Job 42:5

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

::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

::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

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

::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

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

::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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes

何これ、一番人気あるって。。。まじ？？？騙された！！

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

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

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

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

Christmas Shoes

Christmas Shoes (by: Newsong)

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

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

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

*Chorus

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



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

Lalaport

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

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

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

~I love tulips~

nabe feast

>>the crab is back<<

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

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

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

illumination @Tama Center

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

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

doing nothing

I'm so bored...

~December 03, 2008~

an evening at starbucks

December 01, 2008
16:39

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

:: machida ::

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

Yippie ^^

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

Yeah!!!

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

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

Momiji hunting

Woo-hoo! 3 days off!

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

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

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

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

Sunday

Momiji hunting @Kamakura.

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

~hihihi LMAO, National TREESURE~

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

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

awesome *God how great Thou Art*

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

I need to stop worrying

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

~The Boy in the Striped Pajamas~

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

Chasing Harry Winston

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

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

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

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

Feeling guilty

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

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