2024 - The Year to Start Writing Again

Hello World!

It's been a while.

I thought I could start to write again on 2017. But I was wrong. My last post in 2017 was great! There are people who still read it till now, but I just realized it recently.

What happened with my life? A lot. Positive and Negative.

A bit of short story, I was actively writing blogs during my bachelor degree (2009) till mid of my PhD (2015). I shared many experiences in my life through writing blogs. Travel, Friends, Religion, and Knowledge. But everything changed when I experienced PhD depression. 😀😀 

Well, depression can be caused by many things. But my PhD is the main reason. I am not shy or try to keep this illness by myself. Because there are many people who experienced depression too. Maybe not because their education problems, but maybe other personal problems. The impact of this illness was that I was like a zombie. I walked around without purpose in my life. But, Alhamdulillah, I have family who support and love me. They gave me assurances and solutions that helped me went through all of those problems.

I was graduated as a PhD grad on October 2020. Two weeks after my dad passed away from COVID. Three weeks after my first lovely nephew born. Sad and happy at the same time. But I am still grateful with whatever Allah gave me.

Then, I went back to Indonesia at the end of 2020, leaving my husband in Taiwan, to help my family and started working as a university teacher.

Along the way, I found new friends, colleagues, family, and life. I am happy I am in here now. After soo many difficulties in my life. Well, I still have problems (whose not?) but I can accept them, grateful, and peaceful about it.

Now, I think the best time to write again. 

Writing has always been the place for me to share my thoughts. The place to share my knowledge. The place where I can (hopefully) help others in many ways.

So, be prepared. This year, 2024, on this Ramadhan day, I am starting again. 😁😁💗💗

School or Work? A Difficult Choice

Choices have been part of our life since we were born. However, there is a choice need to be made by most of university/college graduates or even students themselves, between school and work.

What I've experienced and seen for these several years, there is a trend in Indonesian college graduates to continue their education to a higher level, either master degree or even doctoral degree. Higher degree has been seen as one of the "success" measurement, aside of the salary and marriage. 

Because of those measurements and unrealized desire to be respected by social communities, graduates often confuse on what choice need to made.

I remember my sister and my cousin (they're in the same age and graduated in the same year) when they asked me same questions. 

"What will I do now? Where I can apply for work? Is anyone wants to employ me? How about school? Which school? I want to study but I need money for that. I cannot ask my parents to pay my tuition anymore. National campus or foreign campus? How to apply for that? How about scholarship?"

They kept asking me those questions over and over again. Although I've been answered those questions based on what me and my friends experienced before, they kept confuse. It's normal because I've been through the confusion before.

It's also quite understandable because as a graduate, in this case Indonesian, is quite difficult to choose between continue our life as an employee in whatever the company is, or become a student once more then going through the confusion again until the highest level of degree, then settle to work somewhere.

So, in here... I want to let you know about several suggestions from me to choose between school and work, based on what me, my husband, my family, and my friends ever experienced in our life. The suggestions are not really based on what you need to do, but what you need to think of. So, questions yourselves these questions....

1. What's my dream?

Dream is not always things like I want to travel the world, I want to have XBox, or I want to have a three-screen laptop which just stolen from the CES booth (hahaha this is a crazy stuff) , but some of you might have a dream to be someone, right?

That someone reflects on how you will live your life.

For example, I want to be a university teacher (or dosen), which means I have to become a student until the highest degree. Because, I have to have those degree if I want to be a teacher somewhere. Moreover, I will also learn how to become an independent researcher and can do something for my country.

Another example, if I want to be an entrepreneur, then I can apply for job first. Because I need money for that. I have to save some money to do my own business. Yes of course I need MBA to be a boss, but maybe I can do it later when my business already flourished.

I want to experience a school life and work life at the same time. So that I can have both experience. Then I just have to apply for university and at the same time work part time job in somewhere. Or.... work full time in a company and at night go to university that have that program (usually management or business college)

What if I want to be settled? I just want to stay in a lowest risk possible. Just be happy with everything. Got a stable job, good salary, and that's it. So, just apply for a job I want then. But I need higher degree if I want bigger salary... maybe I can do it later in a "not so good" university as long as I got a degree.

See? your dream... will reflects on what will you do next.

2. How's my parents these days?

My parents are number one priority for me, before I married. And they've become my second priority now. But still, they're the best for me and my husband. So,when it comes to the choices need to be made about my future, I have to consider my parents first. Just like what my sister did.

Some of use, not all of us, might have some thoughts about how we're gonna survive after college. We cannot ask our parents for money anymore. We are grownups already. At the same time, they're already old enough so that it's time for us as a child to support them and let them rest at home, live their life fully.

If my parents rich enough and have their own business. They also have intention to give all of their assets to me, maybe I will consider school first rather than work. Because my parents can afford my higher education's tuition. Then, after that I will just work in their business.

But what if my parents do not have enough money? We are just a normal family and I still have siblings need to be supported. If I want to go to school, I have to find a scholarship. I cannot burden my family. But if my parents already in the age of retirement and my siblings need money for school, I have to go to work.

3. Which School or Which Company?

Just apply any school or any company as long as it matched with your dream and the family condition.

For example, your parents already old and your siblings need you, so you can apply for school or work which near your home. Not in foreign country.

But if everything at home alright, you can apply for as many school as possible. Because the rejection possibility is very high, especially if you apply for scholarship. Any scholarship is ok.

In the working case, sometimes you do not know what kind of company you want to apply? The reason is... you just do not know. hahaha That's what my cousin said to me a week ago. He just doesn't know.

So, just apply to any company. Big or small. No matter what the company is... the most important thing is that you have to experience the work itself. What you learn in college is different with what you will learn in the company. What if you want to move? just move out then.

My dad and my husband ever told me the similar thing. You can move from one job to another, because the previous one is the stepping stone to a better job. So, do not be afraid.

---

After made a decision, if you are a student, you might realize something important when it's come to the part time job.

1. Am I really need a part time job?

Some people just want to experience the part time job. Working as a waitress is challenging. But, some people really need the money to survive. Especially when you only depend on the scholarship, or even no scholarship at all. So, consider your financial needs at that time.

2. How about my research? Is it safe?

When you are in a master or PhD degree, research is important. No matter what department you are in, Usually, you have to stay in the lab for several hours on specific days. Although, some of you might not required to do this by your professor, the feeling of "afraid to be caught not in the lab" sometimes occurs.

Another possibility is about the research itself. What year you are at that time? If you have part time job, then will it makes your research delayed?

3. How many days your part time will be? And how many hours? How about the salary?

You have to consider the time and days. Especially when you're in a foreign country, you have to know the policy in that country. If the company who employs give you less salary or longer time than the required, do not take that job.

It is my own experience when I have a part time job in Taiwan. I did not know the amount of payment that I should have. It turns out that the company gave me less than the policy stated. Moreover, I have to work 4 days in a week, for more than 10 hours a day.

The result? I was sick all the time because I was too tired, my research was delayed, and the salary was not that good compared with I had to do at work.

---

Be prepared, guys.
Think carefully before you choose.
I hope this article can help you choose between school and work.
Please prioritize your life before you regret. :)

Stranded on the Street at Night

Several weeks ago, I got an incident that changed how I view my life and people around me. I just got a time to write it down in here because I have to make sure that my story is in line with what I suppose to tell you about.

As some of you might already knew that my husband had a scooter for commute in Taiwan. We used a third-hand scooter, bought from a friend around four years ago, two years before he married me. At that time, the condition is good enough for him to use between his work and rented-room in Hsinchu City, Taiwan.

Then, after he married with me, he moved to a new job in Taipei City, so that I will not going to be tired to commute between two cities and we can be in the same city. However, our rented apartment in Taipei City is far from school and his work. So, still, we need a scooter. He brought his scooter from Hsinchu to Taipei, around 2 hours drive.

The distance between my home to school is around 45 minutes drive. So, he has to drive me to school, then work, and pick me up after-work in school, then go home. It took a toll for the scooter because it could not follow our pace. The third-hand scooter always went for reparation at least once a month and costed a lot of money. 

So, several weeks ago, the scooter just stopped suddenly in the middle of no where at night.

In the morning, I had worked so hard in my part time job and had a lot of problems too. So, my energy was drained at that point on. I just wanted to go home and sleep. At the same time, my husband also tired. The project that he handled was stuck and his boss was quite disappointed. Rough day for both of us.

When the scooter stopped, we did not know what to do. Silent for a moment. Then, I told him to just walk to the nearest scooter shop so that we can repair it. He tried to turn on the power but could not. So, I tried to look into Google Maps and searched nearest shop. We need around 45 minutes to walk there, in a good condition. Which means if there're something wrong, it took more than that, maybe 1.5 hours. +___+

As you can see in the map above, we stopped in an express way, just like a highway but scooters can enter the road. The distance to the nearest shop is around 3.5 km. When I think about it again, it was just no way we can walk there at 10 PM where there are no building in the road's sides.

We desperate and just started to walk.

Around 5 minutes later, suddenly there was another scooter stopped on our behind. Then, the owner called us. A grandpa, speaking Chinese, asked me about something.

At first, I thought he asked about the way to somewhere. But, it turned out that he asked what happened to us. I told him that we cannot speak proper chinese and with a crazy body language, I told him that our fuel is still full and we do not know what happen. Then, he said also with his body language that the nearest shop is far away from there (and we already knew about it). 

He tried to explain something with his legs. Move around and he pushed me to the back of the scooter then pointed the passenger seat. Then, the understanding between us was clear, He suggested to help us pushed our scooter from behind with his foot. That's why he asked me to be in the passenger seat.

We were so shocked. We thought he wanted to do anything else rather than that. haha

He started to pushed us from behind with his foot and both scooters moved. On our way, there are a lot of traffics and we had to be very careful. So, my husband moved the scooter to the right side of the road (in Taiwan, the road is in right, not left) and the grandpa followed us.

When the nearest neighborhood appeared, my husband slowed the scooter because the shop was nearby. I felt that grandpa remove his foot from our scooter and when we stopped, he just waved his hand toward us and drove away.

We could not even say thanks to him. I screamed to him on the side of the road "Xie Xie, Xiensheng!!!" (Thank You, Sir) and he just waved his hand!

Afterwards, we walked to the shop and it turns out that the engine oil was gone. To repair it, we need to spend a lot of money and rather buy another second-hand scooter. So, we asked the shop owner about the price of a second-hand scooter which still in a good condition. He helped us a lot during the process and even helped my husband to process the new one to the police station.

From what happened to us, it makes me smile a lot. The desperation was gone. The tiredness was gone. Because of a nice grandpa.

I kept asking myself until now...

What will you do if you are the one who encounter a stranger, even a foreigner, who cannot speak your language, need your help in the middle of nowhere? Will you help him/her?

My answer is... I will.

But my husband has different thought about this. It depends on where we are.

There are a lot cases in Indonesia where someone got stabbed, raped, or robbed in the middle of nowhere at night. That's what we afraid of. What if...those person has bad intention toward us?

But again... what if those people really need help? Will you help?

Our answer... We do not know.

That's the problem that we have... maybe most of us have. I was embarrassed to say that I do not know whether I want to help or not. But that's the truth. Sometimes, our safety is more important and news made us have crazy thoughts about everything.

But then... I remember that grandpa we met. He did not care what will happen to him. He did not care whether we are bad guys or good guys. He even did not care that we are foreigners.

He just wanted to help us.

This single help... led me to a different perspective. 

I will help someone, even a stranger, because there's a stranger helped me in my desperate situation.

A good deed will led to another good deeds.

I always believe in those words since I was a kid, but this is the time when I realized the real meaning behind it.

So, will you help someone you do not know?

I'm Right and You're Wrong : Sedikit pemahaman tentang bagaimana orang Indonesia berpikir tentang topik keagamaan

Sebelum kumulai tulisan ini, aku ingin Anda (sebagai pembaca) untuk memahami betul bahwa tulisan ini hanyalah tulisan hasil pemikiran individu seorang wanita Muslim berkewarganegaraan Indonesia yang masih belajar banyak hal dan melihat bagaimana isu di Indonesia berkembang di ranah sosial media. Jika, ada salah kata ataupun pemikiran, mohon maaf. Wanita ini bukan orang yang sempurna dan memiliki pemikiran yang mutlak benar. Karena benar buruknya yang menentukan hanya Allah.

Saya mulai tulisan ini dengan menanyakan ke diriku sendiri... "Kenapa aku ingin menulis sesuatu yang sudah panas? Kenapa aku ingin menuliskan tentang pemikiranku disini yang mungkin akan dicerca banyak orang yang tidak sepamahaman denganku?"

Jawabannya cukup mudah... karena aku suka menulis dan aku ingin membagikan buah pikiranku ke orang lain yang mungkin bisa bermanfaat.

Pertanyaan selanjutnya... "Kenapa topik agama? Bukannya masih ada topik lainnya?"

Karena ini mengganggu pikiranku dan merasa bahwa dibutuhkan adanya suatu tulisan yang mungkin bisa membuat orang lain mengerti bahwa "do not just trust media" and "understand that you're the one who should think out of the box" and "be a true Muslim"

"Lalu, apakah dengan ini orang lain bisa mengerti apa yang akan kuceritakan dan mungkin berubah?"

Let's hope that will come true. haha I'm just no body. Aku hanya seorang wanita Muslim berkewarganegaraan Indonesia yang sedang belajar di luar negeri dan berusaha untuk menyelesaikan kuliah, tapi sedih melihat kondisi negara ku dan saudara-saudara ku.

"Ok then... show the readers what you thought."

Sudah tidak perlu ku ungkit terlalu banyak tentang kasus penistaan agama yang menyerang Gubernur DKI Jakarta. Semua orang sudah tahu bahwa itu yang sedang terjadi saat ini karena masalah Pak Ahok yang mengatakan kepada masyarakat Pulau Seribu untuk "jangan mau dibohongi oleh Q.S. Al-Maidah:51"

Yang menjadi poin utama ku disini adalah bagaimana masyarakat Indonesia menyikapi hal ini, dilihat dari sudut pandang seorang wanita yang sedang duduk di balik layar komputer dan sering tidak produktif karena terlalu sering membuka Facebook dan Line. hahaha

Seperti yang sudah biasa terjadi, terutama di periode pemilu, yang namanya isu sering sekali disetir sedimikian hingga membuat suatu berita, terlepas dari benar tidaknya, menjadi luar biasa. Pelakunya? tentu saja media mainstream. Hebatnya, berita ini sangat cepat beredar di internet. Aku tidak heran sih. Karena menurut data statistik, pengguna sosial media di Indonesia adalah salah satu yang terbesar di dunia.

Bahkan aku pernah membaca di salah satu jurnal internasional, lupa judulnya dan pengarangnya, karena pada saat itu jurnal tidak jadi kumasukkan ke jurnal yang sedang kutulis, bahwa "sosial media adalah media paling efektif dalam sarana penyebaran informasi, terutama di era pemilu." Kalau tidak salah ini yang menulis adalah orang Amerika dan dia melakukan riset tentang proses pemilu presiden tahun 2008-2009.

Kenapa bisa begitu? Karena "the power of peers" itu sangat terasa.

Saat ini aku sedang melakukan riset yang berhubungan dengan "the power of peers". Ketika suatu faktor di dalam teknologi digabungkan dengan pengaruh teman, maka pengaruh ini akan sangat berbeda ketika tidak ada teman di dalamnya. Contoh, kepercayaan terhadap sebuah teknologi, akan dipengaruhi oleh beberapa faktor, salah satunya adalah kualitas informasi yang diberikan oleh teman. It's proven to be significantly influence.

Jadi, ketika ada berita yang "lumayan hot", masyarakat Indonesia akan dengan mudah mengakses sosial media, menyebarkannya ke teman-temannya atau publik, dan disebarkan ulang oleh teman-teman mereka. Terlepas dari benar atau tidaknya sebuah informasi.

Hal yang cukup unik terjadi ketika sebagian besar, bukan semua, menganggap bahwa apa yang mereka sebarkan ke ranah publik adalah sesuatu yang benar, padahal informasi tersebut belum tentu benar. Kenapa aku bisa tahu? Karena setiap kali ada yang menyebarkan sebuah informasi di sosial media, mereka akan menambahkan buah pikiran mereka dalam bentuk tulisan. Sebagian besar dari orang-orang ini akan menuliskan tulisan yang menjurus ke arah "this is right and the other is wrong", which is refer too... "I'm right and you're wrong"

Terlebih ketika yang dibahas adalah sesuatu yang berhubungan dengan agama, dalam hal ini agama Islam.

Sebagai seorang Muslim, tentunya kita sudah tahu betul bahwa tidak baik untuk mengucapkan atau bahkan berpikir bahwa kita adalah satu-satunya yang paling benar dan orang lain tidak benar. Karena benar tidaknya sesuatu hanya pada Allah. Kita sebagai manusia, hanya bisa berdoa dan rendah diri terhadap apapun.

Di sisi lain, ketika ada sebuah informasi, haruslah kita untuk ber-tabayyun terlebih dahulu.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَنْ تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ

Wahai orang- orang yang beriman, jika ada seorang faasiq datang kepada kalian dengan membawa suatu berita penting, maka tabayyunlah (telitilah dulu), agar jangan sampai kalian menimpakan suatu bahaya pada suatu kaum atas dasar kebodohan, kemudian akhirnya kalian menjadi menyesal atas perlakuan kalian.

[al-Hujurât/49:6].

Nah, sebagian besar dari masyarakat Indonesia tidak melakukan tabayyun. Mereka cenderung langsung menentukan bahwa berita tersebut benar adanya.

Memang susah untuk ber-tabayyun kepada orang yang disebutkan di dalam berita tersebut. Tapi, itu lah challenge nya. Apakah bisa melakukan filter terhadap sumber berita mana yang bisa dipercaya maupun tidak? Bagaimana jika tidak bisa?

Alangkah baiknya jika lebih baik diam.

أَلاَ أُخْبِرُكَ بِمَلاَكِ ذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ. قُلْتُ بَلَى يَا نَبِىَّ اللَّهِ قَالَ فَأَخَذَ بِلِسَانِهِ قَالَ  كُفَّ عَلَيْكَ هَذَا. فَقُلْتُ يَا نَبِىَّ اللَّهِ وَإِنَّا لَمُؤَاخَذُونَ بِمَا نَتَكَلَّمُ بِهِ فَقَالَ  ثَكِلَتْكَ أُمُّكَ يَا مُعَاذُ وَهَلْ يَكُبُّ النَّاسَ فِى النَّارِ عَلَى وُجُوهِهِمْ أَوْ عَلَى مَنَاخِرِهِمْ إِلاَّ حَصَائِدُ أَلْسِنَتِهِمْ.

“Maukah kuberitahukan kepadamu tentang kunci semua perkara itu?” Jawabku: “Iya, wahai Rasulullah.” Maka beliau memegang lidahnya dan bersabda, “Jagalah ini”. Aku bertanya, “Wahai Rasulullah, apakah kami dituntut (disiksa) karena apa yang kami katakan?” Maka beliau bersabda, “Celaka engkau. Adakah yang menjadikan orang menyungkurkan mukanya (atau ada yang meriwayatkan batang hidungnya) di dalam neraka selain ucapan lisan mereka?” 

(HR. Tirmidzi no. 2616. Tirmidzi mengatakan hadits ini hasan shohih)

Mungkin ada yang bepikir..."hei itu tulisan, bukan ucapan" ... sama saja bukan? apa yang dituliskan adalah apa yang diucapkan.

Hal ini juga tidak dilakukan oleh sebagian besar masyarakat Indonesia, terutama yang Muslim. Karena mereka cenderung dengan secara terbuka memberikan opini yang semestinya tidak diperlukan untuk orang lain tau.

Di sisi lain, banyak oknum, yang mungkin memanfaatkan kondisi untuk mendapatkan apa yang mereka inginkan. Aku tidak akan membahas tentang rencana politik maupun ekonomi suatu oknum tertentu. Namun, hal ini sudah banyak diketahui bahwa ketika ada sebuah isu, maka di balik layar, terdapat beberapa orang yang pasti akan memanfaatkan kondisi, apapun tujuannya.

Apakah kita mau membantu tujuan oknum yang tidak baik dengan menyebarkan berita yang belum jelas benar atau tidaknya? Bagaimana jika tujuan itu tidak ada baik-baiknya, hanya buruknya saja?

Banyak yang mungkin beranggapan bahwa "aku tidak tahu ada tujuan itu, yang penting kuanggap benar maka akan ku share"

Inilah yang kurang baik menurutku dan menjadi bumbu ataupun minyak bagi yang sudah panas menjadi lebih panas lagi.

Masyarakat kurang mengerti bahwa jika tidak tahu lebih baik diam, tabayyun, dan tunjukkan dengan yang apa yang dipercaya di dalam konteks yang lebih baik. Misalnya, tidak memilih calon yang dianggap tidak baik. Bukan dengan semakin menyebarkan fitnah ataupun kalimat yang tidak baik.

Dikarenakan cepatnya informasi yang tersebar, membuat orang-orang sepertiku yang notabene "lebih baik diam" menjadi risih. Isi sosial media 80% terkait isu yang sedang panas dan terjadi perdebatan sana sini, yang intinya adalah "I'm right and you're wrong". Lingkungan seperti ini sepertinya tidak baik untuk kesehatan mental saya. haha

The most important thing that we have to put on our mind are ... PATIENT, FORGIVE, and LEARN.

Masih ingatkah apa yang dilakukan Rasulullah ketika bangsanya sendiri membenci Islam, meludahi, dan mencelakai Beliau? Bersabar, memaafkan, dan belajar.

Tulisanku ini mungkin menjadi cambuk untuk diriku sendiri untuk lebih berhati-hati ketika menyebarkan sebuah informasi. Semoga kita menjadi orang yang lebih baik lagi.

Amiinnn...

Motherhood

Become a mom, a good mom, a respectful mom, a  friendly mom, a playful mom, and the best mom for my child have been one of my dreams since I was a teenager. The desire to have baby of my own is stronger when I married two years ago. However, until now, I'm not yet pregnant.

I'm very understand that when the time is right, God will give me a chance to have a baby. Moreover, I should not underestimate God's will. He knows best for me.

However, my heart is aching and hurt so bad when I see those pictures.

When my friends got pregnant, they instantly told the world via Facebook or any social media. And then more baby pictures on my timeline when these babies born to the world. The cuteness, the love, and the happiness that these people have, I'm not yet having it, Instead, I'm very jealous. My friends told everybody how their child is growing up. How they learn how to walk or speak. Even when their child is just lazy around or sleeping. I want that so badly...

Not only pictures of my friends' babies that make me...crazy.

Even YouTube gives me some video recommendation about mom, baby, and everything about it. Although the videos are not really related with parenting, sometimes when I watch a video about a child and in some part of it the parents come out, I become sad.

The worst part is when my friends ask me ... "Are you pregnant?"

Yes I'm big enough to be told pregnant. Because the biggest part in my body is only my stomach. I've been tried sooo damn hard to make myself slim again, but it failed. Not because I eat a lot. I'm not a big eater. But because I eat hormone pills, so that I can get pregnant. And this pills make me "fat" in the specific area of my body.

I'm tired of being asked that way. I'm tired of people asking me "When will you get pregnant?" If I know, I will tell them. But I DON'T KNOW!!!

The sadness and frustration are very strong in these days. Especially when I have a lot of stuffs going on and need to be done. Overwhelmed.

Then, I remember what I read several months ago on a Facebook post about "being a mom", which tell stories about each woman with different conditions about motherhood.

Woman A, is not yet pregnant. She's trying very hard to be a mom. To hospital, traditional medicine, atc. Even in vitro fertilization. But, didn't work. She's jealous with her bestfriend who married after her but pregnant almost instantly after that.
Woman B, is always pregnant. Many people just told her to stop having a baby. But she can't abort her baby. She used pregnancy prevention pills, but sometimes it just didn't work. She is struggling to fed her babies and send them to school. She's desperate.
Woman C, can't pregnant. She has some problems with her health. But she wants baby so bad. So, she adopt a baby boy from another country. However, this baby boy is not the same as baby of her own.
Woman D, do not want to have a baby. She's just afraid to be a mom. She's struggling with her past life and seeing herself as a bad mom.
These women think the same way.
Woman A wants to be Woman B.
Woman B wants to be Woman D
Woman C wants to be Woman B
Woman D wants to be Woman C

Maybe the story above is not exactly the same with the original story, because I kinda forgot the original one. But, the thing is that there are a lot of women out there that have the same or even worst experience that I have. And people in our environment will always judge us with their own thinking. We can't change their mind and we just need to understand and be patient.

If the time is right... God will give us a chance to become a mom....
God knows best.

Apakah Aku Harus Selalu Menutup Mata?

Aku tidak pernah sekalipun membayangkan akan terjebak dalam situasi dan kondisi yang membuatku harus (atau kah tidak harus?) menutup mata. Dalam kata lain, pura-pura tidak tahu terhadap kondisi yang salah dan bertolak belakang dengan hati nurani.

Agak susah menjelaskan tentang apa yang sebenarnya terjadi, karena khawatir kalau yang bersangkutan membaca artikel ini, bisa bahaya juga. haha Jadi, aku akan menggunakan analogi untuk cerita kali ini.

Let's say... aku berada di dalam sebuah institusi, dimana aku bekerja sebagai bawahan yang paling bawah tapi masih di atas nya OB. hehe Tugas ku melakukan apapun yang diminta oleh orang-orang yang memiliki jabatan di atasku, tidak hanya bos besar.

Karena aku tipe orang yang "nurutan" dengan apa yang diminta, as long as itu masih di dalam batas atau lingkup tugasku, aku akan melakukannya dengan senang hati. Walaupun terkadang, ada ucapan pedas yang keluar dari mulut orang-orang yang tidak puas dengan hasil kerjaku, aku akan menganggapnya sebagai kritik untuk membuatku lebih baik lagi. Sakit hati mungkin iya, tapi hanya sebentar. Setelah dibuat shalat dan makan, sakit hati nya hilang. hahaha

Tapi, yang membuatku agak terganggu adalah ketika terjadi tindak korupsi di dalamnya.

Korupsi ada banyak macam nya, ada yang kecil ada pula yang besar. Biasanya yang besar ini yang bisa sampai ketahuan KPK dan ditangkap, lalu masuk TV dan koran. Tapi untuk kali ini, aku tidak tahu sudah sampai skala besar atau tidak, karena aku sih siaapaa bisa tahu sampai segitunya. Hanya saja, aku mengalami korupsi skala kecil yang terjadi padaku.

Ini baru pertama kali nya terjadi padaku dan sangat membuatku terganggu. Secara selama hidupku ini aku tidak pernah berada di dalam sebuah institusi atau organisasi yang kotor. Semuanya bersih dan jika pun ada yang melakukan tindakan berbahaya ini, Alhamdulillah aku tidak pernah tahu.

Yang terjadi adalah ketika gaji bulanan ku di mark-up.

Mungkin ada yang berpikir... "eh, enak donk di mark-up...gaji mu dapetnya lebih besar..."
Sayangnya Anda salah. Gajiku tetap, tapi diperbesar jumlahnya dan aku diminta tanda tangan di kwitansi nya. Jadi, misalnya aku dapat gaji Rp 1.000.000 tapi angka ini diperbesar menjadi 2x lipatnya yaitu Rp 2.000.000. Sedangkan aku benar hanya dapat gaji normalku. Aneh? Jelas. Dimana kah uangnya? Aku tidak tahu.

Kenapa bisa di mark-up? Karena aku dibayar per jam, bukan bulanan. Jadi, laporan yang kubuat tiap bulan untuk diberikan ke atasan, diubah range jam nya. Jadi, misalnya aku kerja dari jam 9 pagi hingga jam 6 sore, diubah dari jam 9 pagi hingga 9 malam, tiap hari. Wajar tidak? Jelas tidak. Siapa sih yang bisa 12 jam di kantor setiap hari? No one. Bisa sakit kalau tiap hari kerja kayak gitu. Dipikir secara logika saja tidak bisa kok.

Jadi, laporan asli yang kubuat tiap bulan, hanya diarsipkan di dalam departemen saja. Sedangkan laporan hasil mark-up diberikan ke institusi.

Ada beberapa pertanyaan yang mengganjal...

1. Yang menyetujui laporan ini tidak sadar kalau nominal dan jumlah kerja nya tidak wajar atau bagaimana?

Harusnya sih sadar. Mungkin ada something di orang yang setuju ini kan sehingga mau menerima laporan fake dan mengeluarkan dana nya. (Tanda tangannya ada 2 di dalam satu laporan, yaitu aku dan atasan, lalu disetujui orang pusat)

2. Apakah ini beneran korupsi atau kah hanya dinaikkan untuk menambah biaya operasional institusi yang dirasa kurang dan mengalami defisit setiap tahun?

Sudah ditanyakan ke atasan kenapa harus di mark-up, dan hasilnya malah disemprot habis-habisan dengan alasan yang tidak masuk akal.

Kalau dipikir-pikir... hello... emangnya kami ini bodoh dan tidak bisa berpikir ada apa di balik ini semua? Buat apa kami sekolah jauh-jauh ke luar negeri dan tidak bisa memahami kondisi di dalam institusi ini?

Hhhh...

Ketika aku harus memberikan tanda tangan di laporan fake itu, rasanya gemetaran. Nominalnya luar biasa besar dan melebihi jumlah biaya semesteran PhD ku di Taiwan. Aku harus berhenti dari segala kegiatan dan terdiam dengan tangan di atas kertas.

Teman-teman ku yang bernasib sama juga bingung harus bagaimana.

Hati ini tidak kuasa menerima segala hal seperti ini, bahkan hingga terlihat dari tanganku yang bergetar seperti orang terkena serangan tremor.

Lalu, salah seorang temanku yang anak pondok, ngaji tiap kamis malam bersama teman-teman kampus, dan sangat mengerti tentang aku berkata... "udah, tanda tangan aja ndak apa. yang penting kamu nggak makan uangnya."

Ok then... aku tanda tangan.

Malamnya, aku telepon orang tua dan menceritakan semua hal yang terjadi.

Bapakku berkata bahwa begitulah institusi. Mau dimanapun sama. Hal yang sama akan terjadi lagi kalau aku nantinya bekerja di institusi lain yang tidak bersih. Itu namanya budaya tidak baik yang mengakar.

Intinya adalah...tutup mata. Karena tidak ada yang bisa dilakukan oleh diriku yang kacung kampret di kantor dan tidak bisa merubah keadaan. I am no body there.

Yang penting, aku tidak makan uang korupsi itu. Aku menerima apa yang menjadi hak ku, tidak lebih daripada itu.

Tapi... apakah aku bisa terus seperti ini?

Sepertinya tidak.
Aku tidak bisa menutup mata dari kerjadian seperti ini.
Aku tidak bisa membohongi hati nurani ku sendiri.
Aku takut dosa.

Orang yang melakukan tindakan ini akan pergi dari institusi dalam kurun waktu satu minggu dan diganti dengan orang yang baru. Semoga orang baru ini orangnya beragama, bersih, dan disiplin. Semoga aku tidak perlu keluar dari institusi ini.

Namun, jika hal ini terjadi lagi... aku akan pergi.

Challenge Accepted : Questions for Blogger

Saudara sepupuku yang sangat centil, seorang blogger juga, Primadita Rahma Ekida, sering menanyakan berbagai macam pertanyaan yang... terkadang susah untuk dijawab... dan bersifat personal. Tapi, kali ini, si mbak memberikan challenge untukku yang kebetulan pas banget sedang butuh hiburan di tengah-tengah kerjaan yang bertumpuk dan Taifun yang sedang menerjang Taiwan. Alhamdulillah taifunnya cuma lewat samping, jadi kena efek anginnya doank. Walaupun begitu, nih angin lumayan bikin ngantuk...sliwer sliwer gimanaaa gitu rasanya. *cari kasur

So...let's start with the questions from her which will be answered by me, on this afternoon with a cup of Haagendasz ice cream beside me... :p

1. Apa media sosial yang masih kamu pertahankan, dan kamu rasa you can’t live without?

Semuanya masih dipertahankan. Mulai dari Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, AboutMe, Hi5, Tumblr, Line, Whatsapp, Path, dan lain-lain. And without them... I can still live as long as I have my friend's phone number. hahaha 

Oke...saat nya serius. Sosmed yang akan kupertahankan banget... Facebook dan Line. Karena dengan Facebook aku bisa bikin "group" untuk kelas dan beli barang second dari bule-bule se Taiwan yang mau pulang kampung. hahaha Sedangkan kalau Line sih emang karena tempat komunikasi bukan lewat SMS lagi tapi lewat Line, so I have to make sure my Line will work. 

2. Apa buku favoritmu sepanjang masa (bukan Al-Qur’an/Alkitab ya pastinya, itu sih engga usah disebut, hehe)? 

Harry Potter. 

The Historian.

Kebetulan aku jawab tentang ini, sekalian aja kuceritain kejadian yang bikin aku nangis. Beberapa minggu yang lalu, saudara sepupuku yang lain, mas Fikri, datang ke rumahku (di Indonesia bukan Taiwan) dan ngabarin kalau semua buku ku yang di kamar dan berlemari-lemari itu mau diloakin sama Bapakku. Langsung deh aku heboh dan telpon orang serumah. Kata ibuku sih karena terlalu banyak buku dan nggak ada yang ngerawat sejak aku ke Taiwan. Sedangkan aku pulang setahun sekali. But please...books are my life. Di sisi lain, buku Harry Potter yang kupunya itu ngoleksinya bertahun-tahun. Bahkan baru lengkap waktu nemu buku murah di toko buku second di Taiwan. Aku telpon ibuku sambil nangis dan nyeritain sejarah aku bisa dapet semua bukunya. Mulai dikasih orang sampe nabung lama banget (karena ibuku ga mau beliin novel dan akan ngebakar semua novelku kalo aku ga belajar). Quite a story... hahaha

3. Apa momen paling membahagiakan dalam hidupmu hingga saat ini?

Married.

The best days (karena acaranya 2 hari) of my life... Nggak nyangka aja sih bisa nikah pas masih umur 24 tahun dan menikah dengan seseorang yang luar biasa baik. 

4. Apa film paling jelek yang pernah kamu tonton setahun terakhir?

Susah ini. Karena aku selalu lihat film yang bagus. Trailer dulu dilihat. Kalo jelek, nggak jadi nonton. hahahaha

5. Kalau kamu boleh mengulang masa kuliah, adakah hal yang ingin kamu ubah?

Relationship with my friends.

Seandainya aku bisa mengulang waktu, aku ingin merubah pertemananku dengan mereka. Bukan menjadi lebih buruk, tentu saja. Tapi lebih baik lagi. Mungkin hampir semua orang memahami ini. Ketika lulus dari S1 tiba-tiba semua jenis komunikasi terputus. Tidak seperti dulu yang komunikasi itu konstan dan terus ada. Mungkin jika aku bisa lebih sering berkomunikasi dengan teman-temanku dulu, mungkin sekarang aku tidak merasa kesepian dan merasa bersalah.

6. Siapa blogger favoritmu (selain saya tentunya :p)?

Sampai saat ini belum ada. Mungkin karena aku kurang berinteraksi dengan para blogger lainnya. Sehingga kurang tahu siapa aja blogger yang lagi hits dan kece. haha

7. Apa arti menulis/blogging buatmu?

Blog bagiku adalah tempat pelarian. Terkadang, banyak hal yang tidak bisa ku ungkapkan dengan ucapan lisan atau perbuatan. Tapi dengan menulis, apa yang ada di dalam pikiranku bisa tertuang dengan lebih leluasa dan fleksibel.

Blog juga menjadi tempat pelepas lelah. Dengan segala macam kesibukan dan permasalahan hidup, dengan adanya blog aku bisa dengan leluasa menuliskan berbagai hal yang menyenangkan untuk dibahas dan mungkin bisa bermanfaat untuk orang lain.

8. Kalau suatu hari memoir hidupmu dibuat film, siapa yang kamu pilih untuk memerankan dirimu?

Kayaknya kok nggak mungkin banget memoir hodupku dibuat film. Aku maaahh apaaaaa... Aku mah sapaaa.... hahaha

But, okay. I will still answer this question. Aku mau Maudy Ayunda atau Gita Gutawa. 

Alasan?

Karena mereka pernah sekolah di luar negeri. Tau rasanya sekolah di luar negeri dan perjuangan untuk sendirian di negeri orang. Ada sisi kehidupan di negara orang sebagai akademisi yang harus dijalani, dan ada sisi kehidupan lain di Indonesia sebagai seorang anak, saudara, dan teman. 

9. Apa lagunya Adele yang menurutmu paling galau dan bisa bikin depresi? 

Kok Adele? hahahaha

Nggak ada lagu yang bisa bikin aku galau dan depresi tuh. Mau sesedih apa lagunya. :p

10. Seandainya kamu menjadi atlet, apa olahraga yang akan kamu pilih?

Renang.

I love wateeerrr....

11. Bagaimana pendapatmu tentang ‘perempuan harus bisa masak’? 

Non sense laaahhh... 

Nenek ku pinter masak tapi budhe dan ibuku nggak bisa masak. Mereka fine-fine saja dengan hidup. Ujung-ujungnya aku juga nggak bisa masak. Paling-paling bikin indomie. Masak nasi aja sering salah. hahaha

Aku pernah tanya sama suamiku tentang ini... "aku nggak bisa masak. mas gimana?" tau jawabannya? dia jawab gini... "ga masalah. bisa beli di luar. lagian, aku bisa masak kok." hahahaha

Dan pada akhirnya pun... ketika kami menikah, aku ada semacam "obligation" untuk memasak...walopun nggak enak. Lambat laun, masakanku bisa diterima. Paling nggak bisa dimakan laahhh... hahaha And still... his cooks are still better than me...

Okay, so... that's the end of the questions. 

Now you know some part of me within this questions. hahaha

What I've been doing in this summer

Sudah lama banget rasanya nggak nulis di blog. Terakhir nulis tangga 19 Juli tentang summer yang barusan aja dateng. Niatnya waktu itu akan nulis terus setelahnya paling nggak seminggu sekali. Tapi, terbukti bahwa tidak bisa kulakukan. Sekarang sudah tanggal 17 September. Hampir 2 bulan nggak nulis apa-apa di blog saking sibuknya.

Padahal nih ya kalau teman-teman ku bilang... "Hello, it's summer holiday! What'are you doing this summer so that you didn't have time to write or travel around" Actually... I have the same question. haha

Terlalu banyak hal yang terjadi dalam hidupku di dua bulan ini. Terlalu banyak drama. (Halaaahh) Tapi yang jelas, kesibukan ku bertambah, bukannya berkurang.

Okay, as everyone already knew, I am an international student, specifically PhD. Yang namanya PhD tidak ada kata liburan. Riset tetap harus jalan walaupun waktu libur jadi korban. Proffesor pembimbing juga menargetkan paper ku harus selesai di akhir bulan Agustus. Langsung deh kelabakan hampir tiap hari. haha

Another thing... aku harus membagi waktu ku dengan berbagai organisasi. Sepertinya sudah terlalu tua buatku ikut organisasi ini itu. Tapi, entah kenapa aku nggak bisa keluar dari lingkaran ini. Adaaaa saja teman yang membutuhkan bantuan ku di organisasi A, B, dan C. Walaupun aku berusaha menolak, tapi nggak tahan juga lihat mata kucing orang-orang ini. =.="

Di lain sisi, liburan ini aku mendapatkan kesempatan untuk bekerja part time di salah satu lokasi yang tidak bisa kusebutkan dimana. Kupikir pekerjaan nya ringan... ternyata aku salah besar!!! hahaha Harus masuk selama 4 hari dalam satu minggu, mulai dari jam 9.00 sampai 18.00. Saat kerja pun aku harus berputar-putar dari satu tempat ke tempat yang lain. Menguras tenaga. Sangat menguras tenaga. Akibatnya, sampai rumah hanya bisa terlelap.

Kebetulan minggu ini di Taiwan ada libur yang cukup lama (tidak lama untuk ukuran orang Indonesia, hanya 2 hari + 2 hari sabtu minggu), dan lumayan untuk ku mengejar ketertinggalan riset. Di saat sedang bosan dan suntuk karena tidak ada ide lagi, tiba-tiba sepupuku mengingatkan ku akan blog.

Saat itulah ide untuk menulis muncul lagi. Aneh memang. Tapi mungkin ini kerinduan yang terselubung. haha

Semoga aku bisa istiqomah untuk menulis. Paling tidak seminggu sekali tentang apapun itu.

At least dengan adanya blog, aku bisa melupakan sejenak segala kesibukanku. haha

Summer is Coming but This Summer is Different

Summer vacation sudah di depan mata, bukan, sudah dilihat sejak sebulan yang lalu. Seperti biasa temen-teman yang tinggal di luar negeri sudah mempersiapkan sejak jauh hari rencana liburannya. Bagi yang belum sidang, akan sidang dalam jangka waktu dekat, lalu pulang ke Indonesia. Bagi yang sudah sidang, ada yang menunggu hingga akhir Agustus sebelum pulang ke Indonesia untuk jalan-jalan keliling Taiwan. Ada pula yang status nya masih mahasiswa, liburan ke Indonesia selama 2 bulan lamanya setelah Idul Fitri dua minggu yang lalu, atau ke negara lain untuk jalan-jalan, seperti Jepang, Korea, Hongkong, Inggris, Singapura, Malaysia, dan lain sebagainya.

Bagaimana denganku?

Nope. Aku tidak punya rencana apa-apa dan aku tidak tahu harus kemana.

Tahun lalu... aku masih sempat posting kegiatan liburan ku di blog. Tapi, beberapa bulan ini kesibukan yang luar biasa membuatku berhenti menulis dan sepertinya keahlian ini menurun drastis. haha Di sisi lain, aku tak punya rencana apa-apa tahun ini, jadi aku pun tak tahu kegiatan apa yang harus ku tulis.

Sebenarnya, aku ada rencana ke Thailand bersama suami ku. Tapi, orangtua kami "menitahkan" untuk pulang ke Indonesia tahun depan saat lebaran. Sedangkan, suamiku hanya bisa pulang saat imlek. Maka tak bisa dipungkiri kami harus pulang 2x tahun depan. Saat imlek dan lebaran. Biayanya besar tentu saja, dan akhirnya kami mengorbankan rencana ke Thailand demi pulang ke Indonesia 2x tahun depan.

Jadi, apa yang akan kulakukan di summer vacation tahun ini?

1. Belajar
Kalau aku mau lulus cepat, nurut kata professor itu sudah pasti. Jadi, sebagian besar waktuku akan kuhabiskan dengan nongkrong di lab dan menulis paper untuk dipublish dengan deadline akhir bulan Agustus. Jangan kira mneulis paper itu gampang. Luar biasa susah. Apalagi kalau prof susah dihubungi seperti prof ku. =.='

2. Bisnis
Sedikit promosi lah yaa... silahkan yang suka dengan planner, kunjungi LivreTheBooks on Etsy. Kalau membuka dari sini, masukkan coupon code HAPPYSUMMER untuk mendapatkan diskon 10%. ^^
Untuk kalian yang suka membaca blogku, pasti sudah tau apa itu LivreTheBooks. Toko online milikku yang menjual aneka planner dalam bentuk pdf. Jadi, tinggal bayar dan download pdf nya deh trus print sendiri di rumah.
Jadi, summer ini aku punya rencana untuk membuat planner lain, masih rahasia sih apa aja plannernya. Tapi, aku kasih clue, tentang liburan. :)
Tak hanya itu saja bisnis yang sedang kujalani sekarang. Ada bisnis lain bersama kawan-kawan yang lumayan menguras tenaga dan pikiran. Tapi worthed. Karena ini bukan sekadar bisnis yang menghasilkan uang saja, tapi hasilnya adalah membantu orang lain yang membutuhkan.

3. Organisasi
Walaupun liburan, organisasi tetap jalan. Ada UT Taiwan, Bamus PPI Taiwan, dan IMSA NTUST. Masing-masing punya perannya sendiri-sendiri dan tugasnya berbeda-beda. Tapi ini yang  membuatku tidak terlalu bosan dengan liburan kali ini. Paling tidak, ada orang lain yang senasib seperjuangan denganku. hahaha

4. Lone Traveller
Karena suami bekerja dan tidak bisa menemani, satu-satunya yang bisa kulakukan kalau belajar, bisnis, dan organisasi sedang membuatku lelah adalah menjadi lone traveller. Mungkin aku bakalan sendirian keluar jalan-jalan ke tempat yang sudah atau belum pernah kukunjungi sebelumnya. haha Maklum sudah menjadi mahasiswa kadaluarsa yang kelamaan tinggal di negara orang, jadi aku sendiri bingung mau kemana. Tapi, aku akan berusaha tetap menuliskan perjalanan liburan ku tahun ini di sini.

Jadi, bagaimana denganmu? ada rencana liburan summer tahun ini?
Semoga liburan kalian menyenangkan. :)

Cinta adalah Kita

Kata orang, cinta itu antar dua manusia.
Kata orang, cinta itu buta.

Tapi, kataku cinta adalah kita.
Tidak harus antar dua orang yang saling mencinta.
Tapi, satu kesatuan hati untuk mencinta sesuatu.

Cinta tidak buta, tapi melihat dan mendengar.
Melihat dengan mata terbuka lebar dan telinga yang siap untuk mendengar.

Kadang, ku tak habis pikir dengan cinta kita kepadanya
Cinta yang tak mengenal lelah saat bersamanya.
Walau terkadang "lelah" itu kita ungkapkan dengan canda, tawa, ataupun amarah.

Kadang, ku tak habis pikir dengan cinta kepadanya
Cinta yang tak mengenal putus asa saat ia bersama masalah.
Walau terkadang "putus asa" itu diwarnai tangis kebahagiaan tak kasat mata.

Kadang, ku tak habis pikir dengan cintamu kepada ku.
Seorang yang bukan apa apa.
Kenal pun baru saja.
Namun, kau berikan cintamu kepadaku tanpa syarat. Selayaknya keluarga.

Kadang, ku tak habis pikir dengan hinaan yang terus mendera.
Hinaan berurai canda tawa yang tak pernah dianggap serius.
Walau kadang hinaan itu menelan korban.

Kita memiliki cinta yang sama.
Cinta yang tulus yang tak bisa diungkapkan dengan kata.
Cinta kepada sesuatu yang tak kasat mata.
Cinta akan sesuatu yang bisa membuat orang lain lebih baik.

Kita memiliki ketulusan yang sama.
Tulus untuk membantu
Tulus untuk bekerja
Tulus untuk berirama

Terima kasih kawan atas segalanya
Segala senyuman
Segala tawa
Segala tangis
Segala hinaan
Segala candaan
Segala pengertian
Segala semangat

Terima kasih
Karena mu ku belajar untuk sabar dan menerima
Karena mu ku belajar mencinta
Karena mu ku belajar bertanggungjawab
Karena mu ku ada.

Teruntuk keluarga ku
Bapel Universitas Terbuka Taiwan,
Kalian bukan kawan
Kalian bukan teman
Kalian bukan lawan
Kalian bukan sahabat
Kalian adalah keluarga
Kalian adalah cinta

Hei Again, Blog! Time Management is hard...

It has been six months since the last time I wrote a blog post. A lot of things happen, especially in how life goes by. Sounds cheesy but it's true. haha

I've been work on some projects, classes, research, organization stuff, and any other important things that make my life super busy in these six months. Even when I write this now, I tried very hard to have time to write even one post. I still have a lot of things need to be handled after I write this blog post.

But when I think about what topic I should choose for today, I do not have any idea. I just couldn't think of one. But then, I got an email from one of my blog readers, she asked me about how life's going, how's my study, and how I manage my time well in my busy life. That's when I realize I have to write about this. Time Management.
Honestly, it's hard to explain how I manage my time because it's all about learned from mistakes. For instance, I learned that I can't say "yes" to everything that my friends asked me to do because it will make my day a lot busier than ever. From mistakes, I can give some suggestions for everybody who needs my help to manage their time.

1. Plan Your Day Every Morning

If you are one of my blog readers, you already knew that I love planners. I always bring my planner everywhere I go and always write everything that I have to do in the day or following days. You don't have to have a good, bling, or colorful planners to plan your day. You just need a notebook (small one) that you can carry wherever you go and fill with your To Do List.

Start with answering this question, "What are the most important things to do today?"

For example, your answers are "Go to classes,  Meet with Emma, and Do homework."

Then, you just have to make the details of those answers, like "Go to Statistic class at 9.15 am in A Building" or "Meet with Emma at 12.30 in Starbucks, have lunch together, bring our project paper."

So, why you have to do this every morning?

Well... as my experience told me, in the morning (after Shubuh prayer usually) is the best time to make use of your brain and start planning your day. Your mind is fresh, and your body is fresh too, after got a nice fresh morning air and water. You can do this after Fajr prayer like I said before if you are Muslim, and if not, you can try to wake up around 5 am in the morning. After a nice bath and refreshing a cup of water, you can start to plan your day before do your daily routine.

Todo List by : LivreTheBooks on Etsy

2. Bring your Planner Everywhere

Like I said, a planner is essential when it's small enough to be placed in your bag. You will need this all the time if you want to have a better time management.

Let's say... you meet a friend for dinner. Then, suddenly he/she said that there's a great gag night that they want to attend with you next Saturday. When you have your planner, you can quickly put the schedule on so that you will not going to forget what will you do on next Saturday. And also, if you already have a plan in that night, you can also directly tell your friend that you can't go and maybe change the date.

Another example, in class, when the teacher told you about homework that has a different deadline than it used to be. For instance, the teacher usually asked everybody to hand in the homework on D-1. But then, suddenly the teacher told you to hand-in on D-3. You absolutely don't want to miss the deadline, right? The planner is the solution.

3. Say "No" if You Already Booked

Sometimes, saying "No" to your friend, teacher, family, or anyone that needs your help to do something is hard. I understand it very much because that's what happen to me a year ago. But then, I realized, if I always say "yes" when still have a lot of things to be handled, I will be messed up.

Start to say something like "Hey I'd like to help but sorry on that day I have other things to do and I'm afraid I can't help you."

I believe they will understand and will not going to push you to do whatever they want you to do. If they still insist, you can show them your planner.

4. Use Productivity App

If you think planner is for a girly girl, you can choose a productivity app instead of a paper planner. There are a lot of app that you can find on Google Play or App Store. You just to find the best one for you. Build-in app also good, because usually they already provided you with a lot of functionality for planning your day.

5. Be Consistent

You already have your planner or app, you already said "No" when you can't do something, then the most important thing is "Be Consistent"

You have stick on your schedule on the day. If you can't do it, promise that you will do it in the first place in the following morning. It will be useless if you have planner but you don't stick to it, isn't it?


I think that's all I can share wit you today. I hope that I can post some new stuff next week. I will try my best to keep posting about life and productivity as a Muslim, an international student, a wife, and a traveller.

Please have comments below about your thoughts in productive life. :)

Flying Cow Ranch, Miaoli, Taiwan

Don't expect there are some flying cow there. I even only find sleeping regular cows outside my sight. haha This place is not like what I imagine about ranch. I've never go to a ranch in Indonesia and this was my first time went to a ranch. But, it's a good place to educate children about animals and ranch life.

Flying Cow Ranch is located in Miaoli County. There is no public transportation available to go there. But, you can go to Miaoli Station using TRA / HSR then continue to use bus / taxi. In Flying Cow Ranch website, they provide you with transportation information, such as :

By Train
Take Taiwan Railway (Sea Line) to Tongxiao Train Station, then take local bus or taxi to the ranch. It takes 15 minutes by taxi and they charge you around NT$ 250 - 300.

By Bus
Out of the Tongxiao Train Station, go straight to the junction of He-Ping Road. Take local bus (Fu-Xing Line or Tai - Kang - Wei Line) and get off at Chi-Shia Stop, the take a walk for 2km to the ranch. The bus ticket is around NT$ 35

By Car
(Please use Google Map) hahaha

When you arrive in the ranch, you need to pay for ticket entrance in the gate. NT$ 220 per person. Please check on their website for updated information about the ticket price. This price is for entrance only. If you want to do some activities like DIY projects, eat in restaurants, and others, you have to pay separately. But, it includes 1 bottle of milk for free.

In there, you can see many animals in the ranch. It's quite big so be prepare to have many walks. haha The animals are typical ranch animals, like sheep, goat, cow, horse, duck, rabbit, and butterfly. You can give them animal food with NT$ 10 - 20 in shops near the sheds.

There are many venues for activities (mostly are for kids of course).

DIY House

If you like to make something by your hand, you can go to DIY Houses near car park. There are time schedule for each activity. You can choose the activities by yourself because each has different price. Activities involved are Biscuit making, Butter making, Milk Bread making, Cow Painting, and Ice Cream Making. You can find the time schedule and price in the brochure. However, the brochure is in Chinese. If you want English, no you can't have one. They don't provide it for you, unfortunately. So, better to check on their website first and confirm it with employee in the DIY House.

When I was there, I met with an Indonesian guy and Malaysian girl as employee there. They helped us a lot in DIY projects we involved with, because we can talk in Indonesian or English. So, don't worry. At least somebody can speak English there. hahaha

Souvenir Shops

You can try many kinds of foods made from milk. I suggest you to try Milk Pudding that looks like a ball. It's very delicious and you can choose the flavors. The milk pudding's wrap is actually a balloon and they put pudding inside it. So, you have to blow the balloon with anything sharp like pin or toothpick.

Restaurants

I believe you'll be very hungry because you have to walk for a long journey. They provide you with many kinds of restaurants, from ranch-like restaurant, hot pot, italian, and fast food restaurant. Choose what you like. The price is a little bit expensive, except the fast food restaurant.

Sheep Shed

I actually have already seen sheep before, back in Indonesia, especially when it comes to Eid Fitr and Eid Adha. haha However, maybe kids in Taiwan don't know what sheep and goat's look like. That's why this ranch provide so many sheep in their shed. People can buy the food for just NT$10 - 20 in shop nearby.

Near the shed, you can do many activities, such as feeding the ducks and milking a cow. But make sure you know the time schedule from the brochure or website.

Flower Shop

It's near the sheep shed. I suggest you to buy the ice cream. You can choose either chocolate or vanilla flavor.

Rabbit House

I didn't go here because I'm too tired to walk and we're in the top of the mountain at that time. So, if you wanna go there, better go there before go hike.

Hiking

Because the ranch is actually in the middle of mountain, you can hike there and enjoy beautiful scenery from the top of the mountain. Don't forget to bring some waters with you. If uyou don't bring one, don't worry you can buy waters in vending machines in the location.

Butterfly Garden

You have to go up in the mountain first, along with the hiking track. Many beautiful flowers and butterfly flies around.

My impression about this place is... not really interesting for adult. Maybe because of the activities provided are mostly for kids and not as big as it is. It's big but not big enough for a ranch, just like in a movie. haha If you think you can go there and ride a horse, no you can't. The activities which are involving animals are only feeding them and milking the cow for less than 1 minute.

However, I like the milk pudding so much and I bought several puddings back home hahaha.

Taipei 101 Observatory Deck

After 3 years I've been in Taiwan, just several weeks ago I can go to Taipei 101 Observatory Deck. haha It's kinda weird because it's already 3 years and Taipei 101 is near with my campus. But, at the same time I know why I didn't go there in my 2 years of master degree and the first one year of my PhD. It's because... it's expensive.

You have to pay NT$450 if you show your Taiwan Student ID or International Student ID. And if you're only tourist or employee, you have to pay NT$500. If you have child, I think the price should be NT$450, it's a concession ticket for child, student, elderly, and disable.

It's an expensive ticket for my student pocket, don't you think? haha
But I'm lucky that my husband wants to go there "suddenly" and pay the ticket for me. (Yaaayyy!!)

So, the opening time of Taipei 101 Observatory Deck is at 9am to 10pm, but the ticketing counter will be closed at 9.15pm. My suggestion for you, go there before sunset, maybe around 4 or 5 pm. Because you will get beautiful landscape of Taipei when it's still light, between sunset, and after dark. I believe it's amazing. Because I've been there only at night and I couldn't see the bright landscape when sun still on the top of our head.

The transportation to Taipei 101 is quite easy start this year, because Taipei Government built another MRT line directly to Taipei 101. So, you can easily get there.

You have to aware, that you have to wait for around 15-30 minutes for the elevator. It's the fastest elevator in the world (they say), but they only have 1 elevator for go up and 1 for go down, Bt don't worry, it takes approx less than 1 minute to reach 87th floor (yes you can only go to 87th, not 101th) with the speed of 1010 m / min. Crazy huh?

When I was inside the "capsule" or elevator, I could sense my ear disrupted by the speed. Just like when I'm on airplane. Sudden change in the elevation can make your ears have a bit of discomfort.

Don't throw your ticket away because sometimes (I think seasonal) they will give you some coupons that can be used for shopping on the observatory deck. However, the items are still expensive even we had the coupons already. haha I used my coupon to buy Mango Ice Cream, worth money because it's very delicious. I'm not kidding. It's the best Mango Ice Cream that I've ever taste in my life. haha

Stores inside the observatory deck are a lot, including :

• Mango Ice Cream
• Souvenir shop
• Unique stamp shop
• Taiwan delicacies
• Gold (yes, it's gold) and many other jewelries.

If you buy postcards from the souvenir shop, you can send it to your home. Just buy the stamp in the cashier and they will give you explanation where to put your postcard after you finish write something on it. Basically they will ask you to put it on the big post office box in front of the shop.

While I eat my mango ice cream, I can see beautiful night landscapes from above. The walls are made from glasses. So, you can see 360 degree panorama from above.

 

Taipei Night Landscape from Taipei 101 Observatory Deck

Souvenir Shop on Taipei 101 Observatory Deck

Wind Damper of Taipei 101 (It's HUGE) 

Another Taipei Night Landscape from Taipei 101 Observatory Deck

Ketika 'Journal Paper' Ditolak untuk Pertama Kalinya

Email itu datang di saat yang tidak terduga. Malam hari saat aku sudah siap untuk tidur dan memasang alarm, email itu muncul di notifikasi handphone. Diam. Cuma itu yang bisa aku lakukan.

Sebenarnya, aku sudah paham kalau paper ditolak itu wajar, apalagi jika itu adalah submit pertama kali di jurnal yang sangat bagus pula. Aku sudah mempersiapkan mental untuk ini. Maka dari itu aku hanya diam saja. Tapi setelah itu...

Aku ingat beberapa hal yang sudah kulalui selama 2,5 tahun dalam proses menulis 1 research paper ini yang tidak lebih dari 15 halaman.

Sejak tahun 2012 aku masuk kuliah S2 di Taiwan. Masuk ke dalam lab seorang Prof yang memiliki bidang riset yang berbeda dengan ku karena Prof yang aku target tidak menerima mahasiswa internasional. Aku belajar dari nol tentang semua teori yang tidak pernah aku dapatkan sebelumnya selama aku S1. Aneh memang tapi itu yang terjadi.

Selama semester 1 aku berusaha keras bahkan sampai jarang ada waktu untuk jalan-jalan, tidak seperti teman-teman ku yang lainnya. Apalagi ditambah dengan Prof ku yang super sibuk. Email jarang dibalas. Tidak pernah menanyakan tentang progress riset ku sama sekali. Asisten nya yang disuruh untuk assist aku selama ini.

Setelah masa 2 tahun yang ku lalui dengan penuh keringat dan air mata, aku lulus dan melanjutkan S3. Optimis dengan keputusanku S3 di Taiwan karena aku menikah dengan seorang yang bekerja di Taiwan dan mimpiku untuk menjadi seorang dosen. Professor juga memintaku untuk memasukkan hasil riset ku ke dalam jurnal internasional.

Masalahnya, dia memintaku untuk mengubah model sebelumnya dan aku harus melakukan analisis kembali. Aku melakukan analisis dan memperbaiki paper ku selama kurang lebih 1 tahun sampai akhirnya aku memasukkan paper ini ke sebuah jurnal dengan index yang cukup tinggi. Di saat yang sama, dia menyuruhku untuk menaruh namanya sebagai penulis pertama.

Di dunia akademisi, penulis pertama berarti si pemberi ide, si penulis utama, si periset utama, dan apa apa lainnya yang pertama. Tapi, hal yang terjadi adalah beliau adalah sebagai si pemberi ide dan sang penolak model. Aku mengerti beliau Prof ku dan aku mahasiswa. Beliau adalah seseorang yang punya ilmu lebih dibandingkan aku. Tapi kesibukannya yang sangat padat, susahnya bertemu (tak jarang aku menunggu 3 bulan untuk bertemu dengannya), dan hal lain yang membuat ku ingin menjerit, serasa tidak sebanding dengan apa yang kulakukan selama ini. Mengerjakan sendirian segalanya mulai dari pembuatan model sampai penulisan research paper. Aku merasa, I deserve the first author of this paper.

Sebenarnya aku dibantu oleh asistennya. Asistennya ini yang menurutku memiliki kontribusi lebih dalam mengajariku berbagai hal sebelum hasilnya aku serahkan ke prof. Jadi saat itu aku berpikir mungkin lebih baik jika dia menjadi penulis kedua. Tak disangka, aku harus ikhlas untuk menjadi penulis ketiga. Alasan utama prof ku adalah karena dia yang berkontribusi dalam memberi ide.

Di sini lah kesabaran ku diuji dalam menghadapi prof yang seperti ini.

Di sisi lain, di saat yang sama, aku merasa "down" karena banyak teman ku yang mengatakan "Wah, intan keren yaa bisa S3. Habis ini jadi Doktor, trus jadi Professor."

Alhamdulillah aku diberi kesempatan luar biasa untuk sekolah S3 yang tidak semua orang dapatkan. Tapi orang-orang ini juga harus sadar bahwa S3 itu tidak mudah.

Bayangan orang Indonesia S3 itu pokoknya ngerjakan riset, masukin jurnal, sudah. Paling 3 tahun lulus. Kenyataannya, ya bisa jadi seperti itu. Tapi tidak seperti itu yang saat ini aku dan banyak mahasiswa S3 lainnya alami. Menulis riset itu tidak seperti menulis karya ilmiah untuk lomba tingkat S1. Tidak seperti tesis S2. Berbeda.

Harus melewati beberapa tahapan ilmiah. Setelah tahapan selesai dan paper siap di submit ke jurnal internasional, di situlah titik yang berada di luar kontrol kita sebagai penulis. Ibarat kata seperti anak SMA yang ikut UMPTN. Dia sudah belajar mati-matian selama sekolah lalu ikut tes. Babak penentuan adalah ketika usai tes dimana itu sudah di luar kontrol dia. Ada orang yang pintar luar biasa tapi UMPTN tidak lulus. Itulah yang dinamakan "luck" atau keberuntungan.

Submit paper butuh keberuntungan. Tapi tidak cukup dengan keberuntungan. Harus punya tips dan trik khusus. Inilah yang aku butuhkan. Biasanya mahasiswa S3 akan mengalami proses belajar tips trik ini setelah paper ditolak beberapa kali. hahaha

Kepala dan hati serasa lebih sakit daripada patah hati. It's a real serious problem for PhD student.

Tapi, aku sadar, ada hikmah di balik ini semua..setelah aku bertemu dengan profku yang entah ada angin apa langsung mengajak bertemu setelah 1 hari sebelumnya aku mengirimkan e-mail penolakan paper. Ini di luar kebiasaan. haha

Beliau mengatakan kepadaku kalimat yang terngiang-ngiang di kepalaku sampai saat ini.

"Don't be shocked. It's normal that your paper is rejected because you submit it in the highly prestige journal, which has high standard. You have to know their tricks and you will know after several times rejected by them. Don't panic! Learn and Fix your paper based on what the reviewer said on the rejection e-mail! You will learn more and more. Your english is good but you have to know how to write the paper just like the native speaker write their own paper."

Just like this PhD Comic below. hahahaha



You know what? It's a hard thing to do, Sir!
But I will do it. Aku akan melakukannya sebaik mungkin dan mencoba untuk yang terbaik!

Ini adalah sebuah learning process yang harus dijalani seorang mahasiswa S3 dimanapun dia berada apapun major riset mereka.

Hal lainnya adalah ketika seorang mahasiswa S3 harus me-reset otak mereka untuk berpikir bukan seperti mahasiswa S1 dan S2. Harus berpikir "out of the box" dan sesuatu yang baru. Seperti orang yang setelah putus cinta lalu berusaha bangkit dan mencari orang baru untuk dicintai serta tidak melihat masa lalu. hahaha Itu yang susah. Karena untuk mencari sesuatu yang baru berarti sama dengan harus mengerti semua penelitian di masa lalu dan mencari gap nya untuk diteliti.



For you all PhD students out there... remember that there's reason behind rejection which is Learning Process! We will deserve our graduation time with pride and beautiful knowledge when the time is coming!

For you who don't know what PhD life is, just shut up. Don't brag like you know every single thing, because you don't! ( I'm sorry if I'm too harsh, but I have to say that >.< )

Wanna see some cases how PhD students try to survive? you can check on PhD Comic Websites.

Our First Shop : LivreTheBooks is Launched !!

After more than a year planning and designing, I am proudly say that our first online shop is launched this week!! Alhamdulillah.... ^^

Our shop's name is Livre The Books.
We sell printable custom planner and notebook for people who like to have their own personalized planner or notebook.

Me and my best friend, Dini, are launching our first online shop on Etsy. You can check on our shop in this link http://livrethebooks.etsy.com./

As you know that I love organizing so much and since 2 years ago I made my own planner for my personal used. However suddenly I got an idea to sell my design because there are so many people ask me where to buy planner like I have. So, I asked Mbak Dini to become my partner for this business. She's a great person for designing things. We knew each other since we're in college because she's my senior. But, we already became a partner in crime since 3 years ago when we're in Taiwan.

We don't have any background in Design (we are Informatics Engineering graduate by the way), but we have hobby in designing things (started with posters for our organizations' activities) and we have the same dream. We want to have our own business. We want to become entrepreneur from our hobby.

Alhamdulillah Allah gives us a way to make that dream come true.

We become a business partner now. I am the planner designer and she's the cover & divider designer.

We're proudly say that "We are trying as the best as we can to be one of the young muslimah entrepreneur even from a small step"

We believe that this small step can lead us to a bigger success.

If you like planners or organizers (especially when you like something made only for you a.k. custom), you can contact us directly and we will personalized what you want.

We sell a PDF Printable files. So, you can print it by yourself at your home. You just simply buy what you need on our Etsy Shop, links http://livrethebooks.etsy.com./

Products that we sell are general planner and muslim planner, which includes :

✿ Monthly planner
✿ Weekly planner
✿ Daily planner
✿ Reading Log
✿ Password Log
✿ Meeting Record
✿ Meal Planning and Exercise Tracking
✿ etc.

You can buy each of those items or you can buy our bundled package, which is of course cheaper than one item price.

Because it's the opening week, we give you this special discount if you want to buy it. This is the coupon code that you can use when purchasing any of our products. You can get 15% discount with this coupon.

LIVRE01PROMO

This promo code is valid until 31 December 2015.

If you have any trouble in purchasing or you have questions, don't hesitate to contact us and we will trying to help you.

We are looking forward for your review and purchase on our shop!! ^__^

Here are some pictures of our products for you :)

  Check on our Dated Monthly Planner in https://www.etsy.com/listing/245393033/2015-2016-dated-monthly-pdf-printable?ref=shop_home_feat_1

 

  Check on our Dated Weekly Planner in https://www.etsy.com/listing/245501490/2015-2016-dated-weekly-pdf-printable?ref=shop_home_feat_2

Check on our Weekly Planner in https://www.etsy.com/listing/245511660/weekly-planner-pdf-printable-colorful?ref=related-1

 

Check on our Daily Planner in https://www.etsy.com/listing/245617438/daily-planner-pdf-printable-todo-list-2?ref=related-3

Check on our Expense Manager in https://www.etsy.com/listing/245523397/expense-manager-budget-planner-bill?ref=related-7

For other products you check on our Etsy Shop on http://livrethebooks.etsy.com/ or click picture below