Day After Day

US
I feel you
You’re all the best I have in mind day after day
US
That’s why I give you
All the best I can ’cause all I need is you to stay
US
I mean you’re
All the best I have around day after day
US
That thing inside you
Is all the best I have and all I want is you to stay

X2

……………………………

You’re all the best I have around day after day
You’re all the best I have around day after day
You’re all the best I have around day after day

 

My First Post of the 2013

Aw hell no. I am in a rut. Right now, I feel a bit depress and lonely as hell. I’ve got so many on my mind, I can’t even find the words to say it right. Cannot express how I feel. Which is beyond pathetic.

would kill for a chill session, a bottle of wine… a good good friend to talk to … a fun crazy friend to keep this unsolved misery.

i guess its those times when u just don’t know where to go at the moment.

Tasha : My Slap-Back-To-Reality Chica

I don’t know what it is but this gurl will always be my one and only slap-back-to-reality chic… She has this tough heart that can make you feel so small at times cause you might think, hey, she’s right you know? Amazing gurl, simply amazing which I always find myself reflecting on who am I to complain about my life. She reminds me that the life is far more greater than anything, and she truly believes that life can be conquer with the right steps and good deeds. With this strong statement, she has become a good example for me in how I want to live my life. As clique as it sounds, but this particular girl has made me realized that life isn’t just about fun and games. Life is about giving the best you have. Giving it your all. And that is mainly why I love about her!

I met her today for a reason, a reason to get back in track of what I was suppose to do and that things will be alright in the end if you act with kindness and no harm for others. As long as you’re happy doing it, you’ll be just fine.

Tash, you’re one hell of a woman! I wish you greatness and happiness beyond anything in the world.. God bless you… Love ya! 

Small and Long Chats

Lately, I have been blessed in meeting all sorts of people that made my day much better.

I will tell you the people who lid me up this past week.

1. Dhee and Julez

These two girls have been my dearest friends since forever. More than 10 years, these girls has made me laugh and smile through my days of growing up. We don’t regularly meet, but when we do, we would already have these precious moments that I cannot really describe in words. They have been there for me, at times when I need them. Never have they thought of me as anyone stranger than life, as they have accepted me the way I am today, and will always be. Julez is in Jakarta at the moment, while waiting on her break-through of her digital e-book and as for Dhee, the newly wed and already pregnant, is working her way in finishing her school, also teaching English in a nearby campus in Jakarta. We, three, have reunited after an absence of 8 years. Definitely enjoyed the day in one of the oldest mall in J-town, and continued with a half an hour photo session back in my place for old time sakes. We will be meeting again soon this coming week before Julez goes back to Riau, where she lives. This small rendezvous was a very very fun one.

2. My uncle, Om Iwan (“Om” is “Uncle” in Indonesian)

This is my favorite uncle whose a pilot from my dad’s side.He is one of the excellent pilots of Garuda Indonesia, and has brought many planes from Seattle to Indonesia. (That’s something huh.) He has always been the most exciting, adventurous and kindest uncle that ever lived. When I was still a kid, he would always kidnap me to go out of the city to have an adventure… Whether it was going to the beach to chill and eat barbecue fish and drink coconut right from the tree or even just chilling, watching the latest movie in the theaters. He has always been a very happy person. And as years gone by, we had connected again through the same hobby that we both have, which is photography.  So one day, I introduced him to Toble (if you read my previous blogs) , and we exchanged our love for cameras and I notice he had a hand-grip strap for his camera, which I have been looking for. After a while we haven’t met for quite a while, he says to pick something from his house, and it was a hand-grip strap! AHH!! Awesomeness.

So he told me to drop by his place to get it anytime I can. Knowing that he usually flies off to who knows where, sometimes, to Europe, or Australia, Japan. I would never know whether he’s in town or not. I decided to drop by one day. Didn’t expected him to be home, but as I was leaving after receiving the small gift, he drives in his garage just in time to chat with me. It was nice to talk to him again. Always admired him since I was a kid. Told him to ask my dad to go cycling on Sundays. He gladly agreed to it and asked my dad to join him that Sunday morning.

3. Mba Dinar (“Mba” is called “Sister” in Indonesian)

A lovely working mother of two whom I met because a dear friend Afra, referred me to her as a freelance writer. Mba Dinar needed someone to write for her upcoming website next year, and needed someone who can connect and share her vision, translating it all to an inspirational journey. After all the bbm texts, phone calls, only-one-time meeting, we met again for the second time for a 2 hour interview. If I was going to write about her, I needed all the information I can get by asking her questions of her visions and dreams about her new upcoming business plan she was going to make. That Saturday morning, I had a one-to-one session with her in a small coffee shop in Kemang, and thankfully, we had the place to ourselves, where it was just quietly set up for us both. I recorded our conversations through my laptop, enjoyed and exchanged of common principals in life. She had a great desire to help others and to come across someone like her is very hard to find these days. A soft, melancholic lady with a heart of gold for me, she was a figure of a big sister I long wanted. A person with gave you the touch of words that made you feel good about yourself and never tried hard to please  you.

Our conversations had lifted my heart, my own desires in life. Funny thing is that I felt really connected to this lady that I have only known for a couple of days. I only prayed under my breath that she will be the one of my mentors in life.

4. Ibu Nuning (“Ibu” is “Mrs / Madam” in Indonesian) 

Last Sunday, I paid a visit to SOS Children’s Village again to also donate my old books and toys to the kids there, and met Ibu Nuning. A lady who has been working for SOS and the kids for 27 years now. I thought she was amazing, her love towards the kids and her job has made me look upon myself and wonder if I’ll ever find that strength to go through this life. Sharing small chats, and discovering that she has already lived without her husband by her side for 13 years,but only because her husband is also working for the SOS Children Villages in Semarang, Central Java. They have this long distance marriage, and still working along fine. She said she prayed every night for strength to do as she was destined to do. And thankfully, until today, there hasn’t a day gone by that she has regret her decision. Every month she will have at least one time to go visit her husband in Semarang, but that she has gone through for 13 years. I can never imagine what she is going through, but I am so sure, she is blessed and well taken care of by God himself. God bless her for her love towards the things she goes through in life.

So these are the people I’ve come across last week, that has given me more meaning to my life. These small and long chats are the fruits of my life that I never replace… Thank you God…

Day After Day

Day After Day

Been listening to this awesome tunes from Croquet Club. 

Check out his soundcloud. 

Chilling sounds, great way to tune down and relax..

Thanks, Jeremy..

You made my day! 

Fun Freelancing for a Good Cause – Part III

You would think that one has met its match, everything would be alright in the end, right? But again, I try each day to remind myself, don’t be over confident in the things we come across, for sometimes we would find ourselves in very difficult positions that we aren’t able to move or help because there are just things we cannot handle on our own.

Thinking that my main job was done, things got a little heavier when it came to dealing with finance. It wasn’t my duty, though I had to think of the other options and solutions the clients can do. Conflicts among the client and interior designer also rose to surface. And that money can be a very very sensitive subject. Assumptions from both parties were building up and I had to make amends with both. There were mistakes to begin with, but the only point back then was to find a solution to this matter. It was quite crucial because it all depended on the time frame that was available, because it didn’t go through, then we were eventually doomed. My job here was to be able to help each and every side there is to this project and my goodness, my head was cramping. I didn’t know that it would be that difficult to handle cause it really got so tense between all parties. I only can pray that this is all for a good cause, nothing more nothing less, and that everything will turn out okay in the end. I was also praying so hard to God and my grandfather to actually help me out on this. I know I can feel my grandfather present and that he is looking down at me for this. I just needed a little hope.

But no need to worry, my prayers were answered. Finally it all went through and things started to look good. I also cannot believe the fact that Didit (interior designer) can finish all the new designs of 3 rooms could be done in just 2 days. It was the most satisfying feeling ever to have met a good team that could do the job well and right. Without any lack of disadvantage, things had just worked out the way in planned in the end. Although, AxN had to work their way around all that drama, we had managed everything to be done on time.

Overall, this project had made a big impression in me. It felt great to help others. Others who are in need. And this was one of the greatest achievement for me this year in 2012, I must say. Something worthwhile, even for a month. Nothing could beat the pleasure of me, having time to actually talk to every single one who was involved with this project. The client “Axiata” and “Zenith”, the TV production team “AxN”, the kids who got their wishes Adit and Benny, the director of the whole SOS Children villages association of Indonesia and his most helpful colleagues, the XL company in Indonesia and most definitely the interior designer, Didit + Sandri, the fantastic duo couple that made it all happen. God bless. All of them were really kind and helpful in their own special ways. Meeting these all sorts of people was actually what I really want to do. Discovering the stories and backgrounds of most of the people I’m working with. It was a blessing. Nothing can beat with that, as I know that not many can have this kind of experience and I have to say I’m quite lucky to have it all in my plate this past month. This was a great satisfaction had really made me felt worthy of myself and that I can actually do more than what I already have.

I think from time to time I would love to be able to experience projects like this again. As long as I’m helping another and making them smile is all I want to do in my life. Through stories, photographs or moving images, would make me real whole as a person in this world, to become someone a bit better each day.

God bless for all the people that helped this project come through and most of all, praying for the very best for the lovely kids and mothers living in SOS Children Village in Cibubur. May you all be blessed with all the finer things in life. Oh and also God bless for Ibu Dian who gave me this opportunity to make things happen. Hopefully I will find more exciting projects with you.

Thank you God, and the whole Universe for this.

Me with Adit & Benny

SOS Children Village + Friends

Adit And Benny

Juliana, Grace, Zoe, Shinta

Didit, the interior designer

Have I told you?

Have I told you that I have always believed that as much as I love taking photographs… I know that it will be the death of me too… I live and die for photographs… memories and moments I know I can never erase through photographs… I am addicted to reliving the glory days of a certain moment or event. It keeps me sane and alive.

This also goes to my writings as well. As I grow older, I realize how depended I am to writing about everything. The things I experienced or felt, most of them have been written, and therefore, I am still clinging to the past like a maniac retard, and yet, I’ve never felt so much alive than ever. Appreciating every moment that ever happened in my life and to be able to read it over again, is just a blessing. For me.

At this very moment, my heart is aching (in a good way) aching because it all happened. The pictures I went through, it all happened and had passed by just like that. It was crazy, recklessly fun. It was hell of a ride. And tell you what, it feels pretty damn good! Hahaha. I can laugh at my own foolishness and naiveness. No one else can. Only me, myself and I.

Which brings me to the point where I don’t really care of what people think nowadays about me. I’ve done quite enough to try to impress.

Now I just want to be.

And let me say it again, photographs and writings till I die.