Meine Glückwünsche vom Herzen!

Speed Dating

Growing up in big cities, most people become attached to their jobs and don't have the time to put themselves out there and meet new people. It's getting hard to find the right person for a relationship in Jakarta. The time-consuming commute only makes it harder to be active in social life in this bustling city.

That's what speed dating comes for, to bring lovable singles from all over the city, to meet others singles, and look for a potential match. When I got to Bacco Cafe at Lotte Avenue, I was excited. I never went to speed dating before and the only picture I have in mind about it is like in the music video "I Won't Change You" by Sophie Ellis Bextor.

The event was supposed to be started at 6 pm. I glanced around and noticed that only few participants attended and most of them were coming late. The venue was outdoor, next to the busy main road and main lobby of the mall, which not suitable to set up romantic mood. I was disappointed to see not-so-good-looking guys wandered around the event, which diminished my excitement. My mood dropped when it was unexpectedly raining cats-and-dogs. We took shelter inside the bar, which I thought the dating would be continued indoor but it was not. We had to wait for the rain to stop, it took almost an hour sitting in a couch without having any to eat or drink. I started to draft escape plan in mind, I thought I was not gonna make it. 

The rain eventually stopped but we (still) had to wait for the table cleaned by the waitresses. The event organizer repeatedly apologized and gave me a goodie bag. I found new lipstick and kinds of discount vouchers I'm not sure I can use it. The dating was started at 8.50 pm and I was getting tired. Each couple was given only 2 minutes conversation, I'm not sure if it's enough to get to know each other but I didn't mind. I wanted to finish this stupid date and leave home early. The male participants were lame, I knew it for 10 seconds I met each of them. Well to be precise, it went far off my expectation, so I didn't bother to walk out right after I finished talking with the last participant. I can't even remember their names! Lol... J

That's all the story, not a good one, but there's always first time over experience. I couldn't believe I did that, and I'm glad to know that I did something new, instead of regretting for not doing so.

Follow Your Heart

I couldn't be happier than this. A colleague from Stuttgart, Susanne, sent me this, a novel titled "Follow Your Heart" by Susanna Tamaro. We've been writing one another emails for about a year. We shared secrets and stories. Though we've never met each other yet, but I feel grateful knowing her. She's twice elder than me, a gentle and wise lady indeed. The book she gave is a perfect gift for my reading appetite.

The novel is about confession of an elderly woman before her approaching death. She wrote letters to granddaughter she raised but now estranged and living in far-off America. It's a story of love, of words unspoken, of lives wasted, of disclosure of truth and lie, of wisdom and inspiration.

I cried a lot reading it. Sometimes I went too emotional, I would stopped at any page, waited for few days to eventually move on to the next page. Many parts of the story resembles to mine. I've no idea whether it's just coincidence or the nature takes its course, but I had similar incidents with the story. Reading the book made me understand how it feels like for an elderly woman to face daughter’s callousness. There are so much lessons from the story, it took me a while to brood over my own life. Have I completely followed my heart?

One part I really like the most is at the ending where there’s written:

“When so many roads open up before you, you don’t know which way to take, don’t pick one at random, sit down and wait…. Stay still, be quiet, and listen to your heart. Then, when it speaks, get up and go where it takes you.”

My 25 Birthday

I'm turning 25 this year! Let me tell you what I got on my birthday:

1. Numerous birthday greetings from friends, some of them were long-lost-friends who surprisingly remembered my birthday. I'm glad that we could still keep in touch. And when I opened Google, I found this.

2. Mysterious cupcakes delivery, the sender was unknown. I couldn't believe my eyes to receive sweet thing like this.

3. Birthday cake from my office. It's a tiny chocolate cream cake along with a greeting card. Small but sweet.

4. A birthday present from my best friend who lives out of town. It's a sweet smelling perfume which I like it very much!

What's next?

I'm 25 now, I'm grateful yet restless to realize that I'm facing a bit of quarter life crisis. I feel like hesitated about what I was doing and am looking forward for advises. Is it just me or other people feel the same too? Luckily I got inspiration here in which I agree to some extent, so I made a shorter list for self to keep in mind.

Here are seven things I want to always remember at 25:

1. Be grateful, make time for everyone you love. Never become someone who just gets too "busy". Enjoy getting to know everyone, stop grouching and being sarcastic. Let the guard down to fall in love and let someone fall in love with you. Even if it ends in heartbreak, it's still one of the greatest adventures you've been on.

2. Don't go on Facebook so much because it's waste of time. Stop comparing yourself to others. You do you, and you're good with that.

3. Work on your posture. Remember that you'll thank yourself for young look & healthy body when you're 70.

4. You know how to cook a health meal. Stop eating instant noodles, your body doesn't like it.

5. Keep writing. Know that some of the things you write maybe look bad, but write anyway. Write because it makes you happy. Remember that sometimes, on very occasions, the things you write might be more powerful than you would have ever thought possible.

6. Read more books. Not just reading blogs or online articles, shut down your computer every once in a while and pick a real book.

7. Travel the world as often as money and time will allow because those experiences are priceless and they fill your soul.

All is well~