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Last weekend we had a perfect blue sky weather in Berlin. We went out to test the camera along side hubs’ Samsung Galaxy S and a Point-and-Shoot camera Panasonic Lumix TZ-7. We didn’t have any specific scenarios for testing, it was all basically done on a whim, but some of the pictures really showed the capabilities (and flaws) of iPhone 4S’ camera.

Berlin TV Tower and S-Bahn

This was taken with the iPhone. I love this picture. It’s Berlin. And the phone was fast enough to capture the S-Bahn as it came to view! With my other phone, the train would’ve already left .

On the next picture, one was taken with the iPhone, the other with Lumix TZ-7. Can you guess which one is which? (Note: I had to resize the pictures because of some site error)

Berliner Dom -1

Berliner Dom - 2

Picture one is taken with Lumix TZ-7, picture two is iPhone 4S. You could see the iPhone one lacks a little bit of depth due to the small lens size, but overall it’s quite impressive, eh? I will show the pictures taken in low light conditions on my next posts… so stay tuned .

I realized I might have been too ambitious on taking on this project. I registered myself in 4 linky lists, and when I listed all the people in my group, it totaled to 101 blog. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to get to know everyone but I’m still trying to work out a plan to visit everyone’s blog.

Currently I have it all on my list and I plan to visit at least 15 blogs a day. That way I know I’ll be able to make a round to everyone at least once a week .

Did I miss something here? Do you fellow campaigners have a better idea? Do share!

Then again, as we started getting into the vacation, I realized I desperately needed it for my own well being. I could feel my nerves flaring up from all the tension. So I decided to really forget about work and go fully into a break. Besides, catching up on work kind of felt like procrastinating on my own vacation .

Unfortunately, since I mostly work from home, switching the brain isn’t that easy. The “I didn’t have to go to work today” doesn’t really feel like anything to me. Unless, of course, I didn’t want to check any e-mails or play Sims Social (yes, I’m addicted to it since a few weeks).

The first few days were okay, it felt like a nice long weekend. We went for lots of walks, had great food, doing our usual weekend stuff. But then I started to feel some anxiety attack. What if I couldn’t feel relaxed enough during this vacation? Did we make the right decision by not going anywhere? (the answer to the last question is YES, because we needed the fund for something else more important).

Skipping to the end, I managed to feel relaxed and happy like being on a usual vacation.

It’s not easy because we didn’t go to other cities (except for a daytrip to Braunschweig).

Here are the things I do to help myself:

1. Stay away from the usual routine. Which was why I stayed away as far as possible from word processors and design tools.
2. Set up a vacation budget, so I would not feel guilty of spending more money than usual.
3. Rejoice in the fact that I’m saving money. At least I don’t have to pay for transport and lodging.
4. Look for places I haven’t been to. Granted, this is the advantage of living in a bigger city. But I bet there’s always somewhere you haven’t been to in your city. Look for some exhibitions, concerts, new restaurants.
5. Don’t fret about housework.  You wouldn’t worry about laundry or dishes during a vacation, would you? I’m not saying you shouldn’t clean up, but just don’t feel like “since I’m not working, my house should be shiny clean”. (Unless you’re a fan of cleaning… I’m not )
6. Don’t fret about work. This is not the time to catch up. This is a time for refreshing the brain, to prepare itself for new ideas for the next project.
7. Treat your other senses. Perhaps try a new spice in food, try a new type of cuisine, or go for a massage.
8. Pretend you’re a tourist. Make a role play, look the part, bring a map, and take lots of pictures.
9. Most importantly, do things that made you happy. This is the time for it! My happy things are going for a walk in the city, eating good food, and read a lot.

Twice a year, the museums in Berlin opened their door for a long night visit, from 6pm to 2am. When I first saw this I was thinking, “Who would want to go museums in the middle of the night? Had anyone watched Night at the Museums? There must be ghosts prancing around those ancient objects at night, right?”

Boy was I so wrong.

It’s a very exciting event. This year was the third time we went to such event in Berlin. We always went on the summer ones (since I had been a wimp to brace the winter chill at 1am). And yet, every year, we always found something new and interesting to see.

The ticket was 15 euros (10 if you’re qualified for a discount – student, elderly, etc). It included the admission price for all the participating museums and access to shuttle buses & Berlin transport systems (which meant you can get ANYWHERE easily). Pretty decent price, if you asked me.

(at Vision & Fashion exhibition)

There were 106 participating museums this time around, and there’s absolutely no way you could see them all within 8 hours. What you need is a good plan of what you’d like to see and make a good route out of it.

This year we calculated that we would spend around 1-2 hours in each museum. We prepared a list of 4-6 places we’d like to visit and the possible routes to go through all of them. The route we had wasn’t the most optimum but we got to the places we’d like to go.

1. Schwules Museum

It’s a museum dedicated to the history of homosexual people  (especially in Berlin). They had been through a lot, especially in the Nazi period and I think it was great that now they have equal rights and recognition here. Unfortunately almost all of their exhibition texts are in German, although you could still browse through the pictures! And the people there are nice so I’m sure you could ask around if you have questions.

2. Mauermuseum – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie

It’s probably one of the most famous museums here in Berlin. It exhibits the history of the Berlin Wall, how and why it was constructed, the escape attempts, and the fall of it. I found the museum too overcrowded, both with people and the amount of information. But if you’re interested in the history of Berlin Wall, this is the ultimate place to go.

3. Computerspielemuseum (Computer Games Museum)

Ah, my geeky gaming heart leaped when I knew this one was on the list. The museum was quite new (2010) but we hadn’t had the chance on visiting it yet. It has a permanent exhibition on how computer games evolved through the years and you could play with some of the games too! Very interesting although it was too crowded last time. They also had several live music events on that day, one of them is gwEm, a cool duo musicians from London who combined 8-bit music and heavy metal.

(music performance by GwEn at Computerspielemuseum)

4. Kunstbibliothek – Kulturforum Potsdamer Platz. Vision & Fashion Exhibition.

I love this one! I didn’t know there was an exhibition on fashion here and we were lucky to accidentally come across it. It’s about sketches, drawings, and photographs that relates to fashion from the 1980-2010. There were plenty of really pretty visions and images from the fashion designer, or inspired by the fashion designers.

5. Helmut Newton Stiftung – Museum of Photography

We went directly for the special exhibition of Helmut Newton: Polaroids. I like the Polaroids images. I like how there’s a certain feel of realness in there. No photoshopping, and it’s all about the angles, composition, and light. Such a great work from a great artist.

6.  Schloss Charlottenburg

It’s a palace built in the end of 17th century for Prussia’s first Queen, Sophie Charlotte. It has a beautiful Baroque architecture and I always found it interesting to imagine how they lived in that era. It also has a beautiful park behind it, which is quite close to where we live and it’s my favorite place to go jogging .

We started exactly at 6pm, and we finished at 1:45 am. It was exhausting (be sure to wear comfortable shoes!) but it was well worth it. And I think our itinerary was good because we didn’t feel too overwhelmed since the museums we went to has different kinds of exhibitions.

(PS: If you only have an interest in one museum and you’d like to stay there the whole time, this is not the thing to do. First, it’ll be way cheaper to pay for an admission price for that one museum, and second, there will be a huge crowd.  This event is good if you want to visit several museums or galleries and get an overview of it. Perhaps if you like a certain place, you could go again on the next day.)

I saw this blogfest a couple of days ago when I was browsing through my fellow campaigners’ blogs. I thought, “What a great idea!” And then I go and do something else forgot about it. Of course. Luckily I saw it again today and I’m so not going to forget it!

I read around other writer’s blog and most of them said they know they wanted to be a writer since forever. Well, I don’t. I went through my childhood going from one dream to another, from being an astronaut to building a underwater train tunnel (with glass walls so you could see fishes in the ocean!). I went to engineering universities, studying Informatics and Digital Media (which I still love doing right now, as a freelancer).

What I always know, however, I love written words. I love to read and I love to write. I just didn’t realize it that *I* could actually be a writer. I thought someone like JK Rowling live somewhere on the untouchable clouds. I thought that in order to be a good writer, you’d have to be English/American/Western. I’m not really a fan any of Indonesian author’s work when I grow up. I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but that’s just how I felt. I didn’t say they were bad, just not really my cup of tea.

So, What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer? I never felt like I was doomed, actually. (I know it’s sarcasm, but still… it felt wrong to me). It’s a choice of what I’d love to do. For better or worse, right? As a kid I was somewhat associated with the great Astrid Lindgren, although mostly because we shared the same first name, and I love her books. I adore Pippi’s courage, and I secretly hoped I had red hair. My first spin off story was from an adventure/detective series, S.T.O.P. It was translated into Indonesian and I couldn’t find it in English (vaguely remembered it was written by a German author).

Books that made me instantly want to run to my computer and write are… chicklit books. It’s that funny, heart warming, uplifting, and happy mood I have after reading those. It doesn’t mean I wrote chicklits, but it’s a very great mood pickup for me.

But then, the book or author that changed my world view is Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. He showed me that it’s possible to be a successful author, even if you’re not from an English speaking country. It’s possible to make a good living from writing a book. It doesn’t matter if I started late in my life. I know, some of you thought I’m not being realistic by this because most authors are poor, bla bla bla… BUT there’s always a chance in this, and unlike being a fashion model, there’s no expiry date unless I stop trying. I believe in that chance and I know you do too!

Do share your sparks too! If you’re not a writer, share the spark of why you became who you are right now .

Have a great weekend!

Someone obviously heard my despair, because I came across the Writers’ Platform-Building Campaign. Thank you Rach . I’m hoping it would be a great way to meet other writer blogger out there, to make new friends, and to learn how this platform building could work for all of us. *waves to my fellow campaigner*. Do join in if you’re a writer and had been feeling the same way as I do!

I write adult fiction, my current works are in the genre of adventure, fantasy, historical, chick lits (not all of them together, obviously). I also like it when there’s a little humor and romance thrown into the work.

I blog (or I planned to blog) about my writing inspirations, positive things, travel stories, stuff I found out during my novel researches, and book reviews.

When I’m not writing, I do web design or developing mobile games with abiyasa. (If you have any web/computer techie question, feel free to ask!). I also love travelling, exploring new cuisine, doing yoga and (sometimes) running.

Cheers to our campaigning journey!

When I was a kid, I didn’t have a laptop, iPod, Blackberry, PS3, Wifi or designer clothes. I played outside with friends, bruised my knees, made up stories and played hide and seek. I ate what my mom made, and would think twice before I say “no” to my parents! Life wasn’t hard, it was good & I survived.Re-post this if you appreciate the way you were raised. Thanks Mom and Dad, for making me who I am today.

It’s quite interesting of how many people are liking this, because at least in my opinion, it isn’t true.

When I was a kid, I didn’t have a laptop… it’s true. Back then, computers was still the size of a room (yes, I’m not that young). Not that I didn’t have a computer. My dad eventually got us an x86 computer, with 16MB of RAM (How cool is that?). I love it! I could do a lot of things on them (mostly playing games though), but most importantly, it made me feel very adept to computers (which in the end got me to be an Interactive Media Designer). So I really didn’t think a laptop is a bad thing for kids. Computer knowledge = survival skill.

When I was a kid, I didn’t have an iPod… true, but I got a Walkman! You know, that cool thing with cassettes?

That one had an FM/AM radio, mine wasn’t… but you got the point. (Picture taken from wikipedia)

When I was a kid I didn’t have a Blackberry… well, actually I would rather have an iPhone if I was a kid. At least a cool Android phone with lots of games and videos! I can’t say anything about this, since my house didn’t have even a landline until I was in 7th grade or something. Was I happier? Sometimes I did wish I could know why my mom was late, was she in stuck in traffic? Or I wished I could tell her I’d love to spend an extra hour at my friend’s birthday party. Then again, mobile phones are the things you can live without, if and only if you’ve never had them before.

When I was a kid I didn’t have a PS3, … Wifi? How does a kid know what’s a Wifi? I’m just going to assume they meant Wii. Made more sense. Actually, back then, games are… most likely in the form of this

(Picture taken from here) Actually, I didn’t have one. My parents never let me buy one of those. Nor they ever bought any of the gaming devices (Atari, PS, Nintendo). Eventually we got a PC. I played Tetris and Paratrooper on PC. My parents always spoiled me when it comes to  books though. I think everyone still spoiled me with books, even now. I know some people argue that reading is better than playing games… but I like them both and I’d rather not choose just one thing for the rest of my life.

When I was a kid, I didn’t have designer clothes. Not so true… I might not have Marc Jacobs kids, but I have nice decent stuff that looked good! At some point, I got myself a very cool L.A. Gear shoes! Kids learn from their parents, I guess. My friends had more designer stuff than I did, but this happened throughout life anyways .

I played outside with friends, bruised my knees, made up stories and played hide and seek. Well, it’s true, I did all of that although I hated the bruised my knees part. I wonder if kids really don’t do this anymore? I admit I might play less outside than my parents did… but it was alright, I think.

I ate what my mom made, and would think twice before I say “no” to my parents! HAHAHAHA… Tell this to my mom and she’ll laugh. I was a very picky eater and an opinionated child. I said “no” MANY times! I’m lucky I have wonderful parents who would put up with my tantrums! Love you mama papa <3

I really appreciate the way I was raised. Couldn’t ask for a better mom and dad <3. They are the parents of awesome which made them super awesome!

I just don’t think we had it easier/harder than the previous/next generation. Everyone has their own challenges, thats all!

Energy by Julia E

“The world belongs to the energetic.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s easy to blame our failure to meet our goals or to live our dream lives on a lack of energy, and we don’t always stop to think about the quality of energy in our lives. Yet we can choose to create and manage our own energy flow.

Think of an instance when you’ve been so involved in an activity that you’ve lost track of time, and then identity the passions and energies you were feeding. Who was there with you? What were you doing? What will you do to make time for moments like that one more often?

(Author: Julia E)

I’ve always loved travelling with hubs, exploring new places, trying out the local cuisine, and being able to just live in the moment, not worrying about anything. We could walk for hours, taking a different turn, trying out a new cafe we thought was interesting.

It is something about being in a new place that excited me. I love the sensation of having a new experience, getting into things I’ve never done before, seeing things I’ve never seen. I’m not talking of the daredevil things, or some great buildings or canyons. For me, it was simple things like finding a new corner street with lots of interesting cafes, a park I’ve never been to, or a new Zara store.

As for work, I love the feeling I get when starting a new project. With the writing projects, it means all those possible plots to explore, new characters traits, new villains. With the design projects, it means all those new color, new theme, and new ways of doing things.

It’s not easy when you felt stuck in a project that takes too long. I procrastinated. It definitely made it worse. I think it’s time for me to go back to the feeling I had when starting it, remind myself why I was so passionate about it. I know the feeling when I did something good would be much more exhilarating than starting a new project. I aim for that.