stories of some bad ass girl

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• DC : Once again..

I was blessed enough this year to be able to go visit Irish, with the help of Sir Laz on paying for the flight ticket. Love you, babe!!

When I arrived early on Thursday, as I walked to the baggage claim area, I saw Cliff (Irish' boyfriend) already waited for me there! Quickly offered to buy me Starbucks, in which I gratefully accepted. Haha! And damn it was cold there! Good thing I was somewhat prepared with scarf and thick coat. On the way, I got to chat with Cliff so much that he missed the freeway exit! haha! Oh, and I was able to meet with the boys and even walked them to the school bus that morning.

I spent that day hanging out with Irish, cooking bakso, and later on when the kids were back from school, we went to the running track together. Taking pictures of Kee and Xave was so much fun and easy! They're like models in the making! :)

Thanks to Dennis, I got to meet 3 important people to discuss possible job offers! So, on Friday, I rode with Irish' mom to Rosslyn metro station to catch the train to get me to the Hart Senate Building. Once again, I got to experience public transportation at a new city!

I met with Senator Brown's Senior Advisor, Jack Dover. I could only imagine how important and valuable his time is, so it was a surprise that his secretary was able to schedule me a meeting with him in such short notice. Mr. Dover was a very pleasant man. He gave me some inputs about career opportunities in D.C. and gave me few pointers on how it's done. Though he does not have any specific job to refer to me, he said my resume looked impressive and that the next time I visit D.C, he would want me to contact him again.

Soon after I left the Senate building, I received an email from his secretary that he had contacted a former congressman Tom Downey and forwarded my resume to him. He had suggested that I contacted Mr. Downey on my next D.C. visit. I thought that was very nice and thoughtful of him!

Later on that afternoon, I had lunch with Dennis' son, Kevin Sullivan. He's like the younger and more quiet version of Dennis! Irish joined our lunch at this place called Tonic, near his office. Talking to Kevin amazes me of how much experiences he has at such young age. He also gave me pointers, told me to sign up for headhunters in the area. With my resume, I would be able to get a job here within a month of two, IF I could just pack and move to D.C. It would be hard for companies to interview and hire me when I'm in LA. That was a suggestion that I should really think about and consider.

Then Saturday morning, Irish and I met with Shaun over coffee somewhere in Dupont Circle area. He used to work with Dennis at VZHA just like me, just different post and year. Shaun is very fun to talk to. A very intelligent and smart guy, I could tell. He's new in D.C. and just started to do networking. He definitely will keep my resume in mind and also suggested me to consider moving to D.C.

Irish is so sweet, she decided to book a room at the Grand Hyatt in Chinatown area, just so we don't have to drive back after a night of partying. We walked and had sushi dinner within few blocks of the hotel. Pretty, very pretty down there. It's just.. cold. Very cold.

Again, lucky me, I got to meet with Mellany! She happened to be in DC as well. We met up at Cure Lounge at the hotel. She came with Nadia, and later on invited her cousins: Neeraj and Rohan. Irish also invited Todd.

After Cure, Todd, Irish and I went out for clubbing. We were gonna go to Ultrabar, but the line was so long. Hell no we aint waiting to get in to club in that cold weather! Hamlin joined us later on that night.. and that's all I could say about that night. Zipped. Haha.

The next day, Irish and I walked around the park, doing the touristy stuff, taking pictures around the White House and Washington Monument. Despite the cold and windy day, we sure had fun and were able to take some awesome pictures!

That Sunday night was my time to hang out with Xave and Kee. Xave showed me his Urkel act and Ne-Yo dance moves. Kee and I did some puzzles on Washington Post. By the end of the night, the three of us talked in bed, until we fell asleep.

Monday morning was a drag. We woke up early before 6 so I could catch my flight back to LA.. *sigh* Irish drove me to Dulles this time. The kids were too sleepy to come with us.

It was a longer trip than last, yet it went by fast! I have to say, I had a lot of fun just hanging out with everyone. It's definitely a different trip, a much better trip to say the least. Irish and I definitely talked a lot, a lot more than we did on my 2010 trip. As if we don't already chat every day on YM! Hahaha!

Irish, when you read this, just know that I had so-so much fun. Like I said earlier today, aside from me wanting a new challenge/job, the reason I wanted to move to DC is just so I can get closer to you and the boys. I miss my family, but I really don't want to move back to Indo. And I feel like the only other family I have is yours. So thank you for the good talk and times, thank you for sharing your awesome boys with me. Love-love you!

-trias-
-los angeles-

I've always been different growing up. My being the 3rd (middle) child might have added to it too, maybe. You know the old saying about being the middle child often has the sense of not belonging, the feeling of invisibility, which makes them try harder to get the attention from the parents to make them stand out more than the first and last child. They (read: experts and/or old people) even have it called a 'middle child syndrome'. I don't know... But yea, I grew up trying my best to annoy my parents, well, in my defense, I don't think I did it consciously. Compared to my other siblings, I wasn't the most polite child (my oldest sister was), nor the cutest (my youngest sister), and not even the worst (my brother haha!). Well, maybe I'm the second worst, which wasn't anything I should be proud of.

I grew up thinking I could do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. The sky was (and is) my limit. I was a tomboy and a bad kid too (I skipped school a lot during my junior high and finally got caught by my dad and boy did I pay much for it). I always love boys too. I know how to get them just by talking to them. I was (hopefully still is) a Miss Personality. I dated a lot. From one boy to another. I was obnoxiously flirty. My mom had (still has) problems with this "habit" of mine for liking boys so much. I always love English language. I wanted to travel overseas and spoke the universal language to anyone and everyone. I grew up knowing that if I speak English, everyone in this world would understand what I say. Make sense, right? Then I also always wanted to work in an office. I wanted to be a career woman, an independent woman who can afford anything on her own. I wanted to be bigger than the biggest.

Which isn't normal in any Indonesian culture guidebook.

By standards, an Indonesian woman is expected to be a good wife. Period. Oh yes, she can work, she can drive a car, she can play basketball, but at the end of the day, she MUST learn how to and become a good wife. Hey, first off, I'm not saying it's bad, I think it's great that a woman can be a good wife, but COME ON!! We, women, can become much more than that. We can be something bigger than that. Again, it's great to be a good wife, but when it's expected by the society, I think it's ridiculously silly. Human is human, regardless of its gender. We, women, should be allowed to have the same choices and opportunities as men, in any part of the world. Unfortunately, not in my part of the world. So yea, I'm fucked.

Before you punch me in the face for saying so, let me say this.

I tried.
No. Not just tried. I did what was expected of me as an Indonesian woman. Yes yes, I was married and did my best to be a good wife. Actually, I was a great wife. I did my best living my life by Indonesian standards. I was happy, but I turned into a different person who lived under a shadow of the person I was with. Yet, in my head, there's always this big question mark: Now what? Why do I feel lost being in this "happy" marriage? So, when the marriage fell apart, aside from feeling like the biggest failure in the face of the earth, I also felt..... relieved. Not happy, but relieved. For a few who knew me from/before the day I failed my marriage should know how devastated I was . I was broken, pathetic, lost, and pushed to the weakest point of my life. I lived in my own lonely little pathetic world (celibacy was part of it too) for a good one year.

But then I snapped out of it. HUGE thanks to my family and few of my friends who stood by me, helping me going through the worse time of my life. Kar who bought me a TV soon as I moved in to my own studio apartment. Sus who forced me to go get a vibrator to get through the celibacy time. Mel who gave me this silly book, sort of a guide, on how to be a BAD girl. Before I knew it, there I was having a buck fuddy, OK, two. ^-^

I learned my lesson the day I failed my marriage. Following the standard of a society is a good thing, but doesn't necessarily make one happy. Since then, I learned to live my life by whatever makes me happy. Sound selfish? Yes and No. It is a simple way of a person who wants to be happy. It is also my choice to make everyday a good day. To have a great time during miserable time. To be half full instead of half empty. It's my choice to laugh and not cry. To let go of hate and stop worrying so much. I learn to know that nothing, I repeat, NOTHING is a big deal. Because it doesn't matter how big of a problem I have, there's always someone else out there with a bigger problem. That's, my friend, when I know the exact meaning of "count your blessings".

Fast forward: Entering the 4th year of divorce anniversary *grinning*. Here I am. Stronger than ever. Bad ass for life. ^o^
[Monday, April 21, 2008]

Her mom and siblings and niece and nephew, movies, movies, movies, hats, unicorns, to smile and laugh, her friends, a Vinci Code, Mashimaro, manggo, black shirts, Gym, vodka-holic, tom Welling, dark chocolatte cuz its bitter, Korean language, Retro necklaces, Jeong ji-hoon, iPhones, Venice Beach, Nordstrom rack, hot guys with british accents, web design, Ebay, blogging (duh)

Pretentiousness, running (be in on a treadmill or outside), humidity, her left thumb, hypocrites, dangdut, hung-over, white shirts, tight pants, sandwich and salads, cowboy hats, black coffee, slow wifi