Life is Fragile. Cherish Every Moment.

My daughter and IAt the office, I usually have an early dinner with my colleagues. We talk about everything: work, family, and whatever else comes up.One afternoon, a colleague mentioned that his eldest son visited him in Jakarta. His wife, he said, always cried whenever their son returned to Balikpapan....

How Kendrick Lamar Taught Me About Storytelling

 Being a writer doesn’t feel complete without learning from Kendrick Lamar.I first got into Kendrick’s music when I heard that DAMN. (2017) became the first hip-hop album to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. That’s a huge award in the world of journalism, literature, and music—especially since...

Living Small Lives

Photo by Sergiu Nista on UnsplashI spotted a tiny creature sitting on the cool tiles in my bathroom.It was a little frog, no larger than the tip of my thumb. Its brown body stayed perfectly still, but its eyes gleamed with quiet alertness. I could’ve splashed some water to guide it down the drain. Instead,...

When the Senses Trigger Memories

Lately, my husband and I have been enjoying instant coffee with creamer. We used to drink only black coffee, coarsely ground, without any sugar. But ever since I started making my own iced coffee at home (using Nescafe, fiber creme, sweetener, and milk), I’ve been keeping creamer stocked in the house,...

So, I Broke My Toe

 Lately, I’ve been really into badminton. Friday evenings spent smashing birdies with my neighbors had become my post-work highlight. That night, everything seemed normal—laughter, friendly competition, the usual. But in the middle of a heated rally, I landed weirdly and heard the dreaded “crack”.At...

Should We Start a Thrift Business?

The rise of fast fashion has led to a significant increase in textile waste, with an estimated 92 million tons of textiles ending up in landfills each year. The fashion industry's negative impact on the environment has prompted a growing interest in thrift shopping and second-hand clothing. The thrift...

Bookstore Memories

"You don't like K-drama, do you?" asked Lydia, my colleague, when we were eating at the office pantry.I replied, "Nah, but I like Squid Game, though. And a Japanese thriller series Alice in Borderland."And then we had a long conversation about Alice in Borderland. Lydia told me that she did read the...