Metallica, 25 Agustus 2013

so yeah, this pregnant lady wanted to share the euphoria of Metallica concert in Jakarta last August. woo-hoo!

it was a bit difficult to ask for hubby's permission, though. how convincing was "..but it's Metallica, huneyy!" heard a few times a day? this could be my last chance of attending gigs since my belly would get bigger and we'd be busy raising kids. so i almost cried a river when he's finally yielded up :P and then he gave me two conditions: we'd be sitting on tribune and i wasn't allowed to jump around since i was 3-months pregnant that day. yes, he wanted me to sit still during the gig (say whaatttt)

what could i say? i need to get in, so we booked three green seats that cost each Rp 550k. i presumed it was a good deal on viewing position (because we couldn't afford VIP, oh well)

ohhh i need to tell you that blue seats cost almost twice than mine, but the view we got were much better! who knows that the EO would plant mini stages in front of main stage to place the equipment?? and they were so blocking the view of VIP and blue seaters :P

and there i was, accompanied by my hubby and his brother, who came all the way by bus from Magelang. 

pardon my clueless face

can you sense which mini stages i'm talking about? of course from my seats they looked fine

by the way, Metallica is magical. beyond words. 
i was so ecstatic that i sang out loud to their every tunes and hubby was overworried that he forced me to be seated every 2-3 songs. and of course as a good audience i wouldn't waste my time recording videos. i was enjoying every moments while rubbing my belly hoping he would be fine with it :D

hip hip hurray

sebenarnya gw dan suami bukan tipe yang pengen buru-buru punya anak. ya makluuum, gw aja masi ababil gak jelas gini, masi suka nyanyi-nyanyi, loncat-loncat di kursi, masi suka nyinyirin orang, masi suka ngiler, masi suka ngemilin chitato, walaupun alasan sejujurnya siihhh...gw masi pengen gelayutan suami kemana-mana berdua, ihirrrr.. masi kepengen banget jalan-jalan ke pantai dan keliling kota cuma berdua (sejenak stigma ababil berganti menjadi romantis)... tapi di sisi lain, melihat kawan-kawan di kantor dan di geng arisan pada melendung kok jadi iri. aduh suamii, aku kok jadi pengen punya anak juga yaaahh.. liat deh lucu-lucu gini...ayoo, hamili aku suami, hamili akuuu... sayang suami males menanggapi karena menurutnya besok gw juga udah lupa lagi. eh bener aja, begitu ibu dan adek-adek gw datang dari samarinda buat liburan 2 minggu, yang mana adek gw masih ada yang berumur 3,5 tahun dan bukan main nakal dan keponya, gw udah pusing sendiri. alamakk, bisa gak gw bagi waktu kalo punya anak yang masih cari perhatian (alias ga bisa diem) begini? nanti-nanti ajalah ya suami, tunggu aku jadi perempuan baik dan solehah dulu.

namun, tanggal 4 juli sore kemaren gw iseng-iseng pipis di toilet sambil bawa test pack..ada apa gerangan gw kok iseng begini? ternyata gw udah telat 3 hari bok, dan karena siklus menstruasi selalu gw catat di aplikasi android, ketauan lah kalo gw gak pernah telat haid. then, namanya juga iseng, daripada ribet pake wadah penampung itu lembaran strip langsung aja gw cemplungin ke lubang toilet... aahhh, entah metode gw salah atau emang takdir, ternyata hasilnya negatif. ada perasaan kecewa sekaligus bersyukur di hati. ya ga papa mas kita bisa coba lagi.. wong enak gini...

besok paginya pas suami mau berangkat kerja, gw bilang ke dia kalo gw udah telat 4 hari biar dia kepikiran. padahal gw juga masi nyante-nyante aja, abis kuliah malah langsung nonton ulang itazura na kiss sambil ngeces-ngeces liat takahi kashiwabara. dan kelar nonton gw langsung kebelet pipis dong, jadi kepikiran buat ngecek lagi. kali ini gw niat pake wadah penampung, botol kecil tempat shower gel hotel gw kosongin dan gw isi cairan kekuning-kuningan langsung dari sumbernya. ambil test pack pertama, hasilnya muncul strip dua.

loh loh, kok aneh gini. gw ambil lagi test pack kedua dan gw ganti masukkin. hasilnya masih sama loh, dua strip.

emaakkkk, gw hamil!!!


*adegan slow motion menangis sesenggukan di bawah shower sambil bersimpuh*

oh mama oh papa, inikah rasanya bila jalinan cinta telah jauh berkelana..sang wanita hanyut jauh di dalamnya, tenggelam dalam api asmara dalam diri yang kini berbadan dua... *terima kasih mbak fenny rose atas voice overnya, tapiii astagaahhh, gw wanita beneran ternyataahhh! selama beberapa detik, gw yang terbiasa ngeliat satu garis jadi ada dua gini bingung mau gimana...ya ampun beneran ini pipisnya gw.. air mata jadi netes-netes kayak keran.. duhhh, tak sabar rasanya menunggu detik-detik suami pulang,, sambil menunggu gw pun melanjutkan tayangan kisah asmara naoki dan kotoko yang lagi ikut lomba lari. tapi ya bok, emang dasarnya gw ember banget ke suami, merencanakan surprise dengan ngasi hint-hint pun di muka gw jadinya senyum-senyum licik yang bikin dia curiga. ya uwislah gw tunjukin aja hasil test pack, dan dese pun nyengir juga. "aaahh sudah kukira kamu hamiiill"

kemudian kami pun bercumbu mesra. tsaaahh.

well, tantangan pertama gw adalah pertanda kehamilan ini disusul dengan gw demam tinggi. disusul sakit kepala heboh, perut dikocok-kocok, lemes minta ampun, mulut pahit, dan ilangnya selera makan....haduhh..membaca saja aku sulit. belom lagi karena gw masih harus kuliah, kebayang-bayang dong gimana beratnya perjuangan ini. dan karena gw paranoid, tiap beberapa jam gw ngecek lagi hasil test pack mana tau gambarnya berubah jadi 1 strip. gak puas dengan itu, gw beli lagi beberapa test pack di apotek (yang harganya amit-amittt....satu buah 2500 rupiah!) buat nyoba lagi kapan-kapan. untung suami mau bertanggung jawab, gw disuruh positive thinking, jangan stres. hahahaaa...muup muup..abisnya kalo gw google "pregnancy abdominal pain", "pregnancy fever headache" hasilnya serem-serem sih. begitu gw dikasih tau kalo salah satu temen ya gejalanya kurang lebih sama, baru gw tenang. dan alhamdulillah besoknya demam turun. aaahhh senangnyaaaa...karena jujur aja gw takuuttt banget kalo mesti minum obat saat hamil..meskipun obatnya udah dibilang aman sekalipun..

so when i finish posting this, my pregnancy finally hits 5 weeks. isn't it the most amazing feeling? it's like having God's hand upon your shoulder and hearing Him whisper "I think you guys are ready for this.." kyaaaaa *alamak, alay banget*

a streetcar named desire

i sometimes question things in my life when i'm cranky..

i used to whine a lot. it's getting less now that i am married, like wiseman says that marriage is letting go a part of your ego - hell freezes i cool down a lot.

well, still there are times when PMS strikes, when i incorrectly deduced how hubby got a bit cold to me and  it drove me mad because i was used to be pampered, i complained that he has changed - and after strings of unreasonable madness and crankiness he hugged me tight and told me that those thoughts are only in my head. ummhhh...now that i think about it it was more of an act of shame and paranoia. amazing how he can work out with it.

anyway hubby was off for some duties in two days, which was why I wrote this post. i had the episode and i have no one to calm me down, yeah?

i just stumbled into a junior high senior's blog today. he is living large...with passion. he is living his dream, a job with which he's very successful. i don't think he's married yet but there's really nothing to be ashamed of it.

you can see the point. this kind of curiosity used to bring me to tears. i look back on that day when i had two options in life and wish i could start it over and choose the opposite. had i known my decision would bring me pain in the future. you know, i kinda used to blame my parents for this, for letting me make a big decision without considering my capability of it. now that i think about it - that was them believing in me - giving me a responsibility they were sure i could take care of; maybe they just didn't notice that their little girl is indeed very little - i left home at the age of 14, that was more than 7 years ago.

there are days when i endlessly cried for help though, slept with a weight on my shoulder and didn't tell anyone of this because...i kinda have to be mature, right? so i slept in tears, waited on the world to change and acted like no shits happened in the next morning.

and just that, i realized i have lost the passion along the way. i only followed the given path, didn't give a shit to any particular thing.

since when? i don't know - maybe when i was still in prep school, maybe when i was on my 2nd year of working. it's just gone - i'm not very much interested in everything aside from having fun - because that's what i'm lacking for the past years. 
i had a chance to pursue a degree...but i dumped it. for a certain amount of time...even for routines, i was too tired of doing what i should. i took "a gap year" between studies...5 years to be exact. and even though i was doing every kind of shameful acts during that time - i was, at least, happy. i enjoyed my youth, i lived the day i was young and free, i played around and had fun. 
i fell in love, i cheated, i was dumped, i became someone's mistress, i fell in poverty, i was robbed, i watched theatres, went overseas, got a karaoke diva out of me, fell in love, and as a surprising turn of events, i got married.

and that's when i rediscovered my passion. 

no, probably not from the marriage blings, but from the entire conspiration of universe to build my happiness. i might realize that all this time i was not being happy. i felt that i was being forced to be someone that i am not, something that i am not sure of. and although the five years i've spent carelessly people see as a miserable act - that's a part i wouldn't regret. i also met my other half, the one who treasure me in the option i chose back then (although i sometimes tease him with "what if i was supposed to marry a rich banker in another life??" - okay, bad wife that i am -__- )

but here's the thing i got to learn.

there's a silver lining at the end of storm.

(really, you never learnt of it before?)

i did learn, but never really saw one...until one day things look perfectly crystal clear. it just happened you know, one day you woke up in the morning and "aha!" life suddenly feels lighter.

and i question myself, why didn't i notice this before?

perhaps that remains a mystery..of how you gotta spend 5 careless years of rain just to see the rainbow. but even though i learned it the hard way, life just gives me a valuable lesson..

maybe marriage has something to do with it, having the extra shoulder to help carry your burden, but somehow it's a happy ending...before moving to another book.

who's changed and who's to praise

"Wahh sekarang istrimu *nunjuk gw* masuk kantor gak pernah telat..hebat kamu.."

"Wow, sejak nikah sama suamimu kamu sekarang hemat yakk.."

Eh sodara-sodara, itu gw sendiri yang insyaf kaliiiii! 

*suami senyum-senyum nyebelin*

Darling, please go tell them it's my own accomplishment and not yours!!

Suami: Enggak mauuu, biarin aku yang dipujiii...

Keuangan Rumah Tangga

Ngomong-ngomong soal investasi atau yang salah satu bentuknya akhir-akhir ini populer di kalangan wanita bernama reksadana...

Sempet nyesel bener karena saya sebenarnya udah tau sejak tahun 2010-2011, tapi baru diaplikasikan awal 2012 lalu. Duh ileeee, jaman itu kan saham lagi terjun-terjunnya tuh, return saya pasti udah berkali-kali lipat sekarang seandainya masuk dari dulu. Ah, sedih kalo mengingat ini. Saya baru merombak ulang semua strata keuangan saya begitu mulai berpikir serius tentang pernikahan. Hasilnya gimana gak kepayahan  -__-

Tapi di balik semua penyesalan itu, sesungguhnya saya jadi rajin belajar dan mengulik semua hal tentang investasi. Reksadana dan logam mulia jelas yang paling terjangkau dan mudah diakses, tapi semua akan sia-sia kalau kita gak punya tujuan finansial. Ibarat kita pegang duit 10 juta di rekening, kalo kita gak tau itu duit rencananya buat apa, ya bisa jadi kita akan menyalahgunakannya untuk beli hape baru, tablet baru, itu terus menerus. Lah, emang duit nganggur kok. Namapun duit cuma 10 juta ya, kalo 100 juta emang kagak berasa disalahgunain. Dulu waktu masih pacaran, saya mengangkat topik ini berkali-kali ke pacar terutama karena kita sama-sama bekerja. Ntar gaji kita digimanain nih, kalo dapet honor di luar gaji bakal diapain, cita-cita pingin punya apa, pingin punya anak kapan, dan lain-lain. Penting banget dibahas biar besok-besoknya gak berantem soal duit melulu.


Dan ketika saya menikah dan diputuskan jadi chief financial officer, paling gak sekarang ilmunya udah ada, meskipun masih sering banget didiskusiin sama suami. Poinnya emang harus ada keterbukaan sih yah. Ini tugas besar mengingat saya dulunya terkenal suka kelayapan dan gak mikirin cash flow blas. Tapi seneng juga sih dipercaya suami, hihihi, soalnya saya insyafnya waktu itu belom nyampe setahun bok. Prinsip manajemen kami, seluruh pendapatan bulanan kami masukkan ke satu rekening bersama dan saya yang diberi tugas mengelola keluar masuknya. Dengan begini, kontribusi kami tetap dihitung sama besar terlepas dari adanya perbedaan jumlah penghasilan sebenarnya.

Dengan gambaran-gambaran di atas, begitu penghasilan seluruhnya udah masuk rekening penampungan, saya langsung bergegas transfer seluruh kewajiban. Semua rumah tangga kayaknya punya ya tagihan begini, standar ajalah, setelah itu baru alokasi buat investasi. Untuk saat ini, target-target finansial kami cuma:

1. Dana darurat -> aman, gak sampe 6x pengeluaran bulanan kayak saran-saran financial planner ya bok, PNS pan jauh dari risiko PHK
2. Dana liburan -> hehehehe!! walaupun tujuannya belom tau duitnya harus ada duluuu
3. Dana mudik -> pengeluaran tetap nih..soalnya kampung halaman kami di Magelang dan Samarinda, penginnya dua-duanya tetap dikunjungi tiap tahun
4. Pendidikan anak -> buat jaga-jaga, secara Jakarta sekolahnya mahaalll >_<
5. Persiapan pensiun -> yes, PNS emang dapat pensiun tapi plis deh, jumlahnya kan cuma 80% gaji. Tanpa uang makan, lembur, tunjangan kinerja, tunjangan khusus,, yakin cukup?
6. Dana melahirkan -> baru mau dibikin padahal persiapan pendidikan anak dari dulu..kebalik emang..

Belum target-target jangka menengah yang belom tercapai karena fokus di tujuan-tujuan ini yah, seperti renovasi rumah sekarang, membangun rumah masa tua kami nanti di Magelang, bikin kebon, naik haji, dan lain-lain. Tujuan ini baru bisa dikumpulin dari sisa anggaran. Alias, duitnya masih kurang! Hehehe, yah mudah-mudahan karir dan rezeki kami lancar jadi cepat tercapai ^^ Investasi kami standar lah ya, namapun masih muda dan belum punya anak, risiko apapun masih siap dijabanin. Ada logam mulia, reksadana, bisnis kecil-kecilan, dan deposito. Belajar-belajar dari berbagai sumber kayak blog perencana keuangan, kaskus, portal reksadana, dan lain-lain jadi ngerti soal manajemen risiko. Reksadana sekalipun tetap perlu diawasi dan diperhitungkan kerugiannya, contohnya model high-growth harus diimbangin dengan yang konservatif, dan seterusnya.

Tapi sebelum mikirin investasi, emang mestinya kita check-up dulu kondisi keuangan rumah tangga kita. Sedikit tips yang saya kompilasi:

1. Susun besaran semua tagihan dan utang tiap bulan, dan bayarkan. Utang harus segera dibayar dan dilunasi dong, jadi tiap menerima gaji atau mulai menyusun anggaran, segera posisikan ini di prioritas utama.

2. Susun besaran tagihan dan kebutuhan tiap tahun, dan sisihkan. Sama kayak di atas, ada pengeluaran-pengeluaran yang cuma dikeluarkan setahun sekali seperti: perpanjang STNK, mudik, kurban, THR pegawai, sewa rumah, liburan. Anggarkan di awal dengan cara sisihkan tiap bulan biar gak kaget nantinya.

3. Sisihkan juga dana keagamaan; zakat, sedekah, perpuluhan, dll.

4. Proyeksikan angka kebutuhan minimum rumah tangga. Berapa rata-rata pengeluaran bulanan untuk hidup yang "sederhana tapi enggak susah-susah amat" ini gampang-gampang susah juga dihitung. Siapa tau aja yah ada orang yang bilang biaya sekolah anaknya makin hari makin mahal tapi langganan internet sama tivi kabel lancar jayaa, hihihi. Harus mengukur wants vs needs emang susahhh. Beberapa orang (dan financial planners) melewati tahapan ini dan langsung menuju tahapan berikutnya yaitu.....

4. Buat tujuan keuangan jangka menengah-panjang dan investasikan dananya. Biaya melahirkan, dana pensiun, dana pendidikan, you name it! Tapi emang paling baik, investasi dulu baru habiskan gaji bulanannya..hahaha, gak ribet deh mikirnya.


Bermanfaat banget kalo ada rezeki nomplok jadi enggak tergoda buat dihabiskan, hihihi, yah boleh sik dicolek-colek dikit sebagai apresiasi diri *ehem*.. Uang saku bulanan juga harus ada, tapi besarannya mesti disesuaikan supaya dapur tetep ngebul juga. Ini yang jadi senjata saya kalo suami mulai geleng-geleng kepala ngeliat belanjaan pribadi istrinya...pan kewajiban udah aye tunaikan semua bang, boleh jajan dong ah.

Saya udah keliatan seperti istri idaman belom?
*enggakkk, kamu masih alayyy*

Oh iya, contoh pengaturan anggaran bulanan saya bisa diunduh di sini. 
Untuk sehari-hari bisa pake aplikasi keuangan di Android (saya pake Expense Manager) atau daftar ke laman Ngatur Duit. Nanti di awal bulan berikutnya baru dihitung totalnya.

Btw, tiap bulan laporan ini saya cetak ke suami, tapi bingung pula dia bacanya -_- Terima beres aja ih emang. 

Well, beginilah strategi keuangan rumah tangga saya. Tiap orang boleh dong beda-beda. 

One Direction - One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)

Oh One Direction needs no introduction, so I would step away from my own infatuation. 
By the way have I ever mentioned that I love them??

*twitter followers roll their eyes*


Pictures taken from here

  

Although some good friend of mine says I have a bad conscience, One Direction is actually, in most people (age range 10-22 y.o)'s point of view, kinda cute and their singles are karaoke-able. Times have passed quickly from the nineties for now boybands are all younger than me. By the way, One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) is their effort to mash up Blondie and The Undertone's hit single for charity which sounds very fresh and undeniably fun. The lyrics itself is about stalking, some people would say it's inappropriate but I say "hellooooo!!". Surprisingly, all members' vocals in this song are quite good, including my toyboy, Louis. As a self-claimed objective fangirl, they may not consist of remarkable singers, only two or three guys sing and others just go 'ooh ooh' but most boybands are that way though. Besides, when you're this adorable you'll be completely forgiven (I am looking at you, Louis Tomlison)

It's sad knowing that Louis and I were only born two months away but I'm already married and not walking barefooted on the beach with him, talking about our last graduation and where we will be heading to.
 

*dikeplak bojo*

Here's the video...

Anyway few months ago I despise Grammy Awards for nominating Carly Rae Japsen in Best New Artist category. What the heck? Clearly these guys can sing more favorably than her! Grammy has been unfair to all British boybands and I mean for years!  

Monthly Update #4

Not much happened to me lately... Maybe only one or two..

1. Alhamdulillah udah dapat rumah kontrakan. 

Gak bisa dibilang deket dari kampus sih. Pertimbangan kami kan cuma 1 ya: dengan biaya semininimal mungkin dapat kepuasan maksimum; pingin rumah murah yang deket, bagus, cantik, bisa dijangkau dengan jalan kaki, udah sama pembantu dan supir, di daerah elit, tingkat 2, ada kolam renang dan ruang karaoke pribadi, ahhhhhhh!!! Sayang, saya bukan Mayang Sari. Rumah-rumah yang kami temukan di sekitaran Kalimongso-PJMI kebanyakan punya kamar lebih dari 3 sehingga bujetnya di luar yang kami anggarkan. Gak perlu kamar banyak-banyak sih wong cuma tinggal berdua, dan di sisi lain beberapa rumah berkamar 2 yang berlokasi dekat lingkungannya kurang nyaman. Pengap lah, di dalam gang, ketutupan sinar matahari, dan lain-lain yang intinya gak bikin tergoda menghuni. Sederhana aja, rumah haruslah yang bikin penghuninya betah kan, kasian juga suami kalo udah jauh-jauh commuting dari Jakarta Pusat ke Bintaro dan tidur di kamar yang pengap. Pencarian kami di minggu berikutnya membuahkan hasil; 700 meter dari kampus udah ada rumah yang cukup nyaman dan bersahabat di kantong. I consider this as God's gift, amalan apa yang udah kita perbuat sampai dimudahkan begini ya Yang? Seneng banget deh pokoknya :)

2.  Tuh kan bingung mau nulis apa! Emang ga banyak yang bisa dikabarin! :P