Another Victoria's Secrets

I drove the whole way back to Bandung last Saturday after finishing my job and lunch. Mom, Bent and I arrived in Bandung at around 3 p.m., then after a nap, I got ready to go chilling out. My brother dropped me around PVJ and there I met Otto and Rachelle in The Taste. It was truly nice to meet them after around two months since we last met.

After dinner and some chit-chat, we went to Sushi Groove to say hi to Yoas who was DJ-ing there. After that we took a little tour around the mall, seeing what's new for the last two months. We ended up chilling out in Blitz Cafe outdoor, welcoming Pilly and Ance, Obay and also Cheryl and Dimas who came last. We had fun chatting and telling funny stories, especially from Cheryl.

We splitted up at 1 a.m. after my brother picked me up, then the next day, I went to Ciwalk to meet Cheryl again at 2 p.m. Maya came after, then Otto, joined us at XXI Lounge. Then my schoolmate since elementary years, Nalya, came with her friend Frieska. We had more hilarious laughter and chit-chat till 5 p.m. My ex Mario dropped by with his friend just before I had to leave. It had been almost two years since I last met him and I saw that nothing significant had changed about him.

Mom and I dropped my brother to a wedding and we had dinner at Paskal Hyper Square while waiting. Then Mom dropped my brother and I at X Trans for 9.15 p.m. trip to Jakarta. We arrived in Jakarta at around 11.30 p.m., making the day completely tiring and sleepy for me. But after all, I truly had fun meeting my girls and new best friends in Bandung. Can't wait to hang out with them again, but meanwhile, I still got business to do in Jakarta.. :)

Last night I went to Senayan City after work hour to meet my old fellas. Arrie, one of the few guys I remember from my childhood, was already there. We met at Foodism at Lower Ground level. Alonzo, another whom I know but had met recently, came after. Next, Jovita, whom I used to play Barbie with, completed the four of us.

We had such a great nostalgic time and also some catching up with stuff we missed for the last 18 years--for me especially. Alex, whom I consider my best friend already since I had spent so many times with him lately, came at around 9.30 p.m. We chilled there till around 11.30 then went home.

I haven't inform you guys about this, and here it is: I am back working in a magazine! So this company called me about two weeks ago and got accepted at the beginning of last week. So by last Tuesday, I officially started working in Kingpin Media. By my second day working, there was an expo held in JCC and I got three morning shifts so I spent most of my days last weekend in Desain.ID Exhibition.

It was really fun. My life for the last week is just full with new people who became big part of my days lately. I'm introducing Oki, Herdi, Kenneth, Aldi and Andrew to you guys because I think I'll be blogging about them a lot from now on. We're all in about the same age and in the same room at the office, so yeah, my days will be mostly entertained by their jokes and laughters.

After work on Friday, I met Sume and his friends at fX. Not too far from my office, in fact, we're all in a building. I met Onov and his business partners and it was nice to meet them and to know what they are doing. Totally different from what I'm doing and it's such a new knowledge for me. After having dinner at Foodism, Leo picked me up and we headed to Beer Garden (again), as our ritual every Friday night. There were already Yodi, Bobby, Georgie, Walle there. Then, later that night came more people--whose names I forget--and Yoan, too. That was one hell of a night. I had really fun that Leo thought I had found someone. It isn't necessary to be a guy actually. I just had found a new life and friends that I totally love.


Beside that, during the expo I met Pipit, friend of Andrew's who helped us promoting our booth for three days. My best friend Tessa also came on Saturday with the group of my campus from Bandung. It was truly really nice to meet her again after.. let's see.. 1.5years? We hadn't had such chat like we had that day. It was very nice to have the moment again with her. Later on Saturday, Alex came and after a tour around, we had dinner at Food Gallery, Plaza Senayan. We also had some coffee at Oh La La before home, and after that, I just collapsed into sleep. I was exhausted, but happy. Thanks, my new friends!!

The expo was held in 4 days at Jakarta Convention Center and showed us many fresh, innovative product and interior designs. I had to stay in the Home & Decor booth for 3 days and made a little report about the expo, so I had a little tour myself around the Main Hall, Assembly Hall, and Plenary Hall. Here are some that I got:

This is a charity project the www.nulisbuku.com made for writers in Indonesia. The project is to collect short stories from all Indonesian to be published in a book named "Be Strong Indonesia". Money raised from the book selling will be donated to disasters victims in Mentawai, Merapi and other nature disasters in Indonesia. This program started from November 7-15, and tonight at 12 a.m. is the due date. I am excited to join the program, and wishing so much that my work will be published as well. Let's join this and send your stories tonight! Let's help the victims and Indonesia!

via impawards

I said yes to an invitation at fX tonight, granted kindly by my best friend Sume. So I came by around 5 p.m. and had some warming up chit-chat with some people before the movie I was invited to watch. I was introduced to way too many people I could remember but I tried to keep up.

Finally, 6.15 p.m. arrived and we watched The Social Network and had a dinner afterward at Cosi. There were Sume, Natali, his wife Nuniek, Rain, Onov, Ridho and Soegianto. And to my opposite, sat Lucy, Soegi's girlfriend. That was great, because among all these young visionaries, we were the only outsiders. So it was nice to have someone to talk about more light discussion.

But something interesting was going on here. Just at the time that I needed an answer, Lucy incidentally told me. She told me a story about a businessman and a farmer, a true story she got from one of her patients. Check this out:

One day, a stuck businessman went to a coffee kiosk in a suburb. He came with overstock bleaching products he got and didn't know where to sell them. Beside him, a farmer was also complaining about his problem: he couldn't sell a cow from his farm because the market demanded all-white cows while all he had had black spots on their skins. The businessman offered the farmer an idea: how about bleaching all the cows by the products he had? So that was what they did. Thousands of cows got their hair bleached... and soon after they were all sold out for billions of Rupiahs! The farmer got extremely rich and he treated the businessman as his own child ever since. 

Lucy told me not to give up and to keep on struggling, keeping my dreams close and make it work, because someday, I'm gonna go to my coffee kiosk and met my farmer (or my businessman, whichever I put myself on that story) and earn big. Because when we dream, we attracted the whole universe to work for us in our frequency (read Law of Attraction; The Secret.) And they are all getting near if we make a move to get to that coffee kiosk.

I couldn't thank Lucy more for the inspiring story. Tho it might be an old piece she heard long time ago, but for me, it is a brand new beginning, since I am still confused with my own plan and future. Sume told me to do exactly the same thing with what Lucy said about her own experience in her field (she's a dentist) and I know, that the meeting tonight wasn't a coincidence and the people I met tonight weren't just some random persons.

God gave me answers through people, no matter how long or brief I know them. If I am sensitive enough, I can clearly see the signs He sent to me in everything, in everywhere (read The Alchemist.) And I'm pretty sure, you are all reading my blog for some purpose I might don't know, but it's all meant to be. We are all expected to be the length of God's hands. For those who've helped me, all I can say is Thank You. :)

My old fella William came back to Indonesia after his work contract was done in Singapore and he was taking a two-months break, so he came home and called me and we met up on Tuesday noon for lunch at Central Park. We had a big plate of sushi and some catch-up stories for the past two years, then cups of coffee at Excelso.

Then Yodi said he was joining Will for some work out, so I joined them two to Fitness First in Taman Anggrek. We worked out for perhaps 1.5 hours and ended the session by swimming. It was nice to work out with friends like that. The last time I did it was like 5-6 years ago. It was fun, and healthy.

We went to Sandwich Bakar after calorie-burn session for more chit-chat and found out that they were classmates in elementary school. Just reminded me about the little reunion I just did last Sunday with my elementary fellas. What a memory.

Soon after, Leo, Bobby, Hendrik and Donny joined us. It was a really great night I spent with all those guys, people who are always 'there' for me. I truly had a hell out of a night, thanks to them guys! :)

via lovethispic

This issue had been argued publicly for so long now: friendship with opposite sex. Many said that it is impossible—one party would have more feelings for the other while the other feels less. I dunno about this with other people, but for me, I had been good friends with so many guys as many as (or maybe even more than) the girls, so I say that this friendship is possible to be had. But people with negative thinking would think of me as a threat. Girls get jealous and guys thought I had more intention than I actually give them.

I have been an illegal relationship consultant for a long time and I've heard so many stories about people's relationships, especially from those around me. Lately, dunno why, I found so many stressed out ladies having to deal with their over-protective, possessive boyfriends. And by my little research I found that the guys are all from Bandung. This is weird, plus interesting.

I tried to notice people's behavior in Bandung since I moved there in 1992. I had my research conclusion here in my head about many subjects, but now we're talking about Bandungese guys and about their common habits, and I see that most of them are either possessive or annoying. Lol. Annoying means: nothing in them fits my personality, a.k.a. not interesting at all to me.

Narrow down the category, I found that most of the guys I met (that I'm interested on or the ones my friends are dating) are horribly possessive. The funny thing is that I had never met anyone like that here in Jakarta. Perhaps I haven't met all guys in both cities, but this little research is based from those whom I've met. So I tried to approach the research from seeing the different cultures in those cities.

Bandung, as smaller, relaxed (or lazier), more comfortable city, has a very slow business stream and therefore, most of people get married earlier, at their 21-27 years old. Jakarta, in contrary, is huge, crowded, rushed city, and has very rapid business stream. Therefore, people are more focused on their career, money, "young lives" and get married after 28--and for many, after 30 years old.

People in Bandung, having not so many things to do, tend to focus more on their love lives. They excess-ed their energy from other things and wreak them on their love needs: their married-young plans, their partners, and of course, their partner's activities, needs, friends. They really don't have so much to do so they are bugging their partners.

What I still don't understand, is that even when they are moved outside Bandung--with more things to do and to be care about--they still bring that little vice with them. I know some guys who are so easily be upset by only small, insignificant stuff done by their partners--even smallest, unimportant things can make them terribly upset. They sweat on those stuff huge time, and to be frankly, it's so damn annoying. I really can't understand how a girl can stand being with guys like that, but I can't. I've been there once, and for God's sake, that should be my last time trapped with such angry, impatient, unstable, childish person.

When I thought about it again, those things are more likely to be girls' habit: to be mad of no reason so often. Girls have this monthly cycle syndrome that causes such cranky mood for no reason, but I guess it happens only once a month. Perhaps when girls get older and turning into menopause period they'll get mad more often, but I start to think that guys now are becoming more like girls, while girls are becoming more independent, logical, seeking freedom and power than what the girls did in the last generation.

How can this happen? I mean, would girls overpower and steering guys in the future? Lol. I can't imagine about that, and I wish that it will never happen, because somehow I still like men on top. I just demand for my freedom and free will, but I don't mind any kind of affection or care and I don't care to be overpowered. Only it has to be in the right form and dosage. D'oh, of course! :p

Well I guess the only trick to handle (or avoid) over-protective guys is just the classic old one: find much older ones! Not those from our peer, or worse, younger ones, indeed. I guess that'll work out.. someday. For now, maybe I'm still happy being possessed and over-protected.. because I still love and go for younger guys :)

via whicdn

I read this article in Teen Vogue left at Joey's place, about how good girls tendency to be dragged into bad boys' world. After reading my previous posts, a friend discussed how dangerous it is, since I am also in this category. Since my first boyfriend I never liked good, smart boys and by reading the article, now I understood why.

The magazine said that girls tend to be attracted to those "less qualified" opposite sex to compensate their own life. Girls are demanded to be perfect most of the time. We need to be pretty, clean, smell good, glorious, and smart. But a little secret here: we all have rebellious spirit inside, either is small or big, but it is there somewhere.

So I guess it isn't really a "disease" I think people had been thinking about me. Maybe, above all, I'm just not ready to be truly committed yet. Looking at my tendency on liking younger, cooler, badder boys I guess I'm still so far from the one private coupled-institution called "marriage" and that glamorous once-in-a-lifetime-event called "wedding".

I was thinking about this sentence I made inside of my mind the other day: "If you're in a relationship and get jealous to single people instead of married ones, then you're not ready to be committed yet". Well I did. My ex did. We were both not ready for that higher level, more serious kind of relationship, and look where we ended up: single again.

So maybe I'll just stick around with these bad boys in my world while having fun myself with them as long as I can, before moving on to perhaps more serious and mature guys in the future when I'm ready.. we'll never know about the future, but I think this is what makes me feel comfortable best and I'm just gonna stick with it :)