La Tahzan...

From Amica to irish

2011-12-08T15:17:00.001+11:00

I finally gave up with my work to create an online store. Then I let a web designer to do all things. So here it is.. From amicamiaboutique.com to irishcolleenboutique.com. From italian girl to irish girl. Just realized it. As ireland is identical with green, I ordered a green template for my web. Actually I wanted to make it elegant with no common picture. Let’s say, green background with white hat or a bucket of flower, or combined with golden ribbon and a classic jewelry. Or something like that. But I have not much choice. Anyway I satisfy with the web. At least not so common, different from other web. Well done.

My online shop

2011-11-09T15:49:00.000+11:00

I Happily announce my online shop :) amicamiazone.blogspot.com
Beautiful. Elegant. All yours
Yes I choose only the elegant ones. AmicaMia sells bag, ethnic goods, broach and pin. At the moment, only that available. Have a look...

Hold it against me – Britney Spears

2011-08-21T19:59:00.000+10:00

The title sounds familiar. It is. I didn’t know the exact meaning when I heard this. How stupid.

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Hey over there Please forgive me If I’m coming on too strong
Hate to stare But you’re winning And they’re playing my favorite song
So come here A little closer Wanna whisper in your ear
Make It clear Little question Wanna know just how you feel
If I said my heart was beating loud
If we could escape the crowd somehow
If I said I want your body now
Would you hold it against me Cause you feel like paradise
I need a vacation tonight
So if I said I want your body now Would you hold it against me
Hey You might think That I’m crazy
But I you know I’m just your type
I’mma be a little hazy But you just cannot deny
There’s a spark in between us
When we’re dancing on the floor
I want more Wanna see It So I’m asking you tonight
If I said my heart was beating loud
If we could escape the crowd somehow
If I said I want your body now
Would you hold it against me Cause you feel like paradise
I need a vacation tonight
So if I said I want your body now Would you hold it against me
If I said I want your body
Would It Hold It Against Me?

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Britney is a real diva, no matter what.

COWBOYS back-rower Cory Paterson will complete the premiership rounds on a demanding Islamic fast after recently becoming a Muslim.

2011-08-02T16:18:00.003+10:00

Today is the second day of fasting month for muslim. I agree, discipline is essential and becomes the spirit in doing good deeds in this holy month. Why, often, we found out that we take lessons from a new muslim/ converted into muslim.

Paterson yesterday emulated Bulldogs great Hazem El Masri as just the second player in NRL history to tackle the holy month of Ramadan, which forbids Muslims from eating or drinking during daylight hours.

Given the physical demands of full-time training in tropical Townsville, it's a huge challenge that yesterday prompted discussions with North Queensland officials.

Paterson will also be involved in four matches, however all will be staged at night when he is permitted to rehydrate.

Unlike El Masri, a Muslim since birth, Paterson has never fasted before and it's understood the 24-year-old's religious conversion only took place around the time he transferred from Newcastle in June.

When contacted yesterday, Paterson confirmed he was now a Muslim and had started fasting. But he declined to elaborate until speaking with new manager Khoder Nasser, a devout Muslim who was instrumental in Anthony Mundine's conversion a decade ago.Paterson also spent yesterday afternoon discussing his new routine with North Queensland coach Neil Henry and football manager Peter Parr, both of whom were unaware of the Perth product's personal sacrifice.

Paterson convinced the pair that his ability to train or play would not be compromised, because Ramadan allows necessary exceptions based on employment - and particularly so for first-timers.

"He's explained how it won't impact on his preparation or performance," Parr told The Daily Telegraph. "There's no hard and fast rule for everyone. Given the nature of his employment, there's an opportunity there to do what he has to do (to be his best).

"It's not for me to go into Cory's personal life, other than to say that Neil (Henry) and I are comfortable with the way it's being done."

Paterson joined Nasser's camp after becoming close with stablemates Mundine and Sonny Bill Williams during the latter's preparation for a fight in Newcastle early this year.

His conversion to Islam was immediately tipped, but not confirmed until Sunday when Paterson used his Twitter account to inform followers of his impending fast.

"Big challenge for me starting tomoro (sic)," he tweeted. "Looking forward to it and the satisfaction and discipline it will bring."

Paterson subsequently received several messages of support - including one from Mundine - and peppered his replies with Arabic phrases such as "salaam" (peace) and "Insallah" (God willing). "Thank u. Will test me but Insallah it all goes well," he tweeted.

Unwanted by incoming Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett, Paterson was given permission to join North Queensland on a three-year deal mid-season.
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Bells of New York City – Josh Groban

2011-05-19T00:35:00.000+10:00

I thought quite hard this morning of what I would be doing for my English class today. So the idea was I put a song at the last 10 minutes of every session. Students will have to fill in the blank of a song lyric. There will be a word missing in each line. This is not new indeed. I rather make it fun for me and to meet my music appetite. Basically, deep in me, I like showing others how different my taste in music is :) Also, just to introduce people around me a very good music they may ignore.

And today, I played Bells of New York City. It’s very beautiful. Both the melody and the lyrics. Josh is able to bring people in the situation like in this song. New York is a never sleep city and always crowded. However this song describes the silence in one part of New York. So New York is not always about Madison Square Garden but can be about a silence high place in a breezy night. I just felt this song also represents what’s in me. I’ve been thinking of what my Mexican friend suggested me yesterday, that I should let myself go from the past story. No more time and place for fairy tales. Unfortunately, he’s very true, so damn true. I admit that. So i decide to let myself go from the thought of the past, officially.

Well, back to the song. This is an interesting one. I gave students the sheet and let them hear the song and write down the missing word. At the second round of the song, right in the word Illuminate, students made noisy. A little earthquake. I didn’t notice it as I was standing while they were sitting on the floor. And we were on the third floor! Still, they were very polite. Asking should we go. As i didn’t really feel the shake, I tried to make sure if it was really happening. Some looking at me and said Yes, this is earthquake (with the look of asking whether I allow them to go out of the class). I didn’t move, and one student smilingly in anxious said that the shake was still on. Then I told them to leave the class. This was a small earthquake but it’s worrying me because it happened in two days in sequence. 5.4 RS can be bad when you’re in the wrong place. What I remember is those innocent eyes asking for my permission to leave the class. They should’ve left without telling me as I’m not responsible for themselves in this situation. Next time they should do it when there’s such case. They are just very sweet.

I do appreciate them and Bells of New York City will remind me of this whole feeling. Today’s class and the new step i take.

Bells of New York City

There's a pale winter moon in the sky coming through my window
And the park is laid out like a bed below
It's a cold, dark night and my heart melts like the snow
And the bells of New York City tell me not to go
It's always this time of year that my thoughts undo me
With the ghosts of many lifetimes all abound
But from these mad heights I can always hear the sound
Of the bells of New York City singing all around

Stay with me, stay with me
Refuge from these broken dreams

Wait right here oh wait with me
On silent snow filled streets

Sing to me one song for joy and one for redemption
And whatever is in between that I call mine
With the street lamp light to ILLUMINATE the gray
And the bells of New York City calling me the stay
The bells of New York City calling me to stay

*I bet this song is dedicated to all Yankees :)

New Orleans 2011

2011-04-22T19:54:00.000+10:00

This was my first visit to USA, in March this year for a conference. It’s not the main reason, honestly. But this is a good reason to enter USA considering the visa is sometimes hard to get. Some even say it’s almost impossible. Well. it depends. We can not specify one reason works to everyone. Overall, it was a blessing that things went well till the day i came to USA.

Here are the pictures I took during my stay in French Quarter. Good? For me, it’s nothing new with this place. It’s European scene with American style. Very American.

‘Enter as a stranger, Leave as a friend’. Just remember this quote, from HHH cafe. Not in New Orleans.

Opera and Flamenco. Poliorama La Rambla

2010-11-21T02:02:00.000+11:00

Awesome..!! Highly recommended to watch. it's been watched by more than 800.000 people in Europe. Be part of them, esp if you love this kind of opera and dance. It costs 35 Euro in VIP seat.

Opera:

Griselda Ramón (Soprano), Oscar Marín (Tenor), Carlos Caro (violin), Diana Franov (viola), Martín Meléndez (cello), Javier Luque (classical guitar) and David Granato (piano).

Flamenco:

Sara Flores (singer), Jacobo Sánchez (boxes and drums), Katia Moro (dancer), Iván Alcalá (dancer) and Juan Cortés (flamenco guitar).

Casting:

Daniel Verdes and Queralt.

Sara Flores sings perfectly, no breath sound heard, only her voice. The songs were combination between arabic and europe. So perfect for summer time performance.

Ivan and Katia, they dance so good as well. No wrong steps, or i just couldn't notice it :) but really, they are sexy. They have to be careful with their foot. I have a picture of me with Katia by the way. But not with Ivan because he didn't appear after the show.

Love this show sooooo much...

Here is what Barcelona tourism wrote about the opera.

An innovative entertainment which blends the tradition of Spanish operetta and flamenco in a single performance.
It is being staged at the Teatre Poliorama, which is located in the heart of Barcelona's famous Rambla, and and at the Palau de la Música (Petit Palau), an art-nouveau building which belongs to the Unesco World Heritage.

The beauty of opera, the spirit of gypsy dance and the magic of Spanish music are brought together in a single show.

It has been running for four years, and has been a great success with the public.

The programme takes a journey through the most popular works of Spanish operetta and flamenco, from Bizet and his impassioned Carmen to the spell of flamenco dance

Can you notice hoax?

2010-10-19T03:02:00.000+11:00

Few days ago i read a news (or a gossip) about Justin Bieber on the Internet. It was a funny and rather irrational story. But still that made curiosity whether it was true. So as always, google answered it when only fake websites appeared on the first page. Even though the Bieber news was a gossip, but it shows how easy to get an untrue news. Hoax, it’s not rare. The problem is when we cannot differ which one is hoax and which one is not. Moreover, if we spread it through emails of social network. People can laugh at you, by the way. We just need to think a bit whenever we get an email telling a fact or story. Clarify it, or tabayyun (in arabic). That’s the best way. Sometimes, the content of the email is really true that nobody can deny it. In hoax, usually there’s something odd in it. It could be anything. By reading it, we are able to notice it in a second or a minute.

Once, i attended a seminar (i don’t need to mention what seminar it is). The speaker was interactive and involved the audiences into his talk. That’s a good way to embrace the audiences and make them understand what he was talking about. After two hours talking, it came to an end. He displayed a story of a poor mother and a bad boy as a closing. It’s a touching story i know that it impressed all the audiences. For a trainer or speaker, this is the best way for a closing as it emerges curiosity, and makes the audiences retain more the talk content. I’ve seen this many times. Back to the poor woman story. There were scenes that seem weird. The first thing cross in mind was it’s impossible that a little kid could hate his mother so bad like that. Normally, as he grew up, he would appreciate more the mother’s effort to raise him alone. He would do anything for the mother and probably hate the father for leaving them alone. In this story, the son kept hating her because of her bad appearance. He left the mother in his teenage and never come back. For years the mother was looking for him and when she found him, the son didn’t accept her as his mother. One day, the son had something to do in his hometown and he popped by to see his old house. But the mother has died. Then the truth was revealed. He cried with a deep regret. There’s a bad communication between the mother and son. As a mature man, he should’ve thought more about his mother and been able to appreciate and respect her. He didn’t meet his development task if so.

From these weird facts, i know that the story isn’t true. Actually I’ve read it few years ago and i knew it’s fake. I got this email many times anyhow. Surely i wouldn’t tell or forward this email to friends. So when the speaker displayed this story i was so surprised. How could he take this story as his ultimate part of his talk. Didn’t he notice the odd things here? This is an almost real story but also scientifically unproved. Sigh, he really downgraded his capability with this fake story. His good two hours talk was destroyed by this three minutes story. I thought it was only me who felt this. But my friend, a doctor, also noticed the weird one from medical aspect. Typically me, didn’t mean to lower him, i doubt the content of his talk as he couldn’t notice this simple story as hoax.

Scar of David, Scar of Palestine – Susan Abulhawa

2010-10-11T02:21:00.000+11:00

From the title, the reader can recognize that the setting must be in Palestine, and a little bit about Israel. The book’s cover depicting a cute little kid, a soldier and war. Reading it was boring at the beginning, at least i read the first 22 pages two months ago. Not so exciting, then i decided to continue reading it few days ago as no more book to read. This book describes well of what have been happening in Palestine since late 40s. I’ve read about life in Palestine, moreover intifadha, sabra-shatila tragedy, daily shootings, violation, and heroic story. But they are told in separate ways. I got an almost clear picture of what’s happening there, life in refugee camp, how family and young people defending their home and land. It’s more than just a home. I can tell this book really open my eyes with the untold real life in Palestine while the world is just silent. This book doesn’t convince me any new fact, but it really gives a deeper understanding of how it feels to be a Palestinian. Misery, unfair treatment, helplessness, but at the same time there are braveness and hopes.

Well, this story is about a family and its community living in Ein Hood. Young Hasan is best friend of a Jewish who migrated from Germany (can’t remember). A friendship of a Palestinian and a Jewish. A good start to see different side of this rare relationship. It also describes why Jewish people came to Palestine as they were expelled from other countries, related with Nazi, and big conspiracy :-I

It continous with Hasan’s family moved to a one Km square refugee camp in Jenin. Here. all the story begins. Hasan has two sons, Yousef and Ismael. One day, in hectic situation, Hasan’s wife, Dalia, didn’t realize that baby Ismael lost. Forever she wouldn’t see him again. Ismael was taken by an israel soldier, Moshe, as he doesn’t have any kid. He and his wife raised Ismael as a Jewish man named David. Few years later, Amal was born as the last child of Hasan and Dalia. So the story is pretty much about Yousef takes care of Amal and how Amal realizes her father’s hopes. Also, how David is then back to his Palestinian family with his identity is still as David.

The story is long that i can’t write even the summary. Too much settings here, and first character changes are too often.

This book is recommended to read. The rating is 9 out of 10 :)

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huftttt….. grammatical errors (even this)

Per Te, Translation – Josh Groban

2010-09-26T23:46:00.001+10:00

Sento nell'aria profumo di te

Piccoli sogni vissuti con me
Ora lo so
Non voglio perderti
Quella dolcezza cosÙ‰ senza etÃ
La tua bellezza rivali non ha
Il cuore mio vuole soltanto te
Per te, per te, vivrÙ
L'amore vincerÃ
Con te, con te avrÙ
Mille giorni di felicitÃ
Mille notti di serenitÃ
FarÙ quello che mi chiederai
AndrÙ sempre dovunque tu andrai
DarÙ tutto l'amore che ho per te
Dimmi che tu giÃ il futuro lo sai
Dimmi che questo non finirÃ mai
Senza di te non voglio esistere
Per te, per te, vivrÙ
L'amore vincerÃ
Con te, con te, avrÙ
Mille giorni di felicitÃ
Mille notti di serenitÃ
FarÙ quello che mi chiederai
AndrÙ sempre dovunque tu andrai
DarÙ tutto l'amore che ho per te
Non devo dirtelo
Ormai giÃ lo sai
Che morirei senza di te
Per te, per te, vivrÙ
L'amore vincerÃ
Con te, con te, farÙ
Tutto quello che mi chiederai
AndrÙ sempre dovunque tu andrai
DarÙ tutto l'amore che ho per te

I smell your scent in the air
Pretty dreams lived with me
I know the time is here
I don’t want to lose you
That ageless sweetness
Your beauty has no rival
My heart wants only you

For you, for you, I’ll live
Love will win
With you, with you, I’ll have
A thousand happy days
A thousand peaceful nights
I will do anything you ask me to
I will go everywhere you go
I will give all the love I have for you

Tell me that you already know the future
Tell me that this is not the end
Without you I don’t want to exist

For you, for you, I’ll live
Love will win
With you, with you, I’ll have
A thousand happy days
A thousand peaceful nights
I will do anything you ask me to
I’ll go everywhere you go
I’ll give all the love I have for you

I don’t have to tell you
By now you already know
That I would die without you

For you, for you, I’ll live
Love will win
With you, with you, I’ll do
All that you ask me to
I’ll go everywhere that you go
I will give all the love I have for you

Scarborough Fair – Hayley Westenra

2010-09-26T01:40:00.000+10:00

Hayley

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
He once was a true love of mine

Tell him to make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without any seam nor needlework
And then he'll be a true love of mine

Have him to find me an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Between the salt water and the sea-strand,
For then he'll be a true love of mine.

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
He once was a true love of mine

Paris 2010

2010-09-24T17:43:00.000+10:00

My favorite sculptures in musee de louvre, good looking, but i don’t know who this person is ;D

9/11 and its controversies

2010-09-13T00:48:00.000+10:00

It is always in mind that once my lecturer in health breakdown subject told us whenever someone says that thing is complex, it means that it is very hard and almost cant be explained and completed. No wonder, because he gave this understanding when he was about to explain pathophysiology. Very acceptable. I'm not sure whether it is an excuse, but speaking of 9/11, mosque in ground zero, qoran burning, media and politics are complicated. They are all interelated that each can be both the cause and effect for the recent most headlines. I should and need to arrange my words carefully when i am giving opinion about this. Too sensitive, confusing, much theories for most people. I dont think posting via mobile would be enough and clear. The certain thing is i do agree with my lecturer about 'being complex' for this issue.

For the victims, survivors, victims family, america, and all the affected groups, let 9/11 be an expression of mourn and pain. I personally as a muslim dont agree with any kind of violence, moreover on behalf of islam. Its not in islamic lesson.Niente. Those who did this disaster just gave a bad name for islam.

The Holiday

2010-08-17T15:32:00.002+10:00

I've watched this movie several times, and never really want to stop watching it. at least till now. There are some scenes i really love here. It's a comedy movie but still has lessons to take.

It's about Iris (Kate Winslet), who lives in some 2 hours from London who then swap her house with Amanda (Cameron Diaz), an american girl. They were in situation where they need a new fresh air and environment. In their exchange, with a very different life surroundings, they found their happiness and life back. Let's say, Amanda finally cried for the first time ever since she was 15. it's when she was about leaving for America and separated from her new and short love, iris's brother. And Iris, she finally can tell Jasper, her long love who's already engaged to a girl from circulation department, that she doesn't love him. She screamed happily after saying that.

Here are the scenes i like:
Amanda:
when she searched for place for exchange. she was broken hearted, and hardly trying to cry but no tears came out. So funny as she acted like praying, asking for tears to come.
In the end, in silenzio, her tears came out when she believed that she could leave Iris's brother, but actually she was wrong. She found her love.

Iris:
When she got back home after the anouncement of Jasper's engagement. She's cool, walking home in winter. As she opened the door, she cried load suddenly.
When she shared her story with...(Jack Black???? like a gamble, i can't remember). she could speak very well without pause and deep expression, and calm.

Jack Black:
When he left Amanda's house, and told Iris not to blow away (if i'm not mistaken)

Jude Law (i don't remember his name in this movie):
When he laid in the tent with his two daughters and Amanda.

What i don't like:

Amanda: nothing :) she's always funny

Iris: nothing too :) She played as a good girl, and it's her character

Jack Black: nothing too :) He's not cute, but that's why he acted his role well

Jude Law: When he cried as Amanda left him. his expression is like my uncle's. so i don't like it :)

This movie is worth to watch.

Nessun Dorma - Translation

2010-08-07T23:57:00.002+10:00

LOOOOOVE this....
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(G. Puccini)
Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che tremano d'amore
e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun saprà!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dirò
quando la luce splenderà!
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio
che ti fa mia!
(Il nome suo nessun saprà!...
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)
Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincerò!
vincerò, vincerò!

English Translation of "Nessun Dorma"
Nobody shall sleep!...
Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, o Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know...
No!...No!...
On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...
(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

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Mille notti di serenita… per te…

Plagiarisme di Blog

2010-08-07T22:59:00.000+10:00

Pernah plagiat di blog? Atau pernah mengkopi paste tulisan orang tanpa menulis sumber aslinya?

Banyak sekali orang yang punya blog sekarang ini. Bahkan ada yang punya lebih dari satu, entah apapun tujuan dan kontent dari blog itu. Apa aja bisa ditulis, mulai dari artikel yang serius sampai sekedar quick post. Jadi ga ada yang batasin dong mau nulis apa aja.

Sepertinya dah beberapa kali pas cari info di google dalam bahasa indonesia, banyak sih hasil searchnya, tapi pernah perhatikan ga, kalau kalimat atau artikelnya sama semua. Yang lebih parah, ada yang ga menulis sumber aslinya, dan nulis yang buat artikel itu dia. Banyaknya sih tulisan di blog itu ga menuliskan sumber aslinya. Tapi ini membuat orang berpikiran kalau yang punya blog itu adalah penulis aslinya. Nah lo...

Memang ga da yang ngasih nilai kalau kita plagiat atau ga di blog. Namanya juga dunia blog, siapa yang publish juga seringnya ga ketahuan yang punya blog siapa. Beda dengan tulisan ilmiah atau tugas di kampus, kan harus ditulis tulisan siapa yang kita jadikan sumber. Tapi kalau plagiatnya serius banget, pasti ada yang komplain.

Lebih baik pengguna blog tahu aturan penulisan dan publish di web, baik sebelum atau setelah membuat blog. Kalau mau mengkopi paste dari blog lain, bisa minta ijin ke yang punya blog. Atau kita harus menuliskan dari mana sumber asli tulisan itu. Jadi ga akan ada yang terdzolimi ya. Apalagi kalau kita plagiat kan berarti kita mendzolimi diri sendiri.

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Part of laugh, part of me cry.. part of me wants to question why....

Happy Ramadhan

2010-08-07T20:24:00.000+10:00

Happy Ramadhan to all friends... semoga kita bisa beribadah dengan optimal, meraih keridhaan Allah dan menjadi hamba yang beruntung menurut Allah :)

Maaf lahir batin...

Rome 2010

2010-07-28T22:22:00.000+10:00

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Italy has been a familiar word since few years ago. then finally i can visit this country. only three days, with much thought in me.

the first day i went to Pompeii, with a tour. We didn’t know each other at first, but then we were close. i felt like a big family :)

then the next day, i and mamma walked around Rome. summer is soooo hot that we need to buy water again and again. visiting Colosseum in summer, think it more. they are all made with stone, so it’s like in an oven. i’m amazed with how they built Colosseum and the buildings surrounding it. it must be a real masterpiece for its architect. they arranged and calculate the buildings very well. i wonder, how many people were there at that time.

then we visited Saint Pietra (i think it’s the name) where christmas ceremony in December takes place. what i like the most is that the water is so cool :) they set it this way because the weather is hot. people need cool water. there, i met a group of Indonesian who were in tour. i missed indonesia so much, so when i was jealous knowing they were going back the next day. so funny, i stood near them, looked at them, sometimes smiled at them. they knew what expression i showed. wanna go back to indonesia.

And then we visited few piazza. mamma told me that i should throw a coin in Fontana di trevi so that i can go back to Rome again. it’s based on her experience by the way. but i said no for it. she’s italian, she can go to Rome anytime. i saw many tourist threw coins in there. best of luck for them. in Barcelona, there’s a believe that if someone drinks water (in La Rambla i think), they’ll go back there again. well, i had it :)

We went back early that day. so tired. i stayed in villa di pini. quite far from the city center. so crazy that i always waited fro the breakfast. milk and cereal. i never like it before. never. it’s like a food for those who are lazy to prepare breakfast. but during my stay in europe, this is my favorite meal. the first thing i wanted to do once i arrived in indo is having cereal and milk. even now i eat it everyday. i can skip my dinner if i had it in the evening. back to my stay in di pini, on my last day of my stay, i talked with another guest too. he had breakfast while i was waiting for mamma to pick me up. another side of Rome. he was there just to find peace, searching for what his life is for. he’s been following many beliefs, and still he feels emptiness. he’s honest anyway talking with a stranger like me.

in Italy, don’t forget to try gelato. yummm…i forgot tiramisu there :(

Barcelona 2010

2010-07-22T02:08:00.000+10:00

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My stay in Barcelona was nice :) i think i found a spot just like what i dreamt of. the real Barcelona with the green hill very close to the the city center.

Also, finally i watched Flamenco and Opera!!! very good. although there were few unprofessional behavior from the actress and actor :( but never mind, they are just human, who might be bored with a repeated dance and performance. but i had a picture of mine with the actress. the actor didn’t appear after the show.

La Rambla… you can find various types of people. those who only want to enjoy the crowd, or those who want to show off. so funny.

Don’t forget to enjoy live music played by street mucisian around cathedral. i could stay long there just to listen to it.

And my room, it reminds me of my room in Sydney. the smell, the look. wish to have it again.

Qatar Airways is the cheapest

2010-07-19T01:55:00.000+10:00

If you want a very cheap, but convenient, international flight, you can consider qatar airways then. I thought i couldn't rely on this airlines for international flight. let's say, compared with lufthansa and british. then the travel agent said that the cheapest flight at that time was qatar. cheap? i better choose it. so i googled it. its official website is good i can tell. so then i said yes for this airlines.

I got US$ 1215 for the flight JKT-BCN and PAR-JKT. while it was 1800 and 1700 for lufthansa and KLM. so it was almost 500 difference. when i checked the fare for JKT to most cities in europe for this november, it is around 1000. and for JKT-NY is 1419. very cheap compared to other airlines. so far, this airlines is the the cheapest.

the service on the plane is good, 7.5 out of 10 i think. you can ask for help anytime. the menu is good too. you'll be full with one meal. you can also watch movie or listen to your fav songs right in front of you. but dont expect to find the latest movies. i think the latest one is Alice. not much choices.

a cheap flight with a good service can be found here. i'm not doing any promotion by the way :) but i think qatar should pay for me ;)

Take me to Pompeii, to where my love is waiting

2010-07-14T08:04:00.004+10:00

it was a good idea to include Pompeii in my place to go list. all of the sudden, it's just a worth idea. i joined a one day Rome-Pompeii tour with about 40 other tourists. It took 3 hours to reach Pompeii. the funny thing is that the tour guide can easily switch her languange and accent from english to spanish. after some explanation, she said thankyou and suddenly she said vale (or bale), a spanish word i heard when i was in Barca, usually to respond when somebody say gracias. i dont know the exact meaning. but that tour guide was so funny with that.

and in Pompeii, we walk almost 3 hours, guided by a local guide. i said to my new friend that it was like walking around the village as it is so big. the local guide explained things which sometimes i already knew. i guess, he has been telling the same story thousand times. also with his expression. no wonder he remember all :)
Well, Pompeii.. it has a high civilization. the houses were arranged so well. but i just feel that there isn't wide space between houses. i dont know why they arranged it that way, in my opinion, 2000 years ago when there weren't many people like today, they should have built a bigger and more space house. or perhaps it was for safety reason. the architect must have taken a deep consideration regarding every corner of Pompeii. it was set to let people know each other, have a close interaction among them. and the social and government systems might be clear for those people. i think gossip could spread easily at this place :)

well. the trip was so good with some new friends. and we got back at 5. we arrived in Rome at 9 but there was a strike so we were trapped in a jam for almost 40 minutes. and i arrived in Termini to catch taxi at 10 in the night. so scary as i was alone in Rome. nobody i should trust i know. i had to queue for about 25 mins. it was a long long long queue, and my mobile was lowbat. what a perfect situation. it was dangerous i know. but thank God, all was good.

Pompeii.. finally i went there. but i couldnt find the walls where the words i remember located. i forgot to ask the guide.

Take me to Pompeii...

So I'm in Barcelona

2010-07-03T11:00:00.000+10:00

I just arrived here 12 hours ago, and i need a good sleep my hotel (specifically student recidence) is in front of a park, and when i stepped here at the first time this afternoon i thought this place is ridiculous. the surrounding is quiet and the hotel seemed no life. Then my next door guy told me that this place is actually full but some are out enjoying the city. *sure, why should they stay in the hotel.
well, my room reminds me of Gumal, the smell and the furnitureare similar. i need to open the window also to hear noise from the cars in the street, just like i did in Sydney.
and i went out to find a minimarket, and it’s pretty close. in the evening, there’s a life down there in the street and surround my hotel. but i’m too tired even for a short walk. So i only bought some water etc, then back.
well, my trouble is that i can’t speak spanish. only gracias and hola, that i’ve learned today also. everyone is helphul here..

Part of me

2010-05-30T14:49:00.001+10:00

so i got up late,very late. i just imagine what my heart is like. it's broken, maybe it is. but my heart is bleeding, together with the tears. at the same time it could be a healing, hopefully. tapi dengan mengingat Allah hati menjadi tenang, is definitely true. yesterday, when i was on the way, i whispered, God i can't take it anymore. i've been so wrong, and i should get this all now. but i just got a message that reminds me that things happen for a reason. and i'm a 10000000% agree...

we will not go down - michael heart

2010-05-29T01:25:00.003+10:00

today my friend asked me about whats happening in Gaza. i gave only a short description of whats going on there. then a question came up. what have we done for Gaza? Michael heart created a touching song as part of his care. what about us? i'm still searching for the right answer.. tears for Gaza, but more tears if we still feel good seeing misery in Gaza now.
---------------------------------
we will not go down

A blinding flash of white light
Lit up the sky over Gaza tonight
People running for cover
Not knowing whether they’re dead or alive

They came with their tanks and their planes
With ravaging fiery flames
And nothing remains
Just a voice rising up in the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

Women and children alike
Murdered and massacred night after night
While the so-called leaders of countries afar
Debated on who’s wrong or right

But their powerless words were in vain
And the bombs fell down like acid rain
But through the tears and the blood and the pain
You can still hear that voice through the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight
---------------------------------------

Pompeii - Robert Harris

2010-05-21T23:49:00.004+10:00

I read this book about 2 months ago. actually Pompeii story is familiar enough for me, i mean i've read it since i was a child. about this novel, i think i forget some parts of the story. well, the story is about Atilius, an engineer d'aqua (or something..). it's a good point to describe Pompeii from the view of an engineer, so it's not about a king or a princess. a smart choice.

i can say, this book is far from my expectation. maybe because i don't know exactly the real story of Pompeii. when i finally decided to buy this book, i hoped i would get an almost-real description of situation before and after the eruption. indeed i got it. but in my opinion, the story is irrational. especially with how strong atilius is. time goes so slow that he can survive from the initial eruption occurs. where is he at that time? 5 KM from the peak of the mountain. he can run from this side to another side. and go sailing. so how big is vesuvius that he can go from the east to the west side of the mountain within hours. he is too lucky, save from this big disaster. what i see from this story is that vesuvius is small, and its eruption effect is only to Pompeii. maybe it's only because i don't understand the whole story about Pompeii. Harris must have studied and narrate the days of eruption in detail. but it's been a long time in my mind that the eruption and the insurrection in Pompeii and its surrounding was big. i read that the eruption affected even java, a far away place. so i just can't get why atilius is save. moreover, he is save against cinder. he is too lucky. a 'one in a million' man. this story just destroy my long time perception about Pompeii.
----------------------------------------------
Berjalanlah walau habis terang, ambil cahaya cintamu terangi langkahmu.. peterpan

Fifa world cup 2010 - official anthem

2010-05-15T04:48:00.002+10:00

Wavin Flag Lyrics:

When i get older, they’ll call me freedom
Just like a Waving Flag.

When I get older, I will be stronger,
They’ll call me freedom, just like a Waving Flag,
And then it goes back, and then it goes back,
And then it goes back

Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
but Violent prone, poor people zone,
But it’s my home, all I have known,
Where I got grown, streets we would roam.
But out of the darkness, I came the farthest,
Among the hardest survival.
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak,
Except no defeat, surrender retreat,

So we struggling, fighting to eat and
We wondering when we’ll be free,
So we patiently wait, for that fateful day,
It’s not far away, so for now we say

So many wars, settling scores,
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor,
I heard them say, love is the way,
Love is the answer, that’s what they say,
But look how they treat us, Make us believers,
We fight their battles, then they deceive us,
Try to control us, they couldn’t hold us,
Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers.

But we struggling, fighting to eat,
And we wondering, when we’ll be free
So we patiently wait, for that faithful day,
It’s not far away, but for now we say

------------------------------------------------
Love this.........!!!!!

Mie goreng pedes mampuz

2010-05-11T23:21:00.003+10:00

ini makanan yang ku coba selama 3 hari ini. ceritanya temenku liat acara kuliner di tv, terus dia coba di rumah dan tester di kampus. puedes emang... tapi beberapa hari ini nyoba, walo cabe rawitnya sampe 15 pun belom pedes... kayaknya cabenya terlalu muda deh. kalo cabenya pedes, itu baru namanya pedes mampuuzz. caranya, sama kalo bikin mie goreng biasa. cuma tambahannya, cabenya digoreng dulu. habis itu, diuleg sama bumbu mie yang udah ditaruh di piring. campur mie yang dah direbus. sudah deh..gampang.. apalagi kalo yang seneng pedes. ini sih pedes banget..

Maka nikmat tuhanmu yang manakah yang kau dustakan

2010-05-04T11:10:00.000+10:00

Kalau kita memikirkan sedikit saja apa yang ada pada kita, pasti kita akan malu karena banyak sekali hal yang tak kita syukuri. Apalagi perkara bagaimana mensyukurinya, mungkin nol besar ya. Kalau kita sedang ada masalah, begitu mudahnya kita mengatakan kalau tuhan tidak sayang sama kita. setelah kita terbebas dari masalah, kita lupa kalau selesainya urusan kita adalah anugerah yang di atas.
kita coba pikirkan apa yang telah kita dapat sekarang ini. apa sih yang ga bisa kita syukuri. makanya apa yang dikatakan di ayat ini, adalah sindiran, reminder, dan juga penyejuk hati. bahwa sebagai hamba, kita sangat disayangi, sampai tegurannya saja sangat halus.
semoga kita termasuk hamba-hamba yang bisa bersyukur atas semua nikmat

En aranjuez con tu amor: translation

2010-04-23T01:24:00.000+10:00

---------------------------------
Joaquin Rodrigo / Alfredo Garcia Segura

Aranjuez,
Un lugar de ensuenos y de amor
Donde un rumor de fuentes de cristal
En el jardÃn parece hablar
En voz baja a las rosas.

Aranjuez,
Hoy las hojas secas sin color
Que barre el viento
Son recuerdos del romance
que una vez
Juntos empezamos tu y yo
Y sin razÃ³n olvidamos.

QuizÃ¡ ese amor escondido estÃ©
En un atardecer
En la brisa o en la flor
Esperando tu regreso.

Aranjuez,
Hoy las hojas seces sin color
Que barre el viento
Son recuerdos del romance
que una vez
Juntos empezamos tu y yo
Y sin razÃ³n olvidamos.

En Aranjuez, amor
Tu y yo!

Aranjuez,
a place of dreams and love.
where a noise of crystal
fountains in the garden
seems to whisper to the roses.

Aranjuez,
today the dry leaves without colour
which are swept by the wind
are just a memory of the romance
that we once started, you and I
and that we've forgotten
without a reason.
maybe this love is hidden in a sunset,
in the breeze or in a flower
waiting for your return.

Aranjuez,
today the dry leaves without colour
which are swept by the wind
are just a memory of the romance
that we once started, you and I
and that we've forgotten
without a reason.
in Aranjuez, my love
you and I

Pizza Teriyaki

2010-04-17T00:02:00.002+10:00

Maksud hati mau bikin pizza BBQ, tapi berhubung ga ada sausnya, jadilah pakai saus teriyaki :)
topping sama saja dengan pizza lainnya, tapi berbeda di bumbu saja.

bahan:
terigu, 5 cups
air 1 1/2 cups
1 sdt ragi
2 sdm minyak untuk dough
1 sdt garam

topping:
sosis 5 biji, di iris kcil-kecil sesuai selera
jamur kancing 100 gr
paprika satu biji iris kecil-kecil (bisa warna apa saja, kalau lebih ya lebih baik)
1 bawang bombay
5 bawang putih
6 sendok saus teriyaki
minyak untuk menumis

direction:
pizza dough: sepertinya pernah diposting deh, tentang doughnya. campur terigu, ragi, garam. tambahkan air sedikit-sedikit biar tidak terlalu encer.

set oven di suhu 200

setelah dough selesai di pipihkan sesuai dengan wadah. olesi wadah pemanggang dengan minyak, letakkan pizza base tadi. olesi dengan bumbu teriyaki merata ke semua sisi. taburkan sosis dan jamur yang telah diberi bumbu teriyaki, bawang bombay, mozarella, paprika. topping terserah ya, jagung juga gpp, enak juga.
masukkan ke oven, panggang sekitar 15 menit. jadi deh.. :)

maap..bukannya ga mau pakai mozarella, tapi maap… kemaren lupa beli di THP yang murah :) jadi pakai keju deh, dan harus hati2 makannya, karena toppingnya bisa berantakan :) tapi ok juga kok…

ps: maap yaks, gambar yang pertama itu memang gak ada bentuknya, karena itu adonan terakhir.. dan yang kedua itu, yang masih mentah, belum dimasukkan ke oven :)

Karma for a good deed

2010-04-12T02:07:00.000+10:00

Few weeks ago I watched Oprah show with Nate Berkus and another guy (Peter..who..) as the guests. It was about how Nate did a makeover houses. I don’t remember what peter did, but it was kind of sorting out properties that people don’t really need anymore. Peter and someone’s family selected what to be kept, donated, and sold. He suggested this family to sell some belongings on eBay as the price can be doubled even tripled with online selling. Anyway, what I remember the most is Peter said that sometimes we better donate the goods we have. Whether give them away to our neighbors or in a charity. Why? It’s because there’s Karma in it. When we donate something, or in other word we do good things to others, there will be good things for us too. He said, for example, the family got a tax reduction, the family member get a promotion in his career, the family is healthy or any other good things. That’s karma. You got just like what you did.

Actually this is not new at all for me, because this is what I’ve learn and felt so far. Money or what you have is not fully yours. There’s the poor’s right within your money and there’s the orphan’s right within your money. That’s why in Islam, people have to spend 2.5% of their salary for a good deed, each month or year. It’s like a purifier for our money. J However, it’s not limited only in that, we better allocate some of our money for charity or orphan. It’s hard to understand sometimes, that giving won’t make you poor. God promised us that giving will make you rich. Concretely, we lose some of our money, but there will be good things happen after it. It’s not always we got the same amount of money, but sometimes it is a kind of easiness or have a healthy family. No allocated money for medicine. I like how a great motivator gave an example regarding this. He said that if our salary is three thousand, and during the month the family is alright, no extra money should be spent for medicine or broken car, it is like our salary is ten thousands. It can be compared with a family who earns the same amount of money, but they have to spend money for medicine. Another example is, some people don’t have much money in their account, but they can meet their needs anyway and fulfilled. Peter just said it comes that way without we know where all of these unpredicted good things come from. That’s why he named it karma. I have a story that convinces me that kind of karma happens everywhere in any part of this world. Ya, at least I witnessed it. So real, that this unpredicted good thing not only happen in my place where family could help anytime. But it happened in a country where what you got this month is what is written in your bank account. Mathematically, we can’t live with limited money in our saving. But if we calculate it, we found out that we spend much more than what’s in the saving, without reducing our budget for living. It’s indeed amazing.

Well, I am quite surprised that Peter revealed that fact. I knew this lesson for so long and for me it’s a general known. So, to see how peter explained the karma thing like it was a great finding, I just realized that some people should go through a long observation and experience to see one of the values I believe. Something that I thought as ‘usual’ for it’s not new can be so special for some people, like Peter. Ya, this kind of thing can be unveiled by those who really think.

The Passion of the Christ 2

2010-04-07T17:03:00.000+10:00

Why do i write about this movie again? In the previous note, i wrote how joshua is alone and suffering with the torture. And now is similar :) unmerciful torture. It might be acceptable that a person who bring such new faith is considered as a madman. Thats what happened that time. He doesn’t deserve this. So painful for joshua to accept this treatment. So touching to see jashua asked God to forgive those people who did violence to him. One monologue i remember, ‘God, please forgive them, they know nothing’. He asked God to forgive them. He knew that it is only God who can forgive them. Only God who listens to him when nobody did not. Only God who knows all his feeling and cry.
Those who has such behavior, must be kind, love and hope a goodness for people who mistreat him. Not every man has this capability, and joshua have it because he is a prophet. A chosen person. God knows who can bring the lessons of God.
‘they know nothing’… Joshua must have explained them about what he brings and all the reasons. Now there’s nothing to explain, he could only let those people do what they want to do to him. A stubborn people with all the accusations. So he asked God to forgive those people because they know nothing of what they were doing. An apology for their mistakes.
A prophet will ask God forgiveness for their people. Because he thinks mostly about them, what they will be doing after he died, wether they’ll safe in living their life and the hereafter. Thats a prophet.
———————-
On the way..semarang – surabaya.
————i—–i-i–i—
‘never is a long time goodbye..no answer for the asking’ —> now, i dont think so. yes or no is the answer still.. we just do not think it an answer

The Passion of the Christ

2010-04-02T03:55:00.000+11:00

Watching the passion of the Christ again, OMG… the cruelest torture ever. Joshua must be suffering, no doubt. I’m just wondering why his fellows only see him among the people who are watching the torture. Hide and silent even though they might cry. But Joshua, alone…. Nobody defend him, or just say something against the two men who provoke and convince people that Joshua is a criminal. A big betrayal. I think one of the fellow said something and helped him carried the cross… but it doesn’t stop the torture. People can sacrifice themselves to protect their beloved ones. It’s something that I don’t see here with his fellows. God…lonely and suffering Joshua. Till the crucifixion. A big humiliation from the fellows.

National Geographic Series: A Little Cambodian Girl

2010-03-20T03:29:00.000+11:00

Today I set this picture as wallpaper on common pc at my office. We used to have the loaded landscape or natural view as wallpaper. National geographic provides heaps wallpaper and photograph to download. Be sure to acknowledge it in any personal writing and publication.
It’s interesting that two of my friends have different first impression about the picture. One is wondering why the photographer took the picture from the back, that it showed the little girl’s back as she doesn’t wear a top. I guess, my friend have such opinion because it may be a little bit impolite to set this wallpaper in common pc. This opinion is not really serious, I know, as my friend sees it from ‘the funny little girl’ aspect. And, another friend said that this picture is so touching. There is poverty. It must be somewhere in a poor place. Well, my friend didn’t know that this picture was taken in Cambodia.
What is seen in this picture is not really new for me. It reminds me of my childhood when kids were common riding that kind of bicycle. Wealthy kids could own small and funny bicycle, but not with the poor kids. They used their parent’s. Sometimes they used it not for fun reason as other kids do, but for a more serious one such as helping their parents to get something. Mostly are for helping the parents. When I was a little, I didn’t aware with the fact that some friends should help their parents in the farm. It was an everyday’s scene. Some kids could play around, while some were struggling with a not so good economic situation. It was common that my friends in primary school left the school to help the parents. I have a friend, not really good friend because he was so naughty, who missed the class for many days. Then we found out that he had to leave the school to work in the farm. I was a child so I didn’t know what it means. But I had empathy on my friend, how he felt to see the friends wearing uniform in school while he had to spend the day long in the farm. A naughty boy who often made the girls cry, and sure we all the girls hated and stayed away from him, should contributed as part of breadwinners in his family. He carried more responsibilities than other kids in that age. It happens everywhere, I can tell.
At the time my friend left the school, he must not know that the moon’s gravitation affects sea level on earth. But, life has taught him a lot that other friends didn’t get.

my sister's keeper: jodi picoult

2010-03-14T15:30:00.000+11:00

Anna is the last kid and the second daughter in Fitzgerald family. She was born on purpose, that is to donate part of her body to save her sister’s life, Kate. Anna already donated her blood ever since the first minutes of her life. She finally asked why she should feel pain when she is not sick. She is never asked for her permission for every medical procedure. Now she is thirteen and she wants to speak up behalf on herself whether she is willing to donate her kidney to Kate. With her brother’s help, Jesse, she met a lawyer to get her rights. It has made the news with a daughter sues the parents for such ethical case. Conflicts are inevitable when the parents should choose which daughter should be saved. There is no one can propose the right answer for them. Even the medical ethics committee can’t give any single suggestion. Mr Fitzgerald almost gave up that he would do any decision that is right because he doesn’t know the answer as well.
The story ended with Anna got an accident which then threats her life. So her lawyer said that there is no other choice, another life should be saved, Kate’s life. I think the writer want to give a fair ending wherein nobody will be blamed. When there is no way out, let the destiny speak.
This book is a little bit boring, I think… for those who rarely exposed with medical setting might find difficulties in understanding lots of medical terms. But it’s good to know some Latin words and parts of our body. Each chapter tells different sight of every character. So don’t be surprise that one scene is told in more than one chapter. It goes so slow. Well, two stars out of five for this book… 

Gue Never Die

2010-03-01T02:10:00.000+11:00

gue never die, kalau dilihat sepintas dari judulnya bisa berarti i never die, atau juga aku tidak akan pernah jadi dia. setidaknya keduanya mengartikan identitas yang jelas tentang seseorang. apalagi dari cover bukunya yang memuat kartun cowok remaja pakai kacamata gaya anak kota dengan kacamata hitam. mungkin itu yang ingin dijadikan sasaran oleh penulis, Salim A Fillah. remaja remaja yang menamakan diri sebagai remaja yang gaul, modern, atau remaja yang memang dari usia dikatakan sbg remaja. intinya sih semua remaja, cowok atau cewek. tapi juga bukan remaja saja, semua usia, buktinya mahasiswa juga perlu baca.

buku ini adalah tentang keadaan palestina di bawah penjajahan israel, dari sejarah pendirian sampai peperangan tak berakhir sekarang. gaya bahasa remaja yang penuh dengan gurauan segar, bahkan analogi yang up to date membuat buku mudah dipahami dan menarik. sampai berharap kalau bukunya setebal dua kali.
pendudukan israel yang mungkin banyak dianggap sebagai hal ‘urusan negara palestina sendiri’, dideskripsikan dengan jelas dan kadang membuat tertawa. sehingga pembaca dapat melihat permasalahan palestina sebagai masalah bersama umat islam yang serius dan tidak boleh diabaikan.
contoh saja, ada kata palestinian idol untuk membandingkan demam idol dan perjuangan remaja palestina. jauh….
penyampaian yang ringan tetapi berisi, membuat sejarah penjajahan di palestina mudah dimengerti. berbeda dengan buku lainnya yang biasanya serius. yaaaa namanya saja buat remaja :) atau yang tidak mau berpikir terlalu berat, buku ini bisa sangat membantu. cocok juga buat bacaan pas liburan, hehe. tapi semangat remaja muslimnya jangan ikut liburan dan santai juga ya…

recommended buat yang belum baca, bahkan yang sudah paham penjajahan oleh israel :) buat hadiah juga bagus, atau dipinjamkan seperti piala bergilir ke temen2.

btw, semoga masih ada di toko buku ya. maaf, kalau reviewnya kurang pas :)

Malaysia - Singapore trip

2010-02-25T18:18:00.000+11:00

Finally i made it. A trip to Malaysia and Singapore last week. It’s not a rare thing i know, but for me it’s like a new beginning after a long time. a beginning for what? hihi i don’t know :D

Truly Asia describes Malaysia very well. Maybe i didn’t see the whole thing, but my friends and the surroundings can be representative of that. Malaysia and Indonesia are similar in certain things. We have bahasa and malay language, batik, similar norms. Not very much different. I can understand their language and behavior. ya, even though i still need to speak english with them as they speak sooo fast. Generally, the transportation system, shopping center, public services and what can be seen in Kuala Lumpur like tourism is not new for me because they are almost similar with Sydney. What i surprise and makes me sad is that they can reach and have that all. It’s not a surprise that they can be confident about tourism even though Indonesia is much more beautiful. Anyway, the rest about what i feel, regarding the comparison between Indonesia and Malaysia, i just wanna share with Indonesian :)

Singapore… not really interesting for me. Sorry… :(

But the best thing is i have new families in Malaysia and Singapore. I prepared tiramisu in Singapore. Good enough lah.. even though it put my credibility on risk.. huahaha :D

oops… i forget to bring my flash drive :( I’ll upload soon

——————————————————–

Trying to see things from other’s side.. right or wrong :(

Ebook for free

2010-02-12T02:36:00.000+11:00

Kayaknya agak ketinggalan jaman, setelah sekian lama baru nemuin web free ebook yang nyediain buku yang pengen tak baca. Ada beberapa buku yang dah ku lihat2 di Gramedia dan masuk di daftar beli minggu ini. Mikir-mikir juga beli buku segitu banyak. Alhamdulillah kemarin coba search free ebook punya John Shors, ternyata bukan cuma Taj Mahal yang ada, tapi semmuuuaaaa... yang pengen tak beli. Jadi bisa berhemat :D Maaf buat penulis buku2 ini.. diijinkan ga sih sebenarnya untuk free ebook ini, karena kebanyakan masih termasuk buku laris di Gramed. Ini beberapa web yang bisa dicoba buat nyari ebook.

http://jukebook.blogspot.com
http://bukuserbagratis.wordpress.com/
http://www.ebookee.com
http://www.ebookmall.com

Kalau dah buka salah satu web di atas, nanti akan ada banyak web penyedia ebook for free... :)

A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini

2010-02-05T19:48:00.002+11:00

This story begins with a little girl, Mariam, who lived with her mom, Nana. The setting is between 1960 to 2000s with the war between Afghanistan and soviet. So crime and poverty is common here.

The first scene is, one day when Mariam was playing, mariam broke her mom’s porcelain that made her mom angry. Then, her mom called her ‘harami’. For mariam, this word will be like a curse during her life. She finally understood that this word means an unwanted child who were born without a marriage. Mariam and Nana lived in a small house (if not to say very small), away from the village. Mariam never went out to the village even though it was only 2 km away. So isolated, but certain people were sometimes visiting them including Jalil the father and mullah, mariam’s teacher. Jalil was famous enough for his richness, because he ran a big business in town like having a cinema etc. Every week Jalil visited Mariam and acted like a real father. Jalil was her favorite because he gave so much love. Jalil told her about new cartoon movie pinocchio, ice cream that Jalil share with the kids who watched movie. On her 15th birthday (not a little girl anymore), she told Jalil what she wanted for her birthday, it was watching pinocchio with her brothers and sis from 3 other Jalil’s wife. Well, Nana is not counted because she is not a his wife, she used to be his maid till she was having Jalil’s baby, Mariam. Knowing what Mariam want, his father suddenly acted differently and tried to prevent her from coming to the village. Even the mother forbid her by saying that she would do suicide if Mariam try to go. She said that she was the only one who loved Mariam, not even Jalil, and if mariam really go there nobody would care about Mariam.

Few days later Mariam went to the village without Nana knew it. She found out that the world was not that bad, they could be so warm. She could find Jalil’s house, then she waited outside. But Jalil did not come to see her and let her spent the night outside waiting for him. In the next morning, she had a chance to run through the gate, and saw that Jalil looked at her through the window. She could not believe that her favorite and beloved one neglected her. Really disappointed for preparing nice dress to meet him, but he even didn’t meet her. She knew that Nana was right, no body cared about her. So she went home with Jalil’s driver. Then discovered that her mother did a suicide. She was alone since then.

As a responsibility, she was asked to stay at Jalil’s house with other siblings and step mothers. It was her dream, but not anymore. Her stay was a shame for family so they decided to accept Jalil friend’s proposal, Rasheed, to marry Mariam. In helplessness, Mariam agreed with this and moved to Kabul with the husband that day. Before leaving, Mariam spoke to Jalil that she got hurt with how Jalil let her waited outside, and that she didn’t trust him anymore. For the sake of honor and social prestige, he did it all to Mariam.

Mariam was treated well by her husband at first, but it vanished when she couldn’t give him kids.

Here, the story changes to another character, Laila, who then became her rival. Laila is the neighbor’s daughter. Mariam witnessed Laila grew up, to her teenage. Laila is a clever girl with dreams of having high education. Everything was going into places for laila, till her childhood friend (boyfriend also), decided to leave Kabul with his family. Few weeks later, laila’s family also decided to leave the town for safety reason. Ah ya, the war was happening. Laila had so much dream to meet Tariq, her boyfriend, and a better life in Pakistan. When they packed their belongings, a bomb destroyed and killed the parents. Only laila who's left. Rasheed and Mariam helped her and hosted her since then. Laila still had hopes to meet Tariq, but a stranger came and gave a bad news about Tariq’s death. For a reason, Rasheed asked laila to be his wife. It was so much pain for Mariam to have a rival, but Rasheed seemed to have an acceptable reason. Surprisingly, Laila agreed it. It was because she found out that she was expecting Tariq’s baby. It was for honor and wealth reason laila married rasheed. She was a queen at that family, but Mariam didn’t like it for sure. Rasheed thought that aziza, laila’s daughter, is not his. Living with a little kid, Mariam felt an unconditional love from the baby. Mariam and Laila became a good friends, like mom and daughter.

Once, laila and Mariam tried to escape from rasheed but it didn’t succeed. Not too long again, Laila was pregnant for the real rasheed’s son. For economic reason, aziza was sent to an orphanage. Mariam also tried to call Jalil, maybe for asking help. Things had changed, Jalil had died, communist took his money, the rest family were unknown.

In one morning, laila was surprised by the presence of Tariq. He was alive. Mariam and Laila finally knew that the stranger man who gave news about Tariq was Rasheed’s man. Knowing that Laila met Tariq, Rasheed was madly angry. They were fighting, and both women helped each other. Rasheed was killed. It was for self defense. Mariam asked Laila to leave Kabul with Tariq and the kids and let her stay in Kabul, but Laila asked Mariam to go with them too. Mariam thought that her dreams could be realized by the beloved kids, so she decided to stay In Kabul and faced the law. It was a sweet end for Mariam even though she should die in a jail.

Laila and her new family lived outside afghanistan for few years before deciding to go back to Kabul to realize her family’s dream. And for sure, to give contribution for her surrounding people. On the way to Kabul, they stopped by in Mariam’s village, might be to be more involved in Mariam’s life. Laila visited Mariam’s little house, and all things Mariam had told her. Then Laila met Mullah’s family, Mariam’s teacher. they gave Laila a box from Jalil for Mariam. Laila found a letter from Jalil for Mariam, pinocchio cartoon, and… I can’t remember :) Jalil wrote that he regretted for letting Mariam stayed outside his house and for stopping her young dreams. Laila couldn’t figure out what Jalil meant with pinocchio.

Back in Kabul, laila then taught in a school. She became what she dream of in a different way.

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Well, that’s the story. Cant describe the real and detail story for sure. This story is able to touch the readers emotion. I think every writer can see their novel in a whole picture at first, so they can relate the story from one chapter, jump to the next chapters. For example, when Mariam wrote her name before Mullah on her wedding day, the writer also explained that, Mariam would write her name before Mullah once more 20 years later. This makes the readers think what does it mean, when or in what occasion she did it again. With a patient reading, it is found that mariam did it again when she approved that she killed her husband. The writer can see things in detail and continuously.

The changing story, from Mariam to Laila, makes it boring and seems no direction. Too long with Laila’s story I think. I didn’t get what it was all about at first. But then I know that this way is beautiful too even though the readers should be voluntarily patient.

As this story took place in afghanistan, the war is inevitable. So, poverty and crime is common, even is described so rough here. But that’s war. In this story, women become an object. Nana even said that a man can only point his finger on woman and run away from the mistake they made and blame the woman. It is interesting to talk about woman in islam as I disagree with how women treated here. Culture can blur the practice of islamic life. Maybe it becomes common that culture is religion and vice versa. So it doesn’t describe the real value. Next time should write about woman in islam.

Anyway, like what I wrote before, anyone can have dreams of what they want to be or do in the future, but it can turn into a totally different thing because of external changes. I share common opinion about this, not too long before I read this book. I’ve internalized this thought in the last few weeks, i mean, really feel the meaning of it. Ya, we can plan and dream anything, but should be ready too to fall. We plan of something for tomorrow, but it can turn into another thing. We never know our destiny. Back to the book, it implicitly said that keep the dreams alive and the destiny will bring you there whatever the situation. It is not happened naturally, but the spirit should be there. Like what Hasina (correct name I think…), Laila’s childhood friend, said that in their 20’s, Hasina and Giti would have 4 children, and they would be proud to see Laila’s pic on a headline for her social activity. But like what’s often be seen in reality, things could change unpredictably. Hasina moved to Germany, Giti died in her 12, and Laila didn’t go to any school. But Laila made Hasina’s words real without she plan it, that her pic was in a newspaper for her social activity, not a headline indeed. Funny little kids’ imagination :)

Be good…. Well, that’s what I got from reading this book, it sharpen my previous feeling regarding life, I think :)

I think i lost my Nokia :(

2010-01-30T01:29:00.000+11:00

pfff... i think i lost my nokia today, hopefully i only left it in the office and the office; boy will keep it for me. My old mobile, it's been almost 4 years with me, but strong enough as i 've dropped it many times.

Get a new mobile? let's see. iPhone? maybe no. It has good features, but i think it's only good when used in a place where internet connection is excellent and cheap. I know some people who has it, can't even check email or chat. Moreover for news websites. Map? what do you wanna see, the connection makes it unseen. So what's left is only for calling and texting. No difference with other cheap mobiles.

Well, that's only to please me as i won't buy iPhone in the near future :) i'll wait till it's cheaper, but the most important is, when the connection is very good so its features can function as it should be :D when oh when?

Great Shoutern Land - Icehouse

2010-01-26T13:12:00.003+11:00

Great song - like its title :) For those who have visited or lived in Australia, might understand how this song described Australia. Btw, it's not that i admire Australia crazily, but i love this song so much. Just the way i like celtic music and things about Ireland, that's how i feel about Australia and this song. Ireland? not to mention IRA (sorry...not my topic ^_^). I just remember Ireland with its mist, castle, uilleann pipes, silent night, dark blue...

Back to Great southern land... check it out here for the lyrics and youtube for the video :)

--------------------------------------------

Happy Australia Day...

Nugget Ayam sayuran

2010-01-25T03:21:00.000+11:00

Baru aja bikin nugget ayam campur sayuran. Selain lagi banyak sayuran, yang pasti sih mengimbangi ayam di nuggetnya jadi ga terlalu merasa bersalah makan nugget :D

Bahan:
Ayam giling 200 gr
Terigu 50 gr
Telur 1biji
Garam 1 sdt
Merica bubuk 1 sdt
Bawang putih 4 siung
Bawang merah 6 siung
Wortel 2 buah, iris kecil-kecil, bikin dadu
Jagung 2 buah, disisir

Olesan: telur 1 biji dan tepung panir/roti
Caranya...
Bawang merah, bawang putih, garam dihaluskan. Kalo ga ada cobek (biasa.. Anak kos ^_^), iris kecil-kecil. Campur bumbu halus tadi dengan ayam, terigu, telur, wortel dan jagung. Semua campur jadi satu dan tidak terlalu lembek. Siapkan loyang yang sudah diolesi minyak. Kukus selama 15 sampai 20 menit. Dinginkan. Kalo sudah dingin, iris dengan ukuran sesuai keinginan, atau kalo diiris tetap lengket, bentuk sesuai dengan kesukaan. Bisa bulat, segi empat, atau panjang. Olesi dengan telur, gulingkan di tepung panir/roti. Terus goreng deh... Lebihnya bisa disimpan di freezer, jadi pas pengen bisa langsung digoreng. Tapi mesti didiemin dulu di suhu ruangan lho ya, soale kalo dari freezer langsung digoreng, bisa cepat goson luarnya padahal dalemnya belom mateng. Selamat menikmati... Aromany khas banget, enak kalo dihidangkan hangat, yummy...

The Best Wishes

2010-01-22T03:13:00.000+11:00

Can’t say all my grateful to have friends who still remember me till today. I got heaps messages and wishes for my birthday Those who we ignore sometimes, may wishes us the best without we know it. So blessed to have them.

I’ll always remember with how i felt when I was leaving Sydney. My friends held at least 3 farewell parties for me. On the day before my departure, i could arrange almost all the meetings with friends. Like i was an important person, got appointments every hour Even my friend, a former Dean of faculty of science, spent two hours in cafe with me. It was like a father and daughter talking. I think we really know what goodbye is, so we appreciate the meeting. Amazingly, I met almost all friends on my last day at uni even without any deal to meet before. This is what i call a blessed moment.
Just like today So many good wishes for me. I do appreciate it, so much…

Australian National Anthem - Avance Australia Fair

2010-01-19T02:44:00.001+11:00

Almost forget that it's already close to January 26, it's Australia Day. Yesterday my friends text me telling that they were in Darling Harbour enjoying evening summer there. Hmmm... that makes me jealous. I guess they will do the same next tuesday to watch Aus-Day celebration. And as usual, they will keep me updated with what they are doing for a making-me-jealous purpose. Well, i can accept it anyway, because even though i can still smell the air of Sydney, I won't put effort to go down under again. I want to go up north :)

Oddly enough that i really like (close to love :) ) Advance Australia Fair so much. The melody, the lyrics, the singer, and mainly the celebration of Aud-Day. They are all remembered as one frame in mind, 'sparkling Aus-Day'.

Here is the lyrics of Adv Aus fair, it describes the great Australia, how they welcome people around the world, the multicultures they have and freedom :)

Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We've golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature's gifts,
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history's page let every stage,
Advance Australia Fair!

In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair!

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,
We'll toil with heart and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours,
Renowned through all the lands;
For those who've come across the seas,
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine to
Advance Australia Fair!

In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair!

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We are one.. but we are many...

Deep condolence for Haiti

2010-01-14T22:25:00.001+11:00

Earthquake's everywhere. On the same day, it happens in Haiti, Philipines, and even Indonesia.

Deep condolence for the victims in Haiti. ..

In Haiti, the quake was 7 richter scale which is smaller than that in Padang, 7.9. However, the impact is so wide and even resulted in little tsunamies in surrounding places, including Dominica. I haven't exposed (myself) with recent news about Haiti and the causes of the earthquake ^_^ I guess now there are analysis and theories explaining the nature changes on earth as a possible reason for the earthquake. Even, as i read on New York Times, some haitians believe that God's angry to them for the sin and bad life they do. I think i understand why they have such belief since God, religion and traditional value are worshipped. In my opinion, that reason is true as well.

Well, as i haven't updated myself with the news, i just think ring of fire or earth plat's sliding is contributing to earthquake in Haiti. Or it just happenned the way in L'Aquila. For sure, it is estimated that thousands people have died in Haiti. The depth of episentrum influences the wide of affected area, the deeper the episentrum the wider area is affected. Soil's type or texture can also contribute to how buildings can stand strongly or collapse so easily. As we see in Port Au Prince, there's not much trees with buildings almost in all areas, and i guess the soil is dry. So i think much or less this makes more people died for they are trapped in the detritus.

It's OK for Haiti to mourn these days, but soon they have to get up to build not only the buildings but also the spirit to live better.

Social Networking for Social Movement

2010-01-11T03:20:00.000+11:00

A while ago, most facebookers received a few invitations to support certain people or social movement. Let's say, we have a million supports for bibit-chandra and coin for prita. Finally, facebook is not merely a social networking but it turns to a virtual social movement. Only in approximately ten days, supporters for bibit-chandra reached more than one million. For facebookers, besides to express their untrust with justice and court system, becoming the supporter is a form of solidarity and a prestige for certain reason. But mostly it is because they feel there is no other way to have their opinion heard. The result was predictable, that the government listened to what this social action wanted.

Metro TV updated the number of supporter almost every hour. It seems this station wanted people to join the action instead of reporting the number. Bibit- chandra became a hot topic everywhere that people would keep an eye on TV to get the recent updates. Political observers and scholars were able to have their say heard on media. What people could do was supporting actions on virtual world like facebook.

Amazingly, this social networking becomes an alternative to speak out besides real mass movement such as demonstration. A million power on facebook is equal to a million people doing demonstration on the street.

I admit, i'm not one of those one million supporters. Surely it is not because i don't care with what;s happening to this country. I only felt that this great abundance of call for support moved too fast. I thought, ah com'on Indonesia still has lots of problems and we shouldn't put much energy on this one case. Save the energy for other big problems which will come in the near future. And now it's proven. We are facing new other findings that need to be investigated deeply.

These days, new 'a million actions' are waiting on our group request column on facebook to be confirmed. From the for-fun reason to the serious one. And i see that some people join those groups just because they are invited and there's no major effort to be a supporter. Only by clicking the confirmation statement, we become its supporter within a second. And what after that? Sometimes, nothing more than that. The actions are not as popular as the previous one. They now have less power on people movement. 'A million actions' has gone too easy to meet (and be left), and forgotten even before it reachs a thousand supporters.

So i think we better cool down. After the 'too much' energy on bibit-chandra case, people should carefully select which case needs to be rapidly looked at.

----------------------------------------------------

Sunday night, after ignoring some group invitations on facebook..

Scholarship Info

2010-01-01T12:34:00.000+11:00

Was so crazy to finish a 5 pages research proposal for fulbright only within 3 hours with very often distractions like friends coming to say hi. Starting from looking for the topic, doing literature review, writing down the whole proposal and finally setting the reference using APA. And not only that, reference letter with evaluation from my emplyee and other documents were prepared within 1 hour. Then posted it. Done. That was during injury time, on the deadline date, everything came out suddenly in my head. A good coping when dealing with panic, but a bad time management. It ended up with a ‘please try again next year’ letter So next time shouldnt be like this again. It’s my bad behavior. I hope i can prepare the next year application more seriously. Today i found a web with lots of scholarship info which is better than national scholarship web. Who knows it’s useful for y’all.

http://freestudiesabroad.blogspot.com

Puding Nangka

2009-12-31T01:16:00.004+11:00

Berhubung kemarin di kasih nangka sama saudara dan belum semua kemakan dan ada roti tawar sisa, akhirnya diputuskan untuk buat puding. Hasilnya.. ya gitu deh. Everything is limited :D Maap kalo ade saleh kate.. eh resep..

bahan:

1 bungkus agar-agar, air santan 500 ml, 2 kuning dan putih telur dipisah, gula 200 gr, susu 50 ml, nangka 1 mangkok kecil, roti tawar 3 lembar.

caranya: ^_^

- Campur agar-agar, santan dan gula. Masak di atas api kecil sambil terus diaduk. Kocok kuning telur dan masukkan bertahap.

- Kocok putih telur sampai kaku. Ambil 4 sendok kocokan putih telur untuk dimasukkan ke dalam 1/4 campuran agar-agar di wadah yang terpisah.

- Tata nangka dan roti tawar dalam wadah yang sudah dibasahi sedikit air. tuangkan campuran agar-agar dari panci. Tunggu hingga agak mengental, kemudian tuangkan campuran agar dan putih telur.

- Setelah tidak ada uap, bisa dimasukkan ke lemari es.

Jadi deh.. enjoyyyy…. !!!!! ^_^

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more than a broken vow… :-(

Time To Say Goodbye, Lyrics

2009-12-30T20:48:00.003+11:00

Just listened to this song. It has been my favorit till i set it as my ring back tone back in 2004 or 2005. Then, a month before my departure to sydney i bought italian language book to figure out a little bit what this song about. But i still need web translator anyway :) Beautiful... Good collaboration between Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. I have 2 cassettes of both singers. Listened to their songs in the morning was motivating me (for what? dreaming, sleeping, or working?... kidding.). Here is Time To Say Goodbye...

Quando sono sola
Sogno all'orrizonte
E mancan le parole
Si lo so che non c'e' luce
In una stanza quando manca il sole
Si non ci sei tu con me, con me

Su le finestre
Mostra a tutti il mio cuore
Che hai acceso
Chiudi dentro me
La luce che hai incontrato per strada

Time to say goodbye,
Paesi che no ho mai
Veduto e vissuto con te
Adesso si li vivro' con te partiro'
Su navi per mari
Che io non so
No no non esistono piu',
It's time to say goodbye

Quando sei lontana
Sogno all'orizzonte
E mancan le parole
E io si lo so che sei con me, con me

Tu mia luna tu sei qui con me
Mio sole tu sei qui con me ,con me,
Con me,con me

Time to say goodbye
Paesi che no ho mai
Veduto e vissuto con te
Adesso si li vivro
Con te partiro
Su navi per mari
Che io lo so
No no non esistono piu
Con te io li rivivro
Con te partiro
Su navi per mari
Che io lo so
No no non esistono piu
Con te io li rivivro
Con te partiro

Lo con te

---------------------------------------------------------------

smiling for....

Bad name for Islam.. again :'(

2009-12-28T02:30:00.001+11:00

An attack planning was aimed to the US jet on this christmas holiday. And again, all is looking at islam with a bad image. t’s normal when people have such opinion as this issue has been there for so long. But this is not what islam is. Islamic value is love and peace. Too many interests in terrorism issue that the bombings and chaos can be created by a hidden group to make public opinion of bad islam.

I think peope who live with muslim will see different sight of what the global media and opinion say about islam. Islam honors other people and religion. Those who commit or doing terror on the behalf of islam aren’t applying what islam teach.

Recently islam becomes a frightening word for some european countries. While actually we are doing good and spreading peace and love everywhere.

—————————————————

… should do what’s right :’(

Barry Dream Statue: A controversy

2009-12-27T01:25:00.002+11:00

Barry dream statue is a new statue at Menteng, Central Jakarta. It’s a 130 cm and 30 kg statue of little Barack Obama or Barry. Obama once lived in Indonesia about 2 or three years during his childhood. He was a student of public school in Menteng. It was not a surprise that during the US president election, most media reported his childhood life in Menteng. A pride to be a part of the first US African-American president’s history. It was very obvious as I noticed a qualified TV station mentioned his history in Indonesia almost at the beginning of all election news. It was a clear pride, I can say. And too much. We brought romanticism of the past with a certain expectation to Obama. Well, it isn’t proved till now. It was only a short talk between Obama and Indonesia’s president, SBY, at the first hours of Obama’s victory. The talk was able to be predicted, it was nearly about his childhood in Indo and Indo food. Still, his childhood become a special story for Indonesian with the hope this can make the relationship between both countries closer. Anyway, countries’ interest won’t likely be influenced by the president’s past history like this.

A rejection over Barry statue has come from many Indonesians. Some think it’s a fool as there are still Indo heroes who can be an inspiration for young Indonesians. While the Pro-statue group say that Obama is expected to be an inspirator for Indonesians. So far, there is no significant contribution from Obama to Indonesia. And in terms of inspiration, Obama is alive and can make mistakes anytime in the future. So what kind of inspiration we would get. We haven’t known yet. Besides, many critics have been pointed to him regarding his first year work. Recently it is about deadlines he made in most important rules like Guantanamo closure and soldier withdrawal in Afghanistan.

Indonesia do respect Obama and proud with the fact that Obama has lived in Jakarta during his childhood. Hopefully, the relationship between both contries will be closer and in harmony. Sure, it is not because of the past romanticism.

———————————————————

letting go………

Required: Mental health lessons

2009-12-18T03:06:00.000+11:00

Gosh, surprise, i'm dealing with a schizophren. I was trying hard to recall the lessons of how to interact with this kind of person. Guess i didn't succeed. Hard job but not impossible. Should be ready for the next days.

The Power of Pray

2009-12-17T03:27:00.002+11:00

Praying is a natural behavior for everyone no matter their religion is. It's human nature. From the very simple pray to the complex ones. The wishes people make even to congratz friends' birthday is a pray too. And these wishes are not as simple as we may think since it's sometimes only for social reasons. It's a pray too at the end. Since it's a good words, we better doing it whatever the purpose.

In one day, we may pray many times even though we don't realize that we are praying. Recently i noticed that praying is not always when we are in a quiet place, standing on the knees with closed eyes. I often praying, or making a wish when i'm riding motorbike, walking, on a meeting, or when i wake up. There's a verse saying that we, human, will make a wish or pray even when we lay down or sit. The point is we may pray anywhere, anytime especially whenever we are in difficult situation. That's normal, because we feel we are weak, and we really are. We may sometimes unconciously saying in heart please help me, please make it better. And that's a pray. Even though it's simple, it's a pray anyhow. There's a strength from this simple pray after we said it.

Most people acknowledge that Prays are answered in many ways. First, God may say Ok, you'll get what you pray for since I know that it's best for you. Second, God could answer Alright, you'll get what you want, which I know it's best for you; but not now, you'll get it in the right time when you and everything is ready. And the last is, God may say No, because you'll get better, and I have a better plan than yours.

How happy we are whenever we remember those possible answers. There's always hopes in every difficulties. I like what my friend wrote, that God will never be wrongly answer our pray. It wouldn't be too early or too late; it's always at the right time and the right choice. It was an undeliberate friendly reminder, but it has a deep meaning. A kind of optimist option from God for those who pray.

God loves people who's praying or making a wish. However, i realized that it's us who need to pray. So natural that we feel so weak and helpless. In our heart, we need a window to release our helplessness, by praying. How simple our pray is, the three answers of praying will be good in all ways. From now on, whenever we make a wish, even for our birthday friend, it should be with serious wishes and not only for social reasons. Moreover when we are praying for self.

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Thanks for the friendly reminder... when the night has gone so late, that's when the dawn will come. God emphasizes it twice, that with every difficulty there is ease. After you are done with one thing, you better move to another thing.

Broken Wings, by Kahlil Gibran

2009-12-14T00:24:00.001+11:00

Ow sky...
Please ask Him, why did He create this piece of heart
So fragile and vulnerable
Whenever dealing with love thorns
So strong and firm
Whenever covered with love and hope
Why did He create affection and yearn
In this heart
Filling the emptiness inside
Leaving concerns of a loved one
Raising tons of questions
Collecting millions of hopes
Giving spirit
Leaving uncounted sadness
Squeezing the shadow
Tighting the heart
Helplessness against the coming flare

Ow reed...
Have you ever felt this torturing feeling?
Why do you keep silent
Tell me
A word that can muffle the flare in this heart
Which is needed by this body
As a healer for the uncontrolled pain
The blow of the wind makes you noisy
As if there's something you are saying to me
I do not know what you meant
Only guessing
Your whisper saying there is someone behind the hill there
Waiting for you faithfully
Appreciating what love is
A fallen and hurt heart
Thorn the night leaving a thousand sadness
I spread my broken wings
Following the passing wind blow
Embed theyearning
In the corner of a frozen heart
it is cracked, shattered like a piece of mirror
Scattered...
Before it's gone with the wind
While sitting weakly
I'm trying to paw the remaining heart
Muddled with dust
I want to embrace....
I'm reaching a piece in the corner of the heart
Only a shadow that i get
It disappears when the sun goes down
I can't spread this wing again
It has broken
Stabbed by sharp thorns
Only can mourn
Grimace
Try to reach a holder

----------------------------------------
it has broken........

Mi Mancherai (Josh Groban), translation

2009-12-13T02:44:00.005+11:00

Mi mancherai se te ne vai
Mi mancherà la tua serenità
Le tue parole come canzoni al vento
E l'amore che ora porti via
Mi mancherai se te ne vai
Ora per sempre non so come vivere
E l'allegria, amica mia, va via con te

Mi mancherai, mi mancherai, perchè vai via
Perchè l'amore in te si è spento
Perchè, perchè...
Non cambierà niente lo so
E dentro sento te

Mi mancherai, mi mancherai, perchè vai via
Perchè l'amore in te si è spento
Perchè, perchè...
Non cambierà niente lo so
E dentro sento te

Mi mancherà l'immensità
Dei nostri giorni e notti insieme noi
I tuoi sorrisi quando si fa buio
La tua ingenuità da bambina, tu...

Mi mancherai amore mio
Mi guardo e trovo un vuoto dentro me
E l'allegria, amica mia, va via con te

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I'll Miss You (Mi Mancherai)
I’ll miss you, if you go away
I’ll miss your serenity
Your words like songs in the wind
And Love, that you take away.

I’ll miss you, if you go away
Now and forever I don’know how to live
And joy, my friend, goes away with you

I’ll miss you, I’ll miss you, because you go away
Because the love in you is dead
Because, because...
Nothing it’s gonna change, I know
And inside of me I feel you

I’ll miss you, I’ll miss you, because you go away
Because the love in you is dead
Because, because...
Nothing it’s gonna change, I know
And inside of me I feel you

I’ll miss the immensity
Of our days and nights,us together
Your smiles when it’s getting dark
Your being naive like a little girl

I’ll miss you, my love
I look at myself and I find emptiness inside of me
And joy, my friend, goes away with you

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I think i'm losing my best friend...
please just come back

New Look

2009-12-11T19:10:00.002+11:00

New look of my blog. Fresh.

---------------------------------
.... feel like i'm losing my best friend....

How can a person behave that way?

2009-11-24T02:32:00.005+11:00

- Gets angry easily to you
- Thinks whatever you do is wrong
- treats you as an unimportant person
- Dictates you

Well i just can laugh at a person who behaves that way. How a person treats you, reflects who this person really is.

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no more words left, but the untold wishes. Let it be a secret.....

Be Brave

2009-11-19T01:14:00.003+11:00

Some wise words from Mario Teguh, a famous motivation trainer.

========================
If you are in the state of 'right', don't be too brave. And if you are afraid, don't be too scared. A balance in attitude determines the right path of your success.

Our duty is not to succeed. Our duty is to try, because when we 'try', we find and learn to build chances to succeed.

We only close with them who we like. And often avoid people we don't like, when actually it's from them we get a new point of view

People who stop learning, will be the owner of the past. People who keep, learning will be the owner of the future.

Leave the joy which prevents you from getting the bright life you are dreaming of. And be careful, because joys can be a happy way to get failure.

You won't be a new person if you insist to keep your old ways. You will be a new person only if you do new ways.

Only a scared person who can be brave, because a braveness is doing something he really scared of. So, if you feel scared, you will have a chance to be brave.

Do not only avoid the impossible thing. By trying to do the impossible thing, you will find the best thing you can achieve.

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not a good translation i know.. sorry :)

Pride the cultures

2009-11-02T15:55:00.003+11:00

The world is not only what's we have experienced ever since we were born. It's much wider and needs big effort to deal with it. This can be a sensitive issues whenever interact with people from other part of the world. Basically, we have different skin, different values, differect habits, etc.

Love is....

2009-10-31T04:15:00.001+11:00

Love is blind, but not deaf... (MAB)

Behind every successful man...

2009-10-31T03:53:00.002+11:00

Behind every successful man is a woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman. (MAB)

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definitely true, beibeh... :)

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Behind a great man, there is a great woman :)

Gaji Menteri: Mau naik, silahkan...

2009-10-30T02:36:00.003+11:00

Sejak pelantikan kabinet indonesia bersatu jilid 2, topik utama di berbagai media selain kontroversi penunjukkan menteri tertentu adalah wacana gaji menteri yang akan naik. Walaupun sekarang topik ini agak tenggelam dengan adanya penahanan Bibit & Chandra. Gaji yang diterima sampai saat ini adalah 18 juta something, ditambah dana taktis kementerian yang mencapai 150 juta. Memang isu gaji yang muncul di awal pelantikan banyak dinilai sebagai permintaan yang 'terlalu dini' atau 'ga tau diri'. Ya, belum menunjukkan kinerja apa-apa tapi sudah matok gaji. Padahal seperti diketahui, gaji menteri sudah tinggi apalagi kalau dibanding dengan gaji rata-rata pegawai negeri :)

Tapi pada akhirnya, disampaikan bahwa wacana kenaikan gaji menteri sudah sejak lama dan kenyataannya belum naik jadi kenapa ribut. Tapi memang, salah satu tugas rakyat adalah mengkritisi pejabat atau aturan yang dinilai kurang sesuai. Belakangan, ada perbandingan gaji direktur atau komisaris salah satu bank yang ternyata empat kali lipat dari gaji presiden. Kalau dibandingkan, siapa yang beban kerjanya lebih berat? Kerja mereka berat, tapi dalam porsinya masing-masing.

Jadi apa salahnya kalau menteri minta gajinya dinaikkan. Menurut saya sih sah-sah saja, bahkan sangat sah. Untuk mengurusi satu departemen atau bidang di negara yang luasnya dari sabang sampai merauke, 18 juta adalah terlalu kecil. 250 juta penduduk. Yang diurusi bukan se level RT/RW, tapi sebuah negara. Jam kerja para menteri pasti tinggi, begitu pula dengan beban kerjanya. Belum lagi kalau dihujat sana-sini. Perlu persiapan mental yang sehat, dan juga ditunjang materi yang baik. Kebutuhan lingkungan yang nyaman harus dijamin. Keluarga juga harus diperhitungkan. Berapa cost untuk meninggalkan keluarga, kebutuhan keluarga akan perhatian dan lain-lain. Saya yakin hal ini tidak akan dapat dibayar dengan jumlah berapapun. Ya, beban kerja menteri berat.

Jadi, 18 juta... sangat kurang, bila pendapatannya dari gaji saja. Tetapi, dikatakan bahwa ternyata menteri tidak hanya mendapat dari gaji saja. Ada dari hal-hal tak terduga yang akhirnya sampai di rekening pribadi. Tentu tidak semua menteri, kalau memang ada :) Hal-hal lain inilah yang harus diketahui oleh rakyat dan di acknowldge oleh menteri. Kalau ternyata dia hanya mendapat gaji 18 juta, tentu kasihan. Tapi kalau dia mendapat dana tambahan dari luar, perlu dijelaskan dari mana sehingga uang tersebut kalau sudah sampai di rekening pribadi akan menjadi uang yang baik atau dengan kata lain memang sudah menjadi hak mereka. Sebenarnya ini yang dikritisi rakyat. Kalau menteri sudah dapat uang lebih, kenapa harus minta gaji naik. Sedangkan fasilitas yang diberikan negara sudah melimpah ruah. Mau naik 5, 10 juta? Terlalu sedikit, tidak signifikan. Tetapi kalau gaji yang didapat benar-benar 18 juta, ya boleh saja gajinya naik. 5, 10 juta, akan sangat berarti karena ada orang-orang yang kehilangan hak atas saudara menteri terutama keluarga.

Tapi yang penting disadari juga adalah bahwa posisi sebagai menteri bukanlah suatu kesempatan untuk menambah kekayaan. Diniatkan untuk ikhlas, resultnya dia mendapat pahala dan kebaikan dari semua orang. Dipermudah pekerjaannya dan dihormati rakyat. Kalau memang gaji yang diterima sekarang dirasakan oleh menteri tidak sesuai dengan kerja yang dilakukan, dia boleh minta naik gaji. Negara tidak boleh menzhalimi juga :) Yah, perlu transparansi, apakah gaji yang sekarang beserta tunjangannya adalah kurang atau cukup atau bahkan berlebih. Kalau sudah berlebih, tidah usah naik. Reward mesti sesuai dengan pekerjaannya.

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.... and i keep asking why... i keep on asking how.
so come and tell me now.

Earthquake (Again) ???

2009-10-25T02:00:00.002+11:00

Wow... there was an announcement about earthquake in Maluku 6 minutes after it. It's already 30 minutes now. A warning of tsunami has been announced. Hopefully there will be no tsunami as tsunami usually happens 30 minutes after the initial and biggest earthquake.

Prayer is always for people there, and their relatives.

A Blessed Baby

2009-10-17T01:58:00.003+11:00

I was on the phone when i saw this video on Metro TV this evening. So scary. Thank God that the baby is alive. I can't imagine how the mom feels to see the baby fell off. It must be like losing her breath and her life. That's a mom. Fortunately, the baby's alive... good boy..
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Baby Survives After Stroller Falls Off Australia Train Platform Friday, October 16, 2009

A six-month-old boy has miraculously survived a train slamming into his stroller after it rolled off an Australian railway platform.

The collision happened as a city-bound service pulled up to Ashburton station, in a Melbourne suburb.

A security video shows the boy's mother taking her hands off the stroller's handles and failing to notice as it slowly edged toward the tracks.

Click here to watch the video.

The mom suddenly spots the baby stroller picking up speed and she rushes with outstretched arms to try to save her young child, but the stroller tips over the edge of the platform and the baby slams onto the tracks head first.

Before the boy can be rescued, the train powers past, horrifying the mother and other waiting passengers.

The footage ends with the frantic mom and a man running up to the driver, who has just stopped the 250-ton vehicle.

Australia's Herald Sun said the train ploughed into the stroller, dragging the child along beneath the train's front car.

But the boy was hauled from the tracks with little more than a bump on his head.

Paramedic Jon Wright said the six-month-old just "needed a feed and a nap".

"Luckily, he was strapped into his pram at the time, which probably saved his life. I think the child's extremely lucky," the paramedic told the paper. "Fortunately the train was slowing as it pulled into the station."

soooo... in stress

2009-10-10T23:48:00.003+11:00

so bad... but should accept it, after so long. a wrong thought that kept me waiting. was too confident about the past..

sad.. a thousand times

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nothing will remain, nothing stays the same...

crying a river :-(

quotes Paulo Coelho

2009-09-21T20:47:00.000+10:00

quotes Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist, p.121), "When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person realize his dream."

Ups and Downs

2009-08-08T01:26:00.003+10:00

That's a normal situation...
Yesterday, i thought ..... but actually, .......
It's not OK, but it's just not so severe

Por que? nao mais historia, e bastante aqui......

------------------------
In that big big house there are fifty doors
and one of them leads to your heart.
In the time of spring I passed your gate
and tried to make a start.
All I knew was the scent of sea and dew
but I've been in love before,
how about you?

There's a time for the good in life,
a time to kill the pain in life,
dream about the sun you queen of rain
In that big house there are fifty beds
and one of them leads to your soul.
It's a bed of fear, a bed of threats,
regrets and sheets so cold.

All I knew your eyes so velvet blue,
I've been in love before, how about you?

There's a time for the good in life,
a time to kill the pain in life,
dream about the sun you queen of rain
It's time to place your bets in life,
I've played the loser's game of life,
dream about the sun you queen of rain

Time went by as I wrote your name in the sky,
fly fly away, bye bye....

----------------------------------------------------

So deep.... very deep... :(

Funny twin: from the 2007 easter show

2009-08-07T02:04:00.005+10:00

hihihi.... :D :D
I'm sorry to upload this picture. A twin can have an identic behavior :)

A Great Love, Kahlil Gibran

2009-08-06T01:11:00.004+10:00

Is when you cry and still care about your lover...
is when your lover doesn't care about you and you wait for your lover still loyally..
is when your lover begins to love somebody else, and you still smile while saying I'm happy for you.

If love isn't succeed... set yourself free...
let your heart spread its wings and fly high...
remember... that your may find the love and then lose it..
but.. when love is dead.. it doesn't mean that you die with it..

the strongest person is not them who always win.. but it's them who keep strong when they fall.

found it from http://rurisopp.wordpress.com/2007/12/26/puisi-cinta-kahlil-gibran/

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I'm so glad to find Kahlil Gibran's poem so that i wanted to rewrite it.
'...In the bright and silent night, winds would knock and disappear.
Still I felt the feeling near, like the first time you were ever here...'

Movie: Beloved

2009-08-01T01:05:00.005+10:00

One of best movies, to me ^_^ I used to be so curious whenever i watched a touching movie that i should search to find the actress and actors starring the movie. Just like this movie, 'beloved', i re-tell to friends about the movie from the beginning to the end. I LOVE THIS MOVIE. ye, till i looked for the original book at the bookstore even though i couldn't find it anyway. Well, i can't remember the story as it's been a long time ago. What's left in my mind is the love of a mother to her lost-daughter, and the regret of what she's been done to her including the cause of her daughter's death. All the stars played their role very well, seems they bound to each other as a real family. And also the old african dance, scary but it showed the real african rooted family, so original.

Here i'm not going to write the story as i dont remember all things, but i copied its review from bbc.com dated 10 years ago!!!

This beautifully-crafted film, adapted from Toni Morrison's Pullitzer prize-winning novel, is the culmination of a 10-year labour of love for America's queen of the chat-shows Oprah Winfrey, who both co-produces and plays the central role.

One of the reasons the project took so long to get off the ground was the difficulty Oprah had in convincing a director that she could shed her TV persona and play the central role of an escaped slave in 1870s Ohio - even though her first film outing, in The Color Purple, won her an Oscar nomination.

So it's nothing short of a triumph that one of the world's best-known women is so completely unrecognisable - after a few moments of mental set-adjustment by the viewer - in the character of Sethe.

Based on the true story of Margaret Garner, it's a complex, sometimes harrowing tale that shifts back and forth in time, and mixes the supernatural and the poetic with vivid flashbacks to the horrors of Sethe's time as a slave on the Kentucky farm "Sweet Home" and her subsequent escape over the river to Ohio.

Although physically free, Sethe and her teenage daughter Denver are haunted by the past - their new home literally shakes, groans and glows red with the presence of Sethe's dead baby.

The arrival of an old friend, one of the Sweet Home men, Paul D (the excellent Danny Glover) ushers in a temporary calm, in which Sethe dares to believe in the possibility of love, trust and a future. But the semblance of harmony is shattered when a strange young woman, half-child, half-feral beast, turns up on the doorstep and gradually becomes part of the family.

Sethe and Paul D (Danny Glover), both former slaves from Sweet Home Plantation
Played by British actress Thandie Newton, the part of Beloved is as tricky a role as a rising star might hope for, requiring a mixture of beguiling pathos and fierce malevolence. Newton's extraordinary beauty helps her carry it off. Winfrey, meanwhile gives an admirably restrained performance as Sethe, suppressing her natural exuberance for the part of a woman whose feelings have been numbed by trauma.

In a risky narrative move, the last third of the film is almost entirely given over to the character of Denver (Kimberly Elise) as she slowly gains the courage to liberate herself from her mother's pain and find her own way in the world. Her story provides the crucial arc of the film, and its ultimately uplifting conclusion.

In exploring the legacy of slavery, rather than dwelling on its brutal actuality, Beloved manages to avoid the pitfalls which have dogged previous films black historical films - such the Color Purple and Amistad - being neither sentimental nor a worthy-but-dull morality tale.

Lushly filmed by Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme - with his favourite director of photography Tak Fujimoto - there's no getting away from the fact that it's nearly three hours long. But it's a rewarding journey through pain, redemption and hope.
Lucie Maguire

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One will unlikely be able to pay fully the regret for what they have done...a regret is so expensive at last. A chance won't come twice...

C.R.A.Z.Y. T.I.R.A.M.I.S.U

2009-07-26T00:27:00.002+10:00

Well... I'm waiting for my C.R.A.Z.Y. T.I.R.A.M.I.S.U ready to serve. I'm not sure if today's C.R.A.Z.Y. T.I.R.A.M.I.S.U is a good recipe. Why? because i use baguette instead of savoiardi. Never eve before, and i'm sure it'd be the last time i use this 'fool-creative-idea'. Today is not my lucky day i know. I have mascarpone but i couldn't find lady finger everywhere, not even the similar kind of sponge. So.. tarra... i use baguette as a substitute :(
Actually there are baguette and mascarpone combination recipe that i can have for today. But, i want to have tiramisu for tomorrow's gathering. I think it will end up with im eating two trays of tiramisu alone as nobody will like it and i dont think i'll be happy offering it.
Anyway... here i paste a tiramisu recipe, which is not my own words, but ye.. i use the same recipe.

ingredient:
* *6 egg yolks
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1 pound mascarpone cheese
* 1 1/2 cups strong espresso, cooled
* 2 teaspoons dark rum
* 24 packaged ladyfingers
* 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate shavings, for garnish

Directions

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Add mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of espresso and mix until thoroughly combined.

In a small shallow dish, add remaining espresso and rum. Dip each ladyfinger into espresso for only 5 seconds. Letting the ladyfingers soak too long will cause them to fall apart. Place the soaked ladyfinger on the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking dish, breaking them in half if necessary in order to fit the bottom.

Spread evenly 1/2 of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers. Arrange another layer of soaked ladyfingers and top with remaining mascarpone mixture.

Cover tiramisu with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 8 hours.

Before serving, sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

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That's the recipe, im sure you can find it thousands in google. For indonesian version, visit my recipe.
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waaaa... in the next 2 hours i'll have my the one and only C.R.A.Z.Y. T.I.R.A.M.I.S.U

Quotes: Julius Henry Marx

2009-07-25T00:32:00.000+10:00

A comedian Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx, "I find television very educating. (It is because) every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." ;-) (MAB)

Quotes: Aristotle

2009-07-24T04:29:00.001+10:00

A contemplative expression by Aristotle, "Anyone can become angry -- that is easy. But, to be angry with the right person, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way -- that is not within everyone's power and that is not easy." (MAB)

Quotes: Cassanova

2009-07-24T04:26:00.001+10:00

A lesson from diplomat, adventurer and lover, Cassanova, who complained to his daughter, "If you only knew, my angel, what *unforgivable rudeness* it is *not to look at the person* to whom you are talking." And still we can find today those 'people of manners' are focused watching and clicking on their BBs, iPhones, E71s, mobiles and laptops when their loved ones are talking to them... (MAB)

Yvonne Ridley -- How I came to love the veil

2009-07-24T02:01:00.012+10:00

Today i want to share what I've learn from reading an international journalist, Yvonne Ridley, who convert to Islam after being arrested by Taleeban during her duty in Afghanistan. Even though she is a new muslim, compared to me who has became a muslim ever since i was born, she has a deep understanding about the value of islam. That's why, even though she is new as a muslim, there are things i can learn from her. May be because she has both experience of being non muslim and muslim, she can speak and give opinion from both perspectives. Becoming a muslim doesn't make her so 'limited' as a woman, on the other hand, it opens her mind about the high respect for women in islam. Ye... there are things i need to learn about life, from anyone, even you... ^_^

A brief information about Yvonne Ridley

The British journalist seized by the Taleban is understood to have been in the Middle East since the US suicide attacks on 11 September.

Yvonne Ridley had been reporting for the Sunday Express and Daily Express from Peshawar and Islamabad in Pakistan.

A spokesperson for the Daily Express said the 43-year-old was the paper's chief reporter and a highly experienced journalist who had covered several conflicts in many countries around the world.

Sunday Express Editor, Martin Townsend, said: "She is an experienced and courageous journalist."

POLITICIANS AND JOURNALISTS just love to write about the oppression of women in Islam ... without even talking to the females beneath the veil.

They simply have no idea how Muslim women are protected and respected within the Islamic framework which was built more than 1400 years ago.

Yet, by writing about cultural issues like child brides, female circumcision, honor killings and forced marriages they wrongly believe they are coming from a point of knowledge.

And I am sick of Saudi Arabia being cited as an example of how women are subjigated in a country where they are banned from driving.

The issues above have simply nothing to do with Islam yet they still write and talk about them with an arrogant air of authority while wrongly blaming Islam. Please do not confuse cultural behavior with Islam.

I was asked to write about how Islam allows men to beat their wives. Sorry, not true. Yes, I'm sure critics of Islam will quote random Qur'anic verses or ahadith but all are usually taken out of context. If a man does raise a finger to his wife, he is not allowed to leave a mark on her body ... this is another way of the Qur'an saying; "Don't beat your wife, stupid".

Now let's take a glance at some really interesting statistics, hmm. I can almost hear the words pot, kettle, black. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, four million American women experience a serious assault by a partner during an average 12-month period.

On the average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands and boyfriends every day . . . that is nearly 5,500 women battered to death since 9/11.

Some might say that is a shocking indictment on such a civilized society, but before I sound too smug, I would say that violence against women is a global issue. Violent men do not come in any particular religious or cultural category. The reality is that one out of three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime. Violence against women transcends religion, wealth, class, skin color and culture.

However, until Islam came on the scene women were treated as inferior beings. In fact we women still have a problem in the West where men think they are superior. This is reflected in our promotion and wages structure right across the spectrum from cleaners to career women who make it into the boardroom.

Western women are still treated as commodities, where sexual slavery is on the rise, disguised under marketing euphemisms, where womens’ bodies are traded throughout the advertising world. As mentioned before, this is a society where rape, sexual assault, and violence on women is commonplace, a society where the equality between men and women is an illusion, a society where a womens’ power or influence is usually only related to the size of her breasts.

I used to look at veiled women as quiet, oppressed creatures and now I look at them as multi-skilled, multi-talented, resilient women whose brand of sisterhood makes Western feminism pale into insignificance. My views changed after the truly terrifying experience of being arrested by the Taleban for sneaking into Afghanistan in September 2001 wearing the bhurka.

During my 10-day captivity I struck a deal that if they let me go I would read the Quran and study Islam. Against all the odds, it worked and I was released. In return I kept my word but as a journalist covering the Middle East I realized I needed to expand my knowledge of a religion which was clearly a way of life.

And no. I'm not a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. To be a victim you have to bond with your captors. During my imprisonment I spat, swore, cursed and abused my jailers as well as refusing their food and going on hunger strike. I don't know who was happier when I was released - them or me!

Reading the Quran was, I thought, going to be a very simple academic exercise. I was stunned to discover that ut clearly stated women are equal in spirituality, education and worth. A woman’s gift for child birth and child-rearing is very much recognised as a quality and attribute. Muslim women say with pride they are homemakers and housewives.

Furthermore The Prophet (pbuh) said that the most important person in the home was The Mother, The Mother, The Mother. In fact he also said that heaven lies at the feet of the mother. How many women make it into the top 100 power lists for simply being a "great mother"?

With Islam choosing to remain at home and raise children takes on a new dignity and respect in my eyes, similar to those sisters among us who choose to go out to work and have careers and professions.

I then began looking at inheritance, tax, property and divorce laws. This is where Hollywood divorce lawyers probably get their inspiration from. For instance the woman gets to keep what she earns and owns while the man has to stump up half his worth.

Isn’t it funny the way the tabloid media gets very excited over the prospect of some pop or film stars pre-nuptial wedding agreement? Muslim women have had wedding contracts from day one. They can choose if they want to work or not and anything they earn is theirs to spend while the husband has to pay for all the household bills and the upkeep of his family.

Just about everything that feminists strived for in the 70s was already available to Muslim women 1400 years ago.

As I said, Islam dignifies and brings respect to motherhood and being a wife. If you want to stay at home, stay at home. It is a great honor to be a home maker and the first educater of your children.

But equally, the Quran states if you want to work, then work. Be a career woman, learn a profession become a politician. Be what you want to be and excel in what you do as a Muslim because everything you do is in praise of Allah (swt).

There is an excessive, almost irritating concentration or focus on the issue of Muslim womens’ dress particularly by men (both Muslim and non-Muslim).

Yes, it is an obligation for Muslim women to dress modestly but, in addition, there are many other important issues which concern Muslim women today.

And yet everyone obsesses over the hijab. Look, it is part of my business suit. This tells you I am a Muslim and therefore I expect to be treated with respect.

Can you imagine if someone told a Wall Street executive or Washington banker to put on a t-shirt and jeans? He would tell you his business suit defines him during work hours, marks him out to be treated seriously.

And yet in Britain we have had the former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw describing the nikab - the face veil revealing only the eyes - as an unwelcome barrier. When, oh when, will men learn to keep their mouths shut over a woman's wardrobe?

We also had Government Ministers Gordon Brown and John Reid express disparaging remarks about the nikab - both these men come from over the Scottish Borders where men wear skirts!!

Then we had a series of other parliamentarians enter the fray describing the nikab as a barrier for communication. What a load of nonsense. If this was the case can anyone explain to me why cell phones, landlines, emails, text messaging and fax machines are in daily use? Who listens to the radio? No one switches off the wireless because they can not see the face of the presenter.

The majority of sisters I know who choose to wear the nikab are actually white, Western reverts who no longer want the unwelcome attention of those few leering men who will try and confront females and launch into inappropriate behavior. Mind you, there are a couple of London sisters I know who say they wear the nikab at anti-war marches because they can't stand the smell of spliffs.

I am afraid Islamophobia has become the last refuge of the racist scoundrel. But the cowardly, chauvinistic attacks launched - largely by men - is unacceptable to Muslimahs as well as their secular, female sisters from the left.

I was a feminist for many years and now, as an Islamic feminist, I still promote womens' rights. The only difference is Muslim feminists are more radical than their secular counterparts. We all hate those ghastly beauty pageants, and tried to stop laughing when the emergence of Miss Afghanistan in bikini was hailed as a giant leap for women's liberation in Afghanistan.

I've been back to Afghanistan many times and I can tell you there are no career women emerging from the rubble in Kabul. My Afghan sisters say they wish the West would drop its obsession with the bhurka. "Don't try turning me into a career woman, get my husband a job first. Show me how I can send my children to school without fear of them being kidnapped. Give me security and bread on the table," one sister told me.

Young feminist Muslimahs see the hijab and the nikab as political symbols as well as a religious requirement. Some say it is their way of showing the world they reject the excesses of Western lifestyles such as binge drinking, casual sex, drug-taking etc.

Superiority in Islam is accomplished through piety, not beauty, wealth, power, position or sex.

Now you tell me what is more liberating. Being judged on the length of your skirt and the size of your cosmetically enhanced breasts, or being judged on your character, mind and intelligence?

Glossy magazines tell us as women that unless we are tall, slim and beautiful we will be unloved and unwanted. The pressure on teenage magazine readers to have a boyfriend is almost obscene.

Islam tells me that I have a right to an education and it is my duty to go out and seek knowledge whether I am single or married.

No where in the framework of Islam are we told as women that we must do washing, cleaning or cooking for men - but it is not just Muslim men who need to re-evaluate women in their home. Check out this 1992 exert from a Pat Robertson speech revealing his views on empowered women. And then you tell me who is civilized and who is not.

He said: "FEMINISM ENCOURAGES WOMEN TO LEAVE THEIR HUSBANDS, KILL THEIR CHILDREN, PRACTICE WITCHCRAFT, DESTROY CAPITALISM AND BECOME LESBIANS".

Here is an American man living in a pre-Islamic age who needs to modernize and civilize. People like him are wearing a veil and we need to tear that veil of bigotry away so people can see Islam for what it is.

Link: www.yvonneridley.org

----------------------------------------------------
hmmm 00:23, as always... so late

Pizza Vegie

2009-07-23T02:53:00.003+10:00

Pizzaku hari ini lumayan OK, setidaknya lebih baik dari yang kemaren, kataku lo :) Ini Pizza vegie, yang lebih banyak sayurnya karena memang aku meminimalisir bahan hewani2. Tapi ya gitu, karena hari ini bikin pizza bukan buat aku aja, jadi ya ditambahin bakso ayam dengan porsi yang sedikit juga. Dan untuk topping sayurnya, aku pakai jagung (duh, jadi kayak di pizza hut), capsicum (paprika?), bawang bombay, dan uji coba BROKOLI. Ternyata brokoli enak juga ya dibikin pizza, lain kali mesti dibanyakin deh.

Maaf, ini pizza yang terlalu banyak excuse, jadi bahan2nya banyak yang dimodif sesuai selera, dengan mengutamakan alasan rendah lemak :)

Bahan
base/dough:
- 1 sdt ragi (yang gampang beli saf-instant)
- 2 cangkir tepung terigu
- 1 telur
- 1 sdm minyak sayur (kalau bisa, olive oil)
- 1 sdt garam
- 3/4 cangkir air

Topping: (porsi setiap topping terserah, tergantung sayuran mana yang disuka. pakai terong juga enak kok)
- 1 capsicum (paprika? bener ga ya namany paprika)--> iris tipis-tipis
- 1 jagung, sisir
- 1 bawang bombay besar, iris tipis-tipis
- brokoli
- bakso, diiris kecil-kecil
- 1 telur, dikocok
- 1 sdm minyak sayur
- 50 gr quick melt cheese/secukupnya (maaf ya, berhubung mozzarella muahallll...)

Membuat base/dough:
1. di mangkok besar, campur air, garam dan ragi. aduk, diamkan 3-5 menit
2. ke dalam campuran ragi, masukkan tepung, telur dan minyak sayur. Olesi tangan dengan minyak sayur biar tidak lengket saat mencampur adonan. Campur adonan sampai bisa dibentuk. Hati-hari kalau terlalu lengket, mungkin kebanyakan air. Bisa tambahkan terigu, tapi garam juga harus ditambahkan sedikit.
3. Setelah tercampur semua, letakkan adonan di mangkok yang sudah di olesi minyak. Tutup dengan kain, dan biarkan selama 30 menit sampai mengembang hingga ukurannya 2kali lipat.

Setelah 30 menit,
- panaskan oven, 190c
- siapkan loyang yang sudah diolesi minyak dan ditaburi terigu agar tidak lengket.
- pipihkan adonan kurang lebih sampai 0,6 cm. taburkan bahan sayuran, telur, minyak, dan telur di atas base/adonan. sudah deh...
- masukkan ke oven yang sudah dipanaskan, panggang selama 20 menit. sampai kecoklatan ya.
- siap dihidangkan... :)

catatan:
- kalori pada pizza biasanya bisa mencapai 2300 kkal. itu sama aja dengan kebutuhan kalori dewasa satu hari. padahal kita makannya sekali makan untuk dinner atau lunch. Makanya, dibuat aja pizza yang vegie, kejunya juga dikit aja, asal ada rasa kejunya. namanya aja pizza :)
- pizza yang ini, base nya ga tebel seperti yang biasa ada di hypermart atau dijual di toko kue. soale, kata temenku yang asalnya dari negara asal pizza, pizza disana emang tipis, jadi renyah gitu. dan lebih enak ternyata. makanya aku ga suka yang basenya tebel, soale jadi kayak makan bantal dan gigi jadi capek ngunyahnya :)

1000 New H1N1 Cases Within 4 Days, In Japan

2009-07-20T02:43:00.003+10:00

I'm so surprised tonight as i read running text informing that there is 1000 new cases in Japan only within 4 days. I just can't imagine how the situation is there in this fast spread virus. In my opinion, Japan is a clean country where hygiene and cleanness become like a culture. The point is they are so clean. How can the virus spread so fast there? Is there any attention left in preventing the new cases? I'm still looking for the clue.

However, what I'm worrying more is what about the H1N1 cases in Indonesia? I saw in the news the case is increasing day by day, even the spread is already from human to human. So scary. We still remember bird flu which the stage was 4, or 5 also. Compared to other Asian countries, Indonesia is so late in handling the spread. When the spread of virus reduced in Vietnam and China, we still have new cases here. It's like uncontrollable even though Tamiflu was already distributed for certain people.
Looking at the bird flu cases, it's so worrying that the same pattern will repeat for H1N1. Ye.. even though the news is not so hot like a month ago as there are too many news become headlines these days, the concern is worsen.

I do hope the case will be controlled and prevented soon so there will be no more death because of this virus. What should we do... I'm still thinking of it :(

Blasts in JW Marriot and Ritz Carlton are definitely not related with Islam

2009-07-18T00:52:00.003+10:00

Indonesia is mourned. A bomb has exploded in JW Marriot Hotel, Jakarta this morning. Everybody is angry and there is no pride at all from this blast. Now the whole world is looking at Indonesia because of the action done by irresponsible people. No country in this world thinks it is acceptable, including Indonesia. So, to be the place where the bomb exploded means we carry more burden as an unsafe country.

Not sure what the motives for this blast are. Some say that it is related to the recent presidential election vote, while others say it is how certain group wants to show off to the world. Whatever the motives, it is us who should get the result of criminal accuse. What can we do now? Where will we hide our face for being so shy with this all? What will the world say about Indonesia? It’s not good at all for Indonesian. And for muslim people, it gives no benefits at all. It doesn’t reflect Islam values, and for sure definitely it’s not the work of muslim nor on the behalf of muslim people.

Yes we are angry with the bombing today. I as a muslim, do not agree with this action. It’s, again, not Islam’s values. I hope the world will not relate this action with Islam. I know media all over the world massively relate this with Islam and describe Islam as an evil. It’s a hard time for muslim for this accusation. We never let certain people freely do evil things on the behalf of Islam.
In fact, we don’t know the real bomber even though some speculations direct the suspect to some old names of famous most wanted persons. Many theories regarding the bombing raise such as the role of global importance on creating chaos for certain purposes and the unsatisfied group with a better situation in Indonesia. Whatever the motives, definitely, the bombing is not related with Islam.

deep condolence for the victims of the bomb...
-----------------------------------
for more, Manchester United has canceled the visit for a great play in Indonesia.

A Cemetery in St Leonard

2009-07-17T03:06:00.002+10:00

It’s a bit scary to write this post ^_^ whatever it is, this is the story about my first impression of a cemetry in St Leonard around two years ago. That day i had class in Kuring Gai campus and as always, i went there with shuttle bus which took me to Lindfield without stopping. Ye, even though sometimes we had to stop in St Leonard UTS campus because the driver should deliver boxes of assignment and letters for staff in this campuss. There was no schedule to stop in this campus that i think it was only few times we stopped there.

That morning, was raining, after some kilometres the bus passed the Harbour Bridge, we turned to left to St Leonard campus. After the driver finished the task, we then turned back to the opposite direction to get back to the Pasific High Way. And when the bust turned around, rarely i did, i looked at the right side. Then i saw a green, natural, quite, peaceful place. For a while, It was like I’m in Ireland with the mist, dark, green, cold, and misterious place. But the feeling was so peaceful that i was thinking it would be nice to have such place to live in. I never felt so amazed with places even though i’ve seen many beautiful places such as in the beach with beautiful panorama, or homy places in Kuring Gai. For few seconds I was imagining of walking through the gate and sitting on the chair far inside the garden. So beautiful and peaceful place. But it was gone all of the sudden as I read the board on the right side of the gate naming the place as a cemetery. hiiiiii… it changed from peaceful to scary impression. Actually it was not the place that made me so scared, but my impression was. How could i have such peaceful impression to a cemetery till i thought it was my dream place to live in. I felt so scared. But i couldn’t lie to myself that i had this impression, because it was a clear and deep impression. Moreover, i can’t change the first impression like this.

Well, actually, the reason I’m writing about it is because I’ve just read an email about the oldest cemetery in Indonesia. It also mentioned old cemeteries in the world including the oldest one in Australia which is located in St Leonard, Sidney, the Gore Hill Cemetery. So i thought the cemetery i saw at that time was this cemetery. I can’t remember the name of the cemetery i saw, but the location is the same with Gore Hill Cemetery in the map. So crazy and scary indeed, but i can’t lie about my first impression because it’s happened already.

———————————————————-

‘…. i love that Irish lad, and he was my only joy. And ever since i saw his face, I’ve loved that soldier boy ….’

spontaneous

2009-07-11T01:47:00.006+10:00

One morning at 9, i got up, then what was in my head was Melbourne. Aha... Melbourne. So then i talked with my roommate to ask her to go to Melbourne that night. tarrraa... at 11 am i went to central station to get two tickets to Melbourne.
In another night in September, at 8 pm, i called my friend to ask her to go to Canberra the next morning. So within 1 hour i called a tour agency for a trip for 5 persons.
In another night in June, if i'm not mistaken, I was thinking about going to Newcastle. So i ask my friend to go there, so we checked the train schedule that night for early morning's trip. A one day trip, but it was OK.

It was not crazy, but I'm proud with that. Yay.. sometimes we need to do something spontaneously. The point is that if we have money, time and idea, we can go anywhere we can. Maybe, don't need to think too much, because thinking too much sometimes makes you stuck in one situation. Do something you never imagine before. Be spontaneous. Well, it doesn't mean that we don't need to think before we do something. We have to think anyway. But, for something which does not risk for anything, we can do it without thinking much. thinking is a must, but sometimes, not much. Just do it. Like what Britney said, Do Something! something big, something new, something you've never imagine before. But remember, only the good things ^_^

Dream of California

2009-07-01T23:31:00.000+10:00

california

It’s not that I’ve been in California or New York or any city in the US. Never. But i got the image of California long before i know the city. My father used to play English songs cassette when i was 2 or 3, very young. I think, it was when i was 2 or less because i didn’t understand the language, i didn’t know the scene of TV program. Something that i don’t understand is that i got the atmosphere of its city even before i recognized the meaning of city, moreover the US.

I love the songs but i never know the singer. they are very 80’s. I guess, that’s why i always feel like I’m in California, and feel like I’m home whenever i hear 80’s songs. While actually I’ve never been there, even i don’t have plan to go there in the near future.

In science, this can be a mystery that involves hearing memory and perception. Child’s brain is amazing that it grows rapidly during the first three years of life. Things which happen during these years would shape memory and impression. Further, this can shape the cognitive and emotional patterns.

-------------------------------

…com’on and sail around the world… baby, find a place in the canyon high by the season…

I’m not strong enough

2009-06-22T14:19:00.000+10:00

Well, it’s just a self confession that I’m not strong enough to deal with certain person. It’s not that I can’t speak nor I want to avoid talking with people, It’s just because I can’t control my feeling. It would be bad for me at the end so i better stay away.

I think everybody ever had this experience, and we know it’s not a kind of weakness. On the other hand, this is how we recognize ourselves. An effort to control and take care ourselves from threats outside. Most of us know our capacity and and our strength. To avoid certain things doesn’t mean we are a looser or in common psychological term, escaping from reality. It’s how we protect ourselves. In time when we are ready, we can face with any person we used to hide from. So really, it’s okay to stay away as long as it’s good and we have a clear contract with self that we’ll deal with anyone once we recover. We aren’t weak or escaping from reality. We know our position and how to treat ourselves.

The point is, we are fine to behave like this if needed.

-----------------------------------------------------

It’s okay to feel weak sometimes, because we are weak as human. But we have a big courage to live this life. Things will be better sooner or later.

Heart like a wheel

2009-05-22T18:41:00.001+10:00

by the corrs
(no idea what to write, no mood to write...)

Some say the heart is just like a wheel
When you bend it you can't mend it
And my love for you is like a sinking ship
My heart is on that ship out in mid-ocean

They say that death is a tragedy
It comes once and then it's over
But my one only wish is for that deep dark abyss
For what's the use of living with no true lover

And it's only love and it's only love
That can break a human being
and turn him inside out
That can break a human being
and turn him inside out

When harm is done no love can be won
I know it happens frequently
What I can't understand please
God hold my hand
Is why it should have happened to me

And it's only love and it's only love
That can break a human being
and turn him inside out
That can break a human being
and turn him inside out

Some say the heart is just like a wheel
When you bend it you can't mend it
And my love for you is like a sinking ship
My heart is on that ship out on mid-ocean
And it's only love and it's only love
And it's only love it is only love
And it's only love it is only love
And it's only love it is only love

Goodbye Again

2009-05-22T15:57:00.001+10:00

By John Denver

Its five oclock this morning, and the sun is on the rise
Theres frosting on the window pane, and sorrow in your eyes
The stars are fading quietly, the night is nearly gone
And so you turn away from me, and tears begin to come

And its goodbye again, Im sorry to be leavin you
Goodbye again, as if you didnt know
Its goodbye again, and I wish you could tell me
Why do we always fight when I have to go

It seems a shame to leave you now, the days are soft and warm
I long to lay me down again, to hold you in my arms
I long to kiss the tears away, give you back the smile
Other voices beckon me, to go a little while

And its goodbye again, Im sorry to be leavin you
Goodbye again, as if you didnt know
Its goodbye again, and I wish you could tell me
Why do we always fight when I have to go

Have to go and see some friends of mine, some that I dont know
Some who arent familiar with my name,
Its something thats inside of me not hard to understand
Its anyone who listens to me sing

And if your hours are empty now, who am I to blame
You think if I were always here, our love would be the same
As it is the time we have, is worth the time alone
And lying by your side, the greatest peace Ive ever known

But its goodbye again, Im sorry to be leavin you
Goodbye again, as if you didnt know
Its goodbye again, and I wish you could tell me
Why do we always fight when I have to go

Goodbye Again

2009-05-22T15:57:00.000+10:00

Truly Asia vs It’s Time To Visit Indonesia

2009-05-11T00:48:00.001+10:00

Around two weeks ago i wrote on my status on facebook that i really wanted to taste ‘es teler’. It’s a kind of cold drink containing avocado slices, seaweed jelly, coconut, shredded ice, and milk. Actually it was not my favorite one, but as i saw this ice few times on TV ads i then wanted to have it. Really wanted. I never really tempted whenever i saw food ads anywhere. So i was wondering how could such ads make me want to taste the ice. This kind of ice is not new for Indonesian that i can find it pretty easily here. So what’s the good thing with the ads? It’s Malaysian tourism ads which is aired in some prime time TV programs. At least i updated my status on facebook related to Malaysian tourism ads twice.

Few days later i watched a special dialogue on Metro TV with tourism minister as the guest. For sure they talked about tourism in Indonesia and its challenges in the future. Also, surprisingly the host directed the discussion to see a little bit Malaysian tourism ads and icon. Malaysia has ‘Truly Asia’ to attract tourist while we have only ‘It’s time to visit Indonesia’ as the icon. The first one describes what tourists will find in Malaysia, while the last one only asks tourists to visit Indonesia without any description what unique things they will get once they arrive. Icon is very important to differ one thing to another and to have a specific one is undoubtedly needed moreover for tourism.

Here is what i see with Malaysian and Indonesian tourism ads on TV. Well I think I’m good in seeing things, a good taste exactly.

Malaysia: good music in the ads gets you involved in the happiness of holiday there; natural and modern environment; 2 couples enjoying the sea and traditional village is enviable; two women go shopping with spark lights of the city; and for sure traditional food like es teler i mentioned above and satay, hmmmm…delicious. Truly Asia describes best this ads (I never visit Malaysia so i don’t know the real ^_^).

Indonesia: green places and blue ocean, swimming and beaches, traditional Bali dance, some tourism places in Bali, ended with a little girl saying ‘it’s time to visit Indonesia’. It’s obvious that all is about Bali, so i prefer saying ‘It’s time to visit Bali’.

My Italian friend wrote to me this morning that she’s going to visit Bali in August. Underlined: Bali. Why not ‘visit Indonesia’. Just like when people saying they are going to visit Italy, and not visit Venice or Rome. So where’s the other Indonesian parts?

Ads can give people understanding about a product and further, determine how many of them will purchase it. So does with the ads of tourism. According to Tourism minister, Indonesia spent US$ 20 million for tourism ads alone compared to Malaysia which spent US$ 100 million for their ads. Five times higher is a lot. For all aspects related to tourism Indonesia, Rp. 500 Billion can give a rough income around Rp. 80 trillion. But again, a double money spent for tourism is not always make a double income as there’s a tourism capacity such as hotel rooms.

However, this doesn’t mean also that ads and tourism facility are not so important. I think Indonesia needs to change the icon for tourism which describes Indonesia. Compete with other Asian countries to attract visitors through a precise and beautiful icon. A good icon can make people proud of being Indonesian also. There will be a feeling that the icon is Indonesia. Creating many tourism ads can be another important way explain about the real Indonesia and people will find Indonesia a convenient destination for holiday.

Spend more money on tourism and find the best icon for it.

-----------------------------------------

Huahhhhh… sleepy (again).

A Letter from Majnun to Layla

2009-04-27T12:24:00.000+10:00

Layla Majnun is an everlasting love story from Iraq, known as ‘1001 nights country’, written by Nizami in 11th century (if I’m not mistaken ^_^). Some said that Majnun was really mad for letting himself suffering from the separation without positive struggle to get Layla back. On the other hand, some people believe that what he did was an expression of great true love. In my opinion, losing the soulmate can make a person behaves like a madman but in the same way make him showing his great love.

Here are words from Majnun to Layla during their forever separation.

I’m writing this letter as a person who has left all the world’s bounds, a person whose destiny is in your hand, a person whose blood is yours that you can sell it as cheap as you wish.

You said that I’m the keeper of the treasure. I’m close by, indeed, but at the same time i never be this far. A key which i can open the case with hasn’t yet created. A metal which the key made from is still sleeping in the hard core.

I’m a sand where you step on under your feet, while you are my water for life – but, for whose life? I bow in front of you while your hand is hugging – who do you hug? I even get disaster from you, while you are caressing – who do you caress? I’m your slave and your burden is on my shoulder, but what about you? Whose jewelry are on your ears? You are where i face to, To your direction i pray, but what am i for you?

You are the healer for every mistake in me, but at the same time you are my disease. You are wine in my crucible, but not mine. You are the crown which is created for me, but adorn anyone else’s head. Yes, you are my treasure, but you are in a stranger’s hand, to be enjoyed: I’m just like an unlucky beggar who’s bite by snake which is guarding you.

You are my heaven, I’m sure about that. However, i can’t find the key to open its gate. You are mine, but not really mine: You are my sky, but it’s too far that you might be the hell with all its torture. My life tree grew in your soul forest and it’s yours: cut that tree then part of you will fall and die. I’m the land under your feet: if you step on smoothly, I’ll be humus in beautiful spring time which sprouts up flowers endlessly for your pleasant. If you step on me strongly, I’ll be a spinning dust cloud, which wrap and choke you.

Haven’t i surrendered myself voluntarily? Haven’t i been known as your slave? And it is really so, because i carry a slave’s burden. So please behave like what a lord suppose to do and do it right. I have nothing to wear to defend myself: my weapon, my shield – I’ve let them go. I’ve become your prisoner without fight, but if you deny me, a sword will soon behead me.

huaahhhh… to be continued…

more to come, A Letter from Layla to Majnun

Global Recession

2009-03-18T12:54:00.000+11:00

global recession

It’s a by-play writing i know, but it’s somehow my opinion regarding the world’s around the clock news. Recently i regularly check yahoo news from my mobile and what’s updated is about recession around the world especially in the US as the home of yahoo and Europe. Clearly, it’s a common topic so i said this writing’s going to give nothing new.

When all news is about the depression of world economic, i see that Indonesia isn’t affected badly at the moment. It’s probably because we had a worse one in 1997 when Rupiah dropped to the lowest level compare to US dollar. Normally, the rate was Rp 2000 per 1 US dollar, but it fell to the level of Rp 18.000 per US dollar. It has been the reason for the unstable and increasing prices in all sectors. The number of jobless was inevitable which resulted in high number of mental health illness and crime. Today we still get the impact of crises but the feeling is different. I’m not saying that people is getting used to it. Finance Ministry argued that it’s because we know how to deal with it as we learned from the previous crises. I agree with this because government has taken steps in anticipating this global crises. Less or more, we are affected by this crises but we know life’s going to be harder day by day and the recent crises is like a spice for the situation we are in.

Finding the news updates regarding recession makes me think that this is a really serious issue. I do know that it’s very late to realize it by now as people already scream for this crises. The bailouts which becomes popular for countries to fix the economic life gives insignificant result. The crises continued. It’s not surprising that the number of depression increases everywhere even more in big cities. Almost everyday i read about new cases of depression. Young businessman lost their confidence, new symptom of bipolar, and gunshots killing. The recession affects all aspects. No mercy. I read that the dead still have to pay the house, not only the live.

I just didn’t imagine that this has been so bad in this world. I thought their governments can overcome its impacts well. Yesterday, i read New York Times that the academic life get the impact too. Scholarships and loans are rare; and job vacancy in universities for PhD depends on the number of retiree professor. Those who do not have enough money choose to postpone the study and apply for job. However, not many companies open recruitment for new employee. Even it is said that it’s a year of no job. So bad indeed. But i found that sometimes media exaggerates the fact that actually is not that bad. Well, it’s just for self contentment.

I know that the recession is severe in the US, Europe and all over the world. To survive and strive is the only choice. For us, the young people (sorry..^_^), the crises becomes an important part in our phase of life since it occurs in our golden age when we initiate our first step in (career and) life (Sorry, i don’t like the word ‘career’). We’ll find out that the hardship in life makes us tough.

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‘What is a youth, impetuous fair… what is a maid, ice and desire… the world wags on..’

Nihon-go 1

2009-03-18T02:33:00.000+11:00

First, sorry if there’s any mistake here.

itadakimase = greeting before take a lunch/dinner	sayounara = bye	anata wa = you are
kore – sore – are = this that that(far)	mo = also	watashi wa = i am
hai = yes	iie = not	deshita = was
kudasai = please give me (asking)	ganbatte = ‘think everyone knows it’	dekimasu = i can
arimasu = i have (been)	arimasen = i haven’t (been)	dekimasen = i can’t
konnichiwa = hello/good afternoon	ohayou gozaimasu = good morning	oyasuminasai == goodnight!
irasshaimase = welcome	tadaima == i’m coming home	tomodachi = friend
minami = south (i wonder, kutaro minami means?…)	sumimasen = sorry	shirimasen = i don’t know

so what’s sumiregusa?

---------------------------------

listening to Passera…

Alabama – Germany - Miami

2009-03-16T02:32:00.000+11:00

gunshots

I’ve just read about a rampage in Miami. Three similar incidents in three different places. Three gunshots killing within less than a month. Nobody ever expect this to happen in their neighbor, or even in this world. The report regarding the action may inspire others to do the same thing. I actually don’t like using the word ‘inspiring’ since it is commonly used for positive action. But it works the same way.

Several reasons have been accused to contribute in these frightening events such as recession, frustration, economic reason and free gun ownership. The exact reason varies for each case but overall these showed frustration or depression or even a mild and temporary mental problem. It seems the action becomes the way to finish the trouble. This action was not so simple to solve the problem, but it showed an activity to attract the world to pay attention for what was happening to them. It’s a kind of helplessness, and at the same time they wanted people know that they still have power. To do the action like these rampage, those persons might be in a situation where they felt there was no better way for solution. We can’t totally blame them as the single mistake maker. It becomes a collective responsibility to keep people around us in a good condition. Care to others.

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Hoping the world always be a friendly place to live for everyone.

With every difficulty there is ease

2009-03-15T04:24:00.000+11:00

‘Verily, with every difficulty there is ease’

I love to quote this verse anywhere, in my writing, my talks and my status updates on Facebook. It has a strong meaning that keeps us optimist. So beautiful… There’s no problem without way out. With every problem there must be way out accompanying it. It’s been promised that way. The dead of night is a sign of the peep of day. When we feel something has gone too much on us, we should know that the way out is so close. When something is too much that we feel there’s no way out, we may not realize that it’s exactly how the problem be solved.

‘Verily, with every difficulty there is ease’

This verse is repeated twice in sequence to empower the meaning. It is a gladden promise that can be a solace for those who has difficulties or problems in life. It’s a form of love given to human, to comfort the concerned hearts. It’s a kind of resting phase after we did our best to solve the problem. Later on, this can be a preparing phase to continue our efforts to reach the solution. It motivates us to keep in positive thinking and be survive.

Good luck, everyone!

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Meet old friend

2009-03-13T14:07:00.002+11:00

My chat window with my old friend is in on mode now. After a long time we finally meet here. Sure I'm happy, but... she's now offline. Not much conversation we made, but at least there was a greeting conversation.
Asking how i am, she finally suggested me something which then i answered things what i better do. I'm glad anyway with the conversation even though there was no say goodbye.

Giving advice to each other

2009-03-02T02:35:00.001+11:00

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In friendship or social life, this word is frequently used which shows closeness, trust and dependent. Everyone must has given or gotten advice from people around them since they were kids to their adulthood, or let’s say all time ^_^ First person who might gave advice is a mother or parent. She is the first person we asked for help when we were a child. A mother or parent gives not only physical needs but also emotional needs including giving advice. As we grew up, we interact with people whose have different characteristics and attitude. That’s when we know the outer world, not just family. This happened concurrently since we identified ourselves as a different person. At least at the first four years of our life we could feel that we are a single individual and ‘it’s me’ and i have rights. We have idealism and the simple is behavior that is likely different from others. Thus, our freedom is limited by other’s rights. Actually, it’s not merely about our freedom being limited by other’s right. In real, we need to be limited to control ourselves. Rules can be a mean to harmonize everyone’s life in society. What about things that aren’t written as rules? We have norm, an unwritten rules in society which has moral punishment for the offence. Interpersonally, we have friends or even close friends. Wise word said that a friend is like a mirror for us. What they like is what we like, what they think is just like what we think, what they talk about is what we like to talk about too. Naturally, we’ll choose people who have the same thought, way of thinking, behavior, vision and goal with us to be our friends. For sure it doesn’t mean that friends should have the same characteristics, but basically, the heart is almost the same.

‘Please give me an advice’. This is common among friends. This doesn’t show that someone is weak but rather ‘i should reach a stable condition, and i trust you. you know me very well and with your wisdom you can give the best suggestion for me to face this all at the moment’. Happily, a good friend will think deeply and try to find the best solution s/he can suggest for his friend. This case works when someone is facing a hard time in life.

Giving advice as a good friend is not only when someone is in trouble. We have heard many times that a good friend is a person who can make you a better person. A friend will not always say yes to everything we do. But will say yes to what’s right. A good friend will show us what’s right. Moreover when we are making mistakes. A friend will get us back to the line. It’s not to control us or limit our freedom, but to keep us good. Let’s say, when a friend cross the street when it’s crowded, we’ll forbid him to do it as it’s dangerous for him. May be this friend will say that he knows the street very well and he can make a sign to the drivers with his hand. It’s reasonable but the risk is bad so a friend will tend to show him the place where he can cross the street safely. Moreover, it breaks the law ^_^ another simple example is when our friend doesn’t put trash in the bin. We’ll tell our friend to put it in the bin. The first example is giving advice when a friend does something which can be bad for him while the second one is giving advice when a friend does something which affects badly for others or environment. In real life, we don’t get advice only from friends, but also from people we never know. We may have read that people finally found their life after meeting a wise man. Yes, a wise men love to talk about the meaning of life. We can’t predict which person is able to touch our heart with her/his words. So seeking advice in books or asking advice from friends is helpful. On the other hand, we never know that our talk or advice for friends will be very meaningful for them.

What we should think more is that a friend has a right of a well-advised. A friend deserves advices. It’s an interpersonal right. It’s not showing that one is superior from another, but showing love and care among friends. Giving advice to each other. This will build a meaningful friendship. This will make us a better person. Sometimes we think that telling what’s right will hurt our friend, or will limit our friend’s freedom. But really, we may not aware that our friend needs us to give our words. In the same way, we need our friends or people to keep us in line too, to keep us doing right. Yep, because we aren’t living alone and we aren’t living only in this world without purpose.

Another thing we should consider carefully is how to give advice to friends. Giving advice needs an art. A good will should be expressed in the best way. It represents our good will, appreciation and caring for the people we love. Or, could be for anyone we meet unintentionally. I think i should keep in mind that everyone, including me, have a right of well-advised. We don’t want if someday there will be someone say ‘why didn’t you tell me from the beginning’.

To remind myself, i should also open my heart for advices. It’s hard sometimes to hear someone gives suggestion moreover if it’s not what we need or like. Provide our big heart as deep as an ocean to receive advices or even problems.

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almost midnight,

Technorati Tags: friendship

I like Yovie & Nunno

2009-02-26T19:11:00.000+11:00

Recently, i love to listen to yovie and nuno’s songs after my friend ‘introduced’ me to their poetic songs. I used to say no to local singers, but finally i can give two thumbs for this band.

LOVELY.

unconscious stress

2009-02-26T04:17:00.000+11:00

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A friend of mine said that i might in this state, that i had an unconscious stress. Well…could be. I told my friend that something was different with me physically and my mood at that time. Outside, they didn’t know something was going wrong till i told them about the changes. I did realized that I felt so sleepy for more than a week, a bad sleepy; on the other hand, had frequent wake up in the night, didn’t eat or drink enough and so unfit. I did realize about the changes but didn’t notice them as symptoms. Nothing wrong with my appearance. Till my friend woke me up with her conclusion about me. ‘You had an unconscious stress’. Oh, i see. I admit that i was a bit surprise for not knowing what was going on in me. Finally, i confessed it to myself only.

Actually, i knew very well the changes if I’m in a state of stress. Let’s say, when i had to do lots of job, in exam period, or any unusual moments. Those events are common to be a stressor for everyone. What’s unusual with my previous changes was that i used to sleep a lot when I’m in stress condition. It’s different with the last one because i had frequent wake up during the night. Now i think that different level of stress can have different reaction. I don’t know which stress situation is worse. But they must be different with the last one. Different reaction is needed to cope which will depend on the severe of stress. And everyone has different reactions to stress which is actually a defense mechanism to reach a stability state.

Unconscious stress is hidden and as a result of unfinished past life’s concern. When something is overwhelming, body can react with repress it to the unconscious mind. I read that having unconscious stress is a form of depression. wow…! I’m not, I’m not.. ^_^ should deny it ;)

I have no idea whether the term of unconscious stress describes best my situation. Probably I just repressed it to the unconscious part of my mind till i my body reacted in some ways. Anyway, at least i can recognize the changes when I’m in stress condition so hopefully I’ll be able to manage myself well ^_^

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Midnight… time to sleep

Excellent Deed

2009-02-25T03:35:00.000+11:00

natural night

A while ago i read a book review, a fiction exactly but i can’t remember the title. It is about a girl who fell in love with a man just because this man happened to cry for her condition. At last, this girl looked for him and did her best to be with him even though she already married to a rich man. The book said that it doesn’t need jewelry or money to conquer a girl’s love. I think it’s about heart. Heart can reach and talk to another heart when there’s no barrier. No lie or hidden intention. Heart to heart, that’s what people say. What i want to say here is that a person can make a special impression for others even with only a small thing. Like the story above, the man showed an honest feeling about the girl that will be remembered all of her life. What a strong impression. Anyway, in a real life we often need to do an excellent and big thing to give a valuable meaning for people and ourselves.

Here is ‘that thing’. Is there an excellent thing we do constantly or at least we ever did. We live once, so we better take lessons from life values that we shouldn’t live just like that without any good thing left for anyone. Life will be meaningful if people can get benefits from us, or at least we don’t create troubles. There’s a type of people whose life is regretted and his dead becomes a happiness for people around him. Sure we don’t want to be one of those people. Hopefully we are not ^_^

How do we get to that stage, where our life will have meaning. It’s not only worth for people, but also for self. Because actually we need to do it, even though some will say that it’s for one’s ego. If we really think, we may find that whatever we do, positive or negative, will be back to us in the same way. So back to the question, how do we get to the stage. What excellent thing can we proud of during our life. Is there something we do that is inspiring people to do good thing as well. Inspiring may mean there’s no coercion for people take good values from what s/he did. There’s no lie but honesty. Not easy indeed. Nothing is easy for doing good. It needs a commitment and sincere heart.

The questions that should be answered and considered carefully are: how one spent his time, how his knowledge was used, how he used his body, and how he got and spent his money (HR Tarmidzi).

Having or doing excellent deed is an effort to have a meaningful life. Actually, it’s not only for a good name, but rather giving a good effect for all. So how?

excellent deed, because it’s done continuously.
excellent deed, because of its quality and difficulty level
excellent deed, for its big and wide social benefit
excellent deed, for performer’s uniqueness –> interpersonal power (Tarbawi, 2004)

So together, now let’s see, can we do an excellent deed. Find positive side of us, then we can explore it. Good luck ^_^

Source: a novel i forget the title, Tarbawi & HR Tarmidzi.

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time for self reflection

Gambar caleg dimana-mana (Boseeennn...)

2009-02-23T18:08:00.000+11:00

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Sistem pemilu sekarang memang berbeda dengan yang dulu, dimana sekarang anggota legislatif dipilih secara langsung. Tiap hari ada aja berita tentang para caleg, dari yang kampanye, muncul di talk show, bahkan sampai yang berperilaku nyleneh. Sebutlah di minggu ini ada caleg suatu partai di Sumatera Utara yang tertangkap karena memiliki narkoba.

Yah, caleg dimana-mana dan sangat banyak. Aku baru sadar kalau gambar-gambar caleg menghiasi sepanjang dan sudut jalan saat dalam perjalanan pulang ke tegal. hhmm... ternyata membosankan melihat gambar-gambar para calon wakil rakyat. maaf.... ^_^ Bayangkan, sekarang ada 33 partai dan 5 partai tambahan kalau tidak salah. Dan hampir di setiap kabupaten ada pemilihan calon anggota DPRD dari tiap partai. Kalau aja tiap partai ada 5 caleg DPRD, jadinya 150 dunk ya. Ditambah lagi dengan calon di tingkat propinsi dan pusat. MEMANG BANYAK.

Sudah menjadi bahasan di TV juga tentang maraknya gambar para caleg bahkan ada aturan tentang tempat pemasangan dengan alasan ketertiban dan keindahan. Saat memasuki Tegal, di sisi jalan sudah banyak terpasang gambar-gambar caleg. Dari yang pose senyum, diam, hingga pas foto. Dari yang jenis sticker kecil, spanduk sampai baliho. Di pasar, di jalan, di parkiran, di perumahan. It's everywhere, man. Ini bisa ngalah-ngalahin gambarnya Titi Kamal di iklan mie yang biasanya besar-besaran di pasang di depan pasar. Ternyata bukan artis aja yang fotonya bisa terpampang besar ^_^

Dan sekarang ada hal yang kuperhatikan di setiap gambar caleg di Tegal. Apa pesan yang dibawa, latar belakang gambar, membawa nama besar siapa, pose berfotonya, dan yang pasti siapa dia. Apalagi kalau di gambar itu caleg yang masih muda, aku jadi berpikir apa kenal sama dia, kali aja temen sekolah. Dan melihat banyaknya caleg, ku jadi berpikir sepertinya caleg bukan lagi menjadi hal yang prestise, karena semuanya bisa. Padahal kalau direnungi, tugas anggota legislatif adalah berat, amanah besar. Tapi kalau sudah mencalonkan diri jadi anggota legislatif ya berarti sudah mempertimbangkan benar-benar tentang amanah ini. Salut buat para caleg yang benar-benar caleg ;)

Dan apa yang harus dilakukan masyarakat sekarang, adalah menikmati dan menilai dari tiap kampanye para caleg di daerah mereka. Bingung? jelas... Semua caleg membuat media kampanye. Sepertinya kalau tidak terlalu kenal dengan si calon itu, ya tidak akan milih. Ini adalah tugas berat buat para caleg. Bagaimana mendapatkan suara banyak di tengah persaingan yang ketat. Jangan-jangan di satu RW bisa ada 2 caleg dari partai yang berbeda. Jadilah di sepanjang gang atau perumahan ada persaingan gambar mereka. Yang tidak enak ya yang jadi tetangganya, akan mendukung siapa pada saat masa kampanye seperti ini karena masalah dukung mendukung adalah sensitif. Perkara dia memilih salah satu calon atau tidak dua-duanya, itu adalah urusan lain karena tidak ada kamera di bilik suara. Tapi teuteup.. masyarakat harus memilih yang terbaik.

P.S : Jadi teringat dengan kisah sahabat Rosul yang menangis saat diberikan amanah menjadi pemimpin. Menangis karena beratnya amanah itu. Menangis karena kelak akan dimintai pertanggungjawaban oleh Allah akan kepemimpinan dan amanah tersebut. Suatu jabatan atau posisi bukan tempat untuk dia dilayani dan mengambil keuntungan pribadi atau golongan, tapi adalah tempat untuk melayani masyarakat yang dipimpinnya. Anyway, di saat ini memang rakyat perlu memberanikan dan membekali diri bila memang punya potensi untuk menjadi wakil rakyat yang dapat menjadi wakil rakyat yang sebenarnya, mensejahterakan rakyat dan menuju keadilan bersama.

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saturday night, feb 20

Never is a long time goodbye

2009-02-12T19:07:00.000+11:00

It’s been my favorite song. never is timeless, unlimited. we can’t expect something on the word ‘never’. Whatever the reason, the answer would be almost nothing.

Appreciation for Roxette,

Never is a long time goodbye

You build it up and tear it down, there’s no reason to follow you.

You left the song without a sound, you left the story I made for you.

Softly angels bow and cry in the stillness of the night.

Never is a long time - goodbye. No answers for the asking.

It’s a long time - goodbye. No mercy for the aching.

It’s a long time - oh I see no light on the forsaken.

Never is a long time - goodbye. Let’s spend the night when this dream has come to an end.

Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you cry, and yes, I’ve cried over you.

You’ve left me blind in paradise.

You’ve left me hungering for the touch of you.

Snow white angels run and hide in the blackness of the night.

Never is a long time…

Mobile Number Regulation

2009-01-24T18:11:00.000+11:00

For us who live in Indonesia, it’s common to have a mobile number more than one for each person. There are reasons why we choose to have few numbers in a time. Competition between operators make consumers free to choose the best one. Let’s say, for those who like texting, the operators give bonuses till hundreds free text. Or for those who like talking, free talk between certain hours is available or even a very cheap talk is provided all day. So if there’s another operator offers an interesting bonus and easiness, people tend to buy a new number. People used to have the main number for family and business, while additional number is only for ‘cheap’ reason. Once they can’t get benefits from the number they will chuck it and get the new one. For example, and it’s common, i have Telkomsel sim card as my main number and IM3 for internet purpose. If i run out my IM3 credit, i just need to buy another IM3. Easy, isn’t it? We just let the operators held the business war. But, are we the winner or the victim in this business? ^_^ well, I’m not going to discuss it here.

Another reason we can have more than one mobile number is that there’s no rule over this. I can’t remember exactly when, but once in 2004 0r 2005, Government made policy about mobile number ownership. Every new card should be registered otherwise it can’t be activated. Few basic data are needed like name, address, and ID number. First i thought it would be so strict as we are asked to give a true data. But lately, after using many cards, i can enter any name or address. Sorry, but nobody knows what data we enter.It’s only God, me and my mobile who know. When i was in Australia, i had only one number in a time. The registration was a bit hard as we have to give an exact data to the operators. Moreover it needed half an hour to be able to use the number after registration. In my opinion, this can prevents people from using many cards. And related to recent cases, it prevents people to misuse mobile number such as to threat others. My Italian friend said that it’s hard to own mobile number in Europe and the US. I remember, this is why a mobile company in France released disposable mobile. The purpose is to facilitate visitors to have a mobile number during their visit.

Ye, it’s handy to get a mobile number here. It’s like buying snack, provided everywhere. It’s not a surprise that so far i have more than 25 mobile numbers. Affordable and available everywhere. What else we want?

Beautiful Kiama

2009-01-23T03:38:00.000+11:00

Beautiful sea, blue sky, soft waves, warm, blow hole, long beach… Kiama is located about 2 hours by train to south from Sydney, near to Wollongong exactly. Few minutes from Wollongong city center.

If you are a surfing lover, it’s not a good place then because it hasn’t big enough waves. For those who love to enjoy the blue sea and sky, here is a lovely place to visit. Amazing. I went there in winter and i had a good view of it. I guess, in summer it’d have so much ray. I don’t think I’d feel comfortable walking along the beach in summer since it must be very hot and dazzle.

Blow hole is so attracting for visitors where produce an eruption sound because the waves hit a coral which has a hole. So the sound comes from the water blow through the hole. That’s why it is called as blow hole. Wanna know the sound? hmm.. like it’s gonna drown you. scary, indeed.

It’s worth it walking along the beach in the winter.

Love the warm.