A Home For My Thoughts

red square Nggak ada yang bikin gw 100% kaget dengan perbedaan, cuma rada syiksyaksyok aja dikit.  Beberapa bulan lalu gw ke sini buat jalan-jalan. Ada kenalan suami bilang, "Gila ya, orang Moskow tuh wangi-wangi banget. Penasaran banget pake parfum apa." Waktu itu beneran nggak ngeh karena lebih banyak bau rokok daripada parfum sih menurut gw. Orang Moskow kalo ngerokok 11-12 kayak orang Indonesia di warkop.  Tapi otak udah terpapar ide tersebut, jadi waktu gw balik lagi ke sini, eh beneran dong mereka di jalan tuh wangi banget. Wanginya nggak nusuk, malah blend-in banget sama sekitar jadi nggak yang tiba-tiba puyeng makbrengg gitu baunya. Enak banget. Iya bener juga, gw jadi penasaran mereka pake parfum apa. Gw pengen beli.  Orang bilang kalau orang Rusia tuh jarang senyum, kaku, yang mana gw rasain pas awal dateng ke sini. Tapi setelah tinggal di sini, nggak juga kok. Mereka senyum kalau kita ngobrol sama mereka. Emang sih beberapa tetep ada yang pahit tapi nggak semua...

Lembongan dan Ceningan Few days ago I picked up my husband from the airport. It was raining a lot so I had to go by taxi. We went through airport toll which I paid with my card. Then when we arrived, I gave him 20K for parking that cost actually 12k. Doesn't matter I give it with tip. So I didnt ask for change.  A few mins later I noticed a notification that said I got charged for 14K, the price for toll. I usually never notice any notification but that day was different. So I chatted him asking why am I being charged for toll that I paid myself. He said, and I quote, “oh that is automatically done by the app.” I checked on the app website it said that the app will automatically charge you toll price when the route it takes show that you’re going through a toll. Then I thought, “ah yea maybe he couldn’t change it.” So I told him, “alright sir then I will report it to the app so they can easily help me to refund the money.” You know what he said, “no please don’t mam. I will refund ...

Is it a place? Or a feeling?  Let's dive in.  I told a friend of mine that I am feeling close to home since I live in Bali. I have never felt of feeling home anywhere. Every after 2 years of living in a city, I had the itch to move. I definitely never felt home in my parents place. It's their place, not mine.  I did not know that until I left the town to study in another city. There was some sense of relieve that I was out of that town. Yea sure people thought it's weird. "It is your home, you were born there." Yes, that's the definition of having a house while growing up. I think. Not the sense of belonging.  I dared to explore that feeling.  I told myself, "Let's get out of this town and be free." I still visit my parents of course, but I never stay longer than a week. I don't belong there.  Moving cities a few times, for work, school, and ended up living in Bali. I even told myself that I would never move to Bali for living, with several l...

Bakso I have to admit that my love for cooking is growing. It's growing and I can't believe it myself. This feeling has been like this since probably two years ago. Before, cooking felt like a hard work that I had to fulfill. It still is, but the difference is I enjoy it now. So it does not feel like I am forcing myself.  Back then whenever I cooked, it's either wrong recipe or incorrect measurement. It never tasted right. So I gave up cooking just because I never found the right one. And then I started to feel that I wanna eat better. I don't want to just eat whatever, I want to know what goes into my body. If I prepare it myself, then I know it's good one.  I don't eat too much sugar, sometimes it is hard to buy one thing outside and has a lot of sugar in it. So cooking it myself will allow me to control the amount of sugar. So I found recipes and I tried to make them. As to my surprise, they taste right! Exactly how they should have tasted. That made me happy...

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...

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...