Cus that's when my holiday begins, and I have seven months of freedom. The thought of December keeps me alive. Oh, the things I would do. It makes me smile to myself (Yes, I am smiling as I write this.)

IT'S 12 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

Yes, I am stoked, thrilled, excited, and can't wait for it!

As many of you might have noticed yourselves, Christmas decorations are everywhere: in Singapore, too, they are everywhere! The entire Orchard Road, in the shopping malls, restaurants and cafes, churches, even the little clinic I went to has a little Christmas tree at one corner! And even Marine Parade Promenade has a Christmas tree, a statue of the three wise men, and blueish Christmas lights along the street! Not to mention, everywhere I go there's Christmas songs being played on the speakers. And last week, when I went to Orchard, there were little girls with bells asking for donation, and wishing everyone a happy christmas.

Yeah, the Christmas spirit is on the air!



Aaaaaaand, the end-of-year Great Singapore Sale is here! I'm going to do some christmas shopping this Saturday and I'm so excited!


But the thing that I look forward the most is being home with my family and friends, of course! After staying here (for too long), I really crave being home and celebrating Christmas with them. And attending the midnight mass with them, singing the carols and all, too!


I really look forward to the warmth and joy awwmygerddddd I can't waaaaait. *okay that was too much, sorry.


Anyways, here are some Christmas-related songs on my playlist!

1. Jason Mraz - Winter Wonderland
2. Michael Buble - Grown Up Christmas List
3. Michael Buble - White Christmas
4. Michael Buble - Santa Claus is Coming To Town
5. Chipmunks - Christmas Don't Be Late
6. Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas is You
7. John Lennon - Happy Christmas
8. Josh Kelley - Share This Day
9. Joseph Vincent - Mistletoe (cover)
10. Glee - Last Christmas
11. Coldplay - Christmas Lights (oh well, this song is quite emo at the beginning, but Coldplay is just awesome and I really like the song!)
12. DEPAPEPE - Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring
13. Jessica & Ashlee Simpson - The Little Drummer Boy

Ahhh, I really love this time of the year. Gonna look for some Christmas cards soon. Perhaps I'll make some if I have time. I hope I have time. Oh well, have a happy Christmas, everyone! ☺♥

Haven't had no time to write any post. I'm really sorry for that. Exams, assignments, and many other things I can't even remember have been bugging me constantly, that I even have problems to pause and breathe. No exaggeration. Even now, I'm being haunted by what is called THE Promotional Examination (aka Promos), which is coming next Monday. This week is actually end-of-term holiday, but as Promos are just right around the corner, it's no holiday for me. It's revising, mugging, memorising, studying time.



I'm now sitting at a couch in one of the public libraries, typing with freezing fingers and brains. I was summarizing and consolidating notes, but it seems like my brain refuses to work and demands a break. So blogging it is.



However, I'm not going to focus on the horrible things, I shall write about nice things that keep me sane  and bring smiles, if not happiness in the midst of my hectic life.

• Music. My iPod, that is, plus my earphone. Sometimes I feel so tired talking, and I feel like pulling myself away from the world, but I just don't know where to go. So I just sit down, plug my earphone, and blast music to my ears (if you're reading this, mum/dad, fret not, I'm not really "blasting" music to my ears. I just play them in a medium volume. I'm not interested in turning deaf anytime soon, don't worry.) Some of the music on my playlist would be 

• Jason Mraz's songs: I Won't Give Up, 93 Million Miles, Frank D Fixer, Everything is Sound, The Woman I love, Living in the Moment, Details in the Fabric, You and I Both, Be Honest, etc etc. His songs have this amrazing effect on me, they really calm me down, and remind me that "In life, it may seem dark, but the absence of the light is a necessary part... I'm not alone, I can always come back home"- 93 Million Miles.
• DEPAPEPE's songs (they're in japanese, I don't really remember their titles, but my friend has kindly helped me put tens of their nicest songs in my iPod, so yeah.)
• One Republic - Marchin' On
• Michael Buble - Lost
• Carissa Rae - Near or Far
• Julie Fowlis - Touch the Sky (ost Brave)
• Jack Johnson - Better Together
• Ed Sheeran - Lego House
• The Trees and The Wild's Songs: The Noble Savage, Kata, Our Roots, etc etc

• Going to St Mary's church. Although the church is so far away from my hostel, that it takes one and a half hour to go there, I just keep going there cus it gives me such peace I don't get from other churches. I think I can just stay there all day long if I have no work to do, or no exams coming, or any other things to do. The church has this atmosphere that gives me peace and calm, and reminds me that everything will be just fine, and I can just surrender everything to God, and He will take care of everything. I know it's true, but going to this church just reaffirms it. And I need such reaffirmation. So yeah.

• My beloved family. Short conversations with them simply make my day. They have such a big faith on me, that I feel that I am able. And they keep me going, cus I want to show them that I can make them proud, as they have believed in me.

• My awesome friends, both those back home and here in this island. They're just the best bunch of people ever. They support and motivate me, amuse and entertain and make me laugh, give me all those virtual hugs and encouraging smileys, listening to me ranting and venting my anger or my moodiness, telling me that I have them to rant on, and to lean on.

• Old messages and letters and post-its and photos. Looking at these photos, re-reading the letters, or even just skimming through them make me laugh to myself, reminding me that my life is not that bad, and I have these precious memories to cherish.

• Friends (The TV series, HA.), The Big Bang Theory, and Castle. Nuff said. They're great entertainment for me to de-stress.

• Indonesian Food. Be it snacks, pop mie, abon, ayam penyet, nasi uduk, jus alpukat, indomilk, etc. They just keep me sane.

• Thinking about the end of the year, when I'm going home. Thinking about the things I'm going to do during the holiday. Thinking about the end of next year, when it's all over and I'm finally out of this "wonderful contract." Thinking about doing things I want to do and I enjoy doing without any pressures.

What's the first thing in your mind when you see this? You would probably laugh and think that the quote is wrong! It should have been

"The grass is always greener on the other side"

But I don't think the person who created this was wrong. In fact, this unique quote now has more meaning to me. Think about first impressions. Or perhaps, think about your first time of doing something, or going to some place.

When I meet someone new, I have the bad habit of being rather judgmental. Yeah I know, I could be horrible ._. But I just can't help observing someone new and prejudging their characters and personalities before I even know them. Some of the first impressions I got from them are indeed correct, but mostly are not.

When I first entered junior high school, I saw this guy who's really talkative and rather annoying. He was very loud and bold, and I disliked him at that very moment cus I was so irritated by him. However, as school started and I got into the same class as him, I found out that he was actually an outgoing and friendly person. He was loud, yes, but in a funny way. In the end of the year, we became friends. Now that I know him better, I can see that I was wrong. He is far from annoying! Gosh. When I think back about how silly I was, disliking him before we even talked to each other, I laughed at myself.



A similar case happened when I got the scholarship. In July that year, I didn't go to school anymore, cus school only starts in January next year. So I had about four months of lazing and slacking. But my mother signed me up into a prep course, in which I would be studying maths, physics and english with the other students who also got the same scholarship as me. She thought it would be good for me to prepare myself, as well as to bond with my "future friends."

I was far from excited. I've met some of my fellow scholars, and they seemed so... scholarly. I felt that I wouldn't be able to connect with them, as they were so different with the friends I had at my school. I started to imagine horrible things about how dorky they might be, how awkward it would be to talk to them, etc. I had this prejudice against scholars; that scholars are so geeky and dorky and not fun. I dreaded the thought of going to this prep course for the next three months.

However, it turned out that those people are currrraaaayyyzeeeehh. Well, some of them are quite scholarly, and all of them are such freakin smartypants, but all in all they are far from what I thought they were. They are so friendly and nice. In fact, they made the prep course enjoyable.

And after living together with them for two years, I feel so close to them, even closer than how I feel with my friends back at my junior high school, that we are like a family. Yeah, they are like my siblings now. Singapore would be so dull and unbearable without them. How stupid I was for having that prejudice, eh.


You really can't judge a book by its cover. The cover may deceive you, yet what's inside may entertain you. Similarly, the grass may look dull and boring when you look at it from far behind, but as you walk closer and really open your eyes, you will see that it is far greener on the inside :).

Well, I'm not proud with myself for having this super horrible habit, and now I'm trying very hard to change into a better person. This post would hopefully help to remind me if someday I start to prejudge someone I just met, and yeah, hopefully it would help you too ;).

1. Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice
You can't say you've been to Singapore if you haven't tasted the local cuisine. And one of the palatable cuisines is Chicken Rice. Many places serve this dish, but this place offers you not only perfectly spiced Chicken rice, but also the "chinese" ambience. And the prices are not high, too! Order your chicken rice ;).

Wee Nam Kee, front view.

2. IKEA!
Well, I know what you guys are thinking about. IKEA is a furniture store, and I am crazy. But, no! IKEA has a food court, and they serve swedish food. They taste soooo nice that sometimes my friends and I went there just to have lunch, without actually buying any couches or desks or anything. One of the most popular dish is the Swedish Meatball. You can buy any other food, but this one is a must-try. They serve the meatballs with raspberry sauce on the edge of the plate, but if you prefer it without the raspberry sauce, it still tastes great. And they have a delicious dessert, too. My recommendation would be Daim Cake. It is a slice of chocolate cake with some crispies and caramel. Good gracious, only writing about it makes me drool :9.

Swedish Meatball, with baked potatoes! And that red thingy is the Raspberry Sauce!

DAIM CAKE! Yum yum.

3. Peperoni Pizzeria;
Love Italian food? Well, this is one unique place you should go. You may need to do some reservation, but it's quite worth it. This pizzeria serves not just any other pizzas, it serves GIANT pizzas.The largest pizzas they serve measure about 21 inches. And you can order up to four toppings for one 21-inch pizza. The size is so big, it's great to share with four to six of your family or your friends.

Tel: 6465 6556

That was my friends and me, with our 21 inch pizza, half cheese half mushroom topping!

4. ION FOOD HALL;
You can't decide what to eat? Or you would like to just have some snacks? You can go to ION food hall, then. There are a wide variety of food from japanese curry (Go, Go Curry!), korean street snacks (Dong Dae Mun), super tasty spicy wings (4FINGERS Bonchon Crispy Chicken; this is my favourite!), japanese snacks ranging from chickens to unagis on stick (TORI-Q), singapore's very own Old Chang Kee, tasty milkshake and ice cream (Once Upon A milkshake), yummy takoyaki and okonomiyaki (GINDACO), delicious eggtarts with many flavours (Fancy Delight), melting-in-your-mouth chocolate cake (AWFULLY chocolate) and the list goes on! All these, you can find in ION food hall, yumm.
(Orchard MRT)

GO, GO CURRY!

4Fingers Crispy Chicken!

Fancy Delight's eggtarts :9

Gindaco Takoyaki!

 5. Aston's Specialties
Well, this may not be the best place to have a luxurious steak dish, but this one is pocket friendly! And I would not really recommend the tenderloin steak, (cus I tried it and it was just okay) but I'd like to recommend the chicken steaks! They have various sauces, from Lemon Lime, Teriyaki to Black Pepper! Well, I personally like the Black Pepper Chicken Steak, but my friends say the others are good, too! Oh, and the Pork Chops is nice as well. If you're feeling more than just peckish, you can try the Double Up Chicken, which comprises of two chickens with two different sauces of your choice! And each meal goes with two side dish of your choice, too. Mashed potato, French fries, Coleslaw, Pasta salad, and many more! The Grillworks Chicken and the Pork Chops do not cost more than SGD 11.00! (Well, more if you order drinks, of course!) One warning though, be prepared to queue up! If you don't like standing in line, I'd advice you to come slightly before lunchtime or dinnertime, cus then people are starting to come! :).

Some of the locations:

other locations can be found at http://www.astons.com.sg/

Chicken Steak with Mashed Potato and Onion Ring!

6. Newton Food Centre @Newton Circus
No, you're not going to watch jugglers or clowns or lions with fire rings! This place is a hawker centre, with a vast variety of food! Singapore has a lot of hawker centre, but this one is special because of the ambiance. That's why, the best time to stop by is dinnertime. When you arrive, there might be some stallholders persuading you to buy their food. But you don't need to follow them. Just walk around and choose yourself! What I recommend is the Oyster Omelet and the barbequed Stingray with chilli sauce. Yum, yum. These dishes cost about SGD 10 per plate, so if you're budgeting, I suggest that you order some to share, as the portions are quite enough for about 4-5 persons. Just look at what my friends and I did from our photo below! :)

Me and My friends! look at our food ;;)

1) Newton Food Centre, overall view 2) The Sambal Stingray 3) The Oyster Omelet

7 & 8. Island Creamery and Udders.
Dessert time! No one could ever disagree that ice cream is the most classic and delicious dessert ever. Well, these two places: Island Creamery, and Udders, are the best place where you can get your homemade ice cream fresh and nice. They are different places with different owners, I tell you. But both are equally yum yum so I just can't miss any of the two.

You want chocolate ice cream? Island creamery has ReversO, one of their specialty. You're loving Mars Bars and Snickers and want some in your ice cream? Udders have Snickers Mars Honeycomb Vanilla! Both have just too many flavours ranging from Milo, classic vanilla, berries, Teh Tarik (Island Creamery), liqueur based flavours (Udders) to banana, it may take you quite a while to decide which one you want.

Let's talk about these two places separately, though. On your very first step entering the Island Creamery, you'll be amazed by the photos on the walls. Yes, they provide a photo-printing machine, and you can take a picture of you and your friends or family, print it right away and leave it to be put on the walls! Cool, huh!

And in Udders, you and your friends can book for an Ice Cream Workshop! You can learn how to make those tasty ice cream yourself, and the course includes ice cream buffet! All-you-can-eat! For more details, refer to http://www.udders.com.sg/ice_cream_workshop

Some of the locations:

1) Udders, front view (Look at those articles! Udders is pretty famous, huh!); 2) Ice cream with waffles!

1) Island Creamery, front view (Can you see the photos on the wall?) 2) A slice of Mud Pie

 
9. Everything With Fries
Another dessert worth trying can be found in this place. Are you familiar with Nutella, the bread spread? If you are a fan of Nutella, this dessert is definitely for you. In this place, they sell NUTELLA TART and NUTELLA MILKSHAKE! Well, this may sound irrelevant to the name of the place, but they do sell dishes with French Fries, but what I truly recommend is their desserts. Other than the awesome nutella based dessert, they also have the Hot Banana Butterscotch Pudding which tastes sooo good.
Some of the locations:

THE nutella tart!

Hot Banana Butterscotch Pudding ;)

10. KOI Bubble Tea
Being near the equator, Singapore can be extremely humid at times. What would be the better way to refresh yourself than having a bubble tea! ;) There are many other stalls selling this popular drink, but KOI is one of the best. What I would recommend is the Vanilla Milk Tea (which my friends and I crave. YES, the appropriate term is 'crave', not 'like'.) or Green Tea Macchiato for those who don't really like the pearls, or maybe Ovaltine for the huge fans of chocolate! The prices are about SGD 2 to 5, depending on your choice of drinks and the size. Warning: The queue may be long during weekends (especially on the days when temperatures are high, of course).

Some of the locations:


more locations: http://koicafegroup.com.sg/contact-us/

1) one of KOI stalls, 2) YEP that's THE bubble tea!

Well, that is all for now. Oh, and these places are in no specific order, just for listing purposes, no rankings. I hope that my post is useful for those who would like to visit Singapore and have some fun with the local food! Cheers :).

To begin with, I'd like to state a fact: human beings are social creature, they cannot survive on their own. As a human myself, I, too, cannot survive on my own. Especially in 2011, which is undoubtedly the toughest year of my seventeen years of life. This year has been so tough. Tears were shed, and at some points, I was so close to giving up.



Nonetheless, I am not going to talk about the hardship I went through, I'd like to focus on the people who help me go through the year.


Firstly, of course, my best friend forever, Jesus. He's been so loyal, patient, loving and awesome. Throughout everything, He always stands by my side. I am eternally grateful, J. I love you :).


The next in line is my family. However irritating they sometimes may be, they always believe in me. They are the ones who convinced me that giving up is not a solution; moving forward is. They consoled me and motivated me: my parents, my two sisters, my grandparents, my cousins and all my relatives. With you guys, I always feel at home :).


These past two years, I haven't been journeying without travelling companions. In fact, I have 47 awesome people that walk with me. I never thought that I would be having 16 sisters and 31 brothers when I was coming to Singapore. Living under the same roof, we shared laughters, tears, hugs, complaints, textbooks and notes, inside jokes, outings, birthdays, secrets and gossips, everything. They are the reason I am standing here at this very moment unhurt and perfectly happy. Here's to another two years! I know we can do this, although we'll be separated, we are all in this together, and yes, we shall never walk alone :').


9B. Need I say much? No. I am forever thankful that I had the best senior class ever in penabur gs. It's been three years, but we still get to meet each other, and even spend Christmases. You guys are awesome, and just so you know, I love you guys. You're one of the reasons I look forward to going home so much :).


Hostel committees! Working with you guys was absolutely amazing.  The moments we spent together are priceless: the way we try to focus during meetings but somehow always digress in the middle of our discussion, the inside jokes we shared (bertram attack, kobel, kuda-kudaan, THE HOTLINE, the tourist pose, etc!) the tears we shed, the late hours of meetings at the night before the event, the hugs, the dry run we had for amazing race which turned out as our first unofficial outing, the other outings, and of course, the kool hoodie! When I say that you are the most awesome bunch of people ever, I mean it :).


The next group of people is my dearest Juniors and seniorssss! Dearest seniors; Thanks for being so awesome, so gahoel, so inspiring, super friendly and nice. Thanks for the goodluck texts, the tutoring, everything. I feel truly blessed to have you guys :). And dearest juniors. Sorry for having some prejudices when you guys first came. I wasn't so welcoming, and I am sorry. You guys are awesome, though. Thanks for being so nice, funny, cute, generous and inspiring, too. I know for sure that you guys can ace the o'levels next year! And be nice to your juniors ;).


The next would be Tante Chen Chen and Om Ady; my only Singaporean 'parents'. Thanks for allowing me to stay in your house, cooking me Indonesian meals, helping me with packing and storing things, the barbeques, and the ipod touch! I wish you two nothing but the very best, cus om dan tante are like my family :).


My classmates and my teachers in Singapore, regardless of your nationality. Thanks for all the help and support <3. I am really grateful to have known all of you. Thanks for being so nice, helpful, kind and funny. All of you are probably the most talented, intelligent and hardworking bunch of people I've ever met. Ohh, Classes were bearable, thanks to you :)


Last but NOT the least, My best best friends. I need not mention you guys, cus I believe that you know who you are. Heee thanks for the skype calls, the long motivational-entertaining-touching text messages, the schweet tweets, the support, everything. Thanks for making the 500ish miles nothing :).



So yeah, all of you have made my 2011 such an unforgettable, wonderful and awesome year. I know that words cannot really describe how greatly thankful I am. Oh, and I am very sorry if I had said or done anything that hurt any of you guys in one way or another :/.


Wish you guys a happy new year! Here's to another awesome year of 2012! Cheeeeeers! :D

The picture above kind of says what's on my mind. No, no, I'm not talking about soapy love-y thingy. I'm talking about one of my favourite musician, David Choi.


He is a very talented singer, whose fame kind of originated from youtube (just like justin bieber) from youtube. (Well, unfortunately he did not get as much attention as bieber gets, despite being a hundred times better than bieber. I wonder what has happened to the world, eh.) If you don't believe me, do check his youtube! http://www.youtube.com/davidchoimusic

Anyway, he's currently on tour to south east Asian countries, and two on the list of the countries are Indonesia and Singapore, the two countries in my life. One being my home, another a place for my study. YES I'M DYING TO GO TO HIS CONCERT. As soon as I know that he's coming, I surfed the net and checked for the dates.

FYI, I have booked my ticket home for my june holidays. I went home on the 10th of June, and am gonna be back to singapore on saturday the 25th of june.

I browsed to sistic, to check the singapore concert date. It's on the 21st and 22nd of June, in the Esplanade.
Well, I would be home at that time, so nope, can't do. Then I googled the date for his concert in Indonesia. My friend, Rachel Dewi, helped me and told me that his concert is on the 28th and 19th of June, in the Hardrock cafe.


My heart sank. This is soooo unfair. He is coming to the two countries where I live in, and yet I can't go to his concert because... because I am not in both countries when he's having his concert there. FML, dude. He is so-very-very-very close, yet still out of reach. dammmmmmmmmmmmittt. I nearly cried when I saw the two impossible dates.


Even worse, my friends are watching his concert. My heart sank deeper when I know that on the 28th, the concert in hardrock is especially set up for under-eighteens, and it's a non-alcoholic concert. Parents are definitely going to allow us to come! my friends happily said to each other. Yeah, right. I could only smiled painfully when reading their comments on facebook.


And then I saw a tweet from one of my friend whose cousin lives in singapore, stating that her cousin had gotten the pass to David Choi's meet and greet. I may be a masochist, cus I searched for the cousin's twitter account when I read a retweet from my friend to her cousin's tweet - "Three hugs from David <3 aahhh", and got my eyes stuck on the cousin's display picture, which shows her and David Choi. SHYTE. I quickly close the window. But the eyes have seen, and it's just too late. I know I shouldn't have searched the cousin's account. I know I would see something that's gonna make me feel mega jealously envious to her. but....


I am a sickly masochist, yes ._.


Well. Life is unfair. I should have gotten used to it, yeah, but this is just.......... unacceptable. Is life being as unfair as this to any of you, too? Or is it just me? Gaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh :(.

OH WAIT. or maybe, life is not THAT unfair. On the 21st, I got to spend time at my bestfriend's house. That was absobloodylutely great. We watched dvds, conversed and gossiped, laughed and talked, and we made sweet popcorns! Okay. I take back my statement. life may be unfair, but it's not THAT unfair :).


BUTTTTT, I still want to go to his concert :/. I hope that David would come again next year to either singapore or indonesia. Or any of my other favourite musicians such as Jason Mraz, Michael Buble, Kris Allen, The Script, Sara Bareilles, Kina Grannis, etc etc. (yeah I know some of them had come before, but I had not had the chance to go to their concert. pity me, I'm sucha blitz.)



Okay, I'll stop babbling, it's half past midnight here.

found this in the big buddha site, phuket. written by marker on a marble. you can actually pay to write your name and your wishes on those marbles. this one though, stood out in front of my eyes.


It touched me deeply. how this guy still loves his girl, despite the fact that they're separated. not only by distance, but also by world. this is true love, I think. although the girl had passed away, the guy clearly still loves her with all his heart. this made me speechless. completely speechless :').


dearest Katherine Keith, if you're watching down from the heaven, you need to know that you're such a lucky girl. may you rest in peace :).

AAAAA I'm sooooo eggcited! I'M DEFINITELY GOING TO TRY THIS OUT SOON! Oh and you should try this too! This drink is top rated in the books. lol :D.


Well, i'm not really sure if this recipe would work, but it worths a try! Cheers! :)


*maybe you can change the ice cream flavour to vanilla or something else if you can't find the butterscotch flavour! :)
**fyi, one cup is.... around 235ml.
***butter extract. you can find it in baking shops.
****source: ohdeerly.blogspot.com


And anyways. Have a magical December!

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Well I wanted to hibernate, but I think not this blog. I love this much more than my twitter account!


Well oops, you read me right, I'm hibernating my twitter account, till after Christmas! Why? Yes, good question. I just want to pull myself out of the crowd, back to the basic such as my blog, my tumblr account (yes I'm on tumblr! it's http://reginaekaputri.tumblr.com Err I know it's a bit late, but heeey I'm a newbie and proud of it!), MSN, and facebook (well, this one is actually crowder than twitter, but I'd like to catchup with some people there, and greet those having birthdays!)

---

Anyways. Let's go back to the title!


YES BABY CHRISTMAS IS COMING! I always loooooove Christmas more than anything. Well, not more than my birthday. Emm. Okay.

So it's officially my second most favourite day of the year! Why? For this thing, Why is not a really good question. I think everyone who favours Christmas has the same reason as I do.

I like the Christmas decoration, the red and green combination, the Christmas trees, the Christmas songs, the Christmas eve mass at the church, the birth of Jesus, the food, the legends about Santa Claus's workshop and the elfs, creating wishlist, the presents, and yes, of course, the SPIRIT!


         Talking about decoration and trees, it's such a sad thing that I'm not putting a tree this year :(.
Last year I helped my aunt and uncle putting up and decorating a tree, and my batchmates and I, we put up our own tree in the hostel! And we had this small committee, making a stable, complete with all the statues of baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the angels, and the shepherds!


But this year, I'm not spending my november and december in singapore! Which is a totally great thing, of course, but sadly, in here, my Christmas tree is kinda... spoiled and broken down. I asked my mum about buying a new one, but she said there was no space that is big enough to store it. So my house is kinda plain for this year's Christmas, but that's okay! We still have the SPIRIT. YEAAAAH.





          Talking about... hmm lemme think. the songs! Aaah I love listening to Christmas songs.

And the good thing is that... they're everywhere this month! Yeay :D

They're so calming and they somehow increase your SPIRIT. My favourite song is Winter Wonderland, the Jason Mraz's version! And White Christmas, Michael Buble's version. Ooh and there's this song which I'm not so sure what the title is, the lyrics are like this "Long time ago, in Bethlehem, the holy Bible said // Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ // was born on Christmas day" Well, that's the lyrics, if I'm not mistaken. It's such a nice song, I had a cassette of Christmas songs, with that song in it. However, the thing is broken now. Oh well, I'm gonna look for that song later! ;).





           The next I'm gonna talk about is the mass. There's a particular mass I've never missed for years.

It's the Christmas Eve mass! At my church, at 9 PM.

It finished minutes before 12, that's why I love it. Because it's so Christmas-Eve-ish! Lol :) I started going to this mass when I was in 4th grade of primary. My neighbours and my parents, they were in charge of the Christmas masses that year. And four children, including me, were to perform as angels! Man, that was the most feminine Christmas of my life, I guess. I was to wear white dress, plus the white wings, and dance to the songs sung by the choir. I remember, it was "Slamat slamat datang, Yesus Tuhanku." We were performing at the 5PM mass, the first Christmas Eve mass. After performing, we got out, and had our dinner. At 9PM, I went back for the second mass. The mass was so solemn, and aah, the choirs are always the best. They always succeed to instill such a great SPIRIT. I decided that I'm gonna go again in the next years! Well, I do, till last year! :)



            The FOOOOOOOOD. OHHH My favourite. Let's talk about this year's plan. My mum plans to cook lamb chops and roasted chicken for the dinner! And she's thinking about baking brownies and some other kind of cakes (and I'm still trying to convince her to do ;)) Let's have some SPIRIT on the food, baby! :9.



            Ahh, the legend. I've always believed in Santa Claus, you know. just like other innocent, naive, kiddos. But at age of, errr, I can't remember, I figured out that it was my parents who have always been buying me presents.

That year, they were buying me and my sister bicylce. Their plan of convincing us that it was Santa Claus who bought it was almost successful. Unfortunately, they left the warranty card on the bike. My mum's name was on it. Sigh. Reality hurts, man.

However, I'm thankful indeed, that my parents instilled the Santa Claus image in my sisters and me when we were young. We were such terrified kiddos when Christmas was approaching. We would try our very best to behave well, so that we would not be kidnapped by Zwarte Pieten or Black Pete. There was a time when my sister was a crybaby, and one day when we went to a mall, we met this black pete guy. My mum talked to this guy, and bring this guy to my crying sis. After talking for a few minutes, my sis suddenly stopped crying, and after that, she was too scared to cry. Yes, my mum is -.-, but we were even more -.-


Yet heey! We grew in such a great Christmas SPIRIT, especially in the morning, when we ran all the way to the tree, and discovered that we had got a lot of presents. We would thank our parents and Santa Claus. Yes, we were naive, extremely naive, I know.



           Years after that, my sisters and I decided that, Hey, we should exchange presents! If Santa Claus does not exist, so why don't we, yes, we, become Santa Claus ourselves! So yeah, we have this habit of writing our wishlists, and exchanging it with each other. Before writing them down, we consider the budget. Then each of us will look through the list, and choose one thing that we would like to buy. Then we wrap them, hide them, and give them in the Christmas morning! It's always interesting, and we're always as excited as little toddlers when we're writing down our wishlist, buying each other's presents, and (of course) opening the presents! Yeah baby the SPIRIT's on us! :)



Last but not least, the SPIRIT. Hmm, I don't think I need to talk about it again, as it's mentioned all throughout this post. Yes, you're right.

The CHRISTMAS SPIRIT is actually everywhere.
It's in you. In me. In all of us.

And it's better if we share it with everyone, isn't it? That, is why I'm sharing my experiences, my burning SPIRIT of Christmas, right now with you guys! Well, you can freely do what my family do, too! Cook some lamb chops, roasted chick, bake some cakes, exchange some presents, put up a Christmas tree and  guess what. Perhaps in the future, I'd like to tell my kiddos that Santa Claus exists! :).


HAPPY EARLY CHRISTMAS!

Dear mum and dad.


thanks for motivating me, and encouraging me to keep moving forward. thanks for being so patient for my homesickness and my mood swings. thanks for being so supportive and affectionate. thanks for being a great friend, too.

thanks for accepting my middling scores and marks. thanks for cheering me up when I cried. thanks for telling me jokes to make me laugh.

to mum: thanks for sending me those daily bread, they're wonderful. and thanks for being so "gawulsszsz". you're the best.
to dad: thanks for being so patient and caring about my issues, even though sometimes I've been very irritating. you're the best.

and i'm very sorry if I had hurt both of you in any ways before.


i love you.



egi :).

Dear besties,

thanks for being in my life. I mean it, THANKYOU.

If you think that I haven't been thanking you enough for your existence in my life, I really apologise. I wish I had been telling you more often ._. I agree with what my friend once said, that people can actually have more than one best friend. Yes, I have quite an amount of best friends. Cos my definition of best friend is

"a person who stays by your side, and with whom you feel that your life is colourful and meaningful."

Best friends are not necessarily the ones who is always with you anytime, as I learnt that distance does not hamper the relationship between us. And they are not necessarily the ones whom I have known for years, as I learnt that best friends could appear out of nowhere, enter your life, and in a blast of days they can be a big part of your life.

Okay, enough with my opinion. In short, I have more than one best friend, okay.


I'd like to thank you, yes, YOU, for these things.

*Thanks for being such a wonderful listener when I needed someone to babble and ramble to. thankyou!
*Thanks for always motivating me, cheering me up, convincing me that my life is worth fighting for, and telling me not to give up. you're the reason why I'm still surviving here at the moment. thankyou :).
*Thanks for confiding me with your secrets and stories, I'm thankful that you trust me with your problems and everything. Thankyou :).
*Thanks for all the silly moments, for doing stupid things together, laughing out loud with me, rolling on the floor with me, giggling bimbotically with me, and joking idiotically with me. You colour my life :).
*Thanks for giving me solutions for my problems. Thanks for telling me that it is not the end of the world, and thanks for staying as my friend even though I'm far far away from you (for you who lives back in Indonesia), even though I'm such a bad friend that I rarely call you. Every short message you sent me is priceless. Thankyou :).


And I'd like to say sorry, too.

*(to those in Indonesia) Sorry for being such a bad friend, for not giving you birthday presents on time, for not attending your birthday party, for not being by your side when you've got problems, for not helping you when you've got difficulties or whatever, for not hanging out with you when you were bored and needed someone to go out with. I'm sorry :(.
*Sorry for being such an incapable psychologist, as I often could not come up with solutions for your problems, so I could only pat your back and say "cheer up"
*Sorry for having such a terrible mood swing, that I sometimes look so miserable and annoying, and I could not be a nice friend.
*Sorry for being such a selfish and tactless person sometimes, and for not being able to react appropriately when you tell me your stories.



Okay. I think that is all. But please, do remember. I love you, no matter what. Even though you didn't think that I am your best friend, that is totally okay. Everyone's got different opinion about what best friend means, anyway :).


Lovesssssss,


egi.

Yo fellow bloggers! Exams are over, and the only things blocking my way to total freedom are Science Practical Assessments or SPAs (super ironic, right, "spa" is supposed to be relaxing. but it is a freaking practical test here in singapore ._.) and my o'level mother tounge exam.

So I decided to do this project here in my blog, which I found in the internet, and which one of my friend tenny has already been doing it.

The project is called 30 letters project. As it clearly states, I'm going to write 30 letters to different parties in my life, one each day. It may be directed to you! Yes, you!

So, stay tuned ;).


lovesssssss, egi.

OMG I'M SUPER RANDOM NOW
as;ldfj;ladkfgj;dafhgl;djfghlxkj;lzknc,xpqpowierpoiut


Thanks to end of year exams, for making me experiencing brain retardation. rawrrrr.

HEY! it's been awhile since the last time I posted. well, the title - ANTEVASIN, if youre wondering, means "in betweener", or literally: one who lives in the border in sanskrit.

I got this word from a book, EAT PRAY LOVE. A nice book, though it's a bit tedious in some parts.
So let me explain something about the word, which I took from the book.




An antevasin lives in sight of both worlds, and he/she looks towards the unknown part. According to the literal translation, he/she is a scholar, not a villager, but not the one living deep in the unexplored woods either.

As in the modern world, it means living on the line between your old thinking and your new understanding, and always in state of learning.
As he/she advances forward in his/her studies and realisations, the border is always moving.




Well, I think this word describes me in some ways. Not really about the fact that I'm a scholar, but more that the in-betweener thingy.

I've spent so much time during my leisure times wondering what I'm supposed to be, what I wanna be, and what things I'm good at, but...

I'm not any of those people who are super talented, nor am I an indifferent idiot.
I'm not the kind of ingenious artist, nor am I a person with no sense of art.
I'm not a prodigious musician, nor am I a person with no music understanding.
I'm not an extrovert who is able to adapt everywhere, nor am I an introvert who can't socialise.
I'm not the type of person who takes things very seriously, nor am I a type of person who is super laid back.
I'm not a person who is extremely devoted to GOD and a religious girl who desires to be a nun, nor am I an atheist that have no faith in any gods.



Well...



"I'm just a slippery antevasin, betwixt and between, a student on the ever-shifting border near the wonderful, scary forest of the new." - Elizabeth Gilbert.

I know it's a bit too late, but nevermind, I'm just posting for fun ;D
Anyway, these photos were taken from http://fuckyeahworldcup.tumblr.com/ -- if you're super curious and can't get enough of the worldcup fever, go visit the website! it's duper awesome.

Me myself? I support HOLLAND, from 2006! Well, cant wait till brazil 2014! :D:D:D

Well, enjoy these photos!

okay sorry to disappoint you, but I'm writing in my mother tounge for this post.


SAYA KANGEN INDOOOOOOOOO.

Nggak pernah kebayang sebelumnya kalau gue bisa sekangen ini sama indo. keluarga, kamar tidur, rumahnya, makanannya, tempat-tempat ngecengnya, barang-barang murahnya, BALInya, temen-temen, sekolah, bahkan (percaya ato nggak) gue juga kangen upacara bendera sambil nyanyiin Indonesia Raya!

ternyata setiap hari harus berdiri diem dan pasang muka serius sambil dengerin temen-temen singaporean gue nyanyi "majulah singapura" dan nyebutin pledge mereka, aaargh timbul satu perasaan dimana gue pengen teriak, literally teriak, Pancasila, dan nyanyiin lagu Indonesia Raya! dan gue terus berpikir kalo bendera singapore yang merah-putih plus bulan sabit dan bintang itu adalah bendera INDONESIA, tapi bernoda putih bentuk bulan sabit dan bintang.

oke maafkan atas kelancangan gue, tapi itu hanya apa yang ada di pikiran gue, so no offense.


OH MY GOD, Indo itu sangat ngangenin! gue harus mengakui bahwa mata dan kuping gue selalu "jelalatan" nyari-nyari muka orang indo, dan suara orang yang ngomong bahasa indonesia. kalau ketemu, gue ga akan nyapa sih, tapi gue bakal cengar-cengir bahagia dan sumringah sepanjang hari itu.


Bahkan, gue ngebela-belain ke gereja Cathedral of Good Shepherd yang (lumayan) jauh dari hostel gue, dan gereja itu kondisinya nggak bisa dibilang bagus kaya gereja-gereja lainnya yang ada disini, tapi gue ketagihan dateng misa disana simply because...


banyak banget orang indo disana. dari turis, sampe sesama scholars yang katolik, mereka semua gereja disana. dan orang indo itu gampang banget dikenalin lewat suaranya yang (ehem) agak TOA-- alias keras, maka itu gampang lah gue sadar kalau orang yang duduk di depan gue itu orang indo, atau yg dibelakang gue , yg lagi grasak-grusuk itu pasti orang indo. Tapi gue nggak kesel atau pun bete sama sekali kok. justru kebalikannya, I feel just like home.


and until now, I'm craving for anything "Indonesian". jadi kalo ada dari kalian yang ada usul-saran tempat yang "Indo banget" di singapore, please please kasih tau gue okaayyy.

Cheers! Salam INDO! ;D

Yes, we can help.
That's only Jakarta. As y'all know, we need a lot MORE than that.


So please, please, please. Let the earth rest for a peaceful one hour, by switching off your lamps.