Our brief rendezvous

There's always a slight feeling of satisfaction after meeting a dear old friend. Spending a time with a best childhood friend is like finding your old diary in an almost forgotten vintage treasure chest, stored up in the attic. At times, the experience is likened to when you're walking down a lane you haven't been on for a while, or polishing off a mouthful of nanna's home-made chocolate gateaux that you haven't encountered for ages because destiny called study abroad has set you both apart for 10 years.**

As for me, the experience is like encountering a pack of dusty Sailor Moon comic books in the storage room. That definite moment when having the book on my lap, back leaning straight against the damp white wall of the storage room, and me fondly flicking every page of Sailor Moon, is very heartwarming.

The same could be said for what I felt two weeks ago when meeting an old high school friend. Back then, we had many similar interests. Now, we have a smorgasbord of 'em. She is now a Medicine student and a blogger -- a beauty blogger to be precise -- on her spare time. She's Nataly. The last time we met was around five or six years back. And we haven't heard from one another ever since.

So, after those six years I finally met this long-lost friend through Instagram (all hail The Internet) and then we arranged a meet-up for a photoshoot around the Old Batavia (Kota Tua) in Jakarta.



We chatted, we gossiped, we laughed all day looong. We also came up with a gazillion ideas to do a collab for our blog. And preoccupied though we were with catching up on one another's lives, we did enjoy our photoshoot very much. Our photos came up really natural, relaxed, and honest ♫ ♪ 

And Nataly's back with a rad ombré hair. This time, her hair features a reddish-orange hue with a slight wet curl at each end. I remember back in high school how she appeared in our classroom, one day after a summer holiday, with a green, blue, and red hair. It's enough to stir a chaos between the teachers! Sadly, she had to dye it black at the end. Now, when reminiscing over it again, we just laughed it off.

We had nothing but fun and laughter before us. Our brief rendezvous was, undoubtedly, the first of many more to come. 

*All pictures in this post belongs to me. Edits by yours truly.

** Please accept my apology for creating such a mouthful sentence. It's kinda fun you know, watching people hyperventilating as they read through my blog. Oh there you go I'm doing it again. Sorry.

We are the kindest species

They are savage. They devour human being. They are treacherous. Their all-conquering eyes dart right through your flesh, bones, and tissues. They are malicious. They've got tongues that are engulfed in flames. 

Are they some kind of hellacious animals that ready to pounce on an exposed flesh including some random lass’ juicy thighs? Is this all about zombies with supernatural powers? Unfortunately, no. They are the smartest being that have ever lived on earth. They can be gentle but simultaneously, ferocious. They're amiable but unmistakably belligerent too. 

They are two-legged creatures called humans.

Grazie, 2014

Today is day eight of 2015. How strange.. A year has just ended eight days ago. I remember very well, exactly a year ago on January 2014, I was anxious to face the year ahead. A lot of things had happened since then.

Now, I could say that 2014 was the year where I stumbled and crushed, devastated and torn, but at the same time was — by far — the most adventurous year I have ever had. Despite everything that happened within that year, with such a great humility I would say that I gained victory over each and every battle in 2014.

Nevertheless, it wasn't me who won the battle, but my God who won all my battles for me.

I decided I would have this opportunity to recall those battles in a hope they would help me to remember how fragile I was (and will always be) and how God has worked wonderfully to won my battles.

Battle 1 getting post-study work visa, Battle 2 finding permanent job, Battle 3 deciding whether to go back to Indonesia, Battle 4, Battle 5, and so on . . .

I hope this recollection of my past battles would help boost my spirit to fight through 2015. Welcome, Two Thousand Fifteen.


* All pictures in this post belongs to me.

Capitolo 2: Aqualungs

Father and daughter were as happy as a clam ◕‿◕

I am now a certified PADI Open Water Diver! Y-A-Y! * 

Before I'm exposed to this diving absurdity, I had no idea at all that diving course would only require so little time. I thought the whole diving course gonna take weeks (in my case, months), however, you could actually squeeze it into two days. 

So, what is this PADI thing then? PADI Open Water Diver course is the first step you have to take if you'd like to take a scuba diving certificate. Basically, it's the entry-level course. There's around five or so scuba diving certification; PADI and SSI to name a few (I don't know the rest). I never heard anyone got their cert from SSI, so you can just leave it out and take PADI course instead. PADI courses in Indonesia aren't hard to find nowadays. I know there are several in Grogol, Senayan, Ancol. The one that I had was at Divemasters Indonesia in Kemang, South Jakarta. Psst! From what I heard, this dive centre is the best in town!

An underwater ballad by Leslie Burke

I'm moving gently forward,

over the wild and beautiful

unexplored world below me.

I'm floating in silence,

and breaking it up

with the sound of my breath.

Above me, there's nothing

but shimmery light,

the place where I've come from

and will go back to when I am done here.

I'm diving.

I'm a scuba diver.

I'm going deeper 

past the wrinkled rocks and dark seaweed

toward a deep blueness

where a school of silver fish wait.

As I swim through the water,

bubbles burst from me

wobbling like little jellyfish

as they rise.

I check my air.

I don't have as much time 

as I need to see everything,

but that is what makes it so special.

Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus 

by Leslie Burke (Bridge to Terabithia)