At Home Again

I was reaching home this Wednesday morning. From Gubeng train station in Surabaya (East Java Province, Indonesia), I and my husband rode Bima the night train. The journey was running well; the train arrived at Jatinegara train station (Jakarta, Indonesia) this early morning. To avoid Jakarta traffic jam, we hurriedly rode a taxi that brought us home.

For Watery Wednesday, I share here small rivers that I saw inside Surabaya city. Kali Surabaya (Surabaya Small River) looks clean and beautiful. On another small river that I forget the name, there are rafts that used to cross it. I captured it from a moving taxi, that’s why the pics aren’t good quality ones.

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5 Ways to Really Say You’re Sorry

With so much going on in our daily lives – and our work, social life, home life all competing for our time – it is only natural for promises to be forgotten, things to be said without thinking, and oversights to be made. As life continues to get even busier, and we struggle to keep up with our commitments, it seems ‘sorry’ is becoming one our most commonly uttered words. But doesn’t it start to get old? Doesn’t it start to become just a word?

If you’ve worked too late, forgotten an important date, overlooked something you said you would do, or disappointed someone, can you really get across that you’re sorry through one simple word? Are you one of the many people who say ‘I’m sorry’ and all of a sudden you’re accused of not really meaning it? This small thing alone – saying it and not meaning it can often severely escalate arguments between you and your partner and make things a lot worse than before.

So if you’ve been accused of being one of the many who don’t mean it, consider how to better get your message across.

1. Mean it
First and foremost, you can’t argue you mean it if you don’t. It’s not that you don’t think what you have done may have been hurtful or disappointing, it’s that often everything is so busy we don’t get time these days to consider how we feel about something. So how can you mean sorry, if you don’t have time to feel it. If you take the time to consider what you’ve done and how it impacts that special person, you may be able to get across the sentiment you’re intending.

2. A gesture
Giving flowers is a trend that is disappearing these days. But people underestimate the message that a beautiful bouquet of roses can send on an anniversary, a simple bunch can say to someone grieving, or importantly, the apology a number of bright flowers can convey. Consider going traditional, take your apology with you – and mean it – and present your special someone with a token of your words. If you live far away, you can still send flower by post UK to say you're sorry in one of the most beautiful and thoughtful ways.

3. Fix it
Often there’s no point in saying sorry if you don’t try to rectify the situation. The best way you can apologise is to really think about the issue and go in with a plan to make it better. If the person you are apologising to knows you have taken the time to devise a plan to help rectify the situation – or even just try to make it up to them – it speaks volumes for how sorry you truly are.

4. Don’t repeat it
It might be obvious, but if you make the same mistake twice, it indicates you really don’t regret it, or feel bad for doing it the first time. Make a concentrated effort not to put yourself in a situation where you need to apologise twice in a row for the same mistake – it won’t help your case!

5. A gift

If all else fails, try a gift! Many people make the mistake of giving a gift, or flowers like red roses as they apologise, this makes it look like a bribe. Wait for a period after your apology and buy her that diamond ring, bracelet or earrings she’s been eyeing off – but make sure it’s something she has hinted at wanting. This sends the message that despite your mistake, you pay attention to her and give significance to things she wants and says.

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Weekend in Surabaya

Accompanying my father, we traveled to Surabaya. I’m in Surabaya (East Java, Indonesia) since last Thursday; at my brother’s home. I plan to go back home next Tuesday; but I still haven’t yet searched for the ticket. I prefer to travel by train this time.

If there’s no changing plan, my father will stay longer in Surabaya; perhaps until the hajj departure date. Well, it’s all up to my father’s decision; but I can’t accompany him, I must go back to our home in Bogor (West Java, Indonesia).

Last Saturday, my father, my brother and SIL conducted hajj training. I had different occasion to attend.

My lower secondary school and high school days were in Surabaya. July 10th 2011 was the lower secondary school reunion date that I wanted to attend. Unfortunatelly, I can’t come as my father must be hospitalized.

But I’m not disappointed anymore, as on last Saturday, I can meet several old friends and had lunch together. It’s not only ordinary lunch, as we decided to keep the good communication and relationship more seriously.

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Birds at Airport Garden

I saw them through a big glass window at Soekarno Hatta airport (Jakarta, Indonesia). We call it kutilang, cangkurileung, ketilang or genthilang, following the sound of his distinctive voice.

In English, this bird called Sooty-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster) is a species of songbird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is found in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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Bring Ocean Feel to Your Home

Are you included people that always prefer visiting sea to mountain or other places? Do you crave to live by the ocean or travel the seas but in fact, you still can’t move and go to your dream place? For sea lovers like you, there’s a best solution. You can get an ocean feel to your home by bringing natural décor into your home.

Even if you live in a desert, a proper nautical décor will give very different ocean touch. You can beautify your home with an extraordinary nautical theme; your option is limitless!

You can create a coastal décor in your home by only adding in a few pieces by placing marine themed furniture and lights, painting the room with a sky blue and some white base boards, hanging beach and ship pictures, attaching various nautical items such ship models, nautical clocks, ship wheels, telescopes, sea shells decorations, installing a fisherman’s net on the wall, and many other more.

As mentioned before, you have endless possibilities; dig your creativity and get inspiration by visiting seaside homes during open house events, searching online information and reading home magazines.

When it comes to nautical stuffs, you can get it online at Gonautical.com, especially if you are a model ship collector. Gonautical.com would become your favorite place to search for nautical gifts! For your information, model ships are scale representations of ships. These models can vary in size from 1/6000 scale miniatures to large boats that able to hold people. You’ll love the site, as they provide miniature ships in various categories, from civil warships, famous ships, coast guard, tall ships, cruise ships, fishing boats, pirate ships, sail boats, ships in bottles to speed boats! I’m myself very interested with ships in bottles; I wonder how the creators made it! Which one do you like best?

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Five Tips when Moving Out of Home

Moving out of your parents home is an exciting time but you need to plan ahead and be ready for it otherwise you may find yourself getting the removalists to help shift you back. Whether you are renting, moving into a share house, heading off to a university dormitory or buying your own home you need to sort out your finances and make sure you are organised. There is certainly a lot to think about if you are buying your own home, such as making sure you can make the repayments and organising home and contents insurance.

Check your finances

Before you even move out of home firstly work out if you can afford to. If you are studying full time you need to consider how many contact hours you have at university and how much time will be taken up with travel, then work out whether you will have time to work. If you are just starting out in a job it might be better to wait until you are more financially secure. If you are planning on renting make sure that you have enough for your bond and a few months rent in advance, just in case you run into any trouble. You will also have the cost of utilities, food, petrol or public transport and other daily expenses.

Budgeting

Once you are out of home you need to keep on top of your finances. With the freedom of moving away from your parents home it is tempting to get a little carried away with buying furniture and other items for your new home, and it is even easy to get over enthusiastic when going food shopping and buying a lot of things you don't really need. Moving out of home can be a a bit of a shock to some people as they realise that every month the bills roll in and they need to be paid. Set up a budget for yourself and stick to it. Make a list of everything that needs to be paid each month and set aside money for these expenses first.

Furniture

When you first start out on your own it is likely that you won't have much furniture, and often people can't afford to buy new things straight away. Friends and family may have old furniture they can lend or give to you, otherwise you can make do with the few things you have.

Cooking

If you can't cook then now is the time to learn. It really isn't that difficult, just buy yourself some easy cook books and stick to the recipes. A cook book will give you step by step instructions so you really can't go wrong. Don't be tempted to just buy take away every night as it works out to be way more expensive than cooking from scratch, plus it is very unhealthy.

Cleaning

Moving out of home will also make you discover that the toilet and shower don't just clean themselves. Buy yourself the right cleaning products right from the beginning and make sure you use them, otherwise the task of cleaning, when you do finally get to it, is even harder. Vacuum once a week, give the shower a wipe down and try to keep things tidy as you go, it saves on having to clean an enormous mess.

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Going Out of Town

Tomorrow we’ll go to Surabaya (East Java, Indonesia). My father asked us to accompany him, because his condition hasn’t been fit yet to travel alone.I've bought plane tickets yesterday, but my father asked for changing the departure time, as he felt it was too early. Hopefully this issue can be resolved.

My father would leave pilgrimage this year. He will go along with my brother and SIL who lives in Surabaya. That's why my father should be in Surabaya soon for Hajj training has already started.

For Watery Wednesday, I share here a fish pond in my grandfather’s house, captured months ago.

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