sugarloaf ♥ express

When was the last time you stayed up all night? What were you doing?


Um.... last night? *lol* xD
Some of you already know that I'm nocturnal, so yes I stay up all night (almost) EVERYDAY (＾∇＾) I go to bed when the sun rises. That's my original body clock since birth *nods nods*

As for what I'm doing every night...
Well, the usual activities one usually does after working hours, including: finishing up work, fangirling & flailing, watching dorama, chatting, emailing, browsing, reading, downloading (mostly videos), having intimate conversation with Dad, talking to mom, etc. It's so much more comfortable doing all those in the silence of the night in my own private space with no one bugging me! Yes, I really came to love the night ♥

Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever encountered one?

"Believe"? That word is an understatement.
How could I not believe if I had seen & sensed too many (and not only ghosts) since I was born? O_O

There.
My little secret is finally out :P

That's also the primary reason of why I mostly go to sleep after dawn / sunrise, unless I'm too tired.
So I'm not jetlagged nor insomnia nor do I have DSPS (Delayed sleep-phase syndrome). I've become a night person since babyhood (is there such a word? *lol*) and I've since come to love the night.

It would probably be best to make use of this nocturnal cycle of mine to join the Nocturnal Adoration Society! :D If only there is such thing in Jakarta... I hope there will be one soon!


Added on 4 September 2008, 02.03 AM:

If you had to give up one of your five senses, which could you live without?

My sixth sense! :D

I'll give it up anytime.
And perhaps.... I could live normally.

What words do you find wise enough to live by?


There are so many, but these are my current favorites (that I can remember):

• The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth.
  
  ~ Chinese Proverb
• You may be gone tomorrow, but that doesn't mean that you weren't here today.
  
  ~ unknown
• The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
  
  ~ Samuel Johnson
• Going to another country doesn’t make any difference. I’ve tried all that. You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another. There’s nothing to that.
  
  ~ Ernest Hemingway
• You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.
  
  ~ Woodrow Wilson
• Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in raising everytime we fail.
  
  ~ Conficius
• It’s up to you to infuse your life with meaning. No one can do that for you. Not your parents, your job, your favorite band, your Playstation 3 or that new pair of seersucker Chucks you bought the other week.
  
  ~ Lee
• Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
  
  ~ Henry David Thoreau
• The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach.
  
  ~ Lin Yutang
• If you don’t enjoy what you have, how could you be happier with more?
  
  ~ unknown
• To awaken each morning with a smile brightening my face; to greet the day with reverence for the opportunities it contains; to approach my work with a clean mind; to hold every before me, even in the doing of little things, the ultimate purpose toward which I am working; to meet men and women with laughter on my lips and love in my heart; to be gentle, kind, and courteous through all the hours; to approach the night with weariness that ever woos sleep and the joy that comes from work well done – this is how I desire to waste wisely my days.
  
  ~ Thomas Dekker
• There are those relationships that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous...
  
  ~ Carrie Bradshaw, from Sex and the City
  

What is one thing you MUST do before you go to bed at night?

A couple of things that basically are done in front of the dear computer (in no particular order):

• Check my emails and make sure nothing urgent that needs immediate attention is forgotten to be taken care of.
  
• Check my utorrent and make sure I've moved the finished torrents to its appropriate folders.
• Check twitter: read the latest tweets, reply to @elyse tweets & post new tweets.
• Find interesting movies/dramas that I haven't downloaded from either jdramas or asian_doramas & leave the 2 laptops (my mom's and my bro's) to download them while I go to sleep :P Also make sure that the main desktop continues to download dramas via utorrent.
  
• Make sure any work that must be done before the following day arrives is done completely.
• I might be sneak peeking or skim watching jdrama / jmovie for as long as I'm hooked (ranging from 5 mins to hours :P)
  
• Click all the interesting URLs on the latest tweets @ twitter.
  
• Browsing endlessly, for lack of better things to do.
• Do moderator jobs for the Yahoo groups I'm maintaining (i.e. approve pending messages, mostly).
• Delete spam messages that are quarantined here.
• Check Facebook & its (fluff)Friends app for any activity that needs attention.

See, so many activities before going to sleep. No wonder I always sleep so late (read: after 6am), right? ^^

Actually, I might not do all of the above, but most of them are essential. I usually manage to say a little prayer (or a lot, depending on whether I can still keep my eyelids open or not) before I finally fall asleep :)

If you were independently wealthy, where in the world would you live and how would you spend your time?

Ah, I love this question, for I can elaborate on my passion & dreams ^^

First of all, being independently wealthy is one of my dreams that I hope to achieve sooner (if possible by the time I'm 35 or as late as 40).
The question goes waaay beyond where I would live & how to spend my time.
Actually, I have several passion & dreams that I hope to achieve by being independently wealthy.

So let's pretend I'm now independently wealthy, with a great husband & 3 kids :)

I would live in Jakarta, but I will travel extensively (to anywhere in the world, but mostly Japan & Europe), while at the same time taking care of my kids here.
My husband might not be in Jakarta all the time, too, since he has to take care of his businesses abroad, thus making him travel extensively.

I would have a big charity / non-profit organization that helps others in need in various ways that I could think of (actually, since very young, I've had a passion of helping my immediate circle - those I know around me - with their family & personal problems, whatever it might be. I just want to continue doing that & extend it to a waaaay larger circle to include & bless the helpless people in urgent needs out there).
I might also still take care of my music organizer business, but not very much involved like before. Only to supervise once in a while.
I would have a pastoral counseling & psycho-medical center (I might be one of the counselors, too) for people in need (and especially for problematic children, i.e. autism, etc).
I would also manage or supervise several other charities / non-profit organizations that deal with the poor, the sick, and the abandoned.

As for how I would spend my time, aside from the above projects, I would also have lots of fun with my friends & community.
I would travel with family & friends to wherever in the world we want to go: sakura hanami & culinary trip overdose in Tokyo and all around Japan, watching Wiener Philharmoniker in Vienna, strolling around the French Riviera while staying at beautiful beach-view villas from St. Tropez to Monte-Carlo, relaxing in England's towns & villages, playing with baby tigers & baby lions in South Africa, and so many more! :3

Of course, when in Jakarta, I would also do the things we usually do to have fun: hanging out in cafes & lounges, listening to jazz, watching movies, barbeque-ing, shopping, and I shall not forget: good food everyday! :D

Do they sound like impossible dreams?

What is the most common compliment you receive?

Something related to my body.

"You have such a nice body!" (thank you)
"Wow, you're so thin!" (well, I used to be thin, but now not really. You wanna see my tummy?)
"You have to eat more!" (I eat like a pig already)
"How come you eat so much and manage to be so slim?" (*hands up* ask my faaast metabolism)
"You're so lucky, you don't have to worry about gaining weight" (who said so? I'm actually stressed out with this stomach faaaat *_* --> need to exercise!)

I receive those compliments too much that they never make me blush. 

What is one of your favorite poems?


A PROMISE TO MYSELF
by Jan Baller
 
I promise, from this day forward:
To accept myself unconditionally
To always love myself  & cherish my existence
To always show respect
To not demand perfection
To stop putting myself down
To give myself the credit I deserve
To be my own best friend,
Someone I can depend on
To open my eyes to the beautiful promise in me
To utilize my God – given talent to build inner security,
And make a positive contribution to the world,
 
Because…
Only if I love myself,
Can I truly love others
Only if I respect myself,
Can I truly respect others
Only if I’m open to the specialness in me,
Can I genuinely appreciate the uniqueness in others
Only if I cherish my own existence,
Can I become the person I was meant to be

Boo! How are you celebrating Halloween?

I don't celebrate Halloween.
In fact, I have a meeting & an event tomorrow. There's a birthday celebration mass & I have to organize the music for it.
So, yup, that's how I'm gonna celebrate Halloween.

But I noticed someone's birthday is on Halloween. Happy birthday, beverly!
How does it feel to have a birthday on Halloween? ^^;

Of course, the userpic is Sunako. It only fits her perfectly!
Speaking of Sunako... I wonder when Perfect Girl Evolution is going to finish. I really want Sunako & Kyohei to hook up in the end *full of hope*

If you won two free round-trip plane tickets anywhere in the world, where would you go and who would you bring?

Of course, JAPAN! :D

Need I say more? I've always loved Japan. I can keep coming back there all the time. I would travel from north to south, west to east of Japan. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but if I have the money, why not? ^^

About who would I bring... it depends on when I would go. Could be my mom, my future husband, or my whole family (that means buying more tickets, which is fine, since I got 2 free tickets anyway).

What's the best birthday present you ever received?

Cameras!

Twice in my life, I have received cameras as my birthday present.
I got an SLR Canon EOS 50E from my parents on my 16th birthday. Complete with the flash light & tripod.
(read about it in detail from Canon.com, Focalfix.com, and another user)

Then on my 25th birthday, I got a Canon S1 IS from my bestfriend, Nana.
(read about it in detail from Canon.com, Wikipedia, DCRP, DP Review, Steve's Digicams, and Imaging Resource)

Yes, I ♥♥♥ camera!