Mind's Cafe at Boat Quay

It was really a cozy place to hang around with friends... There were Fun games for us to play, Good food to tantalize our taste buds, but most importantly, it was the presence of NINERZ in that cafe which made the place very vibrant and happening!

Cool El Nino:

Kresna, MYP, Kemal, Udo, Halim

Cute La Nina

Fusta, Melia, Lydia, Linsey, Anes, Sharon, Sylvie, Tessie, Fanni, Virgen, Widyawati

With Ivan, my future dentist....before he left for another friend's birthday party...

With Anes and my Chicken lasagna, With Fanni, Melia and Anes with my rootbeer float

We played this game. 2 groups were formed. Rule of the game: the group members must guess the words that were acted out by a representative from their group.

Taking photos with my group first before the game started. Seen: Me, Anes, Lydia, Tessie, Kemal. Unseen: Halim, MYP,  Kresna

The other group, our rival:p Seen: Virgen, Linsey, Fusta, Sylvie, Wati. Unseen: Melia who was acting out the words, Udo, Henche

So engrossed in guessing until they forgot about their food...

Need props? dun worry... There were props to be used by our "actors". MYP and Henche were trying to figure out how to act the words.

MYP in action.. what was he trying to act out? Saxophone? Trumpet? Trombone? or Oboe??

WOw Lydia.. I wonder what was as high as that....

Even Anes started to "dangdut" when it was her turn to be the actor...

gazing at MYP... keep guessing!

Something round? with hole at the centre.. Donut? Basketball Hoop? No No No.. Melia desperately trying to act out that word...

HOwever, the funniest momment was when Tessie did the action.

The hint that was given was "something you would find at a convenient store"

 Do you see the "LONG", "BLUE", "THIN" thing that she was holding?

This was how Tessie acted out that particular word: She hold the LONG, BLUE THIN, thingy with 2 hands and pretended to be SUCKING the thing...

Everybody kept guessing, until suddenly, Kresna shouted:

"CONDOM"

hahahhahahahhahhahahhaaaaaaaaaa.. it was soooo damn funny, I laughed until tears came out from my eyes...

and do you know what the word actually is? IT's CANDY!!!!!

sighh....hahahhahaha..

What an exciting nite.. ! can't believe that we re actually 7 years old!!!.. 7 years ago, on the same date, 5 Nov 1999, 40 Indonesian Scholars landed in Singapore.. still with blurry faces.. not knowing about what fate would come upon them... 7 years have passed.. and it's really 7 years filled with valuable experiences....Don't you think so, El Nino, and La Nina?

Now, there are 22 people remaining in Singapore... Where are the rest of NINERS? They are scattered all over the world... but somehow, somewhere, someday, I m sure we'll meet again... and at that time, each of us will be exchanging different stories about the different paths that each of us takes... 

Cheers to Niners!ALL the best for us! 

Kaulah p'nulis hidupku

Engkau membuat s'galanya baru

Engkau di dalam ku

Dan ku ada dalam mu

Tak ada yang tak mungkin bagiMu

Dan ku dicipta untukmu

Tuk membawa harum namamu

Engkau di dalamku

Dan ku ada dalamu

Kini ku datang mencari wajahmu

Mengasihimu slalu

Dengan seg'nap hatiku

Mencitai seluruh perbuatanmu

Mengabdikan hidupku sesuai rencanaMu

Ku mau menyembahMu

Sampai akhir hayatku

Kau memahami hatiku

Hanya kau yang mengerti ku slalu

Engkau di dalam ku

Dan ku ada dalam mu

The first day we "landed" at UTC, we were welcomed at this pizza and pasta place, which I forgot the name, I still remembered how happy I was, when I saw Andy, CHun SEong at the parking lot, waiting for us.. Love you all... hahaha...The plump guy with the white hair is the head of international exchange (i think), the 2 people behind him are Jean and Adaman, they are French, and now they are in NTU doing their exchange.

OUr school at Compiegne: Universite de Technologie Compiegne..(wrong spelling or not ya tac?)

This is what we do during classes: taking photos...;)  Well, all of us were dissatisfied with the fact that we were autrocized and were put into a place very very far away from the main school building called the Centre de Recherches de Royallieu. we expected that during class, we can have the opportunity to interact with the French. UTC is very different from UTT, the first University that we studied at for the first 2 weeks. UTC is much older, and the atmosphere there is rather bleak. If not because of Tac and my other GSS friends, I imagined myself as being very bored everyday. In the pic: Denny, Pavaani, me, Ling Qing (my dearest roomie) and her boyfriend Leo.. I am closest to these people throughout the trip.

This small and stuffy room is where we spent most our recess time.. Whenever the teacher gave us a break, all of us streamed into this computer room and reconnect ourselves with our loved ones at home...

HOw cozy our apartment unit is.. don't you think so? THis is where we stay when we were at COmpiegne. Cap Affaire... we really in love with our unit, as we ve got our own tv, pantry, toilet, and even a room upstairs where me and Ling Qing sleep. Pavaani had the privelege to sleep downstairs in a single room just in front of the toilet, so that she can have her own sweet time pooing at anytime.. hahaha...

but it was the fact that there is a pantry inside our room that makes me happy. Now I can practice my cullinary skill!

Look at this juicy Hainanese chicken, magnificent creation of Sharon and Patrick.. yeaaa.... super nice...we ate it with the steamed rice flavoured with the hainanese spices. Patrick brought chocolate foundane which is super duper chocolaty and yummy! We had a joyous dinner that night.. kaaaaa... missing those momment!

My memory about Compiegne was mainly when I roller blade around the city... It was fun fun fun.. but the last time i roller blade was years ago, so, I bumped more than 30 times I think that day.. gyaaa... if not becoz of tac, I d fall down even more.. 100 times maybe. Almost fell down into the river some more.. hahahaa....

THe most terrible fall was at night when I fell down in the middle of the road and made a burnt scar at my right ankle, which still stays until now,... nevertheless, it was the day when i really explore the city, and that memory would always stay fresh in my mind..

The ecstatic moment of Sharon when she visited a castle at Compiegne.. This green clearing was actually "out of bound" separated from the main lane to the castle by a hip height gate.. BUT, Tac insisted to cross over.. n then we took this crazy photo of me "jumping" happily.. I love the scenic and idyllic view behind..

After the visit to the castle, we had the chance to visit our French teacher just nearby.

Her house was homely, there was quite a big garden behind the house. We had a picnic there.. As usual, I had the urge to sit down on the grass whenever I see green clearing.. so we decided to sit on the grass..and enjoy the food...

There are still sooo many instances in Compiegne that stay fresh in my mind...

woo hoo woo hoo.. if only i can ride on a time machine and fly back then..all the best in whatever things you are pursuing,... I really treasure my friendship with all of you..

Terkadang apa yang kubayangkan,

tak seperti kenyataan

kekecewaan dan keputusasaan membayangi hidupku

ingin ku berlari,

namun ku tak mampu..

di batas akhir kekuatanku,

kau datang dengan kasihMu,

menyentuh hatiku dan bangkitkan semangat hidupku

tuk melangkah tinggalkan masa lalu

kusadari kasihMu tak pernah berakhir

kau berikan arti dalam hidupku.

kerinduanku, selalu berada di dekatMu

berjalan dalam kasih dan kebenaranMu

sampai akhir hidupku

Kini tiada lagi keraguan

berganti dengan kepastian

sungguh kau jawaban hidupku,

kaulah harapanku,

hanya dirimu satu didalam hatiku.

I would say that Italian's speciality is the DELICIOUS SCRUMPTIOUS YUMMY TEMPTING GELATO. WHenever there is ice cream parlour, I will always stop to look at the ice cream and see the different flavour. There was one particular shop in Florence which , I think, sell the best ice cream. It's called "Very good"

Look at how the italian present theit ice cream. Now you understand why there was no days without ice cream when I was in Italy.

Italian food? don't forget Pizza! The pizza in italy is really different from the usual pizza sold in pizza hut. the crust is more crispy and thinner. I prefer this kind..gurih..i like ham cheese mushroom pizza the best. This picture was taken in Pisa city, next to the pisa leaning tower.. great feelings..

how about the spaghetti bolognaise, cream fettucini and seafood risotto? nothing special, i dun really like them..this pic wa taken at venezia, we had combined dinner with the other group we met at venice.

the pizza from this place was the best that i ve tried. This was taken on my birthday night, 4th july. just a quiet treat for myself with denny yg menyebalkan.. hehehehe.. sorry..the ambience was nice.. open air concept, surrounded by trees and a water fountain behind us.

i also got a chance to go to the kitchen at the back at the restaurant and asked the chef to teach me baking pizza.. hehehehe....interesting night...