Unleashing Inner Super Saiyan

"Why the long face?"

She did not answer. Even an idiot could notice that there was something wrong with her, as her feeling was etched on her face. She threw herself on the couch right next to me and took a deep breath. Her empty gaze was fixed on some point in the air. Few seconds had passed before she finally broke the silence.

"I am so mad my stomach hurts."

Then she spent the next ten minutes getting some aggression out. She was furious. I knew that she was a stoic person; she rarely complained about anything, and she said sorry for things that were not even her fault. What I witnessed that afternoon while chilling on some random sofa was a truly peculiar view. She was fuming over someone's imperious attitude, inconsiderate bid, and petty crap. She just blabbered everything out. And there were a lot of curses--"that bitch" being one of them.

I sat and listened. This girl next to me despised someone so much that her hatred and wrath seemingly seeped through her veins, creating various psychosomatic byproduct symptoms. As much as I wanted to be someone comforting, watching this enraged version of her was fascinating in an oddly unique way.

She mentioned something about a root cause. 

"You don't respect this person." I pointed out the key takeaway, making sure that I was on the same page as her. "What needs to be done, then?"

"Nothing. At least on my side." she answered without hesitation. From the way she spoke, she did make herself crystal clear. Even with all the wisdom and understanding surrounding her--about integrity, beliefs, truth, ethic, and relativity--she would stand like a rock in regards to the absolute statement that followed. "For respect is earned."

Whatever this bitch had done in the past,

I thought it must be quite a remarkable achievement.

The Turkish Delight

It took me a while to decide whether I should write in Indonesian or English. I honestly prefer Indonesian, since I am used to telling my traveling stories in my own native language. Gives me more flexibility to express my feelings and thoughts. Still, knowing that writing in English might be more helpful to wider audience, I chose English in the end. For this one.

Because I found it soooo hard to find legit information and reviews about Turkey! I had a Turkish holiday two weeks ago. Spent 8 days travelling around the country; visiting Istanbul, went all the way to Kudasasi, Selcuk, Kapadokya, Konya, Ankara, and back to the European side.

My mother and I initially planned to go on our own and use our self-made itinerary. We browsed and browsed and browsed, trying to arrange a solid travel plan. No luck. The major difficulty was finding a detailed, updated information about Turkey's public transportation, both inside and between cities. Since we did not want to take the risk of getting lost in our way, we ended up registering ourselves for a tour.

So.. with a sincere desire to share, I hope this post can be of use for anyone who is planning to travel to Turkey. And who knows may also change your mind to consider making Turkey your next holiday destination and not other countries! :)

A Rookie's First Year Retrospective

I’m a self-proclaimed archiver. I still have pics and videos from years ago organized neatly in my laptop and phone. After a long, tiring day, I sometimes skim through my photo album before dozing off in the honor of reminiscing the old days. It allows me to (in a way) reflect on where I started and how far I’ve been going.

Graduation photo is amongst my favourite. Time flies and without me knowing it’s been a year already since the pic was taken. “What have I been doing” or “am I doing well” are few among many questions that I cannot stop asking myself. The fact that August 7th marks the anniversary of me entering the workplace only fuels up those questions to continue echoing, leaving me wonder what the answers would be.

I think about what I did this past year; what went well and what didn’t. Although achievements are great, I always consider myself as person who focus more on process. Looking at the progress that I’ve made so far, I can clearly tell that I learn a lot. You have no idea how very proud and grateful I am for it.

So.. ya. This is me wanting to share the insightful learnings. It’s been a while since my last blog post. It’s been a while longer since the last time I wrote something that is not prose-based—I think the last one was the Hanoi post (which is last year!! I had a Vietnamese lunch yesterday btw and it brought back soooo many memories). But anyway here I go.

Your Code to Decipher

"Have I told you how much I love stations and airports; trains and aircrafts?"

It was a comfortably gloomy day as the sun took a day off. Dark clouds kept pouring down droplets of water since dawn, taking everyone hostage at home and leaving the asphalt covered streets empty. However, she was a free soul. She went out nonetheless.

The man who sat in front of her shook his head. "No, you haven't. Tell me."

"I love them so much."

"Why?"

"Because they give me mixed feelings," she answered. "There are sadness and joy. People who come and go. I imagine myself feeling excited to board my plane to see the other side of the continent while also feeling sad because I have to leave everyone I care about behind."

He smiled.

“It’s interesting. I have a friend who hates airports. And I have another who loves it for a slightly different reason from yours.”

“How come?”

“Both only see one side of a single coin. One hates it simply because he only sees the partings. Another one loves it because she only sees the exhilarating anticipation of going places.”

He ended his story by gulping a spoonful of salad and washing it down his throat with mineral water. She observed him in silence.

“People view things differently. And that’s okay,” he continued. “But in order to be wise, it’s always better to understand various, different perspectives. It’s easier being said than done.”

She slowly stirred her tea, making clattering sound as her spoon touched the inner side of her porcelain cup. It was his turn to take his time and observe her mundane gesture. Every time she’s lost in her thoughts, all he can do is wait. And he does not mind waiting.