Merry Christmas

It’s 25th December now and I just want to say, Merry Christmas to you all. Wish the best-yet-glorious Christmas for all of you. Jesus Loves You 🙂

Hayley Westenra – Winter Magic

On November 9th, 2009 Hayley Westenra released a Christmas album called Winter Magic and I think it’s about one or two weeks later the album came to Indonesia. I bought this album on last Thursday when I tried to buy a ticket for New Moon (but sadly, I couldn’t afford it because it’s already sold out). I think the one that I bought is the international edition because it contains the same song as the Hayley’s website stated. The other edition, I don’t know which one or how many it is, the Japanese edition, contains one bonus track called “On The Wings Of Time”.

Hayley Westenra - Winter Magic (courtesy of Hayley Westenra)

Here’s the complete list of the songs from the CD I bought:

1. The Little Road To Bethlehem
2. Carol Of The Bells
3. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
4. Veni Veni Emmanuel
5. Silent Night
6. Christmas Morning
7. Sleigh Ride
8. River
9. The Little Drummer Boy
10. Corpus Christi Carol
11. All With You
12. The Coventry Carol
13. Winter’s Dream
14. Peace Shall Come

And here’s the other one (I don’t have it, I just found it in internet):

1. The Little Road To Bethlehem
2. Carol Of The Bells
3. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
4. Veni Veni Emmanuel
5. Silent Night
6. Christmas Morning
7. Sleigh Ride
8. River
9. Winter’s Dream
10. The Little Drummer Boy
11. Corpus Christi Carol
12. All With You
13. The Coventry Carol
14. Peace Shall Come
15. On The Wings Of Time

Curious? Here’s the preview of every song in Japanese edition:

If you want to know the lyrics, you can find it in Song Lyrics. I’ll provide the text file containing all the lyrics (with a few adjustments) when I’m at home today. Okay, here’s the text file for your convenience. Sorry, it seems I broke the sendspace’s TOS, so if you want the lyrics, just go to the website I provided.

Nodame Cantabile OVA

As you already know, Nodame Cantabile manga had ended on October 10th, 2009 and, in my opinion, the ending is fairly good although it still have some things hanging around, i.e. Nodame’s dream to have a concert with Chiaki (although Chiaki said it, the scenes of the concert weren’t being drawn), etc. Another opinion, I think the last book of Nodame Cantabile will be the thinest among the others. I really hope Ninomiya sensei could add some extra side stories in the last book when it comes out.

Another thing… Maybe some of you already know that Nodame Cantabile anime had an OVA (original video animation) and it was released on 10th August 2009, along with Nodame Cantabile manga volume 22. This OVA had scenery similar to Nodame Cantabile: Pari-hen. Same style for background image/scenery. So, how’s the story? Here’s the synopsis 🙂

Agatha Christie

I know this news is quite old, but I’ve just hear it now. Agatha Christie lost stories were found in the attic of her daughter house on 2004 and the book itself was published in Britain on September 2009. The good news for American people, the story called “Incident of the Dog’s Ball” will be published soon by the Strand Magazine.

Agatha Christie

Here’s the snapshot of the news from Reuters:

The Strand Magazine said it will publish the 5,000-word story called the Incident of the Dog’s Ball, which was found in the attic of the author’s daughter in 2004.

…

“It’s a typical Agatha Christie whodunnit,” Andrew Gulli, the editor of the Strand, said in a telephone interview, adding that it contains lots of surprises.

Well… I just hope that the story will be published in Indonesia too somehow. I can’t wait to see it happened.

Luck and Luck

Well, this is the first post after a month and half I’m being hiatus from writing blog. Many events happened due that hiatus and… well, like I said in my facebook status, seems like all my luck being drained away.

The most unfortunate one is the postponed of the project agreement I handled. I know it’s a silly mistake I made and… ah… speechless. It’s like I’m being framed in really-really bad situation and the problem is, I’m the one who made that happened. Arrgghh…

Second, my old monitor finally can’t last longer to fulfill my needs. And the worst, I didn’t have enough money that time. Fortunately, my friend named Harry lend me some so I can buy the new one. But this happiness not last longer. Three weeks after that, my speaker (yeah, this one also an eight year computer device) was broken by the short-circuit when light and thunder storming my house. Speechless.

Still not enough? Third, I’m the one who take all academic financial responsibility of my sister and like I said before, I’m in short of money. Within a week I’m really stressful. I’m patiently-yet-carefully thinking how to allocate and accommodate all expenses so, without sacrificing my sister college life, I can fulfill that all. Good enough, I can accomodate some but still the problems go on…

I hope my bad luck will end soon…

Highway Price Adjustment

Kompas. Government has stated the highway price adjustment today. As you all know, this statement being taken every two years. The adjustment being agreed after Djoko Kirmanto, the Minister of General Affair, based on minister act no. 514/KPTS/2009 about the highway price adjustment. This adjustment will be taken place immediately on Monday, 28th September 2009.

Highway Illustration (courtesy of Kompas)

At press conference in General Affair Department today, Highway Rule Department Head Officer, Nurdin Manurung, said “Actually, this adjustment must be taken place on 4th September 2009 based on the agreement between the highway companies.” So, it had been delayed for three weeks now.

Here are the new highway price adjustment:

1. Jakarta-Bogor-Ciawi highway (59 km), before: Rp 5500, after: Rp 6500,
2. Jakarta-Tangerang highway (33 km), before: Rp 3500, after: Rp 4000,
3. Jakarta inner ring road highway (50.6 km), before: Rp. 5500, after: Rp 6500,
4. Jakarta outer ring road (45,37 km), before: Rp 6000, after: Rp 7000,
5. Padalarang-Cileunyi highway (64.4 km), before: Rp 5500, after: Rp 6500,
6. Semarang highway section A, B, and C (24.75 km), before: Rp 1500, after: Rp 2000,
7. Semarang-Gempol (Waru-Sidoarjo) highway (49 km), before: Rp 2000, after: Rp 2500,
8. Palimanan-Kanci highway (26.3 km), before: Rp 7000, after: Rp 8500,
9. Cikampek-Purwakarta-Padalarang highway (58.5 km), before: Rp 24500, after: Rp 27500,
10. Medan-Belawan-Tj.Morawa highway (42.7 km), before: Rp 4500, after: Rp 5000,
11. Serpong-Pondok Aren highway (7.25 km), before: Rp 3500, after: Rp 4000,
12. Tangerang-Merak highway (73 km), before: Rp 18000, after: Rp 28500,
13. Ujung Pandang highway part I and II (6.05 km), before: Rp 2000, after: Rp 2500,
14. Pondok Aren-Ulujami highway (5.55 km) just for trucks in 2nd section (Golongan II), before: Rp 3500, after: Rp 4000.

So, based on the list above, the adjustments mostly are Rp 500 and the biggest one is Rp 10500. Well, wishfully there will be no adjustment for transportation cost too 😦

Is it Holiday?

That question was in my mind all these days. As you know, governmental leaves took place from Friday last week till today, Wednesday, and seems majority – if not all companies – took the same time for its employees. Thus, it means holiday… but, you know, holiday with no money means bad (or even worst) holiday. I couldn’t go to anywhere because of no money 😦

So, what did I do to fulfill my boredom? First day… I just slept all day long… recovering my mind state from stressful job. Seems good? Not exactly because I couldn’t sleep that night. I guess I slept too much.

Second day… well, the planning actually go to my friend’s house (Hengki’s house) in the morning with two others (Subur and Meickel), but it slipped away to afternoon 🙂 rubber time. That day, we just talked and ate, shared thoughts to each other, etc. My boredom quite fading a little.

Romance of Three Kingdoms

Third to Fifth day… My boredom tightened me up. Just watching anime and… well, it’s quite a good TV series, it’s Romance of Three Kingdoms. I watched it from episode 31 to 45, it’s the part when Zhuge Liang go to East Wu (Dong Wu) to make an alliance for fighting Cao Cao armies and the Battle of Chibi occurred in this part. But ya… just this 😦

And the final day, which is today, I don’t know what should I do, thus this writing appear in my blog 🙂

Volturi and Hotness

Well, I know I’m late to post this news, but better than nothing, right? The Twilight Saga: New Moon, a sequel from Twilight movie and also the second novel in Twilight Saga, finally released their 3rd movie trailer two days ago which showed more Volturi members and their actions. Curious about it? Here is the trailer:

Well… don’t know why, but I’m very excited to see the cruelness of the Volturi members, especially Jane (casted by Dakota Fanning) since in the book she’s so damn cruel. But ya… I think we have to wait a little bit more time because this movie will be in theater on 20 November 2009.

And this one is my complaint… I don’t know why but these days, Tangerang is so damn hot, as well as Jakarta. All days are sunny and if I correctly remember, there are only 4-5 rainy days along this August-September. I easily have dehydration and can’t lasting at outside more than an half hour. And unfortunately, my air conditioner recently looks like going to broken. Another old electronic in my home and I guess I have to replace it soon or later, depends on how much my money will be 😦 sigh… why oh why?

Simple Anime Terms

It might be confused for you who just step into the anime world (like me in the past), about the target audience term of anime or simple term about other part of the anime. What are shoujo, shounen, ecchi, etc stands for? What does the meaning of it? Here are my simple explanations:

1. Kodomo: It means the anime is targeted for children. Example for this category: Chii’s Sweet Home, Doraemon, Daisuki Hello Kitty.
2. Shoujo: It means the anime is targeted for girls audience, usually in teenager age. Popular story plots usually involving romance and its affairs, girls’ stuffs, etc. Example for this category: Itazura na Kiss, Skip Beat, Saiunkoku Monogatari.
3. Shounen: It means the anime is targeted for boys audience, usually in teenager age too. Popular story plots usually involving sports, games, etc. Example for this category: Cross Game, Bleach, Naruto.
4. Josei: It means the anime is targeted for women audience. See… woman, not girl, so the story much more complicated and deeper. Popular story plots usually involving adults romance and its affairs, women’s life problems, etc. Example for this category: Nodame Cantabile, Honey and Clover.
5. Seinen: It means the anime is targeted for men audience. Same with Josei, this one is an adult version of Shounen. Popular story plots usually involving games, adults romances and its affairs, murder case, etc. Example for this category: Shion no Oh, Black Jack (OVA), Kara no Kyoukai.
6. Mina: It means the anime is targeted for everyone/family. Example for this category: Chii’s Sweet Home, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0.
7. Loli: It means the anime containing girls or women in girl-form. So, the drawing would look like a little girl but actually their ages much more than that. Sometimes the anime in this category also has sexual appearance of a girl (see, girl, not woman, much like a pedophile) but not too explicit. Lolicon refers to the character. Example for this category: Lucky Star.
8. Shota: It means the anime containing boys or men in boy-form. A reverse version of Loli. Shotacon refers to the character. Example for this category: Kanokon.
9. Harem: It means the anime containing boy/man-center romance. So, yeah… there will be many girls/women love to one boy/man. Example for this category: Hayate no Gotoku.
10. Reverse-Harem: As indicated in its name. Example for this category: La Corda d’Oro.
11. Bishoujo: It means the anime containing beautiful girl/woman. Example for this category: Sailor Moon, La Corda d’Oro.
12. Bishounen: It means the anime containing handsome boy/man. Example for this category: La Corda d’Oro, Hanasakeru Seishounen.
13. Mecha: It means the anime containing robot technologies. Example for this category: Gundam, Ride Back.
14. Boing: It means the anime containing large breast. The woman in this anime usually being drawed with large breast and her breast can be bounced (like a woman running – you know what I mean). Example for this category: Basquash, Queen’s Blade.
15. Pantsu: It means the anime containing woman’s panties. Example for this category: Queen’s Blade, KissXsis.
16. Mahou Shoujo: It means the anime containing girl/woman who has magical power. Example for this category: Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach.
17. Shoujo Ai: It means the anime containing lesbian story but not too explicit. Example for this category: Candy Boy, Aoi Hana.
18. Shounen Ai: It means the anime containing gay story but not too explicit. Example for this category: Antique Bakery, Hetalia Axis Power.
19. Ecchi: It means the anime containing more explicit sexual characters/stories. Usually the characters in this anime wears sexy clothes. Example for this category: Asu no Yoichi, KissXsis.
20. Yuri: It means the anime containing lesbian erotic activities. Example for this category: Maria-sama ga Miteru, Aoi Hana.
21. Yaoi: It means the anime containing gay erotic activities. Example for this category: Junjou Romantica.
22. Bara: It means the anime containing explicit gay sexual activities. Example for this category: Ai no Kusabi.
23. Hentai: It means the anime containing explicit sexual activities. Example for this category: Campus.

Hope my explanations can help and guide you to choose the anime you like 🙂

Dipodium brevilabium – New Orchid Species from Sorong, Papua

Researcher from LIPI, named Destario Metusala, announced today that he and his partner from Singapore, Peter O’Byrne, found new orchid species called Dipodium brevilabium, D. Metusala & P. O’Byrne.

According to his email to ANTARA on Tuesday, 8th September 2009, they have been researching since the beginning of 2008. This journal is a proof that Indonesia still have many unknown bio-diversity. The journal itself was published in International Orchid Review (page 117, fig. page 151-153, source here), United Kingdom, September 2009 edition.

Dipodium brevilabium (courtesy of ANTARA)

Dipodium sp have 25 species spread from Indo-China to Melanesia and Australia and West Pacific archipelago. This genus is hard to be identified by many taxonomist because it has same flower appearance with its labellum structure almost consistent. Like any other Dipodium sp in Indonesia, this orchid, Dipodium brevilabium, also have an appearance like Pandan plant (Pandanus amaryllifolius). That’s why people always called  it Pandan orchid.

The orchid can come with 35 buds inflorescence and lasted for 15-20 days. Its flower have diameter 3.3-3.7 cm and yellow as its base color with red-to-brown stripes. Dipodium brevilabium have unique morphology character which can be differentiated from other Dipodium orchids, that is, its short labellum with rounded middle lobus. The name “brevilabium” itself came from its labellum appearance.

This orchid is quite adaptive and can be cultivated from 200-700 m from sea level with 50%-70% brightness level. The humidity of its media and the air circulation are the most important things to be noted when we cultivated it, because when we lack of both criteria, fungi can come and kill the plant with rotted growing point.

Dipodium brevilabium orchid might have limited distribution to Indonesia only.