Life!

Tomorrow (27 March) will be my last day of work as a cashier in the gas station.

Though in one part I am relieved not having to work on Christmas, Thanksgiving, or New Year's any longer, it still saddens me somehow, leaving the coworkers I have grown attached to during the last two years.

Hence I still shall come and see them every once in a while.

And starting Wednesday onward I shall become an ordinary college student with only 15 hours on my part-time librarian job.

Oh, Life.

How I've missed you so much!

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on Small towns

Living in the suburbs has plenty of perks.

For one, it is much safer than big cities. Unless I'm parking the car for the night, most of the time I leave my car doors unlocked. Nobody steals cars here.

But I'm afraid I've overstayed my welcome.

I have nothing against staying in Kentucky. It's just that I was raised as a city person. Living in a small town/suburbs like this gives me an endless sense of boredom. Sometimes I lie awake at night thinking how beautiful life would be if I could just pack and move to some nice cities such as Washington DC.

Seriously, it's dull living here. No excitement, no nightlife, nothing. Unlike back in New York, you can't find Chinese restaurants open past midnight.

Even the McDonald's close at Midnight.

I need to move out!

Granted that everything goes according to plan, I am slated to graduate with a Bachelor degree from university in 2014. At the point of which I am thinking of resettling in Charlotte, NC or Savannah, GA...where the tropics and the beaches are always within reach.

Or even the birthplace of my sister...Richmond, VA.

Damn, I absolutely love that city!

An ideal one would be a city that's not too expensive to live in (in terms of housing and groceries), has a metro train system (I love commuting by train since it reminds me of Singapore) and does not speak Spanish.

This leaves most of Florida and Texas out of the equation.

Let's just see later, I guess.

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Isn't it wonderful?

So far, there were only two (or perhaps three?) Winter days in the Northern Kentucky region when we have snowy roads. Other than that, it mostly goes back and forth between rain and mildly cold weather. The temperature keeps hovering somewhere around 7 to 17 Celcius, on average.

It was as if Winter was never there in the first place. It kinda feels like South Carolina winters here... Short, mild, and lovely.

Which is the reason why I am more of an upbeat mood these days.

On a more personal note, I have been employed as a librarian now. Life can only get better.



Except for the fact that Valentine's day is two weeks away, and I still wish you were here.

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It's too late for swimming

The iPhone's weather app is showing a temperature of 13°C , which means it's too late for swimming now. It's a pity that none of us had the chance (nor the wills) to swim when it was still warm outside.


A friend suggested going to Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, OH if we want to have an indoor waterpark experience. I guess I'll check the place out after the bills are paid for the month.




I have been blogwalking on some Indonesian blogs lately, and seeing some snapshots of Indonesian cuisine made my mouth water. Especially when it comes to my fave Indonesian meal of Martabak and Pempek Palembang (I blame this on Kimi! Oh by the way, I've put your link in my blogroll! ^^).


An Indonesian friend in California told me that even Indonesian restaurants in the country (which mostly converge in California, NY, and Texas) don't taste as original as the ones back in the tropics, particularly since their respective owners want to comfort more of the American people's tastebuds.


Shucks. I should make it a target to have an annual pilgrimage back to Singapore or Indonesia or even Netherlands to taste Indonesian food every once in a while.

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American Sign Language

I registered for the classes of ASL 101 and ASL 102 back-to-back as a foreign language requirement to complete my Associates. And in contrary to what most other people say, I think this is among the hardest languages I've studied, especially since I'm not adept in facial expressions.

As a result, I would have dropped my ASL 102 at the completion of 101 next month....if not for the highly-attractive young female professor who is teaching the class.

I love coming to this class. It is probably the first course where I have a perfect attendance (i.e., no skiving off classes).

Seriously, I do think that more universities should have a professor like her.

A slightly tall brunette-haired lady in her mid-20s, with a lithe figure, sweet complexion and always wears nice cardigans... ASL is probably the only class in my campus where male students don't doze at all throughout the lecture, not even for one minute. We just stare at those beautiful eyes, even if we don't understand one bit what the hell she's talking about.



So why did I decide to register for the class anyway?

(FYI, I had no knowledge of who the teacher was until the first day of class)

Because of the movie Orphan. Yes, that psycho-thriller movie about the adopted girl who ended up almost killing the entire family.

I rated the movie 4.0/5.0 in Flixster, and it was indeed one of the best movies in 2009. The movie has one of the characters, Max, who is a deaf-mute girl who communicates with her family using ASL.

It got me saying: Oh my, what a cute language!

I always have an adjective for different languages. While German is coarse, English is practical, Japanese is awesome, French is lovely and Chinese Mandarin is complicated, I'd say that ASL is cute.

I didn't know if I ended up liking ASL because I thought that the kid Max expressed the ASL well, or simply because I liked ASL for what it looks like. Anyway I ended up registering for these classes.

Little did I know that I would change my opinion of ASL later on. I should've known it.

But I don't regret taking this class. Why should I?

'post~script The professor — unfortunately — is happily married and has a toddler. Which kinda shucks, but that does not discourage males from looking at her anyway! Tsk tsk.. Shame on them! Haha.

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(499th) day of Summer

While signs of autumn seemed to have arrived on early September (it dropped from 28 C to 12 C in less than 24 hours, how annoying is that?), some people just can't wait to have autumn back on the doorstep.

Ah, autumn!



The most romantic month of the year in Kentucky is not February.

It's October, when the rustic charm resonates in the surroundings with early steps of autumn. Autumn in Kentucky also tends to have more rain than any other time of the year, which gives the impression of living in the outskirts of Oregon.

Calm, peaceful, and slightly cool. Makes you want to cuddle with your lover.

When I get married, I'd probably have the ceremony outdoors in autumn. Winter would be freezing while summer would be too sweltering.

Spring would confuse people as to what dress code one should wear, since the cold days and hot days come alternately.

Not that I have anyone in mind though.

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Eid musings

Every year during the month of Ramadhan, I always fast for one whole day of my choice.

It was a ritual I started during my late years of primary school (10 or 11 years ago). I stayed at Uncle A's residence for a prolonged two-week Ramadhan vacation. His entire family is Muslim and hence, they fasted for every single day I stayed there. There were, however, no qualms about making my meals. Since I was the only one who was a non-Muslim, Uncle A and his wife made sure that the housemaids cook breakfast and lunch for me anytime I wanted to eat.

Until one particular day, I decided to take up fasting with them just for the sake of trying it out. I was struck with hunger pangs for every single minute of it. But I decided to wait it out until sunset, indulging myself in PlayStation until the mosque drum rolls came thru the telly.

Yes, I did it. It was my first day of Ramadhan fasting, and I decided to do it again the next year.

And again. And again. Until it finally became an annual ritual.

There had only been three occasions that I failed to fast, namely 2006 (due to final exams), 2008 (I got lazy and complacent), and this year.

Yes, I know that today is not Eid yet, but I don't think I am able to stand it out this year due to my overwhelming schedule. Plus, it's in the middle of summer which means that the sun sets at 9 p.m. everyday.

Until next year, I guess!

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Sometimes

Sometimes I wish I could go back to that life in the tropics, to Indonesia.

In the tropics:

• Life was much slower-paced,



• I had more close friends I could hang out with,



• It was much easier to get a date,



• I had my entire family (including cousins, aunts, etc) reachable within a short bus ride, and



• Martabak vendors are just a short motorcycle ride away.

Here in the Midwest:

• I barely get enough sleep,



• It's a nonstop cycle between my full-time work shifts and my full-time college,



• I have nigh no time to even meet any close friends,



• so far, the last girl I asked bailed out on me,



• I only have my Mom and my sis (in August), and



• TacoBell sucks. Really sucks.

I mean, I do admit that we have Skyline Chilli here, but it does not diminish the very fact that TacoBell sucks.

Moreover, despite the fact that Kentucky is the origin of Kentucky Fried Chicken, I tell you the truth here: Kentucky restaurants in Southeast Asia have better-tasting chicken meals than KFC in Kentucky.

Seriously.

However, anybody were to ask me if I'm interested to visit Indonesia now, I would answer NO wholeheartedly.

I am not interested in that whole "new life, everybody has changed" thing that my friends and family members are gonna display in their faces when I meet with them.

I love the old them in 2009. I prefer the old them in 2009. I am totally not interested into those new changes they have in their lives.

If only I could go back and revisit those Indonesians of 2009 (as opposed to the Indonesians of 2011, who mostly sucks like hell), that would be heaven for me.

Seriously.

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Plans for Searing Summer: Canada or South?

I've always wanted to go to Canada. There are a lot of gorgeous looking ladies up there. And now that it's searing hot outside, I probably will.

Or not.

It sucks when you live on a limited budget.

I plan on getting a new Smartphone sometime later this month, but I'm still undecided whether I should get an iPhone 4 (which is gonna suck when you see a new version of iPhone 5 next year) or a Samsung Infuse (which is one of the very first Droids in the country that runs on a 4G platform).

My sister and father's upcoming arrival (which is going to be their first visit to the country after more than 10 years in Southeast Asia) is very much awaited too. I will not write anything about the exact dates until everything is confirmed, but let it be made known that their visit here will be very much anticipated. Can't wait.

Anyway, now I know what I want for Christmas: a Prius. Or Nissan Leaf.

Do you know that Nissan Leaf can run very low mileage (up to 99 Miles per Gallon!). With the gasoline price so steep these days, I wish for nothing else other than saving on weekly fuel purchases.

It would not be so prudent to actually buy a hybrid vehicle this year (such an idea is per se, impossible since I have not got a pay raise yet). Hence, probably sometime next year I hand over/inherit my Subaru to Sis M or Mom or whoever wants the car after I'm done with the payments.

Back to the earlier topic, the family (i.e.: the whole package of Me, Sis M, Mom & Dad) might be able to travel to somewhere closer to home, like Myrtle Beach, South Carolina or Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

I always wonder what the South actually looks like, and I've always wanted to go there too. Let's just hope everyone will find such a summer vacation delightful to look forward to.

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Interstate 75

2010 was the year I started wondering why I never had many close friends.

I went to Sis S' apartment and consulted her.

"Bcoz you always move.... It's hard to keep up with friends when you move coz you don't do the same stuff anymore. That's why you shouldn't move [to North Carolina] anymore T-A...you should just stay here!" she said.



Well yes, of course.

For almost my entire life, I have never stayed for more than two years in the same city or school. It was not that we are no longer good friends; it was just hard to be as close when you do not have much in common with them anymore.

Let me take Eddy as an example. He was an old friend from my primary school in South Jakarta, Indonesia. At that time, neither of us could think that we would actually find ourselves further apart.

We had the same taste in music (Sheila on 7), books (Enid Blyton's and Detective Conan), games (Chocobo, Tekken), but thank goodness not girls. He always had a crush on the smart girls while I preferred the pretty ones.

Then I moved to Bali.

We still make long-distance calls to each other once every two months or so (those were the days before Facebook or Friendster), but it was getting obvious that we no longer had much to talk about anymore. While in Jakarta we used to hang around to each other's houses and talk about crap from dawn to dusk, our Jakarta-Bali phonecalls were only limited to 10 minutes at maximum.

And when I was in Singapore, every contact stopped. I told him I was leaving the country, but that was basically it.

Until the day I found him on Friendster again. By that time, we were almost like complete strangers who know each other's childhood secrets. We had absolutely nothing in common.




Sucks, but Eddy was not my only example. I am sure I can write a more lengthy recount of what it was like to leave my friends in Bali when I left Bali forever.

So I learn from my experience.

I had to admit that leaving Indonesia in 2009 was one of the heaviest decisions I had ever made in my life. It was bold, rash, and heavy. I had become very much attached to my Indonesian kins, friends, culture and lifestyle that it was hard for me to leave them there.

Then I realised that it was probably the last time I could ever enjoy some of their company. Because even if I do return to Indonesia, things would never be the same anymore.

Which was the reason why I became overindulgent during my very last weeks there...the stuff of which sometimes made me chuckle.

So...now that I have the choice to leave Kentucky, I have chosen not to. The people are some of the warmest and friendliest people I have ever met in the planet. And the girls...where else can you find prettier girls than Kentuckians (details of which I would save for another post)?

Kentucky is still kinda cold though...hence to purchase a condominium or a house, I would still opt for the East coast states such as North Carolina or Virginia.

But as for today, I'm loving Kentucky!

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