Indonesia, My One and Only.

Walaupun sudah merdeka selama 68 tahun, saya rasa masih banyak hal yang kita harus perbaiki dari negara kita. Kalau kita semua bisa bersatu, saya rasa semuanya bisa kita hadapi, dari korupsi, rasisme, sampai masalah kemiskinan. Setidaknya, mulai hari ini dengan diri kita sendiri. Indonesia adalah salah satu negara tercantik di dunia, dengan semua ras, tempat dan makanan yang ada, kadang saya cuma bisa menanyakan diri saya sendiri bagaimana turis-turis dari seluruh dunia bisa menghargai semua keajaiban yang ada di negara kita lebih dari kita sendiri. Ayo kita bawa negara kita ke derajat yang lebih tinggi. Tanpa rasisme, perseteruan atau adu otot, mari kita tunjukan betapa indah dan berharganya negara kita. MERDEKA!

x, Nessie
♥

Welcome to Hel.

 "Welcome to Hel." is literally the first sign I saw when we first landed

We arrived in Helsinki about 12 p.m Finnish time. I was exhausted beyond words, I can only chuckled when Tanya told me jokingly that I have raccoon eyes, which I totally did. I still had the same black shirt, jeans and Doc Marten I had worn all the way from Jakarta. Everything just felt really lousy. I sat by the breakfast bar to capture some sun-rays, my equator-made skin demands some Sun Power to feel back alive.
Anyways, instantly I noticed how here, in Finland, nobody smiles when they catch eye contacts with other ...living things, haha, that's the only way I can explain how friendly people back home are. I'm sure they're nice people, it's just not a usual thing to smile to each other for no reasons.

The trip itself. from Singapore to Helsinki was hell. We reserved seats close to the bathroom in the penultimate row, turns out since the stewardesses aren't allowed to sleep, they made sure that they share their pain with some of us. Being extremely noisy, we could only sleep at most for three hours. Let's not even mention the fact that trying to sleep in a tiny seat is the most awkward thing ever. Finding position is hilariously difficult and frustrating.
Myself and I had a good laugh while watching people sleeping with funny positions on my midnight stroll to the bathroom (and maybe all around the plane.)
I'll have a blog up soon (i hope) of my terrible journey. (:

x, Nessie

♥

Who am I?

All my life, I've hated the fact that I look very different to my friends, neighbors and just almost everybody in my country. People used to call me out as a child (they still do, but I've learned to ignore) assuming I'm a foreigner, teasing me and trying to hold a conversation in foreign languages just because I don't look Indonesian.
There were days that I, as a child, just wanted to flatten my nose, so nobody would pick on me for being different. Thinking back, I regret that I ever had those thoughts, I regret that people were that shallow to annoy me in that sense.
I don't look Indonesian because my grandparents weren't fully Indonesian. My grandfathers were Fully-Pakistani and Indonesian-Pakistani and my grandmas were Chinese-Indo and Dutch-Indo.
There are many relatives living here that are still very much involved in Pakistani customs and traditions. My family has very little portion of that, I value all the little things that I think are interesting and valuable, but for most parts; I have one Saluar-Kamis since I was 14 (I've only worn them twice), I'm not a big fan of Curry, I don't like traditional-sweets that much (I avoid sugar on daily basis) and I don't speak Urdu. I, though, really appreciate that part of my life, I like to sometimes, explore the history and traditions, just for my own amusement. I've realized that it's nothing to be ashamed of, I do have Pakistani blood, that does not mean I'm not Indonesian.
I personally think that the fascinating twist on my blood line should not be able to define what my nationality is, and indeed, it does not.
I am very sorry to say that there are a lot of things that we need to enhance as a nation. I am a very proud Indonesian and I really want to see this country be one of the strongest in the world, but everything must start small, and one of the first steps we need to get into is, "Racism and Stereotypes."
Get rid of all the boundaries we all have, try to see ourselves as ONE.
BHINEKA TUNGGAL IKA. That's what matters.

x, Nessie

♥