My Thinking - Part 2 : Easter Night

One night, I can't sleep.
I think it's because I took a nap over 2 hrs.
So, I laid on my pillow and starred at the ceilings..
That was the night before easter, in 2012.

I used to attend Holy Saturday mass with my family.
But this year is an exception.
Why?
I don't want to walk home alone in a dark, cold, late night (must be finished over 9pm).
And, I'm in a foreign country.
So, I made a decision to attend Sunday Easter mass.
It feels strange because me and my family never attend the Sunday Easter mass.

Back to the bed..
Suddenly, something crossed my mind,
about my volunteering in Red Cross shop, near my campus.
I remember, that when I wear the staff name tag, I am representing Red Cross.
It is my responsibility to make a good impression for every customers.
If I behave badly, customers will think that this shop and this organisation is bad.
Then, the shop will lose its customers and the money input will be decreasing.
In conclusion, every single staff have that responsibility.

From there, I have some thinking.
How about me, representing Jesus in every single day of my life?
Not just every Friday after school, like I do in Red Cross.
I'm not volunteering, actually He paid me.
He has paid the FULL PRICE of my 'salary', with His blood.
Just once, and he has paid ALL of His 'employees'.
So what should we do for our beloved 'Employer'?

I have my baptism since I was a baby.
Since that moment, I am officially Him. He employed me.
Years later, I had my first Communion.
I was so proud because finally I could be a part in the Holy Supper.
Actually I was happy because I could taste the bread and wine  :)
And years later I had my Confirmation sacrament.
With that, I took a bigger responsibility because I confirmed my faith in Him.

"I want to make them feel the love and warmth of Jesus, in me."

He is my everything, and always will be.

I don't want to retire from my 'job'.

If I lose Him, I will lose my everything and I will have nothing.

Explore Melbourne Race!

This time I want to share my story about being a volunteer in Swinburne.
I was being an International Volunteer (just for international students).


Sooo the day that I like the most is the 2nd day, which is 21st of Feb 2012.
On that day, we had a competition for new international students. Which is the "Explore Melbourne Race".
The rule is similar like The Amazing Race (if you know what it is).
Each team is competing by collecting as many points as possible within 3 hours (start at 2 pm, ends at 5 pm).
If teams arriving after 5 pm, they will got late penalty. One point deduction per minute.


There was only around 20 students and 4 volunteers, so we only got 4 teams (1 volunteer per team).
Each team has a team name, team leader, and a mascot.
The mascots are unique animals from Aussie & NZ. There are koala, kiwi, wombat, & kangaroo.


I was with Team Asia. Our mascot is a kiwi.
And this team contains ALL boys (I didn't choose! Not me!). Yeah,  this time I have to deal with boys again. Most of my class mates are boys too 
-___-
Okay, go on. They come from India, Japan, Malaysia, and.. I forgot the last one (sorry..)
They've got map, list of the places, and question sheet.
Every time they use a public transport, or visit the places, they have to give a proof.
The best way to proof is a picture of them, must include the leader & the mascot.
Me? As their volunteer, my task is being their photographer. Yeah, it means I won't be in those pictures :(
but.. okay fine.. no problems with that. I'm happy to be their photographer (hiks)


The volunteers are not supposed to tell them the directions. The students have to find the way by themself.
Could be by asking people, reading maps & directions..
Even I have been in Melbourne for about 4 months, there are some places in city that I haven't visit.
I mean places that listed in their place-list.
Each places has different points, and there are 4 different points in the list.


When the race is started, I told them to buy metcard ticket first (if they don't have one), then we caught a train to Flinders.
We took pictures in the train, and people were looking at us like we're weird. Oh, maybe they wanted to take picture with us ;)
The race continued...
In the middle of the race, the team leader were suddenly disappeared. It was sooo PERFECT because some of our vital evidences are in his camera! dammit dammit dammit!!!
We also met three more (late) students at Fed Square, but they were not joined into our team. They just follow us until the destination.
There'd been conflicts and misunderstanding along the race between us, but that what makes this race unforgettable.
And I kept taking their pictures (with another camera) patiently.


Fortunately, our team is the first team who reached the final destination. Almost the same time with the staffs (even they were confused about the main entry). Which means we got no late penalty.



The meeting point is at The Couch (69 Bourke St), run by Salvos (Salvation Army).
The Couch is actually a place for international students in Melbourne to gather, chill, relax, and meet other students. It is a cafe. But I think it is not too popular because we found it quite difficult to find..
The main entry is via a small lane beside the Salvos store.
I don't even know about The Couch before.


There were 3 staffs, which was the judges of the race.
They counted our points on the spot, and they announced the result on that day.


Want to know the result?


The good thing is, Team Asia isn't the last position. We stand on 3rd. While the last team who arrived is the winner.
Okay. Thanks a LOT to the team leader for leaving us in the middle of the race. Because of him we lost some points.


Anyway, who cares? We all enjoy it. Also because they gave us free dinner. Which is burgers.. Oh soo yumm :9


Here is a picture of Team Asia (minus the leader)

Sounds fun? Stay tuned for more stories ;D

Sovereign Hill - Ballarat

Caranya naik v-line train, berangkat dari southern cross jam 09.07 di platform 8s.

Yang ikut ada aku, venta, mom dad, bude, mba kiki dan nunie.

Karena nggak sempat breakfast, kami beli packet brekky meals di hungry jack. Harganya nggak sampe $5 udah dapet muffin isi bacon, cheese, egg plus medium cup cappuccino & sepotong kentang goreng (bukan chips).

Harga ticket return Melbourne-Ballarat untuk adult $21,60 (economy class) Dan untuk children (1-15 tahun) gratis loh.. mungkin karena aku beli 3 tiket adult. Tiket v-line udah termasuk tiket zone 1 & 2 jadi nggak usah validate tiket metcard atau myki.

Sistem lock di toilet kereta udah otomatis, jadi kalo udah masuk jangan lupa di-lock yah.. Dengan v-line train, kita bisa ngerasain naik kereta yang lebih cepat dari kereta listrik (Metro).

Waktu perjalanan hampir 2 jam.. sampai Ballarat kira2 jam setengah 11an.

Dari station, ada free bus transfer ke Sovereign Hills. Perjalanan kira2 hanya 10 menit. Tapi busnya hanya berisi maksimal 30 orang. Jadi yang nggak kebagian tempat bisa menunggu 10 menit berikutnya karena busnya akan balik lagi.

Harga ticket masuk sovereign hill cukup mahal untuk adult, yaitu $42,50. Kalau untuk child $19,xx (kurang dari setengah harga adult!!!) Dan tiket itu bisa dipake seharian, jadi kita bisa keluar trus masuk lagi. Plus sudah termasuk ticket masuk ke gold museum..

Kita bisa main akal loh, karena kita nggak dicap pas masuk, jadi tiket yang kita beli bisa dipake buat orang lain.

Contohnya : aku beli tiket buat aku & venta,, trus pas keluar gantian mam n pap masuk deh. Canggih bukan?

Sejujurnya kurang begitu menarik sih dalemnya, jadi untuk harga 40 bucks memang nggak worth it. Jadi isi sovereign hill itu ada (bekas) tambang emas, bangunan2 kota zaman dulu (hotel, teater, bakery, bar, post office, gereja), model2 rumah zaman dulu, tenda2 bekas, ‘sungai emas’ di mana pengunjung bisa mencoba mencari logam emas dari bebatuan di sungai buatan.

Tata letak bangunannya seperti di kota kecil ala Texas (nuansa cowboy) tapi busana para staffnya bergaya victorian seperti di moulin rouge.

Mereka jualan pernak pernik ala jadul, permen, soap, candles, dan ada roti2 juga. Pengunjung juga bisa sewa kostum untuk difoto. Tapi mahal banget. Pilihan kostumnya ada banyak tapi harganya $30-an. Sangat tidak worth it (untuk budget turis Indo).

Kalau mau beli, mereka juga jual kostum asli dari Prancis loh (asalnya moulin rouge). Kostum2 model rok mekar dan berbagai topeng.

Anak2 bisa menghias lilin dan mencelup warna sendiri (bayar $15). Selain lilin mereka juga jual sabun aneka aroma seharga $2 satu balok..

Kalau lapar, bisa beli makanan di Pizza Hut. Cukup jalan sebentar dari depan sovereign hill. Karena kalau makan di dalem, harganya bisa 2x lebih mahal (harga turis bule).

Kami datang saat cuaca cerah (tapi anginnya dingin), dan berdebu. Disarankan bawa air mineral dari rumah dan pelindung matahari (sunglass, payung, jaket,…) kalau takut hitam.

Karena sudah bosan, kami balik lagi ke station naik taxi, karena bus yang tadi ada lagi jam 3.30, sedangkan kami selesai sekitar jam 2 siang. Kereta menuju city ada sekitar jam 3 siang.

Karena lapar banget, di city kami makan di Charming Spice restaurant (Lonsdale st).  Warna plangnya merah, dengan tulisan hanzi yang besar.

Satu porsinya berukuran besar, jadi disarankan untuk sharing. Kami biasanya beli lauk dan sayur, lalu nasinya pake fried rice. Istimewanya dari resto ini adalah di rasa pedasnya. Hampir di semua makanan mereka pakai cabe kering. Jadi sangat cocok untuk para pecinta pedas!! Harga satu porsi lauk daging sekitar $13-$15, di atas $10 lah, karena porsinya memang besar.

Jadi, selamat mencoba.. :D

Written on 28^th of December, 2011