Journey to United Kingdom, Part II : Hello Watford, and Harry Potter!

So, after few stressed months i finally got my visa and got the cheapest airplane ticket! It was only $850 return. =D

Dear UK, get ready for me! =D

I fly with Etihad from Jakarta to Abu Dhabi, then Abu Dhabi to London Heathrow. Since i live in Surabaya, i had to fly to Jakarta first using Garuda airlines. Both of these airlines were amazing. and after 20 hours flight, i finally made it to UK!!!

i remember how excited i was when i looked at the plane’s window. i saw the city lights (it was 5 am or so), and i heard the other plane passengers talked about the view. it was just awesome and priceless. =)

i remember after finishing the immigration things, i went to the declare room for asking if i’m allowed or not to take the sandwich that i got from the airplane. i knew it was so silly, but i just don’t wanna break some rules (i’m a perfectionist =D ).

 

palmers lodge swiss cottage hostel.

 

the picture above is the place where i stayed in London. i planned to stay for 2 weeks in UK. 1 week to explore London and other cities, plus to adapt with the jet lag and the language, then the other week to attend the SheffMUN. about this hostel, it was a great one for me. take a look for its review here: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186338-d612985-Reviews-Palmers_Lodge-London_England.html

it was about 3 degrees when i reached London. so freezing and windy. but i was so excited. i got free internet access from my cellphone provider for 1 day, so the first thing that i did was call my parent using LINE call. i’m not so close with my parents, but i do love them. and whenever i am so far away from them, i feel like i love them more. so, one of my favourite things while travelling is to call my parents =D

well, for the first day i was planning to go to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. so, after i put my bags at the hostel, i went to London Euston train station to take a train to watford junction. In my opinion, Watford is so calming and warm eventhough it was raining and the temperature was about 2 or 3 degrees. it’s not a busy place, but somehow i love it!

the houses in watford

watford junction. if you’re going to the harry potter studio tour from London, you have to stop in here

as one of Harry Potter fans i was really excited to go to the studio tour. when i was there, i just can say: “wow” or “thank you God for this” i was so amazed =D

since i was travelling alone, it’s a bit hard to take some photos of myself. i’m a bit nervous to ask the people. i feel like i dont want to disturb them. hahaha. but they all were really nice.

the best thing in this studio was the butterbeer. i taste like a root beer with some honey and cinnamon. i love it. =)

lucky to be here!

welcome to Diagon alley! =)

Journey to United Kingdom, Part I : where it begans

United Kingdom is the 1st  dream country of mine. I can’t tell exactly why… but since i was a child, i really wanted to go there. Most of the actors and actresses and also some musicians that i love are from UK. my favourite broadway songs are made by Andrew Lloyd Webber who is british. I think i just have a connection with this country. =D

So, it began when i saw some of my friends were doing Model United Nations abroad and i want to do that too! I was so curious about the MUN, and i think it’s gonna be so cool to know many students from other countries and make friends to them through the positive events such as MUN. well, the first time i went abroad is to Prague to attend the International choir competition. It was so fun! But somehow, i wanna do something by myself, so i decided to attend the MUN as a single delegate =D

I had lots of free time before i get started to study in hospital as a young doctor. So, i took this chance to go abroad and attending the MUN. the 2nd things that i have to think is about: which MUN? so, i remember that i really wanted to go to UK, then i go browsing some MUN that held in UK. And then i found the website of Sheffield Model United Nations. I never heard about Sheffield before, but i found out that SheffMUN seems quite interesting since it offers a couchsurfing accomodation so i can get socialised with some students from The University of Sheffield. so yes! I applied to SheffMUN! =D

But it wasn’t case closed yet. I need lot of money to go to UK, and the rupiah currency is not good at all. So, with some help from my friend (Rizki Candra) i made a donation proposals and give them to some friends and family who might want to help me. It was so hard! I have to swallow my pride (i’m a kind of person who doesn’t like to asking help for donation, though i have no problems at all to help people), but my friends and family told me that if i am doing a positive things, then it is fine! People needs people, and they’re glad to help me. I was so happy and so thankful because when i think that i’m alone, there are lots of people who really care to help me. Even my university helped me. I never thought that every doors seem to open so wide for me. And i thank God for that.

 

 

 

cover of my donation proposal. designed by Mr. Rizky Candra Kusuma

my profile at the proposal. pictures captured by Miss Ghea Kuspratiwi, and the Pages designed by Mr. Rizky Candra Kusuma

 

 

penyelenggaraan miss world harus lihat aturan MUI? bagaimana dengan aturan agama lain?

Tanpa bermaksud untuk rasis. Dan sebelumnya saya minta maaf kalau status ini kata2nya mungkin tidak enak dibaca.

kementrian agama Republik Indonesia. Seperti yg kita tahu di indonesia ada banyak agama. Namun hanya ada 1 menteri agama.
saya tergelitik membaca kalimat di internet yg berbunyi “kementrian agama berkata bahwa penyelenggara miss world harus melihat fatwa MUI”
Mungkin saja kalimat itu diada2kan. Mengingat media terkadang melebih2kan. Tetapi, hal tersebut membuat saya berpikir. Mengap harus melihat fatwa MUI? Tidak semua isi dari penyelenggaraan miss world adalah muslim. Semisal saya adalah wakil miss world dari indonesia, saya juga tidak akan menggubris fatwa tsb. Ya karena saya tidak ada urusan dengan fatwa tersebut.
Kemudian ada lagi yg menjadi pemikiran saya. Sewaktu saya membuka website kementrian agama, isinya hanya mengarah pada 1 agama saja. Kembali ke kalimat awal saya, bahwa indonesia ini punya banyak agama. Lalu apa fungsi kementrian agama jika hanya mengurusi 1 agama saja?
Kemudian saya berpikir lagi. Kalaupun mentri agama lebih dari 1, apakah baik? Jawaban say bercabang… ya bisa baik, tp bisa juga tidak… tapi saya rasa lebih baik kalau tiap agama ada mentrinya masing2. 

tapi di luar itu semua, saya lebih suka kementrian agama hanya mengurus tanggal2 hari raya saja. Karena di luar itu, agama adalah urusan pribadi. Bukan publik. Selama ini agama terlalu dipaksa untuk menjadi urusan publik.

Rainy Monday

It was monday,May 27 2013, raining all day long in Surabaya and Sidoarjo.

I never though that yhe rainy season yhis year will be so long. In fact, I love it. Hahahaha.
I love cold weather.  I mean, not so cold… but you know, the cold weather of tropical area is perfect. So yesterday I was happy to have rain all day long (though I got wet during my ride to campus).
I have short lecture yesterday, so I went back home around 10 am and found out that the orchids are blooming.
.

Well…. seeing that wet leaves and that colorful flowers really makes me happy, though there is one thing that make it a litle disappointing: the leak!!!!

See? Hahhahaha. But it’s quite fun to hear the aound of the water dropping in that buckets. Ok leak, I forgive you.

I captured few pictures while raining, too bad it can’t snap the raindrops…

It’s nice to see everything looks so fresh and green. So yesterday was one of my favorite days. 🙂

My days in Bangkok part 2 : chatuchak, first experience using skytrain.

i was woke up at 6 am, then went to the seven eleven in front of the hostel to buy food for breakfast, and some stuffs. when i wanted to pay, i was forgot that i left my wallet in my locker. so i said to the man at the cashier to wait, and i’ll be back in 5 minutes. though i think he couldn’t understad what i’ve been saying, he was smiling when i came back (maybe he thinks like “good, she’s not runaway”. hahahaha).

my favorite breakfast: Meiji’s banana milk!!! =D

i planned to go to chatuchak with Milk. so around 8 am, milk come to my hostel, then we went to chatuchak together. Milk was one of Thai students who got the dharmasiswa scholarship, we met in Surabaya while she’s studying bahasa Indonesia. we took a lot of transportations by that day. first, we took a bus to go to siam, then go to chatuchak using BTS (skytrain).

the siam skytrain station

it was my first experience using skytrain. the sky train isn’t as cheap as the bus, but still, it’s cheaper than if you took taxi, and also free from traffic. hahahha.

 

Chatuchak weekend market

when i told Milk that i wanted to go to chatuchak, she said “wow, that would be really hot in there”. well, yes, i read some reviews in tripadvisor that said about that. Milk said that she’s rarely go to chatuchak. why i want to go there? well, many reviews said that this place sell many things. from clothes, foods, and even pet! i was so curious. and the reviews said that the price is also cheap.

i was bought girl’s t-shirt for only 50 baht, extra large t-shirt for 100 baht, thai traditional skirt 250 baht, 6 keyrings for 100 baht, 2 standing thai ornament for 180 baht ( i think it can go lower, but i was too lazy to bargain =p )

extra large t shirt for 100 baht

50 baht only

this skirt cost 250 baht.

actually, the main reason why i wanted to go to chatuchak is the food! the reviews said that there are many local foods in there. i try grilled squid, padthai, coconut ice cream, grilled coconut, grilled pork, Thai fresh mangoes, and also DURIAN!!!

 

yummy grilled squid

milk and her coconut ice cream

 

fresh tropical fruits

i can’t describe how amazing is the taste of that foods… i think Thai’s food is like my soulmate. hahahha. as i was in a very tight budget, i only spend about 2 hours in chatuchak. i think if i have more money, i can spend all day in there.

one thing to remember, wear a comfortable clothes, shoes or sandals. you’ll go sweaty. =p

My days in Bangkok part 1 : the arrival and my adorable Hostel

first time i step on the don muang airport in Bangkok, i had mixed feelings between scared, happy, and excited. that was my first time in Bangkok, and i’m all alone. 

so, my first to do list was to decided whether i choose taxi or bus to go to my hostel in khaosan road? based on the information from the internet, if i choose taxi, it will cost around 300-500 baht, which means as a solo traveler, that’s too expensive for me. but if i choose bus, which bus should i take?

trying to be brave, i decided to choose bus. i went to the information desk to ask which bus should i take if i want to go to khaosan. the lady in the information desk told me to take the number 59 bus, but only the orange colored. so, after that i went to the bus stop. 

i saw foreign girl standing on the bus stop. knowing that khaosan road is one of tourist destination in Bangkok, i presume myself to talk to her. i asked her where she wants to go, and she said “khaosan”, whew that makes me soooooo happy. so i smile and introduce myself to her. her name is Benedetta from Italy (who become my friend until now! =D ). a nice and cheerful girl who become so talkative while she’s tired, hahahhahha. actually i’m a shy person, but Benedetta was so nice and warm, so it’s really nice to meet her. we’ve been waiting around 30 minutes, then the bus no 59 was arrive, but the driver said “no Khaosan”, so we wait again. why no khaosan? well… that bus wasnt orange colored… as the lady in the information desk told me that we must take the orange colored one.

we waited more than 1 hour i guess, then a Thai lady came to us and told us to take bus no 29 (if i’m not mistaken) and get down in chatuchak, then continue to take the bus no 3, because bus no 59 (the orange one) will be too long.

agreed with that Thai lady, we took the bus no 29, then continue to bus no 3. it feels like a very long journey. i was thirsty and so does benedetta. but fortunately, the bus no 3 stop in front of the alley of benedetta’s hostel, and then in front of the alley of my hostel!! oh and the total cost for the buses were only 14 baht. hahahahha. OMG, can’t remember how happy i was. =D

the hostel where i stayed for 4 nights is nappark. it’s located in banglampoo, not far from khaosan (only 2 blocks away). i didn’t take many pictures, but here is the link that contains reviews for nappark http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g293916-d1793573-Reviews-NapPark_Hostel_Khao_San-Bangkok.html

for me, nappark is a good hostel, and very cozy. i have good sleeps, and the staffs are very nice.

me at the lobby

after i get into my bed, i received text messages from Tone and Milk (my friends in Thailand) that asking whether i am safe or not. hahahha. they are so nice… then i check to my facebook, and found out that Game (my other friend from Thailand) are sending me a picture that said “welcome to Thailand, land of smiles”, well… what a nice arrival… =)

Balinuraga Lampung, sebuah keluh kesah.

mengenai konflik balinuraga, Lampung. jujur, sisi SARA saya sempat terusik, tapi saya berusaha untuk mengabaikannya. di sini saya berpendapat secara umum saja. saya berpendapat sebagai masyarakat Indonesia yang mendambakan sebuah perdamaian.

sungguh sangat ironis sebuah kerusuhan terjadi di malam sumpah pemuda. awalnya saya tidak percaya akan berita tersebut, yang ada dipikiran saya hanyalah “aduh, paling-paling juga isu SARA lagi”. Hingga hari ini (Jum’at 1 November), saya pun terusik oleh broadcast-broadcast yang saya dapatkan. Saya sungguh terkejut akan berita diadakannya ngaben massal untuk korban-korban kerusuhan, maka dari itu saya pun segera mencari berita-berita yang berkaitan dengan kejadian tersebut.

tidak banyak berita yang memberikan informasi yang memuaskan, dan menurut saya malah hampir tidak ada. Saya tidak menemukan informasi akurat mengenai pemicu kerusuhan tersebut (mungkin jika pembaca ada yang mengetahui, kiranya dapat meninggalkan komentar di blog ini).

mengapa saya berusaha mencari informasi mengenai asal-usul terjadinya konflik ini?

kembali ke permasalahan darimana saya mendapatkan info melalui konflik ini, yaitu broadcast BBM. broadcast yang saya dapat, semuanya berasal dari warga Bali. tentunya saya hanya mendapatkan berita dari satu sudut pandang saja. awalnya sisi SARA saya terusik. saya merasa kami, kaum minoritas ini selalu menjadi korban iri hati, korban kebiadaban  manusia-manusia yang mengatas namakan tindakannya sebagai “tugas agama” padahal itu semua omong kosong!

namun saya berusaha untuk tidak membiarkan perasaan itu merajalela. oleh karena itu saya pun mencari berita-berita yang bisa dikatakan datang dari sudut pandang yang netral.

ada beberapa berita yang menyebutkan asal muasal konflik ini, bisa di cek di http://news.detik.com/read/2012/10/30/215829/2076830/10/warga-balinuraga-kami-ingin-damai-dan-tenang?9911012

http://www.bisnis.com/articles/tragedi-lampung-perlu-dicegah-dengan-asimilasi-sosial

saya sendiri berusaha berpendapat secara netral saja, dan saya mohon maaf kalau apa yang saya tuliskan di blog ini kurang berkenan di hati para pembaca.

kasus ini mengingatkan saya terhadap sebuah film favorit saya yang berjudul “Hotel Rwanda”. pada film ini diceritakan mengenai kejadian genocida yang pernah terjadi di Rwanda-Afrika. saya tidak pernah menyangka kalau akhirnya kejadian serupa terjadi di negara saya, di saat saya masih hidup pula. sungguh memalukan, negara yang ikut meratifikasi aturan-aturan mengenai HAM, ternyata di dalamnya terjadi pelanggaran HAM.

kalau kita menengok ke belakang, banyak sekali kejadian-kejadian seperti ini. mungkin ada yang masih ingat tragedi Sampit? kerusuhan di jakarta sebelum reformasi? dan masih banyak lagi kasus konflik antar suku yang terjadi di negara kita ini.

sungguh perih rasanya membaca, melihat, dan mendengar berita-berita semacam ini. dalam pikiran saya terbersit, apakah sebenarnya tujuan manusia ini hidup di dunia? dengan dibekali akal, pikiran, dan perasaan, apakah manusia lahir hanya untuk saling membenci dan menghabisi?

dan saya mencoba melihat lebih jauh lagi ke belakang, saat para pahlawan berjuang memerebutkan kemerdekaan, hingga akhirnya Indonesia merdeka, serta diakui keberadaannya sebagai negara yang berdaulat. tapi pada akhirnya negara ini nyatanya sekarang sangat tidak merdeka, dan bodoh!

saya menyesalkan adanya konflik-konflik seperti ini, karenabesar sekali kerugian yang diderita negara kita ini. yang paling saya sedihkan dan sesalkan adalah, yang pertama para orang tua usia lanjut, yang tidak berdaya, yang seharusnya menikmati masa tua mereka dengan tenang, malah terusik, dan bahkan menjadi korban. kedua, anak-anak usia sekolah. dimana pada usia ini emosi dan jiwa mereka sedang berkembang. sedih rasanya melihat mereka harus cuti sekolah entah sampai kapan hanya karena hal yang tidak penting seperti ini.

siapa yang salah dalam hal ini? pemerintah? keluarga? warga? atau…. agama?

inilah keburukan yang tanpa disadari selalu dilakukan semua orang yaitu “saling menyalahkan”. melakukan hal-hal yang merugikan orang lain, alasannya “agama saya tidak melarang kok”
. atau ada juga versi “biar saja, biar pemerintah kapok dapat masalah terus”

entah bagaimana, sepertinya hal ini sudah menjadi suatu siklus yang seakan-akan tidak bisa diputus.

lalu bagaimana penyelesaian masalah ini?

mudah saja. amalkan dasar negara kita, Pancasila. amalkan semboyan Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. ingatlah sumpah pemuda, sadarilah bahwa negara kita ini adalah negara kesatuan yang terdiri dari bermacam-macam suku budaya. suku ataupun budaya kita mungkin berbeda. tetapi kita semua satu kewarganegaraan. keanekaragaman kita adalah kekayaan kita. kenapa harus ribut dan berusaha keras agar seragam? kembar identik saja punya perbedaan…. kita juga tidak bisa merubah bebek menjadi kucing.

akhir dari tulisan ini, saya berharap akan ada sebuah perubahan yang positif pada bangsa dan negara Indonesia ini.

the place that i love the most

Kalau saya bertanya kepada anda mengenai  tempat apa yang paling anda sukai, mungkin anda akan menjawab tempat-tempat seperti pantai, pegunungan, atau mungkin restoran. Saya tentunya juga menyukai tempat-tempat tersebut, tetapi tempat yang paling saya sukai adalah airport,alias bandara. =D

kenapa airport?

saya sendiri juga heran…. jadi setiap saya datang ke airport, entah itu cuman menjemput, atau malah mau ‘terbang’, perasaan saya selalu senang. buat saya, airport itu menakjubkan. tempat dimana kita akan bertemu seseorang yang baru datang dari tempat jauh, atau malah tempat yang mengantarkan kita ke suatu tempat yang benar-benar baru. atau…. yang agak menyedihkan, merupakan tempat dimana kita akan melepas seseorang untuk pergi. =D

saya punya banyak pengalaman yang buat saya sangat menyenangkan di airport. malah, menurut saya samasekali tidak ada pengalaman menyedihkan di airport. =D

pertama kali saya ke airport………… entahlah ya, udah lupa. hahahhaha. kira-kira saat itu mungkin saya masih duduk di bangku TK atau sd kelas 1 (lupa nih), dan ayah saya mengajak saya ke bali naik pesawat. hahahhaha. saya masih ingat waktu itu saya naik merpati, lalu dari bali ke surabaya juga naik merpati lagi.

setelah itu, pengalaman-pengalaman naik pesawat pun mulai berdatangan.

pengalaman yang paling berkesan sih, waktu pertama kalinya saya ke luar negri. waktu itu tahun 2010, saya dan paduan suara saya akan berkompetisi di praha.

tahun 2010 itu istilahnya, pertama kalinya saya melihat “dunia lain” selain pulau jawa dan bali.

saya takjub akan kemegahan yang saya lihat.

Juanda. bandara yang paling sering saya kunjungi

awalnya saya dan teman-teman berangkat ke jakarta dari surabaya, kemudian dari bandara soekarno-hatta, kami terbang ke dubai international airport. airport yang satu ini luar biasa gede. udah gede, keren buangeeeeeeeeeeeet. di bandara ini saya bertemu banyak orang dari seluruh dunia. ada seseorang cewek dari indonesia menyapa saya di bandara ini, padahal kami tidak saling mengenal. saya senang sekali, karena di tempat yang baru dan asing (walaupun menakjubkan), ternyata sesama orang indonesia masih saling mengenal. hahahhahahha.

ok, kembali ke alasan kenapa saya menyukai airport.

yah…. pokoknya airport itu merupakan tempat ajaib deh buat saya. airport itu seperti punya kekuatan ajaib yang bisa membuat saya merasa tersihir.

airport dapat menghubungkan kita dengan dunia. dan itu lebih terasa nyata dibandingkan dengan hanya browsing situs luar negri di internet! =D

i love you, airport!!!!!

dubai airport

airportnya praha. kecil tapi bersih banget.

soekarno-hatta