Want a cup of coffee?

When I was little I only knew that coffee is a bitter beverage for adult only. My mom always had this black nescafe powder and served it to my father's friend. Hum..both my parents don't drink coffee a lot as far as I know (but they do drink tea every morning..sorry out of topic :p).
I did try once or twice but couldn't stand with the bitter taste, what was the enjoyment of drinking bitter-taste-coffee? A delicious drink should taste sweet-sour and it should smell nice. Coffee does smell good until today I still think it does. My little me after all thought it didn't go well with the taste. That's why I put so many sugar when I said to everyone I could drink coffee and be a big-girl.

Then I went to this country, Netherlands, where everyone drinks tea, beer, and of course coffee as their must-drinking beverages. Even until today I am not a coffee addict but I can trully enjoy drinking coffee as much as I can, during work, school, or even when I'm home enjoying my free time. Sometimes I still put one or two teaspoon of sugar but the other time I can just drink two cups of black coffee without sugar and I can say no other taste goes well with coffee without its bitterness and that smell. In that bitter taste I can still sense the sweetness and excitement of drinking coffee as that liquid flows through my throat, warms my body, and refreshes my mind.

Am I trying to say I'm an adult now? That I don't really know. 23 years are long enough to see the sweet and bitter of life. I'm sure you get what I mean when you are living abroad alone miles away from your family. Maybe it sounds really fool when I say you need coffee to live in a country like Holland especially when it's winter. Sorry out of topic again.

I like drinking cappucino with a thick foam on the top of the cup. Even without sugar, it still tastes mild not really that bitter. I think it is the effect of milk mixed in it. However, when I was working in the office, I think two cups of pure espresso a day were the best to give a little refreshment besides keeping my eyes open and my mind focus.

I went to the cafe for the first time when I was doing my double degree in a little city called Gefle in Sweden. That was the first time too when I knew that coffee can be mixed with any kinds of flavours and tastes besides milk and chocholate and yet it tastes great. Say in that cafe, they mixed the coffee with hazelnoot, mocca, or even vanilla and served it with various kinds of shortcakes. It was just a cup of coffee and a piece of shortcake in a small coffee shop but it cost me around 500 SEK (around 6 or 7 Euros) to enjoy. Back in Holland, again I found that coffee can be mixed with some sorts of alcohol too, I like baileys-coffee with Irish cream a lot (does it make me an alcoholic?)


Now I am back to college and I have to save money for long-term supply. Thus, less going out and drinking along in a cafe. That's why back to instant coffee is a good choice after all. Lately in the morning I prefer drinking frappe a.k.a. ice coffee instant. It's just fresh and quick and of course can be drunk directly as it is cold already :p (no need to wait). Then sometimes in the cold evenings, I can make myself a cup of hot wiener melange instant as a substitute of my favourite, chocholate coffee. This is more less composed from similar ingredients, coffee, milk, and chocholate.

Well I think my family doesn't know about this recent habit of mine unless they read my blog. Ok that's it for now, want a cup of coffee?

Time

time is like dripping water in a bare hand
it keeps running even you try to hold it carefully
but when you carelessly it will run faster through your hand and leave your hand dry.

nothing can hold time and none can stop it from running out.
Thus, take a good care and
make a good use of the time you still have.


:)

Hari ini

cuaca mendung, saya tidak kuliah karena sedang libur setelah ujian. Mau ngapain juga masih dipikirkan..nanti kalau ada ide saya tulis lagi dehh ciao dulu

Berbagai alasan untuk mengerjakan satu hal

ho oh...Leanya masih males upload poto trus nulis kelanjutan footage in2005. Alesannya?? Serius yang nomer 1 males, alasan kedua masih berhubungan dengan yang pertama "kenapa males?" jujur kacang ijo saja dengan kemajuan teknologi yang membuat harga kamera digital setara dengan kamera manual dan memampukan saya untuk membelinya (iya itu si digicam) semakin banyaklah poto2 yang tercipta (males resize males upload). Kalaupun potonya hilang karena file corrupted bisa ngopi punya orang (iya dong meskipun bukan murid IT saya kan juga (kadang-kadang) punya backup; siapa2?? hehe..ya lewat masku lah hahahahaha yang ternyata arek IT jg hohoho bercanda).

Alasan ketiga? saya menerima serangan flu dari bang Bud yang lagi flu juga. Nah ini yang mbuat orang jadi pengennya batuk terus dan bobok terus karena kepala selalu terasa berkunang-kunang apalagi ditambah "my morning syndrom" ketika ga ada ayam berkokok di luar masih gelap gulita ketika jam menunjukan jam 7 pagi. Siapa bilang kalau kuliah bisa masuk dan bangun seenaknya tidak seperti masa-masa internship aka magang. Dari keempat kelas saya selama seminggu 3 diantaranya dimulai jam 8.30 dan yang satu masih di bawah jam 10 pula.
Apa saya kurang motivasi? atau teralu sering menyalahkan pihak lain dan ga tanggung-tanggung berani nyalahin Tuhan lagi "Lord, why this should be happening now? when this week is my last week before exam..sigh."
Anyway saya belum nyerah buat exam (meskipun sudah miss satu karena salah jam LOL) hehehe...hayooo fighto fighto...uhuk.
Sudah deh gitu dulu...

5 years since then (year 2004)

Year 2004 is not my third year in Holland as I came to this country almost by the end of 2002. So these is how I spent my second year in Holland (and of course this was my life outside school).

No picture in January 2004 till February 2004

MARCH 2004
I had my 20th birthday pictures taken by Dipta. Here is one with all birthday-participants minus Anton (he had to go home earlier because of some deadlines, can't help it).


APRIL 2004
Life is not about school and college right? when you are abroad, maybe you will think the same way...anytime there is time and enough budget, why don't we go somewhere new.

So we booked 4-days-trip to Paris, France on April 2004. Yes again, Anna, Harbud, Anton, and I, four of us.

Four of us, student-travellers


with Anna


with Anton, featuring Anna at the back :)

Next, a visit to once-a-year-flower-garden-exhibition in Lisse, Netherlands, which is known as Keukenhof. Together with Anna and her part-time job's colleagues. *still no digicam, this is a scanned one


JUNE-JULY 2004
One and half year in Netherlands was long enough to make me miss home. This year I made up my mind and spent my summer in Indonesia for 5 weeks. Speaking of which, I have almost no picture during my vacation in Indonesia, I mean the digital ones. Instead I secretly took one of my toddler's photo from home and scanned it. This is how I am looked like when I was one year old with my mom and dad eating meatballs..how nostalgic hihi (did I look more like my mom?).


Then I was back in Holland only for 2 weeks before leaving for Sweden and taking my double degree program. End of my summer...

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2004
What a once lifetime experience. I was about to spend my winter in one of the coldest country in the world. I was scared enough to face it but my excitement of this country was over all of those worries. I lived in a city called Gavle located 2 hours away by train from Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden.

My first picture was taken with Baltic sea as the background (can you believe it?? I've visited Baltic sea)


This is the uni where I was studying in Gefle.


6th September, at Sindhu's birthday, the Indonesian contingents minus Ooq


And when you are in a new country, it is natural to find a new way of living (which people know it as "ADAPTATION"). Speaking of new way of living, first thing we had to learn was how to prepare our meal...here is our first dinner:

Reddy the chefwannabe, Sindhu read sms how to cook raw fish, Lea and Lya were the meal testers and eaters LOL

Then we learnt how to get in touch with other cultures, for example
Greek Dinner with Saziki??&%* (dunno how to spell it). Anyway it's Greek Omelet (^o^)


Talking about culture-learning I will never forget to mention the parties every Thrusday's night. I didn't and I don't like going to the party. Nevertheless I did come to some of them.

just a normal party

beach party in the autumn

November 2004
It's lebaran Although in Sweden we could still celebrate it with a little party at our place, Lya's and mine.


And the next morning when I opened my curtain, the snow was everywhere, white was the most color I could see.

and since then the sun went down earlier than before...geez I was quite depressed. During the winter the sun rose at 10:00 AM and went down around 3 in the afternoon. Therefore my housemate and I often felt like dinner time was a way too long to wait. Nights were just too long for us who were born and used to live in a tropical country for the last 18 years.

DECEMBER 2004
Another Christmas and New Year occassion. We celebrated this season by posing in front of Swedish Christmas Goat, the goat that would be burnt by the end of the month (why? don't ask me..it's just the tradition):


To live up the Christmas spirit what else we could think but a nice pre-Chirstmas dinner


However, I missed him, Anna, church, and others in Holland. I prayed to God and tried my best to pursue my daddy to let me go back during Christmas and new year. Thanks God, He and my dad did allow me to enjoy my Christmas and New Year in Holland (about this trip I have written it in this blog two year ago New Year 2005). And this is how I ended year 2004.

Next..welcome to year 2005

5 years since then (2003's memory)

Ok these were happened in 2003,

This is the photo that I could recall when entering year 2003. On January 13, 2003, Anna's 19th birthday at Schoterstraat 2, Haarlem :) I came over to her place by bike in the evening. The picture was taken by my first new manual camera, which I had just bought it in Media Markt with Elli. Unfortunately I lost the camera now...I don't really remember when where or even how ^^


In April 2003, my friend Rico arranged a trip to a theme park called Six Flags (note: now it is called Wallibi World). Lots of fun, first time I discovered myself not liking roller coaster riding hehhe... LOL


Somewhere in July 2003, my first summer in Holland before Via went on vacation to Indonesia



As the time flew, I met him at Bethany church in Hoofddorp. We didn't have so many photos back then. Maybe this was our first picture featuring Daniel (aka Nyot2) and Marlina (aka Qiyut or Nina) at Schiphol Airport. We went there on Saturday right after fasting-prayer at church. No particular reason, just an afternoon hangout. When was it again? If I'm not mistaken it was taken around August 2003.


December 2003
The same sentence keeps playing in my head, time does fly fast. I did not have a digicam yet therefore, not so many I can post here. I pick this picture from Silvia's friendster and my old file. During Winter holiday and in order to celebrate the coming Christmas and New Year, the Dutch Train Company or the NS usually has some special offers. Anna and I were very excited back then since we never went anywhere outside Netherlands. Two trips were decided, the first one was to Christmas market in Koln, Germany.


Few days later after a trip to Germany. We did go to our second trip, but this time with different participants. On that one chilly day, we went to Brussel in Belgium together with Anthon, Harbud, and Johan. Thanks to Harbud and his digicam, quite a lot of pictures had been made in Brussel.


Then..Christmas is here again!!! and of course a Xmas celebration. A photo of the team


Maybe we just did not want to end Xmas only at Church. In Netherlands everyone has second Christmas day. On 26th December, everyone went to our place, Anna and I. A little celebration with soft drinks and Europoly!!!!


Honestly, that was one of the best time of my life in Holland :) HONTOU yo!

6 days later on 31st December 2003, New Year's eve...a year-end service at church.



To be continued to year 2004

5 years since then

First of all, let me say HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007 to all of you. Here are some of my footnotes in Holland since 2002, just for some old good times... :)
2002
August 16, a couple hours after leaving Indonesia, our first picture together in Kuala Lumpur


August 17, our first dormitory in Haarlem, NL


First excursion to Zaanse Schaanse


My first international group,


Four of us, Silvia, Tata, Anna, and I


First and finally in 2002, my dream-comes-true, first snow in Haarlem,


End of 2002 sorry no year-end picture, I was lost in Schiphol with Anna and Silvia without "vervoer" or public transportation around. All public transportations stopped after 19.00, 5 hours before the new year.

To be continued

In a relationship...

Iya yang saya maksudkan dengan in a relationship adalah segala hubungan cowok-cewek yang sedang deket a.k.a. ttm, htm, dan yang baru saja meresmikan hubungan menjadi pacar. Kenapa tahu-tahu membawa topik ini, saya juga kurang mengerti. Anggap saja sedang mengikuti kata hati nih.

Mungkin memang benar kalau orang bilang ketika sedang berduaan, "dunia serasa milik berdua yang lain cuma teken kontrak" huhuhuhu. Maka dari itu percaya saja kalau setelah itu banyak orang bilang "cinta itu buta kaya pakai kacamata kuda." Sudah tahu kita tu hidup di tengah berjuta-juta penduduk bumi, kalau lagi bercumbu yang kelihatan cuma si dia dan si dia..yang lain jadi kasat mata kali yee.

Saya lagi sirik?? ember kali. Namun demikian walaupun saya akhir-akhir ini menjadi sirik terhadap adik sendiri dan beberapa teman yang baru saja jadian dan dua orang teman yang lagi pada pdkt (baca: pendekatan aka naksir), fenomena in-a-relationship ini mungkin sebenarnya cukup mengingatkan saya pada diri saya sendiri tiga tahun silam waktu baru saja jadian.

Pinginnya berduaan terus, ga ketemu satu hari rasanya kaya setahun, ga bisa hidup tanpa dirinya, harus mendengar suaranya setiap hari, setiap hari menanti smsnya, maunya berpeluk-cumbu sehari semalam suntuk, sedih banget kalau sudah waktu sudah menunjukan jam malam dan saatnya berpisah, bahkan demi si dia apapun rela untuk dikorbankan dan kalau perlu terjun ke jurangpun sanggup. Gombal?? Emangg...tetapi pada saat-saat itu siapa yang masih bisa berpikir dengan akal sehatnya..kebanyakan akan menganggap hal itu nyata.

Yang ditunggu dan diharapkan dari si doi tuh...peringatan 1 bulan jadian, 2 bulan jadian, dst., trus kado natal, kado valentine, surprise dan surprise lagi, dan tentu saja mengharapkan doi akan mengingat ultah kita dan (lagi-lagi) kadoo Ultah donnggg. Ga heran:
- Banyak cowok bakal bokek pada bulan-bulan pertama
- Setelah beberapa tahun berlalu banyak cewek dan istri-istri mengeluh sang pangeran sudah tidak seromantis masa-masa doeloe...


Karena sebenarnya kenyataan itu tidak seindah mimpi, ada baiknya lekaslah tersadar dari mimpi-mimpi yang indah tersebut. Cinta itu buta karena kita memilih menutup mata, melihat, dan ingin merasakan apa yang kita ingin rasakan dan lihat. Namun berapa lamakah hal itu akan bertahan? persoalan muncul, perselisihan pendapat dan pertengkaran tak habis-habisnya datang dan pergi meninggalkan luka di hati dan ribuan tetes air mata.
Tak terkecuali saya, sayapun mengalami masa-masa pasca bermimpi; sakit hati, merasa dikhianati, air mata, sampai menyiksa diri sendiri (karena kalau udah nangis napsu makanpun hilang dan tidurpun tidak pernah nyenyak lagi ya ga??). Dan saya percaya hal yang samapun pernah terjadi pada pasangan saya.

Yang saya pelajari ketika saya mampu mengatasi semuanya, satu per satu sampai saat ini adalah:
- Karena dipertemukan di gereja, jangan cepat menyimpulkanTuhan mempunyai rencana buat kita berdua sampai jenjang pernikahan.
- Sama halnya orang yang agamanya baik, pinter berdoa, dan selalu ikut pelayanan bukan jaminan dia akan menjadi pasangan yang baik, SAMPAI kita sendiri betul-betul mengenalnya luar dalam. (If you believe "don't judge the book from its cover," then you should think about this.)
- Jangan terburu-buru melangkah...dalam setiap hubungan ada waktunya mulai dari bergandengan tangan, menjadi teman dekat, sampai berciuman..pak Pendeta bilang "nantikanlah Tuhan, karena waktuNya-lah yang terbaik."
- Masih berhubungan dengan poin buru-buru; setiap jenjang hubungan itu ada "RAMBU-RAMBU-nya" atau ada batasnya.
- Belajar mengerti dan memaafkan, pacar itu bukan saudara sedarah, si dia itu dulu adalah orang asing yang tidak kita kenal. Jadi setiap ada masalah, saya sendiripun selalu belajar mengingat itu adalah bagian dari proses mengenal dirinya dan berusaha mencari jalan keluarnya. Walaupun begitu saya tidak mengingkari, sebagai seorang cewek, seringkali juga kalau si dia sedang super nyebelin....pikiran pertama yang keluar adalah "putus." :p LOL
- Kalau sedang perang dingin ma si dia, jangan membandingkan terlebih curhat langsung dengan cowok atau orang lain yang sepertinya juga punya rasa sama kita. Dengan kata lain "jangan libatkan pihak ketiga/orang ketiga."Pada akhirnya saya sadar, pikiran jelek kaya gitu hanya membuat salah satu pihak sakit hati (kalau kita milih "the other guy", tentu saja perang dingin itu akan berakhir ma kata putus, sebaliknya kalau kita rujukan ma si dia kasian dong si cowok lainnya...emang dia cuma tempat pelarian sementara?).
-Dan tentu saja...serahkan semua kedalam tangan Tuhan. Kita punya banyak rencana mo nikah kapan, mo punya anak berapa, hidup di mana, de-el-el, namun Tuhan yang memutuskan (mo bosen denger kalimat ini silahkan..namun bagaimanapun kalau itu kenyataannya bagaimana kita dapat lari dariNya?).
- dan masih banyak yang lain-lain....yang bisa dipelajari dari sebuah hubungan terlebih mereka yang sudah berkomitmen...seberapa kuatkah komitmen itu?

Akhirnya saya memang lagi sirik saudara-saudara. Bukan berarti saya ma si dia kepingin kaya gitu lagi (itu lho soal dunia milik berdua hihi) namun sadarlah kita yang ada di sekitarmu ini juga kepingin berbagi kebahagiaan karena kalian bisa in-a-relationship (bener lhoo!!). Sapa sih yang ga seneng temennya jadian (kecuali yang merasa kalah bersaing dan dikhianati teman sendiri :p), kan asyik kalau ikutan ditraktir tanda syukuran..hehe. Saya sebagai orang yang ngikut ngontrak dunia ini cuma kepingin bilang:

We still exist to share and pray for your happiness, to take care of the new couple and to be there to comfort when there's a trouble...may God Bless You as He blesses me with my beloved one...Amen.

Over-confident?

Don't be over confident towards something uncertain, especially the Dutch weather. That's my moto lately.

About a week ago, I proudly wrote to my friend in Singapore that this year Autumn was the warmest over years due to the global warming. Everyday was sunshine and the temperatures were above 12 degrees...

See what did happen in the next day until today? In a day the temperature dropped from 12 to 5, and plus the wind, it felt like 2 degrees. I could say no more to my friend..big oups!!

...anyway I might not get such weather again next year when I'm back to Indonesia.

Ok that's all for today, I'm off to work now :p

End time of the year

Welcome to the last month of year 2006. For me, I feel like New Year was just yesterday. Time does fly fast without we realize this year will be ended soon. How's life going? have we accomplished what we have previously planned when we entered year 2006. With me? I would say I did...*big smile and all accounts to GOD" I finished all my last year's assignments and I graduated last summer and guess what all my family except my brother they managed to come to Holland. In the middle of this year I made a wish that I could stay for another year and GOD did answer He let me to enroll in a one-year programme Accounting and Finance. Have the same things also happened to you? Or..do you still have some of your plans sustained?

At the end, we can plan anything but God decides. In fact, all people know or at least have ever heard about this. The matter is about how far we have faith in it besides the fact that some people would rather not believing there is GOD. Well, I do believe in it.

Just last night, after my part-time work I talked with a new friend. He has been wondering in Holland for some years and thinking of going back to Indonesia next year because he thinks of having enough capital earned to start his own business. He believes that a success only comes to those who are hard-workers and know how to take a chance.
Then I told him about a story, which is actually written in the bible.

It is about a rich man who has a lot of money and treasures. He plans everything in order to make his prosperity last forever so that when he is old, his life would be full of enjoyment, parties, and happiness. However, God said to him,"You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Now who will get the things you've accumulated?" (you can read the full story at Luke:12:16-22)

My friend told me that he knew that that man finally died that night. Anyway it's just one of the example that actually all of us know that all things including the time are in God's hand.

As a year passes by, we are getting old and older (which doesn't mean it proves that we are granted a longer life). Quite the opposite, as we gets older, our time on earth is getting shorter. Why? because each of us was born to this earth with a certain life span and like it or not it has been decided long time ago before we came to our mommy's womb.

So is the time on earth, as a year is passing by again, the time is come to its end.
In the Christianity belief, the merciful time for the people is finished when Jesus is coming for the second time, which is called the rapture, and then the world will be sent to the great tribulation. Those who were died in Christ are going to be revived first then those who are still alive and believe in Him are going to be the next to rise. Finally, those who are left behind are sent to the great tribulation or great suffering time.

When the time on earth or your life time does finally end, have you been thinking what will you report to, what is so called, the Afterlife-judge? Would you be able to take all responsibilities of your entire life, which are obviously the factors that decide your next destination after life? Believe it, not only for Christians but all of us, there are only two places to go after life and for eternity, HEAVEN or HELL. There is NO such things like reincarnation OR second chance to repair the previous life.

Life is short but afterlife is for eternity. Would we be thinking that what we do today will be accounted for the next life?

"What we do in life, echoes in Eternity" (Quoted from Maximus line in Gladiator)

I don't mean to scare you really :) Finally just let me wish you a wonderful Christmas and year-end season.