Connect and Re-connect

8 months into 2016... I do feel that time surely flies in a blink of an eye... in only 8 months so many things had happened but one most important thing that I learned is to connect and reconnect.

I tried to spend more time with my family, both immediate and extended. Timewise, I have to admit it's really not easy to do. Considering the highway, mrt, lrt and whatever constructions all over Jakarta, the time spent on the road is getting longer and longer. By the time I got home on weekdays, it's already 7 - 8pm and I felt exhausted. Weekend is spent doing laundry, cleaning up my room, and no matter how tired I am I determined to go to church with my Dad on Sunday morning for the 7am service then went to buy lunch with him. Once in a while we also had lunch together, sometime just the two of us, or if time permits with my Bro and Sis in law.

One thing that I also noticed is my Dad felt lonely if I spent a lot of time outside home. Since my Bro and Sis in law started their own business, my Dad spent all day at home by himself including on weekend. Even though I just stayed in my room reading or watching, I saw that he felt better having someone at home. If I went out for 2 weekends in a row, the next weekend he would asked me: "What have you been doing? Why are you so busy? Are you going again today?". You know, I always told him where I was going, but his medical condition made him forget. So I explained again... and sometime, I cancelled my plan and just stayed at home. That's when I realized that I have been given such a great opportunity to take care of him when many times I heard about lonely parents who live alone without seeing their children for a long time. I am blessed.

I went out with my cousins, met up with some uncle and aunts, sent messages to those whom I haven't seen or heard from in awhile. To be honest, I used to think spending time with them to be such a chore. But it really amazed me that this time, somehow, as our relationship grew tighter I also felt stronger. Like I have people who cared about me behind my back to support me and pray for me. And I hope that's how they feel too. As lately, so many things good or bad are happening to our family in and outside Jakarta, but somehow there was always a way for us to be connected one way or another, to keep updated with how each other's doing. God's restoring our family's relationship and there's still more that He wants to do with us. I'm expecting.

As for friends... I have to let some go, but gain new ones... After not meeting for a long time, a friend told me during our dinner: "You know, I read that we have lesser friends as we get older. We just don't have the time and patience to build new relationships, it's already hard to maintain old ones." At first I agreed. As time went by, it dawned on me that as I grew older, I also grew impatient and unable to tolerate bullshits. I'd rather have friends who can't promise when to meet but actually have time to keep in touch or just say hi over the phone, than friends who keep saying we should do things together but in the end don't even have time to ask me how I'm doing while they're busy posting stuff of them having fun in SNS.

Being stuck in traffic in the morning or after office hour also became an important moment for me to re-connect. I put on my hands-free and make some calls. There is one dear friend whom I cannot meet at church regularly anymore since we have different service to attend. She spent all day taking care of her mother so it's also not easy to find time to meet outside church. Mornings are to call her or others whom I know are not having regular office work. Evenings to night are for those who's only available after work. My mobile phone bill is rising definitely (though not significantly), but it's money worth spending for.

When I was going through a hard time a few months ago, I didn't tell many people. I posted a thank you post in my FB though but some people surprised me by sending messages to ask what happened and how I coped up with it. And those were people whom I didn't expect to actually care. And just like that, we re-connected and kept in touch. It all started from a simple "Hi, how are you?"

In the end, time is the most valuable thing that we can give to our loved ones. Make an effort to pick up your phone to call or just send a message. You will never know when someone is in need of a person to talk to. Make sure to put down your phone and ignore your SNS for an hour or so when the other person is talking. This year is full of blessings to connect and re-connect for me. And I want to keep it going. Maybe you should too.

Oh yes, here's some moments with my loved ones!! There's a lot more but I haven't backed them up to my computer hahaha These will do :)

160626 Family from Sacramento, before they fly back home. Miss them already!

160707 Bro's birthday and Lebaran holiday lunch w/ Dad... at the Mall!!

160730 Sending off our cousin to University in Semarang and celebrating our birthday.

Love Is All Around

Last week I had to go through a long 3 days trip... Only 3 days but indeed felt like more than that since I wasn't going for just some fun. 

My plan was:

Day 1: Arrive, 2 appointments, rest, nice dinner

Day 2: Visit the zoo, nice lunch, nice dinner

Day 3: Shopping, more fun, nice lunch, fly home

I was stressed out for so many reasons even before I went and in the end nothing went as planned. I was so exhausted on the 1st day and had to take it easy for the next 2 days. But guess what? I have never felt so loved like I did then.

Whenever I felt lonely and down, there were always messages came to my phone whether to make me laugh, gave me encouragement, and even made me bawled my eyes out for the kind words and prayers shared. I was blessed. I AM blessed in so many ways. I experienced God's grace in unexpected ways.

I know it's not enough but I still want to thank...

YOU, for the FB messages and prayers before I left and after I returned... You don't have to be there to show me that you care... your prayers are more than enough buddy!!

YOU, for the nice dinner and shared gelato at night, for being my Momma for a night, for the encouragement and prayers, for the advises. I'm looking forward to share some alcohol in the next visit, still can't get over that green bottle! LOL God is working right now for you as well :)

YOU, for taking a day off just to make sure I wasn't lonely, gave me tons of laughter and kept reminding me to stop touching my boob even when it's itchy (Yikes!), for being my porter and carrying my shopping bags (I know those bottles weren't light!), for the wonderful lunch and bittersweet dessert... As promised, the next time you're home I'll pick you up and drive you back home :p Oh, unless we can get a handsome Uber driver like that one who took me to the airport?

YOU, for remembering my appointments and sent me whatsapp messages to lift my mood, for checking up on my conditions every single day and most importantly for the prayers that kept me holding onto God's promises and believing in HIM every step of the way. And now, for making sure that I eat healthily hahaha Veggies! Fruits! Yeah! *cry*

YOU, for making sure that I covered my bandage well and not got it wet... Yes, I knew there's a hole. Yes, you frightened me with those stories of holes went rotten and stuff. You're the one who didn't stop messaging but then telling me you need to sleep (as if I don't?). But I know I can count on you when I need some reality check ;)

YOU, YOU and YOU... Every single one of YOU who thought of me, prayed for me and spent time to send me endless messages and questions and advises and laughter, every single time when I least expected them. 

I received a good result but there's still some follow up in the next 6 months... I hope that it'll be a better visit, more fun, more good food and definitely stress free :D

No matter how hard were my days, God is watching over me through all of you. I feel the love. And the love is all around me. Bless you!!!

We're connected... NOT!

When someone asked me: "Are you dependent on your mobile and SNS?", it's really hard for me to reply confidently "No." Cause to be honest, I might be dependent on it in one way or another. Outside my will.

If I could, I'd like to spend a day without data connection. Just phone calls and text message (SMS). And I'd love not to take a look at my Instagram, or Facebook, or Twitter. But high chance that I'd miss something very important. We are all so well connected but not really. Or not at all.

I still keep my Facebook active because I have so many friends from all over the world, it's really nice to be able to see how the others are doing and exchanging messages, pictures and encouraging messages once in a while. To also share how are we doing to others as well. Though lately I was forced to un-friend those whose posts were not so encouraging or made me want to punch them in the face. Good thing that FB now also has unfollowing menu so I don't have to see their posts in my timeline but I could still be in contact if needed.

There were times when I didn't check on my FB regularly. Results? I missed a friend giving birth, I didn't know when someone passed away, and I missed an event with an FB event invitation. I mean, we were chatting just a few days ago and they didn't bother to send me a message that someone passed away just because "Oh, I posted it in FB. You didn't see?" >_<

My cousin created my twitter account for me in my phone while I wasn't watching. I asked her why. She said so she could be in touch me. I was like: "But we can always send messages or chat through our mobiles?" She laughed and said everyone has it now. OK, fine. I don't regret it now, I have more followers than following anyway. And without having to turn on the TV I can still find out what's happening around the world by following some big news station. Still, I don't get people who complains just about everything in a few posts all the time. Which ended up with my unfollowing of course.

Instagram? This is one SNS that I kept trying to avoid so much until last year. I mean, I already posts my pictures in FB why would I need an account to post pictures only? But then when I ask a friend that I want to see her daughter's picture and why she posts one in FB, I got this as a reply: "Oh, I posted her pictures in Instagram. You can follow me there." That is one. Then I want to order some cakes that my friend bought, I asked her where can I order since the cakery didn't have a store. Again, "They only have instagram. Here, you can follow this." I was so frustrated that I finally created an account and just like everyone else, I posted some useless stuff like my Stitch collection and food that I ate... just because :p 

 my screen :)

People are getting impersonal. We think that we're connected enough through SNS but not really. You think you know how someone's doing by reading their status or looking at the pictures they posted, but not really. Those are the reasons why I prefer to send messages through text / chat application if I have their mobile numbers; whether it's wishing a happy birthday or convey my condolences. Many times, I received more than just a thanks. I really got to find out how they were doing and sometimes not as good as they seemed to be in SNS.

And how about chat apps? This also frustrates me much!! When there was only SMS, people tend to write short messages, trying to include as many info as possible in 1 message. In chat rooms? It goes like this:

Hey

   How are you?

      Busy?

         Oh yeah

            I forgot

               She called 

One word one line. People, it's damn annoying.

And then I got tired of sending sms back and forth to a cousin. I asked him if he has any chat apps installed? He said yeah, he got LINE. I sent him a long message through LINE and he only read it like 5 hours later and replied with "Sorry, I don't use it much and hardly read it." So why the heck did you tell me to send you messages there??!?!?!

I have 3 chat apps in my phone: Whatsapp (basically to connect with almost everyone, business included), Kakao Talk (to connect with my Korean friends) and LINE (to connect with some Japanese & Indonesian friends -- who just like the cute stickers, tbh LOL). Then another cousin added me in all chat apps. One day she messaged me through Whatsapp, another day through LINE and many times when I tried to message her I had no idea where to send cause sometimes she uses one chat app and the other tomorrow. I just had to send to all 3 and see where she replied from. What's even funnier, we used to connect through Blackberry Messenger (BBM), but last year I kinda threw my BB out the car window accidentally and broke the LCD. So I switched to android and now both my mobiles are androids. No more BB.

Some people I know were still using Blackberry only so I had no choice then but to install BBM app in my android. But then that cousin-who-added-me-in-all-chatapps asked me to add her in my BBM. And she's using android. I was like: "Why do you need me to add you there? You're using android and so do I. You added me in all 3 chat apps." She laughed and said "Oh, just because. So I have you in all apps." Didn't. Make. Sense. To. Me. At. All.

I also feel sad that in the rare moments that I get to see my friends in one table, everyone just can't seem to not checking their mobiles instead of sitting and looking at me in the eye while conversing. I feel neglected. Oh yes, I also put my mobiles on the table and check the messages that come in once in a while. If it needs to be replied right away, I would. But most of the times, I ignore the unimportant messages and reply when I got home. I hardly check my SNS unless I need to show something that I saw or read in there to the other party in the table.

I really wish that next time I see my friends and family, we all can set aside our mobiles and really talk. We will laugh together from a funny story we tell each other, we will cry together over each other's heartbreak, and I will be able to see you in the eye and see that I matter to you, that you really care. That's when we're really connected.

I Remember You

So a few weeks ago I had big dinner to celebrate Big Boss' birthday. Dinner was held in a restaurant located in an office building where I used to work until 7 years ago.

The office was based there for 7 years also, and moved from the 17th floor, to the 6th floor then eventually to the 2nd floor of the Annex building after the company slimmed down to only me and the boss. If other building used a Security Company for the guards, this building managed their own securities and guards; so during those 7 years I worked there I knew almost everyone from front to back. Sometimes they asked for a cup of coffee which I gladly provided them, cause then whenever I have to worked overtime until as late as 11pm, the guards would take turn in checking up on me and of course to find me a taxi to get home :)

Since the company moved out, I dropped by the building just twice or thrice, and occasionally found a familiar faces in the front desk / concierge or the parking lot. But that night, I was in for a big surprise.

As we finished dinner around 10pm, we had to go out of the restaurant and re-entered the building to take the elevator to the parking lot. I was laughing with the other guys and said goodbye when someone suddenly grabbed my hand and shouted: "It's been a long time since I saw you!!"

My friend was surprised but I was even more surprised cause it was actually one of the guard that I knew many years ago; holding my hand with a grin on his face! I couldn't hold my laughter and told him back: "Pak (Sir), it's been a long time indeed!! How did you even still recognize me?"

Then another guard came running to us with the same grin on his face and held my other hand, saying: "I knew it was you when you came in! You haven't changed at all!" Mind you, I changed a lot in my opinion! LOL So there I was, standing in the lobby with 2 old security guards holding my hands as if I was their long lost daughter!

We chatted for awhile, they asked me where I work now and stuff... Then I told them that it's late already and I really had to go home. One of them asked me: "You're going to the parking lot? Does it mean that you're driving your own car now?" I just nodded and he beamed: "I'm happy for you that you drive now!! You used to take the ojek (motorcycle taxi) or a taxi back then, but now you're driving your own car, I'm so proud of you!"

In that moment, I felt so touched with their attention and cares. There were some leftover deserts from the dinner that the boss asked me to pack, so I left those for them and told them "to enjoy it during their breaks in the night shift." They took me to the elevator, waited for it to arrive and waved at me until the door was closed.

I was still smiling and thinking about what just happened a few minutes ago. When I gave my parking ticket on the way out of the building, apparently there's another security guard inside the box with the parking person. He made a double take at me and smiled: "It's you! What brought you here? Long time no see!" I was in for another surprise! But it only took a minute or so to pay the parking fee and out of the building, so I shouted at him before I drove by: "I'm sorry I couldn't talk you for long, but I wish you take care of yourself. Goodnight!" He waved at me and yelled loudly: "Bye bye!!"

During the drive from the building to home I couldn't stop smiling and laughing by myself. I really felt grateful that those old men still remember me well even after 7 years. I was also happy to see that they are well, and I felt humble that someone like me was still remembered by them. They must've seen hundreds of people coming in and out of the building everyday and 7 years wasn't a short period, but somehow they didn't forget me.

The other guys who were waiting for their cars and saw what happened asked me later on, who were they. I told them they're the building's security guards and kind of remembered me from where I worked there. They raised their eyebrows: "They still remember you? What did you do back then?" I shrugged and just said: "Don't ask me, I have no idea, it still surprised me."

Whatever I did that made them remember me that way, I still couldn't forget the way they smiled at me and the warmth of their hands holding mine as if to welcome me back there.

Thank you for remembering me, Pak. I won't forget you too and I wish you stay healthy and safe at work. Next time I drop by, I hope to be able to say more to you.

I will remember you all, just like you have remembered me.

Missing You

Is it possible to miss someone that you only knew for a few days??

On my holiday to South Korea 2 year ago, I stayed at an apartment that belonged to a kind-hearted Uncle. He really cared about us, more than a host should and so did his family. Even though his wife didn't speak English, she still came down to check up on us and what we might run out in the fridge. When we said that we liked Kimchi, she sent some of her own home-made to us downstairs (the family lived in the 5th Floor while we stayed at the 1st).

On our last day in Seoul, we woke him up at 5am to take us to the bus station to take the shuttle to the airport. Somehow I became teary eyed and we hugged for a long time until the bus driver honked me to quickly get in so the bus can leave :) It was in October.

In December I sent him a framed picture of us together which we took at the apartment and somehow someway he found me in Kakao Talk and we started to communicate regularly. 

He sent me pictures of his hometown on Seollal, I sent him a picture of me being trapped in Jakarta's traffic jam. 

When I told him I was a little bit sick, he sent me a short prayer.

When I dyed my hair red and asked me how did I look? He told me I was pretty like a K-pop Idol :)

Somehow this morning I felt kind of missed him and sent him a "Hi, how are you?" He replied with: "I miss you so much." And suddenly I felt like crying. 

I told him I missed him and Seoul as well, he told me that he had plans to come to Jakarta and will call me.

I told him that I'm getting a new job and won't be able to go on vacation for a while. He sent me a picture of him and his wife by the beautiful sea and told me that if I ever return to Seoul he will take me to another holiday with his family.

I told him that now I really really really miss him. And he showed me of that framed picture of ours, hanging proudly in his living room wall along with his son's graduation picture.

So know I now that it's possible to miss someone that I only knew for a few days. Badly.

It's not how long you know someone to show that you care, it's in the heart. And I can't wait for another chance too see him and his family again. Hopefully soon.

I love you Uncle Sang Woo and hope to see you soon, be it in Jakarta or in Seoul v(^w^)v

Pregnancy & Expectations

In case you're wondering if I'm pregnant... well, I'm not :) But someone close to me is. And I'd like to share this amazing journey of her pregnancy.

One thing I could also share is that I was never fond of pregnancy. Sure, I love babies, I love children, but only after they were born. I didn't like being close to a pregnant woman. I suddenly felt awkward, like I should at least make a comment but other than: "When is the baby due?" and "I hope you have a healthy pregnancy.", I completely had no idea what to say. 

If you think that's weird, I also couldn't stand being close to them, let alone touch the baby bump! I had a shiver down my spine when someone asked me to touch her baby bump many years ago. But finally... just finally... I fell in love with one special baby bump of my friend, Pitshu :)

I didn't know how and why, but when she told me that she was pregnant in July 6, 2013, I was a little overwhelmed. Something like, "Oh! It happens!" She also told me that I was one of the firsts to know, that made me feel a bit special but that's that. Then she asked me for reference to be her obgyn for this pregnancy. I was like: "Errr, I'm not married and I've never been pregnant, why are you asking me of all people?" LOL Of course I wasn't the only one that she asked for reference, but she trusted me, and that made me feel even more special and more into her pregnancy, especially since she chose the doctor that I recommended based on my other friends' recommendation.

From then on, the journey of expectations started, not just for her and her husband and also for me. I may never accompanied her to any of her visits (her schedules are always on weekdays and in the morning) but everytime she returned from the obgyn she would 'report' to me everything about the baby. From the size, the health, its position and finally its gender. IT'S A BOY! And I was laughing loudly when she announced! She asked me why I was so happy that it's a boy, and I replied to her: "Because then I could take him out to play with just a pair of shorts and T-shirt! I don't know what to do with girls, too much of a hassle!" And another expectations bloomed... I started to look forward for the development of the baby.

Know what's the biggest change in me? I love her baby bump & couldn't stop myself from touching and caressing it everytime we met! ROFL Finally... there's a pregnant woman that I could stand being close to and a baby bump I fell in love with.

I still have no idea how it happened... but I'm happy with this experience that my friend had kindly shared with me and let me be a part of it. Maybe because she tried to involve me into her pregnancy (unintended and unexpectedly) from day 1, or maybe just because we're close, but for whatever reason, she made me happy. And the (soon to be arriving) baby made me happy. Just like my friend and her husband have expectations for the baby, I also had mine. That I will see him growing up healthily, that one day I'll get to take him to play and watch movies, that I'll take him out for ice cream even when his parents say no :)

Pitshu is due in a couple of weeks... I wish her only the best in everything... and that the baby boy will be born safely and healthily. And here's a picture of the three of us last Saturday. BABY BOY, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEE YOU SOON!!!

I'll miss you...

Every Sunday morning at church, there's a grandma sitting at the very back who would give me a hug and kisses on my cheeks. Sometimes she brought me chocolates or candies, wrapped them up in small plastic bags and slipped them into my palm as she kissed me.

She sat at the back because she used a cane and had trouble walking. If we looked at each other from afar she would wave her hands at me and gave me her sweetest smile. Oma Hartati was one of my highlight on Sunday service but God loved her more. She passed away last Saturday day night after celebrating her 86th birthday on September 3rd. And I didn't realize just how much I would miss seeing her until she's gone.

And this brought back so many memories of those who had left us lately. I was so taken aback by the fact that death always left us astounded no matter how close or how far we are from it. Even the death of  people we don't know personally would still leave us overwhelmed, in disbelief.

Last year I got to watch Tohoshinki's TONE Tour at Osaka-jo Hall. I had a hard time in obtaining the tickets but I had help from a Japanese girl that went by with the name t-hikari (or hikari-chan by her online friends) who posted a complete info on how tickets were sold in Japan. I sent her a few messages and she kindly replied with info and a kind wish. In the end someone else got me the tickets but I still got to read her LJ every now and then and she kept replying to my comments.

Imagine the shock when I read messages & twits on June 11th that that she had passed away the day before after battling breast cancer for a couple of years, and just before she started a new series of chemo. To be honest, I really enjoyed reading her amusing LJ posts about our beloved duo. And right after the announcement of her passing by her sister, she also deleted all of her posts because it hurt her too much read all the happy words that she had written, reflecting her real self as a devoted fan. I can totally understand that though I wished I had saved some of her writings just to have a laughter or two.

Every encounter has its own memories. And I'm glad that I have shared a happy memory with both Oma Hartati and hikari-chan. It's not whether you know someone in the flesh or how well you know someone to feel the loss through death. It still hurts.

No matter how much we hurt, life goes on for the living. I'll miss them both, but I'll be smiling when I remembered how happy they had been and they had made me no matter how short the time we knew each other.

I'll miss your hugs and kisses Oma Hartati, till we meet again in heaven!

And thank you for the sweet memory and the chance to get to know you, hikari-chan! You'll always be remembered when I look at our boys :)

WHAT WE HAVE DONE FOR OURSELVES ALONE DIES WITH US; WHAT WE HAVE DONE FOR OTHERS AND THE WORLD REMAINS AND IS IMMORTAL.

- Albert Pike -

Relationship

Entering the 4th day of 2013, and yet again I'm faced with the same challenge that I faced in 2012.

There were so many things happened last year, I had to say it's very bittersweet. Traveled places, experienced new emotions and so on. But my biggest challenge in 2012 would be MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS.

Yes, you heard me correctly. And relationships are not limited to friends or family, it's including our relationship with GOD. I found a hard time to keep an intimate relationship with God, I had to admit. There were a lot of struggles and some self-pity in my part, but HE is greater than everything. HE showed me little by little that to maintain a relationship with HIM, most of the time HE just wants us to talk to HIM and quietly let HIM do the work instead of trying to so everything by ourselves. I learned my lesson, and I pray that I'll have a more intimate relationship with HIM this year, to experience HIM every single day.

Surprisingly, maintaining human relationships or perhaps friendship is a better term to call it, was just as hard. I built new relationships (meaning: new friends), upgraded some, fixed some and sadly failed one or two.

Since I didn't get a lot of holidays last year, the little spare time I had I used to reflect on myself. Why things happened the way it did, how did I fail on maintaining something that I used to be capable of doing a good job at? I thought I would never find the answer of those but right at the beginning of the new year I finally found that it's all back to my relationship with GOD.

As I struggled with my relationship with HIM, I lost patience, I lost tolerance and I became someone who lost trust in a lot of things. I became selfish and preferred to tend to myself first before others. I broke off relationships that I deemed "won't work anymore" and forgot that God could also do the same to me, yet HE kept me close and helped me fixed our relationships.

So I took time to list down each relationship that I failed to maintain. There's one thing in common, NEGATIVITY. I failed to try to understand why people were suddenly turned negative towards practically everything, I just cut them off from my circle of friends in my excuse not to taint myself with it. But guess what? That didn't make me happy either. I couldn't stop thinking about them nor stop caring. And I realized, there's a fine line between protecting your heart and ignorance. I was not protecting myself from negativity, I was being ignorant to those whom I called "negative friends."

By failing the most important relationship, I fail more of those. One cannot work without the other.

So I promised myself to love more, to do more, to learn more, to give more. I might have my heart broken by my earthly relationships, but my heavenly one will patch me up even more beautifully. And by fixing my relationship with GOD, I know I'll have the strength to rebuild the friendships that I have failed. I hope you can do the same.

Matthew 22 : 37 - 40, King James version

Jesus said unto him, Thou salt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou salt love thy beighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Miracle Encounter

OK, so it was my first time to watch a concert in Japan -- something that I've always dreamed of but never came true until March 14, 2012. Osaka-jo Hall will always be a memorable place for me.

The whole trip was a miracle since it wasn't actually planned in the first place. I heard about the concert, saw the schedule, checked the plane tickets fare and everything matched! Though the whole process in getting the concert ticket itself was long... and turned out to be more expensive than the plane fare; in the end I got it anyway.

But the biggest miracle would be a meeting with someone - or should I say, two people that made still smile in awe even now. Nah, I didn't meet TVXQ though that would be another miracle for me if it ever happens LOL

So my friend and I were queuing to get inside the Hall... Everyone was speaking Japanese, we were talking in our mother tongue when suddenly 2 girls were lining up right behind us. The moment we heard them speaking English, we started a conversation and just like me they're also Arashi fans and they're from the Philippines. They're luckier though since they've been to their concert while I'm still dreaming of ever get to watch one.

In the middle of our lively conversation regarding our "dream boys", we were taking pictures of ourselves in the queue as well (Girls! What do you expect? :D) Then of course, when it came to keeping in touch, we're following each other through twitter. Then one girl mentioned his twitter name. I was like: 'Huh?? Why's the name so familiar?' I kept trying to remember throughout the concert till finally I realize that someone with the same name left comments in my fanfics.

Just before the concert ended (and they left for Tokyo to see Arashi lights at Tokyo Tower the next day) I asked her if she had an account with the same name at the social network where I post my fanfics. She said yes and asked me why I asked?

I shyly told her: "I think you left some comments in my stories." She asked me again: "What's the title of your story?" It took her two seconds after I mentioned the titles before she screamed and jumped me for a hug! Then the other girl was like: "What?? What??" Then she was told about my identity (I'm trying to make myself sound mysterious here *grin*) and again she jumped me. Apparently the other girl also urged her to read my stories though she never left a comment.

Don't you think that it's a miracle indeed? There were around 10.000 people in the arena, a couple of hundreds in the standing area, and two people from another country who happened to read my stories were standing right behind me... and we got to watch the concert together, screamed together, sang together and waved our lightsticks together! For me, yes, it's a miracle. I'm glad I got to see the faces of people who read my stories and care enough to leave comments. More than the concert, the miracle encounter brought me another happiness that encouraged me to keep writing -- which reminds me that I haven't posted anything for the past 3 months :D

Lastly, since we couldn't take any pictures inside the concert hall, I took a picture outside with the giant banner of the boys. Lovely, isn't it :)