Christmas with Love 2008

Hm I know I should've posted this sooner, and now the moment's really gone but nevertheless, not enough reason for me not to force my eyes open to write something 'bout it here at... gee 4:46 am... gotta hurry...

So a week ago, December 13, 2008 we went to a Christmas party held by KMKI Jpn (Indonesian Christian Community in Japan), somewhere near Meguro. It was pretty huge, with Indonesian Ambassador to Japan being there and opened the event. But um, without any slight intention to show less respect to Mr. Ambassador, I must say I came solely to see the guest star of the night, Rio Febrian *sigh... what a voice he has *. That and of course to celebrate Christmas itself with all my dear friends

Totally enjoyed the night, oh who didn't?? we all got to see rio febrian sing 4 songs *four wasn't it? uh pardon the memory, I'm getting old* one of them is actually my second most favorite Christmas song, The First Noel. Number one is not yet to be dethroned, Mary's Boy Child hehe Anyway, since my departure to Hong Kong is not until 25 Dec, it is only true if I say Christmas with Love 2008 is still the highlight of this month so far.

But too bad, we went home empty handed. Ohhh I wish I won the door prize, round trip ticket to Bali + 4 days accommodations...

Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes

何これ、一番人気あるって。。。まじ？？？騙された！！

Okay I only read the first few pages so it's maybe a little early for me to say this: "I don't like it". Maybe it will get better if I keep reading but ohhh... it's so hard. I kept frowning at every single sentence I read and I got this huge need to bang my head on the wall . Read for yourself, here, a little preview:

--> this is the part where I really couldn't take it anymore. But a girl gotta stick to her principle; read the book till last page!! oh boy!!! <--

"... But, because her life had begun to resemble, however briefly, a crime drama, Mum got carried away and tried to break down the locked apartment door by running at it with her shoulder - even though, and I can't stress this enough, Helen had a key. And Mum knew she had it. It had been given to her by the missing woman's sister and all Mum got for her trouble was a badly mashed shoulder." *comment: OH COME ON!!!*

!@#$%* What was I thinking??? Why did I buy this book??

Christmas Shoes

Christmas Shoes (by: Newsong)

It was almost Christmas time,
There I stood in another line
Trying to buy that last gift or two,
Not really in the Christmas mood.
Standing right in front of me
Was a little boy waiting anxiously,
Pacing round like little boys do,
And in his hands, he held a pair of shoes.
And his clothes were worn and old.
He was dirty from head to toe,
And when it came his time to pay,
I couldnt believe what I heard him say.

Chorus:
Sir, I wanna buy these shoes for my momma please.
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size.
Could you hurry, Sir? Daddy says there's not much time.
You see, she's been sick for quite a while;
Know these shoes will make her smile.
Want her to look beautiful
if Momma meets Jesus tonight.

He counted pennies for what seemed like years
Then the cashier said Son, there's not enough here.
He searched his pockets frantically
Then he turned and he looked at me.
He said Momma made Christmas good at our house
Though most years she just did without.
Tell me, Sir, what am I gonna do?
Somehow I've got to buy her these Christmas shoes!
So I laid the money down;
I just had to help him out.
And I'll never forget the look on his face
When he said Momma's gonna look so great!

*Chorus

I knew that I chought a glimpse of heavens love
As he thanked me and ran out.
I knew that God had sent that little boy to remind me
What Christmas is all about.



First time I heard this song played was two days ago. I totally love it. Always brings me to tears whenever I hear it. The song is an original soundtrack of a movie titled Christmas Shoes (2002). Planning to watch it today.

Lalaport

Yeah!! at long last, a shopping center that I can finally call a mall. One of few things that I miss a lot about jakarta is its huge array of malls! Sure you can find tons of shopping centers here but, I don't know, something's just missing they don't deserve to be called "mall". I don't sense the-mall-vibe coming from them. So when I set foot for the first time on Lalaport in Kamoi, it just clicked. A Mall Thanks to ellen, she told me about it

There's shuttle bus every 30 mnts from Kamoi station to Lalaport, and of course free of charge. It takes approximately 15 mnts on the bus. I was thinking of walking all the way there but no, I've had enough of that already. Few weeks ago I spent almost 4 hours walking *not even a minute rest* from Machida to Fujigaoka *30 mnts by train*. Apparantly, this stingy side of me won me over. I wanted to figure out whether I could go there without having to spend 600 yen on round trip train ticket; which is now I know I can but oohhh soooo not worth wasting 4 hours outside in a cold. I was miserable for two weeks afterwards, my feet were in pain.

Anyway, Lalaport at night... gorgeous, with all the lights on the tree sparkling; made you wanna stare at them all night. The photo I took? Too bad, don't do the justice.

~I love tulips~

nabe feast

>>the crab is back<<

oh I have the whole time in the world and still, I'm too lazy as to post last weekend small party hhh so, one short posting and a bunch of pics will do for now.

quick summary:
:: sunday evening @machida apartment
:: nabe... yeahhhh *thanks to ria, we got to eat nabe!!*
:: cheese fondue+chocolate fondue = that day's highlight *geez, nothing could ever beat dipping banana in choco fondue... yum*

i could sleep all day... la vita e bella

illumination @Tama Center

What first comes to your mind if you hear the word winter? Snow and Christmas, right?! And Christmas lamps add more fairy land kind of vibe and beauty into our Christmas spirit, don't you think? *no, i don't mean to dwarf the deep, deep meaning of Christmas itself, but come on... no one can resist the beauty of those little lamps ^^* So, to mark the beginning of winter, many places in Tokyo are specially decorated with all kind of illuminated figures and shapes. We went to see one of those festive lighting in Tama Center. Sanrio Land is located there, so it's only natural if Sanrio characters become the main mascots.

We planned to meet up at Fujigaoka ryou, ate lunch together, and at 3 o'clock enjoyed a Christmas concert in front of Tokyu Store Fujigaoka, but... once again, it was only the plan. We didn't have the heart to leave the comfort and the entertainment fujigaoka ryou offered. Ping-pong table! Had a good laugh, so much fun. I remembered the last time I played ping-pong with my dad in Bandung nine years ago, hhh... time really goes by so fast.

doing nothing

I'm so bored...

~December 03, 2008~

an evening at starbucks

December 01, 2008
16:39

I love this... sitting on the couch by the window, Christmas song playing softly, me enjoying a cup of caramel coffee. Outside, the sky is just perfect, cold breeze... leaves falling down.

:: machida ::

I brought a novel (A Thousand Splendid Suns) with me and I've reached the part where one of the main characters, Laila, tastes her first grief. I hate the way it reminds me much of... mm that. I just have to peek inside and I can see it again very clearly, every single detail. Excruciating. I'm shock it's still there, that small, filthy box topped with dust, lying on the corner.. inside my mind. Gee, it sure is a small box but oh what a considerable amount of space does it take!

Yippie ^^

Oh my, a lot of new hopes, new dreams, new plans stuffed in my head that I can barely catch up with. I even don't know where to begin, everything seems equally important to me, be it traveling, get a new job, be in japan or get my a** outta here, or even doing nothing at all... can't pick one, I want them all ^^ I'm so lost *but mind you, in the BEST way* I can't stop smiling I'm afraid people call me crazy. Like today after my last visit to Hachiouji, God, the scenery along the way couldn't have been more beautiful. Up high, the sky was spotless blue, and the clouds... so white and puffy like cotton without any shade of gray, and if I shifted my gaze near the horizon line, there was a line of mountains and trees... ochre, yellow, red foliage spotted here and there. It was calming...

Yeah!!!

Hm akhirnya bisa ngerasa lega, free. Now, I could leave Japan whenever I want. What surprised me most; I didn't feel down. I just couldn't help smiling when I heard the news. Like a huge burden is off my shoulders. Skrng, klo aku mau, bisa langsung pulang ktemu mama papa, temen2, bisa ke jkt lagi, bs kerja di other country. Abisnya klo ga gini, if it was up to me to decide, aku ga bakalan bisa mutusin tuh kontrak, kemaren2nya malah sempet mikir klo august ntar mo perpanjang lagi... hmm weird I thought, pengen ganti suasana baru eh tp ga bisa bener2 ngambil actual step-nya. So, today, He gave me the answer. Thank you... dearest Lord. Now, I could really fly.

Hahaha duh pengen ketawa, pengen scream on top of my lung how much I feel so free, so peaceful right now. But next plan??? I still don't know

Momiji hunting

Woo-hoo! 3 days off!

On Friday, me ria ellen had our movie night *didn't actually plan it* It is such a shame to let friday night slip just like that, don't you think? We watched I Am Legend and I'm not sure if I like the ending. Sam is dead!! Why couldn't they let the dog live?? Other than that, I say the movie... hm quite good?! For the whole first part of the movie - before the arrival of other fellow human - I kept having goose bumps, you know, just imagine, you live alone without any living soul except your dog... uh, me would have gone crazy in an instant.

The next day was spent by curling under my three-layer warm blanket, idled the morning away by watching Friends - the most brilliant tv series ever!! - reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, sleeping, watching, eating and eating again until it was 2 pm. Time for me to get ready. And, an hour and a quarter later off we (Ellen and I) went to Catholic Church in Meguro. We attended the evening service and... a feast. Soto, gado-gado, lumpia, opor ayam, kerupuk, sambal... INDONESIAN FOOD!!! Thank God, You did know how much I craved for Gado-gado. Oh what a blessed Saturday night...

After brutally attacking those foods, we (+edwin) dashed to Shibuya to meet Tawil and Rendy to discuss tomorrow's plan. Wait, no. That would be a lie. The truth is, we wouldn't have gone in the first place to Shibuya if the nearest Beard Papa's store were not in Shibuya. Me and ellen REALLY wanted to buy those Beard Papa's cream puffs *yeah, thanks to inge, to arouse this craving ^^*

Hhh so beat, and foolish me, I decided not to sleep given that I had to wake up early in the morning coz we planned to meet up in Kita Kamakura at 6 or 7 o'clock *forgot* and from where I live it takes for about one and a half hour. But, as often happened before, I... uhm I drifted off to sleep. Geez, it was so freaking cold in that ungodly hour and I really had no options other than snuggling under blanket. I closed my eyes *just a couple minute, until whatever song that was playing then was over, I thought* ... But, once my head touched the pillow... that was it *sigh* 2 hours in the dreamland.

Sunday

Momiji hunting @Kamakura.

Oh what a disappointment! I thought I would see Kamakura in its glory, with all red, orange and yellow leaves, but instead, the trees that had turned red were not that many compared to the green ones, and scattered everywhere. Less to my liking, coz what I had in mind was this Kamakura with red and orange foliage drifting down. Nevertheless, count the momiji out and there it was, breathtakingly morning scenery of the old capital of Nippon, Kamakura. True I didn’t fancy the still-too-much-green scenery, but I did adore the town; its shops, its narrow streets, and I loved watching people leisurely doing their activities. Somehow, I felt like strolling in Ubud *ehm, without the rice fields of course* and though I’ve never been to Seattle before *?? why Seattle? i dunno myself, popped up just like that*, I imagined more or less, that what it would be like, with all the local markets. I love small towns!

~hihihi LMAO, National TREESURE~

After eating our lunch in a curry house *we gratefully claimed our seats after half an

hour waiting outside on the sidewalk* we visited one more temple, ugh forgot what it is called. Then from there, with battered body and soul *hell, I only slept for 2 hours!* we were off to our next destination, the most beloved Enoshima. The sunset was totally

awesome *God how great Thou Art*

On Monday, well, as a revenge for my last failed-plan, I did secure a hell lot of time to myself ^^ just getting through the day by reading.

I need to stop worrying

"Don't make it worse by thinking it's more painful than it actually is."

~The Boy in the Striped Pajamas~

Definitely true since I do a lot of thinking *and imagining things I should not* which makes the whole thing indeed worse.

Chasing Harry Winston

Oh my... another disappointment. After those many days reading Lauren Weisberger's Chasing Harry Winston, I found myself so glad to FINALLY reach the last page. *Pardon my humble opinion* It wasn't downright bad or anything, but it was so... plain I had to push my way through pages. When I was about half the book, I found the e-book version of Lauren Weisberger's Everyone Worth Knowing so I alternately read them both. I found Everyone Worth Knowing waayy much more interesting.

Okay so Chasing Harry Winston tells a story of three bestfriends, Adriana, Leigh, and Emmy. The story begins with Emmy and her bf breaking up. This event lead to Emmy's new resolution followed by Adriana's.

Adriana is a party animal trying to commit to one man only and secure herself a Harry Winston ring whereas the-commitment-type Emmy tries a new life-style; to collect men from every continent that is. And Leigh, although she's in so-perfect relationship, somehow she's not content with what she has, like something's missing but she can't quite put a finger on the matter and can't stop wondering what goes wrong actually. Well, Adriana, Leigh and Emmy soon figure out that apparently they are not being honest with themselves and that by trying to lead a completely new life they're being someone they're not, DUH!! *so cliché*. This book definitely falls under my never-read-twice category. Gee I wish I bought Everyone Worth Knowing instead...

I'm not really head over heels into Chicklit, but among those that I've read, none yet coming as close as to dethrone Shopaholic series

Feeling guilty

ohmigod, I.Can't.Stand.Him!! There's a Korean guy here sitting next to me who keeps moving it's driving me nuts. He seems to keep flailing his arms in every direction while talking *in his countrymen signature loud voice*. This behaviour, my friends, indeed looked cute to me for a solid one week. But, it goes unbelievably annoying if you have to endure this man every single day. For what I think would be a peaceful moment when he doesn't talk, he writes with SUCH intense the whole desk shaking and dramatically throws and scatters papers everywhere. Ow and he doesn't forget to make LOUD sigh *the kind of sigh only Korean can make, I assure you* every 5 minutes literally!! Oohhh how I wish I could yell at him to stop.

He's funny, granted, but other than that, I seem to get more irritated every passing hour and today I just couldn't help it anymore. Believe me, I TRIED to maintain my composure and act nicely in front of him *oh what a hard work* but certainly something wrong with me today that I simply couldn't take it. Um maybe my emotion was written clearly enough on my face that few minutes ago he finally asked me if I happened to be not in a good mood today. Oh and I felt guilty all of a sudden *sigh*

Long Weekend :: part 2 ::

What a dull weekend. Didn't exactly plan anything anyway. It was all started on Friday, I got to go home earlier at 3 o'clock *can't believe my luck*. Later that day, I met my brother at 7 and at 9 pm went to the gym with the girls. Granted, I had a lot of time between 3 and 7 pm, and actually planned a little self-indulgence time in Starbucks near apartment, but I ended up drinking instant hot cocoa instead *sigh* Why? So it was my quick decision that ruined everything. I thought it would be way more comfortable if I changed my clothes for something more casual, warmed myself a little in my apartment and grabbed a good book. The sky and the weather that day were just perfect, made me want to sketch too. Since I didn't bring my sketchbook, going home first made a good sense. Wrong decision. I should have just dashed to Starbucks, coz once I dropped my bag and curled up under the blanket I just knew instantly; no Starbucks for me. With the afternoon sunlight showered my room and crisp autumn breeze made its way in through a slightly opened balcony door, you tell me if there was really any way I could resist the temptation to take a quick nap. So that was the end of my little self-indulgence plan outside. When I think about it now, it was such a shame! I let it slip just like that. I could kill for weekdays-afternoon-Starbucks time now! Oh well, lesson learned.


~Nov 02, 03~
Continuing the previous post about my long weekend; on Sunday, didn't go anywhere in particular. Ow, me and ellen did grocery shopping tho, and I spent the entire day cooking for the next 4 days lunches. And finally, Nov 03. We went to Nobi san's house for a "GET" party. It was fun. Delicious food and we got to see a very beautiful night view from the balcony.

Maya Angelou :: A Letter to My Daughter

... It is my intent to say you may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. You will be changed, events will change you, but you have to decide not to be reduced.

~Maya Angelou (when interviewed by CNN)~

Long Weekend :: part 1 ::

Long weekend!!! cheers to that! libur 3 hari hehe, hmm liburan kali ini lumayan ada kegiatan. Sabtu seharian jalan, soale ada temen *haven't met before* dateng ke Jpn, so pada ngumpul di Shibuya bentar trus lanjut ke Ueno buat nyari coat. Abis itu malemnya si Rendy having belated b'day party di Nabezou Shinjuku. Capek banget seharian jalan, ampe Machida skitar jam 12-an malem. Photo menyusul di-upload klo dah dapet. Eh ya, hihi akhirnya gw makan Krispy Kreme Jpn jg *thanks to Stivan ~sering2 donk ^^~*

Oya oya, pertama kali liat bintang di Tokyo hihi, duh excuse me deh for being udik, but I do love watching stars tp disini hampir ga pernah nongol. Terakhir liat di Mount Fuji. Hmm yg kemaren ini sih cuman dikiiit banget but it's okay lah drpd kagak ada. Besok2nya tepar ampe ga ke gereja *again... duh do forgive me dear God* bangun sih bangun jam 8an tp badan rasanya pegel2 mana dingin pula kan. Malemnya maunya ke New Hope Church Sagamihara tp berhubung yg laen pada ke Mount Takao, ga pergi dah. Padahal dah janji mo dateng lagi hahaha

Hmm kemaren tuh bener2 ngerasa really weird. Tiap kali denger, I felt something like a big thump in my chest, bener2 di otak gw tuh rasanya mrk manggil the one person I knew. Mesti struggle buat ga fall apart lagi, to keep smiling. It's just plainly ridiculous, bener2 ga da hubungannya sama skali, I know. But even one common thing is enough to make me remember all stuffs again. Gosh, I'm being silly.

Regret?... Sort of

Lately, there seems to be more people from Yokogawa show up at Hachiouji. Really annoying *excruciating would be the exact word* It's not the people, mind you, it's.. well it's me! I envy them. Looking at their laptop with Yokogawa sign on it, all the software and applications that I'm *still* familiar with. For a split second the most stupid thought even crossed my mind, uh to apologize sincerely for quitting in the first place and to ask whether they have some tricks up their sleeves to get me back there. Pretty stupid huh?! Who whined months ago that she had enough? Who said repeatedly to herself that she deserved something better? And now when the chance is on the plate, am I going to throw it away just because the mere sight of ****ing company logo?? Hell no! Huahahaha so yeah, I made my choice two months ago and am gonna stick with it. But you see, even if I were to change my mind and beg my Eigyou-kata, I couldn't get my old job back that easily. Indeed, they made it pretty clear b'fore, no turning back, no stepping foot even in other division. So... I guess I should thank God for making this one way track only *grin* I ought to step forward no matter what.
But he's sitting in front of me now, a guy from Yokogawa. Typing ever so fast, and oh look at that label with an application name written on it... I KNOW THAT APP! That one's unmistakeably the last app I was working on before I walked out. Eww *wince*... as silly as it may sound, I MISS MY OLD JOB!!

:: Shikkari shite!!! ::

It's all 'bout Nature ::Painting::

:: Pine Forest ::

October 19, 2008
~Watercolor~

:: Daisies ::
October 19, 2008
~ Watercolor ~

It might just be true if I say "Battered, bruised daisies" wakkakaka
Okay a little story behind the daisies painting. I have this watercolor tutorial book and am at the "Negative Painting" chapter rite now. It has been long since I really wanted to make one myself but there was always another thing that took my attention. So, on Sunday morning while I was at it, reading through the particular chapter, I thought why shouldn't I try the technique? And the chaos began. Basically, so much a beginner myself in watercolor, I may need an art product called masking fluid that saves white. Just apply the product to area where you want to save the white. It's that easy. Spares you a lot of time and trouble also.

But you see, I said to myself; "Hey let's do this without one and see how it goes" and as a result, the finished negative-painting daisies is not what I expected *sob*

>> oh my... this is brilliant huahahahaha LMAO

So little money so many to buy

Okay, so I have this list of things I REALLY wanna buy, but... considering that three days ago I just bought winter jacket for a good 8k yen *quite a fortune for me sob*, I don't have the heart to spend even a penny. Ohh but I do love the jacket, I must say the jacket's well worth the price. Inge found it when we wandered around the Jorna mall and so we both came back on Monday night to get them with different color, mine is white and hers is black. It's a casual jacket *I want the formal one too ~groan~*


These are on my list:
1. Gossip Girl Novel (1-7)
2. No-heel boots
3. Formal coat

:: About the GG novels, I'm not sure yet, are they as good as the GG tv show? The last thing I want is for the novels to shatter the image I got from the show *isn't it the other way round? ... No, I watched the tv show first * hmm... okay, I think I can wait a couple months for the GG.

:: No. 2 on the list, no-heel dark brown leather boots. Now, that's pretty hard to resist. But I own 3 boots already, so uh-huh the boots can wait.

:: Ugh formal coat, I'm desperate for this one. So... should I??


~It's already Autumn, me love Autumn yet loathe it *sigh*~

S***** meeting *hmph*

Another Hachiouji branch meeting in Saturday *why??*
This time it was held in Kokubunji at 1:10 pm, but before that I had to show up earlier for medical check up. Know what, I got lost!! old story for me *sigh* The map they gave me? Well useless. I don't know how to read map, I just can't! Right there in front of the station, a map in one hand and a blank look on my face, I tried to figure out where I was on the map. After spending so much time standing.. looking to the left.. to the right.. eyes to the map.. to the street..to the left again... that was it! I gave up and asked a very kind policeman for direction. He, laughing, said that I had to rotate the map 90 degree to the left, then there you go, just followed the road! Oh okay, so I got it turned up-side down, great *how should I know?* and I had no more than 4 minutes left for medical check up appointment.

You know that Japanese are so damn nuts *please note: in a good way* about being on time right? So I freaked out, then... I got lost *yes yes I know, again* ended up asking for direction. I ran and... I met my Branch Manager, he said few things I nodded and I ran again! Gosh... I didn't salute him properly, oh well, screw him I then asked another person, past a tall building *I didnt know that THE building was the "it" building*, after a while decided to come back to the building, hesitantly went approaching a man wearing a doctor-like suits, and the first thing he said to me before I had a chance to open my mouth was this: "Medical check up? Please go inside, the room is in the basement." Eureka!! I found it! A huge grin on my face. But hmm.. this was written on the map: "Only 5 minutes walk from the Kokubunji station" and I was like, what, 20 minutes late?? Just great!