I will try not to think about this too much because then it will be too hard to narrow down. I have been blessed with a fruitful life and choosing the top 5 moments will be a challenge. I’ll try to make this as concise as I can as well. In no particular order..

1) Disneyland Hong Kong in 2006 (Disneyland, period!). Went there just a few months after it opened because just as all 90s kids are I am a complete Disney geek. We stayed at one of the Disney hotels and I begged my mom to take the Disney train with me from the city (everyone else took a cab) and we walked ALL the way from the train station to the hotel (didn’t take the shuttle, nothing). Needless to say I started bawling my eyes out when I reached the place. I had this weird moment where I just broke down because of happiness. I can’t wait to visit Disney America, Europe and Japan, no matter how old I am!

2) Watching my two favorite groups in the whole wide universe live in concert, 2PM and Incubus. Not at the same time, but this counts as one moment. I watched Incubus in 2008 and 2PM twice in 2011. I also had crying moments where I just couldn’t believe it all. Funny. A rock band and a K-pop group could do that to me.

3) Traveling alone by airplane for the first time at 10 years old. I was set to spend summer in the Philippines in 1998 so my mom sent me off for one of those Unaccompanied Minors program with Singapore Airlines. It was so exciting for me because every take-off and landing they would move me to first class and during transit in Singapore I was sent to this special game room for kids that are on the program and there was a mini arcade, a library.. I didn’t know such a place could exist in an airport.

4) Graduating in Australia. Even though I didn’t study there, but flying to Perth to graduate in the mothership university was surreal enough for me. It made me experience the Australian university life for a bit and share the stage with like thousands of graduates I never met once in my life. Pretty awesome.

5) This is a bit of a sensitive issue, but will always count. When my mom was having her mastectomy in Singapore I couldn’t go because I had tests in uni (I think either midterms or finals I forgot–like I said I choose to blur out a lot of those moments) and I think my parents didn’t really want me to go so I stayed back in Jakarta. During that day my two best friends, Noemi and Chino, were with me the whole day. Noemi went to church with me even though it was a Tuesday (I still remember) and after that we had lunch with Chino and they were just.. THERE for me and spent the whole day being at my side. They didn’t try to cheer me up, or make me sad, it was a normal hang out that didn’t feel loaded or pressured in any way even though I was anxious as fuck as to how my mom’s surgery would go. They may not know this and probably don’t realize it but I will ALWAYS remember that day as realizing how much of true friends they really are to me. So if any of them are reading this, thank you guys, I love you and that day was a gift to me. Thank you for being there.