Shopping Bags and Bus - Singapore

What are those shopping bags sitting on top of the bus?

Surprise..It's the bus stop!

Just for fun.

Have fun...learn and grow!

Sweep, Sweep...Broom

Photo by Inge Santoso, Canon G9 - Marine Parade, Singapore

This picture was taken yesterday in Singapore. I often see clothes hanging, but this is the first time I saw sweeper and broom hanging out of the window. Great interesting idea!

Learn and Grow!

Language Confusion

Last Sunday was my brother-in-law's birthday. We celebrated his birthday by having lunch together. When we were going to order, there weren't enough menu, so my mother called the waitress to ask for a menu. She said,"Minta menu satu lagi.(We need one more menu book)" The waitress understood and gave us the menu.

After the waitress gave us the menu, I asked my mother,"Mum, which country are we in right now?"

She innocently said,"We are in Singapore. Why do you ask?"

I said,"Mum, what language do we usually speak when we are in Singapore?"

She said,"....English?"

I said,"What language did you use when you asked for the menu just now?"

I saw her face blushed and finally she realized that she has used Indonesian language to speak to the waitress just now. We had a really good laugh together. HAHAHA

Lesson:

1. Remember what country we are in and adjust to the language and customs

2. Singapore is a great multi-cultural country where most people speak more than two languages :)

Learn and Grow!

CONGRATULATIONS!

The Solemnization Celebration of Adi and Imelda.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Ms. Lucky of the Week

Last Friday night was PMK Rhema 12th Anniversary celebration. I was in charge of giving out the door prize. I decided to put "winning door prize" sticker underneath some chairs. I put three stickers in front to encourage people to sit and fill the front seats, then I put some more stickers underneath random seats.

I purposely sat on the chair that I knew that there was no winning sticker underneath because it wouldn't be fair if I also won a door prize. Somehow while I was busy going around taking photos of the event, someone decided to move my belonging to another chair on the table...the chair that won a door prize. It's really amazing to see how lucky I am. Even when I purposely did not want a door prize, I could still win. I gave the door prize to the person sitting next to me though.

I also had another game for winning a door prize. It was to see whether you had a money in your wallet that its serial number ended with number 12 (PMK's anniversary). There were only four people who won. When I went home, I checked my wallet whether I had that kind of money too. You know what? I actually had one that ended with number 12. Wow! I could've won two door prizes that night if I wasn't the person handling the door prize event HAHAHA

Perhaps I should buy a lotto number this week :)

Learn and Grow!

The Principle of Abundance

Last night I had a profound insight about ABUNDANCE.

We've been lead to believe in scarcity, that THE PIE (wealth pie, resource pie, etc) is limited. If there are more people eating the pie, everybody will get less. The scarcity mentality believes that there isn't enough of everything for everybody. This scarcity mentality discourages sharing and giving because if you give, you'll have less. I used to believe in it, but my experience in the last week taught me that there is actually abundance for everybody everywhere.

Do you remember my post on May 29th, 2008 when I won vouchers from Gramedia just by sitting in front and asking question during Adi W Gunawan's seminar? I shared my vouchers, worth Rp. 25,000 each to four teachers sitting near me. Then today I won a voucher from Sekawan worth Rp. 110,000. I used this voucher to buy three books for door prizes, so it would bless three more people.

The same amount of money Rp. 100,000 going around and around through me, has made me happy at least 9 times and enabled me to help seven people to have a book. Why happy 9 times? First time, I was happy when I won the Gramedia vouchers. Then four times when those teachers were thanking me. The sixth time when I won the Sekawan voucher. Then another three times when these people won a door prize. Total 9 times HAHAHA I believe that there will be more happiness to come.

Imagine that a simple act of asking question and sharing can start a chain reaction of blessing to so many people. Simply Awesome!

Another lesson that I learned from this - the principle "the more you give, the more you receive" is real and it is a catalyst for abundance. By sharing what I receive instead of keeping it for myself, I've helped to bless many people along the way. I actually received 10% more than I gave in term of money value and priceless feeling of joy, being blessed and appreciated.

Whatever blessing you have received from God, be happy to share with others...God will provide and make it grow so that there will be abundance.

Learn and Grow!

Winning Again! The Law of Attraction in Action!

Yesterday I went to Sekawan to buy three books for PMK Rhema 12th Anniversary door prize gifts. When I paid for the books, I was told that last month's winning date was May 5th. Sekawan bookshop has a program that every month, they will draw a lottery to choose a winning date of the month and whatever you buy on that winning date, you will get 100% discount! You get a voucher that you can use before the 16th of the following month. When I got home, I went through my receipt and YES,I WON!

This morning I was so enthusiastic going back to Sekawan bookstore to get my free voucher. I used the voucher straight away because it would expire on June 16th. I bought a best seller book "Laskar Pelangi" with it.

It's really amazing. The law of attraction is working in many aspects of my life.

Learn and Grow!

Teacher's Certification Program

Last week I saw an advertisement of a two-day training "Become A Great Teacher". I was interested because I saw that the fee was quite cheap, Rp.140,000 including lunch and coffee break.

When I went there to apply on Saturday, I was quite taken back because it was not what I had expected. Some of the teachers that went for the training actually came only to get a certificate. They were not interested in learning how to become a great teacher, they just wanted to get a certificate at the end of the training.

The first time I was aware of this phenomenon was when I attended Adi W Gunawan's seminar in Jogja last week. When the speaker asked the audience about their intention to attend, there was one teacher who stood up and answered that he came to get a certificate.

I also observed the same thing with Prof. Yohanes Surya's seminar in Jogja last week. There was a fee of Rp. 5,000 to attend the seminar, and it seemed to be the cost of printing the certificate. I came to this conclusion because when I told them that I did not need a certificate, they gave me the ticket for free.

I think it is good that teachers are encouraged to develop and improve their skills and knowledge by giving them points when they can prove that they have attended a training or seminar. I am glad that the government has a noble intention to start  giving incentives for professional development. In practice however, the reality can be so different from what is intended. Instead of learning and upgrading their skills, some just take shortcut to get incentives. In my opinion, it is the same as cheating to get high marks or even buying a grade.

How can these teachers expect their students to study hard and earn their grade when they give a bad example of taking shortcut and cheating to get higher grade? Teachers, please remember that the apple does not fall far from the tree.

I certainly don't generalize that all teachers are like this. I am grateful that there are still so many teachers out there that are really great and wonderful. These awesome teachers teach from their heart and they truly make a difference in the lives of their students. I am fortunate that I have had my share of truly amazing teachers that not only taught me but inspired me.

My hope is that through this program, there will be more teachers in Indonesia that become a learning teacher who continually strive to develop their knowledge and skills.

If  you are a teacher and you want to learn, please do not hesitate to contact me (santoso_inge(at)yahoo(dot)com). I'd love to share and learn from each other.

Learn and Grow!

Strawberry Fried Rice - A New Experience

I ordered this DelStro Strawberry Fried Rice for lunch today. I was curious what it'd taste like. It's the first time that I ate strawberry with fried rice. I suspected that it would taste weird because strawberry is sweet and sour while fried rice is salty and spicy. After putting the first spoonful into my mouth, I knew that I was right. Strawberry and fried rice definitely don't go well together!

I bought this strawberry fried rice because I wanted to have a new experience. There are other kinds of fried rice, perhaps they taste even better than the strawberry fried rice, but I wanted to expand my comfort zone and satisfy my curiosity.

What have you done today to expand your comfort zone?

Learn and Grow!

New Bed and Good Night Sleep

Last week we bought a new Dunlopillo Backsafe mattress, divan and headboard to replace my old bed. I wanted to get a new mattress because the old mattress was too soft and it did not support my back. This time, I specifically asked for a very firm mattress that would support my back, thus avoiding back pain. The divan and headboard were bought as an afterthought because I loved leaning on the headboard when I read at night.

The bed was delivered two days ago and I've had such a good night sleep two nights in a row. In the last two days, I woke up about one hour later than my usual wake up time at 5AM. My family commented that it was because of the new bed being too comfortable.

I believe a good night sleep is very important because it is the time when our brain processes and re-organizes information that we receive during the day. It is also the time when our body detoxifies and rejuvenates to prepare us for the next day. (Ahem, my excuses for sleeping longer HAHAHA)

What do I love about this bed?

• It is firm and hard, yet soft and comfortable. I don't know how to explain it, you just have to feel it yourself
• It provides independent support so that when I twist and turn, I do not disturb the person sleeping next to me
• I was told that it is low allergenic and pollution-free. It has anti-microbes properties and resistance towards dust mites, mould and bacteria. It is basically healthy.

Although it may be a good investment in the long run, but I still feel it is a very expensive purchase. If I want to rationalize this purchase, I would calculate the daily cost over a period of time. It costs me 50 cents a day. The question is...Would I pay 50 cents a day for a good night sleep? Well, yes! Would you?

I am looking forward to having good night sleeps in the days to come.

Learn and Grow!

Credit Card Fraud Incident

Last month when I checked my credit card statement, I was quite surprised to see an unrecognized transaction. It was a purchase in Jakarta by the amount of Rp. 500,000. I was sure that it was a fraudulent purchase because of several reasons:

• I was in Jogja on that particular day. I was having coffee in Starbucks Jogja and the credit card statement clearly stated that I had two transactions in Jogja that day.
• I always keep track of all my expenses, no matter how small or trivial it is.
• I rarely used that particular card because it was an additional card issued by the bank. I only used the card once when I bought something from the bank catalogue the month before. At first I suspected that they double billed me on that transaction because the amount was the same, but the bank said that it wasn't.
• The card was brand new because my sister just brought it home from Jakarta that weekend.

I called the bank's customer service and I was advised to block the card and got it replaced, costing me Rp. 50,000. Then they also said that I could get the detail of the transaction so that I could be sure that it was not my transaction, costing me another Rp. 30,000. Since I was convinced that it was not my transaction I followed their advice. I thought if it was really a fraudulent transaction then I could save Rp.420,000 (Rp.500,000 minus Rp 80,000).

I also decided to pay the credit card bill in full because I did not want them charging me interest if it turned out to be a valid transaction. I'd rather have the bank credited the amount back to me if it turned out to be legitimate.

Last week, I received a copy of the transaction slip. When I saw the signature, it surely was not mine but it looked familiar. Finally I recognized the signature, it was my sister's!

Before lodging the complain to the bank, I've already asked my sister whether she ever used my credit card and she said she would never have used mine. I also asked her whether she recognized the name of the store and she said that she didn't recognized the name. When I showed her the transaction slip, she also recognized her signature. Finally after asking her secretary to search through all her credit card receipts, she found the original slip. It turned out she mistakenly used my credit card because she put my new credit card in her wallet because she was afraid of losing it if she put it in her bag. She took out the wrong credit card when she paid a deposit for her gown.

Yesterday I called the bank to inform them that I wanted to withdraw the complain about that transaction because I already knew what happened. They said that they'd charge me Rp. 80,000 for the cost of card replacement and detail enquiry.

How did I feel about this? First, I was slightly embarrassed because I was so convinced that it was the bank's fault, yet at the end it turned out to me our own mistake. Second, I was quite annoyed with my sister because she didn't keep a good record her transactions, otherwise she would've known when I asked her the first time. Third, I was upset because I had to pay Rp.80,000 to find out.

Lessons:

1. Keep a complete record of all your transactions, especially credit card transactions because it will be very helpful in case your credit card is used by other people.
2. Make sure that you check the name on the card before using it to avoid mistakenly using your sibling's card.

Learn and Grow!

Inge Santoso

Interview with TrijayaFM Jakarta

This morning at 8.15AM I was interviewed by TrijayaFM Jakarta. It was about Hydropuncture, 6-in-1 therapy that my partners and I started in 2004.

I find it interesting how often Hydropuncture receives attention from the media. The first time, there was a crew from Metro TV that came to our place. The second time, there were several magazines that wrote articles about us. The third was TrijayaFM Jakarta.

When I asked them where they heard about us. They said that they found out about us through the internet. I was quite surprised when they told me because I haven't updated the website for a long time.

I think it's not the website that draws the attention but the brand name, HYDROPUNCTURE! It shows how important a name can be, especially a brand name.

How do you create and build a brand?

Learn and Grow!

Inge Santoso