Friday, March 25, 2011

picnic time!

Today is just a perfect day for picnic! fortunately, Chandra and I decided to go this park in Boon Lay. Although it was very hot and sunny, I had great time listening to music, chilling, karaoke-ing, and taking good pictures.


Look at the bright sky! The clouds are just irresistible!


Yeah, unlike us who had nothing to do, people there were trying to fly their kites. I envied them for having kites to play with :p
Definitely have to fly one before going back to Indonesia.


And there was this couple who were playing kites under the sun, holding each other, very sweet!
I want to use this idea for my pre-wed photoshoot :p hehehehe


And there were us, who were totally doing nothing :p


bookworms


I have no idea of any ghost in me today, but I just bought all of the books above. Going to be bookworms soon. Hahahaha

PS. Problem is, how am I going to bring it back home? :(

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

a real getaway



Ripley's Believe It or Not @ Genting Highland
>> Exploring the foggy and raining afternoon.


Hot Air Balloon Festival @ Putrajaya
>> even though at the end we did not have the chance to see the balloon due to the unfriendly weather, it was such awesome day with Mariska Adriani :)




A great view @ Little Genting
>> the unbelievable view of Kuala Lumpur, I did not know they have such place in the capital city!



Portuguese Village @ Malacca
>> Malacca was a wonderful place, full of historical stories about Portuguese regime in the past. Exotic.



East Coast Park @ Singapore
>> Beautiful getaway : the beach, the moon, the sand castles, the moment.



Art, Design, and Media Building @ NTU
>> We could never take our eyes off of it.



Lasalle College of Arts @ Little India
>> Koi Bubble Tea and the synthetic grass are just the perfect match for lazy day :p



Maxwell Food Center @ Chinatown
>> The stomach could not just wait.



Sentosa Boardwalk @ Vivo City
>> The epilogue for the night.





again, special thanks to Kristanto Adrian, Mariska Adriani, Chandra Jinata.




Thank you dude!

Recess week was just a blessing in disguise. After all hard stuffs I have faced during the last two months, recess week was definitely the day I have been waiting for. Thankfully, it was such an amazing trip, although was not initiated very well (I forgot my passport on the day I had to go overseas and needed to go back to my room - it took me 4 hours to do so - plus my cellphone was not working after I arrived at Malaysia that I couldn't contact my friend at all).

At the end of the day, it was fantastic. I had such a great time there. And it was all because of the one and only, Kristanto Adrian :) So yeah, special thanks to him who made my days in Malaysia. You are just so nice that I could not find any word to describe how graceful you are :D
Silly, but cute in your own way hehehe :D


Thank you, Gendut! Can't wait to see you soon!!



P.S. : This photo was taken in Lasalle College of Arts, Singapore - yeah, Kris came with me to Singapore and spent several days here - SO FUN :D

great books to read

here, every time I was free, I took the chance to read books. the books listed below were just few of great books that touched my heart.








"But there is a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the story are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begins."


____________________________________________






"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered of the search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second encounter with God and with eternity."

Saturday, March 5, 2011

let me in

Bring me a lily and one loaf of bread
Take me home now
I can't forget any words that you've said
But they're gone now
Trying my best to keep up with your pace
But you're too fast
Trying my best to get off of this fence
For I won't last

Maybe we can try to be better this time
Maybe we can try to be better this time
I'm just a speckle of dust
In this gigantic world now
And I'm going only where the wind will take me
Bring me down now

And my smiles turn to tears
And I'm facing my fears
Can't you see me
Trying my best to reach out for your hand
You won't let me in
And I've done what I can
You keep changing your plans
Do you need me

Maybe we can try to be better this time
Maybe we can try to be better this time

So let me in
Let me in
Let me in
Let me in
Let me...

Friday, March 4, 2011

what a day with new mates :)

It was a doubtful Thursday. We all had gathered in Canteen A, planning to go to Ubin Island for our group experiential learning, but suddenly needed to change our plan due to the weather forecast that day. Yes, the forecast said it was going to rain, with 50/50 % chance of raining. Did not want to be caught in the rain while strolling over the island, we decided to find other places to go.


The final decision was made, after several yes(s) and no(s), it went to Underwater World in Sentosa, a place where we could see the marine life of tropical island like Singapore. We took 2 cabs to reach the place and got there by 3 pm. The clouds were a bit dark, therefore we felt relieved taking a decision not to go to Ubin Island. We bought the tickets and entered the Underwater World just then.


It was very full of people that day since most of them were with big groups. The very first thing caught our attention (and the other's attention) was the stingray pond as you could touch the stingray and feel their skin with your hands. There were many different types of stingrays. The one with the dots, the one which was jumbo, the gray one, the small one, so many stingrays. Most of our group members, especially those from Norway, they were so excited putting their hands in the water since it was so rare to find those kind of animals back in their home country. Anne, the "beach girl", and Oistein were so happy when the stingray approached them, even when those stingrays splashed water to them, they still insisted to stay. So funny.


I was not that excited since I have already saw many of tropical marine animals back home, in Indonesia. We had millions of animals since we had bigger seas with their rich natural resources. We had not only animals, but also coral reefs and marine plantation plus planktons. Hence, those scenes were "so-so" for me. However, I did not want to disappoint myself for spending $23 dollars getting inside, thus I tried to cherish every moment, looking for something I had never seen in my country.


There were sharks, crabs, jellyfishes, octopus, and many more. All of them were kept in tanks, with similar condition as their homes in wild nature. The one captured me was the sea angel, a very tiny and small creature, lived in Arctic Ocean, for it looked like a transparent butterfly, but instead of flying, they were swimming. I had never seen or known them before. The other one was the shark embryos. There was a tank where we could see the growing stages of shark embryos, and it was so amazing as I never had the chance to see them ever in my life.


The trip to Underwater World could have been just a trip until I started to think about this. I thought about God, about how He created all of those beautiful creatures, with all of the differences, complexity, and uniqueness. It was just so unbelievable and wonderful that it made me speechless. Unconsciously, I began to feel even closer with Him, only though the trip. But this one was a very personal issue that I should reflect more on my own. The other thing to reflect was surely a different thing. It was supposed to be something about our group. Eventually, after saying goodbye to all those sharks and stingrays, we went to Food Republic at Vivo City.


The food there was just attractive. Many kinds of food coming from different countries were put in the stalls. The smell made it impossible for us to miss the chance eating there. We tagged seats and began to explore every food available. It took us about 30 minutes to finally decide what food we were going to take. There, I found out that our friend, Anine, she always stayed safe, meaning that she always picked the same food she knew and felt hesitated to taste a new one. I suggester her many food, but she ended up eating something she had before, which was dumplings. No offense, Anine :)


On the table, we chatted about many interesting things. School, work, family, or even love life! It was so funny when Jimmy asked Oistein whether Norwegian girls would like to date Asian guys. All of us were burst into laugh. Then Oistein explained how height differences was one of the reason why Norwegian girls would prefer someone from their own countries or at least region. Things like this would definitely be something we remember from that evening. Anine, Marnix, and I were also sharing about our languages differences, that Norway had 3 different characters that were not in Latin word list - something I just figured out that day.


From that moment, I earned many new insights about their cultures, something that I have never guessed or even noticed. There was this gap, between Western and Eastern countries that was very distinctive. They were very liberal, they emphasized individualism, whereas we from Eastern part of the world emphasized more on collectivism. Anine, she was so independent, compared to girls from my country for example. She left her house by 18 and lived on her own ever since. Marnix, he now was living in his apartment back in Amsterdam. They felt fine with that. It was something ordinary while it could be considered brave in Indonesia as very few of us did that. And there were lots of differences I could not tell one by one. One thing for sure was that I opened my eyes by talking to them. I gained something precious with this experiential learning, something that many of our students might not get back home.


Chatting personally really taught you something. The group experiential learning was indeed essential for our group performance in the future. We got the chance to know the person better, much much better through this outing. I started to know that Marnix was very nosy. He liked to tease me and make jokes to get us laugh. Jimmy, he liked to sing as he would sing anytime, anywhere, especially when he got nothing to do (he sang in the escalator and bus!). Hans, he got worried very easily. He would not feel relieved unless he was sure he got everything under control. Oistein, he simply called his friend after he took pictures with 3 snakes covering his neck. And Ann, she loved to take pictures with snakes, she even initiated the first move! Marnix and Oistein followed her afterwards. Anine, she would never stop smiling.


Although we did not experience cycling activities in Ubin Island as we eagerly planned before, that time I felt so happy. I really liked my group. I really like the accompanies. I could not wait for another outing session with them. I bet it is going to be more fun! Especially after doing our project together : the movie (too bad, it is coming soon!). At the end, we had to separate on the way home because the Norway had to buy some groceries before going home. Then, Marnix, Jimmy, Hans, and I went home by MRT, having another chit-chat time there until the time had to separate us physically (psychologically, we were binded already :p)


All in all, I gained the CQ knowledge that day by learning many new knowledges from various cultures. I developed my CQ action, specifically the verbal speech, as I talked with them. The CQ drive is the one that motivates us go along and spend time together. Last but not least, as I checked and reflected on what we did, I also improved my CQ strategy.


PS : It was not raining in Ubin Island that day.


Gadis

learning from the root


It is amazing how we can learn from those who are less fortunate than us. At least, that is how I stare back at the lesson I got from my experiences with them, intellectually disabled, whom I have taken care for 5 weeks now.

...

A rather cloudy evening it was, on last Saturday, when we had our outing session with them. We went to Sentosa and played by the beach. Many games were held, generating laugh and happiness from all of them.

The point that astonished me was when they were given one piece of paper each, plus coloring pencils. Free to draw anything they liked.

Sharen, my trainee, drew the beach with its shallow water and coconut trees. She even drew me and other trainers as well. What an honor to be drawn by her..

Chen Sze, the other trainee, she drew tree with flowers, one person, one house, sun and the clouds.

Fu Yen, she made a beautiful view of the sky.

Up to one extent, their drawings were just drawings - everyone could make the exactly same things, even better. But that was not the point.
It began to extremely different drawings when they started to color it.

They painted the sun with pink color, the trees with blue, the sky with green, the woman with red, the stars with purple, and all.
People might think that was crazy, but developed no worries since they were intellectually disabled. But hey, there was a hidden gem out of it.

I started to think, how wonderful life would be, when we can do the same, just like them.
How wonderful life is, when we can free our thoughts, let it fly, be brave, and start to imagine something different, something extraordinary.
Thinking outside the box, where we can see how pink sun is, how blue the tree is, how green the sky is, or even how red we are, women.

They let their minds played when sometimes we did not. We were too scared of dreaming. Too scared of imagining things. Too hesitate to explore something new. We were set, in the perception of how ideal world is. A perception that sometimes misguide us in appreciating life.

Why can't the sky be green? Why can't the trees be yellow?
We can be purple too, if we want to.


See how we can obtain something good, when we try our best to look at a contrast perspective?



Maybe, this is the time for you, to pursue your personal legend, like what Paulo Coelho said in The Alchemist :)