Three Things Your Boss Will Tell You About Aiming For Success

If you have 30 minutes to talk with your CEO at fireside, what topics will you bring up? I bet the questions would be about his success path. How did he make his way to the top? What differences he have made to achieve target? What driven him the most?

I once had the opportunity to ask such questions. The man in power sure has a lot of experience to share. Stories were told, lessons were learned, and traits were shared. Hearing his speech was like reading a motivation book. He gave three key points he feels affected him along the road to his success.

1. Focus on your goal. What should be the goal here is what really matters to you. Something that cannot get out of your head, something that you feel is the most important to you. No matter how distractive your surroundings, your mind will always get back to it. No matter how difficult it might seem, you will always try to succeed it.
2. Be competent in your work. Be irreplaceable. Go extra mile to learn different approach to make things more efficient. Be acknowledged for your expertise. Learn third language, take new project, travel to new places, grab the challenge, anything to expand your experience and shape your skills.
3. Execute your plan. You will never know how good a plan is until you start carrying it out. You never know how good a dream is until you make it a reality. Start immediately and you will feel the urge to finish it immediately as well. One tip to remember: always listen to your guts. Spontaneous decision is usually the best decision.

Yang Cepat, Yang Lebih Produktif

Sadarkah kamu bahwa video-video yang kamu tonton di Facebook ataupun Youtube seringkali dikemas dalam format cepat (hyperlapse)? Selain agar lebih ngirit space, juga agar lebih menarik. Nonton lima menit video tutorial saja kita sudah bisa tau sepuluh macam DIY. Jika suka videonya, tinggal klik like, share, atau save buat jaga-jaga siapa tau nanti kepengen bikin yang seperti itu (walaupun pada kenyataannya terlupakan). Awalnya memang hanya iseng buka satu video, kita pikir ah paling sebentar ini gak nyampe lima menit. Gak taunya setelah satu video selesai, muncul video berikutnya yang mirip-mirip tapi judulnya menarik. Gak terasa dua jam habis cuma untuk nonton video. Setelah itu, kita kembali ke rutinitas.

Tanpa kita sadari, keputusan kita untuk menonton video-video tersebut dilakukan tanpa berpikir panjang. Walaupun terkadang kita senang melihat proses, tapi sebenarnya kita lebih penasaran dengan hasil akhir. Bahkan jika video itu panjang atau kelamaan prosesnya, tanpa ragu kita klik fast-forward hingga ke tampilan akhir. "Oh...ternyata kaya gitu...", adalah kalimat yang sering kita ucapkan di dalam pikiran. Jarang kita mengulang video yang sudah ditonton. Ibarat buka puasa dengan sop buah porsi besar. Awalnya terlihat sangat menggiurkan. Disantap langsung dalam sekejap habis tak bersisa. Begitu disuruh sebutin buah apa aja tadi yang dimakan hanya mampu ingat empat atau lima buah saja, selebihnya lupa. Kalau disuruh ngulang makan sop buah lagi, ogah karena sudah kenyang. Tapi kalau ditawari gorengan, mau juga deh nyomot barang dua biji. Padahal belum sepuluh menit tapi perut udah begah kekenyangan.

Kembali lagi ke video. Video yang dipercepat terlihat lebih menarik daripada yang biasa. Berkat mudahnya teknologi, kita bisa melakukan banyak hal dalam waktu yang singkat. Yang kita lihat di layar, semua memang serba cepat. Namun demikian, rutinitas yang kita jalankan bergerak dengan kecepatan biasa (biasa disini maksudnya biasa lambat). Misalnya, kita bekerja 8 jam sehari. Mulai dari hari Senin saja kita sudah agak malas karena terpikir kemacetan yang bakal membuat pergerakan kita jadi lambat. Sampai di kantor kita lambat mengingat-ingat apa saja yang terakhir dikerjakan dan apa yang belum. Lambat-lambat kita mulai bekerja, walaupun mata sering melirik ke jam menghitung sisa waktu menuju makan siang. Cara bekerja seperti ini sangat membosankan. Mungkin saking bosannya, kita sengaja menunda. Sampai ketika pekerjaan sudah menumpuk atau mendekati deadline, baru kita sibuk dan stress. Baru deh kita mulai bergerak cepat, kita fast-forward cara bekerja kita. Mata yang tadinya ngantuk jadi terpaksa melek. Disinilah mulai terasa semangat energi. Kita tau bahwa kita mesti mempercepat proses agar sampai ke hasil akhir, persis seperti video yang dipercepat.

Bekerja lebih cepat terasa lebih bersemangat. Sebenernya kita tidak hanya bisa mempercepat video yang kita lihat di dunia maya, tapi kita juga bisa mempercepat "video kita" di dunia nyata. Misalnya, mulai dari pekerjaan kecil, seperti mengelap meja, bisa kita lakukan dalam waktu 1 menit. Tidak perlu berlama-lama yang penting goal-nya tercapai. Jika sudah dimulai, energi yang muncul akan semakin besar. Kita jadi tambah semangat untuk mengerjakan hal-hal lainnya. Trik ini membuat pekerjaan kita lebih efisien, lebih produktif, mengurangi galau dan baper, yang pasti kita lebih puas dan pede sama diri sendiri.

Jadi, jangan berpikir terlalu lama. Lakukan apa yang menurutmu penting untuk dilakukan...dan lakukan itu dengan cepat! Hap hap hap! :-)

Tambahan: Dua artikel berikut mungkin bisa jadi inspirasi kamu:

Artikel 1 -> 35 Tips Tokcer Agar Kamu Produktif, Serta Bisa Kerja Dengan Cepat dan Efisien

Artikel 2 -> Cara Membedakan Pekerjaan Penting, Kerjaan Mendesak, dan Kerjaan Nggak Penting

Inside Out - Revelations from The Movie

I've recently watched the movie "Inside Out", a great movie with simple story but rich of psychological information about human emotions. The main characters are Joy, Disgust, Fear, Anger, and Sadness, which playing big roles in controlling human's reaction to everything one could experience in one's life. Each emotion expressed in any event then stored inside brain memory which could either develop or even destroy personality traits. After watching the movie, I understand that it's okay to be sad. It's just a natural process of being human. By experiencing sadness, we naturally contemplate the unfortunate event and learn from it. Though it hurts, but only with sadness, we could learn to let go and move on our life. It's also okay to feel angry. It's the reaction we get when we are unsatisfied, failed, or betrayed. From it we could learn to find solution for problem or another way for compromise. Meanwhile we feel disgust or fear when we are threatened. It protects us from uncertain and harmful condition. It seems all of these work automatically, but I think it could be managed. Remember when we were brokenhearted, all at once we felt sadness, anger, fear, and disgust but not joy? Those emotion help us to go through healing process. Then we are told by friends to believe that the best one is yet to come, that joy will come back to life. But the absence of joy for a long time could lead us to depression and might as well to suicide attempt. I find it important to manage good emotion, to have joy as the leader of our reaction control. It might be quite a challenge to keep positive mind. Things happened in our life and some were painful shits. People wrote books about the "key of success", so telling people not to make the same mistakes and to reach happiness as fast as possible. But one's life journey is never the same with the others. We are chasing for our own success, it's the real pursuit of happiness on our own. However, the books are written for good, they have the same idea: to always be positive-minded person, to give joy more control in our life, to balance the presence of sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. I suppose it's how we should be able to continue living as human beings. It's simply the beauty of life.

Joy - Anger - Sadness - Fear - Disgust

Conquering Third Language

A friend of mine once asked me, "Why are you so determined in learning German?"

I promptly answered, "Because I want to understand the people."

She was startled by this statement. I couldn't find better answer, as much true and straightforward as it is.

I stayed in Germany for a short period, I could just use English anyway. I was told by some colleagues for not to put much efforts in learning language. Take it easy, they said. You're already good enough speaking English. Nevertheless, I took beginners course in Goethe-Institut within three months before leaving Jakarta. It was A.1.1 level, the starting point for absolute beginners. Well, at least I could learn how to order pizza, I reassured myself.

First week in Germany, I ended up buying ready-to-made pizza and made myself one instead of eating in restaurant. In the first attempt going to restaurant, I was completely ignored, because the waitress couldn't speak English. I eventually made my order by gesturing what I wanted, pointing to the menus and indicating my desired meal. Even more that I couldn't read the menus, I took only good looking food, presuming and praying that it would fit my taste and appetite. Who said it would be easy.

Everywhere I go, I tried to make friends, to communicate with neighbors and colleagues. Not everybody could speak English which was hardly taken for granted initially. In addition, cultural distinctions bewildered me. What seemed normal in my native land is not the same in this country, and it applies the other way around. It occurred to me that I was like an alien, a total stranger. I need to adapt, but the language barrier hold my self-esteem down low. How was I supposed to settle if I couldn't understand what people said and couldn't handle a single conversation?

As social being, I wish to be regarded by others, to be accepted as meaningful member in the circle. I want to contribute to the community as well. However, I was too illiterate to even read bus schedules, too hesitant to ask information at the ticket counter, too slow in the line paying groceries at the customers checkout, I was so sick with my inabilities that the urge to learn language became a dire need. I want to know what story in that drama television is about. I want to be able to talk without having to search for my words. I want to read books without needing to look for dictionary every minute.

I looked for language courses and thankfully I found one in Volkshochschule. I took the placement test, and to my surprise, my score put me in Module 4, I was considered no longer a beginner. I took the evening class twice per week, four hours long in each lessons. First day in class, I didn't understand any of what the teacher had said. My mind was flooded with new unfamiliar words. I was too overwhelmed to look for Google Translate, so I noted it all down and studied the definition later. The teacher was a young, PhD title holder, blond hair lady, whom I thought was a German but apparently is a Polish. I never missed her class, I actually liked it. I looked forward for Tuesday and Thursday to come. There were individual tasks and also group works, in which I had to learn together with my classmates. They come from several different countries. It's interesting to hear their stories about their homelands and their hopes and dreams in Germany.

At the workplace, I absorbed everything I heard and overheard: chit-chats, greetings, meetings, and phone conversations. I mimicked every common expressions my colleagues used to show pleasure, regret, surprise, exhilaration, exhaustion, dissatisfaction, confusion, embarrassment, and many other emotions. Just like a baby learns to talk, I copied and digested words by words, devoured all I could. Besides, there are lots of learning material in the internet. One site I always access is germanpod101.com, they provide great audio lessons which helped improving my German.

Though I did well in the course, it seemed like it's never enough. I came to realize that it takes time to be a fluent speaker. I've learned English since I was in elementary school, that made 15 years learning to truly understand the context and to articulate it in everyday use. Funny how I don't really remember having any struggles learning English, I just....learned it. On the other hand, learning German is my conscious decision. I know for sure how difficult it is, because thinking in German is totally different from thinking in English. To understand the context requires frequent studying and practicing. Determination and hard work will always pay off, I believe it so.

Six months passed by quickly. I finished my course as well my training. I returned to Indonesia with more determination. I took proficiency test in Goethe-Institut which placed me in B.1.2 level. I have advanced six levels from the previous A.1.1 course. My current learning goal is to reach minimum C.1 level and to acquire Goethe-Zertifikat C1 for my next year's Masters study. I continued learning in Goethe-Institut, I tried writing E-mails in German, and mingling with German colleagues just to keep myself surrounded by the language and make progress step by step.

Though it sounds weird, but the struggles I've been encountering so far are boredom and embarrassment. There were times I was so bored that I questioned myself, "Why the am I bothering to learn this language?!" When the motivation goes down, I would narrow down my expectation for a while, from expecting that I want to be fluent someday to at least I could understand what the weather report says. Keeping the motivation high is like having battle against myself. There were also many embarrassing moments when I wanted to say something but ended up humiliating myself with funny grammar and strange accent that native people would laugh. I even once couldn't differentiate how to pronounce schon and schön, it sounded just the same to me until I knew the difference. It's stupid, but at least I am trying. Instead of keeping my mouth shut, I learned better when I made mistakes.

I'm glad I learned a lot during my time in Germany. I met many new people I could connect with easily. We spent good times, they're even expecting my return back to Germany, as if I'd gone for a while and will come back soon. I could feel the pressure on my shoulders, aiming to achieve my goals as quickly as possible. Back to the question, "Why would I learn German?" I would add, "I want to understand people and I want to know how to make them understand me."

Okay, dann halte ich die Ohren steif!

Jokes on Grandma

Eid Al-Fitr always become the most awaited celebration for most people in Indonesia. It is the longest public holiday when the big family could gather, pay visits to long-lost family members, spend the nights over in hometown, and eat lots of food. This year, my grandma decided to spend holiday at my house, which is unusual. Normally, it's the children who had to visit the elder.

However, I was not that excited in welcoming grandma because I know exactly the big question she has in mind. My sweet grandma is 82 years old and suffering short-term memory loss. She couldn't recall what she had for breakfast an hour ago and whether or not she had taken a bath. Despite of this, she's a lovely, caring grandma, who puts priority of others than herself. In the big family, she's known for helping relatives finding partner. Yup, she's a love cupid. She never forgets to question each of her grandchildren to get boy/girlfriend. She worries the single ones, which none other than me. Consequently, I have to deal with her frequent question, "Dear, have you got a boyfriend?"

She once arranged a date for me with her friend of friend's son. I didn't mind at that time, however it didn't work. She teased me if I'm thinking of getting a boyfriend or if I plan to become a single old lady. Well, I would say building relationsthip takes time, it cannot be imposed. How could the elders become such impatient?

To make her happy and to keep my pride on, I told her, "Grandma, I actually already met a really nice guy. His name is David, a British, very sporty and handsome. We've met in Madame Tussauds Museum in Amsterdam." Then the conversation went like this:

Grandma : "Really??? Show me the picture!"

Me          : (showed her the photo) "Look, grandma, we've even done sports together!!"

Grandma : (examined the photo carefully though she couldn't see well due to her low vision) "Has he ever visited

                 Indonesia? Then, please make it fast. What are you waiting for?

Me          : "Don't worry, grandma. Our relationship will be everlasting."

Grandma : "How could you be so sure if he never visits Indonesia?"

Me          : "Because it's a wax-made relationship."

Grandma : "?????"

Eventually she figured out who the real David is. I couldn't help but laughing. Sorry, grandma.. ;)

David, after this workout, we should pay grandma a visit!!

Why People Change

Today (June 16) is the last day of my internship. I'm glad that I finished my final presentation. I did it in German language and the audience seemed enjoyed it very much which means they could understand what I was talking about. When it comes to 'Fragen aus Publikum' session, there was a question coming from the audience: "Tell us your bad experience in Germany?" I automatically responded, "Language", then it followed by other answers from other trainees. I didn't have the chance to explain it more, well to be precise, my brain didn't perform properly to arrange words to say but I feel like I have reasons why my lips said that. However, looking back at the past 6 months, it's amazing how far I have changed now.

When I arrived in Germany, I was the minority. I came with the old-traditional-Eastern mindset. Being minority is difficult because, as a human, I need to build social interaction. To interact with people, I need to understand what they're thinking and saying. But there's a huge boulder in between which called 'Language'. How could I communicate with people if cannot understand their language? Though I could just use English, but not all people here could speak English well. Moreover, thinking in English and thinking in German are totally different things. There are many words in German that cannot be easily translated into English. To think in German, I had to understand the context. To get the context, I need examples, elaboration, perception and repetition, and it takes time. So, learning the language was my primary concerns since the first day I arrived here.

Then I went to Volkshochschule for German course. I liked it very much because I get to know my classmates who come from many different countries. They come from Poland, Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, Iran, USA, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ecuador, China, and Thailand. Even the teacher also come from Poland, so there's no German people at all in the class but we had to speak German! We spent good times together, like having dinner at restaurant and BBQ-ing in springtime. From them I learned that they also had difficulties in perceiving German way of thinking. Not all of European people could understand German people! I once met a couple, the husband is from England and the wife from Romanian, and we had interesting discussions about the Germans, like why Germans love drinking beers and what makes it different from the British, French, and Italian. Although they are 'Western', they also need time to think like Germans.

While struggling in learning the language, I'm slowly learning the Germans habit from daily life experience. For example like giving greetings every morning, lunch, and after-office-hours time, holding the doors for other people, paying attention when people talk, being punctual and always value the time. These new habits gradually replacing the old ones. It was hard at the beginning because old habits die hard. But then I realized it doesn't make sense to keep it as I'm the minority here. I need to be accepted by the society. There are always mixed feelings in setting new behavior. I often ask myself, "Did I do it right? Have I done something wrong? Do people around me like me?" Then I came up to conclusion that these are parts of learning. It's always started with disbelief, like questioning "Why would people do that?" then followed by reasoning, accepting, and eventually forming the new mindset.

I am not the same person as I used to be six months ago. I'm grateful that now I have broader and richer perspectives and I'm still learning. I realize when it's time to return to Indonesia, I would become the minority as well as I'm no longer having the same way of thinking. People might notice and say, "Hey, you've changed!" and I would answer, "Yes, I've learned along the way to what I've become now!"

5 Hal yang Perlu Diketahui ketika Berbelanja di Jerman

Tidak seperti mall atau pusat belanja yang berukuran besar dan banyak tersebar di kota-kota besar di Indonesia, mall di Jerman bisa dibilang kecil dan jumlahnya bisa dihitung dengan jari. Terutama supermarket, tidak semua supermarket ada di dalam mall, kebanyakan lokasinya terpisah dengan bangunan dan lahan parkir sendiri. Itupun gak besar-besar banget tapi cukup memadai untuk konsumen membeli kebutuhan sehari-hari. Lalu apa saja yang membedakan supermarket di Jerman dengan di Indonesia? Berikut gambaran besarnya.

1. Trolley belanja.

Jika ingin memakai trolley, mesti sedia uang koin 1 atau 2 euro. Beberapa supermarket trolley-nya bisa juga dimasukkan 50 sen. Koin ini lalu dimasukkan untuk melepas kunci yang mengikat trolley, setelah dipakai trolley harus dikembalikan ke tempat semula dan harus dikunci lagi agar bisa mendapatkan koin yang telah dipakai sebagai jaminan. Dengan demikian trolley selalu rapi berjejer pada tempatnya,

2. Timbang sendiri.

Kalau mau beli buah atau sayur curah, tidak akan ada pegawai yang membantu untuk menimbang. Hanya ada alat timbangan dengan display touch screen, tinggal pilih jenis barang yang diambil dan sticker harganya langsung tercetak dan kita tempelkan di barang tersebut.

3. Potong roti sendiri.

Setiap hari selalu tersedia roti baru, tapi lagi-lagi tidak ada pegawai yang membantu mengambilkan. Kita harus pilih dan ambil sendiri. Rak display-nya dibuat sedemikian rupa hingga roti bisa diambil dengan membuka kaca depan, Kita juga bisa memotong roti dalam berbagai ukuran, tebal maupun tipis. Tinggal memasukkan roti ke dalam mesin pemotong dan pilih ketebalan potongannya. Cara mengoperasikan mesinnya bisa mudah dimengerti dengan melihat gambar manual yang terpampang.

4. Antri di kasir.

Ketika mengantri di kasir, barang-barang yang akan dibeli harus dikeluarkan dari trolley dan diletakkan di atas conveyor belt. Kemudian ditandai dengan semacam pembatas agar tidak tercampur dengan barang belanja pembeli lainnya. Conveyor belt akan berputar hingga dan berhenti di pembatas depan, baru kemudian kasir akan menghitung barang belanjaan kita. Perlu diingat bahwa kasir bekerja sangat cepat, kita pun perlu cepat sedia uang koin atau kartu untuk membayar, jika kelamaan maka kasir atau bahkan antrian di belakang kita bisa jadi tidak sabar.

5. Tidak ada kantong plastik.

Selesai membayar di kasir, barang belanjaan harus dimasukkan kembali ke dalam trolley. Tidak ada plastik gratis, platik belanjaan harganya bervariasi mulai dari 10 sen yang paling tipis hingga 1 euro untuk kantong yang bisa menyimpan minuman/makanan dingin. Paling gampang adalah mendorong trolley dan memasukkan belanjaan langsung ke dalam bagasi mobil. Setelah itu mengembalikan trolley pada tempatnya. Lebih baik lagi jika punya kotak sehingga mudah mengambilnya dari bagasi. Jika belanjaan tidak banyak, bisa juga dibawa dengan tangan atau sedia kantong plastik sebelum berbelanja.

Semuanya serba self-service, mesti ambil sendiri, timbang sendiri, potong sendiri, bawa pulang sendiri. Sistemnya ringkas dan efisien, namun bagi orang baru bisa dianggap terlalu cepat dan membingungkan. Dengan demikian 5 hal yang perlu diketahui ketika berbelanja di supermarket jerman. Semoga bermanfaat :)

Berkendara di Jerman

Kali ini aku ingin berbagi catatan singkat tentang pengalaman hidup di Jerman, terutama tentang bagaimana kebiasaan dan aturan berkendara dengan mobil yang berlaku di negara ini. Terdapat sepuluh hal menarik yang kuperhatikan sangat berbeda dengan kebiasaan berkendara di Indonesia.

1) Hand-drive. Di Indonesia, kursi supir berada di sebelah kanan dan mendahului dari sebelah kanan, sementara di Jerman adalah sebaliknya.

2) No black window. Hampir tidak ada mobil yang kacanya gelap, bahkan mobil sport mahal sekalipun kacanya bening hingga terlihat jelas siapa yang sedang berkendara. Lain cerita di Indonesia yang kaca mobilnya begitu gelap hingga sulit dikenali.

3) License plate. Di Jerman setiap kendaraan memiliki nomor polisi yang terdiri dari: singkatan nama kota - singkatan nama pemilik - 4 digit nomor registrasi.

4) Sticker. Jarang sekali pemilik mobil yang memasang sticker di mobil, kecuali sticker parkir. Tidak seperti Indonesia yang sedang trend menempel sticker anggota keluarga di kaca mobil.

5) Electric pump. Di beberapa kota besar sudah tersedia titik-titik pengisian mobil listrik di pinggir jalan. Hal ini sangat menarik karena di Indonesia belum pernah ada.

6) Fuel price. Harga bensin di Jerman relatif mahal, sekitar Rp 18.000- 25.000/liter. Aku belum tahu persis apakah harga tersebut sudah termasuk pajak bahan bakar atau belum. Di Jerman, jenis Premium merupakan yang paling mahal, diikuti oleh jenis Super, dan Diesel yang termurah. 

7) Fine tickets. Kamera dimana-mana, misalnya jika ketahuan melanggar speed limit, kamera di beberapa titik jalan akan secara otomatis memotret wajah pengendara dan mencatat nomor mobil. Tiket denda akan dikirim ke alamat rumah/kantor dan pembayarannya otomatis langsung didebet dari rekening bank pemilik mobil. Besaran dendanya cukup mahal, bahkan bagi orang Jerman sekalipun.

8) Highway (Autobahn). Berbeda dengan jalan toll di Indonesia dimana tiap mobil harus membayar uang toll, di Jerman tidak ada gerbang toll sehingga benar-benar bebas keluar-masuk toll tanpa perlu repot membuka dompet. Selain itu di jalanan ini, selama tidak ada rambu speed limit, pengendara bebas melaju sekencang-kencangnya.

9) Parking permission. Tidak boleh parkir di sembarang tempat, ada aturan jam-jam tertentu kapan boleh parkir, dan jam-jam kapan harus bayar parkir dan kapan gratis. Setiap lokasi memiliki aturan masing-masing, tergantung apakah lokasinya berada di pusat kota, di perumahan, di kawasan wisata, dan lain sebagainya.

10) Road constructions. Di Jerman perbaikan jalan berlangsung pada malam hari. Walaupun begitu penanda jalan selalu dipasang pada siang harinya. Jika menemukan tanda perbaikan jalan seperti ini maka harus pengendara harus melambatkan laju dan tetap berhati-hati.

Achtung!

Banyak sekali rambu dan aturan lalu lintas yang mesti dipatuhi jika tidak ingin berurusan dengan polisi. Tidak boleh lalai, bahkan sebagai penumpang yang duduk di kursi belakang pun harus memperhatikan aturan, misalnya harus selalu ingat untuk memakai sabuk pengaman.

Demikian sekelumit catatan tentang berkendara di Jerman, semoga berguna. Ciao!

Refleksi Tengah Tahun

Tulisan ini seharusnya dibuat di pertengahan tahun, tapi karena banyak kesibukan (pret), dan gak terasa tau-tau bulan Agustus bakal segera berakhir, jadilah catatan renungan pribadi ini baru dibuat sekarang. Tinggal 4 bulan tersisa di tahun 2014, hiks...life definitely is too short. Kalau menelisik kembali daftar cita-cita yang kurencanakan di awal tahun, alhamdulillah 50%-nya sudah tercapai, sementara sisanya malah terasa makin melenceng dari kenyataan, wkwkwkw....bahkan aku sendiri heran kenapa dulu kok bisa bermimpi seperti itu. Am I really want to achieve those goals? Sejauh perjalanan di tahun 2014 ini, banyak hal tak terduga, banyak pengalaman yang membuka mata, dan banyak crossroads yang bikin galau tapi sekaligus juga memunculkan banyak harapan baru.

Salah satu hal yang paling terasa mengubah cara pandangku adalah lari. Tapi bukan lari dari kenyataan lho ya! Sudah 726 orang yang berkomentar seperti itu tiap kali melihatku lari (tepok pramuka..ehhh tepok jidat). Pertama kali aku rutin lari pas masih SMP, lari pagi sama papa keliling komplek rumah. Walaupun total jaraknya cuman 2 km tapi kok ya rasanya jauuuhhhh banget. Sekarang sejak adanya teknologi GPS sports tracker, jadi semangat buat lari karena seluruh aktivitas lari tercatat rapi dan bisa mengukur seberapa jauh kemampuan dan tingkat fitness-ku.

Hal yang membuat lari istimewa dari jenis olahraga lainnya adalah karena olahraga lari bertarung melawan diri sendiri. Jika olahraga semacam taekwondo, tinju, atau sepakbola memiliki target lawan yaitu orang lain yang menjadi musuh, maka di olahraga lari musuhnya adalah diri sendiri. Aku merasakan betapa sulitnya melawan batin yang seringkali berpikir untuk menyerah. Misalnya waktu pertama kali nyoba long run 21 km, otak udah mulai mencari-cari excuses, pikiran-pikiran kotor seperti; "udah sampai disini aja larinya, tuh ada angkot tinggal lompat bisa langsung pulang deh", "kakinya udah berasa panas tuh mending berhenti dulu", atau "gimana kalau aku pingsan di jalan, nanti siapa yang gotong?!"

Tapi begitu akhirnya sukses mencapai target lari, rasanya puaaassss banget...gak nyangka bisa ngalahin diri sendiri, yang selanjutnya berasa lebih pede buat pasang target lebih tinggi. Selain itu lari juga memberikan pengalaman travelling yang berharga. Bosen juga kalau berlari di tempat yang itu lagi-itu lagi. Aku selalu ingin mencari tempat-tempat baru yang jauh dari bising, yang lebih dekat dengan alam. Lari blusukan di hutan dan menyaksikan sendiri begitu indah ciptaan-Nya, terharu dan bersyukur masih memiliki mata, kaki, dan anggota tubuh yang lengkap untuk bisa menikmati itu semua. Menyadari diri sangat kecil, hanya sekedar noktah di jagad raya, yang gak ada apa-apanya, mengingatkan diri untuk tidak tinggi hati terhadap apapun.

Disiplin lari kini adalah tantangan terbesarku. Bukan hanya soal seberapa jauh kilometer yang ingin kucapai, tapi juga gimana caranya ningkatin speed dan pace. Saat ini average speed-ku 8:21 km/h dan average pace-ku 7m:19s/km. Aku ingin naikin average speed menjadi 10 km/h dan average pace 6m:30s/km. Untuk itu perlu latihan interval dan cross-training lainnya, yang ujung-ujungnya balik lagi ke tantangan buat mendisiplinkan diri. Lari pagi dan sore, barang hanya punya 30 menit waktu luang, kuusahakan diisi dengan lari, dan kadang diselingi dengan latihan renang dan yoga. Capek? Capek banget! Tapi jadi gak berasa kalau dijalanin bareng temen-temen.

Lari juga menjadi latihan mental, tiap kali rasanya ingin menyerah tapi kemudian teringat kembali mimpi-mimpi yang ingin kucapai, rasanya semangat kembali terbakar. Selain itu, seberapa pun hebatnya target lari yang dipasang, tetap mesti dijalani dengan sabar. Ibarat penjahit yang ingin membuat baju, menjahitnya mesti sabar senti demi senti, begitu juga pelari yang ingin mencapai finish mesti sabar berlari menikmati kilometer demi kilometer.

Aku tidak tahu apa yang akan terjadi dengan mimpi-mimpiku di tahun depan, apakah bisa terwujud atau justru offside dari kenyataan. For sure I am redefining my goals with stronger reasons. Salah satu bucket list-ku adalah berlari di Gunung Rinjani, demi bisa melihat langsung pemandangan seperti foto di bawah. Walaupun terdengar gila tapi juga terasa begitu nyata. Semoga kelak masih diberi umur panjang, dompet tebal, dan kesehatan yang kuat sampai waktunya tiba.

Semoga Semesta mendukung.

Rinjani Altitude Run, 2600m asl. Photo credit: Instagram @runningrage_snap

Flower Power

Terinspirasi dari buku Robin Sharma tentang The Heart of The Rose, yaitu semacam metode meditasi untuk menentramkan pikiran dengan cara mengkonsentrasikan pandangan pada pusat bunga mawar selama setidaknya lima menit setiap hari, aku pun bertekad membeli bunga mawar setiap minggu dan mulai hunting pasar bunga di Bogor. Di Bogor memang bisa dengan mudah ditemukan toko-toko kebun yang menjual bibit bunga, tapi aku belum pernah menemukan florist yang khusus menjual bunga potong. Baru satu tempat yang aku juga baru tahu ternyata merupakan pasar bunga 24 jam, yaitu di gang kecil persis di sebelah Masjid Raya, dekat dari Stasiun Bogor.

H-3 Lebaran aku mengunjungi pasar tersebut dan terpukau dengan berbagai koleksi bunga cantik yang dijual. Niat awal hanya ingin membeli bunga mawar, jadi tergoda untuk membeli bunga-bunga lainnya. Karena masih awam dan nggak familiar dengan nama-nama bunga, aku menyebut tiap bunga itu berdasarkan warnanya; bunga putih, bunga kuning, bunga pink, bunga ungu muda, bunga ungu tua, dll (ketauan banget ndeso-nya). Perdana banget beli bunga, nggak ngerti harga jadi nggak bisa nawar macem-macem. Sebagian besar bunga dijual per tangkai, bunga mawar misalnya dijual Rp 5,000/tangkai. Memilihnya pun juga sebaiknya lebih cermat karena kita tidak tahu apakah itu bunga lama atau baru. Tapi dasar akunya compulsive buyer, jadi belinya sesuka hati, dimana ada bunga yang mataku nggak bisa lepas memandangnya, itu yang kubeli. Tapi yah semua bunga di pasar itu memang menarik, nggak bosen-bosen melihatnya. Duh seandainya punya duit dua ratus karung pasti kubeli semua itu bunga, bahkan mungkin kubeli juga sekalian ladang-ladangnya (amien!).

Jatuh cinta pada pandangan pertama

Pembelian pertamaku meliputi bunga mawar, sedap malam, krisan, dan peacock. Aku sudah membayangkan betapa cantiknya bunga-bunga ini nantinya jika dipajang di ruang tamu, memaniskan suasana Lebaran. Begitu sampai rumah, jeng jeng aku baru menyadari ternyata aku belum punya vas besar. Tangkai bunga-bunga ini begitu panjang hingga terpaksa dipotong setengahnya. Akhirnya bunga-bunga tsb kubagi menjadi tiga buket masing-masing dalam gelas tinggi dan dipajang di ruang tamu, ruang makan, dan kamar mandi. Di antara bunga-bunga tsb, bunga sedap malam yang paling harum. Bunga mawar juga harum tapi tidak sekuat wangi bunga sedap malam, apalagi jika malam menjelang, semakin malam semakin harum wanginya.

Minggu berikutnya aku berniat membeli bunga lagi, namun sayang ada cerita duka. Waktu itu aku lari pagi dari rumah ke lapangan Sempur. Dalam perjalanan aku mampir di pasar Anyar dan membeli bunga krisan putih, sedap malam, daisy, dan lily. Aku paling penasaran dengan bunga lily karena baru kali pertama itu aku melihat wujudnya, walaupun masih kuncup, aku ingin melihat seperti apa bunganya jika sudah mekar. Harganya pun cukup bikin tongpes, Rp 15,000/kuntum. Setelah membeli bunga, aku lanjut lari ke Sempur sambil memegang buket bunga, agak repot memang tapi rasanya happy, seperti membawa obor Olimpiade (haiyah). Begitu sampai di lapangan Sempur, aku meletakkan buket bunga tsb di pinggir lapangan, kemudian lanjut lari keliling track. Ketemu teman-teman sesama pelari, aku pun asyik ngobrol. Begitu mau pulang, aku kembali ke tempat awal menaruh bunga, dan jeng jeng ternyata buketku raib (hiks!). Aku pasang mata mencari jejak pencuri tapi nggak ada tanda-tandanya sama sekali, sejauh mata memandang nggak terlihat ada orang yang kabur kasak-kusuk bawa bunga. Teganya pencuri itu padahal aku sudah pengen banget lihat bunga lily mekar. Karena sedih dengan musibah kecil itu, aku pun lari ngacir pulang dari Sempur sampai ke rumah. Hikmahnya, aku jadi tahu ternyata jarak dari Sempur sampai rumahku itu 6 kilometer. Seandainya buket bunga itu tidak hilang, aku pasti malas lari dan memilih pulang naik angkot.

Beberapa hari kemudian, aku beli bunga lagi (belum kapok). Kebetulan temanku ingin beli bunga buat ibunya yang sedang berulang tahun, jadinya aku ikut-ikutan beli bunga juga. Kali ini bunga yang kubeli tidak banyak, hanya bunga krisan putih dan sedap malam. Kaget juga ternyata harga pasarannya naik seenak jidat. Bunga sedap malam yang sebelumnya kubeli Rp 10,000 dapat 4 tangkai, sekarang hanya bisa dapat 2 tangkai, bunga mawar pun yang tadinya Rp 5,000/kuntum sekarang jadi Rp 15,000/kuntum. Bisnis bunga ternyata gila-gilaan, harganya bisa sangat elastis tergantung supply & demand. Harga bisa dipengaruhi oleh kualitas bunga, jumlah stok, jumlah permintaan, sehingga harganya tidak bisa dipastikan, harga sekarang belum tentu sama dengan harga kemarin. 

Sesampai di rumah, aku teringat belum juga sempat beli vas, akhirnya bunga yang kubeli terpaksa dipajang dalam botol minum. Tantangan yang kupelajari berikutnya adalah tentang bagaimana menyusun bunga. Tidak mudah lho merangkai bunga hidup, salah-salah bunganya bisa layu walaupun sudah direndam air. Menyusun bunga supaya bisa berdiri seimbang juga tidak mudah, walaupun bunga sudah kuputar-putar tapi tetap saja berdirinya mencong kiri/kanan. Tipsnya adalah tidak boleh dipaksakan, memasukkan bunga harus perlahan-lahan agar tidak mendorong bunga lain dan bergesekan dengan dinding vas. Bagian batang yang masuk ke dalam air juga harus dipotong, ujung batangnya pun dipotong miring, dan airnya diganti setiap hari. Jika bunga terlalu crowded di dalam vas nantinya akan sulit tumbuh, kuncupnya tidak akan bisa mekar, malah kelopak bunga dan daun-daunnya bisa rontok. Pantas saja ada ilmu yang namanya Ikebana, yaitu seni menyusun bunga hidup. Bunga memberikan semacam kekuatan yang menenangkan, menambah apresiasi terhadap alam, menghidupkan naluri sabar dan toleransi terhadap perbedaan. Puas rasanya jika berhasil menyusun bunga yang anggun dan pas kombinasinya. Menyusun bunga bisa menjadi momen lebih dekat dengan alam yang menenangkan pikiran, raga, dan jiwa.

Classic Kaasstengels

Setiap menjelang Lebaran, di rumah pasti selalu ada kue Kaasstengels. Tahun ini aku dapat tugas dari ibu negara untuk membuat kue klasik tersebut. Beliau pun mendikte resepnya, dan seperti biasa takarannya tidak pernah persis, selalu mengandalkan feeling dan metode 'kira-kira/secukupnya'. Ternyata resep kuenya mudah sekali! Hanya perlu bahan-bahan seperti margarin, terigu, kuning telur, dan pastinya keju.

Berikut cara memasaknya:

- Mixer 2 sachet margarin hingga berwarna putih dan lembut

- Masukkan 1 buah kuning telur

- Parut seperempat bola keju edam, campurkan ke adonan

- Masukkan sedikit demi sedikit setengah kilo tepung terigu, aduk rata hingga kalis

- Bentuk adonan menjadi kukis kecil, olesi dengan kuning telur dan parutan keju cheddar

- Panggang dalam oven yang sudah dipanaskan selama 30 menit dengan api kecil

Melihat ada kacang almond nganggur, langsung ku blender dan kucampurkan bubuk almond ke dalam adonan. Jika adonan dirasa masih terlalu lemas, tinggal ditambahkan terigu sampai adonan bisa digiling dan dibentuk. Sebelum masuk oven, loyang harus diolesi margarin dahulu supaya tidak lengket. Olesan kuning telurnya pun dicampur sedikit susu cair dulu supaya permukaan kejunya nanti tidak lepas dari kue.

Percobaan pertamaku sukses, gurih dan renyah, begitu pun hingga batch loyang terakhir keluar dari oven, alhamdulillah nggak ada yang gosong. Walau ukurannya nggak standard, ada yang panjang-pendek-tebal-tipis, yang penting rasanya pas. Setelah dikeluarkan dari oven, kue diangin-anginkan setengah jam baru dimasukkan dalam toples. Ada sekitar satu kilo Kaasstengels yang sudah jadi dan disimpan dalam dua toples. Di antara kue-kue Lebaran lainnya, Kasstengels buatanku yang paling cepat habis. Seneng deh libur Lebaran kali ini bisa tambah skills di dapur, nggak cuman jago di skills cuci piring :)

Homemade Kaasstengels ♡

Running on Motor Racing Track

I love running. I used to run since twelve grader with my dad around the neighborhood. And ever since the invention of sports tracker, like Endomondo, I run regularly. I used to solo run with 4-6 kilometers average distance then straightly went home. Solo running got me bored, until my brother told me to join Indo Runners, a community club whose members are passionate in running. The first time I join in, I ran for 7.5 kilometers, the longest track I ever achieved in January 2014.

Then there was event announcement about MINI Sunday Morning Run at Sentul International Circuit. It was not the kind of competition, but a fun run instead. I was excited because it was my very first time going to motor racing track and the fact that I was going to run on it!

A selfie won't hurt :)

The run started at 7, I ran along with Emmy, my running buddy. The track is relatively simple, smooth, broad with large runoff areas. It was designed to meet the Formula One motor racing standard, but then it was built shortened by 40 percent compared to the original design. Sentul was completed in 1993, however it has been overshadowed by Sepang International Circuit completed in 1999 with larger track layout and superior facilities. Sentul was intended to be Indonesia's Formula One showcase to the world, but its shortened length and tight corners made it unsuitable for the fast and furious Formula One motor racing, and now it serves as a safe course for drivers competing in local events [Wikipedia].

Quick shot after 1 lap running

The track is said to have 4.02 kilometers length. I ran two laps but only get 7.7 kilometers in total. What went wrong? Lol...

My track record

Finished running, we took pictures with MINI cars, the event sponsor. The display cars were many, but the served breakfast were not, we only got mineral water and one banana for light breakfast (sigh). There were long queue of runners waiting for breakfast but eventually they got nothing. Well, at least we got some nice pictures! J

My running buddy and me

First Time Second Place

[Late Post: March 07, 2014]

"If it doesn't CHALLENGE you, it doesn't CHANGE you" -- Anonymous

In the following month after club speech contest, I went to the area level. The difference was simply due to the contenders, in which I had to compete with other contestants from other clubs in Area I-4. Their speeches were exemplary good, they spoke clearly and performed confidently. The contest rules applied the same like ones in club contest, the speech time is limited for 5-7 minutes for each contestants, which I was pretty sure my speech would last only for 6 minutes. The feeling was much the same like last one, butterflies came flying in my mind, but I managed to relax a bit. I had nothing to lose, in fact, I enjoyed every minute of it. There were numbers of audience seated before speaking stage, it was full house. I drank water and glanced to the audience several times before my speech turn. I tried to recognize new faces, but failed to recall names. I just hoped that my speech won't bore anyone. I prepared new speech topic, not about durian tree, but a story I once posted here. I made several revisions to make it more interesting to hear, but the original idea stays the same. I tried not to laugh during speech, at least not to make myself look awkward. My speech was deliberately composed to entertain and the challenge was not to laugh to own jokes J

In my speech turn, I started with smooth opening, the audience laughed which ease me to take short pauses, to make my speech even more dramatic. Until I noticed a wince from audience face. Oh no! It must be my high pitch tone, I lost control in managing vocal variety! Each time I got excited and wanted to speak louder, my voice become squeaky. At that very moment, I realized that speaking is similar to marathon. We can run fast in the beginning, but say after 5 kilometers, we run out of breath and the running speed gets slower. So is speaking, I could speak fluently in the first 3 minutes, but after that I couldn't help to stutter and couldn't afford to make impressive closing. After speech, I sat back exhausted, wishing I could have done better than this.

Long story short, surprisingly I got 2nd place! The first winner goes to contestant from other club whom I salute his performance. He is first timer, a new ace in club area, who is proceeded to division level contest. I went home with trophy I had no idea where to place it, but I know exactly where to put lessons learned and change myself into better speaker.

Contest time

Hall of fame

Certificate & a nice trophy

Peter Nimble & Mata Ajaib

Jadi ceritanya, sewaktu lagi asyik menjelajah toko buku, tetiba menemukan buku novel ini yang sangat familiar ilustrasinya. Langsung kubeli dan kubaca di rumah. Kisahnya sangat menarik, tentang seorang bocah buta usia sepuluh tahun yang hidup di kota pelabuhan dan terpaksa mencuri untuk menyambung hidup. Sampai suatu hari dia bertemu seorang pedagang keliling misterius yang memberikannya sebuah kotak berisi tiga pasang mata ajaib. Peter Nimble, nama bocah itu, kemudian mengalami petualangan yang sangat mendebarkan, dimana dia bertemu dengan satu makhluk aneh, seperti kucing sekaligus semirip kuda dengan sepatu tapalnya, Sir Tode, yang kemudian menjadi sahabatnya. Lalu, Peter terdampar di daratan gurun penuh marabahaya. Berkat akal cerdik dan kemampuan lihai membuka kunci gembok, Peter & Sir Tode, berhasil lolos dari gurun dan mendarat di Istana Sempurna, di Kerajaan yang Hilang, yang tak dinyana menyimpan jawaban atas misteri asal-muasal Peter Nimble.

Novel ini bagiku sangat unik, menggunakan tokoh yang melihat dengan mengerahkan semua panca inderanya kecuali mata, mengajak pembaca untuk merasakan bagaimana dinginnya tanah dalam bayangan, bergetarnya dinding ketika sosok monster mengerikan berjalan melintas, dan degup jantung yang terhenti ketika menghadapi maut. Keberadaan kotak berisi tiga pasang mata ajaib juga sangat mendebarkan. Pikirku, kenapa sih ketiga mata itu gak langsung dicoba satu per satu?! Sebagai pembaca pun aku jadi tidak sabar, penasaran apa yang akan terjadi jika telur-telur mata itu dicoba. Tapi Peter Nimble mengajarkan untuk sabar, percaya pada insting dan yakin bahwa aset mata tersebut baru akan berguna ketika saatnya tiba. Banyak hal yang bisa dipelajari dari kisah novel ini: kesabaran, kejujuran, keteguhan hati, dan kepercayaan pada sahabat.

Seperti yang kukatakan sebelumnya, ilustrasi buku ini terasa familiar karena ternyata memang pernah kulihat sebelumnya di linimasa akun Instagram @emteemte, seorang ilustrator ciamik dengan karya-karyanya yang beragam, mulai dari ilustrasi untuk cover buku/majalah, cerita anak, fesyen, komik, dan sebagainya dengan menggunakan media yang sulit ditiru, yaitu cat air dan tinta pena. Ide-ide gambarnya pun sangat banyak, terkadang anti-mainstream, dan bikin para pengikutnya terkagum-kagum. Sementara itu, Jonathan Auxier, sang pengarang cerita pun patut diacungi jempol. Kisah Peter Nimble ini merupakan novel pertamanya dan sudah sangat populer di Amerika Serikat. Akan sangat menarik jika kisah novel ini diangkat menjadi film suatu hari nanti!

Cheesecake

I have a friend. I met her on Instagram. We never met one another in real life because she lives on the other side of the globe but we have the same interest. You know that 25 percent of women think about food every 30 minutes, me and my friend are woman, so our common interest is nothing but food J

One day, she posted a picture of cheesecake she just made. I commented her, "How lovely is that! Mind to share your secret recipe?" She replied, "Why yes, dear, in fact it's so easy baking cheesecake! All you need is butter, eggs, milk, flour, cheese and sugar!" Then she described the cooking instructions briefly.

Ah! If that as easy as it sounds, I can make that one too! Shortly after, I went to the kitchen preparing all ingredients and started cooking. I stroke ten eggs, melted one block of butter, shredded one block of cheese, took one full spoon of ovalet (cooking emulsifier), a cup of milk and a saucer of sugar. I blended all of them in one large bowl using a mixer. While mixing the batter, my wild imagination went picturing how beautiful my cheesecake would be. I would upload the picture on Instagram and everybody would love and envy.

I mixed the batter for half an hour, then I poured it into the baking pan and set the timer for half an hour. After 30 minutes, I peeked inside the oven, nothing's change, okay let's set the timer again for another 30 minutes. After the long wait, I put it off the oven. I saw the cheesecake turned yellowish, it was so beautiful (on the surface!). I flipped the baking pan upside down but the cake was stuck, apparently the bottom of the cake was burnt...

Ah never mind! Although the cake is burnt, the taste must be really good!

Ewh, what kind of cheesecake is this?! The flavor is kinda… abstract!

For the first 15 minutes, the cake was thick and spongy, but after that, it collapsed and the cake became soggy. I found that my cheesecake was a huge mistake.

Then I put the cheesecake in the fridge. I hope my brothers or anyone at home who was hungry would dare to eat it. In the following week, I checked the fridge again. Apparently nobody touched the cake L

I took the poor cake out of the fridge.

"Oh I am sorry, cheesecake, but you're too abstract. I cannot let you stay forever in the fridge! I have to let you go."

Eventually the cake was dumped in the trash bin.

I felt sorry for the cheesecake, but from the experience I learned that sometimes I might be overconfidence in making something and underestimate the circumstances at the same time. I didn’t measure the ingredients. I put all of it based on my ‘feelings’.

Although my Instagram friend said how easy it is to bake cheesecake, but I shouldn’t have taken it for granted. I should have Googled other cheesecake recipes, made comparisons, not solely depending to my friend’s recipe, so I wouldn’t had wasted my time and energy, and won’t had shipwrecked my mom’s kitchen.

Also I learned that there’s no such thing as an instant success. Baking cheesecake is not the same like cooking Indomie.  We live in a world that wants everything right now. People just want the result without having to do the hard work. But life simply does not work that way. We have to embrace the process.

My cheesecake may not be perfect, but in the time being, I learn from the failure to make better choices, better decisions and better me J

My imaginary cheesecake

Durian Tree

So here's the story. My family has a durian tree. If you come to my house, you will find it fruiting a lot. The fruits come in big sizes. They’re yellowish, redolent, and yummy!

My durian is special, more than any durian you ever saw, because my durian tree has its own long story J

Twenty years ago, back then in 1994, my dad came home from office carrying a poly bag of durian seedling. He got it from his friend who had nursery business.

The seller said, "The seed is very good! It’s a kind of Durian Petruk."

My dad put the seedling in our little garden. The garden itself is only 30 meters square, not really spacious, but my mom and dad love gardening very much, they planted kinds of tree, vegetable, flowers, fern and shrubs, made it now look more like rain forest than a garden.

However, the durian seedling got its special spot. At the corner of garden it was kept in poly bag for ten years. It grew very slow.

Then my dad decided to pluck the tree out from its poly bag, he changed it into a large drum barrel to make more space for the tree to grow. The tree eventually grew faster, it become thick and tall, but produced zero fruits (sigh).

Then my mom became very anxious about the tree’s fertility, she bought many kinds of fertilizer. The tree was under her attention. It received royal treatment, daily watering and given the best nutrition a tree can get, until our neighbor told my mom to give the tree some cuts, to make the tree fruiting real soon. In no time, my mom came back to the tree with a sharp knife. She cut the trunk several times, left it smeared with resin.

Six years passed by, still no fruits appeared, and the tree seemed like had stopped growing (!)

"Perhaps the root has grown too big for its tiny barrel", said my dad.

Then we decided to move the tree from its drum barrel to the ground. The tree had grown so big and heavy, it took 3 men to relocate it. We moved it to the ground so the root can grow more freely and hopefully will soon bear fruits. The durian tree is now placed next to our mango tree.

Another three years passed by, we thought the tree must be fruiting now. But apparently, the tree became thinner. Its branches had lost more leaves than before.

We had no idea what happened at that time. Perhaps the tree didn't like its new place.

One night, there was heavy storm in Bogor, ravaging our garden. The next morning, we found our poor durian tree was hit by the mango tree. It seemed like the storm broke some of mango tree branches, it fell upon the durian tree.

The durian tree was severely injured because of the storm. We tried to fix it but it didn't work, the three became thinner and scrawny.

My dad said, "Well, it’s only a matter time. Our poor durian tree might not survive."

My dream to enjoy delicious durian flesh was over.

But after a year, surprisingly, our durian tree survived! It recovered itself and started to grow flowers! When durian season comes, the tree showed its fertility. Baby durians came out from its branches, so many of them, around 6-7 durians. They were coming out like 'plup-plup-plup' everywhere!

Soon after, durians became trending topic in our neighborhood. Neighbors began to talk about our durian. Every time they walked pass by our house, they would stopped for a while, looking up, observing our durian tree, guessing which one of the fruits that would ripe perfectly.

The first ripe durian was successfully landed on our garden. My mom cooked sticky rice, served with durian sauce and we shared it with our neighbors.

Lessons learned I got from the durian tree is that we cannot stay forever in comfort zone. The tree has experienced relocation twice, from poly bag to the drum barrel and to the ground. It has to compete with other plants to get enough sunshine, soil, and water. It had gone through dry and rainy seasons, wind and storms. It took 20 years to finally produce fruits.

I think it's similar to human being, we cannot stay in comfort zone forever. We had to compete to survive. We had experienced series of bad situation that actually helping us to grow. We have potentials that perhaps we haven’t figured it out yet. But if we keep learning, patiently and persistently (like the durian tree), we will sow our hard work in the future.

Our first ever prime durian was perfectly ripped off right after it's fallen from the tree J