Life's Never Boring Beibi!: work

50 years old Lady Owner

22:00:00

Today, after Hayu’s school, we went to do button hunting. I searched button for finishing my baby cardigan project. Several shop closed so we went quite far, until we found an old shop covered by dusts with a lady owner. She was interested to my project, asking about how much the yarn costs, where did I learn knitting, etc. She complained how difficult the technique of knitting, how difficult the yarn business nowadays and another complaints on selling yarn. It is really contradictory to my belief to the blooming of yarn & craft business now.

As the gesture showed, I presume she owned the place by herself, which means she is ridiculously rich because the place is huge, 6 times of my house size. The location itself really strategic and it means many opportunities to meet the potential buyer. But then I realized that the world is changing. I feel optimistic to sell yarn and continuously knit because I know the market is there, I know where to market my product and another strategic marketing things. I know all of it because of internet, books and community. It's all about knowledge and technology. If we are not betting into technologies, we will definitely left behind. If we are not learn or adjust to the new technology, we left out.

And it reminds me to the video of Gary Vee. This is also, perhaps, a kind of letter to my 50 years old self. Just continue to learn, no matter how old you are. No regret in this one life.

cooking

First Bucks Always The Sweetest

08:34:00

Last week I posted a picture in my instagram account: three boxes in a frame showing pictures of traditional javanese yellow rice, a decorated ricebox and a logo named Kukila. Alhamdulillah, that was my first time in having bucks from my cooking creation. Yeaaayyy! =D

The first step is always the biggest, and anything you earned is priceless & sweet. I've been already feel the fruits of my hard work in communication skills, translation, public speaking, selling, arts, organizing events and so on. But cooks? I never thought of it. And it doubled the panic attacks, the curiosity and the happiness.

It starts when mas Igak, my former boss & a good friend as forever asked me to make a complete javanese yellow rice packaged in a box for his daughter's birthday. He asked me to decorate it with "Princess" theme. Okay, I suddenly have a head Full of doubt and a heartbeat which keep increased. I believe that I could make it as my pleasure, but take it as an order which need to be responsible is quite new to me.

I need reassuring myself over and over by asking my mom & hubby's opinion about my own capabilities. After did several profit calculations and simple maths of my guts, I choose to receive the order.

About the food & recipes, checked. The deco & shapes, a gigantic question mark raised. I have an idea to make it as a bento concept, but it doesn't suit "Princess" theme. Then I tried to search the moulding for the rice. It's a completely unbeatable hunting. Finally I made it into 3 shapes: teddy bear, heart & butterfly. I tried to add "Princess" feeling by stick a Cinderella picture to the perkedel skewers. Hehe.

For the outside decoration, I put colourful tape and top it off with the logo of Kukila. I made the logo image with Snapee, 20 minutes in my cellphone. Not bad, isn't it? ;)

I already have Kukila blueprint since last year. I am not sure when will I start the whole plan. But when I did this project, I thought it was a clear sign (and a loud pray) to start Kukila bit by bit. And the most important is starting it now.

Since then I was a (trying hard to be) busy bee, prepare every step by myself. The time has come and I hope I could complete all the lines in the blueprint. Wish me luck, fellas! =*

fave

D-1: Behind The Scene of Project Tobong

10:19:00

Wah, time flies at the speed of light! Somehow I don't believe that tomorrow is the day of Offsite Project Launch at Tobong. It means I only have 8 days to the final work. Huhuhu. I'll definitely miss these routines: photoshoot, on the road all day long, editing, visit & have a laugh with people in Tobong. I used to it now. =')

Anyway, I want to show you "the behind the scenes" of Tobong Project. I made most of it, except those whose had me inside, hehe. So I show you the selection of my favorite include several shot from my Instagram. Be prepare, it's a lot! =D

My bosses back: Helen Marshall & Risang Yuwono.

Assistant photographer means: a lot of things to carry.

Our Duke with his high top boots and his lovely Blackberry. =P

The flashes left by their master.

Our kind-hearted flash master & the multi-function reflector.

Captured! It's quite hard for portraying plane & mas Klowor at a good proportion. Pfiuh..

Can you see him? He is Pak Gembus, standing in the fence of Monjali. Crazy.

mas Banjir, me & mas Klowor. They dressed up as thieves. Cool & scary!

And, tomorrow, everyone's invited for coming to our Project Launch. You included, of course. Just come to Dusun Bayen, Purwomartani, Kalasan Yogyakarta. For more info about the place, click www.ketopraktobong.com. Join us! =)

friends

Flypost, Et Cetera, Yada Yada

18:56:00

photo taken by Risang Yuwono

I've told you before that now is the beginning of busy time in my workplace. It is, and I wanna show you one of that I'm doing: flypost! You might be see these papers sticked in the street at Jogja in next few days. Hope it will attract more people to participate in our program.

And I thought it was just yesterday I post about friends visit, but today I've got another surprise visit from c2o library/ayorek fellas, and surprisingly my professor at the college: Dede Oetomo. Really really happy! I miss them so much before. Even tomorrow they could visit Tobong and see Ketoprak as well as seeing what I'm working now. Double happiness! I love when my lovely friends and families around me. Nothing compare.

For sure.

*smile ear to ear*

daily

Daily Day

15:43:00

I'm getting busier by the project. Trying hard to balance between house-work and the project. It is hard, for sure. I even get a vertigo that I haven't had before. But still, I'm enjoying every phase of it happily. =)

You could visit Tobong project's website now: www.ketopraktobong.com. You could check the progress, everyday. And you could follow it in Twitter too: @ketopraktobong.

Anyway, being in work doesn't mean you should lose your happy time. I spent my last weekend at NgayogJazz 2012, in Brayut village, Sleman. I will tell you the complete story later. And I obviously explore Jogja more and more: new places, new peoples, new tastes, new happiness! For example, I have had dinner last week with colleagues in Kedai Kebun. Artsy for sure, because it is run by artist. I captured few pictures where they held an exhibition. Unique!

Book Play Project #01, this dragon made from paper!

The Dragon, closer look

"Frighten", It's only one word from a sentence. All of 'em were cut-out like this.

Jogja

Like The Page!

00:15:00

It has launched! The early step for bringing my-now-involved-project is by a Facebook page. I'm proudly introduce you: Ketoprak Tobong project. =)

Until next 2 months, my post will be including Project Tobong, I guess. Perhaps, a lot of behind the scene things also comes up. We haven't know that yet. But, try to give some attention and participate fellas. At least, by clicking Likes in

http://www.facebook.com/ketopraktobong . Okay? ;;)

lesson

Detil, Resourceful & Konsisten

11:02:00

Ketiga kata di atas adalah simpulan yang saya dapatkan dari kultwit Pak Bondan Winarno kemarin, di akun twitter-nya dengan kode tagar #foodies. Beliau memaparkan beberapa hal, dikhususkan untuk foodies (penggemar makan/kuliner). Tapi, hemat saya, ini tidak hanya bisa diterapkan dalam urusan icip-icip dan menikmati makanan. Lebih dari itu. Biar tidak penasaran, berikut kutipan lengkapnya.

Mulailah 'memelihara' food diary (di buku kecil, notes di HP, dll) ttg makanan/minuman yg Anda nikmati. Catat namanya dgn benar.
Catat nama dan alamat tempat Anda makan. Catat juga experience Anda ttg makanan/minuman yg dinikmati secara agak rinci.
Bila perlu, buat foto dari makanan/minuman itu. Catat harga. Bila berguna utk Anda, catat koordinat lat/lon tempat tsb.
Tambahkan/mutakhirkan catatan bila Anda mendapat info lain. Google untuk mendapat bandingan dgn pengalaman orang lain.
Mulailah berkesadaran utk menjadi orang yg resourceful. Bukan orang yang bertanya, lalu lupa, lalu bertanya lagi.
Jangan bertanya bila Anda tidak mencatat. Anda semua bisa menjadi pemerhati kuliner andal bila alatnya bukan sekadar lidah/perut

Sederhana? Ya, memang. Tapi menusuk di beberapa kalimat yang ditebalkan, terutama bagi saya yang susah istiqomah dalam menjalani hobi atau pekerjaan. Saya kerap bosan, mudah tertarik hal baru dan lupa hal lama. Hasilnya, tidak ada satu pun yang benar-benar saya dalami, kecuali Gathotkaca Studio. Hmm.

Detil

Dalam kultwit tersebut, Pak Bondan menyebutkan tips yang agak "lain": pencatatan koordinat latitude & longitude tempat kuliner, pemutakhiran catatan. Rasanya kok terlalu ndakik-ndakik dan di awang-awang ya tentang koordinat posisi tempat makan. Memang sih, jejaring sosial 4square saja sudah bisa membantu kita untuk melakukannya. Tetapi, apa sebegitu penting? Sisi lain di otak saya menjawab, tentu penting! Standar apa yang kira-kira bisa digunakan dan telah disetujui dunia untuk menyatakan tempat? Di film-film saja, ketika menentukan target, memakai koordinat pula kan Von? He just try to bring you further than you're imagined: world standardization.

Well, sedikit melompat. Jujur saja, saya dulu sangat sinis bin iri terhadap "wisata kuliner" yang dipandu oleh Pak Bondan Winarno. Bagaimana tidak, siapa kiranya yang mampu menandingi kayanya adjektiva jurnalis yang laporan investigasinya diakui dunia? Investigasi menuntut kejelian, kepandaian merekam informasi dan kemampuan deskripsi yang tajam dan presisi. Lha sudah biasa dengan kasus besar, kok sekarang jadi "kasus kecil-kecil" yaitu makanan. Tapi ya ujung-ujungnya saya harus mengakui kekaguman saya pada cara Pak Bondan menerapkan metode beliau, tak peduli besar kecilnya kasus: (super) detil.

Resourceful

Saya belum menemukan padanan kata asing ini. Artiannya dapat merentang dari kreatif, cerdik, pandai, hingga jujur. Resourceful mampu merekam seluruh sifat-sifat tersebut menjadi satu. Jika dijabarkan seperti apa itu 'menjadi resourceful'? Maka yang paling mendekati penjelasan Pak Bondan adalah orang yang mampu menghargai informasi yang ia dapat, menyimpannya baik-baik dan dimanfaatkan di saat yang tepat.

Kalau dingat-ingat, rasanya memang sering saya jengkel pada orang yang seusai bertanya lalu bertanya lagi atas penjelasan yang sama. Saya juga lebih jengkel kepada diri saya sendiri ketika ada di posisi tersebut hanya karena lupa tidak mencatatnya dengan baik, atau lebih parah, lupa mencatatnya di mana. My bad habit. =(

Konsisten

Kata ini adalah salah satu topik yang teratur saya tuliskan di blog ini, minimal tiap tahun. Bukan apa-apa, tetapi ini memang penyakit lama dan sering kambuh bagi saya, hingga perlu rasanya berkali-kali mengingatkan diri sendiri. Saya sangat bersyukur atas anugerah-Nya, saya mampu memelajari sesuatu hal dengan cepat. Hal ini membantu saya dalam beradaptasi, bersosialisasi hingga proses mencari rejeki. Tetapi di sisi lain saya juga memiliki kekurangan untuk tidak bisa tekun, tak mampu bersabar cukup lama untuk memerangi rasa bosan dan enggan yang menghampiri, serta ketertarikan pada hal baru yang dapat tumbuh dengan pesat dalam waktu singkat. Well, get some lose some.

Ketika dibaca berulang kali, semakin terasa bahwa hal-hal ini (ketekunan, atensi pada detil dan being resourceful) yang belum saya lakukan untuk menghayati hidup saya, untuk menjaga passion dan mencapai tujuan utama. Jalan masih panjang Bung, dan ia luas terbentang. Mari terus berusaha!

;)

PS. Maaf ya Pak Bondan, karena pernah sirik dan iri. Kapan-kapan saya sampaikan langsung permintaan maaf ini, in person. =)

life

Heart Month

05:07:00

The theme of last month is heart.

1. The heart-thumping moment

My brother, mas Andre, opened his first noodle stall in Malang, in Soekarno-Hatta street for exactly. It has a catchy name: Mie Buto Ijo or Green Giant Noodle. I was fortunate to be there in Malang and help him. The noodle is delicious, I mean it. It's made with vegetable extract, that's why the color is green. And the unique side is you should choose your "hotness level" when you want to try it. It has zero until 5th level. First level equals to 7 chillis. Hehe. Yes, it's so spicy. Try 'em when you go to Malang. It has 2 stalls: Sulfat st. and Soekarno-Hatta st. I'm salivating right away just because telling you this. Yumm! =9

Green Giant Noodle, #1 level!

Am trying the #2 level. Hot!

2. The most heartbreaking short message

Sheila sent me a SMS that made me teary: "... last night all my bestfriends were there kcuali km huhuuuu....". Yeah, a pity me, I can't go to my beautiful twin's marriage. And yesterday she just left Surabaya to her hubby's, Makassar. After passing through many things, I thought she's already passed the tests and have a new grade in her life. A new and bright life. I'm proud of her. Take care, twin. =*

I should be there also, T_T

3. Heart-enthralling time: saying goodbye

I'm excited yet feeling sappy at the same time: when I should do "rolling" into another outlet. I've already know that I have to do this, but still, talk is cheap baby. I've fell in love into my team, my kitchen crews, feel so comfortable to work with 'em. I do really know what I should do is to do the same with the new outlets, but still -once again-, it takes time and courage and good willing to do it all. It's already 5th day in Q-Royal, and am trying to work my ass off on many things. Fighting!

Ah, these kids. =D

Could you see the heart-shaped in my noodle? Cooked by mas Poer, as my farewell. =')

4. My heart rang up!

If you noticed, I finally wore a ring. After a whole life without any remarkable jewellery on me. Hehe. But now I realized how the meaning of symbolic thing is beyond itself. How the presence is more than enough than a bunch of words of explanation. And it is really works for shooing any intruder. It says, "I'm someone's, you better leave", louder than another way. =D

And for the last, I'm quoting my friends post:

"Some people are like cloud.

When they are disappear, it is brighter." =P

However, my heart feels broader now. Surabaya's sky seems brighter.

marketing

Official Cling!

10:51:00

Just received an official windows cling from foursquare for my workplace, right away from Ames, Iowa - US. It takes 42 days to arrive here safely. I do really envy to this cling. It traveled further than me!
=D

PS: All of Qua-Li now is an official venue. Go check-in here! =)

daily

Emergency Breakfast

22:16:00

Have to go to outlet in a very short time. Doesn't have enough minutes for buying a breakfast, then I just bring 2 eggs. Yes, raw material. And ask a favor to my chef-mate. Voila! Deliciousss! =D

lesson

Tirakat

23:41:00

The heights by great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

January 24th, 2012

Took a picture with my service crew at the outlet, because these 2 boys will be "rolled" into another outlet.

Have a job here taught me the real meaning of hard work, effort and result.

I hope I could be better in every day, in every time.

My goal is triumph, that's why I should give a try and umph(s)!

daily

Quoting

16:16:00

Corner of my workplace.

It suits me a lot anyway. =D

lesson

Last Day

23:00:00

Finally, I smoothly passed today: my last day in International Office and Partnership Universitas Airlangga. I'm proud for been here. I felt the joy and hard works. I've been through difficult situation. Worked here, taught me bunches lesson of structure, system, management, fund and bitter reality. I've also dealt with many priceless chances. As my boss IGAK Satrya Wibawa said, IOP is my family. I could chase a new path, but still, as a family we will never put aside, and will support each other.

22 months was not short time either.

Thank you, IOP.

=')