...you think you're loving but you don't love me...

Currently listening to: Warwick Avenue - Duffy


Ladies and gentlemen, meet Comet and Rudolph.



Just to be clear, Comet would be the tiny, orange one on the left.
And that makes Rudolph the fat, semi-omnivorous one with elaborate fins and tail on the right.

They were under the care of my housemate Nat when I was away for the summer. Needless to say she did an excellent job taking care of these two adorable kiddies. She was actually the one who gave them names! Thanks heaps, housemate. *grins*
Now that I'm back in town, and also because she's flying off to Singapore tonight, the tank has been safely put back at its rightful place, at the corner of my room right by the window. I'm really glad to have them back here with me. I hope they feel the same way.

*laughs*

Oh. Speaking of which.
Keeping fish has always been a part of my family tradition, actually.

In fact, my house back in J-town has a koi pond. Dad takes care of the pond along with its complex filter system and all the resident kois inside. It's been there for about ten years and counting, and it has seen about four different batches of kois during its long course of existence.

Back then when I was still living at home, the pond used to be the one peaceful spot I could go to whenever I needed a little distraction, or relief. It used to be my sweet escape, a chance to hide from life's ups and downs, and just chill, if only for a while.

I would just sit there in silence by the edge of the pond, watching aimlessly as the kois gracefully swim around the pond, minding their own business. Sometimes I would take the time to feed them, either by scattering some fish feed on the water surface or feeding them straight from my hands. They were so tame and friendly that they even let me stroke their backs while they chew away!





I miss the pond.
I miss just sitting there, thinking, enjoying the soothing sounds of running water and taking in the ornate color combinations of the kois as I desperately try to cheer myself up.

And that's exactly why I chose to go on with the tradition and keep fish here in Melbourne.
At least Comet and Rudolph will keep me company whenever I'm lonely. And you know, having pets is actually psychologically healthy! *laughs*

I gotta do something with the tank's water pump, though. Last night the filter got clogged, and although I had cleaned it up this morning, I have to make sure it's still working properly.

So, yeah.

*squints eyes as room suddenly becomes bright*

Oh gosh.
Mother Nature should really consider taking a chill pill, or something. Seriously. I'm starting to think of my air-con as my main life support device at the moment; it keeps me cooled down just enough to prevent myself from blowing off like a fuse. I mean, it is so hot that just now when I checked, the spare Mars bar that I put on the kitchen bench yesterday melted.

Yeah. Good job on that one.
Thank God tomorrow's gonna be much much cooler with a shower or two.
Well it's about damn time don't you think?
*sighs*

It would be nice to, like, trade places with Comet and Rudolph right about now; at least they've got plenty of water to keep them cool all the time.
*leers at fish with envy*


...Whatever.
Lates!

...hold your own, and know your name, and go your own way...

Currently listening to: Details in the Fabric - Jason Mraz ft. James Morrison

.doiloveyoubecauseyou'rebeautiful?.
Bus 630 stop, Huntingdale Station, Feb 2009

My Semester 1 timetable is out, and I've got NO MORNING CLASS this semester! No, not even one, ladies and gentlemen. How amazing is that?!

*jumps around*

Not everything's settled though. I still have to sort out some things and switch some tutes around, if that's even possible. But we'll see. Uni hasn't even started yet, so I don't know how things are gonna play out.

For the time being, I'm just gonna stay put, and relax while I still can. My summer holiday's ending in less than a week, so I gotta make the most out of what little time I have left to just chill and get ready for the thirteen-week's worth of endless workload and sleepless nights that's waiting for me just 'round the corner.

Like right now, for instance. I'm just sitting here, in the warm confines of my uber-amazing room, smelling the sweet aroma of cranberries gently coming from the oil burner, lazily basking under the comforting, mesmerizing rays of my multicolored hanging lights while waiting for Gossip Girl's "Summer Kind of Wonderful" to load. Nothing short of awesome, I'd say.

And the weather's been quite decent lately, too. It even felt a bit like Fall today, with occasional breezes blowing by and the sun being uncharacteristically shy.
I really wish Summer would just end soon; I can't wait for the days to get shorter, and for the leaves to start turning yellow and red, and for the rain to finally start pouring again.

So I guess I've got plenty of reasons to smile. *grins*
I hope this lasts.

Oh, and with the intentions of jumping in the post-Oscar-euphoria bandwagon...

Slumdog Millionaire totally reigned on this year's Academy Awards. Shocker? Not so much. Hugh Jackman was funny and charming. The musical number was absolutely stunning, though Beyonce sure looked like she was miming her way through the whole act. Dustin Lance Black's acceptance speech brought me to tears. Kate Winslet's, however, made me laugh.

And to absolutely noone's surprise, Heath Ledger got his posthumous Oscar.
Oh yeah. Nicely done. 'Cuz he totally deserved that.

*gives a standing applause*

That's a wrap for the 81st Annual Academy Awards. I daresay you guys did a great job this year.
And out of shame and a twinge of inferiority, I'd have to admit that I haven't got a chance to watch this year's Best Picture winner. I'll work on that.

For now, just let me sit back, relax, inhale the smoky, cranberry-scent-infused air that fills my light-deprived dwelling space, and take in the array of severe product-placement overload, brand overcrowding, frozen-faced "actors", and fake, fabricated Upper-East-Side drama.

Heaven knows I've probably earned it.


*presses the 'Play' button*

...being with you is so dysfunctional...

Currently listening to: My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson

.theblueandtheskyline.
Taman Anggrek Condominiums, Jakarta, Dec 2008

I'm crossing my fingers for two mayjah - as Victoria Beckham would put it - things:
1. getting a part-time job, and
2. getting tickets to Jason Mraz's April 20 concert!

Doing more so for the latter, just because Ticketmaster was being a bitch for not letting me or my friend Karina book FOUR tickets on one go. I mean, how hard is it gonna be, people? *shakes head*

Nothing's gonna stop me from trying again tomorrow, though. Terrorizing the Ticketmaster outlets in Clayton and Caulfield is definitely on my list, if that's what it takes. You better watch out.
Nah, I'm joking. I'm a wuss. I'd probably cry my eyes out and get kicked out in less than five minutes if I actually did that.

Yeah. So basically you can say I'm pooling my luck. What's left of it anyway. Heaven knows I've never been a particularly lucky dude, and I really don't think reality's gonna turn its way around and start being hella generous to me anytime soon. But no, I gotta stay positive. There can be miracles when you believe, say Whitney and Mariah. If the divas say so, who am I to think otherwise? *shrugs*

Gash. I wish I could just grab a stray leprechaun out of a nearby rainbow and rob him off of his pot of gold, or something. That would be sweet. *laughs*
As you all can see, realistic thoughts rarely cross my mind.

Anyway.

It's been,what, five days? And I still haven't finished unpacking.
The idea of rearranging my wardrobe and filling its shelves with stuff just kills me everytime it comes to mind. I don't know why. I know I gotta start soon, though. Probably tonight, if I feel like it.

My bed frame's officially screwed, and I gotta get it out of my room ASAP 'cuz it takes up a whole bunch of space. I took a base mattress from the storage room yesterday, put my bed on top of it, and placed the newly-created sleeping invention in the middle of the room. You can imagine how clustered and cramped my room looks like right about now.

This proves I've got a lot of work to do. And when I say 'work' I mean a bunch of household-related stuff I don't even wanna think about.

Ah. The joys of being independent.

Whatever happened to my happy-go-lucky days of childhood?


*silence*


...Have a great weekend, guys.

...standing in the light of your halo...

Currently listening to: Halo - Beyonce

.beneaththemorningsky.
SQ951, Terminal 2 Bandara Soekarno-Hatta, Feb 2009

So I'm back in Melbourne, ladies and gentlemen.

It was pretty hard, you know, leaving Jakarta. A part of me didn't want to go and leave everything I had back there behind. And now I miss Mom more than ever. *sighs*
But I guess life has to go on, right?

So here I am, all in one piece. Still exhausted as hell, though, but I know the feeling's gonna go away eventually. I gotta say, Melbourne's looking pretty cheerful these days despite the fact that it just barely survived its worst heatwave on record a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad the bushfires can finally be contained and stopped, and it hopes that everything will go back to normal as soon as possible.

And it feels good to be back, it really does. Feels good to inhale the clean Melbourne air through my nostrils. Feels good to enjoy the Summer sunshine while I walk to the bus loop with my RayBans on and earphones plugged in. Feels good to find myself sitting here, inside the warm confines of my spacious room, facing the ever-familiar table, with a cup of coffee standing just beside my laptop Bodhi. Feels good to hang out with the housemates again and to get to know the new ones that moved in when I was away.

On that particular note, the house now has a much happier vibe going on inside since there's a toddler in the house!
I know, shocking, right? *raises eyebrows*

I promise I'm gonna introduce the adorable Niko to you guys in another post. He's just the sweetest, most adorable little thing I've ever seen my entire life, for real! I've only known him for less than a day but he's already grown into following me everywhere when I walk around the house, and has taken the liberty of calling me "Uncle J" with his cute little baby-language voice since he's two years old and can barely talk at all!

I'll make sure he gets featured in one of my future posts. *laughs*

Anyway.

It's kinda late, and I still have, like, a gazillion things to do.
Thank God I remembered to vacuum my room this morning. At least I've managed to actually get something done at all today.

I guess I better start getting used to taking care of myself again from now on.
*sighs*

Lates, guys!

...about where he kneels down and prays...

My heart goes out to the victims and survivors of last weekend's Victorian bushfires.

The disaster was more extreme, and obviously more lethal, than The Ash Wednesday fires incident that occurred in 1983. The spread, and the amount of post-incident damages it leaves behind, can even be compared to the Black Friday bushfires that happened in Victoria in 1939.

So far, one hundred and seven people have been confirmed dead. Thousands of houses and other buildings have perished. The bushfires have burned down large areas of forests and destroyed vegetations. Now people are left homeless, loveless, and with nowhere to go.

The people of Victoria are mourning right now, as we speak.
This is sad, and terribly devastating.

It's ironic, how here in Jakarta we have abundant rainfall, even awfully so that town areas are flooded everytime it rains, while below us, some 3,000 miles down south, people are dying because of bushfires triggered by heat and arid weather conditions.

If only some of the rainfall could've showered down in Victoria to help put off the flames....
*shakes head*

I hope you guys can spare some time to click on the links I've provided above and read the articles.
Reach out. Feel their pain. Understand their losses.

May the ones who perished in the fire rest in peace.
And may those who are affected, and left, stay strong and positive.

*sighs*


...This is exactly why we should not try to piss off Mother Nature any further, people.
We should never take nature for granted. Never. Because once it goes against us, things are just gonna get ugly. Like this.

We don't own the planet. We have no right to decide what the planet's gonna do, how it's gonna grow, and where it's gonna go.
Humans are selfish by nature. We think we rule everything we divide, and we own everything we conquer.

Well, do we, now?

Sometimes we are too smart and hard-headed for our own good to realize that we are NOT as omnipotent, omniscient, and all-powerful like we often think we are. We'd like to believe that the elements of nature fall under our reign, and that we always have full and often reckless access to whatever resources available to us.
It takes extreme disasters like this one to remind us that in reality, the reverse prevails. Sadly.

If the Earth dies, we die; if we die, the Earth survives. Just like what Keanu Reeves says in "The Day The Earth Stood Still". And he actually makes a valid point by saying that.
What would we be, where would we go, if the planet goes against us?

We like to learn our lessons the hard way. We've made this point clear over the course of human history. But stories keep repeating, they always do.

Maybe this is Nature's way of telling us that after all these years, it still reigns supreme above all forms of life. And that we as humans, the keepers and caretakers of Nature, should abandon our reckless habits and return to taking care of this planet just like we're supposed to.

So, once again, I pray for the victims and survivors of the Victorian bushfires.
May you all find comfort and be safe.

I believe that everything happens for a reason. Likewise, there's a reason behind all this.
Something good is coming your way. Soon.
I believe that.

Blessed be.

*kneels down and prays*

...'cause in your eyes i'd like to stay...

Currently listening to: Thinking of You - Katy Perry

.greyasthesky.
The Skyride, Sentosa Island, Singapore, 2009

First off, THIS makes me sad.
Poor little fella. *sighs*
Kindly click on the link, if you will.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a perfectly valid example of why it is so NOT a good idea to keep polluting the environment.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I get is this.
As the global temperature rises, extreme heatwaves like the one Australia had just survived very recently can probably occur much more often during summer. Winters would get shorter and shorter as well, altering the pace of the seasonal cycle. Aside from rising sea levels due to the melting of ice caps and extreme weather anomalies during summers and winters, the sustainability of living beings can also be increasingly threatened by changing environmental conditions. And if this keeps up, soon enough innocent creatures like the koalas won't be the only ones severely affected by these bizarre shifts in nature.

The future of mankind is at stake here. And the change has to start from us.
*shakes head*


Anyway.

I apologize for the absence. *bows*
I'd say I've been busy and whatnot, but that would be a totally lame excuse.

These days my life practically revolves around work and the office. I work 8-to-4 four days a week, and the main office is located in the industrial area of Tangerang, so that means I have to commute all the way down to and from Tangerang almost every day.
Yeah, I gotta tell you, working as an intern in a really, REALLY busy office can really wear out one's batteries. For real. Most days I go home all spent and dizzy after a hard day's work. I can only sleep after 10 PM -- that's just the way my body clock is internally set -- and since during workdays I have to wake up at 5.30 in the morning, I no longer have the luxury of getting eight hours of sleep at night.


But aside from that, the job itself is kinda awesome. My cubicle's quite comfy, the people there are all nice and welcoming, and I kinda enjoy doing what I do at work, if that's even remotely possible. I got a taste of what being in the corporate work is going to feel like, and the experiences that I've gotten so far are valuable. I still fuck up my tasks sometimes, but my overall frequency of errors is drastically declining as we speak. After all, that's what all this is about, right? A learning process.

The internship's ending next week; Monday would be my last day of work. After that, I gotta move on straight to packing, and that's just too awful to think about right now. *tugs at hair*

Oh, I also spent last weekend in Singapore getting an eye checkup and vacationing. Three days weren't long at all, no, especially for a holiday, but at least I had some decent quality time with Mom and Dad. God knows all three of us deserve a good holiday together. And we did, thank God.

Next week is going to be the most emotional week of the entire Summer holiday. I'm sure of that. But I'll get through it. I know I will.

*yawns*

Shit. I want more glazed donuts.