Time is Running Out

Sup!

First of all, if you have read the previous two posts from 2012, I would like to thank you. The posts have garnered more than 100 views in just one night, and hopefully more to come. That aside, I'm gonna write about my interesting and colorful life in the past six months or so in this post. I'll narrate the stories in chronological order, event by event. If you are a Year 6 / J2 student reading this, I hope this writing will help you decide on what you want to do with your long, long holiday next year. Cheers.


The graduation day.

Yes, finally the much-anticipated was here. Jan 6, 2012, was the day we the 5th IB cohort of ACS (Independent) would finally receive our results. Thank God, we all passed with flying colors, and even set a higher standard for the next batch to beat. I myself secured 43 points, which was nothing short of miracle. All praise and glory to God!

My beloved Chem teacher for two years, Mr. Chiam, and I, posing for the camera

Thanks to my relatively satisfactory results, I was invited to the annual Academic Award Presentation in my school in March this year. I insisted that my parents should come, too, since they were also invited. This was one chance to share the pride with my loved ones. A picture speaks a thousand words, and so here is the photo I would certainly print and frame to put in my bedroom.

Damn you tissue paper. Just, damn you.

I would be more than willing to go through the next four such bitter-sweet years in university happily, only for a single photograph like that.

SAT Whiz

I know, I know. This topic is boring, and way overused, but just bear with me. One paragraph is all it will take. After all, if not for SAT Whiz, I wouldn't have enough financial resources to enjoy my life. As Robert Kiyosaki put it, "Money is not the most important thing in life, but it does affect everything that is important."

For those of you who do not yet know, SAT Whiz is a tuition center I established here in Bandung earlier this year. As the name suggests, we specialize in SAT tutoring for the students aspiring to study overseas. Recently, our pioneering student, William Setiadi, successfully landed a much-coveted place at the Lee Kong Chian Business School of the Singapore Management University, thanks to his hard work in preparing for the SAT. That's all about it. And next...

The hangouts.

Yet another highlight of my relatively high life in the past few months, I have been spending many nights out with my now-best friends: Gide, Bijei, Pauline, Lucky, and Sunson. Some of the places we have gone to include...

唱歌 aftermath at NAV, Ciwalk 

Dimsum at Eastern with our guest-of-honor from Medan

Sushi Groove, Paris van Java

My bros and I at ION, after the treat from the birthday boys

Some of the more memorable nights are...

P's birthday! Enough said.

...

The birthday treat, yet another 唱歌 session, but this time with food!

Sierra Restaurant, 20 Jun 2012

(From left to right) Lucky, Pauline, Sunson, and me

The dinner to Sierra was the last night-out we had, because P had to go back to her hometown for now. But worry not, because I can promise you that there are MORE to come, especially since we had less than 3 weeks left together. Must really make the best out of whatever time remains, yeah?

A Night to Remember

Quite sure that only my closer friends will read my blog, and so I'm not gonna repeat what have been said in their blogs. Of course the story will be the same, but narrated in my own voice. I just want to say that the past six months have been so amazing, I couldn't possibly ask for more.


The birthday surprise.

It was a Saturday night, 2 June 2012. I was lazing on my bed when suddenly my Blackberry vibrated. It was a message from Yoyo. Wanting to go to bed early, I ended up talking with her till midnight. That was the start of our week-long planning for P's birthday. Yoyo asked me what P's greatest fear is, and I remembered the times when Gide teased her about ghosts. It was decided then: we would plan a fright night for her.

For those of you who don't understand Indonesian, please accept my apology

A few days later, I called for a meeting with Gide and Lucky. At that time, Bijei was not in town. The three of us met up at Paskal Hyper Square food court for about two hours, trying to come up with a rough plan for the fright night. Thankfully, my past experience from taking part in a similar fright night organized by my senior council, together with brilliant ideas from Gide and Lucky, made it easy for us to come up with a one-thousand-word document containing the detailed plan for the bash. Afterwards, on the Saturday before her birthday, all of us (Gide, Lucky, Sunson, Nana, Yoyo, and I) met up at J.Co Istana Plaza to finalize the plan and ensure that no details were overlooked. Fortunately, we happened to see Toto there and invited him to come for the party. The more the merrier right? Besides, we were lucky that Toto could join us for the night. Otherwise, there would be no compatible laptop to connect to the TV and we might end up watching the movie on a small laptop screen. That would not set the right mood for the fright night.

(By the way, as I am writing this paragraph, suddenly my iTunes played the One Missed Call ringtone. Shit.) One day before the P-day, I admit that I was far from confident. What if she already suspected that we were going to throw a surprise for her? What if she became so scared after watching the movie that the girls wouldn't be able to persuade her to play the games? What if the games did not work out as planned? As we started watching the One Missed Call movie at her home in the evening before her birthday, Yoyo and I almost decided to cancel the fright night altogether. The horror on her face, which almost turned into tears, was more than enough to make us abort the entire plan. To make things worse, I have to admit that I am weak with a woman's tears. Honestly, the terrified looks and the imminent tears on her face almost scared me to death. Yet, after much thought, Yoyo and I decided to still execute the plan for the fright night because P already looked better (not completely, but at least she could now pose a smile).


The details of the fright night can be found in my friend's blog:  http://gdsatria.blogspot.com/2012/06/trick-or-treat.html. To keep the writing short, the scared-angry-touched-happy smile on her face when we sang her the happy birthday song marked a perfect ending to a memorable night of her birthday.

The smile that made it all worth it. And Lucky being a  ridiculously-photogenic ghost.

If you really remember my blog's address and you are reading this, do know that we did all these for you just so that you won't forget us your friends twenty or thirty years down the road. It takes years to grow a great friendship, but it should take forever to forget one. Once again, happy birthday!


That, was the highlight of all the fun we have had so far during our time in Bandung. There ARE more stories, and I am gonna write about them later. Not now, because it's 2 o'clock in the morning, and I'm already struggling to keep my eyes open. Adios for now!