Just for the sake of posting

Today, it really feels like I'm finally done with UMD. Why? Because today I finally return my office keys to the department. And as I walked back to the bus stop, I decided to take the long way. Passing some classrooms that I've taught in or took class at. Most of them are locked since it's summer, so I mostly just peaked through the window. There was one auditorium class that I really liked but the classroom was totally dark and I couldn't see a thing. Then I passed the corridor that was closed mostly through last year because of renovation. It was finally done and it looked great. Kinda looked out of place though...

And I also took a picture of the big chewing gum machine in front of the cafeteria that I walk by every time I enter or leave campus. I rarely see anybody putting a coin through it. I wonder if they've refilled it since it was first 'planted' there...

And finally here is where I get off the bus every morning (I mean mornings when I have to be on campus ^-^).

Common sense? Apparently not!

Paying for my groceries at the register counter, I was focusing on the register machine to make sure all the discounts were accounted for and if the prices made sense. Then as I picked up my groceries bags, there was one which had a case of eggs under a container of oxyclean and a handsoap. Lucky I looked!

I thought everyone knows that food should be separated from any chemical product. Especially food which are not sealed like eggs... Especially someone working at a grocery store... Mbak mbak, waktu di training sambil mikirin apaan ya?

Curiosity

In church today, I notice a very curious little girl. She's probably around 4 years old. On the pews of my church, there are clippers to hold envelopes for visitors to donate to the church. This little girl pulled out an envelope and played with it.

After a while, she decided to put the envelope back on to the clipper. However, she didn't know that it was a clipper so she tried to slide the envelope in. She tried and tried with no success. Amazingly, she just won't stop trying. Then very cleverly, she open the envelope so it would be thinner. Cute! But still, she didn't succeed. Then, she figured out that she need to make a gap for the envelope to be able to fit in. So she tried pulling the clipper. But the clipper stayed resilient.

Finally, she asked for her mother to help. Her mom also didn't know it was a clipper. But only about 3 seconds, she figured out where to push and opened the clipper. And with that, the envelope was back where it belonged.

The little girl was determined to do it herself. So she pulled the envelope again, and tried to figure out how to open the clipper. When she succeeded, I wonder how she must have felt. Must be really happy cause she repeated pulling the envelope and putting it back several time.

Congratulations, little girl. You've learned something new today! :)

Warning!!!

Warning!!!
Originally uploaded by .:: çë©!Ŀΐα ::.

Warning sign picture taken at MSP airport, May 2007.

The sign reads:

"Passengers are advised that the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has determined that Bandara Ngurah Rai International Airport, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia does not maintain and administer effective aviation security measures."

Oh Tidak...

Masih tentang website DikmentiDKI..., kali ini serius deh, klik link yg baru saya kasih. Silakan ngakak sepuas-puasnya.

Secuplik paragraf...:

Keeping abreast of education world of that's everyday in correct readinging by head On Duty DIKMENTI Provinsi DKI Jakarta, either through kliping of through Newspaper of and also news of through media Internet . Do not seldom Bang Margani ( Chummy Greeting ) often stir to collect info education world , and surely library do not be overcome . Such as those which in tracing by Editor dikmentidki.go.id

Aduh... malu!!!

Jadi pengen sukarela menawarkan jasa penterjemah...

Bahasa Gado-Gado

Tiba2 aja penasaran sama peringkat SMU di Jakarta.

Browsing, nyampe di http://www.dikmentidki.go.id/.

Daftar berita ditulis dalam format Judul, Tanggal terbit.

Bahasa pengantarnya bisa pilih, Indonesia atau English.

Lucunya, ... ah susah dijelaskan pake kata2. Mending langsung kasih contoh konkrit:

Bahasa Daerah Terancam Punah, Tanggal 23 May 2007

Hehe... mungkin saya yang ketinggalan jaman, Mei dah gak in, lebih keren May. (gak tahan pengen nyindir :P)

Pengen ngasih tau, tapi gak penting deh. Ya sudah lah.

The West has Mickey Mouse, The East has Doraemon!

Well, it belongs to the Japanese, but it can represent the East, can't it?

Doraemon is that one show I've been watching since I was little and still love till now. Every Sunday morning, exactly 8 am, the TV in my house would be on. Since we had to leave the house by 9 am for Church every Sunday, our parents made a rule that the TV can't be turned on before we're ready for Church. So my sister and I would gladly wake up by 7, take a shower, dress up. Then, eat our breakfast while watching Doraemon.

And then a few days ago, I found the I can watch the show online. Listening to the opening song was so nostalgic. :) Also, it turns out that in Japan, there's a Doraemon movie every year. I've seen a couple and they're all good! Here's the trailer for this year's movie:

Dear Diary...

Today I turned twenty four. Not quite a quarter of century yet, but I'm getting there. Life achievement? I don't think I have anything worth mentioning... heck, nothing even comes to mind! I'll be doing an interview with a big time company in two weeks so I guess that's one. I mean, just being considered as a candidate satisfied me already. I just hope I wouldn't screw up so bad. So anyone out there, if you have a slot in your prayer list, I would like to enlist for the spot if that's okay with you. :)

How did today went? I guess not too bad. I didn't tell anyone today's my birthday because for me it's not that special. But then some friends congratulate me and ask if I had any plans. When I told them I would only attend class and then go home, they said, Kasian deh lo! For lack of a better translation, "That's so sad!" And a couple of that triggered my feeling of loneliness and self-pity for the rest of the day. Moreover, I got a nasty paper cut on my left ring finger. That's always a day-wrecker.

But then I got a call from a friend and we chatted a while. Made my day a bit. Then another call from my dear sister Pei made it even better. After my last class, my friend asked if I wanted to have supper together in the cafeteria. So I decided to tell her that it's my birthday and we decided to go out for dinner before coming back to watch a student opera performance on campus. While watching the show, another friend called and left a message. I called him back after I got back home but couldn't get through so I just left him my gratitude for his call. Because by the time I saw him calling, I was already feeling that my birthday wasn't so bad after all. Then, when I got home, my two best friends were online so we chatted and talked about random things. Oh how I miss those gals.

So, even without a plan, I can still have a happy birthday. So have faith, however it is that your day started, don't let it bring you down cause you never know! It might turn out to be a good day after all.

April Shower Snow

Another Global Warming phenomenon? Could be. This year's weather have been absurd. It was raining in November and today we have snow shower in April. It definitely shocked everyone.

Finally, an update. I've been really busy since this weekend; doing my taxes, homework, presentation preparation, and a phone interview! It's my fault I got to this state of chaos. I could have finish my taxes a while ago. And one of my homework was assigned before Spring Break. But when the due dates are far in the future, I just don't get enough motivation to do the tasks I had. Should've, could've, would've. It's always been my weakness. A really bad habit that's hard to throw away...

Back from Spring Break

Yeah, my spring break has ended. Puas, fel? It was a great vacation, one of the best I've had since this is the first time I'm traveling alone. Although I went to a place where I know a few people. It feels so good when you walk out from an airport and have people welcome you, doesn't it?

God had been good to me this past week. The forecast said it was going to be cloudy and rainy but we had some good sunny days during my stay in Seattle. I even went up the Space Needle on a clear and sunny day. Although it was a little bit chilly because of the wind, it didn't matter. I also gained a new friend. Since my cousin can't get off work, her friend became sort of my tour guide around the city. Thanks, for that, Mark!

Few of the pictures I took are up on Flickr. I'll add more when I'm not feeling lazy... :P

Now, a pretty good personality quiz!

My aura is...
red
Red has come to be associated with extreme emotions like passion and anger. And indeed, people with a red aura often experience love and rage more strongly than others on the aura spectrum. Although they do have strong personalities, reds aren't just great balls of fire. They usually find a way to channel their feelings and express them physically. They tend to be extremely grounded in the body and prefer to work with their hands. They get a lot of satisfaction from completing tasks with tangible results--building sets for the school play, moving furniture around a room or fixing a car, for example. As you can imagine, these down-to-earth types value action over thought or abstract ideas.

What color is your aura?

The description is somewhat me, but I can't believe that my personality is symbolized by such a bold color. ^0^

Dreams, Spring Break, etc

Spring break has finally arrived, which means that I really need to be working hard finishing my project. But that can wait after spring break! *grin*

I'm gonna spend my week in Seattle. After a long time wanting to see what Seattle looks like, I will finally have it. This is because my cousin has been bragging about how great Seattle is ever since her first stay in that rainy city 8 or 9 years ago. So I have really high expectation for this vacation. I even got too excited that I thought I'm leaving this morning. Luckily I called my cousin and she corrected me, letting me know that I'm supposed to get to Seattle TOMORROW!! haha...

So today, I went window shopping at the mall with Natasha. Or, shopping for Natasha, window shopping for me. hehe... I only got a body butter at Bath and Body for my overly dry skin caused by the very dry weather of Minnesota. Mainly because I don't find anything good to buy and also I'm thinking I should wait till I get to Seattle and spend my money there.

A few days ago I had a premonition-like dream. So, Natasha called at about 7.30 am which woke me up. But I was still very sleepy, so I didn't pick up the phone and just continue sleeping. This is when I start dreaming. I dreamed that I picked up the phone and had a chat with Natasha. I don't remember if we had any meaningful conversation but the 1 sentence that stick with me was Natasha telling me that the next day was going to be her birthday. ~The End~

Short and unimportant. But then in the afternoon I called Natasha after I got to school to return her call. And we talked about our break plans. Since I'm not going to be in Duluth, she said we should arrange to get together after the break because *drumrolls* it IS her birthday on the 18th. I can't believe what I heard!! I thought it was so amazing that I have to share it here.

Seattle, here I come!

Today

Snow Pictures

So yesterday, I still couldn't believe I'd have a day off today because of the weather. So I set up my alarm clock like usual at 7.45 am. When the alarm went off, I immediately call the school's Snow Advisory Hotline. And it's true, school's close today. I planned to get back to sleep. But I guess I was to excited knowing I won't have to go to school today that I'm fully awake! Funny, when I HAVE to go to school, I would snooze my alarm clock over and over, but when I don't have to, I can't get back to sleep... :P

So I decided to take some pictures of the snow. I don't want to get outside yet since I don't want to dip my leg in the snow and wet myself. (my landlord is probably feeling too cold to shovel the snow ^-^)

Snow Hill behind my apartment building.

Front door.
Someone just walked in before I took the picture so you can kinda see how high the snow accumulated last night.

A closer look on the trace the opened door left behind.

White all over!!
That is a couple of staircase down, covered with snow. The pole in the middle is the railing.

Icing on Duluth :D

Winter Storm

So, after having a very dry winter, Duluth got its share of snow. It's like all the snow that supposed to fall for the past 3 months decided to fall this week. Aside from the blizzard-like strong winds, I don't mind having lots of snow. The sight of everything covered with the white snow is very pretty. I was going to take some pictures today when I realized how dead my camera's battery was. :P

Oh well, maybe tomorrow if the wind is not too strong. Anyway, because of this strong wind since this afternoon, UMD is closed since 2pm today and the whole day tomorrow. Meaning:

1. long weekend ~ yay!
2. a couple of extra days before I gotta do my project presentation ~ yay! yay!

Here's a cute clip for Panda Lovers:

Ocha ♥ Dany, wish you all the best!!

I was chatting with my friend and she reminded me that tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. That reminds me. The day after tomorrow, my closest childhood friend is going to be married!!

This isn't a new news for me. I've known it since last year when she first told me she was engaged. But the reality of the real thing happening in less than a day, that makes me think if my turn would one day come....

Celebrate the Pig Year ~\\(^o^)//~

Happy Chinese New Year!! I had fun last night celebrating with the Chinese here in Duluth. Here is some interesting and funny math joke in the spirit of the Pig year. Enjoy!

Human = eat + sleep + work + enjoy
Pigs = eat + sleep
Hence, Human = Pigs + work + enjoy
If Human - enjoy = Pigs + work, then
Human that don't know enjoy = pigs that work



Men = eat + sleep + earn money
Pigs = eat + sleep
Hence, Men = Pigs + earn money
If Men - earn money = Pigs, then
Men that don't earn money = Pigs




Women = eat + sleep + spend
Pigs = eat + sleep
Hence, Women = Pigs + spend
If Women - spend = Pigs, then
Women that don't spend = Pigs



Summary:
Men earn money not to let women become pigs!
Women spend not to let men become pigs!





Men + Women = 2 Pigs


Wish all the pigs happy forever!

Ada Aktivis Indonesia Yang Malu-maluin!!

Selagi nungguin kelas jam 4 nanti, gue baca2 berita seputar banjir Jakarta di Liputan 6. Satu laporan berjudul, Pesan Singkat Penjarahan. Biasalah, di Indonesia; sumber derita satu orang bisa jadi sumber pendapatan orang lain. PENJARAHAN... Tega bener yah.

Jadi seminggu setelah banjir, mulai beredar SMS ajakan menjarah Hero dan kawan-kawan. Usut punya usut, biang keladinya Iwan Sumule, aktivis sebuah partai politik, yang juga bergelar Ketua Dewan Perwakilan Daerah Jakarta Banteng Muda Indonesia. Public Figure gitu loh!!.

Dan kali ini nggak polisi nggak salah tangkep kok. Soalnya nih orang ngaku ngirim SMS tersebut. Maksudnya bercanda kali yah, dia ngirimnya ke kenalan aja. Tapi apa ya gak mikir gitu... dampaknya bisa jadi kaya apa. Dasar geblek!

Edit: However,

One bad apple doesn't spoil the whole bunch, right?!

So, maju terus Indonesiaku!!!!

Learning Chinese

Learning the Chinese language has been so much fun! I don't remember why I resented learning it in the past... My dad had been trying to get me into learning Chinese since a long time ago. But I just didn't have the will to do it. And so I ended up just remembering a very tiny portion of it, not enough to at least converse simple dialogues. However, I'm having a blast now.

I greeted my dad in Chinese the last time I called him. I sure surprised him by that. LOL... Glad I can still make my dad happy by just doing this simple things.~\\(^0^)//~

再见! ;)

If only I had all the money in the world, I would make myself a custom made earphone, fit for me and only me....

Flooded Jakarta

When disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis striked Indonesia, my beloved city Jakarta was not affected. No, those natural disasters are not the enemy of my city. The enemy of my city is floods... The last bad one happened on the year 2002. At that time, my high school was closed and classes were conducted temporarily at a different place.

This year, another flood strikes. And the news said this time, it's worst than last time. They said it's the worst flood in 15 years. Well, they say a picture worths a thousand words. So here it is, a picture of one of the area from above.

Click on the picture above to look at other pictures of what Jakarta looks like because of the flood.

Keep Your Promises, People!

It is very disappointing when someone made a promise and didn't keep it. Urgh! It frustrates me. Even more so when this time my best friend does so without thinking that I might be sacrificing my precious getting-up-late-on-the-weekend time expecting she'll show up soon. >,<

Yeah.. I sometimes make some empty promises too. So this is a lesson for me, not to easily say, 'I'll do this, I'll do that, I promise.' However, when the promise is about meeting someone, I always meet my end of the promise. I even try to be there 5 minutes early most of the time.

I expected too much... I was so excited about this I woke up before my alarm clock went off... And now, I'm waiting and waiting and waiting.......

Keep your promise, or don't promise anything at all.

Dreams

I was chatting with my 2 sisters and my baby sister said she had a weird dream. She said she dreamt that she was out eating at an all-you-can-eat restaurant where all the dishes looked wonderfully tasty. And then she stopped. The two of us were waiting for the rest of the story so we went silent. Turned out that was it. She was just telling us about her dream to let us know how she wished she really was in that kind of restaurant.

Anyway, then I thought, at least she's dreaming. I either rarely dream when I'm sleeping, or I rarely remember my dream. I think it's the first though cause it feels that way most of the time. I know my younger sister dreams a lot, I mean LOTS! And often times it's really interesting dreams. Ones that can be conversation topics. I wonder why I never had dreams like that...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Finally, some news about the last of the Harry Potter series!

And this is real because I know this from Barnes and Noble. But noooo, it's not available for ordering yet. However, you can sign up to be among the first ones to know when it IS available for ordering. Crazy! Up until now, I only notice signs like, "Preorder now!" and not "Sign up now and we'll let you know when you can preorder!"

Harry Potter was the book that got me into reading. It was at the beginning of my third year during high school. I remember thinking that reading novels instead of mangas is a sign of growing up. (I do not claim this as a fact. It's just me and my thoughts). So, when I saw the promo for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone at the bookstore, it caught my attention. I bought my first Harry Potter and I was hooked immediately. However, this book was the Indonesian version.

I don't remember how I figured out that there were sequels to the book. Probably through my classmates. I got my book before the craze happened at my high school. So by the time everybody was getting to get a hold of the book, I've finished reading it and was trying to get one of my friend to read it. I think I forced her to borrow my copy. She was so skeptical about it just because she doesn't want to do what everyone was doing. She wanted to be unique or something. But hah! As soon as she started reading, she finished it in 3 days and now, she's a bigger fan than I am. Funny how that works...

So now it is 7 years since then... WOW! 7 years.... I can't wait to read this last book. But it's sad too because that means I'll have nothing to look forward for after this book. Oh wait, there'll still be the movies... ^-^

3 weeks into 2007

If you're in need of crying like mad, I have a solution for you. Watch the Japanese Drama called "1 Litre of Tears" and you're guaranteed to produce a litre of tears (possibly more...) along the series. The story is so touching especially since it's based on a true story. Not only that, it's also inspiring.

The drama is based on the diary of Aya Kitou, who had Spinocerebellar Atrophy starting at a very young age. The disease caused her to lose control over her body but not her mental ability. A very cruel disease... Yet Aya struggled bravely through the end, writing until she can no longer hold a pen and in the end inspired a lot of readers after her writings were published.

So, if you think like you wanted to die, watch this series before continuing the thought.
If you think you're unfortunate, and yet you're reading this on a computer, watch this series and think again.
If you're procrastinating, watch this series and be grateful that you're being lazy out of your own will and not because there's no other choice for you.

On a lighter note, I need to remind myself next time, NOT to do laundry on a Saturday... I started at around 11 am, and finished at 7 pm!! Apparently Saturday is everybody's laundry day.

2007 Has Arrived!

Happy New Year everyone! Today is the day when I'll be doing this for the next couple of weeks: write down '06, scratch it and replace it with '07. It always takes me a while to remember the new year.

Anyway, since it snowed quite a lot yesterday, today the ground is finally covered with thick snow. So I really wanted to go out and take a walk. Turned out the weather is nice too. But it wasn't really fun walking alone outside. I tried calling some friends but no one picked up. Oh well, I did manage to capture a couple of shots of the snow.

PS: I had my first toothache of the year... :( Hope it's nothing bad... cause I hate going to the dentist.