Cosplay Day 2014

Hello Everyone!!!!!!

Wow! It's been 3 months since the last time I posted something. Since yesterday something exciting happened, I'm gonna share it with you guys.

Yesterday at my school, the language department held the Cosplay Day where you get to dress up as your favorite character to school. I saw everyone was being creative from hair-chalking their hair, wearing some weird makeups and accessories, and get to wear wigs. I saw Jack Frost, Power Puff Girls, Snow White, James Bond, etc. Last year, I decided to wear a Harry Potter costume (which I'm a massive fans of), so this year, I want to wear something different, something "le extraordi

naire", so I decided to become:

A Zombie

I made the shirt by myself, which I'm really proud of (whooooo). I bought the shirt and just splatter it with whatever I found in my room. I used tea, coffee powder, and paints.

So here are some of my friends:

Here is my friend, Alex, who became the Bond Girl

This is my friend, Arabella, who became Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird

Left to right: Arabella (Scout), Nayla (Puss in Boots), Gio (The Matrix... I think haha)

Down: Alex (Bond Girl)

Left to right: Callista (Agnes from Despicable me) and Pak Haris, my teacher (Man in Black) looking #SWAG

Farrel as the ghost from Spirited Away

Me rocking my look with my friend Audrey (The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo)

Now here comes Mr (Raditya) AND Mrs Bond (Alex)

Vanni (Pinocchio) and Zahra (Darla from Finding Nemo)

left to right: Agi (pretty corpse), Alex (Bond Girl), Radit (James Bond(, Audrey (The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo), Luna (Hermione Granger/Cho Chang), Me, Nayla (Puss in Boots)

Down: Sharon (Laboratory Girl thing)

 With some of my teachers :3

 My friend, Angel, as Stitch

 When your whole squad are matching hahaa. These are my teachers. Looking good, huh?

My teacher, Sir Marcel, as Poseidon and at the end of the day he won as the best dressed.

At the end of the day, we watched a play from the grade 12 students. It was so hilarious and vulgar at  the same time and that was surely the best play I've ever watched. 

So that's it for today's post. I'll see you on the next post. Bye!

Book hauls!

Hello everybody...

On one of my earlier post, I stated that I'm a nerd. Yes, yes I am. I love to read, I wear glasses, I love everything nerdy. And one of the thing I really love as a nerd is... I love reading books. Not like any other teenager my age, I love to read books. I have 3 medium-size book shelves full with thick novels, thin novels, comics, cooking books, etc. Well, I started reading when I was 5 year old. I mean, I could read before that, but I started to buy books and read it at the age of 5 (that was when I was entered elementary). I remembered my first novel was Totto Chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. I still have it now and I have read it bazillion times.

Enough with that, and let's proceed to the haul. I have huge collection of books, and I'm going to pick my faves and I'm going to share it with you. Hope you enjoy!

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I bought this book not so long before the movie came out. I was so excited because I've heard about this book for so long and People said it is a good book. So, when I found it, I ran to the cashier, payed it, and opened it straight away. I remembered I read that book for 2 days only and I cried really hard when Augustus died. So, the story of this book (as you guys may know from the movie or the book itself) is about 2 teens with cancer who fall in love with each other. Well, it's a classic love story where the girl likes guy, the guy loves the girl, they spend their life together and go to Holland and make love and then Gus died. The end. It's pretty tragic, huh? Well, yes it is. I really recommend this book.

2. Within Reach: My Everest Story by Mark Pfetzer and Jack Galvin

I remembered buying this in a second hand store in a local mall. I read the synopsis and fell in love with it. Well, the fact that this book was a second hand book and it was so so so cheap (about 45.000 rupiah or 4 bucks) convinced me to buy it. I read that book right away after I left the mall. It is about a guy's, Mark Pfetzer (search for his name, he's famous), journey climbing mountains all around the world. He was 13 when he started his career by joining a local climbing course. He always had this dream of climbing Mt. Everest. And it finally came true. He was 16 at that time when he finally climbed Mt. Everest and became the youngest to climb it. This book is so heart-melting and inspiring because it has so many moral lessons and life goals (I am NOT going to talk about that hahaa)

3. Seriously... I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres

Sorry, I didn't own this picture. I forgot to take a picture of this book.

Actually, I haven't finish this book yet, but, so far this book is hilarious. This book has no particular plot or story, but I really enjoy it. This book is divided into several chapters. Each chapter has its own story about Ellen's life. Like for examples, she talked about magazines polling, or about her marriage with Portia, etc. I have read half of it, and I really really love this book, and I recommend this book for you.

4. Totto-Chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi

I remembered my mum bought this book for me when I was 5 or 6 year old, and this was my first novel. As a child, I really enjoy reading books and when my mum came home and gave this book to me, I was so happy and excited to read this book. This book is about a Japanese girl called Totto-Chan. She, as the narrator, wrote about her childhood and especially about her elementary school, Tomoe Gakuen. So, basucally, Totto-Chan is a girl with high curiosity that makes her teacher mad. So, her mum transfered her into a different school, Tomoe Gakuen. There was something unique about this school. It has no class rooms, instead the school uses old train carriages with blackboards in it. As a child, she was amaze by her new school and very excited for it. She found out the uniqueness about this school like she has to bring one kind of food from the sea (fishes, seaweeds, etc) and another kind of food from the land (beefs, vegies, etc). She love her school until an aircraft bombed her school one night. She has to move abroad to avoid the war. And then the book ends with her story when she grow up and became an activist and she got to travel around the world. I really love this book because it really inspired me to become a better person and to help humanity .

5. Famous Five: "Minggat" by Enid Blyton

My mum told me about the existence of this book when I was 7 year old. This book was out when my mom was still a little girl. This book has the total of 21 series, and this one that I chose is the third one. This book is about 4 teenagers and 1 dog: Julian, Dick, George (Georgia), Anne, and Tim/Timmy (George's dog). In every books, they always have an interesting adventure. Here's the story. So, George's mother hired a new cook. George has this bad feelings about Mrs. Stick, the new cook, her son Edgar and his dog Abu. Mrs Stick is a grumpy, very grumpy woman. One day, George and the other want to go to Kirrin Island to avoid Mrs Stick, so they did. But then, they found out that Mrs Stick and her family are there. They bring some suitcases full with cutlery. Then, one day in the middle of the night, they heard what sounded like a girl screaming. They later find out that the Stick and some other guy kidnapped a girl from a rich family. They went home and report to the police and they saved the girl. This book is really interesting to read because it is a thin book, and I think they have the English version of this book because mine is in Indonesian version.

6. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Same like "Seriously... I'm Kidding" book, I haven't finish this book. I've read probably... the first 50-60 pages. As far as I can tell, this book is about 2 siblings, Jem and Scout Finch, who live in North Alabama in the 1930s, when the Great Depression happened, and that's all I know. I am excited to read the rest of the book, and also I got to study about this book for my EFL Novel Study. I will tell you the rest of this book when I finish this book next time.

So, these are my current favorite books. I really hope this books will be your references and ideas for new books. 

Nisa

Bubble milk tea

Hello everyone...

As you may know from the "My Faves List" post, I LOVE Bubble milk tea. So, I want to share with you guys the recipe so you can try it by yourself. It is indeed a very simple recipe and I'm sure you're going to love it!

Recipe (1 serving)

- +2 cups of water
- 300 ml Nu Milk Tea, or if you don't have one of those or you don't like 'em, you can make it by yourself by mixing tea and milk. I don't have the measuring, but you can adjust it as you prefer.
- 3-5 tbsp of instant bubble. You can find it in baking shops or maybe in groceries stores.
- other toppings like jellies, red beans, puddings, etc. But in this one, I only use instant bubble.
- big straws

Steps
- In a pan or a pot, heat water and instant bubbles. Bring it to boil and keep on stirring so it won't stick together or stick to the pan because once these bubbles touches water, it will become sticky. But, if some bubbles stick together and hard to separate, leave it be. Once it boils and the bubbles are soft, strain it. It pretty much looks like this.

- Take the other toppings (if you use any of it) and start slicing it. On this one, I didn't use any other toppings than bubble.
- Pick your favorite glass (I chose a mason jar) Pour the milk tea, bubbles, and toppings into the glass. Mix well. Serve it with a big straw.

Well, that's it for today's post. Hope you like it and if you try this recipe, make sure you post the picture on Twitter or Instagram with #narisenomilktea

I'll see you guys very very soon!

Nisa

p.s. make sure you have the right straw size before you serve it. I accidentally chose the small one. Well, the bubble fits in with the straw, but it got stuck in the middle so I have to push it out with a chopstick and it accidentally hurts my lips and mouth. Poor me :p

Pesantren Ramadhan 2014

Me (on the left) with Icha (middle) and Nada (right)

Hello everyone...

So. 2 days ago. Pesantren Ramadhan. Yeay.

Yeap. Last monday, I joined Pesantren Ramadhan. It's basically a 2-days-1-night event that took place in school. So, the event started at 3 pm, but we had to be there at 7 am because we have lessons and stuffs. Anyway, we brought our stuffs like sleeping bag/mattress/bed, clothes, bathing kit, etc. The teachers divided us into 2 big teams, boys and girls. Then, they divided all of us into 8 smaller groups according to our rooms arrangement. We pray Ashar together to start the event. Then, we were (again) divided into 4 groups (boys and girls) and we played like a quiz about Islam. My group ended up winning (because of me winning the Jilbab challenge. Lol just kidding) with 1490 points. Then, a speaker came and started to talk and discuss about the beginning of the world and humanity and the story of Adam and Eve.

About one hour later, Maghrib finally came. We were sent to a room and the first thing I saw and made me drool: FOOD. There were chocolate-banana roll, smoked beef, cheese and egg mantau, and tea. After that, we gathered back to the hall and we pray Maghrib together. After a while, we went to the canteen to eat dinner. I ate a plate of rice, pan fried vegies, beef stroganoff, chicken kung pao, and water. That dinner was soooo good. With full stomach, we went back to the hall and we pray Isya and Tarawih for 30 mins.

I was ready to change my clothes, brush my teeth, wash my face and slip in my sleeping bag, but the teachers planned something else. We played this kind team work games. The first one called "Shirotol Mustakim" or "A Straight Path". We were given 10 pieces of paper where we formed a team with 12 members and we have to cross this square-shaped path with those papers without touching the ground. We were given 10 minutes to finish it. We eventually finished it, but we didn't know that we have to make 2 groups. So, we lost.

Next one, It's called "the Labyrinth". So, there was this big box-shaped strofoam with little ropes tied to it's sides. Inside the styrofoam, there was this obstacles and holes. We have to put a ball on one side and we have to move the ball with the ropes to the other side, but we have to avoid the obstacles. We finished the first task, but we have to move the SECOND ball with the first ball waiting on the other side. So we have to balance those balls. It was hard, but at least we tried, am I right?

Third one, this game was some sort of an outbound activity. It... has no name. So, there was this "spider web obstacles". We have to cooperate with each other to get through it. But the thing is, we can't go through the same hole the other used. Well, because I'm "the Photographer", I didn't join the game. It was so fun and challenging.

Last one, It (once again) has no name. We were divided into 2 group, boys and girls. So there was this big cloth. On top of it, there were a bottle-full of water and a table tennis ball on top of it. We have to transport the bottle and the bottle, but don't let the water spills or the ball fall. I didn't join :D because I'm "the Photographer" remember? haha

After that, we were ready to go upstairs and sleep, but they got something else. It was a treasure hunting activity. So we were given a clue and we have to find the treasure. We searched ll over the canteen, and we eventually found the treasure, but we didn't finish it. It was already dark and cold. So, I ran back upstairs and slipped inside my sleeping bag and ignore everything around me.

Then, about 3 in the morning, someone (I think my religion teacher) shouted (what I heard) "STAR WARS" really loud, then turned on the light. It kinda pissed my off because I was just dreaming about pink fluffy clouds, rainbows, pizzas, candy rains, and strawberry milkshake ponds (lol I was soo childish), then I shouted "urgghh, who shouted star wars? So annoying" in front of my teacher. Then, later that morning, I found out that my teacher didn't shout Star Wars, but "Sahur" (it was 3 in the morning, okay)

My school at night

I woke up, dressed up, took my camera and went down to the canteen to eat sahur. I ate a plate of rice, fried chicken, stir fried kale and mushroom, and a cup of water.

After 30 mins and couple of photos, I went upstairs with my friends. I really want to go back to sleep, but we actually have to go to the hall and pray. I was so sleepy, but the cold weather and pastel blue clouds woke me up. While waiting for people to gather, I packed my bag and folded my sleeping bag.

After praying, we went to the basketball court to do simple exercises. I (again) didn't join the exercises because I'm the photographer, right? (What an excuse). I took loads of pictures and laugh on every one of it. 

The sun was up. I wanted to take a bath, but there was no showers or buckets of water or anything for us to take a bath, so I just brushed my teeth and washed my face. After that, we went to the hall to listen to a speaker talking about inspirational quotes and stuffs. 

Finally, It was already 8 pm. We continued our packing and we headed down and waited for our drivers. I was sooooo sad because that precise moment was the last time I'm going to see my best friend because she's going to move to Oman.

This year's pesantren ramadhan was so fun because It was going to be my last pesantren I guess. I'm sorry I didn't take photos from the beginning because my camera arrived at night. Well, I guess this is it for today, Hope you enjoy!

Nisa

Bromo 2010

Hello everybody...

My family and I love traveling so much. We have to go on a long vacation at least once every year. This time, I want to talk about my trip to Bromo in 2010, and I was about 9 year old at that time. It was a very magical place. The air was so fresh and the view was incredible. Now, I will show you as we go back in time.

We drove for hours from Solo to Malang, our first stop. We stayed at Santika Hotel Malang for 3 days. We did nothing, actually on the first day. We started our journey on the second day. We woke up early and quickly rushed to our car so we could watch sunrise on Bromo, but we woke up late, so we enjoy sunrise from our car. We arrived there at approx. 8 am.

The view

 I expected it to be cold, but actually, It was warm enough for me to open my jacket and tied it around my waist. We parked our car on (what the local people called) The Dessert. It wasn't like a normal dessert with yellow sand and camels everywhere, it was a wide-opened space with grey sands. 

Me with my cousins. Look at those clouds!

We hire a 4-wheeler Jeep and a driver to take us up. The road was so bumpy and there were 5 members of my family + a driver + low ceiling. Well, we bumped our heads over and over until we arrived at the landings. There were hundreds of Jeep with various color parked neatly in front of me.  The driver said if we want to climb to the top of the mountain, we have to walk or rent a horse. Well, as a true backpacker, I chose to walk, even though from our Jeep to the mountain was sooooo far away. I left my bag and begun to walk. Half way to the mountain, I spotted a big temple with high grey walls and steel fences surrounding it. 

After a long walk and shoes stuffed with cold sands, we finally arrived. But, we have to climb 350+ stairs to go up to the peak. As I said, I was 9 year old at that time and it was so crowded, but I was so excited to see the famous Bromo peak.

 From the distance, I could smell the sulfur and saw the white smoke rising up to the sky. After... well, 30 minutes climbing those forsaken stairs and tired legs, we did it. *I'm on top the world, yeah* I finally saw the famous peak with white, sulfuric smoke. I was so happy I just... love that place. 

The view from the peak

 The mountain got so crowded, so we decided to head down and continue our journey. The driver recommended us to go to the savanna, so we did. It was (once again) a very bumpy ride because of sand dunes and high grasses. In the middle of the ride, we saw a rock, a very big rock (bigger than the Jeep) that looked like a lion. We stopped there and took loads of pictures.

After approx. 20 pictures (My dad deleted half of it), we continued our journey. And in seconds, voila! The savannah was right in front of us, with (what the local people called) the Teletubbies's hill. It actually looked like one, but bigger... and it has no secret doors or NuNu roaming around. Just us, and an Ice cream seller. All of us bought one and stay there for so long I wanted to live there forever. 

Taking pictures with "The Teletubbies" hahaa

We continued our journey and the driver took us to the most popular photo-taking spot. It was so beautiful. I could see Bromo, Pangrango, the Teletubbies's hill, Savannah, all of it. We took loads of pictures (again) and my father had to deleted half of it (AGAIN). 

It was already 1 o'clock and we decided to go back to our car and headed Malang

to go find some lunch. And we spent our last day eating Ice creams, fried ducks, listening to old songs, and swimming.

It was a hell-a fun adventure and I can't wait to go to Malang once again and explore the rest of it. I'm afraid I have to stop right here, but I'll see you soon.

Nisa
p.s I took ALL of those pictures.

Childhood nostalgia

Hello everyone!

Few days ago, I was looking for my cat's photos when I came across a folder with pictures in it, and I saw folders with loads of my old pictures in it. And I thought, I have to show it to you guys (well, some of them are pretty embarrassing). Here are some of my personal favorites.

Me as a backpacker hahaa

This was me when I was in 3rd grade. I joined a painting team and we were attending a painting competition, and we won 1st place!

I honestly didn't know I have this picture until now. This was taken when I was 8 year old with one of my best friend. 

This was me and my best friend when I was 9 year old

What a poser

Guys, I have to end this post here because most of the pictures are sooo embarrassing, but I hope you enjoy it.

Nisa

Osa

Hello everyone...

You guys might know Osa from my first blog post, but I never really introduced him to you. Okay, first of all, his (full) name is Zorossa Leonardo DiCatrio. Well, here's the background story. When I bought him in 2010, I fell in love with him because he was so active and cute. Also, he has this kind of pattern around his eyes and nose and my father said that he looked like the masked hero, Batman and Zorro. At first, I was about to named him Batman because of the pattern, but it sounded so cheesy and too long for such a lil' cuttie (naw), so I named him Zorro. But I needed something catchier, something unique. Then, I decided to called him Zorossa, stands for Nisa's Zorro (or in Indonesia, ZorrOnya niSA. See? ). Because at that time, (I think) my mom was a fan of Leonardo Dicaprio, so she added Leonardo DiCaprio, but I changed it into Leonardo DiCatrio (because he's a cat. Get it? haha).

I remembered after I bought Osa, my cousin and I (she bought a cat too. Her cat's a female cat named Mimi) went to the groceries store to buy our cats's needs. I remembered clearly when we give our cats, inside their baskets, to this place where we put our stuffs in lockers while we went shopping (in Indonesia, we called it tempat penitipan barang), the lady there screamed because she was afraid of cats. I tried to hold my laugh when we saw her expression.

I think that's all. Hope you enjoy and know a little more about Osa. I'll see you on my next post.

Nisa