I'm "a morning person"

This is the third time, i wake up so early, yep, at 03.00 AM, and i still wake up until now 6.32 AM. I think wake up at early morning making my mood well today. Now, i will try get up in early morning every day. I think, it is a simple act that change my life unconsiously. :)

And Wow, researcher from Roehampton University, England, reveal that wake up in early morning making better body, mood, and ideal body mass index. Dr Joerg Huber says, "people who wake up in early morning incline more healthy and ." So, be a morning person guys!

Golden Week: Go to Jatim

Pukul 04.00 dini hari tepatnya kereta berhenti di stasiun Kota Malang. Kesan pertama, dingin dan berkabut, mungkin karena masih terlalu pagi. Selanjutnya, kita bertujuh menempuh perjalanan singkat ke kediaman Pakdhe di daerah Universitas Brawijaya Malang. Sepanjang perjalanan itu, membuat saya terkagum-kagum pada penataan kota di Malang. Cool! I'm fall in love sama kota yang dikelilingi pegunungan ini. Jalan-jalan utama di Malang, dibuat seperti boulevard perumahan, kanan-kiri ditumbuhi pohon-pohon palem tinggi yang berfungsi membentuk ruang. Jalan-jalan kolektor dan lokalnya juga banyak ditumbuhi pohon-pohon mahoni, yang kebetulan sedang berbunga. Suasana sejuk dan syahdu disana bertambah lengkap rasanya, apalagi jika kita berjalan dibawah pohon-pohon mahoni yang sedang berguguran bunganya.

Well, destinasi hari pertama ke Secret Zoo (Jatim Park II) kemudian lanjut BNS (Batu Night Spectaculer). Fyi, Batu itu merupakan kota sendiri lho, bukan bagian dari Kota Malang, tapi banyak orang yang menyebut Batu sama dengan Malang. Ya, memang kedua kota tersebut bersebelahan. Perjalanan dari Malang ke Batu nggak memerlukan waktu lama, hanya sekitar 45 menit, kita sudah sampai ke Kota Wisata Batu. Kota Wisata? Yap, di kawasan ini banyak banget area-area wisata yang ditawarkan lho. Mulai dari atraksi wisata yang bertema hiburan, alam, edukasi, bahkan petualangan. Karena nggak mungkin nyobain satu-satu, akhirnya kami mengeliminasi destinasi wisata yang sebelumnya udah pernah dikunjungi. Jadilah Secret Zoo dan BNS pilihan wisata di hari pertama di Malang.

Secret Zoo merupakan area wisata yang menggabungkan konsep bertemakan edukasi dan hiburan. Selain itu, untuk memberikan kenyamanan pengunjung, terdapat pula hotel sebagai akomodasi tempat menginap bagi para pengunjung.

Yay! Tiket masuk ke Batu Secret Zoo dan Museumnya

Bergaya dulu di depan pintu masuk :p

Secret Zoo sendiri pada dasarnya merupakan kebun binatang. Mungkin udah banyak kali ya kebun binatang di berbagai kota di Indonesia, tapi yang membedakan dan menjadi daya tarik disini adalah kelengkapan binatang dan konsep kebun binatang itu sendiri. Kebun binatang di beberapa tempat lain mungkin identik dengan bau kotoran binatang yang tidak sedap, binatang-binatang yang tak terurus dan menyedihkan, dan mungkin cenderung membosankan untuk ukuran orang dewasa sebagai pengunjung.

Inget King Julian di serial kartun "Penguins of Madagascar"? Ini nih si Julian lagi belajar. Well, agak ga ngerti sebenarnya, kenapa konsep kandang lemur ini dibikin seperti ruangan kelas anak TK -____-

Liat deh kandangnya, bersih banget ga ada sampah dan kulit kacang yang biasanya dilemparin pengunjung di kebun binatang. 

Masing-masing kandang terkonsep sesuai dengan karakteristik binatang si empunya kandang. Nice!

Burung di belakang ga sekedar hiasan aja lho, tapi berfungsi juga sebagai signage (penunjuk arah)

Beda banget sama Secret Zoo, jujur aku suka banget sama konsepnya. Dari luar, tampak kecil, tapi ternyata setelah masuk, lumayan pegel-pegel juga jalan muter-muter disana. Jadi si perancang kebun binatang ini membuat konsep seperti labirin, namun tenang aja, kita nggak bakalan dibuat bingung kok didalamnya, karena rute dibuat agar kita melewati semua kurungan binatang agar nggak ada yang terlewat, lagipula disini cukup banyak banyak signage (papan penunjuk arah). Selain itu, disepanjang rutenya juga disediakan tempat duduk, makan dan minum untuk memberikan kenyamanan bagi pengunjung.

Setelah puas berjalan di Secret Zoo, kita melanjutkan "penjelajahan" kita ke Museum Satwa. Yay! Kesan pertama masuk, serasa berada di film Night At The Museum. Mulai dari bangunan museumnya sampai ke replika fosil di dalamnya. Hehehe

Look! Pilar-pilar gedung di Museum Satwa ini mengingatkan sama film Night At The Museum  :D

Replika Tyranosaurus, once again, mengingatkan kita sama film Night At The Museum

Lorong-lorong di dalam Museum Satwa. Sebelah kiri merupakan deretan display yang didalamnya terdapat replika satwa-satwa yang disusun sedemikian rupa agar mirip dengan habitat aslinya

Replika satwa ini disusun sedemikian rupa seolah sedang berinteraksi di habitat aslinya

Masih kuat? Next, kita lanjut ke BNS (Batu Night Spectaculer). Khusus BNS, jam buka dimulai pada pukul 15.00-00.00 WIB. Tarif masuk ke BNS dipatok harga Rp 15.000,- (belum termasuk naik wahana). Setelah tadi berwisata edukasi, sekarang saatnya puas-puasin bermain di BNS. Banyak banget wahana permainannya, beberapa yang unik antara lain lampion garden, studio 4d, rumah hantu, dan sirkuit gokart. Selain itu, disana ada foodcourt dan tentunya tempat belanja oleh-oleh.

"SAY Cheese!" Bergaya di depan BNS

Kerlap-kerlip lampu dan ramainya suasana BNS malam itu

Lampion Garden

Wuiiihh, rame banget ya. Lihat deh banyak banget mainannya yang asik-asik

Mas Itok lagi main Gokart nih, seruu! :p

Kalo ini, Mas Tiyan sama Bagas lagi asik main pistol laser

Btw, kita para wanita memilih mainan di rumah hantu, tapi gara-gara pada lari di dalem area rumah hantu, nggak sempet mengabadikan foto sama robot-robot hantunya :(

Hari kedua, kita memutuskan untuk pergi ke Madura melewati Jembatan Suramadu. Waaah, seneng banget, hari kedua ini kita ada tambahan kota yang dikunjungi. Fyi, aku pribadi belum pernah ke Surabaya, jadi girang banget, meskipun ke Surabaya cuma mampir lewat di tol doang. Perjalanan ke Suramadu melalui Kota Sidoarjo, yang saat ini sedang dilanda musibah lumpur Lapindo. Kebetulan banget, jalan ke arah Suramadu melewati jalan di sebelah tanggul lumpur Lapindo, kita memutuskan untuk mampir sejenak.
Bukan orang Indonesia namanya kalau nggak memanfaatkan momen dan fenomena yang terjadi. Bencana lumpur lapindo pun dimanfaatkan untuk atraksi wisata. Biaya masuk untuk melihat kondisi desa yang sudah tenggelam oleh lumpur adalah Rp 5.000,-.

Nggak main-main, suara-suara rakyat korban lumpur Lapindo dijadikan latar belakang  memasuki area "wisata melihat bencana lumpur"

Yang putih-putih itu asap dari semburan lumpur. Asapnya ga muncul terus-terusan, beberapa menit sekali. Lihat deh, daerah yang tadinya merupakan permukiman sekarang menjadi lautan lumpur :(

Coba bayangkan, jika debit lumpur terus meningkat, dan tanggul tidak dapat membendungnya! Naudzubillah  :(

Perjalanan berlanjut menuju ke Kota Surabaya, hingga akhirnya ke Madura. Jujur, sebenarnya agak nggak jelas juga ke Madura, jauh-jauh cuma buat makan Bebek Shinjay yang terkenal banget. Sayangnya, setelah sampai Madura, Bebek Shinjay nya udah tutup, akhirnya kita makan di Ole Olang, kemudian pulang lagi ke Malang. -____-

Surabaya! Meskipun cuma mampir lewat tolnya, lumayan deh. Jadi kalo ditanyain pernah ke Surabaya? Jawabannya, UDAAAAH!!

Pulau di depan itu adalah Pulau Madura, yay!

Ga ada Bebek Shinjay, Ole Olang pun jadi. Weits, kok ga asing ya  Ole Olang? Ternyata Ole Olang itu lagu daerah  Madura. Oleeee Olaaang~~

Eits, ada satu yang kelewat. Suramadu at night, so romantic!

Japan, Planning, and Culture

Last night, I was dreaming about Japan, and this morning i want to share about one of my favorite country in the world. The amazing Japan, fyi, have many things to tell about. In this section, i want to share about Manga, dorama, japanese food, festivals and The Adorable Tokyo, the highest living cost among the world's.

• Manga

Manga are comics created in Japan (Wikipedia). Since the late 1980's, Japanese manga has taken the world by storm to become Japan's most popular cultural export. In Japan, people of all ages read manga. That's why they are often utilized not only for entertainment but also to provide about difficult matters such like history, natural science and social issues.

Popular manga have a far-reaching influence, some become books, television shows (dorama), anime, collectable figures, and games. Manga has become a mainstay of the Japanese economy and culture, because it can trace to the industrial complex. As a gateway to Japanese culture, it has attracted global fan base among the world. North America is one of manga's largest foreign markets worth an estimated US$300 million in early 2011. Sizeable markest also exist in many European and Asian countries.

Honestly, I am one of biggest fan of manga. My favorite comic is One Piece, Yakitate Japan, Detective Conan, The Black Buttler, Miiko, Doraemon and many more. One piece is an example of entertainment comic. Yakitate Japan gives me inspiration about cooking. Detective Conan and The Black Buttler make my intuition and analyst sharper. And miiko, makes me know about Japan's culture. Doraemon gives me inspiration about utopis city (yeay, because i'm a city planner). And i love all of them.

 

• Dorama

Dorama is a Japanese television series in Japan. The series of dorama according to four seasons in Japan: Winter (January-March), Spring (April-June), Summer (July-September), and Fall (October-December). So, the episodes lasting several months and airing between nine and twelve episodes during their runtime. The genres, including romance, crime drama, horror, humor, or combination of these categories.
Besides manga, dorama have become popular around the world and spread Japanese culture across the globe.

My favorite dorama is Nodame Cantabile. Nodame Cantabile tells the story of Megumi Noda (Nodame) and Shinici Chiaki, students at Momogaoka College of Music. They accidentally meet with dreams of their own. Nodame is a profound pianist, but with genius eccentricity. In the past, she had a trauma when she was playing piano in kindergarten. That's why she became eccentrict and have a aspiration to become a kindergarten teacher, rather than make a career music. Somehow, she falls in love with Chiaki, perfectionist pianist, and Momogaoka's top student. He has aspiration to become international orchestra conductor. The difference between them, eventually,  makes Nodame down. Then, she try hard to playing piano with read a music score (the things she hates) so that she could go abroad with Chiaki.

In my opinion, Nodame Cantabile, gives me lesson-learn to overcome a series of obstacles to reach our dreams. That dorama gives me inspiration to make my own quote:

"The way to reach your dream, definitely is not easy. But dont give up, and stay face up to catch your dream"

• Celebration and Festival

Have you ever play a japanese game Harvest moon? Yay, there's four seasons in the calender of Harvest Moon. When you see the calender, you will find special events such as New Year's Day and many more. The game give us gateway to Japanese culture. Yap, Japan have many celebration and festival in a year.
Ganjitsu (New Year's Day)

O-sechi ryori, yeay! The special dishes on the first three days in New Year's day.

Setsubun (excorcism)

Japanese throw peanuts

The Hina-matsuri (Girl's Day/Doll Festival)
Take place on March 3rd every year

Hanami (Cherry Blossom)

Merry Kurisumasu (Christmast)
Japanese people like to hold ceremonial and festival. With 99% non-Christian, holding Christmast? Wkwkwk. Christmas in Japan has nothint to do with religion at all. Then why is it popular? Because they think that exchanging gifts, the light, and glitter are pretty things. What a hedonic country, isn't it?

• The Adorable Tokyo

The development of a metropolitan city like Tokyo nowadays, it is not short. It takes about 400 years to be present. Tokyo used to be a village is better known as Edo. Previously, Edo just a fishing village, which consists of only a few hundred slum houses. However, now we can see that Tokyo is rapidly growing into one of the metropolis developed and dense.

The development of a Edo became Tokyo began with the landing of U.S. ships to Edo. Empire finally fell under the influence of Western culture. The new government then started a project for the modernization of Japan. Traditional culture was gradually juxtaposed with Western culture. Edo is now more commonly known by the Tokyo.

Somehow, Tokyo had the shock of the earthquake and the bomb that had destroyed most of Tokyo. However, the Japanese are famous for the unyielding spirit begin the daunting task of re-building the city. In the last four decades has been characterized by sustainable development with streets increasingly spread and buildings more towering skyscrapers.

Now, Tokyo became the most populous city in the world. Even so, Tokyo is very aware of the needs of green land that is now its existence has been much marginalized by the increase in buildings. Yet the number of cars on the highway, has led to increase in temperature in Tokyo.

So what can be done by the government there to resolve the issue? Tokyo Metropolitan Government established a policy to set aside 30 percent of the roof area of ​​the building as green buildings or landscapes. The existence of a rooftop garden is certainly very important for the ecological cycle for dense cities like Tokyo.

Technologically advanced city like Tokyo, while initially not be separated from the influence of modern Western nation. However, the people there in the end and did not indulge aware of Western culture. They still maintain the culture and heritage relics earlier.

The original Japanese culture began re-developed from extinction. Not surprisingly, many foreign tourists are interested to learn more about a variety of authentic Japanese culture.

So, what can we learn from all of this? Tokyo could serve as an example to improve our metropolis, Jakarta. Jakarta currently has little green spaces. It is not balanced by population density, high-rise buildings, and the volume of vehicles. Surely it makes people uncomfortable staying there.

Policy rooftop garden in Tokyo can be emulated by Pemkot Jakarta. Set aside 30 percent rise building roofs to green land.

Not only that, unyielding spirit and awareness of Tokyo should be emulated by our society. Maintain awareness of our diverse cultures and not washed away by the dynamism of Western cultural influence.



Reference:
en.wikipedia.org
www.wipo.int
www.thejapanfaq.com
dorama.com

Jadikan Kota-kota di Inonesia sebagai World Heritage Cities!

Yeaaay, di hari tata ruang ini terdapat wacana: "kementrian PU (Pekerjaan Umum) berupaya mendorong keberlanjutan Program Pengembangan Kota Hijau (P2KH) dan Program Penataan dan Pelestarian Kota Pusaka (P3KP)."  Sumber: Kompas, 8 November 2012

Senang sekali mendengar pemerintah mulai menyadari bahwa eksistensi dan perkembangan setiap kota dapat dilihat dari ciri khas dan karakteristik masing-masing kota. Lenyapnya bangunan kuno, dan kesejarahan baik dalam bentuk tangible (bendawi) maupun intangible (non-bendawi), akan menciptakan sebuah kota tanpa identitas.

Sebagai komitmen terhadap penataan dan pelestarian Kota Pusaka, dilakukan penyematan icon Kota Pusaka di beberapa kota di Indonesia, antara lain: Banda Aceh, Sawahlunto, Palembang, Bogor, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Denpasar, Karangasem, Bau bau, dan Banjarmasin.

Dewasa ini, akibat dari adanya globalisasi di berbagai belahan dunia, terdapat kecenderungan pengaruh asing (Westernisasi), khususnya di negara-negara dunia ketiga. Fenomena ini tampak dari makin maraknya pembangunan gedung pencakar langit dan real estate dengan konsep utopis dengan penampilan dan citra kebarat-baratan.

"Ibarat kosmetik yang menutupi, tetapi tidak mengobati kurap atau panu" 

(Budihardjo, 2011: 198)

Pembangunan yang ada saat ini cenderung mewadahi kepentingan masyarakat kelas menengah atas. Memang, beberapa dekade ini, Indonesia cenderung mengarah ke kapitalis. "Yang kaya makin kaya, yang miskin makin miskin."

Untuk itu, perlu adanya upaya menumbuhkan rasa cinta pada sesuatu yang berbau tradisional, sejarah, dan budaya. Saya rasa, tradisional, sejarah, dan budaya merupakan hal-hal yang unik, berbeda, tidak mainstream dan berkarakter. Bukankah menjadi berbeda itu keren? Nah, mulai sekarang jadikan kota-kota di Indonesia sebagai World Heritage City!

 

Ini lho, Kota Melaka, Kota di Malaysia yang dinobatkan sebagai salah satu World Heritage City. Cool!

Malacca (Melaka) was granted the World Heritage City status by UNESCO on July 2008 and town is busy being spruced for tourists.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." (Reinhold Niebuhr)

Referensi:
properti.kompas.com
flickr.com
Budihardjo, Eko. 2011. Penataan Ruang & Pembangunan Perkotaan. Bandung: PT. Alumni.

Cultural and Heritage

07:23
Woaaaa, it's not my usual to wake up at this morning and start to blogging. But, i don't know why, there was so much thing in my brain then i decided to write in my blog. Few days ago, suddenly, i had a big question: WHAT DO MY INTEREST IN? After a long long reflection, i found the answer. Yeah, I interested in CULTURAL and HERITAGE. That's why, on my 6th semester i choosed Pelestarian Kota Class.

I think, a city without identity is nothing. Yes, identity came from cultural and heritage in the past. There is two type of heritage: Tangible Heritage (Physically) and Intangible Heritage (Non-Physically). Not only, tangible heritage that should be preserved, but also intangible heritage should. What kind of intagible heritage? For example: Batik.

Batik has excited since 14th century, and originally made in Indonesia. That is so ourageous if batik claimed by other countries. Do you know, (hello) young people? Cultural and Heritage may be looks something olds, but without them, our city and our country can't be recognized by others. The pluralism of Indonesia is a potential to attract foreigner come to us.

Young people, start no earlier than now to love and preserve your origin cultural and heritage!

"The way to reach your dream definitely is not easy. But don't give up, and face up your dream future."