G rateful in 2019
2020 is just around the corner! Before we dive into the new year, have you taken a moment to reflect on how 2019 went? Did any of your goals happen, or are they rolling over into 2020?
Sometimes we forget how much we’ve actually done — but when we write things down, even the small wins feel worth celebrating. It’s a great way to boost motivation for the year ahead.
Everyone’s fighting their own battles. You never know what someone’s going through.
Everyone’s path is different, so comparing your journey to others doesn’t really help. Let’s just appreciate our own growth, yeah?
✅ Learned Unit Testing
This year I finally got hands-on with unit testing. I had read about it before, but 2019 gave me the chance to actually use it in real projects. Since I work with Vue, I focused on Jest and vue-test-utils.
Most of my learning came from looking at real examples — copying, tweaking, and exploring the docs to figure things out. Super practical and super helpful.
☁️ Got Involved in Cloud Migration
Towards the end of 2019, my team started moving services to Google Cloud (GCP). I was lucky to be a part of that!
The goal? Faster, more reliable services for users — and a smoother experience for us engineers too.
👨🏫 Mentored Juniors at Campus
I was invited back to my campus to mentor junior students. I shared some insights about UI/UX and frontend tech to help them prep for their Software Expo projects.
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| Talking about UI/UX in the industry |
💍 Got Married!
Big life milestone: I got married in 2019! Sure, marriage doesn’t magically fix everything — but it’s a great step, and I’m glad I took it.
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| At Al Akbar Mosque, Surabaya |
One cool part? Holidays are no longer just “meh.” There’s always an idea of where to go and what to do together.
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| Catching up with college friends |
🌲 Trip to Bandung
Bandung holds a special place in my heart — it’s where I first moved for work. This time, I came back with my wife and showed her around: Braga, Bandung Grand Mosque, and Punclut highlands.
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| Punclut has scenic photo spots too! |
We also stopped by The Lodge Maribaya to enjoy nature and take photos in the pine forest.
🐠 Explored Jakarta Aquarium
For locals it might be normal, but for me this place was a new experience! It’s inside Neo Soho Mall and has all kinds of sea creatures — rays, sharks, even piranhas.
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| Guess how we get in? |
The highlight? A live mermaid performance in the aquarium!
🍲 Short Trip to Malang
We squeezed in a getaway to Malang, which isn’t far from home. Hit up the famous Bakso Bakar Pahlawan, Batu Flower Garden, and even Jatim Park 3 for some themed fun.
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| Hanging out at Batu Flower Garden |
🌙 First Eid as a Married Couple
This Eid was our first as a couple, and we spent it in Blitar — where both our families are from. Super easy to split visiting time.
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| Eid with the fam |
We also had a big family reunion, which made this Lebaran even more special!
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| Reunion and team building vibes |
🚌 Company Outing to Jogja
Our team went to Jogja for the annual office outing! We checked out pine forests, Taman Sari, Ratu Boko, and Borobudur.
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| Team photo time! |
Oh, and rafting was wild. Tons of laughs and adrenaline!
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| Rafting and getting soaked |
So yeah — 2019 had a lot of good stuff. Here’s to being grateful for everything, and looking forward to more in 2020. 🚀