My Perfect Birthday Part Quatre

Birthday lunch with the kidnappers, plus M.S.
We had a buffet lunch. Most of us had 4 plates of meal.
One of my kidnappers had to loosen her belt.

.




We also went to the karaoke..

My Perfect Birthady Part Trois

My Birthday Dinner with the people who love me most...

My Perfect Birthday Part Deux

I celebrated my 21st birthday on April 7th.
I thought it was going to be an ordinary birthday, considering my friends already gave me a surprise last year. I was damn wrong..

M.S. came to my house in the middle of the night. He didn't stay for long because he had exams in the morning.
I went to sleep after that, though I was still expecting my friends to come.

Then, around 3.30 A.M., when I was already asleep, I was kidnapped from my bedroom.
I was sure it was my friends, though they pretended to be professional kidnappers by wearing sarong's used as masks and didn't spoke at all so I can't guess from their voices.
They tied my hands and feet, blindfolded my eyes, and carried me to the trunk of my friends car. I screamed my loudest scream that night. That was the only thing I could do at that time.
Thank god his car was Honda Jazz so I didn't die of suffocation.
My friend drove like a madman, I even bumped my head several times.




The car finally stopped and I was carried out from the trunk. I was so afraid they were going to plunge me to a lake or something and started to scream even louder. (My friends told me later that the people who heard me screaming thought I was possessed).
They finally laid me down on a cold and hard surface and left me there.
Thankfully they didn't tie me hard enough so I could free myself and open my blindfold.



It took me a while to realize that I was taken to Taman Ayodya, Barito.
After chasing my friends around that garden (they ran sporadically when I managed to free myself), laughing, hugging, and eating the birthday cake, they did one more thing to me.



They tied me to a Stop sign, poured cold water all over my head and body (it was freezing cold), and made my hair and face dirty with the birthday cake. As if that's not enough, my friends and their car left me there all alone.
I managed to free myself for the second time and chased their cars around Taman Ayodya in 04.00 A.M.






My birthday was crazy. And I Love it.
You guys do know how to be really great friends.
(Again, in no specific order)
Amy Tyas
Citra Kartika
Danar Tri
Andika Pradipta
Aditya Mahendra
Dhira Narayana
Titis Arba defita
Shaskia Yasmin
Hario 'Pio'
Girikharis

I would never trade them with anyone else in this world.
Cheers!

My Perfect Birthday

MY BESTEST FRIENDS ARE AMAZING

BIG HUG FOR YOU GUYS...!!!!!!

(Dhira Narayana took the Picture)

HUGHUGHUGHUGHUG


Details of my Birthday on the next post..

Something I Can't Afford

I'm expecting to graduate this semester, and I already have plans for my future.
One of my plans, which I have stated in my earlier post, is pursuing an M.B.A. degree.

I dream to be a successful businesswoman one day, so I can make jobs for people in Indonesia. With my own money, or my company's money, I can also give to the people who are in need. It breaks my heart every time I read the newspaper or watch the news that so many people are starving to death and children died while studying because their school's rooftop collapsed.
I also must admit that having a successful business equals to comfortable life and loads of money, something I dream to have as well.

After browsing obsessively on the internet, I found out that the tuition cost of the universities I'm planning to apply is extremely expensive. My father told me that I should forget about expensive schools and gave me a budget for my 2-year master's program. The budget is less than half the estimated total cost for tuition and living in the expensive universities I wish to apply.

At first, I was kind of frustrated because I can't apply to any university I want. I was even in denial and assured myself that my father will still pay for my tuition even though it's way beyond my budget. Then I started to be realistic and look for other cheaper universities. M.S. helped me realize that most people can't afford to go to university, let alone study abroad.

Now I'm working really hard to juggle between finishing my thesis, increasing my GMAT score, and saving money. I've even started to control my spending and credit card usage. I saved all the money I got from my parents and None work. I know my savings won't make me afford the expensive universities, but at least I'm helping my parents.
I want this so bad. The last time I was this determined was when I applied for University of Indonesia, and that's 4 years ago.

So now I know how it feels like to not afford education.
Reality hits hard.

We CAN help, without money

So I watched Kick Andy a couple of weeks ago. The host was interviewing this very unconvincing man who said that he's a teacher. He was only an elementary school graduate, but he is determined to educate children in his village so they won't be poor like him. He said something like this:

"Back then, I dreamed to be rich so I would be able to build a school where children can learn for free. I am far from rich, but I have pursued my dream."

That sentence, which was said by an elementary school graduate, made me think.
Do I have to be rich?
If I had all the money I want, would I still be thinking about helping?
It seems that life with no money, in his case, seems so peaceful.

Oh Mr. heart-of-gold, I'm sorry I said you were unconvincing and underestimated you just because you're an elementary school graduate. I'm no better than you are.

O Ambassadors

Today, I nearly cried while watching two inspirational TV shows. The first one is Oprah and the second one is Kick Andy. I'll speak about the latter on my next post.

This episode highlights the journey of O Ambassadors.
Ten years ago, Oprah invited a 16 year old boy named Craig Kielburger to her show. In such a young age, he has volunteered to teach children who are living in poverty. Now, with Oprah's Angel Network, he has built around 60 schools in third world countries.

Based on this, Oprah decided to make a program called O Ambassadors. They have so many creative ways to raise money for the needy, like making kissing booths and festivals.
For the first project, Oprah chose 12 ambassadors who are students from across North America to build a school in Africa.
What amazes me is that these 12 teenagers, helped by a couple of African students, actually built the school from scratch. Literally. They dug dirt, mixed concrete, made windows, and everything you need to do to construct a building. With only a 2-hour course in construction work given by their mentor in Africa, they managed to build a 1-classroom school in 3 weeks.

Other than that, they also had an entire evening playing with local kids, visiting their houses, and visiting the river which is the only water source for that village. They bathe, take their cattle, wash their clothes, and drink on that same river. The ambassadors also saw how the local kids only have cereal for breakfast, corn and water porridge for lunch, and tea for dinner.
After seeing how they live, one of the ambassador said something like this:

"It made me more grateful with what I have right now. People here are still smiling even though they are living like this; they are fortunate they can live until this present day."

One thing Oprah and Craig Kielburger kept saying over and over again is that we are not too young to make a change.
It really touches my heart, and make me feel ashamed of myself at the same time, how someone voluntarily traveled halfway across the world to do social work for other people.

It makes me realize how my presence in this world hasn't make any significant difference for people who are in need.