[in Bahasa Indonesia] Pernikahan Beda Agama

First of all, gw cuma mau bilang bahwa gw adalah seseorang yang berpendapat bahwa pernikahan itu adalah hak azasi setiap manusia, dan ga seharusnya lembaga apapun, termasuk negara dan agama, mengatur boleh atau tidak bolehnya seseorang menikah dengan pilihannya. Kalo ada yang ga sependapat dengan gw dalam hal ini, mendingan gausa nerusin baca post ini daripada nanti menimbulkan opini yang nggak-nggak. Bukan apa-apa, males aja ngebaca komentar negatif.

Baca judul post ini, mungkin bakal banyak (pede amat ya gw) yang ngebatin: oh, ternyata dia nikah beda agama, toh.. Apalagi kalo ada yang udah lama kenal gw dan tau salah satu kriteria pencarian jodoh gw *kala itu* adalah yang seiman. Apa daya pengalaman mengubah cara pandang gw terhadap hidup beragama, yang consequently mengubah kriteria pencarian jodoh gw setelahnya.

Kalo ada yang bertanya-tanya gimana ribetnya urusan administrasi perkawinan beda agama ini, kayanya ga usah gw ulang lagi deh ceritanya. Silahkan cek di post gw sebelumnya ini. Satu kata aja: ribet. Tapi dengan ngambil ‘jalan pintas’, berhasil juga kami lewatin masa itu. Kenapa jalan pintas? Karena baru-baru ini kami menemukan ada LSM yang spesialis ngebantuin perkawinan beda agama. (Nemu di Youtube ini.)

Sejauh ini (dan mudah-mudahan sampe seterusnya), beda agama ini ga jadi masalah buat gw dan suami, karena kami sama-sama berpendapat bahwa agama adalah cara pribadi berkomunikasi dengan Sang Pencipta, jadi meskipun agama kami sama, ga akan ngerubah apa-apa. Trus nanti anak gimana? Bingung dong kalo ortunya ga kompak? Ga dong.. kan dari sebelum nikah udah diobrolin. Kebetulan juga gw beragama Katolik, yang emang secara resmi mengizinkan pernikahan beda agama (resmi = mau menerbitkan surat perkawinan), dengan salah satu syaratnya anak-anak hasil pernikahan ini harus dididik dan dibaptis secara Katolik. Berhubung statusnya gw yang bakal jadi ibu, dari awal (sebelum tau ada aturan itu) suami emang udah bilang urusan ngedidik yang sifatnya keimanan ini diserahkan ke gw.

*bagian atas gw tulis taun 2020, trus post ini ngendon aja di draft sampe gw “nemuin” lagi barusan LOL*

Long story short, ternyata udah 5 tahun lebih juga pernikahan gw. So far so good, gw bilang, dan moga-moga bakal baik seterusnya. Anak kami udah 2 sekarang, dan 2-2nya udah dibaptis secara Katolik. Sedikit banyak efek pandemi dan sulitnya adaptasi jam ibadah dengan siklus hidup (tidur dan makan) anak-anak, jadinya gw ga serajin dulu ke gereja. Sedang berusaha merajinkan diri setelah nemu tempat ibadah yang nyaman buat anak-anak, dengan jam yang juga pas. Suami masih sama seperti dulu: pasrah kapanpun istrinya bilang mau ibadah, malah kadang dia yang suka ngingetin kalo gw udah kelamaan absen. Bedanya cuma kalo dulu sepanjang ibadah dia duduk sebelah gw sambil mainan handphone (sesekali dengerin kotbah/homili pastor kalo topik dan cara bawainnya menarik), sekarang sibuk jagain dan ngejarin 2 bocah yang lagi aktif-aktifnya. πŸ˜€

Banyak pasangan yang pernikahannya gagal, tapi ga sedikit juga yang langgeng, dan IMHO itu ga ada sangkut pautnya sama agama, meski memang agama adalah bagian dari pribadi. Menurut gw, kunci dari pernikahan beda agama itu:

  1. Ga memaksakan agama kita ke pasangan. Ini penyebab nomor 1 banyak pasangan yang pisah di tengah jalan, baik sebelum ataupun setelah nikah.
  2. Toleransi dengan segala hal berbau agama dan kepercayaan pasangan, mulai dari cara dia beribadah sampai “ritual-ritual”-nya, kalo ada.
  3. Saling ngingetin untuk ibadah, dan kalo memungkinkan, doa bareng. Cara ibadah boleh beda, tapi semua agama pasti membolehkan doa bebas, kan? Inilah saatnya kita doa bareng pasangan.
  4. Sepakat dengan pasangan segala hal berbau agama yang menyangkut anak-anak. Misal: nanti anak ikut agama siapa, trus misal tengah jalan dia berubah haluan (agama ya, bukan yang lain) mau gimana. IMO meski kita dan pasangan beda dan sepakat akan terbuka soal nantinya anak mau pilih agama yang mana, tapi anak tetap mesti diajarin/dididik dengan satu agama supaya dia ga bingung.
  5. Terbuka dalam keluarga, terutama dengan anak-anak. Anak makin gede, pasti makin banyak pertanyaannya, dan dia pun pasti sadar bahwa mama dan papanya berdoa dengan cara yang berbeda. Jelasin aja dengan nada netral segala sesuatu yang dia mau tau, dan jangan lupa orangtua yang beragama sama dengan anak ngajarin anak beribadah dengan tata cara agama itu.

Agama itu bagian besar dari hidup kita pribadi, yang (at least buat gw) sebenernya cuma bagian kecil dari hidup berumah tangga. Yang lebih gawat daripada pernikahan beda agama adalah pernikahan tanpa agama, karena orang ga akan bisa bertahan hidup baik tanpa agama.

πŸ™‚

working mom’s guilt

As I mentioned several times in my previous posts (or drafts, can’t quite recall which is which): I’m a working mom by choice. I can say I’m lucky to have a responsible, hardworking husband who provides for us (my kids and me) both physically and mentally despite his condition. Economically speaking, I don’t need to work, but yeah, I need it for my mental health. LOL.

However, there are times when this convenience is making me feel guilty.

This morning, my eldest woke up with red eyes and slight fever. I can tell right away that he’s not well, even though he won’t admit it. I fed him a cup of warm herbal tea and peanut butter sandwich, his favorite. Oh, and also his vitamins (gummy ones, which he would always ask for more). After feeding him, I went straight to shower and get ready for work. As usual, he would jump into my car as soon as I unlock the doors, demanding a short drive around. When we arrived back home, he just wouldn’t come out of the car. He wanted to be with me. 😦

Oh dear, if only you knew how guilty I felt.. I then drove away with teary eyes. “Sorry, my dear,” I whispered along the way. “I want to be with you too, but I need this time away from you.. for myself and for you.” (Because I would get mad at him easily when he sticks with me all the time.)

I love my kids, but I need some time away from them. And work (and sickness, even though I would still take care for them if I can still get up from bed) is the only acceptable excuse for me to be.

Wondering how long this mom’s guilt will go on.. I hope they know just how much I love them.

my dream job

Bloganuary writing prompt
What’s your dream job?

I’ve had a few my entire life:

  • a doctor
  • a dubber
  • a radio DJ
  • an engineer
  • a fashion magazine editor

…but you know, none of those became real. Well, except for an engineer, if you count the less-than-1-year first job I had.

If you ask me that question now, I honestly don’t know. Being a full time working mom has taken all my time thinking of everything (for everyone) and nothing for myself. I guess my job now is what every mom dreams of (?): a job that gives decent pay (enough for my monthly self care and my kids’ play at the malls *rolling eyes) and flexible working time (and place). It is stressful at times, but the flexibility is key for me. πŸ™‚

[in Bahasa Indonesia] Perlengkapan ‘Tempur’ Working Mom with Baby

(Lanjutan post sebelumnya) …so I survived 3 months of maternity leave. Then reality hits me: I have to go back to work (meskipun ‘thanks‘ to COVID-19, gw masih lanjut WFH). Belum kerja aja mamak udah rempong, ini udah kerja makin rempong karena semua kerjaan rumah dan perlengkapan bayi harus udah beres pas gw mau mulai kerja (bayi dititip – ku tak sanggup kalo harus kerja sambil ngurus bayi). Note: gw ga ada ART dan ga ada babysitter, jadi semuanya gw kerjain sendiri (bareng suami sih, yang sering kena paksa bantuin πŸ˜› thanks, paksu..).

Kira-kira ini perlengkapannya (kuncinya adalah mesin yang kerjanya otomatis sehingga memungkinkan mamak multitasking):

  1. Mesin cuci (udah beli dari pas hamil biar ga usah jongkok2 ngucek)
  2. Pompa ASI elektrik – setelah nanya bolak balik ke temen-temen dan awalnya beli yang manual, akhirnya gw nyerah.. sewa dulu yang elektrik, trus akhirnya gw beli. Karena ternyata mompa ASI pake yang manual itu penuh perjuangan (tangan pegel booookk) dan ga memungkinkan gw mompa sambil meeting. Yang manual sekarang tetep dipake sih, tapi cuma buat back up sama kalo lagi males nyuci printilan banyak. πŸ˜€ Honestly, pompa manual itu jauh lebih enak (kalo ga mikirin pegelnya) dan hasil pompaan gw pake yang manual bisa lebih banyak. Tapi balik lagi, untuk working mom kayanya lebih praktis yang elektrik (dual pump ya Moms biar hemat waktu..).
  3. Sterilizer (gw pake both steam dan portable UV). Singkat cerita, yang gw punya duluan itu yang steam, tapi berhubung ukurannya guedeee dan mamak satu ini males beres-beres di apartment, jadilah akhirnya lebih banyak pake yang portable UV (dapet kado). Baru setelah sewa pompa ASI dan dibilangin ga bole pake UV sterilizer karena bisa bikin parts-nya menguning, akhirnya beres-beres dan steam sterilizer-nya dipake lagi. Dua-duanya pakenya simple sih, masuk-masukin, pencet-pencet tombol, trus nanti bunyi bip-bip tau-tau udah beres. Bedanya cuma karena UV sterilizer gw yang portable, jadinya ga ada fungsi pengering (botol dan berbagai perangkat mesti kering dulu baru masuk situ). Nah kalo ada yang lagi consider beli UV sterilizer, boleh banget tuh cari yang gede yang bisa sekalian pengering, biar selesai nyuci langsung masuk, pencet-pencet tau-tau kering dan steril. Enaknya pake yang portable karena bisa dibawa ke mana-mana, termasuk kalo ngantor dan nginep-nginep (again, dengan adanya bayi gw rada males nginep-nginep sih).
  4. Food processor (lagi-lagi dapet kado). Critanya mamak satu ini sama sekali buta soal MPASI (Makanan Pendamping ASI – buat bayi belajar makan, transisi dari ASI ke makanan padat), alhasil pas temen nanya mau dikadoin apa pas lahiran, gw jawab aja gw udah ada perlengkapan newborn, butuhnya perlengkapan MPASI. Dikasih lah gw Oonew Petite BabyPuree 4 in 1 (bisa untuk ngukus, blender, dan defrosting). Menurut gw ini praktis dan kepake banget sih. Pas lagi bikin bubur dari tepung beras, untuk topping-nya gw kukus dan blender pake ini. Kalo pas lagi bikin bubur beras yang dimasak either di kompor atau slow cooker (iya, gw se-random itu, rajin ga rajinnya masak tergantung mood), gw pake ini buat ngeblender. Kalo lagi pake karbo selain beras/nasi, semua (karbo + topping) gw kukus dan blender pake ini. Plus ini gw pake juga buat bikin puree buah-buahan buat snack (demi mengurangi sembelit).
  5. Slow cooker (beli belakangan setelah dilema sekitar 1 bulan). Baca segala macem artikel dan forum mamak-mamak bekerja, semuanya bilang slow cooker ini wajib punya, tapi dasar mak yang satu ini skeptis, setelah nanya-nanya ke beberapa saudara (dan ternyata mereka juga pake slow cooker), barulah memutuskan buat beli. Itupun ditunda-tunda terus gara-gara ragu bakal kepake atau nggak. Ternyata emang praktis banget karena malem tinggal cemplung-cemplung semua bahan, tambahin air, nyalain (setelah sempet pengen banget beli merk Takahi karena naksir dengan kebisaan tembikarnya buat dimasak di kompor, gw akhirnya memutuskan beli Baby Safe LB06D karena ada fitur auto-on-nya; kita bisa nentuin mau mulai masak berapa jam setelah dinyalain), tau-tau bangun pagi udah jadi buburnya, tinggal blender-blender dikit kalo emang masih diperlukan.
  6. Dishwasher. Yang satu ini gw ga punya karena gw tinggal di apartment dengan segala keterbatasannya (space dan daya listrik), tapi asli, kalo gw tinggalnya di rumah, gw bakal beli ini. Karena hal paling merepotkan kedua setelah ngurusin bayi adalah nyuci segala pernak perniknya. Jangan sedih kalo Anda adalah stay at home mom yang me time-nya super terbatas.. trust me, jadi working mom itu meski jadi punya lebih banyak me time, tapi ribet banget urusan manajemen waktu dan kewajiban nyuci pernak pernik pompa ASI (ingat poin 2? Pompa ASI double pump = praktis tapi printilan yang harus dicucinya banyak dibanding kalo kalian di rumah aja dan bisa pake pompa manual), botol ASIP, dan perkakas MPASI. Untungnya hidup di jaman sekarang adalah mayoritas perlengkapan bayi udah dishwasher-safe, jadi hidup bisa jadi lebih simple kalo ada budget lebih buat beli dishwasher.
  7. Robot pel lantai. Ini juga gw ga punya. (Sekarang sih karena lahan cuma seiprit, pake jasa paksu buat ngepel. :P) Ga usah banyak dijelasin ya, tau kan wujudnya kaya gimana? Asiknya pake ini, tinggal naik-naikin semua barang (meminimalkan barang yang ada di lantai), trus nyalain, bisa ditinggal ngerjain yang lain deh.
Jual Produk Robot Pembersih Lantai Otomatis Murah dan Terlengkap September  2020 | Bukalapak
Kaya gini robot pembersih lantai yang gw maksud

Anyway, buat new moms yang kerja full time kaya gw, di luar perlengkapan tempur yang gw sebut diatas, yang paling penting adalah kesadaran diri bahwa kerjaan rumah tangga itu bukan beban Anda seorang, tapi harus dibagi dengan suami. Apalagi buat kasus no ART no babysitter kaya gw (gw yakin banyak sih yang kaya gw di luaran sana), harus rela tahan-tahanin rumah berantakan demi kewarasan diri. Ingat-ingat bahwa your baby needs you to be happy more than s/he needs the house to be neat.

[game review] Cooking Craze

When someone asks me what my favorite game is, I will probably answer Diner Dash, The Sims, or Candy Crush. During my school years, I could sit in front of my computer for hours playing games from when I reached home until dinner time, or until the mosquitos bit my legs till the blood was almost dry *exaggeration*.

Since I started working, I don’t really have that much time to play games, so mobile games with limited ‘lives’ are preferable. Last weekend I found a new game with the same theme as Cooking Dash: Cooking Craze from Bigfish Game.

Image result for cooking craze

The mission of each level is to serve food to customers, either by time or number of customers. After we finish a stage (each stage contains approximately 10 levels), we will go on to another stage and restaurants. Each restaurant will serve different kinds of food, hence different upgrades will be required. In order to upgrade restaurant utensils, we will need to collect certain amount of coins (collected through serving customers and some daily bonus), and to advance some harder levels, we might need spoons for additional time or customers. Spoons are collected by passing a level and from daily bonus.

I have only played this game for 3 days, but I love it the way I will start playing after the lives are filled up (like Candy Crush, it takes 30 minutes to collect a life). This is a fun girl game which requires multitasking and might last for a couple of months (for me, until I get stucked in a certain level).

Goodbye 2016, Hello 2017

I know it’s a bit too late to write this post, but I feel the need to say my gratitude for 2016 for the following things (in chronological order, just because):

  1. Early 2016 Surabaya trip with friends (for a friend’s wedding). Though ending up with my old phone being broken, I totally enjoyed the trip.
  2. A brand new phoneΒ (thank God I had the money to buy one). I still use the phone today and love it.
  3. Japan trip! Coz what else highlights my 2016? (Well, I got my Komodo trip which was also remarkably fun, but nothing beats an 11-day trip with best friends, right?)
  4. A boyfriend. (Hehe..)
  5. My last birthday as a 20-something.
  6. Komodo trip and the experience of living on board (i.e. no proper land to stand on and no clear water to shower properly).
  7. Glenn Fredly’s ‘Tanda Mata Glenn Fredly untuk Ruth Sahanaya’ and ‘After Hours Music: Glenn Fredly’ concerts. Still my favorite local artist when it comes to live show worth chasing for.
  8. Family’s old-and-new year getaway.

Thank God for everything that happened in 2016, both the good and bad ones.

Happy new year 2017 and wishing that this year is going to be another great year. πŸ™‚

the afterlife

Have you ever pictured yourself being in the afterlife – the life you’re having when you leave this life?

Some religions believe in the concept of heaven and hell, including mine, but nobody has really gone there. Heaven and hell are the concept introduced to the believers so they will do good when they live, believing that if you sin too much, you will surely go to hell. Hell is pictured to be a very uncomfortable place where nobody would want to be, while heaven is the total opposite so everyone would want to be there.

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the afterlife (picture taken from http://www.youtube.com)

I believe that heaven and hell do exist, whatever they are known as. The thing is, I also believe that after death, the souls will wander here and there in the afterlife for some time before they finally reach heaven or hell. Not in the same world as the living humans (as some people believe about ghosts), but in the in-between world.

One thing I know for sure now: we, the ones who are left behind still alive, can only pray for the best to come for the souls in the afterlife, so that their “journey” to the final destination (heaven or hell) will be easy.

*I hope the souls’ journeys to heaven will be easy so I can pray to meet the people I loved in heaven.

on sharing food

Food well shared is more delicious than the one we enjoy alone.

 

food sharing (photo taken from time.com)
It all started in the family. We share food everywhere – at home, in the restaurant and during family gatherings. Then during my uni time I started doing it with some close friends that until now, we share food like it’s nothing strange. Some people might see this as disgusting or even inappropriate, but for me it’s totally OK. I’m not actually made for sharing things, but today it feels so strange not to share food. Moreover, some food would feel better when you’re sharing it with special ones.

I don’t know if there’s science behind it, but sharing food has drawn me closer to the people I’m sharing it with and it’s a good ice breaker whenever you’re eating together with the people whom you don’t see that often.

(trying) food blogging: Fukuzushi

I love eating. I can say that I practically eat any kind of food, be it western, middle eastern, Asian, Indonesian (Indonesian food holds a very special spot in my heart, hence there it was), even junk food. I started food blogging before it was popular, and stopped when it became popular. LOL. I did food photography (using my phone) a lot during my stay in Melbourne, Australia, but rarely posted any of them. Now, after several discussions on whether or not I should start this thing to add even more scattered topics to my beloved blog, I decided to start reviewing new restaurants I visit now and then.

fukuzushi - sushi for life

The first review is for Fukuzushi – Sushi for Life. As most of you might have guessed correctly, this is a Japanese restaurant – fusion, to be exact. Located on Jalan Bahureksa No. 1 in Bandung, Indonesia and in Paris Van Java mall, also in Bandung, this restaurant offers you a pretty brave wide range of fusion sushi, without forgetting the classics like Chuka Wakame (seaweed salad), Chuka Idako (baby octopus), chawan mushi (steamed egg in a cup), sashimi, and nigiri sushi. They also sell bento (rice box), donburi (a bowl of rice topped with omelette and various kind of meat), and ramen (Japanese noodle).

Left: sunset mentai, Right: power up
Left: sunset mentai, Right: power up

I had 2 fusion sushi to share with my sister: sunset mentai and power up. For those who are familiar with sushi, you must understand that when it’s named “mentai”, it will involve a sushi roll topped with cheese and mayonnaise that is flame-grilled. It’s the same for sunset mentai. The mayonnaise is seasoned with chili powder, giving it spicy taste in addition to the appetizing mayo. Then there’s the refreshing power up. With fried ebi (prawn) and crunch as the fillings, this sushi is topped with fresh combination of (raw) salmon, (raw) tuna, and eel.

We didn’t get to taste the other menu as the portion is pretty big – ordering 2 was enough for our lunch, but we will definitely come back again for another try. For these 2 sushi rolls which we tried today, I give 4 out of 5 stars. Price is at similar level as the infamous Sushi Tei, and for the raws, Sushi Tei is better, but for fusion, this one is better. Worth to try. πŸ™‚

Emergency Couple (Emergency Man and Woman)

This is the third series I’d watched in the last 2.5 weeks (yes, I finish this series even faster than before, regardless the fact that this series consist of 21 episodes).

Emergency Couple started with an elope done by the two main characters, Oh Chang Min (Choi Jin Hyuk) and Oh Jin Hee (Song Ji Hyo), six years ago, followed by their marriage life which ended up in chaos and divorce after one year. In present days, fate brought them back together. Their first meeting after the divorce was in a relative’s wedding, one day before their works as interns in Woo Su University Hospital (WSUH) began. As if the meeting was not enough, in WSUH they were grouped together with 4 other interns: Han Ah Reum (Clara), Im Yong Gyu (Yoon Jong Hoon), and newlyweds Park Sang Hyuk (Im Hyun Sung) and Lee Young Ae (Chun Min Hee) to help out in the Emergency Medical Center (EMC). ChiefΒ of EMC is a cold-hearted resident Geok Joong Hyun (Choi Beom Ho), who was nicknamed “The Devil” due to his miraculous ability to save patients.

Image taken from asianwiki.com
left-right: Shim Ji Hye, Chief Geok, Oh Chang Min, Oh Jin Hee, Han Ah Reum

Working together in a team and seeing each other everyday had somehow melted Chang Min’s and Jin Hee’s frozen hearts. Together, they worked out on why it didn’t happen the first time. They seem to have no clue about what to do next, though, enabling Ah Reum to have a crush on Chang Min and Chief Geok on Jin Hee. In between their love stories, there are also Shim Ji Hye (Choi Yeo Jin), re-appearing as an assistant professor of surgery who was assigned to help out in EMC, Chief Geok’s junior who happened to be his ex-girlfriend before she moved to America, and being the only one who seems to understand Chief Geok’s coldness the best; Oh Jin Ae (Jeon Soo Jin), Jin Hee’s sister who ran away from their house and got back with a husband, Kim Gwang Soo (Park Doo Sik) and a baby, Kim Gook.

Overall, I would say that the whole story is about the comeback love – they make people believe that when you’ve loved someone so deep, whatever reason you separate, when you finally meet that person again, you will fall back in love for the same reason you loved them the first time. Quite good if you have some time to kill, but it got a bit boring in the middle. *Good thing Chang Min is so handsome~ ❀

I’m giving 3 out of 5 stars for this series.