10.30.09
I Took The Wrong Bag – We All Make Mistakes
Yesterday my friend and I flew from Solo to Jakarta. We brought four luggage with us, one of them was the samsonite bag pictured above. While we were waiting for our luggage to come out, we were discussing about passengers who turned on their mobile phones on the plane. Then we saw our bags coming out, so we quickly took them and put them on the trolley. I prepared my luggage tags just in case they asked to see them before leaving the airport. As it happened, no one was there to check the luggage tag, so we just went out to get a taxi. I loaded the bags to the trunk of the taxi and we left the airport.
About 10 minutes after we left the airport by taxi, I received a call from an airport ground staff. He asked me whether I arrived by GA 221 from Solo this morning. I said yes. Then he asked whether I got all my bags because he found my samsonite bag. I confidently said that I’d got everything, I’d taken all my four bags. He asked me to stop and check because I might have taken somebody’s else bag by mistake. I insisted that I couldn’t have mistakenly taken the wrong bag but I asked the driver to stop and check anyway. When I opened the trunk and saw the bag…Aaah the samsonite bag in the trunk was definitely not blue, it was black!! It was not mine! I took the wrong bag!
I told the taxi driver to drive back to the airport to return the bag and get my own bag. This mistake cost me more than Rp.100,000 in taxi fare because we had to exit the highway, turn back and re-enter the highway to the airport.
It was the first time it ever happened to me and hopefully there won’t be a second time.
It was quite amazing how two set of eyes could get it wrong, then by chance there was no one to check the tags as we went out. One other thing, that bag also had the same broken wheels. Coincidence? I don’t think so. I do not believe in coincidence. Thinking positively about this incident, perhaps the taxi driver needed more money and we had helped him out. There were so many possibilities and I’d rather see this as a part of a master plan and something good has come out of it.
Lessons to learn:
- Do not be arrogant. Mistakes can happen to anyone. We all make mistakes one time or another.
- As we go through life, from one experience to the next, there is always a first time for everything. It is just part of life.
- Next time, ALWAYS check twice that I get the right bag hahaha
Learn and Grow!
Inge Santoso, B.Com
01.14.09
The Real Cause of My Repetition-Make-Me-Want-to-Pee Problem
Last week, I read a blog post about learning one new skill every year by giving yourself a full year to learn and master a new skill. I was inspired and I decided to learn how to play guitar this year.
Learning from Past Experience
I remember when I was a kid, my mom wanted me to learn to play organ. I did not like it at all. Whenever the teacher came to our house to teach, I pretended to sleep. There was one time that I said to her I was sleepy and I slept on top of the organ. Finally my mom and my teacher gave up and I stopped learning.
What I did not tell them was the reason why I did not want to learn anymore. The teacher told me to learn a song called “Bunga Matahari” (Sunflower). I did not like that song at all, I also found it too hard. The teacher forced me to play that song over and over again during a one-hour lesson. Then she told me to practice that song for one week and we’d play it again in the next lesson. That was when I decided to quit. I just did not want to play that song.
When my mother tried to make me learn again by getting a new teacher, I still did not want to learn. Frankly, in my heart I liked the new teacher, but somehow I was to stubborn to admit that I like learning from her. I stood my ground saying that I simply hate playing organ to hide the real reason that I actually did not like the teaching method of the first teacher. I made it impossible for the second teacher to teach me, and it was all because of my pride. Now I can see how this incident keeps repeating itself throughout my life. I’ve let my pride holding me back from learning and growing. (I’ll write more about this later)
It has been 25 years since that incident. I have not told anybody about it. When I wrote this post, I just realized something very important. This incident of playing that song over and over again might be the incident that caused me to hate repetition and make me want to pee whenever I have to do something over and over again. Even writing this post and remembering the incident, I feel that I need to go to the toilet. (In 15 minutes I went three times already). HAHAHAHA Finally after 25 years, I found the real cause of my repetition-make-me-want-to-pee problem!
This repetition-make-me-want-to-pee problem has made me feel very uncomfortable when I have to do things that require repetition. For example, when I was learning Chinese language in Beijing, my teacher often gave me a homework to write each character that we learned that day at least 10 times. It felt like a torture to me because to complete that homework, I had to go to the bathroom countless times. Sometimes it hurt because there was no water left yet I still felt the sensation. (I am sure you know how it feels)
I am so glad that by writing this post, I finally uncover the cause of my problem. It may seem silly to you but it is a profound AHA moment for me.
Learn and Grow!
01.04.09
Dark Cherry Mocha
I had wanted to try Stabucks’ Dark Cherry Mocha since last month. I finally drank it in Starbucks Jogjakarta yesterday. I loved it! It had a rich and full mocha with a hint of cherry as an aftertaste. If you love mocha, you must try it.
Drinking coffee, writing in my new moleskine using my G2 pen…one of the best moment I had this weekend. I wish I have someone special to share this simple yet awesome moment with me.
Enjoy your weekend!
01.03.09
Merapi Volcano and Merbabu Mountain
I went for a walk this morning and I saw a beautiful scenery of Merapi Volcano and Merbabu Mountain. It reminds of a picture that a lot of Indonesians draw when they are asked to draw a scenery – two mountains in a distance. If you don’t believe me, just ask any Indonesian to draw something, 80% of them will draw something like this:
This is a product of mass education where teachers do not encourage creativity of their students. I am glad to see how more children are encouraged to be more creative now.
Learn and Grow!
01.02.09
Christmas and New Year Gifts
Did you receive a lot of gifts for Christmas and New Year this year? Did you receive any special gifts?
This year I received a very special New Year gift. It was wrapped in an inspiring and beautiful picture of. The message was very personal and encouraging. When I opened it, my heart leaped with joy and excitement. It is something that I’ve always wanted for years, a moleskine! Yes! I love it! Moreover, this gift was given by someone who’s extremely important in my life. Do you want to have a guess?
Yes…it’s me! This is a gift for myself this year.
(Perhaps at this point, you think that I’ve gone mad or something. Giving a gift to myself, then blogging about it on the internet? Well, hear me out.)
First, I believe that it is essential for me to be my own best friend. I want to be my biggest supporter, encouraging and focusing on what I do well instead of punishing myself for every mistake that I made in the past. As a friend, I want to give the most appropriate gift to do just that. This moleskine will be used as a success journal, the pages will be filled with daily success stories, achievements and positive feelings.
Are you also your own best friend?
Second, I also believe that loving, accepting and appreciating myself are very important for my happiness. I can only give what I already have. When I feel the love, acceptance, appreciation and happiness in my daily life, then I can share these feelings with others. Who can make me happy other than myself?
Do you love, accept and appreciate yourself enough?
Third, I give myself a gift because it was fun!
Don’t you want to have some fun too? Go! Get a gift for yourself and have fun!
Learn and Grow!
Inge Santoso
12.07.08
Photo of the Day
Girls with painted face getting ready for a Javanese dance held at Solo Square on 7 December 2008.
12.03.08
Boom De Ya Da! Discovery Channel Commercial
I really love this commercial. The Earth is really an awesome place and we should be grateful that we are here. There are miracles everywhere…sometimes we forget about how awesome, how amazing, how magnificent every little thing really is.
What are you grateful about today? What do you love?
What are you going to sing today? Boom de ya da!
11.30.08
Photo of the Day
Kid: Concentrate…See, I can do it! (Focus, determination, excitement and a hint of fear)
Mum: Look…no hand! You do it on your own kiddo. (Mixed emotion of fear, pride and excitement)
Photo taken Tea Plantation, Kemuning, Karangpandan.
11.13.08
E-Pond and E-Fish at Changi Airport Singapore
I saw this at Changi Airport Singapore. It was so interesting and fun. I even ran around on the carpet to chase the e-fish HAHAHA
It is amazing to see how far technology has gone. It will continue to move forward at a faster rate. Are we up to it? This generation is demanded to learn more and faster just to keep up. We cannot afford to stop learning and growing.
Learn and Grow!
11.12.08
Wood Block Print – Changi Airport
While waiting for my flight, I found this wood block print display at Changi Airport. There were several different wood block carvings. You took a piece of paper, put it on top of the wood block carving, then use crayons to rub…voila… wood block print. You can also use different colors to make it more interesting.
