Everyone agrees that the best gift a married couple can possibly get is a baby. Theoretically, I knew it too. But, practically, I always try to deny it…well, because me and my husband haven't had one. In addition, because we've been married for almost two years, the "pressure" of getting one is undoubtedly higher.
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When the thoughts of "Am I really reproductively healthy?", "Is there something wrong with my husband?", "Should we finally consult with the gynecologist/andrologist about our reproductive health issue?" are filling my head, the miracle comes. I'M finallyPREGNANT :) #woohoo! This has been my 12-week pregnancy. The nausea rarely hits, no odd-annoying cravings, just typical fatigue that is usually occurs during the first trimester. Wish me a happy and healthy nine-month pregnancy #thankyouAllahSWT#superexcited!
I recall me and my fuhus met for the first time at the end of February 2013, talked about marriage at the end of March 2013, met each other's parents on earlier April 2013, and he proposed me to my father on April 21, 2013. Everything turned out to be fast, smooth and easy....as I wished to Allah it would be. I hope we can "patiently" wait for 40 more days and "taking care" of each other in terms of not doing anything foolish or dangerously silly.
"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet".
(Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
P.S : Now I know why when two opposite sexes are attracted to each other and felt "lock and key" as in "destined or meant to be together", the only answer to "make everything right and blessed" is the MARRIAGE. Only MARRIAGE....not elses. #pengalamanpribadi
Someone clearly believe this expression, "The most romantic place on planet earth to propose a woman you like is at the library". Guess that "someone" is no other than my future husband.
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Eight days after his official khitbah, he proposed me again at his very favorite contemplation place, Diknas Library. Please don't ask me how did it feel to get proposed by someone you adore in a very serene place like library. Don't ask me either the feeling of getting proposed TWICE in eight days. On that second proposal, I could only remember covering my overly blushing face with his book, -the book where he wrote his marriage proposal.
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Let me tell you a no-longer secret: I'm going to marry a romanticist.
April 21 is R.A. Kartini's birth date. And according to some references, it is also Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) date of birth. As for me, April 21 is the day when my journey to the marriage is started. April 21, 2013. Now, I'm a "makhtubah"*.
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I can say that my khitbah** story is rather unique. Why is that? Well, because it wasn't really planned. I mean, my fuhus*** didn't really plan to khitbah-ing me on April 21, 2013. Today, he and his family was only intended to meet my parents, strengthened silaturrahim, and chose the marriage date (for us). But then, a night before that date (read : yesterday), my genius father offered a change of plan. My father told me to tell my fuhus to sort of modify the visit into khitbah mode. This is what he said:
"Sekalian aja deh bilang ke Mas-mu untuk melamarmu besok, Nak. Walaupun tidak lengkap, keluarga kita banyak yang bisa hadir dan mengingat mengumpulkan mereka itu tidak mudah, ya jadi sekalian saja. Lagipula kan sudah jelas arahan kalian menuju ke pernikahan. Buat apa lagi "basa-basi" silaturrahim?!".
"Cinta adalah anak dari kecocokan jiwa. Maka jika kecocokan jiwa itu tiada, jangan harapkan cinta itu hadir dalam hitungan tahun bahkan milenia". (Khalil Gibran)
Section akhwat S.E.L.A.L.U penuh :D
Okay, that is just so WOW-ing! Honestly, my heart was fluttering at the moment I heard Ust. Salim A. F. reciting that sentences a few weeks ago when I attended his kajian at 4th Bogor's IBF. Well, it's true that I haven't met my "soulmate" yet (maybe he's just right before my eyes and still preparing himself or maybe he's dunno-out-there and still looking for me), but after listening to this kajian I feel like getting more patient waiting for him. #tapipleasejanganlama2,ya XD
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Being single or married is actually has its own "advantages". And most cases, one another always envying each other in such a ridiculous way. The single wants to get married because she/he thinks that getting married is super fun, whereas the married one wants to be single again for a freedom of doing anything's reason. Well, that's just "so human" :). As for my case, the single, the most important thing is preparing oneself before taking a responsibility as a wife or husband. Ust. Salim pinpointed one critical thing as a preparation before the marriage (for the single) : GET OBSESSED instead of EXPECTING.
Last week, I happened to watch Maher Zain concert in Istora Senayan, Jakarta. I've been rooting to watch this concert since I love Maher's Forgive Me album. A lot :). Hence, I didn't think twice to buy the ticket. Moreover, I already got myself ready to watch it alone. Such a loner Walker, Texas Ranger :D! But then, Milena (~my cousin's wife) tagged along (without knowing who Maher Zain was. Ha~ XD! To make it "worse" she even thought Zayn Malik was Maher! #ROFL). Regardless, I ended up watching it with her.
The Good
Who doesn't agree that getting a "buy one get one ticket for free" is awesome? Haha :D. Yeah, that's what I got. I was lucky to get that fantastic deal because I bought the last bargain "ticket box" just a few hours before the concert started. I bought "GOLD" seating ticket which originally costs IDR1.200.000 each. Because it's "buy one get one for free" deal, thus I paid the same price but got two tickets, one for me and another one for Milena. We've divided it and paid IDR600.000 each. 好棒, 對不對 :D?
Nah, benar, kan? Belum apa-apa aku sudah kesasar. Setelah bertanya ke salah seorang petugas di stasiun, aku mendapatkan informasi bahwa ternyata untuk menuju ke UNS tidaklah rumit; both from “Solo Balapan” Station or “Solo-Jebres” Station will do. “Oooh, syukurlah nyasar kali ini tidak fatal”, ucapku lega. Karena ingin benar-benar ‘menikmati’ perjalanan a la traveler, aku menolak tawaran jemputan dari Iqbal. Oh please…aku (paling) tidak suka merepotkan orang lain. “Kalau bisa dijalani/dituntaskan sendiri, kenapa harus ngerepotin orang lain?”. “Kalau bisa memperingan dan mempermudah beban orang lain, kenapa tidak?”, that’s what I always thought. Jadilah aku memilih moda transportasi bus. For me, it’s more challenging than a pedicab. Yes, cukup membayar Rp. 2500,-, menikmati 15 menit perjalanan, dan gerbang melengkung UNS sudah tampak di kiri jalan. It’s stupidly easy.
“Mbak,
saya undang untuk ngisi talkshow di
Fakultas Pertanian UNS mau ya? Mbak Bunga masih di Indonesia, kan?”, begitu
kubaca pesan seseorang di inbox “Buku Muka”-ku. Kaget, -reaksi standarku saat
membaca pesan tak biasa tersebut. Merasa tertantang untuk menjinakkan “demam
panggung” dan sifat “malu-malu”-ku, tak sadar aku mengetikkan balasan “Okay,
De’!” kepada sang pengirim.
Sang
pengirim pesan itu tak lain dan tak bukan adalah Iqbal, adik Syarifah
(*Syarifah adalah nama asli “Ivo”, adik iparku). Iqbal adalah mahasiswa Ilmu
dan Teknologi Pangan di Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta. Kami memang baru sekali
bersua, dua tahun yang lalu saat pernikahan adikku dan kakaknya. Namun karena
berlatar belakang keilmuan yang sama, kami segera akrab. Walaupun sempat
bertanya-tanya mengenai alasannya mengundangku, pada akhirnya aku tak ambil
pusing. Aku hanya curiga Iqbal mendapatkan banyak informasi tentangku dan
aktivitas-aktivitasku di Taiwan dari kakaknya. Intinya, Iqbal mengundangku untuk
berbagi pengalaman berorganisasi dan kuliah di negeri naga kecil kepada
teman-teman muslim Fakultas Pertanian UNS. Thereafter,
my Solo Escape’s episode, began.
How long I've been staying in Taiwan? Two and a half going-on-three years. How many tabligh akbar I've been through? Errr...can't remember. I just know it's quite a lot and I almost always become a paparazzi. Honestly, although I always have superabundant chances to get close to the guest stars, I never have an ambition to take pictures with them, on purpose. When I ended up in one frame with them, it must be because they are asking me to do so. Really. The same situation was happened on two days ago's tabligh akbar. Lacking of DSLR troops in the northern part, Rina asked me to come during my Chinese New Year vacation =p (*I was in Taichung at that time). It turned out to be great :D. This picture was one of the proofs of how great it was.
Thanks to Pak Tya for taking this adorkable picture :))
So, what's the correlation between the title, the prologue, and the picture? Simple :). It's INDRI, Sahrul Gunawan's wife. She happens to be a Bornean, -West Bornean to be exact. Just like the-half-of-me. The difference is her half-half combination, -Melayu-Chinese, which have successfully imprinted that kind of beautiful face, unlike ehmm...you-know-who =p. Anyhow, I'm so excited that I could find someone who can talk Bahasa Melayu-Kalimantan Barat. HaaAA^^! Feels like home. Besides a-little-bit-surprising-fact about Indri's origin, I found that this woman is wonderfully humble. Yes, she is. The way she talks, just like a regular housewife. OK, not a regular one. She's a respectful-humble one :). She even care-freely gave her cellphone number and e-mail address to me. "Contact me", she said. Subhanallah...
It's over, at last. Glad and relieved, that's what i feel. Two weeks practicing for the sake of performing in the International Festival at campus, has paid. Despite the mess on one of the Saman dancer's costume and the mistakes we've made during the performance, i can proudly say that we've SUCCEEDED. Alhamdulillah...alhamdulillah :).
Recalling last year's International Festival which also presented this what so-called dance of a thousand hands, i can crystal clearly compare the differences; extra dancers, extra energy, more tricky moves, more complicated to set the practice time and extra bruises caused by fatal mistakes of dancers' moves. Xixixi. But all in all, this year's Saman was AWESOME \m/!!! This is from us to you, Indonesia....
Check out this video to see our performance and sing along with us ;)) :
P.S : Thank you very much to Laskar Tainan for lending us the Saman costumes^^.
huRRaaaaaY!!! I cannot express how grateful i am after being informed that Chiayi will be a host for 2010's Taiwan Lantern Festival. There always plenty of privileges for the host-city [*finally proud to be one of Chiayi City's temporary-resident ;p], that's why i'm looking forward to mingle at that event, badly....what else, except for fireworks-hunting ;p.
7-minute cycling was apparently rather fun when we know that something awesome will waiting for us out there :D. 30 minutes before the kick off started, i was already on the spot. WHEWWW...i have never seen Chiayi THIS PACKED [*shocked]. Even finding a parking lot for tying up Bugi [= electric pole, tree and such ;p] was extremely difficult. Alhamdulillah, i finally found one. Then, when i was about to unlock Bugi's chain, i realized that I FORGOT TO BRING ALONG THE KEY. Arrrrgggghhh!!!! *upset*
Without hesitation, i headed back to my dormitory to get the key. Let me tell you that although it only takes 7 minutes to go to Chiayi Park [= place where the Lantern Fest is hold], it takes more than two-fold of that time to go back, considering my lovely campus is located UPHILL. *sigh*
Let's skip my hardship to get back and forth between those two places. Finally...with my super fast cycling ability [*hhahhahhh] 10 MINUTES before the kick off started, i was already immersed with thousands of people who also have the same intention like me. Here's my superb video of the kick off after sodok-sana-sini attempt ;p ;p. YIHHAAAA^^V!!!!
Couldn't hold any longer with the crowds, after took some pictures, i headed back to the dormitory. But before that, one more ridiculous thing happened [*this kinda thing is definitely part of my flavorful life. hhahhaahhh]. When i was at the place where i got Bugi chained, i found a woman stood and put her stuff at Bugi's handlebars. I was like "Huh, what the heck this woman doing????". Then, tried to be as polite as possible, i said "這個是我的腳踏車". She replied "Blah..blah..blah [*in Chinese]" while pointing at the cast-iron bar where i have Bugi chained. She showed me how she can loosely moved that bar!!!! MASYA ALLAH!!! I thought i chained Bugi at a solid-safe place. She tried to explain to me that she stood there in order to guard my bike. Whuaaahhhh...i was very touched with her kindness. I almost lost my bike again.Tsk tsk tsk...Bungaaaaaaa!!!! *hammering my head*
It's too early to say "Happy Chinese New Year" though^^. But because the end of the semester has come and some of the int'l students are planning to come back to their country, Chinese New Year Party in my university has been scheduled earlier.
I remember last year when i missed the bus, thus making me failed to join Chinese New Year Party, meant i couldn't get 紅包 (hóngbāo; red envelope). Hehehe *kumat dah mata duitannya*.
Since i didn't join last year's party, i have nothing to compare to. Hmmm...all in all, it was just like the regular celebration, except for the "bowing and burning incense (香火; xiānɡhuǒ) to pay respects to the ancestors" session.
Well, being a president of ISA-NCYU means i have to get ready to be a celebrity ..anytime..anywhere *puke*. It just happened that I have to represent my friends to accept the red envelope from the rector. Oh oh...btw, after the red envelope-receiving ceremonial, i heard an unpleasant truth. The HUGE red envelope i received before, used to be filled with extra cash. "Last year, Mas Away got NT$1000, Mbak", said Eti. *TINGS* without hesitation, i peeped the red envelope. It was...EMPTY. *ROFL...sucks*
Besides that unpleasant truth, everything was just great. Picture tells a thousand words ;p. Check them out:
Oooh...empty 紅包...*sigh*
OK, line up, foods...we'll burst our stomachs if you're rushing *lol* :
In the end, unavoidable narcissism attacks occurred, as can be (clearly) seen below :
Whew...finally...i've through this semester's Chinese class perfomance. Btw, it was the SHORTEST performance EVER =)) (*i was more than GLAD because i didn't have to be on the stage for quite long time *grin*). This time, i got a role as mother (*the fierce one ;p). Well, you'll be very fierce too if you had a son who's as mischievous as "my son".
Check out my performance here. For others' performance, check out my channel at Youtube here.
Venue : Nat'l Chung Hsing University, Taichung
Day/Date : Fri-Sun/Nov.18-20 2009
Place where i stayed over night : Taichung Train Station and McD [*ck ck ck...such a poor girl =))]
"Selamat siang para penonton, kami ucapkan selamat datang"
"Good afternoon, Ladies Gentlemen, welcome to our dancing performance" (*ga bisa pake Ladies and Gentleman...rhyme-nya ga pas ;p)
"Wu3an1, da4jia1hao3, huan1ying2 guan1ling2, wo3men hen3 gao1xing1, wo3men performing" (*yang ini kesannya narji abis, sebelumnya yang bagian terakhir pengen ini : "wo3men hen3 gao1xing1 ni3men kan4 wo3men performing"...tapi kepanjangan dan rhyme-nya ga dapet. Xixixi...)
How's that? Not bad, eh? That song is our creation for the upcoming Saman Dance that we will perform during International Festival opening in our campus. Lantan Gals definitely working damn hard during the exercise sessions^^. However, we're surely never forget to have a great time while exercising. Our dormitory's basement is always full of laughter every time we're there. I don't know why, but every movement mistakes we've made seems always tickling our laughter nerves. Xixixi..so much fun, really^^.
Anyhow, even though nobody says straightforwardly, but i realized two things. First, our heads are full of responsibility to promote Indonesian culture in front of others from another country. Second, we're betting our country's name in this what so called international event. So, i believe none of us able to take this "lightly" or fooling around.
Well, next week will be the D-Day^^. Wish us luck :)...
It feels like i was just celebrating my Eid El-Fithr in Kaohsiung and went to Cijin Beachwith Laskar Chiayi, along with Eka and Sinta (*minus Elle^^), not long ago. *Natsukashii*
Eka, tentu saja si anti difoto itu yang memotret. *rindu*
Jangan cari kaki Komir...GA ADA. Xixixi...
Ini yg bikin Sinta^^
For my second Eid El-Fithr, i went to Tainan to do my Eid El-Fithr prayer. Don't think that i'll do the prayer in Tainan Masjeed, because it's way too small and too far from Tainan downtown. And actually, i don't really understand about this, but Tainan Masjeed is the most inaccessible among all masjeed in Taiwan. Weird, right? How come baitullah is barred to the public activities? Don't ask me...ask Tainan Masjeed's Imam.
OK, back to the track. Well, because i was responsible as a caterer (*read : PJ Konsumsi ;p) at D-Day, i went to Tainan the day before and stay overnight at De' Tince's room at NCKU dormitory. So, D-Day-minus-one, me and Laskar Tainan (*huhhh, De' Tince ngikut2 aja ;p)headed to GongyuanElementary School's Auditorium to finish our preps. After worked together, we broke our last fast (happily).
The most important thing i want to complain badly is NCKU dormitory, to be exact Sheng Li 6 dormitory...HAS NO AIRCON.Two small-tiny table fans were definitely failed to cool down the room. *wilted in the heat*
Why i complained badly about that? Because actually, that night, i barely able to sleep : 1. Because of the heat; 2. Because i have to write down 18 postcards for my family and friends. So, my needs of aircon was absolutely high. Xixixi...
Anyhow, maybe later if it happens to me to stay overnight again in that place (during the summer, of course), i'll try to do this things. *i really want to try "breathe like a dog" one ;p*
Although Eid El-Fithr prayer was planned to be held at 9.55 am, the whole Eid El-Fithr committeealready standby at the spot by 7 am. Done this and that. Around 8 am, people started to come. Allaahu-Akbar. Allaahu-Akbar. Laa ilaaha illallah. Wa-Allaahu Akbar. Allaahu-Akbaar. Wa lillaahil-Hamd. Auditorium echoing with Eid El-Fithr takbeer. The prayer was started on time. After khutbah, recited do'a and shook hands, we ate some Indonesian cuisines which already cooked by mbak2 TKI(= Indonesian workers).
After everything was done, all of the sudden came a Taiwanese journalist. She was apparently rather interested in the crowd at Gongyuan Elementary School. So, she asked tons of questions about what's going on, Eid El-Fithr thingy, Muslims habits and many more (*whew). She told us that she wanted to write down an article about today's event. Then, Edo got an idea. Brilliant idea. He asked ME to write down an article for that journalist (*WHATTTT????). And because she wanted to put the article on the day after's news, so she asked me to send it by e-mail before 2 pm (*that was 12.30 pm back then). So, while the others were busy with the whole cleaning process, evaluation meeting and pictures taking, i was sat on the "remote" place, far from them, typed down the article in a RUSH. *what an experience!*
That's why, in the end, i felt bad mood because i was pushed to do something in such a short period. Thanks to Edo. *smirk*.
Last but not least, here are some of my Eid El-Fithr pictures :
Yang lain boleh dg tenang menanti sholat Ied dimulai, kita2, sie konsumsi kerja terooos (*tuh di belakang ono^^)
Wow, two whew-crazy-parties two days in a row ! For the one who is declaring herself as a loner-who-hates-crowded-place-the-most, i can say that i were trying my best to hold on, back then. Well, i managed to survive, though^^V.
Last night, Laskar Chiayi (*plus one benchwarmer named Tina^^), were planned to give Jeng Dewi a surprise birthday party. Thanks to Ella, who was volunteering herself to take Jeng Dewi to Taichung so she's a little bit "distracted" from whatsoever her birthday issues^^.
At 6.45pm, my celly rang. It was Ella. She spoke "Betty, we're already downstairs". At first, i'm a little bit confused. HAH?! Betty? But then, hahahaaa...nice secret code, El (*ROFL). Then, we were crazily preparing the whole finishing touch thingy. When Jeng Dewi's assalamu'alaikum was heard, we were yelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY and successfully shocked her out. YEAY! O-TANJOUBI OMEDEOU ne, DTT-chan. Hang on here. We're almost "there"^^.
Cieee...yang maniak Maruko-chan...seneng banget^^
Noh, sampe tartnya juga ada Si Maruko (*Ckk...ckkk..ckkk)
Main menu, teteuuuppp...Hihihi...^^V
Pastanya Wahid
Hotpot susu pesenan Bunga dan Ella (*eneeegggg)
Ehmmm! Tumben ga cakar2an ;p.
Masya Alloh...tai bao le...
Hahahaaaa...yang milad masih mau LANJUTTTT makan (*padahal yang lain udah tewasss dan menyerahhh kekenyangan)
