Project 365

For numerous times, Ari and I talked until so late today — until 5am! I couldn’t believe myself that I could stay up that late knowing that my energy was worn out due to Queen’s day and the preparation for our weekly pengajian. But I did that anyway, and I slept just after Fajr prayer.

I was awoken by a phone call from a friend in Leiden at 9am. It was at this time that I got a major headache that lasted until the evening. She had some problems and was even crying when she called me. I was still very tired but couldn’t really say anything except trying to calm her down and gave her my opinions and possible solutions. This kind of thing was unexpected; but I knew that if I needed help, I would perhaps annoyed people too. Hehehe. But I was glad that I picked up the phone and tried my best to help her.

I tried to go back to sleep, but couldn’t really sleep very well. I had to wake up and get ready by 1.30pm anyway. I went to Helmond at around 2pm; I was invited by Jess to celebrate his father’s birthday. Jess’s mom, bu Rosita, cooked a super delicious sate padang!!! I ate like crazy hahhaa. I think I ate more than 15 tusuk lol. Our friends, Windi and Heru also joined the celebration and we talked, talked, and talked! It was fun and we laughed a lot!

I reached home around 9pm and prepared myself to go to bed straight away. My headache didn’t get any better — it was even worst! I called my friend (who called me this morning) again to make sure she’s okay and went to sleep. By the time I was suddenly awake at 3am, I realized my headache was gone. Alhamdulillah.

Such a tiring day, yet fun! Ari, Jessie, and I planned to do an ice skating tomorrow, but it seemed like the plan would be canceled. So, I’m going to spend my Sunday for myself quietly.

Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day) is a national holiday in the Netherlands which celebrates the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands and symbolizes a national unity and togetherness. Queen’s day is one of the most celebrated holidays in the Netherlands, where people dress in orange (which refers to the name of the Dutch royal family, The House of Orange) and gather in the center of the city (in Dutch: centrum) for parties, concerts, etc. The centrum of all big cities in the Netherlands are generally packed with people, with most main roads are closed to cater for many entertainment events. Amsterdam is perhaps the most visited city for the Queen’s Day. A friend of mine told me that even the trains leading to the city had to be suspended due to the exploding number of people in the Central Amsterdam train station.

On this special day, anyone in the country are also allowed to sell things in the streets without being taxed. As I’m not a big fan of being around with drunk people and loud music, I preferred to spend this year’s Queen’s Day helping teh Rita and others selling many things on the market. I got the opportunity to practice my Dutch speaking skill with the customers and Oma Yana (pictured). It was a fun day; we managed to be there from 9am til 3pm and got about 70 Euros!!! I was so happy. The money would be used for our religious activities (i.e. mosque) and donated to Indonesia. I was very satisfied 🙂

I also went around the market to hunt for cheap stuff. I was looking for Scrabble, the game I used to play when I was a teen, but found none (I found the children version though). I bought two beautiful necklaces for 50 cents (both!). It was worth it!

We went home (back to teh Rita’s place) at 3pm and it took us more than half an hour to reach home! All roads leading to centrum were closed for concerts (the music was very loud, it could be heard from as far as teh Rita’s place! — about 2 kilometers from centrum). I was quite tired by then and decided to take a rest about an hour before continuing to cook for our weekly pengajian.

Jessie, Ari, and I were supposed to wake up at 8am today. We planned to go to Lisse, a town made famous for tulip fields and the biggest flower garden in the world: Keukenhof. But none of us seemed to hear the alarm and the next thing we knew, it was already 10.30 am! LOL!

Today wasn’t as beautiful as yesterday though. The sun was hiding and it was forecasted to be raining. It was a bit chilly too (good thing I brought my coat this time!). But we went to Lisse anyway. We rented a bike near the Keukenhof and cycled around the town to see the flower fields (especially the tulips!). It was beautiful! Such an amazing thing to see massive fields with different colors of flowers scattered for many kilometers! Although I did the same thing last year, it was still worth doing! 🙂

We went back to Utrecht at around 8pm to pick up my stuff at Jessie’s place and went straight to Eindhoven. Overall, I had a super great weekend with my girls 🙂 Really enjoyed the laugh and the talks we had! Next plan is: ice skating 😉

Had an awesome day today with my girls, Ari and Jessie in Kinderdijk, a village that was famous for the windmills. There were 19 windmills in total, which made this village one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The day was PERFECT! The sun was shining so brightly and the sky was clear and blue. It was such a beautiful day. We walked along the path leading to these windmills, sat nearby a small river (or canal) and warm ourselves up under the sun, and had a great talk, as usual.

We went back to Jessie’s place in Utrecht at around 8 or 9pm, where Ari and I slept over there for a night. I was REALLY tired as I slept at 5am the night before. But I really enjoyed my day and I couldn’t be more happier and thankful 🙂

A friend asked me over YM: “How did you know this guy – the time when you were not using your brain?”

Yes, it’s so harsh, I know. I was even offended when he said it. But he’s always been like that. He say things honestly without thinking about what the other person will feel like. Yes, he’s too mean. We fought many times because of it. But I always turned to him for opinions.

When I said to him about how nice the guy was, he just went on to tell me: “I just don’t listen easily to a judgement made under the condition where a brain is absent.” OUCH! It directly stabbed my heart!

But, for whatever reasons, I appreciate that he said those mean words to me. Perhaps, I need someone to remind me that what I did was absolutely wrong. I shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. I needed someone to slap my face. And he successfully did that to me. Thanks a bunch, Kram for the reminder 🙂

I had a decent day today. I was so excited to meet him again and spend time with him for the whole day, but got really disappointed when he cancelled it in the last minute 🙁 I couldn’t say anything when it came to family, so I let it go. It does seem like I haven’t met him for weeeeks already! But I’ve only met him last Monday! Grrr… He promised to come on Wednesday… so I hope there won’t be any cancellations!

Thankfully, Ari was still at home when he told me he couldn’t come and I told her to stay. Qonit and Reyhan then came over and they brought us some foods! 😀 At least, I didn’t have to cook today (I was expecting him to cook for me! :D). I had another interesting girl talks with Ari, as usual. It’s fun!

Ari and I are planning to go to Utrecht to Jessie’s place next Saturday. We’re planning to sleep over and have girl talks for alllllll night loooonggg! Hahaha. Then we’re gonna go to Lisse to see the tulip fields 🙂 Gonna be exciting! I’m planning to meet up with Maureen tooooo…. Miss her too much!

Isn’t she an adorable baby? Allow me to introduce one of my favorite babies, Mentari who always brightens up people’s day 😉 Today was her 4 months birthday, but unfortunately, she was a little bit sick 🙁 Ari, Jessie, and me came over to visit her. It’s always refreshing to see her. And even… to see her smiling picture. I love it!

Today, Ari and I went to Helmond, a city about few minutes from Eindhoven. Jessie picked us up by car and we then went there to visit mbak Dina, who has just given a birth to a baby boy, Jethro. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of him 🙁 I forgot!

We also went to the castle (pictured) and walked around and had really nice girl talks! Having girlfriends is very important, indeed! We also talked about how hard it’s for Jessie, who’s a Dutch-Indonesian to be in Indonesia. Being a “bule” (westener / foreigner) is annoying; as she always receives too much attention from the people around her and the strangers. Indonesian people look “highly” on the westeners and the result is that, western people receive much better treatment than the local people. That’s what mbak Dina said to us. She tried acting as someone who came from the US (who couldn’t speak Indonesian at all) when she was shopping in the mall. And what happened was that, she got the attention from 3 salespersons who were so kind to help her (would it happen to us, the ordinary Indonesians?!?). Well, I bet not.

Anyway, after hours of girl talks and interesting conversation, we were invited to have dinner at Jessie’s house. It was a fun day! A total full day! Ari and I arrived at home around 10.30pm and we talked and talked for hours until around 3am! Phew! Girls just can’t stop talking when they’re together 😉

After having a 4-day road trip in 3 different countries, I came back home and arrived today at 2am. I went to bed at around 3.30am and woke up again at 8am. I had to go to Den Haag with my friends Ian, mbak Linda, and Sam. We had planned this gathering two weeks ago so that we could have a reunion with all the Indonesian people at the Boekenfestijn. And I was so glad I met all of them, except Maureen though 🙁 She had promised to come but I didn’t hear any words from her.

Anyway, we then went to the Pasar Malam organized by our Indonesian embassy in Den Haag. I spent quite a bit of money as I ate too many foods there! We also got the opportunity to watch some of the performances which were very entertaining! I had such a great time! 🙂

Ian and I then went to Amsterdam at around 6.30pm. I asked him to accompany me to meet my mom’s friend in Jeddah, tante Novi & family, who were here for vacation. I brought some stroopwaffels for my little brother 😀 . Tante Novi and oom Agung then invited us for dinner at an Indonesian restaurant called Kantjil (yet another Indonesian foods for today! hehehe). It wasn’t bad at all.

We took the last train to Eindhoven. I’m too tired but I’m impressed that I still managed to write this post! 😀

*the last 4 days of the posting will be written later 🙂

I went to a small city called Weert today. It’s about 20 minutes from Eindhoven by train. Sam, mbak Linda, and I were invited to Ian’s house. These were the people I met during the Boekenfestijn and we became close ever since. Sam and mbak Linda were a married couple originally from Maluku (Moluccas). Sam was half Dutch Indonesian (we call it Indo or Indische), while mbak Linda was pure Indonesian. Ian also had an Indonesian background. His father was a Dutch and his mother was an Indo born in Surabaya.

Anyway… in the afternoon, Ian and Sam were busy making some music while mbak Linda and I were busy shopping in the centrum (city) 😀 After shopping, we sat for a coffee and had a very interesting conversation. This was the first time I talked to her and had a deep conversation. We talked about many things, including our life, future, and Maluku! (I’m going to put this into two different posts: here and here). I had a great time! After our coffee time, Ian and Sam joined us and we had few more drinks. I got to try on a Dutch food (fish) which I forgot its name now!! It wasn’t bad at all.

Then we went to Ian’s house to meet with his parents and had dinner together. They were very nice and their house was very cozy! Ian’s dad cooked so many Indonesian foods and they were very very delicious! They were rendang, tempe goreng, and chicken among other things. You know, it’s amazing how it’s not unusual for the guys here to cook. All the guys on the table (Ian, his dad, and Sam) loved to cook and it’s quite rare for the guys in Indonesia to be able to do that. Once they get married, the wives were expected to do everything in the house, including cooking and doing house chores. But for the Dutch and many other Western people (and MY OWN DAD!), they took turns to cook. They split the house chores with their wife. Isn’t it great?!?

We stayed in Ian’s house until 9pm! It was a looooong day and we were all very tired. But it was a great day and I had such a wonderful time! 🙂