Live the Life you Love : A Detour, Blessing in Disguise

" If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it"

~ John Irving

Born in a middle-up family which everything outside is undervalued in order to protect me and my siblings, I mostly found myself in the brink of boredom. I couldn't live the way my peers did. My parents were the conventional parents who expect nothing good from the outside world: full of germs, full of bandits, full of thieves, and full of wickedness in general.

As the eldest child, I usually found my inspiration from the things I've seen or from what my surroundings and peers did. Anyway, my childhood was more or less a suffering. I got bullied, mocked, alienated and at home, I couldn't get even the peace. You know, as the eldest you should have been the role model that usually related to doing chores at your best.

There I was, as a non-popular mediocre little girl who got bullied every day, trying to make sense of the world.

One thing that kept me happy that time was my little cheesy diary. I used to write down my dreams, my hopes, wishlists and also people that inspired me.

I had no idea that all my dreams would someday come true...

Have you guys ever whispered to yourself of something that you can seemingly get whatsoever?

I did! I used to feel envious every time I saw people get new things, got a perfect score or a compliment, took a vacation.. so on

One day, I watched a documentary about living overseas. That's so cool! said to myself.

I knew I would love to live in the finest place ever since I thought I could touch a snow and not worry about getting dirty.

Here I am now, 21 years after I said to myself about my wildest dreams. I am standing before the oldest basilica in the World: San Marco in Venice.

***

My life so far is no an easy journey, just like what my colleague ever said when he tried to foresee my future through palmistry ( palm-reading) that my life would be fucking bumpy, challenging, full of tears and not to mention a detour. Yes, a detour!

I've got few life-changing moments, like when I met my future husband, and when I gave birth to a courageous little boy, but nothing compares when I decided moving out to Italy.

What is it like to bump into new culture that once you thought super extraordinary? to switch from eastern values to western ones? or How it feels to have not understood what people say but still try to be positive?

I tell you that it's hard! freaking hard! I used to see western values from my negative perspective and now I see by myself that what I perceived was none to be true. Western Values are so much different from Eastern Values, to compare both is such a useless gesture but what I realize now that Western values rely on authenticity, honesty, and liberation, and those make it so special.

By now, I think western values are more superior than the Eastern ones mainly because of their simplicity, non-judgemental point of view but once again it depends on how we see things and how they affect us.  For me, these values are the ones I am eager to live with and to raise my kids with. I feel I am so much happier now that I don't live in people's expectation of what should the version of myself be. I used to be afraid to go out of my comfort zone coz I thought people would think I'm odd. I used to be told to do something that I don't like just to make my parents happy. I didn't have many choices though, to reject what our parents said in the Eastern values mean that you're ignorant and paying no respect to the elderly, to the culture, to your upbringings, to your surroundings.

I was controlled, monitored, overprotected by most of my life then when I got married it all changed. My husband is totally supportive of everything I do, he never insists that I should do something or think in a certain way. He opened my mind, Men aren't there to control women but they are to support them in any way. That is what we call Marriage, my husband said, a supportive bounding.

I think I've found myself by now but sadly enough I almost lost everyone. My family is still there, they are changed or remain the same, I'm unsure but they know they can't tell me what to do with my life coz I am so much more assertive than I was.

Most of all, I am happier.

Isn't that matter? our happiness?

Oh yess, to nurture your happiness is crucial if you are about to make your surroundings happy.

That's all that I do now

Here's My all-time favorite poem by Robert Frost that pretty sum up the way I see life and the way my life evolved :

ROAD NOT TAKEN

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves, no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

    I took the one less traveled by,

    And that has made all the difference.

Live your life, for there's only one YOU that can make it right. YOUR VERY SELF.

Summer Vacation 2016 : Trieste, The Jewel of Friuli-Venezia Giulia

You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days in your life~

Trieste View from San Grignano Beach

I guess that lines represent me in a broad meaning.
Tahun lalu, adalah tahun yang penuh derita yang sama sekali tak terbayangkan akan dapat sama sekali kami lalui. Sebut saja kondisi gagal jantung, infeksi, open heart surgery, diagnosa baru yang mencengangkan dan menakutkan, belum lagi kondisi finansial yang morat marit pasca kepindahan sporadis ke Italia. Hah, life is a storm yes, but there must be quite a silver lining right after that plus the rainbow if you're lucky enough.

Winter kami lalui dengan air mata, Spring kami lalui dengan tersenyum simpul, nah Summer kami tertawa. Alhamdulillah! sudah lama aku dan suami tak merasakan sebahagia summer pertama ini. aku sebenarnya berencana menuliskan detail perjalanan kami (karena kami pergi ke banyak tempat!!) tapi mungkin tidak perlu mendetail, hanya garis besarnya saja, just to show how grateful we are to have these moments.

Aku dan suami adalah orang yang tidak suka diam di rumah, jikalau ada kesempatan kami selalu keluar, berkeliling meski hanya menikmati udara segar. Ini bukan tanpa alasan, kami berdua adalah manusia introvert yg hanya suka bergumul di kesendirian dan atau bersama teman terdekat. Keluarga dari pihak suami pun jarang berkunjung. So, berdiam di rumah hanya akan membawa perasaan larut ke dalam kesedihan, lebih baik keluar dan menjelajah dunia (hmm, sok idealis)

Kami juga adalah non-conformist artinya bahwa kami anti mainstream. Kami lebih menyukai berjalan ke tempat yang tidak terlalu populer bahkan kami suka menemukan tempat baru yang cukup cozy. Bertiga kami sering membawa bekal makanan sederhana untuk dihabiskan di sebuah bench di tempat yang kami tuju, atau jika malas melanda maka kami mampir ke restoran Asia untuk makan sepuasnya kemudian memulai penjelajahan ( lupakan wisata kuliner avant-garde, yg penting perut kenyang :p)

Summer adalah musim yang sangat ditunggu-tunggu, bukan hanya karena cahaya mataharinya hangat tapi juga karena summer adalah musim liburan. Setiap kantor, pabrik, perusahaan akan memberikan slot liburan untuk staff nya bahkan beberapa instansi malah tutup selama 2 minggu hingga sebulan. Hal ini tentu harus dimanfaatkan sebaik mungkin karena slot liburan yang lain adalah holiday peak season yang jatuh selama natal dan tahun baru yang mana hampir pasti kami tidak bisa berlibur karena Dario blm cukup kuat menjelajah di temperature 0celcius.

Tahun ini suami dapat slot liburan 4 hari saja, sudah termasuk weekend, kamipun memutar otak hendak kemana. Setelah googling, asking friends kami menemukan tempat yang cukup dekat dan juga full rekomendasi. Trieste, adalah tempat yang dimaksud. Berjarak 1,5 jam dengan kereta api dari Venezia, Trieste menyajikan perpaduan alam perbukitan, hamparan adriatic sea dan juga kemilau peninggalan abad ke 18 yang masih sangat in tact, utuh seperti pertama kali didirikan.

Trieste adalah kota pelabuhan di belahan utara Italia. Berbatasan langsung dengan Slovenia dan, Trieste dengan hamparan Adriatic sea tepat di depan Piazza utama adalah salah satu destinasi wisata yang populer di mancanegara tapi tidak populer sama sekali untuk orang Italia. Tidak mengherankan sama sekali mengingat Trieste sebenarnya merupakan bagian penting dari Imperium Austro-Hungarian (Setelah Vienna, Budapest dan Prague) dan dianeksasi oleh Italia di kemudian hari.

These days, Trieste adalah ibukota provinsi Friuli-Venezia Giulia dan merupakana salah satu provinsi otonom terkaya di Italia dengan pendapatan yang berasal dari aktivitas shipping, dan shipbuilding.

Kami berangkat dari San Dona di Piave (VE) dengan trenitalia, hampir 2 jam akhirnya kami sampai di Trieste. Awalnya kami sempat underestimating kota ini, tapi begitu berjalan sedikit, wow, rasanya perpaduan Garda dan Venice ada di sini. Breathtaking view is all you got once you step in. Here's some pictures :

hari itu, kami hanya drop barang ke hotel lantas berkeliling dan mencari sesuap pasta :p plus steak.. dan.. ternyata susah euy cari bangku kosong di restoran, semua restoran recommended yg affordable penuh (hanya tersisa tempat tanpa payung pelindung matahari).

Anyway, akhirnya kami makan saja di resto merangkap bar, dgn sajian steak tenderloin dan french fries yg banyak.

Kami berkeliling piazza utama Trieste, menikmati matahari mentereng dgn pemandangan Adriatic sea yg membius plus Kapal Pesiar yg kehadirannya sangat mengejek (kapan dong, naik cruise keliling adriatic sea sampai ke laut mediterran? jawabnya Kapan ada diskon tiket :p)

Strolling around, taking selfies membuat saya lantas berpikir, wah enak ya kalau bisa tinggal di Trieste, semua ada dan hamparan pemandangannya bakal buat awet muda, namun ketika saya tanya ke suami eh dia bilang, winter di sini harsh loh, anginnya kencang buset sampe sampe orang jalannya pegang tali yg ada di pinggir laut, di tangga ataupun trotoar. Wow, bisa terbang ditiup angin dong aku pas winter, secara aku kurus kan ( ngaku-ngaku :p)

Trieste, meski di anggap underrated di Italia juga Eropa, Venetian people sering menyebut-nyebut Trieste sebagai simbol 'having fun'. Salah seorang sepupu suami berkelakar, waktu doi muda dulu, kalau ingin have fun mereka pasti bilang 'drink like Trieste's people'

Orang-Orang Trieste terkenal dgn gayanya yg simple, teratur dan elegan dan mereka biasa berbicara 3-4 bahasa sekaligus termasuk English. Englishnya org Trieste termasuk yg terbaik dlm pronunciation secara mereka sebagai propinsi termuda dan berbatasan langsung dgn negara lain.

Castello Miramare - Warisan dan Peninggalan Otentik abad 19 yang masih sangat cantik, terawat dan tak tersentuh!

Architect : Carl Junker (Austrian)
Furnishing & Decoration : Franz Hofmann and Julius Hofmann
Style reflection : Eclectic (Gothic, Medieval, Rennaissance combined)
Level of preservation : 4,5 out of 5

Mengunjungi Trieste tentu tdk lengkap tanpa mengunjungi Castle Cantik peninggalan Kerajaan Austro-Hungarian. Miramare Castle atau dlm Italian disebut Castello Miramare.

Miramare Castle adalah rumah Archduke Ferdinand Maximillan of Hapsburg dan Istrinya Charlotte of Belgium. Castle putih bersih ini berada di atas tebing di atas laut. Berdiri tegak di sisi tertinggi bebatuan Grignano Beach di Teluk Trieste, dapat di tempuh dgn bus dr tengah kota (15 menit perjalanan). Castle ini adalah castle yg paling terawat keadaannya dan koleksi-koleksi di dalamnya adalah koleksi otentik pribadi Archduke semasa ia tinggal di sini. Selamat dari hiruk pikuk Perang Dunia II, Castle ini lantas di lindungi Pemerintah Italia walau kemudian sempat menjadi basecamp tentara AS (masa masa Perang Dunia II)

Membahas Castle ini, saya jadi baper karena saya ingin cerita buanyaaakk sekali dari sudut panjang sejarah (maklum saya history-freak) tapi saya akan bahas garis garis besar saja yang kira-kira menarik dan penting!

Lokasi dari Castle ini sangat menakjubkan, di atas tebing tinggi dengan sajian hamparan laut Adriatic sebiru berlian Rose 'Titanic'. Castle ini juga memiliki taman yang sangat luas yang kaya dengan vegetasi dari segala penjuru dunia! Archduke Ferdinand terkenal dgn hobi travelingnya dan juga teman-teman dari banyak negara, ia konon sering meminta temannya membawakan vegetasi khas yg dia ingin tanam di taman Miramare. Sekarang jika berkunjung ke sana, kita akan menyaksikan beberapa vegetasi bunga dan pohon yang merupakan tanaman asli Asia, tapi tumbuh di Eropa. Tamannya kini masih terawat meski tidak secantik dulu.

Beralih ke Castle nya sendiri. Miramare Castle pertama dibangun pada 1 Maret 1856, kemudian Archduke dan Istri mulai pindah pada tahun 1860. Kala itu Castle belum sempurna selesai, minus internal decorations dan furnishing.

Interior Castle ini sampai sekarang masih memiliki komposisi asli dan ketika berkunjung kesana kita bisa menyaksikan secara langsung koleksi pribadi Archduke dan beberapa peninggalan militer Amerika Serikat ( Castle ini menjadi headquater pasukan sekutu selama PD II)

Beberapa foto dari interior bangunan dan koleksi Castle :

Chapel inside Miramare Castle

Library

Corridor

Paintings, just some of them.. actually Miramare has lots of paintings collection

the stairs

Main Room

Meeting Room

Archduke Himself

Rooftop

Guestroom

Kami menghabiskan 2 malam 3 hari berlibur di Trieste and it's worth really.. kami juga sempat berhenti sebentar di Grignano Beach dan menikmati Pranzo (Lunch) khas Trieste.