20 Facts About Me + 5 More Facts

I have posted this in my instagram and tumblr, and now I want to post it again here. 'Cause it's quite fun to share, hehe.


#20factsaboutme


1. I’m a perfectionist person, but I’m also an ignorant. So I got a contradiction of personality.

2. When I was a kid, my dad locked me in a bathroom as a punishment for being rebel. I was so freakin’ terrific. That incident made me trauma, I can’t stand staying too long in a small space until now. Is it what we call claustrophobia?.

3. When I was in kinder garden, my teacher also gave the same punishment like my dad did. She asked me to lock myself in a chicken cage, then she gave me the key so I could do it myself. Haha, unbeliveable. No wonder I became a claustrophobic.

4. I like colors and patterns, I can’t imagine my life without colors.

5. I think I have an OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), one of interviewer detected me having this after seeing how I layout my portfolio. OCD is a kind of physcological disorder where someone gets so obsessive about something. As for me, I obsessed with arrangement of stuffs, colors, and hygiene. Most of visual people got this.

6. Since I’m an ignorant person, I find it hard to read signals. And I can’t read mind. So if someone uses this methode to communicate with me, definitely it won’t work. I prefer straight-forward conversation.

7. I have a silly dream singing and playing music in a small café wearing a nice dress

8. I ever stayed in a house located right in front of general cemetery. Many of our past neighbours wondered how we lived back then. We lived just like normal people, the only difference was we heard ambulance everyday carrying a new tenant.

9. I cannot cook, haha. I ended up poisoned people with my disaster food.

10. I used to be a melancholic choleric person, but now I become a sanguin plegmatic.

11. I’m not a science person, I’m very lack in Math, Physics, Chemicals. I’m good in languange, art, and social.

12. I can remember people’s name easily.

13. Got obsessed with certified halal products since I follow halal corner twitter and join ‘my halal kitchen’ group in fb

14. I always think Lancer Evo is handsome, I feel curious to try the speed. In demo it beats VW Golf, Ford, Subaru, and even BMW.

Evo vs BMW, Evo totally rocks!!!

Versus Subaru Impreza, oh not even there Subaru!

Almost there Ford Focus, but still Evo wins!

Last piece, versus VW Golf. No doubt, Evo is the winner!!!

15. I like Nasi Kucing, Nasi Padang, Gudeg, Krecek, Nasi Langgi, Roti Cane, Air Mata Kucing, Sekoteng, and any kind of traditional foods and drinks. In fact I like any kind of food, especially spicy food.

16. I love drinking Coffee and eating cakes, it makes me happy.

Halal Coffee and Cake

17. I'm a mix tribe of Sundanese, Minang, and Chinese. But I cannot speak any of those languanges.

18. I like flowers.

19. I like to watch Korean movies, haha pardon me.

20. I'm a type of person who can laugh suddenly at something that already past. And I can really rolling on the floor laughing if I found something really funny.



Plus another 5 more facts :


21. I can drive a car, and I like to race in a toll road. I really want to learn how to drive a motorcycle too, but my mom never allowed me.

22. I'm a big fan of Korean actors and actresses, my favorite actors and actresses are Kim Soo Hyun, Ahn Jae Hyun, So Ji Sub, Suzy, IU, Kim Min Jae, and Cha Seung Won. Hohohoo.. I might be old at age, but my soul is still young... xD

Our Soo Hyun oppa, gyaa gyaa.... xD

23. I was a big fan of Leonardo DiCaprio when I was a teenager. Even I collected his posters and pin ups, I have one big folder full of my collections. B-)

24. I have a little bit social phobia, I don't really like to be in a crowd. I don't know why. I prefer hanging around with a small group of friends.

25. I'm doing an online shop recently, and I feel enjoy doing it alhamdulillah. *big grin* :D

Hoorayy IKEA is in Town!

Feels so happy these days, because IKEA has opened a store in my country! Hoorayy!! :D

IKEA Alam Sutra, Tangerang

The location is nearby my hometown, so I'm quite excited because I can visit the store anytime. Last week I came to the store to look around for the first time, and everything looks exactly the same like the stores I've visited in Singapore. But sadly, some of the furniture prices are higher than in other countries. :(((((  Don't know why, maybe due to the bureaucracy and the taxes here are quite tough so they have to increase the prices. *tears*

But anyway, it was really fun in my first visit there. I enjoy every showroom that they arranged so I can imagine how it looks like to have the furniture in my own house. Even though I didn't shop that much, but it's quite fun to be there. And I feel like having an exercise from afternoon to evening since the area is quite big to walk around. I might loose a lot of calories. :D I came there on Monday to avoid the crowd, I heard from my sister that there was a very long queue just to get into the store in the last weekend. Ouuwhh.... =/

Luckily I didn't have to wrestle among the crowds so I could enjoy every inch of display showrooms. Hohohoo... ^^ In the middle of my trip along the showrooms, me & my sister met my sister's ex-colleague. He worked in IKEA so he voluntarily gave us a short tour to the showrooms plus giving us an interactive explanation of every design item there. We're quite enthusiastic having a 'design tour' together, since the three of us having the same design background so we're like 'clicked' to every conversation. :D

On the last tour, we had a dinner together. I was a bit hesitated to pick the meal, because I'm not sure whether it's halal or not. Because there were no halal certified logo anywhere, and all the menu there are Swedish Foods according to the menu board, so I was afraid that the meat, chicken, or every meal there is not halal. Then I asked one of the restaurant staff there, and he said that all the meat, poultry, fish, and everything are coming from local suppliers. So he said I don't have to worry since majority of our local suppliers are halal. So then I decided to take the meatballs, hopefully it's fine. =S

The cafeteria in IKEA is very comfortable. It's a perfect place to eat or to chit chat with friends. We spent the rest of the time in the cafeteria until it's time to close. We really enjoyed our dinner and our conversation. To my point of view, all of these comfortable comes from a good design. That's why I really enjoyed my time being an Interior Designer as one of my work, because with design you can make people's life much better by creating a better space. Taking Interior Design study as my majoring in university has never been a regretful decision. It's an enjoyable study for me, alhamdulillah. Hopefully I could dedicate more of my time in this field again.

Small space, maximum coziness

One of my favorite hanging lamp

Billy Bookcase, the price is quite good

Textile Patterns designed by Indonesia's young designers

Foodilicious

I want to share some photos of my meals I consumed while I was in Singapore from 2010 - 2012. One of the thing that makes me always wanted to go back home as often as I could when I was there is that Singapore food doesn't really click with my appetite. To me, most of the food there was tasteless. Compare to Indonesian food which very rich of taste. Maybe it's because their government always suggest them to live a healthy life, and one of the way is by telling people that less salt is better. Seriously? Yes, very much serious. Haha, interesting right? So, everytime I found some nice food or drink, I captured it with my mobile camera. Here are the pictures of my lovely delicious meals I eat in Singapore. Enjoy! :D

Breakfast in my office canteen at Sentosa. I had a big breakfast every morning to fill up my energy. xD

Hainan Chicken Rice, one of my favourite lunch. It's a Chinese local food. Quite tasty. Yummy.

Nasi Goreng Kampong (Kampong Fried Rice). I used to eat it as my dinner in an Indian restaurant nearby my flat. They cooked it with egg and anchovy.

Padang Fried Rice. I used to eat it every morning, the restaurant was near to my office headquarter in Neil Road. I like the chili. Tasted very much like Malay chili.

Cheese and Egg Prata. Aah, I miss it very much! It's so yummy yummy yummy! My favourite midnight snack.

Seafood MuyFun. You can find it in restaurant at URA. I like the gravy sauce. Filled up my stomach a lot. If you want to have it with noodle, without rice, you can order it as Seafood HorFun. The lady there ever called me a BIG EATER by ordering this food. Hahaha. Because no one ordered it with rice! xD

Fried Chicken Rice at Indian restaurant nearby my HDB / flat. The super big chicken really boost my appetite.

Grilled Chicken Rice at Kopitiam Hawker Centre in Plaza Singapura. My friend introduced me this food once because it's quite cheap, since then I started to look for it everytime I went to this place. Highly recommended!

Roti John or John Bread. This looks like martabak telor in Indonesia. The different is they use bread and beef. Again, I eat it in Indian restaurant nearby my flat. Haha, they have various of nice foods there.

Indian Fried Snack. I forgot the name. But it's likely nice to eat too.

Indian Kwetiau. They always put some ingredients which will make the food looks very red. The fried rice more or less looks as red as this too.

Briyani Fried Rice. It's a very famous Indian food. Rice mixed with carrot slices.

Tea Chino from Seah Im Food Centre. This drink tasted like Tarik Tea, it's just more sweet and nicer. I think they put somewhat like chocolate powder or something to make it delicious.

Hot Tea-O. This simple drink used to accompany me at late night after coming back from office. FYI, there are 4 kinds of tea in Singapore. You need to know it before ordering it. First is Tea (tea+milk+sugar) or people in Indonesia called it Teh Tarik. Second is Tea-O (tea+sugar). Third is Tea-O-Kosong or Tea-O-Peng (tea without sugar). And fourth is Tea-C, tea with Carnation Creamer which healthier (tasted like Teh Tarik, but less sweet). These four names also applicable for ordering coffee.

Those are some foods and drinks I like in Singapore. Just so you know, all of them are HALAL. :)
Now I begin starving by looking back these pictures again. Kinda miss eating it, maybe if I gotta chance I will visit this country again. Okay, that's all I got. Hope you like it! :D

Stand Up For The Truth

I just watched a very inspiring movie that based on a true story. It's "A Civil Action".

The movie told about Jan Schlichtmann, a lawyer (casted by John Travolta), who tried to defend a small group of people in Woburn area, New England, against a big industry who contaminated the environment by the toxic waste which caused illness to death to several people who lived there. The industry dumped the toxic chemical waste to a nearby river and canal that connected to the neighborhood. Since the houses there certainly using tap water for drinking, so in a very short time it spoiled their immune system.

In the process of defending people of Woburn, the attorney had to spend everything they have to run the case. They needed to fund themselves with everything they have until nothing left, worse they had to borrow a big sum of money and even mortgaged all properties. Their objective was to make the industry admit their mistake and give compensation to the victims as an apology.


But as we know, defending the right thing is not that easy...

Jan Schlichtmann should face the mean and dirty world of court law.

Jerome Facher: What's your take?
Jan Schlichtmann: They'll see the truth.
Jerome Facher: The truth? I thought we were talking about a court of law. Come on, you've been around long enough to know that a courtroom isn't a place to look for the truth.
(conversation between Jan as a prosecutor of Woburn people & Facher as an attorney of defense for the industry)

Then after, he lost the case.

James Gordon: [Regarding the case and the following settlement] Mrs. Anderson, you're looking at four guys who are broke. We lost everything trying this case.
Anne Anderson: How can you even begin to compare what you've lost, to what we've lost.
(conversation between the prosecutors and the victims)

And then Jan began to drown in a debt and even worse, his partners gave up and left him. He's the only one who still have faith to defend the truth no matter what it takes.

In the trial to appeal the case, he tried all by himself with everything left. He didn't give up on the case. As a lawyer, of course he had a chance to earn money from the case he's been doing aside from whether he win the case or not. Facher, the attorney of defense for the industry, did offer him a big sum of money to push him giving up, while waiting for the judge's decision. It's about 10 million grand. But he burnt the offer.

“Rich and famous and doing good," mused Schlichtmann. "Rich isn't so difficult. Famous isn't so difficult. Rich and famous together aren't so difficult. Rich, famous, and doing good--now, that's very difficult.” 

Though he's all by himself, no money, no partner, not enough resources, only idealism and faith he's got, he suddenly found his way by giving up in the last attempt. He collected the witnesses, ask for their testify, and the last thing he's surrendered by writing to the environment protection from government side to ask for a sympathy and a help. Not long from there, the case was opened again, the truth revealed by showing some evidences, and at the end... he won the case!

What I found interesting from the movie is at the last part when Jan had a conversation with a woman who interviewed him about his wealth :

Kathy Bates (the Bankruptcy Judge): Mr. Schlichtmann,? Mr. Schlichtmann?
John Travolta: I'm sorry. Yes?
Kathy Bates: The purpose of these questions is not to embarrass or humiliate you but, rather, to verify the information that you have declared as your assets. 
John Travolta: I understand.
Kathy Bates: Because what you are asking your creditors to believe with this petition. Well...well, it's hard to believe...
John Travolta (with a chuckle): I know.
Kathy Bates: ...that after seventeen years of practicing law, all you have to show for it is $14 in a checking account and a portable radio? 
John Travolta: That's correct.
Kathy Bates: Where did it all go?
John Travolta: The money?
Kathy Bates: The money, the property, the personal belongings? The things one acquires in one's life, Mr.Schlichtmann. The things by which one measures one's life? 
[Long, silent pause with the camera focused on Travolta]
Kathy Bates (sighing): What happened?
[Another long, non-verbal pause and then the screen fades to black]

Later on, Jan Schlichtmann became a well-known lawyer who defends on environmental cases in New England. And though it takes years for him to pay the debt, but one thing for sure is he got his pride and stood bravely for his idealism.

By seeing this movie, I just want to say that no matter what happened, the truth will reveal sooner or later. So do as best as we can to stand for the truth as the truth will defend us one day, and do the right thing while we still alive. Don't sacrifice your idealism for money even it's very hard at the beginning and we will be tested for our own faith. Instead, give all you've got even it takes everything you have to do what you should do.


Wahai orang-orang yang beriman, hendaklah kamu menjadi orang-orang yang selalu menegakkan (kebenaran) karena Allah, menjadi saksi dengan adil, dan janganlah sekali-kali kebencianmu terhadap suatu kaum mendorong kamu untuk berbuat tidak adil, berlaku adillah karena adil lebih dekat kepada takwa, dan bertakwalah kepada Allah, sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mengetahui apa yang kamu kerjakan.
— al-Maa’idah [5]: 8

A Story Behind My Name

Some people say your name represents who you are. Your name is a prayer from your parents when you were born. Since a prayer from parents certainly answered without any barrier, so it becomes a gift to you. I believe it without any doubt.

My parents gave a very nice name to me, alhamdulillah... :) My first name, Mariana, came from my grandmother's nick name when she was a child. She used to be called with this name. Then she got sick from time to time and nobody knows why. Then somebody suggested it might caused by her name. The name might be too heavy for her. So then my great-grandparents add another name to be her new nickname : Sifat. Since then she never sick anymore. My grandmother full name becomes Sifat Mariana Tanjung. She's from West Sumatra, so she has the Minang clan name.

Appearently, might be happened by having this name as well, I got sick or injured more often than my other siblings. I got hospitalized several times, like hitting an aircon when I was a child, got nails stuck in my foot, injured my front head by a classical profile chair when fighting with my brother, got thypus, a few times fainted in school, got food poisoned, having an asthma, and now I've been suffering for tinnitus (a permanent damage occured in my left ear causing a continous soft buzzing sound). I don't know whether the name is giving a burden to me or not, but one thing I know for sure that I still survive until today. Alhamdulillah.. :) Hopefully I don't get any serious illness or injury anymore in the future, aamiin.. 

Anyway, when I look-up on the internet behind the name Mariana, I found a very interesting fact that there's a deepest part of the world's oceans called Mariana Trench. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The sea depth of Mariana Trench is able to submerge the highest mountain in the world, the Mount Everest in the Himalayas. Wow, feeling excited finding something cool exists in this world called with your name. :D

(click on the image above for a better resolution)

The original languange of Mariana comes from Spanish. Maybe it comes from the history of The Mariana Islands that were claimed by Spain in 1668. Spain established a colony there and gave the islands the official title of Las Marianas in honor of Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria.

The meaning of Mariana itself after discovering from world wide web are :

- a family speaker (maybe sometimes, but usually not)

- a sympathetic (incorrect, often being careless :-/)

- kind (well.. :D)

- always blessed (alhamdulillah..)

- decision maker (yes, correct)

- brave (will do whatever it takes to reach determination)

- stubborn (sometimes it's true :D)

- original, not artificial (prefer to be true expressing what I feel)

- unique (many of my friends told me that I'm weird, a freak, whatever -_-)

- has a leader soul (driven to lead somehow, finding it hard to follow and being dictated)

- a risk taker (might be closely to insane)

My last name is Rahman. It comes from my father's name. My father is a muallaf, he converts to Islam before marrying my mother. When he did the syahadat (a convert ceremonial of saying faithfully that we believe that There is no God but Allah, and Prophet Muhammad is the messenger), his name changed to be Abdulrahman Tanara, means God's Servant. This name was given by Buya Hamka, a national ulama (scholar/pious) who founded Al-Azhar in Indonesia. My father is a Chinese, so he has the Chinese clan name Tan, in Indonesia name becomes Tanara.

The Rahman name itself, comes from one of The 99 Allah's Name (Asmaul Husna) : Ar-Rahman, which means The Most Gracious. This name is one of the main characteristic of Allah that we as a muslim always call it in every single prayer. Bismmillahirrahmanirrahim : In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

I remember an Islamic proverb says : Man arafa nafsahu, arafa Rabbahu (whoever know themself, know their God). I hope by writing about my name, I will know a little about myself. By knowing about who I am, hopefully there's a chance insyaa Allah of knowing about our God, no other but Allah.

Then the last thing about my name is my nickname. It is taken right from the middle of my first name, maRIAna. Correct, that's my nickname. I used to be called with the nickname : Ria. :D My mother told me that this nickname means cheerful, came from the original Indonesian word Ceria. She hopes that I will always be cheerful just as my name. Aamiin. :)

Okay that's all a short story behind my name. I hope you get to know me a little bit better. See ya! ;D

Instant VS Manual

These days I've been busy posting things to my other instant social medias. I'm quite routine posting in Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. It's a lot easier to post things in those instant medias, even I can post from only one application which is Instagram then my posting can goes to other instant medias at the same time. Very practical and saving a lot of time.

What I usually post instantly are things that goes around me at the actual time with pictures. To me it's pretty fun doing it because I like capturing pictures, amateurly for sure :p, then giving a title related to it or a little story about the pictures. I hope you don't call me an alay (Indonesian slang for a teenager tacky acts) by doing it. Hehe.. :D

Well anyway here in blogger, it's kinda funny to me still everytime I said blogger - what do you think when you say a blogger blogs a blog in blogger, quite dizzying right?!? :D Well here in blogger, I really make some time to post something, which I more concern and give attention to. It makes me feel better when I write things that goes around in my mind. I have lots of things in my head that I want to write, I want to share, I want people to know my stories, my thoughts about life, or about anything happening around.

FYI, I'm an ambivert person based on a test I had a few moments ago, telling that I have a potential of being an extrovert and introvert as well. Most of the time, I don't really spend myself being an extrovert. It's a special thing to me when I become an extrovert, it means that I feel comfortable with the situation or the person. When I'm an introvert, means that I still beware of  a situation, still trying to adapt, or finding a distance to get close to. So when I don't really having a good time to be an extrovert, I spend my time here. In blogger. Quite happy, huh? :D

Okay anyway, you can find me on these instant social medias below. Just add me, follow me, and get in touch closely to my actual instant postings. ;)

Syalala ~ Lovely

Here it comes another lovely blogs with addictive graphics, check it out!
http://designismine.blogspot.com

Nasi Campur Alalabumbum

Saya yakin saya bisa masak. Sangat yakin seratus persen bahwa saya bisa masak. Yah walaupun sekarang ini belum banyak yang bisa saya bikin. Tapi entah bagaimana saya selalu percaya pada diri saya bahwa saya bisa memasak. Haha. 

Ada perbedaan yang besar antara yang tidak bisa masak dan tidak mau bisa, dan yang tidak bisa masak tapi mau dan yakin bisa memasak. Kalau yang tidak bisa dan tidak mau bisa, selamanya ga akan pernah bisa karena tidak akan pernah mau nyoba. Kalau yang tidak bisa tapi selalu mau dan yakin pasti bisa, suatu hari insyaAllah bisa! :D

Kenapa saya begitu yakin? Karena saya adalah keturunan Hajjah Sifat Mariana Tanjung, pemilik Rumah Makan Padang di Perumnas Kebon Kacang X Blok 5.

Tidak ada keturunan Tanjung yang tidak bisa memasak. Karena itu, saya ingin membuktikan kebolehan saya di depan kompor. 

Tadi saya mencoba untuk membuat Nasi Campur Alalabumbum untuk menu makan siang saya. Resep ini cocok untuk anak muda yang masih tinggal sendiri di kosan atau untuk perantau seperti saya yang hanya punya bahan-bahan ala kadarnya. Makanya nasi ini saya namakan Alalabumbum. Dengan bumbu ala kadarnya tapi bisa mancapai hasil yang alakadabra!! Leuzaat!

Sederhana, bahan-bahannya bisa ditemui di dapur masing-masing. Cukup siapkan:

2 sendok mentega

1 biji bawang merah, dikupas dan diiris tipis

1 sdt lada putih

1 sdt garam atau bumbu penyedap rasa jika selera

2 sdt cajun seasoning

2 ikat sayuran hijau seperti Baby Kailan atau Peck Choi, dipotong-potong secukupnya

1/2 batang wortel, potong dadu kecil-kecil

1 buah sosis ayam, potong sesuai selera (jangan terlalu kecil)

1 piring nasi putih

Kalau ada yang belum tau Cajun Seasoning, seperti ini penampakannya. Diproduksi oleh MasterFoods dari Australia. Bahan-bahannya terdiri dari cabai, garam, lada, dan lain-lain. Bumbu yang unik dan gurih rasanya.

Cara buat Nasi Campur Alalabumbum ini sangat mudah. 

- Siapkan penggorengan teflon anti lengket dan codet atau kayu untuk mengaduk

- Panaskan 2 sendok makan mentega dengan api yang kecil

- Lalu masukkan irisan bawang merah, aduk terus sampai baunya harum

- Setelah itu masukkan wortel dan sosis, aduk-aduk hingga terlihat matang seperti gambar di bawah ini 

- Setelah wortel dan sosisnya matang, masukkan sayuran hijaunya dan aduk-aduk hingga tercampur seperti ini. Setelah itu masukkan bumbu-bumbu yang telah disiapkan, yaitu lada putih, garam atau penyedap rasa, dan cajun seasoning. Jika tidak ingin membuat nasi campur, tetapi ingin membuat sayur kuah untuk pelengkap lauk, bisa langsung masukkan air matang dan aduk hingga merata dan angkat. Kalau ingin membuat nasi campur, bisa langsung masukkan nasi putihnya setelah semua sayur tercampur rata. Kemudian masukkan bumbu-bumbu yang telah disiapkan.

- aduk-aduk hingga semua bumbu, nasi, dan sayur mayur tercampur dengan rata. Bisa tambahkan telor jika suka, dan kecap manis jika ingin membuat nasi goreng. Sangat mudah bukan. :D

Makan siang telah siap. Mmmm.... Ada yang mau? Silakan dicoba. :D

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