A sweet quote July 19, 2011
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I found a very sweet quote this morning but I get the source link.. (for that link’s owner, I am sorry that I cite without your link). It was in Indonesian, I try to write it in English:
For the world, maybe you are just somebody,
But for somebody, you are her/his world
My First Fruit Cake July 2, 2011
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When I was in the climate change training, suddenly I told my colleague, Pak Edison. “ I would like to learn to make a cake for my husband when I arrive home.” He was surprised, “That was a good will” he said.
So I did it two weeks ago. The recipe was from my auntie. I was going to make a cake with chocochips but the store I visited didn’t have it on their shell. So I just bought “sukade”, dried fruit. The result was fruit cake.
My auntie prefers not to use scale. Meanwhile I used to use my scale. So it was a new experience for me. She uses spoon and glass as her standard. Like my grandma did. The glass used as standard is usually “gelas belimbingan”. It is a small size glass. OK then, I think it is easier to write it in bahasa.
(Well, the cake was delicious and I proudly presented it to my husband.)
Oven kami bukan oven listrik tapi “oven tangkring”. Itu lho.. yang ditaruh atau “nangkring” di atas kompor. Ukurannya nomor 4. Sepertinya yang paling kecil, raknya susun dua. Hasil bakarannya bagus untuk kue kering, tapi saya belum pernah buat untuk cake. Tadinya nggak pede tapi hasilnya bagus juga kok. Karena saya panaskan dulu ovennya dan ikuti metodenya Bule saya yang jago buat kue 
Bahan-bahan:
- 8 kuning telur
- 2 putih telur*
- ¾ gelas gula pasir
- 2 ons margarine, lelehkan
- 1 gelas + 3 sendok munjung** tepung terigu
- Susu kental manis 3 sendok makan
- Sukade*** secukupnya
Catatan:
* kata Buleku putih telur membuat kue agak keras. Karena cake kami ga pakai pelembut jadi putih telurnya sedikit saja.
** Munjung berarti bahannya “menggunung” di atas sendok. Untuk bahan kering, kalau tidak ada keterangan di resep, berarti ukurannya “peres”. Artinya bahan hanya rata di atas sendok.
*** Sukade itu manisan kulit jeruk bali atau papaya. Bentuknya kubus kecil2 warna warni, kering, dan tentu saja rasanya manis.
Tambahan lagi, kalau mau buat kue, jangan pakai telur yang baru dikeluarkan dari kulkas atau dingin. Hasilnya bisa kurang mengembang. Pilih telur ukuran sedang saja, kecuali disebutkan lain dalam resep.
Langkah pembuatan:
- Panaskan oven sampai 175o C.
- Olesi loyang dengan margarine dan ditaburi terigu.
- Kocok gula dan telur sampai mengembang, kira-kira 15 menit. Awalnya kecepatan sedang.
- Tambahkan terigu sedikit-sedikit sambil dikocok perlahan.
- Masukan margarine, aduk rata dengan sendok.
- Tuang adonan ke loyang.
- Campur sukade dengan sedikit terigu, taruh di atas adonan. Tujuan dicampur terigu supaya sukade tidak terlalu tenggelam.
- Masukan ke oven, lihat sampai pinggirnya kecoklatan. Kalau mau tes, tusuk dengan tusuk sate. Kalau sudah tidak ada bekas adonan lengket di tusuk sate berarti cake sudah matang.
Maybe you see my cake are not very pretty. But I am a newbie, remember?
“Dutch Ulekan” June 19, 2011
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Ulekan is a kitchen tool used to smash and mix spices. In Indonesia, it is usually made of stone and few of them made of wood. Some parts of Indonesia call it “Cobek”. Ulekan consists of two parts, the base (in Javanese “leyeh”) and the beater.
Eventhough in this modern era some women would rather use blender than ulekan, some people still say that food that the spices is smashed on ulekan tastes better. They believe that the stone gives “unexplainable” delicious sensation to their tongue. It is very true to people that loves home made food. My husband loves home made food (cooked by me, of course). And he is among them that say ulekan-processed spices tastes better that blender-processed spice. I should say sorry to him about this because I can’t – and not used to- use ulekan.
My alternatives to smash spices are 1st: cheese grater, and 2nd: a cutting board and a wide knife. A knife is used to cut the spices. But there is another use of a knife, we can smash spices wits its wide side. Put the spices to the cutting board, lay the knife with its broad side covers the spice, and hit the knife with our palm strongly (but please be careful). I use this method to spices that don’t need to be processed to a very smooth mixture. The disadvantage of my methods is they can’t be used to smash chili-pepper. When I must use it, I just chop it with knife. Once I did it with blender, but I should process too many chili-peppers to make it work. I never use too many chili-peppers, so that time and few days after that I use much the blender processed chili-peppers. I didn’t want to waste it.
I don’t want to buy an ulekan for two reasons. The first reason is I won’t use it often, and second is new ulekan will leave the spices mixture blackish. The stone of a new ulekan can be dissolved with the spices mixture. I got our ulekan unintentionally. One of our close neighbour moved to Kendari. They wouldn’t bring a heavy-stone-ulekan, would they? So when we visit them to say good bye. I just asked not seriously “will you leave your ulekan or give it to someone else?” Then they gave it to me 
One day when I was shopping in the Netherlands some time ago, I found an interesting kitchen tool. It was made of stainless steel, the shape was half-a circle. The straight side was the place of our palm, and the skew side consists of small hole. I read the product information enthusiastically because it was a tool to smash spices. The function is same as ulekan. The small holes are to make the spices fine. So I bought it for 10 Euros… it is expensive for an Indonesian. But I want to use it to smash chili-pepper and other spices and give delicious home-made food for my husband. It was stated on its wrap: 10 years warranty. And when I paid it, the cashier lady told me to keep the payment receipt for the warranty. I said “but I will go back home to Indonesia next week”. We were laughing and she said, “who knows, maybe in ten year you will come back here.” Maybe.. Amin..
I told my husband that I bought a 10 Euros ulekan for him. For him? Yeah, I do use it but he enjoys the food, right? The day I went back to Medan from Jakarta, I called my-nice-greengrocer-lady. I asked her to provide cooking ingredients to make soto. I arrived Medan in the afternoon, and in the evening I cook the ingredient. It was my first time using the “Dutch ulekan”. Some days later, I fried Lele (catfishes) then I sautéed them with spices mixture. It was tomato, garlic, shallots, and chili-peppers. I smashed and mixed them with “Dutch ulekan”. The chili-peppers were not very smooth smashed but it was enough for a beginner like me My husband liked it. It is the most important.
This is my new ulekan
Assalamualaikum and A smile June 7, 2011
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Some weeks ago I had a chance to attend a training with my BMKG colleagues in Wageningen. Our plane transited in KL airport. To my surprise, there’s a woman officer in the boarding room, she said “Assalamualaikum” and smiled to me. Both of us wore jilbab, the Moslem headscarf. I didn’t hear she said that to my friend in front of me. Maybe she only did it to a woman with headscarf because she could be sure that the one she greet was a Moslem.
It was around 11 p.m. that time. I work in an airport and I know it is hard for a woman to work in a night shift. So I smiled, I answered the greeting “Waalaikumsalam”, and I asked her “Do you work in a night shift?”. She answered that she work until the last flight and fortunately our flight was the last one.
A couple of days after we arrived our hotel, Hof van Wageningen, there was another training group. One of them was a woman from Africa with headscarf. The first time we were closed each other, she gave me the greeting “Assalamualaikum”. We had some conversation after that. The night before she left our hotel, I told her that I was happy that I met a Moslem sister from other country. She told me that she was also happy to see our group that consisted of some Moslem women with headscarf. She heard that Moslem is a majority in Indonesia.
We also met another group from Algiers that consisted of Moslem woman with headscarf. They also gave me the greeting. It was nice to hear the greeting from other people outside my group. We were in a country where Moslem is minority. Maybe it was only a greeting, but it was precious for me. Assalamualaikum is an Arabic word, it means a pray for us. To hear someone pray for us, is a happiness that makes us smile, isn’t it? And I am also happy to answer it. Beside, I can’t imagine if I say the greeting without a smile.
Oncom + Cassava = no time for Combro.. April 19, 2011
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One of my auntie visited Medan last week, she is from Jakarta. She is my mom’s cousin. Her name is Bude Ara. Bude is a Javanese word for an auntie that is older than our parents on the family tree. Bude Ara would visited her mom in Binjai, her siblings in Medan, and attend her niece’s wedding in Kuala Simpang, Aceh. Unfortunately, because of some reasons, my huuby and I could not attend the wedding. Before went to Medan, she asked me what I want her to bring from Jakarta. I wondered… there were some foods I miss from Jakarta. Siomay (a kind of dim sum), asinan (spicy salad), pangsit (a kind of dimsum also), some bread from Holland bakery.. But they are not practical to be brought. Auntie should buy the foods one day before she go, and the foods were easily rotten and spilled. So, what can I ask her?? In Medan, actually we have Siomay. But I haven’t got a delicious one like in Jakarta or Bandung. We have also pangsit, but they are sold in Chinese restaurant. I don’t want to go there because of Halal reason. Hmm I found one food that was practical and not available in Medan. It was a traditional one, from Sundanese. It is ONCOM. Oncom is cheap and common in Jakarta, Banten, and western Java. It is made from tofu’s dregs. When soya beans processed to become tofu, the producers collect the dregs and then it is fermented using mold. Oncom’s appearance is an orange block and fragile. It tastes like Tofu with a sensation of fermented product. There are two common ways to cook Oncom. The first method is fried Oncom. Oncom is sliced, added with water-salt-wheat flour-rice flour mixture, and then fried. The second one is sauted Oncom. Oncom is grated, then sauted with spices (salt, onion, garlic, chili pepper, salam leaves) and soy sauce. Oncom can be eaten with rice or as a snack. A famous Oncom snack is Combro. It comes from Sundanese, onCOM di jRO. Means “oncom inside”. Combro is made from grated cassava, with salt, chili pepper, and kemangi leaves (it is optional). Then make an oval ball of this mixture, a little bigger than an egg. Filled with grated Oncom, and fried. The chili pepper is used both inside and outside (in oncom and in cassava). Do you think it is spicy enough? No, Jakarta or Sundanese people usually eat it with green little chili pepper (cabai rawit), I was glad that my auntie did bring Oncom for me. I cooked it as grated Oncom, I hoped that I have enough time to make Combro. I even have bought the cassava… well, I really didn’t have time to grate cassava. When there was no Oncom left, I am regretful that I missed the Combro.
Teh Tiam, a tea shop March 28, 2011
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There is a “the tiam” or tea shop in Jl. Monginsidi Medan with oriental ornaments. I was curious but I felt hesitate to visit it. It was because the “halal food” problem. Halal food is the islamic way of food serving. There is also a “Kopi Tiam” or Coffee shop near teh University of North Sumatera. But I am not so curious with the later because I am not a coffee lover.
Some weeks ago my husband’s friend said that the Teh Tiam didn’t serve non-halal food. His wife is a Chinese woman so he has visited the Teh Tiam. What an important info, I could satisfy my curiosity. So my husband and I visited it four days ago.
We ordered Pu er tea and “serabi” (Indonesian pancake), and we were also served with three pieces of cake, a kind of bakpia. The servant served the tea completed with a small water boiler, a jar, a teapot, two little cups, a tea filter, and a tray. The boiler, jar, teapot, and cups were chinas. The boiler was actually a place for a spirtus/alcohol burner. The water served was cooked before, he only re-heated it. The tray was made of wood and it has holes a part like a basement.
The servant first boiled the water with the jar. He cleaned the teapot with the water and then put the tea from its bag to the teapot. The hot water was put to the tea, but then thrown to the base of the tray. It was done three times to clean the tea leaves. The fourth water put to the tea was aimed to make the tea ready to be served. The tea-dissolved-water was filtered before it was poured to the cups. There were two little cups that I only saw on the TV before. They were the Chinese or Japanese use to drink tea. The service was only done once by the servant. The rests of tea-service were done by the customers themselves. So I did it for me and my husband. We drank for two more pots of tea.
On the wall, there were notes to prohibit non-halal food to be brought inside. I didn’t really understand it. It is not common to bring any kind of food or drink from outside to inside a restaurant, isn’t it? Or was it a prohibition for their employee? Beside, I read on their menu card, they also provide beers. It is not a halal drink (??). Maybe the notes only showed that they didn’t provide the most well-known non-halal food, pork. We just ordered tea and snacks, and it was a new experience, indeed. The way their tea served was different with the way I serve tea at home. I just use tea with tea bag for practical reason. When I still lived with my parents, we poured the boiled water to the tea leaves without bags. My favourite tea is Java oolong tea. But here in Medan, again for practical reason, I prefer tea variants from Lipton. And my favourite is Darjeeling. For my husband? He drinks any tea I serve him..
My husband’s lunch March 2, 2011
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My husband said before our wedding that he would help me with the housekeeping. He only wished that I would cook for him. *sigh* I was not good at cooking. But I will do anything to make him happy.
I have cooked for him since the early days we moved to our house. Not only asks me to cook for his breakfast and dinner, he also asks me to provide him meal for lunch. “Hmm, won’t you be ashamed with your office mates?” In my office, it is common for us to bring our lunch from home. Our canteen is far from our office. Even my boss sometimes brings his lunch. Beside, the home-made food is more economical, cleaner, and healthier. In the contrary, there are only two people bring the home-made lunch. -ps: my hubby included.
No, he is not ashamed. In fact, he is happy to bring food that made by his beloved wife Several comments from his friends that I remember are: some of them ask my hubby the menu; some of them said I was loving a wife wow,thank you; once my hubby didn’t know the name of his meal, but his friend knew. Because it was a Chinese food, and the friend’s wife is a Chinese; some of the are surprised because I am a career woman but I still cook; few of them ask a little bite of the food to know the taste; and there was a comment that my hubby was saving his money to buy a car.. (amin).
It is an advantage that we live nearby my office. I just need 5 minutes by a motorcycle to reach my office. So I have time in the morning to prepare for my hubby’s lunch. My trick is to send sms to the greengrocer things that I need to cook, and I pick them in the afternoon. So in the morning, I can cook them directly after Shubuh pray.For breakfast, I provide easy-to-cooked stuff in my fridge. They are common sausage, tofu, meatball, corned beef, or chicken nuggets.
To fulfill my husband’s appetite is challenging. I learn cooking by directly do it; ask for my mum, aunties, or friends about recipe; and ask for my hubby to kindly understand my limited cooking ability and to provide evaluation without discouraging me. Basically he is a Javanese that won’t give a harsh comment, and he loves Tempe* very much (soy bean cake). But I don’t want to cook a same menu for two sequential days. So the challenge is in the variety.
Here are some food that I cook and can be brought to his office. I provide two Lock & Lock containers. One is for the rice and dry dish, one is for the vegetable.
1. Fried chicken
2. Chicken semur
3. Chicken pepes
4. Chicken gulai
5. Chicken omelet
6. Mushroom omelet
7. Tempe and tofu bacem
8. Fried tempe and tofu
9. Steamed tofu
10. Baked tempe
11. Tofu pepes
12. Kering tempe and teri
13. Vegetable-filled tofu
14. Liver and gizzard pepes
15. Fried liver and gizzard
16. Sauted liver and gizzard
17. Sauted kikil (the cow’s feet tissue)
18. Fried fishes (gembung, tongkol, salem, sardine, pari, kakap, kakap merah, lele/cat fish, mujahir, nila)
19. Baked fishes (kakap merah)
20. Rice pepes
21. Fried calamari
22. Calamari tom yam
23. Sweet-and sour calamari
24. Sweet-and sour prawn
25. Fried prawn
26. Baked prawn
Fiuhh.. 26 already, it is enough for a-month working days. Some dishes like soup and soto are more delicious if eaten in warm condition. So I never cook them for my husband to bring to his office. I only cook them in holidays.
For vegetables, they are more easily served. I provide them everyday – no day without fiber-. There are some vegetables dishes, but I can just easily boil, saute, or steam them. They are: bayam, kangkung, buncis, terong, kacang panjang, taoge, selada air, sawi putih, selada, wortel, kemangi, brokoli, kembang kol, pok choy, and kailan. The vegetable dishes (the cooking way) are: bening, sayur asam, cap cay, or crispy fried spinach.
PS: our menu is depend on the greengrocer and the availability of the cooking material.
An Indian wedding January 25, 2011
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Last week my husband and I were invited to a wedding ceremony. It is a wedding of Indian family. My hubby is a friend of the bride’s parents. The ceremony took place in the Sri Mariamman temple ballroom. Its location is in the center of Medan, Zainul Arifin street, in front of Sun Plaza.
When we enter the building’s yard, we were served drinking water. We could choose between milk, tea, or mineral water. We came before the bride and groom enter the room. So we witnessed Hindu religious wedding ritual. Before the ceremony, they prayed to their Gods to bless the wedding.
The bride and the groom wore Indian costume, with flowers and jewelry like those we watch on TV. Their families and guests wore traditional dress (Sari, for female). The female were very attractive with their shining Sari and jewelry. Even girls wore beautiful dress and jewelry. Fortunately I wore red dress with golden embroidery, so I was not looked pale. Meanwhile the male, did not giving much detail to their dress. Many of them also wore casual dress.
On the dais, the bride sat on right side, and the groom on the left. The bride’s family stood also on the right, and the grooms’ on the left. The ritual was led by a Hindu priest. He prayed in Indian, complete with the flowers petal and fire. Then, the bride and the groom also said something in Indian alternately (guided by the priest).
During the ceremony, the bride and the groom were served by their young-female family members for their need. The bridesmaid stood beside their family and prepared for the flower, etc.
Finally, the bride and the groom exchanged their big flower lei. They also exchanged their seats on the dais. Their families followed this exchanging position. The older members of their families gave their bless by put a lei to each of the couple. The leis were not a complete circle, but only a long flower chain. It consisted of white flowers with green flowers or leaves on the edges. There were only two white leis, the older family members used it alternately. The bridesmaid took again the lei from the couple’s necks after one bless and gave to other person for other bless.
I was curious by the yellow flowers on an Indian’s lei. In my opinion, it was not a rose. I thought before, it was a flower that in Indonesia, it gave an unpleasant smell. That day I found that it were yellow chrysanthemums.
When it was time for guests to congratulate the couple, we saw that the male guests went to the dais first. We waited until even only one (and definitely only one) female guest went. The bride’s mother told us to take some pictures. I loved to, but my hubby should go for his office business that afternoon. I told him that maybe it would be take years before the family’s another wedding. My hubby said that he really couldn’t be late. So, I missed the change.
After that, of course, the most interesting one: the time to taste the lunch. Indian food is famous for its rich herbs taste and thick. Indians don’t eat cow. We presumed the there should be mutton, while I don’t really like mutton. It was a rare occasion, wasn’t it? So I just take the mutton curry. There were also red spicy chicken and eggplant dishes. The Indian guests ate on banana leaves and used their hands. They were served with people who walked carrying the food. They also provide drinking water and water to wash guest’s hands. The non Indian guests were served separately with plates and spoons and forks. The food was served in buffet. I didn’t mind with the banana leaves, but my husband saw the servant gave big portions to guests. We chose the buffet to limit our calories intake.
I never lived near an Indian community before, in Jakarta or Bogor. I only met Indians as fabric sellers. Hear in Medan, I lived near them. Before I married, my rent house was near an Indian community. I was disturbed when they celebrated their religious day (Deepavali). They used many fireworks and sang and danced on a field until dawn. Now our house is still not far from that place. My husband has an Indian friend, and also makes friend with his family. His friend often goes anywhere to trade Indian goods, Indian herbs, or jewelry. Last Idhul Fitri, the family gave us an Indian snack. I forgot the name, but it looked like tiny cheesestick with spicy flavour. It is good to make friend with anyone, so we can learn about the culture.
A Trip to Hang Nadim December 16, 2010
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On the last week of October I went to Batam for office business. It may be so long that I haven’t written to my blog. I will write further about my condition in other article.
That time I visited the Hang Nadim International Airport meteorological office. It is also a BMKG technical unit like the Polonia International Airport meteorological office. The airport is managed by Otorita Batam (Batam Industrial Development Agency) including the meteorological office. It makes the facility in the office is better (I should say) than in Polonia. I told my boss that I was a little bit jealous.
During my visit, I stayed in my friend’s house. Her name is Mbak Sri. She is a nurse and comes from Medan. I met her in Medan one early morning because I had a trouble with my stomach. She went to Batam after her marriage because her husband worked there. She has already had one cute 15-month-old daughter.
Finally, it is strange when we do traveling without buying snacks, isn’t it? So I hunted some snacks with my friend, an employee of Hang Nadim Met Office. The most popular snack to be brought as souvenir is banana cake. I went home to Medan on Friday so I couldn’t bring it to my office. I decided to bring only some chocolate and wrapped roll cake. For my neighbor, I bought Bolu Kemojo in the airport. The Bolu, cake, was delicious. I tried the banana one.
Tante Yuni, a colonel, a dentist, and a friendly auntie November 25, 2010
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Tante or Auntie Yuni, her name had been very familiar in my ears since I was in Kindergarten. My mother often talk about her. Mom made her as a role model to me. What was she said? It was about how she was proud and admire her classmate in the elementary school.
She was Sis Eko Yuniastuti. My mom said, be like Tante Yuni, be like Tante Yuni, be like Tante Yuni, she was very clever, she is WARA, and she is a dentist. WARA is the women corps of Indonesia Air Forces. My grandfather was an airforce officer, and so was Tante Yuni’s father. My mom and Tante Yuni went to a same elementary school. Tante Yuni went to a Dentistry faculty and after her graduation, she became a WARA officer.
My mom had a photograph of her, so I knew her face. I never remember that I ever met her when I was a child. I met her for the first time (as I remember) in Bogor. There was a funny situation when we called her for the first time. Few weeks after I began my study in IPB (Bogor), my mom said to me to call the Atang Sanjaya Air Force Base Hospital. She knew that Tante Yuni worked there. “Ask the mobile number of Dr. Sis Eko, her full name is Sis Eko Yuniastuti.” So I ask that name to the officer who answered my call.
The Saturday morning after that, my mom call the number. But there was a male’s sound that answered her. “This is Dr. Sis Eko,” said the sound. My mother was astonished. I did ask the hospital Dr. Sis Eko’s number and the officer did give me the number of Dr. Sis Eko. Also the sound was really Dr. Sis Eko, but it was a man. My mom suddenly said “Ooh I am sorry, I am looking for Dr. Sis Eko Yuniastuti. I got this number from Atang Sanjaya Air Force Base Hospital”. Ah, that’s the problem. I only asked “Dr. Sis Eko” as my mom asked. The man said “Oh, you was given a wrong number. I am also Dr. Sis Eko. You asked the female Dr. Sis Eko. But we are in a social responsibility activity. Here is Dr. Sis Eko Yuniastuti.” He gave his mobile to Tante Yuni. Then my mom talked to her old friend. And we got her mobile number, this time the correct one J We didn’t know that there were two Dr. Sis Eko’s. So we didn’t mention her full name. Fortunately they were in a same place so we could talk directly to Tante Yuni.
We met Tante Yuni after a couple of weeks. She worked for LAKESPRA (Aviation and Space Health Centre of Indonesian Air Force) in Jakarta but lived in Bogor. She had her own dental clinic in Bogor. Her house is also in Bogor. Previously she worked in the Atang Sanjaya Air Force Base hospital in Bogor.
I knew a little about her form an interview because I made her a topic for my english course homework. It was an essay. The title I wrote was “Yuni, my mom’s favourite friend.” She said that was once disappointed because she failed in the University of Indonesia Medical Faculty exam. She was once told by her father to enter University of Moestopo Dentistry Faculty. Then she began a career as an air force officer, like his father.
And me, do I follow her as a role model my mom said? Am I now a dentist? Oohh very far from that, I studied meteorology. I said my mother I don’t want to become a dentist. I don’t have a talent and bravery to deal with sick people, I heard that the medical and dentistry students worked with dead men’s body to learn anatomy. So I never imagine to become a dentist or a doctor. Is it necrophobia or something… I don’t know whether I have it, but I think I can’t stand to learn anatomy that way.
I remember Tante Yuni because in a night, last month, my husband asked me about Pancoran Statue. I said it had an official name, Patung Dirgantara (Aviation Statue). The statue is about a man being prepared to fly, like in a running position before leap. It was named so because the Air Force Headquarter was there. The headquarter is now in Cilangkap near other forces’ headquarter. However, until now, the LAKESPRA is still in Pancoran. I said to my hubby that Tante Yuni worked there. But he didn’t remember her face eventhough Tante Yuni came to our wedding. It was far from Bogor to Pondok Gede and she was willing to come. Her parents’ house and my parents’ house are in the same housing. Both of her parents had passed away, but we don’t know who live in that house now. It is an air force retiree housing complex.
The morning after we discuss about the Pancoran Statue, Tante Yuni sent me sms. What a coincident, and I was glad about that. She has been retired from the Air Force since about two years ago. Her last rank was colonel, a highest rank a doctor can achieve in the military career. She still serves her patients in her clinic. She has three daughters, the first one is in the dentistry faculty, the second one is in the medical faculty, and the third one studies in ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology). What clever and making-proud daughters.
Eventhough she is a successful person, she is also a humble person. I like her because she is friendly. My mom also mentioned it. In their childhood, their fathers were Air Force officers but in a very different rank. My mom’s father was a Sergeant, while her father was a Major and once served as a commander of Air Force elite troops in Halim Air Force Base. When my mom told “A PGT commander” I could just said “Woww”. (PGT is the name of the elite troops, it is now “Paskhas”). Surprisingly, after years I heard about her as a bright student, what she said about my mom when I met her for the first time was, my mom was a clever students. It showed that they were good friends, and Tante Yuni was not an arrogant-commander’s daughter. I am happy that my mom chose her as my role model.
celestrania
