Water for Elephant

Circus.
Tents.
Perfomers.
Managerie.
Working Men.
Magenta.
Animal.
Elephant.
Sequin.
Marlena.
Jacob Jankowski.

These are some of the common words, and characters found in the book, Water for Elephant. A story filled with, passion, determination, kindness, thrill and forbidden love.

It was a story about a boy who after running away from his examination hall, found himself landing into one of the rarest train in town, as it is none other than, the Benzini Brother's most Spectacular Show Circus Train; and, desperate for a job and shelter, Jacob decided to remain in the train despite some of the 'political' thing that happened in the train, until he found the one thing that made his stay even more worthwhile--- The beautiful Marlena.

So what happened in the end when he found out that Marlena is married to one of the most vicious man on the train?
Well read on and find out more. :)


I should say that this is one of the most beautiful love story I've ever read so far. (Probably, after Ps. I Love You, Cecilia Ahern) And unlike the usual setting of two people meeting in town/ friends party/ high school etc. this one the setting takes place mostly on the train. And despite the fact that the story is about this two person, Jacob and Marlena, but the other characters and depiction is a must to read as well.

Description such as how working men struggles to set the tents up/ how Jacob and Kinko tries to hide the almost redlighted Camel behind the cot of their trunk etc. allows me to feel how difficult it is to survive in the circus, even though when it comes to performance, the whole things seems so beautiful and breathtaking. (perfomers in their sunday best, animals well groomed and trained, ready to act, excited crowds gathering around for the best seats.)

For a while I feel as if I've been to the circus, when the truth is--I've not.

Anyway, whatever it is, Sarah Gruen really did a great job in creating the whole 'lay out' of the setting and the era of that time. And I dare say that this is the first time I feel so worth it to be fined by the library, because the book is just so good that I just can't dumped it to the book drop before I read The End of it.

L&P
Yuliana :)

Home

"How long are you staying in Indonesia?...So GOOD!"
"I can't wait to go back."
"So good, you are able to go back...Home"

Above are some of the responses I got from fellow Indonesian friends (who are living in Singapore) when they learnt that I will be going home for one solid week previously.
I was a little puzzled actually to the way they responded, and I wondered why was it such a big deal for them when they learnt that I am going home.

My enquiries were answered one night when I was making my way back home with another Indonesian friend of mine who had just came to Singapore for a few months.
Unlike me who is fortunate enough to have my whole family living under one roof here in Singapore, these people has none. And the idea of going back home for them is just as thrilling as meeting their loved ones.

Home.
How often do we think aout how valuable it is to us?

Maybe just like me, who are always surrounded by my loved ones, we never realized how important it is to be at home.
But the feeling is different when it comes to those who are living alone in a foreign country, and it is no wonder why, when I said I am going back to Indonesia, all of them were looking at me with 'envy'.

But thanks to that, it allows me to comprehend what it means to be home.
Apart from that, it also enables me to understand why some Indonesians always say that living in Singapore is "not nice".
Or why some old people always prefers to die at home then in the hospital, because hospital is 'not nice'.

Well, maybe the idea of 'not nice' here is not that they dislike the country/the place they are stationed, no. Because those Indonesians living in Singapore that I talked to actually like the facilities and living condition here.
Or the old people, who were asked why they keep wanting to go home, when here in the hospital they will have nurses and doctors to attend to them twenty-seven.

But the reason why they said that is because, it is 'unplesant' to be alone.
It is 'uncomfortable' to be living in a place so alien to you with no one you love by your side.

It is no wonder why in his song, Michael Bubble repeat the words : "Let me go home" so many times and with such emotion that perhaps only a person who has been far away from home can understand.

From this experience, I also learnt about what it means to be independent-courageous-determine-willing as you continue to live your life here in this foreign land even when you feel like "I want to go home." despite being surrounded by a million people.

Fortunately, the good news is, just like how Bubble ended his song by saying "It'll all be alright, I'll be home tonight, I'm coming back home."  all of you my friends who have been living 'alone' all these while and have been looking forward to go home, will be making your way home soon too. :)

And though its a little pity that we could not spend Christmas together and it's a little too early for me to say
this, but I really wish that wherever you are, all of you out there are going to have a Blessed Merry Christmas out there :)


Love and Peace,
Yuliana :)

ps. YF-ers SEMANGAT!

Purpose

After living with not-so-much of a purposeful life for the past few months, FINALLY, I found myself going back on track again to the road of a more meaningful, purposeful life.
Unlike the past few months whereby I spent my days thinking of what to do everyday without a definite desire/ motivation, these four days I realized that I have been motivating myself to do the few things that I have been dreading myself to do all these while : Writing a resume and Enhancing my dull portfolios.

And I'm glad!
I'm glad! Pleased! Very much Delighted that I have been working extra hard to achieve that. :)

The sense of accomplishment is beyond simple description.

And I thank God for creating us as a human with a purpose than not. Because, as much as life can be challenging sometimes/ the purpose that we are looking for seems so entwain, but at the end of the day because we wanted to achieve that purpose and because we know we have that purpose, it makes us move...and keep moving and make our life not that boring/ stagnant all the time.