17 March 2012

British VS Americano

Helloooo!

What's up? Whatever you do, hope you enjoy the wonderful Saturday night x) And me, it's been a crazy week. Well, PhD research is been way more and more difficult. Truth to be told, i don't really like my life this week. But, hey a new week is coming! I celebrated our 4 years anniversary also on 15th of March. Finally, Abi, we made it! 4 years of relationship is never enough if you love your boyfriend so much. We still have long way to go! xD~ 

If you ask me, what do you do when you stuck with life? I do what i love. Fashion blogging, writing my books, drawing, spend quality time with close friends,  yeah, do what you love! Balancing this life is another enjoyable thing to do. You can release your stress and refresh your mind. Remember, Allah  SWT will never give problems more than our capability, so be sure we can make it through x))

Here they are my new outfit for March: British vs Americano. I call it like that cuz you can see the T-shirt, my favorite band, the Beatles comes from UK and if you notice my legging, it's America things. So, British vs Americano rocks the March! x)) Hope you like it. Thanks and see you soon! :*









 Dedicated to: My lovely boyfriend, Abi :*

 Try These:
Unbranded Blazer from Tanah Abang
The Beatles T-shirt from Sixpacks Tebet
Unbranded Legging from Tebet
Wedges
Bracelet

Photograph taken by my roommate: Gloria

Enjoy Your Life,
Chandini

08 March 2012

Pick Up Bus, Why Not?


Another stranger story. This post is the continuity from P9A Bekasi-Senen. I've promised you to tell about the Seven Eleven Convenience Store in Indonesia..so here are the details! I don't really like it though, except the free WiFi and the lounge hehe

Yes, they had a great idea to make this small store into one of the hippest place in Jakarta. Exactly, Jakarta youngsters love to chit-chatting and gathering in one place. Where else they can stay until midnight and go back to home at 2 AM beside in this 24 hours store? The foods, free WiFi, and circle of youngsters are one of the reasons why they love to stay here. Why am i curious? Since the Seven Eleven i've visited are the ones in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, have only 400 square of metres and just sell simple things.

Once i landed in my country, i shocked to see the big Seven Eleven such a big store. I have nothing to say about the foods and drinks, instead of sweet Slurpee, i prefer the Ice Coffee Tea, which i got the free Buy 1 Get 1 voucher from my co worker, Mas Yorgi. One thing i'm concern about, they sell Wines, Vodkas and Beers, like selling the mineral water. You can just get it without any constraints. Too bad for those close-minded-youngsters who think drinking alcohol is cool. Hell yeah, totally wrong! Tunisia had taught me how you should treat alcohol. Especially if you're not familiar with alcohol, so don't think that you're the coolest guy in earth when you get drunk! About that alcohol thing, i'm gonna tell you later on xD~

 Jakarta City street from window

One of corners at Lounge in Seven Eleven Indonesia

The big lounge with Free WiFi - Seven Eleven Indonesia


Iia and Me: Quality time together x))

Okay, this is the important part. Seven Eleven has reunited best friends after long time no see. Quality time with Dora and Iia went perfect! Around 5 in the afternoon, I went back home by taking P9A Bekasi-Senen, the same bus to go to Seven Eleven. I sat at the front seat on the dashboards as all seats were full. Actually there are two empty seats but the Man whom sat there put his bag, as if those seats were taken. Okay, i will sit on the dashboard, no problem. The bus goes further to the destination. Suddenly, the Man screams to the driver for stopping the bus, in the middle of highway.

Place: Bus P9A Bekasi-Senen
(The bus is in the middle of highway. Suddenly the man screams to the driver..)

The man: "Stop..stop sir!"
Driver: "Hey, what happen?"
The man: "Stop just stop!"
Driver: "Pay the fares first, you can't just go."
Another woman across the man: "Yes, you must pay!"

(There are one old-man and middle age woman waiting across the highway. The man is waving to them.)
The man: "Hello, over here..! I'm here! (he is holding his phone)
Driver: "Oh....." (realize the situation)
Another woman across the man: "Oh..he's picking up families."
Old man and woman: "Finally..Alhamdulillah."
The Man: "Please seat, inside. I had taken seats for you." (smiling)

What do you notice from this story? Such a brilliant idea for picking up families by Public Bus! x))
Usually people are taking their families with  luxurious modern car and being so proud of it. This man, an ordinary man, just booked seats for his Father and wife in the bus. How do they know the bus is the same bus with the Man  got in? He was calling to let them know. I can see the smile face of him when his father and wife safely sat beside him. Such a simple lovable thing in the crowded Saturday of Jakarta. Probably, i will reserve the seats for my families in the bus next time x)

Anyway, Happy International Women's Day! xD~

Simple things are lovable,
Chandini

07 March 2012

Sailing for Life

#NowPlaying: Kings of Convenience-Riot on An Empty Street Album

Hello, i’m back to tell you the story #AboutStrangersOnTheStreet x) I love to tell the stories about strangers. Why? Cuz some strangers are the messenger to give you lesson of life. Haha probably it sounds too much. But trust me, some of them are really do. If you take a look of your surroundings carefully, you will notice.
A story about “Tukang Ojek” – (People who works as motorcycle driver to drop people) is coming to you shortly. It was happened when i was in Indonesia so sorry if the conversations are in Indonesian. Here we go!

#Place: HAI Magazine Office,Kompas Gramedia Building, Kebun Jeruk, Jakarta
#Time: 2.30 PM
Uwie (Co-worker): “Ulka, lo free kan? Siang ini jam 3 ada rekonstruksi soal Pembunuhan Raafi, anak Pangudi Luhur yang ditusuk, di Shy Rooftop, Kemang. Lo liputan yah, yang lain pada sibuk jadi gabisa liputan. Lo tau Shy Roof Top dimana?
Gw: Enggak. (Muka bingung)
Uwie: Kemang tau kan? Bisa nyetir ga?
Gw: Tau sih cuma gatau jalan. Enggak. Gw bisa bawa motor.
Uwie: Hemm..yaudah lo naik ojek aja. Minta duitnya sama Niken atau pake duit lo dulu.

Karena waktunya mepet banget, gw lari terburu-buru menuju lift. DI lift gw ketemu bos HAI alias Mas Dani, Beliau senyum dan tanya gw mau kemana. Gw jawab mau liputan di Shy Roof Top. “Oh, Shy..Iya..iya..Hati-hati.” x)

Di depan, gw langsung menawar Tukang Ojek buat ke Kemang dengan harga 25 ribu rupiah. Awalnya Tukang Ojek nggak mau, jadilah gw bilang tiga puluh lima ribu. Dan, ojek pun melesat menuju jalanan Kebun Jeruk dengan Kemang sebagai destinasi. Ternyata jarak yang terbentang antara dua tempat ini sangat jauh. Gw pegel gak karuan di motor ditambah hujan dan macet parah. Huff

Tukang Ojek: “Neng, Kemangnya dimana?”
Gw: “Daerah cafe-cafe gitu bang.”
Tukang Ojek: “Ini mah udah di Kemang Neng.
Gw: “Yaudah cari yang banyak cafe-cafe.”

(15 Menit kemudian)
Di tengah jalan, ada pohon tumbang yang menimpa mobil dikarenakan hujan deras dengan angin kencang. Polisi dan masyrakat berkumpul mengerumuni tempat tersebut. Wah, udah hujan, basah, becek, pohon tumbang, Cinta Laura banget deh..untung ada ojek! Hahaha

Pohon tumbang yang menimpa sebuah mobil di bilangan Kemang, Jakarta Selatan

Tukang Ojek: “Neng, itu tadi jalan masuk daerah cafe tapi ditutup gara-gara pohon tumbang.
Gw: “Oh, gitu bang. Yaudah muter jalan lain aja.
Tukang Ojek: “Iya, ini lagi muter neng.”
Gw: “Oh....”

(10 Menit Kemudian)
 Tukang Ojek: “Neng, dimana? Ini udah cafe-cafe.
Gw: “Wah iya. Bentar bang tanya orang aja deh.”

Setelah tanya-tanya dengan orang mereka kurang tahu dengan nama Shy Cafe Kemang. Jadilah gw sms Bang Idho dan Uwie buat nanya alamat lengkap. Akhirnya tempat itu ditemukan juga. Gw pun langsung turun dari ojek karena takut telat liputan. Sebelumnya gw nanya sama tukang ojek sekitar dan mereka ternyata juga tahu kalau itu memang tempat pembunuhan dan salah satu tukang ojek bilang dia ragu kalo gw boleh masuk liputan. Loh, emang ada liputan jadi harusnya jurnalis boleh masuk donk, gw berkata dalam hati.

#Place: Shy Cafe Kemang
Gw memasuki pelataran parkir Shy Cafe. Cafe ini lumayan besar dan mewah. Dindingnya berwarna putih dan roof top yang menjadi tempat pembunuhan ditutup. Ya, nggak ada tanda-tanda keramaian di sini. Hanya ada beberapa orang di lantai satu yang sedang menikmati sajian makanan sambil berdiskusi. Gw bingung, ada apakah gerangan? Dibatalkankah rekonstruksi tersebut? Tiba-tiba Pak Satpam menghampiri gw.

Pak Satpam: “Maaf, ada apa ya mba?”
Gw: “Saya Ulka dari Majalah HAI. Saya dateng ke sini karena dapat informasi kalau ada rekonstruksi soal pembunuhan Raafi, anak Pangudi Luhur.”
Pak Satpam: Wah, nggak ada apa-apa mba di sini. Kalo pun ada saya pasti dikabarin.”
Gw: “Oh, gitu Pak? Tapi saya dapat informasi kalau tempat rekonstruksi di sini.”
Pak Satpam: “Sebentar, saya konfirmasi dulu ya.”
(Pak Satpam berbicara dengan seseorang di walkie talkie. Dan dari pembicaraan mereka, gw menangkap kalau memang rekonstruksi dibatalkan.)
Pak Satpam: “Maaf, mbak, rekonstuksi dibatalkan. Katanya silakan tanya lebih lanjut sama Polres.”
Gw: “Oh, Polres, dimana ya?”
Pak Satpam: “Kalo Polres ya berarti Polres Kuningan Mbak. Deket kok dari sini, setengah jam.”
Gw: “Oke, makasih Pak.”

Tukang ojek lagi sibuk menyeruput es kelapa ketika gw datang. Gw menggeleng tandanya misi kali ini gagal. Tukang ojek segera menghabiskan es kelapa dan beranjak bangun.
Tukang ojek: “Gimana neng?”
Gw: “Dibatalkan katanya bang.”
Tukang ojek: “Oh, jadi kemana sekarang?”
Gw: “Gini deh nasib jadi wartawan. Tiba-tiba aja dicancel. Bentar bang saya tanya temen dulu.”
Tukang ojek: “Yah..namanya resiko pekerjaan, neng.”
Gw: ".........." (terdiam)

Sebenarnya gw nggak yakin kalau rekonstruksi ini dipindahkan ke Polres. Tapi Uwie bilang kalo jarak Polres deket, gw ke Polres aja. So, gw pun menuju Polres untuk meminta keterangan lebih lanjut.
Gw: “Bang, ke polres ya!” (sambil pakai helm)
Tukang Ojek: “Ya neng!”

Dua puluh menit kemudian, sampailah kita di Polisi Resort Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan. Entah kenapa gw sempat parno atau paranoid dengan Kantor Polisi. Dulu gw juga sempetke Mabes Polri untuk meliput Kasus Ariel Peterpan dengan video pornonya. Wartawan media dan televisi berkumpul juga selebriti teman-teman dari Ariel ikut mengunjungi penyanyi kondang itu. Di benak gw kantor Polisi adalah penuh bayangan narapidana, hukuman, dan lain-lain. Entahlah, pastinya itu perasaan gw aja. Gw sempet takut masuk ke dalam kantor Polres Kuningan. Karena di sana juga sepi dan nggak ada tanda-tanda rekonstruksi kasus pembunuhan.

Gw: “Bang, sepi banget.”
Tukang ojek: “Yaudah neng, masuk aja ke dalam.”
Gw: “Takut bang...”
Tukang ojek: “Yah, si eneng..udah berlayar takut ombak..”
Gw: (terdiam mendengar kata-kata si Tukang ojek)

Gw melangkahkan kaki masuk ke dalam gedung. Setelah bertanya dengan para petugas, memang rekonstruksi dipending sampai pemberitahuan berikutnya. Polres Kuningan hari itu cukup sepi dan bayangan kantor polisi yang ada di benak gw emang nggak terbukti. Semoga next time kalo disuruh ke Polres lagi gw bisa berpikir lebih positif hehe Gw keluar dari kantor polisi dan menghampiri Si tukang ojek.

Gw: “Bang, ditunda acaranya.”
Tukang ojek:”Oh, gitu neng. Jadi kemana nih?”
Gw: “Kalo balik ke Kebun Jeruk jauh ya?”
Tukang Ojek: “Tempat tadi yang kantor Gramedia? Jauh neng..”
Gw: “Kalo mau ke Bekasi dari sini?”
Tukang Ojek: “Naik bis dari Terminal Blok M.”
Gw: “Yaudah, ke Terminal Blok M aja. Yah, bang, payung saya hilang. Tadi kayanya jatoh di jalan.”
 Tukang Ojek: “Tuh kan tadi saya tawarin neng taroh di depan, si eneng nggak mau.”
Gw: “Yaudahlah bang. Sekarang berangkat.”

Gw berpisah dengan Tukang ojek di seberang Terminal Blok M. Uang sekitar Empat Puluh Ribu Rupiah gw serahkan sebagai tanda terima kasih kepada Si abang. Walaupun gw gagal liputan tetapi hari itu gw mendapatkan pelajaran bermakna dari seorang Tukang Ojek. Kata-kata itu terngiang-ngiang di kepala gw seiring perjalanan pulang di Bis AC 05 Bekasi-Blok M. “Yah udah berlayar..takut ombak..” Mengingatkan gw kalau gw harus berani menghadapi tantangan apa pun di luar sana. Yang mungkin nggak mudah, berlika liku dan complicated. Gw harus menyelesaikan apa yang sudah gw mulai dan nggak boleh takut sama ombak di lautan yang bernama kehidupan.

Totally, if you are dare enough to sail the sea, you must be brave to face the big tides and waves along the journey. A nice lesson from a random motocycle driver – on the street. Simply, you can get any life lesson from people you meet everyday, common people with usual job, or even people you don’t expect. I was reminded with this situation while i'm stuck with my PhD research topic now. And remembering this quote, is helping me a lot. To keep positive thinking, since i had sailed along the journey to get this opportunity and i have to finish and get Doctor title. I know i can do it, i know WE can. We can make our dreams come true. Cuz We’re all the captain of our ships to cross the sea of life x)

"A sea of Life needs a good captain, you are the captain of your life. Be Brave and keep sailing until the finish line"

Bonne Voyage,
Chandini

04 March 2012

Joyeux Anniversaire! x)

As i promised you, here are the photos of my birthday. It was simple and sweet celebration. Spent quality time with your beloved friends and boyfriend are such a good thing to do on birthday. Check these out! x)


The Cute Cake

Me&Tia: You Got Me guys! Thank you! I'm making a wish x))

The celebration with Chicken Chop : Glo, Farisa, Me and Abi  

Lovely friends: Glo, BZ, Mutia and Farisa 

Me&Abi : So happy to be beside him again! :*

Watch out! xD~

Best friends : Farisa and Me

Finally, 22 years old! x)

22 years old's Wish: Make it come true! x)

I just wanna say thank you for everything that Allah gave me. It's a blessing that right now i still can breathe and doing what i wanna do. Have good friends and boyfriends. I miss my family though. I will make you proud Ibu and Bapak. Meanwhile, i gotta do many things for this year, three targets are coming! Life is short so Live your dream!  Bonne Chance! x)

Best of Luck,
Chandini

02 March 2012

Holstee Manifesto

I got an inspiring video once i jumped into the blog of famous Indonesian Photographer, Andra Alodita. The video is simply about life, people and everything around you. It comes from LifeCycle Film which brings the desire and passion through something we love - biking. So what's actually, Holstee Manifesto? Let's watch it!





Do what you Love&Love what you do,
Chandini

How was February?

That question strikes me. Yes, many things happened in February. But the two crucial things are the ones which will determine my future life. The lists are coming to you below! x) Seems someone gotta be more mature from now on xD~

1. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 
No, it's not  a Permanent Head Damage. Hope not x) well, i got this offer from my university in October last year. I've never thought about this before, since after graduated as Bachelor of Multimedia with Honours last October as well, i only thought to get a Master Degree overseas and start up a business. Suddenly the letter came up and had changed all plans in mind. It was a hard decision though, to get jump from Bachelor into PhD, if you are on roller coaster you can feel that jump from down to top is scary and shocking. But, this is a good opportunity also, i can get my Doctoral Degree in young age since i skip Master Degree. Still, it's not gonna be easy thing, i don't have any basic to do research as people do it in Master degree. I have to read a lot and a lot journals, learn more about research and more importantly, Believe. Yes, Believe that i can do this. I will finish my PhD and get the Doctor title in front of my name later.

Actually, there are some academic requirements in my university to allow students from Bachelor go directly to PhD. Before the standard is for students with CGPA over 3.67 or First class students but since my university is on going to be a research university, they need more and more researchers so the rules changed in last September 2011. If the students have the CGPA over 3.50 then they can apply to enroll for PhD. After all the application form and the most difficult thing is the research proposal, finally i got accepted as a new student, i mean a PhD student in the same university. At that time i was still 21 years old and the registration went successfully just two weeks before my 22nd birthday.

            PhD Offer Letter

I'm officially a PhD candidate! x) I had a long thought about this offer. I was afraid to proceed to PhD since i think i don't have enough qualifications yet, and many friends told me about Bachelor-Direct-PhD students  stopped in the middle of journey. They can't bear the damage of their head hahahaha x)) But one thing came across on my mind was nothing is accidentally. Allah has plans for me. Why the rules changed when i just graduated? Alhamdulillah my CGPA fulfilled the requirements. By the time, I was confused cuz Mom didn't allow me to work in Indonesia, so i was looking for Master degree scholarship and a job in Kuala Lumpur as well. When this letter arrived, it's sort of gave me a direction, a clue, a sign. Is this a good one? We don't know yet. But as long as i make it through, try, learn hard and pray a lot, i'm sure everything is possible. 

Dad is one of the reasons why i made this choice. I know he doesn't have much money after retired, his business doesn't even started yet, but he said that he will do anything for my study. Even he can pay my tuition fee for 6 months only and the rest i have to work for getting own money, i won't give up. I'm gonna do this and make Mom and Dad proud of me. Dad said i've taken my sister and brother savings' that Dad has prepared for them. All money are directed to pay my entrance fee for PhD, but soon i hope i'm gonna get the scholarship from university. The rules is all students can apply for scholarship in first semester and get it in the second semester. I've applied it last week so hopefully i will get the financial assistance next semester and i plan to work as research assistant as well. 

How does it feel to be a  PhD candidate in such a young age? Incredible! I'm working on my research topic. I think it's gonna be about Tourism in Augmented Reality. I have to do my proposal defense within 6 months which is around July or August. Wish me Luck! 

2. 22-2-2012. 22 years old.
HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY! There are many 2 numbers in my age and birthday date. It's twin, 22, right? hehe  I spent my simple and memorable 22 with lovely friends at UUM and especially with my beloved boyfriend!x) I'm so happy that he can come and celebrate our birthday together. He was 21st of February and mine is the day after. How funny we are xD~  after the sucks Long Distance Relationship that made me almost gave up, i'm glad that i have him until now. Love never let you give up beside go up and catch it! yeah, i got him, again. And i love to be beside him. Everyday is not enough for us x) I made him a special "Nasi Kuning" on his birthday. If you know me, you'll be surprise, the power of love had driven me to cook a special meal for special person. Totally, Love requires no rationality xD~ 

On the 22nd, My friends surprised me at Library. When i just finished my library time and went to locker room, they were there, sang "Happy Birthday" and brought a small cute cake. Love it! Nothing so special actually, but i'm thankful to Allah that in this 22, i have a Lovely Allah SWT, Lovely Family and Friends, Lovely Boyfriend and Lovely life. Alhamdulillah. Oh ya, my friends made the caricature of me and my boyfriend, so cute! xD~ More photos are coming up in next post! x)) Thank you February! *)

Thank you Glo, Mutia, Farisa and BZ! x)) :*

Keep Young and stay Happy,
Chandini

Ni Hao! x))

Ni Hao! 

Ni Hao Ma? x))

It was a hectic weeks that makes me absent from blogging. But, it was over and hey, it's March already! Bienvenue Mars! xD~  
FYI, I have obsession to be a Chinese girl. Probably after accidentally, i cut my bangs very short and i look more like Dora The Explorer now hahaha My eyes are so small as well so i have Chinese physical looks! This is taken in my study space where i gonna spend my whole day for next couple years. I'm gonna tell you later on. For now, Please welcome the Campus Outfit of Chinese-Wanna Be! *)










Try These!
Short Bangs - Tied Up hair
Cheongsam
Watch
Trousers
Formal Shoes

PS: I just bought a new vintage watch. Love it!
Sorry for the low resolution of pictures, i took it with my phone camera x') 

回头见 (See you later!),
Chandini