Xmas Turkey on Silent Night

Monday, 17 Dec 07, 1.22pm at home

Hi my little diary,
I'm at home, doctor said that I have to rest for 2-3weeks, no walking. I can't go to work too. But the good news is, I don't need to wear a cast! Doctor said that the fracture isn't so bad so I can just wear a supporter.

You know what, I guess this is God's plan. When I saw a doctor on friday, the doctor couldn't put the cast on my foot because I was wearing tight jeans. I told the doctor that it was okay if I couldn't remove my jeans, I would just use scissor to cut it. But, when I told him that, it was already too late, the clinic was about to close in 20mins time. So, he wrote me a letter and asked me to go to other clinic to get a cast on Saturday since his clinic is close on Saturday. I went to a clinic near my house on Saturday morning with my husband. It's good to get second opinion too, the doctor said that I don't really need a cast. OMG!! It's such a good news to me! I will need to go back to see that doctor again on Wednesday to see the progress. If it's getting worse, I'll need to put a cast. Please God, please God, I don't want to put a cast.. I really don't know what's the matching pants if my foot is in a cast.

My dear husband is now doing some of the houseworks for me. This is one of the most wonderful things of having a husband. Anyway, he bought 2 pieces of turkey's tighs yesterday, and cooked for me. We celebrated Xmas sooner.

On a silent Sunday, we ate the baked turkey, some muffins and hot tea.. just two of us.. in our home sweet home. I really enjoyed it. I forgot about my fractured bone for few moments.. *because you were sitting!* I still want to thank God for whatever situation I have.. because He sent me a great husband to take care of me when I'm disabled. *and do the houseworks for you?* Thanks God, for everything!

-Abbie-

"White Boot"

Friday, 14 Dec 07, 6.45pm at home

Hello my little diary,
Today is Friday..
Friday is the day that I always wait for..
But not today..
I was just back from hospital..
Got some X-rays..
Received a bad news..
My foot's bone is fractured!

Yes, I'm clumsy. Everybody knows that. I guess this time God really gave me a good lesson. Wherever I'm, Whatever I do, why it's always not right? Yesterday night I went to Ueno to collect my glasses. I was so happy that finally I got my glasses. On the way back home, I missed some steps of stairs in Subway, and I was flying for like 2 seconds before I landed with my right foot twisted. It's me, my life is so "challenging"!!

Doctor said that my foot has to be immobilized by using a plaster or gypsum to prevent movement of the injured part for 3 weeks. What I'm thinking now: Can I still go to Hokkaido? How can I pick up my parents in the airport? How can I take them to nice places that I want to show them? I really don't want to disappoint them. Meeting my family and the Hokkaido trip is what I've been waiting for since I came to Japan. I'm now just living with my husband, friends are what we only have here. I miss having a warm quality time with my family. Really.. I really look forward to this Hokkaido trip.. but what I get now?? I will not be able to move freely for the next 3 weeks, it's an exact time when my family will be here!! Why? Why? Why?

It's ok, Abbie. Think about the bright side. Wearing gypsum is like wearing white boot, slightly bigger and thicker boot though, but it's warmer! I have the black boot, it will be in trend too, wearing one black one white, with long white-black-chess-style socks, and black eye liner, cool rite? Since I can't wear sock inside my white boot, I can just draw some black squares on it as if there's a sock in it. Maybe it's a perfect time that God has prepared; when I'm disabled, I have my family with me who can take care of me, so 3 weeks will not be so long, rite?

Be tough, be happy Abbie..
And stop being clumsy!

-Abbie-

Secret Recipe of Japanese's Beauty

Tuesday, 13 Dec 07, 1.25pm at home

Dear diary,
Now is lunch time, that's why I'm home.

Last night, all my classmates, teachers, and I had dinner together in an Italian restaurant near my school after the presentations. I was sitting beside my best friend from Srilanka, in front of us is where the teachers were sitting. We talked to the teachers with our limited Japanese and mixed it with English when I started to mess up with my sentences, which happened many times. Well, at least it’s a good practice. We should do it during the lesson too, they should bring us to restaurant, market, shopping malls, street, or anywhere, and teach us how to say this and that. I guess this method makes the students easier to grab and remember the vocabularies. That’s how I learnt English during my homestay in Sydney, we went to traditional market and did some surveys about tomato’s price, paprika’s colors, type of oranges, etc. Well, the survey topic isn’t so important, the more important thing for students is to get some fresh air in the middle of a boring class. *but you said…..*

Back to topic, last night I found out something. It’s a secret recipe of Japanese girls’ beauty! I got the information from a trusted source, my very pretty well-maintained teacher. I should use whatever opportunity to achieve a goal, that’s what my dad teaches me to be able to be a successful entrepreneur! Well, parents’ teaching must be listened and implemented. Ok, no more writing around the bush, just jump directly into the bush.

Here are my findings. These are the secrets of true skin texture and true slim body:
1. Take a bath in a bathtub with hot water every night before sleeping
2. Eat Fish
3. Eat Tofu
4. Eat Apple

Look simple, rite? I also think so. Seems that the tips are not so much different with my current lifestyle:
- I take a bath
- I take a bath beside the bathtub
- I take a bath beside the bathtub with hot water
- I take a bath beside the bathtub with hot water every night
- I take a bath beside the bathtub with hot water every night before sleeping
- I eat fish, tofu, apple, banana, eggs, chicken, beef, pork, and their friends

I learn something useful. Every little detail must be taken into attention. Suddenly I remember how embok2 in Indonesia serve Nasi Gudeg, they use their bare hand, not spoon! It does make the taste so much more delicious, I guess. So, from now, I guess I should take a bath in the bathtub, not beside the bathtub. *How about the fish, tofu, and apple thing?* I follow the political view "The more the merrier".

-Abbie-

My First Japanese Speech

Tuesday, 13 Dec 07, 9.21am at home

Morning my diary,
My Japanese lesson is over. Last night was the last class. I did the presentation. About my topic? Well, my topic is very not an important topic. Ok, better I tell you the story. On Monday night, in the computer lab, I came to class 30 mins late. My teacher said that we had to save the draft by 9pm. That means I only had 2 hours to write my speech. I even had no topic yet! I was so panic. I browsed around yahoo and google. I didn't know what to search; "speech"? "help me"? "whatever"? "any topic please"? I gave up. My friends already had their own topics. At that point of time, I nearly decided to choose 'Dapur Cantik' as my topic. I opened Dapur Cantik, at the same time, I opened my little diary too. I was browsing around the title list in my little diary with a hope that I would get some inspirations, but I just realised that all my topics in my little diary are also not so important. I was also browsing around Dapur Cantik to see what new recipe my two pretty sisters already uploaded. Suddenly my teacher was behind me, I was panic, I closed Dapur Cantik and my little diary was still left opened behind. Before I had chance to close it, my teacher looked at pictures on my computer screen and screamed "Oishii..!!" I had closed Dapur Cantik, why was she still able to scream "Oishii"? I looked at my screen, Oopss, my master piece of cake was on display!

Sensei: "Waaa.. Is this your topic?"
Me: "ohh.. yes.. yes.."
Sensei: "Good that you have found your topic. I was about to give you some options for you to choose, like global warming, recycling system, and....blablabla"
Me: "Ehh.."

That's how I accidentally chose this topic. Here is the presentation slides, I want to remember my first Japanese speech for the rest of my life although my topic is unimportant useless childish topic.

I was telling story about "Watashi no Shumi" which means "My Hobby". This is the summary of my story:
"When I came to Japan, I saw the food samples that were being displayed in front of the Japanese restaurants. They are very cute and pretty. Japanese is very skillfull in making this kind of thing. I also want to make one! Not exactly the same one though. Then I bought the book and materials, and made 3 miniatures of cakes. I want to make one set of sushi too one day! I believe if I manage to create the imitation of sushi, I will be able to make real sushi!"

Then I showed them my cakes! This is the most embarassing part. Actually I didn't want to show them but my teacher asked if I brought the cakes. And I innocently said "Yes". OMG!! *In the first place, why did you bring them to class??* I put my 3 cakes in a white transparent container, put the container in a white plastic bag, tied it, and put it in my handbag. So, in a quiet presentation room, after I said "Yes", I took it out from my bag with the sound of "Kresekk..kresekk.."! Did I look like a 'kampoeng' mother who prepared a lunch box for my 3-years-old kid?

Anyway, they were all happy seeing my presentation. At least they laughed.. I don't care if they laughed for my childishness or my 'kampunganism', as long as I could be a bless for them.. Being able to laugh is a bless, isn't it?

-Abbie-

Dapur Si Cantik

Monday, 10 Dec 07, 4.07pm in office

Hellow my diary,
Another 11 days and I’ll be able to see my parents. Yohooo.. I miss them so much. I miss my little brothers and sisters too! I can’t wait to see them in 11 days!

My japanese lesson only has 2 classes left, tonight and Wednesday night. I have to prepare for a Japanese speech contest that will be due on this Wednesday. So, tonight class will be in the computer lab, we have to bring our own topic or picture or anything that we want to present and our sensei is going to help us doing the contents on the powerpoint slides. The topic is up to us. Nightmare! What will I say in my presentation? One easiest way out is: skip the class, problem solved! No No No.. my heart's screaming a BIG NO. I don't know if my brain would follow the screaming of my heart. Well, after all, brain is the only one who gives instruction to the rest of the body parts. Heart does not. It's normal that heart and brain always argues each other. At the end, the brain always wins, HaHaHaHa!! Oops, I'm laughing too loud. Let's see..

Diary, maybe you’ll think that I’m such a useless person who has nothing better to do. Well, I’m very busy now but I’m really in the mood of doing useless things lately, like creating a new blog, designing it, updating it. My sister, my dearest cousin and I just created a new blog called “Dapur si cantik”. Actually I’m too shy to tell you about this. This blog is about our own home-made food recipes and some tips about food, cooking, and diet! Very useless, isn’t it? That’s how we connect to each other. It’s like a child as a connecting point between a mother and a father. That’s how I describe our dapur-si-cantik.
- Dapur means kitchen.
- Si cantik means the pretty
In my language, dapur si cantik doesn’t mean pretty kitchen. But it means….ahh, I’m too shy to say this.

-Abbie-

p.s Should I choose dapur-si-cantik as a topic for my Japanese speech contest?

“Let Your will be done in my life”

Friday, 7 Dec 07, 4.31pm in a secret place

Hi my little diary,

Today is exactly the 5th month of our wedding anniversary. I never believe time flies so fast. I’m turning 27 soon, in 2 months. My mum has already started asking me about something, a common question that mums usually concern after their daughters get married. Yes, I’ve already expected that question long time ago. That issue is indeed another step in life. It’s another big commitment in life. Well, I don’t want to comment too much about this topic here. We are humans, we live with many limitations. If we say A, we would hurt some groups of people. If we say B, we would hurt another group of people. My little diary, actually I created this diary initially to express all my true feeling, but see now, I can’t! I should just listen to someone’s suggestion, which is to write my diary in Microsoft Word, keep it safely in my personal computer, and forever I can hide my secrets, except if I sell my PC and some kaypo nerd guys are able to restore my deleted files. Now I’m stuck here. I should blame all to blogger.com. Why should there be many good features that enable me to design my own page, put my pretty pretty picture, put my favorite cute feminine pink color, put my favorite books, movies, brands, etc? Anyway, now I have a personal invisible unbelievable unforgettable special relationship with my little diary, so I can’t leave you forever and ever till death comes between us. *Hmm sounds familiar, Titanic slogan??*

Anyway, back to topic... What is the topic again? About my 5th month of wedding anniversary? Or about me turning older? Or about ‘that big commitment’? Or about humans with limitations? Or about the kaypo nerd guys?

I don't want to make the topic looks so clear here. Whatever it is, I’ll just follow what God has planned on my life! But now, a little problem is, I don’t know what I should say in my prayer. Well, I'll just say “Let Your will be done in my life”. No regret, just keep going..

-Abbie-

The Price of Perfection

Wednesday, 5 Dec 07, 1.52pm at home

Hoii diary..
Before I go back to office, I just want to share something interesting that I found today. An article says that the reason for being unhappy/sad is sometimes because we're just being too perfectionist!

Do you know why I think this is very interesting finding? It's because it's very encouraging. I found many people (including me, sometimes) complain "life is not fair" or "this problem is too big for me" or "I'm the most depressed person in the world" etc etc. After I read this article, I feel relieved. You know, it's something like a student who gets score 6 for a subject. For some students, they are happy to get 6 because it is enough to get them pass the subject. But, for some top students, 6 is way too low since their expectation is to get 9.

So, when we have problems, when we're depressed, do not blame your fate.. do not blame others.. do not blame yourself too! See the problem thru a mirror, you're unhappy because everything is a really mess or it's just not up to your expectation? If you think that it's because the problem is really a mess, think again, what is your definition of a mess? Do you set your standard too high?

Well, I should not teach you to think this way. I know, some people have high dreams, they don't want to just feel happy, they want to feel fully satisfied. My husband also think so, but I don't. I'm happy just to have a simple life because I'm just an ordinary person. The way you think is of course up to you, the idea is "make sure you're always happy", do not let your perfection disturbs you to get your happiness!

-Abbie-

My House Key Appeared

Wednesday, 5 Dec 07, 1.42pm at home

Hi again diary..
My house key suddenly appeared! Maybe it was just so bored hiding in a dark place while I gave up searching and started to ignore it. I left my Japanese books bag in my office on the day I lost my key. In the next morning, I reached office and saw the card was in the bag! Very weird, I searched the bag, flipped thru the books and the papers so many times the day before, but I never noticed that it was actually in between the papers. Well, when I'm panic, I get clumsy. When I'm not panic, I'm easy to get panic by small thing.

Anyway, the key has appeared (I won't say 'I've found my key'). So, case is officially closed!
See you next time for other case..

-Abbie-

My House Key Disappeared

Tuesday, 4 Dec 07, 9.20am at home

Hi again diary,
I'm so sad again today, no, started yesterday afternoon. My house key disappeared. I don't say that I lost my house key. It just disappeared! I feel that the incident was very strange and unbelievable! You wanna know the story?

My office is just 5mins walk from home so usually I go back home during lunch time. Yesterday afternoon was a normal day, I went back home to have lunch. I had lunch at home, cleaned the house, called my sis in Indo, and went back to office. I locked the door before I left the house. Soon after I reached 1st floor, I suddenly remembered that I forgot to bring my Japanese lesson books (I have a class every Monday night). Then, I went up again. I still had my key with me, I unlocked the door, opened the door, went in, and took my books. It just happened very fast within 30secs. Then, I saw socks and my boots, yesterday was a cold day, they looked very warm. I was tempted to wear them. Then, I sat down on the floor near the door to wear socks and boots. I put my wallet and mobile and probably my key on the floor beside me. After I was done wearing my shoes, I stood up, took my jacket, my books, my wallet, my mobile, a bag of garbage (I wanted to throw it away downstair), and was looking for my house key! *You only have 2 hands, how could you carry so many things on your hands??* My house key has already disappeared! I was just sitting on the 1m x 1m floor with all my belongings around me. I didn't go to anywhere else in the house. It's impossible for me to leave the key outside or hanging on the door because my key is an access card. I checked every possible places, like:
- Outside the door
- Jacket's pockets
- Trousers' pockets
- Inside the wallet
- Inside my mobile
- Under my cupboard near where I was sitting
- Under the carpets near where I was sitting
- Inside my books' bag
- Inside my boots because it happened when I was wearing them
- Inside my socks
- Inside my trousers

It's very weird, but it just happened!
I still can't believe that my house key disappeared..
I still can't believe that my clumsiness is back..

I know that you won't be able to believe that my key disappeared just like that.
I know that you might think I dropped the key somewhere but created this interesting comic story to convince my husband that it was not my fault.
But, too bad, it's true..

Please pardon my clumsiness..

-Abbie-

Eyes or Brain Examination?

Monday, 3 Dec 07, 9.19am at home

Dear my little diary,
Finally, December has come! I love December, I love Xmas, I love holiday! My Japanese class has only 5 classes to go, I never believed that it will be over so soon. I feel that I havent learnt much, many Japanese verbs I don't know, but at least now I can speak Japanese although they don't understand what I talk about, it's their problem, rite? They are the ones who have listening problem, not me!

Yesterday finally I found glasses as a replacement of my spoilt glasses. I think I've told you about buying new glasses months ago, yeah, I found it at last! I've searched almost all big megane (glasses) stores in Tokyo almost every weekend but I hardly found any good one that suits me. Maybe something wrong with my face? Or something wrong with my nose? Nice glasses that I found usually don't have nose pads, well, maybe nice glasses are only meant for nice looking people with sharp nose. I do have sharp nose! It's just too sharp, maybe..

When my eyes were examined yesterday, I had a hard time reading the characters.

ド
ス
パ
Optician: blurblurblurb... (He said, Please read these characters, I guess)
Me: oh oh.. to su pa (oh oh.. to su pa)
Optician: (shake his head and was about to change the lens to higher degree)
Me: Choto matte.. do su pa (wait.. do su pa)
Optician: Ii desu ne. Warui desuka? (Good, is it not clear?)
Me: Iye, kono rensu ga OK! (No, this lens is OK!)

I was scared if he would change the lens again. It happened like this few times. Well, it's not that I couldn't read the characters but I forgot whether it's 'to' or 'do' with the two dots at the top. Was it Eyes Examination or Japanese Test? I only can hope that the optician gave me the correct lens measurement. It will be ready in 10 days, I'll let you know how it is.

Have to go to work now..
See you, diary

-Abbie-

Orange

Thursday, 22 Nov 07, 11.11pm at home

Happy Thanksgiving, my diary..
I don't celebrate thanksgiving here, I spent my day today by working and going to Japanese class, well, doing my routine activities.


Recently, suddenly, immediately, sugu-sugu, hujuk-hujuk, tiba-tiba, I like orange color! I used to like red when I was little, I liked black during my university time, and I liked pink when I was in Singapore. Now I like orange! And I like eating banana! *Banana is yellow, not orange*. But, I still don't like eating orange.

Orange represents something fresh, cheerful, genki, friendly, and healthy. You know, I was not in the mood of talking, blogging, chatting, and doing anything last month. Now I'm back! I'm back with my new orange jacket! I'm back with my cheerfulness, tuk menyongsong Christmas and New Year 2008!

Happy Orange Christmas! ^_^

-Abbie-

Klepon Day

Thursday, 22 Nov 07, at secret time, in secret place ssttt..

Hi diary,
I don't know why recently I'm in the mood of making klepon. I've been in the mood of making and eating klepon since last week. Today, I told myself that I have to make klepon this week. I should post this important note on my fridge. I was browsing around sites to get the recipe of klepon. Finally I got one. I've prepared my notebook and pen, ready to write down the recipe. Here it is:

Bahan-bahan
500 gram tepung ketan
Secukupnya air daun suji
Secukupnya air kapur sirih
Secukupnya gula merah, iris halus
Secukupnya kelapa parut
Secukupnya garam

Well, it's very encouraging and 'mandiri' recipe! That's good, at least I can remember the bahan-bahan easily with that 'secukupnya' secret recipe. So, what I need to buy is just glotinuous powder, and the rest I should decide myself how much I should put it in, or not put it in, it's optional. I can't wait till weekend to make klepon. Oh, tomorrow is public holiday! Yipeee.. Tomorrow is klepon day.

-Abbie-

Surprise..surprise..!!

Tuesday, 20 Nov 07, 7.36pm in office

Kombanwa diary,
This is my first time writing diary in this office. I skip class again today, :( Just this morning I promised myself not to skip class anymore, and tonite I just did it again. I have so much works that need to be done today, all is urgent. That's why I can't leave early again although my boss wasn't in today.

Better I go home now and cook dinner for my hubby. He must be surprised when he sees me at home at Tuesday nite. I mean, he'll be blue-facely surprised 'Why are you skipping class again??'. Surprise.. surprise..!! Hohohoho..

Bye diary

-Abbie-

What the title should be?

Tuesday, 20 Nov 07, 8.51am at home

Hellow diary,
Tuesday morning. Time flies so fast. During weekdays, I look forward weekend to come. On weekend, time goes by very fast and when I only realise it when monday has come. Monday morning comes, I wait for weekend to come again, so on and so fort. What does it mean? Does it mean I'm enjoying my life now? Or spending time without realising it? It's similar to transfering food into stomach directly, without passing thru the mouth. For me, the best thing about eating is not about feeling full, but the process: the food is landed on the tounge, welcomed by the lips, crunched by the teeth, and pushed into the throat by the tounge. The idea is: do not produce too much saliva when eating because liquid weakens the taste. So, the food's ads about "mouth-watering" is wrong and not appropriate. Sorry, back to main topic.

I'm enjoing my new job now. I'm enjoying my Japanese class. For the last 2 classes, I started to realise that I want to learn Japanese whole heartedly. Well, it's normal. When we're about to lose something, then we can appreciate it more. When the dining table is full of food, we have no desire to eat it. But when there's only one small plate of food, we'll treasure and appreciate it more. *Do you have to always use food as your story illustration?* Recently, I have skipped many classes because I couldn't leave office so early. And now, I feel that the Jap lesson is so useful. *Only now you realise it??* I'll try my best to come to every class from now on! Ganbate, Abbie!!

The outside temperature is very cold yesterday. In the afternoon, it's around 9C! My heater at home is always on whenever I'm at home now. I just found out something interesting about Japanese yesterday during the class. My classmate said that Japanese body temperature is 1-1.5C lower than our body temperature! So, for them, 37C is considered high. This explains why they set 28-30C at the office's heater. I'm wondering what's my body temperature?

Last weekend was a busy weekend for us. My pastor came to visit our little home sweet home. Ron's friends from Singapore also came to see our cute tiny home. You know, the busiest part is not about welcoming the guests, but about cleaning the house. In this case, I'm happy that I have small home.

December is coming soon!! Xmas is coming!! My family is coming! My holiday is coming! My shopping time has come! Yipeee.. Do you still remember what I wrote last year? December is my favorite month although my birthday is on February. *Why should you tell me your birthmonth?*

Omo omo, I got to go now! It's already 9.22am!!
See you, diary..

-Abbie-

p.s what the title should be?

Missing Home.. again..

Tuesday, 13 Nov 07, 8.03am at home

Hello my little diary,
Today is my mum's birthday, I just called my home in Solo and chatted with my mum for around 20mins. I had to end the call since she had to go to Manahan for morning jogging. I miss my mum. I miss my sis. I miss everyone in my hometown. I miss my home. Now you know why I don't want to call my family so often, rite? Yea, I miss home more after calling. Since I moved to Japan, I only call home few times only. Back then when I was still in Singapore, I called home once in a week, or at most once in 2 weeks. My mum once said, it's because I'm married now so I seldom call home. It's a BIG NO! It's because I will miss them more if I call them. Stupid, rite? Yes, it's me, stupid! Usually one phones the family to 'heal' the homesickness. But for me, my homesickness is getting worse after talking with them on the phone. I feel that I'm so far away from them now, I can't visit them every 3 months like what I did before. So, I don't want to miss them so much, I don't want to miss them so often, what I can do now is I don't want to call them so often. Nice intro, poor reasoning, bad conclusion, stupid action??

Now I'm left alone at home with bad homesickness. Eating my chocolate toast. Drinking my hot green tea. Sitting on my living room carpet. Typing a diary with a mellow face. And still wearing a sengek glasses. It's ok Abbie, they are coming here soon next month! Better prepare for the list of the things I want them to bring, like:
1. My grey winter coat
2. DVD Korea (As much as Heaven and Earth)
3. Kecap manis bangao, bergendul-gendul please
4. Hot tomato sauce, bergendul-gendul juga please
5. Indonesian Fried rice's spices
6. My engagement party DVD
7. Cover bantal warna-warni 4 biji ukuran 45x45cm
8. Contact lens

I feel better now. Now sleepy. But, have to get ready for work now. *Hey, you have not updated your diary for so long time and you just leave like this?* Eh sorry, what do you want to know? My life is so so, my schedule is busy, my husband is great, my work is okay, my feeling is happy, my diary is lonely!
See you again diary..

-Abbie-

Before and After

Monday, 5 Nov 07, 7.49am at home

Hello diary,
Finally now I have chance to write my diary. It's also because of my hard effort to get up early this morning before my alarm clock rang. My daily schedule is now changed, my routine activities are now changed after I started my work:

1. Get Up
Before: I used to get up when my hubby's alarm clock rang. I got up at the same time as he did.
After: I wake up when my hubby's alarm clock rings but I get up from bed when my own alarm clock rings which is 2 hours later (it's because my office hour is 2 hours later than his, I love this so much!!)

2. Breakfast
Before: I used to prepare breakfast for my husband in the morning and serve it fresh. We had breakfast together.
After: I prepare breakfast for him the night before and ask him to reheat it when he's about to eat. He has his breakfast when I'm still ZZzzzZZzzz....

3. Cleaning
Before: I used to clean home almost everyday, as and when the dirt appeared. There was one full day of cleaning in a week, Wednesday, which I selectively chose to clean the whole house.
After: I clean home as and when the mood comes, it can be in the middle of the night or in the afternoon during the lunch time.

4. Groceries Shopping
Before: I used to shop groceries every Friday afternoon, spent a half-day at the supermarket, bought the necessary and the unnecessary items, always seeked items that I "HAD" to buy.
After: I still shop every Friday after work. Last Friday, my dear hubby shopped for me. Hihihi.. Thank you! Whoever is available, either me or him, just go. I have no chance to look around anymore, less money is spent, more money is saved! Great!

5. Cooking
Before: I used to cook in the afternoon before going to my Japanese lesson. I cooked almost everyday, experimented many recipes.
After: I cook on weekend or at night, keep the food in the fridge, and heat it when we want to eat. No more food varieties, just repeat the same dishes that I used to make. It's good that at least I had chances to experiment cooking some dishes before.

6. Japanese Course
Before: I used to come to my Japanese class 3 times a week at 6.30pm sharp! *Did you say it starts at 6.20pm?*
After: I still come to my class, I still have big desire to come, but it all depends on the situation and condition.

The Advantages:
1. More money
2. Shop less on groceries
3. Shop more on fashion
4. Eat less
5. More sleep (2 hours more)
6. More showers (2x a day now *Before that??*)
7. More consumption on make-up and contact lens
8. More romance!
9. Less guilty on spending money

The Disadvantages:
1. More messy house (I'm not saying 'messy house', I'm saying 'more messy')
2. Messy schedule
3. Won't get a medal for 'A Good Wife Championship'
4. Less time to watch my Korean series
5. Less concentration on studying Japanese
6. Less time to write my diary!
7. Less time to chat with my sis, my bro, cousins, friends, and other people out there in the cyber world
8. More tired
9. No time to 'twist and shape' my body

Wow, 9-9! So, I don't know if I'm now doing good or bad.

-Abbie-

I got a job!

Friday, 26 Oct 07, 7.50am at home

Hello my dear diary,
It's been almost 10 days since the last time I wrote my diary. It's because I lost the most precious thing I've ever received, I've been not in the mood of blogging and chatting. I don't want to say it here because I don't want to be down again after my hard efforts to make myself happy. Now, I guess I still have to go on with my life. Good and bad things happen in life. It's just part of life. But, I still keep praying for 'that thing' to happen. God can make the impossible thing becomes possible. Let me keep this faith in my heart till He makes the day. This is the deepest regret that ever happened in my life!

As I said, good and bad things happen in life. I got a good news too! Thanks God, He gives me light in the middle of my darkness. I got a job! After couple of interviews, yesterday, the company just welcomed me aboard. It's such an amazing blessing, I never expected to be able to work fulltime in Japan this fast!

This is the story: Exactly 2 weeks ago, on one fine Saturday afternoon, I received news from my good friend that he/she got a decent job. I was happy for him/her, really, I swear to God! But, in my deepest heart, I looked myself on the mirror "What am I doing now?" and I was so sad, I cried. I was fine after my hubby tried his best to give hopes to me. On that night, it was the first time my hubby and I went to a Christian fellowship in one of our Indonesian friends' house here. We met many good friends, we introduced ourselves, our background, our job, etc. It happened so fast, cut the story short, one of our friends told my hubby that his friend's company needs an employee in which the job requirements were matched to what I was specialised in. We agreed to meet his friend the next week after that fellowship.

The story behind the scene: exactly 2 weeks ago, on one fine Saturday morning, someone told my friend that he needed to expand his business so he wanted more people to join. On the night, my friend met me on the fellowship. He still remembered on what his friend told him in the morning, he told my hubby about this job vacancy!

When we see the time frame, it looks like everything has already been prepared. Before I was sad in the afternoon, He already prepared it for me since morning! That's what I believe. I will start working this afternoon.

*Are you happy?* Yes, I'm happy.
*Why don't you look happy?* I'll not be perfectly happy till my prayer on 'that thing' comes true..

-Abbie-

Nihon no Taipu (Typing in Japanese)

Wednesday, 17 Oct 07, 8.15am at home

Hello again, diary,
Yesterday, my Japanese class was in computer lab. My Japanese sensei (teacher) taught me how to type Japanese in the computer. It was so much fun! She asked us to write a nikki (diary) just to practice typing. It should not be a problem, I used to write my little diary here almost every day.

This is what I wrote on the computer.

私の名前は フェにタ です。
テンプル大学の学生です。

火曜日、 2007年10月16
私は今のクラスで日本語の勉強します。先生はどのように教えてくれているコンピュータ上の日本のタイプです。今..

Meaning:
My name is Fenita.
A student of Temple University.

Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Now I'm studying Japanese in class. My teacher is teaching me how to type on the computer in Japanese. Now..

You know, this is the template that I usually use when writing my little diary. I just started writing the date, the month, the year, and few sentences of introduction about what I was doing, I had not touched the topic of what I did before coming to class, too late, suddenly my sensei asked me questions. I was not ready at all to answer these! Even, I had not finished writing the introduction part..
Sensei: Fenita-san, doko-ni kimashita? (Fenita, where did you come from?)
Me: Oh uh oh uchi ni kimashita (oh uh oh from home)
Sensei: Ropponggi ni? Ginza ni? Ikebukuro ni? (from Roponggi? from Ginza? from Ikebukuro?) << She still couldn't believe I came from home
Me: Uchi ni! (from home)
Sensei: Ohh.. uchi ni?? Kyoo wa uchi de nani o shimashita? (Ohh.. from home?? Today what did you do at home?) << What's wrong with my uchi?
Me: uh hmm ermm uhh souji o shimashita, ryouri o shimashita (uh hmm ermm uhh cleaned, cooked) << D*mn! Sensitive question! What a housewife could do??!!
Sensei: So desuka? Nani o tsukurimashitaka? (Really? What did you cook?) << Omo, not too detail please..
Me: Bifu kare desu (Beef Curry) << this is true!
Sensei: Ryouri o shimashita, nani o shimashitaka? (After cooking, what did you do?) << Do you really want to know this far??
Me: Tabemashita!! (I ate!!) << Actually, I was watching DVD after cooking but I was afraid she would ask the movie title, the story, the actors, uhh.. better not!
Sensei: Nani o nomimashitaka? (What did you drink) << omo omo omo, please please stop it!
Me: ermm.. Ocha o nomimashita (ermm.. Green tea) << I was about to say wine
Sensei: Dare to shokuji o shimashitaka? Haha. You don't have to tell me the truth. (Whom did you have meal with? Haha. You don't have to tell me the truth.) << What's with 'Haha'? She knew that I was having meal alone??
Me: [Smile] No No, Tomodachi to! (No No, with friends) << That smile and that 'No No' meant that I was not lying.
Sensei: So desuka. Sugoi desune. (Really? That's great)
Me: Hai! (Yes!) << Yes, I was lying. I ate alone.

After she finished asking me questions about my diary, she was asking my other classmates who all could answer it with long long long sentences. They had finished writing their diary, so they were all prepared! Did I look stupid? One good lesson for me, do not write too long introduction when writing a diary!

-Abbie-

Hello, L Lee...

Wednesday, 17 Oct 07, 7.46am at home

Good morning, my diary.
Today is a such good morning, I have a good mood today, because yesterday night I received a good news! Do you remember that I told you about my dream? A dream about my sister's second pregnancy.. It happened! Thanks God! Yeehaaa.. I'll be getting a nephew soon!! Well, it's too soon to know whether it's a girl/boy, but I really hope it will be a boy because she has a baby girl already now. Congratss sis.. I'm really really really happy for you.. ^_^

This blog entry is dedicated to my future nephew 'L Lee'. I just want to let him know that I'm looking forward to see you soon... on this world! I knew I love you before I met you.. *nyanyi* Muuuuaaaaaackkkkkk...!!!

-Happy Abbie-

p.s Sis, you have not changed the baby's name, rite? Tell me if you do, and let me know once you know it's a girl/boy.. I'll need to update this post.. ^_^

Happy Idul Fitri

Monday, 15 Oct 07,10.33am at home

Diary, is it now Ramadhan?
When is it? Today? Yesterday? Tomorrow?
I can't feel anything here, there's no ketupat, there's no sholat id. Should I cook ketupat today? How to make the sauce? Is ketupat made from rice? or lontong? Is lontong made from rice? or ketupat? Ah, I don't want to cook ketupat now, maybe next year. Anyway, Happy Idul Fitri, Mohon Maaph Laer dan Batin.. to you all.. and to my little diary too! ^_^

-Abbie-

p.s I need to go on diet NOW!! I feel my body is 'squarer' now, like ermm...ketupat. I hate it! I'm buying Twist & Shape Stepper again this week :D

Trip to Odaiba

Monday, 15 Oct 07, 8.44am at home

Dear my little diary,
It's been exactly 1 year since my first time writing my first blog entry. Back then, I was still in Singapore, single, and I just started my job at my second company in Singapore. Now, everything has changed. I'm no longer in Singapore, I'm no longer single, and I'm no longer working. If we think about it, in just one year, many things can change, many things can happen. Situation may change, our mind may change, in just a very short time. Sometimes, what we've planned may be changed, what we've expected may not come true. The world does change, people do change, and we do change. So, there's no use talking about future now, just live our lives well, enjoy it, and we'll know what to do when the time has come, agree??

Anyway, last Saturday we went to a fellowship in one Indonesian's home here. We met lots of good friends there. I'm happy to get new friends now, I really hope that I can settle down somewhere, perhaps Japan is fine. Tokyo is nice, I love Tokyo so much except the fact that I can't speak the language and I can't earn money here. Actually I don't like moving around, I don't like changing places, I hate house shifting. The process of adaptation to a new environment, new language, and new friends; and the process of leaving my comfortable environment, known language, and my good friends; ohh I'm just not adventureous enough to go thru all of these process once in every few years. I lost contact with my good friends whenever I move country, hiks.. Is it because I'm not good enough in maintain the relationship with them? Or it happens naturally just like that? Well, I suddenly remembered what my mum told me; when she gets older, she more realises that she needs more and more friends to accompany her since her kids are all grown up and kids will leave the family soon. Now I can feel what my mum feels, is it because I'm getting older now and scared that my kids will leave me here all alone? *but, you even have not had kid now*

What am I mumbling now? When I opened this blog this morning, initially I wanted to post my photos when we visited our friends' home in Odaiba after church yesterday night. It's a very very nice place.. There's a Rainbow Bridge that looks exactly like Golden Gate in San Fransisco, there's a liberty statue (ini pinjeman, pernah dibalikin pas kontrak abis, sekarang udah dibeli katanya) that looks exactly like the one in New York, and there's a Tokyo Tower (can you see the orange tall tower in between the brige from the pic?) that looks exactly like Eiffel Tower in France. It's very nice, rite? We don't need to go to 3 places to see all of these, just go to Odaiba will do.

Odaiba is an island. It's not a real island but it's a human-made island. Amazing, rite? Maybe I'm a bit 'kampungan' but I never knew that island can be made! There's a beach komplit with its beach sand too! It's all also human-made, the sand was imported from other island in Japan. They put a sign as an acknowledgement of an island where the sand was imported from. Odaiba island is made from a big collection of rubbish for many years. It's good that they really make use of every little piece of thing even if it's an unused rubbish. Can we move to this island one day? I like this place soo muchhh (jangan mikirin tentang sampahnya).

Oh, one good news! My mum asked me to find a place where she bought a blanket in December last year. She said that I have to find it before she comes here in December this year! I kept searching the place all over the possible tourist shopping destinations, like Ginza and Shinjuku, but couldn't find it! Amazingly, I found it last nite!! It's actually in Odaiba wahahahahaha.. leganyaaa..

Now my head is a bit dizzy, the last 2 nights were cold and I was out against the winds. My body stamina is like emak2 now, easy to get dizzy and sick. Haiz..

-Abbie-

Learning Japanese Characters

Friday, 12 Oct 07, 8.33am at home

Morning morning morning diary..

I found out something interesting about learning chinese characters or, Japanese call it Kanji. As you can see from the pictures, seems that every word has story behind it. Perhaps this is how the ancient chinese created their own language. When I think of it, I imagine a group of pithecanthropus erectus gather in a big cave with some candles in it, they are discussing symbols that they all can understand. Once finished, the leader will draw the symbols on a stone while others copying it on their own stone-notebook. If I imagine how these symbols were created, it's a very touching story, isn't it? But when I imagine how I did so badly in my Kanji Quiz yesterday, "uhuk..!". Maybe at that time, they drew direct symbols, they drew eye exactly like eye, they drew river exactly like river, they drew door exactly like door. But now, they have simplified the characters, I know it's to make us easier to write but the symbols are no longer too clear to guess. *So you prefer to go back to the stone-era?*

Japanese language is even more difficult! How can one chinese character have different sound depending on the context? One simple example: this word 人 (means: person) can sound as 'hito', 'nin', or 'jin'. And there are 2 other types of Japanese characters. They just mix these 3 types of characters in sentences. Now it's our job to remember (or to guess) which words use Kanji, which words use Hiragana, and which words use Katakana. They now adopt more and more words from English, these are written in Katakana. You know, for a beginner like me, I have a hard time reading the characters. Once I manage to read it, I have another hard time to guess whether it's originally a Japanese word or adopted from English. Some words are very hard to guess, like:
- Duraibu = Drive
- Sutato = Start
- Tosuto = Toast
- Saisu = Size
- Taipu = Type
- Doburu Rumu = Double Room
After I spell it, then I can roughly guess. Now what I can do is to wait for them to adopt all words from English then Ai kan supiku Jepenisu furuenri, retsu jasu hopu, tuenti yurusu Ai wiru waitu (I can speak Japanese fluently, let's just hope, twenty years I will wait).

-Abbie-

Cooking

Wednesday, 10 Oct 07, 9.37am at home

Hellow diary,
It's been 3 months after my wedding. To be exact, it's been 3 months and 3 days! As I told you before, I had a pressure wanting to be a good housewife who can cook as well as do house chores, at the beginning of my marriage life. For me, the hardest part is to be able to cook a decent meal, at least. I did research a lot on the Internet and TV, copied some recipes, and asked helps from my sis and cousin.. I want my cooking skills to be improved! I want to be like my mum, who's able to tell what the ingredients are by just tasting it once, and the next morning she'll be able to make the meal by herself. Amazing, rite? I want to have a sensitive tounge and nose, skillful hands, and 'keibuan' heart. Well, people do change. I never imagined that I would love to learn cooking by 26 years old. I like eating, but I never liked cooking and I thought I would never like cooking forever and ever.

But, recently, my mind has changed. I still don't really like cooking but I like the feeling after I've finished cooking! *You're happy coz you've done your job of the day? Or you're happy coz it's time to eat?* O My God, you're absolutely rite, these 2 reasons are rite! But, more importantly, I'm happy if I've succeeded producing something, especially if I manage to make something nice and delicious. It's such a pleasant feeling! The process is also not bad, I can take my time practising and designing my food when my hubby isn't around. It'll be perfect if the person who eats my food likes it! Here, the one and the only person who eats my food and has chance to like it, is my husband. Indirectly, I feel so happy, if by any chance, he likes my food. I'm still learning now, hopefully I'll be improved by the time goes by :D

Now I understand the feeling of persons who cook, they must have their own passion on something to be able to cook well. A chef has passion on food, a mother has passion on her husband and kids, and a maid has passion on....money? We should give them big applause, cooking isn't easy. Just one tip, enjoy it when you cook, so cooking is not that bad. Anyway, here I posted some karya of mine *ihik.. malu*

-Abbie-

How to Make Japanese Dumpling

Tuesday, 9 Oct 07, 5.25pm at home

Hi diary,
Just want to share with you how to make Japanese style dumpling (my style). Hihihi... Fyi, that is my hand.

I know the wantons are a little bit burnt. Well, I'm still learning how to cook. Anyway, after you steam it for a while, try to eat it as soon as you can while it's still hot!

Happy trying..

-Abbie-

Our Trip to Okutama Town

Tuesday, 9 Oct 07, 7.52am at home

Hellow diary,
These last few days I've been busy. This is why I seldom write diary now. I told you that we planned to go for a family trip last weekend, rite? Yes, we went there, We went to Okutama Town! We departed from home at 8.30am. We managed to find Okutama Town, after 2.5 hours journey by train from my home. This picture on the left was taken when I first arrived at Okutama Station. When we first arrived, we were blurrr..didn't know where to go. We saw a tourist information office but did not help at all! The broucher and the map were all in Japanese, the person also spoke Japanese. It's ok, we decided to 'explore' the town ourself! Our main objective going to Okutama town was to find fishing spot and do BBQ. Our journey started from here..

Firstly, we walked around the station area. According to the map that I downloaded from the Internet, there should be a fishing spot just opposite the train station. We heard sound of water but there was fish smell. But, we found wooden stairs going down to somewhere.. somewhere darker and colder.. it's not a horror story, ok? It was going down to the water. The air was so fresh! The water was so clean too! But the fish was not there. We happily took pictures there, spent long time there, and forgot our main 'mission'. Well, I don't know how about my hubby, at least for me, I forgot completely about the mission. Here are the pictures..




















Then, we were so hungry.. We couldn't find any restaurant around that area. But, we found buses! Aha! I guessed we should ride on bus to explore more about this town. After we asked around with my limited Japanese, we found a Japanese who could speak English. That old man wanted to go to Okutama Lake, we were going there too! Thanks God we found him. He told us how to catch bus, how to pay the bus fare, and where to stop! It's very good lesson for me to realise that it's very important to know where to stop in a deserted place! We arrived at the Okutama lake. They call it a lake but actually it's a human-made lake. Anyway, it's still very nice!

We had lunch there and walked around the lake to take pictures. And, I just remembered about our important mission. It's not that I remembered actually, my hubby reminded me after clock was showing at 2pm. Omo omo omo! And we realised that the bus only came once in a hour or 2 hours. I asked the information center there about the fishing spot and which bus we should take. The bus would only come 75 minutes later. Another omo omo omo! They gave me a map. We saw the map to find a 'fish icon' on the map. Usually they label fishing spot with fish icon. Fish fish fish, where are you? Yes, we found one! But, it's very strage that the fish icon was not on the location where the information center showed me! Instead, it was around where we stood at that moment, it was just behind the mountain. Well, not exactly around where we were standing, I mean we did not need to take bus, we could just walk! We still had to wait for 75 minutes for the bus to come anyway, so we tried our luck to walk around.. to behind the mountain.











Believe me, it was initially so fun! The mountain air was so fresh.. the weather was so nice, the temperature was around 15C. I found one interesting thing, you can see from the picture. Dunno how to call that thing, it's a like stove but doesn't look like a stove, it's for cooking water. Anyway, we walked along a river and went up and up and up to a mountain.. and the road was smaller and smaller and smaller. There were more trees, more and more trees.. it was getting darker, and there were only 2 of us there! After walking about 30minutes and we still couldn't find the fish on the place where the map showed, I was so afraid. The road was so small, I was so scared of falling down. So I asked Ron to go back and wait for the bus. Mission half failed!

The bus finally came. Before I got onto the bus, I asked the bus driver to make sure if the bus was going to the correct destination.
Me: Kono basu wa Minedani e ikimasuka? (Is this bus going to Minedani?)
Driver: Hai, Minedani-bashi e ikimasu. (Yes, going to Minedani-bashi.)
Me: Minedani e ikimasuka? (going to Minedani?)
Driver: brapbrapbrapbrap Minedani-bashi brapbrapbrap (not clear what he said)
Me: Yes, this bus. Let's go honey (I told Ron with big smile on my face)

On the bus, Ron told me that he heard 'Minedani-bashi', not 'Minedani'. I thought, 'Minedani-bashi' and 'Minedani-ikimasu' sounded similar, rite? He must heard wrongly. We also would pass Minedani-bashi before reaching Minedani, by the way. So, wouldn't be a big problem, rite?? Then, after passing Minedani, the bus stopped. The bus driver screamed at me that we already arrived!
Driver: brapbrabrap Minedani-bashi brapbrap (...Minedani-bashi...)
Me: Watashi wa Minedani e ikimasu (I'm going to Minedani)
Driver: brabrapbrap Minedani-bashi, doko brap brap? (....Minedani-bashi, where...?)
Me: Minedani-bashi dewa arimasen. Minedani desu. (not Minedani-bashi. It's Minedani) << I purposely added 'desu' at the end of the sentence to inform him that Minedani full stop, there was no bashi.
Driver: brapbrap orimasu brap aruite brap brap hashi brap kirei.. (....get down from the bus..walk...bridge...nice..) << He opened the bus door and asked me to go down.

And we got off from the bus. The bus left. Yes, we saw a very big red pretty bridge. So what? We wanted to go to Minedani, not Minedani-bashi. We wanted to find fish, not a bridge. Initially, we wanted to hop on the next bus. Why didn't the driver let us go to Minedani? Why did he insist us to go down and see the red brige? We checked the schedule, and that was the last bus of the day! It was around 4pm. Then, we checked our map to see how far Minedani is from Minedani-bashi. I saw the figure, it was around 3km. And I told Ron "It was only 2km, let's walk!". I did not want to make him sad, it was all my fault. Why couldn't I just stay on the bus, by any mean, like pingsan kek, asma kek? Then, we decided to walk. By bus, we supposed to reach in 10 minutes, by walk we should be reaching in 30 minutes? 45 minutes? After 15 minutes walk, we saw the bus and the bus driver whom I was arguing with, going down from Minedani. Hiks.. I was so embarassed, I covered my face with my hand and my hair. But, Ron was starring at him! The bus driver should be thinking 'What these 2 guys up to? Walking to deserted mountain while there was no longer bus going down?" Oh yea, fyi, that bus was also the last bus! Even if we managed to reach Minedani, we also had to walk back to Minedani-bashi to get a bus to take us to the train station. So, total would be 6km walk. Wow, what a great exercise!

On the way up to the mountain, Ron saw some people fishing along the river, he saw some fish kecipak kecipung.. but it was down there. Even we didn't know how they managed to go down there. You see from the picture how Ron desperately wanted to see fish. Oh, I'm so sorry honey.. The other picture was to show you how far and quiet the road was. After walking for about 30 minutes, we realised that we had just walked half way. We gave up! It was getting darker. Even we reach there, we also still need to walk down, in the dark! So, we decided to go back to the red bridge. So tired.. so hungry.. so cold.. we were so happy when we finally saw the red brige again! We reached home around 9pm.
On that day, I remembered what I've written on my previous blog that I wanted to realise my hubby's dream a bit, I thought at least I would see a fish, one ekor would do. But, I never imagined that I failed to realise his dream. Not even a bit, but, not at all! I know he was disappointed, do you know that I was more disappointed than him? I'm very disappointed with myself. My clumsy soul always comes out not at the right time, arghh... Yes, we had lots of fun there, but mission was not accomplished! Mission was totally failed! I'm sorry, honey.. Do you still give me chance to arrange our next family trip?

-Sad Abbie-

I need a Map please.....!!

Friday, 5 Sep 07, 1.09pm at home

Benci.. benci.. benci..!!!!
You know that I lost my Tokyo City map, rite? Now I want to buy a new map for tomorrow's family trip, I'm good enough to have willingness to buy it again, ain't I? Kinokuniya bookstore is the only bookshop I know of that's selling English version of books, including maps. Honestly, I only know one Kinokuniya store that's located in Shinjuku, but I don't want to go there, it's too far from my home! So, I searched for Kinokuniya's stores at other locations and I found a long list of locations including those near my home. It's good! But, the problem is, I don't know how to get there!! I searched the Internet again for map of the locations, it's either in Japanese or none in English. I hate it! I always have difficulty searching things from the Internet in Japan.

So now, what I suppose to do? I need to buy a map from a bookstore, finding a bookstore needs a map. Bookstore needs a map or a map needs a bookstore?? Arghhh... It's something like chicken and egg, which one comes first? I don't care whether chicken or egg comes first! I just need a map! No, I need to find a bookstore! No, I need a map first to find a bookstore! But, I don't have a map with me now, so I need a bookstore first!! No, I need a map first!!! Arghhhh...

-'NdongkoL' Abbie-

Planning for Next Trip!

Tuesday, 2 Oct 07, 8.11am at home

Hi my diary,
Outside temperature is now around 21C. Brrr.. honestly, I don't really like winter, I don't really like summer either. I like spring or autumn when the temperature is just nice for our human body with just wearing one thin jacket. I hate cold weather especially after bathing and when I get up from my warm bed in the morning. In other word, my favorite room's temperature is 25C. Well, now I have to experience winter again..in Tokyo..which is colder than the winter that I experienced in Australia. For me, winter is nice, snow is nice, but just to look at.. I don't like the feeling of cold, the feeling when my body shakes, the feeling when my teeth bump each other, the feeling when my lips turn blue, the feeling when I have to hide my hands in between my legs or inside the pockets, etc. One thing that I like about winter is, when I HAVE TO drink a cup of hot chocolate to warm my body up and to give me more energy to keep walking. Actually I don't really need a hot choco, hot coffee will be fine too, but I prefer choco.. Cokorate o onegaishimasu (Give me a choco please), I should remember this sentence well. Oh, one more good thing about winter is, I can wear nice jacket and hide my fat tummy behind it. Oh yea, winter also looks good at night in Christmas and New Year when the lights are... *Nice introduction Abbie! Enough about winter, next topic please*

Hmm, about my life? My life is so so. My Japanese lesson is getting more difficult now, one of my teachers likes to explain things in Japanese so I have to guess what she's trying to say. Hopefully my guess is right. Now I can feel that I'm so much more confident than last time. I'm not saying that my Japanese is so much better, I'm just feeling more confident now. You know, like a soldier who brings a weapon on his leg wherever he goes, and like a girl who brings a powder pack in her handbag wherever she goes. Yea, it's like me who brings my electronic dictionary in my handbag wherever I go. *Lohh??*

Oh yea, my husband and I are planning to go for a family trip again this weekend! Yipeee.. 'Family' in the family trip is actually just me and him. I just want to make it clear that it's not a honeymoon trip but a family trip. Next Monday will be a public holiday again in Japan, so it's long weekend again!! Anyway, we're planning to go to a lake (around 2 hours drive from Tokyo) where we can do fishing, BBQ, onsen (hot spring), and stay overnite at ryoukan (Japanese house) maybe. We won't join a tour like our last trip to Mt Fuji. It's not that I've become 'Ratu Jalanan' now like what my cousin said, but because I can't find any tour group going there. It's ok, we can have a relax trip this time.. trip without bus, trip without Mister tour guide..

Fyi, my husband likes fishing. I know it's hard to find a young generation who likes fishing in this 22nd century. Maybe his soul is still from old generation? Recently, because of cold weather, he always says that he's dreaming of fishing, in this kind of weather, near the lake, at the back of a wooden villa where we're going to stay, under a big tree, with a big picnic basket and BBQ equipments, and not to forget, there's ME beside him! Omo, it's such a simple dream but hard to bring into a realisation. Where to find such an exact setting? Perhaps, one day we can build our own house near a lake.. yea, one day! For now, let's just hope that our next trip will at least realise his dream a bit. No, let's first hope that we will find the place, I'm just afraid that the clumsy soul inside me will come out on that crucial time..

See you again, diary

-Abbie-

Little Changes..

Friday, 28 Sep 07, 1.15pm at home

Dear Diary,

First Change
Today I've done a little step in my life. I started writing articles, published them online, and earn some money. The money is not huge but I feel appreciated when people read my articles and when I see the ranking of my articles moving up. Hopefully I can continue writing..

Second Change
Yesterday I told my Japanese course coordinator that I wanted to jump to the higher level. It's not that I'm too smart or what, it's just that they're too slow *What's the difference??*. Yesterday I was still confused if I was able to follow Level 2 course because I was not confident that my Japanese was on that level yet. Also, I've already missed 5 meetings since Level 2 Class started few days earlier than Level 1 Class. Luckily, the course coordinator was very nice, she allowed me to attend the Level 2 Class last nite for trial and let my teacher & myself decided if I could follow the lesson. Yes, I can follow Lesson 2 class! I'm so happy that I found the right level for me now. Not really the right level, my class now gives me some pressures to catch up what I've missed. I'll study this weekend (kalo gak lupa)!

By the way, my class now only has around 8 persons, 6 of them are Westerners and males, the other 1 is an Indian female. My class is only on every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Well, actually my friends at Level 1 Class are more fun but it's ok.. We can still be friends although we're not in the same class anymore, rite? But, would they think that I'm 'kemayu' girl who likes jumping a lot?

Others
Today is my shopping day!! Today is the 28th of the month, the last weekend of this month, and I just realised that I under-spent the money for this month. So should I spend it more today till the last coin?? Hahaha.. let's see what I need to buy now, No, let's check my list on what I want to buy.. Hopefully Ron won't read this part, he'll be triple shocked. Ho Ho Ho! Calm down, drink water first, and Actived, and sleep please.. and you'll feel refreshed in the morning like nothing has happened.

Oh yea, till now I still have not bought my glasses.. it's because I still have not found a suitable one for my face. Haiz.. So now sometimes I put tissue at the connecting point to make the cangkolan straighter, and I wear contacts when I go out coz I don't want people to get curious of the tissue that's hanging on my glasses.

Ok, need to do some house works before going.
Bye diary..

-Abbie-

11.11 o'clock

Thursday, 27 Sep 07, 3.49pm at home

Konniciwa, watashi no nikki.. (Good afternoon, my diary..)

Recently I found out something interesting from my Korean movie. It's said that "When you look at the clock and it's showing exactly at 11.11, that means someone is thinking of you". Well, I don't know how true that is, I prefer not to believe but to hope that it's true. In Korean, it's pronounced as "yil yil yil yil". Not too nice to hear, and not too easy to spell since you have to move your lower jaw to the front for 4x and touch your tounge to your upper front teeth for 4x too. For me, 11 looks like shadows of 2 persons standing. Perhaps 'thinking' in this case can be interpreted as "thinking of a time when I'm standing beside you". How about the other 11? Another 2 persons standing and watching us?? Mum and Dad? Spy? Mister Detectives? Anyway, this morning I saw my clock and it was exactly at 11.11am! Who was thinking of me?? (Or, who was watching me??)

The tips if you want someone's thinking of you:
1. Buy a digital clock so it can show 11.11.
2. Set your alarm clock at 11.10, at least you'll have 1 minute to run to your clock and see your clock turning to 11.11 and *ceprett* take picture.
3. Take off the battery of your clock when it's showing 11.11 and don't put the battery back................ forever!
4. Call someone, he/she must be wondering what's up, and just say 'nothing' then hang up the phone. Yes, he/she must be thinking of you after that.
5. Tell someone you care about this 11.11 story. Believe me, whenever he/she looks at the clock at 11.11, he/she will think of you. (So now, all my readers will think of me together serentak at 11.11 hahahaha! *curanggg!*)

-Abbie-

My 1st Japanese Class

Wednesday, 26 Sep 07, 8.50am at home

Hellow again, my little diary..
When I woke up this morning, I still felt so tired and sleepy although I had an enough and sound sleep last nite. Until now I'm still so tired and sleepy, I can hardly open my eyes. *How are you still able to type with your eyes closed?* Typing uses hands, not eyes, rite? Seems like my fingers have their own eyes, they know where to press letter A, B, C, etc. For me, I used both hands to type, however, the most active fingers are only my middle fingers. I guess this is why my middle fingers are longer than my other fingers. It's the same concept as the giraffe' neck's story that I told you, isn't it?

Yesterday I managed to do all the tasks that I mentioned yesterday although there were some little problems. Well, not exactly little, I lost my Tokyo City Map and left my mobile at home! It was such a big problem for me. I needed to go to Ward Office to collect my alien card and to my school that I didn't know whereabout. I couldn't make calls to ask for help, so I used my instinct to find the places. I thought it should be easy like how Ron and I managed to find the fish market by just 'mengendus-endus' the fish' smell on an empty air and following a person who was wearing boots (Fish market people usually wear boots, rite?). On my case, I had no clue what smell I should look for. Smell of aliens? Smell of books? Cut the story short, after going around and around and around I managed to find the places. Lucky that I brought spare sandals, I knew that my feet would pain in my new shoes. I should bring extra sandals wherever I go from now on, it's as necessary as bringing umbrella in my handbag. My handbag now is always full with my necessities, it's almost like a picnic basket without the 'taplak merah kotak-kotak'.

My Japanese class? It was great! There were 13 persons in a class, only 3 were Asian (including me), the rest was Westerners. They were all very friendly. One thing, I hope that my Japanese won't sound like English. Well, it's because my Mandarin once sounded like Hindi since my Mandarin class was mostly attended by Indians. It's true that we easily follow the environment. Anyway, honestly, I've learnt the basics of Japanese in Indo so it was not difficult for me to catch the lesson. However, I still found the class interesting because we were not only taught about the language, but also about Japanese culture and customs, by the local speaker.

-For example, we say 'Ohayo' only in the morning when we wake up and it should be said before 10am. How if I wake up at 11am? Should I say 'Ohayo' or 'Konniciwa'?
-Example no 2, we say 'Ohayo Gozaimasu' to the boss/professor. Then the boss/professor will reply 'Ohayo'. A question, how if the boss/professor say first to the subordinate/student? Should they say 'Ohayo' or 'Ohayo Gozaimasu'? The answer is: boss/professor/whoever with higher level hardly greet first. That's Japanese culture.
-Example no 3, we always say 'Itadakimasu' (meaning: I'll eat this food) before eating with both hands are put together like praying. Does it mean 'I'll eat this food, this food is mine, don't ever take this food from my plate'?? And we say 'Gochisousama deshita' (meaning: Thank's for the meal, your food is nice) after we finish eating (I really see people saying 'Gochisousama deshita' loudly to the shop owner while leaving the restaurant without any expression, although they eat alone! I think it's kind of a habit rather than a real appraisal).
-Example no 4, 'Sayonara' and 'Shitsureishimasu' mean bye2 with different level of politeness depending on whom we are talking to. Omo omo omo.. everytime we should remember the casual word and the polite word. It's really like Javanese where we have Ngoko, Kromo, Kromo Inggil, they are used depending on the situation. Japanese and Javanese really have many similarities!

Ja mata, diary (meaning: see you, diary)

-Abbie-

p.s I'll write some words in Japanese from now to practice my Jap. Who knows I'll write blog in Jap one day?? Or write novel in Jap?? *Hey, there was no news about your novel now, how is it?* I'm still stucked in deciding the names of the players. Haiz..!

Today is 25 Sep!

Tuesday, 25 Sep 07, 7.36am at home

Good morning diary,
I am having my breakfast now; butter-sugar-choco-bread-toasted and a cup of hot green tea. Today is such nice and cold day. I like the weather so much, nice for sleeping or just for staying home and do nothing. But, today I have things to do:
1. Collect my new Alien Card (because of my new address, I had to re-apply the card)
2. Open a bank account (I have to wait for for my alien card in order to open an account)
3. Book hotels and air tickets to Sapporo (my family has just confirmed the itinery)
4. Start my Japanese Class!!

Yeehaa.. finally the day has come! I'm going to school again today. My school is Temple University, they offer an intensive Japanese course. Oh fyi, my class will be held on Monday to Thursday at 6.20pm-9.20pm. *Why does the class start at 6.20pm instead of 6.30pm?* Maybe because they want to end the class at 9.20pm, so it's exactly 3 hours class. *Why does the class end at 9.20pm instead of 9.30pm?* If it ends at 9.30pm, that means the duration of the class is 3 hours 10 mins. I told you, they want to make it exactly 3 hours! Or maybe because it takes exactly 10 mins walk from school to the nearest train station? Or they want to test how big our 'desire' is to study Japanese? Dunno la, don't ask me..

From now, like what my hubby said, I'll be a part-time housewife and a part-time student. My first half is still a housewife, my other half is a student. It's something like 'ayam berkepala babi'. A chicken who eats a lot like a pig. Yea, it's me!

My husband has just returned from Singapore on Sunday afternoon. It's good that yesterday was public holiday so he could rest at home the whole day yesterday. Good news is: We've got our International Driving Permit! Ron applied it in Singapore by using our Singapore driving licenses. You must be curious why I applied that IDP while I'm not driving here, I don't even have a car here. You must be more curious why I have Singapore driving license while I was not driving in Singapore, I didn't even have a car too! *Are you such a weird person who likes to make collection of driving license from all countries?* Well, I like cars. I like driving. *So?* I feel secured if I have driving license, that means I can drive anytime if some unexpected things happen, for example; if I win a car from lottery, if I have to drive an ambulance in the case of emergency, if I have to escape from somewhere when there's only a car there, if I happen to be trapped in a situation like Sandra Bullock in 'Speed' when I have to drive a bus emergency, etc. Anything may happen, rite? It's something like 'Sedia payung sebelum hujan'. Ok ok, honestly, I applied for IDP because we are planning to rent a car in our holiday to Sapporo this December. One of the requirements to rent a car is owning an IDP. I know I won't drive, nobody trusts my driving skill. I can't do parallel parking. I can't do rear parking. In Japan, we can only park a car by rear parking. This is very obvious that I can't drive car in Japan, No, to be more accurate, I can drive but I can't stop the car!

Hey diary, I just created another blog! A blog that tells about my journey to find the place where my rib belongs, and more like a photo album for my wedding. Yea, I want to continue my dream to create a wedding website that has been 'tersendat' for quite a while. Thanks to Ms Elica who has given me this inspiration and who has motivated me to complete this project well *walahh walahh*. I realised that creating a website is complicated and costly. You know, I'm not very determined when I do things. Creating a blog is much easier since there's already a web template I can choose, and it's free! So, I chose creating a blog. I'll keep writing it with other stories although the place where my rib belongs has been found now. :)

-Abbie-

He's Away..

Thursday, 20 Sep 07, 7.05pm at home

Hello my diary,
You're really my best friend, you're always here for me whenever I need you.. *of course! tinggal ngetik www.blogger.com aja jadi*. My hubby baru aja terbang ke Singapore 15 menit yg lalu. Sekarang aku sendiri di rumah.. aku ngerasain sesuatu yang beda. Biasanya sekitar jam segini, aku juga masih sendiri di rumah karna dia masih belum pulang dari kantor. Tapi hari ini berbeda, mungkin karna aku tau kalo dia gak bakal pulang malem ini?

I thought I should be fine, I used to live alone without him (I mean, not under the same roof with him) for 26 years. He'll only leave me for 3 days and now I'm so panic? I really don't want to act manja or bawel or rewel or whatever you call it. But, this is how I'm now..

-Abbie-

Mt Fuji & Hakone Trip

Wednesday, 19 Sep 07, 1.11pm at home

Hello diary,
It's been almost a week since I wrote diary. Last week I was busy settling my first holiday trip to Mt Fuji and had short 3-honey-days with my hubby last weekend because last Monday was public holiday. We went to Mt Fuji on Saturday, it was a fun trip except one thing. We almost missed the bus because of my carelessness.

We were supposed to meet at a hotel near our home at 8.30am. We left home around 7.30am with big smiles, brought snacks and drinks, and walked with "semangat 45" by holding hands. We reached the station where the hotel should be around 7.45am. We asked people around there but there was no signal where the hotel was. When my watch was showing at 8.15am, I couldn't keep searching the hotel. I called my travel agent and I found out that I took note wrong address of the hotel. As predicted, my husband blamed me, no, he blamed my clumsyness. I know it was totally my fault. But, at least he should give me applause on my kecepatan dalam membaca. The address should be 'Nihonbashi-Kacigarasomething', I only read the first word 'Nihonbashi'. These two are different areas. It's something like 'Slamet' and 'Slamet Riyadi'. Slamet stays at Pojong, Slamet Riyadi is at the heart of Solo City. Anyway, finally we took a cab to the hotel. I felt like a secret agent 008, I was sitting on the cab with my back straight, looking at the GPS on the cab that looked smart but showed nothing to me and looking at my watch every 2 seconds. We reached the hotel at 8.32am. The bus has left! Omo omo omo.. sambil lari tergopoh2 lari masuk ke dalam taxi lagi, and we went home?? Of course NOT! We went to the next hotel where the last bus would depart, which was at 9am. And finally we reached the other hotel at 8.45am, the bus still had not come yet. Phew, we managed to get on the bus at 9am. Thanks to kecekatanku dalam bertindak, right?

If you're going to mountain, what's the first thing you need to bring? Hairdryer? shaver? Of course not! The answer is: we should bring jacket, rite? If you're going to Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in the world with 'salju abadi', what should we bring? A Thick Jacket! Bingo! Hahahaha! Hey, don't think that I didn't bring jacket when we went to Mt Fuji! My stupidity is: I was overly paranoid to a cold weather. I brought all my winter equipments that I have (it's not that I wanted to 'AcTioN' on the mountain with my winter coat), somemore, I bought a sweater for Ron too! At least it's showing that I'm a good wife and I did perfect preparation before the mountain picnic, rite? We ended up bringing a big bag to a big mountain. As soon as we got into the bus, the tour agent said that there was accident and traffic and whatever whatever so we couldn't go to the 5th level of the mountain, we only could go till the 2nd level. This means that the weather wouldn't be so cold. We both were so dissappointed, in our own ways. Ron was dissappointed because he couldn't get chance to go to the top of Mt Fuji and see his first snow, I was dissappointed because I was wearing turtle neck shirt which was so warm. Wearing turtle neck on summer is as bad as wearing a tank-top on the snow. I can't imagine how turtle is able to survive by wearing turtle neck non-stop forever. Anyway, I'm sorry,honey.. to make you carrying the big bag with full of jackets. I really wanted to wear that jacket if the weather was a bit cooler, really..

Our trip was fun. We went to Mt Fuji 2nd level and had lunch at Hakone. We took a ropeway (cablecar) to view Hakone from above. Nice.. nice.. The cablecar was too small and nobody took picture for us. I didn't want to miss this important moment. There was no other choice, I took picture myself.. I know, I know, you can see nothing except our two big heads, rite? Just believe me, the view was nice..

We landed at the top of somewhere to view a boiling valley. It's called Owakudani. We must walk up to the top to see it. It was a 15 minutes walk but like 15 hours walk. One thing that kept motivating me to climb up: when I saw emak2 or engkong2 walked passing me and when I saw a girl with high-heel and mini-skirt who still could walk 'ngethek' like it's just a piece of cake. After we reached at the top, there was a smell of H2S that smelt like eggs and I saw most of the people there were eating black eggs. There was a sign "When you eat one black egg, your life will be 7 years longer. When you eat 2 black eggs, your life will be 14 years longer". The black egg is called Longetivity Egg. I didn't eat the egg because the minimum number of eggs we should buy is 6. How many years can I live longer if I eat 6 eggs? They don't dare to write 6 x 7years = 42 years? I just took picture with the hello kitty that's trapped in the black egg. I guess, that hello kitty can live longer than forever.

Next one was a "pirates" boat cruising at Lake Ashi. Would Jack Sparrow be crossing Lake Ashi? Please don't.. Anyway, I like this cruise so much, the wind was very strong. Unfortunately we left our jacket and winter accessories on the bus. After 10 minutes cruise, Ron asked me to go down karna kebanyakan makan angin bisa masuk angin atau kembung. Well, he was right. My head was dizzy after that. I'm getting old now, I should bring Paramex wherever I go from now on. The cruise was around 25 minutes. Then, we got on the bus again to go back to Tokyo. We reached home around 9pm.

Now I'm planning a 6-day tour to Hokkaido island for 7 people. I'm planning everything from the plane ticket, train tickets, bus rides, hotels, tour itinery, meals, car rental, etc.. Can you trust me to be your tour agent and your tour guide at an unknown island? I'll start my Japanese class next week, I should be able to master Japanese by end of Dec. Now, you can trust me?

-Abbie-
p.s DO NOT ZOOM IN THE PICTURES! Danger, my plum cheeks will be at your full screen. Haiz.. I know I must go on diet NOW!