Still Asking for Gold Rings?

How come?? Parliamentary members who are going to retire this year ask for gold rings for about ten grams each. Because they consider that they already work very hard to do their job-descriptions which is to serve their country

I don’t know whether I have to laugh loudly or cry sadly for that In fact, they have been paid with a large amount of money every month. But they still ask for an expensive gift?! Because total amount for this gifts is about one billion rupiahs! And the money comes from tax that given by poor people in this country.

Our APBN itself is standing on loans from other country. So if we buy these expensive gifts, it will raise the amount of our loan too Even though we have a large amount of money, wouldn’t it better if we use that money for our army maintenances? To reduce the number of accidents or it would even better if that money can be used to help the victims of Lapindo’s mud. I really feel sorry for them. They had lost their every belonging because of that mud. And still they don’t have a proper help, yet. All that money will be more precious for them instead of giving gold rings for those parliamentary members. They consider that rings as gifts their jobs along their work times (about 5 years only), isn’t that ironic? They should remember these wise words:
Don’t ask what your country can give you.
But ask yourself, what you can give for your country.
They should serve their country, not served by their country!

They have chosen by people as parliamentary members to serve their country. Their works are about services. Not just as usual workers. But their country still gives them a large amount of money. So that they can have a reasonable live with their family. Isn’t that enough? In fact, that serving attitude that makes them look glorious.

When people consider their services for their country are not good enough, they still dare to ask for expensive gifts? Meanwhile, our war veterans only get placards. I thing it’s fair if people refuse this plan. Those senators’ should open their eyes and see their country condition before asking that. People are still poor and suffering. Don’t use their tax payment to buy expensive gifts like those gold rings. Use that money to help those who need it.

There’re various kinds of gifts that can be give to them whole heartedly. Just match the kind of gift they asked with our country’s condition. Even without expensive gifts, people always appreciate your services.

Sudirman Fountain Park

Medan has lost so many open green space, that can be used as family recreation. Because now, Medan has been fulfilled with various kind of malls, plazas and five stars hotels. Indeed from this situation, you may say thatMedan looks more fancy and modern right now. Everywhere you can see big buildings; fancy malls, exclusive plazas, international restaurants, and stuffs like that. But if you look around, now you can not find even a small park for public used downtown. A safe one for children play around in the afternoon. No needs to worry when they fall down, because the park has thick great grass in there. And this grass is safer than mall’s glossy floor.

Because of this, people in Medan who can not afford to shop in the mall, or those who maybe bored to visit mall every time, choose to have a recreation in a fountain as a cheap place to go. Yes, a fountain. Just like those in front of hotels or malls. But the fountain they choose to visit is not the safe ones. Because those fountains are build in the middle of crowded street for the city purposes.

Like the fountain near SIB monument (in the corner of Gatot Subroto, Glugur, and Jalan Adam Malik) or fountain of Bank Mandiri. Actually all of these fountains are not build for society activities. That’s why the place is in the middle of the road.

But when the night comes, this fountain’s area are always full of people along with their children. And you may find many kinds of food there. Such as bakso, sate and toys as well. People usually come by bus or motorcycle. And they will park their vehicles in that area too and make the street so crowded. And it’s dangerous.

It’s dangerous because children are playing around without any fear there, and enjoy the fountain’s area which usually full of lamps? They really do. And parents don’t need to spend more money to buy snacks for their children also. They can just buy cheap snacks like sate or maybe simple misop. The most important thing for them is that they can go out of their home and find a nice and cheap place to visit. They definitely don’t choose mall, because it’s an expensive one.

Fortunately, there’s still one more small park left for society used, complete with it’s fountain. This small park is on Jalan Sudirman. When we visit that place on Sunday, we find so many people choose that place as a place for recreation. Children are playing around with their balloons. While their parents are sit in the grass and watching them. Some of them are enjoying sate as snacks. Asha has a picture there with fountain as the background.
I really hope, that someday people of Medan could have a big and wide park for recreation. Complete with children’s playground. So that every parents don’t have to spend a lot of money in the mall. I think parents can also bring their kids to see many crocodiles in Asam Kumbang. That place is cheap too

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Old Style Coffee House

Let us go back to coffee story. I wrote an article about coffee once, actually it’s about a nice coffee house called Killiney. What I’m going to tell you this time is about another coffee house. But there’re certain differences between these two coffee houses. The second coffee house has no certain name. But people usually recognize this place by calling it Kopitiam Jalan Hindu. This coffee house exterior itself is so simple. Just an old kind of building (some says the building already exist since the Dutch invasion to Indonesia) with old furniture too. You can only find wooden tables which can be found in almost every Chinese place. Some of the wooden chair there has been broken due to their ages. So be careful when you pick your chair.

The room is small and narrow because every round wooden table is placed unorganized. They don’t use special interior design unlike fancy coffee houses you can find in malls, hotels or plazas. They just put the tables as well as the chairs every where they considerer fit, as long as people can sit there nicely. There’s no air conditioner because the place stands right in road corner. And the giant windows give way to every wind to flow freely. But the owner of this coffee house also prepares a big fan in his place just in case the weather is getting hotter. But it rarely used.

Do not expect a clean shiny floor like in Killiney or maybe Ya Kun Kaya Toast or Starbucks here. You can’t even find a fancy bar with expensive espresso machine on it, just an ordinary table which sometimes looks fuzzy.
The color of walls looks a bit hazy, it also full of pictures with Chinese alphabets. The owner also puts an article about this coffee house that has been written on a national daily, Kompas. That’s all for the decoration.
But the coffee tastes really great! The same recipe has been used in this coffee house for a very long time. They can assure that the taste is still the same like it used to. They also served other kind of food beside coffee because you can order kaya-toast too. Our favorite is kaya-toast with touch of salt-butter. Yummy..
There’re other food-stands together with the coffee house owner. There’s an Hindi man who sells nasi briyani and martabak. A Minang man sells nasi soto. And a Jawa man sells nasi uduk for breakfast. Everything is complete, right? Almost every people who lived along this street are Chinese. That’s why sometimes it’s a bit hard to find a rightful kind of food for almost all of them contain pork. So these three kinds of food really make a difference for those who need it.

Eventually, this coffee shop is famous enough up to other countries nearby. We saw a few visitors come to this place from Singapore and Korea. They said they had their friends recommended that place. The other visitors come from the haves. Most of them are become regular customers and have a close relationship with the owner himself.

Every visitor is so welcomed here. Every customer knows each other. Or at least they say hello and smile to each other every time they met. The coffee shop owner always greet his customers with ”Halo..” or ”Thank you for coming..” Maybe, this is why this coffee shop will always have regular customers for a long time.

Clean Your Kitchen Equipments with Salt

Salt has become a very useful thing for mommy in the kitchen. Not only for cooking but also can be used as a cleaning tool as well. There’re many ways I’ve read about using salt as your cleaning tool. But I choose a few of them only and I’d like to share them here for you.
First, Cofeemaker
The coffeemaker glass is always look tarnished because we use it to make coffee everyday. It can be cleaned easily. Mix one cup of ice cubes with one tablespoon of water and four tablespoon of salt. Put those mix into the coffeemaker glass, then stir slowly for a few minutes. After that, rinse with water, and wash with soap as usually.


Second, Coffee and Tea cups. To clean the spot in the bottom of the cup just put some salt into that spot area. Put a little water, and scrub slowly. Finally, you can wash it again with soap and rinse.



Third, Stove
For a char spot, use the mix of salt and cinnamon. Spread into the spot area. Then wipe again with a clean towel.
For oily spot and other liquid cause, after you spread the salt and the cinnamon in the surface, leave it for about five minutes, and then wipe it with a clean towel.



Fourth, Oven
The inside surface of oven is usually full of spots; clean the surface with salt only. Just spread the salt into the spot area. Leave it there for a few minutes until the spots run dry with the salt. After the heat’s gone, clean the area using a spatula.



Fifth, Refrigerator
Mix salt and baking soda in a same composition, and use it to clean the spot and the odor inside the chiller. Use a wet sponge to wipe the inside surface of the chiller with the salt mix.

See; just use a simple material like salt that we can find easily, the spot on our kitchen equipments can be easily cleaned up.

Becoming A Stay At Home Mother

A friend of mine wrote on my Face book’s Wall and comments about the term I used in my profile data. I wrote that I’m A Stay At Home Mother. He told me that every stay at home mother can also do other things beside just stay at home and watching their kids grow everyday. He asked me to do many useful things such as writing and any kind of job that can be done at home also. So I’m thinking that maybe he assumed that a stay at home mother like me is a kind of mother that do nothing in her house. Well, I think I need to explain this more.

Most of you consider working as something you do in office.
Become an employee of certain company, working with certain kind of target achievement.
And of course your company will pay you for your hard works.
It is a job. And in this term, I call you as a working at office mother.

So, what about people without office, without company, without payment like you do? You will assume them as jobless? If so, then you are so wrong.

A stay home mother is a real job indeed.
I'm not a kind of stay at home mother who spends most of my time sleeping and watching TV, you know. My job description is nursery. It’s the hardest job in the world. I don’t need office, company and payment for that.

My OFFICE is my own house; my COMPANY is my own family.
And my payment is having the advantage that nobody can force me to do anything. But it doesn't mean that I'm not a working woman. I don’t need to describe what Nursery jobs here are.
I’m sure that every stay at home mother, who refuses to use baby-sitter services, will understand that.

I can tell you that I do something for myself-development also.
I think a lot, I read a lot, I write a lot, I discuss a lot, and I even have a personal blog myself.
I can become a teacher, an accountant, a cook, a debate partner, anything.
But, you can not envy me because I can do all that stuffs anytime and anywhere.
It's something a working at office mother can not do.

You can dare me about gadget. You can dare me about book. You can dare me about knowledge. You can dare me about politics. You can dare me about accounting, you can dare me about fashion, and you can even dare me about negotiation techniques.
I know almost every working at office mother knows.

But I have one thing that a working at office mother doesn't:
"I spend all of my time doing that stuffs without leaving my house and my daughter."
You can envy me for that

So, for you, every stay at home mother in the world, you should proud of the job you choose.
And for every working at office mother in the world (or anybody else), do not under estimate us. We have our own jobs in our own way.