In this post, I talk about my life updates since I move to Jakarta and some takeaways of many lessons that I learned. It covers into four segments.
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It has been a week since I moved to Jakarta, I was nervous and scared because there are plenty notorious articles about Jakarta. I have no problem at all about moving to big city, I like it! The only thing that bother me is the amount of notorious article I read.
I thought how stressful I must be when I’m commuting, how wasteful my effort to put my presentable look then voila entering commuter line and the look gone after I get into the train. How I have to get squeezed with people and our smell blend. That thoughts linger. But you know, it just thoughts.
Public transport is not that bad, it is indeed uncomfortable at times but there are times when you can enjoy public transport too (re: when it is empty). By commuting with public transport, you can save your money a lot, this at least happened to me; I could spent 500.000 a day just to transport from my home to the South. It’s crazy when I realised how much money I spent on transportation. That’s when I decided to use public transportation, many people ask why I don’t move to near office. Well, there are things that I have to consider and every decisions come with their own perks and flaws.
Public Transport
(When I say public transport, online transportation doesn’t count). I always have someone to drive me since I was a kid up until I am in high school, either my parents or my relatives. When I hang out with my friends, they are the one who pick me up and drop me home. Or else, I just one click away to order online transportation.
Using public transport make me realise that I have nice people surround me who are willing to drive me, spend time and energy to drive me. But it is also nice that I have to taste living like any other Jakartans.
The next day after I move, I learn how to use the public transport. Every morning for a week I try to live like any other Jakartans. I walk to the nearest station everyday time to time only to discover which time is the best one for me to go.
Mingle and Be Nice
Moving is something exciting for me, making new friends is one of them. So, I’m excited when I meet new people. Because I know that I have none since I moved, So I make sure to plan well in order not to feel alone. Then the first weekend, I encourage myself to join the meet-up from a Youtube channel called Kindred Spirit. I met people, but I was a bit lost because on my way to the venue I tried for the first time riding TransJakarta and I was lost ahaha.
Transjakarta took time more than Commuter line, although they have special line there are still some people who use their line. It was also hot, so by the time I arrived at the Meet up I was late and probably turned to a squid.
I tried MRT (ps. it was free, my verdict: it was nice, it is like commuter line but cooler) on my way to Gojek HQ when I had event to attend there and Nadiem surprisingly went to Gojek HQ too!! He open Q&A session, talk about things and giving rare advices for us (as expected from the very own Gojek). In this second event, taught me a lesson that..
Saying No Doesn’t Make You Less Nice or a Bad Person
I always feel like I am surrounded by people who are nice, Alhamdulillah. The first time I went back from office the train that I ride unfortunately got into trouble, so all the passenger couldn’t make it to the destination. And there is this person who are kind enough to offer me a ride to home from Jakarta Selatan all the way to East, we’ve just met at the station and it just happened, So we share our Grab, although I only pay for the toll. When we almost reach to the destination, I intentionally want to order motorcycle so there will be less traffic jam. But turns out, rain poured so hard and the driver offered me to drive me home.
These nice events that always happened since my first day coming to Jakarta make me want to be nicer to people, I think it is a way to repay people niceness. But there’s this situation that happened yesterday and when I think again, it is like a Java proverb said, “Di ke’i ati, njaluk rempelo.” Means she asked for more from what already given. This just makes me think that problem solving is a skill that you must have and make sure it is a win-win situation. There are indeed many nice people but there are also some who are not and some people who are lancang enough. I was a bit in a guilt back then, but after few thoughts I know helping this person is wrong.
Saying no to someone who need a help is okay, like what happened to me yesterday. And it doesn’t make you any less nice or a bad person. It just life.
And this resonates, to the last point of this article..
Give More because You Want
I like to give people surprises or gift with notes, for me it is a token of appreciation that I would like them to have. Things happened and this remind me that the act of giving is actually not for the benefit of the receiver but instead, for the benefit of ourselves. Giving is joy, it heals our sorrows, fills our emptiness, and replaces grief with relief. It also makes us closer to God because God loves those who share and give.
I have witnessed people who were not really grateful for the things I have given or donated to them and I felt sad because the intention was to make them happy but unfortunately it did not. So I reminded myself that at the end of the day, we give what we can. Even the less-fortunate people are human beings with flaws, therefore may lack gratitude and respect to those who are trying to help or simply being kind. So let them. Believe it is Allah who opens the best doors in life for us, not other people. Do not aim to make other people happy. Aim to make Allah happy.
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That’s a peek of a week in my life here, hopefully I could write more in the future. Please feel free to hit me up, I’d like to be friend with all of you.
(ps. this should be posted week before but I remember that I wrote this today, hahah!)