Cikelin Chronicle

Di Sydney University ada dua macam wisuda: yang beneran dan yang bohong-bohongan. Beruntung Nino bisa mengikuti wisuda yang beneran, asli. Biasanya, international student (siswa yang berasal dari luar Australia, baik yang mendapat beasiswa maupun yang bayar sendiri) langsung pulang kampung begitu studinya selesai. Padahal wisuda baru akan dilaksanakan kurang lebih 9 bulan (atau satu setengah semester setelah masa studi selesai. Karena itu, banyak dari mereka yang tidak dapat mengikuti wisuda (kecuali yang mampu beli tiket pp dari negara asal, khusus untuk menghadiri wisuda). Untuk mengobati kekecewaan para siswa yang tidak bisa mengikuiti wisuda, maka pihak Sydney Uni membuat semacam wisuda bohong-bohongan dengan istilah keren: homecoming seminar . Pada acara ini, para 'lulusan' boleh menyewa toga dan berfoto-foto bersama di Quadrangle (Gedung pusat Sydney Uni). Tak lupa, disediakan kue-kue dan minum-minum. Suami saya menyelesaikan studinya Agustus 2008. Selesai disini b...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAPAPONG ! Please grow old with me... Lots of hugs and kisses from Mamapong.

I take a (paid) leave this week. The employment system here is generous enough to give you a paid leave for a month every year, if you work fulltime. Whether you take it or not, you still get paid. They call it holidays. Usually my fellow workers (most of them migrants) will fly to their countries for holidays. But (sadly) not for me. I take it because my husband would go to US for a conference. It's babysitting my daughter, not a 'real' holiday. Still I'm excited with this 'holiday'. I don't have to catch a train every morning, I don't have to be sandwiched with tall and big bules in that sardines-package train. My feet will free from 4 hours standing in the register. Oh, what a luxury. "Don't you think you will need a part-time husband, a casual one, Marla?" one of my friend joked. "Hahaha, no, no, no. I think I can manage that." I will make myself busy with things that I couldn't do when I work fulltime, such as: 1. ta...

Thursday is a perfect day for a date. It's our payday and-the most important- we can drop Nindi in ChildCare, hehehe. I booked Nino around one (or two?) month ago to take me sightseeing in city and take pictures at every important spot. It's not that I am a narciss girl or something, I just want to keep it for memories. Okey, admit it, I AM narciss. We took a bus and stop at Queen Victoria Building. I don't know what building it was, but now, it's a big shopping mall (does it matter what it was, then? hehehe). I need to buy The Body Shop moisture cream (do you really need a reason to go to the mall?). There were many glossy and sparkling stores at QVB. Those luxurious things (and the price tags) scared us. Off we go to the town hall. Town hall, and so other buildings were decorated with Christmas ornaments. Sydney has so many old british architecture buildings, just like what you saw in Harry Potter movie. Next stop: Dymocks bookstore. This i...

Do you believe that chocolate can boost your sex drive? I do. "Aha, that's why you feed me hot chocolate, Mamapong?" Nino asked me one day. "Ehm... don't you love the result, Darling?" Hehehe... A.K. (welcoming spring!)

As a birthday gift, I gave him a virtual card that I set as a background in our laptop. Well, I wanted to surprise him in the morning, w/ a birthday wake up call, but since I couldn't manage to wake up earlier than him, I just set the virtual card. As soon as he woke up and did his morning works, he would realize it. But then I just couldn't pass his birthday w/o any present. I manage to give him a starbucks card. It's a bit tricky, actually. When I bought him that card, meaned that I want him to invite me to that coffee shop. But, argh, sometime man just need a push, right? Hehehe... We celebrated Nino's birthday by having a picnic in a sydney-bridge and harbour view park, which was awesome. It's Irene's idea that we (om dion, irine, adiel, nino, nindi and I) had lunch at that day. We had roasted chicken sandwiches, philadelphia cheese in chilli, salads, strawberries, potato chips, orange and passionfruit juices and cokes. Irene gave him a coffee plunger (...

Nino is a sambal-maniac. Unfortunately, I'm not the one that patient enough to ngulek sambal, as I don't like sambal at all. Here, chilli is ridiculuously expensive, up to $38 a kilo (Rp 266.000 ?). But we still manage to buy an ounce to make fresh-nino's favourite-sambal. That's before we find genuine-extra-hot-sambal-in-a-bottle. Our searching of Sambal Beneran (not instant ABC's sambal) began when we ran out our Chilliez (instant sambal that we brought from Indo). First, Nino got Sambal cap Ibu Jempol at White Lotus, an Asian Shop. It's not so nice, but as we bought it anyway, we should be responsible to eat it, hiks. Then we found Sambal Ayam, made in Malaysia. It's not nice either. I thought it's too sour (too much tomato I suppose). A week ago, I found Sambal ABC extra pedas at an Asian Shop in Marrickville Road. But Nino is never satisfied w/ instant-not-too-hot-sambal. Yesterday, we went to Haymarket at Chinatown, near Central Station. I could se...

June 8 th was our wedding anniversary. Normally, we forgot about this date. It has been three years we were not celebrating this anniversary (fyi, Nino and I have been married for five years, hehehe).   But this year, I'll never forget June 8 th . This was the day when Nino left us, departed to Aussie. The farewell in Juanda airport was not that dramatic. I kissed him goodbye with smile and said, “See you soon at Sydney .” I hoped that the LO in Sydney Uni gave Didi and I permission to join Nino there, as soon as possible.   But, the day became worse when we got home. I missed him already. Didi become more spoiled to me and tended not let me go. She asked me gendong jarik more often. Well, this is very normal, I think, for someone separated from her beloved Dad.   Mine was not worse than Nino’s. He fought to survive in the cold of Sydney . Only ate instant noodle and instant rice in the first two days (fyi, he couldn’t cook – yet). In the third day, his first cooking wa...