Talk to Your Friends

How's your weekend, good readers? I hope you got the amazing one, so it can fill your happiness bank for better future 😀

Everyone has their right to choose with whom they want to spend their weekend week. I prefer to do it with my family. Unless I made appointment with some special friends. Did I tell you my opinions about friends? Hmm I think I did, but it was on my first post of blog and it has been so years ago. Let me tell you once more about friends because I never get bored to discuss about it. 

Friends are one of God's gifts for human and I'm really thankful to have them around in my 23 years old life. Since elementary until college, I made a lot of friendship with girls and boys. And every one of them has their uniqueness in my memory. I used to think that there is a fake and real friends. But as I growing up, I finally knew that it isn't good to classify people as my own please and restrict my interactions with the one I assumed he or she is annoying because God's help sometimes come from the most unexpected person. 

Enjoy the current moment with your friends, appreciate them while they near. If some of them are trying to go further, just let them go. It's nature's law that people, whoever it is, are suddenly disappear and could be come back in random time. They have their right to choose their life path, maybe they need to improve their personality to better.

I have many kinds of friends, hard to tell them one by one. But these girls are one of my favorite team to hang out with 😁 I wrote about them once in here. At our first age of friendship, we used to like hang out here and there, trying new eatery, watching the recent movie, or another spending money activities, lol. By the time, I got the point every moment I meet Dota, Mbak Oming, Aurin : a simple joy in sharing my stories, so do they (I hope). Keep the spirit up, guys !

I believe that talk to your friends is the easiest way to pain release. It doesn't matter what kind of place I'll go in, just having conversation and shut the phone for a while, then I feel better. No wonder God always make His human in a couple, not only to bring in offspring but also for being a friend to talk.

Throw Back Stories: More Exciting Glasgow

Hi, people ! Is there any good readers in my blog following the throw back stories, Glasgow edition? Here I'll continue my story about it.

.

.

2nd week in Glasgow, I tried to walk around the city by myself and get lost. Therefore I became easily adapt to my temporary neighborhood. I looked around outside the flat, thought that the day will have much sunshine. Chipmunk's chirping, bird's whistling, bumble bee's buzzing, then I might be regret if stay at the flat for whole day. Well,  I decided to do city sightseeing and had some practice to memorize the First Bus route before being busy with the volunteer things start from tomorrow (August 9th 2016).

Prior my arrival in Glasgow, I listed some iconic places in the city. Even I read some article about it, so I wouldn't feel that awkward while visiting them. For that time, I choose to spend my day in Glasgow Green. I was interested to its glass house at first. But my sister said, I should try having lunch by the side of river Clyde. This river is the widest and deepest one in Glasgow, so some big ships are sailing on it. Glaswegian are proud for Clyde presence, even more the government built a river side walk to enjoy the view along it.

Here it is a glance picture about River Clyde. I'll show you more picture about in the next stories !

I was repeating the previous route to city center by using first bus 6.  I forgot when was I alighting but surely it was near George Square, the City hall. Then I walked to Argyle street, follow the map until I found a junction near Glasgow Green. So lovely to walk in here, the pedestrians were sufficient to be used by a lot of people, even if they brought a double stroller. The "pelicans" cross road were also friendly, not too rush in giving time. In addition, no one dare to break the rule even though there was no police officer. It didn't matter if the people already crossed the road, the car or motor cycle driver patiently waited "pelicans" until it was finish alerting. They just simply spoiled the foot walkers, didn't they? I was so envy to this citizen in here 😆 Since then, I'd rather walking than taking a vehicle because it was true I can reach every where by walks, easy cheesy cheap.

Welcome in Glasgow Green ! What a fascinating gate, isn't ?

Some said, in Spring is the most lovely time to strolling around here because the pink flowers of cherry trees are blooming. I wish I could arrived here faster 😯

This is one of Scottish monument in Glasgow. Ah, that time I saw a lot of  hard metal around it for football competition.  Yeah, people use Glasgow Green mostly for  holding big events.

Both picture above are the Glasgow Green green house. So sad it was under repairing during my short stay here.

Beyond Happiness

Now I know, the existence reason of advice to be not too over happy or sad. Abundant-happy made people easily show off to the other unconsciously and potentially emerging the envy seeds. In the other hand, sorrow-sad made people like or appreciate you because of pity, not your true ability. 

When I feel an absolute happy, maybe in other part of Earth, some people are suffering their hardest pain. That moment when those two kind of people were met and the happy one is telling a bright story. While the other only have smile, even silence, as their best weapon. Don't know what it means. Does it true or just fake? Hard to judge, better not to, though. But I have a faith that there are some angels who masquerade as human. These creatures are the ones who never feel pain and will never forget to pray the best for us. Allah bless you, who ever you are
.
Therefore, let's try to control our emotion, be careful for every public sharing. 

just saying my sudden random thought before the week ended. 

Keep your spirit up, people ! 😀 

Throw Back Stories: Glasgow at My First Sight (2)

Good afternoon, and happy Waisak day for my Buddhist friend who celebrate it. Hope this world will be a better place and blessed with abundant peace. Aamiin
.
.
Excellent campus, breeze air, scattered wee flowers, What else I was hoping for then? I totally adore this place. "Why don't you try to apply the master program in here, University of Glasgow?", that's the most frequent question I heard before I explained my interest in botany and I had a responsibility as a volunteer at Glasgow Botanic garden, that was never better. Beside, the second reason I'm not interest to study in here because plant science wasn't its specialization I thought.

Okay, I started to visit Hunterian Museum, as my first museum at Glasgow. My first comment when entering this building was "Hunterian is a crazy man" Imagine, he collected every specimen from around the world. Then, he was a doctor and a scientist at once. Even this museum already  became the oldest museum in Scotland ! Hard working never betray, dude. I found many kind of medical stuff, probably my young doctor friends would happily screaming to see all of these. It also had the mummy collection, the real mummies were lying inside the sarcophagus. Dinosaur fossils, ocean creatures, until the structure of wasp nest were also showed in here. I like the way they arranging the display, simple as well as informative. So every visitor felt curious to read it. I hope someday Indonesian museum will become like this, at least it might increase the people willingness to read about science. This particular field is still underestimated in my country, so sad.

The mummy sarcophagus. The up pictures was the museum hall. I thought it just a small place because it was located inside the university, the fact is totally different. Not that big though, but the museum expert was smart in using empty space. 

Did you think think it was a brain? Nah, it was a coral. Left side below, it was the dinosaur leg fossil that found in Scotland.

 

Next stop was, Kelvingrove museum. The building was so magnificent as well as the collections. The difference with Hunterian, it had a broad treasures from natural science to humanitarian fields. More over, some animal or people figures that were created as big as its real size succeed to let people observing the figures from closer distance. My sister said, "Are you tired after walk around this museum? Imagine the Natural Hitory museum in London is 6 times bigger and also free." I left in silence, wonder-stuck by public facilities in Scotland and unconsciously compare with Indonesia. Since those moments I knew, where did those incredible open-minded of Scottish come from. One of the cause was they got easy access to learn sciences and history that were wrapped in interesting "package".

Astonishing museum, indeed. The red bricks had completed the beauty of it. Besides the collection, I also found a food court corner and a stages for organ performances. Yes, that classic music instrument. Unfortunately when I came there, there was no schedule of it. So I just saw those tremendous pipes were climbing up the wall. 

Me and my lovely sister with Kelvingrove museum background. Right side above was me, trying to replicate Elvis's style haha. What an exsiting museum ! 😎

In the weekend, I spent my time with my family to find my safety shoes and my gardening costumes. The shoes is the urgent one, therefore our first stop was Sport Direct at Argyle Street, near the train station. Lucky me, I found it ! There were many kind of steel cap shoes, but I decided to choose the Dunlop one. It had a common shoes model and didn't seem like a working shoes, so I can wear it anywhere without worrying wouldn't match with my style. Of course, the price was friendly for my pocket, I forgot the exact number, maybe about 30 GBP.

Shoes checked. Then I need to find a comfy clothes for gardening but still proper for hijab user. My sister recommended me to Primark at Argyle Street because it had various model, good, quality, and surely cheap for a new clothes. Yeah, every body in UK knew this retail store, I was sure. Mostly girls need more than one hour to choose the right clothes, so I did. hahaha There were so much tempting model and I couldn't help to stop observing clothes. Sorry me, natural instinct 😆 Finally I just took two long sleeves t-shirt. I know right, that was unfair if I compare it with the time I spent !

Clothes checked. I should be done in craving cutie clothes, but you know that kind of tendency were hard to break. Plus my sister, since I was a kid, is the best partner for me in shopping. That's why we went to second-hand market in the country side before the week finish. Oh my God, I'm going crazy, load of super cute clothes here, only 1 or 2 GBP each! The thing that affirm my safe-money mode: "it just your first week, yaya. Hold on, There are still some weeks remaining ahead. keep calm, girl"

The pictures above were a little capture about the second-hand market.

Dear God, I'm happy to have short stay in Glasgow  😘😘😘

Throw Back Stories: Glasgow at My First Sight (1)

Good Night, all. Today is quite exhausting, but Thank God for some lights shining to my work. Hope everything is going well until we reach our goal for the book.
.
.
Yeay! Finally, the day was coming. I met the botanic garden assistant to do a little interview. Quite nervous honestly, since Scottish people were talking little faster. Syubidubidu~ Just keep swimming.

"Hi, I'm Ria, the one from Indonesia and made appointment via email with Finulla." That's where I started the talking. So first I need to fill the volunteer form and should been given to Finulla when I began volunteering. There were two days of volunteer in a week, it was Tuesday and Thursaday. Everyday was divided in to two session, morning (9.30 - 12.00 AM), meanwhile the other one was afternoon (13.00 - 15.30 PM). The volunteer were free to choose any day, any session. For safety reason, Finulla strongly suggested me to use safety shoes, the one with metal cap in its edge. Well, that's so easy requirements, I'm impressed ! Even there was no exception for foreigner like me, this garden was open for every one. I'm truly thankful for this chance because not every people in my country can visit UK easily. But there I was, I was in UK, Scotland and got extra lucks to communicate with mostly Glaswegian. That was kind of special honor for me and I promised to remember this experience ever. "See you next week, Finulla!"

Inside The Kibble Palace, one of iconic building in this botanic garden 💚

"Probably this kind of view will be very familiar to me for the next two months" My thought 9 months ago

If I had a wing, I might flying now. What so welcome city in here! I walked home, then told my sister that I need to buy the safety shoes and my decision to take all volunteer session for the next two months. "It's okay. But I think, we can't go for shopping today. I want you to accompany me to campus." Well, I just home and ready to go again.

We arrived at University of Glasgow. It was huge and has a beautiful architecture, cool ! My sister told me that some tourists even visiting Glasgow just for taking picture in this campus, they called it the Hogwarths building. "Wait here okay, I have a meeting with my supervisor. You can try the Hunterian museum, that's good enough or sightseeing at souvenir shop over there. I'll call you after I finished and we'll  heading to Kelvingrove Park and Museum." Aye aye captain !

I took a breath for a while and having a whatsapp calling with my Indonesian friend. I just couldn't stop the euphoria about volunteering in the botanic garden. Beside, enjoying the Sunny sky in Scotland was a bless. Based on my sister story, Glasgow weather was like teenager mood. It could be sunny in the morning but suddenly hard raining in the afternoon. Or else, cloudy all day long with little storm in the following afternoon. But mostly is shower raining.

Strolling on the uni's lawn. So lovable. Thank God the campus was on its holiday season. Left side below was called the bee hive, a famous spot in this campus. If we look at it in detail, its design was remake in Room of Requirement, Harry Potter 

This little things is one of my reason  I fall in love in this country. A lot of cute wee wild flowers are easily grow in here

.

.
.......(to be continued)

Throw Back Stories: Welcome to Scotland (3)

What a world ! Today my deep condolence goes to my beloved country, demonstration every where and a lot of people questioning the validity of justice here. Does it really exist to anybody without seeing their ethnic, religion, skin color, hair lines, intelligence, social level? Should Indonesian change their Bhinneka Tunggal Ika motto? I doubt that our people behavior still represent it.
Well, let's back to my stories because the exhilaration is still hanging up in my brain ~
.
.
I opened eyes then I felt dizzy and cold. The sound of kids were waking me up. "Aunty Ria, Aunty Ria, wake up ! Let's have some walks today" my niece said. Oh yeah, it wasn't in Surabaya anymore but Glasgow. Yes, the biggest city in Scotland with its unique accent. I can easily recognized he or she iss Scottish, especially Glaswegian from their talking tone.

I was going down from the bed, trying to reach my charged phone. Hmm, I should change my SIM card first. I was using EE at that time, my brother choice. Some people said it was quite expensive but trust me, it service was never disappoint, easy to use, and provided simple bundling packages. Good job. I brought my phone to the Glencoe and Loch Ness but the signal was still there, although I couldn't reach internet at few spots in. At least I could send unlimited messages or voice talking.

My phone was set up, let's get breakfast ! An email notification suddenly popped out on my cell screen. "Email? Really? Been some weeks I've never received a serious one." I knew it was important because the mail was sent to my working email. Unexpectedly, the content of it was going to change my whole plans in Scotland. I was accepted to be one of volunteer in Glasgow Botanic Garden ! It was like a dream come true, the volunteer coordinator wanted to meet me immediately. Then I offered tomorrow Friday at 10 AM. For God Sake, it was my dream that I want to taste working in one of UK botanic garden so I can learn how do they manage the garden, especially in handling the weather. I announced this good news to my brother and sister, they were so happy too. "Okay, there is no time for you to jet lag, let's get rid of it by strolling around the city."

Me and my sister were at the halte bus Great Western Road, near Ripon Drive. Usually we took "First" bus number 6 or 6A if our destinations were around the city center.

 

This one, my lovely place in Glasgow city: Kibble Palace, Glasgow Botanic Garden. Left side below is my favorite flower in here during summer, it 's called Pellagornium.

 

A pond near our flat. I was amazed with animal welfare in UK, especially scotland. This animals were wild and no one feel annoyed by their presence, even they care about them. Right side below, that was me while feeding birdies from a few distances hahahaha I was little bit afraid to give my bare hands, I just can't imagine how was it feel when their beaks were doing that "reflection massage" 😅

 

Here it is, the city hall of Glasgow and the field in front of it is called George Square. It has a wide public space for gathering, discussion. and yes, those old style building were adorable. I love its architecture ! Right side below is Glasgow center of Modern Art.

.
.
.
Such a warming heart memories, dear Glasgow. I really miss you now xoxo !

Throw Back Stories: Welcome to Scotland (2)

Hi there! 9.43 pm in here, Bekasi.
Today was so exhausting but exciting. I thought no one pay much attention to me, but Thank God my you introduced me with some angels in my life 😊
.
.
Back to the plane. Yes, the giant flying metal that brought me to London was quite comfy. I kept watching movie, again, and again. Forgot how many movie did I watch, probably 5? The rest of it, I slept or ate. Could you imagine how many kilogram my weight after this flight ? I wouldn't try to count. But my sister said, no matter how bored I'd be, just sleep because the flight was counter clockwise with my biological time, so I'd find no dark sky when I looked at the window. But it was hard not to say bored, my body refused to sleep. Furthermore my tummy started rumbling when we passed the Europe land, I didn't know why, just felt little bit unwell. Maybe it was related to physiological changing, I didn't get it too serious though. My brain then insisted the body to sleep. It worked, but for while, less than I wanted to. So when my plane passed through Netherlands, it was about 4 PM, I barely couldn't sleep. The excitement was getting crazy, the fact was I'll arrive at Heathrow airport at 7 PM. I still have three hours to fulfill my sleeping safe !

At 6 PM, London sky was clearly bright (summer) and the plane was nearly landing to the huge airport. Wow, it was faster than I expected ! Unfortunately it took a long time to reach the right parking place, more or less 60 minutes. So basically it was still on schedule for the arriving time.  Unlike Changi, Heathrow has 5 terminals and much more crowded. As if it was 1 hour faster for real, I didn't need to hurry for moving to the next terminal. I was trying to keep calm and walk toward the immigration as usual . Suddenly, some people came pass through me and run to the immigration gate. "What the....? Slow down, dude" I thought. Not longer after that, few more people run again with the same purpose and they were from the same plane like me. Well, I thought panic was permitted now and run as well. SURPRISINGLY, yes it was truly surprise, I knew the reason of running people just now. The queue in immigration for non-EU and non-UK citizen was 5 times longer than the EU and UK citizen. I was critically desperate, "Dear me, can I reach the next flight on time?"

More or less 8.10 PM, London time, I finally finished my immigration check. I was at the terminal 3, meanwhile my next flight was at the terminal 5. No time to think, I just run and follow the sign to move terminal. Thank God there was a free tube between terminal in Heathrow. But please don't get the wrong track or you'll lose your flight, therefore please listen carefully to any announced information.  As I remember, there was two tubes which would pass by terminal 3 in direction to terminal 5, but one of them was heading to terminal 4. I was luck again, the right tube to terminal 5 arrived precisely when I reached the station. I got in and took a relax breath for about 4 minutes before I (probably) run again.

I was right, when I was alighting from the tube, everyone from the same train was running. "Gosh, since when I was a sprinter???" I kept running. In the second floor of terminal 5, my eyes was scanning the space to find the security area before the boarding gate. Oh, the area was obviously seen from a far and valid for any flight. At the moment I was heading there, my body quickly stopped by a massive screen that showed every flight in this terminal. I was mesmerized due to its size and annoyed at the same time because the schedules on it were switching very fast. I had a hard time to find my British Airways to Glasgow. Even more I was not sure, was it on time with unknown gate or delayed? I need to hurry, indeed.

The only picture I could take in Heathrow, inside the tube.

8.30 PM, London time, the security check on me was just begun and I wasn't that lucky. I forgot to throw my half-full water bottle (more than 100ml), so I must take out every single thing in my backpack. What a shame, when the security officer search my bag, she can found a lot of "bumbu pecel" and souvenirs, Indonesian typical 😆 Thank God, it just spent 10 minutes.
After I was claimed "clear", I went straight to British Airways counter to make sure if my flight was delayed or still on schedule.
cs: "The flight to Glasgow, with flight number BA-xxxx is delayed for one hour blablabla"
I was terribly happy, tears almost dropped, ANOTHER MIRACLE IS HAPPENING IN MY LIFE.
y:"Would you show me which gate exactly my flight will be boarded?"
cs: "I'm sorry, but the exact gate usually showed 15 minutes before boarding time"
y: "15 minutes? .... isn't there any range of gate?"
cs."Wait a minute, let me check for a while. For your flight to Glasgow, usually it will take the gate between 15 to 20"
y:"...................15 to 20? Okay. Thank you."

Well, it's quite some for a range. I checked it immediately and found a proper seat in the center of the gates, near the flight screen, so I can enjoy Heathrow without missing any information. Sleepy head, untold tiredness on the whole leg, lack of battery made my condition perfect. I couldn't turn on neither my internet, mp3 nor camera. Or else, I couldn't call my brother when I arrived at Glasgow.

9.30 PM GMT, the sky still red just like the sunset had just finished. It was complicated, the head was getting harder to up but I can't use my mp3. In the other hand, I urgently need it to keep me awake. If I converted the time to Indonesia's, it should be 5.30 AM 😕 No wonder I felt heavily tired because my biological clock was still set up in Indonesia and I was like having no sleep for that day.

I lost my awareness when I got in the BA plane. I just slept along the 2 hours flight. When I woke up, my brain was ready for daily working, but my whole body refused it.Despite all drama I had been through, the point is, WELCOME IN SCOTLAND, DEAR ME. Be nice there, big girl !
.
.
........... (to be continued)

Throw Back Stories: Welcome to Scotland (1)

Good night. It's already 15 to 8 pm in here and I'm writing a blog, in the other hand I have to wait for my laundry. The topic for today is about my adventure to the far - far away land from my home. It was my first time going abroad, of course I felt so nervous but excited, what a combo feeling !
.
.
3rd of August 2016, 5:00 am, I started to leave my comfy jungle house, checked-in the flights straight to Glasgow, but I thought trouble want to greet me even though it was still early morning. Yeah, I could only check-in from Indonesia to London, so in London I required to move terminal and did the manual one. It was sound simple, wasn't it? Here it was the core problem: I had to do all of that including baggage, immigration queue, go to local flight terminal, luggage and body scan in the new terminal, check in again for my London - Glasgow flight, last but never least: find the right gate.......within 2 hours.

Thank God I'm a well prepared person, so I decided since few weeks before my flight day that I won't bring any baggage, a backpack is enough. I can buy the second hand clothes in Glasgow with friendly price, my sister said. Okay, one problem solved. To be honest, the most obstructing matter was the check-in thing in Heathrow, London. Everybody know, it is one of busiest airport on Earth with a lot of people and various flight in it. No excuses for any lateness, I might lose my plane. Oh dear me, I kept thinking all the way to my first transit at Changi Airport.

First time I entered the waiting room in Changi, I was amazed by its building architecture, indoor garden (a lot of alive orchid in here !), public space arrangement, interior design, everything is adorable. Even the customer services are so gracious and can speak a lot of languages. I felt like, I went to the mall, didn't I? For a moment I forgot my main trouble because I enjoy the time in here.

Dendrobium orchid grow very well in Changi. Cool.

My favorite place in Changi, Butterfly House !

I spot load of butterflies here, so exciting 😆

Felt satisfied after taking some pictures, the grey cloud strikes again, "what should I do, what should I do, what should I do?" I repeated that question on my neurons until a brilliant idea finally came. I was at the terminal 3 and I immediately run to terminal 2 to get in the British Airways counter to ask a question, here it is more or less, my conversation:
y: "Hello, would you hel me please?"
cs: "Sure, what can I do for you?"
y: "Can I do the check in for my flight from London to Glasgow in here?
cs: "May see your itinerary ticket please? Hmmm oh sorry, you can't do this particular flight here, because every straight check in should be done in the first airport"
y:"..... Well, Thank you"

The, let's try the second way. I used the airport computer to do the online check-in and I did it ! That's what I like from Singapore, although it just a small country but it has huge connectivity to all country, no matter the field is. Last time I tried to online check-in my British Airways from Indonesia, it didn't work, even I couldn't open its website. Another good impression in Singapore, especially Changi, you can find anything you need, from the common one to the cheesy little thing like printing service. Yes, I easily found it in this lovely airport, terminal 3, in the rest room 2nd floor, to print my British Airways boarding pass.

The boarding time was coming not longer after that. I was flied with Garuda Airlines, one of Indonesian's pride in world class airline. It was quite big plane with 3-3-3 seats for the economy class. "Here we go, I'm ready for London !"
.
.
........ (to be continued)

Spirit of Hope

Hi there!
It takes a long time to bring me here, so sorry. The core is I'm back, I'll be more often write over and over again. This time, I come with challenge.......for myself. Ha ha ha. I'm not joking by the way, I want to challenge my self producing one post every one day. The post topic should be the neutral one, so anyone can read it.

Let's see how good am I in fulfilling a promise to my self.
Nothing waste when you write logically and truthful.
.
.
.
.
Please meet my lovely flower named, Aprillion. It's included in Phalaenopsis family, Indonesia people usually call it "Anggrek Bulan". But why do I called him that name? Because I met him in March 8th 2016 and gladly bloomed in my bedroom in April. Octasharia, one of my lab mate gave aprillion to me. She said that she trusted me to take care of this flower, besides purple color was suit to describe my dynamic and passionate personality. Thank you so much Sari, you know me so well ! Indeed I'd rather choose the life flower than the bouquet one.
Since that time, Aprillion stayed in my dorm bedroom. Even when I moved everything to Surabaya, I brought him as well. I grabbed its pot all day long on the train, probably about 18 hours from Bandung to Surabaya. I do love him so much. He's my witness of everything, especially how hard is facing the world after college. If I can describe my post college life in few words, it may be like willing to preserve idealism in the other hand the surroundings keep judge you down and follow the main stream. At the same time, Aprillion also taught me how to get up and try again.

That's Aprillion's flower stalk, the purple one, proudly standing up on the front line of this photo !

At the first time Aprillion stay in Surabaya, he was little bit shocked. The leaves are falling, roots were diminish, even the old flower stalk was drought. Somehow he still survive.
It was new year, Aprillion start to bloom once more, even though took a long time to build a perfect flower stalk. February, the flower buds were getting bigger and looked like ready to bloom. But the faith said something else, unpredictable too much rain in that month ruined everything.

I thought Aprillion never know the give up words, at the beginning of April a new flower stalk appeared from the failed one and it grows faster than before. I was amazed to Aprillion, he always try until the result was more than I expected. It was blooming about three days after my birthday with addition of another flower stalk ! The most beautiful gift this year, thank you dear Aprillion 💜