#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!! :)

#767 - The Amazing Race 15

note: this entry will only be written in English as now I'm quite lazy to write bilingual, hehe

This week, the fifteenth cycle of The Amazing Race was premiered with a special 2 hours first episode. TAR has always been one of my most favorite reality show and it really rocks!!

There were 12 teams this season, and a new twist was introduced: One of the twelve team wouldn't even pass the starting line as there were tickets available for 11 teams to get to their first destination, Tokyo, Japan. Eric & Lisa were the unfortunate team as they got eliminated after losing the first challenge, finding correct Shinigawa license plate.

::: TAR 15 all 12 teams

I think, the new twist was surprising BUT really unnecessary and over the top. Well, I think, the twist has no major effect to the race itself. Usually, the first few eliminated teams will be forgotten quite easily as the show airs. Because of that, why should they add the number of early-eliminated team, even before they left the US? People will forget about them more easily now as we don't watch much of them. We don't even know not get their personality and style. Plus, unfortunately for Eric & Lisa, they had applied for the race, finally beat thousands (I guess?) of applicants to make it to the top 12, but in the end, their dream of racing crushed as they didn't even leave the US. I think they have become somewhat unnecessary "extras" in the show itself.

Anyway, the first leg was also a bit disappointing as there weren't many tasks in Tokyo. They just went to a TV studio, played a game, lead a group of Japanese women to find a shrine, and pitstop. That's it? Hmm, I think that's too short for a "LEG" in TAR.

Even so, the rest of the premier was so GREAT!! I think the race was still really exciting and entertaining, especially the second leg in Vietnam (lucky it was a 2 legs episode, as if it had been only 1 leg premier, it would have been super boring and might have lost some viewers :) ). I like the drama especially around Maria & Tiffany, how they lied about their job (professional poker players). The tasks in Vietnam were also pretty cool to watch.

For now, based on the first two legs, I have three most favorite teams and two potential favorite teams.

1. Megan & Cheyne (dating)

::: Megan & Cheyne. I like the color of their outfits tho, hehehe

I think based on the first two legs, they are the most competitive team this season. They are fit, strategic, and I think they have what it takes to stay long enough in the race. I like the way how they supported each other, that really makes them a good team.

2. Maria & Tiffany (professional poker players)

::: Maria & Tiffany, two professional poker players.

As I said, I think this team is really smart and strategic, and I always like smart and strategic team. That factor could make them a bit devilish at time, and every show needs a villain, right? As their lie (about their jobs as they said the worked for a non-profit organization in LA which helped homeless kids, quite "far" from professional poker players, LOL) had been revealed, some other teams might have plotted them as enemy, that's interesting. I hope they stayed long, hehe.

3. Mika & Canaan (newly dating)

::: Mika & Canaan. Apparently Mika is a singer and Canaan is a song-writer.

I think this team is interesting, plus they will (probably) be the bickering team of the season. However, based on the first two episodes, it seems that they weren't that strong and might got eliminated quite soon tho, hmmm... .

Two potential favorite teams:

1. Brian & Ericka (married)

::: Brian & Ericka.

Ericka is a former Miss USA. It's always be interesting to see how beauty queens handle TAR(A). Would she be like the super competitive Dustin & Kandice (TAR 10, TAR 11), or be like the quite spoiled Natalie Glebova (TARA 3)? Plus, on the second leg, it's quite interesting to see some little fights between her and her husband. It's not that I like seeing couple fighting, no, but it's interesting to see how the effect of the fight interferes their placings on TAR.

2. Sam & Dan (brothers)

::: Sam & Dan

I think they are quite interesting, as they developed what might be a good friendship with Maria & Tifanny. We will see...

The rest of the teams haven't made quite an impression on me, but hey, it has just been one episode, still many to come and they might change my mind!

Anyway, TAR rocks!! hehe

#766 - Friday and Saturday

ENGLISH

Well, nothing much I can write down here since my week has been ordinary. It's just that I hang out with my friends this afternoon, haha, apparently it's better to go out than to just stay at home, even though when it's really crowded and there are traffic jams everywhere out there. Anyway, I think the traffic jam in Yogyakarta this year wasn't as bad as it was last year tho. I dunno it's because of the better traffic management or the number of people visiting Yogyakarta simply goes down, hmmm...

Well, today was fun as my friend was really funny. I mean, it was a bit more "clumsy and silly" funny tho (*sorry if you read this, but it means no offense to you really, hehe*). He ate really much today as my other friend and I were just "stunned" with that, LOL. But today was really fun!!

::: home-made old fashioned steak

::: bakso I had yesterday

::: African Lamb Satai I had as dinner today

BAHASA INDONESIA

Yah, ga banyak sih yang bisa ditulis kali ini karena minggu ini ya biasa saja. Cuma aku tadi siang jalan2 sama temen2ku karena ternyata memang jalan2 tuh lebih baik daripada di rumah saja, walau ketika di luar tuh sangat ramai dan kemacetan terjadi dimana-mana. Oya, aku koq merasa tingkat kemacetan Yogyakarta tahun ini tidak separah tahun lalu yah. Entah ini karena pengaturan lalu lintas yang lebih baik atau memang jumlah orang yang pergi ke Yogyakarta berkurang, hmmm... .

Yah, hari ini asik sih soalnya temenku lucu. Kelucuannya itu lebih ke kelucuan "ceroboh dan konyol" sih (*maaf jika orangnya membaca, tapi aku tidak bermaksud buruk koq, hehe*). Dia makannya buanyak banget sampe aku dan temenku yang lain "terpana" karenanya, LOL. Tapi hari ini asik dah!!