I am getting addicted with Brady's Chemistry, but at Pasar Senen I only bought the first volume out of two... so I and my father had another hunt, this time in Palasari, Bandung. This time, my sisters accompanied us.
Before we went to Palasari, we went to ITB (I think I've written that my father is an ITB lecturer in my biography). We'd just got ready to go when it started to rain, so we waited by visiting ITB's very own library.
The library is reaaaallyyyy big and full of books. I love it so much! It has four floors, if I'm not mistaken, but we didn't go to the 4th floor because the rain had over. We really enjoy being there, my father took me to see the TPB books. I don't know what TPB stands for, but at the first semester, every ITB student has to join it. The materials are similar to the ones studied in high school, but they are slightly deepened. The books used are so many; each of lesson has three of four reference books. For example, in Physics, ITB uses Giancoli, Halliday... and another one, but unfortunately I forgot who's the writer :) most of the books are the translated ones, but some are the originals, the English version. I like the original ones so much; the language used is easier to be understood, each book isn't divided into some parts and the pages are made from the same kind of paper used in magazines. When I read it, I felt like I was reading something fun.
The books in the library vary in ages. I and my youngest sister Kiki competed to hunt for the oldest book in the library. My father got worried because of it, hahaha. One time, we were inspecting an old book when a really big sneeze was heard. I and Kiki was really shocked that my other sister, Farah, laughed so much. She said, "So both of you thought that was book ghost's sneeze?" and the three of us laughed a lot, without caring that we were in library (the laugh wasn't too noisy, of course).
It was fun, really. We then went to Palasari after praying first in LAPI ITB, about two minutes from the campus.
Palasari is waaay more organized than Pasar Senen, I and my sisters felt really comfortable in there. We bought some comics. After visiting ITB's library, I realized that I wanted the Brady's English version more so we didn't search for the second volume, instead, we searched for the English one. The book is expensive, though, so we didn't buy it.
My holiday is really full of books, isn't it? :))
Minggu, 11 Januari 2015
Sabtu, 10 Januari 2015
A Different Start (2): Happy New Year!
Time flies away so fast... it still feels that yesterday was the New Year. Anyway, here's my story about what I did in it.
In the New Year's Eve, my grandpa's youngest brother had his 60th birthday. His family held a birthday party in Sheraton Hotel
, Dago, Bandung. I and my sister was really excited as we rarely go out to celebrate New Year; sometimes we don't even wake up on the 12 o'clock. We didn't plan to stay there until the New Year, though.
, Dago, Bandung. I and my sister was really excited as we rarely go out to celebrate New Year; sometimes we don't even wake up on the 12 o'clock. We didn't plan to stay there until the New Year, though.
The party was really nice. There were lots of lecturers (my grandpa is a planology lecturer). My family members were the youngest guests, I guess. We all had fun.
Unfortunately, my grandpa's youngest child was unable to come. My grandpa has two children; both living in the USA. The oldest is Aunt Yoda Patta. She is really beautiful and smart; she is a PhD from Massachussets Institute of Technology in Material Engineering. She has a/some patent(s), you can search in the Internet if you'd like to know about them. The party was the first time I and my sisters met her, she spends most of her life abroad. She was accompanied by her husband, Uncle Angel, an American that also got his engineer title from MIT.
That day, my grandpa, grandma, and Aunt Yoda convinced me to study abroad. My father agreed with them, but my mother didn't. She's really worried about me, I understand. :)
It was when we'd like to go home when my grandpa asked us not to, and to wait until the midnight. The clock showed 11 o'clock, so we decided to wait. The Sheraton was then full of music; there was a female DJ (I love her remixes). We were also given New Year trumpets. Some attractions were also shown; fire dance and beer mixing (but there wasn't any beer in the bottle, I hope you understand what I meant by this). What's interesting is that the lecturers danced along the music with all their strength. My grandpa and grandma even asked our family to join them, saying "You're still young, don't be too serious."
When it was only ten seconds to the New Year, the MCs asked us to count down with them (and a video showed with a projector). "Ten...nine..eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one! Happy new year everyone!" Fireworks started to be launched, the trumpets were blown and people were so happy. My grandpa, grandma and aunt hugged each other and my family, too.
Shortly after that, we asked to go home. Thank you, grandpa, grandma, aunt and uncle!
end of part two
Minggu, 04 Januari 2015
A Different Start (1): Books, Anyone?
There are lots of difference between this year-end break and the ones before. I got new experiences every day, each of them is a nice one. I'm planning to divide the story into some posts, and this is the first. So... enjoy!
It all started when I visited my grandpa that celebrates Christmas every year. Almost all of my relatives live in Jakarta, so I went to that metropolitan city (it is actually a province, though, but I like calling it "city" better). Not like the past years, there wasn't any family gathering in my aunt's house, where my grandpa lives. Usually his brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews and their children come to visit as he is the oldest in his family.
Because of that, we went to Mall Kelapa Gading.
But that's not the story I'd like to tell you.
The next day, I, my father and my cousin went to Pasar Senen. It's a traditional market located in Jakarta Pusat (Central Jakarta). No, no, I didn't go there to buy some food or stuff, but Senen is famous for its cheap but still complete bookshops. I and my father had been planning to go there since the year's Idul Fitri, so I was really excited when he asked me to prepare. "We're going to Senen." It was just three of us; my mom accompanied my sisters and my other cousin (and nephew, if I'm not mistaken), they really wanted to swim.
It was really awesome, either the stores, the books... or the trip. Yeap, I went there not by car, but by a public transportation: bus! Okay, okay, you may think I'm over-reacting but... really, I've never been in a bus before as I usually go anywhere with car, or sometimes angkot (angkutan kota, it's like a car that is modified into a public transportation). I've been in Transjakarta, though, it's Jakarta's busway.
The bus' name is Kopaja P-20. Kopaja stands for Koperasi Angkutan Jakarta or if translated, Jakarta Transportation Cooperation (you can search what "Cooperation" here means, hehe). We got into it in Pondok Indah, Jakarta Selatan (West Jakarta), my cousin lives there with my aunt and grandpa I mentioned before. It was full, so we had to stand up for at least half the trip. (Good to be a girl, though, when there's an empty seat, I was offered to sit first)
I love what I saw there. I go to Jakarta often, but it is usually Jakarta Selatan. So... I looked at the buildings of other part of Jakarta curiously.
Central Jakarta is a crowded city. Traffic always occurs there, even when West Jakarta is not (this rarely happens, but in Christmas it did! The city was really empty that I guess I could even play football at its roads). It was an approximately-one-hour trip.
We were like explorers that time. My father relied on his memories of the city, but the last time he came there was... about twenty years ago. Many parts of the city has changed, for example there was a way to directly walk from the bus station to Pasar Senen, but now there isn't. The bookstores was also evicted, their place was actually in Kwitang, beside Toko Gunung Agung near the Pasar.
At last (after got lost for many times, hahaha), we found the place; the highest floor of Pasar Senen. It was really full of books and I was so happy, really, really, happy. The sellers directly call me like "mbak, sini mbak, cari apa" ("mbak, come here mbak, what (book) are you looking for?"). I was confused on how to reject their offerings, so I just said "later, okay, I'm still looking (at all this stuff)".
What I wanted was actually some Chemistry and Physics college books; Raymond Chang's and Giancoli's, respectively. I and my father also searched for a high school exercise book that was used in late 1960s, made by a Dutch pastor that lived in Indonesia, Peperzak. But I just wanted to feel how it was to arrive there, the place I've wanted to visit since a long time ago.
At last... I bought four books; three Physics books written by Halliday et al. and a Chemistry book made by Brady and his colleagues (yeah it was so unfortunate that the sellers didn't know Peperzak's book). Three of the four are really thick, each of them contains almost a thousand pages. The other book is quite thin, but it is the hand-written solution for the problems in the other book,
The great thing about the bookstores in Pasar Senen is that we can bargain so that they sell their books cheaply; I bought the four for only Rp 175.000! The sellers are very friendly too, my father even joked with them.
My cousin also bought some old novels, the ones published by Balai Pustaka (1920s).
When we got back to the station, we found out that... there are also bookstores there. My father, out of curiosity, asked for Peperzak's book. A seller went inside right after hearing the request, asking us to wait. After waiting for some time... the seller went back with the book in his hand! I was so excited. The price was originally... mmm, I forgot, about Rp 75.000 up, but my father successfully bargained it that we only had to pay for Rp 25.000.
We then directly searched for the P-20 bus. It was already 4 p.m. We arrived at Pondok Indah at 5 and waited for some time in Poins Square (my father bought Doraemon's Stand By Me DVD here for my sisters) before my cousin's driver picked us up.
P. S.: When we arrived home, my grandpa told us that "I and Peperzak were friends, we sometimes argue with each other." The world is really small, isn't it?
end of part one
What I wanted was actually some Chemistry and Physics college books; Raymond Chang's and Giancoli's, respectively. I and my father also searched for a high school exercise book that was used in late 1960s, made by a Dutch pastor that lived in Indonesia, Peperzak. But I just wanted to feel how it was to arrive there, the place I've wanted to visit since a long time ago.
At last... I bought four books; three Physics books written by Halliday et al. and a Chemistry book made by Brady and his colleagues (yeah it was so unfortunate that the sellers didn't know Peperzak's book). Three of the four are really thick, each of them contains almost a thousand pages. The other book is quite thin, but it is the hand-written solution for the problems in the other book,
The great thing about the bookstores in Pasar Senen is that we can bargain so that they sell their books cheaply; I bought the four for only Rp 175.000! The sellers are very friendly too, my father even joked with them.
 |
| These are what I bought from Pasar Senen. |
When we got back to the station, we found out that... there are also bookstores there. My father, out of curiosity, asked for Peperzak's book. A seller went inside right after hearing the request, asking us to wait. After waiting for some time... the seller went back with the book in his hand! I was so excited. The price was originally... mmm, I forgot, about Rp 75.000 up, but my father successfully bargained it that we only had to pay for Rp 25.000.
We then directly searched for the P-20 bus. It was already 4 p.m. We arrived at Pondok Indah at 5 and waited for some time in Poins Square (my father bought Doraemon's Stand By Me DVD here for my sisters) before my cousin's driver picked us up.
P. S.: When we arrived home, my grandpa told us that "I and Peperzak were friends, we sometimes argue with each other." The world is really small, isn't it?
end of part one
Kamis, 01 Januari 2015
Leaving 2014: A Quick Flashback
Okay, my class was asked to write about interesting things happening in our year-end break from school. I would like to permit that what I will be writing here isn't exactly one of those; it'll be about how I spend most of my holiday time, but I promise that the next posts will be about them.
Another year has just ended. What do people usually do on year-ends? I guess the answer is thinking about what they, what we just did the whole year; our choices, our mistakes and faults... our ups and downs. We learnt a lot from them, to then plan our next year so that we won't do wrong things again, or choose incorrectly anymore... we are planning to be better than before.
Some of us make a new resolution every year, while the rest even list many. No, no one makes none, even the unluckiest ones get another hope every new year. Either a hope to get their fate changed, or to live with it and turn it into something good.
I ended the year by thinking, like I've told you, what have I done all the year? Did I make so much mistake? Did I accomplish much? The answers to the last two questions is yes and no, respectively.
I must say, I failed at accomplishing my last new year resolutions. I've got plenty of them, but I think I achieved none. I won't tell what they are, but the reason why I didn't succeed is perhaps... I didn't work hard to get them. I relied on my luck, hoping that it could bring me what I'd like to have... and yes, it almost did bring me to them, but as Ariana Grande's song is titled, almost is never enough.
I can't say the year was bad, though. It was good, though not as good as the year before. But I learnt a lot of things from 2014; it made me realize that hard work is probably not everything, but it is a key to success. I also learnt that, sometimes what we never dreamed for could be the best for us.
You see, 2014 was a really lucky year for me. I finished fourth in a competition held for high school student while I was still in junior high, making me a representative for the regional competition held about two months after. I also got good rank in it, my friends said, but I didn't make it to the national round. Why I say lucky is because I guessed a lot during the competition; on more than a half of the questions. I only reviewed the materials in D-1. Unbelievable, right? I never thought my scores and ranks would be that good. But I also regret things because of it; if I studied harder and more seriously, maybe I would make it to the national round.
I was also good at school; well, despite the relative definition of 'good', I was really satisfied with it. But a thing I know is, I also haven't done my best there. I didn't study hard, I was too careless about it.
So here it is. Welcome, 2015! I've got a lot of "achievements" I need to keep this year, but not like last year, I won't depend on my "luckiness". Not anymore.
Another year has just ended. What do people usually do on year-ends? I guess the answer is thinking about what they, what we just did the whole year; our choices, our mistakes and faults... our ups and downs. We learnt a lot from them, to then plan our next year so that we won't do wrong things again, or choose incorrectly anymore... we are planning to be better than before.
Some of us make a new resolution every year, while the rest even list many. No, no one makes none, even the unluckiest ones get another hope every new year. Either a hope to get their fate changed, or to live with it and turn it into something good.
I ended the year by thinking, like I've told you, what have I done all the year? Did I make so much mistake? Did I accomplish much? The answers to the last two questions is yes and no, respectively.
I must say, I failed at accomplishing my last new year resolutions. I've got plenty of them, but I think I achieved none. I won't tell what they are, but the reason why I didn't succeed is perhaps... I didn't work hard to get them. I relied on my luck, hoping that it could bring me what I'd like to have... and yes, it almost did bring me to them, but as Ariana Grande's song is titled, almost is never enough.
I can't say the year was bad, though. It was good, though not as good as the year before. But I learnt a lot of things from 2014; it made me realize that hard work is probably not everything, but it is a key to success. I also learnt that, sometimes what we never dreamed for could be the best for us.
You see, 2014 was a really lucky year for me. I finished fourth in a competition held for high school student while I was still in junior high, making me a representative for the regional competition held about two months after. I also got good rank in it, my friends said, but I didn't make it to the national round. Why I say lucky is because I guessed a lot during the competition; on more than a half of the questions. I only reviewed the materials in D-1. Unbelievable, right? I never thought my scores and ranks would be that good. But I also regret things because of it; if I studied harder and more seriously, maybe I would make it to the national round.
I was also good at school; well, despite the relative definition of 'good', I was really satisfied with it. But a thing I know is, I also haven't done my best there. I didn't study hard, I was too careless about it.
So here it is. Welcome, 2015! I've got a lot of "achievements" I need to keep this year, but not like last year, I won't depend on my "luckiness". Not anymore.
...But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.
Q. S. Al-Baqarah 2:216...Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves...
Q. S. Ar-Ra'd 13:11
In the name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful. Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim.
In the name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful. Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim.
Rabu, 05 November 2014
Indonesian Folklore: Cindelaras
Cindelaras
Folklore from East Java
Raden Putra was the king of Jenggala kingdom. He had a beautiful queen. Besides that, the king also had a beautiful concubine. Unlike the queen, the concubine had bad personalities. She was jealous with the queen, so she planned to make the queen leave the palace. By doing so, she could be the new queen.
The concubine asked the palace healer to help her do the bad plan. They told the king that the queen wanted to poison him. The king was angry. He sent the queen to a jungle. It is the punishment for her. There was one condition that the king did not know, the queen was pregnant.
After several months lived in the jungle, the queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She named him Cindelaras. He grew up as a nice, healthy, and handsome young man. One day, while Cindelaras helped her mother to collect some fire woods, an eagle dropped an egg. He took the egg and carefully took care of it.
The egg hatched into a chick and then it became a strong rooster. The rooster had a magical skill. It was very powerful and skillful in fighting with other roosters. Besides that, the rooster could also sing. The song was about Cindelaras and his father, Raden Putra.
“My master is Cindelaras. He lives in the jungle. His father is a king. His name is Raden Putra.”
The rooster often sang the song.
When Cindelaras first heard that song, he ignored it. However, he could not stand it anymore. He talked to his mother about it. His mother told him the whole story. Cindelaras was very surprised. He decided to go to the palace to meet the king, his father. Cindelaras also brought his rooster to go to the palace.
On the way to go there, he met some people. They asked him to fight his rooster with their roosters. Cindelaras’ rooster won the fight. He won again and again. King Raden Putra heard the news about the great Cindelaras' rooster. So, he invited Cindelaras to the palace to fight his rooster with the king’s rooster.
The king made a bet. If Cindelaras’ rooster won the fight, he would get all king’s jewelry. However, if Cindelaras’ rooster lost, he would be punished by going to jail. The two roosters fought bravely. In just a few minutes, Cindelaras’ rooster won the fight! Then, the rooster sang the song.
The king was surprised, he asked who Cindelaras was. He then told the king about her mother living in the jungle. Later, the palace healer admitted his mistake. He said that the queen was innocent. She never tried to kill the king. The king was very angry. He ordered the concubine to be sent to jail. The king immediately went to the jungle to pick up his wife. He apologized for sending her to the jungle and made her the queen again.
(taken from http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com/2007/12/cindelaras-folklore-from-east-java.html with some changes)
Selasa, 07 Oktober 2014
What a Wonderful Event: Matswapati!
My school, SMAN 3 Bandung, held a cultural event titled Matswapati. Matswapati is the name of a wayang (Indonesian traditional puppet). The event took place in Lapangan Bali (Bali Field) on 27th of September. Its tagline was "Know your culture, love your country".
I was the event's decorating committee. Our works were to make concepts and decorate the whole field into a nice place for such a big event. I myself didn't think it was possible, as Lapangan Bali is usually used for SMAN 3 (and 5) Bandung's sport lessons, so there is a running track there which is full of sand. But we made it, the decorating committee. There were 66 people in the team, and by working until night, we successfully converted the field into a really nice place. It was tiring, but seeing the result made us forget about that.
I wasn't able to go to the event, sadly, as I needed to go somewhere else on the date. One of my classmates, Annisa Permata Yudiani or Peye, said it was absolutely amazing. In the morning, there was a parade. Every class in my high school must join this. Peye was the mascot of my class' parade, she wore a costume that is usually used to dance Jaipong, a traditional dance from West Java, Indonesia.
The classes also had to set up stands in the festival from morning to evening. There was a theme for the stands, which is like the theme of the whole festival, West Java's culture. Our class, together with X IPS, XI IPS and XI Acceleration decided to put some wayangs, traditional masks and fans. My friends said they were meant to be sold but as our stand's location wasn't really strategist, no one bought any of them...
In the afternoon until evening, the event became more interesting and fascinating; it was the time for guest stars performances! There were many guest stars; some of them, of course, are cultural artists. But there were also Barsena and Glenn Fredly, popular artists of Indonesian music industry. I guess they were what made the event attractive for the visitors; as the day turned night, the event became more and more crowded.
My friends experienced a pathetic yet funny thing during the event. They bought a lot of gorengans (it's a kind of food) to be eaten, but then the food was taken by the event committees. The visitors weren't allowed to bring food or drink from outside. The food that was taken could be taken back when the visitors went out, though. So my friends took it again at the end of the event... but it was already spoiled.
Thanks for all committees for the hard work! The event was really nice, I'm looking forward for another events held by the best school in the country. Thanks for those who came that day, that was really nice of you all. We would like to see you again in our next events ;)
I was the event's decorating committee. Our works were to make concepts and decorate the whole field into a nice place for such a big event. I myself didn't think it was possible, as Lapangan Bali is usually used for SMAN 3 (and 5) Bandung's sport lessons, so there is a running track there which is full of sand. But we made it, the decorating committee. There were 66 people in the team, and by working until night, we successfully converted the field into a really nice place. It was tiring, but seeing the result made us forget about that.
 |
| My classmates during the parade. Peye is the one who wore hijab rather than usual jilbab. |
The classes also had to set up stands in the festival from morning to evening. There was a theme for the stands, which is like the theme of the whole festival, West Java's culture. Our class, together with X IPS, XI IPS and XI Acceleration decided to put some wayangs, traditional masks and fans. My friends said they were meant to be sold but as our stand's location wasn't really strategist, no one bought any of them...
In the afternoon until evening, the event became more interesting and fascinating; it was the time for guest stars performances! There were many guest stars; some of them, of course, are cultural artists. But there were also Barsena and Glenn Fredly, popular artists of Indonesian music industry. I guess they were what made the event attractive for the visitors; as the day turned night, the event became more and more crowded.
My friends experienced a pathetic yet funny thing during the event. They bought a lot of gorengans (it's a kind of food) to be eaten, but then the food was taken by the event committees. The visitors weren't allowed to bring food or drink from outside. The food that was taken could be taken back when the visitors went out, though. So my friends took it again at the end of the event... but it was already spoiled.
Thanks for all committees for the hard work! The event was really nice, I'm looking forward for another events held by the best school in the country. Thanks for those who came that day, that was really nice of you all. We would like to see you again in our next events ;)
Minggu, 05 Oktober 2014
Ka'bah, the House of Allah SWT.
 |
(Image source: islamic-awareness.org)
Every year more than a million people come here. (Wikipedia) |
Muslims from all around the world visit Ka'bah every year during Dzulhijjah, the last month of Hijri calendar to do a part of hajj, tawaf (the act of walking around the Ka'bah for seven times). Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. It has to be done for at least once a lifetime, if one is able. The Ka'bah is also where Muslims face when performing shalat (prayers). The direction facing the Ka'bah is called the qibla.
The Ka'bah was firstly built by Adam a.s., the first person on Earth. But then it was destroyed by a flood during Nuh a.s' era. Ibrahim a.s. together with Ismail a.s., his son, was then ordered by Allah SWT. to build it again.
Kabah is a bricked cuboid structure which is made of granite quarried from nearby hills. Standing upon a 250 cm marble base that projects outwards about 35 cm, and is approximately 13.1 m (some claim 12.03 m high, with sides measuring 11.03 m by 12.86 m. Inside the Ka'bah, the floor is made of marble and limestone. The interior walls, measuring 13 m by 9 m, are clad with tiled, white marble halfway to the roof, with darker trimmings along the floor. The floor of the interior stands about 2.2 m above the ground area where tawaf is performed. (Wikipedia)
There is one stone placed at the Ka'bah that is said to be fallen from the Heaven. It is called as Hajar Aswad, or if translated "black stone". Kissing the stone during tawaf is a sunnah. A hadist (Rasulullah’s saying) states that the colour was actually white, but people’s sins make it black.
There is a unique rumor about Ka'bah; it is said to be releasing everlasting radiation. The rumor writer claims that it is based on NASA astronauts' experience. Many Muslim scientists believe that it is a connector between Ka'bah in the Earth and the one in Heaven.
I don’t know whether the rumor is true or not, but I don't think it matters. It is Allah’s house, after all. We need to love it, to miss it, to desperately want to see it with our own eyes.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaaba
http://edukasi.kompasiana.com/2013/10/19/asal-muasal-hajar-aswad-602019.html
http://10507276.blog.unikom.ac.id/inilah-rahasia.5cf
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)