2011!

alright, time to check 2010's resolutions and how far i've accomplished in the last 1 year

1. be a healthier person. eat more fruits and veggies. exercise 2 times a week for 1 hour each time: mission accomplished. the annual gym membership has made me pick up on zumba, yoga, pilates, and retro dance at least once a week. next stop? spinning class! have to give it a try!
2. save about 10% of paycheck and give 10% of paycheck to the lord: mission accomplished. god's blessed me with more than 10% saving per month (with exceptions of the first few months in a new apartment, whereby i had to spend money on furniture and home furnishings as well as the summer months in which sis and i traveled a lot). the 10% tithing still applies till today. i think it's not an option for me not to tithe given the thanksgiving i have in Him who's given me strength through all good and bad times.
3. find a home church in manassas. be a blessing to others: i hope i've accomplished these two goals. i did become a member of crossway fellowship in october 2010. am now serving in the children's ministry and love my crossway family. i did try to be a blessing to others, but my sensitivity has become my achilles heel. i've been snapping at an aggravating co-worker. my trainer's influence also causes me to be nonchalant in what i do at work.

so i guess 2010 has been a good year overall. here come this year's new year resolutions:

1. run a complete 5k race without walking. this has been on my mind for a while. have bought a good pair of running shoes. just need to get a sports watch and start training till susan g. komen's race in june.
2. get an ideal weight of 115 lb by december 2011. the closest i got to 115 lb was actually in mid-december last year when the scale showed 115.2 lb. almost there!
3. visit yellowstone national park in early summer to enjoy the beauty of geyser, mountains, and lakes with my sister. it's been in my bucket list for the last 3 years.
4. understand the study of the book of revelation by the end of women's bible study in may 2011. i'm so excited!
5. know what business plan i'd like to pursue in indonesia by december 2011. this includes what business line, what contacts i need to make, what knowledge i need to empower myself in order to be ready, and how much capital i need to put in.

of course deep down inside, i wish to put in list #6 in which i'd meet a nice christian man who has the same vision as i do whom i can trust and rely on. but i believe god has his plans on me in place, just need to continue trusting him and walking by faith.

it's indeed an odd feeling to be working on christmas and new year, but i'm glad to be reunited with sis next weekend. indiana, here i come!

eclipse

went to shift party with 1 takeaway point---there's supposed to be a lunar eclipse happening this evening at about 2:42 a.m. a movie and several frasier clips later, i realized that it's already 2:42! opened my balcony, peered up to the sky, praying that the moon would be right up on my side of balcony. god granted my prayer. there, millions of miles away from here, phase change took place on the moon, surrounded by shiny little stars. grey contrasted with white, round with constant color shift of orange on its outer side. over time, orange took over as the moon's main color and it glowed just like a christmas tree light. gorgeous. somehow, i felt truly blessed. kelly in southern california couldn't see the eclipse due to the rain, but i was able to witness such a rare event. felt like god's present wherever i'm though i may be far away from loved ones. apparently, this lunar eclipse was well-talked about due to its occurrence on the solstice (the first day of winter for northern hemisphere and the first day of summer for southern hemisphere). the last time the same event took place was 372 years ago, during galileo days!

now moving on to the subject of apology. i've never been a big fan of apologies, namely because the people whom i've apologized to seemed to be the ones at fault (yes, i know...it's a judgment call right? trust me, if a judge is to be present and review all my apology cases, he would have granted me 100% wins anyway, not to be pompous). however, i believe that god's been whispering to me to forgive and apologize even during those days when i hadn't come to know him yet. i've always felt at unease when matters went unresolved and would do anything, including making an apology just to clear out the bad air between myself and the conflicting party. as my walk in christ slowly becomes clearer, it's no longer a difficult matter to apologize. everybody has his or her side of story and when emotions impair judgment, yes, i would get frustrated, but apology is no longer an option in which i would think thrice or more before making the move. i would do it in a heart beat. will i crib about it? absolutely, but the act of saying sorry itself is no longer a personal struggle.

of course, as a young child, i always wondered, why apologize? just let the matter go sour and not deal with the person anymore. it's a test on trust that's as clear cut as litmus right? indirectly, i was pointing finger at god, wondering what positive outcome i could gain from the 5 letter word. i was bitter and angry, but i chose to keep quiet and thought the world would just be a better place if i was the peacekeeper, there's no need to have convicting reasons. the funny thing was god always showed me what he truly meant toward the end of the conflict, be it several weeks, months, or even years later. he made the conflicting person return to my life, full with grace and though he or she didn't apologize, i could see the deep remorse that he or she had. despite not uttering any apologetic words or phrases, he or she would try to amend the situation as much as he or she could, even to the point that the act itself was more than my apology earlier.

i'm still having a hard time grasping this concept. one doesn't need to try as hard as he or she should. it just takes a person's guts and pride to apologize. i've yet to see any of the person whom i've conflicted against in the past do that. yes, am still a tad grumpy about it, but i wouldn't say i am disappointed. it's just that it takes less effort to say sorry (though it might exhaust your mental health thinking about the pros and cons of an apology) than doing it indirectly through actions. sometimes i don't have to know people's behavior and how god works, i should just enjoy his work and continue trusting him with my faith.

philipians 4:4: rejoice in the lord always. i will say it again: rejoice!

1 year anniversary to my cross country trip!

it's exactly a year since i made a 9 hour trip from redondo beach, CA to cedar city, UT. managed to dig out my emails to find my mass email about the part of the cross-country trip. here it is:

Hi peeps,

I've reached Cedar City, UT by 7 p.m. It's cold here! Totally unprepared wearing thin cardigan and flip flops! Saw some snow remnants too. I guess I'll be relying on my Purdue sweatshirt for the next drive. Next stop: Denver, CO which is 578 miles away from here. Continue praying for me alrighty!

Good news: Just found out this afternoon that I'll be having the on-site interview for the company in Virginia. Scheduled to be for next Monday. Whoa...tight schedule, but I'll give it a try!

Mel

and here i am, living on my own in beautiful northern virginia, having a job that i thoroughly enjoy, with community that's welcoming and warm. truly blessed to be where i am now. who knows what another year shall bring to my life, but i hope i'm still filled with thanksgiving for what god has given me, be it joy or sorrow.

finished my toastmasters speech draft in a local starbucks when i saw a lot of teenagers hanging out in the cafe, talking and laughing loudly. i wondered whether they're skipping school since it's a regular wednesday morning. funny enough, a cop came to buy his latte and the group immediately dispersed and left. it's sad to see how kids who have the privilege to get education choose to be idle instead of attending school. i wonder how their parents feel when they find out that these kids are skipping school, especially since all of them are mexican americans. their parents have worked hard to enter this country for their definition of american dreams, but their kids aren't aware of their strive and choose to follow the norm. i digress.

slow and steady

it's been 6 months since i got trained in cd sem. while the first 4 months had been a free ride, the trainer finally toughened up by the 5th month. i myself was stubborn enough to try working on tool recovery and the whole investigation fiasco on my own. hours spent on recipe creation, which i bet frustrated my trainer, but hey...i finally learned! and i was definitely happy about it. last week has been a humbling experience for me, being on my own while my trainer's out for vacation. it's my first time doing manual wafer recovery (and thank god, it was successful!). 2 tools went down, both which i couldn't recover...and i almost thought i broke a wafer. it's definitely god's grace that the tool did go down hard and the vendor managed to safely evacuate the wafer.

i also realized how americans are afraid of us misspeaking about them for our limitation of language. sometimes i do get a little offended when they don't take my words into consideration, but the good yet crooked news is that i can have free ride during meetings. i don't have to say a lot and people will understand for "i am the foreign kid". i think i'm at this point of my life in which i am a leader among my friends and peers, but rather choose to be a follower in professional setting. good balance i guess. coming from a culture that promotes submission, my personality is too strong for the general asian population consensus, but it's deemed to be nitwit weak in the western world, probably because i don't quite show my true self.

anyway, 2009 is indeed coming to an end. been sleepless during the times i'm supposed to be in bed. how true it is that the night shift is no longer as exciting as i thought it'd be.

home

i was browsing through sis-in-law's pics on facebook and homesickness started to sink in. how i love to be at home, whereby everybody meddles with everybody's business and the chore of getting up at 6 to go to aerobics classes suddenly turns into something that i long for. and yes, i miss eating yellow rice for breakfast too. now that i've worked for about 8 months, i am embracing the early morning routine, whatever food over the countertop that i could eat for breakfast, and nice 3 or 4 days off to pamper myself. still, nowhere else is better than home, not even with the good life that i have. home is where mosquitos bite, where it's always 100 degrees, where you have to be careful with your words and actions, but the sun is always shining brighter with the warmth of having family around.

am really looking forward to going home for a vacation during next year's chinese new year. it'll be a different feel. my closest cousins already have a baby girl or moved away to china. momma and poppa are almost empty nesters with 4 more years to go when lil bro will be off to college. now that everybody's officially an adult, i hope that everybody still conducts himself or herself in earnest manner just like when we were little. no family politics or hidden agenda

when christmas comes, i know that i'll get homesick again, but that's good. because i know that there are people i truly love who are anticipating for my phone call.

a question of ethics

i put my laptop bag on a table next to the power outlet at borders, went to the coffee counter to grab iced coffee, and right when i returned to that table, a girl just sat on the other chair of my table. a little distraught, i began moving my stuff from that table to the next table. she asked, "you're not expecting any company right? i need to use the power outlet." i told her that there's no one there, but i did put my laptop bag there and definitely need my personal space. the table could seat 2 people, the power outlet could host 2 chords, but i wanted to have the table for myself since i'd be doing some translation work and did not want to be disturbed. the cafe area was quite empty and there was another table close by in which she could use instead of mine.

a borders attendant immediately came to our rescue and advised that one of us could give in and use the sofa nearby while using the same power outlet. the girl told the attendant curtly, "she just doesn't want to sit with me." after muttering some silent curses, she left and i felt a little guilty.

i chatted with a guy friend on msn regarding this problem. he gave me another perspective: none of us was actually wrong. relative to my ethics belief, it's rude to just sit on a table that's been reserved without asking. in the girl's perspective, it's fine since borders is a public place (but the cafe is empty, for goodness sake!). i didn't want to hog over the 2 power outlets. she thought it'd be fine to share the table since i only occupied one of the chairs and the power outlets. i guess my tone was slightly harsh when i told her that i needed my own personal space. already offended, she became aggressive. my guy friend's right. things could go a lot differently if i politely told the girl that the TABLE's taken.

all the negotiation books i've read apparently have gone to waste. i shouldn't have ignited fiery emotions to the person i'm negotiating with. instead, i should have set a kind note and do a fair share of negotiation. again mel, quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

school song

i picked up the dvd "that thing you do" from library and a revelation came to me. i've always been in a school that prides itself with its behind-the-closet favorite song. nope, it's not the school anthem. it's the 1 song that would make everybody who's a part of that school roar and immediately sing along. if there's such a thing as schoolism (from the word nationalism), that would be it.

back at cedar, it's "that thing you do" by the wonders. girls of any background: wild, conservative, sports-loving, or indoorsy (if there's such a word) would just sing on top of their lungs while dancing along (or secretly dancing along). then, "it's livin' on a prayer" by bon jovi for the boilermakers. completely bemused when i went to harry's chocolate shop and the originally quieter atmosphere immediately turned alive upon this old 80s song! (since i knew nothing about bon jovi's songs from the 80s, i immediately looked up the song and played it on many times before getting bored of it. see, even an international kid grows to like it just because she's a purdue girl)

unfortunately, there's no school song for lmu. the rich and the preppy tend to choose hip hop songs that last less than 2 months, following all the fads in the world. but i do have a memorable song, the 1 song that made me get ready for the dreary economics class by mr. chun li---"biarlah" by indonesian group band called nidji. it's just like a drug, i ought to have it at exactly 6:50 pm before the class.

summer has officially started a month ago. i know i haven't done a good job in updating the blog. but it's been such a poignant journey so far, beginning with sadness over letting go, and then guilt for nagging at sis (turns out living alone can make one extremely self-centered. good lesson for myself to be more accomodating), and then it's a whirl of fast pass on time with lotsa activities i've done a zillion times more than any other summer. 18-year-old sis definitely keeps my youth alive.

i commend on skype for the new sms feature which allows me to text message international and kuddos to kindle that lowers its price to $189 ($70 less. yeay!) to match up competition with ipad. wondering whether i'll wait a little longer to buy it. my heart is yearning for it, but my mind's still weighing whether it's such a good idea to read a book without flipping the actual pages.

inspiring quote

we had a new guest for toastmasters meeting on monday, a guy named bill. as usual, those who didn't get the opportunity to speak during the meeting would have to say a few words during the table topic session. margaret, the table topic master, cleverly put together a few questions about "first". simple questions: first kiss, first date, and for bill, it's either first job or the most embarrassing moment he's ever had. margaret told bill that he could ignore the question and talk about other things that he didn't mind sharing to the club. bill confidently walked to the podium and talked about his daughter's wedding, how he gave the toast to everybody and this was what he said:

"never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. but if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. if you must steal, steal away from bad company. if you must cheat, cheat death. and if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away."

wow...that's one creative and powerful quote for a toast! being a skeptic, i went home to look it up, to see whether any famous people had originated that quote before. turned out to be from the movie, hitch! kuddos to bill for bringing up a good quote from a movie.

the 5 day of rest really sets me off for a fresh start of my long work week. i am a little dreadful for i fear that i will not survive the 12 hour day after having the 8 hour work routine for a week. hopefully the yoga class would make me alert and awake for the entire night.

a few more weeks till sis' coming! i'm finally having a company!

singlehood

i was a content single girl until people started asking about my relationship status in the last few weeks.

i had brunch with ci sherly and kris when this hot topic was brought up. i told her about the joy of singlehood, though it sometimes sucks knowing that most people my age already have their own special somebodies. immediately, she told me about a great christian chat site in which i could potentially meet some suitors. i shrugged it off.

it started getting a bit unnerving when long, fink, and i had dinner in a nice basque-style restaurant in boise. fink has a wife, long has a girlfriend, and of course being the only girl there, the same relationship topic surfaced again. fink asked whether i would be interested in an american guy. i said probably no. and yes, he said as-a-matter-of-factly that some people did meet online and eventually got married. it ticked me off quite a bit.

no, i'm not desperately looking for anybody, though i wouldn't mind if there's a nice guy out there. i don't have the intention to be in relationship with a non-indonesian guy, for i think the culture gap is just too wide. i should consider myself fortunate to have 3 indo dudes at micron, but their behaviors back in college just turned me off. somehow, i am staying away from indonesian group here just because i am tired of all the small, empty, meaningless conversations. (yes, i am generalizing here. it's true that everything starts with simple topics that can gradually turn into things that can spark my interests. but i am an impulsive person who can be impressed upon first meet up. i am normally right in my gut feelings and i choose to be a close-minded person and put myself in seclusion from the indo community). i do want to get married someday, to somebody who shares the same visions as me, whom i can raise good kids with. it's an irony that i've limited my opportunities of meeting guys, yet i want to be adored by somebody.

tough luck. i know that i will continue cribbing about this subject for a long time to come, but i hope that my moodiness shall fade away and i can embrace what i have right now.

"do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of god without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life- in order that i may boast on the day of christ that i did not run or labor for nothing."
---philippians 2:14-16

oh lord, i definitely need plenty of your grace.

bleeding finger

if i had a slightest bit of interest in biology when i was in college, i think i would have chosen medicine as my career path. i passed all the criteria for a doctor: i love people, i am not bothered by the gory sight of blood, and i don't mind working long hours. i cut myself when i was slicing oranges to pack for work. the cut was pretty deep. run my finger under cold water and the bleeding still didn't stop. managed to find a band aid to finally stop the bleeding. half a day later, went to a nearby grocery store when i incidentally scratched that same finger. it bled again and droplets of blood started dripping onto the floor! i was a little panicky. thank goodness i had an extra band aid and i actually used the paper wrapping to mop the blood off the floor. of course, it didn't clean the floor well. seemed like it was a crime scene when i left.

it's 9:30 in the morning and i am getting ready to get to bed. i love night shift. i don't miss any activities during the day (though i spend most of the time hibernating), while it's more peaceful working at night. i am still a little frazzled about my routines: should i brush my teeth before i take a 5 hour nap? (yes, i should since it's equivalent to my regular sleep anyway), how soon can i wake up so that i don't get tired throughout the night? should i shower again when i get up? i will straighten out all these habitual questions in a few weeks (or days?)

grown up problem

a guyfriend just confessed that he no longer loved the girl he's been dating for 2 years and that he's interested in another girl whom he's known for 3 months. i asked him what he's planning to do. he said that it'd be unfair to keep his girlfriend in the dark. he's going to tell her the truth today. of course, as a "fixer", i told him that he needed to get his conscience clear before making any decision. interestingly, he asked me what i'd do if i were in the girlfriend's shoe.

"i'd cry" it's a plain and simple answer.

"would you hate the new girl?"

"no, because she isn't wrong. i would probably ask you what your final thoughts are and i would accept your decision with heavy heart. over time, i will be able to forgive you."

i don't know how it's going to turn out, but i hope he won't regret anything by the end of the day.

regrets. all my close pals are facing this struggle right now. regret over taking the previous beau for granted and making that one major crushing mistake. regret over turning down a guy she really fancied and eventually allowing withdrawals to creep in when the guy moved on. regret for prioritizing work over him. it all boils down to the core value of a relationship---to curb loneliness. it's just fascinating how i could connect with friends who are 1/2 a globe away to discuss on the topic of regrets.

i was chatting with a friend who sometimes swooned me by his maturity when i asked him what kind of qualities he's seeking in a girl.

"your qualities are actually close to what i'm looking for." a rather surprising, but pleasant answer.

"i once thought of you too, but too bad we're never in the same city eh?" i joked, but it was indeed an honest statement.

i didn't have any regrets asking that question. at least i knew that we're on the same wavelength.

oh...the mysteries of life. it's like going into an endless tunnel. you don't know when you're going to see the light. regrets never do me any good, so i always shove them away though the pain sometimes inflicts. i'd think about the positive outcomes of my bad decisions and learn to grow up.

officially an adult

i'll be signing my apartment lease in 3 days' time. that day shall mark my first official day as an adult. why would i say so? i will be living on my own, paying utilities bills on their entirety (shall watch out how often i switch on the heater or ac coz i've never been too conscious about electricity usage), and yes, i'd have to decorate my apartment with new furnitures and appliances. i am finally committing myself to buying a ton of things that would make manassas my permanent home for a little while. am certainly excited since i've never lived alone unless if living in a dorm with no roommates is considered as one. i don't have to play by roommies' rules since i set my own standard and i don't have to do any "small talk" to the wall, which shall become next-to-be best friend. anyway, i do have a tiny speck of doubt. being an outgoing person has worked its best in having good relationship with all 25 roommies i've had in the past. i am just worried that i'll become a bit depressed upon seeing an empty apartment when i return from work, with nobody saying "hey!" or even the slightest hint of any human movement besides mine. i think i'm just so used to having somebody wherever i live that i know when to shut off whenever i need my alone time and open up whenever i am all fired up to talk about how my day went.

well, sis will be in manassas for about 3 months during summer to take her summer school. it will be another opportunity to have roommie, though you can't consider your sis as a roommie. our schedules will be total opposites, so i hope she won't disturb my sleeping time. meanwhile, i've started pre-selecting plates, bowls, glasses, and pillows that i would be buying for my new apartment. i guess you work harder in getting better things when you're financially more sane and you know that you'll be solely using them anyway.

it's snow storm season around dc area. the good news is that i am able to witness two completely different sceneries when i am going to work before the dawn breaks and when i am walking out of the fab when it's way past dusk. it's magical to see the greenery being replaced by pure white winter (though it's a pain in the butt to shovel off snow from my car and clear the pathway). i do hope that there won't be much shoveling that i'd have to do tomorrow morning. the weather report predicted that it will be snowing up 10 inches tonight.

anyway, a beautiful picture taken of micron's front sign during the snow storm last saturday. cool eh?

Thoughts on Love

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction."

--Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand, and Stars

very true indeed.

who am i?

stubborn (or determined?)
simple
open-minded
realistic
hopeful
sensitive
caring

i've been in this world for 24 years. i admit that i've obtained everything that i need at this point of my life. but why do i feel so burdensome for being too comfortable and not doing anything about those who're weary and poor?

i am still not certain about what i want to do in life, but i do know that i am destined to do something about social justice. i hope that the next few years will give me a clearer path of what really matters in my life. i can't pretend to be an all-knowing girl who knows how to do everything. it's time to focus on my specific talents and continuously develop them, knowing that i will succeed if i utilize them to full use.

new life in manassas

day 6 in virginia and day 2 at work. have yet to figure out what i'm going to work on since these two days are filled with orientations. the good news is that i'll have a day off tomorrow. will check out the toastmasters club at work and maybe do a little window shopping at ikea for the new apartment. oh ya, i'll be moving into my own apartment too. it's going to be a new adventure for i'll be paying my own bills and yes, i'll be on my own!

it's all starting to make sense now. as a person grows older, he would feel more lonely. friends have dwindled for numerous reasons: starting new families, issues that are no longer tolerable now in comparison to years ago, people withdrawing from genuine conversations, and the worst part of all, lack of interests in seeking for new relationships. i think i am starting to turn into "that" person. here i am, in a new town, starting a new life, yet i feel like i don't belong here. well, i should cut myself some slack for i've been here for less than a week. maybe i'm just liking the idea of a "quick fix" -- fast-forwarding to a time in which i've gotten along with everybody at work, in an organization like toastmasters, or maybe the indonesian community here. i know that i can't sit still and be alone. it's good that there's dear roommie around, but i need to find a group of friends too. i can't spend my spare time just chatting with friends online or youtubing for tonight show's funny clips. i think i am just expecting a huge learning curve at work that may distress me, so i choose to be idle and enjoy the nothingness of surfing the net until i realize that i'm bored and i need to get going.

i hope that i will get along with my teammates. heard that most of them are introverted thinkers, let me be the odd one out and be the outspoken thinker. :) (thankfully, as i grow older, i've learned to think before i speak. some things are better left unsaid rather than being out in the open while the situation turns ugly.)
by the way, am liking the weather in manassas. it's not freezing cold and i still can open my window during my drive to work.

wish me luck, guys!

2010!

new year. new career. new city and possibly a heck lot new friends! :) glad to be in the same town with dear roommie too. we shall explore indonesian restaurants in dc area huh?

i just happened to look at my 2009 resolutions:

1. read the bible everyday (hmmm...skipped on the days while i was traveling. need to get small, compact-sized bible)
2. eat healthy! meaning less fried food. more fruits and vegetables (nope. in fact, i eat a lot more seafood and drink a lot of sweet drinks. blame it on la and its unhealthy yet delish food variety)
3. lose 5 lbs! target weight: 115 lbs (almost. i think i weigh about 117 now. lots of compliments from cous that i`ve lost weight. job search made me eat less)
4. jog around the neighborhood once a week (nada. only jogged 3 times at the beginning of the year before calling it quits)
5. save some $$$ for future business prospects (lost lots of money with the meager pay from previous job and the little car accident)

i realized that i`m not even close to getting 75% of my resolutions done, so i need to modify my 2010 list to be more realistic. so, here they are:

1. be a healthier person. eat more fruits and veggies. exercise 2 times a week for 1 hour each time.
2. save about 10% of paycheck and give 10% of paycheck to the lord.
3. find a home church in manassas. be a blessing to others.

lotsa weddings this year. i may miss them, but i wish my cousins the best for their new lives.

glad that 2010 starts off pretty smoothly.

blabbermouth

i really need to know when to keep my mouth shut. bro shared with me certain things that our parents did which displeased him. i chose to tell mom and pop using my perspective in hope that they would see things in more conventional way. guess what? it didn't work out as what i've imagined. mom told bro not to change facts around.

things are running at slower pace here. and misunderstanding happens all the time. the young ones aren't really entitled to too many opinions. i want my family members to be as open-minded as they can be, but i guess it requires a bit of work. besides, i realized that my 81 year old granpa is getting more senile. :( he talks about anything that he remembers at that time and it's just sad he keeps mentioning he's getting older and he may only have 1 more year to live. he's been saying this in the past 3 years! instead of counting his blessings, he chooses to say that it may be his last year around.

it's really too much to take for 3 days worth of being home. am a bit worried about my work visa too, though i am positive that it'll be taken care of before i return. i am digressing more things, but i hope i won't become too strongly opinionated before knowing the development of situations.

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

black friday

no, i am not going to shop today. more shopping means more junk that i may need to donate away. since sis is in town, we've been to a couple of touristy places, enough for me to make quick mental snapshots of los angeles before i leave on december 1st.

to tell you the truth, i am a little panicked. haven't started packing up yet but am determined that i only need 2 large suitcases and 1 small one for the final journey home. the gps has arrived, but i need to figure out where to stop between the long road trip from los angeles to west lafayette. i am aiming for a 10 hour drive per day (about 500 miles) which will be perfect for a 4 day trip to madison, wisconsin to meet with my long-lost cousin. all my scheduled stops are pretty tight, so i am praying that everything will go smoothly.

in the meantime, i am going to enjoy san diego with sister and small group friends. may have to see the body world exhibition again (sis hasn't seen it yet), but hey...i waited 3 years to finally see it, shouldn't subdue sis' enthusiasm to go see it.

what i'll miss about los angeles:
1. seattle's best coffee's iced vanilla latte (i know it's a chain! but it's in every borders that i go to. a good coffee to accompany my book)
2. duck noodle @ rodded. yum! the thai iced tea is the best i've ever tasted. the crushed ice will melt over time, which makes it not too sweet and it seems like an endless treat!
3. griffith observatory. breath-taking view of los angeles at night with the hollywood sign to your right.
4. trader joe's and whole foods! all about organic food! now a bit hooked with eggless egg salad too.
5. california pizza kitchen's pizza and salad. cheers to barbequed chicken salad!
6. blueberry milkshake from cafe 50's. totally fresh with real fruits. priceless!
7. just realized my list has been all about food, but i am grateful for all my former bosses. monica, julie, and sharona. amazing ladies who've allowed me to mess around with the systems to somehow make them better.
8. having friends from all over u.s. come and visit. daph from michigan. rosie from san francisco. janie, niyo and ram from purdue. agung who came from chicago. twin sis, nora from new york. you guys allowed me to sightsee these places where i wouldn't be if you weren't here.
9. ode to getty center! beautiful pieces of art work with good guide tours.
10. last but not least, a handful of friends who respect me: kelly, yuli, raskin, falstad, martin, and bita. i'll get to see you guys on monday (except for yuli) before i leave.

anyway, my flight to indo is scheduled to be on december 10th. pray for my safety! it's going to be a whirl wild journey in the next 2 weeks!