Jum’at malam, malam macet se-Jakarta. Ditambah lagi, hujan lebat beberapa jam sebelumnya menyebabkan sebuah pohon rubuh. Tapi, perjalanan panjang dari kantor menuju rumah mesti ditempuh. Pipis sebelum berangkat, siapkan snack dan air… off I go….

18:11 – Berangkat dari kantor

18:19 – Bundaran kecil Pondok Indah arah deplu macet, jadi diputuskan lewat BCA yang baru saja

18:25 – Putar halauan, karena arah gedung BCA pun macet lebih panjang. Akhirnya ikut antri di arah deplu

18:37 – 12 menit dr bunderan kecil pondok indah-deplu, much better dari lewat gedung BCA

18:55 – 18 menit dr underpass deplu sampe pertigaan pizza hut bintaro, macet berat

19:09 – menurut gps: 9.8 km to destination, 1.5 km to gintung, ciputat

19:28 – ciputat, finally, 20 menit untuk 1.5km = 4.5 km/jam. Thanks to jalan rusak didekat Sandratex

19:34 – Legoso, ternyata arah Ciputat arah Lebak Bulus macetnya dari sini

19:40 – 3.5 km away from home, lancar jaya

19:49 – Sampai di rumah…. 1 jam 38 menit untuk 15 km

Not bad… untuk sebuah Jum’at dimana alam semesta berkoalisi untuk membuat Jakarta macet

I started this blog 6 years ago. Part of it is to serve as picture of life in words, other is to practice my English writing skill, which is why almost all my posts are in English.

The blog has served its purpose. Skimming to couple of posts, I can watch my life as if watching it on DVD. My English has also much improved, which is proved by approval of my travel blog to join Lonely Planet’s Blogsherpa. I’ve also got more chance to practice my English at work, since I mostly works with foreigner.

Now, as life unfolds, I decided to write it in my mother tongue, Bahasa Indonesia. It is the perfect time, with so many Indonesian become more connected to other media. I’m proud to be part of this young generation, the most creative one I can tell since the renaissance era.

Sampai jumpa in Bahasa….

With first handover scheduled in less than 2 weeks, the workers has started to attach the door to the frame. Almost all of the doors completed, except for the handle and lock. We even have our bathroom door attached

Walking to the en-suite bathroom for the master bedroom, they have fixed the shower. We can also see the ceiling fan attached and functional, and so does most of the light across the house

We’re counting down now, 11 days before the first deadline. And we’ve started measuring the kitchen set

Don’t get me wrong. I’m as proud as the other with the appointment of Sri Mulyani Indrawati as Managing Director of World Bank Group. As with other, I also feel the lost of such great woman, yet it proof that Indonesian does not lack of great people. And I also curse those people who accuse her running away from corruption investigation. If it is true, it will be the most elegant way to avoid investigation, rather that sick, or even worse, sudden amnesia.

But her as Indonesian President? Wait a second, I won’t suddenly agree with this.

Why don’t we nominate Rudy Hartono, winners of 8 All England Trophy, or Icuk Sugiarto, Susi Susanti or Alan Budikusuma as our Minister of Youth and Sports? Or those who has traveled across Indonesia as ministry of tourism? For sure, he/she will know Indonesia’s great tourist  spots better than the current minister, right?

I don’t think SMI should run for presidency in 2014, at least not now. Being a president would require more than just excellent financial experience, similar like Minister of sports have to know more than doing sports, or Minister of Tourism to know more than traveling and tourist spots.

It is the communication and leadership that has to be proven. Skill to communicate effectively, and in a tactical way. Negotiating at a bigger scale of a nation. All this might be more important for a leader at a country level.

Besides, you won’t ask all the great people to be your foster parents, or do you?

One of the best progress in the last 3 weeks is: Floor Tiling. Yep… they finally have started the floor tiling. Starting is probably an understatement, since it is almost finish – I would say around 90%. It is a pity though to ask them to remove some part of it, for we have informed them about our plan for parquet flooring.

Apparently they’ve changed to new contractor, which might explain our slow progress in the last couple of months. I was greeted by Pak Marwan, the new contractor. “We expect to finish the house in 1 month”, which trigger a wide smile on our face.

At the front of the house, work has progressed to prepare the car port. Soon, not only that we can parked our car in front of the house, but also we can park inside our own car port. Another worker is also working at our front pillar

And finally the backyard! Finally, they have land-filled the previously empty land. And for the first time in a couple of month, I’m back walking on the backyard.

One hour later, we stand at our soon-to-be dining room. The sky is clear, and wind is blowing through the open space of the house, blowing our mind away into the future. We will have our dream fulfilled in 8 months: Celebrating Christmas in our new lovely house…