Breaking 'Hoax'

It's been two days, but my friend still is scared that the 'breaking news' she found on Facebook would come true.

They say a big asteroid might crash down to Earth on Christmas night. It said the event would cause earthquakes and volcano eruptions. It even said NASA knew of it. A few articles have began popping up about it, too.

But I don't believe it, right up to the 17th time she asked me that, he he he...'cause asteroids are normally on a special track called the Asteroid Belt, between Mars and Jupiter. From what I could remember, only Neptune goes out of it's orbit...or maybe Pluto does, too...

Asteroids are bigger than meteoroids, but smaller than planets. They're smaller than our moon, too. There, nice little astronomy lesson for you. 

So if one does come, it would create a crater about the size of a mountain boulder...right? I mean, right?

After all, if NASA does track it down, they would have stopped it somehow, like bombing it, or grabbing it with a giant mechanical hand and send it crashing Ceres instead.

And why would Facebook be warned about it first? Wouldn't it go around the TV and radio first.

Do you believe it?

Ultimate Pi Day

It is Ultimate p Day! Every math geek should be happy of this momentous occasion.
Pi Day is celebrated every March 14 (3.14), matching the first three numbers of p. 
But Ultimate Pi Day is celebrated every 100 years, when the most numbers in p (3.14159265358979323846264338327950288) correlate with our date and time (9 23' 53"). This is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, except if you're 117-year old Misao Okawa, world's oldest person, because the next Ultimate Pi Day will be in 2115.
Wow, the most numbers in p is really long!
So keep an eye out for 9 26' 53" !

Pangsit Goreng Isi Jagung dan Keju

Beberapa hari yang lalu saya membantu mama membuat pangsit goreng isi jagung keju untuk bekal sekolah.  Bahan dan cara membuatnya simpel banget, tapi tak kalah enaknya dengan makanan yang lainnya. Bisa dibuat dengan cepat, cocok disaat kita perlu makanan di waktu sempit, seperti ketika tiba-tiba kita kedatangan teman atau pagi hari menjelang berangkat sekolah. Rasa manis jagung dan gurihnya keju dalam kulit pangsit yang renyah langsung membuatnya menjadi bekal favoritku...kalah deh semua jajanan yang ada di kantin sekolah ^ ^

O ya, saya mengikutkan tulisan ini ke NCC pangan lokal Week yang diselenggarakan oleh NCC Indonesia. 

Pangsit Goreng Isi Jagung dan Keju

Bahan:

Kulit pangsit siap pakai
Jagung kupas, pipil dan kukus
Keju cheddar, parut
Minyak untuk menggoreng
Air untuk perekat

Cara Membuat:

Letakkan kulit pangsit di atas piring datar atau talenan.
Tambahkan jagung kukus dan keju parut secukupnya di tengah-tengah kulit pangsit.
Lipat dua membentuk segitiga dan rekatkan dengan air.
Goreng dalam minyak banyak dan api sedang sampai kuning keemasan.
Bisa disajikan dengan saus tomat atau saus sambal.

Big Coco

  Let’s meet Coco the squirrel. She lives in Mr. McGoo’s Farm with her parents and her sister, Celly. Every single day, they play with their friend Kiki in the leaves of the coconut trees, waiting for a chance to sneak bite a coconut.

One day, they were hunting when they spotted a larger squirrel than them sneaking in the direction of their nest. They followed him. Turns out, it was Big, their neighbor. They only talked to him once because he is pretty quiet. Big likes to nibble on weird stuff like leaves, leather, and string.

Coco’s nest was in the largest coconut tree. The coconuts were big, round, and plump. And Big was nibbling the coconuts on their tree. Coco felt kind of angry, because Big has his own coconuts to eat. They started throwing mulberries from the clumps of mulberry bushes below at Big, shouting “Give that back!” Big threw twigs back. Twice Big actually tried to throw, but it poked him in the ear instead.

It was a long fight. Juice splattered Big’s body; splintered sticks lay on the ground like dropped swords, and the sky was turning indigo signing night time. Coco, desperate to go home and have dinner, threw a big coconut chunk at Big. Big fell off. Coco and Celly climbed up toward their nest, while Kiki had rushed already toward her burrow (Kiki is a ground squirrel). Big scowled.

You Have to Write

Yesterday evening, I went to a talk show at Gramedia Pandanaran, Semarang. The talk show was about writing. The speaker was Mrs. Aan Wulandari. She is an author and editor. She already published lots of books and wrote articles in magazines and newspapers. She's also my writing teacher, actually. I once joined her writing course a year ago.

The invitation said that it would start at 16.00. Unluckily, I arrived 45 minutes late, so I didn't listen to the whole presentation. Poor me...:'( But I still got the question-answer session. I was not that loss, then. Many questions rose from the audience, and she answered each of them clearly. Here I share some of them.

Because one of her published books is a comic, someone asked her how to make a comic if we can't draw a good picture. She answered that she didn't draw the pictures herself, but an illustrator did. What she did was made the boxes as what the comic will look like, wrote the story and conversation in the boxes, and gave the full detailed situation for the illustrator to imagine and draw the pictures.

Another one asked how to publish a book. She said that some publishing houses only want our writing sent by post, some others allow posting by e-mail. Each publishing house also has its own style that different from any other house, so we have to adjust our writing style to theirs as well, so that they can accept our writing.

She also shared how to start learning to write. She explained the method she used in her writing course. She first asked her students to read a story (just a short one will do), then they should rewrite it with their own language, characters, plot, and other stuffs. Or they can start with creating a unique interesting character, and then develop a story with it.

Here are tips when you write:
-Keep writing, so you will not like, delay it and stop writing
-Read a lot, you might find an inspiration there and you can also learn how the author make her interesting title, opening, plot, problems, solution, and ending
-A walk to the book store may help too ^_^
-Write with enjoyment
-Try as hard as you can, and
-Be confident

I didn't bring a camera, so I can't show pictures about this talk show. Sorry guys, but I hope Tante Aan will share the photos from her camera and permits me to use it in this entry...

So, you want to be a writer? then, You have to write.
Good luck!

My Second Book

After waiting for almost one year (1 YEAR!!!), finally my second anthology book , Guru Tiga Kali, written by me and loads of other people has been published! I'm soooo Happy! I've waited for ages!

My story, Guru Tiga Kali, is the first story in the book and become the book title. I'm so proud; well, it's not something you see everyday, right?

You could buy it at Gramedia  for Rp.37.000. or online at BukuKita.com or bukabuku.com. But hurry before you run out of time, they cut the price to Rp.31.450!

Last year, I joined a KKPK competition with the theme of 'My Teacher and I'. Of course, I made my story in Bahasa Indonesia. I wrote it in quite a long time. I kept edited and edited again, even though I was comfortable already. And Alhamdulillah, I won the first place. The 10 best stories are then published  by Darmizan!

Please give lots of love to my book.

Breakfast is Cooked!

Hooray! I managed to cook telur dadar (omelette) and rice, for the very first time, this morning. I've never made one before. All I've tried to do so far was boiled the water, shaped a bread dough, and cracked the eggs. I felt really happy. The result of the eggs was great, but the rice went a bit mushy. I dreaded cracking and flipping the eggs. But it was quite easy when I sliced spring onions. I also liked watching margarine slide around the pan.

By the way, sorry for the delay writing here. First, the computer was broken. Second, my father is too busy, and I can’t use his laptop. Third, the internet was working…BADLY!!! 

I’m now a cook, just like Mother!

For the scrambled egg

What you need:

Oil/margarine

4 eggs

3 spring onions or scallions

Salt and pepper

Chili, if you want

What you need to do:

• 1.  Cut the roots off the spring onion.
• 2.  Peel the dirty bits from the bulb (the white part of the spring onions).
• 3.   Wash the spring onion under running water.
• 4.   Slice the spring onion as thinly as you can. If you use chilies, slice those thinly too.  To slice the spring onions (NOT the chilies) easier, cut all the springs in half. Put all the halves together, and start slicing. Thus, you don’t need to slice them one by one!
• 5. Scoop the spring onion slices (and the chili slices, if you use it) with both your hands into a bowl.
• 6.  One by one, crack the eggs open in the bowl. This was the bit I was dreading. I cracked it by hitting it lightly onto the edge of the table, and put my thumbs in the crack part of the egg and pull it apart. 
• 7.   Add some salt and pepper.   Mix it with a fork. 
• 8.   Pour the oil into a frying pan. I used margarine, I allowed it to slide around.
• 9.   When the oil bubbles, pour half the egg mixture into the pan. If you want a big and thick telur dadar, pour more than a half or even all of them, but it's hard to flip over!
• 10.  Wait until the bottom side of the egg is cooked. Flip it so the top side is now cooking. I was dreading this bit too.
• 11.  When it’s ready, put it in a plate. I removed the pan from the heat and tilted above the plate so I just allow the egg to slide onto the plate.
• 12.  Repeat step 8 -11 with the rest of the egg mixture.

Phew, I was relieved to get away from the heat! Trust me, it tasted sooo delicious! Because we made it by ourself, it tasted better than ever! Enjoy!

The Busy Season

Chapter I

The Harvest on the Farm

It was April 24^th. Annie’s family was the busiest of all. Father had to hunt, so he can’t work. Mother picked vegetables from the garden. Annie collected honey from their beehive. Annie’s little brother and sister, John and Anna, were picking apples, hazelnuts, blueberries and potatoes.

Annie headed to the warehouse. The warehouse was old and rusty and full of boxes and cobwebs. Annie poured the honey in a huge honey jar. Then, she came out to harvest the wheat.

Anna went in the warehouse next. She put the things she harvested in a bag and went out to shear the sheep. John came after that. He put the things he harvested in the same bag and went out to collect eggs.

Father came back from hunt with 3 fresh deer and 1 juicy lion in a sack. He put the sack in the warehouse and went out to the market. Mother was last. She poured the vegetables in a box and went out to harvest the grapes. They made a list of what was inside the warehouse:

  

• o   5 warm bread loafs
• o   5 soft pillows
• o   5 eggs
• o   5 grapes
• o   5 grape juice pots
• o   5 fresh deer
• o   5 cheese
• o   5 milk pots
• o   5 light bulbs
• o   5 groceries
• o   5 warm scarfs
• o   5 flour bags
• o   5 wheat stalks

Anna noticed there were 5 of everything. She asked John, Annie, mother and Father if they could work some more. Annie, John and Anna worked together to fill up the warehouse. They made it just in time. The list was like this:

• o   10 warm bread loafs
• o   30 soft pillows
• o   15 eggs
• o   18 grapes
• o   6 grape juice pots
• o   5 fresh deer
• o   50 cheese
• o   6 milk pots
• o   100 light bulbs
• o   50 groceries
• o   5 warm scarfs
• o   15 flour bags
• o   30 wheat stalks

The next morning was the 1^st of June. It was cold. Father went to the attic and grabbed 10 heaters. He turned them on and placed them in the 4 bedrooms, bathroom, living room, warehouse and kitchen, attic and the hall. He turned them on at WARM. He got the whole family to meet in the living room wearing scarfs, a big warm quilt and snugly sweaters. They rested their heads on soft pillows. Annie, John and Anna, although they were big, brought their teddy bears in. It was so lovely.

to be continued ...

Eddie run a farm

Eddie, Ken, Thomas and John were playing at Eddie’s house. The yard was huge and roomy. So, Eddie started a farm. He planted wheat first. Then, it was processed into flour. He sold it and bought 3 chickens and 1 sheep. He sheared his sheep next. He sewed it and turned it into wool. Then, he turned them into woolly clothes. Polly, his neighbor, would help him every day. The clothes earned enough to buy 1 cow, apple seeds, and juice pots and to build 1 factory. The factory had 4 rooms: Juice, cake, clothes and a shop. They made apple juice, clothes, and bread to sell. They got $49.99. They kept it in the cellar under the stairs. It was enough to make a second floor. They added Meat, Rice, Vegetable Soup

Jogja

It was Saturday, the holiday. I spent 3 days at Jogja. I arrived in the evening (because the journey was a bit too long). When I came out, my uncle and auntie were waiting. It was almost night, so I came in and took a bath. Finished taking the bath, I came out the bathroom, put my clothes on, and slept. 

In the morning, I took a bath, had breakfast, and went out to have fun. We went to Taman Pintar, a kind of place. We bought tickets, and came in a big building. I learnt about the presidents of  Indonesia. Then, we came in a bigger building, the oval building. I learnt more in there. But, I was in there for AGES! When we came out, we played some learning games. My favorite was Pipa Bercerita. It could make us contact with the person speaking with the pipe of the same colour. I came in the Oval Building again, but this time shorter. Then, the aquarium. At the end of the aquarium, I saw the dinosaur exhibit.  Then, we came in Planetarium room. I watched a movie. finally, I headed home (No, really, I came back to my uncle's house). But we stopped in the middle of the journey for buying books, and having lunch.

At night, I came to a lampion park. ALL of us wore red clothes. It was fun. I also played Boom Boom Car, Scooter, and Bounce house. I enjoyed all of them.

Feeding Time!

I own a doll. It is a blue bear. I call him Blu. Do you like it too?

I have 3 more bears. I call one of them Lambert, another one Charlie, and the last Big Bear.

I drew a picture on Paint. But... the picture has only Blu and Charlie going on a hike. Oh well. Hahaha, :-)

All of them like to eat fish, honey, blueberries, bread, honey cake, blueberry ice-cream, and chicken meat, except  Big Bear, who likes fresh cranberries and fish ice-cream...yuck!

Anyway,they are fed in the morning, afternoon, evening, and night of course. Which of them didn't? They like   mangoes a lot, so for nighttime dessert, ya, it is always mango pudding. And this is the result of the picture of 'em hiking on burnt rocks:

Blu Berry

Eastern Bluebird
photo by wikipedia

Billy was a bluebird who lived with his mother on a nest in an old oak tree. The oak tree stood in the forest edge. One day, in the after on a blustery day, Billy came back from searching for the insects. He was so surprised of the sight, as a pale blue round pulled a little bit circle, sat on their nest. Billy thought that it was an egg. 
"Mummy, is that an egg?" he asked.
"Yes" She replied
"and that means you will get a baby brother or sister" She added.
What shall we named it was the next question. If it was a boy..., if it was a girl...
"Berry!" Billy shouted.
If it was a girl, Berry was her name. If it was a boy...
Mum had an idea.
"Blu!" Mum shouted.
Billy already had Blackies, his big sister, that he sometimes called her Blackbird. And now he will have a new baby. Billy was so excited.
Soon after naming was done, Mum saw the egg was hatching. Out came 2 very wet bluebirds. Billy had twins! Later, Billy went to see Mum. He was very happy to see the baby bluebirds. Blu and Berry.




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To learn more about bluebirds, please see:
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Celebrating Lebaran in Pekalongan

It was Saturday, the first day of my school lebaran holiday. I, my brother Iban, and my sister, Erin were so excited when we heard the news that om Wiman, my uncle, is coming to Semarang with my cousin, Rafi, on Sunday. Iban was so excited; he wanted to join om Wiman all the way back to Pekalongan! I thought it was not such a good idea. So, only Iban went with om Wiman.

Soon, about 2 days later, om Wiman, again, came. This time, Erin and I decided to go with him to Pekalongan. We were so exited. After finding clothes and buka puasa at Pizza Hut, we bought donuts, said bye-bye to Ayah, and prepared to go. That night, Erin said, “I miss Ayah”.  When we’re getting further from Semarang, I felt thirsty. “Om Wiman... I am thirsty”, I moaned. 2 minutes later, we spotted Indomaret. We bought a bottle of cool, refreshing water.

Later we saw a house, which om Wiman triumphfully stopped in front, which made me fall out of my chair, since I did not buckle up. In came another man, which looked even more cheerful and sounded funnier than om Wiman. He was om wiman’s friend. Hours later, we, again, stopped at Indomaret. om Wiman stopped harder. That time it happened, I spun round and found myself lying on the car’s floor. Om Wiman’s friend came out of the car to buy coffee. Om Wiman let me block his friend’s chair so his friend could not sit. After a while we thought... How if we leave his friend alone, so we could see how he reacts. He just waved. Hahahahahahahahaha. “Hey, why don’t we buy ice cream”, Om Wiman said. So, we did. We bought magnum gold, magnum classic and a cup of strawberry and vanilla. We had a competition. om Wiman’s friend was first, since he did not get ice cream. Then om Wiman, me and Erin.

Longer, we arrived at eyang’s house. Eyang is my late grandma from my mom. Om wiman, tante Ria, Rafi and his family lived there. Found you! I managed to find Rafi and Iban there.

The next day, at sahur, I awoke when tante Ria, my auntie, wobbled me back and forth, pat my back, and tickled me. I hung like a wilted plant as I walked to the table. Hungrily, I scooped a spoonful of bright green vegies and white broth. I chewed and chomped it until empty. I repeated each spoonful. Soon, I felt like my eyes were heavy and my tummy started getting bigger and bigger. It was a sign that I was full.

In the morning, I played with Iban, Erin, Rafi and also Najmi, Rafi’s brother. We played plants vs. zombies’ game. After mama, ayah, and Alaina, my littlest sister, arrived in the afternoon, we went to Anti’s house. We slept over there. Anti is my grandma from my ayah. We did not visit Rafi so often after that because Rafi was at his grandpa’s house as well. I played with my other cousins, Rara and Novan instead.

On Lebaran eve, just before I went to brush my teeth and sleep, I heard a sound. It was like, bok, bok, bok. We rushed out of the back door to see. It was fireworks. We rushed up to the rooftops for an even better view. Cool. Later, just before I fell asleep, a lampion parade marched right in front of the house. We rushed out the front door to see. We saw lanterns; lots of children brought various shapes of them. We once saw a giant camel. It was amazing. I fell asleep seconds later.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

It was Sunday, the lebaran day! I woke up early to sholat Id. I took a bath, put on a new, polka dotty dress, scooped up my sajadah, and put on my mukena. I went to the mosque with Anti and Erin. After solat Id, I ate lontong opor. Then, we visited lots of people. They were my grandpa’s sister and brother. It was so boring. After that we had a family gathering with my Anti’s sister and brother. Then, again we went around. It was even more boring. It was a busy day, I was so exhausted. After I took a bath in the evening and put on my clothes, I fell asleep until the next morning. It was 14 hours!

On Monday I went to another family gathering. Then, we went to more houses. It was super boring. On Tuesday, to another 2 family gatherings we went. It was extra boring. On Wednesday, we again visit another houses. That’s the last of them.

On Thursday, we were free! I was so happy. I went to Meduri Park with my big families. I played ATV, mini boat, flying fox, and more. It was so much fun. Then, on Friday, I went back to Semarang. Home sweet home.

Ramdhan

Ramadhan, the holy month is just starting. I know I am not supposed to eat or drink until maghrib. And this...is perfect for ramadhan breaking. 

As well as......this.

    

Alright, I suggest they are all good and... oops, I forgot to add 1 of my favorites. Ahh, here it is... bubur mutiara:

Actually, I don't even know why it is a little bit fresh and unsweet. For more information, please visit my mom:s blog. Now, Ramadhan is that we don't eat or drink until maghrib, did I mention that already:)?

Time to sleep

At 08:00 in the night, I sleep, its a way to keep healthy. If no one sleeps, we all will fall asleep in the day. My mom, says I must wake up at 04:30 when my father is out of town. I don't forget to do as my mother says.

Healthy days

3 ways to keep health in our bodies...

1. Eat fruit in the morning. Until LUNCH, if you are hungry, you can ONLY eat fruit. It is a way to keep vitamins more.
2. Exercise every morning. That means do active things including star jumps, push-ups, and sit-ups.
3. Brush your teeth. It mean clean your teeth 2 times a day. You know the things hanging on your top lip and sticking out at the bottom lip? Yes, it is teeth. Some people add 1 more time to brush their teeth.

Note: Remember what your body is for! It is for holding stuff, walking and holding food, not for chewing your fingers or twisting you fingers in your hair. People in the north pole wear jackets to protect their bodies. They know it is not for putting in ovens or freezers either.

Happy birthday Alaina

Alaina,
Happy birthday!
Hope your 1st birthday makes you happy
Hope :
You are always happy
Become a child that is sholehah
You are a good girl
You worship to Allah
You live long
You learn a lot






Wrote with much love from Rachel oooxxx

Grape grower

A skinny man named Edward Jones was a grape cafe keeper. People come from miles around or come again and again and again to eat his grapes because he was the best grape grower there was. One day the king of Spain asked him,
" Edward, may I have a grape cake please?"
"Of course", Edward said. 
In an hour, the cake was done. It was a nice smelling cake that has grape jam,grape cream and grape sprinkles. No fruit but grape. The best tasting, of course. 
Minnie, his daughter, wanted to use some strawberries, but when she asked Edward if they could use some strawberries, he said,
"This is a grape cafe, not a strawberry cafe."

Minnie's mother worked at a stall too. A stall that sold tea and biscuits. Biscuits of all sorts of flavors. Minnie helps over there too. She does biscuits,while her mother gets tea ready. It takes 10 minutes alone, but only 5 minutes together with mommy's other assistants, Poly and Wendy. They wanted another assistant, so they put up a poster saying they want another helper. 1 week with father,the next week with mom. 

Back at the grape cafe, daddy needed a helper too,so they did the same with mom, putting up a poster saying they need a helper and putting that beside mom's poster on the poster pole. A lady named Lulu Lebert joined mom. A man named Michael Mostel, a woman named Poppy Parlos and a man named Carlos Combat joined dad. So Minnie gets to see more people at work. Eventually, Minnie had a day off from work on Saturday and Sunday. Both stalls are closed on Sunday, so they all are together on Sunday. Costello, Minnie's little brother, also did both part time jobs, so they had a lot of a helping hands. Poppy was told to help grow the grapes. Poppy can't grow grapes really, but can grow blueberries and other berries. Now Minnie is getting impatient to get with mom. She was keen to use strawberries and lemons. Mom is going to start selling lemonade on hot days too. Grape, grape, grape and grape is all dad was using. He can cook and bake cakes, but he only used grapes. He is not keen to use fruits other than grape.

There are only grape trees in Edward's garden. Anyway, one day Minnie brought dad to mom's stall for lunch. Dad ordered grape muffins, grape ice-cream and grape smoothie with grape syrup. Mom and Minnie, plus Poly, Wendy, Lulu and Costello made a plan. Minnie will bring Dad to Mom's 

Animal assembly: Parrot pingo

I already know I already talked to you about parrots and other birds, but I can't help it. I just like the colour, that is all. Yes, it works for nearly everyone. Colours of the rainbow appear on feathers of birds except crow and blackbird. Sometimes blackbird has colour. I like the colour blue because it is the colour of most things. What is your favorite colour? Please write that on the comment column.

Question day

The queen butterfly sat on a leaf. The king bee sat on a flower. Princess dragonfly asked them,
"Why do you sat there like that?" She asked in a pure voice.
"We are waiting for prince caterpillar and he is late!" they answered.
"Where is he? Pricetilaisia is waiting for him too". Princess dragonfly told them.
"What is he doing?" asked a bird, who flew down and hungrily licking his lips.
"Run all bugs, by order of the king! Shouted the king bee.
"How? Birds are all around us!" Cried the queen butterfly.
"Fly!" Said princess dragonfly.
So they did. Then, suddenly,
"Who is that?" Said a voice.
"I'M WAITING FOR A SNACK!" The voice added.
It turned out the one who made the voice was prince caterpillar.
"Pricetilaisia found me first". Said the caterpillar.