A Glance Of Egypt

Egypt is officially known as the Arab Republic of Egypt and is located in north-eastern Africa and southwestern Asia. Cairo, the capital and largest city, is the most modern in the Middle East and Africa.
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It is bounded on the north by the Mediteranean Sea, on the east by Israel and the Red Sea, on the south by Sudan, and on the west by Libya. The country has a maximum length from north to south of about 1086 km (about 675 m) and a maximum width, near the southern border, of about 1255 km (about 780 m). It has a total area of about 1,001,450 sq km (about 386,662 sq m). Less than one-tenth of the land area of Egypt is settled or under cultivation, this consists of the valley and delta of the Nile, a number of desert oases, and land along the Suez Canal.
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More than 90 percent of the country consists of desert areas: In the west, the Libyan Desert, a part of the Sahara Desert which is also known as the Western Desert. The Libyan Desert includes a vast sandy expanse called the Great Sand Sea. Located here are several depressions with elevations below sea level, including the Qattara Depression, which has an area of about 18,000 sq km (about 7000 sq m) and reaches a depth of 133 m (436 ft) below sea level, the lowest point in Africa. Also found here are the oases of Siwa, Kharga, Baharia and Dakhla.
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In the east the Arabian Desert, also called the Eastern Desert (which borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez). Much of the Arabian Desert occupies a plateau that rises gradually east from the Nile Valley to elevations of about 600 m (about 2000 ft) in the east and is broken along the Red Sea coast by jagged peaks as high as about 2100 m (about 7000 ft) above sea level. In the extreme south, along the border with Sudan, is the Nubian Desert, an extensive region of dunes and sandy plains.
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The Sinai Peninsula consists of sandy desert in the north and rugged mountains in the south, with summits looming more than about 2100 m (about 7000 ft) above the Red Sea. Mount Catherine (Jabal Katrìnah - 2637 m/8652 ft), the highest elevation in Egypt, is in the Sinai Peninsula, as is Mount Sinai (Jabal Mosa), where, according to the Old Testament, Moses received the Ten Commandments.
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The Nile enters Egypt from the Sudan and flows north for about 1545 km (about 960 m) to the Mediterranean Sea. For its entire length, from the southern border to Cairo, the Nile flows through a narrow valley lined by cliffs. Lake Nasser, the world's largest man-made reservoir and formed by the Aswan high dam, extends south across the Sudan border. The lake is about 480 km (about 300 m) long and is about 16 km (10 m) across at its widest point. About two-thirds of the lake lies in Egypt.
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South of a point near the town of Idfu, the Nile Valley is rarely more than 3 km (2 m) wide. From Idfu to Cairo, the valley is about 23 km (about 14 m) in width, with most of the arable portion on the western side. In the vicinity of Cairo the valley merges with the delta, a fan-shaped plain, the perimeter of which occupies about 250 km (about 155 m) of the Mediterranean coastline. Silt deposited by the Rosetta (Rashid), Damietta (Dumyat), and other distributaries has made the delta the most fertile region in the country. However, the Aswan High Dam has reduced the flow of the Nile, causing the salty waters of the Mediterranean to erode land along the coast near the Nile. A series of four shallow, brackish lakes extends along the seaward extremity of the delta. Another larger lake, Birkat Qarun, is situated inland in the desert north of the town of Al Fayoum./
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Geographically and traditionally, the Nile Valley is divided into two regions, Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt, the former consisting of the delta area and the latter comprising the valley south of Cairo. Although Egypt has about 2450 km (about 1520 m) of coastline, two-thirds of which are on the Red Sea, indentations suitable as harbours are confined to the delta. The Isthmus of Suez, which connects the Sinai Peninsula with the African mainland, is traversed from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Suez by the Suez Canal.

Source: Hakim

What are Bloggers?

Someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.”

A person who posts entries in blog is called a “blogger”

Bloggers- Bloggers is the blanket term for anyone that uses a blog to post information on topics that are of interest to them. Becoming a blogger is actually simpler than it might seem. As blogging has grown in popularity, many website offer platforms to quickly and easily create a blog.

Some of the most popular blogging software platforms are Blogger, Livejournal, Typepad, Wordpress and Xanga. These websites will host your blog, generally for free, and provide you with the tools to create blog posts without having to know a lot about software.

History of Santa Claus

Now that we have been celebrating christmas, Santa Claus and its symbols are all over the place, especially in the western area. I was curious about, and researching how the brand or image of Santa was originially made. It may help some of you to get a new knowledge or reminder how a Christmas and Santa is all about. Draw your own conclusions!

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Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply “Santa“, is the figure who, in most of Western culture [citation needed], is described as bringing gifts on Christmas Eve, December 24 or on his Feast Day, December 6 (Saint Nicholas Day). The legend may have part of its basis in hagiographical tales concerning the historical figure of Saint Nicholas.

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The modern depiction of Santa Claus as a plump, jolly man wearing a red coat and trousers with white cuffs and collar, and black leather belt and boots, became popular in the United States in the 19th century due to the significant influence of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, and films. In the United Kingdom and Europe, his depiction is often identical to the American Santa, but he is commonly called Father Christmas.

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One legend associated with Santa says that he lives in the far north, in a land of perpetual snow. The American version of Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, while Father Christmas is said to reside in Lapland. Other details include: that he is married and lives with Mrs. Claus; that he makes a list of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior; that he delivers presents, including toys, candy, and other presents to all of the good boys and girls in the world, and sometimes coal or sticks to the naughty children, in one night; and that he accomplishes this feat with the aid of magical elves who make the toys, and eight or nine flying reindeer who pull his sleigh.

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There has long been opposition to teaching children to believe in Santa Claus. Some Christians say the Santa tradition detracts from the religious origins and purpose of Christmas. Other critics feel that Santa Claus is an elaborate lie, and that it is unethical for parents to teach their children to believe in his existence. Still others oppose Santa Claus as a symbol of the commercialization of the Christmas holiday, or as an intrusion upon their own national traditions.[7] Most people think that the Coca Cola Company created Santa to boost sales, but Santa Claus and the innitial image of him were created about twenty years before Coca Cola was invented and the company was created.

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Source: Wikipedia

February 14th

Every year, Valentine's Day is celebrated every Febuary the 14th. In some parts of the world that celebrate it, that day is a chance for girls to express their feelings to the guy that they like. In other parts of the world that also celebrate it, the day is a suitable time for every couple to spend time together.
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Valentine's Day is indeed identical with For-Couples' Day. How about the people, who are still single and not attached?
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Valentine's Day is a day about love and affection. This day can be used to share love, not only to your girlfriend or boyfriends, but also to friends, brothers and sisters, parents, and every one that you love.
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On the Valentine's Day there are a lot of things that can be done, even for a bunch of singles. So, what are those places?
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1. Cinema
Cinema is indeed a fun place to spend time and immerse yourself in the story, both alone and together. Cinemas usually shows new love-themed movies. If you don't want to be disturbed by couples who are in love, we suggest you to avoid those kind of movies and to avoid seats that are located far from the walk path (that is, near the wall). We suggest you to watch scary movies, tense movies, or at least action movies.

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2. Dining Place
Dining place is a fun place to spend time by enjoying the food and communicate with each other together. If you don't want to be disturbed by couples who are in love, we suggest you to avoid dining places that are dim and the tables that are near to tables used for two people.
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3. Playground
Playground is a fun place to spend time by playing together. If you don't want to be disturbed by couples who are in love, we suggest you to avoid games that can be done by two people and avoid quiet places (you may see things that will make you feel uneasy).
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4. Karaoke room
Karaoke rooms are fun places to spend time by singing and enjoying the music together. I am sure that singing is a thing that almost all people can do.
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5. Bed
For some of you that haven't had any partner or girlfriend or boyfriend, it may be good to try to relax at a bed, but don't fall asleep. At that place you can muse about your fate, blame yourself, seek the reason why yourself is still unattached, and hit your own head. Oops, all of them are wrong. I mean, in the bed, you may do something productive. For example, get your mobile phone, and call your friends who are unattached too, then you can discuss what will be done if you get a boyfriend or girlfriend, then it can be your source of inspiration for your next novel. Or, decide on what conditions to accept your future boyfriend or girlfriend. If in the real world you are unattached, if you suddenly fall asleep, you may get a boyfriend or girlfriend in the dream world.
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6. Bathroom
Usually, when you have a shower, the hands are active to do routine tasks. However, since it is so routine, your brain doesn't work so hard. So, in this condition, you can think about the same think as described in the previous point. Unfortunately it is strange to take a bath in groups. So you may move to a swimming pool.
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7. Shooping mall
After you eat together, of course it is not good to change place and eat again, because you may be sick together. Maybe it is good to go to a shopping mall like department store, where you can chat about the things available there and add up the togetherness. If you don't want to be disturbed by couples who are in love, we suggest you to go out from the shopping mall (Oh, I'm tired).
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At last, those places may become alternatives for you to spend time on the Valentine's Day. Other than those places, definitely there are more places that can be visited.

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Source: kejut.com
note: watchout for the virus

A Story about Names

What's in a name ("nama" in Indonesian)? That was what Shakespeare said. The term Nama here does not mean the tribe Nama, a tribe in the South of Africa, name is a term that is used to call among the human beings to differentiate them from the others. Name shows the real identity of a person, from where s/he is from, what is his/her background, what is his/her social status, etc.

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Soon after a baby is born on the world, his/her parents look for a name for their children. Usually the chosen names are good, names that have impressive meaning, although there are some that only follows the tradition by choosing names that is commonly used in that area, or possibly be named exactly the same as the father's name, like the current United States president.

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When I was a child, names that were commonly used were like: Natalia, Andi, Monika, Andre, etc. Which were names that sounded like Western names. There were also names that sounded like Indonesian people's names like: Agung, Dimas, Agus, Hendrawan, and also my own name (Hadi), a name that has Indonesian characteristics. Some time ago, when there was an event, and all people who joined were asked what food they want, or if there are some restrictions. I just chose one of the choices that were provided. Then the other party sent an email back, asking, "Are you a Moslem? Do you need halal food?" Abruptly I answered, "No, I'm not. I can eat any food." It turned out that my name sounds like a Moslem, isn't it. No wonder, the Singapore Idol last time had a name called Hady Mirza.

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When I was in secondary school there were my friends using Moslem names like: Choirul Anam, Muhaimin, Masruchin, even there was one who had Isa (Jesus) as his name! When I was in high school I noticed that many of my friends had Western names, it is ununsual to see that someone still uses Chinese name. There is one thing that was quite interesting, that the Western names used are mostly English names, like Stephanie or the variants Stefani, Stefanie, and then Jimmy, Melissa, Adrian, Aileen, Alan, Alex, Annice, Anthony, Ronald, Christine, and so on and so on that if I were to continue it would not finish. The ones who have names like that may have a same name but actually different individuals. Even so, there are a lot of English names where no Indonesians ever used them as long as I know, like: George, Ashlee, Archibald, Cameron, Kyle, Chuck, Montgomery, Murphy, Oswald, etc. Other that that I noticed that not many used names other than English names, although there are several, like: Imelda, Fernando, Alfredo, Anton, Ferdinand, Elvira, Ines, Hanna.

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There are also many who like to use Christian names, no matter whether they are have Christian as their religion. There are ones whose name are Christin but they are not Christian. Some of the others uses names in the Bible, prophets, or names of Saints or names of church fathers. Names in Bible like (Indonesian version): Abednego, Petrus, Yusuf, Yosua, Yahya (Yohanes), Maria, Tirza, Hezron, Yosafat, and the English version of the names like: Michael, Matthew, John or Johnie, Peter, James. Names of Saints like: Valentina, Agustinus, Xaverius. Or famous people of the church like Polikarpus.

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There are some who use gods' names. For example Diana (Hunting Goddess of the Romes, equivalent to Artemis in Greece), Flora (goddess of flower), Luna (moon goddess), Saraswati (wisdom goddess), Wisnu (carer god), Indra (god of weather and lord of Svargaloka in Hinduism), Surya (god of sun).

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There is one occasion when I introduced myself to a Vietnamese, after I mentioned my name, he asked "What is your western name?" I became confused, my name is only this one, except if he asked what is my Chinese name, which I have one. It turned out that because there are a lot of Indonesians that use Western names, he thought that if an Indonesian's name was not a Western name, he actually had a Western name.

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What I am questioning is why are there so many people that use English names, although Western people do not consist of only English people, there are some other nations with different cultures. If we notice, Filipinos and East Timor people mostly use non-English names, like: Domingos, Amando, Filipe, Ramos, etc. In fact there is a lot, you know, non-English names that have not been used like Boris, Vladimir, Jaroslav, Gustav, Ulrike, Schmidt, Konrad, Petersohn, Wolfgang, Giuliano, Annetta, Manuela, and so on, and so on.

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I see the declining of Javanese people who use typical Javanese names. The name of villagers were taken from the day name such as: Rebo, Kliwon, Wage (like Indonesian Anthem's componist's name), then Dhingklik (small chair), Gudel (calf). And the names such as Poniman, Wakidi, Katemo, Mukinem, Pariyem... are not common anymore, especially in cities. It's very uncommon for kids to have such names. Most of them use considered better names such as Rahayu, Ika, Retno, Sinta, Bambang, or the names that start with Su- like Suharto, Sukarno, Susilo or using Western name such as Randy, Ivan or Arabic name such as Hambali, Shihab, Assegaf.

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I just knew that Wati is a sexual intercourse in Arabic, but it seems that in Indonesia the name means a woman, for example antariksawati (female astronaut). I don't know where it came from. Do you know that?

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I noticed the tendency that more and more people use Western names, even my ex-housemaid gave her baby a name called Henri. There was even parents who gave their baby a name that is the same as inventors like Enrico Fermi, Thomas Alva Edison, even Albert Einstein! I think it is sooo not creative, the names are copied without modifications.

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It makes me feel that Indonesian like to copycat foreign names, something I don't see in other nations like Japan, Korea, Thailand, India, etc. If you're Indonesian, why should we be shy to use the original Indonesian names? I know that for the case of some Indonesian Chinese, some of them don't really like to adopt the local people names as substitutes of their Chinese names, so they prefer Western names. When I was in Junior high school, some of my friends have unique names, such as: Maharani, Sulung, Bangkit, Buang, Gelar, Luhur, Isish (Don't know whether this is a self-made name or there is relations with Egypt god, what I know is isis in Javanese means cool).

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In fact it is possible to create unique names, considering that in Indonesia it is quite free to give names, unlike in certain cultures that names of the first child must be the same as the father's, or as I heard, in Singapore the child's name that was registered may not use certain names. Westerners' names sometimes are quite unique, at least if seen from Indonesians' standard, for example like: Brown, Bush, White. An example of unique names like Kristia Monetera, Satu Cahaya Langit (one shine of the sky), or like Melly Goeslaw's child that was named "Anakku Lelaki" (My Son is a Man) and his little brother was named "Pria Bernama" (Popular Man). Also, Sitok Srengenge's (meaning: one sun) child was named "Laire Siwi Mentari" (the child of the sun that was born). There is also jokes about a person named Saklitinov, and the name Saklitinov turned out to be an acronym of Sabtu Kliwon Tiga November (The Kliwon (Javanese calendar day name) Saturday of Third November). Olala...
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Source: kejut.com

note: watchout for the virus

Trans Jakarta/Bus Way

Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta has the most modes of transportation planned in Indonesia. The government have been planing to implement river transport like in Venesia, bus services with their own lane in the street called Busway, monorail, and subway. But at the present time, only one mode has worked: The Busway.

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What is Busway, hm… I think it is a BUS with is own WAY in the street. In Jakarta, you can see in several main streets, there are separate lane that is reserved for busway use only. That is why, the busway is relatively traffic-jam free. For several times I’ve seen some private car try to use the busway lane and they will be fined by a policeman easily. The busway lane often marked by a red box painted on the street measuring 1,5 X 2 m or the word “BUSWAY” painted on the street.

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Well, even though only busway allowed, emergency services like ambulances can use the lane, so that saves them some times.

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The busway has a specific route for every group of bus, it is called “Corridor”, I don’t know what is the reason behind it. Currently there are 9 corridors in Jakarta, and every group of bus has their own route. There are two types of corridors. The 2-way corridor, which shaped like a 2-way linear path, and a circular one, shaped like a one-way circle. Basically, if you got on a busway anywhere, you can go to every corridor, because sometimes the corridors merge at Transit points, which is a bus station with 2 or more corridors passing through.

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The best things of using busway are it is cheap, comfortable (every busway has AC), and traffic–jam free. And why I said it is cheap? because until now, the Busway use a single price policy, which is a disadvantage to some people and an advantage to other. For one ride you only have to pay 3500 Indonesian Rupiah (around 50 Singapore Cents and 30 American Cents), and if you switched corridor, it is free. So if you are going to use busway for 250m, you will be charged the same with more than 10 km (which is what I’ve been doing the most time I am using busway)

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The interior of the busway differ greatly from ordinary bus. The first thing that you’ll notice when entering busway is the air temperature. All busway are air-conditioned, mostly too much I think, when the busway is fairly empty (i.e. no person standing), you can see some people showing reactions because they are feeling a little cold, but when it is crowded, it tends to be hot, but not as hot as regular bus. It is nice to have air-conditioned bus, because there will be no open window and people are prohibited from smoking.
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Beside smoking prohibition, all passengers aren’t allowed to drink/eat, bring their pet, or littering inside the bus, while at the station, they are allowed to drink/eat but no smoking or pet. Anyone never board a busway might wonder, is it clean then? Because it is quite difficult in making people obey that kind of rule in Jakarta, besides, ordinary bus is still full of trash and cigarettes smoke, even though they have the same rule. Well actually it is very clean, because there are Mr./Mrs. Security guard there, which will watch over the passenger and giving advices.

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They are able to answer your question about how to go to various places, I found that it I very helpful since there are no map at all inside the bus, but hopefully they are going to put it after all corridors are finished. There are two trashcans in every bus; I think they also helped the cleanliness a little bit.
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According to the posted notice in the window, the maximum capacity of one bus is 88 people, there are 33 seats, varying slightly between bus manufacturers (Kia and Daewoo). The seats are quite comfortable, with notice above the seats (posted on the window) about giving your seat to the elderly, pregnant woman, and handicapped. If you are standing, you can hold to the handles that have some advertisement, in some of the bus I’ve seen biscuit and toothpaste product

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Unlike many other buses, the busway is using an automatic transmission, with buttons as the controller. There are 3 buttons Drive, Neutral and Park. Above the driver, you can see there are some panel with red LED light showing you the name of the next station, it is controlled manually by a button beside the transmission, so wherever a bus approach a station, the driver must press the button. The opening and closing of doors is done manually too by pressing certain button, usually the passengers get in / out with the right side door, but in some one way streets, the left door can be opened according to the station sides
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There are no music or TV in a busway, but there are speakers and one of the sound that come out of them is the station name upon entering one station and advices like “please check your belongings and step away carefully” in 2 languages, Indonesia and English.

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Do you remember about biscuit advertisement mentioned above, actually last month, when I get out of the bus, someone from the biscuit company offering the biscuit for free (actual price is around Rp 1500, or USD 0.20), it is quite nice actually, and some passenger is happy, but they are only giving it to the people leaving the bus, maybe to prevent eating their biscuits inside the bus. Also, when I am taking those photographs, the security said that it is not permitted to do so, even though there are no warning posted

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source: kecjud.com

Istana Cipanas Dulu Vila Milik Baron van Imhoff

Kata Cipanas berasal dari bahasa Sunda, "ci" atau "cai" yang berarti air dan panas yang berarti panas juga dalam bahasa Indonesia. Kata tersebut menjadi nama sebuah desa, yaitu desa Cipanas. Di tempat itu terdapat sumber air panas yang mengandung belerang. Desa itu berada dalam wilayah kompleks Istana Kepresidenan Cipanas. Terletak di kaki Gunung Gede, bangunan yang kini menjadi Istana Cipanas sejak awal memang digunakan sebagai tempat peristirahatan bagi para Gubernur Jenderal, bukan gedung pemerintahan atau rumah dinas seperti Istana Bogor atau Istana Merdeka.

Penciptanya adalah Gubernur Jenderal Gustaaf Willem Baron van Imhoff ketika sedang melakukan ekspedisi bersama timnya ke kawasan Batavia, Cisarua, dan Cipanas. Pada suatu sore rombongan Van Imhoff tiba di sebuah sumber air panas yang menyembur di bawah sebatang pohon karet munding. Ia segera berhasrat membangun sebuah rumah peristirahatan di tempat itu. Bahkan ia langsung mengutus juru ukur untuk membuat peta dan mematok kapling untuk bangunan yang dicita-citakannya.

Pada tahun 1942, rumah peristirahatan di Cipanas tersebut mulai dibangun. Tukang-tukang kayu didatangkan khusus dari Tegal dan Banyumas, Jawa Tengah, tempat para perajin yang dikenal piawai dan rapi buatannya. Sketsa dasar bangunannya dibuat Van Imhoff sendiri. Vila itu selesai empat tahun kemudian. Selama masa pembangunan itu, Van Imhoff sering datang menengok sekaligus untuk berendam air panas. Dokter pribadinya bahkan menyarankan untuk minum air dari sumber itu yang diketahui mengandung belerang dan zat besi, dicampur susu karena mempunyai khasiat pertumbuhan.

Di Vila Cipanas itu pulalah Van Imhoff meninggal pada tahun 1750, setelah sakit selama dua bulan. Jenazahnya dimakamkan di Tanahabang, Jakarta, dengan upacara kebesaran militer. Ketika rumah peristirahatan itu dibangun, Van Imhoff tidak membayangkan bahwa 2,5 abad kemudian jalan di depan puri itu akan ramai. Menurut catatan lama, bangunan itu bahkan tidak tampak dari jalan. Terlindung di balik pepohonan tinggi ketika pertama kali dibangun dulu. Sumber air panasnya sendiri yang menjadi alasan utama pendirian rumah peristirahatan itu berada lebih dari seratus meter di belakang bangunan induk.

Istana Cipanas ini tidak pernah dianggap sebagai puri resmi. Tidak semua Gubernur Jenderal Hindia Belanda pernah menggunakan istana ini untuk peristirahatan, khususnya pada abad ke-18 hingga pertengahan abad ke-19. Di masa pendudukan Jepang, para pemimpin tentara dan pembesar Jepang yang memang senang berendam air panas selalu singgah di Cipanas dalam perjalanan antara Jakarta dan Bandung.

Sebagai tempat peristirahatan, Istana Cipanas memang tidak banyak berperan sebagai tempat kejadian-kejadian bersejarah. Namun di sinilah Presiden Soekarno pada 13 Desember 1965 mengadakan sidang kabinet untuk memutuskan perubahan nilai uang dari Rp 1.000 menjadi Rp 1. Kebijakan ini pada waktu itu populer dengan sebutan “sanering”. Dan meskipun Istana Cipanas tidak dirancang untuk menerima tamu negara, Ratu Juliana dari Belanda pernah singgah di sini pada 1971.

Bulan Febuari 2008 lalu, Ibu Ani Bambang Yudhoyono memperkenalkan Istana Kepresidenan Cipanas kepada para Duta Besar Wanita dan para istri Duta Besar negara-negara sahabat yang sedang bertugas di Indonesia dalam acara Friendship Gathering. Kepada lebih kurang 400 undangan Ibu Ani menjelaskan tentang sejarah Istana Cipanas. "Istana Cipanas adalah satu dari enam Istana Kepresidenan di Indonesia. Terletak antara Jakarta dan Bandung dan diapit oleh Gunung Gede dan Gunung Pangrango, membuat udara di Istana ini sangat sejuk. Semoga anda semua bisa menikmati keindahan Istana Cipanas dan keragaman budaya Indonesia," kata Ibu Ani. (osa)

source: presidensby.info