Hello World

Wohoooo.....

Udah lama banget ga nengok-nengok blog ini, hampir setahun, atau lebih yaaa, hihihi. Awalnya, selama di Melbourne udah niatan mau post daily activities selama di sana. Nyatanya, ehmm...gak sempat. Alasan aja sih ya ini, kalau mau diluangin banget waktunya ya mungkin aja bisa, tapi rasanya kemarin-kemarin lebih memilih buat tidur saat ada waktu luang karena udah keseringan begadang #pencitraan.

Nah, sekarang ini ceritanya sudah lumayan banyak waktu luang nih, tentunya sebelum berjibaku dengan rutinitas mon-fri work activities yg sampe sekarang belum kebayang karena for the first time bakal ngantor PP naik bus untuk jangka waktu yg agak lama, in sya Allah 7 bulanan sampe dengan si Ayah kembali ngantor juga. Bismillah aja lah ya, semoga diberi kesabaran menghadapi lalu lintas ibukota yg hmm udah agak less familiar.

Cukup lah ya intronya. Oke, in this post I just wanna record some of my memories during our stay in Melbourne, tentunya sejauh ingatan saya aja. Siapa tau ada yg perlu, terutama yg mau memutuskan buat sekolah dan membawa keluarga (anak) without spouse ke Melbourne, yang mana dalam kasus saya, alhamdulillah memungkinkan.

1. Mendapatkan Akomodasi

Hal pertama yang terlintas buat yang mau bawa keluarga ke luar negeri tentunya ya akomodasi. Bahkan, beberapa teman belum berani memastikan tanggal kedatangan keluarganya sebelum memastikan adanya akomodasi permanen. Alhamdulillah, sebelum saya berangkat ke Melb, saya sudah mendapat kepastian dan bahkan sudah melunasi biaya sewa rumah bulan pertama dan biaya bond (semacam deposit yang dapat diambil kembali setelah masa sewa selesai). Melalui milis indomelb, saya akhirnya mendapatkan rumah (unit 2 kamar) yang bisa saya take over setelah gagal dalam take over sebelumnya. Awalnya saya memang berada di urutan pertama waiting list, yang artinya jika peminat sebelum saya membatalkan, barulah saya bisa mengajukan aplikasi permohonan. Ndilalah rezeki berpihak pada saya karena peminat sebelumnya entah kenapa batal sehingga tawaran take over jatuh kepada saya. Berbekal pertimbangan bahwa saya tidak mau capek-capek mengisi rumah dengan segala perabot sementara saya hanya akan menempati rumah tersebut kurang dari setahun dan pengalaman gagal dalam take over sebelumnya (tawaran take over selalu laris manis bak kacang goreng #lebay buat calon student seperti saya kala itu), saya hanya butuh waktu berpikir 1 hari dan kemudian meng-iya-kan tawaran tersebut. Oiya, saya juga hanya melihat kondisi rumah dari foto-foto yang dikirimkan oleh penyewa sebelumnya. Meski bukan rumah yang terlihat baru (a.k.a. rumah tua) saya cukup puas dengan kondisinya yang nampak bersih dan jarak dengan tram stop yang tidak terlampau jauh. Sesampai di Melb, rumah tersebut cukup sesuai dengan bayangan saya, walau saya tak mengira rumahnya setua itu, hahaha. Kata landlordnya rumah tersebut dibangun pada tahun 1985, seusia saya! Alhamdulillah selama tinggal di sana tidak ada kendala yang berarti.

2. Mencari Sekolah Anak

Anak saya, Kiki, memang baru berusia 3 tahun tepat saat datang ke Melb, namun saya sudah berniat untuk memasukkannya ke semacam playgroup (di Melb dikenal dengan pre-kindy untuk anak 3 tahun). Beberapa hari di awal kedatangan Kiki, saya sempatkan melihat-lihat beberapa kindy (kindergarten) di sekitar rumah yang masih terjangkau dengan jalan kaki atau sekali naik tram ataupun bus, mumpung jg masih ada Ayahnya yg saat itu mengantar, jadi biar ada yang diajak diskusi setelah survei. Pilihan akhirnya jatuh ke Moreland Kindy yang berjarak hanya 3 tram stop dari rumah. Alasan utamanya adalah karena di situlah satu-satunya sekolah yang membuka pre-Kindy dengan skedul hanya 2 jam per kedatangan dan seminggu hanya masuk 2 kali. Sekolah lain, umumnya menyediakan pre-Kindy yang termasuk dalam long day care activities, jadi Kiki harus ber"sekolah" dari pagi hingga sore hari, sementara di Indonesia dia belum pernah bersekolah atau berada di luar rumah tanpa pendampingan keluarga selama itu.

Butuh waktu hampir 2 bulan hingga Kiki mau bersekolah tanpa ditunggui dan tanpa menangis ketika kami tinggal. Cukup lama juga yaaa hehe. Tapi yang saya suka, di Moreland Kindy ini teacher (Lucy) dan assisstant (theresa) sangat sabar bahkan mempersilakan kami menunggui sekiranya Kiki belum bisa dilepas, walaupun perlahan setelah 1 bulan berlalu mereka mulai memastikan bahwa Kiki akan baik-baik saja tanpa keberadaan saya ataupun Uti di kelas. Alhasil, di hari pertama saya tinggal tak berapa lama setelah mengantarnya masuk ke kelas, Kiki menangis sejadinya dan baru diam 10 menit sebelum jam pulang sekolah. Rasanya saat itu ya tega gak tega. Uti nya yang lebih gak tega dan saya memposisikan diri harus tega karena kalau tidak begitu ya kasihan juga Lucy sudah capek-capek berusaha agar si anak merasa nyaman dengannya ataupun Theresa. Lambat laun, kami bisa melenggang meninggalkan kelas setelah mengantar Kiki dan diiringi dengan ucapan "bye Ibuk (atau Uti)" dari Kiki. Alhamdulillah, good job little girl.

Selama di Moreland Kindy, Kiki belajar apa? Well, sebenarnya, sekolah di Aussie terbilang jauhhh lebih santai dan tidak mengekang, apabila dibandingkan dengan sekolah di Indonesia untuk anak-anak seumurannya. Di sekolah kegiatannya hanya main, dimana mainan yang disediakan sangat banyak, baik permainan indoor maupun outdoor. Yang paling kiki suka adalah bermain pasir, asal gak lagi winter aja yaaa hahaha. Dalam waktu 2 jam itu ya anak-anak bener-bener dibebasin mau main apa aja yang ada, termasuk jika mereka mau membuka bekal yang sudah dibawa dari rumah dan makan di meja yang sudah disediakan bersama teman-temannya. Oh ya, soal makanan ini juga mereka sangat pay attention dan beberapa kali saya kena tegur karena membawakan kiki bekal biskuit bergula atau dengan isian cokelat #tutupmuka. Beberapa makanan memang dilarang untuk dibawa ke sekolah, seperti telur, kacang-kacangan karena beberapa anak ada yang memiliki alergi terhadap makanan tersebut. Sekitar 15 menit sebelum waktunya pulang, Lucy biasanya mengumpulkan anak-anak dan kemudian duduk melingkar untuk mendengarkan cerita, atau pun bernyanyi sambil berjoget.

Menurut saya, perkembangan kiki yang paling keliatan selama bersekolah di Moreland Kindy adalah dia jadi lebih berani bermain di luar ruangan, termasuk manjat-manjat dan perosotan, yang sebelumnya dia sangat penakut. Selain itu, dia juga jadi bisa pipis di toilet sendiri gara-gara pernah pipis bareng Alisha, temannya asal Pakistan, dan Kiki lihatin gmn caranya duduk di kloset. Sayangnya, di hari pertama dia bisa pipis sendiri, dia gak cebok dan langsung pakai celana hahaha. Tapi besokannya udah bisa lap pake tissue sendiri setelah saya beritahu.

3. Visa Turis untuk Ibu

Berhubung suami tidak bs mendampingi selama berada di Melb, saya mengajak serta Ibu (a.k.a. Uti) karena Kiki juga sangat attached ke Uti. Visa yang memungkinkan hanyalah visa turis yang mana setiap 3 bulan mengharuskan ibu saya keluar dari Aussie untuk kemudain kembali lagi, bahkan di hari yang sama pun tak masalah. Saya sudah berniat, kalau setiap 3 bulan tersebut ya kami bertiga (saya, ibu dan Kiki) akan bareng-bareng ke Indonesia. Kepulangan pertama, kami hanya singgah di Bali selama 3 hari, itung-itung sekalian refreshing. Tak disangka, Kiki betah banget dan kepincut ama Bali. Sampe sekarang pun dia masih suka nanyain kapan ke Bali lagi Bu? huehue. Kepulangan kedua, kami sudah berencana ke Jakarta, alias pulang ke rumah, yang juga bertepatan dengan ketemuan dengan si Ayah yang bulan depannya udah mau ke UK, hiks. Kepulangan ketiga, ya tentunya ke Jakarta lagi karena sudah tak ada lagi kuliah tinggal ujian saja, dan ujian di rumah udah pilihan paling tepat.

Ketika awal berangkat ke Melb, memang tak terbayang, gimana bisa ngumpulin uang buat beli tiket PP Indo-Melb buat bertiga. Alhamdulillah ada saja rezekinya dan sebagian besar tercover dengan menyisihkan sebagian stipend tiap bulannya. Oh ya, saya juga tidak sempat kerja part time yang sebenarnya diperbolehkan, jadi semua biaya ya murni tecover dari stipend tadi. Jadi, pilihan menggunakan visa turis masih feasible buat yang spouse nya gak bisa ikut dan ada keluarga yang bisa menemani.

4. Perkuliahan

Menjalani perkuliahan setelah vakum hampir 5 tahun sejak terakhir sekolah memang cukup menantang. Di semester pertama saya cukup struggle, di samping masih cukup banyak pikiran juga termasuk adaptasi kami sekeluarga. Di semester kedua, alhamdulillah sudah lebih paham trik-trik nya. Overall, sistem kuliah intensive cukup menguntungkan saya yang notabene harus meluangkan waktu PP ke Indonesia tiap 3 bulan. Sebaliknya, saya harus bekerja keras selama kelas intensif untuk bisa meng-cover bahan bacaan yang segambreng dan belum tentu saya mengerti andaikan saya baca jauh-jauh hari #ngeles. Ditambah lagi, sistem ujian take home exam dimana soal diberikan jam 12 siang hari jumat dan jawaban harus dikirimkan jam 5 sore hari senin-nya, membuat saya benar-benar seperti alien saja selama 4 hari itu. Bisa dibilang, saya hanya tidak menyentuh laptop atau buku saat saya makan, mandi, rehat sejenak, sholat dan bermain sebentar dengan Kiki. Kalau tidak ada Ibu yang menemani, entahlah apa jadinya saya saat harus membagi waktu kala ujian macam begitu.

5. Hiburan selama di Melbourne

Semenjak awal kuliah, saya sudah menurunkan target saya. Saya cukup tau diri dengan membawa keluarga dan harus membagi waktu dengan kuliah, saya hanya menargetkan untuk menyelesaikan kuliah dengan baik, itu saja. Saya bahkan mengubbur keinginan untuk bisa jalan-jalan keluar Melbourne dengan pertimbangan saya mesti nabung untuk bisa beli tiket PP ke Indo hahaha. Jadi ya jalan-jalan saya dan keluarga hanya seputaran City saja, paling jauh ke footscray, St. Kilda beach dan Brighton. Lalu, apakah saya sedih? Kiki dan Ibu saya gak hepi? Tidak sama sekali. Kiki bahkan sudah sangat senang dengan bisa bermain di playground dekat rumah setiap hari. Kami bahkan menyempatkan untuk mengunjungi beberapa playground yang keren-keren di sekitar City dan CBD. FYI, beberapa playground punya tema tersendiri dan ciamik banget dan bikin kami kangen Melbourne hahaha. Melbourne juga sangat kaya dengan festival ataupun event-event seru. Meskipun tak selalu bisa menikmati, kami cukup terhibur saat ada open house historical building. Selain itu, museum di Melbourne itu beda. Sebagian besar museum yang pernah saya datangi (gak banyak sih, hahaha) punya kids corner yang seru dan cukup niat sehingga bikin anak-anak betah. I guess anak-anak Melb bakal punya impresi yang beda terhadap museum, gak kaya saya waktu kecil yang super males kalo udah diajakin ke museum. Lastly, Library yang gampang banget ditemuin dengan koleksi buku yang bagus-bagus beserta weekly story telling and kids activities bikin gak bakal kehabisan ide deh mau ngajak anak kemana. Cukup liat di web masing-masing library untuk tau jadwalnya. Khusus di State Library of Victoria, ini yang paling keren menurut saya, story teller-nya gak cuman sendirian, dia ditemenin bisa 3 atau 4 orang yang bawa properti macem-macem sesuai cerita yang dibawakan. Pengunjungnya pun sangat banyak, dan selalu penuh. Gak heran dari anak kecil sampai elderly pada suka nongkrong di library untuk membaca atau apapun, karena library nya sendiri menyediakan banyak sekali kegiatan yang tentunya sangat menarik, termasuk aneka training, seperti cara nge-blog, dll, saya lupa.

6. Makanan dan kebutuhan sehari-hari

Ketika masih di Indonesia, saya selalu membayangkan, seperti apa bertahan hidup di negara lain yang mana belum tentu apa yang dimakan di Indonesia bisa ditemui di sana, bahkan nasi sekalipun. Ternyata saya keliru. Di Melbourne semua ada, sampai ke snack khas Indonesia dan segala macam bumbu dapur, ya asal siap merogoh kocek saja. At least, kalau kangen makanan Indonesia, ya di sana juga ada, kecuali tempe yaaa, yang gak setiap saat bisa dijumpai (beberapa supermarket Asia, macam KFL, Mix, dan Laguna kadang menjualnya). Sedangkan, makanan pokok, yaitu beras, pun selalu tersedia di supermarket besar, seperti Coles, Woolworths dan IGA. Saat sedang promo, harga beras bisa separuh harga dan comparable lah dengan harga beras di Indonesia. Malahan, kata Ibu saya, jasmine rice di Melb jauh lebih enak daripada beras yang biasa kami makan di Indonesia hahaha. Untuk obat-obatan dan pemb*l*t, saya memang prefer bawa dari Indonesia, selain harganya jauh lebih mahal, tidak semua obat mudah kita dapatkan, khususnya yang berlabel "dengan resep dokter".


Kira-kira itu kali ya yang saya bisa ceritain secara garis besar. Intinya, we're enjoying our time in Melbourne with all the ups and downs. But, we love staying in Indonesia moreee and moreee hehehe. See you.

BxC Park

This saturday was so exciting as my sister and her family were coming to our small house but sadly it was due to the haze that has gotten worse in Pekanbaru, where they have lived for the last two years. Around  11.oo pm when they arrived, I was still awake just doing a piece of blog writing, while both of my nephews was falling asleep. We just did short chit-chatting before going to bed as they had been on 18 hours journey from Pekanbaru-Padang-Jakarta because no flight could be accessed directly from Pekanbaru; instead, they had to depart trough Padang.

On Sunday afternoon we planned to go to BxC Park, the beautiful and happening one in Bintaro, located in the Bintaro CBD, just beside the Bintaro Exchange Mall (BxC Mall). Our little family often spend time here, especially to enjoy the greenery, the fish ponds as well as the cuisine sold in the BxC food court when getting hungry after an hour of playing in the park. That's why I definitely wanted to bring my nephews there as I'm sure they would enjoy this beautiful open space.

When we arrived (at 5 p.m.), fortunately it was also easy to find the available car park since we often experience a lack of such space if we come on the weekend. We then bought some bread for all of us as the traffic jam, which took almost 1 hour made us a bit hungry hehe. My daughter had her meal while the others ate the bread. Finishing with the meal, we explore one side of the park, taking some photographs and accompanying the children to play maze made of shrubs. These are what I like most from BxC Park, it's spacious, green and children friendly. Also, every Saturday night, there is a gig taken place in the center of the park, but we have never experienced that.

We fell relaxed afterall and I'm happy just seeing their enthusiasm and cheerful faces. :)

When PDT was over.....

Finally, my 4.5 months journey was going to an end, which meant a good news on one hand and an uncomfortable feeling on the other hand. Why? As I would not have to sleep late at night dealing with assignments as well as self-studying, I can definitely spend more times doing other activities as opposed to learning, haahaha. However, since I still had to wait for almost 2 weeks long for the IELTS result, surely it made me difficult just to stay calm before knowing the score. 

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So, what happened with going back to the office? A bit awkward if I could say. I've met lots of new colleagues also a new boss, but fortunately, the same job hehehe making me feel like entering a new office back in early 2011 when I firstly came to this place. Meanwhile, I must have dealt with what so called "jet lag" with this new routine as well, although I still have to start commuting at a similar time, going home at 5 and then arriving around 1.5 hours later seems too hard for me. I've really missed heading off from IALF at 3 and so seeing the sunlight when arriving home, absolutely I do miss accompanying my daughter to enjoy the afternoon just in our neighborhood :( And for sure, I am about to lost my comfort zone during the PDT with an enjoyable learning, a cozy place to study (a.k.a. resource center) and off course great classmates.

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Well, I must admit that these 13 people with their own uniqueness have completed this journey. The duo Phd students, Mas Toto and Mas Agus are like our role models regarding their skills, abilities and also experience, hopefully we could be like them as we reach our mature age hahaha. Another "mature" student is Mas Cahya, the one who got an unconditional offer long before our course ended up, lucky u! no more worries about what the IELTS would be hehe. Our class leader, Mas Bram, is the energetic one organizing our outside-class activities such as munggahan and other eating out moments. He also intended to arrange our video performance for the end-of-course event, but, unfortunately the IALF management didn't give us permission. Pandu, together with Mas Toto and Mas Bram, were my partners in speaking study group in which we each other criticized and gave and received many inputs and constructing comments, these meant a lot for me, guys! Rizky, those showing me how to go home by train from Sudirman Station, is a reading master and thus we called him Reading Wicaksono hahaha. Cahyo, Rizky's BFF I suppose because they will go to the same state, Adelaide, and come from the same institution, is the one who often sends "wrong" messages into our WA group haha crazy! Thariq, the youngest guy in this class, a businessman wanna be but trapping himself being a government officer currently, is the hilarious one. Puji, mr. cheerful, is those never looked angry or sad, thanks for reminding me to avoid saying "but I'm not sure" in every discussion hehehe you now it is unconsciously said :p  Mas Danang, my ex-colleague, is the calm one, I've almost never seen him in a hurry, indeed he did his presentation in an attractive way; thus although exceeding the time limit, he still got good grade, unlike me hehe. Lastly, the women, Putri whose has a British accent is very fluent in speaking and able to stay calm even when given an unexpected topic, amazing! Mba Wulan, coming from Binjai makes her being called "miss Binjai" by Mas Tohari. She is also the funny one with a unique dialect and a well-organized person. And, Novi, another young guy in this class, was the only one who disappeared in the event in Decanter haha. She was always copying the weekly timetables for me, Putri and Mba Wulan, thanks!

Us...at the closing ceremony, 9 Oct 2015

By all of the ups and downs we have passed, I would undoubtedly miss those moments. I hope Allah will allow us to have such a reunion Down Under and ease our study as well...aamiin. Don't forget also with our wonderful plan in the future, Hotchkiss and Partner Consulting Firm hahaha

Tightening a Mother-Daughter Relationship

Image taken from www.ummulhasanaat.co.za

As a working mom, I should realize that I might have limited time with my little daughter, which often make me blame myself of an unintended situation between me and her. However, a  regret would not change it unless I do something matter. It then pushes me to gradually deal with my ego, which previously make me always sad when my daughter preferred to be with my mom rather than me. Although I am conscious that my melancholy is a natural emotion of a mother, this must be relaxed. And now, I am still trying to enhance the relationship.

First and foremost, finding the right time to be with her has been a proven way. For example, in the last lebaran holiday, I decided to have quality time with my daughter as I started my course break by allowing my mom visit my sister in Pekanbaru earlier. The result is that she became reliant to me, so it eased my next journey to Bengkulu when there would be only me, my husband and her, without my mom.

Another good way to tighten the bond is spending my time to play with her, which do not need to go to some places, instead, staying at home during the weekend will be more effective. Sometimes, going out could reduce the boredom, but it would also lead to distracting your child's attention. Indeed, children would only be focused to what he/she sees in malls, for example, rather than to the parents. In contrast, when I was staying and playing just at home, we could have a more intensive conversation in addition to some games we played together.

Lastly, it was bedtime session, which I can use to easily talk to her about anything, let's say, how to pray before going to sleep. Meanwhile, touching her forehead and caressing her hair during that time would make her comfort and thus she would fall asleep simply.

Thank you my daughter for teaching me how to deal with myself, be patient and remember me that you are the most important present in my life. Hopefully, there will be better situation in the future that we as a family will have more time being closely together.

Bengkulu for the Lebaran Holiday

Being our routines in the last four years, we go to Bengkulu during this Lebaran holiday. Differently, my husband only took three days work leave whereas I was luckily given the two-week break from the course so I could use my work leave deposit in other occasions. Therefore, I started the holiday earlier and had time with my daughter while my mom went to Pekanbaru to visit her other grandchild. 

We went to Bengkulu on Thursday morning, early morning to be exact since we had to leave our house at 5 a.m. to reach soekarno-hatta airport. Initially, I planned to have more time to spend there and feed my child for her breakfast before the boarding time. Unfortunately, there was a long queue at check-in process and so we finished that lately. It resulted in an unfinished breakfast for Kiki as we only had around 30 minutes before the airline called us. Alhamdulillah, the flight was on-schedule although we had to wait to take off due to the heavy air-traffic. Similarly, the flight was also enjoyable as three of us could fall asleep during that flight hihihi. Arriving in Bengkulu at 10 a.m., my in-laws were already there in the airport to pick us up. After finishing with our luggage, we met them.

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the Lebaran Day

The day is just a day after we arrived in Bengkulu. That's why when we touched down at oma-opa's house, there were so many foods available, from any kinds of snacks and pempek to the food that usually prepared for lebaran day, such as lontong, gulai, etc.

Early in the morning at the day, we all prepared to go to the Ied praying place, which is quite close to the house but as we are in a hurry, we needed to go by car. I prepared Kiki's stuffs that keeping her calm during my praying activity. I also brought her mukena in case she wanted to wear that as all of the people going there would wear that. Alhamdulillah she stayed nice during the time and then we went back to the house afterwards.We then had our breakfast before visiting our relatives. We went to my parents in law' sister then to their extended family. At 12 we had finished doing those activities.

Surprisingly, she was pretty calm during my pray :)

Going to Lais Region

At the day after, we planned to go to Lais Region, which is around 1 hour drive from Bengkulu city. Unlike our initial plan, we went lately because we have to wait other family members who wanted to join us. Kiki fell a sleep during the journey, but woke up before we reached Lais. After arriving at Lais, she told me wanna have a pee...oh  my there was no toilet as we were in a village where the grave of my hubby's grandpa is in. Suddenly, I just decided to go to one house and ask the owner whether we can use their toilet hehe, and they allowed us...many thanks. We then went back to Bengkulu and had a short break seeing Lais beach.

Beaching at Pantai Panjang

Pantai Panjang is the most prominent landmark in Bengkulu, where most people spend their free time. Indeed, in each visit to this city, me and my family always go there. To be honest, this beach is even better than those in Bali, for example, because of the white sand, the cleanliness, and is also far less crowded compared to Bali's.

And, in this occasion, again we visited Pantai Panjang since Kinanthi loves going to beach. Just like the previous, she didn't want to end and go home, ha ha ha. Going there at 5 p.m., at that moment we simply enjoyed the waves, the sand and absolutely the beautiful sunset.  

Looks good yeah :P

Going Back to Jakarta
After spending almost 10 days in Bengkulu, we should go back to Jakarta, back to the reality, with the crowd and the traffic jam we never met during our stay in Bengkulu, but I think it was exciting for Kinanthi because she will see Uti again he he he.