The End of Doraemon

As you know, Doraemon is a story with no ending, but this small story is about the "last episode" of the famous cartoon. Someone made this story and uploaded it to his homepage, and it is now widely spread all around Japan through the internet.

Here it goes;

One day,a very normal day, Nobita came back from school and went upstairs of his house. Doraemon was there sleeping, just like the other normal day. "Hey, Doraemon, please wake up, lets play!"

But Doraemon does not wake up. Nobita thought that Doraemon is tired, so he went out to play with Shizuka-chan and other folks. After few hours, he returned to his home, but Doraemon was still sleeping. Nobita felt something strange, and tried to wake him up. But there was no reply. He became to feel afraid, and tried to wake him up, but whatever he does, Doraemon did not wake up. Nobita exactly knew that something was different. This never happened before. He began crying, but though he screamed or cried, the famous fat-cat-robot did not make a single move at all. He came up to one idea, and jumped into his desk -the time machine-and went to the future to meet Dorami-chan, Doraemon's sister. He begged her for help, and forced her to go with him back to 1998.

After a short trip again back to 1998 by the time machine, Dorami-chan looked all over his brother Doraemon to see what was wrong with him. After few minutes, she said "the battery is out" Nobita was relieved, and said, "battery? so he is not broken right? please replace or recharge his battery, and put him back like before" But Dorami-chan shook her head and said, "Nobita-san, should I really do that?" Nobita said "what? what do you mean?" Dorami-chan replied; "His main battery is here, close to his pocket. And it ran out. But originally, he had a back-up battery in his ears, but as you know, his ears were eaten by a rat very many years ago, so he does not have a back-up battery now" "so what do you mean?" "I mean, if I replace his battery, every memory of you will be eternally lost from his brain program" "WHAT?????" "Shall I do that?" Nobita closed his eyes. He cried, but after few minutes, he stopped crying, and quietly told Dorami-chan, "Dorami-chan, thanks for coming here. I will take care of the rest. You have to go back to your future time now"

Dorami-chan could not decide what to do, but anyway she hugged Nobita quietly, and she went
back home. After she went back, Nobita carried Doraemon and placed him into the shelf.

...........TIME FLIES..........

Year 2010, Nobita grew up. Since that day, he changed. He studied hard, did not cry anymore, and he lived without Doraemon. He told Shizuka and other folks that Doraemon had to go
back to his future, and could not meet him anymore. Shizuka was impressed to Nobita's
mysterious appearance which became completely different from 10 years ago. They fell in love, and married. Nobita became a scientist. He made a laboratory in his room, and was studying hard with his job all day.

He told Shizuka not to come into the room, as it is very dangerous inside. But one day, he called
Shizuka and told her to come in to his room. It was the first time for her to enter his husband's
room. The moment she went in, she lost her words ......

There was her friend Doraemon, who she used to play in her childhood days. Doraemon was not
moving. It seemed as he was sleeping. "Look, Shizuka, I will plug in from now" Nobita turned on
the main switch on Doraemon. Doraemon quietly, very quietly started to open his eyes. It was the moment the inventor of Doraemon became clear. It was Nobita. He studied hard and hard just to meet and talk with his old friend again. Going back and forth of time, Nobita was the one who made Doraemon. He discovered all the programs and archetecture of Doraemon-type-robot. Nobita and Shizuka was crying gently. Doraemon opened his eyes. He looked around, and finally said, "Nobita-kun, did you finish your homework?" There was the same white clouds in the sky like the times they used to spend together...

***

Although I'm not sure yet is this story genuine or not, because it's not officially launched from the writer of this serie, isn't that beautiful end for a legendary manga? Doraemon, I love you! For the manga version of this story in English (slightly different), click here

Campo Largo, Curitiba, and Back Again

Great! Another chance for me to show few snatches from my SP-350. So here's the story...

This weekend was the week I have been waiting for is finally there! The week I will take my IELTS test. To be honest, I wasn't preparing that much, considering my confidence in English and my everyday practice in English conversation and listening with my friends. Haha, confidence is a good thing!

So I went to a city called Campo Largo, at Friday (06/07/07) morning. I took a 10 o'clock bus from California, spent long entire day inside a not-so-cozy bus that kept stopping at places. It's not that it annoys me, but this whole stopping-from-town-to-town thing made my trip slower.

In-bus-view.
Watch the speed, listen to the coughing people, admire the beautiful view, then you'll understand my phrase of 'not-so-cozy'.

I finally got to Campo Largo at about 3-4 o'clock in the afternoon. I had to wait at a gas station, and seeing no one was there to pick me up, I initiated a call. Tried to call Itamar, my Brazilian dad, but without credit on my phone, I attempted a call on which the call cost will be placed on Itamar's tab. Without knowledge that I have called from the different area code, I called on Itamar's number without adding the areal code before, which brought me calling another person, that said I have called the wrong number. Unbelieving, because once Itamar had wrongly recognized my voice, I called three more times, which in the end the guy finally picked up and got terribly angry, saying, "por favor cara, estou trabalhando aqui, voce fica ligando e eu tem que paga na minha conta tambem!! eu nao tem filho chamado samuel, voce nao e meu filho cara!" (man, please, I am working here, while you kept calling and I'M the one that have to pay the call cost!! I don't have any son called samuel, you're not my son!)

Hahahahaha... pissed off but felt sorry about the guy, I turned off the call. Then I called Eunapio, the guy that's supposed to pick me up, and thank God, he was there. I am finally at his house. That afternoon I got to know the family better, they have three cool kids called Akson (19), Adrial (17), and Natani (11). Yes I know, Brazilian names are sometimes weird, but hey, what it is in a name, right?

Later that night, breaking my plans of staying home that night and studying, this family took me out to a family dinner with their friends. I got to know more people, talked a little, was admired being an exchange student, and finally we had dinner. It was fish, and I was meat fasting, so there wasn't much to eat. The fish looked good though. After dinner, I played with the kids there, helping them putting some things together on their computer.

(left to right) Natani, Adrial, Cassia, and Renan. Having good time with their computer.

So there we were all night, playing computer while the parents are having after-dinner talk. What I noticed from this family were their life were so simple and happy. Their house was not that big, their clothes and computer were simple, but they love life and God. And I think it was all that matters.

All they did that night were playing some poor imitation of Who Wants to be a Millionaire bible-version, DXBall (a modern version of "Pong"), and watched some biblical presentation. And they were (to my amazement) extremely happy! When you see how simple and humble people live, suddenly you would realize how God had really put great things in your life.

That day ended awesome. I went home exhausted and sleepy, but I slept well (even managed to read my bible and study a little before I sleep!) and woke up eight o'clock in the morning.
Took shower, made myself up, and finally got on the bus with Akson to face my big test day.

Curitiba was the most beautiful city I have seen so far. Sao Paulo was great, but it was too big and crowded. Curitiba was like in the middle. There was not that much car, the air was amazingly refreshing, there was huge tall apartments all over the place, making you feel small walking around the city. The only thing I remembered disliking from the city was the super strong wind.

We got to the Central Cultura Inglesa early. Way too early. We still had time for a few cup of coffee and tea, and even got to know some of the other IELTS candidates. Surprisingly, most of them were older and looked smarter than me! Which is nothing intimidating, because I know it wasn't a competition, it just surprised me how old these test-takers were.

Inside look of the Central Cultura Inglesa Curitiba.
Feel the vibe. Feel the silence. The place is amazing isn't it?

Finally at about 10.45, the test began. The first was a conversation test. The test was given by Marry, a woman from Holland that had been living in Brazil for quite some time. She was nice, and later I knew that she was the one that been responding my English e-mails to the test center. The fun thing happened when one of the interview question popped up as, "tell me your most wonderful experience attending one big event that bring many people together". I responded, the event was a youth crusade my church made, called Come Home, last year. She looked surprised, and later told me that she's a Presbyterian! She invited me to her church, asked me about my t-shirt (I was wearing a brown 'i'm addicted to purity' jesusbranded shirt), and in the end we had a nice goodbye. I felt so positive!

Then we had a break until 12.45. During the break I and Akson went out eating vegetarian pizza, take a walk around town, and I got to know Akson better with his passion about cars and life. He was a cool guy. We went back stomach-stuffed (I ate three big slices of pizza and Akson ate even more: five) to the test center and I finally faced the listening, reading, and writing test.

The whole remaining test took about four hours. It was not exhausting, the test was mostly easy, but you have to be really paying attention. Thank God I finished wonderfully. Let's just wait for the result in two weeks from now.

As we finished in 4 PM, I didn't have more time to go around town, because Akson had to go to church at 6. So we took a bus back home. Oh there is something cool about transportation in Curitiba, though. They have this beautiful long orange bus, a neat bus station, a similar-with-transjakarta in town transportation, and be said that Curitiba had the best transportation system in Brazil. Next time I will put some pictures here about the city.

We went back to Campo Largo, and Akson showed me this fun-looked-like-pasar-baru-alley, all lighted up and with all the stores open, there were even this one chinese food restaurant. Considering the alley looked exactly like Pasar Baru (minus the huge roof and wider alley Pasar Baru has), I was amazed and took a moment to memorize it.

There I was, posing happily next to a lamp stand in Brazilian Pasar Baru.

And here goes the video. You didn't think I would leave it out did you?

Continuing home, I passed a catholic church in the town center. There was this tall black cross with the writing "Unidos Em Cristo", meaning United in Christ. Loved the cross' prominent position and the brave sentence, I took a picture of it here:


A surprise waited for me at home. Akson's mother said that her sister-in-law and her family wanted to see me before I went home that night. It was Saturday, about five o'clock in the afternoon, and the family were preparing to go to church. Seeing no more reason to stay at their house, I gave the housewife a nice Indonesian scarf, left some souvenirs for the kids, and hopped in the car, where they then took me to their family's house. I found out that this next family were also a relative of Itamar. The head of the house (Clayton) was Itamar's oldest brother.

When I got there, they were having a little party, because it was someone's birthday three days ago. I jumped in the fun, had some cake, sodas, and chatted with people. Then we rented a movie and watched Superman Returns (it was a good movie, I will review it another day), then chatted again.

The photo I took few moments before I left Clayton's family home. Look at the smile at those faces... ^^

People there LOVED me! There was this sort of amusement of first-time-receiving-an-exchange-student-in-our-house, and they treated me so special! They sat with me, talked and explained about the city, about their kids, about their family life, and how difficult it is to survive life these days. Yes sir I know that! =)

And there was this little girl called Tatu, aged about 8, she and her friend kept following me that whole afternoon. I was watching TV, and she kept passing and running in front of me to get my attention. She would then giggle if I smile at her. She would then whistle, called me, gave me the TV remote control, and giggle and giggle again. When I had a talk with her dad, she would sat on her daddy's lap and just STARED blankly amazed at me, until I thought maybe there were something wrong with my face. Even when I took shower later that night, I heard whistles outside the bathroom window, and when I came out, these two girls were giggling and running away from me. Hmm... I was speechless.

Tatu (in orange) and her friend. Even they kept giggling when we took this picture.

After taking those pictures, I said goodbye and gave the kids my infamous 'I Love Indonesia' buttons. They were happy and put it instantly on their shirts! Still at the picture I took with Tatu and her friend, you can find my buttons on their shirts.

To my surprise, Clayton's wife gave me this beautiful Converse All-Star Miniature keychain, saying that she would have given me something more special and more 'Campo Largo' if only she knew I was coming. Isn't that sweet?

And here is the keychain now! Hanging beautifully on my Rotary Blazer.

And about 10.15 that night, Clayton and a friend took me to the bus station. People waved goodbye, Tatu and her giggle-all-the-time friend giggled and said "tchau!", and there I left, leaving smile on everyone's faces.

The bus got to Campo Largo at 10.45. A lot later than I thought it would, even I feared of not getting home that night and lost my ticket money, because the bus left me. But it was there finally.

Night trip was faster. I slept for about three hours, and finally got home. Arrived at California at 4 AM.

And my amazing weekend ended!! How great it is to be able to see two cities, to meet so many new people, to be loved and remembered, to finish one big test that determine my future, all only in two amazing days! I'm thankful to God for this chance, and I really will miss this people when I have left Brazil.

So I guess this will close my post for now. See you in more stories to come! Love you guys!

ngobrol dengan papa

kemarin malam akhirnya telpon ke rumah lagi.

ngobrol entah kenapa lebih banyak dengan papa kemarin. padahal janjian telponnya dengan mama, tapi pagi itu sepertinya dominasi pembicaraan lebih kepada papa.

hmm.. kami bicara tentang banyak hal. tentang impian masa depan, tentang apa yang mereka akan lakukan sepulangku nanti, tentang jepang, tentang kuliahku nanti, tentang demas... kira-kira tiga jam lebih, tiga jam berharga yang tidak akan mampu kami peroleh tanpa kemurahan dan kemudahan teknologi internet.

papa makin dewasa. hal yang aneh untuk dikatakan rasanya, seorang anak bisa menilai tingkat kedewasaan bapaknya. tapi itu yang kurasakan. dari caranya berbicara, caranya memulai topik, dan bagaimana ia menghubungkan satu hal dengan lainnya terdengar lebih mantap dan lebih pandai. aku terkesan sekarang dengan keinginannya membuka pikirannya sendiri lebih dalam terhadap pengetahuan, terhadap buku-buku, sekarang ia jadi rajin baca buku, dan menurutnya hidupnya lebih santai dan berpegang pada Tuhan.

terkesan aku dengan sebuah pernyataan yang disampaikannya tentang berbuat dosa. katanya, "papa tidak setuju dengan pemimpin-pemimpin gereja yang suka berkata, 'kita tidak bisa hidup dalam dosa, tapi bisa jatuh dalam dosa'". aku tertegun mendengarnya. tidak lain karena selama ini akupun sering menggunakan frase ini untuk menguatkan mereka yang baru melakukan dosa lagi.
papa kembali berkata, "kita lihat Yesus. Yesus yang hidup sebagai manusia di dunia ini, apakah Dia tidak merasakan sakit, ketika orang menendangnya, memukulnya, menghajarnya? apakah Dia tidak merasakan kesal, sebal, dan emosi manusia? singkatnya, bukankah Yesus dulu seorang manusia seratus persen?"
lanjutnya, "jika Yesus benar-benar manusia seratus persen, tapi Alkitab mencatat Dia sebagai seseorang yang tidak berdosa sama sekali, apa rahasia-Nya?"

aku tertegun sejenak. terbayang dalam benakku seorang figur Yesus Kristus, Anak Allah yang dikirimkan Tuhan sebagai manusia, tanpa kelebihan apapun kecuali kepenuhan kuasa Allah dalam hidup-Nya. Dia bisa sakit kalau kau menendang-Nya, Dia bisa sakit hati ketika orang-orang mencaci-Nya, dan memang benar kata papa, Yesus memiliki alasan-alasan juga untuk memilih berdosa. Ia bisa memilih untuk memaki, membenci, bahkan membatalkan misi agungnya sebagai Penyelamat Dunia.

tapi, seperti Alkitab katakan, Tuhan Yesus tidak berdosa.

papa melanjutkan, "karena Tuhan Yesus tidak mencintai dunia dengan segala isinya."

selanjutnya perenunganku. Tuhan saja yang Pencipta, memiliki dunia ini, tidak mencintainya dengan segala kekayaannya, melainkan, yang Ia ingat hanyalah jiwa-jiwa yang terhilang, mengapa kita yang notabene hanya 'meminjam', harus mempertahankan hak kita sebegitu rupa?
Tuhan Yesus menyerahkan hak-Nya, kemanusiaan-Nya, untuk keselamatan umat manusia. yang berdetak dalam dadanya hanyalah misi, misi, dan kabar keselamatan untuk jiwa-jiwa.

akhirnya aku mengerti. yang benar adalah hidup mengasihi Tuhan dan mengasihi sesama. love God, love people. itu aja, dan sungguh-sungguh. perubahan dimulai dari dalam. tapi kita bisa tidak berbuat dosa, karena Tuhan Yesus sudah melakukannya. Bahkan dosa kita ditebus-Nya.

lalu papa bilang lagi tentang keadaanku di Brasil. katanya Tuhan ingin aku istirahat dan mencari Dia. sambil tetap menjadi pengikut Yesus yang benar, yang menjaga standar sesuai firman-Nya, mau hidup kudus, tapi di saat yang sama setia mencari kehendak Tuhan. seperti double-stick, kata papa. ada saatnya benda itu dipakai menyerang, tapi ada saatnya ia ditarik mundur, dikepit dan berdiam diri. kata papa Tuhan sedang panggil aku mencari dia. aku ngga tahu tentang hal ini. banyak orang bilang aku makin dewasa dalam ini dan itu, yang membuatku bangga. tapi tetap rencana Tuhan untukku aku masih belum bisa lihat jelas.

yah, obrolan dengan papa membuka banyak hal lain. tentang pekerjaan, masa depan, sampai gadis impianku. tapi itu bukan konsumsi pembaca blog ini. =)

akhir kata... malam kemarin aku tidur nyenyak. tidur karena tahu selain aku punya Tuhan yang selalu di sisiku, kedua orang tuaku juga mendukung tindakanku, asal aku berjalan dalam kehendak Tuhan.

These Last Three Months in Brazil Through My Olympus SP-350

rotary blazer. for us the exchange students, this blazer is a sacred thing. but why does it make us look weird when we're wearing it? tell me about it.

a car plaque with my name on it. a present from Zequinha, my third Brazilian 'pai' (father). this awesome thing is now placed on the back side of my rotary blazer. and of course it kept becoming talk of the night each time I wear my blazer to parties.

I and felipe. hmm... nothing special in particular about this picture. actually I just love how my hair looked there. and well... we were eating at a food court in Centronorte, Apucarana. Felipe is my 14 years old Brazilian brother from my second host family.

I and andrey. we took this picture on one rotary president inauguration night. nothing special too... it just looked funny.

I and a cow. I came from a city populated with 8 million people, with high skyscrapers and cars everywhere. one day my rotary president took me to his family's ranch, and there was this really big cow there. amazed, I took a picture with her.

samuel, I, emily. at another rotary president inauguration night. emily has always been my sister since the first day I met her. an awesome girl with still so many to learn about life, but she's on her way on making it through. a wonderful year having her here in brazil. the little samuel, is emily's brazilian brother, from her third family.

I and Giovanna. yes, I know, my hair. it was a night before a 'juninha' party, an annual party celebrated each june in brazil, to commemorate and appreciate some brazilian saints. and that night suddenly giovanna decided to do something with my hair. look at the results... she even asked me to go to the party with hair. I, with full conscience, rejected immediately.

green rice. I don't know what gives it its color... but the salmon tasted awesome. I found this food in Apucarana, Centronorte Shopping Center.

I and my brazilian parents. as a rotary exchange student, you will always have more than one family. in my case, I have three families, so three pairs of parents, eight siblings, three pairs of grandparents, one pair of great-grandparents, and uncountable number of uncles and aunts. thank God, this far my first two brazilian families are the best! they love me, they really do care about me, and I love them too.
end.

for more pictures of my journey so far, check out my friendster account.

resting in peace: my old blog.

wah. pesan penutup yang benar-benar dramatis di sini. ceritanya aku ucapkan selamat tinggal pada blogku yang lama, dan akan memulai babak blogging baru di sini. tempat yang lebih serius dan lebih secure.

sedih juga. gw sampe mikir ada bener ngga ya fans2 fanatik blog gw yang bakal terharu sedih? =) sam, sam... aneh2 aja.