HANZKY

I love you nduti.......=)

Wohooo, so today is valentines day. I agree that it’s being too commercialized these days, the card and flower industries seem like making it an excuse to inflate their profits, and plus I’m not much of a romantic myself. But hey, I don’t see there is anything bad in reminding the people you love how much you love them, cause it’s something that we need to do more of and if it takes a particular day devoted to showing your love, then so be it!! Woohoo…Happy Valentine’s peeps……..just to let you know that you’re being thought today....*and everyday of course* …=)

Looks like the wedding story (part two) has to be postponed, hehe..cause there is something else that I need to get it out of my system.


Last night, I was doing my usual thing, browsing the net, and dendre was watching Ultimate Fighting Championship DVD when the home phone rang. Like usual, we didn’t even bother to check who’s calling..thinking it was just another telemarketer cause our friends/family only call our cellphone. But then the phone kept ringing and ringing and when I checked the caller ID, there was no number on it…I picked it up just out of curiosity and turned out it was a collect call….from who?? I didn’t really catch the caller’s name but I heard a male voice and the automatic operator said that the phone was made from JAIL…my goodness… The operator asked me to press zero if I wanted to accept the charge…but I was soo panicked I accidentally pressed one instead of zero..so of course it hung up the phone right away. Waah gila kan…it made me even more panicked..i was busy thinking who in the world that person is…I have a few people that are very crucial to me whose status in this country is on the brink (yes, they are here illegally..in case you’re wondering)…I mean once INS catches them then it’s the end of their life in here, literally. I was just beyond panicked, alarmed that it could be one of them that got busted and thrown in jail……… and to make it even worse I didn’t know how to contact him back.


Seconds later the phone rang again..and it was the same call from the jail, this time I pressed the zero button carefully and man..gue langsung murka seketika…..do you know who called??? It was just a jackass named Mike who randomly make a collect-call phone and ask the receiver to make a three-way call to his mom (his mom’s phone doesn’t take collect call) so he could beg his mama to bail his sorry ass out of jail..!!! Godamnit…who the hell does he think he is? You can’t just pick any number in the phone book and start calling people for help….don’t you have friends or relatives??..Oh I get it…maybe you do have but they just don’t care about you and if your family don’t even care about you so why should I do?… Am I entitled to bail you out?? Hell no…. If you got busted for driving under the influence then maybe you do deserve to be locked up in the prison room once a while….Erghhh …..!! Try the next number in the yellow pages dude!!!


I know I might sound so rude to him..but what the hell..i was shaking when I found out the collect call was made from jail, I was imagining the worst case scenario..!!! kalo di pikir... kasian tu orang gue bentak2 ya..haha…biarin aja deh, life is hard man..lagian my phone line doesn’t have the capability to place three-way calls, so I still couldn’t help him anyway…!! Yang ngeselin tuh caranya itu lho yang bikin kaget dan stress orang……..


I’ve had this kind of phone call waktu gue di Perth dulu, but the caller was a good friend of mine who had been living in danger..man, he did a lot..and I mean A LOT of criminal things..dari cabut from his apt and leaving a few months of unpaid rent fees sampe install a phone line with somebody else’s name and constantly made international calls to no end..(of course he didn’t even bother to pay the bills) sampe nyolong nyolong saluran listrik/tv cable tetangga dan yang paling parah….ngebobol mesin atm ..and no..i’m not joking and I am not bullshitting.., I saw it with my very own eyes. Jadi dia sering banget minjem mobil buat ke ATM gitu, he needed to do it at 12-mid nite, tapi nggak ada yang ngasih minjem mobil abis suka nggak pulang gitu kalo di pinjemin tapi karena dia begging2 gitu akhirnya kita anterin aja ke tempat ATMnya…dan itu bukan sekali aja…..beberapa kali, kadang dia sukses ngebobol ratusan dollar sempet juga ribuan..tapi kadang nggak berhasil sama sekali. Wah pokonya he was dangerous deh and I was relieved that he got busted actually, so he could end his risky life. So anyway, he called me from jail..i forgot how he could end up in there, but I remember everybody did everything in his/her power to find a way to help him out, kita juga pada patungan gitu untuk ngeluarin dia…some of us used the money for gambling at burswood to try our luck and see if we could double the money…..some of us did come home with much more money though and this particular friend of mine was out of jail the next day and he stepped out of the country right away….iya lah orang langsung di deportasi gitu…..


Speaking of the illegal people…I know quite a lot of them here, there used to be this food establishment in this mall nearby called Le Petite Bistro, it’s a French cuisine gitu..tapi yang kerja orang Indonesia semua sampe managernya, ada yang di Galeria Mall and West County Mall. Ternyata di Le Bistro state laen laen juga banyak banget orang Indonesia nya. Kalo yang disini sih kebanyakan dari anak buah kapal, jadi pas kapalnya mendarat kesini (biasanya di florida) langsung pada cabut. Kebanyakan dari mereka langsung ke Atlanta..nah disitu banyak agen agen terselubung yang nyalurin mereka kemana mana, sampe ke pelosok amerika. Orang dulu gue tinggal di Carbondale dan kota tetangga tuh namanya Carterville..itu tuh kota keciil banget yang penduduknya cuma 3000 orang kali tapi adaa aja orang Indonesia yang kerja illegal disitu di Chinese restaurant nya..(yupe, you could always find a Chinese restaurant even in the most isolated area in the states).


Kalo disini sih nggak banyak banyak banget orang Indonesia yang illegal, they are mostly in bigger cities..di DC banyak bener tuh kayanya, Atlanta, New York, etc. Dan kerjaannya juga macem2, temen gue ada yang jadi bell boy, hehe..ada yang jadi kurir, loper Koran, kerja di gas station, construction workers, kebanyakan sih they do waitressing, etc. ..dan kalo lo mikir mereka mereka ini dari desa bojongkenyot ato orang orang yang skolahnya cuma sampe SD/SMP..huhu, you’re wrong dude, most of the people I know hold a bachelor degree, banyak juga lulusan NHI dan malah ada juga yang tadinya udah in a managerial position di bank bank di Jakarta (walopun ada juga emang unskilled workersnya)…jadi ngapain juga kesini kalo di Jakarta udah bisa settle??…yah nggak tau yah, people think differently and it’s all depends on your personal needs..what is it that you want? If you want to start a career and work your way up to the top then maybe Jakarta is the place for you but if it’s money and money only that matters to you and you realize you won’t ever find your bank account with so money zeros in it if you work in Jakarta and you don’t care what kind of job you’re doing as long as it can fulfill your long term needs then…well come to the states my friend..hehehe. Yah kalo disini if you’re willing to work hard and do anything, pasti lah you can be more than just surviving in here, tapi ya itu..kerjanya illegal dan resiko tanggung sendiri ya..hehe… !!


Banyak orang yang nggak setuju dengan cara tinggal disini illegally tapi kalo gue malah setuju and trying to encourage a lot of people to come here that way…especially yang di Indonesia nya madesu gitu so coming here would be a good way to enhance their life, biar ngurang ngurangin pengangguran di Indonesia dan ngebangun Ekonomi Indonesia juga doong, karena uangnya kan di kirim ke Jakarta semua, jadi keluarganya pada makmur, standard of living dan daya beli jadi naek. Gue pernah baca di majalah kartini tentang suatu desa..lupa deh desanya dimana, di pulau jawa deh pokoknya, tadinya desa itu seperti selayaknya desa desa laen, terbelakang banget..tapi trus banyak penduduknya pada kerja jadi TKW/TKI (emang mereka kerja legal tapi basicnya kan sama, they work overseas) dan seketika desanya jadi makmur, banyak bangunan baru, jadi ada Masjidnya, listrik dan semua fasilitas2 laen deh…..see.. it’s a good way to build our country.


Kalo denger dari cerita cerita orang orang sih, jaraang banget ada yang sampe ketauan, except if you do criminal things and you got busted dan ketauan kalo you are here illegally..nah ya udah apes namanya. Tapi kalo nggak ngelakuin yang aneh2 sih aman aman aja kok. I think if the American government is really serious about sweeping off the illegal people, they could just easily come to any food court, any Chinese restaurants at anytime and catch them right then and there. But they don’t…


So anyway, kita sering maen2 deh sama anak2 yang di Le Bistro ini..kalo ke mall pasti mampir..(lumayan makan gratis…hihi), tapi satu satu mulai pada cabut sih, tapi ya gitu.. satu cabut satu dateng…kebanyakan dari mereka emang hidupnya nomaden, kalo nggak betah tinggal telfon agentnya dan langsung di salurin ke tempat laen. All of them are hardworker, they work their asses off dari pagi sampe malem and most of them only get one day off during the week…kebayang nggak sih, hidupnya just for work and work only, they are loaded with money but they don’t have time to enjoy it, jadi paling uangnya langsung di kirim ke keluarganya, ada yang buat bangun rumah, buat beli sawah, ada yang buat buka usaha, ada juga yang di deposito-in aja etc. Kalo yang disini sih kebetulan banyaknya orang Bali…tapi dari Jakarta/Bandung juga banyak…! I wonder where they are right now, they were still there the night before I left home but now they are gone, I wonder if it has got to do with the new INS regulation…

Pingin cerita cerita tentang the whole story of how the wedding went but I’m kinda confuse on how and where to start. Hmm…Let me start with the preparation and see if I can capture everything….


Okay, as far as the preparation…I think the preparation was pretty neat, despite the short time frame that was given to arrange the whole things. The time frame wasn’t that short actually, but considering most people preparing their wedding at least one year ahead so mine was kind of instant. Lamarannya itu waktu bulan Agustus and it was done without us being there, but we called home like every hour to make sure everything went OK. Lamarannya itu, standard lah…ada uang and a set of jewelry. Trus juga sambil di ceritain silsilah keluarga masing masing, semua yang dateng juga harus introduce themselves dan ceritain apa hubungannya sama keluarganya. Yang dateng sih keluarga deket aja yah, yang jelas keluarga inti, trus ada om2 kita dan tante2 juga dan ada kerabat deket bokap nyokap gitu. Abis itu biasa lah ada acara makan makan dan waktu keluarga laki2nya pulang tuh yang di bawain kue2 gitu. Emang begitu katanya aturannya, kuenya juga udah ada aturannya harus berapa macem. Pas lamaran juga sekalian nge-disksusi tanggal hari H nya, nggak pake milih hari baik/enggak as long as it’s within the time frame of our vacation time then it’s all good. Tapi pas hari lamaran itu the date was yet to be fixed cause we had to check with the venue first, whether they have vacancy on that particular date or not.


Setelah itu, ada yang namanya kunjungan balesan, jadi keluarga gue berkunjung ke rumah keluarganya dendre gitu. Baru deh abis itu ngurusin everything that goes along with the wedding. Pertama tama of course milih gedungnya dulu. Kalo untuk akad nikah my mom wanted to have it in our house although me and my dad prefer to have it in a mosque. Gue lebih milih di masjid dengan alesan supaya lebih praktis aja dan nggak repot di rumah, tapi menurut nyokap gue kalo di masjid tuh kayanya pas balik ke rumah, di rumahnya kosong biasa aja, like nothing has happened gitu, lagian kalo di rumah biar lebih bersejarah gitu dan juga biar tali silaturahmi nya panjang soalnya kan seluruh keluarga kita pada dateng semua. Jadi ya udah, anything for my dear mom. Jadi tinggal milih gedungnya aja, we couldn’t afford to be picky considering most of the venue was booked already, especially on the weekend. And to make it harder for us to pick a venue was, for whatever reason, we are not allowed to have it in the hotel's ballroom. So, after checking out here and there..the choice went to Auditorium Manggala Wanabakti..it’s huge, the capacity is for 3500 people dan lokasinya juga strategis. Besides, the perks we got by renting from them were a lot, hehe.


So anyway, after that, baru deh ngurusin hal hal laennya such as catering, pelaminan, entertainment, who’s gonna be the MC, siapa yang bakalan ngasih sambutan, siapa yang bakalan mimpin doa, adatnya pake adat apa, dll. Dendre itu yogya sedangkan gue..hehe, I guess I’m a mixture of a lot of things, hehe..tapi yang paling strong ya arab dan betawi dari bokap dan arab sunda dari nyokap. So the decision was to go with my family’s culture for the akad nikah and dendre's culture with modifications here and there for the wedding reception. Iyaa, jadi nggak jawa jawa banget pas di gedung cause my dad had specifically said in the beginning that he ain’t wearing blangkon!!..haha….Jadi ya udah, so the dads were wearing regular black suits.


Ya udah pokonya banyak banget deh, I wasn’t involved with any of those arrangement but I could imagine how busy the moms were. Oh iya, nyokap2 kita itu di bantu sama para panitia. We didn’t hire any wedding organizer, tapi emang ada panitia khusus yang biasa nanganin pernikahan gitu yang terdiri dari orang orang kantor. Dan panitia ini bener bener ngurusin semua acara nya dari mulai acara pengajian, rapat panitia terakhir, akad nikah dan resepsinya. Jumlah seluruh panitianya sih banyak banget, sekitar 50 orang tapi yang bener2 intinya itu cuma ada 8 orang seperti penanggung jawabnya, ketua panitia nya, ketua ini itu lah. Sisanya ya seksi macem macem, ada seksi perlengkapan, seksi transportasi yang ngurusin dari mulai siapa yang jemput penghulunya, dan ini tuh penting banget karena udah banyak kejadian yang penghulunya tuh nggak dateng, ato nggak datengnya telaatt banget. Makanya penghulunya harus di tongkrongin di depan rumahnya dari pagi tuh, daripada nggak jadi kawin kan, hehe. Trus seksi transportasi juga bertanggung jawab ngatur yang jemput pengisi acara kalo ada yang perlu di jemput, siapa yang jemput tamu2 dari luar kota di airport ato di gambir, sewa bus lah ini itu. Trus ada juga seksi akomodasi yang bertanggung jawab atas akomodasi keluarga/tamu2 dari luar kota, seksi kesehatan, seksi acara, seksi keamanan, seksi konsumsi, dll. Konsumsi kan bukan cuma untuk catering pas pestanya aja, tapi juga buat orang2 yang nyiapin semuanya dari siang, buat penerima tamu yang udah di dandanin dari siang di gedung. Pokonya intinya they are responsible untuk semua event deh.


Trus juga, nyokap nyokap di ribetin dengan cari2 seragam, oh my god there are a lot of uniforms to be distributed, dari mulai keluarga cewe, keluarga cowo..keluarga aja beda kan ada keluarga inti dan ada extended family, penjaga buku tamu yang jumlahnya sekitar 15 orang, penerima tamu yang berdiri dari pintu masuk sampe depan pelaminan (50 lebih), buat among tamu (20), among tamu ini tugasnya untuk menjemput tamu2 VIP dari depan pintu masuk dan di antar sampe depan pelaminan trus ada yang jemput lagi di bawah pelaminan untuk di antar ke ruang VIP, hehe..spesial banget yaah..ya namanya juga VIP. Tamu VIP nya ada kurang lebih 50 orang, mereka2 itu yah orang2 yang di tuakan lah istilahnya dan juga orang2 yang super sibuk, makanya di beri perlakuan khusus, nggak perlu ngantri untuk ngasih ucapan selamat..tapi yah tentunya tanpa bermaksud merendahkan tamu tamu yang laennya dong..=). Oh iya, selaen VIP ada juga tuh tamu VVIP, kalo yang ini cuma ada sekitar 12 orang, bedanya..pas ngasih selamat gitu trus langsung foto bareng di pelaminan, karena hubungannya yang pasti lebih deket sama keluarga kita.


Trus juga ngurusin undangan(Again, undangan pengajian, undangan akad nikah (ini pun ada dua undangan untuk laki2 dan perempuan) dan undangan resepsinya), Foto Video, Perancang baju, pesen satu set tempat tidur juga untuk di kamar pengantinnya, hehe..dll. Cari souvenir, souvenir untuk pengajian (tas kulit hitam yang ada bordiran nama kita, isinya ada al quran, payung, dll), souvenir buat akad nikah (buku doa2 yg simple2 gitu), buat di gedung (yang ini sebenernya taplak meja kecil gitu, batik…dan ternyata undangannya nambah and there wasn’t enough time to reorder, jadinya sisanya di beliin compact mirror deh, hehe)


Ya udah deh pokonya itu semua udah rapi pas gue balik. Jadi pas gue balik itu tinggal semua yang emang bersangkutan sama gue kaya bikin baju! …tinggal sebulan lagi bajunya blom bikin sedangkan temen2 gue udah pada punya baju gitu. Ya udah, bolak balik fitting dan tiap hari badan gue ketusuk tusuk jarum pentuL..adoooh beneran deh, tersiksa banget. Selaen baju juga pesen cincin kawin dan gue yang baru tau gitu kalo cincin kawin modelnya tuh simple simple semua ya, dan gue juga baru tau kalo cincin kawin buat cewe dan cowo itu harus sama alias sepasang, hehehe. Trus juga baru tau kalo di inner ring nya tuh yang di tulis nama pasangannya.. Kita milih cincinnya sih in a matter of hours aja, nggak sampe yang berhari hari gitu. Tapi susah juga milihnya karena yang gue pingin itu terlalu girly, ya dendrenya nggak mau laah, hehehe..pokonya gue yang picky banget deh soalnya gimana..i think that’s one of the essential parts of the whole thing, cause that’s the only thing you can still wear after the wedding, even years after that and you’re going to wear the ring everyday so it should be the best it can be..=).


Hmm, abis itu juga ngurus ngurus paperwork sama KUA, nah yang ini rada telat, kita baru ngurusin seminggu sebelumnya. Nggak banyak kok paperworknya, paling ngisi data data diri dan orang tua aja dan ada questionnaire nya juga, salah satunya ada pertanyaan apa nikahnya tuh kemauan sendiri ato paksaan, hehe, trus di tanya sholat nggak, sehari berapa kali, dll gitu deh.Trus mas kawinnya apa aja. Ngurus KUAnya ini di KUA rumah perempuannya. Jadi pertama cowonya tuh harus ke kelurahan deket rumahnya dan minta keterangan numpang nikah gitu. Udah dapet semua surat surat nya, baru ke KUA di rumah si cewe trus baru deh di kasih paperworknya.


Trus ada juga make up test session, the make up artist was Ozzy Syahputra and he was goooodd, totally recommend him. Test sessionnya kurang lebih waktu 2 minggu sebelum hari H nya dan bener2 di make up as if you’re going to get married that day gitu, harusnya sih juga ada baju pengantinnya biar bisa di selarasin sama make up nya tapi waktu itu bajunya belom jadi. Believe it or not, malemnya resepsi siangnya baju gue baru jadi, hehehe. Trus di dandanin lengkap sama sanggulnya juga, cuma waktu itu dia nggak bawa bunga nya, jadi dia dengan asalnya metik bunga kembang sepatu di rumah gue dan di pakein ke kepala gue gitu. Selaen test make up session ada juga photo session, foto2 buat di taro di kamar pengantin sama di gedung.


Trus..ehh oh iyaa, beberapa hari sebelumnya kita juga di repotin soal dukun nganten. Hehe, ini sih istilah orang jawa aja yah, sebenernya si dukun nganten itu orang yang bertanggung jawab atas penganten tersebut. Jadi dari mulai ngeriasin, makein bajunya, masang masangin aksesorisnya, ngerik rambut (iya harus di kerik sedikit, buang sial katanya..tapi entah kenapa kok gue nggak jadi di kerik yah..? bingung) ngasih tau cara jalannya, trus kalo misalnya nanti kalungnya ada yang nyangkut ato kainnya kesingkap gitu pas di pelaminan dia yang betulin. Kalo ada upacara adat dia yang ngajarin semua dari cara sungkemnya, cara doanya dan semua tetek bengeknya deh. Dan katanya sih di dukun nganten itu sebelum hari H nya puasa dulu, dan ada doa doa/ritual khusus, jadi kaya pas masang sanggul gitu katanya ada doanya sendiri, sampe masang kembang goyang juga ada doanya sendiri. Tadinya kita nyantai2 aja thinking ozzy could do all that, tapi at the last minute kita baru tau kalo dia cuma ngerias muka dan sanggul aja, that’s it. Waduuh langsung deh kelabakan gitu. Soalnya susah juga nyari dukun nganten itu, apalagi dalam waktu 5 hari, duuh gimana coba. Waktu dulu pertama tama sih we were planning untuk make Ibu Tien Santoso but who are we expecting her to be available 4 months before, orang aja banyak yang nentuin tanggal kawin according to her availability gitu.. apalagi kebetulan someone I know emang udah booking dia untuk hari yang sama.. so she was out of the list. Trus, pilihan kedua itu Tante Yustine, untung aja she was available and didn’t feel under estimated even though we contacted her only a few days in advance.


Beberapa hari sebelumnya juga ada rapat panitia terakhir, jadi seluruh panitia were there termasuk semua orang2 yang bersangkutan kaya wakil dari pengisi acara, mc nya, wakil dari dokumentasi, dari catering, dll. Rame juga, trus pas itu distribusiin buku panduan panitia nya juga. Yang isinya chronological eventnya, jam segini sampe segini harus ngapain dan jalannya gimana, posisi masing masing gimana, list nama nama panitia nya, tugasnya, nama2 penerima/penjaga buku tamu, nama2 tamu VIP nya, semuanya deh..dll. Gue aja kaget banget sampe segitu rapihnya panitia nyusun acaranya, waktu presentasinya sampe pake slide projector segala di bikin power pointnya untuk semuanya dari denah gedungnya, nanti pengantennya dimana, jalannya lewat mana, belok mana dan pas jam berapa menit keberapa harus nyampe pelaminannya dan pas saat penganten nyampe mana musiknya harus nyala, dll dll…pokonya banyak banget deh. Jadi udah kaya visual rehearsal gitu.


Trus, dua hari sebelum Akad nikah di adain pengajian di rumahnya dendre. Banyak juga yang dateng, ada sekitar 150 orang, ibu ibu semua. Isi pengajiannya ya ada ngaji bareng, ada ceramah tentang memasuki dunia rumah tangga, dan juga ada doa bersama gitu. Pas itu terharu banget, seneng juga..banyak yang doain, trus pas terakhirnya semuanya pada berdiri dan gue sama dendre yang ngelilingin ruangan, salaman sama semua orang sambil minta doa restu sambil di iringi shalawat nabi yang di nyanyiin sama semua tamunya. That was pretty phenomenal…and tears were almost streaming down my face.


Trus persiapan setelah itu..hihi ini dia yang di tunggu tunggu, jadi gue ikut yang namanya bridal ekslusif treatment. Jadi itu emang paket khusus perkawinan. Dari mulai facial, luluran, mandi bunga, di steam pake wangi wangian gitu, waxing, bleaching, massage, manicure and pedicure, semuanya deh, sama yang terakhir tuh I got my hands and my feet painted with Henna (mehndi). I did this the night before the akad nikah and it was a mistake, harusnya di kerjain a couple days before cause you have to leave the henna paste in your hands and feet for like 12 hours until it dries, and since they started the painting around 6 in the evening (and it took 2.5 hours to finish the painting), meaning I had to let it stay the whole night. Jadinya yang nggak bisa tidur soalnya takut berantakan hasilnya…hehe……


Man this is a lot and this is only the preparation..tsk tsk..emang ngurusin kawinan itu super ribet banget, padahal the actual ceremony and the reception only take a couple hours, persiapannya aja yang berbulan bulan.....jadi gimana after reading all of these..masih pada mau kawin nggak??..hehe.......Ah ya udah berarti tentang hari H nya menyusul besok……..

my internet is really acting up. The connection was OK the whole day monday and friday but then it went off in the evening. It was dead the whole weekend and it was only on for a couple of hours yesterday and right now..i don't know how long this is going to last. But the technician is coming over tomorrow so hopefully it's gonna be fixed right away. And you know what, the weird thing is it's only connected when I'm home..alone and when it's time for dendre to come home from work, it's just went off. Weird, isn't it?..kayanya tuh as a newly wed we have to spend as much as quality time together...and no internet allowed..hmmm...hehehe....

Ahaha, finally I’m able to type my fingers into this keyboard again and get in touch with the world wide web after a whole weekend with no connection. Somehow it felt OK not to be connected with the internet while I was in Jakarta but here with no internet connection??? It’s like you’re somewhere in the middle of nowhere without knowing what’s going on in other places. Anyway, there was no problem with my internet connection when I got back here but my cable TV got disconnected and when they reconnect my cable TV last friday, the internet went off. I guess the switch is connected somehow. But thank god the light in the modem is solid green this morning, meaning it works. Padahal kalo nggak I have to wait till Thursday for the technician to come, yuhuu..it’s a happy note to start this week walaupun masih agak agak lesu juga sih. Wish I was home..*sigh* doh, maunya apa sih han… kemaren ketar ketir takut nggak dapet visa dan nggak bisa balik lagi kesini, sekarang udah balik kesini pinginnya pulang..Yah what can I say, part of me feels relieved to finally be able to come back here in one piece and continue our unfinished business. But part of me don’t want to leave home just yet.


Anyway, I just noticed I wrote something about visiting Bandung in my previous entry, but since we changed the departure date to two days earlier, we had to cancel the plan. Sebel juga siy, jadinya nggak sempet pergi ke luar Jakarta sama sekali, kalo dendre masih mending dia sempet pergi ke yogya for the first weekend we arrived. We were planning to go to Bali for the honeymoon, huhu…but we didn’t have enough time so we decided to just go to Singapore on the way back, with my mom, my sista and my brother. Disana dari minggu pagi sampe selasa malem. We stopped by in Singapore also on the way back to Jakarta last time, but only for one night but it was enough to refresh my memory about Singapore. I used to live there a long time ago for quite a short period. But it was long enough for me to get to know Singapore beyond Orchard road, to live like Singaporeans, went to school there and even speak singlish, haha…! Anyway, kemaren itu kita nggak kemana mana, paling ke tempat yang wajib wajib aja such as Far East Plaza, hihi, TOPSHOP and TOPMAN, and some stores in Wisma Atria. Trus sempet juga ke Bugis Junction trus went on a Duck Tour from Suntec City Mall *that was interesting*. Trus juga nggak lupa mampir ke Chinatown and since it’s close to the Chinese New Year, jadinya penuh dan meriah banget, they even closed at mid night. And that’s about it…


My mom’s flight was a couple hours early than mine, so after she left, kita yang madesu gitu di airport, went online and posted my previous entry, browsed the bookstore and grabbed some magazines, picked up the M.A.C’s Fix + Spray *a must for any jet setting lady*, enjoyed my last cup of Coffee Bean, sholat, and the plane was waiting by then. So there I was in 13 hours flight to Amsterdam and another 8 hours to Newark. And believe me, I know what a sore butt really feels like. Slept almost throughout the flight, didn’t even bother to check the movie, besides..the plane was the Boeing 747 Megatop, which is much older compare to the 777 I rode in when I went home. Jadi nggak asik nontonnya cause the screen is smaller and the movies were scheduled, meaning we can’t watch it in our convenient, harus ngikutin terus. Kalo yang di 777, we can watch the movie anytime we want and whenever we feel like sleeping we can just pause it and continue later. Nice heh?


So anyway, pas nyampe di Newark, unfortunately, there was a bit of a problem with my visa. In your I-20, you should have the admission number, and it needs to be the same even if you have transferred to a different school, and that’s their way to track you. Nah, nggak ngerti kenapa there were two different numbers in my record so they had to check and recheck everything, they brought me to another room. Untungnya sih emang nggak ada apa apa, they just assigned me which number to use. After that, I was free to leave. Kalo dendre, he needed to go to a special registration process, and it took about an hour. They took his fingerprints and took a photograph of him. Trus di tanya ini itu, family background and such but they were all nice though. They also asked him to show his credit cards, atm card, driver license , etc and they keep records of them.


Di Newark, kita janjian to meet with dendre’s sista who lives in upstate New York. Thank god they were late so they just got there when we came out. Kalo enggak kan takutnya mereka udah balik karena nungguin kita nggak keluar keluar. Anyway, so she was there with her newborn baby, her hubby and Mike. I have never seen the baby before since he’s only 2 months old and he was born a week before we were leaving to Jakarta so there was no way for us to visit her. The baby is cute, and he sure doesn’t look like a 2 months old since he’s quite big. Hope to see them again soom……..


After that, we took another 2 and a half hours flight and it closed the chapter of my vacation. Di itung itung lumayan lama juga kemaren di jakartanya, sekitar 50 harian, woohoo, that’s the longest vacation I have ever had, biasanya paling cuma 3 – 4 weeks aja.


PICTURES ARE COMING UP


Oh, last but not least, I want to send my deepest condolence untuk keluarga Alm. Tante Wisnani Safitri who was robbed and brutally slashed in front of her house and was died on her way to the hospital. A friend smsd me when I was still in Singapore, it was also on TV a couple times. You can read the news here, or here. Rampoknya ternyata udah ngikutin dari Alm. keluar dari Bank. Padahal, uang yang di ambil itu uang yayasan Darma Wanita yang mau di donasiin ke kuburan Sunan Gunung Jati, Cirebon. No wonder she refused to release it. Her son, Andi, went to the same high school with me, and also went to the same junior high school with Dendre. The Alm. and husband are close friends of dendre’s parents. So now the whole families are still in the state of shock. The first time I met her was when she came to the ‘pengajian’ in dendre's house that was held two days before our wedding and I could see right away that everybody adores her. Iya, orangnya baiiik banget, ramah, seneng bercanda sampe gue di cengin berkali kali..=), she always put on a Happy face. Waktu dia dateng aja orang orang yang langsung pada seneng gitu. She also came to our wedding reception, she was one of the VIPs guest. Still can’t believe this could happen to her. May God grant the whole family peace in this time of sorrow…Tabah ya ndi..*hugs*

I just bid farewell to my mom, my lil sista and brother a while ago. They should have landed in Jakarta by now. Sad..of course, cause It never feels right to have your closest family away from you. Anywaay, so i'm stranded here in Changi Airport, my plane won't leave till another 3 hours. What to do, what to do.....

It's 9.45 AM, we'll be going to the embassy sometimes this afternoon to pick up our visa..and we're scheduled to arrive in the states on the 31st. Normally it takes 3 months for male applicants to get the visa approved, somepeople I know are still waiting for their visa eventhough they dropped the application 6 months ago. But it only take him exactly a month to get the approval...mungkin ini salah satu berkah pernikahan yaa....=)


Skarang dah mulai sibuk packing2 dan cari oleh2, titipan pun udah banyak berdatangan and FYI nih, apalagi yang mau travelling..baggage limitnya itu sekarang udah bukan 70 KG lagi, tapi cuma 50 KG. Gimana tuuh...biasanya 70 kilo aja gue suka over gitu limitnya, sekarang di kurangin pula...*bingung*. Anyway, kalo jadi nih, hari kamis ini mo ke bandung....yuhuu, factory outlets...here I come..!

HAPPY NEW YEAR yah semuanya.....may you have a prosperous life in 2003 and have a better life than before. Pada kemana nih new years eve??? Gue di rumah aja dong karena emang males banget kemana dan bingung mo kemana juga, tonight is really just another night for me, especially since i'm gonna have what it seems to be the biggest event of my life in a matter of days, jadi new year bener2 biasa banget karena beberapa hari setelah itu bakalan ada event yang jauh lebih penting dari taun baruan. Gila yaa i'm getting married soon, pernikahan itu bener bener transaksi yang paling besar in one's life, lebih besar daripada elo beli rumah seharga 10 milyar kali yaa.


I'm sure everybody has the so called new year resolution, i haven't thought of that myself, entar malem deh gue merenung dulu, hehe..biar tau what are my new year resolutions, so i'll tell ya about that later. On the meantime, Have a wonderful new years eve aja dulu kali yaaaa...go ahead party your ass out but make sure when you wake up tomorrow, promise to yourself that you're gonna try to be a better person each and everyday...=)

tapi gue nggak kemana mana soalnya cape..dan mumpung lagi nggak ada yang harus di kerjain, ya nyantai2 aja lah di rumah, lagian i'll be out all day tomorrow jadinya simpen energi dulu aja kali ya. Besok siang tuh ada kawinan di Balai Sudirman, sebenernya sih gue nggak tau siapa yang kawin tapi gue mo dateng aja...LHO?..gimana sih, hehehe..eh kan suka gitu ya, temen2 cowo gue suka gitu lho dulu waktu sma, kalo misalnya lewat balai kartini misalnya...dan liat banyak mobil parkir, pasti deh ikutan parkir dan masuk aja gitu numpang makan, gila yaaa, anything for a free meal!!. Anyway jadi ceritanya nih photographer yang mau ngeliput acara gue nanti, ngeliput juga besok disana, dan dia juga yang fotoin buat foto foto pranikahnya, jadi gue sekalian mo liat, apalagi dia juga yang bikin video untuk di monitor nya. Kan gue pingin naro foto2 dari waktu kecil, jadi ceritanya perjalanan hidup gue in a nutshell lah, secara garis besarnya aja, yang trusnya di bikin film berdurasi 15 menit, makanya gue pingin dateng, pingin liat kaya apa sih jadinya kalo udah di dalam gedung. Gue udah liat sih portfolio nya, tapi kan di monitor kecil aja biasa, kurang puas lah liatnya. Makanya trus sama dia di suruh dateng aja besok. Ternyata emang gitu sih, kaya waktu catering aja...nyokap gue di suruh dateng ke salah satu kawinan yang cateringnya make dia, biar bisa icip2 makanannya dan liat dekorasi nya secara langsung.


Trus besok malem di rumahnya dendre ada acara halal bihalal temen2 sma nya, jadi gue disana deh dari siang bantu bantuin, kemaren kita udah beli obor obor gitu beberapa biji buat di pasang, lucu kali ya. Anywaaayy, trus apalagi dong? I didn't have lots to do today, cuma pagi2 ke dentist aja, dan sejak gue nyampe sini udah 4 kali gue ke dentist, senen besok juga harus kesana, gile yeee, untung aja gue om gue yang jadi dokter gigi kalo enggak bangkrut aja gue. Trus tadi juga ke salon BLUE, yang di depan RSPP, totally recommend it, ngeblownya canggih bener deh mas mas nya, i also got my nails french manicured..hehehe..i love doing girl things like that, i think that's what makes being a girl is so much fun...iya gak kawan2???


Ya udah deh gitu dulu...more stories coming up, the confession of an upcoming bride...=)

Gila deh, barusan gue udah ngetik panjang beneeerrr, recap of my days since i arrived here, ehh dengan indahnya ilang gitu aja dong....!!!!! SebeL.........anyway, makasih yah buat yang udah ngimel ngasih tau nomer telfonnya, ntar gue sms2 deeh, tapi harap sabar ya soalnya gue ngetiknya masih lama bener, hihihi..gue bingung temen2 gue baru gue pencet SEND aja yang trus gue langsung dapet balesannya within seconds...ck ck ..what is it with orang2 jakarta and sms, semua orang ber sms ria, sambil nyetir, sambil poop, sambil makan, dan yang udah nggak liat keypadnya lagi. Temen gue bayar telfon sebulannya 200 ribu dan 150 nya itu buat sms an, ck ck..kayanya fungsi cellphone disini udah di ganti buat sms, bukan buat telfon telfonan. Ya udah laaaaah, BT nih udah ngetik panjang2 ilang...buat yang blom ngasih nomer telfon nya ke gue ayo doong imel gue, OK?.........deeeeeeeeeH

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.gile udah lama banget gue nggak nge blog, kirain udah di delete blog gue sama blogger, tapi ternyata masih ada tooohh….tapi kayanya udah ga ada yang baca kali ya. Anyway, first and foremost…I just want to say Minal Aidzin Wal faidzin, mohon maaf lahir dan batin buat semuanya yah, kali aja gue ada salah2 nulis selama ini.


Sebenernya gue nyampe jakarta baru seminggu lebih dikit siih tapi rasanya udah lamaaa banget, soalnya udah wara wiri kesana kemari, udah ngumpulin stamp coffee bean banyak juga, huehe…! Anyway, jakarta ternyata masih kurang lebih sama aja after 2 years, skarang banyak bangunan baru yang warna warni, miami style kali ya ceritanya, tambah banyak salon salon lucu, dan cewe cewenya pada pake pashmina kemana mana, kebayang nggak siiyy panasnya kaya apa, ada yang pake pashmina beneran ada yang pake pashmina2 an, ..pokonya lagi pada pake syal2 gitu deh kalo ke mall. Ngomong2 panas, jakarta tuh kemaren panas benerr…menurut pengaturan temperature mobil gue siih…cuaca di luar tuh 42 derajat celcius, nah kebayang nggak sih panas nya kaya gimana.


Skarang ini lagi sempet online..soalnya lagi agak2 sakit dan nggak bisa kemana mana. Asli semenjak sampe jakarta langsung yang PPPM gitu alias pergi pagi pulang maleem, I barely stay at home, padahal udah beli trilogy nya Fira Basuki, udah ngebayangin asik2 nyantai baca, eh malah lebih sibuk disini daripada disana. Maklum lah I’m a soon to be bride, banyak bener appointmentnya dari mulai appointment with the caterers, with the photographer, make up artist, belom lagi harus bolak balik fitting setiap hari..blom ngurusin surat surat KUA, mesen cincin kawin, blom lagi hal hal kaya luluran, ceilee..hehehehe, iyah dong harus luluran, mandi susu juga dan segala macem perawatan2 laennya..aduuh pokonya sibuk bener deh, my phone is ringing off the hook, tapi nih telfon gue bunyinya kenceng bener, abis gue nggak sempet ngutak2 settingnya dan gue suka nggak denger kalo pelan…dan temen gue sampe malu gitu jalan ama gue, hahaha..abisnya di liatin orang. Pernah pas bunyi ada temen gue yang baru denger gitu dan bilang” Han, telfon rumah lo bawa ya?”..hahaha..malu maluin emang. Anyway, iya pokonya gitu, sibuk bener dan kalo satu appointment telat then I have to reschedule every appointment I have made for that day, erghh..stress abis deh, but I enjoy it, soalnya gue emang suka nge-organize event dan gue suka banget sama yang namanya process, gimana caranya dari satu point bisa sampe ke point yang laennya dan knowing the ‘behind the scene’ activity of an event.


Anyway, cuma mo ngasih tau ati2 buat cewe2 jakarta. Soalnya nii, gue udah beberapa kali di samperin gitu dan di tawarin untuk jadi model, tapi I assume pasti lah model2 nggak jelas gitu..gila ya emangnya muka gue mesum apa. Waktu itu gue lagi liat2 majalah dan liat yang namanya majalah EKSEKUTIF, mo beli tapi nggak jadi. Trus pas lagi di food court di samperin orang dan di ajak untuk jadi cover majalah gitu, nama majalahnya EKSKLUSIF, tapi entah kenapa yang di pikiran gue itu EKSEKUTIF…..ngerti kan maksud gue? Mungkin karena beberapa menit yang lalu gue baru liat majalah itu, dan namanya rada2 mirip jadi mikirnya ya kesitu aja gue. And since itu majalah bisnis, ya gue sih nanggepin aja omongannya..omongannya lho bukan ajakannya, hihi..kali aja gue mo di jadiin cover untuk topic wanita eksekutif muda masa kini..huhauahah..Anyway, tapi since gue orangnya cukup kritis, gue tanya lah macem2, gue tanya..”kenapa gue?”..emangnya gue kenapa kok bisa2 nya di tawarin itu, trus katanya cocok banget lah dari segi fisiknya, mukanya lah, senyumnya, ini itu. Trus gue tanya lagi itu buat kapan, katanya buat January and I was like, sekarang kan udah pertengahan december, masa iya buat january belom ada covernya, paling enggak kan 2 or 3 bulan sebelumnya gitu. Pokonya gue tanya2 banyak lah dan dia yang jadi risih di tanya2, trus cuma ngasih kartu nama dan nyuruh dateng besoknya between 10 to 3, suruh ngajak orang banyak2 katanya biar nggak di kira macem2. Setelah dia cabut gue buru2 ke newstand lagi buat nyari majalahnya, nah disitu lah gue baru sadar kalo nama majalahnya beda. Dan setelah gue liat lagi kartu nama nya, ada tulisannya kalo majalahnya tuh nggak di distribusikan kemana mana, di kirim langsung ke customernya, dll dll. Dan nggak ada nomer kantor gitu lhoo…nomer hp nya aja. Gila yaa..udah pasti deh tuh niatnya macem2.


Trus ada lagi pas di Plaza Senayan, di samperin dua orang, satu orang malaysia, doesn’t speak any indonesian. Trus ceritanya mereka itu dari market research dan lagi nyari cewe2 untuk di tanya2 tentang beauty product gitu deh, and since I was waiting for my friend dan karena gue suka menolong, apalagi kalo berhubungan sama market research, I know how hard it is to find respondents..makanya gue dengan suka rela mau mau aja deh. Dan mereka bilang bakalan di rekam gitu, yang di pikiran gue kan cuma di rekam suaranya so I said OK, kita ke nanini…..eh tau2 di rekam pake handycam gitu sampe di tanya2. Pertamanya gue pikir cuek aja kali ya, tapi trus setelah satu menit baru mikir2 gitu trus gue bilang aja kalo nggak jadi deeehhh abisnya gue takut di salah gunakan!!!. Trus mereka ngomong2 lagi, ngeluarin segala macem identitas diri dan business card, katanya sih headquarter company-nya di malaysia dan baru aja buka yang di jakarta, dan gue tanya banyak banget deh segala macem. Trus ya udah sih…kayanya cukup terpercaya juga. Ya udah akhirnya di interview lagi kan, ga lama sih 10 menit. Tapi setelah di pikir2 abis itu, mereka kok nggak focus ke beauty products yah, they didn’t even ask me make up nya pake make up apa, keluaran mana, etc, cuma nanya ritualnya tuh ngapain aja, dan gue juga nggak ngasih tau detil lah..paling cuma “ya gitu gitu aja kok biasa, cuci muka biasa”, malah yang di tanya kebanyakan tentang gue nya, ngapain, skolah dimana, ngambil apa, berapa bersodara, malah di tanya pacar dll. Erghhhhh nyesel deh jadinya, coba waktu itu suruh delete aja yah. Kalo tau tau nanti ada gue bugil di extrajos.com, udah di edit2 kan nggak lucu. Tapi setelah di pikir2 ya udah lah kalo ternyata emang itu di salah gunakan, toh I know it’s not my body, dan orang2 yang tau gue juga bakalan langsung tau cause they know me better than that.


Ah udah ah, udah panjang juga……daaah semuanyaaaa………..I’ll blog again soon. OH iyaa, buat yang di jakarta, yang tau gue dan gue tau, hihi..pokonya yang sering mampir and komen2 disini, imel me your phone number dong di hanifa@azalia.org ..okeh? Siapa tau bisa ketemuan dan gue juga mo ngundang2 nih, jadi di tunggu yah, bye bye…