Exclusive Interview

The Jakarta Post is one of my favorite site. Once in a couple weeks, they publish 'Weekender', a booklet that is published every weekend, which contains a lot of 'light' reading. I read the latest Weekender and came across this article about Dian Sastro.

Now, I'd like to pretend that I am somekind of 'Dian Sastro' who is interviewed by The Jakarta Post.

My childhood ambition was ...
To be an astronaut and then when I grew older I wanted to be a model (it is quite a shame to admit).

Describe yourself in three words ...
I am moody. I can easily change, just in a split second. Sometimes it is a good thing, because it shows that I can adapt to any circumstances; however it is also bad, because you can never guess what I am. I am a hard-worker. I can do whatever it takes to achieve something. And I am a people person. I love to be among people.

My best trait is ...
I'm talkative and cheerful.

And worst ...
I'm difficult to open up

I would never ....
Consider snakes or other reptiles as pets. I don't even want to see them. I also would never eat any red meat, like beef, pork, lamb and other strange animals that are prepared for meal.

I laugh at ...
Scrubs, Extravaganza, and Bo Bo Ho

And cry ...
One Chinese movie about a mom and her only son (Mama Hao?), the Notebook, A Walk to remember, Love Actually, Chicken little. Reading touching books or articles. Listening to a sad testimony (like one during Christmas service this year)

Friends say I am ...
Crazy, talkative, sometimes jayuz, moody, hardworking and a good chef ;)

I would cross town for ...
Meeting my family, especially my lil sister and of course to meet Stefy (hate being separated for 5 years). I would also cross town for Banana Chocolate crisp from Lampung. Anyone from Lampung?

My favorite place is ...
My own room in Diemerkade, the Netherlands, which I no longer possess. Currently, I like to be in my own room. For hangout, sit and chat, I like Sonnen Cafe (of course accompanied by a long glass of Caswell's ice cappuccino)

The unforgivable is ...
Backstabber! (Burn them in the sand!!) and also when someone, who declare themselves as good friends, talk about you behind your back.

I can’t live without ...
God. Yet I do need certain things to keep me breathing, such as my family, Stefy, my laptop, and Agenda (hoping to have smartphone soon)

I always have in my bag ...
Water bottle, wallet, my gold make-up bag, tissue, wet tissue, antiseptic soap, mobile phone, CDMA, Agenda and ballpoint.

I don’t understand why ...
There are still so many poor people in Indonesia, yet the number of rich people is massively increasing.

I only lie when ...
I have to, but I can't lie to some people, even when I have to, just because I love them so much that I don't want to lie to them.

I wish I could ...
Study Master Degree in United Kingdom

Favorite song ...
Moon River, Baby it's cold outside. Love Jazz and Beatles.

Favorite movie ...
Sleepless in Seattle, Crash, Notebook, Love Actually, and Usual Suspect

My biggest fear is ...
When God doesn't acknowledge me anymore and abandons me

I’m upset when ...
Someone borrow or take my things and don't inform me about that. It equals stealing. I am also very upset when I can't find what I am looking for (e.g. when I look for certain clothes to wear to the office and I can't find it)

At 40, I will be ...
Having three children and one loving husband. I will work part-time in a social institution and teach. The rest of my time I will dedicate it for my family and do ministry in the church. I will write books in my spare time. Of course, I will still be in a good shape, because I will always love sport and do food combining ;)

If I could do one thing to change the world ...
Provide free eduction for anyone in the world and provide jobs after they finish their study. This will work to reduce poverty (financial and intelligence) in this world.

The best piece of advice anyone gave me is ...
Do your best and let God do the rest

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/weekender/122020.asp

Christmas Fairytale

Do you believe in fairytale?

I do.
It is silly, because the target group of fairytale ‘industry’ is children age 3 -7. And who am I? Once again, I tell you, I am twenty-something girl that has a proper job, in the state of applying for Master Degree, and is about to get ready for a status called married. I am old enough to be called ‘old’. And, I am, too, well educated. And I like fairytale?

Thanks God, it is not a crime.

For me, fairytale is a whole new world, where you can be anything you want. You can be Cinderella, or one of the seven dwarfs, or Sherk, or if I want to keep my Asian culture, I still can be Mulan.

I can pretend that I was loved by two men who were fighting to win my love. I can pretend that I was half-dead waiting to be kissed. I can pretend to be very evil that I wanted to eat three pigs. Or, when I was sad, I could fly, like Peter Pan.

I don’t know whether it is my generation who is getting dumber, or my lil sister generation who gets enough nutrition that they are very smart. Coz, my sister doesn’t believe in Santa Clause.

Gosh, HOW COME?

Santa Clause is the BEST fairytale EVER! Because he is ‘REAL’. He has brought me a lot of presents, especially those I found under the Christmas tree and on my shoes. Although he was always accompanied by the black elves (zwartepiet), who were Avery cruel, in the end, I got the present. Sometimes, I got something that I have wanted for soooo long.

And my lil sister doesn’t believe in him? It is what we can call a crime. She is 8 y.o and she was so smart that when she was 5 or 6 yo, she said that Santa Clause is a fiction. It is very impossible to believe that someone (read: Santa Clause) knows what she wants and appears only once a year. Where does he live? How does he live?

My goodness! I didn’t ask those questions when I was her age.

My mom kept silent. She didn’t say anything about my lil sister’s comment, which was actually true. My mom did also keep silent to me when I was little, until my mom reckoned that I was old enough to know the ‘truth’. A painful truth, I called, because I was very disappointed to know that he was unreal. My mom bought my presents and gave them to fake Santa Clause.

“How come did he know everything about me?” I replied.
“Ah, I wrote everything in a piece of paper. What’s good about you? Have you been naughty that year of not? Everything!” she answered.

*Grumbling*

I hated to know that fact, because since then, my mom stopped dragging me to Santa Clause event. After that year (it was when I were 10 or 11 y.o), I sometimes attended Santa Clause event, accompanying my lil brother, who was as naïve as I had been before I knew the truth.

Santa Clause had been the best thing ever happened on Christmas day. But, now I know something better about Christmas Day, because on this day, a child was born to make a difference! That's what I call Christmas.

All I Want for Christmas

Christmas Day is approaching. A song says "it is the most wonderful time of the year." No matter where I am at that moment, I always feel 'christmasy' (trust me this ain’t real English). Although I don't feel the cold, snowy (windy) weather, yet it is Christmas.

Here I am, in Indonesia, celebrating my first Christmas, after 5 years in a row, with my beloved family and Stefy. I do rejoice for this amazing opportunity. Heaven knows how much I have longed for this moment.

Family is the most crucial aspect of celebrating Christmas (apart from celebrating the birth of baby Jesus). I can have nothing to eat, no new dress and no martini champagne to celebrate my Christmas, yet as long as I have family surround me, I am more than happy.

Thank God, He has given me a lot of families to celebrate my Christmas, especially in these past 6 years.

First Christmas in Holland – 2002
It was deadly cold (since it was my first winter). I got ill, some days before the Christmas Day. Yet, I enjoyed Indonesian tasty food, handmade by my beloved uncle. Yes, it was my Christmas with my family in the Netherlands, uncles, aunts and cousins.

I and Anton went to Air Hidup church and met Ardy there! It was the second time I met him. I reckon, since then, I became quite close to him.

Second Christmas in Holland – 2003
I loved this second Christmas with my new friends – new roommates. We bought champagne, cooked and chatted till midnight. It was wonderful because it was very different than previous Christmas with family, which was celebrated formally. We did a lot of crazy things. We played games. We watched movies. FUN!

I and Ardy went to Air Hidup church to attend Christmas service, which appeared to be fun. I wore my blue kebaya, for the first time, and I was pictured with a cute guy from the church. Yipee!

Third Christmas in Holland – 2004
British style Christmas!
No, I didn’t celebrate Christmas in the Great Britain, yet I was invited by a half-British family to celebrate Christmas in their house. It was amazing! We sat around square table, decorated with red, green, and gold ornaments. We ate turkey (I had vegetables instead), parsnip (VERY YUMMY!), potatoes, and Christmas pudding.

We exchanged presents. I had mug and dolls from their beloved children. Instead of going home, I spent the night in their house, drinking gluhwein and slept over. Hm,… I miss them so bad.

I have been very close to this family since 2004. I love their children: Emily, Hanna and Tim. We watched cartoon film – the snowman – on the second Christmas day.

Apart from celebrating with the Crew Family, I went out with my beloved friends. I forgot what we did that time, but it must have been very FUN.

Forth (last) Christmas – 2005
I didn’t realize that it was my last Christmas, because I did enjoy it very much. I joined the choir at Crossroad church, thus I had to perform during Christmas eve and the Christmas Day. It was a big fun!!!

I was also very active in the Church, thus I helped their event. They had sort of games/workshop day. Everyone could come and join any workshops (related to arts) and joined the game. In the end of the event, we were entertained by two Christian bands.

On this Christmas day, I saw the pastor’s son, who looked like ORLANDO BLOOM (trust me, many people said the same thing, too) *drooling*

I celebrated this last Christmas eating chocolate fondue with my beloved housemates, Anita, Golda, Ardy, and Daniel. We drank champagne ‘till Golda got so drunk (LOL) that she hallucinated – LOL. We watched movie till the morning came.

The Crew Family also invited me to celebrate Christmas in their house. It was Dutch Christmas Celebration. I forgot what we had for dinner, yet, it was ALWAYS fun with the Crew Famiily. I remember that we watched extended version Lord of the Ring.

First (and last) Christmas at Meulaboh, West Aceh – 2006
I was very disappointed when my boss didn’t allow me to go home for Christmas. Yet, I was not sad at all, because I had a new family that I met just before Christmas day. He, Pak Erik, and his wife worked at Salvation Army. They were, in fact, ‘the boss’.

I went to their house early morning, 5 AM, to have Christmas service together with Salvation Army staff. We had breakfast together and went to church.

Celebrating Christmas in Aceh was very different, because you couldn’t see any Christmas tree or any Christmas ornaments. Nowhere. I was thankful for this sophisticated Christmas. Even more thankful because there was a strong rumour that celebrating Christmas in Aceh was a BIG NO, but it was very okay. Nothing happened. Thank GOD!

This is the most wonderful time of the year,…
Yes, I will celebrate my 2008 Christmas with my beloved family and friends.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Moving,..

Finally I found the right name from my Indonesian blog - Cerita si Oma (Granny's Story)
Please visit: http://omabercerita.blogspot.com

ill (again)

I can't recall how many times I have been ill this year, maybe more than 10?

But I did realize, this morning, that being ill is the ONLY time when I could withdraw myself from business and THINK.

...think about life

... think about my relationship with GOD

... think about what I want and I have to do next year (sort of writing New year resolution in my head)

and again (and again and again) learn to sit next to HIS feet, to listen to HIM and to DO what I suppose to do.

Being ill has always been a time of reflection, a time of withdrawal, because, otherwise, I would never rest and reflect on what I have been doing - with excuse of being too busy.

I should get used to being ill, and be thankful because I, then, have time to rest.

Who I am - according to Personal DNA

You are a Leader

Your solid grounding in the practicalities of life, along with your self-assuredness and your willingness to appreciate new things make you a LEADER.

You're in touch with what is going on around you and adept at remaining down-to-earth and logical.

Although you're detail-oriented, this doesn't mean that you lose the big picture.

You tend to find beauty in form and efficiency, as opposed to finding it in broad-based, abstract concepts.

Never one to pass on an adventure, you're consistently seeking and finding new things, even in your immediate surroundings.

Because of this eagerness to pursue new experiences, you've learned a lot; your attention to detail means that you gain a great deal from your adventures.

The intellectual curiosity that drives you leads you to seek out causes of and reasons behind things.

Your confidence gives you the potential to take your general awareness and channel it into leadership.

You're not set on one way of doing things, and you often have the skills and persistence to find innovative ways of facing challenges.

You are well-attuned to your talents, and can deal with most problems that you face.

You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well.

You prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute.

If you want to be different:
There's more to life than the practical - take some time to daydream and explore the aesthetic sides of things.



You are Encouraging

Your outgoing nature, understanding of others, and directness make you ENCOURAGING.

You want others to do well for themselves, and you generally believe in their abilities.

You often know what's good for people because of your caring nature and your worldview.

When you care about someone, you don't keep it to yourself: you are good at letting people know that you're thinking of them.

Because you trust people, you take violations of that trust very seriously.

You thrive in social situations, and even though you know who you like and who you don't like, you can interact well with many different types of people.

You have a healthy respect for people who have earned what they have, and you strive to be similar to successful others.

You are a loyal friend and a good listener.

If you want to be different:
Sometimes, in the course of being encouraging, you can be a bit judgmental—this can make it more difficult for others to follow your advice.

While you are an expert at getting the most out of the world and taking advantage of many experiences, you might gain some insight by taking the time to be alone, reflect on things, or just observe the goings-on in the world.

ABC - A Bitter Celebration

"Birthday? Neeeh,... I better skip it this year."

Some people have been mentioning about my birthday - birthday gifts, treat, or party - although it was not yet my birthday. I chose to skip that conversation or at least tried to change the topic.

I can hardly explain why I felt that way, but I am not that excited to celebrate my birthday.

"I don't feel like celebrating," I said to a friend.

As I have my me-time tonight - no deadlines, no last-minute project, and no extra task - I gazed (upon my ceiling) try to figure out why I have been trying to reject the reality that my birthday is coming.

Am I scared of being old?

Is it hard to accept the reality that I get more wrinkles in my face?

Am I scared to hear my biological clock ticks even faster?

Or, am I scared because I don’t have enough money to treat my friends?

In the end of my meditation, I found an answer – an honest one. I am very scared and ashamed of myself because this year has not been a very good, productive year, in terms of my relationship with my Creator.

As I looked back, I listed so many disappointments, anger, sadness, scare, denial, runaway, hatred, lie, hypocrisy, and some more. I started my 2007 with being scared of people (Nia, they were actually just human, like you), continued with anger to some parties and running away from problems, and then I, whom I used to called myself, the social-humanist-Christian, became very pathetic and acted hypocrisy. As the end of the year was approaching, I planted a seed of hatred and being unforgiving.

In conclusion, I am not very happy with myself. In fact, I feel such a loser in front of Him.

“Nia , what have you done this year?” I heard Him asking me.
“Not much, Lord. I have been working like an atheist dog. I called Your name when I needed comfort and happiness in my heart. I closed my eyes and prayed when I felt bad about things and I needed forgiveness. I went to church every Sunday just to fill in my empty Sunday mornings and, actually, I occasionally forgot to give the tenth.” I answered.

At least I have my reason to skip my birthday this year.

What do I want for my birthday? I want a full year of 2007, renewed and refreshed so that I could start over my life in 2007, better and more responsible.

Lord, have mercy on me! I will change, starting NOW!

World AIDS Day - Today