sjusuf-blog

[sjusuf-blog]

Hi guys, Back at it again with the sporadic posts! It's nearing the end of the semester and I'm in the middle of the most hectic week ever. 4 assignments and 3 tests this week but I'm reminded again and again that it's so important to take the time to appreciate everything good while we still have it. One of my best friends' grandfather suddenly passed away yesterday, just 3 weeks before her graduation. It makes me even more sad that he was still smiling and healthy earlier in the day and was all packed to go to LA for her graduation. The world really is unpredictable. I'd imagined what would I do if that ever happened to me, or my grandparents, and I couldn't help but tear up. I have such a special relationship with my grandmother and she's been my icon since the beginning of time that the thought of losing her one day just seems unfathomable. I wish for Maddie, and her grandfather all of the goodness in this world. Since I'll be going to LA after exams for Maddie's graduation banquet, I can only hope that her grandfather is up there making this one extra special. I don't want to sound boastful or whatever but I really do hope Tricia and I can be the medium for that happiness. This semester hasn't been especially smooth for a lot of people. There are heartbreaks, stress, depression, anxieties and uncertainties looming over everyone almost everyday. Another one of my friend had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety and it breaks my heart to hear or see her cry each time a wave hits her. I wish no one ever had to go through this. For someone who's on the other side of the line, it's so important to be supportive and understanding, even if we might not always understand what they're going through. Sometimes it's hard for me too to know how to pull back from that dark abyss. The only thing I know is that somehow, something will work out if we keep trying our best. For those that are struggling, my heart goes out to you. Hang in there and know that things will eventually fall into place. I think the picture above is a reminder to myself of the happier days of the semester. We have one more year to go - 10 months to be exact - and I wish more than anything that it's gonna be the year for each and everyone of us. Until a better post

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Hi all, Actually borderline sick right now. Was in Singapore for the week to accompany my grandmother and also to have a change of scenery doing my assignments. It's 4.34AM now and I can't seem to sleep. So as usual, I'd post during the most ungodly hour. This is the countless time I've been to Singapore, but each time would just be for 3-4 days so there's not much time to really "go local". I went very local this time. And I'm glad I got to spend most of that time with my grandma. I know none of us are getting any younger, which makes it so important to spend time with the elderly. She's still as young as ever though, even knowing how to watch her TV drama on YouTube now. I'm not gonna lie, this semester has been tough. Most of my classes are project based and I work 2 jobs now. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it. Well at least for the most parts. It's high stress high impact and I just hate how much trade off there is with my emotional well being. I think that's why I've been always looking for other ways to desperately escape the stressful scenery. I went in the casino and gambled for the first time with my grandma. It was probably one of the best experiences I've had and I don't regret any moment of it despite being sick now. I went out with friends some of the nights for drinks and just talked about life with a great view. Life couldn't have been any better. There was always a reminder at the back of my head that 3 assignments and 1 work update are due this week though. It sometimes does make me worry about how difficult it is to juggle everything in my line of work in the future. Will it even be worth it at all in the future? Is consulting really the only way? I'm sure it's not, but it's the best shot I have. I'm just hoping that if I'm able to get through university while working part time, then I can get through whatever ridiculous heavy load shit there is in the future. Who the fuck works 4 projects and 2 jobs anyway right? For all those feeling the same way, I feel your stress. Y'all the real MVPs so each time you feel like giving up, take one day at a time and strategize your work. It'll all be ok. Until the next, god forbid, stress post.

[sjusuf-blog]

Hi all,

I’m back with another post before the end of one of the greatest days of my life. To reflect on this day with one post will not give it justice, nor will writing so elaborately about it.

But before this feeling ends, I’ll just try my best to describe everything so I can memorize and savor every bit of it in the future. I turned 21 yesterday and invited my squad to go to Macau and celebrate.

By some miracle, Tricia and Fionna were here. Tricia has been here for exchange and just when I thought nothing could beat being in the same country as one of your soul mates for a semester, Fionna came out of the box. Literally. Fionna, who also represented Fionny’s presence, flew herself all the way to Hong Kong in time for my birthday. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?????

I’m also lucky enough to have my birthday 2 days before Katherine leaves for Australia. AGAIN, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

And as if those three blessings weren’t enough, I was able to get a free upgrade of the room I booked at Wynn Palace, Macau. The moment the door opened to the room, I knew that everything would be perfect no matter what.

My friends are all individuals I greatly love and respect. They’ve been through the most and got out of it the best so I wanted this to be their birthdays as well as mine. 21st has always been commercialized and for once I’d like to indulge in this for the right reasons. They deserved this.

Everything from beginning to end had been mesmerizing. The fountain show at midnight, the dinner and pregame, the clubbing and food adventure. I have no other words to describe it. I just want the Stella Jusuf in 10, 20, 30 and 80 years to come to remember that she had the best of the best.

I want Stella Jusuf to also never forget the friends she's made in university. The ones who made her see the world in a whole different light, who made her feel like she was home, the one who was willing to put up with her shit and shenanigans and still loves every bit of her for it. Don't ever forget them because they'll never forget you. Don't underestimate how much this friendship means to them too. All of you will always have each other.

Thank you Bali Crew and Fantastic Five. You guys mean the world to me.

To the next #birthday

[sjusuf-blog]

Hi guys, 

It’s 2 days before I head back to Hong Kong (and to begin yet another epic adventure with the beloved Tricia), so here’s another post. Ed Sheeran released “Castle on the Hill” and can we all just appreciate how much of a beautiful song title this is. 

So I’m not quite sure what else to write that’s totally new and refreshing in comparison to my previous posts. I guess in the past I’ve always written about the excitement and hunger to keep on moving. But tonight feels a little different. After spending the night with my close friends, it made me think of how funny the whole situation was. It felt like all of us genuinely wanted to catch up. But no matter how much time we spend together, it never really feels like we could ever be done catching up.

Thus this cycle of never really getting to “catch up” continues break after break and it made me wonder if all of this moving had been worth it if all we do most of the time in present is to inform each other of what we have been doing in the past and our plans for the future. Then again, maybe I’m just expecting too much. 

Another thing I realise is how each of us are slowly carving the path that we’re supposed to walk on. It doesn’t only have to be in the aspect of jobs and careers, but more so in the department of self discovery. Sure a lot of us are still lost and confused about what we’re really doing with our lives, but there’s a level of certainty and acceptance of who we are as individuals now compared to just 6 months ago. I find this really beautiful. 

Maybe when we meet again during the next break some of us would have already come a full circle; some of us are graduating too! It’s finally that time of life where we attend each others’ graduation and I cannot wait to see all of my friends blossom into their future selves. 

So until the next time we meet friends!

[sjusuf-blog]

Hi friends,

It’s been a minute since I last posted. It’s my last few days in Oslo before returning to Indonesia and thought it’s yet another perfect time to reflect. The picture above is probably the most festive day out in Oslo. There’s so many things that I find so beautiful and so out of place in this city and this is definitely one of those beautiful things.

If there’s one thing I took away most from this exchange, it’s that the best feelings are often priceless. Literally. It’s not in the form of branded clothes or bags or anything of material value. It’s how rich you are in your experiences, friendships and travels that makes you really increase your true value on earth.

I may have overestimated some of my exchange goals, thinking I would travel non-stop. But the truth is, after traveling the first two months, there was a sort of void in rushing everything. So I tried to take it down a notch. And instead, I enjoy staying and making dinner and watching movies with friends. It was almost as if I’ve reached a full circle and needed to feel like I was home again.

I met a friend here who I’m convinced would be a life long friend too. Her name is Han, a Korean from Daegu. We enjoy drinking coffee and eating middle eastern food. She’s learnt how to drink Americano instead of Cappuccino all the time and how to eat Indian food. In the 4 short months, we’ve managed to try almost all of the cafes in Oslo and watched uncountable movies together. It felt more like home thanks to her. And as with a lot of the serendipities in our lives, the saddest day of our time together has got to be the day we part ways.

On the bright side, she loves visiting her friends like me too. And that’s one thing I admire most about Han. She has this unstoppable glow when it comes to traveling and friendships. I definitely learnt how to appreciate friends more since I’ve met her.

I’ve been thinking about the one thing I wish I’d done more here but realize it won’t be my last time in Europe so any regrets this early would have been petty. There are still so many places to visit and things to do. I’d definitely come back with some of my best friends in the near future.

But for now, I just really miss the fucking sun and humidity LOL. As grandiose and sophisticated Europe is, there really is no place like home. The next destination is Bali and maybe I’ll come back with a post again about that trip.

So here’s to the end of a semester in Norway! It’s been one hell of a time.

Until the next #travels

[sjusuf-blog]

Hello friends,

I’ve just returned from one of the most beautiful places in the world - Lofoten Islands. For those that aren’t familiar, Lofoten Islands is located in the northern most part of Norway. And since Norway is the northern most part of Europe, I guess you could say that this has been a journey to the North.

The whole journey took 4 days in total. After a 2 hour plane ride and 4 hours drive, we made it to the island. The drive was effortless as we drove through mountains and fjords. Every turn calls for a photo and I kid you not, I was out of a 32GB memory card at the end of day 2. Anyway, our first AirBnB was in a secluded part of Laukvik where we had our very own private beach to enjoy.

My most memorable memory of our first day here was waking up to the perfect sunrise. The whole horizon was warm and no picture could do it justice. Eating breakfast and drinking coffee in the porch with such a spectacular view was priceless. I would do it all over again.

Just when I thought the scenery couldn’t get any better, we continued South to Reine. Reine is Southern most part of Lofoten Islands and is popular for Aurora lights appearances. One of our main goals of this trip is to obviously catch the Aurora lights. We didn’t expect much and were happy to even get a glimpse of it. But what we saw completely blew us away.

Reiterating my belief of beautiful accidents, we had a full blown appearance of the Auroras on our second night. We were playing card games and were planning to head out at 1am to the harbor. But after 45 minutes of playing, I decided that it was going to be our last game. We head out to catch some air and.. There it was. Lights dancing in the sky.

I don’t have the most sophisticated vocabulary and eloquence to describe our vision and our overwhelmed emotions that night. The only thing we know was we had to drive to the harbor. Immediately.

So that’s what we did. We chaotically packed our gears and bolted. The first photo above was taken there. Each and everyone of us sighed in satisfaction and decided we could rest happy now.

We went kayaking the next day and went in between mountains. The water, weather, mountains and company were as amazing as it gets.

Later that night, my friend, Hayley, was trying to start a fire but we were running out of wood, so I head out to try and see if there were more. It was a little dark and scary so I went back in and asked for the girls to come and look for them together. And as if the universe is trying to tease us again, we saw the Auroras as we went to the main road.

As you guessed it, we bolted. But this time, we were chasing the Auroras. I have never felt more alive than I was at that moment. Mother Nature is real and Mother Nature knows. It led us to the middle of a beautiful nowhere. We stopped, I grabbed my camera and swiftly set it on top of the car.

The minute everything was set up, we saw the rarest rainbow Aurora. It’s the second photo above. If what we felt the night before was indescribable, then what we felt that night was everything altogether.

I cannot help but think now that I’m back how extremely fortunate I am to have seen some of the best of Mother Nature in this lifetime. What would have happened we played another card game? Or I didn’t decide to find wood? Or even left a minute later? The Auroras would have waited for no bitch and left. This is my most incomprehensible realization.

One of my friends, Maira, is exchanging in Australia and was telling me about the Southern stars. That made me realize too how much closer the hearts are under the same sky.

We are all mere dusts in the universe blessed enough with senses that translates into this thing we call feelings. And if humans are capable of feeling a range of emotions then I can safely, but not finally, say that this was the purest and most divine emotion I have ever experienced. Explore, absorb and appreciate everything around you people!

Until the next #Auroras sighting!

[sjusuf-blog]

Hello everybody, This is an appreciation post for the city of Oslo. I will, shamefully, admit that I thought this city is in deficit of liveliness after having live here for exactly a month today. But, if a city could be alive and is listening to every thought its citizen has, then it has decided to prove me wrong today. Of all days, today. I have come to accept that serendipity happens to me (and so many others) on a daily basis that when days like this happen, it doesn't feel strange but rather, familiar. And that's how I randomly walked into Aker Brygge neighborhood with Han. Being an avid fan of architecture, I am in awe and was and still am speechless of this area. How did I not come here earlier?! It is probably one of the most well-balanced neighborhoods I have ever been to. You know that instantaneously feeling of love at first sight? I felt that the first time with Hoboken, New Jersey and now Aker Brygge, Oslo. It's location, low-rise refurbished and new apartments, outdoor restaurants, hidden malls, docked boats, sunsets and even wall arts, were a state of the art perfection. I might even love it even more than Hoboken. And with that, I retract all premature judgments of Oslo. I have fallen in love yet again. Thank you for calling me out on this one, Oslo. You are beautiful. Until the next #Oslo appreciation post!

[sjusuf-blog]

Hi everyone!

Two posts in less than a month and it feels great! I just came back from Rome last night and was itching to just memorialize the whole trip by posting it here.

In all honesty, there’s not much to post other than the simple moments of the trip. The picture above is one of those moments. We didn’t do much other than ate a shit ton of pasta, drank a shit ton of cheap beer, wine and coffee, and walked the streets of Rome at 2am. (We sightsee too, but that was just an excuse to past time)

I’d make it a point before I left for exchange that I need to absorb a completely new city in Europe in the most local way possible. After asking a couple friends and even local Italians on the chillest places to visit in Rome, my two friends and I (shoutout to Han and Hayley), decided to take off. Han and Hayley are both exchange students from South Korea and America so we’re more or less on the same page when it comes to traveling.

We refused to take the metro or bus and walked the entire time. At the end of it, we didn’t even need the map to get around central Rome. We saw musicians, lovers, cooks, gypsies, and even the pope. We took it all in and allowed the memories to be imprinted in our minds forever. No wonder we’d spend at least one hour just sitting in a cafe or eating lunch.

If I absolutely have to pick out the one thing I loved most about Rome, it would be Giolitti. I would recommend everyone to eat the Rice Piso ice cream EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. You can thank yourself later.

All in all, I’ve come to realize how rewarding it is to not rush in some of the most important moments in life. Especially those that can only be experienced rarely. Savor it. Be a local, not a tourist.

Until the next #CHILL post!

[sjusuf-blog]

Hi everyone!

By the picture above I think you can already tell what this post is about. Last weekend I went on a road trip with my friends to Trolltunga, Norway (Fun fact: Trolltunga translates to Troll’s Tongue). It was the most painfully memorable experience. 

I am currently on exchange in Oslo, Norway for 4 months until December. If you’re a college student who knows how exchange programmes work, then you know that it uses a pass/fail system. At least in HKU this is how it works. In other words, you can play most of the time and study later. 

So, what did I decide to do as soon as I arrived? Obviously travel. I met a few Singaporean friends here (shoutout to Xin, Gan, Darryl) and they’re the bombs. We decided to watch Findings Festival and hike Trolltunga in our first meeting. Those are honestly the best people you could ever meet in life. Findings Festival was epic as expected with KYGO performing. 

The highlight of my time so far is undoubtedly Trolltunga though. We set off Friday noon and made stops along the way to Odda because even the sceneries there were too beautiful to just drive by. Then we saw what’s probably the largest waterfall I’ve seen in my life - Voringsfossen, Eidfjord. It was magnificent and that’s all I can say about it. 

We arrived at our AirBnB at 9pm and immediately washed up so we could sleep and wake up at 3am the next day. This sort of failed and I’m pretty sure I only had 1 hour of decent sleep. Anyway, we drove 1.5 hours again at 3am to the starting point. 

Not going too much into the hike, I’ll just say that it was COLD and PAINFUL. If you guys are planning to hike Trolltunga, be sure to wear enough and train before you hike. I’ve hiked several times in my life and everytime the results have always proved to be worth the pain. This is the same with Trolltunga. If I was given a chance to descent before reaching the summit with all that pain, I would not have taken it. It was a 22km hike in total. 

I know for a fact that I wasn’t the only one who thought I was going to die during the last 1 km of descending. This might sound dramatic for an amateur hiker like myself, but it was hella muddy and steep that I’ve probably had 34812374 flashes of falling and breaking all of my teeth before me. I also had Chondromalacia, according to Google, for overusing my legs and the pain only stung as I was descending. Alas, I reached the starting point where my friends were after what felt like forever. Stupidly, we decided to Google the difficulty level of the mountain because who the hell researches BEFORE hiking, right?! It was an Expert level. That explains all the Norwegians that were jumping down during the 1km. 

But, as you can see from the picture above, life is all about taking risks for memories like this right? Pack enough, stay warm, never give up! Words to live by for all hiking enthusiasts out there!

Until the next #hiking post!

[sjusuf-blog]

Hello,

I’m writing this post again before leaving for Norway on Saturday. As usual, the post is gonna be quite heavy because it has been 3 months of stress, fun, learning, playing and experiencing. Before starting this summer I was only under the impression that I would be interning at Deloitte. While that took predominance of my life for the first few weeks (I kid you not, they actually make you work), the stress subsided when I took up another job.

First of all, I did learn a great deal from interning. It taught me all of the technical skills, the industry knowledge and the soft skills needed for a consultant. I enjoyed it even through the tedious working hours. But I’d be lying if I said that’s what I wanna be doing my whole life. It’s the same with university. You know how some people are under the impression that university is supposed to cultivate or nurture or train you for what you THINK you specialize in? In all honesty, all it made me realize is what I DON’T want to do.

This is what happened this summer with the internship and the job I took up with my dad. I know how cliche it is to just be falling back on family business in the Indonesian society. That’s why for the longest time I’ve been avoiding that option because I didn’t want to be a cliche for the sake of not being a cliche. But then at first glance of my dad’s new cafe with his 5 other partners, I knew that it needed at least the input of a youth (since it is a cafe for the youth anyway).

But one thing led to another and I started getting invested in this job, addicted even. It made me realize that this is what I truly enjoy doing. I still continued my internship, and suddenly it became all the more bearable as I look forward to every weekend to go to Bandung and work for the cafe. And then when it came to making the menu book and cafe banner, it’s almost as if all of the circumstances that I’ve been blessed with were pieces to a jigsaw puzzle.

Two of my greatest and most epic friends, Tricia and Fionna, are honestly who saved the outlook of this cafe. They are both probably the most creative individuals I’ve known (I may be biased, but if you’ve seen what I’ve seen, you would be too). They both worked on it and the results felt RIGHT. Everything felt right and I’ve never been more hopeful and ambitious of something than I am now.

The cafe went from a directionless cluster to a space that is hopefully purposeful and relevant. None of this would have been possible without the contribution of my two awesome friends.

As for my internship, it was a totally different experience. There wasn’t as much intrinsic purpose but I would, again, be lying if there wasn’t any extrinsic interest. Not going too much into the project itself, I’ll just say that I’ve probably overloaded on enough information about the oil industry to be able to illustrate the whole process of oil extraction and just how much money they can make from it. And knowing that this is the kind of knowledge I can gain from consulting is definitely a compensation to the pain that an office job gives you.

All in all, although this summer wasn’t exactly tumblr worthy with the typical beach photos and road tripping with friends vibe (except for the holiday to UK), it did make me discover what I want and don’t want more. Personal growth is scary but I would advise for everyone to accept it. You'll thank yourself later.

Until #december2016 homies

[sjusuf-blog]

Hello people! 

 In continuation of my previous post, here's one of my dad. He, too, is plain like my brother. But he has one of the kindest and most selfless hearts. The things he would sacrifice and do for his kids are beyond what I can muster into words. Unlike my mom, he wasn't as harsh and I know that he would always put his kids well being before anything else. But of course, like my mom, he has set high expectations for his kids too. Like my mom, too, he has overcome a hella lot of obstacles. Long story short, he and his siblings hearing became impaired since a young age. Over the years, he's learnt how to read lips and caught up with school syllabus. He'd been accepted to Stanford but my grandmother was too worried that he would have a hard time due to his hearing. So she'd decided for him to stay close to home and go to university there instead. I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been up to this day. Yet again, he thrived and here we are. We don't always communicate fluently and there would always be times where it would be hard for my brothers and I to convey our emotions to him. But even if we have to repeat what we really wanted to say twice or thrice or even through rough sign language, that's what we would do. It was the least we could do. I will forever be grateful for him. Wouldn't have it any other way. Until the next #family post!

[sjusuf-blog]

Hello fellow people of Tumblr, My inconsistency and inability to commit still gets the best of me. I'm currently on a short vacation with my family in the UK. And as all of you must have heard, #Brexit happened. After 43 years of being a member of the EU, UK finally decided to go separate ways. This dramatic change reminded me once again that the only consistent substance in life is - you guessed it - change. I've made appreciation posts for a lot of my friends and only just realized that my family has been missing out. So here's a picture of my mom (who's dressed like a security woman) and my brother (who's plain like vanilla) by the Doldabarn Castle at Llanberis. I know this is supposed to be an appreciation post but in my family, politeness has never been our strong suit when dealing with each other. Let's start with my mom. I'm not gonna lie that she's a beast. No one has force fed me, scolded me, beat me up (take this with a grain of salt), pushed me to the brink of hell and tamed me harder than her. She's probably the typical Asian tiger mom up until I was 17. But by then her wrath had fully transferred to me and I was doing all of the above myself. So, I guess you can already see the one good thing that came out of it. I probably won't be where I am if she was a fairy godmother instead of cruella. I probably won't be where I am too if she'd been raised differently. Growing up without a dad forced her to take on such a dominant role since a young age for her 4 younger siblings. Her mother was too busy taking care of her younger siblings that she'd be the one cooking for them everyday. That's probably also why her cookings now are delicious (most of the time). On top of all that she still had school, sports and every other activities teenagers are engaged with. Our relationship has always been rocky and I have a feeling that it's going to be perpetually rocky. We're too similar and different in so many ways towards so many issues that it's so hard to see eye to eye sometimes. But when we do, it'd always be having the same type of humor and laughing at the silliest things together. Even though it's rare, it's days like this that make us tolerate each other. I've only said "I love you" to her once on my 17th birthday (I think) because, you know, Asians show love differently lol. But if the typical way to show love is through material objects for Asians, then I hope she knows that I'm trying my best to fulfill her demands. And I hope that says a lot and she understands the real meaning behind it. I'm enjoying this trip with my family and maybe I'll post another one for my dad tomorrow! Good night or good morning to all you! Until the next #family post!

[sjusuf-blog]

Hello everyone, I'm finally back again with another post, even though it's again another one of departure. I'm writing this during the most ungodly hour (woke up before my alarm rang, it's 7.17am). I present to you the squad of Hong Kong! I'll be completing my second year of university and heading back to Jakarta in four days. On any other summer, this wouldn't have been posted because well- it's just like any other summer. But this summer is different because the people in this picture and I would be separated for at least 7 months and some, 1 year. It's a hard and confusing time not knowing if all of us will come back the same person after exchange. For some, maybe. But for all we know, at this day and age when we're ever changing, all of us may come back a different person. Don't get me wrong, change is growth and change is good. I've had to experience that both the good and hard ways throughout my 20 years of living. So one thing I do pray for is that we grow together, individually (if that makes sense). We've stuck together since the first year of university. They've been pivotal in helping me adjust to the depressing culture shock and long story short, help me find a balance and place in this godforsaken competitive environment. They've helped me grow and understand the different joys and adversities that I didn't even know exist. We've made each other feel special and okay and I think that's the biggest reason why if I were given the choice all over again, I would pick Hong Kong. Each and everyone of us grew up differently, and each and everyone of us had a set of experiences that were different from each other. I can't speak for all of them, but I know that the exchanges of these experiences help shape some of us into a better person today. And I thank them for allowing me to be part of their lives, even if some things may or may not change from this point forward. It had been one hell of an adventure. I'll be heading to Norway in August, Tanisha, Joyce and Coco to the US, Angie to Canada, Katherine to Australia and Claudia to the UK. I know. At this point of my life, I'm convinced that there's just no staying or settling. The circumstances just force us to keep moving and I do hope that it's for the better. I've tried beating all the distance that separates me from the important people of my life and this turn of events just makes me want to achieve that goal even more. The world is even more beautiful when you see it with friends anyway. So, I end this post by wishing these people the very best in their exchange journey! Come back a better version of yourselves and I look forward to resume our 'exchanges of experiences' when we're reunited in Hong Kong. Miss and love you guys. Until next year in #hongkong

[sjusuf-blog]

Hi friends, I'm back from Singapore yesterday. Yes, I realized today that I've been on 7 plane rides in less than 1 month and about to go on my 8th one tomorrow. I haven't stayed in one city for longer than 1 week and I would say that it's pretty intense now that I'm heading back to Hong Kong (again) tomorrow for school. It's been an extremely fruitful and productive break, even though I didn't do everything I set out to do before my break. But then again, life doesn't really follow the agenda, does it? Anyway, if I had to put my trip to Singapore in one word, it would be perfect and efficient. Okay, that was two. But still. Won't elaborate more because that would bore you guys. My grandparents are always a joy to be around and I spent the other half of the time with Jane celebrating her birthday. As I'm writing this while packing up, I realized two things. 1) I'm out of clean clothes, 2) if you save up and put in the effort to travel and meet the people you love despite your busy schedule, you're never really gone. The only negative side to this is that you will lose a lot of clothes in a lot of different cities and end up having to shop for them again. I think the best kind of feeling you can leave your loved ones behind with is the feeling of contentment and elimination of all feelings of missing and longing. Saying goodbye to Jane was so damn easy because we were gonna meet again in 3 days, and saying goodbye to my homies back in Jakarta was easier too because I'll be back here in 2 weeks to spend Chinese New Year with them. So, the moral or message or take away or whatever from this post is - work hard, save up, make the effort, travel, go back home, make trips, meet people halfway, keep moving if you must, and above all, appreciate every moment you have together. Shout out to my parents and grandparents for all their (financial) support too. None of this would have been possible without them. I may be too much to handle sometimes, but I promise you I have dreams of throwing you guys in the back seat of a hella comfortable life too. At some point during this break, one of the things that hit me was how much I'm going to miss of Stanford (my little brother) growing up. He's 11 now and is so close to becoming a teenager soon. I think a long term resolution would be to be there for him as much as I can as he goes through his teenage years. My family only just found out that he was color blind to pink and some shades of purple and I don't know why it took so long for us to realize but we definitely learnt our lesson. It's time to pay attention. He will always be our favorite. Until the time I'm #home

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Hello friends, If I didn't know any better my tumblr may well be a blog 90% dedicated to the people in my life. In retrospect, I've always preferred writing about people that inspire me rather than about myself anyway. So here are the two people that inspire me. You may have heard of their names in my previous posts - Fionna and Fionny. The right (and rather shy one) one is Fionny. She's a little fire ball. Her abilities range from binge watching 10 series in less than 3 weeks to looking fabulous on social events like she wasn't just a hermit 2 hours before. Now that's what I call some serious skills. Anyway, on a more serious note, she holds a special place in my heart. Never a girl with much words, but always a girl with a mind full of imagination and ideas. Recently she's been into anthropology and says that's what really interests her. She's written a near perfect essay on the Chinese zodiac and how everything worked out. Who the hell writes about Chinese zodiac for anthropology? Fantastic, isn't it? I was extremely proud. Told you she was full of imagination. The left one is Fionna, she's the later bloomer but trust me, she's bloomed into one of the prettiest. If I have to compare to her to a flower, it would be a lily. Lilies go through a lot but in the end, they spring out of the mud like a crazy motherfucker. Recently she's shown me some of her photography and video work for her exciting new project on tumblr. It was record breaking. They're not typically pretty or HD or whatever, but they make you feel something and that, is the hardest thing to achieve in the world of art. It's one of those works you see and can't exactly put a finger on it but you know there's something. I was extremely proud. I've planned on posting all of it on her tumblr some time during midnight when she's asleep. This wouldn't be the only post where I write about them so I apologize for future recurring posts. They're just one of those people you know. Not sure how relevant it is to the whole world but maybe it could just be one of those feel good stories that would inspire nonetheless. Until the next #myminionspost

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Hello my friends, Today marks another bittersweet ending to a break. This post features Tricia Ilena, one of the very best. She's flying back to Atlanta tonight and we've just parted ways in quite an awkward way because I thought we would be able to send her all the way to the airport after picking up my dog from the pet station. (I have a shy chihuahua called Pica) My life is a constant "hit and miss". Fionna, Fionny and I were able to make it in time to Tricia's house before she left for the airport, but that was it. Long story. Tricia and I did say goodbye last night but I guess deep down - just like a year and a half ago - I was never ready to say the words out. Not being overly attached or anything but goodbyes are overrated. So I'd always try to linger around until the last minute. Fionna, Fionny and I had already made plans to go to the states some time later in 2016. I shall hold on to that adventure and not think about how long until we'd meet Tricia again so as to avoid any post farewell syndrome. If this could count as a Tricia appreciation post, it would go like this - thank you for coming back, for reminding me that opportunities are like apples, for constantly guilt tripping me, for letting me pop your pimples, for your endless support and perseverance, for making time and for being there like there isn't any time difference. You are golden. If you read this before boarding the plane or while you're on the plane, cry if you want. But it better be tears of joy that we were able to go on a fantastic trip together in this limited time frame, that you were able to spend Christmas and New Years with family and friends, and that this is only the beginning of another new and exciting adventure! We have so much more to do and places to go! And with that I, Stella Jusuf, hereby bid you a "see you soon". Please wash your dishes everyday and clean your kitchen every week. Cockroaches have 7 lives. Until the next #hello

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Hello friends (my now two followers), I am back with my last post in 2015 and first post in 2016! Today's post features Jane Ng, a good friend I met in Hong Kong. In an attempt to celebrate the Eve of New Year's Eve, Jane and I decided to stay in and watch as many sappy/funny movies in my room. Pretty chill. However, the noon of New Year's Eve was anything but chill. Jane slept like a pig because she'd had trouble sleeping nights before so I let her sleep in and told her I'd take away brunch. While we were eating brunch at 1pm, I had an epiphany that I wish would come more often. I told Jane that we should do everything we've been wanting to do but couldn't in 2015 today. She thought it was a brilliant idea. The first thing I'd wanted to do was have high tea (a popular indulgence in Hong Kong which others might otherwise call as slightly British-pretentious) just to see what all this hype is about. Jane wanted to get another piercing so we'd settle at those two first. We'd manage to shower, get changed and get ready in within 30 minutes. Reached the piercing location in 1 hour and got it done in 2 minutes. Miraculously reached Hotel ICON for high tea 45 minutes later even after taking a detour to cotton on before that. I won't explain much about high tea at ICON other than that the bursting flavors definitely outweigh its "poshness". I could give two shits if I ate it too barbarically or quickly. Towards the end of our feast, we'd contemplated between indoor skiing and ice skating. But due to time constraints with our dinner plans, we'd decided on ice skating instead because it was closer. At 7.30pm, we'd head back to Central to have dinner with our other friends at Townhouse. It was wonderful. As I lay in bed at 3am now, I think about how rare days like this have become. To drop everything and make decisions on the way? Some may say we're biting more than we can chew. But knowing people like Jane, she's pretty awesome at juggling 100 things at once. It's almost as if efficiency is her middle name. (I'll write a separate post about this) And I'm glad that today it's been put to a truly memorable use. Today's impromptu is definitely something to remember. The sensation, the adrenaline, the people, the tingling taste buds, and the togetherness. I live for this. With this I bid good night my friends! Happy New Year to you and your loved ones! Until the next #newyearseve!