Sunday, April 24, 2011

MY MANGO TREE




24 April 2011
Alhamdulillah wabah ulat bulu yang merajalela di Jawa Tengah dan sudah sampai ke Jakarta tidak sampai ke Bogor.
So, " my mango tree" yang tahun ini berbuah lumayan banyak relatif aman. Karena ditanam di luar pagar rumah, ada yang berkomentar, " kok ditanam di luar, ntar buahnya diambilin orang lewat". Saya hanya tersenyum dan berkata dalam hati ngak apa2 deh kalau ada yang ngambil.

Walaupun dalam hati, kita diuji nih apakah benar2 rela bila buahnya diambil orang.
Ketika tahun lalu si mango berbuah walaupun jumlahnya bisa dihitung dengan jari,  karena senang dan sayang timbul juga rasa khawatir buah tersebut diambil orang. Dan kekhawatiran itu terbukti. Di bulan puasa tahun lalu, di satu siang yang sepi ketika sedang tidur siang terdengar bunyi "krek" bunyi buah yang dipetik. Saya terbangun dan berlari keluar, ternyata benar buah yang setiap hari saya pandangi sudah lenyap. Setelah itu masih ada dua buah yang tersisa dan cukup besar untuk dipetik walaupun belum matang. Daripada hilang lagi maka buah tersebut saya petik untuk merasakan rasa mangga yang ditanam sendiri.

Menjelang musim mangga tahun ini I said to my boy, " kalau kita relakan buah mangga kita dipetik orang mungkin nanti si mango akan berbuah lebih banyak lagi".
Dan tahun ini terbukti si mango berbuah lumayan banyak seperti terlihat dalam foto di atas.Saya jadi ingat omongan saya sebelumnya. Kali ini saya berkata kalau mau ngambil buah yang di bagian luar silakan, tapi untuk yang bagian dalam sisakan untuk yang punya rumah ya. Heh heh heh
Buah tahun lalu

Friday, April 22, 2011

THE MOST EXPECTED ROYAL WEDDING : PRINCE WILLIAM & KATE MIDDLETON

Royal weddings have always attracted people's attention all over the world especially the British Royal family weddings.
It’s only a week to go to William’s great  wedding to Kate Middleton on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey London. Since they officially announced their engagement  on 16 November 2010 at St James’s palace, people have been curious about the wedding day. This wedding will bring our memories back to his mother Lady Diana Spencer’s  memorable wedding to his father Crown Prince Charles on 29 July 1981 held at St Paul’s Cathedral , London, which was watched by  around 750 millions of global TV audience. The fact that William has got media attention since his birth on 22 June 1982, it’s not a big surprise if  his wedding will have the same or may be more public attention as his mother’s.




It seems that it was only a while ago since we saw a very moving scene when William and his brother Henry walked behind their mother’s cortege to Westminster Abbey for her funeral on 6 September 1997. It was a great loss for the boys and we're very sorry for them. Time goes by, William has turned to be a man . All this time we followed him through good and bad times as if  he were part of  us. We watched  him grow as a kid, a teenager, and finally getting married. We don’t want to miss a story about him especially  his love story. The choice has been  made, the lucky girl Kate Middleton whom he first met at St Andrews University in
Fife, Scotland, has won his heart. Once again a fairy tale has become real, a prince meets a common girl, falls in love,they get married, and live happily ever after. The first daughter of Carole Goldsmith and Michael Middleton born on 9 January 1982 will be the future queen of England .









                    
Diana and Charles marriage did not work well, they got divorce in the end.
We hope that William will not experience his parents' tragedy.
Congratulation, wish you two a happy marriage ever after. 






The Wedding  invitation



The Wedding Timetable (BST)

·         1015 - The groom and Prince Harry arrive at Westminster Abbey
·         1051 - The bride, and her father, leave the Goring Hotel for the abbey
·         1100 - The marriage service begins
·         1230 - The bride's carriage procession arrives at Buckingham Palace
·         1325 - The Queen and the bride and groom appear on the balcony
·         1330 - Fly past by the Royal Air Force and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
Compiled from:
-          www. royal.gov.uk
-          www. bbc.uk/news
-          www.womenshistory,about.com
-     google images
                  -     www.peple.com

Thursday, April 21, 2011

KARTINI’S DAY: MORE THAN JUST FASHION SHOW AND COOKING CONTEST

Welcoming Kartini’s Day on 21st April means we will have annual contests like traditional costumes shows followed by students from play groups till university students, and cooking contests especially for men. It seems that celebrating Kartini’s Day is only an annual event which gives us opportunity to wear traditional costumes and to show that men can also cook. Is it what Kartini really wants us to celebrate her birthday?

In Kartini’s era when women’s role was very limited, Kartini struggled for equality. I think equality here means that she wanted to be respected as a wife, to be heard, and to be considered as a partner in managing  the household. Today, she can smile happily to see many women especially in the cities have got high education and hold prestigious positions in their work places. And in celebrating her birthday, awards are given to women for their achievements in various fields and to those who are considered successful both in career and family life.

On the flip side, many women are still suffering from household abuse (KDRT), less respected, and don’t have rights to give opinions even in their own household. We can call them the voiceless.We should have concern for them, and find more activities to celebrate Kartini’s Day so the celebration is not only for successful women  but also a reminder to find solution to help the voiceless.

Let’s begin from our own household. Our children will learn how their parents work in harmony to manage the household . Their parents and environments will be role model for them that men and women are created to be a partner , have their own roles and share duties and responsibilities .
Happy Kartini’s Day! 

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

Billy Joel - Bruno Mars = Just the way you are

Singers from different era , popular with the same song title.
At first I thought it was the same song , just then I know that it was completely different. One of my students said, "Beda generasi Bu!".

If you are my age, you are familiar with   Billy Joel (William Martin Joel, born in the Bronx, New York, in 1949)  version of Just the way you are. When the song was first released in 1977, I was still  8 years old. I don't remember I heard the song back then. But as a teenager I  was quite familiar with the song, and it's still popular today. It means that it is one of the everlasting songs we have. The song was written for Joel's wife, Elizabeth. I read once in a book that when Joel was still a kid he asked his mother why he couldn't be like other kids and his mother told him to be confident and be himself. When he grew up it inspired him to write the song.

And if you have teenage children you should be familiar with Bruno Mars' version of Just the way you are. Born as Peter Gene Hernandez in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 8 , 1985 from Filipino and Puerto Rican descent, he chose Bruno Mars as his stage name. He is one of  successful young musicians , winning Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and co-wrote the hit "Wavin' Flag" By K'naan which was very popular during World Cup. His single" Just the way you are"  released in July 2010 made him popular worldwide.

Just the way you are, an advice to be ourselves. Of course we have to be confident and be ourselves, but is it fair to ask too much from our family and  friends to take us just the way we are with our "minus" quality?

Anyway it's just a song, right?

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

BRIPTU NORMAN FROM ZERO TO HERO

Hari-hari kita belakangan ini dihiasi dengan berita mengenai Briptu Norman yang menjadi tenar seketika berkat video lip-syncnya yang beredar secara luas melalui situs You Tube.

Kita mendapatkan alternatif hiburan yang menyegarkan dari rutinitas kita sehari-hari yang melelahkan. Tetapi andaikan aksi tersebut bukan dilakukan oleh seorang anggota polisi apakah efeknya akan sama hebohnya seperti saat ini?

Institusi kepolisianpun yang pada awalnya akan memberikan sanksi pada Briptu Norman, pada akhirnya berbalik dan menjadikannya aset untuk memperbaiki citra polisi di mata masyarakat. Maka terjadilah apa yang kita saksikan saat ini. Hari-hari Briptu Norman menjadi super sibuk dengan menjadi bintang tamu di banyak acara TV maupun acara-acara off air lainnya.

Beragam komentar yang muncul , diantaranya yang menyatakan bahwa ketenaran yang datang tiba-tiba akan menghilang secepat datangnya. Apapun itu untuk Briptu Norman tetaplah menjadi polisi yang baik. Seperti kata ayahandanya, " Jangan sampai melepaskan seragam polisinya karena berkat seragamnyalah dia menjadi tenar. " Semoga kepolisian memanfaatkan momentum kemunculan Briptu Norman untuk benar-benar serius memperbaiki citra dan kinerja bukan hanya terbawa eforia ketenaran Briptu Norman.

Cool Briptu Norman  !!!