Snorkel

Sunday, 24 May 09, 3.56pm at home

Hello good afternoon my diary..
Today is such a raining and cloudy day. It has been raining since yesterday. The dark sky keeps appearing and disappearing as it likes. But I'm not as moody as the sky today because... because... I'm excited thinking about my next holiday! I just bought snorkel few days ago. You must be able to roughly guess where will be my destination. Yes, I'm going to the beach. I'm going to Phuket. I'm going to Thailand next Wednesday! I need some refreshments, I need some good food, and I need some massage! Thailand is the best place that is able to fulfill those three needs at the same time!! I am really looking forward to that trip!

See you again, diary! ^_~

-Abbie-

Jonjing Shoes

Thursday, 21 May 09, 9.43pm at home

Hmm.. diary, you must know what I am going to talk about by just seeing this picture. I call these shoes as "jonjing shoes", meaning "not-at-the-same-height shoes".

Here are some information you need to take note about these shoes:
1. These shoes are a pair of shoes.
2. The left and the right shoes are exactly same design and same quality.
3. The left and the right shoes were bought at the same time with the same height of heels.
4. The left and the right shoes were always used by the same person whose left and right legs weight the same (or should be the same).
5. The left and the right shoes were always used together at the same time and same fequency.
6. The left and the right shoes were always used to walk to same places.

Now the question is; how can the right shoe have lower heel than the left one? Or; how can the left shoe have higher heel than the right one? You can choose which question you are more comfortable with.

Ok ok, I admit, these are my shoes. These white jonjing shoes are my shoes! Happy now? For the last few weeks, actually I had been feeling not so comfortable in walking. I thought one of my leg was suddenly longer than the other (or shorter than the other?) which made me slightly limping. I could not run so fast too with my floppy running style. This now explains why I came late to office most of the days recently.

I did not realize it till just now. I put those shoes on the floor near my home's entrance door and I went to kitchen to prepare dinner. My hubbie was looking at my jonjing shoes with one eyebrow higher than his other and asking me "How could this happen?". Not trying to be his echo, I spontaneously responsed "How could this happen?"

It's time to dispose these shoes now. I should write point number 7 then.
7. The left and the right shoes will be thrown away at the same time by the same person.

-Abbie-

The Sun Shines!

Thursday, 21 May 09, 8.40am on the bus

Dear my diary,
I am back in HK now. I am on the way to office. It is raining outside. The sky is dark. The weather is hot and humid. But it seems that people don't really care about the rain and the weather. They still do what they have to do. They bring umbrella to protect themselves from the rain. They sometimes run to avoid the rain as much as they can. Yes, this is what humans should react. Problems come and go, problems are part of our lives. There are only two ways; face it with an 'umbrella' or avoid it while you can. Many things happen in life, we still have to move on with life because time doesn't stop ticking, because everybody has a future that we should look forward and treasure.

Diary, I am really glad that I went home. Miracles happen when we believe, and I had good quality time with my family! I wanted to go home since months ago because I missed my family so much. Although the reason of coming home this time was not for holiday and not for having fun, I am still glad to have chance to see my family in bad time, this is what family is for, right? We can stay strong when we are together.

The sun is shining brightly now, the rain has stopped, the dark sky is no longer there. Yes, it's now time to go back to real life, back to routines, back to office, and back to work!

-Abbie-

See you again, Ama..

Thursday, 14 May 09, 7.45am on the bus

Dear diary,
I am on the bus now, but not going to office this time, I am going to airport. I am going to Indo. I am going home, diary. My grandma just passed away yesterday afternoon. I was so shocked when I heard this super bad news because I thought she was doing well after the surgery. Actually her condition was ok after the surgery, she was put in ICU for the next few days. She was conscious few times and just suddenly her condition was worsen and she's gone. The only thing I feel relieved is, I know that she's gone with Jesus. She's gone right after the pastor prayed for her.

I am so sad. I am sad not because I want her to keep alive. I know that whatever happens is under God's plan, and I personally think that this is the best for her. She's gone few days after she got baptized, she was still so clean and God didn't let her to commit any sin. Her diseases were very complicated so she was so in pain. This is why I said that it's the best that she's gone now, to a much better place where there is no pain, no cry, no loneliness. The thing that makes me sad is I do regret that I can't keep my promise to accompany her, to stay with her. She was a lonely person. She lived with her only maid in her big house. What she needed was only an accompany. She was so happy when Chinese New Year comes since all her children and grandchildren come and gather. Yes, I admit that we all come and gather but the exciting reason was not to meet my grandma, we love the gathering because we can see all the relatives, all my cousins. But the main topic was never about her. Now we are all gathering again, all my big families, and for the first time and the last time, we all gather for her. Whenever I think about this, my heart hurts so much!

Life is short. Treasure your time now to be with the people you love. We are all now like having a holiday for 80 years at a place called Earth. When the holiday is over, when the plane has arrived to pick us up, it's time to have a real life, a real eternal life. I don't want to say good bye to my grandma, but I prefer saying "See you again, Ama!" I did mean what I said, I will see her again soon in heaven!

-Abbie-

My First Credit Card

Tuesday, 12 May 09, 8.40am on the bus

Good morning, diary!
I am happy! Finally I got my first credit card, the very first one in my life! Well, when the world is now having economy problem because of the credit card, when people start avoiding/reducing their usage of credit card, I just got my first credit card and will start using it. You know, it was hard for me to get one although my salary is considered enough to apply one.

Ok, I tell you the story. On one fine day, I went to the bank to apply for my credit card. When I saw the details and the requirements, I was quite confident to aim for the gold card. One week passed, I received a letter from the bank saying that I should show them a copy of my employment contract. This was normal. When I submitted my employment contract, I asked them:
Me: "If my gold card application gets rejected, can you just automatically reapply it for a normal card?"
Bank officer: "Sure, you can"
Me: "I mean, can I be automatically considered for a lower card?"
Bank officer: "Yes, of course, you will still be considered for lower card if you reapply it"
Me: "So, can you reapply my card after it gets rejected?"
Bank officer: "Sure, you can. Would you be interested in some financial planning and insurance....."

That was my never-ending-conversation with the bank officer. Another week went by, I received a thin letter from the bank again. You know, thin letter means there was only one piece of paper in it, there was no card! Yes, it was a rejection letter and I was not automatically considered for a lower card.

On another one fine day, I went to the bank again to apply for a normal credit card. No gold. No silver. No platinum. Just a simple normal card. Again, I had to fill in all the forms! No exception! They should have had all my details by that moment, why should I fill in the same forms again? But, I still considered that as normal after I knew what's happening one week after. One week later, a piece of letter came again. Same letter. A letter from the bank saying that I should provide my employment contract! Have they lost the copy of employment contract that I gave them last time? Why should I go through the same process again? I was not giving my employment contract at that time because of 2 reasons; first, it's because I was really fed up, and second, it's because I really lost my employment contract since the last time I gave them! It's all their fault! I'm not a tidy person, I always forget to put the things back. So, I gave up, I didn't continue the application process. And another week passed by, another letter came again. It was not a letter with credit card, ok! It was just a reminder letter that I should produce my employment contract. I ignored the letter. I used to live for 28 years without even a single credit card and I lived well. I was sure that I would live well too without credit card for the rest of my life.

No, I was wrong! When I bought LV bags in Paris, I had to borrow my friend's credit card. I needed a credit card! There was only one way. Suddenly I remembered that I had a husband. He got a credit card and he could apply a sub-card for me! And yeap, this is how I managed to get my own credit card finally. A platinum card. With my full name written on that card. With my signature written at the back of the card. Ok ok, I remember, it's a sub-card, not based on my own merits. I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed of myself, for getting a credit card at the age of 28 years old.. and it's only a sub-card!

-Abbie-

Burgundy Snails

Thursday, 7 May 09, 10.04pm at home

Hellow yellow diary..

I just took a shower. After taking a shower, I went to my kitchen and saw this burgundy snails. I bought this in Paris. I bought this because I like the shells of the snails. Cute, isn't it? Do you see the can below the shells? Yes, this can contains the snails. For your information, these snails are not toys, these snails are not living snails, these snails have died, these snails are edible, these snails are uncooked so need to be cooked. How to cook this? This is the part that I like the most.
• Insert a snail into each shell, then push a small amount of butter in the shell.
• Put on a snail dish and put into a hot oven at 210°C for about 10mins.
• As soon as the butter is bubbling, remove and serve immediately.
It's advisable to clean the shells after use and keep them at a safe place. The shells are reusable! This is interesting!

And this is how the snails look like after having 10mins sauna in a hot oven.

I wanna make a confession! The picture above is not how my real snails look like. My real snails are still uncooked and still sleeping soundly inside the can. I just grabbed a picture from the Internet just now just to show you how this Burgundy Snails dish should look like.

I have not cooked my snails yet because honestly I don't like eating snails. I like chicken meat the most among all meats in this world. Now I'm thinking of cooking chicken meat with some teriyaki sauce maybe and insert the pieces of the chicken into the shells. Hopefully the dead snails won't be mad as their shells are borrowed by chicken.

Now my question is; why this dish is called Burgundy Snails? From what I know, burgundy is the name of a color, dark red color. These snails are in green color, why is it called burgundy then?

-Abbie-

Holland vs Indonesia

Wednesday, 6 May 09, 8.24am on the bus

Morning my diary,
I am feeling great today. For the last two days, I always woke up with heavy eyes and came to office late although I ran all the way from bus stop to office. However, today I woke up with fresh body and mind. About coming to office late? Let's see, I'm still on the bus now.

Diary, finally yesterday my grandma managed to have surgery to remove her tumor, the surgery went well! It was indeed a miracle from God! God really gives her chance to have a 'brand new' life. I am really really grateful and thankful for everything happened recently.

About my Netherlands' trip, I wanna keep my promise to tell you my story. It is actually no longer a hot topic now since few days have passed, I feel like writing executive summary for my thesis now. Anyway, my home country used to be Holland's colony for more than 350 years according to a subject that I learned in my high school, that subject is called History. This is why I find this country amazing! *Why? Tell me 5 good reasons!*

Ok, let me try if I can get 5 good reasons:
1. Holland has wonderful tulips!! *What does the tulip have something to do with Holland's 350 years colony in Indonesia??* Exactly! They used to live in Indonesia for hundreds years, why couldn't they plant tulip in there? They could use all those years to create special tulip which can live in hot country, right? Possible, right? *Please la, don't let your stupidity shown up la*

2. Holland and Indonesia are sharing same language for certain words. Previously I only knew some words they were sharing, e.g baskom (water bucket), knalpot (muffler), and pispot (pee bucket). After I went there, I know some more words like zegel (stamp), spoor (train platform), loket (counter), gratis (free), kantoor (office), etc. Amazing, isn't it? You don't think it's amazing? It's just normal??? I think some funny Indonesian/Javanese words could have been Dutch too, something like keteg (armpit) or phekog (stupid) or endog (egg). Hey, who could ever think that 'spoor' (in Indonesian: sepur) is Dutch?? I always make a joke of the words 'nunggang sepur' (riding a train) as it sounds so kampung. You will never know that 'nunggang' could have been Dutch too! My late grandma used to say "Holland spreken", I thought she wanted to say "Holland spoken" in her Javanese accent. But I was wrong! She knew Dutch! Don't ever undervalue Javanese, this is my conclusion.

3. I used to eat bread with butter and chocolate beads for breakfast at home. My mom made it for me. I never knew that it was originally from Holland! Those chocolate beads are very rare to get, not every country has those.

4. Holland loves orange so so so much! I mean, not the orange as a fruit. It's orange, a color. I love orange color too! *So?* I'm Indonesian and I love orange, can you see the connection? I also just heard that carrot was originally not in orange color, it should be in green or white or pink or whatever. Those Dutch people changed the color to orange! Can you believe it? No? Ok then.

5. And the last one... and the last one... let me think.. let me think.. ohh yes! Holland is popular with its wooden shoes. Indonesian/Javanese also has its traditional wooden shoes although the design is different, this Indonesian wooden shoe is called 'klompen' or 'thekleg'. Hmmm.. these funny words might be brought from Dutch too.

Diary, I've arrived office. I came too early today, I didn't need to run. The office was still dark, so I was the one who turned on all the lights! I was the earliest today! *What time did you arrive office?* It was around 9.19am. *And you were the earliest???!!* I'm feeling great today!

Time to get back to work now..
See you again, diary..

-Abbie-

Feeling Down

Sunday, 3 May 09, 1.00pm at home

Hi again diary,
I wanted to make this post together with my previous post but I guess it doesn't feel right with my smiling pictures with the flowers since I'm feeling so sad now.

Diary, I actually have lots of interesting stories that I wanted to tell you about my journey in Amsterdam but I have no mood to tell you right now. My grandma is still sick in the hospital. Her operation is always delayed and delayed and delayed for more than 5x due to her weak condition. This morning I was so so so sad thinking about her. I always believe that everything happens for a reason, for a GOOD reason. Her always-delayed-operation should also have a good reason. Her doctor said that her living chance after having an operation is just 50%, not even 51%. God, please give her another chance of having a NEW life.. Miracles can happen when we believe, right? This is my will. This is my prayer. This is my wish. This is my desire. On the other hand, I exactly know that YOU know the best of all.. let YOUR will be done, not my will.. but, if possible, can YOUR will be the same as my will, God?

The Swine flu has been a hot topic every where in the world now. I was kind of scared of shaking hands with strangers when I was in Netherlands too, but that was part of my job since I was in the exhibition and I needed to meet lots of people. After I came back to HK, everyone here seems that they been ready for this virus. Many people in the service industry are now wearing masks, they keep cleaning and cleaning everything in the public area to prevent the virus. I am also now starting to keep myself clean *by taking shower more regularly now?* Yes! But more importantly, by believing that HE always protects me, and HE always protects you too! Diseases are always there but we will be protected, that's promised!

-Abbie-

Keukenhof, Amsterdam

Sunday, 3 May 09, 11.51am

Hello diary,
I just came back from Amsterdam 2 days ago. Again, it was a tiring trip. My seat on the plane was not upgraded to business class although I did try many tricks to get it upgraded. Well, on the way back from Paris to HK, I actually got my seat upgraded for free! That's why I tried the same method again by checking-in late and dressing up neatly and professionally. But, I was not successful this time. It's ok, there is one thing that I will not regret from this trip. I'm glad that I have chance to visit Keukenhof, the biggest tulip park in the world, in Amsterdam! The timing is so perfect, the tulips were blooming so beautifully. It's a rare chance to have come to Amsterdam at this right time! Here I put some pictures of the amazing tulips.




Fyi, I did not bring my tripod, and I was shy to ask my friend to take picture for me. I also did not dare to ask strangers. So, don't ask me how I managed to take those pictures.

-Abbie-

Living below the Cloud

Saturday, 25 Apr 09, 4.51pm at home

Hi again diary,
Now the sun is shining. Yes, and I finally did my laundry, no more excuse. Here I took another picture for you when I happened to go into my bedroom and I saw them... doing this...

-Abbie-

Living above the Cloud

Saturday, 25 Apr 09, 11.23am at home

Hellow diary,
I woke up this morning under a very dark sky. I went down from my apartment to buy breakfast. It was not raining but I sensed that it would rain so heavily today so I did not do my laundry today. 30 minutes after I finished my breakfast, the sky was much darker than before! I saw very dark black cloud hanging outside, so near, so close, till I could see it, till I could feel it on my hand. I felt like living on the sky. Living above the cloud. A city above the cloud!

Here I took some pictures of the view outside from my bedroom and from my balcony. You can hardly see what's outside, right?

My two teddy bears were so amazed seeing nothing from my bedroom's window!

I was so amazed seeing nothing from my balcony, that's why I took this picture!

Now, the dark cloud has slowly vanished. The sky has been slowly cleared up. The sun has slowly been shining brightly. I've gotten my normal Saturday back and the question now is; should I do my weekly laundry then?

-Abbie-

The HK Typhoon

Tuesday, 21 Apr 09, 10.28pm at home

Hi again, my diary..
I just had my shower and dinner. Today's dinner is pineapple rice without the pineapple and not-so-green curry seafood mixed with chicken, potatoes, and some broccoli. I tried to make thai food but ehmm... there is always room for improvement, right? I actually bought the pineapple in a can but I forgot to buy the can opener, that makes my pineapple rice without the pineapple. It sounds like ice tea without ice, or sate lontong without lontong. And about my not-so-green curry, it's because I put too much water in it and I did not want to waste my green curry paste so I just added coconut milk and salt and hoped that it would turn more green but it did not. Since there's so much soup, I needed to put more stuff inside so I put the potatoes and broccoli in. And yes, I know! Seafood can't get along well with chicken. It's ok, at least my hubby said "Wow, it tastes like sayur lodeh that my mum usually cooks!" Can I take this as a compliment?

Diary, the wind is blowing very strong outside. I'm not sure if this is already typhoon no 8? Or if it will turn to no 8 tomorrow? According to my employment agreement, if the typhoon level reaches no 8, we are allowed not to come to work and this kind of thing usually happens quite several times in a year. Now the problem is, how can I measure the level of the typhoon? I don't want to get stupidly stuck somewhere on the way to my office while all my colleagues are still sleeping tightly and soundly at home, enjoying extra holiday because of the typhoon. I also don't want to be the only one who is still sleeping tightly and soundly while all my colleagues already start working. So I asked my colleague and he answered with something very logical "Watch the weather forecast the night before and see if the forecaster says that the typhoon will reach no 8 tomorrow. In the morning before leaving for work, watch the news again to make sure. Usually the newspaper tells us too. The level of typhoon can be measured by colors too; yellow, red, black......" He also explained to me how the wind moves from south to north, or east to west? Whatever. He explained to me very clearly and technically but the problem now is; I dont understand what the forecaster or the newspaper says in Cantonese. Should I just assume it by looking at the color that my colleague mentioned? I'm not sure if he was referring to the color of the sky? Let's see if my guess will be correct.

Time to sleep again, diary..
The wind is still blowing so strongly. But, the living still must sleep.

-Abbie-

p.s You should be able to guess who that colleague is ^^

About My Grandma

Tuesday, 21 Apr 09, 8.40am on the bus

Hi again diary,
Lately I have been thinking a lot for my grandma. She is still in hospital until today and her condition seems getting worse and worse. My mum said that my grandma is very thin and weak now. She is the only grandma I still have. Her disease is very complicated perhaps because she is already old, around 85 years old, so some of the organs are not functioning well anymore. Honestly, I am not very close to her since she lives at different city and she doesn't talk much. Whenever I am in Indonesia for holiday, I always make some time to visit her but I never stay overnight at her house. I only visited her for few hours and whenever I was about to leave her, the same question that she always asked me "When are you going to sleep here? Please stay here with me for few days", but the way she asked me was with smile and did not sound so serious. So, I also always replied her the same answer like a template answer "Next time ya". Again she replied me with the same question "When is that next time?".

Now I am writing it here, this really makes me sad! I never keep my promise, not even once! She is now in hospital and is having operation on 29 Apr. We did not agree on having operation for her because her condition was too weak, we have been waiting for her to get better so she can have a surgery. However, her condition is not getting better, it's getting worse till she is cornered to have a mandatory operation now.

The only good news that I received about my grandma was; she was baptized last Saturday! Now she believes in Jesus, now she loves Jesus, now she believes that Jesus will take away her pains and bring her to the place where Jesus lives after this world. I really pray that her operation on 29 Apr will be done successfully. I really pray that she will be given a chance to have longer life so that she can experience a life after she follows Christ. I also really pray that I will be given a chance to stay with her and take care of her, just once will do. I feel like going back to Indo now but I can't! Exactly on that operation day, I will be in Amsterdam for another business trip. I am not excited for this trip at all!

Diary, please help me pray for her..

-Abbie-

It's Gonna be My Real Little Diary

Friday, 17 Apr 09, 8.50am on the bus

Morning my super-little diary,
I'm on the bus on the way to office now. This is my first time writing diary using my iPhone. My diary now looks super cute and super little from my iPhone. Now I really feel like writing a real diary, not a blog post! You know what, I used to admire those people in movie who can take note every detail of every event on a small book and bring that small book and pen in their pockets wherever they go. *Are you admiring detectives??* No! those people who write diary on the park, on the bus, in toilet, wherever they find there is something interesting! Isn't that cool? Now I have this small diary that I can bring wherever I go. From now on, I wanna write more detail about my life, about what I do, and about anything that I see as interesting. Each post may be much shorter than my usual post, but I really wanna try it. Lets see if I can do it regularly.

Diary, I am reaching office soon.
Bye bye my cute little diary..

-Abbie-

Nothing

Wednesday, 15 Apr 09, 10.18pm at home

Dear my lil diary,
I have not taken my shower yet. This is the real me. Every night after I go back from work, I have dinner, clean up the dining table and the dishes, and just play Internet till my husband shouts at me to take shower. Ron is now busy watching movie using his own laptop, so he doesn't really pay attention to my smell me. Soon he will finish his movie, so I better hurry up writing this diary.

Actually...
There is nothing special to report this week.

That's all I need to write here.
Good night, diary..

-Abbie-