About Me

I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1965. When I completed my undergraduate degree in Geology I won a full scholarship provided by the Indonesian consortium of oil and gas to study in the US. I graduated with a Master of Science degree in Geology from Colorado School of Mines in 1994. A fter marriage to my American wife, I returned to Indonesia to work in the oil industry for 4 years.

Two main events that affected my life and my family occurred in 1998, firstly the “Thai” Currency exchange crisis that impacted Southeast Asia and massive forest fires – the burning of the native rainforest by palm oil plantation companies which took place around the oil compound where we lived. These two economic & environmental disasters prompted me and my family to leave Indonesia and immigrate to the US.

After successfully riding the up-and-down oil industry for 27 years, I started asking myself what fulfilling activity I would like to do for the rest of my life. I quickly found out that I’d like to help people maintain their health.

Massage has been a big part of my life since I was very young. At age 5, I used to walk on my grandparents’ and my parents’ back and legs, a massage modality that now is called Thai or Ashiatsu massage. My family had a massage therapist (Tukang Urut in Indonesian). She was an elderly lady whom I had to pick up from her home by the traditional transportation caddy called a becak. She always dressed in traditional Javanese attire. The services that she provided are the same as what we call here a “mobile massage service.” The difference is that she didn’t come with a portable massage table. The massage was done on our own bed using a purely natural massage oil (typically eucalyptus oil - Minyak Kayu Putih).

Another historic point related to massage in my past life: I was bullied when I was 10 years old in 1975. I decided to do something about it so I started learning martial arts in order to defend myself. I joined traditional Japanese Karate and fell in love with the sport and actively competed in karate tournaments throughout my college years. Hard training comes with consequences: injuries and fatigue. Traditional massage provided by the local healers -Tukang Urut - helped me maintain my well-being throughout those years as an athlete. In brief, I have been the recipient of and have benefited from massage therapy throughout my life.

I have also been giving massage to my family for two decades without proper training so when, in 2020, I started to think about a profession that I’d like to pursue outside the oil & gas industry, it quickly become obvious: I wanted to become a massage therapist. I started looking for a massage school but had no luck since all massage schools in the Houston area were closed due to the Covid pandemic. Fortunately in Spring, 2021, Laurel School of Massage in Spring reopened. I enrolled in their evening classes and graduated in February, 2022.

Everyone needs to maintain their optimal health regardless of whether or not they are currently having health problems. Maintaining our well-being is not simple or just physically-related, but actually is a complex interaction of our physical and psychological environment, as well as genetic predisposition, job, relationships with spouse and family members, etc. Given this complexity, I recognize that I cannot be the solution of all of my clients’ health problems; however, my goal is to focus on things that I can potentially help with, within the scope of my practice, such as the following:

• Alleviating pain
• Maintaining or improving range of motion/joint mobility
• Improving blood and lymphatic circulation systems
• relaxation that can potentially reduce stress levels