karena sudah wishlist  Filmore Girlfriend menstrual cup lama banget, akhirnya gw beli ya karena butuh juga. Punya menstrual cup satu aja cukup. Awalnya agak kagok ya karena kebiasaan pake mens cup yang bentuk bulet utuh gitu. Tapi yang ini mirip tangga berundak gitu. Apa sih, yang model lingkar paling kecil, lingkar teng...

Apart from having a seasickness, diving in Nusa Penida was cool. We saw big big mantas, big turtles, some babies manta, the coral was pretty colorful too. Alive I'd say.  Our first dive was in Manta Point. As you can see from the name, we planned on seeing some manta which luckily we did. It was amazing to see big mantas. I saw, at least 5 big ones. Then babies were cuddling and having a nap in same spot. That was cute to see. We also see some turtles, the big one.  The thing is, it has almost-no current, but surge. The surge was pretty big for me as a beginner. Which was actually kinda cool. I swam a little then pushed back by the surge, then pushed forward flowing with the surge. Personally, I chose surge more than current hahaha! My experiences with current, was not cool. I dislike to fight it but at the same time I had to let go myself being dragged with the current until god knows where 😂 While with surge, I can also see the creatures down there flowing happily following...

Crystal Bay Jujur ini gw bingung, gw yang lemah apa emang ombak di Nusa Penida tuh bikin mabok banget. Gw belum pernah ke Nusa Penida pulaunya tapi ke lautan sekitar Nusa Penida udah 2 kali dan masih juga belum bersahabat. Pertama kali sekitar tahun 2018 atau 2019, buat snorkeling. Minggu kemarin, kali kedua ke sana dengan provider yang sama, namun untuk Diving. Hanya ukuran wet suit saja yang berbeda, dari XS ke M. Iya beda banget.  Beberapa tahun yang lalu ditanyain apa mabokan, gw dengan PD nya bilang enggak karena sebelumnya juga pernah ke Gili naik boat juga oke aja. Eh belum 30 menit, udah ambyar mutah-mutah. Gw inget banget ada mas-mas diver cakep banget nyebur diving di samping gw muntah-muntah. Well, you'll feel better in the water, and it was.  Kita dibawa ke 3 spot diving/snorkeling.  Kalau low tide begini, dibawa dulu pakai kapal mini ke speed boat di agak tengah Bertahun berlalu, H mulai pengen diving di Nusa Penida buat liat manta. Gw agak grogi karena masih...

Taken at 3am-ish Tahun ini adalah tahun ke-4 gw nyepi di Bali. Ketagihan banyak Nyepi di Bali. Tahun ini juga semua serangkaian Nyepi terasa kembali normal. Normal dalam artian, kegiatan yang berhubungan dengan Nyepi sudah mulai dilaksanakan secara utuh. Karena 2-3 tahun sebelumnya masih nggak 100%, kali ini jauh lebih meriah.  Upacara dimana-mana. Jalanan ditutup, diputar, dimana-mana. Melasti yang bisa aja kalau kalian nggak tau ya "kejebak" macet. Gw nggak suka keramaian, tapi prosesi-prosesi kejutan yang gw nggak sengaja liat di jalanan tuh menyenangkan sekali. Riuhnya kerasa buat gw.  Big offerings 2-3 tahun lalu, seingat gw ATM tuh tutupnya H-1 Nyepi tapi jam-jam sore. Tahun ini jam 10 pagi ATM udah mati semua. Tahun ini juga gw tiba-tiba perlu urus visa yang mepet Nyepi, dengan janji temu hari kamis. Hari kamis ini masih ngembak geni, kegiatan belum ada yang 100%. Kalaupun ada pasti bukanya di atas jam 10 atau jam 1 siang.  Gw perlu print beberapa dokumen terakhir ...

Kantor Imigrasi Denpasar Sebagai penjamin visa (Visa kunjungan maupun KITAS nantinya), harus mendaftarkan diri ke website imigrasi. Hal-hal seperti data diri harus didaftarkan agar mendapatkan nomor ID sebagai penjamin. Nah, setelah 3 tahun sejak mendaftarkan diri sebagai penjamin, gw baru sadar kalau alamat rumah sudah berubah, KTP statusnya berubah, KK juga sudah berubah, tapi data masih yang lama sedangkan sudah harus mendaftarkan visa lagi.  Gw cari tombol untuk update profil penjamin di website imigrasi. Nyari muter ternyata nggak ada. Setelah tanya admin imigrasi, ternyata cara mengubah profil tersebut harus dengan mengirimkan email ke kasubdit visa. heheeeee! Setelah gw kirim email dengan format seperti surat formal, eh dibalesnya "mohon sertakan surat permohonan yang bertandatangan di atas materai" wkwkwkwkwkwkwk kenapa nggak sekalian gitu ngomongnya kemaren.  Gw pikir-pikir lagi, mepet nih kalau harus nunggu. Gw daftar ulang aja kali ya sebagai penjamin dg ID baru. E...

Sebagai pelaku kawin campur, meterai adalah hal kecil yang sering kali luput karena dikit-dikit tempel meterai untuk perihal pengajuan visa. Seringnya beli satu, dua taro dompet, eh nggak tau keselip di mana. Belum lagi kalau ternyata setelah dokumen dicetak - ditempel matere - lalu ditandatangani - kemudian discan, ini prosesnya kayak berulang banget dan bisa berkali-kali karena salah tanggal atau orang yang dituju atau dokumen udah keburu expired. Udah kecil, nggak murah, sering ilang pula wkwkwk.  e-meterai mulai diluncurkan tahun 2021. Gw belum pernah coba karena jujur masih bingung apa iya ini imigrasi nanti nerima e-meterai gw? Hingga hari ini, Januari 2023 gw harus kirim dokumen bermeterai untuk update alamat gw sebagai penjamin visa. Iya, nggak bisa via website langsung, harus kirim permohonan via email yang dilengkapi dokumen permohonan dg tanda tangan di atas meterai.  Hah hoh karena nggak ada printer di rumah, kalau ngeprint cuma perlu sebiji. Meterai udah ga ada ju...