random stories from nowhere & everywhere
Friendship is one of the most precious things in life. A true friendship lasts a lifetime and real friends never grow apart. True friends are those who are invited to look closely under the veneer of a seemingly smooth and tidy life, to feel the contour of your life’s cracks and crevasses, and accept its … Continue reading FRIENDSHIP – YOu’ve Got a Friend in Me
It was one of those moments where all ends didn’t really meet. Exhausted, she was too tired to do anything. She strolled slowly to nowhere. Her eyes were telling no stories, or perhaps, too many stories. It wasn’t sadness. Nor sorrow. Nor pain. Nor anger. She just felt at lost. Just too many things happened. … Continue reading HIS TEARS
Several weeks ago, a beautiful 11 year old girl named Josée died in a sledding accident at the hill at the Mooney's Bay, a park where I walk regularly. This was her first winter in Ottawa. Her entire family moved from Lebanon just 6 months ago, to build a new life in Canada. The story … Continue reading A QUIET PLACE
I walk following a particular route in my neighbourhood three times a week. Passing small streets and rows of houses. Making the same turn on the corner of a small neighbourhood park. Crossing the road at the same intersection. Walking over the same bridge and climbing the same hill. Over and over again. I have … Continue reading A SOLITARY WALK
(terjemahan dalam bahasa Indonesia di bawah) I was truly in doubt whether to post this or not, but eventually I promised my students that I'd do it. This was originally written in response to Inspiring Girls International's invitation to participate in #ThisLittleGirlIsMe campaign. Also to mark the International Day of the Girl Child on October … Continue reading #ThisLittleGirlIsMe
Ponte Vecchio, Firenze (Italy) - September 2001. I sketched this 20 years ago (and decided to colour it 19 weeks ago). Once upon a time on the bridge of Vecchio ... I took this Italy trip after the Dutch police called me that I needed to leave the country by early October or otherwise I’d … Continue reading THE REFLECTION BRIDGE
“Princeton, in the summer, smelled of nothing, and although Ifemelu liked the tranquil greenness of the many trees, the clean streets and stately homes, the delicately overpriced shops, and the quiet, abiding air of earned grace, it was this, the lack of a smell, that most appealed to her ... She liked taking deep breaths … Continue reading It was an overwhelmingly sweet memory
Early this month, I called my mother on her birthday. After wishing her well and chit-chatting about this and that, I told her about a recent award I just got. Unlike many previous research accolades I was awarded which were too "abstract" for her, she was actually truly interested in this one. She said, "Oh, … Continue reading “Good person award”
Standing in front of the mirror of my parents’ cabinet, I’m seeing the shadow of myself. I am definitely much older. It’s been seventeen years since I left this house for good. Now I am a different person with my own life, different than and separated from the life I had in this house. The … Continue reading Dayeuhkolot and me
After standing in line for hours, it was finally my turn. I was one of thousands of high schoolers who were queuing to register for the national entrance examination for public universities. I wished to be admitted in the best technical university in Indonesia. My very smart eldest brother, who applied to the same university … Continue reading Being Lim