arisan ibu-ibu dan gado-gado

arisan is a group of some person, with an activity of gathering some amount of money periodically. in each period they will draw a name (or more) to get the collected money. the periods should go on until everybody gets the same amount of money.



the housewives arisan group monthly meeting in my neighborhood was held in my house this evening. it should start at 16.00, and I started preparing at 14.00. imagine, it was such a rush hour. alhamdulillah I got these helpers with me. what should I do without them?
arisan ibu-ibu bulan ini di rumahku. acara dimulai jam 16.00, dan jam 14.00 aku baru siap-siap. bayangkan, rush hour. alhamdulillah ada sukarelawan ini. apa jadinya aku tanpa bantuan mereka?



i served hot tea for the drink and some snacks such as brownies, fried banana, and tahu bakso.
(tahu bakso is tofu filled with minced beef)
here is the main course, gado-gado. want to try to make it? it's easy (remember, I only do simple cooking).

aku suguhkan teh panas dan snack (brownies, pisang goreng dan tahu bakso)
makan besarnya gado-gado. mau coba? gampang kok bikinnya (aku ga mungkin masak yang susah)




this is what you do (my version), for 5 persons:
200 grams carrot and 200 grams of bean: cut and steam
some lettuce, 2 tomatoes, 1 cucumber: just wash and slice
500 grams of potatoes: steam, peel off, and cut
5 tahu and 5 tempe: cut, soak it in disolved garlic and salt (100 cc water, 3 garlic and 1 tea spoon salt) for about 10 minutes, and fry
5 eggs: boil
emping (fried chips made of Gnetum gnemon fruit) and kerupuk udang (shrimp chip?)

sauce:
200 grams of sambel pecel, boil with 300 cc of thin coconut milk

arange all ingredients in a plate (except emping and krupuk), pour some sauce, and put emping and kerupuk on top

begini cara bikinnya (versi aku, ga enak dilarang protes), untuk 5 orang:
2oo gram wortel dan 200 gram buncis, potong dan kukus.
daun selada, tomat dan timun: cuci dan iris-iris
500 gram kentang: kukus, kupas, potong-potong
5 tahu dan 5 tempe: potong-potong, rendam dalam larutan bumbu (100 cc air, 3 bawang putih yang dihaluskan, 1 sdt garam) kurang lebih 10 menit, lalu goreng
5 butir telur: rebus
emping dan kerupuk udang

saus:
200 gram sambel pecel, rebus dengan 300 cc santan encer.

susun semua bahan di piring (kecuali kerupuk dan emping), siram dengan saus, taburkan kerupuk dan emping di atasnya.


you might want to try other recipe of gado-gado
ini kalo mau nyoba resep gado-gado yang beda

solace

this week's prompt for sundayscribblings is solace. I wrote something about it couple months ago, in my other blog, but it was in Indonesian. so this time I want to rewrite it in both language of Indonesian and English, for Dandelion.


picture was taken from here

read a book? what kind of book? some books just make you fell even worse. books they said will strengthen you? some time instead of being solace, it makes me feel guilty.
baca buku? buku apa dulu. ada buku yang kadang justru menambah buruk suasana hati. buku yang menguatkan hati? kadang justru bikin aku makin feel guilty.

listen to music? what kind of music? some songs drifted me away and give more sadness. any kind of song? will the ears listen?
dengerin musik? musik apa dulu. ada lagu yang kadang justru menghanyutkan dan bikin kita makin sedih. lagu seadanya? kupingnya juga ga mau dengerin.

playing piano? OK. but I'm not that good. making mistakes drives me crazy.
main piano? ok. tapi belum pinter. lama-lama bete juga karena salah-salah mulu.

working out? not bad. I can do two hours and get all tired, then go to sleep.
senam? lumayan. tapi paling-paling cuma kuat ikut dua jam. kelelahan, lalu tidur.

sleep? I'm not one who can fall asleep easily. beside, it's not solace, it's a runaway
tidur? aku bukan orang yang gampang tidur. dan itu bukan solace, tapi runaway.

what about reading Qur'an? I know I won't understand the meaning unless I read the translation. and it may sounds too much, finding solace by reading it. but it works
gimana kalau baca Qur'an? aku memang ga ngerti artinya kalau ga baca terjemahannya. dan kedengarannya mungkin 'sok' banget, finding solace dengan baca Qur'an. but it works.

just listening to the words come out of my lips, sounds so peaceful to me.
mendengar kata-katanya keluar dari mulutku, mendamaikan hati.

puzzle for adults

okay, this is a puzzle I was trying to solve

okay, ini puzzle yang mau aku garap

they said this all I needed. so I told Dan, "I'll do this by myself, don't help me"

"are you sure?"

"of course I am"

so I started working and Dan watch tv (and me)

petunjuknya bilang ini yang aku butuhkan. jadi aku bilang ke Dan, "jangan bantu ya, mau aku kerjakan sendiri"

"yakin?"

"tentu"

dan mulailah aku bekerja

when it came to hitting, I used a hammer to put the parts together. Dan said, "honey, you can't use a hammer doing it. particleboards are frail". I'm a stubborn girl, so I replied, "I'm to weak to hurt them". but look at what I've done:

ketika sampai di bagian pukul-memukul, aku pake palu untuk membuat bagian-bagiannya rapat. kata Dan, "jangan pake palu sayang, partikel board itu rapuh". aku kan keras kepala, jadi kataku,"aku terlalu lembut untuk melukainya". tapi lihat apa yang kulakukan:

so I revised, "okay, you can help a litttle, not too much". and he hit the boards with his palm, yes his palm. thank you superman.

Dan has to go to a neighborhood meeting at 19.00. "are you sure you can finish this by yourself?", he asked. "don't worry, you can go"

jadi aku ralat,"oke deh, kamu boleh bantu, dikit aja tapi". dan dia memukul papannya dengan telapak tangan. telapak tangan. terima kasih superman.

Dan harus pergi arisan bapak-bapak jam 19.00. "yakin bisa selesaikan ini sendiri?", tanya dia sebelum pergi. "jangan khawatir, pergi aja"

and after 60 minutes (not 40!) and a little help of Dan... taa daa...!

setelah 60 menit (bukan 40!) dan sedikit bantuan dari Dan... taa daaa...!

but oops! a dowel is left. it was supposed to be somewhre inside the rack. ah, who cares, nobody will now I miseed a thing. I threw it away :D.

sshhhh! don't tell Dan about this, okay?

ooops! dowelnya ketinggalan satu. ini harusnya tepasang di satu lubang entah di mana di rak itu. ah, peduli amat, ga kelihatan ini. jadi kubuang aja :D. sssstt... jangan bilang-bilang ke Dan soal ini ya?

ghosts

this one is for sundayscribblings

do I believe in ghosts? I do. and I hate ghosts I see in films, they're damn too scary.

apa aku percaya hantu? pasti. dan aku ga suka lihat hantu-hantu di film, terlalu serem.

west ghosts look better than Indonesian. is vampire a ghost? than he's the most handsome ghost ever...

hantu-hantu barat kelihatannya ga terlalu serem, dibandingin hantu Indonesia. vampir itu hantu atau bukan? kalau iya, berarti vampir adalah hantu paling ganteng...

Chinese vampire (as I see in movies) make me laugh. they're not scary at all, they're funny. they wear china clothes with funny hats, their hand straightforward, and they jump over here and there chasing people.

kecuali vampir china yang bikin aku ketawa. gak serem sama sekali, lucu. pake kostum china lalu lompat kesana kemari mengejar orang-orang.

Indonesian ghosts ARE scary. pocong, kuntilanak, genderuwo, wewe gombel, gundhul pecengis.... I definitelly won't put any picture of them here, you can google it if you like.

kalo hantu Indonesia baru serem. pocong, kuntilanak, genderuwo, wewe gombel, gundhul pecengis.... jelas aku ga akan pasang gambar mereka di sini. kalo mau google aja sendiri...

have I ever seen ghosts? it's kinda strange that I've never seen either one of those origin ghosts I mentioned, alhamdulillah. but I saw a ghost once. and that was not so long ago. it was when I had vacation with Dan in yogya. I was in the homestay we stayed for a night. in the middle of the night I woke up for I couldn't breathe because my nose was clogged up. it happens when I stay too long in an aircond' room.

pernahkah aku melihat hantu? aneh juga aku belum pernah lihat hantu-hantu asli Indonesia yang aku sebutin di atas, alhamdulillah. tapi aku pernah lihat hantu, belum lama ini malahan. kemaren, waktu aku pergi ke yogya sama Dan. tengah malam di penginapan tempat kami menginap satu malam, aku terbangun karena hidungku mampet dan ga bisa bernafas. aku biasa begitu kalo kelamaan di tempat ber-AC.

I sat up and saw a head, yes head without body. it was long-blondy-haired, and was spinning around before my eyes. I couldn't see its face to be able to say it was 'he' or 'she'. it just kept doing it for few seconds, I reached my hand to it and felt it's hair was stiff, like a cheap wig. but then it flew directly to the window and gone.

aku bangun terduduk dan melihat kepala, yup kepala doang tanpa badan. rambutnya panjang dan pirang. berputar putar di depanku. aku ga bisa lihat wajahnya, jadi ga tahu itu laki atau perempuan. aku mengulurkan tangan dan rambutnya tersentuh olehku, kasar seperti wig murahan. tapi dia tiba-tiba terbang ke arah jendela, dan hilang.

I hope I don't have to deal with ghosts no more.

mudah-mudahan aku ga usah berurusan dengan hantu lagi.

twin bed for twin boys

this is for photo story friday

my children used to share room. but finally I can give them rooms with more space.

so I bought Ar and Ir a twin bed. the first time they had to sleep on it, they fought about who was gonna sleep on top or down. Ar decided to sleep on top that night, and they'd twist every night. so I kissed them good night and left.

at about 23.00 I peeked in and this is what I found.

dulu anak-anak harus berbagi kamar. akhirnya aku bisa memberi mereka kamar yang agak lega. jadi aku belikan Ar dan Ir twin bed. pertama kali mau pake, bingung siapa yang mau tidur di atas atau di bawah. akhirnya Ar memutuskan malam itu akan tidur di atas, dan besoknya gantian, begitu seterusnya. jadi aku cium mereka, lalu pergi.

sekitar jam 23.00 aku ngintip, dan ini yang kutemukan

why should I buy them twin bed?

jadi buat apa aku repot-repot beli twin bed?

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

picture tag

diane of forgetfulone tagged me to do this. God! I do like taking pictures, but this one is embarassing. no wonder a friend told me, you're naked on internet.

no... I'm not. I'm just sharing something, rite? I'll do the tag anyway, proudly!

so this is the rule, the only rule I broke. no cleaning before taking pictures? noway! I cheated a little, sorry :)

1. dream vacation
this is from the last vacation I had with Dan. but I'm still dreaming of Bali....

2. self portrait

I have thousands of it. I take lots of my-self, anytime, anywhere. this is one of it. not the best. well.. nothing is good enough actually :D. and I put a butterfly picture on it. how do you like it?

I can't believe I put myself in this big and clear image here!

3. what the kids are doing right now

ibit was busy blogging

Ar and Ir were tickling each other. how could I take a good picture of them? they kept moving and laughing!

4. closet

this is where I and Dan put our office uniform and other working clothes. there are days we have to wear uniform and days we don't.

you don't want to see the rest. well may be you do, but I won't let you ;)

5. favorite room

I don't know what I call this room. it's where we lay on a carpet and watch TV and video, listen to radio, and where I and Ibit play piano.

6. favorite shoes

I have three pairs I guess. or four. can't remember, coz these ones which I wear almost everyday. I've been wearing them for over two years, but they still feel (and look) good.

7. laundry room

not a room. we do our laundry outside our house.

8. bathroom

can you imagine how we do our bathing? you take the water with that red stuff, pour it onto your body. then rub some body soap all over. last, rinse. and dry yourself with towel. oh, the rest would be just the same.

and yeah we squat down there to waste. some people use the sitting one, but I don't like it too much, i feel it took much longer to push the poop out.

9. sink

this is where we wash our dishes.

10. refrigerator

and there is nothing in it, as you see. well i can mention it. egg, yeast, abon, some vitamins, water, waferstick, a slice of cake. deep inside there are some bottled milk, but you can't see them. then bread, and some vegetables inside.

fewh! done!

last part, tagging. any one who wants to play, come and join us. this is tiring, and embarassing, but FUN!

my golden hearted baby

he didn't move a lot

for a couple days he didn't move at all

i was so afraid i thought he was dead inside

until the doctor showed me his tiny heart beating...

he was born 2000 grams

5 days in a box for ultraviolet and oxygen

had his first milk from a pipe put into his stomach through his tiny nose

got flu in age of two weeks

everytime he coughed, my heart was like cut with a knive

until almost a year old, his face looked suffer some kind of pain

...

he's always been the sweet one

blame me for loving him more.

dia tak banyak bergerak

beberapa hari bahkan tak bergerak sama sekali

aku takut dia mati di dalam

tapi dokter menunjukkan padaku, jantung kecilnya berdetak

terlahir 2000 grams

lima hari di box untuk ultraviolet dan oksigen

mendapatkan susu pertamanya dengan disuntikkan

lewat pipa yang dimasukkan ke lambungnya melalui hidung

kena flu di umur 2minggu

setiap kali dia terbatuk, hatiku rasa teriris

sampai umur hampir setahun, wajahnya selalu tampak menahan sakit

...

dia anak manis

salahkan aku karena mencintainya lebih

they're back!

I haven't seen them for two weeks and they turned into quadriplets?

nah... the other two are their cousins.

and these are the girls.

there were 7 of my parents 10 grand children.

they had great time during the vacation. my sister took some photos but I forgot to copy. :(

well who cares? my kisser machines are back!

oldest friend

this is this week's sunday scribblings.

when first I read this prompt, I was wondering. is it about an old friend, I mean really old. some one with my dad's age or something?
or is it a friend that you already have since long time ago?
to be honest, I'm not some one who is easy to get close to other. and when I do, no guarantee I'll stay close to them forever. I mean, when a friend is away from me, and I meet new people, it is to the new ones I will get close, although still never be too close.

first I want to take 'old' as age. so my oldest friend would be my friend at office. he's old enough to be my father. he's nice and warm, first thing he does when he meets me in the morning, is greet me and shake my hand. he tell jokes, and give me prompts to sing. yeah, I do sing all the time, even some time just humbling. everytime I stop singing, just because I feel bad, or I was thinking hard of something I was working on, he would sing a line or two. and I will sing to the rest. and then he'll say: yes! I made you sing again.

and taking the word 'old' as long time ago, music would be the one. I sing since I can remember things, say it I was 3 or a little bit more or less. this is the only friend I never let go. I don't even think I could live without it.

how I love beach...

beach is refreshing

free my sight, my mind, my soul

I love beach, I do

you made my day

diane of forgetfulone awarded me this,

thank you for thinking of me. i want you to know you made my days too



who made my days? alot. but these are 5 people i want to pass on the award to:

my auntie mlandhing
melissa
angie
carrie
forever daisies



thank you all for always do, make my days.

yogya - this is what we decided!

since the kids are okay, we thought it was also okay for us not to see them this sunday. so we decided to spend this week end at yogya
keputusannya! karena anak-anak baik-baik saja di rumah embahnya, kami pikir ga ada salahnya juga kalau kami ga menengok mereka minggu ini. kami pilih jalan-jalan ke yogya.






we spent the night at malioboro road, and the day after we went to parangtritis beach
malam minggu kami jalan-jalan di malioboro, paginya ke pantai parangtritis


this is a holiday season and it was kinda hard for us to find a place to stay. all hotels are fullbooked! alhamdulillah at 23.00 we finally a homestay. not what i expected for a night just for me and Dan. but this was better than sleeping in car...
lagi musim liburan, jadi susah cari tempat menginap. semua hotel penuh! akhirnya sekitar jam 23 kami nemu juga sebuah penginapan. bukan yang kuharapkan untuk menghabiskan malam berdua saja dengan Dan, tapi ya... mendingan daripada harus tidur di mobil..


well, i can't be happier this time anyway...
minta apa lagi sih, ga bisa lebih bahagia dari ini sekarang...

this wasn't such a real quite week

it's been a five days
monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday
I wake up every morning and prepare some food and drinks for 3 handy man who are working on our house
I get out of my office at four or five. but would i just go straight home? nobody waits for me. and Dan usually get home late. so I spend my time walking around. to a book store, to a mall, or torture my self with two hours exercise at gym. as long as I can kill time until Dan pick me up and get home.
sudah lima hari.
senin selasa rabu kamis jumat
aku bangun tiap pagi lalu menyiapkan logistik buat 3 tukang yang lagi benahin rumahku.
aku keluar dari kantor jam empat atau lima. tapi masa mau langsung pulang? ngga ada siapa-siapa di rumah. jadi aku menghabiskan waktu jalan-jalan ke toko buku, ke mall, atau menyiksa diri dengan ikut senam dua sesi. yang penting bisa bunuh waktu sampai Dan menjemputku.

is that enough, and I can take a bath and go to my bed? nope. those handyman never forget to leave dust all around my house. and I hate dust, I really do. every night when I get home, and before bed, I mop all over every surface at least twice. I've tried to cover stuffs with old curtains. but wow, those dust still can find a way to sneak in. I think they still fly filling up every square inches of my space here inside my house... believe it or not. I can taste the dust on my tongue... bleh!
every other day, while mopping, I do my laundry. and now they are waiting for some one to iron them :P
begitu aja, lalu sampai rumah aku mandi trus tidur? nope. pak tukang itu ga pernah lupa ninggalin debu menyelimuti seisi rumah. aku benci debu, sungguh. jadi setiap malam sebelum tidur aku ngepel paling tidak kuulang dua kali. aku sudah menutup barang-barang pakai gorden bekas, tapi si debu itu masih bisa aja menyelinap masuk. kelihatannya mereka masih beterbangan di setiap inchi ruang di rumahku. percaya atau tidak, aku bahkan bisa merasakan ada debu di lidahku. bleh!
dua hari sekali, sambil ngepel, aku muter mesin cuci. sekarang baju numpuk nunggu yang mau nyeterika :P

there was a day when Dan got out his office a little earlier. so on wednesday we had a relax time at a restaurant. there was a piano player, and I sang a song or two (well 5 actually). then we saw a movie, iron man. hmmm. too childish for me. I didn't enjoy the movie too much (I even hate the 'war' part), but I enjoyed being with my husband...
ada hari ketika Dan pulang agak gasik. hari rabu kami nyantai di sebuah restoran. ada pemain piano, dan aku iseng nyanyi satu-dua lagu (5 sebenarnya). lalu kami nonton, iron man. filmnya anak-anak banget. aku ga terlalu suka. apalagi bagian perang-perangnya.. tapi aku menikmati saat-saat berdua aja dengan Dan...

not to forget. nights without kids are so inviting :)
malam-malam tanpa anak-anak, sangat mengundang ;)






and how are they, my kids, doing?
I call them everyday, and they're okay. I asked their granny if they ever asked about their bapak and ibu. nope. not even once. isn't that a little sad thing to hear? well, I'll just take the positive thing. their happy having vacation in their granny's house.
dan bagaimana kabar mereka, anak-anak?
aku telpon setiap hari, dan mereka baik-baik saja. aku tanya embahnya apa mereka cariin bapak dan ibu. tidak. sama sekali. sakit hati ngga sih? well, ambil nilai positifnya aja. berarti mereka bahagia menikmati liburan di rumah embah.

one more week to go!
masih tambah satu minggu lagi!