If the last time you saw me in the flesh was some time when I was in Southampton, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t recognize me now at first glance. I’ve lost 10 kgs since those days (the first 4 kgs was intentional, and the rest was due to stress), and I’ve become a lot less cheerful. I even realized that my writing is now bitter and sarcastic. Oh well.

I’ve shared bits of things I loathe about living here, but it’s only a tiny portion of the whole picture. Have you heard the latest news about the government banning same-sex emoticon on chatting apps? If you didn’t know where Indonesia stood on LGBT issue before, you might realize now that Indonesia is decades behind on these kind of things. And it’s no secret that the government has long become a laughing stock in here (seriously though, blocking Vimeo (and soon Tumblr) because it’s ‘full of porn’ is just beyond ridiculous. Guess we all know now who’ve been looking at/watching porn on those websites).

Okay, enough with the rant.

Living here has been frustrating and depressing at the same time, to say the least. I feel so unfulfilled, and this blog was my only escape. I edited old photos and wrote posts so I could feel like I was producing something worthy that I could be proud of.

I still do it, of course, but at the start of this year, I felt like I needed more than just this blog to channel my creativity. And maybe, I was also longing for the feeling of satisfaction after doing something that I’m passionate about. And so, this crappy situation has at least a silver lining: it urged me to start a photography business.

My days have been quite hectic since then. I work on weekdays, so weekend is the only time I can do shoots. I use my free time to edit photos, work on the website, and reach out to new clients. Tiring? Yes. I even fainted once at the office after a weekend full of photo jobs, leading to exhaustion and fatigue. But I feel so proud and challenged, and the satisfaction when seeing people love my work is beyond words.

There’s still a lot to learn and look forward to, but for a start, this has been great. My friends and people around me have been nothing but incredibly supportive and I’m so, so grateful for them.

The website is currently under development, so in the meantime, you can check (and like, maybe?) the Facebook page here. I’ll give you an update when the website is up and running! 🙂

Update: It’s decided that Tumblr won’t be blocked. I’m not a user, but glad to know that the government is not that retarded.