 | Welcome | Sep 27, 2004 |
Welcome to my Multiply homepage, feel free to browse this site. Some of the posts of this site can only be accessed by friends in my network, the others are for everyone. Adi
dua hari lalu gue nerima sepeda gue yg dikirim pakai cargo dari riyadh, dlm keadaan terbungkus kardus karena udah dipretelin wktu di pack.
gue smpt khawatir sepeda itu rusak, tapi setelah dipikir2 yah udah resiko dikirim pakai cargo. harus ikhlas tu sepeda ditumpuk2, tehimpit barang lain atau terbanting.
waktu dipacking gue udh pesen ama cargo, ''silakan kalau mau mretelin, tapi tolong yg alat untuk mindah gir jangan diutak atik susah nyetelnya. biarin aja, diakalin bungkusnya''.
kemarin saat gue bongkas kardus itu dan gue rakit lagi itu sepeda, ternyata semuanya masih utuh kecuali.... alat pemindah gir itu! patah dan harus disetel lagi.. . semaleman gue utak atik tu alat biar tetep berfungsi..kalau beli lagi lumayan mahal (merek 'altus - shimano').
alhamdulillah pagi tadi sepeda itu udah bisa gue pakai jalan nyari makan di warteg depan kompleks.
 | i'm back | May 24, '09 5:02 AM
for everyone |
i'm back...in two senses, first: back to multiply after having abandoned it for so long. second: back to jakarta. the city whe i belong.
facebook has mesmerized so many people including me. it made forget for a while that actually i have a blog, on multiply. recently i started to identify some discomforts with facebook that i suddenly miss writing on multiply.
also my adventure in arabia has ended. so i guess i have to change the main theme on my multiply site. so here i go, i willl start writing about my jakarta life.
one more, multiply is finally accessible by mobile internet. well, they couldn't just resist using mobile technology by merely saying 'our site is so damn good in full html that we feel it would be something, something, something if you access it with mobile version'. thanks multiply. finally you have one. i love you.
The Devil’s Donkey
Angelo Young | Arab News Monday 6 October 2008 (06 Shawwal 1429)
RIYADH: Irrational fear of the novel takes on many forms, but few can seem as irrational as the fear of the bicycle.
There was a time in the Kingdom when the bicycle was viewed with suspicion, a mechanical beast that carried its riders down the bike path toward immorality and vice. The bicycle was even at one point labeled the homaar al-sheitan, or the “devil’s donkey.”
Now, according to the Arabic daily Al-Riyadh, a man in the southern city of Buraidah has preserved an artifact of this mentality and is happy to show curious visitors a 50-year-old bike-riding permit issued by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
In order to obtain this license the rider had to abide by the following rules: The rider had to be a man; he could not ride at night; he could not rent out the bike; he could not share the bike; and he could not carry food on the bike.
To get this permit, the rider had to appear before the local vice commissioner along with his local district leader and tribal chief and commit to abiding by the rules. For years, according to locals, people would look at bike riders with suspicion and derision.
Of course times have changed. With skyrocketing oil prices and growing concern over fuel-burning pollution, many people have embraced bicycles as an eco-friendly form of transport that also promotes exercise. And though bicycle riding is not extremely popular in the Kingdom (it might have something to do with the weather) at least bike riders aren’t looked at with scorn — at least until they swerve in front of your SUV.
source:
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=115144&d=6&m=10&y=2008&pix=community.jpg&category=Features
 hanya di negara-negara arab aja gue ngeliat ada mobil di-"bedak"-in kayak gini.
mobil toyota fortuner ini aslinya bercat putih. karena dibawa jalan ke luar kota dan harus melewati jalan-jalan menembus padang pasir, pemiliknya menutup catnya dengan semprotan pelindung. untuk nahan panas teriknya? bukan, untuk melindungi dari pasir! jika nekat nggak dibedakin gitu maka itu cat mobil bisa carut marut kena hantaman butir-butir pasir. sebenarnya nggak terlalu keliatan sih scratch-nya kalau gak dibedakin. tapi kalau mobilnya baru sayang juga...
 Harian berbahasa Arab "Syarqul Awsath" beberapa bulan lalu memuat foto catatan doa Barack Obama yang ditempel di tembok ratapan di Al-Quds (a.k.a. Jerussalem) waktu dia berkunjung ke wilayah Palestina yang diduduki Israel. Entah ada apa dia berkunjung kesitu... Tulisan ini tidak untuk menyinggung aspek politis maupun relijius dari kunjungan si "anak Menteng" ini ke Al Quds. Aku cuma mau bilang terkesan banget dengan isi doanya:
"Tuhan,
Lindungilah keluargaku dan aku.
Ampunilah dosa-dosaku dan bantulah aku untuk melindungi diri dari kesombongan dan keputusasaan.
Berilah aku kebijaksaan untuk melakukan apa yang benar dan adil.
Dan jadikanlah aku instrumen dari kehendak-Mu." (Lord,
Protect my family and me.
Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair.
Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will.) Perhatikan pilihan katanya, dia mengutamakan "keluarga" dari "aku", menepis egoisme, bukan "aku dan keluargaku". Terus juga ekspresi melindungi diri dari "kesombongan" dan "keputusasaan", tercover dua titik ekstrim penyakit yang paling sering diderita jiwa manusia. Dan dua kalimat terakhirnya menunjukkan adanya keinginan kuat untuk selalu menjadi orang lurus. Ngomong-omong ini bukan berarti aku mendukung Obama lho yah! Ndak ada urusan...cuma terkesan dengan cara dia nyusun kata-kata. Sempat kepikiran berapa lama dia nge-draft doa yang singkat tapi padat itu hehe....
ini sepeda gue, udah hampir dua tahunan sejak gue beli. lebih sering nongkrong di rumah sih, kadang-kadang gue pake muter-muter kompleks kalau malem, abis kalau siang panas, choi.. malem aja kadang masih 42 derajat. nah sekarang nih hawa musim dingin udah mulai terasa, jadi gue mulai semangat genjot lagi tu sepeda. sepeda ini enak banget, tanpa cela lah, merknya "sedona", entah bikinan mana, kata yang jual sih bikinan perancis, tapi kalau menurut hasil riset gue belakangan kayaknya bikinan amrik. entengnya minta ampun, bahan rangka bodinya aluminium, konon kalau yang bahannya serat karbon lebih enteng lagi.tapi harganya bisa dua kali lipet bok..hehe gak lah...next time perhaps. sepeda ini punya 7 gir belakang dan 3 gir depan. komponennya bisa dilepas manual tanpa alat termasuk dua ban-nya. makanya ntar di jakarta gue gak akan berani parkir sembarangan, bisa amblas dipretelin hehe... keluhan gue ama ni sepeda cuma satu, rem belakang pakai tangan kanan, rem depan tangan kiri! semua sepeda gue jaman dulu sebaliknya. rem belakang pakai tangan kiri. jadi refleks gue sering salah. dan ternyata, saudara-saudara, penyesuainnya lebih susah dibanding pindah setir mobil bagian kiri ke bagian kanan! satu lagi yang gue agak resah, menurut kabar internet ada beberapa seri sepeda ini yang ditarik dari peredaran karena "faulty", entah bagian mananya dan yg jenis ini apa bukan. so far sih ok-ok aja gue pakai. sepeda ini kagak pernah gue bawa keluar kompleks, soalnya orang arab kalau nyetir gila-gilaan, serem euy.. jadi inget jaman dulu, waktu kecil bokap pernah beliin sepeda mini warna merah dengan merk “five rams” bikinan china kayaknya, sedang kakakku dibeliin sepeda serupa warna biru merk “phoenix”. waktu baru belajar semanget banget, bangun tidur abis subuh terus genjot di jalanan yang sepi hehehe..pernah jatuh dan sampai sekarang bekas lukanya masih ada di tangan. sepeda itu berguna banget buat jalan ke sekolah bolak-balik dan buat main ke kecamatan sebelah. waktu smp dan sma pernah juga pakai sepeda jengki dan sepeda unta punya bokap hehe...sampai akhirnya hijrah naik sepeda motor karena tuntutan jarak. tapi naik sepeda memang asyik, udah ramah lingkungan, bikin sehat pula. ayo nyepeda! (tapi kalau di jakarta susah juga ya..:( )
 I’ve just returned from a short trip to my home country, Indonesia. Before I did the trip I had arranged an agenda, a to-do list for my one-week stay in the country. One of the things that I had planned to do was “watching movie at a cinema”. You may wonder why? It’s because there is no cinema in the city where I’m living now, not a single one. Over the past two years I practically had not watched any movie in widescreen, so I quite missed it. The nearest cinema from my place is in Bahrain. It takes 5 hour drive eastward through a desert passage, crossing the 10-kilometer Saudi Arabia-Bahrain causeway, passing two immigration check points and two custom verifications . The same way applies for the journey back! I also need a Saudi “exit re-entry visa” and a Bahraini visit visa. So, attempting to watch a widescreen movie by going to Bahrain is just not a good idea. In Jakarta I came to a good Cineplex called “Sinema XXI” in one of the best malls in Jakarta, the Plaza Senayan. I chose to watch a movie that I had been longing to see,”The Dark Knight”, the new Batman movie. I enjoyed the movie very much. The film itself is just extremely good and the Dolby digital sound system of the cinema was just incredible. There is a lesson to learn here. Something that may be too usual and normal for most people, such as watching cinema, can be very special for particular persons like me.
The picture speaks for itself!
I couldn't believe my eyes, our car thermometer indicated that the ambient temperature was 56 C! I thought 52 C was the highest point as I experienced it myself two years ago in Riyadh. Photo taken from an SUV (GMC Suburban) parked at a gas station near Al-Jubayl, KSA coastal area of the Gulf of Arab. Picture info: SE stands for Southeast, indicator used for navigation (compass), not related to temperature.
| Buah Tin | May 24, '08 1:23 PM
for everyone |
 
Sebelum aku datang ke Timur Tengah, aku nggak sadar kalau buah tin seperti yang tertulis di Al-Quran surat At-Tin itu benar-benar masih ada, banyak, dan bisa dimakan! Kalau zaitun alias olive sih emang udah lama tahu. Spesies yang nama latinnya Ficus Carica yang habitatnya di sekitar laut Mediterania ini ternyata juga tumbuh subur di negeri yang panas banget kayak Semenanjung Arabia. Foto pohon di atas kuambil di sebuah kebun di kota Sakaka, Provinsi Al-Jawf sekitar 1200 km dari Riyadh, dekat perbatasan Jordan. Kalau foto buah yang udah dibungkus kuambil di supermarket dekat rumah, hehe... Menurut hadits riwayat Bukhari, nabi Muhammad pernah menyatakan bahwa buah tin yang dalam bahasa Inggris disebut "fig" memiliki beberapa khasiat, seperti dikutip oleh: http://www.islamonline.net/english/Science/2000/6/article3.shtml The prophet (SAWS) mentioned figs and then stated, "If I had to mention a fruit that descended from paradise I would say this is it because the paradisiacal fruits do not have pits...eat from these fruits for they prevent hemorrhoids, prevent piles and help gout." (Bukhari)
Pohon tin juga disebut-sebut di kitab Perjanjian Lama (Genesis/Kejadian). Konon daunnya dipakai Adam dan Hawa di surga untuk menutup aurat setelah kejadian makan buah terlarang. Penggunaan daun pohon tin untuk menutup kemaluan jadi stereotip dan dipakai di lukisan-lukisan dari Eropa.
  Global food crisis?! Where!? Where!? :)......Kalau ngelihat foto-foto ini kayaknya hampir nggak percaya kalau denger berita bahwa dunia lagi krisis pangan. Foto-foto kuambil di beberapa kesempatan waktu lagi ada acara makan bareng. Harap maklum, di negara yang kutinggali sekarang ini suplai makanan selalu cukup. Anyway, percayalah, krisis pangan benar-benar ada. Kemarin temenku nunjukin situs menarik terkait krisis pangan www.freerice.com . Situs ini mengajak kita untuk berpartisipasi membantu masyarakat yang terkena krisis pangan tanpa mengeluarkan uang sepeser pun. Jika kita benar menjawab 1 soal di situ, 20 butir beras akan disumbangkan kepada yang membutuhkan melalui UN Food Programme. Semakin banyak kita menjawab soal dengan benar semakin banyak beras yang kita sumbangkan. Silakan coba, sekalian kita melatih kemampuan bahasa Inggris kita. Thanks to Mbak Riris for introducing me to this site.
Itu terjemahan harfiah untuk "darajah nariyah" yang maksudnya "sepeda motor". Lagi iseng nyoba motor sport punya teman. Sayang kostum gue pas lagi nggak match! (again?) visit the blog's past motorbike-related entry : http://adzul.multiply.com/journal/item/17/bikey....vrooom Anyway, thanks to Abdurrahman for allowing me to ride his motorbike.
Meskipun banyak yang kontra perayaan "Yaumul Hub" alias Valentine, tak urung kartun-kartun ini nongol juga di koran-koran Arab berbahasa Inggris tanggal 14 Februari 2008.
Does anyone know how i can get the DVD in KSA? === 
"Once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a King and his peoples that agreed to work with several Americans to find oil. After much searching in the desert along side one another, they found not only oil but new bonds of friendship and together they happily labored to make the Kingdom into the largest supplier of petroleum the world had ever seen. They would come to call their partnership ARAMCO (Arabian American Oil Company) but we jump ahead of ourselves, for the first pioneers were not alone in their story - they brought others - those young ones who were destined to partake in the joy and wonders of life in a Kingdom along side their fathers. Perhaps now, if you listen closely, you will hear their tale, a story of a home in a Kingdom far, far away that forever changed several generations' lives - the Aramco Brats' Story. " http://www.bratstory.com/
|  | Beberapa foto yang kuambil di sekitar pantai dan pegunungan di Oman yang konon adalah negeri asal Sinbad, si pelaut di cerita 1001 malam.
(Foto diambil dengan hp Samsung SGH X820 2.0 mega pixels) |
 Kemaren iseng-iseng gue ngintip rumah di Riyadh pake Google Earth. Gue agak kaget karena ternyata kolam renang yang ada dideket rumah gede banget! Sejak awal gue tahu kalo disitu ada kolam renang, tapi kirain kecil kayak biasanya kolam renang di sini. Maklum tempatnya tertutup banget dan ada jam khusus untuk laki-laki dan perempuan. Tadinya gue pengin jadi member kolam renang depan rumah itu, tapi iurannya lumayan mahal: SAR 2000 per tahun! (Coba kalikan Rp 2500). Dan syukurlah nggak jadi karena ternyata gue juga nggak punya banyak waktu untuk berenang rutin. Selama lebih dari dua tahun di sini baru dua kali gue berenang, sekali di tempat salah satu kenalan teman, sekali di Golf Course yang jauhnya hampir 100 km. Nanti lah kalau udah balik ke Jakarta lagi, gue akan berenang lagi tiap minggu seperti dulu. Oh, how lovely!
 Saudi Arabia covered with snow in coldest winter for 20 years
RIA Novosti (RIA Novosti) - Northern parts of Saudi Arabia are covered with snow with schools, mosques and administrative bodies paralyzed, local media reported Friday. The oil-rich kingdom is being hit with subzero temperatures and snow storms with freezing winds of up to 50 km/h (30mp/h). Some regions have been experiencing problems with water supplies as pipes have frozen, and livestock has died from the cold. The Saudi Gazette reported late in December that the winter was expected to last 89 days, with temperatures reaching below zero. National media said the winter is the coldest in the country for 20 years. Morning and afternoon prayers are being combined in many mosques because of the morning cold and some schools will reopen later than scheduled. The bad weather is fun for children and teenagers, however, who have been making snowballs and building snowmen with enthusiasm. Source: The Intelligence Daily
URL http://www.inteldaily.com/?c=148&a=4827
Fri, 11 Jan 2008 04:14:00
Photo: Okaz on Saudi Gazette, 11 Jan 2008
“Tahun Miladi”, begitulah orang-orang Arab menyebut tahun Masehi. “Miladi” secara harfiah artinya kelahiran, tentunya kelahiran Nabi Isa. Entah kenapa mereka tidak menyebut Masehi seperti di Indonesia…mungkin supaya tidak confused dengan sebutan untuk agama Kristen yang selalu ditulis “Masihiyyah”. Sementara itu dalam bahasa Inggris mereka tetap menyebutnya “Gregorian calendar”, diambil dari sistem kalender yang dibuat oleh Paus Gregorius XIII. Selain istilah Miladi, disini juga dikenal istilah kalender “Ifrinji” artinya “asing”. Yang dimaksud kalender Masehi juga. Di sini tahun baru Masehi tidak dirayakan dan kantor-kantor tetep buka. Juga tidak lazim orang mengucapkan selamat tahun baru untuk 1 Januari. Ucapan tahun baru disampaikan pada saat 1 Muharram sesuai kalender Hijriyah yang diakui secara resmi. Jadi tanggal 31 Desember tidak ada hitungan mundur akhir tahun, juga tidak ada kembang api. First of January is just another working day!:)
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