LGD dan essay on the spot LPDP

Oke. Lanjut ya cerita pengalaman seleksi substansi.

Setelah wawancara yang berlangsung kurang lebih 30 menit, turun lah gw kebawah dengan perasaan cukup lega. Karena jadwal essay on the spot dan LGD gw masih jam setengah 1, jadilah gw gabut jalan-jalan sekitar UNJ, ke mesjid buat sholat, ngaja orang ngobrol, dan lainnya.

Pas deket jam setengah 1, gw disuruh nunggu di satu spot untuk ngumpul dan ke gedung sebelah. Grup LGD biasanya ada 9-10 orang. Pergunakan waktu nunggu masuk ruangan essay on the spot maupun LGD untuk ngobrol sama mereka biar pas LGD diskusinya lebih enak dan ga kaku. Malah ada temen gw yang niat banget sebelum hari seleksi substansi udah kopi darat sama grup LGDnya. Gw ga seniat itu. Hasil blog walking gw (again), kelompok bisa nentuin siapa yang mau jadi moderator dan notulen. Sebenernya ini ga wajib, kesepakatan bersama aja enaknya gimana. Di dalem ruangan kita bakal dikasih secarik kertas yang isinya artikel yang harus kita diskusiin. Tema dari artikel bisa beragam. Kemaren gw dapetnya cukup ringan yaitu implementasi Pancasila di pendidikan formal (SD, SMP, SMA, kuliah). Ada baiknya untuk prepare rajin2 baca berita apa yang lagi hangat di Indonesia. Gw aja sampe tiap hari baca berita padahal biasanya ga pernah tertarik hehe. Artikel disuruh baca 5 menit, abis itu langsung boleh diskusi. Alokasi waktu 30 menit biasanya cukup untuk per orang di kelompok lo untuk ngomong setidaknya dua kali. Tapi karena waktu itu moderator gw menyimpulkan hampir semua opini kita, waktu cukup terstia. Tapi gw tetep dapet kesempatan ngomong 2 kali sih hehe. 

Untuk essay on the spot, temanya sama kayak LGD. Biasanya dari berita-berita hangat di Indonesia. Tapi lagi lagi (rejeki anak sholehah), tema yang gw dapet cukup ringan. Yang pertama tentang kontraktor dan keselamatan bangunan, yang kedua pentingnya tes mengemudi sebelum kita dapet SIM. Kita dikasih waktu 30 menit untuk nulis essay yang dimana ga ada batasan mau sepanjang apa. Dikasih 2 topik, pilih salah satu aja. Jangan kerajinan ngerjain dua-duanya yaa..

Selesai semua seleksi substansi, yang kalian bisa lakukan adalah doa.. doa.. dan doa yang lebih banyak. Kalau memang rejeki insya Allah akan dapat. Semangat untuk semua pengejar beasiswa LPDP! :)

cerita wawancara LPDP

mungkin kebanyakan dari kalian sudah mengetahui kalo gw (alhamdulillah) keterima LPDP bulan Desember tahun lalu. tapi.. seperti hal hal amazing lainnya di hidup gw, ga segampang itu dapetin ini. pertama gw tau LPDP tuh pas semester2 akhir gw kuliah which is tahun 2014. karena banyak yang bilang lebih bagusan kerja dulu sebelum S2, akhirnya gw cari kerja dulu kurang lebih setahun. gw daftar pertama kali pas bulan Mei 2015. pengumuman lolos administrasi dan jadwal wawancara sayangnya pas gw lagi YSEALI di Hawai'i. mau minta interview Skype udah ga bisa karena mereka udah nambahin LGD. hal penting untuk diinget, kalo jadwal seleksi substansi bentrok sama sesuatu, bikin surat pengunduran diri (kalo enggak bikin nanti jatohnya kalian tidak lolos seleksi wawancara dan dikasih hanya satu kesempatan lagi untuk wawancara).

A lot of you asked me why I got the scholarship. honestly, I don't even know. tapi akan gw ceritain hari yang bikin gw lebih deg-degan daripada sidang kolokium gw.

soo.. biasanya jadwal seleksi substansi (wawancara, LGD dan essay on the spot) akan berlangsung selama 3 hari. per orang biasanya dapet satu hari penuh atau dua hari. untuk wilayah jakarta, biasanya di UNJ atau STAN bintaro. krn gw dapetnya UNJ (which is jauh banget dari rumah gw), sehari sebelum gw nginep dirumah sodara. beberapa hal yang perlu disiapin sehari sebelum:

- checklist dokumen-dokumen untuk verifikasi dokumen (karena kalo ada yang kurang/lo ga bawa ga dibolehin untuk lanjut ke wawancara)

- kalo lo separno gw, bawa fotokopian seluruh dokumen lo (sebenernya ga perlu sih hehe)

- pilih pakaian yang sopan dan membuat lo terlihat profesional

- blog walking! poin ini penting banget untuk tau pertanyaan apa aja yang bakal muncul pas wawancara

hari H dateng, gw berangkat naik ojek ke UNJ. sambil nunggu ngantri verifikasi dokumen, pergunakan waktunya untuk ngobrol sama orang sebelah lo. it helps with your nerves! dan seru banget kalo tiba tiba tau ada yg keterima juga saat udah pembagian PK, jugaa kalo lo dateng sendirian seenggaknya ga planga plongo aja, ada temen ngobrol.

nama kepanggil untuk wawancara, naik keatas, suruh tanda tangan untuk daftar hadir, masuk aula. oya, jadi jangan mikir kalo wawancaranya tuh di ruangan tertutup yang hanya ada lo dan 3 interviewer. wawancara bakal diadain di aula gede dengan banyak meja. jadi pas lo masuk aula bisa liat yang lain lagi di interview juga. a very good tip (dan emang common courtesy), sebelum kalian duduk jabat tangan masing-masing interviewer terlebih dahulu. 

pertanyaan pertanyaan sangat beragam. yang penting kalian udah paham luar dalam dengan essay yang kalian buat. satu interviewer adalah ahli perikanan dimana pertanyaannya semua masuk akal (kenapa milih luar negeri? kenapa di univ tsb? udah hubungin prof disana belum? pokoknya yg scientific lah ya). satu interviewer adalah psikolog. pertanyaannya cukup menjebak dan intinya sih mereka pingin liat apakah kita akan balik ke indo lagi atau enggak. interviewer terakhir adalah ahli akutansi. mungkin karena dia ga paham ttg kelautan, pertanyaan dia paling absurd (contoh: "kamu kan suka jalan-jalan yah, berarti disana bukannya belajar malah jalan-jalan lagi"). mau apapun pertanyaan atau apapun itu dari interviewer, senyum aja. jangan terpancing emosi karena menurut gw emang itu cara mereka. keep your composure and keep smiling walaupun dalem hati gedek haha. setelah selesai interview jangan lupa berterima kasih yaa :)

photo op with POTUS

YSEALI Academic & Professional Fellows 2015 with Barack Obama

There I am, so close to Obama. Up until now I could never describe the feeling how I felt that day when I saw him walk into the room with a big smile and greet us. Excited? Happy? Nausea? I would probably say yes to all of that. 

In a photo, position is super important. The story why I end up being so close to Obama on this shot goes way back before I came to the US. I was considering bringing heels for this program, but then my suitcase already so bulky and I was afraid it will be overweight. Then in Hawai'i, the good news came on the last few days before we're going to Colorado. So Ines and I (like any other girls would), planning on buying heels to go to the White House. I guess i'm a bit cheapo for this, but also thinking I wanted to buy affordable heels because let's face it, I rarely use them on a daily basis. So long story short, I bought a pair in Goodwill. God knows how old those shoes were, but it's only 10 dollars! The day we went to The White House, I carried the heels on my purse because I know I will suffer if I have to use them all day long. I changed into them on the bus, but we still have 10 minutes to grab a quick lunch. Mistake or a blessing in disguise, I took a few stride with that heels, and the sole came off! Thankfully I still have my flat shoes and doesn't want to carry a broken shoes to The White House, I throw it on the trash can without a second thought.

I know you're still wondering why all this got to do with my position on the photo above. Well, this is just my thought, but when we're arranging position, they asked for the short ones goes in the middle and the tall ones goes in the outer part. If I wore the heels, I would stick out quite tall and have to stand way out there. Soo.. believe me or not, that is my unfortunate fortunate story.

living on the east

 Recently I lived in a land of the dragon. And yes, I mean Labuan Bajo or famously known as Komodo. for people who don't know, when I said that i lived in Komodo, does not mean that i literally lived on the island! The majority of people and tourist are living in Labuan Bajo, and if people wanted to go to Komodo Island, it will only take about 3 hours or so with a boat. Other than Komodo, there is also Rinca Island which you can see the komodo dragon. Having been living there for 6 months, I am going to tell you things about Labuan Bajo. You're welcome ;)

 Where to see sunset:

• Paradise bar. Probably the most infamous bar there is in Labuan Bajo. 
• Any restaurant that is facing the beach, including TreeTop, Blue Marlin cafe, The Lounge's sky Bar
• Padar Beach, especially if you sneak a swim in Bintang Flores Hotel (which cost you Rp 50.000,-)
• Bukit Cinta. In order for you to get here, rent a motorbike up to Paradise Bar street and go beyond that. If you starting to see the ocean and all the little boat, you're there
• Puncak Waringin. It is actually the top picture. Just imagine the view when the sun is setting

Where to eat:

• Warung Mama. Indonesian style food. The most delicious one I think is the rendang. But the juice is not made from fresh fruit, but it made from frozen fruit and it just plain weird.
• TreeTop. A lot of good seafood. My favorite and my go to food (especially if I need a good wifi ;)) is fried squid seasoned with salted eggs. There are also oyster with peanut sauce and fried fish with spicy lemon sauce. Be careful if you're ordering the Sapo Tahu. Ask first if they're using tofu rather than local tahu because if they're out of tofu, the taste will be unbearable
• Bajo Bakery. Sandwiches, muffins, quiches, brownies, everything there are delicious!
• The Lounge. I especially love their cheese burger. The best burger i've ever tasted! Don't forget to try their sodas too because it's good. Accompanied by live music, even better
• Coto Makasar. It is located in Padar Beach street, so it's a bit far from the town center. 
• Kampung Ujung. It is not a restaurant or a food joint, it's actually street food carts which you could find many things there including soto, bakso, gado-gado, gorengan, and lots of fresh seafood

Where to dive:

• Karang Makassar. Or some poeple said Manta Point. Well I guess it's obvious that this site is the go to diver if they want to see some mantas! No mantas? Don't be too disappointed. You could also see turtles, white tip sharks, and even barracudas! (i've seen one)
• Batu Bolong. Probably the most famous dive site in KNP today. A great wall of corals and fishes, it's like you're in an aquarium! Nudibranches, moray eels and more are waiting for you there!
• Wainilu. If you're a macro lover, this is the place. All the macros looks like they came from a different planet
• The Cauldron. The most fun dive site if you like currents. There is a small pathway that they call Shotgun, which basically will suck you from 15 meters to 2 meters in seconds! But it was a hell of a fun ride!
• Other than that, there are Castle and Crystal Rock, Mawan, Siaba Besar, Manta Alley, and many many many more my diver friend

Where to stay:

• There are a lot of hotels ranging from good to okay and from Rp 60.000,- to Rp 1.000.000,-
• If you're planning to stay there more than a month, there are a lot of kosan or a house that you can rent. Just make sure that you have good access to a clean water all the time including the dry season
• If you're on a budget, try to find some friends there. Good luck ;)

PS: There are some flights that goes there but you have to transit in Bali first. I don't think there are direct flights yet to Labuan Bajo. There are no flight up from 6 pm because it's a small airport. For people who want to dive there, you must have a diving certificate or else you have to take your license there. You can choose if you want to dive with daily boat or live aboard. Any question? Don't hesitate to ask dear :)

69 years of freedom

for this year Independence Day, Ranny and I (as we are a MantaWatch alumni), celebrate it the truly MantaWatch way: with style! every place is a photo op: up on the boat after we finished our first dive, even in Karang Makassar dive site where there are currents. whatever we do to get an 'Independence Day' picture. and thankfully i had the perfect one! thanks to Fabi i got legen... wait for it... dary (as Barney used to say it) photo! opening the Indonesian flag underwater with a manta in the background. nothing gets better than that if you ask me ;) thanks to friends from Dive Komodo for the awesome dive day!

how was your Independence Day celebration?

Jog-ja.. Jog-ja..

did you know that you could go to Jogja from Semarang by using Joglo Semar travel? it is so convenient! but it was a bit pricy though (Rp 75.000,- per person including snack and quite a comfortable seat). luckily i don't have to pay anything because of Om was really generous to pay it for me hehe. 

so we arrived in Jogja 3 hours later, and instantly met Benk and Via, put our heavy bags in Via's place, met my Norge friend Fina, and THEN we went to Taman Sari! too bad when we arrived there it was closed so we ended up going to this old building which is too old to even have a proper paint job (kidding). i think it was a perfect place to take pictures since it felt antique-y and mystic.

 right after that, we picked Rakjat Djelata to fill our stomach. i really love this place. it got an old school feel to it, you could pick your food, good traditional Indonesian drinks, and the most important things is the fact that it was cheap! i mean really cheap for a themed restaurant. so my stomach AND my wallet are so pleased ;)

our day wasn't done yet, but my friend Fina already said goodbye to us. we went to Pasar Kelitikan afterwards to. at first i didn't know why we went there 'cause i don't really want to buy anything old, but it turns out that Riant was searching for old Indonesian money which is really cute and i think at one point i was lured to buy one too haha! 

because i insisted to go to Raminten, so we went! eating again ;p i really loved Tahu Pong (tahu that filled with super tasty egg) and Melonkolis (half a melon topped with ice cream and syrup) there. a really recommended place to eat if you're searching for a cheap, tasty and unique food.

aand.. this unique restaurant closed our exciting first day in Jogja.

lucky in Semarang

second stop on our next Java Trip is Semarang. well actually, we should've went to Tegal first. but how destiny speaks different. when we arrive in Tegal train station which we accomplished by taking bus from Indramayu for 2 hours and an elf for an hour AND an angkot, we found out that the train to Semarang will leave at just about no more than 30 minutes from the time that we arrive. not wanting to passed up the great chance, so wee bought it and we ended up only eat Soto in front of the train station. and that was it! our (very) short journey in Tegal.

after a short 2 hours train journey, we arrived in Semarang! because the aim of this trip are minimum budget, so we always find some relatives or just someone to help us find a place to rest (a.k.a a place to stay). in Semarang, it was Indi's parents. they are one of the nicest and the most energetic married couple that i ever met. got me thinking that i HAVE to be like that someday with my husband when we're older ;p

we met them at a hospital where Tante works, then they treated us a very late lunch in Koeno Koeni. a very romantic and vintage place located on a hill overlooking Semarang. good food and good company. what else can you want, right? right after that, while waiting for Tante yoga class, we sat down with Om and talked almost everything about relationships and being parents. it was really heartwarming to know that he's a really open minded dad about his two daughters and today's culture.

once again, thank you for crashing into your house for two nights. hoping one day we'll meet again, can't wait to have yet another amazing conversations with you two :)

so much more

apalah arti kata jalan-jalan kalo udah nyampe satu tempat tapi ga 'jalan'jalan'? (bingung? jangan)

gini lho. kan tujuan gw ke Raja Ampat itu awalnya ikutan program Resource Use Monitoringnya The Nature Conservancy yang mereka gabungin sama Incidental Monitoring cetacea (paus dan lumba-lumba kalo lo bingung). tapi... RUMnya itu cuman sehari karena KKLD Kofiau itu kecil dan sehari aja udah cukup. besokannya gw sam Cesa kebingungan mau ngapain soalnya tuh pulau kecil dan ga ada apa2. mau diving tapi tabungnya kosong, mau main UNO masa berdua doang? pas lagi ngorek2 pantai nyari karang kayak anak bocahan, datenglah Kak Naftali. ngobrol2 dikit, dia ngasih tau kalo di seberang pulau (yang jaraknya cuman 3 menit naik perahu kecil) ada danau air tawar. langsung lah kita berdua semangat buat menjelajah kesana. bersama dengan 3 orang lainnya, yaitu Om Uca, Kak Baraf dan Om-Gw-Lupa-Namanya kita berangkaaaat... 

The Rustandis wishes you..

Happy Eid Mubarak! hope you guys had a great time visiting families and had lots of yummy treats :9

crisis?

i got a great SLR. i got a great mentor, and yes, in this case it's my dad. i always got a great opportunity to take gorgeous pictures in all of this gorgeous places. but somehow my passion for landscape and nature photography is fading. i know it's actually not a great deal because hey! people always do that. on their way to find their passion, they will leave and found new ones. and maybe this is one of mine. i just kinda feel disappointed with myself. or maybe just i don't want to disappoint my father for giving me an incredible SLR and now.. a tripod also. but then i thought, i could use it for a different purpose. i mean i have a blog. i like to share my stories with lots of pictures on it, so why don't i use it for that? 

but then again, because i love fashion, especially on the street, i started to think about street style photography like Tommy Ton and Scott Schuman. i don't know, maybe it's just a temporary thought. but then again, look at the first picture above that i took three years ago. it was my pride (well because lots of people like it on Flickr). it was such a beautiful shot and i didn't work that hard to capture it. i guess when my mind is on the right place, i could produce something like this more often. the question is, when will my mind will be in the exact right place again? 

i think the problem is that i asked myself too many questions that i couldn't answer by myself. so what i have to do now is just let it all sunk in, just use the SLR whenever and wherever i want it, and who knows? maybe i'll find other passion along the way.

all over

with short bob hair and no braces, i feel like a new person. like a gain this whole new confidence :)

get friendly with the locals

you read the title correctly. yes, when you're having a solo trip or group trip to any small cities, better get friendly with locals there. when i was in Cappadoccia, Turkey with Gaby, we're not just lucky to have found a cheap hotel (for 20 lira a night!), but we felt blessed when the staff there, Cihan and Mehmet befriended us. we were treated dinner (when we actually only get breakfast with the 20 lira we spent for a night). and because we were staying in a room for 10 people (5 bunks and 1 bathroom that is), we found more new friends, which is Zeb and Ansel from US, Ben a.k.a uncle Ben from England and Ella from Prague. we had a great time playing cards and guessing some ridiculously hard riddle (thanks to Ansel) until 2 am. and the next day we all got treated lunch at Cihan's uncle house.as to break the ice, we have tons of games to play there, and after that we talk a bit about religion and culture in our societies. i love how they are all open minded. i guess that's what traveling (a lot) do to you. when you meet a lot of people from different countries, culture and religion, you get to here their stories and their point of view.
my luck didn't stop there. when Gaby and I went to buy dinner in a local restaurant, we found out that the owner's wife is Indonesian! such a small world eh? he treated us with not some traditional Turkey tea, but with Sariwangi!! i am so happy to finally tasted some Indonesian products ;p and he gave us a postcards to write, and he said he will send it to Indonesia (yes, back to us). although it still didn't come to me (yet), i'm still excited to receive it :)
see? there's no negative side getting friendly with some locals. at least that what i think.

my third company

so i thought i'm going to take a book with me. but Riant, as usual, always got a few surprises on his sleeves. so he got me this book. The Hungry Ocean. inspiring book about a woman who runs a fishing boat (which i really love about women being independent and being on top of her game).

a little bit tips for me: it's always good to bring a book or two with you on your journey. wherever in the world you might go. especially if there's cute notes inside ;)

perjuangan mencari aurora borealis

dari awal emang gw ga terlalu optimis sih bisa ngeliat tuh keajaiban alam. tapi gara2 disetanin banyak orang yang bilang "bulan ini lagi banyak lho auroranya" lah, terus "wah kemaren2 aja gw ngeliat sekali tuh. kemungkinan besar bisa ngeliat kalo cuacanya lagi cerah". kan jadi tambah semangat gw. udah nyampe Bodo, gw tambah semangat karena langitnya lagi cerah banget nget nget (sampe ga ada awan dan bintang) dan pas gw sama Gaby nanya ke penjaga hotel dia bilang lagi ada (dikuatkan dengan application di iPhonenya). gw sama Gaby abis makan malem sekitar jam 8an langsung cabut ke tempat yang rada tinggi dan gelap. harusnya sih kita ke gunung tapi karena udah malem dan kita kere, mau apa lagi. hanya bisa mengandalkan kaki dan doa -_-" sedih emang. akhirnya kita settle di deket bandara. karena lapangannya gelap banget dan ga banyak orang maupun mobil yang mondar mandir. masalahnyaaa... anginnya kenceng banget! sebenernya sih derajatnya menurut gw lebih dinginan pas pertama kali sampe Trondheim. tapi karena dibantu angin, jadilah gw sama Gaby menepi di sebuah toko biar ga kena anginnya. nunggu sekitar 45 menitan sambil kedinginan dan kehabisan omongan akhirnya kita nyerah. pulang jalan kaki lagi di cuaca yang sangat dingin dan tiba2 lupa jalan pulang. gw BT. malem itupun gw sampe ga bisa tidur ngarep bisa ngeliat aurora dari jendela hostel gw (karena hostelnya viewnya gunung dan laut).

akhirnya mata gw pasrah dan gw terlelap. besokannya Gaby punya ide cemerlang yang bikin harapan gw balik lagi: "eh ta. kan kereta kita malem tuh. terus kita ngelewatinnya padang salju yang bener2 ga ada lampu. siapa tau bisa ngeliat dari dalem kereta." iya juga sih gw mikir2. dan gw jadi semangat lagi buat menjalani hari di kota kecil itu. setelah nunggu berjam2 di stasiun, akhirnya gw naik kereta. dan gw berniat ga bakalan lelap tidur. pokoknya mau ngeliat keluar jendela terus sampe kepala gw sakit nengok ke samping. sejam berlalu - ga ada. dua jam berlalu - gw mulai ngantuk. akhirnya gw tidur (dan pastinya merem melek terus kayak anjing penjaga). pas gw melek kesekian kalinya gw baru sadar. ya pantesan gw ga bisa ngeliat apa2 diluar. lampu di dalem keretanya ga dimatiin! shit. emang nasib dan ga jodoh.

how to get to: Bodo

the view from my hostel

Bodo is in the northern part of Norway. from Trondheim, you could go there by train straight to Bodo. you don't have to stop at Fauske first (from my very own experience 'cause my ticket said i have to get off in Fauske). it will took about 8 hours to get there, and you don't have to worry if you're gonna miss the station. cause it will be the last station ;)

the train (NSB) was so comfy, i especially love the toilet. haha! there's a mini cafetaria in the train. and the food's price is reasonable i think, around 20-70 NOK. there's also wifi. but it's going to be unstable because well hello! you're in the middle of a snow desert. and i suggest you book your seat from your country. because if you book there, it's gonna cost you a lot. and if you don't book at all, well, here's hoping. 

recommended place to stay is Bodo Vandrerhjem Hostel. it's not near the train station, but it is in the train station! plus it's only 5 minute walk from the Sentrum. 325 NOK for one night you get wifi, heater, TV, and bed linens. there's also a coffee slash hot chocolate maker in front of the information desk and it only cost you 10 NOK. it was delicious! but too bad the staff is not that friendly.

if you're on a budget like i do (especially in Norway because everything is expensive there), try not to spend so much money on food. do like i did. buy a bread in a bakery. it usually cost 10 NOK, and then buy some meat in the grocery store. for pork you will get 10 pieces for 20 NOK and for lamb you'll get 4 pieces for 30 NOK. not bad right? and maybe if you're lucky like i did, you'll find 3 for 30 NOK breads package! if you want to eat something different for your next meal, try Big Bite. for 39 NOK you'll get "sandwich of the day" and a drink. great deal if i may say.

2013. it will be great

it's that time again! the time where another eventful year has passed, and it's time for us to struggle for hopefully another great year. 2012 has been really good to me. i've got many opportunity that i think for a million years i wouldn't get. that's why life is worth living. there are so many surprises for us out there. who knows what you're getting into? and i'm really looking forward to this year. especially going to Norway next February. for this new year resolution, i don't want to make a list anymore. i just want to juggle it on my head, and always keep all options open for mid year resolution ;p but the most wanted wish that i have in my mind right now is: graduated. doesn't matter if it's gonna be in December, but i want to graduate this year and hopefully searching for my Master's degree outside Indonesia the next year. i know this year is gonna be challenging for me, but hey, that's what i want for my life. a little bit of challenge :)

pembuatan visa (again)

tahun lalu gw bagi2 cerita tentang pembuatan visa di embassy jerman yang ribetnya minta ampun dan heboh. sekarang, gw alhamdulillah (punya dua makna sebenernya hehe) mendapatkan kesempatan membuat schengen visa lagi, tapi kali ini di embassy norway. nah sekarang lebih heboh lagi karena gw cuman dikasih deadline 2 minggu!
abis pontang panting nanya sana sini, akhirnya hari ini gw udah ke embassy dan alhamdulillah lancar. orangnya baik2, mau ngebantu kalo kita ada pertanyaan, tidak memasang muka jutek layaknya orang yang belum dapet gaji, bisa diajak curhat (loh?), dan prosesnya ga ribet. proses pas di embassynya loh ya. tapi kalo proses ngumpulin dokumen2nya, sedap banget! oya, dibawah ini adalah dokumen2 yang bikin gw pusing selama 2 minggu:
- paspor asli (disananya sampulnya minta dibuka gatau kenapa)
- pas foto yang udah memenuhi kriteria (3.5 x 4.5)
- surat keterangan mahasiswa (yang udh diterjemahin ke dlm bhs inggris)
- travel + medical insurance at least 30.000 euro, +15 hari dari rencana travel kita (jangan lupa di fotokopi)
- bank reference (dalam bhs inggris)
- print an rekening bank orang tua (kurang lebihnya gw gatau soalnya ga terlalu dipermasalahin sama mereka)
- letter of guarantee dari ayah/ibu yang di kasih materai 6000
- undangan dan rekomendasi dari ISFiT (yang attorney ga usah, karena kata mbaknya kita apply sendiri, bukan diwakilin sama org lain)
- covering letter yang udah di ttd, receipt (biar uangnya bisa di refund), sama application form yang udh diisi online)
- bukti booking tiket round trip
- kalo yang mau extend, lampirin semua bookingan hostel, invitation letter (kalo mo visit temen/keluarga/nginep di KBRI)

banyak bukan? emang sih pas diliat orang2 pasti bilang oh segini doang? yaa.. standar lah ya kayak embassy yg lain. tapi kalo dikerjain selama 2 minggu doang, beuh! enak banget! gw sampe nyusahin nyokap gw (emang selalu sih hehe), jadi keliatan bawel banget di grup ISFiT Indonesia (sorry guys), dan dalem sehari gw bisa mantengin laptop buat bikin travel gw se ciamik mungkin. yaah.. inilah namanya perjuangan. kalo kata Uncle Ben, "from a great power, comes a great responsibility". jadi, inilah sisi perjuangan dari kebahagiaan mendapatkan sebuah student festival sebesar ISFiT dan bisa pergi ke Norway. kebanyakan orang pasti cuma liat betapa menyenangkannya pergi ke Norwaynya doang. tapi lihatlah kawan, di dalam kesenangan pasti ada perjuangan. dan perjuangan gw belom selesai sampai disini (caelah).

dragon and decompression

this week there are two highlight of my internship with MantaWatch. first of all, the fact that i couldn't dive for a day! well this is because i spent too much time in the deep (if i'm not wrong, it think it's around 25-27 m). i did realize that there was something wrong with my dive computer because it showed that i have to come up (ascending time) to shallow water no more than 3 m. but because Andy and Ichsan looked fine, so i thought maybe it is fine. that was my first mistake. after i surface, the computer started beeping and showing error sign. and i thought maybe the error would go away itself. that was my second mistake. so the following day i went diving again, and it still showing error. so i asked Andy why, and he told me that i shouldn't dive anymore until the computer stop showing error, and he told me that i won't get a decompression sickness (fiuh!), only a higher risk to get one. so i have to sit on the boat for a day. 

but that day turned up pretty great when Andy told me that whether we want to switch boat from Divine Diving boat to DiveKomodo boat because they are going to Rinca Island to see the dragon! of course i said yes immediately! i have been waiting for that moment. and that was my second highlight of this week, to finally see the dragon!

first of everything great

 the them for this week is obviously experiencing first things, which i will explain it to you one by one.

first, i had my first live-aboard experience for four days. MantaWatch arranged a four days manta safari. we went with a small group of amazing people. the boat was very nice, even though at my third day in it i felt a little seasick. i had my own cabin, and my favorite part was the food! the food was always nicely prepared and so tasty, it was always take the hunger away after diving.

second, and this was the most memorable of all, my very first ever night dive! at first when they asked me if i wanted to go, i felt hesitant. because i always have anxiety every time before i dive (i don't know why and i still couldn't get rid of it). but thankfully i said yes, and i had a great time during that night dive although most of the time i'm always thinking: 'don't get lost, Dita. try to look over everybody around you.'

third, still about my first diving experience, my first deep dive! the water was so cold and even though i was wearing 5 mm wet suit, i still feel cold. but i love the dive site. it's called the arch. as i was explained by the dive master on the boat, it has a chair like contour with may reef fishes and corals. at first they didn't tell me how deep we're going to dive, so when i looked at my dive computer, i was surprised that we went until 34 m! but it wasn't so scary because i was mesmerized by how there are so many fishes, and of course, the highlight of that dive is when we passed to a little cave. that felt amazing and i wish the cave were longer and wider so it could be like experiencing a little bit of cave diving ;p

fourth, and i think this was the most challenging of all, my first English presentation about mantas. it was pretty hard for me to present something with indonesian language, i couldn't imagine how it goes. but to my surprise, and for the helpful advise from Andy and Laura, i did pretty well (well at least for me it did).

so to wrap things up, i had an amazing weekend, a lot of things for y head to wrap into, but in a good way though. so how's your week? did you experience first things like i did?

just ordinary days

september has been really fun for me. first i 'celebrated' my 21st birthday on a boat in the middle of the sea between Indramayu and Biawak island, and it only gets better: right now i'm in Labuan Bajo, NTT, doing an internship with MantaWatch and supported by the Guy's Trust Foundation. both of them are based in UK. and as you can see by the name of the organization, yes, they are specialized in manta rays. and yes, i will be (well hopefully) diving with mantas a lot. from the second i applied for this internship i knew that i would be having a blast. no kidding. my first day with them, we spend a night in Bali and i got the chance to go to a shark sanctuary in Serangan Island, and actually swam with them! never i my teenage life that i thought i would ever swam with a shark! well i know they're only reef sharks, but hey, shark's a shark.

of course the excitement didn't end there. by the time i got to Labuan Bajo, i went straight into the water after a day break exploring the town and settling in. the first dive that i did here was to refresh some underwater techniques such as mask clearing and regulator recovery and just to be comfortable in the water. second dive that i did was the following day, the same spot which is in Bidadari Island. but this second dive is to know how well we are to take a picture underwater (of course i got my own camera, lend by MantaWatch) and to experiment and to get familiar with the camere we're using.

my third and fourth dive were probably the most exciting dive i've ever done because i saw 4 mantas in total with one that was really huge and swimming just a few feet from me! if only i could swim away with it, i probably would and turn myself to a mermaid. but that wasn't just the reason though. i encountered some animals that i've never seen before such as cuttlefish and leaf scorpion fish. last but not least, and may i say, the cherry on top, was the drift diving. i'm not a fan of strong underwater current, but after i just let the current take me, i started to feel more relaxed.

by the way, if you're wondering about the 'we' i mentioned above, that's because for the next four weeks i'm going to be accompanied by Andy and Laura (MantaWatch staff) and my fellow intern, Ichsan who happens to be my classmate from marine science.