hansib`s pages

Marshmallow Prac

2009-10-26T21:35:00.004+07:00

This semester I did practical to make marshmallow! It was so fun!

The sugar solution being boiled. We had to reach what's called hard-ball stage that is 121oC

Enjoying our marshmallow

Our earlier trials of marshmallow

My teammate took a picture of me mixing the gelatin with water

My marshmallow team: Liady, Shaily, Madan & me

Geez...pictures from a couple months ago...

2009-07-31T17:45:00.007+07:00

Oh my gosh...I didn't realised that I haven't updated my blog for sooooooooooooooo long. Really sorry for that!

Before this semester started, I compiled some pics to be posted but I guess I became busy, in fact really really busy during the semester, and just realised until today that it wasn't posted yet. Apology...

Anyway, enjoy the pics...

I was in front of Melbourne Exhibition Building. I went there with Heriana, my highschool friend, when she arrived here in Melbourne. It took me almost half a year to know that this building was actually really famous although it is my apartment view...hahahahaha...I knew it in Canberra...

Heriana & I in front of Melbourne Museum

This was inside of Melbourne Museum. Really surprised & proud to see this signage. Hehe...It's obviously a must to take pic in front of it!

That behind me is the Australian coat of arms...

Fyi...

Dinosaur exhibition inside Melbourne Museum

This is a Padang restaurant close to my place...Don't really like it though...

Lygon street, an Italian precinct famous for its restaurants, which is close to my place

My apartment building

Mid-year break in Canberra

2009-07-20T08:01:00.019+07:00

I went to Canberra again last mid-year break. This time I got more chances to walk around Canberra. Woohooo...! Apart from that, I enjoyed the possibility of cooking in a much bigger kitchen than the one I have now in my apartment, watching at least 5 DVDs, and many more. I didn't take too many pics but at least we took some ;) So here they are...You can see more pics through the web album I posted under the title of Canberra on the right column of this page.

The building at the right hand side is Civic Library. It's the main and biggest public library in Canberra. I think that library is really cozy but I actually have never been to any local public library in Melbourne, except Victoria State Library, so I can't compare them.

This artwork is located at the mini park between the Civic Library and Canberra Center. Not really too sure what it means or resembles but I think the ball in the middle is supposed to be a snow ball in the remembrance of snow falling in Canberra in the 1950s. Hmmm...I think...

And this is the pathway to Canberra Center and that building in the center is Canberra Center.

I went to ANU and apparently I only took two pics there...oops...I thought I took more...hihi...I walked around and became rapt when I found the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology building and forgot to take more pics. In my opinion, ANU has a large campus area similar to those of IPB, Hokudai and Melbourne University. There was almost no student when I went there since it's mid-year break. I walked around the uni anyway but I got 'a little bit' lost. Thank God I could find the way out. Phew...

The other day, Choqi and I went to the New Parliament House and thankfully, it was a really nice lovely day.

Inside the House of Representative of the New Parliament House

We couldn't get inside of Main Committee Room (which is the room located between the House of Representatives Room and the House of the Senate Room), but there's this 'so government' chair at the lounge just outside the room. So we decided to take picture there. See that wooden material behind us? Yup, that's the chair...Hihi...I know you can't see it perfectly, so please see it in the web album.

That white building behind us is the Old Parliament House.

We went to the Old Parliament House as well. And look! I got the chance to carry the Mace (which I didn't hold it correctly). If you want to know what the mace is and you want to learn more about Australian Government, click this link

And as we walked around, we found this! It's the costume of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. I had a really a good shot of Choqi in the costume but please see it in the web album.

Just in front of the Old Parliament House, you can see the tents of the Aborigin people. Choqi said that they initially stayed there as an act of protest to the government long time ago but it seems that they remain staying there.

stories...

2009-06-10T20:57:00.003+07:00

I wanted to post this post during my exam period but I couldn't. Sorry for posting it now. I had my exam on the 16th and 23rd of June, 2009. It was my first time since high school to have exam for the whole semester. During my undergrad, I always had mid-sem & final sem exam. So two exams per semester, each for seven weeks of lecture. So, I had to re-arrange how I studied for exam. And thank God, last exams, God provided me with really good exam schedule so I could focus for each exam well.

Anyway, these are random pics I took or someone else took for me before the exam & during the exam.

Me in front of Victoria State Library after having lunch together with Liady & Zendi. I was on the way to RMIT Swanston Library to study.

Just two weeks before the exam, the youth group at Wesley Uniting Church had dinner together at an Indian Malaysian restaurant at Lt. Collins St. Well, not all were youth to be really honest...haha...

These are Paul, Anna, and Kunwer just before I went to have dinner with the youth group from church. We were trying to write our Microbial Evaluation report at the Postgraduate Lounge. That's why they looked really serious. All of them are from India so I told them about the dinner I was about to attend. Then they started to tell me which restaurant is the best Indian restaurant in Melbourne and it's just funny cause everyone had their own best Indian restaurant though they finally came to a similarity in mind by saying Jaipul Curry at Bourke St is one of the best ones.

Will be posting again soon...

Lately here...

2009-05-23T12:49:00.006+07:00

It's a month already since my last posting and it's three months now since I came to Melbourne. Next week will be the last week for this academy semester then we'll have exam. Please pray for me.

Anyway, here's a couple of stories from what's been happening lately.

Autumn has come. The leaves have turned into yellow and have fallen down onto the ground. I only have one picture of such tree and that's the one can be seen from my room. Haha... And actually, as you read more on this posting, most of my pics were taken from my room. Oops...I almost never brought camera lately but thinking of bringing it later...Back to the tree. It seems that there aren't many trees like that in Melbourne. I always find it's lovely to see tree with their leaves goldening or becoming red during autumn. I hope Canberra is different.

The leaves of the tree viewable from my window turning yellow

Lately Melbourne has morning fog. I caught three days so far but I only have pictures of the two days. The first one wasn't pretty thick.
I didn't take picture of the second day but I did take the third one. That morning, the fog was so thick. I hardly saw buildings located more than 50 meters ahead.

Btw, there's a construction site in front of my apartment. These guys work from 12 am (I think) till 3 pm. And you can hear them working every morning. Annoying? It is most of the time...That day, they already started their work. It's must be hard for them working with fog as thick as that.

No fog this morning and it turned out to be a really nice and warm day. People went out and it made me really want to go out with Choqi...
That's story of the weather. Last week, thank God the package Dad sent arrived perfectly. They did have funny smell. I already washed some of them, including my bed cover and some sweaters and I put my beige long coat into the dry cleaner but I still have some left. Need to clean them soon. It's so nice to have my bed cover here. Aaaw...it's so warm...

And this is a picture of me and Zendi, my classmate who's also from Indonesia, on our way home from Bundoora. She's as old as Ima. We're on the tram. It takes one hour to travel to Bundoora from city and vice versa. This week, I had four days of practical there. It's exhausting indeed but it's fun.

I went to Canberra!

2009-04-17T05:25:00.007+07:00

Thank God I went to Canberra during Easter break and spent 5 days with Choqi. It was really lovely! I was and am still happy to meet Choqi. He took me around the house, the city, introduced me to his friends, to the people at church and even to his workmates, we played tennis together (thank you so much sweetheart! You know how I've been longing for it but you are much more precious than tennis to me), cooked together and he even taught me to drive...We also took pics for our prewed...It's fun because we didn't have any stands to put the camera so we put it everywhere available...haha...

I LOVE YOU CHOQI...

Choqi and I in front of the house...

Wider view of the front yard of the house...

In front of the War Memorial where we took some pics for our prewed pics...

In Melbourne with Choqi

2009-03-04T07:29:00.003+07:00

Thank God Choqi came to Melbourne last Wednesday! I was and am still so happy!

We spent lots of time together, including going to an orientation together (thank you honey!), going to St. Kilda together, I cooked him perkedel, going to church together, and many more.
Most of the pics we took were taken at St. Kilda. St. Kilda is a beach area but when we went there, it's so hot and sunny, we decided to take our lunch in a restaurant instead.

I just took some pics of the seagulls behind and a guy generously asked us if we wanted to be taken pic. Thank you. Anyway, here's the picture of the seagulls...

They deliberately (I think) stood facing the sun and they look just sooooo funny...haha...

Yang ini titipan Choqi utk D'Ima. Katanya biar D'Ima tahu di Melbourne ada delman...hehe...

I LOVE YOU CHOQI!

School Festival

2009-03-04T07:19:00.003+07:00

Bundoora

2009-03-04T07:04:00.004+07:00

I visited Bundoora last week to know how to get there and to see what's around. IT'S SO DIFFERENT TO RMIT CITY CAMPUS!

While City campus is so crowded and has numbers of building spread throughout the CBD of Melbourne, Bundoora campus is well designed and has only two big areas. The West Campus and the East Campus. Going there is obviously time taking. It took me around an hour from Bourke St to get there. However, its tranquility will help you to be able to study in a peaceful area, especially if you want to work in a research area. Bundoora is known as the state-of-the art of research area of RMIT and I agree with that. The buildings are well design to suit modernity while their interiors are absolutely clean.

I don't think you'll be able to see this large greeneries in front of RMIT City Campus

Me in front of Building 223 where School of Applied Science (my school) is located

If you have the chance to go there, what will you think?

Thank God I have arrived in Melbourne

2009-02-23T05:03:00.005+07:00

Thank God I have arrived in Melbourne on Feb 12, 2009. It's a new experience and a new start of life for me. And thank God finally I can upload some of my pics for you to see. Ima made me a Facebook account but I'm still not familiar with it.

I will update you more with more stories and pics. Love you all...

My campus - RMIT University City Campus

Queen Victoria Market - the famous market in Melbourne which located only 2 blocks away from my apartment

Australian souvenir booth in the Queen Victoria Market. Btw those are either sheep or kangaroo or other animals' skin.

Kangaroo meat...

Somewhere near Yarra River

Ajang Kreativitas Teruna

2009-02-23T04:41:00.003+07:00

Puji Tuhan! Ajang Kreativitas Teruna boleh terlaksana dgn baik 31 Januari 2009 yg lalu. Itu semua boleh terjadi karena berkat & penyertaan Tuhan.
Thanks to everyone who had participated in this event yang semuanya telah membantu selama persiapan maupun pada hari-H:
PHMJ GPIB Jatipon - yg ga disangka2 beberapa orang menyempatkan diri utk datang
BPK PA, GP, PW, PKB - yg ternyata beberapa BPK ini jg antusias utk ikut
RT 009/04 - yg warganya ternyata antusias banget & puji Tuhan katanya minta agar acaranya diadakan lg
Para tenaga kesehatan - ga kenal semuanya, tp terima kasih banyak
Semua warga jemaat & simpatisan GPIB Jatipon

& tentu saja terima kasih kepada semua teman2 panitia. You all have worked hard & it's an honour to work with such great team mates like you.

God bless...

2008-11-02T17:04:00.003+07:00

CHOQI'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family Pics

2008-10-20T22:25:00.004+07:00

Udah lama ga update blog. Kemarin waktu kebaktian GP, K'Vrilly ternyata pernah buka blog g. Hihi...Sempet salah denger gitu lagi...
Anyway, ini foto2 keluarga yg belum sempat diupload karena baru aja copy dari Ima

All kids waktu 25th wedding anniversary Ibu & Bapak

Yang ini juga...versi heboh!

Nah yang ini waktu makan2 di Ancol waktu libur Lebaran kemarin

Pengen cerita2 banyak tp lebih seru kl ada foto ya. Anyway, sekarang ini Ima lg nari2 (katanya itu bentuk olahraganya) sambil pk iPod di depan meja rias g. Hahahahahahahaha.....

Tidur dulu ya...

Satu lagi. Choqi mau datang! Yeaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!

KL's pics

2008-07-26T10:15:00.007+07:00

I am finally able to upload some pics of our trip to KL. Ima apparently had saved all the pictures we took in her computer...so here are some of them...

Petronas Tower!

The Bukit Bintang Street. There's an Arabic Music Festival when we took this pic.

Dimba & Dad in front of Lot 10, known as the first mall in KL-just like Sarinah in Jakarta. The building is not that important for me..just want to upload this pic...

And the Sultan's car passed us by when we're in the monorail station..Could it be possible that he welcomed us on our first day in KL? hahahahahahahaha.....LOL!!!

The miniatures of the 10 highest towers in the world. This one surely reminded me of Choqi...

Dad got explained about the Batu Cave's construction by our nice taxi driver (Radjan or Raja...) who kindly brought us there for free on the way to Genting Skyway Station. Glad we missed the bus to Genting...haha...

Radjan/Raja's taxi

Me in front of the Batu Cave...That statue was constructed from gold...yikes...

The Genting Skyway route...

Dad & I inside the Genting Highlands indoor amusement park...no, we didn't take that ride behind of us...I don't think we would fit anyway...haha...

Merdeka Square, known as the place where Malaysia got their independence from UK

Don't forget the Malaysian...can you figure this out?

Green Festival

2008-04-20T14:43:00.002+07:00

I went to Green Festival with Naka & his parents yesterday. I heard about it a couple times through Female Radio. Tante Nungki came to our house in the morning yesterday and asked if I would go or not. I didn't say yes in the first place. Even though I had a mind of going there but the eager wasn't as strong as talking to Choqi. Apparently Choqi wasn't able either to talk last night, so I thought it was more like a win-win situation for both of us. So, I called my aunt and decided to go with them.

The festival was pretty good except some numbers of people who don't really get the point of the event. I mean there were still some people who throw trashes everywhere though there are garbage plastics/cans everywhere around the corner. I appreciate the committee who didn't use AC as many as it would be if it's held indoor.

We got some informations as:

This, and

This

and many more. And I got the chance to have a picture with Naka, Mr. Tree & an unexpected little girl who showed up just right before the camera shutter was pushed.

And a picture of Naka blowing his mouth in the car...haha...this is just an extra of the festival.And one more. There's also Maliq & d'Essentials last night. Oooo...they're just so cool...

Memory of Japan

2008-04-13T17:16:00.005+07:00

I had a nice time yesterday talking to Choqi and we came to the topic of how Japanese use pictures everytime, everywhere: for the bulletins, the manual books, printed annoucements, on public transports, etc. So, I started to open my picture folder and try to find any pictures resembling those situations and I found these pictures. Too bad I couldn't open Mikko's blog. He got lots of good pictures back then...

These two pictures are special extras for you Choqi... (^^)

Try this one!

2008-02-29T22:21:00.002+07:00

2008-02-17T20:02:00.004+07:00

Yesterday I went dining out with my sisters, Ima, Dimba & Ima's boyfriend, Anto, to Kemang Food Festival and ate miitem for the first time. They use squid ink to blacken it. You can taste the squid ink pretty thick-the reason why the price is more expensive than any other noodles. Despite its small amount (again, compare to other noodles), I assure that amount is enough to make your stomach full immediately. Anyway, it's fun to taste such interesting yet famous meal.

Happy Birthday PT!

2008-02-10T14:08:00.000+07:00

Distributor Conference & Retreat BPK PT Jatipon

2008-01-20T17:47:00.002+07:00

Hello there...

It's been a while since my last post, hasn't it? My dad even asked me why I never updated my blog anymore. For me, updating blog without pictures seems boring..At least that's what I feel. So, having the past few months without having any particular pictures, I became lazy updating my blog. However, spending several days in Puncak urged me to start updating the blog again.

I spent my holiday season (end of Dec. 2007-beginning of Jan. 2008) by preparing two special events: a distributor conference held by my office and a teens' retreat held by BPK PT Jatipon. FYI, I started serving at church through the teens' ministry. Before, I did my service through Literature Commission-IPB. At first, I was a bit reluctant joining BPK PT Jatipon. Classic reason-you know what kind of church GPIB is. More to a conservative-presbyterian kind of church. However, at the end I decided to join the ministry and found it to be great.

Back to the main story. So I had a very hectic holiday preparing two big events which would be held with only 6 hours differences and I was in the committees for both events. Whooaaa......!
Yes, I was busy, tired, and many other feelings you might experience in that kind of situation, but it was worth it.

Thank God both events were success. The conference went great and so did the retreat. I got really tired after the events and decided to take a day leave afterward.

I'll leave you with the pictures. Like what is written at the right-top of my page, a picture can tell you millions of stories. I didn't really get the chance of taking the pictures by myself. All of the pictures you'll find in this post are my friends.

This is going to be a long one....

First, the conference.

It was held on Jan. 9-11, 2008 at Yasmin Hotel, Puncak. I was in the committee with Joy, Dini & Novi. We're launching new products at this conference and I had to make the seasonings and applied them on the snacks to be brought to the conference. Eeeerrggghhh....don't want to think about it.

I, Dini, Novi and Joy

Let's go to the 'enjoyable moments'. Most of the time, we had meetings. Of course it would be really boring to only have meetings at Puncak. We did have a lot of funs though, including the karaoke (especially our BDMs), basketball, pool, the team-building session (my team got the 1st prize!) and enjoying+commenting the meal.

Some people held the microphone too long...still waiting for it (for the karaoke of course)-Dini kept taking pictures or ask someone to take them, including this one.

Our victorious pose

Ever played this game? Follow this guy's trick. Pull the threads until they become 2 or 3 major groups. That way, the leader can give you direction easier and the nail will go inside the bottle faster.

Now let's go the retreat.
After the conference, I went straight to the retreat's venue which thankfully was near to Yasmin Hotel. I was in the committee as well-now as the event organizer. Having our chief coming late (he came on the second night), his responsibility was handed to me.

Okay, jumping will be what they remembered about me during the retreat. I jumped when we sang and I jumped when we played 'follow the leader' game. Hahahaha....I even got a note posted to my mail box: "K' Hanna kok suka banget sih loncat2?"

Hahaha....who took this picture? I looked soooo serious. I was counting the scores each team got from the games they played and had to decide who got the prizes.

This is my first retreat with BPK PT. The kids were fun and cooperative...well, not all the time but it's okay. They really loved to be taken pictures...yes they did.....

Know this game? "Panjang-panjangan"

Hahaha...no team refused walking in this creek

Welcome to Tanah Batak!

2007-10-17T23:58:00.000+07:00

Last week, my family went to our homeland, North Sumatra. We were excited, especially my sister, Ima, and I since we’ve never been there for 14 years. We went to several places. First, we went to Siantar to meet our relatives: Ompung Tiar, Ompung Pardobu and Ompung Bistok. Actually, it is not polite (or even allowed) to call them by their first name. I forgot how to call them properly so I’ll just call them like that.

It’s surprising to know that they are so full in spirit especially Ompung Pardobu. She and my grandpa are so look alike. Both of them are the two most look alike to their mother. Look at them.

We had a nice chat and after persuaded our grandpa to stay there, we went to Parapat. Ima was so excited to go there to see Lake Toba. It is the biggest lake throughout Asia! Anyway, my dad seemed disappointed with the Tourism Board of North Sumatra for not maintaining Parapat properly as one of the its major tourism spot. He kept grumbling how it wasn't wise to put Parapat under the administration of Simalungun. He urged to put it under Tobasa administration. My sisters and I said, he should convey it to the government not us.

We hung around Lake Toba around one day including going to Samosir Island. We didn't plan to go there. At the beginning, we planned to go Salib Kasih. The trail is too heavy for our grandpa so we decided not to bring him there. But having a driver who couldn't able to change the gear properly changed our mind. We didn't mind not going there. As a replacement, we went to Samosir island. There we had explanations about some of Bataknese history and the meaning behind some traditional customs.

Then, we went to our dad's home. We don't have many relatives there. Most of them already went and stay in Jakarta. We have our aunt living there though. So we met her and chat for a while. Well, she was in a party which most of you may know that there are no such 'fast party' for Bataknese.

The next city was Brastagi. After picking up our grandpa at Siantar, we went to Brastagi. This time, it was my mom who got really excited. She'd never been there. She heard from her sister that it was a beautiful place. Too bad, when we got there, it was raining. The fog blocked the view so we just went to some places, satisfying ourselves with some of its culinary features and went to Medan.

Medan is so...how can you say it? Unique. One of a kind. Well, it looks not as modern as Jakarta, but in the same time, it looks more modern than Jakarta. Of course in several points of view. It looks tidier with more races. But in the same time, it also looks dirty, especially at the old houses. The Chinese people there speak Hokkien and are so different to those who live in Jakarta. But the good thing is we were able to find porks everywhere. Medan is really the place for culinary travel. You'll find Bataknese food, Padang food, Malay food, Chinese food. This time, it's my sister, Dimba's, turn to be very excited.

So, how 'bout me? I got excited by going to North Sumatra. To be able to know the root of your blood and learn to appreciate it, made me so excited.

edited Dec. 1, 2007

Five Amazing Years of Study and Graduation Day

2007-09-19T22:25:00.000+07:00

God has been so good to me. I had an amazing five years of undergraduate study at IPB (Institut Pertanian Bogor aka Bogor Agricultural University). On Sept. 12, 2007, I and more than 1000 undergraduate+graduate students were graduated. Yahoo!!!

Graduation is one of those moments in your life that can make you sooooooo happy.

Having your undergraduate study for 5 years is something you probably hadn't had at all in mind. However, I am grateful. The fact that I was able to be connected to sooo many people with different backgrounds, ages, characteristics made me happy. It's worth it afterall. I, now, have the feeling that people usually have when they step further into the next step in their life. From university to the society.

I love my study. I love my family. I love my friends. And I am looking forward to always do the best in life.

Internship...what an experience!

2007-07-19T11:44:00.000+07:00

I finished my internship program yesterday. It was a great experience for me. I learned many things during my internship. Not only about my major, but also communication, how to deal with different kinds of people, how to face a problem and be patient; and many more.

I love the company and its atmosphere. The employees do work hard but it is their openness that admires me. They care for people not only for benefits. They also care for environment and integrity. You know, not many companies have this philosophy.

I'd never planned this. I think it's God's plan for me and I thank Him for that. He is great.
I did have difficulties but He taught one thing: He is faithful and always gives us the best. That's His promise.

I'm writing my thesis now. Please pray for that.

I believe in God

2007-05-28T19:24:00.001+07:00

I believe that God has a very beautiful and wonderful plan for me. That's His promise to all of His children. I believe that God never leaves us alone. He'll show me His way. The right way, the right person, the right time. I believe that He loves me. I know He is good. Really good.
I love Him.

Bosen, kangen, bingung, dll (> <)

2007-05-06T17:56:00.000+07:00

Sebenarnya, gue nggak suka nulis kaya gini. Tapi kayanya gue juga harus ungkapin apa yg ada di hati & pikiran gue.

Belakangan gue suka ngerasa bosan. Salah satu alasannya tuh karena memang gue belakangan nggak ikut kegiatan lain selain magang. Gue bersyukur bisa magang tp ternyata gue masih punya kerinduan utk melakukan kegiatan lain bersama orang2 lain. Gue bersyukur Tuhan beri kesempatan dan waktu utk mengajar so gue masih tetap bisa pakai bahasa Jepang & bahkan bisa gue bagi ilmu gue ke orang lain.

Salah satu kelemahan yang harus gue akui, udah 1-2 bulan terakhir gue tergila2 dgn drama Korea, Princess Hours alias Goong. Sebelum seminar, gue berjanji ke diri gue sendiri kalau gue nggak mau nonton lengkap tuh drama sampai gue selesai seminar. Sekarang gue udah selesai seminar & memang akhirnya gue juga udah selesai nonton lengkap drama itu, tapi kebiasaan rilex & have fun yg merupakan efek pasca-menonton tuh drama masih belum hilang semua. Gue masih bawaannya pengen have fun, enjoy this life. Sementara, gue sendiri bertekad untuk menjadi aktif, dinamis & produktif. Tuh kan...kebalikan banget kan!

I need to change my habit.

Anyway, gue juga kangen sama teman2 gue. Terutama teman2 gue di Jepang. Waktu awal2 sih kita masih sering kontak2an, tp belakangan hampir udah nggak pernah sama sekali. Beberapa kali sih gue masih kirim email ke mereka. Tp sptnya mereka juga udah mulai sibuk. Gue maklum sih. Gue sendiri juga makin sibuk tp spt yg gue bilang tadi, kayanya guenya aja yg lebih sering 'meluangkan waktu' utk 'rilex'.
Apalagi si Lindsey. Ke mana tuh anak. Udah lama nggak ada kabarnya...Hmm...
Kangen Lindsey...
Kangen Brian...
Kangen Inkyung...
Kangen Hayoung...
Kangen Eri...
Kangen Minseok...
Kangen Jepang...

Bingung. Ini karena in...ship gue yang beberapa minggu kemarin masih nggak jelas kegiatannya. Mungkin ini dia kelemahan dari in...ship. Spt yg nyokap g selalu bilang, segala sesuatu ada tantangannya. Ada yg harus kita hadapi dalam setiap kegiatan kita. Tp yg penting adalah bagaimana kita menghadapinya. Kita serahkan semuanya pada Tuhan dan Tuhan yg pasti akan tolong kita. Gue percaya itu.

Bingung #2. Gue masih belum bisa tentuin bergereja di mana. Nggak suka dengan karakter gue yg spt ini. Gue ngerasa spt air di daun talas. Nggak firm banget dan gue nggak suka itu. Apa ini berarti gue masih harus menunggu sampai pada saatnya nanti Tuhan tunjukkan ke gue gereja yg menurut Dia benar2 paling tepat untuk gue?

Spt yg Joel Osteen tulis dalam bukunya, "I choose to be happy!"

\(^^)/ TETAP SEMANGAT!!!

Nih satu foto lucu yg gue ambil kemarin, 5 Mei 2007 di RS Puri Cinere waktu jenguk Eyang Djundjunan. Menurut gue, maksud papan tulisan itu utk kemudahan bukan diskriminasi. Setuju?

Unpublished pictures

2007-04-06T21:34:00.000+07:00

Bagaimana caranya untuk lebih mencintai Indonesia?

2007-04-06T21:32:00.000+07:00

Bersyukur! Rasa cinta itu akan datang sendiri dengan bersyukur

Out of the box!

2007-04-02T22:57:00.000+07:00

Hi all!

It's been a long time. I got lazy updating my blog. I got the chance but somehow I didn't feel like writing.
I am doing my final task. It's an internship. I learn a lot from it. I met many new people. I discover the uniqueness of food industry. And I am looking for my soul in this food business.
I read some testimonials from several R&D managers from the same company I work with. They really opened & broadened my mind. I decide to continue my study into the next level. I mean, I want to go to graduate school.
The president of Indonesia, in his address last week, said that Indonesia will be one of the 5 big industrialized countries in the world. Honestly, I think that is pretty ambitious. On the other hand, I like it. Why? Because, that means finally we (Indonesians) set our dreams as high as the sky. In a Korean drama I watched recently, there's a really motivating quote that I like. It says, "You have to set your dream as high as possible and reach it"

I think it's time for Indonesians to move on. To think out of the box. Reach our wildest dream and reach it. Our liberty is not perfect yet.
Does this make me a nationalist? I think not. I already am.

Iseng

2007-02-24T22:36:00.000+07:00

Mm...lagi iseng aja buka ini.
Lagi nggak tahu pengen nulis apa. Sebenarnya sih banyak. Cuma lagi iseng aja. Well, ini kuda nilnya si Ima.

They are married!

2007-02-14T20:39:00.000+07:00

The flood in Jakarta didn't affected their will to get married on Feb 3rd . They needed to change the place for the ceremony due to the flood at the church (I'm serious!) but God loves them and showed them mercy. They were able to have their wedding ceremony at the same place for the reception. And their friends were able to come. Magda, the bride, said that she couldn't express more to show how thankful she was. Thank God. He is good all the time ^^
Congrats Kak Magda & Kak Nawa!

After the Rain + Flood

2007-02-14T19:48:00.000+07:00

The heavy rain + flood in Jakarta & surround areas 2 weeks ago interfered the telecomunication network in those areas, including internet connection. Besides, I am afraid of using internet during heavy rain due to the thunderlights.

I should have posted this pictures as soon as the internet went well, but I was too lazy. Sorry!

So, here's the story:
On Friday (Feb 2nd), I planned to go to school (Bogor) for my final task administration. I went from my home (Jatibening). The rain had fallen since the day before (Thursday, Feb 1st). It was still raining hard that morning. Both of my sisters had gone to school. But on the way to her school, my sister Ima called that she wasn't able to go to school because of the traffic jam. She decided to come home. My sister Dimba had already arrived at school. So she had a pleasant day at school. Haha...
Back to me. My dad drove me to the bus terminal. Well, that was the plan. We went from an alternative road because the main highway was totally crowded. 100% traffic jam and I guaranteed that the cars couldn't even move there. However, we couldn't go from the alternative road either. The radio start broadcasting the news that it started to flood here and there, both in Jakarta and Bogor. My dad was worried and he told not to go, and I agreed.
Thank God, it was a good decision. After we arrived at my parent's office (it's just 3-4 blocks from my home), the rain became heavier. The water started to enter the office's garage. My mom and dad decided to go home. Again, it was a good decision.
That time, my sister Ima came with our driver but they couldn't reach the office with the car because the water was too high. So they decided to park the car somewhere where there's no flood. My parents and I unpluged all the cables and all electronic devices at the office and went to home. One of our cars was still at the office and we couldn't take it home that time. We decided to leave it there and parked it in a different direction so the water wouldn't reach it. That was pretty hard because the garage isn't that big and the water kept coming inside. Good for Dedi, our driver who helped us parked the car.
Then, we went out and the water had already as high as adults' knee. We decided to go home walking and parked our other car there. Ima went home with my mom and dad and me. It was an unforgettable experience. People everywhere couldn't go anywhere. They stayed at home. And as the water got higher, those people went out and checked through their garage or window. Some people went out and even talked to their neighbors in the water (!!???).
After walking in different height of water from the office, we arrived at home. I was relieved and took a shower immediately. The electricity went down around 1 pm and was turn again at night. That day, I was very sleepy, I decided to take a long nap and I did. After that, we chatted and trying to contact our relatives and friends to know how they were doing. At night, my sisters and I played some games and all of us slept earlier.
At our neighborhood, the water went down fast but at other parts of Jakarta, the water went down slowlier. Even in some areas, the water went down after 5 days. Many people suffered from this flood, even until today. My friend Yessica reminded me that what happened in Indonesia lately reminded us to pray more for our nation and country. I agreed with her. But I do believe that God loves Indonesia.

Here are some pictures I took the day after the heavy rain + flood. I took it on Saturday. The flood at our neighborhood was gone. The road looked a little bit dirty but the plants were pretty.

These leaves were greenier than ever

It was still cloudy

This flower is called bougenville. Pretty, isn't it?

The playground + mud

I didn't take any pictures of the flood because I didn't like it. My dad took some but I don't want to post it here. I hope my story can tell you more than what was told in the news. There are still many people evacuated until now. Many people got sick because of the flood. Many people have damaged belongings, inside and outside the house. Many people lost their houses and there are some that even passed away. Please pray for them. It's the precious gift for them especially when we can't reach them.
Be blessed.

A New Song

2007-01-22T08:34:00.000+07:00

Recently, I went to JPCC and got to know more about Jesus and Hillsong. Last week I bought a new Hillsong CD (pic later) and started to sing most of the songs. Inspired from how they praise God in their songs, I wrote a new song yesterday. I was in the church. I was on my own but I felt so .... I don't know how to say it, and started putting what's inside of me in a song:

I am renewed day by day
His love refreshes my soul
He wakes me up from my sleep
and again accepts me in His hug
Reff: How can I run from You, Lord?
Your love has never failed
Teach me to be faithful
As You are always to me

Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year!

2007-01-06T09:26:00.000+07:00

That's why it's so hot today

2006-12-14T22:30:00.000+07:00

Rain fell at around 3 p.m.

And perhaps you have never seen this phenomena before elsewhere. In Darmaga, Bogor, there is smoke coming from an open ground like below after the rain stopped. It often happens because the ground was too hot at the beginning. Then suddenly, it get cooled by the sudden heavy rain. The heat becomes vapor. Cool, isn't it?

Di mana saya sebaiknya bergereja?

2006-12-11T22:55:00.000+07:00

Ini yang jadi pemikiran g selama beberapa bulan terakhir. Entah kenapa, g belakangan sedang mencari gereja yang ’tepat’ di mana g bisa beribadah dgn baik dan sukacita. Bukan berarti g meremehkan GPIB Jatipon yang membesarkan g selama ini. Akan tetapi, g merasa ada yg kurang dari GPIB Jatipon padahal justru hal itulah yg g rindukan dari suatu gereja.

Jadi gini, GPIB Jatipon adalah suatu gereja di Indonesia yg telah berdiri selama 50 tahun dengan berbagai peraturan dan tata ibadah yang telah mereka jalankan selama 50 tahun ini. Nggak mudah merubah peraturan2 or tata ibadah yg ada. Bahkan, sampai sekarang aja tepuk tangan saat ibadah masih dianggap ’tabu’. Kadang2 g ngerasa, GPIB itu lebih kaya organisasi, bukan gereja. Itu yg g anggap kurang dari GPIB, especially GPIB Jatipon. Agak sulit bagi g untuk dapat mengungkapkan isi hati g terhadap Kristus di GPIB Jatipon. G rindu akan kelompok kecil atau sel di mana kita bisa belajar Alkitab bersama2 dgn teman2 seiman kita yg lain dengan lebih erat. G rindu utk bisa berdiskusi mengenai Firman Tuhan dengan teman2 seiman yg lain. G rindu akan damai sejahtera dan sukacita yg berasal dari Tuhan kita, Yesus Kristus. Most of all, g rindu Yesus.

Selama sebulan ini, g rutin pergi beribadah di JPCC (Jakarta Praise Community Church). Gereja ini 180^obeda dari GPIB Jatipon. Maksud g dalam hal ibadah, visi, pemahaman, cara berpikir, dan masih banyak lagi. Bukan g menjelekkan kedua gereja tersebut. Tapi g sadar dan mengerti kl setiap gereja memiliki ciri khasnya masing2. Sama seperti kita manusia. Masing2 dari kita adalah unik dan memang Tuhan memiliki rencana yg indah utk semua itu. Tuhan menghendaki agar kita dapat saling menolong dan mengisi dari perbedaan2 yg ada ini.

Anyway, g sedang berpikir. G sadar kl g emang belum berdoa pada Tuhan mengenai gereja di mana g dapat beribadah dgn sepenuhnya untuk Tuhan. Kerinduan2 yg tidak g tidak temukan di GPIB Jatipon udah g tulis di atas. Nah, kl di JPCC, g masih merasa nggak sreg dengan pemahaman mereka yg hanya menerima baptis dewasa, sedangkan g sudah dibaptis wkt masih kecil (bayi). JPCC tidak menerima baptisan bayi. Orang tua g selalu mengajarkan kami anak2nya kl setiap baptisan itu adalah sah karena dilakukan dalam Nama Bapa, Putra dan Roh Kudus. Selain itu, adalah cukup jika baptis dilakukan satu kali. Sama seperti ajaran Katolik. Jadi orang bukan dibaptis berkali-kali, tetapi hanya perlu dilakukan pembaharuan janji baptis. Jadi, g sekarang lagi berpikir apa memang sebaiknya g benar2 aktif di JPCC?

Waktu di Jepang, teman g Lindsey minjemin g bukunya yang berjudul ”Blue Like Jazz”. Buku motivation itu nyeritain bagaimana penulisnya benar2 mengenal arti cinta kasih Tuhan. Dia nyeritain banyak banget pengalamannya dan salah satunya adalah mengenai beribadah di gereja yg sesuai dengan diri kita. Itu yg g pelajari dari buku itu dan sekarang g sedang berusaha menerapkannya. Apa gunanya jika kita pergi beribadah di suatu gereja jika kita tidak merasakan sukacita dan berkat dari Tuhan. Padahal berkat Tuhan sama di setiap gereja.

Satu lagi yg jadi pemikiran g saat ini adalah mengenai mayoritas orang yg berada di suatu gereja. Apa ini bikin g jadi seorang rasis? G nggak tahu. Tapi g seringkali melihat perbedaan2 yg ada di Indonesia melalui hal ini. Jadi, di JPCC ada banyak banget orang keturunan Cina dan Batak plus mungkin beberapa suku or etnis asli Indonesia lainnya. Sedangkan di GPIB hampir nggak ada orang Cina. Well, mungkin ada 1-2 keluarga. Tapi, yg pasti ga sebanyak di JPCC. Terkadang hal ini bikin g nggak sreg. Entah kenapa belakangan g seringkali mempersoalkan hal ini. Padahal sebagai seorang Kristen, g percaya Tuhan tidak menghendaki hal ini. Tuhan menciptakan setiap orang sama. G berpikir mungkin ada sangkut pautnya dgn keluarga g, terutama dari pihak nyokap yg seringkali membicarakan org Cina or mempersoalkan akan banyak hal ttg mereka. G anggap ini sebagai salah satu hal yg mungkin blm dapat diterima oleh keluarga g kl orang2 Cina telah benar2 menjadi WNI dgn berbagai kondisi yg nyata di Indonesia.

G setuju sih dengan pemahaman ini. Jujur aja, g emang ngerasa enjoy dan more flexible wkt main bareng teman2 g yg “pribumi”. G nggak tahu kenapa. Banyak alasan di balik semua itu. It’s just a natural feeling. That’s why, g juga mempertimbangkan kl g ingin beribadah di gereja yg mayoritas jemaatnya adalah mereka yg “pribumi”.

JPCC

Satu lagi. JPCC bagi g adalah gereja mewah. G ga cemburu dan nggak terlalu mementingkan hal itu. It’s not the most crucial point when you are going to a church. Semua ada positif dan negatifnya. Tapi terkadang g jg merasakan kerinduan utk beribadah dgn “keluarga” spt di Sapporo International Church. Gereja itu bukan gereja yg besar. Bahkan jauh lebih kecil dari GPIB Jatipon atau JPCC. Tp kedekatan kita satu sama lain benar2 membuat g kagum, bahkan sampai sekarang. Di sanalah g belajar utk pertama kali arti gereja (orangnya, bukan bangunannya) sebagai keluarga bagi g. Apalagi di sana g tinggal sendiri. Jadi, bagi g teman2 di gereja, terutama teman2 dari English Cell bagaikan keluarga g sendiri. G sadar kl g memang belum berbuat atau membantu banyak selama menjadi anggota English Cell di SIC. Saat itu g sepertinya lebih banyak meminta daripada memberi. Tapi sekarang, g mau benar2 terlibat dalam suatu persekutuan yg indah dgn Tuhan. To love is to give. Dan sekarang g belajar dan sadar kl itu semua memang butuh komitmen. Nggak hanya dalam kegiatan seperti sel, tp juga sama dalam stp pelayanan yg kita lakukan spt yg g lakukan dulu di Komlit. Di sana g jg belajar arti suatu komitmen. G nggak mau lagi ngedumel spt wkt g masih aktif di Komlit. Tp g percaya dan mau berpegang senantiasa pada ayat emas g, Mat. 6:33. “Akan tetapi, carilah dahulu Kerajaan Allah dan kebenaran-Nya, maka semua itu akan ditambahkan kepadaMu.”

Masih ada satu lagi yg ingin g sampaiin. Beneran kok satu lagi. G rindu utk punya teman2 di mana g dapat melakukan berbagai kegiatan dgn sukacita bersama dgn teman2 seiman g. Saat ini g lagi pengen banget belajar ttg fotografi. G mengimpikan agar g bisa belajar bareng teman2 gereja g kaya adik2 g, Ima dan Dimba, punya banyak teman dari Serafim.

Kali ini g benar2 berdoa agar Tuhan beri g hikmat dalam hal beribadah di gereja yg Ia boleh tunjukkan pada g. Amin.

Naka's hidden talents

2006-11-30T22:45:00.000+07:00

I love my cousin, Naka. Though sometimes I felt annoyed cause I needed to take care of him when I needed to do something important, like doing my homework or studying for exam.
Anyway, my sisters and I finally found out that he is talented and smart. He:
1. Likes to be taken pictures.
Everytime he sees a camera, he asked us to take a picture of him. If he is in a good mood, he'll do a nice pose for us. If not, don't dare to ask him to smile. He even won't care.

2. He can learn new words quite fast.
For a 2 years old boy, he is not that bad in talking and using words. Every week, we teach him new words or phrases in Indonesian. He can memorize them well. But, he still can't pronounce "l", "r", "k" really well yet.

3. He can act!
This is his newest talent we discovered last week. He stayed at our home with his dad for three days because his mom went to Bali for a seminar or conference (his parent are doctors). So, we played with him three days full! It was so fun. One time my sister, Ima, asked him to cry and suddenly...you know what? He cried!! He acted really well. My gosh, we didn't expect it and was surprise to know it. Then, we asked him to laugh, and he laugh out loud. Geez, that's so amazing. A 2 years old boy can act! We even can't act.
(He was posing nice. I didn't hold the camera well)

英語を教える

2006-11-22T18:17:00.000+07:00

しばらくまだ新しいポストを書かなかった。
今日から友達に英語を教える。うれしい。
じゃ、またね。

360 degree Borobudur

2006-11-18T10:45:00.000+07:00

For you who have not seen or been to Borobudur, the biggest Buddhist temple in the world, browse here . The page uses a cool program which allow you to see Borobudur 360 degrees, 3 dimentionally.

Singapore

2006-10-29T18:00:00.001+07:00

My family went to Singapore through Batam this holiday season. It's the first time for me to go there by boat from Batam. It's cheaper and cool too. Though we had flight delays, both at Soekarno-Hatta, Jakarta & Hang Nadim, Batam, overall it was great.

My parents at Soekarno-Hatta, Jakarta. It was such a bummer. We had to wait for 1.5 hours for the plane. And apparently, we had to stay one night at Batam because we ran out of ferry ticket. And at the end, we had to wait again at Hang Nadim Airport, Batam on the way back to Jakarta. Crazy!At Batam ferry port. We had a discussion there since we ran out of ferry ticket which would take us to Singapore.

I didn't take many pics with my camera since the battery weirdly couldn't be charged. So I have to save the energy. Most of them were taken by Tante Yanti with Yanka's camera. My sisters took them as well but they hadn't been saved in my computer. My cousin and sisters kindly took this funny picture of me in front of the Merlion. You don't think I really drank the water, do you?

Above all, all of us had a great time there. Escaping from Indonesia's Lebaran season and experiencing the holiday season at Singapore. Eating es potong (Singapore's special sliced ice cream) almost every day, having Singapore-Chinese meal for several days including some window shopping and 'real' shopping at Mustafa Center on the last day were fun.

Pakai Bahasa Indonesia

2006-10-19T17:14:00.001+07:00

Lagi pengen nulis pake bahasa Indonesia nih. Bukan yg EYD lagi. Namanya juga anak muda. Caelah...Iya donk, biar gaul dikit.
Jadi gini ceritanya teman2 atau siapapun yg baca & ngerti bahasa Indonesia. Gue sekarang udah libur. Libur Lebaran. Yahoo! Enak ya! Walaupun begitu, gue juga pengen melakukan banyak hal. Salah satunya belajar. Lho, kenapa? Iya, bentar lagi kan UTS. Udah gitu, g jg pengen belajar utk mempersiapkan diri mengikuti sidang. Biasanya temen2 g, g bilang gitu pada kaget. "Emangnya sidangnya kapan?" tanya mereka pada umumnya. Ya nggak sekarang, tp banyak banget pelajaran g lupa. Ditambah lagi selama g berada di Jepang kemarin kan g hampir ga pegang & sentuh ilmu yang namanya teknologi pangan itu. Makanya, g pengen banget belajar & review semua (kl ga bisa semua, paling ga garis besarnya deh) ilmu2 yg udah pelajari. Sekarang g lagi buka Kimia Pangan. Gila nggak sih? Kemarin g baru baca transparansi Lipid-nya Pak Monang, tapi belum selesai. Moga2 bisa selesai malam ini. Tadi siang g lagi baca2 dikit transparansi kemasan Plastik-nya Pak Nugie, tapi itu juga belum selesai.

Nah, lanjut ke cerita lain. G merasa (& berpikir tentunya) kl g itu suka mikir. Malah kebanyakan mikir kadang2. Itu juga yg ortu & adik2 g bilang. G suka punya ide tapi g kebingungan gimana cara mewujudkannya. Or g tahu cara mewujudkannya tp suka ga fokus ngerjainnya. Jadinya, malah ga jadi or ga selesai. Salah satu contohnya: stl g pulang dari Jepang, g jadi benar2 tertarik dgn dunia fotografi. Sekarang masih kok. Nah akhirnya g dikasih tahu teman g, Bey, kl ada website fotografer.net. Akhirnya, g jadi member di situ. Terus g upload beberapa foto. Tp sekarang g belum aktif2 lagi. Kl mikir2 kaya gini g bawaannya jadi stress & pusing sendiri. Padahal kan ga baik. Ya nggak teman2?

Tunggu!

Tiba2 g jadi ada pemikiran baru.

Jadi dari cerita g di atas, g jadi dapat pemahaman baru. Untuk menjadi maju & berhasil dalam apapun, baik itu hal sepele atau besar sekali, salah satu kuncinya adalah: SETIA. Jadi, g harus setia dalam mengerjakannya. Jadi, kaya sekarang nih, g mau upload & kasih komen lagi ah utk fotografer.net. Yg harus g atasi adalah: kenapa g seringkali jadi ngerasa malas dlm menjalankan hobi. Huh. Nggak baik. HARUS DIUBAH.

Ya udah, ini bbrp foto yg g ambil belakangan.

Sabtu kemarin g & anak2 GP GPIB Jatipon ikut kebaktian padang. Ternyata acara itu juga dihadiri anak2 Panti Asuhan Maranatha. Mereka semua dari Nias. Semoga Tuhan memberkati & menyertai mereka senantiasa.

Well...

2006-10-06T19:13:00.000+07:00

I finally met my professor in my university.
My mind is filled with research's plan now. I changed the topic again. I don't wanna let you know now. I want the plan to be fixed then I'll tell you what it is about. Secret ^^

Life has been stressed but fun.

My cousin, Naka, has always be a 'nice' friend if I am home. Haha...Once he just saw me and he got angry with no reasons at all. But a week after that, he became much nicer. Hmm??? My mom or my sisters made him talking to me by phone during weekdays. It's funny to talk to a 1.11 months old baby on the phone. He likes being taken pictures also. Oh cute baby...

Have I told you that Akihisa Horigome, my friend from Hokkaido University, came to Indonesia two weeks ago? I brought him around the city of Bogor and Jakarta. I got confused because Jakarta sometimes seems so boring. Most of Jakarta people are mall-aholic. Crazy! I don't really like malls but sometimes you have no choice but going to the mall because of the traffic jams, the distance of other interesting places, and many other reasons.

Malls in Jakarta are HUGE. When my friends and I went out with Akihisa, my friends suggested mall as a good place to hang out. I didn't agree and fortunately, Akihisa didn't either. We won! So, we decided to go around Jakarta by car and went to Monas, the National Monument. Hahaha!! I hadn't been there since I was 3 years old. Here's the picture.

Enjoy life!

Teru no Uta

2006-09-16T01:07:00.000+07:00

In Gedo Senki, the heroin, Teru, sang a song literally named Teru's song. I like it. It's fun cause the song stuck in my head since the first time I heard it in the movies until now. Here's the lyric:

夕闇迫る雲の上　いつも一羽で飛んでいる
鷹はきっと悲しかろう
音も途絶えた風の中　空を掴んだその翼
休めることはできなくて

心を何にたとえよう　鷹のようなこの心
心を何にたとえよう　空を舞うよな悲しさを

雨のそぼ降る岩陰に　いつも小さく咲いている
花はきっと切なかろう
色も霞んだ雨の中　薄桃色の花びらを
愛でてくれる手もなくて

心を何にたとえよう　花のようなこの心
心を何にたとえよう　雨に打たれる切なさを

人影絶えた野の道を　私とともに歩んでる
あなたもきっと寂しかろう
虫の囁く草原を　ともに道行く人だけど
絶えて物言うこともなく

心を何にたとえよう　一人道行くこの心
心を何にたとえよう　一人ぼっちの寂しさを

Yuuyami semaru kumo no ue itsumo ichiwa de tonde iru
Taka wa kitto kanashikarou
Oto mo todaeta kaze no naka sora wo tsukanda sono tsubasa
Yasumeru koto wa dekinakute

Kokoro wo nani ni tatoeyou taka no youna kono kokoro
Kokoro wo nani ni tatoeyou sora wo mauyona kanashisa wo

Ame no sobo furu iwakege ni itsumo chiisaku saite iru
Hana wa kitto setsunakarou
Iro mo kasunda ame no naka usumomo iro no hanabira wo
Medete kureru te mo nakute

Kokoro wo nani ni tatoeyou hana no youna kono kokoro
Kokoro wo nani ni tatoeyou ame ni utareru setsunasa wo

Hitokage taeta no no michi wo watashi to tomo ni ayunderu
Anata mo kitto samishikarou
Mushi no sasayaku kusahara wo tomo ni michiyuku hito dakedo
Taete mono iu koto mo naku

Kokoro wo nani ni tatoeyou hitori michiyuku kono kokoro
Kokoro wo nani ni tatoeyou hitori bocchi no samishisa wo

How I see life this week

2006-09-16T00:27:00.000+07:00

I'm using the computer in my room now. Haven't downloaded any pictures to this computer since I came back from Japan.

I am facing reality now. I met my super, super-busy professor last Tuesday. Thank God! I really wanted to talk to her about my final task and I got the chance that day. She came back from Singapore on Sunday, the week before.
When I was about to enter her office, I heard her voice. I thougt she was angry to someone. It was still 15.50. I promised to come at 16.00. I waited. First, I was a little bit aware - or scary. Second, I want to be on time. A very famous emeritus professor from my departmen, Prof. F.G. Winarno, once taught us to be on time. Not too late nor too early. Be precise. Anyway, I took all my guts after waiting for around 5 minutes and I knocked her door.
As I entered her office, there was noone else there except Maria (Mohung), my senior who also went studying to Hokudai last year and will go there again to take master degree this October. They were discussing her thesis. I stepped in and I, coincidently, overheard their discussion. I learned a lot from it, including one line my professor said,
"If you work appropriately, you can finish your work fast (on time)."
She said it to Mohung because Mohung were supposed to have her final presentation this Thursday but she had to make it postponed until September 25th. Meanwhile, she need to go to Sapporo on Oct. 6th. I pray the best for her.
As I saw the situation, I was encouraged by her statement. Seriously. I was afraid because she is so...so...so...super-busy. But, I also need to study well. I pray to God so if He allows me so, I want to graduate on June 2007.
And, FYI, my research 90% (perhaps) will be related to Indonesian bay leaf (Syzygium polyantha Wight).

Today, my friend Ratry had her final presentation. We studied together for a week. She was preparing for today, I studied to review all the things I learned but I had forgotten. Yikes! It was and is relieving to review all of them. I still need to learn more. About organic chemistry with all of those isomers, nomenclatures, chemical bonds, PLUS I need to learn much much more about FLAVOR. Woohoo! Why? Because my research will be 95% about flavor. God please help me! I liked flavor. I didn't get the chance to take the last flavor class in Food Tech Dept last year. But I could learn something related to it. Much more precious than the class itself on the second semester in HUSTEP, Hokudai. I learned about SDE (Simultaneous Distillation Extraction) method for aroma & flavor research. My professor said I can proceed.

And, I just finished watching Chihiro or known as Spirited Away. I started watching Studio Ghibli's anime since I watch Gedo Senki with Lindsey on her last week in Sapporo. It was ...interesting. I think I have once watched one of Miyazaki Hayao's anime before going to Japan, but I don't remember the title. It was about the end of WW II in Japan.

It's 12:59 am now and I am sleepy. I want to talk with all of you my friends, whereever you are. Indonesia or anywhere else in the world. I miss you.
Love, Hanna

Cool website!

2006-09-01T19:40:00.000+07:00

My friend, Bey, taught me about a cool photography website in Indonesia. Fotografer.net If you have time, check it out! It's opened for anyone not only for photographers.

Stories these days

2006-09-01T18:45:00.000+07:00

I went to school. My classes had started again. I'm preparing for my research now. My cousin, Naka, still come to my house. My dad informed me that I can use internet connection in my 'apartment'. I'm so excited!! ^^ I guess I became internet freak after coming back from Japan.
Hmmm... what else? O, my cousin, Yanka ,went to Bandung to go to school. He likes living there. That's great.

Here are some pictures I took the last two, three weeks.

We went to Disney Fun-Lantern Festival

I guess Donald still needs anger management, doesn't he?Off course, "Enjoy Jakarta"!

We all went to Manullang's house to have a service there before we all start going to school again. I like being with my family.

Naka likes the piano in my house

Meeting People All Around (2)

2006-08-18T13:27:00.000+07:00

My brain and heart mixed randomly. Even until now. But my mom told me once more, "Wherever God put you, give thanks!" Thank you mom! You're great!
My family + my adorable, cute, smart little cousin, Naka + his mom picked me up at the airport. We had great time together. The next 2 days, my big family from my mom side had dinner together in a Japanese restaurant. It was fun. We praise God for that cause a lot of things:
^^ I came from Japan
^^ My cousin, Gideon, came from Australia
^^ My cousin Lala, Gideon's sister, graduated that week
^^ My other cousin, Yanka, was accepted in a national university at Bandung
^^ My sister, Dimba, graduated her junior high and was accepted in a competitive Catholic school
^^ My other cousin, Patrick, Yanka's brother who is as old as my sister Dimba, was also graduated and continued his study in a "famous" high school in South Jakarta

So, it was fun!!!

Then, I went to school to manage my study this semester, plus, to meet my friends. It's fun seeing them again. Until now I still can't believe how come they like gossip so much???

Anyway, we went to a villa yesterday.
Some of them already graduated and some of them are still doing their research but will graduate soon. It will be harder to meet again if we graduate so we thought, how 'bout going somewhere and hang out together before it will be much harder to meet one another? So, we went to an area called Cisarua. The villa was one of our senior's. He couldn't come but the place was great! I love it! I'm glad we could have fun together.

Meeting People All Around (1)

2006-08-18T13:01:00.000+07:00

I should have put this story first. Today will be my celebration of my 1st week coming home from Japan. I remember last week, I woke up at 4 am cause I need to be in Sapporo station before 6 am. The nicest 小母さん and my friends who lived in the same floor with me woke me up at 4 a.m. Hyunkyung came to my room at 5 a.m. Aren't they great?!!

I got plenty to tell. So, at 5 a.m. my friends Leo (Indonesia) and Louis (Jamaica) were already standing in front of the gate of Sosei-ryo （霜星寮）, my dorm, to help me bringing all my stuffs until the station. Don't ever think, my luggage were already more than 30 kgs. Oh...they were so nice!
Then, we arrive in the station around 5.30 a.m. The taxi driver said, "You're too early. It must be still close." He was right. We knew it but I don't like being too close to the departure time when I need to go somewhere far and long.
The three of us waited for my other friends at the station. The machine didn't even operate at the time. We were early in the morning. Then, around 10 minutes later, they came! Woo! I almost couldn't believe it. It was 5.40 in the morning. Even Mikko (Finland) came! Sometimes he doesn't like waking up too early in the morning. But who does anyway?
Then, Makiko and Minseok (thank you so much!!!) sent me off until the airport. Poor Minseok, my luggage were too heavy. Yikes! My host mom sent me off in the airport.
After flying for around 7 hours, I arrived in Jakarta!

Look what I found!

2006-08-18T12:52:00.000+07:00

I heard of Napoleon Dynamite when I was in Sapporo from my American friends. Then, I finally watched it around 3-4 months ago. And, the coolest part is...
I found it being played in HBO in Indonesia!

Home ^^

2006-08-13T16:52:00.000+07:00

Yup, I'm home!

Thank you Lindsey!

2006-08-07T09:16:00.000+07:00

Lindsey, I hope you read this. I want to say, THANK YOU LINDSEY!!!

You're an amazing and wonderful friend to me & to anyone who knows you. You share your unconditional love and kindness to anyone in this world, no matter who they are, where they're from and whenever it is. I'm serious! I learn a lot from you. From cooking, communicating with other people, building relationship with a lot of people, speech (I'm learning it now), expressing our feeling...and there are still much more. You are as simple and strong as water. I am glad God made us met each other here in Sapporo. I believe He has beautiful (really beautiful plan) for each of us. Please pray for that as well. I know you believe it too ^^

I'd already written a lot for you. I'll tell some more some here. Thank you for your warmth and love you shared with me especially during our study here. Thank you also for the fun and "funner" stuffs we could do together. I enjoyed them so much. Like what you said to me: what would my life be in Sapporo without my funny, beautiful, spontaneous (I think you're more spontaneous than me, and sometimes Ramya is more than you), creative Lindsey!!! Yahoo!!!

I felt so sad yesterday thinking that my tears didn't come when I sent you off in the airport...TT I felt bad a whole day because of it. Why? I figured it out when I talked to Ramya: cause I want you to know that it is also hard for me to part from my precious & closest friend ever!! I feel better now. I hope you understand ^^

I really want to meet you again & off course our other friends, including Eri, Mikko, Minseok, Inkyung, Brian, Christoph, Yumi, Britton, Aisu (you're right, she's cool!), Hayoung, Hyunkyung, and many more. I can't write all of their names here, but you know.

Lindsey, I want to say: I love you sis and He loves you too! Keep sharing His love to a lot of people. I learned that from you. I know He's using you for His great job.

Keep my bracelet, I'm going to ask you if we can meet again...haha...

Love you soooooooooooooooooo much!

I went to the zoo ^^

2006-08-07T08:16:00.000+07:00

I went to the zoo last Thursday with some of my HUSTEP friends. I made options for them where to go and surprisingly most of them said that they wanted to go to the zoo.
It`s so hot. Even though we didn`t do anything a lot, we got so tired.

Anyway, there I found

a meerkat, and

a giraffe licking a tree, and

a tapir from Indonesia probably, and

a sleeping tiger, and...

Lindsey?????

Hahahahaha.........!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I know!

2006-08-07T08:00:00.000+07:00

Now I know why the connection to Blogger.com often failed in the university, because it is in the university. I think the IP of Blogger.com was rejected by any computer in the university. That is why the connection often failed after a while and I couldn`t navigate my blog well.

Now I`m using internet in my host family`s house in Eniwa. Don`t believe the time written down here. It`s already August 8, 2:28 in the morning. I`m sleepy but I just want to write. Perhaps there are also some people that experienced the same thing like me. Good luck!

My professor came!

2006-08-02T00:12:00.000+07:00

One thing that I never thought before: the coming of my professor from Indonesia to Sapporo!

It feels fun and awkward in the same time. I guess it is because I`ve never seen her outside the university in Bogor and never done things together unrelated to our study.

We had dinner together with some of her friends here, drank coffee together (it`s my first time to hang out with professors!), had dinner again together and went to Otaru together to watch the fireworks which was held at the port there. It was so pretty. I`m glad because we could sit at the first row^^

She`s still busy so any of you who read this, please pray so she can help me with my last task for the next year well. Thank you so much for your corporation. I love this line...hehe...
See you again Bu Hanny!

皆さん、どもありがとう！

2006-07-30T23:50:00.000+07:00

皆さん、一年間ぐらいクラ会で一緒に聖書を学んで、どもありがとう。日本に来る前に、日本の大学にもクラ会みたいのサクルがあるかどうかわからなかった。でも、実際にあるんですね　＾＾
よかった！
聖書を学んだり、お祈り会をしたり、また色々なことを一緒にしたり、楽しかった。

今日も、送別会を行ってくれて、どもありがとうございます！皆さんと会えて、うれしいですよ！
パフェもおいしかった！プレゼントもどもありがとう！

私はインドネシアに帰っても、よく連絡してください！なつかしいわ　～～

では、またね！

神様が私たちを祝福して下さいますように。

Fireworks...yahoo!!!

2006-07-18T17:26:00.000+07:00

Sorry for not posting for at least 2 weeks I guess. I've been very busy lately but in the same time I enjoy life here.
I can't believe this, it's already July! Oh, I don't want to think about it. It makes me sad.....

So, last Friday, my friends and I went to Toyohira river to watch the fireworks. Japan has a custom when every summer, there are fireworks everywhere and girls wear yukata to see it. So, we are girls. Then, we thought why not wearing yukata also?

Hayoung's language exchange partner, Saki san (see picture below), was so nice. She helped Hayoung, Hyunkyung, me, Inkyung and Lindsey to wear yukata because we couldn't wear it by ourselves. Yukata is a kind of kimono that is made of cotton and is usually wear on summer.Saki san is the one with blue yukata

It's crazy! I've never been to a place where all the girls in the area wear their traditional clothes just only for fireworks (花火) or other event that is not related to their family or school. When I came out from my dorm, we didn't see any other girls with yukata but as we walked nearer to the station, as far as our eyes could see, there were girls everywhere with yukata.
Then, the most interesting thing was on the subway. It's the first time for me to be in a subway in Sapporo but as crowd as they usually are in Tokyo. They who wanted to get inside the subway needed to push other passengers inside the subway so they could get inside. Crazy!!!

Hokkaido Festival (2)

2006-07-01T14:40:00.000+07:00

There was another festival at Hokkaido two weeks ago. It`s called Hokkaido Shrine Festival, so it was held in a shrine called Hokkaido Jingu. I went there with Brian, Inkyung, Lindsey & Hayong. Too bad it was raining though it wasn`t as hard as the day before.
Seeing the festival itself, seeing the people who came there and put several coins in a box, seemed stranged for me. That day I thought, "Now, it is strange to see the religion in the world when there is Jesus." You know what I mean.

Here are some pics I took.

Are they Japanese?

2006-07-01T14:36:00.000+07:00

I took this picture at Daimaru around two weeks ago. Well, Lindsey saw it first but then I also took some pictures of them. Haha...
Do you think they look like Japanese enough?

Do you know Ainu?

2006-06-26T19:43:00.000+07:00

Ainu is the aborigin people of Hokkaido. During Meiji period, Japanese entered and occupied Hokkaido, causing the decreasing number of Ainu people. They weren't allowed to use their language, or anything related to their customs but they're still here.
Last Saturday, I and a number of HUSTEP students went to a city named Biratori, about 2 hours from Sapporo by bus, to learn about Ainu culture. It has two museums of Ainu culture. It's amazing. We never known about this before, unless some students who learned it before, but most of us don't.
One of our guide is Ainu himself. Inkyung has his picture I guess, but I don't. Anyway, I like Jekka's advisor, Utsunomiya sensei. He went with us. He's so funny. The most important thing for him was taking picture together so we can put it in ISC's webpage. Haha!

This is Ainu traditional house. It was made from kaya. I can't believe Ainu people live in that kind of house in Hokkaido, especially at winter. It could reach -20C. Brrr!!!!!

It's world cup time!

2006-06-26T19:34:00.000+07:00

The truth is World Cup brings me to sad memories, the day when my grandma passed away four years ago. I'm not sad, I just remember that time. The truth is I feel joyful because my grandma is with Jesus now.
This year's World Cup is exciting since I watch the games with all of my friends. I usually don't watch soccer match, also my family, but we like to watch it only during World Cup.
Too bad Korea and Japan can't go to the next level. They are the only Asia countries this year. Especially for my sister, Ima, cause she likes Ahn Jun Hwan, a Korean player, so much (even until now!)
I took the picture above in the International Student Center coz Yamashita sensei opens it during World Cup even it's 3 am in the morning. Crazy!

Another blog probably?

2006-06-26T19:15:00.000+07:00

Life is too beautiful, I don' t want just a blog screw it. So, if this blog still doesn't work as it should be, I'll make another blog.

Yes, I love you all!

2006-06-26T19:06:00.000+07:00

I love you all!

2006-06-20T12:45:00.000+07:00

It's already 8 months now since I came to Japan. I can't believe it. All of my friends, both who are in HUSTEP or not, don't believe it. Time flies so fast. It feels like I just arrived in Sapporo yesterday. In less than 50 days I'll be back home soon.

Living here on my own it's such a bless for me. Being far to my family, I learned and still learn a lot of thing including how we communicate or interact each other. I realize that all of us are special. Sometimes I feel that my family, except my mom I think, can't express what we feel. We just still not use to it or worse, don't care about it. For me, the second reason sounds more reasonable for my family, which includes me. But, I think I've changed a little bit. I mean in this.

Last month, on May 14, people in Japan and several other countries, celebrated Mother's Day. Yesterday, June 18, they celebrated Father's Day. I know it's different from Indonesia. Our Mother's Day is celebrated every December 22 and we don't have Father's Day. I don't know if there's any Sisters' Day but it's okay.

Last night I had a nice chat with my sisters. I miss that chat. I hope we can communicate better and better. I love you both, Ima and Dimba and I know you love me too! Haha!
As for my parents, I thank God for both of them. They are the greatest parent in the world. I know I'm such a stubborn and hard daughter to teach or advice, but I thank God for what He gives to all of us. Without your patients, Ibu Bapak, I wouldn't be like this. I love you both, Ibu Bapak!

Going somewhere?

2006-06-19T13:03:00.000+07:00

The administrator of Food Technology-class 39 of Bogor Agricultural University sent this picture to all of its member.
It`s so cool! But I guess people can still go to the left or right side directly anyway.

My South East Asia Friends

2006-06-17T15:07:00.000+07:00

As I told you before, I got the chance to work as a translator last week. It was scary but in the same time, fun!
There was a group of people from South East Asia (SEA) invited by JICA (Japan International Corporation Association) to come to Japan and studied a lot of things. So, last week, I went to Niseko with them.
They were all nice, like what people said about SEA people. The most interesting is, I found that almost all of SEA people have the same characteristic. Amazing! I didn't know that before. Eventhough, in fact, I don't actually like that characteristic, I found it interesting to learn.

Seeing them, I hope and pray to God, may God bless us all. I believe He knows what we need and He'll be with us for eternity.

Festivals at Hokkaido (1)

2006-06-17T14:54:00.000+07:00

Last week, there's a festival held in Hokkaido called Yosakoi Soran Matsuri (Yosakoi Soran Festival). It was held from Thursday until Sunday. I couldn't watch it on Thursday and Friday but I finally watched it Saturday and Sunday although I was rather in a rush. I was offered to do a part time job as a translator from Japanese to English and vice versa. The thing is, the topic was about agriculture and international relationsip. I thanked God for it. He helped me a lot. It was scary! I know my Japanese' limit, you know!

I don't have nice pictures of it. The festival itself is a dance festival. There are around 100 teams from all around Hokkaido and all of them went to Sapporo. Most of them had around at least 20 people in it, women or men, young or old, and even kids like elementary students. Wearing modificated kimono or yukata, they danced and shouted and trying to get the best prize if not, just enjoy the dance itself.

Log on to http://www2.yosanet.com/foreign/en/ for more information about this festival.

Tell you more about the next event at Hokkaido.

Problem at blogger.com

2006-06-17T14:49:00.000+07:00

I'm wondering, for all of you who use blogger.com, did you find any problem in posting or connection to blogger.com until now? Tired with this problem, I finally sent an email to them today. I hope it wouldn't be a problem anymore. Strange...so strange...! It seems also that I'm not the only one who had this problem.
May God help me!

Wrrrzzzz......Yeah!

2006-06-09T09:52:00.000+07:00

Nothing specific, just trying what's in my head now.
Here are some pictures I took recently. I just don't understand, I can't publish my blog if I put more than 3 pics and write it after it. I wanted to write everything but I couldn't!

Mysterious Anonymous

2006-05-30T12:54:00.000+07:00

You know, you are mysterious 'anonymous'!

Who is `anonymous`?

2006-05-26T19:25:00.000+07:00

Today I got a lot of comments from someone known as anonymous. It`s so weird because it might have been someone who found my blog somehow, somewhere from the internet. You know, I don`t really mind and I do actually appreciate your comments, but I really want to know who this anonymous is. So anonymous, if you don`t mind telling me who you are, can you send me another comment with your name and where you live now? I will appreciate it so much. Thanks!

Flowers

2006-05-25T15:12:00.000+07:00

Barong at Nara?

2006-05-24T12:48:00.000+07:00

Isn`t it look like barong from Bali? It`s a statue or any artcraft that I found in Nara. Weird!

Candy

2006-05-24T12:34:00.000+07:00

I`m eating a candy that I got from my friend Eri. Since I`m searching for articles about flavor (I have my independent study tonight. It`s about flavor and aroma/volatile compounds), I want to make a brief report about the candy that I ate.

Product name: Candy
Brand: I don`t know. Eri just took it from a plastic package. I only had the chance to glance at it.
Description: Shape:Prism
Height: around 2 cm
Width: around 0.75 cm
Main flavor: honey flavor (based on my sense)
Flavor characteristic:
sweet, heavy, warm nuances (which I thought it`s too bad. It`ll be better if it gives cold nuances but that means to produce it we have to use alcohol derivatives sweeteners such as xylitol. Then I thought again, it won`t give heaviness to the candy), flat.

Too bad I don`t have pictures of it. Anyway, I`m at the library. I`m just bored, I think!

I finally ate tiramisu in Japan

2006-05-16T13:19:00.000+07:00

If you ask me what my favourite food is, I will definitely answer: Tiramisu.
My friends gave me a box full with small tiramisu for my 18th birthday and that was so cool! They're so sweet. Even if they didn't give my that tiramisu, I know I love them so much.

I haven't eaten tiramisu for so long especially after I came to Japan. Sometimes it's hard to find it or it's just who was lazy. Last Friday, I finally bought & ate 1, eventhough it's a fake one. I bought it in my university's coop. It's not really that good, but it's ok. I hope I can eat the real one here in Japan. Yummy!

花見(Hanami)

2006-05-16T13:09:00.000+07:00

In Japan, there's an event called hanami. It is the time where people go to the park, enjoying the beauty of sakura flowers (cherry blossoms). Hana means flower and mi, literally means see in Japanese. So, literally, hanami means "seeing the flower". Moreover, if you say flower in Japan that could either mean: 1) Flower in general, 2) Sakura itself. In this case, it refers to sakura.

I went with my friends around Hokkaido University last Friday. It's very pretty this time. Sometimes I can't believe that spring has finally come to Hokkaido. This year, the snow stops falling from April. Isn't it amazing!?
I'll give you more stories about hanami in the next post.

More pictures!

2006-05-16T12:55:00.000+07:00

Sorry, I can't write any informations about the pictures in detail. It's weird, everytime I tried to write something after uploading the pictures, the connection failed. Knowing how frustrated it was, I changed my method.
Anyway, the pictures in my previous posts & this post were taken in Kyoto and Tokyo. If there're any ornaments that look like Japan's traditional art craft or they look like traditional Japan to you, those pictures were taken at Kyoto. Otherwise, they were taken at Tokyo with its modern and metropolitan atmosphere. I'm glad I could find either maiko, geisha and co-girls. And even more, otaku player! Haha!

できた！！！　(It worked!!!)

2006-05-11T15:39:00.000+07:00

It worked! My latest post worked! I`m so excited because I`ve tried to post the pictures for almost two months. Let`s see if it`ll work again now...

Trip`s Picture

2006-05-08T15:57:00.000+07:00

Let`s see if it works now...

Tired

2006-04-30T20:00:00.000+07:00

It's been a while. I'd tried to post new postings for ages but they all just wouldn't work. Everytime I want to publish, the connection failed (>_<)
So, I just hope this one works coz the truth is I have million of words to tell!

My Cute Little Friends...

2006-04-04T15:07:00.000+07:00

I thank God He gave me cute 'kawaii' little friends here in Sapporo. They are Aya and Marsa, Segah & Henni's little daughter. They went back to Indonesia last week and thank God again, they'd arrived in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan last Saturday.

If God allows me, I want to meet them again.
アヤちゃん、マルシャちゃん、私と日本語を忘れないでねー。神様がご家族に祝福しますように。

I wore kimono!

2006-04-01T11:32:00.000+07:00

I'm sorry for not updating my blog for quite a long time. My travel pics are still in my friend, Brian's, computer. I'm going to burn them all into CD tonight so I hope I can update it ASAP.

Anyway, I thank God for everything. I enjoyed every single time of this 'going to end' spring break. I did several interesting things. Every day I read a book that helps you to understand the Word of God named Our Daily Bread. Every single day, it will give you nice sentence or writing to help you applying God's Word.
It has a lot of nice lines include yesterday's line. It said, "Don't spend time, invest the time."
It's great, isn't it? You probably have never thought about it either.

I made a lot of 'investments' even after the travel. One of them is wearing kimono.
At the time, I was invited by Woo Sik through Lindsey to come to his host mom's house to learn how to wear kimono. So, I said "Off course, yes!" Who will refuse wearing kimono in Japan?

His host mom is such a nice person. I thought we'd only wear kimono but surprisingly, she did our hair as well. There're three of us: me, Lindsey & Ingkyung. It's so fun!
Now I know why Japanese women don't want to wear kimono in their daily life because it's more complicated than I thought & you almost can't breath when you wear it!

Anyway, do you think we are pretty in kimono?

Travel break

2006-03-19T19:55:00.000+07:00

Thank God I can travel with my friends Lindsey, Mikko, Minseok, Brian, Inkyung, and Christoph this spring break. At the moment I write this post, I`m still in Tokyo. There is Mikko next to me and Christoph in front of me. We stay in a hostel named Khaosan in Asakusa. Brian and Inkyung are sitting in front of the TV checking something from the internet, using his computer. Minseok went to bed about an hour ago. He still looked so sleepy after clubbing last night. Minseok, Lindsey, Mikko and Christoph went clubbing last night and went back to the hostel this morning. Wooo.... And Lindsey is somewhere in Ueno or in Tokyo (in general) with her friends. They have graduate party this night.

Sorry, I can`t post any pictures now. I downloaded all my pictures to Brian`s computer(actually, Brian downloaded them all for me to his computer). I plan to post it as soon I get my pictures out of Brian`s computer. I had a lot of them and still haven`t checked them all.

I went to watch Kabuki this morning with Brian and Inkyung. Kabuki is a traditional act play that played only by men. It was developed from Edo period, around 300 years ago. As I already knew even before I watched it, it is obviously ununderstandable...haha!! もちろん！
Anyway, it is probably the same with watching Bali dances or Ramayana dances or theatre in Indonesia cause all of them are played with their own traditional languages that I don`t understand. I`m happy I can watch kabuki here in Tokyo. We can`t watch it in Sapporo. I don`t mind the meaning of each word they say. I understood some of them. I`m glad I read the pamphlet with the story`s summary so I didn`t really get lost while watching it. It feels awkward to see the actor being an onnagata (actor whose role is to be female). The onnagata this morning seemed having low voice but he had to change his voice into woman`s voice which turned out to be very funny ^^
It`s like this (read the following words with high tone and pretend that you have something choked in your throat): auw...auw...auw...
HAHAHA!!!

We plan to go to Tsukiji Fish Market tomorrow morning. Since we want to watch the auction, we plan to leave at 5 a.m. in the morning. I hope the weather is good tomorrow. It`s amazingly windy today. Everywhere I went, there`s strong wind and it grew bigger and bigger.
Tokyo is such a big and busy city. When I came here, I felt that I didn`t go travelling for fun but more like business travel. Strange! But, it`s ok now. I learn many things also from this travel and pray that Jesus`s blessings can be shared through this travel.

ほにゃあ、ほにゃあ...(Honya,honya...)

2006-03-03T14:06:00.000+07:00

Honya honya = bla bla bla
They are words created by one of my Japanese teacher, Nakamura sensei.
It just suddenly came to my mind and I thougt, I wanted to put it down here without further reason.

Hmm...

Anyway, it's snowing again in Sapporo.
So how weather works in Sapporo lately: melting for a couple of days and snowing again for the next couple of days. However, sometimes it is unpredictable.

Melting snow

2006-02-21T15:08:00.000+07:00

This is how it looks like when the snow in a snowy area like Sapporo melts. Flood!

They're getting married!

2006-02-21T15:06:00.000+07:00

Surprise surprise!!!

Congratulation Ho & Laura-Jane! I love you both ^^

Party...

2006-02-21T15:01:00.000+07:00

All international students in Hokudai who came as a new student this year and those who’s going to graduate this year, were invited to come to a “Welcome and Farewell Party” last Friday. A mix party that sounds weird. However, we had good times with all the foods except there no other desert except the cakes and all cakes ran out quick as a flash. In other words, most of us didn’t eat the cake (T_T)

At the moment I write this, there are water dripped from the roof outside my room. The snow is melting in the past three days. Oooh…I think I love the snow. Please don’t melt too soon!

Otaru Snow Gleaming Festival

2006-02-21T14:33:00.000+07:00

There’s another festival related to snow or ice again in Hokkaido. This time, it’s at Otaru. It’s a port town at the western part of Hokkaido, around 45 minutes by train from Sapporo.

I went there with Louis, Lindsey, and her mom, Therese. As we got to the canal (which at the end of the trip, we realized that it’s only one of the venues), there’re already a lot of people there. I couldn’t take nice pictures but here are some of them.
You know Lindsey, your mom is very funny especially when she tried to say those Japanese-Katakana words like キュートキュート！I can’t stop laughing...LOL

Abashiri

2006-02-21T14:13:00.000+07:00

Abashiri, a city that is famous for its iceberg in Japan. This small city is located at the eastern part of Hokkaido. It is a cold area. When I went there, it was around -13 until
-11oC or 8.6 until 12.2 oF. Cold as freezer, isn’t it!?

Anyway, it was fun! I went there as a participant of a program made by Okhotsk International NGO for foreign students. They put us as participants in a cross country competition! Can you believe it!? We’re all amateurs and we were in a competition! I skied 7 km for 3 hours with my ‘faithful’ friend, Teresa from Germany. Hahaha…3 hours!!

We were brought to join a big party held together with Finland embassy. After that, we went to see Ryuhyo (Iceberg) Festival (流氷祭り). I found it was cooler than Susukino. Here, we can slide and the sculptures were more interesting.

The next day, they took us to ride on an iceberg breaker boat. It seems that this trip is so famous in Japan, that most of the Japanese know about it & the boat itself. In this trip, you’ll ride the boat & see how the icebergs were broken so the boat can sail safely on the sea. Actually, you can’t see how the boat breaks the icebergs because you’ll sit or stand at the back part of the boat.

After that, we visited several museums that you won’t find in Indonesia because all of them related to snow, iceberg and Northern People. Northern people are those who lived in very cold areas in the northern part of the world, such as Japan’s Ainu, North America’s Eskimo, Siberian people, and many more.

The next trip was the most exciting part for me. We went to Abashiri Lake which was all of its water had become snow, not ice, but snow. So what’s next? On the lake, we can ride snowmobile, banana boat, a raft boat, and two other vehicles which I don’t know their names. IT WAS SO COOL!!! I want to do it again!

My advice, if any of you can go there during the iceberg flowing time, go there.

Culture Class

2006-02-21T13:57:00.000+07:00

I am grateful God allowed me to study in Hokudai, especially now as an exchange student. Two weeks ago, all HUSTEP students were asked to join some culture classes. We were taught how to arrange flower in Kado (華道) which is usually known as Ikebana or Japanese flower arrangement.
Each of us arranged the flowers as it should be in Kado. I was surprised they brought sakura since sakura hasn't bloomed yet in Hokkaido. So, they must have taken it from Honshu or somewhere south.

In the same day, we were taught Aikido (合気道), another martial arts from Japan. If any of you haven’t known what aikido is,…let’s see…Do you know Steven Seagal? He is an
Aikido master. In all his films, he practiced aikido. So that’s aikido. It’s different to karate, judo, etc. For me they looked softer eventhough it’s not. Anyway, I like the motion. It’s beautiful. Sometimes, they look like dancing but the truth is, they’re doing martial art. I got a “cool” pants with ripped part on the knee.

The next day, we learn how to play Koto (琴), a string music instrument which was originally born in China but is also played in Japan. It looks like zither. I’ve never played both but it’s fun to learn. I think, even not all Japanese can play koto. The same as not all Indonesians can play gamelan or other traditional music instruments. We were taught how to play a song named Sakura. Our teachers were great!

The last class was calligraphy class. It is called Shodo (書道). I’ve never known before that there are several ways to write & read kanji. Anyway, I wrote them as what I learned in my Kanji class.

Fun…fun…fun…!
I hope they open culture class again. I want to learn about washi!
　　

Susukino Ice Festival

2006-02-21T13:40:00.000+07:00

Susukino is the downtown of Sapporo. A lot of people go to Susukino to “have fun”. If you want to go to karaoke, bars, bowling alley, nice restaurants, and more, that is the place.

Susukino is one of the venues of Sapporo Snow Festival. Instead of snow sculptures, they showed a lot of ice sculptures. Around three or four blocks of Susukino’s main road were blocked for cars in order to hold this event. Here are some pictures I took when I went there. It was very cold but still, there were a lot of people came.

A karaoke room built from ice.

Fishes & others in ice!

Hina Matsuri

The truth is, I didn’t find it as good as other ice festivals I’ve seen before, but…never mind.

札幌雪祭り (Sapporo Snow Festival)

2006-02-17T12:21:00.000+07:00

今年、札雪祭りは三つ会場に行いしました。大踊り公園やすすきのやさとうランドという所。

Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri) was held in three places this year, Odori Park, Susukino and Sato Land. I went to Odori and Susukino but I didn't go to Sato Land.

I went to Odori after the Kanji test with Lindsey, Mikko, Louis & Minseok. It`s like a day we`ve dreamt of since our tests were all done at that day. We kept saying, "We don`t have to go to the class tomorrow!!!" The truth is, we still have to go to the class in the next day. We have culture classes to attend.

Anyway, back to the snow festival. These are some pictures we took in Odori.

There were a lot of snow sculptures there. The big ones were made by professional sculptors. Like the one behind me in the picture above and behind us below.

(Minseok, Mikko, me, Louis, Lindsey)

Every year, there are special snow sculptures made. Last year was Bae Yong Jung, a famous Korean actor. This year were Ai-chan's and Narnia's ice sculptures . Ai M. is the leading woman golfer from Okinawa. Narnia is going to be played in the theathers on March 4 in Japan.

Ai-chan

Narnia

There are some sculptures made by un-professionals also, like this Doraemon (I know you'll like it, Ima!) ^^

There're ice sculptures also, like this cute Pekko-chan.

I'll tell you more about other festivals. If you want to read more about Sapporo Snow Festival, go to http://www.snowfes.com/english/place/ . It is written in English.

New from Hanna

2006-02-17T12:04:00.000+07:00

I haven't updated my blog recently. Sorry for it, especially for my mom & dad. You've asked me to update it several times but I had no time to update it.

I did several things. The test weeks ended last week. On Tuesday exactly. It was Kanji test.

I'll write my story orderly so read the next stories.

This is one of the 'old' pictures I got. My friend took it for me but I just saved it today. Isn't it a good picture?

5 Langkah Mengembangkan Gaya Hidup Peduli & Murah Hati

2006-02-17T09:44:00.000+07:00

I got this article from my friend. It's about how to live in careness and love other people.
Sorry, I haven't translated it into English so it's only in Indonesian.

Kepedulian bagaikan batu bata untuk bangunan yang bernama kasih. Tanpa adanya kepedulian tidak mungkin terdapat rasa kasih pada sesama. Padahal Hukum Kasih mengajarkan kita untuk mengasihi sesama persis sama seperti kita mengasihi Tuhan. Bagaimana cara menunjukkan kepedulian?
Kepedulian adalah kesanggupan untuk peka terhadap kebutuhan orang lain dan kesanggupan untuk turut merasakan perasaan orang lain serta menempatkan diri dalam keadaan orang lain (empati). Kepedulian berkaitan erat dengan kemurahan hati. Ini berasal dari sikap hati yang menembus setiap aspek kehidupan seseorang, menyentuh waktu, uang, bakat, dan hartanya.
Untuk menumbuhkan kepedulian dan kualitas kemurahan hati dalam hidup kita, John C. Maxwell dalam The 21 Indispensable Qualities of A Leader menganjurkan kita untuk memulai dari dalam. Berikut ini 5 langkah dari Maxwell yang diperkaya dengan penjelasan dari sumber-sumber lain.
1. Bersyukurlah atas apa pun yang Anda miliki
Kemurahan hati timbul dari rasa cukup, bukan dari mendapatkan lebih. Itu sebabnya Tuhan mengajar kita untuk mengucap syukur dalam segala hal. Jutawan John D. Rockefeller mengakui, Saya sudah punya jutaan, tapi saya tidak menjadi bahagia karenanya.・
Sulit bagi seseorang untuk bersikap murah hati jika ia sendiri tidak puas dengan yang dimilikinya. Jika Anda tidak puas dengan jumlah kecil, Anda tidak akan puas dengan jumlah besar. Dan, jika Anda tidak murah hati ketika memiliki sedikit, Anda juga tidak akan mudah memberi ketika menjadi kaya.
2. Mendahulukan orang lain
Manusia adalah aset kita yang paling berharga. Begitu berharganya hingga Tuhan sendiri rela menebus dengan nyawa-Nya. Dalam kehidupan-Nya di muka bumi, Yesus telah menjadikan pelayanan yang didasari belas kasihan sebagai prioritas hidup-Nya (Mrk. 10:45). Pelayanan adalah inti kehidupan Kristen,・kata Rick Warren. Yesus datang untuk melayani dan untuk memberi dan kedua kata kerja itu seharusnya mendefinisikan hidup Anda di bumi juga,・tambahnya.
Hati yang diselamatkan adalah hati yang melayani. Kemurahan hati menuntut kita untuk mendahulukan orang lain. Jika Anda dapat melakukannya, Anda akan lebih mudah peduli pada sesama. Bukankah firman-Nya mengatakan bahwa 鉄egala sesuatu yang kamu kehendaki supaya orang perbuat kepadamu, perbuatlah demikian juga kepada mereka・ (Mat. 7:12).
3. Lepaskan diri Anda dari cengkeraman hasrat memiliki
Jika Anda ingin menguasai hati Anda, jangan biarkan harta benda menguasai Anda. Yang menjadikan kita kaya sebenarnya bukanlah seberapa banyak yang kita miliki, tetapi seberapa banyak yang kita berikan kepada orang lain. Rasul Paulus mengingatkan kita agar mempergunakan kemerdekaan kita sebagai kesempatan untuk melayani seorang akan yang lain oleh kasih (Gal. 5:13).
4. Pandanglah uang sebagai sumber daya
Uang adalah hamba yang mengagumkan namun majikan yang mengerikan. Jika Anda dikuasai oleh uang, Anda akan menjadi budaknya,・ tandas Stanley Jones. Satu-satunya cara agar Anda menang terhadap uang adalah dengan memegangnya tidak terlalu erat dan bersikap murah hati untuk mencapai hal-hal yang bernilai.
5. Kembangkanlah kebiasaan memberi
Esensi kehidupan adalah memberi. Tuhan sebagai sumber kehidupan adalah Sang Maha Pemberi. Ia memberikan sinar matahari, hujan, dan segalanya tanpa membeda-bedakan. Inilah unconditional love, sebuah cinta tanpa syarat. Kemurahan hati dengan memberi dan berbagi merupakan masalah sikap. Satu-satunya cara menjaga sikap murah hati adalah dengan menjadikan memberi sebagai gaya hidup. Memberi tak selalu harus berkaitan dengan materi dan uang. Kahlil Gibran berkata, 葬Bila engkau memberi dari hartamu, tiada banyaklah pemberian itu. Bila engkau memberi dari dirimu itulah pemberian yang penuh arti.・ Ada banyak bentuk dan kesempatan bagi kita untuk memberi sebagai wujud kepedulian. Anda bisa memberi waktu, perhatian, pengertian, pemikiran, dukungan, uang, dan sumber-sumber daya Anda. Bahkan Anda juga bisa sekadar memberi senyuman. Hal-hal yang sederhana ini dapat berarti banyak bagi orang lain. Anda setuju? Mari kita mulai praktikkan.

^_^

2006-01-28T13:06:00.000+07:00

You know, I'm just happy to make new things today.
Thanks to Daniel, I finally can make little changes of my blog's layout. I download a program so now I can play any type of video.
It seems very simple, but....I'm happy!

God bless you all!

^^

Winter in Sapporo

2006-01-22T19:36:00.000+07:00

If you want to know what Sapporo looks like during winter, here you go.

I took some pictures of Sapporo and its snow lately. It's amazing, you know! Have ever since or been in a place like this? Hokkaido people even say that the snow in Sapporo is not that much!

People shovel the snow in front of their houses or apartment or in the street and pile them up like this. The snow pile above is as high as a height of a room.

This one is probably 1,5 x my height. That is me in the picture by the way.

This is how the street looks like. The picture above was taken at Nishi 5 street, in front of Hokkaido University.

This is one of the vehicles (machines) Sapporo government use to clean the snow in the street. They usually clean the street at night.

Can you believe that there's a car inside this pile of snow!?

Korean Night

2006-01-22T18:38:00.000+07:00

2 weeks ago, there's a group of Korean university students from Sarang Church, Seoul came to Sapporo for missionary aim. Together with the Korean in the church, they made an event named Korean Night. It was so fun and amazing!

First, we ate a lot of Korean foods which were mashita (delicious), then we saw their performance. The above picture are some of their dancing. They danced using gospels, sang, played some musical instruments, and at the end, the girls wore Korean traditional wardrobe, hanbok. Yupuda! I don't know if this is the correct spelling for yupuda, which means beautiful in Korean. I hope I'm right.

I made friends with them. They're so nice. I hope they had great time during they're staying here in Sapporo.

Jaehee, Sunmin, and Eunsoo, if you read this, I want to say, eventhough it was a short period of time, it's nice to meet you all. You did great things here. I pray God bless you all more and more ^^

Winter Break

2006-01-15T17:20:00.000+07:00

I haven’t written anything for this blog since December 27, 2005. It’s pretty long. I didn’t feel like I want to write something in the blog lately and also because there were some complicated things when I wanted to write it.

Anyway, God’s been so good for me and my family and all people around us. Nothing is greater than His love for all of us. We had wonderful things.
I had wonderful winter holiday though it’s the first time for me not to be with my family at Christmas time and New Year as well. Thank God, He gave me nice friends to hang out with. They’re like family for me here.

This is like a summary about what I did this winter break.

Like Megumino, I spent my winter break mostly with the people from Sapporo International Church, especially from the English Cell. On December 23, I went to Laura Jane’s apartment to have lunch together. It’s amazing! She cooked a lot of Irish foods by herself. Even though we just plan to have lunch together there, somehow, we also had our dinner there. At the end, we watch Pocahontas with Japanese subtitle.

Christmas Eve was fun. The service that night somehow looked like a small concert with a preach at the end. I also, for the first time, played bingo in the church. I spent my Christmas Eve by going to Big House with Louis and Claede to accompany Louis who shopped.

Christmas time was amazing. After the service, there were 4 people baptized that day. I wonder how they feel to be baptized on Christmas day. It’s something you’ve longed for probably. It’s the first time for me to see people baptized in the bath. Later I went to the Christmas party that English Cell made. It’s fun. We did several games including the Snowman race.

The other day, Miju and I experienced walking in the deep snow in Hokudai and took a lot of pictures. At that day, we finally decided to go to Ario, a new shopping mall near Sapporo Beer Factory using the free shuttle bus. She’d never been to Ario, the new shopping mall in Higashi-ku and I’d never been to Sapporo Beer Factory. After that tiring but also enjoyable adventure, we had dinner together. Together with Eunyoung, we played guitar and sang some gospels and decided to make a record of gospel songs as our omiyage from Japan (!).

On December 29, Jackie, Louis and I experienced an interesting day ever. We walked and explored Sapporo from Kita-ku to Minami-ku, from Nishi-ku to Higashi-ku in one day. At the beginning, we planned to go ice skating in Kita 22, Higashi 5. However, it’s already closed for New Year. It would be closed from Dec. 29-Jan. 3. Knowing that we couldn’t skate, we went to the park next to the rink. There’s a small hill covered with snow where people (most of them are children) can slide. So, we went there. Bringing no slide at all, we just stood there while in a sudden all children came from every surrounded area. Knowing that we couldn’t slide without the slide because the snow was too hard, we went to Sapporo eki to find information if there’s any rink still opened that day.
Anyway, this is the ball we find on the way to Sapporo eki from L-Plaza building.

We got the information we need: “all rinks are closed starting from Dec. 29 until Jan. 3,” said the English speaking lady we asked in the tourist & travel information center. But, the bowling places were still opened. So we went to Teisen Hall, the nearest bowling alley to Sapporo eki. We planned to use the gakusei waribiki packet, but all lanes were used at the time. We had to wait for 20 minutes if we still want to play. We felt we just didn’t want to wait anymore, so we decided to cancel it. Sapporo Factory isn’t that far from Teisen Hall. Since Jackie & I had never been there, we decided to go there. In the Sapporo Factory building, again we found that starting from that day, the library was already closed. There should be beautiful lamps at the ceiling. However, it wasn’t turned on either. I wonder if they turn them off for the same reason: New Year holiday.

Walking around in Sapporo Factory, we start to feel tired and hungry. Trying to find a nice restaurant where we can eat, but it never reached the end. We didn’t find the one we liked. Again, we walked outside and explored the other side of Sapporo until we went to the underground of Odori koen, hoping to get a restaurant we like. Once more, we didn’t. After waiting for Louis (he asked someone in the travel center again under Odori koen), we decided to go to Maru Umai because there are several restaurants there. You know what? Thank God we finally did find a restaurant we liked. We ate and chat and sat there until it’s going to be closed. All stores already closed though it’s still 10 pm. Feeling tired and cold, we decided to go home. What a day!

New Year’s Eve should have been an interesting event here in Japan since they consider it as a big event of the year. Usually people go to the shrine and bells in there are rung (I don't know the word) 108 times. There’s also a countdown event that night in Odori koen. Some students went there but I didn’t want to go there anyway. I went to Row’s apartment with Jackie, Natsuko-chan and Yuko-san. I thought there would be a lot of people in the street, surprisingly, almost noone was in the street. We had simple New Year’s meal include kuro mame that Yuko-san brought. We chatted and played a lot of songs. As time reach midnight, we started to write our resolution for the coming year and the things we’d done in the past year. Singing Auld Lang Syne, both in English and Japanese, we opened the English New Year’s cracker.

Nothing really special on Dec. 30. However, the Sosei girls made snowman on the second floor of the building. In the evening we made a tempura party for Gessyca because it’s her birthday. All foods were surprisingly fried which made it reasonable because it’s Fried Day (Friday).

New Year’s was fun as well. Knowing that there were no lunches served at the church that day, we decided to go to Minte’s apartment though he actually invited us to come to his home for dinner, not for lunch. I didn’t realize that there were around 30 people in that apartment which is actually for 2 people. Singing and sharing our stories about God’s grace for us, we played big UNO game for about 20 people!

January 2 is unexpectedly very, very crowded in Sapporo. The big winter sale was started from that day and it seemed that all people went to Sapporo eki and Odori koen subway passage way. There were discounts in every store (almost all). There’s one store in Stellar’s Place that girls lined up for so long to buy boots.
Once again, I spent the day with Natsuko-chan, Yuko-san, Rowena and Jackie. We went to the recycle shop that Yuko wanted to go. Going to Starbucks, having purikura, which is a sticker picture, we ended the day by going to the karaoke which was so cheap because it’s not 6 pm yet.

My desire to go somewhere in Hokkaido during winter break was finally fulfilled. Jackie and I went for a short travel to Toya Lake. Instead enjoying the lake, we enjoy the hotel very much. Experiencing the feeling like summer during winter, I tried my first surfing training in the hotel. And, I also finally experienced my first going to onsen there. Feeling weird at the beginning to be naked with other people I don’t even know, I enjoyed the hot water there. The hard thing was I couldn’t see well without my glasses to walk around inside and to see the difference of the baths. Anyway, it’s no problem, I got into all baths include the outdoor one.

My longing to eat Indonesian’s peanut sauce (bumbu kacang) with either siomay or any foods was fulfilled in Nougakubu Kokusai Shinnenkai. Almost all of Indonesian students in Nougakubu gathered and cooked batagor (baso tahu goreng) for the event. Eventhough it’s not exactly the same, eating those foods made me feel like home again. The simple dance of Tari Indang was performed by some Indonesian students. Though the party was fast, I was happy especially because now I know how to make that food.

My winter break finally reached the end. I experienced my first teaching my own language to other people and it was great! Although I didn’t actually see what people do in Seijin-shiki, I’m happy!

Megumino Care Support

2005-12-27T11:22:00.000+07:00

Celebrating Christmas with those who really want to be accompanied always makes me happy. I mean no matter who they are. Last Thursday (Dec. 22nd), I went to Megumino Care Support in Megumino, a 1 hour city from Sapporo by car, with some people from my church.
It is a place where people take care of elder people. Hmm...I don`t know its name in English.

Anyway, it feels so good to see them smiling because they can feel the joy of Christmas with us. I`m so impressed by this lady in the picture. She`s 92 years old but she still looks like 70s. She still looks healty and active. She even gave us little Christmas present which she wrapped by herself. Amazing!

Accompanying elder people like them is a pleasure for me. They remind me of my late grandma, of my grandpa, and my grandma`s sister. I love them ^^

Pesta

2005-12-26T15:47:00.000+07:00

Ga cuma Nene & temannya yang datang ke Sapporo bulan Desember ini. Adik & temannya teman gue, Lindsey, juga datang ke Sapporo. Rencana awalnya sih mereka semua harusnya datang pada hari yang sama, 16 Desember 2005. Eh, nggak tahunya adik & temannya Lindsey itu datang lebih dulu, sehari sebelum Nene & temannya datang.

Ini foto adiknya Lindsey namanya Colin (kiri) dan temannya, Daniel (kanan).

Nah, kita yang tuan rumah emang udah ngerencanain mau bikin pesta pas hari Sabtu & emang jadi! Gue (lagi-lagi) masak opor walau masak opor di Sapporo itu sesuatu yang sulit. Pestanya rame 'bo! Hampir semua makanan dari berbagai negara ada di situ, termasuk sake khas Okinawa yg namanya Awamori. Seru deh pokoknya! Gue berharap sih waktu itu semuanya senang ^^

Nene datang ke Sapporo!

2005-12-26T15:28:00.000+07:00

Last week, my friend Fany, whom we usually called 'Nene' came to Sapporo with her friend Eun Song. They are RUSTEP's students. RUSTEP is a simillar program with HUSTEP but it's in Ryukyu University, Okinawa.
They're so happy to be in Sapporo since it's very different from Okinawa. There's no snow there.

Hanging around Hokkaido and ate Hokkaido's special foods including Sapporo Ramen in Ramen Yokuchou. おいしい！

I'm so happy to meet one of my friends here in Sapporo!! We had a great time!!!

Asahi Beer Factory

2005-12-26T15:03:00.000+07:00

On Dec 17, almost all international students who take Peter's class went to Asahi's beer factory. Asahi is one of the three biggest beer producers in Japan. It's my first time to go to a beer factory though actually I've been to several food factories in Indonesia. Beer is not Asahi's only product, but also juices, cider, wine and liquors.

The equipments & the machines are (off course) more modern compare to the ones used in Indonesia. Unfortunately when we went there, they're not producing the beer. Peter said because it's Friday, they want to have more off-days so they stopped the production. For me, it just didn't make any sense. For a big factory, stopping a production means restraining the cash flow.

Anyway, we got free beer, including Asahi's special product, the cherry beer. For me, because of the cherry, it just doesn't taste like beer but more to children's medicine. We got free wine and snacks also + a bingo game.