Merry Christmas 2013!

Just wishing you a beautiful and blessed Christmas...hope that those who are feeling lonely and hurting will find some comfort and love this Christmas season...

Enjoy these songs!


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ABBA's Greatest Hits

After my Dad bought a second-hand car from his sister and he started taking us to our respective schools, we'd always listen to the tape playing ABBA's Greatest Hits over and over again. In the mornings we'd first go to my brother's High School because it was farther away than mine. Back then Bandung wasn't as crowded as nowadays. Being a sleepyhead that I am, I'd always close my eyes in the car until I got to school, because I'm just NOT a morning person ha ha ha...

My brother was supposedly getting a motorcycle and a motorcycle's driver's license at the age of 15, but due to the unforeseen motorcycle accident happened to my cousin prior to his 21th birthday that led to his instant death, my parents decided to wait it up until he was 17 years old before they gave him a motorcycle. Due to the horror of my cousin's death, my brother didn't even complain about my parents' decision. RIP, my beloved cousin!!! 

Anyway, these days whenever I hear ABBA's songs, my mind always turned back to that period of time. I remember the first time my Dad took us to schools by car, he was still so nervous that on a stretch of road (actually there was a traffic light and the light was red) that was a bit uphill, the car went down a little so he had to pull up the hand brake. I got a bit nervous myself, but thankfully the car behind us was farther away so that nothing bad happened.

My Dad loved singing. Even though he never sang while driving the car, he'd sing his heart out at home, changing the lyrics as he goes (chuckle). He was never out of tune, though. :-D

Tonight I'm walking down memory lane while listening to ABBA's songs on youtube...here's for you, Dad!!! You'd have turned 70 years old in a few weeks. THANKS for having been my Dad...You are MISSED!!!!!

"I Am Worth Loving Too" Challenge

Was visiting Crow's Feet yesterday when I found this lovely challenge, so today I browsed through my long list of beautiful songs in youtube in order to find at least 10 songs he he he...Here's the aim of the meme from Infinite Sadness or Hope?:

“Get a pen and paper (or pull up a blank word file on your computer) and compile a lit of songs which remind you how loved you are and/or remind you that you are worth loving.

 

They should be songs that mean something to you and my advice is to aim for about 10-12 songs.

 

Once you have written your list or lists set about finding and obtaining those songs.

 

Once you have them all, burn yourself a CD or set up a playlist on your music player, that you can use any time you are feeling down or lacking in self-worth and need some encouragement.

 

And how about sharing the fact that you have taken up this challenge on your blog and sharing your list with others.  You can even share why certain songs mean so much to you.  Oh and feel free to link back here so that I can check out your songs too.”

OK, here goes. To make it easier for you to listen to the songs, I'm linking each song title to its youtube video. :-D

These first two songs were my anchors that held me up while I was in my IF hell and I always cried like crazy when listening to these songs during those darkest infertility moments, but afterwards I always felt better. :-D

1. I Will Lift My Eyes - Bebo Norman

2. Bring The Rain - Mercy Me

3. Like a Satellite - Thunder

This third song is a special song for me, 'coz it was one of the songs that hubby sent me while we were on a long-distance relationship. The lyrics are really suitable with our situation at that time, so it sort of becomes our unofficial love song ha ha ha...

4. I Knew I Loved You - Savage Garden

When I first heard this fourth song, I also thought it was so suitable with my love story with hubby. I knew I loved him before I met him and vice versa. Here's a brief recap of our relationship for those who don't know: On Trust and Relationship.

"I knew I loved you before I met you
I think I dreamed you into life
I knew I loved you before I met you
I have been waiting all my life..."

5. Crash 'n Burn - Savage Garden

Another Savage Garden song ha ha...These lyrics really uplift me (and I REALLY love the sign language at the end of the video clip):

"When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone"

6. Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars

No need for more words, eh? The title says it all ha ha...

7. Home - Michael Buble

This song was my comfort during the time when hubby and I separated for around 4 months after our wedding and honeymoon 'coz I had to deal with paperwork before I finally got my residence permit. It was HELLISH to be apart after such a lovely wedding and honeymoon and we cried a lot during the separation...

"May be surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I’m just too far from where you are
I wanna come home..."

I'd listen to the song and cry my heart out while singing along he he he...

8. Love in a Peaceful World - Level 42

I've always loved this song and again I think the title says it all, no?

"Ego and pride the great divide
I was but I'm not crazy now
don't multiply the tears we cry
I want love in a peaceful world"

9. You Were There - Southern Sons

This song always makes me feel mushy mushy inside.

"But you were there, and you were
everything I'd never seen.
You woke me up from this long and endless sleep.
And I was alone.
I opened my eyes and you were there."

10. Broken - Steven Curtis Chapman

When I feel world weary and jaded, I always listen to this song and I feel instantly better. :-D

11. Beautiful In My Eyes - Joshua Kadison

This one is an additional song I found while browsing through the songs from Infinite Sadness or Hope's list. I've always loved this song, but I forgot all about it. It's a lovely song about growing old together and true love (again ha ha ha...). So I just have to add this one 'coz I felt bliss while listening to it. :-D

3BT: Random Days

1. I almost dropped a doughnut while taking it out of the bag. R2 and I were sitting in the kitchen at that time, about to drink coffee. I saw R2 smiling after I almost dropped the doughnut. 

Me: "Hey, don't smile 'coz I almost dropped the doughnut!"
R2: "I'm not smiling 'coz of that. I'm smiling 'coz I'm happy. After all, I have you!"
Me: (awwwwwwing inside) "Unfair! That's an unexpected response!" (smile)

2. Made some banana-chocolate pastries for my coworkers which became a hit (and I could share with them how easy to make it, too). Glad to know they liked 'em! :-D

Recipe: a box of frozen pastry (mine has 5 sheets of frozen pastries), some bananas, and some chocolate. Let the frozen pastry out in warm temperature until it's soft, then cut them into thin strips (around 2.5 cm wide) then cut a banana in half. Wrap the half banana with the pastry strip diagonally until it's all covered. Do it until you're out of pastry and bananas. Bake them in the oven until they're golden brown. Let them cool off for a while. Then melt some chocolate (I prefer dark chocolate around 200 grams) with a little butter and smear it on top of the pastries. All done! :-D Result: 10 banana-chocolate pastries.

3. A customer saying nice stuff to me that made my eyes wet. BLESS YOU, each and every single one of you! I'm REALLY blessed by your words!


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4. Talking to Mom on Skype after she got back from Taiwan with her friend. Glad to know she had fun and that she only felt a little unwell once during a bus trip but after taking some anti motion sickness pill, she felt much better.

5. The very slow translating project I'm doing for a customer is nearing its end. Only about 20 pages left, though I still have the big task of editing my translation, but it's always nice to know that a project is almost ending. :-D It feels like almost completing a marathon (not that I've ever been in one, though).

6. Being able to enjoy Winter Wonderland scenery this month already. Even though the snow has mostly melted now, but it was such a treat!

7. Start listening to Christmas songs already....HO HO HO HO HOOOHHHH...

3BT: Random Days

1. Enlightenment. The other day I felt something that bothered me and I found the answer(s) soon enough. Felt totally relieved!

2. Hubby didn't have to go to another town in the middle of the night (cancelled job task).

3. Finding some books that resonate so much with what I've been thinking/feeling for the past year or so. I feel like nodding and nodding and nodding when reading them. And they give me more reflective passages, too! It's AWESOME to feel understood by someone you've never even met! :-D

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4. Genuine smiles from customers.

5. A little girl who's barely able to talk calling me, "Täti" (Auntie) a few times when the mother had finished paying and the mother laughed in glee.

6. My Mom's health, which was problematic a while back, is now improving slowly but surely.

7. Listening to a certain addictive song over and over and over again. *GRIN*

8. Soon it'll be our 5th wedding anniversary and the surprise gift that I've ordered arrived today. I've packed it and put it right on his computer desk and I can't wait for him to come home. I LOVE teasing him like this!!!! :-D I'll let him choose between opening it today or later on November 3rd hi hi hi...



9. Craving for the same food at the exact same moment as R2. :-D

10. The light therapy lamp has really helped me in dealing with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) 'coz for the past few days, I've felt that SAD has struck me full-force again.

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11. Going to visit a friend whom I haven't met in a few months. YAAAAYYYY!!! Girl talk!!! :-D

Reflection: The World I Knew

Most of this post was written last Friday:

I've been listening to some old Indonesian songs that I loved tonight. I have this eerie feeling of being transported back in time and space...I could almost smell the things I used to smell there and for a second I wasn't really in Finland at all. A whole different world enveloped me for that split second and it was quite an experience. The smells, the culture, the atmosphere, the custom...everything...and I feel like a different person now than the me back then. Not only 'coz of the time difference, but also 'coz I've been living in a whole different country and I've been absorbing different customs and culture and smells inside my head.

My home country is a strange country for me now. There have been so many changes happening there that I don't know. New buildings are built, new shops are opened, some old shops are closed, some old buildings have been torn down, political situations have changed, some people look older, some kids have grown so much in the past few years, some people have died, some babies have been born, some people have gotten married, some people have separated, etc. There are so many other little things that create the web of life that have escaped me.

The world I knew back then no longer existed. I guess I've known about this all along, but this time it just hit me with a bigger force than before...this wave of realization...what an experience!

Image taken from here

3BT: Saturday, December 8th, 2007

1. Blueberry porridge made by my mother-in-law. YUM YUM and healthy too!!! ;-D

2. Mother-in-law caressed my hair and said, "Oh, so long and thick..." It was the first time she had ever done it. I guess she must've been curious about Asian hair, just as I was curious about how it felt like to touch blonde hair he he he he...

3. Hearing my hubby's laughter and giggle and his crazy songs and joking about his songs and his "albums". (Yes, sometimes he creates crazy songs, esp. in sauna HA HA HA HA HA HA)

4. Sauna, sauna, saunaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! I can NEVER get enough of sauna, especially in winter HUE HE HE HE HE HE HE...

5. Getting a chance to make another snowmannnnnnnnnnnnn. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! I LOVED the exercise, too! *wink wink*

6. Watching my mother-in-law helping her hubby put on a long-sleeved shirt and buttoning it up and watching my father-in-law being humble enough to let his wife do such a thing. Then they talked about something and laughed together. Mmmm...such a loving atmosphere!!!