I'm Lucky, I Know...

I'm lucky, I know, but I wanna go home..

Oh well seriously I'm at office now but I spend my time blogging.

Wait, what? Office, what office?

Yeah, sooooooo many things happened in my life since the last time I posted. I remembered I promised to post about Leadership Development and Debate Competition Beswan Djarum but I just had no time to post them. Maybe later on, after I finish the draft :p

And now I'm at office, the Thai Airways in Sanur. I'm having my internship here for 3 months from July-September. I know I'm supposed to be suppa-exciting about this one because I finally can have internship in an international airline company as I targeted. But currently I'm not that excited.

Why?

I bet you guys know exactly that right now all Moslems around the world are having Ramadan and fasting. Me, as a Moslem, having Ramadan as well. What made me sad is the fact that I outta have Ramadan all by myself in Bali while my family is all in Bogor and Jakarta.

Gosh, this is my first time having Ramadan myself! Preparing shaum, breakfasting, things things and things, all by myself. Gosh, I miss Ramadan atmosphere where I usually at home with my mom. Enjoying mom's cooks, joking with my lil bro when shaum and he's still asleep, reciting Quran together, preparing breakfasting together with mom or cousins, that's what I used to be.

But look at me now. At office, daydreaming.

Ya Allah, I'm lucky, I know, I'm not cursing myself for taking college far from home, family, and people I love. I'm lucky, I know, to be able to reach all my targets so far, and I'm so thankful for that, for everything. I know I'm lucky but it's just that I wanna be home. Make this struggle paid off at the end, ya Allah.

Aamiin...

Character Building Beswan Djarum 29

Sooo guys! The next event of Beswan Djarum is Character Building. Just like my previous post, this post is also too late, too damn late!

Yes, too damn late because this Character Building was held on December 2013 in Cikole Camp Area, Bandung, West Java. Unlike the previous event, this event was divided into 5 batches or waves, where each batch had around 65 Beswans from all over Indonesia. Beswan Bali, including me, was in Batch 2. But! Not all Beswan Bali could join Character Building. One of my friend; Nian, couldn't join us because she was on a severe ill (poor her). This event is to build our character through around 15 outbound games; rappelling, paint ball, emergency water, fill the pipe, construction game, Elvis walk, flying fox, and many others. They were divided into 2 types of game; personal game and team game.We were trained by Detasemen 235, a group of macho men from Indonesian army :D

So we departed from Bali and went to Jakarta by plane then continued to Bandung by bus, together with other Beswans who transited  to Jakarta first. We arrived at Jakarta around noon, then waited for a moment then we went to Bandung.

Yow Jakarta yow~

First stop was Saung Angklung Udjo! Wow, I once visited this very amazing place, and still, I got amazed with this place! So in this place, we had a little presentation about angklung. Fyi, angklung is one of Indonesian traditional music instrument from West Java and Saung Angklung Udjo is the center for making and learning playing angklung. Then after having presentation, we were enjoyed performance from children from Saung Angklung Udjo. Ah ya, we also gathered with other Beswans from other regions at this place.

And then, the MC delivered us angklung then we could try to play angklung together. The most amazing one is we could own that angklung. At the end of the performance, we were asked to join dancing and singing on the stage with children from Saung Angklung Udjo. That was so much fun!

New toy :p

Beswan Bali at Angklung Udjo

Dancing and singing together!

After having fun at Saung Angklung Udjo, we directed to our camp.We arrived there at almost midnight. Once I arrived and exited the bus, I felt sooo cold and freezing! I talked much with my friends and moved my body fast to avoid cold. After taking our properties like shirts, training pants, hat, sleeping bag and etc, we had a small briefing in front of girl's camp to discuss about what shirt to wear for the next day, what time we had to wake up and stand by, and something like that. We were also told that there would be red ribbons as an award on each games. Ribbons were given depending on how we finished the game. Team with most red ribbons could win Red Ribbon Award on the end of this event. Ah ya, we were also warned that we weren't allowed to keep our gadget with us so we had to store them to our trainer. It was such a very bad news because it meant we couldn't take many photos huaaa :(

Our camp! \m/

The next day was awesome. We had a little exercise in the morning, then we had breakfast and had an opening ceremony. We were also divided into 8 groups, I was in group 7. Then we learned to wear mobbing rope because some of outbound games we were going to have needed extra safety. Ya, It was on a very high place like on a cliff, on a hill... WOW! That's gonna be awesomeee!

Day 1 passed amazingly, then we came to the second day. It was much more fun because we had war simulation tests. So it was told that once we heard a gun shot or a cannon, we had to run immediately at least 5 meters from the shot source and hide behind a tree which is big enough to cover our body. Then when we had lunch we heard a gun shot! Oh man, we ran at a sudden hahaha lol that's so funny, you guys should be there to feel the atmosphere and see us running like a chicken :D Then what made me more excited about the second day was because it was my group's turn to play paint ball yaiy!

On the evening, we had a little time to relax at our camp, take a bath or change our dirty clothes. It was also something that made me more excited because we would have Caraka Malam! Ahahaha on this Caraka Malam, we were ordered to walk through a huge forest passing 3 posts. On the starting point, we were given a message where this message might be delivered to the right person. Oh man, it was in the middle of the night and I walked in a veeerrrryyyyyy huge dark forest, no lights, no other friend around me, it was so creepy :( But I could make it through! Yayayayay!!!

The next day, we still had some other outbound games but around afternoon the last game was cancelled because of a heavy rain and lightning everywhere. It was ssssoooooooo cold, I was freezing. So my friends and I sang together to avoid cold and dance together, singing songs from Nation Building :p

Batch 2 squad!!!

It was the last day for our Character Building. After dinner, we had a little presentation to conclude our outbound games and closing ceremony. During the presentation, there was Red Ribbon Award. I didn't win :( There was also a little concert there! We sang along and danced together! Awww it was so much fuunnnn!!!!

There were also campfire session where we had wrote our bad habits on a piece of paper before, then we burned that paper on the campfire. We also sang Hymne Beswan Djarum :)

The next day, we flew back to our origin places.

Seriouslyyyy that was so much fun and educating! I learned much from Character Building. It was such a blessing to have a chance to join an event like that :)

There will be another next event from Djarum Foundation; Leadership Development and Debate Competition on March, 5-8th 2014. Just sit tight and wait for the amazing story about that ;)

Nation Building Beswan Djarum 29

Ya this post is kinda too late. Too damn late! But whatever, I really need to post this because it's such a once-in-a-lifetime-experience!

Well, like I said on my last post, I'm a part of Beswan Djarum 29 and am going to have some events held by Djarum Foundation. And the first is Nation Building! Fyi, the name of the foundation is Djarum Foundation, name of the scholarship program is Djarum Beasiswa Plus and the scholars who get this scholarship program called Beswan Djarum :D

This event was held at Semarang, at PRPP Hall to be exact, on November, 7-12th 2013. Nation Building is like a gathering with other Beswan from all over Indonesia. There, we will enlarge our knowledge about Indonesia by making a performance, a great performance, kinda theatrical, taught by professional team.

I went there with other Beswan Bali, 10 of us. Actually, there are 12 Beswan Bali but another 1 couldn't join us because of college stuffs (poor him) and another 1 was already on her way because she was the main talent for our perfomance. We went there by plane to Surabaya. Why Surabaya? Because Bali is in the regional of Surabaya. Fyi, regions of Beswan Djarum were divided into 4; Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya. Surabaya region is the biggest region of all because it consists of some part of Borneo and to the east of Indonesia, they're all Surabaya's.

It was a very short but thrilling flight! Short because it only took 45 minutes, but thrilling because there were sooo many turbulence! Oh God I felt like riding a roller coaster. The turbulence was.....depressing...

And finally we arrived at Juanda International Airport, Surabaya! Then we direct to Djarum Surabaya Regional Office and met other Beswan from other districts. I met friends from Malang, Jember, Papua, Banjarmasin, Pontianak, Surabaya itself, and many many mooreee!!!

Once we arrived at Djarum Surabaya Regional Office

Ah ya! We decided to wear colorful Barong shirt because we wanted to show other Beswan that we're from Bali! B)

Beswan Djarum 29 Surabaya Region! New big family :)

At the office, we got technical info about Nation Building. We were divided into 2 hotels to stay; Grand Candi Hotel and Ciputra Hotel. Then, we were also divided into several buses for going to Semarang. Ya, we'll depart to Semarang by bus! How funnn!!!

After a long road trip, we finally arrived at hotel that we stay. I got Grand Candi Hotel. All 9 Beswan Bali were in Grand Candi Hotel and the other 2 were in Ciputra Hotel. Around 2am, I arrived at my room and I saw my roommate for the next 7 days were already there, sleeping zzz...

The next day, I started making new friends with my roommate. They are Citra from Semarang and Ute from Bogor. I was so happy to know them. They are so kind, but crazy and silly also. I feel comfort with them.

Ute - Citra - Me

Then, our days was filled with practicing and practicing. What? Practicing? Ya! We had to practice for our grand show on the last night. We would deliver a theatrical show about Borneo! And all Beswan Djarum were divided into 2 groups; choir and theater. I was in choir group for soprano. Psst... Dionisius Agung was the main talent for our show :p

Pardon my face :p

Break during practice

But, our activity wasn't only practicing. We also had talkshow with Rosiana Silalahi at 186 Conference Building. The talkshow was on November, 10th so it talked about National Hero!

Beswan Bali and Beswan Makassar!

Talkshow was ended by the performance from Andra and the Backbone. But I didn't take a photo of them. Not really a fan :p

Besides talkshow, we also had a cultural visit to Kudus. There, we visited Djarum Factory and learned about making traditional cigga using very traditional tools.

Me :p

The ciggas! :O

Da workersss!

Actually, I recorded a video of myself making a cigga but unfortunately, there is something error with that so the sound won't come out, like muted, and I don't know why. So I think it's better that I don't post it -__-

Then, I also had a chance to made a Batik. Yes, Batik! Batik is a traditional textile from Indonesia. It's so unique. Batik has several different motives and each motives tell where that Batik come from because Batik is widely spread in all over Indonesia. The Batik that I made is from Borneo and it has jar motive.

Tools used for making Batik: Kompor, Malam and Canting

Mine :(

Ya, there it goes! The first pic of the Batik is Kompor, Malam and Canang. They are the tools used for making Batik. Canting is the one that I held in that picture. That canting is used to drip Malam little by little, used just like writing with a pen. And Malam is that orange-browny liquid. It is used like an ink to write or draw following the motive of the Batik. Kompor is the small silver crock, used to keep the Malam warm so that it won't be dry.

How is it making Batik? Well, it's simple, literally. It's just like writing on a textile. Canting is the pen and Malam is the ink. Use Canting like you usually use a pen. Looks simple, huh? But seriously, it's a big NO. It's not simple at all. It ain't that simple. Can you imagine that Malam is sooo liquid so once you drop a drip of Malam, it will like scatter around your textile and destroy your motive. Besides, Malam is also soo hot. Can you imagine that when you drip Malam to the textile, it will penetrate to the other side of the textile which where your hand is? It is so hot :( And at that moment, I started realizing how great all Batik artists are! They can make such great Batik, sooo much! Oh man I love Indonesia!

Oh ya, it's not the Batik when it's done. There was still another step; drying the Batik. Sadly, I didn't do that part. The committee would finish it and give the Batik to me on the next event of Djarum Beasiswa Plus.

Okay, after those amazing trips and activity, there I came to the D-day! The name of our performance is Malam Dharma Puruhita. It was sooo amazing and cool.

Performing Rancak Beswan

End of the show!

The first pic is Beswan performing Rancak Beswan. Rancak Beswan is a dance for us, Beswan, and we do it altogether like doing flashmob. So much fun! And the second pic is the end of the show. Ello is on da stage baby!

After all that show, I felt sad. Why? Because it mean that Nation Building is over! I just can't :( I took pic with my friends, exchanged contacts each other, and promised will meet again!

But, it's not the last. There was still another surprise for us. When we exited the hall to go back to bus, we saw a stage on the parking lot. Oh man, that was the surprise! We had another closing party, with special performance of Ello! Aaaahhhhh, seriously, it was sooo undescribable knowing we still could have some times together, going crazy and anything! I didn't take too much photos on that moment because I prefer enjoying the q-time with Beswan than taking photos :p

Crazy moment with crazy people

After that, Nation Building really really had to be over. We went back to hotel, packed our stuffs, and the next morning, we flew back to our places. So sad :(

Ah ya, Nation Building was in many press media. These are some of 'em. So happy. Pardon my pride :p

So after this, there are still some other events of Djarum Beasiswa Plus. The next one is Character Building. The post is coming ;)

LIFE IS SO DAMN GOOD!

AAAAAAAAA CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY!!!

Well, I've gone for centuries, then now I'm back with thousands stories that really bring my life passion bar up there and keep me saying "is it for real?" over and over again.

So let's start it up on the beginning 2013.

2013 is so special so far. Ah, too many good things happened in me. Homecoming too many (5 times this year so far), first time traveling abroad (Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore), solo-backpacking trip to Malang, finally Eid al-Adha at home after 2 years had it in Bali, being a part of APEC CEO Summit 2013 crew, and...the greatest one is....

YAY! I become a part of the big family of BESWAN DJARUM!

Aaaaa you know what, I've been dreaming about this chance for too long, and finally the wait paid off!

The story started around May. I applied to this scholarship through website and sent the documents. Shortly, out of 17,144 applying students from all over Indonesia, there were only 9,290 students passed the documents check and allowed to have the written test on July. After having written test, the number turned smaller into 2,234! And at last, those 2,234 were to have FGD and interview. Then, all I had to do was waiting to see the final result on August, 31st 2013.

And finally that August, 31st came. I sat nicely in front of my laptop in the midnight, opened the website, input my registration number, then all I saw was.....

I PASSEEDDDDD!!!

I couldn't hold myself not to make a noise in a midnight, I just couldn't. The wait paid off. I just couldn't... :')

I jumped in a super excitement for a couple minute before I spread the info to my family, friends, and my circle who's still awake at that time.

I was so shocked. I still stayed in disbelief when I later discovered that only 515 students, repeat, 515 students passed! I mean, what's better than knowing that you're in the 515 chosen students out of 17,144 applying students from all over Indonesia? And moreover, this is a brain-and-leader-character-oriented scholarship program. I mean, do I really deserve this? I think it's not that I'm smart, it's just that I'm lucky...

This is a very prestigious scholarship program. I know right. That was why I was aiming this scholarship program since I was in high school. Even my lecturer said so. And guess what? I got this. Allah is too nice for me. I'm so blessed.

Aannndddd, after that, I followed the first program from Djarum Beasiswa Plus; Nation Building. There will be several programs like Nation Building, Character Building, Leadership Development, Competition Challenges, International Exposure, Community Empowerment, and other talkshows and seminars. The first program is Nation Building which already held on November, 7-13th 2013.

Complete story about this program, will be on the next post ;)

Oh, People...

No, it's not gonna be a long post. Just wanna say:

People who know the great value of a friend won't simply walk away and disappear from their old friends when they've found a better community that comfort them more. No. They'll understand it and they'll try to make a time for their old friends, not for a formality, but obviously because they understand that every friendship is worth to maintain. No doubt about it.

I Hate Limitation!

Well, okay. Who else in this world hate limitation?

If there's someone asks who hates limitation, I will be the frontliner!

I hate limitation. I just realized it a couple days ago and again, I wanna share it here.

I do hate limitation. I hate boundaries. I hate being blocked. I need to be free. I like being independent.

Since I live in Bali, I feel like I'm limited. I have to be dependent on anyone else to go anywhere, can't do anything I like to the fullest, not as spontaneous as I used to be. I feel like I'm very limited. I can't even do the things I love like watching basketball tournament, hanging out, traveling, having fun. Even going to campus, the simplest thing in my life today, have to be dependent on others. I can't socialize as much as I used to be. You know, when I lived in Jakarta, I wasn't a girl who was bounded, had no social life, no friends, no freedom, and other no-no-nos like an indoor girl. So when I moved here to Bali and my life here's totally different, it's such a struggle to go through.

I hate limitation. Seriously. I wanna be free. And independent. Like I used to be.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOIN' ON WITH MY LIFE?!

March, 22nd 2013
I turned off all my social network accounts. Facebook, Twitter, Path, Instagram, Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, all!

March, 23rd 2013
Was still with my turned off social network accounts. I want to fade away.

March, 24th 2013
I want to runaway.

March, 25th 2013
The climax. Today, I felt like I couldn't do anything correctly.

I had no class today. So I just cleaned my room, laid down, did nothing. I'm supposed to be happy because I'm arranging the itinerary for my holiday to Thailand and Singapore on June. But, yeah... Don't feel good at all. I still act normally in front of my friends. Laughing, joking, hanging out, talking, gossiping... But deep inside my heart, I'm not okay at all. Well, I'm really talented at hiding feelings and faking laugh.

Tonight, I was supposed to have a meeting with my professor to discuss about Field Trip 2, an annual college activity. The Field Trip 1 had been undergone on the 2nd semester. But unfortunately, because of misunderstanding between me, the professor, and the chairman of this activity, the appointment to meet my professor had to be scrubbed. Then, I came back home desperately and when I arrived at my boardinghouse, my friend, Zita, came here and told her fight with her boyfriend. Not so long after hearing her story, I got an info that Bayu was sent to the hospital due to asphyxiate. And also some text messages that really made me down (I really can't share what it is here. All you have to know is it brought me down, so deep down). I just...don't know. Why do these things come to me in a sudden and in once?

Maybe it doesn't seem like something I have to think too much. But in my unstable feeling and condition like right now, even the littlest thing can really distract my mind.

et cetera..., I Miss You!

et cetera..., I miss you!

Ya, that's the most suitable title for this post I think. I know I've been such a scumbag for ignoring this blog just because of boredom and coming back here again like there's nothing ever happened. But, ya, for that, I am really sorry! I do apologize! And, what making me back here is because there's something distracting my life these days, and really don't know where else to share..

Well, you guys surely have ever been (or maybe will be) in a phase when you're tired with everything. Tired with your daily routine, with your life, with all works, with people around you, with small things that you have to care, with every little-useless-unimportant thought that's always running through your mind, even you're queasy to have a holiday for relaxing you mind, body and soul, and everything starts to look annoying. And I'm on that phase.

I AM TIRED WITH EVERYTHING. E-VE-RY-THING!

Seriously, I don't even know what's going on with me. All I know is I'm queasy with everything around me. Maybe this what people call tired-to-the-climax. I don't want to be around people right now. I need to be alone. Completely alone.

"Atas Nama Bangsa Indonesia, Soekarno-Hatta" ♥

"PROKLAMASI! Kami, bangsa Indonesia dengan ini menjatakan kemerdekaan Indonesia. Hal-hal jang mengenai pemindahan kekoeasaan d.l.l., diselenggarakan dengan tjara saksama dan dalam tempo jang sesingkat-singkatnja. Djakarta, 17 Agoestoes 1945. Atas nama bangsa Indonesia, Soekarno-Hatta"

Halo bloggers! Yap, untuk pertama kalinya gue nge-post pake bahasa Indonesia. Serius, kalian gak salah  baca atau salah buka blog kok. Jadi, kali ini gue sengaja nge-post pake bahasa Indonesia dalam rangka memperingati hari kemerdekaan Indonesia yaitu hari ini, 17 Agustus. Gue semacam terlalu bangga gitu bisa jadi salah satu orang Indonesia makanya gue antusias pengen nge-post pake bahasa Indonesia kali ini hahaha.

Oke, kita kembali ke topik. Mungkin kalian udah pada tau teks apa yang ada di paragraf paling awal itu. Yak tul! Itu adalah teks proklamasi yang di proklamirkan oleh Bapak Ir. Soekarno tepat hari ini, tanggal 17 Agustus, 67 tahun yang lalu jam 10 pagi di Jl. Pegangsaan Timur 56, Jakarta Pusat yang sekarang jadi Jl. Proklamasi 1, Jakarta Pusat. Oke, tanggalnya tepat, tapi jamnya emang gak tepat karena sekarang belom jam 10 tapi ya gapapa lah ya soalnya mungkin jam 10 ntar gue akan banyak cincong gak bisa diem kesana kemari kayak belatung nangka jadi daripada lupa mending gue post sekarang -_-

Balik ke topik yuk, Denis...

Jadi, berhubung hari ini adalah Hari Kemerdekaan Indonesia, post ini juga akan berhubungan dengan hari kemerdekaan. Tapi disini gue gak akan bahas tentang sejarah kemerdekaannya atau apalah itu karena udah banyak lah ya web yang isinya sejarah kemerdekaan Indonesia. Karena ini blog, tempat untuk sharing dan ngeluarin opini dan pendapat gue, disini gue mau berpendapat.

Kemerdekaan. Berasal dari kata merdeka. Merdeka. Bebas. Hmm... Apa iya Indonesia udah bener-bener bebas dan merdeka? Oke, gue tau itu pertanyaan klise yang tiap 17 Agustus pasti dibahas sama mahasiswa-mahasiswa intelek. Nah, berhubung gue bukan mahasiswa, melainkan mahasiswi, dan gue tidak begitu intelek, jadi tolong jangan berharap banyak, gue cuma ngulang pertanyaan klise itu doang tanpa ngasih jawaban. Terus kenapa gue nyantumin pertanyaan itu kalo guenya juga gak akan jawab? Kenapanya juga gue gak gitu ngerti ya... Maaf, kadang beberapa ketikan cuma jari gue dan Tuhan yang tau...

Oke serius nih ya...

Jadi gini. Menurut gue pertanyaan itu maknanya luas banget. Bisa diartiin merdeka dari penjajahan, atau merdeka dari kebodohan, atau merdeka dari kemiskinan, atau merdeka dari tekanan, atau masih banyak lagi. Luas banget kan? Nah, disini gue pake makna denotasi aja ya. Jadi kalo merdeka dari penjajahan negara lain/koloni itu udah pasti udah bebas dari jaman penjajahan. Buktinya kita udah jadi negara sendiri, dengan pemerintahan kita sendiri. Kalo untuk merdeka dari kebodohan, kemiskinan dan lain-lain yang sering disebutin sama mahasiswa-mahasiswa intelek itu, mungkin belum. Belum ya, bukan nggak. Jadi masih ada kemungkinan dan kesempatan untuk bener-bener merdeka dari yang tadi itu. Itu doang sih jawaban gue.

Terus intinya apa kalo jawabannya cuma segitu? Intinya bukan pernyataan gue yang menyatakan merdeka/belum tadi itu. Intinya sih sebenernya gue pengen ngajak generasi gue yang masih muda, untuk terus berkarya, berprestasi dan ngangkat nama Indonesia supaya bisa jadi lebih baik lagi. Liat kan kebodohan kayak buta huruf, terus kemiskinan, kelaparan, masih dimana-mana. Gak ada salahnya buat kita yang masih punya tenaga, waktu dan pikiran untuk bantu-bantu ngebenahin Indonesia. Bisa dari hal kecil kayak ikut lembaga/organisasi yang concern ke masalah kelaparan Indonesia, atau yang lebih gampang lagi kita ikut make produk Indonesia. Itu secara gak langsung kan bisa ngebantu ekonomi produsen Indonesia juga dan endingnya pelan-pelan bisa naikin taraf hidup Indonesia kaaan. Itu hal kecil yang setelah gue semediin sekian lama ternyata bisa ngebantu juga loh. Selagi masih muda yekaaan. Yang muda, yang berkarya!

"Berikan aku 1000 orang tua, niscaya akan kucabut Semeru dari akarnya. Berikan aku 1 pemuda, niscaya akan kuguncangkan dunia." -Ir. Soekarno

Fasting: Hunger, Thirst and Obedience

Happy fasting people!

Well, a glimpse about fasting is it only happens 30 days (a month) in a year and it is called Ramadhan in Moslem calendar. And, all Moslems really have to do this fasting because it's one of six pillars of Islam. If we don't do this, it will be a sin.

And the question is, how do we fast? We fast from dawn until sunset. It's fasting hour in Indonesia. Other countries have different fasting hour because some countries have longer noon and dawn until sunset will be very-very-very long. So, it has its own rule about fasting hour. While fasting, we're not allowed to eat, drink, smoke or anything being eaten, drunk or tasted. We're dealing with hunger and thirst.

But, the point of fasting is not about withstanding hunger and thirst. It's all also about keeping ourselves from anger and bad habit, and also brooding over our sins. We try to be a better person, and beware with what we say, what we see, and what we hear.

Ramadhan is the perfect time to confess, clean ourselves from sins and become a brand new one. It's all about our obedience to our God.

So the point is, fasting is not only about dealing with hunger and thirst. It's also about our obedience to God, in order to be a brand new person.

Again, happy fasting!!!

Family Gathering

Hey bloggers! Here I am, wanna share a little bit about my family gathering on 7th-8th of July 2012.

So, right now I'm having my oh-so-long-long-long holiday. Yap, it's a very long holiday because I have 3 months off. THREE MONTHS, DUDE! And, I flew back to Jakarta from Bali and about 2 weeks ago I had a family gathering at Sukabumi.

This family gathering came from the idea of my uncle who is about to move to Pittsburgh, USA, at around the end of this July. He got scholarship to study there and he'll bring her wife -- my aunt -- and his daughter -- my cousin -- along with him. That means we won't meet up with them for 2 years and that's why we wanna have a family gathering before he and his family fly to Pittsburgh.

The family gathering was held on 7th-8th of July 2012 at Pondok Saung Geulis Cottage, Cisaat, Sukabumi. I went there along with my uncles, aunts, cousins, mom, dad, brothers, and maid. We booked 3 cottages because the cottage is big enough so we didn't need to book too many cottages.

The cottage is good enough, score 7 out of 10. Inside the cottage, there is a restaurant, fishing pools, parks, a jogging track, and cottages of course. Between each cottage, there are small ponds with fish in it so we can see the fish under the cottage. But, watch out for babies and toddlers to not to go too close to the pond.

My family and I went there by car, if I'm not mistaken, 4 cars on convoy. I was in the third car together with my uncle who will move to USA, dad, mom, and brothers. On the afternoon, we arrived there. We had late lunch, and gathered at the park. We played soccer perfunctorily, bubbles, etc.

On the second day, we just gathered again at the park, took photos, had lunch and went back to home. Just that! It was just a very simple family gathering, but really can heal my homesickness ahahaha :') I love my family, so much ♥

Observation or Vacation?

Heeey bloggers! As written on my last post, now I'm gonna share about my observation at Lombok Island. Well, my campus has a yearly activity called field trip for some observation and all collegers outta make a report based on the observation did on the observation point.

Nah, this year we got a chance to have some observations at Lombok Island for 4 days and 3 nights. To start it all, maybe some of you wanna know what exactly Lombok Island is. Lombok Island is a not-so-big island located near Bali. It has sooo many beautiful places to visit and most beaches there are all still virgin. That's a glimpse about Lombok Island.

There, we stayed at Senggigi Beach Hotel, located in Senggigi area.

Garden view

Terrace

First day was spent on board. From Bali, we went by bus then cross the sea on ship. It took 5 hours to cross the sea you know! Ergh I was soooo bored because there's nothing to do >:( so I just chitchat with my friends and then I slept hahaha. Finally, we arrived at Lombok! After we arrived, we had a little tour around Mataram city, had dinner, then direct to hotel to check-in and take a nap. Before we took a nap, we had some guidance from our mentor about the observation (we were divided into groups) because tomorrow is the observation day.

On the second day, after breakfast, we had some observation. My group was sent to a travel agent in Senggigi and Rembiga. There, my fellows and I did an interview using a questionnaire. Just about 1 hour, the interview done. Then, we went back to hotel to get prepared for lunch. After lunch, we went to Sade Village. Sade is a traditional settlement in Lombok Island. There, you can buy traditional textile, typical bangles and other traditional and typical stuffs from Lombok.

Typical accessories

Traditional and typical textiles

Lombok-styled accessories

The accessories

Bird cage

Local people

Welcome gate

After visiting Sade Village, we went to Kuta Beach! Don't mistaken it, guys. Kuta Beach isn't in Bali only. There's another Kuta Beach in Lombok Island ;) after going to Kuta Beach, we had dinner, got back to hotel and had another guidance about the observation did that day.

Kuta Beach

On the third day, we went to Gili Trawangan! It's my most-waited tourist attraction. Gili Trawangan is located on a different land from Lombok. So, we had to sail to get there. I heard people talking about this place and none of them say something bad about this place. That's why I'm really curious about this place. And, all what people say is totally true. Gili Trawangan was so...ADORABLE!

Gili Trawangan ♥

The unique thing in Gili Trawangan is that there's no motor vehicles there. All transportation is still using horses, bicycles, or just by foot. I took time to walk around Gili Trawangan but because walking too much can make me sooo exhausted, me and my friends decided to ride bicycles. So, we rented bicycles just by paying IDR35,000 each per day. 

Bike for rent

We went around Gili Trawangan and a little bit far from the point where we gather, we stopped at a beach which I believe it's still virgin. Sooo beautiful! And at that beach, I found so many starfish!

In Gili Trawangan, you also can buy many souvenirs like shirts, textiles, bangles, ornamental things, etc. There are some souvenir shops there, like this one.

Souvenir shop

After having fun at Gili Trawangan, we had dinner and back to hotel.

Last day, the fourth day, we had an examination about our observation at the hotel venue. My group gave a presentation about the travel agents. The presentation went smoothly and, done! We went back to Bali again!

That's my observation story. Ummm actually, it seems like it's just a vacation, huh? We had more fun than the observation. From the whole 4 days and 3 nights, we only did the observation for 1 hour and the test about 2 hours. The rest is, HOLIDAY!

Here I give you other photos of my vacation observation in Lombok. Enjoy!

Lombok sky

Hotel beach

Such a nice shot :3

Kuta Beach

Horse used at Gili Trawangan for transportation

Relaxing spot at Gili Trawangan, on the edge of the beach!