Transportation in Denmark

Bicycles are EVERYWHERE

Denmark is the second Scandinavian country I've visited during my travel to Europe. Well, I only visited the Zealand though (to be exact Copenhagen and Torkilstrup). To be compared to Stockholm I've visited earlier, Copenhagen is more crowded with bicycle. No wonder, 50 % of Danes living in Copenhagen are biking to work or school. And guess what, biking Danes are so skillful with their bikes that they are trying to compete with cars or buses. #becareful

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With an integrated transportation infrastructures, Danes can easily change from one mode of transportation to others. Trains are available for 24 hours, connected to free wifi and providing bicycle carriage/car.

Bicycles are allowed to enter the designated carriage/car in the train

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Sweden's Food Waste

On the fourth day of my ended summer school, Mr. Erikkson who has been dealing with the food wastage in grocery stores research in Sweden presented his findings. Well, it is actually 'not so surprising' that Sweden's food wastage is enormous, just like other developed well-off countries. And guess what? Households waste ruled all (63% among other wastes):

Screencapped from Mr. Erikkson's presentation in GCUA Summer School 2014

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Swedes, Danes and Germans

Source: http://tinyurl.com/nju5uye

Finally, my summer school and stop overs hustle bustle have almost come to an end. Although now I'm still 'stranded' in Stockholm Arlanda, at least I have free internet connection and free time to blog #hurrah. 

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So yeah...these past 16 days, I've been traveled to three European countries. Do you want to know what is the most interesting part of traveling? Is it gaining new experience? Or embracing cultures? Or maybe the privilege of shopping for fridge magnets from the countries you've visited #grin? Errr...I would say no for these three things. For me, 'sensing native characters' is the most interesting message from traveling wisdom.

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According to my current experience, I would say Danes are amiable, helping hand and warm. Seriously, when I was in Copenhagen, I really thought I was in Yogyakarta. I felt myself like at home. Copenhagen is Denmark's capital city and I have this idea in my mind that people living in the capital city are mostly arrogant and ignorant. But Danes living in Copenhagen are completely demolished my wrong 'accusation' about metropolis people. During my four-day visit to Copenhagen and Torkilstrup, it happened a lot when I was lost or couldn't find my way to places I wanted to go. When it happened, I just randomly asked someone and ALL OF THEM (all Danes I've asked) answered my questions pleasantly...with smile...with a perfectly understandable English. Imagine you're a solo traveler, lost and confused in a strange country and someone opens his/her arms to help you**. How awesome is that?! FYI, one of the plus points of Scandinavian people is they speak English f.l.u.e.n.t.l.y.

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Applying Visa To Scandinavian Countries in Indonesia (VFS Global)

My Schengen visa in Swedish

Earlier on Monday, I went to Kuningan City Mall to apply visa to Sweden. I know it sounds weird applying visa in the mall instead of embassy, but since June 25, 2014 the Embassy of Sweden has a new rule on its visa application submission. Actually, the embassy is still in service once a week to receive applicants (every Tuesday; 08.30-11.30), but it will take way longer (+/- 15 days) to issue a visa via embassy. However, if you go directly to the VFS Global which is located in Kuningan City Mall, you can get your visa on hand in three working days (if your documents are complete; medical travel insurance is the most important document). The faster service sure implicates in extra fees charged to the applicants #asusual XD. The Schengen visa costs IDR 1.000.000 and the service/logistic charge is IDR 326.000. As for me, because my sole purpose to visit Sweden is for study/education, I don't have to pay the Schengen visa fee #hurrah #swedenisawesome. Other European countries might have their own policies in the waivers of visa application fees. Hence, I only need to pay IDR 326.000.

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Two-semester Contemplation

Source : http://tinyurl.com/mdwykmu

This semester has finally ended. To be exact, it was dramatically ended just today with an online statistical analysis remedial exam #sweats. Frankly saying, I don't feel satisfied with my academic performance. This semester is basically quite similar with last semester. I remember that I was only performed as a typical student who topsy-turvied to survive from a red elimination zone***. 

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For your information, when you're enrolling to BAU graduate school, you'll be addressed as a "regular" or "trial" student. A "regular student" is a student who has previously graduated from the same major/department as the major/department being enrolled at BAU. This "regular student" will have two semesters to prove his/her academic performance at the enrolled department with achieving a minimum GPA of 3.00 at the end of his/her second semester. Whereas a "trial student" is the one who has graduated from the different major/department as the major/department being enrolled at BAU or a student who has graduated from the same major/department but lower standard university compared to BAU. A "trial student" only has one semester chance to prove his/her academic performance; it means that a trial student must achieve a GPA of more or equal to 3.00 in order to proceed his/her study in BAU graduate school, at the end of his/her first semester. I was being addressed as a "regular student" because I was graduated from GMU's Food and Agricultural Product Technology department which of course similar with BAU's Food Science department. Hence, this second semester is quite an emotionally stirring period for me. If my GPA (from this past two semesters) is lower than 3.00, I'll be forcibly kicked out from BAU. 

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40 Days

Outer 

Inner

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I recall me and my fuhus met for the first time at the end of February 2013, talked about marriage at the end of March 2013, met each other's parents on earlier April 2013, and he proposed me to my father on April 21, 2013. Everything turned out to be fast, smooth and easy....as I wished to Allah it would be. I hope we can "patiently" wait for 40 more days and "taking care" of each other in terms of not doing anything foolish or dangerously silly. 

"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet". 

(Jean-Jacques Rousseau) 

P.S : Now I know why when two opposite sexes are attracted to each other and felt "lock and key" as in "destined or meant to be together", the only answer to "make everything right and blessed" is the MARRIAGE. Only MARRIAGE....not elses. #pengalamanpribadi

Grammar Nazi

Source: http://tinyurl.com/bgqf92o

I won't deny that I can sometimes become a grammar nazi. There are times that being a grammar nazi is a glorious act, as in when you're doing a proofreading or editing a manuscript. But contrarily, chances are you'll turn out to be a supercilious-egotistic human being because you're acting almighty-a-know-it-all about language.

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Well, being a grammar nazi doesn't always make you a jerk, but constantly correcting people's grammar (or typo) can be considered as harsh and insulting. Hence, a grammar nazi who feels the NEEDS of correcting people's grammar should learn how to do that in a correct manner, politely.

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Get Obsessed!

"Cinta adalah anak dari kecocokan jiwa. Maka jika kecocokan jiwa itu tiada, jangan harapkan cinta itu hadir dalam hitungan tahun bahkan milenia". (Khalil Gibran)

Section akhwat S.E.L.A.L.U penuh :D

Okay, that is just so WOW-ing! Honestly, my heart was fluttering at the moment I heard Ust. Salim A. F. reciting that sentences a few weeks ago when I attended his kajian at 4th Bogor's IBF. Well, it's true that I haven't met my "soulmate" yet (maybe he's just right before my eyes and still preparing himself or maybe he's dunno-out-there and still looking for me), but after listening to this kajian I feel like getting more patient waiting for him. #tapipleasejanganlama2,ya XD

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Being single or married is actually has its own "advantages". And most cases, one another always envying each other in such a ridiculous way. The single wants to get married because she/he thinks that getting married is super fun, whereas the married one wants to be single again for a freedom of doing anything's reason. Well, that's just "so human" :). As for my case, the single, the most important thing is preparing oneself before taking a responsibility as a wife or husband. Ust. Salim pinpointed one critical thing as a preparation before the marriage (for the single) : GET OBSESSED instead of EXPECTING.

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Tenanting

My boarding house in Balio

Three weeks have gone by and I almost couldn't believe  to see how fast I'm adapting myself to Bogor and IPB. I guess I have to give thanks to my "dramatic" and "agonizing" experiences in Taiwan for that #tongue! Seriously, Bogor is nothing to be compared to Chiayi. I would like to say, "If you have exposed yourself to the worst situation unimaginable, other situations will be sensed just alright". Yeah, kinda like that :).

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During my 3.5-year stay in Taiwan, I lived in a four-people shared room. I couldn't help it because my campus only provided that kind of facility on its dormitory. Well, actually,  NCYU also provided two-people shared room. But the problem is, it's in a boys-girls dormitory. HELL NO...I'd rather die than have to share the same living space with boys #seriusan! As for now, I'm living in a 11-room boarding house with other woman tenants. Eight of them are students at IPB, while two of them are high school's graduates. Of course living in your own room (or I would rather call it "cubicle" for its small size :D) is way more delighted than in the four-shared dormitory's room. Alhamdulillah...everyone here is very nice. I can easily make friends with all of them. 

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Setu Babakan = Bir Pletok

Street sign

Have you ever been to Setu Babakan? Or maybe I should narrow the question down to, "Have you even ever heard about a place named Setu Babakan"? Never mind if you're the latter one, because I ain't no different #grin. If it wasn't because of this article, I wouldn't know that Setu Babakan is even exist in Jakarta. #superlame

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Curiosity naturally drove me to "Lake Babakan" which is located in Southern Jakarta; not too far from Depok. Just exactly as I imagined, Setu Babakan is an interesting place. What's so special about it? Well, if a place known as "Betawi Cultural Village" (Perkampungan Budaya Betawi) is not interesting enough to be considered as INTERESTING, then a four legged cat is interesting #tongue. 

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Taiwan's Tea Shops in Indonesia

Chatime's Pearl Milk Tea

Once, maybe around a year ago, I had a conversation with my Indonesian comrades when we were still studying in Taiwan. All of us agreed that Taiwan's indigenous PEARL MILK TEA was going to be missed later after we were back to Indonesia. Some of us even jokingly confessed would die without drinking pearl milk tea #includingme..ha~!. Others also considering to establish a similar tea shop in Indonesia #tapiiniomongdoang :p.

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Now, a year later, I can see that tea products, especially pearl milk tea, are getting popular among Indonesian. But the problem is, Indonesia-based tea shops are only opened in the malls and exclusive places whereas Taiwan-based tea shops are so ubiquitous that you can find their shops built individually every 500 meters. That's why the crave of getting a gulp of tea products can be quite hard to be fulfilled here. #kudupergikemalldulu XD

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Two Taiwan's tea chains that now available in Indonesia are CHATIME and SHARE TEA. The first one is my personal favorite. Besides a palate satisfactory reason, CHATIME also provides a member card, as in its original Taiwan-based store. Thus, you can collect a stamp for each purchase and after you've collected 10 stamps you'll get one free drink. Cool, eh? The oh-not-so-cool thing is...the price. Yeah, it's quite pricey for a budget customer. A regular and large cup usually differ around IDR2000, with the cheapest price at IDR20.000-something. The cup size and toppings you choose will set the price you have to pay.

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Oh, btw, I figured out from @ChatimeIndo's Twitter account that it's currently working on the halal certification from MUI. Here is the detail:

"ChatimeIndo sdg dalam proses sertifikasi halal. Dan kami memakai bhn yg sama dgn Chatime Malaysia yg sdh bersertifikat halal".

Maher Zain 'Forgive Me' Concert 2012: The Good and The Bad

Coming earlier always gives you advantage

Last week, I happened to watch Maher Zain concert in Istora Senayan, Jakarta. I've been rooting to watch this concert since I love Maher's Forgive Me album. A lot :). Hence, I didn't think twice to buy the ticket. Moreover, I already got myself ready to watch it alone. Such a loner Walker, Texas Ranger :D! But then, Milena (~my cousin's wife) tagged along (without knowing who Maher Zain was. Ha~ XD! To make it "worse" she even thought Zayn Malik was Maher! #ROFL). Regardless, I ended up watching it with her. 

The Good

Who doesn't agree that getting a "buy one get one ticket for free" is awesome? Haha :D. Yeah, that's what I got. I was lucky to get that fantastic deal because I bought the last bargain "ticket box" just a few hours before the concert started. I bought "GOLD" seating ticket which originally costs IDR1.200.000 each. Because it's "buy one get one for free" deal, thus I paid the same price but got two tickets, one for me and another one for Milena. We've divided it and paid IDR600.000 each. 好棒, 對不對 :D?

Bogor Adventures (part 2)

[Personal snapshot. Simply edited with PicsArt]

I knew from the start that my transfer to IPB wouldn't going to be done in a mere two or three times visit. Nothing is coming easily, especially for a case that is rarely happened. Additional efforts such as stubbornly waiting your 'fate god' for a straight 8 hours until his secretary hates you to the bone, advocating your very self, and arguing over a rigid university rules are considered as necessary. An optional stupidity as in torturing yourself to meet your 'fate god' when you're getting a feverish body surely counted. #grin

Yeah, I know I've succeeded in securing my seat in that university. But the thing about 'how many credits I can transfer there' remains vague, for now. (cont'd)

Bogor Adventures (part 1)

[Personal snapshot. Simply edited with PicsArt]

     It's been only two days since I arrived in 'the city of 1000 "share taxis"; angkot'. But somehow, I already feel attached to this city. I'm not trying to guesstimate anything; whether later in the (near) future I'll become this city's resident or not. Let's just wait and see patiently for anything to come up.

    Yeah, I guess I made a right decision to go here by myself with my confusing traveler way. I'm enjoying jostled against the other passengers on the crowded bus and angkot, even enjoying rode a wrong angkot route. Ha~ XD. Seriously, it's so much fun rather than sitting peacefully in a moving car, finally fall asleep for boredom; just like I usually do.

     Honestly, Bogor is not a 'perfect' city. My absolute choice is still Yogyakarta :D. I love peaceful and village-ish atmosphere, hence when it comes to frenetic places like Jakarta, Bandung or Bogor, I feel a little bit disturbed. But well, I'm sure I can force myself to stand with it. Moreover, my future campus is located in a slightly village-ish area, thus I guess I'm going to be just fine staying/studying there. (cont'd)

Pyramid's Dirty Little Secret

Taichung's Pyramid

Pyramid? The triangular-shaped structure located in Giza, Egypt? 不對! The pyramid that I meant is the one located in Taichung, Taiwan. Eh? Is there any PYRAMID in Taiwan? Yes, there is. Well, it's not the real-sturdy 'construction' as the real pyramid, one of the seven wonders of the world, though. Nevertheless, let's just consider them as a twinning. So, what's the creepy story behind this well-known Taichung landmark?


As we all know that there are more than 160.000 (to date) Indonesian migrant workers who are tempting fate in Taiwan. Some of them are working in the central part of Taiwan, -Hsinchu-Changhua-Taichung-. Every Sunday, if they are lucky enough to get a permission from their boss (老闆; lǎobǎn), they will hanging out and mingling in the downtown with their friends. This what so-called Pyramid is their 'meeting point'. Before heading to the shopping centers or Indonesian stores, a swirl mass of them can be seen at Pyramid. 


Last week was definitely not my first time to go to Taichung, to be exact to Pyramid. But it was without doubt one of the most spine-chilling moments, yet. Albeit you are a taekwondoin, you'll still goosebumping if you're facing this kind of situation I'm going to tell. 

The swarm remnants : alcoholic beverages, food packagings, plastics, etc

As the time went by, the swarm of people in front of me were getting bigger. FYI, it wasn't an ordinary people's swarm. It was a drunk-gambling-babbling swarms. Why didn't I move to another place? Well, the answer is because I need to stay on that specific place since I was 'guarding' zakat booth. So well, yeah. The tipsy guys kept walking back and forth. And every time they passed me by, I got goosebumps. Oh my...I really felt as if I was in the lion's den and ready to get munched Y-Y. Imagine you're facing the same situation. Finally, when the sun almost set and one of the drunk guy fainted, the swarms were thinned out. Whew...alhamdulillah~~~


That's it? Well, not exactly. When I got ready to wrap up my 'work', one of migrant workers approached me and said "Kok berani-beraninya sih ke sini, Mbak. Di sini ini sangat berbahaya. Pekerja2 Thailand, Indonesia dan Vietnam itu sering berantem dan terkadang tusuk-tusukan di sini". WHATTTTT???!!! #almost fainted. Ya Allah...thank you for protecting me >,< ~~~

冬瓜茶砖

Source : http://tinyurl.com/3wvk742

Dōngguā cházhuān***. Winter melon rock sugar. And...what the heck is that :D? It's a mixed-simmered-molded-refrigerated winter melon (*beligo, in Bahasa Indonesia) plus brown sugar and black sugar. At first, this brown-blackish block-shaped stuff didn't attract my eyes. But then, one of my friends made a glass of drink out of that stuff. And this picky girl LOVED it :D! If you like to buy drinks at Taiwan's tea stores, you'll almost always find this what so-called dōngguā chá (冬瓜茶). It has a distinctive aroma which definitely can indulge your nose buds. Give it a try or you might want to consider this 冬瓜茶砖 as a gift for your loving ones at home :D

***冬瓜茶砖 in the nearby store. A block costs only NTD35

Halal Card for Muslims in Taiwan

Copy-paste this article below, save it as a document on your smartphone/tablet or simply print it out and you'll survive while living in Taiwan. Trust me :D.

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Halal Card from
NCTU's Prayer Room

你好，我是穆斯林（回教徒），因為我的宗教信印，所以

Nǐ hǎo, wǒ shì mùsīlín (huí jiàotú), yīnwèi wǒ de zōngjiào xìn yìn, suǒyǐ :

Hello! I'm a Muslim. Because of my religion :

◆ 我不吃豬肉及任何豬製品，如培根、火腿及含豬油食物，也不吃含血的食物，如豬血糕。

   Wǒ bù chī zhū ròu jí rènhé zhū zhìpǐn, rú péigēn, huǒtuǐ jí hán zhū yóu shíwù, yě bù chī hán xuè de shíwù, rú zhū xiě gāo.

I cannot eat pork and any kind of food ingredients with pork, for example bacon, ham and pork oil.  Besides that, I cannot eat blood-based foods such as pig’s blood cake.

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◆    我不能吃含酒精的食物及飲料。

     Wǒ bùnéng chī hán jiǔjīng de shíwù jí yǐnliào.

I cannot eat any kind of foods or drinks that contain alcohol.

◆    如果您必須用炒過豬肉的鍋子來炒我的食物，麻煩請您將鍋子清洗乾淨後再炒。

    Rúguǒ nín bìxū yòng chǎoguò zhū ròu de guōzi lái chǎo wǒ de shíwù, máfan qǐng nín jiāng guōzi qīngxǐ gānjìng hòu zài chǎo.

If you have to use the pan that has been used to cook pork, please help me to clean up the pan before cooking (my order).

◆    我不能吃任何非伊斯蘭教屠宰方式的雞、鴨、鵝、牛、羊肉。

     Wǒ bùnéng chī rènhé fēi yīsīlán jiào túzǎi fāngshì de jī, yā, é, niú, yángròu.

I cannot eat any kind of animals' meats (chicken, duck, goose, beef, and mutton) which (animals) have been slaughtered with non-Islamic methods.


credits : Tina Chang for Chinese-English translation

TR-Pass, A Dirt-Poor Student's Savior in Taiwan

I forgot (to be exact) how many times I've been using TR-Pass in a habitual manner, this past few years. Too many times, I supposed XD~~~. Yes, this insanely cheap train ticket "destined" for students under age of 30 in Taiwan has always been my savior. Imagine you must continuously traveling in between cities, -not for leisure activities-, during a specific period of time. Well, it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg, though. But still, it's a pocket drainer. Hence, TR-Pass is such a win win solution for a dirt-poor student who doesn't mind spending hours of hours of their time in a local train, just like me :D. 

As I've ever posted before, Taiwan offers a tantalizing traveling options for students. The what so-called Youth Travel Card can always be a hocuspocus warrant to save your money. However, before can be categorized as an eligible TR-Pass buyer, you must register yourself at the "Information Visitor Center" (IVC) which can be spotted at some major train stations in Taiwan. After filling a form at IVC, you'll get a YTC (in a form of a key chain). Show your YTC, passport and student ID card to the ticket officer (in every train station here) and you'll be able to buy international students edition of TR-Pass (*shown on the image below, first row/above). Too lazy to bring passport and YTC ? Then, just buy a local students edition of TR-Pass (*shown on the image below, second row/below) by merely revealing your student ID card. Don't forget to tell the officer about which type of TR-Pass you want to buy; the 5-day, the 7-day, or the 10-day tickets. They cost NT$599, NT$799, and NT$1099, respectively. Trust me, the price is EXTREMELY CHEAP and REASONABLE. Okay, let me make an avouch comparison. A local train ticket price from Chiayi to Taipei is NT$390-something, thus, return ticket price will be nearly NT$800. Bus ticket is approx. NT$100 cheaper, but I hate to travel by bus. So, well...yeah...it's a personal preference. I usually go in between cities from Chiayi to Zhong Li and then Taipei, sometimes to Hualien and then head back to Taichung or directly to Chiayi, or sometimes to Tainan or Kaohsiung. Just count how much money I must spend if I don't buy TR-Pass @_@~~~. Counting money always makes me dizzy =)).

All in all, with your personally selected TR-Pass, you can travel all around Taiwan by three types of designated trains (*local train, local express train, and chu kuang train [see here for "trains in Taiwan"]) for unlimited times during the validity period of time (5, 7 or 10 days) of your TR-Pass. You can choose direct route by get on until get off on the same train or manipulate your route by changing trains. The second one is undeniably a lot more challenging and less boring. I usually choose this mode :D. So, for example, I want to go to Taipei. I'll get on from Chiayi train station and get off at Taichung train station, continue my journey to Miaoli, then Zhong Li and finally get off in Taipei. Fun isn't it^^? Ergo, have an earthy way of traveling in Taiwan ^^!

Affectionate

Source : http://www.tychb.gov.tw

B : Papa, selamat hari ayah^^. Love you, Dad*** :*
P : Subhanallah...ternyata orang Taiwan menghargai ayah. Terima kasih, anakku.

^^My father is definitely doesn't know that there's a father's day in Indonesia celebrated every November 12 XD~~~

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Yesterday was father's day in Taiwan. Unlike many other countries that celebrate this day on the third Sunday of June, Taiwan government proclaimed August 8 as the day to honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Why it has to be August 8? Because "father" in Chinese language (爸爸) pronounced as "bàba" which happens to have the same pronunciation as "eight" (八; bā). Hence, every "八八" or "day 8, month 8" (= August 8) people in Taiwan celebrate father's day.

Nonetheless, yesterday, I was kind of "tempted" to text my father and expressed my longing for him :D. Honestly, I become "cheesy"*** (*better be read : "affectionate") after I'm getting closer to Astri. Previously, saying or texting three words as in "I love you" or "I miss you" to my parents, -two most important persons on earth-, still sounds ticklish to my ears. I used to think that it's a very tacky (*norak) way to express my feelings. I'd rather "act" than "selling words". It's always been my nature. There are a lot of times that I couldn't express my feelings through words too. So well, yeah...it just happened to be like that^^. Despite the fact that I was being affectionately raised by my parents, I'm growing up as a girl with unnecessary amount of dignity XD. All in all, I'm getting realized that those kind of "cheesiness" is somehow NECESSARY when it comes to CHERISHING precious people around us. Superfluous dignity must be thrown away. Yeah...alrite then. Let's be more affectionate^^!

Jelly Belly's Every Flavor Jelly Beans

My adviser just came back from The States (the place where he brought my publication to be presented without the original author *smirk) and bought jelly beans back not for me. He just left that edible souvenir in the fridge and told everyone to serve ourselves whenever we want to have it. Oh...jelly beans, it's been ages since I meet you again. Xixixi. 

Whenever I saw the packaging and the whole jelly beans thingy, I always think about Bertie Botts's Every Flavor Beans. It couldn't be helped since jelly beans has a plentiful flavors just like the aforementioned imaginary product. But no worries, the real jelly beans being sold at today's store doesn't have liver, tripe, earwax, toe nails or vomit flavors as in Bertie Botts's =p. Things I want to highlight here is I am still very amazed with the evolution of flavor chemistry technology. How could the flavor chemists invented hundreds or even thousands of different flavors? It's just feel too awesome to me, the food science student herself^^.