Minimalist Indonesia

There are many aspects of health that we started to pay attention when we are about to perform Umrah, and for me, this is the most exciting part. Starting from maintaining our body movement. Since I made the decision in December, I have even more motivation to go to the gym. One hour threadmill isn't so boring anymore because I am imagining as if I was walking around the ka'ba. I think this is crucial especially for those who work 9to5 sitting down in the office, our body needs to have a 3 months of warming up before actually doing the thawaf and sa'i. The second is general medical check up. I am grateful that Allah provided me with a free medical check up via the office, so I have no issue in this. If you want, there are some Islamic hospitals that provides general medical checkup for only 750.000 rupiah or in Prodia for 1.500.000 rupiah. But normally people take this option for hajj because of the longer time and more people.  The third is preparing your own personal medi...

  I heard people say that those who go for Umrah or Hajj, are because they are being invited by Allah that's why they are also called "the guests of Allah". I think that's true because just because you have the money, doesn't mean you have another resources to do Umrah or Hajj, and time is one of the main resources. Many of us need to work 9to5 for the rest of their life. Time is not theirs, but belongs to the corporate who hire them. This is so unfortunate, and I pray that everyone of us could have the freedom to choose what we want to do with our time, including me.  But speaking of time, I think 2025 is an exquisite year. The 1st of January is equal to the 1st of Rajab. The 1st of Ramadan will be on the same day with 1st of March (Insya Allah). And the Nisfu Sya'ban (15th of Sya'ban) is on FRIDAY. How I love Friday..  Time is what we need to have before we go for Umrah or Hajj. For me, I am blessed because I have the privilege to work under flexible wor...

What to prepare for Umrah? I think the most basic thing is to understand how to perform Umrah, perfecting our shalah and the sunnahs, perfecting our wudhu, and maintain our heart. Other than that, you can have many people giving tips on video on how to pack, what to bring, where to go, and what to do in the haramain. But I just want to add one thing, which is to learn and understand in deep the seerah of the Prophet and as much as the background cause ( asbabun nuzul ) of an ayah or surah. Why? Because the place that you are about to visit is the same place of where the Quran was sent down, to the best of human being ever created (Peace be upon him). My favorite thing about going places is to understand the historical story of the place. I've done it in multiple places, but only at the age of (almost) 33 I finally realised I haven't done this to the core of my religion: The Quran.  We will about to visit the same land where the Prophet (PBUH) was born, raised, grow up, do the s...

  It still feel surreal for me that I have decided to go for umrah. It's not like I'm becoming more religious, but things are just playing differently in my head now.  The past two years was an emotional rollercoaster. I never knew that life lessons could be so painfully unbearable if we face it with empty heart. I stopped writing -meaningful things, at least- and was just too busy dealing with emotions. But Alhamdulillah, it was all for the best. Allah's scenario is always the best. I was learning to recognize my inner wound, embrace it, and heal it. Now I know what it looks like to be a person carrying emotional wound from childhood, which they fail to address and it creates generational trauma. I am grateful that I had a chance to cut my chain before I pass it down to my future children. Although the process was not easy, and I was this close to being crazy. Long story short, to conclude these lessons, I decided to do Umrah for the first time. This decision was made on D...

  May always has a way to ruin my routine. I lost my grandfather on May 2021 which turns everything upside down. Now, I have my May watching Johnny Depp trial while waiting for the news of Ridwan Kamil's missing son. So many things happened and yet, I can't pause the work. Work flows like a river with infinite end. But it's over now, it's June. The trial has ended (Johnny wins, yeay), the Governor's son still missing, and I am still stuck on my desk, working.  But now I am able to define joy. I always know that joy is from within and we can't rely on external source to be happy. This is June, so I decided to chose joy on daily basis. *** June, 2nd 2022

  Have you ever come across the experience where you were thinking of something, and that something happened? Or when you question something, the answer come to your head?  Today, I had a kind of difficult day with work which I never experienced before in this new place. I got here six months ago, and everything is all sunshine and glitter. Happy day, happy thought, happy faces are all my daily digest. Until today, when I suppose to regulate my emotion, and I was begging Allah for one thing I want the most, and yet the answer is no. I couldn't resist but to cry, and yet I managed to regain self control and move on. I asked Him, why. Why did He rejects the only wish I have for the past six months, and then a few hours later an old colleague of mine invites me to a birthday dinner. We used to celebrate our birthday together in a fancy and classy way, because she's way older, way richer than me, and she happened to call me when she's having difficulty at work. After those diff...

  22-02-2022 I got tested as COVID positive. The first time I had Covid since this virus went viral. It wasn't a good Tuesday, at least not for me. I constantly think about death, although I know so many people have recovered from it. I had the symptoms.. pretty badly.. that painful fever, body aching, I cry in my room, I move to the other room and cry in that room, wishing for death. I had sore throat, and hoarse voice. So.. yeah. I got covid. Days went by, and I learn to live with it. It's getting lighter, but what warms my heart is the attention I get from my surroundings. Friends keep sending me food, plenty of them.. frozen food, milk, chocolate, herbs, honey, oat biscuit.. everything I need is here because they're sending me. While writing this post.. which I'm pretty aware it's been a while since my last post.. I have an herb with honey. The herbs is from my bestfriend Hera, and the honey is from my bestfriend since high school, Ijal. I also had a cookie with...