What citizen am I, then?

Kalo ga cerita nih gue ga tahan deh...sorry, ga bermaksud Sara ato apa lah..tp benar2 ga tahan..

I never have a passport, then i started to think that I want to have A Passport! Going to Immigration Office, they got me interviewed.. One question I really really don't like to be asked.. That is: Are you Chinese Inheritance (apakah kamu keturunan China).. Confused about what to answer,,, slowly i answered 'my grandfa and grandma is from China'..

But later on, he said 'sorry, we cannot proceed your passport application, you need to attach your grandfather's citizenship (SBKRI), your father's Birth Certificate, your father's Certificate of Name Alteration and your father's Citizenship, without those certificates, we cannot issue you a passport because you are Chinese Inheritance and, you have to show us the originals of those documents i mention to you'.

If i were not mistaken, if that regulation has been omitted by government since last year?

Until now, I am still really really upset about this matter. For the first time in my life, I feel that I have no status here in this country. I was born here, grown up here, got all my education here, work here..but the government never think that I am an Indonesian.!

Or is there something wrong in my documents?

A message for a 'Brother'

You are in very deep depression, but you don't dare to tell anyone including your parents. You have problems that you cannot tell everyone. But because of that, you begin to tell lies to your parents, your wife, and all of your families. Your attitudes change alot coz of the problems.

But do you know that your silence hurts so many people's heart?
Do you know that your mom cries alot at night thinking about you?
Do you know that your dad cannot sleep everynight when he finds out that you don't go home after work with no even news from you?
Do you know that your brothers are confused with your high temperaments and very sad for your parents?
Do you know that your wife is very fragile now and that she begins not to trust you coz you never let her into your heart anymore?
Do you know that your father and mother in law begin to think for their beloved daughter marrying someone not good ?
Do you know that all of us are watching you from far, afraid of something bad will happen to you?
Do you notice that recently your parents look so weak and thin for thinking about you alot and that they have to get worrying reports from your wife, your families, your friends, and etc.?

Please, i really want to beg you to tell us the Truth.. If you don't trust us, please see your parents for they love you so much, no matter how much that you have hurt them..

I really really really want to tell you this, but i am afraid that i can make all the situation even worse..

Sabtu ini gue......

Jam 10 bangun, sms lucy tanya hr ini jadi gak nih ke ps, kalo gak, daku mo lgs ke dufan aja neh, jawabnya tjepet jg..pokoknya terakhir bilangnya 'sippp'..siap2 neh

Lg asik matut2 diri sambil ngobrol sama adikku sambil nonton Queer As Folk , eh dapet sms dari Wie, beli nomer flexi baru tuh dia, * wie .. beliin atu dunk *hihi

Mikir naek apa ya ke PS? Melo jg daku, setelah ngitung yg karuan dan setengah mati, akhirnya daku memutuskan untuk naik busway, sampe disana, eh ada pameran rancangan busana Palm Awards, lucu2 loh bajunya..terutama yg bertema Bunga dan Balon, pengen cobain deh tuh baju..

Sampai di PS jam 10.30, ternyata mbak Lucy dah ditempat loh, di food court tepatnya..ih, mbak Lucy cantik banget deh! selain itu ada Yoan, Ifa, Lisna (bayangin gak seh mereka masih imut imut bokkkk...aiih aku berasa tua deh *bentji akoe..), setelah itu dateng si Yaya with her pink style..loetjoeeee.. i love pink! Trus dateng tuh Mbak Lucy yg atuh lagi yg imoet imoet sama temen kantornya (aduh daku lupa namanya) trus abis itu dateng lagi Heru sama temennya jg..(aduh lupa lagi sambil ketok2 kepala buat ngingetin nih)

Mulailah kita makan2, aku makan Popeye, kurang gt enak..bersalah soalnya.. diit nih...ngelirik ke jus alpukatnya mbak Lucy ..kayaknya enak deh..

Motoh motoh nih... *weks mbak Lucy, mbak Lucia, bagi2 yak!
aduh tuh photo jangan sampe diliat gebetan nih, bisa ancur image gue yg alim kalem bak angel of peace selama ini.. *tuink

Jam 1 buru2 cabut *sambil melambai2 ke temen2 blogger *ntar kumpul2 lagi yak!, naek taxi express, bawel jg tuh supir, tp apal jalan ke dufan, yah udah deh aman sambil sms-an ke Judith, buketu PP16 , eh dia bilang di Seaworld aja..*ok dehhh boss

Sampe di Seaworld, clingak clinguk mana nih mereka, eh ternyata pd makan di depan, daku mo nyusul, tpnya nyasar...*waaa.. mungkin mukanya yg polos dan miris,,byk bgt tukang ojek nyamperin, tau kali ya gue nyasar.. akhirnya dg susah payah, gue ketemu tuh Seaworld lagi..

Di Seaworld, yg dateng Judith, Monique, Ocha, dan Ce Ciang..weks kok dikit,,mana neh yg lain..tp..egp deh..yg penting gue nyampe..hihi..ada hubungannya gak seh..

Bingung mo kamana lagi neh,,diputuskan ke MegaMall, either mo karaoke or bowling, setelah bbp lama diskusi lagi, akhirnya kt ke Citraland, nongkrong di Starbuck ,,hazelnut ice lattenya kok pait ya..bodo ah..enak jg kok..trus cobain Hawaian Pizza di Pizza Hut , enak jg..*huph..kuenyang loh..eh ga tau gimana, akhirnya diputuskan untuk menjenguk Glenn
yg terkena kecelakaan, sebelonnya pergi jemput Nadia dulu, maklum kt nebeng mobilnya Kus (casu-calon suaminya Nadia) si Pakwaketu PP16 , aduh jadi tambah miris, ga nyangka seperti itu,,,Glenn keliatannya siih sudah jauh baikan, god bless you friend..

Abis itu di drop sama Kus dan Nadia *thx ya pren* di Plaza Indonesia, eh ada si Audy loh lagi nyanyi Menangis Semalam..cantik ya!.. abis itu.. pulang naek busway.. dan menjogrok disini.. hehe

Sekian laporan hari ini!

So What?

This is just a friend of mine (X), i feel that he/she's quite annoying *biasa..sadarnya telat hehehe. Everything in me he always criticizes. I know critics are good for our improvement, but it doesn't mean that I have to accept and thank patiently all the critics all the times.

'your hair looks mess, you must have it rebonding' is when I have dinner with that person
'aah.. pimples in you cheek, go get facial lar' is when i went out with that person
'you are very fat, aren't you ashamed of it?' is when i met that person in parties
'heyy..you shirt is too redish, not suits you at all!' is when i and that person met other friends in cafe
'ah, that jeans seems good, but it's money wasting!' is when i showed jeans i just bought
'what a mess room you have, but i have to sleep here' is when i offered to stay when she's too late already to go home.
'the food here is too salty and not tasty' when i took that person to have lunch in my favourite resto
'the coffee is very bad' when i introduced the new cafe a friend owns when the friend gave us their coffee specialty for free and asked our opinion.
'pizza hut in taman anggrek is much more delicious than pizza hut here' when i took to the closer pizza hut resto and meanwhile he/she had taken more than 3 slices.
'you fool, it's better for us to take a car to jogja than plane, much cheaper!' when i was telling how to get to Jogja to a foreign friend and all we did in jogja was very busy looking for medicine coz this 'smart' friend puked all the time and without going nowhere, we had to go back to Jakarta. And, when i asked this friend why we should take a car if he/she actually couldn't stand taking car in long trip, he/she says 'it's because your Kijang car is too small for me!'
......... and still many other complains i got from this 'caring' person..

I am really annoyed by this person.. I am afraid that someday i cannot hold my temper.. If i am not pretty, not sexy, having pimples, being fat, cannot even organized any events well, never introduced to a good resto, So Whatt??

Engkong Engkong saya nih!

Kemarin liat postingan sapa ya yg tentang leluhur, jadi terbersit buat cuap2 nih soal kakek, dirumah sebutannya 'kungkung'..Dan lagi2, namanya aku ingatpun tidak...*sst..bisa dimarahin neh kalo ortu tau...Btw, Mei (my lovely cousin!), Lina (my maruko sister!), tambahin ya kalo perlu!

Yang dari Bokap nih, sebut saja Engkong Huang, dia datang dari Pulau Hainam di China, katanya sih kabur karena dipaksa kerja rodi disana. Engkong Johan meninggal jauh sebelum aku lahir, jadi ya it's only his story i know. Perjuangannya sampai ke pulau Sumatra itu benar2 sulit, dari segi bahasa sampai makanan. Engkong yg satu ini katanya orangnya tuh generouss banget dan sangat baik pada siapa saja, soal kebaikannya itu masih terasa sampai aku besar , yaitu dari perlakuan para tua2 (tmn2 engkong) yg 'ready' membantu pas kami kesulitan.

Selain baik, engkong yg satu ini jg bisa disebut Tuan Untung, alias hoki mulu. Ada satu cerita, dia ketemu buah semangka yg gede dan manis, senanglah hatinya karena memang nenekku doyan semangka, nah dalam perjalanan, ada seorang priyayi bilang ke dia 'pak, semangkanya bisa buat saya? saya benar2 perlu itu buah, katanya bisa buat sembuhin anak saya, saya sudah cari kemana2 tp tidak yg seperti itu, tulunglah saya'. Bisa ditebak, semangka itupun pindah tangan, dan org itu kasih sekarung garam sebagai tanda terima kasih. Pulangnya disemprot sama nenekku gara2 sekarung garam itu..hehe..2 minggu kemudian, didaerah itu ada wabah gondok dimana garamnya kakekku itu berguna sekali untuk itu..yah begitulah..

Cerita lain lagi, setelah indo merdeka, ada org yg datang ke tokonya engkongku, dia mengaku pelaut dan desperately needed money! Kakekku katanya minjemin orang itu tuh walaupun nenekku marah2 takut diboongin. Kasian, bantu2 ajalah, kata kakekku. Setahun kemudian, org itu kembali dan kakekku dihadiahin satu buah radio, yg notabene adalah barang mewah pd saat itu. Org itu bilang kakekku satu2nya org yg percaya sama dia. Si 'pelaut' ini masih sering datang ke toko papaku sampai aku kelas 2 SD.

Ada lagi pas jaman penjajahan Jepang, kakekku adalah tukang sol sepatu. Ada serdadu Jepang datang minta diperbaiki sol sepatunya, kakekku dengan isyarat dan bhs hainamnya bilang kalo kulit buat bahannya sedang habis dan minta maaf. Tuh Jepun kayaknya ngerti trus tunjuk2 kursi kulitnya engkongku (itu kursi kesayangan bok!) dan ditolak mentah2 sama engkongku yg rada 'polos'. Nah ribut2lah jadinya. Engkongku sudah mo ditembak tuh. Eh, tiba2 kepala pasukannya tiba2 masuk dan tanya dg bhs Hainam'kamu dari hainam?',diiya-in sama engkong, setelah berbincang tegang (sambil diacungin senapan soalnya!), ternyata mereka bertetangga di China! Tuh kepala pasukan ternyata waktu remaja diambil sama org Jepang buat jadi Tentara dan akhirnya dikirim ke Indo..Lumayan ok hidupnya engkong waktu itu, ada backingnya hehe..Papaku dan sodara2 lainnya yg masih ingusan, dapet hadiah coklat dan permen (jarang banget loh ada!).

Kalo papanya Nyokap, engkong Han, orangnya lebih kalem dan sangat modern. Dia merantau dengan satu cita2, yaitu ingin punya uang dan tanah dan rumah di kampungnya di Pulau Hainam. Dan satu lagi, engkong Han itu orangnya gantenggggg bangett, mirip2 orang bule campur china gitu, garis mukanya tajam, matanya cool banget, sampe tua aja dia masih keliatan gantengnya (nah yg ini aku masih ketemu sampe dia meninggal pas aku kuliah). Dia sempet kerja jadi pembantu koki di Singapore, krn itu dulu masakannya engkongku tuh wuenakkk bangettt,,apalagi bubur wortelnya..ahh i miss it so much! Berbeda dg engkong Huang, dia lebih susah hidupnya, tetep jadi tukang sol sepatu sampai mamaku menikah, dan nenekku jualan kue dan kacang . Sampai aku umur 3 thn, dia masih tinggal di gubuk kecil yg disekat jadi 2 lantai dengan begitu banyak orang (aku bbp kali tinggal disana kalo berkunjung).

Engkong Han, walaupun hidupnya susah, sangat mengikuti perkembangan teknologi loh..hobinya nonton film, setiap minggu sekali dia ikutan ke bioskop ngajakin satu anaknya. Trus soal pengobatan, dokter itu satu2nya yg dipercaya, pdhal dia asli loh dari china, tp ga percaya obat tradisional. Pusing sedikit langsung ke dokter, perut kok kayaknya gendut nih, ke dokter lagi huehueheue.. Akhir2 hidupnya, dia didiagnosa kena darah tinggi, sama omku dikasih obat alternatif buat diminum, tp yah cuman ditaruh di pojokan dan dicuekin sedangkan dia tetep ke dokter walaupun harus pergi sendiri..Sayangg banget sama cucu2nya, kalo kita lg liburan, dia udah siap2 dengan makanan2 enaknya..hikss i really miss him..Setelah dia meninggal, ketika lagi bongkar2 kamarnya, omku menemukan surat tanah atas nama dia di China..wah pas dicek ke sana, ternyata benar, engkong Han ini sudah tercapai cita2nya, yaitu punya rumah dan tanah di China, mungkin dia ga sempat bilang ke kita2..tp rumahnya udah tua banget dan hampir roboh karena tahun2 belakangan, tidak ada dana kiriman lagi kata orangnya, yah mungkin masa2 engkong Han sakit sampai dia meninggal ya...

In memories of Two Grannies

Old Woman,
originally uploaded by Oey May Ling.

I don't know them very well. They are friends of my grandma in Jambi and Palembang. Even their names i never knew but their spirits of life. Ok, let's call them Granny Emma and Granny Lucia.

Granny Emma
looks very wise and patient. Everyday, in left side front of my grandmo's shoe shop, I saw her sitting selling chicken eggs (Rp150 or Rp200/egg). She sat patiently and offered people passing by to buy the eggs. Never knew whether she had children or other family for she lived alone. What i know is that she, like my grandparents did, came from Hainam Island in China to escape from the cruelty and war there.

I think my grandma treated her quite well. I often accompany my grandma to visit Granny Emma in her house and chatted with her. Her house was only a 'chamber' made of woven bamboo, where the garbage disposal of the neighbourhood was.

I think some naughty kids always made 'fun' of her since they thought she's insane or something for she's living alone in the miserable place. Sometimes, while talking to my grandma, the naughty kids outside threw tiny stones through her windows. My grandma wanted to scold them but she forced her not to, they're only kids, she said. My grandma once offered her to live with her in my grandma's house but she refused for she believed she's still strong enough. She died of illness when i was almost graduated from high school.

Granny Lucia
I just met her twice. Lived in Palembang and She's a very cheefuld old lady. Like Granny Emma, she also lived alone. Her husband passed away long before when her son's very young. Her spirit when struggling for her and her son's life is not so easy, as i heard from my dad.

When felt old enough, her son left her to another city, for a better life, which he promised to take her mother with him when he succeeded. But, later on, few years after that, no news from the son anymore. But the spirit of Granny Lucia never vanished. She still sold cakes she made herself and 'pempek' to support her life with her cheerful smile.

When my grandma and I visited her, she looked so happy and touching, she said it's already long long time that no friends of her visited her. I remember she gave me so many candies and 'pempek' to eat, which made me so happy and i did not realized it's the things she'd better sell rather than give me *i really didn't know about that :(

She died in 1996 or 1997, when no one knew that she's dying in her house several days before the death and later she's found dead when people in the neighbourhood broke her door for a very bad smell coming from her house. The landlord of her house then decided to bury her dead body in Moeslem cemetery since he failed to contact her son, which is believed living in Jakarta, while he doesn't know much about the friends of Granny Lucia.

P.s. I don't care what people say 'bout them since I really respect them for their way of struggling their life and they made me encouraged to improve my life, as a human being in this world and not try to live depending on someone or something.

Two Thumbs Up for Balikpapan!

Due to an emergencies in office duties, i got to Balikpapan on last Thursday,7th of July 2005. Eventhough I had no idea 'bout this town, but what i had in mind is that 'At least they can speak Indonesian' ..*shy..

One impression i already got when the plane landed on the airport is that this oil and gas produced town is really well-organized. After claiming my baggage (*for ur info, i only brought one blouse and one trousers in my baggage, other huge things in it are the files, i think there are six huge ordners in it! cannot believe that! it's so heavy!). It is very easy to find vehicles to your destination, i just pay the transportation fee to a front desk, it is only Rp.28.000, the signage is not very difficult to find out.

I live in Adika Hotel Bahtera, located in Jl.Jend.Sudirman. I chose this since this is the best location to my client's office and for me to have some walks and shopping. It's Balikpapan Indah Plaza in the opposite side of this hotel (later on i found out that i do not really need to go to this mall). This hotel is ok. It is very clean, and the staffs are friendly and helpful, except one! Please remember, never ask for massage service, after the full tiring day, i think i need to get a relax, then i glanced at the brochure on the desk in the room, it's stated that there are massage or steambath service in this hotel or you can just call 669. When i called, the lady on the phone said that it is 70.000 rupiahs/hour for massage in their place or 75.000 rupiahs/hours if their staff go to your room, then i ordered the second option. After a few minutes, a lady came and starting massaging me..not too good..but i thought just let her do it. When finished, i add another more 10.000 rupiahs for her tips, you know what her response?? she asked for more! she said it was not enough, she forced me to give more. As an angel of peace *^-^, i regretfully gave her another 15.000 rupiahs, she's not worth it! really, but she's so big and strong..huhuhu..So Friends, please remember about this when you go to Balikpapan...

But I think generally this district are veryy cleannn, the motto of this district is Balikpapan: kubangun, kujaga, kubela (yeah it sounds right) and safe i think since as a street walker i find it is very easy to walk in safe ways there...and, even it lies near beaches, it smells good.

I went to Pasar Kebun Sayur in which many shops sells many beautiful stones like jades, alexandria, etc (but i doubt that's real stones). After that, i just went around enjoying beautiful views and houses of expatriates and staffs of oil companies in Balikpapan, they are near beaches. After that, coz of my boss recommendation, i ate in Bondy Restaurant, here it serves seafood for their specialty, i ate fried bawal fish and crab asparagous soup, they are delicious since it is so fresh when fried, and the sambal is very good too (*ups..i think i am hungry now!).

Most people living in this district are from Javanese, Kutai, and Banjarmasin. They cannot even recognize what's their specialty food is (what i think is Amplang, a kind of keropok made of fish but cut in smaller pieces). What i had read and remembered about their tourism place is beaches (i forgot the names and the driver refused to take me there, there's no people there he said), an historical old refinery of Pertamina, a Japanese troops cemetry and a memorial monuments for them, and a protected forest (also forgot the name huhuhu). There are many other places but i couldn't remember.

Hope i have a chance to go there for once more!

Some Jakut Historical Sites Walking

Kemarin minggu aku jalan2 ke bbp museum bersama teman2 dari salah satu milist yahoo. Asik juga.. kumpul2nya di Museum Fatahillah. 10 thn aku tinggal di Jakarta, belum pernah sekalipun menginjak nih museum, baru kemarin itu, bener2 deh, soalnya ga tau sih, pdhal aku demen yg begini2an tuh..Sayangnya ga bawa kamera tuh..

Pemberhentian Pertama

Reruntuhan Bangunan Logistik Hindia Belanda di Jalan Yang Gue Ga Tahu. Huhuhu..ga ingat, Jalan Cengkeh? Kunir? Ada yg pigi kemarin? Kasih tau ya! Hehehe.. Itu skrg tempat mangkalnya truck gede2..keadaannya becek dan berdebu. Benar2 terabaikan dan hancur... dan.. angker...

Pemberhentian KeDua

Museum Bahari. Ongkos masuknya cuman 1500 rupiah! Tempatnya bersih dan rapi. Isinya bekas kapal2, kano kali ya.. hehe.. ada yg lucu tuh, kayaknya kapal orang irian tuh..bagus tuh..sayangnya agak lembab tempatnya..Selain kapal, ada record ttg pelayaran dan riwayat para pelaut Indonesia. Ada bekas tabung yg dipakai orang2 dulu untuk penerangan.. dari kaleng..lucu deh

Pembentian KeTiga

Menara Syah Bandar. Sebelum menapak kedalam, ada satu batu yg kita injak diukir pakai bahasa mandarin. ga tau artinya apa. menarik jg. jgn2 bekas batu nisan lagi..hihihi. tempat ini masih termasuk dalam bagian Museum Bahari. Dipakai sebagai Menara Pengawas untuk Jaman HiBe dulu.. Keadaannya bau amis. Katanya sih dibawah menara itu, ada jalan tembus yg dipakai untuk escape orang2 Belanda dulu..

Pemberhentian KeEmpat

VoC Galangan. Ini milik pribadi suatu pihak. Sebelum kt masuk dah ditodong buat makan dulu, dikirain kt ini mahasiswa..huhuhu..awet muda donk kita2 *tuinkk ~_*. Tempatnya sudah full-renovated. Skrg dipakai sebagai cafe tuh.. bagus jg sebenarnya kalo dipakai sebagai tempat meeting kantor ato acara pesta..cuman tempatnya aku dah lupa hehe..

Pemberhentian KeLima

Museum Fatahillah. Tadi pagi kan cuman didepannya. Pas kedalam? Sedang ada pameran foto transportasi, yah lumayanlah pameran, cuman ga ada informasi tuh foto ambilnya dimana,,jadinya ya kt nebak2 kira2 tuh foto diambil di daerah mana gt loh.. Oh ya, didalamnya ada bebek sama kalkun kali ya.. bebeknya galak euy..

Pemberhentian KeEnam

Pinangsia Plaza. Apakah ini museum?.. bukan donkkkk. Apakah ini tempat bersejarah? Bukan juga lahh! Hehehe..disini katanya sedang ada pameran foto Kota Tua Jakarta. Fotonya bagus? Yah biasalah, kurang lebih sama kalo kalian baca bukunya Heuken ato sapa lah yg ttg Sejarah Jakarta...

Mudah2an aku punya kesempatan buat berkunjung ke tempat2 lain yg menarik lagi! Dan pastinya.. tidak bangun kesiangan dan tidak lupa bawa kamera.