eva's gallery :: les fleur de cerise

Maldives: Sea, Sun, and More Sun

2012-01-26T20:39:00.001+07:00

Deciding where we would go for our honeymoon was no easy task, albeit fun and exciting. So many places to go, many choices and I just couldn't make up my mind. Since winter always be my favorite season and I would love to feel snow falling on my face again, I wanted to go to Europe. But then, swimming at the beach is also feels like heaven. Remembering Lombok *gee, we used to go to the beach there, swimming every weekend* and Phuket, made me yearn for a little bit of sunshine and sea. So Maldives it was for us.

We took a late evening flight to Male from Singapore, a four hours flight. Male International Airport is the main airport in Maldives. From there, a team from Club Med escorted us to a speed boat for a 30 minutes ride to Kani island. What a bumpy ride it was, like, at times we were literally being tossed off our seat.

At Kani, we were given a light green ribbon to be worn as a bracelet. So, apparently, they use this ribbon to distinguish people who stay in lagoon suite from other guests who stay in other types of suites (beach, land, etc.). They have a special lounge area, called Manta Lounge, where everyone is denied access except for guests staying in lagoon suites, so it's for this purpose.

~ Manta Lounge, a place where you can have a free flow of champagne while basking in the sun ~

~ A bottle of champagne *on the house, of course* awaited us in our room. We didn't it drink it tho, we brought back home haha ~

Things that I like about staying in a lagoon suite; whenever I felt like swimming, I went to the room terrace, and the sea was right down there. How cool is that. Also, a bath tub facing the ocean and we had our mini bar refilled everyday!

Being in Maldives, I remember I only took a shower once a day haha *oops*. Well, why bother? Where you can throw yourself in water at anytime? And an abundance of food! We had breakfast, walked along the beach, collecting shells, dropped by at beach bar, grabbed a bite, went snorkeling, had lunch, swam at the pool, dropped by at beach bar again, and hang out there until it came time for dinner. And amazingly, I only gained 1 kg! Maybe walking under the sun equals to sauna :p

I guess we were lucky. As it happened, on our last day there, they arranged a special dinner event. Dining Under the Stars. True enough, that night stars indeed shone brightly and in just a couple of hours later, we were rushing to a jetty deck ready to endure 30 minutes speed-boat ride back to Male airport. Hope there will be honeymoon part 2 hoho.

Chinese New Year Lunches

2012-01-25T16:00:00.001+07:00

.: Monday, January 23, 2012 :.

Happy chinese new year! Now… I know people got excited over this year's being a dragon year. I say, every second, every hour, every day, every month, and every year is good since it is created by Him for us. So… be it dragon year, rat, bla bla bla, continue on living and giving our best <3

What I like about CNY here is we have 2 days off, how cool is that. And initially I wanted to go back Bali, playing with my "barongsai" puppies, but as it happened, we have family coming over instead. We spent Sunday afternoon having dinner together at fred's brother's place. Then, we had the rest of the days off for ourselves. Off to Vivo city we went, to take a look at Sentosa Flower Festival. But oh my, when we reached vivo, it looked like the mall was being invaded by those Chinese and Indians wanting to go to Sentosa as well. Bye bye flower festival.

Aahh… it was Padang dishes for our lunch. I wanted to have dim sum but all chinese restaurants were closed on first day of CNY.

.: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 :.

Okay so Padang was not that bad, but I was dying for dim sum. Thank God the 2nd day of CNY, one decent chinese restaurant was open.

Dinner Marathon with Colleagues

2012-01-24T16:41:00.002+07:00

.: Thursday, January 19, 2012 :.

One of our ex-colleagues will be leaving for Taiwan, so we arranged a little farewell dinner cum pre chinese new year dinner. After office, five of us heading to Hillman Restaurant at Ferrer Park. There, we met two ex-colleagues. Meeting ex-colleagues together over meal will certainly bring a lot of interesting gossips haha. Overall, having dinner together with colleagues is what makes me remember we are all "human being", and we tend to forget that when we get so stressed out. So it was nice, to recall again why I like working together with them, and on top of that, to bitch together about our sworn enemy at office lol. 😏

.: Friday, January 20, 2012 :.

Yazawa is a traditional Japanese yakiniku style restaurant. I like the ambiance, like a real izakaya place. Well, my ex-colleague Kenjin has been persuading me to try this restaurant for literally since the first month of us working together until now, that is almost 1.5 year. And wanna know why it took me 1.5 year? It's because Yazawa only serves a top quality beef which only means one plate of certain part of cow can cost $120 - $150, only for 5-6 slices 😱 But those meat… they're so ridiculously good.

So, five of us *two of them are ex-colleagues* braced ourselves to enter this place. We trusted Kenjin, who clearly is a Yazawa regular, to pick a menu for us. For an appetizer, we had a tomato flown over from Japan which costed $12, for one bloody tomato! But the grown-in-Japan tomato proved itself worth the price. Really, I never tasted tomato that good before nor have I ever eaten one when I still stayed in Japan. If I knew Japan's tomatoes cost so high here, I would have eaten myself sick of tomatoes in Japan. 😪

For the drink, what else could best accompany beef other than sake? Besides, our friend Kenjin is notoriously fond of wine and sake. I had a Calpis, aaah hishashiburi ni~

Oh the meat, made me recall my wagyu kobe beef experience with my family. It melted in your mouth, that's how good it is. And see that marble like pattern?… kampeki. They said that all the beef is flown from Japan everyday without refrozen twice so it's all fresh… and tastes so lip-smackingly good 😘

The Forgotten Blog

2012-01-24T15:07:00.001+07:00

Well well well, if this blog was a book, it would be collecting dust by now haha. Just finished setting up new blog editor in iMac and guess what, I forgot my blog URL @.@ and I had to open up my iPad whose browser cache, luckily hasn't been cleared for decade, to look up my blog URL!

So it is some sort of wake up call I guess, for me to start blogging again.

To start off with a topic, I switched to Mac. Noo, not completely, I mean I still own my dear old pink vaio but it is getting less and less used now. And this iMac is not mine but Fred's. He has it since.. i dunno, more than three years ago maybe, a gift from his boss, but is never used. I know, riiigghht?? When I figured out this iMac whereabout almost two years ago, I literally rolled my eyes, took a deep sigh and began throwing him a series of why's. Why he is not using it is incomprehensible to me. I mean, who doesn't want to use Mac especially when he has one? Such a beauty and he has it covered up in a box *sob, sob* So, it is up to me now to unleash this pretty iMac.

Littered with Books

2011-11-06T22:46:00.001+07:00

I still remember how excited I was the first time I set foot in this little, gorgeous bookstore. Littered with Books embodies what a cozy bookstore should look like.

Well, I guess I should thank a local TV programme that covers small yet beautiful stores in Singapore. When they aired one episode about a small cake shop owned by a Japanese chef, I made note to visit the shop. And God be good. Just there across the street from the pastry shop, among the quiet neighborhood, stood the cutest bookstore I’ve ever laid my eyes on, in real life.

It is charming and inviting with an ever-so-lovely white colonial windows lined the wall of its two-storey house. The owner must be a real book lover and they paid so much attention in the store decoration as well. Every little detail seemed to add a nice touch to the overall vibe. The placement of sofa, table, books on display… ohhh bottom line is, I adore this little bookstore. Small haven for you who get sick of shopping malls!!!

Note: All photos courtesy of “GreatNewPlaces”

Company Trip: Bangkok Day 1

2011-09-29T21:00:00.001+07:00

.: September 09, 2011, Friday :.

Gyaa… I missed the flight! O.M.G! I was supposed to meet my other two colleagues at Changi airport at 6 AM and guess what, I woke up at 7 AM. The flight to Bangkok was scheduled to take off at 7:40.

Okay, so here’s a bit of story behind. Our boss, being so kind and generous, arranged a company trip to Bangkok for 3D2N, return air tickets and hotel rooms paid by company. Supposed to leave Singapore on Friday morning, the majority of my colleagues decided to go there on Thursday night after work, leaving me and the other two stayed on schedule. So only three of us on a Friday morning flight, which in the end, only two really got on the plane.

You really got no idea how horrified I was. I woke up and looked at the clock and was stunned. I couldn’t believe I woke up at 7 and even if I was to grab my luggage and head to airport in my pajamas, I could never make it, geez, the damn flight was at 7:40 AM!! And on top of that, I felt really sorry for bf, he was waiting outside since 5 o’clock, trying to call me with no result *my phone was switched off automatically every night*. By the time I panicky called him from my room, he was still standing outside *sobs*. Man, if I was him, I already left and tried calling from my home.

I almost decided not to leave but I thought about all expenses paid by my boss were about to waste, I felt bad and finally waiting at the airport for the Thai airways counter to open at 9:30 AM, trying to get myself on the next flight to Bangkok even if I had to pay for the ticket myself. Well, they did put me on standby and I was told to wait until 12 PM to see if I got the seat or not. It was excruciating to wait for 2 hours and not knowing. Every time I asked the staff, they brushed me off.

Finally, the moment of truth. They called my name and gave me a boarding pass without me paying a single cent. Lucky my company bought a commercial air ticket.

In Bangkok, after checked in to Baiyoke Sky Hotel, I had the time for myself until dinner time, so I got my nails done in gel overlay, they say it can last for two months. Let’s see…

Star Virgo: Redang Island Day 2

2011-09-25T10:23:00.001+07:00

.: September 01, 2011, Thursday :.

We arrived at Pulau Redang and decided not to take any excursion and boy… I was glad we didn’t. The weather was just killer, hot, hot, hot. We stepped out of the ship anyway and hit the beach, sat in front of the pub overlooking the beach. We waited and waited for the sun to be a little bit tolerated, but it didn’t happen so in the end we just decided to go back to ship. It was an okay day overall, enjoying banana fritters while watching a local band performing “Waka Waka” dance with tourists.

Star Virgo: Redang Island Day 1

2011-09-25T10:06:00.004+07:00

.: August 31, 2011, Wednesday :.

Phew. I never thought I could make it on time. I was prepared to burn the travel voucher just like last time. Everything began few months ago when we got this awesome good deal on Star Virgo Cruise. Well, just like anything else without proper planning especially on a company leave wise, it was destined to be doomed. I had one good example before, I bought a trip to Batam, since I never been there before, and on the day itself, I couldn’t get a work leave, hence the first doom. Had to close one eye and tried not to think the money left wasted *sob*. 

Almost like the first one, I knew days before that I had a small chance of going. Geez, so damn busy at office for that whole week. You never know how I mentally schemed the situation to figure out a loop hole and came up with explanation so I could go, but no matter what it was like there wasn’t any hole for me to escape. Many meetings I couldn’t ditch out coz they’ll affect my future haha. Luckily, all meetings finished on-time which was a miracle, coz like, never before in our company a meeting finished on a scheduled time! So I quickly hopped on a cab at 6 PM and rushed to Harbourfront Centre. The check in counter would be closed at 6:30 and the gate will be closed at 7 PM. By the time I reached there, bf already waiting at the counter and no one else was queuing. I made it.

After checked in, we found ourselves in a very long queue with lots of Indians and  mainland Chinese pressed against us. Gosh, I don’t know why they like to stand very close to each other and basically people queuing in front of them! It’s not like the queue will move by them doing so!! Anyway, after a grueling 45 minutes or so, we stepped on the cruise. After taking photos, the first thing we did: EAT. We had an international buffet at Mediterranean Restaurant. After that, we roamed about the huge ship; library *ooh the room was so pretty*, slot machines room, and my fave of all was Observatory area. It was a sitting place next to a floor-to-ceiling window. You can just sit there and look out to the sea, sipping a hot chocolate milk, reading book. My definition of relax, indeed.

Tulle or Ruffle?

2011-08-26T11:51:00.001+07:00

.: August 09, 2011, Tuesday :.

It was Singapore's National Day and we had one day off, so I decided to pick my wedding gown. Weeks before, me and bf accidentally came accross this bridal fair at Raffles and we took home some of the brochures. Among those, one brochure with fabulous choices of gowns and I made a mental note to visit the salon.

We picked mum at the airport at 2 PM and straight away went to this bridal salon. It was located in a street lined with many other bridal salons, like, the whole area was full of wedding thingy. Heck, I was tempted to hop from one salon to the other, they displayed soo many gorgeous gowns with lots of varieties in style, you name it they have it. Anyway, I did stick to the plan, though, I had no choice that's why. Few days ago, on Sunday, we already paid the booking fee to secure the package *me being too panicky*. Ah well.

Then, what happened in the next 2 hours was hectic. Bf was sitting outside the fitting room and playing games since I forbid him to take even a single peek, me standing amidst the gowns that filled the whole fitting room floor, a very kind consultant picked several gowns from the rack that she thought I might like, mum pushed her way into one huge closet full of premium gowns *that's what they call them* and picked gowns for me ONLY from that closet. Well, mum came up with a theory that the assigned consultant tried to make us pick only from the general rack not from the premium range which was irritating to think, coz we paid for the premium range. But I gotta give credit to her, a super patient lady who kept smiling despite my rejection to basically every single gown she offered me haha. She had to bring that heavy gown to me, helped me change, gave a comment, helped me out of the dress, only to hear that I didn't like it :p

It never occured to me that it would be hard to choose a wedding dress, I wish I could have more than one dress so I got to change every hour or so :p

In the end, I got what I wanted and mum got what she wanted me to have, ie. a dress from the "premium" closet ^o^

It's Official Now

2011-08-05T14:07:00.000+07:00

.: July 09, 2011 :.

At first we didn't even plan to have a 婚約 party, but grandma said we had to follow tradition and there it was, on Saturday, July 09th, 2011 my extended families crammed into our relatively small living room to exchange gifts, have lunch and a photo shoot. Photo shoot? Uh yeah! That also one of the form of love shown by my uncle haha

So basically, mum's family is a photographer family, started from grandma who was an event photographer herself. Following in her footsteps are my mum's two younger brothers. And, determined to capture this special event, mum's youngest brother brought along his photography gears, complete with the lighting stuff, mind you. And there in a very living room, he set up a mini studio photo for us haha... arigatou Ku :p

Well, the session didn't end there in my house, we continued to have dinner at the W Hotel. Photos shown here are courtesy of my very beloved cousin, Nitha. Thanks girl :p

Gattopardo Night

2011-07-02T18:35:00.001+07:00

.: June 25th, 20011, Saturday :.

I didn't expect the paintball could be that much fun! Sadly, my team was placed a runner up and the shopping voucher only given to the winning team! *bah* We wrapped up the game at around 2 PM and I reached home, took a much needed shower, and headed to the hospital for ma to do her check-up.

I felt so devastated as always whenever I was in hospital, the tought of a delicious, hearty dinner at Gattopardo we would be having later on that night was the only thing that cheered me up haha.

Gattopardo is our fave Italian restaurant run by an Italian chef specialized in Sicilian cuisine. I first found out this restaurant from my colleague who is very much into life style and dining experience. I needed help in finding a restaurant for bf birthday, and this colleague of mine was the first who came into my mind :p Thanks a lot, mate!

Anywhooo... here are the pics taken at full speed, given we were in an almost full house Italian restaurant and taking photos was err... a bit of a no-no. The head chef, Chef Lino himself, came out and talked to us for a while, aaah too bad I didn't dare to ask him if he wouldn't mind taking a pic with us :p

Folded Pizza... oohh this baby was pure delish.

With a buffalo cheese, wild mushrooms and smoked ham stuffing.

The famous Squid Ink Spaghetti with Crab.

And many more... we ate a lot haha

Company Outing: Paintball

2011-06-24T18:28:00.001+07:00

Oh man , somehow I feel a bit worry about this... I just brace and prepare myself for the worst, bruises and paint smeared all over my clothes. It'd better be fun, this activity

Anna Karenina

2011-06-19T19:57:00.001+07:00

Phew... At last! After spending almost everyday reading Anna Karenina for the last one month plus, finally I turned the last page yesterday. This Leo Tolstoy's novel... oh, what a joy I had in reading it, such a truly great work of art from the Russian writer.

I came to know this novel and its author since my early age, that was almost the same time when I knew about Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and yet I couldn't be bothered to read it, what a shame! If only I'd known then the beauty and insight I could get... Well, thanks to The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks that really "sparked" my curiousity, because I love The Last Song *made me cry * and I wanted to know what was in Anna Karenina that made Nicholas Sparks put it in the book. That and also the thickness of the novel haha. I love reading great and thick novel and Anna Karenina has more than 800 pages.

It was a bit daunting at first, didn't know what to expect and actually prepared myself to some disappointment along the way, you know the things with really really absurdly good author from ancient time such as Charles Dickens and Shakespeare, they were arranging the words in a way that makes you scratching your head in an attempt to find the meaning. Well, not in Tolstoy's case. Don't get me wrong, mind you, I had to reread the sentences a couple of time to get them right, especially when the characters start the discussion about Russian politic and agriculture, but to my own amazement, I didn't feel bored at all and kept turning those pages!

So the story is about a tragic love story between a so-called brave and rebellious Anna and Vronsky. In their time, everything was about the society, if you go against them, you are like an outcast and it is humiliating to the point of depression. And what Anna did was against society, to openly leave her husband and lived with Vronsky without any marriage status. But sadly, in the end she gave in to her jealousy and despair and commited suicide.

Together with Anna, there is one more central character, Levin, he is the very opposite of Anna. And Tolstoy I think, often channeled his own ideas and view of Russian society and politic through him. I like this Levin character from the start because I think he is honest and open and say whatever he feels without much consideration of what people might think of him later on or might even ridicule him. I say it's pretty cool, like not going with the flow if that's not what we really are.

Anna dared to oppose the society just like Levin, but in the end she lost to herself. Levin, on the other hand, through events of his life, he managed to find the true meaning of why he lived, which was to live righteously in the eye of God and men.

My number one book that shifted Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns to number two

Dress hunting

2011-06-16T15:57:00.001+07:00

.: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 :.

Well, weeks before my mom called to tell me to buy a dress, something in red hue. I was like, "can i wear my black dress so i don't have to buy again?" and I got scolded in return

And so my dress hunting began. It was so hard finding a dress which doesn't look over the top. I want to wear simple dress, a dress that doesn't scream "too much". . After spending much time from fitting room to fitting room, we went to a store which I never gave a second glance before. Massimo dutti. And, 思い以外に, I found the dress that just click haha well except that it isn't red at all! Anyway, I'll talk my way through with ma

Hm three weeks, I dunno if I can lose 2 size

One Night in May

2011-06-05T23:16:00.001+07:00

.: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 :.

I often imagined what it would feel like when the day came, what would be the first thing that popped up in my mind, you know… that kinda thing. But to be honest, nothing came short to what I would expect. I didn’t comprehend at all what was happening, like, was this for real?

Well… first of all, I felt that moment was a part of the very natural thing of my everyday life, thus I wore a sort of blank face I guess :p But 5 minutes after, I was panicking inside haha. I remember how I struggled to contain myself, not to jump up and down and most importantly, to not squeak in delight wakkaka.

~ Marina Bay Sands, Ku De Ta ~

Singlish: Conversation of the Day

2011-05-11T12:14:00.000+07:00

Yesterday, I was sitting on the train next to a middle-aged woman and a little boy. Then, she talked to this boy, I think he is her grandson.

Grandma: Turn around, look!

Grandson: (turning his head to face the window) Why?!

Grandma: See, got car car, got tree tree....
Muahhaha oh man, of all the singlish sentences... that one was the hit of the day. I almost cracked up hihi, good job, grandma!

Pretty, The Little Princess

2011-05-03T21:33:00.001+07:00

So I was back in Bali from April 26 until May 1st with one purpose in mind, to meet our new puppies. Yes, yes… we got new puppies!!! I was so damn excited when my mom called to tell me about this news. Her church friend gave her two puppies. Pa named one of them Madonna haha and I was quick to change the name to Molly. I mean, Madonna?? Come on, Pa… :p And the other, the smaller one in size is named Pretty. They’re of Maltese breed and only 4 months old.

I had to wait for about one month till finally I got a chance to go home. Mom picked us up at the airport together with Pretty. Molly was left at home, still very weak, because sadly, one of the customer at our office stepped on her front paw with a high heel. With a high stiletto heel! The poor puppy’s paw was bleeding and she received IV infusions. Well, a dog receives an IV? That was the first time I heard of it haha. Anyway, only Pretty was staying with us at our home in Nusa Dua.

Pretty, we called her Prit, was a real charmer. Almost all “bule” that we met took a picture of her. Ma bought the two puppies the same pink dress from Japan. It was a very cute, pink, ruffle dress, and I think, thanks to the dress, everyone adores her. Geez, I couldn’t get enough of her and I brought her with me everywhere I went, even to the hair salon :p

Oh gosh, and now back in Singapore, I miss her cute lil head and most of all, her muzzle wakkaka, adorable.

Mumbai: City Tour (kinda...)

2011-04-17T11:37:00.000+07:00

April 3, 2011, Saturday. 10:10 AM

Today I'm taking 8 hours city tour in full knowing that the traffic will be at the frenziest coz ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be held this afternoon at 2:30 PM. It's a final match between India and Sri Lanka and if India wins, they will finally hold a cup after 7 or 8 years waiting. Well, anyway, here I am in a taxi and as I'm sitting comfortably in spite of the almost-not-working AC, I'm struck at how Mumbai never fails to amaze me everyday by its dryness. Especially today, it seems to be even more drier than yesterday. Smoke and dust are visible and some people selling food in a side road, some people are eating. I mean, how could you eat outside in this environment? I guess they just so used to it or merely don't bother at all.

.: Haji Ali Mosque :.
We're not even near the city yet and the traffic is crawling. It took us an hour to reach half the journey to the city that normally takes only 45 minutes. The cab driver is pointing to the Haji Ali Mosque located a few hundred metres in sea from the coastline near the express highway. It's awesome especially with the mist around us *now let's assume that the dust is a mist. That way you can really see how magnificent the mosque is - wink* The cab driver asked me whether I'd like to walk there and see it from upclose which I refused politely. This morning, I came out with my mind set that I will try my best to avoid breathing outside air. So I'm perfectly content with my video cam at hand, shooting the city from my taxi window :p

.: Gateway of India :.
We arrived at Gateway of India at exactly 12 PM. I went out and walked among the crowd to get as closer I can to the gateway. Since in two hours time the match will start, the police baricade some roads near the stadium and Gateway of India is fairly close to the stadium. This monument was built to welcome Queen Mary when she arrived in Mumbai on December, 1911.

There is this clothes store in front of the Gateway and I bought one knitted olive green cardigan. They're having 40% off price. And after some shoppings, I went to an Italian cafe next door, bought home a sandwich and quickly retreated to the taxi.

.: Colaba :.
Colaba is a shopping district located very near the Gateway of India. Sadly, I didn't have a chance to actually shop there. My taxi driver only showed it to me when we passed by it. The main road in front of the beach is bustling with people waving India flag. They're queueing to get inside the stadium. I've never been in any matches before *high school basketball matches don't count* so to actually be among them is an experience I never forget as I can feel their anxiety and the excitement of the final match. It is the highlight of the day. People are waving, laughing and shouting.

I still have until 6 o'clock of this city tour but I decided to go back to end the day and go back to the hotel. If it took us almost 2 hours to reach city at 10 o'clock in the morning, I simply cannot imagine how many hours will it take for the ride home in this crazy traffic in a midst of Cricket supporters. It's worse than Jakarta, mind you.

Mumbai: Lunch ala Indian

2011-04-02T19:25:00.000+07:00

01 April 2011, Friday

Finally, my work's done here. It was kinda sad actually. I mean, I know I met my clients only for a short time - two days, but still, parting is never a happy occasion. They're really really nice people. They took me out to lunch and ehm... it was an adventure in itself. At least it was for me.

Well, we finish our first session for today at 2 o'clock and we headed out for lunch. Oh gosh, how I wished they took me to some restaurants upstairs (because earlier they mentioned they got restaurants upstairs). But instead, we're going out. Luckily, I was mentally prepared. Oh boy, outside was a mess, the road is small so we had to walk alongside and between the cars, motorbike, rickshaws and people! It was hot and windy which was a bad news, coz it only means more dust, more flying sands and smoke got blown by the wind. Anyway, I survived and we were in a first restaurant. There was a very long queue and we decided to try our luck at another place.

You know, walking in Mumbai is overwhelming. There were attacks to my nose. One moment, I could smell cow's poop; the next time, an incense burning smell followed by smell of spices and God knows what else. So here I was, walking while trying to avoid motorbikes and rickshaws only inches from me. I saw a car moving in a midst of pedestrians! Bottomline, I was beyond relieved when we reached the second restaurant. This restaurant called Mahesh and is specialized in seafood. We were asked to wait outside. I was like, what?! You freakin' got to be kidding me! But I guess I had no choice. We were sitting on a pedestrian walk (really, pedestrian walk and a road, I cannot tell the difference, there's no clear line here), cars honking nonstop, and finally we had a table ready for us.

The first dish was, I think, a deep fried tofu skin with a chopped shallots. I'm a no-onion eater but I gave it a try. Hmm... quite tasty but I still couldn't get rid of the fact that it was shallots that I was eating. What next, happened quite fast. They served fried fish (I still could manage that), followed by dossa (thick rice paper) and some curry dippings. The waiter serve the dipping directly to our plate. He gave us each 2 type of dippings; more fish and chicken curry. I finished my third dossa and I felt like I couldn't swallow anymore. The spices were too strong and everything tasted strong it overwhelmed me. Then the waiter came with a rice. They said I, at least, gave it a try. Well, they were being so nice and I couldn't let them down. it would be rude. So I helped myself to one small spoon of rice and forced myself to swallow it. Then, one of my clients asked me to eat the black, deep fried vegetables. He said it was good for health. I just nodded and geez... how I wanted to correct him and said "Dude, you know anything deep fried ain't healty, don't ya?" The deep fried vegetables were coated in oil. They're shiny!!

After that, I just didn't bother anymore, I said no to everything they offered me. And how glad I did. Well, they asked whether I wanted to try butter milk, I immediately said no, so they ordered for themselves. Came the butter milk, and it was the colour of strawberry juice. They forced me again to take one gulp, and... oooh... I couldn't describe how awful and strange it tasted. It was salty but bitter, with a pang of sourness. They said one of ingredients is Tangerine. It explains. I.Don't.Like.It. And look at how they drank it. They finished it in one shot! It's good for digestion they said. Hmm... no wonder. I drink that and I'm sure my stomach cannot handle it.

But one thing that strikes me as funny, and the highlight of the day for me. It was hilarious. It's the way one of my clients moved his head. It happened after the waiter came with a drink. My client shook his head, the waiter took his diet coke can and opened it. Another head movement from him and the waiter poured the drink into the glass, one final move from his head, and the waiter stopped pouring the drink.No words spoken. Amazing. I was watching them in awe.

Overall, it was a unique experience, like, I'd never been surrounded by so many Indians before haha. They're generally very nice crowd.

Mumbai: Day 3

2011-04-02T19:11:00.000+07:00

01 April 2011, Friday

09:00 AM

So today is my second day working in India. As I'm waiting in Fort House for the client to arrive, I'm reliving back the taxi experience I had on my way here. As always, I enjoyed the car journey while taking in as much I could the passing city scenery outside the window. India is no exception. I did enjoy the one hour journey. There's always something new about Mumbai but accompanied only by sadness and "skin crawling" sensation as I watched outside car window just now. If yesterday I saw cows, today I saw a women, barefooted, standing in the middle of what appeared to be a garbage dump just on the side of the street. This woman was holding a big garbage bin and pouring it over with her hands. With her hands! This happened in Mumbai International Airport area, North Mumbai, an area they claimed to be the most looked after area. There are lots of 4-5 stars hotels in this area but they look odd, standing proud and tall in the midst of what I say, a mess. A really big mess.

Other than that, once I was getting nearer to the city, there's a line of small houses. Gee, people wouldn't even call it a house. They are built with thin wood, in a size of a tent! And people living there are bathing outside their home, which means, on the road!! I cannot fathom it at all. And their clothes are hang on the roof - made of thin wood. All of these are in a city they call financial district. Mumbai is a financial district. My customer place is located in a famous area of the city, called Fort. And judging by the company name (it's a branch office of the biggest bank in Singapore), I expected to see a really nice and modern building just like its main office in Singapore. Well, no. Actually, all the buildings here are old, collonial style. I like the architecture actually, almost the same as what you'd find in Melbourne. It's just that they don't maintain them. You can see in many parts, paints are peeled, black moldings *gasp* and... dusty. It seems that all buildings, no, scratch that, all things here are covered in dust. Even Jakarta is wayyy better, and I thought Jakarta was dirty.

Modern buildings can be counted by fingers (I did count, from my hotel building and 20 more kilometres down to South Mumbai). I dreaded walking outside and yesterday, my client said they're going to take me out for lunch. Oooh... I mean, I'm grateful, really, but outside? Come on man...

Mumbai: Day 2

2011-04-02T18:59:00.000+07:00

31 April 2011, Thursday
I woke up early today coz it took 1-2 hours driving down depends on traffic. Well, since today is my first day meeting the clients, I didn't want to be late. I stayed at Holiday Inn hotel located near Mumbai International Airport. This area is in North of Mumbai and my clients place is located in South Mumbai, more or less about 25 kilometres from my hotel.

So I took a cab and payed about 700 rupees one way. And man, if I wasn't really awake before hopped on a cab, the taxi driver did definitely wake me up. We were almost get hit by a bus! We were spared just by inches!!

Oh Mumbai. One comment from me. This city needs a huge splash of water from above. Everything here is so dry and dusty. I heard that they don't have rain in 6 months.

First Anniversary

2011-03-04T22:26:00.001+07:00

March 4, 2011

Another flower bouquet for me hehe. My first anniversary ever so I should congratulate myself hahaha

Kate Spade

2011-03-04T22:18:00.001+07:00

February 26, 2011

I cannot believe I missed out this brand before. Okay, so I was window shopping and came across this Kate Spade boutique in Raffles City and I instantly loved it. Their design is simple, casual and very american looking. So I checked their website to see their full range. OMG… I wanted one!! I’m always bad at holding out to buy something that I really really crave for. Like, some of my friends, if they’re eyeing some items, they can actually do a research and compare price from different outlets. I mean, I’m not considered myself a shopaholic, but I need to get the item I want like, now :p I don’t have patient to wait a couple of days or even weeks to do my research. And true enough, I got my FIRST Kate Spade bag a couple of days ago. Yay.

I was torn between two designs, but one of them was already sold out by the time I had to pick either one, so yeah, they made it very easy for me in the end ^o^ I was kinda nervous, because that was the first time I paid quite an amount of money for a bag. But it’s worth it, ya know, the fact that I got it 50% off does help me a bit hihi.

It’s weird, for the past few weeks, I’ve been having this urge to buy bags. Samantha Thavasa. That’s the next target wakkaka. One thing to ask to myself: How come I passed by sooo many Samantha Thavasa stores without even gave them a second look when I was in Japan? Well, this is what everyone’s saying, you don’t know how to appreciate things until they’re taken away from you. Now, I’m counting days to the day I make another trip to Japan to maybe buy some bag charms from Samantha Thavasa haha

Roses, Candle, and… Foie Gras?

2011-02-25T22:49:00.001+07:00

February 14, 2011

Well, this was my first Valentine to actually spend it with someone, so I was super excited that bf took me to this hotel in Marina bay area. We were having dinner there. It was a 5-course menu with champagne. I was super flattered haha. They gave us some kind of give away when we finished our dinner… a very sweet candle holder.

Hmm, finally I got to try foie gras after hearing it mentioned in almost every food program. How did it taste? I can say foie gras is not really my thing :p It was buttery *which is fine by me* with a texture of tofu, I guess, but I couldn’t get over the fact that it was a fattened liver. I was having a hard time to swallow it. I wonder why it’s so freakin’ expensive.

I wanted to take a picture of the food that day, but… oh but… I felt so embarrassed just by taking out the camera lol. I guess there’s always this kind of ambience, of the fine dining that makes you sit upright and always worrying whether you pick the right spoon and try not to make some silly noises? Or is it just me? Well, I do prefer cooking at home and preparing the meal myself. Next time babe… haha

‘baby takashi’ with a bouquet of roses

Phuket sketch

2010-12-11T22:48:00.001+07:00

Sketched this using ArtRage iPad app. ArtRage, I must say, is a complete tool to create your own masterpiece using pencil, ink, pastel, oil paint, and many more. And you can choose from the wide range of brushes as well! This ArtRage app even comes with setting that allow you to determine the pressure to be applied when using pencil, the type of blending for oil paint whether you'd like it thin or thick with not much oil. Bottom line, this app rocks if you have no instant access to canvas, brushes, etc while you're hit by instant inspiration. But, for using it to replace the real thing? Nah! For me, I guess even the most sophisticated apps can't beat the real joy of holding a pencil/brush.

This Present Darkness

2010-12-06T17:55:00.001+07:00

So lately I've been reading Frank E. Peretti's masterpieces, This Present Darkness (book 1) and Piercing the Darkness (book 2). These two series are basically Christian fiction stories that center on spiritual warfare against New Age movement such as meditation, yoga, and a universal thinking. I can say I enjoyed reading them coz somehow I was reminded that even a simple problem is best put before Him through a prayer, like seriously, prayer is our main weapon.

But what about yoga? I remember my pastor once said in his sermon a few years back, that actually each yoga position is a form of prayer for certain gods. I don't know about you guys, but I used to think that if I do yoga for a healthy purpose, like, not take it seriously as a prayer to whatever gods, it should be fine. I did actually try yoga for a month, back when I was in japan, but I guess It just didn't feel right coz I knew what was behind it, so I quit. The same also goes with a Universal Understanding movement that its purpose is to unite the nations into only one nation. Take John Lennon's song "Imagine". The same pastor also said about the lyrics of this song that has double meaning. Must be familiar with the song right? Then there is this line saying about how wonderful world would be if there's no religion. That's the universal thing there. Okay now I know I sound like a preacher, but these things creep me out. I just can't help thinking maybe we are really that close to the second coming. Who knows.

Phuket: Phi Phi Island

2010-11-15T17:45:00.001+07:00

October 08, 2010

Now, it was the time for the real experience in Phuket. A tour to nearby islands. The city offers several options when it comes to the island tours. We chose Phi-Phi island tour because of several reasons. Bf went to Phuket once before and he picked the “James Bond” island tour. All he got to see was a cave with bats dangling from the ceilings. Hell no I’m going to let myself IN that cave. So… we got ourselves the most attractive package of all; A one day trip to Phi Phi island. That covered other small islands as well, including Maya bay where The Beach movie was filmed.

The minivan picked us up at the hotel at 7:30 AM. We spent an hour journey from Patong to the pier. There, we hopped on a speed boat after a guy from the tour agency took our photo one by one at the port. On the boat, we were briefed once again on our tour itinerary. The journey to the first island took about an hour. A good, bumpy one hour journey. I was almost convinced that the boat driver intentionally made it a rough ride just to wake us up :p

We stopped at the first island, Phi Phi Lei, for about 30 minutes before heading on to the next island. Here we jumped from the boat to the water below, as the boat didn’t stop at the beach but between cliffs. O.M.G. Never before in my life I jumped from a boat, let alone swimming in between cliffs. Not to mention a picturesque scenery of blue sky, cliffs vertically rose from the water, an emerald green, crystal clear water!! And I got to swim with so many fish also swimming alongside me. It was downright the best, THE BEST experience I had in my more-than-20 years living. It was almost felt like heaven on earth. Oohhh the weather was also superb. Not too much sun, otherwise I would have thought twice before exposing myself under the bright shining sun. ha ha. Too much UV is not good for skin ya’ know.

Our 30 mins of pure joy was up. Next stop would be Maya Bay. To venture the island, we were given 1 hour time slot. Not much we could do here, as the beach was jam packed with tourists. After that, leaped back to our boat and off we went to Phi Phi Don to have lunch. Yes, we were starving! But there was one more stop before lunch. I forgot the name of the island. I threw myself into the water again there and enjoyed being floated back and fro by the waves.

Welcome to the Maya bay.

Eva was here

Ahh… the lunch. It was an international buffet with a mix of spaghetti and local dish. Not too bad *or I can say: we were too hungry to bother much*. In this island, there are local shops selling souvenirs just beside the dining hall. Sun dresses, hats, shell crafts, and clays. I got my hat here :) We spent an hour to have lunch and already we were rushed back to the boat. We were going to the most crowded beach, Khai island. But, along the way there, the boat stopped at Monkey island. Off the boat everyone, we were going to feed monkeys, yiihaa!

Warning: Monkey bites

That monkey ignored me!! He *or she* didn’t seem interested at all, while the rest…mind you I tell the truth, fighting each other just to grab whatever thing the tourists offered them. ckck.

We had a chance to see Viking Cave (a name of the famous cliff) and Bird Nest.

Arrived at Khai island, we helped ourselves with pineapples and watermelon. Refreshingly sweet.

Never liked pineapples before, but that pineapple was GOOD

Hmm nice beach, nice weather… a good time to doze off

Ah, the day trip was over. We headed back to the marina and claimed our previously taken picture. It was 5 PM and we needed to go back to hotel as fast as we could, coz we had to be there when the shuttle bus came to pick us up to the Fantasia Show. Well, a long but needless to say, an awesome day we had. The highlight of my Puket trip.

Phuket: Simon Cabaret Show

2010-11-06T12:43:00.001+07:00

7 October 2010

Oh Never before I thought this time would come, when I sincerely say: “I L.O.V.E Phuket”. For me, Phi Phi is the most beautiful island I’ve ever seen so far. Yes, even more beautiful than Bali/Lombok. I lived in Lombok for 9 years. As far as I remember, my family spent our free time playing, swimming at the beach. I thought there wasn’t any beach that could match the one in Lombok. How wrong I was. You need to go and visit Phi Phi and I let you decide :p

Well, how it all began? I took 2 days off work on 7 and 8 October and jumping on a plane to the next getaway, Phuket. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this holiday, coz me never been a great fan of Thailand, despite never being there, really. What I could think of was anywhere other than Singapore would be just perfect. I didn’t really care where I was going. A sign of overstressed, perhaps?

Anywho… we did buy a packet of free and easy travel to Phuket. And I tell you this: I’m glad we chose Phuket. We were flying with Silkair at 9 AM. The flight took more than an hour and we arrived around 10 AM local time. A minivan from the travel company were there to pick us up along with the other 8 Singaporeans. Since our check in time was at noon, the travel company gave us a half day city tour to visit some tourist spots, or I’d rather say, stores, along the way from the airport to Patong beach area where our hotel located. First stop was a local shop selling T-shirts and claiming to be the only one offering the best deal any tourists can get on good quality T-shirts. Bought 3 shirts for Pa.

After that, off we went to the gem store. It’s – based on the marketing video they made us watch – one of the biggest in the world. The building, is indeed big. Sadly couldn’t buy one, so damn expensive.

Next destination, Pornthip Phuket. it was time to taste local delicacies. For all of you who like durian, this is the place. They sell durian chips, dried durian, and durian paste. Also a various type of Thai sauces. Yummy.

Next: Honey store. Not much I can tell about this one, since they explained all there is to know about honey in… CHINESE!! The old man kept on mumbling about, despite the complete bored looks on our faces.

Final destination for the half day city tour: Kinnaree activity center. Here we can ride an elephant (elephant trekking), go-kart, shooting. We hang out with the tour guide and ended up buying tickets for the Simon Cabaret show later that night. Got to feed the elephant and posed with it. Gosh, elephant trunk freaked me out.

Then finally it was time to go to Patong (kind of like Kuta area). We checked in, ordered room service for lunch as the hotel is located at the hill (10 mins ride by car from Patong) and there’s no way you can walk to the centre of Patong unless you’re willing to walk for hours. Ahh… had an authentic phad thai noodle *sluuurrpp*

Felt beat up, I slept until 6 PM and quickly got ready for the night: Simon Cabaret. The minivan picked us up at 8 PM. Simon Cabaret show is basically a musical show performed by local ladyboys (transvestite). Hmm… it was like watching a concert. They all lipsync tho, singing popular songs from all over the world like Lady Gaga, Korean Wonder Girls, Beyonce. Geez, I saw one ladyboy, played a role of Beyonce, who look a bit like Beyonce. Trust me. Maybe it was the makeup. The props… wow!!! you should see all the props and costumes they’re wearing. They really go all out on it, very glam. I wonder what they’ll do with the costumes once they’re not using them anymore, coz I’m quite sure they keep changing costumes according to the artists they mimic.

Took some shots with the ladyboys. You’ve got to give them money if you wanna take pictures with them.

That was a wrap for today.

PS: You might want to keep an eye on ur bf, ha ha, coz gee, they look like the real deal, well, at least a number of them.

Stupid GPS and a Sneak Peek at Next Getaway

2010-10-20T22:26:00.001+07:00

October 3, 2010, Sunday

Oh my, I don’t know if I ever again will truly rely on GPS!! So here’s the story. Mum and dad had reserved a resort at Kintamani for the next holiday. Since I’m pretty much a curious person, I asked mum a lot about this place until she couldn’t take it anymore and suggested why didn’t I checked the place out myself. And me being me, I said why not? That day was Sunday, so our plan *initial plan* was to go to church at 7 am, go to Kintamani, have lunch at Warung Bu Oka, Ubud, and finally pick up mum at the airport. But as usual, a plan is a plan. What is a plan without someone *unintentionally* trying to mess it up? (In this case that person was me). Yes, I wake up at 7, the service begin at 7 while it took us approximately 45 minutes to drive to church from the hotel. So, we decided to skip the morning service but we would still go to church… why? Because I really wanted to eat lumpia (spring roll) sold at church food court.

After we grabbed those yummy lumpia, Kintamani was our next destination. Now, this is the turning point. Dad was going with us, so he could show us directions, but… BUT… because of this new GPS device installed in our car, we would like to try it. This way dad wouldn’t need to pay that close attention on the road. So we followed the GPS directions.

It was okay for I think the first 20 minutes before bf missed the turn. Sure enough, the GPS showed us the alternate route. Then, us being innocent, without suspicion followed the directions. The roads pointed by the freakin’ GPS were all small roads, we even made a joke that time: “Even the GPS knows the side road”. After a while, things got worse, the road became even narrower, windier, going up and down in a dangerous steep, not suitable for car. But we kept on driving. Not long, we heard a loud scratching sound from under the car. Yes, the road condition was that bad it scratched the car body. The joke was on us then :( We decided to turn back, and what a nightmare. The road was narrow, with a dried small river on either side. And when the car passed the same road, we heard the same heart-ripping sound (oh, I felt sorry for the car).

Well, we were a bit down at the time. But felt a bit relax after we reached the resort. It’s a lake-front resort, very quiet and isolated.

A long journey caused us hungry and as planned, we headed to Warung Bu Oka. Now, there was a Balinese wedding ceremony held at the temple next to Warung Bu Oka. It turned out to be Happy Salma’s wedding. Well, because of it, they closed down the place for the day, so we decided to go to Bu Oka’s other restaurant :p Oh yes, we all couldn’t take anything other than Bu Oka’s famous “Babi Guling” for our lunch. Bon Appétit.

Home Sweet Home

2010-10-13T22:50:00.001+07:00

October 01, 2010, Friday

Me and bf went to Bali for the weekend. It was a short trip but enough to lift up my spirit. Boy, heaven knows how much I needed holiday. Anyway, our flight was at 9 PM, so we had to rush after work to catch the flight.

October 02, 2010, Saturday

Early in the morning, we packed our bag again coz mum had booked us a hotel room at Nusa Dua. But sadly, mum couldn’t join us, she went to Semarang later that day. We had our breakfast at Sanur beach; a local fave, Nasi Bali. The place run by three Balinese women and not that commercialize that it’s known only to local. Afterward, we sent off mum at the airport and straight away went to have… a SPA!!! Oh gosh, my shoulder and back were killing me for the past few months, so having a spa was just a must ha ha. The last time I had spa was.. I think December 2007… Kinda like déjàvu to me. Only this time, I was with the person who, despite knowing the ugliest side of me still wants to be with me. Hmm.. enough about that, overall it was a nice, relaxing time.

After being pampered, me, bf, pa, phopho and her two sisters went to Sanur to have lunch at Mak Beng warong before headed to Novotel Hotel. Mak Beng warong only has one single menu, i.e. fish head soup and fried fish. The fish head soup? Super delish.

At the hotel, I couldn’t wait another minute to throw myself into the swimming pool. Hungry after rounds of swimming, there’s no better place for dining out than Jimbaran! Pa managed to get the big family gathered in. What a nice way to end the day with the lovely crowd.

The three sisters

Greetings from Singapore Flyer

2010-09-21T22:02:00.001+07:00

August 29, 2010

I finally got a chance to take a ride on Singapore Flyer. It’s a giant ferris wheel with an approximately 40 stories in height and claimed to be Singapore’s most recognizable icon. The ride lasts for about an hour (or maybe less?? couldn’t remember). What I enjoyed most was the height!! I love high places where I can observe everything below, and indeed, what a breathtaking view I got to see from inside the Flyer capsule. We went there at noon so we still got a clear view of a blazing Singapore city. I wonder what it’ll look like at night, must be more awesome.

Well, all this thanks to a colleague of mine. He’s funny and kind, yet loves to bully me (there, I give you that Brandon *grin*). He got two special-price tickets so I took them haha. Thanks a lot man.

my new baby

2010-09-15T21:47:00.001+07:00

Di email katanya ipad gw bakal dikirim tgl 19 august, eeeh ternyata dikirimnya lebih cepet. Hari jumat tgl 13, pulang kantor aku langsung ngepel2 as usual, trus tau2 ada yg ketuk pintu rumah, and tadaaa… dhl delivery man berdiri dengan manisnya sambil bawa kotak ipad ^^ Hmm have been using it for playing games instead of initial intention (ie. Reading books :p

Weekend with Friends

2010-09-07T21:45:00.001+07:00

Singapore Art Festival, June 5, 2010

Uda lupa chronologist-nya gimana saking lamanya ga di-post hehe. Seingetku, kita ketemuan di Takashimaya buat lunch bareng di Korean resto, after that, off we went to Sing Art Fest. What a hot day! Kita nonton performing art dari France artists, seperti biasa, kalo nonton yg model2 contemporary art gitu suka ada perasaan uneasy feeling… mungkin karena temanya juga kali yah.

Marina Barrage, June 6, 2010

Klo yang ini bener2 mengecewakan, gw pikir Marina Barrage tuh keren abis tempatnya, eeeh ternyata ya cuman gitu, reservoir doank. Banyak orang yang maen layangan. Jd inget cerita Kite Runner :p

Marina at Keppel Bay, July 31, 2010

Nah ini pas si Mr. Rendy aka Unko dateng berkunjung ke Sg. Ceritanya hari sebelumnya gw diajak si boss ke Marina at Keppel Bay, tempatnya bagus, ada banyak yacht lagi nangkring. Yang gw seneng dr tempat ini tuh ada water-front cafe. Enak banget buat santai-santai, ngobrol, enjoy a cup of coffee, and of course I can see myself spending a hell lot of time reading a good book there. Jadi, besoknya gw ajak mereka kesitu buat having brunch hehe.

I had mushroom soup, yum Bf got himself … forgot the name :p

Movie Weeks

2010-07-27T22:31:00.001+07:00

For the last two weeks, we’ve been spending our weekends watching movies. Some of them are Inception and Despicable Me. Okay, I was a bit skeptical about Inception, coz I don’t really like watching movie that requires me to think! Come on, you’re supposed to be able to relax, sit tight, and enjoy the popcorn. That’s what a good movie is all about *at least for me*. Well, how wrong I was. I love the movie. I enjoyed it so much I could watch it again the second time! It left me with an uneasy feeling, the one I always get whenever I watch a good movie.

As for Despicable Me… to be honest, I really didn’t want to watch it, seriously, I didn’t. It was because bf seemed to be all enthusiastic to go and watch it. So I was like… “okay I’ll go, but just for the sake of watching it”. And again, I was wrong. Despicable Me was refreshing though not that good it deserves only 3.5 out of 5 popcorns from me :p

It begins a bit slow but things got more exciting when it reaches a part where the world’s greatest villain starts to build relationship with the three little girls. From there, I started to enjoy the movie. And the yellow minions, aren’t they adorable? The way they talk and laugh, lol, I couldn’t help but wondering whether they will have minion dolls available in store anytime soon haha. Would be happy to own one.

After 12

2010-07-24T21:16:00.000+07:00

Baru aja nonton acaranya Jamie Aditya, After 12. Jadi ini ceritanya Jamie pergi ke negara2 di Asia, trus ya cari tau tentang night life disitu, ke tempat2 yg masi buka after 12, nyobain local delicacies nya juga. Nah kali ini liputannya tentang a night life in Ho Chi Minh. Trus si Jamie comment:

"Now I know why Vietnamese adopt 'Joie de la vie' so much. It's because they almost die crossing the street everyday!! Do not ever try to cross the street in Ho Chi Min City!"

And... that was it, the killer one-liner LOL :p Senengnya nonton acaranya Jamie Aditya ya ini, dijamin adaaa aja comment2 aneh bin ajaib yang keluar dr dia wakkakkaka. Sepanjang acara dia nge-joke terus, lumayan jd obat stress, what a good show!! Two thumbs up. Jadi kangen sama jaman2 aku dulu masi smp, nonton mtv asia ^^ hhh I love funny guy. Me a big fan of you, Jamie *star-struck mode on*

Sir, Where's Your Manner??

2010-07-20T19:56:00.000+07:00

Hhh lunch hari ini bener2 bikin bt gara2 ojii san ga tau diri *hmmph*. Jadi ceritanya td lunch bareng colleague di Plaza Singapura, food court. Kita makan berdua di meja buat 4 orang gitu, disamping gue ada meja kosong buat 4 org jg, nah si kakek baru dateng duduk disono. Baru ketauan nyebelinnya pas anaknya (ato istrinya, whatever) dateng bawain makanan di tray. Eeeehhhhhh si kakek dengan seenaknya naruh tu tray di meja gue!!! Reaksi pertama gw: bengong. Trus first thought; ooh mungkin mejanya sempit kali, jd traynya ditaruh di meja gw. Abis mikir gt, langsung inget; lah bukannya meja dia jg meja buat 4 orang ya, kan berarti masi banyak tempat. Jadilah gw emosi donk, tp yaah ditahan2.

Si anaknya/istrinya pergi lagi buat mesen makanan buat dia sendiri, pas balik ya bawa tray lagi donk, si kakek dengan seenak jidatnya naruh itu freaking tray di meja gua lagi!!!! OMG, are you kidding me!! I mean I'm okay if someone put, like, a stack of trays on my table, but please ASK me first!! I'm even willing to help you put those trays back to the stall if you ask me. Gw agak sensi d klo ketemu orang yg ga ada manner sama skali kayak gitu. Tp emang sih disini gw liat semakin tua, mrk makin ga peduli orang lain. Beda ma di jpn. Disana pengalaman gw belom perna tuh ketemu orang2 tua yg ga tau diri. Yg ada malah semakin tua semakin sopannya minta ampun.

Hhh jadi tadi yah gitu d, makan juga jadi ga enak. Hmm harus berusaha jd lebih sabar lagi.

Libur donk!!!

2010-07-15T18:12:00.000+07:00

I seriously need holiday!!!!

The Only Thing That I Can Do For You

2010-07-14T19:20:00.001+07:00

Pour Mon Amie,

Sampe sekarang, tetep rasanya terharu and so thankful klo inget dulu, how you supported me, cheered me up during the lowest point of my life. Masi inget nabe party kita di Machida dulu, at winter time? hehe. Tiba2 lu and temen2 yg lain dateng ke kamarku and masak2 haha. You really had no idea how much I thanked you for that.

Out of all, a memory that I cherish most, a memory that always, always brings warmth to my heart is that moment, that small party in the evening. Even though I felt like dying, having all my best friends around me back then comforted me. Meskipun apa yg gw alami dulu sama skali ga bisa dibandingin to what you are going through right now, I’d like to think the same way; that having your best friends with you during this difficult time of yours, to be there for you, can really help in some way or another.

So now, I want you to know, to believe that all your friends that love you are right beside you. And I soo believe in the power of prayer. So, even though I cannot arrange a nabe party for you when you come back *hehe*, at least I can send you a prayer from a far.

Mon Anniversaire

2010-07-12T19:23:00.001+07:00

.: May 31, Monday :.

pour mon cher, merci ^^

~ a beautiful red roses bouquet ~

pour mes amis

~ Presents from my friends in Japan, thanks to Teddy who brought these to Sing ~

.: Little Danbo and the Talking Oji-San :.

.: My fave of all, sketch books :.

Church Camp@Bukit Tinggi, Malaysia

2010-07-07T20:06:00.001+07:00

.: May 28 & 29, 2010 :.

Church camp @Bukit Tinggi, Malaysia

We stayed at a European-village-theme resort located at Bukit Tinggi.

~ Life Changer Team ~

~ Going back to Singapore ~

1st Universal Studio Singapore Trip

2010-07-04T22:06:00.001+07:00

.: May 8, 2010, Saturday :.

When mom and dad came here to have yet another eye checkup for pa, we went to check out the newest attraction spot, USS. Actually I didn't feel like going coz i felt that the $72 entrance fee was too much, it wasn't worth the bucks given the fact that only 3 out of 5 themes are working. That, and of course the size of it. I've been to Universal Studio Japan and USS looks like a mini-me version of USJ. Oh one more thing, no parade!! How come we have no parade??. A theme park *and we're talking about no ordinary theme park here, it's Universal Studio for crying out loud!!* without a single parade is just too disappointing.

Anyhow, we ended up buying the ticket *sigh* after finished wandering about the resort world Sentosa and we really got no idea where else to go. We entered the venue at around 12pm. It was super super hot, i felt like i had glue on all over my body *sweat*.

~ We made a trip to this store whenever we thought we couldn't handle
the heat *grin*, located just next to USS entrance point. An oasis indeed ~

~ The famous globe ~

We didn't try some of the major rides tho, coz, gosh… the long queue was certainly the mood killer.

At around 6 pm we had enough of USS, so after buying some stuffs for my
brother, we walked out exhausted and sticky!!

Just outside USS, there’s this popcorn store called Garrett Popcorn Shop. I was intrigued coz, according to the ads, is Oprah’s fave, so we’d like to give it a try *Hey, it’s recommended by Oprah =p* Hmm how was it? …Nah!! not nice if you ask me. Okay, I may not be a big fan of pop corn, but the caramel flavor was waayyy to sweet for my taste and the cheese one… I felt like I ate a sponge, didn’t crunchy at all.

Before we called it a day, a visit to Resort World was not complete without first stopping by Victoria’s Secret. Yeahh, I knowww… it’s opened in Singapore!! I got my body lotion I wanted so much after I tried it more than a year ago when Ellen bought one for me from US. Sweet.

Chocolate by the Bald Man and White Kipling

2010-04-24T00:23:00.001+07:00

On last Sunday after church service, I went to National Library to borrow some watercolor books, and to go there I have to walk pass Bugis Junction Mall no matter what. Now this is dangerous, everyone, as I already proved it *sigh*. So here's the story. We walked out from Bugis MRT station and moi mind still safely fixed on watercolor books. Everything was fine. But came the moment when we had to pass by the mall. And guess what I saw. A super giant, in bold red 20% - 70% Kipling SALE!!! Now, you tell me if you can just ignore the calling, geezzz... Being a true Kipling fan, I let myself in and kept telling myself that I needed to check a luggage price for my mom (Ma once told me that she wanted to buy one if there was a huge discount). Straight away I went to luggage sector and what a disappointment, the price was still sky high. So naturally, I went browsing the other areas too, handbag and backpack. Oh my, Kipling sure has a lot of beautiful array of colors to choose from. I found this small backpack but i spent quite some time to decide the color. Brown, gray, blue, black, pink... getting dizzy... so finally i decided to take home the cute white Kipling for $91. And right after I paid, I snapped back to reality. Man!! I paid 91 bucks for SMALL bag!!! Oh well, back to the plan. Continued the short visit to library…

Finished with the books matter, we walked back to mrt station carrying the super heavy books under the blazing Singapore sun. Desperately in need for something cold and refreshing, we decided to have some parfaits in City Hall... at least that was our first intention but I didn't know why we ended up indulging ourselves in chocolate at Max Brenner. Now, this cafe definitely is for choco lover. I walked in, sat down, opened the menu, and I was like whoaaa... the menu design itself already shows how much the founders' love to choco is and that makes me want to open a similar cafe *grin*

.: A Chocolate cake with warm chocolate sauce inside. Me in heaven :p :.

Basically there's nothing inside the menu that doesn't scream “YUMMM”, at least to me. Almost all of them use chocolate as an ingredient *what more can I ask?* and I was like a little girl inside the candy store, wanting to try everything. Seriously, if you have a sweet teeth like I do, you should try Max Brenner :p

We finally settled with waffle and chocolate cake. OMG! They were totally delish!

The waffle… oh the waffle… I didn’t know that a waffle could be THAT tasty. I mean, I can eat it without any additional stuff. It’s that good. I definitely will go back for the waffle.

How to Train Your Dragon

2010-04-20T14:43:00.007+07:00

The moment I saw this movie's add *that you could find it glued to every pillar inside Orchard mrt*, I knew I didn’t want to watch it. It was just the same feeling I had with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Plus, to me, the main dragon, the black one? That looked like a lizard, I didn’t get it at all. But then one Saturday morning, I happened to catch its review on the tv, and they actually gave it 4 out of 5 popcorns!! So of course naturally I was curious, then the next thing I knew, I watched it on 3d. And guess what!! I loved it I loved it I loved it.

I enjoyed every moment of it. The script is refreshingly funny, it is hilarious. The dragons are beyond cute and the main hero is believable as he was *i believe* in real world. I was instantly hooked right from the start. Not only the animation is superb, the story itself also offers something special. It will leave you with a good feeling, like a sweet aftertaste. Now I wish I could get myself one pet dragon ^^ A definite must see!!

All things macaroni

2010-04-15T17:51:00.002+07:00

Today I’m taking one day sick leave. Thanks to a tight schedule, I had to work until morning for a past few weeks.

Maunya hari ini santai2 aja di rumah sambil masak2, eeh tau2 jam 1an gitu ditelpon ma org kantor, nambah feature2 and complaint ada beberapa bagian yg ga function well. hhh langsung jd kepikiran d.

But, acara masak2 tetep lanjut donk, jam 12an gitu pergi belanja bentar, sebelumnya uda browsing2 cari resep makaroni. Ga tau nih, belakangan ini ngidam pengen makan macaroni or pasta. Trus akhirnya milih 2 resep setelah struggle hampir 2 jam nyari2 yg pas *geez, i didn’t know that picking recipe is waaayyy harder than the cooking itself!

* Banyak bahan yg ga aku beli, soale masa beli celery 1 pack, iya kalo dipake, wong masak aja klo mood doank hehe, jadilah itu resep banyak yg aku edit sendiri :p Masak macaroni nya juga kebanyakan, I thought I cooked enough, ternyata kebanyakan rebus macaroni. Untungya bakal ada yg bantu ngabisin. I baked 3 bowls of macaroni.. 3 bowls!!!

Hm dunno if after today I would ever want to eat macaroni again >,<

Today’ recipes:

Baked macaroni and cheese
Salad macaroni with green pepper
yg ini ga da namanya, free style a la moi ^^

A Long Forgotten Sketch

2010-04-13T17:54:00.001+07:00

.: Watercolor :.

December 22, 2008

Supposed to be a local market… 失敗

Sticky Day at the Singapore Zoo

2010-04-12T19:50:00.001+07:00

HELP!! I’m running out of places to go here… haha, so yeah, normally I wouldn’t opt to go to the zoo, not if I had other option. But, Singapore Zoo is quite ok, it got tram that can take you to different areas of the zoo. Yes, we definitely need a tram here or else we’ll suffer from the sun.

We went there after Pa’s surgery. When we got home, his eye was red and we remembered what the doctor said, no dusty place, no crowd. Oops.

Singapore Botanic Garden

2010-04-07T21:30:00.001+07:00

Before Dad’s surgery on March 23rd, we went to Botanic Garden to keep dad’s mind off the surgery. To be honest, with dad being the biggest fan of orchid, our main purpose was to see the Orchid garden. Mind you, lots and lots of varieties of orchid can be seen here. Mom, mesmerized by the flowers, actually took picture of every single one of them *gosh*. But sadly, weather was not our best friend at that day, coz we only explored half of the garden when heavy rain hit the area *couldn’t believe it*　せっかく行ったのに~

Welcome to Bintan Island

2010-04-06T15:48:00.001+07:00

.: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 :.

Thank God, Good Friday is coming. I seriously need holiday after almost a month I've been abused by ridiculously heavy work load. Good Friday is really good, indeed. I have my much anticipated long weekend drawing even more closer. So the story is, we get ourself this short trip to Pulau Bintan (Bintan Island), our little getaway. We've booked a room at Bintan Lagoon Resort for 2 days from April 2 - 4, bought a roundtrip ferry ticket, and all checked, we are ready to go.

Initially, we planned to go to Genting but all the hotel rooms are fully booked. I was still struggling to happily accept the fact that this weekend might be spent by going nowhere. After all, a holiday is still a holiday, rite?? But then, somehow one of us came up with this idea of going to Bintan. The next day at church, my friend started talking about Bintan, out of nowhere!! So it was a confirmation. To Bintan we go!

the second copy

2010-02-14T12:24:00.000+07:00

.: Watercolor :.

~22 February 2010~

Oh okay, so now it’s Valentine’s Day… Happy Valentine’s Day everyone ^^ and today also happens to be Chinese New Year day. As I’m sitting cool in my room typing this blog, I can’t help counting hours down to the time I’ll be flying to Japan *yay!* 32 more hours…

I actually don’t have any plan whatsoever today, except maybe going out to Orchard after doing laundry to buy some clothes and omiyage for my friend. You know, the weather today is nice, not too hot as any other day *Yeah, you will almost likely get hot, sticky day here in Singapore* so I’m getting this rare urge to sketch. In the meantime, I’d tell you more about this painting posted here.

It began during my college year, I started to oil paint. And as a starter, I used this watercolor tutorial book with so many paintings in it. I spotted one that i like, and I used it as a sample. So I did the reproduction of watercolor painting into oil painting. You can see it in this post. Sadly, now it belongs to someone else. I know!!!! being one of my favorite paintings, I couldn’t believe I gave it away just like that!! ughh, now I wish I had the guts to get it back hahaha *oh well…*

And to get over it and a way to redeem myself, I decided to paint it again. This time using watercolor. And voila, it finished on February 22, 2009. There are few things that I’m not satisfied with this painting, for one, the color of the shadow of the tree *what was I thinking? why on earth did I use GREEN??*

iPad frenzy

2010-01-29T23:21:00.001+07:00

omg.omg. I can’t express how excited I am in knowing that Apple introduced iPad yesterday. Couldn’t wait until it actually goes on sale in just a few months. I’ve been thinking to get myself a Sony eBook reader for quite some time but since there is iPad now, I guess I must say goodbye to Sony eBook reader.

Lots of criticisms out there but I don’t care. I will definitely get one ^^

Torii 鳥居

2010-01-28T23:35:00.001+07:00

What is Torii? Well, as you can see here, it’s a Japanese gate that usually serves as an entrance to the sacred place. So you pretty much can find it in a shrine. I remember the trip to Nikko and how I was soo fascinated by this torii, placed just beside the lake.

Lucky I took quite a lot of pictures of the must-visit Nikko so I can use them as future references to make sketches, because you see, it’s already been more than 6 months since the day I began my journey in Singapore. And during those times, no sketches nor paintings of Singapore I made.

I know… I couldn’t believe it myself. The thing is, in here, there’s nothing to keep me inspired. But you know what, I’m gonna stop comparing between here and there, ’now’ and ’back then’. That’s it, I’m joining watercolor course in Singapore on March *woohoo*

One Classic Concert and a Present

2009-12-11T11:17:00.007+07:00

Finally it's Friday again! this week passed by pretty fast. Soale many events took place this week, biasa lah klo banyak yg di expect pasti hari-hari jadi kerasa cepet hehe. Hum Rabu Dec 09 kemaren pergi ke Art House buat nonton Classic Piano and Violin Concert. Eventnya diadain ma Italian Embassy, so you can guess who performed.. none other than Italian pianist and violinist sisters. Yg dateng jg almost 90% Italian. We arrived there a bit early, they were still serving cocktail and wine. That was my first visit to Art House, dalemnya keren euy, kecil sih tp architecturenya gaya colonial tempo doeloe gitu. Mulai concertnya jam 7, trus kelar jam 9an. Pieces yg dibawain jg enak-enak, ga gitu berat ditelinga. Yg senengnya itu, mrk bawain piece by Brahms buat encore nya. Overall it was a great concert. Oya sebelum pulang mampir ke mall deket City Hall situ, nemu toko scrapbook... lucu2 d, jadi pengen nyoba scrapbook, but knowing me, it probably won't last a month. Jadi kemaren uda nahan2 buat ga beli scrapbook kit nya... oh what an effort.

That was Wednesday. What happened on Thursday? I didn't expect much on that day, and to be honest I was a bit irritated over work after lunch. So I expected it would be like any other long Thursdays, coz every Thursday is scheduled for our team's weekly technical meeting... and it was! No canceled meeting whatsoever. Tp yang kagetnya itu pas mau mulai meeting, boss gw tiba-tiba bagi2 kado *oh what a surprise*. What touched me most is not the gift itself. Pertama kalinya gw ngerasain kerja ditempat dimana you can work professionally and they expect you to perform at your best but at the same time, amidst all the hassle of everyday fast and stressful working environment, you can feel that you're still "human", still sane. And they make you feel that. Jadi kerasa kayak long-time friends. Oya, trus ceritanya gw dikasi kado tas, haha yg lucunya mrk spent quite some time katanya cari kado buat gw, berhubung yg cewek cuman gw sendiri di team ^^ So, I really appreciate it guys...

As for tonight's plan, hum ke Dhoby Ghout, mau dinner bareng cell group ^^

A Supposedly 'Secret Santa'

2009-12-08T13:52:00.003+07:00

To celebrate Christmas, in office we're doing the Secret Santa. Well, regardless the naming; Secret Santa, Exchange Presents, whatever, we're supposed to keep it a secret, right?? I mean, what's the point if the whole world knows whom you're buying gift for. The thrill is the secret itself, the surprise. But noo... not here. It's the other way around.

So see, I'd been playing by the rule... you know, to keep it in the dark untill few days ago one of my colleagues asked me bluntly what was written on that little piece of paper that I drawed out and today, again, one of my team mates asked me the exact same question!! Sheesh~ Now it's not interesting anymore... oh well

Laid Back Mood

2009-12-02T10:24:00.007+07:00

Finally, we step again into the festive month, December... hurray! As usual I don't feel like working during this whole month as my mind constantly diverted by the thought of the planned holiday ahead, but i must say somehow that helps me endure almost anything including work. Take today as an example. Ellen's coming all the way from japan to spore and I'm going to meet her tonight at Vivo City. Oh and one more dear friend of mine, Diana, we met only once even though we're living under the same sky of Spore, ugh an unforgivable thing, I'm going to complain to her tonight as well. I'm too eager to meet them that I can't concentrate on my tasks at hand, so here I am, writing blog. Hmm come to think of it, i haven't updated this blog in quite a long time ^^ ~sheesh~

Talking about blogging, I came to this very stylish new stationary store at Ion Orchard with my mum, and i was drooling over this one particular journal titled 365, so the idea behind the title is to write journal everyday for one whole year. The journal or I should say mini scrapbook (as we can use it to do scrap booking too. See, how cool the thing is ^^) comes in two color choices, red or black. My mum bought it for me and mine is red. I'm planning to use it next year to record simple pencil-colored sketch with a short notes, basically serves as a sketch journal. I can tell you how nice it would look like, with all the little sketches in every pages, but the problem is i don't know if I'm committed enough to do that EVERYDAY. Take a look at this online blog for proof, I'm already guilty as charged for not updating it frequently *sigh*

Travel Sketch :: Kita Kamakura

2009-07-03T22:31:00.001+07:00

Few months ago, I was browsing through photos, looking for something inspiring to draw. Then I stumbled upon this one *I dunno what it's called; temple, shrine?* Especially love the way it looks kinda deserted.

It was one day in Autumn'08 when we set off to Kita Kamakura for Momiji hunting slash tracking. The sun shone bright enough to warm the cool autumn day. Well, exactly the perfect day for our outing. Me & Ria met up with the boys on the station's platform.

The photo itself is courtesy of Adi, our photographerAnyhoo, I enjoyed drawing this. And one thing that I do remember well about that day; I wore the wrong outfit! On my defense, I didn't know we were going to do tracking. I thought we were just gonna find someplace under the tree to chill out, take photos like.. a lot, finding the most perfect spot etc. well basically Momiji hunting things only, you know - But... ぶっぶーっ no, we went tracking too!! and I wore boots, high heel ones!! geez... luckily the scenery was amazing, worked like a charm to ease the discomfort huahaha

Hmm Japan really has something to offer in term of uniqueness, unlike... well, unlike *really, pardon me* Singapore - okay I know, shame on me. I don't know what to sketch here, um buildings, malls?? yeah right. Except maybe Chinatown. You see, Chinatown at night is something you should see here. Lampion's everywhere.

Atashinchi no Danshi

2009-06-29T20:55:00.001+07:00

このドラマ大好き！This 11-episodes story is about family and I absolutely agree on the message they want to deliver; that a family does not necessarily have to be blood related, instead, a family is about getting to know each other, laugh and cry together and... protecting the same precious thing which is memory and time shared together.

This one definitely goes to #1 spot in my most fave JDrama list. What not to like? You'll get your fair share of enough laugh and tears. Actually I got annoyed every time the pre-aired trailer appeared on screen while I was watching Mei-chan no Shitsuji (Mei's Butler). After I finished watching the whole episode of Mei-chan no Shitsuji, I ran out of movies to watch *yeah I know, I got a LOT of free time*The trailer kinda stuck in my head, not that I wanted to watch it but it was just pure curiosity. So I searched and decided to watch the first episodes and... tadaa... loved it loved it and LOVED it. They only uploaded the 5 episodes or so *at that time* on the Internet. Luckily, I can watch Japan's tv channels so I got to watch Atashinchi no Danshi on regular basis hoho...

Mini tulips and roses clay, and oh... some bread too

2009-06-25T20:21:00.001+07:00

Having one month of free time in Bali really left me with choices none other than window shopping, food hunting, and art to keep me occupied. And out of the questions really, to not hold yourself back on the first two options. Too much window shopping, and it can hurt your bank account... well, in my case at least. Weak at temptation *grin* Food hunting was another challenge. My, those spicy, rich in flavor Balinese food, mouth-watering steaks, and behold... the evil in disguised, CAKES! I didn't want to gain extra weight and it left me with the last option here. Art.

I did spend the majority of my time engaging in either doing oil-painting or sketching. Sometimes during the second week in February, I saw small children making pottery out of the clay. Well, I did want to try it too, but there is something about pottery that screams "sacred" and that makes me feel I either learn it whole-heartedly or not at all. So I thought maybe next time.

Anyway, that basically led me into another type of clay which is less serious, much more fun and most importantly no need of an oven, it's air-dry. I dove headfirst looking for air-dry clay without knowledge whatsoever about any specific brand or characteristic, and I ended up buying the wrong one. Luckily my aunt still had half the clay given by my dad's niece who owns a clay store/studio in Jakarta.

And so... the creation began. I was experimenting; making tiny croissant first, then flowers and baskets filled with twisted candies. Stuffs from bakery are pretty easy to make. I think you can make them in one go even if it's your very first time ever to touch clay, like yours truly. Flowers are a bit tricky tho. I did fail a couple of times to get the result I wanted. I made some tulips and roses. But um.. those tulips do look like roses, don't you think?? hhh 失敗～

Finally, you want to give it some color too. You might want to leave the molded clay a couple of minutes so it can get hard first before you paint it with acrylic. In my case, since I'm not a really patient person by nature, I went straight into getting it painted after I got the shape I wanted. Either way is fine I think.

I searched in art & craft stores everywhere but they don't sell it in Bali, this kind of clay. In Singapore, air-dry clay in a size of a brick costs for about 4 dollar, if I'm not mistaken.

Well, if you like mini stuffs, maybe you can consider playing with clay. It's a lot of fun.

Orchid Sketches

2009-05-28T19:58:00.006+07:00

:: Watercolor ::
~May 19, 2009~
.: Wedding Anniversary Present :.

Today's post is about orchid. Anggrek tuh bunga kesukaan papa, keknya dari aku kecil, first impression and image papa itu pertama: anggrek, kedua: bonsai, ketiga: kaktus. Soale waktu kecil kan tinggal di Lombok, nah di rumah Lombok dulu, papa punya buanyak banget anggrek, bonsai n kaktus. Waktu pindah ke Bali, trus pindah lagi ke Jakarta, papa uda ga ngurusin bonsai lagi, tapi anggrek?... teteeeppp. So whenever I see him tending orchids, it feels so natural. I'm not exaggerate thing when I say orchid is his passion.

Nahhh... waktu tgl 14 may kemaren ini aku balik Bali, kaget liat di kantor bawah kok ada pot anggrek 2 biji. Ternyata itu mama yg beli buat papa, kado wedding anniversary ktnya huehehehe... it has story, so I decided to sketch it. Pertama kalinya gambar anggrek, ga bisa pula bikin daun huks...

About those two pots of orchid, lucu aja liat mama sm papa. Mama yg ga tau gimana ngurus anggrek, kasian liat daunnya ada yg kering, trus potnya jg kering. Judging that they need water as much as human does, mom poured a bottle of water into the pots. Trus papa kaget liat potnya kok basah banget, hihi so they were fussing over it for a whole day. Mama yg nuduh papa ga peduli-in anggrek yg mama kasih, papa yg bilang klo tuh daun emang uda waktunya kering, klo disiram banyak air malahan jd busuk akarnya. Pokok'e lucu ja ngeliatnya, ampe karyawan2 jg pada ketawa hoho

:: Watercolor ::
~May 21, 2009~
Orchids in the Backyard

Klo angrek2 yg ini juga aku baru pertama kali liat pas pulang kemaren. Ga tanya sih dapet dr mana. Papa taruh di halaman belakang deket dapur. Bunganya buanyaaakk banget, jd gatel pengen aku cabut

Abba's Love Letter

2009-05-27T19:55:00.002+07:00

I chose you when I planned creations.
You are not a mistake, for all your days are written in My book.
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live.
You are fearfully wonderfully made.
I knit you together in your mother's womb and brought you forth on the day you were born.

I've been misrepresented by those who don't know Me,
I'm not distant and angry, but I'm the complete expression of love.
And it is My desire to lavish My love on you, should be, because you are My child and I am your Father.
I offer you more than your earthly Father ever could, for I am the perfect Father.

Every good gift that you receive comes from My hand for I am your Provider and I meet all your needs.
My plan for your future is always filled with hope because I love you with an everlasting love.
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore and I rejoice over you with singing.

I will never stop doing good to you, for you are my treasure possession.
I desire to establish you with all My heart and all My soul, and I want to show you great and marvelous things.
If you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me.

Delight in Me and I will give you the desires of your heart for it is I who gave you those desires.
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine, for I am your greatest Encourager.

I'm also the Father who comfort you in all your troubles.
When you are brokenhearted I am close to you.
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to My heart.
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes.
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth.

I'm your Father and I love you even as I love My son Jesus.
For in Jesus My love for you is revealed.
He is the exact representation of My being.
He came to demonstrate that I am for you not against you.
And to tell you that I'm not counting your sins.

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
His death is the ultimate expression of My love for you.
I gave up everything I love that I might gain your love.
If you receive the gift of My son Jesus, you receive Me.
And nothing will ever separate you from My love again.

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen.
I've always been Father and will always be Father.
My question is will you be My child?
I am waiting for you.

Love,

your Dad
Almighty God

Tulip Garden at Disney Sea ::Winter 2009::

2009-05-26T14:37:00.008+07:00

Two paintings below are from photos, taken at Disney Sea, the second time I went there. The first time was with my fullcast friends in Summer 2007, it was a hell lot of fun. The second time was when my mom visited Japan in January 2008. We went there with my brother, just the three of us. Inside, I was so... thrilled to see a HUGE garden full of various kinds of tulips. So amazed *yeah my first time to see so many tulips, my fave flower* that I asked my brother - not really a fan of nature beauty - to take a lot of pics of me with the tulip garden until he grew impatient sheesh... If I went alone, I would love to just stare at those fabulous tulips and... just be there!

:: Oil on Canvas ::
80 x 60 cm
~February 2009~
.: Tulip Garden at Disney Sea :.

:: Watercolor ::
24 x 32 cm
~May 22, 2009~
.: Disney Sea :.

Quick Watercolor Before the Trip

2009-05-08T11:42:00.000+07:00

::Watercolor::

.: December 23, 2008 :.
~Snow-covered country house~

I remember painted this in Machida. Too lazy to pack for our End-of-the-year trip to Hong Kong, I ended up picking up my brush instead. 雪が大好き～ Snow didn't fall that day. At that time I was hoping for a white Christmas, and it turned out to be no snow at all in Tokyo . Even if by some miracle it was snowing, all I could do was drooling over it since I was on the plane to HK with friends on Christmas day. Sigh. So no white Christmas for me.

Whenever I see this piece, it leaves me longing for a villa in a remote place somewhere, a huge fireplace, me and the loved ones together gather around bare Christmas tree ready to decorate it. The oh-so-Christmas warm bread ready to tease our taste buds. Arghh stop it! We're not even half way to December yet! *And look, this is what I got by reading too much Jane Green*

::Watercolor::
.: December 23, 2008 :.

My Monet Version

2009-05-07T11:41:00.001+07:00

I did these Monet paintings in February 2009 with some directions in brush stroke from my art teacher *well... it's Monet after all, I needed help! *, and moreover, that was my first time dealing with big canvas. Kinda intimidating.

::Oil on Canvas::
90x70 cm

~February, 2009~

::Oil on Canvas::
80x60 cm
~February, 2009~

For me, this snow-scene painting is the most special

Job 42:5

2009-05-07T10:52:00.008+07:00

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

those are the words Job said after he experienced God himself. 私もそのこと欲しい。To know Him myself so that I could testify with my very own life.

Travel Sketch: A Bit of Japan

2009-04-27T01:45:00.001+07:00

::Watercolor::

~February 24, 2009~

Takoyaki Store - Kyoto

aaahh takoyaki I bought from that small store above was the yummiest takoyaki ever so far. I went to Osaka and Kyoto with my family and oh we only spent half a day in Kyoto... HALF A DAY!!! What were we thinking?? hm well, I just have to make sure the next time I go there, I'll absorb every detail of the beauty of the old city.

::Watercolor::
~February 27, 2009~

I forgot when it was when Benny gave us (Tokyo people huehehe ) an omiyage, mochi. The mochi was put in a box with picture on the lid. I happened to be the last one who got the mochi so Inge *or was it Ellen??* gave me the mochi and the box. I love the picture on the lid, very simple, so I decided to keep the box *didn't have the heart to throw it*. I guess you might find one in omiyage stores ^^ *'scuse me, I do some advertising here*.

::Watercolor::
~February 06, 2009~

It is another sakura sketch, in case you don't know what the heck is that pink, tree-like curvy lines. Nothing more to say. I love sakura.

Travel Sketch: A Bit of Bali

2009-04-25T00:47:00.004+07:00

::Watercolor and Pencil::
~April 22, 2009~

Aahhh you should come and visit Bali last month. Three big ceremonies (Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi) were held in succession in only three weeks time. Many Galungan decorations such as tall, curved bamboo pole called Penjor were planted on each side of literally EVERY roads created a festive yet serene air every time you drove pass them. Pecalang (polisi adat - tribal police, is a group of men from Balinese local village that acts as a police, they DO have the right to stop the traffic for ceremony) were everywhere. I always love to see what uniform they wear, you know, as every village has its own Pecalang uniform. They always wear sarong (which is always looks the same for every village. A sarong is a sarong afterall) and a shirt (now, that's the only part where every village can get creative with their own village's logo and everything). For me, only at that time of ceremony is Bali really reveals something other than its commercial face. It was somewhat magical.

In Love

2009-04-25T00:18:00.005+07:00

Yep, I'm falling head over heels in love with... my Lord slash my Savior slash my BFF!!! huahahaha Yes I'm still feeling homesick (Bali and Japan T.T) and missing my friends there, still hoping for time when I fly there and meet them, but at the same time thrilled to realize that I'm spiritually blessed here. Ktemu temen2 yg sama2 longing for intimacy with God, radical in a really good way, not what I call *oh pardon me* "annoyingly fanatic". So it's been great so far and I believe the best is yet to come.

Reminiscence

2009-04-09T19:05:00.003+07:00

::Wednesday, 25 Feb 2009::

It's been a month and finally I brace myself today to really read what my friends've written on the first few photos they inserted in the frame for me . One step at the time. I haven't fully looked at those photos, mind you. I don't dare, really. Ughh...speaking of having to miss people you care and close enough to you... huhu Miss you guys. We used to meet regularly if not everyday, and now being so far away and all, the simple things like going out for grocery shopping etc, things that I took for granted... I want to give anything just to be able to do something like that again. Geez, this sounds cheesy, but I do love you all. Every single one of you (even the weirdest and the freakiest one, you know who huahahhaa) It's been the best memories EVER in my life, both the good and the bad ones... じゃね～

Sakura

2009-04-08T02:20:00.001+07:00

Well, since I don't get to see sakura this year, I decided to paint them. These are from photos I took a year ago in Ueno and someplace I didn't remember where. I went to hanami (cherry blossoms/sakura viewing) with Inge, Ellen, Stivan, Rendy and Teddy - who later joined us. It was so beautiful. Hehe the paintings really don't do justice here. You should feel the atmosphere at hanami. So alive.

::Oil on canvas 60 x 40 cm::
.: Sakura viewing at Ueno :.

~February 2009~

.: Someplace we went to after Ueno :.

::Watercolor::
~February 28, 2009~

.: Ueno :.

New Art Teacher

2009-04-03T17:58:00.007+07:00

::11 February 2009::

I have new art teacher . He mainly does oil painting, surrealism style. Wanna know what he looks like? You know Kaka Slank? Yep!! He resembles Kaka a lot! The first time I met him, I had this feeling I saw him somewhere before ... then that evening I happened to watch a trailer of Slank's new movie (Generasi Biru) and I was like... "Whoo that's my teacher there!!" huahahaha

Oh but thank goodness he's done impressionism painting years ago. Surrealism always kinda creepy to me. I guess I made a weird face when he mentioned Surrealism that he said to me, "There's no such thing as a bad or ugly art. It's only a matter of liking or not liking the art object". Whew~ I can't agree more

But overall, I like this new teacher. He's a real artist, so passionate in art and has an art gallery near Discovery Mall Kuta. He's so much fun to be with. And you should see him holding the brush, eyes fixed on the canvas. Ughh it's the same when you see your fave athlete doing his/her things. It comes so naturally. Hope I can learn much from him.

One hot day in Bali

2009-02-21T20:44:00.001+07:00

The sky is beautiful today, in a summery beautiful kind of way. We are driving along my most favorite road to the hotel in Kuta now. The road is lined with chest-height statues, varieties of tropical trees in display for sale on the left side, palm trees on the other. Some new fancy cafes are occasionally seen. Wow, here are all my competitors *sigh*. Oh well.

I didn't pay attention at first. As usual when I'm in a car, I either stare blankly at the road or read book. This time, it's the later. I was so into reading my new-bought novel, Twilight. The book is good anyway, and I happened to look up and instantly at awe. The color is superb. The whitest of white from the cloud and the clear sky-blue from the sky. Perfect. The line separating the clouds and the sky is clearly defined, not blurred like any other days in Bali since I came back. Mesmerized by it, I'm looking out the window, absorbing every essence of Bali. The sun, statues, small river, temples... I like the sky the most when it is viewed through branches and leaves, when the top of palm trees dominating the lower part of my view or, *this is the best part* when it's framed by Balinese temple.　最高～

The sunlight's blinding my eyes a bit. It's only a little past midnoon after all.

Not as bad as I thought

2009-01-22T20:48:00.004+07:00

Okay, I take my words back. I quite like the book. So it's not the best book and all but I actually enjoyed reading it. It's kinda refreshing. But oh, reading the first few chapters was a real challenge. You really have to suppress those might-come-up urges to just close the book and throw it away, out of your sight. In my case, I found this huge desire to tear it apart *really* and felt sorry for myself for spending over a thousand yen on this book. But once you pass that phase and get used to the author's writing style, you're good to go.

The story begins with Anna Walsh having some serious, pretty gore injuries. She is back in Ireland. Anna has 4 sisters - Claire, Margaret, Rachel, and Helen - each with different, unique trait, and *annoyingly* hilarious mother. I was left wondering for a few chapters in the beginning what have caused Anna those terrible injuries, who Aidan (a man, in case you're asking) is and why she's desperately looking for him (his whereabout is unknown). Despite her family's constant worries, Anna decides to go back to NYC, to her job and *of course* to find Aidan. As the story grows, everything falls into place. Aidan was her husband and it turns out that they were in a car accident that killed Aidan. Due to post-trauma, she still thinks that Aidan's still alive. She keeps calling his cellphone, writing email to him everyday. But at some point, she remembers everything, about the accident that took Aidan's life. From this, everything's centered on her coping with grief.

Christmas with Love 2008

2008-12-20T05:02:00.006+07:00

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

2008-12-15T14:03:00.012+07:00

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

2008-12-15T00:48:00.010+07:00

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

2008-12-14T23:34:00.017+07:00

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

2008-12-11T12:17:00.013+07:00

>>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

2008-12-07T22:45:00.014+07:00

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

2008-12-03T23:14:00.004+07:00

I'm so bored...

~December 03, 2008~

an evening at starbucks

2008-12-03T22:29:00.010+07:00

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 ^^

2008-11-28T18:06:00.011+07:00

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!!!

2008-11-26T13:16:00.002+07:00

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

2008-11-26T12:58:00.013+07:00

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

2008-11-24T12:11:00.005+07:00

"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

2008-11-17T12:11:00.020+07:00

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

2008-11-14T15:08:00.006+07:00

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 ::

2008-11-10T11:37:00.004+07:00

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

2008-11-05T10:25:00.011+07:00

... 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 ::

2008-11-02T20:41:00.010+07:00

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

2008-10-30T10:24:00.002+07:00

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::

2008-10-24T10:42:00.002+07:00

:: 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

2008-10-23T16:40:00.005+07:00

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

2008-10-23T11:59:00.007+07:00

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!

Travel Sketch ::Nikko::

2008-10-18T20:04:00.003+07:00

::June 21, 2008::

::August 08, 2008::

Travel Sketch ::Enoshima::

2008-10-17T15:37:00.007+07:00

Doesn't look like Enoshima tho... guess I still need practice *huge sigh*

Did the sketch in McD near Enoshima station while waiting for Rendy, Ria, Evan. Got to see cute jellyfish too.

Hong Kong oh Hong Kong

2008-10-17T11:12:00.001+07:00

To tell you the truth, I'm so afraid of going on vacation to HK. Why?? Well... while it'd be nice having my friends with me traveling to other country, it's this hunch telling me that somewhat I'm not gonna get through the supposedly nice holiday in HK smoothly without getting reminded of what I couldn't get yet. And that only means one thing for me: Another cold, harsh poke in the wound.

I've been thinking about this since the idea of spending this year's Christmas in HK was first brought up. I'm thrilled yet scared, I couldn't wait, I really wanna go but at da same time hate every thought of days I'm gonna spend there. How is this possible?? Hmph I really miss the "senior high school me", the "college girl me". Uhhh how I swear to God, I wanna curse OUT LOUD!!! Which is sadly, something I cannot do ^o^v

Now tell me, if getting all sentimental *again!!* at Christmas - which is a time to celebrate, to be all happy and alive - is something you're looking for? No? Exactly. I'm doomed.

mighty to save

2008-10-16T08:50:00.009+07:00

Love this song. On the night of the Passion World Tour, Louie Giglio told us a true story of a young girl whose life too screwed up she thought she had no place before God. But of course, nobody's forsaken by Him. She was saved. She walked with Jesus only for 3 months before she died. This song, Mighty to Save, is the first song she heard soon after she became a Christian. She went home and googled for the lyrics then wrote them in her diary.

Passion World Tour 2008 ::Tokyo::

2008-10-14T15:13:00.013+07:00

Now, the second part of my weekend chronicle ^o^ On Sunday, Me, Evan and Belmond went to Shibuya, to the hall near Yoyogi Park. Passion World Tour 2008 was held there. Tokyo is their 15th stop. Here is the list of cities they visited: KYIV :: Stockholm :: Sao Paulo :: Kampala :: Paris :: London :: Manila :: Kuala Lumpur :: Jakarta :: Johannesburg :: Cape Town :: Mexico City :: Vancouver :: Seoul :: Tokyo. On October 16 they will rock Hong Kong and finally Sydney will end the tour.

I'm glad I came. So blessed. On top of that I'm so darn grateful I have a God whom I can call Father *sob sob*

Ow yesterday was my first time going to a concert. It was great. Will edit this post later and add some photos ^^

A retreat to Oarai

2008-10-14T11:46:00.020+07:00

What a tiring long weekend! It began on Saturday when I joined a retreat to Oarai with my church community. I didn't sleep enough the night before and I had to be in Suidoubashi at 9 o'clock. So I literally had to drag myself out of bed at 7 o'clock to get ready. It takes 1 hour by train from Machida to Suidoubashi. Ohh how I longed to call my friends and tell them I wasn't going. I needed my sleep!!!! Well, somehow I made it on time. 9 o'clock sharp people!!! But guess what! I arrived there and only 20 people or so were there. 20 out of 60 people (more or less)!!! Where was everybody??? And the mystery was solved. My friend told me.

A friend:
>>"Didn't you know?"
Me:
>>"No, what?"
A friend:
>>"They told us to gather here at 9 o'clock so that everyone will be here at 10 o'clock, you know... given the Indonesian culture... rubber clock."
Me:
>>*speechless* "..... oh okay."
A friend:
>>"This way certainly it would stick to the schedule. The bus will be here at 10 o'clock and off we go to Oarai at exactly 11 o'clock"
Me:
>>"Well, I didn't know about that. It would be nice though to have a sleep for another hour."
A friend:
>>"Have you had your breakfast?"
Me:
>>*Show her a Choco Croissant bag* "I thought I wouldn't make it in time, so... no, I haven't had breakfast."

Oarai Station >> The diesel train

But the breathtaking view from the bus window along the way to Oarai made it up to my lack of sleep. It was stunningly beautiful. There were rice fields in every direction for as far as I could see which reminded me of Ubud a lot* Oh how I love Ubud T.T * Anyway, about the retreat, I had a few humiliating accidents *things happen ~grin~* but it was fun overall. I left earlier, on Sunday, coz we were planning the usual all-you-can-eat dinner for Edwin's birthday party.

::will be continued on the next post::

Made with love... part 2

2008-10-10T12:36:00.012+07:00

Dunno what to write so I post the rest of my paintings.

October 2006
~ Oil on Canvas ~

I especially like the sky the most if it has a glint of yellow. I don't know... I just... love it.

~Oil on Canvas~

Mom's fave painting... * Gosh!! I forgot to sign it T.T *

Eat, Pray, Love

2008-10-08T11:10:00.005+07:00

I've finished reading The Shack and I was running out of books! So I was roaming in kinokuniya shinjuku friday night, looking for new books and tadaa... Eat, Pray, Love!! When i read the review on the back, I caught a word "Bali", and that did it! I had to buy this book! *pardon this subjective, stupid thought ~grin~* That and the simple cover won me over.

While I admit I did buy this book solely bcoz the story took place in my beloved-beloved island, Bali, I must say this time I didn't regret buying a book based on compulsive act ^^ Ugh I still remember my past disappointment over one of Paulo Coelho's books.

Anyhow, I found the story to be familiar in its own way. I mean I believe you can relate yourself, friends, or someone you know more or less to the story, to the quest of finding the real joy. The book tells us about the author's seek of pleasure, God and the balance between the two after a harsh divorce. As you may well have guessed from the title, eat is about pleasure and she tried to find it in Italy eating lots of pastas, gelattos and pizza like a good Italian *comment: this is where i came to envy her!* The seek of God took place in India, in an ashram and... finally, she found balance between pleasure and God in ehm... behold... Bali.

The book itself is divided into 3 parts with each part tells a life she led in those 3 countries; Italy, India, and Indonesia. One more thing that I really like about this book is that Liz Gilbert wrote it with a lot of sense of humor. So while this is a book about a woman's pilgrimage, it's so much different than any other memoirs. I kinda expected to get a feeling similar to those when I read someone's "true story", but I didn't. I found myself laughing every now and then reading this book. It's entertaining and refreshing, though I started to get a little bored once I entered the India part, you know, with all the yoga talk. I'm not a Yogis and not interested to become one, so it pretty much explains why I can't really accept the philosophy (and the ritual... and the chanting... okay never mind). Overall, I LOVE this book.