Breaking-Out My Comfort Zone

Living in comfort zone.
Have you ever experience it ?

I had ...
Almost three times from my entire working lifetime

Pertama , ketika kerja di SFER (oil and gas)
Kedua , ketika 'ngamen' di IBM
Kok cuma dua ?
Karena untuk yang ketiga, gue berhasil melawan keinginan gue untuk stay di comfort zone.

Jumat kemaren sore hari , ketika urusan kantor sudah nggak ada di otak sama sekali, line manager gue memberikan assignment yang buat gue personally mengejutkan. Mengejutkan , pertama : karena gue merasa nggak akan bisa lepas dari lingkaran delivery customer yang saat ini gue tangani , Kedua : karena gue mesti on board pada new assignment Senin besok.
YA sodara2 ... SENIN BESOK !!!!

Reaksi pertama ketika mendengar assignment tsb dalam hati menjerit .... WHYYYY ?!?!? ....

Rada kaget karena gue merasa :
1. I was doing fine on my current delivery with current customer.
2. Relationship dengan current customer udah lumayan. Gak sopisticated tapi cukuplah utk hidup sehari2 ... I mean, i consider myself to become proportionally acceptable in the eye of my current customer.
3. Di project berikutnya dengan curent customer gue report ke seorang teman yang buat gue reliable and one of the best (means hidup gue gak bakalan sengsara2 amat).
4. Di project berikutnya bakalan ada bbrp PM terlibat, thus i wont be alone

Tapi stl dipikir2 :
1. Bukannya salah satu aim gue adalah menjadi CFR ?
2. Bukannya ini kesempatan utk membuktikan bahwa gue ready utk lead the team by my own at totally different customer ? That good relationship with customer is not the only aspect for me to perform ? Its only one of the aspect.
3. Bukannya dari dulu pengen pegang project yang lebih ke "configuration oriented" rather than roll out oriented ? Actually IT WAS one of the reason why i was experiencing blind loyalty with IBM. There the type of project are more to consulting.

So I THINK and FEEL this is the time ...
ready nggak ready ...
I am ready :)

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Friends from the PAST that i hope can be friends for NOW and the FUTURE ...

Its end of october 2008 already. I recalled my 2008 Resolution and i remember that i should "push" myself to keep contact to all my friends. May be it was easy for other people but for me is not that easy. Having an introvert personality makes me always loosing words when talking to friends from the past.

Using FB to find old friends is the most convinient way for me. U dont have to go out, u dont have to say anything if you didnt feel comfortable and you can just search and hopes your old friends were also an internet freek :P

Lucky me, most of them are ... hahahaha.

The most Incredible result from FB is i found my old-time flatemate when i was in brisbane on 1998 thru Facebook !!!!!

Anyway, last weekend I had a what so called reunion with friends from Architecture class of 90. Thanks to Ochim and Ekky for their never ending energy and effort to keep the string attached between us.

Bad thing from this , i certainly feel old. I think only old people do reunion.
I hope my friends from the past can be my friends for now and the future ... then I FEEL YOUNG NOW !

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Laskar Pelangi : The Movie and The Books

Laskar Pelangi : book-1 ....

I bought it as my companion during "never ending" flight to Frankfurt last June.
Despite of getting familiar finding stack of this book in Gramedia, one of my colleague recommended me to read this amazing book. Even .... the lady sitting next to me on the flight encouraged me to read all the 3 books from Andrea Hirata, when i started to read it. She (from goethe institute) said , the book was good and funny . Ahhh ... it should be a very nice book then :)

I am not sure whether it was me , the flight, the project situation that i left behind or the book itself ... i could only read the first 15 pages then felt a sleep. There was no trigger in me to open the book also when transitting for 4 hours in Frankfurt before flying to Dublin .... and amazingly ... i kept it in my lugage . First Impression .... I dont like the book.

I am a devoted fan of Ayu Utami. I always expect people writting as good as she does ...
Then I realised ( i've tried to read Laskar Pelangi again for lowering down my stress) that the beauty of this book are on the sentences itself. If you are a thriller, mystery, suspen story or even a romantic novel fan , you will struggling reading this book. At least when you start it.

Laskar Pelangi , Sang Pemimpi, Edensor ...

Now i have finished reading the three books of tetralogi Laskar Pelangi from Andrea Hirata.
Edensor is my favourite , simply because the story flow more interesting. Laskar Pelangi book 1 is my second choice then Sang Pemimpi is last preffered. The story between those books somehow in somepart inconsistent.

The Movie ...

I like the book more than the movie (classical for ppl who read then watch)
People who didnt read the book wont understand how Mahar and Flo connected to each other with their Mystical Club, dont understand how mysterious Tuk Bayan Tula was , dont know the sad story of the Crocodille Whisperer , The Head Master is not passed away, How Fillicium tree has been the center of Laskar Pelangi activities. There is no Trapani that is ended on the mental hospital with his mom.

Many thing you will miss from the original story ... but it is still indeed a good movie

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The Guiness Storehouse, Dublin

I am not a fan of beer. I didnt know that Guiness, one of the famous beer, is originated from Ireland.

Mbak Anty told me that i should have a visit to the GUINESS Storehouse. And i took her suggestion.

After persuading Hery that The Guiness storehouse is kinda museum and he wont find any drunken master , he was agree to come with us.

It was me, Kesi and Adriane (the phillipine coursemate) that very anxious to go to the Guiness Storehouse.

After class, we took the DART to Tara st, walked to Aston Quay and catched the 78A bus. I wanst sure what was going on. But we missed the bus, because the driver said we must catch the bus line up on the front. In fact, his bus was the one that went off first from the Aston Quay. hrrrrrrrr ... i can not help myself to judge that Dubliners are not ready to welcome Asian tourist.Anyway, we finally made it to the bus stop not far from the Guiness Storehouse and took a nice stroll.

We got there almost 1700hr, suppose to be the latest daily tour. Anyway, tour at Guiness storehouse is a self guided tour. Here, we should have ourself very interested and read the brochure or you wont get the essential of visiting this place. I saw a group of people had tour-guide.

Anyway, we finished our self guided tour at the 7th level of the bulding. There is a place named The Gravity Bar where you can see the panoramic of Dublin City from above. We were eligible of a glass of Guiness beer. Since all of us not a fan of beer, then i asked whether we could have soft drink instead. And yes we could ....

We stayed there untill the bar closed.

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Dun Laoghire : my Daily Destination

Most of people works for E/// Ireland resides in this area.
My friend , back on the old days at NSN, stays in this area.
He is know working for E/// Ireland. There was one day when
i took a nice walk during lunch, I met him with his son. He
had just pick his son from school and took him back to his
house, and he still catch up the working hours after lunch.

What a nice life .... :)

Little bit unchallenging perhaps for some people hahahaha ...
Well it is back your personal preference.

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DART : The commuter train of Dublin

I am not sure what DART stands for. DART is the name of the commuter train in Dublin that i used during my stay in Dublin. It took me from Grand Cannal Station to Dun Laoghire station in approx.20 minutes. They sell weekly ticket costs EURO 17.40

If i had to Compare the commuter train between Jakarta-Brisbane-Singapore-Dublin , I choose Singapore MRT as the best.

Jakarta Commuter train is away from reliable apart of the fact that we have to be talented in rugby to get a seat on the train. Brisbane is okey, the train schedule always on time, the station is representative, route sign and the ticketing are good,the train itself not on top of the class but it is descent.

The DART station are very simple in compare to Singapore MRT station. Not much different with Brisbane train station, but DART station mostly smaller. I found very limited train route map placed on each station and none in the train. Quite uncomfortable for visitors, especially a person like me who love to read map. Luckly, there was voice and ticker announcement inside the train that helps alot.

A part of that, DART is standard and expectable :)

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Touch Down on Dublin

Flight LH 4896 to Dublin depart on 9.40 Frankfurt time. I believe it was 16.30 in Jakarta. We feel tired and dizzy at the same time. Combination of having low quality sleep and stiffed mussle after flying from Jakarta - Frankfurt.

We have to go outside the airport to be on the plane. It is time to face the real wheater of EUROPE. It was cold but acceptable. I was only wearing my cardigan. Simply because i saw many people only wore t-shirt some even wore short pant. I forgot, they live here .... My Javanese skin can not bear such cold especially the wind. Lucky me (this is the proove i am javanese), we were only outside not more than 15 minutes :)

The flight took 1.5 hour to reach Dublin. I can see from the sky , the pattern of clouds are different from what we can see when flying in Indonesia. the sky was so clear and the cloud was so thick underneath us. No wonder the tale about kingdom above the sky came from Europe. I dont think Indonesian have many story about kingdom above the sky. Simply because the cloud is pretty much grouping in different place. The king might fall down if there was kingdom above the sky in Indonesia hahahaa ....

When the flight slowly lower the height, it was felt like we go down from the cloud kingdom. Sky - cloud so white - Sea. I've never seen such experience. Feels like we were watching an opera and the curtain was open and there was the sea.

The plane keep lowering down the height and i was wondering ... where is the land ... where is the land. No body tell me that we would landed on the sea ... hahahaha. Everytime i landed in Jakarta airport, the plane was lowering down on the land that we can se the view of Jakarta city. Landing in Dublin is different.

Slowly we saw the land. The land of brave heart and U2 hahaha. And finally we touch down in Dublin. a 22 hours trip from Jakarta to Dublin finally ended. It was 11.30 in Dublin and it was 17.30 in Jakarta.

It is time to rest ... (we wish)

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a 22 hours trip to Ireland

I finally checked in on Lufthansa counter at 1700hr and found out that 4 (me, Kesi, Pramana and Hery) of us can not sit close to each other on the flight. That's fine. Its best for me to keep my "funny sleeping face" unaccesable :P

I sit on the middle (bad luck) of the right hand row. The flight number was LH779 using Boeing 747. I wish i could sit on the first class. It was located on the upper deck of the plane. Business class was okey, but economy class where i was sit , definitely a so so seat. The think that i found it was better than my 18 hours flight to America , the seat had a head holder (i dont know the precise name) that kept my head from steady during my sleep :)

We were transiting on Singapore and Frankfurt. Both city definitely apply strict security control in their airport. In Singapore we've been asked why we got the Ireland Visa at Singapore. Helooooo ..... there is no Ireland Embassy in Indonesia. We also had to place our laptop out from our cabin lugage (well every had to) to the x-ray belt. In Frankfurt , it was even worst. We have to put off our shoes and put it on the X-ray belt (most the people had to). And I've got body check by the lady in the airport ... gossshhh.

The Lufthansa's pilot from Singapore to Frankfurt did the touch down very smooth ... wuhuuuu. I've never got a flight with such Touch Down quality. Not from Garuda , even not from Lufthansa flight from Jakarta to Singapore :)

We stop in Frankfurt for 4 hours before heading to Dublin. The airport design is very high tech and the finishing definitely follow the concept of ..... My friends that are engineers complaining about the finishing of the airport. They can see some cable hanging behind the transparant ceiling hahahaha ... engineer vs architect ... different standard :P

I bought 2 post cards and send it to Ake from Frankfurt. Yet we still dindt feel being in europe hahahaha ....

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Flying for Ireland : a dream come true

Its D-2 days for me to fly out to Ireland.
It feels like dreaming that i finally can visit my cousin, mbak anty, in Dublin.

Ireland is not a popular destination for Indonesian people. for me it is more than that ...

Ireland is beyond my reach ... it is too far and the cost to go there is cost my fortune :P

Anyway, i will fly out there because my office send me to attend a training.

Actually we have this training also held in Kista Swedeen. But i try my best to match the schedule for attending the one in Ireland.

I will be there for 2 weeks. Studying and visiting family ... what a cool combination.

I consider myself as a lucky person.

I was very excited 3 months ago, when trying hard to defend my case to be sent for this training. Now, in the middle of Project Hassle, i feel like dreaming.

and within 2 days the dream will come true ...

i will try my best to write "the story of dream come true" in this blog.

Keep checking pls :)

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SOP SUMSUM: Sipirok @ Medan North Sumatera

Another special Food place I went during my visit to Medan was a place that serve Sop SumSum and Daging Bakar. SIPIROK located at Jl. Sinunggal 30 Medan North Sumatera.

Its a small humble restaurant that full with people having lunch when we went there. All of us had no idea how to order and what to order (they also serve foods other than Sop Sumsum). We just sit nicely and look arround first and then we decided to call the waitress.

In Java, the common name to call people is Mbak (sister) for woman and Mas (brother) for man. Here in Medan they won't response with that names. We should call them with KAKAK, similar meaning with mbak and mas. Kakak is refering for both brother (mas) and sister (mbak). You can only yell "KAK ... we want to order !" then they (either man or woman) will come to you.

Do you know what exactly Sumsum is ?
I am not sure whether sumsum is a pure Indonesia word or Javanese word to describe the semi-liquid things that is usualy located in the middle of the bone. Sop SumSum Sipirok is refering to Beef Bone.

As the standard of the serving, they provide us with 3 types of Sambal (chillis paste). One chilli mixed with Teri (anchovy) , second chilli mixed with little tiny shrimp (so tiny that the shrimps are very soft) with Pete (stinky bean but taste heaven hahaha), and the third chilli mixed with some sliced of boiled lamb. It was my first time to eat those chilli paste ... it was delicious and guarantee would bring up your appetite.

The Sop Sumsum (marrow) itself was served with the bone. It was very big that i felt just like ASTERIX eating the BIG roasted PIG ... hahahahaha. You have to forget about the table manner ... or you will end up starving at this restaurant :)

After you clean up the meat on the bone. Then it is time to get the SumSum. You should pour some soup to the whole on top of the bone. Put the straw on the hole ... and you can enjoy the SumSum ..... slrrrrrrrpppppppp ... yummy !

All that i need to warn ... becareful with your C (cholesterol) level :P

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Bolu Gulung Meranti : a tasty roll-tart in Medan , North Sumatera

Bolu Gulung means Roll-Tart in English and Meranti is the name of bakery that is very famous with its Bolu in Medan. It is located at Jl. Kruing No.2-K Medan (ph) +62 61 4538217

During my work visit in Medan last week, I've managed to dropped by to buy Bolu Meranti and bring it back to Jakarta.

The roll-tart is extraordinary delicious. It is very soft, taste not too sweet and much much more delicious from other roll tart.

I bouht four roll tart and they pack it in one handy cartoon box.

Meranti offer some bolu gulung variant.

There are (1) Bolu Gulung 3in1 : 3 mini roll tart with 3 different flavour in 1 box , only IDR 65K

(2) Bolu Gulung Standard : 1 standard size of roll tart with choices of flavour such as Cheese, Mocca, Strawberry, Pineapple for only IDR 35K and Blueberry for only IDR 40K.

(3) Bolu Gulung Special : 1 standard size of roll tart with choices of special flavour such as , Chocolate-almond, double chocolate for only IDR 50K , abon (dried seasoning shreded beef) for only IDR 55K and Coffee for only IDR 40K.

We can also asked to put topping on top of the roll tart, such as : cheese, mestjes and nuts with additional charge. We have to wait for other 15 minutes if we requested to add topping on the roll tart. Because they put the topping based on demand.

The roll tart can stay 3 days outside the fridge + 3 days inside the fridge (total 6 days). It is not recommended to put the roll tart straight to the fridge on the first 3 days, due to change in flavour.

There are other bread varieties in Meranti as shown on the picture bellow. It looks tasty also. Still Roll Tart is the icon of this bakery.

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The Mulia Hotel Jakarta : garage sale

The Garage Sale term had not been popular by most Indonesian (at least for me) till the 1997-1998 Economic Crisis. So many garage sale been advertised on those year. From my humble observation, Garage Sale in Indonesia originaly been used to get fast cash on hard economic time.













During the 1997-1998 economic crisis, so many employee got retrenched by their employer. The term of garage sale then evolve bluntly as "selling in garage" :)

Yes, so many people was starting their small business by selling things in their garage at that time. I even come up with hypotesis that The Garage Sale has been triggered the change of many properties from housing become commercial.

Anyway, helding a GARAGE SALE can not be interprete as Hotel Mulia going to change its business to become a furniture retail or second hand outlet. I think this is part of the strategy for getting the last economical value of their asset. Even for the asset with BIG ZERO value :)

As a wellknown five start hotel in Jakarta, Mulia Hotel have to keep up their quality of services. That is also include providing the best room and its peripherals. I do not believe a smile and a deep-from-heart service solely can make a hotel deserve a 5 thumbs up of customer satisfaction.

After replacing their furniture with the new one, they stored those furniture with Zero Value asset to their warehouse. And i should thank to the hotel management who came up with the bright idea to advertise their GARAGE SALE for public. It was published on Kompas Saturday. Thank GOD i read that ad.



So, there we were ... me and pipung (my hubby) on 0900hr sharp on Saturday last week ... hunting for some very "pocket friendly" furniture :)

I was a bit complaining about the "un-prepared" hotel staff for handling the selling. But being able to find some good stuffes with price of 1/10 from the brand new one .... I think i should keep my mouth Shut ... hahahahaha.

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Soto Ceker Gandaria : Our Rendez-Vouz Corner

My Gratitude to Handoyo who helps editing my "so-so" english to become more consumable :)

Soto Ceker @ Gandaria st, South Jakarta

It is a simple hawkers located at the gandaria park area , Southern Jakarta. Soto Ceker is only open at evening time. but do not come too late, or you wont get any soto at all.

I went to this place first time arround 10 years ago.
The soto was my favourite food, as well as my fellow friends' and the place used to be the rendez-vouz corner for me and my husband.

Nowadays, Soto Ceker Gandaria has become very famous. Especially, after Bondan Winarno dropped by and reported the tasty soto on his On-Air Food Show.

Soto Ceker is a clear yellow soup that originated from Solo Central Java. They put slices of cabbage, sprout and vermicelly. The soto is served with tender Ceker (chicken feet).

There are two ways to serve Soto Ceker . You can ask them to either separate the rice and the yellow clear soup (soto), or have the rice and the soto being served in one bowl (i prefer this one). The tender chicken feet (ceker) will be served in the same bowl with the yellow clear soup. If you choose to have the rice served with the soto in one bowl, then please be prepared to receive a full bowl of everything

They also provide some side dishes that go very well with the Soto Ceker: a variety of satays. You can select among the chicken liver, clam, or quail egg - all skewered

When i worked for NSN , my husband and I used to drop by at the Soto Ceker more than twice a week. It has become our Rendez-Vouz corner. It is just happened that the ambience of Soto Ceker hawker is romantic. They arrange some open air seating with a candle on each table. With no other lighting on the table, it surely feels like having a "candlelight dinner".

My husband loves the Soto, but he doesn't like the Ceker. I think, he can not eat ceker because everytime he sees ceker he feels like the chicken is asking him to do a HIGH FIVE hahahaha ....

I dropped by to Soto Ceker on a Friday two weeks ago, together with my husband. I have just finished troubleshooting at a client site. It was late and my stomach could not wait any longer to have dinner.

It is surely still a romantic but simple Rendez-Vouz corner.

Soto Ceker reminds us of the years when our life was not as good as today.

And we are very thankfull of what we've got now ....

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The 10th years of our friendship

Disclaimer :
These post also been posted to brisbanelate90.blogspot.com


"Gelarkan karpet merah !" ...
Siapa sih yang nggak ndredeg (baca: gementaran) mendapat titah dari negara kerajaan The United Kingdom.

Selain titah yang bikin ndredeg ini , pepatah "tak ada gula maka tak ada semut" adalah pepatah manjur untuk memastikan terselenggaranya Brisbane Late 90's reunion. Sudah bukan rahasia lagi perbedaan pekerjaan, kesibukan dan masih banyak alasan lain menjadikan reuni adalah Mission Imposible.

Jadi , siapa yang kita korbankan menjadi "gula" dan siapa2 aja semutnya ?

Kalau kita tarik benang merah , secara umum what so called BrisbaneLate90-ers meninggalkan Brisbane sekitar tahun 1998. Sudah 10 tahun berlalu, dan selama 10 tahun berselang ... metode untuk selalu Keep-In-Touch dilakukan dengan sangat sporadis !

Ada yang email2an ...
Ada yang SMS2an ...
Ada yang Telpon2an ...
Ada yang janjian lunch ...
Ada yang janjian dinner ...
Ada yang janjian ngopi ...
Ada yang chat di YM ...
Ada yang bikin blog ... hehehehe
Ada ide nggak metode lain yang sudah digunakan untuk tetep keep-in-touch ?

Balik ke soal semut dan gula tadi.

Ketika, titah "si karpet merah" diteriak-kan (bukan tenda biru untungnya) timbul-lah ide untuk menjadikan hal ini moment untuk bertemu. Selain "si karpet merah" juga ada Use2beBrisbaners yang sekarang telah menjadi Melbournese sedang pulang kampung ke Jakarta. Rasanya cukup deh gulanya ....

Agenda (Gula) reriungan kali ini adalah :
1. Ketemu dengan mbak Inni dan mas Ismet yang baru pulang For Good dari Leeds.
2. Ketemu duo Melbournese Atje+Disky yang lagi mudik
3. Nyelametin bang Syarif atas kelahiran putra ke - 3 nya
4. Nyelametin Ratna Happy belated birthday
5. Ngobrol
6. Makan at your own cost :)

Setelah tragedi gejala alzheimer pada sang EO - yang bolak balik salah menyebut tanggal - berakhir, akhirnya reuni kali ini berhasil diselenggarakan dengan selamat pada tanggal 2 April 2008, rabu , di Urban Kitchen Senayan City , pukul .... ini Jakarta bung ... jadi maafkan kalo rada telat ... well, kita qorum sekitar pukul 19.30 lah ...

Semut2 yang berhasil datang adalah :
arenita, hayato, inni, ismet, atje, disky, tony, anti, andri, eko, abi, yani, astrid, lintang
selusin lebih dikit ... not bad lah :)

Sayangnya gula2 kita yaitu bang Syarif dan Ratna berhalangan datang ...
Bang Syarif ... masih mesti berjaga di RS pasca persalinan anjel sang istrinda.
Sementara Ratna berhalangan hadir karena ada tugas pokok yang harus dilaksanakan.
Anyway, ratna kayanya bisa mengendus rencana gue utk kasih cup cake dan nancepin lilin satu buat ditiup.
Untungnya sang ibu Ratna memberi aba2 sebelumnya. So, budget EO nggak keburu keluar utk beli cup cake ... hehehe ....

Ketika bertemu ...
Mbak Inni dan Mas Ismet bener2 awet muda .... gituuuu aja dari jaman 10 tahun yang lalu.
Hayato juga , bahkan suami gue komentar "siapa ya tadi yang aku salamin pake kaos, kayanya masih muda" ... (wattttttttttttt ... emang istri lo udah tuwak ya .... ***pikir gue***)

Atje always looks beautifull, Disky tambah langsing, Tony teteppp kaya dulu yang berubah hanya sekarang pelihara brewok, Anty tambah seger (seger lo ya tiiiii), Eko juga tambah seger (Ko, pasti lo gak pernah ke gym lagi deh), Abi dan Yani masih sama aja kaya dulu jugaaa (kata suami gue, owww bener ... ini yang waktu itu gue datengin ama luky. Abi masih inget duo dari mercer kah ? hehehehe), Andri adalah potret eksekutif muda, Astrid tetep spt yang dulu, Lintang masih imut2 tapi grown-up yaaa ... perasaan dulu mudaaa bener (ya lah 10 tahun yang lalu gitu loch) ...

Cerita yang kita share

Mulai dari update "what u've been doing lately ?" sampe cerita ttg UK beserta fakta2 yang mencengangkan ttg-nya dari mbak Inni, penemuan2 terbaru dari bidang manufacturing oleh Mas Ismet hingga pembicaraan seputar Jakarta yang makin konsumtif dan tidak bersahabat. Sayangnya telinga gue gak cukup panjang utk menangkap pembicaraan sudut seberang. Tapi keliatannya seru juga diskusinya.

So What NEXT ?

Ketika malam mulai larut, akhirnya kita mendapatkan undangan yang ditunggu2 ... yaitu reriungan di Bandung. Karena ide awal tercetus dari Eko dan di-amin-i oleh mbak inni dan mas ismet, rasanya sangat tepat jika bapak Eko kali ini kita daulat menjadi EO untuk acara di Bandung.

Apakah "gula" kita di Bandung nanti ??? hmmmm .... gimana kalo Mbak Endang + Mas Gam
Untuk Long Term nya , kita ketemu deh untuk halal bihalal 2009. Atje ama Disky mau mudik lagi

Thank you all for coming .... Astrid, Lintang, Andri ... terimakasih mau dateng ke acara yang "tuwak2" ini. Really appreciate ... lain kali mungkin bisa di-combine sama temen2 yang lain ya.

Mohon maaf kalau ada kesalahan dalam penulisan maupun ucapan.

Sampe ketemu lagi di BANDUNG !

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The Bali Beaches

Kalau pertanyaan "di Bali mau ngapain aja ?" diajukan kepada Ake. She will simply answer "Playing sand on the beach". Sederhana khan ?
Alasan itu menjadi motto kita dalam menentukan priority aktifitas selama di Bali. Yang hasilnya nggak jauh dari kepantai .. kepantai dan kepantai ... plus kulit jadi item :)
Mau tahu dimana aja Ake mengotori badan nya dengan pasir ?

Kita landing di Bali sekitar pukul 11:00 WITA. Transfer ke hotel check in dan berada dikamar sekitar pukul 12:00. dan ditengah siang bolong terik matahari Bali itulah kita ke pantai yang kebetulan hanya selemparan batu dari kamar kita.

Alat2 untuk bermain pasir sudah dipersiapkan dari jakarta. Cuma dua sih ... Sekop dan garpu pasir berukuran besar. Gue sempet lihat ada cetakan sand castle di Toy R Us. Bagus deh. Kalau pake alat tersebut, sand castle kita bakalan cantik dan bagus spt yang sering kita liat di iklan2 dan cerita anak2 itu. Tapi harganya IDR130K. I think its too much. Gue cuma beliin Ake sekop dan garpu pasir aja. Soal cetakan, nanti aja dipikirin.

Dihari yang sama pada malam harinya kita dinner di Jimbaran. Sayang ketika datang hujan sedang turun. Sehingga kita terpaksa makan di dalam. Bener2 nggak seru. Untungnya (dasar jawa), ketika selesai makan hujan berhenti dan kita langsung pindah duduk ke pantai. Ake otomatis tanpa basa-basi bermain pasir with her bare hand. Haduhhhh .... saat main pasir sih dia gak peduli. Saat mau pulang dia mengeluh "itchyyyy". Terpaksa kita bersih2 dulu di toilet restaurant.

Di Sanur, setelah selesai mengepang rambut. Ake langsung bermain2 pasir dan berlari2 dipinggir pantai. She definitely loves the sand and the beach. Nggak abis pikir gue ...

Tanah Lot, merupakan pengalaman tersendiri buat Ake. Akhirnya dia tau, nggak selamanya pantai itu berpasir lembut dengan ombak bersahamat. Tanah Lot adalah pantai cadas dengan ombak super ganas yang memecah karang2nya. Still she enjoys it.

Hari terakhir di Bali, Hujan mengguyur subuh dengan deras. Rencana melihat sun rise gagal total. Tetapi langit bersih membuat pemandangan pantai Nusa Dua Beach Hotel jadi cantikkk banget. Gunung sebagai background dan langit yang tak begitu terik menemani Ake membangun sand castle nya.

Guess What ! i found the bucket. Kita makan siang di KFC hari sebelumnya, dan gue memilih memesan paket ayam didalam ember .... hahahahha.

Satu2nya pantai dimana Ake hanya bisa menendang2 pasir adalah pantai Tanjung Benoa. Well, mana sempat ya .... pergi ke Turtle Island dan melihat ikan2 dengan Glass Bottom boat rasanya lebih menarik perhatian :)

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oh NPWP oh SPT ....

DISCLAIMER :
Saya bukan ahli pajak. Hanya orang awam yang harus bayar pajak dan sempet "be te" atas impact yang saya alami akibat memiliki NPWP. Perhitungan dan pendapat saya hanya pendapat pribadi dan tidak bisa dijadikan referensi.

Bulan maret adalah bulan penting buat kami2 yang mempunyai NPWP.
Yah Nomor Pokok Wajib Pajak. Departemen keuangan INdonesia dus Direktorat Jendral Pajak menggalakan NPWP. Jika anda bekerja pada perusahaan2 besar, karyawan alias pekerja spt kita diharuskan mempunya NPWP ... bisa diartikan sbg "paksa daftar NPWP"

demikian juga dengan Gue ...

Tapi ada satu hal yang mungkin gue (atau hanya bbrp orang) yang belom tau. Bahwa jika kita pindah kerja dipertengahan tahun ... saat pelaporan pajak di tahun berikutnya kemungkinan besar kita mesti "nombok" si pajak dari kocek sendiri.

Mau tau kasus yang gue alami ????

Untuk menghitung pajak penghasilan pertahun, pemerintah Indonesia mengenakan pajak berlapis. Tujuannya utk membebankan pajak ringan bagi yang berpenghasilan kecil dan pajak besar utk yang berpenghasilan tinggi.

Skemanya sebagai berikut :
Penghasilan pertahun sebesar IDR 12.300.000,- dihitung bebas pajak.
5% utk penghasilan IDR 25.000.0000 pertahun
10% utk penghasilan IDR 25.000.000 - 50.000.000 pertahun
15% utk penghasilan IDR 50.000.000 - 100.000.000 pertahun
35% utk penghasilan IDR 100.000.000 - 200.000.000 pertahun
sisanya gue gak inget

Nah misalkan kita bekerja untuk perusahaan A dari Januari - Juni tahun 2007 dengan

gross salary perbulan IDR10.000.000 , maka Penghasilan kena pajak pada perusahaan A adalah sebesar :
Total gross salary bulan1-6 kena pajak = IDR 60.000.000 - 12.300.000 = IDR 47.700.000
Pajak Lapis 1 = 5% x 25.000.000 = IDR 1.250.000
Pajak Lapis 2 = 10% x 27.700.000 = IDR 2.770.000
Total pajak yang otomatis dibayar perusahaan A = IDR 4.020.000

Trus ceritanya kita pindah ke perusahaan B, dan naik gross salary jadi IDR 12.000.000
Total gross salary bulan 7-12 kena pajak = IDR 72.000.000 - 12.300.000 = IDR 59.700.000
Pajak Lapis 1 = 5% x 25.000.000 = IDR 1.250.000
Pajak Lapis 2 = 10% x 34.700.000 = IDR 3.470.000
Total pajak yang otomatis dibayar perusahaan B = IDR 4.740.000

Jadi total pajak yang secara otomatis telah dibayar perusahaan tempat kita bekerja adalah IDR 8.740.000

Nah ketika kita melaporkan di lembar laporan pajak. Nilai gross salary kita setahun yang terkena pajak adalah :
Bulan 1 - 6 perusahaan A = IDR 60.000.000
Bulan 7 - 12 perusahaan B= IDR 72.000.000
Total gross salary pertahun adalah IDR 132.000.000 (lalu dikurangai IDR 13.200.000)
Total pendapatan kena pajak = IDR 119.700.000

Pajak lapis 1 5% * 25000000 = IDR 1.250.000
Pajak lapis 2 10%* 25.000.000= IDR 2.500.000
Pajal Lapis 3 15% * 69.700.000= IDR 10.455.000
Total pajak = IDR 14.205.000

Artinya , ada selisi jumlah terbayar oleh perusahaan A dan B ke pajak dengan yang harus kita bayar , yaitu IDR 14.205.000 - IDR 8.740.000 = IDR 6.465.000

So, kalo mau pindah kerja .... usahakan diawal atau akhir tahun
atau at least dengan perbandingan 3:9 dalam setahunnya antara berusahaan satu dengan lain.

otherwise, join the club .... BODONG !
kalo udah gini , pengen nembak koruptor deh ! gue yang banting tulang mereka yang minta setoran.

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Bali Marine and Safari Park here we go ...

Yup, bener !
Bali Marine and Safari Park adalah adik dari Taman Safari Indonesia yang berlokasi di Cisarua Bogor. Terhitung masih sangat baru di Bali, karena sebelum gue pergi dan mencoba browsing on the net. Web nya masih "under construction" terus2an.

Bali Marine and Safari Park lebih comfortable dibanding Singapore Zoo. Tapi memang berhubung masih baru ... masih rada "sepi" kesan dari koleksi hewan2nya.

Bali Marine and Safari Park berlokasi di kabupaten Gianyar Bali. Bener2 dicoba dan dirancang sebagai icon pariwisata untuk daerah Gianyar (and it better be), karena berkendara ke BMSP ini memakan waktu sekitar 2 jam dari Nusa Dua.
BMSP mempunya konsep yang sedikit berbeda dari Taman Safari Indonesia Cisarua (TSIC). Di TSIC kendaraan pribadi diperbolehkan masuk ke areal satwa dan kebanyak pengunjung membawa makanan berupa wortel utk diberikan pada hewan2. Di BMSP kita diharuskan berkendara dengan mobil yang disediakan pihak BMSP. Dusss, kita gak perlu bayar biaya masuk mobil dan supir yang menyertai kita. Mobil tersebut disertai dengan seorang narator yang menjelaskan semua hewan yang dilewati. Dusss , yang boleh ngasih makan ke hewan2 ya cuma sang narator saja.

Karena menggunakan mobil dari BMSP, jalur2 dalam areal binatang tersebut dibuat sedekat mungkin dengan binatang dan se natural mungkin. Contohnya , trek melewati rawa dan sungai buatan. Trek untuk melihat Kuda Nil dibuat melewati kolam kuda nil tersebut. Sehingga kita bisa melihat sang kuda nil tenggelam dan perlahan2 muncul sedemikian dekat dari mobil.

BMSP juga menyediakan areal Fun World. Disana terdapat Water World (lebih gede dari water park di science center Singapore) tapi tentu saja hanya seujung jari dari Water Boom :) Ake paling enjoy di area Water World ini. Selain itu juga ada bbrp ammusement.

Basically, BMSP is fun. Tapi karena berlokasi di Bali harapan gue rada melambung tinggi. Salah satu contoh, keramahan para penjaganya. Ramah2 sih , tapi pada pendiemmm ... bandingkan dengan jika kita berkunjung ke Movie World atau Disney. Mungkin karena kendala bahasa juga, padahal pengunjungnya banyak tourist asingnya juga lo .... Berasa apa ya ... kaya di lepas di kebon. Nggak ada yang ngasih tau mesti ngapain dan kemana. Contoh, bahwa kita mesti antri di jalur2 utk menuju terminal utama ke pemberhentian berikutnya. Baris satu mesti ke mana dll dsb ... bener2 dilepas di kebon.

BTW, BMSP juga menyediakan villa2. View bagian belakang villa tersebut menghadap ke areal hewan2.

Komentar gue, BMSP mesti berusaha keras supaya jadi icon nih. Ntah ammusementnya dibanyakin atau gemana. Its a quiet long drive to go there tho :P

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Hair Plaiting N Nail Art @ Sanur Beach

Salah satu cita2 gue ketika pergi ke bali adalah ngepangin rambutnya AKE. Seperti biasa gue do the research by browsing on the net. Awal nya gue pergi ke Sanur karena di salah satu web (bali for kids) ada rekomendasi tempat bikin kepang yang rapi di Lulu 1 atau Lulu 2 di deket Grand Bali Beach.

Sayang gue nggak menemukan tempat itu. Mungkin didalam areal hotel. Cuma gue gak minat deh ngepangin di hotel. Jadi kita ke pantai SANUR nya ajah.

Di sana kita cari tukang mengepang rambut, untung ketemu. Pantai Sanur didekat sisi Grand Bali Beach nggak terlalu ramai pengunjung ... tapi memang pantainya nggak semenarik KUTA.

So demi kepang mengepang kita duduk lah di situ. Pertamanya sih cuma Ake doang yang mau dikepang. Tapi lama2 Dian tertarik juga. Jadilah ikutan di kepang.

Menurut si tukang kepang, sebenernya sulit utk ngepang rambut anak2. Karena mereka cenderung nggak bisa diem gitu dan nahan rada2 sakit. Namanya juga dikepang kecil2 ... Awalnya Ake diem. Tapi lama2 dia bosen dan mulai 'usreg'. So gue pinjemin HP gue spy dia bisa main game. Diem deh ...

Abis di kepang , si tukang kepang nawarin ake utk di kasih kutex. Berhubung ake nya udah mengacungkan tangan ... so akhirnya dibikin juga deh what so called nail art.
Gue sih merasa kurang canggih menawar, kita bayar IDR50,000 utk ngepang dan IDR10,000 utk nail art.

ahhhh ... yang penting Ake seneng dengan hair stylenya yang baru .... :)

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Staying @ Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa

Nusa Dua Beach Hotel ...
Hotel paling tua di kawasan Nusa Dua Bali.

Setelah browsing sana sini dan membaca semua comment di tripadvisor plus melihat isi dompet dan mempertimbangkan membawa Ake, akhirnya gue memutuskan utk stay di Nusa Dua Beach Hotel Bali untuk menghabiskan Easter Long Weekend kali ini. Pilihan gue nggak salah, gue puas stay di Nusa Dua Beach. Alasannya sederhana aja, karena hotel ini tenang, terawat dan punya "beautifull beach" ... sesederhana cita2 Ake yang pengen main pasir di pantai sampai puassshhh ....

Kita menginap dari tanggal 19-22 Maret 2008 ini. Tadinya rencana utk pergi ber-4 ... gue , pipung, ake dan dian. Tapi namanya juga manusia berencana (tepatnya rencananya udah dari tahun lalu, dan booking tiket plus hotel plus dibayar lunas dari January), Tuhan juga yang menentukan. Akhirnya kita berangkat cuma ber-3 , karena pipung mesti stand by di Jakarta karena bokap mertua masih stay di RS. So basically meningan rugi 1 tiket daripada rugi 4 tiket ehehehehe ...

Gue menamakan hotel Nusa Dua sebagai Squirrel Beach Hotel. Di hotel ini banyakkk banget tupai2 kecil berkeliaran, demikian juga dengan burung. Burung sih biasa ya ... terus terang gue baru sekarang melihat tupai beneran :P

Sebenernya kalo kita bisa bangun pagi, Sun Rise bisa dilihat dari pantai hotel ini. Sayangnya ketika kita niat pasang alarm dan bangung pagi ... eh pagi terakhir itu HUJAN DERAS. SO we missed the sun rise.

Kolam renang jg oke, cuma kita nggak berenang sama sekali. Kebanyakan main di pantai nya setiap pagi.

Sarapan di Wedang Jahe so yummy ... terutama cold dish nya ... wah sedap deh.

Ada satu kejadian. Gue ketinggalan Kamera gue di lobby ketika kita mau pergi visiting Bali Marine and Safari Park. Ketika sampai di Bali Marine baru sadar kalo kamera tertinggal. Gue telpon 108 di bali dan telpon ke Hotel. Thank GOD mereka menemukannya dan menyimpannya buat gue.

Satu hal ajah. Makanannya MAHALLLL booooo ....

Buat yang seneng liburan dengan tema "leyeh2" Nusa Dua Beach Hotel adalah tempat yang OK banget. Tapi kalo senengnya jalan di keramaian dan belanja belanji, mendingan tinggal di daerah kuta aja sih.

This is a great hotel ... sepadan lah dengan harga paket dari Bayu Buana (tiket garuda dan hotel) ....

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