Midnight Workout

A couple of days ago, I was invited by the ISV members to come to campus' quarterly event, Storm the Night Dance. The event took place on Friday, June 8, and I didn't decide on going until my friends dragged me to it. Well, I thought, why not? I came to the similar occasion two quarters ago, and everything should be the same as it was. For a note, I'm not a party-goer. I don't go to clubs and dance till morning, but well, I do sometimes love to step on the dance floor...with the condition: no alcohol.

The preparation for Storm the Night Dance was considerably sudden for me, as I looked up for the dress a few hours before the party commenced, meanwhile most of my friends already got all the stuff they'd been planning to wear since a week ago. I strolled in Valley Fair on my own and finally my attention was hooked on a simple, mini black dress with a black rose embroidery on the left shoulder, complete with a belt.

ISV people were supposed to gather around in Lynn's place before leaving to the venue (which was at school) at 9.00 pm, but apparently we spent too much time on make-up. Only the girls though. The guys were patiently waiting outside lol.

I left with Agnes, Catfish, and Lynn. It was 9.45 pm when we took off and we still needed to pick up Van who lives in Sunnyvale. I know, we were super late for the party and we only had two more hours to have fun before the committee had to wrap it up.

Time to have some fun!
Basically I'm just going to post the pictures and maybe put captions on some of them.

ISV forms a dance circle yeah!

Later on, I met my two Indonesian friends, Jessica and William, who were apparently surprised to see me in this kind of occasion. At one point, some random guy led the entire invitees to dance along with him, kind of like a mass aerobic session. The movements reminded Jessica, William, and me of poco poco dance. Weirdly enough, three of us tried to demonstrate the poco poco dance out of randomness to see if it was similar enough with the dance being led at that time. YOLO.

DAT GAZE!

Barefeet girls!

Our feet ached from jumping on heels!

When we took our heels off and stepped on the wet grass in the chilly night...

IT WAS SO DARN COLD!!!

*seriously I felt my feet were temporarily frozen

Koosha and Cynthia are having so much fun!
(btw, oh hi Erin...*the guy in the back*)

 

By the way, at one point during the dance, two strange boys came up to me and tried to have some talk with me. One of them whispered to another in a pause, sort of asking him what to ask me. I was so dumb not to realize immediately that they were actually hitting on me and the hints are as follows:

1. One of them asked me where I got the glowing neon bracelet. I told him to go to the welcome booth at the entrance, but he hesitated to go. I kind of sensed he actually wanted ME TO WALK HIM THERE. dafudge
2. The same guy asked “Do you have a boyfriend?” I had to say I did so that he didn't hit on me any longer. However, he continued “Are you married?” The fudge dude are you high or something?
3. The other guy asked “Hey my friend right here doesn't have a date tonight. Do you want to dance with him?” I refused, of course. HELL NO.
4. When I was about to turn to my friends, one of them stopped me from doing so, saying “Hold on, why are you going to your friends when you have us?” Four words to both of you gentlemen. Go poo your self. Or at least your common sense.

Good thing one of my Indonesian friends came up and handed me the camera (yeah, while I was being interrogated by these two strange guys, my friend borrowed the camera, which might explain why I wasn't on some of the pictures). Weirdly, my friends didn't help me to get away from those guys because they thought those guys were MY FRIENDS.lol

Anyway, I asked my Indonesian friend to distract me and take me away from them. Thank you so much for saving me from these weirdos!

Apparently, I wasn't the only victim. Some of my friends later told me that they bumped into the same guys and explained that they were in their drunken state in the party (despite the event itself prohibits any forms of alcohol). Those guys must have drunken heaps of liquors before entering the party.

Anyway, no more complaints. Let's have some more fun!

Mona and Chika! Two kawaii Japanese girls!

Not sure what Luna tried to do to Channon by placing her hand on his back

The staircase family, with Eric the tallest among all

The party went on and it came to an end at 12. Some people begged the DJ to play some more songs, but once it ends, it couldn't be continued any further. This is not a club in the end. This is a school event, and everything had to go according to its schedule.

So yeah, no encore. Bummer...

The girls I mentioned earlier and I tiptoed all the way to Agnes' car barefeet. We were planning to go to Zoey's house for an afterparty, but the party at Agnes' car was supposed to drop by at Ihop to buy something to eat during the afterparty, while I guess the other party should be buying drinks.

Zoey's house was packed with more than I expected. The later the night got, the more people came to chill and have fun. Some people decided to play some silly game, while I was enjoying myself playing playstation with the other party (I actually played Naruto, which is strangely fun). By the time I needed to go home, the boys switched the game to Winning Eleven. Sometimes, life's totally unfair... -_-

Well, I had a great time overall that night. Yeah, if only I didn't have driving lesson the next day, I would love to stay overnight with a dozen of people in one room.

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good bye

Farewell, farewell...

This post-final week was probably quite one of the busiest week in the past few months. Fact is, summer is coming as I mentioned in the previous post. With summer's coming, college students prepare to go back to their home countries for summer vacation, moving out/in, transferring, etc. I wasn't going back to Indonesia in a short period of time nor moving out nor transferring, but it doesn't mean I just stayed at home while my friends were moving out/in, transferring, and going back home.

Agnes' farewell was merely one out of quite many farewells I attended. Another one (out of many other farewells) took form as a graduation+prom event held by Indonesian Student Organization.

It took place on June 10, 2011 in Saint-Clare Hotel, San Jose. Remember the invitation design I showed you? Yep it was for this event.
At first, I kind of doubted whether to attend or not, but then exactly three days before the D-day, I made up my mind to attend. Later I was bothered with the fact that I didn't have dress and shoes that matched the theme: classy. Two days before the D-day, I went to the mall after school to look for a dress (it was the quickest dress hunting, trust me), and the next day, I did the same thing only that time, I looked for a pair of matching shoes.

I had quite a lot of selections when it comes to dresses, starting from bright pink, marine blue, pastel cream, to finally...black. Black is after all the most neutral color (besides matching the prom's dress code), so I was thinking I could reuse the dress for some upcoming occasions.

The proud graduates!

The transfer students were the main focus throughout the prom. I gotta say the whole graduation+prom event worked out really well. I truly saluted the committee who had worked for the event, despite only having up to six members. They surely have put a lot of effort to make it all happen. The food served for fine dinner was successfully indulging. The event itself was quite entertaining, pretty spontaneous at some points, and most importantly...organized!

After the event came to its end, we took pictures at the lobby.

Some other farewells include BBQ in Watsonville held by International Student Volunteer. The event was actually very fun but too bad I don't have the pictures. But I'd love to post about the story next time.

Well, following farewells, since some transferring students moved out, the roommates of those transferring students (they are remaining students) moved out as well. These remaining students looked for some other places to live, possibly even sharing apartment with other remaining students. At least it's better for them rather than leaving alone after their roommates move out to the university.

Anyway, I helped these remaining students move out as well. I did help by loading furnishings into the car. So yeah, it was quite a busy week.

And...the last farewell that concluded the whole farewell weeks just happened yesterday.

This week, I'd been informed that Kevin Halim, Aymee's boyfriend, was going to take off to Jakarta on July 1 midnight. I had anticipated to take him to the airport along with my friends, and especially he's one of the transferring students (he's going back to Jakarta for summer vacation before going to his university on August).

After finishing my early evening class on June 30, Elda told me that Jessica, another friend of mine, was going back to Indonesia the same night as well. I thought of taking Jessica and her sister, Sharon, to the airport and leaving Halim's farewell plan.
However, it turned out that Halim's flight would be nearly at the same time as Jessica's (despite having different flights). So there was a chance for me and Elda to meet up with Halim and his party at the airport. at the same time of Halim's flight, despite having different flights.

From school, I took off straight to Jessica's apartment after picking up Elda at my apartment's bus stop. We had dinner at Krung Thai with Kak Ijan and Kak Rocky in Santa Clara before taking off to San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

We arrived at SFO at around 10.00 pm and immediately took Jessica and Sharon to the check-in counter. Elda and I helped them to load the baggage.

After they got their boarding passes, we all got to meet with Halim and the party in another aisle.

See you on August in Jakarta, Halim!
(From left to right: Ray, Nancy, Halim, Aymee, me, and Elda)


Awwww.....you'll see him again on August, Aymee dear.


The home-comer and the non-home-comer


Roomies and the couple.


The sisters are ready to embrace hometown
(From left to right: Elda, Jessica, Sharon, and I)

After a short chat, Jessica and Sharon entered the scanning place, although it was still an hour before the boarding time (12 am). Halim still wanted to stick around for a while before 12 with the others. Elda and I decided to go home since it was already late and we didn't want to make Kak Rocky wait for us any longer.

So the farewell at the airport concludes the whole farewell week, as mentioned. Right now, I'm looking forward to seeing SFO on August 6, which is (OMG) only a month away. Seriously I never expected time would fly this fast.

Have a nice trip/flight for transferring students, whoever's going somewhere for summer vacation, or moving out!
Safe drive, have enough rest, and enjoy your summer!

SFO farewell pictures are credit to: Elda

My Birthday Bash

I'm so sorry for the poor quality pictures. These were taken by my aunt, not by my dad (who used my digital camera). Anyway it was a great night, unfortunately I had a fever that day but thanks to the company of all my friends, I felt better since the occasion.

~Scroll down after the pictures for the story~

********
Occasion: My Sweet Seventeen Birthday Dinner
Date: October 24, 2009
Venue: JustSteak Mahakam
Time: 6.00 pm - 10.00 pm
Host: Beben
Organized by: Ci Christine


Photos of me growing up

Me doing the first cut of the cake


Two girls unnoticed


Me and the freshmen.
From left to right: Nikita, Soraya, and Dian


Singing "A Whole New World..."
From left to right: Monica (my younger cousin), me, Bella, and Angel (my older cousin)


Waiting for dinner.
From left to right: Farman, Agnes, Me, Bella, and Anin checking out photos


Chatting while waiting for the order


Blowing the candle


Cutting the cake together


Where's the main course????


Happy birthday to me...


"Yang Punya Hajat" got anything to say?


The sweet presents from my friends

***********
~The Story~

Since I have this quirky storytelling habit, I can't help but at least to tell you a bit about how my birthday was. After all, I don't think the pictures above could quite explain much about the situation. The Birthday was planned approximately two weeks before the D-Day and at the beginning, I already planned that the occasion should be held on the closest weekend after my birthday.

My Birthday is actually on the 23rd of October, so the closest weekend prior to that day is exactly the day after the 23rd itself, which is the 24th of October. So, after the date was set, it was time for me to choose the venue. I suggested some restaurants that provide special birthday occasion, like Tamani Cafe and I also recommended one of the venues that provides cool atmosphere for holding a birthday occasion, which is JustSteak. My mom eventually called the restaurant and booked for the 24th.

Later, my Math course teacher - Ci Christine - who really put a lot of effort and hardwork to make it all happen (huge credit to you!), offered herself to become the event organizer of this occasion, for free!! (Still, this part is a bit unbelievable, considering the phrase 'There's nothing free anymore in Jakarta'.) But her presence and her offer were like an oasis (fine, lebay). She told me that she was about to pursue a career in event organizing and currently she was making up a portfolio. And this project, my occasion, would be her first project for her portfolio, that's why she didn't put any charges for my occasion.

Therefore, the concept was finally being made. Since I'm not really a party hype, so I told her that my occasion wasn't to be referred as a party, but a gathering or dinner instead. It wouldn't be like a normal sweet seventeen standing party, but like an ala carte dinner. Ci Christine eventually managed to call a friend of hers, who had this talent as a party host, to be part of the gathering, and also a friend of hers to become her assistant.

Oh, and I also made the invitations by myself, and gave them out to my friends. Not to mention, I invited my old friends to attend my event online via Facebook (you don't know how I really thank this social networking site. It really deserves a credit too). So everyday, I managed to spend some time looking up to my event page to stay updated with the RSVP, which kept increasing day by day!

On 16th of October, exactly the day before Tarphrodite and a week before the event, I managed myself to leave Senayan (the school event's venue) at 9 pm to JustSteak for an appointment with Ci Christine and her friends participating in my event. Together, she made a rough draft of table arrangements, the decorations, and the run down.

Well, actually before the D-day, I was surprised to know that apparently, on the 24th, there were around 4 birthday parties held by my friends, in different places of course, but almost at the same time. But luckily, the other three of my friends were not really close friends, so surely they invited friends that weren't so close to me either. Actually, there were three rumored parties at first. My event, and my two other friends' parties, who were not my close friends. But then, two days before the 24th, a friend of mine gave out invitations of her surprise party, inviting all the 12th graders. That was when I was worried if my friends would be more interested to go to that party, since it had doorprize of Blackberry, inviting Ecoutez to perform (can.you.even.believe.it???), and held in a five star hotel's ballroom? While my party - well, it was not even a party - was much simpler than the others' posh parties?

But luckily, all my friends have RSVPed and still confirmed that they would still attend my gathering. Thank you guys!!! I really appreciate that!!

The 23rd passed smoothly, with smooches and wishes from all my friends, relatives, and teachers (it was funny how my best friend called out teachers in the corridor saying 'Ma'am, today is Carissa's birthday!' then those teachers approached me one by one and wished me a happy birthday. It was really memorable!).

But on the 24th, I was shocked by something I found out when I just woke up: I had a fever *scary music effect*. In the morning, I had a Math course with Ci Christine first and during the course, I could even hardly concentrate, realizing how bad the fever and its effect were. That moment, I could do nothing but to apologize Ci Christine that I couldn't concentrate. Even though I couldn't read minds, but I could tell that she - too - was worried if the event she and her friends and also my parents had organized all along, would be cancelled due to my current condition. But then she suggested that I should sleep all afternoon until 3 o'clock, where I would be preparing for the event, so that I could save my energy, and also she suggested me to drink up some medicines to keep me fit, or at least make me look healthy during the event (no, it's not like drugs. The pills were only Panadol, after all).

So, I did what she said. After she left at 9, I slumped myself on the bed and continued to sleep until 3, where I woke up and found myself getting better. The fever decreased and I started to pick a dress, did the finishing touch for my slideshow video, and went to a salon for a hair do.

Finally, I reached JustSteak exactly on 5.30. Then I helped Ci Christine do the decorations. Finally at 6, guests started coming (the freshmen came first!) and then my cousins, that were planned to help Ci Christine in welcoming guests, came.

And as for the rest of the story? Well, you can tell from the pictures. The guests reached up to 40 (more than the target!) and the dinner went smoothly just like the concept (my concept was having this looooong table for everyone to have their dinner, instead of some small separate tables, sorry I forgot to tell you the concept earlier). What was really impressive from this event was, the element of gathering itself, because my elementary school friends could make friends with my high school friends, exchanging phone numbers, and together they participated in funny games!

Even though my feet started to ache due to the ever so painful high heels I wore, I could get over it. And even, I got a surprise guest, who turned out to be my violin teacher himself. He performed some songs with fellow musicians and music teachers from Yamaha. But, it's just, I didn't expect he would be there, as I didn't even tell that the day before (the 23rd was on Friday) I had my violin lesson. Well, I guess it was part of my dad's plan to surprise me. Thanks dad.

The event soon ended at 10, the time when all guests had left. That was the moment when my fever started to increase, again. Ugh. I myself left at 11 along with Ci Christine, her friends, and the fellow musicians (Kak Wisnu - my violin teacher, Ramdan the violinist, Malvin the singer, and Febian the keyboardist, and not to mention my dad was the pianist, again, forgot to mention about that earlier).

Aanndd...that was all I could say about my memorable sweet seventeen moment. It was simple, but it really had a warm, family-ish atmosphere, without DJ or ajojing moment. The music was cool, calm, and relaxing. At first, I planned to attend my friend's party (the one held in the five star ballroom and invited Ecoutez). I knew it was late, but the invitation said that the party ended at the break of dawn, meaning I could still at least go there and have a look. But I was too tired, and so were my friends, and I just decided to go home. So...my next destination was definitely, the bed itself.

So, all I can say is, it's good to finally turn seventeen, the legal age in this country. Soon I'm going to have my ID card and also my driving license!

Thanks God for giving me a chance to finally turn seventeen, mom and dad for raising me, I know I've been quite a bad girl, hehe, Ci Christine for being the best EO ever, Beben for hosting the show and games, Jenny for helping the decorations, my cousins for SUJU CD and welcoming guests, and last but not least, to all my friends for the wishes, for completing my sweet seventeen moment, and for the lovely presents!! (Oh, and as for the presents, they are all soooo awesome and I love them all! Ranging from Super Junior CD, books, to Mr. Bean's nodding action figure! So cute!!)

^___^