Splendid Switzerland!

Hello Again!

So... Winter Holiday was the highlight of last year! and with that... I would like to share some of my personal recounts that I myself experienced throughout my adventurous trip!

Unlike my previous blog posts, I am only going to be putting ONLY exciting and facinating things in this post

ENJOY! 

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I arrived at Zurich, Switzerland after a long and tiresome flight from Jakarta - Doha. I must say that I got really bad Jet Lag so my sleep clock was very different to the time there. We rented a car and we visited a small country - Liechetenstein. There, we saw some historical buildings in its capital city, Vaduz. We had roasted turkey for lunch and then went to St. Moritz for the night! For dinner we ate Cheese Fondue which is one of Switzerland's well-known dishes.

The next day we went skiing at the town square in St. Moritz. Although skiing was quite difficult for me, I must say that it was definitely fun. We had a short stop to Tirano, Italy where we had pasta for lunch. Of course I ordered my favourite - Linguine with Pesto Sauce. We then had a short toilet stop and went to Tasch, Switzerland where we had to park our car as our next destination was Zermatt, which is a city that has no cars and other transport vehicles except for bicycles and small taxis.

The next day we went around the city, seeing the famous Matterhorn Mountain and also skiing again! We then had a little shopping of local souvenirs to bring home.i must say the view there was spectacular as ever. The snow covered the fir trees and buildings there which looked like a scene out of a fairytale!

We ate beef tartare and crackers with caviar which was delicious as ever and we headed to Vevey which is famous for The Fork, a sculpture out of stainless steel located in lake Geneva. We then arrived at Annecy, passing through Geneva for some shopping, for the night.

The nexy day we went to Gstaad and Interlaken

EXPO 2019

EXPO or also known as Open House is one of the most celebrated events that are held in the SMPK1 BPK Penabur Bandung. From the 30th  - 31st August, all programmes all including the Regular, Bilingual and DCP programmes have made their own booths, each having their own special and unique features and twists to them. Other than that, many students from other schools have come as competitors to compete in competitions, along with special guests such as the grand champion of Master Chef Indonesia and the previous students that had already graduated from SMPK1.

Students began decorating their stalls on Thursday, from the fifth period onwards. The 8 DCP booth decided to oick a Playstation 4 rental and a Polaroid camera photo booth as their booth activity. In this year's EXPO, movie theaters are often a popular selection as several booths have picked their choices to be cinemas. The rest of the booths are then just food stalls, with one booth, the 7 regular booth, selling boba milk tea and boba toast, a favourite among many students.

The 8th grade male students are expected to get to school at 7 a.m. for the performance on the EXPO day. The 8th graders played the percussion at the opening of the EXPO together with the 9th grade band and contemporary dance ECA dancers, performing Aladin's Arabian nights song, and Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes ' Senorita. The booths were opened afterwards, and the students and visitors wandered around to discover booths

What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas

At this holiday I went to the United States of America for the 3rd time. The west was remarkably fun! The beautiful coastlines and the lovely summer breeze made the trip very enjoyable. I can still remember gazing up the beautiful skyscrapers as if it was yesterday. I am here to tell you one of my favourite cities there: Las Vegas

Visiting the Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas was one thing that amazed me. The contortionists, the acrobats and the fire breathers were simply magnifique. The colours were vivid, seemingly transporting us to a world of a different dimension.

https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/o

The casinos and the delicious sorts of cuisine surely
made the city a money-maker. We stayed in Las Vegas for 3 days compared to other cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix as there is so much to do there.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/restaurants/photos/on-the-road-las-vegas-restaurants

The Bellagio Water Fountain was splendid at night. They are soaring, iconic fountains featuring dramatic aquatic shows choreographed with music and lights.
They were exquisite dancers.

I really do like Las Vegas, seeing the iconic luxury malls and grand casinos topped everything that we could ask for in a holiday . Plus we coudnt mentuon how much shopping thay we did. I surely will come back for the experience!

Easter

Easter is one of my favourite holidays. Although I'm quite confused between Easter Bunnies that lay eggs.
How do they even lay eggs and what is the correlation with the ascension of Jesus Christ? Until this day, the thought still lingers in my head.

This Easter, I had a great time as it took part as a one week holiday. I went to church on Good Friday and Sunday and I must say it was much differet than usual church!

President Election

Well today is the day of election in Indonesia. I wouldn't dare to go out as I am scared the same thing would happen last election. Although my parents didn't vote I knew they wouldv'e picked our current president, Joko Widodo.

Surprisingly, many citizens of my hometown felt that it was a bad situation to go out during the day of the voting. Hence, Bandung looked like a comolete ghost town. Shops were mostly closed and there was no hint of transportation anywhere in the city centre - which is usually crowded.

Everyone is scared for the results and outcome on who will win the election either Prabowo or Jokowi but I'm sure that God would pick the best possible president for the future years to come.

Jubilant Japan

If you have always wanted to travel to Japan, here are top 5 cities that I think are a must (other than Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto) which you should go !

1.Beppu
A city in Oita Prefecture - this city is well know for its hot springs. This city is situated between the mountains and the sea which makes it perfect for geothermal activity to thrive. It has eight major hot spring areas referred to the "Eight Hells of Beppu".

One attraction site that I've always enjoyed looking at are the Hells of Beppu. This is a place where hot spring are viewed for their beauty rather than for bathing. As a popular destination, this attraction can be frequently accessed by continuously departing buses from the JR Beppu Station.

Another one is the Shoningahama Seaside Sand Bath. Here, you won't be bathe in hot water, but rather in hot sand. Although there were some difficulty in breathing, this was 100% a place worth to visit. It's oddness attracts everyone's eyes just in a glimpse.

2.Kobe
You may hear this city a lot, as it is famous for its high-grade beef. For food bloggers, this is a dream come true! At the very first moment you bite into the juicy meat, you will instantly fall in love and wouldn't be able to stop eating.

In my opinion, the best way to eat Kobe Beef is when the beef is cooked rare, sliced and put on top of rice, making it a don. Most importantly, don't forget to add the raw egg which enhances the taste to a whole new level. (Don't worry, eggs are safe to eat raw in Japan)

Not only about the beef, this capital coty of Hyogo Prefecture is considered one of Japan's attractive city. This city also makes fine sake, which you can find in the Sake Breweries. It has long been famous due to the to the great amount of high quality rice, weather and suitable water. My favourite was the Plum Sake from the Sawanotsuru Sake Museum.

3.Hiroshima
No, it is not harmful anymore to visit this city. Many wrong assumptions were made and I will tell you that they were the complete opposite of what describes this beautiful city.

This historic city was well-known due to the Atomic-Bombing. You can see what are the effects in the Atomic Bomb dome. In the surrounding area, you can find the Children's Peace Monument where you will able to see the famous Sadako Statue.

Not far from Hiroshima, is the Island, Itsukushima where you will be able to find the famous Floating Torii Gate. In high tide, the gate will almost look as if it is floating.

My favourite part about Hiroshima is of course the delicious Okonomiyaki. Although they originate from Osaka, the Hiroshimas have a different recipe, which I prefer better.

4.Fukuoka
Known as the Flower City, you can see all the beautiful blooming flower in the first week of April. The tulips are absolutely gorgeous and colourful!

Modern Malls and Ancient Temples can be found through this city. As the capital city of the prefecture, Fukuoka has a diverse culture and a wide range of cultural attractions.

If you have a chance to visit this city, I would reccommend eating the delicious Hakata Ramen. The broth is too delicious and the noodles are exquisite!

5.Sapporo
You can visit this in both Summer and Winter. I can't decide which is better as they have there are seasonal changes that you can only experience in a certain period of time.

In summer, yoy can enjoy the lavender fields, and even try the lavender ice cream which is a must. You can also see alpacas roaming around in Ecorin Village. You should also see the magnificent Blue Pond which looks like it came out of a fairytale.

In winter, you can ski on the mountains and hills of Sapporo. In special occassions, you can enjoy snow falling while eating hot and delicious oden.

Book Review : The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera

Introduction

Hello everyone! Today I'll be reviewing the book 'The Phantom of the Opera'. This book is published by Classic Starts and is retold from the Gaston Leroux original. This book is one of my favourite books (from many) and I absolutely this book so much that I will definitely be thinking of reading this book more than once. I rarely reread books so this book is one of a kind for me.

So I really do like reading classic literature. And why? you might ask. Some of you might think that classic literature is just sitting in a classroom and you just read boring and nonsensical books from the 18 or 19th century. But this book is very different. Not only it is about romance, the book contains one of my favourite genres - horror. It is very different from the musical and the broadway version but I still really enjoy it. This book is of course translated from French and I would like to thank Classic Starts as I can completely understand what is going on with the book.

Plot

This story surrounds at the Opera Garnier, Paris, France. It is about a young woman named Christine Daae. She is only a background singer and one day she filled in the sick opera star - La Carlotta. Surprisingly, she happens to be one wonderful singer and a beautiful performer.

Palais Garnier

Christine take lesson from this man whom she was given to from her father. He told her since a very young age that when he passed away he will send her an 'Angel of Music' which happens to be this man. She loves and adores her tutor. He teaches Christine how to sing opera songs. The real teacher happens to be a deformed man named Erik. If you ever see the film, you will know what he looks like. He covers a part of his face with a mask. One scene was disturbing when Christine took his mask off.

Erik is actually a very talented person he excells in architecture and he actually built the Opera House. But since he is deformed, he kind of hides away in the darkness as people were terrified of him. Not to mention that he causes chaos in the Opera House because he adores and wants Christine to be the Opera Star instead of La Carlotta. So when the managers didn't obey his orders, The Phantom disturbs the people and even killing one of the workers.

It starts really getting crazy when Raoul enters the scenario which is Christine's childhood sweetheart. They started to love each other again when Raoul came to see an opera show. The Phantom becomes jealous of this and soon it became a love triangle.

The phantom has this love obsession with Christine because he doesn't know anyone else and how to love other people. So when Raoul enters the picture The Phantom became overprotective and tries to kidnap Christine. He then brings her to his lair underneath the opera house.

The story follows Raoul saving Christine and they live happily ever after, walking to the sunset. It is such an amazing story and I really love the ending. They are so many emotions in this book and it becomes one of its special features.

Anyways, in the end, Christine kisses Erik on the forehead. Weirdly ans shockingly, she doesnt show any discomfort or even move back. She really embraced him. This part of the story is my favourite part as it shows the hopeless romantic side of the plot. By kissing him, Erik sees a whole new world and eventually letting Christine go with Raoul.

Thoughts

My favourite character is actually the Phantom, he shows affection and fully loves Christine. I also love the background story that he has although it is quite sad

I would reccommend thia book to anyone I know especially young readers that want to enhance their reading skills. The book was made for easier reading and is carefully rewritten.