this blog officially got its 4000th hit yesterday…i’m very sorry if i didn’t update it regularly, but i’ll try to write again…

maybe i’ll try to write something from movies i watch again, because the statistics shown that the most popular post is the Bridge to Terabithia…well, actually i got a lot of things from the movies i watch, but i was too lazy to write something…hahaha…but yeah, i’ll try…

thanks to all of the visitors and keep enjoying my blog…God bless!!

anyone of you know that you are special??you are unique, no one else like you in the whole world…even for twins, thay may look similar outside, but they can’t be totally the same, especially inside of them…yes, God is awesome, He created everyone of us, every people in this world, since the beginning of the earth until now, different…and God has a special reasons for that, just like a product designer who has a lot of reasons why he creates a product as it is…

just like Nokia, for example, in one time of product launching, they may launch several types at once, some maybe have similar looks, but all different, each of them has a special purpose to be made like that…maybe for some people the low-end one is good enough (i remember one of my friend who still loved his old Nokia 8250 even there were a lot of much better ones), but for other people, the high-end is better…but in the other hand, some people may think bad of the others…so it’s just a different perspective on what is good and what is not…but i’m sure in a creator’s perspective, what he created is good…

the same goes with us human…God created us good, perfect…some people may have big bodies, but some are small…some have round face, some with long face…some have white skin, some have darker skin…so many differences, but all of us are good in God’s perspective…

but there comes the devil that tries to make some standards of good and bad for us…he makes us have a thinking to be in those standards, if we don’t have the “good” standards, then we are bad…then we started to think bad of ourselves, we have no more confidence in ourselves, and we tried so hard to become someone “better” even it may hurt ourselves…

i have a friend here, a girl, who is quite good looking i think, and i think a lot of people likes her…but she always says that she’s fat and ugly, because of her past when people around her built those thinkings to her…she always tries to have a diet although her body is ideal enough, and she thinks that no good man will like her because she says she’s ugly…sometimes we are just trapped into similar kind of thinking like this…

don’t let our selves being deceived by the devil all the time, and the only way to get out from it is just see ourselves from God’s perspective…don’t listen to what people says about us, especially when it’s a bad thing, but listen only to what God says…and stop also making standards to people, saying bad things about them…believe me, every one of us, including YOU, are precious in His eyes…

i just wrote a new blog about my spiritual life journal, please visit: http://itsjustlight.wordpress.com/

almost half a year since my last post, and for some reasons i think i will try to write again here…

huff…actually i don’t have any topics to write here right now, but i just feel like writing…maybe because i’m not in a very good mood today *since yesterday to be exact* because of several things…it’s like a lot of things is in my head and it’s almost full, but i don’t know where to put it out…so here i am ended up writing here…

recently i think God is trying to process me again and again…i’m not really sure what He is up to, but things coming are quite bothering me, and i don’t think i can endure this alone…yeah, but i have to get through this…I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!!

lately, the new-type influenza (新型インフルエンザ as they call it in japan, or swine-flu) has been a big issue here.  since the first time they found an infected person, they started to put a huge attention there. the government (or the health center) gave announcements for us to wash our hands and gargle regularly, and wear masks if we’re going to public places. well, the first ones don’t matter for me. i’m already used to it, but for wearing mask, it’s still kinda weird for me. and after they discovered that it has spread, like in kobe and osaka, they got more and more cautious. most schools and companies around that area is closed for a while to prevent it spreading to more people…

and a few days ago, the infection was found near tokyo, and people here were starting to get cautious also. although they haven’t closed public places (tokyo still seems to be very busy every day), but masks are sold out in every store.  i see most people wearing mask everywhere, even my friend showed me a picture in a newspaper about welcoming girls in airport wearing masks (seems funny. imagine it by yourself ^^)

at first i don’t really care about it. but everyone keeps fussing about it. somehow i was also starting to get a little bit worried. but God keeps reminding me to keep my faith, that He’ll keep me safe. then three days ago He told me about Matthew 8. i read it but just found the clear meaning of it when i rethought about that this morning.

this chapter tells about Jesus making a lot of miracles. He healed the sick, cast out the devils, and calm the storm. it shows us how great He is. He is in control of everything in the world. He can do anything. but in this chapter, everyone asked Jesus first and then He did what they wanted Him to do. it shows about their faith. they knew Jesus can do it, that’s why they asked for it..

we can see the comparison how Jesus responded to our request depending on our faith. in a part of this chapter, a centurion came to Him and asked Him to heal his servant but he knew that Jesus can do it right away, no need to come to his house (verse 5-13), and Jesus said that he has a great faith. in the other hand, written in another part, while He and His disciple were in a boat and a storm came, they asked Him for help but they also said that they will perish (verse 23-27) and Jesus said like this, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”…okay, we face a problem and we seek God for help, that’s good (instead of looking help from men), but that’s not enough. God wants us to come to Him full of faith, full of consciousness that He is able to do everything, without any doubt at all…another version of the storm story, the one in the book of Luke, even has a nice words on verse 25 (Message version): “Why can’t you trust me?”

yeah, i don’t need to worry about anything, not even about that swine-flu. of course i still need to keep aware of my health, but it doesn’t mean that i have to be ‘paranoid’ of it. i am learning to have more faith, to put my trust in Him, that I will be kept safe in His hand. and so are you…as long as you trust your life to Him…

last saturday i went to yoyogi koen to see a thai festival because my classmate (a thai) worked part-time there…seeing a lot of durians there made me want to eat them, but unfortunately it’s too expensive, compared to the price in indonesia…i also saw a booth selling rambutan…and then some things came to my thought…

the word ‘durian’ and ‘rambutan’ come from indonesian vocabulary (or is it malay?)…’duri’ means ’spike’, and ‘rambut’ means ‘hair’, so they mean ’spiky’ and ‘hairy’, just as their physical appearance…

so where do they actually come from??in know that thai’s durian is famous, also in indonesia, i like the monthong durian, it’s expensive though (still not as expensive as it is here ^^), and i also heard that in other countries there are also durian and rambutan (my friend from srilanka told me so)…

there was also a sepak takraw exhibition and booth in the festival, and i also wondered…’takraw’ is thai language i think, but ’sepak’ means ‘kick’ in indonesian…so i just wondered, if takraw is from thailand, then why it’s more well-known as ’sepak takraw’, a mixture of words of indonesian and thai…

so what do you think??

1. most Japanese people can’t speak English!! and everything here is in Japanese…so it’s hard to do things if you don’t understand Japanese…

2. although some people may be able to speak English, their pronunciation is very bad, so it’s still ununderstandable…

3. a lot of people do suicide by letting themselves hit by train, and that makes the train late (well, I’ve never been affected so much, but my friends have ^^)

4. Japanese people are too shy that makes them kinda introvert, and when they want to ask for something they don’t look us in the eyes (me and my friends experienced it today…that’s impolite for Indonesian, right?)

5. the food is fine, but not as tasteful as Indonesian food…

6. I can’t download torrent from my dorm or campus!! (and my cousin said that his friend had an intel come to his house because he downloaded lots of movies and games ^^)

7. the cinema is expensive, and new movies show late here, and most of them are in japanese >___<

8.  well, actually everything is expensive here…foods are expensive…a bowl of ramen, costs about 400 yen (a cheap one)…you can get more than 5 bowls of noodles in Indonesia…books are also expensive…the Japanese language book that I was using, which only cost less than Rp.40000 (about 400 yen), is also published and sold here with a price of 2000 yen (5 times higher!!)

9. everyone here is so workaholic…they can work until late night…even my friend in my class said that the soonest her husband come home is at 11 pm…in the lab also the students usually go home after 7 or 8 pm…seems like they can’t enjoy their life…

10. being able to understand the language is not enough…you also have to learn kanji (which I don’t like most, because I’m not good at memorizing) to read lots of things around…

1. high-speed internet connection (can reach about 10 Mbps download speed – measured by speedtest.net)

2. almost everything is high-tech and automated…one new thing I just knew about here is the automatic lamp…whenever there’s no one in a room for some period of time, the lamp turns off by itself, and as someone is detected entering the room, it turns itself on…looks like Indonesia’s technologies have been left several years behind…

3. pedestrians are highly appreciated…whenever a pedestrian crossing the street, cars will stop, because the driver will get a very high penalty if his/her vehicle hits a pedestrian…so contrast with Indonesia…I’ve ever had an experience where I crossed the street in a zebra cross and an angkot almost hit me >___<

4. it’s fast and easy to go to lots of places by train…

5. I got a cell phone with just 0 yen (980 yen actually because I still had to buy the charger)…and actually I can get an iPhone if I want to, but I tried it and it’s not user-friendly for typing so I decided not to take it ^^

6. Softbank cell phone provider gives unlimited free call service from 1 AM to 9 PM to another Softbank carrier (what if an Indonesian provider gave this service? ^^)

7. the bureaucracy is simple here, oppositely with Indonesia which adopts the “if-it-can-be-done-difficultly-why-does-it-have-to-be-simple” system ^^

8.  people can queue here in order…no matter how long the line is, but they can wait patiently, not like in Indonesia ^^

9. a lot of interesting place here, to play or just for sightseeing…

10. you can pay for lot of things (bills, etc) just at a convenience store…

here I am now, in a big famous city named Tokyo, where everything is so high-tech, everything moves so fast, feels like there’s no time to be relaxing…

a long story until I can get here, and it’s all just by His grace…and I can still feel His grace is upon me right now ever since I stepped my feet on this whole new world…

it’s been almost a month, I have seen and learned a lot of new things here, met new people, faced new problems, and yet felt His new grace every day…

I’m still adapting until now, trying to find a place, a community, where I can ‘grow’ here…sometimes I feel lonely, missing my lovely family and friends in Bandung, wanna share a lot of things with them but unfortunately they seem to be busy these days or maybe for some other reasons they can’t…but somehow I don’t lose my joy at all, I can still enjoy it…

actually I don’t know what to write here…feels like I wanna share a lot of things but the words just don’t come out…but the point is I just wanna thank Him for His grace…

“…My grace is enough; it’s all you need…” (1 Cor 12:9 – MSG)

last week, i had a trip to Ujung Genteng beach…i’ve been wanting to go there since a long time ago, and when my friends told me that they wanted to go there on friday last week, i wanted to come along, but unfortunately i had an event to attend the following saturday so i couldn’t…but on thursday, i got a news that the event was canceled, and that meant i was free to go…and there i went…felt like it’s a God’s gift for me…thanks God…
i just knew that we’re going backpacking…never done it before…felt kinda nervous but also excited…
8 of us departed from bandung (leuwipanjang terminal) taking a bus to sukabumi, moved to lembur situ terminal in sukabumi, and took an elf (not elf as in fantasy tales ^^) to a small town named surade…we arrived there at about 2.30 in the morning after 3 hours of crazy ride from lembur situ…we took a rest at a mosque there because we have to wait till the morning to continue our journey…
we took a move at about 6.30 to Curug Cikaso…we thought that it’s in the same direction as Ujung Genteng, but it isn’t…but it didn’t matter…
it took about half an hour to Cikaso village…there’s two ways to reach the waterfall, crossing the river by boat or walking through the ricefield…we chose the second way…and our efforts were paid off seeing the waterfall…so AWESOME!!

after we had so much fun there, we continued our trip to Ujung Genteng beach and after we got an inn, we had lunch and all of us took some rest…not much to do for the rest of the day, we just walked down the beach, took some pictures, finding a dead little turtle, etc…
the next day, we played on the beach in the morning and found many sea creatures (including snakes)…at noon we visited the fish market and bought some fish for lunch…roasted fish!!yummy!!

in the afternoon, we walked to Pangumbahan beach, where a turtle conservatory placed…it took about 1,5 hours…there we built a tent and waited until night when the turtles come to the beach to lay eggs…finally we can see the turtle at about 9pm…

at 4 in the morning we got back to Ujung Genteng, packed our belongings, and end our journey back to bandung…
it was fun, my first time backpacking and camping…although it was very tiring but it’s a great experience for me…and i’m still amazed with the waterfall (curug cikaso) ^^
btw, total money spent: about Rp.250k for 3 days and 2 nights (cheap eh??)