i'll be on my way..

Left to right: Bradenburger Tor, Reichstag

Left to Right: World Clock, East Side Gallery

Let to Right: Potsdamer  Plat

Rice Queen Restaurant (find delicious Indonesian food here! hehe)

Beautiful Spree River!

Ibu dan anak belanda Sepasang anak Belanda Anak-anak Belanda tersenyum ceria

Mari berbicara tentang kebahagiaan. Seluruh manusia di dunia pastilah ingin hidup bahagia dan setiap orang memiliki pandangan tersendiri dalam memaknai kebahagiaan.
Lalu, marilah berbicara tentang Negara Belanda. Memori saya, sebagai orang Indonesia (yang belum pernah kesana), langsung menampilkan bangunan-bangunan indis di Indonesia, konser-konser jazz dan musik pop di Pusat Kebudayaan Indonesia-Belanda yang dahulu kerap saya tonton, keju yang yummy banget bagi saya, dan bunga-bunga tulip yang hanya saya lihat di sebuah poster di kantor saya. Juga tentu saja, sepatu kayu dan kincir angin!

Kenapa saya membicarakan kedua hal di atas? Kebahagiaan dan Negara Belanda berkaitan erat satu sama lain. Berdasarkan sebuah survei di tahun 2011, Belanda mendapat peringkat pertama sebagai negara yang paling bahagia di dunia dan anak-anak negeri kincir angin ini adalah yang terbahagia di Eropa. Hmm, ternyata para orang tua dan masyarakat telah menyadari pentingnya kebahagiaan dan mengupayakannya kepada putra - putri mereka semenjak masa kanak-kanak.

Apa sih yang membuat anak-anak Belanda ini menjadi anak-anak paling bahagia di Eropa? Karena penasaran, saya pun mencari tahu. Well, these are the factors ;).

Secara ekonomi, Belanda adalah negara kaya. Memang uang bukan segala-segalanya tapi tidak dapat dipungkiri bahwa dengan uang, manusia bisa mendapatkan hal-hal untuk meraih kebahagiaan.

Bagaimana dengan pendidikan? Anak-anak memperoleh pendidikan pertama kali dari keluarga. Mereka lahir dan dibesarkan di lingkungan keluarga. Menyadari hal ini, para ibu di Belanda berusaha memberikan banyak waktu untuk merawat anak-anak mereka semenjak lahir, sementara para ayah bekerja keras untuk mencari nafkah. Ibu-ibu yang bekerja, segera mengambil cuti yang sangat panjang. Selain itu, jam bekerja di Belanda lebih pendek dibandingkan negara-negara di Eropa lainnya. Pendidikan formal di sekolah juga memberikan fasilitas-fasilitas dan mengadakan kegiatan-kegiatan ekstrakurikuler yang dapat mengasah kreativitas anak-anak. Pihak media, khususnya televisi, juga tak mau ketinggalan. Mereka menayangkan acara-acara khusus bagi anak-anak Belanda.

Dalam hal kesehatan, berdasarkan sebuah data di tahun 2009, Belanda memiliki sistem perawatan kesehatan yang terbaik di Eropa. Dengan demikian, kesehatan anak-anak Belanda pastilah terjamin. Antusiasme yang tinggi untuk berolahraga, contohnya sepak bola, seni bela diri, juga kebiasaan bersepeda, membuat mereka sehat, bugar, dan bahagia.

Anak-anak Belanda bersepeda

Hal lainnya adalah hubungan mereka dengan orang tua, saudara-saudara, teman-teman, dan masyarakat sekitarnya. Dalam sebuah keluarga Belanda, hubungan anak-anak dan orang tua, dilandasi oleh keterbukaan dan sifat komunikatif sehingga mereka bisa saling berbicara tentang apapun. Namun, orang tua tetap menanamkan kedisiplinan.

Dalam pergaulan dengan teman-teman dan masyarakat, tidak ada tekanan-tekanan sosial yang mengharuskan mereka untuk menjadi apa yang masyarakat inginkan. Secara fisik, beberapa fasilitas publik seperti restoran, toko-toko retail, menyediakan space bermain bagi anak-anak.
Nah, apa yang saya sebutkan di atas, tentu saja menumbuhkan rasa kebahagiaan bagi anak-anak Belanda. Mereka memiliki pemikiran positif bahwa mereka bisa menjadi diri sendiri, bebas berkreatifitas, dan memiliki keyakinan akan karir yang bagus di masa depan.

Tidak heran jika Belanda menjadi negara maju yang penuh kenyamanan. Semuanya berawal dari kesadaran para orang tua, masyarakat, dan pemerintah untuk mengupayakan kebahagiaan sejak masa kanak-kanak. Kebahagiaan membuat manusia tersenyum. Sekarang saya membayangkan berada di Belanda dan menikmati ‘senyuman-senyuman’ di setiap sudut negara ini.
:)

I am here, in the romance episode of my life.

I met a boy, so young and innocent. He has nice smile and good looking appearance.
We fall in love in the first sight, through the screen.

I can't forget the feeling that time, the most wonderful feeling that I've ever had!

1st and 2nd: He cared for me a lot, gave me time to talk each other before he slept. Then, I could slept well everyday.

3rd: he had a problem then it made him talked a lot about the bad things inside him. This time, we could say that we still love and tried to hold on each other.

7th: Now..I don't know what will be...

I can't sleep and I cried a lot...

I just need time

to spend good times with you
to see you give me more attention
to feel you within my heart
to erase all this loneliness


you don't know exactly what time is...
until you realize that time is so important
until you can make time for me
until you can sacrifice your time for me

then time will speak to us
we just need time to speak each other from our hearts...

To listen to all my happiness and sadness
To wipe away my tears then pain a smile on my face
To throw away my loneliness then bring me a bunch of joy
To kill the pain inside then take care of me without any pill to take

To share all your happiness and sadness
To take my hands for wiping away your tears then pain a smile on your face
To give me a chance for throwing away your loneliness then bring you a bunch of joy
To let me kill your pain inside then take care of you without any pill to take

To hold hands each other while we're walking together on the road of life
To stare at each other when we face the hardest time on the process of growing

To be here then stay not for a while...sincerely
To be honest, I need you...badly...




Bogor, February 12th, 2011
2. 20 am

Bogor, Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

 Here she comes....a young woman, a best friend of mine.
In a bitter look of her tired eyes, I discover her story. It's about her yesterday.

I ask her, "What's wrong?"
She answered in a weak voice, "I don't like my yesterday. I found that my man was too busy and I didn't hear anything from him. I need to hear something from him, maybe more than he needs. It's like a different thing in my boring day, a real one which comes from my dream. Reading his words is just like an exciting experience of my days. That's why I became mad when I didn't hear anything from him. I felt the objection for his reason of the busy day. It didn't make sense for me because he had break times. I could only accept that he's really tired, one thing that melted my heart. Well, I just can't do anything except trying to forgive him. Let him to find the way from his heart for me. Sorry to say, seems that I'm too much chasing him..no more begging :p. Perhaps, it sounds like a selfish part of mine. I just wanna say the truth what I felt from my deepest heart, something that I dislike. Actually, It's not about blaming him because I know that he loves me, doesn't he? Hmm...no no no....God is the only one who knows one's heart. Well...I'm just a human, unfortunately I'm a woman. Fortunately, I'm a woman in love..."

Then, she's looking at me in a calm way for few minutes. It's like that she's trying to say, "It's okay...everything's gonna be alright...".

O...o...o...

I met a busy weekend! but I enjoyed it although I felt so tired then.


Saturday, January 15th...
It's the first experience for me to sing in a wedding ceremony, although it's a small one.
I sang two old songs: I Started A Joke (Bee Gees) and Why Do You Love Me (Koes Plus). It was an honour for me that a band of Bogor Botanical Garden allowed me to sing in their performance.
The bad news is I didn't perform excellent but the good thing is I met new persons (most of them were old men :D) so it was really nice.

Sunday, January 16th....
The Driver of the travel car was blowing the horn...it's 3.50 am! Oh my God! I didn't hear the alarm....I was awaked in shock! hahaha...
Without taking a bath, I left the house and just brought a bag with few stuffs. I was on my way to Bandung to visit my best friend, Lina and her family, Dito, the husband and Mare, their cute son.

Arriving at their home, I saw Lina was so busy as a mom, preparing some food in the kitchen. Dito was holding Mare. Nice family.

It was the sunny Sunday. They took me to having lunch in a restaurant called WaLe (Warung Leyla). It was a restaurant with ethnical javanese  athmosphere, trying to bring the hommy sense. The restaurant has some kinds of bakso, mie, and rice in the menu. I ordered Yamie Manis and Susu Kedelai. In my opinion, the Yamie tasted good enough.

After we had finished with the lunch, I went with them to the baby shop and bicycle shop.Lina and Dito wanted to buy a bike for them and one for Mare.I just got a knowledge about the life of young couple with their baby,hehehe.

Well, time went fast. I must be back to bogor at 6.30 pm. Waiting for the travel car for a half and hour, finally it was here so I felt glad after bored for so long.

I was arrived at home, Bogor at 11.30 pm then went to bed..

That's all...my busy nice weekend :)