...Ruangmaya PatriCia...

Nijmeegse Vierdaagse 2008

2008-07-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

Nijmeegse Vierdaagse 2008 is an annual event in Nijmegen, and possibly one of the biggest events in the Netherlands.

As in the name, Vierdaagse, vier means four and dag means day, so it's a four-day event held in the city of Nijmegen. To simply put, Nijmeegse Vierdaagse is a mass-marching event, held in four days in the mid of July.
It stated in the Wikipedia that this event is the largest marching event in the world.
The opening of the Vierdaagse is always celebrated with a grand fireworks. Everybody can participate in the marching. There is an option of 30, 40, and/or 50 kilometers walking. Above 40 kilometers walk, the participants will receive medal at the end of the marching.

During the Vierdaagse, what makes this event is a lot more preferred, especially for the young ones, is because of the festivities during those days. There are free outdoor music concerts everywhere, beer stall, food stall, and all kinds of games stall just like a carnival. In almost every spots of Nijmegen, you can see the parties, the crowds, the stalls, the outdoor bars, the musics, etc.

So, if you would like to experience a whole week of party in the Netherland, mid of July is the best timing to visit Nijmegen ^___^

Nijmegen, the oldest city of Netherland

2008-05-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

Nijmegen is a special city for me.

As the oldest city of Nijmegen, this city holds a memory as a city that united me and my husband once upon a time :D. Though we both are Indonesian, and of course are always proudly be, but my husband loves Nijmegen so dearly as he has been staying in this city for quite a while ever since he got a job in NXP Semiconductors. Thus, as I get married to him, I start to like this city as much as he does.

To be honest, there's still some confusion whether or not Nijmegen is true the oldest city of the Netherland, since Maastricht, as well, claim themselves as the oldest one. But despite all the arguments and claims of which one being the oldest, i think Nijmegen is one of the beautiful cities that Netherlands own (without reducing the admiration I'm having toward Maastricht, of course!).

No one can describe Nijmegen without mentioning these several city icons that Nijmegen has;

1. Waalkade Bridge

Picture's taken from graafschap

Shame on me that I don't really know the name of this brug (bridge, Netherlands). It's not just the bridge that is so special, but also its surroundings. Sitting or dining in the side of Waalkade during sunset is the most romantic thing for a couple.

2. Nijmegen Markt

Picture's taken from Vinue

Still, shame on me!

I don't know the name of this spot. Or maybe there is no special name for it. But whatever its name is, as it is surrounded with old architectures and located in the very center of Nijmegen, this is really something to remember Nijmegen by.

3. Kolpinghuis

This is like a convention hall, specially for meeting, feast, party, etc. In terms of architecture, it's not a very special building I might say. However, what makes this building so special is because it is located in such a strategic place; in one of the busiest intersection of Nijmegen.

For the full description you can visit here.

4. Valkhof

Picture's taken from Wil Zoetekouw

What is so special about this architecture is not only that this is a historical chapel that is so centuries years old, but also it is located in such a place that enables you to perfectly see the panoramic view of the famous icons of Nijmegen; the bridge and the Waalkade.

5. Fifty-two Degrees

Picture's taken from Fifty-two Degrees' website

This is a new building, previously owned by the local government of Nijmegen, but now is sold to a consortium from Frankfurt. This building has been set as a new icon of Nijmegen because of its special architecture; skew up to 52 degrees.

That's why the name of this building is Fifty-two Degrees.

At night, this building is very eye-catchy by its blinking colorful lights on the top floor of it.

Click here to find more about this building.

Well, blogmates, if you plan to travel to the Netherland, don't forget to visit Nijmegen !!

Have a nice trip ^___^

Novio oh Novio...

2008-05-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a countless time that Novio, I mean the Netherland's national public transportation (Novio, Conexxion, Hermes, etc.), are on the strike to fight for arise in salary :D

Hmm... sounds familiar, I might say ... ;)

Though in Indonesia we have lots of strikes to fight for almost everything, but nothing like what we have here in Holland. The strikes (stakingacties in Netherlands) is not about gathering up people and yelling, shouting, and even destructing things, but the strikes go in the way that all the buses go free before 9am and after 4pm, and they stop working in the hours between. This, of course, leave us with only two option to travel; either by walk or with bicycle. What an impact we have here!!!

Instead of doing rebellious things, I think this action is much more impacting, I can say. Though there's still no result whether or not they will get arise on their income, yet I know they will win this case. Because imagine how much money the company lost, realizing that all the bus drivers give free ride to people during busy hours and even stop working during the day. No management can stand to loose their money!!

By looking at what happen here, I come to realize that no country in this world lives free from strikes or any other protest actions. However, what makes a country different from another is the way they do the strikes, and the way the government handle such matter.

Well.... go Novioooo!!!!!!

Hmmm...

2008-04-24T02:36:00.001-07:00

...it's been a while since i could remember of having so much passion on writing a blog. It's not because I don't like writing right now, it's just because I have been in a Sleeping-mode in quite some times that my thought has become so tiring in formulating words to put on blog.

Sad, though, but real :D

And those all, I put the blame so much to UPC to make our internet down for a month, and thanks to the nature to make me suffered from the most gross disease I've ever seen, which made me realized that from all the uncertainty in this world, only three things that are certainly certain (hehehe): birth, death, and... chicken pox ^___^
You could imagine how desperate I was, having all the nightmare-on-my-skin, should be staying home all day long, and realizing that we had NO internet connection.... what a pathetic day !!!! wakakakaka....

Anyway, ... I'm back!!!

I'm ready to color my blog. But not now... I think I still have some itchy spot left ;). Let me do my thing on entertaining my skin, and I'll be seriously, I mean seriously, back :D

Enjoy your day, blogmates!!!

Soeharto, the Untouchable !!

2008-01-25T04:25:00.000-08:00

I saw this picture on TempoInteraktif and started to think and be amazed; how come we have had 4 presidents after Soeharto, and none of them were able to bring Soeharto in to justice ... ???
What makes thing even worse is that when he is now diagnosed as in the state of terribly ill, not just few good, and I bet expensive, team of doctors taking care of him, but many governments officials, such as parliaments members and ministers come and visit him as if he is the good old man that has to deserve the care and respects from those who proclaimed themselves members of a new revolutionary-reformed governments.

It is indeed amazing how the power and influence Soeharto has, enables him to be out of justice and to still receive respects and honors from other important people. He didn't just receive it from people inside the country, but outside as well, like for example the recent guests he had; former Cambodian Prime Minister, and the Philippines' Chief of Parliament.

If you ask villagers, they will mostly rather prefer the regime of Soeharto than this era where the government proclaimed to be a newly fresh independent and democratic, yet democratic is failed and independence is still troublesome. Villagers argued that though in the era of Soeharto the corruption was smoothly hide and political violence were nicely condemned yet the development is fixed. The nation could still feel and see the development growth.
Though Soeharto has a bad name, yet important people from other countries are willingly to come and pay a visit as a tribute to his past works.

Compare from Soeharto-regime to reformed-government era, I can't say that one is better from another. But for sure, having the development going in our country is the most important to-do task.
For that matter, few questions arose; should we or should we not better to have the Soeharto-like regime reign again in order to have a fully recovered development??
Are we or are we not a country which still need an iron hand and a superior head to be able to fix all the chaos and to run this country firmly?
I don't know the answer. You answer!!

Tap vs Bottled Water

2008-01-25T01:28:00.000-08:00

I just read this article from Yahoo! and felt necessary to share it to you.
It's about the importance of consuming tap water instead of bottled one.
Besides the ecological reason of recycling the waste of bottles and the fact of 1.5 millions barrels of crude oils were used for the production of those bottles annually, tap water is seen better to be consumed than those in bottles.
The article propose 4 reasons to support that statement, but I want to highlight only 2 of those reasons;

1. Tap water is tested daily. This is, of course, not the case in the country like Indonesia (hmm...). But for you who are living in foreign countries where drinking from tap water is possible, I believe you will agree with this point that the hygiene of tap water is clinically proved. Because if not, you can simply sue the government otherwise.

2. Tap water is a tooth saver. I am so surprised yet happy with this fact !!
The article says that tap water has more fluoride than bottled water, which helps prevent tooth decay.

To be healthy, live longer yet look younger is just as far as few glasses of water. When it turned out that a tap water has several additional advantages, hope this makes you drink water even more in your daily life. Water and fruits are all you need to stay healthy and fresh.
Be economist in life! Don't waste your money for any chemical medicines and expensive treatment. Start your day with consuming something with the least effort of getting, as supposed to water and fruits, in order to get the maximum result of being healthy, clean and fresh.

Complete article.

Singapore; a happiest place in Asia

2008-01-11T08:07:00.000-08:00

I just watched abc news (fr: Y! video) that Singapore, despite the rigid rules they are having, is the happiest place in Asia. Well, how could it be that just because of several randomly-asked people saying that they are happy, then the country they are representing is bestowed as a happiest country ..???

I think "happiness" is one of (if not the only) the most subjective factors which is difficult to measure in terms of quantity and even so quality. Just because Singapore is so successful in terms of keeping the stability inside the country, does not necessarily mean that all Singaporean (is it the term?? hehehe) are happy people.

As it is subjected to the "happiness" and "satisfaction", Indonesia is surprisingly on the rank of 29th in the World scale (source).
Hmmm..... really..??

Do you agree with that result, Indonesian??? ....

Welcoming 2008!!!

2008-01-11T07:06:00.000-08:00

Though it's kinda late posting to wish you all happy journey and a smooth-sailing throughout 2008, but since it's still January, I think it's still okay to wish you so, right??? :D

What's your New Year's resolution?? Do you have any???
I don't have mine. I don't necessarily think that I should have one because there will be no particular plan and/or promises on what I should or would be doing for the next 354 days in this year. I'll simply just go along with the flow, to live my life to its fullest and enjoy the stream of every ups and downs I might be having.

I do hope you have the same; a passion and positive spirit to enjoy your live in 2008 as it is golden ^__^

Be blessed in 2008 !!!!

Unique and Special

2007-12-20T02:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was walking around Centrum, tried to find a Christmas present for my husband. It was chilly. The temperature was about 0 degrees Celsius. Days before, it even reached down to minus.

While walking, I was kind of hoping that the snow will soon come. Never I imagined that on the next day, which is today, the snow is falling!!! yayy.... ^___^

I always love snow. I think I have mentioned this on my FS blog how crazy I am with the snow. Though it has been written on my FS blog, I guess it's still okay for me to share it here :D.

Snow, is formed by a bunch of little ice crystals, which in its constellation formed a so-called "snowflake".
The fact about snowflake is what interests me most. Snowflake comes in many different forms, which is never alike one another. If you see one snowflake, feel you lucky, because you will never see the same like it ever. Every snowflake is unique because each of them are different.

Thank God it's not just snowflakes that are so unique; we also are unique creatures. Our finger print is really one of a kind. No single finger print are alike. What printed on mine, is uniquely design to describe me. Not just a fingerprint; our eyes are also unique. It's not just there is no people have similar eyes pattern, but also the left- and right-eye of one person is different and unique. Even identical twins, who share the same DNA pattern, yet their eyes are different; unique in pattern and very rich in features.

These facts above describe how amazing the Creator is. We, sometimes, are lack of ideas on how to make things as unique as possible. But He always has bunch of ideas about things. Uniqueness and creativity are definitely on His dictionary. Can you imagine how many snowflakes falling down from the sky and none of them are alike?? Can you imagine from about over 6.6 billion people in this world, none of us share similar finger prints and eye pattern???
Gee,....what a work....

Well... I'm glad I have something in me which other people don't have.

I am unique and one of a kind ...

I am special ...

Giant Rat, Tiny Possum Discovered in Indonesian Jungle

2007-12-18T04:12:00.000-08:00

A giant rat has been discovered in a remote jungle somewhere in Papua, Indonesia. It has not been confirmed the status of the new species yet, but they can tell that it is apparently a new to science. Amazingly, the size of that giant rat is about five times the size of a normal rat (imagining it makes me goosebumps...gee....how scary it is :D) Click here to view the complete story of that article.

This earth is large enough that we keep finding something new even when we think we have explored quite enough. The more we learn, the more we figure out that we know less about the place we are living in.

Something giant keep appearing.. Stones, flowers, animals, and I believe many more to come... Have we exposed the mystery of earth already ??? Or,..it's just a beginning... ????

to God, from Kids

2007-12-04T02:53:00.000-08:00

Funny how the innocent-thinking of kids can put a smile on our face ^___^

Source: e-Mailing List

Drilling to Hadesh

2007-12-04T01:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at church, our Pastor shared something which terribly shocked us. It's about the Russian scientists who attempted to drill to the core of the earth in Siberia and produced some unexpected results. They recorded what seems to be people screaming when they dropped a specialized microphone designed to record the sounds of moving tectonic plates. It actually happened some years ago. and has been published and announced through any newspapers and/or radios in the States, Europe, and some other places.

The recording itself created a pros and cons. Some Christian people believe it and mostly secular people don't.

My pastor said, that Hadesh does exist. Hadesh is the place of dead people, before they are determined whether to go to heaven or hell. The fact that hadesh does exist, is written on the Bible, in Numbers 16:33.

To believe this or not, it really does depend on you!

I just want to share this, as I believe that Hadesh does exist.

Below is the video contains the recording of the Siberian drilling.

What's so Great about Christmas

2007-12-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming.... Christmas is here..... !!!!!

I always love Christmas. My husband once asked me what's so wonderful about Christmas tree and all those christmas-related stuff that I am so crazy about.
After thoroughly thinking, I come to the conclusion that my family behavior as a conservative "Protestan" family contribute mostly to my liking about Christmas. For us, Christmas is always a perfect time to get together a bit closer; to show our love and appreciation to others by preparing our personal Christmas gift, and to show our 'team-working' by setting up the Christmas tree together, decorating the house with ornaments according to the theme-color we've agreed for, and preparing Christmas dinner.
I remember when I was in the States, I spent my savings and specially went to NYC on December, just to be able to see the famous big Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.

I think what I like the most from the Christmas season is the peaceful atmosphere that I felt more during this season than in any other seasons. I'm not being so superstitious, but the joyful and peaceful the surroundings create, accompanied with carols and bells, trees and presents, lights and candles, candies and cookies, offers a personal feeling that is so perfectly creating a memorable time of all seasons.

As it was the tradition in my family to celebrate Christmas with the trees, candles, home-decoration, and special dinner, so that is what I'm about to do in my new family. Though my husband considers himself "karismatik", thank God he didn't refuse the idea of celebrating Christmas in a more conservative way I used to have in my so-called "protestan" family.

Above all, for me Christmas tree is the reflection of our life as a Christian. Take a look at the Christmas tree! It is so beautifully decorated with lights, ornaments, and gold and red ribbons. But the fact is, the tree is indeed dead. There is no life in it because it has been separated from its root. That is the picture of our lives. Though we look so fine and achieve so many successful accomplishment, if God is not with us, we are nothing.

Thus, as the Christmas tree can't live longer without its root, so can't we without God living in our lives. It doesn't matter how beautiful your life is; without having God in your life, you simply are like the Christmas tree; having the beauty lasts for just a season......

Influenced by the Past...

2007-11-30T09:27:00.000-08:00

I love suspense movies. Especially actions that involve a mystery-solving, detectives, combined with Hi-Tech. That's why I love watching Italian Job, Ocean Eleven, the Da Vinci Code, National Treasure, and many other same-genre movies. Even a romance movie covered with revenge like the Count of Monte Cristo climbed to the top chart of my favorites.
I think it's because in the past, during my childhood, I always love to read detective books, like Enid Blyton's series, Detektif Cilik, and Klub Detektif. My favorite was, and still is, Klub Detektif by Wolfgang Ecke, where each case has its own score, and at the end you total the score you got based on the case you can solve. From the total score, you are categorized as amateur detective to super detective. Ugghh.... I love those books....

Anyway, below is the trailer of the 2nd sequel of National Treasure, which is coming on December 21st this year. I can't hardly wait ....... ^__^

(psstt... there will be a sequel of the Da Vinci Code coming.... yayyy!!!! >> source here)

Human Development in Indonesia

2007-11-30T01:01:00.000-08:00

Few days ago I read an article on Tempo Interaktif stated that Human Development in Indonesia is in the 107th rank in Human Development Index based on UNDP (United Nations Development Programs). Even though that rank is better than last year's rank, yet Indonesia is still far behind neighbor countries like Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, including Vietnam.

So ironic, I might say, that Indonesia is a big country but is so lack in human development. It's so ashame that Indonesia is even lack behind Vietnam.

What actually is wrong with Indonesia???
Nothing is wrong with the people. What went wrong is the system, which at the end create people within the system to act wrong as it is in the system.
How can we develop the human capacity below when the people above (translate: government) are still lacking behind?? Human development is not just about poverty, it's also about moral, intellectual capacity, and ability to live a decent life. We should solve the problem we have on our government, to be able to solve the problem underneath.

How can we have a better life if we are not educated? How can we become educated if there is no access to basic service, like education and health care?? How can we have access if there is no availability in those service?? How can there be services if cost of basic social needs were cut by the government, or some went into their own pocket?

When we can provide basic service to people; like health care, foods, and clean water, then we are creating healthy human resource. When people are health, they are able to learn something and be educated. When people are educated, they are able to find decent job. Being healthy and being educated are factors that highly contribute to the enrichment of human quality. A good human quality brings a better life quality.

So, developing human resource in Indonesia is not merely about solving poverty problem. Moreover, it's about preventing human resource from being in poverty.

But for now, I think, aside from those mentioned above, the high-level priority government should do is to decrease the community exposure to droughts, floods, and storms, that will destroy the opportunity of people having a decent life.

Well....., good luck Indonesian government, and God speed !!!....

Azan echoed from New York's Church

2007-11-30T00:32:00.000-08:00

This is the news from ANTARA. Kinda late posting actually, because it happened on November 19th, 2007. Its okay, though... It is still November ^__^

The azan, a moslem's way of calling their people to pray, was sounded by Christopher Herbert with his bariton, echoed from Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, New York. The azan itself was part of the program of Three Parties Dialog between Christians, Jewish, and Moslems.
The theme of the dialog was "Perspective of Three Religions", with speakers from Indonesian Moslem, Syamsi Ali, Jewish Rabbi, Peter J. Rubinstein, and on behalf of the Marble Collegiate Church congregation, Priest Edwin G. Mulder.

The Marble Collegiate Church, that was established on 1854, was filled with hundreds of church congregation and some Moslems and Jewish.

It's always good to know when people can appreciate the difference and sit together as brothers. As Bible stated in Psalm 133:1-3;
"...See how good and how pleasing it is for brothers to be living together in harmony!
It is like oil of great price on the head, flowing down over the face, even Aaron’s face: coming down to the edge of his robe;
Like the dew of Hermon, which comes down on the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord gave orders for the blessing, even life for ever..."

Source

Wedding Jokes

2007-11-28T03:51:00.000-08:00

1. Getting married is very much like going to a continental restaurant with friends. You order what you want, and then when you see what the other fellow has, you wish you had ordered that.

2. At the cocktail party, one woman said to another, "Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?" The other replied, "Yes I am, I married the wrong man."

3. Man is incomplete until he is married. Then he is really finished.

4. A happy marriage is a matter of give and take; the husband gives and the wife takes.

5. Then there was a man who said, "I never knew what real happiness was until I got married; and then it was too late."

6. Young Son: "Is it true, Dad, I heard that in some parts of Africa a man doesn't know his wife until he marries her?" Dad: "That happens in most countries, son."

7. A little boy asked his father, "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?" And the father replied, "I don't know, son, I'm still paying for it."

8. Marriage is an institution in which a man loses his bachelor's degree and the woman gets her master's.

9. When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing: either the car is new or the wife.

10. It doesn't matter how often a married man changes his job, he still ends up with the same boss.

11.A man inserted an 'ad' in the classifiers: "Wife wanted". Next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: "You can have mine."

12 . After a quarrel, a wife said to her husband, "You know, I was a fool when I married you." And the husband replied, "Yes, dear, but I was in love and didn't notice it."

13. Married life is very frustrating. In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens. In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens. In the third year, they both speak and the neighbors listen.

14. When a newly married man looks happy we know why. But when a ten-year married man looks happy - we wonder why.

15 . A woman was telling her friend, "It is I who made my husband a millionaire." "And what was he before you married him?" Asked the friend. The woman replied, "A multi-millionaire".

Source: Friendster Bulletin Board

Play with your Mind

2007-11-28T03:12:00.000-08:00

Some tricky images, taken from IBA-FE Milis.

Did you see the baby????

Rick & Paulo

2007-11-28T01:47:00.000-08:00

Life is a mystery. An unsolved mystery which makes us curious to dig more and more just to find the true meaning of our life. There are so many books written just to 'help' people in understanding the meaning of life, yet people are still confused about life.

There are 2 famous books which are so bestselling because those books are able to explain the meaning of life in such a convincing way. They are The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, and The Alchemist by Paul Coelho. Those books carry the similarity that the essence of the book is the true meaning of life in every person. The difference lies in the point of view. TPDL views things from religioun side while TA uses such an ancient symbolic Medieval mysticism.

In The Alchemist, though it sounds mystics, yet at the end Paul Coelho stated that our mission on Earth is the way to find "God". That's the ultimate purpose of creation. Since this book is about how to follow your dream, I like the fact that Coelho presents the person who denies to follow his dream as person who denies to see God. "Every happy person carries God within him" stated Coelho.

We are all people who are trying to catch our dreams. We all are dream-catchers. However, are we dreaming the right dreams? How if we are putting our all just to catch the wrong ones?? How can we know that we are pursuing the right dream? Then, The Purpose Driven Life is the right answer for those questions. This book offers some principal wisdoms and understanding on the essence of life and how to achieve a purposeful life. Life with contentment.

The Alchemist is a good novel. A novel that encourages us to have dreams and tells us that they may come true. But the Purpose Driven Life is even better because this book teaches you that through God your dreams will surely come true.

Man in Pink

2007-11-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

There's always a feminine side in every man ^___^

Incredibly Blessed

2007-11-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

As the spirit of Thanksgiving is still around, I wanna share one of my favorite poem (I'm not quite sure if this is a poem, though hehehe) which I read in the book of Chicken Soup for Christian Soul in 199something.
Actually I want to post it in English. However, I am having quite a problem finding the English version of this; which is so ironic because the original version of this poem is in fact in English.

Well...., may you be blessed with the poem, so that you may enjoy your Thanksgiving even more....

Yang Paling Diberkati Secara Melimpah

Aku meminta kekuatan kepada Tuhan supaya aku berhasil,
aku dibuatNya lemah supaya aku dengan rendah hati belajar untuk taat.

Aku meminta kesehatan supaya aku berbuat perkara-perkara yang lebih besar,
aku diberi kerentanan supaya aku berbuat perkara-perkara yang lebih baik.

Aku meminta kekayaan supaya aku menjadi bahagia,
aku diberi kemiskinan supaya aku menjadi bijaksana.

Aku meminta kekuasaan supaya aku dipuji manusia,
aku diberi ketidak berdayaan supaya aku merasakan kebutuhan akan Tuhan.

Aku meminta segala sesuatu supaya aku menikmati hidup,
aku diberi hidup supaya aku menikmati segala sesuatu.

Aku tidak mendapatkan yang kuminta,
tetapi aku mendapatkan segala yang kuharapkan.

Hampir disamping diriku sendiri,
semua doaku yang tak terucapkan dijawab.

Aku adalah, diantara semua manusia, yang paling diberkati secara melimpah....

"Tentara Sekutu tanpa Nama"

Source: Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul

a Chinese and an American

2007-11-22T07:20:00.000-08:00

A Chinese walks into a bar in America late one night and saw Steven Spielberg. As he is a great fan of his movies, he rushes over to him and asks for his autograph.

Instead of autograph, Spielberg gives him a slap and says, "You Chinese people bombed our Pearl Harbour!! Get outta here!!!"

The astonished Chinese man replied, "It was not the CHinese who bombed your Pearl Harbour. It was the Japanese"

"Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, you're all the same," replied Spielberg.

In return, the Chinese gives Spielberg a slap and says, "You sank the Titanic, my forefathers were on that ship."

Shocked, Spielberg replies, "It was the iceberg that sank the ship. Not me!"

The Chinese replies, "Iceberg, Spielberg, Carlsberg, you're all the same!"

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2007-11-22T06:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone !!!

Finally the day of thanksgiving has come. It's the time to celebrate the blessing we've received from God throughout this year. When it comes to Thanksgiving, my memory always flashed back to 2001 when I celebrated my first western Thanksgiving dinner with my foster family in Nashville, Tennessee, with typical Thanksgiving dinner; a delicious roasted Turkey with its stuffing and gravy, mushed potatoes, accompanied with Pecan pie which all of those were hand-made by my foster parents; the Burgess family. It was so memorable...

Thanksgiving, is always celebrated every Thursday in the fourth week of November. Wikipedia stated that Thanksgiving "is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks, traditionally to God, for the things that one has at the conclusion of the harvest season."
If you live in the States, you will find that the feeling of togetherness as a family, as well as joy in the spirit of thankful are much more felt during Thanksgiving than Christmas.

To be so thankful about the what we've received, we should actually do it every day. Don't just wait until November. Count your blessing every single day, then you will find yourself lucky..and rich..and so blessed. I know it must be very hard to be thankful especially when we are in such a difficult situation. But I must agree with this saying, I can't recall the exact words, but it is more less like this; if you can be so thankful for small things; you are a thankful person.

Be thankful, and be blessed, everyone!!!

a cute little Shirley Temple

2007-11-22T06:51:00.001-08:00

Another Classics

2007-11-22T06:27:00.000-08:00

Talking about classic movies, my most favorite of all time is the cute funny little chubby Shirley Temple. I watched her movies and started to like her since I was in the States, back on 2001. She is just soo cute and so adorable. I keep watching her movies and just can't get over it. She was so amazing for her age.

Below is one of my favorite act, taken from her movie titled Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm . The song is called Come and Get Your Happiness.

Enjoy!!

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2007-11-22T06:11:00.000-08:00

I really like classic movies, especially musical ones. When I say classic, I mean classic. My most favorite one is, of course, Sound of Music. I even have 2 copies of that movie; in VCD and in DVD format... My oh my...

I can't tell you why. I guess my passion in singing and musics draw me near to those movies.
Below I post one of my favorite scene taken from the movie Carousel; a Rodgers and Hammerstein's movie produced in 1956, a classical movie based on a Broadway show.

What I like about the scene is because of the encouraging speech of dr. Selden, and the beautiful song that always is on my mind whenever I felt desperate. The song is called You'll Never Walk Alone.

the Power of Ke--an

2007-11-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

'What the heck is that??' ... I bet there must be a question mark in your mind once you read the title of this blog ... *__* Hehehehehe....
To be honest though, what i'm going to expose in this blog is much easier if I explain it in Bahasa Indonesia. However, I do realize I have to use English so that all my friends regardless of the nationalities, will be able to read through my blog and understand it better ;)

I admit, it's always difficult to learn something new. Especially language. A friend of mine, a Dutch, whom happened to learn Indonesian language, commented that the difficulty in learning Bahasa Indonesia is in the affix [Indo: imbuhan]. Yess... we indeed have affix like -an, -kan, pe-an, ke-an [and many more which I can remember no more ;)], that can cause some complication for those who are not Bahasa-speaking person. An affix, is small but matters.
The power of affix can surprisingly affect the meaning of a word. I give you example of two Indonesia words; benar [means true/correct] and betul [also means true/correct]. When we put the affix of ke-an, then benar becomes kebenaran [means the truth], and betul becomes kebetulan [means accidentally/coincidence].
You see, without ke-an, those words are two different words that shares similar meanings. But when we put the affix ke-an, the meaning is suddenly changed into something totally different one from another.

Those affix are just characters yet it has quite a power to change something. From that explanation above, what i would like to say here is that, we as well can do the same. We too can make some changes if we want.
If you think you are big, then make a change. If you, in the contrary, think that you are just a small player in this huge entire universe, you have to believe that you as well still can make a change.
Just remember, the power of ke--an;
the power of small things...
the power of YOU...

As posted by ' 'PatriCia' ' Waluyan on March 16, 2007 at 03:19 PM in Friendster's blog

Anti-ageing

2007-11-22T05:45:00.000-08:00

"When you look in a mirror, what do yo see?? Do you see a lovely reflection?? A handsome or beautiful face?? Or do you see a plain or unattractive countenance??"

Itu sepenggal kalimat yg sekali waktu pernah aku baca di ..mm.. ntar mikir dulu... mmm..dimana ya??...lupa... Eniwey busway, emang manusia ga pernah bisa lepas dari yg namanya 'penampilan'. Segitu pentingnya sebuah 'penampilan' hingga diciptakan cermin utk mengecek penampilan sewaktu2 diperlukan...
Siapa sih yg pengen jelek?? Siapa sih yg pengen tampil tidak menarik??

Aku jadi inget temenku. Ga mau keliatan jelek di foto. Suaminya cerita, tiap abis foto pasti dicek dulu hasilnya. Walau yg laen keliatan cakep, walau pemandangannya keren abis, tapi klo dia nya keliatan jelek, pasti deh qta2 hrs ucapin bye-bye sama foto tsb... halaahhh jeenggg...jenggg..... *piss dulu ahhh....*

Bottomline is, ga ada satu pun org yg pengen keliatan jelek. Itu sebabnya dimana2 adaaa aja yg namanya usaha-untuk-ngerubah-penampilan; mulai dari operasi plastik, treatment salon, sampe kosmetik2 di pasar yang konon katanya manjur buat menambah rasa percaya diri alias ngerubah penampilan. Mulai dari produk utk menghilangkan kerut wajah, sampe produk susut perut, sagala aya dah pokoknya mah....

Ngomong2 soal produk anti-ageing, pernah memperhatikan suatu fenomena yg menarik ttg sel tubuh qta, ngga? Lucunya, qta ga pernah memperhatikan/menyadari hal ini dgn seksama..*halaahhh...seksama....*
Konon, katanya, tubuh kita ini terdiri dari sel2 yg dapat memperbaharui dirinya sendiri. Fakta ini, jelas kontras banget dgn yg dialamin manusia sehari2. Though our cell are able to renew themselves, yet we are getting older. Kalo emang bener sel tubuh kita dapat memperbaharui dirinya sendiri, kenapa koq kita tetap jadi tua ya??? Our skin has natural ability to regenerate itself, yet we are getting wrinkle as times go by ... Klo emang sel2 tubuh kita memiliki kemampuan alamiah untuk regenerasi, darimana datang nya kerutan???
*aduhh..maap ya bahasa nya campur sari hehehehee... halaahhhh ^__^*

Yg bisa aku simpulin, sel tubuh memang mampu utk memperbaharui dirinya sendiri. tapi ketuaan itu berasal dari kecemasan, kekhawatiran, dan masalah2 hidup lainnya yg dialami oleh manusia. sel bisa muda lagi. tapi ketika pikiran kita berbeban, itu 'memaksa' sel utk 'mematikan' keremajaannya...
iya ga sihh???

kemampuan utk tetap muda, kemampuan utk tetap terlihat menawan, itu pada dasarnya sudah ada dalam diri kita.
tinggal terserah kita utk 'mengasah dan mempertahankan' nya atau malah 'mematikan' nya.

jadi inget sebuah cerita, ketika seseorang meminta Tuhan utk memberinya kebahagiaan, Tuhan menjawab, "aku telah memberimu berkat. utk bahagia, itu terserah padamu"
artinya bahwa kita udah diberkati Tuhan dengan banyak hal. tinggal dari kita apakah bahagia menerimanya atau tidak, mensyukurinya atau tidak. sama seperti fakta soal sel tadi. ditaruh dalam tubuh kita dan diberi kemampuan utk meremajakan dirinya sendiri adalah merupakan berkat buat kita. sekarang tinggal terserah kita, mau tetap awet muda atau membiarkan diri 'terseret' dalam kerut2 ketuaan...

Nothing can dim the beauty that shines from within (rbc.org)

God bless, everyone !!!!!

Disclaimer: this blog is not intended to be a counter-ad of any anti-ageing products ...!!! ^__^

As posted by 'Cia' Elfine on January 25, 2007 at 03:35 AM in Friendster's blog.

Dirgahayu Indonesia

2007-11-22T04:37:00.000-08:00

MERDEKA!!!
Halaahhh.....telaatttt......
ahh, iya gitu???....bodo'....kan masih agustus......hehehehee......

seseorang tiba2 ngirim aku msg via fs nanyain 17an ini ngapain.....
aku jadi bertanya ke diri sendiri...emang harusnya ngapain???? menurut kalian, 17 agustus harusnya ngapain emang??? upacara bendera..???.....balap karung???....manjat pinang???.... ato...?????
kalo aku bisa ngebayangin, rasanya susah buat Indonesia ngerayain Ulang Tahun disaat bangsa sedang digumul banyak masalah;
Gunung Merapi belum selesai..., udah gempa di Jogja.
Gempa Jogja belum selesai, udah banjir di Jawa Timur dan Sulawesi Selatan.
Yang itu belum selesai, udah banjir lagi di Kotamobagu dan Gorontalo.
Banjir belum selesai, muncul lumpur panas di Sidoarjo.
Lumpur belum selesai, udah datang Tsunami di Pangandaran Jawa Barat....

hmmpphhffff........ rasanya bener kata Ebiet G. Ade.... alam sudah bosan bersahabat dengan kita.....
Tapi....ulang tahun ya tetap ulang tahun....
Jadi, se-sulit2-nya Indonesia, harus tetap bersukaria dong... 61 thn gitu looo.... iya ga sih...?? ^__^ ada yg bilang, tua itu kenyataan namun dewasa itu pilihan.
Indonesia 61 thn udah bisa dibilang tua dong ya..... tapi... udah bisa dibilang dewasa ga nihh????
Selama 61 thn kita merdeka, ....ada ga kemajuan kalian rasain?????
Jika bertahun2 sampe skrg gaji kita tetap sama, itu bukan berarti Indonesia lagi dalam masa2 stabil, melainkan kita mengalami kemunduran. Karena nilai gaji kita berkurang value nya seiring dengan inflasi bangsa yang setiap tahun meningkat.
Jika pengetahuan kita dari dulu hingga sekarang segitu2 aja, kita bukan hidup dalam kestabilan pengetahuan, melainkan kita mengalami kemunduran, karena kemajuan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi menuntut kita untuk selalu meng-update pengetahuan kita dengan keadaan zaman. Jika pemahaman kita ttg kemerdekaan adalah kebebasan utk 'teriak2' di jalanan dan keleluasaan utk protes kiri kanan, artinya kita tidak mengalami kemajuan apa2 dalam memaknai arti 'kemerdekaan' yg sesungguhnya...
Merdeka, artinya bukan lagi budak ato hamba, melainkan tuan, bagi diri sendiri.
Tapi, klo kita msh dgn mudah dihasut dan dipengaruhi 'mulut manis' org lain yg mengatasnamakan 'rakyat kecil', artinya kita tetap masih jadi budak dari pikiran2 org lain.

61 thn...ternyata ga cukup waktu buat mendewasakan bangsa.
Contohnya ketika masyarakat berlomba2 menertawakan Nadine....
Sadar ga sih....bahwa yg menertawakan Nadine adalah nadine2 juga....
Nadine benar2 mewakili sosok 'orang Endonesia aseli'....yang 'pede' sekalipun taunya dikit.... Dan respon kita pun, benar2 menggambarkan karakter org Indonesia pada umumnya, yg senang tertawa atas kegagalan org lain.... Apa salahnya dgn bahasa Inggris yg salah?? Knapa harus malu???..Toh, itu bukan bahasanya...bukan bahasa kita....
Org Indonesia tuh kadang2 'nganeh...
merasa Endo klo ngomong pake blanda dikit,
merasa pujangga, klo pake Sansekerta dikit,
merasa pinter, klo pake Inggris dikit...
halaahhh.... dikit aja koq bangga....
Menurutku...(menurutku lho yaa...yg ga setuju jgn marah...^__^), yg hrsnya malu adalah kita2 warga negara Indonesia yg udah ngga bisa lagi berbahasa Indonesia dgn baik dan benar... Malu dong... kan itu adalah bahasa Ibu.

Mari maknai kemerdekaan ini dgn kebebasan utk menjadi dewasa dalam pikiran dan perbuatan.
Jgn biarkan kita diperbudak oleh pikiran2 bulus, negatif, dan prasangka2 buruk....
Jgn pasung pikiran kita.... biarkan dia berkembang ke arah yg lebih baik....
Jgn biarkan kita jadi tawanan,...bukan tawanan perang, melainkan tawanan dari pikiran kita sendiri.
Jgn mau jadi budak.... budak ide dan akal bulus orang lain....
Jgn mau dikendalikan lagi.... Kita punya pikiran sendiri.... dan kita bebas menghasilkan ranum buah2 pikiran kita...

Akhirnya, Happy [belated] birthday Indonesia.... meminjam kalimat musuh bebuyutan Clark di Superman Return, Lex Luthor, "...brain over muscle..."
semoga di usia 61 thn ini... we will use much less muscle and much more brain.... (duhh..maap yaa...ga pake bhs Indonesia....hehehehehe.....)

picture courtesy of Novie Korua (http://noviekorua.multiply.com/photos)

As posted by 'Cia Elfine' Waluyan on August 23, 2006 at 12:27 PM on Friendster's blog

Kode Da Vinci

2007-11-22T04:16:00.000-08:00

Kode si embah dari kampung vinci, alias the Da Vinci Code. Udah baca bukunya???? Seru dong ya.... Malah (menurutku lho!) seruan buku daripada film nya. Emang bener sih kata pepatah, don't judge a book from its movie... hehehehehee......

Buat kebanyakan org Kristen, film ini adl film yg menyebarkan ajaran2 sesat, yg tidak bisa dipertanggunjawabkan kebenarannya, tidak alkitabiah, menginjak2 harga diri org Kristen..dsb..dsb.... Kamu ngerasa gitu ngga??? Terlepas dari apa pendapat orang, aku punya pendapat sendiri soal buku/film ini. Mungkin benar, mungkin pula salah. Mungkin ada yg setuju, mungkin juga ada yang mengsinis-i aku. Terserah. I just wanna share my thought about this story. Believe it or not, agree with it or not, it's all just up to you...

Memang dlm beberapa hal, fakta2 yg ada dalam buku itu benar. Disini aku ga akan bicara soal fakta. Krn jika bicara soal fakta2 paganisme, adat Yahudi zaman dulu ttg pria yg konon ditabukan utk melajang, prajurit Templar, rapat Nicea (=nicaea) di Constantinople, dsb..dsb...maka a whole page of this blog won't be enough to put all the facts and describe it one by one.
Tapi, kalo ditanya where my standpoint is, aku akan bilang aku percaya. Shocked?? Ahh...jangan....krn point ku adlh, aku bukan percaya isi buku itu, tapi aku percaya pada Tuhanku. Itu yg paling penting!!! Mengutip kalimat rasul Paulus utk Timotius "Aku tau kepada siapa aku percaya!!!" Kalau di sampul buku ini tertulis, "buku yang menggoncang iman", hmm... mungkin benar....tapi mungkin juga ngga.
Klo buat aku pribadi, buku ini bukanlah buku yg menggoncang iman org Kristen, tapi buku yg mempertanyakan iman org Kristen; seberapa besar imanmu terhadap Tuhan Yesus Kristus.
Lucu juga sih klo ketemu tman yg nolak nonton film ini krn takut terguncang imannya. Hmmm....berarti dia ga punya keyakinan klo imannya cukup kuat dan tak akan tergoncangkan oleh 'hanya' sebuah film karya hollywood biasa...
Ayolah teman...coba dipikir lagi....masa imanmu gampang berubah hanya karena sebuah buku yg bahkan ditulis oleh seseorang yg dipertanyakan keKristenannya...??!! C'monnn.... Kalau kau tau buku ini mampu meruntuhkan imanmu, berarti kau juga tau bahwa imanmu itu tidak cukup kuat hingga mudah 'terguncang' oleh 'hanya' sebuah buku.. ^__^

Bagian mana sih yg membuatmu gelisah..?? Bagian bahwa Yesus yang ternyata menikahi Maria Magdalena ..????
Klo benar, pertanyaanku adl, so whattt?????...... Tidakkah Dia menjelma menjadi manusia utk turut merasakan penderitaan manusia dalam segala aspek kehidupan???
Well...benar...Yesus menikah ngga pernah tertulis dalam Alkitab. But let me put this way; adakah tertulis dalam Alkitab bahwa Yesus menikah??? Tidak!!!
Now, adakah tertulis dalam Alkitab bahwa Yesus TIDAK menikah???.... Tidak juga kan!!??!!.... So...????
Klo menurut ku, kita percaya bahwa Yesus tidak menikah, karena kita sejak kecil di sekolah minggu 'terbiasa' utk familiar dgn kenyataan bahwa Yesus itu tidak menikah. Coba kalau sejak dari sekolah minggu dulu kita terbiasa dgn cerita bahwa Yesus menikah, pasti pendapat qta ttg davinci code akan lain ceritanya. Bner ga?? Intinya bhw, qta percaya pada suatu pemahaman umum org Kristen yg telah diajarkan sejak turun temurun, bahwa Yesus tidak menikah.

Well, readers, blog ini bukan mempertanyakan benar tidaknya Tuhan Yesus menikah. Ngga! Krn aku juga ngga tau jawabannya. Tapi apapun faktanya itu, so what??? adakah itu mengurangi keajaiban2 yg Dia buat di jaman perjanjian baru dahulu???

Point ku disini;
Dia menikah atau tidak, mujizat2 yang Dia lakukan di masa lalu tetap ada. Dan itu jelas tertulis dalam Alkitab.
Dia menikah atau tidak, aku percaya pada apa yg tertulis dalam Alkitab bahwa Dia lah Jalan, dan Kebenaran, dan Hidup.
Dia menikah atau tidak, tertulis jelas dalam Alkitab bahwa Dia mengorbankan diriNya hingga mati di kayu salib, utk menebus dosaku, dosamu, dosa kita.
Isn't it more important than arguing whether He's married or not??????
Mengapa qta hrs mempertentangkan sesuatu yg tidak tertulis, sedangkan hal2 yg tertulis itu jauh lebih penting utk pembangunan iman percaya kita kepadaNya.... ?!?

Guys, berdirilah teguh dan jangan goyah!!!!....
kalian udah mengalami begitu banyak mujizat, campur tangan, dan pertolongan Tuhan dalam hidup ini. Jgn biarkan sebuah buku menyurutkan imanmu!!!!
Apapun yg kalian dengar tentang Tuhan kita, rasa percaya terhadap Allah kita jauh lebih menentukan dari apapun yg kau dengar dari manusia...!!!
Just remember, He is an Awesome God!!!!.......

God bless, everyone!!!....

As posted by 'Cia' Elfine on July 15, 2006 at 08:57 AM in Friendster's blog

Nikah

2007-11-22T04:07:00.000-08:00

Fiuuhhhh..... Dlm seminggu ini aku dapat 2 kabar pernikahan; kedua2nya dari teman baikku.
hmm... I like the wedding news.... It's always like christmas; joy fills the air...
Tentang pernikahan, especially for those who haven't find their soulmate yet, this is what I like to describe:

Seperti yang pernah kudengar, pernikahan adalah suatu proses kematian; kematian dari satu karakter yang bernama 'Lajang'...
Dalam pernikahan, ngga ada lagi yg namanya aku. Yang ada adalah kami.
Ketika memiliki pasangan, kita tengah berada dalam satu team dimana dia merupakan partner kita dalam menjalani 'life-racing'. Ngga ada lagi yg namanya mikirin diri sendiri. Yang ada adalah bekerja sebagai sebuah team. Yah, team. T-E-A-M. There's no I in a TEAM. Means, ga ada lagi aku dlm sebuah tim. Yg ada adalah kami; aku dan dia. Hmm....sounds scary for those who are self-centered..huh??? ;o) Eittss...ntar dulu....it's not that bad after all...
Emang terbukti koq klo lebih enteng bila segala sesuatu dikerjakan oleh dua dibandingkan oleh satu. Segala sesuatu akan terasa ringan ketika kita mengangkat beban ngga sendirian, tul ngga????
Seperti sebuah kalimat indah yg pernah aku dengar, bahwa manusia seyogyanya adalah malaikat2 bersayap satu. Karenanya dibutuhkan dua orang yg saling berpelukan utk bisa terbang dgn sempurna.

Tapi, klo kmu blum siap utk terbang sebagai sepasang malaikat, don't force yourself to be in it. Just take your time until you are ready. Jgn karena org lain udah pada nikah, kamu jadi buru2 pengen nikah juga. Jangan karena org lain udah berpasang2an, kamu kayak kebakaran jenggot pengen punya juga... It's not the way it's supposed to be... Just wait until you are perfectly ready for it. Jangan terpengaruh omongan orang. Don't bother yourself with what people may say. Bother yourself with when you may actually be ready for that. It's not that bad to be getting married... Hanya, klo belum siap untuk melepaskan karakter yg bernama "LAJANG", dan blum siap utk memikirkan semua sebagai 'kami' dan bukan lagi 'aku', jgn dulu berpikir utk menikah. Everything is perfect in its time. Segala sesuatu indah pada waktunya. Tenang aja...., klo emang udah direncana'in Tuhan, kamu pasti bakal sampai disana... Just, don't push yourself too hard.......
Everything will be ready in such a perfect time....
Enjoy your day, my friends...

As posted by 'Cia Elfine' Waluyan on March 09, 2006 at 07:38 AM in Friendster's blog

Procrastinator

2007-11-22T03:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Blogger(s)...

Ugghhh.....akhirnyaa...selesai juga ujian2kuu... huhuyyy!!!!!!
perasaan gado2 plus nano2 campur jadi satu; senang, lega, capek, lelah, menjadi adonan yg komplit di sebuah tubuh kecil milik seorang Cia...huehehehee... eitt....,entar dulu....tyt aku blm lolos dari irama kehidupan pelajar UT yg mulai terasa upbeat nya. masih ada beberapa tugas yang (akhirnya, setelah melalui proses 'bujukrayu' dengan profesor2 yg baik hati berbudi luhur dan berjiwa ksatria..apaan sehhhh +_+) bisa ku submit setelah ujian selesai. ga bakal keburu klo semuanya diselesaikan sebelum ujian.
tadinya perasaan bete juga, knapa rasanya semua tugas pada 'ngumpul' di saat2 terakhir.. :-/
tapi akhirnya aku mikir..hmmm...It's all my fault.. I was being a procrastinator these past few weeks.... apa sih procrastinator itu??

mnrut kamus bahasa Ibu kita, procrastinator adalah orang yang suka menangguh-nangguhkan pekerjaan.
aku ga tau dgn kalian,...tapi ternyata, setelah narsis (terjemahan bebas: berkaca) pada diri sendiri, aku jadi sadar bahwa sering banget aku jd seorang procrastinator. misalnya, ketika tau deadline lagi jauh dari pelupuk mata (hmmm....), sering bgt aku nunda menyelesaikan tugas... toh masih banyak kesempatan, pikirkuuu.... setelah kesempatan setiap hari semakin menghilang, akhirnya aku yg puyeng dan kelabakan hingga hrs begadang utk menyelesaikan tugas2 yg lama tertunda....
sounds familiar ga sehhh????? ;o)

procrastinator is definitely not the quality that I would like to embrace.
so, spy sembuh dari 'penyakit' yg merugikan ini, sejak beberapa hari yang lalu aku mulai 'mengobati' diri sendiri dengan resep yang aku terima sebagai wangsit setelah menjalani hidup pertapaan di kuil Macandra yang sunyi senyap....^.^ Resep ini pengen aku bagi juga buat kalian, para bloggers, yg (mungkin) punya masalah sama penyakit yang namanya "seneng menunda2 pekerjaan"...;

1. Beli agenda (untung aku udah punya..dapat gratisan dari UT hehehehe..).

2. Tulis setiap tugas, lengkap dengan deadline nya.

3. Mundur beberapa hari dari deadline resmi, jadikan itu deadline pribadi. Mis: Tugas summary, deadline 31/01/2006. Buat deadline pribadi utk tugas tsb, tgl 27/01/06.

4. Tentukan tanggal mulai mengerjakan proyek. Mis: tugas summary, deadline pribadi tgl 27/01/06. summary sdh hrs mulai dikerjakan tgl 24/01/06. So, tulis di bawah kolom aktifitas tgl 24/01; "start doing the summary!!!"

Ketika kita nulis "start doing the summary" artinya ya kita harus mulai mengerjakan summary nya. Mengapa summary mulai dikerjakan beberapa hari sebelum deadline pribadi?? biar qta ga perlu stress berusaha menyelesaikan dlm sehari. disiplin sih disiplin...tapi tetep harus santai juga tohhh???? huehehehehe *.*
nahh....sejauh ini sih, rasanya aku berhasil menanggalkan kualitas procrastinator itu.
mudah2an tips ini berguna ya....
good luck to y'all..

As posted by 'Cia Elfine' Waluyan on February 02, 2006 at 07:17 AM on Friendster's blog

9/11

2007-11-22T03:38:00.000-08:00

As published on my Friendster's blog:

Dear Butterfly Admirer(s)... Hari ini 11 September lagi... Tadi malam Metro TV menyiarkan acara mengenang peristiwa 9/11. Dipaparkan bagaimana cemasnya Bush diatas Air Force One.... Diperlihatkan betapa khawatirnya orang2 disekelilingnya; mulai dari jajaran menteri, sampai staf keamanan biasa seperti pilot helikopter yang membawa Bush dgn Air Force One ke suatu tempat aman di Nebraska (kalo ngga salah inget...)
Intinya, semua khawatir dengan keselamatan, bukan hanya keselamatan diri sendiri, namun juga keselamatan presidennya; keselamatan bangsanya.

11 September 2001..., anganku mulai flash-back dengan keadaan yang terjadi saat itu. Pagi banget kami mahasiswa Indovers yg lagi mencari sekoper ilmu di Atlanta sedang sibuk chit-chat sambil nunggu profesor kami untuk kelas Econometric. Tiba2 alarm bunyi, dan kami disuruh mengosongkan kelas. Seluruh mahasiswa tumpah ruah di taman GSU sambil bingung bertanya what the heck is goin' on...
Akhirnya kami tau bahwa New York tlh 'diserang'. Kami dievakuasi, diminta segera pulang ke rumah masing2, karena ketakutan pemerintah bahwa Atlanta akan menjadi the next target mengingat CNN dan CDC headquarter berlokasi di Atlanta. (Kebayang ngga sih klo seandainya CDC di-bom teroris??? Seluruh kuman penyakit dari berbagai penjuru dunia akan menyebar di seantero Atlanta, bahkan Georgia. Waduhh makk...) Jalanan macet, penuh sesak dengan orang2 dan kendaraan2 yg sibuk lalu lalang bergegas ingin secepatnya tiba di rumah. Kami pun para Indovers ada diantara mereka. Hanya, yang membedakan adalah kecemasan tidak terpancar diwajah kami. Yang ada malah kami sibuk saling motret, dgn alasan biar ada kenang2an foto saat2 amerika krisis 9/11 *halaahhh*. Setiap selesai take picture salah satu dari kami dengan nada guyon berkata, "dasar melayu...!!!"....
Ngga hanya sampe disitu. Perjalanan kami pun end up bukan menuju ke apartemen masing2, melainkan beramai2 menuju Dunwoody, dengan tujuan yg sangat ironis: Shopping....!!!! Oh my God.....

Memang sulit jika rasa memiliki itu ngga ada. Jelas kami menikmati banget keadaan yang jarang terjadi tsb. Kapan lagi kami bisa ngeliat pemandangan seperti ini; kepanikan warga amrik. Toh, kami bukan orang Amerika. Kami hanya mahasiswa international, yang kalo toh worst case applied, kami memiliki jaminan dari embassy dan Usaid untuk memulangkan kami ke Indonesia dgn selamat.
Empati.... ya... empati.... Itu yang kami ngga punya. Rasa empati dengan kesusahan penduduk negeri Paman Sam. Di dunia yang semakin egois dan self-oriented ini, empati merupakan salah satu rasa yang semakin pudar keberadaannya dihati setiap insan yang mengaku manusia berakal budi dan beradab, ciptaan Tuhan termulia di dunia ini.

Sebagaimana otot semakin kuat jika dilatih, maka empati akan semakin mengakar di hati jika selalu digunakan dalam kehidupan bersosialisasi.
Ngga susah sebenarnya. Bisa dimulai dari peduli pada kesusahan keluarga, kemudian berkembang menjadi kepedulian kepada keadaan disekitar rumah. Maka rasa empati itu akan bertumbuh menjadi rasa empati yang lebih besar ruang lingkupnya; terhadap bangsa, negara, dan dunia. Ketika kita punya rasa memiliki, maka kita akan peduli. Ketika kita peduli, maka kita akan berempati. Ketika kita berempati, maka kita akan beraksi. Saat kita beraksi, saat itulah perubahan terjadi.
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give...... (anonymous)

Be blessed, everyone!!!

Posted by 'Cia Elfine' Waluyan on September 11, 2005 at 12:31 AM at Friendster's blog

A little Note

2007-11-22T03:34:00.000-08:00

Dear blogger(s)...

As you may (or may not hehehe) know that I have decided to move my blog from friendster blog to this blog, so I move some of my writings from there to here. I don't move all of it. Instead, I choose some of my favorite writings, and some that received lots of responses.

I hope you enjoy the writings (and pls excuse me that those are in Indonesian languange)

Be blessed, everyone!!!

Mbak Condi...

2006-10-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader(s)...

Few days ago I read something on Yahoo! which the title did catch my attention; "does Condi dates???" well....who doesn't??? *-*
it is, of course, a normal life-rhytm to have dates sometimes (or all the times, for some people??!!??).
what makes this issue significant to be discussed is because the person is Condi; Condoleeza Rice. people would, of course, like to know whether or not she still has time to dates...
hmm... my underlined question is; is this issue important to know?what's so important in knowing that she indeed has dates? is it so miserable if she doesn't?
..well..reader(s)....
memiliki pasangan, pacaran, dan menikah, koq ya sepertinya sudah merupakan 'kewajiban' dlm kehidupan berkomunitas. apalagi di kalangan masyarakat Indonesia, seperti telah terpola pemikiran bahwa hidup itu udah ada 'aturan main' nya; lahir, besar, sekolah, kerja, pacaran, menikah, punya anak, dan mati (??!!!).
having engaged in a relationship or not, it's just a matter of time and of choice. ada yg merasa butuh pacaran, tapi ga punya cukup wkt utk itu; ada pula yg punya cukup wkt utk pacaran, tapi merasa blum butuh pacaran. so, it's all about having priority in life.ada yg menaruh 'pacaran' ato 'menikah' sebagai high priority in life; smntr ada yg merasa karier ato pencapaian lah high priority mrk.again, it's just a matter of choice, and time.whether it is now...or later....the point is that people will somehow be engaged in a relationship. just wait...., until the perfect time does come.
so, does Condi dates??...well...who doesn't???..... ^__^

Be blessed...!!!

New Page!!!

2006-06-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

Beloved bloggers....

It's my first time using this blog facility.
I used to write in my friendster's blog.
It's not because it's out of date or something that I'm now using this media. I just really want to try something new, though...

It's not about following trend or something,
I just want to have a special page where I can put all my thoughts, my dreams, my feelings, and anything that can encourage people who'll read this page.

Well.... I think I might like it here.... *__*

So guys....welcome to this little box of my thoughts.... !!!!
May the magic from words, fill in your heart and mind, and you'll be richer and wiser than before....

Be blessed!!!