First Week at a Glance

So… Last week, my first week at my new job was hectic. Very.

I immediately had a brief on my first day. Went to a post-production of a video profile on Tuesday (it was a hands-me-down job, but I couldn’t say no, could I?), which made me go home at 12.30am. Met one of the clients and supervised the voice over production on Thursday. And worked on an interestingly stylish project with a prospect of radio play production (I’ve never produced a radio play before!).

Nothing I couldn’t handle. Really.

The hours were great. With the exception of the two days when I had to go to the post-production house, most of the time I was already home when the clock hit 7pm and got to have dinner with my family. And of course plenty of time to do other things, like practicing violin and DVD-ing.

The downside is… The very unhealthy environment, with an unhealthy brand. I (almost) constantly become a second-hand smoker now. I knew what I was getting into when I took the job, but I still need some time to adjust. This is a big learning process for me, because I have to learn a whole lot of matter that is a really unfamiliar territory for me. So wish me luck on that.

The people… Well I can’t really say much about that now, need some time to get to know them better.

One thing I surely miss from the old office is our maksor (makan sore – afternoon snack) routine! Over there we actually go out and hang out in the warungness, over here people ask the Office Girl to buy them foods, which for me is not the point of maksor! Maksor is about being together with your colleagues in much less formal environment gossiping about whatnot, the food is just an added value.

But overall I think I’m gonna be fine here.

Sunday, I’m a nervous wreck

Dang! I was fine when I woke up this morning. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was going to spend it on the park, practicing violin. So it was a happy morning.

Today’s sermon was also great, the Pastor was talking about fear and how we should just have faith, because God will always lead the way and cast our fears away. It totally calmed me down.

But as the hours come closer to tomorrow, the more nervous I become.

Plus I’m developing a mild symptom of flu. I have sore throat and I’ve been sneezing all evening, that’s never a good sign. I pumped myself with vitamin C and cough syrup, because I do not want to be sick on my first week at my new job. I have to be on top of my game! And of course, since I’m still on probation I don’t have the health benefit just yet, so if I have to go to the doctor then it has to come out of my own pocket.

I didn’t let myself take a nap today, even though I’m always exhausted after violinsing, in hope that I can sleep safe and sound tonight. But that’s usually not the case when I’m this nervous, I’ll probably get a nightmare about being late tomorrow or something.

Oh dear! I am totally a nervous wreck. I totally need all the luck in the world. Ugghh...

Anyway… I went to this little cute place called Kedai after violinsing. Originally, we wanted to visit the craft shop on the second floor, Bikin Barang, to my luck it was closed, so we decided to hang out in the cafe instead. It was a very nice and homey place to hang out, and the food was alright.


Sunday seems to be a perfect day to visit it, because I dunno the whole atmosphere feels like Sunday-y for me. Like you can just order a drink with small food and make yourself at home on the comfy couches or chairs, with your favorite books ready at hand while soft oldies music played on the speaker. Whether you wanna be alone or with friends, it’s just as nice. It's very relaxing, like you could just stay there all day without worrying about whatnot. The free Wifi wouldn’t hurt either.

I had Nasi Panggang, it’s rice (of course! What else would you expect from me, Little Miss Carbo?) baked with some herbs, beef bacon and cheese on top.


And Teh Poci for drinks. Yum!


Speaking of Little Miss Carbo, look what I got as farewell gifts from the girls:


A skein of fluffy-and-super-soft pink Snowball yarnsies from Amel.

Two inspiring books from Mbak Andri: Whatever You Think Think The Opposite by Paul Arden and EYD & Seputar Kebahasa-Indonesiaan by Ernawati Wandah, which I’m sure will be a great use in the future.

A children’s book entitled Twinkle Toes by Karen Katz from Nana, which is a nice addition to my children’s books collection and of course a great reference for the future project as well *wink*.

Aaaand… A ‘Little Miss Carbo’ mug filled with grains of rice! They are awesome like that.

Thank you girls! You’re all the best! Muaacchh...

The Last Words of a Chapter

You’ve thought about the end of chapter.
You’ve wished that it’d be over as soon as possible.
You cannot wait to start writing the first words of the next chapter.
You have those jittery feelings about what will the next chapter bring you.

But you’ve never anticipated this page, the final page of this chapter.
So what will you do, now that you’re here?

You start thinking about the journey you’ve travelled for the last 3 and so years.
How much you’ve grown, how much you’ve changed, how much you’ve evolved.
From a clueless fresh graduate to a somewhat experienced copywriter.
From a girl in her super-early twenties to a bit mature young woman.

You start thinking about the characters you’ve met along the way.
Friends. Foes. Strangers. Third parties.
Every love/hate relationship you’ve experienced with them.
Every single soul that has influenced you to become who you are now.

So what will you do, now that you’re here?
What words will you write in this page?

Goodbye seems to be the most appropriate word.
But somehow it’ not right to use it.
Cause goodbye sounds so… Final.
And maybe because this is not a goodbye, this is just a…

See you all around!

You Have to Let Go, If You Want to Grow

This is my last week in my current office. My last week of my first job ever.

I’m super-excited, scared and nervous at the same time for what’s next, a new challenge, a new chapter in my career and life. It’s exhilarating, really! But I’m also sad to let go.

You see, my team and I are currently in the birthing process of these two beautiful babies (projects).

Sure I bitch about that particular brand almost all the time, and that particular client is also one of the main reasons why I leave in the first place.


But yesterday when we had initial meeting with the prospective Directors and heard the demo of the jingle, there was this big pang in my heart. It hits me hard in the face, the fact that I won’t be here when we push those babies out and introduce it to the whole world like a proud mama.

If there’s one most rewarding thing of this job, that will be when we produce our ideas. All the hard work, blood and tears we’ve put into it finally come into life.

The other thing is when the commercial finally airs and people start talking about it or when your friends ask, “What’s you’ve been up to lately?” And you proudly say, “Oh! I just finished the commercial for…!”

That’s pure bliss!

And now I won’t be able to feel that bliss fully.

Sure I can totally claim that I did those commercials, but it’s just not the same. I will miss a big chunk of the whole process. All the fighting, the bitching, the drama… It may not the most appealing thing in the world, but it’s part of the journey, the beginning of our babies’ lives and I will miss it.

Honestly, it’s bringing me down a little.

But then again at some point you have to let go, if you want to grow. There will always something you have to let go in order to achieve something more, something better. Hopefully it will all lead you to a greater good.

So that’s what I’m doing right now, trying to let go.

Saturday

So I finally tear myself long enough from Baby-Gadget and Red-Gadget too actually make use of my time productively. Not that reading fan fiction isn’t productive, but whatever!

I finally finished knitting the little pink beret for Princess Anke, Mr. Dimples’ niece.

modeled by my Forever Friends bear

I finished it while accompanying Dad doing his routine check up this morning. It was my first time going to that particular hospital. Mom had other thing to do this morning, so I was on escorting duty.

The waiting was long, but the waiting room was super fancy, with fluffy couches and free WiFi, so I’m not complaining. Too bad I didn’t bring Baby-Gadget, but Red-Gadget never failed me.

I was in Neuroscience & Heart Centre of the hospital, by the way. Had it been Seattle Grace Hospital, I would’ve bumped into McDreamy xixixi…

So anyway, I also did some finishing touches for three scarves that I knitted weeks ago. Never got around (or simply too lazy) to do it, but I finally did it. They’re going to be on sale next week on my bazaar/farewell party/whatnot.


I’m going to watch 17 Again with Mr. Dimples soon (I was so surprised he actually wanted to watch it. When he asked me for a movie night out, I offered Star Trek but apparently he’s not really into the whole Star Trek thing so he picked 17 Again instead. I was like: Super-yay! I’d take Zac Efron anytime xixixi… Gosh! I’m such a teen!).

Have a great weekend everyone!

XOXO
- A

Old Habit Dies Hard

I've just spent the last 7 hours (and still going) reading Grey's Anatomy fan fiction.

It's fun and its fluff. Totally therapeutic! Certainly makes the waiting for the new season a lot easier.

So It Begins

A few days ago, a friend and I were talking about the very first batch of website back in the 90s. You know the minimalistly-ugly, created-on-notepad, with-simple-html-codes one?

And suddenly I remembered that I had a website/blog/fan fiction archive back when I was still in the university. It wasn’t made out of Notepad, I used Dreamweaver, GoLive and whatnot, so it was a decent one - design wise.

Then I started reading my posts, and I realized that I was such an active blogger back then! I updated my blog (almost) everyday, filled it with my daily whatnot.

I admit I was such a lame girl with a very lame blog.

My blog was mostly filled with my constant admiration of Michael Vartan (considering I was a huge Alias fans back then). But then it was also fun at the same time.

It was fun to ramble about nothingness.


It was fun to read it again after all of these years (the blog hasn’t been updated in 3 years, and it was still very much there. It’s like a time capsule!).

And I think it’s important for my sake that I express myself in any way. Because I’m a writer, I express myself better in writing than in oral communications. I’m not a big fan of talking you see.

So this morning, when I was driving to the office I thought of starting to be an active blogger again. Hopefully this time it won’t be as lame as it used to be (I say that now, but 5 years in the future, when I re-read the posts again, I’m pretty sure I will think that this is lame).

Welcome to my daily rambles and whatnot!

XOXO
-A, Queen of Rambles & Whatnot-