Yesterday was the beginning of a new month, therefore, it was the end of our first month opening a coffee shop. 

In our first month, we made 1,290 cups of beverages, 1,534 meals portion/snack bits, a huge amount of conversation, a number of memory boost and for sure, several new friends.

We survived through one chaostic day where my husband is out of town so I single handedly the shop while the oven broke down and Nala is sick and there was Silolona Private Yacht asks for goods to deliver. (Note: you can read about Silolona on my other writing).

We survived through the afternoons where no one stops by. We survived through mornings, or afternoons, where people queue to be seated.

We tried as hard as ever to put on a friendly smile to hard customers, and we amazed a lot of customers, simply by remembering who drinks what and what their regular is.

We survived through a 11 shake-drinks order with only one shaker in hand. We survived through people fighting in our shop. We survived through a broken down coffee grinder.

And, we happily survived in welcoming friends from Jakarta. Thank you Nico and Aline, you've been a great help with Nala and the shop.

All in all, the first month is a very interesting month of surviving. Survive is a good word since to be honest, we barely make it everyday. Try see our house for the first two weeks. Interesting is also a nice word since it is what keeps us going. We find that owning a coffee shop is a very interesting thing to do. I could experiment with whatever food that came in mind, and share it with customer and I even can be honest about it. We find that people spills their minds with coffee, not liquor, in our shop. 

Since the first, we know that this is it for us. It simply fits us. And we put on a stand, not to match other shops in this town where you can't throw a stone without hitting a coffee shop. We create our own water. We don't bother to match the menu, we don't bother to match the service. We are even stubborn enough to say that we don't sell things that won't go through our mouth and stomach.  The way I see it, it's like you can't tell a painter on how to paint you, or a photographer there is. :)

So, here we are, a month later. And I pray, for decades later.

Oh, and one last thing, I think my husband reached a new record of having a conversation this month.

Let the photos speak for themselves..

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In a few hours, the coffee shop will be opened for the first time for the public, and it unnerve me enough to had an insomnia and can't eat well for this last two days. I rarely got it.

During the years of my carreer life, I've served countless cups of cappuccino - latte - frappuccino - brewed coffee to customers. I've dealt with stubborn employee to stubborn customers. I've made recipes to boost up sales. I've made recipes especially for some customers so they felt like home with their personalized cup of coffee. I've stood up on my feet for 8 hours straight. I've served coffees at people's homes and parties.

So, does owning a small and simple coffee shop came easy on me? The work, yes. But, the name of the coffee shop, not.

You see, as I sweat during those years making cups to your like, I've been representing somebody else. It was other people's name on stake. Me? I'm merely a person you come up when you've a bug in your coffee. I'm merely a face you chat up with while waiting for your coffee at the bar. At the end of the day, you'll already forget that person with that face. All you remembered is that you had a nice perfect cup of coffee in your hand while you met with client or spent your time with a nice book that morning. 

This time, it's like I bare myself naked for people to see. How my coffee tasted, how my food blend in with their coffee, how I stopped and say hi to customers, how I put the decor, how I display my bar, it will all represent me. When people step in later this day, they will be greet not only by the barista at the bar, but they will meet the person who dream about this shop and then make it happen.

So, yes it's scary to put yourself up on the display as my pastries do. But I have to be proud also. Everything within the shop were handmade. Were known both to me and my husband. Every board - every paints - every pictures - every surfaces, they all went through our hands. 

I'm proud.. but I'm not that easy to satisfied. I hope to make more in days to come. But for now, enjoy!

Ps. pictures will come up later. The photographer is still in bed. :)

There are no playground here. One could hardly find any swing-slide-seesaw or any other related outdoor toys. There aren't any park even. 

Furthermore, there are no Tumble Tots, no daycares, and if you want any baby-sitters, you have to order one from Surabaya or Jakarta yourself.

Let me continue this for a moment, we have no art class, no painting class, no dancing lessons, no ballet lessons, and last time I checked, the music class already closed. 

So, what the hell should I do with an almost three years old that always has extra energy in her slot?!?!

We make do with what we have. And what we have, we have plenty of it, and it's one of the best.

We have water. Yes, you read it right. We have water everywhere here. We have it in pools, and we have it scattered around us, accessible through many kind of beaches, depends on what your mood guides you.

So, Nala accustomed to water. She enjoys it. And now, she seeks it. She could relax on a simple wooden boat. She prefers the deep water rather than the shallow one. She's excited on the big waves that came and swiped her. She demands her time in water.

She still can't sing any kid's song properly. She can't count properly. She speaks bilingual, as in Bahasa Ambon and Jakarta. :) She loves the creatures of the sea. Shark - hammerhead - barracuda are her favorites. And, she'll choose to be a sailor over a pilot or a doctor anytime! :D  

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Several days ago, we met and therefore made new friendships from the crew of Silolona Pinisi Ship.

What is a pinisi ship? Copied and pasted from wikipedia.com “The pinisi is a traditional Indonesian two masted sailing ship. It was mainly built by the Konjo of South Sulawesi but was and is largely used by the Bugis and Makassar.”

Or look for more info here: http://www.kastenmarine.com/phinisi_history.htm

Anyway, it was such a privilege to get to know the crews and to hop in and explore the ship itself. If I could use one word to describe both the crew and the ship, then the word I’ll pick is: original. It fascinates me to see how they stick to the originality of Indonesian culture, from the all-Indonesian crew to the food, the designs and eventually to the destinations they covered.

Visit silolona.com to learn more.

One thing though, my mind keep repeating this line for me while we’re on the ship: “A pirate’s life for me, yo ho ho..”

In related to prior post, Natsepa Beach is most famous by it's rujak. Here in Ambon, one can't simply eat rujak at the side of the road as we did in Jakarta. Here, rujak can be find only at beaches..

Here goes.. (photos by Victor)

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About 30 km from the city and located at the east side of Ambon downtown, Natsepa is a wide, sandy beach, and for sure is the most famous beach mentioned in Ambon. If anyone mentioned that they've been in Ambon, the questions followed for sure will include: "Have you visit the Natsepa Beach?"

Well, enjoy the beach through the pictures then.. (photos by Victor)

Well, there's no easy way to put these thinking into words, but a lady got to do what she must.. :)

Now, to admit out loud that things are not what they seemed and to admit that things are not as I expected.. man, it took a lot of courage from my part to say it out. But, as Hagrid said, better out than in!

Since we arrived in Ambon for good more than two months ago, we thought that everything ready, and we'll just move from one bubble to another bubble. 

Truth be told, we arrived to find that the house isn't ready for us yet. There were leaking everywhere, and that means we have to re-do almost all of the walls.

Since Ambon is reviving from the riots several years back, everybody seemed eager to re-built their houses and that result in shortage of workmanship. it took a month and a half to get the doors and windows settled. Not to mention the quality of the job that didn't stand a candle to my husband's high expectation.. :) Anyone who knew him will agree with me, do I hear a yes?! So, he ended up doing several jobs himself. A photographer turned a handyman.. hmm, not that unheard of.. :)

Anyway, the list can keep on and on. Now, at the other side of the pond, that would be my part, we spend these months staying at my parents' house. And, to me, this is the hardest part to endure since I'm a complete control freak kind of gal. Having to submit myself under others for two weeks won't be a problem. But having to do it for over two months and counting, man.. that called for some divine intervention to cool me down. 

So, this fine Saturday morning, I found myself pondering and thinking that at this very moment, I'll just have to pause and walk from one day to another. Yes, the progress is there. Yes, the progress is slow but we will get there eventually. Yes, this is about time to learn the meaning of things are not entirely in my hands. So, right now for me the glass is neither half full nor half empty. The glass is simply half-filled, but.. I'm looking forward to see it filled until spilled over.