There is Something about Nadia & Bajaj...

Finally, Nadia is in Jakarta! I’m sooo happy she’s here. She’s my lovely niece. I love her. I miss her sooo very much. Now, she’s here already. They arrived yesterday. I picked them up from the airport. I waited for about 1 hour as my sister misinformed me about their arrival time. They arrived at 4pm and we went straight home.

As usual, if they’re in Jakarta, I will take leave from office as long as they’re here. But now, since my leave balance remains only for 2.5 days so I took half day leave for a week. I go to the office in the morning and go back home in the afternoon.

Today, we went to JaCC buying some groceries at Hypermart. I met Mila, my mum, Nadia & Shierly there at lunch time. We went shopping for a while and went back home after that. We looked for Batik dress for Nadia, but didn’t find the right one. Then we decided to look for it another day.

Going back home, Nadia insisted to take a bajaj. I don’t know why but every time she’s in Jakarta, she always asks us to take her riding a bajaj. She loves bajaj very much and she was very happy when she jumped into the bajaj, waiving, singing, yelling, jumping around, etc. etc. She likes to sit next to the door so that she can feel the wind and enjoy her bajaj riding, she said. And when she gets off, she doesn’t want to let her hands of the bajaj door until she closes it, and she waits until the bajaj is gone out of her sight. Ooooh, she’s so funny… There must be something about Nadia & the Bajaj... ;p

I love you soooo much, Nadia…!

Taxi dengan TV Kabel.... :D

Pagi-pagi pas lagi buka email di kantor... nemu email dari Amel... judulnya: "transcab... taxi di Jakarta... it's cool...". Tertarik akhirnya dibuka... pas dibuka ternyata isinya informasi tentang sebuah taxi baru yang beroperasi di Jakarta, namanya Transcab. Kelihatannya sih taxi ini satu-satunya taxi dengan TV Kabel. Boljug nih...!

TransCab: Taksi dengan TV Kabel (tel: 583 55 500). Fasilitas yang ada TV Kabel dan tarifnya tarif lama bow...! Dan ada struknya pula. Konon kabarnya, taxi ini baru ada sekitar 50 unit yang beroperasi di Jakarta. So... masih agak jarang memang. Anyway, kelihatannya taxi ini patut dicoba ya... Ini foto-fotonya...

My crib... my house... Renovation...

The renovation of my house begun last week, on May 5th, 2008. I hired some ‘tukangs’ to do the renovation. I’ve made some comparison before on which is cheaper: hire a contractor and I won’t be worried about providing the materials, or hire ‘tukang’ and I must provide and buy all the materials myself. I chose to hire ‘tukang’ instead ‘cause it’s cheaper. My father helped me finding the ‘tukang’. And it’s pretty exciting too actually to go somewhere, pick the materials, compare them, and finally bought them. It’s new thing for me, and it excites me too.

So here I am, going back and forth to Cibubur every weekend, check out the progress of the renovation, looking and purchasing some materials needed. The most unexciting moments are when I have to transfer the payment to some building material stores… ha… ha… ha… My budget is running out like water…

The changes I made for my house are pretty simple actually. I just need to close the remaining ample space at the back of the house, building up the wall for about 1.5 meters, building a concrete at the top so that in the future if I want to build my house up it will be much easier. Then I move the kitchen to the back of the house, add another bathroom, make a gazebo or ‘pendopo’ for musholla, and add a small garden as the inner court. The design is more or less as in the picture here.

Hopefully, the renovation will take about 1 month. I estimate it will be ready at the soonest early June. Wow…, I just can’t wait to see it finished. Next steps will be building a kitchen set and filling the house with furniture. But I’ll do it slowly next time as I’m running out of budget. Please… donators out there, is there anyone who would lend me some money…? Ha…ha…ha… ;p

At the end, it’s fun and good for me to have something going on right now considering what I’ve been through for the last couple of weeks back… Well, at least I can distract my attention from the challenges, which is still going on until this very day, to things related to my house renovation. Anyway, I’m really enjoying this… And I’m trying not to think about my challenges every now and then.

Do you know...? (Facts about fitness)

Do you know...?

Do you know that if you include and factor in aerobic fitness, muscular fitness, stretching, and core ability into your overall exercise plan, it will help you promote your fitness for life?

Do you know that aerobic exercise causes you to breathe faster and more deeply? Which means it maximizes the amount of oxygen in your blood?

Do you know that the better your aerobic fitness is, the more efficiently your heart, lungs, and blood vessels transport oxygen throughout your body?

Do you know that walking, jogging, biking, swimming, dancing, water aerobics, or even gardening and housework are considered as physical activity that use large muscle groups and can increase your heart rate?

Do you know that you only need to have minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, 5 days a week to maintain your weight?

Do you know that you don’t have to do the whole 30-minute in one go? Your half-hour could be made up to three ten-minute burst of activity spread through the day, if you prefer.

Do you know that exercise of moderate intensity will only make you a little warm or sweaty, and slightly out of breath, but no more than that?

Do you know that regular muscular fitness or regular strength training can help you reduce your body fat, increase your lean muscle mass, and burn calories more efficiently? Building muscle also protects your joints from injury and boosts your stamina. It might even help you get a better night’s sleep.

Do you know that you don’t need to invest in a gym membership or expensive equipment to reap the benefits of strength training? Hand-held weights or homemade weights – such as plastic soft drink bottles filled with water or sand – may work just as well. Your own body weight counts too. Try push-ups, abdominal crunches and leg squats.

Do you know that stretching increases your flexibility, improves the range of motion of your joints, and promotes better posture and circulation? Regular stretching can even relieve stress and help prevent injury, especially if your muscles or joints are tight.

Do you know that you need to stretch after each workout when your muscles are still warm and receptive to stretching?

Do you know that if you don’t exercise regularly, you might need to stretch at least three times a week to maintain flexibility.

Do you know that the muscles in your abdomen, lower back and pelvis – known as your core muscles – support balance and stability?

Day Out at Ice World

Pagi ini, 1 Mei, rencana mau pergi ke Ice World bareng temen-temen kantor satu departemen. Jam 9:00 ngumpul di lobby kantor, sambil nunggu temen-temen lain yang berdatangan, comot-comot roti. Wah, kebetulan nih, eik belum sarapan euy… laper… Jam 9:30 dah pada ngumpul semua, dan kita langsung cabut menuju Ancol.

Di jalan kena macet sedikit karena ada demo para buruh, berhubung hari ini adalah hari buruh (mayday). Tiba di Ancol sekitar jam 11an langsung menuju Ice World. Beli ticket dan langsung deh meluncur ke dalam Ice World. Tempatnya sederhana seperti bedeng gitu… Di dalamnya banyak patung-patung es, ada patung beruang, kijang, naga, dll. Suhu di dalam katanya sih -10 derajat… Tapi memang berasa banget bow dinginnya…. Brrrrrr….. Kita dikasih pinjem jas tebal dan panjang gitu untuk nahan dingin. Tapi perlengkapan seperti sarung tangan, sepatu dan topi tidak disediakan. Jadi kudu bawa sendiri kelihatannya next time kalo ever want to go there again… which I don’t think so… ;p

Di dalam kita cuma foto-foto aja… begaya-begaya mejeng gaya seperti di gunung salju gitu deh… He..he.. abis secara gitu di Indonesia gak ada salju… jadi kita pada norak-norak gitu deh…

Pernah sih ke Ice World juga, tapi yang di Genting Highland, dan di sana agak lebih bagus dan bersih dibandingkan dengan yang di Ancol. Dari segi design juga lebih OK yang di Genting Highland, bukan apa-apa…, kalo di sana bener-bener atas bawah salju… bahkan ada salju-salju yang jatuh gitu seperti hujan… dan ada boneka saljunya pula… Trus, di Genting juga setiap pengunjung bisa makan ice cream gratis selama di dalam Ice World tersebut… tapi siapa yang mau makan ya… la wong dah dingin, jadi tambah dingin aja kaleee… ;p Trus di Genting juga setiap pengunjungnya dikasih pinjem coat, sarung tangan, topi, dan sepatu. Jadi bener-bener dipersiapkan karena memang dingin sanget deh.

Anyway, we were having fun here… Take pictures and sliding on ice… Puas main di es, kita langsung pada pesen bakso di Planet Baso… Basonya enuak sanget…! Sambil nunggu teman-teman yang masih pada belom puas foto-foto, sekitar jam 1:30 kita ke Bandar Jakarta untuk makan siang. Menunya seafood…! Aduh…, yahud tenan deh…! Kita makan sampe puas…!

Hari yang melelahkan memang, tapi we were having fun… We plan for another hang out… Next destination will be Puncak…!