1001 Answers For "The Question"

During the family gathering on Idul Fitri (or any other religious) holiday, there is one question that all single women dread most: "When are you getting married?" Argh.

Sometimes that question does not come from our own parents, but from concerned aunties and uncles. While I know they mean well, I just can't stop shuddering whenever there's a family event scheduled within the next few weeks. Usually I avoid such event by going to work. Pathetic, I know.

Anyway, my friend @alfianidris and several other friends had this funny hashtag in Twitter about the answers to "the question", depending on who is answering. Since we all work in the media, most answers are journalism-related. The answers are so funny and witty, I feel they deserve to be posted here.Without further ado, here they are.

When are you getting married? | What did you ask? What was I saying? *long pause* #FinanceMinisterEdition

When are you getting married? | The question is too technical. You should ask my director general instead #EnergyMinisterEdition

When are you getting married? | When the oil lifting hits one million barrels per day #EnergyMinisterEdition

When are you getting married? | Year-on-year will see a decrease, while the month-on-month increases #BankIndonesiaGovernorEdition

When are you getting married? | Excuse us, missus. Bapak can not pass. Make way, please #BankIndonesiaGovernor'sPersonalAssistantEdition

When are you getting married? | After the IPO #IndonesianStockExchangeJournalistEdition

When are you getting married? | I'm still waiting for the acquisition #EconomicsJournalistEdition

When are you getting married? | We're still searching for two more evidences #CorruptionEradicationCommissionSpokespersonEdition

When are you getting married? | Sorry, we can't give any statement #PublicRelationEdition

When are you getting married? | Wait a moment, I want to close my unitlink #FinancialPlannerEdition

When are you getting married? | The flow of soul mate to the heart is jammed, and so does the other way around #TMCPoldaMetroEdition  

When are you getting married? | Say what? You never got chili on your mouth? #CruelEmployerEdition

When are you getting married? | How much asset do you have? #ForbesJournalistEdition

When are you getting married? | I'm following the government decision #DelayedIdulFitriEdition

When are you getting married? | I'll do the unregistered marriage (nikah siri) #InfotaintmentJournalistEdition

When are you getting married? | Alhamdulillah yah, it's really something #SyahriniEdition

When are you getting married? | I have to find the seven horcruxes. Then I'll think about that #HarryPotterEdition

Have a witty weekend, guys:).

Pieces Of Eid

We left home at 6.15 a.m. this morning to get ourselves a place to pray...

But it was so crowded, we had to pray on the road. The road was closed for about one hour...

M and I took our place next to the motorcycle parking lot...

Things got rough after the prayer...

M&D were excited though (hmm, the man behind M was kinda cute, but i digress)...

D took a photo of M and I on the parking area

Idul Fitri in Indonesia is not legit without ketupat, hahaha...

Have a blessed Eid, y'all!

Ramadan Memories

Born as a Muslim in a Muslim family, I learned about fasting since I was five years old, or perhaps even younger than that. I still remember M&D would carry me to the dining table for the pre-dawn meal. Even though I would fall asleep on the table, they would wake me up every now and then and asked me to finish the meal.

On my first day of fasting, I broke it at 1 p.m. The next day, I made it until 2 p.m. But on the third day, I gave up before noon. Hahaha. M&D always encouraged me to complete the fasting, but if I was too weak, they were the first to suggest me to break it.

When I entered school at 6 years old, the parents decided to give incentive. For every day that I could complete fasting from dawn to dusk, they would reward me with Rp 1,000. Since they never gave me pocket money, I saw this as an opportunity to have extra money to buy snacks. Hahaha.

The incentives worked. I only missed two days of fasting that year. The next year, I could fast for a whole month. As a 7 years old, I felt so strong and mature being able to fast for 29 or 30 days straight. But the happiness only lasted for several years, because I got my periods. That humbled me, of course.

Other things I remember about my childhood Ramadan was the new clothes, the cookies, the mudik journey, the money my maternal grandmother would give every time I visited her during Idul Fitri. As I grow older (and hopefully wiser), my understanding of Ramadan (and Idul Fitri) also evolves.

Ramadan is no longer about new clothes, rather it's about improving inner self. Instead of becoming a moment of receiving money, it's an opportunity to give to the needy. It's not just restraining from food and drink and sexual intercourse for the married couples, but more about keeping your emotion and worldly desires in check.

Here's me hoping to be blessed by more time to see you again next year, o holy month Ramadan.

I Wish I Can Visit These Mosques One Day

Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Turkey. Found here.

Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Found here.

The Great Mosque of Cordoba, Spain. Photo source

Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Taken from here

So When Is Eid?

Found here

Hello lovelies! Are you going to your hometown for this year's mudik season? If so, I hope you have a safe trip. I saw many cars and motorcycles whizzed past Kalimalang's main road last night and this morning the traffic was a bit empty. In a way, it's nice to cruise the roads without congestions, but the empty roads also means Ramadan will leave us in a few more days. Sad.

The government said that this year might see Indonesia's two largest Islam groups celebrating Idul Fitri on different days. Muhammadiyah already did hisab (count the days) and announced they would observe Syawal 1 on Aug. 30, while Nahdlatul Ulama insisted that they wanted to do rukyah (confirm the date by seeing the moon phase) on Aug. 29 to determine the date (the date was still not clear, but it's probably on Aug. 31). 

I think I will join Muhammadiyah.

The clerics asked people to respect each other's decision on Idul Fitri. They also suggested that people who followed Muhammadiyah stop fasting on Aug. 30, but celebrate Idul Fitri on Aug. 31 along with Nahdlatul Ulama.

Dear lovelies, whichever day we choose to celebrate Idul Fitri, I hope it strengthens us as a united and tolerant nation.

Have a nice weekend:) 

Giving A New Life For An Old Long-Sleeved T-Shirt

I bought two pairs of detachable sleeves in NurZahra during Jakarta Great Sale. I like those because they are loose and complement my short-sleeved work shirts. After taking a closer look, I am confident that I can make those out of unused clothes. So this week, I decided to hold a do-it-yourself project, hehehe.

The ones by NurZahra. Simple but very useful. 

Things you need:

- an old long-sleeved T-shirt

- sewing tools

How to make it:

- simply tore the sleeves off the T-shirt

- do some sewing, attach a rubber band if you like

- tadaaa! you get a pair of detachable sleeves and an undershirt

Before and after

The Turquoise Turkuaz

A few months ago I got a text message and email about Turkuaz, a new Turkish restaurant in town. At first, I didn't pay attention to the notification, but I saw the head chef's name, Sezai Zorlu, I almost fell off my chair. 

Chef Sezai is the nice chef who made me hoşaf in less than half an hour. After making me the food, we talked about foods he ate during childhood days. And then out of the blue, he gave me tips about how to make relationship works. We both had Moroccan mint tea and I remembered glancing at his teacup, wondering if his contained alcohol (Why suddenly talked about relationship?). Hahaha, just kidding. He just loves conversing with people.

Tangent: several months ago, my blog stat showed a surge of visits from people googling in words : "Sezai Zorlu marriage". I was like...what the? When I told this to the chef's girlfriend, she just laughed and said,"Some stalkers need to have more guts and just ask the guy if he is married". So true.

Another tangent: It was during the interview in the new restaurant that I realized the chef has bluish green eyes. How fitting with the restaurant's name. I've always thought his eyes were grey-colored.

Back to the topic. He's been working in a restaurant chain for years, so the fact that he is now opening his own restaurant is quite surprising. I like his food, so I'd like to help.

When I forwarded the email to the Sunday bosses, they asked if I wanted to do it. Why, of course! So it was during my staycation that I went to the restaurant. You can read the review here, if you'd like:). And here are the photos I took there.

The interior of the restaurant and the lady of the chef:)

The amazing chandelier. This is actually taken by the chef. He was so excited to see my red camera. I think he's going to buy one:P

These are just the appetizer, not the main course. Yum!

Heavenly treats in a plate. My favorite is the finger-shaped one, it is filled with cheese.

  Somehow I missed taking photo of the main course. But the dessert is always in my mind:)