My first gingerbread

Who ever thought that getting something at the beginning of class would made a difference to your usually-boring-class. Simon got me a gingerbread boy today as a token of appreciation of the bintang - indon beer - i gave him on monday. the class was not as boring.


i didnt expect to get anything back simply because i got an extra beer, since pete didnt show up. it was kinda cute, he gave me the bread with a letter, well sort of a note with quadrants that shows which one i should read first and signpost of which quadrant to go next. i was smiling all through the class. i didnt see it coming. i was going to ask him whether he enjoy the bintang, but didnt really think he would do something about it.

so here's the gingerbread, the blue background is the note..


he wrote in the note,
Dear Gracia,
I am sorry if this is not how you spell your name. if it isnt; you should consider changing it to the above. it's nice. please proceed to quadrant 2.

2) i would like to thank you for the beer. it was a lovely thought and appreciated very much. I had the beer with my dinner last night. i cooked. baked beans toasted-. quadrant 3

3) sandwiches with a side of fries - purchased - it was an international meal of sorts. in honor of the beer i decided to branch out and cook you something. -->

typically aussie: a gingerbread boy. it will look like the ones you buy from coles but it is not. i baked it. wrapped it. everything i did. Enjoy the lecture.

Simon


hahaha.. i cant stop smiling when i read the note. he insisted that he cooked the gingerbread and wrap it himself. with UNIQI packaging details at back. but the best part is that it's 97% fat free.. aouhhh.. how considerate... hiihihih

i greatly appreciate his efforts. it's nice to know that there are still people that appreciate your attention.
Thank you for the gingerbread simon.

even funnier, i almost got jakub cracking out loud during the presentation today, cause the back of the packaging has these written on it:
Q. Why did the computer go to the doctors?
A. It had a virus!

Q. What do you take before a meal?
A. A seat!

Q. Why did the chicken cross the play ground?
A. To get to the other slide!

Q. Why are fish so smart?
A. it's because they live in schools!

Q. What colour is a burp?
A. Burple!

ha ha ha ROFL.
it's been a fun night. now, i gotta go back to my essay.. yikes..

Relawan tukar bahasa

I attended an Indonesian Banquet this afternoon. the banquet was dedicated to welcome new language exchange program volunteers and thank last semester's volunteer for their work. i got a certificate - it was kinda weird though, i didnt do anything.
i met their teacher, forgive me i didnt get his name, but he was very fluent in Bahasa more importantly Formal bahasa - bahasa indonesia yang baik dan benar.

he corrected me when i used the word "presentasi" and told me it should be "penyajian". im like hehehehe.. i know nothing about my own language. it's also funny that im writing most of my blog in English coz i believe i cant even write in bahasa properly. but studying here, i think im still far away from writing good english.

lemme try..

Jadi pertemuan tadi siang benar benar membuka mata saya betapa kemampuan saya menulis dalam bahasa indonesia yang baik dan benar amat sangat kurang. Dan juga kemampuan saya untuk berbicara dengan bahasa baku tidak begitu mengesankan. Lucu rasanya melihat ini semua. Saya terjebak di tengah tengah. Saya merasa lebih nyaman melakukan penyajian dalam bahasa inggris, tapi tidak untuk penulisan dalam bahasa inggris. Dan bahasa ibu saya adalah bahasa indonesia tetapi saya juga tidak terlalu bagus menulis dalam bahasa baku. Saya ada di tengah tengah atau lebih tepatnya tanpa kemampuan khusus.

bottom line.. im doomed as average. gotta work my ass off like.. really work my ass off.
i never knew that indonesians can also take indonesian class at monash. i always thought this is a ridiculous idea, but it's not. turns out translating and interpreting is not as easy as switching from indo-english and vice versa.

well it's too late now.
i cant wait to meet my new partner in tukar bahasa. hahaha.. and the private tutor job.
please ... please ... please .... call me soon?

ps: one thing i observed, it's amazing to see indonesian boast about themselves or their culture in front of oz students learning bahasa. you can see them suddenly being the expert and a proud member of the country whilst they might not know that much or care about it before. the most ridiculous part is when once the oz's trying to speak bahasa, these indonesian person replied in bahasa with fast pace and treat them like their own boys from the hood leaving the oz's in awe. hi..hi..hi..

Essay(s)

one down

three more to go

sigh

independence day.. yawn

happy independence day!!! said an sms early in the morning.

im like.. (yawn) heh?

i replied thanks. and went back to bed.

another day in a foreign land not attending the independence ceremony. should i feel guilty cause i dont have the patriotic slash nationalism spirit rushing through my blood. mmmhhh... dont think so.

but i do question my sense of nationalism. not saying that i might chance my nationality but do we need to really get up and yell our heart out just to be recognized as someone with great sense of nationalism? again.. dont think so.

a lil something for you to know

FYI, i dont even know why i should post this comment or let alone triggered by it, but i just do. Gonna blame it on my PMS (ha ha).

But seriously, there's a comment in one of Indon mailing list saying that Jason Mraz concert was awesome like my previous post and then the Indon said Mraz's voice was even better than his CD, and the person wondered when will Indon singers would be able to do the same.

I am like? WHUATTTTT?????
as much as i am embarrassed to see a LOT of things gone wrong in Indon, having a good performer slash singer slash band who can really rock a live performance is not rare. Indon does have sleazy singers slash band doing crappy live. But seriously, like my previous post described, Jason Mraz's performance reminds me of Tompi's performance in Planet Hollywood [Girsang, 2008]. Gosh, I missed those fun times watching live performances in Bandung.

Hey, Take a look at performances from Tompi, Gigi, Dewa (regardless of Ahmad Dhani's attitude), Rio Febrian, Joy Tobing, Glenn Fredly, Mocca, /RIF (Hell YEAH!!), Rieka Roslan, Kerispatih, ParkDrive, Ari Lasso, and even T-Five to name a few. My gosh i've seen them all perform and they give me the chills. They all may not be as enchanting and charming as Mraz or Justin Timberlake or The Police, still Indon does have brilliant live performer slash singer slash band. Dont believe me? why dont you come out and play sometime, dont mind taking you to an awesome Indon concert.

Capish?!#$$^%&!!!!

ps: Happy birthday Bang Pal!!

MesMraz

I was mesmerized indeed.

I made a quick decision to grab extra tickets from sash to go to Jason Mraz concert and it was AWESOME. I waited from 6.30 pm in front of the FORUM theatre, gate opened around 7.15ish, opening act started at 8.05pm. By this time i regretted not talking the booth seats coz my feet are killing me, i ended up giving up my spot near the stage and went back to grab a seat and rest my feet. Im getting old.


It was unbelievably entertaining, reminds me of tompi's performance in Planet Hollywood 2 years back. Another great LIVE performance and singer.

here's a glimpse of "You and I Both" - my favorite song -, pardon the taping, it's a bit far from the stage but you can hear n see him just fine, but not his face though. :P

Old Melbourne Gaol

a tour that cost me $30 AUD on Friday 08-08-08. Lasted 50 minutes plus 20 minutes of photo session. really this is the shortest photo session time ever. seriuosly how can anyone get anything decent in 20 minutes? Ha ha ha.. this may just be my excuse for the lame picts i've taken. :).



overall, this was all a unique experience and kinda creepy coz Nunik saw a couple of "residents" at the jail - at the stairs and in one of the dark room. I salute my tour guide, it was full on 50 minutes storytelling, he must have been doing this for ages to be able to memorize and tell it like that. although the exercise he put us through going up and down the Gaol (again read it as "Jail") reminds me that i need to exercise.

This jail was designed to fit 180 convicts but was once filled with over 200 convicts. A 3 storey building . The largest cell size is probably about 3x3 m square - as big as my room now - they fit around 6 probably 10 convicts at once. You can find a blanket, bed matrass and a bucket for each of your "natural" needs euuuhhhh. The small cells is just as wide as my hand streching out. yikes.

It's amazing how people thought of a mechanism of torture to sculpt people's attitude in the search for a better community and safety for all. And capital punishment was considered the way to go back then, Australia for one has abolished capital punishment, Indonesia havent. But maybe when looking at those brute terrorist exists in the present day, capital punishment sounds just about right for them. As you can see below, they even have a replica of the hanging equipment used to hand Ned Kelly - the "so-called Oz robin hood" (Nunik, 2008). I didnt register myself into the ghost hut tour, simply coz im too lame to do it and seriously ghost? indonesia have more creepy ones i should say. He he he not that i can see them and i AM grateful that i cant.

So here you go blokes.. pictures...

Notice the Sheriff badge..

In a Ned Kelly mask..

a peak at the cells..



Hanging Equipment

The Whipping Facility and its tools


Ned Kelly mask, armour and revolver



Other torture instruments

Finally, the mediocre photo of the Hallway...

feel free to stop by and give it a try

Another day of procrastinating. Supposedly i am to read journals (yes plural form) concerning WTO's Agreement on Agriculture and its impact towards Indonesia. But since i only got back home around say 3 am, i decided to sleep in and indulge myself in the need to prepare meals for the coming week. As i preconceived the situation where i will not have the time to cook while finishing the essay.

Been craving "kentang kecap a.k.a sweet soy potato" and been making stir-fry spinach. Here they are..


Other people would most probably say that their cooking was delicious, they just never knew they got the talent to do it. While me on the other hand, claiming those as ultimately delicious would mean that i am simply not being myself, my honest self. The "kentang kecap" is a bit salty, you can alter the taste with gulps on rice and the spinach is actually OK. Just ok though, not delicious.

But yeah, all is worth trying, it's not gonna kill you i assure. So if by any chance you are in the neighbourhood, feel free to stop by and give my little experiment a try. Not to worry, just in case you cant swallow, i got honey-lemon-chicken and chicken-breast-fillet-parmesan as a back up.
So what are you waiting for?

delapan delapan delapan

Sebelum lupa.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMELIA!!!!
panjang umur, sehat selalu, banyak rejeki, pokoke semua semua semua semua kebahagian di dunia beserta mu di hari ini.

seperti judul di atas, jangan sampai tidak ada posting buat tanggal "hoki" ini. 888. katanya angka delapan bawa hoki karena rejeki kita gak putus-putus, muter terus ... semoga saya juga selalu hoki hoki hoki. ciciuw... (lah siapa yang ulang tahun, siapa yang minta doa!)

kembali ke rutinitas seorang mahasiswa,, reading reading reading,, more reading.. ended up in boredom already. and im nowhere near my word limit. yikes.

hayo tinggal satu semester lagi.. harus bisa, ayo jangan malas, masi banyak tugas tugas lainnya, GANBATTE!!!

sigh.

Blok M

I finally got the mood to write about "Blok M", this is an Indo restaurant at Prahran (read it as Pran). Its name was derived from an area in Jakarta filled with busses, street vendors and street singers. The place you go to see the real "hustle and bustle" of Jakarta.

The owner's name is Sisco a.k.a Pa'e. I usually or say almost every saturday stop by there to have dinner and cheap karaoke cause the place has a stage with guitars and minimum sound system. Nevertheless, it was enough to entertain me (at least). I consider it as cheap dinner + karaoke, all for AUD $10. The most important past is that i get to sing my heart out. hehe.

As i went to Blok M recently, i realized that what's going on there is not as "all it cracked up to be" when you dont have 3 things. Yes people three THINGS. i dont know why, mentioning 3 reasons for everything sounds sophisticated (feel free to mock but it's true).

ONE. the crowd.
when you go to Blok M without your "entourage" you will be a minority, thus others in the restaurant would be the ones creating the atmosphere and laughing here and there, making you feel alienated in a way. When you got your "entourage" with you, you will be the one setting the atmosphere, thus making it more comfortable for you.


TWO. the food.
what you order is essential in making sure that your meal fulfils your expectation and actually satisfy your desire of good indo food. to be able to make sure that you get what you paid for, to my knowledge, there are only these 5 menus that you can order.
(1) Tongseng - higly recommended for those who loves spicy food, basically most indo does.
(2) Gule Bakar "LeKar" - it's not on the menu but it is definitely GOOD!

(3) Nasi Goreng Babat - they make it as spicy as you can handle it.
(4) Sop Buntut GORENG. notice the emphasis on the "FRIED oxtail", the regular version wont be as good. trust me - there's a reason why im overweight.
(5) Ikan Bakar - the chili will make you sweat and scream for more.
and if you are lucky, they might get "Kikil" on specials of the day. I was! ha ha.


THREE. the Band.
it all comes together when you have a band entertaining you all night long. as for me, it helps when i can entertain myself and others with my singing - i have always wondered what my life would be like on a stage HA HA..-

there people, the three essential elements that you need to have in order to guarantee your night at Blok M, without which it will not be the same, again at least that is what i felt today.