6:01:00 PM
music of the mind : pink martini - je ne veux pas travailler
Happy -belated- 22nd Birthday, Vern ^^
Well, I'm late on the blog (I didn't touch my computer at all last weekend), but I congratulated you on time on ICQ, ne? Did you get the message, btw? Hope your birthday was merry and wonderful! :D

Pattie has opened her new domain! :D Her blog has also moved, so update all your links.

Anne, akhirnya keliatan jugaa.. hehehe.. Apa gue yang menghilang kali ya? ^^; Anyhow, glad to be able to talk to you ^^
More stories to come.... later =P

10:01:00 PM
I wonder why... This semester, while Arlene (my former roomie, if you haven't already known) has graduated, moved and no longer lives with me, my house has become far more lively than when she was still here. At least three days a week, people come to my house - either to stay over or just hang around. That was the case yesterday. Five people came - they studied, did homeworks, watched TV, ate, etc. Then they slept over... good thing I have one room empty since Arlene left. So there is always plenty of space for people to stay over ^^ What amuses me is: this semester is my busiest semester ever, and my last regular semester at Penn State, with all the Indonesians. Summer session won't be as merry, since some of them won't take summer session ~ either going home or working or taking vacation elsewhere. I'm happy to be able to spend all the rest of the semester with them... but on the other hand, I don't have enough privacy anymore. When they're around, I will have to act as a host - at least not abandoning them all the time and do what I please to do. That's because I haven't really felt comfortable with them yet. The only person that I'm very comfortable with is Kara, since we've been around each other since the first day of being Penn State students ^^ I can do whatever I please to do without the feeling of abandoning her in my own house. And the same goes with her. We just feel at home wherever we are.

In the final conclusion *cough cough*, socialization does have its advantages and disadvantages. But I believe it has more of the positive outcome than the negative. Most importantly, everything needs sacrifices, and so does socialization. My privacy needs to be sacrificed, although a little bit.

3:52:00 AM
Love Hina is so addicting! I have finished watching all 24 episodes of the anime, but I'm still longing for more.... I wonder if the story in the manga is the same as in the anime? Anyone knows?

Mary, I can't imagine how it feels to have all 4 wisdom teeth pulled out >_< One side at a time is enough for me.. I don't want to not be able to eat at all. I hope you recover as soon as possible, I know it must be really painful -_- You can't talk, you can't eat... *shivers at the thought of both sides of the mouth bulging* Speaking about wisdom tooth, I need to visit a dentist as soon as possible to get my left (and perhaps both the upper) wisdom teeth pulled out >_>

Serena, I have blogged on Tuesday, but the story wasn't finished yet.. so I didn't publish it until today ^^;; Gomen gomen =P Nee.. I really want to talk to you asap *_*

Alright.. on to the international food festival story. I went to Kara's place at 11 PM last Friday.. plenty of guys were already there and I started helping Kara right away. We prepared everything for the satay (meat on skewers) that night. Cutting the meat and chicken, marinating it, etc... until around 5 AM. I then decided to stay over and two other guys also decided so. And as a result, we slept on Kara's bed (and it's a full size bed, mind you) sideways (so that it's wider and enough for 4 people ^^;) in this pattern, from right to left: Kara, a guy, myself, another guy. And so I slept between 2 guys ^^;;; (mmm... no comment =P)

On Saturday, we had lunch buffet at an Indian restaurant (and it was the first time I tried Indian food) around 2 PM. Then we went grocery shopping until 4.30 PM. At 5.30 PM, we started again (around 15 people were there helping). Three types of food to be done that day (all Indonesian traditional food, of course): lumpia (spring roll), gado-gado (mixed vegetables salad), and siomay (made with fish paste & flour). Cutting, marinating, cutting, marinating, cutting, marinating, washing dishes, cutting, frying, boiling, baking, joking & laughing all the time, eating (only instant noodle ;_;), cutting again (and most of the time I did it while standing !! >_<), taking pictures all the time, dancing (all types of music always accompanied us), taking a break, debating, gossiping, etc... you know the idea of the havoc XD

Around 10 PM, some of the guys left to the other house... they had to put the marinated meat (for the satay) into the skewers and barbeque-grill the satay. There were about 500 skewers... so we divided the work force between Kara's apartment and the other house. I, of course, stayed at Kara's house... because siomay was my specialty ~ I was responsible for it.

When the time reached 1 AM, almost everyone was drinking (mostly beers and fuzzy navels) ^^; I don't like beers, so I took a shot of Absolut Mandrin with sugar (yes, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you.. with sugar =9 Believe me, it tastes great!)
And since I'm allergic to alcohol.. of course my face was lobstery red. Very very red 8D A guy was drunk and people teased him jokingly. We had an enormouse laughing fit every once in a while XD It was very lively, but also very tiring. My bones were stiff ._.

Here, a picture of some of us at 12.06 AM. I'm the one with the white shirt. Kara is the one on the far right, with her back facing the camera and her head turned sideways. The pics are all dark to begin with, so that was the best I could do... besides, scanning made it a lot darker -_- There were writings on the paper that was held up on the air: "It's Sunday, 12.06 AM and we're still cooking!"

Unlike last year's food fest, this year we finished everything by 4 AM. Absolutely done! I couldn't believe it, because last year we started at 2 PM on Saturday.... and Kara worked by herself until 9 AM on Sunday ;_; (note: the food fair always starts at 11.30 AM on Sunday every year). I helped her until 7 AM last year, I was so tired I couldn't stay awake anymore... and all other people left around 4 AM. How unfair! That's why I was glad with the work ethic of everyone this year... splendid! ^^

That night, there were 4 other people (excluding Kara & myself) who stayed over.. 3 slept at the living room; Kara, myself, and another guy slept in the bedroom. We still slept sideways, but it felt wider cause there were only the 3 of us. The most important thing is: the food fest was a great success. The food was delicious, we sold everything we had (and we had the most amount & types of food amongst other organizations!) and my stomach was satisfied XD I'm very satisfied with the result.. even though my body was breaking. I ended up sleeping 11 hours (with 3 hour break in between) on Sunday night ^^; I was so tired.. I'm still very tired until today. Kara told me she slept 16 hours (with 2 hour break in between) that night XD No wonder, she was the head cook... she must've been very tired, even more than all of us.

On a more diligent note, I updated Permias (Indonesian Students Association) homepage yesterday and all the members database are now complete, with the exception of a few pictures needed to be changed. Look at my picture and guess how old I was in the pic XD

More babbling tomorrow, I hope... ja ne ^^

9:09:00 PM
I . am . so . tired . . . . .
My whole body is worn out and I can't do anything anymore... good thing I don't have too many things to do this week, unlike last week. This week I'm kind of free... only have 2 homeworks and 1 quiz, not to mention some reading assignments.

But anyway, here come the stories ~~~
Valentine's day... it was the merriest Valentine's ever in my life :D I and four other guys (yes, I was the only girl ^^;) went to dinner at Down Under Steakhouse. It was fun and the food was delicious. I wore this lovely blouse I ordered online at maxstudio.com ^^ I love this blouse!
Oh, before I forget.. One of the guys who went to dinner gave me a red rose (don't misunderstand, he already has a girlfriend, so I doubt that he has "that" kind of intentions, if you know what I mean). He said, "Here's for you, so that your Valentine isn't dull." Hmmm..... so sweet ^_~

After the dinner, 2 of the guys went to my place and we chatted until around 5 am in my bedroom ^^ I feel like a princess that night, being the only girl with a few guys *lol* And we took a lot of pictures of ourselves, too. Maybe you wouldn't call eating out with friends merry. But it was merry for me, especially since I never celebrate Valentine with a date or a boyfriend before. Yes, true, I had a boyfriend once, but we already broke up and were in hanging status (not a couple, yet still very close like a couple) at the Valentine's day.

I don't really remember what stories to tell other than Valentine's day and the international food festival last weekend. Mmm... I'll just talk about the food fest... tomorrow I guess... still have plenty of things to do now.

12:17:00 AM
Happy Birthday, Felicia and Isabela :D

I have many stories to tell, but I'm too lazy & tired right now... I'll do it tomorrow, promise! ^^ This weekend is going to be really hectic, because there is an International Food Festival, and the Indonesian Student Association is going to participate. That means the whole 2 days and nights spent for cooking and cooking again O_O

Alexa, I love cc.net's new layout! *_* It's so sweet, serene, and subtle. Above all, it's making me feel melancholic and romantic.. (that leads to another story about Valentine's day... tomorrow, tomorrow ^^;).

Uh.. I haven't read people's blogs for the longest time... and I'm missing a lot of things! Yoshe's blog is now inside t-s.net main menu, Serena moved hers to her new domain, moonberry.net, Mary has opened her personal collective: Hellequin, Joey has a new layout at her blog... so many cats *_* Alex and Shampoo have put up new blog layouts. Did I miss anyone? ^^;

Um, Alex? Don't worry about your blog layout. I didn't notice the similarity until you mentioned so ^^; So don't worry. It looks original the way it is *nods and smiles*

Ah, Sakura shares my taste :D I also love that version of "The Girl From Ipanema". Brazillian jazz is one of my music taste. Speaking about music, I have updated the random MP3 page at ikkoku.net. I changed all the non-anime MP3s (except for "Journey" due to popular demand -- as far as I know, people are still trying to download this file) and got rid of a few anime MP3s.

My order from sakuramedia and animaxis arrived today. So many artbooks! XD I really want to scan a lot of images... but I don't have time ;_; I also want to edit some of them for future layouts... but I have to postpone the plan until I don't know when ._. I might as well scan the pictures and make a gallery :D Yeah, that sounds like a good idea! Mmmm.. let's see.... this weekend? *shakes head* Next weekend probably *nods nods*

6:05:00 PM
Happy Valentine's Day...

10:52:00 PM
Happy 21st Birthday, Joey! =D
I don't know what time it is at your place, but it's already Feb 12th for sure.

10:30:00 PM
ALEXAAA!!! O_O;; What on earth happened yesterday? We need to talk! *makes a scary face* You threw me out of chair with your bold sentence there *_* Good thing I wasn't knocked unconscious because of that. But..... I'm GLAD, I really am *smiles and hugs her* It must be a good news, then, taken from your good mood. But still, we need to talk! XD

This past weekend was as busy as weekdays O_O Since the last class on Friday evening, I went everywhere and had fun. It wasn't far out of the ordinary, though. On Friday, I had dinner with several friends, then watched Traffic (err... just watch and see for yourself, I have nothing to say), then they all went to my house and played Mario Party 2 (N 64). One guy cooked for us and we just hang around until 4 am. Most of them went home, two guys and a girl still hang around and we ended up chatting until 6 am. It was very lively!

On Saturday, I woke up at 2 pm, cooked, had lunch... then received a bad news from my dear Alexa.... and so I spent the next 3 hours talking to her, both online & offline (that is why, Alexa darling, I am very much relieved by your happy blog entry and hope everything has been much better now). At 7 pm, I had to go to an Indonesian meeting (talking about food fair that we will participate next week). Later that night, we decided to go to Players, a local club. That was my first time clubbing here at Penn State. I went clubbing two times in Boston, but never here. Now, the thing is, I can't stand alcohol. I'm actually allergic to alcohol, so my body (especially the face) will get all red and itchy at a certain point. I had one glass of Long Island ice tea and a couple of sips from everyone's drinks last night... so you know the idea ~~ I was pretty much high, although not really drunk ^^;

Finally, I bought a VCR today (the one I had all the past years was Arlene's VCR, so she took it with her when she graduated & moved). All those anime videos need to be watched! I have soooo many of them waiting nicely outside XD I guess I'm going to be busier this week, apart from studying & assignments. But with the food fair waiting this coming weekend, I don't think I will have much time to have fun anymore *sighs* Oh well, I'll find time ^^

3:12:00 PM
Alexa got me hooked to animaxis.com XD But hey, a lot of good stuff there! I bought 10 volumes of Yami no Matsuei manga. I'm really curious with the story. It seems good, although quite gory. And the artwork... yes, I love the artwork. No, not because of the current trend! I have loved the art more than 6 months ago. Proof? See vilette.net (yes, another one of my non-working domains ^^;;). I put up the layout on.... *checks her FTP* ... August 23, 2000. And I remember I tried to edit 2 images from YnM months ago to use them as my blog's layout, but I didn't like the outcome.

Aaaanyhow *coughs*.. weekend is almost coming, after my last class that will start in an hour from now. I'm doing an assignment for this class that's due today. I have to find an article that describes sexual turn-ons or techniques, then write a one-page critique of the article by discussing several points. Not hard, but a bit time-consuming. While I was searching for the article online, I stumbled upon improvingsex.com. Hmmm, not bad for a sexual advice & information site ^^ I ended up choosing one article from there for my paper. Sex, anyone? XD

3:44:00 AM
Nya, a lot of wonderful stuff at sakuramedia.com! I bought 10 artbooks and 1 CCS calendar XD I'm so baaddd, I've been in shopping spree lately.

Hey, Heck, you're leaving tomorrow right? If I can't see you anymore, have a safe trip to Vermont, kay? Don't worry, the plane is perfectly fine ^^ But yeah, enjoy your very short trip (only 4 days just to watch Sarah Harmer? *shakes head in disbelief*) and hope you have the loveliest weekend ever XD

Eeeeeeeh? Is that right, Mary? Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman broke up (or divorced)? Nya, I'd love it if it's true! As good as she might be as an actress, I don't like her at all personality-wise.

Gah, crushlink is SOOO annoying *grrrr* =X I got a crush invitation from someone, and it's really a pain in the butt trying to find out who sent the link. I don't care anymore! x_X A little tip for you: DON'T register, eventhough you're dying to know who sent the link (i.e. find out who has a secret crush on you, they say). It's just another spam mail, I tell you.

8:23:00 PM
Happy Birthday Alexaaa XD (note: it's already Feb 6th in Germany)
*pops champagne and makes a toast* For your health ^^ And everything you wish for this year onwards.
Sorry I'm 2 hours late... at least you haven't really slept yet when I called. Enjoy the day and all the best ~~

4:05:00 AM
Nooooooooo, how could I forget? X_X
Happy birthday Serena! Sorry I'm a day late ;_;
Mmmm... now that I'm at it, I just remember that I don't know your age ^^;;; How old are you today? Gomen nasai :_:

*makes mental note* 6 pm today & PHONE!

Oh, that's what I thought, too, Alex. I don't recall the vocalized A Day Without Rain. I also happen to love instrumentals, so that's why I like the song ^^

1:09:00 AM
*is happily shopping online at maxstudio.com* XD
The super sale items are wonderful, especially the skirts! They're so cheap, considering the brand. Argghhh, I'm in a shopping spree againnnn *_* Not that I have money... no x_x The money is kinda tight right now, so I have to really manage here... and get the most bargain that I could =D

*goes back to shopping*

6:59:00 AM
Eeeeh? Why do you feel stupid writing for the Phantom page, Mary? ^^;; You should be proud of yourself, finally gotten around to be making the page. Unlike a certain someone... *points to the mirror in front of her* =P

Yeah, Alexa, use your dad's mileage and come up here XD And do some voyeurism... ? *lol* Perhaps not ^^;;

Alex, the titles of the bonus tracks are First Autumn (Australia version) and Isobella (Japan version), both on A Day Without Rain album. On her single album "Only Time", there's also one track that's not included on A Day Without Rain, titled The Promise. I downloaded all of them from napster ^^ Err, apart from the instrumental one, I haven't heard any other A Day Without Rain song. Is there any though, with the lyrics on? I wanna watch the movie Sweet November! Not only does it look romantic, it also features Only Time as the soundtrack. Hmm.. must be good.

Speaking about movies, I watched Head Over Heels today. It was sooooo funny, I couldn't stop laughing about one hilarious scene even after the movie was over XD XD And romantic, too, of course. Monica Potter is so pretty *_*
Oh yeah, my friends cooked at my place today... it was good, especially for a first-timer ^^ There are plenty of leftovers, I don't have to cook tomorrow *yay*

One final note.. I updated the links page on ikkoku.net. It's pretty much done, but I might add some more sites whenever I have the time to browse.

And now... to bed I shall go. So sleepy... zzzz...

2:35:00 PM
*LOL* Mary, that was the longest parting sequence I have ever seen! XD What is it, like 100 lines? XD XD

And Flipper! That's a nice layout you have on your blog *nods* I love digital stuff ^^ Eep, you mistyped my name... it's Elyse, honey ^_~ Yay, you finally decided to have a personal page =D I love personal pages! On a more personal note, I'm so happy we finally got to talk, Flipper.. I hope we'll see each other very soon ^^

I also got to talk to Ruby yesterday. I'm so happy we finally had a chance to chat, especially since she isn't online much on ICQ. *laughs* No, Ruby, you weren't -that- slow.. don't worry ^^ Besides, it's 1 AM... it's perfectly normal, unlike myself =P

I need to take a shower now... I'm going grocery shopping, then my friends will cook Indian food at my place. Hmm.. interesting. I never tried Indian food before... let's see if I like it ^^ Later tonight, we'll watch a movie.. perhaps Wedding Planner. I want to watch Traffic, but we'll see what the majority wants.

3:58:00 PM
I just had a shopping spree at Comic Swap, a local comic store :D Shin Vampire Miyu vol.4, Juline vol.1, Inuyasha vol.8, Marionette Generation vol.1... all the English manga series (the graphic novels, not the individual manga). I can't wait for Vampire Yui manga series to be published. After I read the New Vampire Miyu, I like Yui even more. She's very kind and gentle-hearted.

Eh? Since when did egroups become yahoo groups? o_O GRRR!! Those big companies -_-
Ne, Alex, do you know that the UK version of Enya's newest album has bonus tracks? Good thing there's Napster, I don't have to buy the album to listen to the bonus tracks ^^ And I think the Japanese version has a bonus track, too.
I didn't watch Friends and Will & Grace last night *sobs* And it was the 40-minute new episode of Friends, too! ;_; However! Bayu has recorded the whole 2 hours of shows for me ^_^ Arigato!

I will speak more.. when the last class of this week is over. Sore ja!

12:41:00 AM
music of the mind : elvis costello - she
*yawns* AH -_- I was sleeping from 9 to 10 pm when my dad called and I had to talk to him, of course. After that there was another phone call.. and I ended up talking on the phone until 11. Now I'm not so sleepy anymore. Mary messaged me around 9.45, but when I got back to her at 11, she had disappeared ;_; Come back, Mary!

My math instructor is actually very kind, unlike the regular instructors / professors. I had the make-up quiz #1 (cause I was sick last week) today at his office, and he asked, "Have I received your first homework?" (note: it was due last week - Jan 23rd). I told him I didn't have the book yet when it was due (I didn't want to buy the book cause it was very expensive - not worth it -_- Luckily my friend took the class last semester and he still had the book. So I had to wait for him to drop it at my house). Then the instructor said, "Do you want to hand it in?" I was surprised, cause it had been due over a week ago and he still wanted to accept late homework. I'm so lucky XD But no, that means more work for next week.... *audience: how ungrateful of her!* ^^;;

On another note, I love the 3D effect of eternalsenshi.com! Wonderful, Diana =D I'm registering at her forum now, although I might not be very active. I haven't really found a nice board to chill out at, so I hope this one will be a great place ^^

3:56:00 AM
music of the mind : enya - flora's secret
I'm falling in love with Enya's new album, A Day Without Rain *_* The songs I like the most are Flora's Secret and Only Time. Beautiful *_* I wanted to listen to her newest album after listening to Fallen Embers from Val's blog. My friend of whom I studied Math from has always liked Enya. So I figured he must've had her newest album. When I was doing my homework earlier last night at his house, I listened to the whole album over and over again. And I'm downloading the songs now *_*

But I need to sleep now... *sighs* Homework isn't finished yet, there's also 1 quiz that I haven't studied. Another 5 hours of sleep, I guess -_-