So, it has been 33 days since my latest blogpost—and I haven’t had the time to write more about my India trip; which resulted in 4 pending blogposts for Mumbai, Agra, Jaipur and Delhi.
In one and other way, my India escape shares similar characteristics with my Santorini getaway, in a sense that I keep restraining myself from writing the experience immediately because somehow it will make the magical feeling evaporated. And on top of that, the days that follows after my coming-home seemed to go extra fast to the point that—just like Parker; a character in Nick Miller’s Isn’t It Pretty to Think So?—I literally need to browse my own Facebook timeline and look at the pictures I posted to remember what had happened in my life lately:
I stayed at my friend’s apartment for a month while she was in the US and became her cat-sitter. It was actually very therapeutic in a way. Sfac is a cat with a pensive mood, and I think we get along quite well naturally because of that.
And because I stayed at my friend’s apartment and packed only a few clothes with me, I found myself playing futsal in a summer dress and a pair of gold flat shoes for an office tournament. It was extremely challenging not to have your shoes flying to the face of the goalkeeper when you kicked the ball.
The previous cat-sitter, Alisa—whom I met at my friend’s apartment and the first Samoan friend I have, invited me to a charity event she organized: Love Your Neighbour Jakarta Flood Relief Fundraiser. You can no longer see the water and you may think that everything is fine now, but Jakarta’s two-legged and four-legged citizens are still struggling after the 2013 Jakarta flood. A bunch of young expats (led by Alisa) and Indonesians worked together to throw a fundraising party at 365 Eco Bar Kemang to financially support Habitat for Humanity, Jakarta Animal Aid Network, and Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center—three NGOs that are continuing their works even long after the flood is gone. It was such a wonderful initiative, and I was more than happy to volunteer in documenting the event and sharing these pictures with them.
I did a lot of cooking and grocery shopping, as well as pampering myself with visits to various coffee shops to read or write, and reconnecting with old friends—eating out and catching up. I detached myself from my laptop—trying to close it down when I had finished work, and went to the pool instead. I am still not a good swimmer, but I love being in the water (or floating in the sea with a life vest attached to my chest). It’s always relaxing to have some lazy strokes under the sun—the water is cold on your skin and smells of chlorine (or salt or fish); you think of nothing.
On another note, if everything goes well (fingers crossed) I will have two books to be published this year. One in June (hints: it’s a perfect book for summer reading, especially if you’ll be traveling!) and another one in September. I have just finished the rough draft for the first book and decided to leave it for a while before I typed everything in my laptop this weekend. While working on a story, I love to re-read some books on writing because it gives me a lot of comfort and encouragement. My favorites are Natalie Goldberg’s Wild Mind, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, Elizabeth George’s Write Away, and Susan Goldsmith Wooldridges’ Poemcrazy.
I also spent some times writing letters and packaging stuffs for my friends abroad, again. When I am traveling, usually I will spot something that will remind me of someone (probably it’s you!): a book, an eyeshadow kit, a pack of tea, a pair of earrings, a CD, a Buddha necklace, a simple receipt with a certain word printed on it, a burst of color… anything. These things will then go inside a brown envelope and travel a few extra miles to reach you. I always love choosing the words for the greeting cards, writing names and addresses on the envelopes, getting them ready to be sent to the post office, and waiting anxiously if you’ll receive it!
Mostly, I was just busy with my professional work—and a new project I started with my girl Nadia. This project combines everything we both love: design, photography, videography, storytelling, beautiful words, make-up, fashion, and everything whimsical. It requires a lot of time to be on the road scouting for beautiful places; the stamina to carry a lot of stuff and get our hands dirty; as well as the flexibility of being in the outdoors for an indeterminate period of time, getting exposed to the sun or being threatened by the rainstorm. But whenever we see our final products, we soon realized why we love doing this at the first place. Expect to hear more about this on a Sunday in May this year.
Last but not least, I was in Singapore last weekend with the whole office (always a great bunch!). I was happy for I did the things I would not normally do: going for indoor skydiving at iFly (I did fly!), having my leap of faith from the 5-story high Parajump and sliding 450 metres long through jungle canopy and Siloso Beach at 72 metres above sea level. And to wrap it all, a guy named Enrique asked me to marry him.
We were standing at the terrace on the 57th floor; the wind was strong and we were speaking in English and French and Spanish. He showed me the sky with the hanging dark clouds and the city lights shining underneath and we whispered our wishes to the universe and talked about Valencia and Paris and Hemingway and laughed at each others’ jokes. When I think about it again, it was quite a romantic scene, actually.
“Will you kiss me?” he asked.
“Nope,” I shook my head.
“Hmm, if I said I’m gay, will you kiss me?”
“Maybe,” I laughed.
“Not even if I said I like you so much I want to marry you?”
I punched his right arm and we laughed and he hugged me and landed a kiss on my forehead. And no, I don’t marry him.
49 Responses
Is there anything you DON’T do??!! What annimpressive list of busy things you have been up to, Missy!
And love the closing paragrah 😉 *wink-nudge*
PS: Ini kapaaaan kita ketemuan yaaa. Let’s make a date one weekend, pls! :))
Hahahaha, it’s been a busy month indeed! I lost track of all the things I DON’T do! xD and *wink wink nudge nudge back :)) This weekend mau? 😀 Let me know, Sunday or Saturday or Friday evening, maybe? 😀
last part is the best part. kekekekekek. sepertinya emng sibuk bgt mba,,,tapi postnya kereen, fotonya ama seperti biasa rangkaian katanya. love it 🙂
hahahahah, maksudnya best part pas ditolak? 😛 makasih yaaa 😀 *peluuuk*
ngantung kayanya artinya. apa salah artiin? hehehehhe.
Sama sama *Peluk balik* 🙂
Hi my sweet Hanny! What a totally romantic story, written so well…. Can’t wait to get your books some day….. sending you love and lots of happy wishes… you are amazing! Love, Cissy in Tejas <3
My lovely Cissy! It’s always nice to hear from you, somehow it lifts up my mood! Sending you loads of love as well! Stay amazing, my dear Cissy! *hugs hugs hugs* :’)
Soooo u will publish ur own book!!! I cant wait no more. 🙂
Good luck, Han.
I am excited!!! :’D And thank you so much for your support all these times! *hugs* Yes, I’ll be needing loads of luck! :*
Hola…………. absolutely stupendous woman. I love your outlook and the presentation. WoW… Cheers to u r spirit gurl. Smile always and keep writing. Waiting for more. LOve.
Gee!!! OMG, I miss you so much!!! :* It was a happy moment for me when I read your post about waking up earlier in the morning to write! I hope something good (as always) comes out of it! Keep writing and inspire people! Love you much!!! :* Send my love to Annika and Vivan!
What a beautiful blogpost, Hanny! Thanks for sharing your special moments with us. I frankly admire your open-minded attitude towards unexpected experiences, as well as your sense of humour, and cheerful attitude. Also, these are so lovely pictures, as usual.
P.S. You know that in Central Asia you get marriage proposals nearly every week, right?
Bota! WHAT! Say it again please. You get marriage proposals every week in Central Asia? Do you think I should pack my bag like… RIGHT NOW? :O Anyway, I didn’t get any marriage proposals in Almaty… should I be sad and feel rejected? :’O
Romantic life <3
Ini kan berkat nasihat-nasihat hidup dari Owwie 😛 LOL.
Marry him, Hanny!
The ugly thing about it was that we didn’t exchange numbers…
Oooh I love all the words in this blogpost! Can’t wait to see your project. Kapan kita mimican lagiii? Kangen hanyi <3
Iya, kapan kita ketemuan? T___T Kan aku bawain kamu sesuatu dari India T___T Mari kita mimican minggu depan *hugs*
I should be jealous of your wrap-up month, Hanny!
Jangan, plis. Capek juga lho ternyata *selonjoran di tempat tidur* 😀 Sometimes I miss my quiet days 😛 Kangen Chichi! Aku kan bawain kamu oleh-oleh dari India, kapan ketemuannya T___T
aaaaak ayoo kita ngupi-ngupi! Anomali? 😀
hayuk atuh. susah banget ya mau ketemu :))
kapaaaaan 😆
itu bisa jadi sepuluh tret sendiri :))
kl gak direncanakan malah bs ketemu, KANGEN HANNY ! ^^
I read it twice, to find the answer.
did you said yes or no?
ahhh Hanny, you have a wonderfull life an journey. *envy*
waiting for your new book *smooch* :*
hahahahahah, thank you so much, cantik! *very wet smooches* 😛
Penasaran sm kelanjutan cerita Enrique ;;)
Aaahhh… Sudah lama tak jumpaaahh… Kamuh cibuk cekali :'(
HAHAHAHAH, gak dilanjutin 😛 Iyah, sudah lama tak jumpah T____T akupun bingung mengapa hari-hariku berlalu demikian cepat T___T semoga kamu masih tegar-tegar saja mengurus semuanya 😛
masih tegar walaupun sering panik :))) untung si tuan sabar sekaliiiiihhh >:D<
aih, kalian memang selalu sukses menghadapi berbagai cobaan yang menghadang :’)
it’s somewhat makes me happy reading all your experiences in this post 😀
Aaaw, it makes me happy reading your comment as well :’) Thanks so much! I feel “elevated” in a way :”P
How honest and light. Your unicorn world. Refreshing.
*keluarin tanduk* 😛
I presume you mean “alicorn” *smug*
*pura-pura gak denger boleh ga?*
I P R E S U M E Y O U M E A N “A L I C O R N”..
*cheerleader team on the background, with big fluffy owl as the mascot*
*sumpel telinga pakai cotton buds*
I wish your first book published in early May, so I can bring it to the beach, to the mountain 🙂
awww mau ke pantai manaaaa 😀
Pink beach 😀
kalo aku jadi enrique, aku uber kamu sampe ke bogor, han. stupid enrique. hahahaha…
juni bukumu terbit, ya? can’t wait 😀
hahahahaha, kalo kamu lelaki udah aku gombalin sih, mbok 😛
hai mbak hanny,
lama ngga liat mbak nulis, begitu nulis, seperti biasa keren, foto-foto plus bokehnya luar biasa.
😀
mas enrique lucu yaa, btw akhirnya ditunggu bukunya mbak, aku sudah menanti lama ini 😀
awwww, kamu manis sekali 😀 terima kasih banyak yaaaa for being around all these times! doakan semoga lancar bukunya 😉 *peluk*
such a year indeed, such a hectic time it is 🙂 glad that you enjoy everything 😀 itu gibran harus menusuk gitu ya *sial sial sial*
Omaigattt!! You write beautifully. Sweet and warming.
I love love love this post and I’ll keep scrolling down. =)
So glad I found this blog. 😉