Happy Birthday to me!

15 November 2004.

It was my 15^th birthday.

The first time I celebrated it without my family. It was Idul Fitri, and schools were off.

That was also the day I first rode an MRT together with my fellow Balinese scholars BooN, Ivan, and Koko. Went to Kinokuniya in Orchard, and bought a “Longman Dictionary—Low Price Edition” for SG$16.70 as a birthday present to myself.

15 November 2005.

My 16^th birthday.

I celebrated it at home in Tanah Kusir, as I got the chance to went back to Jakarta just two weeks before my birthday.

15 November 2006.

My 17^th birthday.

At precisely 12 a.m., I was in the boarding school field, celebrating my own birthday by running round the field. I avoided all my friends in the first hour of that day, and made a wish to God that my 17^th year would be much more productive than the former.

Finally, I reached my Indonesia’s coming-of-age limitation.

But I was in Singapore and I’m facing the last three days of my ‘O’-level papers. And dammit, I was having Physics paper!

I didn’t care. Did I study for that Physics paper? Not really. Despite being the only Science ‘O’-level that I took, I revised my Sec 3 and Sec 4 books for only an hour and stayed up late until 4.a.m, enjoying the Korean drama series Sassy Girl Chunhyang episode I just downloaded using BooN’s laptop.

As a result, I caught cold during my Physics paper. However, I fought the battle and obtained a B3 (65-69% point) for that paper. I knew I could’ve done better if I studied longer.

Bah, I don’t care. The Physics paper had violated the sancitity of my birthday anyway.

15 November 2007.

My 18^th birthday.

Finally, I’m categorised as lawfully mature according to most Western states (incl.USA). What am I doing now? I’m blogging, amidst all the typing and cacophonies of Ragnarok, DotA, Seal, and Gunbound in the net café.

My wish for the productiveness of my 17^th year wasn’t fulfilled by God. As the way I see it now, my 17^th year was apparently the least productive, as I was unemployed for almost the entire year.

As I’m gonna spent the next few months abroad and alone this time, there’s no questioning that my 18^th year is gonna be my most challenging year. It may not be productive, but it would still be challenging.

Anyway, happy birthday to me!