On this day, I went to karaoke with Zhang Bin, Niu Xing, and Momchil. It was my second time going to karaoke in Japan, but in the different place. I think this one is better than the previous one I went. The location of the karaoke is very close to Chofu Eki (Chofu Station), less than 5 minutes walk from eki.

Because we went on the day time, the price is cheaper than on the night time. This time, I need to pay only 400 yen per hour with a nomihoudai (all-you-can-drink) corner with additional fee for 450 yen. This nomihoudai also includes the ice cream. Good option to take this one included in your karaoke package so you can enjoy the drink while waiting for your turn to sing. The place is quite nice since it looks clean and without smoke-dense-air. And they also have good toilet, too. Clean enough for me.

That time was probably the last time I went together with Zhang Bin, my senior in JUSST program (except we will meet someday in the future). We didn’t go to many places together though, maybe only three times (if I’m not mistaken) during my half year stay in Japan. Yesterday, he already left Japan to go back to China. I was a little bit disappointed because I didn’t know that he will go that early in the moring. T.T

Well, let’s back to the topic In the karaoke, we sang for two hours. Most of the songs that Momchil and I know are in English, and in Chinese for Niu Xing and Zhang Bin. Chotto muzukashii ne, hehe..  But, overall, I enjoyed this karaoke time! Kondo, ishoni karaoke ni ikimashou! *And I hope I can sing any Chinese song someday.

katakana characters above the lyrics of non-japanese songs

*Katakana is one type of Japanese characters/letters that usually used to write words from other languages. Other types of Japanese characters are Hiragana and Kanji.

By the way, I want to know the title of the soundtrack of Chinese drama that quite popular in Indonesia when I was in elementary school age. The title of the drama is ‘The Return of Condor Heroes’. And the Indonesian song version is nicely sang by Yuni Shara. If you know the title of the Chinese version, please let me know. Maybe I can memorize it first before going to karaoke next time..

I supposed to try singing Japanese song, instead of Chinese.. >.<

Tabehoudai means all-you-can-eat. Yes, all you can eat strawberry – and for free! Well, it must be not free. But, it includes in 3000 yen of ski trip fee that I’ve ever mentioned in my other post. Really big thank to UEC International Office

After two days playing ski, on the second day and also the last day of the ski trip, we went to strawberry glass house to eat as much strawberry as we could. But actually, we went there after having lunch of a big pot of nabe (one of Japanese cuisine which you can put anything you like inside a boiling pan/pot). So, we’ve already felt half full (or full for some others) when it came the time to eat those strawberries!

The strawberry tabehoudai is only for 30 minutes. We could walk on the aisle between lines of strawberry plant. We took the strawberry ourselves and ate directly or put into a sweet-condensed-milk first to give additional taste. The strawberries’ taste in Japan is a bit different with I’ve ever ate in Indonesia. In Indonesia, strawberry is always related to sour and sweet taste combined together. But here, what I tasted is only sweet.

I was a little bit surprised when I have my first strawberry in Japan. I expected sourer taste than what I ate. Since I like sweet, I was falling in love with the taste of these strawberries. But, it’s so expensive. At minimum, you need to pay 250 yen (if you are lucky) to get a small package of strawberry in Seiyu (a big supermarket in Japan; and we have one that is very close to UEC).

In this tabehoudai, I ate a lot of strawberries (of course :p). But I finished earlier than the times they allowed us to eat. I think I ate too much already. I felt so full with strawberries. Actually, I was in the first group of people who enter the glass house, so I bet I’ve already tasted the best ones they had until there only no-tasted-strawberry left. And that time, I decided to stop eating. :p

But, I think doing something (or eating something) too much is not so good. After all-crazy-eating-time, I think I had enough eating strawberry here. I don’t want it anymore. Maybe, I missed the taste of little-bit-sour-strawberry in Indonesia. Or maybe it’s just because I’ve overeaten.

Don’t worry, if you want to give me strawberry, I will receive it with pleasure. I can make a great dessert with it. And I can share it with you if you give me the materials I need. :p

The ski trip was organized by UEC International Office for 60-lucky-foreign-students. It was REALLY cheap! Only 3000 yen (around Rp 300.000,-) for two days with nice ski track, good hotel, and great meal! It was amazing trip. Because this trip was really cheap, many foreign students want to participate in this trip *of course! But it only accommodated 50 students, then later on extended for 60 students.

The ski ground was in Yamanashi Prefecture, called Kamui Misaka SKI Ground. I thought it was not so far from Chofu, maybe at most it took only 2 and a half hours. I was in Group F with Jiajia, Hoa, Waqas, and Raj. In this group, all of us at least have tried ski before. For me, my first time doing ski was in December last year in Nagano.

At that time, I was so bad. And the ski track was so crowded with people and kids. Since I was beginner, I was afraid that I would hit them because I couldn’t control my movement. The most easiest way to stop was by making myself fell down. :p

Actually, for me it was terrible. I was getting tired easily. And finally, after two or three hours tried to play ski, Fadia and me decided to play with the snow instead But I really thank to Sean who already tried to teach me. He was really good at it. He used to be a ski instructor in South Korea. It is really nice to have friend like him. *Thanks a lot, Oppa~

This time, my group instructor is Hisashi Sensei. He has ever came to Bali before. He even could speak some Indonesian words! *like satu, dua, tiga, orang Sumatera. Sugeee (great!). In the first time of touching the ski ground, I was so nervous and afraid. Ski is not as easy as we saw. I kept falling down so many times. But I kept trying to play ski well. No more excuses for myself. At that time, only few people came besides UEC students. It was quite nice place to practice basic skill of skiing, for example to make an ‘S’ path through the ski track. It is basic skill you need to play ski because when you make that path, it’s easy to control the speed and the movement.

Jiajia - Hoa - Hisashi Sensei - Me - Raj - Waqas

Well, I need some time before mastering this skill. I kept falling. Sometimes I move too fast because I can not make a break, sometimes I was just afraid of the track and its slope. But I kept asking to my sensei whether I made wrong movement. Until a point when he answered (in japanese), “it was here,” and pointed to his heart. “Kowakunai.. kowakunai..,” he said. I know, I must be not afraid of the track nor the slopes. Than I try to remember what he said and keep repeating the words while I was sliding. It was become my spell of skiing. Kowakunai. =)

with hisashi sensei that so yasashii

Here, I wrapped up some of my tricks to learn ski for beginners:

1. Know how to get up when you fall down. *important!
2. Try to make ‘big a (A)’ when you slide, because it will slow your speed since it’s a movement for brake.
3. Not afraid (you can try the ‘Kowakunai’ spell to make yourself confident) and be relaxed.
4. When you want to make a turn, keep your eyes pointing to your direction, so it will make your body point to the same way (and actually it was how it works to make a turn).
5. Keep practicing the movement until you feel you are good at it and ready to have new skill.

It’s all based on my experienced. Any comments are welcomed.

Let’s go skiing!! *Now, kind of addicted to it. :p

On March 3, my very first project was holding farewell party together with my kohai friends in JUSST program. Kohai means junior, and JUSST is an exchange program that I joinned since October last year. It was shorten for Japanese University Exchange Study in Sience and Technology, in University of Electro-Communications (UEC), Japan.

This farewell party was held for our senpai (senior) that came on Spring Semester last year. Spring will come soon. It means this program will have another new students coming and it also means good-bye time for the previous students.

We held this farewell party on the night (around 8 p.m). We invited all current JUSST students (of course) and we let the senpai to invite their friends. Fadia and I was responsible for making the video for our senpai. It was my first project to make this kind of video, but I think Fadia and I already tried our best to make it (including working with many-times-not-responding-software that drove us crazy).

senpai =) *jordan's face was covered by the present

We started the party with eating all the food served on the table until all is finished. Thanks for Deric and team for preaparing the food. Then we started singing `Yesterday` song by The Beatles with some modifications on it. The song was nicely composed by Jorge. Then continued with watching the videos with light was turned off and using some candles to make more dramatic effects. After that, we had nice presents for each senpai that nicely made by Oa and team. The present was a picture of all our senpai in one side, and comments from other JUSST students on the other side. Then, we had some awards for all the senpais. The kohais made up some award for them. It was nice to see them surprised (maybe some were very suited, but some other were not so suited for them, haha..). Thanks a lot for Nana and team to make such interesting awards. And finally we have games from Oa (again! thanks a lot, Oa) and birthday celebration for Ploy and Zhang Bin. And one more thanks go to Jiajia and team for the beautiful decoration. And for Roffi and Michael to be the master of ceremony for this farewell party.

Mina-san, otsukare-sama deshita! Hontou ni arigatou gozaimashita!!

Senpai, omedetou and sayonara~! Hope we can meet again someday

farewell party

*Hope all senpais and guests enjoyed the party.

Haruyasumi berarti libur musim semi. Berasal dari kata haru (musim semi) dan yasumi (libur). Sebernya sih menurut saya, ini bukan libur musim semi, tapi libur akan menuju musim semi. Soalnya hari ini aja masih dingin cuy. Even today snow is falling! >.< Sugoku samui! *dingin banget..

Haruyasumi saya dimulai pada tanggal 3 Maret kemarin setelah menutup Fall Semester dengan Oral Presentation dan Poster Presentation pada tanggal 1 dan 2 Maret. Well, sebenernya semester ini saya hanya melakukan poster presentation karena risetnya memang belum selesai (bahkan bisa dibilang baru mulai :p). Semoga saja di akhir semester depan bisa menyelesaikan riset dan mengikuti oral presentation dengan sukses. Aminn..

Naaah, apa nih maksudnya haruyasumi project?

Terengterengterenggg!!!

Doing different (and new) activity in every single day of haruyasumi!

Maksudnyaaah? Jadiii, terinspirasi oleh teman yang meng-upload satu gambar setiap hari di facebook, saya jadi ingin melakukan kegiatan yang baru dan berbeda setiap harinya dan menceritakan pengalaman saya di blog. Siapa tau akan menjadi harta karun saya di kemudian hari yang akan saya ceritakan ke anak cucu saya. Ihiiyyy! :p Atau siapa tau bisa menjadi inspirasi buat teman-teman lainnya..

Ceritanya nih kan mumpung liburan dan mumpung di Jepang. Iya toohh?

Apalagi kata Pak Pramoedya Ananta Toer di buku Anak Semua Bangsa:

Tahu kau mengapa aku sayangi kau lebih dari siapa pun ? Karena kau menulis. Suaramu takkan padam ditelan angin, akan abadi, sampai jauh, jauh di kemudian hari.

Karena kau menulis, kawan!

Okaaay, let`s enjoy the holiday and the unique activities!! Yohoo!!

バテイック　メガ　メンデウン

バテイック　は　ゆうめいな　インドネシア　の　がら　です。　がら　は　「pattern」　です。　バテイック　と　言う　ことば　は　ふるい　ほうげん　から　来ました。　「アンバ」　と　「テイテイック」　です。　「アンバ」　の　いみ　は　「かく」　ですが、　「テイテイック」　の　いみ　は　「ドット」　です。　バテイック　を　つくる人　は　ようふくに　ドット　を　かきますから、　この　がら　の　名前　は　バテイック　に　なりました。

きれい　ですから、　バテイック　は　いろいろな　もの　に　つかいます。　たとえば　ドレス　や　スカート　や　かばん　など　です。　たぶん、　インドネシア　の　人　は　みんな　バテイック　を　もっています。

 バテイック　は　とても　ゆうめいで　きれいな　インドネシア　の　がら　ですから、　インドネシア　へ　きたら、　ぜひ　買って　みて　ください。　バテイック　の　ぶっか　は　安いの　から　高いの　まで　いろいろ　あります。　しんぱいしないで　ください。

*I don`t know how to write `ti` into テ  and small イ　:(

Hari ini ngantuk dan kurang semangat, padahal semalem tidurnya 8 jam. Aneh, mungkin kebanyakan tidur kali ya..

Sore ini ada jadwal ketemu sama sensei untuk ngecek abstract yang mau dikumpul hari Jumat. Karena bulan ini temen-temen lab pada mau presentasi untuk kelulusan, jadi senseinya sibuk banget, selain Pak Sensei saya juga wakil rektor universitas sini sih. Jadinya hari ini pertemuannya singkat banget, cuma koreksi abstract aja. Udah itu, saya bingung mau ngapain..

Sebenernya ga bingung juga sih, banyak yang harus dikerjain, hehe.. Belajar buat ujian, ngerjain riset, nge-latex, ngurus trip ke kansai, dll dst. *eh, ternyata banyak juga, hee..

Don`t be afraid of change!

Nah, tadi kan selesai meetingnya di bawah jam 6. Tapi berhubung ngantuk, pengen balik ke dorm.. Pengen tidur, mumpung besok libur juga. Tapi.. tapi.. tapi.. karena masih dibawah jam 6 itu berasa heran.. Biasanya di Indonesia pengen banget santai-santai klo udah di atas jam 6. Walaupun memang ga mungkin sih, tugas-tugas di TI kan selalu merengek minta perhatian. Tapi disini, walaupun ga sibuk-sibuk amat, sekarang ngerasa kecepetan aja kalo sebelum jam 9 udah di dorm. Rasanya kayak ga ngapa-ngapain, padahal di kenkyuushitsu belum tentu juga sih ngapa-ngapin, hahaha..

Mungkin salah satu alasannya adalah karena kalo mau menghubungi keluarga ato aa ato temen-temen di Indonesia, jam 9 pun masih terhitung kepagian, baru jam 7 sore disana. Ato klo mau jalan-jalan disini, hmm.. kayalnya bakal lama di jalannya. Di Bandung kan kalo mau ke BIP ato Ciwalk aja cuma 15 menit dari kostan kalo ga macet. Disini paling belanja kebutuhan sehari-hari di Seiyu ato cuci mata di Parco kalo lagi butek, hehe.. Walaupun keduanya terhitung sering juga sih.. :p

Intinya nih, sekarang jadi kebawa budayanya orang Jepang yang kao kerja sampe malem. Soalnya di kenkyuushitsu, temen-temennya juga masih ada sampe malem. Apalagi lagi jaman pada ngerjain tugas akhir semua gini, rame dah seluruh lab di Jepang, ehehe.. Padahal saya biasanya jam 9 udah pengen tidur, sekarang jam 9 baru pulang. Kadang pun masih ngerasa kepagian pulang jam 9. Well, lingkungan turut berkontribusi. Nana dan Keke soalnya rajin juga. Jadi keseret arus baik nih, hehe..

Nah, itu yang baiknya, Tapi perubahan buruknya ada juga nih.. Telat bagun! Berhubung temen-temen di dorm bangunnya emang siang-siang, dan kuliah paling pagi pun baru dimulai jam 9, jam 8 pagi pun masih hening banget disini (baca: dorm). *emang mau ngapain juga ya ribut-ribut, hehe.. Well, tapi itu kembali ke orangnya, soalnya Roffi selalu bagun pagi terus. Jadi malu.. :p

Ah yasudahlah.. Nikmati saja perubahan ini. Ambil yang baiknya kawan, yang buruknya kita tinggalkan. Perubahan selalu ada, datang dengan sendirinya. Kita yang memutuskan mana perubahan yang layak untuk diteruskan, mana yang harus ditanggalkan.

Yuk marii, belajar TV Broadcasting. Pulang jangan lupa nge-latex dulu.. Aku senaaaangg..

*Gambar dapet dari sini. Thank you, Pak David! *sok kenal, haha..

Seharusnya sih sekarang saya lagi mengerjakan research abstract yang mau dikoreksi sensei hari Rabu minggu depan. Tapi lagi pengen nulis yang lain nih..

Pengen tau aja kenapa ada orang yang seneng belajar. Cie elaaahh,  gaya bet dah.. Hahahaha.. Ga kok, cuma penasaran aja sama apa yang dipikirin Om Newton waktu melihat apel jatoh. Kok ya iya yah kepikiran tentang Universal Law of  Gravitaion. Kok bisa yah si oom nemuin rumus F = m x a yang simpel tapi powerful. Yang dipelajari dan di-review dari SMP (mungkin SD yak) sampe kuliah.

Ini gara-gara tadi kuliah TV Broadcasting Engeneering-nya Toyama Sensei. Kuliahnya memang salah satu favorite saya. Soalnya si bapak baik dan kelasnya menarik sih, hehe.. Hari ini belajar perbedaan Satellite Broadcasting sama Terrestrial Broadcasting Station. Terus ditengah-tengah ngebahas salah satu rumusnya si Oom Newton, yang gravitational force itu. *Buset dah om..

Nah, dulu sih ga pernah kepikiran. Tapi sekarang kok tiba-tiba terlintas dalam ruang pikiran saya ya. Mungkin gara-gara ga konsen kuliah kali ya, jadinya pikirannya kesana kemari, hihi.. Tapi satu hal yang pasti, berdasarkan pengamatan dan pengalaman saya sendiri, saya jadi yakin klo semua orang senang belajar.

Sayangnya biasanya rasa senang belajar itu akan mucul terhadap hal yang kita senangi pula. Kebetulan Oom Newton itu seneng banget belajar fisika dan bikin rumus, jadilah rumus indah nan mudah diingat.

Most fundamental question di topik ini: Kenapa sih orang seneng belajar?

Beberapa alternatif jawaban yang bisa saya pikirkan:

1. memuaskan keingintahuan
2. menemukan sesuatu yang baru
3. mencari aternatif yang lebih baik
4. memperbaiki diri
5. menghasilkan manfaat

Sekarang bagaimana membuat kita senang belajar terhadap sesuatu yang tidak kita senangi?  Mungkin pertanyaan awalnya adalah: kenapa sampai tidak senang? Mungkin kita merasa tidak perlu, tidak akan berguna, tidak memberi sesuatu yang baru, merasa tidak akan memberi alternatif yang lebih baik, atau, ahh pokoknya susaahhh, ga asiiikk, maless aahhh..

Wah, so pasti broer kita ga akan belajar.

Sekarang, tinggal gimana caranya aja membuat diri kita merasa yakin klo apa yang kita pelajari dan hadapi sekarang, akan bermanfaat dan berguna di masa depan. Enjoy it. Enjoy the process of the study itself. And do our best.

Bahkan Rasulullah SAW bersabda:

“Barang siapa menempuh suatu jalan dengan tujuan mencari ilmu, Allah akan memudahkan baginya jalan ke surga. Selain itu, malaikat akan meletakkan sayapnya bagi orang yang mencari ilmu sebagai keridaan atas tindakannya. Sesungguhnya yang ada di langit dan bumi, bahkan ikan-ikan di laut, akan memohonkan ampunan bagi orang yang menuntut ilmu. Keutamaan orang berilmu atas ahli ibadah adalah seperti keutamaan bulan atas planet yang lain. Para ulama adalah pewaris manusia. Dan, para nabi tiada mewariskan dinar atau dirham, melainkan ilmu. Maka, barang siapa mengambilnya, berarti ia telah mengambil bagian yang sempurna.” (HR. Ahmad)

Ya Allah, jauhkan saya dari rasa malas belajar. Amiinn..

*Dedicated buat saya sendiri (hehe..) dan teman-teman yang sedang turun semangatnya untuk belajar. Ayo, kita semangat belajar!!

Is it Toyota the giant car manufacturer? Is it Toyota that famous of its TPS (Toyota Production System) and its lean manufacturing? Is it Toyota that its management and manufacturing system became a model for many other companies?

Yes, it is.

But, why?

The recall is because Toyota found that pedals of some new car models were not work perfectly. And in some cases, it caused fatal accidents in America. After that, Toyota decided to reshape the suspect pedals or fit redesign ones in 4,26 million vehicles. Some will also get reshaped floor-pans and a brake-override system.

For some customers, Toyota action means their responsibility to their customers’ safety and satisfaction. But for some, it will ruin Toyota reputation. Toyota also suffer of its first lost since 1950. Its net loss is 437 billion yen (4,3 billion USD) from the last March until December. And it managed to to lose 766 billion yen in January to this March.

How the Mighty Fall

President of Toyota Motor Corporation, Akio Toyoda, in October announced that Toyota had already passed through the first three stages of corporate decline. And now had reach the critical fourth. It was based on the book he read, titled ” How the Mighty Fall” by Jim Collins, an American management guru. In his book, he describes the five stages through which a proud and success company passes on its way to becoming a basket-case. (The Economist)

Those five stages are:

1. hubris born of success
2. the undiciplined pursuit of more
3. denial of risk and peril
4. grasping for salvation
5. capitulation to irrelevance or death

Now, Toyota is working to solve their problem. The world is waiting what they will do next. It can be a great innovation that will amaze the world (again). Or it can be something not work so well, nor improving neither helping. We will see what the history tells.

私の　ﾐｸｽﾞﾌﾙｰﾄ ｸﾘｰﾑﾁｰｽﾞ

きのう、　私は　デザート　を　つくった。　名前は　ミックスフルーツ　クリームチーズ。

まえ、　この　りょうり　は　つくりかた　が　わからなかった。　でも、　私の　ともだちの　おかあさん　が　つくりかた　を　おしえてくれた。

この　りょうり　は　おいしかった　けど、　つくりかた　は　かんたん　だよ。

この　りょうりの　中に　いろいろな　くだもの　を　いれる。　なんでも　いい。

わたしのに　は　いちごと　パイネップルと　キウィ　を　いれた。

おいしかったから、　研究しつの　ともだちに　あげた。　ともだち　は　うま～い　と　言った。

私は　うれしかった。

こんど、　私は　たくさん　つくる。　みんなに　あげる。

かぞくと　かれしに　ミックスフルーツ　クリームチーズの　しゃしん　が　みせた。

かれし　は　「おいしそう。。　インドネシアで　この　りょうり　を　つくって　ください」　と　いった。

いま、　私は　りょうり　を　つくることが　すき　です。　りょうり　を　つくることが　じょうずに　なりたい　です。

*This post is crated in order to practice my Japanese. The kanji used is based on my study progress. If you find any mistakes, please let me know..