thoughts on everything

captivated by the statue of liberty poem. here it goes:

New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

am a little upset that borders will be gone soon. as i picked up several books, cards, and a cd, i reminisced those hours spent on reading the magazines, replying to emails, and browsing through cookbooks while sipping a cup of iced vanilla latte (the better coffee out of starbucks and seattle's best coffee). the future of brick and mortar bookstore is so bleak that i am pessimistic even b&n shall survive in a couple of years. i myself am a part of the society that abuses the air conditioned store while just browsing through the collection. i am so ashamed that i'd choose to go to library if i don't necessarily want to get the coffee. adios to borders and hope b&n shall last. (didn't regret getting the 3g kindle. the new nook looks exactly like kindle, except for the oddly shaped interface. why would the designers do that?)

i'm also getting a new pair of glasses. not near-sightedness issue, but it's astigmatism. we'll see how i'll cope with the 2 extra pair of eyes by this week.

summer has been brutally hot. i myself have been brutally going to dc every week to get a few glimpses of places i have never been before. the more i roam around the city, the more i embrace it. such a beautiful place with not too many crowds and a sense of sophistication.

alas, yellowstone, i'll see you in 10 days! can't wait!

journey is coming to an end

2 more days in west lafayette before i am flying home. phew! if it's not for god's grace, i think i won't be where i am today. 2009 has been a bitter sweet year (more sweet than bitter), but i think it's the year in which i've grown up the most. finished school, published a paper, served in church, experienced depression days due to 3 months of unemployment. nearly obtained a job when i was eventually informed that the job's gone. and 3 days before i decided to go home for good, micron gave me an offer on the spot.

now looking back, everything did make sense. when universal told me that the finance coordinator position wasn't available anymore, i immediately booked a one-way ticket home for 10th december so that i could attend bert's wedding on the 12th. i mentioned in another blog entry that i didn't really care enough to attend the wedding because she had hurt my feelings in the past. but i do know that it's a once in a lifetime event for her and i do want to be present for that special day. while already losing hope on micron because dear roommie told me that the engineers who'd be interviewing me would be off to lihai until the week i am scheduled to go home, the hr coordinator called to schedule for an on-site interview. got the offer on the spot and yes, i'll be reunited with roommie again (as in seeing her everyday AND sharing the same apartment with her. haha! good luck roommie! in case you forget since we haven't lived together since 2005, i am one noisy YET nice roommie.)

2010 shall arrive in about 3 weeks. bro's already married by then. i'll be heading off to virginia. hopefully sis can get a co-op job, so that she can have more work experience. the 12 hour night shift will be a new experience. hope will learn a lot from this job.

cheers and thanks for all your best wishes and prayers!

annoyed

i am so easily ticked off today. by silly emails from my ex-small group leader. by the unstable internet connection of the hotel. by questions after questions asked by a friend whom i haven't talked to for a while through msn. even by looking at the facebook profile of somebody whom i was so tempted to delete from my friends list. i think the lack of human interaction has caused me to be easily annoyed. when i am isolated from the world, my cheerfulness level is down to almost 0. thank goodness i'll be meeting up with my cousin tomorrow. wisconsin, here i come! it's going to be a super short visit since i'll be leaving madison the next morning, but it's worth it to see the second child of hers that i never get to see.

and the time zone change actually causes me to be insomniac. still wide awake at 2 a.m. because it's only midnight in los angeles. thank goodness i don't have to wake up early tomorrow morning.

so, what's next? 4 more states to visit. the flu is still persistent in my system. will say farewell to almost everybody that i know throughout my 6 year stay in united states. i think i will collapse when i get to the plane that takes me to jakarta. that's one thing i love about plane rides. i sleep easy and it gives me no reason to do nothing but sleep. :P

starbucks madness

starbucks just launched a prepaid card called 'starbucks goldcard' in which we can top up $25 each time and enjoy the benefits of getting free wifi in store, 10% off for every drink, and first complimentary drink when you sign up for it.

there are 2 reasons why i want to go for this:

1. i tend to do my class projects in starbucks since i like to have a change of environment sometimes. i need the wifi.

2. i am so hooked up with the gingersnap latte! it's sweet on its own and the ginger blend is just right. might as well get a discount out of it because this item shall be removed when the holiday season is over.

i have to say that starbucks' campaign this time is quite a success. i finally got the goldcard after visiting 3 stores! i was quite confident the chain nearby my house would have the card considering it's a little bit further from lax. meanwhile, the incentives to own one are also quite attractive. kuddos to starbucks for starting a successful product line during these hard times!

i am heading to the bay area in 2 days. i will miss rosie considering she's normally my tour guide in san francisco. but i shall meet her in jakarta for a little reunion party. guess this vacation shall be reunion time since i'm making plans to meet up with my cedar, purdue, and la pals.

happy thanksgiving, everybody! :)

i don't want the whole world to see me, coz i don't think that they'll understand

an earthquake just engulfed jogja a week ago. and i didn't know about that till i received a friend's text message asking me whether my family was okay.

for those of you who are concerned, thank you so much! :) my family's fine. we live in a small town between the border of west and central java, while the earthquake took place in jogja, the eastern part of east java.

i remembered one of the contributors in 'our column' on kompas.com. he's from bantul, the area where the impact was the greatest. he often wrote about his childhood in bantul. where he used to hang out during his grade school days. which food stalls to take note of in case any readers wanted to travel there.

but i guess everything's turned into dust now. i am still not updated about how many people have been killed. i heard the governor of jogja is still deciding which international volunteer organizations should take part in restoring jogja. dang it! help keeps on coming, but you still have doubts in it? i don't think that these foreigners want to be illegal immigrants in indonesia. i don't know what this guy is thinking.

and deep down inside, i feel sorry for these people. i want to help. not just by donating to any organizations. i want to be a part of this team who's there to do all the work...digging all the rumbles, carrying rice sacks, consoling those who have lost their families. and i simply can't do that. just because i am far away from home and that parents will definitely go against it. not that i am all gungho about making a difference to the world. i want to help. as much as i could. to the extent that there's no way i could do anything and remorse takes over me. that's how much i want to help.

and my adventurous nature vs. his concern over me has always been an issue. i travel not because i want to let others know how many countries i have travelled to. the smell of challenge conquering a new country has always been my interest. and not that i want to be different from the rest of the world, i am simply the black sheep of the white flock. i think differently. everybody thinks about safety. i think about when i will ever do it again. people think for their best interests. i try to put others before me.

but he sees me as a foolish person. who's too stubborn to listen to his precautions. who's selfish enough to put aside his worries for what i am keen in doing.

i don't give up what i do for a man. a man that i am fond of. not that i am selfish. i think liking a man and your adventure without any clashes is doable. and if he can't accept just the travelling bits, how about my intentions of doing what i could for the world? i think that would be beyond his scope of tolerance.

we can't continue shouting at each other for different idealities. it simply doesn't work. and i grieve over that.

finito!

truly speaking, i had no clue about mass transfer operations. just glimpsed through my notes and nothing seeped into my brain. be prepared to get a just pass or maybe a c for it. sigh. now, i got 2 courses which i dread a lot, while the other 6 went okay i guess.

so, so...latest update: indeed, i am going to travel in 2 days' time. my schegen visa is out and that sorts out the entire woes of this trip. and it's going to be a tightly-budgeted trip considering my debit card from bank one has expired. there's no way am i going to get any money out of it. and i am afraid since czech and hungary are still developing countries, they don't have that many shops that accept credit cards. ya, i am going to bring extra cash just for safety. wish me safe trip, pals!

i've started packing up for my trip back to purdue. my god! an entire suitcase 30 kilo worth of books and notes. and to think that i might have to let them go by next year. i do hope everything would fit into my 2 suitcases. 25 kg is the maximum weight per luggage, but i am gambling the opportunity of stashing extra 5 kilo of stuff on each suitcase.

strangely enough, many of my friends are getting married! both of my churchmates, who have dated their boyfriends of 1 year, have decided to end their singlehood next year! but but...i am just shocked! true, both of them are 25 this year, a sacred age to actually get yourself hitched, but isn't 1 year a short time to know the person whom you're gonna spend the rest of your life with? and considering this is the first year i started getting wedding invitations, (hirro's wedding this june 26th. i love hirro and dan! dan actually was away in iraq for 2 years. glad he's back and now with hirro :D) i am slightly petrified. yes, i am 20...but i am pretty sure there will be people of my age who would be getting married. that reminds me that i am no longer young. but seriously, i still can't put a guy in my future. i am still the selfish brat who plans for herself. maybe time will change my mind later.

but looking at the history of my cousins, many of them are still unmarried at the age of 30 and yes, aunts would be worrying about their fates. some would go to such an extent of finding a guy to be matchmade to their daughter. if i would be a 29 year old single woman, please mom...no random guy for a blind date at our home. it just shows how incapable i am in finding mr right and plus, i guess these days women are more independent. they could survive on their own.

there'll be bbq tomorrow :) my first and last one. i think it would be a parting goodbye time with the 2nd year students. had fun meeting them at science library's 3rd floor for the past 1 month. hope the weather's conducive for the event. and yes, i've bid my farewell to bengkalis. she's going home for good. don't know when i'll see her again, but hey...god forbids...we met after 5 years of not contacting each other.

the smell of freedom is so close, yet...

4 days to go, and i can't hardly wait! the last paper on the last day of the 3 consecutive exam days was tough. slightly petrified, but i hope i could manage at least a b (or a c? dang it!). heard that many people didn't feel that it was hard. crashed to bed after that paper and again the sleeping syndrome overcame me today. didn't get any work done again. :(

you know, time will fly really fast after i am done with exams. am off to travel to salzburg, vienna, budapest, and prague. back to london on the 3rd. and gone again on the 5th to travel to oxford, cambridge, stratford, (where shakespeare was born) and stonehenge. by the time i am back, it's already the 9th and i got 1 day to visit some places i've never been in london like science and british museums. hectic, hectic, hectic!

i am still waiting for the schegen visa from austrian embassy. hopefully it'll be out soon. in the meantime, let me get some motivation to learn things on process dynamics and control + mass transfer operations.

last one standing

first, it's buncit. and then, nug's gone for good. now the one thing i dreaded most finally came---roommie's gone! :( yes, i guess i will start from 0 again when i come back to west lafayette. but, congrats, dear roommie! you're finally a fresh-graduate engineer now. make sure you meet all the specifications of your machine or whatever plant that you're working on. don't wanna get fired. haha! but she's coming to visit us anyway, so nah...aside from being slightly upset that our proximity is gonna be a barrier of being together to have some fun, (from pilates to elvis concert) our friendship will last forever. you shall attend my wedding and i shall attend yours yeah? (am waiting for the wedding bell. i think it's soon :P)

but little things did cheer me up. here's nora's latest email:

Melisa Lisa Bo-Bisa
Banana Fana Fo-Fisa
Me Mi Mo-Misa
MELISA!

good chant, huh? exam studying makes one a nutter. going to the chem engsports/bbq day thing on the 23rd? greg and i were thinking yeah. we'll be back by 7 and then quick pack and bed cuz WE'RE GOING TO AUSTRIA on 24th.
where the hills are alive.
with
the sound.
of music.

-nora,nora,bobora, banana, fana, fofora, me, mi, momora, nora!

i swear i will miss her a lot once i am done with ucl :( (sigh...again, it's separation time)

and another news...

i thought hirro was joking when she asked me for my address in london, and guess what? i received her wedding invitation a couple of days ago and it's on june 26th. haha! this time, i DO have to shave and make myself look pretty. yes, hirro! i am coming to your wedding!

all bad things have to come to an end and are replaced by good news. yeah!!!

Melisa Lisa Bo-Bisa
Banana Fana Fo-Fisa
Me Mi Mo-Misa
MELISA! (it's getting on my head)

reading week is coming to an end!

nah, didn't manage to get to stonehenge. but i did go to birmingham for sports' day and had a toilet break in oxford. and no, didn't see the prestigious oxford university. but university of birmingham reminded me of purdue. there's a clock tower, the union has everything that the students need, (bank, atm machines, canteens, printing store, and even a travel agency) the school complex is surrounded by greenery, exactly like purdue.

and don't talk about the games. we basically lost in every single match. i took part in basketball. three games total, all in which we were beaten 14-nil. just realized how hard it was to actually dribble, pass and try to get the ball into the basket. especially we were a 4-women-and-1-guy team, while the other schools consisted of all guys. it was fun though. many people cheered, 'ucl, ucl!' and i guess that sorta boosted our morale a lil bit though we didn't win eventually. :P

oh, i took a ride on london eye too! turned out to be a slow and boring 30 minute ride. but managed to snap some good pictures and yes...my tripod isn't collecting dust anymore. tried some restaurants claimed to have good food, but it was just normal food. and i haven't been to the gym yet! shame shame shame on me! i only have 2 more weeks to make attempts to exercise, otherwise, it's a goodbye to my precious 25 pounds.

okay, enough of this week's rambles. some good pics for you guys to enjoy!















the great big ben at dusk














london eye and thames in sephia



















u of birmingham's clock tower














do you see me?














one last picture before we left

salmon's gone

my 3 pound worth of salmon is gone. put it in common fridge and as expected, it's gone by the next day. suddenly, this brilliant idea came into mind. will buy another salmon, not refrigerate it for 3 days and put it in common fridge. let's see who makes the bathroom trips very often. but, nah...shall not do that. that's being childish. next time i buy salmon, i would eat it on the very same day. don't bother about the irkness of eating the entire packet. at least, from that point onwards, i would not touch salmon for quite a while.

and i took a stroll along the thames. passed by jubilee and westminster bridges. saw london eye, almost took a ride, but hadtotally forgotten to bring my camera. the panorama is breathtaking at night! i swore to myself that i would get back in a few days' time. saw couples bringing roses and having public intimacy. how i long to be one of them! nice weather, nice view and nice company. hmmm...

stonehenge, when will i get to see you? my tripod's collecting dust.

nostalgic mood

it's 4p taken on racial harmony day 2002. and what made me post this picture? simple. i saw jialing's blog. she posted pics of her outing with 5 ex-classmates...and i got into nostalgic mood. and since i happened to have nothing to do today, (well, there's a coursework that needs to be done, but i guess i shall relax now :P) i checked some ex-classmates' friendster profiles. whoa!!! many of them have changed! gone is the boyish crop hair...now long highlighted tresses. some sporting with make up and of course, pictures with guyfriends. hehehe! i got this feeling that i haven't changed much over the years, while everybody's groomed into ladies. ah, doesn't matter. but would love to see these girls when i get the chance.

next, it's the subject of traveling. been getting a lot feedback about my expensive hobby. han actually confronted me. told me that if i happen to be his company in future, there'll be a strict budget set aside for my travel. i told him there's no need to worry for that. for a start, i am not going to be a housewife, staying at home all the time, waiting for husband to be home. i will work and if y husband does disapprove of me spending on my travel, i shall use the money that i earn. fair enough? :P but really, i can't be apart from traveling. i don't spend much on the road. i just love looking at the sceneries that i normally see on pictures. i like the new air that i breathe. i like to know the history behind each monument. i love looking at people, conversing in different languages, asking you to help them take a picture while they pose. plus, i believe in living life to the fullest. i don't know when i'm saying goodbye to this world. but i want to make sure i've seen enough before i'm gone.

school's going to start in 24 hours' time! no more strolling along totenham court road to get to chinatown. time for english breakfast, school and back doing coursework. :)

there's a beginning and there's an end

i hate farewells.

whether i'm bidding one for loved ones or people whom i just know for a matter of days, i would get overwhelmed. there's some level of uncertainty when i would get to see them again. i know the technology has made the world shrink, but again...it's still up to us to decide whether we should keep in touch or not. i don't know whether i am indeed bidding farewell to some people forever, out of their lives, or it's just for a temporary of time till we meet again.

but hey, that's why there's nothing absolute in this world. (except for those school-related equations invented by some genius fellows) and that actually brings more excitement to my life.

after a long day of school and you go home to discover that your high school friend has successfully published a book. you are a new student, entering the dining room and to your disbelief, you see an ex-hostelmate whom you haven't met in 7 years.

the europe trip was a good event to close the year. actually, i was a bit of a loner during the trip. yes, i did enjoy it, but i thought i didn't make many friends by the end of the tour. i sent a couple of pictures to some people and i thought that would be it. but guess what? within days, i got an invitation to go for new year countdown with 4 of them. (and i didn't even talk much to them during the 13 day tour!) i would be meeting my ex-tour roommate before she's heading back to the mainland in mid-jan. interesting? yes!

within the span of 2 days, i conversed in chinese continously, (you know how little i speak in mandarin) and you know how chinese people are. they tend to tell you directly how they feel about you. by the second day, people have told me that i am a person of a substance and they're glad to have known me. boy, the europe trip didn't just end on 29th of december. in fact, it's just the beginning of my friendship with some of the people in it.

as i was about to bid goodbye to my tour mates, again this feeling of loss dissipated in my mind. i hugged all the girls and wished them well. when it came to the only guy among us, i shook his hand. but to hell with it. we just cut the formality and gave each other a bear hug. not forgetting that we did a three peck french greeting, signifying how we respected each other as new friends.

a big toast to new friendships and of course the beautiful beginning of 2006! woo hoo!

back from europe trip!

the 13 day tour was fun. i got to brush up on my chinese considering everyone's either from mainland china or taiwan. i got astounded by the three historical squares in florence, italy. i got to catch moulin rouge in paris. (yes, they're topless. but do look at them in artistical manner. they're amazing!) i did my first confession at st petersburg's cathedral. i got crazy and spent $200 on 2 bags, one for myself and another one for mom.

what else?

i got crazy again today. i decided that i shouldn't laze around and fulfill one of my wish lists while i am still in london. i decided to go to the winston churchill museum. (have i told you that i am a huge fan of this overweight but cute ex-prime minister?) and...considering how expensive tube rides are, i decided to walk...from westminster area all the way to oxford street and finally back to my dorm. of course i did do some new year shopping. too happy to pocket an elegant long sleeved top from esprit and to my amazement, there's a normal man tee for 99p! ha! decided to buy that for nug too.

while i just came back from my europe trip, mom told me that dad's gone for pilgrimage. at first, i thought she's just kidding, considering she always has some elements of sarcasm. but yes, dad's in jerusalem now! errrr...that's hard to believe, but i do hope he'll return home safely. apparently, my uncle, aunt, cousins and granpa tagged along too.

london's still not snowing. it just pours and pours and pours. you guys were right. i think 9 year old couldn't facilitate me in terms of keeping me warm anymore. i decided to buy a fleece for an extra comfort. no worries, 9 year old will never been abandoned. (9 year old---my dearest blanket) and my frying pans are gone! disappeared into the thin air! still contemplating whether i should buy new ones or not. i think i can't trust my floormates anymore. knife was once gone. now that my canned luncheon meat was grostequely damaged by some hungry fellow, i finally came to my senses. saved my 5 bottles of yakult otherwise i would be left with empty bottles.

alrighty, picture time! i decided to just post one that looks really cute.

1 week of certainty :)

i got my visa.

i got my visa.

i got my visa.

do you see how excited i am?

might be alone, but traveling around europe alone? i think that's a totally different experience.

i am thankful

1 week towards uncertainty

checklist:
-coursework for this week. done.
-trying to get myself well enough. (don't know why i caught bad sore throat. i've been a good girl. i haven't eaten spicy or deep-fried food) almost done. though it still hurts.
-getting some sleep? errr...not quite. will do that this afternoon. thanks to short wednesdays. out by 1 and i normally won't do anything till the evening.

yes. holiday's looming in 1 week's time. looming? such a grim word. well, true. next week is the deciding week whether i am going for the europe trip or not. been checking my mailbox 5 days in a week. no letter from french embassy. what happens if i don't get a visa on time? i don't want to have a trip around uk. i need to get out of this country! but i am keeping myself positive. it's gonna be 3 weeks next week. i hope french people keep their promise and let me have the visa.

and han's graduating! to be really really frank, being the selfish me, i don't want him to graduate! when i am back to purdue, i won't have a guyfriend to be around with. (true, cheetah's around. but he's eaten up by his world of my cousin. sad) besides, he graduates 1 1/2 yr earlier than me and he started a semester before me. not fair! *notice a pang of jealousy here*

but yes, i am happy for him. looking at his working attitude, i think he's gonna make it to the working world. good luck, han! *though he's definitely not reading this*

okay, quite an erratic entry. better stop not.