Early wake up call

Having moved to an apartment in the third floor never left me from worries on earthquake (This apartment where I live right now is the highest point I've ever lived in).

Today, my curiosity was answered. Today is one of the days when Mother Nature decided to be a mass wake up call for those who were still nestled in bed. It was 6.30 am, and it was still dark outside, when I thought my neighbor's children living right above me were up and stomping right above my ceiling (as usual), but they were unusually more hyper than ever. However, it didn't occur to me that what I heard was stomping. It was more of the ceiling rattling rather than stomping, like it was about to fall apart. The rattle was rather strong and right afterwards, I felt the bed was shaken slightly from side to side. At first, I didn't quickly jump out of my bed and run out. My superstitious instinct just had to kick in. However, the shake was getting more obvious and then stopped shortly. I quickly checked Twitter on my phone, which I put near the bed's foot, and just as I thought, it was an earthquake (besides, what sort of superpower could toddlers living right above my unit have to make my apartment shake?).

I quickly ran out of my room and checked the small chandelier above the dining table. It looked like it just stopped from moving and left slight hints of motion. Since the earthquake had stopped, I didn't feel the need to descend down to the ground level to seek for safety (just as I - as well as people whose hometowns are located right above the Pacific Ring of Fire - were taught to do). My roommate was still asleep in her room so I assumed she might not be aware of the early Mother Nature's wake up call.

It marked my first time feeling an earthquake in US. Last time I felt it was back in Jakarta, about five years ago.

Anyway, Happy St. Patrick's Day! Too bad no beer for me today since I'm having midterms (kind of) tomorrow.

Winter Break - New York: Part 4

Hey guys, sorry for abandoning this blog for over two weeks. I've been doing pretty well here. I just went through a midterm frenzy week. Plus, I've been trying to work on my portfolio website and this Korean drama called My Love from Another Star came along and became a major distraction. Anyway, I'm back on the track with more stories from my previous winter break which I'm still determined to finish it up hopefully by March.

Well, let's continue where we left off. Christmas was here! It was a pretty unproductive day for someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas. Elda woke up early in the morning to attend the Christmas service in the Cathedral we visited earlier. That would leave me more time to sleep and again, wake up nearly in the afternoon. Yeah I know that it's not strongly recommended for tourists to wake up late during the vacation. That was such a waste of time. However, we didn't really have many places to go to. After all, the sole reason we came to New York was to enjoy its vibe on Christmas.