Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas My Dear Son

Dear Son, this Christmas I am giving you the gift of knowledge about the world, the real world. To start with, you need to know that Santa Claus – or Father Christmas, or Sinterklaas – does not exist. All those presents that you received from “Santa” were actually from me, your dad and your grandparents who badly made up Santa’s signature.

The world we are living is a cruel world, son. You probably remember the little children singing on the traffic lights and the old man collecting old newspapers and used bottles from your grandparents’ house in Jakarta. They are homeless. Well, maybe they do live in a “house” made of cardboards, but their “homes” are going to be evicted soon so that Jakarta can have more and more glamorous shopping mall. Besides homeless, they might not be able to afford food every day.

On television this week you might have seen grim picture and number of people died of flash flood, of war or protesters who want a better world killed by their own armed forces. You might remember my angry rant about someone called Murdoch – Rupert and James – who unethically obtained people’s private information and sell them for their own profit. You might remember the people camping in front of Manchester Town Hall occupying public space in protest of the current economic system that is power by greed. And I hope you remember how angry I was that the poor and the hardworking middle class have to pay for the mess some rich bankers created.

The world is unfair and unjust, my son. Now that you are almost an adult, I think you should know this.

With this knowledge as a Christmas gift, let me give you a good advice. If you want to be rich and successful, forget your dream about being a quantum physicist or scientist. Do not even consider working as a journalist or a social worker. Scientific exploration will not earn you any house and social worker salary will not afford you any Ferrari.

Be a banker or stock market trader! There, you will be rich rich and rich. If you can successfully enter the banking business and become a big boss, the tax payers will pay you ten times than what you actually worth. When you gamble other people’s money and lost, you need not to worry because banks are too big of a national institution to be let bankrupt. The tax payers will have to rescue your bank and you will still earn six figures bonus. When the hardworking civil servants are struggling to get their Christmas dinner on the table, you can buy proper champagne, caviar and tens of turkeys. You can even buy your children the latest sport car each as a Christmas present.

When you are a rich banker, you can watch television and laughed at the people occupying Wall Street, London, Manchester and all protesters all over the world. Even when governments around the world are reviewing legislations about bankers’ bonuses, if you are a rich banker, you can always hire the best lawyer and take a legal action against the cap of your bonus – as bankers in Europe are starting to do now.

When you are a rich investor, you can burn your copy of Das Kapital and buy the whole rain forest in Borneo and Sumatra to plant palm oils – this is the new gold rush, son!

As each generation grows to become better than their predecessor, you should be much better than me. Your old mother was a fool to follow her dream of becoming an independent journalist covering the untold stories of the poor in the world. Look where I ended up today, struggling to pay the bills like the rest of the middle class and still having to pay for all the bankers’ mistakes. Forget my naïve lectures about buying only Fair Trade goods and making the lives of others better. These were my Santa Claus, my fairy tales that I believed for too long. Remember that Santa Claus does not exist, and that Mother Teresa is a fool.

* * *

Writing these facts made me cry, my dearest lad. I cried for the hungry children in the world, and I cried for the dying fairy tales. I had to stop writing and took a walk. In the little park near our home, I saw the old woman who feeds the birds every day – just like the woman in Mary Poppins. I chatted with her and she pointed a poor bird whose beak is so weak that it could barely eat if she did not feed it by hand. I said goodbye to her and walk on.

Amid the busy Christmas shopping on Market Street, a few homeless people were selling the Christmas edition of Big Issue. You know this magazine, don’t you son? It is the weekly entertainment and current affairs magazine sold on the street by homeless people. The official Big Issue vendors earn 50% of the price of the magazine. For many, this is the only job they can get. Selling Big Issues does not give them housing though, if you walk the street at night, you will see most of the vendors sleeping on doorsteps of offices or shops.

You see son, I initially bought you a box of chocolates as an early Christmas treat. I am sorry that you never received this. As I walked around town, saying “No” to a Big Issue seller, I could not help but thinking about him. I turned around and offered him some chocolates. You have to see the surprised on his face. His smile wiped the tears in my eyes, son. So this is what happened to your box of chocolates. I ended up walking around town offering chocolates to all Big Issue vendors that I saw. Now it’s all gone.

My dearest son, I hope you forgive me for changing my mind again. I want you to ignore the first part of my letter to you. No son, I do not want you to forget your dream of becoming a quantum physicist. And no, Mother Teresa is not a fool.

Yes there are greedy bankers who do not care about the hungry children begging on Jakarta’s busy traffic lights. Yes there are evil politicians who took away social funding for the poor. And yes the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. High Pay Commission in the UK lat month shows that executive pay has risen sharply – the pay of the head of Barclays is up nearly 5,000% in 30 years – while average wages have increased just threefold. Today, 10% of the richest are 100 times better off than the poorest.

My dearest son, it is a sad moment when we realised that Santa Claus does not exist and most miracles we see in movies are just fictions. But my darling, kindness and magic do exist. Miracles are what we create and magic came from our heart. The smile on the homeless person eating your chocolates was my magical moment today. We really can create miracles with one simple kindness every day.

Remember the story of the greedy and selfish Ebenezer Scrooge? One Christmas Day after seeing the ghosts, his eyes were opened and he brought gifts to his underpaid clerk Bob Cratchit and his family. The most touching of this story is that the Cratchits gave Scrooge even a bigger present: their love and forgiveness.

There is another Christmas Carol story to celebrate. As the music industry in Britain are counting their sales for Christmas number one single 2011, one song by a bunch of amateurs is most likely to be the winner. The song, “Wherever You Are”, was written based on letters between soldiers in war zones and their loved ones. Competing with famous singers like Michael Buble and X-Factor singers, the humble Military Wives choir stood almost no chance. Still, a few days before Christmas, their single is the most likely to be number one. Proceeds from the sale will go to two armed forces charity – the Royal British Legion, and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Families Association (SSAFA).

The best part of this story is that the Chancellor of the Exchequer – the Scrooge of the UK who closed down free libraries and hospitals – announced yesterday that all VAT (tax) from sales of this single will be returned to the armed forces charity.

My son, if the Scrooges of this world can show just one little act of kindness for Christmas, I think others can and should do too. We will not change the world alone, son, but if everyone do one little act of kindness everyday, this old world might still have a chance. If the 10% richest people on Earth start sharing, oh what a wonderful world this would be!

So don’t be Scrooge. Continue your dream of becoming a scientist and lead humankind into finding the origin of our universe. I hope that during your search for Higgs boson – the God particle – you continue to search inside your heart. Mother Teressa was no scientist, but she found this paradox, “That if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”

I know that from time to time we feel like giving up in humanity – we saw no hope for Libyan people to get true democracy, we see no hope for children in refugee camps in Somalia, while we see good food being thrown to the bin by our friends and colleagues in this so called “first world”. When you feel like how I felt earlier and wanting to give up, take a walk to the street and know that you can bring a smile into others’ faces. And, “Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change, but pretty soon...everything's different,” said Calvin to Hobbes.

I hope that in your darkest hours, you remember what Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International said, “Better light a candle than curse the darkness.”

Merry Christmas, my son! Let’s light a candle this Christmas Day. A candle of hope and love that will shine the light to our family and to all humankind on Earth.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Knitted PIKACHU Pattern

I have been searching for a pattern for this loveable Pokemon, but all I found was a crochet pattern. There was a Pikachu pattern designed by Alan Dart – so said one knitter in a forum – however this is no longer available – and the knitter who proudly shared her pictures refused to share her pattern.

If you don't know what is Pokemon and who is Pikachu.... Hmm..you can read Wikipedia's explanation of Pokemon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon. Pikachu is the main character in Pokemon movies, he belong to Ash Ketchum, the main human character.

So, with great satisfaction and a bit of pride, here is my very first pattern that I designed from scratch!
For the first "experimental" Pikachu, I used pink yarn - just because I have too many pink and no yellow at the time. I will upload pictures of the original yellow Pika when I finish knitting this second one.
Materials:
DK weight wool or acrylic – yellow, brown and small amount of black. & red
4mm DPN
Yarn needle
polyester stuffing
Gauge: not important

Colours:
MC – yellow
CC- brown
Small amount of black for eyes and tip of ears
Small amount of red for cheeks and lip

BODY
CO 15 sts, then join to work in the round
Row 1; k
Row 2: (k2, kfb, k2) x3, total 18 sts
Row 3: k
Row 4: (k2, kfb x 2, k2) x 3, total 24 sts
Row 5: k
Row 6: (k3, kfb x 2, k3) x 3, total 30 sts
Row 7: k
Row 8: (k4, kfb x 2, k4) x 3, total 36 sts
Row 9: k
Row 10: (k5, kfb x 2, k5) x 3, total 42 sts
Row 11: k
Row 12: (k5, kfb x4, k5) x 3, total 54 sts
Row 13 – 16 : k
Row 17: k4, with CC k10, with MC k4, k till end of row with MC
Row 18 – 19: same as row 17
Row 20 – 22: k with MC
Row 23 – 25: same as Row 17
Row 26: k with MC
Row 27: start decrease. (k6, k2tog x 3, k6) x 3, total 45 sts
Row 28 – 29: k
Row 30: (k6, k2tog, k7) x 3, total 42 sts
Row 31: k
Row 32: (k6, k2tog, k6) x 3, total 39 sts
Row: 33: k
Row 34: (k5, k2tog, k6) x 3, total 36 sts
Row 35: k

HEAD
Row 36: increase. (k5, kfb x 2, k5) x 3, total 42 sts
Row 37: k
Row 38: (k6, kfb x 2, k6) x 3, total 48 sts
Row 39: k
Row 40: (k7, kfb x2, k7) x 3, total 54 sts
Row 41: k
Row 42: (k8, kfb x 2, k8) x 3, total 60 sts
Row 43: k
Row 44: (k8, kfb x 3, k9) x 3, total 69 sts
Row 45 - 48: k
Row 49: decrease. (k9, k2tog x 2, k10) x 3, total 63 sts
Row 50: k
Row 52: (k8, k2tog x 2, k9) x 3, total 57 sts
Row 53: k
Row 54: (k8, k2 tog, k9) x 3, total 54 sts
Row 55: k
Row 56: (k7, k2tog x 2, k7) x3 total 48 sts
Row 57: k
Row 58: (k6, k2tog x 2, k6) x 3 total 42 sts
Row 59: k
* this would be the right time to embroider the face. Using black yarn, make the eyes and nose and using red yarn embroider the smiley lip and red cheeks. See picture of original Pikachu as a model.
* stuff the body and head firmly before continuing the next rows
Row 60: (k5, k2tog x 2, k5) x 3, total 36 sts
Row 61: k
Row 62: (k4, k2tog x 2, k4) x 3, total 30 sts
Row 63: k
Row 64: (k3, k3tog x 2, k3) x 3, total 24 sts
Row 65: k
Row 67: (k2, k2tog x 2, k2) x 3, total 18 sts
Row 68: (k1, k2tog x 2, k1) x 3, total 12 sts
Break yarn and thread tail through remaining stitches, secure and pull to inside of the head to hide the thread.

LEGS (make 2)
CO 15 sts, then join to work in the round
Row 1: k
Row 2: (k2, kfb, k2) x 3, total 18 sts
Row 3: k
Row 4: (k2, kfb x 2, k2) x3, total 24
Row 5 – 9 : k
Row 10: decrease. (k3, k2tog, k3) x 3, total 21
Row 11: (k2, k2tog, k3) x 3, total 18
Row 12: k
Row 13: (k2tog x 2, k2) x 3, total 12
Break yarn and thread tail through remaining stitches, stuff firmly, secure and hide the thread. Sew to body

ARMS (make2)
Row 1 – 4: same as leg
Row 5 - 13: k
Row 14 - 17: same as Row 10 - 13 for leg.
Break yarn and thread tail through remaining stitches, stuff firmly, secure and hide the thread. Sew to body

TAIL
Tail is worked in garter stitch on straight 4mm needle, do not join in the round.
CO (with CC) 10 sts
K for 20 rows in gt st
Change to MC, k for 30 rows in gt st
Next row: Increase: kfb, k8, kfb. total 12 sts
Next row: K
Next row: kfb, k10, kfb. Total 14 sts
Next row: k
Next row: kfb x2, k10, kfb x 2. total 18 sts
Next row: k for 4 rows
Cast off. Fold the tail, sew seams, stuff lightly (not too firm), sew to Pikachu’s bottom below the stripes.

EARS (make 2)
With MC. CO 9, join to work in the round
Row 1: k
Next row: increase. (k, kfb, k) x 3, total 12 sts
Next: k for 8 rows in st st
Next row: change to Black yarn. k for 4 rows in st st
Next row: decrease. (K, k2tog, k) x 3, total 9 sts
Cut yarn and thread tail through remaining stitches, weave in the inside of the ear. Sew the CO to Pikachu’s head. Sew the left ear cockeyed off to the side (see picture of Pikachus)

Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Tale of the Zoo

Disney Production, I have a film idea for you!

Before anyone else starts writing story ideas to you, let me pitch an idea for your new Disney animation film. It is based on Rupert Murdoch and the News Corporation saga, and my working title is “The Tale of the Zoo”.

By the way, I have checked with my reliable Wiki sources, that your company has no ties with Mr Rupert Murdoch. I am now pretty sure that you are not part of the “denial gang” – those who deny that their jobs are unethical, and those who are delusional enough to believe that hacking phones and bribing police are part of “freedom of expression” or "First Amendment".

Now that we are clear about where we both stand, I will waste no more of your time and start with the characters. Rupert Murdoch should be portrayed as a fox. It goes without saying the reason why. If not for the cunning qualities of this animal, then choose this character because of the name of your competitor in television network that Mr Murdoch owns.

Supporting characters. Before the Commons select committee hearing, I was going to suggest Rebekah the cheetah. But now I changed my mind. It should be Wendi the Siamese cat who is secretly a ninja. Before you protest, yes I know that ninjas are from Japan and Siamese cats, as the name suggested, are from Thailand in South East Asia. However, your general viewer would only associate the two as being Oriental. So there you go. Wendi the Siamese cat who has been training secretly as a ninja is the first supporting role.

It is rather difficult to decide what animal should portray the son of Rupert the fox. I suggest we should stick to fox (we might confuse children if a fox has a son who is not a fox). So we have our next character, James the fox.

The story should be consistent with Disney’s values. It will teach children to discern between right and wrong. It will have a comforting end that show how the antagonist role will end up being humiliated, shamed and lost everything that he gained through dishonesty.

In the spirit of educating our children about moral and ethics, we shall show how Rebekah the cheetah under Rupert the fox paid the private investigator weasels to have a nose around other animals’ businesses. To get more stories, Rebekah the cheetah ordered the journalist bears to get close to the chimps that are trusted to enforce the law of their zoo. Among the bears is Sean the big gentle bear who later felt so guilty of his unethical job that he quit and hide into a big cave. We never saw Sean the bear anymore. We will not show that the bear was later found dead, unexplained but not suspicious – no, we should not upset our children viewers.

The chimps started their job as law enforcers with honesty and dignity. They are very clever creatures. However, a few top chimps found it easier to get food by being friendly with the cheetah and the foxes. So there they go, having lunches together, the foxes, the cheetah, and the chimps. The chimps got to know the bears who were so good at their job, that the head chimp employed a bear to be their public relation consultant. The bear’s job is to write positive stories about the chimps. Mutually benefited, the chimps happily handed over to the bears secret information from their office. The transactions were supervised secretly by the cheetah and the foxes. Both cheetah and the two foxes always hid behind bushes whenever a transaction took place.

The foxes also befriended the hyenas. This is of course for the greater good, to keep the zoo in peace. After a few lunches together, David the lead hyena said to the foxes, “I really like your friends. In fact, I want to hire your ex-employee, Andy the weasel.” So Mr Hyena became very good friend with Andy the weasel. They stood by each other, even after Andy the weasel was arrested by the law enforcer chimps.

The corporation of the foxes suddenly got into trouble when the rest of the zoo’s citizens found out that they had been ears dropping messages left for a cute little puppy who was lost and later found dead. The lions, the elephants, the macaques, the penguins, even the fishes in the pond demanded an answer for what happened in their lovely and peaceful zoo.

The hyenas decided that they will summon the foxes and the cheetah to their grand hearing. At the hearing, the foxes completely denied any knowledge of their secret cooperation with the chimps. Father fox, Rupert, said that he felt so humbled. Still, he blamed his bears and his weasels for the wrongdoing. “I am only an old fox who run so many companies, I am not aware of what my weasels and my bears did.” While tired old father fox gave his testimony, his wife Wendi the Siamese cat was caringly sitting behind him, pouring his drink and patting his back lovingly.

As the hearing was about to finish, a little mouse jumped out from the crowd. Jonathan the mouse had a plate of mud pie on his hand. He jumped to Rupert the fox and threw his mud pie to Rupert’s face. Everyone was so shocked, even the security chimps are dumb folded. Only one animal was not off guard: Wendi the Siamese cat – remember that she is secretly a ninja! Wendi lunged to Jonathan the mouse, hit him with her right paw and then threw what left of the mud pie back onto Jonathan’s face. Wendi the Siamese cat saved Rupert the fox’s face.

We fade this scene into a zoo song – preferably sung by Sir Elton John, or maybe Alison Krauss or Dixie Chicks for a change. The extras – cute macaques, big elephants, clumsy hippos, cheeky penguins, even fishes in the pond – are all singing and dancing as the cunning fox are now shamed. The hyenas who had been ruling the zoo corruptly was exiled. The zoo elected a new wise leader: Zimba the lion (this on the condition that we can ask our now grown lion from Lion King to come back as a zoo lion).

The zoo retained its peace and happy state, and all the animals live happily ever after. Well, except the foxes and the cheetah who have to spend the rest of their live in a far corner of the zoo next to the rubbish bins where no visitor would go.

I hope you like my film idea. Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time. Like all independent film makers, I have no power whatsoever to say no to any contract that you make me sign.

Yours sincerely,

Adeline Tumenggung-Cooke

Thursday, June 30, 2011

More from today's strike

Public sector strike

Good luck teachers... You all are heroes and do not deserve to pay for bankers and politicians mistakes..


together against the public sector cut

Monday, June 27, 2011

Garden Song

This spring I felt the urge to grow some vegetables. We live in a city centre flat with no land, but the flower bed in front of our ground floor flat was bare and looking sad. So we started planting gooseberries, onions, carrots, and beetroots. A few weeks later, when all leaves started to spring and looking promising, the building management, Riverside, told us to pack them up.

I did not want to go down without a fight. My (angry) statement can be found in this blog. I moved some of the vegetables to pots, gooseberry to a barrel, and put up a sign saying, “We do you no harm, why do you want to kill us?” I also sent my statement to a Councillor and to our local neighbourhood forum.

Two months passed, I thought the anti-green management has decided to leave us alone and let us grow these beautiful organic vegetables. Then one evening after work I found new bushes had been planted in the flower bed. Our vegetables were moved to little pots around the flower bed. I think this is one bad news and a little good news. While the evil Riverside building management wanted to kill all our plants, I think the gardeners who were ordered to execute did not have the heart to kill them all.

After all, plants are also God’s creatures. There is something about watching seeds grow into healthy vegetables that brings peace and joy into our hearts. As I was thinking about my little “vegetable garden”, I found this song written by David Mallett and sung by John Denver http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FkaN0HQgs.

I think this song reflects the good feeling when we tend to our garden.
Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe
And a piece of fertile ground.

Inch by inch, row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below
Till the rain comes tumblin' down

Pullin' weeds and pickin' stones
Man is made of dreams and bones
Feel the need to grow my own
'Cause the time is close at hand

Rainful rain, sun and rain
Find my way in nature's chain
Tune my body and my brain
To the music from the land

Plant your rows straight and long
Temper them with prayer and song
Mother Earth will make you strong
If you give her love and care

Old crow watchin' hungrily
From his perch in yonder tree
In my garden I'm as free
As that feathered thief up there.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Around Europe in many different cultures

Published in The Jakarta Post, Wednesday 8 June 2011
by: Adeline Tumenggung-Cooke*

Fancy a “window shopping” in the world’s vast cultural heritage in one continent? Europe is the place. From Berlin Wall, Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, windmills of Holland and masquerade carnivals in Venice, all can be reached by land.

Romantic Paris can begin with Monalisa, who is not the only resident of Paris’ Musee du Louvre. Art lovers would need a whole day exploring it. At the entrance, you will find the inverted pyramid that captured Dan Brown’s imagination in Da Vinci Code. From Louvre, walk to the river Seine. There are floating restaurants, cafes, even free benches where you can enjoy the same view with your own wine, bread and cheese from a local grocer. To sail along Seine, you can take a guided tour or hop on the Batobus with stops on both sides of the Seine.

Visiting Eiffel Tower is amazing in both sunlight and moonlight. On the top, there are telescopes to see Paris from above. Eiffel Tower at night is even more romantic. After dark, the entire tower is lit by 336 light projectors and 20,000 sparkling lights.

Not to be missed is the sunset in front of Basilique du Sacré-Cœur on the summit of Montmartre. The area was the set for Moulin Rouge and Amelie, and the work place of Dalí, Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh Toulouse-Lautrec, and many famous artists.

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice sets in the only city in world built entirely on water. Venice held one of the most prestigious international film festivals in late August or early September. During Carnival of Venice - around February and March – you will see masks like those featured in Eyes Wide Shut. The mask was historically worn to hide identities and social class differences. Nowadays, a jury of international designers annually votes for La Maschera piu bella, the best masked costume of the year.

Gondolas have always been part of Venice’s post cards. It is romantic, but not cheap – 80 Euros for a 40-minute ride. If you know where you want to go, better take the vaporetto (water bus) or the traghetto (gondola ferry).

If your time is limited, the must-seen place is Piazza San Marco. From there visit St. Mark's Basilica, the Museo Correr, and the clock tower. The archway beneath the clock opens onto the Mercerie, where you can buy traditional souvenirs. Away from Venice’s city centre, the island of Murano is famous for its traditional glass making and Burano for its colourful fishermen’s cottages.

The tulips of Holland would colour your spring. Situated between Amsterdam and The Hague, Keukenhof opens from March to May. It has over 80,000 tulips of 600 varieties. You can also have your photo taken in traditional Dutch clothing.

Food-wise, there are giant pancakes in Leiden. But my favourite is the Dutch way of serving French fries. Snackbars in Dam Square Amsterdam serve chips with many choices of condiments. Try patatje oorlog (“little chips at war”), chips with mayonnaise and peanut/satay sauce. You will be surprise to find that the combination actually works well! As you walk around Amsterdam, be careful when walking into a “coffeeshop” as this is the popular name for legal places to enjoy cannabis.

Visitors of Berlin this year will have a chance to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall. On August 13, there will be commemorative ceremony dedicated to the victims of the Wall and the division of the city.

Berlin has a number of high-rise observation decks. TV Tower near Alexanderplatz is the tallest tower in Germany and second in Europe with a rotating café. Bundestag (the Parliament building) near the Brandenburg gate has a spectacular glass dome, with a great view of Berlin.

Home to the Berlin Philharmonic, the city is a paradise for classical music lovers. For younger taste, Berlin has the largest techno scene in the world. The Berliner nightlife is legendary, for there is no curfew (http://www.visitberlin.de/en). After partying all night, try currywurst, a fast-food dish of hot sausage (wurst) seasoned with tomato ketchup blended with curry powder. Most imbissbuden (snack stalls) would sell this local delicacy.

Cross the English Channel to London, and you will be spoiled for choice in the diverse UK. Start by walking along the river Thames. You will find the Parliament building and the London Eye is close to each other; Buckingham Palace is only ten-minute-walk away. Further along the Thames, the Tower of London is one of UNESCO’s world heritage, built by William the Conqueror. Madame Tussauds is another popular place to see, but you need to allow more time as the queue is always long.

For Beatles fans, Liverpool in North West England offers an experience of its own. Try the Yellow Duckmarine for a unique one-hour amphibious sightseeing tour of Liverpool's historic waterfront, city and docks.

Travellers around Europe have choices of budget airlines departing from small airports. You can also travel by land. Eurorail pass offers choices of Global Pass for 22 countries, selected pass for up to five countries, or One Country Pass. For affordable accommodations, consider joining Hostelling International. The yearly membership gives you access to over 4,000 hostels around the world.

Europe is vast and diverse, and so does your options. Whatever you choose, enjoy the trip!
---
§ The writer lives and works in Manchester (UK) with her family. For the full article (with Switzerland, Austria and other places in the UK), see http://adeline-andy.blogspot.com/

From Monalisa to Moulin Rouge

Around Europe in many different cultures - Part 1 Paris

With too many choices of cities around Europe, Paris could be a nice starting point – at least it was for me. From Notre Dame, Eiffel, to Paris Disneyland, you can get around by the underground metro. For art lovers, Louvre would require one full day. At the entrance, you will find the inverted pyramid that captured Dan Brown’s imagination in The Da Vinci Code.
After day full of brain food in Louvre, recharge your energy along the river Seine. There are floating restaurants, discos, cafes, even free benches where you can enjoy the same view with your own wine, bread and cheese from a local grocer. There are choices to sail along Seine. You can either take a guided tour, or hop on the Batobus with eight stops on both sides of the river Seine.

Visiting Eiffel Tower is amazing both during the day and even at night. On the tower, there are telescopes to see all parts of Paris from over 300 metre above. If you are visiting the gallery, try find out how many kilometre is Eiffel Tower from Jakarta and other capital cities of the world! If you fancy something different, visit Eiffel Tower at night. It is normally open until 11:45 pm. After dark, the entire tower is lit by 336 light projectors and 20,000 sparkling After dark, the entire tower is cloaked in the warm glow of 336 light projectors and 20,000 sparkling strobe lights.

Another idea for romantic Paris is watching the sunset in front of Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. The church on the summit of Montmartre – a 130 metre-high hill in the north of Paris, famous as the set of 2001 movies Moulin Rouge and Amelie. You can either climb the steps of Rue Foyatier, or take the Funiculaire de Montmartre to get to the top. A number of famous artists such as Dalí, Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec had studios or worked around the community of Montmartre.

Gondola and Mask of Venice

Around Europe in many different cultures - Part 2 Venice

As a city that captured many famous writers’ imaginations, Venice is the only city in world built entirely on water. Until the 1980s the city was sinking, efforts have been made since then to restore this unique romantic place.
Photo by Fototeca ENIT (Italy Tourism Board)

To get the most of Venice, you need to check its festivals calendar. Venice held one of the most notable international film festivals in the world every year in late August or early September. Screenings take place in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi. Another famous Venetian festival is the Carnival of Venice, where everyone is wearing masks such as those featured in the movie Eyes Wide Shut. The annual festival starts around two weeks before Ash Wednesday – around February and March. The mask was historically worn to hide any form of identity and social class differences. Nowadays, a jury of international costume and fashion designers annually votes for "La Maschera piu bella", the best masked costume of the year.

The gondola has always been part of most post-card pictures of Venice. It looks romantic and personalised, however it is not cheap – a 40-minute ride is about 80 Euros. So if you know where you want to go – most travel writers suggest that you research well and decide which places you most want to see – the best way to get around is either the vaporetto (water bus) or the traghetto (gondola ferry). A ride by across the Grand Canal is less than one Euro. According to Durant Imboden (www.veniceforvisitors.com), you can sample every one of the traghetto routes along the canal for three euros.

If you do not have the whole week to see Venice, then the must seen place is Piazza San Marco where you can visit Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica), the Museo Correr (also known as "The Museum of the City and Civilization of Venice"), and the clock tower that has been ringing out the hours since 1499. The archway beneath the clock opens onto the Mercerie, a series of alleys where you can buy traditional souvenirs such as marbled papers, Murano glass, and carnival masks.

Walk further from the Mercerie and you will find the famous Rialto Bridge. Crossing the Grand Canal, you can walk among the alleys of the Rialto to see Venice’s mercantile past. “What’s new on the Rialto?” said Antonio, a character in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice – this described the popular Venetian pastime: gossiping.

Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) is another Ventian landmark. The palace was the residence of the supreme authority of Venice (Doge of Venice) from the 9th century to the fall of Republic in 1797. When you walk around the palace, find the Bocca della Verita (the Mouth of Truth) sculpture. An ancient myth says that a liar's hand placed in the sculpture’s mouth will be bitten off.

If you have more time to explore outside Venice’s city centre, the island of Murano is famous to see the traditional Venetian glass-making, and the next island, Burano to see the colourful fishermen’s cottages.

For an unbias tips and articles about Venice, the Imbodens have a very good website: www.veniceforvisitors.com

Windmill, tulips and giant pancake

Around Europe in many different cultures - Part 3 Holland

If you are in Europe during Spring, then you should not miss the gardens of Keukenhof, Holland. Situated between Amsterdam and The Hague, Keukenhof http://www.keukenhof.nl/ opens from March to May. Its Willem Alexander Pavilion has over 80,000 tulips of 600 varieties. You can also have your family photo taken in traditional Dutch clothes.

For Holland’s famous windmills, Kinderdijk is the place to go. The UNESCO world heritage site is situated 16 kilometres from Rotterdam.The village is unique for its 19 windmills dating from the 1500s. One of the windmills that still in operation is open for visitors during the tourist season.

If you are a fan of cute cartoon characters like Renate and me, visit the "Miffy-museum" in Utrecht. Unsurprisingly, the museum tells you the history of the little rabbit Miffy (or Nijntje) created by Dutch artist Dick Bruna.

While Dutch pancakes are served in almost every café and restaurant all over Holland, Renate Heru Utomo’s favourite pannekoek are those from specialist pancake houses (pannekoekenhuis) in Leiden. Oudt Leyden is considered the oldest pannekoekenhuis. Its customers included Winston Churchill and Dalai Lama. Warning: the pancake is very large, so do not eat them just as snacks. While in Leiden, take time to explore the canals. Renting a small rowing boat can be as cheap as five Euros an hour. Alternatively, take a sightseeing tour with a guide.

For your culinary experience, try the Dutch way of serving French fries. Many snackbars in Dam Square Amsterdam server chips with vast choices of condiments, the must-have one is patatje oorlog (Dutch for “little chips at war”), which is chips with mayonnaise, peanut/satay sauce and onions. If you cringe reading this, then you will be very surprise to find that the combination actually works very well! (I grew up being familiar with peanut sauce for gado-gado and satay, but lately enjoy our family’s “Dutch dinner” when we enjoy the “chips at war” dish). As you walk around Amsterdam, be careful when walking into a “coffeeshop” as this is the popular name for legal places to buy and enjoy cannabis.

Historic and Funky Berlin

Around Europe in many different cultures - Part 4 Berlin

Visitors of Berlin this year will have a chance to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall. On 13 August this year, the commemorative ceremony will start at 10.00 am at the Berlin Wall Memorial, dedicated to the victims of the Wall and the division of the city, who are also commemorated in a new outdoor exhibition in Bernauer Strasse. Be part of history if you are planning to go to Germany around this time!

Keeping the history mood, a visit to Deutsches Historisches Museum is a good education for the whole family. Then you can see Berlin from one of its high-rise buildings observation decks. TV Tower near Alexanderplatz is the tallest tower in Germany and second largest in Europe; it has a rotating café at the top, spinning 360 degrees in just half an hour. Bundestag (the Parliament building) near the Brandenburg gate, has a spectacular new glass dome, which offers a great view of Berlin. Visitors are advised to pre-book the tours of the building due to continued terrorist threats.
Folke Kayser described Berlin today as, “Funky, fun and fascinating city that can be surprisingly cheap.” Home to the Berlin Philharmonic, the city is a paradise for classical music lovers from around the world. For a more hip and younger taste, Berlin has the largest techno scene in the world, and the Berliner nightlife is legendary, as there is no curfew in Berlin (http://www.visitberlin.de/en).

Popular for midnight – or early morning – snack after partying is currywurst, a fast-food dish consisting of hot pork sausage (wurst) seasoned with curry ketchup - tomato ketchup blended with curry powder. Most German imbissbuden or snack stalls would sell this local delicacy.

For photos of Berlin, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/visitberlin/

From Heidi to Nuclear Physics

Around Europe in many different cultures - Part 5 Switzerland

Famous for its scenic countryside and children’s story Heidi, Switzerland is a unique country with four national languages depending on the region (http://www.myswitzerland.com/). The three main official languages are German (spoken by 63.7% of the population), French (20.4%), and Italian (6.5%). The fourth official language, Romansch, is only spoken by 0.5% of its population. Do you know that Geneva – with UN Head Quarter and the biggest nuclear physics research facility in world – is not the capital city of Switzerland? The capital city is Bern.

Among the many faces of Switzerland, the romantic set of Heidi’s childhood created by Johanna Spyri in 1880 attracted many visitors. The “Heidi Village” in Maienfeld will transport you into the era when the children's story was written. The Heidi Trail leads visitors through the idyllic landscape in the Alps.

The other face of Switzerland is its international role. Geneva is the headquarters of many of UN’s agencies as well as the Red Cross – and of course, it is the place where the treaties regarding the treatment of wartime non-combatants and prisoners of war, Geneva Conventions, was signed.

CERN's Globe of Science and Innovation exhibition centre and the nearby Meyrin site are seen from the air. The surface buildings which provide access and support for the ATLAS experiment, one of four experiments on the LHC, can also be seen on the right.
Photo by CERN

Geneva also hosts the largest nuclear physics research facility, CERN (stands for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire or European Organisation for Nuclear Research). When you browse the internet, remember that the World Wide Web was born in CERN in 1989. Home of the Large Hadron Colider (LHC), its business is fundamental physics – finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. A visit to CERN is free. You can book a guided tour in advance, or just turn out to see the many different exhibitions including the Universe of Particules that exhibition takes you on a journey deep into the world of particles and back to the Big Bang. For detailed information about opening hours, guided tours and how to get there, see http://outreach.web.cern.ch/outreach/visites/index.html. One important thing to remember is to bring your passport with a valid Switzerland and France or Schengen visa as the tour will include crossing the border.
Moving the calorimeter on side A of the ATLAS cavern, January 2011
photo by CERN

Big Ben, Karl Marx and Concorde


Around Europe in many different cultures - Part 7 UK

Last but now least, the UK. From London to Scotland, from the Big Ben to the Lakes, you are spoiled for choice. If you are only visiting the capital, walk along the river Thames. You will find the Parliament building and the London Eye are very near to each other, while Buckingham Palace is only ten-minute-walk away. The London Underground, locally famous as “the Tube” will give you access to many places of interest. Free maps are available in all tube and railway stations.

Further along the River Thames, the Tower of London is in the UNESCO world heritage list. William the Conqueror in 1066 built an imposing fortress around the White Tower to protect London and assert his power. Madame Tussauds is another popular place to see, but you need to allow more time to get in as the queue is always long.

For Indonesian passport holders, there are two affordable guesthouses run by the Embassy’s staff – Wisma Caraka in Hendon, North London, and Wisma Merdeka in Willesden Green (http://www.indonesianembassy.org.uk/info_residence.html).

Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery


For Beatles fans, Liverpool offers an experience of its own. Try the Yellow Duckmarine for a unique one-hour amphibious sightseeing tour of Liverpool's historic waterfront, city and docks.


Then of course there is Manchester! Home of the famous United football club, The Smiths, Joy Division (and its successor New Order) and Oasis, Manchester is also the birth place of the 19th century industrial revolution, the first intercity passenger railway in the world, and the city where Karl Marx met Friedrich Engels.

Manchester witnessed Ernest Rutherford working with Hans Geiger, James Joules studied under John Dalton’s supervision (http://www.mosi.org.uk), and Alliott Verdon Roe (A.V. Roe) started the aviation industry that later became the British Aerospace (Bae) System. In Manchester Airport’s Viewing Park, you can see G-BOAC, the oldest Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde ever served the British Airways.

Away from science, Manchester is the great place to have authentic Indian food. Only a few bus-stops away from city centre and the University of Manchester, “the curry-mile” is home for all sorts of Asian food, most restaurants and cafes there are Halal.

For more UK features - from North West England to North Wales - please see my previous article http://adeline-andy.blogspot.com/2008/02/deers-camping-puffins-and-rafs-hawk.html