Darla!

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  • Our Engagement Story

    The first time we talked about getting married was one year ago. It was in the evening, in the middle of the road in Kopo. We were heading home from a friend’s house. I don’t remember what we were talking about before that topic came up. He told me he wanted to marry me in 2014. I told my mum what he told me, much to her surprise. She said that we were too young. I didn’t talk about that topic again.

    Fast forward. It was July 2014. We were both in Lampung, just in different cities. We were texting and I jokingly asked “So, when are you going to propose?” I wasn’t expecting a direct answer, but he replied with “After Eid.” He then told me that he was going to propose in late August. I didn’t have the guts to tell my parents. I forced myself to tell my mum, in hopes that she would tell my dad. Well, she didn’t. In our culture, when a man wants to marry a woman, he has to ask her father’s approval. I told A that I was too scared to tell my dad. A decided to tell him himself. So that was exactly what A did.

    He came to my house right after he arrived in Bandung after the Eid. He told my parents that he was going to bring his parents to my house to propose to me. My dad, being the kindest man that he is, gave us his blessings and gladly invited A’s family to come. Three weeks later, A came to my house again. This time, he brought along his father and uncle.

    It was not a big ceremony. There was just a talk between the two families, and then he asked me the big question. I said yes. He put the ring on my finger. After that, we were given a lot of advices about married life and marriage in general. Then we have lunch together and it’s a wrap.

    There wasn’t any surprises. No fancy restaurant. No maracas band hiding in the bush. No lake picnic. Not even getting on one knee and holding out the ring while asking “Would you marry me?”. No such things. It was just a simple, traditional engagement party (can we call it a “party”? Technically?) but the whole thing was so precious. I still remember the anxiety, the excitement when I was waiting for A and his family to arrive. I can’t believe that it happened more than 3 weeks ago because I still remember it like it was just yesterday!


  • How I Combine My Love of English and Internet to Earn Money Online

    I miss regular blogging. I’ve had a lot of things in mind: wedding planning, house hunting, seserahan shopping, et cetera, et cetera; but I still can’t write them all as I don’t have the right pictures or photographs to be put on those posts. I’m one of those bloggers who really hold onto the belief that a blog post should have at least one picture on it. I’m holding onto that belief religiously.

    One of the many things that I’ve been wanting to share is about my financial struggle this past month. There have been some issues regarding my new job as a teacher, and as a result, I didn’t get paid last month. I’ve been struggling to keep going with only a paycheck from tutoring, which ended last month, meaning I won’t get any more paycheck from tutoring this month. My paycheck from teaching in high school won’t really pay my bills, actually. It is way lower than the minimum wage and won’t make ends meet. I know I wouldn’t be able to survive if I only depend on teaching.

    A few months ago, my fiance introduced me to an online outsourcing website called oDesk. It is a marketplace where employers and freelancers can meet. I signed up, but hadn’t really looked into it until last month. I found a joblisting looking for freelance English to Bahasa translators for a popular website. I have been an amateur English to Bahasa and Bahasa to English translator for a few years now, so I applied for the job. They gave two sample texts for me to translate as a (paid) test. Two days later, they sent me an email saying that I was accepted. Since then, I’ve translated eleven articles and got paid more than my paycheck as a teacher. Isn’t that great?


    For as long as I’ve known the internet, getting money online has always been a dream for every user. I’ve seen all around the WWW a lot of ads and promotions saying that we can earn money with just a few clicks, but not all of them is true and safe. Here are some tips for getting money online.
    1. If it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Ever seen those links saying “Get $$$ for just signing up!” passed around on Facebook? It’s really suspicious, isn’t it?
    2. There is no such thing as easy money. You need to work to earn money. Signing up and sharing the links asking people to sign up are not counted as working.
    3. Always check the credibility of the websites. I personally consider outsourcing websites that have legit Wikipedia pages (like oDesk, Freelancer.com, and Guru.com) as trustworthy.
    4. Pay attention at how you will receive your payments. For example, oDesk has a range of payment methods, like via Paypal, local bank transfer, Payoneer, etc.
    5. Choose the joblistings very carefully. When applying for a job, ask for an upfront payment if necessary. Don’t apply for suspicious or illegal jobs.

    Many people have successfully earned money through this kind of outsourcing websites. There are hundreds of job listed everyday. It works for me so far, hope it’ll work for you too.

  • Oh, August.




    What a month, August! I started working as a real teacher, graduated from uni, and got engaged; all in the span of one month. It was an August to remember. The August where I officially became a grown up woman. Thanks, August. I love you. See you next year 😉

    Trivia: Yes. I typed ‘August’ six times in this post.

  • An (Exciting!) Announcement

    Hi, just stopping by to announce that A and I are engaged!
    More details will be shared soon.

  • Agustusan in Pictures


    Our independence day is always such a fun celebration. It is a tradition that we hold many kinds of fun and playful competitions, such as panjat pinang, balap karung, balap makan kerupuk, balap bakiak, lomba gebuk bantal, tarik tambang, etc. This year’s Agustusan was quite different for me. I got to attend the independence day ceremony as an invited guest and I got to join the competitions along with other teachers at school. I signed myself up for three competitions: balap bakiak, tarik tambang, and balap makan kerupuk; all three of which I lost. But it wasn’t about winning; it was about having fun. And I sure had lots of fun.

    I’m usually strict when it comes to posting pictures. I try to keep them less than six in one post, but these pictures are just too good to be kept. So I’m posting ten. Brace yourselves!