Early Morning

Our Adventure Starts - Japan Trip Day 1

2012-01-14T17:03:00.004+08:00

First we planned to go on 26th of Dec, but the air ticket is less expensive when we go on 28th, so the date is decided to be 28th. We had preparation for the itinerary, and wardrobe (it's winter in Japan), and since I might not stand with cold weather I bought few packs of heat pack, undergarments for winter, socks and a coat.

Our flight that day is at 6.20 am with Delta Airlines, I woke up around 3.30 am that day, got ready and took a cab to the airport. Mori was not feeling well the previous day and her lips are a bit swollen because of eating pempek that caused slight allergy. - I was hoping everything is going to be all right. The flight would take around 6-7 hours. Slept most of the time, or watching movie, the food and service are normal, so far so good.

When we arrive the first time, we went to buy train tickets to Ueno, our first stop is Mitsui Garden Ueno Hotel. Checked the price of the tickets, if I recall correctly it's 2400Y per person. Tried to find a place that sell phone cards, seems we can rent the cards, but the ones with internet are quite expensive, is around 1050Y per day, 1000Y cost around 17SGD...and Mori's phone doesn't work dunno why. FYI in Japan phones that can work are Japanese phone or smartphones with 3g. My stupid phone somehow not really stupid, hehe..., we decided not to rent a phone card, as we might be able to use internet in the hotel.

We took the train to reach Ueno Station, the nearest station near our hotel. First drink Mori bought in the train, is actually a regular apple juice. :)

After we reached the station, the weather so cold so I stopped for a while to wear my gloves and add a layer of sweater before we go out. The hotel is not that far away, and we checked in. The hotel and the room is nice. It's not as cramped as I imagined.

Nice toilet with bathtub

We checked in around 4.30-5 pm that day.

Our first stop will be Ameyokocho (Ameyoko Street), but before that, we felt very hungry, and found a place that shows their selling udon/soba with large noodle bowl as a model.

To order, we need to put the money in the machine and choose the type of sets that we want, a coupon will be printed out, give the coupon, then they will serve as what in the menu. Very practical...hehe

Mori's food, curry and hot soba

Mine, Kakiage (vegetables fritters) with rice and Udon.

The food looks very simple, but it's delicious! That day I was thinking I might be so hungry that everything can feel very tasty...hehee, but overall in Japan, all the food tastes very nice, I love the rice so much!

Then we headed to Ameyokocho, is just nearby from the eating place. The receptionist in the hotel said some shops will be closed starting at 6 pm, so we don't have much time to see around, oh and it's darker very fast, when we arrive is not yet 6 pm, but it looks like 7.30 or 8 in Singapore.

The street are crowded with people

Giant octopus...

Pachinko place that is newly open, seems the game is very popular in Japan.

Wandering around then decided to head to Akihabara, and look around, and go to the mall (forgot the name), they sell range of electronic devices, and it looks like Funan. After some time, headed back to the hotel and take time to refresh ourselves, and we realized funny sign on the door.

Oh, btw, the toilet door or any common door would open when we press the handle and pushing in, but the toilet door should be pulled, hehe causing a bit of confusion for some time. To be continued...

Where's the Mood

2012-01-14T16:07:00.002+08:00

Hello, finally have the mood to write some things that I want to write earlier, I guess I just had a holiday hangover (for so long!) and another holiday just around the corner (pardon me because I will be in another hangover...).

CNY is coming soon, I will spend 1 week in Jakarta, do some administrative tasks that I forgot about like renew my driving license, and citizenship card. Thinking to have a new hair cut, now is super messy and the color is all over. I might stop to dye my hair for a while because it's very dry and damage, it's the effect of doing perm and dye at the same time.

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-10T21:13:00.000+08:00

Hello 2012! It's a bit too late to say it now :), but hey! Happy New Year!

How was last year? On general is good, I saved some money for holiday to Japan (will post soon), trying to balance between work and life...

This year? Trying to have more time to do what I love, and do more activities. Do you have new year resolutions?! I should start listing down :)

Bible Emergency Numbers

2011-12-11T19:24:00.001+08:00

Found this on pinterest, reminder for me :)

A Conversation

2011-12-07T22:12:00.001+08:00

I heard a conversation between a mother to her child on the phone in the MRT. Not to eavesdropping but she speaks so loud...seems she was angry and yell to her child.

Mom: "Why you just pick up your phone now? How many times I called?"
Child: ... --> skip this because I dunno what the child answered :P
Mom: "You just come home is it? Why? You are suppose to be at home earlier, you think now is early? I asked you to go home by 2, why you just came home...What are you doing now? Dinner? What is the item in your timetable? Then why you have dinner now? You should finish all the things that is in the timetable, then you can eat your dinner, I don't want to know any excuse...and we are not done yet, I will talk more once I reach home! You hear me...I'm very disappointed..." -- That time I saw it's 7.00 ++ pm.

Feel pity for the child...so weird how parents taught their children nowadays...not to say I know how to teach children, but it's just weird.~ She's like a robot.

New Template

2011-12-05T00:51:00.001+08:00

Tried to find new template for my blog, and I found this website, mine is called classic.

They actually have many pretty nice templates to download and many are free, feel free to check out :).

So Random

2011-12-05T00:37:00.001+08:00

Today I went to Orchard and try to take some pics, training before I go for holiday, I should be able to take nice photos :)...

Bus window...

Takashimaya basement toy sale

Christmas tree outside Takashimaya

Elephants exhibit in 313

313 xmas decoration

Outside Mandarin Gallery

From the top of Mandarin Gallery

Amazed by the writing, "Barefoot running is the future!"

Sale...but cannot see anything from the front...hehe

Good design is sustainable design

Bought salad for dinner, Javier's Rotisserie and Salad Bar

In the end, tired and go home...bus 111 took very long to reach the bus stop, it said 25 mins and 41 mins...(waiting is the hardest thing to do...heheee)

Hello December

2011-12-05T00:16:00.001+08:00

I should said that earlier, hehe...anyway, yay, holiday is coming...

Keep listening to this christmas song, Cold December Night, no official videos, but I can find the song in Youtube.

We went to Korean Restaurant called Jang Won, located in Mosque Street. Took some pics, but not much (everybody busy eating!).

The lamp just above my table

Receptionist desk (Not important!)

The menu, we ordered no. 57. Kim chi with pork mixed with vegetable in casserole. Yum!!!

Side dish, Tofu and Potato Salad is nice!

Close up of the potato salad, looks more like an ice cream.

Soup...I forgot the name...~

We ordered beef to try also, tastes sweet but nice...

The rest of the food are not captured, we ordered rice cakes, and fried vermicelli also. All the food they serve taste very nice. Definitely worth to try!

Smile or Die

2011-12-04T23:19:00.001+08:00

Dunno why, lately, I've been grumpy most of the time, life problems...hehe, well, don't all of us have problems? I've been browsing for videos in youtube and stumbled on a video, inspirational, and informative, remind me to always have positive attitude anytime :). I like how they draw the illustrations and explaining on the same time. Check out below. You can check out other videos that they have.

Weekend Getaway

2011-12-03T18:14:00.001+08:00

Yah, I had few short getaways back to my home town this year, last weekend also. One, it's because I want to see my family before my Dec trip, and second, because last week was a bit shocking to me (cannot really tell why). Well, nothing much to do as usual, not enough time to roam around either, just took some pics for my mums hobby. She create a mini garden in the third floor (where you suppose to hang your clothes), and keeps I think more than 20 pots of orchids. At this moment, I dunno what's so fun about it, maybe when I get older I might have the same hobby. hehe....

So, here are some pics that I took.

Forgive my amateurish photos, I dun do any filters or edits, hope to learn how to get good photos before my next trip :)...

Btw, this is not important, but I just know wifi is available in Soekarno Hatta Airport...~ (silly me to know this now, hehe)

The Rum Diary

2011-11-20T19:02:00.001+08:00

Contain spoilers:

The movie is about a novelist, named Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) who went to Puerto Rico to find a job as a journalist. In the company, the boss asked him to write astrology column.

There, he was offered to write a "white lies" articles about a rich guy called Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart) that will build hotels and resorts in the island, make it looks like, it's good to build the hotel, but the fact, hotel buildings will destroy the nature. He was tempted by the offer because of the money and he also have no choice not to take it, to see at the middle of the story, Sanderson get him out of jail because of some issues with local people.

In the end, he tried to reveal a story about what Sanderson in relation with hotel buildings in Puerto Rico. That happened also because Sanderson doesn't like the fact that they went to a party, and his girlfriend doesn't want to go back with him, and Sanderson try to cut connection with Paul Kemp. At that point, he realized he need to do something to publish the story.

The company closed, they cannot do anything, at the end of the story, Paul Kemp sailed back to NY to try to publish the story.

My impression of this movie? All the way, things that I can remember is people drinking alcohol/rum? (Of course, the movie called The Rum Diary), I would've thought they have other meaning into it. It shows voodoo practice in Puerto Rico, which is a bit weird when it's described, and looks like they don't have enough budget for the film, because at the end, Paul Kemp tried to go back to NY and publish the story is not described further like a movie, instead it's just a paragraph written with Paul Kemp leaving Puerto Rico as the background. I think in overall, the actors are great, but the story seems unfinished. Maybe I should try to read and see if anything changed my mind from the way I see the movie. I'll give 2 - 2.5 stars for this movie.

Important Things in Life

2011-11-20T18:34:00.001+08:00

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the Air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.

But the other four Balls - Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.” Bryan Dyson (CEO of Coca Cola)

Hello Sunday

2011-11-20T15:42:00.001+08:00

Hello blog.

Today seems a very good day to sleep, it's drizzling outside, feels like doing nothing, I haven't have much things to write lately...~

Testing my new camera (Canon IXUS 220HS red color) given by my friends as a birthday gift:), plus my new hobby, paint the nails. -- Not really a hobby, more as experiments..hehee

Because my first time doing it, the result is not really neat, plus my nails are really small, so very hard to do this (my excuse...hehe), anyway, I try to do it like in this video.

About Religion

2011-11-18T13:58:00.001+08:00

I might be not a right person to talk about this, I might not the most religious person, but I want to share something that I found few days ago.

I was on my way home from Plaza Singapura, two ladies approached. They introduced themselves, they are koreans, and asked if I can help them with a survey. They said it's just a very simple survey and it would take only 2 minutes to do.

So, anyway, I said ok, I will do the survey. There are 5 questions, and I need to fill them in. Well, the survey is about Christianity and your thoughts about it. So, when I fill in, they started asking questions like: are you Christian? Do you know about Christmas?

I answer whatever I feel is correct. Then suddenly one of the lady said, we want to preach you about Christianity, we will show this video. Because I feel everything is weird, so I refuse to watch the video, but yet she still said, it will just take 2 minutes, and she kept telling I should watch it. I was unhappy with her treatment, then I just said bluntly that people will not be happy if you force them to see the video. I think if people say no, then just leave them alone.

They seems very shocked with what I said, I myself believe in God, but I will not force people to go to church, or preach about Christianity. This thing is very common and t's not happened to me only, some of my friends told me about how they don't like Christians, because they force them to go to church. Church become very commercial, my friend said, it's almost like multilevel marketing. How sad is that?

On Weekend

2011-10-02T15:37:00.001+08:00

I'm the need of new shoes! Thinking of having wedges, or flats or just plain casual shoes. There will always excuse to have one! *yah, way too much excuse...* hehehe...

I've been spending money on things that I don't really need, where I should save more :(

Yesterday me and my flatmate went to SCAPE, she saw an ad. there will be Mitju shoes sale. Unfortunately, the date was wrong, hehee...maybe I shouldn't buy any shoes at the moment. Although I found other shoe that caught my attention in diff shop. Thinking and thinking...hahaa...

Went to Uniqlo, they sell a very light down feather jacket for 99$, the nice ones with pink color! So cool. I've been thinking I shouldn't buy the jacket so fast now, all the shops now began to sell winter clothes, I could get variety of choices... I shouldn't regret my decision though, I think these times is the time where those clothes are the most expensive. Still I'm in the need of some items, maybe I will go back and check them.

Gtg, need to return some books to the library.

A Great Motivation

2011-10-02T12:36:00.004+08:00

Sept felt so long, may be because there is no holiday at all? Suddenly it's beginning of Oct. Just try new blogspot layout, seems great, and simple. Simple is better!

I restarted my calorie counter. (Again!?) Well, I always have problems in sticking in one activity or problem to focus. Sigh* Aren't we all ladies have this problem? *It's just me...* Felt very bad when one colleague said that loosing 1 or 2 kg doesn't make any difference, nobody will notice, you should loose at least 5 kg or more.

I understand I'm fat, and I tried to loose some kg, I always think it should start with a small step, going to a big one. Anyway, isn't it my problem how much weight I want to loose? Not hers? I understand she got her way too loose weight faster by not eating anything. Well done b*t*h. You would die faster. I will loose weight the healthy way.

Thanks to her, I got more motivation, to proof I will loose weight without starving at all. ~

Today I'm 0.5 kg lighter than last week...:) Jia You.

Hey...

2011-09-03T15:00:00.003+08:00

Finally have time to write some posts:).

My family came and visit on 19th, and I took few days leave to accompany them. It's been fun, and tired at the same time. Went to Universal Studio after hours to see the fireworks. We sat too close...hehe, got pieces of crackers all over our bodies.

Went to Marina Bay Sands and Orchard. Nothing much, just stroll around the malls. They like crowded places, like Bugis and Chinatown. The time flies! I wish I could stop the moment at that time! Thinking to have a cruise next year, with the family too! I should spent more time with them:).

Some things are not going as I hope for. I want to always remember this quote:

"If God put you to it, you will be able to go through it"

Lovee!

2011-09-03T14:56:00.002+08:00

How cool is this? <3

I Must be Crazy...

2011-07-17T15:52:00.002+08:00

I just bought a set of lego..."My First Town"

OMG, it's so addictive...feels like going back to your childhood.

They got a lot of collector items and themes like Harry Potter, Pirates of Carribean, City and seasonal themes, I just want to have them all :D.

Start...

2011-05-14T13:24:00.004+08:00

Source

Do what you want to do, stop worrying about things...especially not because of other people have their opinion that we shouldn't do.

Find The Time

2011-05-14T12:34:00.004+08:00

Source

My favorite, to do nothing for a while...

Do you realize how people rush in their life, so they don't have time to just walk slowly and look around or feel how the wind breeze?

Lupus Returns, Cewek Junkies

2011-05-09T12:48:00.005+08:00

Planned to work today, but feels so lazy...* Office is off today, but because one thing and another, I need to check on something that's related with work, well, I've been dragging for some time, my bad. *Gathering the aura..specially, because I've been sneezing non stop, although outside is very hot, so annoying.

Mori just came back from short break in Jakarta, she brought a book that brings nostalgic feeling...*Am I that old?* Did you happen to read or watch Lupus the tv series? The truth, I watched the tv series only. I'm not a big fan of books, so I chose to watch. Now only I got a chance to read the book.

Lupus Returns, Cewek Junkies by Hilman is not the first released book, I bet older series of the book will be funnier than the one I read now, hehe...

The jokes one way of another is oldies, but I find it funny, and the story is sincere. Maybe because the writer wrote the book as a comeback after hiatus for quite some time, he needs to suit the jokes with teen joke in the current era. (What am I talking about?)

One joke that I really like:

"Hari gini patah hati, capee dehh...Daging ditusuk-tusuk, sate deeeh. Temennya Jengkol, pete deeeh. Dalemnya bakwan, toge deeeh. Yang maen sinetron intan, Dude deeeh... "

Well, I can't translate literally, it will not be funny anymore:)

The book is quite entertaining, very easy to read, and I might try to find another older series if I go back to Jakarta.

Hot Sunny Day in Malacca 3

2011-05-08T23:50:00.011+08:00

I woke up at 9 am, took shower and prepared to go out of the hotel at 10 am, have some breakfast in Secret Recipe, just across our hotel. Well too bad, every shop along the street will just open at 11 am. So, we decided just walk to the mall, and have something there, well, it turns out the mall have Secret Recipe! We ordered fried rice with satay, which turns out to be quite nice with generous portion, a bit different, but still nice.

Fried Rice with Satay

After having breakfast, we stroll around the mall, just for a while though, realizing that we need to go back to the hotel for check out. We went back to hotel, checked out, and keep our heavy stuff there until we want to head back to the bus station around 5 pm.

Today we will try to visit every landmarks in the map (if possible). First visit, is the mall, we thought of going to Carefour just to see.

They have 1 cashier only, the products are not as much as usual, one of the shelf even closed, maybe this place will be close soon. Well, I just bought 2 packs of chewing gum.

Along the way, there is Maritime Museum, there is a big ship in front of the museum, that you can go into for 3 Ringgit only. The thing is it's very very sunny and hot, that we decided we shouldn't go to the top of the ship.

Just next to the Maritime Museum, there is one place that sells crafts, I decided to buy a hat, because it's so hot! Across the building you can see like a hotel, with a very nice view of the river. Actually, the river itself have a boat ride that you can enjoy, just we're not interested to go in a hot day.

The landmarks in the map turns out very close to each other, so we can visit them along the way. But before that, we went to Jonker Street once again, to see how it looks like in the afternoon. We stopped in the end of the Jonker Street and decided to take some rest and some cendol. Not as good as I expected, but it good for a hot day.

Some landmarks we saw,

Malacca Fort

Ruins of St Paul

Proclamation Building

Colorful Rickshaw in front of the Christ Church

We just realized then the mall is behind the proclamation building, and going through this road saves us a lot of time getting back to the hotel. Did you remember in previous post, I took around 30-40 mins to reach Christ Church. I think it would saves around 15-20 mins. Well, next time we know where to go. We head back to the hotel because it's already 4.30 pm, we need to go off the hotel around 5 pm, because our bus will depart on 6 pm.

We call a taxi from the hotel to head back to the bus station, it would take around 15 mins only. Then we bought some food from McDonalds to pack, well, just in case the bus would be a little slow. Not as bad as we think off though, the bus timing to reach Singapore is reasonable. We reached Singapore around 10 pm, behind the City Plaza, Paya Lebar. Just take the MRT and straight go home.

A very short holiday, but feels very nice. I really feel the enjoyment of going with a friend who both of us is not really good in direction, I got a sense of adventure at some point:P...but Malacca is not really that hard to explore:), so not bad. Planning for next trip....:)

Hot Sunny Day in Malacca 2

2011-05-08T23:14:00.004+08:00

Feeling full after dinner? We decided to stroll all the way in Jonker Street, many stalls sells slippers, t-shirts, accessories, fridge magnets, food and drinks, mostly anything with affordable price, some can be bargained.

Drink stall along the Jonker Street

The street is totally full with people, I feel like sardine in a can...haha.

I bought a tote bag, few fridge magnets that depicts Malacca, some earrings. We tried a lot of snacks, fried ice cream, egg tarts, fried potato, grass jelly drink (I ate a lot). The fried ice cream is the best snack I ate that day, chewy and hot on the outside and cold in the inside, with vanilla flavor (no photos because we were too busy eating:P). They got a lot of other flavors as well.

When I walked till the end of the street, I felt the road is very long, maybe because many people along the way and the climate is very hot, makes us think that it will take around 1 hour to reached back to our hotel, and we decided to head back around 10 pm. We reached the hotel at 11 pm and took shower, and the day was gone. It was 12 am, very tired of walking, we directly sleep.

Tomorrow will be another day to explore, we will try to go to visit some landmarks, and the mall (along the way to Christ Church and Jonker Street, there is one big mall called Dataran Pahlawan). To be continued...

Hot Sunny Day in Malacca 1

2011-05-08T14:16:00.008+08:00

Having this thought to go to Malacca for a short trip few weeks before, but because one thing and another I totally think maybe I shouldn't go. In the end, I was frustrated and need for a short getaway, I decided to go with a friend, we booked the hotel and bus ticket just one day before...which is a stupid thing to do, because most of the bus booked already, I ended up with a bus company which I never heard before, we need to depart from Lavender. (It's ok to be adventurous sometimes...I think*), and we booked the hotel room that we can get, Time Hotel Malacca (other hotels are fully booked).

Woke up in the morning because my flatmate, who was going to Malacca that day as well (she went with colleagues about one hour earlier) gave a wake up call. Took shower, and go to Lavender. The bus company name is Hasry. Since we ordered the ticket online, we thought we need to be there and present the proof that we bought online in an exchange of a ticket, but it's not. Instead, the guy told us to just hop into the bus and sit any where we like (which we never do...just to avoid confusion). Then the journey begins, we depart at 8.45...that day expected, we will experience few hours of traffic, but before that...wait a minute. Seems the bus was going very slow. It was! Finally when we reach Malacca, it's around 4.30...around 7 hours? I think by this time we should reach Genting already...hehe...yah, but what the heck...we were on holiday anyway.

Once reached, we tried to find bus ticket for going home, we got 2 tickets the next day with Delima Express, which the only bus company that we can find still available. We went to information and checked how we can reach the hotel, the lady suggest to take a bus no 17. The bus condition pretty much the same like in Jakarta, with open windows and a lot of people standing. Just the difference, people should pay first, and the bus driver will give u a ticket. A lot of people taking the bus as well, most of them are tourist. Btw, I realized it was super hot! It was already around 4.30, and it still hot like it was 1? We stopped at some point, then walked few hundred meters, finally reached the hotel. This time is around 5 pm, still it's hot. We decided to take a rest and go out around 5.30.

First stop would be the Christ Church, we passed by this place when we were on the bus on the way to the hotel. We agreed that we can reach the place by walking (which we reached in around 40 mins). The building is painted in red color, and said reflects original Dutch architecture.

source

Anyway, some street names in Malacca is the same like some street names in Jakarta, maybe because it got an influence from the Dutch colony?

Nothing much we can do here, taking a lot of pictures instead, and wondering around for a while. After that, our next destination is Jonker Street. My flatmate sms and said that Jonker Street would be filled with a lot of cute stuffs with affordable price:)...but before that we should have some dinner first.

Our first stop is Famosa Chicken Rice Ball, it's located inside the area of Jonker Street, we reached this place around 8 pm. It's everywhere in the map, so, looks like this place is very commercial, which as expected it is. The servants are not really friendly, we tried the chicken rice ball, and I feel it's very standard. It's tasted like lontong in chicken rice flavor, well, I don't really enjoy eating lontong either, but some friends like it, but they went to other place just across the street.

Chicken Rice Ball

The wonton soup is not bad though.

To be continued...

Things Along the Way

2011-05-07T15:57:00.007+08:00

The funniest episode of American Idol 2011 last night, having Hell's Kitchen kind of episode where the last 5 contestants need to cook omelette in 5 minutes with Gordon Ramsay as a judge of course. Funny thing, Scotty and Jacob if I'm not wrong, asked Gordon whether he would teach them before the competition begin:). The most soft judgement from Gordon Ramsay....hehehee (if you watch Hell Kitchen or Masterchef..). I think nowadays American Idol have more things to see, more than just a singing competition nowadays, but seems too commercial as well..hehe, cannot be blamed.

Reading "Kicau Kacau" by Indra Herlambang, not yet finish, feel a bit boring at first, more interesting as it goes (I'm in the middle now), especially because it keeps me thinking of some daily life issues in the book, a different mind set that totally opens my mind with funny and light way of explaining things. Will put a review later on.

Need to read some books about Tokyo. Yes! I planned to go Tokyo, end of this year, but still not sure at some point. Hope everything will be just fine:). Still no plan where to go, or what to buy... Some thing for sure I need to prepare, a generous sum of money T-T. Need to save!

As usual, work have been hectic, but for 3 consecutive weeks, I got a day off on Monday because of public holiday. Seems when a day is busy, you don't want any holiday at all...hehe, wish for a very long holiday afterwards though.

Well, enough talking, will write other things later, going off, wandering around:)

I am

2011-03-25T16:09:00.002+08:00

officially one year in current company on 22nd of March. Time flies! *You might think I said this thing all the time, and you are bored with it, but it does!* When I work also, one week after one week, everything else around me seems to move very fast (running) while I feel like walking slowly. It's not about work though, everything about work so far so good, just everything else other than work is stuck at some point.

Mid life crisis?

Equality

2011-03-10T09:58:00.004+08:00

After a week or so I didn't take the JTC bus, instead I went with bus no 222. Then yesterday, I was manage to catch JTC bus, and realize there is no more seat. I'm the only person that need to stand, so the bus driver doesn't mind. (Usually you cannot stand on the bus, but depends.)

Well, that time, I met with two male friends, let say A and B. A seated at the window, and B is at the aile.

A suddenly said to B: "Should you offer the seat to her?"

B (In the middle of playing games, looks like distracted, suddenly asked me): "Hey, you want the seat?"

Me (I don't think I really need the seat, if he behaves like that): "I'm ok, I don't need that seat, obviously an old man need it more than I do" (sarcastic)

Seriously, am I weird to hope that a male friend would offer the seat to me, without even asking? Or, I should say "Yes, I need that seat" if I really want to sit?

I told this story to a friend, and she said something that I think quite true. She said, if today, we women want to be treated equally with men, we shouldn't expects they want to treat us special in some occasions. Yes, I am as a woman want to be treated equally in work, I don't like discrimination related with gender, age, or race, but is it wrong to hope that those men giving more respect especially when you know them? (I would think this as a general manner, am I just being so traditional?)

What do you think?

Recharging

2011-02-24T11:28:00.002+08:00

Like electronic devices, that needs charging every now and then (talking about my iPod that needs to be recharge all the time!), people also need to be recharge, me particularly* I guess my life is similar like a life of an iPod. Lately, every now and then, I feel like doing activities that are "fulfilling".

I started reading books, although the books can be categorized as "light", mostly comedy, or about travel, but it's a good start rite?

I started my old time hobby, drawing! I've been drawing since young maybe in kindergarten, the first thing that my father taught me to draw is a tiger...a kindergarten kid, drawing a tiger?. I still cannot do it in his real portrait of a tiger. I don't really do it anymore since junior high. When I start working, I draw sometimes, my friends even gave me Bamboo Wacoom pen to do digital drawing, which I love so much! Like everything else in my life that's in a point of boring stage, I rarely use my wacoom. I lend it to my sister for a while since she needs it more than I do. I start doing in a so called traditional way, a paper and a pen. I forgot how it's so practical, and with the help of my iPod, I can easily take photos of it(well, you might experience the photos are a bit "not clear" like when you do digital work, but what the heck...hehe).

I started to take pictures (with my iPod). Love it! Trying to go to interesting places and find objects to shoot.

I want to start to do some travel, at least once a year. Save some money and go. I might not have a chance to do as flexible as I am now! *the travel book is useful after all!*

I want to write more! I'm a bit surprised that I enjoy writing more than I think. *although I don't do it so often*

Simple pleasures in life! Like going out with friends, or talk about stupid things nonstop:), a cup of tea and a good movie? Browsing through cute stuff in a shop? A short walk after work? These things might be unimportant for some people, but they do for me, they are the things that makes my life colorful.

Did I mention about bored? It applies to all above activities! Can you imagine you get bored of those activities that recharge you? Well, try to do other things! Listen to new songs, watch new movies, go to new places, try to do things that you never do before. (I'm trying now...) Sometimes, taking up new challenges also is a way to recharge. I just got one. How about you?

Tada

2011-02-13T00:03:00.004+08:00

My new addiction, Instagram! I l love to see good pictures but I feel I can't take good pictures, well, also, I don't have the right equipments, I might not want to buy camera, because it might be wasted!

Using Ipod to take pictures is a different thing, the camera is not bad, I take my Ipod everywhere, while if I have SLR camera, I might be lazy to take along with me, and because of this app, I can filter my pic instantly. This app also behaves like twitter, but what you post are pictures! I think is fun, and the feature to share with other people, and other people can see our pictures and comment on them is a great idea. I love this apps, and now I'm taking pictures everywhere I can. Yay:D

Anyway, u can browse my instagram pics in this link and this. My Tumblr account is not intended for instagram pics only, but recently when I post a pic, I will post it on tumblr also. If you guys have Instagram also, follow me: cypru55, Enjoy!

Updates on One and Others

2011-02-12T23:51:00.003+08:00

Since I've been super long never write about anything, I will just give updates on things I've been doing lately, or things that happened lately.

I just permed my hair! Just to satisfy my curiosity, I always want to change my hair style. It turns out a bit curly than I thought, but I'm ok with it
I went to Mangga Dua for shopping with few friends and it turns out, I might go there just for the food, the quality of the product might not as I expected to be, some things are unique and cannot find anywhere else and for some cases like buying shirts are still ok.
My car just hit by somebody, during our way back home, but anyway, this case is settled.
I just realized many people are very cheapskate and talking about money all the time, I know it's our basic needs to run things in our life, but I dun like them.
So many times I think on what I'm going to do next in my life and things that will make my family happy, I'm not sure until now. Things are weird at some point. I'm still trying to figure it out.

So that's it for now, today I'm a couch potato.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2011-02-12T23:34:00.004+08:00

Img source

Hello, Happy Chinese New Year everybody!

I've been too lazy to update anything on my blog, I guess I will always be lazy after any holidays!

I feel there are times that we always encounter some problems in our life, and things can be difficult sometimes, I want to keep my hopes and prays, so in the end, everything will be just fine. I hope we always blessed with good relationships, health, and joy in our life.

The Flight Ticket

2011-01-20T15:26:00.003+08:00

Just 2 weeks ago, I booked my ticket for Chinese New Year with Mandala Airlines, yah, I know it's a bit late. I got it for $208 for return and 15 kg baggage each flight ( that time I checked other airlines are more expensive, that's why I got it), that time also, my payment was rejected twice, before the third time it succeeded!

Sadly, just one week after the booking, my friend sent me a link for the news that said the airline company decided to close it's operation until further notice (around 45 days)!

OMG. I was stressed out that time, I thought I would need to book another ticket from other airlines, and the timing is very near to the holiday already, it would be more expensive! I got another ticket from Lion Air same day for $200, and it's even included with 20 kg baggage each flight!

I don't know why it's even cheaper then the one I bought from Mandala Airlines, I am pretty sure that time Lion Air was more expensive... Still, I would want think myself as lucky, I still got another ticket to go home. There are some friends who cannot go home because flights to their country is just a few, and many people booked their ticket long before.

I sent all information needed for the ticket refund, they sent auto reply that said I will get my money back in 7 to 45 days of work. So, let's wait, I hope they will refund my money. *cross fingers*

Merry Xmas

2010-12-28T21:55:00.002+08:00

Merry Christmas everybody! Finally before Christmas, I moved all my things to the new house. And yesterday only I unpacked all my things from the suitcase. *Not all organized though...*

I manage to get 1 day leave for 31 of December, so going home by 30 and will be back in Sg 4 of Jan 2011. So, before I go home, wish u a happy new year 2011, it will be a great year ahead with your career, health and relationship! God bless!

Moving Out...

2010-12-19T22:00:00.002+08:00

Moving out period is began...

House

2010-12-08T17:26:00.019+08:00

Every house where love abides

And friendship is a guest,

Is surely home, and home sweet home

For there the heart can rest.

~Henry Van Dyke

What's my dream house going to be?

I always love minimalist futuristic design/retro contemporary/unusual design

Some inspirations that I really like:

Cute retro style living room

Img source

Minimalist Bathroom

Img source

Bedroom

Img source

Kitchen

Home Office

Img source

Lots of paintings/photos/frames

Img source

A walking closet

Img source

A foosball table

Img source

What's yours?

Just For Christmas

2010-12-06T00:15:00.006+08:00

Love the new theme. I thought I will use only until the end of this month. I might use longer than that...:D

Some days I just want to write and be chatty, so bear with me a little longer.

A quick update, I organized some of my stuff that is not used anymore (means some items that I can put aside first like some clothes, my bamboo --> 30 days drawing challenge would be started at least next year, my old phones, and few shoes), then I realize I got so many things in my closet, bags + a lot of books! Did I read all of those? -_-

Few days ago, I feel extremely irritated by what a flatmate said about I'm moving out. I told all of them I will move out like 2-3 months ago, then I feel they just ignore what I said, or just said "Oh, you should help us to find the replacement" --> I thought, Yeah, I will help.

Anyway, I will move out the end of this month, maybe not really the end. I want to move out as soon as possible since one of the flatmate made me irritated. I was nicely asking her about the progress of people to call and view the room, since I myself a bit busy the last month, I always go home very late. She said, only one person viewed the room and until now no more. Then I informed her that I would move out the end of this month. She seems surprised and told me who will pay for the rent if I'm not there, is she supposed to bare the responsibility? Well, the truth is I don't know who will bare the responsibility, they should know and make some arrangement, since the first time I said I will move out.

It seems nobody have initiative to find replacement? I feel like not all of them trying to post ads, or at least ask friends that they know to become the replacement. They just seem don't care. Is it my problem if they don't care in the first place?? But they don't want to responsible about it either. She even said that they all are not agents that you can put some deadlines for 3 months to find another person. Please! Yes, I understand they are not and I'm being nice since I know them, that's why I told them 3 months earlier. For agents is strictly one month of course!

I even feel that I'm too nice that I posted ads on a mailing list. Should I even care? Am I being too nice?

I just hate myself sometimes when I'm trying to help but people would just exploit my kindness. (I'm not proudly saying that I'm nice), but it seems I'm too nice so people would abuse it. Even last Friday, because the ad that I post in a mailing list, two people will come and view the room, but she (another flatmate), never ask for permission or at least sms first, before actually asking me that few minutes later there will be someone coming over and view the room? OMG, although she knows I would say OK to view the room, at least sms me earlier? I think she just got no manner.

I have some lessons to share:

Please be polite with everybody, although the person you are dealing with is very close to you, or you know that the person that you dealing with would not say anything, please bear in mind that there are limitations.
Please say exactly what you want, what you have in mind. Don't say yes, if you mean no. Just be honest. Things that I find sometimes is hard to do, but I'm trying to be honest and talk what's in my mind.
Don't try to adapt with person that don't want to adapt with you. Such a waste.

Well, I just couldn't care less, writing about this made me feel better. Anybody don't like what I write? Don't read or comment! Let's move on.

Saturday Lunch and Others

2010-12-05T20:42:00.016+08:00

These few days I was browsing on restaurants (with nice ambience), check the menu and pricing, and thought that I would take my family to go there and try out, maybe for their next year visit.

In the mean time, we (me, Mauri, Maria, and Yoffie) went to try out lunch set from Au Petit Salut, a French restaurant in Dempsey Road.

French culture for lunch (Le déjeuner) consists of three dishes and usually takes two hours, but nowadays people in big cities would take one hour break. Don't forget to follow the French table manners.

We took the outdoor table, love the settings, and these are the menu that we order.

Entree Course:

Maria and Me ordered Mushroom Quiche with Mesclun Salad and Balsamic Dressing

Mauri ordered Half Dozen of Burgundy Snails with Tomato and Garlic Butter

Yoffie ordered Soup of the Day

Main Course:

Yoffie ordered Oven Baked Norwegian Mackerel with Green Vegetables and Olive Oil

I ordered Pan Seared Onglet Beef Served with Confit Shallots and French Fries

Mauri ordered Red Wine Braised Beef Cheeks, Carrot Mushrooms and Parsley Potatoes

Maria ordered Shredded Confit of Lamb with Shallots, Mashed Potato, Carrot and Celery

Dessert:

Yoffie ordered Choux Bun with Vanilla Ice Cream in Warm Chocolate Sauce, Sliced Almond

The rest of us ordered Creme Brulee Infused with Fresh Madagascar Vanilla Beans

Overall taste is good, my order for the Onglet Beef was a medium, I should ask for medium well. My favorite would be the Creme Brulee--> very nice and very safe choice.

Well, I'm very picky about food, and there are some food that I wouldn't want to eat at all.

I didn't try the Burgundy Snails because it's snails. I tried a bit of Foei Gras that Maria bought and I hate the taste. I don't eat all kinds of organs, and no matter what people said, whether it's a very expensive food, or rare food, and I should try because I'm there. I feel very grateful that I have a chance to try, but I rather not to try at all. Call me stupid or anything, I won't eat any of those.

I removed the thoughts of taking my family to those fine dining restaurants, maybe I will take them not for the food, for the ambience, but my family might choose the food they love more then the ambience. Call me traditional, but I would choose my mom's home cooked food rather than restaurants.

Friends

2010-12-05T20:15:00.004+08:00

"You don't loose friends, you just learn who the real ones are"

30 Days Drawing Challenge

2010-11-29T22:04:00.003+08:00

Seems interesting...when should I start?

Dollar Sign

2010-11-29T21:30:00.002+08:00

I was wearing my ordinary black shirt, well not too ordinary, the shirt have big gold dollar sign on it. It's not the first time I wear the shirt, in fact, I wore it at many times (like this post), but seems today many people notice it more than the usual.

When I want to go lunch this afternoon, the security guy saying something about the dollar sign which I didn't really notice, but he sure talked about my shirt.

When I walked to MRT, one big sized lady asked where I got my T-shirt? Because it looks nice?

When I tapped my EZlink card, the lady that worked in MRT said "Hello, rich young lady!"

Inside the MRT, one kid seems to stare at my shirt all the time.

When having dinner in Kopitiam, one auntie stared at me that looks so obvious!

What a weird day, did I look very different than usual?! Hmm...

Hollywood After Hours

2010-11-28T18:36:00.005+08:00

I just knew that Universal Studio have Hollywood After Hours, means you can go in the park to just walk around and see the fireworks (all rides are close, only Hollywood Street open and available only Friday and Saturday). Well, good enough, since last time I went there with my family, my parents wouldn't go for rides and it's good for them to walk around and see.

Went there yesterday to see the fireworks, and my friends are taking pictures. I dun have a decent camera to take photos with, just with my ipod touch (well, good enough for me...hehe). I took video for the fireworks, check it out here.

A Feel of Christmas?

2010-11-23T20:28:00.001+08:00

Stuffnoonetoldme

2010-11-20T15:33:00.001+08:00

Really love this blog

Random Talk

2010-11-20T12:16:00.003+08:00

Hey, work for this week officially ended. This whole month is becoming so hectic. There will be more to come, hehe...Feel very tired and sleepy after that...but feels great (like the times in uni that you need to rush submit your assignment, and the assignment turns out to be great? yeah...that feeling, excitement.).

Anyway, will not talk longer about work, I know is boring to death...

Some updates. I will move in to my friends' place in Buona Vista by late of December. So, got some time to pack my things slowly, I put an ad for my current room, but seems not many response yet.

My friends' wedding in Semarang and Jakarta went well, although not many people coming, but it's like a small reunion for all of us. The dress looked nice, but seems I will still need to loose down some kgs.

Megamind movie that I watched was hilarious, I always enjoy animation movie, keeping your mind of other things for a while.

Lazying around today, and do household chores. I love weekend.

Crisis?

2010-11-17T12:03:00.005+08:00

What exactly that you want to do in life?

Work has been good. Been stress about few deadlines lately, but a bit stress is stimulating and motivating *but not too much*. Many work that I have lately are technically challenging, and it's something good for me to learn new things when I'm doing.

Life has been like this since I can remember. Go out with friends every weekends or holidays. I love nice food, movies, and good company. In fact, I'm going for Megamind this afternoon. Leaving my work for few hours before I can start doing again.

Trying to go back Indo during holidays and be with family as often as I can.

Trying to eat healthy food *which is very hard to do*

Thinking to go for master degree for many times, but I think going to school again maybe not my choice at this point. Trying to create my own project (with my sister), but we both are busy with our own life, it's still like an ongoing process for both of us, but it's my hope that we both can work together. It's my dream in the future.

Trying to balance out everything. Which at some point, I feel very tired. What I should do now?

This is test

2010-10-31T10:14:00.001+08:00

This is just a test

- Posted using BlogPress

Updates

2010-10-29T14:34:00.002+08:00

I’m taking a short break (15 mins now I mean) after all the hassle last week and this week, hope for weekend to come soon, and hope can finish the tasks sooner. Was thinking of buying a new dress for my friend’s wedding. Obviously not at the right time, or the right weight (always)…thinking of going to some shops like forever21, Zara, Mango, Dorothy Perkins or BYSI, well, any of them…hope I can find something nice and affordable.

Randomly

2010-10-24T10:59:00.006+08:00

Uh Oh, this is a bit of an intermezzo, for me I mean. Work is quite busy these days, and need full attention (really?! yes, totally...), so sadly I may/may not abandon this blog for quite some time, maybe for another two or three weeks. Yes for the next two/three weeks is because of work, but before that, I'm addicted with my new IPod Touch, birthday gift from my lovely friends:D. They order online and have it engraved. I've been downloading apps and games and trying out a lot of things.

I'm very happy with the gift, because this is what I wanted for some time ago (replacement for my washed mp3), I was going to give myself a gift, at least not thinking that I'm sadly one year older. This year passed so fast, it's going to be December soon!

Apart from anything, thank you so much guys, it means so much to me...even the words engraved:)

Anyway, if you notice, these days, Singapore become hazy because of the fire from Sumatra area, and it got worst at some point that you could smell the smoke. I feel embarrassed sometimes since I'm an Indonesian, and some people from Indonesia don't have any tolerance with other country.

Below is the scenery from my room window in the morning before going to work.

I hope this will get over soon.

Well, I should continue to work for now...see u for another intermezzo maybe.

Behind All Names

2010-10-03T15:21:00.012+08:00

Something missing from Bali Trip part 2, that we were supposed to go to Carefour when we want to go back to the hotel (it's before we go to Hard Rock Cafe). We saw Carefour, a big supermarket franchise that is usually everywhere in Jakarta. We stopped by for a while (We bought supply or water, snacks, and instant noodle to bring back). A bit about Carefour in Bali, the place is not as nice as the ones in Jakarta, but it's quite big (looks more like a warehouse).

Something interesting found in Carefour, Kerupuk Tersanjung (what's the relation of the item and the name I still don't understand) --> I can remember Indonesian Drama titled Tersanjung that ran for many many episodes until I don't know what's the story about (Is it something to do with this? Who knows). Tersanjung in Bahasa Indonesia is flattered in English.

Img from: Mauri

Sometimes wandering what's the reason behind the names of some food items in Indonesia. For example, Pacar Cina (this idea came from Maria). Pacar can be interpreted as girlfriend or boyfriend. Cina is Chinese. It's actually made from tapioca, colored with green white and red.

This is how it looks like before cooking.

Img Source

Pacar Cina can be mixed into desserts, or kue basah (maybe here in Singapore people called it Nonya Kue). Below is one of the example, Cantik Manis --> Cantik means beautiful, Manis means sweet, well, maybe because it's sweet and looks beautiful?

Img Source

Another example, Pempek Kapal Selam. Kapal Selam means submarine. Pempek is a popular dish originated from Palembang, made from fish and tapioca. Usually the dish is served with sauce made from chili, garlic, vinegar, brown sugar, and salt.

Why you called Pempek? There was an old man that lives near the river. There are abundant of fish that the fishermen caught, but they never cook with any way other than frying them. The old man created a new dish by mixing the fish and tapioca, then sold around the village. Many people called this man 'pek/ apek' = chinese terms for old man. Since then the dish called Pempek.

Why you called the type of Pempek as a kapal selam/submarine? Pempek Kapal Selam is made from the dough and there is one egg wrapped inside the dough.

We need to boil the dough before we can fry, first time we boil it's always in the bottom of the pot, when it's done, it will float up, like a submarine. After this process we can keep in the fridge then fry when we want to eat.

Serving

Img source & source2

Article source for Pempek: this, and this

Do you know any other food items with weird names?

Holiday and Bad Tours

2010-09-30T16:28:00.003+08:00

If you notice, I’ve been away for some time; well sometimes I’m just busy, but last couple of weeks I was away with my family. They (my parents and sister) came to visit me. They planned to come to Singapore, stay three days, then go to Malaysia for five days then go back again to Singapore and stay for four days. It will be total of 12 days for their holiday. Too bad, I was not able to accompany them all the time, I don’t have enough leave. Most of the time, I just accompany them during dinner, and join them for trip to Malaysia.

My parents want to go for a guided tour to Malaysia, and they called a travel agent in Singapore to arrange that. Just, their service was good before (10 years ago when my parents came to Singapore last time), now is just bad. The tour cancelled because not enough people on board, and they don’t want to be responsible about it, just they gave back the money. They ruined our plan, and we are not living in Singapore, that they can cancel and go whenever they want or asked for additional money to keep the tour going, WTH...Now, don’t expect me to go to any place with this tour. Maybe nowadays no tour will go to Malaysia from Singapore; most of people would take free and easy, because they know the language. If they know it’s not popular anymore, just remove those packages; don’t make people hope too much, especially the way that the guy told my father. In the end, the timing is just not good, one week before our plan to Malaysia, so I took another travel for free and easy package to Penang, KL and Genting. The travel agent is better, at least responsible.

It’s a good thing in some way, because we are free to go wherever we want, just the timings they arrange is somehow not suitable at times. For example, we reach Penang early in the morning, 6 am, but in the voucher it says somebody will pick us up at 8, so we need to wait until 8 am. Are they working like robots? That we need to wait until 8, and then they want to call the person to pick us up? When we arrive at the hotel also, we cannot directly check in. I know it’s the rules that only 2 pm or at least 12, we can go in. Because of this waiting and waiting, we waste few hours of the day, and exhausted of that waiting. The package and the timing for hotel check in should be suitable rite? It’s similar like we don’t go for a package tour at all. The free and easy package is not bad, the service is quite good, just the schedule is a bit mess.

Well, because of this, my parents love travel agents in Indonesia, they would take care everything, even if the tour cancelled, they would combine with other travel agents that go to the same place, and most of the time, you can check in directly to the hotels once you arrive.

Yeah, it would be easier for parents to go with guided tour. Going with parents is different, especially when they are not use to walk for long hours and long distance, they are aging as well. With guided tours, they don’t need to walk so much, there is always a bus to go to tourist attractions, and they prepare everything for you. A bit different with youngsters nowadays, at least for us the younger generations, we can still walk faster and longer hours; we love adventure of looking through different paths or asking directions and going to wrong turns. That would be an experience. Well, just one thing that I regret from this holiday is that there are some days that my parents too tired and cannot enjoy the most of it. – A lesson for us, just take the tour from Indonesia next time.

Bali Trip End

2010-09-15T14:18:00.011+08:00

Continuing from part 2, the next day starts with buffet breakfast in Grand Kuta. It was quite nice, since they serve chicken porridge (Indonesian style), it’s been so long since the last time I eat! (Ah, they serve other dish also, regular hotel type breakfastJ).

After breakfast, we swim in the hotel pool. Yup, the actual plan is to go to Waterboom Bali, but the plan changed to just swim in the hotel. It’s due to our spending the previous night in Hard Rock Café, that nearly makes us broke! (Haha, we ordered too much drink :P)

Swimming until 11 am+ makes some of us (well, almost) became tan. We decided to go back to our room, go shower and go to the next destination, Rock Bar in Ayana Resort. Ayana Resort located just further up from Jimbaran Seafood (our place for dinner later on).

After several times of wrong turns, we finally find Ayana Resort. The Rock bar is inside the resort. The view is spectacular, the resort itself is fantastic. It’s a good thing that we didn’t go to waterboom, because it will take the whole day there, and we might not have time to go to Rock Bar. Before going to the Rock Bar, we were around Ayana resort, taking pictures, or just wandering around.

Small chapel inside Ayana Resort

After we took some pics of the surroundings, we queued to go inside Rock Bar. We can go by stairs or take a small cable car to reach (the attire should be semi formal, at least no shorts or sports attire, and slippers). Very unlucky for Felix because he wore sport short and the lady in front didn't allow him to go in. Well, we didn't take long time inside, just one drink, a bit chit chat, then we decide to go for dinner. The best time to go to Rock Bar is 4-5pm, 6 pm we can see sunset, then we should go, because the place is too dark for us to see anything.

Sunset

After Rock Bar, we went to Jimbaran, famous place that serve fresh seafood. A place called Menega Cafe became our choice, one of our friend recommended this place because it serve nice food. We ordered two fish dishes, one calamari dish, one vegetable dish, one prawn dish, and tea for drinks. Usually I cannot eat seafood because of the strong smell (some of dishes that I eat sometimes are not fresh, or not properly cooked, therefore giving strong smell). Here, the fish, prawn and calamari are very fresh, I can eat all of them, my favorite is the grilled fish, other than this, the taste is ok, not bad but you cannot say it's very delicious, maybe too high expectations:P. The price is quite reasonable, just the drinks are a bit expensive.

It's still early after dinner, well, it's around 8-9 pm, we were heading back to the hotel. The gas is still a bit full, so we decided to go around, we stopped at the ATM (Dennis want to withdraw some money), souvenirs shop (we bought some food items), and Carefour (we were a little bit late, because it's closed..), so then back to the hotel, and sleep.

The morning starts with the same breakfast as the previous day, in the hotel. After breakfast, and shower, we checked out from the hotel, headed to car rental to return the car, and took cabs to go to the airport. Four days seems very fast, full with beautiful sceneries, nice food, nice company, and the holiday is over. We're flying back to Singapore, leaving Dennis earlier that day, since he would fly back at night time. Sayonara Bali.

Starless Night

2010-09-04T12:20:00.002+08:00

Very cute and sweet:)

Bali Trip part 2

2010-08-27T23:38:00.023+08:00

Next day, we were quite late and meet up around 9.30 AM plus we need to check out and move to other hotel which is Aston Grand Kuta.

We decided not to eat breakfast from the hotel, but to try something else, either Nasi Padang (24 hours) or Nasi Bali (both places are near with our previous hotel). I’m not sure whether it’s a good choice to eat Nasi Padang in the morning…hehe (spicy?/the place is very small...I forgot), so we decided to try Nasi Bali.

All of us in Nasi Bali Restaurant

Something that I afraid of was the restaurant might not have Balinese dish in the morning, but it turns out it have other dish that we can try, and they all tasted very nice.

Nasi Be Celeng Bali(Pork and Rice served with Balinese Sauce)

Ayam Betutu (Chicken and Rice served with Balinese Sauce)

Tuna Sambal Matah (Tuna with Rice served with Sambal Matah)

Nasi Goreng Bumbu Bali (Fried Rice with Balinese Sauce)*No pics for this*

After full with our breakfast, we were heading to Kuta Beach.

In front of Hard Rock hotel

Kuta beach

Satisfied with the beach, we went to check in to Aston Grand Kuta, and clean ourselves (at least from the sand)

The pool in the hotel

Hotel Room

Next trip will be to Naughty Nuri's in Ubud. It is a little bit further than Pasar Sukowati, so the journey will take longer. It's not a big place, and many people were there, so it was cramped, hey, it's not even lunch time, it's around 2-3 PM.

We were quite lucky to get seats near to each other and we ordered pork ribs, sausages, and potatoes. The pork ribs here is the best! I think once we all ate, everybody cannot say anything...it's very delicious, like flying between mountains...anybody read/watch master cooking boy?*Too hyperbolic~but I'm not joking, it's really nice*

The pork ribs, 1 portion for Rp. 70.000. I was sharing with Mauri.

Dennis in front of the Restaurant sign --> I like this photo so much...hehe, it looks like he was doing culinary show and telling the audiences "Oh, we are arrived in Naugthy Nuri's! This place is famous for it's pork ribs, and we are going to try it out!"

Our next stop, Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner), tea break...? It's a culinary trip anyway, we want to try as many food as we can (sharing with your friends is a very good idea).

The place is beautiful, surrounded with rice fields, and traditional feeling for the dining area.

Dining Area

Dennis showing the rice fields

The food is quite nice, worth to try at least once, the favorite dish here is the crispy duck served with veggie and chili.

I feel the price is a little bit high, and the service is not really good, at least not as good as the place. So, maybe just this once.

We went back to the hotel after the meal in Bebek Bengil, and prepare ourselves to go to Hard Rock Cafe. Few friends bought shirts from the shop, we all had food and drinks, and life music.

It's around 11, and we went back to hotel, chit chatting and play cards, and planning for the next day journey. To be continued...

Photo credits: Mauri, Nye2, Dennis

A Break

2010-08-27T23:35:00.000+08:00

Today, I went home and bring my laptop with me. I’ve been little bit busy with the project lately, and will need to rush something. Office will have a shut down on Monday, and everybody is forced to take a leave, and I will have whole day training on Tuesday, so, only got 3 days for next week to rush. In a way, it’s quite good, I need a break from all work *excuse…*. I miss few friends and will meet them for lunch on Monday (Do they miss me too? hehe). Ah, these days I miss my family too! They will come to visit me on mid of Sept and we all will go for holiday. I just can’t wait!

Happy 65th Independence Day Indonesia

2010-08-17T22:03:00.002+08:00

Happy 65th Independence Day!

Just a little thought, that once u are in other country then that time only you realized that your country is not so bad, and you can do something good for it.

Bali Trip Part 1

2010-08-15T21:52:00.015+08:00

Opposite from the Penang trip that is so sudden, with very little plan, my Bali trip was planned around 1 year ago, when that time I don't know whether will I still be in Singapore, or back to Jakarta or other place?...~Nobody knows...and I decided to just booked the ticket, for $90 (return ticket)

Oh, when we planned the place to go in Bali, we decided to have culinary trip, so places that we will visit depends on the location of the restaurant or food that we want to try. (I'm not kidding...haha). That time, we had 10 people joining, but in the end only 7 (Dennis, Felix, Harry, Puja, Nye2, Mauri and Me) can make it.

Friday 9 pm

The journey started Friday night, the flight was around 9 pm, once we reached Denpasar airport, we need to wait for Dennis that took a different flight (he was from Solo). We reached Denpasar around 12 pm, and went to the hotel around 2 am. Dennis flight's turned out to be delayed...

Saturday 2 am

Our hotel for first and second day was Tanaya bed and breakfast in Kuta, quite recommended, the place is not big, suitable words to describe might be chic, comfy and clean (oh, suitable with our budget too!). We took cab from the airport to the hotel, and the road was jammed. Everybody just went home from clubs? Well, it's Friday night. The cab dropped us in the corner of the street, because we might take few hours until we reached if we insist using the cab, while it was just few hundred meters away. We just walked in the end. Everybody tired and sleepy, so we end our day here. Oh...since we booked 4 rooms, there should be 2 people in each room, but there are only 3 girls, so 1 girl should stay alone and that was me. Well, I was a little bit scared sleeping alone in hotel room, dunno why, so I turned on the lights all night. ^_^"

Saturday 8.30 am

Our first breakfast in the hotel.

Puja, Nye2 and Me

Felix, Harry, and Mauri

After that we went to car rental and rent an APV. Oh, Puja and me was driving. First time for me to drive a big car...oh, the motorcycle in Bali are crazy, I guess they don't have brakes at all *haha...*. Based on GPS and maps, there are many times that we took wrong turns and in the end need to take U turn to go back to the right direction. Ah, this time is the most thrilling experience (am I being hyperbolic about it)...

Ah, anyway, our first stop was Warung Made,

too bad the Balinese food is not prepared yet (we reached there very early). Oh, the whole trip, we ordered different food for each other so we can taste different food at the same time.

Nasi Goreng

1/2 Gado-Gado 1/2 Nasi Goreng

A little bit expensive (around Rp 40.000), but reasonable since the place is quite famous, and the taste of the food not bad (homemade style).

After that we went to Joger, famous for their funny words on top of T-shirt, and other accessories (keychains, sandals, stickers, bags, hats, cups...and many more).

We went to Nasi Pedas Ibu Andika (most suitable meaning might be Spicy Mixed Rice by Mrs Andika) for lunch.

It's not a big place, it's rather a small stall in the corner of the street, but they serve a really nice food, ohh, they serve wide range for veggie and meat and all of them are really spicy.

When we want to order food

Mauri's

The price? Start from Rp 10.000++ depends on the food that you choose. Mine? Rp 14.500

We went to Titiles, since it was just nearby. Titiles is famous for ham, beef jerky, and pork floss, although they sell other things also. I bought kacang disco (peanuts + flour deep fried, only in Bali), and it was very nice! Once u start I think u cannot stop eating :P.

After lunch and bought all the things we need, we headed to Pasar Sukowati (Sukowati Market). Unfortunately, it was jammed, so the journey was around 1 1/2 hour. Pasar Sukowati is famous for selling Balinese souvenirs in cheaper price, well, u need to know how to bargain also. Most of the time, the real price are 1/2 of the price the first time the seller told us. I bought few of Bali shirts, shorts, and 2 bags.

Next place is Rumours Cafe, that is located in Seminyak. The cafe is very crowded, full with tourist, you can count how many people in the cafe are Indonesian:P. Their specialty is western food, the taste is ok, and the price is quite cheap (for the food that they serve). Oh, negative thing about this cafe, too crowded, and many people smoked, so I feel I cannot stay for too long, because I feel dizzy already.

It was 9 pm, and we decided to go back to the hotel, we were afraid that the later it gets the road will be more jam, like the night before when we arrived. Once we arrived back in our hotel, we walked along the Kuta street, and went to Ground Zero as well (place for Bali bombing last time), it was very crowded (Dennis said it was lively). I realized I'm not really comfortable with too many people on the streets, so after that Felix, Mauri, Nye2, Harry, and Me decided to go back to the hotel. Dennis and Puja still strolling the streets.

The day ends and we would meet each other the next day around 8.30 am. I went for a shower and watched tv until I feel sleepy. To be continued...

Photo credit: Mauri and Dennis

Dennis also post his writings here.

Short Trip to Penang

2010-08-14T13:03:00.018+08:00

Sometimes I can get surprised with myself *aha..*, that I can decide to go for a trip without any plan at all, well since it was so sudden (I like to plan a lot). We (Mauri, Maria and me) went Friday night, and we just decided the night before. Going by plane is very expensive ($360++ is the cheapest!) and going by bus is a better choice (40$ per pax), although the journey is quite long (10 hours).

Well, I decided to go, since I never been to Penang as well, and lately everything is boring~.

We took a bus from Golden Mile Tower, Konsortium bus for 40$ per pax. Since it's night time, so it's ok, we slept in the bus in the end. Oh! don't forget to bring jacket, socks, or blanket, it was very cold in the middle of the journey...I remember I saw fog, and felt so cold although I already wore my jacket.

By the time we reached bus station, it was around 8-9 in the morning, we directly go to buy the ticket to go home on Sunday. This time, we tried Grassland bus for 80 RM, the bus depart at 9.30 in the morning, will reach Singapore around 8 pm if there is no jam...(in reality I reached around 10) Oh this time the bus is nicer, it has small tv (if not, it will be boring).

After buying ticket, we took a cab to GeorgeTown, and find a place to stay (we stay in Hotel Malaysia).

Road in Penang

Mauri in front of Uptown Bistro

We had breakfast (I forgot the name of the stall), but the kwey tiaw tang is very nice (Kwey tiaw soup with minced meat and meatballs + fried chopped garlic...*I'm drolling..*).

After breakfast, we stay in hotel to take shower, went to Gurney hawker center and ate a lot of food...

Asam Laksa Penang (personally don't really like, a little bit fishy)

Claypot Rice

Char Kwey Tiaw

We went to HardRock Cafe, and took some pics

Nachos

Onion Rings

Went to Gurney Plaza, shop a little bit...(I bought sandals since my shoes are spoiled...)

After the whole journey, was curious about Nasi Kandar...since when we go around, I saw few restaurants or stalls that sells Nasi Kandar, but we haven't have time to try it out. Maybe next time. *Ah, the queue is crazy...*

Everytime we need to go somewhere, it's very convenient to take cab (mostly around 20-25 RM), we can pay 25 RM for one hour to asked the driver to take us anywhere we like (like a private driver), well taking bus is cheaper, but that time we don't have much time, since we just stay for one day.

The day passed by, and it's time for us to leave Penang, we directly go to the bus station.

Goodbye Penang, maybe I will visit again someday.

Photo credit: Maria

3 Years

2010-08-14T12:47:00.002+08:00

Wah, I just realized that my blog turned 3! Still feel I just had very little posts...my hope is so I can write more things in this blog. Oh, I had some thoughts to shut down the blog and moved to other address, but hey...maybe not now. Happy 3 years! :)

Anyway, I've been away from Singapore, 2 weeks ago to Penang, and last week to Bali...well...only on the weekends...will post about it later on.

What Cause the Boredom?

2010-07-24T23:53:00.004+08:00

Routines in everyday life.

What's for Breakfast?

2010-07-18T23:17:00.003+08:00

Every morning I always confuse of what to eat for breakfast, maybe I should make a list and spin the wheel?

Some Thoughts

2010-06-26T14:58:00.003+08:00

I remember received a powerpoint slides about a father that asked his four sons to look at a scenery at different times. Son number 1 should go to a place during Spring, number 2, 3, and 4 should go to the same place during the next seasons respectively and give their opinions to their father. They got different feelings when they see the place at different times, the winter made the place look bad, very quite and depressing, no plants or trees, very different with the beauty of Spring. The moral of the story, you will not know the good and bad of a person, a friend, a place, a job, a career or anything, without spending more time to understand that there are many sides of everything.

They say the first three months is a honeymoon period, where you feel everything is so beautiful and nice, yah, it's true, first impressions are most of the time wrongly perceived.

Ga Penting

2010-06-25T13:58:00.003+08:00

Hueh, blog ini ditulis waktu gw sadar betapa dodolnya gw ngomong keras2 dan cerita kejadian waktu gw dpt kompu baru di kantor, sampe gw merasa org di meja sebelah pas lagi makan sepertinya kok ngeliatin gw yah...OMG...itu yg gw minta bantuannya soal komputer kemrn. -__-

*I wish I can drown myself now...I wish he forgets what I said~*

Singapore Flooded?

2010-06-16T21:29:00.002+08:00

Seems impossible...but this morning was raining heavily, even my clothes and shoes are wet when I walked to the office building. *was survive thanks to jacket and spare shoes, I should put some spare T-Shirt*

The worst, it was raining for half day since morning, made me feel it would be so nice if I was at home, sleep under my blanket. I thought, this kind of rain would make Jakarta flooded easily, but not Singapore, and the worst, it's in Orchard road. Here's some pictures and details of the news here and here.

Nantsuttei

2010-06-13T23:55:00.003+08:00

Imgs from the website.

Tried Ramen at Nantsuttei.

The pork and soup taste very good (a bit salty, if you compare with Singapore taste), very sinful>_<, a little bit oily, but rich of flavor, recommended*

Nantsuttei

P3-06

9 Raffles Boulevard #03-02 Millenia Walk, Singapore 039596

Details here

Are You Being Rude?

2010-06-09T21:28:00.005+08:00

A hot topic nowadays, just want to share a bit of my experience

In Novena hawker center about a year ago

Stall owner: OK, one fried kwetiaw

Me: How long does it take until it's cooked?

Stall owner: You sit la! No need to know! I will deliver to your place! *shouting*

Me: ... --> I just go after that (the stall owner shout at me like I'm piece of sh*t?)

In MRT few times, people pushed and accidentally stumped on my foot with heels...no sorry, nothing. Ya, it's not a big deal anyway *sarcasm*

On my way to Kembangan MRT

I was walking in the pedestrian next to the landed houses, when I realized there is one old man (uncle) sweeping the road, then I asked permission that I want to walk

Me: Excuse me.

Uncle: You go other place to walk lahhh!

Me: ?!@#! (it's not your road and you're blocking people's way! The other way is for car?!?)

I just walked then.

In CCK food stall yesterday night

I saw one auntie that cleans the plate talking to somebody that sells dessert. She's not happy with what the cleaning auntie said, and shout back! *OMG, why you need to shout, can just talk nicely?*

There is one lady (call her A) was putting tissue paper on the table, then she left. There is another one lady (call her B) had difficulty to find a place, then she saw nobody sit in the table with tissue, so she put her things there (but there is tissue there). Suddenly lady A saw lady B was putting her things in so called her place, she was furious and start shouting, and then she picked up lady B's things and put it elsewhere.

These was just coincidences, not all Singaporeans are rude, or people that I met before are not Singaporeans either? Who knows?

There is one time, I was in the train with my friend on my way home, she said she got headache, so I asked her, whether she's hungry because for me sometimes if I feel hungry I will have headache, then suddenly

there is this lady in front of us, holding bread in her hands, and she said, "Are you hungry, I have some bread, you can have if you want..." *is this weird or nice?*

Well, you can judge yourselves.

Updates

2010-06-07T01:44:00.001+08:00

What am I doing at this hour? Errr...well, it's as a result of too much nap in the afternoon, and 2 big glass of tea! *ya, smart move..-_-"*

I start to revisit all chinese podcast that I download long ago...at least try to listen and learn once a day. *getting discipline is so hard~ jia you!*

Ah,another super important news: my mp3 broken because of my stupidity T_T, accidentally wash my hands with it in my hands also */(!?@# sigh*...thinking for a new one? (I'm so broke)...

Anyway, it's time to sleep now...cu next post..Zzzz

Soal Nama

2010-05-17T22:29:00.003+08:00

Hr ini ada salah satu tmn kantor yg nunjukin fotonya di fb. Lalu, gw bilang ke dia kalo gw jg py account fb...mau dunk diadd jd friendnya dia...

Tiba2 pas disearch nama lengkap gw (without the family name), munculnya segudang org2 dgn nama yang sama persis, bahkan ada yg mirip gw! OMG...tmn gw itu sampe nanya berkali-kali, apakah itu gw? *lemas* (nama gw segitu pasarannya...ditambah wajah!)

Pokoknya tar nama anak gw hrs unik deh...kalo bisa cuma dia sendiri yg namanya gitu~

A New Hair Color

2010-05-16T23:44:00.007+08:00

I just tried a new hair color product from Liese (mocha orange), it's quite easy to apply this product since it's just like shampooing your hair. Well, due to the fact that every time I color my hair, I will ask for my mum's or my sister's help to do it for me, and this time I will not be able to ask them, since I will be home in many more months ahead. The color turns out great, but not like what it looks in the packaging, since my natural hair color is black, so it turns out dark brown color, but I kinda satisfied with the result. Let's hope the hair color will stay for quite some time (my friend told me, she saw in a forum, somebody said the color will run off in 2 week...yaiks...)

Negeri Van Oranje

2010-05-06T00:05:00.005+08:00

Warning: Contain spoiler!

Thanks to Mauri that lend me this book.

Van Oranje itself is a Dutch word for "orange", Negeri Van Oranje (Orange Country) --> leads to Holland. In summary, the book tells story about friendship, love and life of 5 Indonesian Student in Holland.

I must admit, it's quite long since the last time I read a book (yah, I'm not really a reader, just at times trying to read more fiction books). I find this book quite entertaining, light with a lot of humor (baca: garink tp berasa lucu juga in someway, terutama krn pake bahasa Indo..hehe) and descriptive facts and events of sites and places, most in Holland and some other European countries that are close to it. Many simple Dutch words also a part of the story and conversations making the story more interesting. This book also describe complete basic tips and tricks mostly for students in Holland.

Not only about that, there are dillemas about love and life, and things that are questioned, what happen after their studies? Should they go back to bring the knowledge that they gain from their studies to Indonesia, or pursue their own goals (working in other country)? (Similar for myself, Indonesian that is not in Indonesia...hehe) (Aduh blm baca Laskar Pelangi!)

Find the answer in the book:)

Friday Night

2010-05-01T00:21:00.003+08:00

This is not a commercial but Caffe Avocado and Glaze donut from J.CO really made my day:)

What Happen Every Morning

2010-04-30T23:24:00.003+08:00

Try to wake up at 6.00 AM, but always snooze until 6.15 AM
Rushing to take shower and manage to finish at 6.35 AM
Get dressed, prepare breakfast (bread and jam or hazelnut) to eat at office
Get out of the house at 6.50 AM, the latest is 7.00 AM and rushing for the train
Manage to take the 8.05 AM bus, or the latest is 8.15 AM

Good Night~

2010-04-25T23:32:00.005+08:00

( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ｺﾝﾊﾞﾝﾊ (Hi!)

Suddenly browsed about Japanese smileys, found out that they are really cute, and I think people that made these are really creative! I suspect that these smileys used before the era of icons in gifs and png, still I find them very interesting and somehow have a nostalgic feeling (people are trying to express their feelings using characters only! --> very hard to remember I think).

These are some of my favorites:

~~~ヾ(＾∇＾)おはよー♪ (Good Morning)
( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉﾀﾀﾞｲﾏｧ (I'm home/I'm Back)
（*＾＾）＾*） ☆Chu！！(Kiss)
ヽ｀、ヽ｀ヽ(*￣o￣*)>ヽ｀、ヽ｀シャワー♪ (Bath)
（　＾）／占~~~~~ (Spray)

It's really nice to get back to write and share some things, although it's not really important at all, haha, I don't have much time these days, I feel my weekdays are busy, and my weekends were never relax (as always, dunno what I'm doing!).

Today, I went to church, had lunch, and watch "How to Train Your Dragon" (ya, it's kinda too late, the movie is nice though), go home and had dinner, cut pineapple, trimming my eyebrows, doing facial mask, and nail polishing. Seems not like me at all, don't you think? Ya, feel need a day to pamper myself. Need a dye, and haircut~ Thinking of smoothing as well?

Anyway, ｵ(･ｪ･)ﾔ(･ｪ-)ｽ(-ｪ･)ﾐ(-ｪ-)｡o○Zzz… (Good Night) folks. Off to bed.

My New Love

2010-04-24T12:14:00.006+08:00

Yep, welcome ＼(＾▽＾*)いらっしゃ～いっ(*＾▽＾)／my new Blackberry Bold 9700. Despite some bad real reviews from some friends, and some good ones also, finally I decide to buy this phone with 2 years plan.

Some things that I like:

Messenger, email, browsing anytime anywhere
Synchronizing contacts, restore and backup from your phone, email and facebook is very convenient.
Tons of applications that suits your need (my favorite currently foyage, and ultraPodcast player) *will find more later on*
Keypads!!! I like keypads more than touchscreen
Very cute round figure ~ haha

Some things I hate:

Takes very long time to restart, can go more than 5 minutes
Hangs at certain times without any reason ~_-
Need to charge frequently (once a day)

Anyway, I still love my new phone. I guess love is blind :)

1, 2, 3 day

2010-03-24T22:40:00.000+08:00

Today is the third day work. What's tiring? The travel...haha, very far in east, so I'm looking for a new place to stay and hope I can bear for the time being...

Feeling? So strange, lonely and isolated. Like first time when I first join CL, hope this feeling will over soon. Still reading some documents before actual work starts, I hope everything will be just fine. Cia yo! ^^"

My Last Day in CrimsonLogic

2010-03-17T11:39:00.004+08:00

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

Today is my last day with Crimsonlogic. After 2 years of service, I have enjoyed my tenure here and I appreciate the opportunity to work with you. Thank you for the help, support and guidance you have provided during my time here. I also want to take this opportunity to apologize, if I did something that offended you, I never mean to do so.

Please keep in touch,
Msn: xxx@xxx.com
Personal email:xxx@xxx.com

Warmest regards,
Lina

My farewell note at 15th of March marks my 2 years of service in CL. Time flies rite? I can remember the first time I walked in for an interview. The culture shock, the job changes. Met many people that change my life completely. I take everything as an experience, never regret of what happened in the past. I wish to thanked everybody in CL, as they take part in every journey that I have until today. *I miss many people already:(*

So, I'm currently in Jakarta, lazing around *oops*. Take few days break before start to work again. I will start working in new place next Monday (I should wake up early), wish me luck:)

Squawk! How to Stop Making Noise and Start Getting Results

2010-02-21T19:01:00.007+08:00

Img Source

I went to Plaza Singapura this afternoon and there is a book bazaar in front of the building, and I decided to look around first. Then, after some time, I decided to buy several books that caught my attention. I always interested in management books and one of them is "Squawk! How to Stop Making Noise and Start Getting Results" by Travis Bradberry, Ph.D. An Interesting fable about a seagull manager that tries to apply three virtues of great leadership.

The story is simple and easy to understand and I think it's a situation that you might face in your work life when the manager is too busy trying to get results yet he/she couldn't care less about every people in the team. Poor people management will lead to not having any result at all no matter hard you are trying. I think people is the most important asset to get things done. Sure, we often see from the employee point of view, however, this story is taken from the manager point of view, what one should do when he/she, as a manager didn't realize that problems occurred because he/she cannot manage the people.

In my personal opinion, one manager can start to manage or re-organize the team, when he/she realized first that there is a problem. It's exactly what the seagull manager in the fable did, realized that he's not managing correctly (because he listens to what others said). Well, it's one attitude that every manager should have, listen and communicate with others.

This book giving examples of problems that occurs in the flocks of seagulls and how three virtues of leadership is implemented in a very understandable way. It is a must read book for people with management issues or someone like me hoping that one day I could apply this knowledge to others.

Google Chrome

2010-02-20T20:09:00.003+08:00

A cute Google Chrome ad:)

Happy Valentine

2010-02-15T00:56:00.004+08:00

I found vintage valentine cards with funny message, this is my favorite, so cute!

This year, Chinese New Year day and Valentine Day is hold on the same day! So, double happiness, Happy Valentine for all of you!

Happy Chinese New Year

2010-02-15T00:07:00.003+08:00

Img Source: Abidung

Hi everybody, wishing you a great Chinese New Year. This year we're not celebrating because recently (2/3 weeks ago) my grandfather just passed away, so we're not suppose to have any celebration this year, but still we gather for dinner the night before with our close relatives.

I heard few of my uni friends abroad are going home as well, and I planned to meet few of them, but in the end I canceled because I only have maximum 2 days to meet my friends, and unfortunately on those days, an incident happen and I didn't contact my friends because of that. The day before I arrive, the maid had accidentally broke my mother's crystal vase and she ran away from home *sigh*. Since it's during CNY, some people come to fix the roof and sofa, and I should stay at home to wait for them.

Apart from that, the dinner was quite nice, my parents cooked some CNY food Hakka style, but we also ordered some dish to make it simpler (cooking all dish takes a lot of time). It's really nice that some relatives that I rarely see can come (thanks for coming!). Hope we can gather again next year!

So, yeah, not much activity, just stay at home and eat some home food and spend more time with my family. Tomorrow we're going Seaworld! So, will post about that later. Good night everybody, Happy Chinese New Year!

Can't Wait

2010-02-09T23:36:00.001+08:00

Tomorrow will fly back to Jakarta. Home sweet home:D.

Lovevolution

2010-02-08T00:48:00.009+08:00

I went to Glenn Fredly Lovevolution concert in Esplanade, last Saturday (with Mori and Nye2). Believe it or not, this is my first proper concert ever (means I need to pay for the ticket)...since some incidents might happen in a concert in Jakarta and the price is a concern too (I'm too broke to pay for a concert!).

When we reached there, the seat was relocated to level 1, near the stage, so lucky! We can see clearly instead hear the voice only if we seat in level 2 balcony.

Anyway, love the performance, totally different with the recordings, means, in live performance you can really see and appreciate the talents (I'm saying performance in general, not only for Glenn Fredly). One guy that play saxophone is crazily talented. Not saying other guys in the band not talented, just his performance is something that I enjoyed a lot. A song from the new album that I like titled "Linda, I want you". I find this song is very cute, telling love story of his mother. Other than that, I waited during the performance a quite popular song few years back titled "Januari" which he sang beautifully.

Here's some photos during and after concert. (taken from this album)

My first concert turns out pretty good :D

Day 18, Diet Journal

2010-01-23T09:51:00.003+08:00

Hi, today is day 18. Stopped the diet at day 15. I did lost about 1-1.5 kg. I think since the changes are quite drastic, from eating lunch and dinner to eat fruits only during both time, the immunity system becomes lower, and I got sick easily. SO, my diet is re-planned. Eat properly at each time, and cut down some carb for now. Eat lot's of fruits and veg.

Anyway, my sister just told me about gorilla diet yesterday, that shows on Oprah~ so, why is it called Gorilla diet--> because you eat the same thing like Gorilla eats which is raw food, fruits and vegetables. Anyway, here's some discussion about it. I'm not intending to do so though.

So, I understand loosing weight will need time and effort, and exercise (which I'm lazy to do), so I will just take my time slowly-slowly, not to make myself sick but healthy.

The Hardest Thing to Break

2010-01-20T19:14:00.002+08:00

WHAT is it that's hard to break???

Diamonds are hard to find but not hard to Break.

What is the hardest thing to break then?

The answer is: HABIT!

If you break the H, you still have A BIT. If you break the A, you still have BIT.

Even if you break the B, you still have IT!

Hey, after you break the T in IT, there is still the 'I'.

And that (I) is the root cause of all the problems. Isn’t it right?!

Now you know why HABIT is so hard to break….

Apparently, HABIT is all about ‘I’….

You think it is a frog and I think it is a horse!

Moral:

We have to respect each other's opinion and view; as you can see it clearly in the above picture. We just need to wait and listen actively to others' point of view!

Source: Email forwards

Day 5, Diet Journal

2010-01-10T08:49:00.002+08:00

Today is day 5, so far so good. Feel my body lighter.

I try to eat nothing other than different fruits at lunch and dinner but includes small portion of papaya. Surprisingly papaya doesn't make you feel too hungry. (I ate less papaya before because it has certain smell that I don't like, then I start eating because I had sore throat and it made me feel better). Or if I want to eat other things, then I should eat in small portion only. First 3 days sometimes I ate other things because of the cravings, but I can manage that now.

So, until next post

Day 2, Diet Journal

2010-01-07T10:57:00.003+08:00

Have a big breakfast, fruits for lunch and dinner.

One of my friend manage to loose down some weight with this way, I want to try also~

This is day 2, let see how many days I can follow:)

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

2010-01-01T13:27:00.002+08:00

First of all, wanna wish my dad a happy 57th birthday on 31st of Dec, I wish for his health, happiness, and a great year ahead for him, my mother, my sister, and all of you!

Despite all things happened not the way that I wanted to, I feel blessed for a great 2009. I know things happened for a reason, and I know 2010 will be far more tremendous. Hope you have a great year ahead!

Enjoy the fireworks in the video, courtesy of a friend

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T19:17:00.005+08:00

Img Source

Project Management Image

2009-12-21T17:34:00.004+08:00

Looking through old emails, and I found this...quite true

source unknown

Click for larger image.

2day Have to be a Good Day

2009-12-18T14:47:00.004+08:00

Those words are on my T-shirt today, and people start looking and saying those words. I didn't even notice those words until they say so. Then I feel better, yeah, today should be a good day:) , well not in the mood because of late night sleep the day before. Remember about the personal project? Many things and ideas are on my mind~ I'm going to make this work. *You need to finish what you start*

Oh, I followed this, people are tweeting about things that make them feel gratitude for their live, and those stories made me feel grateful about my life. Anyway, waiting to meet a friend after work today, it's been more than 1 year? Looking forward to talk about many things that we both miss during this one year:) Today is a good day.

Mixed Rotini

2009-12-09T15:42:00.005+08:00

Random dish that I made because I feel bored having dinner outside.

I thought it would be weird but kinda like the result:).

No Meat, serving for 1 people

Ingredients:

Spices:

1 TableSpoon of Cooking Oil/Vegetable Oil
1/2-1 Small Spoon of Chopped Garlic
3/4 TableSpoon of Sugar
1/2 Small Spoon of Salt
Bits of Pepper
Water to boil

Others:

150 gr-200 gr Rotini (can change into other types of pasta - Fettuccine/Manicotti/conchiglie for example)
1 small pack of Enoki Mushroom
2 or 3 pcs Shitake Mushroom
1/4 packet of green peas

How to Cook (Time: 30-40 minutes):

Put enough water in the small cooking pot, and put the pasta inside the pot to cook until al dente, drain and put on the plate
Wash all ingredients, chop Enoki and Shitake Mushroom into small pieces
Put cooking oil and chopped garlic in the frying pan, and wait for about 3 minutes until little bit brownish,then put other ingredients in the frying pan
Stir fry for 5 minutes, put the drained pasta into the frying pan, mixed together.
Put sugar and salt together with other ingredients and wait for few minutes
Before turning off the stove, put little bit of pepper and mixed together

Serve while it's hot

The Time

2009-11-28T12:40:00.004+08:00

Hey, it's long weekend everybody...Yay! XD

Went for lunch and meet up with some friends at Pondok Sunda in Marina Square yesterday, the food actually quite nice, little bit pricy though. Discussed about Christmas plan and talked about almost anything. We stayed for quite some time there. It's nice to just relax, talk, walking slowly, have some quality time with your friends.

I realized in Singapore, people are always in a rush. At some point I feel, it's like 24 hours is not enough, seems that there are so many things that I haven't do, and most of the time, I cannot sleep before 12, because then I wouldn't have a chance to do anything! Call me crazy but that's my live in Singapore. Weekdays are very fast, weekends are even worse.

On one weekend, spent that day with other friends, that time, feels that I cannot really enjoy that weekend, since they are rushing to go to one place to another. They walked so fast, and everybody just doing other things while they're walking (if you have smart phones, it's very easy to read, or check email, for example). I'm not trying to blame people with smart phones, but hey, this is weekend, can you just walk slowly (it's not like you're late for work), and while you are with your friends, don't you want to talk with them more, spend more quality time, rather than spending the time on the smart phones, or reading other things? You can always do that at home, or on the way, when you're not with other people. Rite?

I know time is money. Especially here in Singapore, people have many things to do, and seems there is no enough time for all of us, and managing your time is very important, that's why people are doing things on top of the others. Each and everyone have their own priorities in life, but for me, while going out, then it's the time for me to go out, have some fun, and while working then it's time to work. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have fun while you work, in fact it's a good thing for you. You can always have time for yourself, but while with your friends or family, you can make them feel appreciated by spending more quality time with them.

Playing Scribblenauts

2009-11-22T23:28:00.004+08:00

After so long I never touch my nds, then one of my friend suggested this game called Scribblenauts. Have you try this game?

Img from this website

(Contain spoiler)

The game is basically about solving puzzles with anything that is logical that we can think of. We need to type the object that we want to solve the puzzle. (Yes, you can type anything!)

Img from this website

There are ten lands with each have 11 stages in it. I just finished one land (The Gardens).

For example, in stage 1-11, we need to collect all flowers (3), put in the basket and give the basket to the man. First flower grown near by the bee, second is in the water near to the piranha, and the third is on top of the hill. So, we need to think of something to get rid of the bee, the piranha, and take the flower on top of the hill.

So, here's what I did. Shot the bee at first(didn't work, because turns out I shot the glass house instead!), then, pick up the bee and put in the water with the piranha (yes, this works, but the piranha byte me in the end, cannot get out of the water), then I grab the bee with the butterfly net and put into the glass house, used fishing rod to grab the flower and helicopter to reach the hill. Put three flowers in the basket and give it to the man. Yup, this is only one of the many possibilities solving the puzzles.

You are free to use your imagination to solve the problems, and you can try the same puzzle again (Yes, this time you cannot use the old tricks that u used before). You can be creative in solving the puzzles, and it's fun :).

Fryday

2009-11-20T11:50:00.003+08:00

Ahh, 10 minutes before lunch. I've been busy lately...thinking about a lot of stuff, trying to read a lot of things. A new personal project coming up, stay tuned.

Coraline

2009-11-10T17:45:00.005+08:00

Img from the website

I'm going to watch Coraline tonite

A Weird Dream

2009-11-07T17:23:00.006+08:00

Yesterday, I slept at 9 PM (Yup, I was so crazy sleeping that early!) to end up waking up at 3 AM and cannot back to sleep. I went to watch tv, opened my computer and browsed until 6 AM just to be in bed again.

I slept until 11 in the morning. I promise to Ms. V to go swimming at 8 AM. She did call me at 8, but I just couldn't wake up anymore. Since that call, I had this weird dreams about her and Ms. A (her roommate). They both are in my room and talk to each other when I sleep. How weird is that?

Suddenly, I woke up because Ms. A knocked on my door.

Things That I do When I Feel Stress

2009-11-06T21:03:00.013+08:00

I watch How I Met Your Mother lately

Ahh, I love taking long shower or relaxing in the bathtub...I want to have a bathtub or jacuzzi one day

Take a deep breath and listen to the music...

Yup, due to the health reasons, you shouldn't be in a stress mode everyday because it can make you fat!

This is an addiction...

Belajar Sepeda dan Mobil Kenangan

2009-10-29T22:49:00.004+08:00

Waktu masih kecil...well, ga kecil2 banget sih (lupa sih umur brp). Waktu anak2 yang laen udah bisa naek sepeda, kok gw blm bisa ya...hehe, akhirnya pas bkp gw ada waktu, diajarin deh naek sepeda...tp diajarin sekali doank, trs ada pembantu yg tiap hari jagain (sebut aja si mbak...hehe). Nah, si mbak selalu naek di boncengan, dan gw di dpn (maksudnya buat ngejagain biar ga jatoh...). Tp kok tiap hari si mbak ini perasaan berat banget ya (blm bisa kok udah bonceng orang! Kynya ada yg salah...haha). Krn selalu ada si mbak di belakang, ato karena gw emank dodol...gw ga bisa2...sampe akhirnya ga sengaja jatoh ke got! Gw dan sepedanya jatohh!, tp kok si mbak ga jatoh ya! Sakti amad, haha...

Yg lebih aneh, sejak saat itu, pas gw naek lagi, gw jadi bisa! Hore...hauhauhua...Mungkin selama ini gw takut jatoh, jadi ga bisa2, malah sebentar2 kakinya turun tiap kali sepedanya jalan...sejak jatoh kynya semua yg gw takutin, jadi sama sekali ga berasa...

Setelah lulus sma, gw pengen banget bisa nyetir mobil...proses belajar nyetir mobil laen bgt sama dulu waktu belajar nyetir sepeda. Kali ini gw ga berasa takut sama sekali pas belajar...aneh juga. Malah org di samping gw -- pengajarnya, ato bkp gw, ato nykp gw nunjukin rasa ngeri dan stress kalo gw lagi bw mobil...haha...maap yah! Gw baru sadar jg sih, setelah gw di sebelah dd gw yg lagi nyetir...

Inget kan post ini? Dulu, mobil ini yg dipake buat belajar nyetir, mobilnya second sih, tp kondisinya masih bagus dan sangat mulus...enak bgt dibawa nyetir, walaupun pertama kali dibawa belom biasa. Pas digas, sepertinya akan langsung laju bgt, hrs agak ditahan sedikid, trs ga boleh lewat jalan di jalan yg byk polisi tidurnya kalo enga mentok! (pendek sih). Kalo diinget-inget mobil ini nostalgia banget, soalnya banyak kejadian aneh2 terjadi sama gw di mobil ini..contohnya

Penyok yg lumyn parah di sisi kanan: dikarenakan bkp gw yg teriak2 "kanan, kiri, trs, mundur", pas gw lagi parkir mau masuk ke dlm rumah. Hasilnya ga konsen, nabrak pagar dan penyok deh...Papa bawel sih! Merusak konsentrasi (Oops...maap ya pa.)

Kenal sama temen2 cogoz (baca: Cowo Gosip---nama disamarkan: Mr.E, Mr.P, Mr.A, Mr.T): para cogoz berada dalam satu mobil yg sama yg disetir sama Mr.E, mereka jalan di belakang mobil gw, tiba2 berusaha nyalip, buka kaca dan teriak2 "Cewe...", gw sama Nye2 waktu itu...hm, trs balapan di dpn Senayan sono, sampe akhirnya mereka duluan sih dari mobil gw, tp ampir nabrak trotoar...(Apa yaa, yg gw pikirkan waktu ituhh...sangat berbahaya teman2, jgn ditiru ya..). Karena kejadian ini, ampir tiap hari mobil gw dinaekin wipernya, kadang tergantung tulisan: "Dijual!, Hub: xxxx", dan of course gw melakukan hal yg sama sama mobil Mr.E...hehe (Mereka baik kok, cuma jail aja:P)

Ampir nabrak mobil di parkiran kampus: waktu berusaha naek dari B2 (Basement 2), di tengah tanjakan, mobil di depan mobil gw berenti tiba2, hasilnya gw kaget, dan waktu itu baru belajar sih, jadinya panik, ga bisa menyeimbangkan kopling dan gas (apa sih..), gw sempet liat di belakang gw ada mobil yg udah klakson2 (mobil gw udah sempet turun kebawah sedikid, sudah pasrah akan nasib bakalan nabrak mobil belakang), yahh, tp untung ada Nye2 di sebelah, dia langsung narik rem tangan...dan pas gw liat ke belakang, mobilnya udah ga ada. Mungkin dia nyadar kali ya, kalo dia ga mundur bakalan kena deh. Sedikid trauma sama yg namanya tanjakan.

Terjebak macet selama 6 jam di Jalan Panjang: abis selese kelas, jem 3 siang, gw sama Nye2 langsung pulang, waktu itu tiba2 ujan, dan sebagian jalan di Jalan Panjang tergenang, jadi macet banget. Waktu itu, kebetulan ada temen lainnya yg bawa mobil juga lewat di jalan yg sama, dan pas ada tanjakan super tinggi dari arah Relasi...tmn gw itu trs jalan menyusuri tanjakan, sedangkan gw belok ke kiri, ke arah Kebon Jeruk...(daripada gw nabrak seluruh mobil di belakang gw kan!), kita sempet berenti di Hero Kebon Jeruk, numpang ke toilet dan makan Dunkin Donut sebelm pulang dan sampe rumah dgn selamat jem 9 malem.

Lagi-lagi banjir di Jalan Panjang, gw sendirian, jalanan itu tergenangnya lumyn parah, sampe pas jalan ada suara cipak cipuk gitu...lega gw ga berenti...kalo berenti pasti langsung mati deh mesinnya, byk abang2 ga jelas yg udah nungguin kalo2 mobil kita mati...untung selamat sampe di rumah, tp si mobil hrs masuk ke bengkel krn mesinnya kerendem aer...

Mati mesin di depan komplek rumah: pas mao nanjak masuk ke komplek rumah, tiba2 aja mesinnya mati, which is waktu itu jem 11 malem, krn lagi sibuk2nya bikin skripsi, gw baru plg dari kampus jem 10...kaget donk! plus ada abang2 yg ngetok2 kaca nanyain ada yg bisa dibantu ga...aduhh, gw udah super parno, gw, sendirian, mobil mogok pula. Untung rada deked sama rumah, jadi gw bisa telp...yg ternyata org ruma lagi pada pergi semua, akhirnya dgn sangat terpaksa, gw menunggu di dlm mobil, moga2 org rumah cepet pulang...hehe, akhirnya abang2 itu bantuin dorong mobilnya sih...(maapkan saya penuh prasangka, tp sapa juga yg ga takut kalo dalam kondisi itu...)

Dituduh nabrak mobil org: ini nih, kejadian super malas, jadi mobil yg di dpn mobil gw ga jalan2 sedangkan di dpnnya kosong melompong, gw klakson2 donk, ternyata dia langsung belok ke kanan, tanpa sen, dan ampir gw nabrak mobil dia krn kaget, hasilnya gw sebel dan klakson keras2...ehh, dia malah turun (supir), dan bilang, kalo gw nabrak mobilnya dan dia nunjukin kalo mobil gw yg baret adalah buktinya...dia malah nyuruh gw ganti duid pula, super najis deh...mobil gw yg baret itu adalah hasil bkp gw waktu nyetir kena tong sampah...jadi bukan saat itu kejadiannya...akhirnya ga jelas, dia memaki2 dan sangat rasis memanggil-manggil dgn sebutan(if u know what I mean), jadi langsung aja gw meninggalkan TKP tanpa rasa bersalah.

Super bokek krn mobil ini ternyata kaya baby, yg hrs diurusin dan banyak minumnya, sama sekali ga irit, dan sering bgt masalah hrs dibawa ke bengkel...

Dengerin Prambors ato Mustang tiap kali pulang dan pergi-->ini super ga penting:P

Kalo dipikir-pikir, walaupun mobil ini banyak kenangannya, mungkin sekrg gw lebih suka mobil yg gede2, matic, lebih enak, lebih irit, dan ga perlu takut banjir ato jalanan banyak polisi tidurnya. :)

Holiday

2009-10-22T23:08:00.001+08:00

I'm off for a short holiday:)

The Schedule

2009-10-20T15:16:00.000+08:00

My flight schedule from Jakarta to Singapore just re-arranged to fly in other time during the same day (well, it’s better because I can spend few hours more with my family). What happen if the flight is scheduled another day, for example? Maybe, try to find another available flight for the same time.

I’ve been thinking about my life, I have plans and schedules, but always, like a project, there is something in the middle that you don’t expect at all. Few turns here and there, sometimes you need to find another plans to fulfill your big goal. You cannot always have what you want, for example, the flight has been rescheduled for the next day, and there is no other flight that can go for that day, then what? Go for the next day flight right?

If you arrange an event and something bad happens, still the show must go on.

When I was younger, I would angry and things going not as I planned (like why I didn’t go to RMIT back in Uni), because it ruins the whole schedule/plans! But, when I think back all that happened back then and what happen now, I understand that God is so good, and everything happened for a reason. Have hopes, still do your best always.