Showing posts with label Thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thoughts. Show all posts

February 16, 2016

Inner Child

 I recently read a beautiful quote from Michelle Phan:
"It made me realize how we can easily forget our childhood dreams and hopes because of work, obligations, and life struggles. I learned how reconnecting with your inner child will help bring you closer to your higher self and sense of purpose."

Combine it with the book I'm currently reading, The Alchemist, which is about pursuing our 'Personal Legend' (or personal calling), it prompted me to re-evaluate what I want to do with my life, what is my true passion where I would put my whole heart into. Because I believe that, only by accomplishing our personal calling, can we prove ourselves worthy of the miracle of life, and understand why we are here.

I'm still in the phase of figuring it out, and if you're the same, I'd like to share a sentence from The Alchemist: "Whenever we are doing something that fills us with enthusiasm, we are following our legend." So, why don't we start from there? :) Or, as Michelle said, by reconnecting with your inner child. Ask yourself, what made you happy when you were a kid? More often than not, it is your true passion, because we didn't do it for money, or to impress others; we just did what made us happy.

And if you've found your personal calling, I hope you have the courage to pursue it. Good luck to us all! :)
Striped Top and Long Pinafore from Korea | Tsumori Chisato Purse | Bershka White Sneakers | ByInviteOnly Necklace | OPS!Objects Watch
 For my lips, I used e.l.f. Matte Lip Color in wine (a bit more red than in the photo above).
Ending this post with something sweet. 


XOXO

June 23, 2015

Treasure Your Parents | A Tribute To Our Dad


#QOTD: Have you called your parents today? :)

Our father just passed away and we decided to make this video:
http://bit.ly/dearpapa
Mainly to share some precious lessons we learned the hard way; that we should always do our best to love and take care of our parents, no matter what, no matter how, before it's all too late.

Also, we sneaked in a little bit of good parenting tips... So, you are more than welcome if you want to watch this video with your mom or dad, or both of them. :)

To all of you guys, thank you so much for your heartwarming thoughts, kindness and support. We really appreciate it!

X
@joesathya @jessyamada @elleyamada

May 27, 2014

Movie Watching with Bolu~♡ WAKUWAKU JAPAN | Listen to My Heart

Few days ago, Bolu and I watched this Japanese movie at WAKUWAKU JAPAN TV Channel (#168).
It is a romantic-drama movie called Listen to My Heart (引き出しの中のラブレター, Hikidashi no naka no rabu retā).

Synopsis
Mao Kubota (Takako Tokiwa) who works as a radio DJ in Tokyo is starting a new program called "Love Letters from the Drawer". People can write down their reserved feeling to someone on a letter, request a song to go with it and then Mao will read the letter and play the song at her program; hoping that the message will reach the intended person. The program was inspired by her own experience when she read a letter from her deceased father; who had always been so hard on her but finally expressed his true feeling toward her daughter through that honest, heartfelt letter.

Review
Watching this movie, first thing that came to my mind was…
The main actress Takako Tokiwa really looks like Cecilia Cheung lol!
They really look alike, right?? Has resemblance, at least. ^^

And of course, talking about Cecilia Cheung, I couldn't help but to bring this up…
YESYES our very own Elle also looks like Cecilia, right??? HAHAHHAHAHA
A lot of people has told her about this too, since she's in elementary school, lol! XD

Okay, now let's talk about the movie!

Made in 2009 where the internet era has begun, Listen to My Heart (引き出しの中のラブレター, Hikidashi no naka no rabu retā) brings up two now-kind-of-already-forgotten medias that played a big role in connecting people back then: radio and posted letters. It brings me back to the time where I would listen to the radio whenever I'm sitting in the car, going back and forth from home to school; and also further back when I had pen pals in elementary school (one of them was my childhood maid who went home to her village because she had to be married. I remember she wrote me a letter on a Little Mermaid paper because she knew I LOVE Ariel ^^).
Directed by Shinichi Mishiro, Listen to My Heart is a movie about a woman's strong dedication towards her career as a radio DJ → that succeed her in spreading her positive energy → which helps a lot of people who have been burying their thoughts deep down in their heart → to finally have the courage to pour it in a letter, → which she will then read out loud in her program, hoping that the significant person somewhere would hear what this person have to say.
Weighing the risk that B would probably not hear what A has put thoughtfully in that letter (e.g. when the letter is being read, B could be doing activities that doesn't allow him/her to listen to the radio / B might be listening to another program / B might not be a radio listener at all), when B actually hears it, it makes it almost magical. A very romantic coincidence, one could say. :)

In this encouraging movie, though, somehow all the messages always manage to reach the intended person (^^;). It's okay, though, a drama is a drama. But I think even if B doesn't get the message:
1. At least A has decided to finally release what has been weighing his/her heart, and that's a good step because it allows A to be honest to his/herself about his/her own feeling; which is not easy because some thoughts and feelings are sometimes better left unsaid or unheard, even to oneself.
2. And for the rest of the radio listeners, it is a beautiful way to listen to another person's heartfelt feelings. Like watching a movie or reading a book, sometimes we can all learn something from another person's experience or story. Like in this movie, some listeners would also hope that the intended person would hear the message. Being able to hope is also a good thing, right? :)

Like Babel and He's Just Not That Into You, Listen to My Heart is also a movie with interlocking stories. There is a taxi driver who came to Tokyo, living a separate life with his son and wife for the sake of earning extra income, a pregnant 30 something woman who decided to be a single mother when the baby comes, a reserved grandfather who doesn't want to move to another town with his son and his family, a boy who's in love with his classmate, a guy who's trying to get permission from his parents to marry an older woman that he loves, and so on. I like this kind of movie. It leaves room to imagine if a character knew that he/she is somehow connected to someone or something. It also makes me wonder about my own life. ^^v

Beside scenes that was taken at cute cafes in Tokyo, there are also a lot of beautiful scenes taken at Hakodate, Hokkaido. It really makes me wanna visit the place someday! Very calm and beautiful and I can imagine how fresh the air would be up there. Ah, Japan I miss youuuuuuuuuuuuu~~~

Thank you, WAKUWAKU JAPAN TV for bringing this movie up. We can't wait to watch another ones! XD

Meanwhile...
Oh no, baby girl fell asleep!

LOOK AT DAT PRECIOUS PAW!! ~~

Very well, I shall take my chance...

To take selfies with this cutiecat, please!!!

Okay yes so careful as not to wake her up…...
And that is all, my friend. See you on my next post! 

XOXO
Jessica Yamada

April 15, 2014

Family Comes First!

Duck face with le grandma. xD
How close are you with your grandparents?
Me? Pretty close, especially the ones from my mom's side. :)
When Jess and I were kids we often spent our Sundays having dim-sum with our big family and after that we usually went to the mall and watched a movie together. My late grandpa usually enjoyed his own time at the food court (he really liked hopping from one food stall to another) or at the book store. Not that he was aloof or he didn't enjoy spending time with his family, it's just that he was afraid he'd be a trouble since he couldn't walk too fast. He was always like that, his principle was, "Always give and do good. It's best to not ask for help from others if you can do it yourself. Don't make other people feel uncomfortable or burdened because of you."

God, I miss him so much. :')


My grandma on the other hand, she loves to share her wisdom and stories to her grandkids. My favorite stories have always been the ones about my mom and her siblings (my aunt and uncles) when they were kids and teens, like who was the naughtiest, stupid things they did, how my grandpa used to punish them, and so on. She is also a very caring and loving woman yet tough to the in-laws, lol. I think it's one of the cancer woman's traits (protective to their children)? haha..


Anyway, when I was 7yo I got chickenpox and she was the one who took care of me at her home because my mom was afraid Jess and my brother would catch it from me (of course mom visited me every day ok). Grandma bathed me, cooked some healthy food for me, helped me memorizing the multiplication table so I wouldn't left behind at school, and we always had a random conversation before we went to bed. She loved to give me advices about men and relationship, and also... teach me about Chinese culture lol.



Clock-wise: Valen (our cousin), me, Jess, grandma
As time went on and work took priority over most other stuff, I found myself more and more distant from my grandparents. There was no more dim sum tradition, and I only met them on family events which I often missed because of work! :(

This quote is so true though:
"We are so busy growing up, we often forget they are also growing old."

I always thought they wouldn't go anywhere, and if they did, I must have been prepared for it.

Turned out, I was not. Not even close.

The day my grandpa earned his angel wings was one of the hardest moments I had to go through in my life. I certainly did not expect it to happen so soon. We were all so heartbroken and broke down in tears. He was a very good man and someone we all look up to, and we felt like we haven't done our best to repay his great love and kindness.

But, there is always a silver lining in the darkest of cloud. This tragic occurrence has made us all realized how important family is. As for Jess and I, we've made a resolution to cut ourselves some slack and make time at least once a week to spend some quality time with our grandma. Another resolution is to take as many family photos as possible! ;D
Mom - Mom's sister (aka Valen's mom) - Grandma
One of the best ways that you can do to strengthen the family (or friendship) bond is by doing activities together! Like this 'Sparkling Friendship Goes to HK' #FOXSSparklingHK activity! I asked my grandma to join it with me and we had SO much fun! You just have to post a picture of you and your BFF with your chosen FOX'S color theme here and don't forget to pose with FOX's candy too! :D


↑ Just so you know, it's really hard to stick out your tongue with a candy on it! I dropped two candies doing this pose! Anyway, LOLed at my grandma's expression! xD 
Love how my grandma matched her top with a pair of pink trousers! Stylish nana!! :)) 
If I have to choose what color that best represents our relationship, I think it would be blue, as it is fresh and relaxed, just like water. HAHA!
Looking forward to more activities that we can do together!! :D

Elissa Yamada

November 27, 2013

As Life So Good

 "How do you deal with negativity?" Yes, I'd like to bring up that topic today, please. :)
But before that, please bear with my kinda very unrelated outfit post first~ (ノ^ヮ^)ノ*:・゚✧

GOWIGASA DOPE MCMLXXXV SnapbackBnW Striped Turtleneck TopBaggy Semi Elastic Denim Shorts, Black Slim Backpack | TLTSN Red Mary Jane Flats

SO!
Let's continue talking about the topic I mentioned up there: "How do you deal with negativity?". Two days ago, I posted these tweets:
https://twitter.com/jessyamada/status/404984213708886017
English loose translation

perhatian: caring
kepo (from singapore slang 'kaypoh'): busybody / meddling
ga kepo: aloof / does not like being a busybody / meddling with other people's business
sombong: arrogant / snob
berkualitas: have a certain standard of quality
mahal: expensive
murah: cheap
https://twitter.com/jessyamada/status/404984364594761728
English loose translation

banyak temen: have a lot of friends
ansos: anti social / introvert by nature
dimusuhin: banished / alienated
tegas: bold
batu: stubborn
ngalah: pacifist / phlegmatic
Got the idea yet? Yep, it's about how negativity loves screwing with people's brain and turning plain X into (-)X. Well, even though I've posted the answer too up there, which is pretty obvious: Just Be Positive; I'd still like to dig furthermore into this matter.

Nowadays, with the help of internet and various social media platforms like Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Blog, etc.. we have the privilege of getting a whole lot more information about something (or maybe even get 'exposed' to the ones we don't actually need) AND we also get a lot more chances to express our opinions about those things. 

Now, if you're reading my blog right now, I assume that you're not new to this cyber world and that most of you netizens must be pretty familiar with these terms already: cyberbullying / public thrashing or attacks, hate accounts, spamming abusive comments, etc. Well, for you newbies, they're all about humiliating / defaming / harassing / intimidating / harming people (individually or as a group) or companies online. Believe it or not, most of the cases are:
- Unprovoked
- Done anonymously
- Simply based on negative thoughts or intentions about that person / group / business

So, why cyberbully? While for some people it might be entertaining, others do it for revenge, sabotaging competitions or simply for seeking attention. Whatever their motives are, they do not care about the damage they're doing to the victims (some even INTEND for the damage to happen). And when it comes to cyberbullying, they can simply run and hide after doing the bullying and not dealing with the damages afterwards, by being an anonymous. Easy? Yes. Classy? Not at all.

I fought a lot when I was a kid and every now and then, I deal with negativity online and offline. But I NEVER fight unprovoked (never accept being bullied either, though) / judge people relentlessly / spread lies or bad rumours about someone or something (sometimes I wonder about people who buy and read gossip tabloids. Do they do it to make them feel good about themselves? If so, I feel bad for them) / talk badly about someone or something or intentionally hurt other people or their businesses (heck, I don't even have the interest to at least care about most of them and besides, I choose my words carefully. If I don't have anything nice to say about someone or something, I'd prefer to be silent. Unless it's for positive outcome, e.g. telling a best friend that her boyfriend cheated on her, telling your interior designer that it is an ugly wallpaper for your dream house, telling your readers to be careful of a marketing company that disguises their profit with charity. Other than that, I really don't see the point of mocking other people or their businesses out of nowhere, especially when I'm a firm believer of karma) / or above all, choose anonymity online. The last point irritates me the most. Sometimes, I wish I could put my hand through the screen and grab those anonymous cowards by the collar, saying, "Say it to my face. I DARE YOU."
Back to the topic. Being through some fights (verbally and physically), I can honestly say that even when I won, the victory never taste as good as doing something positive. Not even close.

By 'doing something positive', I'm not saying that you should all immediately go helping people, do charity or join a volunteer trip (although they must feel really good, yo). It could be as simple as: 
Avoiding the negativity and keep being positive all the time.
As simple as it sounds, it's actually a hard thing to do, as human as we all are. I myself still doing my best to keep it up. But it really is  the right way to go.

Look, there are some things that may cause people to resort to negativity. If the source of the negativity is certain people around you (e.g. gossipy / sarcastic / malicious / discouraging / toxic people, etc.) and you have done everything you can to make them change for the better but it doesn't work out, you should really consider to cut them out of your life, IF you want to move forward, of course.
 But mostly (and sadly), negativity comes within yourself and one thing that might lead people to drag each other down is none other than ENVY. I deal with envy all the time. I envy kids whom parents are meant for each other, girls with easy-to-maintain skin, filthy rich kids who don't have to work, etc. 
https://twitter.com/jessyamada/status/404984595126292480
Can you imagine how I'd be doing right now if I kept concentrating my energy on envying those people? I might become one of those pathetic losers who keep whining and pitying myself or worse, one of those bitter sarcastic people who curse others for what they have instead of pushing myself to do better and better and getting to where I am today.

I might not be blessed with parents who are destined for each other, but I do learn a lot from their relationship since I was a kid: what to find and what to avoid in a partner later when I grow up, keys for a successful relationship, how to keep it logical while still maintaining the magical lovey dovey things, etc.

I might have a hard-to-please skin, but that makes me learn a lot about skincare, treatments, safe makeup products, healthy food and habits that turns out to not only giving temporary solutions to my skin problems, but also benefiting my skin in the long run.

I might not be an heiress of something big nor do I have a trust fund to live off*, but I do love making money, I am blessed with jobs that I love and I feel truly blessed and honored to have the opportunity to be the backbone of my family at a pretty young age, together with my beloved sister.
*FYI, Gandhi even said that 'wealth without work' is considered a social sin. ^^;

Alright then, I hope this post can somehow benefit you. :)
As life so good, my answer to the question, "How do you deal with negativity?" is #JustBePositive! :) What's yours? Have you got an issue with negativity before? Kindly tell me "How do you deal with negativity?" in the comment box below, I'd love to read it! :D

Nevertheless, thank you so much for reading and see you guys on my next post~

Jessica Yamada

August 20, 2013

Teliti Sebelum Charity

Not so long ago, I tweeted about this...
Some people responded to my tweet:
The reason I highlighted the comment above is because THAT'S my point exactly. But before we rush to conclusions, please read on (mostly Indonesian language from now on, since this is Indonesian issue anyway haha): 
16 Agustus. Saya sedang makan siang sendirian di restoran Sushi Hana, Mal Puri Indah. Tiba-tiba datang dua orang, satu laki-laki dan satu perempuan. Keduanya memperkenalkan diri dengan sopan, minta izin duduk di hadapan saya, bercerita singkat tentang anak-anak yang terkena sakit leukimia dan bagaimana sebuah yayasan bernama YAI membantu anak-anak malang tersebut.   
      Di saat yang sama, makanan saya datang dan hp saya berdering. Karena sudah lapar dan telepon itu penting, dan saya sudah tahu niat kedua orang ini adalah untuk keperluan donasi, maka langsung* saja tanpa basa-basi saya tanya berapa** yang harus saya sumbang?  
      The guy said, "Seratus ribu, kak. Tapi cuma sekali*** lho. Dan itu sudah bisa membantu anak-anak leukimia tadi." Saya keluarkan dompet, ambil uang, dan ternyata cuma ada Rp. 90.000,- (maklum jarang pakai cash), tapi mereka bilang tidak apa-apa, kemudian mereka mengambil uang tersebut, menyobek halaman belakang sebuah buku kecil (which later on became THE book), meminta saya mengisi beberapa data pribadi, baru kemudian mereka berterima kasih dan pergi keluar restoran meninggalkan saya buku tersebut.
     Sambil lanjut makan, saya buka-buka buku tersebut, isinya berbagai voucher yang (mungkin menarik bagi orang lain tapi) tidak menarik untuk saya. But well, I thought, it's just a bonus anyway. SAMPAI tiba-tiba saya sadar ada tulisan kecil di bagian bawah cover buku itu bahwa "Rp. 10.000,- dari hasil penjualan Voucher ini akan disumbangkan untuk YAI". BOOM! Totally dumbfounded.  
Jadi, saudara-saudara sekalian, saya itu barusan BELI VOUCHER, bukannya nyumbang (ya... adalah 10%. Etapi karena saya tadi cuma ada Rp. 90.000, berarti saya melek-melek beli voucher nya doang dong ya? *pats myself on the back*).
*Here's my silly move. Because I didn't bother to learn more about it,  saya jadi tidak tahu bagaimana bentuk donasi itu sesungguhnya (in this case, dari uang sejumlah Rp.100.000 yang diminta, hanya Rp.10.000 yang disumbangkan ke YAI, sedangkan niat saya adalah menyumbangkan Rp.100.000 tersebut sepenuhnya).
**Beberapa yayasan punya standar rata-rata yang dibutuhkan, contohnya Pesat Future Center yang memberitahu saya bahwa dengan Rp.100.000 per bulan, saya sudah bisa mensponsori seorang anak desa.
***Some of these guys come in daily basis to my bf's place in Pantai Indah Kapuk and it's getting on his nerves. Pas ditegur, "Dari kemarin kan saya udah bilang, saya udah pernah nyumbang ke salah satu orang kamu. Kenapa sih balik lagi, balik lagi?" mereka jawab, "Yah.. Siapa tahu kan hari ini mau nyumbang. Lagian kan kakak bisnisnya lancar, masak sih nyumbang seratus ribu aja gak mau?"  so much for good manners, eh?

Malamnya, walaupun sempat tidak habis pikir seharian, saya sudah hampir lupa dengan kejadian tersebut, sampai tiba-tiba ada yang LINE saya jam 23:57, and guess who, twas THAT guy!! My curiosities came back, and here's our heated conversation:
Do note bahwa kemarahan saya ditujukan kepada perusahaan tempat orang ini bekerja, dikarenakan cara mereka bekerja, bukan kepada orang ini semata-mata (if I wanted to attack him personally, I wouldn't bother to blur his name anyway). Kecuali di poin 19-22, where he subjectively judged ZARA in his *not even valid* argument wtf. -_-


Sampai sekarang, saya masih tidak habis pikir dengan pola kerja orang-orang ini. Yang jadi pikiran saya:
1. Kenapa mereka tidak up-front saja bilang, "Kami jual buku voucher, menarik lho, isinya banyak dan value nya bisa sampai dengan sekian. Selain itu, 10% dari hasil penjualan buku voucher ini akan disumbangkan ke yayasan anu." Bukannya malah 'menyamarkan' Penjualan Buku Voucher dengan Kesempatan Beramal (yang notabene hanya 10% nya saja dari jumlah uang yang diminta).
2. Kalau memang mereka itu sukarelawan yang bergerak demi alasan kemanusiaan, dari gerak-gerik saya yang langsung menyerahkan uang sejumlah yang diminta saja harusnya mereka sudah bisa melihat bahwa saya memang niat menyumbang. Dan karena saya sudah jelas-jelas menunjukkan gestur tersebut sebelum / tanpa mereka beritahu tentang keberadaan buku voucher itu, maka sudah sepantasnya (sebagai sukarelawan) mereka sadar bahwa uang tersebut adalah 100% hak YAI. Karena bukankah dari awal yang ditekankan adalah 'Charity'? Buat apa mereka susah-susah jualan voucher lagi kalau memang ada orang yang niat menyumbang 100% untuk YAI?
3. Apabila mereka sudah sadar namun tetap berniat memakai uang tersebut untuk penjualan si buku voucher (bukannya untuk langsung disumbangkan sepenuhnya kepada YAI), ada baiknya mereka menerapkan kewajiban untuk memberi penjelasan terlebih dahulu kepada setiap donatur mengenai aturan mainnya. Apa susahnya sih bilang, "Oh ya kak, tapi ini Rp. 10.000.- nya saja ya yang kita sumbangkan, sisanya itu jadi buku voucher yang kakak pegang sekarang"Unless they lack common sense ATAU mereka memang dapat komisi dari penjualan buku voucher tersebut, yang menjadikan mereka sekumpulan sales, BUKAN sukarelawan.

Karena penasaran, saya googled dan ternyata sudah banyak sekali komplain mengenai hal serupa yang dialami oleh saya, maupun hal lainnya seperti bidang ketenagakerjaan yang *lagi-lagi* penuh kedok / penyamaran yang ditujukan ke pihak GRANTON MARKETING; the creator and distributor of those voucher books. Dan ternyata, kalau memang yang tertulis di link ini http://mitamelati.blogspot.com/2008/07/hati-hati-mencari-kerja-di-pt-granton.html benar adanya, then those people I met weren't volunteers, they're merely sales. Para penjual yang mencari keuntungan pribadi dengan mengatasnamakan amal.


#SelfNote  #LessonLearned
Kalau mau menyumbang, lebih baik ke panti atau yayasan-nya saja langsung, tidak perlu melalui orang lain dan kalau bisa, pastikan dana tersebut memang sampai di tangan orang yang benar sehingga tidak akan disalahgunakan pihak-pihak yang tidak berwenang. Kalau bisa bantu tenaga, waktu atau barang-barang kebutuhan (contoh: susu formula untuk panti asuhan, dsb), mungkin malah lebih bagus lagi.

Some life lessons are supposed to be expensive. Untuk kasus ini, boleh dibilang saya masih cukup beruntung karena 'membeli' pelajaran ini seharga Rp 90.000 saja. Imagine if this involved bigger catch... How much would my own ignorance cost me? *smh*

Must learn to learn the details before making any decisions.

Coming to the end of this post... If any of you guys are curious or even interested to make a donation for YAI, here are their bank account number:
Mandiri 164000582421 / BCA 0845244010
Or you can click here for more information about YAI and other possible ways to donate.

While we're on this topic, here's a complete list of Charity and Non Profit Organizations in Indonesia http://www.charity-charities.org/Indonesia-charities/Indonesia.html
Thought it might come handy in the future. :)

Alright then, hope this post helps. See you guys on my next post. Meanwhile, take care and good luck! :D

Jessica Yamada