MOMOTARO (Little Peachling)

             

                Many hundred years ago there lived an honest old woodcutter and his wife. One fine morning the old man went off to the hills with his billhook, to gather a faggot of sticks, while his wife went down to the river to wash the dirty clothes. When she came to the river, she saw a peach floating down the stream; so she picked it up, and carried it home with her, thinking to give it to her husband to eat when he should come in.

               The old man soon came down from the hills, and the good wife set the peach before him, when, just as she was inviting him to eat it, the fruit split in two, and a little puling baby was born into the world. So the old couple took the babe, and brought it up as their own; and, because it had been born in a peach, they called it Momotaro, or Little Peachling.

               By degrees Little Peachling grew up to be strong and brave, and at last one day he said to his old foster parents: "I am going to the ogres' island to carry off the riches that they have stored up there. Pray, then, make me some millet dumplings for my journey."

               So the old folks ground the millet, and made the dumplings for him; and Little Peachling, after taking an affectionate leave of them, cheerfully set out on his travels.

               As he was journeying on, he fell in with a monkey, who gibbered at him, and said: "Kia! kia! kia! where are you off to, Little Peachling?"

"I'm going to the ogres' island, to carry off their treasure," answered Little Peachling.

"What are you carrying at your girdle?"

"I'm carrying the very best millet dumplings in all Japan."

"If you'll give me one, I will go with you," said the monkey.

So Little Peachling gave one of his dumplings to the monkey, who received it and followed him. When he had gone a little further, he heard a pheasant calling: "Ken! ken! ken! where are you off to, Master Peachling?"

Little Peachling answered as before; and the pheasant, having begged and obtained a millet dumpling, entered his service, and followed him.

A little while after this, they met a dog, who cried: "Bow! wow! wow! whither away, Master Peachling?"

"I'm going off to the ogres' island, to carry off their treasure."

"If you will give me one of those nice millet dumplings of yours, I will go with you," said the dog.

"With all my heart," said Little Peachling. So he went on his way, with the monkey, the pheasant, and the dog following after him.

                When they got to the ogres' island, the pheasant flew over the castle gate, and the monkey clambered over the castle wall, while Little Peachling, leading the dog, forced in the gate, and got into the castle. Then they did battle with the ogres, and put them to flight, and took their king prisoner. So all the ogres did homage to Little Peachling, and brought out the treasures which they had laid up. There were caps and coats that made their wearers invisible, jewels which governed the ebb and flow of the tide, coral, musk, emeralds, amber, and tortoise shell, besides gold and silver. All these were laid before Little Peachling by the conquered ogres.

                 
                 So Little Peachling went home laden with riches, and maintained his foster parents in peace and plenty for the remainder of their lives

Good Friends and Good Event

“A nation wouldn’t be a great nation if they doesn’t know their identity and culture”

            Indonesia is one of the largest countries in the world. As the largest archipelago country in the world which has approximately 17,000 islands and 230 million peoples, have hundreds of cultures that can be the strength of this country. In fact , the majority of young peoples are now more likely to choose foreign cultures than their own culture. Therefore to make us all aware and proud of our own culture , the real action is needed to make it happen.

             In order to preserve Indonesian culture , especially the culture of Western Java / Sunda culture. We, the students of SMAN 3 Bandung held an Art and Cultural Festival, entitled “MATSWAPATI”, which was held on 27th of September 2014.

“MATSWAPATI” Arts and Cultural Festival, consisted of:

       Parades (Parade with the theme of culture that invites various cultural communities that exist in Western Java), clothings (presented headbands and scarves as merchandise for the visitors who attended this event, attractions (attraction of the whole culture of Western Java that can entertain all visitors), culinaries (typical food of western Java will be presented by the traders / vendors who are invited, exhibitions (cultural exhibitions from various art and cultural communities of Western Java)

     

                                                   

                The Matswapati Parade started in the morning at 8 a.m and we had to be at Lapangan Bali at 7 a.m. We decided to wear black shirt or t-shirt with black jeans and also scarve. We walked through Jalan Belitung, Jalan Merdeka, Jalan Jawa and ended up at Lapangan Bali. There were a lot of stands and my class had it own name which is named “Antasena”. Honestly I was having trouble getting inspired for stand, but then I saw my friend outside working on her stand and I got an idea and Acceleration 2 worked together with X-XI IPS. It actually turned out to be pretty fun, mostly because in games you can do all sorts of stuff you could never do so I invited my friend from another school to play and I figured she would eventually get bored and just go home, but she stuck around yeay I wasn’t gonna pass up my moment of glory.

                The event started since morning. It was very attractive and many crazy thing happened that day, there were Glenn Fredly, Barsena, and Angklung performed by Saung Angklung Udjo, etc. A bunch more people started showing up after that and it was going super fantastic. I noticed Amira was standing next to me while Glenn Fredly performed and luckily  we were standing in the front row. I saw that everyone was having a good time and it has proven since the parade. Matswapati ended up at 8 p.m. and it was crowded. The event started since morning and very attractive. That was my unforgottable experience ever since. I couldn’t be patience to look forward for this event next year.

MILLAU VIADUCT

      The Millau Bridge, usually called Millau Viaduct / Le Viaduc de Millau (French) in southern France is the tallest bridge in the world and it is a cable-stayed bridge that passing through the Tarn valley near the town of Millau.

       It is located on the territory of the communes of Millau and Creissels, France, in the département of Aveyron. Before the bridge was constructed, traffic had to descend into the Tarn River valley and pass along the route nationale N9 near the town of Millau, causing heavy congestion at the beginning and end of the July and August holiday season. The bridge now traverses the Tarn valley above its lowest point, linking two limestone plateaus, the Causse du Larzac and the Causse Rouge, and is inside the perimeter of the Grands Causses regional natural park.

          Inaugurated on 14^th December 2004, and opened to traffic on 16^th December 2004, the constructions cost €.394,000,000.00. It was designed by Norman Foster (a British Architect) and Michel Virlogeux (a French Structural Engineer) from Sogelerg Consortium. The bridge has been consistently ranked as one of the great engineering achievements of all time. The bridge received the 2006 International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering Outstanding Structure Award.

       The bridge deck was constructed on land at the ends of the viaduct and rolled lengthwise from one pylon to the next, with eight temporary towers providing additional support. The movement was accomplished by a computer-controlled system of pairs of wedges under the deck; the upper and lower wedges of each pair pointing in opposite directions. These were hydraulically operated, and moved repeatedly in the following sequence: 

         The lower wedge slides under the upper wedge, raising it to the roadway above and then forcing the upper wedge still higher to lift the roadway. Both wedges move forward together, advancing the roadway a short distance. The lower wedge retracts from under the upper wedge, lowering the roadway and allowing the upper wedge to drop away from the roadway; the lower wedge then moves back all the way to its starting position. There is now a linear distance between the two wedges equal to the distance forward the roadway has just moved. 

The bridge’s construction broke several records:

-             The highest pylons in the world: pylons P2 and P3, 244.96 metres (803 ft 8 in) and 221.05 metres (725 ft 3 in) in height respectively, broke the French record previously held by the Tulle and Verrières viaducts (141 m or 463 ft), and the world record previously held by the Kochertal Viaduct (Germany), which is 181 metres (594 ft) at its highest;

-             The highest bridge tower in the world: the mast atop pylon P2 peaks at 343 metres (1,125 ft).

-              The highest road bridge deck in Europe, 270 m (890 ft) above the Tarn River at its highest point. It is nearly twice as tall as the previous tallest vehicular bridges in Europe, the Europabrücke in Austria and the Italia Viaduct in Italy. It is slightly higher than the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia in the United States, which is 267 m (876 ft) above the New River.

Ain't Easy Being Green Tea Lovers

Where do the time flies? It was definitely the best week ever. I’ve never stayed any 

longer than a week in other countries with my friends. It started with a single test, 

continued by Japanese class and dance class, late night bus trip to airport, early flight, 

Hongkong transit, and a night stay at Kansai International Airport which we didn’t 

expect at all. Could you guess what am I going to tell? Let’s check it out!

Actually I went abroad with 18 others for Student Exchange, on 6 June 2013 all the participants gathered in SMP Taruna Bakti at 12.00 am and be briefed, then we went to Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang at 01.00 am. It was coincidence that we were going abroad with Cathay Pacific which is the Hong Kong flagship carrier, so we were all a short transit in Hong Kong about 2 hours after traveling for 4 and a half hours. Kansai trip from Hong Kong about 3 and a half hours. Somehow I was not feeling well because of the plane on going turbulence, so that the other students were too. Luckily for 3 and a half hour journey was safe. Arriving at Kansai International Aiport around 10.00 pm, so that the group could not get into the dorm because of too late, so we all took a rest at the airport until the next morning. Me and my friends decided to take a shower in the bathroom, luckily the toilets were clean, we would even longer in the toilet instead of break. Early in the morning at 07.30 am, we were all picked up by Sensei Miyuki, All luggage was delivered to the dorm using her car, while students and teachers with Sensei Miyuki using the subway called "PITAPA" headed down the street near the dormitory, when we got all the way through near little alleys then up in the dorm. Afterwards we all gathered under and immediately went to OBKG (Osaka Kokusai Bunka Gakko) for introductions and given a rundown of events to plan in advance the direction given by Sensei Reza, Sensei Miyuki, and mentors. In Osaka we went to Universal Studio Osaka, Osaka Communication Arts (OCA), Osaka Castle, etc. We also went on a trip to Kyoto, it was different because of the city mixed with the traditional but also modern so it becomes a unique city. Kyoto is related with green tea ice cream or sakura ice cream and those flavour were so tasty and those were my guilty pleasure. Every morning we had to learn Japanese in OBKG then we walked around look for KitKat Green Tea and Okonomiyaki/Takoyaki. 

               On Tuesday, 11 June 2013 we visited a popular middle school in Osaka, it was Toyonaka Daini Chuugakusei, we wore suits and black skirt, tie, along with long white socks. In there I learned the traditional arts of Japan, such as Shodou (writing Kanji using ink), origami, and others.  Thank you very much to Toyonaka’s Principle, the chairman, and all Toyonaka students who have been provided many lessons which are never fotgotten. 

The following days on that week surprised us, amaze us and it was just a perfect week. Still have those feelings even though it has been a year. Need more than once, buddies.

Sister From Another Mother

              It’s nice to have someone in your life who can make you smile even when they’re not around and this refers to one of my best friend. She is Amira, her full name is Amira Ridha Zhafira but I usually call her Mia. She was born on 1^st of October 1999, quite young for her age. She has been graduated from SMP Alfa Centauri Bandung. She is the last child in her family, she has 1 sister and 2 brothers. Her sister is Karima Shofiyyati Fathiri, she is a full time mother because she has 1 son who is usually called Kendra. Her first brother is Fityan Aulia Rahman, he studies in UNJANI and her second brother is Faris Fauzan Zain, he still in a Senior High School in SMAN 2 Bandung.  Amira is as kind as her parents, her father is a doctor and his name is Aya Asep Sekar Ibrahim, he was born on 30^th of November 1962 and her mother is younger than her father.

              

             

               Her hobby are watching tv and reading a novel but she has been updated her hobby recently, such as being a good friend with her handphone because she often stucks with her own gadgets and everytime I chat (on line) with her, she always gives me a quick respond, thank you but don’t worry Mi, we have the same thing in common. *high five*

             

              I have been friends with Amira since we were in the same group of PLiST, we spent at least three hours a day down there working on that thing (prototype). Honestly, it was an awkward moment there because her face was familiar for me but we had just not recognized each other. I remember my first day of PLiST, I didn’t know anyone except my friends in Junior High School (Intan and Elma), Adila, and Hadzna, so I was pretty scared about being around a bunch of new friends, but this girl came right over and started talking about our prototype. Then, she went to my house, we worked together and I tried to be as helpful as possible, then we made a lot of jokes and we could keep a conversation going. She actually made a good impression on me.

            

               It’s been over a month since PLiST and I realized that Amira’s house is 500 meters away from my house 3 weeks ago and we usually go study in Kumon Pulo Laut together, is this a real definition of best friend? Well, it’s a bit axeggarate but I’m pretty sure this is.

I know a lot of her unique facts, such as she is a “Kipling enthusiast” because her school bag, pensil case, wallet and others are related with Kipling. Then, Amira is a talkative girl so you have to be a cheerful person and if you don’t, she usually says “garing” in Bahasa and a moment of silence happens. These are some of 6237162 unique facts of Amira, I’m lucky to have you in my life and I’m gonna thank you for being a good and loyal friend, I wish our relation could last forever, Mi.

My Autobiography

       Hello! My name is Annisa Maharani, you can call me Chacha. I was born on 28^th of September 1999. I live at Jl. Sumarsana No.9. My hobbies are playing piano and basketball, I have learned piano since I was kindergarten, my first impression about piano was I didn’t feel attract because I chose the Piano Classic. Then, I was interested in piano after I performed in Home Concert 2014. In Home Concert, I played Waltz in A Minor (Solo) and Canon In D with my duet partner, he is Dovan Fakhradyan, he was  my classmate in Junior High School and actually we are going in the same Senior High School.

                           

                                    

                                                               

         I am going to have a international piano test grade 4 by Royal Music on 7^th October 2014, so I guess my parents‘s still waiting for me to live up my potential because I am a shy kind of person. How can I get over that? My parents said I shouldn’t worry about what other people think, they told me that the audience would understand that I had just made an mistake, just take it easy. Now it looks like all the practice I did wasn’t just a big waste of time! My second hobby is playing basketball, this actually my favorite hobby because playing basketball can boost my mood and I participated as a Shooting Guard in JRBL (Junior Basketball League) 2014 in Junior High School Level but we were lose out because the lack of preparation, it made me down then I started looking for ways to entertain myself, but then I realized maybe that wasn't such a bad thing after all:)

          I am the eldest child in my family. I have a younger sister, her name is Alyssa Devina Danadipa or Shasha, she was born on 12^nd of January 2007, she studies at Taruna Bakti Elementary School. She is a person who's been where I have been even though sometimes she puts me in a bad mood for the rest of the day *lol*. Every time I try to have a little fun with her, I end up regretting it and I suddenly remember when I was younger, Mom and Dad told me I was getting a little sister and I was really excited but Mom and Dad have always been super protective of Shasha since toddler, but this was understandable. My mother’s name is Reny Hayati and besides a great mother there must be a great father and my father’s name is Sugih Arto. My mother is a housewife and my father is a business man. I’ll be forever grateful to my family for providing the inspiration, encouragement, and support I need, especially thanks to my parents who have made so many sacrifices to make my dream of being a real dreamer come true.

           I can’t believe my luck! SMAN 3 Bandung is one of the most reputable state schools in Bandung and this year SMA 3 Bandung is ranked as the first in National scale. How I can imagine that I was lucky to be accepted as a student in SMA 3, my hard work has been paid off. In high school, I began to tire of the pressure placed on me by my family and their high expectations.

           A long way path to go and I want to be a doctor because I enjoy medical science and I like to help people. I wish it would be possible for me to be a doctor in the future and I hope I could be a useful person for people.

sorry if there are any mistakes, enjoy!