I had amazing trip for year-end holiday. Before Christmas, I went to Saarbrucken which was very near to Kaiserslautern (only 1 hour by train) to meet some Indonesian friends for only one night. Then before New Year’s Eve, I went to Dresden and Berlin with other Indonesian friends. The trip was not really long, but we had a great time. I spent one day to have city tour in Dresden, and two days in Berlin.

Saarbrucken

Dresden was very nice. It was cold and windy, my hand were almost freezed. We walked around the city and took many pictures. Unfortunately, we ended it early and went home before 6 pm. We were hungry and decided to cook Indonesian dish. It was so nice to eat together with Indonesian people again.

Dresden

Berlin was amazing. It was so big and interesting, and the main train station is the most amazing station I’ve ever been. The remaining of Berlin Wall was something that we wouldn’t miss, but it was a little bit disappointing as it was so dirty and in my opinion, failed to represent the history.

Berlin-1

During this trip, I had a lot of Asian food and I love it!! We ate in Indian restaurant, Vietnam restaurant and Turkish restaurant (or Arabian? im not really sure). It was very very great. I even got hungry to only remember it. We also went to Holocaust Memorial which was so interesting.

Berlin-2

Our group was in Brandenburger Tor, the landmark of Berlin where the biggest new year party in Germany was held. There was a stage for many singers performance, and also market along the street where people sold foods, candies, beers and other stuff. It was very very crowded with people not only from Germany but also from other countries who wanted to celebrate new year.

Berlin-3

So, Happy New Year 2012 everybody!! ^.^

Saya melihat begitu banyak masalah di Indonesia, so obvious, saya pun sering mengalaminya. Dan saat menghadapi masalah tersebut, biasanya saya sebagai rakyat seringkali berpikir, “astaga.. buruknya pemerintah. tidak bisa mengatasi masalah ini itu.” Saat saya menghadapi macet, “pemerintah gak bener nih rancang jalannya“. Saat saya melihat masalah pengemis, “masih aja pengemis dimana2. Katanya dah ada program pemberantasan kemiskinan, kemana aja tuh duitnya“. Saat saya menghadapi banjir, “ooooy, ini si kumis katanya ahli, mana buktinya..“

jalanan macet

Tidak ingin menuding, tapi saya yakin pikiran-pikiran itu pasti dibenarkan oleh banyak orang. Itu yang saya ingin bahas di artikel ini. Sebelumnya saya ingin menekankan bahwa saya tidak bertujuan untuk membela atau menyerang pihak-pihak tertentu. Saya hanya ingin berpikiran terbuka.

Pertanyaannya adalah, mengapa kita berpikir bahwa semua masalah harus diselesaikan oleh pemerintah?

Some may say, iya lah.. Pemerintah kan yang punya kekuasaan untuk menentukan kebijakan2, yang punya dana, yang punya kekuatan. Yes, it is true. Memang pemerintah memiliki kewajiban untuk mengatur dan menyediakan kehidupan yang layak dan kondusif untuk masyarakatnya. I agree 100% with that. Tapi jangan lupa, kita sebagai masyarakat juga punya kewajiban. Contohnya, kewajiban untuk membayar pajak, merawat sarana dan prasarana umum, menaati peraturan yang ada, dan lain-lain. Sudahkah kita memenuhi kewajiban kita?

Saya ingin bercerita sedikit. Saat saya masih sekolah, sejak SD ada pelajaran PMP (Pendidikan Moral Pancasila) atau PPKn (Pendidikan Pancasila dan Kewarganegaraan). Disitu intinya saya belajar tentang bagaimana menjadi masyarakat Indonesia yang baik. Terkadang pertanyaan saat ujian atau latihan soal, murid diberikan contoh kasus yang terjadi di masyarakat dan diharuskan untuk memberi solusi. Saya bisa mendapat jawaban tersebut dari apa yang dijelaskan oleh guru atau dari buku. Satu hal yang saya amati, apapun masalahnya, jika saya berikan solusi seperti “seharusnya pemerintah begini begitu” atau “ini bergantung dari ketanggapan pemerintah untuk bla bla bla..”, pasti jawaban saya dianggap benar. True story. Saya baru menyadari hal ini, inikah yang menyebabkan saya terbiasa melempar masalah ke pemerintah? Mungkin saja.

Seringkali kita menuntut pemerintah untuk melakukan ini-itu, tetapi kita sendiri tidak menjalankan kewajiban kita. Contohnya, kita selalu kecewa dengan banjir yang terjadi di kota-kota besar. Ya benar, pemerintah memang harus menangani masalah banjir ini, dengan cara membangun lebih banyak taman kota, membatasi pembangunan gedung dan membangun aliran air yang baik. Dan memang benar bahwa pemerintah belum berhasil melakukan hal tersebut secara maksimal. Tetapi coba lihat dari sisi lain. Saya sangat yakin kita sebagai masyarakat sudah tahu bahwa salah satu penyebab banjir adalah sampah yang menutupi aliran air dan membuat air meluap. Apakah kita sudah patuh membuang sampah di tempat sampah?

Contoh lain adalah, transportasi umum yang buruk, salah satunya kereta api. Saya setuju, memang masih buruk, dengan segala komplain yang saya bisa lontarkan. Seharusnya pemerintah menyediakan transportasi yang layak dan nyaman untuk masyarakat. Tetapi mari kita lihat lagi. Apakah kita sudah membayar tiket sesuai tarif? Apakah kita sudah antri dengan benar? Apakah kita merawat sarana transportasi tersebut? Artikel ini sangat bagus untuk dibaca “9 Kebiasaan Buruk Orang Indonesia saat Menggunakan Media Transportasi Umum“

kereta ekonomi

Dari dua contoh tersebut, saya melihat bahwa sebenarnya banyak hal yang kita, walaupun hanya sebagai masyarakat, bisa lakukan. Minimal memenuhi kewajiban sebagai masyarakat. Saya yakin, semakin banyak masyarakat yang menjalani hal tersebut, pasti ada perubahan yang terlihat ke arah yang lebih baik. Walaupun tidak serta merta masalah tersebut selesai, tetapi masyarakat pun memiliki kekuatan untuk mengubah keadaan. Jika mau dipikir lebih jauh lagi, bahkan masyarakat bisa mempunyai dana ataupun kekuasaan, contohnya kasus prita (contoh sumber). Kita bisa kan?

Memang kalau ditelusuri lebih jauh lagi, pasti ada hal-hal yang membuat kita enggan untuk melaksanakan kewajiban. Contohnya, “nanti kalo bayar pajak, uangnya lari ke Gayus donk, rugi!” atau “ah, ngapain ngantri, orang lain juga gak ngantri. kalo gw ngantri, kapan dapetnya” atau “buang sampah di jalan aja deh. toh sampah di jalan dah banyak, nambah satu gak papa lah“. Saya juga sering mengalami itu. Lalu jika semua orang berpikiran seperti itu, kapan masalahnya akan selesai? Deadlock. Orang buang sampah sembarangan -> banjir -> pemerintah bersihkan sungai -> banjir reda -> orang tetap buang sampah sembarangan -> banjir lagi. Lalu apakah itu tetap kesalahan pemerintah?

sampah memenuhi sungai

Sekali lagi, saya jelaskan bahwa saya tidak bermaksud membela pemerintah, karena saya juga sudah muak dengan buruknya pemerintah. Saya juga tidak berkata bahwa saya sudah menjadi masyarakat yang sempurna, ayo kalian juga donk! Not at all! Saya akui saya masih buruk juga. Saya masih sering melanggar peraturan, kadang malas antri, malas bayar pajak, dan banyak lagi. Yang saya ingin tunjukkan di sini adalah, saya sebagai masyarakat juga masih bisa berbuat sesuatu untuk menyelesaikan masalah, tidak hanya menunggu pemerintah. Ya kan?

It may because I was born in 1980′s and had my puberty time on 1990′s, so I grew up with 1990′s music and I love it. In my opinion, that was the best period of music ever until mid 2000′s. On that time, there was good programs on MTv I liked to watch, good teen magazines and I knew music life from those. The music was dominated by boybands and girlbands, the genre of pop rocks, ballads, rocks, and mellow songs. It may be true, or perhaps I chose to only watch MTv or other television programs or the magazines about those music . I didnt really pay attention to other genres, especially the hard one.

These are some pop band that highlighted 1990′s music world until mid 2000′s (in my opinion).

1. Boyzone, an Irish boyband formed in 1993. I was a great fan of Boyzone due to my sister’s influence, especially to Stephen Gately. Some of their hits are “Love me for a reason”, “Picture of you”, “Words”, “A different beat”

2. Backstreet Boys, an American boyband formed in 1993. I think this is one of the greatest boyband ever. Although I dont fan them, and I dont know all of their songs (only the singles and the hits), but their songs are always good. Some of their hits are “I’ll never break your heart”, “As long as you love me”, “I want it that way”, “Shape of my heart”

3. Spice Girls, a British pop girlband formed in 1994. I think it is the biggest girlband in 1990′s pop music. Some of their hits are “Viva Forever”, “Wanna be”, “Stop”.

Spice Girls

4. N’Sync, an American boyband formed in 1995. Some of their hits are “Bye bye bye”, “It’s gonna be me”, “This I’ll promise you”

5. 911, a British boyband formed in 1995. Some of their hits are “Love sensation”, “Wonderland”, “Private Number”

6. 98 Degrees, an American boyband formed in 1996. Some of their hits are “Because of you”, “Give me just one night”

7. Five, a British boyband formed in 1997. Some of their hits are “Until the time is through”, “We will rock you”

8. Hanson, an American boyband formed in 1992. They became popular after their hits “MMMBop” on 1997. After that, they came up with hits “I will come to you”

9. Atomic Kitten, a British pop girlband formed in 1997. Some of their hits are “Whole again”, “The tide is high”, “Eternal flame”

10. Steps, a British pop group formed in 1997. They consist of 2 boys and 3 girls. Some of their hits are “It’s the way you make me feel”, “5, 6, 7, 8″, “Tragedy”, “Here and now”

Steps

11. A1, a British-Norwegian boyband formed in 1998. I listened to two of their albums and surprisingly I like all of their songs. ALL OF THEIR SONGS. Some of their hits are “Same old brand new you”, “No more”, “Caught in the middle”, “Everytime”

12. S Club 7, a British pop group formed in 1998. They consist of 3 boys and 4 girls, looks so crowded for me ). Some of their hits are “Have you ever” (my fave!!), “Dont stop”, “Never had a dream come true”

13. Westlife, an Irish boyband formed in 1998. This is my favorite band ever!! …which unfortunately decided to split up this very year, 2011.. Some of their hits are “Flying without wings”, “My love”, “Uptown girl”, “If i let you go”

14. Blue, a British boyband formed in 2001 (which until I check in internet just now, I thought it was an American boyband ^^). Some of their hits are “If you come back”, “You make me wanna”, “All rise”, “One love”

Besides those bands, there are also solo singers for pop music/genre, such as Enrique Iglesias (hits : “Hero”), Robbie Williams (hits : “Better man”), Jennifer Lopez (hits : “Love dont cost a thing”), Jewel (hits : “Break me”), Shania Twain (hits : “From this moment on”). And also the everlasting singers such as Mariah Carey (hits : “Always be my baby”) and Celine Dion (hits : “My heart will go on”). There are also bands, such as The Corrs (hits : “Dont say you love me”) which have many great songs, The Cranberries (hits : “Zombie”).

Now, I want to give my opinion about the quality of boyband, objectively. I will also give comparison between selected big boybands from those 14. Although Westlife is my favorite, I will still judge them fairly because now im no longer their “craaaaaazzzzyyy” and fanatic fan. I like them because I see them have good quality. And here’s why.

S Club 7

Quality aspects

1. Vocal quality. This is the most important from any singer, and if its a band, each band member should have a good voice quality, not only the vocal leader. They should be able to satisfy : pitch control, voice character, vibration, breath control, and so on.

2. Vocal harmony and distribution. Between a solo singer and non solo singers (duet, trio, quartet, and so on), I like non solo singers more, because I like to hear vocal harmony. The combination of first vocal, second vocal and other vocals is a beautiful thing to expect from music. So for me, a band should be able to combine all voices into one good harmony to produce a great music. Furthermore, I know that a vocal group usually has the vocal leader who sings most of the time. It’s normal. The bad thing is that if the distribution is not even. Sometimes it looks even as if it’s only the vocal leader who sings, the other members are only background vocal. It shows that it is not good as a vocal GROUP.

3. Live performance. I hate lipsync. Singer should be able to sing in live performance, not only in recording with all enhancement technology. Some singers are awful in live performance, though I also find many singers who are much more awesome when they sing in live. I regards them very much. Moreover, no matter how great the vocal is, but singers wont make the audience fun, satisfied, and psyched if they sing in a stiff posture and static. Performance is also important, whether it is improved by dancing, lighting, costume, remix music and so on. But if the singers dance, hmmmm.. i wont like it if they do lipsync. They are singer, they should sing. They are not dancer. If they want to dance also, dont lipsync while dancing. Just dont sing. It’s more honest and we  the audience can see that “okay, cool.. they dance!” not like “woow they dance, oh wait.. are they really singing?”

4. Song quality. As far as I see, people know a song first when they hear the song. They listened to it first, before they know how bad the vocal is, or even how bad the performance is. Even the awful-awful-awful singer usually has at least one popular hit, and not because of the vocal but because of the song quality and music quality. This quality aspect is rather not related to the band because it’s not the band’s job to compose a song, yet it can be a good point.

911

Because this article is all based on my opinion, I will select boyband that is “big” for me. Those are Westlife (of course), Boyzone, Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, A1.

Westlife (fully my objective opinion)

Vocal Quality : Westlife is the greatest band in terms of vocal quality, and not only Shane as the vocal leader but also each band member. Each of them has their own vocal characteristic and they can sing perfectly. They also show quality progress from the first album until now. Great!

Vocal Harmony and Distribution : The harmony of their vocal is amazing, I like it. With their characteristic, they can produce a good harmony. Especially after Bryan left the band, I can say the distribution of vocal part is more even and it makes them much better (to be honest, I’m a little bit bored with Shane’s voice sometimes).

Live Performance : The vocal perfomance is the best part, Westlife is much better when they sing live. With Mark’s improvised voice, they always sing beautifully. Im also sure that they never want lipsync, they are confident enough to always sing freely. Unfortunately, the other thing on performance is the down part of Westlife ). Vocal is their main power, but they cant really dance. Somehow their body are not good enough to dance, only Nicky is. I like his dancing style, some kind like “rebel”. But they always give a good music and stage+lighting enhancement. Sometimes Kian also performs with playing guitar. One good point for performance.

Song Quality : To be honest, I dont really follow their song again since their 7th album. Until 7th album, I like every songs of them but since then, it gets a little bit boring and old and not cheerful. It may because they are getting old and mature, especially after being married. hahha..

Westlife

Boyzone

Vocal Quality : I can say Ronan and Stephen have great voice and nice characteristics. Unfortunately, I cant say the same way for other members. When I hear them singing solo, their voices are not so good. Well, they can sing, but not very good.

Vocal Harmony and Distribution : The harmony is also good, but the distribution is very bad. In first album, the distribution was quite even, although Ronan and Stephen very dominated. Then after that, it felt like Ronan sings all the time with some songs for Stephen. I almost never hear Shane, Mike and Keith sing solo.

Live Performance : The performance is good, they can sing with their characteristic in live. But for me, sometimes Ronan and Stephen sing a little bit far away from the origin of the song. We can say it is improvisation, but if it gets too far, it wont be so good. And for the other members, I cant say anything, I dont hear them “sing” . They can dance, although not so frequent. They also give a good music and stage+lighting enhancement. Somehow I can say Boyzone and Westlife almost have the same style of performance.

Song Quality : I like their songs, always touching and enjoyable. But sometimes because of the un-even vocal distribution, I hear it like the song of Ronan, not the song of Boyzone.

Boyzone

Backstreet Boys

Vocal Quality : They have a great and strong characteristic. We can define and determine it when we hear their songs. The characteristic is very different from each other and it’s good. Although (may be only my taste) the voice quality is not very amazing, but great!

Vocal Harmony and Distribution : I like the harmony of different vocal characteristics. And the distribution is very even, all members often have their own part in one song. It is very great which shows that they dont depend on only the one vocal leader.

Live Performance : They have good performance! I see some of their performance and they do great dancing and very attractive. Cool! The live vocal is also good. I hope they dont do lipsync.

Song Quality : Very very great! Especially the hits, always become popular for a long time. Some of them even become everlasting songs. I really really like their songs.

Backstreet Boys

A1

Vocal Quality : A1 has very nice vocal quality. Each member has this own characteristic, and mostly are girly, but very good and powerful. They can sing and fit in their songs sweetly so they become a very boyband-ish boyband. Hahahah..

Vocal Harmony and Distribution : This is the only boyband that has a very evenly distributed. I dont know who the vocal leader is and for me each member can always be the one. I once read an article about them that they also write songs, and usually the song writter is the one who becomes the vocal leader on the song because he can feel more into it. Cool..

Live Performance : I see them in many of their performances, they not only sing but also play the instrument. Mark plays piano and Christian plays guitar. I rarely see them dancing, but I think sometimes they do although like once in a million. Hahaha.

Song Quality : I. Love. Their. Songs.. All of them. Very great, enjoyable, I can sing along easily and remember it quickly. Their songs are usually sweet and mellow. Very girly and boyband-ish

A1

N’Sync

Vocal Quality : N’Sync has almost the same type as Boyzone, they have the very dominant vocal leader, Justin Timberlake. Honestly, I dont really know N’Sync, but im quite sure that the other members dont really have great and strong voices. Joshua is quite good though.

Vocal Harmony and Distribution : Like Boyzone, Justin and sometimes Joshua always dominate the vocal distribution. I almost never hear the other members sing.

Live Performance : They rock the performance!! I like their dancing, very powerful, cool, and very very very attractive. But I can also not 100% about the lipsync because I dont see their performance very often.

Song Quality : Their hits are very good. I like their popular songs but I dont really know their songs.

N'Sync

In conclusion, lets rate them from {Very Poor} 1-10 {Awesome of awesomeness}

Name : Vocal Quality {8} + Vocal Harmony and Distribution {6} + Live Performance (Voice {8} + Other {4}) + Song Quality {4}
Westlife : (9*8) + (7*6) + (8*8 + 5*4) + (6*4) = 72 + 42 + 64 + 20 + 24 =222
Boyzone : (4*8) + (3*6) + (4*8 + 5*4) + (6*4) = 32 + 18 + 32 + 20 + 24 =126
Backstreet Boys : (6*8) + (8*6) + (6*8 + 8*4) + (9*4) = 48 + 48 + 48 + 32 + 36 = 212
A1 : (7*8) + (9*6) + (7*8) + (5*4) + (9*4) = 56 + 53 + 56 + 20 + 36 =221
N’Sync : (3*8) + (3*6) + (4*8) + (8*4) + (4*4) = 24 + 18 + 32 + 32 + 16 = 126

So, the winner is Westlife!!! Hahhaha.. To be honest, I also like A1 very much because of their songs and their quality as vocal group. Even sometimes I prefer A1′s songs to Westlife’s. Well, again it’s just my opinion and it’s very related to music taste which is different from other person. You can have different opinion, indeed

Transportation. I go by city bus which is free for student. There’s around 20 city-buses in kaiserslautern, and my ambition is to try all buses! Train inside Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany is also free. That’s also my ambition.

Where to Go. Any places that the selected city bus takes me. Hence, it is not very far, only 1 hour to go at most. I personally prefer natural place, such as mountain, park, wood, etc because I like to “run away” from city life hahaha..

What to Bring. Camera is the most important thing on travel. Photo-hunting! although there’d be only photo of me alone but it’s okay.. ^_^ 3-pod is optional. I dont really like to bring it because it’s somehow heavy and troublesome. Mobile Phone is also important. But not for communication ) I use it mostly for mp3 player. And last but not least, my beloved toad!! ^_^

What to Do. TAKE PICTURES!!! Long live Narcism!!!

So far, I have done this crazy travel 3 times. To Kreuzhof, Molschbach, Vogelwoog. Lets see how crazy my journeys were.

Kreuzhof

I went there on September 2011 by bus 107. What was in there? Basically, nothing . Only a quite village, with almost no one around. Like a dead city. However, there was a story on that journey. Actually I didnt plan to stop at Kreuzhof. I just wanted to go by bus to Kreuzhof and go back to city center. But in there, I saw something that could make myself take off the bus right away. I saw Honda Estillo for the first time in Germany!!! That’s my boyfriend’s favourite car.

So I took off the bus in nearest bus-stop, and started taking picture. I was so excited and might take so long that the bus has gone back to city center. I was trapped!! There was no people, no shop, no cafe, no restaurant. Nothing!! I checked the schedule and the bus would come in next two hours!! What should I do in the dead village???!!! At first, I tried to enjoy it, took more pictures, and went around the village. Then, after an half hour it started to rain. I didnt wear warm jacket, the temperature was quite low, and I didnt eat much for breakfast. In this crazy and challenging travel, I generated crazy thoughts, “what if I got hypothermia in here? that wont sound so funny >.<”

Marie in Kreuzhof

However the situation didnt turn me down. It did turn me up! I considered as a challenging, crazy (and stupid) journey!! So, I decided to walk to the bus stop that was closer to livelier place (according to the map). Then I walked and walked.. nope.. Honestly, I took pictures and move to another place (around 10 meters in distance) and took more pictures. There I went that way until I found a small restaurant. Finally!! I still had 45 minutes before the bus going to city center came, so I decided to stop by and drink something hot. And I got lucky twice, there was a tart-cake that I wanted to eat since forever!!! I ordered a cup of hot choccolate and the tart-cake. Yummy!! After 30 minutes, I went out from the restaurant and walked to the bus stop. I used the last minutes to take more pictures until the bus came. I arrived at home, and my journey was finished.

Molschbach+Donnersbergstrasse

I also went to Molschbach on September 2011 by bus 106. Again, I wasnt really sure what was in there. I just wanted to try bus 106, and there I went, to another dead village ). But the bus went through woods and small street, so it was fun. Molschbach was nicer and livelier. I saw more people there, kids playing around, some old people going to neighbour house, and a lady taking care her garden. I took pictures there and I felt people staring at me strangely. Hahhaha.. I was used to it .

Marie in Molschbach

After walking around the small village, I took the bus back to my apartment. Since it was still 5 pm and very bright, I decided to continue my journey with other bus. So, I continued by bus to city center. I checked my bus schedule book, and it said that I could go to Rathaus B bus stop. I waited. It stopped in Schillerplatz bus stop, one stop before Rathaus B. Then I waited. The bus went on, and no one else in the bus except me and the driver. I definetely had no idea where the bus went. “When will it stop on Rathaus B?“

It went on and on, until it arrived at a big parking place. The bus stopped, and the driver wanted to take off the bus when he suddenly saw me. He was surprised, he probably said “What are you doing here?” He spoke in Deutsch and I wasnt good at that time (until now ). It was the bus parking place!!! STUPID ME!!! I apologized and took off from the bus. I checked on the map where I was, Donnersbergstrasse, and I was quite far away from city center (.

Marie in Donnersbergstrasse

I started to walk on the shortest path (according to the map) and not very far, I found a park. COOL!! I went around and took pictures. There was a small pound with ducks and swans, so great!! After finishing my camera battery, I continued to walk to city center. There was no bus at the time so I kept walking and walking until I finally arrive near train station. I waited there for the bus to my apartment. It took almost an hour until I finally got to my apartment. Fiuh, safe!!!!

Vogelwoog

My life on October and November 2011 was so boring. I was boring. I was bored. I spent all weekends stuck inside my bedroom doing nothing good. Stupid me. I planned and planned to go somewhere, but I couldnt take my butt out of the room. Until today, on December 2011, I managed myself to go out….again… The plan was easy, I wanted to buy food (junk food), take it to a nice place, and eat there. So, I decided to buy food in Burger King in city center, and go to Vogelwoog. Why? I checked in the internet and it told me there was a nice small lake in woods. Nice!!

Marie in Vogelwoog

I went there with bus 107 and arrived there on 1 pm. The place was calm and nice. So natural. I walked in the side walk of the lake with the trees around. I enjoyed it so much. There were some people jogging, walking, and even fishing! I stopped by and ate my Burger King. The journey was flawless and joyful until around 2.30 pm. I wanted to pee T_T, so bad that I couldnt enjoy anything, anymore. I walked to the street and waited for the bus. I missed the bus!!! I dont want to write about the very tiring 3 hours time of my life today (it’s still painful to even remember it). Short story, I finally arrived at my apartment on 5.30 pm, and peed. T_T