Today I found out about this event!
Details are in the poster. I'm happy it will be in Plaza Senayan, which is easily accessible~

Also I did a bit of research on JKT48 and I think two of the members are pretty! Rena, the only Japanese in JKT48, and Melody, the leader. I'm surprised that Rena is only 13 years old. I think she will become really popular after this debut.



I also watched their commercial for Pokari Sweat and the ad quality is so nice~~

Labels: advertisement, AKB48, CM, commercial, concert, Japan, Japan Pop Culture Festival 2012, JKT48, Melody, Plaza Senayan, Pocari Sweat, Rena Nozawa

O_O

"Serving You Soon..."
*moe pose*

O_______O


I can't believe it! Don't know when it is opening. I hope the waitresses are actually going to be cute like the one on that picture though. I'm a bit unsure and all but if it is going to be good then I can't wait because more Japanese culture in Jakarta makes me love this place more and more.

In fact, today I was sooooo shocked to see Natural Beauty Basic brand in SOGO dept store today!!!!! I was damn hyped and bought myself an utterly overpriced (but cute) skirt. When I went home I regretted it. I won't say the price of the skirt but it's enough to shame me lol. I'm going to go on a diet for half a month to make up for the expense (win-win situation..hahhaha).

I only knew NBB from their advertisements which are by PERFUME!!!! LOVE THEM!!!

Labels: crepe, creperie, jakarta, M and T, maid cafe, momi toy's, Plaza Senayan

This video is a MUST WATCH for anyone living in Indonesia.





This is a video aired by UK's BBC2. It's called "Toughest Place to be a Bin Man" (trans: Tempat Paling Sulit Sebagai Tukang Sampah). Sorry for my bad translation ...

For some time now, I have started noticing the tukang sampah (bin men) in Jakarta. This city is split into two groups - very rich and very poor. Middle-class consists of just a few of the population. My father is a hard worker and thanks to him, I have always lived a comfortable life with everything I need. Every night in my prayers I always thank God for having blessed me with this life that lacks nothing.

I would like to personally thank BBC for making this video. I think a lot of Chinese-Indo kids, including me, have no idea about the life of the poor in Jakarta. We have seen the carton houses, the skinny tukang sampah, but we knew little about them. In fact, I was even contemplating making my personal investigation on them and making a movie out of it. lol! Anyway, that is why I am so grateful this video is out. I hope we can understand each other a little bit better.

Labels: bbc, bbc2, bin man, Indonesia, jakarta, the toughest place to be, tukang sampah

Labels: valentine

Last night I did a lot of research into Japanese brands that have stores in Taiwan. Apparently there are quite a lot! I'm so excited to go to Taiwan now! Can't wait to be reunited with Lowry's Farm, Samantha Thavasa, Samantha Petit Choice, Samantha Vega, Lis Liza, Afternoon Tea!

By the way, these hair models are all so pretty...!

Labels: accessories, hair, Hairstyle, japanese, jewellery, necklace, sweet

Images copyright their respectful owners.

Labels: accessories, fashion, feminine, girly, japanese, OL, Samantha Thavasa, trend

Good evening everyone!

Hisashiburi desu (it's been a while).

Wow um, my last post is so long ago! Since that day, many major events have occured:

I graduated from RMIT! Achieved BA Communication Design!
Had a mad packing session, sent 3 boxes back to Jakarta plus 5 luggages.
Flew back to Indonesia for good, leaving Melbourne behind on Christmas Day 2012.
Arrived at Jakarta in time for a Christmas dinner with family and boyfriend, who picked me up from the airport for the first time :)
Passing by speckled illumination of street lights, gazing at boyfriend's face after several months as he drove, happy time for me.
Christmas was wonderful as usual, and then so quickly it passed. And the year 2013 arrived.
Took a test for an English teaching job.
Madly busy with applications for Postgraduate education.
Said goodbye to boyfriend again.
Sent out my applications.
Did not receive news from prospective employer.
Received rejection from one university out of the three.
Had a great Chinese New Year, better than any before. Good warm family feel.
Spending days doing nothing much at all.
Started reading Haruki Murakami's 1Q84, and feeling disappointed so far.
Enjoying the peaceful lazy days at home with my family and dogs.

And here I am, sitting on my desk with the lights on dim.
The Japanese Jazz radio station, Shonan Beach FM, up on the late-night program.
Had my glass of red wine, feeling clean.
Left arm still throbbing from the HPV vaccine injection even after 10 days.
A black top, and short blue silk pants. The bracelet from Japan, the anklet from boyfriend.
The music changed. This one brings back vivid memories of dancing with him.
Unfortunately, all feelings of closeness are merely conjured.
No matter what I do, he will never be by my side again until some time later.

Currently, I am in a weird stage of my life, which I randomly name 'the jelly phase'. And in this particular phase, I am feeling time go by and I see more clearly than ever the changes it brings.

There is a thunderstorm building up outside my apartment (which I have just diligently scrubbed and rearranged into its past state of untouched vacancy). When the downpour started, I hopped onto my bed and stretched my arms out of the small creak on the window. Then my eyes studied the vicinity, trying to take in everything and memorise it - the low brick houses, ornate verandahs, silver roofs. I watched a woman in black tank top cooking an egg, the warm lights in her kitchen colouring her skin with this vibrant orange-yellow. Another neighbour appeared, a hippie-looking man with long dreadlocks and a red bike strapped onto his back. He didn't seem to mind (or notice) the rain in the least bit.

Most of the time though, I watched the bird perched on the electric pole.


I'm uneven, unbalanced, shedding, drying, doubting, and thrown into a peaceful yet threatening empty space. Its emptiness has made all sorts of evil seep out from the depth of my very being and stain the space with its dark, brooding colour. Anyone who steps on this space gets infected by this toxic. Soon I can no longer trust anyone here. I am better off by myself. Yet I don't want to be. I am wishing for more and more strength to help me go through the jelly phase.

I'm sorry for the lack of posts on the Japan trip blog. It seems blogging daily while travelling is quite a feat... we reached home late every night and were too tired to blog. We showered and went to sleep. But it was a really good trip. We met so many people, talked to strangers, bonded with family members, went to interesting places. I learnt so much during this vacation.

But finally, I am back in Melbourne. My brother had high fever, and I also had the flu. So for the first few days of arrival here, I was busy taking care of my brother and myself. Unpacking a month's worth of luggage, laundry, cleaning, cooking healthy meals for the both of us, and finding time in there somewhere to rest. I felt like a housewife/mother and I realised how physically demanding the job actually is. The good thing is, it's not mentally challenging. So I felt much sense of accomplishment easily, with every little household task I completed. I felt a kind of change within me, as I realised I have become the type of person who enjoys cooking, writing recipes, maintaining the apartment's hygienic state. I barely know who I am anymore.

Comparing the 'me' who is here now with the being who was in this body a few years ago, the contrast is (almost) black and white. All I can grasp well to be unchanged are my hobbies and habits - reading a good book fervently, closing my eyes to classical music in order to more clearly grasp its message, enjoying a bit of alcohol now and then, playing games (though I have not been recently). My personality and outlook on life and how I'd like to live it has changed dramatically in... I can safely say a year.  It just proves how unexpected the future can be. Well... that's an obvious point but most of the time it's an unconscious thing.

Regardless of my understanding that planning the future might as well be a futile effort on my part, I still felt the urge to make a list/timeline of my 'life plan' from now on (another thing about me that still has not changed is my love for making lists).

The reason why I am feeling such confusion and sense of loss today is because I am no longer a university student. It was so easy in the past, to know for sure where I would go after primary school...after high school...after college... but the roads of oppoturnities split and multiply at each of these stages, and now I realise I'm at a point in the mountain where the paved road has stopped and there are no more clear areas but a lot of paths I could take along the spaces between the trees in front of me. I could do anything I wanted, and go anywhere I wished. I'm sure I could survive somehow. The only problem is I can't make that decision for myself because like many other people I don't know what I want. All I can do is follow my gut instinct.

Another thing that bothered me when I made my list, was this:

Year          Age
2011          19
2012          20
2013          21
2014          22
2015          23

If I were a character in a storybook, this year I would still be eligible to be described as "a 19-year-old girl". Next year, however, I would be described as "a woman in her early 20s". Nobody ever uses the phrase "a 20-year-old girl" do they?

At least I've never seen it.

Hi everyone! From today on my friend Juen and I will be posting at

Hello everyone!

My friend and I are going to Japan soon for a month, and we have set up a travel blog for that period of time! It will be actively updated with photos and such, so look out for it! (will start posting on the 1st November)

http://ameblo.jp/usagixneko

Oh and don't worry about the japanese words, we will type in English later :)

that was the first time ever for me drinking red wine while taking a shower with sweet jazz blasting on my iPhone to the point that the audio cracks (but heck, it's an old recording anyway). wowweee, wine and music goes too well together