il mio italiano

VIP

2012-01-23T05:29:00.001-08:00

Suatu hari, suami saya tiba-tiba aja nyeletuk setelah Katy, anak kita lahir.

Husband: hon, Katy itu VIP (very important person), sementara kamu IP aja (important person)

Me: Lah trus kamu?

Husband: Aku P aja

Me: P as in person?

Husband: Terserah deh, bisa person...tapi bisa juga singkatan dari Pee Pee (alias pipis) secara aku sekarang kerjaannya ngurusin diaper Katy

Sapi

2012-01-22T03:20:00.000-08:00

Me: Hon, aku udah menyusui beberapa minggu kok ga kurus-kurus yah. katanya kalo breastfeeding jadi kurus

Husband : ah siapa bilang? itu buktinya sapi, produksi susu sampe berliter-liter tiap hari tetep aja gede

Me: *&^*((!!! masa istri disamain ke sapi

Husband: lah aku kan cuma bikin perbandingan

Baby Activity

2012-01-14T00:14:00.000-08:00

- : Hon, don't feed Katy too much by breastfeeding her everytime she cries
+ : Why not?
- : I don't want her to be fat
+ : I breastfeed as what the doctor told me...every two hours. I don't think that will make her fat
- : Yeah, but she has no activity other than crying, sleeping and poop-ing
+ : Hon, that's what baby does. What kind of activity do you expect her to do? She certainly cannot run around (^%$#)

Aduh

2011-12-31T23:45:00.000-08:00

Sehabis operasi c-section ato sesar, ternyata sakitnya luar biasa karena obat biusnya udah ilang. Pain killer yang aku minum cuma tahan beberapa jam, abis itu ya sakit banget sampe efek dari pain killer yang aku minum kemudian ngefek. Jadi di hospital bed, aku sering mengerang-erang kesakitan. Suatu malam:

Me: Aduh....aduh aduh sakit
Husband: Poor baby, hang on there ... the pain killer will kick off soon. Btw, aduh itu siapa sih kok kamu panggil-panggil dari tadi. I thought is enough of having me here.
Me: *tambah kesakitan krn nahan ketawa*

Nothing is Ready

2011-12-19T08:57:00.000-08:00

Jiahhh.....saya udah cerita di blog saya yang satu lagi, gimana demi pengiritan saya beli stroller dan car seat lewat amazon.de. Trus suami saya rencananya mau ngebawain ke Jakarta dari Jerman. Berpikir bahwa semua kebutuhan bayi sudah lengkap kecuali dua buah item tersebut, saya tenang-tenang donggg...

Tapi ya namanya hidup, kadang rencana tinggal rencana. Pesawat yang akan dinaiki suami saya dari Frankfurt ke Singapore mengalami gangguan teknis, jadinya delay 12 jam! Walhasil pas sampai di Singapore, suami saya musti cari connecting flight baru dan sambil nyari-nyari gitu dia nge cek apakah bagasinya lengkap. Ternyata ga ditemukan....baik itu stroller, car seat dan koper suami saya sendiri. Fiuhhhh....

Kalo bener-bener ilang, emang sih pihak airline bakal ngasih ganti rugi. Cuma ganti rugi itu kan ada maksimumnya. Palingan 250 euro doang.....hiks hiks, harga kopernya sendiri aja segitu....belum isinya, trus stroller, car seat....menyedihkan. Musti beli lagi dan musti beli di Jakarta yang mahal iniiiii.....rrrrgggghhhhhh. Smoga barang-barang itu cepat ketemu dahhh.

Baby's Room

2011-12-09T05:30:00.001-08:00

Being Asian, usually parents sleep with their newborn baby. Or at least, that's the case in my family. The reasons can be many, one of them being practicality.....as newborn still unable to sleep through the night, so whenever they cry either for milk or wet diaper, the parents can hear them and quickly address the issue. Maybe this is a habit from the time where baby monitor is still not in use or simply because the parents are too lazy to walk to the other room and taking care of the baby. Sometime not only does the baby sleep in the same room as the parents, but also on the same bed (I won't do this for sure as I might crushed the baby flat....well, either me or my husband...one of use surely will do that in our sleep)

Anyway, this is not the case for westerner. Children sleep on their own room since birth, which is good for helping the kids to build their independence and also not to bother their parents sex life (grin!). So that's what we do. But I'm sure that my husband's reason is not independence reason. Helping our sex life is more like it.....but apparently neither that is the reason. He just wants his sleep undisturbed by the crying baby....Huh....let's see, I am so gonna force him to take turn taking care of the baby when she's crying at night. At least during the time he is home, which is only once a month.....wanting his sleep my ass, I need that more than him :)

Mata Duitan

2011-11-23T01:23:00.001-08:00

Suami saya bilang, saya ini mata duitan. Saya agak-agak enggan juga mengakuinya, saya lebih suka mengatakan diri saya punya "financial awareness" yang mungkin agak sedikit kelewatan :) Awal tahun ini misalnya, saya bilang ke suami saya mau beli apartemen baru buat storage barang-barang saya. Maksudnya nanti pas rumah saya jadi, apartemennya trus bisa disewain. Setelah suami saya mengiyakan, saya pun beli apartemen itu. Cuman, baru 2 hari itu apartemen pindah atas nama saya dari pemilik lama, sudah ada teman dari malaysia yang nanya "kamu punya apartemen yang available?". Kan saya baik, jadi akhirnya apartemen ini saya sewakan ke teman saya ini hihihihi. Suami saya pas ngeliat barang-barang masih banyak di garasi langsung nanya, kok barangnya ga berkurang even kamu udah pindahin ke apartemen yah. Terpaksa saya tersenyum malu-malu, sambil bilang "hihih, maap hon. Ada teman yang lagi butuh banget apartemen, jadi aku sewain ke dia." Suami saya cuma bisa mengangkat alis dan geleng-geleng liat kelakuan istrinya.

Nah, minggu lalu suami saya bilang dia pingin ganti mobil. Soalnya kalo kita ke pelabuhan ratu pake sedan, ada beberapa daerah yang susah kita lalui. Pas datang sih jalanan ke villanya turun, jadi ok-ok aja. Pas pulang kita pernah stuck sampe sejam-an karena mobilnya ga kuat naik, tapi ga bisa balik lagi kecuali kalo kita ga mau pulang. Jadi pas minggu lalu suami saya di Jakarta, kita lihat-lihat mobil 4x4. Kan sekarang ada aturan pajak progresif yah, dimana kalo kita punya mobil lebih dari satu pajaknya jadi lebih tinggi dari seharusnya. Makanya saat kita booking mobil baru, kita jual sedan kita itu. Eh ternyata jual mobil di Jakarta itu emang gampang banget yah, hari itu juga mobil kita laku dan saya end up ga punya mobil. Terpaksa kalo mau kemana-mana minjem mobil ama nyokap/bokap.

Trus (hihihi) saya agak malu juga mengakuinya nih, partner kerja suami saya di Jakarta nanya "kamu barusan pesan Pajero Dakar kan? Kalo udah datang aku sewa sini, 7 bulan aja. Toh kamu punya bayi ntar ga bisa kemana-mana". Dengan tawaran uang sewa yang menggiurkan, saya ga tahan buat bilang ngga. Jadi akhirnya saya iyakan, soalnya saya bener-bener ga bisa nolak duit. Kalkulator di kepala saya langsung klak klik klak klik melakukan penghitungan, dan saya mikirnya...eh dapet mobil baru cuma nambah bayar 100 juta wkwkwkwkwk.....*bener-bener cocok jadi pedagang pasar saking itungan banget*

Pas suami saya tahu, dia yah cuma bisa geleng-geleng kepala. Dia tanya gini "Have you ever in your life, do something which the reason behind is not money". Saya jawab aja "Hmmmmm.....yeah, but it's so rare that I couldn't remember when was the last time I did that".

Mulia

2011-11-11T11:42:00.001-08:00

- : Hon, can you plan the place for your birthday dinner? just book somewhere you'd like
+: Ahh, doesn't matter really where. Probably I'll just book something in Hotel Mulia
- : No pleasseeeee....
+: What's wrong with the restaurants in Mulia?
- : We've always eat there every time i am in Jakarta.....i want something different
+: I like the breakfast buffet
- : I know you do....but we are not going there for breakfast
+ : (hihihi....padahal emang pingin kesana pas breakfast, pingin bubur ayam....norak ga sih)

Normal Delivery

2011-11-08T04:12:00.000-08:00

My husband and I was once agreed that I am going to deliver our first baby by normal delivery instead of using C-section. Or at least that was my assumption (that he agreed too). The thing is with man, sometime they just said yes without thinking or even worse....said yes just to shut us (woman) up for that specific period of time (because maybe they are busy with something of their interest). Until few days ago

- : Hon, i think it's better you deliver the baby on c-section
+: Why suddenly you said so?
- : I just feel it safer for you
+: Are you afraid to go with me to the delivery room if i deliver with vaginal birth?
- : Yeah, kind of
+: Hahaha....no worry hon, if you are scarred you can just holding my hand and not to look down there
- : Still, it's scarred me
+: Come on...super macho man!
- : I am still macho even if i am not going inside the delivery room
+: Not to me
- : pfffff

Ejaan Bahasa

2011-11-02T02:43:00.000-07:00

Beberapa hari yang lalu, saya ketawa-ketawa liat iklan layanan masyarakat yang ada gubernur Banten-nya...siapa tuh namanya? Ratu Atut ya kalo ga salah (suka saya plesetin jadi ratu takut xixixixi.....takut ga punya jabatan). Saya ketawa karena di iklan itu, Ratu Atut melafalkan fasilitas sebagai "pasilitas"....teteup orang Sunda meskipun uda gubernur, masi ga bisa ngomong f juga. Ya ya saya tahu, mungkin ga seharusnya saya ngetawain orang. Sebenernya saya pas itu keinget sama suami saya.

Asal tahu aja, di dalam bahasa Italy itu ga ada huruf K, J, Y, X dan W. Karena didalam bahasa Italy itu huruf K diganti dengan "ch"(contoh chatarina akan dibaca sebagai katarina) , huruf J diganti dengan "gi" (contohnya Giulia yang dibaca Julia) dan huruf Y (atau ny kalo bahasa indo) diganti dengan "gn" (contohnya gnam yang dibaca nyam). Trus selain itu, masih ada huruf h yang meskipun ditulis selalu tidak dibaca/silent (misalnya hotel, mereka bacanya otel) dan huruf g yang ga berdiri sendiri (ditulisnya selalu sebagai "gh"). Sementara huruf X emang ga pernah dipake dalam kata bahasa Italy, karena buat mereka X itu kan angka 10 di tulisan latin dan kalo ada merk bahasa asing yang pake W, mereka bacanya VuVu (karena mirip huruf V yang dijejerkan dan huruf V itu bacanya Vu)

Karena itulah, makanya suami saya kadang kalo ngomong bahasa Inggris masi ada pengaruh Italynya dan selalu saya ketawain. Bukannya saya sombong, tapi memang dalam hal ejaan (tulisan), bahasa Inggris saya jelas lebih bagus dari suami saya. Suami saya misalnya, ga bisa ngebedain cara baca "hair" (rambut) dan "air" (udara), hungry (lapar) dan angry (marah) trus kalo ada temen kita yang namanya Charles.....dia bakalan manggil dengan sebutan Karles (jelas aja si Charlesnya ngomel2 dipanggil salah). Masi banyak lagi, misal: suami saya tahu kalo kursi itu bahasa Inggrisnya chair dan dia mengucapkannya bener...cuma kalo disuruh nulis chair, dia bakalan tulisnya cair...sesuai gimana nulisnya dibahasa Italy.

Itu baru bahasa Inggris, belum lagi kalo dia nyoba baca tulisan bahasa Indonesia di Jalan....saya bisa ketawa-ketawa ga abis-abis. Dia pernah nanya "apa itu jiji" trus saya pikir dia nanya "jijik" jadi saya bilang disgusted. Trus dia bilang lagi "why there is a picture of teeth next to it". Ternyata dia lihat gambar tukang pasang gigi palsu yang ada tulisan GIGI beserta gambar yg gede banget. Trus pas kita lewat toko mobil BMW.....dia bilang "wah toko Bi Em Vuvu nya bagus sekali".....xixixixi baru sekali itu saya denger BMW dilafalkan sebagai Bi Em Vuvu......

Kalo bahasa Indonesia, apa yah yang bisa diketawain kalo melafalkan bahasa asing? Mungkin dari segi ejaan kita bagus ya karena huruf kita lengkap smuanya ada dan ga ada yang silent. Pelafalannya aja kali yang pake logat daerah medok yang bisa kita ketawain. Ngetawain diri sendiri boleh juga kan????

Komputer Baru

2011-10-16T01:32:00.000-07:00

Minggu lalu, komputer saya rusak (Sony) ....ngambek gitu tiba-tiba mati dan ga mau nyala lagi....Aneh bin ajaib deh (kaya yg punya). Jadi saya bilang ke suami saya, saya mau beli komputer baru. Trus saya bawa komputernya ke tukang service.....ini iseng aja, last attempt before saya beli baru. Eh ternyata itu komputer idup lagi. Jadi kan karena dah terlanjur ke Ratu Plaza nih......saya keliling-keliling dan akhirnya malah make uang untuk beli komputer buat beli X-Box.

Dua hari lalu, masa yah di tengah asyiknya saya main game di X-Box tiap hari, jadi komputer saya agak terabaikan. Eh pas saya nyalain, ga mau idup lagi....nyebelin banget ga sih. Terpaksa deh 2 hari saya make komputer toshiba abal-abal saya yang tahun jebot (kayaknya dari jaman saya baru lulus kuliah deh)....yang udah berdebu karena saya simpen di kotak. Komputer saya yang sony ini ga bisa dibenerin lagi...huaaaaa....

+ : Hon, aku minta uang buat beli komputer yah
- : Loh, kan minggu lalu kamu uda minta uang buat beli komputer, masa tiap minggu komputermu baru
+ : Minggu lalu uangnya aku pake buat beli X-Box
- : Gimana sih kamu ini?
+ : Habis minggu lalu si Sony ternyata mau hidup setelah dibawa ke service, jadi aku pikir daripada uangnya mubazir kan aku beli game
- : Ck ck ck ck....jadi kalo beli game ngga mubazir ya
+ : Ngga dong....kan istrimu ini jadi hepi
- : Yeah, whatever

Suami Ga Romantis

2011-09-29T00:40:00.000-07:00

Kadang cewek itu susah juga yah, saya tadi malem barusan baca buku aneh bin ajaib (saya yang aneh, secara ngapain juga beli buku begituan)...judulnya man is better than woman. Kurang ajar ga sih bukunya. Tapi mungkin itu buku ada benernya, soalnya saya aja bacanya ketawa-ketawa. Intinya sih, buku itu bilang kalo cewek itu ga jelas apa maunya dan ketidakjelasan tersebut bisa mengacaukan dunia (kalau cewek tsb ada di posisi penting, misal dunia politik atau bisnis kelas dunia).

Saya kadang suka mengeluh suami saya kok ga romantis banget. Padahal kadang-kadang, saya sendiri yang bikin suami saya ga romantis. Misalnya nih, dulu pernah kita liburan ke Bangkok. Suami saya yang saat itu masih kerja di Kuwait dan saya masih di Vietnam, janjian ketemu di Bangkok aja, trus abis itu baru kita bareng-bareng ke Vietnam. Suami saya nyampe duluan nih di Bangkok pagi, sementara saya baru sampe sore (nunggu jam pulang kantor). Pas saya nyampe airport, suami saya ternyata jemput dan.....pake limo!!! Limonya mercy pula, lengkap dengan chauffeur. Saya bukannya senang, malah langsung nanya.....how much did you spend for this limo. Trus pas suami saya ngasih tahu sewanya 500 dollar, saya langsung mencak-mencak.....this is really not necessary. Nah lo....gimana suami saya mau romantis coba....dan itu bukan kejadian satu-satunya. Selain itu, pernah dia beliin saya make-up MAC satu set lengkap atau tas Ferragamo sebagai hadiah disaat saya ga ulang tahun. Tetep aja pasti saya tanya-tanyain, berapa yang dia spend. Kali dia kapok, uda capek2 mikir mau menyenangkan istri yang ada malah diceramahin biar ga boros.

But you know what i mean, saya mau dimanja dengan hal-hal romantis yang tidak menghabiskan uang (wkwkwkwk....mungkin ga yah?). Menurut suami saya sih ga mungkin, secara dia emang suka belanja lebih dari istrinya. Jadi mungkin sebelum mengeluh suami ngga romantis, musti bercermin dulu apakah itu sebetulnya salah kita sendiri. In my case, it certainly is.

Nerd

2011-09-25T23:48:00.000-07:00

+ : Hon, how do you say "nerd" in German?
- : There is no such word in German
+ : Hmmmm, no wonder
- : What do you mean
+ : I guess they are all nerd, so being nerd in German is simply normal
- : Hahahaha, why do you say so?
+ : Look at them, putting their socks while wearing sandal.....and it's like many of them.....one of the sign of being nerd
- : You'd better not saying that to my friends
+ : No promise here

Sepatu Baru

2011-09-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

Kemarin sore, sehabis suami pulang kantor, kita pergi ke mall di Limbecker Platz buat cari sepatu. Maklum aja, hamil-hamil begini kaki jadi tambah besar. Sepatu lama ga muat, selain itu juga udah mulai dingin di Jerman, jadi sepatu yang aku bawa dari Jakarta uda bikin kaki menggigil.

Eh, sesudah muter-muter sejam di mall, belum aja nemu yang cocok. Dan suamiku yang ga cari sepatu, malah udah beli sepatu dua. Dia bilang karena enak dipakenya....huh dasar alesan. Ngeliat mukaku rada-rada bete karena aku ga dapet sepatu, suamiku nawarin mau beli baju ngga - yang langsung aku jawab dengan buang muka *ga bisa dibujuk...enak aja*

Pas di rumah nih, udah tahu aku bete, suamiku malah sibuk ngeliat-liat dan nyobain sepatunya. Langsung deh tak tinggal masak. Aku sirik abis pokoknya. Soalnya emang suamiku dapet sepatunya bagus, satu dari Clarks yang nyaman dipake jalan (secara suamiku kan kalo ke kantor jalan) dan satu dari Lloyd (ini tempat favoritku beli jaket kulit, karena selain jualan barang-barang berbahan kulit dia juga jual tuh macem-macem produk perawatan sepatu, jaket dan tas kulit). Mana dia beli juga shoe filler dari kämpgen. Uhhhhh masa dia dapet banyak banget secara aku ngga.

Esok paginya, pas aku bangun jam 7, loh kok suamiku belom berangkat ke kantor?

+: Hon, ini uda jam 7, kamu mau brangkat jam brapa? Katanya ada meeting jam setengah 8
- : Iya bentar, aku having dilemma nih, sepatu mana yang mau aku pake
+: Ga penting banget!!!!
-: Loh, aku kan Italian, musti jaga penampilan
+: aku tidur lagi ah, males banget.....*&^^^^%%%%!!!

Left Over

2011-09-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

Sewaktu saya masih kerja, the best time of the day adalah waktu makan siang (setidaknya menurut saya). Bukan karena saya suka sama menu di kantin (seringnya kantor saya tuh udik jauh dari mana-mana, jadi cuma bisa makan di kantin - ga ada pilihan lain, kecuali kalo lagi ga banyak kerjaan dan bisa kabur makan siang berlama-lama), tapi karena kita sering banding-bandingin makanan pilihan kita.

Entah itu dari salah satu menu di kantin, ataupun makan siang yg dibawa dari rumah. Terus terang, kalo makan siang di kantin blenek juga.....menunya itu-itu ajah. Jadi temen-temen saya banyak yang bawa bekal dari rumah. Kecuali saya dan kolega saya yang namanya Grigory. Soalnya, kebanyakan bekal yang dibawa itu left over (sisa makan malam yg ga abis). Nah, waktu masih kerja saya kan banyakan sendiri. Ngapain saya pusing-pusing masak dinner. Yang ada sampe seminggu juga ga abis-abis (karena susahhhh masak buat sendiri). Paling-paling saya beli makan di drive-thru (yang pilihannya banyak banget di Amerika). Sementara Grigory kalo saya tanya, dia jawabannya "anakku 2 cowok smua, apapun yg dimasak buat makan malam ga pernah sisa". Hahaha, emang kalo punya anak cowok, bangkrut juga ngasih makannya.

Sejak saya nikah, saya perhatiin keluarga suami saya tuh kalo masak, semuanya habis in one meal. Jadi masaknya sehari sampe 3 kali (eh dua kali ding, soalnya orang Italy itu makan paginya cuma kopi doang sama roti yang dibeli di supermarket, setidaknya keluarga suami saya bgitu). Mereka sekeluarga, kalo makan musti anget/panas. Ga suka makanan yang dingin atau diangetin atau ga fresh (dan sekeluarga berpandangan microwave itu bener-bener ga perlu) dan ga suka buang-buang makanan, jadi kalo masak harus abis saat itu juga dan ga ada makanan di luar jam makan. Sebenernya bagus sih, karena jadi disiplin jam makannya teratur trus juga lebih sehat karena ga ada makanan yang diawetkan (masuk kulkas dan dipanasin berulang-ulang), plus ga ada acara ngemil.

Nah, di Jerman ini, suami saya ngeluh, ga bisa makan di kantin kantornya lagi, karena makanannya sama tiap hari dan ga enak. Hehehehe, trus dia minta dibikinin sandwich dan minta saya nganterin ke kantornya tiap jam makan siang (karena dia ga mau sandwichnya dibikin dari pagi, katanya sayurnya jadi layu smua.....alesan aja nih, bikin kerjaan buat istri). Saya udah nawar aja, minta dia mau makan left over. Tapi trus suami saya bilang, do you realize we never have left-over.....remember Grigory's story about having boys at home? Well, we dont have a boy just yet but you can consider me equal to 2 boys. Wkwkwkwk, bener juga sih alasannya.

Jalan-jalan sambil jajan

2011-09-04T23:38:00.000-07:00

Seringkali, aku susah ngejelasin arti kata bahasa Indonesia ke suamiku. Karena emang ga ada terjemahan pastinya. Di Jakarta, kita suka jalan-jalan di sore hari (niatnya sih olahraga plus biar ga terkurung di dalam rumah terus menerus). Suatu hari bokap nanya, kita mau kemana. Suamiku jawab "mau jalan-jalan". Bokap nanya lagi "jalan-jalan sambil jajan?"

Langsung deh suamiku nanya " apa itu jajan?". Aku jawabnya sih beli snack, tapi kelihatan aja suamiku masih bingung karena emang di seputaran komplek tempat kita tinggal ga ada tempat beli snack.Jadi akhirnya i left it at that, ga aku jelasin lebih lanjut.

Nah, aku itu emang orangnya suka banget jajan. Ga bisa gitu, jalan-jalan doang (kecuali kalo cuma jalan di sekeliling komplek) tanpa beli cemilan. Di Jerman, setiap kali kita jalan, selalu ngelewatin toko, cafe kecil atau vending machine, aku suka brenti. Nah selama berhenti ini, entah itu karena salah satu dari kita mau ke toilet, atau suamiku perlu nanya sesuatu, aku pastiiiii ngambil sesuatu, entah itu minuman ringan atau cemilan. Bahkan di cafe, yg mana aku udah pesen makanan, tetep aja kalo lihat kulkas, aku buka dan aku ambil minuman ringan. Hehehe.

Suamiku langsung bilang gini, kamu ini ih, udah makan tapi kalo lewat toko....pasti deh beli snack. Kadang dimakan juga ngga.

Kesempatan dong....jadi ada penjelasan buat kata "jajan" yang kemarin-kemarin aku bingung ngejelasinnya. Aku langsung bilang "yah itu yg namanya jajan". Eh tapi abis itu suamiku langsung bilang "aku ga suka kamu jajan, mendingan kamu makan makanan pokok aja". Yeeeee....kok jadi begini???

Butik Chanel

2011-08-22T03:45:00.000-07:00

Weekend lalu, saya dan suami ke Dusseldorf untuk mengunjungi toko bangunan. Dusseldorf itu sekitar 50km dari tempat kami tinggal. Kalau naik kereta cepat, cuma perlu sekitar 10 menit, tapi kita akhirnya naik kereta biasa yang bisa pake tiket langganan dan ga perlu beli tiket lagi. Jadinya perlu 30 menit untuk sampe ke Dusseldorf. Sebenernya saya ga suka pergi ke toko bangunan, cuma buat lihat-lihat lantai yang mau kita pakai untuk apartemen baru kita. Buat saya itu boring banget. Ga tertarik ah....lebih suka lihat pas udah jadinya aja haha.

Cuma saya tetep ikut ke Dusseldorf karena abis dari toko bangunan, saya pingin ke butik Chanel mau lihat-lihat tas.

+ : Hon, nanti temenin yah masuk ke butik Chanel
- : Kenapa emang? (suami saya suka males diajakin muter2 lihat barang cewek a.k.a tas dan spatu)
+ : Hehehe, takut dikira gembel dan diusir...
- : Emangnya kalo aku ikut masuk, trus ga diusir?
+ : Ngga dong, kan kamu european, jadi mereka lebih percaya kalo kamu mau beli sesuatu
- : Eh, di Eropa itu org Asia justru yang terkenal suka blanja
+: Bodo ah, aku mau kamu tetep ikut masuk
- : Ya udahlah

Setelah masuk butik dan bertanya-tanya harga tas chanel classic yang keren ituhhhh....

+ : Udah yuk, pulang
- : udah, gitu doang? Tadi katanya mau beli tas
+ : uuuu....uang sakuku kurang
- : Hahahahahaha
+ : Sebellll, cuma ngetawain doanggg.....bukannya nambahin duit istri

Clodi (cloth diaper)

2011-08-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

Sejak saya join komunitas urban mama saya jadi tahu yang namanya clodi (cloth diaper). Terus terang saya tertarik karena banyak yang bilang ini bisa irit *ehm, saya ga pelit....cuma financial awareness nya tinggi aja hehe*. Saya udah bilang soal clodi ini ke ibu saya, karena kebetulan beliau rada ga suka anak-anak pake diapers terus. Kata beliau, ga bagus buat pernafasan kulit *entah deh bener apa ngga*.

Pas bilang ke suami saya, eh dianya ga stuju pake clodi. Suami saya bilang....hon, emang kedengerannya bagus, tapi aku yakin kamu cuma bilang itu bagus simply because it's cheaper in the long term. Tapi coba deh kamu pikir, siapa yang mau nyuci clodi itu. I said it to you now, i won't do it. Bauuuuu......dan aku yakin kamu juga bakalan stress nyuci clodi yang kena pup. Daripada beli clodi, mendingan kamu beli masker biar ga muntah pas ganti diaper.

Jiah, suamiku!!! Tidak pernah mendukung penghematan rumah tangga.

Ambilin Teh

2011-07-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

Saya memang jarang yah (atau bisa dibilang ga pernah), ngambilin sesuatu buat suami. Misalnya dia mau makan, ya ambil sendiri hihihi....kan katanya suami istri itu partner yang setara. Nah tadi malam, suami saya lagi asyik minum teh hijau dingin. Setelah tehnya abis dia minum, karena males turun ke dapur ambil refill teh hijau dari kulkas, dia iseng-iseng nyuruh saya

- : Hon, ambilin teh hijau lagi dong

Berhubung seharian suami saya cerewet banget, nggangguin saya yang lagi asyik nonton final wimbledon, saya pikir kalau saya ambilin dia bakalan brenti ganggu saya abis itu.

+ : Ok, aku turun dulu yah
- : ???? Strange
+ : Apa yang strange
- : Kamu, kok tumben ga pake protes langsung iyain
+ : Ya udah kalo gitu ga jadi aku ambilin
- : Kamu ih...
+ : Kamu more "ih" than me

Diamond

2011-06-21T04:42:00.000-07:00

Me : Hon, after I deliver the baby, can I have diamond as present?
Husband : Ok, one diamond
Me : Uhhhhhh....crying face
Husband : Why are you crying
Me : Because one is not enough
Husband : Then I should be the one crying

Are you preggy?

2011-05-21T06:40:00.000-07:00

Since coming back from the US, i basically can be considered fat. Haha...I gained something like 10 kilos in the US and don't know how to get back in shape easily. Thus, i am kind of used to people asking me if i am pregnant or not. But in the last few months, there has been several people who asked me seriously if i am pregnant.

Tired of receiving the same questions and keep answering...no i am not pregnant, i am kind of thinking i must look super fat. But then my husband said my body shape changed. Uhuh...i think he just tried to avoid the use of "fat" word and getting shit from me :)

Anyway....i checked to the doctor and guess what...i really am pregnant. I think people know it earlier than me. Here is some of the conversation I had with friends:

CJ: hei, are you pregnant
Me: Nope....why? are you trying to say i look like one?
CJ: Yes, in a good way
Me: you sure that you didn't mean it as me being fat but not pregnant
CJ: no...but if you said no, then maybe you are not
Me: No i am not
CJ: okay

Then few days later

Me: Hei CJ, guess what...i am pregnant
CJ: hahahahaha, you see...my sight as a man is definitely better than yours
Me: okay, okay...stop that shit
CJ: hei, no cursing during pregnancy
Me: whatever....

What is Love?

2011-04-12T11:24:00.001-07:00

One day, after dinner my husband and I enjoyed ice cream cone. I prefer my ice cream "milk based" or in Italian we (am i italian? thus i use the word "we" here....anyway...)called it gelato while my husband enjoyed more the "fruit based" ice cream or in Italian we called it sorbetto. As usual i eat my ice cream very fast and i finished it first.

+ (me) : Hon, can i have what is left from your ice cream?
- (my husband): No, only the cone left and i love the cone
+ : Uuuuhhh, you don't love me
- : Ok fine, here take it

For Italian, who are always in a deep relationship with food, then love means generosity to share the food. Haha (winning grin after i got my second ice cream cone).

Imigran Gelap

2011-04-07T07:05:00.001-07:00

Suami saya, sebel banget sama yang namanya imigran gelap yang berdatangan ke Eropa (read it as Italy, karena imigran yang ke Eropa sebagian besar datangnya dari Afrika dan kalo mereka travel lewat laut, Italy itu perhentian yang paling dekat). Sebenernya saya paham juga sih kenapa suami saya kok berkesan rasis, sebel sama imigran. Masalahnya sih bukan rasis ya, cuma kata suami saya pemerintah Italy punya "humanitarian" law yang intinya memberikan perlindungan terhadap imigran yang tertangkap berusaha masuk ke wilayah Italy. Kebijaksanaan itu membuat para imigran ilegal (tidak punya ijin masuk) ini berhak mendapatkan tempat di penampungan sementara sampai pemerintah Italy mengembalikan mereka ke negara asalnya.

Masalahnya, yang datang kan banyak sekali. Setiap harinya puluhan ribu orang dan penampungan itu butuh dana kan. Dananya diambil tidak lain dan tidak bukan dari pajak. Yang bayar pajak kan orang-orang Eropanya, yang menikmati malah penduduk negara lain yang datang dan minta dikasihani. Itu baru soal imigran yang dikembalikan. Sebagian dari imigran kan masuk ke wilayah Eropa, berakhir jadi pengangguran dan ini juga nambahin beban ekonomi negara. Karena di Eropa para pengangguran ini dapat tunjangan dari pemerintah sampai dia dapat pekerjaan. Yang ada malahan mereka ga niat cari pekerjaan, atau kalau dapat pekerjaan karena mereka ini illegal jadi pekerjaannya tidak tercatat di pemerintah dan mereka tidak bayar pajak. Susah kan kalau pajak hanya ditanggung segelintir orang sementara yang mau menikmati banyak sekali.

Itulah kenapa kadang, saya reluctant (enggan) dan bertanya-tanya apakah membayar pajak ke pemerintah itu berguna bagi negara kalau akhirnya yang menikmati justru orang dari negara lain yang kurang bertanggung jawab. Pertanyaan yang sama perlu diajukan ke pemerintah Indonesia, cuma bedanya mungkin tak banyak imigran gelap di Indonesia yang mendapatkan tunjangan pemerintah (syukurlah!).

Daftar Belanjaan

2011-04-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

Dari isi kantong belanja supermarket yang ada di rumah saya, bisa ditebak siapa yang pergi shopping kebutuhan sehari-hari. Misalnya nih kalo yang pergi:
1. Suami saya, isinya bakal berupa:
- pasta, tomat kalengan, kacang panjang, kubis merah, daun kemangi, daging sapi, seledri, daun bawang, bawang bombay, kacang polong, kacang merah, kacang kedelai, keju, susu rendah lemak, cereal, tomat segar, paprika, cabe
2. Saya, isinya bakal berupa:
- coklat, keripik, selai kacang, wafer, biskuit, roti tawar, telur

Kesimpulannya apa? Kalo yang ditanya suami saya, jawabannya adalah dia hidupnya lebih sehat. tapi kalo pertanyaan yang sama diajukan ke saya, maka jawabannya adalah hidup saya lebih hemat (belanjaannya lebih sedikit).

*curhat perbedaan pendapat di rumah kami pagi ini*

Skateboard

2011-03-27T00:23:00.001-07:00

Minggu depan, saya mau ke Jerman karena kebetulan suami saya rada sibuk dan ga bisa pulang ke Jakarta. Jadi suami saya mulai nanya-nanya, saya mau kegiatan apa di Frankfurt sementara dia kerja. Saya bilang saya mau main skateboard aja di taman. Trus saya tanya apa dia mau gabung after work nyusul saya ke taman dan apakah skateboard dia yang di Jakarta perlu dibawain. Suami saya bilang ga usah, karena dia pingin beli baru, yang di Jakarta skateboardnya uda jelek.

+ : Hon, tungguin aku ya beli skateboardnya. Aku juga mau baru kalo kamu beli baru
- : Ok, hari ini aku cuma mau lihat-lihat aja kok ke toko

Kemudian malam harinya, waktu saya udah tidur. Tiba-tiba suami saya nelpon

- : Hon, bangun dong cepetan. Kamu online di skype, aku mau nunjukin sesuatu
+ : Uh hon, ini udah past midnite, aku ngantuk.
- : Cepetan, aku mau nunjukin skateboard baruku
+ : Hah? katanya tadi mau lihat-lihat aja?

Jadi akhirnya saya nyalain skype juga biar bisa lihat di webcam kenapa dia smangat banget bangunin saya malem-malem. Ga bisa nunggu besok apa.

- : Sorry i couldn't resist to buy it. Soalnya ada diskon plus tebak deh merk skateboardnya apa
+ : Merknya sama dengan namaku? (hehe....)
- : Mmmmm.....close
+ : Merknya "bike"?
- : hahahah.....u r so funny, but nope...lihat-lihat...

Ternyata skateboardnya merk K2 yang serinya "seismik". Aku cuma bisa geleng-geleng. Maklum seismik itu bidang kerjanya suamiku. Pantesan aja dia semangat

- : Udah ya, aku offline dulu. Mau nyobain skateboard di taman
+ : Huhhh dasar, bangunin aku malem2 cuma mau laporan bgituan. mainnya besok aja, ini kan dah gelap
- : Ga blom, disini masih jam 6 sore...daaaa

Don't Worry as We Are Rich

2011-03-21T22:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, a friend of mine send me this:

In this life there are only two things to worry about. Either you will be rich or poor.

If you are rich, there is nothing to worry about.
But if you are poor, there are only two things to worry about.

Either you will be healthy or sick.
If you are healthy, there is nothing to worry about.

But if you are sick, there are two things to worry about.
Either you will live or you will die.

If you live, there is nothing to worry about.
If you die there are only two things to worry about.

You will either go to heaven or to hell.
If you go to heaven, there will be nothing to worry about.

If you go to hell, you'll be so darn busy shaking hands with all your friends, you won't have time to worry!

Because i find it funny, i fwd it to my husband. At first he only laughed but then he asked me:

- : Which one are we?
+: Dunno, it was just something i found funny thus i fwd it to you
-: I think we are rich, so we have nothing to worry
+: hahahahahahah (i was laughing not on the fact that my husband saying we are rich, but simply because i understand his meaning is only to be cynically funny). ok then.....share your wealth with me.
-: I said we are rich, not only me. So no more sharing is required
+:yea yea yea....

Am I Ugly

2011-03-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

One day i was sick with difficulties of breathing. So when i talked to my husband on skype using webcam, i asked him.

+ : Hon, do i look ugly in the camera?
- : mmmmm....yes
+ : Uhhhh
- : Do you prefer me saying no?
+ : Yea, kind of
- : But is just because you sick hon
+ : But still
- : Ok, you are not ugly then. it just beauty in different way
+ : You cannot just change it like that
- : Mannn, you are so confusing. what do you want me to say
+ : ...... :'(

Ibu Vs Mamma

2011-03-15T02:28:00.001-07:00

In Italy, you called your mum Mamma while Ibu is how I call my mum and also how many other Indonesian do. I didn't mean to compare both of them (my mum and my mother in law) since each of them are special in their own way, but i actually did haha.

Mamma, my husband's mum, despite whatever story on how Italian mum can be so controlling, is actually a free-spirit person. She let me free and do whatever i want, and only beginning to start controlling whenever i am sick. She doesn't ask many question, gave me my personal space, didn't ask too many question on things I do unless I really want to share it with her. My husband said it because of his effect (he is as bad as me in not liking to be questioning, so his mum just use the standard she used on him to me), or maybe simply because I am not her own daughter. She is not even controlling in term of food (because this role already filled in by my husband's dad).

Ibu, my gosh, i didn't want to complain, but she stick her nose into everything. When i am with her, the only way not to be in high temper is simply by hiding in the corner or just in bed pretending to be sleeping and lock the room. Otherwise she started to talk on what is the best thing to do EVERYTHING (yup, everything). She might think she know best for everything, but man.....even knowledge need some update. Like today, i got this chicken BBQ so that i have some healthy food (avoiding all of the Indonesian food which most of them involved the use of frying oil), and right when i am about ready to eat i found the chicken already fried because according to her it doesn't cook well (In Indonesia, every meat that doesn't turn brown or black, or dry are considered not cooked). Hellloooo....mum, BBQ chicken are suppose to be juicy and now it so dry and untasty. And of course after that, she still need to comment "ah, you haven't spiced it enough so there is no taste on it". Well of course it doesn't have taste, all the taste are gone with the frying. And that's just one of the thing i have to face every other day. Either that, or question on where i am going, where have you been, and so on. Stress me out.

Ok, the not so fair part of this comparison is that I don't spend that much time with Mamma like I did with my mum. Maybe it's time to start to move to Italy.

Radang Tenggorokan

2011-03-02T22:43:00.000-08:00

Beberapa hari yang lalu, saya radang tenggorokan sampe 3 hari. Sakitnya sih ga seberapa, cuma saya jadi ga bisa makan.

- : Kok kamu ga makan, hon?
+ : tenggorokanku sakit buat menelan, jadi uda 3 hari ini aku cuma makan sebisanya
- : Baguslah kalo gitu
+ : Loh kok bagus sih
- : Iya dong, kan sekalian diet. kamu bisa langsing lagi
+ : Kirain kamu lebih peduli ke kesehatanku
- : Ngga, penampilan lebih penting
+ : (muka sedih dan manyun)

Tender

2011-02-16T03:44:00.000-08:00

I was busy today doing some work for the website of my linen company, editing product which already not in stock and placing new photos of items we just made. Probably after few hours, i forgot how boring it is and start to enjoy it. Btw, today is our 3rd wedding anniversary but since my husband is away, we didn't really celebrate it. Also i know my husband is busy preparing some tender.

This morning my husband already called to wish me happy anniversary and to send me a kiss and some love before hanging up the phone because he got a bunch of documents to finish. But when i saw him suddenly online, i said to myself "yay!" because i thought we're going to have some time for a nice talk. Maybe my husband read my mind, that i am expecting some time to chat so he cut me off and said "i am online just to send you some documents which need to be translated and it need to be done within 4 days max".

Huh :( he is not having any time to talk, but instead only giving me some works...anyway, work means money, so i better move my ass off.

Happy Valentine

2011-02-13T08:38:00.000-08:00

I am thanking God for the most wonderful valentine present of all, a husband that provide with no complaint and show love through his devotion, hard work and responsibility for me. For those, i have to work harder to match his level and be a better wife.

Happy Valentine everyone!

Sleepy

2011-02-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

Dari dulu saya paling malesssss sama yang namanya bangun pagi. Sampe dibelain resign dari kerjaan karena emang paling menikmati tidur sampe siang. Nah hari ini, suami saya musti ke airport dan dari semalam saya udah nanya ke dia, mau naik taksi atau mau dianterin (sengaja pilihan naik taksinya disebutkan duluan, supaya dia milih naik taksi haha....eh ternyata tetep aja dia minta dianterin *keluh*).

Jadilah hari ini saya terkantuk-kantuk bangun jam 5 pagi nyetirin mobil ke bandara. Di dalam perjalanan, berkali-kali saya mengeluh "honnnn, i am sooooo sleeeepppy". Trus entah beberapa menit kemudian, suami saya nyeletuk "if you are sleepy, take an exit from the highway now....go left". Saya pikir maksudnya brenti di pinggir jalan buat tidur bentar hahahaha (emang ga dicurigai polisi gitu ya brenti dipinggir jalan jam 5 pagi). Ternyata setelah saya tanya ke suami saya "kenapa emang?" dengan muka nyengir lebar dia cuma bilang "kamu ga lihat marka jalan ada tanda SLIPI 500 meter?". Beuuuhhh.....dasar lelaki iseng. Habis itu dia cuma ketawa-ketawa aja lihat muka saya sebel. Masih nambahin "itu daerah kali orang-orangnya ngantuk semua kaya kamu kalo pagi".

Night Cream

2011-02-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

Orang bilang sesudah menikah, hubungan dengan pasangan jadi kurang romantis. Karena sering kali karena sudah saling mengenal baik dan buruknya, kita jadi letting ourself go (too far!). Dandan jadi berkurang, di rumah cuma pakai daster, kurang menjaga bentuk badan dan penampilan, serta jaim-jaim pun jadi ilang.

Tapi gimana yah, emang kadang-kadang banyak halangannya mau jadi cantik. Mau diet, suami ga pernah diet (makannya banyak amat)....jadi saya kan ikut makan juga, masa pasangan makan kitanya mau bengong doang. Ga mungkin kaaaannn. Mau di rumah dandan cantik-cantik, ntar bentar-bentar musti bersih-bersih. Daripada baju bagus-bagus rusak, mending pake baju alakadarnya.

Nah yang paling parah ya soal perawatan kulit wajah. Kalo suami saya lagi ga di rumah, saya rajin pake night cream. Menurut saya, night cream ini lebih bermanfaat daripada day cream karena (mungkin) sistem badan kita yang meregenerasi kulit saat tidur lebih baik daripada saat kita bangun dan sibuk beraktivitas. Masalahnya, setiap suami ada di rumah....dia ga tahan banget sama night cream ini. Setiap mau kiss good night, dia bilang saya pahit. Hahahaha. Ya udahlah, i don't have a problem really with letting myself go (as long as it is not too far).

Holding Hand

2011-02-03T08:08:00.001-08:00

In the house, my husband and I have this rule that no TV should be put in the bedroom. Because we both think it will ruin our sex life haha. Anyway, tonight while my husband were watching a movie in the living room downstair, i sat next to him...bored, because I already watched the movie earlier this month.

+ : Hon, can I go up stair?
- : You prefer to go up stair and go to bed on your own rather than watching this movie with me?
+ : I already seen this movie before
- : Yeah, i know. But you still can still sit here and holding hand with me
+ : Should i accept that gesture as something sweet from your side?
- : You can take it whatever you'd like....but i am sweet
+ : Hmmmhhh...okaayyyy

The Perfect Spouse

2011-01-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

Seandainya sekarang saya masih single, saya pasti stress. Maksud saya, being single saja pasti sudah mendatangkan tekanan-tekanan tidak enak sendiri, belum lagi ditambah dengan kenyataan single yang hidup di Jakarta ini susah ketemu orang-orang baru (yang single juga). Dan kalau tidak bertemu orang-orang yang baru, gimana mau mengubah status single jadi double (?). Trus, belum lagi masalah cewek-cewek di Jakarta ini cantik-cantik dan langsing (kurus). Coba deh bayangkan, bagaimana saya kadang-kadang tidak mempertanyakan keadilan, bila saya setiap hari bertemu dengan manusia-manusia yang tidak hanya cantik, tapi juga KURUS, rambutnya sempurna, bahkan pintar dan kaya. Ini anugrah kok diborong semua. Kita-kita trus kebagian apa dong. Kenyataan hidup ini memang menyedihkan.

Selain itu, ada banyak teman yang akhirnya menyerah mencari pasangan yang sempurna. Dan mulai berkompromi antara perbedaan keinginan hati dan kenyataan yang tersedia. Ok, tidak berlebihan kan, kalau wanita-wanita mandiri seperti kami menuntut punya pasangan yang setidaknya mandiri juga (plus keren, plus bertanggung jawab, plus baik hati). Kalau saya dibolehkan melihat ke sekeliling, teman-teman saya yang cowok dan punya pekerjaan yang bagus (maksudnya berpenghasilan di atas rata-rata), pasti deh istrinya super cantik. Kulit mereka sempurna (tidak ada jerawat, tidak ada bercak hitam, tidak ada komedo dsb), badan mereka kurus bak peragawati dan mereka pakai baju apa aja bagus (selain juga baju mereka memang bagus-bagus). Jadi untuk cewek-cewek seperti saya, yang rambut selalu susah diatur, badan overweight sedikit, dandan belepotan, selera berpakaian jelek, teorinya tidak punya kesempatan untuk mendapatkan pasangan yang setidaknya mampu menjaga kita dari garis kemiskinan.

Ok, saya bukannya mau matre yah. Tapi masa sih, hanya gadis-gadis cantik saja yang boleh hidup enak. Kita-kita cewek standar ini kan juga bekerja keras memastikan diri sendiri tidak jatuh dalam kemiskinan. Jadi setelah semua kerja keras itu, kenapa kita harus berkompromi menjadi miskin hanya karena alasan cinta. Saya jadi mengerti benar, betapa sedihnya teman-teman saya yang masih single sekarang.

Saya memang tidak single lagi, tetapi karena seringkali membayangkan kengerian seandainya saya masih single saat ini, saya mau mendoakan teman-teman saya dengan sungguh. Supaya kiranya para single yang mendambakan pasangan yang sempurna ini, mendapatkan apa yang mereka cari. Karena, bagaimanapun buruknya keadaan, cinta selalu datang membawakan jawaban. Ceritanya tidak hanya terbatas pada kecantikan seseorang. Kemampuan cinta menembus segala batas dan itulah yang saya kirimkan kepada semua....cinta.

I love my husband and for having him, I realize how God loves me.

Christmas Wish List

2010-12-21T03:26:00.000-08:00

Setiap tahunnya, saya dan suami saling bertukar daftar hadiah natal yang kami inginkan. Kenapa musti bikin daftar? Tujuannya sih supaya kita masing-masing ga kecewa dengan pilihan pasangan, karena baik yang saya kasih atau suami saya kasih bener-bener barang yang kita mau. Trus selain itu, perlu daftar supaya unsur kejutannya masih ada. Kan kalo cuma nulis satu jenis hal yang diinginkan, kita udah tahu...oh paling dia ntar kasihnya ini. Sementara kalo dibuat daftar, kan masih ada unsur nebak-nebak kira-kira dia beliin yang mana yah dari daftar hadiah yang aku inginkan.

Tahun ini saya menulis beberapa judul buku yang belum saya baca, selain beberapa kosmetik, tas tangan, sepatu dan beberapa hal biasa lainnya. Setiap tahunnya saya bikin daftar hampir sama-sama aja, paling ada beberapa perubahan dikit doang, untuk judul buku yang saya mau atau jenis tas yang saya mau.

Mau tahu jenis barang yang ada di daftar suami saya?
No 1. Kawasaki ZZR1400 (saya bahkan ga tahu mahluk aneh apakah ini, samapi setelah saya google - ternyata itu nama motor besar 1400cc...dan setelah saya tanya harganya ke dealer kawasaki di daerah sunter ternyata harganya 350 juta...yaiks....kok sama ma harga mobil saya...enak aja suamiku, minta hadiah ini huh!)

No 2. See the above...

So, now you see why there is a TV series called desperate housewives? Coz in real life is the same....

Jalan Laut

2010-12-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

Berbicara soal kesibukan, minggu ini saya sibuk banget. Bukan dengan kegiatan yang menghasilkan uang, melainkan sibuk ikut suami kesana kemari (well, at least one of us is making money...kalo tidak kan ya berbahaya hahahah, ada ancaman kebangkrutan). Suami saya sesampainya di Jakarta, langsung minta diantar ke Ancol Marina untuk survey kedalaman laut beberapa kilometer offshore Jakarta. Jadi terpaksalah saya ikut jadi crew survey nya.

Entah sejak kapan, mungkin sejak kami pindah dari Houston (dimana saya menjual motor-motor suami saya, jadinya dia patah hati abis), suami saya sudah merengek-rengek minta dibolehkan beli boat. Terus terang aja saya menolak abis, soalnya saya males banget naik boat (mabuk laut terus). Jadi waktu sampai di Ancol, suami saya kegirangan melihat-lihat banyak boat. Dia langsung mulai ngoceh how beautiful is a boat and stuff like that. Saya iya-iya aja. Nah setelah boatnya jalan kurang lebih 2 jam, suami saya bilang gini ke kapten kapalnya "Pak, ini lautnya lagi ga tenang yah". Trus setelah kapten kapalnya bilang "Nggak, setiap hari memang selalu begini" (Saya cekikikan di belakang dengerin jawaban kapten itu), suami sayang langsung bilang ke saya "hon, aku ga jadi ah beli boat di Jakarta...aku kirain laut di Jakarta selalu tenang kaya di Italy". Hehehehehe...gue kate juga ape (dalam hati saya bilang gitu)....dibilangin perjalanan laut disini definitely not enjoyable kok ga percaya. Istrinya ini kan mantan tukang insinyur offshore....

Privacy Please

2010-11-16T07:37:00.001-08:00

Berbicara perbedaan kebiasaan nih, di keluarga suami saya, menghormati privacy itu pokoknya salah satu hal yang penting. Jadi nggak kaya keluarga saya yang di Indonesia, saking "merasa" kekeluargaannya kadang mau masuk kamar pun ga ngetuk pintu, nanya hal yang pribadi seenaknya sendiri dan sebagainya. Dalam hal surat menyurat, kalo suami saya dapet surat di Italy dan dia lagi ga ada, orang tua suami saya ga akan buka suratnya. Kalo di Jakarta sih, nyokap atau bokap, jangankan diminta tolong ngebuka. Orang ga dimintain tolong aja selalu ngebuka surat orang (alasannya sih takut penting, jadi kalau saya ga di rumah setidaknya mereka bisa tahu segera dan memberi tahu saya). Entah maksud baik itu benar atau tidak, herannya kalo saya di rumah pun tapi kebetulan lagi mandi misalnya dan surat itu jatuh duluan ke orang tua saya, pasti langsung dibuka juga. Yaelah, mandi kan paling 5 menit doang. Seurgent apa sih berita yang dikirim melalui surat. Kalo penting banget pasti kan ya pihak pengirim bakalan memilih untuk nelpon.

Makanya saya jengkel banget karena privacy itu ga dihargai sama sekali. Karena misal nih ya, tagihan HP saya yang gede banget tiap bulannya (yah gimana ga gede, kan saya dan suami kalo jauh-jauhan ngobrolnya musti pake telpon). Jadi ya tagihan pasti banyak SLI. Tagihan telpon saya kalo di bawah 3 juta itu udah bagus dah. Nah ortu saya mana lah ngerti kenapa tagihan telpon banyak banget gitu yah. Mereka suka gitu ngebuka surat tagihan saya trus nanya-nanya...buat apa aja sih telponnya. Idihhhh suka-suka gua ga sih. Lha wong saya juga bayar sendiri kok telpon itu, kecuali kalo saya masih minta mereka gitu yak. Jadi kebiasaan keluarga Indonesia saya banyak ga enaknya deh.

Anyway...ternyata di pihak keluarga Italy, ada juga ga enaknya. Misal suatu hari kartu kredit suami saya abis masa berlakunya. Berhubung bank alamat posnya masi pake alamat Italy, jadi kartu kredit yang baru pun otomatis dikirimnya ke Italy. Nah suami saya yang lagi di Afrika, chatting sama saya nih trus minta tolong ditelponin orang tuanya karena dia ga punya akses telpon dari Afrika. Maka menelponlah saya ke ortunya dan minta surat dari bank dibukain sambil nanya detail kartu kreditnya. Dengan demikian, nantinya suami saya kan bisa tahu detail kartu barunya jadi kalo perlu apa-apa online (perlu bayar tagihan misalnya) bisa pake kartu meski kartunya sendiri belom ada di tangan. Aduhhh padahal sudah saya bilang kalo saya disuruh suami saya nanyain, orang tua suami saya tetep kekeuh bilang ga bisa buka suratnya karena surat itu ditujukan buat suami saya dan yang ngomong di telpon itu saya bukan suami saya langsung (hayahhh saya ini istrinya dan uda gitu disuruh pula sama yang bersangkutan). Tetep aja ga mau. Mungkin inilah bedanya ya, kali di Eropa mereka takut dituntut buka surat orang. Di Indonesia mah cuek-cuek aja. Makanya sering gitu reward citibank saya yang berupa voucher ratusan ribu rupiah menguap entah kemana. Soalnya begitu nyampe pasti ada yang buka suratnya dan merasa memiliki....Capek dehhh

You don't need money

2010-11-16T05:27:00.000-08:00

Setiap hari, atau setidaknya seminggu lebih dari empat kali, saya dan suami selalu menyempatkan ngobrol lewat video call. Jadi kita ngobrol lewat yahoo atau msn atau skype dan pake web cam. Berikut salah satu kutipan percakapan kami.

- : Hon, ruangan kamu gelap banget, aku sampe ga bisa lihat kamu di web cam. all black
+ : Iya deh besok aku beli lampu meja
- : Belinya jangan mahal-mahal yah
+ : yah emang ga punya duit kok, ga mungkin beli yang mahal (minta dikasihani)
- : Bagus, emang kamu ga perlu duit kok
+ : What???? you were breaking up...can't hear you clearly...maybe bad internet connection

Jalan Tol

2010-11-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

Minggu lalu, suami saya ada kerjaan di Houston. Jadi sekalian saya pesenin ambil surat-surat saya yang masih banyak ketinggalan sejak pindah Juli lalu, saya juga bilang jangan sampai lupa setting GPS nya jangan sampai masuk jalan tol. Soalnya banyak jalan tol di Houston itu yang pembayarannya musti pake uang pas (dan koin!), jadi takutnya dah terlanjur masuk ga bisa keluar cuma gara-gara ga punya koin.

+ : Hon, jangan lupa yah kamu set GPS nya
- : Iya, ga usa khawatir, aku ga pernah lupa
+ : Yang bener
- : Iya bener
+ : Ya udah. Kalo mau make kartu bank, pake kartu yang biru yah. Itu banknya di Amerika jadi biar ga usah kena surcharge lagi kalo dipake di ATM dan dipake blanja
- : Okay, love.

Kali dia sebel juga yah, pesennya banyak banget. Nih istri cerewet amat. Trus setelah dia balik ke Jerman, saya iseng-iseng liat statement bulanan bank.

+ : Hon, kamu kemaren nerobos jalan tol yah
- : Nggak. Kenapa emang?
+ : Ini ada charge jalan tol
- : Wah, sial. Berarti sekarang ada dendanya
+ : Dari dulu lagiiii....kamu ini kok ga kapok-kapok nerobos jalan tol, kamu jadi punya catatan kriminal, melanggar peraturan lalu lintas terus
- : Habis GPS nya ngebawa aku ke jalan tol terus
+ : Dasar, alesan...kan dari kemaren uda dibilangin juga, jangan lupa setting GPS nya. GRRRRRRRHHHH

Hidup Hemat

2010-10-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

Suatu hari, telepon berdering....susahnya kalau punya rumah mewah (mepet sawah)....telepon berdering pun sering tak terdengar, karena kebanyakan angin sawah yang bertiup (dasar budeg tapi nggak ngaku). Jadi sering kali kalau nelpon saya tuh musti dua kali. Karena yang pertama untuk memberi peringatan awal bahwa si penelepon akan menelpon saya lagi nantinya (sok penting banget ya).

Ternyata, setelah saya berlari terengah-engah dari lantai atas, teleponnya sudah mati. Waktu saya lihat, ternyata suami saya nelpon dari Jerman. Jadi saya telpon balik.

+ : Kenapa hon?
- : Oh jadi kalo nelpon istri itu musti ada alasannya yah
+ : haha, ya ngga gitu
- : Aku cuma ngecek aja kok, kamu ada di rumah apa lagi keluyuran
+ : ????? (emangnya aku tukang keluyuran apa yak)
- : Just joking hon....i miss you, where have you been..u didn't call me yesterday
+ : Kan katanya harus hemat, biar ga boros tagihan telpon
- : Uhhhhh, aku nggak suka hemat
+ : Well....aku juga nggak suka, but aku baik, menuruti permintaan suami
- : Okay deh, mulai besok ngga usah hemat-hemat lagi masalah telepon....soalnya kalo kamu ga nelpon sehari, aku jadi khawatir...wondering what happened to you
+ : Wah beres, bos...kalo masalah nggak hemat, istrimu ini expert banget dah
- : Huh dasar....asal jangan alesan aja ya minta duit buat bayar telpon, padahal dipake blanja
+ : Wkwkwkwkwk

Suamiku Yang Baik Hati

2010-09-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Udah berapa bulan yah ngga pernah update blog ini. Antara nggak punya bahan (suamiku baru pulang setelah 2 bulan kerja, jadi gimana mo ada bahan lucu-lucuan di blog yang notabene subjeknya dia), sibuk ngurusin pegawai yang lagi pada rese smua dan sibuk cari-cari properti buat investment.

Beberapa hari ini, saya dan suami banyak dapet undangan makan. Entahlah itu ulang tahun, sekedar brunch bersama di hari minggu, atau janjian barbeque di rumah teman. Yah beginilah di Jakarta, sekali nongol langsung deh undangan berjibun. Dimulai dari barbequean, trus jadi dapet undangan makan di Mandarin Oriental, nonton stand up comedy, undangan makan di Kemang, undangan sarapan di Ritz Carlton, sampai sampai tidak ada waktu buat berduaan.

Gara-gara banyak ngobrol sama temen itulah, suami saya jadi bulan-bulanan cela-celaan. Seorang teman saya nyeletuk soal saya beli rumah, yang suami saya ga tahu (hihi...emang lupa belum bilang). Trus abis itu semua orang pada bilang kalo suami saya ini baik banget, ga marah-marah meskipun saya banyak beli ini itu dibelakang dia. Saya sih cuma ketawa-ketawa aja, soalnya memang rumah tangga kita agak beda yah. Karena saya juga kerja, jadi saya kan punya penghasilan sendiri. Suami saya ga urusan, terserah saya mau beli apa selama itu ga foya-foya dan penting untuk masa depan, dia ga bakalan marah. Entah itu belinya bilang sama dia atau nggak. Suamiku emang udah pasrah katanya...melihat istrinya yang kerjaannya beli tanah terus, dia bilang dia capek ngebilangin...cuekin aja daripada sutris.

Cuma mungkin buat beberapa orang, itu hal yang aneh karena kok kayaknya tidak ada keterbukaan di antara kita berdua, terutama untuk hal seperti rumah yang istilahnya "a big deal". Kalau bagi kita berdua, big dealnya hanya kalau rumah itu untuk ditempati. Kalo cuma buat disewa-sewain, keputusannya ga perlu diputuskan berdua, salah satu aja bisa. Karena kita saling percaya kalo masing-masing ga akanlah berniatan jelek.

Jadi begitulah....sekarang joke nya di sekitaran temen-temen saya, kalo ada yang istrinya abis belanja sepatu trus dimarahin, istrinya langsung pake pembelaan "at least, is not a house that i'm buying". hahahaha....nyebelin banget yah mereka, aku trus dijadiin tameng begini.

Frequent flyer

2010-08-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Suami saya, yang hampir sebulan sekali terbang jarak jauh, tentu saja poin frequent flyernya banyak. Ngga kayak saya yang terbangnya cuma 6 bulan sekali (sedih!). Nah gara-garanya, poin saya ngga pernah mencukupi untuk dapet tiket gratis. Seandainya pernah, itu juga setelah sekian lama saya ngumpulin, baru akhirnya dapet gratisan tiket jakarta-houston.

Nah, karena suami saya selalu sibuk terbang untuk urusan kantor, poinnya ga pernah dipake. Selain itu, dia agak ceroboh dengan akun frequent flyernya, ga pernah di cek. Jadi kadang-kadang saya yang disuruh cek, kalo dia lagi butuh make poin buat belanja sesuatu di airport (poin frequent flyer Lufthansa bisa dipake belanja). Nah akhir-akhir ini karena suami saya tambah sibuk, dia ga pernah pake poin sama sekali. Jadi saya iseng-iseng buka website trus saya pake buat beli tiket liburan ke Bali hihi.

- : Hon, kamu kok jalan-jalan terus, ngabisin duit
+ : Ga kok, ini jalan-jalannya gratis
- : Kok bisa?
+ : Iya, aku pake poin mu buat beli tiket pesawatnya. Trus hotelnya cuma murah, ga sampe 100 dollar semalem
- : Ck ck ck ck, my flying bunny...no wonder i never seen any point increasement now
+ : Well, you never use it anyway
- : Ok, ok...you know you are lucky?
+ : Why so?
- : you're lucky because i love u. if not i might already kick your ass
+ : Hihi...i know

My Presents

2010-05-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

One day, a friend asked me, what I got as my wedding anniversary present. I said nothing, because for me and my husband there is no such thing of giving present and make it as an obligation to keep the love flame in marriage as everyone said. It might sound horrible and that both of us just simply not the romantic kind, but that’s just how we do it. We give presents when we feel we’d like to give one and it can be any day of the year, doesn’t have to be on a specific date of wedding anniversary, birthday or mother day or any of that sorts.

I understand the point where celebration is a nice to have and sometime it is important to remember those dates; otherwise we will ignore it and never make anything special. Because for many people, if simply there is no “rule” or maybe I should say it commitment to celebrate these special days, then it will end up no celebration at all. But if you are the type of people who can make any day as special as it can be, then you don’t really need to have these dates as a celebration of your love.

If I have to choose between a present on my wedding anniversary or a present in a normal day, I would have chosen the last one. Because I don’t see the special feeling anymore, whenever I already know and expect that every year I will get something on the “day”. It will be much nicer to receive something when you are least expecting it.

Today, my husband wakes up in the morning at the same time as me. While I was getting ready for work, taking shower and putting on my work clothes, he went downstairs. When I am done and ready to work, I seen my lunch box is ready, and I had some fruit already skinned for breakfast. He does this every day whenever he is home.

Last weekend, I told my husband that I want to invite people from work for a BBQ, so he went to the market, cooked lobster on the grill and some pasta, cleaned the house and made it ready for people visit and even confirmed the menu with me. When everything finished and all of my guests gone home, I did the cleaning and soon as I am done with all the plates, I saw him fell asleep in the sofa like a baby. In marriage, you might complain that your husband is not a CEO or some kind of VIP (hihi) no matter what he already provides or complain that he doesn’t look as nice as a football player on a party night (with suit and stuff) or complain that he just cannot behave politely or any other sort of complaints, but when I saw him sleeping in the sofa and seems so sweet (btw he only seems sweet on his sleep), I feel so grateful and I don’t even care if I got a present on my anniversary or not.

Ironing Task

2010-05-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

One day, getting bored in the office as usual, I open my yahoo messenger and seen my husband who is currently at home got an idle status (he is away from the computer). So I left him a message “hon, where are you? You doing the insanity program (the workout on DVD) or what?”
- : yes insanity, ironing all the fucking stuff on the room. my back is broken and I haven't finish yet
+ : hahahahaha….who told you to do the ironing anyway. Don’t do anything, I will iron it in the weekend
- : The seat at the end of our bed are full with clothes and the dryer is mega full
+ : yeah I know, but I have been busy
- : are u crazy to pile up so much stuff, and u keep on buying more stuff because u not ironing

So my husband end up doing all the ironing stuff which I hate the most in living in US, because I got no maid!!!! These conversations btw usually happen every time my husband returning home from his abroad trip, finding clothes piling up – waited to be iron. And my husband, being the “clean freak, never managed to wait for my weekend excuse…got to do everything right there right now” so I gave up trying to make his life easy and I let him iron my stuff.

Cooking Machine

2010-05-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

Sejak ikutan insanity workout program, saya jadi musti masak tiap hari kan. Mulai dari bikin sarapan, snack pagi, makan siang, snack siang sampe makan malam. Jadi sehari saya masak sampe 3 kali. Emang sih kelihatannya ribet banget, cuma saya dah mulai lihat hasilnya. Selulit di kaki saya dah ilang smua. Nah suami saya baru pulang dari afrika, dan dia bilang mo ikutan insanity juga. Jadi dia ikuta jingkrak2 satu jam setiap harinya. Begitu selesai latihan dan bersiap-siap mau makan malam:

- : Sayang, kamu kok jadi pinter masak sekarang
+ : Ga kok, ini cuma ikutin menu yang ada di bukunya insanity
- : Hmmm enak…thank you love, you are now a one cooking machine. Yang ini apa lagi?
+ : Ini bekal makan siangku buat besok. Jadi aku ga perlu bangun pagi sebelum ke kantor cuma buat nyiapin lunch
- : Trus buat makan siangku gimana?
+ : Kamu bikin sendiri dong, aku capek hon
- : Yahhh aku cabut lagi deh pujiannya, kamu masak enak-enak buat bekal di kantor…aku di rumah makan pre packed food…sniff

Pemulung

2010-04-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

Beberapa waktu yang lalu, saat saya dan suami belanja groceries di Walmart, kita lihat ada bir yang botolnya bagus. Bahannya dari kaleng seperti botol coca-cola dan warnanya beda-beda. Jadi akhirnya suami saya beli beberapa bir itu dan sesampainya di rumah, langsung diminum sampe habis dan botolnya dipajang di salah satu sudut ruang rumah yang memang sudah di set jadi kantor suami saya (biar berantakannya bisa dilokalisasi dan ga capek beresinnya, kalo perlu ga usah diberesin sekalian kan...kalo ada tamu tinggal ditutup pintunya haha).

Nah, ceritanya gara-gara kaleng bir ini, suami saya tingkahnya yang memang biasanya sudah agak memalukan, tambah deh lebih lagi dari biasanya. Masa yah, dimana-mana kalo ada botol bir yang dia warnanya belum punya, dibela-belain itu ambil dari jalan, tempat sampah, rumah orang (doh!). Untungnya selama ini orang kurang memperhatikan, karena mungkin suami saya jaga image juga. Tapi coba, waktu rodeo kan kita nonton konsernya Black Eyed Peas, jadi acaranya sampe malem banget dan banyak orang yang habis minum bir, kalengnya main dibuang dibawah tempat duduk stadion. Udah saya pelototin...not to take the beer from below others seat....pas smua pada bubaran (sengaja nih nungguin biar rada sepi), suami saya ambil juga botol warna biru dari bawah tempat duduk orang yang sudah pergi.

"Hon, ga usah dong ambil2 gitu. Udah kotor, lagian malu dilihat orang" gitu kalimat saya.

Cuma dijawab "kan dia juga udah ga mau".

Beberapa menit kemudian, ternyata yang punya tempat duduk balik sebelum kita sempat pergi. Dan dia nyari-nyariin sesuatu dibawah kursinya. Haha, langsung saya dan suami yang memang sudah berdiri, cepat-cepat jalan dan berusaha menghilang dibalik ramainya orang-orang yang antri ke pintu keluar.

"You see, he's looking for his beer bottle" kata saya

"Ga papa, paling dia cuma tiba-tiba ingat buang botolnya sembarangan so that he return to put it to the trash can" jawab suami saya

"Ga deh. kayaknya dia juga kolektor kaya kamu. Kolektor alias pemulung" balas saya sambil ketawa geli.

Istri Kejam

2010-04-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

Akhir tahun 2008, perusahaan tempat saya kerja memindahkan saya dari Ho Chi Minh City ke Houston. Nah waktu itu saya melihara ikan di apartemen saya (warisan dari tetangga yang pindah ke Jerman, jadinya ikan-ikan se aquariumnya di wariskan ke saya). Giliran mo pindah gini, kan ikannya ga bisa dibawa. Jadi mulailah saya tawar-tawarin ke temen-temen kalo ada yang mau. Ternyata ga ada yang mau bowww....doh...gimana neeeehhh. Susah juga ya nawarin ikan, padahal saya nawarinnya gratis se aquariumnya, teteup aja ga ada yang mau.

+ : Hon, ikannya ga ada yang mau
- : Ada kok, tadi aku udah ngomong sama Jack temen kantormu
+: Tapi dia kan rumahnya ga di ho chi minh...kita musti naik ferry 2 jam kesana, bawanya gimana dong biar ikan-ikan ini ga mati?
- : Masukin ke ember, diisi air
+ : Buang ke toilet aja ah, trus di flush ... kan beres, cepet lagi
- : Hon, kamu kejam!
+ : Ihhhh, kan cuma ikan....lagian repot banget

Pada akhirnya, saya kalah argumen. Jadi besoknya ikan-ikan itu kita masukin ember dan kita siap-siap mo pergi ke Vung Tau, kota yang jaraknya 2 jam perjalanan naik ferry. Sesampainya di rumah jack, ternyata ikan itu banyak yang udah mo mati. Mungkin karena dalam perjalanan embernya kami tutup jadi ikannya kehabisan oksigen.

+ : Tuh kan, aku bilang juga apa, mendingan dibuang ke toilet. Sama-sama matinya
- : Setidaknya kan kita berusaha, lagian ada satu dua yang masih hidup
+ : Huh...

Beberapa hari kemudian, pas kita berdua uda di Houston, suami saya nelpon mamanya nyeritain gimana kejamnya saya yang berencana mo nge flush ikan ke toilet. Dasar cowok kok reseee banget.

Indonesian love lesson

2010-04-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

+ : What are you doing
- : I am studying Indonesian, this time I started from the bottom of the book
+ : Try to say something to me
- : talking about: mau nikah denganku?
+ : sudah, sudah nikah denganmu
- : No, you should say “nggak mau, aku sudha punya suami”
Then I can say “yah, aku suamimu…yipppyyyy”
+ : hahahaha, you are so funny
- : What about this stuff “aku cinta padamu, tapi nggak bisa menjadi suami”
+ : What’s that about
- : how to get rid off indonesian girl in love lesson
+ : hahahahaha….i wonder if you plan to find another Indonesian girl behind my back
- : Sorry love, I am just joking

Dragon

2010-04-08T21:14:00.000-07:00

(+) : You want to watch a movie while we waiting for the time before we left to the airport?
(-) : Sure, why not. Go and pick up a movie from the "on demand" program

So I picked up "how to train your dragon" and start watching it. After few minutes, my husband arrived in front of the TV and start to lay down on the sofa next to me.

(-) : So we're watching cartoon??? (my husband is a bit disapointed with my choice of movie, because for him...cartoon is for children only)
(+) : Yea, whats wrong with it? (We continue on watching it)

After the movie is done...

(-) : Does dragon really exist, you think?
(+): I think so, but long long time ago...why?
(-) : They're kind of cute, i want it as a pet too
(+): Hmm...and you told me you dont like cartoon because they're childish? I wonder what is more childish...watching cartoon or asking for a pet dragon.
(-): Hehehehehe.....i can be one of those viking in the movie who has a pet dragon, will be cool...dont you think?
(+): Yeah...kind of (dont know what else to say)

Ferragamese

2010-03-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

Weekend lalu, saya berangkat ke Paris bersama 2 orang kolega karena ada urusan kerja, biasalah persiapan mau komersialisasi alat baru. Berhubung suami saya baru 2 minggu di rumah, jadinya daripada kasian dia di Houston sendirian saya suruh balik ke Italy aja biar bisa ketemu keluarganya. Kalo ikut saya ke Paris, yang ada dia bakalan sendirian seharian penuh selama 2 minggu karena saya juga pasti sibuk. Jadi kami berdua berangkat bareng sampe Paris, trus suami saya terbang ke Italy dari Paris.

Pas di bandara Houston, kolega saya ada yang mengomentari paspor saya yang dikasih sampul alias pake passport wallet dan ga telanjang kaya paspor-paspor mereka. Trus mereka nanya iseng " paspor negara mana tuh, kok bagus banget". Iseng juga dong jawabnya, saya bilang "saya warga negara republic ferragamo". Kolega saya cuma ketawa-ketawa sambil bilang "dasar cewek. Maunya semua-semua buatan designer".

Trus ga sengaja pas di pesawat, saya ngeluarin dompet karena mo beli sesuatu dari duty free. Kolega saya nanya lagi, itu dompetnya buatan designer juga bukan? Saya bilang bukan karena takut diledekin, yang langsung disahut sama suami "hmmm...dia ini mah, bukan saja smua musti buatan designer, masih ada tambahan made in Italy, plus harus Ferragamo". Jadi kolega-kolega saya tambah ngeledek-ngeledekin.

Sesampainya di Paris, kita antri nih di imigrasi. Pas sampe giliran saya, petugas imigrasi yang meriksa paspor, nanya "I've never heard a country call Ferragamo before". Langsung deh, kolega saya plus suami ngakak di antrian belakang saya. Tumben amat yah petugas imigrasi ngajakin bercanda. Cuma saya jawab "well...so now you've heard". Hehehehehehehehe

Software Baru

2010-03-12T14:31:00.000-08:00

Entah kenapa, kebiasaan buruk kali yah, saya sering kalo disuruh suami saya, cuma asal iya-iya doang tapi ga dikerjain. Beberapa waktu lalu contohnya, suami saya pesen (pas dia masi di Afrika) supaya saya order software buat install windows 7. Soalnya suami saya sebel banget sama yang namanya windows vista dan dia maunya sebelum pulang, softwarenya musti dah ada di rumah (sebelnya, suami saya sukanya nyuruh-nyuruh…kenapa sih ga beli sendiri, kan dia kalo di rumah juga ga ada kerjaan, sementara saya kan ngantor terus). Berhubung harga softwarenya mahal, jadi saya tunda-tunda terus sampe suami saya pulang (belum beli juga).

-: Hon, sebelum kamu brangkat kantor, keluarin DVD windows 7 nya yah, biar nanti aku install
+:Iya (wah gimana yah…blum beli hihi)

Jadi sebelum saya brangkat ke kantor, saya ajakin dia ngobrol masalah motor (biar lupa), trus abis itu saya langsung kabur (nakal banget ga sih). Untungnya, di amerika beli apa-apa bisa online. Jadi begitu sampe kantor saya langsung buka bestbuy dot com plus amazon, ngebandingin harganya. Klak klik klak klik, udah deh selesai. Dapet link download dan tidak lupa pesen DVD back up nya dikirim ke rumah besok pagi :D (hidup belanja online!!!!). Jadi ga ketauan kalo saya males.

Papan Tulis

2010-03-12T14:22:00.000-08:00

Seminggu sebelum suami saya pulang ke Amerika dari tempat kerjanya, dia ulang tahun yang ke 30 sekian (kata suami saya, musti brenti menghitung umur di 30…selanjutnya pake 30 sekian terus, angka blakangnya ga pernah disebut haha). Jadi weekend sebelum dia sampe rumah, saya keluar rumah cari-cari hadiah. Karena dia hobinya motor dan masak (jauh banget yah antara satu hobi dan lainnya), saya beliin dia papan tulis. Soalnya alo beliin asesoris motor, saya banyak salahnya…daripada udah beli salah dan ga kepake, saya beli untuk urusan masak aja. Papan tulis ini buat ditaruh di ruang makan, jadi setiap suami saya masak, dia bisa nulis menunya…biar serasa koki professional katanya…(iya iya aja lah…daripada nanti saya malah disuruh masak).

Terus terang aja, nyari papan tulis kecil yang khusus buat daftar menu itu ga gampang. Beberapa kali saya nemu, cuma mahalllll buanget. 200an dollar, saya rada sayang make uang segitu cuma buat papan tulis. Nah minggu lalu itu, saya keliling kota sama manager saya cari furniture buat veranda belakang (kan dah mau summer, jadi biar bisa duduk-duduk di luar kalo sore). Kebetulan manager saya juga mo nyari furniture yang sama, jadi kita pergi berdua (yah lumayan lah, bisa naik mobil mewah kalo sama bos…kalo sendiri sih yang ada naik Toyota merah saya kalo ga naik motor). Pas di toko furniture, bukannya nemu meja kursi yang kita suka, kita berdua malah belanja hal ga jelas dan akhirnya saya dapet papan tulis buat menu yang harganya cuma 20 dollar (papan tulisnya dari bahan kayu yang jelek abis, tapi biarlah…murah ini). Biar suami saya ga terlalu kasian, saya beli juga tiket black eyed peas kursi terdepan (Action Seat) di Houston Rodeo buat besok Kamis dan rencananya suami saya mo tak suruh milih sendiri topi dan boot cowboy di merchandise booth pas konser (kalo lagi ga ada rodeo, rada susah nyari cowboy attire begini). Beli tiketnya rada-rada mo nangis juga, karena harganya 250 dollar per orang. Sebenernya harga asli tiketnya cuma 80 dollar. Cuma udah ga ada lagi di ticket booth- sold out, saya musti beli dari calo jadi tiketnya berlipet lipet. Yah ga papa lah, ga tiap hari nonton black eyed peas. Begitu suami saya masuk rumah, saya tunjukin hadiah ulang tahunnya:

+: Hon, here is your birthday present….the daily menu board and also the card I made myself
-: Wow! You are so sweet (kartu ultahnya saya gambarin sepeda motor…biar dia seneng). Thank you very much. And what is this? Tanyanya melihat bungkusan papan tulis saya
+: Open it, hopefully you like it
-: Mannnn…this is shit! It’s very jelek.

Saya bukannya marah, tapi malah ketawa. Soalnya papan tulis itu emang jelek banget. Tahu kan furniture buatan Ikea yang super duper jelek, dari kayu serbuk sisa. Nah papan tulis ini sama juga kaya gitu. Kayaknya kalo jatuh sekali, pasti udah remuk.

+: I know is jelek, but because it’s from me, you have to say is nice (manipulative dot com)
-: Hmmmm
+: Don’t be upset, also got 2 tickets for us watching the rodeo and also I’ll let you buy cowboy hat and booth.
-: Ok then, you are slightly forgiven, because not so cheap charlie

Public Profile

2010-02-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

Suami saya, dengan membawa-bawa alasan "because I am European", bilang kalo kadang orang Indonesia itu (baca: saya dan dedengkot saya hihihihi), terlalu banyak sharing hal-hal pribadi. Makanya suami saya sebel banget sama facebook dan situs jejaring sosial lainnya. Dia sih memang punya account FB, cuma sekedar buat mengawasi saya katanya (biar ga flirting sama cowok lain)....halah* sapa sih yang mo flirting, punya suami 1 aja ga keurus masa masih mo cari sampingan.

- : Your friend is kampungan
+: What? Why you said so?
- : Because they are! Look, going out places and publishing the picture while they are on vacation. Make me thinking if they are really enjoying their vacation or they just busy to show off. Just go there, take picture as proof and publish it.
+ : Hon, but i did the same
- : Yeah, i know. That's why you are also kampungan!
+ : Uh? (muka sedih)

Buang-Buang Waktu

2010-02-19T19:20:00.000-08:00

(-) : Hon lagi apa kamu
(+): Nonton olimpiade di tivi…aku nyuporterin atlet2 Italy
(-) : Hon, buang-buang waktu aja kamu
(+): Kenapa emang?
(-) : Ga bakalan ada yang menang, sampe kamu capek tepuk tangan
(+): Kok kamu negative gitu sih
(-) : Yeah, we are Italian not good in sport other than football
(+): and one more thing
(-): Whats that
(+): you guys are good in looking good hihihi…so at least I saw some pretty face in the Olympic games show, ngga buang-buang waktu
(-) : Hmmm…ok, then you are not allowed to watch anymore….really wasting time
(+): You jealous?
(-): No…but you just not allowed…

Over Feeding My Horse

2010-02-10T22:28:00.000-08:00

- : Hon, ini dah mo valentine. Kamu mo hadiah apa
+: Hadiahnya dobel dong yak....kan sekalian ulang tahun perkawinan
- : Dasar kamu, kalo lagi berdebat aja suka bilang ga stuju tanggal perkawinan yang diambil yg February. Kalo pas mo minta hadiah aja, baru stuju (kita nikah dua kali, yang pertama di Italy bulan Oktober dan yang kedua Feb di Jakarta. Seringnya saya dan suami ga sepakat mana yang mo diambil jadi anniversary)
+ : Ya iya dong
- : Ok mau hadiah apa deh
+ : Aku pingin punya kuda hon....boleh yah
- : Boleh aja sih, tapi mo disimpen dimana? Masa mo ditaruh di halaman belakang. Rusak smua rumputku
+ : Beli kuda buat aku di Italy
- : Ok.....(sambil kelihatan berpikir keras)
+ : Kenapa kamu kok kelihatan pusing
- : Aku khawatir kalo kudanya di Italy, kamu kan ke Italy aja paling cuma setahun sekali....nanti kudanya over eating
+ : What do you mean?
- : You know...my parents, they always over feeding everything. Since i am not there, i am afraid the horse will be their new feeding victim and become very fat and when you arrived, you cannot ride it.
+ : Hon, don't be ridiculous!
- : Ngga! Serius ini....pasti nanti papi bilang...oh kasian kudanya kurang makan
+ : *&&&^%^& you definitely think too much! or maybe this is the effect of eating too much from your parents overfeeding when you were a kid?

Dont Call Me

2010-01-31T20:43:00.000-08:00

Minggu lalu, aku pergi ke Indiana karena ada acara recruiting, jadi aku diajakin temen jadi volunteer. Karena seharian bakalan sibuk di career fair sama interview, aku ninggalin pesen buat suamiku di messenger. Trus ternyata dia lagi online
+ : Hon, aku lagi sibuk nih, jadi besok aku ga bisa chatting yah
- : Mau ngapain?
+ : Ada career fair, kan seharian bakalan jaga booth, ga bisa online. Dont wait for me, ok? I dont want you spending a whole lot time to be there while i might be late.
- : So i guess dont call you also?
+ : Well you can call me. Why you said so?
- : Thought since i cannot wait for you since you might be late, i cannot call you since you might get laid..
+ : haha sial! Emangnya get laid sama sapa, dasar viktor!
- : Becanda dong!

So Cool

2010-01-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

+ : Hon, you want a boy or a girl if i am pregnant?
- : Anything will do, is the same
+ : Yea?
- : Well boy will be better, since i can share my passion with Harley. Not that girl will not enjoy my Harlet, i will surely share my passion with her too. but is easier with the boy.
+ : Why? You think our daughter will be too stupid to ride a Harley?
- : Not that, but for you not to feel too bad when ur daughter love dad more than mum because dad is so cool
+ : hmmmm :(

My Sweet Cat

2010-01-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

Today I took a safety training for motorcycle rider, which is a mandatory training since Sept 2009 in Texas for everyone who wants to run around in motorbike. I don't really like riding bike, i did it solely to keep my husband company when he is going on a ride. So i took this course after he encouraged me to do so, he said i never know when something is needed or not. Can be important and plus is kind of cool. So I did. After i complete it this afternoon, my husband sent me a message "i am very proud of you, Bunny".

Bunny is my nickname, it's a revenge from my husband from me calling him, Cat. Since i used animal kind, he tried to do some balance by doing the same. I called my husband, Cat, few years after we started dating. I took that name because there was this fun pop quiz in my inbox mail for me to put name of animal in the order of number. And at the bottom of the email, there is an answer for everything that i've put. The answer said something like "animal you put on number 1 is the animal which characteristic you considered the most similar to your partner". And my answer was cat, so that's how he got the nickname. My nickname is Bunny, i put his name to show we are somehow related hehehehe....so my name is Bunny Cat.

Do you have nickname? Some people or most people do, but many of them just not using it since it might be coming from their sophomore years when all things seem like embarrasing and you kind of want to forget about it. When you have partner, or boyfriend or husband, there are many times you called them with a nickname, the point is to make it sweet and special because he is all yours and you're calling him differently from everyone else.

Our nickname is probably not the sweetest name, but every time he called me that, my heart feel so warm and it gives me this butterfly feeling in my stomach. Simply because it's like him telling me, I'm all his and that is more than enough to make me feel special. So we might not starting something to be sweet to each other, but i guess even the least expected things in life can mean as sweet as it should.

Son of A B***h!

2009-12-30T18:26:00.000-08:00

Tahu kan kalo ada anak-anak yang kelebihan energi, biasanya mereka jadi badung. Nah suami saya ini persis kaya gitu. Udah gede juga masi usil. Saya bilang ama dia mungkin dia kebanyakan makan, jadi bingung energinya mo disalurin ke mana. Kemarin ketemu mantan gurunya waktu SD, ibu guru itu bilang "wah kok kamu sekarang bisa kelihatan dewasa...padahal dulu kamu nakal banget". Gubrak! Ga tau aja bu, kalo suami saya ini sampe sekarang masih usil.

Hari pertama di Italy, biasanya dihabiskan dengan cerita-cerita dan makan (inget cerita saya, food is a serious matter for Italian). Nah kemarin pas kita lagi makan, suami saya iseng masukin habanero (cabe super pedes dari amerika selatan) yang kita bawa dari Houston ke saus pastanya mamma (mertua saya). Trus mamma dah hapal ma kelakuan anaknya yang iseng ya cuman bisa ngomel-ngomel. Abis itu suami saya nunjukin pemukul nyamuk yang dia bawa dari rumah saya di Jakarta.

Mamma nanya gimana cara kerjanya. Trus dengan cueknya, suami saya bilang "gini nih"sambil nyentuhin pemukul nyamuk itu ke pantat adiknya. Jelas aja adiknya teriak kaget, tahu aja kan pemukul nyamuk itu rada-rada nyetrum. Trus mamma sampe bilang gini "Kamu badung banget sih..kalo ga inget bahwa kamu tuh anakku sendiri, pasti udah aku bilang kamu ini son of a bitch".

Life Phase

2009-12-26T12:14:00.000-08:00

Bagi ibu-ibu yang punya suami, pasti deh sama juga pengalamannya. Suami-suami itu kadang kaya anak kecil. Berubah-berubah gitu sukaannya tiap hari. Suamiku pun begitu pulalah adanya. Aku bilang sih dia punya banyak fase hidup...haha...kok kesannya jadi serius banget
1. Fase microwave
Ini fase dimana semua-semua dimasukin microwave. Awalnya sih suamiku ga suka banget sama microwave, karena menurut dia apa yang dimasak musti dihabisin saat itu juga. Jadi dia kalo masak, sehari sampe dua kali, buat makan siang sama makan malam. Ga ada yang boleh sisa. Untungnya suamiku pinter kalo itung-itung jumlah makanan. Biasanya kalo masak memang jumlahnya pas. Sementara kalo aku, maunya masak sekali aja sehari. Buat makan siang dan malam, sama aja makanannya trus nanti tinggal dipanasin. Ga usah sehari musti bikin dua menu. Kalo perlu sampe 2 hari masaknya sekali aja hahahahaha. Nah...sejak menikah, karena kita kan gantian giliran masaknya. Jadi lama-lama dia perhatiin cara aku lebih praktis untuk diikuti, cuma ngikutinnya kebablasan. Sekarang...semuaaaa dimasukin microwave. Sampe masak telur pun pake microwave. Duh...gimana ngebilanginnya.

2. Fase coffee machine
Sesudah fase microwave akhirnya abis, mulailah fase bikin teh pake coffee machine. Ini gara-garanya sejak dia kerja di Sudan, kopinya ga enak. Jadi suamiku mulai pindah ke teh acara minumnya. Mula-mula sih dia menjerang air di kompor baru pake acara menyeduh teh...macam orang-orang di Inggris. Cuma pas pulang ke rumah, aku ajarin bikin teh pake coffee machine dan setelah dia liat lebih gampang...ga pake perlu kerja dua kali, nyalain kompor dan menyeduh teh. Akhirnya jadi tiap hari deh (sehari 3 kali malah) bikin teh terus. Hon...gantian dong...aku kan skali-kali mo minum kopi juga

3. Fase motor
Sebenernya sih suamiku udah pingin beli motor sejak lama. Kita punya motor Honda di Italy untuk trek peternakan yang sulit, cuma motor ini udah kita kasih orang karena kita jarang pulang. Waktu tahu bakalan rada lama (i.e lebih dari 1 tahun) di Amerika, dia memutuskan untuk beli motor disini. Apalagi kalo dr amerika ini nantinya bisa dikirim ke Italy, jadi kita ga usa kawatir pas mo pindah musti ngejual-jual semuanya. Tell you what...abis beli motor, kayaknya dia lupa dulu dia nikah ama aku apa ama motor. Soalnya kalo nelpon, yang ditanyain duluan apa kabar motornya, bukan apa kabar istrinya.

4. Fase Carribean Life
Ini gara-gara aku pergi ke Puerto Rico 4 hari. Waktu pulang, aku bilang ke suamiku tempatnya bagus deh. Pertanyaan pertamanya..."rumah di sana dari batu bata atau dari kayu dindingnya?"...soalnya seperti cerita-cerita sebelumnya, di amerika ini kan dinding rumah bikinnya dari triplek...waktu aku jawab di Puerto Rico kaya di eropa, dindingnya beton semua...besoknya suamiku ngasih proposal. Deretan rumah-rumah yang available for sale di puerto rico. Seriously? you want to buy it? Just like that? Sampe hari ini...udah 4 hari sejak aku balik dari puerto rico....omongannya masih itu melulu. Jadi terpaksa aku iya-iyain aja sampe moga-moga fase ini terlewatkan dengan segera.

Entah kira-kira fase apalagi yang bakalan aku hadapi...mungkin fase nomor empat ini ga bakalan kelar-kelar. Fiuhhh.

Gold Medal

2009-12-20T20:37:00.000-08:00

Sekedar reminder, tanda negatif itu simbol dari suami saya. Sementara yang positif means me...kenapa? karena saya memang orangnya lebih positif (kelakuannya)...

- : Hon, aku tahu hadiah natal yang tepat buat kamu
+ : Apa itu?
- : Medali emas
+ : Kenapa emang?
- : Melambangkan prestasimu
+ : (masih terbayang-bayang pujian sebelumnya soal nilai saham yang saya beli naik) hehehe iya donggg
- : Tapi aku bakalan beli medalinya bukan buat kamu aja, tapi buat temen-temen Indonesiamu juga.
+ : Loh kok gitu
- : Iya, soalnya gold medalnya buat prestasi kalian semua dalam hal shopping.
+ : ihhh kamu...kok menilai istri sendiri shallow begitu
- : Emang bener kok...lihat aja kalian seminggu ini dah berapa kali pergi shopping. trus bisa-bisanya gitu nemu segala macem, sampe hal-hal yang sebelumnya aku pikir ga exist - bisa aja kalian bawa pulang
+ : (Menyerah...ga bisa ngomong lagi...karena memang ga bisa mengelak) Ok, bolehlah aku dapet gold medal. tapi kalo kiki sama aan (sohib aku yang sering main bareng) kayaknya platinum deh.
- : &*#((!& what difference does it make?

Mau KFC

2009-12-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

Suamiku, seperti juga most of the people from the western world, ga suka banget makan junk food. Jadi ga ada gitu ceritanya, aku boleh makan KFC, McDonald dan teman-temannya (sedih!). Sekarang sih dia sedikit lebih toleransi, dalam artian sekali dalam beberapa bulan boleh makan junk food (ga tau aja dia...kalo dia lagi ga di rumah, aku makannya junk food terus).

- : Hon, wow...you did a great job with the stock! You've made almost 50% profit out of the stock you bought last month.
+ : I know (snob face)....i am good. Maybe i should be a broker instead of an engineer.
- : Ok, you are allowed to ask for a present.
+ : Only ask? What i's like is actually receiving present instead of just asking.
- : Yeah, yeah that's what i meant...you start to get too technical. What do you want?
+: I want a bucket of KFC!!!!
- : No hon, please. That food is not good.

Akhirnya sih tetep aja ga dikasih....sniff. So much of doing something "berprestasi", tetep aja ga bisa makan KFC.

Dekor Rumah

2009-12-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

+ : Hon, aku mau ke Galleria (mall di houston)

- : Ok, good! Enjoy your day

+ : See ya!

- : Wait hold on...what did you say? Galleria? No, no, is not good. Come back!!!! That place is dangerous.

+ : you see...sometime you just saying yes by default. Not even listening.

- : Why don't you stay home or if you want to go, go to a park called rodeo palm (ini taman cuma di depan rumah)

+ : I need to shop

- : No you dont need. You just want.

+ : Look at our neighbour! Their house looks nice with all the Christmas decoration. We got nothing....

- : Ok....fiuhhhh...go then. I guess nothing i will say will matter :(

Hehehe....but look at the result, my husband is happy now. Next time he seen me shopping, wouldn't be complaining anymore.

Pohon Natal

2009-12-12T03:55:00.000-08:00

- : Hon, dont forget to install the Christmas Tree after thanksgiving, ok?
+ : Alright, where do you want to put it
- : I think should put it in the front living room
+ : Hmmm, no i dont like that. Better in the TV room, next to the fireplace
- : Nooo....then you will cover the fireplace, what if i need to turn it on
+ : You dont need to turn it on, we've got heater! Plus you need to give a way for Santa Claus, if you turn it on, he will get burnt since he will always get inside the house from the fireplace
- : Good point, plus if we put the tree next to the fireplace, Santa will not get lost trying to find where to put the gifts...hehehehehe

Suamiku Rasis

2009-12-03T17:48:00.001-08:00

Suamiku, seringkali kalo minta tolong diambilin sesuatu dan aku dengan malasnya menjawab "ambil sendiri" pasti deh langsung dia bilang lagi "come on, my black girl slave", dengan nada bercanda tentunya (padahal mungkin dia ga becanda haha). Trus kalo aku ngomel-ngomel karena dipanggil slave (budak), aku pasti bilangnya "i am not black". Nah kemarin aku mengeluh karena sejak di Jakarta sakit perut.

+ : Hon, aku diare terus nih
- : Kamu abis makan di jalan yah?
+ : Ngga, tadi makan di warung kok
- : Ya, warungnya di jalan kan?
+ : hehehehe, iyah
- : Kamu ga bisa lagi makan di jalan. Meskipun dulunya kamu sering, kan sekarang kamu dah ga tinggal di Jakarta lama, perutmu jadi ga terbiasa lagi. You are white inside
+ : I need to record this conversation
- : Kenapa?
+ : So that next time you called me black, i can show that you told me i am white inside
- : I was always joking when i said you are black
+ : hmmm... dont try to run away from your judgement

Surat Ijin buat Suami

2009-11-23T01:47:00.001-08:00

Hehehe...kemarin, temen saya semasa di Vietnam (well..he is actually my ex boss, tapi kita deket banget karena dulu sering keluar minum bareng), ngirimin email yang isinya surat ijin keluar malam bagi para suami. Lucu deh...ini aku attach di bawah

Mungkin ga kebaca jelas yah, karena tulisannya jadi kabur kalo digedein. Tapi di form ini intinya suami minta ijin ke istrinya kalo kluar malem. Formulir diawali dengan "I request permission for a leave of absence from the highest authority in my life for the following period". Trus ada tanggal dan waktunya. Dibawahnya ada pernyataan, bahwa sang suami ga akan deket-deket cewek, ga bakalan flirting, bahkan hanya ngomong ke cewek yang namanya tersebut di bawah. Plus ga boleh matiin handphone dengan alasan kebanyakan minum atau ga kedengeran. Lalu ada klausa soal ga boleh deket-deket stripper (not any closer than 100 ft). Di paling bawah formnya ada tanda tangan istri dan pilihan "disetujui" atau "ditolak". Aku mo forward ini ke suamiku hahahahahaha....biar matek dia. Ga perlu di forward sih, tinggal di print aja 100 kali dan ditaruh depan pintu, tiap kali dia mo kluar pasti terbelalak ngeliat formnya ga abis-abis sambil ngomel "the story of my life". Dan aku bakalan dengan senang hati ngejawab "I know how beautiful it is...the story of your life", sambil tersenyum iblis :))))

Ice Cream Sandwich

2009-11-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

Suami saya ga sukaaaaa banget sama makanan yang manis-manis. Jadi dia ga pernah mau makan dessert, soalnya menurut dia rasa manis itu bikin dia mo muntah. Ini semua gara-gara papi mertua saya, dulunya adalah pastry chef (koki yang spesialisasinya bikin kue, makanan penutup mulut, pokoknya segala sesuatu yang manis). Sejak kecil suami saya dah tiap hari tuh mencium bau kue, sampe katanya satu rumah eneg banget liat es krim, kue dan teman-temannya.

Sementara saya ini hobinya makan yang manis-manis (yeah...i got a sweet tooth). Kalo di rumah siang-siang, saya suka bikin es krim yang saya makan pake roti tawar. Suami saya ngeliatnya jijay abis....euuuyyyy....what kind of food is that, gitu deh selalu komentarnya sambil pasang tampang bergidik.

- : You always look so happy with that sweet sandwich
+: It is very good. you should try
- : No thanks...looks horrible to me...yucks! not in a million years

Nah suatu hari, kita seharian sibukkkkkk banget, dan pas pulang ternyata ga ada apa-apa di rumah, cuman ada roti tawar doang. Jadi akhirnya sambil nungguin suami saya masak, saya mo makan ice cream sandwich biar ga kelaperan banget. Trus akhirnya nih, setelah beberapa puluh menit, itu daging di oven kok ga mateng-mateng. Hahaha...suamiku akhirnya kelaparan juga.

- : Hon, make me one ice cream sandwich too, please
+: You said, you dont like it
-: Yeah, but i'm starving...i cannot wait any more minutes for this pork ribs coming out from the oven

Abis saya bikinin, dia makan dengan lahap itu es krim roti.

- : My gosh...is so yummy....the texture mix between the bread and the ice. And it is not so sweet. Wow...i want another 2 of these
+: Remember you once said...not in a million years! I guess a million years to you last only 3 days

Akibat Naik Harley

2009-11-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

Nah...ceritanya karena dah punya dua motor, jadi minggu lalu kita ke gereja naik motor sendiri-sendiri. Aku make Harley dan suamiku naik Buell. Biasalah, kalo ke gereja kan musti pake baju rapi. Aku pake celana bahan yang rada-rada ketat (pas badan lah...ga sexy-sexy banget kok...takut difatwa MUI hihi). Pas turun dari motor...bretttt!

- : Apaan tuh? Kamu kentut yah?

+: Enak aja! sembarangan...aku kan cewek, ga ada gitu ceritanya kentut di tempat umum. Memalukan

- : Coba liat!

Suamiku langsung balikin badanku dan ketawa ngakak. Ternyata celanaku sobek gede banget....hiks...jadinya terpaksa kita berdua pulang lagi. Gini nih hasil gaya-gayaan, udah tau badan kecil ngotot mau naik Harley dan bukannya pake Buell aja. Trus esok harinya, pas ada rapat pengurus di gereja, kita ditanyain pendeta.

Pendeta : Jadi hari ini naik motor apa mobil?

Langsung dong aku membelalakkan mata ke suamiku. Masalahnya pas hari minggu kita ke gereja naik motor itu pertama kalinya kita ga naik mobil dan pendeta ga liat, soalnya begitu celanaku sobek kita langsung pulang dan ga ketemu siapa-siapa. Jadi pendetanya tahu dari mana yah kalo kita pernah naik motor.

Begitu udah jauh dari pendetanya

+ : Hon...how come he knows about the bike

- : Hehehehehehehe...sorry hon, i told him this morning about us not coming to the church yesterday because you broke your pants

+ : Arrgggggg!!!! So everyone now knows and laughing at me. No wonder he can not stop smiling at me when we passed the door today

- : Come on hon! it's funny

+ : Huhuhuhuhu...i want to cry and disappear now

Ini nih motor yang bikin celanaku sobek selebar sungai...ampe celana dalamku keliatan smua

(ini foto juga dari toko motornya...suamiku beli 2 motor dari toko yang sama)

Hadiah Kedua

2009-11-18T18:44:00.000-08:00

- : Hon, sini deh...

Itu suamiku langsung narik tanganku begitu aku turun dari mobil.

+ : Knapa emang?
- : Aku beliin kamu sesuatu, anggep aja ini hadiah ultah yang kedua...after the scarf
+ : Hmmmm (muka curiga)

Ternyata di garasi ada motor baru - Buell merknya (www.buell.com) , buat aku. Horeeeee!!!!! Langsung dong berteriak-teriak kegirangan. Ini fotonya dari toko tempat suamiku beli motor. Yang punya toko emang motretin smua orang yang beli di tempat dia dan dipasang di website mereka. Fotonya terpaksa aku crop, soalnya suamiku anti banget gitu naruh-naruh muka di webpage (blog)ku. Mungkin dia malu dihubung-hubungkan ke aku yang super norak :p

- : Jadi kamu ga protes lagi kan...for me buying the harley, because now i bought you this
+ : Hehehe...tumben kamu baik
- : Emang baik terus kok...kamu aja yang ga bersyukur dikasi suami baik
+ : Mo muntah!
- : Yeeee...emang iya kok!
+ : Iya aja deh, daripada motornya diminta balik....

PCS

2009-11-14T22:21:00.000-08:00

Sering kan yah, cewek-cewek kalo mo datang bulan, trus jadi sensi dan hobinya marah-marah. Suami saya kalo dah saya sensi dikit, pasti langsung dikomentari lagi PMS (pre menstruation syndrome). Nah jangan dikira kebiasaan sensi ini cuma kebiasaan cewek....buktinya, suami saya kalo pagi juga suka sensi. Kaya pagi ini yah...suami saya baru bangun trus dah saya suruh anterin ke kantor (sabtu-sabtu musti ke kantor nyelesaiin kerjaan yang terbengkalai gara-gara pergi training seminggu). Dalam perjalanan ke kantor, adalah seseorang di belakang kita yang bunyiin klakson, langusng suami saya menyumpah serapah, ngatain cewek yang bawa mobil di belakang kita.

+ : Kenapa kamu? Sensi banget...cuekin aja napa...toh dia juga ga bisa denger serapahan kamu dari sana
- : Aku lagi PCS
+ : PCS??? what the heck is that
- : It's a pre coffee syndrome...
+ : What???
- : You hurried me so much this morning, I hadn't got a chance to have a coffee...
+ : Hmmm....no comment deh

Jadinya nyampe kantor, terpaksa deh saya sempetin bikinin kopi buat suami saya yang nungguin di samping meja kerja...Lumayan dapet kosakata baru hari ini :))

Percakapan Tentang Motor

2009-11-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

Berikut percakapan suami saya dan temannya di MSN Messenger

- (Rekan kerja) : Wah harley kamu bagus deh di foto profile
+ (Suami saya) : Makasih...ini yang beliin istriku (saya di belakangnya langsung membelalak....)
Me : Hah? how come i bought it for you
+ (suami saya) : hehehe...kamu ga merhatiin kartu debitmu yang berkurang banyak saldonya wekkk
Me : (kena serangan jantung.....)

Anyway...back to his conversation with his friend in messenger

- : Wah istrimu baik banget
+ : iya dia baik
- : dia kayaknya biker girl gitu yah
+: dia mah bukannya biker girl, beli motor ini cuma karena container di belakangnya matching tas tangannya. she just loves to buy stuff and think about the use only after
- : works fine
+: it is...

sementara saya yang baca percakapannya di belakang udah sutris karena ternyata beli motornya pake kartu debit saya...huaaaaa...hiks.

Kartu Kredit

2009-11-05T17:56:00.000-08:00

Kalo ada hal yang saya syukuri dari suami saya, sifat royal mungkin salah satunya (ehm...saya ga matre lho wkwkwkwk). Sebenernya sih bukan royal, tapi suami saya itu pasrah banget dan pelupa, ga pernah inget nomor pin atmnya. Karenanya...dia pasrahin smua uangnya sama saya, jadi kaya model suami jaman dulu yang tiap perlu harus minta duit sama saya. Trus demi keamanan juga, saya set account kartu kreditnya isi ulang aja, yang bisa dipake cuma kalo saya isi (semacam kartu debit gitu kalo di Indonesia). Kalo dia mo beli sesuatu, dia musti liat harganya dulu trus nelpon saya kalo emang mo langsung beli. Jadi saya sms bank atau transfer dari account tabungan ke account kartu kredit.

Temen-temen saya pada bilang, repot amat sih lu...kalo lu pas lagi di luar negeri gimana. Hehe...biasanya kalo saya lagi di luar negeri, suami saya kan pasti pergi kerja. Nah dia kalo kerja ga perlu duit, orang dibayarin smua sama client nya. Namanya juga konsultan, apa-apa di reimburse ke client.

Trus kemarin, balik dari sebuah toko, tiba-tiba suami saya bilang gini

- : Eh hon, ajaib deh....aku make kartu 100, kok abis itu masi bisa aku pake lagi ya. Padahal kamu isi cuma 100
+ : Oh aku emang isinya lebih kok
- : Loh kenapa
+ : Because i know if i tell you i fill the card 100, you always ensure you spend all if not more!
- : Ih kamu nuduh banget
+ : Tapi bener ngga?
- : Hihi iyah bener ...... kiss kiss
+ : Ga mau. Kamu cuma mau kiss whenever you feel guilty :p
- : But i am guilty all the time, jadi aku mau kiss all the time
+ : Uhhh gombal banget...

Vodka Tonic

2009-11-05T17:36:00.000-08:00

Setiap habis makan malam, kebiasaan saya adalah online. Entah itu liat-liat blog, mainan FB atau sekedar chatting sama teman-teman saya di sluruh dunia (hihi). Kalo suami lagi di rumah, udah deh....brantem terus, karena dia merasa dicuekin. Nah...senjata saya selama ini ya vodka tonic, soalnya kalo uda dibikinin vodka tonic, suami saya udah anteng.

- : Hon, bikinin vodka tonic donggg
+ : Ntarrr, lagi sibuk!
- : Sibuk apaan...cuma mainan ga jelas gitu doang
+: Kalo aku bikinin, janji ya ga gangguin lagi
- : Ok

Itulah percakapan kita sehari-hari.

+ : Nih...jangan ganggu lagi yah...aku lagi ngobrol nih ama temenku
- : Uh...i have no love in this house..
+: You got my love...i let you have my bike, i made you dinner, i just serve you with vodka tonic
- : Still feeling ignored ...
+: Honnnn, You promised not to disturb me anymore after i made you vodka tonic
- : I didn't finish my line....i won't disturb you till I need another glass hihihiihihi...and now i need one
+ : I don't really like this marriage :((((

Ulang Tahunku

2009-11-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

- : Lagi ngapain kamu?
+:Lagi browsing....mo liat2 barang online di dept store
- : Emangnya mo beli apa?
+ : Ga tahu...tapi kan bentar lagi aku mo ultah, hon. Jadi aku lagi cari ide, enaknya minta beliin apa sama kamu
- : Hah? jadi mo ngerampok aku nih ceritanya? Ga tertarik ah kalo gitu
+ : Ga tertarik ya udah! Aku juga ga minta kamu tertarik kok. Tapi aku pinjem kartu kreditnya ya
- : (Pura-pura ga denger)

Beberapa hari kemudian, suamiku ngeluarin hadiah...yang katanya dia beli dari Italy nih...Trus pas aku buka, ternyata scarf nya Gucci.

+ : Wah honnnn....kamu baik bangettttt! Makasi ya...i love youuu
- : hehe biasa aja lah...kamu kan tahu aku emang suami yang baik
+ : Ok dehhh...

Trus seminggu kemudian, suamiku pulang sambil bawa apa coba......motor baru!!!!! Langsung dong aku mencak-mencak.

+ : No wonder kamu beliin aku scarf 350 dollar....you bought yourself a new expensive bike!!!! Ini yang ulang tahun sapa????
- : Come on hon!!!! You said you love me
+ : Well...not anymore...not until you bought me the same value of present :(
- : Uuuuuuu....pleaseeee

Pizza for Dinner

2009-11-02T17:17:00.000-08:00

Malam ini, acaranya kita mo makan pizza aja di rumah sambil nonton TV. Soalnya tadi siang udah eating out ke Saltgrass steakhouse. Namanya juga Italian, ga ada namanya order pizza dari luar. Smua masakan Italy musti di prepare sendiri. Kalo order delivery, boleh apa aja asal bukan Italian food. Suamiku masak pizza campur aduk. Soalnya topingnya smua yang ada di kulkas, jadi boleh dibilang pizza nya jadi acara "bersihin kulkas"karena smua yang ada di kulkas dijadiin topping hihi. Mulai dari mozzarela cheese, anchovy, selada, sosis babi sama serutan keju monterrey jack yang spicy. Aku bukannya bantuin, malah cuma motret-motret makanan doang dan update blog. Jadi pas pizzanya jadi, suamiku sampe narik aku di telinga "ayo makan". Soalnya sampe dipanggil empat kali, ga noleh-noleh. Ga bisa gitu makan di depan TV, jadi aku makannya cepet-cepet dan langsung lari balik lagi update blog di depan TV sambil nonton Heroes.

Kurang Ajar

2009-10-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

Ini sebenernya dah crita lama. Cuman tiba-tiba aja inget percakapan beberapa tahun yang lalu, gara-gara disinggung lagi.

- : Hon, what's ass in indonesian?
+: bokong
-: what about big?
+ : gede
- : so your bokong is gede
+ : &&&^!%%!%%!%! What????? Suami kurang ajar!

Highland Cows

2009-10-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

Tolong diperhatikan yah, di setiap percakapan yang ada di blog ini, kalo tanda (+) itu artinya saya. kalo tanda (-) itu artinya suami saya. Ini sesuai dengan pribadi saya yang positif dan suami saya yang negatif (maksa banget ga sih).

- : Hon, aku punya ide bisnis
+ : Apaan?
- : Disini (Italy) kan rumah kita deket ama pelabuhan tempat kapal-kapal pesiar berhenti. Kita bikin usaha pariwisata yuk, biar turis-turis itu datang ke tempat kita pas kapalnya berhenti.
+ : Usaha pariwisatanya apaan?
- : Kita bikin peternakan kita open for public, jadinya orang ngeliat kegiatan di peternakan, bisa naik kuda, atau ngeliat pemerahan sapi, kita bisa juga bikin driving range buat golf di bukit belakang. Trus kita bikin kereta-kereta kayu yang ditarik kuda, orang bisa keliling naik itu. Detailnya ga perlu aku sebutin sih, tapi yah begitu gambarannya
+ : (tanpa menunjukkan rasa tertarik sedikit pun) hmmmm ok, terserah deh....(biar ga dilanjutin lagi obrolannya)
- : Thank you...i take it as a yes.

Beberapa hari kemudian suami saya bawa foto yang pernah saya ambil waktu kita lagi ada di Edinburgh, Skotlandia. Fotonya ini nih..Saya jadi penasaran dong. Mo diapain nih foto-foto sapi dibawa-bawa. Btw, sekedar informasi aja, sapi ini namanya "Highland Cow" cuma ada di daerah dingin di Eropa. Di skotlandia banyak deh sapi-sapi begini, bulunya panjang dan tanduknya besar.

+ : What is the pictures for?
- : To be sent via email for someone, for ordering highland cow from Scotland and bring it here
+ : What???? (ampe keselek)...Buat apa order sapi? Kamu sapi yang di sini aja papi-mama yang urus, kamu cuma liat-liat doang
- : Kan buat bisnis pariwisata yang aku omongin kemarin
+ : You didn't say anything about buying cow
- : Well that's part of the detail i didn't mention!
+ : &**((&!^%%!!!!
- : You still love me?
+ : A little bit less

Payback Call

2009-10-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

My husband hates me a lot whenever i call him. The reason being the time difference (i only call him when he is not home, meaning he is in different continent, different time zone). I always call him after work (5pm Houston time) and that means in Africa or in Europe (depending on where is he reside at that moment) is already late (midnight). Even though he hates the fact of he needs to get up to get the phone, he still does because otherwise i will be grumpy the whole week.

Last night, after talking on the phone for almost an hour, i went to bed. Then suddenly "ring ring". I looked at the watch...mannnn is 3 am! Who called me at 3 am? My husband did!

+ : Honnnn....i am sleepy
- : Love, please help. I just get a call from work, i need to send some data via email. I am too lazy to open my computer and get connected (in Italy we only have dial up).
+ : Whattt???? And you call me instead? Honnn this is 3 am and tomorrow i have an important presentation to make....Gossshhhh

However i made myself awake and send the bloody email from his back up computer left in the US. Then i went back to bed and again....30 minutes later "ring ring".... Damn! Who is it now? And it's him again!!!!

+ : What now?
- : Have you send it?
+ : yes i did! You called me only to check? I have only started to sleep and you wake me up again
- : Hehehehe....You always do the same thing to me, calling me after your work time while here in Italy is 3 am. At least now is for something important.
+ : Uhhhh...I don't love you.

So i went back to sleep and the next day i wake up late. BIG TIME! &&*(@&#&^%&!!!!! I promised myself not to call him after work ever again.

Aku Dilamaaarrrr

2009-10-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

Saya ga tahu udah pernah cerita belum yah tentang acara lamaran saya. Tanggal dan waktu tepatnya pun masih ingat waktu dia "pop the question". 22 Juli 2007, jam 2 pagi! Waktu itu saya masih tinggal di Vietnam dan suami saya kerja di Kuwait, jadi kita ketemu 2 bulan sekali pas dia libur.

Beberapa hari yang lalu, kebetulan di kantor lagi pada ngomongin soal acara lamaran mereka masing-masing, gara-gara si Tomasz, tetangga cubicle saya, mau ngelamar pacarnya. Trus abis mereka cerita-cerita saya tanya dong. Gimana sih cowok itu kalo ngelamar dan bawa cincin, kok bisa gitu cincinnya pas. Ngukurnya gimana tanpa ketahuan mau beliin cincin dan ngelamar. Ternyata mereka ya cuma kira-kira aja. Kadang mereka pegang-pegang jari pacarnya dan kira-kira ukurannya gimana, kalo ga mereka bawa beneran ukuran cincin dan nge pas2 in waktu ceweknya tidur, atau mereka nyambit cincin dari kotak perhiasaan ceweknya buat perbandingan, dsb. Toh kalopun salah, di Amerika semua kan bisa dikembaliin within 14 days dan uang kembali. Ada temen sekantor, Matt, yang cerita, kalo waktu dia ngelamar dia ga bawa cincin. Soalnya istrinya itu orang asia, dan di asia biasanya "no return policy". Jadi pas dia ngelamar, dia mastiin dulu pacarnya bilang "iya" sebelum dia beliin cincinnya. Si Matt ini bilang, if only it was an american girl, yang terkenal "high maintenance", no chance deh lamarannya diterima. Show me the diamond then i'll think about it, gitu kali ya mottonya cewek-cewek disini.

Akhirnya tibalah giliran saya cerita, dulunya emang saya dilamarnya kayak apa. Jadi saya bilang...berhubung dulu saya hubungan jarak jauh, jadi komunikasi diwarnai oleh penggunaan telpon, messenger chat dan skype. Saya dilamarnya lewat Skype Kuwait-Vietnam....itu abis ngobrol 3 jam, makanya jam 2 pagi seperti yang tadi saya sebut. Jadi ga ngerti deh waktu itu suami saya sadar ngga pas ngelamar. Jangan-jangan cuma supaya saya kaget dan berhenti ngoceh. Trus saya bilang juga, suami saya ga kasi cincin. Dia cuma kasih uang the next day dan saya disuruh beli sendiri cincin yang saya mau. Untung aja, saya dikasi gaji dia sebulan (sesuai adat orang Italy untuk ukuran cincin tunangan), yang ehm...cuma saya pake beli cincin berlian 1 karat, sisanya saya embat. Makanya saya ga protes meski ga ada romantis-romantisnya deh...the practical side of my husband really shows! I love you, darling.

Google Earth

2009-10-21T19:08:00.001-07:00

Nah ceritanya, sejak beberapa tahun yang lalu kita bikinin rumah nih buat papi sama mama (yang akhirnya selesai juga) di peternakan jadi mereka ga usah bolak balik tiap hari dari rumah yang di kota ke peternakan cuma buat ngasi makan biri-biri. Mereka ini paling sebel kalo ada tetangga yang mau tahu soal rumah itu, dimana, bagaimana dan siapa yang ngerjain, dsb. Nah suatu hari, pas saya lagi main ke italy, saya buka-buka komputer. Dan karena lagi hobi-hobinya main google earth (baru pertama kalinya subscribe ke google earth premium), jadi saya mapping dong tempat-tempat yang saya tahu. Dan rumah papi yang baru ini salah satunya. Saya mapping koordinatnya. Trus pas lagi kutak kutik map nya, tiba-tiba kok papi ada di belakang saya dan dia tanya "kamu ngapain?". Aku bilang "bikin tanda dimana rumah papi di world globe. keren deh...coba lihat...ini rumahnya dilihat dari atas...bagus yah, jadi kalo di dunia ini ada orang yang bikin sesuatu yang rahasia, pemerintah juga bisa tahu". Kayaknya saya salah deh ngomong gitu....soalnya tahu-tahu papi kayak mo kena serangan jantung. Mukanya merah padam. Trus karena saya orangnya ga perhatian...cuek dong tetep main klutak klutik.

Pas pulangnya suami saya dari peternakan (saya kebetulan hari itu ga ikutan, karena lagi males kerja), saya ceritain. Suami saya malah ketawa-ketawa. Trus dia baru deh cerita. Papi mertua saya, meskipun baik, kadang ketinggalan jamannya itu ga masuk akal. Dia itu paling paranoid about sharing things with people, terutama sharing informasi diri. Karena menurut papi, kalo kita terlalu banyak kasi info ke orang lain, terutama info yang berkaitan dengan diri sendiri bisa disalahgunakan sama orang lain dan akibatnya bisa berabe. Istilah kerennya "identity theft". Entah itu bisa berupa penyalahgunaan info untuk kegiatan ilegal (kaya penipuan make nama kita) ataupun hal-hal ga jelas yang kadang cuma iseng doang buat ngerjain, teteup aja papi ga suka. Jadi jangan harap deh kalo misal berkunjung ke rumah papi, trus nanya-nanya gimana keluarga, papi ga bakalan jawab. Jangankan nanya keluarga, nanya hari itu abis ngapain aja papi ga mau jawab. Yang ada ntar malah diceritain gimana caranya bikin kue (hihihihi...maklum, mantan pastry chef). Jadi makanya waktu dia tahu ternyata ada "big brother"yang mengawasi, dia kaget setengah mati. Soalnya selama ini dia slalu berusaha keep secret soal rumah itu, mungkin karena ga mau ditanyain petugas audit pajak juga, ini duit bikin rumah dari mana (karena suami saya ga bayar pajak di Itali...kan ga tinggal disana, tapi kok bawa masuk uang terus ke negara itu). Hehehehe, ga lagi deh saya tunjukin google earth kesayangan saya.

Good Morning

2009-10-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

Waktu baru pertama kali kenalan, kalimat favorit saya yang keluar dari mulut (waktu itu masih calon) suami adalah "good morning". Soalnya bahasa inggris suami saya waktu itu masi kacau balau, jadi cuman itu doang yang saya ngarti kakakakak (ini bisa kualat, ngetawain suami). Tau donggg, orang Itali logatnya kentel banget, makanya kadang saya aja ngga ngerti maksudnya dia apa, istilahnya itu ngomong apa kumur-kumur.

Soalnya di bahasa Itali itu, ada beberapa huruf yang ga ada, kaya misalnya huruf "j, y, k dan w". Trus masi ada beberapa huruf lagi yang pelafalannya silent alias ga dibaca sama sekali, kaya misal huruf "h". Jadi sebagai contoh nih, kalo saya ngajarin suami saya ngomong "hari", sampe mumetttt"saya ngajarinnya tetep juga dia bacanya "ari". Akhirnya cuma bisa pasrah.

Kapan tahun (baca: beberapa hari lalu yang saya ga inget jelas persisnya kapan), suami saya bangun tidur trus ngaca di kamar mandi (ini kayaknya perlu cerita satu postingan sendiri, soal gimana orang itali itu merhatiin penampilan buanget, lain kali aja yah saya ceritanya). Tiba-tiba dia teriak "oh noooo....i am loosing my ear". Jelas aja dong saya kaget dan langsung bangun. Ada apa coba kok bisa sampe kuping ilang. Kok kayak penyakit kusta aja, yang satu-satu anggota tubuhnya copot. "Mana, mana....coba lihat". Tapi kok kupingnya masih lengkap kaga ada knapa-knapa. "What do you mean by you loosing your ear". Trus dia nunjukin sisir yang banyak rambut rontoknya, sambil bilang "thisssss"katanya panik.

Yaelah....masa hair dibilang ear. Kutu!....Usaha bangun jadi sia-sia, harusnya kan masi bisa ngorok lebih lama.

Sponsoring a Child

2009-10-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

Few years back, soon as I graduated from the uni, i started this effort with a friend to help a student who is in need to complete their education with a small kind of support. It is simple and easy, because only take approximately 40 USD a month for the student we sponsored to pay his monthly fee (education, living quarter, books, etc.). Now that my sponsor child is done with his uni (he graduated last month), I started to look around for one.

My choice at first would be to help Indonesian children as I guess i need to start from my own people. But then my husband said he wanted it more international. So i started to look for worldvision, a recommendation from a colleague who is a donor there. After we look around, finally we found a boy from Tanzania who his chorus is carrying water and wash dishes. He is very cute and i am glad we decided to choose this boy. Then a friend of mine in Jakarta, mentioned about a project her friend currently working on. Building a shelter for the kids who works in the street, either as a newspaper boy or a street musician, for them to have a place to go and read, or study or even learning school main subject under guidance from a teacher. So i asked my husband if i can sponsor one more and he said ok.

Why we do this, is probably just something to make us feel good, fulfilling our responsibility to our world community, but beyond that...we were thinking, if God haven't bless us with a kid till now, is for sure because of a good valid reason. And since we don't know what it is, we might well started with helping others.

Half Single - Half Married

2009-10-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

Just like the classic joke of man vs woman, so is the joke (or argument?) of single vs married. Which one is better, depending on which side are you. Among all the single and the married one, I am probably one of the lucky one can be half-half. I am married, but I can still enjoy my single moment. Thanks to my husband's schedule of 1 month work then 1 month off. So I have one month with him at home and the next month only by myself when he is at work in Africa.

If he is home, I am a married woman (and a housewife, or at least the "cynical girl"interpretation of housewife). If he is at work the next month, I am single (in term of being home alone, and the requirement to be independent to do everything by myself....not the single that goes to party and looking for another man...hahahaha...I wish!). Some people often asked me if i missed him during my "single"time. Of course I do, but most of the time...i am too busy at work, coming home late 7pm or 8pm and after some exercise, house cleaning, dinner, I end up too tired to think if i am lonely or not, nonetheless missing my husband. Just no time for it. I will crash on bed (if not on top of the sofa where I watched the late news). And the next day, i got to wake up early to start my work again. So i am the real career woman.....got to bring some bacon home :)))

If my husband is home, i can not do long hour at work. I came back at 5.30 or 6.00pm at the latest unless there is an important meeting in the office. And i don't need to do the cooking, because he usually already prepare something for dinner, already clean the house, but laundry is still my job to do at the weekend. We then can watch movies after dinner, crash in the sofa also not an option because he will always drags me to bed. I feel more relax and not so much of thinking about work (that's why when he left, I got so many things to catch up in the office hihi).

We have been on long distance relationship ever since we were dating and when we got married, it is no longer a hard thing for us. It's a balance to keep both interests met. He enjoys his work and so do I, and i think work is something important not only for the money but for the passion we put in life, the feeling of being useful and we were thinking is not good one of us sacrificing our expertise for some ego. It's probably going to be different when we have kids, as kids will be a strong reason for one of us to give things up. But for sure, we will have still accommodate our liking. Half single and half married...is not bad. Not bad at all.

Food is A Serious Matter

2009-10-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing you shouldn't mess with Italian, it is food. If somehow you had the opportunity to be served with food, whose the man behind "the plate" is an Italian please remember this....NEVER add anything to it. Not pepper, not cheese, not salt, nothing. Eat it as it is otherwise you are considered offending the cook for not making something good enough.

Living with one (should i say person....:) ), i seen how serious is this foodie thing. The material, the preparation, the way it is cook, whether it will match to the other meal on the table, everything is done passionately, seriously and don't start to mess with it (a.k.a offering help, touching the food and then start to do what you think need to be done). Leave it to the cook and be it whatever it is going to be.

We had a barbeque the other day, where we invited several friends (mainly my friend, who is Indonesian). My husband said he wants to wait till all the guest arrived till he starts. So everyone will enjoy a warm dish. I told him.."no hon! Indonesians want to eat soon as they are arrived". Opppsss wrong sentence! He told me in his most serious tone "I don't care! It's my BBQ, my way and your Indonesian friends need to learn the manner". Pffhhh...okayyy, whatever then!

So soon as we had everyone arrived, my husband started the fire and we ended to be completely busy and unable to chat with the guests. I told him, look we don't care if the food is cold. Is a matter of getting together and talk. So the next day, it took me a trip to a Texan BBQ place where they serve "all you can eat BBQ". Everything there is cold, but i enjoy it and there was a big queue in that restaurant. "You see....we don't care about the food is warm or not, is about having fun, eating out and so on". He said "okay....i'll finish my cooking before all the guests arrived next time". Not sure if he said it out of the effort to avoid argument. But hopefully it stays :))

Happy B'day Mamma

2009-10-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

"Hei hon, how are you?"that was my first sentence when i called him 6 o'clock this morning. After few minutes of chit-chat, i said "Love, don't forget today is mum's birthday". So finally he decided to make a birthday card before mamma wakes up.

I called him again in the afternoon and asked how's the birthday went by. He said öh mum is very happy with the card i made, but then i told her not to get too excited because suddenly after 30 something years i remember important date like birthday.

What did your mum say? i asked him again

He said "Yeah no worry...i know ur wife called you earlier to remind you about my birthday"hihihi

Happy B'day Mamma!!!! Come to visit us sometime.

What You Got When You're Marrying an Italian

2009-10-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

Many people in Indonesia, would ask me questions which if it is being asked here in the western world will be considered nosey. But in Indonesia is probably normal, i don't know...since i will never know how is it usually be. I can list all of the questions here, but it will be all too long and this posting will be so much boring. So i decided to answer one of the questions, about "what's the difference between Indonesian men and Italian men". Well....for one thing, i never been in a marriage with Indonesian men, it was just a normal dating. So my comparison here might be not fair. Here are some of the difference based on my personal view and experience:

1. Partner
With western men in general, they appreciate woman more. In a marriage, woman is more a partner rather than a follower (i was about to write servant, but thinking maybe it's bit too harsh). Both husband and wife, doing the same work. Between me and my husband, we do the same house work. He cooks (most of the time), he cleans and many other chorus. We basically do it, depend on who are free from work and willing to do it. If none of us feeling to do it that day, we usually leave it for another day. We can either eating outside, postpone laundry till the next day or just bring it to the launderette, and so on. In Indonesia, i would expect after coming back from work, struggling with the traffic, still need to cook, or if i have a maid, i would be still putting food to his table and so on. In many of the occasion for example, where we have family reunion, men always eating first. No such things as woman first. I know that in our case, we both working and making the same money, but even if that is not the case, my husband will still treat me equal. One day, i was cleaning the kitchen and he said "hon...stop that, come and sit with me. I didn't marry you to clean. I'll do that for you later". Nice, right?

2. Free and Open Communication
In our family, we are both believing in a free two way communication as a more effective thing to achieve better marriage life. In Asia, maybe not in all countries, but most woman will need to respect her husband opinion and questioning something might be considered opening an argument. I am free to disagree to any of his opinion and basically same on his side.

3. Sex
I have never been involved in any sex rather than with my current husband, so maybe i cannot really compare. But the thing is, in Indonesia, you can not even kiss in public without people looking at you and judge you as been doing an improper impolite taboo kind of act. In the western world, it kind of more open. We can kiss, hugs, touch in front of public just to show each other love. We even free to say, hei i don't like this sex position, i prefer the other one you did the other day and so on, or i prefer you do it in certain place of the house ;) don't be scared of coming to my house after i said this. We does clean the room after we are having sex.

4. In laws
In three matters i mentioned above, i can probably generalize it between western men and asian men. In the case of number 4, in laws, i can not really generalize and say my husband is just like any other western man, whose family does not play important part in their marriage life. For Italian, family is still very much part of your life, does not matter if you are married and moving out from the house or not. My parents in law are still calling every other week, sending stuff (electric grill, wine set, chocolate boxes and so on), and we still very much helping them financially. So italian men are very much similar to indonesian in this case. Since we have been c omitting to take care of each other, the friction that sometime comes up due to in laws, is just part of life i have to deal with. I am lucky that actually our parents never asked for money. Everything we gave them, is something we voluntarily give them as a way to show we care (and that includes the half million euro house we build for them...sniff...hahaha!)

So now, that I answer some of the questions...hopefully you stop asking me the same questions. We are all just the same human being, difference in culture and things, is adjustable and very much easy to handle. Besides all the things i mentioned above, i probably need to mention my husband care so much about appearance, clothing, nice stuff (arts, furniture), putting attention to detail (such as checking things he wants to buy 100 times before he actually buys it, can tell other people's clothing quality/brand/value without even touching it), able to read personality of others, even when he's only meet them once, loves expensive stuff, loves to cook and so many other thing i cannot tell you one by one or else I need 10 pages of A4 paper.

The American Cousin

2009-10-03T19:20:00.001-07:00

In two days, my husband needs to go back to Italy to continue working on the house I mentioned on the posting few days ago. I'll be on my own. The good thing is...i am free to be online almost 24 hours (minus the time I use to enjoy my bed), but the bad thing is....my bed is too big to enjoy it by myself.

Anyway...i was about to tell stories about the american cousin, as Italian mentioned it, for relatives that live in the US, coming home to visit the relatives back in Italy every few other years or so. That's us, right? Me and my husband. These so called american cousin, is usually expected to carry with them nice stuff as a gift to the family in Italy (or should I say familieeesssss....since it does consist of several hundreds people). We were wondering if we are that kind of cousin...who comes for a visit and bring gifts. We are not really as nice as saint....and we are poor :p hihihi...

Last month, on the last visit to Italy, my husband actually coming back to the US with 2 bags full of stuff. I asked him...where is this coming from? He said...my parents asked me, do you have this? do you have that? And the answers were all a big NO. So they put all of these in my bag. I said to him...we are the american cousin, we should be the one bringing something for them and not vice versa. But my husband said...well, let's just say, America is currently on economical crisis and so do we....

Is good to be here...that's all i can say.

Does Sexy Underwear Work Your Sex Life Well?

2009-10-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

You know how people said, to keep yourself beautiful for your husband. Put make up on, put the nicest dress for dinner, and wear a sexy underwear to keep the "fire"in your love life on. That's what I did when i was still dating my current husband.

With few years of being married, you know you get slack in things, didn't even take care yourself and so on. So in an effort of trying to make my husband happy, i bought nice underwear to wear in front of him. Like in the movie, where you coming out of the bathroom and stand on the door, striking a sexy pose.

Tell you what....doesn't work well with my husband. His reaction was "nice underwear, but i prefer you without anything, simpler and cheaper coz you don't have to spend ridiculous money for 1 cm of clothing line". So you see...it's not that i am not trying, just the way he prefer....Never believe what people said...there's always exception!

Mamma's Boy

2009-10-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

Many people, and also articles, saying that if you married an Italian man, you going to be second on the line, after his mother. In the case of my marriage, it doesn't really happen. Just like how people always referring Italian is short, dark hair and tight in money, my husband is not anyway near any of those. The thing is, many people only referring their judgment based on TV series, especially the one Mafia related. That's basically how all Italian got their judgment from.

My husband is 6 ft over tall, blond and not tight in money at all! He loves his mamma, but never in any way put his mum over me. He is also not part of the mafia, as what everyone has joked about. Not many people even realize that "mafia" is only used for crime organization from Sicily. Any other part of Italy will not use "mafia" word, but something else instead.

So never tell my husband, he is a mamma's boy, or you might not like his reaction to you :)) However, he is still Italian, sometime still using mafia type of act.

Compromising

2009-09-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

If there's one way to win your husband without killing your in-law, compromising is the answer. Compromising is my softer version of manipulating.

My husband, in the effort of helping his parents completing their house, have been away from our home and stay in Italy. Noted, this house have taken more than15 years to complete, because when he bought the land....it was once a hill, so he only does it whenever he had time, flattened the land, building a base to hold some land with deviation in place, removing plantation to give enough space for buildings, create a water system and so many other things unthinkable for my very simple mind.

In Indonesia, i might only need to pay 10 people to do the work and everything will be done in 1 year or less. Cannot really do it in Italy for the cost of mason is 100 euro per person per hour. We can not afford that much money, it just doesn't make sense. And it already took us about 500 thousands euro to buy the land, cut 10% of the forest, flattened the hill top, build the house, work things by ourselves, manually! Cannot imagine how much it will cost if we paid a company to do things for us for what is left to be done. The house is basically done, we bought them complete furniture, shipped doors with solid woods from Asia and now there are some works left around the house, such as fence, heating and cooling system, and piping. Those will cost us 200 thousands euro if we pay a mason to complete them all. So in effort to save that much money, my husband has left me for a month to Italy and work on it. After the 4 weeks time over, he was bargaining to stay longer.

Of course, I complained! (I'm a good wife). I said, the flight ticket is fixed and will cost a lot of money to change it. Basically all the excuse except the one that i want to see him (I don't want to sound needy and jealousy, bla bla bla). Because if i gave out this excuse, for sure he will decide to stay longer. So i need to show how I also care for his family and put them first in front of my own need. I did not lie, because it's true. The business class flight cost us more than 3000 dollar (and that is btw 30% of my vacation allowance gone), and i don't want to spend more money to change the date of departure plus additional cost to pay the difference in ticket price on the new date.

So i told him "why don't you come home first and then go back to Italy after 2 weeks or so, then no change in ticket is required. The cost to change the ticket is 400 dollar, the price difference between the old date and new date is another 400 dollar or more, while if you are willing to travel in economy, it will only cost 600 dollar return - that is cheaper and you will see me for few weeks before you can start working again in Italy".

He seems happy and he saw me as this sweet little girl with "solution" hihihihihi. I'm a devil, yes i am. But i am covered with sweet melted chocolate. And that's how i win my husband over, without the need to kill my in laws. Salute!

Family....The One Who Always Welcome You Home?

2009-09-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

Is it really true the statement i used above as title to this post? I don't know, and that's why i put question mark at the end of it. The answer is really depend on which family. In the case of my family, it's not always true. My husband was once said, the reason he's taking care his parents so much, is because he believed they are the only one who will always on his side, in the case of misfortune or failure. They will always welcome him home, no matter what condition he is in. Women can divorce men and remove any connections between them, but parents-children connection can not be erased. That's what my Italian family believe. Family is more important than religion.

In Indonesia, things are bit different. Social status is very important (at least for some people, and my family is one of this "some people") and the status of being "successful parents" count by how well your kids have been in their life after 18. So when you have kids who after graduated from university, got a good job, made their own living, live independently (outside your house, the further the distance...the better it is), got married and form their own new family, then you are considered as successful parents. So when I come home, with failure and carrying poverty, broke, need helps, my parents might not help me. Not because they don't love me. But because it means not only failure to me, it is more a failure to them as a parent.

My Italian family, from my husband side, doesn't really care about status. For them, what important is about taking care of each other. So they want us to live closer to them, even if it means we are making less money and live under the same roof.

It is probably not fair to compare the two side by side, as I put my Indonesian family sounds ruthless. However, the reason behind it - is more related to their background, their culture and the value the hold dearly, rather than which family is better. My father is a General, an important person in the Indonesian military and because of that we all got higher pressure to be more successful, to be richer and to be higher, for us not to loose the status my father holds. My in laws, they are a farmer, retired after working 15 years as labor in a factory. For sure, status is not something important to them. Every one is the same and for thus, family is then become the center of their life instead of career rank.

I am lucky to have both families. I am lucky to experience the education of family and also career, and hopefully I can balance between the two.

I'm Old

2009-08-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

One thing never work well with my husband is when i'm asking for a pity. Like one day, after 1 hour of tennis, 10 minutes of kickboxing and 2 hours of playing games in laserzone with friends, i feel completely nackered. That night, i didn't feel anything. But the next day, i couldn't even laugh without aching my whole back and stomach.

Me: Ohhhh hon....all of my muscle sore. What happen to me?

I wish i got his pity. But instead he said the following

Husband: That's what happen when you are old, hon! Your body unable to take all of your high impact activities.
Me: Ohhh honnn, i wish you said something else intead of "old" word. Remove that from your dictionary, pleaseeee

He was then burst into laughter at me....Sniff!

Another Note on Marriage Life

2009-08-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

On the first few months of my marriage (how long ago was that? seems like forever), i remember i wrote something about how difficult it is to live together. With the days went by, it doesn't get any better...hahaha...Well, probably just to be fair to myself - i should say not all the part of living together is bad. The hardest one for us, is about accepting others and compromise things you would never accept in a normal day. Even small stuff like choice of meals for dinner tonight can fuel a fight. On a bigger note, choice of painting we want to put on our bedroom's wall is another source of fight. Yes it probably means nothing for some people...but that painting is something i see everyday, every morning i wake up, so i want something with soothing color instead of an abstract bright red that hurting my eyes. And to win this kind of fight is important when you live together, because it's going to put you in a better ground for the next argument. Sorry hon, i make our house sounds like one of the war location.

Anyway, far from all of those...i didn't mean to put all of my whining and complaint in a compact list , since i might risk myself showing off all of the winning strategy (hihi). So, few days ago, my husband visited his grandmother in her summer house up in the middle of the cold Alps, in a small town called Aosta. Nonna, that's how we call grandma, only able to speak in Ligurian dialect, which is completely different to the standard Italian. So even my husband is unable to talk in a complete sentence to her. However, soon as the conversation moving to the "marriage" topic, she suddenly become sooo excited...everyone was wondering why. It actually looked very funny, because she started to talk with a lot of interesting hand gestures.

Nonna asked my husband, how is your marriage life btw, since you are newlywed. My husband was giving a default answer "oh, good, everything's fine". And then Nonna rolled her eyes which put everyone into laughter. She said "come on, spit out the truth". I was only hearing all of these trough the phone, but it was really making my day. Because i guess, we are just normal couple, fighting like everyone else. But the point is, such things were never told before you got married. All the stories you heard is that everything is beautiful, marriage life is good for your soul and all of the such. I probably looking at it from an extreme cynical point of view, but it is a reality - marriage life is not always pretty.

Do Not Judge

2009-08-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

The thing i learned a lot from my husband is that he never judges people from first appearance, yet he is able to tell general personality of someone he met even for the first time. He said it's an Italian thing. Maybe they're all learning psychology over there in Italy...reading body language and stuff.

Few days ago, we were talking about asking a friend if his house is available for sale. Since this friend own many houses and some of them are just completely abandoned. Not having any place in Italy that really belong to us, we asked him gently. Before we meeting him, my husband told me not to pretend but neither being rude. If i don't like the house, i should not say anything bad as he might be stepping backward. Also not to lie by saying amazing thing when i don't like a single part of the house because Italian read your body language (and they really do!).

So we went there and asked him if he have any plans on the abandoned house, is it ok with him - for us to ask if we can buy the house from him. After so many efforts i've shown....the answer was no. We were pretty sad...but maybe just not for us, that house! Need to find something else or pursue him in another time.

Magick Powder

2009-08-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

My husband grew up in a farm, where everything was simply fresh. So he has a very limited knowledge on ready used product...or maybe he knows, just not experiencing in use it directly yet.

Cat : Hon, you know...i found a magick powder.

Bunny: What powder is it?

Cat: it's something you put into water and you got a milk!

Bunny: Hon...that's how we drink milk. Fresh milk are just to expensive, so we have this milk powder...long lasting and cheaper!

Cat: Ohw..really? hmmm never know that!

The Move!

2009-08-18T17:10:00.001-07:00

We end up moving to the US, my dream land...but not his :)) (what can I say?) early 2009 (or should I say late 2008...since we fled here on the new years eve of 2008).

You know how Italian are...bragging about quality of things...detail...art...for me, everything is just sophistication (is this even a word?) or maybe I should say pretentious snob! The thing is, my husband is not pretentious at all. So let's just call him complicated and sophisticated.

The thing about the house in the US, where everything is made of wood...doesn't make him happy at all. Then the bragging came out, about Roman building and all (for God SAKE! this is just a house we're trying to have...not a Roman empire, not even close). At least it is big..that's how I said it...since in Italy house of the same price are small. Anyway...we managed to settle a house of 4 bedroom and when we decided to get the furniture from Indonesia, a set of solid wood furnitures, he seems happy and all...

So it's a fresh start for us...

Yo Hoo!

2009-08-18T17:04:00.001-07:00

I finally have the time to start again. I had a blog of this same title few months back and end up of doing nothing, sitting idle.

I am Indonesian, full blood...cannot change it, can't deny it. And if you ever lived in Indonesia before, we are all very americanized. Putting our compass towards the US, everything from US is a trendsetter and quality guaranteed.

Anyway, I end up marrying an Italian, my colleague (or ex colleague now...since he is not working here anymore) and my marriage is full of drama...in a positive way. The language barrier, the way we value things.

Not that I regret it (my marriage), but i thought using the title can intrigue more interpretation on how sometime in marriage, compatibility is not the first requirement.

I love you Cat! (that's my husband nickname....picked after Tiger Wood....in a smaller version...so is Cat Wood)

Cirio!
Bunny Cat