Silaturahmi ...the silly, the serious.. NOT! hee hee... (by Rachma)

Silaturahmi itu perlu.. paling gak bagi ku it is amazaing if one can keep friendship to last a long time.. Satu.. aku dan Sarah Anna.. sudah 16 tahun best bosom friend.. nah kali ini yang menakjubkan bagiku adalah pertemanan anak anak SMA 8 Medan yang tamat tahun 1991...

Begitu akrabnya sampe aku gak merasa kalo mereka itu temennya Putra, tapi seperti temen SMAku juga.. jadi serasa SMA di Medan juga.. dan kerennya, pertemanan yang sudah dijaga hampir 20 tahun ini, menular ke kami kami sang istri-istri.. (walau rasanya tua banget menyebut judul istri-istri...

hmm boys, hope it will be continued to our siblings.. the second generation of SMA 8 bunch... (dulu ex SMP 11...) go parbus!!!

Coolness!.. hee hee

Ada Julesta Putra, Ferry Drian, Mahmul Ahyar, Muh. Fadli [Pincuk], Muh, Syafri [Oom Sapi.. kata anaknya Ahyar..], Heri Budiansyah [Epim], Herianto Herlambang [Katong], Muh. Ihsan [ Oni Ombol], Wahyu Abdillah [Why...why...?], Erwan Mahmul [Opick... by Uni's version], Surya Suhendra, and Benny...

Keep it up!

Happy Birthday Little Lady Dasha !!!

Hmm.... this morning is great! feels like a special day already! Dasha is finally five and just yesterday she learned that she has to know how to count first before she "jajan di sekolahan" and ... Jajan is not that great really because it is better to save the money for something more useful... Hemat Dasha!.. :o)

"Amie, so is this mean I can tell my friends that I am five now? But in school I am six, right?" Correct! a big girl should know to finish her milk and eat nicely.. and know to do their homework without having her Amie telling her to do so...

Our girl is a little lady now... May Allah give the best for her.. as for now, time to hunt for birthday present and a little surprise party!

We love you, Dasha! Happy birthday, girl!

Ultah Perkawinan dan Cinta Jarak Jauh (by Rachma)

Baru aja baca blog Esti dengan judul week end husband, tapi ya sutralah.. sekarang emang bukan weekend husband, tapi holiday husband...

Sejak Putra kuliah lagi di USM, Malaysia, ya semua serba ngurus sendiri di Medan. Sebenarnya ini sudah komitmen kami berdua, semua harus bersedia untuk saling support untuk kemajuan - yah... itung itung ini kan ngemodalin juga buat kerja dan wawasan. Ternyata hidup sendiri itu rumit, apalagi kalau udah kebiasaan ada yang ngrusuin, even though I can survive.

Yah, setelah 15 tahun sama.. ini termasuk dari masa 'buddies" sampe sekarang - kita masih tetap 'best-est buddies.... sepertinya masih ok ok saja.. tapi seperti masih kemaren duduk di musholla teknik USU, atau sama sama naik sudaco ke Nomensen buat fotocopy pakai kertas kuning khusus, atau ber-sepeda ria ke kampus.. as always...

Tujuh tahun yang lalu di waktu yang sama Daddy menikahkan kami, waktu itu saksi dan ustadz semua dari orang orang yang kami sayang. Waktu itu seperti semua akan tetap sama.. ternyata waktu dan masa membuat perubahan. Tahun ini tidak ada lagi sms 'selamat' dari Daddy, tahun ini tidak ada 'perayaan kecil kecilan' selain telpon 2 jam yang jelas akan membengkakkan rekening. Yah.. semua itu ada tempat dan masanya.

Today, sweety, I would like to say Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary. You're always the best in my heart and mind. Your patience, kindness, support, love are endless - thank you for sharing your life with me, Dasha and Aqila.

Happy Anniversary, Abach!

This is most likely our faces as we get back to our real life in small cubicles in the office.. ha ..ha... (We don't wanna!!!!...we're not ready!!!... ... AARRGHGHH!!!!)

Back gRouNd (terjemahan ala Rachma... back=belakang ; ground=tanah... tanah belakang.. wah berarti back ground artinya halaman belakang rumah!!! ngawur rek!...)

Finally the two girls, Esti and Rachma decided to meet – kopi darat akhirnya, nengs! – to finalize their meetings all this time through emails. Imagine the two had never met before! They are both working in the same foreign diplomatic mission but different posts – but surely both have crazy ideas about traveling and they made it and I will tell you all about it in this “Sandal Jepit” travel story.

It was all started by daring their buddy “Cigil” who happened not be posted in Phnom Penh – so why not! They picked up their flip flop (so called Sandal Jepit) and getting ready to hang there – lay easy and cool (no HOT!) to enjoy the mysterious Cambodia, the land of the ancient Siamese kingdoms and temples (so called “wat” in Thai and Khmer, but “candi” in Indonesian)

This is of course Rachma’s side of the story (Hey, Yo! Esti, you promise to add on the other link.. work on it, girl!)

Day 1, Friday, Sept 8, 2006 – Phnom Penh! We’re here…Rushing and cleaning the house before departing Medan – dealing with two little girls, … THEY ARE ANGELS!!! A house and a husband is never a fast task.. One has to deal with tons of little details before departing for fun… (gosh, I did feel a it guilty leaving them all behind – but this travel is perhaps once in a life time)

Putra, dropped me at the Polonia airport. Quick kiss on his cheek and promises to sms all the time. The kids were just confused. “Amie! Are you going to Malaysia” little Dasha shouted. “No, this is my trip to Cambodia. Behave okay sweety, if you behave and do well in school you’re coming with me next time” I paid the IDR 75,000 International gate tax at Polonia, checked in at the (the best! Airfare was Asia Air.. this is not promotion but the truth!)

In Kuala Lumpur, as I arrived and boredom strike. I put on make up that I never had the chance to put on that morning. Suddenly a shout, from what I found out from a crazy enough girl who is dared enough to travel with me, without even knowing it is going to work out or not. Crazy? Maybe. Spontaneous people? Definitely.

Suddenly a girl in a head scarf shouted in the hall of LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal), “ Rachma, RACHMA!) She ran in excitement to me, with her hmmmm...-pretty big back pack I shall say-and we hugged as we have known each other for years. With big smiles on our faces we went to find a Musholla for praying. Travel is a must, but Allah comes first. From there to a Malay Restaurant in the airport that cost them RM8 per person for a plate of Nasi Lemak and Hot Tea – total up to RM 16.
Talk, talk, talk endlessly until the flight to Phnom Penh was ready to board. More talk on the 2 hours flight. Until they landed in the airport in Phnom Penh. First impression I see in Cambodia is the airport is way nice compared to Polonia. Clean, in order, but only the immigration was asking, confusingly?, NaaaHHH.. for USD 1 for picture since we did not have any for us…. Another immigration guy was asking for USD 2. Anyway, I paid a dollar plus the USD 20 for tourist visa. We passed the immigration point. I smiled to the camera in my best of the best smile. Why not!!, Esti posed in Korean girls’ pose (meaning with two fingers doing the peace sign), we were being nice and friendly to the immigration guy.

As we walked out from the terminal looking for Cigil who promise will pick us up at the airport. Man.. it was hard to notice him among the other Cambodian people. This Cigil is like shadows… so mysterious… NOT! And… there he is! We all hugged and laughed as always. We talked about Indonesia, the work, teasing Cigil as always,… or perhaps as Cigil says is threatening him… but that is our routine! Cigil is a cool man! (Nope, I take that back Cigil, Esti and I are waaaaay cooler!)
Entering the outskirt of Phnom Penh I recall my boss’ explanation (and thanks boss! For convincing me to go to Siem Reap!) that this is definitely like Medan in the 70’s. Activities were seen slow and easy. Everyone was just laid back enjoying the day. Cars moved slowly, and I could see bicycle here and there. But what I love the most is the nice sweet Siamese faces – sort of reminded me of my time of staying in Thai long, long, long ago.

Mr. Pheng, our drover, finally got us to the Imperial Garden. Finally! It was the precise time to straighten my legs. Settled in and chatted again until it suddenly got dark outside. We never realize the night has arrived! We zoomed out to Okay Restaurant just across the stret. The food was good. We had (and managed to strongly force them to make Halal food.. No pork! No pork pleeease….No pork!) beef with oyster sauce, chicken with green pepper, and chicken fried noodle. We shared the dishes and of course, yeah, completed with steamed rice. But the best of the best is the HOT TEA! I was so glad the Cambodian people are really good in making just the right tea, with perfect sweetness and temperature. That hot teas was definitely my energy source. Esti was also a tea person, meanwhile Cigil who is by race should be a tea person but he preferred Coke!!! (What’s wrong with ya Cigil??? Tea is your root!!)
The night was nice for a walk, so we did. I was happy. It was a good long walk under the clear sky and stars. We walked along the Ton le Sap river, passing the front side of the palace. After buying some rambutans, we walked some more to get back to the hotel.

The night became very late, but Esti and I had so many things that we want to share – just about life, about us, about work, about principals, families. We talked up to 2 am until we got so tired and decided to get our full rest for the next day.

Day 2, Saturday, Sept 9, 2006 – Serious sun burn from Ton Le Sap Lake!
Wake up .. wake up…it’s 5 o’clock! Man, my body was all too tired and really want to be just in bed! But, no, I told myself to get up and get ready. The boat to catch is going to leave at 6 am. Besides we had to make the most of that 5 DAYS ONLY TRIP. Brushing our teeth and getting the comfiest dress and rushed to the port (or what Cambodian called “kampong”)

Mr Pheng (god morning Mr. Pheng! He is sooo NICE and perhaps a bit terrified with our LOUD voice) was already prepared to take us. As we got to the port, we paid USD 25 for the boat tickets and got into the dock that had a very strong kerosene odor. We decided to sit outside, lay lazy and enjoy the sun – let us burn baby!, HAH! (No, at the end we regretted that idea a bit since we had bad burns)
The five hour ride by boat to Siem Reap with our stomachs rumbles playing the salsa every other minute. The trip was again filled with chat. The foreigners (not us… the others) were bugged by our giggles and laughs and non-stop medley chat like chirping birds. Gossip, gossip, gossip (yeah, ngobrol tanpa gossip bagaikan agar agar tanpa garam, masak sayur tanpa panci....nah lo.. gak bakal seru! So go gossip!) it was a constructive gossip!

Through the biggest lake in South East Asia (katanya..) called the Ton Le Sap lake, we enjoyed the sights along the lake sides. First it was local fisherman, just like in Belawan, then nothing else, just fresh water, but as we entered Siem Reap, we were just touched by the poor lives of the fishermen. Even the marine police station or post was so sad.

Khmer? Khmer? (read: khmey, khmey) Thai Thai? Most of the tuk tuk drivers and taxi drivers were asking what we wanted to ride (foreign lady.. you have to choose, or we wil follow you and ask you all de tttiiimmeee!!!)( Whaaaa??)
Khmer was for Esti, with her ‘cat eyes’ and yellowish – not yet burned – skin..and Thai was for me (I really don’t think I look Thai though). We spotted Sareung, our hotel guy and we immediately hop onto the tuk tuk leading to the hotel. No need to pay the port-hotel transport fee, it was included just like a limo pick up in a five star hotel. It was a good drive!

Entering Siem Reap was another experience. I like this place much better. It was began with fisherman village (to tell you the truth I can really smell the fish, reminded me of Asterix comic book, the fish seller hee hee). The architecture was very much like Malay houses in Tanjung Pura area down to Pangkalan Susu. Raised by columns, similar roof type and carved hand rails. Similar window forms.. well, just like every other traditional Asian houses in coastal areas. The town itself is pretty small. Pshar Cas was the local mrket with many goods, but Siem Reap was all about the great Angkor!

We checked in the hotel and met with Suti and Sareung. Suti spoke Thai a bit, just like me! So I could easily tried my Thai and asked situations around. Sareung was our tuk tuk driver. He is a nice guy! These 3 pairs of eyes, plus 2 more belong to 2 Cambodian girls were just staring at us!!! We, as Indonesian, were seemed to be not common to their eyes. No Indonesian in Siem Reap? They claimed that only Americans, Europeans, Japanese and Korean would have trip to Siem Reap, not Indonesian. But then this had made them to like us more and gave us better trip trick in Siem Reap, to do it cheap and fast and cover the most of important spots.

I bluntly said,” Hey, you and I are Asian,.. let’s help us out here.. we don’t have much money! No money!.. can you tell us what to do that does not need money here??? Hee hee” and it’s that smiles we gave to them that made them surrender! Ah hah! Got ya!.. Cool!