URWanted

For her perfume campagne Demi Moore wants to know what you want in guy or gal. There are two videos of URWanted that are my faves:
1. mr kutcher's


2. 5 years old PJ's:


What do you want in man or woman?

Internet and Thanksgiving

I spent Thanksgiving listening to 3 of my closest friends talking about their babies. The eldest of these kids is almost 2 years old, and he still hasnt walk on his own, or really talks. The good news is, he is more confidence in walking on his own after staying at grandparents' place last week. The second one is still in an incubator at the hospital waiting for the result of his chromosome test. The bad news are he might have trisomy 21 or trisomy 13, he has GERD, abnormal genitalia, lung infection & ailing liver at this moment and the insurance wont covered the expenses because it's all congenital. The good news is his tiny leaky heart is healing properly. The youngest one is still in the tummy and she is just like her mom, mischievous. I think she'll be a great goddaughter:)

These people means the world to me. They were always there when I needed support. I am glad that I could at least be there in a way for them, by listening to their problems, supporting them, encouraging them, eventho from a far.

I wish we could all be in the same room, but for the moment, I am thankful that we have the Internet to connect us from all over the world.

I Screamed, But There Was Nothing to Hear

We all have our share of frustrating situation when no one listen to us. But what this Belgian guy has been through in the last 23 years is another level of frustration. It is beyond believe.

He's been misdiagnosed as being in a vegetative state all these time, even tho he was actually conscious despite being totally paralyzed. Rom Houben has what it is known as locked in syndrome following a car accident and a sedation that went wrong. He has no control of his body, but still lucid. The only way for him to communicate is via a specialized computer.

His story is part of this movie called 'To Walk Again' by Stijn Coninx.

It is a sad and happy story.
It is a hopeful story.
It is a miracle story.

Show Me That Smile Again

They say the first 5 seconds of meeting someone is the most important thing to make an impression. One of the first things people will notice is how you look. The brightness of your eyes. The lovely smile on your face.

Sadly, there are people who have facial deformation due to their circumstances. It could be because of a disease, or congenital condition. It could also be an accident, or victim of violence. Their appearance could lower their self-esteem. The treatments they got from people could traumatized them. It is worse for those who are still young, from poor background in developing world as their chance of getting help is more limited.

Thankfully, there are some foundations such as The Smile Foundation, Medical Mission Foundation, and Facing the World and their volunteers and donators that help those kids from all over the world.

Kudos to them who help this kids getting a better future with a smile on their cute faces :)

Envy

I really envy them. Good on them.

Superstition

It's Friday the 13th. Some people are superstitious about it, since Friday and 13 are considered unlucky. For Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Japanese, number 4 is considered bad luck because phonetically it sounds like death in their language.

I still get confused when I go to malls in Jakarta, because most if not all dont have 4th floor, but they have lower ground, ground, upper ground floor, followed by 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rdA floor.

Some places in Java also have certain superstition, that people try to adhere.

Take Prambanan temple in Central Java. It is said that unmarried couple should not visit this temple if they want to continue their relationship. The source of this believe, I think, because of the legend that Loro Jonggrang asked for 1000 temples to be build in 1 night by Bandung Bondowoso before she would agreed to be his wife. Before the dawn, he already finished 999 temples. Knowing this, Loro Jonggrang tricked him by lighting huge fire in the east so the cock began to crow. As Bandung Bondowoso used help from the spirit world, they left him when they thought it was already morning time. When Bandung Bondowoso found out about the trick, he was furious and cursed Loro Jonggrang into the 1000th statue.

In Trowulan area, there's Bojong Ratu temple, it's the gate to the ceremonials site of Majapahit. It is said that the ashes of Hayam Wuruk one of the greatest king of Majapahit is buried there. According to local belief, if a person with certain standing came to this temple, he would lost his position. Therefore, eventho some of Indonesian officials visited other temples in the area for meditation/praying, they never visited Bojong Ratu temple.

The other superstition is about Nyi Roro Kidul, queen of the southern sea, and her fondness of green clothing. So people are not supposed to wear green clothing when they are in the area of her kingdom, which is basically along the southern part of Java. It is said if one wore green clothing, the Queen would've taken you with her.

In my father's family there is this superstition about our family cemetery in Central Java. It is said that no menstruating women are allowed to get in. The last time I went there was with my late father ages ago. Upon arrival, I found out that I had my period which I wasnt supposed to have at the time. So my father said that I just followed him till the edge of the cemetery, and he alone entered it. At that time I had no idea about that superstition. Since I didnt feel comfy about hanging out by myself over there (there are lots of snakes in the area), I went in but not close enough to where my father was sitting. Hours later, on the way back to Jakarta I started to have this violent stomach ache, followed by high fever. I ended up really sick for 3 days and missed out my organic chemistry final. On the 3rd day my father started to get sick too. He was even ended up hospitalized! Logic said we both were just too tired from the trip. But those who has sixth sense told my father that he broke a rule, and my father agreed. I asked him what rule they were talking about, and he told me about my entering the cemetery. That's when I found out about that superstition.

I never have any problem visiting my father's cemetery while having my period eventho people said it's one of haunted cemeteries in Jakarta. But let me tell you this, to be on the safe side, I wont visit that family cemetery in Central Java while having my period ever again.

Believe it or not, some places are just too weird for my liking.

What to Wear

Starting in January 2010, in West Aceh, it is not allowed for women to wear jeans or tight pants. If they catch you wearing one, they take your pants/jeans and cut it up and make you wear a skirt they provided. The government of West Aceh is ready to supply 7000 skirts for this. Isn't it interesting, that they have enough money for that but there are still poverty in the area. What if all women in West Aceh wear jeans/tight pants on January 1st? That'll teach the government.

Honestly when it comes to Aceh, or other places in Indonesia where sharia or part of sharia is implemented, stupid/crazy policies such as this one isnt surprised me anymore. It is sad that Indonesia turns into this state which I believe is far from what our founding fathers envisioned.

Today's news, however, surprised me.

A student is expelled from the university in Brazil because she wears mini skirt. I am curious how short her mini skirt is, because I remember seeing Indonesian students wearing mini skirt to class in Jakarta and got no problem. So, how come in the land famous of it's itsy bitsy bikini a woman cant wear a mini skirt to her class?

It's interesting to see that no matter where you are, there's always a chance that somebody in power try to control what you wear.

P&G and Me

The guys at P&G did it again.

As it happens, I am a loyal P&G customer. Not only I use their products that are in the market in Indonesia, but I also use their products that I personally need to import. Like the Pert shampoo that I cant get in Indonesia or in The Netherlands, each time I need to import it from the USA or I buy it whenever I find it abroad. So, you see how loyal I am for their brands.

Alas, the feeling is not mutual.

They always managed to get me hooked on something, and then acting unavailable. I swear I think P&G is a male.

My newest and biggest pet peeve is about their sanitary napkin. Back in the Netherlands I only used Always. The normal with wing variant to be precise. I've tried other brands but I am allergic to them. After years of problem free, several years ago P&G Holland decided not to sell them in Holland anymore. I called up their customer service, and was told that they still carry them (it said the same thing in their website), but couldnt tell me which supermarket/pharmacy/shop carry them. After searching up and down the land with a little help of my friends across Holland, we still couldnt find Always normal, let alone the one with wings! I called those big supermarkets chain and was told that they did carry it anymore.

So, I tried contacting the Brand Manager of Always in Rotterdam to ask where I still could get them in the country, but was told by the receptionist that only big buyers could talk to the manager, and I have to talk to the customer service eventho I told her my predicament. I called customer service again, pleading for them to get me some information about its where about. I was told my option is to use the ultra variant which I hate. Long story.

Not giving up, I tried to contact that Brand Manager again pretending to be a big buyer. Just my luck, the same receptionist answered my call and recognized my voice. She started to rant about my lying as a big buyer. I was really pissed with her because as a woman, she, of all people, should be able to relate to my problem and help me to get some solution.

My savior was a German online supermarket Schlecker that also services the Netherlands. Since then every a couple of months I'd be ordering bulk of sanitary napkins all the way from Germany! No thanks to P&G Holland.

Before I went to Indonesia, my BFF also supplied me with some from the USA, just in case. Sure enough, I couldnt find them in most of Indonesian supermarket, and if I did it's very expensive. To my relief, I still could find Whisper, also by P&G, that I used to use before moving to lowland. However, it didnt last long. I've been coming home empty handed for the last month looking for Whisper at supermarkets around Jakarta. I still have some left, but I need to get some new ones ASAP.

See, the P&G did it again.

On Anggodo

The stories of Anggodo - KPK - Police - AGO are all over the place day in day out. When ever Anggodo opened his mouth, something outrageous came out. The money he spent. His connections (those who are involved are from Surabaya ranging from prostitute, attorney, police officer). It's all seem like we are watching a sinetron, with a more interesting plot, funnier dialogs and better acting. The Chief Detective even cried at a Parliament meeting!! Talked about crocodile tears.

But one thing about Anggodo that I cant help but commend him: he did this for his brother, Anggoro, who run up against KPK.

Eat, Pray, Love and Discriminate

I've read the book Eat, Pray, Love. It was alright, I guess, but not something I want to reread tho. It's a beach book, nothing more than that. If you want to read about living and eating in Italy, Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy by Frances Mayes is much well written, to be enlighten I'd rather read Dalai Lama, Meister Eckhart, or Coelho, and as for love, there are gazillion books out there about it since the beginning of time.

At this moment Brad Pitt's company is filming that book in Bali with Julia Robert and Javier Bardem starring in it.

On one hand, it's a good way to promote Bali, (and probably also Indonesia). It's not often that foreign companies is granted the permission to do filming in Indonesia. It's a pity, I think we could attract more tourists by promoting it that way. Look at Thailand for example, they attract more tourists to Phi Phi Leh Island after the released of the Beach. Of course, we also need to be careful about the environmental and cultural impact from it.

On the other hand, when I read this article on JakartaGlobe, I cringed. Do I live in South African Apartheid era? Yes, I know expat in Indonesia get paid so much more than Indonesian. Yes, I know average Indonesian goes ga-ga when they meet bule. It's upsetting to read not only a foreigner gets paid $100 a day, which is 5 times as much as Indonesian extra, even foreigner kids get paid 2.5 times as much at $50! But the fact that they separate locals from their foreigners counterpart that did it for me. Why cant they just put two kinds of food and let people eats what they please? Why locals eat their nasi bungkus in some tent, while foreigner eats their western food in the Pura Dalem along with the cast and crew? Are local not worthy enough to mingle with the cast and crew or even eat the same thing? Whose fault is that, the foreign company who hires them or the local legislations and ruling that allow that to happen?

Being a Flirt

Some of my closest guy friends said I am such a flirt. While others said I am judes, I guess you could translate it to bitchy if not rude, tho I dont think both are the right translation.

Anyway, I always thought I couldnt flirt, each time I tried to flirt someone, I ended up not with the guy I was flirting with! (Therefore, I give up flirting consciously). So, the notion that 'I am such a flirt' was something I couldnt fathom. Until ages ago when I saw this BBC programme called Would Like to Meet. When their dating expert, Tracey Cox, showed body language of flirting, that's when it downed on me. I did/do those 'flirt moves' unconsciously when I am talking to people. No wonder they called me a flirt. No wonder I got into troubles. But what can I say, if it's in the blood... :)

I was chatting with Sean about it and he too has the same thing about flirting unconsciously. He loves flirting tho. Then he told me his latest MO, which is hilarious, I have to blog it. Bear in mind he's American in the UK, and oh... he's deaf, and proud of it.

sean: when i came to here last year
sean: i decided to test my flirt skills
sean: i found it very interesting that if i was came to women... hearing women
sean: then they would start to ask me what is my name
sean: i will say
sean: oh i am Deaf
sean: they would say oh dont lie
sean: what is your name
sean: then i would struggle to say "S... Ha..wn"
Triesti : hahahaha
sean: they would repeat after me
sean: i would nod
sean: then they would say oh give me a kiss!
Triesti : u rascal
sean: silence is powerful!
.
.
.
sean: also if i gave them strong eye contact
sean: it will make them weak in their knees

So ladies, be warned!

Reunion

For years I've tried not to go to reunion. I dont see the point of getting together with people I didnt even hang out with in the first place. I do however try to keep in touch with some that I was close to. We talk on the phone, chat, email, and even visit each other in far away places.

It seems to me that ever since everyone are in Facebook, there are more and more reunions. I saw a friend of mine had kindergarten reunion!! So far I managed to dodge it.

Until today, that is.

Since yesterday was one of my BFFs' birthday and she's organizing this get together, I have to attend it. Tho I asked if the rest of the gals remember it was her birthday yesterday, and she said she didnt think so. I guess it wont be a birthday lunch, more of a small reunion. Sigh!