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!