3rd week back home

Yeap, I seldom blog recently. This is, first, because of the Internet problem..
The internet connection at home is super slow and therefore, I could only be able to go online when I am in my dad's store [no more midnight online. =P]
I don't have that high-technology mobile phone called BB-Blackberry, which a lot of people nowadays are having [in Indonesia especially], where you can go online anywhere and anytime. Not thinking of getting one, too. =D

The announcement is already out and I am not accepted in the University which I applied to. Sad to know, but thank God I am not falling into that horrible moments like some people are experiencing when they're not accepted into the University that they want to go to. I told myself even before the announcement, during the waiting period of time, that whatever the result would be, that's the Best that God has for me. He has something good coming up for me.. ^^ And yea, this is it. I am still not sure about my future plannings. I am waiting for His direction..

Balikpapan fortunately is not as boring as what it seems, I do have fun here. =D
And yesterday, my parents and I, after we went for a Sunday mass at night, we went to Cinema! First time after more that 10years, my family and I go for a movie! =D I was so happy. We watched Terminator. Being an ordinary girl, Christian Bale and Sam Worthington are incredibly handsome! They look alike, too, for some reason. :p Love them!

Today my friends and I (yea, I finally have met some friends here, hehe), we went for Karaoke. After 6 months being unable to go to a KTV in Taiwan due to $$ reason. Today, I made it! =D

This Wednesday I am flying to Surabaya-Malang, visiting my grandma, and some friends, too hopefully. ^^ So then, I may not be able to go online for some time.

Til the next post, take care guys.
God bless!

*I wish I could practise more on guitar, vocal, and piano!! [ it sounds too much, doesn't it..? ]*

This is what we've got

I am now back home, in Balikpapan, Indonesia. It's been 10 days since I left Taiwan..

Anyways, things have been going fine back here. Only a little bit boring since I am the only one here, no friends around.. -_-" But there are families and God, too! ^^

Yesterday my parents, their friends, and me went to a Retreat House in Bukit Rahmat, Putak - about 2 hours from Balikpapan. It's on the way to Tenggarong..
It was a celebration of the Closing Month of Mt. Mary..

It was started at 5PM by Stations of the Cross.

Then the occasion was continued with Mass and dinner together. It was really renao (as Chinese call it) or happening and crowded. Though I don't know any of them, (well) only some people who went there with us. I still enjoyed it. I am glad, too, that mes parents had the time to minggle around with the community.
Nonetheless, I hope to join the Youth community here, even I heard they seldom have meetings etc..

That's all for now.
Til the next post, take care all, and best wishes for everything that you're on! =D

Love one another as I have loved you

Today I went for the Sunday mass in my University. It was beautiful as usual. =D I love it when Fr. Filippe giving the homily though, he sounds very clear and his story is always interesting. Like today, he was saying about loving one another as it's written in the Bible [word of God].

He began by telling us the story where there are three men who are about to enter the Heaven. There are a Jewish man, a Protestant man, and a Catholic man. And there is also St. Peter, the gate keeper.

So here it goes, the first man that is the Jewish man, before he can enter into Heaven, St. Peter asks him to prove to him if he's really a Jewish. So then, he tells St. Peter everything he knows based on the Bible from Genesis, Deuteronomy, and so on.. So then, St. Peter says : "Ok, you're really a Jewish, you may go to the Heaven." He then goes into the Heaven..

Next one is the Protestant man, the same question asked by St. Peter and the Protestan man is able to explain everything, any details about his Bible.. And so, St. Peter says: "Ok, you're really a Protestant, have your way to the Heaven.."

Next, the last man, that is the Catholic man, is asked the same question by St. Peter: "So you're a Catholic, prove to me that you're really one.". However, the man couldn't answer the question at all, not even a sentence he says about the faith he believes in. St. Peter even says to just mention anything he knows, not only from Bible, but other sources, too will do, like the Letter of Pope, Vatican II, or any stories in the Bible. The man still has no idea what to say.. And then, St. Peter says: "Ok, I believe that you're a Catholic.. "

Do you see the contrast in this story? How are Catholics known to not knowing their Bible. I remember there's a say: "Catholics do not know their Bible". But it's not so true at some point. We do know our Bible, well, at least some stories in the Gospels or the story of Creation.
Nevertheless, this, of course, a reminder for us that we should take more efforts, in exploring our faith, knowing it deeper..

Another story that's really related to Loving one another is,
There was an old man who just lost one of his family members. And there were a mother and her son who came to give their condolences to the family. At that time, the old man was sitting alone at one corner of the chairs.. Everyone let him be as they think that he just needs some time to be alone. But what happened was that child, the woman's son, went to sit next to him and they saw both of them crying together. They were wondering why both of them were crying, even the mother.

Later on, the child came back to his mom and he was asked what he was saying to the old man til both of them cried. The child then said: "I just asked him: Can I cry with you?"
His mom was really touched by his words..
Here we can see, how one loves another that he wants to share the burdens by crying together. The child keeps the old man accompanied by crying with him..
Now we imagine how God would always do the same to us, whenever we're in troubles, He's there with us, seeing us sad, He feels the pain, too..

So now, what about US? what can we do to show others that we love them?
Through our actions and words, which initially will lead them into Him, for when there's Love, God is there, for God is Love. =D

I've seen how this is really connected. The Love that we have in Christ is really amazing. It can turns our tears, sadness into Joy. The effects are so real and unbelievable!

God bless,

Prayer of the Rosary

Just now we had a Rosary Prayer together in my University. Finally, we could pray the Rosary together! I am so glad!
I've been wanting to do it with everyone else, but there was always something came up and thus, I prayed it by myself, and there are times when I didn't pray on Rosary.. my bad.

Anyways, although there were just 5 of us, it was still great. We had our French friend joining us. However, due to language barrier, she shared with us that she wasn't concentrating because (I guess) it is her first time to say the Rosary Prayer in English. Therefore, she couldn't really feel it (the prayer). But I still hope that she still could feel the spirit of togetherness, when we prayed together just now. =D
- I believe that God will make a way for us to be able to share the good news with everyone else from different languages - Somehow.

Like one of my friends, she's Catholic but she has only been to the Church here few times throughout her stay in Taiwan. She is not Taiwanese. She shared to me that she has language barrier whenever she attends the mass here, that is why she doesn't go to mass nowadays. And it's not easy for me to give her some advices, although some may work.. because I do have the same problem with her, in the case that the mass is held in Chinese. :P But I am trying to get myself used to it. Slowly but surely. =D

Let's pray for our friends out there who are longing to seek Him and yet, may not realize about His presence with them.. And even for ourselves, who sometimes tend to drag ourselves away from Him.. Amen.

God bless!

A day of Pilgrimage trip

I went for a Pilgrimage trip today to Miaoli (about 2 hours from Taipei) with my fellow Indonesian Catholic friends. There were about 30 of us. We visited a place called The Holy House of Loreto, a branch from Loreto, Italy.

Love this one so much. It looks like the one in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Only this is the smaller version of it ^^,

Admire this so much!

This statue of Mother Mary and Jesus was brought all the way from Loreto.
The story why it's black is because in the old days, the first statue of its kind which was originally not black, but turned to black as many people were praying with the candles and from those candles, the statue turned its color..
There's also a larger version of this in the other building [refer to the first picture]. And surrounding it is gold, that is why for some reason we're not allowed to take any pictures. And for your information, it's the only one of its kind in Taiwan!

There, we had a mass in English. The mass was planned to be held in Indonesian language, since all of us are Indonesians, but plan was changed as we had 2 foreign friends, one is a missionary from France [oui, elle est Française! =D] and another one is a Father from the Philippines. Well, it was more of a mixed-languages though, we had English, Indonesian, and Chinese, too! Awesome! ^^,

Some struck me during the Homily by Father Pras.. According to the Gospel Reading today, from John 14:7-14. Especially in Verse 14, where it says that for Everything that you ask in His name, it'll be done to you.. And Father also relates this to Matthew 7:7, where it says: "Ask, and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you".

It suddenly reminded me of my Masters application in one of the Universities in Taiwan. I could say that I kinda give up to hoping that I'll get that acceptance letter from the University. Considering the Course that I am applying, which is really not my expertise at all. Well, I am just a beginner, just feel that this will not work for me.. BUT, after Father Pras said these verses.. I felt something told me that there's still Hope. As Father said, God will always fulfill the prayer of one who is trusting Him with all his/her heart.

This thought then suddenly came into my mind, that I should continue praying about it, not just letting it be.. If God really plans for me to continue my education here in Taiwan. I will be back. =D But if not, I believe that He has other better plans for me. Just like what He had done to me after I finished my studies in Malaysia. I have never planned to learn Chinese, especially in Taiwan! Neither I've ever thought of coming to Taiwan.

But things just happened and so here I am now. And I am glad for that. He gave me another opportunity to serve Him in the used-to-be odd place for me, yet, in the end turned to be the place where I now belong. But as time flies, my call to serve here has come to a certain point where I have to leave and continue the works somewhere else.. [I pray for His continuous guidance].

It is now two weeks left for me to living in Taiwan.
Wish me luck! :D
God bless!

Lately..

Recently, I've been always sleepy during class hours..
Two weeks left to go for classes and home is welcoming me.. =D
I decided to go back on May 22nd, since my Visa is expired on that day. Can't stay overnight in Jakarta as daddy doesn't allow me to.. :|

Other than that, my current updates..

Korean BBQ

Had this on last Sunday. I finally got to taste it! It was delicious. Though we didn't order that much, cos it was also expensive, but the meat really made us full! =D

Another type of SUSHI. Original! Made by my Japanese friend. =D

Left to right: Eriko (my current housemate), Axiang (Vietnamese), me and Ai (the cook of the day!)

Bread with Pâté
Had this during BK's Birthday Party.
Originally planned to have French cuisine, yet in the end turned into Japanese cuisine.. The curry was still good though! =D

Spaghetti with Tuna and Tomato sauce.
Had this just yesterday, when I had lunch with some friends from the LC.
The lunch was supposed to be a gathering with my fellow Drama members, but some couldn't make it. The food was good and TOO much. But since I was not really in the mood due to something, I still finished it, for the sake of finishing it, no waste. And it was expensive, too.
I think I wouldn't wanna eat Spaghetti anymore til I am home.

The final performance of the Choir!
It was an Easter celebration, held for the Fu Jen's staff - Teachers, officers, etc.
The singing was beautiful, love it.
and after that, we had a Chi Dao Bao lunch, meaning Free Buffet Lunch.
So full til now. Just like yesterday. I've been eating a lot lately!! -_-"

Other than that, there was a Football tournament today. And my tong xue were playing.
Updates will be coming soon..

Til the next post, take care peeps,
God bless! ^^,

Persekutuan Doa Bersama - Indonesian group

Pada hari Sabtu kemarin, sebagian dari kita mengadakan Persekutuan Doa bersama, bertempat di rumah Selvi. Lagu pujian dipimpin oleh saudara kita, Nia bersama dengan Ko Yohanes dan keyboardnya.

Acara dimulai sekitar pukul 17.30, diawali dengan menyanyikan lagu-lagu pujian dan diikuti dengan sharing bertemakan arti Paskah bagi kita semua oleh Romo Wawan.
Persekutuan Doa kali ini boleh dikatakan berbeda dengan yang sebelumnya, karena pada hari itu, 3 Romo dan 1 suster semua hadir ditengah-tengah kita. Dan total semua kita ada 14 orang berkumpul bersama.
Paskah bagi masing-masing dari kita tentu mempunyai arti yang spesial, tetapi tentunya ada satu arti utama dari Paskah itu bagi seluruh umat manusia, yaitu Paskah adalah awal dari dimulainya Kristianiti di dunia ini. Dimana umat manusia diteguhkan imannya oleh kebangkitan Yesus Kristus.
Semua yang tertulis dalam kitab suci terbukti sudah, di mana pada hari ke-3 Putra Tunggal Allah akan bangkit kembali dan kebangkitannya inilah yang menjadi awal dari iman kita, bahwa Allah itu benar adanya dan Yesus adalah Putra Tunggal Allah yang datang ke dunia untuk menyelamatkan seluruh umat manusia. Bacaan tentang sharing ini diambil dari 1 Korintus 15:1-23.

Walaupun ada beberapa perbedaan didalam kitab suci tentang siapakah yang pertama ditemui oleh Yesus dan bagaimanakah proses kebangkitannya, tetapi seperti yang Romo Wawan sampaikan, bahwa itu semua tidaklah penting. Yang penting bagi kita adalah Yesus benar telah bangkit kembali. Dan sejak itu, semua murid-muridnya dipenuhi oleh Roh Kudus untuk memberitakan tentang kerajaan Allah dan orang-orang yang percaya kepada-Nya dianugerahi rahmat yang sangat amat berlimpah.

Setelah sharing oleh Romo Wawan, beberapa dari kita juga turut ambil bagian dalam sharing bagaimana Tuhan telah bekerja didalam hidup kita dan tak terkecuali keajaiban-keajaiban yang telah Ia buat untuk kita.
[Hayo, rugi yang tidak datang pada PD kali ini! hehe..]

Sebelum kita menutup dengan menyanyikan lagu Pujian, kita juga berdoa Rosario bersama berkaitan dengan bulan Mei ini adalah Bulan Bunda Maria.

Tuhan memberkati.

Selamat Ulang Tahun, Gaby!

Selamat ulang tahun little sista!
Here's for you..

May His abundant blessings be with you always, today and forevermore..
God bless!