Every day has its own story

Pernah kuberharap akan menemukanmu kembali di masa depan. Ketika kenangan masa muda menjadi kembang gula yang manis rasanya, dan kita tertawa bersama menikmatinya. Namun apa yang kutemukan kini sungguh berbeda. Album tentang kita kutemukan di dasar kotak lamaku, tersimpan berdebu, terlihat usang dan begitu tua. Dan harapan itu hanya menjadi kenangan bahwa aku pernah berharap. Karena seperti dunia, kita pun semakin tua, dan jalan kita menjadi semakin berbeda. Entah untuk apa dan kepada siapa kutuliskan kalimat-kalimat tak berkesudahan ini. Mungkin untuk sepotong bayang sempurnamu. Ya, aku melukiskan mu dengan sempurna. Tentu saja tak nyata, tapi tak apa. Ah, lagi-lagi aku mengigau.

Welcome to the world Mikaela Theona Christabel! I wish I can visit you very soon :)

When we were not even ten years old, we looked at the world with amazement. Grown up people looked weird and whatever they did seemed strange for us. We had our joyful and playful world. There was a small room behind my grandpa's room. It was full of old books, newspapers, and magazines. For them it's just trash, for me it's hidden treasure, and I spent the whole day there reading. When we were teens, we were confused with all the changing. Our body changed, they way we think changed, the world seemed so confusing. We tried to deal with that, but failed a lot. We weren't a kid anymore, but not yet an adult. So many times I argued with my mom. She didn't like my friends, she didn't like the boy who had crush on me. I just couldn't understand why only school matters for her. When we were twenties, we stood up bravely. We wanted to conquer the world. Everything looked perfect, or would be perfect. People come and go, friends, boyfriends, co-workers. But did it ...

There's nothing special about this photo. I took it while I jogged/walked around Valley Forge Park. As summer already passed, I miss the park so much :|

Thanks to Albert, Fina, Teka, Tata, & Andy to help me moving to Collegeville two weeks ago. It's not a luxury apartment, not even have my own garage or washer n dryer, but it's more than enough for me :) Finally, I have my own place. Not renting a room in somebody's house or living with a friend anymore ...

Twilight Stephenie Meyer Little, Brown, and Company Paperback, 2006. 498 pages Fork was a small town with the most rainy days where Bella Swan lived with his dad after her mother was remarried. The Cullens was a strange family in the town, with strangely beautiful pale faces, whom people gossiping as a family of vampires. Yet Bella couldn’t resist to fall into Edward, the youngest of the Cullens. As written at the back cover of the page, she was insanely in love with this gorgeous vampire. About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him – and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be – that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him. Her love affair reminds me of insane naive puppy love belongs to every teenager. Where nothing matters but today, and when love requires nothing but itself. While I didn’t find strong plot and characters as in Harry Potter, yet something keeps ...

In my conversation today with one of my female co-worker, she told me how hard it is to be a female engineer and a mother at the same time. I admit it whole-heartedly. She is just two year older than me, has been working in this company for more than four years as an automation engineer, and also a mother of one and a half years old daughter. Not like in Indonesia where we can afford maid to do household work, families in US do not usually have that kind of luxuries. So becoming a working mother really means a double job, that a woman has to work at least 8 to 5 everyday, then rushing to take her daughter from day-care (who charge a late fee of $10/minutes if parents pickup their kids later than 6 pm), preparing dinner for whole family, etc, etc. Even worse, the 8 to 5 schedule is sometimes just not enough. Like today, we have to work on weekend to get jobs done on time. The nature of our industry also requires traveling to customer sites within US, from West Coast to East Coast. Even ...

Tadi siang temen gw tiba2 nanya gini, "Do you miss Indonesia ? Or you just miss your family ?" Gw sempet diem sebelum njawab. Bukannya gw nggak kangen Indonesia, tapi gw nggak bisa ngedeskripsiin apa yang benernya gw kangenin.

Last week everything turned out alright :) Jumat siang, dengan restu teman2 kantor :p gw cabut dari kantor, walaupun area leader gw ngajakin meeting buat next recipe, tapi dia bilang "Go ahead and don't worry about the meeting, you better get your license today :p" . Jam 12.30an, gw dijemput sama orang dari driving school, dan ngebutlah kita ke DMV Norristown ngejar ujian jam 2 siang. Gw deg2an banget, apalagi karena udah gagal 1x. Kalau gw fail lagi, means that I screw everything up. Karena in the next four weeks para tebengan bakalan cabut ke site di Oregon (gak mungkin kan gw jalan 2 mile ke kantor), kontrak apartment gw habis akhir September dan gw harus cari apartment baru, dan ada chance gw bakalan dikirim ke Oregon juga (walaupun bukan shift pertama). Tapi above it all, hidup tergantung sama orang lain itu sucks. Gw gak bisa bebas ke mana-mana, gak bisa cari kegiatan dan temen2 sendiri (temennya ya cuman temen dari temen gw), gak ada social life sama sekali. Nyampe...

I am trying to tell myself that I am going to be OK . That I won't fail again, yes, I am going to pass the driving license test this Friday. I will make it. I will make it. I just need to take a deep breath, and no need to worry about little stuffs. Yep, I am going to get my license this Friday, so this weekend will be a perfect time to buy a car! Remember Mita, just think about the car you've always wanted. Just think that you'll be able to drive to countryside, don't let anything bother you. You know that you can do that, you only need to be a lil bit calmer.

When I was a little girl, I heard a lot of stories about far-away lands from my mother. She told me stories that she got from my father's letters when he was away. Our family was apart for four years. My father went to school to Montpelier, France while my Mom raised my brother and me in Yogyakarta. Every other year Dad visited us, brought a lot of books and pictures home. Pictures of Versailles, Lourdes, Marseilles, Spain, and a lot more. He told us many stories, brought me from our little home to those countries, although only in imagination. Since that day, I convinced myself that someday, when I grow up, I will see those places with my own eyes :) About twenty some years later, my turn came. I stand here, a few thousand miles away from home. About once a week I call home, talked to my parents about this place. About the harsh winter in Pittsburgh, about my new town near Philadelphia, about my new job. I might not be here if my father never brought me those pictures, told me st...

Belakangan banyak orang nanya ke gw, benernya kerjaanmu itu ngapain sih :D ? Yang nanya mulai dari orang yang cuman kenal online, sampe Shirley, my best female friend in Austin :D, hahaha. Shirley aja nanya, gimana yang laen :p Taruhan bokap nyokap gw gak tau gw kerja di perusahaan apa, hihihi :p Most of the time I can not explain it clearly :p, sampai tadi pun pas harus ngirim resume buat apply permanent position, hiring managernya telpon gw nyuruh gw benerin section job desc gw yang sekarang, hahaha. *Yes, finally they say that they're willing to hire me permanently :)* So, what am I actually working on? They call me "recipe writer/recipe author" Too bad it's not food recipe as you might have in mind. Stuff that so called recipe here is manufacturing work-flow in pharmaceutical / life science industry. Imagine that in order to make a drug there are a lot of highly-regulated processes involved, like: preparing equipments, making sure equipments are clean and sterile...

Selamat ulang tahun Sofi , maaf telat :D. Kemaren tante sibuk sih, sibuk jalan-jalan ke Pittsburgh, hahaha. Pake acara ketinggalan bis dan ketiduran di kereta pula (almost missed the station :p ) Anyway, semoga Sofi cepet gede, tambah pinter, tambah centil seperti mama, dan sehat selalu. Jangan nakal ya, hmmm, I am wondering kalau mamanya bandel begitu apa mungkin Sofi tar gedenya jadi anak manis, hehehe. Tar kalo udah gede, moga2 mamanya Sofi nggak galak-galak, hihihi. *wink-wink* Peluk cium, Tante Mita, yang belum pernah nengokin Sofi.

This is my numero-uno weakness. Once I am nervous, I am falling apart :) There's been many occasion where nervousness has brought me to failure or at least uncomfortable situations ... Long long time ago, when I was still in Jakarta, there were countless interviews that I couldn't get through because I was nervous and thus being less confident :|, takes me five years to finally can face interviews with nothing to loose mentality, get a potential descent job (I didn't take the offer finally). This nervousness and low confident made some people took advantages of me, including some random people like the one who rent my Cibinong home and my previous landlord. About three weeks ago, my company had an internal audit. As a newest team member - plus the fact that I am only a contractor, obviously I am the target of the auditors. Oh well, I was being picked up to get audited, could not answer some questions straight-forwardly, and finally became the "celebrity of the day...

Masihkah tajam dan pahitkah humormu? Seperti asap rokok dan teman kopi kentalmu? Masih sayukah matamu? Menyimpan bentang tak terduga yang tak pernah bisa kutebak. Masih pula kah kau menyisakan waktu untuk buku-buku, atau hanya debu kamarmu sajalah yang menemani lembar-lembar kertas itu? Aku rindu pada cerita yang ada di tumpukan bukumu. Aku rindu pada pahitnya humormu, sepahit caramu memandang dunia. Tapi sudah, cukup di situ saja rinduku. Sudah cukup seribu satu rindu kukatakan tempo hari. Maka hari ini, rindu ku cukup berhenti pada kenangan saja lah.

Dear sobat lama, Sekarang semuanya terasa lebih ringan. Jalan di depanku masih saja tampak tak berujung, tapi kujalani saja, tanpa mencoba menyusuri jejak langkah di belakangku. Menengok ke belakang sih masih, tapi hanya satu dua detik, dan setelah napas panjang, kulanjutkan kembali perjalananku. Kunikmati setuntasnya perjalanan ini, hal-hal remeh temeh yang ada sehari-hari. Ada sahabat lama yang selalu mensupport-ku, teman-teman sekerja yang membuatku tertawa, teman-teman baru yang banyak membantuku akhir2 ini. Ada pula hiburan-hiburan kecil dan liburan-liburan singkat, yang semuanya membuat hidup terasa lebih ringan. Tentu saja aku tak luput dari masalah. Belum sempat kuceritakan tentang landlord brengsek dan keputusan mendadakku untuk pindah apartment, $$$ yang melayang karena aku kurang hati-hati, rencana ke depan yang tampaknya harus diubah total, dan daftar panjang yang harus kulakukan dalam tiga bulan ke depan : kursus menyetir, mengurus sim, mencari apartment baru (lagi!), pack...

Dear sahabat, Masihkah ingat pondok di tebing bukit tempat kita bertualang di masa muda kita dulu? Bukit cantik dengan birunya laut yang terbentang di hadapan kita. Bukit yang nyaris membuatku menyerah. Kau tahu sendiri betapa buruknya kakiku + keseimbangan badanku, dan berapa banyak ledekan yang kuterima dari mantan pacarmu ketika ia melihatku jatuh terguling-guling di Tangkuban Perahu. Sialan :) Seminggu yang lalu, kenangan itu tiba-tiba menyeruak ketika aku mendaki bukit tandus yang garang dan sombong ini. Enchanted rock , begitu orang menyebutnya. Awalnya aku tak mengerti, apa pula yang menawan dari bukit ini. Hanya seonggok batu jelek, jauh sekali dibandingkan bukit cantik di tepi pantai itu. Dengan nafas yang hampir putus karena berbulan-bulan tak olahraga, dan gengsi yang tak bisa di-diskon karena teman-teman sudah jauh di depanku, akhirnya kupanjat juga si batu yang sombong itu :) Dan terbayarlah rasa lelah yang kurasakan seperti sembilan tahun yang lalu ... Lihat, anggap saja ...

Sometimes we're too busy with our problems, making them look bigger and harder than what they're supposed to be. Check out this link and I bet we will appreciate every little thing better :)

Malam-malam. Kami berkumpul di rumah Albert di Gempol, menyiapkan LPD 98. Televisi menayangkan kerusuhan di Jakarta, kebakaran, penjarahan di mana-mana. Kami semua tercekam, cemas kerusuhan akan menjalar ke Bandung. Tengah malam, karena kuatir dengan keadaan yang makin tidak aman, teman-teman memaksa mengantar saya pulang ke Cisitu. It's been 10 years ...

Juno (Movies, DVD). This movie is hilarious. Not only it's unique and slightly different than typical Hollywood movie, it's also an eye-opener of what happen in our society. Sex among minors, unexpected pregnancy, and how society react to those issues. This movie elegantly wraps sensitive issues in an easy-to-watch form. How I met your mother (TV Series) . This is my current addict. This TV-series so much reminds me to Friends that always knock me off, no matter how many times I watch the series. I just finished streaming one of the episodes, and can't wait to watch the whole season in DVD. California Tortilla (Food, Mexican) is my fave lunch time menu. I am not a big fan of Mexican food, but since this one is not so spicy and kinda Americanize, I really like it. If you're a fan of Chipotle, you definitely need to check this one out. US presidential campaign. Once I followed the news day to day, now I am sick of it :p It's just another dirty politic, not much di...