Taking Our Time

Just 2 days ago, I found out that Lisa would go to St. Cloud on the 7th. So yesterday, I packed my bags and went to St. Cloud. Now, here I am, in my sister's room, typing up happily imagining the fun I'll have here. St. Cloud-ers wouldn't understand how I could be so happy, "stuck in St. Cloud." But in my heart, St. Cloud has become my home away from home.

Well yesterday, while transfering in Minneapolis, I met up with my cousin and her boyfriend to kill the 7 hours wait. First we headed to Quang, a famous Viatnemese restaurant in Minneapolis. Everyday, it would be packed with people that you would have to wait to be seated, especially during lunch hour. Luckily, we came just an hour before it started to get crowded. But then the waitress seems to get lost because there were too many empty seats. She took about a minute to decide which one she would point us to.

Finally seated, we ordered and had a good meal. Throughout the time we ate, there was one waiter that kept asking us if the meal was good. Everytime he passed our table, he would ask. It was so annoying!! I mean once or twice is expected. But no more! But seriously, this waiter had a problem. After we finished, he brought us our bill and said, "Take your time... don't go yet." And we were like, o_0 "Ooo... kay...." We did talk some more and didn't leave immediately. Then he passed our table again and filled our water glasses and said again, "Oh, still here? Take your time, take your time." So we laughed and decided to leave. My cousin thought the waiter was being rude and sarcastic. Oh well... interesting waiter.

We then went to Ikea and walked around. Their designs are so amazing, I hope one day I'll be able to have my house decorated with Ikea stuffs. From Ikea, we went to the IMAX theatre to watch "A Night at the Museum." Highly recommended! This was the first Ben Stiller movie I trully like.

And now I have to shower and get ready for a wonderful week ahead. Oh, and wake my sister up :P

Christmas Presents

This what I got for christmas...

Thank you guys!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Merry christmas and happy holidays to all of you readers! Hope you have a good break to get ready for the next year.

Since this year's winter has been really mild, there's no white christmas here. Not even a trace of snow is visible. I'm not crazy for snow or anything. It's just that I felt christmas in the US doesn't feel like a big holiday at all. Especially in a small town like Duluth. When I walked home from the church this evening, I looked around and it's really just the same as any other day. I walked by 2 big hospitals and no extra lighting at all! There's a balcony with christmas light saying "Happy Holidays", not turned on by the way, and that's about it. Sad isn't it. Moreover, no snow... so really doesn't feel like holiday at all.

In the church I feel the christmas spirit a little bit as it is full and some people dressed up. But still not as grand as the celebration back home. I remember one time my friend and I lead the offering procession during christmas, dancing wearing special costumes. And we practiced, seriously for it. Today's mass, the people leading the procession don't even dress up. They just wear jeans and sweater. So boring!

Oh well. One of my dream is to spend christmas in a big city, New York maybe? Stay at a nice hotel. Oh how I wish I'm rich... :P

7 reasons why single women are single

I got this from a drama series where a group of single women are complaining about their single status. These are their claim why they haven't got boyfriends yet. I thought I'd write it here for fun. :D

1. Good men are ugly.


2. Cute guys have lousy personalities.


3. Cute guys with good character are married.


4. Cute single guys with good character are poor.


5. Cute single rich guys with good character aren't interested in them.


6. Cute single rich guys with good character who are interested in them are playboys.


7. Cute single rich guys with good character who are interested in them and aren't playboys are gays.

Quality vs. Quantity

In his diary, Soe Hok Gie once wrote

"Seorang filsuf Yunani pernah menulis... nasib terbaik adalah tidak dilahirkan, yang kedua dilahirkan tapi mati muda, dan yang tersial adalah umur tua. Rasa-rasanya memang begitu. Bahagialah mereka yang mati muda."

which translate to

"A Greek philosopher once said... The best fate is that of the unborns, the second one is that of those who die young, and the distant third is that of those who die in the old age. I feel that this is right: Happy are those who die young."

But how do you feel?

"Long monotone life or short exciting one?" has been attached to my nickname for several days now and I've gotten calls from my friends letting me know their preferences. As you probably expected, 100% preferred the short exciting one. Well actually, several said they wanted long AND exciting life. Hahaha, don't we all?

If I have to choose between the two, I honestly can't pick between the two. Borrowing the term from one of my friends, is quantity more important? Or is it quality? I'd like to say I want exciting life cause my life's pretty boring now. But having it short doesn't sound that great either. What if it is too short? As a human being, people always wants more. More money, more time!

Say you know you can only live for another 3 months. Wouldn't you wish you can live longer? The quality of life you're having, in terms of excitement, wouldn't matter so much anymore. Even if it's just a usual everyday life, you'll take it. Because when you know it's going to be taken away from you very soon, the little unimportant things that you've taken for granted before becomes important then. So in this situation, quantity becomes more important.

So it seems most people agrees with Gie. But I think it's a tough balancing act...

As a side note, I didn't specify the word monotone. So it doesn't mean that it's an unhappy monotone life. This has something to do with presumptions and expectations, right? Well, that's a different topic. It just popped into my mind so I thought I'd write it down.

Stray Cats

I've been living in the US for almost 6 years now and one thing that's different from Indonesia is the matter of stray cats (and dogs). Back home, stray cats are an every day eyesight. But here, there are no such things as stray cats. Wild deers... lots, squirrels... Everywhere, but stray cats? Nada!

However, in the past 4 weeks or so, I've seen 4 stray cats and they're all different cats. I saw 2 running across the street towards my apartment building, 1 at an old shack by my apartment's back door, and 1 in St. Cloud, crossing the street from Coborns. What is happening here?? o_0

November Rain

I can't believe it's raining outside... It's November, supposed to be snowing! But I don't mind the warm temperature... Yeah anything above the freezing point is considered warm for Minnesotans! heheh.. Although I'm sure if Kumiko hears what I said, she's say that it's bad!! This means Global Warming is in effect, right this moment. It should be snowing and cold and freezing! It's November!

Hishashiburi~

Haih~ tonight is one of those night where I can never seem to manage to fall asleep. Had those nights before? It sucks right? And this happens when I had planned to wake up early tomorrow. I might as well not try to sleep at all.

The thing is there's a sign on my apartment's entrance that tomorrow, there will be a fire drill sometime between 8 am and 10 am. Was planning to leave before that starts. But what can I do, I probably will be asleep in an hour or so and won't be able to wake up then. Sigh...

Haven't updated this blog for a while. Kinda lost interest to write lately. No particular reason, just can't seem to find any topic to write about. But anyway, I have one now. Well, more like a question...

You've must have heard that there has been so much protests on cosmetic products tested on animals. So now if you look at, say, your lotion. Most likely you'll find a statement that says, "This product is not tested on animals." So I was wondering, how are they sure that the product is safe? What do they tested it on?

Okay, don't mind me, just rambling here. Since this is me not being able to sleep after tossing and turning on my bed for 2 hrs or so...

First snow of the season falls down today. Winter has arrived...

The Weekend

Just finished watching Meteor Garden 2. Finally! I think it's the best TV series I've ever watched. Great quality, unlike the Indonesian sinetron (electronic cinema) back home, so lame... Anyway, if I were Shancai, I would pick Lei instead of Daomingse. But that's just me :P

This weekend is pretty good for me. Not just wasting time by myself as I usually would. Went to Nicaise's son's 1st birthday party yesterday. The food were awesome! And plenty... I was so full coming home from the party. And what was even more wonderful is that all of us who were present represents the entire world. Well... maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit. But seriously, the countries represented were Cameroon, Peru, China, Srilanka, Indonesia, and of course, United States. Very cool!

Today is the most productive weekend of mine this semester. I met with Natasha to study together. She was working on her thesis and I worked on my Linear Models homework. Although we started off by talking about Grey's Anatomy for a while, we did get some work done. Oh, by the way, don't forget to read my other blog about Grey's Anatomy!

Tomorrow, is Sunday. So sad, cause it means the next day would be Monday... Oh well, I'll think of it as a day closer to the next weekend. Till next time!

Starbucks

Pulang gereja hari ini males rasanya masak untuk makan siang. Akhirnya karena kebetulan udaranya juga lagi enak banget, gue jalan menelurusi downtown Duluth, menuju Starbucks. Gue sih berharap soup ada di menu list mereka, eh ternyata nggak ada... Akhirnya gue pesen Iced Caramel Latte sama Blueberry Coffee Cake. A treat once in a while should be good, right?

Sambil menikmati jajanan ala bule, gue duduk disamping jendela, sambil baca buku. Sesekali gue perhatiin mobil2 yang berenti di jalan raya depan Starbucks soalnya Starbucks letaknya tepat didepan lampu lalu lintas. Lalu pemandangan didepan gue menarik perhatian. Ada 2 costumer Starbucks yang juga lagi ngopi, duduk di 2 meja yang berbeda nggak jauh didepan meja gue. Yang satu bapak2 lumayan tua, rambutnya udah 50% uban. Yang satunya lagi perempuan muda, anak kuliahan. Si Bapak keliatan jelas dari meja gue, tapi si cewe ketutupan pintu masuk. Si Bapak nggak bawa bacaan apa2, jadi ngopi sambil ngeliat aja keluar jendela. Rupanya si cewe juga nggak ngapa2in, soalnya gue lalu ngeliat si cewe mindahin barang2nya ke meja si bapak, trus mereka salaman.

Gue heran, kok bisa yah mereka kenalan gitu aja. Coba di gue tiba2 disapa bapak2 di coffee shop. Palingan gue senyumin aja, trus ngabur ato pura2 sibuk sendiri. Takut kale...

Time According to Meredith

The notion of time has always facinated me. Eventhough time runs in a constant manner for everyone in the universe (otherwise, clocks and watches wouldn't work the same way all over the world), time can feel different to any of us in any given time. 5 minutes seems to be such a short length of time most of the time but sometimes, 5 minutes is such a long time to wait.

Grey's Anatomy season 3's premiere episode is titled "Time has Come Today". As always, Meredith's voice over in this episode is something I can relate to. After digging through the internet for the exact words, I finally found it in Wikipedia! Hah! My favorite online encyclopedia.

So here it is...

Time takes pleasure in kicking our asses.
For even the strongest of us it seems to play tricks.
Slowing down... hovering until it freezes.
Leaving us stuck in a moment-
unable to move in one direction or the other.

Time waits for no man.
Time heals all wounds.
All any of us can want is more time.
Time to stand up.
Time to grow up.
Time to let go.
Time.

If you like it and you want more, I've created another blog which documents the voice overs of Meredith from each episodes of Grey's Anatomy. Click here to check it out.

Mr. Curiosity

Jason Mraz - Mr.A-Z

Hey Mr. Curiosity
Is it true what they've been saying about you
Are you killing me?
You took care of the cat already
And for those who think it's heavy
Is it the truth
Or is it only gossip
Call it mystery or anything
Just as long as you'd call me
I sent the message on did you get it when I left it
See this catastrophic event
It wasn't meant to mean no harm
But to think there's nothing wrong is a problem

I'm looking for love this time
Sounding hopeful but it's making me cry
Love is a mystery
Mr. Curious...

Come back to me
Mr. waiting ever patient can't you see
That I'm the same the way you left me
In a hurry to spell check me
And I'm underlined already in envy green
And pencil red
And I've forgotten what you've said
Will you stop working for the dead and return
Mr. curious well I need some inspiration
It's my birthday and I cannot find no cause for celebration
The scenario is grave but I'll be braver when you save me
From this situation laden with hearsay

I'm looking for love this time
Sounding hopeful but it's making me cry
And love is a mystery
Mr. Curiosity
Be Mr. please
Do come and find me, oh
Find, find me, find me

I'm looking for love this time
Sounding hopeful but it's making me cry
Trying not to ask why
Cause love is a mystery
Mr. curiosity
Be Mr. please
Do come and find me

Love is blinding when the timing's never right
Oh who am I to beg for difference
Finding love in just an instant
I'm outta my mind, at least I've tried
Well I tried, I tried...

Love

During my vacation at my parents' house, I dug through our family old photo collections. Unexpectedly, I found a photo album of my mom and dad's photos while they were still in college. When I told them about it, we looked through the pictures together. It was so much fun seeing their reactions as they flipped through the pages and remembering old times.

There was one particular picture that is so special. It was the picture of my mom and dad's group of friends, the ones they hang out with then. The picture is in black and white. My mom asked if my dad remembers the color of the dress that she was wearing in the picture. Amazingly enough, he remembers it still with such great details.

I thought it was sooooo romantic! Isn't it great how you can remember all the little things about someone you cared about so much.

Ketika seseorang menyatakan bahwa kini ia single tanpa kau bertanya padanya, apakah hal tersebut sebuah undangan untuk masuk kedalam hatinya?

Finally, nice weather

In a catholic church mass, there is a part where you offer a sign of peace to the people around you by shaking hands while saying "Peace be with you." Back home, whenever I extend my hand, I received a hand shake. It was always a fun time for me. We had a special song for it and I always had my family to shake my hands with. When I was in St. Cloud it felt a bit lonely because I didn't know anybody there but it's still fine because most of the time, the church is packed with people and we offer each other peace gladly.

Today was different. The church I attend here is never packed. Instead of a choir, there is only 1 lady (always the same lady) singing and 1 person playing organ/piano. During the offering of peace today I turned back and saw a woman standing straight. I extended my hand to her while smiling. She saw it, looked up to me and said peace. I still have my hand extended, hoping she would grab it. But no, she just turned her gaze forward, ignoring me. I was shocked. How could someone attending the church, home of the loving God, be so cold?

Anyway, after 2 days of nonstop raining, today's weather was very nice. I even decided to have a walk around my block after I threw the garbage outside. Hopefully it'll stay this way for a while.

Bowling

Went bowling with some friends today. Haven't done that for a long time. And by this I meant bowling, as well as socializing. It was so great! This weekend was a blast, sushi yesterday and bowling today? Heavenly...

Anyway, I bowled badly, which didn't really matter because all of us are beginner. So no pressure whatsoever. But in 2 games, I scored a strike once, played inconsistently, my scored ranged from 0 to a strike each time I threw the ball, and my total were a low thirties and a low sixties. Crazy!!

Just got back with some friends. We have an early dinner, in the Zen House Duluth. We had sushi and tempura. For pictures, I have it all in Flickr so just click the link on my side bar!

Now, for some laugh, check this out!

This is what a frustrated mathematician might do...

While someone who doesn't really understand the trigonometry might do this...

Have you ever done something like this in a math test before?

Now this one cracks me up the most since this is real...

My version of the Devil Wears Prada

She doesn't exactly wear Prada or any of the expensive brand. But you can say she is one of the stylish people in where I am now. Her looks differ by the day. My first impression of her was how nice she was. I also noticed that she likes to tell stories.

However today I realized, she doesn't just like to tell stories. She likes to tell stories that compliment herself in some ways. Someone she knows made a mistake and she blab all about it to everybody about how awful it was and how she would never do that. Now once maybe acceptable. Nobody's perfect. But she did this over and over again, it made me think if she realized that she was giving bad impressions out...

5.30 pm, perpustakaan.
Menghabiskan waktu sambil membaca novel bestseller.

Sejak pindah ke Amerika, gue suka ngabisin waktu di perpustakaan. Enak aja gitu, tenang nggak ada yang ngganggu. Tapi juga luas jadi selalu aja ada bagian yang bisa gue eksplor. Mau main komputer sepuasnya bisa. Kalo udah bosen tinggal cari2 aja buku untuk dibaca. Kalo bosen, cari yang lain.

Tapi tiba-tiba aja barusan, suasana hening terpecah oleh suara seorang perempuan tertawa terbahak-bahak. Bukan.. bukan kuntilanak kok (Ih.. syerem!) Tapi ada seorang bule pirang tak tau diri, entah lagi baca apaan, ketawa seenak udelnya. Nggak cuman sekali, berkali-kali! Sadar dong mbak, ini perpustakaan, bukan kafe....