Rainy Season

One of my friends conducted an interview for someone with international background. Being an international student that still proudly bears Indonesian heritage miles away from home, I was happy to answer her questions and shares about practices and customs from Indonesia unfamiliar to Americans. One of the questions involve sharing an unusual experience that happened in the hometown. Take a look

Tell me about something funny/hard/exciting/frightening/good/bad/etc. that happened to you in your home country.

Before I begin with my experience, let me give you a proper introduction about the difference between Californian rain and Indonesian rain. A friend rushed into the classroom one day (in Art Center, of course). "It's raining outside." she was controlling her breath with a panic expression on her face. A year ago, I barely experienced rain in LA.

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.

Fascinated by Cruise Ships and Ocean Liners

Despite the fact that finals week is coming in two weeks, I decided not to do anything exhausting for Thanksgiving. I'm saving up for winter break trip. It would be highly impossible to do homework during the break while on vacation at the same time. So I decided to stay in LA and instead, welcome all my friends who will be coming to visit later.

Anyway, I might have something that I haven't shared to you readers. Don't worry, nothing bad. I've been into cruise ships and ocean liners these days. Yeah, that might sound a little strange for you. Obsessed on cruise ships? Who does that? I do.

Indonesia for the Break!

How is everybody doing? I'm glad I finally got to write another post, and even better, from my own hometown!!! Sorry for the lack of post for the past month. I've been slain by projects, finals, and moving. Moving after finals was a pain, especially knowing that your other friends headed home to pass out on their beds after the last day of finals while you were on your way to Uhaul to pick up a moving truck.

Happy 484th Birthday, Hometown

I'm listening to this unusually chill Indonesian jazz song on Friday night and I found out today, according to Indonesian time (June 22), is anniversary of the founding of Jakarta.

 


That's a coincidence right? Anyway, I think this song tries to depict Jakarta in a more romantic way (the way Paris is often associated as the city of romance) but it pays quite an inaccurate tribute to the city itself. Drinking champagne? That doesn't sound like what typical Jakarta people would do. Maybe only those Jakarta bourgeoisies people would do that. What about inhaling carbon monoxide from Metro Mini's exhaustion pipes, which is crucial but people don't give a shit about? And what about the facts that crossing pedestrians are barely visible to passing drivers? 

That sounds more like Jakarta.

So dear Mr. Jokowi, I have high hopes on you. You already make a good impression as a well-respected high figure with humble personality, so I hope that lives up to your duty as well as the governor of Jakarta :)

Two Ultimate Dumbness of the Week (Oh God, Why?)

Sometimes, at some points of our life, there are moments where you just want to hide your face and don't want to expose yourself to anyone. We just wanted to forget that ever happened. In my case, those kinds of moment happen to me in a week.

Yes, I made two silly mistakes in two consecutive days. Nothing really personal or serious though, so don't worry. Just pure dumbness hahaha.

soothing songs on a sunday afternoon

Hi guys
I'm at a friend's place, feeling unproductive today though. I spent almost the whole day hanging out. First I went to volunteer at a festival in Mountainview, then I dropped by at the park across school for Indonesian Student Organization welcoming event. Afterwards, I chilled with my friends at a bowling alley. We had a nice talk before we went to have an early dinner.

Good thing I already finished the color theory project halfway, now I only have to finish the rest today.

My friends have been playing some cool, chilling songs performed by renowned Youtube artists, like David Choi and Clara C. You guys should check these songs out, some of which are my most favorite.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

David Choi
Calm music, warm personality, what's not to love about this guy? The song could cool down any heated mood :)







. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nigel Tay
He's a Malay youtube artist. Not so much he produced up until this point, but this song below is definitely earcatching. I got introduced to him for the first time through a viral video on youtube made called My Generasi.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Clara C
Her guitar and singing skills are undoubtedly good. I guess she also wrote the songs posted on her Youtube all by herself.

So lie your back on a comfy seat, help yourself with a glass of iced tea, and listen to those songs. Your Sunday will never be even better.

Bon dimanche!

Chinese speakers needed

I was scrambling through 4 e v e r love group on Facebook and happened to find a long lost article I wrote a year ago.
Ironically, the article was published in Chinese for a local Taiwanese newspaper, much contrary to its original version (English). Even MORE ironically, I can't seem to understand any of it.
Anyway, it's translated t0 Chinese by my mom

To make matters even worse, I have seemingly lost the original document :'(

Click on the article above to get you to the article page.

Memorable journey - Overseas Chinese youth to participate in Taiwan to observe the group felt
Fourth team: Chen Keisha

At the Taoyuan International Airport, we are the fourth team counselors are college friends hugged, we cried, three weeks time off so fast, blink of an eye, to observe the group's journey coming to an end. Like yesterday, to arrive at the Taoyuan International Airport today to say goodbye.

Bear, bear three weeks in daily life counselor, enthusiasm could not bear to Taiwan, could not bear to college friends. While the short get together, we must separate. I heard the sound of treasure goodbye. The deep friendship and I will remember in their hearts, will never fade!

Aircraft arrived at Soekarno - Hatta Airport, college friends once again embrace, we are devotion.

Here I would like to thank you stay in Indonesia, but Taiwan Alumni Association President Chen Wen aunt, she was busy, made a special trip to the airport to pick us before you leave hungry she was afraid of our journey, came to give each of us a bread, She is like a good aunt, each of us carefully Dingning Zhao, this situation, we will never forget, but the text Thank you Auntie.

In Taiwan, three weeks, I learned a lot in school, not something I learned tai chi, how paper fan, do Hakka cuisine (HAKA TRADITIONAL TEA), doing MOCI cake.

To observe the group's itinerary is very rich, we visited the Tokai University, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, National Palace Museum, the famous scenic spot - Sun Moon Lake, and let me know Taiwan's history, colorful culture of Taiwan, Taiwan is also aware of the traditional Chinese arts and culture center. We visited a temple of Taiwan's traditional architectural style, folk culture and art, like paper-cut art is one of them.

In my Chinese regiment is the worst, in fact, not difficult to learn Chinese, Chinese grammar is not troublesome, unlike the English in the past tense, present tense, or future-style grammar. See college friends are talking about fluent Chinese, I said to myself, came back, I have to work harder to learn Chinese. Come on! Keisha.

In Taiwan, you can also see Aboriginal culture, Aboriginal dance, most of them live in the mountains, and now retains complete indigenous culture. We traveled almost the whole of Taiwan, from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, college friends almost every day in the luggage heavier. Although I am not a shopaholic, but Taiwan's something cheap, 101 Mall, Shihlin Night Market, where nostalgia are college friends.

Last night in Taipei, we can not sleep, because busy to pack up, get up early to the airport, ready to present to the counselors. Think tomorrow we should separate the thought knocked the door tomorrow, no counselor, gently wake us, I kept thinking, I was the emergence of waves of frustration and melancholy.

Thank you new fourth team of counselors small, Hippo, PIZ-ZA sister, thank you three weeks meticulous care of us, I think I give you the most trouble of the members, I do not eat pork because, every time counselors are always busy trying to help me find no pork lunch, really sorry.

Want another chance, I will then Taiwan, and we meet again, next month I will fly across the Atlantic to begin my college life, but a friendship, which I will always forever in mind - the fourth team counselors and college friends, Terrific Oh! Original: Keisha

Translation: Yi-Chu Note: This is a never accept the influence of Chinese culture and has a little girl of Chinese descent, went to the United States finished the secondary school curriculum to graduate before the privilege of participating in the "Overseas Chinese Youth Study Tour of Taiwan." three weeks of Chinese cultural atmosphere full of life and collective activities, she deeply appreciate the great Chinese culture and friendship is precious, determined in the future to learn Chinese to catch up, between the lines with smooth and lively character.

The original is in English, translated by her mother, Yi-Chu.

Excuse the lame translation. I was too lazy to fix the translation cos if I did that, the result wouldn't be much better than the original. Don't worry, I've asked my mom to send me the original document which I hope could replace the current scrawny translation. You can totally tell they're ripped out of from Google translate.

Thanks to the translated article too, I finally figured out that my Chinese name turns out to be somewhat Keisha, or something that sounds like it ;) and my mom's too - Yi-Chu. What a way to trace back my Chinese heritage.

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Anyway, moving on to the next news:

S.O.S

www.headsure.com

Uh oh, bad news coming bitchess!
Apparently my pocket camera data cable has been swapped with my dad's blackberry's data cable back in Indonesia. It answers my curiosity why - one day - I sudden found TWO Blackberry's data cables in my cable box, and none of my camera's.

By any means, I won't be able to give you updates featuring latest pictures I took from my camera. Sad, right?
I need to find a time to go to a nearest Best buy to purchase it so you guys just need to wait for that day to come.

jetlag.

Jetlag.
It's 2:14 am.

Need to get some sleep. I might wake up late tomorrow, but apparently there's something I need to do in the morning
Half of my soul is still left in Jakarta, and a smaller piece of it got left in Singapore.

Uh Monday, I don't want to go back to reality.
Someone please kidnap me back to the land of non-reality,
whatever you call it.

Counting down the days

HI GUYS
It's been over a month since my stay in Indonesia.

I'll be going back on the 23rd of September, which is...next week.

Happy? sad? Well, I'm in between. Happy cos...
I MISS USA.
That's true!
Here: Crossing the road is INSANE, nobody seems to care when someone you hold the door to let them to pass by, no staying up late at friends', no FREAKING FREE MINERAL WATER

But on the other hand, I know I'm going to miss a lot of things I'd encounter in Indonesia, something that even a country as great as US could never replace.

1. ~za FOOD
   Indonesian authentic food is definitely irreplaceable. There's actually an Indonesian restaurant where I live, but the price is ridiculous. But that's one thing I can tolerate cos I understand it must be hard to get those one-and-only Indonesian spices.
   
   
2. ~za RAIN
   Yeah I'm a rain person. The sound of heavy rain, the smell of acid rain (not good though), being in the car and look through the window where water's dripping down while listening to the music, and umbrellas. No matter how you think how terrible these things are, but still, nothing's going to replace rain in Indonesia
   
   
3. ~za TV
   It's a personal issue. I don't watch TV there.
   
   
4. ~za CLIMATE
   I guess now I get why Americans love going to Indonesia: cos it's a place where you don't need to bother yourself by wearing layers of outfit! Or think about what to wear on spring!
   
   
5. ~za HOUSE
   You know that song from Bolt? There is no home like the one you've got, cos that home belongs to you *tears* Quite explains everything. Last but not least...
   
   
6. ~za ROOM
   I must say I love my bed there rather than here. The blanket I have in Cupertino is totally comforting and it can even make me sleep for hours! But well, there are no rooms in the world - even though, say, I get offered a room to stay at a palace in England - that are going to replace my one and only bedroom.
   

I'm pretty sure there must be lots more than just 6 irreplaceable things.
Anyway, *laconic mode on* I'm off to Singapore tomorrow. I'll be back on Sunday evening and hopefully I'll get to post some more interesting stories before I go back to the US on Friday next week.

gonna miss my desk...

Room sweet room.
Take care of yourself room and the other 5 irreplaceable things. See you next year!

Yeah I'm going back to Indonesia next year.

Bongcheondong’s Ghost

Aymee sent me this link yesterday. At a glimpse, I see the link she sent me contains a web comic strip written in Korean. But Aymee said said. "Just scroll down! Keep scrolling! Don't mind the language, just keep scrolling!" At the same time, another friend of mine knew that Aymee sent me that link. He chatted with me and said "Don't open it!"

But well, I'm a cat, and I feel curiosity was slowly killing me...
And it indeed scared the poo out of me!!!!

Anyway, a bit about the plot. The short comic "Bongcheondong's Ghost (봉천동 귀신)" is based on a local urban legend. It basically tells about a girl seemingly walking back home late at night when she suddenly bumped into a limping woman.
I won't spoil anything here. You need to figure out yourself to see what I'm talking about.

Open if you dare

Overheard on the weekend

Just some quotes overheard lately which I hoped would make you laugh your ass off as well (well, not that much though).

Conversation between me and my dad over Skype:

Me: "How will I be able to see the pictures from yesterday's event?"
Dad: "Hold on for a second, I'm tagging you on them (on Facebook) now." *pauses* "Wait, what's your name again?"

(My dad's possibly having trouble looking for my full name in order to tag me on those pics)
OMG, my dad forgot his own daughter's name T_T

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Random conversation among me and 3 of my friends during playing a race game on PS.
2 of my friends are Indonesians, another one is a Malay.

Everyone: *hands on joysticks, eyes on the screen*
Friend #1 (She's Indonesian): innocently "Hey, you know what? Another Indonesian classmate introduced this Malay word to me in the class."
Friend #2 (He's Malay): "What is it?"
Friend #1: "Rumah Sakit Korban Lelaki." (literally means "Hospital for the Victims of Men", but it actually means "Maternity Hospital". Quite ironic, eh?)

*awkward pause, suddenly...*

Me and another Indonesian friend (Friend #3): HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

Me: *to Friend #2* "Is it really how you say it in Malay?"
Friend #2: *slightly embarrassed, I can tell* "Yes, it's actually true, or Klinik Ibu dan Anak (Mother and Child Clinic). How do you say that in Indonesian?"
Me: "We call it 'Rumah Sakit Bersalin'."
Friend #1: "But the Malay word for it makes an impression as if the guys there (in Malaysia) are all bad."
Everyone else: .....

If you don't know about this "joke", that's because it actually isn't a joke. It's true that Maternity Hospital is called...that...in Malay (I just double-checked it to Friend #2, to make sure that the Malay word for it isn't merely something made up by Indonesian people). So it's more like British people have "rubbish" and Americans have "garbage".

It's just that the phrase actually sounds funny to Indonesians. Since especially Indonesian people grow resent towards Malay since Malay people are said to have adopted and claimed Indonesian culture as theirs), it has become a joke among Indonesian people.

But really, no offense on me bringing up about this "joke". The "joke" here actually lies on the fact that me and Friend #3 have certainly heard about this "joke" back in our home country as something we talk to our fellow Indonesians (local joke), but we never expected we would hear this "joke" brought up in the presence of a real Malay person.

I feel a bit bad to that guy though, but good thing his reaction is cool and okay towards it.

And no, despite the commotion between Indonesians and Malays these days (due to the cultural conflict), my Indonesian friends and I never develop this hatred feeling towards our Malay friend. We even act as if such a thing never exists!
So let there be peace between us!!! :)

Dreams do come true?

I'll be the happiest person on earth if I have this thing in my hand.



Just sayin...

I just thought of finding something to clear out my depressed mind.
I wish I lived in LA (not really)
I wish I could make Disneyland my second home
I wish I could go to Disneyland after a stressing exam/school (too far fetched)
I wish I could take pictures with those costume characters no matter how silly I'd look
I wish I could get on the rides without feeling dizzy
I wish I could listen to Disney movie score playing in the background
I wish...

Too many

Go back to reality, Car...

Holy excrement!! That's like the shortest, randomest post I've ever had so far!!!
This one should go to Tumblr though.
Anyway....

Artsy week

Long time no see! I'm pretty sure I've missed out a lot of important things to tell here. Great deal of experiences have happened throughout my absence in the blog and if I wanted to share all the magnificent things here, there will be way too many.

This post will be dedicated yours truly to my recent digital artwork. Yeah, I gotta say I've been quite productive when it comes to art these days, thanks to my Web Design class.

The idea is, I was to create three homepage designs based on three different themes.

Corporate
It has to be somehow professional, formal, and clean-looking and must be related to technology or business...

...and I kinda hate how mine turns out to be.

Small Business
Got any company to establish in mind? I came up with a private cinema where you can basically rent movies, watch them there, or simply bring them home.


Scratch #1: Normal mode

Scratch #2: Hover mode
If you hover over one of the option boxes (that take form as a film roll), one of the box will enlarge and a light will be reflected out of the projector at the bottom of the page.

Pop Culture
The concept is basically anything flashy, extreme, and dynamic that easily draws people (particularly teenagers). Too bad I couldn't come up with something specific cos the theme is just way too wide. Considering I'm a teenager, there are too much themes popping up in mind. Anyway I managed to come up with one and I'm not even sure you can sense the pop culture theme here.

Yeah, I came up with Greek myth theme. Too boring, you think?

Version 1.0

Version 2.0


Version 3.0
Most favorite version. You can tell, can't you?

Aside of doing website sketches on Photoshop, I used up my Photoshop trial as a chance to produce as many as artwork before it's expired. Well, no jaw dropping works as of now. But good thing that this month is quite an artsy productive month for me.

Anyway, speaking of artsy... (well this entire post does speak about it, doesn't it?), I've recently got elected as the graphic designer of my college's International Student Volunteer Club. Starting from late May, I've been in charge for graphic and design-related issues. Some of my works below are stuff I did for the club.







Right now I'm working on the club logo. It should be done pretty soon.

Here's another digital work I did. This one, requested by my friends, is for my college's graduation and prom. At first, the design was a bit cluttered in all sides of it, even until the invitation itself reaches the point of being printed out and given away to the attendees. Well, I hope they didn't notice all the clutter and the slight mistake.



Well, that's all I have so far. I'm looking forward to posting more, now I'm getting back to my homework and studies...or at least I'm trying to.

Have a nice weekend!! :)

Awake and sober

It's been a while since I haven't posted a general post just to say hi to you guys.
Just to keep you posted.

Nothing much happens to me these days, except my friends and I went out for barbecue on the weekend. But then I have to welcome the first busy week of the whole quarter which is exactly this week. The truth is, I've got three exams this week. One of them is a quiz to be exact, which required skills to memorize 1223467234 terms. Well, not that much of course, but you get the idea.

I kind of hate my English skills are heading to these days, I mean orally. Cos all of a sudden, my natural accent went 'poof'. Even it reached the point where I heard myself speaking in Singaporean/Indonesian/Javanese accent all of a sudden during Web Design spontaneous presentation. A lot of 'uhms' and 'errs' might be excused, accents? That's another story.

Not that I feel embarrassed, but I guess at least now I know how I talk naturally when I'm lazy enough to use my natural accent. But really, I'm not faking my American accent. I grew up watching tons of American movies and instinctively picked up the way Americans speak. It sort of stuck in me.

Anyway...
Another factor might be laziness. Speaking of laziness, Bruno Mars just released a song that pretty much depicts most of people's life when they are in lazy mode. The lyrics exactly match why lazy habit, so yeah, I guess you can relate it to yours too.

I've been wondering why most of my friends are into Tetris these days. I mean, it's a classical game and not my favorite one either. So I decided to give it a try one day and guess what, I got super addicted to the game!!! Well, not that addicted, but for a non-gamer like me, playing 6 rounds non stop is considered an addiction.

Currently, I'm on Level 12. My friends' levels are waaaaaayyy higher than mine that I feel a little intimidated. Often do I get annoyed with this game cos everytime you lose, you'll lose a point and if you keep on losing, your level will downgrade to the level below your current level. Also, everytime your opponent gets matching pieces that they need, I always get the opposite, which often leads me to being KOed. Sounds like the game is biased enough, eh? So, due to that game system, I always win but then I lose, I win, I lose, I win, I lose.

I assume the game must have something to do with conspiracy.

Here's something else I want to share with you guys too. But don't laugh at it okay?

I'm telling you: I'm a terrible cook. My "piece of art" may be exquisite-looking - a little too crowded for sure - to you but if you take a closer look, it consists of nothing but bunch of unrelated dishes, ranging from fish balls, fish cakes, crab sticks, mushrooms, carrots, spinach, potato, and a whole lot more. I'm a soup person. I always cook soup and suck at cook something else (I can, but it won't taste as good as my soup).
Even after I saw the picture I just took, I was like "F*ck, what the hell is this???"

If you ask what kind of food that is above you, I wouldn't give you the exact answer cos even I don't know what exactly that I cooked!

I guess it's safe to say that it's a combination of miso soup, fish ball soup, and vegetable soup. Well, I don't have the proper name for that but I'll let you define it by yourself.

My roommate Elda is way better in cooking. Go check her blog and I'll let you drool over her cooking.

One more thing before I'm signing off, since my history notes have been calling out for me:

I'M GOING BACK TO INDONESIA ON AUGUST!!!

Phiew...well, the homecoming story isn't even finished and I'm going back again? Time flies so fast, huh. It feels as if I just got back to Indonesia yesterday. It's pretty contradictory for some people I guess. Not that I don't miss my home country. In fact, I really do miss a lot of things that I still can't find here. The list is gonna be very long, you wouldn't want to read it now in this post.

Night/Morning/Evening/Afternoon peeps!

I wanna be a conglomerate (so freakin' bad)

You may not find anything funny from this dialogue, but it just sounds very unique.
Just last night, my mom messaged me through BBM, asking me how I've been doing. All of a sudden, we came across this unexpected topic. Well, basically the entire conversation is about a friend of mine, let's just call him "Kimchi" (especially since he likes to grin a lot, and that grin is like saying "Kimchi...Kimchi...") who's currently studying abroad as well.

Mom: "Your friend - Kimchi - is now working at a department store, you know."

Me: "Good for him then." (cos last time, I heard of him working as a kitchen dishwasher. So I hoped to hear he moved to a better workplace).

Mom: "Yup, his mom said that Kimchi was a smart speaker now. He could handle job interviews really well. Through his mom, he also said that he wanted to upgrade his job from being a dishwasher, to being an employee in that department store. So that he can make his dreams come true." (What a word: Dreams come true, pretty much like Disney's slogan)

Me: "Dreams come true? What are his dreams?"

Mom: "He wants to be a conglomerate."

Me: "A future conglomerate working at a department store?"

Mom: "He may now start barely as an employee, pushing carts back to shelves, but well, you never know what's going to happen in the future. Besides, that kid's quite ambitious, you know."

Oh wow, hearing about Kimchi's big dream, I become strongly motivated on my goals now. Why only this particular friend of mine that can motivate me? Cos he's my childhood friend and so far I've felt like I've underestimated him a lot throughout the days.

So hearing about him getting all the jobs and such, now I've felt the world's running in reverse. I haven't done anything much these days. The most productive things I've ever done are probably doing job applications and attending club meetings.

Last quarter, I ridiculously turned down an off-campus art teacher's assistant job just because I didn't feel very confident due to my limited drawing skills. Then now I'm aiming to work at the library or bookstore. Maybe I'm going to apply as a Math tutor, which I'm going to show you the details now through the dialogue below (continued from the dialogue above).

Mom: "What about you then? You've got a job yet?"

Me: "Not yet. I just applied for a library's position, and lately my friend recommended me a job at the tutoring center. I might apply as a Math tutor. The demand and requirement are pretty easy anyway."

Mom: "Huh? Math tutor?" (possibly, my mom was like "WTF, my kid, who barely ever scored past 70 in Math back in high school, now wanted to be a math tutor? *uncontrolled laughter* she must be joking").

Me: "Yeah, don't underestimate me. I'm not going to teach difficult stuff. I'm aiming to be an algebra tutor." (Algebra's probably the easiest among all Math levels. I don't even know/care if my mom knows about that)

Mom: "I have a feeling you should apply for an art assistant job or English tutor instead." (maybe her words are synonymous to: "Are you gonna kill yourself? I mean, teaching math? Go find a more suitable job for you.")

Me: "I'm not good in correcting essays nor displaying my artwork as good examples in art classes."

Mom: "How are you going to apply as a math teacher?"

Me: "I'll ask my past Algebra professor to recommend me."

Mom: "Whatever. It's up to you."

Anyway, it's just that I've never chatted with my mom this long (the actual conversation is even longer. I just cut off some parts here so you won't read all the unnecessary blabbers). We chat once in a blue moon, and I never find chatting with my mom THAT enjoyable compared to chatting with my lively dad.
But it's just...wow....my mom's really good at this kind of topic.

I'm running out of the track here. Well, the point that I'm about the emphasize is actually Kimchi's point where he aimed to make his dreams come true. I still don't get exactly what he means with his dreams since his definition of dream is rather abstract, but I guess that's kind of motivating, not just to me but to all of us.

We can dream big and it always starts from the bottom in order to reach something at the top.

Weirdness.

NOTE: I deleted this post once due to some specific purpose, but I decided to repost it again. If you ask when it happened, it was actually on Thursday this week.

The weirdest thing in terms of physical condition just happened to me.

I was writing the part 5 of the LA trip earlier as you can see. Then, distracted, I hovered my mouse on the screen and started googling random things. I've been into Marie Antoinette movie recently, due to its enjoyable soundtrack that I love listening to. So I googled about the soundtrack and the movie as well.

I don't know how it happened. I was in complete health this evening. I even just had a nice nap, which boosted my energy after my exhausting day today. It was exhausting but I so far have enjoyed school life that I feel there's nothing to stress about, since it's only the first week of school.

But then, out of nowhere, I felt a sudden nausea feeling. You know that when you feel sick and nauseous, it usually gropes slowly to you, but this nausea that I had just came all of a sudden before less than five minutes later, I was on the verge of throwing up. To refrain myself from doing so, I quickly moved to the kitchen to grab a glass of water (I even didn't care whose glass I used. I just snatched the first glass I noticed in the dishwasher). I thought I'd feel better, but then it became worse.

The nausea vanished but blurry sight took place, followed by drowsiness. Everything around me didn't go spinning, it's just...well...drowsy and blurred. It came really fast that I hardly remembered how it happened. Then I paced quickly to my bedroom while my sight was getting blurrier, before it reached the point of darkness. Everything went dark briefly but I could still feel myself walking and made my way to the bed. It was the climax when I thought I had a blackout in the hallway but I still felt my feet moving to the room.

My senses still worked to identify my bed. If not then I'm pretty sure I would have fainted midway. Then the next thing I knew, I slumped myself on the bed, and everything just went 'poof'. The blurry sight, the dizziness, the nausea, the exhaustion...it was as if the bed absorbed all of those. I quickly regained my consciousness once in the bed that I took a breath for a while.

My clear sight was restored but still I needed a moment to adjust myself, recovering from all sudden nausea and blackout. Less than a minute later, I slowly got up from bed and moved to my desk again. I don't want my roommate to be suspicious of anything happening to me. She probably thought I slumped myself on the bed because I was simply tired and wanted to lie down, but it was worse than that.

I have never experienced blackout or fainting before. This is probably my first experience. Weird thing, I always wondered what it felt like fainting and today my question was answered. I hate it. I simply hate it, especially when I still forced myself to rush to my bed, it was as if my mind still worked but it was struggling against my physical condition.

Now I'm feeling good again. I don't know, I need to watch over my condition till tomorrow. Hopefully it's nothing big.

So, please, no more blackout. I've been having several sleeping issues lately, maybe fainting is how my body decided to respond to my issues. Ugh, need to get rid of it.

I know it's a mistake for me to stick in front of this computer. I need to rest myself on the bed like...now, probably replace computer for a while with a good, relaxing book to read.

Anyway the reason why I've been writing a lot, even something as unnecessary as this, is to increase my writing skills. I became fully inspired by my English textbook which says that every single of unnecessary writing can help increase writing skills. So yeah, why didn't I give it a try?

100 facts at 1 am

OMG this is super random. You can skip this post if you wish to. Guess I need a distraction.

1. I am the only child in my family
2. I am of a Chinese-descent from my mother's side and pure Javanese descent from my father's side
3. I grew up in two cultures, Chinese and Javanese
4. I have a Chinese name, which is Chen Kai Sa.
   
5. I have been raised in mostly Catholic community
6. I am a Muslim
7. A lot of people mistake me as a Catholic from my facial appearance (I can't tell why and how)
8. I have this fear of injection needles
9. I hate dentists and their earsplitting drill sound
10. I feel like the shortest whenever I'm with my friends
11. I had a Dora-like bob hair when I was little
12. I learned English for the first time when I was four, but I didn't recognize grammars and tenses not until I was 11
13. I wanted to be a doctor when I was little
14. Today I hate doctors
15. I am a carnivore but barely gains weight
    
16. I can't stand spicy food
17. I love too salty instead of too sweet
18. I don't like candies. I'm a chocolate person
19. I am really close to my cousins
20. I am afraid of ghost stories but often find myself curious
21. I prefer watching thriller/gore/slasher/violent movie rather than a normal horror one.
    
22. I am a slow reader. The fastest duration for me to read a novel is a week long
23. I pay attention to slightest intricacies
24. I consider myself as disorganized but highly efficient
25. I am rather a perfectionist, ironically
26. I LOVE movies. I'm always excited whenever there's a movie-watching event
27. I have no certain preferences in movie genres
28. I have a wide range of favorite music
29. My first idol was Memes. I shed tears listening to her songs
30. Sharon Corr inspired me to play a violin
31. I was enrolled in acting and modeling classes in kindergarten
32. I have learned to play piano since I was four, but I'm never good at it
33. I prefer to play by ear
34. I have serious issues with piano tutors
35. I prefer to play by ear in both piano and violin
36. I used to perform Disney songs with violin back in middle school
37. I have an ambition to travel the world someday. Even my friend and I have this not-so-impossible plan to go backpacking to China, Korea, and Japan (much like Eat Pray Love-ish?)
    
38. I speak Indonesian, English, German, Japanese, basic French, conversational Chinese, and now I'm learning Korean.
    
39. I resist wearing contact lenses
40. I love winter more than summer
41. I love rain more than sunny
42. I used to smoke and quit immediately
43. I love apple cider
    
44. I am trying as hard as I can to stay sober when exposed to alcoholic drink
    
45. My ears are explosion-sensitive
46. I danced ballet when I was little
47. I learn how to dance hip hop and jazz these days
48. I wish I'm able to have a conversation with Japanese, German, and Korean people
49. I've been mistaken as a Filipino, Korean, Thai, Taiwanese, Chinese, Vietnamese
50. I went to an all girl school
51. I learned to value the power of women in my high school
52. I used to be a tomboy and refused to wear a dress to my middle school prom
53. I love multiculturalism
    
54. I used to play soccer
55. I am gadget-literate
56. I only changed my phone number ONCE and it's only due to moving to the US
57. I have a Blackberry
58. I have been into Kpop since June 2009
59. My first and my most favorite Kpop artists would be Super Junior
60. I am interested in doing Kpop dance covers
61. One of my current goals as of now is to watch a Kpop concert
    
62. For some reason I hate being outsmarted
63. I despise self-conscious people
64. I never attend concerts, but I have attended several orchestral concerts and recitals
65. I want to live in San Francisco, Tokyo, London, Los Angeles, Singapore, or New York (HA! Typical!)
66. So far I have written two novellas and a novel, but I haven't had guts to publish them
67. I love anime, particularly Cardcaptor Sakura and Jigoku Shoujo
68. I love Playstation 1 over PS3 or Nintendo
69. My favorite game are Crash Team Racing and The Sims
    
70. My two cousins and I used to roleplay as Magical Doremi, Power Ranger, and Powerpuff Girls
71. Everytime I take a nap in the afternoon, I always stay up late at night
72. Midnight craving is a guilty pleasure
73. I don't find my weight really that matters
74. I don't find questions about my weight or age really that offensive
75. Laughter is a contagious "disease" for me. Seeing a person laughing can make me laugh as well, even though I don't know what's so funny.
    
76. I LOVE FOOD
77. I always tell people that I major in Graphic Design, no matter it is animation that is written as my major in my I20
78. I wish I could make an animation movie some day
79. I fear of balloons
    
80. I am Coulrophobic
81. I want to learn ventriloquism
82. Whenever I hear someone singing to one song, I'll unconsciously sing to it or hum it afterwards.
83. I have a thing on boots, cardigans, coats, and hats
84. My bedroom in Jakarta is filled with 5 posters of Super Junior, 2 posters of school events, a poster of Daniel Radcliffe, and 2 more movie posters
85. I hate people who ask “I'm right, aren't I?”
86. I always dream of having a minimalistic penthouse overlooking a downtown (any cities)
87. I don't respect people who can't keep a secret
88. I am possibly the least sensitive person you'll ever meet
89. I am not a roller coaster person. I'd prefer experiencing tense or calm dark rides instead of going through nauseous loops and drops
90. As of now, I haven't had any suitors boyfriends.
    
91. Everytime I'm asked if I have or ever have a boyfriend or not, I'll instead proudly yet defensively say “But I do have a crush and an ex-crush!” *lame*
    
92. I hate and will always hate Mathematics
93. Around 43,298,766 people have said this to me. “You have such neat and small writings.”
94. Around 2,231 people call me Teresa, since "Teresa" and "Carissa" are similarly pronounced
95. I love shopping. I think it's girls' nature.
96. My favorite clothing store is XXI. I always spend two hours nonstop grabbing and trying out some clothes in the fitting room, but end up buying only one of them or even none.
97. My hidden ambition is to be either a teacher or a psychologist/therapist.
    
98. I wish I had a drawing/painting studio, music studio, private movie theatre, and a library in my future house
99. My most favorite coffee type is latte.
100. I want to be part of an orchestra

black black white white (ambiguity)

The title literally means "black black white white"
This entry is posted as requested by Elda
Just now we were arguing over something ridiculous, but I guess it'd be worth to post.

My earphone's speaker happened to nudge against the glass that stood in front of me, making a "cling" sound. Actually it was nothing much, but apparently Elda heard it and said.

Elda: "The sound reminds me of a food wagon in Indonesia that sells...." (halted for a second). "That black, white thingy...black and white... black...black...white...square...cube sized...."

Me: "What?"

Elda: "It's an Indonesian dessert. The black thing is soggy like jelly. The white thingy is..."

Me: "Es campur? (mixed ice)"

Elda: "No, the black thingy is cube sized, squares, yeah, and there's a lot of them in the dish."

Me: (frown) "Kolak? Cendol?"

Elda: "Noooo... You'd always have that to break fasting."

Me: "I'd always have either kolak or cendol to break fasting."

Elda: "Nooo, it's...umm...black, black, thingy...."

Me: "Kembang tahu? (douhua)" (trying to guess if maybe she meant the food was of hot black gravy with thin white tofu layers floating on it)

Elda: "No!! It's not hot. It's cold, it's a dessert, it's sweet!" (her tone rose)

Me: "What then? Nata de coco?"

Elda: "Yeaaaaah, you got the white thing right!! The black thing should be...should be...."

Me: "Gula jawa? (Javanese sugar, cos once it's blended with water, it'll make the water turn dark)"

Elda: "Nooo!!!"

Me: "Pudding?"

Elda: "Noo!!"

Me: "Jelly...jelly..."

Elda: "No!!! No jelly!!!"

Me: "Does it contain coconut milk?"

Elda: "Not even close!"

Me: "Err...es campur, es doger, es kacang hijau (pea ice)?" (going back to the very first guess)

Elda: "Nooo!"

Me: "Es kelapa muda? (coconut ice)"

Elda: "Nooooooooooo!!!"

Me: "Black, black, white, white huh?"

Elda: "Yeah, it's black, black, white, white!! Cube-sized!! Look it up on google! Search for...'Black black white white'."

(I guess we Indonesians always have that tendency to keep repeating an adjective word when it comes to exaggeration)

I literally typed 'black black white white' ridiculously in despair on Google search engine field. I knew no result would be found, but I was just under pressure of decoding the puzzle. Then I kept continuing to search for relating keywords, from Indonesian desserts to jelly.

After a minute of stressful moment, my search came to its end after I typed "Agar-agar hitam" which literally means "black jelly"

Right at the bottom of the first page, this word caught my attention

"Es Cingcau"
or literally means "Grass jelly beans"

Me: "Es Cincau?!!"

Elda: "Yeaaah, es cincau! Hahaha"

Aaaaaannnndddd...here's what she actually means:

And also the black thing Elda referred is...

Correction:
- It does contain of coconut milk
- It has black jelly beans inside its white milky like water.
- Most pictures that I found about this dessert have moss green jelly beans instead of black or brown
- IT'S NOT EVEN NATA DE COCO, because Nata de coco is white jelly beans. Duh. Sorry. My bad.

It's lame how I rarely encounter or even eat cincau. It's not my preference for dessert back in Indonesia. That's why it takes time for me to see what it really looks like.

The debate lasted after approximately two minutes long. I predicted it could've lasted for an hour long if not solved.

tumblr-ing

Hey hey!
Apparently my story-telling mode is still off.
My friend has finally stepped her foot to the world of blogging!!
Yeah she just launched her blog a week ago.

aymee's mumbles

Go and take a look!!

It's funny how I'm not a Tumblr person. I'm more into Blogger because it focuses more on writings rather than just a series of pictures. But then, my other friend decided to create a blog, which is in Tumblr. So far, I haven't seen any Tumblr sites posting a bunch of looong text.

After all maybe that's what Tumblr's all about. It's about reposting and reblogging pictures, but I never seem to understand why people are so into it.
I guess I need to learn more about this considerably new blogging site :3