Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009

Wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...
May Jesus is born in our hearts to guide us in the upcoming years ^^

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Image source: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ew_gIynwCko/Ryvp_rW9vuI/AAAAAAAAAQs/q4QiSVti4Nk/s1600/Lilpeople%2Bnativity.jpg

Christmas in Our Hearts

The first time I heard this song was when BICC made a Charity CD last year. It's originally sung by Jose Mari Chan. Since then, I really like to hear the song.

Different from all modern Christmas songs that are sung by another artists or groups, this song reminds us about the true meaning of Christmas, that is the birth of Christ. In this modern time, when Christmas is commercialized, do we still remember the true meaning of it? When we buy new cloths, new shoes, and all everything new to celebrate Christmas, do we still remember that He was born in a manger? When we celebrate Christmas with party, foods, drinks and songs, do we still remember that He was born in a silent night, alone just with His parent, some shepherd and lamb?

It's not a bad thing to have some new stuff in Christmas, but the most important thing is we have to renew our heart to celebrate the His birth.

Christmas in Our Hearts
Jose Mari Chan

Whenever I see girls and boys
selling lanterns on the streets
i remember the Child
in the manger as He sleeps
wherever there are people
giving gifts, exchanging cards
i believe that Christmas
is truly in their hearts

[refrain]
Let’s light our Christmas trees
for a bright tomorrow
where nations are at peace
and all are one in God

[chorus]
Let’s sing Merry Christmas
and a happy holiday
this season, may we never forget
the love we have for Jesus
let Him be the One to guide us
as another new year starts
and may the spirit of Christmas
be always in our hearts

In every prayer and every song
the community unites
celebrating the birth
of our Savior, Jesus Christ

let love, like that starlight
on that first Christmas morn
lead us back to the manger
where Christ the Child was born

So, come let us rejoice
come and sing a Christmas carol
with one big joyful voice
proclaim the name of the Lord!

[repeat chorus 2x]

Be always in our hearts

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Midi is taken from: http://www.ex-designz.net/midiswav/Filipino_Midi/chrismasinourheart_josemari.mid

Christmas Tree

Another popular tradition on Christmas day is Christmas tree. A beautiful tree which is decorated with some ornaments and lights, and sometimes some boxes of presents in the bottom of the tree. The tree itself usually a pine tree with an angel doll or a star placed on the top of it. On some country, they use a real pine tree that has been cut down but for practical reason, nowadays some people use plastic made trees. The ornaments usually colorful made from balls, ribbon or plastics.

The origin of the tradition is still a controversy. Some people said that the tradition came from pre-Christian era, some other said that it is related to the Germanic tribes tradition in 16th century. Some Christians said that the tradition shouldn't be kept because of its pagan origin.

Despite being a controversy, for me, Christmas tree represent a nativity story and our faith. The star or angle in the top of the tree shows the star or the choir of angles on the night when Jesus was born. The use of pine tree shows that our faith should stand still in any situation, either it is good or bad, just like a pine tree that still alive in the summer or winter. The light shows that we should become the light of the world, just like what Jesus wants us to be. The ornaments and the presents symbolize what we can give for Baby Jesus, our friends and relatives.

Looking at the Christmas Tree glowing on the dark room, brings my mind back to the thousand years ago when He was born. It was a peaceful night. A holy night. And then my heart starts singing this song ^^

O Christmas Tree

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
Not only green when summer's here,
But also when 'tis cold and drear.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
Thou bidst us true and faithful be,
And trust in God unchangingly.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee! !"

Carnel's note: O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) is a German Folk Song. There are many translations in English and another languages. I just take some of theme.

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Midi taken from:
http://www.lockergnome.com/midi/
Picture taken from:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Juletr%C3%A6et.jpg

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Every Christmas, we hear the name of Santa Claus. He is the legendary and mythical figure who always comes at Christmas Eve to visit the children. He comes bringing present for the good children by riding sleigh, pulled by eight flying reindeer.

Do you remember the names of the reindeer? They are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen. But indeed there is one more, that is Rudolph. Based on some story, he is the son of Donder which have a red, shiny nose. A good reindeer, but many of its friends always make fun of him because of his nose.

Originally, Rudolph is not a permanent member of Santa's reindeer which are usually used to pull the sleigh on Christmas Eve. One day, Santa was about to deliver the presents, but the day was too foggy that night. Santa suddenly notice that Rudolph has a glowing nose. Worried to be late or had to cancel it, Santa then asked Rudolph to use his nose as a lamp and guide him in the foggy night. Since then, Rudolph become the member of Santa's reindeer.

Children remember the story of Rudolph by singing this song:

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid and Donder and Blitzen.
But do you recall?
The most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names;
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve,
Santa came to say,
Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?

Then all the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
You'll go down in history.

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Midi taken from:
http://www.miditrax.com/xmasmidis.htm
Picture taken from:
http://msmindy.com/rudolph/images/pictures/rudolph_circle.jpg

Sedikit Curhat ^^

Awal-awal bulan Desember ini, adalah hari-hari tersibuk g. Mulai dari project kantor, kegiatan Gereja n kegiatan diluar kantor ^^
Mulai dari konser BICC untuk charity yang latihannya g sering bolos, terus latihan aikido yang intensif menjelang ujian naik tingkat, ampe merancang-rancang acara liburan akhir taun ditengah kerjaan yang bejibun dan bikin mumet.
Cooling down dimulai dengan selesainya bagian Purchase Order diproject kantor, dan selesainya konser BICC yang walaupun tidak diketahui berakhir dengan sukses atau tidak ^^
Habis kita ga ada di bangku penonton sich, jadi buat tahu hasilnya, mending kita tanya aja pendapat beberapa orang yang menonton:

Sdr. D:

"Wah bagus nel, saya terpesona dengan penampilan BICC. Mendebarkan dan melegakan. Suaranya indah terutama suara lima nya"

Sdr. E:

"BICC memang T.O.P. Konser lagi ya... saya ingin melihat lagi"

Sdri. N:

"Membayar Rp. 50rb untuk melihat konser BICC? Waaaaah saya mau menonton lagi. Tumben harga tiketnya murah ya... lagi charity project kali ya. Sering-sering ya"

Sdri. S:

"Biasanya melihat konser seperti itu saya cepat merasa ngantuk dan bosan. Maklum saya kan moody. Tapi melihat konser BICC kemarin itu saya tidak merasa ngantuk untuk pertama kalinya! Saya sampai meminjam kamera teman saya untuk mengabadikannya. Bravo BICC!"

Beberapa hari berselang setelah charity konser BICC, hari ujian Aikido pun tiba. Walaupun hasil pastinya belum diketahui (para sensei bilang seh bagus), tapi g merasa puas dan senang ^^ Gimana nggak, setelah latihan intensif rabu, sabtu dan minggu, akhirnya bisa tidur ampe siang lagi minggu depan ^^

Hal yang paling menyenangkan dari semua itu adalah ketika menyadari hari liburan hampir tiba. Ya, kantor kita bakal ada cuti bersama akhir tahun. Kita rencana pergi ke Lombok. Semua hal telah kita rencanakan sebaik-baiknya. Semoga rencana ini bisa terwujud dan berjalan dengan baik. Faktor cuaca dan keramaian akhir taun adalah yang paling kita khawatirkan. Tolong bantu doa ya, semoga rencana ini bisa sukses dan kita bisa melanjutkan hari-hari ditahun yang baru dengan lebih semangat ^^

So, bagaimana dengan rencana liburan kalian? Semoga sama-sama menyenangkan ya ^^

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Beberapa bagian hanyalah rekaan belaka. Kalian tentu tahu yang mana :p

Munduk Village

Senin, 08 Desember 2008: Idul Adha di Bali. Pertama-tama saya mau mengucapkan selamat Idul Adha bagi semua yang merayakannya ^^
Sehari sebelumnya terjadi hal yang menyedihkan yaitu tewasnya si Kooki. Penulis menyampaikan belasungkawa yang sebesar-besarnya. Semoga pemilik yang ditinggalkannya diberi ketabahan lahir dan batin.

In Memoriam: Kooki (alm.)


Suasana di Bali tidak begitu berbeda dengan hari-hari biasa. Sangat berbeda dengan di daerah g yang notabene toko-toko pada tutup, ga semua toko ato tempat makan di Bali tutup. Ada sih satu atau dua yang tutup, tapi rata-rata mereka yang merayakan Idul Adha ini.

Untuk mengisi waktu luang, kita ber-11 berjalan-jalan ke desa Munduk, Bedugul. Usulan tempat disampaikan oleh sdr Mel. Dia beriklan disana kita bisa melihat suasana perkebunan, horse riding ditengah suasana sejuk pedesaan Bedugul, dan tentu saja melihat pemandangan hijau yang indah. Walaupun awalnya pas berangkat g ga ngeh mau melakukan apa di desa itu, beginilah kira-kira bayangan desa Munduk versi Carnel:

Munduk Village dalam bayangan Carnel


Oya, seperti biasa kita punya lagu tema perjalanan. Kali ini, lagu temanya adalah Kepompong:
Tampang si **ra bagai kepompong...
Tadinya ulat ga jadi kupu-kupu...

Setelah kurang lebih 1.5 jam dijalan naik motor, kita sampai di Kafe Tahu, Bedugul. Setelah istirahat dan makan siang, perjalanan dilanjutkan kira-kira 2 jam lagi. Jalanan terjal, hujan yang turun, dan pandangan aneh dari monkey-monkey di tepi jalan tak menyurutkan niat kita untuk menjajal desa Munduk. Setelah melewati 3 danau (kalau ga salah namanya Beratan, Tamblingan dan Bunyan), sampailah kita di desa yang dimaksud. YESSSS!!!! akhirnya sampai juga!!! tapi kok...feels like dejavu...

Kayanya kok pernah ya liat warung itu... Ya ampun... ini kan warung yang waktu bareng si Gid liat air terjun. Dulu kita ga tau namanya tuh air terjun, ternyata namanya air terjun Munduk. Ya elah, ancur dah bayangan desa munduk di atas. Apalagi setelah penjaga warung nanya ke sodaranya, "disini perkebunan dimana ya?".
Karena udah kepalang nyampe disana dan juga ada beberapa orang diantara kita yang belum pernah melihat air terjunnya, kita lanjutkan lah melihat air terjun itu. Setelah melewati jalanan becek dan licin, ini dia pemandangan yang akan didapat :)

Perjalanan menuju air terjun


Munduk Waterfall


Danau Tamblingan (?)


Danau Bunyan (?)


Setelah puas melihat air terjun, kita memutuskan untuk segera pulang sebelum hari gelap. Sebelum pulang, kita akan mampir ke "Strawberry Stop" untuk menikmati cemilan yang nikmat :) Waktu hari mulai gelap, kita baru pulang dari "Strawberry Stop" karena terjadi sedikit insiden dimana motor si Mel bocor bannya. Jalanan gelap, dingin dan berkabut pada waktu kita pulang, tapi akhirnya sampai juga di Denpasar kira-kira jam 9 malam. Setelah makan di M-23 (sejenis modifikasi dari M-16), pulanglah kita ke tempat kost masing2 dengan perasaan lelah tapi gembira :)

Senang rasanya bisa berkumpul dan berjalan-jalan bersama lagi ^^ Walaupun tempatnya udah pernah dikunjungin sebelumnya, tapi prinsipnya "makan ga makan yang penting ngumpul, pergi ga pergi yang penting pergi aja deh" hehehehe....

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Picture bayangan Munduk diambil dari Wikipedia
Gambar si Kooki waktu hidup diambil dari blog pemiliknya
Gambar pemandangan Munduk dari dokumentasi pribadi

Christmas Carol 2008

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

It's hitting you once,
It's hitting you twice
It doesn't care if you've been careful and wise
Recession is coming to town

It's worthless if you've got shares
It's worthless if you've got bonds
It's safe when you've got cash in hand
So keep cash for goodness sake, HEY

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town!

Finance products are confusing
Finance products are so vague
The banks make you bear the cost of risk
So keep out for goodness sake, OH

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why:
Recession is coming to town.

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Source: Email tetangga
Image Source: http://soundbiteblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/christmas-tree.gif