Increase of Caffeine Intakes

October will end soon. I think I did well this month on balancing my sanity. Things are quite hectic at the moment as I need to catch up on my studies for the upcoming Line Training with Air Asia, while at the same time I need to improve my sleeping quality, recover myself from this flu I'm currently having, maintain a good life, express my need of making art, and basically live life happily. Bb has also started his training at Citilink, which adds some distance now that we're both busy with our schedules, but hey! thank God for Skype and LINE video calls.

I've been observing some flights these past few weeks and, boy, am I exhausted. I didn't even do much the entire flights: listening to some information from the ATIS frequency, do some fuel logging, filling in the FMGC information, jot down some notes I might need for my training, and eat to keep myself alive.

My caffeine intakes increase because I now drink coffee because I need to keep my eyes open, not because I buy it for the sake of having a hedonistic life style. I am down for any kind of coffee, as long as there's milk and sugar in it, but the ones I've been having are these canned goodness. I'm not that picky in terms of settling which flavor to choose, but I usually go for the Original. Very simple, creamy, bitter, and slightly sweet latte. The Mocha one is good too, but it's rather thick and the chocolaty sweetness is quite meh for my liking.

Cadbury's (not) 5star

Gosh, this chocolate disappointed me in just one bite. I was excited at first because I thought that maybe this particular product will taste the same like Cadbury's Crunchie. I mean, come on, they share the same color packaging. Who wouldn't expect that, right?

It goes by the name 5star, with no extra "s" after the "r", a product by Cadbury which consisted of caramel, crisps, and cream filled milk chocolate. It doesn't have any saying about it having a golden honeycomb in the center, but still I am disappointed. The chocolate itself tasted like cheap chocolate despite it being Cadbury's. The caramel showed a significant presence compared to the other elements in the chocolate. I could taste the rice crispy, but it still has this cheap vibe coming from it. On the one hand, the chocolate cream was a big let down as it was too sweet for my liking and it had this weird crumbly texture which I do not comprehend.

I will definitely not going to buy Cadbury 5star ever again. I would rather settle for Snickers. But, hey, if you enjoy it, then indulge yourself in it. You do you. 

White Almond

I survived the day well. I managed to keep on track with my studies, had lunch with my new friends from the engineering division, then I rewarded myself with a pack of Magnum. The choice was either the Classic Magnum or the White Almond Magnum. I'm not really into both, but I settled with the Almond White Chocolate Magnum.

I'm not a big fan of white chocolate because it makes me nauseous. The White Almond Magnum was not an exception, but the vanilla ice cream and the almond pieces managed to cool it down. Loving the combination of the chocolate covered vanilla ice cream, but it would be better if it was milk chocolate instead of white chocolate.

See, the thing is, I managed to survive until sunset. But, the darker the sky gets, the more uneasy my heart is. My boyfriend will sign his contract with an airline this Friday and the thought of us getting more distant than we already have is troubling me. My head is filled with dozens of "what if"s. My chest feels tight. Breathing is okay for the time being.. I guess. 

Dairy Queen's Dipped Cone

Not sure which I like better tho, McDonald's Chocolate Dipped Cone or Dairy Queen's Dipped Cone. They're basically the same thing: vanilla ice cream on a cone dipped in a pool of chocolate fudge, in which the chocolate fudge will eventually freeze due to the cold temperature of the ice cream that clashes with the hot melted chocolate goodness. 

Dairy Queen's chocolate fudge, in my opinion, tasted better than McDonald's, but the vanilla soft cream was a bit overwhelming though, it took me a while to finish what I could finish I ended up throwing away a third of it. Don't get me wrong, the chocolate fudge and vanilla ice cream combo is a great duo, but it would be better if they were in good ratio.

God Bless Subway, and My Legs

I am currently stuck in a traffic, on my way home from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, as I write this. I couldn't stop thinking about how I manage to deal with my simulator check while I was having a troubled heart. I managed to follow my logic which resulted in the passing of my series of line-oriented simulator. I could have done better though, I know it, but having an average passing mark is a fine baby step for the upcoming trials ahead. 

I finished my line-oriented simulator at 10 AM today. After pulling an almost all-nighter, because I was stressing out thinking about the exercises, I managed to do well on my one-engine takeoff. I didn't do well on my landing though, it's always been my problem since I was enrolled in STPI, but I passed anyway. 

The moment I got back to the hotel, I packed my stuff, took a nice long hot shower, checked out by the time the electricity of my room got cut off, and headed to the airport to check in. I got me a window seat at 19F, which was nice. After checking in and printing my boarding pass, I spend the remaining time that I had before the gate to my plane was open, so I spend it all at Subway. God bless Subway. 

Kuala Lumpur has Subways in its' airport, two substations of it at the departure building and at the arrival building. We don't have Subway here in Indonesia, which makes me love Kuala Lumpur just a little bit more than I love my home country. 

The moment I arrived at Kuala Lumpur a few days ago, I immediately went to the famous sandwich place to get me a custom foot-long. I always go for the Honey Oats bread because I like my food sweet. I don't like vegetables on my sandwich so I had none of that and stuck with the meat instead. I got the chicken slices and turkey slices, topped with some cheese, added some extra black pepper-mayo diced chicken meat, then finished it off with a thick line of thousand island sauce. Grilled, sliced, wrapped, and voila! I got me my lunch and dinner for the day. 

Since it was my last day at Kuala Lumpur today, I decided to wrap the show with Subway again. The line was pretty long as it was approximately lunch time, and I hadn't eat any food since last night, so I got pretty dizzy by just standing there among the crowd. I had to park my ass on my luggage to avoid getting collapsed. I really don't function well when I'm hungry. 

I got a complete meal that consisted of a 6-inch sandwich, a couple of cookies of my choice, and a glass of cold beverage. It costed 25.35RM and, boy, was it a good deal!

Like always, I go for the Honey Oats buns. I wasn't being picky today, so I just went for what caught my attention at first, which is the Steak and Cheese filling. And of course, I need to get some extra slices of meat, hence I added some turkey slices in it. Grilled to perfection, topped with a thin line of thousand island sauce and honey mustard sauce, and lunch was served. 

As for the cookies, I went for the White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies that seemed like the most appealing compared to the other basic cookies. As the staff handed me my food, they also gave me a plastic cup to be filled with the choice of cold beverages that they have in stock. I was amazed by the fact that they use a self-service system regarding the beverages, I mean, if I were evil enough I would just refill the hell out of that cup. 

Or, maybe, it is refillable and I'm just being kampungan? (Sengotot itu pake kata "kampungan" gara-gara nggak tau bahasa inggrisnya apa. Yang pasti bukan "villagers" oke, Git, Ngel?) 

I spend my afternoon munching on sandwich at Subway while catching up on my daily comedy of Webtoon. I was reading the Terlalu Tampan comic by the dynamic duo, Avisiena and Savenia. It cracked me up so much I was laughing by myself at the corner of the sandwich booth. Man, I miss having a quality time with myself. 

After I finished my lunch, I rushed to the immigration to get my passport stamped and I was unlucky as it had long lines at every booth that were available. I had to spend almost more than half an hour waiting in line. Finally, after I passed through it, I dashed to my gate as it was only five minutes left before it closes at that time and, to my surprise, the flight ended up getting retimed for an hour. I bet my legs will feel pretty sore tomorrow after all that running at the airport. 

Starbucks' Pink Yogurt Frappuccino

It's half passed nine in the evening at Kuala Lumpur and my shuttle, that will take me to AACE, will arrive approximately six hours from now. Instead of sleeping, and resting my mind after hours of studying for an upcoming simulator check, I decided to write a bit because I'm in desperate need of refreshments. 

I flew to Kuala Lumpur this morning. Got myself some Starbucks to sip as I wait for my gate to open, and I got me one of its' new line of beverage, the Pink Yogurt Frappuccino. I was actually going to get the Iced Raspberry Latte, but then I remember how I usually end up in a bad place after my regular dose of caffeine, so I settle with the non-caffeinated drink instead. 

Starbucks' Pink Yogurt Frappuccino is a yogurt based drink mixed with God-knows-what, with color that reminds me of Chanel Oberlin and texture that somewhat similar to 7-Eleven's Slushie. I definitely can acknowledge the yogurt in the beverage, but the flavor escapes me. I have no idea what flavor this is. All I know, it's sweet, it's pink, it's weird, yet I drank the hell out of this cold beverage. It was not bad for a Rp25.000,00 priced drink, but I don't think I will comeback for more. 

Btw, how do you like my pink cheetah nails? 

Baby Steps

My second day of October was fine to start with. I managed to study well during the day, finished my training, met up with my barrack mates, and have them sleeping over at my house. Nails were painted, cheeks were highlighted, the Cult of Chucky was on during the whole time we played makeup despite the fact that I just got my special-edition Critical Eleven DVD mailed, and brownies were eaten. I forgot the last time I had this ton of laugh and fun, and I enjoyed every second of it.

October may be the month where I want to work hard on living my life with more logic than emotions. For almost 23 years, I've been counting a lot on my guts, my emotions, my feelings, and my heart, and things got pretty messy. I do think some changes are needed. It may not show any significant changes but, like how my best friend always say, "Baby steps, Ket. Baby steps.".

Enjoy the little things. 

I made a video a few while ago. To my surprise, the video turned out good and very positive even though I was feeling super fucked up at that moment. It came out beautiful and I ended up watching it ever since every time I feel blue. Thought that I might share it with you readers.

#32

Pretending to be okay is never easy, yet I surprised myself for being able to function today.

My Dad just got back from Guangzhou a few days ago and he brought me a bunch of manicure kit - starting from nail polishes, stamp templates, nail tape, and a whole lot of things that I don't know the name of but know how to use it because I'm a devoted worshiper of Simply Nailogical. A good self-manicure has always give me an extra boost of happiness every now and then, so I spent my last day of September painting my nails and stamping it with my brand new Konad stamping templates. Now, my nails are hella fabulous, plus I get this sense of achievement and satisfaction every time my eyes made contact with either of my fingers.

I don't usually go with soft pastel color, but this sky blue nail polish from Konad is super adorable. I paired it with some white snowflake patterns and it went straight from "cute" to "UHH-KAY CUTIE!!". Yes, that is an Arielle Vandenberg and Matt Cutshall reference because I ship them hard. #ultimatecouplegoals

I always lost my appetite when I'm troubled, but I managed to dig into SNCTRY's Coconute Breeze smoothie bowl and cold-pressed Refresh juice that I got after church. I ordered an extra scoop of chia seed to go with my smoothie bowl and it added a little kick to every spoonful that went into my mouth. 

Despite the fact that the base is made from blended red dragon fruit and banana, which to me seemed like a waste to spend Rp61.000,00 on luxury item that I can actually made by myself for free at home, SNCTRY's smoothie bowl always have a special place in my heart. Loved every topping that the crew used to top my cold dessert with, especially the banana and chia seed. To bad the coconut flakes were rather flaky.  

I also had some coffee with my Dad that only costed us Ro7.000,00 in total. Even though I usually go to Starbucks for my shot of caffeine, it's always nice to have this kind of coffee every now and then. Cheap and simple, yet it has its' own charm and deliciousness in every sips. Mine was Good Day Cappuccino, along with its' drizzle of Coco Granule on top, and Dad had his share of Kopi Kapal Api. 

The thing about being happy is that happiness itself has always been in front of you this whole time. You just have to want to see it to be able to see it. Otherwise, you're just going to dwell with your own monster in a never ending loop of "what if"s and "if only"s. 

For a starter, you might want to practice Zombieland's rule #32 - Enjoy the little things.