Another Hard Decision

To make other people feel disappointed because of me is the worst thing I could face.

I am always trying to work hard, give the best for people who know me.

Always try to fulfill their expectation of me.

Always try to not disappointing them.

But life is a choice, It is impossible to make all people pleased for my performance, my service, my decision.

Every decision of choice can lead to happiness for one side but also disappointment to the other side.

 

Thank you for all your guidance.

 

The course has been set, the ship has been burnt down, no more stepping back.

It is the time to not disappoint myself.

 

 

 

The SIBE Conference 2009

Today I just finished my part as a committee member of the First International Conference on Sustainable Infrasctructure and Built Environment in Developing Countries (SIBE). It was the international conference that was organized by Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Bandung Institut of Technology. The conference was held from 2nd to 3rd of November. More than 300 peoples from many countries came and presented their research. Among those people, about 130 peoples come from outside Indonesia such as USA, Japan, Norway, Malaysia, etc. The official website can be found at www.sibe-2009.org .

During the conference, I was stationed as documentation staff. However, before the conference session, I was doing proceeding editing by editing many papers that come to the conference secretariat. Both positions were not easy and both positions had different type of challenge. I enjoyed both positions.

In this conference, Professor Ikeda from Tokyo Institute of Technology came and gave keynote speech. He was one of YSEP supervisors in TokyoTech during 2008/2009 academic year. I know him since he was Della’s supervisor, thus his lab is located few rooms beside my former lab at TokyoTech.

I would like to write more things but now I am really tired. I will post another more in the next post. Have a good rest.

Between Classes and Researches

It has been almost a month and half since I arrived in Bandung from my YSEP activity in Japan. It is equal to three weeks of classes in Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) since two weeks were off due to the holidays for Iedul Fitri. Up until now, I am still struggling to catch the things I missed from the class due to my late return from Japan. Some of the classes are easy to catch while others are not including the class of Structural Analysis using Matrix.

That class is the class that I failed to pass during my third year. In this class, I study about how to calculate the force-reaction of a civil engineering structure model by using matrix calculation. It is still a basic concept though, but the matrix computation makes the subject is hard to be understood. During my third year, I failed to accept the teaching style of the lecturer so I was not caring about the class so I failed the class. In this semester class, the lecturer is good at teaching. I understand what he taught to me and the class. However, the only thing that makes the class still hard to be understood is that I missed the first three weeks of the class while most of the topics for the next midterm test are from that period. The midterm period for this semester will be in this month’s 19-26th.  I hope, with my effort and luck, I can pass all of the class with a good grade.

Speaking about classes, I didn’t do real class in TokyoTech during my YSEP. I did take some civil engineering class but mostly I spent time in doing research and attend cultural and social class such as Topic of Japan, Social Business entrepreneurship, or Factory study tour. In the first semester of YSEP, I only took 1 civil engineering class that was Seismic Response Modification of Urban Infra Structure. In the second semester of YSEP, I took 2 classes which were seismic design and concrete mechanics. In those civil engineering classes, the way of study was much free and there wasn’t much homework. Beside, the class time for each class was only one hour and forty five minute.

In ITB, I got 20 credits of civil engineering classes. I spent time mostly for attending classes and doing homework. Honestly I think it is less hard than doing research but it is still tiring.

Now is the midterm test week. I have 5 examinations in this week. Once more, I hope, with my effort and luck, I can pass all of the class with a good grade.

Landmark of ITB Landmark of TIT

Landmark of ITB (Aula Barat) and TIT (Main Building)

“Re”-Finding My Life Objective

Malam kemarin, saya berangkat ke sebuah apotek untuk membeli obat atas resep yang dokter berikan untuk saya. Saya memang tidak pergi sendiri, ibu dan ayah saya ikut pergi menemani. Kami pergi bersama-sama menggunakan mobil yang ayah saya kemudikan.

Suasana di Apotik tidak begitu berebeda dengan apotik-apotik umum lainnya. Ada pegawai yang sibuk menyediakan obat dari resep-resep dokter yang masuk ke meja reservasi obat. Ada juga pembeli obat yang lalu duduk-duduk menunggu obat pesanan mereka diberikan.

Di tengah suasana hiruk pikuk tersebut, saya dan ayah saya menunggu di parker mobil. Bersender ke bagasi mobil kami, dan saling bersenda gurau. Di tengah hiruk pikuk petugas parkir yang lalu lalang mengarahkan mobil yang keluar-masuk parkiran, kami dihampiri seorang perempuan berkerudung yang dengan halusnya dia berbicara menawarkan cemilan jualannya kepada kami. Wajahnya terlihat lelah, tapi semangat berusaha terlihat jelas di matanya. Dengan membawa sebuah Tupperware besar dan termos es, dia menawarkan makanan jualannya. Seketika reflek saya bergerak untuk mengatakan tidak. Saya memang bukan orang yang dengan bebas membeli sesuatu di jalanan. Seketika pula perempuan penjual makanan itu pergi dengan senyuman sopan yang dia berikan sebagai tanda penghormatan kepada pelanggan-atau bukan pelanggan.

Beberapa detik setelah perempuan penjual makanan itu pergi, hati saya digempur pikiran iba, bimbang, dan sedih. Entah apa yang terjadi di pikiran saya, seolah2 saya sedang menahan tangis atas rasa perih yang ditahan lama. Saya coba merenung, mengapa perasaan-perasaan itu muncul hingga saya sampai pada sebuah pemikiran yang membandingkan kehidupan saya dengan kehidupannya.

Perempuan penjual makanan itu dengan semangat yang ia bawa, berjualan makanan dengan peralatan sederhana, dengan berjalan kaki, hingga malam hari dimana banyak orang-orang menikmati malam dengan makan enak di restoran atau melakukan pesta bersama temannya.  Entah seberapa parah masalah ekonomi yang ia hadapi, tapi tidak sedikit rakyat Indonesia harus berjuang ekstra keras untuk mendapatkan uang tambahan atas beratnya masalah ekonomi yang dihadapinya.

Perasaan sedih yang saya alami, muncul dari rasa kasihan atas apa yang dialami perempuan penjual makanan itu dan bersyukur atas bentuk kehidupan yang bisa saya rasakan. SAYA ADALAH ORANG YANG SANGAT BERUNTUNG!! Benar-benar beruntung. Saya memilki keluarga yang sangat menyayangi saya. Saya memiliki keluarga dengan rumah yang benar-benar kami miliki. Keluarga dengan kondisi ekonomi yang cukup untuk membuat kebutuhan nutrisi sehari hari tercukupi. Saya masih bisa merasakan indahnya jalan-jalan dengan keluarga saya. Saya sangat beruntung. Saya tidak perlu keluar seharian untuk menjual makanan demi memenuhi kebutuhan ekonomi yang mendesak.

Selama perjalanan pulang dari apotik itu, pikiran saya masih terus terpenuhi oleh perasaan-perasaan sedih yang muncul. Bagi saya, malam itu  berujung dengan sebuah resolusi untuk bisa membantu perempuan-perempuan seperti itu beserta jutaan rakyat Indonesia lainnya yang juga mengalami kondisi serupa atau lebih berat. Memang sebuah hal yang sangat sulit, mungkin mustahil bagi seseorang saja untuk mengatasi masalah ini. Namun, itu bukan alasan bagi saya untuk tidak berusaha. Terimakasih, karena sekarang serpihan-serpihan dari tujuan hidup saya mulai terkumpul.

I am home

I am here, at home. Just arrived last week’s Sunday..
Yet, I haven’t write anything new in my blog.
Okay… I need to write something.. at least, try to write something to stimulate my will to write blog.

Well, nothing special happened actually. Just arrived at Jakarta’s SoekarnoHatta airport on Sunday evening then went straight to Bandung via Bogor and Arrived at Bandung on Monday, 2.00AM. Then, the same day’s 8.00 AM, I went to ITB campus for attending a class of Soil Mechanic II. It is the class which I failed to pass on my third year.

I had not had enough sleep, off course. But, can’t be helped. I had skipped 3 weeks of class on the first semester of 2009/2010 academic year in ITB because of my decision in attending JSCE annual meeting. I thought it won’t be so hard to skip three weeks of classes. However, not that easy as I thought. I really didn’t understand what the lecturer said on the first class I attended that day.

Well, I just remember a quote from a song that suits my condition right now :
“In order to get something, you have to lose something”

I got my paper presented at the JSCE annual meeting 2009, but I loose three weeks of classes, loose the moment of graduation of my university friends, and loose my precious holiday with my girlfriend…

I hope,,, this is for a better future,,,

Missing

On my previous post, I said that recently I was tired..

Well, that seems to be different after I finished my JSCE presentation. I am starting to miss this situation. Missing my lab friends, japan’s environment, and others things that I encounter during my one year’s YSEP program.

One year minus 3 days I have stayed in Japan. Many things happened whether it were a good things or bad things. Off course I will not forget those things easily. I don’t want to forget it. This one year is a very precious experience for me.

From now, I will be busy preparing my returning to Indonesia. After that, I will continue my daily life in Indonesia. I expect to encounter many big difference in living atmosphere between Japan and Indonesia. Some situation might be worst compared to Japan but others might be better. I am not sure yet what will that be however, I have to be ready to face those differences.

I will miss Japan… I even starting to miss Japan from now. But this life is never stagnant. Thank you Allah for giving me this precious chance.

Tired

Really tired…

Last week’s Saturday was the begining of Ramadhan, a holy month for Muslim where we do fasting everyday for 1 month. Since it is summer in Japan, the air is hot and the humidity always makes me sweating. It makes the fasting become harder.

Today I just finished moving out from dormitory to my friend’s house. Since I can only stay in dormitory until this month’s 25th, I moved to my friend’s house until I finished my JSCE annual meeting in the early September.

Moving out is also a hard thing. I have to clean my room and move all my stuff to the new place. The new place is only 5 minutes by train, but the distance between the house and the station is far and I have to through a steep stairs. Carrying tenths of kilograms of luggage while doing fasting in this hot summer air is really a tiring works.

Anyway, the moving procedures were finished. I can now focus to work my research report due to next week Monday T_T what a work..

Honestly, I am not really enjoying these last days of stay in Japan. Really miss my home, and its free time.

Activity in *.ZIP

Well… too many things to write since my last post ^^

It was more than one month since the ASAHI factory study tour. Many things happened but the most prominent one was my graduation thesis summary and graduation presentation.  It was a rush and tiring works.  I had to submit my summary of graduation thesis on July 22nd and started making a presentation slide for august 7th.

Both summary and slide were not an eazy things. I spent a lot of time in laboratory. For the summary, I had to analyse the data and tried to make a good conclusion about my research. Reading internaitonal journals were not helped much since my research was one of my lab’s specialities. All previous  research were written in Japanese. However, I managed to write a 4 pages summary and gave two main conclusions.

For the presentation slide, it was one of the most stressfull works I’d face in this lab. I don’t know why, it seemed very difficult to write a 10 pages of presentation slide. I really don’t understand why I couldn’t finished it in one or two days. Eventhough my lab is famous for its beautiful and clear presentation, other lab members seemed to done the presentation faster than me. Well, I hope it will only happen once. I longed to be a better slide maker next time.

Anyway, the whole requirements for YSEP program were already fullfiled. Now only to prepare presentation for Japan Society of Civil Engineering (JSCE) annual meeting in the follwoing September, writing a research report book for my lab, and writing an article for CREMONA magazine. (Actually, “only” is not a proper word T_T,,, a lots of works should be done).

I hope I can finished it faster and better. I want to enjoy my last month of stay in Japan. I never know whether I can come here again or not, but I will try my best,,,, to enjoy Japan :p :p :p

PS: from tomorrow, 3 Indonesian YSEP students will come home to Indonesia T_T I will be missing them. Good luck for your new life, journey, and spirit. See you in Indonesia, my beloved friends : Della, Dian, Risky.

Asahi Breweries Limited – Ashigara factory

This factory study tour was held on July 8th 2009 in ASAHI Breweries Limited, Ashigara Factory. It was the final FST for YSEP 2008/2009. The aim this FST was to deepen total understanding of advanced science and technology, focusing on food science, moreover, beer manufacturing technology. The Ashigara factory is located at 1223 Nuda, Minami Ashigara, Kanagawa 250-0106, TEL 0465-72-6270. Their official website can be found at http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/english.

Ashigara factory/Kanagawa Brewery is the most advance Brewery in Asahi. The construction of this factory was completed in May 2002. Grounded in the concept An environmental creation plant in harmony with the earth, the community, and people and informed by the three themes contributing to environmental preservation, coexistence with the local community, and providing an environment rich in amenities, the new facility is a forefront Brewery for the 21st century, serving as the proving ground for numerous innovations to be implemented by Asahi Brewery.

It took more than 2 hours by bus from Okayama campus. The first time we arrived, we were greeted by the factory’s receptionist in the auditorium. Having accustomed of guiding many guest who wanted to know about the factory, the receptionist showed us a 10 minute movie about overview of the Kanagawa brewery and then lead us to the second floor to get deeper information about the brewery.

The second floor is a dedicated floor for guest who want to learn about beer making process in the factory. In the first part of the floor, through a big window we saw several “Mashing” tank lining in a big room to process barley and hops as the main ingredient of the beer. After that, we saw a model of fermentation and maturation process. This model consisted of a small scale fermentation tank and a display monitor beside it. The small scale tank has a transparent part on its half of the surface so we could see the how is the condition inside a fermentation tank when a raw beer is being fermented. Then, a display monitor showed us a movie about how the yeast works in converting maltose into alcohol and carbonated gas to make a great beer. It was said that even 0.1 degrees temperature different could make a different percentage of alcohol and also a different taste of beer.

After seeing the movie, we walked towards another window and saw a formation of big fermentation tanks through it. It was said that we have to spend more than 3 thousand years if we drink one glass of beer from a single fermentation tank every day. That shows how big the fermentation tanks were.

After that, we walked towards another window and saw the canning and bottling process. They said they used recycled materials which had been processed through a high technological and very sterile process. The canning and bottling speed were also run at a very high speed reaching hundreds of bottle and can per minute.

After finished exploring the floor, we went to the cafeteria where we were served plenty of beer and soft drink produced by Asahi Company. It was one of their factory tour programs where the participant can taste the beer or soft drink produced in the factory – or other Asahi brewery – freely as much as their stomach can take. This drinking party also served as a conclusion of the FST class for YSEP 2008/2009 for this second semester.

As the FST ended, we went to the front of the building and took a group picture. From that place, we could see the beauty of the building. It was a harmony between technology and nature building. It sure will be a good advertisement for Asahi customers. After that, we went home. On the way home, we stopped by at the rest area; many people should go to toilet after drinking glasses of beer. Then, 1.5 hour latter we arrived at Tokyotech Okayama campus.

It was a beautiful FST. It was also my last FST in this YSEP program. I want to say thank you to Hirose sensei and his staff for making a good FST in this and previous semester. It will be a great experience for me.

– Taken from my FST class report –

Oh Pariwisata Indonesia…

“Indonesia, bahaya kan?”

Itulah ucapan yang membuat hati ‘eneg’ ketika teman jepang saya berbicara tentang pariwisata Indonesia. Dia berencana untuk melakukan wisata ke asia tenggara dan hendak mampir ke Indonesia. Namun, ketika berdiskusi dengan saya mengenai objek-objek wisata yang menarik untuk dikunjungi di Indonesia, dia bertanya mengenai kondisi keamanan di Negara Indonesia tercinta ini. Sungguh memalukan, di tengah ribuan objek wisata potensial di Indonesia yang tidak kalah menarik dengan objek-objek wisata di jepang, bagai ‘nila setitk, rusak susu sebelanga” , kata ‘keamanan’ menjadi kata ‘maut’ yang menimbulkan persepsi negatif akan pariwisata di Indonesia.

Di tengah perasaan Indonesia yang aman yang mulai tumbuh dalam beberapa tahun belakangan, ketakutan itu muncul kembali dengan terjadinya aksi pengeboman di Jakarta beberapa pekan lalu. Ditambah dengan gagalnya MU datang ke Indonesia, predikat Indonesia menjadi Negara tidak aman menjadi semakin terasa di komunitas Internasional. Sangat disayangkan, memang. Namun, Inilah nasib pariwisata Indonesia. Kembali terpukul dengan terjadinya tragedi bom di Jakarta lalu.

Saya pun merasa malu dan berat untuk meyakinkan kalau Indonesia adalah Negara yang aman. Bukan karena saya hanya mengambil contoh pada beberapa kota yang terkena konflik saja, bukan juga tidak percaya akan aparat keamanan di Indonesia, namun faktanya adalah kita tetap saja diguncang bom meskipun keadaan dalam bebrapa tahun belakangan menunjukan keamanan di Indonesia sudah semakin baik.

Apa jadinya jika saya mengundang rekan jepang ke Indonesia, dan mereka terkena aksi pengeboman? Ada tanggung jawab moral bagi saya sebagai tuan rumah dalam menjaga keselamatan dan kebahagiaan tamu yang akan berkunjung ke Negara saya. Saya tidak ingin mereka celaka di negeri saya apalagi ketika saya yang mengundang mereka untuk berkunjung ke Indonesia ini.

Meskipun demikian, saya masih berharap agar teman jepang saya bisa berkunjung ke Indonesia.Meskipun predikat Indonesia sebagai Negara tidak aman masih banyak terdengar, saya berusaha meyakinkan bahwa kota-kota Indah lainnya di Indonesia masih aman dari pengeboman, setidaknya belum ada kasus pengeboman yang terjadi. Selain itu, saya berusaha meyakinkan bahwa dengan adanya pengeboman ini, pemerintah menjadi semakin waspada dan sigap dalam menjaga objek-objek wisata di Indonesia khususnya yang dipenuhi turis asing. Saya merekomendasikan teman saya untuk mengunjungi Bali sebagai gerbang awal pariwisata Indonesia. Mudah-mudahan saja kasus pengeboman tidak terjadi lagi dibagian manapun di Negara Indonesia tercinta ini.

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