#852 - Seven Random Things

ENGLISH

1. Today is a special day, 10/10/10. I always like the number 10, and now we have a triple ten day :D There is one more crazy thing. Today, the world no.1 men doubles tennis players, the twin-duo Bob & Mike Bryan won their tenth doubles title in their tenth final this year in a tournament in Beijing. Wow, whatta crazy thing!!


2. I don't know why but lately, one week seems to pass by really quick for me. I just feel that last week's Friday was just yesterday, when I felt a little taste of "freedom" after a grueling week with two assignments. Now, ten days later, I am also in my weekend, but I don't feel this weekend is much "free" as last weekend because I will, again, have two assignments to hand in next week. Well, another busy and grueling week is waiting for me.
   
   Wait, wait, I am not complaining here. In fact, being busy like this is kinda "fun" to me, as I enjoy it. Well, the process (of working on assignments) is not always fun "fun", as sometimes it also gives me a headache, LOL. But I think I kinda like it, and in a deeper sense, it is a way of life, work hard and enjoy the process! :-)


3. Anyway, I got an interesting offer last week. One store in Delft sold a day-trip train ticket for 12.49 euro and the ticket holder can travel (by train of course, as the buyer bought train ticket not flight ticket :D) all over and anywhere in the Netherlands with that ticket in one day during the weekend, without paying anything more. At first I thought we had to pick an exact date and I was a bit doubtful about this since I cannot really pick an exact date now. But then, apparently, we didn't have to!! We can just buy the ticket and travel any time we want (as long as the ticket is still valid). That's why I decided to go for it and last Friday, I bought four tickets!! LOL. Now I must go somewhere in the Netherlands before the ticket expires!!


4. Finally, last week, I got my campus card. Now I can borrow some books from the library!! Yeah!! Also, once I got my campus card, I got it activated so that I can now access my building during the weekend (if I want to go to my office during the weekend).


5. All this time, I have been trying to save much money so that I will have my own savings. One thing I have done is "skipping" the drying machine when I launder my laundry. The reason is that because I think it is kinda expensive (to use the washing machine in my apartment I have to pay 2.5 euro for one washing process. To use the drying machine, I have to pay another 2 euro. So, if I use the washing machine and the drying machine, I will have to pay at least 4.5 euro (yea, at least, because maybe I will use more than one washing machine as the capacity of the washing machine is so limited and if I have loads of dirty clothes)) and that I think I can hang my laundry in my room and the nature will dry them up, lol.
   
   So far, it has been working fine, but not this week. I don't know whether it is the humidity of what but my clothes seemed to dry much slower this week. That's why the last time I laundered my dirty clothes, I decided to give the drying machine a try for the first time (beside, I just charged my laundry card with 30 euro :D). Now, after using it, I fully know the importance of drying machine!! LOL. It dries your clothes effectively and also wipes most of the wrinkles!! :D Now I must really consider whether 2 extra euro worths that or not, hmmmmmm... . Any idea?? :D


6. I also have to be careful with price here, because the price difference between one supermarket and another can be very significant!! Well, one thing I regularly buy here is tempe (yeah, tempe, living in a European country tens of thousand kilometers away from Indonesia, I still eat tempe, LOL). In the nearest supermarket, I regularly buy it with the price of around 2.5 euro. But last Saturday, I went to an Oriental Market (and it was SOOOO far away from my apartment as I have to bike for 20 minutes just to get there) and found out that the same tempe was sold for only 1 euro there!! One freaking euro!!!


7. Talking about Indonesian food, last week, my friends and I had dinner at an Indonesian restaurant in Den Haag. It was nice!! At first I thought the price was kinda expensive (well, to their fairness, it is not that expensive tho comparing to the standard price in Holland. I say it was expensive because I compared it with the price in Indonesia, LOL, not fair). I had Nasi Rawon for 5 euro. When it was served to my table, the portion was HUGE!! So, I revised what I said before and I think it was a really good price!! :-) The taste was also good, just like what I expected from a portion of rawon!! :-D

::: Bob & Mike Bryan (after winning the ATP World Tour Finals in London last year). Picture was taken from here.

::: Special Train Ticket :-)

::: Laundry Room in my apartment.

::: Tempe (I deliberately put the cutter there as a size-comparison :D).

::: Nasi Rawon I had in Den Haag last week, tasty!! :D

BAHASA INDONESIA

1. Hari ini tuh unik yah, 10/10/10. Aku selalu suka sama angka 10, dan sekarang kita sedang berada di hari dengan tiga sepuluh :D Ada hal gila lainnya juga. Hari ini, petenis ganda putra peringkat 1 dunia, duo-kembar Bob & Mike Bryan memenangkan gelar juara ganda kesepuluhnya di final kesepuluh mereka tahun ini di sebuah turnamen di Beijing. Wow, bener-bener deh!!


2. Nggak tahu kenapa koq akhir-akhir ini aku merasa seminggu itu berlalu dengan sangat cepat yah. Rasanya tuh hari Jumat minggu lalu terasa seperti kemarin, ketika aku merasakan sedikit "kebebasan" setelah seminggu penuh dengan dua tugas. Sekarang, sepuluh hari kemudian, juga di akhir minggu, tapi aku nggak merasa "sebebas" itu karena aku akan, lagi-lagi, mengumpulkan dua tugas minggu depan. Wah, satu minggu yang sibuk dan kerasa menungguku nih.
   
   Eh, tunggu dulu, aku nggak mengeluh loh disini. Malah, aku merasa bahwa diriku sibuk seperti ini justru agak "mengasyikkan", karena aku koq menikmatinya ya. Memang benar kalau prosesnya (mengerjakan tugas) nggak selalu m"enyenangkan" bener, karena kadang tugas-tugasnya juga bikin pusing, LOL. Tapi aku suka tuh, dan dengan pemikiran yang lebih dalam, ya inilah hidup itu, bekerja keras dan nikmati prosesnya! :-)


3. Ngomong2, aku mendapat tawaran menarik minggu lalu. Sebuah toko di Delft menjual tiket satu-hari untuk naik kereta seharga 12,49 euro dan pemegang tiket bisa jalan-jalan (dengan naik kereta tentunya ya, masa naik pesawat, kan belinya tiket kereta) keliling Belanda, kemanapun, sepuasnya loh selama perginya di hari yang sama dan ketika akhir minggu, tanpa membayar apa pun lagi. Pertamanya aku kira kita harus memilih tanggal dulu dan aku agak ragu karena agak sulit untuk menentukan satu tanggal di posisiku sekarang. Tapi ternyata, nggak harus!! Kita bisa beli tiketnya dan jalan-jalan kapan pun kita mau (selama tiketnya masih berlaku lah). Makanya aku memutuskan untuk akhirnya membelinya dan Jumat lalu, aku beli empat tiket!! LOL. Nah, sekarang aku harus jalan-jalan keliling Belanda deh sebelum tiketnya hangus.


4. Akhirnya, minggu lalu, aku mendapatkan kartu kampusku. Sekarang aku bisa deh pinjam beberapa buku dari perpustakaan!! Yeaahh!! Juga, begitu aku dapat kartu ini, aku langsung mengaktifkan kartu ini jadi aku bisa mengakses gedung kampusku ketika akhir minggu (kan siapa tau pas akhir minggu dan nggak ada kerjaan aku mau ke kantor).


5. Selama ini, aku sudah mencoba untuk menghemat uang sehingga aku punya tabungan. Satu hal yang aku lakukan adalah "melewati" proses "mesin pengering" (drying machine) ketika aku mencunci pakaianku. Alasannya adalah aku merasa harganya mahal sih (untuk memakai mesin cuci di apartemenku, aku harus membayar 2,5 euro untuk satu proses mencuci. Untuk memakai mesin pengering, harus tambah lagi 2 euro. Jadi, kalau aku memakan mesin cuci dan mesin pengering, aku harus membayar paling sedikit 4,5 euro (ya, paling sedikit, karena mungkin aku akan menggunakan lebih dari satu mesin cuci karena kapasitasnya kan kecil dan baju kotorku lagi banyak)) dan aku kan bisa tuh menggantung baju di kamar dan akhirnya alamlah yang mengeringkannya, lol.
   
   Sejauh ini, semua baik-baik saja sih, kecuali minggu ini. Nggak tahu ya karena kelembaban atau apa, yang jelas bajuku rasanya mengering dengan jauh lebih lambat nih minggu ini. Makanya terakhir kali aku mencuci baju kotor, aku memutuskan untuk mencoba pakai mesin pengering lah sekali-sekali (selain itu, aku baru saja mengisi kartu laundry-ku dengan kredit 30 euro :D). Sekarang, setelah memakainya, aku jadi benar-benar paham kepentingan mesin pengering!! LOL. Tentu lah mesin ini mengeringkan baju-baju dengan efisien, selain itu, mesin ini juga bisa menghilangkan kerut-kerut di baju loh!! :D Sekarang aku harus mempertimbangkan nih apakah 2 euro ekstra memang bernilai untuk keunggulan itu, hmmmmmm... . Ada ide?? :D


6. Aku juga harus hati-hati nih sama yang namanya harga, soalnya beda harga di satu supermarket dengan yang lain bisa sangat jauh loh!! yah, satu barang yang aku beli secara teratur disini adalah tempe (ya, tempe, tinggal di sebuah negara Eropa yang jauhnya puluhan ribu kilometer dari Indonesia, aku masih makan tempe, LOL). Di supermarket terdekat, aku biasanya membelinya dengan harga sekitar 2,5 euro. Nah, Sabtu lalu, aku pergi ke Oriental Market (dan lokasinya tuh JAUUUUH deh dari apartemenku soalnya aku harus naik sepeda 20 menit untuk sampai kesana, belum pulangnya) dan ternyata harga tempe disana adalah: SATU EURO!!! SATU EURO SAJA!!!


7. Ngomong2 tentang makanan Indonesia, minggu lalu, temen2ku dan aku makan malam di sebuah restoran Indonesia di Den Haag. Asik tuh!! Pertamanya aku merasa harganya agak mahal (yah, kalau mau adil, harganya nggak mahal sih untuk standar harga makanan di Belanda. Aku merasa harganya agak mahal soalnya aku membandingkan sama harga di Indonesia, LOL, nggak adil yah). Aku pesan Nasi Rawon seharga 5 euro. Ketika rawonnya sampai di mejaku, ternyata porsinya BESAR loh!! Jadi, aku menarik kembali kata-kataku sebelumnya dan dan aku rasa harganya sih sangat nggak mahal!! :-) Rasanya juga enak tuh, memang seporsi rawon seperti yang aku harapkan!! :-D