Bye Baby - Journey on first pregnancy. Curette on week 12

Early November, I had a very bad cramps on my stomach. It was not yet my menstrual period, but i had this urge to do a pregnancy testpack. I did it, and the result shows positive, I am pregnant! I was so happy, and I intent to keep it a secret for a while. The next week would be my husband's birthday, I was planning to tell him then. But after each day, the cramps became more unbearable, so I had to tell him. He cried!

We told my parents the next morning that we had to go to a OBGYN. And yes it was confirmed that I am pregnant, she said that it was our 5th week. The OBGYN gave me vitamins (Vit-D, some pills for uterine booster, and some pills for the cramp). The next week. we decided to check to other doctors, because the pills for the cramp didn't really work. This second doctor checked, and said the baby was now 7th week. Seems everything is okay, told me to stop the pills for the cramp, and instead drank some syrup for indigestion before I ate. He told me to come back next month. It works this time. 

Life goes on normally. I reduced drinking coffee, tea, and sweet snacks. I tried to eat healthier. Less grilled meat whenever possible (but I cheated once or twice). Then the time for another check up came.

We went to our last OBGYN, and told him I had a twich on my waist sometimes. He said it is normal on 11th week. I should also experience nausea, hardening on the breast area, as normal mom-to-be are. And he went to do the USG on my stomach. 

At first he didn't say anything suspicious, he showed my womb area, the baby position, the amniotic fluid which shows plenty of fluid, normal and he became quieter, and said the baby showed like a 8 weeks instead of 11 weeks. I was confused, what?? And he went to say, there was no heartbeat. We have to do curette to remove the remaining placenta.

Yep, I lost the baby. He said there were 3 reason this could happen. Toxo (animal fur, related to pets), eating raw food, or just bad sperm / ovary egg cell. I was to stuned to speak. He said to plan the time for curette with the nurse outdoor, we thanked him, and we went out.

The nurse was so comforting and said sorry for the bad news. And she brought us to the administration office. I asked my husband to pay for the bill, while i took a seat in the corner and cried my heart out.

I went home, texted my sister and my mom the bad news. My sister told my dad. And i stuck in my bed and cried. My husband tried to comfort me. Then I told him to call his mom, and tell the news. I also told my sister in law. It was hard for everyone.

We decided to go for a second opinion, so we went to another older OBGYN in my city. He did transvaginal USG, and confirm it was a bad pregnancy, there is no baby on the womb. So, yes, we had concluded we need to do curette.

To be honest, We am still a little bit sad, but I am thankful for this journey. We will do the curette probaby tomorrow (week 12). I have my faith, my God will provide when the time is right. Till then, I will keep my faith and be happy.

Just Give Me a Reason - Pink ft. Nate Ruess

You probably have seen this song's MV hanging on your facebook timeline, twitter, or maybe Google+.
I guess there are many people that can relate to this song.
The notes are so easy listening and the lyrics are catchy.
I love this song, and there are some time when i sing/listen this song several time by abusing the replay button in the youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpQFFLBMEPI

This song reminds me of certain someone.. Oh snap.. What a tear-jerker song.. (But i love it)
What does this song remind you of?

Anyway,
here is the lyrics..

Right from the start
You were a thief
You stole my heart
And I your willing victim
I let you see the parts of me
That weren't all that pretty
And with every touch you fixed them

Now you've been talking in your sleep, oh, oh
Things you never say to me, oh, oh
Tell me that you've had enough
Of our love, our love

Just give me a reason
Just a little bit's enough
Just a second we're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
It's in the stars
It's been written in the scars on our hearts
We're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again

I'm sorry I don't understand
Where all of this is coming from
I thought that we were fine
(Oh, we had everything)
Your head is running wild again
My dear we still have everythin'
And it's all in your mind
(Yeah, but this is happenin')

You've been havin' real bad dreams, oh, oh
You used to lie so close to me, oh, oh
There's nothing more than empty sheets
Between our love, our love
Oh, our love, our love

Just give me a reason
Just a little bit's enough
Just a second we're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
I never stopped
You're still written in the scars on my heart
You're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again

Oh, tear ducts and rust
I'll fix it for us
We're collecting dust
But our love's enough
You're holding it in
You're pouring a drink
No nothing is as bad as it seems
We'll come clean

Just give me a reason
Just a little bit's enough
Just a second we're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
It's in the stars
It's been written in the scars on our hearts
That we're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again

Just give me a reason
Just a little bit's enough
Just a second we're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
It's in the stars
It's been written in the scars on our hearts
That we're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again

Oh, we can learn to love again
Oh, we can learn to love again
Oh, oh, that we're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again

How my dry skin becomes a little bit healthier

So.. My face was super duper dry, and i had dry so much products..

From Loreal's Hydrafresh All day hydration aqua essence (which sting, and make my face felt so hot), Olay Regenerist Micro-sclupting cream (which did not sting too much, but i didn't see any effect on the dry skin), Clinique Moisture Surge Extended (which sting too, so i stop it after a week or so), and at the end, bodyshop's product. I had to say, bodyshop's doesn't sting at all, but it doesn't cure my super dry-sensitive skin.

Anyway, I almost give up and planning to visit a doctor. Yea, i am that worried!

Then i stumbled upon Singapore's groupon promotion..
SGD68 for 90 minutes signature facial in Aster Spring (they say it worth around SGD 160).. 
I know it's kinda expensive! Well atleast, back in my hometown in Indonesia, i can get decent facial with just around SGD30. 

Oh, I did check reviews on Aster Spring, and i found some nice comments on cozycot.com and some other blogs. Aster Spring was formerly known as Leonard Drake.
I knew they have branch in Clementi mall, which is so near. So I called them, explained i have a groupon deal and tried to make appointment.
Usually when there is a groupon coupon for a place, it's gonna be hard to make an appointment with them.

Maybe i am lucky, i called them on tuesday, then i got appointment for thursday.
After fixing time, then i proceed with purchasing the groupon coupon.

Anyway, on Wednesday, they called me to remind me on the appointment. (like!)

My appointment is at 11am. I came slightly early (I took half day leave for this!), and they're still closed.
But at 11:02 (said my watch), there was a lady on the receptionist desk. So i told her that i was there for my facial. She asked me for the groupon print out and my IC. Then she told me to wait for a while at the sofa.
After that, she gave me one lengthy questionaire. I filled what i think my skin has.. Like how dry it is, what products i wore, how many water, softdrink, coffee/tea i drink each days, etc. 

Then the therapist run the questionaire down, and explain to me that it seems that i had a sensitive skin (which is obvious for me), and told me i didn't drink enough water. Well, i drink almost or around 2 L water everyday, but i drink atleast a cup of softdrink (who can ressist Heaven&earth or pokka's green tea!) or a cup of coffee a day. So she said it is not enough, for every cup of softdrink or coffee or tea, you'll need to drink at least 6 cups of water, and we still need the 2 L water.. Woah!

Then she proceed using somekind of UV lamp (i assume) and explained what she saw. Like some redness on the cheek due to sensitivity or dryness, i can't remember. Some white spot due to dusts. Then some spots due to UV from sun. And so on. Then she told me she'll do ultra sensitive treatment.

I purposely didn't use any make up that day! So after changing my clothes with their tubes, we started the facial. She with cleansing my face, then do some exfoliation, and some more cleansing. Then she put on the steam (it was not too hot, thank God). Then another colleague of her did the extractions. It was not too painful, but i don't really have much whiteheads/blackheads, and i do have high pain tolerance.


After that she put some cold cream, and using a cold metal (?) thing to rub my skin. Then she sprayed a somekind of mist. Then she put the mask, and left it for sometime. Not sure how long she left it. I manage to get short nap!Next, she put the serum, moisturizer, and sunscreen.

Then ofcourse, there is the selling part. She told me some products that she would suggest. She suggested the ultracalming serum concentrate, the ultracalming mask, and one more thing which i forgot. She also offered the package promotion, but their cheapest promotion is $888, so i firmly said no to the therapist. 

I like how the therapist keep her friendly attitude, even after i said no. I thought i kinda like the whole facial thing, and my face does look better! So i asked her, if i will take one of the product, which will she recommend most. If i remember correctly, the product price is $65, $80ish, and $100ish. She told me she'll reccomend the serum concentrate. So i go and purchase that one. 
It was around $80. Expensive, right? :( I was desperate for my skin!

Then when i went out for lunch, my friend say my face looks waaaaay better, shiny is the term she used. I'm so happy!
The facial effect lasted around 3 days, then it wasn't that shiny. 

I guess aster spring's facial is good when you want some facial improvement boost.

Oh, and the product, i happily report that it works fine for my skin! My skin is not dry/ peeling anymore, it looks way healthier. But maybe i won't get a new tubes, as $80ish is quite a lot of money to burn! 

Atleast i'll put this post, and thank Asterspring (Clementi Mall, Singapore) for their nice treatment, even with my groupon deal, and not buying any promotion. Kudos! 

Reflection on 2012

I'm so excited!
It's mid December, meaning Christmas is coming!
Last year i posted that i have 3 wishes, and God is so good, i could safely say i got 2 of them and 1 in progress :)

This year has been a very interesting journey. I finally landed a job starting from April, and i felt i grew so much! In the beginning, it was such a struggling experience, but i learned how to say "no", let Him show His blessing and really can work with such rest and joy!

God is good! I think i have better relationship with my family :) I miss them a lot! Thanks to Skype and Facetime, it's way better :) I loooove my sister! It is definitely true that sometimes you can't realize how precious someone is.. She was like my small-sister, but now she is a grown woman! I love talking with her, getting some advise from her, and joking with her :) (i hope she didn't see this..) so embarrassing! haha :)

Another thing that I'm so thankful about is the ability to travel more, to Manila, Bali, Semarang (home), Jakarta and maybe *finger crossed* Taipei with my salary :)

I'm also very grateful that I can do the things i love, i managed to go to some music shows (which were all amazing!).. Kina and Marie's performance are awesome! Then Ryan's show is also cool! The last one i went was FYI (Favourite Youtube Icon), which brought JR Aquino, Andrew A Garcia and Victor Kim..

Also grateful about the ministry that I'm involved. I felt myself growing.. I was really introvert kinda girl (still up to now, i think) ~~ But i had great time, great friends, and started to be able to open up and get to know how nice everyone is! :)

I'm grateful for having such an awesome friends, be it my buddy, S&S in Sgp who are always there :) Also C who i miss a lot and we spent several days in Jakarta, W and C which I hope to see soon in Taipei..
Oh, also really excited to know YT, M, J, G and E.. Whom i manage to hang out several times on those shows i mentioned.. It's always lovely time catching up with you girls, and being crazy! :)

Ahhh 2012 is super fun!! Thank you, God, for the things You've guide me through this year..
Really can't wait for what You have in store for 2013!

Marie Digby "YOUR LOVE" Singapore Show 2012

Marie Digby is an American singer-songwriter. I've heard about her for almost a year, but actually never really listen to her until around August 2012.
So, around that time I went to Manila, and met some new friends who are basically digbyholics. (note: Digbyholics is Marie Digby's fan base)
They have this huge plan to surprise Marie, by coming to her show in Singapore. From my chat with them, i found out that Marie has this special ability to engage her fans, and also showing how much she cares about them. Also Marie is quite talk-active (in a good way), so that conversation with her will happen without any awkward silence. :)
I was thinking to join them for Marie's show in Singapore (18 Oct 2012 in Esplanade), but with work being busy, i ended up deciding not to go. I made this decision in mid September.
Few days before the show (or actually two days before the show), one of my friend told me that they have one spare ticket. She offered me to go with them. Well, there was actually some work that I need to do, but i thought it'll be nice to see her perform, accompanied by some of her huge fans. And I am also looking forward to meet my friends :D
So I decided to "escape" from work, around 2 hours earlier than my official knock out time.
I reached Esplanade around 6, and meet my friends there. We decided to have dinner before the show.
To make the story short, the show started at 8.30 pm. Natalie Hiong, a Singapore singer-songwriter, open the show by performing one song. I was quite surprised that the opening act is only one song..
Then Marie started her show.. I can't remember how many songs she sang.. But the whole experience was awesome..
She nearly cried when she saw the digbyholics in the front row! FYI, we got the second & third row for $91 each. Some of my friends were crying as well. I think this is a good example of how much an indie artist can engage his/her fans. Quoting one of them "You can't say you support an indie artist if you're not willing to spend money."
In my opinion, Marie is by far one of the best live performer I've ever watch. Her voice is beautiful (duh, ofcourse!).. She's talented with guitar and piano.. And she's great at engaging the audience (she brought one audience who sat on the first row to the stage..! Hey Ahmad! Hahaha..)
Also, she did meet all of those lining up for meet and greet. Doesn't matter whether you get the $51, $71, or $91 ticket. She waited till all the audiences/fans got a picture & signature from her.
I will definitely go to see her show in the future..
Oh, and after watching her youtube videos, I am confident to say "I do" is one of my favourite song!

Cheers!!

Ryan Higa in Singapore

Hello.. again.. Two post in the same day! Wow.. :P
So many things happened these few months, so I have lots to write about :)

If you see my previous post, about Kina in Manila, maybe you remember I met the tour manager from SoulmannaLive, Pauline.. So we ended up in the same flight back to Singapore, talked briefly before the flight departure (Got some trouble with the custom, so we're separated) :(
Basically I asked her who's coming next, and she answer diplomatically that she can't really inform it yet, but there is a youtuber coming in the end of August.
Since i knew Ryan tweeted that he's heading Asia, then I asked Pauline if Soulmanna going to handle Ryan's tour as well. She just smile, and didn't really say yes (nice job on keeping the secret!) :P

The show was finally announced, it will be held in Wave house Sentosa, on 1st September. There were several different ticket option, $38 for standard Q&A session, additional $50 for meet and greet (only if you're the first 150 people on the line), and $150 for a VIP (M&G plus dinner at Wavehouse). I didn't plan to attend, coz it's saturday, and work has been quite tiring, so i planned to just relax, drink some coffee, and enjoy some books.

Around 3-4 days before the show, Pauline send me a DM to my twitter (yes, we followed each other, can you imagine how we'll live without twitter, whatsapp, and all those social media?).. She asked if i want to volunteer as Merch people at Ryan's show. I said sure, coz i think one relaxing saturday can always be replaced. But a chance to learn how a concert/event organizer do their work is too good to be missed. The extra point was ofcourse to help Ryan (hey, youtuber is kind of Indie, they need our support! It's great to be able to put your hand and help on some of their events! And i love my experience helping on Kina's Merch table.. haha..)

Then she asked me if i have some more friends.. Ofcourse i have! haha.. Few months back (maybe even more than a year already), I meet some nice girls through Wongfu, Marilyn, Yi Thying, Gen, Jamie, and Evelyn. I knew they'll love to help out as well. But Marilyn was travelling, and Gen also has some previous appointment, so they can't go. At the end, Yithying, Jamie, Eve and me came down to Wavehouse around 4.

And.. The queue is super-duper long! It's like crazy! And the sun is hooooot!

I guess that shows how much higaholics love Ryan, props to you all! :)
So we entered Wavehouse, met Wenona, another manager of Soulmanna, and she introduced us to theRealRyanHiga, and Greg (@slopsmcgee). We also met Daniel and Sam from One Click Wonders who has been photographing all Youtube events by Soulmanna the past year.
They are a bunch of nice people :)

We found out that they didn't bring enough tags, so YiThying and me run back to Vivo, trying to get some.
When we reach the venue, it's already 5.30, and the M&G for VIP has started.
Rish (one of the event coordinator) told us that Wenona need one people to help her up there (VIP venue is in 2nd floor). Since they were still cutting the name tags, and I realized my clumsy fingers don't really work well with scissors, so I go up, and Yithying stays with Evelyn, Sam, and Jamie, guarding the entrance table.

On the second floor, the fans coming for M&G is so hyped! The energy level is super high!
Again I was amazed on how Ryan could engage all these people :D
I take over Wenona's task on taking photos. So, if there are some of you who get blurry photo, I am deeply sorry! But i guess they allowed you to take more photos during the dinner, right? :)
After that Rish asked me to prepare some plates for their dinner, so I took some food, and prepare the table, while Ryan, Greg, and Rish moved from one table to another table to greet all the VIPs.

After finishing their dinner, the second M&G started at around 7. The sun is still up, so the early photos are good. Then around 8, it is so dark, and the wavehouse put on the lighting. Too bad the lighting was too bright, so there are some fans who got blurry photo :( Sorry guys! But we manage to re-take some photos for some people. Ryan looked really tired though, he has been drinking lots of Redbulls (at least I saw 3? or 4?). They gave Ryan around 30 minutes break before the next session, Q&A.

The Q&A is quite fun. There are some question tweeted by the fans, and Ryan answered it.
Then you can also find some video in youtube where Ryan learned singlish.. :)
Then he also sing Nice Guy, and also took some footage for his video (out already in Youtube!), the title is "Clenching my Booty". Actually, they took footage in all Ryan's Asia Show (SG, KL, and HK)

After the event finished, ofcourse we need to take photo.. Right? :P
So, here's the photo of the team :)

Credit photo - from Soulmanna live facebook page

Thank you Pauline, Wenona, and Rish for letting us be a part of the event crew. It's a fun experience.

Thanks Daniel for taking our photos!

Thanks Sam for guiding and letting us know what to do :)

Thanks Greg, for keeping the fun atmosphere!

Thanks Ryan, it's inspiring to see how you manage to keep the smile even though you're super tired.

TEEHEE!

Kina Grannis in Manila - August 2012

Sooo...
I was so sad to missed Kina's Asia Pacific Tour last March.
I had planned to attend at least three of her show, in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and in Singapore.
The thing plan was to attend her KL show on March 13th with Toby (US Kinerd, who was working at Laos), then go to Jakarta with Toby and Rob and maybe Steph (Philiphine Kinerd), then we'll fly for her Singapore show, which was held on March 19th.
The thing was, at that moment I was waiting for my work visa in Singapore. Furthermore, March 17th is my birthday. So my parents ask me to go home. And i thought okay, at least I can try attending her Jakarta show.
To cut the long story short, my plan failed. There were so many things to do at home. So... i missed the entire shows, and passed the tickets to some people :)

Anyway, the Manila show was cancelled, I think not much ticket sold due to school exam period, but Kina still go to the venue, and perform free for her fans.
That's so nice of her!

Move forward to June 2012. I heard rumors that Kina is heading to South East Asia again, well, at least Manila.
So i contacted my friend, Steph. And kind enough, as soon as the tickets are on sale, she purchased one for me, and also one for Mark (Ireland Kinerd).
Luckily I've passed my 3 month probation on work, and allowed to take some leave.
I bought Jetstar tickets, and was actually thinking to find a hotel near by, and maybe spend some more time to travel around Manila.
Steph is super-awesome, she told me to stay at her place instead.

August 2012..
Manila was in a very bad weather, it has been raining non-stop for around 2 weeks.
I left Singapore at 6th August, early in the morning, with a little bit worried about the weather.
Thank God, the plane landed safely. It was only a small drizzle. Mark waited for me at the passanger arrival. And we went to his hotel in Resort World to kill the time until Steph arrived.
Steph finally arrived, and we went to Mall of Asia (Super-huge mall). Too bad, due to the rain and flood, most of the shops closed early. :(
We ended up in a bowling place, and both of them tried to teach me to play bowling..
My clumsy finger doesn't really work well with bowling, soooo.. yeah.. can't even beat Steph's or Mark's score :P
Anyway, i can safely say, I've went bowling.. ONCE.. :P
We went back to Mark's hotel, and head to the casino, to catch some live performance.
It was quite okay, but we're all tired. So after a while, Steph and I went to her house.

Late that night, Steph's parents come back from USA. I also met her brothers. All of them were a bunch of nice-warm-friendly people! (THANK YOU for welcoming me in your house! You've made my trip to Manila memorable).. :)

The next day, we try to catch Kina in some radio show. There were 2 radio show planned, but only 1 still on. So we waited, and she finally come with Pauline (www.soulmannalive.com). By the way, Soulmanna live is handling some youtube concert in Asia and Australia (at least: David Choi, Clara Chung, AJ Rafael, etc). They used to be "Monsoon Team", but changed their name sometime earlier this year I think.

Pauline is from Singapore. She's quite surprised to know Mark came all the way from Ireland, and I came from Singapore. I also found out we're on the same flight back to Singapore! Weeee..
Anyway, kina perform two songs, and it was awesome!
She sang Mr. Sun... which followed by the sun actually peeking up! And kinda eased out our worry about the show.

Oh, and I manage to get photo with Kina :)

I also met Jown and Tere (awesome people!), and we spent the noon at McD in Greenhills. The show will be held in Promanade Theatrino, which is in Greenhills.
Since the flood was bad in Manila, so Jown decided she'll book a hotel nearby. We found Elian Hotel (sorry if it's misspelled). We killed the time by playing ukulele, charging phones (yes, our phone batteries dried out soooo fast!), singing, eating, and more singing.. Super fun-relax time.

When we want to go to the venue, Steph and I was surprised to see Kina and Pauline at the lobby.
Apparantely they can't find a cab, and was gonna walk to the venue (it was around 15 minutes walk!!). They brought Kina's guitar as well! Wow, can't imagine how they are going to handle it!
Tere offered Kina and Pauline, that Steph will drive them to the venue..
And sooo.. the awkward drive begin :P
Kina was really quiet (i think she's worried about the weather and how it will affect the show). I am bassically a very introvert person, and Steph needs to focus on the road as it's raining.. Luckily Pauline safe the awkward moment by trying to chat with Steph and me.. :P

We arrived at the venue, and we picked up Tere, Jown, and Marc. In the venue, we met Jeff and Jude. Kuya (brother) Jude shared his story on how he reach the venue.. Look at the link of the video, posted below! It was super inspiring how he manage to reach despite the bad weather, and he still have that positive attitude..
http://soulmannalive.tumblr.com/post/29547152973/kinamanilafanvid1

The show was gonna start at 7 pm. Pauline ask us to join her in the backstage around 6 pm.
She kindly provide us icecream.. YAYYYY! Icecream party backstage!! :D

Kina come out, and hang out with us for a bit. She answer some call from Kinerds who can't make it to the show, and she kindly remind them to be safe.

Then it's time to start openning the door. We help them doing the merch, as the merch team can't make it due to the flood.
This might be the most-internationally merch team ever.. Self claimed, but still.. :P

The show it self is awesome. I cried a bit when she sang Strong enough.. Very beautiful!!!!
When the show was over, the meet and greet ended up with all of us, eating Kina's birthday cake.
There were some left-over, which we pass to Kina and Pauline. (That's where the cake-overdose tweet came, guys!)


And i will close this post with a picture taken by Kuya Jude
Much love to Manila Kinerds.. You're awesome!! <3>

Photo credit: Jude Ng

P.S: So great to meet you guys, and to call you friend!

Left to right: Jeff-Mark-Jown-Steph-Tere-Ayrine..

And Jude holding the camera!



Book Review: The Lost Year - Mary Higgins Clark

I'm so excited to live near a library!
I manage to grab the newest book from my favourite author, Mary Higgins Clark :D

The story:
Jonathan Lyons, a biblical scholar, was murdered. The house was almost empty. His daughter, Mariah found his dad's dead body, and saw her mother hiding in the study closet.
The thing is, her mother, Kathleen, got a really bad hit from Alzheimer. She barely remember things when it get worse.
Police suspect Kathleen, since no one else was in the house, and there were no sign of forced entry.
On the funeral day, the priest, Father Aiden, told Mariah that Jonathan told him, he found a sacred letter.
It was believed that Jesus wrote one letter to thank Joseph Arimatea for his kindness. Another believe was, Joseph was the one helping Jesus to study abroad from 9 years, until when He start His ministry. Jesus also knew that His time in the earth was going to end, and He will be buried in a tomb provided by Joseph. Thus, He wrote the one and only letter.
Mariah was beheld by her thoughts, was it her mother who killed her father in rage. Well, Jonathan was having an affair for quite sometime with one of his colleague, Lilian.
Also, Mariah felt she didn't treat her father well due to his affair. She felt a bit quilty for not accepting his father wholely.
On the other side, Jonathan's colleagues are also curious because Jonathan said he found the sacred letter, but apparantly the letter goes missing.
The police held Kathleen for treatment, they are still believing that Kathleen murdered her own husband.
It is now Mariah's task to clean up her mother's name, to find the killer, and save the sacred letter. And maybe her own life.....


My opinion:
Good book! I love Mary Higgins Clark. It is fun to read her book, and to re-connect with her favourite so-called-detectives, Alvirah and Willy. Oh, it was quite shocking to find who the real killer is, but the love-side was quite detectable :p
Also a intriquing part about the Jesus' story. But it was fun to read :)

Gonna try to get Carol Higgins Clark's new book next. Wish me luck!! :D

Book Review: Heaven is for Real for Kids

I've heard so much about the book "Heaven is for Real", but the adult edition was a bit too much for me :p
So when Booksneeze listed the kids' edition, i quickly opted to get it.
I just received the book, and managed to get it finished in less than 10 minutes :P
Perhaps I should get the adult version, eh? haha

Basically this book tells the story from Colton Burpo, who was brought to heaven while he was sick.
He elaborate what he sees, the angels, Jesus' throne, etc.
This book is a perfect fit to let kids know about heaven and how much our Daddy God loves us :)
Might be better for 7-10 years old though :)

I got this book from Booksneeze, and Thomas Nelson publishing initiative. The review is purely my opinion :)

Book Review: Bittersweet Surrender

I've read this book last March, but forgot to put up a review.
So, the book was from Thomas Nelson Publishers, called Bittersweet Surrender. The writter is Diann Hunt.
I picked this book from BookSneeze, mainly because of the cover. Yes, CHOCOLATES!!

Carly Westlake is an owner of a spa, famous for their chocolate treatment. (hmmmm... I wanted to go to spa, badly! :D)

But the story was a bit dissapointing for me. Maybe because I can't relate to her, at all.
It was good, but not that good.
Okay, back to the plot.

So, Carly is a cancer survivor. She's divorced. Her husband dumped her when she was struggeling with cancer. BAD GUY! :(
Her spa is quite famous, but the business itself isn't that good. There seems to be something wrong with the finance or the way the spa was run. Carly best friend, Scott, helped her managing the tax and financial admins. Scott's wife was Carly's best friend, and helped her managing the spa's stock purchase. She passed away few months back, but Scott remained to help Carly on the Spa. Scott has just found the reason why her spa wasn't doing well, but he kept that as a secret, because it might broken Carly's heart. He was conflicted, and silently promise to keep by Carly's side.
On the other hand, Carly's high school crush, Jake, is back in the hood! And with his daughter! Romance alert!!

anyway...

Later through this book, we'll see how Carly learned some secrets of her family and friends, remembered the past, and yet keep on moving.

You'll have to be patient though, as the plot moves slowly. I think i won't buy this book if i saw it on the store. Truthfully, I read it till the end, just because I hate to not finishing a book.
This review is my own opinion. No one forced me to say good things, or bad things about this book. :)

Book Review: Cherised

I'm on my second-book review this month :)
This book is written by Kim Cash Tate.

To be honest, I expected this book to be like the "First Date" (the last book i read), which was fun, light, and youthful. But not, Cherised is a bit heavier read. The story involved Kelly London, who used to wrote songs. She hasn't been writing any songs after one point of her life where she did abortion. Incidentally, one of her brother found out she wrote a beautiful piece titled "I will Love You", and asked her to sing it in his wedding.
She did, and it blew the audiences. As she sings, she remember her past.

This event brings Kelly to moved in with her brother, and eventually things working out. Her sister in laws thought that God's calling Kelly to write song, and although Kelly sometimes have small faith, they kept being a solid rock foundation, believing for God's to place Kelly perfectly.

It works! And in the journey, Kelly is able to let go of her past, forgive the guy that hurt her, and believing God's for everything. Kelly eventually involved in the making of beautiful album, made by Brian aka Alien, a famous christian rapper. They shared their love for their lost baby, and at the end trusted God to use their story and their songs to brought others to see God's love.

It was a good reading! I cried out a bit, when reading about Kelly's past, her worries, and her struggle to let go. Also it's moving to read about Heather's struggle, who was a broken-hearted girl, used to be mistress, but  at the end realized she is God's beloved, precious, and forgiven.

This book was given to me by Booksneeze, from Thomas Nelson publishing company. In my own opinion, it was good! Read it! :)

Book Review: First Date

First Date is written by Krista Mc Gee. I got this book for free from BookSneeze.com, under a program with Thomas Nelson Publishing Company.
I was looking for something fresh, and I saw the cover on BookSneeze. I knew I had to read this book.
The main lead is Addy. She's just an ordinary girl, trying to blend in. She was chosen to represent her school in a reality show entitled "The Book of Love".
One of the main reason why Abby doesn't want to be on the show, is because she doesn't want to be famous. Her parents were killed when they're trying to stop drug deals in the area. They were missionaries, and Abby was raised by her uncle, Mike.
Abby ended up joining the reality show. The idea of the show is to look for a prom date for the President's son, Jonathon. She entered the show with one focus, to quit as soon as possible. But Jonathon is quite charming, and she soon felt that she has connection with him.
At the first weeks, Abby HATE to be on the show. But days passed, and she felt disappointed at her self, she felt she let her parents, her uncle, her school down, and she felt she let God down. She's too embarrassed to admit that she's a Christian, and she certainly doesn't behave like one.
Until one day her roommate, Kara, asked her whats wrong with her. Abby admitted how she felt being on the show. She even started to be a good friend, and enjoy the luxury given by the show.
There were ups and downs, and lots of lessons that Abby get during the show. But one thing that catch me, was when Abby was sick, and had to be treated in the hospital. She felt disappointed, as when other girls were having fun, she was stuck at the hospital. The day after she was released, she went to a diner with his uncle. They overheard a conversation, a plan to kidnap Jonathon, and subsequently kill the President.
Mike move fast, and let the Secret Service know. They manage to ruin the killing plan.
It was a blessing in disguise! When Hank was planning to kick Mike out of the show, suddenly Jonathon found out that Mike had saved his life, and thanked him on the show, so Hank couldn't kick Mike out.
The story shows how Abby was transformed, she begin to accept God's calling, begin to involve God even in small things like trying to be friendlier to people, even to Hank.
This book is good for light-reading, and it is totally heart warming! It put a smile on my face when I read the end of the story.
Love it!

Kina Grannis - In Your Arm Tour 2012

Youtube sensation, Kina Grannis, ending 2011 with huge blast. She was featured on The Ellen Show, and performed her song "In Your Arm". In case you haven't notice, the video below, was shot for 22 months, featuring 188,000 jelly beans and her self. The video went viral, getting almost 2 million views within 2 weeks.

This year, She is going to do another round of world tour!
Started in Manchester, UK on Feb 3th, the Europe tour involves 16 cities, spread from UK, The Netherlands, Germany, and many others. The next month, she will perform in South East Asia, involving shows in Malaysia, Philiphines, Indonesia and Singapore. The next round is Australia Tour, and followed by USA Tour, where Los Angeles will be the final stage for In Your Arm Tour.

Get your tickets NOW!

First fruit of 2012

This year, 1 January falls on Sunday. So I started 2012 by going to a sunday service. :D
My pastor, Joseph Price, shared about what God put in His heart for this year.

It was taken from Jeremiah 17:7-8

⁷Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

⁸For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Our church's theme for 2012 is "The year of unceasing fruitfullness"
How bad the situation in the world is, even if it's the year of drought, we will still be blessed. If we meditate on God's words, our leaves shall be green, and we will bear fruits, and what ever we do shall prosper.
And one thing that I remember was, he mentioned that in every month of 2012, God will give us a wonderful and pleasant surprise.. ~12 manner of fruits.

I've been looking for job in Singapore for quite a while. Around 7 months to be exact. My student pass has expired, and so I was thinking to go back home.
Sometime at the end of december 2011, a friend of mine who is taking a phd, told me that one of her senior researcher is looking for  a chemist. She said he's working on organic chemistry, and looking for a phd candidate. I am a bit hessistant to take phd, because I didn't do well on my master's degree. So I told her, maybe if he's looking for a research assistant instead of phd student, i'll apply.
My friend told me to just go for it, and email the researcher.
And I did.
The researcher replied my email, and we do some chats, and at the end he asked me to drop by his office on the next day. So I went there, and he interviewed me.
I personally thought I didn't do well. He needed someone with experiment, someone who wanted to do PhD, and someone who can commit 5 years. I tried to be honest with him, I told him I was thinking to do research, but not a phd. I am okay with working 5 years and doing laboratory work, as that's my undergraduate study is. We talked for a while, and he told me, he needed to talk to his supervisor. The main decision will be in the supervisor who's coming in two weeks (early January).
January came, and I got an email saying that the supervisor asked whether I would be okay if they send me for a year in Israel. I thought that this is a good chance. I said yes. Then he emailed me back, saying that the supervisor wanted to talk with me. We made an appointment.

Later I told my parent about this. They were not really allowing me to go to Israel. It is to far. I'm a girl. They are worried. :) But at the end of the day, my dad told me, to go for it if I really wanted it. He just need to know if I'm sure with my decision, and asked me to prayed over it. We came up with this, if God really wants me to do this, if until the day of the interview, there will be no other interview/offer for me, it means that this is God's will. I kept on sending my resumes and applications. There was no interview/offers.
So I meet the researcher and supervisor. I came 15 minutes earlier, and found that the office was empty. Several minutes passed, until they appeared. They asked me to came inside their office. Then the interview begin.
During the interview, I noticed from the supervisor's body language, that he didn't really like me.
Haha.. I have to admit, it's my fault by being ressistant to do PhD. The awesome thing was, the researcher seemed to persuade him to take me. When the supervisor went out to check my mark, the researcher told me to say that I'm open to do PhD, but prefer to see how things worked first. He's also trying to explain to me how the PhD will works better for me. I told him that I did have the thought of taking PhD, but just not this soon. He said this is great. I thought this was really God's work. He has favour upon me. :) The supervisor was told that my marks are not so good, so the university won't pay for my tuition if I took Phd. Then he asked me to go outside while they will discuss.
They called me in afterwards, and told me this.
Our decision is, you will work for us until June. We will see how you work. If you do well, and if you want to do PhD, we will pay for your tuition. Not the university, but the research team. If you don't want to do Phd, than we will discuss what to do next.
All I can think was "Praise God". I thought I didn't do well, but God turned my lack, and make something good out of it.
This is the first blessing of the year, the first fruit of 2012.

Oh, and when I called my dad, he said "This is exactly what I prayed, you'll get the job, but you won't need to move to Israel. You won't be bond, because 5 year is just too long. This way, you'll get to know how it's like working with them." WOW!
So God answer his prayer! And this also fulfills one of my wishes for the year.

I still have to wait for the employment pass, they told me it will take sometime. But I know my God is able to change things, He is more than able to make everything processed faster.

I'm so excited to know what He has is store for me next :D Wohooooo..
I have an AWESOME GOD!

3 Wishes for Next Year

For next year, I want to ask God three wishes:
1. A better temper.. I am a hot temper-girl.. I get mad easily, and sometimes a little bit moody. I felt bad for people around me, but I can't help it.. I wish i could manage my temper easily..
2. A better relationship with God and my family..
3. A satisfactory Job.. One that I love, and enjoy doing..

I know my God loves me. Can't wait for what He has in store for me for 2012!

A good friend passed away

It's been almost two months since a very good friend of mine passed away. I'll have to admit, there were times back then that I regret. For example, I sometimes was too busy, to atleast say "HI".. or.. When he texted and all i thought was "uh, it's him again!" But, he's one of the nicest person I knew. He's like a big brother, that you can rely on. Just that, sometimes, we couldn't really know how important a person is until he/she is gone.
When I first heard the news, on Thursday night, I couldn't stop crying.
My close friend, called from Australia. She's the one who informed me first. All I could say was "for real? Are you serious?" and we shared our tears. He was involved in a hit-and-run. The driver who hit him managed to escaped. Remembering how he used to drive, all I thought was he must be driving really fast, and didn't manage to turn the wheel. I decided, I need to went back to Surabaya. At first I really wanted to be there just as soon as possible. But my sister calmed me down, and at the end I took the Saturday flight.
I went to the memorial on Saturday night, and saw his family. His mom looks really pale. It must be really devastating for them. It just break my heart :(
He was buried on Sunday morning, with only few classmates attending. I was his junior, but I felt that I need to pay my respect.
I never said to him how much I appreciate him. He was a kind person. He had a great faith, and really active in church. He had a crush on a girl, but that girl had a boyfriend already, yet he's still in touch. He had a girlfriend after that, but things were not well, and they broke up.
That day, his friend told me that actually he still had a crush on the first girl. It felt so bad, to knew that he wasn't "lucky" in relationships.
That day, I learned a lot of things about him. How indeed he was a good brother, how he has a passion to bring his family to Christ. The latest news I know, his sister is joining a church :)
I would say, there is still a part of me that felt bad. I never said how much I appreciate him when I had the chance. I could easily remember those time when me and my friend "mocked" him, make jokes on him, and laughed with him (because he's accepting it), but I couldn't remember when I told him that he's doing a good job. He is a good senior, a good leader, and ofcourse a good friend.
As for now, I still miss him sometimes, but I'm thankful that I had the chance to know him. I'm looking forward to meet him again one day in heaven :)
The lesson I learn are, be thankful with the people God put around you, whether it's your family, your friends, your colleague, your church friend, simply everyone. Be thankful that you're still alive.
You are God's beloved, be sure to share the love with people surrounds you!

My 2011 Christmas wish list

This may sound too much..
But top of all, i want a job!!! Hopefully before the year ends, i want a job that won't bored me, yet won't make me die of working as well :)
So, I could enjoy working, becoming a blessing for those in my workplace, and affecting people's live with my work. Not too much to ask, isn't it? :)

Then I'll continue with the girls shopping wish list .. :D
1. Too Faced In Your Dreams ($59) - Sephora
2. That fancy yellow dress in Ms. Selfridge (at least i could share with my sister!! haha)
3. A new jeans skirt.. I need more skirt!!
4. Some new t-shirts.. Mine looked dull, and i've grown bigger.. hihi
5. Shoessss.. Yesss, I love new shoes
6. Handbag.. :D

Haha.. i think if i get those, i shall live happy.. Till new year! :D

p.s. I guess my new year wish list gonna stay the same though... hihi

Greatly blessed, Highly favoured, Deeply loved

God works in the most unthinkable ways..
I've been a bit down lately with my unlucky in finding jobs. While you're just graduate, and your friends all settling down with their jobs, and you're the only one left with uncertainity of where you gonna work, how you gonna give back your parents, and how to make them proud, it just frustrating.
I had applied for various jobs, from the entry level (which i'm actually at, as a fresh graduate) till those junior executive jobs, from engineerings, administrations to the management trainee jobs. Really no luck at all. Many resumes sent, not even a single interview.
Since the beginning of my job-searching, there is one particular job that I'm not applying. Sales.
I just felt, my english is bad, and i have no confidence at all to talk to people and engage them to buy anything or invest their money.
But a couple of weeks ago, I actually met a guy who work as a Sales Engineer. He explained how interesting his work is. He told me that the job is not only about making incomes, but also building relationship with the client.
And a week after that, I found an advertisement about a Sales Engineer Position. The advertisement said nothing at all, only said, they wanted a 2-year experienced on sales/marketing person, with knowledge on chemical. I didn't think about it, because although i think the description are interesting (sorry, i can't share it), i thought I don't have the ability.
Suddenly, on Sunday, my pastor preached about how the believer will stand out. Despite of the bad economic, they'll still blessed. The world will see that God made them special. And he also said something about, when you ask God for a job, although you don't have the ability, He'll do it for you.
Ask God the ability to be excellence in your job.
I was so moved, that I drop my resume on that Sales Engineer job. I believe that if I'm accepted, then God has a purpose, and He'll surely give me the ability needed.
Few days after that, the recruiter called me, and we set an interview.
I felt that I did poorly at the interview, until even the interviewer started to suggest me what to answer if those kind of questions were asked. He said he's going to contact me in 3 days. 3 days later, no news at all. But I felt a bit dissapointed, but i realize that, even though i didn't get this job, I've been so blessed! I received new knowledge, and it surely will help me on my other interviews.
I shared this with my friends at church. They prayed over me. We stand in believe that God has a big plan for me, and set a really good job for me.
The next week, my pastor shared about how God reward His servant. How God acknowledge what His people are doing. In serving, it's not about how you do your job, but it's about whom you're doing the job for. I felt so blessed.
I actually sign up for helping the sunday school on a trip to Universal Studio. I have to admit, I'm totally afraid of going there. I felt that i did wrong decision by signing up. I might scream even louder than the kids. But with the help of my friends, I put my thought on serving the Lord, touching the kids' life, and have fun. I'm believing that God will give me boldness to be able to enjoy those scary games :p
On Monday, my team leader in sunday school ministry suddenly texted me, he reminded me on how God will reward His servants, and when He open the way, no one can close it. He encourage me to pray, for God to show His work, if the job is from Him, than He will open the way. If it's not from Him, He'll close the way (something like that). I felt so blessed, and so loved by God. He kept sending me messages.
I thought, i need to thank the recruiter for the tips that he gave me. Well, i do felt sad for not hearing back from him, but I felt he has given me lots of tips, that I need to thank him. So I drop him email, saying thanks and such. By the way, this is one week after the interview.
Out of no where, the next hour, that man called me. And said the company is interested at my profile. Praise God. If looking at the requirements, I'm totally out of it. And looking at the interview, i did poorly. I felt, this is really God's favor.
The next interview will be on next week. I don't know if this job is really from Him, but I believe He had prepared the best for me. I'm really greatly blessed, highly favoured, deeply loved by the Lord, Daddy God.
:)

Restful Increase - NCC

This is a lovely song from New Creation Church - Singapore.
I'ld love to share it with you, as I'm sure you'll be blessed..

No longer striving, No longer stressed
In You, my Jesus, I've found my rest
No longer toiling, hard labour ceased
For You've assured me
Restful increase

Your open arms held nothing back
Your life for mine
You overpaid my debt
Free in Your love
I have found my rest
Your heart's delight
Is to see me blessed

You've given me peace all around
Now I'm enjoying
This Grace I've found
Health in my body, joy in my soul
Jesus, my future is filled with hope

Youtube artist in singapore?

Just got some news.. Some Youtube artist are heading here. Guessed FarEastMovement, Jayeslee and David Choi say some good words about having a show in Singapore.. :p

Ryan Higa (@Therealryanhiga), is going down to Singapore..
Ryan is a well know youtube artist, focusing his videos on humour, and he's usually touring as a MC.
He was just finnishing ISA Seattle on the end of July, where he perform as an MC with Cathy Nguyen, and Kev Jumba. On his tweet few days ago, he said he *might* visit Singapore soon. I'm wondering whether this has any relation with a Boombox tour in Malaysia.. Still can't find any confirm date on the tour though..

Clara Chung (@Claracmusic) also mentioned in her website that she is going down to Singapore.
Clara is a youtube musician.. I like her new official video, "Heartstring", it was totally cute.
Her songs are catchy, and i think she'll totally deserved a sold out show here in Singapore.

Kina Grannis (@Kinagrannis) earlier this year mentioned that she's heading to South East Asia at the end of this year (2011). Till now, there is no official show dates. But when confirmed through email, she said, it's all still a rough plan, and there is nothing to be confirmed at the moment.. Guess we'll just have to cross our finger..

AJRafael (@ajrafael) is going to Singapore at the beginning of 2012. This is still a rough plan though, and this news is still needed to be confirmed.

At this rate, I hope WongFu Productions considered going down to Singapore as well.. And if I may dream a bit more, I hope the next ISA will be in Singapore.. :D


Update - as in September 2012, Clara did have a show in Singapore on 2011. AJ Rafael show was on 16th January 2012. Wongfu had their show (although Ted didn't come) on 27-28 Feb 2012. Kina had her show on 18th March 2012. Ryan Higa just finished the show on 1st September 2012. Kudos to SoulmannaLive for bringing these guys!

Sooo.. ISA singapore, maybe? :D