Small Thing that Made Me Happy

Yesterday evening, when I was reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" by Mark Haddon, suddenly my cellphone was bipping. It was a text message from my friend in Edinburgh, Scotland. The content made me happy. Very. It was such a surprising message. Guess what? He's coming to Bandung on Monday to start teaching English!!!

Oh my God! I was so surprised, yet happy and excited! Couldn't believe that he was that serious in pursuing his will on teaching English in Asia! Wow. Two thumbs up for him! :)

His name is John. He was my colleague when I studied in Amsterdam. We went to the same university, but different major. Couple of months ago, he mentioned about his desire to become an English teacher. Then he took a course for English teaching to get a license or certificate. This certificate will smoothen his path to teach English abroad. He told me that he's interested in teaching English somewhere in Asia. So, I told him to consider Indonesia as one of the choices. And.. he did :).

One day, he sent me sms and told me that he got a job interview in Bandung (the interview was conducted over the phone). He asked me about the city as he remembered that I got my bachelor degree from a uni there. (such a good memory he has, I spoke to my self)
So I described the city and what I loved most about it.... at that time, I didn't expect that he was really about to take the job there!!!

It was raining hard outside, but I was so happy to know the fact that one of my colleagues is coming to Indonesia. Am still happy and excited now. It would be nice to meet him again after almost 2 years! Didn't imagine before that we would meet in Indonesia, my home country... not in Europe :D. Such a cool surprise. I just hope that he'd love Bandung and feel comfortable working there... :) (otherwise, I would feel bad, huh?) Oh, fortunately Bandung isn't far away from Jakarta, so we could hang out together just like when we were studying in Amsterdam. Nice!!

Ah well... another friend of mine just proved that the phrase "When there is a will, there is a way" does work. If you want something so bad, u'll better fight for it... and u will eventually get it ;) ...

CIA YO!!! ^-^

Happy New Year 2006, everyone! :)

some shots in Bali during the holiday seasons.. end of December 2005-early of January 2006

A visit to Aceh...

I got an opportunity to visit Aceh on December 26 - 27, 2005 for the one year commemoration of the tsunami. Yup, it was exactly one year after the tsunami hits the area...

During those two days in Banda Aceh, I was overwhelmed to see all the damage caused by the tsunami. I went to Ulee Lheue, the worst hit area in Banda Aceh and was speechless... The entire area was flat, no houses or buildings whatsoever... all u could see were only ruins. It was really hard to imagine that this used to be a housing area for the Acehnese.

Despite all the ruins, the area was surrounded by a stunning scenery: mountains, hills and the sea.. So beautiful! It must be nice to live there, where every morning you open your window and see this amazing landscape. Ah well...

I also managed to go to Lhok Nga, a used-to-be beautiful beach before it was hit by the tsunami. There was a mass grave located nearby the beach. Kinda scary, isn't it? :p I think the beach was a bit gloomy, especially in the dawn, yet still beautiful...

There was also a visit to a mass grave in Lambaro as part of the whole official ceremonial events of the one year commemoration of tsunami. I got chill on my bumps by seeing the numbers written on the board: about 47.718 victims were burried in this area! *speechless*

During my two-days visit in Aceh, I felt so sad only by looking at the faces of the locals... (I imagined what they've been through during the tsunami.. it must be hard to survive and to accept the reality where almost all your family members were disappeared!) However, the beauty of the area has amazed me as I didn't expect that Aceh would be so pretty and dazzling as it is... seriously.




Let's hope that all the parties involved in the reconstruction for Aceh could work together and hand-in-hand in developing the area as soonest as possible. My heart was broken to see the number of temporary houses that were not enough and sufficient for all the victims... it ain't easy for them... yet, it ain't easy for us who see it as well..

Life works in a mysterious way..

*A fairy tale*

I'd like to share this beautiful story with you, my dear friends…

Princess Tini lives in the Kingdom of Snow. It’s always winter there (just like in “Narnia” movie). She’s 27 years old, still single. It’s not that she did not have any boyfriend, but at her 27 years living in the cold kingdom, she decided not to have one. All of her life she’s been wondering whether her Prince Charming does exist.. or whether this ideal figure is just a sort of hallucination and imaginary..

One day, there was a Prince Sunrise from the Kingdom of Sun asked her to marry him. Although they know each other so well, Princess Tini were not sure that he was the one that she’ll be spending the rest of her life with. She was confused and asked God to give some clues on what to do. She was afraid that she might pick a wrong decision…

For couple of days Princess Tini had sleepless nights. She loves Prince Sunrise so much but on the other hand she cannot understand why her heart keeps on whispering to wait for the love of her life that she hasn’t even met yet?

However, she didn’t know until when she has to wait for the Prince Charming to come to her real life. Then, she thought that perhaps it was her destiny to be together with Prince Sunrise as he was her childhood best friend and the only person that she could count on in this life.

Princess Tini decided to go to the Kingdom of Sun to tell this good news. She took her friends and maids to accompany her on this trip. It took few weeks to get to the Kingdom of Sun from her own kingdom. Her friends and maids were such a good company as they all shared laughter and always sang favorite songs to bright up their journey..

One day, when Princess Tini took a bath on a river, she bumped into a guy. Apparently, he comes from a neighbor kingdom, called the Kingdom of Roses. She heard a lot about this kingdom and always wanted to go there. People say that the air in the Kingdom of Roses smells like roses… as well as the wind breeze…

His name is Prince Rozlynos. Not that handsome, she thought. His skin is a bit pale and he has a strange accent – a Roses accent, that’s what people say. Normally, she never talk to strangers, because that’s what have been the Queen, her Mom, taught to her: Never talk to someone who you don’t know. But this time, she thought, it wouldn’t hurt to make friends during her journey… apart from that, Prince Rozlynos does not look dangerous at all, she tried to convince herself.

Couple of minutes later, they’re already engaged in a deep conversation. From a distance, Tini’s friends and the maids were watching them and wondering who the hell was the stranger guy that sit next to their Princess? But, seeing the Princess looked so happy and excited, they cancelled the idea to interrupt them.. and left them alone.

Princess Tini was happy to meet such a nice new friend. It appears that Prince Rozlynos isn’t just an ordinary guy. He has a lot of things that she adores: the brain, the attitude and the character. Although they barely knew each other, but Tini knows that they have a same vision. What a cool friend to have, she thought.

Later at night, she tried to remember what has happened today… and suddenly, she was shocked to hear her feelings. Her heart whispered that it is that kind of guy that she always wanted to be with! Her hands were trembling… what happened?

Suddenly, her brain worked faster. Perhaps it’s a sign from God, the answer of her prayer, the answer of her confusion. In the middle of that night, she tried to listen to her heart and concentrate. After few minutes of quietness, she came into a conclusion:

“The incident that I met Prince Rozlynos wasn’t just a coincidence. It’s a God’s sign. God wanted to show to me that my Prince Charming-type of guy- does exist. Although perhaps it’s not Prince Rozlynos who will be the chosen one for me, but at least that type of guy does exist in this real life. So, I just have to be patient. Life works in a mysterious way”.

In the next morning, she decided to return to the Kingdom of Snow… together with her best friends and maids who have been very loyal accompanying her in the very important quest of her life. From that day, she became more excited on what would happen in her life next… and she thanked God that He delivered the answer just in a right time…