"QUESTIONS OF MY THOUGHTS":

Why are my friends so important in my life?

Truthfully, I would never ever think that I could survive living in this cruel world on my own without no one supporting my back. I make friends with a lot of people and few to be the closest. Considering someone to be close to me is to fully trust them and be able to tell them anything as they listens.

I can say that I know a lot of people but not all of them are my friends.

I can say they are my friends but not all of them are my best friends.

I can say they are my best friends...

and no one can replace them.

Life is not fair as we all know or perhaps for those of you who will eventually go through the unfairness in life, just be prepared. Friends come and go (like usual), but when I chose someone to my best friend, personally, I would expect a lot of trust between each other and accept the minimum of lies. That's one of the reasons for why I care about my friends.

Now I'm in grade 11 and have different classes with different people everyday. This makes me to have many types of friends. This next two year until graduation, I'm sure that I would never be one class with my best friend since grade 7 since she chose totally different subjects than mine but we remain as friends. Even though its not as much as we use to due to many activities that we're going through, but I will always have her as my best friend.

On the other hand, in my classes now, I still have a few close friends where I really enjoy hanging out together with them. Feels totally different with my best friend but I love it. With my close friends, we go to the canteen together and laugh at our stupid jokes loudly in the hallway. Also, sometimes I go out with my friends to eat together and chat for a couple of hours or more. This group of friends is quite a mix but I really enjoy hanging out with them.

For these friends, maybe they know who I'm talking about, I just want you guys to know that I REALLY enjoy spending time with you guys for the past few months. I'm looking forward to our next breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner, you just name it and I will be there! ^^ I think we're going to be planning a christmas food-hunting,hahaha... One thing I know for sure is that we love an ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT restaurant. I'm really excited for this christmas because I'm expecting a miracle to happen in my favorite time of the year.

To my best and close friends, I'm really looking forward to be hanging out a lot with you guys for this upcoming holiday but it doesn't mean that you can't go anywhere with your family. Just don't forget to bring me some presents back if you're going somewhere... ^^

For your information, even though my friends and I are half around the world apart later in life...

I would always keep you guys in my heart.

P.S. To anyone who knows an all-you-can-eat restaurant, tell me please.

I'm dreaming of a white christmas..

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten,

and children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow."

While people in europe and the US or Canada are experiencing the beautiful white christmas, again and again I will spend my christmas here in Jakarta; where there are really not many changes on the weather all year (except for the fact that sometimes it rains heavily and the whole city's gonna be flooding). Anyways the exams have stressed me so much and it made me so desperate for holiday and also for christmas. I was so despreate that i even started listening to christmas songs since a month ago.

I was so envious when i saw my sister's photos in facebook, she and her friends are actually freezing in the snow, sitting by the fireplace with marshmallow and hot chocolate, all the typical stuff that is related to white christmas. I was thinking of all the things i could do just if i can spend christmas with my sister in boston. It would be a lot of fun. We can have a snowball fight and everything. But then i realized that i am being such an ungrateful person.

I realized that christmas is really not just about that.

So what if even though all the department store in Jakarta has christmas decorations but it still doesnt feel like christmas? Sometimes people forget that we celebrate christmas to remember the birth of our Lord Jesus. Now that i think of it, i can feel the christmas sprit from within me. And now i can already feel the warmth of christmas...

So what if we're celebrating christmas in this hot weather? it doesnt really matter. I should feel thankful that my sister is coming back from US and my family would be complete for christmas. Even though we might not go anywhere outside of Jakarta but the fact that the whole family is celebrating christmas together feels nice. And togetherness of the family is what completes the christmas spirit!

Never mind about white christmas. I just can't wait for christmas, wether its white or sunny. :)

-Angelina-

CROP CIRCLE, UFOs?

Ever heard about crop circle?

Crop circle is known for it’s unique circle pattern that are made by flattening crops in the crop field. Examples can be found worldwide and is believed that it is man made or either UFOs. The early recorded incident claim in the 17^th century that describing the circle crops are made by devil mowing a circular pattern around the crop field.

Crop circle designs

Earlier days, the design are circles that connect to each other, but after some years there are complex geometric shape

Most people in the world believe that it was made by the aliens but in 1991, there are some men said that they made the crop circle for prank. In this case some people might think that it is really man made, UFOs and other lights in the sky have been reported in connection with many crop circle sites, leading to them becoming related with UFOs and aliens. Some people claim to have seen images of UFOs forming crop circles or flying on top of the field, though photographs have been dismissed by skeptics as being unclear or clear trick.

So which one do you think is the truth? Aliens or Man made? I believe it’s man made and if it’s really are man made, the people who are doing it, just doing it for prank and for fun.

Whew! Everyone is relaxing right now because the exam result. Many people do sad and happy. For the people who got good grades, CONGRAGULATIONS! Hahhahaa… keep your good job and be successes. For those people who didn’t do so good, try to do better next time because this is just the first IB exam and we have lots more to do!!! Don’t be sad, I believe all of us can do better next time and study well. Don’t forget to pray to God so that you can be bless while studying and be SMART!!! :)

Christmas is comiiiing!!! Where do you all guys wanna do and where are you going for the holidays? I really like Christmas time because it feels so peaceful and calm. I really like to listen to Christmas songs because it sounds so happy and cherish! I really love Christmasss!!! So everyone, one more week to go before the holiday, spend your last week with joy and have FUN!

BYE!!

-elizabeth-

THE MYSTERY OF THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE

You guys must have heard about the BERMUDA TRIANGLE, right?

Bermuda triangle is also known as the Devil’s Triangle is located at the northwestern Atlantic Ocean in which where aircraft and vessel are believe to disappear mysteriously. Some of these disappearances have been attributed to the paranormal, the laws of physics, or activity by outer space beings by popular culture. Sudden storms can and do appear, and in the summer to late fall the occasional hurricane strikes the area. Many vessels are found in storms and lost without a trace and believed that the Bermuda Triangle have the relation to the lost vessels and aircrafts.

According to the Triangle authors, Christopher Columbus was the first person to document something strange in the Triangle, reporting that he and his crew observed "strange dancing lights on the horizon", flames in the sky, and at another point he wrote in his log about strange manner in the area. From his log book, dated October 11, 1492 he wrote:

‘The land was first seen by a sailor (Rodrigo de Triana), although the Admiral at ten o'clock that evening standing on the quarter-deck saw a light, but so small a body that he could not affirm it to be land; calling to Pero Gutiérrez, groom of the King's wardrobe, he told him he saw a light, and bid him look that way, which he did and saw it; he did the same to Rodrigo Sánchez of Segovia, whom the King and Queen had sent with the squadron as comptroller, but he was unable to see it from his situation. The Admiral again perceived it once or twice, appearing like the light of a wax candle moving up and down, which some thought an indication of land. But the Admiral held it for certain that land was near...’

Hurricanes

Hurricanes are extremely powerful storms which happened in the Atlantic near the equator, and have historically been responsible for thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars in damage. The sinking of Francisco de Bobadilla's Spanish fleet in 1502 was the first recorded instance of a destructive hurricane. In 1988, Hurricane Gilbert, one of the most powerful hurricanes in history, set back Jamaica's economy by three years. These storms have in the past caused a number of incidents related to the Triangle.

Freak waves

Extremely large waves can appear seemingly at random, even in calm seas. One such rogue wave caused the Ocean Ranger to roll over in 1982, then the worlds largest offshore platform. There is, however, no particular reason to believe rogue waves are more common in the Bermuda region, and this could not explain loss of airplanes.

There are also many people who believe that incidents that were happening in the Bermuda Triangle is only caused by human error, because human can make mistakes and have accidents everywhere.

Famous incidents

Flight 19

Mary Celeste

The mysterious abandonment in 1872 of the Mary Celeste is often but inaccurately connected to the Triangle, the ship having been abandoned off the coast of Portugal. Many theories have been put forth over the years to explain the abandonment, including alcohol fumes from the cargo and insurance fraud. The event is possibly confused with the sinking of a ship with a similar name, the Mari Celeste, off the coast of Bermuda on September 13, 1864, which is mentioned in the book Bermuda Shipwrecks by Dan Berg.

Spray(sailing vessel)

Captain Joshua Slocum's skill as a mariner was beyond argument; he was the first man to sail around the world solo. In 1909, in his boat Spray he set out in a course to take him through the Caribbean to Venezuela. He disappeared; there was no evidence he was even in the Triangle when Spray was lost. It was assumed he was run down by a steamer or struck by a whale, the Spray being too sound a craft and Slocum too experienced a mariner for any other cause to be considered likely, and in 1924 he was declared legally dead. While a mystery, there is no known evidence for, or against, paranormal activity. No one ever knows what is actually happening to him.

BYE!!!

-elizabeth-

MICHAEL BUBLE BIOGRAPHY

Hai! My name is Elizabeth!

Date of Birth: 9 September 1975

A 25- year old Vancouver vocalist has a gift for making great songs of all time. His name is Michael Buble. "My grandfather was really my best friend growing up," reveals Michael.

"He was the one who opened me up to a whole world of music that seemed to have been passed over by my generation. Although I like rock & roll and modern music, the first time my granddad played me the Mills Brothers something magical happened. The lyrics were so romantic, so real ‘the way a song should be for me. It was like seeing my future flash before me. I wanted to be a singer and I knew that this was the music that I wanted to sing."

"He asked me, as a favor to him, to learn the songs that he loved so much," Michael continues.

"It was kind of a guilt trip, but he didn't have to do much convincing. I started practicing and entered a local talent contest. I won the competition, but was later disqualified for being underage. That was when my granddad, who was a skilled plumber, started offering to do free work for musicians in town in exchange for letting me perform a few numbers with them on stage."

His father Lewis is a salmon fisherman and his mother, Amber, raised him and his two younger sisters.

He is a older brother of Crystal Buble

At 18, Bublé entered a talent contest in a local bar even though the rules stipulated contestants had to be 19. After he won, the organizer, a local publicist and entrepreneur named Beverly Delich, disqualified him but was so impressed by his talent that she later called him at his parents' home and suggested he enter the British Columbia Youth Talent Search. He won, and Delich then helped him record an independent CD.

His single, "Home" has the feature of being the most-heard song on Canadian radio in 2005, reaching an audience estimated to go above 382 million people.

Won 4 Juno Awards (2006) for Best Singer, Best Album "It's Time", Best Artist,and Best Pop Album of the Year "It's Time".

When Michael's 2006 Valentine's Day EP - "With Love, Michael Buble"- was released only for a week, the album reached Gold status selling 500,000 copies. The album also became the biggest selling CD Hallmark has ever released, selling in excess of 3 million copies.

"Everything", the first hit single from the 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible, boasts the fastest trip to Number 1 in three years on Billboards Adult Contemporary chart.

Set the record in 2005 at The Sydney Opera House for the most tickets sold in one day ever.

Personal Quotes

"You can try to trick the people and come out wearing a fedora and a tuxedo but that's not me. I was born in the late '70s, I wear jeans. I don't hang out in casinos. The lifestyle isn't my thing. I don't drink martinis and I don't smoke cigars."

I really like his voice because it’s so unique and low. My favorite songs are ‘Everything’ and ‘Home’. Both of that song is sooo good. Hahahhaa… anyways, holiday is coming up! I can’t wait. But there are many homework need to be done, art photography, geography presentation and also English drama. Well, see you all!

BYE!!!

-elizabeth-

The Legendary Band: THE BEATLES

Hi!
Today I’m going to talk about one of my favorite bands, The Beatles. They are one of the legendary bands that have produced high quality of songs. Their music is well known in all over the world until now.

The Beatles is an English rock group that is formed in 1960 with four members, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. They have sold over one million discs over the world when they were still active. They started from United Kingdom and continue their success in other countries. They were ranked NUMBER ONE in the list of the Greatest Artist of All Time by the Rolling Stones magazine in 2004.

At the beginning, they built their success in peace and no envying each other. They produced extraordinary works that brought them to success. Some of their songs are: I Want to Hold Your Hand, Lat It Be, Yellow Submarine, Michelle, Yesterday, Help!, Back to USSR, Love Me Do and Can’t Buy Me Love. Their songs were really creative and inspirational. Almost all of their songs were composed by themselves.

When John Lennon had a girlfriend, Yoko Ono, and married her, things were changing. The other member thought that Yoko had taken all of John’s attention until he didn’t have any time for the band anymore. Some issues said that the problem was at Paul McCartney because he was becoming too domineering. Then they broke up. After the broke up of the band, each of the members created their new album.

Now, only two of the members of The Beatles are left, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Jon Lennon was killed by his fanatic fan and George Harrison was died because of lung cancer. But even though they had been inactive in the entertainment world, they are still exist and active in their fans’ heart.

-Valencia-

"QUESTIONS OF MY THOUGHT":

Why do I really think that we must be really thankful at all times?

I guess many people are bored listening to me saying that we always have to be thankful, thankful, and thankful all the time. But when you come to think of it, even if you say billions of "thank you's", it would never be enough for every single breath you take.

When my brother, one of my sisters or myself whine about something like,

"Ah, I don't like the food. It's disgusting,"

or

"I don't like to have that".

Then my mom would always say,

"You should be thankful of what you have,"

all the time.

Sometimes, I get really annoyed when she said it over and over again. But it then really can remind me by myself when I own things, I would not really whine of what I have. I realized that not everyone have the same oppurtunity like I do.

I realized that I have two normal eyes, two hands and feet, I can talk and do sports, and also having a great family that contains my parents and my brother sisters. My heart would sunk when I see someone in the TV who is not borned normally. They went through difficulties and really takes time to grow to be a strong person. Also, not everyone have their own parents because they were adopted. I enjoy watching about people's lives like in Discover Human & Health.

I really love when watching sextuplets where the children that was born are not only twins but can be much more. It's really fun to see how the parents deal with their kids and it's really cute. Once, I saw a family that have 12 children and their house is really huge. They have like a really big closet and a small cafeteria. The errands around the house are divided equally to every child and it's interesting to see how they actually work it out together. Also, when a parent is dealing with their kids who are still young babies. I watched that this one couple have 6 kids borned at the same day. The parents even make a specially designed baby's table that fits all six together and two triple baby carriages. Since having 6 babies at the same time rarely happens, it caused many interviews from famous shows to be investigating and recording their lives.

Everytime I watch it, I would always hear how the parents are really blessed and thankful of their children. I understand that sometimes in life, it's really hard to be thankful all the time. But hey, life is not always fair and good to everyone. There are always obstacles in life that must be faced by everyone and there's nothing you can prevent it from happening. There are always challenges to sort of test your mind and personality which eventually gives you an experience and let you improve your life more.

Once again, I would never be tired of reminding people to be thankful of what you have. I'm thankful for the normal body I'm borned with, a great family and friends. For all people in the world, don't forget to be thankful of what you have and try to minimize the whining even it's tough.

I know I am.

"Questions of My Thought":

Why can't Indonesia be like other developing countries?

Yesterday, my mom picked me up from school and we went to the supermal to find something to eat. Then we went back to our car, heading to pick up my younger brother and sister at another school. As I was putting my seatbelt on, I suddenly thought about the government.

I said to my mom, "Mom, so far, it looks like that the only policy set by the government that actually WORKS is where people have to use their seatbelts..."

"Plus the No Smoking in the malls...", my mom added.

I replied, "Yea, that's true... I think the busway would eat a lot of time in order for it to work smoothly around the city."

Deep in my thoughts, I wonder whether the busway would really work. Since the busway started, there have been a lot of complaints because the vehicles are now together in smaller lanes as one lane is only allowed for the busway to go through. People in Jakarta, I guess, is not that cooperative. The government must have find real difficulties when dealing with the people in Indonesia who tends to do whatever they want. However, I think that the government should've follow other countries' positive improvements.

Deep down, I really want my country to developed in many ways. Sometimes, when I went for holiday outside the country, people tends to ask where I'm from. Of course, I answered that I'm from Indonesia but sometimes I can see the difference in their eyes when looking at me. The eyes that I think, shows an underestimation of the country that I proudly live in. The country that have a very polluted environment, unstable economy, population that is most likely not cooperative and a corrupted government.

But, I never had any doubt that Indonesia can really improve themselves. It seems like that the government should just need a creative solution that would trigger the cooperation of the population. There will always people who prays for Indonesia and I know I'm one of it, which indirectly supports the development of Indonesia. Thus, I hope that Indonesia can make their people to be proud of their countries and make the people to be confident when going overseas to say where they're from.

Because I am and will always be from Indonesia.

"QUESTIONS OF MY THOUGHTS":

Why photos are important to me?

(Myself, Agnes my cousin and Patricia my sister)

A week ago, I was chatting with someone from my friend's house because my laptop is being fixed since a virus had taken over everything up. We were both chatting about the MATH exam out of anything in the world and I was whining about my laptop.

I said, "Ugh... did you know that my laptop is being fixed because some evil virus has taken over it? I'm really upset... It will be formatted and all of the files will be gone... All the photos..."

Then he replied, "Why are photos so important to you?"

"Photos have a slight life in it," I replied.

Someone said it's a moment frozen in time.

Someone said a good snapshot stops a moment from running away.

There are people who doesn't really care about photos but some people do. Sometimes they put a picture beside their bed to kept hold of that memory every time. Sometimes they put in their wallet so that everytime they open their wallet, they would also remember to buy something for the person in he picture. I guess pictures always revolves around us, just to remember what was it like again.

Photos really meant a lot for me, especially if the picture contains the person that I care about. I would always want to cherish it, even though maybe it might hurt but I would still like to have the memory. Even though photos are really important for me, it doesn't mean that I'm 'narcistic'.

In other times, I really hate when I loose my handphone. All of the sms and picture are gone forever, almos cried the last time I lost my handphone. I kept thinking that in there I kept all of the good photos and sms but now I can't see any of it anymore.

Well, I really do care about photos because I always felt something when i flashed back through my memories and I specially want to cherish the good memories. Thus, it is true that pictures are very important to me and don't forget to take pictures with me, friends, before we graduate!!! ^^