::kaikaikiki:: //tomatoe diary v.25//

20 OCTOBER 2004 ♥ 20:40

Plug: DAIGOCCHI // Daigo Stardust Fan Corner

This is a mini shrine dedicated to both Daigo Stardust and his fans. It's not a full-fledged website because I already have the fanlisting. Besides, I usually Daigofy my LJ, so no need to make a full-fledged website. Haha. Anyway, its main purpose is basically to serve the fans with various Daigo-ness, the same contents that I was planning for the EXTRA section in the fanlisting. So it's basically an extension of the FL. Please visit!

I also finally updated U-SUPPORT and INFINITY. Thanks to everyone who's joined! ^-^

Taihen, taihen! I've been feeling too sleepy these days! This morning I was 30 minutes late coming to work because I overslept. Yesterday, I nearly came late as well for the same reason. The worse thing is that, even with oversleep, the first thing I do when I get to my room at the office is: fall asleep at my desk. ^^;;; Damn, I don't know what to do about it. I've started to eat less and less during sahur so that I wouldn't be too sleepy and I've already stopped drinking hot milk after the meal. I also took a shower to feel fresher after praying, but I still feel sleepy afterwards. Mou wakaranai!

Bad news: my mom lost her cell phone today, in her office, of all places. She left her room for only fifteen minutes to pray and when she returned, her cell phone was already gone. It must be a kleptomaniac. And indeed, when she reported it to the office manager, the manager said that she had heard rumors of someone from one of the magazines (an editor) was a kleptomaniac. Freak! Thankfully, my mom's cell phone had been rather shitty lately. It's been repaired twice already and is still shitty even after that. Plus, she's been planning to get a new cell phone anyway. So, this is her chance to actually get rid of that cell phone. Haha. Bad luck for the klepto-freak! Guess he/she got the crap. At first she was really annoyed at the fact that it was gone because she had stored about 400 numbers in her phone. But one quick call to our friend in Nokia (remember the Hottie I.T. techie who used to come and fix our computer, Dendy-san?) was enough for her to be assured that her 400-something numbers were saved. Apparently Dendy-san still has the data. She had also blocked the missing SIM card. Fortunately, she can still use the same number. I'm glad... because I was the one who gave her that number and it's a really good number.

Speaking of office... there was a really amazing customer this afternoon. He's a foreigner. He's American. He's young (mid 20-ish). He's kind of cute (not my type, though). He came with his friend. He wanted to see HOW TO DRAW MANGA series. But actually we're not allowed to unwrap the series because it's under MANGA (English) section. He was speaking to me in Indonesian, asking, "Boleh lihat?" (May I see this?) I said, "Maaf. Buku ini tidak bisa dibuka." (Sorry, it's not allowed to browse this book.) But then he suddenly said, "Yah, Mbak, kenapa nggak boleh? Kalau saya mau lihat isinya, piye?" (Why not? If I want to find out what it's all about, how should I do it then?) --> Oh My God. He spoke with JAVANESE DIALECT! Piye (pronounced: PEE-YAY) is a Javanese word for how. I've met a lot of foreigners who can speak Indonesian fluently but I've never heard any who've spoken as fluently as this guy is... so fluent that he could use a dialect!!! And this guy actually doesn't look like he's a language/literature student. He was wearing formal working clothes and carrying a briefcase, from which I can safely assume that he's an expat working here. So how the hell does he know Indonesian dialect?! Perhaps he has an Indonesian spouse from a Javanese background?! ^^;;; Haaaa... I'm still amazed. I can't believe I just heard that. ... and here I am, moi the Indonesian, not able even to pronounce my own dialect... but this guy, an American, can. Sometimes... life can be so weird...

I've been very busy at work lately. My boss is worried about the audit trip by the SIMS team so he's been instructing everyone to prepare ourselves as best as we can. He's even preoccupied about our working room. He's been telling me to get it cleaned and he also wants me to decorate the room to look nicer for the guests. He can be very baffling sometimes. But I do my best to please him. After all, he did give me that Jordi Labanda book (see, it works!), which, according to everyone, is a bribe for me so I stay loyal to him and finish his reports on time. ^^;; In fact, "the bribe" is the only thing that keeps me from falling asleep completely at my desk in his presence. If he hadn't given me the bribe, I would have surrendered to the sleepiness no matter what.

On a happier note, I met Fara (Saiko) yesterday! Ohisashiburi desu ne! She was with her brother, looking at Japanese magazines. She said she had an appointment with someone to dine together to break the fast. We talked for quite a while about Johnny's. Her no. 1 favorite is Uchi Hiroki so naturally she was ogling the magazines with Uchi on the cover. I teased her, "Pah. Uchi. Look at him. He looks weird now." Fara whined a bit but anyway, she still likes him. Aikawarazu desu ne, Saiko-chan. Yokatta. ^^ Atashi mo, itsumo Junno ga daisuki desu yo! Shiru-chan, anata wa ima Johnny's no membaa no naka ni, dare ga ichiban suki desu ka? Sho-kun? Okada-kun? Yamapi? Hina-chan? ... iya, anata wa Johnny's no koto, mada suki desu ka?!
SHIRU, we must have a gathering when you come back to Jakarta!

I'll stop here and read MATANTEI LOKI RAGNAROK vol. 01, TACTICS vol. 01 and Duet 11/2004 before I catch some more Cardcaptor Sakura on Animax. That is, of course, if I don't fall asleep............

18 OCTOBER 2004 ♥ 22:30

Actually this day started out really bad. I had a headache and I was dreading my boss and the MDS asst. mgr. coming back to the office after their absence for two weeks (one of the best periods in my working life! XD). So I started the day feeling sort of gloomy and sulky.

Boss actually came, but the MDS asst. mgr. didn't. The latter claimed that he had a massive headache and a major jetlag *cough*excuses*cough*. Oh well, go ahead, mister... I'm happy you're going to be staying at home! Please stay at home again tomorrow, if you please! I am having such a great time at the office without you anyway. Hahaha. I'm such a meanie. But guess what... my boss is super nice!!!

He bought be Jordi Labanda's illustration book, HEY DAY, and wouldn't let me pay him back! The first thing he said to me when he entered the room was, "Hello, Amanda! How're you doing? Any e-mails? Oh, and I've got your book! I'll take it out for you in a moment!" Then we started working on the e-mails and didn't remember about the book until late in the afternoon. An e-mail from my senpai arrived at his inbox, inquiring whether it was true or not he had one box shipped from Frankfurt to Jakarta via Singapore. I asked my boss and he confirmed. In the middle of me replying my senpai's e-mail, he suddenly remembered about the book and excitedly opened his briefcase to take out that book. Then he gave it to me. I was completely in awe. FINALLY! The book I've wanted to get since ages ago... I finally have it! ^-^ I asked my boss where he got it and he told me a funny story. So, basically, he found this book in one of the suppliers' stand in the Book Fair, but the book wasn't for sale. There were only two copies; one to be displayed and browsed by visitors and the other for safekeeping in case the first book got damaged. My boss insisted that he needed this book and no matter what the supplier told him about the book not being sold, he wouldn't listen and kept on insisting. In the end, the supplier gave in and sold the book to my boss. Anyway, I asked him how much I owed him and he replied, "You owe me nothing. Just take the book! It's a present for you!"

Isn't he so kind?! XD He's actually very generous... except when he's being flippant and demanding about simple things like e-mails. LOL.
I showed my mom the book and she was amazed to hear that my boss went through ALL THAT for me. She said, "Even I wouldn't think of doing that for my secretary!" And hearing that, it kind of makes me think... it's true, ne, I don't think bosses generally treat their secretaries like that. I have the strangest feeling that he's doing that to make me stay at this job and not run away to get another job that pays me better. ^^;;; I have to admit, he's been generous ever since I mentioned the United Nations offer from my cousin to him. First the raise, and now this. Hah. Or he might also be thinking, "Hmm... this'll stop Amy from making excuses to not show up at work." LOL.
Well, sir, I have to admit, this kind of works. Haha.

The other thing that kept me alive and not fall asleep on my desk today was Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles vol. 04. This is probably my favorite volume so far (Vol. 01 is also good but this one is just brilliant). I've already written in my Livejournal that the reason why I found this volume so amazing is because of the abundance of Sakura + Syaoran's intimate moments. Plus, there are lots and lots of flashbacks to Syaoran's past with his father, Fujitaka-san (who is actually Sakura's father in CCS ... LOL! He traded children!) and I'm so in love with this character. Yes, I love Fujitaka-san! Is there a fanlisting?! ^^

The highlights of the volume, the scenes that got me laughing EXTREMELY loud:

+ This is where Kurogane seemingly said that he was scared being in that place and Fai said, "Don't worry. I'm here by your side." And in response to that Kurogane then was heard saying, "Oh, I'm so happy!" Whereas in fact it wasn't Kurorin but... Mokona! Hilarious! I was rolling on the floor laughing reading this part! +

+ This is another part where Mokona once again deceived his traveling companions. Syaoran had just been diving in the lake and discovered a stunning fact inside the lake. When he resurfaced Mokona shouted frantically at him about Sakura. Syaoran panicked and demanded to know what happened to Sakura. Then Mokona said, "She's sleeping soundly!" Syaoran then made that comical "falling" pose and his face looked so dumb when Mokona teased him for being so gullible. Mokona is such a git! +

I haven't been able to log in to Yahoo! Messenger since early this evening. Does anyone experience the same problems as I do? *kick YM* It better starts working tomorrow or else... >.< Urgh.

Since I can't chat, I think I'm just going to bed right now and read some more of that Tsubasa RC vol. 04 or start admiring my favorite fashion illustrator's work. And I'll see you in another entry tomorrow!

17 OCTOBER 2004 ♥ 00:10

HAPPY 23RD BIRTHDAY,

TSUBASA!!!

Waaaaaa... otanjoubi omedetou, aniki-chan! ^_^ Hope you have a great day!!! (One that you will spend with your honey, I hope... no actually, you *better* spend it with your honey, or else...) Sorry I ~~can't~~ won't join you, but please accept my card... see, it's got the face of your honey! Just like last year! You should love it all right. *snigger* And, Aniki-chan, I will always love and support you! ^____^ VIVA TSUBASA PER SEMPRE!

:: Read my memoirs of Tsubasa's 22nd birthday celebration with my fellow Tsubafriends last year! ::

I actually wanted to blog yesterday, on the 16th, but I held back until the 17th because, well, I wanted to say happy birthday to my "aniki-chan", Tsubasa. ^_^

So sad I'm not doing anything to celebrate Tsubasa's birthday this year. =__= But I did send him a card! Yep, sent a birthday card for Tsubasa. Didn't have time to take a pic of it, though. Actually, I didn't know if I sent it to the right address (LOL) but I did follow the steps and address of the Junno cards I sent last year. I just hope it gets to him. I wish I had had more time to prepare for the card. It just goes to show that this year, I'm so out of the loop with all things Johnny's, thanks to my job. Hiks.

Speaking of my job, even though this is the weekend, I came in to work yesterday. It's nothing really special, though, that I go to the office on a Saturday. I always go there every weekend anyway, as a customer. So it feels pretty normal. In fact, I was only there to work for about half an hour and the rest of the time I was there, I was busy hanging out with my friends (who were working for real). Today I wore a bright orange T-shirt and white jeans. My friends said that it made me look more fresh. They said I'd been looking sort of gloomy in the past few days. I argued that it was probably just because I usually wore black/white/basic colored clothes to work and on weekends I go for brighter colors. They said that it wasn't the clothes and that I really did look much more fresh than usual. I thought about it and remembered that I slept for twelve hours since Friday night. I think the sleep has made me look more fresh, bright-eyed and bushy tailed. ^_^

What I did in the office yesterday was actually nothing compared to my daily activities. I only finished up my work which I didn't get to complete on Friday because I didn't have the data. So I did that in less than ten minutes. Then I started calling in the recruits who have passed the first interview.
There is this one girl whom I interviewed on Thursday who was really desperate to get a job. Apparently she had memorized my office number so when my call got through and she picked up the phone she was already saying, "Is this Ms. Amanda from Kino?" So quick! I confirmed and then told her that I wanted to call her to attend the second interview that was going to be held on Monday. Upon hearing that, she immediately thanked me repeatedly and said, "I haven't been able to sleep thinking about the result of the interview. I was so afraid that the call would never come. So thank you very, very much for calling me." When I say she thanked me repeatedly, I meant that over and over and over and over and over again.
She's actually very good. I like the first impression I got from her during the first interview. She didn't really need to worry about not being called because with her qualifications, I'm sure she'd be able to get a job somehow. But anyway, it was clear that she was desperate. I don't know if we're going to accept her finally -- it's now up to the assistant manager of store sales and store operations whether she's going to get accepted -- but I have hopes that, should she join us, she'd be able to contribute something to our company.
I sympathize for her situation, too. It's hard to get a job nowadays. I guess I should be grateful that I have this job, in a place where I really like, and despite the annoying colleagues and customers, pays me really well. I guess I should learn not to take my job for granted from now on.

Leaving serious matters behind... I've been listening to music from Ryouhei Yamamoto's album, which were downloaded from ojochan's Yahoo! Groups, and now I've been turned into a Ryouhei Yamamoto fan!!! (And I don't even know how he looks like! Hahaha...) I definitely must buy his album. I don't know how or when, but I will get it somehow. I'm in love with his voice.

Some of the other artists whose album/singles I want to buy at the moment are Koshi Inaba, Pierrot, Janne Da Arc, Crystal Kay, Pipo Angels and of course Tackey & Tsubasa. I'm thinking that Daigo Stardust might just release his 2nd album in November, which is the month he released his 1st album last year, so I'll definitely CD-shop when his album is out. I usually buy TxT and Daigo CDs at the same time. This time around, I will add Ryouhei Yamamoto's album into the list. If my mom allows me, and if my own money is enough for me to spend, I'll include Koshi Inaba and Pipo Angels, too.

On the meantime, can anyone tell me where I can download Pipo Angels' song Luvly, Merry~Go~Round, which is the 2nd Opening Theme Song of the anime series, Tantei Gakuen Q? I'd be grateful if anyone could give me a link. I can't get that song out of my mind at all. It's so catchy and I think it just goes well with the animation in the opening of the series.

I'll end the entry here because it's late. I'm sleepy now and still feeling very full from dinner (my dad *hearts* cooked for us; we had lamb leg --> which reminded me of Roald Dahl's excellent piece of writing entitled "Lamb to the Slaughter"). I also better sleep now because I have to wake up early to prepare for the fast and pray. So... bonne nuit a tout le monde!

15 OCTOBER 2004 ♥ 9:50

The fasting month starts today. I wish all the best for the people who are going to fast in the next month, including myself. I also apologize if I had made a mistake to any of the people I know. Let's start the fasting month with pure spirits!

Every morning I go to work by car. Of course I never drive by myself because driving in this city is enough to make one mad. So I have a driver who drives the car while I sit calmly at the back, thinking about work-related problems. Yesterday I told the driver to take an alternative route because the normal one is way too dense and I knew I would be late to work if we'd gone through the normal route. We drove through narrow streets among citizen's houses. As usual, my eyes wanders to see anything and everything as my brain thinks of work. And just like the day before, when I saw the man in blue shirt running on the street, my eyes caught something that interests me a lot. You see, in the corner of a very street there's a warung, a small shop that is pretty much a traditional way of doing business by selling a variety of products of basic necessities, usually of cheap price and mediocre quality. You could say it's an Indonesian traditional version of a grocery store (well maybe not, but that's the only thing I can think of.) Shop owners are usually Indonesian. Not the wealthy ones, you can suppose, but not poor either so they still have enough capital to start the business. Most of the warung I know or I've seen don't usually have spectacular names. Usually the name is taken after the owner's. Some don't even have names, even. So people has to say "the warung in the corner". Now you ask me why this warung in the corner of the narrow street I drove by yesterday caught so much of my attention. Well, this warung is actually... named in English. I was very surprised. The building walls are painted in pink and there's a hanging board in front that says SAKINAH'S SHOP. (Sakinah is an ethnic Indonesian name.) I swear, I've never seen any warung so "elaborately" named like that of Sakinah's. I don't see anything different in terms of the stuff it sells in this warung than in any other warung. So it's just a warung, but with pink walls and an English name. I find this amazing because... well, I've never seen it anywhere else in my city. Somehow, I felt very much like to meet Ms. Sakinah and ask her why the pink and why the English name.

Changing topic completely, yesterday my mom went on a one-day round trip to Singapore to attend a seminar with two of her colleagues. I asked her to pick up my reservations in Kino SIMS. I couldn't contact her for the whole day so I didn't know if she got everything all right. But I had no choice so I had to stay home and wait until she's back.
She returned home very late in the evening, around 10.30 p.m. I was already half asleep on the sofa, watching Animax, when she got home. She immediately gave me the Kino bags. (This may sound dramatic but) as she handed me the shopping bags, I felt really nervous. I wondered if she got everything that I wanted. Then I peered inside and saw Wink Up, Potato and Duet 11/2004 plus Wink Up Taiwan (10/2004) along with Tsubasa RC (Japanese) vol. 4 and XXXHolic (English) vol. 2! I was so relieved! There were some magazines that hadn't arrived in SIMS yet, so shikata wa nai, I will have to wait until customs clear all of our shipments so I can get them in Jakarta. But at least I got the "basics" already.
I asked mom how she found the service in SIMS. She said, "Well, it's OK. Same as your service." Phew. LOL.

The store is opened now. I have to stop blogging and start working. I have to go out now and solve some issues with my team. Hope everyone has a good day at work!

13 OCTOBER 2004 ♥ 16:55

I came home early today because of the migraines. I took medicine, fell asleep for a while and now I'm feeling better.

On my way home, I saw this man in a blue shirt and black pants (it looks like a uniform) running on the pedestrian walk next to the road. He was running very quickly. I turned around to see if someone was chasing him. Nobody was behind him. There was a bus a few hundred meters ahead of him so I thought maybe he was trying to catch the bus. But he also passed the bus and continued running, maintaining his fast pace. So I thought, "Why is this man running so fast? What could it be?" He stopped in front of the garage of a house. Another man was there, wearing the same blue shirt and black pants (it must be a uniform then). The first man suddenly pulled out a key from his pocket and gave it to the second man. The second one went inside the garage and a black car emerged. The second man left in the car. The first one came into the garage. In the end, after following the man's 1 km run, I still don't understand, what was going on. You ask me why I bother to think about it but when you're stuck in a traffic jam and sleeping is not an option, your eyes may wander and you might just happen to see something that makes you think a long time afterwards.

I don't think I've ever showed anyone a picture of what my house looks like. Yes, I took photos of my room and my computer room once in a while but not these, I'm sure. So I'm posting it over here.

The front yard, seen from the entrance gate. There's actually a swing (can't see it because the view is blocked by the lamp post and the flagpole. It was my favorite thing in the world when I was a child. But then a tree grew behind it and I am afraid of caterpillars so I stopped playing there.

The living room, seen from the door of the computer room. A lot of people who come to place say that the living room is very cosy. It's also very spacious thanks to the high ceiling. You can't see it but I also have a piano in this living room and next to the piano is the TV.

The terrace, seen from the backdoor of the house. Before I start working, I used to spend my afternoons reading a book here with a glass of juice or ice coffee or lemonade while listening to my DiscMan. A lot of guests are also entertained here if they come in the afternoon, because it's so nice to enjoy the sunset from this spot.

The back yard, seen from the terrace. It's not very colorful. It used to be. There were usually a lot of flowers but somehow they're not there anymore. My cats play in the back yard every one or two days. They get teased by the birds here. When I was young, I used to play picnic here.

My food is here. I'm going to eat and watch Chobits before napping again to conserve my energy for tomorrow. Bye!