Naruhodo-Ne

Excited...

2011-07-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

It's really simple and silly, really, but it's flattering nonetheless.

I found out that at least one blogger put fafafoom into her blogroll.

I also got a new very warm, uplifting comment from a student designer's mom (whose son's garment I quickly reviewed during a fashion show) on one of my fafafoom fashion show review posts. It's rather funny actually, since she's mainly commenting based on my other fafafoom post that had nothing to do with fashion show at all, but mainly about my annual April notes (that I mainly post on Facebook). So it was really nice of someone I didn't know, spreading some love like that. I'm very humbled and happy.

Plus, I just got invited as a guest to Les Runway fashion show that's going to be held in Lower East Side NYC in September. Very flattered. I really want to go especially since NYC is THE place for fashion, but I'm still unsure if I can make the trip.

Nevertheless, I'm in such good mood today :)
M

About Us

2011-07-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

Every writer, no matter if she's a blogger, newsletter/magazine editors, or even YouTube user, know that there's a section they (kind of) need to fill in: the "About me" section.

I've been struggling to what I need to put into fafafoom's About Us page. This is an excerpt of what it says now:

" Fafafoom is about being comfortably fabulous in your own skin, discovering your artistic talents, continuously absorbing design / fashion inspirations and create your own DIY projects, and posting great fashionable finds in the Bay Area.

I share my fabulous finds or cool places all over the Bay Area, cover fashion runway shows of San Francisco’s art institutes whenever I can, share my own take on accessory designs and sewing projects, and take documentations of my personal styles and stylish inspirations gathered from friends, chic street fashion, Reality TV shows, and beautiful things scattered on the internet."

For me, it looks OK for a while. But thanks to my boss who shares this great Ted Talk video of Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action. And it naturally got me start thinking of fafafoom. The text above solves the question of the "what" of this blog, but not the "how" or even most importantly, the "why".

Now, you might be thinking I'm silly. It's just a stupid blog that still has less than 20K clicks (as of July 18, 2011). Yes my friend, you're absolutely right. But I plan bigger things for fafafoom. New design, multimedia features, crisper purpose. And I plan to do it myself. If anything, this is not a waste of time since doing all these will further down my marketing analysis, web design / interface and writing skills, as well as project management, to name a few. So why not?

So here's a draft of the new About Us page:

"I started fafafoom on June 2010 because I know there are people like me who are hungry for fashionable inspirations to feed in their daily life activities.

People who are working their ass off in their day job to pay the bills, and then never stop researching, learning, writing, reading, and finding new things they're into. Who have no time for TV and instead looking for new hobbies and gaining new skills such as photography and sewing. Who enjoys fabulous brand names such as Marc Jacob, Alexander Wang, or Joseph Altuzarra, but also enjoys thrifting at Goodwill or their local community thrift stores for treasures and finding pieces to deconstruct and alter themselves. Who create their own accessory pieces. Who are narcisstic enough to do a nice photo shoot with their own creations. Who enjoy gifting others their own reconstructed creations. Who enjoy local Bay Area boutiques and community centers that promote art and design. Who love fashion shows and support their local established and emerging designers.

I am one of those people, and fafafoom is my medium of sharing my inspirations.

Enjoy your time here,
Musank"

Wordy, yes. But it's getting closer to something more than just a boring About Me statement. In a process of refining this page this week.

Have a great one,
M

After Two Years...

2011-07-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

...Thanks to Google+, I'm ready to start Naruhodo-Ne in a whole new way.
Last year, I debuted fafafoom on WordPress and it's doing quite awesome. Seeing that blog grow little by little is very exciting for me.

So from now on, personal stories will be kept minimal (I realized that looking back, some of my stories are pretty dark; I'm not in that kind of place anymore). I'll probably still do it, but no promises.

But what's new is that there are some things I cannot share on fafafoom: my thought process. What needs to be there and what-not. The evolving design process. Some things I consider when doing certain updates. Things like that that don't fit with what fafafoom is all about. That's why now the description of Naruhodo-Ne is "my inner adventures and behind-the-scenes".

Looking forward to move forward,
Musank

Now That 2009 is Ending...

2009-12-28T12:57:00.000-08:00

...I realize how gloomy 2009 is for me. The first 2-3 months zoomed on by, but I got one memorable point: the Indonesian Catholics Night on February where I got to organized the events and got to sing some songs during the night.

But then April came by too quickly and one day, I got a call from my mom, brother, and future mother-in-law that my father just passed away. It was probably the fastest week I've ever experienced; called my supervisor of the emergency trip, flew back, attended to the funeral processions and my mom, and then flew back to the US. One high point in April was my birthday and we got to celebrate with friends, did some music jams and all that.

May until August came ruthlessly, and one big Indonesian-culture related event was canceled for some unclear, puzzling reasons. Meanwhile, my home country got struck with earthquakes and other problems, including the H1N1 spread outs. On the other hand, Michael Jackson died on June and I was surprised to see how sorrowful I became.

September was my boyfriend's birthday and we celebrated privately. I cooked a three-course meal (or attempted to) for him. On the same month, I had to quit my job due to my employment status restrictions. My employers and colleagues were upset of losing me, but we all had to move on. Before going back to Indonesia for the second time this year (my mom insisted I visited for a longer period of time), we got to go to Yellowstone National Parks for a bit with some friends. It was amazing; I wished we were there longer.

Extended trip back home (3.5 weeks) was OK. Meeting with my friends were great, but expectations from my mom and her friends were overwhelming. I found myself growing depressed and increasingly misunderstood and not listened to. When somebody tried to direct your life to their liking, of course I got pissed off. Especially when it's regarding marriage and having kids.

October came and I had a new job. But the stress level I felt inside was killing me. And this had little to do with my job.
Yes, my job is fragile at best.
I practically see my savings decline at an alarming rate due to limited income.
I see people younger than me spending money with little problems.
I had an expectation to get married (and most probably have kids soon).
I got my mom calling in once in a while asking how much I make for an hour.
She also wants me to come home to Indonesia.
I got no heart telling her that my home is here.
I developed a new passion for fashion design and sewing (seriously, this time....I hope).
I had a hard time calming my boyfriend's stress level most of the time.

Now I see my sewing table and feel guilty.
I have to find a more stable job and income, and all I do now is tending to this new hobby.
It's something I enjoy doing, but I'm not sure where I'm headed with this.
"Sometimes you don't need to know how to do it, you just do it."
"Holiness happens when you try. It's not what you've accomplished, it's not where you'll be."

Yes, we had a great weekend retreat together back in November.
Yes, we had a great Christmas mass choir. We practiced hard and it paid off.
But I still see this table with sewing kits, my head piece creations, and fabrics.
And I do feel guilty.
For I see what a lazy bitch I've become.

Merry Christmas.

It's Complicated

2009-11-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

I just recently returned to my home country, Indonesia for a few weeks. Unfortunately, I didn't get to truly enjoy my "vacation" there. Getting together with best friends was great, however the whole thing about parents wanting me (and my boyfriend) to get married soon was really uncomfortable.

During the first 48 hours of my landing, it was made very CLEAR to me that I am expected to get married soon, get back to settle down in Indonesia, accompany my mom, and pretty much being obedient to her wishes. Now, for some of you, this may seem to be very sensible wishes. But for me, I can't help but being rebellious to these with every fiber of my being.

For one that got to "mature" overseas, I gain perspectives and open-mindedness that are probably hard to understand for people who chose to stay in my home country. The lifestyles are very different and some of our elders do see what-they-deem-as westernized behaviors (talking back to your parents, speaking out your own mind, having future dreams that are not compatible to those your parents plan for you, etc) as disgraceful. And yes, my family is conservative.

So I guess some of you (who are still reading at this point) may relate with me when I felt misunderstood and sad. My mom implied that she regretted sending me to the US for college studies since her daughter is now "changed" by the negative influences when I'm abroad. In addition, since I am an only daughter, it's seen as unbelievable (in a bad way) that I don't want to come back home for good to take care of my mother, especially after my father recently died.

To be honest with you, I really have no clue as to what "negative influences" my mom said. I never get drunk, I didn't do drugs, my friends are great, and I'm pursuing my dream to open a photo studio/boutique hybrid someday. I may not be where I want to be right now (the economy sucks, my job is so-so, and I'm kinda broke), but I don't give up.

Why do people want to pressure us to do something we clearly don't want to do? And I'm not talking about parents pushing their kids to study in order to do well in school. I'm talking about something along the line of parents pushing their kid to be a doctor when all he wants to do is to be an art director. Pushing their daughter to be an engineer when she wants to be a lawyer. I'm talking about different life calling. You know when you're called to be something. The road is going to be really hard, but we hope it's all going to be worth it. Even if in the end it's not worth it, there is still a sense of satisfaction of doing what our heart lead us to do regardless of what the end result is. Then we can start again from the beginning.

Now maybe the whole previous paragraph is part of the "negative influences" my mom talked about. However, I am sincerely grateful that I got to study overseas and open my eyes to my own calling. I'm almost sure right now that had I stayed in Indonesia for my whole life, I'm just going to be working mindlessly in a big company. I may earn much more than I do now, but I'm not going to enjoy my life. And don't get me wrong. It's alright if you choose to stay dedicated to your own home country. I'm just saying that for me, with the kind of personality, imagination, and strong will, I will just be another stressed out persona in the busy streets of Jakarta. Again, that's just me.

So by now (if you're still reading), you probably figure out that I don't want to go back home. I want to stay here in the US and chase my dreams. Still, I have to respect (or at least listen actively) to what my parents (dad included) have to say. They love me, so they are very protective and want the best for their kids. Like some other parents, they have difficulties understanding that their kids have something else in mind, that their dreams are not the same as those of their parents. Like some other parents, they always view their kids as "once a kid, always a kid." As a result, they always feel the need to lead the way and tell their children what to do.

Now there's a lot more I can add to the previous paragraph, but I want to stop for now. You should get the point by now. And these unreal expectations only cause sadness and unnecessary stress to the kids. The kids (now adults) feel very much misunderstood and most importantly, do not feel supported by their parents. And that is truly ironic, since parents are there to support their kids and let them be happy.

Two Years Later: Reflection on EuroTrip 2007

2009-10-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe it’s almost been two years since my adventure in Paris, Italy, and West Germany. I didn’t say anything for a while since I really had no idea what to say. Not because I don’t know what to write, but more like I don’t know where to begin to reflect on things I experienced while I was there. But now, I'll try to do it....as briefly as I possibly can.

You see, recently I read all of the travel journals I posted here. And how I am so amused on my own writings. It’s been so unreal, so magical, and so unexpected, the whole experience caught me off-guard most of the time. From the time I arrived in CDG airport until I left (and the whole airline strike ordeal I’m still too exhausted to share in detail), it’s been such a revelation to another side of the world that was unknown to me. Even now, my knowledge about it is still very humble. But I’m forever grateful to have experienced all that in this lifetime. Oh, how I have became bigger during that time.

Looking back on things, the whole EuroTrip 2007 was one of the defining moments in my life. I became stronger, my mind became richer, my heart became bigger. It’s not about the studies (there’s hardly any, to be honest with you) and probably it’s not about all the awesome places I got to visit with my new friends. It’s more about people I got to meet, the harsher experiences I got to live, the personal growth I got to have, and the spiritual revelation that God is always with me no matter what.

Even now, I still sometimes dream of that segment of life. Thinking I had to make my 8-minute trip to Carrefour or Auchan to buy some groceries. That 8:20 am Line-A train I got to catch to Cergy (where ESSEC, my school is). The amazing Le Louvre and beautiful La Tour Eiffel, both I just barely grazed at the surface. I remember all the 14 Metro lines I got to ride (at least once each), my favorite vintage clothing stores, the gorgeous countryside trips with our teachers and fellow exchange students, my trip to Germany to visit my marching band senior, and so much more.

Of course, I also remember the train thievery during my train ride from Rome to Firenze (Florence), my struggles of getting an apartment, or my frustration with the bus/train/taxi/airline strikes. But it’s OK. It’s moments like those when you realize your weaknesses. But they also remind you of your strength. I was careless; I took things too lightly and perhaps took them for granted at times. However, I was also surprised at how much faith I actually have in God, how mostly calm I was in facing all those situations, and how vulnerable life actually is.

I know I took time too leisurely at times. Time is too precious to be taken lightly. You only live once, and you have to make the fullest of this life you are living. It may sound cliché, but it’s cliché things like this that we keep forgetting even though it’s actually true. It’s easy to lay back and follow the river flow when we want to escape from reality. But please…..you, yes you, whoever’s reading this right now, I hope you continue to live your life to the fullest. Chase your dreams and make them happen. Live your life so you may not have any regrets. And may you be bigger than you are now.

The Prince Charming

2007-11-14T05:07:00.000-08:00

- category: poem/observation -

One last tribute to my memory of Italy trip. On one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I met a friend in Florence, right after I got robbed on the train. Well, he was very sweet and downright flirtatious with me the whole evening, and I sincerely enjoyed his company that night. He confessed that he fell for me that night (even though I still doubt if he really meant it) but I told him it was not meant to be. Still, here is a poem as a tribute for our encounter at Firenzi (Florence) that night. Once again, my Italy trip album can be found here.

I'm not a Cinderella
but a magical night
I did have,
when I met a Prince Charming

I'm not a Cinderella
but the night was magical
As we stared into the romantic glitters
that fell upon the night of Firenzi

I'm not a Cinderella
She did not eat pizza for dinner
and her prince did not flirst endlessly with her

I'm not a Cinderella
He's not my Prince Charming
He's too late but...
perhaps that night I wished I was...

I'm not your Cinderella
I lost my mind to someone else
and you're not my Prince Charming
Because my King is waiting for me
at the other side of the ocean

-fin-

Of Things Lost

2007-11-11T02:35:00.000-08:00

- category: observation -

My process of mourning following the theft that occurred in Italy (I know, it takes a while to let go - I've been whining about this) and trying to let go. But just now (December 3), I received the news that my grandma passed away...Such a wonderful woman; I am proud to be one of her grandchildren. I hope she can be proud of me too. Rest in peace, grandma, say hi to grandpa for me.

For a moment,
let me soak in my despair
lament of things lost
over the three sunsets

The horror and trembles
forgiven not forgotten,
relieved but bitter.

So pray....calm down...
..then let go.

But wait...
For a moment, remind me
of the times we were together
over thousands of sunrise

The smiles and gentle caresses
cherished not forgotten,
remembered but bitter.

So pray....pray some more...
...then let go.

-fin-

Notes:
The picture was taken at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France (the famous cemetery where famous people like Chopin, Haussman, Isadora Duncan, Jim Morrison rest). My visit to this cemetery was brief, but this cemetery was really peaceful and calm. OK, perhaps a bit eerie if you walk down the huge complex by yourself, but that was not the case. The complete album is accessible here.

Until next time...

Things that are hard to get over with in Europe..

2007-11-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

1) Easy Europe travel & train strike in Paris

OK, compared to US, it is very easy to travel across Europe via train. For non-Europe residents, Eurail is a great deal to travel (and InterRail for Europe residents. Check those two websites for more information and feel free to drop me a comment if you need more convincing about Eurail. I'll give you one right now: monthly train RER/bus/Metro pass in Paris is 104.45 Euros for Zone 1 - 5, whereas 2-month Eurail pass that's valid for all public transportation in 18 European countries costs 798 Euros.

HOWEVER! Living in Paris gives its diadvantage when there is train strikes. People said it doesn't happen often but apparently I did experience it. During the strike, basically you don't know when or whether a bus, a metro, or a train operates. Of course you can consult RATP, but sometimes it only gives you "suggestions" instead of facts on the public transportation condition. For me, since ESSEC is located at Cergy (Zone 5), traveling from Paris (Zone 1) to Cergy took me at least 2 hours during the strike. And it's not straightforward route either. When I normally only do 1-2 train transfers, I have to do 3-5 train transfers during the strike, depending whether the train is going to their initial destination or stopping somewhere along the route. One word about train strike in Paris: TROUBLESOME. Waiting 30 minutes for a train that's unsure to come? Oui, c'est normal!

A picture of how waiting 25 minutes for a train that doesn't even its doors when it comes like:

2) People's craziness with Nutella

Nutella wasn't a new brand for me at all; I've known it since I was little. I never necessarily favored or hated the brand, it's just...there. But nutella is such a crazy thing here. I ate crepes a lot, and nutella is a must ingredient for making a chocolate crepe. And now I'm falling victim to the nutella-worshipping cult. Look at these pictures if you don't believe me how awesome nutella is.

The 5 kg nutella jar in Naples, Italy:

nutella in Chocolate Museum, Cologne, Germany:

3) Church issues:

The churches here are very gorgeous, it's almost a crime how gorgeous they are. However, unfortunately for many of them, they failed to make me feel more religious. Many of them become tourist sites, where people pouring in, being loud sometimes, pointing and "ooh-aah"ing, buying souvenirs, and other touristy things.

Many of them also do not know church rules and how people should behave whenever there's a mass (or other sacraments) going on, so perhaps that's why churches have hefty, mafia-looking security guards. They would stop you if they think you break the rules (if the sign says "No pictures", then it means ABSOLUTELY NO PICTURES). They would prevent you from going to places preserved for prayers (such as cripts and sometimes, the altar), and sometime they even replace the altar boys. In Rome, Italy, I was surprised to see the priests accompanied by a security guard to enter and leave the St. Maria Maggiore Church. A very interesting sight, I must say.

The last thing about church issues is that there is seldom a kneeling pad. There are kneeling wooden plank, but don't expect them to be cushy like I am used to in US. I learned it the hard way. Ouch! And some churches don't even have the wooden plank, so you have to kneel on the floor. God have mercy.

4) Thiefry in Italy

As much as I wanted to refute this and said something otherwise, the fact is my luggage got stolen in a train from Rome to Florence in Italy. Those thiefs have skills and I encountered at least 3 people in Rome who had their stuff stolen from them while they walked around. Some people said those thiefs would watch you for some time first to see whether you're vulnerable or not, then decide to rob you if you fall to the first category. Well, whatever, just be EXTREMELY careful in Italy (no matter where you are) and keep your belongings close to you, especially if you travel alone like I was. This is quite a pity since I actually love Italy a lot...I wish I can enjoy it with my guard set at "medium-high security" and not at "maximum security".

6) Different versions of keyboards

I love English keyboard. I did not realize it until I go to Europe. France has its own keyboard version where they jumble the letters around, Italy probably has it too (I am not sure; I was distracted by the thiefry), Germany has one. Gods, I am close to having a carpal tunnel from using a French keyboard for a day!
Here's a picture of German keyboard:

7) Toilet problems

No, it's not that you have to use plunger all the time, but I was sure was confused when I saw a "bidet" for the first time. I wasn't sure what it's for. And trust me, it's not a toilet. It's for...uh...cleaning your private parts. OK, moving on.

Also in Germany, many public toilets require you to pay, typically 50 cents. While it's generally well-maintained, it is still quite a pain (for me) to dig down my pockets for some change whenever nature calls.

Don't expect to always see paper napkins, too. France uses rolling cloth towel or blow-dry after you wash your hands, Germany and Italy generaly uses blow-dry. I might be wrong, but I had some difficulties finding paper napkins.

- that's it for now -

A week in Italy

2007-10-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal (Summary) : Sept 29 - Oct 6, 2007 -

I've been dreading the moment to write this summary, largely due to the 1,000 pictures that I lost along with my laptop and backup drive. Of course, they are all materials but losing them has created a burden that is yet to be relieved at this moment (*update November 12* - finally got a new laptop). Nevertheless, the Italy trip had been fascinating and wonderful.

Rome "the Eternal City" really has a proud history to live in and so far the best city in Italy I have visited. Of course, I would not be able to share it with you since my pictures are now history. Still, I would ABSOLUTELY visit Rome again if God gives me the chance to. The list of places I visited (and took pictures of) were as follows:

Saturday, 09/29 : Colosseum, Palatino Hill, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Piazza Venezia)
Sunday, 09/30 : Vatican City, Vatican Museum (Sistine Chapel), Castle D'Angelo, Isola Tiberina, Museum of Art at Barberini, Spanish Steps, and Trevi Fountain
Monday, 10/01 : Via Antica of the Ancient Rome, Catacombs of St. Calisto and St. Sebastian, Aqueducts, Circa Maximus, Sacra Argentina, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and once again Trevi Fountain.

After some bewildered moments (my luggage was stolen in a train from Rome to Florence) upon my arrival in Florence on Tuesday, October 2, I got a chance to gather myself and enjoyed a little bit of Florence with a friend (we accidentally met in front of the Duomo). I only stayed for a day in Florence, but I got to enjoy Ponte Vecchio, Michael Angelo Hill that overlooks the city (very romantic spot) and the fake green David, a dinner at a restaurant, Galleria Uffizi (seeing "The Birth of Venus", "Primavera", and "Venus of Urbino" were certainly astounding), and certainly Duomo before my departure to Naples. I personally do not favor Florence that much since the buildings are so tall and the streets are so narrow and suffocated with tourists. It's amazing how everywhere I turned, people spoke English and nothing else.

Naples....well that's a completely different story. It was definitely a lifesafer to meet my friend, Sandra there (and leeched off of her a bit), but I was very surprised to see downtown Naples upon my arrival on Wednesday evening. The city was crowded, disorganized, quite dirty and gave off the atmosphere of insecurity. Of course, given that I was just robbed a day before fueled my negative bias about Naples. However, some of my friends shared my impression and could not even wait to go out of Naples! Still, like another friend said, Naples looked like a certain city area in Jakarta (my hometown) so dealing with Naples, albeit seemed dangerous, was still doable for me.

I did not venture to the city; I opted to go to the beautiful coasts outside of Naples named Positano and Amalfi beaches. I did not go to Capri since I did not want to trouble my friend so much with the high traveling costs (and she said Capri was kind of overhyped anyway). It's somewhat regrettable that we saw a lot of garbage bags on the street sides on the way to the beaches. Also, the beaches could have had a better view from afar if the air was not so polluted. Nevertheless, the beaches were beautiful and I could have spent more time there had I not been "crushed" by the robbery and discouraged by Naples itself.

After spending two nights there, Sandra and I hastily bade goodbye to Naples and went back to Rome to spend our last night there. It's truly bittersweet seeing all the wonderful sites once more and internally wept 'I took pictures of those sites before!' and encourage myself to create new memories with my camera (yes, it was not stolen, thank God). We managed to have some fun on our last visit to Rome before we went back to Paris on Saturday.

As I mentioned before, my camera was not stolen so I actually have the pictures starting from right before I left Rome (for Florence) until I got back to Rome. The album of my Italy Trip is accessible here.

So that's it, my very very much overdue travel update. I will now ditch travel journal updates and write more about my impressions with my EuroTrip so far and also my Germany trip. Until next time.

- to be continued -

Very Quick...

2007-10-08T06:40:00.001-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 27 & 28, 2007 -

These are one-liners...
September 27: The day before French final exam and last day of student presentations
September 28: The last one to arrive at the exam room; how embarassing was that! Had a little trouble withdrawing cash from ATM machine, but after an attempt at a different machine and a call to the bank shortly after, the problem was beautifully solved. As for the exam? I don't know; I think I did okay...at least it's done (for now).

- to be continued... -

Enough Wine and Cheese for Today

2007-10-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 26, 2007 -

Note: This is the last album uploaded on my GoogleWeb. All the 1000 pictures taken in Italy trip had no chance to be uploaded before the laptop was stolen. There will be no photo mentions for a while, at least until I find myself a new laptop to work with.

I have no class today and instead, the school organized a "wine and cheese" tasting free of charge. There were many interesting selections of cheese, most of which I tasted, but only a handful I really liked. The French brie is good, but I dislike stronger cheese such as blue cheese and goat cheese. Too strong for me. Even the orange cheese (one has a paprika mixed in it) has some kind of cow aftertaste (yes, cow!) The creamy ones are best, I think. But again, it depends on your taste buds.
The full album of wine and cheese tasting is accessible here.

After filling ourselves with wine and cheese (sorry for not commenting much on the wine - but Riesling wine is my favorite of the 2 white wines and 2 red wines presented), we wathed a French movie called "Americain Cuisiniere". It was funny and cheesy even though I could only understand about 10 - 15% of it, but yeah... It’s kinda awkward seeing breasts displayed so repeatedly and so gorgeously.

When I came home via train, I thought I saw police officers covering a dead body at La Muette station; I was instantly shocked and horrified. I also have to book train tickets and hostels for my upcoming Italy trip on Saturday...

- to be continued... -

The Week of French Exam begins

2007-10-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 24, 2007 -

Note: I don't have a laptop right now, so I am using a computer in school with a French keyboard to type...oh, the joy...oh, and there is no journal on September 25.

I woke up too late and didn’t shower before school today. I managed to catch a (not so late) train to Cergy, and I could only smiled sheepishly while the teacher glared at me when I opened the classroom door on 9:25 am. After school, I had an interesting experience trying to look for a plunger with Sandra. We raced around Auchan with one of the managers and still could not find it. Seriously, it's like one of the old TV series where you have to find specific things on the supermarket aisles in a time limit! ... But we finally gave up. In turn, I bought some stuff for early food stocking and promise to buy more tomorrow. After that, I went back home and started updating blogs again when I met my boyfriend online and started chatting with him. Imagine my shock when I realized that I forgot his birthday more than a week ago! OMG! He was very sweet about it though, and I promised to buy him a nice souvenir when I go back to US in December.

- to be continued...(No update on Tuesday) -

Blog on hold...again

2007-10-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

Quick update: Blog owner got her bag stolen at the train from Rome to Florence on October 2, 2007. Fortunately, she did not lose her passport or IDs, but she lost her laptop containing 1,000 pictures she took in Rome. Thus, there will be no pictures about all the wonderful places in Rome she visited, limited collections of Florence, Napoli, and perhaps a little bit of Rome later on.

The story will continue once she is back in Paris on October 7, 2007.

- to be continued... -

The Day of the Breizh Parade

2007-09-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 23, 2007 -

Yesterday, I spent too much time surfing around the internet and watched Iron Chef episodes on YouTube; I haven’t prepared the presentation for tomorrow's class!
But first thing first, I had to go to Breizh Touch Parade. There were supposed to be a celebration of Celtic music with over 3,000 musicians and dancers taking part in this exciting event in Paris. But again, I got side-tracked and went to Madeline Church near Opera. Even though it was under construction (and so was the Opera), it has such a strong statement; the Joan de Arc statue, the humble tribute to John Paul II and Mother Teresa, and the gorgeous altar made the quick visit very much worth it.

By the time I reached Champ d’Elysee to see the Breizh Parade, the dancing stopped. Darn it! That explained why my pictures only got people in costumes standing around...But! I did get some good shots of the musicians.

I was also supposed to meet with friends but they arrived late and eventually I was wandering around alone. After a quick visit to the Arc de Triomphe (this time up, close, and personal), I bought a professor-recommended French dictionary and an Italian reference book (and I’m going to Italy next Saturday!) at W.H. Stone near Le Louvre.

After that, I simply went home and spent 5 hours to prepare the presentation. The long hours was largely because I got too excited about the putting pictures in the presentation. Some pictures even got rejected and did not make it to the presentation, you know... Anyway, I went to sleep right after I finished.

And hey, the whole album "Wandering in Paris - part 3" can be found here.

- to be continued... -

A Day of Relaxation

2007-09-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 22, 2007 -

Today, I was resting at home to rejuvenate self. Yesterday’s excitement took a heavier toll on my body than I thought. Moreover, my sickness was not actually went away; it was just conveniently delayed. Worked for me though; I spent time catching up with blogs’ updating, picture editings, upcoming travel arrangements, homeworks, and job search – related stuff. I had to be careful though, I needed to stay healthy since people around me were getting sick (it’s the transition from summer to fall, after all).

I also had the first long conversation with the French lady; she’s also happy with the Moët & Chandon I bought for her. She also told me about a market in Pte. St. Cloud that’s open only on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but I have to always beware of pickpockets. She got her money stolen once before in that market. In addition, I just found out that this house experienced a burglary once and that Dewi lost many valuables without getting any money back, so again I have to be very careful and not take security for granted in this very nice area. Later that night, some friends were texting me and invited me to go to a chic club in Paris named Le Queen, but l opted to stay at home and watch Iron Chef. Entertaining Iron Chef episodes over an exciting night out at Le Queen? Certainly, especially with my stamina not in its top shape. Next time though, I would be glad to rock out “what my mama gave me”. Just you wait...

- to be continued... -

The Cathedral and The Champagne

2007-09-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 21, 2007 -

Today was the day of the last field trip that ESSEC organized. This time, we went to Reims to see the gothic Notredame Cathedral and La Champagne to the House of Moët et Chandon for wine tasting. It would be a great time, but the morning started kind of shaky. I woke up later than I expected and reached Cergy Prefecture Station around 8:40 am. I was worried because I thought I missed the bus (we were told to meet in front of ESSEC on 8:30 am), but apparently the bus itself ended up being late. All of us waited until close to 9 am.

That little setback was remedied as soon as we reached Reims. When I saw The Cathedral, where most of French kings were crowned, I was awestruck. IT WAS HUGE and GORGEOUS! Some of the snapshots below did not do enough justice to this grand cathedral.

During our free time, I had a chance to explore the city. It was a charming city with lots of life. I had a great nice walks with friends and we had some hilarious moments trying to get the timer going with Sandra’s camera. It was worth it; all of us were laughing whole-heartedly, and the picture came out great. I had to pester Sandra to share me the picture; I ablsolutely love it! We also had a unique pie at a nearby pastry shop. It was stuffed with pork, rabbit, and veal dipped in champagne and baked in a wooden stove. It was delicious! I was greedy with eating that I did not think about shooting a picture of the pie, but here are some pictures of the precious free time.

But things started to go downhill due to my sudden sickness. I worried about my physical stamina and worried that I would not be able to enjoy the wine tasting at the House of Moët et Chandon. When I was waiting for the house tour, I seriously felt ill and struggled to stand up, let alone walk. When the tour began and the guide started to explain the different parts of the house and showed us a video, I felt my concentration slipping away.

I did not know what “woke” me up; the coolness and darkness of the wine cellar, the exciting labyrinth of the huge wine cellar and the possibility of getting lost due to my excessive camera-clicking to whatever objects I could find, the guide’s explanation about the long process of making wine, my friends, the realization that it might be easy to steal a bottle or two of still-under-process wine, or any mixture of any of the above. But one thing was for sure. I began to like Brut wine, at least the Brut Imperial of Moët & Chandon. All this time, I always drank sweet wine, but after tasting Brut Imperial, I began to wonder what on earth I had been drinking. Sure, I am not a great drinker, but I think I can appreciate a good wine when I came across wine. Moreover, the champagne actually helped revitalizing my energy and soon enough, I felt better already. I also found out from my teacher that French people like brut champagne the most (and hated the sweeter ones), so I bought one bottle of Brut Imperial as a gift for the French lady.

My only remaining drawback was going back to Paris via RER from Cergy. When the bus reached Cergy, it was close to 8:15 pm. It was a rather tiring journey back home (mostly because we spent a lot of time sitting down and did nothing at the bus already), but thank God for Sarah, Aimee, Laurie, and Nayuta who also took the RER to go to our respective apartments (except Nayuta, who went to take a bus to Germany). When I got home, I was so tired but obviously very happy. That was another great field trip. Bravo!

Oh, I almost forgot, the full album of The Cathedral and The Champagne is here.

- to be continued... -

Not the Best Day You and I had in Life..

2007-09-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 20, 2007 -

It was a bad morning. I met the French lady in the morning, and she made some unfavorable comments implied towards Sandra. The worse thing was that Sandra was actually at the corridor and heard everything. Of course she’s pissed, and I felt really responsible. I knew from yesterday that asking her to let Sandra stay at the apartment was a bad decision; I felt really bad for both of them. I could understand why both of them felt the way they did, but I am definitely responsible for not being able to encourage better relationship between both of them.

After school, I went to Auchan at the nearby mall (the same one that has H&M, but this time I did not buy anything there). After comparing the prices of Auchan and Monoprix, I definitely need to do grocery shopping here, it’s much cheaper (later on, I found out that Monoprix is the most expensive grocery store chain in Paris). On our way home, each of us bought a cute black ballet flats for walking shoes at Auberg, the transfer station, before going on our separate ways.

When I got home, I took one look at my desk and knew immediately that Sandra mistakenly packed my laptop adapter. This was quite a disaster since my laptop could only last an hour or less without the adapter (the battery’s dying). That evening, it was such a hassle for her to go back and forth to give the adapter to me and reach the internet café (she still did not have internet; later that night, she decided to stay at a friend’s place in one of ESSEC’s Cergy residence halls). Meanwhile, that night I had a serious contemplation about the upcoming potential Italy trip.

By the way, I am very embarrassed about not being able to answer the phone here in the apartment. They rang pretty frequently and since I assumed they were all for either for the French lady or Dewi, I never bothered to answer it. It’s not that I could say anything decent... Anyway, I had to sleep early for tomorrow’s field trip to Reims and La Champagne. Wine tasting, anyone?

- to be continued... -

The Internet Dilemma

2007-09-26T14:32:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 19, 2007 -

Before I started, I just want to share this funny print ad that I saw at the train station. I thought this was really, really cute. I apologize for the somewhat poor quality.

Even today, Sandra still did not have internet in her apartment, so we went to my apartment after school so she could do some work done online. I actually half-forced the French lady to allow her to spend the night at my room; deep down, I knew this would not go well. But I stood by my decision and felt that it was very much needed for Sandra to get online. I had experienced first hand that not having an internet connection was just a slow suicide.

Anyway, I created a soup with ratatouille and potatoes and sausages for dinner; in my opinion, it actually was kind of good. We also studied for exam and due to Sandra’s suggestion, I was really contemplating an Italy trip for the one week break we will have after the French language training course. I just hoped the wire transfer is good to go soon.

- to be continued... -

Back to School

2007-09-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 18, 2007 -

I was feeling much better today and went to school with Sandra. Class was great and such a learning experience as always, and we went to H&M at the nearby mall after class. As always, H&M always lured me to buy something; I bought a purple belt with retro vibe. Also, when Sandra took care of some of her beauty needs, I went to Yves Rocher to buy some shower essentials and a facial moisturizer. When I found out that Sandra tried her best to speak French to her beautician, I honestly started wishing to be more courageous to speak French.

I went back to my place to pack more properly and once again spend the night at Sandra’s place. That night, we realized we had so much school-related stuff to do. However, Sandra’s apartment still did not have an internet connection made it difficult to do anything internet-related.

- to be continued... -

Monday is for Skipping Class

2007-09-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 17, 2007 -

I felt awful when I woke up this morning. My back and feet hurt so bad that I decided not to go to school today. I was internally whining when I got up from bed and internally screaming when I started walking away from the bed.

In short, I spent the day resting at home. I only got out in the afternoon to do some quick grocery shopping. It’s very convenient to have a grocery store located close to the apartment, so I am very grateful for that. When I got home, I did a very much needed laundry.

In the evening, I went to Sandra’s place to catch up with lessons and homework. I have to tell you that Sandra has the best crepes ever! I ended up staying at her place that night.

- to be continued... -

The End of Journées Européennes du Patrimoine...and my feet.

2007-09-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 16, 2007 -

I woke up very exhausted today and my legs were numb. I was also late to the 11 am mass at the church for the second time in a row. I was very ashamed and dissapointed in myself, there was no excuse about it. The mornind did not start on the right foot, in my opinion.

In addition, it was a completely wrong decision not to bring my camera to church today. Especially since right in front of the church, a flea market of antiques, furnitures, books, and questionable but cool objects just suddenly appeared. I regretted not bringing my camera, but this flea market was just too inviting. I quickly drown myself in a selection of old vases, tea pots, key chains, books, mirrors, accessories, and many others. After going around the flea market for roughly one hour (yeah, time flew by so damn fast!), I found myself buying a mirror for Sandra, a cool metal claw finger accessory (I always wanted to buy one for a long time!), and two folded spoon/fork/knife sets. I was proud of my buys since even though there were many claw finger accessory designs, the one that I chose (a hellhound) was totally cool and the only one that did not have a duplicate. I swore there was this one guy kept eyeing on my claw, waiting for me to drop it back to the pack so he could pick it up. Try your luck some other time, buddy.

My buys from the flea market

I absolutely love this hellhound!

Actually, the reason I decided to linger no longer in the flea market was I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. Apparently, I developed quite nasty blisters on my toes due to excessive walkings for the past two weeks. As a compensation, my pelvis unconciously shifted back to adjust my weight balance. However, that meant my back muscles were constracting too much and could not stand it anymore. I need to be careful next time, because my walking adventure is far from over. On the bright side, I am now weighing 58 kg (128 lbs - I weighed close to 140 lbs when I was only sitting and driving in California), a weight long forgotten since I left Indonesia in 2005. I am much slimer and fit, but I do need some endurance training. Remember how bad I am at running? Yeah...

Anyway, I rested at home a little bit and watched some Iron Chef episodes at YouTube. After a while, I forced myself to venture out a little bit more even though I did not feel my back was getting better. As a result, I half-heartedly revisited the Luxembourg Palace and Garden, seeing a street scene along the way. There were also a small art exhibition at the Petit Luxembourg by Agnès Pezeu.

But I lose my spirit along the way very quickly and decided to let it go and get some rest. After buying "An Idiot's Guide to Europe" from W.H. Stone, an English bookstore at Rue Cambon near Le Louvre, I took a train home, but when I missed a stop and got off at the wrong transfer point, I realized I shouldn't go out that afternoon after all. At the bright side though, I got a glimpse of Avenue des Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe, as shown in the picture below.

Place de La Concorde

A Glimpse of Arc de Triomphe

I finally went back home and watched some Iron Chef episodes again. Oh, I forgot to tell you that these were the JAPANESE Iron Chef, not Iron Chef America. I think the Japanese Iron Chef was much more entertaining and exciting, and Iron Chef America is not even worth comparing at the same level. Anyway, after doing laundry and updating blogs / editing pictures, I went to sleep.

P.S. : Once again, the full album for Journées Européennes du Patrimoine is here.

- to be continued... -

The 1st day of Journées Européennes du Patrimoine

2007-09-25T11:07:00.001-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 15, 2007 -

Today is the first day of the two-day annual event of Journées Européennes du Patrimoine. It was an exciting day to explore Paris, but since I am not a natural morning person, I woke up late (around 9 am). After taking my time getting ready, I decided to visit the furthest interest point as my first destination, the Techno Parade in Le Marais. I purposefully took a quick stroll alongside the Seine River and got several great shots. Two of them are below; you can see the rest of them in here.

Square du Vert Galant

Pont Neuf

And quickly enough, I walked on Rue de Rivoli going towards Bastille to catch the crowd of the that is The Techno Parade at Le Marais. It was exciting and crazy (when I got there on 1:30 pm, it could easily be more than 5,000 people gathering on the street). Also, I finally got to see how French people street-dancing (which involves a lot of snake-like arm movements and stationary up-and-down bobbing leg actions). Perhaps it's just one of their styles, but it certainly is a new experience for me. And did I mention that Le Marais is the gay quarter of Paris? Anyway, you can see a small video footage of the beginning of the parade on my Vox blog. Below are some of the pictures I took about the Techno Parade.

Anyway, after hanging around for about an hour, I decided to walk a little bit north of Bastille. I passed Place des Vosges and entered Musee Carnavalet, which unfortunately did not allow photography inside the museum. The museum itself was built as a townhouse in the 16th century, and it contained paintings, decorated rooms, and many works of art rich of Paris history. Since today was part of Journées Européennes du Patrimoine, people were free to visit. I also did my first vintage shopping at Rue des Rosiers. I got two vintage tops that I absolutely love. The best of all, they costed me 25 Euros.

A garden in Musee Carnavalet complex

After passing the Techno Parade crowd once more and Hotel de Ville, I rested at the frontyard of Notredame Church. Not for long, though. There was this random French guy tried to strike a conversation with me and tried (unsuccessfully) to ask where I came from. When I ignored him purposefully (I just wanted to eat, man!), he even asked a passing-by key chain vendor to ask me where I came from. He also claimed to have bought me a La Tour Eiffel key chain; "Please listen, I bought this just for you," he said. Oh God, the stuff a girl has to go through just to rest her legs and eat some lunch! Anyway, I bolted out of the otherwise great scenery immediately.

Hotel de Ville

The Notredame Church in Paris

I continued my path down to the Quartier Latin area, passing the La Sorbonne. The school was closed unfortunately, I was too late. Normally, this school is closed to public but today is one of the two days of the year when non-students could come visit inside the school. Well, I blew my chance off of this one...

But, the Luxembourg Palace and Garden was simply a redemption. Not only the scenery was gorgeous, (this time) I conversed with a nice old Spanish guy who have lived in Paris for the last 20 years. He spoke very little English and I spoke very little French, so voila! But he was a really pleasant guy and I enjoyed our "Lost in Translation" moments with him.

Palais du Luxembourg

After deciding that my feet were getting less fatiqued, I strolled closer to the palace and immediately decided not to go in simply because I realized my feet were just too tired to go up and down the stairs in the palace anyway. Surprisingly though, I met some ESSEC exchange students in front of the palace! One of them recognized me and called me over, and shortly enough, others started to appear! Sarah, my Pepperdine colleague also showed up and kindly invited me to have a girls' night out moment in her place with three other girls. It was also at this time that my camera's battery died. So, no picture from my camera about the girls' night out at Sarah's place. But, the full album is accessible from here.

We had an awesome time; we shopped the ingredients at a market near Sarah's place, we cooked them together, ate them, drank some red and white wine, and had long girl talks. I absolutely loved, loved it! Another pleasant occurence that evening was that the tortellini with mushroom that Migena cooked did not make me throw up (I am known for my inability to eat pasta). It's probably because I ate them with lots of salad, but still, I did not throw up. More importantly, I think the meal was delicious, a very lovely meal! After some more girl talks, I decided to go home since it was getting late after all (about 11 pm).

Tomorrow would be another day of Journées Européennes du Patrimoine, and I hoped to venture some of the closer destinations, but man, my feet were hurting me....

- to be continued... -

The first encounter with Le Louvre and Two Steps Bar

2007-09-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 14, 2007 -

OK, so the test actually was not so bad, even though it was definitely not perfect. I knew I forgot some vocabularies and grammar, so I knew I could've done better. But the more important thing is that I am definitely sleep deprived (and I know Sandra is, too). So, I went back to the apartment right after lunch and slept for approximately 4 hours. When I woke up, it's time for dinner. Perfect.

After a quick buy of quiche, I decided to go to Le Louvre before go to the "Two Step" Bar at the 11e arrt (where the International Students Organization would hold the welcoming event for the new ESSEC MBA exchange students). Le Louvre is free for people under 26 every Friday from 6 - 9:45 pm, so that alone is a fantastic reason to check it out. I got there a little past 8 pm, and you can see the gorgeous sky in front of Le Louvre from the pictures below.

Le Louvre was great and HUGE (of course!), so I only walked around some parts of Denon area, where Mona Lisa is kept. I saw her of course, but my picture hardly did her justice so I would not put it here (it's in my album, though). One funny encounter here was that a random European guy (I think he's in his 20s) approached me and asked if he could take a picture with me. I was prepared to hear him say, "Would you mind taking a picture of my friend and I?" when he approached me, so his question came as quite a shock. After a pregnant pause, I decided it would be harmless, so I said OK. But I am sure the picture would not look nice (he might as well delete it) since my expression was rather...confused. Why did he ask me that? I guess I will never know. Or will I?

I also visited the underground Medieval Louvre (the original site before the museum became so big!) due to my professor's recommendation. Truly, the museum is a wonder to behold and I began to understand why one needs 14 weeks to start to befriend this museum. I will return to this museum some other Fridays; for that I am very sure. You can see the whole album here.

After that, I continued my way to the 11e arrt. to go to "Two Steps" Bar. Of course, I took some snapshots of the streets during the night in this area, as you can see below. The bar was somewhat small but quite cozy, and it's great meeting some friends. After some socializing, I decided to call it a night and go home. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day, I am sure. It's the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine, after all...

- to be continued... -

I suck at running....really!

2007-09-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

- Travel journal: September 13, 2007 -

Today is very exciting since I am spending the night at Sandra's house at the 7e arrt. Her apartment is located at the top floor, and we have to climb the stairs all the way up to the top floor. This process is called "the 100 steps". But anyway, we had fun once we caught our breath upstairs and had some sparkling wine. This picture below is the view of La Tour Eiffel at the street in front of her apartment complex.

After a brief nap, Sandra invited me to a 30-minute run, in which I instantly reminded on how bad I am at running. My lungs could not keep up, and my legs felt like led after the first 7 minutes. Add that to my habit of taking pictures at almost every corner of Paris, and you get a very sucky running partner. Sandra is a very sweet girl, fortunately, and we finally resorted to a speed walk instead. From her place near La Tour Eiffel, we ran/walked alongside the Seine River and encountered both beautiful Paris scenery and interesting street merchants. We reached L'Eglise de Notredame and walked around St. Germain Boulevard and collected a bunch of business cards from various fashion stores and promised to visit them later when we have more time.

After a quick shower and makeup, we met the Pepperdine alumni that I promised to meet in front of "Tribeca" restaurant at 9 pm. Unfortunately, the restaurant was quite packed (it's a famous restaurant after all), and we decided to have a light meal at a nearby restaurant called Le Bosquet. Their cooking was not so bad, I thoroughly enjoyed the French Onion Soup. The alumni was really sweet and showed us around the block a little bit. We also went to the The Lady at 11 pm and watched the lights glittering around its long, slender neck. This picture below is Sandra and I with The Lady at the background.

All was dandy and fun, but by the time we got home, we did not have time to study for tomorrow's test. Great. I glanced over my notes for several minutes and decided to go to sleep. Heaven knows how I would do in the test tomorrow morning. For now, I just wanted to sleep.

Oh, you can access the full album of "Wandering Around Paris - part 2" from here.

- to be continued -

Les Impressionnistes: Auvers sur Oise et Giverny

2007-09-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 12, 2007 -

Another amazing field trip. I love the countryside, and seeing the Impressionists museum and home of Claude Monet were just an experience out of this world. Moreover, my friend and I found a vast prairie that Vincent van Gogh used as an inspiration, located near his final resting place in Auvers sur Oise.

The trip home was interesting, as some Scottish guys (complete with kilt) boarded the train and started singing. Later, I gathered there was a Scotland vs. France football later that night. The thing that bothered me was not their singing, but it’s their cursing. They did say the “f” word quite casually, and I could not help but internally cringe at that.

Back home, I finished my homework and prepared a little for tomorrow’s sleep over at my friend’s apartment while watching Japanese Iron Chef episodes at YouTube. It was definitely a mistake, since their great food kept me hungry all night long. Sigh…X factor pork, giant lobster, giant eel, oh my, it’s just not fair. On the side note, I have to start cooking soon if I want to keep myself within my food budget.
I wonder if they sell white rice here; I thought I saw it somewhere...hmm.
In relation to food, tomorrow I will have dinner with one of Pepperdine alumni who tried to help me look for an apartment. We will be dining at one of the popular restaurants in Paris, near the Tour Eiffel. The restaurant’s name is Tribeca. So, I’ll be judging its reputation tomorrow night!

For the mean time, here are some of my personal favorites, some of them taken by my friend, Sandra. She is an awesome photographer! Anyway, feel free to visit the full "Les Impressionnistes" album here.

- To be continued... -

Where was the RER train?

2007-09-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

- Travel journal: September 11, 2007 -

Wow, what a weird dream I had last night. I was back in Indonesia, my wedding with my boyfriend was in four days, and everything’s been settled without my knowledge. My brother sent out all the invitations whereas my mother and mother-in-law settled everything else. I was just told that I would have my wedding in four days. Of course I rebelled since what’s supposed to be my happy day was arranged without my knowing. What a crazy dream. I am so glad it’s just a dream. Wow.

Ok, anyway, this day started off on a strange note. I woke up a little later than I expected. I went to the metro station, and something was off. Announcements were blaring inside of the station, unfortunately I had no idea what it was about. I guessed it was either a strike (I heard it happened often in Paris), a renovation, or a construction. Anyway, the main point is that it took 35 minutes to reach the transit point (Auberg) whereas it usually took 15 – 20 minutes. As a consequence, of course I missed the RER train that would take me to Cergy.

I looked at the monitor, wanted to know when the next RER train to Cergy would arrive. To my horror, there was none. I waited for a couple of minutes and a couple of trains passed by, still none of them going to Cergy. Remembering one of my classmates advice to go to another station nearby (St. Lazarre) and catch the suburbs train if there is no RER train going to Cergy. I walked out of the station and did just that (no, I did not get lost). However, there is no suburb train going to Cergy at 9 am! Oh my.

After texting my classmate about my inability to get on RER train to Cergy, I went back to Auberg and to my relief, I saw “Cergy” written as the destination of an upcoming RER train on 9:31 am. I would be very late, but I don’t care. Long story short, I got to ESSEC at 10:15 am. But voila, I was there at ESSEC. Right after I opened the door, the teacher greeted me, “Bonjour, Mira!” and I immediately replied, “I’ll explain everything to you later.” The funny thing was that there was another person coming in later than I was (11:30 am!!). Everyday, the class starts at 9 am and ends at 12:15 pm, by the way.

After class, I got another chance to see the Lady, Tour Eiffel. I went to my friend’s apartment located only a few blocks away from Tour Eiffel, and of course I opted to walk under the gorgeous tower one more time. This time, no camera. Feast to my eyes, I tell you, feast to my eyes. Her apartment is a total eye candy, too. It’s classic but modern at the same time. Oh, and I have to mention the 100 steps we took up the spiral stair case. Her apartment is located at the top floor after all!

We drank some white wine, tried (unsuccessfully) to hook her wifi, and saw the Live feed of 9/11 Memorial at New York. I was in New York in 2005, and I saw how big Ground Zero was. Only then, I understood the magnitude of the attack. My prayers go not only to all the victims and their family members, but also all people in the world who deal with terrorist attacks almost in daily basis.

After hanging out for a few hours in her apartment and asked her permission to spend a night at her place on Thursday night, I went back home. Now, I have to prepare for my field trip tomorrow (yes, another field trip!). This time, I will go to the beautiful small villages in Normandy where the French impressionists used to live!

- to be continued... -

Starting to Make a Little Sense of It

2007-09-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 10, 2007 -

As expected, I had a difficulty waking up this morning. Not only because I am normally not a morning person, but also last night’s effort of uploading the videos for “Exhausted Traveler” footage took its tool on me. Nevertheless, I got to school 10 minutes late (let me remind you once more that 15 minutes late is common in France).

Today I did not do any particular explorations, but I found out that Le Louvre (the famous museum housing Léonard de Vinci’s “Monna Lisa”) is free for students every Friday from 6 – 9 pm. Isn’t that heavenly? Right away, I planned to go there this Friday.

Moreover, I ate at the school’s restaurant for the first time. The process is quite efficient, I must say. For a meal ticket of 2.80 Euros a piece, you get one main entrée and three side dishes. In addition, you get some bread for free, if you want. That is, in my opinion, cheap and very worth it. I blamed myself not to eat there sooner. Lastly, since I now have a residential address (Yay!) in Paris (no less), I finally can complete my ESSEC registration and put down my address. Woooh, you cannot imagine how satisfying it was to put down Paris as the city of my residential address. Jealous? Oh yeah, get in line ^_^. Sorry, it was not nice of me to say that, but I just could not help feeling tremendously happy that I live in Paris right now.

Anyway, I spent some time surfing other people’s blogs last night and today. Siduahuruf’s EuroTrip really inspired me, and I am very excited to explore more of Europe as time goes by. Already, my classmate invites me to go to Czech Republic and Frankfurt, Germany. I would be a fool to pass this opportunity. Moreover, my boyfriend recommended me to check out the spots Rion.nu took pictures in Paris. Seeing Rion’s pictures really made me embarrassed. His pictures tell stories at a great volume, and it is something that I lacked from my pictures. I realize I often stop at arranging compositions and forget about story telling. However, I have to be realistic in my (borrowed) camera’s ability. This Fuji FinePix F30 is not without its limitation. However, considering practical reasons, I had to opt not bringing a SLR camera and settle with this “little girl”.

- to be continued... -

A Peaceful Sunday

2007-09-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 9, 2007 -

Ah, I messed up in remembering the mass times for today. I thought the Notre Dame D’Auteuil Church (yeah, I decided not to go to the American Church; it's too far) would have morning masses at 9:00 am and 11:30 am, but apparently they were 9:30 am and 11:00 am. Therefore, when I got there on 11:30, it was already on the consecration part. Oh well, better not make the same mistake next time. The church is beautiful, although my pictures hardly do it justice:

There were some homeless people in front of the church today. Now that I have an experience on how hard it was to find an apartment, I have a newfound respect for the homeless. I now realized how hard it is to be without a roof. I know my experience was nothing from what they were going through right now, but I would never see a homeless person the same way as I did before. I don’t have to say what I did to the homeless people in front of the church, but the least I could do is look at them in the eye and whisper “Bonjour”. God, you did not abandon me…I am certain you won’t abandon them, either.

After that, I went to the nearby Bois de Boulogne Park to get some walking done today. On the way there, I noticed that the pastry shop just 3 doors away from where I live still had a long queue outside of the shop. I said “still”, because the queue was there when I got out from the apartment.

Anyway, the walk in the park went nowhere, and after sick of getting sand and small pebbles in my shoes, I decided to return home. The park is so huge though, so I will be coming back to explore more of it next time.

It is rather a short entry today, since I have to update the blogs and do my homework for tomorrow. A bientot!

- to be continued... -

A Walking Adventure to Paris

2007-09-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 8, 2007 -

I had a very nice, deep sleep last night that I woke up around 10:45 am today. At first, I thought I was going to be up and ready by noon, but apparently editing pictures and such took longer than I thought. Still, by 3 pm I was out of my apartment door, ready to explore Paris. My original destination was the American Church in Paris. In order to get there, I purposefully designed my walking route to pass the Eiffel Tower.

Seeing Eiffel Tower for the first time was just unreal. All of the sudden, the Lady appeared in my vision and I skipped a breath. “This is so cool!” was what I thought. I wonder if it’s going to be cooler than meeting Johnny Depp in person….hmm, I wonder. If you go to my album, you would see the pictures as I walked closer to the Eiffel Tower, walked underneath it, and continued to walk away from the Lady.

Now, at first I decided that's all I was going to see today besides the American Church. However, I impulsively decided to pass the Musee de L’armee, Grand Palais and Petit Palais, and even went as far as seeing the famous Le Louvre. I did not go in, but it was surreal standing in front of the pyramid and taking in my surroundings. Unbelievable, three days ago, I was not sure where to live, and today, I was standing in front of where Mona Lisa resided in. By the way, of course I found the American Church, but I barely spent my time there (since there was a wedding ceremony about to take place when I arrived).

After that, I decided to go back home. My feet started to feel numb after all that walking (from 16th arr. to 15th arr., then to 7th and 1st arr.). After a quick look on mass schedule at a church near where I live and a quick grocery shopping at a nearby small supermarket (it will be closed tomorrow), I happily returned home.

- to be continued... -

Le Chateau de Fontainebleau

2007-09-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 7, 2007 -

OK, so I was not dreaming. I really woke up in the 16th arrandisimont in Paris. Oh my God, what a thrill today’s gonna be! Today, we are visiting the Fontainebleau Chateau located to the South of Paris. Since we’re going from Cergy, the trip took approximately 2 hours. I was sleepy, but talking to other students really helped to ease my sleepiness away.

The castle is GEORGEOUS. My pictures may not do them justice, but I would recommend anyone who digs castles, art (especially classic interior design and paintings), and gardens to visit Fontainebleau at least once. Below are the highlights of the day, and you are welcome to visit the full album (221 pictures).

- to be continued... -

A Home at Last

2007-09-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 6, 2007 -

The day sluggishly started. Despite going to bed early yesterday, I woke up around 7:30 am. I had to pack my carry-on luggage and head to school, and finally I was out of the hotel by 8:40 am. School started at 9 am. Great. And did I mention there would be a quiz today? Wow. Anyway, I took a different bus this time and it took me to a stop further away from school. So I had to walk back to the direction of the school, and by the time I reached the classroom (I was also lost for a bit – the classroom assigned for the lesson changes every single day), it was already 9:15 am. Thank God the quiz had just about to start. Interestingly enough, two other students came in later than me, and they had to miss parts of the quiz. Later on, the teacher said that even though grades in France range from 0 – 20, very rarely professors give a student a perfect 20. 14 is considered very good, and 16 is an excellent grade.

Anyway, hours ticked by and by noon, I was very restless. Would I get a place to stay tonight, or do I have to check-in to another hotel? My phone rang (or should I say, vibrated) at 12:05 pm, it was from the Indonesian Student Association girl. I could not answer the call since I was in class, but I called her right after the class was over. By the way, the last 15 minutes of class were spent on history of Fountainbleau Chateau, the place where the exchange students would be visiting tomorrow. I signed up for the trip even though I did not know where I would spend the night for the next two days. The photographer side of me just could not pass this opportunity. Anyway, she said I was welcomed to come right now (well, trip from Cergy to Paris with public transportation takes about 1 hour) and the Madam would like to see me as well.

The trip to Paris took me longer than I thought; I finally reached their place around 1:45 pm. They welcomed me warmly, even apologizing to the fact that there are construction works outside and inside of the apartment. But believe me, this is nothing compared to my Uptown Chicago apartment experience. Perhaps they took my “I don’t mind” response as a sign of desperation, but even though it’s partly true, I honestly don’t think their apartment is in that bad of a state. In fact, while they gave me a quick tour of the apartment, it is a very tasteful and cozy apartment. The building itself is old, but the French lady really has a good taste and decorate the apartment beautifully. I would describe it as classic elegance.

This is the best part. After showing me what could be my room (if I want it), she said I could stay until December. She also lowered the rent cost for a bit because of the construction work. Oh my God, she really has no idea how much she helped me. That Paris area (I would not specify which one) is one of the most prestigious areas in Paris, and to stay until December for that much cost for a month is like a miracle for me. Of course I said yes, I would take her room and stay until December! Are you kidding me? Immediately, a huge burden was lifted off of my shoulder and I felt so thankful to God. I would have a Paris address for four months! How cool is that!

I could now finally see Paris for its classic beauty, unhindered with stress over housing issue. Finally, after one week, I have a place to stay! I immediately remembered a conversation I had with one of the Pepperdine alumni in Paris that called me the other day, “Don’t worry, a month from now you would look back and laugh at this experience. I underwent the same experience too as an exchange student from France, and truly, the first week was the hardest.” Amen to that, amen to that.

After having a lunch (a real lunch, not the usual water and bread that I have been surviving with for the past 5 days) with the student association girl, I went back to Cergy and took some of my belongings and returned to Paris. Of course, the International Student Office staff was very happy to hear my great news. They helped me a great deal and I am forever thankful to them, too. I told them that I know some students who are still looking for a place to live for 4 months and that I would pass whatever information I have. When I returned to Paris, I was given a key and information on how to operate the washing machine, toilet, shower, etc. I was all set to start living here for four months.

Anyway, I am not writing from the Madam’s apartment. I am now living in a cozy room with simple artistic elegance. What an amazing luck I have. I know I have a bit of misfortune, but I always know that I have tremendous luck when it comes to things that really matters. I just have to wait for the right time. All this time, I always said to myself, “It is not my time yet (to get a housing).” Now that it came true, it was an amazing feeling. I was close to giving up, but God truly never leaves me. Thank you, God.

Of course, some of my wariness remains. What if I get kicked out from the house tomorrow? What if Madam does not like me and wants me to get out ASAP? I think I have to worry about that and you will find out as I continue writing this journal, but for now, I will live in the moment. Look, I am now living in Paris, at one of the most prestigious areas of the city, and I go to a university that has excellent reputation in Europe. At this moment, I think some of you might be jealous.

Anyway, I have to go to sleep. I have a Fountainbleau Chateau trip waiting for me tomorrow morning. I really thank God that I can go to this trip without worrying where I will sleep tomorrow night. What a great, great blessings.

- to be continued... -

A Ray of Light

2007-09-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 5, 2007 -

I am still traumatic from the incident with the station patrol yesterday. Every time I entered a bus, I am so afraid that the driver will ask for the card that goes with my monthly pass. Luckily, nothing happened during my 5-minute bus trip to campus this morning. Very anti-climatic, huh?

After class, I called a girl who tried to contact me last night but I did not answer due to exhaustion. She is a member of Indonesian Student Association in Paris, and boy, she gave me a ray of light. She is now staying with a very nice French lady (she calls her “Madam”) and said that I can stay with them for a month while I’m looking for a place to live. The cost fits my budget very well and I just need to bring my luggage.

The problem is, her schedule is quite packed today and she could not meet me today. She would call me back tomorrow. I was quite disappointed but remained hopeful, to say the least. That afternoon, I also met an ex-Pepperdine exchange program student who is now working at Cergy. She sensed my stress and paid for my lunch (I guess I looked that pathetic), and we had a brief chat at one of Cergy’s cafes. When she left, she told me that I am always welcomed to call her anytime for help. That was very nice of her, and I sincerely appreciated that she spared her busy time to meet me today. I went back to ESSEC’s International Student Office after that, seeing that it would be a waste of time to go to Paris since I would not be able to meet this girl who offers me a place to stay for a month. But this time, I am presented with another housing option.

A landlord in Cergy (thanks to my Pepperdine colleague for finding his contact information) has a room available for me. However, since I am not able to show him sufficient financial guarantee (after all, I cannot open a bank account in France without a contract showing my name and a permanent France address), I would have to pay the rent costs for the whole 4 months plus a security deposit of 3-month rent. I was dumbstruck. This is very financially demanding, and I think it is doubtful that I can withdraw that amount of money in a short amount of time. My American bank would shut me down! I told the international office that I would need some time to think about it. After I was outside of ESSEC building, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check out the Cergy landlord’s apartment area (it is very close to campus, only 5-minute walk). After locating the street and see the area (I could not locate the apartment, unfortunately), I went back to the hotel.

I was exhausted, fed up, and very stressed out. I was so sick of staying in a hotel, and I really need to move on. I had to study for a quiz tomorrow and I just could not concentrate. I multitasked among watching “Witch Hunter Robin”, studying, and playing solitaire on my computer. After not being successful with any of those, I decided to go to sleep early. However, I won during my last solitaire game. I believe this is a good sign for tomorrow…

- to be continued... -

The New Low

2007-09-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 4, 2007 -

I’m starting to hate this country. Not only my housing search did not give any satisfactory results, I was also stopped by a train/bus officer and had to pay 27 Euros for not having a card (?) associated with my transportation monthly pass. Great. I was not doing anything wrong, and yet I was forced to pay to avoid getting dragged to the police station. With all the stress bubbling up inside, I just could not help it but crying.

The officer felt sorry for me, but he just did not know what I’ve been through. I was trying to save money by staying at a cheap hotel a little bit away from campus (Formule 1 Hotel Cergy St. Martin), but now I would have been better off staying at a slightly more expensive hotel closer to campus.

Right now, I just don’t want to hear any French (including the TV) anymore. I’m fed up, I’m tired, and I am very angry for not being able to do anything while someone else rip you off just for the sake of government regulation. Of course, by not speaking French, they are more capable of exploiting you. Unbelieveable. Until I have a permanent housing, I think I will sound more and more skeptical and bitter. I don’t care. Screw you.

- to be continued... -

A Homeless Student

2007-09-10T12:30:00.001-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 3, 2007 -

Also not a good day. I overslept and woke up at 10 am, whereas I initially intended to be at school by 9 am. Not that I have a class schedule or anything, it’s just that I want to take advantage of the internet on campus to continue my housing search more than anything else. This time, I tried to personally contact my country’s student association mailing list for help. I also decided to bring my large suitcase to campus and store it at the International Student Office, so I don’t have to move around carrying three pieces of luggage at once at any time.

So I did that, and I went to the room where the French language test (to determine which level I will be in – like I have to be tested anyway, I’m a complete beginner) is going to take place in. Long story short, we were given a presentation of survival things such as how to ask for a place, which train tickets to buy, etc. At the end, those who considered themselves complete beginners were suggested not to bother to take the test and automatically included into Group 1. Hey, sounds good to me. But we had to wait until 4 pm (we got out from the classroom at about 3 pm) for the room announcement starting tomorrow morning. Aw, shucks. After a little bit of surfing around and still had no luck from the apartment search, I waited with other students at the main hall for the room announcement. It turned out that the announcement was posted at the billboard at 4:45 pm. 45 minutes of standing there, chatting around without doing much of anything. Oh my God. Oh well, this is something to get used to. From the presentation earlier, I found out that 15 minutes late is common in France. I know this is 45 minutes late, but hey, go figure.

Since tonight would be my last night staying at the Formule 1 Hotel at Cergy St. Christophe, once again I asked my Pepperdine colleague if I could stay at her place for one or two nights starting tomorrow. However, she said I could not since her roommate hasn’t come back yet and she did not want to start the roommate relationship on the wrong foot. She promised to ask her roommate for a favor if he is back tonight. I completely understand that, but I just couldn’t help feeling down once again since I would end up wasting more money for checking into another hotel. Nevertheless, I have to check out from this hotel tomorrow morning since it will be full-booked for the next two nights, at least.

- to be continued... -

Sunday Mourning

2007-09-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

- Travel journal: September 2, 2007 -

Bleak, bleak Sunday. The lazy morning and cloudy sky did not help me get energized. I woke up at 7 am, but spent the morning watching 8 more episodes of “Witch Hunter Robin” and nothing else. Well, breakfast, of course. I washed up, got ready, and headed to ESSEC shortly after.

Originally, I thought the campus was closed as the doors were locked. Soon after spotting some people getting out of the building, I realized there is another entrance nearby. After presenting my student ID to the receptionist/guard, I was free to roam the campus. It did not take long to see that my apartment search still has not given me satisfactory results. Some rooms were said to be taken, some did not answer at all.

Apparently, my case was common in Paris. I found out that there were many people who were promised a room, just to find themselves pit together with 4 other persons to battle it out. They’re now looking for a place to stay as well, making them my direct rivals to find an apartment. One person even got her money taken away by a cheating landlord. I really felt sorry for her; I hope she gets a place to stay very soon. My situation is unfortunate, but I know there are people who suffer more than I do right now. Anyway, my boyfriend sent me some more links to try out, and he advised me to get a SIM card with Deutsche Telekom, which is a partner of Cingular (now AT&T) and T-Mobile. After being online for 4-5 hours, I got bored and moved to go to Auschan, the supermarket I visited yesterday.

Again, just my luck. Cergy’s commercial center was closed on Sundays, including Auschan. Finally tired and lost spirit to roam around Paris, I went back to the hotel around 5 pm. After some quick lunch, I suddenly felt sleepy. When I woke up, it was a little pass 9 pm. Oh God, now I could not call some people I wanted to call. It has more to do with courtesy than anything else. I have to wait until tomorrow morning. For now, I guess more episodes of “Witch Hunter Robin” are in order.

- to be continued... -

The Beginning of a Nightmare

2007-09-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: September 1, 2007 -

This time, I made sure to note the location of my hotel to prevent yesterday’s long walk home from happening again. Later on, I discovered that GoogleMap AND ratp.fr mapped my hotel at a wrong location, and I had to change it manually.

OK, so I had to go to ESSEC to get wireless internet access free of charge. I encountered some minor problems connecting, but soon I was able to figure it out and ready to surf the internet. However, as expected, when I called the landlord one more time, I did not get the room. The Seattle girl decided to have an English girl (who speaks French) as a roommate. Even though it was anticipated, I could not help but felt very disappointed and broke down crying. After all I went through these past few days, the storm does not give a sign to calm down yet. I sent some more emails to some people and attempted to drown in my misery.

Not for long, though. A French guy who apparently is not an ESSEC student unsuccessfully tried to tap into ESSEC wireless network. At first, he asked for my ID and password to log in, but I refused, reasoning that he wouldn’t be able to log in since ESSEC would only allow one log in per ID. I do not know whether that’s true or not, but we are asked to keep our ID and password private, anyway. But I couldn’t help but pity him a little, so I allowed him to use my laptop for a little bit. He gladly accepted the offer, and my laptop was on his lap while he profusely checked his emails and cursed a little bit about some things I didn’t bother to know. After 5 minutes, he thanked me and returned my laptop.

Almost immediately after that little encounter, two Russian girls that I first met during orientation yesterday appeared from the corner. One of them seemed very happy to see my fingers clicking away on my laptop. She asked if I got to connect to the ESSEC wireless network. I said yes. She almost excitedly smiled and enthusiastically asked me how I did it, since the computing center was closed and she could not get some help. After some tampering to her laptop (it’s in Russian), the problem was solved almost immediately. Another exchange student also came to us; he has the same problem. Wow, go figure.

When she finally got online, she thanked me and said that she gave up the Paris trip (the exchange students have a Paris trip for 20 Euros today – I planned to go but was too crestfallen after the apartment incident) to figure out a way to get online. Hey, mission accomplished. Unfortunately, I could not help her friend since her laptop did not have a wireless card installed. I checked on the internet and apparently her laptop model does not have wireless connection capability. I told her she needed RJ45 cable in order to get internet connection in her dorm room; unfortunately, there is no way for her laptop to enjoy the wireless internet connection on campus. Oh dear.

Well, soon we went to Cergy commercial center and went to Auchan, a big French supermarket that really reminded me a lot to Carrefour. The girls went there once before to get some groceries, so they roughly know where the items are located. The supermarket was bustling with activities, and I myself brought some croissants, breads, bananas, and milk for snacking. I would’ve taken some pictures of Auchan, but my hands were all occupied. I plan to go back here tomorrow morning, though. Anyway, during the check-out, the supermarket also has self-checkout stations for 5 items or less. I immediately went there when one’s available. The girls, who at first went to queue at the regular counter, came to me and asked if I know how to operate the counter. Of course, I said, we have similar counters in the United States. Moreover, these Auchan self-checkout counters enable change of language, so I happily change it to English. The operation was very smooth and painless, and soon the girls enjoyed the quick and painless checkout, too. We parted ways after that since I needed to get some lunch as I had not eaten anything for the last 6 hours. However, they learned about my unfortunate apartment search fate and decided to ask their friend in Paris to help. That was very, very nice of them.

So, I went to get some lunch and went back to ESSEC to once again connect to the internet and emailed some more people before going home. The last obstacle before going home was the long line at the RER station. I needed to go to the RER counter to buy the one-month public transportation pass to save money. It was rather expensive, but considering the number of times I would be traveling every day, it will definitely be worth it. Fortunately, the counter guy knew some English and was able to help me quickly, and the train came soon after I entered the station, the one-month pass at hand. After emerging from RER underground, I walked for a good 15 minutes to reach my hotel. This time, I was not lost at all, thanks to hand-drawn map. The neighborhood that I passed reminded me to uptown Chicago a little bit, but since they spoke in French, it certainly gave off a different vibe.

At the hotel, I was fortunate to meet Jonathan, one of the hotel’s receptionists who actually understand English AND can speak English pretty well. Throwing away plan A,B,C that I prepared in case I meet a non-English-speaking receptionist, I told him to extend my hotel reservation for two more nights. Once again, it was quick and painless. Lovely. I was soon back in my room and spent the rest of my evening watching some recorded anime series “Witch Hunter Robin” and quietly anticipated my journey tomorrow. Honestly though, I don't think tomorrow's going to be better..

- to be continued... -

First Arrival, then Trouble

2007-09-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

- Travel Journal: August 31, 2007 -

I was very nervous about going to ESSEC on the next day that I did not sleep well last night. I kept waking up after short nightmares. Also, I think I also got a little bit of jet lag (after all, France time is 9 hours ahead of California).

Anyway, the morning was colored by my room accidentally locked itself and refused to accept the access code, me asking around how to get to ESSEC, me walking to bus stop accompanied by an old (but very nice) guy, and me getting to the No. 45 bus that certainly is not that different from the Metro bus.

Oh God, when I opened the door to ESSEC campus and heard a voice calling my name, I couldn’t be happier to see my Pepperdine colleague at ESSEC. I was still amazed that I got to arrive at Paris and survived all this time with very minimal knowledge of French language, so seeing her was like a confirmation of “I am finally here, in France!” moment. This is the start of my life as a MBA exchange student at ESSEC, France! It was definitely nice to hear people conversing in English after not hearing it for what it seemed like a long, long time. Not that I mind French, though. Even though I don’t understand it much (as of now), I still think it’s the sexiest language and accent in the world.

The orientation went fairly smoothly, I must say. The students we met were nice; there is even a guy graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison! Oh my God, badgers everywhere!!! Anyway, here is a snapshot of students queuing to get their student IDs. Oh, and my camera’s battery was dead after that shot. I forgot to charge it last night. Lesson learned. Here is the last picture taken today:

After orientation, lunch, and a failed attempt of converting my US$ to Euro, the exchange students were divided into two groups for an hour-session about ESSEC student portal, webmail, and e-Learning. Seriously, my two immediate neighbors (one of them the Wisconsin guy) almost fell asleep and I could not blame them. The lady should’ve just given us the guide sheet and let us be on our way. I am 99.5% sure the students can figure out how to navigate around the portal and their email account, so an hour was really not necessary.

Now the fun part began. I had to go to Louvre to exchange my currencies, then to Notredame to check the apartment, and then go back to Cergy. From ESSEC, I took RER A to go to Charles de Gaulle Etoile Station. Then change train to yellow line to Louvre, get off to look for “Bureau d’Change”. Easy to find? Definitely not. After much wandering around, I finally got to exchange it with a very terrible rate (1 Euro = $1.479). Very bad, bad, bad considering in average it’s 1 Euro = $1.37.

Anyway, I had to go back to the yellow line, went as far as to Chatelet, change train to purple line to Saint-Placide. Walk for a bit to Rue Huysmans, where the apartment is. Guess what. Apparently I have yet to get the apartment room. There are a lot of people visiting that day and what my potential roommate said on the email “to bring the deposit and first month rent; then I will give you the key” did not apply. I was crestfallen, I really do hope I could get the room. It will be trouble if I don’t. Really.

Now go back to Cergy. At least now I only have to reverse it, but the bad thing is when I arrived at Cergy itself. The bus did not go through the bus stop I originally hopped on at the beginning of today. I had to walk the rest of my way. Getting lost? Of course! The weather’s getting cold and I had to walk for a good 30 minutes with a relatively heavy bag to boot. I finally arrived at the hotel around 8:30 pm. Definitely no appetite, just exhausted and ready to sleep. I have to check my email, though. I am so exhausted, and I really hope I get the room. Dear God, help me.

- to be continued... -

The Exhausted Traveler

2007-09-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

- Travel journal: August 30, 2007 -

The plane arrived at 9:15 pm as scheduled in CDG Airport, Paris. The bags also arrived as scheduled, so at least I didn’t have to worry about getting back to the airport to pick up my luggage. My only concern was that I didn’t have time to exchange my US$ to Euro, as my designated taxi driver had already diligently waited outside of Terminal 2 for me. Moreover, I do not speak French while he does not speak English. Parfait (Perfect).

Anyway, we went straight outside and sure enough, we immediately load up my bags and went straight to Formule 1 Hotel at Cergy St. Christophe. The video below showed just a glimpse of how dark it was when I began the journey. You probably couldn’t see any signs whatsoever and could barely hear my voice over the French radio station, but a footage is better than nothing, I guess.

(Note: The video was regrettably removed since I couldn't get it to work in Blogger. Technically, it finished uploading and everything, but it did not show up when I viewed the blog. If I have some spare time and can figure out what went wrong, I will upload it later, along with the hotel footage.)

So anyway, after a brief reroute (the driver first took me to Formule 1 Hotel at Cergy St. Martin – luckily I brought my GoogleMap print out), we arrived at the designated hotel. The taxi driver was very kind to deduct the excess “reroute expense” from the total cost, and he even accompanied me inside to make sure the reservation was fine before bidding farewell. That was very gentlemanly of him. By the way, there is a Chinese food restaurant right next to Formule 1 Hotel ^_^.
~~This next footage was about what the hotel room looks like.~~

I should be heading to bed right? No. I brought my plug converter with me, and I plugged it in with a US-made surge protector. Guess what? The surge protector short-circuited when powered on. Terrified? HELL YEAH! Anyway, several prayers and shaking hands later, I plugged in my cell phone charger along with the converter. Nothing bad happened, everything seemed normal. The telephone charged normally and everyone’s happy. But I didn’t dare to plug the surge protector again. Perhaps I would never do it again.

All done? No. Suddenly the fire alarm blared out excitedly, and everyone’s kinda pissed off. Especially the shirtless, fat guy staying at across my room who went outside and yelled at the receptionist for a bit. The receptionist guy told me (in French) that somebody smoked and triggered the fire alarm. Dormitory living, anyone? Apparently, the smoking guy (or girl) was persistent in smoking (either that, or the fire alarm was feeling too excited) so that the alarm blared several times after that incident. Someone finally came over and inspected the alarm or something. I did not know exactly, as I was already subconscious at that time.

Oh yeah, there was a hot French guy staying about two doors away from me. When I first smiled at him, he winked at me. Sometime later, he knocked on my door just to say “Good evening” in French. I just smiled and shut the door as soon as I opened it because I was afraid in having further conversations in a language that I only knew 0.0001% about. Anyway, at last I was ready to sleep.

- to be continued... -

The Day of Departure

2007-09-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

- Travel journal: August 29, 2007 -

Several hours before I go to LAX, I managed to arrange lunch with my mentor. Looking back, I was very glad about the decision. The lunch was great, The Athenaeum was such a beautiful private dining resort at Pasadena, and she was such a nice lady with serious determination. I really look forward to our further correspondences. I did not get pictures of the dining room since we're busy conversing, but I would like to share the library (claimed to be one of the most requested private room there) and the Einstein Suite.

Everything’s arranged at last. Storage for my stuff, storage for my brother’s car, tickets, everything’s OK. It’s too bad that the iPod shuffle that the company I worked with this summer sent has not arrived yet. I would’ve brought it to Paris with me. My cousin drove me to LAX and we arrived way earlier than I thought. 2 hours to kill in the Tom Bradley International terminal. How to kill time? How about some pictures?

Anyway, after a stupid purchase of a water bottle and an overpriced earphones ($15 as opposed to $3 for a similar model sold at one of the later stores), time flew by so fast and I was inside the plane going to France. After minding our own business for the first 9 hours, my neighbors finally started talking with me. To my right was an Irish guy who left home for Australia and New Zealand for the last 8 months, whereas to my left was an Australian woman who was going to Amsterdam.
After some interesting conversations about how great Australia and New Zealand were, how bungee jumping was not as enjoyable as sky diving (I always want to do sky diving, by the way), and how the lady was surprised to know that I originally came from a neighboring country (Indonesia and Autralia - hello!), they both agreed that the London Heathrow Airport that we were headed for was messy (a far cry from Beijing or Singapore’s Changi airport), but the CDG airport is even messier since nobody would want to speak in English. Great. Now I am terrified. How would I even survive on the first day? Darn it.

The lady was very nice to agree to go from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4 with me since she’s also going outside of England. We parted ways as soon as we arrived at Terminal 4, which is the International Terminal. Anyway, the International Terminal of Heathrow was actually cool with a lot of British vibe. Here are some pictures:

I silently pleaded that CDG will not be as bad as my two ex-neighbors said.
God, help me please.

- To be continued... -

Prologue: Countdown to France

2007-09-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

- Travel journal: Prologue -

My journey to France started with some preparations. Since I would be away from the United States for four months, there were things to take care of. Storage for my belongings and car, France visa, tickets, apartment in Paris or Cergy (where ESSEC, the host university is), and even a search for an apartment for after I come back to US on January are such things I had to do.

Exciting things awaited me, but this journey’s preparation is definitely without a hardship. Applying for visa was probably a rather interesting process, but the most troublesome matter was that the university did not receive my housing reservation form. Thus, I had to go find an apartment on my own.

But I tried to prepare my experience as wonderful as possible, that’s why I asked Omiru.com a question about what to wear in Paris. By the way, if you read my previous post where I complained about Omiru.com not answering my shoes question, they actually emailed me back the day after I published my post.

Still, when my very much anticipated experience unfolded (and is still unfolding as we speak) in front of my eyes, there was no way in Heaven that I would imagine something like this would happen in my lifetime. At least, I know that by the time I come back to US in late December, I would NEVER regret signing up as an exchange student for one-semester study abroad in France.

- End of Prologue -

This blog is back on!

2007-09-08T04:16:00.000-07:00

Now that the blog owner has found a place to settle in Paris for four months, she will publish her daily journals (starting from August 29) in this blog.

Expect to see stories, pictures, and videos about musank's adventure in France (and Europe) soon!

- A bientot -

Blog on hold - owner in France

2007-09-02T03:22:00.001-07:00

This blog is on hold since the owner is currently busy looking for a permanent residence in Paris, France. She is having such a difficult time, but definitely have faith that she would find an apartment really soon. Once she settles in, this blog will resume its business (or whatever's left of it).

À bientôt!

So Boring...

2007-08-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

...that I am now all alone without my boyfriend at my apartment, watching "Confession of a Drama Queen", a movie I could care less with. My housemate went to see "Bourne Ultimatum" with her friends, a friend of mine sent some pictures of a delicious chocolate-strawberry cake she made for a farewell party, and I am just being miserable for not finding a pair of shoes to wear to a wedding party two weeks from now (do I mention I will be one of the wedding singers?). I even asked Omiru.com about the shoes since I had a tremendous difficulty finding a perfect pair of shoes to match my black and gold Chinese cheongsam dress, but I haven't heard from them despite their promised 24-48 hours response time.

OK, I blame no one for this stress. But I am just so dead bored that even my new hairdo (I just cut my hair this morning) failed to cheer me up this evening.

Yes, I am bitter. But I hope tomorrow's gonna be better.....maybe.

My Flickr pictures

2007-07-08T21:46:00.001-07:00

As promised, here are my Flickr folder:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/naruhodo-ne/

And lastly, I know I should've done this ages ago, but please invite me (musank) as one of your Flickr contacts! I am considering to make a new blog and add more pictures to Flickr now that my studying abroad in Paris is drawing near.

- Have a great week, everyone -

Golden Gate Bridge

2007-07-04T22:14:00.000-07:00

This post is basically the pictures I took from my passenger seat during my trip from San Mateo to Mill Valley and Tilburo, both north of the Golden Gate Bridge. A few of my findings in both locations can be found in http://naruhodo-ne.vox.com/ , but in this post you will find the scenery I viewed during the trip. Most of them are about Golden Gate Bridge from multiple angles; I personally think it's very magnificent and I'm glad to bring my boyfriend's camera with me. I probably am going to add more pictures that do not fit any particular category in Flickr this weekend, so be on the lookout for that. Otherwise, please enjoy the pictures for now!

- Happy 4th of July, everyone -

What happened in a month....in a quick summary

2007-06-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been updating for so long, and you guys are most certainly tired of hearing the same "Music of the Week" for at least 4 weeks....my apologies.

Anyway, so three weeks ago I had a prospective internship interview with a stock trading company in Burlingame, CA. Apparently, the company is located right across the street from my boyfriend's office. Long story short, they liked me and invited me for a 3-month internship. And I got paid pretty generously too (I say this because I know not all of my colleagues get paid in their internships)! The whole process of submitting my resume online via Yahoo! Hot Jobs until I got an offer is EXACTLY one week. That just showed how hard my mom prayed for me. Really.
Not to mention I immediately got a place to live and that I already had a car to travel. Everything just fell into place very nicely. That's God's hands for you.

So, I received my first salary last Friday, and I am continuing my exciting life here in the Bay area. I even got to have a jam session with Da Band, too, so I really am so blessed. And now I just lazed around watching a boy Shakira got a 2nd round Vegas ticket in "America's Got Talent".

God really has mysterious plans. God bless you all.

- See you all (hopefully soon)! -

Anniversary Day

2007-05-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

Warning:

Romantic sushi dinner in progress

Fluffiness and Cheesiness to ensue

Do Not Disturb

- heed the warning, folks -

Does It Count?

2007-05-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

- category: personal/anniversary -

In exactly 10 days from now, my boyfriend and I will have a 5th year anniversary. Close to Memorial Day, but whatever... Anyway, we've been living apart for some time (albeit in same state) and I wonder if I still love him as "passionately" (or more) as years go by. So, this is my short reflection about my feelings to him...heheheh...
---

No, my heart does not beat faster
whenever you hold me close

No, my cheeks do not blush furiously
whenever you circle your arms around me

No, my knees do not go weak
whenever you kiss me

No, I am not a patient person
you always make my temper flares up
with your silly little mistakes

No, I am not obedient
I will always argue with you
about anything and everything

No, I do not care about all these symptoms
of what a childish love looks like

My attitudes may not be the best of its kinds
But know well that your embrace is my heaven,
your voice is my salvation,
and your presence is my home.

So if I ask you this,
this selfish, foolish feeling I have
does it count as my love for you?

-fin-

Random Takes on Yosemite National Park

2007-05-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

- category: special/celebration -

Again, all pictures copyrighted by Christian Hadidjaja. Please enjoy the pictures.

---

Walking down the path to Bridal Veil Falls

The split rock (near the Mist Path towards Verna Falls, Nevada Falls, and Half Dome), me, and my boyfriend. It's truly amazing how clean the cut is...it's like a massive butcher knife cut this rock as if it's just a beef flank.

Resting on the boardwalk leading towards the Yosemite Falls

A river near the Bridal Veil Falls

Some vegetation living on a dead sequoia tree in Mariposa Grove

A tree near the Bridal Veil Falls / El Capitan path

Rock formations near Ahwanee / Yosemite Falls

The Merced River

- the amazing Yosemite on April 26, 2007 -

A Celebrated Week

2007-04-29T23:29:00.000-07:00

- category: special/celebration -

This past week I celebrated something; I won't say what. But my friends knew what happened last week. So, to celebrate that "something", my boyfriend and I went to Yosemite National Park. I just would like to share the pictures we took there. I don't think I'll get tired of Yosemite. The first time I went there was 2003, and I fell in love with it immediately.

Yosemite really put me in a place "out of this world", especially the huge rocks surrounding the Tioga Pass (the Eastern Entrance). I returned there a year later to celebrate my cousin's wedding (what a lucky lady!) and haven't been there for the past 3 years. So, it's really a pleasure to go back there.

Unfortunately, the Tioga Pass was closed so my boyfriend couldn't see its glory (he's never been to Yosemite before), but the waterfalls were strong and healthy in late April. My only concern is that with the global warming, Yosemite gets warmer and warmer earlier each year (I used to see peaks still partially covered in snow in May or early June; but now they're almost completely clear of snow). I hope we can still enjoy Yosemite for long years to come. For now, enjoy the pictures!

**All pictures copyrighted by Christian Hadidjaja.

----

The Bridal Veil Falls

Seen from Vista Point near the West Entrance (fwy 120):

And seen from up, close, and personal (the white particles are water!). The way my bf editted this photo makes it seems like a rejected sequel of "The Lord of the Ring".

El Capitan and Half Dome

The road to El Capitan..

El Capitan (and me!)

Looking from the Tunnel View...

The Mariposa Grove

Giant sequoia trees...I mean, GIGANTIC sequoia trees!

A dead tree's root (it's like a HUGE, solid implosion)

The "normal" tree trunk (with me as a benchmark of diameter - I'm 5'10", by the way)

Yosemite Falls and the beautiful Ahwanee Hotel

A very nice, healty pour of water in late April (I wonder how it will be in July...)

The Ahwanee Hotel

- coming up: random pictures in Yosemite National Park! -

A Letter from Afar

2007-04-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

- special : Virginia Tech 1-week Memorial -

This post was supposed to be published yesterday, but things happened...so, I apologize for my tardiness. My sympathy for the victims' families extends to the shooter's family and relatives. I believe the media have not been kind in portraying Seung-hui Cho as a cold-blooded murderer. I myself have no such opinion and still believe that had he survived, his full story still needs to be heard. Killing that many people is extremely wrong, but his story of why he did that deserves to be heard. My condolences for all of you and those in mourning, God bless you all in this difficult times.

-----

An urgent letter arrived a week ago
bearing the most grave news
Even the mailman's face was dark
as he handed me the letter from afar.

Letter opened, shock unfolded
Dozens of unknown faces on a piece of paper
covered with lingering scents of salty tears.

I folded the letter to make a paper plane
and glided it through the Winds beyond
so the birds could sing the black prayers within.

Listen to the howling cries, oh loved ones
Feel the painful sting of hearts
of those who shed their tears and step forward.

But don't dwelve in your pain too long, lovers
Listen closely, quietly, and
hear the welcoming choir of angels in Heavens.

- amen -

One/Wind_Rivers

2007-03-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

- category: observation -

Just a poem I did a long time ago but yet always too lazy to put up. This is basically my feelings of being left behind by my friends who decide to move out of town or get on with the next chapter of their lives. I miss you all, but you will always have a special place in my heart.

*Photo copyrighted by Christian Hadidjaja.

--------

And now it's time for you to go
Leaving me behind in this vast grassland
The wind blows furiously
The rivers flow calmly.

We used to play together here
You, me, and many others
Then one by one, we move on
with reasons fleetingly similar and painful.

"My friends are not here anymore."
"This is not my calling."
"I cannot advance further here."
"I don't like being the one left behind."

And then it's your turn to make a choice
We stand hand by hand, facing a branched paths in the forest
No premonition, but as I let go of your hand, I know
The road that beckons you to tread on
is the one I am reluctant to follow.

It's like a conditioned response really
As your figure gets smaller and smaller past the horizon
The more sorrowful my weepings become.

But then I close my eyes as you dissapear
The pain gets almost too overflowing
Should I be the one left behind?
I stand rooted trembling, tears flowing back to Mother.

The wind blows furiously
The rivers flow calmly.

But as much as I dislike this feeling
I need this painful reminder from time to time
to understand the meaning of "loss"
The human feeling called loneliness.

Ah, but then I'm never completely alone
He is always before me
This small voice at the back of my head
"Be not afraid" it whispers softly.

I open my eyes, alone in this vast field.
The wind blows furiously
The rivers flow calmly.

Someday I'll know the reason of my existence
Someday I'll know why we have to move on
But of course, you and I
If we still have time in the world,
Someday we'll meet again.

Then perhaps the phantoms of the past still ingers
You, me, and many others.
Laughing, playing together freely...

The wind blows furiously
The rivers flow calmly
And I turn my back
walking away from the path you take.

-fin-

Strength for the Journey

2007-03-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been updating for two months....I guess patiently waiting for the new banner and a picture for the next post hasn't fared me well ^_^....
Anyway, I just encountered this song at church today, and at times like this where school is crazy, internship is still lacking, tax is waiting to be filled, and studying abroad procedures need to be done, I really need the strengh for the journey. Not only for now, but for as long as I live.

I'm sorry I don't have the audio file, I just have the lyrics.

---

Strength for the Journey
by : Michael John Poirier

Refrain:
I will be, I will be,I will be strength for the journey.
I will be, I will be,I will be strength for the journey.

1. There is a road meant for you to travel.
Narrow and steep is the shepherd's way,
and as you say, "Yes,"letting me guide you,I will be strength for the journey.

2. There is a cross meant for you to carry.
There is a cross meant for you alone,
and as you bow downin humble surrender,I will be strength for the journey.

3. How many times have you doubted my word?
How many times must I call your name?
And as you say, "Yes,"letting me love you,I will be strength for the journey.

-amen-

Missed Calls

2007-01-08T11:16:00.000-08:00

- category: personal -

Just a little experience for coming home later than your beloved, when he expects you to be home when he comes home from work. This work is done during my winter break (December 2006) when I visited my boyfriend in San Francisco, but was just too lazy to put it up online.
Hurry! While I have some time before class, put it now!! Here it is, Missed Calls.

*manga: Japanese comic books

-----------------------------------------

Hn. She thought her cell phone vibrated.
She picked it up from inside her bag.
7 missed calls. From the same person. In 10 minute span.

She called the person back. It's answered.
"Why you called so late?"
"Why did you not pick up your phone?"

Oh dear, good ol' questions. Why did not she?
Was the manga* she read engulfed her mind so?
Or did her mind subconsciously choose to ignore the phone calls?

Hn. Actually, she thought it's the later.
You see, she was tired being the one waiting.
Greeting him when he came home after work was past.

So she chose to go out to this bookstore,
deliberately some time relatively close to 5 pm.
Catching up with fascinating tales and adventures,
which she has grown fond of over the years.
She thought, 'I'd be done a little after he arrive home.'

Selfish? Well, probably.
She called it boredom. And envy.
Boredom from waiting for him at home from time to time.
And envy at him for being the one waited for everyday.

She knew she was supposed to get the dinner ready
when her beloved come home.
But that's an old-fashioned idea she never agreed entirely.
After all, she's just a human,
who wants to be the one waited for sometimes.

She came home.
She rang the bell.
And the door opened,
revealing her charming beloved.

She smiled.

- fin -

And the new year begins!

2007-01-02T19:56:00.000-08:00

- category: observation -

When I watched the fireworks display on December 31, 2006 at midnight, I barely felt emotional. 7 minutes to January 1, 2007, I still felt nothing. Yes, I was there with my boyfriend, there were a small crowd surrounding us watching the San Francisco Pier 1's fireworks from the Embarcadero bridge, and I did feel happy being there with him.

But little did I know that the day after (which is today), I will get a jolt back to reality. A new semester begins here at Pepperdine Graziadio Business & Management school, and I had to go back to LA to attend my classes for the next 14 weeks. There is also an internship that I need to get this summer. The texbooks are mighty expensive that I get them online, and there is also the case of forgetting my check book that I needed to go back to my apartment and back to school to pay for my tuition (which took me 1 hour and 15 minutes).

Things were rough, I forgot things, I miscaculated my time, and I had a bit of problem with my schedules (which I expect to be solved this weekend). I guess being away from my place in LA for three weeks threw me off balance.

However, of course there were good news. Reunion with class mates and friends are always pleasant, I get accepted to go to ESSEC, France for studying abroad in fall, and I decide to get serious in my interest of fashion.

I cannot go into more details than that, but the important thing is I am starting something this year, right off the bat (at least in my standard). I am still getting a late reaction about going to Paris....I still cannot believe it entirely, it's been one of my dreams. Not to mention the amount of support and information I can get from my French friend who is ready to teach me the language and a professor who graduated from ESSEC, I am ready to be prepared to go.

Other than that, I am still not believing it entirely.

So, that's all for today. I have to prepare for tomorrow's classes.

-fin-

Bukan aku yang malang

2006-11-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

- category: parody of siduahuruf's "Bukan aku yang menang" -

Even though it was an old post, I just read siduahuruf's entry (by the name, her name is Elka, her link can be found on my list of friends on the right side) of "Bukan aku yang menang". I am feeling somewhat giddy and playful today, so I am going to make a parody of her poem. And sorry folks, it's in Indonesian language. Her original poem is as follows:

Bukan aku yang menang
(by siduahuruf)

"Diam dengan mata menerawang
Mengapa selalu curang?
Dunia kutantang,
Lalu bukan aku yang menang"

-------------

And my parody is as follows:

"Diam dengan mata kiri lebam
Mengapa kamu menatapku kejam?
Kamu kutantang, aku menang,
Untung bukan aku yang malang."

-Djayusnya mak-

Some changes

2006-11-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

Dear readers,

I've made some changes on my side bar, as you can see. I've divided my personal and Pepperdine links, and made a list of my friends' blogs. I've also updated my profile (make it shorter) and quote of the day. If you know any other friends that I should include in the list, please let me know.

My current projects about this blog:
1)update my banner
2)add more friends
3)upload photo
4)feed this blog to my Friendster account (any help is welcomed!)

OK, see you later either at comments or next posts.

- Have a great week -

Baby, baby, baby

2006-11-03T12:09:00.001-08:00

-category: observation-

This post is one of a kind, since I never made any draft with any of my previous posts. I actually put some more effort in creating this one, and revised things BEFORE I posted it.
Anyway, here's some background info. Recently, I moved to California to pursue an MBA degree. I am currently staying with my two friends who are married to each other and have a 9-months-old baby boy. I've known them since I was in Madison, Wisconsin, and we attended the same university (even though they are a few years older).

Sometimes I would take care of the baby, albeit briefly, and he made me realize some things that I never knew about myself. Such as the spark of joy of holding a baby. Before, I would never imagine making friends with babies or even holding one. It is a pleasant small change for me, and even though I still cannot imagine myself having a baby, my general attitudes toward babies are showing a "sparkle of hope". Right now, I am even curious how his attitudes toward me will change as he gets older. Hmm....interesting though, indeed.

So, here is my reflection of spending time with the baby on daily basis, and feel free to leave a comment or two. The closing end is not the usual "-Fin-" this time, but "-Tadaima-" that means "I'm home" in Japanese.

---------------------------------

It always puzzles me
whenever you sit calmly on my lap like this,
smilling and gurgling happily without a care in the world.

How come you look at me with those adoring, sparkly eyes
when I avert mine from yours.

How come you doze off sleepily on my chest
when I am always restless.

How come you give me your beautiful smiles so relentlessly
when I am reluctant to give my trust.

And how come your smile so contagious
that corners of my lips twitching to curve upwards.

You make your parents sacrifice willingly for you.
You make them go beyond their means to satisfy you.
You make them do the silliest things,
so that you know what if feels to be loved.

You baby, are their most precious treasure.
All they need to do is to love you,
and that is how they know they are loved in return.

So here I am back in reality,
driving through the canyon road,
body and mind weary from the stress of today
soul anxious for the hope of tomorrow.

And yet I still think of which songs I will sing tonight
during our brief time together after dinner.
I will sit you on my lap while your parents prepare your milk and bed.

Then I will sing to you the most random songs,
from Japanese melodrama "Tokyo Love Story" to Chinese kungfu series "Assasination"
from Alicia Keys to Savage Garden
from Disney to Final Fantasy.
And you will calmly sit on my lap,
no fuss, just playing with my pajama buttons, your toys, or my bra strap.

Heh. Bra strap.

So wait for me, baby.
I know I'm running late, but
don't go to sleep yet.

For my wish of dusk is
to open the door and see you sitting on your mother's lap.
Two seconds of confusion, then...
all excited to see this unworthy one home.

Hey, what's up baby?

- Tadaima -

I would hate it if you want me to

2006-10-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

-category: observation/about me-

It's been a while, isn't it? Geez....school has been very busy, but I really enjoyed getting a 5-day break between school sessions and went to San Francisco to see my beloved boyfriend. If you didn't notice, my post on September 14 was to celebrate his birthday.
Anyway, this time I would tell you what I felt when I was on my way back to LA from SF last Sunday. I was upset to leave, I wasn't ready to separate from him yet, and I did not want to go back to my school madness. But here I am now, ready to roll again for the next session. HEEYAAH!!

-------------

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling
Long hallway, overhead cabinets, white tubes of light

I looked outside through a small window
and realized us speeding away at the runway

I closed my eyes again, feeling sick
as the plane left the ground

I felt a stranger moved beside me.
He had his earphone on, watching some on-air TV channel.

I huffed. So I did leave.
You were missing.

It was a short flight.
TV was enough to distract my mind.

But as soon as I saw my destination city from afar,
my heart was filled with grieve.

I hated this city.
Just because you were not here.

I wanted to go back.
But I knew you would not want it.

I would hate this city if you want me to.
But I knew you wished otherwise.

I would hijack this plane and tell the captain to turn around.
But you would hate me.

You were my vice. My weakness.
And I would hate it if you hate me.

So, I sat back and prepared myself for landing.
I hated leaving you, but I had to do this.

Just for you. No one else.

Let's meet again next month.
Pray for our life and happiness.
Until we meet again.

Amen.

1 to 14

2006-09-14T00:04:00.000-07:00

- this is a special entry for my boyfriend, christian -

1 to 14

Giddy
is when I know my call comes through,
anticipating your voice from the other side of the line...

Lazy
is when I experience complete blissfulness,
my head on your chest, listen to your peaceful heartbeat...

Safe
is when you put your arms around me,
enveloping me passionately, until my bones crack and I cannot breath...

Annoyed
is when you are pessimistic, you think you're not good enough,
when I know you're a "sleeping dragon",

Cat-like
is when you're spoiled and needy,
eyus eyus mwah mwah peyuk peyuk oaahhh,

Seduced
is when I stare at your sexy ass,
and you know I do it,

Repent
is when I realize I was wrong
and I hurt your feelings

Sensitive
is when you speak,
fragile and tired while brilliant and adorable,

Style
is when you pick up my clothes,
all of them I miss, but you bring them to light,

Possessive
is when you seem indifferent,
but you do not like me doing it,

Subtle
is when you show me you love me,
in the most unflashy ways,

Sunset
is for us holding hands, strolling and running on the beach,
sand swirling and us kissing,
and you teasing the seagulls' babies,

Halved
is after our kiss at the airport,
I know you leave and have to wait,
until you return my heart again,

Love
is knowing that things about you, I like.
Your exciting next year, you deserve.
Finding from 1 to 14 next time, we will.

- Mwah -

Heart/Ready

2006-09-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

- category : about me/observation -

Almost all day yesterday, I was under the impression that it was September 7, not 8. So, I actually ALMOST violate my own promise on the previous post, which says that I will post something by September 9. Fuhh...

Anyway, sorry if this post is so dark.....it's what's I've been feeling lately, and I think it's important to acknowledge it and see how I feel in the future. Heh, until next time!

----------

Love, love, love, please take me away
hold me close beneath your calm beating heart
look at me with your graceful eyes
comfort me until I am ready...

Grieve, grieve, grieve, don't take me away
enough with your poisonous words and saddened heart
look at me, tears overflowing on my face
leave me, but you are not ready...

Rock, rock, the precious rock
your might conquered the impossible task
look at people around you, wounds deep in their heart
will you wait until they are ready...

My brain numb, my soul tired. For all I know,
everyday the sprinkler outside my room jolted awake at midnight
I stood awake long after it abruptly went to sleep
I know I need to lay down, but my heart is not ready...

Shall I take the holy water?
Strength fill me, compassion enlighten me

Peace

become me.

Will I take the holy water?

Until my heart

...ready.

-Fin-

...

2006-09-05T23:13:00.000-07:00

I have so many things to say, and yet so little time.

Ever since I began my graduate study at Pepperdine,
the amount of work has been blowing my mind.

Please be patient and give me more time,
I vow I will make a new entry by September nine.

God help me.

-Fin-

No more chatterbox

2006-05-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick announcement, no more chatterbox.
It's tiring to have some things stick on the side with not much things happening.

I might revive it in the future if situation allows, but now, just forget it.
Drop me a comment or something if you have something to say.

Thanks.

While she was walking

2006-05-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

- category: observation/about me -

The train finally stopped, blaring "This is Monroe...doors open on the left at Monroe."
As she stepped out of the car and went up the escalator, she hesitantly recalled the many stops she had to travel from her apartment at the north Chicago. Ugh, the nausiating feeling that was almost unbearable...it was difficult to breathe....

She stepped out from the subway station, breathed a bit easily now that she's no longer underground...she really much preffered sunshine. Let's see...Bryn Mawr... Berwyn...Argyle...Lawrence...Wilson...Sheridan...Addison...
Belmont...Fullerton...North/Clybourn...Clark/Division...Chicago...Grand...
Lake...Washington...Monroe.

16 stops. Damn. If she wanted to go to the main campus, then she would continue...Jackson...Harrison...Roosevelt...Cermak/Chinatown...Sox/35th. Thank God today wasn't one of those rare days when she needed to take some extra trips...

By the way, those shoes were nice...maybe some other time....
She kept walking past through people dressed nicely, suits, tie, dress suits...it was a little past five anyway...understandable. Today would be the last day for class...then next week would be final exams...sigh.

Then she would leave this city. Chicago. For good.

Guh. What should she feel? She felt nothing as she threaded her way through people. Probably buy some food for one of those homeless people at the bridge. Huh? There wasn't any today. Interesting....Doves.

Upset maybe? Well, she was...but for another reason entirely. It was when she found out one of her favorite yaoi manga "The Tyrant Who Falls In Love" was licensed and the scanlations stopped. Yeah....she was upset.

Happy? Not really...she liked walking down the street like this...she needed the exercise.
Angry? Hell no, there's nothing to be angry about (at this time).

She felt.......bored. She kept walking. Ah, red light. Gotta stop.
The wind was sure strong today, even though the temperature was kinda nice and a bit humid.
Green light. Go. Hn, what're you looking at?

She sure regretted the time when her ring suddenly snapped into two pieces. It's nothing really, but it served its purpose in keeping men away...she has a boyfriend. A cute one.

The wind blew stronger. Cough, what the...?! Cigarette smoke was sure dreadful...cough.
She was here, at last. Revolving doors.

My last class. My last semester. My first, too.
Later?...bye bye.

Ha. Revolving doors. Grin.

-Fin-

What a gloomy day

2006-04-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

- category : observation -

Today was feels plain weird for me. It actually started yesterday night, when my allergy medicine made me drowsy around 7 pm and eventually forced me to sleep until 12 am. So I woke up, read some manga scanlations, updated my blog, and all of a sudden, it was 7 am. I felt sleepy again, so I slept until around 1 pm (there were some concious times in between due to alarm and some people calling, but basically I had a long, episodic-like dream).

I decided to go to the grocery, but never made it until 4:30 pm due to some hillarious videos from youtube.com. By the time I went out, it was raining (and I hate rain) and a bit windy. I did pretty quick grocery shopping, but not fast enough to avoid a guy hitting on me. I found it difficult to "shoo" him since he told me about his job and all while occasionally winked.......
I had no heart to tell him I have a boyfriend already, so I kept my answers short and ambiguous. Man, sometimes I feel tired to listen to someone who cannot pick up the clue that I'm not interested. Of course it's flattering to have people come up and say nice things about you, but I am really not interested to take it further (dating) since I'm kinda committed already.

Perhaps I should wear a ring on my left ring finger......
Other than that little incident, everything was boring......except that one mail that angered me. y previous landlord gave my money back but cut a ridiculous $69 due to some "underpayment of my account". I really have no clue what that is, since the deposit and everything was done in full refund......I don't know, it just pissed me off.....

Enough about this, I need to work on my paper outline for my two classes.
For those of you reading until the end, I hope your day is not as boring as me. God bless.

15 things (8 to 15)

2006-04-29T03:08:00.000-07:00

Note : continuation of my 15 highlights/lowlights during my first month living in Chicago

8. Helped a man $2 for bus
This guy I met on my way to Borders book store was short on cash to get on a bus...I was more than happy to help him, to be honest. There are other cases as well (no money to get on train, etc), but this particular instance I cared the most.

9. Save $60 for trip from Midway airport to my apartment
I took a taxi from my apartment to Midway (for my SF trip) and it costed me about $45. Which was fine, since it was early in the morning and I did not want to risk missing my flight. However, on the way back, it was lunch hour in Chicago and I figured that it would cost me more since the traffic would be so bad. Thank God for U-Pass, CTA Orange and Red Line, I got home safely at my apartment for FREE!

10. Friendly neighborhood and surprisingly convenient apt complex
I wasn't sure about my apartment at first: it was far from school, the neighborhood looks kinda scary....all that stuff. But I was delighted to discover Dominick's grocery store (which has excellent meat and produce) was just two blocks away, the church was near, Borders book store was located at walkable distance, the Red line was just beside my apartment, the neighbors were nice and friendly.....I could go on and on and on with this.

11. All my favorite stores at State St
What can I say.....H&M, Forever 21, Nordstrom Rack, New York and Company, TJ Maxx, Wet Seal, Payless Shoe Source, Old Navy, Marshall Fields....all in two blocks. Nuff said.

12. Great sunglasses at New York and Company
I did not know that New York and Co has such fabulous sunglasses collection this spring, and they cost $18 for two! I loved them so much that when I lost one of the sunglasses during my SF trip, I came back and bought the exact same model and another one. So I have three sunglasses now! Woohooo!!

13. Fights with boyfriend
My deadly sins of Wrath and Pride have always been a major stepback in our 4-year-old relationship. The great thing is, we always make up afterwards. But still, we cannot go on like this forever now, can we?

14. Ugly encounter with Quixtar representatives
See my previous post of "Settle in Chicago (part 2)" for more details. This is the name of the company that I was reluctant to share initially, but now I don't care about it anymore.

15. Being used by Indonesian personnel of Department of Trade Ny. Sondang
.....It always angers me whenever I realized there are so many incompentent, sleazy, and stubborn people that dared to call themselves government officials......especially from my country. I met her when I attended the seminar "Expansion Through Trade & Investment with Indonesia" on April 7. Basically, the seminar's objective was to lure US inverstors to Indonesia (that's why the Indonesian Minister of Trade, Dr. Mari Pangestu was there). I came there partly out of curiosity and partly to gather materials for one of my classes' papers.
Before she asked for my notes (which I vigorously took while she was nodding off to sleep or chatting with other people at her table - how did I know? She sat at the table in front of me!), she did not do as much as spared a glance......that's whey I was so pissed off when she acted pathetically, persistently, forced me to lend her my notes. She said she was going to use my paper to "help" her make an official report for the Department of Trade. She also told me that she was having a hard time taking notes since she still had some jetlag disorientation. To tell you the truth, I was never willing to lend her my notes since it felt like she insisted to invade my personal space, and because it was for my own purpose of creating an academic paper. But if I had not lend her, OH MY GOD.....I could not even imagine what S&*T she would be saying about me! And after the deed was done and she said thanks (she even called me a “drafter”….what nerves…), she immediattely switched back to her "I-don't-know-you-anymore, I'm-the-great-government-official, go-scram!" mode. However, what pissed me off the most was that there are so many jackasses or bitches out there in Indonesian government like her.
For those of you who are offended and/or Indonesian like me, I am sorry for my language. It's just that I am tired that everytime I look for something positive about the government agents' attitude from my country, these kind of things always come up. Sorry, but the damage was done, I was deeply dissapointed and I stand by my words about bad government officials who only know how to enslave their subordinates to do their job and get away with everything they did not do. Stupid, pathetic, and a horrid dissapointment.

15 things (1 to 7)

2006-04-29T01:46:00.000-07:00

- category : observation/about me -

Whoa, it's been almost a month since I last posted any entry....oh well, here's something to make up a little bit of it. It's been a month since I moved to Chicago, and a lot of things happened. This are the 15 highlights/lowlights happened in my life for the past month. No. 1 is the coollest thing ever, and no. 15 is the thing I dispised the most.

1. San Francisco trip
Recently I went to SF to see the Japan Town's Cherry Blossom Festival where there was a Kitaro concert (he's one of artists I respect the most). My boyfriend was still fuming about it, saying that my reason to go to SF had nothing to do with him (he lives in SF) ^_^...
Anyway, it was a great four days, I got to see SF beutiful views once again; Half Moon Bay beach, Sausalito, Union St, Heights St, Coid Tower, Lombard St, Fisherman's Wharf, Japan Town......WOW!! Not to mention my cutest boyfriend Chris, great food, lovely friends (Mariana, Lia, Stanley, Hendro, Robby), oh my God....I had such a great time at SF!!!!!

2. Easter “busy emails” weekend
Physically speaking, nothing happened much during Easter weekend. I went to church three days straight, I went to my classes...nothing much happened. However, the emails were something else. It started with a friend saying happy Easter at the mailing list, then everyone started to jump in....all of a sudden, I was having so much fun interacting with friends I never got a chance to contact for a while in Madison and in other areas as well (one of them even moved to Germany!). It was really fun with all the teasings and greetings and all......all the emails made me smile sooo wide.....it was really the Easter spirits that kept me alive that weekend.

3. Pepperdine University
After failed attempts at several universities, I finally get the good news from Pepperdine University at Malibu, CA. So, this Fall 2006 semester, I am going to California!!! Of course, that means I have some paperwork to do to ensure that my transfer from IIT Chicago, IL to Pepperdine go smoothly.....but I'm cool with it, let's do it and keep the MBA education rolling, baby!

4. My 24th birthday
Hey, I'm 24 already!!! My birthday was several days back, and once again, I felt really blessed to have such loving family, a great boyfriend, awesome friends (although their "Happy Birthday" singing were awful ^_^), and actually a really blessed life!!! I really don't feel like I'm 24, and people always told me I looked younger (like 20 or 21). I took it as a compliment of course, but for me the most important thing is to keep your spirit young....since your physic will get old someday. Still, with a cute look, sexeeh body, and hot attitude like me, it's nice to be young! (sorry, I'm kinda narcisstic about this ^_^)

5. Lost 5 pounds
Hmm....I'm not exactly sure about how it happened. Still, I'm not complaining!!
I think it's because I walked 30 minutes 3 times a week whenever I go to IIT Downtown for my classes...and if I wandered around at downtown area, it will be more time for walking. I don't actually cut down my food intake or anything (my friends know I eat A LOT), so hey....nice!
However, I don't want to keep losing weight, I think I am satisfied with the way I am right now. Not that I was complaining about my weight earlier, but losing 5 pounds from my thighs and my front abs, that was like........outstanding!

6. Got a temporary modelling job
It was pretty unexpected to know that one of the UPS store employees is actually an aspiring fashion designer. She asked for my contacts right away, and I agreed to be her model for a while for her to create a portfolio. She is going to apply to fashion design university at Georgia, and I'm happy to help her. My measurements were taken earlier today, and she was very excited when I put on some of her in-construction clothes. We'll be doing some photo shoots later next month, and I am so looking forward to it. In my opinion, her designs kick ass and she'll do great in fashion design!

7. Got mistaken for an artist by a museum exhibition artist of Art Museum
Hahaha....this happened a while ago when I was visiting the Art Institute of Chicago Museum. Their featured exhibition was Gerodet painting...they were beautiful romantic paintings, and I really admire how the artist used symbols to convey his witty, sometimes controversial perspectives about anything. After I left the exhibition room, this guy approached me and asked how I liked Gerodet. I was hesitant in answering him, perhaps because my mind was still focused on Gerodet and needed some time to switch back to normal conversation. He mistook it as nonchalant impression, and I immediately replied that it was so awesome and left me speechless. I was surprised that he thought I was an artist ^_^, but I still think it was cool that an artist thought I was one of his kind.....I was really flattered! He got a cool website showing his work, and the address is www.glennwexler.com Go check it out!

Settle in Chicago (part 2)

2006-03-31T06:38:00.000-08:00

- category : observation -

Pheww, the last week was rough.....it was filled with so many unexpected events, some happy, some confusing, the others just plain sad. Let me start with the happy one first.
When I went to UPS Store near my apartment to get some stamps, the girl who helped me was a fashion designer and she immediately asked me how tall I am, and later asked would I be interested to become her model. I found this to be a great compliment, since she found my face interesting and my body size thin enough to fit into her clothes. Moreover, this meant a lot for me since my face was still filled with remnants of acne (you definitely know what I'm talking about) ^_^ . Nevertheless, I was happy!! We still haven't got together ever since, but we'll hang out soon.

The confusing but non-negative ones were just random. Some guy asking money for bus ticket (which I completely understand, I tell you; after all, I commute everyday from uptown to downtown for at least 1:30 hours per day!), another guy asked if I want to go to some info session to get the idea of their "business plan", the portable stove that the apartment manager promised me was actually more like portable oven, 3 times missing a train because the ticket got stuck, and the maintenance guy coming early in the morning to install some shower hangers.

The sad ones happened in the last few days, that's why I kinda lost my motivation to do anything, to the degree that I wanted to get away. Unfortunately, God has different plans for me this weekend, since apparently I couldn't get a ride to visit my good friend at Minnesota or Wisconsin. Perhaps another time......
I'll let you know what went wrong. I wasn't accepted into a university that I wanted, although up until this moment I am still unsure what the reasons were. I was hoping to transfer from IIT to another university, but the task seemed harder every day. Also, the thing with the info session was fine, despite I needed to be dressed in my business suit, rode a bus for 30 minutes, took a train for another 10 minutes, and ended up one stop away from O'Hare airport. The gentleman (who asked me to go) then picked me up at the train station with his wife. This part was an accomplishment, since I never actually travel that far by myself since I arrived at Chicago around 2.5 weeks ago. But it went downhill after that.

The info session was actually about a multi-level marketing company (I won't tell the name), where an Independent Business Owner (IBO, that's each and every one of them) would sell products via internet and coach other IBOs under them to get more money. It was fine until I realized how late the night had come. When I expected to be there for only about 1.5 hours had grown into the situation where I was stuck for 3 hours. Rather than thinking about the "business plan", I was more concerned about how to get home. There were some misunderstandings here and there, but eventually the gentleman drove me home. Of course, not after he asked me what time we should meet the day after. Sounds Ok? Well, it's not. It's really nice to him to drive me home, but to meet immediately the day after was too much of a strech for me. Not enough time to get things sink in, do you know what I mean? I was getting negative impressions, and as you can see, it will become even uglier.

At the meeting the day after, I told them that as for now, I would not be joining the team. It wasn't the right time for me, and I'm not willing to invest my (limited) money to mostly recruit people. It just wasn't my priority right now. The wife tried to coax me, saying they could get someone to help me start, but I also turned it down. Then the conversation heated when I told them I did some research about them in the internet and also talked with some people I trusted to hear about their opinions. One of the people I talked with was my boyfriend, whom the gentleman initially intended to recruit when we met at IKEA. When I told him we're not interested, he got defensive and asked what's wrong with multi-level marketing. It's legal structure to make money, why was I being negative about it, and even influence my boyfriend, etc etc. The thing is, I have NOTHING against multi-level marketing, it's just not for me! If it's working fine for him and his family, great! But not me! I got so upset and so insulted that I half-yelled at them, tapped my angry hand on a table at a Starbucks store. Eventually they gave up and we went to our separate ways.

I got so frustated and angry and dissapointed when I walked home, so I called my boyfriend. But it wasn't the right time to call him, apparently. A one-sided heated ramblings from me turned into an ugly conversation. Now we both got upset. This and that everywhere, I think I experience some degree of depression right now. It's funny 'coz I just thought that I had never felt lonely, well, here I am now. Broken hearted and depressed. I was hoping to go to Minnesota and met a good friend of mine there, but it won't happen.

Please pray for me guys, and if you wanna talk, you know how to reach me.
God speed and God bless.

Settle in Chicago (part 1)

2006-03-23T21:12:00.000-08:00

- category: observation/enligtenment -

Before I know it, it was already a week since I arrived at my new apartment in north Chicago. Not exactly near downtown, as the distance of my apartment and downtown area is approximately 15 - 17 train stops that usually takes about 35 - 40 minutes one way. And even though I thought I made a wrong apartment choice since it is located right next to the train rail, the very same one that takes me to downtown and back (laugh). You see, even though it's convenient, it was very LOUD; I could barely sleep the on the first night. After further irritation during the next few days, it was plainly solved by closing my windows properly (laugh).

One thing became apparent as soon as I settled in my apartment. Since I spent most of my earlier days at home, I soon gave away to my ps2 addiction. Dynasty Tactics 2, Suikoden, SSX3, and soon Xenosaga. I'm now seriously thinking about buying Dirge of Cerberus and Dynasty Warriors 5, as well as Drakengard. For some reasons, I'm not that into Kingdom Hearts, so I cannot care less about their newest release. But FFXII, I need to think about it.

The other thing that also became apparent was that since I do not have a stove, it's kinda difficult to cook here. There are times where I was simply alert because I'm not sure what to eat that day or the day after. It gives me a renewed sense of how valuable a simple meal is. But now that the portable oven has arrived, I guess my life can be a little bit better after all.

Regardless of all these, what calms me the most is simply knowing that God never leaves me. Simple, unthinkable things that I deemed useless in the past have suddenly come to be very valuable. I cannot tell exactly what matters (since it will take so much time to explain; but I'll make another post next time), but it really is calming to know Someone looks after you even when you're living by yourself. In that sense, never once I ever feel alone.

Double Dragons ~ the girl who befriends dragons

2006-03-22T11:21:00.000-08:00

- category : about me -

Hi again, this is a story about my rapid metabolism that I always have ever since I was little. I think it's pretty hilarious what a mind can do, so I decided to share it. Happy reading!

---

‘Let her eat more, she’s too thin,’ that was what most people told her mom whenever they had dinner on a restaurant and she got scolded for eating so much.

Her mom would try to contain herself at first and sighed. There was no way these people would understand that while her daughter ate like there’s no tomorrow, she was very skinny. For a while, she was suspicious that her daughter had a stomach worm, or a few of them. She tried giving her “Combantrin”, a medicine she believed to be powerful enough to fight stomach worms.

Alas, her daughter’s eating behavior showed no alterations whatsoever. So after some convincing, she gave up and just let her daughter ate what she wanted.

The daughter was happy because it worked to her advantage. It was true that she ate so much. The proportion of white rice and meat/vegetable that she ate was 3:1. Much to her delight, it was really difficult to her to gain weight.

She insisted that she had an explanation to her condition, that she actually HAD a stomach worm. When the “Combantrin” tried to kill it inside her body, it was too late. The worm had grown to be significantly larger……large enough to be a stomach dragon. Furthermore, as fate would have it, she actually had TWO of them. She called them “Double Dragons”.

In her imagination, her dragons ate two third of the meal portions and gave up the rest for her body’s metabolism. When the dragons were full, they slept. But when they were hungry, they would cause tremendous rumbles until she fed them sufficiently. It was a mutual interaction, you see, as the dragons gave her heightened physical strength in return.

So this girl and her dragons lived together for a long time. When she got in the all-girl catholic junior high school, she immediately attracted attention for her tall and skinny figure. However, she could not care less when her friends told her nicknames like “Scare crow”, “Sailor Moon”, or when they told her not to do any exercise lest her waist got cut off. All she cared about was the well-being of Double Dragons, whom she was getting fond of more deeply over the years.

That time, she was a girl of 5’9” and weighted less than 120 pounds.

Until one day, one of her dragons died. It was during her junior year at college that she noticed she could not eat as much as she used to. It pained her greatly that one of her beloved dragons died, and she could not understand why her dragon left so abruptly after years of existing together.

Without a dragon to eat some portion of her meals, she started to gain weight, although it was subtle. Living in USA had changed her slightly, as she started to develop more muscles and stamina as she exercised and danced. Her living dragon still as enthusiastic as ever; he growled loudly when hungry and slept peacefully when full.

She is now a figure of 5’10” and 130 pounds.

Looking back, she thought it was amazing to have such a creative mind for explaining an extremely fast metabolism that goes slower as she ages. Nonetheless, she still believed in her dragons.

She endlessly hoped to never, ever lose her one and only dragon. For everyday she woke up in the morning and was happy to be greeted by the loud growling of her ever-energetic dragon.

-Fin-

DoIT Tech Store blues

2006-03-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

- category: observation/memoir -

Phew, finally settled down in my new apartment in Chicago just this weekend. Of course, that's a story for another post. But now, I would like to share the highlights of my experience working at DoIT Tech Store of University of Wisconsin - Madison. I resigned a week before I started moving my things to Chicago, so that was about three weeks ago.

I actually did not realize how much fun I had working there until I had to say good bye to everyone at Tech Store counter, Showroom people, Logistics, and even Help Desk. I felt loved by so many people I barely know, and I am forever grateful for that. All the fun, craziness, the Cantaloop song, my co-workers, oh man, it was so hard to leave them. But live moves on, and I will bring the memories with me always. Love you, guys.

In that accord, I would like to share some hilarious (and sometimes redundantly ridiculous) highlights from working at DoIT Tech Store. Here goes:

---
Scene 1 : The super awesome card swipe

(a group of Korean students came to me. One of them was ready to pay for an item on his hand. He put the item on the table in front of me.)

Me : Are you all set? Allright, can I see your ID?
Student : Oh, sure. (got it from his jeans pocket and gave it to me).
Me : (flicked and swiped it on my keyboard to bring up his information on the monitor. Computer gave a beeping sound.)
Student : Woah! Awesome!!
Me : ...

* Until now, I really could not understand why he said that. Was my card flicking that awesome, or was it something else? I guess I just need to keep guessing....hmm...

---
Scene 2 : Restocking fee?

(A customer came to return a headphone that's been ripped from its packaging. My supervisor always told me to ask the product manager for restock fee whenever there's an opened package return. So I went to the product manager.)

Me : Excuse me, how much is the restocking fee for this?
Product Manager : (seeing it was a rather cheap headphone) Huff....I don't know, five, or ten, or....I don't know, just let them return it. It's not that worth it anyway! (laugh)

---
Scene 3 : Do you uh, iPod?

Customer : Hey, how is it going? Do you have iPods?
Steve (my co-worker) : Yeahsureintheshowroomifyouwannalookatthemotherwiseit'sintheglasscaserightoverthere.
Customer : Huh? What did you say?
Katrina (also a co-worker) : (laughed) Steve!!
Me : (laugh real hard) You talked too fast!
Steve : No, I didn't.
Katrina : Yes you did!
Customer : So where's the iPod again?
Steve : Oh, it's in the glass case over there.

---
Scene 4 : The cool feedback

One of the feedback forms for the Tech Store reads as follows:

"The tech store people was very knowledgable about their products and professional. They always keep their cool even when dealing with difficult customers."

---
Scene 5 : Excuse me...

One day, a customer came to me and said, "Excuse me, do you sell sound box here?"
"Sound box?" I replied confusedly, thought something along the line of DJ sound box, real cool stuff.
"Yeah, you know, the box that produce sounds? Sound box?" The customer insisted.
"......Do you mean, speakers?"
"YEAH, that's the one!"

* On a side note, the customer was a completely adorable fella. He was rather clueless with English, and that explained the sound box thing. But his attitude was great, and although he eventually did not get to buy the speakers he wanted, he still left us on a positive note. A really nice guy, I tell you.

message for Eveline

2006-03-06T16:22:00.000-08:00

- category: miscellanous/observation -

Eveline,

in a blink of an eye, almost a month has passed since we last saw your tearful face at the Madison airport.
I still remember vividly when you finally passed through the security gate officers, who meticulously examined both you and your belongings despite the final boarding call of your flight. To tell you the truth, we almost screamed, "Just let her board the damn plane!!!" but decided to do otherwise since we didn't want to get caught ridiculously.

Instead, we synchronously (or at least attempted to) wave our hands and sang "Sayonara, sampai berjumpa pula" when you passed in front of us one last time, with only a glass wall separating us. You stopped for a brief moment, as if you wanted to tresure the things you would leave behind for only God knows how long.
Then, we frantically pointed to your gate, still blaring the final boarding call, since we didn't want you to miss the flight. When you eventually dragged your feet and ran off, that was the last we ever saw you.

Well....I miss you.

I know this post was long overdue, but everyday I reminded myself that I need to post a 'tribute for Eveline'. Not only because I promised you that, but more importantly because you, my friend, deserved it.
Your laughters, your cute attitude, your always-ready-for-camera smiles, your cooking ^_^, and even your mere pressence never failed to light up the room. Therefore it was such a frustatingly depressing moment when I stepped up to your embrace that day at the airport, when it finally hit me that I would need the gracious hands of fate to arrange our future meetings.

Many of us here loved you, Eveline. I think I'm just one of them. Time was too cruel to limit our acquintances, it was only one or two years I finally got to be a little bit closer to you. Nevertheless, I could proudly say that it was truly a blessing to get to know you (and no, I'm not being sappy, I'm dead serious). No matter where your life takes you, always remember that you have friends that will always welcome you with open arms. Then perhaps you would sail more calmly through those difficult times.

So Eveline, my dear, please keep smiling.
Your smile's worth is comparable to sunlight after horrible snowstorm in Madison.

So long my friend, until we meet again.
If perhaps fate would be so kind, we may meet again this summer.

under pressure

2006-02-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

- category: observations -

"...Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you no man ask for..."
- Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie

Um boom ba bay..
Um boom ba bay...alright, I should stop. The fact is, I'm very much in the panic state right now. Not on the outside, but inside, it's just very hard to concentrate on one thing at a time. I 'don't feel my aura', as Johnny Weir put it. On a side note, I really don't give a damn about people trashing him about his uncomfortable feeling before he did his free skate program at the Olympics. I totally understand that, and I think many more people actually experience that in daily basis. They just don't want to admit it.

So, back to my inner panic state. I will be performing a 12-minute Javanese dance, which I still feel tired and uncertain every time I practised it, this weekend; I need to figure out (fast!) how to assemble the intricate, complicated dance costume; I need to find an apartment soon in Chicago for three months; I need to sell my things here; I need to help my boyfriend sell his things; I need to pack; I need to complete my registrations and all of that paperworks; I need to resign from my job; I need to sell my clothes; I need to reconstruct my blog; I have 5 blog posts pending right now; I really need something to eat right now....I'm so hungry.

In about a month - March 21 - I will be starting my MBA study in Chicago. I tried to prepare my best, but time and Goddess of Efficiency (if there's such thing) are just not on my side right now. As a result......my inner state of panic.

So...yeah..

Bye.

Cry and Laughter

2006-02-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

-category: about me/spiritual/observations -

I just experienced my emotions in their extreme bipolars, sorrowful depression and carefree cheerfulness in 48 hours. This actually happened on Sunday and Monday, February 19 and 20, and I feel like I need to talk about it. It's an overdue project, so here goes. Oh, and if it sucked, please let me know, okay?
(P.S. : To Eveline, I promise to post a tribute to you right after this post. ^_^)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Howling Cry

At times like these, she could not understand why she even tried. She thought she did her best to understand and not to bother people so much. So when it was implied that she did just that, you could not imagine how broken hearted she was. The last thing she wanted to become was a hypocrite.

Why did the person standing across the room frustated her so? Did he not understand the things she did for his sake? Worse still, he was frustated with her too. He was clueless on how to handle her. Glares across the room.

Wait. Think. Pehaps it was not too difficult to understand. Why would he not be frustated when she did not tell him anything? It actually made sense, it was her fault after all.
But her anger howled and clouded her mind into concluding that he was being impossibly difficult and ingrateful. Deep in her mind, she could not understand why she put up with her anger all of these years, her neverending fire of anger feeding the damnation of her soul.

Somewhere, even deeper in her heart, she could hear the priest's voice in the church that evening, 'May peace be with you all tonight.' She promised to preserve that peace tonight.
So in the midst of her anguish, sorrowful anger, and depression, she regretted the most not being able to keep the promise.

"I'm sorry, Lord..." her fiery gaze betrayed her regretful heart.
And the tears fell harder, then...

She slammed the door and left.

-Fin-

Laugh as Wide as the Necklace

Why did she buy the necklace again? Okay, it was green and reeaaaaallllllly cute. But did it matter when it got caught on things over and over again? At times like these, she just realized how long the necklace was. It actually reached a little bit past her navel. Was it too much?

Especially when customers at the store glanced at her when she accidentally got hooked on her swivel chair's arm, or when she bent down and the necklace yanked her back down when it got caught up around some handles. It was embarassing really, to have people stared at you at your most unfortunate, vulnerable moments.

Under normal circumstances, her pride would prevail. She would frown and cursed under her breath, and carried that displeasing face of hers around for another minute or so.
But the strangest thing happened that day. She actually laughed it off.
She just cheerfully smiled and chuckled while unhooking her necklace, joked about how the necklace would tear apart from too much yanking. She laughed a lot that day, it was almost as if she wanted to compare the perimeter of her mouth laughing to that of the necklace.

One problem remained. Why did she buy the necklace? Her curiosity unbearable, she went to the rest room to see herself on a mirror. She instantly remembered.

Oh hey, baby.

You looked fabulous.

-Fin-

my two cents about Michelle Kwan

2006-02-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

- category: miscellanous -

I really don't know much about the history of USA figure skating, and know even less about the sport itself. Nonetheless, I am a fan of the beautiful sport and always eager to see them whenever figure skating competition is shown on TV.

I've seen Michelle Kwan over the last five years, and I have to say that it is very regrettable that she withdrew from the Olympics. She might not win any medals, however her determination and passion were always her most attractive points, and I am mournful for the fact that I wouldn't see her.

Looking forward, however, this withdrawal can be just the right point for her to just focus herself on the road of recovery, and rearrange new set of priority for her future.

As for the USA team, Sasha Cohen has matured a lot for the past few years and she proved herself worthy during the USA Championship. I am hopeful that she could be comfortable and skate her best on the Olympics. God bless.

Valentine weekend

2006-02-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

- category: observations -

I have mixed feelings about the Permias Valentine Cafe last Saturday. This is probably old news, but I feel obligated to say something about it.

First of all, the setting was neat: minimal, but effective. Pink and white baloons spelled "Happy Valentine" on the stage background, red and white paper strips hung from the ceiling, and a believable cafe-like atmosphere (thanks to the dimly lit halogen lamps). The food from Bandung Restaurant was excellent, however had I not had dinner two hours before, I would've starved since the portion was very limited.

The performances and games were actually fun, my biggest complain was only that we started very late, about 8:10 pm, way later than the scheduled 7:20 pm. There was also an empty table which could be distracting (at least for me as one of the performer).

That said, I was exhausted when I perform my song, a parody of KLA Project's "Menjemput Impian" on around 9 pm. My breathing was shallow, and my voice range wasn't really in my best condition. Although it overall went fine, thanks to my boyfriend Chris' cameo as "pujaan wanita se-Jepara" (which disturbingly, invited more enthusiastic claps from the male audience), the song never took off to its dramatic climax. Elka, the pianist was also quite nervous and made a few mistakes which she later described "I could have definitely done much better than that" ^_^
But having her as a pianist was a great joy, really. As my last public performance in Madison, I would be lying to say that I was a little dissapointed, but as the only performance of the night that received three sets of claps from the audience, I was adequately pleased.

However, my group performance of The Rembrants' "I'll Be There for You" and Cindy Lauper's "Time After Time" with Amanda, Eveline, Elka, and Alfin as guitarist was more dissapointing. I was in charge of providing the alto voice, but I think it was rough, often 1/4 note off-key, and tired. So yeah.....I prefer not to talk about it too much.

Still, the rest of the nights was entertaining, and the free photo sessions that followed was extremely fun. The only surprise for the night was when the audience unanimously chanted my name when one of the games to welcome new students require them to flirt with any one female audience to get a $1 packet of chocolate. However, apparently none of them followed the audience's humor and purposely avoided me. Honestly, I would actually love to see one of them try. It would be fun, and it will definitely show how bold they were. Plus, I actually planned to give anyone who dared to flirt with me anyway. Thus my impression was unfortunately, none of them had enough courage to heed the audience (I'd like to say none of them had balls, but it would be too harsh and assumingly closed-minded).

As a closing statement, I really had fun, and thanks everyone!!!

what's wrong with you?

2006-02-11T13:06:00.000-08:00

- category: observations, reading -

This past couple weeks, I found it difficult to put down a newly acquired novel I got from Amazon, Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons". It really surprised me, since I hardly ever read novel or even finish one. However, "Angels and Demons" engaged me in its brilliant, fast-paced story flow, mind puzzles, and lively characters. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it from the very beginning until the end. That said, I eagerly began to read the next adventure of Robert Langdon in "the Da Vinci Code" just a couple of days ago.

Since I usually commute to my work place by bus for about half and hour, I read most of the novels in the bus. It really helps to engage my mind and to avoid boredom. However, now that I spent more of my time reading in the bus, there is one thing that I notice more about the behavior of the person sitting next to me. They stare at me!!

Okay, so I read different books before I began reading "Angels and Demons" (some Computer Science-related books or personality books). Even then, I noticed some occasional stares directed to the pages of my book, or even glances trying to catch the book's title. I dismissed them, regarding them as "curious stares".
However, since I began reading "Angels and Demons", I began noticing them again in heighted level of intensity. 4 out of 5 people who sat next to me actually STARED at my book for more than 6 seconds, and then stared at me for additional 3 seconds (at least). How do I know that? Well, it's called peripheral vision.

The most noticable occassion was when a woman seated herself next to me and almost immediately began staring at my copy of "the Da Vinci Code". She stared at my book for about 8 seconds, and then continued to stare at ME for at least 10 seconds. I had an impression that she mocked me and thought of something like this, "Are you kidding me? You have not read THE novel?" She probably did not mean any harm, but she then proceed talking to her friend using a foreign languange I do not know. Her friend just smiled mildly.

Nevertheless, I felt mildly insulted. What's wrong with YOU, lady? So what if I wanted to read the book that captured everyone's interest (except me, apparently) a couple of years ago? Geez, and what's with that smug smile in your face? I honestly felt some fire flicking in my chest, I thought that was rude.

Still, nothing can stop me from reading during my bus ride. I just hope I don't need to have a prescription to my still normal eyes in the near future.

history of writing

2006-02-05T21:11:00.000-08:00

- category: about me (see my profile for complete list) -

Oh no, I didn't make entries for a while! Time to make it up, here's something about myself.

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She started writing during junior high school. She read some of her friend’s original fictions, and she thought she would try to do it herself.

At the height of her passion for writing, she started to write a fan fiction of “Shurato”, an anime in which she predictably fell in love with the antagonist. It has a bit of “Saint Seiya” mixed in it and has a little bit of this and that, she said.

Sadly enough however, she never finished her fan fiction, although she memorized it all in her head until now. The story continued like “Dragon Ball”, as she told the continuing legacies about cousins, grandsons and granddaughters of the main characters.

Tired of writing“full-blown” stories, she started writing shorter stories. They were similar to detailed summaries, and she liked doing it. She finished at least four stories, but many more left untold inside of her head.

High school came and things got busier. She never stopped making stories in her head, but she stopped writing altogether.

Until college years came. She was forced to write journals and papers of her English and dance classes. Some of the teachers liked her writing style, and they were reluctant to tell her to change her way of writing. They said it was different, and they told her to stay that way. One of them even claimed that he could distinguish her paper from a pile of students’ papers.

But she has yet to revive her passion of story-writing. She still has them inside her head, though. Maybe someday, only God knows….she will start writing again.

Fin

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a man's unique necklace

2006-02-02T14:49:00.000-08:00

-category: fashion find- (see my profile for complete list)

When I was working yesterday, I met a guy who wore a unique necklace, an approximately 1'x2' rectangular metal "pendant" attached on a thin dark brown rope . I wasn't sure what it was that caught my attention, so I t0ld him he had a cool necklace. His face instantly beamed, and he happily told me that the "pendant" he tied around his neck with was actually a bottle opener.

Huh? I said. And he flipped his "pendant", and I saw the little hook typical for bottle opener!
Wow, that's one very useful necklace (and I think chicks can dig it, too!).
Anyway, I thought the necklace idea was really clever, and I found a fresh meaning to the word "practical".

under construction and resolution

2006-02-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

-category: observations- (see my profile for complete list)

I created this blog since January 13, but have done virtually nothing in it..^_^
And to be honest, I actually began to doubt my sincerity of my commitment to create this blog. Was it just an influence of worldwide hype? Was it my boyfriend's endless persuassions to be productive everyday? Or was I just plain lazy?

As I think about it, I am sure that 60% of the answer is that I am lazy. The other 40% lies on my stubbornness. All this time, I resist having a blog fiercely since I don't want people reading stuff online about me. It's like a public diary, which is just nonsense. A diary is supposed to be private, a thing such as public diary is just a direct violation to people's privacy.

However, I gradually realize that my stubbornness, while can prove useful sometimes, is serving myself a supreme idiocy. Many people want to be heard, and sometimes people cannot communicate as effectively as they think. There are also many things that are better left unsaid but interesting to discuss through writing. As for me, in addition to having a mind that constantly observing, my hyeractive imagination also keeps running, creating stories on its own world. I am very thankful that God gives me good memory, so I can actually memorize all of them. Only one thing doesn't seem right; how do I share those stories? Stories mean nothing without audience, without listeners, without readers, and most importantly, without appreciation of any kind.

There's where blog comes in! It's actually brilliant! Blogging is relevant for me since I want to have a media to share my stories and perspectives. I am ashamed of myself of not starting this a lot sooner. I'm a "late bloomer" in this field, but hey, better late than never.

Plus, my boyfriend gave me this article "Early Retirement" yesterday. While the article, as the title suggests, deals mostly with what steps to take to retire early, it actually states that having a web diary actually improves your time management skill, implies that it is a necessary step to gain more happiness in life. Here is the link to the article:
http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/

So, having a clear purpose of having a blog, I hope I can grow my commitment to update regularly. As for construction, I am going to update the header image for Naruhodo-Ne. While it's actually cute, I am not all too pleased with it. Please pray for my ongoing commitment, people!