Coffee Sweet

I got this from a friend. It taste damn good! Seriously.

Mars Bar, from me, for me

This is actually a Mars Bar that I bought on my birthday (20110211). I bought it in the mini market at Pacific Place Mall. It cost Rp 14k. At normal circumstances, I wouldn't have bought it but I once vowed that if I found a Mars Bar, I would buy it. And coincidentally, it happened to be my birthday. And you know the rest, I bought it.

It's delicious, but I think it's more delicious when I was craving it.

Thanks God for Today

Okay, before I start with my post, let's all pray for the earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan (8.9 magnitude) and I also hope that the Karangetang eruption in Sulawesi won't be as devastating as Merapi. I heard that there was an earthquake in Bali but I'm not really sure on this, yet. Indonesian's eastern coast and also the pacific coast received tsunami alert due to the earthquake in Japan. Anyway, #prayforjapan #prayforindonesia #prayforworld.

Back to today. Actually, I've been dreading today that I think it might have made me sick these past nights. The exhaustion after evening classes were maybe due to the fact that Friday was approaching and I wasn't prepared. So, when today finally arrived, I couldn't help twitting: "ONIF: OH NO IT'S FRIDAY!!!". You know, as opposed to TGIF? Friday has never been cheerful lately.

But, somehow, today, other than the national disasters, everything was going fine. To make it quick, here's the list:

1. I downloaded Dragon Ball 40. I know, I know, it's cheating. But seriously, it's only semi-cheating because I it's not available at bookstores anymore. Therefore, downloading it was a bliss!
2. I attended a Peace Corps seminar at 2 till 4 today. I was feeling rather lazy and to be honest I actually spent most of the time completing my drawing. The Peace Corps itself more or less was like Dejavato, but this Corps consisted only of American volunteers. The exciting thing was after the seminar, not during. So my friend Nurma and I chatterd with mb Icha, a middle east master student and she asked us to photo with a former minister. He turned out to be former Menhan, Mr Yuwono Sudarsono (I hope I got your name right, Sir). Nurma and I didn't know who he was until we showed his photo to Pak Yadi. The only famouse people who I'd spot straightaway probably would be Chris Evans and Aaron Ramsey. Other than those two, I'd be oblivious.
3. The small prayer room turned out to be a hiding bliss. No explanation here.
   
4. Class was EXTREMELY taking ages. But I think I could finally make up questions from the presentations which were being presented. The questions were rather dull, but hey, sometimes dull is better than none at all (remember, key word is sometimes, not all the time).
5. While I was having a very enthusiastic conversation with Nurma at our Soto food stall, a blond foreigner took our photo secretly with her cell phone. Seriously, she offered no explanation why she did it. Now I know how those foreigners feel about having their photo taken secretly by the locals.

At first, I thought that there'd be no more happier news but I was wroooooongggggg! It turned out that 6. Aaron Ramsey has an official twitter! It's @aaronjramsey. His first tweet had something about californication in it. This definitely makes me more set on making Red Hot Chili Peppers as my muse.

Well, maybe it seems boring to some people but today, I feel like it's such an amusing day.

ps: today as in March 11th, maybe this is gonna be posted on March 12th 12 something am. But the event definitely happened on the 11th.

New Room, Yay!

So starting from today, I officially moved to a new room in the same boarding house. Yay!!!

My old room was, yeah, uhm, er, too bloody expensive for my taste.

I actually wanted to move out to another boardhing house. I've already paid the down payment. But you know what, exactly the next day that I've paid the down payment (shortening it into dp sounds kinky), somebody moved out of one of the "normal" priced rooms. To cut a story short, eventually I got this room.

It is smaller and hotter than my first room, but I think I'm loving it already.

But of course, the best room in the world is my OWN room in Semarang. ^^

New Place New Life

I just moved out from Semarang to Jakarta. And yes, Jakarta as the central of Republic of Indonesia. One of the busiest place in the world. One of the place with the most traffic jams and pollutions. Et cetera. You name it yourself.

Unlike Jakarta, Semarang where I usually live is a normally quiet place to live. It's almost static. But that's the beauty of the city. I can do anything to my hearts content, including crafting.

Now that I'm in this hectic city, I had to leave ALL my crafts behind so that they won't distract me. Nevertheless, I brought my drawing kit so that I can draw on my spare time. If I don't, I know that I'll die of boredom.

Well, I hope everything goes fine for me here until I get back to my own city. Wish me luck, minna san! :)

Jakarta, 06-Feb-2011
-Ath-

I *HEART* ART Ring

I found this ring at teenage accessories shop. I love how it says and I also love that it fits my middle finger! Normally the rings that I like are way too big. So, I bought it without hesitating. And it only cost IDR 3k.

*happy* *happy* *happy*

Atarashii Swan Brooch

I found this cute swan brooch at Al Fath, Citra Land moll, Semarang. It only cost IDR 2500 which means around a quarter US$ (this is if 1US$ = IDR 10000). I just had to buy it. I didn't plan to buy it but then I realized that I am sadly lacking elegant brooches. Cheesy pins are out of the options when I want to look classy.

There are so many cute yet elegant brooches there which ranges from IDR 2500 till IDR 20k-something. I liked the eagle shaped one but I couldn't be bothered to buy it. I'll just stick to what I have now.

ps: This is not promotion post. I'm not payed to promote anything.

Creativity: Reason #1

Moral of the Story:
Creativity comes when you are penniless. :p

taken from Kobo Chan volume 44 page 87 by Masashi Ueda
translated by AthAlba

Keys to Success

When we do anything, including craft, especially craft, one key to the success is a lot and lot of patience.

The other key is skill.

So if you have both, you're bound to be successful in whatever you do. At least that's my theory.


*first attempt at making air dry clay craft with little patience and lack of skill

Why do we read?

While I was searching for the materials for my final project, I found this interesting article about why we read.

Personally for me, it depends on the text itself. If the texts are in novels or comics (comedy is preferable), I read it either for pleasure or because I'm bored. But if the texts are in science book or something like that, the answer definitely is because I HAVE to read it. It's just unavoidable.

So, the question is, why do you read?

Memory-Scanning Device

If I were a mad genius, I’d make a “memory-scanning device”. This is a device that enables what we think or whatever thing in our mind to be scanned on screen. We just stick this thing on the sides of our temples, process the memory in our brain, and then it would appear on the screen. If you’ve read Harry Potter, it’s more or less like a pensieve, which we can see our past memories, but without extracting the “memory thread”.

I’ve always wanted something like this considering sometimes we go out and see things with our eyes but didn’t have the chance to capture it on camera. However, quoting from one of my friend (@nisa_interisti), “Our eyes are the best camera in this world”. I capture things with my eyes and save the content in my brain.

Two days ago I saw two mice fighting on the street. I hate mice (yes, I know, they hate me too), but I can’t help thinking that they kinda looked cute fighting each other like that. They sort of looked like characters from Tom and Jerry cartoon. Their fight keeps on replaying and replaying in my head.


This is what I had in mind

Other things that I’ve saved in my brain:
1. Frogs copulating. The string of eggs amuses me. After 7 years, it still amuses me.
2. Silver lightning bolt. It was just pretty.
3. My cat’s kitten time. I do have some pictures of his kitty cuteness, but I feel that those pics are never enough.
4. The coral under the sea. I don’t have underwater camera, so I just can never ever forget it.
5. The red moon. I saw this agesss ago. I thought it was Mars. Could be, dunno. However, it was really round, red, and alluring (now I feel like a cross breed of Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars. LOL.)

These are only a small example of what I can remember. If I dig in deep into my memory, there must be heaps more. Memory is lovely, too bad we cannot share the vivid images in our mind to other people, unless they also saw the same thing. But then, different imaginations makes this world such a beautiful place.

Nevertheless, I still want this device. Oh dear scientists, pretty please make it for me?! :p

My (imaginary) Big Brother

I'm the eldest of two siblings, all which are girls. My sister and I, well, we are two different people who don't share a single hobby. The difference between my sis and I sometimes, cross that, every time makes me wonder how we can be of the same blood (figuratively saying, 'cuz we don't even share the same blood type).

Sometimes I imagine what if I had a big brother. Would he treat me as an attentive big bro or ignore me? Of course I'd want him to be attentive. It must be really nice, especially if he already works and occasionally treats me things. But somehow I also imagine him being quite stubborn. It's something that runs deep in the family. :p

Physically, I imagine him like this:
a. Tall enough for an Indonesian guy. Like 176 cm above. (from my dad's side)
b. Has fair to light brown complexion. (mum's fair, dad's rather not, so the mixture should be good, like me)
c. He has my face features, except for the eyes. He can have my sister's eyes. They are less cynical.
d. Hair, not straight, not curly.

Overall, I think he'd look like a taller, more masculine version of me. Considering that - in my own opinion - I'm quite a handsome lady (even if I lack in height), I think if my imaginary bro really existed, he'd be quite a catch.

Too bad this cannot be realized, except if I adopt an older bro. It won't be the same, though. I can still hope for a little brother, but please not let God grant it. I'm a bit too old to have another sibling. :)

Maybe I should save these hoping for my own son (if I've ever been blessed by one). hehe.

Tips from a Truck Driver

Okay, so here I am lying on my bed at 1: 18 am and typing. Most people (like my parents, for instance) are already asleep. But some people, like me, are the restless type. I somehow cannot sleep early unless I'm really, really too tired to face the world. *exaggerating but who cares. :p

Well, this reminds me of the conversation that I had with a truck driver a month ago (1607). I was on my way to Jepara at that time and he happened to sit in front of me, next to the driver. When he said that he was a truck driver, I became rather curious. How did he manage to survive not-getting-the-sleep-attack during driving? Night traffic in my country is really dangerous because buses and trucks usually drive "fast and furious" at night. One small mistake can cause us meet our maker sooner than intended.

Four simple advices from Mr Truck Driver on how to stay awake:
1. Don't eat till you are full.
2. Choose foods that don't make us drowsy. Foods like kangkung (dunno what the English is) and aubergine or eggplant should be avoided.
3. Drink mineral water, not coffee.
4. Energy drinks are just extra boost up for the stamina.

But for those who are (rather) insomniac like me, here is his advice to be able to sleep quickly:
1. Eat until you are full.
2. Drink sleeping tablet or something like that.

I think his advices are useful although I have yet to try it to see the effectiveness on my body mechanism. What I rather regret is, it's a shame that I didn't get these advices during the hard days (er, nights :p ) when I wrote my final project. It's health appeal sounds better than coffee's caffeine.


Coffee, anyone? :)

So Pun-ny! :D

I just totally LOVE puns! And when I can spot one (while watching films, reading comics, and so on) I love them more! Dragon Ball is one of the comic that I love and consists of puns. Nearly all of the characters names are based on puns.

Here's one pun that one of my friends said to me on a sunny hot day at Borobudur Temple.

Me: "I forgot to bring my fan"
Sarah: "Don't worry, Ath. I'll be your fan"

I just couldn't help smiling after that. Hehe.

Here are some puns taken from Very Demotivational and So Much Pun. Enjoy!




I hope that it's not The Black Pearl being censored!




Hehe, this is also what I keep on imagining.




Hmm, "apple" obsession has gone too far.




I haven't seen the film, but I guess this sums it up. :p




I hope that bin is clean.




Whoa, I would definitely NOT add this guy as my friend! Creepy!




I don't see why this shoe becomes a trend. IMHO, it looks weird.




Yeah! Rock on! \m/




Tada, the "periodic table"! The original post title says something about "don't eat AS". Ironically, the element AS was the one that I really remembered during my high school years (I went to social class anyway, so I didn't have to study it furthermore)

Silly reason to choose WC 2010 Finalist!

Hi there everyone! Right now, right when I'm typing this blog, one of the most spectacular event this year is being on. World Cup 2010 South Africa, Spain plays against Holland. Yay!!!

My room has no telly and I couldn't be bothered to get out of my cosy sanctuary, therefore, I'm not gonna report about the awesomeness of the closing ceremony. However, my twitter timeline said that it was great, awesome, spectacular, Shakira and other singers were lip-syncing.

Well, back to Spain and Holland. Both are big, big football countries. Spain beat German 1-0 to get to the final while Holland beat Uruguay the day earlier (somehow the score slipped my mind!).

Where I come from, both are worshiped. Both my twitter and facebook friends chose either Holland or Spain (or both!) as their champ from the go. It's okay to choose whichever team. We have right to choose, especially that Indonesia is not part of the competing teams. Hehe.

What I can't understand is the way some people tease other people's choices and think that their choice is superior to others. Because seriously, when it comes to preference, relativity really takes matter!

During the semi (or octo-final, can't remember), my friend complained on his twitter status that his newsfeed were being filled with news about Spain, and it was quite tedious to him. I had to like that status. Not that I hate Spain, I have nothing against them, but it's just so boring having them hailed that.

Now that Spain is against Holland, some people are trying to say they pick Spain because Holland was one of our colonists. Well, talk about double-standard!

So, let's look back at the history of Indonesia's complete colonization (sorry I I get it wrong, this is out my memory, can't be bothered to open my history book or google it)

1. Portugal was the first country to colonize Indonesia. Alfonso D Albuquerque led the colonization.

2. Spain came next. Who led them? I couldn't care less. They fought against Portugal. Or did they team up with Portugal to fight Holland ft England? Again, I couldn't care less.

3. Holland came. They arrived at Banten under the lead of Cornelis de Houtman in order to get spices. They met hospitable locals and prolonged their visit. Then they got too greedy and the colonization started. 3,5 century under their colonization was a bad thing, but in some way it was also good. Without them, instead of Republic Indonesia, you could only see different islands going their different way.

4. England also colonized Indonesia although only for a short time. To be honest, I kinda like them as a colonist. Many discovery were found, one of them being the famous Rafflesia Arnoldi by Sir Thomas Raffles. Maybe if they colonized us longer than Holland, we'd all be speaking in English, not Bahasa Indonesia!

5. Japan was the last country to colonize Indonesia. They were here only 3 years compared to Hollands 3,5 century! History said that they were crueler than Holland. But since I didn't experience this first hand, I cannot agree, neither could I object. Thankfully Japan was also busy with World War and the atom bombing, so the Indonesian heroes could prepare the declaration of independence. Ironically, it was achieved with the help of a Japanese military man!

Wow, turns out to be a longer rant than I expected!!! (stop sidetracking, Ath!) Anyway, point is, all of these countries that colonized Indonesia participated in the three latest World Cups: 2002, 2006, and 2010.

It didn't stop people from admiring Portugal's Ronaldo and friends, Villa and friends, Van Persie-Sneijder and friends, Rooney and friends, and Captain Tsubasa (LOL. A football manganime, but more famous than the real footie players).

So, personally speaking, it's silly to pick one team from the other just because of the one that we don't like was a colonist. It's even sillier that if both the teams were colonists.

Love football because of the game. Not because of long time ago history!

I'm off. Gonna watch the game while having midnite snack.

Whichever team wins, there's an Arsenal player lifting the trophy. Whichever team lose, there's still an Arsenal player being the World Cup 2010 runner-up.
Arsenal FTW! (stop sidetracking and watch the final!)