It’s only a short note because I am too lazy to write anything down.

It’s that time of the year for a family vacation. Booked the plane tickets since June 2015, took a week off from work to visit Pattaya and Bangkok. Day 1, we landed safely at Don Mueang Airport and directly took a bus to Pattaya. Spent two nights there, explored some places such as Jomtien Beach, Big Buddha, Pattaya Floating Market, and Walking Street.

There are so many amazing tourist spots in Pattaya, too bad the weather was unfavorable when we were there, besides we were there for two nights only. We stayed at Sunshine One Hotel (which is really comfortable and cozy!). The only downside of Pattaya is its public transportation. It seriously sucks! I feel like we often got ripped off by the Baht Bus driver. But since we had no other means of transportation, we couldn’t really do anything about it. I think it’s better for those who wanna travel there to rent a car so it’ll be more convenient to visit different spots.

We left Bangkok on Wednesday and took a mini van that’d drop us off right in front of our hotel, Centric Place Hotel (which was only 150m away from Phra Ram 9 MRT Station -how convenient!). The staffs are kind and helpful, in the morning they often dropped us off at the MRT station using a golf cart. In Bangkok, we went to The Grand Palace and Wat Pho (took the MRT, Skytrain, Chao Phraya Express Boat, bus and Tuktuk to get there. What an experience!).

Thumbs up for Bangkok public transportation, everything is well integrated, even the bus only stop at its designated place. When we wanted to go to one place to another place, we just needed to consult google maps and we’d find some alternative routes (using the MRT, skytrain, or bus). We’d either use public transportation or walk on foot during our stay there. Most Thai people we met don’t speak English, but they’re helpful and civilized. I learn so much from them.

We bought a 3-day MRT pass for 230 baht (Rp92rb) and decided to randomly stop in some stations, take some pics and see what’s around the stations. Started at Phra Ram 9, we stopped at Bang Sue (the end of line station), Kamphaeng Phet, Lat Phrao, and Thailand Cultural Center. We interacted with so many different people! We also went to MBK, Platinum Fashion Mall, Siam Center, and met a daughter of my parents’s friend who’s studying in Bangkok. Halal food is a bit difficult to find, there’s only so many choices, so that’s a challenge for my parents. But overall, this backpacking trip was amazing! We had a lot of fun eventhough our feet hurted like hell at the end of the day lol Bangkok is one of my fave city!

It’s really difficult to love someone. To love someone doesn’t only mean that you love to feel them near you, but it means that you love to acclimate yourself to them. To love someone means that no matter how much pain or grief that person causes you, you find yourself wanting to hate them so much yet you can’t never bring yourself to hate them. To love someone, doesn’t mean that you don’t hate them. It means that you can’t hate them. – Bo Ra (Reply 1988)

It’s 9.34 pm and I sit comfortably in a train that’ll take me to Jakarta. Abang dropped me off just now. We had to use his car because it’s been raining since Maghrib. Every Sunday, I always look forward to riding the train back to Jakarta because I enjoy not having to talk to anyone and just listen to my songs along the trip. 

A couple of weeks ago, my brother shared his concern about getting a new job. It’s been a while since he left his work in one of the commercial banks in Jakarta. He often complains about how unlucky he is when it comes to finding a new (and better) job. Said that he’s done all the right things, but still no luck of getting one. 

He never said that he’s envious of my ‘luck’ in the career department, but he said that I am always lucky when it comes to getting a good job and advancing my education to a further level. He mentioned about some scholarships I received, overseas business trips, etc. 

Little did he know, I struggle in what I called ‘love department’. Something that comes easily for him doesn’t necessarily come easy for me. Love and girls come and go in his life while I am stuck on my own. I learn to be an independent person and do things alone. I do enjoy it although it can be lonely sometimes. I guess it’s not something I can complain about. No matter how hard I try, I just have no luck when it comes to love. 

His love stories aren’t always peaches and creams, I know he also suffered from broken hearts. How could you not feel a broken heart when you invest your heart to love someone? I applaud his courage to always stand up for love and fight for what he wants. 

I think my mom always knows my brother’s love stories. He’s a mama boy and he’s proud of it. In contrary, I rarely talk about my love stories to the family. I actually don’t know what to tell. There’s nothing much to share anyway. Another reason, I can’t share what I really feel because no one will understand. 

Life is life. Everyone struggles with something.