HANZKY

2013 flew so fast for me, maybe because it was such an eventful year. So much happened, so many new experiences, so much learning involved. Mudah-mudahan sih, I come out of 2013 a better person that I was in the beginning of the year.

One thing that always need to be grateful for: a healthy family. I've been so blessed that aside from minor flu and migraine, we have practically been healthy throughout the year. No doctor was involved, except for the dentist :). I know health is something that we can't take for granted and even though I have taken better care of myself, I cannot say I've done the same thing to my family. So, my goal is to introduce more and more greens to my family. More home-cooked meals prepared by me and (much) less junk food.

I’ve been working out with 4 different personal trainers, so yes I can definitely share my experience on how to choose the right one.

 “We can choose?” you asked. Oh yes you can. Some women are more comfortable with female personal trainer. And there are a few levels of personal trainer starting from the newer ones to the most advanced ones. Of course, the ones with the longest experience come with a higher fee. But if you can afford the best, why not, right? :D. But I can assure you, the newer ones will be just as good, come with certification and all that. They are worth the investment.



Here’s a few things you can think of when choosing the right personal trainer for you.

No, not the actual rain. That, I don't mind. But it's the pouring rain of sad news that have been happening in my family.

Three weeks ago, my aunt (my dad sister) passed away. She's already old and had been sick on and off for the past year. Two weeks ago, my long-distance cousin, also from my dad's side, passed away. He had an accident at Pondok Indah toll road and didn't make it to the hospital. It was a really heart-breaking story. Yesterday, another of my dad's aunt, the youngest one, passed away. Just like her sister, she had been sick on and off. She also had a down syndrome since she was born so her organs are not functioning properly to begin with.

Three family members gone in a span of 3 weeks. That's kinda hard to digest, you know :(. I pray with all my might to not hear anymore sad news for a long long time.

In addition to that, I've also been receiving unfortunate news from the people around me. Affi was hospitalized for more than a week last month, Ipong's (Travelers Daily Managing Editor) mother has gone through surgery and diagnosed with cancer last week. Andy's parents, he is our developer, had an accident last month and had to stay in the hospital and went through some surgeries. Ningsih (our administrative assistant) lost her new motorcycle. Griss (Fashionese Daily Editor) had chicken pox. My mom's sister fell down and broke her arms. What else? Oh my friend's son, Astrid is also at the hospital right now.

And this reminds me that I really should go see my grandma this weekend. She hasn't been feeling really well either.

Let's hope for a healthier & safer tomorrow for everyone. And hold your loved ones tight, people. I know I wanna go home and hug my kids right now.

Remember this post? I've finally made it to Palo Alto and back to the US with the family :). We visited San Francisco, Palo Alto, Chicago, Carbondale, St. Louis, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. It was a two weeks trip, we left on October 4 and came back on October 20. Mixing business and pleasure judulnya. As a working mom, something to always be thankful for is the ability to integrate family life into your professional life. It was a memorable trip. I would say the business part, the Endeavor experience, was quite life-changing. I've met ultra inspiring individuals and other entrepreneurs from around the world. I received priceless feedback and encouraging supports that I badly need. I was given a light to guide me reach another level in my entrepreneurial journey. I believe I came out of the program a better person, as an individual as well as an entrepreneur.

It's a long story that should be saved for another day. Now the kids are bugging me to make them a batch of chicken wings :).

'Till later.

Last week, I met a good friend of mine whom I've been friends with since high school, Mina and Aan. With Aan, I still communicate regularly although we only meet about twice a year. But Mina is a different story. I've pretty much lost contact with her for the past few years. She now lives in Weh Island, Aceh with her husband and three kids. She is here because her husband has a 7 month long training in Jakarta. It's nearing toward month 7 and the 'let's meet' talk still had not been realized until last week. I admit, part of it was because I kept rescheduling the meet up.

Turned out, Toples, our photographer worked hard last night to have it hung until 3am! A few months ago, I told him about the idea of having the wall of fame in our community center. We made it a secret project. Took picture of everyone and told them it was for the press card. Little did they know we turned it into something like this. And Toples still managed to surprise me because I didn't know he was planning to do it last night.

Recently, Jehan discovered a new technology called WhatsApp....and Blackberry Messenger. Aand she is messaging everyone she knows, from her grandma to her cousin and her mbak. Aaand she always asked me every few minutes if so and so has replied her message. Tsk tsk.  



Well, maybe it's how you hone in your writing skill in this modern days, no? By the way, she can navigate the touch screen effortlessly, but it takes her some adjustment with Blackberry Qwerty. I wonder if everything will be touchscreen in the future.

Here's some of her WhatsApp messages.

I think we're all agree that a big part of managing a business is actually managing people. Go Girl started way earlier than Female Daily Network so Nina has gone through a lot, from happy times to tough times to even tougher times. Just like Female Daily, Go Girl started small. It's still a growing company where they have to learn through trial and error on what's work and what's not. Go Girl back then of course is a lot different than Go Girl today considering it's been more than 10 years since they have been around. And of course, that's a good thing. If they stay the same that means they're not growing, right?