28 November 2006

Bakoel Koffie in Bintaro







I was at the grand opening of Bakoel Koffie in Bintaro, South Jakarta. Nice place to have a cup of coffee and to work. Yeah, the cafe provides free internet through wi-fi. Just grab your laptop and browse, baby.

And as usual, nice hospitality of Syeni, Hendra, and the crews. But what attracted me more were the details at the store. So old, so unique, and feels like home. It seems like I sat in an old house back in 1960 something.


10 November 2006

My Movie Lover Friend




Some weeks ago, I got a call from a long time friend of mine who would be transferred to the Big Apple. I had known that as we discussed that through our conversation by phone. That day, when he arrived in Jakarta before his flight to the Big Apple, he asked me to come to a place for a farewell meeting.

And what happened next? He inherited me with tons of stuffs. Some of them are his DVDs.

Hmmm, will I have the chance to watch all of these DVDs? Yeah, you movie freak!

Dear my movie lover friend, thanks for the gifts. I wonder why we never discuss the movies during our friendship? Why we always talk about things that I do not like? Well, I never tell you this, but that is the real feeling of me. Hmm, it is already late, is it?


09 January 2006

Sleeping under the sky

A : Why don’t you sleep? You said that you were sleepy.

B : Yes, already. All I need to do is to close my laptop, lie down and close my eyes. Sleeping under the sky and the stars.

A : What? Sleeping under the sky? Are you sure?

B : Yes, it is true.

It was a conversation between me and a friend who works in Aceh, a place where Tsunami landed.

From here, then I remember that I ever tasted sleeping under the sky for just one night. This happened when I joined the outbound training in a place near a mountain outside of Jakarta. I was a bad girl as I did not want to sleep in a provided tent. I choose to sleep outside of the tent and enjoyed the coldness of the night, the beauty of the moonlight that surrounded by the light of the stars, and the melody of natural orchestra that was played by the choir of crickets and frogs. That night was beautiful. At least, that time I realize that God always creates something beautiful which we sometimes never realize that. In the middle of Jakarta, which I always stuck in the traffic jam and the crowd of people, would I realize the beauty of the night from my home? Well, I do too much of activities that I forget to make love with Mother Nature.

From here too, I then thought more about this activity of sleeping under the sky. What I did was just for one night only. My brain said that if it happened for just one night only, it is cool as sometimes we need to find different situation, but if sleeping under the sky is a part of the situation and condition just like what happened to my friend, how should I face it? From there, my mind then travels to other unlucky humans that have such situation and condition where they should sleep under the sky, such as the beggars, those who do not have house, etc. Well, my heart cries to think about how much pain they need to suffer, how they should fight the coldness of the night, the heavy rain and the hotness of the sunlight.

Finally, I can only thank God that I still have a place to live where it protects me from bad things. I also need to thank God that my condition is not that bad. At least, my condition is better than those who live on the street and it is all because God has provided things enough for me. Thanks, God, for everything. Amen.
Cheers,
Astrid

Tidur di bawah langit

A : Udah sana, tidur gih. Katanya ngantuk.

B : Iya, udah nih. Tinggal nutup laptop, berbaring dan memejamkan mata. Tidur di bawah langit dan bintang.

A : Hah, tidur di bawah langit? Yang bener?

B : Iya, beneran.



Itulah sekilas percakapan antara saya dan seorang teman yang sekarang sedang ditugaskan di salah satu tempat bencana Tsunami berlabuh, yaitu Aceh.

Dari sini saya kok jadi teringat bahwa saya pun pernah mencicipi tidur di bawah langit semalam saja. Ini terjadi ketika ada acara outbound di salah satu tempat pegunungan di luar kota Jakarta. Saya memang bandel banget waktu itu karena tidak mau tidur di salah satu tenda yang telah disediakan. Saya lebih memilih untuk tidur di luar tenda dan menikmati dinginnya malam, indahnya sinar cahaya bulan yang dikelilingi oleh cahaya bintang yang jumlahnya puluhan dan merdunya orkestra alami yang dimainkan oleh paduan suara jangkrik dan kodok. Indah sekali malam itu. Paling tidak, saya waktu itu menyadari bahwa Tuhan selalu menciptakan yang indah yang kadang terlewatkan oleh manusia. Kalau di tengah kota Jakarta yang macet dan hiruk pikuk itu, apakah saya menyadari akan indahnya malam dari dalam rumah saya? Ah, saya ternyata kebanyakan beraktifitas dan lupa bercinta dengan alam.
Dari situ juga, saya kemudian berpikir lebih lanjut tentang aktifitas tidur di bawah langit ini. Apa yang saya kerjakan waktu itu hanya terjadi semalam saja. Pemikiran saya, kalau cuma semalam sih memang enak karena sesekali memang kita harus mencari suasana yang berbeda, tapi kalau tidur di bawah kaki langit itu ternyata dilakukan sebagai bagian dari keadaan dan situasi seperti apa yang terjadi pada teman saya itu, bagaimana ya? Dari situ, pemikiran saya pun mengembara ke para manusia kurang beruntung lainnya yang karena situasi dan kondisi mereka akhirnya harus tidur di bawah langit, seperti para pengemis, orang yang tidak punya rumah, dll. Ah, hati saya pun langsung trenyuh memikirkan itu. Betapa menderitanya mereka yang harus hidup di luar tanpa rumah, bagaimana mereka harus melawan dinginnya malam, derasnya hujan dan teriknya matahari.
Akhirnya saya cuman bisa bersyukur bahwa saya masih mempunyai tempat berlindung dimana saya bisa terhindar dari hal-hal yang tidak baik. Saya pun harus bersyukur bahwa keadaan saya tidak jelek-jelek amat. Paling tidak, keadaan saya lebih baik dari mereka-mereka yang ada di jalanan sana dan ini semuanya karena telah dicukupkan oleh Tuhan. Terima kasih, Tuhan, atas segala-galanya. Amin.
Salam,
Astrid


28 December 2005

Patience & Value of Friendship

God has just blessed me with an old experience but it is getting deeper, and that is patience. Patience has been a good friend of mine, which is loyal enough to accompany me, and I also try to get used to be closed and get along with the patience, though its companies, such as the tears and the hurt inside my heart, like to participate as the cheerleader and the supporting act. Still, the patience dominates my soul, as I believe that God never sleeps. There must be causes, consequences and compensations of everything. Moreover, I take it gladly with heart. Well, anything may happen to us, but the sun still rises in the east side and sets in the west side. Therefore, whatever situations we have, life still goes on. That is what I do now which is to go on with my life.

I also learn that some situations can open my eyes and show me the knowledge about true friends and enemies, and that friends can turn to be enemies. It is clear that the depth of some friendships is only a skin deep away that may be broken if it is scratched a bit. If I am the one who scratch it, off course I will request an apology, things that I always do. However, if the one who scratch it is other people, sometimes a slaughter will occur without any chance to defense ourselves. Well, that is life; do not expect that all things will be conducted as we plan and as we wish.

Cheers,
Astrid