How a Picture Speaks a Thousand Words (Part 1)

So I saw this picture on Facebook yesterday.

Of course I clicked the "share" button right away. How true, I thought. I ended up pondering about the quote which, as simple as it may sound, really hit me on a personal level.

I will discuss the above quote in this post. There are three statements there.

1. When you want someone, they don't want you.

2. When someone wants you, you don't want them.

3. When you both want each other, something has to come around and mess it up.

As I spent some time thinking about it, I then realized that I have, at some point of my life, experienced all the three scenarios. Allow me to tell you my stories.

1. When you want someone, they don't want you.

I am sure that this is the most common situation most guys, if not all, have found themselves in. There was the pretty and popular girl, surrounded by her girl friends (and some guy friends too) standing along the corridor. You wanted to talk to her, but didn't seem to have the courage to do so. Talking was awkward. In the end, all you could do was talking to her through texts (sms, Blackberry Messenger, Whatsapp, MSN, you name it). After months of PDKT (it's an Indonesian terms which means "making a move for your crush"), mainly through indirect means, you took the gamble and confessed to her. You were rejected, with reasons like "I think we'd better remain friends". You decided to distance yourself from her, and the story ended with the two of you not friends anymore. Sounds too familiar?

I won't give you a lengthy lecture of what that guy should have done, because I have been in that situation before, and I did exactly what he did. It happened all the way back in Primary 4. There was this pretty girl who was put in the same class as me. She was a quiet girl, and so was I. Because of that, we only talked once during the year we were classmates (it was only for that occasion that I can recall clearly what we talked about). She was smart too. I got the first rank in class and she second. Somehow I always find smart girls attractive, even until today. That was the beginning of my six-year-long crush on this girl. I didn't make any move then, because I was a shy boy. And there goes my year in Primary 4.

In Primary 5, I remember coming up with a now-seems-idiotic plan to buy her a box of chocolate for Valentine's Day. Thankfully, what was a plan remained a plan. We were not classmates in Primary 5, and the year passed by so quickly.

Primary 6 was the year in which we not only became classmates once again, but also bench-mates. We spent a lot of time talking about many things. I also remember how I wanted to act cool in front of her by helping her with her assignment but ended up embarrassing both of us. The year ended in no time, and we welcomed the start of Junior High School.

In the first year of Junior High School, I faced a storm on a personal level which had nothing to do with her. At one of the lowest points of my life, I made a stupid decision out of desperation to make a confession to her through sms. She never replied. The next morning, all her friends knew about the sms. Things became awkward, and we didn't talk anymore ever since.

I still harbored the same feeling for that girl over the next two years. I still did things which I thought were romantic, such as buying her flowers anonymously for Valentine's, or getting a cute bag with a printing of her favorite pet for her birthday. Yet, those were all done in desperation. In fact, looking back, I didn't even know why I liked her, or whether I really liked her. As you may have expected, when our time in Junior High School ended, so did our friendship. We never talked again, not even once, since then. She is now happily studying in the States, and me in Singapore.

As I reflect, there is no regret even though it was an embarrassing experience because of two things. Firstly, I realize that I don't fall for a girl easily, but when I do, I don't fall out of love easily either. The crush lasted for six years, but it's more than just the number; it's the experience of liking someone so long it hurt. Yet, I discovered that the longer you like someone, the more you fall in love with that special person. Secondly, I learned how to interact with girls through all the mistakes I did with her. I was raised up in an almost-all-male environment with my one and only sibling - a brother. I'm not used to discussing about the matters of the heart with my mom, either. Looking back, I realized that most of what I know about how to make a move for a girl, I learned it during that six memorable years of my early adolescence.

Liking someone who doesn't like you back is always sure to hurt a lot. Yet, someday the hurt and the pain will all make sense, and be worth it, when the right guy or girl walks into your life. Believe.

What happened on 4 July 2012

Yesterday, a lot of good things happened to me. I kicked started the day with ngelesin SAT. Then, I had a long, long nap before going to BSM (now called Trans Mall) with my mom. So what did I do with my mom there? We went shopping. As strange as it may sound, I actually went shopping with my mom, just the two of us. I'll be leaving for Singapore in less than a month, and so I must start buying things I'll need to live there. Lo and behold, we managed to snap some good deals which include:

• A Lacoste wallet
• A new pair of Nike specs
• A Contempo cardigan
• An Ice Magazine
• Some other stuffs

Besides shopping, I got to spend quality time with my mom as well. I went home happily, only to discover that the blessings did not stop there. It turned out that my friends and I managed to purchase a good deal for a steak buffet (yes, you read it correctly) at S$32.5 nett. By the way, that includes a glass of wine too! Sounds too good to be true?

The picture, taken straight from the page.

If you think that's all, you are wrong yet again. Later that night, I received an unexpected gift from a friend which totally made my day. God is good yeah?

Today, I went to Paris van Java to fetch my mom after ngelesin. I ended up roaming around aimlessly while waiting for my mom and my photos. When I dropped by Gramedia, I noticed a wonderful thing: A BOOK SALE! Many great titles were on sale at 25% to 40% discount, and I bought some which are:

This was for Rp. 27.000,00

And this one, was for Rp. 48.000,00

Got this for Rp. 36.000,00

Thank God for the blessings, and look forward to more awesomeness in the next few days!

Thank You, and you, for everything.

Hi peeps!

It's been a while since the last time I updated my blog. My last post dates back to almost one year ago. For the past few months, so many things have been happening in my life that they cannot possibly fit into one post of a reasonable length. I'll try my best though, so here it is.

After four years of sweat and tears through the educational system at ACS (Independent), I finally graduated with fairly good results in January last year. It's not fantastic, but it's a blessing from God for me, and so I am thankful for it. I'm just gonna write one post tonight, but I hope to tell EVERYTHING to whoever is reading this. I won't write stories that you can know about through my Facebook or Twitter. Take a deep breath, and here it goes.



I was rejected the night before my IB Chemistry papers.

It's not exactly a rejection, but for me, it was as bad as one. I had been harboring a crush on this girl, but she was yet to give me a firm answer. Yet, of all the time there was in the world, the actually-kinda-expected answer came crushing on me, just a few hours before my Chem exams. I was devastated. Talking to a friend didn't seem to help, either. When the paper was finally over, I knew that a 7 point would be a miracle. Thankfully, God didn't let me fall flat on my face. Despite the rejection, I still somehow managed to achieve the impossible.

Today, I pursue that girl no longer. Life goes on, and I have since made many more friends who have helped me move on with life. Yet, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her for everything, and to apologize for any foul words that I uttered in my moment of anguish. Thank you.

The farewell with my American Dream.

As some of you may have known, landing a place in an American or British university has been my dream for the past four years. I gave my best shot, but I failed. I'm not gonna blame anyone; it's all my fault. Should have done this and that, but in retrospect, I am actually thankful for that fateful morning when I received the stacks of rejection letters online, one after another. The next few lines may sound pathetic or self-pitying, but really they are what I firmly believe in now that I can look back in time.

Okay. You guys have no idea how much time and effort I put in the preparation for the SAT last year. Yet, when everything didn't pay off, I was disappointed. Extremely. I mean, how could I waste so many months studying for this test, and doing well in it, only to discover that they mean nothing anymore? But looking back, I finally understand WHY God didn't let me go to the States. It all makes sense now.

Let me start with the scenario if I had been accepted to the States. Had I been accepted there, I wouldn't bother pushing myself beyond my comfort zone by establishing SAT Whiz, a tuition center of mine. After all, if I had received the acceptance letter from Harvard, everything would be settled, wouldn't it? There wouldn't be SAT Whiz, and probably Will wouldn't get enough help to pass that SAT score boundary of 1900 from Singapore Management University. In that case, he might not have been accepted there.

Lastly, had I gone to the States, there would be no chance for you and me to make this work. The time-difference-of-almost-12-hours alone is enough to kill any relationship. Plus, I wouldn't get the chance to fight my way to be with you. It all makes sense now, and looking back, I finally learn that being rejected from all the ten overseas universities I applied to was the best thing that could happen to me.



That's all, folks. I don't think I want to put photos in this post, but I surely will in the next few posts. Sorry for such an intense writing, too. I promise that the posts after this would be more matter-of-fact, of course with more pictures and more interesting stories of my life in the past few months. Sign off, Heizel.

Postingan Pertama Pake Bahasa Indo

Halo semua!

G mutusin buat coba nulis blog pake Bahasa Indo soalnya uda lama banget ga nulis pake bahasa ibu tercinta ini. Ditambah lagi, g mau nulis sesuatu yang panjang pake Indo setelah ini. Jadi, anggep aja ini latian, dan maap semaap-maapnya kalo Indo g terdengar aneh, soalnya emang uda ga pernah nulis pake bahasa ini ampir 5 taun hehe.

Ga kerasa, liburan g di Bandung ga sampe sebulan lagi. Rasanya baru kemaren g mikir kalo liburan kali ini lama amat sampe bingung mau ngapain. Buat yang belom tau, g baru aja lulus dari SMA di Singapore (sg) bulan Januari taun ini. Jadi kalo diitung, liburan g itu totalnya sekitar 7 sampe 8 bulan, secara kuliah baru mulai bulan Agustus. G bakalan balik sg tanggal 31 Juli. Brarti sisa liburan g tinggal 28 hari lagi nett :(

Jadi, g uda ngapain aja ya selama 7-8 bulan di Bandung? Dari yang tadinya takut bosen kelamaan liburan, sekarang g ga pengen cepet-cepet kuliah. Udah betah deh disini. Kalo di sg kemana-mana harus naek bis/MRT, disini enak tinggal ambil kunci mobil trus brem brem deh (cuma males kalo lagi macet aja). Disini semua juga serba murah. Dengan S$10 (sekitar 75rb rupiah), udah bisa buat nonton+dinner+uang parkir. Kalo di sg, uang segitu cuma cukup buat nonton. Itu pun ga di sembarang bioskop, soalnya beberapa bioskop tarifnya lebi mahal dari itu.

Pas ngeliat balik ke awal taun, g merasa bersyukur banget karena ga ada penyesalan sama sekali. Dari Februari, g uda ngelesin SAT, dan kalo diitung-itung duitnya jg sudah terkumpul lumayan. Cukup lah ya buat beli leptop baru hehe. Sampe sekarang masi ngelesin sebenernya, tapi uda agak males soalnya waktu di sini tinggal sebentar banget. G juga sempet ngebimbing junior g selama liburan ini sampe dia bisa keterima di Singapore Management University, pake beasiswa penuh lagi. Bener-bener bersyukur deh. Tuhan emang baik.

Kalo lagi bahas soal Tuhan, pasti keingetnya soal gereja. Akhir-akhir ini, gereja g di sg, City Harvest Church, lagi kena masalah. Pendeta kami dituduh menggelapkan uang, padahal belum terbukti secara hukum. Bahkan, beberapa temen ada yang sampe nulis di fb ngejelek-jelekin gereja kita. Sedih abis, tapi ga bisa ngapa-ngapain. Yah, berdoa buat yang terbaik aja deh, dan udah ga sabar untuk balik ke sg dengerin Pastor Kong khotbah. Di Bandung, g sempet pindah-pindah gerejanya. Dari asalnya ke Gereja Sidang Jemaat Allah (GSJA), sekarang g jadi ngikut bonyok ke Gereja Isa Almasih (GIA). Terakhir, g ikutan retret keluarga di Via Renata, Puncak, sama gereja. Seru abis, cuma sayang waktu g di sini tinggal bentar lagi. Tau gitu dari dulu-dulu ikutan kebaktian remaja di GIA. Yaudah lah, pas liburan lagi jg masi bisa :)

Salah satu game terseru di retret ini

Cukup sekian deh. Susah juga nulis pake Indo, tapi kudu latian. Mau sejago apa g ngomong pake Inggris, tetep aja bahasa ibu g kan Bahasa Indonesia. Pokonya blog selanjutnya bakal g tulis pake Bahasa Sunda, soalnya g bangga jadi urang Bandung. Yu ah, cabut.

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!

Crazy, Stupid Love.

Hello again!

It's 130am in the morning and I have just finished watching that movie.
You know why I'm a big fan of movies?
They never fail to inspire and remind me of what really matters in life.
Yes, that includes the movie Crazy, Stupid Love.

So here is what I've got from the movie.
Things will not always work my way. Yeah, I might not be as lucky as Carl who met his soulmate at the age of 15. I might fall in love a few times, get dumped and rejected a lot, dated girls, and whatnot. But eventually what really matters is what I feel. I mean, I still believe in my one true love and soulmate that is somewhere out there. And it doesn't matter if it is gonna take a year or ten years or fifty years, I will find the one. I will not rest until I find her. And guess what, it won't be a fairytale. When I find her, we may not get along well. We might quarrel and we may stop talking. But here is what is really important. I won't give up. No matter how painful it is too hold on, I won't let go. Yeh, sorry to disappoint you but I'm a 19-year-old who still believes in the old notions of love taken straight out of the Hollywood movies.
The moral of the story. I want to be like Carl. Yes, I might do stupid things that would tumble my world over. I might consider giving up a few times. But then, everytime I fought the urge of giving up, I know I grow to be a stronger person. I want to someday build a family that I can be proud of and who can be proud of me. I had not given up and would not give up no matter how sucks it is to hold on. After all, I believe in the saying that twenty, thirty years down the road, I will regret things that I didn't do more than things that I did. I don't want to live a life of regret. I will hold on.