Interviewing My Friend !

Dias (Krisna Diastama) or Krisna, is a friend of mine. He study in the same school and classroom as i do, which is X IPA 2 or Tenth Grade Science Class 2. I've known him for almost a year or so now. He's a very unique kind of person

At the beginning, I spent lots of time with him as he was very similar to me (the hobbies, how we think, etc) especially because he is in the same extracurricular as me, which is robotic extracurricular (KIT 3). He trained as much as I did in KIT, and he also followed most robotic competition KIT 3 did. Very similar to me.

Speaking about robot....
Do you know that Krisna was one of the inventers?
Yes, indeed. That's what we will talk about here. An interview to one of a robot founder.

Dias on the left. He is using his laptop.

"Hey, Dias. I'm very bored right now. Would you mind if I ask you some questions? It's for the english blog, please." I said .

"Yea sure, while I'm designing this thing (some sort of a logo) on the whiteboard." He replied.

"Okay then! I'm gonna take my notes so I can write it down. Wait there, okay. " I told him.

So I asked him some questions, and he replied while drawing to the whiteboard. Here is some answers.

1. What did you really find, Dias?

Dias invented a robot called Klungbot. He won a robotic competition because of that robot.

2. A competition? When was that being held? Were you still young?

Yes, a real competition. That was being held like 5-6 years ago when Dias was 5th grade in
Elementary School. He was really young that time. Maybe he was like 9 years old or so. But he already lived in Bandung.

3. Could you tell me a little bit more about that competition?

The competition was called INAICTA. INAICTA means Indonesia ICT Award. ICT stands for Information, Comunication, and Technology. So of course there's a robot in there. There must be a robot in there. INAICTA was held in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. So of course Dias went to Jakarta. However, he forgot where it was precisely.

4. That's great. What did you get from your winning? And how did you feel?

Well, Dias got 30 million rupiah from winning ( WOW! ) the competition. It's very huge. He said that it was an easy victory (WOW ! )(2)  on the competition. He said it wasn't so greget or difficult. It was easy, he said. He also said that INAICTA was held for like 3 years, and he won every time he entered the competition (WOW !)(3) . That's for me is mindblowing. He also said that despite the lack of difficulty, winning the competition still made him pumped up to continue researching some other else design of new things. That's pretty cool.


5. Extraordinary! How about the Klungbot itself? What kind of thing Klungbot really is?

About the klungbot, there are many real examples now after Dias and his father introduced the klungbot (Yes, his father teached Dias) to the world. You can read it in websites etc.

Klungbot. It's not a kind of humanoid robot, which means it is not like the usual robot we imagine similar to human. It's a machine, if you want to call it that way. Klungbot is Angklung robot. Angklung is a tradisional sundanese musical instrument. Angklung can only be played when there's a lot of angklung, as one angklung represent one musical note. With this, angklung can be played very easily.

Dias and father made it because at first they wanted to make a robot that can play musical instrument. They chose a robot for angklung, not because it's traditional, or because it's hard. It was actually because it was easy to made the robot to play angklung.

The robot simply has a motor inside. That motor control the beaters that eventually move to hit the angklung. It is that simple, but not easy to made. The motors are put above a desk. So simply the robot hit the angklung fast or slow to vibrate it. It is really depends on whatever the player wants.

That is technically Dias when he was 5th grade or so. He was the boy, with his father, the one who really knows how klungbot works, Mr. Eko Mursito Budi. Mr Eko is a professor who are now teaching in one of the best institute in Indonesia,  ITB ( Institue of Technology Bandung ). He is a physics professor. Of course he is good at robot

So that's one of the video of Krisna Diastama and his Klungbot. Very interesting, right! 

Hope you enjoy my interview, that's all for now!

Thanks !

PAMAN GOBER !

Paman Gober!

Paman Gober? What is that?
If translated to english, it becomes Uncle Gober.
What is that? Donald the Duck's friend?

No!
It's an event held by SMAN 3 Bandung

In Bahasa Indonesia, Paman Gober means Penanaman dan Goes Bersama which mean Planting and Bicycling together. Well, that is definitely what we did. We held the event as an ending for another event named Dewa Athena. Dewa Athena is an event where sports competition are held between classes in my school. Football competition, Basket competition, Badminton, whatever. So, Paman Gober's function is to be the ending of Dewa Athena.

The last Paman Gober was held 1 day ago, on Saturday. It started very morning, like thirty past six or seven o'clock or so. Every ten grader students should came because it was a must. The point of absence was half of my semester final exam. Whoa that's pretty huge. They told us to come to Bali field. For people who wants to borrow bicycle, they must be arrived at 6 o'clock or faster because the bicycle was not many, so you gotta be fast to grab first. For they who bring their own bicycle, it's okay not to come at 6. I wore a jacket. Blue jacket with a white shirt if I'm not mistaken. Also i wore a black training briefs.

So that was me. I was riding my bicycle as shown in the picture. Maybe you're wondering how they capture my photo. Who and how to did that? Well, actually the one who shot that photo was my friend Puteri. She captured it while sitting backward in a motorcycle. Of course somebody else was
driving the motorcycle. What she did was only with the camera.

You can see my friend over there. In my back was Sulthan who looked like he was shouting. There was Dimas on the right side. It was very fun, thought. I came down to school from home very fast. Since my home is uptown, so it was just like downhill biking. I came to  school with my friend Ravedya or Rangga. He borrowed my bicycle from home so we together got down. At first he stopped actually since the tires on his bicycle went bad. We stopped by to fill the gas to the tires.

Me again

So in the end we all stopped in Bali field. It means we returned to Bali field after bicycling around the city for a while. But before that, actually some students did not go to Bali first. They went to somewhere around Van Deventer street. They wanted to plant some plants. One of them was me. However, the students didn't do anything there. The one who was planting were only some men and some upperclassmen.

In the end, we're all tired. But what came along with that?
Happiness and joy :)

My Senior High School !

The place we all know
Where we study and grab those tons of knowledge from our teachers.
Where friends lurking around and around as one family
Where we fall and rise, and fall again.
Where our second life live


Yes, indeed
You are right.
I am going to tell you this mysterious place, this frightening yet wonderful bizzare place.
Yes....
This is the story of.....
 my school.

SMAN 3 BANDUNG

So guys, this is my Senior High School. The one i'm always proud of.  3 Senior High School Bandung. I've been in this school for almost 1 year. Maybe 10 month or so. Even so, my love to it doesn't decrease down. It raise up overtime. Like an old proverb, " The more you know it, the more you love it." 

3 Senior High School is actually an usual public highschool located in Belitung street, Bandung, Indonesia. However, it is actually shares building with it's neighbour SMAN 5. So the building is divided into half, and we got the right side. Despite that, SMAN 3 and SMAN 5 are still peaceful, while keeping their own students safe and sound. That's also the reason why SMAN 3 has a nickname, "SMA Belitung".

SMA Negeri 3 Bandung was build in 1953, like a dutch school design . The building was designed by someone named Schoemaker or something. Construction began in 1916. SMA Negeri 3 has been using the eastern part of the building ever since, with SMA Negeri 5 residing in the rest.

That's the logo of SMAN 3 Bandung. If you don't know, this school is actually one of the best school in Indonesia, along with Taruna Nusantara, SMAN 8 Jakarta, and many others. 

Song

We Will Not Go Down (Gaza Tonight)

We Will Not Go Down (Song For Gaza)"

A blinding flash of white light
Lit up the sky over Gaza tonight
People running for cover
Not knowing whether they're dead or alive

They came with their tanks and their planes
With ravaging fiery flames
And nothing remains
Just a voice rising up in the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

Women and children alike
Murdered and massacred night after night
While the so-called leaders of countries afar
Debated on who's wrong or right

But their powerless words were in vain
And the bombs fell down like acid rain
But through the tears and the blood and the pain
You can still hear that voice through the smoky haze

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight 

Hello, guys....

This song is for Gaza, for Palestinians out there, for muslims, for brothers, for every blood spilled, for every kid massacred and every women murdered, for humanity.

This song for me is basically a very very sad song, which is very great to remind humans that there's still real war in this world, where people died everyday, where bodies lay down, where there's a place in the world that is running out of light of hope. This is real situation.

What i like so much from the song is basically how Michael Heart described very details on what is going on right now in Gaza, Palestina. He described very well from the beginning. 

A blinding flash of white light

Lit up the sky over Gaza tonight
People running for cover
Not knowing whether they're dead or alive

This is a real situation. As real as seeing your friend in school everyday. This beginning part straightly tells us the cruelty of war, the darkness that surrounds Gaza.

They came with their tanks and their planes
With ravaging fiery flames
And nothing remains
Just a voice rising up in the smoky haze

Once more, it tells us how the Israel people deal with Palestinians. How they use such an incredibly massive and destroying weapon to annihilate Palestinians, killing them. It's true, that the war has been very annihilating that very little of Palestina's place remain still. Even the area of Palestina has been overtaken mostly by Israels. 

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

This one is my favourite. It's the truth that we, as humans, as muslims, as brothers, as anything else, would not stand still watching this happening. We won't be weak when they destroys our mosque. We will stand strong even our houses and schools is destroyed. Nothing can kill us. Nothing can kill our spirit of living. We will fight.

Women and children alike
Murdered and massacred night after night
While the so-called leaders of countries afar
Debated on who's wrong or right

But their powerless words were in vain
And the bombs fell down like acid rain
But through the tears and the blood and the pain
You can still hear that voice through the smoky haze

When we are chatting to people, playing gadgets, watching TVs, reading comics, eating lots of food, they have to hold their tears and blood, where their mothers, brothers, sisters and babies is being massacred massively. Without many food supplies, without computers, without phones, without hope. What most of muslims are doing now? Helping? Or just relaxing or even didn't know. Is this really us? Is this really how muslims are? No! We are not like this. We too, should not just stand and watch. We should stand and help! Stand and Fight! Their leaders, Our leaders, Human leaders, for years, supporting, debating on which is right, and which isn't. Well, look at the fact! They're are debating agains Israel! Jewish! People with high intellegent! People who will mostly win on debating! They're jewish! That's a waste of time, since while they're endlessly debating, thousands, ten thousands of our brothers, sisters, bombed, leaving body and blood everywhere!

I believe you know Palestine is worth saving. You know Palestine should be Independent! You know Palestine should be free! You know Palestine should live....

But now i ask, do you have the bravery to do the right thing?

We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight 

Natural Phenomena

Bioluminescent Sea

As night falls...

Certain oceans around the world start to glow blue. The waves glow with a blue light. Small, separated, yet so many tiny blue lights start to glow. 

This phenomenon has attracted and fascinated sea travellers for a very long time. No one would ever be bored to see such a very beautiful, calming scenery. This phenomenon is called,"Bioluminescent Sea". 

That's one of the pic of glowing ocean or bioluminescent sea from the movie, "Life of Pi"

This scene is not magic, nor any kind of technology. Simply, it's living creatures.

The creatures behind this amazing phenomenon is basically plankton that have evolved to glow in order to startle or distract fish and other potential predators. Some scientists call it the “burglar alarm effect”: by lighting up, the plankton draw even larger predators that, in turn, eat the animal threatening them. The phosphorescence only occurs when the microorganisms, which exist worldwide, are agitated – such as when the water crashes onto the shore, someone steps on the wet sand or a paddle hits the waves.

The phenomenon’s effects can vary depending on time of year and weather, so sightings cannot always be predicted. 

Maldives

Visitors to the Indian Ocean archipelago say they have had the most luck seeing the blue glow from about July to February, especially during a new moon since the darkness of the sky helps intensify the light. The bioluminescence can occur throughout the country’s 26 atolls, but some of the most spectacular photographs have been captured on the grouping’s eastern islands, including Mudhdhoo, Vaadhoo and Rangali.

Puerto Rico

Mosquito Bay on the island of Vieques has the nickname of Bioluminescent Bay (often called Bio Bay) for the bright plankton that illuminates the water.  Unexpectedly, the bay went dark in January 2014. Some scientists theorise that a wind shift pushed many of the microorganisms out of the bay, but the various factors that contribute to the bioluminescence make it difficult to say for sure.

Thankfully, the bay brightened again in June, although at a lower intensity. Though no one knows if the bay will return to full strength, tour operators are still running kayak tours Fridays through Sundays, as scientists work to study the bay the rest of the week in hopes of preserving the magical glow.

Catch

Hello, guys !!
This is an advertisement i made myself.
I use pencils and drawers.
So I'm going to tell you about this advertisement.

This is Catch!!
Cool-Watch!
There's a computer inside it. Basically, it's just like Ipad. So there's an ipad you can bring anywhere, anytime. When you turned it on, there will be a virtual visual screen popped out. You can read books, magazines, hear music, radios, play games, do homeworks, and everything else. It's specially designed to look so cool, elegant, and very "technology".

Culinary

Foods !!!

Yumm yumm!!

 

Deliciously made !

Scent of Meat n’ burn here…

 

Or some tradisional dishes ??

 

One of the best !

 

 Foods! Foods! More foods! More ! More!

That’s an expression of hunger, isn’t it?

So now is the time for me to tell you some about culinary, friends.

Well, you already saw some foods up there. Interested to try some? Or maybe hungry? That’s what we’re going to talk about! Foods!

Basically, we are human. We cannot ignore our natural condition to starve, our feeling to hunger , our need to eat, our love on food. We need to eat! Eat food!

So basically, there are like million kinds of dishes all around the world. There are dishes from China, America, India, or Netherlands, etc. And even in every country, the food have a lot of variation, ranging from A to Z, and also lot of taste as well.

Personally, I don’t really like seafood, especially those with tentacles. I don’t really like a very peculiar food, a strange food. Maybe it’s because I’m Indonesian. I’m used to eat usual foods (Usual for us, maybe not for others) like Tempes, Fishes, Chickens, Meats, and any other usual foods. I’ve seen foods that people usually like, which are healthy, expensive, nutritious, unharming, delicious (for them), and other good things. I can say that it’s very unsimilar here in Indonesia. Why? First, because Indonesian likes cheap food (Healthy for their pocket), and secondly, very delicious. I rarely see anyone here likes healthy food. Let’s say vegetables. In other country, people like salads, vegetables, anything that came out from plants. But here in Indonesia, there are more meats or foods from animals than compared with foods from plants. Example, if people outside Indonesia have vegetables as 50% or more of their foods, here in Indonesia the percentage is like 10 % or less. That’s why we are so not healthy, everyday eating oils, fats, unhealthy stuff. Luckily I don’t really like what we call Gorengan here. It’s basically very unhealthy, especially because the oil used to fry Gorengan is so bad, sometimes used frequently without changed. There’s a rumor in Indonesia that usually Gorengan makers put plastic in the oil so it will mix, and when Gorengans fried there done, it will be much more delicious. What a bad thing….

But now, let’s get straight to the point, shall we?

I’m going to tell you guys my favourite food. A food I really really like. Something that warms my heart in the cold of night. Something that fulfill my stomach J. So here it is, guys!

What I really really like is.....

Noodles!!

Yea! Noodles!

But I was thinking, I don’t really like noodles L……

I am bored of it. Everyday I continuesly eat it….

Maybe another one will do…..

Okay then, this will be the real one I like!

Are you ready?

 

 

 Siomay !!! Delicious siomay !!!

Hmm!

Siomay (also Somay), is an Indonesian steamed fish dumpling with vegetables served in peanut sauce. It is derived from Chinese Shumai. It is considered a light meal that is similar to the Chinese Dim Sum, but is cone shaped. It is traditionally made from tenggiri fish meat. Sometimes other types of seafood such as tuna, mackerel, and prawn also can be used to make siomay. Other complements to siomay are steamed cabbage, potatoes, bitter gourd, boiled egg and tofu. Siomay is cut into bite size pieces and topped with peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce, chili sauce and a dash of lime juice.

 

 Siomay is ubiquitous in Indonesian cities. It can be found in street-side food stalls, travelling carts, bicycle vendors, and restaurants. Just like bakso, lumpia, and pempek, siomay was influenced by Chinese Indonesian cuisine. However Chinese Indonesian siomay usually served not with peanut sauce, but in sweet-sour and spicy chili sauce instead, or with no sauce at all which resembles authentic Chinese shumai. Siomay has been incorporated into Indonesian cuisine for a long time, and the most famous variety is Siomay Bandung. It has been adapted into local Sundanese cuisine. Today, most of Siomay sellers are Sundanese. Another variety of siomay is called Batagor, also originated from Bandung. It is an abbreviation that stands for Bakso Tahu Goreng. Batagor is very similar to siomay, except that it is fried instead of steamed. Siomay is one of the favourite school meal for Indonesian students.

 

Siomay served in foodstall near Bandung train station.

Here’s the ingredients needed and steps

Ingredients:
Siomay:
600 gr shrimps, shell intact, deveined, cleaned, chopped
600 gr chicken breast fillet, chopped
200 gr tapioca flour
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 stalks of scallion, finely sliced
2 tbsp fish sauce
4 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
Salt and pepper as needed
6 block of fresh tofu, divided into 24 triangle forms
50 pcs wonton skins

Peanut Sauce:
10 tbsp peanut butter
4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
4 shallots, finely sliced
4 red chillies, finely sliced
6 lime kaffir leaver, shredded
Salt and granulated sugar to taste
Hot water as needed
Lime/Lemon juice as needed (can be substituted by white cooking vinegar)
2 candlenuts, fried and bruised (optional)
Indonesian sweet soy sauce as needed
Vegetable oil for sautéing

Condiments:
Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
Indonesian chilli sauce (saus sambal)
Lime kaffir juice

Method:
Siomay:
1. Mix shrimps and chicken meat in the food processor. Blend until soft. Place in a big container. (You may add small amount of water to help the mixture to be soften)
2. Add flour, scallions, beaten eggs, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Mix well using wooden spoon or your hand until incorporated.
3. Spoon two teaspoon of mixture and place in the middle of wonton skin. Form as any shaped you are desired. Repeat the step until all wonton skin are used up.
4. Scratch the bottom part of tofu. Fill in with the shrimps and chicken mixture.
5. Place both siomay and tofu in steamer containers. Steam until done (around 1 hour). Remove from the heat.

Peanut Sauce:
1. Heat oil in a sauce pan. Sauté garlic, shallots, chillies and candlenuts until frangrant.
2. Add peanut butter and water. Mix well. (You can add water according to your desired thickness).
3. Add lime leaves, and lime juice (vinegar). Season with salt, sugar and sweet soy sauce. Mix thoroughly until set. Remove from the heat.

Serving suggestion:
Place siomay and tofu on a plate. Ladle peanut sauce on top and add kecap manis and saus sambal if desired. Drizzle with lime kaffir juice.

And we are done! Not just done about siomay, but also done with this post. I love siomay, and I also love you guys. Thank you guys for reading this! Hope you also make some foods for me because free foods will be very helpful J. See you!