What Is In A Name?

Nama panggilan apa ya yang cocok untuk orang di sebelah ini?

Sebelum aku nikah Januari 2006 yang lalu, banyak banget wejangan yang aku dapet dari tante, om, bude, pakde dan anggota-anggota keluarga senior lainnya. Satu wejangan yang paling sering diulang-ulang : “Kalau udah nikah, manggil suaminya ga boleh manggil nama lagi ya! Musti pake panggilan awalan, 'mas', 'abang', 'aa' dan sejenisnya!”

Fuih…susah amat. Kalau aku nikahnya sama orang lain sih mungkin bisa switch dengan gampang . Tapi M’pri mah terlalu ga serius untuk dipanggil dengan nama-nama seperti itu. Wakakakakkk…
Lagian, waktu itu kita kan sekantor, jadi agak kagok aja kalau mendadak ganti nama panggilan. Sempet sih muter otak cari-cari nama panggilan yang cocok untuk (calon) suamiku yang luchu ini. Apa ya enaknya?

Kalau manggilnya ‘Mas’, kayanya ga pantes banget deh. Liat aja tampangnya, sipit dan berkuping besar. Ga ada jawa-jawanya sama sekali. 'Abang' gimana? Well, he’s neither medan or betawi... 'Aa'? Yea rite…'Uda'? Lumayan sih, tapi calonnya kakakku dulu panggilannya juga 'Uda'. Masa sama sih? Dan karena frustasi ga nemu nama panggilan yang pas akhirnya aku keukeuh manggil dia seperti biasa, “M’pri”, pastinya dengan omelan dari kiri kanan. Ssssst!!!Brisik ah!

Tapi ujung-ujungnya, adik-adikku yang bandel-bandel ikut-ikutan manggil dia 'M’pri'. Eh M’pri! Kadieu geura! *Hehehe ga segitunya sih*..dasar ga sopan kalian semua! Kalau aku sih gapapa manggilnya 'M’pri', kalau kalian mah wajib atuh pake emblem-emblem!

Anyway, udah setahun nikah baru deh aku kepikiran lagi. Kayanya emang perlu ya manggil pake nama panggilan. Kalau misalnya kita punya anak, nanti tau-taunya anaknya ngikutin ibunya, manggil bapaknya “M’pri, M’pri!”. Wah gawat. Lagian kita kan udah ga sekantor lagi. Jadi ga usah kagok lagi dong. Dan setelah ditimbang-timbang, kayanya panggilan “Akang” lucu juga. Biar nyunda kitu. Awalnya geli sih, cuma aku berusaha ngebiasain deh, for our better future…
Jadi…aku tau pasti adik-adikku bakal baca postinganku ini. Ade, Akif, Cica, mulai sekarang ga ada lagi ya yang manggil pake sebutan 'Mpri'! Sekarang manggilnya 'Akang M’pri'! Repeat after me:'AKANG M’PRI'! Awas loh kalau ga nurut aku jitak atu-atu!

Cerita Nyasar

Padang Bay, Padang Galak, Padang-Padang…
Semuanya bukan di Sumatra barat, tapi di sini, di Bali.

Waktu Icul, adikku yang centil main ke Bali, kita ngerencanain untuk menikmati sunrise di Pantai Padang-Padang. Setelah nonton pertandingan juara 3 World Cup 2006, langsung deh kita bertiga berangkat. Ke Karangasem kan? Lewat by pass Sanur aja! Seperti biasa, kalau jalan-jalan, aku selalu kebagian pegang peta dan jadi penunjuk arah. Akang M'pri mah pasrah aja jadi supir.
Ternyata kita berangkat aga kesiangan, jadi ga keburu deh ngejar sunrise. Gapapa, nanti di Pantai Padang-Padang kan masih bisa main, semua orang yang udah pernah kesana selalu bilang Pantai Padang-padang itu cantik banget. Malah katanya Tiara Lestari pernah loh pemotretan di sana.

Setelah udah sampai kKarangasem, baru deh kita cari-cari belokan ke Pantai Padang-Padang. Nah ini nih ada plang penunjuk jalan. Padang Bai belok ke kanan. Sama aja kan Padang-Padang sama Padang Bai. Belok deh kita…

Loh loh...pas diliat-liat, kok, ga terlalu bagus ya pantainya. Ini mah kaya pelabuhan. Gapapa deh, masuk dulu aja ke gerbangnya trus tanya satpam, kali aja kalau udah masuk baru keliatan bagusnya.

Akang Mpri buka jendela…

“Pak pak, kalau ke Pantai Padang-Padang, ke sini kan?”

Pak satpamnya bengong.

“Bapak ini sebenernya mau kemana?”

“Mmmmm...emang ini dimana?”

“Ini pelabuhan Padang Bai, kalau mau ke Lombok atau ke Nusa penida bisa naik ferry lewat sini..”

“Kalau Padang-Padang?”

“................................itu sih di Jimbaran..”

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA???????????????

Setelah kejadian itu baru deh aku tahu kalau Padang Bai, Padang Galak, dan Padang-padang itu semua tempat yang berbeda. Padang Bai itu ada di Karangasem. Padang Galak itu ada di deket Sanur. Padang-padang itu adanya di Jimbaran, Ikeoooow!!Deket uluwatu sonooo…

Euleuh euleuuh…ya maap. Liat aja positipnya...Kalo ga kaya gitu kan kita ga jadi main ke Karangasem…hehehe.

Setelah kejadian itu, baru akhirnya weekend kemarin kesampaian jalan-jalan ke Pantai Padang-Padang yang, kaya banyak orang bilang, cantik banget. Jalan masuknya aja udah dramatis, ngelewatin tangga di antara dua tebing yang jaraknya cuma cukup untuk lewat satu orang.

Sedikit tips untuk yang bawa anak kecil (atau bawa suami :D), mending kalau mau jalan-jalan ke Padang-Padang, agak pagian deh…soalnya siang dikit udah mulai bermunculan bule-bule topless…hehehe. FYI Pantai Padang-Padang ini bukan pantai yang besar seperti Kuta, jadi agak susah deh mengalihkan perhatian anak (atau suami :D) kalau tiba-tiba ada yang telanjang di depannya…ups gawat kan.

Eniwei, selamat jalan-jalan ya! Weekend depan kemana ya? Padang Bai, Padang Galak atau Bukittinggi?

ps. - liat juga cerita Padang Galaknya Akang M'pri disini
- liat foto-foto Padang-Padang lain di Flickrku

The Coolest Shoes

Ugly,not really
Comfy, definitely

Kalau kamu pikir sepatu crocs-ku jelek, kamu ga sendirian ko. Pendapat kamu sama kaya ibu bapak saya, adik kakak saya, dan banyak lagi orang-orang lain di dunia ini. Kata Akang M’pri malah sepatuku kaya sepatu Mickey Mouse.


Terserah deh, Sayang… yang jelas, ini sepatu ter-pe-we yang pernah aku punya. Tahan air tapi tetep adem. Ga usah khawatir kalau diajak jalan-jalan ke pantai atau sekedar wudu di kantor. Empuk dan durable banget! ga bikin cape kaki kalau diajak jalan jauh dan ga bikin kulit tumit jadi ngeletek. Sip kan…

Waktu mau beli sepatu ini November 2006 lalu sempet dilema, beli yang mana ya, crocs model beach yang klasik, mary jane atau ballerina? Akhirnya pilihan dijatuhkan kepada si mary jane, karena katanya model beach dah banyak tiruan cina-nya dan model ballerina ga bisa dipake jogging.

Sebenernya pengen juga sih sekali-kali pake sepatu yang agak girly and cute. Tapi, ujung-ujungnya balik lagi ke crocs karena sepatu yang lain kayanya emang ga jodoh ma kakiku. Nanti kapan-kapan mau ah beli crocs yang model ballerina biar agak sweet gitu. Mending pilih warna apa ya? Merah apa ijo?

Akang Mpri, yang dulu nyela-nyela sepatu crocs mary jane coklatku, sekarang lagi ngidam sepatu crocs model all terrain. Kikikikkk…ketularan croc fever juga ya ;)? Sayangnya terakhir kita window shopping di Discovery Mall Bali, crocs model itu tinggal sisa warna merah dan orens..huahaha ga dia banget deh…

Yang lucu, kita pernah ngelihat sepatu ini juga dijual di salah satu toko obat dan alat-alat kesehatan di Bali. Hmmm…kenapa ya? Apa karena udah terbukti sepatu crocs baik untuk kesehatan? Bisa jadi. Enak dipake sih.

Gimana? Dah terinspirasi untuk beli sepatu crocs juga? Worth to buy kok biar harganya agak mahal. Sayangnya, yang aku tau di Bandung ga ada outlet khususnya. Orang bandung lebih suka ballerina shoes ala FO atau King’s kali ya? Hehehe…Balik ke selera masing-masing sih. Tapi buat aku mah, crocs enakeun teuing euy..!

Blessing in Disguised

*LOL*

I just checked my email and read weekly reports from sitemeter.

It was shocking! Fenomenal! Unbelievable!

Only this week, this page has been visited 408 times.with average 27 visits a day. Wow! This is quiet uplifting since this blog is not priyadi.net, or enda.goblogmedia.com or any blogs belong to Indonesian blogger celebrities. Besides, I only promoted this blog to my close relatives and friends.

What happened?

Apparently without I realized, this blog is guarded by an angel that attracts people to visit my blog. Christiano Ronaldo. *LOL*.

I post his pic in this blog few days ago to complete my article about airasia. I had no awareness that he was THAT popular. All I know that he’s the cutest soccer player alive this century. I didn’t expect that I do something REALLY right. Most people who visited my blog was deceived by keyword “Christiano Ronaldo” they got while they were googling. Most of them do some image search. And they trapped.

Here I am, stunned by the sitemeter report and being madly in love with Christiano Ronaldo. My hero.

Zinedine Zidane. Paulo Maldini. David Beckham. Romario. Wayne Rooney. Luis Figo. Bebeto. Pele. Ronaldinho. Deco.Jurgen Klinsmann. Hakan Sukur. Fabio Cannavaro. Franz Beckenbauer. Marco Van Basten.

Come on people. Go visit my blog.

WANTED : PRT

Dicari:
Pembantu rumah tangga

Jujur, rajin, baik hati, ga ngelunjak, tinggal ga jauh dari sibanggede bali
Waktu kerja seminggu dua kali selain hari sabtu dan minggu jam 8-5 sore

Job des:
pekerjaan utama beres-beres, cuci piring, nyapu rumah+ halaman, ngepel, nyetrika
pekerjaan tambahan ( ga setiap saat): kupas bawang, Bantu-bantu nyiapin bahan masakan, beresin tempat tidur, dll

Ada yang punya kenalan dengan spesifikasi di atas? Harap hubungi aku lewat comment di blog ini ya ;)

Masalah cari-cari pembantu ini jadi isu hangat sejak beberapa bulan yang lalu. Sejak Bu Wahyu *hehehe kok namanya syama ma ibuku yaa* - pembantuku dulu yang masuknya seminggu sekali- pulang ke jawa dan ga balik-balik lagi. Hiks. Sumpah bukan karna pundung, tapi emang waktu itu dia lagi ada masalah keluarga *atau sebenernya pundung trus cari-cari alasan ya? Hihihi tau deeh*. Sejak Bu Wahyu tiada, hari-hariku jadi tambah sibuk deh. Biar cuma dateng seminggu sekali, Bu Wahyu lumayan menolong, apalagi untuk urusan setrikaan dan ngepel. Sekarang? Huaaaaaaaaa…cape deeeh…Biarpun aku sekarang dah resign dari kantor yang dulu kan tetep aja males kalo hari-hariku diabisin buat nyetrika doang mana kerjaan rumah yang lain juga kaya ga abis-abis..ada lagi eh ada lagi. Sebel. Aku kan pengen kerja juga, tambah ilmu plus earning my own money.

Eniwei, kemaren sempet ada cahaya terang datang dari temenku. Nih ada keponakan nawarin pembantu. Sekarang dia kerja jadi cleaning service di bank, tapi kalau dua kali seminggu sih mau buat nambah-nambah. Asiiiiik akhirnya bantuan akan datang! Aku bisa bebas dari urusan setrika menyetrika dan pel mengepel….Eits, jangan seneng dulu, Neng! Ternyata, pertama, Cuma bisa sabtu minggu. Kedua, eng ing eeeeeng minta salarynya 50 ribu perak seharinya!!!…Baaaah!Ke laut aja sonooo!!!!

Pengen marah!!!! Gimana ga pengen marah, rumah*kontrakan*ku ukurannya cuma 36 m2. Isinya cuma dua orang. Jangan disamain ma bank doong!!!kalo mau bayar segitu mah mending aku beres-beres sendiri trus seminggu dua kali panggil mba bulan buat pijet plus luluran. Sama aja bayarnya.

Jadiiii, kalau ada yang punya nominasi pembantu rt dengan spek di atas tolong kontak aku yaa…aku pengennya yang dateng pagi pulang sore, soalnya kalo nginep di rumah ga ada tempat. Aku juga ga mau kalau dia cuma bisa dateng sabtu minggu, karena weekend waktunya aku+mpri jalan-jalan atau males-malesan di rumah. Gitu deeeh…

Mohon bantuannya yaa! :)

Back to My Origin

Piper…Something (I forgot her surname ,okay!), was a graduated student from United States. While she was doing her research in Jogja, she stayed in my aunt’s house at Karangasem, Jogjakarta. She spoke Bahasa really well, she even spoke Javanese, and she was very good in bargaining prices as well. She called my aunt ‘ibu’, o yes they are really close just like mother and daughter.

One day my aunt visited my family in our house in Bandung. While we’re chatting about our life, I asked her about piper. Did she enjoy living in Indonesia? Was she doing good with her research? What was she doing on the weekend?

My aunt replied, yes she does enjoy living in Jogja, thought she has to escape from my house in every one or two months for hanging out with her American friends. You know, she needs some refreshment from talking bahasa all the time. She said it was stressful sometimes to speak with foreign language all the time.

Suddenly my sister busted out into tears. Laughing. Of course she does! While I was studying in States I couldn’t imagine being an English speaker 24 hours a day 7 days a week! Thanks God my roommate was Indonesian and there were few of Indonesian family lived in my flat.

Hmmmmm….got the point?

For all this time I always write my blog in English. Though I enjoyed it but I have to be honest that sometimes it blocks me from updating my blog since English is not my mother tongue. You know, it’s hurt me much because I barely ever have any chances to write Indonesian slang phrases such as “Tape deeeh”, or “Maksud lo?”, or Maleeesss”, or “ Ni yeee” oh wait, the last one seems a bit eighties… Anyway I have decided that starting today most of my next post will be written in Bahasa. That would be a truly liberation for my writing expression. Are my reason clear enough to be justified? I think so…

But if you still interested to read my writing in terrible English, you can check out my other blog, baledesa[in]. see ya!

#41 Fly With Air Asia

Since I moved out to Bali two years ago, I have tried various Indonesia low fare airlines as my transportation preferences for going home to Jakarta and Bandung. But these past few months I only stick to one airline, Indonesia Air Asia. There are many reasons why I chose this airline thought I’ve heard so many complains about it.

First, it offers reasonable price, with many interesting promotion as well.

pic from http://www.tucoo.com

Second, the online booking system makes my life sooo much easier. I couldn’t figure out why no other Indonesia airlines are following this great system. We, the customers, don’t have to be worried to lose our ticket because we can print as many copies as we like anytime, anywhere. We are able to make transaction earlier; when other airlines open their booking period most early two weeks before flight. We also can choose any flights that fit to our budget.

Third, Air Asia is the official low fare airline for Manchester United therefore I can enjoy Christiano Ronaldo pics as long as I want in the cabin. O yes, fly never been this fun.

Of course we still have to face delay issue. Hello, this is Indonesia we’re talking about. But still, I think so far Air Asia handles it quiet well. Here are some interesting notes and tips that I got from my own experience flying with Indonesia Air Asia. I hope it would be useful for you.

Ticket and online reservation

1. Join their Red Alert newsletter. You’ll get promotion information earlier than anyone who read it on the newspaper.

2. Be careful when you’re doing online transactions; make sure you don’t have any problems with your credit card (expired, over limit etc). NEVER, EVER click the stop, refresh, close button when air asia is processing your transaction. Make sure that your internet connection is performing well also.You’ve been warned.

3. NEVER EVER do any online transaction at public computer.

4. After finishing the transaction, travel itinerary will show up on your windows, do not close this window before you print its hardcopies or pdf or save the html (thought air asia will send this itinerary to your email address, but hey, you’ll never know what will happen next)

5. Check what written on your ticket over and over. Check all payment to make sure you do the transaction correctly, check your schedule, date and time. You don’t want to miss your flight and having trouble at the check in counter, will you?

6. When you’ve already received the travel itinerary in your inbox, put it in separate folder, to help you find it easily.

7. At the worst case when you lost your print out ticket, do not panic. Call their phone center, or go to their booth at the airport, they will ask your name, your credit card number, your flight schedule and they will print the tickets for you.

Simple huh?

Read this one to handle flight delay

1. Usually air asia team informs any flight delay few hours before. So make sure your cell phone is always on.

2. When you hear your flight is about to be delayed, whether it ruins out your whole schedule or not, do not stand still. Ask the staffs if there are any other flight schedule that’s available for you. If not, be insisting that you have to reach your destination on time, therefore you have to take other flight from other airline. Since airasia ticket is unrefundable, your money is not repaid as cash but as deposit instead. You can use the deposit to buy any airasia ticket at some other time.

Boarding time and on the plane

1. You can choose your site freely in the cabin. Nice actually, however it causes some other problem. Passengers tends to be rush on boarding time. Some passengers don’t mind to push, kick, step on other foot.Sucks! My advice is, be patient. It doesn’t make any difference whether you go into the cabin first or last. The plane won’t go anywhere, Honey.

2. Keep your boarding ticket. Trust me, you never know when you need it. Sometimes they do passengers recheck and recount in the cabin.

3. Pay attention to the stewardesses when they’re demonstrating flight safety guide. They demonstrate it more detail than other airline’s stewardesses.

4. Have some meal before you depart. Food and beverage are not included in your ticket. Thought they forbid passengers to bring food into cabin, I use to keep some snack in my handbag. The prices they offer for food in the cabin are three time more expensive than the retail prices.

Last but not least, please follow all the rules in the cabin, turn off your communication tools –underline this one people- , listen to cabin crews’ instruction and do pray. Then you can sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight…