#774 - Tiring Week

ENGLISH

Finally I got my official IELTS score I took two weeks ago. It was pretty satisfying, even though in some bands I did not do my best, I mean, I could have gotten a better score, hehe :) My overall band score is 7.5, it is beyond the minimum target I need to meet, it is also beyond my own personal target. Considering IELTS preparation I took was this one ONLY, I think I did good. I had never taken any IELTS related test before that. Anyway, the preparation worked really well since I did not make the mistakes I made at the preparation test at the actual test. I got a 9 in my reading test, haha :) I also did good in my speaking test, I got an 8.

Well, anyway, this week has also kinda tiring. A lot of things went on this week. These last three days, I helped at the 2009 Unpar Mathematics Competition. Well, I was one official at the 2007 and 2008 Unpar Mathematics Competition. This year, I am retired, LOL. However, it doesn't mean that I don't care about this competition anymore, therefore I still offered and gave my help :) That's why it has kinda been a bit tiring. Oh, and I also became a judge this year, haha.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Akhirnya aku mendapat nilai IELTS resmiku yang tesnya aku ikuti dua minggu yang lalu. Hasilnya lumayan memuaskan, walau di beberapa area rasanya nggak gitu maksimal sih, dalam artian, rasanya aku bisa mendapat nilai lebih baik lagi, hehe :) Nilai keseluruhanku 7,5, ini di atas nilai minimum yang aku butuhkan, ini juga di atas target personalku. Mempertimbangkan persiapan IELTS yang aku ambil HANYA waktu ini saja, aku rasa aku bekerja dengan baik karena aku tidak membuat kesalahan yang aku buat di latihan. Aku dapat 9 loh di reading, haha :) Aku juga bagus deh di speaking, dapat 8.

Hmm, ngomong, minggu ini melelahkan juga. Banyak hal yang terjadi minggu ini. Tiga hari belakangan, aku membantu panitia Kompetisi Matematika Unpar 2009. Hmm, aku panitia di acara ini tahu 2007 dan2008. Tahun ini, aku pensiun, LOL. Namun, itu bukan berarti lantas aku bisa cuek saja kan tentang acara ini, makanya aku masih menawarkan bantuan :) Makanya deh agak capek juga. O iya, tahun ini aku juga menjadi juri, haha.

#773 - 2009 WTA Tour Championships

note: this entry will only be written in English

Last week, the WTA Tour Championships, a year end championships, of women professional tennis was held at Doha, Qatar.

Singles

At Doha, eight female tennis players were qualified to play singles. They are the eight female tennis player with the highest points earned during the whole 2009 season along with two alternates. They are, in order (and also the grouping in the tournament):
1. Dinara Safina (RUS) - white group
2. Serena Williams (USA) - maroon group
3. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) - maroon group
4. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) - white group
5. Elena Dementieva (RUS) - maroon group
6. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) - white group
7. Venus Williams (USA) - maroon group
8. Jelena Jankovic (SRB) - white group
9. Vera Zvonareva (RUS) - alternate
10. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) - alternate

This tournament was really dramatic and "full of stories". Aside from the 2009 US Open, I think this tournament is also the most dramatic tournament of the year.

This year has been filled with a debate whether or not Dinara Safina deserved to be world no. 1 while she has not won any grandslam title yet. Coming at the tournament, Safina was only leading 155 points ahead of Serena Williams. It means that whoever did better in the year end championships, she would be the world no.1.

However, Dinara Safina then retired at her first match against Jelena Jankovic. At the time, Serena Williams had already won her first match against Svetlana Kuznetsova. This means that Serena Williams is officially the year end world no.1 in 2009!!

As for Jelena Jankovic (JJ), who qualified for the tournament in the last minutes, she was really lucky. She was in the white group, which I personally think was the easier group as she was in the same group with debutants, Azarenka and Wozniacki, and Safina, who was struggling at the end of the year. JJ lost miserably at her first match against Azarenka. That was the end of her bad luck. At her second match, she only needed to play two games to win the match as Safina retired. At the third round, she played the exhausted and injured Wozniacki. Of course JJ won the match and she was through to the semifinal. I gotta say JJ was really lucky. Not that being lucky is bad, I think luck is one key factor in tennis match :)

::: Jelena Jankovic at Doha

Wozniacki, however, played her really best. She defeated Azarenka in a what seemed to be an easy match for Azarenka as of the first set. Due to Safina's withdrawal, Safina was replaced by Vera Zvonareva, the first alternate, to play Wozniacki's second match. The match was one of the most dramatic match of the season as both players were injured. Wozniacki even had a severe cramp at the last game of her match and fell to the ground. Wozniacki eventually won the match. However, the victory still didn't guarantee a semifinal spot for her and she still had to play JJ. Exhausted, she easily lost to JJ. Her faith was determined by the result of the last match at the white group, a match between Azarenka and Agnieszka Radwanska, the second alternate who replaced Zvonareva because of Zvonareva's injury. Azarenka looked like going to win the match easily as she lead 6-4, 4-0 at the second set. However, Radwanska stormed back and won the second set 7-5. At the third set, suddenly Azarenka feel exhausted and injuries attacked her. She retired at 4-1, Radwanska's leading. Thus, Wozniacki was through to the semifinal.

::: Caroline Wozniacki cramping

At the maroon group, Serena Williams was unbeatable as she won all her round robin matches. She was only down one set on her match against her sister, Venus Williams. Venus Williams, the defending champion, struggled at her round robin round as she lost her first two matches against Dementieva and Kuznetsova. V. Williams eventually won her match against Kuznetsova, thus still keeping her chance alive. The last semifinal spot was determined with Dementieva vs Kuznetsova's match. If Dementieva won, she would be through to the semifinal. If she lost, V. Williams would advance. Dementieva then lost to Kuznetsova, thus, V. Williams was through to the semifinal even with only one win at round robin. This was the second time it happened, the first one was Amelie Mauresmo in 2003.

In the semifinal, V. Williams would face JJ, and S. Williams would face Wozniacki. V. Williams beat JJ in three sets, thus, making her second consecutive appearance at the tournament's final. JJ played a lot better in this stage of the competition. In other hand, S. Williams played poorly in her semifinal match agains the injured Wozniacki. S. Williams should have won easily but she made too many unforced errors. Still, she won the first set 6-4. At the second set, she served first and was broken by Wozniacki! But then, Wozniacki retired from the match citing abdominal injury. Should Wozniacki was not injured, I think S. Williams would have lost the match with that level of play, hmmm. Anyway, it means that S. Williams would meet her sister for the second time in four days.

In the final, both Williams sisters played a lot better than before. But it was S. Williams who was in her peak of her performance, thus crushing her sister 6-2, 7-6(4) to win the tournament. She remained unbeatable at the tournament and recieved 1500 points, plus US$ 1,550,000 prize money in singles (She and her sister also played doubles, so, her prize money from this tournament must be bigger than the figure :) ).

::: Serena Williams and Venus Williams with their trophies

Anyway, during the tournament, I think Venus Williams didn't play her best. She made too many unforced errors and double faults. Plus, her second serve play was also weak. I think Venus needs to work on this to prepare for the 2010 season.

Now, Serena Williams is world no.1 and she is 1,275 points ahead Dinara Safina, the world no.2. It is a pretty good lead as the gap guarantees Serena Williams to be world no.1 at least until the conclusion of 2010 Australian Open, the first grandslam in 2010.

Doubles

In doubles, four teams with most points earned in 2009 qualified for the event. The four teams were (in order):
1. Cara Black (ZIM) / Liezel Huber (USA)
2. Serena Williams (USA) / Venus Williams (USA)
3. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) / Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)
4. Samantha Stosur (AUS) / Rennae Stubbs (AUS)

The "special" thing is the presence of Serena Williams and Venus Williams. They had only played FIVE tournaments prior to the year end championships, but still managed to be qualified for the event. Yea, they performed strongly. They played at four grandslam tournaments and Stanford, a premier-level tournament. They won four titles, at Stanford and three grandslams. Their only loss came at French Open's third round, to pair Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Nadia Petrova.

Cara Black and Liezel Huber were the defending champion and they had been co-world no.1s in doubles since November 2007. The position was solid, until the "threat" from the Williams sisters became alive. Should they lost their semifinal match and the sisters won the tournament, the sisters would have taken their world no.1s position. Luckily for them, they beat Stosur/Stubbs at the semifinal, thus, securing their world no.1s title. However, the Williams sisters' run was ended in the semifinal as the lost in three sets to Llagostera Vives/Martinez Sanchez, whom eventually won the championships.

ps: photos were taken from many sources

#772 - Updates

ENGLISH

Well, it turns out that October has become even a more unproductive month for this blog. As I record, this entry is the fifth entry published this month!! Well, it is now officially that October 2009 is the second to least month in term of number of entries published, haha.

Anyway, last Saturday I took my IELTS test, the international test which cost 180 USD. That's why I must not fail in this test, hehe. Well, based on my performance, I think I am confident enough with my work on the test. The result will be published next week, wish me luck, hehe :)

Nothing much happened this week. It's just that tomorrow I have an extra class. Damn!! My OFF Saturday is now tainted, LOL.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Hmm, beneran deh ternyata Oktober menjadi bukan yang semakin tidak produktif untuk blog ini. Seperti catatanku, posting ini hanyalah posting kelima bulan ini!! Yah, sekarang resmi deh kalau Oktober 2009 adalah bulan paling tak produktif kedua dalam hal banyak posting yang kutulis, haha.

Ngomong2, Sabtu kemarin aku mengambil tes IELTS, yang internasional yang biayanya 180 dollar. Makanya aku tidak boleh gagal di tes ini, hehe. Hmm, berdasarkan performaku, rasanya sih aku yakin dengan pekerjaanku pada tes kemarin. Hasilnya baru keluar minggu depan, doakah saya ya, hehe :) h with my work on the test. The result will be published next week, wish me luck, hehe :)

Nggak banyak sih yang terjadi akhir2 ini. Hanya saja besok akan ada kelas tambahan. Sial!! Sabtu LIBUR-ku jadi ternodai deh, LOL.

#771 - Current TV Shows

note: currently being lazy in writing bilingual, again, this is a single-language entry ;)

Lately, especially after my last midterm last Thursday, and this week is still the second midterm week in my campus, I haven't really done anything much. I am having my off days tho, at least until next Sunday (tho I will have my written IELTS test this Saturday). It's just that I made a pretty good progress in my thesis. Hopefully I still can keep it up to achieve my personal deadline target, middle of November ;)

Anyway, as I have plain days, I have nothing much to write right now. It came up to my mind to write about my favorite TV Shows lately. Some new series have been aired within the last month, tying to my TV for some days during the week.

On Monday, my favorite TV Show is clearly The Amazing Race 15, no question about it. Anyway, about it, finally this week Brian & Ericka are one of my top favorite team. I really like the way they raced, nice, and Ericka was smart ;) So, my top four teams are Meghan & Cheyne, Brian & Ericka, Maria & Tiffany, and Mika & Canaan. Back to topic, unfortunately, Star World also airs what they call "Monday Night Laughs", a pack of six sitcoms it premiers from 7 PM to 10 PM, and for this session, I follow FIVE of them. The schedule is in conflict with TAR's schedule and of course I gotta make TAR my first priority since it's kinda a live show ;) Lucky enough, Star World airs the rerun of "Monday Night Laughs" every late Saturday and Sunday afternoon. So, I still can catch up with the program on the same week ;)

Tuesday is also my favorite day this week. Some weeks ago, when I was back in Yogyakarta for Lebaran holiday, Star World premiered a new TV show titled Royal Pains. At first, I wasn't really interested, honestly, but starting episode 3, I somehow stertaed liking this show. Now, I think this show is great and worth watched! :) The night is followed by Desperate Housewives (season 5), of course, the show which is really enjoyable to watch. I know, Tuesday is a drama day, LOL.

There's nothing really interesting on Wednesday so I'll just skip it to Thursday. I love Reaper Season 2 on Thursday. It's really unfortunate I think that the show is now officially canceled and will not be renewed for a third season :(. I think this show is actually really great, funny, and interesting!! :( Then, I watch Ace, a tennis news show aired on Star Sports later on the evening.

That's actually pretty much it. Friday is an off TV day (lol), and I usually catch up the sitcoms I miss on Monday on late Saturday or Sunday afternoon. O yea, and now I also like The Simpsons as Star World airs two episodes each day five times a week. I think it's really funny, smart, and witty :)

Oh, and one show is almost forgotten. I really like Psych, I think it's really funny and enjoyable :) It's about a detective which possessed an eidetic memory and great observational skill which made people believed he was a psychic :)

#770 - Last Midterm

ENGLISH

Well, it has been another while since my last entry. Anyway, this week is the first week of midterm in my campus. Because this semester I only take three courses, one of them is thesis (final assignment), I don't have that full schedule these two weeks, not like other midterms which I have had before.

In fact, as of Thursday afternoon which was the fourth day, I am FREE of exam!! haha... . My two exams were held on Tuesday and Thursday, leaving me with 10 days ahead free from daily campus activities (but not from thesis tho).

Anyway, next week (on Saturday the 24th), I'm taking the official IELTS test. Wew, I have already paid for it, which cost USD 180 (lucky last Monday, when I did the payment, the price of dollar went down a bit, which saved me some rupiah (but when I did the transaction, the price had rised about Rp 200,- tho since I last saw it)). Well, USD 180 is much and I must nail this one! :)

Btw, lately, it's getting cooler in Bandung as some rain has dropped, some was even pouring. The bad news is that somehow the cooler weather makes my appetite goes up a bit, damnit. Lately, sometimes around midnight, I somehow become starving!! WTF!! That's bad!! haha...

Anyway, last week I bought Stephanie Meyer's novel, titled "The Host". I haven't read it yet tho since I barely have time to read. Well, I bought the imported one, which cost only about Rp 20,000.- more than the translation edt, hehe... .

::: "The Host"

::: Suniaraja Fried Chicken I had last Wednesday

BAHASA INDONESIA

Yah, udah berapa lama lagi deh sejak posting terakhirku. Ngomong2, minggu ini adalah minggu UTS pertama di kampusku. Karena semester ini aku hanya mengambil tiga mata kuliah, salah satunya skripsi (tugas akhir), aku jadi tidak memiliki jadwal UTS yang padat dua minggu ini seperti dulu2.

Malah, Kamis siang kemarin yang merupakan hari keempat, aku sudah BEBAS dari ujian loh!! haha... . Dua ujianku diadakan hari Selasa dan Kamis, meninggalkan sepuluh hari ke depan bebas dari kegiatan kampus (tapi tidak dari skripsi deh).

Ngomong2, minggu depan (tanggal 24 hari Sabtu) aku akan mengambil tes resmi IELTS nih. Wew, aku juga sudah bayar, seharga 180 dollar Amerika (untungnya Senin waktu aku bayar, harga dollar lagi turun dikit jadi lumayan lah bisa menghemat dikit (tapi waktu aku melakukan transaksi harganya uda naik sekitar Rp 200,- dari terakhir aku cek)). Yah, 180 dollar tetap aja banyak dan aku harus berhasil di tes ini! :)

Btw, akhir2 ini, Bandung semakin dingin nih karena sudah beberapa kali hujan, malah beberapa diantaranya hujan lebat. Berita buruknya adalah karena suatu hal cuaca dingin koq membuat aku jadi gampang laper yah? Sial. Akhir2 ini parahnya sekitar tengah malam jadi lapar nih!! WTF!! Bahaya!! haha

Ngomong2, minggu lalu aku membeli novelnya Stephanie Meyer berjudul "The Host". Aku belum membacanya sih karena belum ada waktu untuk itu. Aku beli yang impor deh, yang harganya cuma beda Rp 20.000,- dari yang edisi terjemahan, hehe... .

#769 - IELTS Test

ENGLISH

I actually have a plan to take an IELTS test, the international and official one, within this month. The problem is that I have never taken this test before. Sure I have taken TOEFL test, even the international one, this time, but I have no experience in IELTS, at all :)

Therefore, before taking the actual test which cost USD 180, I need to make sure that I am ready for it so that I will achieve the score that I need. To reach that, I have decided to take a practice test at TBI which cost Rp 300,000.-. Fair enough I think, and I hoped that I would get many experiences about the test itself, so that I at least have a concept about the actual test I'm taking.

So today, I took the test. It took about 3 hours to complete and after waiting for 30 minutes after the test ended, I got my result. I got a 7! Well, the score is pretty satisfying as I have never taken any IELTS test before, hehe. Well, actually I could have done better. The tester told me I made some minor mistakes in some parts. I also made a pretty stupid mistake in the Reading Section. Qualitatevely, actually I got every single answer on that part CORRECT!! However, I didn't follow the instruction properly (I didn't read it carefully as I focused on the questions and passages, honestly), instead of writing 'YES' for 'TRUE' and 'NO' for 'FALSE', I wrote 'TRUE' and 'FALSE'. Damnit, they were counted as wrong, haha.

Well, tho it was a bit disappointing, I'm very satisfied that the purpose of me taking practice test was achieved!! I made some mistakes, minor and major ones, and that's the reason why I took practice test: to make mistakes!! By making mistakes, I learn from them and know how to do better next time, right? hehe :) Had I not made those mistakes, I would probably have still had no idea about those mistakes and I might make one during my actual test, which is my main target, right?

Therefore, this test was a complete success for me. I reached my personal score target and I also made mistakes and learn from them!! So quantitatively and qualitatively, the test was a success for me. Rp 300,000.- paid off, hehe. Anyway, wish me luck on my actual test! :)

BAHASA INDONESIA

Aku sebenarnya berencana untuk mengambil tes IELTS, yang resmi dan internasional, pada bulan ini. Masalahnya, aku belum pernah mengambil tes ini sebelumnya. Memang sih aku sudah pernah mengambil tes TOEFL, bahkan yang internasional loh, yaitu pada waktu ini, tapi aku sama sekali tidak punya pengalaman di IELTS :)

Makanya, sebelum mengambil tes benerannya yang harganya 180 dollar, aku perlu memastikan bahwa aku siap untuk mengambilnya sehingga aku bisa mencapai nilai yang aku butuhkan. Untuk mencapainya, aku memutuskan untuk mencoba mengambil tes latihannya di TBI, yang seharga Rp 300.000,-. Wajar sih, karena aku berharap aku akan mendapat pengalaman tentang tes itu, jadi setidaknya aku ada bayangan akan tes yang mau aku ambil.

Jadi hari ini, aku mengambil tes itu. Kira2 3 jam lah waktu yang dibutuhkan dan setelah menunggu 30 menit setelah tes berakhir, aku mendapat hasilnya. Aku dapet 7 loh! Yah, nilainya lumayan memuaskan karena aku benar2 tidak pernah mengambil IELTS sebelumnya, hehe. Hmm, sebenarnya, ternyata aku bisa dapat lebih baik lho. Pengujinya memberi tahu bahwa aku membuat beberapa kesalahan kecil pada beberapa bagian. Trus, ada juga kesalahan bodoh yang aku buat di Bagian Reading. Secara kualitatif, jawabanku di setiap nomor itu BENAR lho!! Namun, ternyata aku tidak teliti dan tidak mengikuti petunjuk pengerjaan soal (jujur sih memang petunjuknya hanya aku baca sekilas saja karena aku fokus pada soal dan bacaan), bukannya menulis 'YES' untuk 'TRUE' (benar) dan 'NO' untuk 'FALSE' (salah), aku malah menulis TRUE dan FALSE saja. Sial, disalahin deh, haha.

Yah, walau agak mengecewakan sedikit, tapi aku justru puas lho karena tujuanku mengambil tes latihan jadi tercapai!! Aku membuat kesalahan, kecil dan parah, dan alasan aku mengambil tes latihan kan untuk membuat kesalahan!! Dengan membuat kesalahan, aku belajar darinya dan tahu bagaimana untuk mengerjakan lebih baik nantinya kan? hehe :) Andai aku tidak membuat kesalahan itu, mungkin aku masih ga ada bayangan akan kesalahan2 itu dan bisa saja di tes sebenarnya malah salah, ya kan?

Makanya, tes tadi adalah tes yang sukses untuk aku. Aku mencapai target nilai personalku dan aku juga membuat kesalahan dan aku belajar darinya!! Jadi, secara kuantitas dan kualitas, tes tadi adalah tes yang sukses untuk aku. Rp 300.000,- tidak sia-sia deh, hehe. Yah, doakan aku di tes yang sebenarnya yah! :)

#768 - Updates

ENGLISH

So, now I have been back in Bandung.

Actually last Monday I went back to Bandung catching Turangga Express. Well, it was probably the weirdest train trip I have taken ever. My brother and I got seats number 1C-1D printed on our tickets. However, when we boarded the train, there were NO such seats 1C-1D!! WTF!! Well, I bought the ticket at the official ticket booth so there was no way it was a fake ticket. Luckily, I could remain calm and asked the officer on board about it. Apparently, because it was a new couch, true there was no seat 1C-1D and as their procedures, seats number 13C-13D should belong to us. And apparently, yes, it was the solution, haha, and I felt relieved. However, I still think it was a silly incident. I mean, if there was no seats 1C-1D, they shouldn't give those seats to passengers, and if their procedures was to reseat those passengers to seats 13C-13D, they should also have put that in their computer so misunderstanding can be avoided, right?

Anyway, this week has been kinda busy, haha, but nothing was really special tho, and so is the upcoming week. Next week is gonnabe my midterm week. This midterm is gonnabe the least stressful midterm weeks of all. Why? Because this semester I only take 2 classes (3 with thesis class tho). Therefore, out of 12 days of the two weeks of midterm, I will only have 2 of them filled with examination, and luckily, those 2 days will be within the first 4 days!! That means I will have at least one week OFF!! hahaha... . Hmm, at second thought, it's not gonnabe literally OFF tho since I have set a target to finish my thesis by the middle of November. Hopefully I can make it!! Wish Me Luck!! :)

::: soto kadipiro

::: bakso Narto

::: beef sate (sate karang)

::: the crowd at Tugu Railway Station Yogyakarta, so full of people.

::: aproaching Turangga Express

::: roast duck I had last Tuesday

BAHASA INDONESIA

Jadi, sekarang aku sudah balik di Bandung.

Sebenarnya Senin kemarin sih aku baliknya ke Bandung naik Kereta Turangga. Hmm, mungkin perjalanan dengan kereta kemarin adalah perjalanan paling aneh dengan kereta yang pernah aku lalui. Jadi, adikku dan aku mendapat kursi nomor 1C-1D di tiket kami. Namun, ketika kami menaiki keretanya, ternyata TIDAK ADA kursi nomor 1C-1D!! WTF!! Yah, aku kan membeli tiket di loket resmi tuh, jadi tidak mungkin tiket itu adalah tiket palsu. Untungnya aku bisa tetap tenang dan bertanya ke petugas akan masalah ini. Ternyata, karena mereka menggunakan gerbong baru, benar bahwa memang tidak ada kursi nomor 1C-1D, dan sesuai prosedur mereka, kursi 13C-13D sepatutnya menjadi milik kami. Dan ternyata memang sih itu penyelesaiannya, dan akhirnya aku merasa lega. Kalau dipikir2, aneh juga yah kejadiannya. Maksudku, kalau memang tidak ada kursi 1C-1D, seharusnya mereka tidak memberikan kursi nomor itu ke penumpang dong, dan kalau prosedurnya adalah dengan memberikan kursi 13C-13D, ya seharusnya nomor itulah yang dimasukkan ke komputer dan kesalahpahaman bisa dihindari, ya kan?

Ngomong2, minggu ini lumayan sibuk nih saya, tak ada yang spesial sih, dan juga minggu selanjutnya. Minggu depannya lagi adalah minggu UTS. Oya, minggu UTS kali ini mungkin adalah minggu UTS paling tidak bikin stress dari semua UTS yang pernah aku jalani. Mengapa? Karena semester ini aku cuma mengambil 2 mata kuliah (3 sih sama skripsi). Makanya, dari 12 hari dalam minggu UTS, hanya 2 hari aku akan melewatkannya untuk ujian, dan untungnya lagi, 2 hari itu ada di 4 hari pertama!! Artinya, aku akan mendapat setidaknya 1 minggu LIBUR nih!! hahaha... . Eh, kalau dipikir-pikir lagi nggak juga benar2 LIBUR sih yah, karea aku sendiri sudah menetapkan target untuk menyelesaikan skripsiku pertengahan November. Mudah2an aku bisa menyelesaikannya!! Doakan aku yah!! :)