Journal of My Mind

You know, this was my very first blog. But, since about one year ago, I don’t know what happening, a lot of spam came to this blog. Just 5 or 10? It’s about 2,300 up until now. I don’t know how to stop those mail even though I already report them as spam messages. It drove me crazy.

It is so sad to leave this blog. Here was my first time shared all my thoughts and I cannot replaced those posts. The young me wrote everything here. My success, my failure, my loss, my happiness.

Thanks for everybody who read my blogposts, really really appreciate it. I am not going to delete this blog anyway, maybe someday I can find the way to fix the problem. Not in intention to betray this blog or something like that, I made a new blog here. You may check my updates over there. The blogposts I post over there mainly about my life in Japan. Yeah, I’m already in Japan anyway. I was thinking to copy paste my old blogpost to my new blog but I still don’t know. These blogposts really precious for me.

Goodbye =’)

Thank you and..

Goodbye.

-Maya

Hi, blogger! Wew, 6 days left before I leave.

Last Sunday, I met my old friends and maybe the best one. We met 6 years ago and we remained as friends until now. I already expected the bad things since I took the decision to leave. I will have to say goodbye to everyone that close to me. My family, my friends, people that knows me… Maybe it sounds silly, but there’s something that out of my expectation. I never thought saying goodbye would be this sad.

I know we will meet again, but the thought of not seeing them for years almost made me cried last Sunday.

That wasn’t a goodbye. That was an “I see you later someday” – Arien Kartika Sari

For Yasmine, Firzi and Arien, you guys are the best! Remember when you guys suddenly threw me a surprise on my birthday last year? It was great! Gonna miss you so bad =’( Thank you very much =) Keep in touch, okay?

I have great friends and I’m so glad that I do. If I come back from Japan, we have to meet! I played this song called You’ve Got A Friend In Me, soundtrack of Toy Story over and over again. That song reminds me of my friends. Thanks to technology, now we still can keep in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Messenger, Skype or this blog =)

“You’ve got a friend in me 2x
When the road looks rough ahead
And you’re miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me 3x
You’ve got troubles, well I’ve got ‘em too
There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you
We stick together and we see it through
You’ve got a friend in me 2x

Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them will ever love you the way I do
It’s me and you
And as the years go by
Boys, our friendship will never die
You’re gonna see
It’s our destiny
You’ve got a friend in me 3x”

Thanks for reading. Wish me luck, okay?

Bye bye and see ya’!

Maya

Hi, blogger! Summer is over, even though we don’t have summer here. But here’s the thing. I got a very long holiday this year. Almost 5 months! Can you believe it?

That’s because I am going to college this year and the gap after my high school graduation and entering the college was that long. From May – September. When I just graduated from middle school, I also had a long holiday, but not as long as this one. If I’m not mistaken, it was only about 1-2 months, and that time, I was so bored. Just watching DVDs all day long.

This holiday is different. I did a lot of fun stuffs =)

1. Learnt Japanese Language

Every Tuesday until Friday at 7.00 – 9.00 am. At first, I felt very sleepy because I had to wake up so early when my other friends still in bed, but then I really enjoyed it. I always want to continue studying Japanese Language and here it is. Murwani-sensei is so kind and funny, we talked a lot, ate together and shared a lot of funny stories that we laughed carelessly. I was so sad it ended last Friday =’(

2. Discovered New Places

Yes, I went to Hong Kong and Shenzhen like I always wanted to =) It was an amazing trip, I figured out a lot of new things, made friends and enjoying every minutes of it. Those two countries are amazing, I mean, honestly, I started think Chinese culture is unique throughout this trip. I went shopping there with my mom, took hundreds of photos, ate Chinese foods and it couldn’t be traded with something else, even though I’m thinking to go there all over again because I haven’t visited Disneyland Hong Kong =p

3. Learnt How To Drive

This one was incredible. Actually, if you asked me about this last year, I would say I had no intention at all to learn how to drive a car. Funny, right? Maybe because my driver didn’t work for me anymore and I really wanted to go hangout with my friends that made me want to learn how to drive at the first place. And then, all of sudden, I was enjoying driving very much. I’m telling you this, but even until now, I still not a very good driver (almost hit a kid back then) =p I didn’t have enough practice back then, but it was all fun!

4. Be A Movie Freak

I watched a lot of movies throughout this summer. Usually, I watch movies at cinema about once every 2 months, and this 4-months-summer, I watched like 8 movies! Iron Man 2, Toy Story 3, Eclipse (twice!), Letters To Juliet, Despicable Me, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Inception and the last one, The Last Air Bender. My favorites are Toy Story 3 (of course, I LOVE Disney), Eclipse, Letters To Juliet and Inception (it was great!).

5. Spent A Lot of My Times With My Brother

My brother keeps coming home this holiday and we spent a lot of times together. It was great. Went to Bandung together (along with his girlfriend), learnt how to play Angklung, went to PRJ, played bowling at Plaza Senayan, etc. So much fun! Gonna miss him so bad when I’m leaving for Japan =’)

6. Cooking Time!

This one is funny, all of sudden, I cooked a lot. I attended Chocolate Class back then which was amazing because I got to try every chocolate and cakes there =9 Let’s see what did I cooked so far. I made Japanese Curry Rice, Carrot Pottage, Warm Fruit Stew with one scoop of ice cream as a topping and Kimchi Soup (Korean Food). Luckily, all of them were successful and delightful. Only one I haven’t tried, Indian Food =)

7. Ride On Trans Jakarta (Busway) For The First time

Along with Yasmine and Vanessa, I ride on Trans Jakarta =) It was new for me because I have never had a chance to ride on even once. It’s kinda an amazing feeling when you tried something new, something out of your usual things. I know it’s only a bus, but living in Jakarta for almost 14 years, I didn’t ride on the bus very often.

8. Went To Sudirman A Lot!

Sudirman is a name of a place in Jakarta which is a place for offices, banks, government building, etc. It has a lot of tall buildings and stuffs. Usually I seldom go there, but all of sudden, this summer, I went there a lot. My Dad’s office is located in Sudirman too, and at least every once a week I went there. Sometimes, I went there to go to my pre-departure orientation (at my university’s representative office). Sometimes, I went to Japan Foundation with my Japanese Language Teacher (we got interviewed once by local TV =p). Once, I did “hunting” photos with my cousin around Bunderan HI. My cousin is a photographer and he taught me a lot about photography.. for free =) And I went there to buy some stuffs (I know, shopping HAHA) for my college necessaries.

9. Blogging

I posted a lot, didn’t I? At least, I didn’t left my blog without updates at all for months like I did several months ago =p

I spent the rest of my holiday with hanging out with my friends, goofing around, laughing like there’s no tomorrow, enjoying every minutes of my life. For me, this holiday is meaningful. I got to do a lot of things. I mean, at least I didn’t wasted it by doing nothing (like I did 3 years ago, trust me, I did pretty much nothing back then) So, I am leaving next week. The new season has came. Wish me luck everything’s gonna be okay, okay? Thanks for reading my post. For spammer out there, can you please kindly stop? It bothers me somehow.

Bye bye and see ya’!

Maya

Hi, blogger! How are you all? It’s me, Maya. Still here, still the same, still the old Maya.

I’ve been saying on my previous blog posts that this year I’m preparing to get into university and I did. My future has settled. Not my “future” as my future future, but what i am trying to say is that I already got into a university. The truth is, I’m leaving for Japan.

Yeah, you got it right. Japan. I got into Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan.

If you know me well, you’ll absolutely know why I choose to leave. Since I was a little, my dream is going to Japan. I was living with that dream. And I would sacrifice almost everything to reach out my dream. It’s not like I’m going there so if somebody ask me where I’m going to college, I can answer proudly with  ”I’m going to Japan, isn’t it cool?” I’m not choose Japan so people would think that I’m cool. It’s just because of my dream. As simple as that. Maybe some people won’t understand. But, that’s it. That’s my reason, whether you can accept it or not.

Both of my parents work hard everyday for me and my brother. To pay our tuition fees, our foods, to afford our lives, etc. Both of us always try to do our best on our school and make our parents proud. I want to study in Japan so that when I come back, I won’t be the same little girl anymore. I’ll be more independent, responsible and could stand on my own foot. Beside, whenever I decide on getting something, I’ll try my best to make it up on my own way. I dream big. I know there are always people out there that laugh at me when I said all this stuff, but it’s okay. I fell down, then I get up. I fell down, then I get up again. How many times I fall down, I always try to get up on my own. When I can’t get myself up, then I will ask someone’s help. Trust me, I’ve fallen down several times too. Just like the others.

Actually, I got several options. Several choices. I choose  to study abroad. That’s what I’ve decided on my own. That’s why, if things getting difficult in Japan, I won’t whine. Instead, I’ll try to solve it. Difficulty is one of the consequences, and I have to be ready for that. If I whine, God will angry at me because He already gave me everything, more than I could asked for. Even though it’s been my dream all this time, choosing to leave wasn’t easy for me. It’s not like I’m going to have a trip to Japan, I’m going to live there on my own for 4 years, and leave behind almost everything. I cut off a lot of things. So, I gotta be strong and.. wish me luck, guys! =)

So, all I did this past weeks is preparing for my departure. I packed and packed lots of stuffs. Hope nothing’s left out. It’s been almost 12 years since the last time I had winter. I hope I won’t freezing there =p

Today, I just read one of my best friend’s latest blog post and got all teary. I know I’m gonna miss her so much! I always on the phone with her for hours. Of course I’m going to keep in touch with her.. and everybody. Gonna miss everybody =’) By the way, dear my dearest friend, don’t you realize we have the same stitch plush doll? I got mine for free, though =p What a coincidence, right? Do you remember when we shouted in front of Kinokuniya Plaza Indonesia because we named them with the same name “Stitchy” and we both insisted we had named it first, when actually I just made the name up? At least I made it up first =p

I will miss my room, my home, my friends, the air, the scent, the memories.. everything.

After this, my other dream will waiting for me to reach. After one dream, there will be another. I can’t wait. Japan will be a great adventure for me. Can’t wait to share with all of you, guys. Thank you for reading my posts all this time. I know this blog is so boring and all. But, like I said on my very first post. This is the journal of my mind.

Bye bye and see ya’! =)

-Maya

Hi, blogger. how are you, guys? It’s me, Maya, a girl who still on waiting to get in to college this September =)

I just realize that life does change. I just had the 4 months holiday and I can see things change rather quickly. And what change the most is my school’s life. I love high school. I love my friends. We got through high school together. And now we’re all apart. I know, every hello always ended up with a goodbye. My friends were the one who made my days during high school. We laughed, chatted, cried, scared, fought, smiled together. We got a lot of memories. And I just wanted to tell you that high school is one of my best time of my life.

There are too much good times, that actually I was planned to mention here, but after a second thought, I don’t think it is appropriate. This post will be the longest post ever if I do that. I mean, we spent 3 years of high school together. There are silly moments, good moments, sad moments, etc. We learnt to fly. we learnt about life. We learnt about friendship. We learnt everything during high school. We made mistakes but only to realize it was a mistake and never do it again. Now we are all already separated. I just want to thank you guys, for everything. Being there when I needed you guys. Made me laugh when I was not in the mood. These high school memories will last forever. Because..

…high school never end.

“High school musical,
Lets celebrate where we come from!
With friends who’ve been there all along, just like,
Our high school, high school musical!

Improvisation without a script, no ones written it, and now we have the chance too!
Someday we’ll be lookin’ back,
Memories we’ve had, all the songs that we lived through!
The best of times,
So why leave them behind. why cant the rest of my life
Be like my,

High school musical,
Who says we have to let it go?
It’s the best part we’ve ever known, step into the future!
We’ll hold on to,
High school musical, lets celebrate where we come from,
with friends who’ve been there all along, just like,
Our high school, high school musical!”  - High School Musical (High School Musical 3 OST)

Thanks for reading this post, reader.

See ya’ and bye-bye! =)

Hi, blogger! How are you? It’s me, Maya.

So, now I’m still on my looong holiday. Trust me, it’s so long. Almost 4 months! This holiday, I did a lot of things. Things I never done before, things I really wanted to do for a long time, etc. I feel that I changed a bit through this summer holiday. Do you remember my brother? I mentioned him here once. Now, he’s already worked in a tobacco company in Surabaya, Indonesia.

My brother and I shared our childhood together. We are close.

Realizing that I’m going to college this September, and might not see him for at least one year, my brother took 2 days off from his work. He flew to Jakarta to have some holiday, here. Along with his girlfriend, we went to Bandung and Lembang around 2 weeks ago. As usual, it was a short trip, but I enjoyed it soo much.

We went to Saung Angklung Udjo in Bandung, playing Angklung together. Do you know what Angklung is? It’s a Sundanese traditional instrument. Its voice is so beautiful. Then, after that, we went to walk and had dinner. The next day, we went to Lembang. Kampung Gajah and D’Seuhah Da Lada Restaurant. Lembang’s weather was so nice. Chill. D’Seuhah Da Lada is a good restaurant. Its foods are delicious. I personally recommended =)

We also went to Tangkuban Perahu Mountain. It’s cold there, but warmer than the last time I went there. On the way home, we chose Subang Route, and almost got lost because of my brother (kidding =p) It was fun! =)

We went to Bandung and Lembang during weekend. There were still 2 days off. So, we went to play bowling together at Plaza Senayan.

I was lost from my brother. Hahaha. But, it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about how we spent our quality time together.  Let me ask you guys, when was the last time you spent your entire day with your sibling?

He always try to make me happy. Even though sometimes he’s so annoying that I want to shut his mouth so bad, but he’s not a bad guy.  He always talk about how to face this life, how to stand out the crowd, etc. He teases me a lot. Yes, like others, we fight. Sometimes we got angry that we won’t talk. But at the end of the day, we always find a way to forgive each other.

And the best of all..

He is my brother and he’s the best brother in the world.

I know you read this, my brother. Just don’t fly, okay? =)

So, that’s what I did during my holiday. I still have like a month left before I’m off to college. I’m just preparing everything right now. Just wish me luck, okay? I hope everything is going well.

Thanks for reading my post =)

See ya’ and bye-bye! =)

Hi, blogger! How are you all? It’s me, Maya. I am sorry I haven’t update my blog recently. I was sick and did some of traveling back then. Here it is.

So, for all of my readers, you might already know that I wanted to go to Hong Kong and China from a long time ago. So, when my Mom asked me if I want to join the trip to HK and Shenzhen, I couldn’t say no. I love traveling =)

The trip lasted for 4 days. 2 days at Hong Kong and the rest at Shenzhen. From May 21st – 24rd 2010. It was a great trip for me

So, I went to Soekarno Hatta Airport with my parents on Friday May 21, 2010. I was gonna be in the trip with my mom while my Dad was going to work. Me and my Dad had a breakfast at KFC Airport, when I ate, I paid attention to people who passing by. One by one. My mom said that I won’t be the only teen who join the trip. There were 5 of us and I was really glad of that fact. I am sure I am gonna enjoy this trip, but thinking that I will be the only teen in the group? Hmm.. it doesn’t please me at all, to be honest.

It took like 4,5 hours to reach Hong Kong International Airport and I can say that I loved it. The airport has such modern and futuristic mode. It a little bit looks like Haneda Airport in Japan, though. After we arrived, we jumped to the bus and went to a place called Tsim Sha Tsui. It’s a nice place.

After that we had a dinner and we ate duck. Yummy =) Right after that, we went to the hotel and took a walk to a night festival afterward. The festival was so-so, though, I bought a lot of souvenirs for my friends in Indonesia there. I bought a pink Chinese Traditional Cloth too.

The second day, we went to tourist-spots like Victoria Peak, Repulse Bay, Herbal Shop, Jackie Chan Shop (met a lot of Japanese right there and the best part was now I understood what were they saying), and City Harbor. City Harbor is like Orchard Road in my opinion. Full of branded-stuffs. And unfortunately, we can’t stayed for long because the local guide mis-schedule us! We were on the wrong harbor. Fortunately, we were on time to catch up the ferry to Shenzhen, China.

Shenzhen, in my opinion, a little bit like Jakarta. I mean, the air was just.. polluted. Maybe because it’s a metropolitan city. We ate dinner and went to hotel straight away. From there, we went to take a ‘little’ walk to a place called Dong Men. They almost had everything cute and cheap. But, people keep talking to me in Mandarin and I don’t speak Mandarin at all. So, it’s kinda annoying but fun.

The third day was so much fun. We took a city tour to Giok Palace, another Chinese Herbal Shop, Windows of the World (this was the best!), Lovu and Splendid China.

Windows of the World is a place where miniature of the world are gathering here. We can see little china, little japan, little america, little europe, etc. I love around the world and coming here, for me, just like traveling around the world, in a smaller scale, though. I definitely will come back for this one someday.

Splendid China is a park represented China. We watched a cultural village show which is amazing and spectacular! Love it so much. If you want to shop until you down, you have to visit Lovu! They have like everything! From clothes, bags, shoes, sunglasses, etc.

This trip was one of my amazing trip. You must visit Hong Kong and Shenzhen too!

If someday I could visit Hong Kong or China again, this is my wish list:

• Visit Disneyland Hong Kong
• Visit Causeway Bay and Mongkok
• Visit Beijing and Shanghai

Sorry I just post a short one about this trip. There are too much details that actually I wanted to share with all of you guys, but I guess, you might get bored if I put all of them =) So, please enjoy this post. I am sorry it took a very long time to post since the last time I update this blog site. And.. for you, thank you .. thank you very much =)

See ya’ and bye-bye!

Hi, blogger! This is Maya! Finally I’m back! After months I had to study for my exams, now I am free. I am really sorry I could not update my blog for about 2 months. I said to myself, ‘I should post something or I might not qualified as a blogger anymore!’ So here I am =)

Well, I got good news. I pass my national final examination and I think it is short of miracle. I worked so hard and I am very grateful that I did. It is worth it. The result is something I could proud of until forever. And I already got an university. I got accepted in ITB (Institut Teknologi Bandung (Institute of Technology of  Bandung)). It was a miracle I got accepted there, so I could not be more grateful than I was. I think I am going to move to Bandung then. But it is still 3 months away and I don’t have much to do until around August. So I think I think I would love to update more often.

Do you ever shop online? I was so stressed out back then and whenever I wanted to have some “refreshing” time, I did some shopping online. It was fun, and actually it was because I found cute stuffs that I’m sure I wouldn’t find them in offline store. Well, not in Indonesia at least. So here they are, my new cute things.

1. Big Hand Cat Gloves

They are cute, aren’t they? It reminds me of my beloved cats. I miss them so much.

2. Mix Style Headphone

This is the funny one. I saw this at Narita Airport in Japan last summer. I didn’t buy it because I was afraid my luggage already overweight. When I got home, I regret it so much because my luggage was not overweight at all and I should have bought it at once. Suddenly, I saw this was sold in the internet, so I bought it =)

3. Onigiri Playing Card

This one is very cute. It is an ordinary playing card but has an onigiri shape and looks like a real onigiri. By the way, onigiri is a rice ball, it’s a Japanese food. Isn’t it cute?

4. Sneaker Style Home Slipper

This one has a very soft cotton like a plush toy. When I wear it, I didn’t feel like I’m walking on earth, it’s just so soft =)

Actually, I got more but I think these are the cutest. I start collecting these cute things around February. Hey, suddenly I am thinking of becoming a cute goods collector! Haha. Well, if you want to give me a birthday present, I won’t say no for a cute thing to add into my collection =)

You know, this update is only a warm-up post. So enjoy reading! =)

I’ll post more since I already free. Finally I graduate from high school even though for me it is very sad =( I feel like I don’t wanna leave high school. But I have to graduate and move on.

Thanks for reading my post! Share your thoughts with me. Bye bye and see ya’!

It was started around January 31st, 2010 when I had this little weird dream. I dream about attending a wedding. Not my wedding, but someone else. When I asked my friend what the meaning of this dream might be, she told me that usually when people dream about something related to wedding. someone close to that people is going to pass away. I didn’t really believe that because nobody in my family was sick or being hospitalized back then.

It stroke me when few weeks later I got a news that my grandfather was sick. I thought he would definitely be okay like usual. Then when my mom said he’s admitted to hospital, I knew I was wrong. He had never been hospitalized before. Something serious was going to happen for sure. My mom went to Kangean, an island near Madura in Indonesia. She’s originally from Kangean. All my family went to see him, except me, because I had several exams so I couldn’t go. I just couldn’t concentrate with my studies. In my head, I always thought about my grandfather. What if he couldn’t make it? What if he couldn’t survive until the end of this try outs? What if I could never see him again? I always panicked when the phone rang. I was so afraid it would me my mom and she would tell me the worst news. The news I was not ready to hear yet.

I got this really bad feeling since last night. I wonder what it was. So, I went to bed at 11.30 pm. Suddenly, at 3.30 am this morning, I am awake. But I got sleepy and sleep again. Then I am awake because my friend texted me. Just few minute after I read his message, I got another message from my dad. He’s gone. My grandfather has passed away this morning at 3.30 am. I couldn’t think clearly that I started pack my clothes. I want to see him for the last time. But my dad said, even though we wanted to go, but we can’t. The boat for today depart at 9.00 am and to reach the harbor, we need at least 6-7 hours. Today I also had a chemistry try out and I screwed up badly.

My grandfather was a lovely and funny person. He’s so nice and loved to smile. He laughed a lot as well. He was 87 years old and he always been healthy. He liked eating bakwan jagung (corn fried) and he liked to read word by word almost everything he could read of. He didn’t go to school because back then, Indonesia still under Netherlands colonialism. He always laugh and even though doctors prohibit him to eat a lot of sugar or everything that can lead to cholesterol and high blood pressure, he sometimes didn’t care and ate what he wanna eat. Like on my 17th birthday, I gave him my cake back then.

I remember when I went to Japan, I bought him a black t-shirt and he was so happy. I searched the perfect t-shirt during my visit to Asakusa. And even though I found the t-shirt in Narita Airport, but that t-shirt was a special souvenir from me. I remember he was smiling so wide when he received the t-short and wear it right away just like a kid. And he said, ‘You’re so right picking this one for me; I don’t have much black t-shirt at home’. His smile is what I’m gonna remember for my entire life.

What I really regret the most is that I didn’t have a chance to meet him for the last time. And just think about it makes me sad. I wish I had spent more time with him, he’s my grandfather after all. And I wish I had shown him my photos from Japan, he must be really excited to see them. Why didn’t I think about those things back then? Now, for all sudden, I understand how Miley Cyrus felt when his grandpa died.

Goodbye, my grandpa.

RIP Isa Abdullah (1923 – 2010)

Forever In Our Heart