Pages of Mariskova

I got burned from cooking. Now, the fried chicken liver doesn't look delicious anymore. The hot cooking oil just splashed to my face, neck, chest, and arms. My fave white T-shirt is ruined, but it is nothing compared to the burn right below my left eye and below my nose. The burn below my left eye is as big as my thumb nail! The burn on my neck and arms are minor, but the ones on my face hurt like hell! My left eye also sores a bit.
My wonderful hubby put soy sauce, and then margarine on it. He got the idea from his childhood experience, I guess. I was afraid he's gonna put some toothpaste to cool the burn down. Thank God, he didn't...
The ugly part is I couldn't go to the doctor because it is Saturday. I couldn't go on Monday, either, because it's golden week in Japan. Everybody is on vacation! I couldn't call our Japanese friends because they would just go panicky, would drive hundred of kilos away from their house to here, and afterward would insist on taking me to the ER -and if I'm lucky- without the ambulance... No, no, no. I thought I'd stick with either the soy sauce or the margarine...
Then I called my friend, Ully, for some advice. She told me to get myself some kind of ointment. She has it in her room, although it means we have to bike to the dorm in this windy evening. We thought of buying it in the drugstore nearby. Well, another problem will arise, with this level of Japanese language that we have, there's no way I'm gonna get the right medicine! So much time was lost for doing nothing but wondering...
So, I struggled to write down some sentences for the people in the drugstore. Hopefully it says that I need that kind of medicine for this kind of injury, correctly. My hubby and son have gone for the medicine. I'm not sure if they go to the dorm or to the drug store. Whatever it is, their effort is very much appreciated. At the moment, I have to survive with the margarine and the kisses left by Hikari. The margarine smells nice and the kisses are still warm. I forced myself to write this so I could forget the pain. A little.
Now my chance of running for Miss Universe is gone! Oh, well, I'm sure somebody else needs the tittle more than I do...

Monday, April 25, 09:20 AM, there was a train crash in Amagasaki, 410 km west of Tokyo. Around 50 people died and 400 people were injured. The packed train jumped the tracks and slammed into an apartment building. CNN said it is the world's worst recent train accident.


picture from BBC News


picture from BBC News

And that is in Japan(!) where safety standards are among the best in the world! Hundred of rescuers working around the clock. The victims and their family have my sympathy...

When I saw officers writing down the identity of the victims, something struck me! A really really bad idea! It's because a month ago I joined a Japanese course in the community center here. It took the Sensei 3 weeks to be able to call me correctly! Something about there is no V letter in Japanese words. I even had to write down my name several time for him to see! And my Sensei speaks English fluently!!!
So, my concern here is what if -and GOD forbids!- what if I were involved in an accident, injured (no, I didn't picture my self dying or worst...) and the paramedics couldn't figure out what my name was!?!?! What? They could check my ID card? Well, in case you're not aware of, WOMEN don't usually carry their purse in their pocket! We put our purse in our bag -which makes it worst because in an accident, the bag is not likely to lay around...
Okay, so again, the paramedics or the police couldn't figure out what my name was, where I lived, whom to contact, and so on... and the doctors couldn't understand what kind of pain I was in... Uughh, it's totally completely hypothetically bad idea! Bad!

... and we think Pooh the Bear is just for children...

Tigger: "I've made a lot of wishes, but none of them ever comes true. I guess I've used a defect coin..."

Do you need a reason to sing?
I mean imagine this: You’ve just heard this great song with very nice tune, and you like it very much. The song goes like “It must have been love, but it’s over now. It must have been good, but I lost it somehow… (Roxette)”…or it goes like “You broke my heart. I hate you and I will kill you. I’ll kill you to pieces, but it’s a waste of time. Because you’ll just love hell so much… la la la… (it’s my lyric if I’ve ever been a singer. Guess it won’t make a top hit, will it?”).

Now you see why it’s factually wrong to sing this song? Until you’re resting here with me? Ha! Technically speaking, HE is here, alright!
Then there is Life for Rent song that sings like this…
I haven't really ever found a place that I call home
I never stick around quite long enough to make it
I apologize that once again
I'm not in love
But it's not as if I mind
that your heart ain't exactly breaking
It's just a thought, only a thought
But if my life is for rent and I don't lean to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
Although I’m at the moment renting an apartment, consciously, I know where my home is. So, again, it just doesn't feel right to sing the song out loud (aside from the fact that my neighbors would think I’m nut or/and pitiful).
Or this song called Kukatakan dengan Indah from Peterpan (God, I love the tune!!!) that says…
Kukatakan dengan indah, dengan terbuka
Hatiku hampa
Sepertinya luka, menghampirinya
Kau beri rasa yang berbeda, mungkin ku salah
Mengartikannya, yang kurasa cinta
Tetapi hatiku, selalu meninggikanmu
Terlalu meninggikanmu, selalu meninggikanmu
Kau hancurkan hatiku, hancurkan lagi
Kau hancurkan hatiku tuk melihatmu
Kau terangi jiwaku, kau redupkan lagi
Kau hancurkan hatiku tuk melihatmu
Membuatku terjatuh dan terjatuh lagi
Membuatku merasakan yang tak terjadi
Semua yang terbaik dan yang terlewati
Semua yang terhenti tanpa ku akhiri
Poetic as it is, still I’ll be a heartless ungrateful wife if in the middle of my mumble grumble for the love of my life (read: my hubby, and yes, he is the love of my life because if he were not the love of my life, we wouldn’t be in Japan together. It would be me alone in Japan. Or not alone but still not together with him in Japan. You know what I mean, right?!?), I label him like that of the song…eh?
Even my everlasting-most-favorite-inspiring-ironic song of Sting –Message in the Bottle- has a line that says I sent an SOS to the world …Whoa! That chills me. Me? Sending an SOS to the world? That must be my doomed day!



So, I’m running out of songs! I can’t sing my type of tune because instinctively I fall for the sad-lyric-kind of songs. And... I am not a person with the Whole-New-World sort of songs, either.
I’d love to sing my favorite Andrea Bocelli’s song Con Te Partiro (English: I’ll go with you) but I’m already here with my ‘You’.
If only I could sing any song without waking up my conscience…(sigh)…
Well, how about you? Do you need a reason to sing a particular song?
May be I’ll just stick with Josh Groban’s though his voice reminds me a lot of my friend, Barb, when she sang loudly in the thought-to-be empty hall at the American Embassy in Jakarta. Quite embarrassing and still gives me nightmares!

Aaaahhhhhhhhh……… finally, Sakura flowers are blooming in Honjo.


-I(!) took this picture-



The Hanami party in Honjo has already been held on April 3rd –although it was without the flowers. The flowers blossomed a few days after the 3rd. We then went to see the flowers on Saturday the 10th near Honjo Waseda University. See below...



The trees are planted along the road to the campus and to the dorm. See if you can picture this out: shinkansen station, a river, hills, campus… There is a river which makes a small lake behind the station. This river is alongside the long-and-winding road to the campus and the dorm. Where are the hills? The hills house the road, the campus, and the dorm. What? You don’t get it? Well… (hmm.. I thinks it’s my prepositions… I skipped the class when the teacher taught that subject…) Then I think you’d better see the pictures…


Remember this picture? The light far in front (not in the sky! Below!) is from the station’s lamps (not some UFOs, you guys!?). The black curves are the hills.


See the small lake? On its right side (right side to YOU too!) is the station. On the left side is the sakura trees. On the left side of the sakura trees are the road.. of course…


B-E-A utiful sight, isn’t it?


See the road to the left? That's the road to the campus... The station is still on your right, by the way...





The road turns right to the campus if you come from the station below. We’re usually able to bike from apato to this point. It takes us 20 minutes by bike. Then… if we want to go to the dorm, we basically “carry” our bike up to the dorm for the road is climbing… up.. up.. up..


This is the road to the dorm. Perhaps 5 minutes by bike. It takes us ...forever... to go there!

And these are… us… posing… ;p
















It was G-O-O-D to be able to enjoy the sakura when we had the chance. The moment I am writing this, the flowers are falling –as reported by Eja after his return home from campus today. Hope we can see them again next year….... aahhh…

PS: I guess I should've tittled this post 'an interesting and also tiring journey to Eja's campus with the chance of being able to see beautiful view of the Sakura and the lake, not to mention the superb Shinkansen station'............... Na-ah, it's too long and complicated, don't you think?

Have you seen our backyard view already? Not yet? Aw, come on! Get back to that picture so that you can have a complete view of our neighborhood! I'm sure you care enough for us to do so... :)


my handsome hubby, more handsome son, and a rhino

I wanted to show you some mountains behind the front buildings, but, I guess, I'll need to buy a better camera first -or spend more time to read the theory-of-shooting-pretty-pictures handbook...

The other day, my friend, Barb, and I were chatting about things happen in this world -or at least our world... Then upon responding to my saying, she said, "but life is full of choices!" (If you know her, then you know that particular sentence is not just a slogan for her.)
But, it IS true, you see, that life is indeed full of choices. Now, perhaps you're wondering what in the world am I talking about, aren't you?
Actually, I just watched this funny commercial on tivi. This soft drink commercial shows a herd of sheep (a lot of sheep) taking over a school. They are everywhere: school yard, school alley, teachers room, restroom, classrooms. They chew a female teacher's skirt (wonder why?), and then they are in a classroom where our 'star' is sitting. Here, they do a real mess by taking over the teacher's seat, going up to the students' desks, and CHEWING the exam papers! And our star, what is he doing? He is laughing heartily to the fact that the exam is ruined! Suddenly there is a tap on his shoulder and the teacher is standing next to him with exam paper on his hand asking, "What is so funny about?"
There goes a beautiful dream of sheep chewing the students' exam papers...
So, our star here chooses a herd of sheep that cancels his exam: Not a fire, an earthquake, a bomb, or any other scary things -while actually, he could choose to have an ugly threatening disastrous wish! Do you see what I mean by PERSPECTIVE then? If life is full of choices, we surely can choose our own perspectives. Ugly or pretty, heartbreaking or peaceful, your choice, my man!

Whoa… the spring has come, the sun almost shines to the fullest, the weather is warmer, and the flowers are blooming.
When the spring comes, the one and only thing that people here are looking forward to is the blooming of the Sakura.


the famous S A K U R A




The full bloom of Cherry Blossom (sakura is a kind of cherry tree) only happens a week after the opening of the first blossoms. After that, a week later, the blooming peak is over and the blossoms are falling from the trees… Yeah right. These flowers don’t even linger for more than 10 days! People here wait for a year just to see these flowers bloom in 10 days only!

So, didn’t want to miss the opportunity of seeing the flowers and on Thursday, 7 April 05, we went to Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo for Hanami (Hana= flower, Mi=see from Miru… wow, my Japanese is getting better!). Besides, we only have two chances of seeing them: this year and hopefully next year… and that’s it!




A map of the garden. Didn't really helpful, though: I didn't manage to understand:(


Why did I go so far to Tokyo? Well, Shinjuku Gyoen is one of the most popular Hanami spots in Japan. It’s also one of the nearest. What’s more, we were not being able to view the flowers in Honjo for a couple of reasons like they were not blooming yet in Honjo (guess why) and Honjo doesn’t really have a spectacular cherry blossom spot. I will however find the perfect spot to view Honjo sakura tree! Don’t worry! That story comes later. It’s already in the agenda:)

Anyway, the trip was……. GREAT! Not to mention the Sakura flowers themselves! They are magnificent! And the garden is superb! It’s big and beautiful and has a lot of collections.

The collection is the flowers! Not the person mati gaya in front of them.




Hikari really loved to run around in the garden (to help you: imagine Bogor Botanical Garden, don’t forget to plant a lot of sakura trees in BBG, you’re almost there!) and played at the pond full of big golden fish and Koi…







We didn’t bring a mattress to sit under the shade of the trees like what people do, but it didn’t matter: the grass is green and thick.



When I tried to figure out the significance of cherry blossom in Japan, I think, the blooming of the flowers brings out the spirit of a new hope and joy because it represents a new season has come: a warmer season which is a lot more comfortable to live in, which has more colors on the view, and has everything that replaces the cold harsh winter before. Well, at least, that’s what I feel.









After spending 3 hours in the garden, we hurried up to catch the bus to Honjo. The bus was in Tokyo Waseda university. It’s free and it’s comfortable. Some facility! Before getting into the bus, we took a picture in front of a plane prototype made by Waseda students.



At 6 PM, we were back in Honjo Waseda campus, missed the bus to our apato, walked from campus to our apato (now count: if it takes 20 minutes to go to campus from our apato by bike, how long does it take on foot?) just because Eja felt like walking (aarrghh), arrived at home at 7 PM, and then starved to death because I didn’t cook!
And here is the picture of Honjo Shinkansen Eki (station) at 6 PM. See the hills at the back?
Yea, the campus is behind the hills!



Sakura ...... sakura .........no yama mo satomo
Miwatasu kagiri
Kasumi-ka kumo-ka .... asahi-ni niou
Sakura .... Sakura..... Hanazakari

Cherry Blossoms, cherry blossoms. On mountains, in villages.
As far as you can see.
They look like fog or clouds. They are fragrant in the morning sun.
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms. In full bloom.

This is how Hikari and his father look like when we bike around the town...



This is our bicycle for real.

Begini rasanya jadi bule di negara orang (iyalah kalo dinegara sendiri jadi bluwek). Rame-rame berkumpul dengan 'bule-bule' lain setiap ada kesempatan sekedar untuk sharing perasaan senasib. Diundang orang2 lokal untuk melihat kehidupan mereka, tiap kali.


Ini teman-temanku sesama bule. Berbagai bangsa ada -termasuk yang tidak bisa kefoto:) .


Sebenernya ini mahasiswa-mahasiswa master waseda (teman senasibnya Eja). Berhubung aku masih jadi ibu-ibu kecentilan yang sudah berniat dari Jakarta mau bergaya mahasiswa, aku ikutan bergaul disitu... hehehe...
The occassion was actually a Hanami (seeing the flower: sakura), but it turned out that Honjo was still too cold for the sakura to bloom. So, we saw sakura TREES, ate Japanese food, joined BINGO game together with Honjo citizen under the shade of sakura trees.

A wonderful email from Barb!

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing?
Makes you wonder what would happenif we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.
Appreciate every single thing you have, especially our friends!
"Life is too short and friends are too few."
I am glad that I've known you in my lifejourney.