Motherhood

"When in Rome, being like a Roman" so when people drink or smoke ganja for instance then i should do the same things, Yea right I'm not Damn. Hell no... i do what i like how i want it. if it is cross the limit for sure i will act. i understand if they say "it is the culture" then i can say "yes" i don't like it and it doesn't suit me then". so when things bother me and i did nothing to do about it of course i will act... calling police for instance if people drink, drunk n being stupid and too laud at 1.30 AM in front of my house when i have to sleep and have to wake up in the morning. i just want to hang out with normal people, those who knows when to party and when to stop and appreciate neighbour.. those who knows there is kids sleeping next door. those who knows the limit to be too drunk and stay up a whole morning and go to work late the next day. a normal people who appreciate life and the health God gives. im not saying stop havin...

Yes, I'm about to be  apart of Australian productive society... that's what i wrote in my Visa application. Thanks God they granted my Visa and most of it is the work permit! i was over the moon so happy, one of the happiest moments in my life.. having a permit so stay and work in good country like Oz. ah as i always said to my family in US, 'i cant wait to make dollar" i will frame my first dollar and say bye to Rupiah.. i can make the world currency and feel like everything is reasonably pricey, not too expensive anymore. i can just point the things i want to buy without stressful about the number and the convert currency, the world feels less expensive. as i wrote before, back home i worked my ass off and work so hard but still got such a shitty money. living in developing country and shitty currency makes things difficult when it comes to travel. everything seemed so expensive for me especially when we talk about dollar... but all good and problem solved. i sta...

Life is repeat, that is exactly what happen now after we settle, wake up and go to bed early (at the same time). it is a good thing coz we have new body clock.. except for the weekend because parties always happen everywhere. The last couple days were raining and cool, I slept with the heater on. summer is almost there.sometimes it is nice hot sunny day but sometimes it's  cloudy and rainy, cannot really predict the weather. Morning walk is always the best… especially along the Manly beach.. looking at the sunrise, blue ocean and wave..   im not the only one to do so, many people do exercise along the beach; jogging, surfing, yoga, walk their dog, biking… most of them who live in Manly and of course they can surf, even the kids and teenagers.. I’m so jealous, I wish I could..   I live 30 minutes from the city but i haven’t gone there that often… I’ve been there 3 or 4 times. One of my friends from Indonesia who lives in Perth came...

You won’t miss cookies if u never have one but once you have one and u like it im sure you want more! Im talking about me liking US. my friends might not miss it coz they have never been there and experience the life but I did and I know how it feels like! I have been to only 3 great countries where people wish to stay and immigrant; Canada, US and Australia. I compare a lot about each and I conclude or in my personal opinion US is my choice. It is not because the super power country, police of the world etc, but I see it from the “quality of life” that this county offers for me or perhaps my kids in the future. The quality of life, there is so much better… im talking about very simple things I need for daily life such us things that makes easy in the kitchen ; wash disher, nice oven, good clean water, cheap groceries, cheap food / eating out, good shopping,   very good transportation system , quick response of 911 or fire fighter, good sanitation, quick services (bank/post office/...

When you are somewhere abroad then someone asks "where r u from" the answer is always "Indonesia" but then when u r somewhere in Indonesia and someone asks "where are you from" then will be "Jambi" yes i always miss my country not the crazy traffic Jakarta or corrupt government but the people, the weather and the food. the people is all the matter... especially my family and friends. i miss speaking in my own language, eating Indonesia's street food which cost $1 and friendly smiles of my people. Nov 6 (if I'm not mistaken) was happen to be the Idul Adha, one of Muslim big celebrations. i searched the mosque in Manly area and they have some nearby. i called and came for the pray. we had no car at the moment so i had to go myself by bus. up early and left home at around 6ish. i took my first bus to Dee why (area next to  Manly) $3.30 stopped half way coz i wasnt sure the location then i took my first taxi to the mosque. we prayed in the f...

I’m back, at Manly Library (since i still dont  have my own internet) writing with less travel story to share since we r settling and not travelling anymore at least for now.   Life is pretty much repeated like everyone else… wake up in the morning, walk along the beach, hang out, party, eat and sleep. I’m still adjusting this new place, new circumstances, new accent, new friends, new culture and new country. It is not easy, it takes time but I’ll be fine. I haven’t been to the famous opera house or any tourist sightseeing since I live here so I just take it slow. Manly beach, is getting crowded every week, tourist keeps coming and summer is nearly there. the weather is getting nicer and warmer, many people are started to swim in the ocea (for them is nice for me in freaking cool)… and the beach is always packed especially during the weekend. We live 2 minutes away from the beach and bay n yet I haven’t gone there. I met so many Japanese, French, Brazilian Germany, and Europ...

We finally moved to our own place, YES!! so happy, after 2 weeks sleeping here and there, i finally unpacked my suitcases.  After city visit, we went back to BJ's house and took over Johnny D room. Turner (whose room we took last week) finally got his room back  and he was so happy coz he doesn't have to sleep in the sofa, now Johnny D's turn, we made him slept in the sofa... (sorry Johnny).  Tuesday morning, we both were excited especially Shea... we moved to this new place in Darley road Manly, 2 minutes walk to ferry, very good area but not the best place to live. these old building apartment has 8 small studios and most of it are rent by Brazilian or students which during the weekend it turns to be a party house. ours is ok, with kitchen (most important), small toilet and good side bedroom. Shea scrubbed everything from the floor and toilet, he cleaned up the whole studio apartment, vacuumed, mopping, threw some old furnitures out and get new furniture in. i really wi...

We finally got this small apartment for $1600/month, we just signed the lease for 3 months... not really nice but at least it has kitchen so i can cook my own food as it's very expensive to go out for meal here in Manly. it is located in the heart of Manly, yes as i wrote before, we pay the location and view instead of the place. 2 minutes walks to the beach and bay... Shea promised, we will find a nicer and better apartment after finishing this lease, that's our short goal. nice and decent apartment in Manly overview the beach or bay.we are not moving yet  till Tuesday. we are still living in friends' house.... still haven't unpack our suitcase, still haven't settle, yes it's almost 2 weeks.. Drop kick Murphy, my very first concert i just went too, crazy rock Irish concert, laud, and a bunch of drunk people, i didn't like it at all, at least it's one of the lists Shea promised me. We left manly and went to Sydney city by 30 minutes Ferry, first time i ...

I t has been 5 days now we r in Sydney, and we still couldn't find a nice place to stay. i feel so frustrated, we keep searching and looking and walking around Manly, looking for any lease/rent/room available signs but the result still ZERO. It isn't as easy as finding a Hotel room where u can book it in internet, pay it with credit card and done. it is depends on the owner who decide to who she/he gives their place, if they like you then perhaps you can get the place. we just got here with no job, it's hard to compete with those professional officers who also looking for a place to stay.  Manly beach is the most expensive place to live in Australia, it makes sense because it is so beautiful just like Mission beach or any other beach in San Diego. They land is ridiculously expensive, they sell the view and the location. the rent for a week in manly cost the same as to rent so much better apartment for a month in any other big cities in Australia, so basically we pay 4x hig...

I have hard time for the last 3 days in Manly Sydney, feeling frustrated couldn't find a nice place to stay... a dear friend of mine, Claudia. my best friend i love so much sent me an email which is bright my day... which i;d luv to share :) Counterpart Diah !!! congratulations !!  Selamat !!! u made it !!!!!  I'm so proud of u : ) wahhh.... such a long flight... I just read your blog... two stories airplane ?? I didn't know it even existed ! How is Sidney ? How are u feeling ? How is Kevin Joseph Shea ?? I hope his left hand is better now... I watched the video of Shea making surf in the wave thank.... wow !! I thought he is very good !!! Did u find somewhere to live yet ? I know, this must be hard with high season... Hope u find a good place very soon : ) Oh... Diah, a new chapter of your life has begun just now.... It's ok to feel nervous... it's normal... But, one thing at a time... Sometimes, we have the big picture in our heads... we think too much... too fa...

We made it to Sydney after long direct flight from LA, it was such a nightmare but good thing we managed to sleep in the aeroplane. we left Mission beach at around 1ish. 10th of Oct, we woke up like our normal days of travelling, late at 10ish. a lady knocked the door and asked us to leave the house because the house keeper will clean up and new guest will come at 1. they didn't tell us or may be we never checked the schedule. Good thing we have packed our stuffs but still things are everywhere. they kicked us out of the place we have less than an hour to leave the house, i just put all my stuffs in the suitcase and all the left over food in the plastic bag, had a quick shower then left the the house. Yogi picked us (couldn't imagine if he wasn't there, where else could we go) with all our big suitcases and bags, we threw it the back of the trunk. we continued doing unfinished laundry at Yogi and Loli's house. i did the same mistake, eating spicy chicken wings a day bef...

I have never seen such a real scene like i saw couple days ago, i have witnessed a big fire! OMG... that was all i could say. I left house around 1ish, going to catch the bus to Down Town San Diego, i live in Dover, beach side and across the street is the bay side. i walked to the main street, i saw this big white house across the street and small smoke came from the garage, i stopped and waited and wondered "what the heck is that smoke for, is it fire" i was hesitate and thought probably someone has BBQ. 3 guys who bike also stopped in front of the house. we were kind of waiting for like 5 minutes and watched the smoke, then suddenly it became a big, black smoke which turned to be a fire... Then we all realized it was a fire!, i saw the guys were on the phone and i was so sure one of them might call 911. the fire turned to be a flame. OMG it happened so fast... i saw some guys jumped out of the window tried to save themselves... people was started to come and watched th...

It's exactly a week before out next departure, Sydney Australia. OMG 5 months already passed, long trip we have... San Diego has been fun, i met new people, going here and there. we r kinda busy of nothing, meeting people, party here and there. the weather for the last couple days is beautiful, nice warm sunny day. I'm started to love this city. i could see the view clearly, the beach, the bay, palm trees etc spectacular... such a beautiful city. we have kept going, meeting people, make plan, BBQ, parties, etc..which is good, keep me busy:). last week we finally went to San Diego Downtown, meeting both Jeffs (Shea's friends), had dinner with Loli, Yogi and Lisa. we had short San Diego' tour walked around the city. i did little bit shopping. Broadway... downtown San Diego has so many good fine dining/restaurants and shopping boutiques. very nice city, and walking distance; u can walk anywhere around downtown. palm trees along both sides of the road makes it so characte...

There is no way or almost impossible to take a year off from work to travel without getting fire!, that’s why I take the risk, quit from my job then travel to see the world. We might be 1 in a million people who can do this. Well I met some travelers but they travel during summer or 2-3 months only. Life is about choices and I choose to leave my life, job , family and friends back home and TRAVEL. I just love it! i always mention “best year of my life” coz I know this ain’t happen again, I mean next time I can’t travel for a year without having a job, for sure I always keep travelling to see more. I add more countries in my next travel list. It has been 5 months or so I leave home and moved around, surprisingly I can survive without my phone, no Blackberry, sms or phone calls. But I become internet –jungky. I ain’t going back but im moving! Yes to a new country…. isn’t that cool! I’m going to move! Leave traffic, riot Jakarta (that I always love) move to one of the best cities in the...