Project 365

Travel agent (TA): How old are you?

Me (A): 25… (silent). Uhm, actually, 26.

TA: Do you have an ISIC card?

A: Nope.

TA: Sorry, but you can’t get a discount fare. You can only get a normal fare.

A sad realization. I wish my age could freeze and stop. I want to be 25 years old for the rest of my life.

A Moroccan dress and a book 🙂 Oh! And some postcards as well. I forgot to include them in the picture 😛

Interesting choice of book by my friend… I don’t know why he gave me this book hahaha. I’ve sent all my books to Jakarta. So I’m happy that I have a new book to read, although I don’t know if I’ll read it now 😛

Two days ago, Angga and I were told to come to Bu Asri’s place to pick up something. When we arrived (during dinner time haha), we were asked to join the birthday dinner! It was totally unexpected! There were a lot of foods! Most importantly, there were IKAN ASIN and SAYUR ASEM!!! waaaaaa… Those were my favorite food that my mum always made!!!! I was so happy to find them!!! hehehehe…. Alhamdulillah :). Happy birthday, Ibuuu Asri 🙂

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that counts. It’s the life in your years.

— Abraham Lincoln

What does it mean to be a 25 years old? I kept asking that question to myself but I can’t seem to find a clear answer. For me, 18 was the time when I acquired freedom. 23 was the time when I transformed from being a teenage girl to a woman. But 25? What does it exactly tell me?

I still have no idea. What I know is that I’m getting older. Years ago I thought I would be married by the time I reached 25, but look at me now… still flying freely like there is no tomorrow.

I’ve been through a lot these past few years. I’ve been fulfilled. I’ve been contented. I’ve been betrayed and lied to. I’ve hurt some people. I’ve lost some friends. I’ve gained some more. I’ve traveled the world.

But there is one unfinished business that I’ve been trying to ignore for so many times: to graduate. To finish my Master’s thesis. Motivation hasn’t been a friend, but I’ve been trying to get it back. I HAVE TO GRADUATE BY NEXT SEMESTER! Let’s do this!!! Ganbatte!

Today was my last day in Eindhoven before leaving for Jeddah. And it was my last ifthar at the Turkish mosque as the Turkish people were going to celebrate Eid the next day. So since some of my friends would go back to Indonesia and I wouldn’t be seeing them again until they would return next month, I proposed to have a small gathering at Usine, a cozy cafe in the centrum (city center), right after the ifthar.

I was quite happy that it turned out many of my friends who came to the mosque joined the gathering at the cafe! And out of nowhere, Jessie gave me a birthday card and a gift!!! I WAS SO SURPRISED! OMG! An early birthday surprise! I never expected anything! And I didn’t suspect anything was going to happen that day! I mean, come on, I was just expecting a simple gathering, everyone enjoying themselves catching up with others… But it turned out that there were some hidden agenda behind it! Hahahaha! Jessie covered it up so well and got everyone write something on the card itself! Good joooob!

And what did I get?? A Versace perfume with the body lotion!!! I smelled this perfume when I was at a perfume shop with Jessie and I immediately really loved it! And she bought this for meeee… oh how sweet of herrrr. I was so touched, moved, and overwhelmed today! Thank you everyone, especially Jessie and Agni who planned the whole thing! 🙂

   

So yeah, since everyone knew that my birthday was coming up soon, they expected me to pay for the drinks. LOL. Sorry guys, I wished I knew I’d have been prepared! Hahaha.

In addition to the surprise, I had a great time that evening! Had a good laugh and catch up. Thank you again for coming! I really appreciate it. See you next month! 🙂