Year 2009 ..

will be just hours away .. 2008, the year of most Chinese people considered as lucky year is soon gonna end .. what did I accomplished? Well not much I suppose ... other than gaining lots of new friends, more settling in work wise .. I don't think I've accomplished anything extravagant over the year.

However, as crazy as it might sound, I did feel proud and happy that I finally be able to realizing my big trip to taiwan and HK on my own expense. I know I had travelled on my own expense before but never as big as this is. Though yes I felt so poorly bankrupt at the end, 'till now .. but I'm happy that I'm capable of it haha. I know I'm not even making any sense here .. but anyway, I guess that was my biggest achievement this year, to my own standard of achievement of course.

As of my end of the year holiday .. I practically didn't do much. I was so reluctant to go out of the house for some reason, I guess I was so fed up and tired with the Jakarta condition. So I stayed at home mostly, where I feel most comfortable at and drowning myself with the stories of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan ... yes! I was so into the characters and the stories. Big praise for Stephenie Meyer. I've never been so intense and fast in reading any books, finishing 600 over pages in less than a week? WOW! A new record!! And how can you not love Edward Cullen ... "I promise to love you forever, every single day of forever, will you marry me?" -- cheesy line for guys ey? But hey, it definitely works for gals, that's the line Edward did in proposing to Bella. OMG!!! I've never actually thought myself of being so romantically involved with a character ... well, that did it!! Though that was just one of many other breath taking lines Edward said in the book.

I'm now in book 4 of the saga - Breaking Dawn where Edward and Bella are finally bind in holy matrimony, I have yet to learn what the ending of this book but gladly what I learned today from browsing the Net, there will be 5th book of the Saga called Midnight Sun ... yey!! It's Stephenie's ongoing work for the time being, as her first draft of the Midnight Sun was leaked through Internet so it has been re-write ... but the stories of Edward and Bella will continue :)


Other than drowning myself into this unbelievable "fiction" story yet so real .. I'm also Heart.Beating with LH's latest album .. the anticipated album of the yearend is finally out. So far all the songs are well ear-accepted except track number 9, but knowing LH, in order to enjoy his masterpiece, we have to listen to them over and over again. Well done Homie, you did yet again another fantastic job .. with the albums and your brilliant performance with the HKPO.


Happy New Year everyone ... hope the year 2009 will be much better than this year, will bring you more joy, luck, health, wealth and happiness to each and everyone of you! Enjoy!!

Boxing day

I'm not even too sure what exactly is boxing day ... is it where all people start boxing at each other? LOL .. I got to know boxing day, of course when I was in Aussie, but yet I've never actually found out what it actually means, all I know it was 1 day after Christmas which means longer holiday for us, though it wasn't much different 'cos we got like 2 weeks off uni for Christmas if you're not doing Summer Class. Yupe for those who got confused, Summer is December in Australia .. ^^

This year Christmas is considered to be rather quiet for me .. for my fave holiday at least. I didn't put up Christmas tree this year. HUH! I know .. I didn't have time to get it out of the storage and none of my other family even intend to help out! Sigh!! So I spent this year Christmas without anything Christmasy at my house.

So since I didn't have any big plan for the holiday .. other than of course going to church which another good performance my the Youth Choir (again sadly I didn't join this year performance) then followed by Christmas gathering with some friends last night .. with Italian Food and exchanging gifts. Her house was filled with lots of Christmas decoration ... so the spirit was there ...


After dinner, we had our gift exchanged and again whoever got my name knows exactly what I like ... yupe, another My Melody Collections. Gotta take pic of my new collections again.


Other than that, I also received a glasses case from Tika's family .. my xmas gift from Aussie. Thanks all! Which means I finally completed my Twilight Saga Collections, YEY!! ^^ -- Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse (thanks to Tika) and Breaking dawn!! Perfect holiday.

Again ... Merry Christmas People!!! Have a good one!

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas everyone .. this is my first post from home. Yes, I have internet at home now .. FINALLY!! :D

Have a good holiday everybody!!

Merry Christmas

So this is Christmas .. well almost ... in 3 days time, but since today is my last day of work, in case I don't get to online during the holiday, I'll just sum up it all now.

Just can't believe that it's already the end of the year again, time flies really this year, 2008 was the year I've been waiting for 'cos of the Beijing Olympic, that went pass. Then my BIG TRIP went on too, though not so much of my 2008 New Year Resolution actually came true, too many obstacles in making it real. Sadly! But anyway, as this is the holiday season, full of spirit, so it's time to look back and thinking about how you have lived your life, whether you have achieved what you wished for and how happy are you with it ..

Christmas has been and still is my favorite holiday of the year since I was a kid. Being with family, singing Christmas songs, hoping for miracle ... though I've been always dreaming of having WHITE CHRISTMAS, but it's still a dream till now. I mean face it, the only WHITE CHRISTMAS we can get is if only we go to US or Europe along with the Christmas atmosphere, decorations and the feeling. Instead I went to Australia and had HOT CHRISTMAS. But I still enjoyed 'cos the Christmas decorations were all over.

When I still believed in Santa Claus, I've never forgot to shine my shoes, prepared grass for the reindeers and some cookies for Santa -- come to think about it, it's pretty funny yet cute ;p though in some occasion, I would actually still believe in that Big Fat Old Guy, with his friendly smile and those flying reindeers :D I guess that would explain there is still a kid inside me, in fact I won't deny that there will always a kid inside of everyone.

So anyway, Christmas is not only about celebrating the joy of the Birth of Jesus Christ, but it is also an attitude, a new spirit of your life, being with your family and friends and how you reflect yourself with the spirit of the Lord. Christmas is also about letting Jesus Christ to enter your life, recognizing the fact that almost 2000 years ago, He came to this world and give His life for us, to save us. So, while you are out there celebrating Christmas, drinking, having good meal with good friends, don't forget to invite HIM and let HIM enter and be part of your life .. 'coz Christmas is HIS Birthday after all ..

This year Christmas, I hope to live my life like it's the second time around. I hope to appreciate more the time that I have while I'm still here and I hope I can do more to others. I hope there will be no more hunger, poverty and war. Let peace be with you all ... THE WORLD and hope the global economic crisis pass quickly too *grin* so I can start making plan for next year ^^

I also would like to take this opportunity to say that I'm truly sorry for everything I have done that might hurt anyone .. my family, my friends and everyone I know. Also to say thank you for being part of my life 'till this very moment in time .. to those who have touched my life so sincere and opened up my eyes to face the challenge in life to never give up and keep on trying.

And in welcoming the New Year, it's time to take few steps back from your usual perspective and take a good look, whether you have done enough, less or too much. Don't be afraid to seek for help if you think you need one .. we are all here to help each other to make this world, our life a better place to live.

As for me, I wanna live my life to the fullest, I don't know wanna regret on anything .. like this famous quote from some old local Ad, "there is always a first time in everything you do" so don't be afraid to try something new, 'coz you would end up not knowing anything if you don't try.

To one and all .. Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas. I suppose that sum up everything.
Happy Holiday everyone ...

celebrations

I had quite a birthday celebrations this year and it seems to be all Italian food .. hmmm it was totally unplanned. First was dinner with the OHI gank at Pizza Hut then lunch with friends at work at Spaghetti House and finally with my 'FRIENDS' gank at Domino Pizza ...

And this was the last celebration for the year .. Early Christmas dinner with the office people at Yoshi on Monday Night .. we had a cross cadeau, and I got the bunny headband. Whoever got me that .. it's Xmas, you know .. I shouldn't get bunny, I should get Santa's hat instead or reindeer horn at least or maybe Angel's wing? LOL

Andy was being traditional rocker guy that night, with his Batik shirt and fan plus his rocker bracelet haha .. what a interesting combination and we sang Dewa's version of "Kangen" .. yupe, he is fluent in Bahasa and Japanese .. 'bule kampung' that what we call him .. haha ^^

And my last gift from my bday ... :)

the end of twilight ..

I'm finishing 'Twilight book' .. by tonight, 498 pages in 5 days .. a new record! For me at least .. :)

I got the 4th book 'Breaking Dawn' today and yes I haven't got the 2nd and 3rd book ... will get "New Moon" hopefully tomorrow. The manager of Periplus bookstore promised me that new batches are coming in tonight so by tomorrow "New Moon" should be in my hand. And I should be getting "Eclipse" by the 22nd Dec the latest .. my xmas holiday is set, gonna spend it with Edward Cullen.

I'm so totally addicted to Edward Cullen and the Cullen's clan ..

Having twilight in hand and the song "Everything" in the player .. what a perfect combination *big grin*

brain overload

Since the announcement of Heart.Beat .. all of sudden I have too much happening at one time. Keep changing plan and schedule -- not to mention the global financial crisis adds up the album issue. So I have to sort the local pre-order (a lot) with price increment and also sorting out the taiwan pre-order ... headache!! And just when I thought that has completely done ruining my day, I had another info that autograph session is cancelled .. NO!! Why are you people doing this to me?

Not that I'm not happy with the album release -- I'm absolutely thrill, but as always the preparation part sucks! Just like prior to the Jakarta concert ... But thankfully I'm doing this all for LH, so I'm not gonna complain much instead I'm gonna enjoy it and learn more about handling different issue in one time.

Plus Christmas holiday is approaching, 2 of my department friends are taking their long annual leave as I'm going to too .. so that makes all of us work extra hard. We need to finish all the works before our leave .. which is quite frustating.

Oh well .. life ain't easy my friend, so might as well enjoy it.

twilight

Everyone should have heard the fuss about the movie .. of course the books by Stephanie Meyers. There are 4 books out up 'till today -- started with Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and the latest one is Breaking Dawn.

I'm a bookie but I'm not really a big fan of those imagination kinds of stories. I do watch Harry Potter, Lords of the Rings but I don't read the books. So when I was told about these series, I wasn't that interested .. specially it includes Vampire .. nah, definitely not my type.

So when the movie was out, I didn't plan to watch it of course .. but heard the review and said it was good plus Puri played Twilight in 3 theaters, so it got me interested. I went anyway, kinda wondering what's the big fuss about.

Less than I expected, I actually like the movie and planning to get the books .. yes books means all of them. But they were gone, I suppose all of people are like me .. get addicted after seeing the movie. Some even fall in love with the character ^^

I personally don't really fond of Robert Pattison as Edward Cullen -- he's not too gorgeous and cool. But as in character, I love Edward Cullen .. coming out from the theater, I feel like having a boyfriend. LOL!!

Here is my fave quotes from the movie, they were in bed after Edward keep asking Bella to stay away from him .. at the end, he was the one who couldn't stand being away .. hmmmm!! Corny yes, but this is my romantic side do the talking .. well typing :)

Edward Cullen: I don't have the strength to stay away from you anymore.

Isabella Swan: Then don't.

Anyway, to those who haven't watched .. please do!! It might be a little bit mushy romantic corny kind of movie and yes of course it's unreal, but hey .. it's a movie -- for entertainment purpose, so why not?! :)

Have fun watching people!!

Six packs Homie

Finally .. Lee Hom's new album Heart.Beat (心‧跳) will be out soon enough -- it's gonna be a perfect Christmas' gift. The album is scheduled to be out just 1 day after Christmas -- just PERFECT!! ^^

Pre-order sales in Taiwan will start this coming Friday -- 12 December 2008 to be exact, what a perfect timing that Ling is heading off to Taipei this weekend. Hope you'll be able to attend the autograph session girl :D and snap tons of pics.

As for the Heart.Beat (心‧跳) song .. it's the typical ballad of him, less than I expected from his Chinese Rock What's Wrong With Me or Ai De De Ti. But LH always combines his albums and of course never left his trademark in ballads.

Can't wait .. you have increased my Heart.Beat Homboy ... :)

how old am I?

I had a birthday celebration yesterday with the girls at Pizza Hut in TA ... just a simple meal but wonderful company. Seriously we couldn't stop laughing throughout the night 'till we realized that we were the last 2 tables on the restaurant. We chat almost everyday through emails and we actually meet up quite often but yet there are still lots to laugh and talk about .. you are the best girls!! There were only 8 of us, but I think we were the noisiest amongst .. ^^

Thank you all for made by special day extra special ..

And look at the gifts I got from them .. am I turning 5? Not that I don't like them, of course I love them, look at those cute things? It just got got me thinking, is it normal for me to still like these kinds of things?

And cutlery set? Dede .. what a cute thought indeed! :) Thank you anyway for the lovely thoughts and gifts and thank you for all the wishes everyone had for me yesterday ..

special gift

These are my 2 special gifts I got today .. My Melody cushion and 300 thousand worth of Metro voucher for friends at work .. thanks a lot gals .. they both mean a lot.

- isn't she cute -

another year ...

Yes, as of today I'm entering new days, new beginning, new journeys and new experiences as a 30 years old gal (not consider myself woman just yet :D). Well, everything remains the same -- The routine, the behavior, the people around me .. everything stays the same as I'm living in my 'very moment'. Enjoying it though ..

As for turning 30, there is no special feeling what-so ever. I guess it's kinda true what some people says .. birthday is just another day, the different is just that you'll get older, hopefully get wiser and and you'll get lots of wishes and maybe some presents :D. Some people afraid of getting older, some people afraid of a new experience in life and some people also worry about their uncertain future. I guess I'm in the mixture of all that .. worry about will I find the 'perfect man', the man of my dream, wondering what the future holds for me and afraid of getting older but haven't managed to achieve any of my dreams and a little bit of this and that.

But then again, age is just a number. getting older doesn't mean you have to stop having fun .. anyway, without so much of negative thoughts .. I wanna say to myself, CONGRATULATIONS, you've made it another year, Net.

Thanks to God for every blessings, for everything that happened to me in the past year, thank you for keeping me save, healthy and happy. Thank you for those people around me .. thank you for all your supports, advices, friendships, prayers. thanks to Mom for still caring so much about me .. couldn't live without you for sure.

Thank you all for this year's wonderful journey and for sharing it with me. To all my friends ... love you all! Hope this year I can find my special someone, my perfect man and live happily ever after .. wish me luck! *wink*

Hari ini .. hari yang kau tunggu

bertambah satu tahun, usiamu

Bahagialah kami ...

Yang kuberi, bukan jam dan cincin

Bukan seikat bunga, atau puisi, juga bukan kalung hati

Maaf, bukannya pelit atau gak mua modal sedikit

Yang aku ingin beri padamu, doa setulus hati

Semoga Tuhan melindungi kamu

Serta tercapai semua angan dan cita-citamu

Mudah-mudahan diberi umur panjang,

Sehat selamanya .. selamat ulang tahun

by Jamrud

Happy Birth day from Mayday

early bday present

yes, my birthday is just around the corner .. I got my early birthday gift from a friend from Australia yesterday. Me loves Elmo .. Gosh, I'm still so a kid inside -- as long as I'm happy :) The black one is actually navy blue is a bag. Thanks to you, very much ... *you know who you are*

I guess you might wonder why I have so many fave characters -- well, what can I say, I'm still a child in heart .. so I like all these cute characters from Mickey Mouse, My Melody, Elmo, Chip n Dale to name a few, but Mickey and My Melody are on my top priority of course.

Anyway, have a good weekend everyone .. it's time to do some cleaning of my wardrobe, need more space for my new tees. I still have my suitcase from my taiwan n hk's trip in my room with lots of goodies inside .. still haven't found place to store them all. That's gonna be on my list of things-to do over my Christmas break ...

Bangkok Dangerous

No, it's not the movie by Nicholas Cage, yet it's actually what happen in Bangkok right now .. Bangkok's political issue has been really really bad and unstable these last few years.

Two Bangkok's airports have been closed for the last 48 hours due to anti-government protesters invading the new PM coming back from his government trip and people are asking him to step down from his position. I don't really know what's the real case .. anyway, my friend Ling supposed to be off to BKK on Sunday, but due to this situation, one of her most anticipated trips must be cancelled .. so sorry for that gal :(

This was up on her blog today, she will be off to SG tomorrow to see MD and this cute tee is a very nice cheering up mood design :) Have fun gal ..

- courtesy of bloodbubble -

Josh Groban

I fell in love with this guy -- well his voice actually, through this song .. it's a very nice and meaningful song with a very nice MV too. I've never missed his album ever since, he has 3 albums and 1 Christmas album so far. I'm anticipating his concert here in Indo or maybe Asia anytime soon, when will that be?

And he also sang his version of Cinema Paradiso -- wonderful song. LH played the violin version of Cinema Paradiso at HOE SG Concert back in 2006 and it was breathless.

more collections

Meet my new collections -- more My Melody :D Mel just got back from HK last weekend at the same time as my auntie, and look what she got me. I asked her to get me the alarm clock and the towel which comes with the candy xmas' tree pouch and small notes. The name label and the mug cover were gift from her, thanks heaps Mel. Finally I have a decent alarm clock :)

These are the kinds of collections which hard to resist to get but at the end I know I will never use them 'cos they are too cute *grin*

While ago I was talking to Ling about LH's concert merchandises, lots we bought for HOE tour but we've never used them and it happened again with the new MM tour at least for me .. I thought I didn't buy many but look!!!

Sigh .. Net, will you ever learn your lesson? Now I wonder .. but to my defense, I bought the ring becos of the box, honest!!

18 years ago

After 18 years performing on stage at the American Music Awards (AMA), New Kids on the Block was back at the 2008 AMA on 23 November 2008 in Los Angeles singing 2 of their latest songs and 3 their popular songs. It surely brings back memories of our era ..

Here they were back in 1990 after winning 2 AMA and singing their famous medley

And this was their reunion performance after 18 years at the AMA .. no matter what, they are still the same Donnie, Danny, Jonathan, Jordan and Joe -- the 5 guys from Boston, Massachussetts I admire 18 years ago.

Hangin tough boys .. I mean guys!! ^^

thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving today ... so it's exactly 1 month before Christmas ... It's kinda the period of 'cleaning' yourself before celebrating Christmas. Most of westerners, specially American will have big thanksgiving celebration, I remembered watching this movie about a family who really wished every members of the family come home for thanksgiving. For Americans, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the 2 most important holidays.

It's not very popular to celebrate thanksgiving here, in fact we don't celebrate at all. Anyway, thanksgiving is the day of being grateful for what you've achieved throughout the year, the day of being with family and friends, share your life with them, specially for those who lived far away from each other and it is also the day of being grateful of what you have in your life, all the blessings, all the good things and also giving back to your love one as a token of appreciation in life. It's probably just one of those important days that you think about other people too other than yourself.

I got to experience the celebration of thanksgiving when I stayed in Australia, though Aussies don't really celebrate thanksgiving like the Americans do, but some people does. I like thanksgiving too, though we don't particular celebrate here in Asian countries, but just having the grateful feeling of your own, add more special feeling and appreciation for your own sake. At thanksgiving back in Aussie, I had stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce and mashed potato with gravy and I enjoyed those meals with friend's family, it was yumm-o :)

Wow, those are the kinds of food that you can only enjoy on thanksgiving day .. what can be more wonderful than that? having good meal with close friends and family, that's like the best time of the year. Of course don't forget to reflect on your life and just be thankful of what and who you are right now. surely there are ups and downs in life, that what makes us stronger each day and what forms us today.

so guys .. whether you celebrate thanksgiving or not, just remember take one day to overlook about what you have done for the past year, or even better take one day every month as your own thanksgiving's day .. so then you will remember everything you have done. The good things and the bad things will reflect your life entirely.

and don't forget to say a little prayer each day, be grateful of what you have and don't lose hope if you fail, disappointed or lost. there will always a way if you are willing to try and fight for it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Peace and God Bless ...

HKPO

Firstly, to avoid any confusion, the subject means Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. That's the upcoming event where LH is gonna be at. He's gonna be a conductor for the Orchestra adapting the West Side Story by Leonard Berstein -- which happened to be LH's classical composer. What an honor ey ..

My HK auntie has arrived and I've spent my Sunday with her .. it's fun being with my mom's family. We -- my mom and her 2 younger sisters went to temple and prayed for my grandpa then we went to traditional market for some crazy shopping ... then we headed to my uncle's house for Indonesian food lunch, yummy!!!

So anyway, as always my auntie brought lots of goodies from HK .. different kinds of chocolates, candies and she also brought me this, LH's HKPO Promo Ad in local newspaper --- seeing this makes me wanna go even more. Sob sob!! A friend offered me a front seat extra ticket for the xmas' eve show, but too bad I can't go. 'cos of the global economy crisis, the USD has rise up too high and it's just too ridiculous. Plus it was just 2 months ago I came back from HK, it's probably too much if I decided to go again ..


What can be better than spending xmas eve watching LH conducts an orchestra and in HK too? Knowing it's winter there :( oh well, what can I say?! To those of you watching, please have fun and we shall wait for the amazing stories from all of you ... I can't feel nothing but envy .. but I'm happy for you all *with jealous face* ;p

I Still Call Australia Home

I believe in those saying that "Home is where your heart is" .. I know that I'm currently living in Jakarta, but big part of me are still in Australia -- the place where I grew, I learned how depend on myself and all the lesson of life. I like to call Australia Home ..

I know people will definitely ask why don't you apply PR and try to live there, perhaps you'll be happy there. I can't tell you the reason, just condition and circumstances that make me stay here .. though I really hope one day, somehow someway I'll be able to pursue my dream and truly call Australia my Home ..

This was the song written my Peter Allen and was use, still is until now to reflect the true Australian and Qantas has been using this song forever ... and I love the ad so much ... this particular version sang by Australian Children Choir who have been travelling around the world for their amazing voices. I get goosebumps everytime I listen to their album. I have their Christmas Album with this I Still Call Australia Home as the bonus song .. WOW!!

I've been to cities that never close down,

from New York to Rio and old London town,

but no matter how far or how wide I roam,

I still call Australia home.

I'm always travelIing, I love being free,

and so I keep leaving the sun and the sea,

but my heart lies waiting over the foam,

I still call Australia home.

All the sons and daughters spinning 'round the world,

away from their family and friends,

but as the world gets older and colder,

it's good to know where your journey ends.

Someday we'll all be together once more,

when all of the ships come back to the shore,

I’ll realise something I've always known,

I still call Australia home.

I still call Australia home.

And here is the director's cut .. very nice! I haven't seen this version before ..

not-so ordinary friday

What a crazy week this has been .. from 6 paralegals of TMG, this week leave with just 2 of us handling 4 other people's works. What a madness ... plus the weather has been friendly at all this week. I caught the rain twice so yes I was down with bad cold for a while, but I can't afford to get sick now .. too risky! I really should get a raise seriously!!

So it's Friday .. thank God for that! I was planning to have dinner with friend who came back from Aussie but he's too busy planning his wedding, so either it's cancelled or postponed I'm too sure. Rather than feeling bump for not having a nice dinner, I chose to have a good lunch instead .. it's been a while since I had sushi tei which surprisingly the price has gone up quite significant -- sigh!!! must be 'cos of the economic crisis, affected the imported raw fish price too :( I really hope this economic crisis won't go for too long .. if so, I can really kiss my travel plan next year goodbye.

After a decent lunch, I went for a walk and stopped by at the cute shop and got myself 2 more My Melody stuffs - a HP strap and stylus for my upcoming NDS (not sure when I'm gonna get it, but since it's there, might as well get it now before I regret it) -- talking about impulse shopping. Sigh!! Remember you have big travel plan coming up Net, it won't happen if you keep buying unecessary things ... oh well, I can't help it. This cute pinky bunny excites me ;p (yeah, keep making excuses!)

And while in the topic of crazy week, look at my desk, green files are back! Yes, they are invading my desk back and not too mention those old files I still store under my desk from last week. Sucks!! But hey, I have my Starbucks with me, so hit me baby, just be easy on me, ok -- it's Friday!!

Weekend is just a sniff away, I'm looking forward in seeing my auntie again tomorrow. She is coming home from HK for the week .. yey!! More catching up and gossiping to do .. ^^

Have a good weekend everyone!

christmas mood

Christmas is still about month and half away, but I've been having Christmas mood these last few days and I've been drowning myself with Christmas songs. It is hard to get your Christmas feeling in the country that doesn't celebrate Christmas.

Anyway, Christmas has always been my fave holiday since I can remember when .. since I was still believing in Santa Claus, until this very second. I have always loved Christmas 'cos you'll get to hear and sing lots of wonderful and meaningful songs, you'll get gifts from your family and being with your family and the most important thing is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ -- it gives me the sacred feeling and full of miracles, giving new hope in life and welcoming brand new wonderful year.

I've been dreaming of having White Christmas, but it's still pretty much a dream 'till now. I dream of experiencing Christmas' Eve in Rockfellar Center, New York -- blame all the Christmas movies on TV. But well, let's face it, the only White Christmas I've ever gonna get if I go to States or Europe along with the Christmas feeling and atmosphere everywhere. Instead I went to Australian and had Hot Christmas -- but even then I still managed to get my Christmas feeling, which I haven't got since I got back in town.

I'm hoping for it ..

In the meantime, I'm planning on my Christmas Holiday, listing my Christmas list and hoping for a better days ..

3D movies

There has been few of 3D movies coming out at the theater recently, well we can't deny the advanced technology. One of the first 3D movie ever made into theater is "Journey to the Center of the Earth" starring Brendan Fraser. Finally this movie is out here, I remember talking about his movie with Ling couple of months back .. It looks cool, though I recalled the story isn't that fantastic. Well, we shall see about it :)


Here is a preview

I hope to catch on 3D version, but sadly only 2 cinemas in town have the 3D technology to do so and I'm sure it'll be so packed during the weekend.

The next 3D movie to be waited for is Ice Age 3 - Dawn of Dinosaur. The first 2 Ice Age Movies were hillarious, the squirrel with the corn, manny and sid .. they were all funny. Though this upcoming one is a little bit out of the story, Ice Age in Dinosaur era? That's a little bit weird, but hey let's just enjoy the fun. Afterall it's just a movie ^^

Watch out on 4 July 2009 at your nearest theater .. might be longer for some countries :)

different feeling

This was my uni - so-called my 2nd home, I spent 5 years of my life here -- University of Wollongong the name. Wollongong is a small suburb about 80 km south of Sydney, NSW. It wasn't even my first choice of uni, but I'm glad I picked that .. it was far from the big city life, you won't see much of life after 6pm everyday, except Thursday where we called shopping night, all the shops would remain open 'till 9pm.

I like this type of uni, instead of all faculties in 1 tall building, different department will have its own separate building, it spread out in big land with lots of green field and beautiful scenery to enjoy. I could settle in the middle of that field forever, specially during autumn or spring .. watching ducks swimming around at the pond. I could never find any of that here in Jakarta.

- Health and Science Building -

So yesterday -- 'till yesterday I never knew that there is an open space uni in Jakarta .. different faculty has its own building. My friends took me to Universitas Pelita Harapan and gave me a short tour and it took me by surprise. Wow - a very different kind of uni is actually here in Jakarta !!! Well, It's not actually located in Jakarta, it's about 20-30 mins out of Jakarta. I don't think Jakarta has any empty space to build this open space university like this.

- doesn't even feel like in Indonesia -

- international standard soccer field -

Very nice indeed! And seriously in Karawaci, we don't feel like we're actually in Indonesia, it feels like we are in some foreign country, it gives you a total different feeling -- and just about 10 mins ago, I received an email from my boss' secretary that he'll be going for Legal Workshop in Wollongong end of this month -- huaaaa, please take me with you, Pak.

Wollongong, I miss you dearly! This was my home for 2 years, I spent my final year, finishing my final project here. Our unit was on the bottom floor and the first window from the balcony was my room. I could see dogs running around in the field from outside the balcony almost every afternoon .. I miss the view and the peacefulness.

Korean weekend

The weekend was my "younger sister" birthday and graduation celebration .. it has been postponed for a week due to personal reason .. so anyway, yesterday she took 5 of us to Korean Restaurant in Karawaci area -- since she will continue her further study in Korea, she took us for a Korean treat.

Honestly, I'm not a Korean fan at all .. I can't stand the language :D No offense .. and definitely I don't fond of the food. I still prefer Japanese a lot more. But I love the scenery, I saw few programs on Korean, it looks beautiful and breath-taking.

This one called Samnak Baegeum -- whatever that is, contained of pork, squid and various vegetables mixed together with Korean spicy sauces.

- before the mixture -

- after the mixture -

We had other 2 meals, but I didn't recall the names and I didn't take any photo 'cos they looked less interesting that this one ^^. After dinner she took us to a small Korean supermarket for some ice cream -- it was good and some interesting snack, such as banana snack and pizza snack. To my surprise the banana snack was delicious, I have yet to try the pizza snack -- looking from the packaging, it looks yummmy ...

TMG Worldwide Dinner

We had our TMG Worldwide Retreat yesterday and today .. I didn't join, just the head of TMG from every countries. But last night the whole TMG team were invited for dinner at Birdcage -- yes, that's actually the name of the restaurant, for some reason they name it that and yes there were lots of birdcages inside the restaurant.

It was initially an old house with a nice attic turned into a cozzy restaurant. There was a clothing store and wine cellar shop on the first floor and the restaurant located on the 2nd floor and the attic. We booked the whole 3rd floor (the attic) for the nite. Overall, the place was nice, the food was nice and the dessert was delicious, specially the Chocolate melted with fresh strawberry was so yummmy ...

It was a good evening, with great companies and scrumptious food .. before we closed the nite, we took a group photo -- here is all of us, head of TMG team from 9 countries and Jakarta office TMG and L&A team. I got the priviledge to sit next to my local boss .. while the other boss and guests were standing ^^

thoughts

I was browsing through some old articles and found this beautiful piece of thought by Lee Hom about Leslie Cheung who committed suicide on 1 April 2004 -- which first I thought it was some lame April Fool's joke. I got called from my auntie in HK and told me about this, I was actually laughing, 'till I saw the news that it was actually true.. It was a shocking news indeed -- I reviewed one of his movies "Happy Together" where he played as gay couple with Tony Leung as my last assignment back in uni. I wasn't a follower of his works, but I think he was or yet is still an Asian legend, which I think his movie "Farewell My Concubine" is one hell of good movie.

Uncle Leslie, you are dearly miss ...

It is so important that we tell one another how much we love them. Each person that we meet in life is a chance coincidence, and a unique encounter. Each person that we meet in life is a
living, breathing, loving human being. We often forget that dimension, don’t we?
It’s easier for use to categorize people and see their surfaces only, as suits
and ties, as record company staff, as fans, as stars, as Americans, as Iraqis.

We are all the same. We are all so weak and vulnerable, lonely and sad.
We are all twisted and sick, misunderstood and in pain. Yet we live for those
moments of parting clouds and warm smiles. I believe that each encounter with
another human being is a chance to create these moments, and am more convinced
today than ever, that "breaking the ice" and disarming our fellow human beings
of their fears and isolation is the key to letting us live in harmony. We should
all be able to be ourselves, and connected at the same time.

Leslie was beautiful, rich, talented, successful .. we all adored him. I can’t
imagine why he would, of all people, feel the desire to end that life. Yet
at the same time, I can. It’s so easy to fall so subtly down into that black
hole, to get consumend by the darkness, and before you realize what has
happened, you’re trapped inside. We all know the darkness. It comes and it
takes a hold of you like you haven’t got a say in the matter. It controls you.

Everytime I end up there, I am luckily pulled out by something, ..
anything, and lot, I wake up as if from a dream. The darkness is gone
without a trace, and I’m free. And in retrospect, I always find it funny how
simple and easy it was to get out. It is simple, and a lot simpler, when you
have people who are with you in your life. I’m not just talking about a
wife, or a girlfriend, but more so about the guy who works the counter at
the 7 eleven, the taxi driver, the guy behind me in line at customs … Eash
is a chance to help each other stay free and in touch with ourselves, to
nourish the living, breathing, loving human beings inside the superficial
shells of our bodies. Each is an opportunity for a parting cloud.

We come into this world alone. We leave alone. But in the meantime, we
are here together. Let’s try and function like a network, a team, a family, and
communicate with one another, because each of us is a part of the whole.

-extract from Lee Hom’s thought on Leslie Cheung death in April 2004-

no topic

My birthday and .. hey Christmas is coming .. so if anyone planning to give me any present ^^, here is one on the list -- Hello Kitty soft doll with my birth month sew on her leg. I honestly have no idea where to find this, anyone knows, please let me know *big grin*

So since we're in the no topic post today, here is a new ad where LH is the spokeperson .. so far this is the only product he advertises that I don't like .. Brand's Chicken Essence .. NO yumm!! But I love the ad, it reflects his everyday life .. full day activities and yet stay healthy -- GO Music-Man!! :)

words of appreciation

Today I received a very good news from one of the L&A Managers about one difficult Japanese client praising my works I have done for them few times.

So 2 weeks ago he had a business trip to Japan, he had meetings with few clients and this particular client has been a very difficult and challenging client to us .. of course we knew it for so long and heard that he hardly give any positive feedback to anyone.

To his surprise, when he asked this client about the services our offices give them, the client mentioned my and friend's name specifically that he is very happy with our works :D

This afternoon, the big boss called two of us to his room and gave his BIG appreciation to both us for doing such a great job and successfully nailing this challenging client.

Me very happy!! It feels amazing being appreciated .. :)

early shift

It's been a while since I arrive this early at work .. I clocked in at 7:40am today .. woohoo!! Friendly traffic? Well, not exactly. My mom was nice enough to give me a lift this morning as I had to bring my mom's home made jelly drinks for some colleagues at work, in result I had to wake 1 hour earlier to avoid the traffic -- but nope apparently, whether you wanna leave earlier or later, the traffic is still basically the same. I suppose the only free-traffic in Jakarta you can feel is during midnite (though not always) and the week of Idul Fitri .. yes baby you feel owning the road of Jakarta :)

Anyway, since I was reluctant to start work before official office hours, I decided to clean my desk a bit. It has been hangin tough with me with too many green files these last few months -- neverending. This week we have to keep those green files away from our desk (at least hide them so they cannot be seen ^^) 'cos there will be lots of guests coming from other offices around the world -- TMG Worldwide Retreat will be held in Jakarta on 13-14 Nov, so supposedly we have to keep the image of Jakarta office being the BEST office amongst all other offices TRUE -- hello, we're working people, we need those files, as if we keep those files on our desk for fun. Sigh!

So here you go .. neat huh? I had to capture this 'cos seriously this won't last long (you should see under my desk -- not gonna show you that :D) once those guests gone, green files and yellow files for L&A will be back in business. Sigh!! Some lame acting ..

Sony Ericsson - X1

This has just been launched to the market -- the latest high-technology Sony Ericsson phone XPeria X1. This is the PDA type of SE after P1 and P990i ... honestly it looks so cool, touch screen, 3G, wi-fi, 3.15M camera, downloadble games, features OS Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional, 400MB internal memory etc -- you name it ... but I don't quite like it -- I don't like bulky phone and well what can I say I'm not too good with technology, so I'm just gonna stick to old fashion phone where I can listen to music, make a call and text message and a little photo snapping.

But for those who follow the technology closely and enjoy the advance of it .. check this phone out. It was open with 9 millions rupiah last weekend.

digging old pic

As I was digging for an old photo of a friend's pregnant days, I found this photo .. this was taken during my first few months (1 August 2003 to be exact) working with Rouse & Co, which I have been for the last 5 years. Perhaps you can't see me clearly, but hey try to spot me .. little hint, I looked the same back then only with thinner face. Yes, I was rather skinny ..

I wonder where does all these weight come from?? Hmmm ... :) Most of the people in that picture are still in the office 'till now. Only 4 of them have left .. we've been pretty solid :D

late posting

It might be to late to blog about this movie .. but for those who haven't watched it, go and get the DVD, it's a MUST-SEE movie. It’s the funniest, happiest movie I’ve seen in a while. I can’t actually remember the last time I came out of a movie crying from laughter and still talk about it until we got home. It's not everyday you get to see James Bond sings ABBA songs in the very funny and entertaining way. Though he wasn't the best, but good effort Mr Bond ^^ I particular like Colin Firth's voice and of course big praise for Meryl Streep, one hell of an actress! And new-comer Amanda Seyfried was excellent.

I watched it with Renny, Lia and Mel2 in Taipei on one of the relaxing day, recovering from typhoon. After that, I quickly ran to nearest CD store to get the soundtrack, but too bad it was all in Chinese so instead I bought the soundtrack in HK which was on sale.

The whole movie was so entertaining and for those of you who familiar with ABBA songs, you can't help but sing along with the gank. I basically grew up with ABBA songs, other than The Beatles, Bee Gees and those 70s-80s musics, so love this movie.

As for the up-coming movie, I'm not too fond of the new James Bond - Daniel Craig, so I think I'm gonna pass Quantum of Solace. Instead I'm looking forward for NIGHTS IN RODANTHE starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, I always love Richard Gere since Pretty Woman. He is yummy :)

And JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH -- I remember talking about this movie with Ling ages ago, I wonder whether it will ever come to local theater, finally it's coming soon. Whenever that is ..

added to my collections

I'm back into My Melody freak since I got back from HK, and to my surprise there have been quite many My Melody stuffs here .. YEY! The other day I went pass Kinayara shop in PIM 2 and saw range of this cutie. So I bought mouse pad, small brush for cleaning and Kuromi's (new character which happens to be My Melody's enemy -- huh?! How can a cutie like her can have an cheeky enemy like Kuromi) cards pocket and the passport holder which I bought in HK earlier.

And this Zelda tee I got from my friend. Last weekend there was an action figure exhibition in Senayan. Zelda was my one of my first Nintendo games I played when I was younger after Mario Bros of course and I like the character Link .. so he got me this. Thanks Bet ^o^

USA has a new president

As of today, 5 November 2008 (4 Nov 2008 US time), Barrack Obama has been elected as the new US president replacing George W. Bush .. YEY!!! Cheers for Obama .. hope with his winning, he can bring big change to US in particular and the world in general ..

Change We Can Believe in ..

Selamat .. HUH?!

Musicman made his stop at Singapore Indoor Stadium last weekend - 1 Nov 2008 and once again he ROCK the stadium .. as always in every concerts, he would definitely acknowledged his official fans club. As for this one .. we were called out, YEY!! And what are you trying to say there Musicman? :D

youtube: courtesy of bloodbubble -- thanks gal for the vid

I'm looking forward to where Musicman will land next time .. Jakarta maybe?

And LH prayed before the concert .. personally captured by bloodbubble .. thanks again gal for the pic.