Getting A Little Bit ‘Ecchi’

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I think most of us realize how communicating using two different languages sometimes can result in misunderstanding. Well, I’ll tell one of the problems that can arise between Japanese and Indonesian this time (if you think that this is related to the word ‘ring’: it’s not that one!).

Like perhaps I’ve already told you a hundred times before, I often receive an invitation related to the word “eat” (he he he…) from my friends in Japan. This time Ali and Kiki, friends from Korea, invited me and several other people from Hippo for a dinner party at their home. The dinner was great (I quickly realized that I can live happily ever after in Korea if it’s only a matter of food :-), well, that’s probably simply because Kiki can cook very well... ), and while eating, we talked about lots of things.

Since people from Hippo always like to learn languages, they didn’t forget to ask me to teach them some Indonesian words. All was going well, until they asked me about the Indonesian word for “study”.

Well, the Indonesian word for study is ‘belajar’. However, when it’s spelled, it sounds like brajaru for Japanese (they don’t have the character for L in their kana), and in Japanese, barajaru means (sorry!) bra (actually, it came from the word brassiere). Most of us laugh after knowing the fact, and although I was worried that the dinner would turn a little bit awkward after that, it wasn’t (thanks to the openness of most Japanese to such a thing). That “study” thing even make the party become more lively (later Ali even wondered whether the word for not studying in Indonesian would be no*** (you guess those three stars yourself :-) ), but Ani quickly cut him by menacingly saying「アワン君に何を教えてるの！」(And what are you trying to tell Awan-kun!) - so the conversation was quickly switched into other topics...

So, one important advice: be careful with what you’re saying...

* If you don’t know the meaning of Ecchi, it’s actually means ‘H’ in Japan, and ‘H’ is more or less equal to ‘x-rated’ in English. If you still don’t know what it’s meant by it, you better consult your encyclopedia, because I don’t want my blog to be banned for underage :-).

When There’s Someone That Care More Than You Do...

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There were several moments in my life when I just let go everything and just followed where the destiny took me. I’m not saying that I gave up and quit the fight. I still kept on fighting, but I did it without any passion at all. I was just feeling empty at those times, and thinking that anything that might come surely would be enough for me. (And one of those let go’s landed me here in Japan. I’m not complaining at all, I’m more than happy that I can be here, and it’s not just a lip service...).

And recently the same kind of feeling came again. With about 6 months left, I was still undecided about where to go after finishing my master. I was thinking that I just do what I used to do: do everything properly, not more and not less, and just take anything that will come from it

Anyway, something that happened yesterday changed my vision a bit. One of my junior gave me a luck charm, and she also wished me the best for my doctoral study plan. Well, it was just a simple thing (and I also don’t believe in charm since my religion forbid it), but the fact that someone cared about my future more than me myself really got in me. I think I’ll change the way I think a bit and try to consider about what I’m gonna do more seriously. Well, I’m not trying to say that I’ve already got in my mind what I fancy to do after graduation; I am still undecided about it, but now I’ll try all the chances that I shall come across with all my passion. I’m not trying to say that I’ll only seriously think about the future; I’ll try to take every single chance to laugh and have fun, since it is pointless to do something if I couldn’t enjoy it.

And about the charm, I think I’ll keep it. It’s not that I believe about the power that it has. I’ll keep it because it will remind me that there’s someone around me (and I also believe there’re several others out there) that cares about my future more than I do, and it should help me be more grateful for all the gifts that God has blessed on me...

The Things That Will Happen If You Borrow the Car of A Friend of A Friend of A Girlfriend of Your Friend

My mother used to make us birthday cake on our birthday, but ever since I went to university, I never had it anymore (because I never home on my birthday - and birthday with my friends always enough only with pizza). However, this year Seada made me one (my first in 10 years) and it really brought back the memories of old days...
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There was indeed something special that happened on my birthday this year, and some of my friends had asked me ‘to disclose’ it in details. I’d like to do that, however, for the sake of protecting the innocent (singular - without ‘s’ to be exact :-) ), with much regret I have to refuse the request :-). Yet, to indemnify the disgruntlement that it may cause, (Why do I sound so formal? Anyway all I want to say is: To make up if you’re feeling upset with me, ...) I’ll write something that happened on my other birthday (Lucky me, there’s almost always something unique or strange that happens on my birthday, which worth to remember).

It was in 2001. Ari had planned to celebrate Bonggo’s, Lisya’s, and my birthday at muara karang (MK) (additional fact: three of us were born on the same day, only differed by hours). I was planning to ask Irma too, but because I’m a very shy type of person (okay, I can hear you tripped off your chair and start to throw up, but I’m indeed a shy boy :-) ), and that we were still just friends at that time (so I didn’t know for sure whether she would be fancy to go or not), I put off asking her until the D-day. I also didn’t tell the others about my intention, and planned to tell them later when I had already got the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer (to be exact: I would only tell them if I got a ‘yes’ answer :-) ).

The MK plan was on the night, and I went to Irma’s place in the afternoon (she knew that it was my birthday and I had told her that I would come). To make it short, she gave me present and wished me a happy birthday. We then went out, originally for dining, but since it was too early to eat, we went to Gramedia (I think Ari would say “You two went dating in bookstore?” when he knew about it :-) ). The sky had turned deep grey by the time our stomachs screamed starving, and Irma said that it might be better to go back to her place and tried to find something to eat nearby. So, we went back.

It was not long when the drop of water started to fall, and soon it was raining cats and dogs. By the time we reached her place, it was almost impossible to get out without getting wet, even with an umbrella. It was then when the lady that owns the home that Irma rented came and said that she worried about the roof of the house. There was some problem with it before, and she worried that water had sipped inside the house through it. Irma went to her room (it was in the 2nd floor), and found that almost everything had turned wet.

We spent the next half an hour to clean the room. She said sorry countless of time and said that it was no fun way to spend a birthday. But anyway, it was fun for me. Well, at least because of that I came to know that she had a pokemon poster in her room (she picked the poster merely because she like the color) and that she had our picture on top of one short cupboard (that made me know that it wasn’t one way love back there :-) ).

Ari called not long after we finished cleaning the room, and I realized that I had not asked her about the MK plan at all. Thus, I told Ari to hold on a sec and quickly asked her. Like I had already said, I’m a very shy type of person (I hope you didn’t trip off this time :-) ), but I can asked her quickly that time without any hesitation. (I think that was because I had seen our picture in her room - it made the odds of having her saying ‘yes’ higher :-). Furthermore, the “pokemon effect” also had created a big impact. You can safely guess that someone is fun if she doesn’t mind having pikachu face hanging on her wall :-) ). To my delight (and as you may have guessed), she said that she’d like to, so the next moment I told Ari that I would bring someone with me. He said that ‘twas okay (but I think he hid his laughter that time :-) ), and asked where he could pick us up.

For the rest of the night everything seemed to go smooth for me and Irma (The rain had stopped, and at least we didn’t have to mop somebody’s room again that night :-) ), but unfortunately not with Bonggo. Because Ari’s car was not big enough to bring us all to MK, Bonggo was borrowing the car of a friend of a friend of a girlfriend of his friend (if my memory doesn’t fail me, that was the right order :-) ). Actually everything was going as planned, until he took a prohibited turn in order to save time, and as a result had a police car followed him. Being in state of panic (because he was not driving his own car and it would be very awkward if he had to tell the police that it was the car of a friend of a friend of a girlfriend of his friend that he was driven that night), he ran the car into Ancol (one of the amusement park complex in Jakarta), and luckily the police gave up the chase. Still, he then had to awkwardly respond to our question: ‘Why the hell should he go into Ancol?’

The trip was then going with no big incidence (unless if the fact that Ari (who’s driving with Lisya) mistook the highway could be categorized as incidence). We arrived at MK very late from schedule, but MK is even better if you come late, so we weren’t complaining at all. Furthermore, Bonggo said that with all the things that happen that night, all of us then have a nice story to be told to our kids and grandkids :-).

We returned almost morning (close to 4.30), and I quickly walked Irma to her home. She said that that night was really fun and that she glad she went with us. A little bit out of the story, we started going steady four months later, and even we’ve broken up now, I’ll follow Bonggo’s advice: I won’t cry because it’s over, but I’ll smile because it happened...

And I do smile every time I recall it...

Love Inside Takoyaki: Why a Gift Clothes Feels Warmer When It’s Worn

I didn’t bring much clothes when I came to Japan, but still my baggage felt quite heavy to carry. Besides books, my bag were filled with some gifts from my friends (which actually not essential for my stay in Japan). Yet, I never regret bringing them here, because they constantly remind me that there are some people that care for me, (hopefully) as much as, or even more than I care for them...
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I think you often read something like this before, but I’ll write anyway...

It always feels good to go eating with my lab friends or my home-stay family, since they are much more concerned in any ‘edible objects’ that I eat than me myself. Not only they always try ‘to feed’ me with more high-calorie food (to help me gain more weight :-) ), they also always check first whether the food contain meat or not (I refrain eating meat here in Japan for a reason related to my religion, except it is stated clearly that the meat is okay for me). Like when we bought Takoyaki (たこ焼: baked octopus) on our way back from batting center; they didn’t forget to ask first whether the Takoyaki contain meat or not. The waiter quickly replied that there was no meat there, and that they only used seafood for the ingredients. Feeling safe with the response, we proceeded to buy some, but the waiter halted us by saying that actually they added something else to the food. We started to worry that it was something that I shouldn’t eat, when the waiter told us that ‘that something else’ was aijou (愛情: love :-) ).

We couldn’t help laughing at that time, but by the time we ate it, it did taste a little bit different. Of course it should have been tasted the same as (or at least similar to) any other Takoyaki that I had eaten before. But the notion of “love inside Takoyaki” was enough to change the Takoyaki into something different. Something special (special enough to be mentioned here :-) ).

Well, by now you should have already figured out what are the words that I think would properly answer the question above (i.e. because there’s love inside it). However, it will lead to the next question: does it always feel warmer to wear gift clothes? If you don’t often buy your clothes yourself (like me... :-) ), may be you won’t feel the warmth all the time. It is because you already get used to it and often don’t think much about the fact that somebody gave it to you. Similar to the Takoyaki case: if the waiter didn’t mention about the bonus ‘love’ inside, the Takoyaki wouldn’t taste differently. No matter how much love that they put inside it, your clothes won’t feel warmer if you don’t think about the giver. It is their love to you and your love back to them that synergistically help to make it feels warmer. Without it, the love inside won’t glint, and you won’t feel the esoteric geniality lies inside. (By the way, although I mentioned the word ‘love’ quite a lot of time here, it is not only gift from your lover that I mean. Even sometimes your family or friends can love you to an extent that your lover can’t...).

And of course, clothes is just an example (I picked it up because I received clothes from lots of people :-) ). Any gift from your friends, family, or other people that cares about you is filled with their love. By knowing that they love you and having the same feeling to them, you’ll be able to sense that, however simple the gift is, it indeed something special.

Japanese Lesson in Five Minutes

This is the picture of Sotetsu line, where the Futamatagawa station is located. Sorry for the small picture, but if you're really lucky enough to be able to read it, you would be able to see the Futamatagawa station (it right on the branch of the line) and Kibougaoka station right next to it.
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Last week we had party in my professor home (we have it every year), and on the subway to the party I got additional important word to my Japanese vocabulary (actually it depends on how you define the word ‘important’ :-) ). It was started with Chris and Tang-san showed me one station that we would pass on our way to the party. The station name was futamatagawa (二俣川), and when they reckoned that I didn’t find anything interesting with the name, they asked me whether I knew the meaning of ‘futamata’ (二俣, or sometimes二股).

I tried to consult my dictionary, but their explanation, added by Kim-san and Makii, was able to enlighten me more than any dictionary ever exists in this world :-). Futamata means ‘to have it both ways’, and it is also often used to express the act of having two lovers (and of course this meaning that attracted their attention :-) ).

Eventually, ‘the lecture’ developed into discussion on why a river (川: kawa or gawa: river) was given such a name. Even though the most logical explanation is that because the river forks into two directions, it seemed that everyone agreed that the river got its name because there are a lot of people with two lovers visiting the river (As an addition, the name of the station next to futamatagawa station is kibougaoka (希望が丘) station, which literally means ‘hill of hope’. And according to our ‘consensus’, this is the place where someone who wish to have two lovers go... :-) ).

Well, I think now you’re no longer wondering from what source I got my vocabulary of such words... :-)

Passage to The Past

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Ari, Ratna, and I had planned to gather old pictures of gp96 (alumni of Gas Petrochemical Engineering Department, class of 96 - where three of us belong) to be put on the net. While it is their job to gather the pictures (and they did their job well so far), it is my job to find suitable space on the net where we can put them on - and I’ve just found the place recently, which make it a real delay to our work (sorry!). Anyway, for the last couple of days we finally had most of the things ready and we could start our “long-awaited” project.

During uploading files, I deliberately took some times to look at those pictures again. Even though the scene looks as if it starts to fade away - eroded by the passing hours, the episodes portrayed inside those thin rectangular frames really bring me back to the moment. It is as if I find a time portal that makes the time turns counter-clockwise, and the old scenes reveal themselves all around me again.

Seeing things came and went - some events that went as planned, while other went astray; some promises that be said and done, while other will never come true (as the person you made the promise with had passed away); some of the friends that you think will stay with you till the end of time had left with no trace at all, while some “outsiders” had proven to stay beside you through your darkest hours - make me see that there’re lot of good times and bad times standing between me and me from the past. It is amazing to see that the naïve, unseasoned me could past all the hardship to become the present me, sitting here right now. It was not the experience back there, but the hope and spirit that help me went through all the hurdles looming on my way. And those hope and spirit can still be felt up to now, scintillating through the layer of dust from those old photographs.

I indeed can use that spirit again to light up my way through the maze of time I currently in. Like me in the past, it doesn’t matter what complication that shade my way ahead. As long as I could keep the hope alive inside, there’ll always be a way.

So, let the hope and spirit shine...

Ball on Top of the Tree

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My lab peers like to play volleyball on the ground just beside our building, specially on those fine afternoon after the seminar over (sometimes it turns to dodge ball, depend on our mood - if our “sadistic” level were high enough and we fell like to have other people as a target for ball throwing, we do dodge ball :-) ). The picture above is actually the picture of us playing (even though it just looks like some rascals trying to steal mangos from their neighbors’ yard). It was when Kawatoko saying that he will do a 天井サーバー(tenjou saabaa), literally means “ceiling serve”, a hanging serve that goes high as if it would touch the ceiling of the gym (from where it has got the name); unfortunately for him, the ball ended up on top of a tree, and he had to climb it to recover the ball. Since then we use the 天井サーバー term to call every ball that (unintendedly) ends up on top of the tree :-)

Then I just realize that language can evolve that easy in just a few minutes. And so can life...