Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Chat over food

Bismillah...

So happy meeting up with these ladies. It has been awhile since the last time I had a chit chat over food with my friends. The preparation for my graduate study stole my time and thought hohoho... but finally it's done done done! Alhamdulillah for the abundant ni'mah I got these days. Have a good day folks ;)





Sunday, September 28, 2014

My IELTS Test Preparation

Bismillah...

September 6th 2014 was my first IELTS test, actually I had long preparation before the test. I was so worry if I couldn't make it. At that time, I've got the conditional offer from Monash University in Melbourne, so I needed to meet the requirement of the IELTS score from my major in Monash. The pressure was so big, i had no other choice to succeed in my first IELTS test. I started learning IELTS after getting the conditional offer in June 30th 2014. I started looking for IELTS books, IELTS websites, but I got nothing. I mean, I didn't get any successful formula or tips for IELTS test. Luckily, I had a chat with my Vietnam friend that I met in Tokyo last year, and I told her I would take IELTS test in September. She gave me suggestion to learn from Simone Braverman's book. He is the masterpiece of IELTS who wrote "IELTS Band 7" book. Unfortunately, it was so hard to find Simone Braverman's book (from Periplus and Kinokuniya bookstore) in my country. So, I ended up learning through his website and daily email from him. This is the link of his website www.ielts-blog.com , and you can subscribe your email there to get the daily email from Simone Braverman. The daily email is all about the tips for IELTS test and mostly about the questions of IELTS speaking test which have been done in many countries in the world. Anyway, because of this daily email, it helped me a lot in my IELTS speaking test as I got the same questions I learned from his daily email. Alhamdulillah hehe :`D
Anyway, I took IELTS course for 1 month only. I took the cheapest one in town, it's only around Rp, 300.000,-  for one month course. The teacher is not a certified IELTS teacher, but what I needed from the course was the IELTS simulation test. If you have enough money, you may take the IELTS course in town, the price might be different from Rp. 3.000.000 to Rp. 8.000.000 for one month. And if you wanna take private IELTS course, it takes around Rp. 12.000.000 for one month.
For the rest months after finishing my IELTS course, I studied IELTS by myself. I studied almost everyday from morning to night, even until midnight. There was no free day from studying IELTS. When i get bored, i studied speaking only in a day. :p
More often, I cried many times at midnight when I couldn't do the IELTS exercise well or even when I thought it was too difficult for me. To be honest, I pushed my self to the limit for my IELTS test preparation.
Eventually, I got the result of my IELTS test on September  19th 2014, it was precisely two weeks after the test. Alhamdulillah :)
A self - reminder : work hard in silence, let your success be your noise - Frank Ocean.



Saturday, September 20, 2014

Getting closer to Melbourne

Assalamu'alaykum dear readers...
Today, I was totally happy as soon I will get the unconditional offer from Monash University Australia. Finally, Alhamdulillah :`)
It was not a short journey for me to get it. I had to battle with IELTS test first, you have to know the truth that I haven't taken IELTS test before. I've been preparing for my IELTS test for approximately 3 months, and the result made me happy yay!. Thank you Allah for making my dream becomes reality. Then, I have to focus on getting the LPDP scholarship from the government. So, wish me tons of luck. :)
I promise myself to write the journey I've been through to you all, the ups and downs I got before getting this unconditonal offer. I'm getting closer to Melbourneeeee :`)


Thursday, September 18, 2014

Self contemplation

I've been having a hard day in the past few weeks. Many things should be settled. Now I'm preparing something important for my future. I've won the first race, and now waiting for the second race.
Lately, life is like a roller coaster for me. I have to say that preparing for this is not totally easy. I'm so so so soooo tired since it takes my energy and thought a lot. I believe that if it was easy, so everyone could do it. I'm hoping that everything runs smoothly. I wanna take a break, then sit back and enjoy the ride in my roller coaster life. Allahuma yassir walatu'asir rabbi tammim bikhair. Ya Allah make it easy and do not make it difficult, make it end well. aamiin :`)

Monday, September 15, 2014

#20FactsAboutMe

Assalamu'alaykum...

Bismillah...
Been tagged by some friends about #20FactsAboutMe in Instagram account, i decided to write it here as well. For me, it's really hard to find facts about myself. I need to take a short break about what to write in each numbers :D



1. I'm perfectionist. You may ask to my close friends and even my parents would say I'm perfectionist woman. Sometimes, this personality makes some people do not understand what I want. Sorry guys, but being perfectionist woman is not what I want. I was born like this. :p
2. I'm punctual person. If I have a meeting (important or even not important), i prefer to come earlier. I hate waiting for people, so I don't want to make people waiting for me.
3. Introvert. Yes, you may be surprised. Based on some psychology test I took, the result was introvert. Thus, I can easily get my energy by gathering with my close friend only, reading a book in my favourite place, and writing. That's it. I'm proud to be introvert as many successful people in this world are introvert. It's proven. Read Susan Chain's book (The Power of Introverts in the World That Can't Stop Talking) then you will understand. :)
4. I love my family so much.
5. I'm an avid reader. Mostly, my books are about my religion (Islam), psychology, education and politics related. I spend more my money on books than clothes. :)
6. I love pastel colors.
7. I started learning English since 4th grade in my elementary school. So far, i've been learning English for more than 10 years. Yet, i need to improve my English skills.
8. I love to read many good quotes. Sometimes, it helps me a lot to get back my spirit.
9. I'm a big fan of coffee and tea. For coffee, i love cappucino, while for tea, i love green tea.
10. I don't like to play online games. For me, it wastes of time, there are many things to do instead of sitting in front of your PC while playing video games. You may not find any games in my PC and in my smartphone as well. Sorry for gamers, hehe maybe we have different paradigm about this :p
11. I enjoy deep discussion.
12. I adore Indonesia's Foreign Minister, H.E. Marty Natalegawa. I want to tell the truth that I've been admiring him since high school.
13. I'm not a procrastinator at all.
14. Cupcakes, ice cream, and chocolate lover.
15. I'm interested to learn Japanese and French! :D
16. I'm a thinker. To be honest, i don't like to be a thinker and I hate myself when I can't stop questioning "Why it doesn't work? and How come?".
17. I'm too bad in memorizing someone's name and address! :D
18. There is no musical instrument I can play.
19. My most favourite snack is NYAM NYAM! :D
20. I love the intersection of education, international policy and government.

Those are #20FactsAboutMe, now share yours! :)

Saturday, September 13, 2014

For scholarship hunter!

Assalamu'alaykum...
Dear my beloved readers, here i give some scholarship information that may attract you to apply.
I'm so thrill as Indonesian government has many scholarship programs. Now, it's the chance to grab one of them. Anyway, some people can belittle your dreams, what you have to do is focus to touch the finish line of your dreams. A friend of mine once told me that studying graduate program in top university in the world will bring good networks afterward, so make sure we get it. It doesn't mean that universities in Indonesia are bad, but let's try to move from our comfort zone, meet many people across the globe, and build so many networks from them which can affect our life in the future. It doesn't matter if you fail to make it, but at least you've tried to apply. You already win as you've tried. Some people are afraid to fail, so they do not have any guts, even to apply! Make sure we're not one of those people :). If you decide to study in our own country, Indonesia, government also provides the scholarship as well. As long as the scholarships are available, do not encumber your parents with the school's tuition. To sum up, wherever the schools we choose, make sure we use that gold chance to build the betterment of Indonesia in the future. The future belongs to us, young people!
Good luck for the future endeavours and see you on top! :)
Cheers!

1. Australia Award Scholarship (http://australiaawardsindo.or.id)
2. LPDP Scholarship (http://www.beasiswalpdp.org/index.html)
3. DIKTI Scholarship
a. Dalam Negeri (http://www.beasiswa.dikti.go.id/dn/)
b. Luar Negeri (http://beasiswa.dikti.go.id/ln/)
4. Turkey Government Scholarship (http://www.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr/index.php/en)
5. General Cultural Scholarship India (http://www.iccrindia.net/gereralscheme.html)
6. USA Government Scholarship
a. (http://www.aminef.or.id/index.php)
b. (http://www.iief.or.id)
7. Netherland Government Scholarship (http://www.nesoindonesia.or.id/beasiswa)
8. Korean Government Scholarship (http://www.niied.go.kr/eng/contents.do?contentsNo=78...)
9. Belgium Government Scholarship (http://www.vliruos.be/4273.aspx)
10. Israel Government Scholarship (http://www.mfa.gov.il/.../scholarships%20offered%20by...)
11. Sciences Po France (http://formation.sciences-po.fr/.../the-emile-boutmy...)
12. Utrecht University Netherland (http://www.uu.nl/university/international-
students/en/financialmatters/grantsandscholarships/Pages/utrechtexcellencescholarships.aspx)
13. Prasetya Mulya Business School Indonesia (http://www.pmbs.ac.id/s2/scholarship.php?lang=ENG)
14. Brunei Darussalam Government Scholarship (http://www.mofat.gov.bn/index.php/announcement)
15. Monbugakusho Scholarship Japan (http://www.id.emb-japan.go.jp/sch.html)
16. Paramadina University Master Fellowship Indonesia (https://gradschool.paramadina.ac.id/.../paramadina-medco...)
17. PPM School of Management Indonesia (http://ppm-manajemen.ac.id/beasiswa-penuh-s2-mm-reguler/)
18. University of Twente Netherland (http://www.utwente.nl/inte.../scholarshipsandgrants/all/uts/)
19. Sweden Government Scholarship(http://www.studyinsweden.se/Scholarships/)
20. Chinese Government Scholarship (http://www.csc.edu.cn/laihua/scholarshipdetailen.aspx?c.20. Chinese Government Scholarship (http://www.csc.edu.cn/laihua/scholarshipdetailen.aspx...)
21. Taiwan Government Scholarship (http://www.studyintaiwan.org/taiwan_scholarships.html)
22. United Kingdom Government SCholarship (http://www.chevening.org/indonesia/)
23. Panasonic Scholarship Japan (http://panasonic.net/citiz.../scholarships/pso/requirements/)
24. Ancora Foundation Scholarship (http://ancorafoundation.com)
25. Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowship Japan (http://www.api-fellowships.org/body/)
26. AUN/SEED-Net Scholarship (http://www.seed-net.org/index.php)
27. Art Asia Major Scholarship Korea National University of Arts (http://eng.karts.ac.kr:81/karts/board/list.jsp?
c_no=003013002&bt_no=123&page=1&b_category:&b_categoryimg:&searchSelect=&keyword=&divisionSelect=&engNotice=engNotice)
28. Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University Japan (http://www.apu.ac.jp/home/life/index.php?content_id=30)
29. Seoul National University Korea (http://en.snu.ac.kr/.../scholarships/before-application)
30. DIKTIS Overseas Scholarship (http://www.pendis.kemenag.go.id/beasiswaln/)
31. Honjo International Scholarship Foundation Japan (http://hisf.or.jp/english/sch-f/)
32. IDB Merit Scholarship Programme for High Technology (http://www.isdb.org/irj/portal/anonymous...)
33. International HIV & Drug Use Fellowship USA (http://www.iasociety.org/fellowship.aspx)
34. Nitori International Scholarship Foundation Japan (http://www.nitori-shougakuzaidan.com/en/)
35. School of Government and Public Policy Indonesia (http://sgpp.ac.id/pages/financial-conditions)
36. Inpex Scholarship Foundation Japan (http://www.inpex-s.com/application.html)
37. Asia University Taiwan (http://ciae.asia.edu.tw/AdmissionsScholarship.html)
38. Macquaire University Australia (http://www.mq.edu.au/.../macquarie_university.../)

Monday, September 1, 2014

Finish what you've started...

Stumbled upon mba Atin's status on facebook yesterday morning, and it feels like DANG!! It really represents what I feel recently. Alhamdulillah, everyday is a learning process for me. Let's be a better muslimah day by day insyaAllah :)
Here's her status on FB, hope you will be inspired too :)

Menyelesaikan apa yang telah dimulai. Jangan terlalu khawatir dengan apa yang akan terjadi di masa depan, itu hanya akan menghalangimu melangkah. Rencanakan dan lakukan, mensyukuri setiap tahapnya, menjalaninya dengan ikhlas, lalu suatu saat kita pasti sampai disana, garis akhir. Tapi kalau kekhawatiran menggelayut dalam jiwa, setiap langkah akan terasa berat dan menyakitkan, garis finish pun akan terasa jauh, bisa jadi tak sampai ke sana dan tumbang di tengah jalan. Hidup ini hanya sebentar saja, menyakitkan sekali jika diisi dengan kesedihan yang kita ciptakan sendiri. Berbahagialah, bersemangatlah, lakukan semuanya lillah :)
I know that maraton is never that easy but touching the finish line is the greatest feeling ever after the difficult marathon we passed. Let's finish what we've started. Don't forget to involve Allah in every steps we take :)