“WHY YOU SHOULD BEFRIEND WITH CACTI & SUCCULENTS?”

By: Asri Jul Megita

My love for itty bitty cacti and succulents blossomed last year. And well, I have been obsessed with them ever since. Although, cactus is dangerous plant for some people, because its thorn, but I really loved them. And if you’re thinking about adding some much-needed greenery to your space, cacti and other succulents are a great option. Here are just a few reasons why I love these hearty little plants and why you should seriously consider these “fat plants” for your home:

1. They’re Beautiful

Cacti come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. The tallest is about 19 m, and the smallest is only about 1 cm. Meanwhile, succulents come in wondrous variety. Some are leafy and delicate, others are pudgy and round. They are also spiky, fuzzy, and even multicolored. They all look so cute! At least I think they do. You can stare at them for hours and never tired of the endless (even humorous) varieties of shapes, curves, and textures. Besides, you can decorate your room with cacti, or let them protect your home outside. (Who needs a watch dog?) 

2. They’re Low-Maintenance

Usually, they are easy to care for. They don't need to be watered often. So, you can go on long trips and not have to worry about taking care of them or switching out their murky water like you do with normal flowers. Why they don’t need much water? First, they have fiber roots. It absorb water fast. Then, cacti have trunk which save water supplies in it. Next, cacti have leaves look like hair but it is thorn. The shape of leaf has change to be a thorn, in order to reduce the evaporation of water through the leaves. Therefore, cacti can grow in a long time without water.
They also have specific metabolism. These plants open stomata at night when the weather is cooler than during sunny day. At night, cactus take carbon dioxide from the environment and store it in the vacuole to be used as photosynthesis at sunny day. The point is, just put them in full sun, don't water it too much, and cross your fingers.

4. They’re Full Of Surprises

Though they can seem "charmingly changeless", don't be fooled by their laid-back demeanor. Come a moment, then someday they will suddenly burst into bloom, like orchid cactus. Yes, cacti have flowers. Their flower attached to the plant and don’t have a flower stalk. Many cactus species are night blooming, so you will get a surprise from them when you wake up.

5. They Promote Good Health
Some, like aloevera, have therapeutic properties in their juices. Snip an aloevera leaf for its healing juices whenever you want to soothe a cut finger or dry skin. They also improve the quality of air in your home. According to the article "10 Plants to Improve Indoor Air Quality," cacti tend to eliminate bacteria as well as reduce radiation.

All and all, you should adopt cacti or succulent to be your lovely plant and taking care of them as well as you care your friend. Cacti and succulent beautiful in their way. They need loving too. Although they may seem tough on the outside, they are super soft and sweet on the inside (I'm sure you all have a friend like that). Just think of cacti as your forever friends because they literally last for forever.


P.S
Illustrated or cute cacti picture drawn by me ^^
For more information go follow @catchusplantid on instagram. 

Wae Rebo

The Traditional Village of Wae Rebo on

The island of Flores

Hello everyone! How are you? What's your plan for this summer holiday? I recommended you to go to my beautiful country. It’s Indonesia! The perfect country to spend your summer holiday! I’d like to tell you about my favorite place, and it can be the best destination for your holiday. 

Come visit Wae Rebo! The traditional village of Wae Rebo is located in the district of Manggarai on the island of Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. This small and isolated village was recognized for its rebuilding of the traditional Mbaru Niang traditional house based on the spirit of community cooperation towards a sustainable tradition, while at the same time improving its village welfare. Wae Rebo is a small, very out of the way village.  

I love this place because this place is located some 1,100 meters above sea level, where the air is cool and the village completely surrounded by panoramic mountains and the dense Todo forest. I love the place which is not crowded and the air so clear! Absolutely the place that I hope to live for! This tropical forest is rich in vegetation, where you will find orchids, different types of ferns and hear the chirping of many songbirds. 

Founder of the village and, therefore, their main ancestor who built the village some 100 years ago, was a man called Empu Maro. Today, the inhabitants are his 18th generation descendent. He was a great man!

Wae Rebo’s main characteristics are their unique houses, which they call Mbaru Niang that are tall and conical in shape and are completely covered in lontar that from its rooftop down to the ground.  It appears that at one time such kind of houses were quite common to the region.  But today, it is only this village that continues to maintain the typical Manggarai traditional house, without which these unique houses would have been completely fazed out.

The house has five levels, each level designated for a specific purpose. The first level , cal led lutur or tent, are the living quarters of the extended family. The second level, called lobo, or attic, is set aside to store food and goods, the third level called lentar is to store seeds for the next harvest, the fourth level called lempa rae is reserved for food stocks in case of draught, and the fifth and top level, called hekang kode, which is held most sacred, is to place offerings for the ancestors.

One special ceremonial house is the community building where members of the entire clan gather for ceremonies and rituals. They are predominantly Catholic but still adhere to old beliefs. In this house are stored the sacred heirloom of drums and gongs.

With a small population of around 1,200 inhabitants only, the village comprises 7 houses, with half of these falling into disrepair. The staple diet of villagers is cassava and maize, but around the village they plant coffee, vanilla, and cinnamon which they sell in the market, located some 15 km. away from the village. Lately, however, Wae Rebo has grown in popularity as a tourist destination for international eco-tourism enthusiasts, and this has added to the economic welfare of the village.  The people of Wae Rebo warmly welcome visitors who wish to see their village and experience their simple traditional life.   

To get there, you can go by plane. But you must transit at Soekarno Hatta airport, then continue to to Labuan Bajo’s Komodo Airport on Trans Nusa airlines and Merpati. Trip to the village of Wae Rebo takes some 5 to 7 hours by car from Labuan Bajo on the west coast of Flores, hopping off point to the famous Komodo National Park. Alternatively, you may want to start your journey from the town of Ruteng, capital of the district of Manggarai, towards the village of Dintor, which takes around 4 hours. After this, the road goes uphill past ricefields until you reach Denge Sebu village.

In Denge, start the hike by taking the path between a local homestay and village SDK (elementary school). The hike will lead you across three rest spots. The first one is at Wae Lomba River, which is less than an hour from Denge. After another hour of trekking, you will find the second one, Pocoroko. This is an important place for villagers (and visitors) who want to make phone calls and send text messages from their mobile phones, as there is no mobile signal in Wae Rebo. From Pocoroko you will reach the third post, Nampe Bakok, which takes about 40 minutes. From here, enjoy the beautiful hill scenery before you reach Wae Rebo.

The village can only be reached by way of a three-hour hike (depending on your physical condition) from the lowlands. The hike is definitely worth the effort: the dense rain forest along the narrow path to Wae Rebo is one of a stunning biological diversity. Not only does it host interesting vegetation, including orchids, palms, and different ferns, but also an impressive population of singing birds. 

After you arrive, do not worry about a place to stay. If you wish to stay overnight, the villagers welcome visitors to their homes. Fun isn’t it? You even don't have to think about the cost of stay, it's free! Visitors are welcome to spend the night in the mbaru niang, and to socialize and dine with the Wae Rebo community. You will sleep on a tikar, a woven mat made out of pandanus leaf, in the mbaru niang, and get a taste of how life used to be when the extended families still lived their lives under one roof. 

When you there, you will not only see the authentic Manggaraian housing, but also get an opportunity to experience the daily life of the local people. You will see most of the people work in their gardens from early morning until dawn, busy with harvesting coffee and processing the beans. Even though weaving is not a major activity in Wae Rebo, you may encounter some women weaving traditional songket cloth. And the local people will give you songket cloth as souvenir and the best souvenir that actually will you get is the experience when you stay there, with local people which is so warm and beautiful scenery around the village. I promise, you will never regret going there. 

You can get more detailed information on Wae Rebo at http://www.florestourism.com 

Big Girls Don't Cry Lyric (Glee Cast Ver.)

Glee - Big Girls Don't Cry

[Rachel]

The smell of your skin lingers on me now

 You’re probably on your flight back to your home town

 I need some shelter of my own protection, baby

 To be with myself and center

 Clarity, peace, serenity

[Kurt with Rachel]

 I hope you know, I hope you know

 That this has nothing to do with you

 It’s personal, myself and I

 We’ve got some straightenin’ out to do

[Blaine]

 And I’m gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket

 But I’ve got to get a move on with my life

 It’s time to be a big girl now

[Rachel and Blaine]

 And big girls don’t cry

 Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry

[Rachel]

 The path that I’m walkin’, I must go alone

 I must take the baby steps ’til I’m full grown, full grown

 Fairy tales don’t always have a happy ending, do they?

 And I foresee the dark ahead if I stay

[Kurt with Rachel]

 I hope you know, I hope you know

 That this has nothing to with you

 It’s personal, myself and I

 We’ve got some straightenin’ out to do

[Rachel and Blaine]

 And I’m gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket

 But I’ve got to get a move on with my life

 It’s time to be a big girl now

 And big girls don’t cry

[Kurt]

 Like the little school mate in the school yard

 We’ll play jacks and Uno cards

 I’ll be your best friend and you’ll be mine Valentine

[Blaine and Kurt]

 Yes, you can hold my hand if you want to

[Blaine]

‘Cause I want to hold yours too

 We’ll be playmates and lovers

 And share our secret worlds

[Rachel]

 But it’s time for me to go home

 It’s getting late, dark outside

 I need to be with myself, and center

 Clarity, peace, serenity, yeah

[Kurt with Rachel]

 I hope you know, I hope you know

 That this has nothing to do with you

 It’s personal, myself and I

 We’ve got some straightenin’ out to do

[Rachel and Blaine]

 And I’m gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket

 But I’ve got to get a move on with my life

 It’s time to be a big girl now

 And big girls don’t cry

 Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry

KINDERDIJK VILLAGE (NETHERLAND)

Kinderdijk is a village in the Alblasserwaard polder of Netherlands. It’s a popular, yet authentic, tourist destination for its large of windmills.

These received recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

Everyone has a favorite place in this world. A place that they most liked. A place where they can be comfortable and enjoy. Beside, everyone has a place that they most wanted to visit. It will make everyone happy and satisfied if they can go to a place that they want. My favorite place, especially in vacation, I’d like to go to a place that so far from my house. I want to feel the different contrast in environment. And the place that I most want to visit is Kidnerdjik.

Kidnerdijk lies in the Alblasserwaard, at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers. In Alblasserwaard, problems with water became more and more apparent in the 13^th century. Large canals, called “weteringen”, were dug to get rid of the excess water in the polders. However, the drained soil started setting, while the level of the river rose due to the river’s sand deposits.  After a few centuries, an additional way to keep the polders dry was required. It was decided to build a series of windmills, with a limited capacity to bridge water level differences, but just able to pump water into a reservoir at an intermediate level between the soil in the polder and the river; the reservoir could be pumped out into the river by other windmills whenever the river level was low enough; the river level has both seasonal and the tidal variations. 

        If we want to go there, we can take a public transit. As Kinderdijk is in a rural area, getting there with public transport can be a time-consuming process. The easiest way to get there is to first take a train to railway station Rotterdam Lombardijen. This station is easily accessible from the major cities. We will have to continue our way by bus. When leaving the railway station, cross the street and tram lines to get to the bus stop.

Another fun way to go there is by boat.  We can also take Water bus ferry from Rotterdam (under the Erasmus bridge) or from Dordrecht (on Merwekade). Take route 20 and get off at Ridderkerk (De Schans). There we have to transfer to a smaller ferry to Kinderdijk. 

If we arrived there, automatically we will see a wonderful scenery in front of our eyes. We can feel like in the real Netherlands, because of green grasses, the wind and the windmills. The best way to see the windmills is on foot or by bicycle. Bike rental is available. In the summer season (April-October), we can make a boat tour in the canal along the windmills. It starts at the parking lot, costs €4 (IDR 60.0000) and takes about 30 minutes. The first boat leaves at 10AM, while the last boat heads out at 5PM.

When in Kinderdjik, do not forget to see the windmills of the most awesome among others. The Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout is the large concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands. The windmills, being a part of the general landscape, are free to visit. In total there are 19 windmills that were built in 1740 to drain the Albasserwaard. The mills are not always in operation; this depends on the weather.

One of the windmills, the Museummolen, can be visited inside, and a visit is usually combined with the steam-powered pumping station Wisboomgemaal.  

The Museummolen and the Wisboomgemaal are opened at 09.30-17.30 daily in the summer season. Outside the summer season, they are only opened at 11.00-16.00 on weekends. Ticket are €6 and can be bought at the parking lot, at the Museummolen or at the Wisboomgemaal. The Wisboomgemaal has a victor’s centre, a digital scale model an introductory film. Some of the facilities here include free restrooms and soda machines.

Aside from walking around comfortably in Kinderdjik, Cycling is a popular activity in Kinderdijk. We can cycling along the windmills, or in the wider are. It is even possible to cycle all the way to here from Rotterdam. By bike we can easily combine a visit to Kinderdijk with other tourist attractions, such as Schoonhoven (Silver City), the fortress town of Nieuwpoort and Stork Village Het Liesvelt.

After satisfaction of seeing and enjoying the beauty of Kinderdijk, surely we would want to bring a souvenir from there. Even though Kinderdjik is not really a place to go shopping, but we can buy souvenirs from the usual gift shops on there.

And actually humans need energy. If we are hungry, there are a few restaurants at the entrance of the park. For example Buena Vista Restaurant, Molenstraat 230 (near the entrance of the park). This restaurant is housed in a historic building at the main road close to the windmills. It has an old-Dutch luxurious interior that has a traditional appearance. On the menu are meat and fish dishes and Dutch pancakes €20-30 (IDR 200.000 – 300.000). And if we are thirsty there is Coffee too, Coffee for an affordable price right at the entrance of the park.

For someone who want to spend more time in Kinderdjik, there is also some hotel there. For example is Hotel Kinderdijk. This is a decent hotel rooms for mid-range prices. There’s also a restaurant attached to it where you can have dinner or lunch. Mains are about €17-20. It is possible to make a reservation €70. 

Why I’m so interesting to go to this place?

I love something that looks natural. I love to go to the place where it is not crowded, when it is not looks many tourist, when I can feel the air, the temperature, the scenery when my hair blown with wind and all the things on there like it is belongs to me.

There is so many places in the world that looks like what I am describe, but I choose Kinderdijk because I love Netherlands so much. Even though I’m not fanatic with Netherlands, but I’m in love with all spot in Europe, especially Netherlands. I want to see Canal in Amsterdam, I want to see all tulips in Keukenhof garden, but I really want to Kinderdijk first. I think Kinderdijk is like the mascot of Netherlands which is windmills and the scenery is such a wonderful view, like in heaven. I choose Kinderdijk too because the temperature is good and the air is so clear without pollution. I imagine that I can run freely among the reeds and grasses in there or maybe riding with bicycle. I can feel the wind that produced by big windmills too. And I can across the river with big windmills on my left and right side. It will be the best moment in my life. It will be the best travel experience I ever had. I wish I could stay on there for a long time.

Until then I will fight for my dreams for my success,

And bring everyone I loved to go to Kinderdijk…  

Lirik Taylor Swift - Bad Blood

Bad Blood

Cause baby now we got bad blood

You know it used to be mad love

So take a look at what you've done

Cause baby now we got bad blood

Hey!

Now we got problems

And I don't think we can solve them

You made a really deep cut

And baby now we got bad blood

Did you have to do this?

I was thinking that you could be trusted

Did you have to ruin what was shining

Now it's all rusted 

Did you have to hit me? 

Where I'm weak baby I couldn't breathe

I rubbed it in so deep

Salt in the wound like you're laughing right at me

Oh it's so sad to think about the good times

You and I

Cause baby now we got bad blood

You know it used to be mad love

So take a look at what you've done

Cause baby now we got bad blood

Now we got problems

And I don't think we can solve them

You made a really deep cut

And baby now we got bad blood

Did you think we'd be fine?

Still got scars on my back from your knife

So don't think it's in the past 

These kind of wounds they last and they last

Now did you think it all through?

All these things will catch up to you

And time can heal but this won't 

So if you come in my way, just don't

Oh, it's so sad to think about the good times

You and I

Cause baby now we got bad blood

You know it used to be mad love

So take a look at what you've done

Cause baby now we got bad blood

Now we got problems

And I don't think we can solve them

You made a really deep cut

And baby now we got bad blood

Band- aids don't fix bullet holes
You say sorry just to show
You live like that, you live with ghosts
Band- aids don't fix bullet holes
You say sorry just to show
You live like that, you live with ghosts
If you love like that blood runs bad

Cause baby now we got bad blood

You know it used to be mad love

So take a look at what you've done

Cause baby now we got bad blood

Now we got problems

And I don't think we can solve them

You made a really deep cut

And baby now we got bad blood!

Heart Attack lyrics by Demi Lovato

Putting my defenses up
Cause I don't wanna fall in love
I f I ever did that
I think I'd have a heart attack

Never put my love out on the line
Never said yes to the right guy
Never had trouble getting what I want
But when it comes to you I'm never good enough

When I don't care
I can play like a Ken doll
Won't wash my hair
Then make him bounce like a basketball

But you make me wanna act like a girl
Paint my nails and wear high heels
Yes you, make me so nervous that I just
can't hold your hand

You make me glow
But I cover up, won't let it show

So I'm putting my defenses up
Cause I don't wanna fall in love
If I ever did that
I think I'd have a heart attack
I think I'd have a heart attack

Never break a sweat for the other guys
When you come around I get paralyzed
And every time I try to be my self
It comes out wrong like a cry for help

It's just not fair
Brings more trouble than it all is worth
I gasp for air
It feels so good, but you know it hurts

But you make me wanna act like a girl
Paint my nails and wear perfume
For you, make me so nervous that I just
Can't hold your hand

You make me glow
But I cover up, won't let it show
So I'm Putting my defenses up
Cause I don't wanna fall in love
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack
I think I'd have a heart attack

The feelings got lost in my lungs
They're burning, I'd rather be numb
And there's no one else to blame
So scared I'll take off and run
I'm flying too close to the sun
And I'll burst into flames

You make me glow
But I cover up, won't let it show

So I'm putting my defenses up
Cause I don't wanna fall in love
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack
I think I'd have a heart attack