Korea in one word: HOPE

Hi everybody

I'm doing well  here, and you?

Thank you for dropping by to my sometimes-abandoned-blog *sob ^_^

Oh ya, here is a video I created by myself and well, actually this was my first attempt dealing with such video maker *pitty. 

Anyway, enjoy the video. ^_^ 

The Muharram Grand Feast

I have heard many times about the feast but I never experienced it myself but luckily TODAY I was there, in the feast. Yay!!!

Fellas, 

Today is the first day of Muharram, the first month in Islamic calendar, so it is the Islamic New Year. Mostly Moslems all over the world celebrate the beginning of the year and so do inhabitants in Kenanga, Sungailiat, Bangka Belitung and it is really unique celebration. 

Kenanga is one of villages in Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung. It is about 28 km from Pangkalpinang, where I live. In the beginning of the Muharram, each family will cook and serve a lot of food in their house and welcome all guests to enjoy the food. No matter you know the host well or not, even if the host is only your new acquaintance or even if you don't know him/her at all,  you can visit the house and share the feast. What a unique!

The tradition has been begun long time ago, it's an old celebration by the way so every year the tradition is always held. They do not only serve food but also always hold various events such as religious sermon, which is attended by thousands people and also the local and provincial government officers, a mass circumcision, some religious-based competitions and others along the celebration. Thousands visitors always come to the feast in the same day and almost in the same time as the feast lasts a day (morning to evening). They are not only the local inhabitants but also visitors from all over areas in Bangka Belitung and others. 

There are at least hundreds guests visiting each house so that's why the hosts prepare a lot of food and drink (Some noodle with variant flavor and kinds, Bakso, Lontong and satay, Tekwan, Empek-empek, made of fish or shrimps, Otak-otak, various kinds of traditional cake and cookies, soft drinks, fruit cocktail and many more) to serve the guests. Even, some tents are available in some houses yard just to anticipate if their house can not accommodate the coming guests. Please imagine that! So, it's really common thing to see the crowd in each house and also on the road so then, the traffic jam  always happens. The policemen are everywhere and ready to guard the feast.

It's totally a massive feast and celebration! 

Guys,

If you are a fan of such cultural events and culinary trips, please list this cultural event in your agenda and visit Bangka island in the beggining of Muharram, then come to the village, Kenanga, and feel the crow and the celebration. You're gonna be full, totally full and be ready to be mesmerized. Wow!  ^_^

  

Who cares your happiness-person

#2. Who cares your happiness-person 

http://weheartit.com/entry/70441680

There are a lot of stories in our life, the bad ones and the great ones. We intentionally or not share those stories to someone else, that's fine anyway but you might find the one you talk to in fact doesn't care. Sakitnya tuh disini.... (nunjuk hati yang tersayat-sayat ^_^ lebay!)

Well, ada waktu ketika kita bercerita kepada seseorang, pastinya kita mengharapkan feedback yang baik, sebuah respon, atau setidaknya sebuah kalimat yang cukup menunjukkan jika mereka ikut berbahagia untuk kebahagiaan kita, atau mendoakan bagi jalan keluar untuk kesulitan kita atau tertawa bersama kita untuk sesuatu yang lucu. Namun tak selamanya keadaan baik yang ada kan??? Tak sedikit kok ketika kita bercerita (bercerita loh, bukan curhat) kepada orang di sekitar kita (keluarga, sahabat, tetangga, teman, kolega etc) tentang apa yang kita alami- biasanya karena memberikan feedback saat nimbrung ngobrol- lawan bicara kita tiba-tiba memasang wajah tanpa ekspresi saat mendengar cerita kita-biasanya sih kalau itu cerita bahagia atau kejadian bagus-  atau bahkan mereka seolah tidak mendengarkan dan langsung mengubah topik pembicaraan. Padahal biasanya sih orang seperti ini akan sangat berapi-api ketika mereka menceritakan tentang kehebatan dan kebahagiaan mereka. Sayangnya, mereka langsung acuh tak acuh, bahkan membuang muka dengan ekspresi datar sedatar lapangan futsal atau basket standar internasional ketika kita  menceritakan cerita bahagia kita. Paling banter orang seperti ini hanya akan mengatakan "Oooooo". Dang! I usually want to fly away or vanish into the air or at least turn my body around and walk away and say "bye" to such person.
"Eh, Dee. Lama tak bertemu. Udah jarang kelihatan. Kemana aja?"
"Hai. iya nih, kita jarang ketemu ya? Saya gak tinggal di deket sini lagi soalnya"
"Oh... Pindah kontrakan dimana?"
"Di Gerunggang. Alhamdulillah, udah rumah sendiri. Kapan-kapan mainlah ke rumah saya. Gak jauh kok" dengan senyum sumringah
"Oooohhhh...." Mata melihat ke arah lain, diam dan mengganti topik pembicaraan. "Panas ya hari ini. Udah lama gak hujan......"
Bug! rasanya nyesek  banget, kan???
Itu hanya salah satu contoh kejadian yang saya pernah alami. Ada beberapa yang lebih nyesek dari ini. Sayangnya, kita akan selalu saja menemui tipe orang seperti ini. I have no idea why this happens and why such person exists in this world.

Tentu saja ada banyak lagi kejadian-kejadian yang menunjukkan tipikal orang model begini, entah karena mungkin kita lagi apes atau memang karena banyak orang yang seringkali sulit menerima kenyataan bahwa ada banyak orang lain yang memiliki hal yang lebih membahagiakan.
Well, biasanya apa yang akan teman-teman lakukan?
Meski demikian, bagaimanapun, inilah hidup! Kita hanya butuh menjadi kuat dengan bermental baja dan hati lapang seluas lapangan bola atau samudera untuk menghadapi orang seperti ini, bukan??? Hahahah it's not that easy and that's true. Tak lupa tentunya semoga kita tidak menjadi pribadi yang seperti ini.
Ganbate, blog walker fellas ^_^

#1. Be wise!

There are a loooooooooot of people live around us; our relatives, friends, neighbors, colleagues, people you meet in a bus stop, in a meeting, etc. All of them are unique. You agree that, don't ya?
Setiap makhluk Tuhan tersebut pastilah tidak sama, makanya kenapa tadi saya katakan bahwa mereka, kita itu unik. Mereka memiliki hal-hal yang bisa kita jadikan pelajaran, entah itu baik, entah itu buruk, Jika baik, maka pelajaran itu dapat kita terapkan, and vice versa, jika itu jelek maka tak ada alasan untuk kita ikuti, kan???
Well, sampai disini saya yakin teman-teman blog walker pasti sepakat. Iya kaannn??? #wink ^_*
Tak semua orang menyukai kita, dan sebaliknya tidak semua orang bisa kita sukai but at least we can learn something from those people whether it is good or not.
Dari banyak kejadian di sekeliling kita, ada banyak hal- dari yang kecil sampai yang besar- yang bisa kita pelajari. Yuk kita mulai dari yang ini. :)

#1. Failed Show off . Just be wise!

Pernah 'gak sih teman-teman blog walker ketemu dengan tipe orang seperti ini? Niatnya sih pengen show off, pamer apa yang mereka punya, apa yang dimakan, apa yang baru saja dinikmati dan lain sebagainya tapi justru mempertunjukkan lebar-lebar betapa salahnya cara yang mereka pilih. Salah-salah pengen show off, yang ada malah they show their silly stupidity. Fail!!!
Kejadian seperti ini gak selalu terjadi di dunia maya sih (yang notabene-nya adalah tempat popular untuk ber-show off ria) tapi juga di real life!
Imagine when you see one of your facebook friend  uploaded a picture of her new laptop/notebook.Well, it sounds normal but how if it's not a really hi-tech one, just an ordinary one, with a caption 'laptop baru, yay!!! bisa ngetik tugas-tugas deh....'

The Bluish-Earth one.

Happy September everybody! Wish you a great month ^_^
Shoot! It's been months since the last time I was here. Woohoo! such a long time!
Well,  many things happened lately in my days and my busy life. Rrr.... I still teach even I teach more classes in the morning to afternoon and sometimes to the evening and I still enjoy all of the stuffs indeed.
On weekends and free mornings I still deal with my chores and the kitchen stuff. Besides, I sometimes cook special dish and meals for my beloved one. Everything still runs normally
Last March,we decided to build our own house on the land I bought almost a year before my marriage when I was still a single woman ha-ha-ha-h so then my days were totally busy. In the morning I had to serve breakfast and coffee-for our construction workers- and also their afternoon snack. It's tiring, honestly yet it's worthy. Here we are now, in our own house. I feel totally happy and blessed for this wonderful thing.
This place will be our great place to rest after going through all tiring busy days. It will be a great place to raise our kids later and to share the happiness, sadness, hopes, dreams, loves and everything-nice and sad-with my beloved ones. It will be a very wonderful place for both of us and also our children (I do hope we will get the gift soon this year. Fingers crossed). I do believe that.
Anyway, the house is not really big yet not a dinky one. It's 9,5 m x 12 m and the layout is also simple. It has two bedrooms (one with a bathroom), a living room, a family room, a small praying room, a kitchen and a garage as well (someday a cool car will be the king of the garage, now it belongs to my Vario and my hubby's Verza :p). Also, there are a small bathroom and a back hallway (I'm not sure how to name this part)- a room in the back of the kitchen where I can do laundry, keep some kitchenwares in a cabinet or put some pots where I grow some plants. This part is not completely done yet. The workers are working on it.
Well,  the house is not 100% done yet. Our 3 workers are still working on some parts of the house. It's kinda  finishing, may be, but we have been almost 2 weeks in the house and the workers will continue their finishing for a week. Easy... I don't care with some stains on the incompletely-cleaned floor or unwoodsatin-varnished windows and doors n others. I am Ok, we are Ok with that.  Lol. Friends, it's not a show off ,the house is not a huge one to be showed off. lol This is the happiness of being such free! (some said "You are totally free when you get your OWN House!)

Its look couple months ago

Btw, I do want to continuously post my stories here. Hopefully, this blog would never be abandoned as it was for months.  Wish me and my husband a great good luck and blessing in our new neighborhood, will ya?  and we wish you a best freedom! :* Muach.
See you very soon!

Berapa Lama Aku Berlalu?

Terakhir kali bertemu engkau masih seperti yang ku tahu
muda dalam riak-riak mimpi yang bergaung
megah dalam balutan kekuatan hati
anggun dalam diam dibalik mata yang berbinar penuh mimpi

Saat itu, tak ada yang bisa menghentikanmu
Kau tegar, mungkin melebihi karang
kau jamah segala resiko sakit dan jatuh
kau temani segala perih, patah hati dan kecewa

Tapi, sudah berapa lama aku telah pergi?
Kau tak lagi muda, mesku juga tak terlalu menua
Kau tetap megah, tapi bukan yang seperti dulu itu
Kau tetap anggun, namun diammu sudah berbeda

Tersiksakah kau?
Rapuhkah kau?
Terseokkah?
Atau mungkin Mimpimu tak lahi bergema?

Sudah berapa lama aku pergi?
Aku bahkan tak terlalu mengenalimu lagi
Ia kah yang mengubahmu?
Terkuburkan mimpi-mimpimu?

Telah berapa lama aku pergi?



Gerunggang, Permulaan September 2014

Tentang Haechi, Hanji dan Hanok serta Hanbok

Korea Selatan: K-pop wave, K-drama???

 Bagi saya yang bukan pencinta K-pop dan tidak terlalu menggandrungi K-drama, Daehan Minguk adalah sebuah negara kecil yang berhasil menyandingkan nilai budaya dan sejarah lokal klasik dengan moderenitas berteknologi tinggi hingga kemudian dikenal luas di dunia saat ini. Maka, dalam pandangan saya K-pop dan K-drama hanyalah dua jenis media yang digunakan untuk lebih mengenalkan Korea Selatan ke dunia internasional yaitu melalui musik dan dunia perfilm-an apalagi karena sejauh ini saya hanya menyukai Dae Jang Geum/Jewel in the palace sebagai drama Korea yang paling berkesan dari sisi ekplorasi budaya dan sejarah Korea serta Full House dan Winter Sonata dari sisi sweet-love story dan eksplorasi tempat-tempat iconic yang diangkat. Karena itulah, saya dengan yakin akan selalu mengatakan bahwa Korea Selatan jauh lebih menarik dari sekedar K-pop dan K-drama. 
Beberapa hal sederhana yang sarat makna yang saya temukan sebagai 'oleh-oleh' selama mengikuti program IKYEP 2011 lalu adalah usaha dan kedisiplinan orang-orang Korea Selatan menjaga budaya negara mereka. Beberapa diantaranya terekam melalui ke-empat hal di bawah ini.