Counting Hours to Thailand

I got a bit faint. Seems that I had a lack of sleeping hours. I was supposed to check everything regarding my upcoming travel instead of laying down in the bed, but I felt so tired. I need to sleeping but I can't close my eyes. So, I decided to write this in order to raise my energy and vitalize my spirit. However I can sleep later in the train tonight thou'. OMG, I just remember that I need to read my reading brick on the class of "Cross-Cultural Communication". Yeah, that's RIGHT. I need to. I want to be a BRIGHT SMART STUDENT! I need to.

I dont know why I really want to improve my reading capacity. I need to devote my time to study more, and more. I want to be academically expert. Yeah, first, I have to brush my brain, then fill my stomach. Yeah, I know, what I should do after writing this: taking a shower, praying Ashar, having an early dinner, checking up everything, finishing my very last packing, then reading the material from the class. Then, I will be waiting nicely for a ride who will pick me up and take me to Tugu Train Station.

Counting hours to Tugu, Jakarta, and Thailand. Bismillah.

My Peaceful Neighborhood:))

Actually, I took these pictures to exercise my new camera-pocket.

On today's hot weather, I stood up right in front of my kost to take these views..

left side view

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right in front of my kost :
those far in front of my kost are T-junction & elementary school
"SD Catur Tunggal"

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30 degree right :

'At-Taqwa Mosque'

my daily spiritual call

Magrib & Isya' jamaah prayer

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another right side :

mosque & top light

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Saturday Night with ..-ing

Start with testing..

my new modest camera-pocket, and trying various 'mode's to get a good captured of photoes. So that I can be a good friend of her, so I can take a very good care of her as much as I love her and remembering how much I love money that I spent to get her.

*I hope someday I can afford SLR- camera..

Then, I started to BLOG-ing

It's quite awesome. It's fun to curhating* my stories and putting some pictures on it. It's also a media for me to escape from Facebook.

I continued
by watching two films,
"The Invention of Lying" and "The Time Travelerer's Wife'

Next, I couldn't resist and finally came over to my facebook(again), and started stalking people around.
It's not just such a wasting activity, because afterword,
I found something, a life learned,
that..

"everyone has their own story and destiny"

so, make the best of YOURS!

ps. i am supposed to finish my PACKING, and start LISTING my 'a must' stuffs to bring for my upcoming travel.

Homy Comfy

HOME is where my heart and soul belongs to..

I found comfort and warmth in that place..

I feel love and peace in my every breath..

I escaped from my fear and desparation to search an ultimate strength in home

God guide me with my guardian angel, a pair of parent

who never let me down, and never let me go far from whom I truly belong to, the Almighty

when my heart being so emotional

It's getting so emotional..
I just can't help to blow it up on this blog.
It's burning inside, there a tears almost drop in her eyes, but she could handle it.
When she put a hope so high in the sky,
hoping that they are more friendly and contribute things
just for appreciation, in the name of fairness, quality, and equity
but hope remains disapointment

In her eyes, she knew that those who eloquently speaking is fake
They manipulate for their own interest in the sake of goodness
how come they laughed all the time applaused for their artful

Meanwhile, those who really need support, drawning hurtly
Those who dedicated their heart to be a part of their support
has accepted suffers from the new mechanism
world is indeed unfair,
I never realized it until I met her, today!
a small experience taught lot about this absurd fairnes

Somehow she told me this is manipulative world, full of manipulative beings.
Full of sly people who sell the tricky mouth to get things.
She also showed me not to easily trust people from their appearance.
Although they are really convincing!

Yeah, we indeed need to be cautious!!

Be grateful of your problem, it can be so enlightening in a proper framing

Four thousand rupiah meal
Please guess, what made me happier this evening?? You might didn't get it right. The answer is unpredictable, but that's true. It's because I only spent four thousands rupiah for affording my dinner meal. That really made me happy, especially after I realized that I had no cash money left on my pocket. Thank God. I feed myself for free today due to my official duty. After almost a quarter hour searching for money from everysingle part of my room, my bag, my jacket, and all part, finally I was able to collect five thousand and five hundred rupiahs. Then, I asked Mb. Minah, Ibu kost's maid whether my money enough or not for buying a food. She assured me so. So without any hesitation on 9 p.m. I went walk to buy nasi putih penyetan with a combination of tempe terong and sambel. I went home and reached my room with a wider smile.

Before eating, I prepared my drink by having a big glass of water. Ohh, wow. How great I feel. For the first time, I really enjoyed a glass of water with such a deep satisfaction. At that moment, I think that tempe-terong and sambal are much better than any gudeg, seafood, pizza, fried chicken, lasagna, and other delicious foods. The experience tonight made me realize that I have to be grateful for all I have although with a simple and moderate way. Be grateful, that I was still able to eat something today. Please imagine how many people out there who need to struggle for make a living, even for a bite of nasi. It's such a lesson learned for me that I need to be more thoughtful on managing my money.

I had been through this several last week with what most my friends said as 'hedonism'. Not in the real meaning, but just our interpretation in which we had overwhelmingly fun activities that mostly waste our money, energy, and time to have self-pleasure with a bunch of friends. And then, today I experienced something more, deeper, when I realized that I was lucky enough to have experienced various condition of life.

It' not merely about MONEY

I ever said on my previous blog that it's all about the money. I wrote that post when I am on the condition in the need of money. Money also made me a bit sad this afternoon, especially after realized that this week and the upcoming week I will have many expending budget. I thought and counted so much about it. There are many unpredictable condition that made me think twice, related to budget and many things need to be recognized as important ones. Even, I almost cancelled my gathering in Jakarta wih my ISFIT friends.

I always update my progress with parents, so do today. I almost cancelled all my agenda if it will create more budget. They didn't agree on that matter. All of sudden, I realize that I still have God, place where I have to fully-surrender. So when adzan Isya called me, I anwered the call by having Isya jamaah prayer in Masjid in front of kost, just like I did as usual. What a miracle. I felt lighter afterward, and more relieved. It' s getting much more relieved when I texted my parents talking about my condition, my wrong framing about my problem, and how should i be grateful with everything God given me. Then, my parent said,

"..., you don't need to be sad and overthinking about those stuffs because you still have your parents, dear. When you get home, we can fix the problem and provide what you need at the most"

OMG. That message gradually lighted up my evening. Then, I answered I was not sad anymore since I have a BIG God and BIG parents that I can count on. But the problem actually is due to my thinking that I want to be independent and not bother my parents anymore with this kinda annoying stuffs. But then, I also realized that they are there for me. That's why I really want to be home soon. Soon. I hope so. Soon :))

Today lesson learnt can be read on the title above. I bet you agree on that sentence.

ISFiT 2009 Anniversary

It's almost been a year since February 2009. We want to celebrate our togetherness. Chill out our yearning while remembering what happen on the previous year, especially on the month of February. International Student Festival in Trondheim 2009 united us together. On a lovely city, near the north pole called Trondheim we valued every single activity and experienced everyday's excitement in two weeks festival. Great lecturers, amazing workshop, new friendship, alternative peace-building, unforgettable festival would stand foremost in our life-mosaic.

We designed this rendezvous on the exact month when ISFiT was held a year ago. ISFiTers Go to Plaza Senayan, on Saturday 14 February 2o10. I myself get so excited to see my new friends, my ISFiT 2009 family, and my fellow Indonesian students (though some of them already graduated). I will come along way from Yogyakarta to Jakarta. I hope it will be a great anniversary celebration :)

DREAMs and SKRIPSYalala

Weekend supposedly being a great time to have a spare time to 'pleasure'-ing ourself. That's not applied for some PCs who had a meeting today, talking about our BIG 'DREAM'. The progress seems slow but sure (hopeful). Yeah, we still tried to conceptualize the programs, sponsorship, proposal, recruitment, budget, and so on. Saturday morning-almost afternoon, we met up in front of Office of International Affairs, UGM Main Building, South Wings, second floor. Seriously? in front of the office, since no one of us had a key to open the door.

I myself came a bit later when already found out four of my friends there sat down (*lesehan) and discussed things. We merely dealed with DREAM preparation, but sometimes we also joked, had intermezzo, gossipped, and laughed, at the end. They often laughed at me when spontaneously words came out from my mouth. Most time I didn't understand the reason what being so funny. But it feels so refreshing when they laughed, I laughed, and we all laughed. We really need hillarious atmosphere to entertain our serious world that force us to deal with overload-work, project, and problem. It feels like a brief instant escape from those burdens.

DREAMs. Ough, our big project with a big target. I knew that we can make it since I trusted my friends capacities. But surely we can't work alone. We need a strong teamwork to make it done successfully. We need to FOCUS. But I can't imagine what happens if everyone focused on their other priorities that's more important and related to FUTURE!! "Dear friends, I am sure with your full of ZEST, you can do both, or even more, quite well!!"

People said that 'logic can't work without logistic'. We couldn't agree more on that. Since we're so hungry, we decided to continue our meeting in 'Warung Sederhana' and still discussing about DREAM and also other lighter talk. I had sate padang for my meal. So did Pupu and Timur. Mbak Michelle had nasi padang and ayam, while the original Padang guy, Mas Heru, had nasi padang with rendang and teri. Ehmm. Padang food fulfilled our hunger.

You know what? Today discussion really reminded me of my Dad's advice, about my next SKRIPSYalala. I even heard most my friends said that it was SKRIPS(h)It. They thought that it was like a shit. I myself dont want to say so because if i think so, I am sure it will influence my self-inconsciousness to think so. Then, it will be so. So, I am trying to make it happy, by saying it is my SKRIPSyalala.. Wow, suddenly I also think that it can work as a SKRIPSialalala which has a bad word also (sial). So, I dont want whataver unlucky situation will be. That is why I used (Y) instead of (I) on my 'SKRIPSYalala'

My Dad is right, somehow. He taught me about the importance of preparation. He reminded me that if I want to achieve good things, I have to be prepared. Wise word even said, "Fail to prepared means prepare to failed'. So I gotta watch out. Sooner is better. I better think now when everything is still in calm, not in chaos, not underpressure. Bismillah.

Dentist Night ; A Lesson to Manage My Smile

Dentist Night :

I call 'dentist night' when I have 'a date' with my dentist. I used to 'have a date' two times in a month or once within two weeks. But not anymore right now due to my activity and progress of my teeth. Nowadays I go to dentist about once a month. Always in the weekend. Sometimes my friend, Lanri accompanied me since we have the same problem and need the same treatment. When 'dentist night' came, I drove my motorcycle all the way to Babarsari. It's quite far from my kost. The picture above is the new dentist place. On the second floor.
That's Lanri, my friend who used to accompany me.

A cozy sofa where I used to wait patiently and often made me felt a sleep.

Manage My Smile :

I always tought that I already have a nicely huge smile. But my dentist has another opinion about that. I still face a problem when I smile. She said that I have to control over my smile. In order to have a perfect yet beautiful smile, I have to learn to manage my smile. I need to exercise in front of mirror. That's my dentist suggestion.

Ohh laa laaa..

"Even when I smile, there is a rule."

" If I Had A Wing,.."

I missed the place above. It is one of my favorite places in Ridgewood, New Jersey, on my exchange year program. You can see from the picture, it was taken on 04.12.2006. It was such a peaceful pond to spend hours by hours, searching inspirations, writing poems, and remembering home, remembering my parents while singing alone "If I had a wing.." You might wonder what strange song that is. If you think so, you are not wrong. That song is English version, from my own translation. I transleted one of my favorite song. Here is the lyric " Andaikan aku punya sayap, ku kan terbang jauh mengelilingi angkasa. Kan kuajak ayah bundaku, terbang bersamaku, melihat indahnya dunia.." Yeah, I always sang that song on that beautiful pond. The song is a pray and a hope that someday I will take my parents to various beautiful places in the world. Amieen.

I like biking and going no where without knowing the direction. I did alot in the States. When I told my host Mom that I wanted to bike, she was excitedly showing me a bike that my host sister used to ride. But not anymore since she moved to Connecticut for collage. Thanks alot Mom for your genuine kindness. After getting that bike, almost every weekend I rode a bike to go around the town and discovered something new. What I really amazed is American people really appreciate bikers. They have their own path which is safety and comfy.

Here is the story : I discovered the beautiful pond above on my biking adventure. I called it 'if i had a wing Pond'. On that day, I just kept biking around the Duck Pond area, a famous pond in Ridgewood. I just watched on the bike sign that always guide me. It also told me how many miles I already reached. Then, finally I discovered this place. There was not mouch people there, quite, and so peaceful. Then, I liked to sit down on that bench with my bike position parked and leaned on the bench. I always bring the pink dressy notebook that given by the kids I used to babysit in Child Development Class. Her name is Chloe. If I am not mistaken she gave me on the Halloween Day. Hehe.

I could freeze the times then, especially when I already got inspirations. That's why I always brought sandwitch and bottle of water with me. Almost forget, I also had friends accompanied me. They are mostly birds and ducks. We were already be friended. Then, I would start singing, "If I had a wing.."

This is the lyric of one of my favorite songs..

"Satu-satu daun-daun berguguran tinggalkan tangkainya,

Satu-satu burung kecil beterbangan tinggalkan sarangnya

Jauh, jauh, tinggi ke langit yang biru

Andaikan aku punya sayap

Ku kan terbang jauh mengelilingi angkasa

Kan ku ajak ayah bunda ku

Terbang bersama ku melihat indahnya dunia"

The song flew in to the sky with his own wings, witnessed by the leaves and the birds. Then all universes would answered 'Amiien'. It was my whisper prayer.

SUPPORTING SYSTEM

One of Paolo Coelho's book, titled "The Winner Stands Alone" implies powerful messages to its readers. I wont argue about that. Here, what I want to explore more is about my interpretation to its title; "The Winner Stands Alone". Somehow I dont really agree on that sentences. In my opinian, the winner doesn't stand alone, because he/she has a strong supporting system. I understand that to be a winner, man should have such qualities, such as independence, confidence, persistence, and competence. If those quality wrapped up in one man's body, he/she would likely tend to be more independent and self-reliant.

Supporting system. I got so familiar with this phrase since my Rector gave an inspirational remark in the Office of International Affairs, on the day, I was officially recognized to be one staff working part-time there. I often amazed with this old-grey hair yet wise person I ever known. On most my times spend with him, whether accompanying international 'guest', being notulist in the meeting, having breakfast and coffebreak together (off course in my capacity as Program Coordinator and younger generation), and another special moment, I always being so inspired and motivated.

Okay, I will focus on my title on this blog. Because talking about my Rector figure will take pages and pages. Just stay tuned, I will write my experience 'working' with him later on. I understand that there are many wrong judgment from those who don't know him quite well, especially those who's opposing his public (read:university) policies.

Back to 'supporting system'. Rector once said that we have to work effectively by building a strong supporting system that synergize each others position. By doing so, we can work paralelly and efficiently. I really agree on that. Supporting system means alot in working environment. It will create a positive and healthy working atmosphere that will bring person in more productive way of working. It also means that we have to appreciate, support, and strengthen each others potentials.

My curiousity asked me to use search engine with key words 'supporting system'. There is no exact definition or link related to what I really want. That term is merely best described in business-technology and life organism. For example, I found 'Life Support System' in Wikipedia pages that said:

In human spaceflight, the life support system is a group of devices that allow a human being to survive in outer space. NASA often uses the phrase Environmental Control and Life Support System or the acronym ECLSS when describing these systems for its human spaceflight missions. The life support system may supply air, water and food. It must also maintain the correct body temperature, an acceptable pressure on the body and deal with the body's waste products. Shielding against harmful external influences such as radiation and micro-meteorites may also be necessary. Components of the life support system are life-critical and are designed and constructed using safety engineering techniques .

I also found the definition of "Decision Support System" from Wikipedia as well, which constitute a class of computer-based information systems including knowledge-based systems that support decision-making activities.

So, based on my finding from search engine, the term are far from my interpretation. If I may conclude, there are similarity of the two-"life support system" and "decision support system". First, consist of more than two elements. Second, sophisticated yet complicated. Third, yah, that'all I thought so far.

Supporting System on My Own Word

I define supporting system as a basic foundation to be success. I think that success can be easily achieved by those who has a strong supporting system. From the definition of system, we understand that it is a set of various components working and supporting each others to achieve one mission or one goal. I myself identify supporting system could be tangible and intangible elements.

From tangible elements, I will say (for example): full support from parents, supportive friends, trusted colleagues, our network, facilities we invent, and so on.. Intangible elements could be our experiences, attitude, strength, positive minds, healthy lifestyle, etc.

If those elements work together and synergize each others, I am positively sure that we can achieve what we define as a success. So, starting from this moments, Let us build a strong supporting system, and we have to be supportive as well to be one element of others supporting system.

Good luck everybody!

image : blogs.sitepointstatic.com/images...stem.jpg

INDONESIA on her eyes: "democracy, modernity, and gender empowerment"

Dear readers,

Maybe you wonder why I put the picture of a woman with black blouse, beatiful smile, strong eyes, and using eye-glasses on the left side of my post. There for a reason.

She is one powerful lady in this country. Recently she is holding a high position in Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Directorte General of America and Europe Affairs. She is the alumni from the same department as mine, International Relations Department, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Bu Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi, we used to call it, Bu Retno, in short. Bu Retno-Deplu more spesifically, because UGM has two prominent ladies whose name is Retno. The other one is UGM Senior Vice Rector for Academic, Research and Community Service (WRS P3M), Prof. Dr. Retno Sunarminingsih, M.Sc., Apt, who happened to be a wife of Bambang Sudibyo, our previous Indonesian Minister of Education.

Firstly I heard the name of Bu Retno Deplu was from my International Law lecturer, Mr. US who used to talked much about his various activities and his networks, including his good relation with with her. He further said that he still stayed in touch by text messaging her. Then, I started to know her more whan I was accepted to attend international event in Norway. I searched with Mr. Google to find out the Indonesian Ambassador for Norway, and surprissingly her name was appeared many times in the results, Retno LP Marsudy, Indonesian Ambassador to Norway. I got so excited then, since I knew that she is UGM alumni so I thought it would be easier to approach her for helping my coming to Norway.

Until finally, my friend from Universitas Indonesia who's also got accepted in International Student Festival in Trondheim, Norway told me that Bu Retno didn't work there anymore. She knew her very well because Bu Retno is a mother of her (ex) boyfriend. Oh, I see:)

Then, I finally met her in person when she visited UGM in the occasion of the Rector meeting with the US Ambassador and White House envoy to Indonesia. The meeting was uphold regarding the plan of Obama visit to Indonesia, in the month of March, including the plan to visit UGM.

I can see that H.E. Cameron Hume, US Ambassador to Indonesia is likely keen on visiting Yogyakarta and UGM, especially. This is the second visit of him. The first one is when the US Higher Educators visited Indonesia last November, if I am not mistaken. The purpose of all the meeting whether with US Higher Educators, US AMbassador, and White House envoy are basically the same. They want to strengthen the cooperation and relations with UGM, as one oldest and biggest university in Indonesia.

What I want to say in this post as you can read from the title, I was impressed with Bu Retno thought and principle that she shared in a small discussion with the Head of OIA, the Deputy of OIA, PCs, and friends. I got so many insights which was beneficial from my self-improvement. Her sentences that I remember the most are about :
First, we have to start knowing 'WHAT WE REALLY WANT'. We often reject things without understanding what we really want. I thought that's a typical of woman. I think. Hehe. Second is about INDONESIA, as a country with the largest moslem population in the world, Indonesia is famous of being a moderate contry. She underlined that, "If you see Indonesia, you see democracy, modernity, and gender empowerment".

That's being so unique about Indonesia.

image 1 : www.detiknews.com/images/content...rop2.jpg

image 2 : mystockvoice.files.wordpress.com

DOs and DONTs

I started today with such a lost, disappointed feeling. But I tried to wake up and make the best effort to create a better day. I woke up, breathed deeply, and released my worrisome about my previouse bad. I often missed the moment of morning surrender recently. There is such a deep hollowness afterwards. But it's a worthed lesson learned.

All of sudden, I looked to my white board that used to be a weekly planner hang on the wall. I never used it since I had my cuty notebook planner. After a few moment of silent, I caught a brilliant idea. I grabbed my black boardmarker, then drawed a thin line to divide that board to be two parts. On the right side, I wrote a big DOs and the left one said DON'Ts. After that, I listed what I should DOs and what I should avoid (DONTs). It was just surprissing knowing that I am on trouble recently, especially due to time mismanagement that caused a long cycle of life mismanagement.

Morning 'til afternoon. I struggled with my fundrising proposal. Printing, copying, editing are not really special task since I always had done with them. After all finished, I headed to campus. First, I went to my IR department office. From a distance, I saw a crowd of people gathered in the lobby. They are IR student class 2006 fighting for their undergraduate thesis. After saying hello, smiling, and having a little conversation with them, I straight came inside the office. Fortunately, I met Mrs. RTN whom I had been searching for since the previous week. Thanks God, she already understood my intention to meet her. Without need to explain more, she answered my big question mark in my head.

In the beginning she asked forgiving for not grading yet my termpaper (as my 'susulan' exam). That is not a real big deal for me. I am still quite optimistic that I will get a good grade thou. My main intention actually is about asking for my department financial contribution due to my upcoming-2 weeks-program in Thailand which is just around the corner. Hell, yeah, I got dissapointed that my department rejected my proposal. Based on Mrs. RTN answer, my department just made a policy about 'financial contribution' to the international events. It's kind of pathetic that my department cut out the funding because I have already experienced international event. So, IR department only let the fresh students having no international experience to use their money. Huff. If that's the criteria, I must be eliminated since the first round:(

My mission is not accomplished. But somehow I am still optimistic. My next destination is Mandiri Bank. I had to pay my school tuition today. If not doing it soon, there would be various consequences. Let say, I might have no money left on my pocket in the end and I was threatened not able to fill my KRS. So, better to do it sooner.

Another meeting was setted up after finishing a bank transer to Rector account. I had to meet my Vice Dean of Student Affairs in my faculty. I had to wait for her about a quarter hour. I felt a little bit relieved since she promised me to give a financial support. She didn't decide yet since she have to review my proposal. She said almost the same things with my previous meeting in my department, about the lack of faculty budget, a massive MUN conference, and the idea of internazionalization.

Today, I dealed with the negotiation as part of the art of begging. Let's see whether it succeed or not. After done with my fundrising mission I had to go to my office, Office of International Affairs. There, we had done a half of selection process of recruiting new PCs who will be our new partners soon. Today like usual I chatted and laughed in the same time I worked in the office. This is a pleasure, and I enjoyed. Thanks to Pupu who gave me a nice 'gantungan kunci' of Singapore where she just visited this weekend.

Minutes by minutes passed slowly because I had nothing to do. So, when mbak Icha asked for outing to have a lunch, I undoubtfully agreed. Mas Timur then wanted to join with us. We decided to go to Pizza Hut. It was great pick bacause I really wanted to go that place since last night.

Always being so special and recharging moment to spend with good friends. We ordered 'sensasi delight 4' and a very sweet ice cream. We eated alot. We talked alot. We laugh loud. We are happy to be in today. We are happy to be together, in laughter, overcoming our hunger.

Thanks God for everything. You are still The Greatest. Thanks for this breathing, this disapointment, this friendship, and the day you blessed me with a smile of the sun. What a beautiful today is!

I promised to be better tomorrow. Doing those DOs and avoiding those DONT's!!

Hide and Seek

We are so free and happy when we are a child. Playing "hide and seek" in the ground, without worries and prejudice to others. As we grew older, we tend to hide and seek things in more complicated world. We are not a child anymore but we always seek those happiness and freedom like we had in our childhood. Off course, with different point of view and committed to such an integrated responsibility. As adults, we (still) hide things as well. Our limitation, secrecy, problem, and any other stuffs.

Basically, our life consists of hide and seek activity. So, let's play hide and seek! Let's celebrate a season of freedom and happiness with maximum integrity, integrated responsibility, and positive capacity.