Ministry of Zero

My first post of 2023!

I swear I miss writing yet I keep finding myself making up reasons not to write.
Well, I'll have two posts this month: one for a quick update of my 2023 so far -- because the details will be unveiled by the end of the year, as always. Another one is for a short story inspired by one of my favorite songs.

This one will be the quick update, as stated in the title.

2023 days seriously went through so quickly -- not as quick as the pandemic though.

I visited Cilegon, Bandung, Purwakarta, and Tangerang a lot this year; mostly due to work.
I completed a project which lasted almost a year.
I met a lot of new people and built new relationships.
I made my new passport; the last one has expired.
I went to new places, including the Hong Kong trip I had with my Mom two weeks ago.
I learned the hard way about having expectations, disappointment, and what's best for us does not always mean the best for others.

Me at HK MTR Station on last day!

Can you believe that this is already the last day of 2022?
Crazy, eh?

Can I believe that this is the first post of this year?
Yeah, life has been quite... busy for me. Not the kind of drama-busy, of course, thankfully.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in early 2020, I'd say 2022 is finally the year where people have started to embrace the new normal gradually: countries have opened their borders for tourist visits, getting positive results of the tests do not make people as nervous as before, gathering with family and friends are no longer just plans.

With that, I'll begin the recap of the year, which is also marked my 15th recap here.
This might be the first and last post of 2022 here but, trust me, I'll never skip posting my annual recap here -- unless there's an inevitable reason, of course.

For  previous references: 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020| 2021 

The meetup did not stop on the 9th. I had another gathering with my current (work)team on 21 January at Beer Garden SCBD. I'd say this would be my first big team gathering! On the same day (or night), I continued to meet my friends at Binus Area -- our last 7-people meetup is 17 January 2020! Time flies, indeed.

As I said, gathering with a large number of people has been a challenge since 2 years ago so, being able to attend various meetups with friends to begin the year is something that makes me happy this year!

On 15 January, I was grateful to find my name in the list of selected authors for "Festival Menulis Ellunar 7" for both cerita mini and cerita pendek.

However, an unfortunate event also happened this month as Luna's (Female Shihtzu) eye was scratched (not sure if by herself or by Loki) so her eye was hurting a lot. We brought her to a vet specialist for eyes, even considering surgery. She's all good now though and she did not need to go through surgery!

Honorable mention of the month: "Layangan Putus" is a popular Indonesian TV series! I finally watched it later on September 2022. Would recommend it as well if you're into drama with good acting.


[02] February

The second month of the year usually marked a romantic time period for some people. Mine began with Chinese New Year on the first day. I also decided to have peek-a-boo dyed hair (it's blueish grey at first, then it's blue and then magenta before I ended with violet now; I know, a lot of colors, right?)

I also welcomed Brenda who joined my (work) team on 7 February! Yeay!

My little brothers were both positive of COVID-19 in mid of February. My achievement of the month? Finishing a self-built wardrobe by myself -- because the complete set took space but my brothers were locked in their rooms.

In February, I also learned that just because people talk to each other every day, it does not necessarily mean that they're talking with each other.

Honorable mention of the month: "The Demon Slayer" Season 2! Must watch. Waiting for Season 3!

[03] March

The Lent season has begun with Ash Wednesday on 2 March. HIGHLIGHT, my favorite K-pop band, also has a comeback in March! Also, Loki celebrated his 1st birthday on 24 March! The 26th marks my 10th year being a professional at work since 2012.

The longest walk I had in this month? Visiting IKEA with Brenda and Valentcia; we had a simple belated celebration for Valent's birthday before we went to IKEA though. Oh, also getting 3rd vaccine for COVID-19 as a booster.

Honorable mention of the month: "Jujutsu Kaisen 0!" I am a fan of the manga and anime series so the movie is a must-watch for me. I watched it twice at cinemas and I'd still want to watch it even now! Oh, and also "The Batman" where Robert Pattinson takes the role for Bruce Wayne!


[04] April

I met up with my friends from junior high school, Hilda and Agatha; we usually meetup as four but that's another story in another month as this is our first time meeting together ever since 2019.

In April I got the habit of checking out new places for pet parks. I realized that there are limited places for that.

And Dreamcatcher, my number 1 Korean girl group, finally won their first win on 20 April 2022. Something worth celebrating for sure! Along with ESTA (my work team at the office) had a big group dinner on 23 April 2022.

The biggest decision I made this year? One of them was finalised in April when I was considering purchasing a house. Yes, a house, people. No, not part of Monopoly game components but a real house.

Honorable mention of the month: "A Business Proposal", a rom-com Korean TV series. It's pretty cheesy and predictable, but I guess it has its own charm to gain popularity! I also like "Tomorrow", a more serious TV series about Gods of Death.

 
[05] May

Long(?) holiday for Lebaran has started and I used the best of time to go here and there. I had my escape room visit again after years on 14 May and, on the very same day, I drove the car alone after dropping my friends somewhere else! Gonna say that's one of my achievements this year.

The funniest 'incident' happened on 2 May when a good friend of mine, who drove a car to Alam Sutera with me, actually kind of left me hanging alone in the area; no thanks to miscommunication, lol. He thought that I had taken my other friend's car. Not an excuse though, still. This will go down in my history of friendships.

Another achievement to celebrate happened as usual in May, as it's my birthday month: my solo trip to Lombok! Yes, I managed to visit the island on 21 May and even had a snorkelling experience on my birthday. I posted like... a lot on my Instagram to remind me of what I was doing back then. I should post the details somewhere, right? Let me think of it somehow...

Anyway, Lombok is a very recommended place to visit! Would love to visit again someday in the future!


[06] June

Kicking off June with another meetup with Brenda and Valentcia for a karaoke session. On 4 June, I met with my junior high school friends (refer to March!). I also went to a Corgi cafe on 5 June where I gathered with my former officemates.

I went to Bogor on 18 June and stayed for a night with Monica to celebrate Dewi's birthday. On 24 June, I had my very first experience meeting up with an influencer, Titan Tyra, as she has her first Madcoco store opened at Mall of Indonesia (yes, I went there by myself, driving a car. Amusing, eh?)

On 27 June, my ESTA workteam had another team dinner. The team has expanded with more members joining within the year!

Honorable mention of the month: "Top Gun Maverick". Never watched the first one but glad that I went to watch the sequel because it's good!


[07] July

Have you ever brought your Mom to karaoke? I did in July 2022, lol. On 23 July I brought Loki to Pet Kingdom at Alam Sutera, one place where he could run freely around and also swim! I still find myself confused to control him when it comes to socialising with other dogs, especially smaller ones. Will try my best to manage this.

The most memorable thing to remember this year? I don't think I really want to remember it but, yeah, I was scammed. Basically, I trusted someone who said that he needed to move to US and he had these all cute puppies to be adopted and we just needed to give some good amount of money for donations or stuff. I still couldn't understand why people would do such things.

Anyway, I also had a new experience in July which was joining a walking tour in Jakarta with @walkindies_jakarta on last day of July 2022.

Honorable mention of the month: "Incantation", a horror movie that you can find on Netflix. Might be a little overrated but I'd still recommend it for a good horror touch in the middle of the year.


[08] August

I knew how to take care of driving fine (read: denda tilang) now! Haha. Not that I'm proud I have my SIM (driver's license) taken away as I made a silly mistake when driving back home from the client.

Loki met Kenji, Brenda's dog, for the first time on 6 August. My Dad also returned home after more than 2 years (no thanks to the pandemic, of course) and met Loki for the first time! As for my first-time thing, I went to IIPE and bought lots of stuff for pets there.

Best trip of the year other than Lombok goes to... Bali! I finally visited Bali again with Hani, Yuka, David, and Lili. Day 1 was already challenging as we drove (Yuka drove, to be exact) to Lovina, a spot on the north of the island, by taking quite a difficult route. Had my experience of dolphin watching tour on day 2 as well.

Oh, another scam is verified. I bought some travel vouchers for Bali from one source -- which I contacted years ago and all is legit. Turned out the vouchers are not available to use so... yeah, bye, money.

Honorable mention of the month: "Extraordinary Attorney Woo". Not the best Korean TV series for me but it's enjoyable with interesting characters! Also, the movie called "Bullet Train". You can find it on Netflix now. And, if you're into the heist genre, do watch "Mencuri Raden Saleh". Really recommended!


[09] September

Driving a little bit farther than usual, I asked my Mom to accompany me to Jakarta Escape which is located near Bekasi, bringing along Luna and Loki. A very spacious place with trees and all, I would love to go there again just for an afternoon walk!

In September, I also met new people, made decisions that I'm still grateful for, and... *drum rolls* I had my very first work event/gathering outside of the office: Bogor, 22-23 September, Annual Manager Conference.

On September, a good friend of mine also lost a member of her family, a day where I was reminded that you should treasure the days you have because, really, you never know if it's the last day of the encounter.

Honorable mention of the month: As mentioned in January, I finally watched "Layangan Putus"!


[10] October

October marked the month where I had continuous site visit to client, starting from Tangerang visit to Cilegon to Purwakarta. Yes, I stayed there with my work team. Very interesting experiences, I might say.

Also got my US Harry Potter merchandises from Chris, a very old friend of mine on 15 October! The best thing about having best friend who has the same interest with you! Luna also celebrated her 10th birthday on 28 October! It's her eight year staying with us!

Returning from the office trip, I went to Mall of Indonesia with my friends for Halloween event stuff and, turned out later on, I was confirmed positive with COVID-19 -- I thought I would not get it somehow but I I guess I was too exhausted with three-weeks site visit somehow. Thanks to all my friends who have been so kind and send me lots of stuff during my recovery period!

Honorable mention of the month: "One Dollar Lawyer" on Disney+. Fun, witty, and interesting! 


[11] November

Moving on to the next month, I was recovering from COVID-19 in the early days of November. In week 3, I went to all the client's sites again. This time it's a little bit less packed than the last visit so I could say I managed my health well.

On the day back from Cilegon, I decided to make another purchase of the year; something I have been considering for the past few years: Macbook Air. So, yes, right now, I'm writing this post with (brand new) Macbook Air. One of the best purchases I made for the year, I guess.

My luck took its turn to show off when I won a lottery: a grand prize of a smartphone as I purchased some clothing stuff at Matahari department store! It's the day when I also went to Gading Serpong to meetup with Brenda and Valentcia to celebrate Brenda's birthday.

Honorable mention of the month: I also watched "Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever" in November. Such a beautiful tribute to Chadwick Boseman. I also love "The Menu"! Not everyone's cup of tea but interesting one.


[12] December

Now, the last month of the year which has always been the month of events for me every year.

Bandung made it to the list of memorable places to remember in my 2022. On 3 December, I went to Bandung as part of my office gathering. After 3 years, this is the first time we had this large-scale of gathering. With "Toy Story" as the theme I got to dress myself (and saw the others, of course) as the characters.

Right at this very moment, I'm also writing this post while in Bandung! This is my first time spending New Year's Eve in another city since 2014-15 in Surabaya. Why am I here, you ask?

In December 2022, I guess the universe has its own way of reminding me that it's always quality over quantity. I made some new friends within the month -- friends from the workplace who I never thought would be people to hang out with -- something that I actually never thought would be possible. No, not because I had limited myself from them. I mean, I have some good friends from work but to hangout at somewhere else without talking about work, it's very rare indeed.

I spent the week of Christmas here and there, including dinner and cafe hopping, board games, Christmas Mass (yes, finally!), and planning a year-end trip to Bandung. Some changes happened but, nevertheless, I'm still very grateful that I decided to do something different this year as we countdown to the new year.

December is also a month where I was reminded that our plan might not be able to be executed 100% as we thought but, somehow, putting aside the concern and heartbreak, there might be something bigger than you thought you could have.

Honorable mention of the month: "Knives Out 2" and "Cek Toko Sebelah 2"! KO2 might be the best movie of the year for me!


There goes my 2022. Less than an hour to 2023, I hope everyone has a good year.
Let's face the new year with better days to remember. :)

Hello, everyone.
I hope you are doing good despite we're still living in the COVID-19 pandemic era.

It's 31 December 2021 and, of course, I am here to share my recap of the year!
As usual, the format will be different from the previous years and, yes, it might be shorter than usual (read: I just write the way I feel like I want to do it).

For  previous references: 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020

< Jan >

Kicking off the new year, there's nothing special that I did on on the first day of the year. Maybe I'm the minority but, as the years pass, I guess I just see the New Year Day as the first day of the new year only. I mean... That's that? I always prefer staying at home and watch movies until late -- of course, not that I will reject all invitations if there's any (although I will think again due to this COVID-19 situation).

Anyway, my January is pretty basic with movies, work, and preparation for Chinese New Year.

Recurring activities of the month: [Netflix] K-Drama: Sweet Home. I am always a fan of mystery/thriller genre.

Recommendation of the month: [Webtoon] Omniscient Reader.

I attended a wedding reception for the first time since the pandemic began; it's the wedding of Siddharta, my senior at previous company, and Celine. There's also the Chinese New Year where some of my good friends sent me hampers -- thanks, everyone!
In the same month, I also heard the news of Actor Ng Man Tat has passed away due to liver cancer at 70 -- he's like one of the legendary actors that filled my childhood movie-time. Rest in peace.

Recurring activities of the month: [Social Media] Clubhouse

Recommendation of the month: [Food] Kwetiau Arang Sister

Recurring activities of the month: [Travel] Staycation plus trying new food.

Recommendation of the month: [Netflix] K-Drama: Vincenzo

< Apr >

It's Easter! I also went to Tangerang for the first time in the year to meet up with my best friends there (Brenda, Valentcia, Shandy). I realized that most of my friends stay in Tangerang now, lol.

There's nothing much happened in April but I think it's the month where I spent most of my hours with the screen for TV series or anime.

Recurring activities of the month: [Music] Yuki Kajiura's songs dominated my playlist

Recommendation of the month: [Manga/Anime] Jujutsu Kaisen, [Netflix] Girl from Nowhere

< May >

Contrary from April, I had lot of activities in May. Like meeting up with Monica for the first time since her wedding on Jan 2020, met up with Hani, Yuka, Lili for the first time since early 2020, tried to purchase clothes from thrift shop, visited Museum Macan.
I also celebrated my 30th birthday -- you can check it here for more details.

Then on 29 May, when I met up with Brenda and Valentcia for lunch, I had the first conversation with the kennel where I decided to buy a new dog.

Recurring activities of the month: [Music] Highlight - Not The End; it's their comeback after all of them have completed mandatory military service!

Recommendation of the month: [Manga/Anime] Kimetsu no Yaiba, [Netflix] K-Drama: Move to Heaven, [Food] Kaibaibo Korean Bakery

< Jun >

Loki, a Corgi, joined the family on 4 June, exactly on my Mom's birthday, Loki arrived. I spent most of my June to play, teach, and take care of him as he's still a puppy. You can read here for more details.

I also attended Yuka and Hani's wedding reception as her bridesmaid, went to my first all-you-can-eat sushi at Nonama Restaurant, and got my first COVID-19 vaccine on 21 June.

Recurring activities of the month: [Pet] Loki, Loki, and Loki!

Recommendation of the month: [Netflix] K-Drama: Hospital Playlist Season 2

< Jul >

Dreamcatcher is back! Their music video is heavily inspired by "Us" -- a very recommended movie as well. I also purchased the album and, not proud of it, despite how much I love them, I never actually purchased their album previously.

On July, I also received the goods news of promotion at work. It's a significant one so I'm really thankful for the opportunity and trust!

Recurring activities of the month: [Pet] Still, Loki. He's only 3 to 4 month-year-old on July.

Recommendation of the month: [Anime] Fruits Basket

< Aug >

Gold medal Olympic for Indonesia! Thank you Greysia Polli and Apriyani Rahayu!
I attended a mass (physically) for the first time on 7 August as I was invited for the wedding mass of my best friend since college, Shandy, and his beloved wife now, Adel. And, with that, I also had my first experience with Antigen test.

Recurring activities of the month: [Apple TV+] Servant. Mythic Quest. Since I got 3-month free subscription since I bought the iPhone 12 in the end of July, I streamed whatever I can within the month, lol

Recommendation of the month: [Apple TV+] Ted Lasso. Must watch.

< Sep >

I'm finally fully vaccinated on 13 September! Yoseob also announced his comeback as solo with "Chocolate Box" album. "Squid Game" is getting worldwide popularity. Despite it's not my favorite, I'd still recommend it.
On 24 September, we visited Dogs Ministry again. This time with Loki (9-month-old) as well and he had swimming time actually!

Recurring activities of the month: [Game] Doraemon: Story of Seasons. I love to play game but, unfortunately, once I play, I cannot really stop. It's like hit big or not at all. This game is similar to Harvest Moon which is, I think, one of the first games I played on PlayStation platform. I ended up with Nintendo Switch Lite afterwards so I could play it. Oh, yeah, I haven't really touched it for weeks.

Recommendation of the month: [Netflix] K-drama: Squid Game. You know. You definitely know.

< Oct >

I finally went out of the town to... Bandung! I took a bus (Jackal Holidays) from Seasons City. 4D3N is good enough quick escapade from the routine life. It's also the place where I lost my audio converter for both of my phones (Type C and lightning).
My Mom took MRT for the first time where I helped her to purchase a pair or running shoes (which I don't think she wears often nowadays). I also attended an intimate wedding reception of a good friend and colleague, Robby, and Freshca. The second wedding I attended in 2021!
Psst, we celebrated Luna 9th birthday on 28 October! On 30 October, I watched Dreamcatcher's Halloween Midnight Circus!

Recurring activities of the month: [Music] I'm repeating "my long forgotten cloistered sleep" for hundred times.

Recommendation of the month: [Netflix] Midnight Mass.

< Nov >

I met up with friends and took MRT while exchanging stories, managed to watch some old and good movies (Memento, Whiplash), also visited a friend's house at Alam Sutera!
And... I purchased the limited Minalima edition of Harry Potter books (only the first and second book are released until now). Then on 28 November, I went to Alam Sutera to enjoy the beach vibe (lol) at Hey Beach and also celebrating Brenda's belated birthday! On the next day, it's my brother's 28th birthday.

Recurring activities of the month: [Pet] I'm making it a routine to take Loki for a night walk after work at a nearby housing complex.

Recommendation of the month: [Manga] Summertime Rendering. Must. Read. I finished it in 3-4 days because it's sooo good. It will have anime adaptation in 2022.

< Dec >

My brother decided to buy a car (after longgg discussion) then I finished the driving courses (yeay me!) which I took at Satria Jayanti - branch Tanjung Duren. You know what, I definitely still need time to adjust myself behind the wheel.

Travel to Medan is definitely the highlight of the year. My last visit to Medan is in April 2014.
I actually planned to go to Bali but, since my father is staying in Medan since March 2021, I decided to go to Medan with my mother (then my Aunt and Uncle followed as well so, apparently, it's me who tagged along, lol).
I had 1 night spent at Eco-village Silimalombu which is located in Pulau Samosir. It's a very unique experience but I'd need to spend more time there to get more new experiences! Psst, I watched the sunrise at 6:30AM there!

Recurring activities of the month: [Gift] Receiving and sending Christmas Hampers.

Recommendation of the month: [Movie] No Way Home, especially if you're a fan of Spider-man.

Well. That's my 2021.
I'm blessed. I'm safe. I'm healthy. I'm all good.

Let's hope for better year in 2022 :)