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My new friend, Mutia

I am back in the city! I just realized that it has been three months since I last updated this blog. So many things have been going on with me, I had to take care of that, I had to take care of this, I almost didn't have time for myself. Good thing is, everything has been sorted now and I am already back to my routine! (*cheers* and *beers*) 

I thought starting this semester would be another boring phase to get through. But thank god I met this girl called mutia. She just got in toronto a few weeks ago. She came here to pursue a marketing diploma in my previous college. I am so very grateful of her presence here. The day we first met up, I knew we were becoming best friends. We share the same hostility on how awful canada (or toronto in particular) is. We rant on how hip hop culture is very very mainstream here, and how nobody listens to british bands or old timy rock's like us.

Anyway, I love my new college. Since Ryerson University is located right in downtown, it feels a lot more vibrant than my previous college. Everything is nice here. The school is nice, the residence is nice, the people are even nicer. However, I don't think I have discovered all things that this campus has to offer to me, I have been very, very antisocial lately. I know it is surprising that this comes from a person like me, but lately, I have never been in the mood for parties. I never used to reject party invitations, not this many at least. But now, I don't know why. There is always this 'i think i've had enough of this thing' feeling every time somebody invites me to come for some drink. I just feel that now It is very awkward to be in a party, the conversation, the jokes, ugh I just, don't bond that much anymore.

So instead, I've been wandering around TO with mutia. We bursted our asses to be on time for meetings with mutia's possible apartments' landlords, we shopped vinyl records, we watched concerts, and duh, god damns how we recklessly spent our (parents') money on many many stupid expenses like bedding, tiff membership, clothes, etc. Man, I just hope this month's bills don't explode in my mailbox x_x

 Mutia's tired face after a whole day of running here and there

 Eaton centre

 Some guy playing nice music on Yonge st.

 best thing in TO after chicken fingers, BLIXI!!

 hell of a nightview from my new room's window

Some scene in front of metro(?)

Imma Miss My Room

A place of stuffs that always remind me how I really loved tennis of which it had led me to years of fight and struggle. 

A place which possesses the best king-sized bed in the world and the proofs that I was once a narcissistic toddler.

 A place where I can grab toiletries or clean my self while I am still wandering in my dream.

A place in which it lies a bamboo carpet, the sacred spot where I can light ciggies, indulge myself into some soothing music, stumble upon ideas, and get some works done.

And of course, a place where my little sis and I are able to brutaly (s)talk about people all night long till we fall asleep.

nineteen

me and my grandparents

Last sunday, I turned 19. There was nothing too special on that day. It was just me, my parents, my grandparents, my sister (the other sis went to Jakarta for a tennis tournament) plus, endless birthday tweets and walls, uh oh and of course, my mother's birthday cookings (she is a really good cook). It was a good day, i'm glad I spent such a blissful time with my family on my birthday.

Though I really did have a blast staying at home with my family, I thought to myself, I wanted something more, I wanted to dance. So, the next day I finally decided to throw a party at a-place-I-don't-have-to-say-its-name, but is also a good dancing venue with a really great music.

me and few gurls that came way too early

udo

I wasn't allowed to bring my camera inside (and heck I don't know for what fucking reason).  At first, I was so pissed off that I had rented the place and yet I still wasn't able to take pictures. Moreover, I ordered too much drinks for us all $$$$$$-( But however, the great time I had inside made it even. People were coming, and though it was no lux and glamour, but I was having a real good time. I danced the fullest and felt like the happiest man on earth (thanks to my best friends). We finished at about 3-4 in the morning, and decided to go to Gempol to eat and redeem our heads. It was a halfway to Gempol, kemal couldn't stop throwing, and I just remembered I forgot to pick up my camera. We meant to hail back and get the camera, but kemal couldn't bare the moving car any longer. So, I had to stay with him at the street-side with ucok while the others went to get my cam. After the jump are the photos i took after I finally got my camera back. That's what I call a night.

Apparently, the party was too harsh for kemal.

Hard time hopping kemal on the car.

These two goonnies surely had a good time too.

Finally arrived at Gempol.

b-b-b-best chums

We stayed over at Udo's.

Norah Jones's was put on repeat, what a way to end such an exhausting night.

More About Homecoming

My hometown, the city of the heavy sun, it had been a long time since I last saw my family.

At first, it felt surreal. I never really thought I could finally go home it's strange. I was about to look for a bus to Bandung when I just arrived in Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Jakarta. But then, I saw my mother, with a simple chiffon dress and a matching veil, waiting for me at the exit gate. As if my mother's presence wasn't enough, my father was there too, he wore his usual vest, and I had a warm-welcoming hug from him - that is when I was fully convinced, I was really home.

"It's a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. Then you realize the only thing's changed is you" - Ale Meza (a friend of mine from Mexico)

The trip to bandung was such a bliss. I expected Jakarta to be more chaotic, uglier. But it was such a beautiful night, I spotted no street litter or traffic jam. The lights, the breezy air, ahh.

After a fast one-hour drive from Jakarta, I was finally home. My home looked really tidy and neat. I learned that my family just hired a new gardener, the tehtehan and the grass had been perfectly chopped. Then there was my living room. The same old living room, only it was prettier and more organized than what I had remembered. I was a little tired. I washed my face and went straight to bed. It was completely the same old bedroom feeling. I found myself looking at same old bed (the best bed in the house), the same old newspaper clippings, my tennis trophies, my racquets.  It was weird, it was like, the house was magically frozen after I last left it.

The next morning I met my two sisters. I bestowed on Tannisa, one of my sisters, the Diana F+ "Garden of Eden" that I bought before I left Canada, she seemed delighted. And then I hugged Kannia, my other sister, she almost bursted into tears, that was so sweet of her. Well, they didn't seem to have changed at all, which is good. We were chit-chatting about a lot of things until the fleeting and familiar smell of Nasi Goreng paused our conversation, breakfast was ready. I ate my first home-made Nasi Goreng after such a long time, it was very well cooked, relishing my mouth cavity with all its milkish, fragrant graces, as it was bouncing on my tongue. The incessantly weird feeling suddenly struck back, clearly I had forgotten how heavenly it was at my home when it comes down to food provision.

I don't know if it's because the jet-lag, but it was kind of haze that lasted for a while. As I started overcoming it, I got my old life back. I cruised around the city with my old sublime motorbike. I had such a great time meeting my high school chumps and my cousins. And, I had this splurge of appetite for doing classic townie things I never had done before. Ahh.

I am glad I have four months here.

Hukka Bar with Mbak Denyis and Mas Dewi

I am loving every minute of my homecoming. I have been having such a ravishing time here, especially with my big bro, dennis, and of course, my best sis who will soon become the host of TransTV's Aku Ingin Menjadi, Dewi. 

These photos were taken from my first homecoming debut in Jakarta. Having read a misleading article that claims Potato Head as one of the best cocktail bars in Jakarta, I first urged these two goonies to take me there. But turned out, Potato Head was a whack. So, we ended up ordering just a round of cocktails, quickly going out of there, and cruising back impromptu to this Hukka Bar in Kemang, Jakarta.

What a night.

Toro Y Moi

Last Night was magical. After a long debate with my folks, I decided to go with them to the Wrongbar in Parkdale for Toro Y Moi. When I stepped out of my dorm, I said to my self 'why the hell I'm frickin leaving, it's midnight already'. But it was worth all the way. The show was wicked, Chazwick Bundick was chillin baby! And since Wrongbar is a small bar, I got to be close with them and it was like, I could feel the chillwave inside my body, woo.

I also got to see some other cool bands that I just knew, Braids and Adventure. Although they had such long and unsuccessful sound checks, they were fawsome as well!!! The only downside of yesterday was that I had to hide in the bathroom with Dane when the waitresses was ID-ing everybody. See, This kind of thing is what I hate about Canada, I mean why we can't buy liquors, cigarettes, or go to the bar when we're actually legal to make a lawful contract, silly. I'm almost 19, I don't think it's really worth it to buy a fake ID. And for the record, I didn't buy any booze!

Casino Night

Casino night was one of the events held by Residence Council in my campus dorm. We had poker, black jack, bingo, and everything. Not to mention, the benefits from the event was donated to the SickKids Hospital, which is really cool. Although I don't contribute that much, I am so glad to be a part of the council and to do lots of cool stuffs in my dorm. I enjoyed the experience and I hope the council will continue bringing awesome stuffs next year.

Today

Yep, today was another unproductive day. I woke up so so late and I had that waking-up-late headache. I only went out of my room twice today, to grab something for brunch and dinner. I didn't do shower, but I put on a lot of my adidas cologne, so if you passed me by today, you might not tell haha.

I re-watched Mad Men episodes today, loved it, as always. I also did my macroeconomics' assignment. Well, I actually had got this bunch of assignments, but, I wasn't in the mood to do the others. And that's it, that's all I did today.

One thing I realized today, my eye sight has gotten so worse that I couldn't read a line without my stupid-looking glasses. I've had that sunglasses since about 3 years ago, but I never had to use it regularly. Today I couldn't even read caf's menu, my emails, and texts in Humber TV ads. Ugh that was the last thing I ever want to happen to me, I hate lenses and I just don't want to wear glasses everyday HHH.

Anyway, the other day, I read a question in my friend's tumblr asking the meaning of happiness. One user answered 'to have a productive time'. He is wrong! You know what, Today, when I imagined myself doing lots of stuffs or visiting a good resto in downtown instead,  I felt like I couldn't be happier with the peace and ease of just being unproductive.

Then I came to think. Some people really frame themselves with this set of rules and principles to become happy, some people, like Jack Canfield, build people's dreams with this so-called accurate method to be successful (I used to believe in those things too). But I tell you what, they are WRONG. Things are very very flexible. Some people are successful without having the so-called communication or leadership skills. Sigur Ros is a rock band. Bad childhood doesn't always turn people into physco, so on and so forth.

It is just so silly when people telling me what to do or how things should be done. Cause there really is no absolute formula out there and I don't feel it's necessary to change a thing in me. 

Believe nothing, that's the simplest way to live happily and properly.