Unforeseen Circumstances

Sometimes we go on this journey. With a story unwritten even unforeseen. It is written as it goes and in the way, it surprises you in ways you couldn't even imagine. For me, ‘this’ particular journey I had this summer was one of it.

Prologue

It began with familiarizing oneself to one own self if that would make sense. It’s the introduction to the journey. It didn’t say much about the journey ahead, but there’s a glimpse of hope, excitement, and a tease of the element of surprise. At the end, there’s this some sort of conflict that was addressed. It pushed to the need of resolution that would need to be followed up by the next chapter.

Monologue

This is the part where everything seems to be drastically pouring in. A lot of this and that in addition to the conflict introduced in the prologue. But the whole thing is actually about surviving. It's like peeling layers of onions. Except, the onion is you. Each moment is a conflict itself which requires its own solution. And if you try to see in a bigger picture, these little moments might be a part of a solution to the big problem. Here lied the part where in the story you were being torn apart, you were put into a test -to the deepest-darkest-forest-, and still, you needed to be able to breathe and make your way out. Here, it was also the part where you would finally found that the weapon to face the Last King standing, lies within you. I mean it has been your journey all along. People you meet along the way were your clue, your aid, but they are not you. Gosh, that sounded super cheesy, but hey, you found the cure, the sword, the whatever. Nope, but it didn’t end there.

Epilogue

The last part is probably as crucial as the Monologue. This is where it all get tested. This is where you gather all your weapon and getting ready to face your ultimate mission. There will be hesitation, but hey, you have got everything you need now! This part might challenge you more as you might take one step forward and two steps back. But no! Thou shall not back down. As this may also become a prologue to the next journey, there’s always a glimpse of hope, excitement, and a tease of the element of surprise.

PS: Making everything go as planned is not easy --as universe always tackles you, but we'll see.

Syttende Mai

May 17th is known as Norway's national day. This year, it started as a really gloomy day. Clouds were really hanging in the sky. They usually start the day with a festive breakfast. We did too, had some waffle,pancakes, and some bubbly rose before heading out to the city. 

Practically everybody in Trondheim is on the street. I've never seen so many people on the street before. There's a parade in the city center and everyone joins in. Children, militaries, social clubs (moustache club included --yes there's a moustache club), dance club, seniors, veterans, you name it! They parade with bands or with music or even by singing. 

The prettiest thing might be the traditional clothes that people are wearing. A lot of men and women (and kids -- the cutest!) are wearing them. I'm eyeing myself on one, but it's also know to be really expensive because of the intricate detail of the embroidery. 

A little later in the afternoon, after the parade, the sun is up and it's pretty warm out. I didn't want to go back home just yet. So we got some burger and some fries (been drooling for some juicy patty for sometime) and sat on the grass and enjoy the sun.

Definitely a thing to look forward to! Til next year!

Storheia

Exam week in Spring is such a challenge. After arriving so late, Spring time is indeed to be enjoyed. So... we went hiking last weekend to Storheia, known as the highest mountain peak in Trondheim. Mind you it's only 565 m high and you might think it's spring, BUT, most part of the mountains and the pathways are still very much covered with snow, knee-deep. Yes, knee deep.

A friend of mine, who has been there, told us that we just need to follow the signs and we'll get there easily. We won't get lost... or so we thought. We followed the sign that reads Storheia and turn immediately. We kept on thinking, "oh, maybe [the path] is just covered with snow"... or so we thought again. As we kept on walking, we couldn't find any path. Sometimes we find the poles that marks the way, but they are really far apart from each other. We kept on walking anyway. We got our shoes wet as we're walking in snow and swamp. We basically tried to look for footprints to figure out where to go next. Sometimes we do found, sometimes we're not sure whether it's a human footprint or an animal foot print. But surprisingly, eventually, magically, we managed to arrive at the foot of the last hike. And the way up, it's covered with snow, again.

Even the lakes are still frozen

Not much of a hiker myself, it was a rollercoaster mood ride for me going up. Nevertheless, we made it to the top! (or should I say I made it to the top!). I was pretty proud of myself. On the top, it was pretty windy, but it was warm and sunny. We took out our grill and had some grilled sausages. Accompanied by the view of the fjords made it really pretty and serene.

As smart as we can be, we missed the last bus to go home. We tried to go down from the other side as there's hope of another bus schedule. However, we couldn't manage to find the way to go down as we kept on meeting with cliffs. After 1.5 hours going round to find way down, we decided to go back to where we came from and maybe just walk or hitch-hike our way home. Not until 3.5 hours later we reached the bus stop. Again, I am amazed of myself. 

The best part of the hike for me is really not about the destination only, the journey is what makes it better. Here's a tiny bit of a clip of the journey. 

Oh slow weekend getaway

I went for a getaway weekend to Oslo and treating myself (again-and-again) to see John Mayer live. I took the 6 hour train ride from Trondheim to Oslo (as it was the cheapest option). NSB train is actually pretty good, they have electrical sockets and free wi-fi on the train. I took the afternoon train, and since the sun sets down late in the day, I got an enjoyable view.

Norwegian landscapes will never fail to amuse your eyes

The Sunday I was there, all stores are closed. So I had brunch at the Nighthawk Diner where the waitress is super nice and super friendly and they have the best egg's benedict I have ever tasted. After brunch I just walked around the city. I walk around Grunnerløka (holding myself from entering all the tempting sunday market) and go through their parks. Even though it was a clear sunny day, the wind was blowing pretty hard so I couldn't stayed out too long (can never predict Norwegian weather and correspond your outfit enough to survive every changing situation during the day). My best decision of the day was also to ditch maps and just walk and kept on walking along Akerselva river. Thanks to my navigation skill that is way beyond perfect, I end up going in circles. So I revisit the map again. 

Norwegian spring

The other days I spent around the museums and more parks. My favourite one is the Munch Museum which dedicated to the life and work of Edvard Munch. I didn't see the famous "The Scream" paintings by him there tho, I might missed it or... it just wasn't there?

Munch Museum

Vigeland Sculpture Park - Vikingskipshuset

Last but not least! One BIG check of my bucket list! Watch John Mayer live! It was an experience beyond awesome (couldn't find any better word to describe it). A two hour long show (I must say this is long, compared to the latest concert that I saw which pretty much usually last 1 to 1,5 hour long)! Really artistic visuals (oh and I really like watching the changing of sets from full band to acoustic to trio to full band again, all the dragging of the sets just made me excited). The set-list was perfect also. He didn't played some of my favourite songs, but come on, with that much on his belt it must've been hard to make a set list. And since (I checked) he played slightly different sets on every city, so well, the set-list was perfect for Oslo.

Oh and the crowd! Never had such a calm concert in my life. When John ended "Dear, Marie", the crowd kept on singing the outro part (I don't know what it's called - "ooh.. ooh.. ooh.." part in the end). The band was already preparing to the next song but then they began playing that part again. And when the band went out stage before the encore, the crowd start singing (again) the theme for the search for everything, then the band went in again and played the song. Best part was the closing, John sang "You're gonna live forever in me" (another favourite song) with a simple white piano and a LED screen just puts on white as the background. Perfect!

So, it's safe to say the trip was worth it; the walk, the food, the concert, every penny worth spent!

PS: Coming back from the trip, I realise 1) I do enjoy walking alone, 2) still I'd prefer having a company to stroll around, 3) I do enjoy that long train ride (especially when there's no one sitting next to you).

Defining

Everyday, all the time, we are always trying to fit -or unfit- ourself into society's perspectives -whether we realize it or not. Every decision we make depended on which sides of us we want the world to see. Making "sane" decisions sometime is merely fitting ourselves within society. Making "insane" decision -even for the sake of your own good- can come across as selfish. Do you want to be seen as selfish?

There's always two sides of a story including yourselves. There's always two sides of you. One that is more sound may be the one you feed more. It can get a little exhausting when you try to feed both. You'll end up grey and find yourselves between your own lines. So in the end, you just gotta make that decision. Which side you want to be, which side you want them to see? How would you fit in?

There's no place like home

Home is where the heart is. 

I originally wrote this a little while ago as a reflection of 2016 and opening up for 2017. The topic, I think, it's an always ongoing process, so here's to these feelings and the journey to discover home. One which I thought I had already understood what it meant before but then 2016 truly has brought a whole lot deeper meaning into it. So here's a little look at how 2016 set me homes. 

The beginning of the year was the beginning of my new journey. I just started applying for school, applying for scholarship, and thinking about embarking on a new phase. I didn't meticulously planned it. It was a now-or-never thing. I didn't prepare any back up plan. Just jump right through it. I just knew it had to work. It had to. There were few bumps in the road, sometimes I really felt like giving up or having second thoughts that may be this is not the path I'm supposed to take, but eventually things fell beautifully into place. I got accepted into the school I wanted and I got a scholarship to pursue it. It was a blessing beyond belief. That's the first milestone to the journey. Nothing yet related to finding homes, but it is the root.

Along the way, I started to meet new people. I was away from home for a quarantine of the scholarship programme, there I get to know new friends and those new friends become new family, they become "home" on that week I was away from home. I don't know how long those kinds of friendship that is formed on a time-frame kind of basis would last, but at that time that's your comfort of home. Then also came the time that I need to resign from my work-place, it was then I realised, the team I worked with and spent every working hours and every overtime hours kind of become also my family. They've hold another definition of home. It's like waving goodbye at a half-piece of you whilst holding on to the other half-piece in the other hand.

Then it was time for me to leave my friends and my family, my actual home, to pursue my dreams. It was not easy, trust me. I tried to cover up all the tears of saying goodbyes with laughter. I basically couldn't say good-bye at the airport cause soon I'll start bawling. It was also a scary thought to be in a new place, alone. But, no. Universe always have a surprise for you. In Norway, 10 937 km away from home. I have found another home, people that makes you feel loved and right at home. People that takes care of you and take you in their life, if not by fate, by choice. 

Close to the end of the year, I went on my first multi city-multi country trip. I met different people and traveled with different group of friends. It's then when I realised, when you're away from home, on that mini nomad portion of your time, you'll never feel alone -no matter where you are- as long as you're close to "home", those you invest your love in. Finding a home is a journey in which you'll discover yourself on the way. I'm still looking for it everywhere I go, every time. Because for me, home is a feeling. Home is where the heart is. Home is where love is, as Elbert Hubbard quotes the love you give away is the only love you keep. 

Windshield View

Seems that the Iceland experience is really hard to move on from. So here's a little (more) story and some pictures to accompany you dreaming about the place ('cause I'm still hung up on it too).

We rent two cars, one under my name and the other one under my friend's, making us the registered driver. Sound's fancy, huh? The first two days, my back and my neck was hurting because of the tension of driving in a new place. In Indonesia we drive on the left side of the road while in Iceland we drive on the right side. Also we didn't want to get into any trouble so I always drove under the speed limit (with the limit technology on the dashboard it just made everything easier, thanks technology!).

The rest of the trip, driving came naturally again for me. Hours of driving everyday didn't tire me (only made me sleepy in the evening, but that's where co-driver came handy). What made it even more easier is the view. It's a total relaxation and totally eye-pleasing.

Most of it of course are mountains, some covered in greens and covered in snow. The one that is heavily covered in snow, is pure awesomeness, but when you're driving it's also a wonderful device blazing glare :'). But who would complain when you're blessed with such amazing view? I obviously didn't (I just put my sunnies on and problem solved). Another unforgettable views are the sunsets. There's a romantic sense when the sun peeked behind the mountains and its rays cut through the assembly of the clouds.

Since I have to keep my eyes on the road all the time, I only had like split of a second to glanced the view on the left or on the right. It also wouldn't make sense if I'd be taking the pictures. So, none of these memories are possible without the help of my wonderful co-driver, Einstein (he's social media shy so there's no link to all his brilliancies). All pictures are courtesy of his (though I should have credits for the camera :P and all the "command" for him to take the picture, I taught him well, I guess - me taking credit for everything). 

Bye for now, Iceland!

Hashtag: Squad Goals!

As a trained-extroverted introvert, it is still sometimes difficult for me to find comfort in myself in the middle of a large group (read:more than two or three). I might have doubted myself too much going on the Iceland trip though. As were mentioned in previous post, we were 9 people and we're going on a road trip. That's quite a lot together time for a group travel in my opinion. 

We were divided into two cars, multiple bedrooms and sofas, large food preparation, long bath queue, and small walking groups. But these people are just the best! So here's a tribute to endless Boomerangs (I can't stop re-watching), wefies, and group pictures!

Kudos to us and cheers to friendship!! #squadgoals

Land of Ice and Fire

During easter break, 9 of us went to Iceland for "vacation" and such an escape from school (and work). To be honest, I doubted that I could handle myself being with 9 people intensely for 10 days, nonetheless we survived without any scratch!! 

We walked, we drove through the sun, we drove through snow storm, we hiked, we bathed in the river, we bathe in thermal baths, we bath under the mountains, we walked on the beach, we walked on the glacier lagoon, we see northern lights, anything you could've dream of. There area thousands pictures of places that we went to and million of memories and stories to share. But even pictures and words cannot clearly describe the experience, and it wouldn't do justice to the place itself.

The best thing that I can share here is these videos of our journey, made by a talented friend of mine, Greatania J.

PS: Go spend your birthday in Iceland, cause it is LEGENDARY. True story.