Vista dan Ultah

Perubahan sebuah sistem memang seharusnya didukung oleh perubahan-perubahan sub-sistemnya. Seperti halnya inovasi baru Windows Vista. Beberapa software lama yang sering dipakai oleh khalayak ternyata tidak semena-mena kompatibel dengan Vista. Hal ini membuat pemakai Vista seperti saya, cukup repot dalam memilih dan masang program pengisi vista. Belum lagi tampilan Vista yang agak berbeda, dengan fitur dan tampilan gres-nya. Benar-benar membuat si pemakai baru, apalagi amatiran komputer, harus menghadapi Vista dengan sabar. Belum lagi saya harus share files ke pengguna pendahulu Vista.

Anyway, punya laptop baru,bener-bener baru, adalah sesuatu hadiah istimewa buat saya. Sesuatu yang mimpi pun saya enggak. Cukup Toshiba Satellite U300 buat saya yang ga hobi nge-game dan suka nenteng laptop kemana-mana. Selain papan ketiknya yang empuk membuat ngetik lebih santai dan layar monitor yang cerah memadai kapasitas mata saya yang lemah. Harganya mahal sebetulnya untuk kelas saya, tapi lumayan kita dapat harga deal karena membeli beberapa software, tas dan external storage sekaligus di Harvey Norman Computer Supacenta. Selain saya membelinya juga masih dalam nuansa boxing day. Laptop ini hadiah ulang tahun untuk saya, dari suami tercinta tentunya. Pemicunya ga cuma ultah itu sih, sejujurnya, adalah karena laptop lama saya, Compaq, hardisnya rusak. Kalo ga beli baru, gimana nasib si thesis nantinya...

Laughing, hahaha...

Ahnaf was laughing with his papa. I took this video with my handphone when he was 5 months and a week old. It's a funny memorabilia.

Mari Menyanyi

Saya dan Ahnaf suka menyanyi bersama. Salah satunya lagu yang sairnya seperti ini:

Ahnaf anak sehat
Tubuhnya kuat
Karena mamanya
rajin dan cermat

Semenjak Ahnaf bayi
Slalu diberi ASI
makanan bergizi
dan imunisasi

It's fun having a baby, isn't it?

Mothers Day

Indonesian celebrates a mothers day today. Mother in Indonesian is Ibu or bunda or emak. But my son calls me mama (in the near future, because he is still learning saying bru bru ba ba ga ee aaa...) Don't have a particular reason for being called mama. Just easy, may be. My hubby started calling me mama then I followed calling him papa. Anyway, I am a mother. Happy being a mother.

I am remembering of my mother. She is far away in Kudus, a small city in Central of java, Indonesia. I wish all the best for you, Ibu.

Ahnaf: Six Months

My baby just turned to six months old. This stage is a kind of turning point development. I visited the GP (General practitioner) for his 6 month immunization. Here some review of his development.

Breastfeeding (menyusui)

I have breastfed my Ahnaf since he was just born. It is suggested that mothers should breastfeed her baby exclusively up to six months. After six months, it is fine to substitute breast milk with formula. However, breastfeeding has tied up both of us with a great bonding. I feel a bit hard to stop feeding him with my breast, indeed my body still produces it as much as my baby needs. I talked to my GP about this. She said that breastfeed even until 12 months is good but after, because nutrition in breast milk might decrease significantly and baby needs more for his development.

So, I decided to feed him with my breast still, but not combine it with formula. It’s silly to combine breast milk with formula, doctor says, due to formula milk can destroy some of advantageous material in breast milk. Nevertheless, just in case the baby needs more liquid, boiled water (not bottled water) is good enough.

Solid food (makanan padat)

Babies should be introduced to solid around six months old because they needs more nutrition particularly iron for growing. Factually, I started introduce solid food to my Ahnaf when he was 5 months old something (this is around 6 months, isn’t this?). He shows me at that time that he’s ready for solid. I got the signs as explained. I tried vegetable puree and infant rice cereal, just following what it is suggested by doctors.

He is a goooood eater, he doesn’t reject the food, and even he wants to feed by himself like trying to hold the spoon or bowl. Once he got constipation like what I posted here but it’s all over. He poos almost everyday and quite big smelly one. Hehe… Oh ya I asked my GP today why he got constipation. She explained that baby needs transition time, from only absorbing milk to solid food. So at the first time, the food actually just passed the intestine without being digested. Right that during his first few weeks eating solid, his poos pretty similar with the veggie puree I gave. By the time the solid food increases, doctor continued, he will poo more frequently. :P perjuangan seorang ibu nih… heheh…

Physic development (pertumbuhan fisik)

His weight at born was considered small (2495 grams). Alhamdulillah, he has been growing up significantly and reached the average weight as expected since his first month life. Now, 6 months old, he is 7600grams. His length is 67cms. Fantastic. Lovely. I proud of my self! *big smile*

Love for healthyness (Cinta untuk kesehatan)

Now about vomiting! Time flies, indeed, I’ve got no time to tell you here that Ahnaf had considerable reflux, then colic and eventually hernia. I got him to three doctors to examine his body when he was about three weeks.

Firstly, he got reflux, which is vomiting after feed, but because there wasn’t a projectile and his tummy was soft, all doctors said the same: it’ll be gone by the time he grows, at about 3 months, or 6 months, we won’t give him any medication, the doctor said.

Secondly, he was a baby colic. He cried loudly for no reason most of the time, unless while he was in my cuddle. He cried when waking up, changing nappy, bathing, in the pram, etc, exclude if I gave him a cuddle. Then, he often pull his tummy back (arcing) for uncertain reason, even doctors couldn’t explain why. He made noise when he was sleeping. Etc.. etc...

Thridly, because he cried much, he was still very young, and there was unclosed hole in his under tummy part (see the symptoms of hernia)... yes he got right inguinal hernia when he was 6 weeks old. It’s been repaired a week after at Sydney Children Hospital (remembering dr varjavandi, young excellent one ;D). The scar was about 5 cms and it’s completely invisible by a week or so. Perfect!

And yes eventually after he was about two or three months old, he wasn’t baby colic, not crying much. He started to give back my love. It was a three month tough stage. Only love, again it is love that make those things all gone. You know what I did? I gave him cuddle immediately if he cried. This cuddle at this ages won't spoil him, there is an explanation about this in the site of raisingchildren dot net dot au. I proved it also.

The most memorable, he also slept on my cuddle often. Because he vomited and then cried if lying on horizontally even though he had burped. He had to be posited standing upfront. Consequently, I had to rest my body half sitting to keep him safe in my cuddle. His sleeping time was about two hours, followed with feeding and changing nappy for about one hours then trying to sleep again.

Time flies. This tiring period is over remaining knowledge and worthy experience. I still give him love as much as before though.

He is now six months. He is a good eater, a lovely baby, a well sleeper. He sleeps like a boy at night, almost 5 – 6 hours per sleep, wakes up for feeding and then sleeps again effortless. Therefore I've got enough time to study at night. During the day, I spend my time for being together with him. Wherever I go like to the uni, shopping centre, friends' visits, parties, park etc, I shall with him, except to toilet and kitchen.

Smile

Most of us say Ahnaf is a kind of serous baby. Yes, he is most of the time outside home, he might learn what they are around. At least, he always has a healthy look (his chubby face, his bright eyes!!), this is more important. At home, he is so cheerful baby in fact. He smiles to me, even when he opens his eyes from sleeping beauty. We’ve got his video when he’s laughing constantly for about fifteen minutes, not only one, please note! We have many funny pictures. We’re happy being together.

Immunisation

He has got everything he needs up to six months. I'll tell you later about immunisation.

Enough for now. Too many to write. Everyday has a different one, but just too busy too speak up here everyday. The days come too fast thus I get confused which one to tell first. Time flies again, time flies. I’ve got to prayer for all this goodness. I love my baby, Ahnaf.

Hutan Belantara

Hutan belantara yang saya maksud adalah internet. Hutan ini boleh ditanami dan dihampiri oleh siapa saja, bebas level dan hampir bebas norma. Mesti hati-hati, punya moral dan pake otak. Sudah itu saja.

Kue Lapis Pandan

This blog isn't supposed to be a kind of kitchen's blog but I have been posting some recipes I tried to show you that cooking is a way to love my days, to bring cheerfulness for my family and to take aside any thesis complication in my head. ^_^

I made kue lapis pandan this dawn, in between study time. This is a traditional cake from Indonesia, I knew it since I was little girl. There are a lot of recipe of this cake in the internet. This is my first trial and I rated it five stars.

It's worth to note, my steamer has 8 inch diameter and I don't have any pan that fit to it. I decided to use plastic box that suitable for microwave. I thought, if the box can be heated in microwave so it should be fine in the steamer. And it worked well.

Here is my recipe:

1. Shift 3 cups of rice flour and 1,5 cups tapioca flour in a large bowl.
2. Moderately heat 6 cups of coconut cream (I used a 400ml can of coconut cream plus cold water), 1,5 cups white sugar, a tsp salt and a pandan leave. Stir occasionally until sugar dissolved. Set aside until luke warm.
3. Prepare the steamer, wrap the lid with napkin clothes. Put a pan/mould in. Don't forget to grease the base with a bit cooking oil.
   
4. Pour (2) to (1), combine finely. Strain to get a perfect mixture.
5. Divided into two part. Colour one of them with a few drops of pandan pasta until bright green. Because I wanted it greenish, I took 2/3 of it for the green part.
   
6. Make the first layer by pouring in the mould, roughly a half cup of the green mixture. The layer would be about a half cm thick. Steam 10 minutes. I'll look firm.
   
7. Make the second layer, still green part, steam 5 minutes.
8. Make the third layer, turn to the white part, steam 5 minutes.
9. Continue with next layer green-green-white. Finally, steam 20 minutes.

Because I used a 750 ml microwavable rectangular plastic container, I repeated until three times to finish the entire cake mixture. Fyuh... about two hours spent. I learned why this cake is worthy even though the ingredient is very cheap. Yes, because of the patience in making the layers. My hubby loved it. Can't wait to make again when Ahnaf is ready to eat this solid food.

A Dollar

I got pain of FAAST copy and print shop in Kingsford located on ground floor of 333 apartment at anzac parade. They charged me $1 just for one page A4 printing without any friendly costumer service. I said to the staff at that time, "it's okay for now but I won't come here again" with a little smile on the corner of my lips. I swear I won't come again whatsoever happens! huh :p

I went to the FAAST shop on my way going shopping at RoundAbout. I gave it a try because I saw the shop's window looks colourfull and the customer service is not chinese, but latino I guess. Moreover, I had a feeling not to delay printing the letter for my rental agent informing my intention to continuing stay in the current unit. I didn't go to my office for the last few weeks, a bit lazy to walk up with my baby, just felt that going out with him was too much for these tiring days.

Actually, I have an (almost) unlimited FREE printing facility in my office. More, library in my campus charges 11c only for 1 page A4 printing and again I got $100/year photo copy & print card from my faculty. Next to my flat, there's a printing shop that only charge 20c for BW A4 printing. The same at internet shop nearby.

A dollar is factually nothing compared with the facility I've got, but a dollar for just one page A4 BW printing for me seems unreasonable. It's not fair enough. They just wanted my money. Not such a professional business, right?

Bak Pao

Tanpa basa-basi, berikut resep dan cara membuatnya, :)

Langkah pertama adalah menyiapkan adonan luar:

1. Cairkan 2 sdm mentega sampai berminyak, dinginkan.
   
2. Aduk 150 ml susu hangat, 1 sdm gula pasir dan 75 gram ragi kering (dried yeast). Diamkam sampai berbuih, kira-kira 5 menit. Jika tidak berbuih, berarti ragi yang dipakai sudah mati -beli yang baru dong... :P-
3. Ke dalam baskom besar, masukkan 500 gram tepung terigu dan 3 sdm gula pasir
4. Dengan menggunakan jari tangan, uleni campuran tepung dengan susu (no. 2) dan minyak (no. 1) sampai kalis. Jika perlu tambahkan air hangat sedikit demi sedikit sampai adonan kalis atau tidak lengket. Jangan buru-buru menambahkan air, meskipun kelihatannya adonan kering.
5. Bulatkan adonan, tutup dengan plastik, diamkan di ruangan hangat sampai mengembang 2x lipat, kira-kira 45 menit - 1 jam.
6. Pukul-pukul adonan, buat bulatan-bulatan kecil sebanyak 10 - 20 buah. Diamkan lagi sampai 1 - 2 jam.
   

Langkah kedua, sembari menunggu adonan mengembang, adalah membuat isian. Terserah sih mau diisi apa... kalo aku tadi sih tak isi tumis daging, tahu dan sayuran (wortel, jagung butir dan peas) plus kecap manis... tumis ini seperti biasanya tumis, cuma bahan--bahannya diiris kuwecil-kuwecil, hehe... dan pokoknya ya... pokoknya... diisi dengan yang "manis", rasanya lebih enak...

Setelah adonan mengembang semua, siapkan kukusan. Tutup kukusan dibungkus dengan kain/serbet agar uap air tidak jatuh ke adonan nantinya.

Langkah terakhir adalah mengisi adonan. Caranya, tipiskan adonan di atas talenan berbentuk lingkaran, kemudian masukkan isiannya satu sendok atau lebih terserah sesuai selera. Katupkan bulatan adonan dengan cara menyubit-nyubit pinggirannya agar menyatu dan membentuk seperti bola. Beri alas kertas, kukus selama kira-kira 20 menit.

Dengan resep tersebut, aku tadi membuat 20 bak pao ukuran satu genggamanku. bbmbmmbmm...

NB. katanya sih ada pelembut adonan bak pao, tapi tadi aku gak pake... emang sih tidak se-perfect yang di toko, untuk amatiran, at least hasilnya tetap memuaskan kok.

Mothers Group

Today was supposed to be the last day of our monthly-get-together over the year. Mothers group is other women group beside Pengajian Akhwat that I have in Sydney during my masters’ candidature.

This is a group ran by a social worker under Randwick City Council which is currently driven by Tante Yanti (50+), an Indonesian mother who already gave her citizenship up to Australian long time ago. Citizenship doesn’t a matter here, indeed, most of the member of the group are permanently living in Sydney and the surrounded suburbs. The prominent thing is that we are all mothers and have Indonesian blood, regardless the ethnic or religion.

Tante Yanti is my hero, sincerely. She found me in the Royal hospital for Women when I was lonely sitting in the waiting room for an antenatal visit. She certainly easily got my Javanese looks there and came to me with her motherly advices. She invited me to this mothers group and I felt in love with this group at my first attendance. Just for noting, she drove me to the place at the first time and helped me so much caring of my baby.

This group is really different. To be honest, I do not really like grouping with people for example I hardly come along with students group as I ought to go with them as I am a student (this is too bad actually), neither now nor in the past. There is fun either for my baby, Ahnaf or I. We meet other babies, toddlers and mothers. We talk about healthiness, family, children, toys, food and anything. Occasionally, we have fun games and gifts to share. Three hours is never enough for us.

The people that make this different, I think. Most of us have the same faith as a new mother or young family and are away from extended family. Event though most of them have chose living permanently in Australia, it might not be stated, but I feel like they still want Indonesian tradition that is kumpul-kumpul and makan bersama. You know, groups run by Aussie usually do not provide meal for lunch, yeah… there are tea or coffee and some biscuits, but our groups always have complete menu then we sit on the floor eating together and chatting.

The friendship is very valuable. Something that will I keep firmly in my journey notes. Something that will I tell to my son, Ahnaf. I don’t have our picture yet, but I will have it someday for sure.

Constipation

My baby and I just learned "constipation". Well, it is common on babies who start solid, however, I think it is something that can be avoided.

Why constipation occurs? I suggest you to ask more knowledgeable person in this case such as your doctor or there are plenty resources in the internet about this. As far as I know, baby's tummy needs some time to adjust with new food, which is solid in consistency, as they are only fed with milk which is fluid for a particular time.

After it happened on my baby in the last four days, I learned that it can actually be avoided, at least not repeated. I gave my baby the same kind of solid for several days, expert says that it is to notice whether the baby has allergy or not. I bought the food at the store, I chose the organic one. I grab almost every kind of fruits and vegetables because I want him to learn many tastes and enjoy the richness of this world. I notice that some fruit/vege purees, even though for the same stage of age, have different water level. Carrot, apple, fruit and other single ingredient are mostly watery, but some with combination like apple+banana, apple+milk=apple custard, pumpkin+corn, sweet potato+wild rice are less watery or a bit stickier. At the first stage giving solid, I gave the single one, carrot is his fave, and it went okay. I tried sweet potato+wild rice, then, he got constipation. I think, it was due the food less watery, stickier and heavy in carbohydrate, indeed. I concluded that it is not a good idea giving solid like this for starter, even though it is very smooth bought at store, certified and so on. We learned.

To relief the constipation, I got advices from midwife and friends. As long as the tummy looks usual, not hard and still passing winds which is meant still has bowel movement, baby doesn't need to see doctor, but until a considerable period of constipation seeing a doctor is recommended. Considerable period is like this. Some babies poo three times a day, so three days constipation is concerned, but some babies poo three times a week so a week constipation needs serious follow up. Not sure which one was the successor, here what I applied:

1. Stay calm, stay make him happy - find as many information as possible
   
2. Give more fluid which is milk
3. Warm his tummy by rubbing eucalyptus oil or minyak telon
   
4. Bicycle his leg (pull and push gently like bicycling) at playing time
   
5. Hold his foot, push and fold gently until touching his tummy, push carefully then straigthen and repeat three times, stop, repeat again in a few minutes
6. Jump him up with fun
7. Still give solid/food as usual but more watery one
8. His poo is usually two-three times a day, so three day constipation is concerning and up this time, give prune juice. Simply boil 2 glass of cold water and 100 grams pitted prune (no sugar) and cool. Give him about 2-3 tablespoons - three times a day - but I gave him once only before he passed his back. finally... What a happy mama...
   

Constipation is common, reasonable, relivable and avoidable. An extra love is worthy giving during this period and it will remain a rewarding experience.

Wanita Biasa

Masalah dalam kehidupan adalah wajar dan masalah lah yang dapat membuat hidup lebih berarti, kata seorang bijak. Saya yakin apa yang saya dengar dari sang bijak tersebut adalah benar, namun sampai saat ini saya masih saja mengeluh dan membuat pusing diri sendiri menghadapi masalah dalam hidup.

Agak di luar nalar memang karena saya bisa sabar dan bertindak dengan baik menurut ukuran saya ketika menghadapi masalah yang besar seperti melibatkan orang banyak atau berpengaruh ke masa depan saya dan keluarga. Namun, saya seringkali gusar dan mengeluh hanya menghadapi masalah simpel sehari-hari seperti bumbu masak atau stok makanan habis di hari kerja (supermarket buka sampe tengah malam, yang dekat juga ada atau beli makanan matang sekitar rumah ka nada), koneksi dial-up internet terganggu (kan tinggal beli pre-paid dial up merk lain, selesai!) atau rumah kotor dan berantakan (kan tinggal dirapikan, paling lama juga cuma setengah jam membereskan dua ruangan aja kok!).

Kepala saya kadang nyut nyut dan hati mangkel karena kerepotan masalah-masalah sehari-hari seperti ini. Mungkin karena saya berpikir, harusnya masalah sehari-hari seperti ini bisa dihindari dan bukan hal yang sulit untuk diantisipasi. Khilaf, lupa, dan jenuh pada diri yang sering saya keluhkan menjadi penyebab masalah ini. Apa daya, saya hanyalah wanita biasa. Setidaknya masih sanggup istighfar dan memohon kekuatan kepada Tuhan.

Internet Collaps

Since the last few days I’ve got dizzy of no connection with the internet at home. I don’t think there’s a problem with the telephone line because my Telstra home phone still rings for sure. Not sure what has happened, though, my laptop is still enable to dial the remote computer provided by Wix Company that just bought this Hello internet provider from Tel Pacific. Terribly, my IE or FF can’t open any site. OMG! I am hopeless. But, please don’t blame me because I use dial up service in this develop country with many good choices of internet connection. It must have been for a reason.

Now I am at my office thinking how to solve this sort of annoying problem.

I called the customer service already but I gave it up after waiting in the line for about fifteen minutes. Why? Huh… because I was in a queue number fifteen, a lady voice prompted me! This call’s hurt me but I knew it before I made it, to be honest. I suspected the owner is an east-Asia migrant as I always don’t believe that less qualified product but don’t have choice not to take it. Poor me!

This is so painful. I just need to emailing, finding journals and blogging a bit. I never download gigantic byte of files like pictures, games, videos or music. I just need it for another four months living in this expensive renting house city.

Nonetheless, I have to sort this problem… who else if not myself! Appeal to the old service is wasting time, indeed I decided to get a new service.

Ahnaf dan Buku (3)

Makasih buat Mbak Dwi yang mau dititipin beliin soft-books di Sunday Market buat Ahnaf. Harganya murah banget banget dibanding beli baru, dan barangnya juga masih oke, nampak baru dan bersih. Secara buku ini terbuat dari kain, buku ini gampang diremas oleh Ahnaf dan biasa deh... langsung masuk ke mulut... memang dia sekarang paling senang berekplorasi dengan mulutnya...

Reading time becomes more enjoyable, :)

Brownies for Birthday

Yesterday I successfully made Brownies with chocolate icing (ganache) spread over on the top and double thick cream for the filling. This brownies was specially made for by hubby birthday cake. And, he loved it. There's no other feeling unless satisfied.

The thing that I missed was taking its picture. I just wanted to take the picture and posted in here. But after the cake ready, ada aja that made me keep taking photo of it behind. Indeed there was no blowing candle ceremony or something like that. We didn't dress up or decorate the room. I sliced the cake soon and gave it to my hubby, instead. It's enough for this busy time.

The cake had gone very quick. It's deadly yummy... I wanna make it again because it's very easy to make. Just have to be patient waiting the cake cool.

I got the recipe from friend, but I modified it a little bit. Here is the recipe.

For brownies:
First.
Grease 22cm round pan.
Preheat oven to 180C

Second.
Combine in a bowl:
2 1/4 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup chocolate powder

Third.
Melt 1 cup butter (half melt, not too oily)
Melt 200 grs dark cooking chocolate (once it's melted, remove from heat and soon add the butter to this melted choco and stir finely)
Add stir 3 eggs stir until the eggs mix together with the chocolate, then
Add 1 cup milk

Fourth.
Mix "Third" and "Second", stir quickly. Don't stir too much though.
Ready to oven for 30 mins until the surface looks dry or wooden stick comes up dry when inserted.

For filling:
Mix
1 cup (300 ml) of double thick cream (I spare 3 tbs for the ganache)
5 tbs caster sugar

For ganache:
Melt 150 grs (or more) dark cooking chocolate
Still on the heat, Add 3 tbs double thick cream and 3 tbs milk
Stir gently until a bit thicken.

For finishing:
Wait until the cake cool, totally cool. Because if not cool or still warm, it will melt the filling cream. I need about 3 hours to cool the cake.
Cut it horizontally, use sharp/wide knife.
Spread the filling between the layers.
Spread the ganache on the outside.
Cool.

The funny thing was hehehe... every time my hubby eat the cake, he said "happy birthday..." hehehe... following what I was saying when I plated the cake for him at the first. What a memorable day.

Sleeping in Pram

A baby life on Ahnaf's stage is still simply in this cycle: sleeping-feeding-playing. This cycle is a cycle that can fool or stress first mothers. Three simple behaviors that can be multiple commitment for mothers. However, motherhood is so much enjoyable. It's an excitement. It's rewarding.

Found him sleeping seriously (not deeply) hehe... in his pram when we're going for walk made me stopped and took a shot. Sitting in pram and be pushed around can make him sleeping quickly. If he awakes, usually he enjoys viewing around. Very fortunate, he seldom cries in his pram. If he does, usually I stop and talk with him. If this doesn't comfort him, I prefer put him in my cuddle. I don't like he cries. Because, I love him very much. This love can't spoil him, I believe. As he's just an innocent creature.

Kuliah Jarak jauh

A comment for Mas Andi

Mobilitas seorang I Made Andi Arsana adalah sangat luar biasa, siapapun akan paham setelah tahu bahwa Mas Andi, begitu saya biasa menyapanya, adalah duta bangsa untuk PBB. Dedikasinya untuk perkembangan ilmu mutlak tidak diragukan lagi. Akhir-akhir ini beliau menyelenggarakan kuliah jarak jauh, sejauh jarak New York dan Yog ya (sengaja dipisah…hehe…) menggunakan Instant Massanger (IM). Sah bagi seorang dosen seperti beliau untuk menyampaikan kuliah dengan menggunakan cara tersebut, secara beliau hampir tidak mungkin diposisikan dalam kelasnya saat ini dan (mungkin) tidak tergantikan oleh dosen yang lain, sementara mahasiswanya sudah perlu penyegaran ilmu.

Membaca testimoni dari mahasiswa beliau, terkesan bahwa para mahasiswa tersebut senang dengan kuliahnya. Saya pun kalau waktu itu berada di kelas menyimak kuliah beliau yang disampaikan melalui IM lengkap dengan presentasi gambar/animasi materi dan penjelasan langsung (baca: suara asli) pasti (sekali lagi: pasti) akan tertegun, baru mendengar kabarnya saja saya langsung membatin “wew… fantastic”. Namun belum tentu ilmu saya nambah dengan kuliah seperti ini, ga tau ya kalo yang lain...

Pengakuan-pengakuan yang disampaikan di blog beliau sepertinya lebih cenderung pujian kepada bapak dosen yang pintar menggunakan teknologi dan peduli, kalau saya tidak salah mengintepretasikan testimoninya dan tertegun saya ini loh… bukan pengakuan bahwa tujuan kuliah tercapai yaitu pembelajaran. Seseorang dikatakan belajar jika dia dapat mentransferkan apa yang dipelajari, baik dalam level mampu mengulang kembali maupun mampu mengaplikasikan ke tingkatan yang lebih lanjut. Jika memang cara ini baik, seharusnya mahasiswa tersebut menuliskan testimoni berupa capaian dia atas materi yang telah dipelajari.

Jangan-jangan… ^_^ para mahasiswa sibuk menonton tampilan dan mendengarkan suara sehingga lupa bahwa yang ditonton dan didengarkan adalah pelajaran (FYI, sudah ada penjelasan dari cognitive load theorist mengenai hal ini). Seperti halnya menonton film, setelah keluar dari bioskop kan lain orang lain ceritanya…

Lebih lanjut, cara ini menurut saya tidak bisa dipakai oleh sembarang orang dan tidak laik diterapkan secara terus menerus. Untuk seorang Mas Andi, dengan sedikit pembenahan* pada materi dan fasilitas, menurut saya, ini adalah ide bagus yang membuka ruang bagi dosen yang bertugas di luar negeri, juga tentunya memberikan teladan dan motivasi kepada mahasiswa. Namun, bagi dosen yang sebenarnya bisa satu ruang dengan mahasiswa, saya kira secara pedagogi akan lebih banyak capaiannya dengan menempatkan diri di antara mereka untuk memberikan instruksi pembelajaran dari pada kuliah jarak jauh dengan metode IM atau lainnya. Sekali dua kali untuk suatu alasan yang jelas sih oke oke saja, toh mahasiswa adalah pembelajar dewasa.

Oh ya, kuliahnya Mas Andi ini pake diskusi atau enggak ya? Saya ingat pernah baca jurnal penelitian yang membedakan face-to-face dan online discussion (yang ngarang siapa ya... please check b-y-s, yang aku ingat ini di jurnal learning and instruction, 2007). Secara academic performance hasilnya masih mix, artinya tidak ada yang satu dominan atas yang lain. Tapi secara short-term impression, subyek lebih cenderung dengan online discussion.

Memang sih ada efek sosial yang muncul dalam co-learners interaction (oh ya jadi ngeh, diskusi penelitian ini adalah antar-siswa, bukan antar instruktur (dosen) dan siswa, kasusnya bearti beda ya… hehehe… sorry-sorry… iya beda, karena prior knowledge sesama siswa (co-learners) diasumsikan sebanding, sedangkan dalam diskusi antara dosen – siswa, dosen bisa menjadi scaffolding, jadi udah beda ceritanya….

Wah jadi ngelantur, oke… kembali ke… hmm… oh ya, efek sosial dalam berdiskusi a.l. free riding, sucker effect, egocentrism, dll. Kalo secara online (dlm penelitian tsb medianya tertulis, hampir sama dengan chatting di IM), ada dorongan untuk terlibat dalam diskusi karena semua omongan terekam – tertulis, jadi ketahuan jelas kalo ada yang ga fair, sedemikian sehingga anggota diskusi akan saling menahan diri untuk mengembangkan sikap kooperatif dalam beediskusi. Sedangkan kalo face-to-face, susah mengontrolnya… kalo disupervisi langsung misalnya melalui kamera/asisten mungkin akan muncul masalah lain. Apalagi kalo ada anggota kelompok yang pacaran… hehe… ceritanya jadi lain.

Udah ah… emang saya ini siapa kok berani-beraninya ngasih komentar begini ke orang pinter kayak Mas Andi, ngapunten nggih kalo ada yang kurang berkenan, kalo ada yang kurang mutu, mohon pencerahan... Regardless my comment, salut tenan untuk Mas Andi atas semuanya.

*) perlu penelitian nih supaya teruji!

VerveEarth.com

Just another internet surfing engine powered by Google, VerveEarth is not too disappointing. It gives you information about the geography of websites. In other words, if you want to search information from a part on this earth, you can just go through VerverEarth, find the location and there will be some addresses ready to brows. It doesn't fit for slow internet connection, though. But I like it, not too bad effort. Likely, it's still in process of registering websites.

Anyway, good luck for Clayton, the CEO of VerveEarth.

Ahnaf and Irish Lady

My baby Ahnaf and I went to pharmacy nearby a few days ago. I left Ahnaf in his pram. He just woke up and was very quite. While I was ordering my medicine, I heard a lady talking alone. I turned my face to that warming voice and as I reckoned, she talked to my Ahnaf. Likely, she was falling in love with Ahnaf at her first look. She repeated repeated and repeated again admiring Ahnaf. It's so lovely hearing her appreciation.

She is absolutely beautiful. She told me that she moved in Australia seven years ago. Her parents and extended family are in Ireland. She has two brothers in England and a sister in America. Her parents do not have any grandchild yet. With her tears, she told me many personal things that I won't write here and all just end up with sharing email address. She loves babies but Ahnaf is just different, she said ^_^ As far as I know, people here in Sydney are always fascinated with babies. Whenever I go, they see my baby cheerfully. This is another story, though.

Surprisingly, Ahnaf screamed loudly. He might think who they are around me and what they are talking of me about, since the pharmacy ladies also came down to us. It was a good chance for her since then I took Ahnaf out from his pram. She asked permition to hold Ahnaf and I gave him. "But don't take him away", I said to her with a big smile. She smiled back, "of course... God bless you, you must be so happy..." she continued.

Lucky Ahnaf.

Muffin

Saya baru tahu setelah tinggal di Sydney beberapa saat kalau jajanan yang namanya maf-fin ini sangat populer dan mudah dibuat. Saya sering mendapatinya di acara morning tea di kampus, di kantin, supermarket dan di rumah teman. Iya, temen saya (baca: bule) suka banget buat maf-fin untuk menjamu tamu. Umumnya dimakan sebagai snack bersanding dengan secangkir kopi hangat. Bagi saya sih lebih enak disambung dengan minum jus buah atau air es, secara roti ini bikin haus :)

Memang roti jenis ini sangat mudah dibuat. Sore tadi setelah menidurkan Ahnaf, saya membuatnya hanya dalam waktu 30 menit (10" persiapan, 15" masak, 5" nyuci alat-alat). Hasilnya sangat memuaskan. Mohon maaf kalo fotonya ga begitu jelas, kamera saya sepertinya memang minta di-ap-gred.

Get ready:
Oven 180C
Muffin baking pan (6 or 12 holes doesn't matter)
Patty case (if required, e.g your pan is sticky)

First, COMBINE:
1,5cups self raising flour (plain flour + 3ts baking powder)
0,5cup caster sugar

Second, MIX:
1 egg, beat with fork
3 tbs melted and cold butter/margarine

0,5 cup milk

Third, for flavouring (optional):
5 tbs dried fruits or
5 tbs choc chips

1. Mix the first and the second finely with spatula.
   
2. Add the third, stir.
3. Put in the muffin pan. Learn your pan whether you need patty cases or to spread with butter.
   
4. Bake in oven 180C for 15 minutes. Done.

This is a basic recipe, thanks for Mary. It makes 24 small/12 big muffins.

Seandainya saja Ahnaf sudah besar, pasti dia akan senang makan roti ini. *membayangkan*

Recipe of Bothok

I decided to write a complete recipe of bothok, eventually. There are several variation of bothok but the origin one I reckon is the one with grated coconut meat, like what will I describe below. Please note that the measurement works as your direction only, follow your cooking intuition to decide the right composition that suit your appetite. The ingredient is mostly available at Asian (Indonesian) shops.

Preparation/Cooking time: about 1,5 hours

First:
10 garlic
10 shallot/1 big onion
10 chili (as hot as you like!)
10 candle nut & 2 tbs coriander, (it's a good idea to heat them in microwave for 20sec or fry with a little amount of oil until smell good or just brown)
1 tomato
1 tbs terasi
note: no salt if the silver fish is salted

Second:
200 ml coconut milk
200 g grated coconut meat
200 g silver fish
200 g belinjo leaves, slice
100 g petai, slice (I like it in small peaces) (optional)
100 g tempe, slice (I like it thin) (optional)

Third:
1 tomato, slice vertically, make about 12
galanga, slice
bay leaves
banana leaves
al-foil

Fourth:
steamer
pan+olive/any oil for frying

Direction:

1. Blend the first ingredient. You can leave the chili in slices though.
   
2. Heat pan with small amount of oil in medium level to fry the blended ingredient, until smell nice.
3. Add coconut milk, simmer 2 minutes.
4. Add all the second ingredient, stir finely. Make sure it is not watery. I call this pre-bothok ^^
   
5. Remove from heat.
6. Get ready the steamer while you're wrapping!
7. On a piece of banana leaves, put 5 tbs pre-bothok, top with 1 bay leave, 1 slice galanga, 2 slices tomato then roll and fold the sides to secure. To strengthen it, wrap again with al-foil. Make about 10.
8. Steam for 30 minutes.
9. Serve with warm medium long grain/jasmine rice.

We'll be more addicted and feel more live and rewarding enjoying bothok on banana leaves, not on a plate; using fingers not spoon, sitting on the floor not on the dining table. Traditional food is always a good food. I'm loving it.

Bothok and Ahnaf

Cooking bothok this morning was an extraordinary choice. I did it because my hubby and I were bloody missing our homeland, Indonesia. Bothok is kinda banana leaves wrapped food. For me it isn't easy to make it, indeed, the ingredient isn't available fresh. Moreover, it is considered expensive in Sydney. In addition, I have a baby to look after.

What make bothok? I need: grated coconut meat, silver fish, belinjo leaves, bay leaves, galanga and banana leaves for wrapping (Sadly, I still need al-foil to strengthen the wrap!). Just believe me, they are rarely available fresh in Sydney. Most of them are frozen or dried. Again, because they are imported, their cost are absolutely expensive. But money can't buy a feeling of missing, so doesn't matter we spent dollars for this moment. Okay, for seasoning, I blend: garlic, onion, chili, candle nut, corriander, and salt.

How to make it? It's not really hard but not even that easy, of course takes time. Also to write the steps... ^_^ If you really wanna make it, please send me an email. No bargain! I will describe it step by step for you.

I got ten bothoks and we enjoyed it soooo much. It made me cooking rice a half more that I am used to. Fortunately, my son cooperated with me while I made it. My baby is just lovely. He is so cute even quite often show a serious look. Here some shot of him when he's enjoying himself.

kejungkel - nungging (what is it in english? err...)

looking out of the window for about 15 minutes, unbelievable,

he's able to sit without support (4,5 months old).

ngen-cesssssss....
double-chin-nya itu loh.... bikin gemes... real man!

doll-hug

papers around
anything on his hand or his finger goes to his mouth!

"andan-andan", javanese says.
"Mom, now I know I have foot", if he could say... ^_^

All right, it's enough pics for now. Still have many though, but later. Now I am back to study!

Know thing Been where

Firstly, it's been acknowledged that babies start learning since still in the womb. So, babies do not know nothing. They know things, indeed, on their developmental stage.

Secondly, babies have been in the womb since their conception. So, they have not been nowhere, indeed, on their tiny steps. Unless, someone takes 'em away for sure.

Nonetheless, I like that shirt on my baby because it has envelope collar that makes an easy way to pass through my baby's head, FYI sometimes I have to fight with him just to put clothes on him. But the silly words has successfully put me back to write a post here, in a mean time of altering my undone thesis. Fyuh...

Wanita Super

Co-supervisor masters thesis saya, A/Prof. Ayres mengatakan, "You now have a new life, your life must have changed since you have a baby ..." dan memang dia satu-satunya yang mengatakan bahwa hidup saya telah berubah setelah mempunyai anak. Waktu itu bayi saya masih berusia empat minggu dan saya tidak begitu responsif dengan ucapannya. Namun, akhir-akhir ini saya mulai merasakan kebenaran ucapannya melihat betapa banyak perubahan dalam hidup saya.

Tidak perlu disebutkan satu per satu, saya kira, perubahan-perubahan tersebut. Yang pasti, banyak kebiasaan dan rutinitas yang terganti. Kewajiban saya bertambah satu, yaitu mengasuh anak, sedangkan saya masih ingin menggeluti aktivitas yang sama seperti sebelumnya. Padahal, saya sudah lumayan sibuk waktu itu dan waktu sudah terasa kurang hanya untuk diri saya.

Tekanan hidup tentu saja menyiksa saya. Dengan mendongkrak motivasi dari dalam diri, saya telah memulai adaptasi. Sudah lumayan bayi dan saya sudah bisa 'settle' dan 'happy together', memang ini yang paling penting. Penyesuaian yang saya lakukan sebenarnya masih kurang. Saya sebagai mausia terbatas, dan mulai merasakan kelelahan yang sangat tanpa capaian yang memuaskan. Bulan berganti bulan, bayi saya sudah melewati usia empat setengah bulan. Serius, terlepas dari kepuasan saya menggeluti bayi saya setiap saat, hidup saya secara pribadi terasa hambar dan pincang. Bahkan saya merasa sedang berada di titik terendah, saya merasa lumpuh. Menjadi wanita super adalah satu impian saya saat ini. Meskipun, supervisor saya, Prof. Sweller sudah meyakinkan bahwa, "It's very normal if everything goes slowly...".

Ahnaf dan Buku (2)

Ahnaf suka bermain dengan buku atau kertas. Masih terbatas buku atau kertas 'beneran' sih, secara soft-book (mainan seperti buku dari kain) yang saya belikan masih nyangkut di rumah teman, Mbak Dwi. Ini foto kemarin... Judulnya Ahnaf dan Buku(2), nglanjutin postingan sebelumnya. Ahnaf awalnya sih serius baca gitu, tapi.... lagi-lagi bukunya mau di-maem!

Rambut Ahnaf sudah tumbuh loh... tidak plontos lagi. Jadi ingat, waktu Ahnaf dan saya ke rumah Mbak Dwi, si Izul anaknya bilang, "Tante, he grows his hair!" Kalo diterjemahin ke bahasa Indonesia secara utuh, "Tante, dia menumbuhkan rambutnya!" Maksudnya, rambut Ahnaf sudah tumbuh!

Ahnaf dan Buku

Mengulangi tengah malam kemarin, udara di Sydney cukup nyaman untuk tidur. Pun nyaman untuk berseteru dengan opini dan hasil riset di jurnal-jurnal. Sayang, kenyamanan ini tak bertahan lama... working memory saya over-load dan jenuh membawa saya kembali ke blog ini.

Saya ingat pertama kali saya memberikan buku ke anak saya, Ahnaf. Pintar sekali dia memgang buku, seolah-olah mau membacanya. Buru-buru deh kamera saya ambil... adegan berikutnya ternyata bukan membaca, terang bayi kecil saya ini belum bisa membaca, namun berusaha untuk memasukkannya ke dalam mulut. Memang inilah kemampuan motorik halus yang umum dimiliki oleh bayi seusianya (3,5 bulan). Berikut fotonya. Di foto ini Ahnaf kelihatan lebih lucu oleh kepala gundul, pipi tembem dan aksi mengatupkan bibirnya. Saya tersenyum, kejenuhan saya memudar.

Tengah Malam

Udara di Sydney tengah malam ini cukup bersahabat, tidak dingin atau panas, just comfy for sleeping beauty :) Sayang sekali saya tidak bisa tidur memang sengaja tidak tidur. Tengah malam seperti ini biasanya saya tidak tidur bukan untuk bercinta, namun mengerjakan tugas yang katanya mulia sebagai seorang siswa, atau lebih umum di negara saya, saya ini sekarang disebut sebagai mahasiswa.

Saya pengen sekali mengabarkan foto ini di blog saya yang abu-abu ini. Ini adalah foto saya bersama suami dan anak pertama. Kepada merekalah cinta saya berlabuh.

Baby Massage

Baby massage (pijat bayi) sounds traditional application but is very recommended nowdays in this modern era. Read and get guidance about it here or here.

I often massage my baby after bathing him. I do not need to massage all of his body everyday because it takes time and honestly, he doesn't like it everyday. Moreover, my baby is not always happy after bathing and he just want to finish bath ceremony as soon as possible. He gives me indication like yawning or screaming. If I find him relax, or I can make him relax, I will massage his body completely. I've never pushed him to be relax though, or it will just be frustrating. Anyway, massage has lots of fun. I do it happily by singing songs or talking with him. The most important is that it bonds you and your baby.

Perfectionist

One of my weaknesses is tend to be perfectionist.

Firstly, whatever I do is supposed to be perfect. Well, this is good in one side, as such this will assure outstanding performances. However, on the way to make it perfect could be the lack one. Frequently, I spend too much time to make preparation. I keep imagining, thinking, planning, revising, imagining, thinking, planning and revising again and again before the real action. Quite often, the real action is on the last minute. If a bad lack on me like technical trouble in my computer, lost money, tired or sick; the result, as you reckon, won't be as perfect as the plan. Poor me! The worse thing is that if I get interruption of another tasks during the 'thinking' period. I can keep one task behind and do the other, and so forth as live goes on, I get many things to do in my head. Eventually, I just get frustration and do it reluctantly. Some even unconsciously be forgotten.

Secondly, I want to do many things at once as I want to be seen as the perfect one. I have ambition to do this, this and this but reality, I only have one head, two hands, 24 hours, many hours sleeping period and many-many homeworks as a mother of one, a wife, a daughter, a grand daughter, an aunt, a student, a teacher, a friend, a traveler, a milister, a reader, a blogger may be, etc. I do aware that I have limitation that I can't handle many things at once, but am not sure why I still make plans and think actions. Consequently, this makes me more dreaming than doing real action. Eventually, nothing is resulted and I just become nerd.

Nonetheless, I still tend my self as a perfectionist. I know it could make me mad, and also people around me perhaps, that's why I categorise this character as my weaknesses. Even though it is not easy to perform perfectly, I insist to be perfectionist. What makes me like this is that I am always impressed by the perfect performances that I accomplished some times ago. I will try as hard as I could to pursue the perfect again. True that this sentence is typically said by a perfectionist, hehehe... You know, it is such a satisfaction once you could be perfect. And I believe that it will make a difference.

I have written about the same topic last year, click this away to read it.

Pengajian Akhwat

Pengajian Akhwat is sort of muslim women association whose activities like reading the Holy Qur'an, discussing family matters in Islam perspective, sharing experiences and, always, food. This in Sydney, however, is not limited for women only, but their children (male and female) can also be involved. Most of them are Indonesian students from UNSW, UTS, USyd, etc. Indonesians who are already PR also involved. Find about them in this site.

I am currently one of the member. It's a lovely place to meet mothers in here. Above is our picture (just a few of us who did Ied prayer at UNSW) after sholat Ied this year at Sam Cracknel pavillion, UNSW. My baby was in my cuddle. He was deeply sleeping. Can you find us?

Recipes in Mind

I love everything related to cooking. I forget when I exactly started like doing cooking, though. It may have been growing up since my mum asked me often to help her in kitchen when I was a kid. I am remembering now, I had kid's cooking stuffs and I played such a chef, cooked 'fake' food and friends of mine became the consumer. He..he..he.. typically femi-girl!

I am a mother of one at this moment. My husband really likes snacking, just fits with my hobby of cooking. If I have time, I surely make some for him. As my baby will be introduced to solid food shortly, I just started looking around recipes of baby food. About baby's, I like suggestion in this website: raising your children! It's worth to read it.

Once I got a place called recipes heaven. It's my friend's web blog actually, Mbak Ayu. Her latest entry, cupcakes, inspired me to make something similar in the near future when my son grows. It also makes me remember some recipe books on my shelf, mmm... not, I think it's in the box, already to sent to my home town in Jogja ^_^. Imagining my son eats what I make for him. Describing myself busy creating cakes and my son waits for them. I really can't stop my mind imagining(and smiling alone) that it'll be nice and indeed, becoming one of them who love serving with food is just profound.

Flying over some recipe pages, I keep them in my mind. They're just waiting for the time to be realised.

Zulfadhli Ahnaf

My first son was born on the twenty-first of June this year at Royal Hospital for Women, Randwick, NSW, Australia, with 2495 grams weight and 48 cms length. It was about four months ago and to be honest, I sort of forget how small he was. He was a very bit under normal weight which is 2500 grams. Now, he is a healthy lovely charming baby boy. His weight at this moment is around 6.5 kgs and his length is 64 cms.

I used to carry him using baby pouch at the first few weeks. Since after he's heavier than 6 kgs, I often go out by pushing him in his pram, but for short distance I still find that using baby pouch is more practicable. More effort to straighten my back, though!

Three words to say my most impression of having a baby are fantastic, patience and live. I can't lie to you that it is also tiring since I am also a student with thesis dues shortly, living apart from extended family, surrounding by foreigners. More, this is my first baby, that means first experience of a new life. I have to find by myself hints, tips and tricks to grow him up. However, this tiredness is gone when I see my baby is healthy, smiling, gaining new skills, and sleeping deeply. The feeling of motherly also shines up so beautifully, particularly when I am breastfeeding. It is wonderful! I love this motherhood.

I am back!

My last posting was in April in which a half of a year ago describes clearly the title of this post. I had postponed my desire to blogging until now because of many reasons... and because too many to mention... he..he..he.. I won't mention them here. However, just to say one that I was kind of bored to compile sentences. It doesn't mean that now I highly intense to write though, I just have too many stores in my head and couldn't stop my mind to think about sharing these stories in this blog. So, now my blog is waking up. I hope within my busy busy days, I am enable to manage time and share stories to my readers. Wait... I suspect they're gone already since I was quite for such a long time... sorry guys... I am a bit sad but doesn't matter! Surely I will be happy after kicking off stories in my head.

Okay, I am now back. Enjoy the following posts!

Syukurku

Subhanalloh, indah sekali pernikahan itu. Aku menikah ketika akan melanjutkan studi masterku di luar negeri. Terang, banyak yang meragukan keberhasilan studiku. Dikuatirkan suami akan merepotkanku dan menghalangi karirku. Kenyataannya, justru suamikulah yang mendorongku giat belajar dan everything goes well. Bukan bearti semua pekerjaan rumah suamiku yang ngerjain dan aku cuma belajar mulu. Tidak! Ah, apa sih pekerjaan rumah itu? kan cuma masak, nyuci piring, bersihin ruangan, belanja, beresin pakean. Bukan hal yang berat dan jika dilakukan pake otak, semuanya jadi lebih ringan kok. Apalagi kalo dikerjakan dengan cinta. Pengabdian itu terasa indah, justru kalo tidak dikerjakan... hidup serasa ada yang ga beres!

Alhamdulillah, hamil adalah keajaiban. It's amazing. I am extremely excited. Indah sekali... merasakan bayi di kandungan, mengunjungi dokter, ilmu-ilmu baru, dan masih banyak lagi. Ketika aku mengabari keluarga dan teman-teman di indo kalo aku hamil, sekali lagi, terang saja, banyak yang meragukan keberhasilan studiku. Dikuatirkan aku sakit dan belajar terganggu. In fact, my baby encourages me so much. Selain menjalani masterku di school of education, aku malah nambah kelas di school of mathematics karena ada ilmu 'baru' yang direlease di sana. Belum lagi aku mesti ke dokter tiap bulan, ikut kelas persiapan kehamilan, ke library cari referensi tentang pregnancy dll secara ini adalah kehamilan pertamaku di posisi jauh dari keluarga. Kehamilan tidak menghalangiku untuk beraktivitas. Kata teman, hamil itu bukan penyakit. Benar kan!

Ya Allah, aku tidak ingin menyombongkan diri dengan kemudahan yang Engkau berikan sampai sekarang. Aku hanya ingin bersyukur dan bersyukur. Aku ingin mengatakan kepada teman-teman, bahwa keberhasilan hanyalah karena kemudahan Allah, bukan karena menjalani hidup dengan lajang.

Kata orang, mudah atau sulit adalah subyektif. Kalo benar itu subyektif, bearti kita bisa memilih. Kalo memilih menjadikan hidup itu sulit, yang terasa memang kesulitan dan kesulitan. Namun, aku percaya jika memilih untuk menjadikan hidup mudah, yang terasa adalah kemudahan dan kemudahan. Yang aku lakukan selama ini dalam menjadikan hidup mudah adalah dengan berfikir positif dan bersyukur. Jelas aku bukan orang perfect, grafik hidupku tidak linear. Suatu saat aku dalam keadaan sulit, aku bersyukur aku udah menikah. Ada suami, tempat yang halal untuk berbagi dan bersandar. Suatu saat aku dalam keadaan sakit, aku bersyukur aku sedang hamil. Ada baby yang mengingatkanku untuk menjadi lebih kuat karena baby membutuhkanku kuat. Suatu saat aku dalam keadaan mudah, aku ingin menyampaikan semangat hidupku kepada teman-teman, termasuk ingin mengatakan jangan takut menikah dan jangan takut hamil.

Sekali lagi, aku hanya ingin bersyukur dan bersyukur. Terima kasih Ya Allah, atas semua ini.

Wording with Tables

Microsoft Word is indeed a sophisticated machine to produce word structures, however, to efficiently work with it we also need a familiarity with the menus. You know, one of the menus in Ms.Word is table and it's sometimes tricky to create such an informative table. Here is a link for just one tip to combine tables. You may find other tips there.

Enjoy wording with tables!

Autumn starts

Summer just ends in Sydney and elsewhere in south part of the earth. It is getting cold and windy. I found wet on every my steps to uni this week. It's still autumn though... just the beginning of the real cool winter next June.

This summer remains many stories for me, that unfortunately it's hard to spare my time and, hmm, actually I've got a low mood to write and post them here. Indeed, no time or low mood is a great excuse and acceptable for most of us. Just to mention a few what they are: fieldwork preparation, moving out from my old premises, bond claim, the flight, when I was home, the research, hot and humid in Jogja, met families, the first and the second USG for my baby, exit permit, back to sydney, a lucky apartment hunting day, moving in, I saw my baby face, international conference in cognitive load theory, sitting in Norman's class, cooking and cooking again.... and... ridiculous stories!

Whatever, life must go on. The routine one is working on my thesis, but the most exciting moment is preparing my baby's birth!

Stupidly AutoCad-ing

Something stupid baru saja terjadi dengan file di AutoCad-ku. Malu juga jadi amatiran sekaligus panikan. Fyuh.....

Ceritanya aku lagi mendesain mathematics problem solving, mengintegrasikan gambar dan tulisan. Hii... seyem deh.... Secara aku ini cuma tau yang namanya MS word aja, aku nggambarnya pake software itu. Bisa sih Adobe, tapi aku lebih terbiasa pake MS word. Lagian gambarnya cuma garis, panah dan sudut. Tentu saja gambarnya manual habis, tidak diukur dengan akurat. Apalagi waktu gambar sudut, waton wangun... :D Lebih-lebih lagi waktu nggambar tanda sudut, yang seperti patahan lingkaran itu loh... hahaha... lingkarannya gronjal-gronjal, enggak bisa mulus. Dasar aku nrimo, ya udah tak biarin, sekali lagi: waton wangun. Yang penting isinya kaan... Semua desain udah selesai, tinggal mempercantik tampilan dan merubah tulisan di sana, sini, dan situ.

Suatu saat, suamiku pernah bilang: Pake AutoCad aja... gambarnya bisa bagus. Sayangnya, aku gak bisa pake AutoCad dan buka aja belum pernah meskipun software itu sudah diinstal di laptopku secara suamiku kerjanya pake AutoCad. Sedangkan dia sibuk, aku sok nrimo dan males belajar... jadilah AutoCad cuma saran yang lewat begitu saja...

Kira-kira dua-tiga bulan aku nggambar njlimet super manual pake word. Sekitar 100 sketsa udah hampir jadi dan tinggal finishing. Datanglah libur natal dan tahun baru. Suamiku nganggur di rumah selama 2 minggu. Dengan baik hati dan penuh cinta kasih, cieee...., sang suami men-sketsa ulang semua gambarku dengan AutoCad dan sim salabim... suamiku menyelesaikan semua sketsa dengan hasil yang profesional -akurat dan mantabz habis kayak di buku cetak- hanya dalam seminggu -aku bikinnya aja selama berbulan-bulan dengan hasil yang sangat meneketehe- Senangnya hati iniiiii.... kata seorang teman: duuuuhhh.... punya suami cerdas kok dianggurin. hehehehe.... Mana aku tau kalo Autocad yg biasanya utk gambar njlimet bisa utk gambar yg sederhana kek punyaku, seperti biasa aku ngeles.

Karena masih perlu direvisi secara teori, aku diajarin beberapa teknik menggambar. Jadilah aku murid, dan suamiku gurunya. hayaaahhh.... jebul suamiku gak bakat jadi guru, marah-marah mulu... Dasar murid cinta ama guru, diciumin aja itu guru kalo gi sewot... hihihi.... mana tahaaaannn.....

Sekarang suamiku udah masuk kerja lagi. Semua gambar aku edit sendiri dan ternyata perlu revisi dan revisi dan revisi. Suddenly, something stupid just happened this morning! Aku mau bikin sketsa baru, tapi kok sketsanya gak keluar. Semua command active... kok gambarnya gak keluar... padahal, sketsa harus selesai hari ini, hiks... *panik mode on* mencoba jadi cerdas, aku cari solusi di menu Help. Halah, gak dong. *stupid mode on* Dengan terpaksa, aku telpon ke suamiku dan... jawabannya gampang banget: Itu pasti ada layer yang kamu turn off! Ternyata benar sodara-sodara, ada layer yang aku kira layer gak kepake tadi pagi aku turn off, waktu ngedit layer yang lain. hah... kirain layer gak kepake!!! waktu aku ngecek layer-layer, layer itu di on atau off gak merubah tampilan, makanya kirain layer gak kepake. jujur, waktu aku turn off layer itu, aku sambil ngomel: ini layer gak ada apa-apanya kok ada di sini. hiks.....ternyata itu adalah layer default untuk menggambar sketsa baru, dan lebih penting lagi ternyata aku sok tau banget.

Up-load foto

Pengen banget cerita tentang hari ultahku di taronga zoo kemarin, up-load foto-foto serta cerita tentang kepulangan Dina dan Migo. Juga cerita tentang pertama kali aku mendengarkan detak jantung anakku... wew... subhanalloh! Sayangnya, kerjaanku belum selesai.... gak bisa ngeblog lama-lama... palagi ngeblog di rumah. pasalnya, kalo ketahuan main internet -bukannya belajar- bisa kena teguran suami tercinta... tegurannya sih cuma gini: "Cintaaa..... kerjaannya diselesaiin dong... biar cepet tiduuuur... ini papa udah nungguiii...inn" :P Mana tahaaan.... pasti dengan segera aku nyusul bobo-bobo ama cinta. hehe...

Translating

I didn't imagine before that translating my mathematics material in English to Indonesian is very hard. Moreover some terms in mathematics in fact are translated pretty differently. For instance, the theorem "adjacent angles on a straight line sum to 180 degrees" is commonly known in Indonesian as "sudut-sudut berpelurus berjumlah 180 derajat" or just "sudut berpelurus" instead of "sudut-sudut bersisian yang membentuk garis lurus berjumlah 180 derajat". And indeed the word-by-word translation sounds weird. Well, actually the main problem is I sort of forget these theorems in Indonesian sentences :((. I pretty much understand them though and am able to create the instructional in English, but in Indonesian.

What I've done is write them up in English and then translate them in Indonesian because I need to discuss them with my supervisor whou does speak English. After all discussion done and the designs are approved, I translate them in Indonesian. Badly, I've got a bad mood because I need to recall the Indonesian terms. Less fortunate, I don't get any Indonesian math books with me in Australia. More less fortunate, the internet dosn't provide enough resource that I need. And the worst, only 5 days remaining to finish all up (about 100 math problems plus 50 working examples and all with coloured sketch). What a bloody thesis!