Annoying

Yesterday (friday) was such a great day to end the week until an unfortunate incident where my cellphone was stolen.

Its just me being naive to trust other people, everybody knows that trans jakarta is not safe with many pick pockets. Why am i so reckless, putting my cellphone in my pocket.

Well it has happened.

See this on the bright side, its probably time to shift from Samsung to iPhone. Thank you hubby to buy me one, til that day, your ipad is mine every single night. Muachh

So still something to be grateful of.

happy ya ya ya happy ye ye ye

12 working days before long-awaited holiday! Yihaaaa.. muach muach, asek asek!

Setelah 5 tahun ga menyambangi Jepang, akhirnya kita ke Jepang jugak!! My God! #lebay#

Dulu, gw sempet bermimpi untuk one day ke Jepang lagi dan kali ini purely for leisure, bareng dengan suami atau temen2, pokoknya ga buat kerja, ga buat tinggal di apartement sendirian deh. Demi rencana mulia itu, gw maksa untuk keep uang yen sisa gaji dan berdoa kalau one day gw akan balik ke Jepang pake uang gaji jaman dulu.

Eh ternyata, setelah menunggu 4 tahun, gw akhirnya nyerah.. rencana ke jepang ga pernah kejadian. Sampe akhirnya gw jual semua Japanese Yen gw itu dengan harga yg murah ke temen kantor -_-

But good thing comes to those who wait, finally, gw pergi jugak! bareng sama suami yg juga sama semangatnya sama gw.

So, here we are. Ready, excited and somehow gw agak deg2an sangking happynya  demi menunggu hari dimana gw menginjak tanah di Tokyo lagi. Sebenernya sih, gw udah lupa apa rasanya tinggal di Tokyo. Gw uda ga pede juga untuk berkelana kemana-mana naik kereta disana. Bahkan gw mungkin uda keder untuk mesen makanan di restaurant pake gaya pantonim.

Tapi, rasanya sangat happy. Knowing that for this time, you come back to enjoy the most of Tokyo. Pertama kali gw menginjakkan kaki di Tokyo, I was afraid like hell! Bener-bener nekad dan saat itu, internet belom semarak seperti sekarang. Gw bahkan ga tau dengan jelas, cuaca, lokasi apartement, bahkan gw ga ada handphone dan laptop. Dan begonya ga sempet untuk cek bagaimana cara ke serviced apartement dari airport.

But then, I survived those and it has been a great journey.

So now. it's totally different. I arrived with my husband and with only 1 feeling, happy! no anxiety at all.

Keep you posted yah. hopefully can get some great pics to share. and wish for the smooth flight... I hate to fly!!!

Ready for vacation

Yihaa.. today is 2 hours before holiday week! I will not take a super long holiday from Christmas to New Year, but still, even I am not taking any, it’s clearly holiday mood J

Can’t wait ! Can’t wait !

With all the stressful events since wedding, a holiday getaway is badly needed. For past 4 months, I have been travelling 3 times, and 4 including the one coming next week. But when you are stress, once a month vacation is not enough. #alesan# Compare to the less stressful period in the past, I am content even with once a year vacation.

So now, we are embracing the 4^th one and this was decided yesterday. Ha! We didn’t plan for any vacation in Christmas to take care of Pai, but since she left us, we totally have nothing to do. Husband went to Padang for 1-day trip for biz, sent out a picture and we are sold. We will go to Padang for the first time! Yiha! Not for long though, only 24-26 Dec.

I’m so excited J *BIG GRIN*

For what I know, what’s coming next is only weekend, vacation and weekend! Every working day in between is ignored!

- happy but still missing you Pai -

Pai, you will be missed

Hej!

3 days after I wrote a post regarding my dog illness, she is gone. I really want to write a happy news full with miracles, but in reality a good things has so many different ways. For Pai, a good thing is really about going to rest forever, not in this world but the other world.

On monday morning, she was doing fine. When we say fine, it means that she has no drama in her usual morning, as she was having big trouble on breathing at morning time for past 1 week, she can lay down. Despite collapsed on Sunday noon, on the afternoon, she can even do a quick walk/run and knocking the door with her paw. It does seems that something better is coming. But then, it’s just a final energy she has.

On monday noon, she had seizures, she can’t even stand on her feet. Because she was having the heart enlargement, the ability of her heart pumping blood to her body is detoriated. As the result, her feet lost enough blood circulation and became stiff. She can only lay down on her side, while resting on her side means she doesn’t have enough strength to gasp for more oxygen. So, she was having severe breathing problem.

We immediately go home and decided instantly, we will not her wait in more pain. We decided to put her to sleep. We don’t want to push her to the edge, although we  know, even without our intervention, she only has few hours to hold on. She has been on oxygen for full 4 hours before the injection.  Seeing her suffer, is not in my option. So, putting her to sleep is definitely one thing I will do when the time comes. Hopefully, it is not way too late, because I won’t be able to put her to sleep while she’s still has sparkle in her eyes.

So, it happened. So quick, so calm. She left us, in tears and in relieve knowing that she’s no longer in pain.

Pai is our first and only dog for 9 years before we have addition of Twinkle.  Pai has been a family, we even joke every time that she’s the youngest daughter in family, and we even complete her name with our family name. For me, Pai has always been my first born. She has been with me since I was in university, for all of my milestones in life, she always there, to celebrate, to cry with. I even insisted to have her in our pre-wedding picture. I know she loved me so much, despite she normally only craved for food and have a mild form of dog-autism, I know that her feeling for me is different. Our bond is so strong, I gave my all for her, and so did she.

I lost a family, I lost a child. But I do believe that she’s happy now. I don’t know If dog goes to heaven, but I know my child is now in heaven, do what she likes most, eat and sleep. Til we meet again Pai. You don’t know how much I love you. I hope you’re happy while we’re together.

Missing you

Your mom

Letting go...

Lately, gw jarang banget post blog dan rasanya semua keinginan untuk post blog atau even blog walking pun hilang semua. Diluar masalah kesibukan kerja, di weekend pun sekarang gw jarang banget blog walking lagi. Uda 4 weekend terakhir, kita sekeluarga sibuk untuk urusin Pai, anjing gw yg udah berumur 12.5 tahun.

Sejak 4 minggu lalu, gw bener2 ga bisa tidur nyenyak setiap malam, ketakutan kalau besok paginya gw dikasih kabar kalau Pai meninggal. Pai itu anjing gw yg sejak gw merit, ditinggal di rumah parents gw karena lebih banyak yg bisa urusin dia disana daripada gw yg cuman ada di rumah dari jam 10.30 malam sampai jam 6 pagi.

4 minggu lalu, Pai mendadak batuk2, dan kalau dia batuk hebat, dia akan collapse dan duduk diem kepayahan. dan in no time, Pai berubah dari anjing yg gemuk jadi tinggal kulit dan tulang. Kita sampe pergi ke Pet Clinic berkali-kali dan X-ray berkali-kali, untuk menemukan kenyataan kalau ada sesuatu white-mass yg menekan paru-paru nya untuk bernafas. Setiap kali kita x-ray, hasilnya terus menerus memburuk dan sekarang Pai fully mengandalkan perutnya untuk bernafas karena paru-paru kirinya otomatis tertutup sepenuhnya.

2 dokter yg ada bilang kalau semua ini tinggal menunggu waktunya Pai menyerah. Sejujurnya, kita bahkan sudah menggali grave nya Pai karena minggu lalu, Pai ga bisa tidur sama sekali selama 2x24 jam karena Pai ga bisa nafas kalau rebahan, di dunia medis, keadaan ini dinamakan orthopnea. Selama itulah, kita juga ga bisa tidur. Pai sampai kita pakein mesin oksigen yg perlu kita pompa manually pake tangan. Tapi semua itu ga berhasil, Pai tetep ngos2an parah.

Selasa kemarin, kami memutuskan untuk cek ke Dr Cucu, yg kami dengar adalah dokter hewan terbaik di Jakarta. She is not a dissapoinment at all, karena finally kita dapat confirmation dari nama penyakit Pai, yaitu DCM (Dilated Cardiomyopathy).Kita memang sudah menerka penyakit ini, karena breed Cocker Spaniel adalah medium sized dog yg sering terkena penyakit ini secara inheritance. DCM adalah pembesaran jantung pada anjing, biasanya jenis doberman paling sering kena penyakit ini dan prognosis life expectancy once diagnose at early stage, can be as early as 42 days! in cat, it is even less, 2 weeks! in Cocker spaniel, it said, can be up to 11 months, tapi keadaan Pai sudah severe karena pembesaran jantung sudah hampir 50%. So, we are counting days.

We know DCM is irreversible and incurable illness, we know that prognosis of this illness is harsh, but we want Pai to feel comfortable. And we are not sure that we want to put her to sleep. All in all, she tries hard to survive, and we wonder if it is wise to let her decide when she want to leave us. A lot of "what if" questions in our mind, what if she survive? what if she want to live? Our vet (dokter hewan) said, "we shouldn't put her to sleep, we should give her a chance." But, looking at her suffering everyday, I'm so much in pain, and wonder if she want to end it as well?

Never mind about cost, despite we have spent a LOT of money for this. But, we will never stop anything to make her feel better, at any cost. As long as you are happy and comfortable Pai. We are longing for the day where Pai is crying for food again, do a afternoon walk, and even her wagging tail when we are home.

We want you to be better, to be happy, I can't ask you to be healthy again I know. But at least, you are eating. But if you decide to leave this world, I am proud to once be your mom, to held you and live a good life together. I don't know if dog goes to heaven or not, but I want to believe that one day we'll meet again. Along with family and friends. one day, we shall all leave this world, and in a place call heaven, we shall be together again. I love you, Pai.

Frequent Travelling, yes or no?

Motivasi gw nulis post ini karena gw lg baca Blog dimana sang Blogger dengan penuh emosi menjelaskan kalau orang2 byk yg being judgmental sama org2 yg decided utk mmemprioritaskan travelling diatas hal yg Mungkin lebih merupakan kebutuhan primer seperti rumah misalnya.

Sebenarnya ini topik yg biasa cuman yg bikin gw tertarik adalah level Emosi ya si Blogger Hehehe. Kata2nya cukup keras cenderung terlalu keras mnrt gw. Memang bagaimana seseorang spent his or her money is none of our biz, kecuali at some point their biz can be ours.

Ga ada yg Bener dan ga ada yg salah sih dalam keputusan masing2 orang,  at the end of the day, it's their own money,  it's their life. Buat gw yg sebenarnya pencinta travelling, gw juga pengen bisa menjelajah dunia. Mereka suka bilang, travelling bisa membuat kita jadi a better person krn kita Lebi terbuka dengan melihat dunia. To me,  what's makes you a better person is what coming out from you,  not what you received. Jadi clause yg ini ga bener.

Kembali ke topik semula, gw beberapa kali travelling tp jelas bukan traveller. Gw bisa aja pergi ke lebih banyak pelosok dunia ini, tapi ga gw lakukan. Kenapa?  Karena di kasus gw,  gw belum rela dan berani utk melihat potret masa depan dimana gw dan suami bisa melanglang buana di masa muda, tapi gw, suami dan anak kita nanti tinggal di rumah pinggiran krn kita ga sanggup beli a better one.

Gw bicara self suffice situation ya, dimana everything is on our own. If there's a privilege of somebody's else financing, then lucky you. Mungkin gw yg salah mengartikan situasi working class di jakarta mungkin, tp berdasarkan pengamatan dan pengalaman gw,  rumah di jakarta is Damn expensive and impossible to buy a decent house locating 1 hour journey from Sudirman area under 1 billion idr,  the truth is, rumah ruko di kawasan gw tinggal sekarang, yg daerahnya selalu banjir,  agak2 slum dan dijamin tape mobil ilang klo ditinggal 15 menit, guess what, it cost 2.5 billion. Btw, itu bukan rumah gw juga hehe.  Matik

Mau travel macam apa lagi.. Well I can do travel, indeed I will do it shortly but it's no longer a priority. Gw happy with my life, and I truly tthink that we've been blessed. Gw cuman ga happy aja sama si Blogger yg accusing ppl being this and that tanpa mengetahui dan mengerti keadaan org lain. Same case with that person, they shouldn't assume that traveller is a irresponsible people who travel but having no proper financial planning .

Topik ga penting

Ripiu vendor ahh

Vendor Performance Review

Hallo, setelah penjabaran tidak menarik ttg D day di post sebelumnya, gw mau jabarin ttg vendor performance review ya. Btw, kalau lately terganggu dengan cara penulisan post gw yg isinya cuman separagraf kalimat yg caur maur, maapkeun aku, gw ga tau kenapa PC kantor itu selalu mengakibatkan semua paragraph setting gw ilang! gw ga sempet buka blog dari kantor, tapi kadang2 gw cicil nulis di email outlook gw, jadi gw tinggal copas ke blog pas sempet. Post ini uda gw tulis sejak 3 minggu lalu sebenarnya :p

Anyway, ini gw listing performance untuk para vendor gw yah..

Bridal – Ritz Taipei - score : 9

Kayanya ini vendor yg paling sering gw review. Dan seperti penilaian gw sebelumnya, gw suka banget sama bridal ini, baik di servicenya, gown, make-up dan juga harganya. Kenapa ga gw kasi 10? Karena mereka dikala peak season, mereka hanya terima make-up orang tua untuk malam hari aja. Alhasil gw agak kerepotan untuk mengatur make up pagi. Di luar itu, everything’s perfect J

Fotografi – Welio - score N/A

Agak sulit untuk menilai performance fotografer sampai kita lihat hasil foto album, kanvas dan video sih. Jadi gw purely hanya menilai effort mereka di hari H aja. Menurut gw, usaha mereka perlu diacungi jempol sik. At least pada saat pagi – siang, mereka bener2 niatin untuk capture segitu banyak foto dan angle. Kita sudah dapet raw picturenya dari Welio in less than weeks, suki! warnanya tajam dan terang, sesuai harapan kita.

Kalau dipikir lagi, hari H wedding itu bener2 surreal loh, waktu gw masih jadi capeng, gw sangat memikirkan dekorasi seperti apa, prosesi seperti apa, wedding song apa, posisi catering seperti apa, etc etc. In reality, pada saat hari H, kita kaya kebo dicucuk idungnya. Ga bisa mikir apa2 lagi, cuman di-guide sama WO aja. WO bilang duduk, gw duduk, WO bilang jalan, ya gw jalan, MC bilang kiss, ya kiss. Mana sempat perhatiin dekor, catering, etc. Nah, mau ga mau, pengantin hanya bisa ngandelin foto dan video aja untuk bisa mengenang hari H. So, I agree that photography is one of the most important  vendor for your wedding day. It’s where you have to splurge more.

WO – Mark & Co – score 10

Kalau mau diakui, ada 2 vendor yg gw ga nyesel uda memilih mereka. Yg pertama adalah bridal, yg kedua adalah WO. WO itu bener-bener membantu dan mempermudah banyak hal di D day. Gw orangnya cukup dominan dalam mengatur sesuatu, jadi practically pre-wedding day, gw yakin WO ga sibuk sama sekali, cukup bantu inget2 aja dan gw juga ga pernah minta ini-itu aneh-aneh dari WO. Tapi pas hari H, semua kredit gw kasih ke WO kita. Mereka bener2 experienced, rapih, supportif, dan membuat kita bener-bener ga usah kuatir apapun lagi. Both Martin, istrinya Susanti dan para member WO nya bener-bener membantu banget. Recommended banget.

Gereja – Regina Caeli – score 9

Well, ga banyak yg bisa gw komentarin ttg Paroki Regina Caeli (emang gw komentator yak? haha). RC memang udah bagus dari sananya, dan Thank God, hari itu RC ga bau ikan asin! Dari 5 kali attempt gw ke RC sebelumnya, 5 kalinya pasti bau ikan asin sampe di point gw hampir muntah.  So I thank You and thank you, RC.

Lunch Box - Ny. Hendrawan – score 8

Sebenernya bingung juga mau kasi score gimana, karena ya pemesanannya cukup simple, makan enak, delivery ontime, ga ribet untuk pembayaran, harga terjangkau. What else yg bisa dikomentari ya? Hehe…

Venue – Emporium – score 8

Sebelum merit, kayanya gw bawaannya mau marah-marah aja sama vendor karena tingkat fleksibel mereka uda parah banget, semua-semua di quantify pake uang, dan janji revert hari ini, ga di contact sampe di telpon. Uda ditelpon pun, masih minta mundurin deadlinenya. Capek. Minta 1 buku tamu aja ga bole, minjem 1 meeting room, bayar. Grrr…  Tapi begitu hari H, keknya semua kemarahan gw ilang, Empo memang secara venue bagus dan karena masih baru, semua keliatan bersih, rapih dan berkelas (apalagi orang biasanya uda mikir “wedding hall di mall paling juga ga bagus dan norak”). Banyak temen dan keluarga yg bilang kalau tempatnya exceed-expectation, well I agree. Tempatnya memang bagus, dan kalau servicenya diimprove, gw yakin, tempat ini akan sangat laris (if not already).

Dekorasi – Hendra Irawan – score 9

Sebenernya gw suka banget dekor gw, gw suka ambiencenya yg persis seperti yg kita mau. Kita nambah lighting soft pink 500K karena gw ga suka lighting yg sepetak-sepetak di pelaminan (itu loh lighting yg ditembak dari bawah, jadinya lightingnya keliatannya kaya terputus-putus), dan itu terbukti sangat worth it.  Gw rekomen loh, 500K spent tp efeknya beda banget. Then why not 10, karena gw merasa pas agree dekorasi sebulan lalu, mini gardennya pake bola-bola style, tapi kok mendadak jadi flower bed biasa ya? Tapi yah no major issue, again, kita uda bingung mode, dan ga bs ngeh apa2 lagi hahaha… Gw ga tau bagaimana lagi penampakan dari galeri foto haha.

Catering – Adhika – score 9

Kita bener-bener ga nyobain makanan pas pesta sih, jadi gw ga tau secara rasa. Tapi, based on input dari tamu dan keluarga, sangat variatif, beberapa menu sangat enak, beberapa so-so. Tapi majority men-komplimen sih. Tapi yg paling gw surprise adalah, gw suka banget sama dekor dari catering. Mereka bener-bener dengerin permintaan kita untuk keep everything simple dan elegan. Dai suki!

MC & Entertainment – score 9

Ini salah satu vendor yg dengan seribu minta maap, sulit gw review, karena gw ga dengerin lagu-lagu mereka sama sekali sangking ga konsennya. Sekilas sih gw denger mereka mainin lagu2 yg kuminta, even semua lagu yg kuminta ga ada di song list mereka. Di banyak merit-an, lagu prosesi biasanya recording, cuman di wedding kita, kita meminta singernya untuk nyanyi secara live dan gw denger2 sih, nyanyinya bagus. Lega… Thank you uda niatin ya. Untuk MC, bagus juga karena gw uda wanti-wanti untuk jangan heboh2 dan secasual mungkin. He made it J

All in all, kita happy sama meritnya, if anything we wanna change adalah kadar ke-parno-an kita J Kita berdua itu sangat parno sama namanya : wedding desak-desakan dan makanan kurang, alhasil undangan kita kedikitan haha. Jadi meritan kita bisa mulai 7.20 dan jam 8.45 gitu uda tinggal keluarga haha. Tapi gw cek ke beberapa tamu, mereka prefer pesta kaya gini sih, bat bet babet ga banyak cingcong kelar! Haha, sesuai keinginan kita juga. Ga pusing makanan kebuang banyak, angpao kurang(syukurlah memuaskan haha), yg penting, tamu yg dating itu bener2 tamu yg kita ingin ketemu dan be happy with.

Bersyukur semuanya sudah kelar. Rasanya kaya beban 1 ton lepas dari pundak kita berdua J Thank God.