Sabtu, 14 Mei 2011

Penjual Stroberi

Lelaki itu berdiri dengan santai di pinggir jalan.Ia masih muda. Tapi guratan di wajahnya menambah umurnya beberapa tahun.Gendongannya disampirkan di pundak. Tangan kanannya melambai-lambaikan sekotakstroberi. "Stroberi...! Stroberi...!", teriaknya penuh semangat.

Aku sedang dalam perjalanan pulang ketika itu."Hmm... enaknya mau ngasi oleh – oleh apa ya buat orang rumah?", pikirku. Waktu kulihat penjual itu, aku langsung menepikan mioku. "Berapa satu, Mas?",tanyaku. Dia bilang harganya delapan ribu rupiah untuk sekotak sedang stroberi.Mahal. Biasanya aku dapat tiga kotak dengan hanya sepuluh ribu rupiah.

Jelas saja aku tawar. "10 ribu dapet dua ya?"tanyaku. Tanpa mengiyakan, ia langsung mengambil tas plastik dan membungkuskandua kotak stroberi untukku dan akupun membayar.

Kemudian kulihat dia melambai – lambaikan uangyang kuberikan padanya ke keranjang gendongannya yang berisi beberapa kotakstroberi sambil berkata "Garus, garus..." aku agak terkejut. Ternyata akupembeli pertamanya hari itu. Betapa sulitnya menghasilkan uang 10 ribu rupiahdalam sehari. Lelaki itu, dia berdiri sejak pagi dan berteriak-teriakmenjajakan stroberinya. Sementara orang lain mungkin dengan gampangmenghambur-hamburkan uang demi kesenangan pribadi. Kalau aku mengingat sipenjual stroberi itu, rasanya aku ingin mengunci dompetku rapat-rapat danberusaha untuk membelanjakan isinya dengan sangat bijaksana.



Herma Yanthi

Tabanan, 2 Agustus 2010

20.29 WITA

It's not just a Game

I am a maniac of game. For a girl, I can be said as a true game lover, where not many girls like to be. I love playing many kinds of game for entertainment. Just for making myself happy and killing the time. But because of my friend, I know that game is not just for fun.

Once I got a game from a friend. The name of the game is Piggly. The game is an adventure game of collecting apples. At the first time, we need to find only an apple. But the number of the apples we should get gets bigger and bigger next. Just like any other games, there are also obstacles in finding the apples. The worms, snails, frogs, horses, hedgehogs, some. Torn, acid, high places, many. And it was kinda hard to win.

Someday, I gave the game to my friend. A girl next door. And I taught her to play. And she liked it just like me. She was not a gamer like myself. But she finally likes to play game, influenced by me. Because she sees me playing many times and maybe she feels like, “Oh, that looks fun! I’ll do it also!”. And there she was, playing Piggly beside me.

Playing this game was not easy. Even me, say an expert, :-p I couldn’t finish the game easily. Sometimes it took many times to win a level. But sure, a true gamer never gives up until the end. And my friend, she stopped playing because she found it hard to win a level. It was in the half way of winning the game in her laptop when I had finished the final level of Piggly. And I said to her, actually joking, “Why do you give up? It’s just a game. If you stop now, it means you totally lose. Imagine if you do it in your real life. I can do it, why do you think you can’t? We eat the same rice,” and she said nothing.

The next several days, I saw her continued playing. She had passed some levels that I did not even know that she really did. She had gone so far. “So, you play again?”, I teased her and smiled.

“Well, yes I do it again. I’ve thought about what you said and I think you are right. If I give up to this game, means that I lose, not only in the game, but in my life.” She said.

“Oh my God, I’d be honored. I’ve inspired you…” I said laughing and she threw a pillow on me. So, she took it seriously. Actually, I couldn’t even remember that I’ve said that kind of thing to her.

Well yes, at the first time, it’s just a game. But then it deals with your life if you really take the lesson. Why don’t you just be patient? Just give a little more effort and you’ll win. At the end, it’s not just about a game, but finishing something. If you surrender in the game, maybe you’ll do it in your real life. You quit doing something because you think you can’t. Do you think that’s good for you?

Gold or Flower

Gold is diamond
As sweet and fragrant as cinnamon
Brings us content illusion
But calling like a demon

Gold is only gold
Like what my mother’s told
When we’re old
Nothing left to hold

Then I see flower
It gives me power
Offering absolute pleasure
And it won’t devour

Gold can be bless or mess
But flower never requires stress
For myself, I choose flower to rest
With or without cash

How we look at our badness

Kmpln biksu sdg mmbgun wihara.Akhrny,one of them mnylesaikn tmbok batany yg prtama n puas.tp kpuasan it hlang saat dy mlihat 2btubata yg miring,tdk sprt bata lainny yg rapi.dy brtanya pd biksu kpla bolekah mmbongkar tembok it,atw meledakknny sxan utk mbuat yg baru.tp ktny tdk perlu.ia mrsa gundah dan tak mau pgunjung mlhat tmbok it.One day,ia n pengunjg tk sngaja lwt ksna.pngunjg it blg,"tmbok it indh".biksu it brtnya ap pglhatanny rusk.tp ia mjwb,"tdk.Saya bs mlhat 2bata jlk it.tp sy jg mlhat 998 bta bgus"

When we're married

When we're married,
What was beatiful, now is pitiful
When we're married
I say u're an evil
Though i used to call u an angel
When we're married
The sun's gone away
I'm livin' in d dark
When we're married
Your smiles turn into grim
And anger
There's no good morning kiss
Just dismiss
You said u love me
But i dont think it still be
When we're married
Heaven's becoming hell

Love u

Standn up on d edge of d bay
Waitn 4u 2 arrive
The clock rotates in full
Sun ups n downs
N moon stays
This' just another song
Bout u
When i'm busy thinkin of 1thing
When i'm havin a dream
The capture of ur smile
N memories of ur touch
It was only tiny little rocks i stepped on
No matter what happens
I LOVE U

Tidal Wave

Lovin is like sailin
We start to sittin on d boat
Observin

We can start at nite,
In the morning,
Or at noon
Whenever u want

Once u see how calm dsea is
And it's beautiful to taste the scent of the saltwater
Feel d vibra sounded thru d wind

But then the storm come in
Erasing the melancolic music in the heart
Abrating the drama into pieces

But if we can built d puzzle up
The paradise island is awaitin

Tidal Wave

Lovin is like sailin
We start to sittin on d boat
Observin

We can start at nite,
In the morning,
Or at noon
Whenever u want

Once u see how calm dsea is
And it's beautiful to taste the scent of the saltwater
Feel d vibra sounded thru d wind

But then the storm come in
Erasing the melancolic music in the heart
Abrating the drama into pieces

But if we can built d puzzle up
The paradise island is awaitin

tanpa judul

Aku tak biasa, menjaring mimpi di siang hari, sendirian
Aku tak biasa, menghabiskan remah rotiku, sendirian
Aku tak biasa, menatap wajah itu dengan kening berkerut, sendirian
Karena selama ini, selalu ada kamu di sampingku
Tapi hari ini tidak
Maka kuputuskan untuk menjadi biasa

I'm truly madly deeply in love with you

When my eyes shed tears,
Sometimes i just dont knw why,
I just need his shoulder to cry on.
While i laugh,
Sometimes i dont knw what's funny
Just wanna look his smile,laughing with me
When i'm angry,
I dont knw what it's for,
But there's him who'll kill the fire inside
While i'm sad,
He's the one i want to be on my side
Maybe he makes me cry sometimes
But he's d'only one who can stop me from crying
And i love him
AS MUCH AS I CAN DO

The Development of Body Piercing

Body art is something that is related to esthetic that is expressed on our body. One of the body arts is piercing. Nowadays, piercing is a part of lifestyle. It is common for females to have their ears pierced. But there are also some other kinds of piercing done by people because it amends. Here is the development of body piercing since the ancient time.

The first piercing was discovered in Egypt, reflecting status and love of beauty. It was found on a body of a mummy whose age was over 5,000 years old. The mummy was pierced with a large hole on his ears, just like what Vicky Nitinegoro has. I call it “we can see the world behind through the ear”. At that time, everyone wore earrings to show their beauty and wealth. Even sphinx has earrings. But pharaoh was the only one who could have his navel pierced. If there was anybody who wanted to have piercing on their belly button, they would be executed. Now we know that Egyptians loved to explore themselves for the sake of beauty and prestige.

In other part of Africa, many primitive tribes had different kinds of piercing. Some of them wore earrings to prevent demon to get into them. They believed that demons could enter humans’ body through the ear and only metal could repel them away. The lip piercings existed among Africans expressed spiritual meaning, when other people sensed labrets as aesthetical face decoration, and since all of the people wore them, labrets became the component of religious right of engagement in the rituals. Another aim of lip piercing is for beauty. When an explorer came to Malawi tribe to ask the reason of wearing lip piercing, the chief answered, “For beauty! They are the only beautiful things women have. Men have beards, women have none. What kind of person would she be without Pelele? She would not be a woman at all.” That will not be in modern community down here.
Body piercing is also mentioned in the Bible. In the Old Testament, it is stated that piercing is a mark of beauty and wealth. In the Middle East, approximately 4,000 years ago, as it is stated in the Bible, exactly in Genesis 24:22 where the nose-ring was given as a part of dowry and bridal gift and the size of the ringing referred to a household wealth. It is obvious that body piercing was a symbol of status and attractiveness in the Biblical time.

In Rome, piercing was worn by Roman centurions to signify their strength and virility. As a symbol, it was important and served a specific function, unifying and bonding the army. Even Julius Caesar pierced his nipples to show his strength and identity as a man. Genital piercing through the head of the penis was performed on gladiators, who were almost always slaves, for two reasons. First, a ring through the head of the penis which was tied the organ back to the testicles with a length of leather could prevent serious injury during the fight. With a large enough ring or bar, it also prevented the slave from having sex without the owner's permission. In this case, the other purpose of piercing has been revealed.

In America around the same time, Aztec, Maya, and Indian tribes wore tongue piercing as a part of their religious rituals. They believed that they could get closer to the Gods if they wore it. As warrior tribes, Aztec and Maya also use septum piercing to frighten their enemies. This kind of piercing was also common in New Guinea and the Solomon Island. They used bone, tusks, and feathers to stab their nose. Now, if you wear it in Indonesia, you will look like a buffalo. There were also lip labrets, just like in Africa, which were worn for aesthetic and sexuality purpose. Women who wore these were thought to be attractive, having high sex appeal. These variations may be uncommon for modern society. But it appears again as extreme body piercings done by people today.

For some hundred years, piercing was forbidden. The medieval church considered it as a sin. Western civilization abandoned the practice of piercing. Nobody did it for a period of time.

After the Renaissance, the interest of piercing came up to the surface. Men became aware of fashion. They had at least one ring on their ear. The more precious their earring cost, the better they could advertise their wealth and prosperity. Women did not want to be left behind. They started to wear nipples piercing to show their jewelry. They put chains and even strands of pearls draped between the two. Finally it was found bringing more pleasure on bed so men also did it. This kind of discovery led to the use of piercings on genital on both sexes. That sounds terrible for me but perhaps it was just about the way of thinking.

During 1960’s, American adapted the nostril piercing from Indian females. In India, the ring which is commonly on the left side of the nose was linked to the left ear. It aimed to make childbirth easier and lessen period pain because the spot was associated in Ayuvedra (Indian medicine) with the female reproductive organs. In this case, we can see the use of piercing for medical purpose.

After this, the interest in body piercings of all kinds quickly caught on in USA during the 1980's and 1990's and spreads all over the world until today though not all people have piercings on their body. Almost all girls in Indonesia are pierced since they are infants. When they grow up, they may add up their earrings, nose rings, and navel rings. While some boys decide to pierce their ears and do further body modification on their lips, tongue, and so on. And the others stay “clean” and neat with no piercing at all on their body.


In short, what we have today is not something new. Piercing is only a kind of “tradition” that is continued by many people. Some of them may try the common piercings on ears, and nose and the rest begin to put upside down nails on their heads. It is only the matter of choice. What I wonder is only the face of the family when they see the “strange” holes on the “pierced-man” on his or her funeral.

THE BAD IMPACTS OF MODERN BODY PIERCING

Many people go to pierce their body parts these days. They pierce their ears, nose, and even some other parts that I am not even brave enough to mention. They have many different purposes to get their not-in-proper-place-piercings done. Some only follows the trend and others argue that they can explore the beauty of their bodies through this kind of piercing. They say that this is art. Honestly, I don’t think so. Because actually, piercing (except ear piercing) brings bad impacts for ourselves instead of showing beauty.

First, body piercing may leave unhealed ulcer if the process of piercing is not hygienic. Our body is very fragile. If we pierce our body on improper place, means that we force our body to have something that it should not. Moreover, piercing is identical with injury. Once you do not treat it well, your body will struggle. The wound will get infection and it will become worse and worse. Imagine if for example we have piercing on our cheek and then the wound become ulcer. Then we will lose our pure face! That’s terrible.

Second, if the needle used to pierce is not sterile or has been used to puncture other people, we may be affected by HIV/AIDS. As we know, this disease cannot be healed perfectly. We can die suffering from this disease because our immune system is weak. Furthermore, we may not socially be accepted if people know we get this disease. Actually, not only in extreme piercing, this problem can be happened also to people who do common piercing. A small pleasure can bring a huge disaster.

Third, some of piercing may be dangerous for our nerves. I have heard that eyebrow piercing is risky. Once there was a person taking the ring off from his eyebrow. He found something around the eye that he thought as a thread. He pulled it and then he became blind. Later, the doctor said that he broke the optical nerve around the eyebrow. If for instance we pierce our face and it causes us not being able to move our face muscle. It is so lucky that we will not be deaf if we pierce our ears.

Fourth, some piercings may disturb our daily life. If we have our tongue pierced, it is not easy to eat because it hurts when something stuck on the ring. We can even swallow the ring coincidentally. I say that because my friend did it three times. For extreme piercing on the lips, it is also hard to eat. We cannot chew food easily because it is difficult to close our mouth. Some of the extreme nose piercings may also cause breathing disturbance because the air stream in and out through the nose be blocked by the huge rings or sticks.

Last but not least, the “hole” remains from piercing is absolutely far from beauty. It even looks terrible. One may make our ear as long as Buddha Julai, but with a large hole on the lobe. For extreme lip piercing where people put something as big and round as needles box, we will find a hanging lip on the chin. The big plug on nostrils may cause us having four holes on the nose. For short, all of these holes do not reflect aesthetic value at all.

In conclusion, piercing does hurt. How can people hurt themselves only for a trend? It leaves wound, it may contaminate our body with disease and illness, it disturbs our daily activities, and the hole remaining not good. But it is only the matter of choice. You just only need to think about the consequences before practicing this kind of “art”.

The goodness and badness of Social Gathering

All departments in Ganesha University of Education always celebrate their anniversary. They hold many activities containing internal and external events. Just like them, English Education Department where I am studying in also has this kind of celebration which is called Social Gathering or Socgath for short. In my point of view, the latest Social gathering brought both good things and bad things. There are some reasons why I say so.

The first good thing I have found during Social Gathering was the euphoria of the students. Everyone looked happy because they could escape for a while from the tiring lectures. We could get involved in the activities together with our friends. People could enjoy many kinds of food in Bake Sale, came and joined Potlight Party, and watched the fantastic Social Evening. Some of them, who won the Debate Competition and the door prize from Sport Day, were also very glad. We could see big smiles and laughs everywhere.

Second, Social gathering improved solidarity of the students and lecturers. That was because we did many things together in a week of Social Gathering. Starting from Sport Day, we did exercises and games together in Kampus Tengah. Then, in Bake Sale, some of the lecturers also participated in purchasing food and accessories made by students in each stands. In Baksos, the students and also the lecturers went together to Wanasari to give contribution for the students in SD 4 Wanasari. We could feel the solidarity and show it to other people.

Third, some events in Social Gathering revealed the students’ hidden talent. In EEDDC for example, as one of the committee could see that actually there are many students of English Education Department who are capable in Debate. Although they had just got the knowledge of debating rules one time, they could present excellent debate for the adjudicators and the audiences. We could also find that the students and lecturers were able to be entertainers. They presented wonderful music show and the dance performances were awesome. It seemed that they were professional singers, musicians, and dancers. If there is no Social gathering, perhaps we do not know that they have those kinds of ability.

On the other hand, I can feel the harms brought by Social gathering, that is, the exhaustiveness. We had to prepare all the activities from a few months before. Sometimes, we had to join meetings with the committee, while we were thinking of many assignments given by the lecturers. On the week of the Social Gathering, we could be staying in Kampus Bawah for more than 12 hours. We came in the morning to join the activity till afternoon, and then some of the committees prepared for the following day activities from the evening until late at night. Some of them even stayed till the next morning. We were all tired when we got home that we finally fell asleep in our own room.

Money was also the problem I faced in the Social Gathering. We were asked to pay for 100.000 rupiahs but we finally found out that it was not enough, so 20.000 rupiahs taken more from the students. The expenses were also included Socgath T-shirt which cost almost 50.000 rupiahs. Some might also spend money for Potlight costumes though there was no message from the committees saying that we had to wear expensive and spectacular costumes for Potlight Party. If we like shopping and eating in Bake Sale, we might also take much money from our wallet, purse, or pocket. Well, we could not deny that we fell to broke after the Social Gathering.

In conclusion, regardless of those bad things, I believe that Social Gathering brings more goods than harms because it unites us, everyone in English Education Department is happy, and they can show their non academic abilities as entertainers. We hope for a better celebration next year. Oh, I cannot wait. EED, Bravo!

The Crowded “Gerak Jalan”

Ganesha University of Education was celebrating its fourth anniversary. It conducted many events from April 26th 2010 until May 10th 2010. One of the activities was gerak jalan competition which was held on May 6th 2010. The gerak jalan containing 28 teams competing each other caused traffic jam. There are some reasons for that.
First, the gerak jalan squads spent almost half of the road. This made riders and drivers of motorcycles and cars became disturbed. For example, it was quite difficult to pass by on jalan sudirman. It was not a wide street so people needed to slow down their vehicles or even stopped to wait for those teams of gerak jalan to pass.
Second, the audiences filled the sidewalk because they wanted to see the squads. Those people stayed on the sidewalk in group. They also parked their vehicles on the side of the roads. Like on jalan pahlawan, there were rows of motorcycles on the side of the road disrupting the traffic.
Third, the supporters of each team also made rows after the squads. They screamed out loud to support their squad. I thought, somehow they were much more excited than the competitors themselves. They even brought big flags and banners to tone up the atmosphere. The dangerous thing was that they may crush the pedestrian because they were on motorbikes. For example on jalan gempol, there may be some students of STM passing by, but it seemed like the supporters did not care. The spirit of being supporter flew their logic away.
Finally, the police did not work effectively that the traffic jam could not be warded off. I saw only a few police organizing the way of the gerak jalan participants. The mass were too many to handle.
In conclusion, the squads, the audiences, and the supporters of gerak jalan flooded the road and caused traffic jam along the track. Yet, the police did not help very much to solve this problem.

SOLUTIONS FOR TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN DENPASAR

As the capital city of Bali, Denpasar is very crowded. The crowd causes some problems in the city. One of them is traffic problem. This problem has been being trouble for the inhabitant in the city. People commuting to their works or school who find the road full of vehicles and people may feel very bad about this. Some people may have to join a meeting in their company, some may have test at school, and some may have a deal between death and life. But the traffic congestion brings harms for them. They can get late to their destination which may change their life. Beside, being inside a traffic jam is not that comfortable, especially in a sunny day. The weather is extremely hot, dust is everywhere, and smoke and pollution threaten people’s health. So, we can conclude that traffic congestion brings no good for people.
In Denpasar, private vehicles fill the roads. It is hard to find good public transportation. Well, there are many taxies which are clean and comfortable, but they are not for local people because of the expensiveness. This may be a reason for people to have their own motorcycle. To solve Government should send more comfortable public transportations to the street. If the public transportations have made the passengers become convenient, people will have more willingness to use them. Then, there will be less private vehicles on the streets.
The other reason why traffic jam can happen is because of the width of the street is not appropriate with the number of vehicles exist. Like in Jalan Sulawesi, a one way street, the traffic congestion almost ALWAYS happens. Even if it is only a one way street, people can still face traffic jam. The street is narrow and people still park their cars along the street. This of course decreases the area where vehicles pass by. Well, I think, the government needs to enlarge some narrow streets in Denpasar though I do not know how they do it. It is their job to think about it. If the streets are enlarged, the area where people can park their cars will not disturb the other commuters.
Well, the biggest reason causing traffic jam is that people are so egoist. They break the traffic law; they park cars wherever they want without thinking about the rule. Actually, they should realize that streets belong to public. They have to act wisely that the street are belonged to many people. They should not be egoist and arrogant. They should not do bad thing like they are the only one who have the street. They should obey the rule given by the government in order to make a good traffic condition. By having self consciousness, everything will be okay.
The last solution may be addressed for the central government. They should increase the tax for vehicles so that people will think more to have their private cars or motorcycles. This time, the number of cars and motorcycles coming to the street are getting bigger and bigger. People have many reasons in their minds causing them to buy new cars or vehicles. But if the tax is getting higher, they will decide not to buy cars or motorcycle. They will prefer to have no cars than have cars but spend a big amount of money just for taxes. It will not only solve the traffic problem in Denpasar, but also in other cities in Indonesia.
So, it is not only the government’s responsibility to take care about this problem, it also needs participation from the society. The government should have willingness to solve the traffic problem by making regulation for traffic and reforming the means and infrastructures, while the citizens help them in realizing, doing, and obeying the regulation made, and leaving the ego behind.

Tourism vs Culture

Tourism is one important part that supports the life of Balinese. Tourism does not only bring good for Balinese, but also harms. One aspect that gets bad impact from Tourism is Balinese culture. The culture brought by the tourists can affect Balinese pure culture. Some of foreign culture may be good for Balinese, such as the discipline, open minded, and the advance of technology. But not all of them can be accepted in eastern culture.
For example, the way the tourists dress up. Foreigners, especially the females usually wear minim dress, like tank top, hot pants, or even just sport bra. This style is followed by teenagers in Bali. The girls in here also like to wear tank top and hot pants in their daily life. Whereas, Balinese girls used to wear sarong.
Another example is some of those tourists sometimes wear that kind of clothes to visit Balinese temples. It is not good to keep the holiness of the temple. Some sacred dances are also presented to the tourists. Moreover, the temples sometimes are commercialized for tourist object and people should pay to get into the temple. If this happens continuously, the sacred value of Balinese ritual and ceremony will lost their essence.
The culture of togetherness is also decreasing. Nowadays, many people are likely to be more individualistic. The way Balinese greet each other is also changing. We used to put our hands in front of chest while saying “Om Swastyastu” when we meet someone. But now, we just shake hands, kiss them on the cheek, just say “hi”, sometimes even act like we do not care about them at all. You see, past and present are different.

Hahahaha

Every year, Balinese celebrate Nyepi, the new year of Hindu. Nyepi is the day when Balinese should do Catur Bratha Penyepian consisting of Amati Gni (means not to flame fire), Amati Lelungan (means not to go anywhere), Amati Karya (means not to do anything), and Amati Lelanguan (means not to eat anything). A day before Nyepi is called Pengrupukan. This day Balinese should do a kind of ceremony to avoid Butha Kala (a kind of unseen creature that can be good or bad but it is not ghost). This day, there will be the show of Ogoh-ogoh. Ogoh –ogoh is a big statue reflecting the Butha Kala or Devil which has scary face. This thing will be carried around the village or town, go along with Balinese traditional music instruments called Gamelan and Tektekan.
Like everybody else in Bali, I myself also celebrate Nyepi. I really like the part of watching the Ogoh-ogoh festival. My friends and I used to stand up in the edge of the street while waiting the Ogoh-ogoh to come. It was like another day of pengrupukan. I also watched the Ogoh-ogoh with my sister. She was a little child at that time and it was her first time to look at Ogoh-ogoh directly. She had ever watched Ogoh-ogoh on television but that’s all. I never took a risk to bring baby to that festival.
In the evening, the festival began. One by one, the Ogoh-ogoh passed us by. She was shocked because she had never expected that the Ogoh-ogoh could be that BIG. Her face was so funny that her eyes got bigger and her mouth opened and made a form of big “o”. She got stuck on her standing spot, maybe wanted to move but she could not. I was confused that she was silent like a statue. Then, I called her name out, but suddenly, she shouted, “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….!!!!!!”
I was so shocked that when she screamed, everybody’s eyes were on her. They might be wondered why she screamed that way. Then I asked her, “What happen?”
She slapped my shoulder and replied, “You made me shocked! I thought that you were one of those monsters!!!”
“Huahahahahahahaha! You’re very funny, honey…” I laughed again and again until my stomach hurt. Even until I got home. And everytime I remember that moment, I laugh by myself just like a crazy person.

Dreamland Beach

Dreamland Beach is one of the beautiful beaches in Bali. This beach is located in Pecatu, on the South part of Bali Island. You will need about 45 minutes to reach this beach from Ngurah Rai Airport, or 30 minutes from Kuta beach, or 20 minutes from Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park. To get into this beach, you just need to pay 5000 rupiahs for parking. It is very cheap compared to the happiness brought by this beach.
The panorama in this beach is absolutely beautiful. Hills and rocks surround this beach. Therefore, to reach this beach, you should go downstairs through the hill. On the way, you can see how wide the sea is. You will realize that God has made a pretty world for us to live in.
From the hill, you can see the fantastic view. The white sand glistens shone by the sun. The waves run after each other. And in the evening, you can see the sunset through the hill. It is just awesome.
On the beach, you can do many things. You can just walk along the beach, seeing the wonderful scenery. You can also sunbathe, play beach volleyball with your friends, play with the sand, and so on. Sometimes, there is also shooting of movie or music video along the beach. So, do not be surprised if you see “camera, roll on, and action!”.
There are also some facilities in this beach in order to make you more comfortable to enjoy your holiday. There are umbrellas you can rent if you want to relax without getting dark because of the sunlight. If you want to swim but you do not bring any swimsuit, you can buy one there. If you are hungry or thirsty, just go to the restaurant or buy things in the stands selling food and drink. There are also toilets to change clothes in. For more entertainment, you can even play golf near the beach! And if you want to stay longer, there are many resorts and villas you can sleep in which provide the wonderful panorama along the hill. Café, souvenir shops, clothes shops, anything, spread in this beach.
Those beauty and comfort make people interested to come. There are many people visit this beach every day. Most of them are foreigners. Sometimes they drink alcohol or sunbathe topless. But they do not against the law because International law is used in this beach. Many surfers also like to come because the waves are big and strong.

HALAL BIHALAL

My neighborhood consists of people from different background and religion; Hindu, Islam, Buddha, and Christian. As we know, every religion has its own big day. Hindu has Nyepi, Islam has Idul Fitri, Buddha has Imlek, and Christian has Christmas. In my neighborhood, there is a kind of tradition that we do on that big days. For example, like last holiday, Moslems celebrate Idul Fitri. At that time, they will hold a “open house”. They invite their family, relatives, including their non-Moslem neighbor to come to their house. They will prepare a lot of food and drinks, such as cakes, cookies, fruit salad or asinan, meatballs, “lontong” plus the “opor”, etc. When my family and I come to their house and congratulate them by saying “Happy Lebaran, minal aidzin wal faidzin” or something, they will serve us, eat, and talk with us. This tradition is called Halal Bihalal. I do like this tradition because we can make us closer as neighbors, we can talk more than usual with our neighbor after getting busy with our activities, and the most important thing is we can get some food for FREE.

Global Warming = Disasters


Global warming is a threat for humanity. It endangers human species because it brings disasters. Global warming causes bad things. The first one is Extreme weather. Can’t you see the unpredictable weather around you? Once, the sky can be so blue that it is so hot during the day. But the following day, it can be cloudy then the rain falls heavily, even followed by storm or thunders. Like what Thomas Knutson and Robert E. Tuleya of NOAA stated in 2004, Warming induced by greenhouse gas may lead to increasing occurrence of highly destructive category-5 storms. In 2008, they found that Atlantic hurricane and tropical storm frequencies could reduce under future greenhouse-gas-induced warming.
Extreme heat can bring drought that affect the whole part of the ecosystem. Plants died, and then the animal, and finally the human because they will not have food to eat after plants and animal do not exist anymore. It increases the number of people who die directly on a given day for many reasons, for example people with heart problems are vulnerable because one's cardiovascular system must work harder to keep the body cool during hot weather, heat exhaustion, and some respiratory problems increase. This extreme heat can also trigger fire in the forest. The fire burning produces gases that we do not want such as carbon monoxide. This gas is very harmful. It may bring disease to our lungs, damage our respiratory system. The worst is there will be desertification if the drought happens in a long time.
The heavy rain can cause flood which sometimes take along victims. It sweeps away everything it passes. The animal, plants, wood, buildings, vehicles, and of course human. Like we can see in the television, many people die because of flood. Changing patterns of temperature and rainfall would also cause a shift in the distribution of dengue and malaria-carrying mosquitoes, likely exposing millions more people to such diseases by the end of the century.
The heat caused by global warming also melts the polar ice. By doing so, global warming makes the sea level rises. For example, the Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets. he estimated total ice melting rate over Greenland is 239 ± 23 cubic kilometres (57 ± 5.5 cu mi) per year, mostly from East Greenland. Under the IPCC Special Report on Emission Scenario (SRES) A1B, by the mid-2090s global sea level will reach 0.22 to 0.44 m (8.7 to 17 in) above 1990 levels, and is currently rising at about 4 mm (0.16 in) per year. This rising sea level will make the land become narrower and there will be constricted area for human to live.

GHOSTS ARE IN THE HOUSE!

The ghost house I’m describing is located in Jawa Timur Park__a place like Dufan or Taman Festival Bali__in Malang. It is not a deserted house which has many kind of ghost flying inside. It is just a “game house” which provided many fake ghosts to entertain the visitors. The house is like a cave which has an entering point and an exit. At the gate of this house, you will see the poster “DO NOT ENTER IF YOU HAVE A HEART DISEASE!!!”. As you enter the house, you will not be able to see anything because it is very dark. After a while, you will realize that it is a scary place. Perhaps you feel that you are in a wrong place and maybe you will consider getting back to the entering gate. But don’t worry, it is very challenging inside. The first challenge is a three junction. And if you choose the wrong way, you will get lost. Several ghosts will greet you along the way to get into the exit door. Kuntilanak with her long black hair and bloody white dress, Pocong with his white suit, Vampire with his sharp cane and black coat, Tuyul with his bald head, or if you are lucky, a bloody mummy will show his face. All local and international ghosts appear. They will wave their hands or do fearing movements, but they will not chase you. There is also a very narrow bridge on the way out. It is sufficient for only a person to walk on. Some bloody things are__still__waiting beside. You will have no idea what will happen if you fall because it is all black under the bridge and smoke comes out from below. At the end, there are five doors. You can read a frightening letter above. “CHOOSE THE CORRECT DOOR OR YOU WILL GET LOST HERE FOREVER!!!”. Well, it is very easy to get out because the four others are only closets that have ghosts in it. Just prepare yourself when you decide to get in.

THBT advertisements bring more harm than good

THBT advertisements bring more harm than good
Background:
There are too many advertisements around people. Those usually give no significance to the people in the society. They only give benefits for those who make the advertisements.
Arguments: PRO ( Affirmative )
1. People are bothered with information they don’t really want and they don’t really need. Those advertisements are disturbing because people just cannot get rid of them.
2. People are overwhelmed with the overload choice. Having too many choices sometimes can be confusing.
3. Advertisements affect people’s psychological condition. They may think that they have bought bad things, they regret because they have bought something instead of another, or they regret for not being able to buy anything at all. Advertisements can make them feel inferior if they do not have the product advertised.
4. People cannot just ignore them since advertisers use underhand method to get their message delivered to the people. They use grabbing and provocative words which lead to brainwash that people choose to buy the things unconsciously.
5. Advertisements give the impression that people can and should have everything they want. It leads to consumptiveness.
6. Advertisers only care about the profit. They never think about the social impact.
7. Advertisements give unfair advantage to big business. It kills small companies which cannot afford for advertisements.

Arguments: CON (Negative)
1. No one is forced to look at the advertisements. No one is forced to put on their properties.
2. Advertisements can support some particular institutions or events. For example football club, music concert, etc.
3. It helps people to choose since there are many products advertised so the price, features, and the quality become more competitive. Advertisements give more information about the products. It makes people wise to decide the best products for them.
4. The advertisers are just being creative. They put bright color on the picture; it is just the same a putting make up on people’s face. Convincing people by the way the advertisements are presented is not the same as brainwash.
5. Advertisements only provide what people want and reflect what people need. They never mock people for being fat. Instead, they give the solution for it.
6. It doesn’t matter how small the company is, it’s the matter of ho clever the producers choose the way to market the product.