Project 365

After such a tiring day, I found myself looking through the pictures taken when I was in Brisbane, Australia. It was almost three years ago that I finally said farewell. Now I miss it again… I’ll come back, one day! 🙂

This is the apartment I shared with Jenn and Mayu, where we lived for 2 years. It was in this living/dining room that we constantly played poker and Big Two until late at night, watched a Korean drama series for two days non-stop, and had dinner with friends. A lot of memories here!

And of course… having a barbie (which is an Aussie slang for BBQ) at our apartment 🙂

Will and Jenn were posing, just before we watched Miss Saigon. It was the first time for the three of us to watch a musical theater! I love this picture! 😀 Awesome time, great musical 🙂

Exploring museums and having an afternoon walk on the banks of Brisbane River in South Bank with my housemates and Mayu’s mom. It was such a great weather!

This was taken at my farewell dinner in South Bank. I remember I had this farewell a week BEFORE exams, when I didn’t even know whether I would be graduating or not! Hahaha! I had no choice! Good thing that a lot of people showed up. It was one of the best nights!

One of the foods that I really miss? Definitely Nando’s! Well, true, it’s not an Aussie food, but I can’t find it in the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, or even in Indonesia!!! How sad! I have to go all the way to Singapore or Malaysia to eat this! Somebody needs to open a Nando’s branch in Jakarta!!! I’m sure we’ll love it! and… oh… they really should make an EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA HOT Peri-Peri sauce! Hehehe.

One of my favorite pictures. Singapore, Indonesia, India, Taiwan 🙂

Not to miss, the colorful trees (including the purple Jacaranda) around Brisbane during spring. It’s beauuuuuuutifuuuuul! 🙂

 

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.

— Kevin Arnold

There were many things I missed out during my stay in Jeddah. One of them was to play angklung at our first ever cultural event, Made in Indonesia, held at our campus.

I always loved cultural events! Besides having to promote our beautiful culture to others, it’s a great way to learn my country’s culture too! When I was in Brisbane, I had a chance to learn Acehnese Saman Dance and perform it for a number of times at different events around the city. I was proud of it. The reaction was incredibly great. People were amazed by us and we became more famous hahaha. It was a great success. So I really wanted to be part of something like this again… but it turned out, I couldn’t.

Suddenly, I was told that the angklung group was going to perform again next November and they were recruiting new members! So I immediately joined the group. Hehehe. Today was my first day of practicing. It was yeaaaaaaars ago that I saw and "read" the numbered musical notation. Phew. It was fun though! Finally I could play angklung! Hahaha.

* Photo courtesy of Windi, taken at Made in Indonesia event.

So, yes, I decided to move out. I really like my current room. I get along with the housemates really well. The location is really in the center and is close to university. But when I found a cheaper place, I instantly decided to take it.

My new room is still empty. I still need to clean it up. It’s bigger than my old room though and it consists of two small rooms; one of them can be used for study room. Hopefully I can move my stuff by next week! 🙂

The last time I went to Madinah, the huge "tents" were still under construction. They are now can be seen during the day, covering most of the outer space of the Mosque. They are massive!

As I looked through the view of the Mosque from the hotel, I realized that it would take years for me to be able to see this beautiful view again. And this might be the last time I would be here. Yes, I thought about ending my Saudi residence permit. It would be impossible for me to go back every year if I worked. Oh well, we would see what would happen next year.

I’ve just arrived here, in the city of Prophet Muhammad SAW, late at night. Dad has to do some assignments here so my mum, sis, and I tagged along :). I’ll be going to the Mosque tomorrow morning.

I got my residence permit today, alhamdulillah. I was so HAPPY. I’m going to leave for the Netherlands on Tuesday and arrive on Wednesday, insya Allah.

Wasior, a town in West Papua, has been devastated by flash floods due to heavy rain. The official death toll as of Friday was 101, with an estimated 76 others still missing.

It took our beloved President, who used to be good in being prihatin (concerned), three days to speak on the matter and to request on providing special attention on the disaster. He was even defeated by Hillary Clinton, who expressed concern about flooding in Wasior a day after the disaster struck.

Meanwhile, illegal logging in Papua was blamed for floods in Wasior :(.

My prayers for the victims and those who lost their loved ones.

A different angle of Ka’bah. I’m grateful to have the second chance this month to perform Umrah again 🙂

Got this picture from a friend of mine. Phew, such a long time ago. Can you guess where I was? 😀

I had been wanting to go to King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) for so long and I was so happy that today I had a chance to go there with my whole family!

It was such a HUGE campus! The moment we stepped in, I was already amazed by its size and the fact that it had its own golf course! Super cool!

 

Then there was a cozy library with its beautiful view of the Red Sea! The tall structure seen below was actually a lighthouse!

Everything was so new, clean, shiny, and cozy!

Without the help of these Indonesian students who studied at KAUST, we wouldn’t be able to visit this campus! Thanks to them, I got to discover a lot of cool things about KAUST. I’ll write more about it in my primary blog! Stay tuned! 🙂

At least, there’s something to be grateful about with my flight being delayed! Hehehe.

in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia