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Sharing with Indonesian Students in London
Had a wonderful chance to come back to London last September 2012 and speak in front of 40 Indonesian students in London at Indonesian Embassy, London. This is my first time going to Indonesian embassy and speaking abroad, so I was so excited. I’m sharing about my new book ‘Yes, You Can!‘ and update them about Indonesian current situation in creative industry especially about writing, online business, and technology. Right now Indonesia is on fire. More than 50% of our population are young people under 35 years old. We are a young country and we move fast! I got a lot of questions and they were very enthusiastic to know…
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UWRF 2012: Poetry in the Making
With writing life becomes more interesting. Writing teaches to most of us that we are not looking at things as closely as we ought to and we are not understanding them as deeply as we ought. These days, we let life slide off us. -Ted Hughes I travel to Bali for Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) 2012 just a day after I landed from my London trip. I went to UWRF with Lisa @asil, one of my best girls who also just back from San Francisco. So we both pretty much on jet lag state and that explains a lot of sleep happening and the case of missing Kecak dance…
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Inspiring Teacher
Who’s your most inspiring teacher? That is the question we asked on NulisBuku.com & Biovision’s writing competition with theme: Vision for Education in Indonesia: Gratitude to My Teacher. It got 200++ short stories submitted in less than 2 weeks. And finally we announce 3 winners, @Aida_aie @Steve_Me_Pure @Wuri27to experience free traveling to Belitung Islands in the launching event. I represent @nulisbuku, with @mata_Biovisionteam, accompany them to enjoy Belitung. I tried to act like a private writing coach for Aida, Steve and Wuri during the trip. They can ask anything about writing to me. From our conversation, I know a little bit about them. Aida already has a published book, Wuri used to…
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AirAsia ASEAN
AirAsia ASEAN, the regional base of AirAsia, was officially launched in Jakarta, August 7th 2012. My comment is only one: what took you so long I have a lot of ‘romantic’ memories with AirAsia. With AirAsia, I took my first ASEAN trip with my bestfriends to Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. All with a very low promo price, because AirAsia promise us that ‘everyone can fly’. Now, more people, indeed, can fly. Now AirAsia add their commitment to ASEAN region, the home of 600 million people and huge market, and launched their office in Jakarta, near the headquarter of ASEAN secretariat. You can see AirAsia ambitious vision with ASEAN market when…
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The Prince and I – Le Mans Story
When Abdellatif from @MasjidRoadTrip explained to me about a grand event happening in Le Mans, I thought it was an Islamic event. Because we were just talking about his trip with his wife Hassana, going around Paris / Medina / Mecca / Abu Dhabi / Delhi / Shanghai / Tokyo / Kuala Lumpur / Bandar Seri Begawan / Bali / Jakarta visiting 80 Masjids to follow the trace of Ibn Battuta. We met over dinner in Jakarta, talking about their amazing trip, and I also share on how I do it with PinkMosques. They’re very inspiring and a very romantic Muslim couple! I want to do something like this with my…
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Summer in London
I didn’t expect to meet the sun in London. I’ve heard a lot about London’s unpredictable sometimes grey, sometimes rainy, sometimes a little bit sunny weather. But, with all the faith I have, I packed colorful summer outfit and a lot of skirts. Thank God I can wear them all. London was all sunny and happy when I started entering UK territory using Eurostar train from Paris. They said the train will go thru the sea, and I was excited to see the sea from the train, just like in a big aquarium. But of course that’s only happen in my imagination. I feel a huge relief when I was…
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Birthday in Paris
I wish Marco was older. I almost choke on my birthday cake when he told me he was 23. He looks so mature, kind, well dressed (like most Italian) and that good boy family guy look in his face. (Marco bring his grandpa ‘Jeni’ to celebrate his birthday in Paris. How sweet!) I laugh awkwardly after he mentioned his age, “Me too! I’m 23!” and his eyes smiling, “Great! Then we have a 23rd birthday party!” I can hear Saphia and Nana laughing uncontrollably. Of course I’m not 23. But let’s stick to 23. It’s midnight in Paris. On my birthday night, I am surrounded by my new friends, a…
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Belitung New Year Trip
Those of you that has been watching my updates on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook & Flickr must have known that I went to Belitung for the New Year’s holiday with the whole family. I think this is the first time after a long while we go together in a vacation. I’ve been recommending Belitung as one of the best places to visit in Indonesia, a heaven for photographers. It has some of the best beach, scenery, pretty sunsets and it’s the home of Laskar Pelangi. Most Indonesian know Laskar Pelangi. It’s a mega best selling book by Andrea Hirata, telling stories about his childhood in Belitung. It was so inspiring because…
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Weekend Getaway: MesaStila Spa
I’ve been working very hard in the past 11 months and I think I needed to reward myself with a spa getaway. I’ve been a spa and massage addict, and once every time I want, I spend my time enjoying spa grander than usual. Spa, for me, is more than massage. Spa is the whole experience. The beautiful view, yoga, touching plants, experiencing the nature, all that in one package. Because it’s not so good to enjoy spa alone, I drag 2 of my best girls, Em & B to go with me :)) We decided to stay one night in Jogja and then go to MesaStila, previously known as…
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Korea Winter Trip
My assistant @navikaanggun is crazy about Korea. Setiap kali ada kesempatan, dia akan menceritakan semua hal yang berbau Korea terutama drama Korea. Maka saat Korean Tourism Organization mengundang saya untuk Winter Trip di Korea selama seminggu, ada 2 orang yang terperangah: saya dan Vika. For me, it was unexpected offer, and for Vika, sudah jelas, dia setengah mati menahan iri :)) Dalam sekitar 6 jam perjalanan dengan Korean Air, saya menikmati istirahat saya setelah selesai menggelar event ON|OFF 2011 2 hari sebelumnya, sambil sesekali bergosip dengan Miss Jinjing (iya! Saya pergi sama si tukang belanja, Miss Jinjing :D). Kami membicarakan pramugari-pramugari Korean Air yang cantiknya luar biasa dengan kulit wajah…
