Kepedhotan Tresno

Sawijining dina kancaku iki teka-teka senthuk-senthuk, matane abang, sembeb. Marang kancaku sijine (iki bolone) trus nrocos yen lagi bar diblenjani karo yange`."Apa coba sing ora dak wenehke, pangurbananku.......

Aku ora isoh urun rembug wektu kuwi amarga ora mudheng critane, dadi si 'nona' mung tak puk- puk pundhake.

Kedadeyan kuwi kira-kira sesasi kepungkur. Lha wingenane si 'nona' njedhul-njedhul matane sembeb abang maneh, ning ora nangis. Trus tak takoni "Bar diantemi sapa non?
( Aku jane ngerti nek dheweke bar nangis suwe, aku sengaja ngelucu, soale si Non atenane bocahe lucu)"Aku pedhot karo Kempling", swarane nggerem, mangkel. Trus nrocos maneh ngenani si Kempling. Aku ya mung bisa ngeneng-eneng. "Wis Non, kowe lak isih enom, dalanmu isih dawa. Sawijining dina kowe bakal ketemu jaka liya sing pas karo kowe."

"Pancen aku wingi karo kempling ki mung kesurung napsu", akune si Non.

Yen kita isih enom/rumaja ki kepedhotan tresno ki rasane kaya nek arep semaput kae lho critane. Mak prepet,jantung rasane mandheg, awak rasane adhem, ambegan sesek!
Nangis kuwi perlu! Nganti mata bengkak ra apa-apa. Nek wis rampung ya uwis. Trus mlaku golek dalan liya, dalan sing kebak pengarep-arep.

Lagu-lagu Indonesia buat B

Lagu-lagu ini udah tak ajarin ke B semenjak dia berumur 2 tahun, 3 kali nyanyi dia udah apal, dengan ejaan yang tidak terlalu pas.

1. LIHAT KEBUNKU

Lihat kebunku,penuh dengan bunga
Ada yang putih dan ada yang merah
Setiap hari kusiram semua
Mawar melati semuanya indah

2. BINTANG KECIL

Bintang kecil dilangit yang tinggi
Amat banyak menghias angkasa
Aku ingin terbang dan menari
Jauh tinggi ketempat kau berada

Kalo mau nyanyi lagu itu, B bilang" I want to sing mummy song'

Ilat Slencho

Yen liwat Mc Donald aku ki mesti pengin mampir liwat 'drive thru' ne,kadang malah nyelakke mampir mung kanggo tuku 'belgian chocolate brownie'-ne. Ana alesan khusus ngapa aku seneng brownie iki. Rasane! Rasane ki persis jenang ketan ala ndeso.Bedane mung rada mrepel.

Laptop oh Laptop

Komputer model ini pas pegang waktu pertama bikin deg-degan seperti ketemu orang yang ditaksir. Langsing dan kempling. Begitu sampai pengoperasian aku mulai sebel ama kesensitifannya, dan ngerasa capek ngegesek telunjuk sana-sini. Pake komputer gedhe yang pake 'tikus' lebih asyik, klik... klik...klik ...

Let's talk about Love3

I write this because I am a woman, and this suggestions also only for women, more to those being in question about their husbands feeling toward them.
How to know whether your husband really love you or still love you as it was before he marry you a few/many years ago. These are some of the tests.

1.When he wants to make love to you ( whether he made a date hours before or just a few minute before) try not to say yes or okay, but tell him that you are not wellat that moment, got headache/migraine. Watch his reaction. If he really love you, he will do at least one of this things :
* Forget his passion, and offer you and get you some medicine.
* Forget his passion, and give you a bit of massage on the head/back.
* Forget his passion, and offer you a cup of tea/or any drink you like.
* Forget his passion, let you go to sleep.
* Forget his passion, say something nice to you
( This is not applied if your husband is a quiet person from the start of your relationship )

2. You are not good cook, but you really to try to make something for dinner at certain day you thing is good day, following a recipe you find at your new magazine. Watch his reaction after eating your food.
The good reaction you hope is that he will eat it ( a bit, a half, or the lot ), plus he comments that he thanks to you for your effort and some other comments that encouraging.

3. If you work full time 5 times a week , he will never wake you up early morning just to make him a cup of tea/coffee.

4.When you ask him occasionally about why he love you, he will always have the same answer/s, even the arrangement of the sentences/the way he say it to you . That is the answer the first time you ask him about it.( These answer are not included : because you are beautiful, rich, nice, famous, from good stock/family.
You have to find answer that even himself not straightforward describe it ( example : 1.Because when I saw you the first time I felt drawn. There is something in your eyes bla.. bla.. bla… . 2. Because I fell in love with you after a couple of months regularly talk to you. You are incredibly bla… bla… bla.. The answer should be something about your inner side character/personality)

Avoid/suspect when his answer is short like you are beautiful, because after your first child is born, he will then talk to his male friends that you are now fat, not that ‘delicious’ anymore. He tries to find a reason why he look to other girls. Believe me I heard those conversation many, many times !

COOKING IS THERAPHEUTIC

Once you can do cooking , the real cooking, not just warming up food from the packaging, you will understand what I’m talking about.

When you working fulltime 5 days a week or busy, your time just for your job . Weekend for relax. After couple months this routine make you bored, though you spend your weekend for going out , to cinema or window shopping, and /or whatever .

Buy cooking magazine, or browsing some interesting recipes, find something challenge you. Spend one day (half day )to amuse yourself . Buy the ingredients, fiddle with them, cook them, and share the result with your friends /family/neighbours. You will feel happy, even the comments not a kind of thumbs up. You only need to do it next couple months to maintain your happiness.

But to do this, you should have at least a bit of passion about cooking, if you don’t, you will frustrate more and you will blame me because what I said. He.. he.. he..

Let's talk about Love2

When somebody ask me who is your first love. I do not have the real answer. Because I do not know the answer for myself. I should try to remember first, when I understand what love is.

When the first time I like to watch one of my male friends at high school because he was good looking, I even did not know yet that word exist ( hik …hik ...) Then, when I have my first boyfriend, I did not know that I love him or not, because when we broke up, I was just fine, just thinking he was a bit stupid really. After that I have a few more boy friends. One of them make me broken a bit. After those failure I started thinking about the meaning of love. Because I needed to get one desperately.

When I say need to get one, I have to be ready to give one as well. That’s problem. In this real world not many people well prepared to love somebody else . Who will I believe to have my love. Was I complicated person?

So, who my fisrt love? If somebody I had crush with the first time, that mean the boy at my high school that I even do not remember the complete name. If somebody that I had all kind of crazy feeling, that mean somebody that broke my heart and I still can picture him, but I do not have those feeling anymore.

When , I found one who love me and I love him as much, that was the end of my journey.

So, how about you?

Yen aku lagi rerasan 1

Saiki aku ki kan lagi nglemboro ceritane – tegese nglemboro ki lagi ana negara manca, oncat saka ndeso. Dasar cah ndeso , aku sok gumunan nek weruh bab-bab sing biasa nanging katon lucu lan ora pas, amargo nek ana ndeso pancen dadi lucu lan dadi guyon.

Jamanku isih enom lan generasiku, bocah-bocah ki nek nyandang ana etunganku ki rapi. Lha nek ora rapi simbok ki trus glorohi “ Nduk/Le sing klamben ki piye to? Mbok dibenerke!

Jaman saiki amarga gombalisasi dunia, ora mung cah enom sing klamben sapenake, sing tuwo yo ngono. Ben dianggep modis. Walah! Neng kene umure wanita sing isih seneng rok mini mundak sampe akhir patangpuluhan. Aku ora masalah soal iki asal pantes wae, aku seneng nyawang wanita isih seneng nyandang nganti tuwa.

Lha iki kan aku urip ana negara sing dianggep kiblate mode. Ning nek jenenge mode ki , arep neng ngendi wis, bali maneh tergantung sing ngaggo , duwe selera apa ora.

Bocah enom kene nek aku ngarani nyandange ora karu-karuwan. Lha nganggo lan milih jeans sing pas wae ora isoh kok.

Critane ngene: Wis kereppp banget aku mernahi cah lanang (umur 16 – 28?) , nek ngaggo jeans ki kok mlorot tekan setengah bokong. Ora disabuki. Trus nek mlaku kesane rada mekeh. Lha mandang mlayu ndadak digoceki.

Gandeng aku kerep meruhi, suwe-suwe aku mikir apa model toh ya? Walah nek tenan,
model kok sing nyusahke.

Trus bocah wadone, ana musim adhem ( suhu sekitar 15 mudhun ) kok ya isih nganggo rok mini trus ngganggo stocking. Nek pengin ngerti rasane, munggaho merbabu/bromo sore-sore liwat jam 5 , rasane podho. Mrinding gedhe-gedhe!

Apple Crumble

Dibelakang rumah apel lagi banyak nih. Udah dibagi ketetangga sebelah ama sodara , juga di buat kondangan ama si starling dan wasp tapi masih banyak juga. Jadi aku manfaatin untuk latihan bikin apple crumble sampe pas dengan seleraku.

Ini resepnya.

*6 buah apple ( jenis apel malang , ada manis ada asemnya ). Diiris – dibelah delapan – jangan lupa dibuang tengahnya, atau dibelah empat kemudian diiris lagi masing-masing 3 bagian )
*125 gr wholemeal flour
*50 gr oatmeal
*50 gr brown sugar
*125 gr caster sugar/gula halus (kalo suka manis, tambahin sendiri )
*125 gr butter
* ½ lime juice
* 2 sendok makan air
* irisan almond (optional )

Cara bikinnya :

1. Campur butter dan wholemeal flour,diremas-remas, sampai terbentuk crumble (butiran kasar )
2. Tambahkan oatmeal dan brown sugar. Diremas lagi sampai tercampur rata.
3. Masukkan irisan apel ke Loyang/wadah tahan panas kapasitas 2 liter.
4. Taburkan apel merata ,lalu lime juice, lalu caster sugar
5. Taburkan crumble merata menutupi apel. Bisa ditambahkan irisan almond diatasnya
6. Taburkan irisan almond
7. Panggang 40 menit (oven temp 190-200 degree C) atau sampai kuning kecoklatan

Bisa dinikmati langsung , atau disertai custard or ice cream vanilla.
Yummy!

Sambal teri kacang- genetic? How it works?

Aku bisa bilang sambal teri adalah makanan kesukaanku, tak berarti aku memakannya setiap hari atau sangat sering. Tetapi lebih karena setiap aku merasa ngggak fit, aku sering ‘mengingininya’. Dan begitu aku menyantapnya meriangnya jauh berkurang nggak lama setelah itu. Ajaib?He.. he.. he…

Kebetulan kesukaan terhadap sambal teri ini adalah turunan dari nenekku. Kebetulan lagi secara fisik aku sangat mirip dengannya. Kalau secara mental tak ada yang memberikan deskripsi yang jelas ia seperti apa, dan aku tidak mengenalnya lama karena beliau meninggal saat aku 10 tahun.Jadi aku ‘lost in information’ dalam hal ini.

Aku sering berpikir apakah kesukaan pada sambal teri ini ada di gen, dan bisa menurun? Soalnya, awalnya aku merasa ini turunan. Tapi tentu saja tidak. Ini logikanya.

Aku yakin pasti ada gen tertentu yang sangat sensitif terhadap unsur yang banyak dalam terdapat dalam teri ( iron?), dan itu memicu syaraf untuk ‘mengingini’(craving ) sambal teri . Jawabannya adalah kandungan iron dalam teri dan kacang. Mengapa yg aku pilih sambal teri? Sebenarnya tentu saja bisa semua makanan yg kandungan iron-nya banyak. Pilihan sambal teri itu lebih karena kebiasaan dari kecil dan rasanya enak, nak. Kalau dilihat dari hal ini aku bisa percaya karena aku memang lumayan sering kekurangan zat besi berhubungan dengan haidku yang ‘medium’ kuantitasnya, dan beberapa hari lamanya.. Bersamaan dengan itu kandungan iron banyak yg terbuang dalam waktu singkat. Kebutuhan normal perempuan setiap hari adalah : 18 mg. Kadang-kadang aku memang tidak mengkonsumsi makanan yang cukup mengandung zat besi setiap bulannya, dan itu membuatku lemas dan sakit kepala karena lancarnya oksigen didalam darah didorong oleh kecukupan zat besi dalam darah. Begitu iron berkurang peredaran darah melambat, itu memicu peredaran oksigen melambat juga dan itu bikin sakit kepala.


Apa saja makanan yg banyak mengandung iron?
- Sereal
- Hati
- Kacang-kacangan
- Tahu/tempe
- Sayuran berdaun hijau
- Daging merah
- Ikan
- Brokoli

Weather,Mood,Appetite,Passion

Ketika masih di Indonesia, aku tidak pernah menyadari ataupun mendengar seseorang membicarakan tentang hal tersebut ( hubungan cuaca dengan mood, appetite, passion, yang ada hubungan cuaca dengan penyakit, kekeringan, gagal panen dll ). Musim panas adalah panas dan terik, musim hujan banyak hujan dan suhu udara juga masih anget ( kecuali tempat-tempat tertentu dengan high altitude ).

Tetapi disini, di Inggris, cuaca adalah topik yang dibicarakan hari-hari karena , apalagi musim pemanasan global ini. Ramalan cuaca mingguan banyak meleset. Yang bisa dipercaya adalah ramalan cuaca dalam rentang waktu sehari saja, biasanya lumayan pas.

Banyak aktifitas yang dilakukan berdasarkan ramalan cuaca. Mau weekend kemana, ngapain. Mau shopping pagi atau sore. Mau gardening hari apa saja ( potong rumput, nanem biji, weeding dll ). Mau barbeque-an kapan dst,dst.

Hubungannya dengan mood?
Kalo bangun tidur, udah terasa entar bakalan benderang ( waktu spring/summer,walau matahari belon terbit cakrawala udah kelihatan samar-samar terangnya), perasaan happy langsung menyelimuti yang bikin mood jadi baik, tapi begitu bangun tidur masih gelap gulita walau bangunnya udah telat, aduh males deh mau ngapain, udah gitu biasanya barometric pressure-nya terasa banget di jidat. Berat.

Kalo Autumn atau Winter, jangan ditanya lagi deh, banyak bad moodnya. Soalnya disamping banyak gelapnya, dingiiiin lagi. Mau ngelempar sampah ke black bin aja musti pake jaket dulu supaya nggak merinding. Yang namanya kaos kaki dan sepatu juga nggak pernah lepas.


Hubungan dengan appetite?
Nah kalo udah moodnya drop, makan jadi pilih-pilih banget. Selera makan juga drop. Dasar aku suka makanan sehat alias bikinan sendiri, maka perlu ‘kerja keras’ deh mewujudkannya. Soalnya kadang aku masak 3 makanan berbeda. Untuk suami ( dia nggak bisa makan cabe sama sekali ), untukku sendiri dan untuk anakku yang baru 3 tahun. Berkutat didapurnya kan lumayan. But I have to do it. Ufh!

Passion?
Passion untuk apa aja deh jadi ilang, kecuali untuk tidur kembali!
Pilihan kedua adalah shopping – or just window shopping or have a cup of tea/coffee di kafe ama sepotong cake. Nah, yang namanya kafe disini(didaerahku ) nggak sebanyak di Jakarta, jadi balik kesitu lagi,kesitu lagi. I miss Jakarta klo dah begini. Sate ayam, kambing, mie ayam… yam… yam…

Jadi, kalo pas balik ke Indo, aku bilang tinggal di Inggris, ada yang nyeletuk “Wah, enak yah tinggal di Inggris…….

Wah aja takon dosa ….. Atissssssss!

Let's talk about Love1

Cinta (antara 2 manuasia berbeda jenis)adalah kata yang sakral, karena sulit mendefinisikan nilai-nilai yang terkandung didalamnya. Tetapi setiap orang yakin benar tahu maknanya,karena pada satu ketika dalam rentang hidupnya, paling tidak sekali pernah mengumandangkannya , walau kadang hanya dalam hati.

Cinta paling sering mengawali hubungan 2 manusia berbeda jenis untuk lebih intens mengenali dan menjajaki apakah mereka pasangan yang cocok untuk menuju jenjang berikutnya. Menikah!

Baru pada jenjang pertama ini saja sudah banyak terjadi kerancuan, bias tentang arti cinta. A bilang aku cinta. B bilang aku cinta. Tak berarti muatannya sama. Dan tak berarti mereka harus bersama. Tapi jika sedang jatuh cinta, who cares?

Banyak pasangan akhirnya menemukan kata sepakat. Menikah. Kebanyakan karena kepentingan masing-masing pihak terpenuhi, secara langsung atau tak langsung, disadari ataupun tidak disadari. Aku punya keraguan besar tentang prosentase orang yang menikah lebih karena meletakkan kepentingan pasangan lebih dulu dari kepentingannya sendiri. Dalam mencintai ada unsur 'take and give'. Jangan bilang cinta jika tidak bisa memberi lebih banyak daripada menerima.

Maka cintamu akan bertahan lama.

Is it ring the bell?

Me & Kebaya

I love Kebaya. It doesn’t meant I have many of them, or I wore them many times. It just because I keep dream I wore kebaya the first time when I was 15 years old. I did not enjoy it. I just look different and ‘not real’. The second time was at my graduation , when I was 23.

Many years after that I started realized that kebaya is beautiful piece of garment and thinking to wear kebaya again at some point , but I never did it . I often look around in the shop. Thought to get one, but it raised a new question. What for?In these days, kebaya only be worn at special occasion. Wedding, special ceremony, party maybe. Those occasion are out of my agenda(except wedding). I went to some friend wedding, but I did not wore kebaya because it’s just wrong time, if I often went together with my friend from office. Dressing up in kebaya take quite long time and effort. Preparation, make up, hairdo . Ufh! I just can’t do it.

Just keep it in wardrobe? It’s a bit waste of money, cause the price of the kebaya I had spot on was always not cheap ( I think I have expensive taste …. ), and I did not have a lot money to waste. So I just keep dream about kebaya.

My third chance to wear kebaya was my wedding day, of course. I had two pieces. Both are pretty. The first is combination dark and pale blue, lace and long. The second pair was white, lace and long as well. I love them.

It didn’t stop me dream about it, to wear it again . Because kebaya is just lovely ,feminine and very Indonesian and some other reason that I do not quite get it in the real word( I love Ibu Kartini, my Grandmother, my mother, Anne Avanti – all the women who love kebaya)

As I can do sewing, I made 2 pieces a few years ago. I never wear it until now. No chance! I live in cold country now. I need jacket or coat all the time.

So I keep dreaming!

Forty Something2

The next sign of getting older is my sight. Again it started a few months ago (6? ). As I like doing knitting, at one point I needed to use needle. And this needle not that small, but that day I was struggling to find the hole. I still ignore it. But when I started struggling as well when doing reading at certain distance, I knew that something not right with my eyes. I started thinking about reading glass. Still not did anything about it. Until recently I often feel my eyes tired, sometimes ache a bit. It really moved me to make an appointment with optician for test.

I got the spec now.

Apel- cara lain menikmatinya

Porsi : 1 orang

Bahan yg dibutuhkan :
2 bh apel malang
1/2 cabe rawit hijau ( 1 bh cabe kepedesan - soalnya aku nggak doyan pedes )
secuil jahe( 1/2 cm)
3 sendok makan gula pasir ( bisa gula merah, sesuaikan takarannya )
150ml air hangat
sejimpit garam (optional)

Cara membuat :
1. Tumbuk kasar cabe&jahe, taruh dimangkuk
2. masukkan air hangat dan gula (garam juga), aduk sampai gula habis
( kalau pakai gula merah, tumbuk gula bersama cabe&jahe )
3.Parut apel pakai parutan keju (kasar), lalu masukkan dimangkuk,aduk sampai merata

Bisa langsung dinikmati, kalu suka dingin masukkan kulkas 20 menit.

Forty Something1

A few months ago I noticed the colour change of 3 pieces of my hair. They grew white about 2 cm long. It was my awakening day! It’s really happened! That I was getting older. It’s a bit stupid having the thinking you won’t get into that moment. Getting older. Older. Old. I hate that word, because I just started my life.

My age ,of course, started with number 4. When I was much younger, forty something meant older generation, because I saw many people at that age look old, and they also said ‘ I’m old anyway’. But when it come to me, it’s hard to accept that fact. Old!

Unfortunately, at the time when I look closely to my face, I also saw the wrinkle that more pronounce, and drier skin. Like most other women at my age or even younger, wrinkles are scary things and create big concern ( that’s why cosmetic products promoting reducing or even removing those wrinkles are booming as well as various kind of surgery ). So, I also started thinking about cosmetics. What?Which?

When I mentioned my concern to my husband, he just said I have to eat properly. EAT!

It makes me thinking further. Tried to find out why my skin much worse than last year ( I did not complain about my hair though,I think it’s normal, but not my skin). I’ve gone through very difficult time since last year. I knew I was a bit depressed about a few things happened in my life, and I did not eat well ( less veggie, less fruit, less quantity, lazy eater, and winter time make it worst, I hate winter!)

I realized all of those contributed to my skin condition ( my skin actually not that bad, but I feel bad because it’s not as good as before . I always look younger before, but that time I showed my age)

I decided to do research on cosmetics. Then, I chose one of anti wrinkle products. Day cream and night cream. After more than a month it did not show significant changes. My skin still dry. I did a bit more research. This time I chose different products( regeneration one), different brand, better brand, I supposed. It’s been 10 days, and I feel the different a bit. At least it works. I think my better diet and multivitamin tablet I took every 2 days are big help. And more than that I am now much less depressed.

So, cosmetics solely, it won’t help without sorting out any other contributing factors. And, of course, cosmetics that suit my age!

Ketika Batuk Pilek datang lagi

Aku memiliki anak ketika usiaku 39. Unexperienced mum. Walau banyak baca ini itu tak berarti aku 'mengerti' dengan sesungguhnya. Jika aku melihat perempuan-perempuan tampak begitu mudah mengasuh anak-anaknya, kupikir aku juga tak akan mengalami kesulitan. Tapi setelah kini anakku berumur 2,5 tahun dan barusan kena pilek plus batuk yang 4-5 hari baru sembuh ,aku baru benar-benar merasa ikutan panik( sebelumnya anakku hanya kena anget-anget yang kalo dikasih paracetamol besoknya sembuh ). Dan sekarang giliranku kena batuk pilek itu dan belum sembuh benar. Terakhir aku kena batuk pilek ini 6 tahun lalu. Kesehatanku memang baru drop . Kupikir-pikir karena kelelahanku yang bertumpuk . Pertama-tama aku sangat kurang tidur setahun pertama abis melahirkan karena kebetulan suamiku agak useless urusan bayi. Dan aku tidak punya babysitter, dan pembantu yang agak'bego'. Lalu ibuku sakit diabetes dan meninggal dunia. Kesedihamku? Aku tak pernah mau membicarakannya. Lalu masalah adikku, lalu ..... , lalu...... lalu........
Akhirnya aku pilek lagi. Its too much.