Video Conference

Actually when you guys did the Video Conference, well I was doing my tasks and not just an ordinary task, it's GAMTEK task. And because that un-ordinary task I didn't come to join the VC. I thought thath it would only be a regular learning activity, so I considered not to join the class, yeah like I said, this task was too many and too difficult and it was near the deadline. So after the ring bell, I went straight to Gramedia to buy some of equipments that were needed to do the task. I bought a ruler, a pencil refill, and sketchbook refill. After that, I went to my house, took a bath, had some dinner, and  did the task until 1 a.m in the morning. But, the task was good, I had an A+ score for the task, and I felt great that my sacrifices wasn't useless at all:)))

Nyepi Day in Bali

Every religion or culture all over the world has their own way to define and celebrate their new year. For example, the Chinese have the Imlek year and to celebrate it, have, as they called it in their own language, "Gong Xi Fat Choy". The Moslem societies have their Muharam year, and any of the people over the world using the Gregorian calendar, celebrate the New Year on January 1st.

The same thing also occurs in Bali, however the Balinese use many different calendar systems. They have adopted the Gregorian calendar for business and government purposes. But for the endless procession of holy days, temple anniversaries, celebrations, sacred dances, building houses, wedding ceremonies, death and cremation processes and other activities that define Balinese life, they have two calendar systems. The first is the Pawukon (from the word Wuku which means week) and Sasih (which is means month). Wuku consists of 30 items starting from Sinta, the first Wuku and end up with the Watugunung the last one. The Pawukon, a 210-day ritual calendar brought over from Java in the 14th century, is a complex cycle of numerological conjunctions that provides the basic schedule for ritual activities on Bali. Sasih, a parallel system of Indian origin, is a twelve month lunar calendar that starts with the vernal equinox and is equally important in determining when to pay respect to the Gods.

Westerners open the New Year in revelry, however, in contrast, the Balinese open their New Year in silence. This is called Nyepi Day, the Balinese day of Silence, which falls on the day following the dark moon of the spring equinox, and opens a new year of the Saka Hindu era which began in 78 A.D.

Nyepi is a day to make and keep the balance of nature. It is based on the story of when King Kaniska I of India was chosen in 78 A.D. The King was famous for his wisdom and tolerance for the Hinduism and Buddhism societies. In that age, Aji Saka did Dharma Yatra (the missionary tour to promote and spread Hinduism) to Indonesia and introduce the Saka year.

The lead upto Nyepi day is as follows:

• Melasti or Mekiyis or Melis (three days before Nyepi)
  Melasti is meant to clean the pratima or arca or pralingga (statue), with symbols that help to concentrate the mind in order to become closer to God. The ceremony is aimed to clean all nature and its content, and also to take the Amerta (the source for eternal life) from the ocean or other water resources (ie lake, river, etc). Three days before Nyepi, all the effigies of the Gods from all the village temples are taken to the river in long and colourful ceremonies. There, they have are bathed by the Neptune of the Balinese Lord, the God Baruna, before being taken back home to their shrines.
• Tawur Kesanga (the day before Nyepi)
  Exactly one day before Nyepi, all villages in Bali hold a large exorcism ceremony at the main village cross road, the meeting place of demons. They usually make Ogoh-ogoh (the fantastic monsters or evil spirits or the Butha Kala made of bamboo) for carnival purposes. The Ogoh-ogoh monsters symbolize the evil spirits surrounding our environment which have to be got rid of from our lives . The carnivals themselves are held all over Bali following sunset. Bleganjur, a Balinese gamelan music accompanies the procession. Some are giants taken from classical Balinese lore. All have fangs, bulging eyes and scary hair and are illuminated by torches.The procession is usually organised by the Seka Teruna, the youth organisation of Banjar. When Ogoh-ogoh is being played by the Seka Teruna, everyone enjoys the carnival. In order to make a harmonic relation between human being and God, human and human, and human and their environments, Tawur Kesanga is performed in every level of society, from the people's house. In the evening, the Hindus celebrating Ngerupuk, start making noises and light burning torches and set fire to the Ogoh-ogoh in order to get the Bhuta Kala, evil spirits, out of our lives.
  
• Nyepi
  On Nyepi day itself, every street is quiet - there are nobody doing their normal daily activities. There is usually Pecalangs (traditional Balinese security man) who controls and checks for street security. Pecalang wear a black uniform and a Udeng or Destar (a Balinese traditional "hat" that is usually used in ceremony). The Pecalangs main task is not only to control the security of the street but also to stop any activities that disturb Nyepi. No traffic is allowed, not only cars but also people, who have to stay in their own houses. Light is kept to a minimum or not at all, the radio or TV is turned down and, of course, no one works. Even love making, this ultimate activity of all leisure times, is not supposed to take place, nor even attempted. The whole day is simply filled with the barking of a few dogs, the shrill of insect and is a simple long quiet day in the calendar of this otherwise hectic island. On Nyepi the world expected to be clean and everything starts anew, with Man showing his symbolic control over himself and the "force" of the World, hence the mandatory religious control.
• Ngembak Geni (the day after Nyepi)
  Ngembak is the day when Catur Berata Penyepian is over and Hindus societies usually visit to forgive each other and doing the Dharma Canthi. Dharma Canthi are activities of reading Sloka, Kekidung, Kekawin, etc.(ancient scripts containing songs and lyrics).

From the religious and philosophy point of view, Nyepi is meant to be a day of self introspection to decide on values, eg humanity, love, patience, kindness, etc., that should kept forever. Balinese Hindus have many kind of celebrations (some sacred days) but Nyepi is, perhaps the most important of the island's religious days and the prohibitions are taken seriously, particularly in villages outside of Bali's southern tourist belt. Hotels are exempt from Nyepi's rigorous practices but streets outside will be closed to both pedestrians and vehicles (except for airport shuttles or emergency vehicles) and village wardens (Pecalang) will be posted to keep people off the beach. So wherever you happen to be staying on Nyepi Day in Bali, this will be a good day to spend indoors. Indeed Nyepi day has made Bali a unique island.

What's That? Yeah Holiday!!

 First of all, I'm sorry that I have delayed this task for about 5 months. But just hope that I haven't forgot about the memories that I had on my this beautiful holiday.

Holidays, A time everyone gets hyped up over, parents planning activities for the family to spend quality time with and school children ( as well as teachers) jumping for joy. Hello, waking up late, celebrating, goin for tuition and best of all, vacations! In my case, a holiday I would never forget is a fruitful one I expereinced five years ago, where my family I spent six days in the land of kimchi. Yeah that's right, South Korea.

        Finally, after ages of waiting, our family arrived in beautiful Korea. Stepping out of the plane, we could feel the chilly weather to our bones. Never experiencing that kind of weather, my siblings and I were totally excited. Passing through immigration and baggage claim, we were talking animatedly about our new surroundings. Since we went with tour group, we knew we were in good hands.

        Incident number one. We were supposed to take a bus to check in at the hotel, as instructed. I guessed I was overeager and without thinking. I ran to a random bus and knocked on the door. The young bus driver opened the door and looked at me with a puzzled expression. He started asking me something in Korean, which of course I did not understand. I tried to reply in English, but before I could make the attempt, my father quickly apologized to the driver and walked me back to the tour group who was watching from afar, shaking with laughter. It turned out that the bus I was running to was not the bus we were supposed to take. I dismissed my burning cheeks. I was glad I could be the butt of everyone's jokes on my first day in a foreign country.

        It was a bit past lunch time when we were done checking in our hotel. Not doubt, everybody's stomachs were grumbling. Thank God after checking in, we were going to have our lunch and do a bit of sightseeing. While waiting for the others outside the hotel, we walked around nearby. There was a row of vending machines that sold various snacks and beverages, including Haagen Dazs ice-cream , and instant noodles. My mother had a craving for Nescafe, so she spent her first Korrean money on that.

        At the restaurant, a delicious meal was already spread out for us. That was the first time we all tried kimchi, a spicy  and sour vegetable side dish.I did not think it was horrible,  buut I preferred the fish kimchi much better. We all ate using chopsticks, so that was kind or awkward for me  and  my siblings, as we were not skilled at using them yet. Being Malaysians, we were used to rice, so it was a good thing that the Korean meal included rice and a few other side dish, eaten from a Bento box. It was weird though, the rice was stickier compared to the rice  we eat at home, mainly to make it easier to eat using chopsticks. There was also hot and scumptious miso soup together with the meal. Since my sister and my brother did not like it much, I finshed up theirs. I gulped the warm soup down my throat- a nice connntrast from the shivering weather outside.

        One of the highlights of our activities that we did in Korea was skiling. Everybody from the tour group was looking forward to that, even the 52-year old couple traveling with us. Since it was'nt fully snownig yet, the hill was coverred with artificial snow. After grobbing our ski gear, we listen to a briefing by the instructor. He was very help ful, especially with us kids annd the elderly couple.

        Feeling jumpy and hyperactive, me and my sister made our way to the cable car and successfully skied down a slope. I thought, " We're natural at this," and my sister could not agree more. When we came to see how our parents and brother were doing, my brother started to throw a snowball towards me and my sister. It hit me, and we started having a small snowball fight of our own, just like in the movies! I guessed we got a bit out of hand and my sister accidentally hit a woman's back. when she turned around, she had this angry look on her face and started to walk towards us.I hurried my siblings to continue skiing with our parents,and we ran away before she cold catch us. Breathless, we giggled innaivety as we recapped the moment.

        In a way, skiing is like swimming. Why do I say so? Well, when swimming ,you do not feel tired , but you would see the effect when you get ravenous and eat more after a session or when you aintend to tke a nap, but it is extended to long hours. The same goes to skiing. When we arrived at the hotel after skiing, we were drained out and starving. Instant noodles saved the day! We all ate curry-flavoured Maggi together, savouring the memontary pleasure. We also dozed off quite early that night , right after going for a walk to enjoy the amazing night view of th mountains, and breathing the cool, fresh winter air.

        Shopping in Korea was also different compared to Indonesia. Its malls were packed with small shops or stall on every floor. Big boutiques were not seen as much as the quaint kiosks. Nevertheless, I found shopping at their markets more enjoyable, especially because you could haggle the price. Their specialities were crystals, fabrics and outerwear. Apart form that, I also liked their wet markets , mainly because they were very clean and they did not have that fishy smell. I remembered a shocking incident when walking through the stalls of the wet market. A large fish jumped  out its aquarium  and onto the floor. I stared at it and suddenly, I saw a huge cutting knife slicing through the fish's neck! It was the owner of the stall's doing. Then, the owner left the fish flapping around lifelessly without a head.

        There was also a treasure trove among the stalls of the wet market- a tiny shop which served grilled seafood. My family stepped into the shop and ordered some grilled fish and cockles.

        After saying our prayers, we devoured our mouth-watering find of the day. Dripped in a type of sauce, the seafood was the best I had ever eaten, as you could taste the freshness. Or maybe I was just hungry after  a full day of activities.

        If it was up to me, there were so many things to write on my memorable trip to Korean. Not only we got to spend quality time together as a family, but we also learnt countless new things and even discovered hidden talents. My father always said we should travel with an open mind and an open  heart. This is when you get to see your capability to adapt to changes. Just enjoy the simple things in life and be thankful of what you have. So, do just that. Who knows you might discover a part of yourself you never know existed?    

Bakti Desa

Bakti Desa or we usually called it "Bakdes" is an annual internal SMAN 3 Bandung's program. This is the program that we go to the village for 3 days or more and we do whatever activities with the people at that village. The goal of Bakti Desa is so we can feel how to see the world through their eyes. 

Bakti Desa held on Thursday, 23rd of October 2014, until Saturday, 25th of October 2014. At first day (Thursday), first we gathered at SMAN 3 Bandung at about 6 a.m. We went to the village by public transportation (angkot). We went to the location at 8 a.m because we had to prepare our packing first. We arrived at Desa Resmi Tingal at 10 a.m, it was about 2 hours to get to this village. 

First, we gathered at Balai Desa, and then we sat to do an Opening of Bakti Desa. In the opening, our headmaster, Mr. Encang, spoke and gave us a speech about this program. After that, the Mayor of the village was also gave us a speech. After that, we lunch at Balai Desa with the buffet menu. After we finished eating, we went to our house in the village.

On the second day, my house-parents woke us up at 4.30 am, we prayed in the mosque and then prepared ourselves to work in the field. But before we work, we had our breakfast first. We ate "gorengan" and drink some coffee before we left the house to help our parents. So, after we had breakfast we went straight to the field. The walk to the field was not so far, but it was hilly and a bit muddy.We repealed wild grass, and so many things that bothered the scallions. After about 2 hours of working, we had rest because we had to went to mosque to do "Jum'atan".

At about 3.00 p.m. Mr.Cipto said our class wanted to go to Situ Cisanti. So all the classmates gathered near the mosque to get to the truck that was about to take us to Situ Cisanti. All 36 friends of mine got on the truck and we went to place about 10 minutes later. The ride was about half an hour and it was a bumpy ride. The road not smooth and the truck was so full that I couldn't move for a bit. But on the truck, we saw beautiful scenery, We took a selfie on the truck and had some conversations. We even sang together on the ride to Situ Cisanti.

Finally we have arrived at the place that we had been waiting for. It was a very beautiful scenery, some people was fishing in the lake. Then we were told that it was ‘Hulu’ of Citarum River. The water that we used in the village came from there. It was mesmerizing scenery, it was so cool and fantastic. And as usual, we took photo of us, together with a beautiful view of the lake as our background.

Last day on Bakdes, after 2 days living in here, came the day that we have to comeback to our home. We woke up at 4.30 a.m. and prayed subuh in mosque. After that we had breakfast like the day before and just relax in the morning. At 7 a.m. as the agreement the day before we gathered at the mosque to go down to the river. We started the journey at 7.30 a.m. The way to make to the river are very slippery and a little bit dangerous. It also very far below. But after an hour of tiring adventure, we got there. We got to the citarum river. Well, as usual we took some photos together there and played a little bit. We just hanged out and took a rest because as I said before it was tiring to get here.

Matswapati

Few months ago, on 27^th September my school held an event, the goal was to introduce West Java’s culture so people aware that we have so many things to be saved. The event was culture-based festival with the title “MATSWAPATI”. The name was taken from wayang character Prabu Matswapati. He’s the high king from Wirata kingdom, the king of every king that has ever been crowned.

Matswapati was opened at 10 pm, with an opening ceremony by our mayor, Ridwan Kamil. And then it was continued by cultural shows such as jaipongan, pencak silat, and others. After so many shows (from outside sman 3 & also from SMAN 3 bandung's extraculicular such as KPA, TST, etc) the festival was continued by the collaboration of Barsena & sman 3 bandung's vocal group. 

One of the main attraction on Matswapati is Glenn Fredly performance. When he was entering the stage, the audience was cheering so loud. He sang so many songs until I lost count, I  think it was around seven to ten songs. He sang one of my favourite song, ‘Malaikat Juga Tahu’, which was a beautiful song. When he sang ‘Hikayat Cinta’,all the audiences danced along because the song was a bit of dangdut. I laughed at them but then I danced along with them because it was relaxing to just laugh and enjoy the show. But then everyone turned on to their ‘galau’ mood when he sang ‘Terserah’. Everyone sang along with him when ‘Bento’ was played.

Well, that's all I can tell you about Matswapati. There was actually a fire performance after Glenn Fredly's performance, but I didn't watch it because it was already to late and I had to go home. What a shame, but overall I really enjoyed the event. It was fun, exciting, and it's different from all other highschool festivals.

Stop Bullying

Bullying, an unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems. 

Bullying is when a person or group repeatedly tries to harm someone who is weaker or who they think is weaker. Sometimes it involves direct attacks such as hitting, name calling, teasing or taunting. Sometimes it is indirect, such as spreading rumors or trying to make others reject someone.

Often people dismiss bullying among kids as a normal part of growing up. But bullying is harmful. It can lead children and teenagers to feel tense and afraid. It may lead them to avoid school. In severe cases, teens who are bullied may feel they need to take drastic measures or react violently. Others even consider suicide. For some, the effects of bullying last a lifetime.

Types of bullying:

• Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things.
• Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions
• Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships. 

We need to tell others to understand that bullying is wrong! That just saying something mean can develop into so much more. Everyone needs to encourage kids to do what they love. We as adults need to model how to treat others with kindness! 

Bullying has always been wrong. Some people support it which makes them wrong. Yet people let peole get away with bullying everyday. By standards you need to stand up because if you don’t it could lead to another bullycideo r maybe not but we will never know! Yet are we going to wait to see the day it happens again? Are we going to let the suicide rates go up because of this!?!? Is bullying going to be another statistic in this world? I hope not so far hope has not helped the victims but one day it will.