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Okay my friends… as you notice, im gonna be 22 soon!!! Per usual, I list up some stuffs i hope im gonna get on my birthday. hehehe. (Carlo, read this down carefully!!!)
- Band of Brothers book (Stephen E Ambrose) – said that the book is worth to read, and it’s as good as the mini series. I cannot find this book in Jakarta, and in any other book stores I visited on my trip.
- iPod touch – Papa didn’t wanna buy me another iPod coz I’ve broken the first 2 iPods he bought me. For some personal reasons, I won’t buy it with my own money too (my money is strictly allocated for doctors, hand bags, shoes, and stuffs like that)
- Harry Potter book number 4 – I lost it… I need a new one. It won’t cost me more than £ 15, but I think it’s gonna be more fun if I can get it as a birthday gift
- Westlife : Our Story (autobiography of Westlife) – and I know someone can easily get me this book with the autographs of Shane, Mark, Nicky, and Kian on it
- Graf ice skating shoes (with good blades) – I own a pair already, but I want to have another one. It will make me look like a pro
My father won’t let me spend another £ 400 for another pair that im only gonna use 4 times a year (max!!!) - A plane ticket with a route of CGK-ZRH-CGK or CGK-LHR-CGK. Flight by EY (crystal) or BA (club) (hahahaha. wondering if there’s any of you will give me this kind of bday gift )
- A box of truffle from Sprüngli or Teushcer – im gonna warn you in advance, it’s a big struggle to get them shipping chocolates to CGK
- A dozen of red roses – dunno why, but I always want to have red roses on my birthday. 21 years old, there’s only one man gave me a dozen of red roses. That man was my foster brother!!
- Gift-wrapped Ben Barnes - hehehe… another stupid wish. considering i might be fainting at the very first second i see him, getting me the very real Ben Barnes wouldn’t be a great idea
In my room, alone… thinking of these:
- That man
- That man (still)
- My mother’s car that I just crashed to the fence
- An excuse to skip my dinner tonight
- My application to Cambridge
- The Red Bulls that seem to be missing from my fridge
Even High School Musical doesn’t cheer me up this time! *sighs*
xx
One long month I’ve been in this lovely city. It’s just few hours before I have to leave… and now im sad. It’s hard to believe that I wasn’t really keen on this place before I landed here.
Lots of great things happened, and they came together with so many wonderful new friends. Saying good bye is a hard thing to do. Not only to my new friends, but also to the city it self. Feels like now im attached to this country in general, specially to the city where I spend the last 28 days of my life.
It makes me remember one thing by the way. My first ever Switzerland friend told me that his country is the best country in the world. Sarcastically I replied to him, “well, if im a native of south pole ill say the same about south pole, sir”. I was kinda … well… having a regret for saying that to him He happened to be (a bit) true. His homeland is surely one of the greatest.
This city is completely different from the city I used to spend most of my days. But somehow I feel the same comfort as I feel in the land I call home. The same friendliness, even (almost) the same stupidness in bureaucracy
Been to so many places before. Never felt this mellow when it’s time to go back home. Even I’ve never felt this way when im leaving my favourite city ever (London, of course ^_^).
Walking alone in the darkness of winter last eve. That’s how I said good bye and thank you to this city for its warm welcome to a stranger like me. Now bags are packed… and im (almost) ready to go. Got enough truffles for the long flight im gonna get through.
And ill be home… but ill be still thinking of this place. Ill be home… with a nicely wrapped box I should’ve given as an early xmas gift for a friend. A friend that I was expecting to meet before I depart home. He never showed up, and I never told him that I wanted to meet him.
Never know when ill have another chance to be back in this city. Yet, I hope there’ll be another chance for me…
xx
Just a few more moments before xmas!!! Yay… so excited!! I love doing xmas shopping. Gettin my beloved friends (and my foster brother) special stuffs in a very special day. Here’s my list this year!!
Chiffre Rouge A05 Chrono by Dior / Chiffre Rouge A04 by Dior
Can’t decide which one to get yet. I’ll give it to a friend who keeps telling me how essential time management is.
A sexy maternity lingerie by Agent Provocateur
For a pregnant friend of mine. Who says you can’t be sexy when you’re pregnant, darling??
A bridal series lingerie by Agent Provocateur
This one is special for a girl friend who’s gonna wed my best friend few days after xmas. A special treat not only for her, but also her hubby to be
Dreams From My Father, a book written by Barrack Obama
A perfect gift for my closest, to give him more inspirations to get through the hard times.
A Gucci sling bag / Dunhill’s d-eight brown holdall
That’ll be massive for someone who’s someday gonna be one of the highly regarded literature professor in the UK!
A brand new set of sabre (means with all the equipments included)
Will be given to my dearest friend who had his stupid little brother hid his beautiful sabres recently.
A pair of Alexander McQueen-Puma’s trainers
Sure this gift will suit my dearest friend who’s now busy chasing girls after his girlfriend dumped him
I’ve bought some of the things I listed above. No gifts for my parents or my siblings, as always. Simply coz they don’t celebrate xmas. And as the matter of fact, it’s just another year without xmas for me. Though im still open for any kind of xmas presents
By the way, there’s another gift I haven’t mentioned. A special gift for a special friend. Bought a lovely shawl at Gucci. Thought I would’ve met him this week and able to give it as an early xmas present. Too bad I didn’t meet him. Still keeping the shawl, waiting for the time when ill be finally meeting him (or im just gonna fedex it later instead). It’s a shawl. Nothing fancy bout it maybe. But it represents me. Me who wants to keep him warm in the coldest winter… (corny as always ^_^)
So my friends… you know what you’ll get this xmas already just wait for the fedex men delivering it to you on xmas day (they’re working still on xmas day, right? Coz if they’re not, they’re ruining my plan!!!). Anyway, you guys don’t have to be worry about things you should give me for me this xmas (though again this year im not gonna celebrate xmas). This year, I want nothing but Mr. Bryan Joubert teaching me how to do a loop jump You guys may start to work on it
xx
A friend wrote on my FB wall after I came up with an idea to send my (future) boys to Eton College. He wrote:
Yeah, sending your boys to Eton. Once they’re done there, send them to my uni. I’ll be more than pleased to be their professor at my uni! Can’t hardly imagine it, hun. Me teaching your future sons. Could that be happening?
*As a hint: This friend isn’t a professor yet, he’s currently a postgraduate student at English Literature Department of Uni of Edinburgh who is wishing to be a professor in his present uni. Got it?? hehe
and my reply to him was:
with all my respect, my dearest friend, sure it might have happened later in the future. ill be more than grateful knowing you possibly will be taking a tremendous part in my future sons’ education process. nevertheless, what if those sons (will be) of mine are not having any interests in literature? im not gonna send my boys to Eton coz i want them to study literature, law, or med. it’s gonna be major if they can go to oxbridge or your respectable uni of edinburgh after Eton. but at the end, it’ll be up to them. don’t mind at all if they turn up to be a figure skater, actor, or even a race driver after their 5 years at Eton
received a phone call sum hours after i sent the text on m friend’s FB wall. He said, “you’re going to send your boys to Eton to see them have a career as a racer?”. i said, why not? Damien Lewis and Hugh Laurie went to Eton College. And voila… they’re hollywood actors now It’s not because of Eton has educated 18 PMs of UK, then im expecting the boys im gonna give birth to will be also the PM of UK after their years at Eton.
Yep, it’s true that most of the Eton graduates continue to oxbridge and many other great unis within UK (and even USA now). And honestly, I was thinking about that too. Geez, how cool is it gonna be when your baby boys are going to Cambridge or Yale? It must be real diva! We’re gonna be so damn proud of them. But I won’t force my sons-to-be to continue their study at one of those top unis (though im really praying now one of my kid will go to Oxford!!!)
Maybe, some of the people send their boys to Eton for a reason to secure their boys’ seats at some great unis. Not because Eton has got a big influence in each of top uni’s committee, but because registering your boys to Eton probably is the first step to make sure that your boys will be more than qualified for all greatest universities!
Not moi, dear. Yes, im expecting one of my kid later to be a student of Oxford University. But that won’t be the reason im sending my boys to Eton College.
Eton College’s Head Master’s foreword on the prospectus:
… the essence of school life has remained as it was described in the mid-nineteenth century by an Eton Master, William Cory-Johnson.
He wrote that at Eton you may acquire a certain amount of knowledge, much of which may be forgotten, although the shadow of lost knowledge at least protects you from many illusions. More important than knowledge, however, is learning the arts and habits which will last for a lifetime. Above all, he concluded, you go to a great school for self-knowledge.
Our primary aim is to encourage each Etonian to be a self-confident, enquiring, tolerant, positive young man, a well-rounded character with an independent mind, an individual who respects the differentness of others. By the time he leaves the school, we want each boy to have that true sense of self-worth which will enable him to stand up for himself and for a purpose greater than himself, and, in doing so, to be of value to society.
The Eton prospectus page 14:
Self-confidence without arrogance, enthusiasm unfettered by cynicism, perseverance to withstand setbacks and active tolerance of others are qualities we admire and wish to see in our boys. Above all we wish them to develop their own sense of integrity so that they can identify right from wrong and have the courage to stand by what they believe is true.
Not yet a parent me is… but i can imagine how great it is for having children with those “Etonian Values”. Great personality, and not making parents really worry about their future lives, no matter what they’re gonna turn into!
And that’s why I’m kinda sure that I’ll be spending (maybe) £ 70.000/year for each my son-to-be to have them schooled at Eton not only for the prestige, or the chance of bragging to other people about my sons earn their degrees at oxbridge
By the way… got this kind of funny vision! Me, in my mid 40s, watching over a young man in his racing suit, getting ready for his MotoGP race. He is a graduate from Eton College and doing his double degree in Oxford. I call him my son. Maaaaaassssssiveeeee!!!!! hahaha
xx
** just for fun (??), if you wanna read through the whole Eton’s prospectus, you can download it at http://eton.blueish-level.com/UserFiles/File/Prospectus1.pdf
well, who knows you’ll get interested to send your boys to Eton too
Well darling, it’s not all snow in Davos!! Just figured that out Stated as the highest land in Europe (as being told by a cute hotel concierge), Davos is absolutely more than a place you’ll stay in during the coldest winter!
The meals are great. You can find any kind of meals in Swiss, French, and Bavarian style! One restaurant even offers a different kind of fondue each evening. Major! The pastry is great too, slightly different from what I saw in Zürich.
Ski is a must in Davos, though there are few idiots (READ: moi and my cousin) who decide not to go skiing to watch and drool over the cool skiers. This place is absolutely heaven for winter sports. It has got the biggest skating rink I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Seriously, mate! The skating rink is huuuuugeeee!!! Credits for Antoine who informed me in advance about this skating rink
The nightlife is great too, that it made a lady who is a doctor-to-be back to the hotel room just minutes before breakfast is served! Thank God I slept earlier the night before so I wasn’t freaking panic wondering where that stupid girl might be!
However, the greatest part for being in Davos is: spending all day outdoor, go skiing or skating, and have a short visit to a small pastry shop to enjoy a slice of nice tart and a cup of hot drink before returning to the hotel room in the darkness of the early evening. Sweet!!!!
**
What To Expect in Davos:
- Cute skiers / skaters!! Girls, don’t fight over them with your cousin or sister. There’re enough cute skiers / skaters for each of you!! Unless if the skiers happen to be Jude Law or Daniel Radcliffe (yeah, I love Mr. Potter!), you’re allowed to lock your cousin / sister in a hotel bathroom!
- Britons!!! Yup, you got me right. Lots of Britons there..
- Great fondue, and you can find it in every corner of Davos
- Great clubs, didn’t experience it my self but it is recommended by my cousin
- Friendly natives, and some are cute too. Hahaha
xx
Started with a friend who wrote on my FB wall, telling me that an old friend of ours went to Eton at Berkshire before he moved to Berlin some of years ago. It continued with a call which was not purposed to talk about that friend, but at the end it seems like the 40 mins convos was all about that friend Since then, I got attracted to Eton.
After the convos, I intentionally googled Eton and browsed on its website. First impression… the web wasn’t so bad. A bit plain, and somehow it looks cold. Dunno, it was just my feeling. The language is a bit refined too, as it’s expected to be read by some royal families, or at least the common citizen with a high level of education.
Read through some pages before I downloaded the prospectus and other information related to Eton. Truly amazed by it. Gotta read the prospectus over and over again before I finally catch what they’re trying to deliver in those prospectus pages (NOTE: it’s not happening to all human being, it’s only me and perhaps some other unlucky people who are a bit lame in language that will experience this kind of difficulty!).
More than 6 centuries Eton has been participating in making a better civilization in the United Kingdom. That’s cool enough for me. During that 6 centuries, Eton College has been giving its highest service to the country by educating 18 Prime Ministers of the UK. What an achievement.
At Eton College, there used to be an old system where registration at birth is allowed! That’s beyond!! I mean, you could register your son literally 2 seconds after he was born! Too bad the system has been abolished some years ago. If that system of registration is still being used today, you probably can register your son even before your son is born! You just have to bring the 3D sonogram pictures from your ob/gyn and tell the school committee that you carry a baby boy! That’d be major, really But after that, make sure you put a reminder on your iPhone that you need to bring your son to Eton right after his 10th bday for a tour, and after his 13th bday to begin his 5 years of studying at Eton.
The tuition fee is kinda high there. Nearly £30.000 for a year study (£ 9360 per half, and there are 3 halves per year). Not including some extracurricular and music classes that your son will take. And the uniforms. And other stuffs that might follow later. Approximately £40 -45.000 per year. Not bad for an old school, eh?
The curriculums are kinda old, but they’re good. Strict schedule and a lot of activities. For me, the coolest thing about this school is all the boys are required to meet their House Master or Dame at 7.30 am (sharp) every single day. What they do? Reading newspaper! Hah! I wish my school applied the same system!! 6.15 pm to 7.30 pm, the boys are obliged to run what they call as ‘quite hour’ where they must spend the hours working on things or studying (or prolly… sleeping) in their own room. Supper is served at 7.30 pm, a great punishment for those who are sleeping on their quite hour coz they’ll possibly overslept and miss the supper. Hehe.
Overall, I like what Eton offers in their prospectus. Even it makes me want to send my future sons to Eton. Conditional applied though. I will send my sons to Eton IF I only got no more than 2 sons! OR if I’ve got more than 2 sons BUT my husband later is kind of man who earns more than £ 2 mills a year. Fair enough, right? I’m assuming (and my “PR Plan & Campaign” lecturer will be mad at me coz according to him a PR person will NEVER assume. Just a note ^_^) that it will cost around £ 60.000 to £ 75.000 per year –or even much more- for the tuition fee at Eton by the time I’ll finally send my sons to Eton. Hah!
There’ll be the time when I finally feel my parents’ ‘misery’ working on pretty much everything so they can send their babies to the best school possible (and to get their daughters the best things that LV and Prada boutiques sell! * just kidding, mummy ^_^*)
My future sons will need to go to a prep school before they go to Eton. In the mean time, im doing my own ‘prep class’. Hehe. So… anyone… what you think it takes to get a great young man who will love you and your family with a guarantee that he’ll earn more than £ 2 mills a year in his future??
