The Human's Best Friend

I just realized that I love dog so much!

Not only dog actually, but also any kind of animals and another living creatures. Few days ago, when I was jogging around my campus, I met Boy. Who is Boy?

Boy is a dog who lives in my campus area. His master works as a street worker also in the campus area. First time I met boy was when I walked to my faculty in the morning. I still remember that I walked some 5-7 meters behind Boy's master. I was surprised that time because suddenly Boy came from behind me and then ran following his master in cute way. Oh My God! I taught it only happens in movie, or with rich people who can afford to buy a faithful dog.

I was wrong.

Faithful is not a matter about money.

Then they walked to another side of the road, Boy ran towards his master loyally and ah... they had a joking each another like a lovely scene I watched in Hachiko movie. I can only followed them with the side of my eyes, and whispered into my heart: I hope I can meet them again and touch that cute Boy.

First time I saw Boy and his master from behind

Some 3 weeks after my first shocking meeting with Boy from behind, I met him again. This time, I was very lucky because Boy was not on walk. Without any doubt, I came and greet the Boy's master. I asked about who is Boy, what does he usually do in this campus, and can I take him home?

"Well, Boy is actually a common dog who used to roam around this campus area. He has an official owner, but he only wants to follow me (the master, ah.. I forgot to ask his name). He always follows me wherever I go to work, just like in this canal today. Sometimes he teases me to ask for some play, but sometimes he is just keep calm being next to me, and all that. Every streets workers here know him well, and we are looking after one each another."

Ah... So sweet..

Boy is a calm dog, I can touch him without any scared feeling of being bite. Heheheh...

My 3rd lucky meeting with Boy was some 4 days ago.  I was jogging around campus, then voila... Here they are!!!

It seems that Boy didn't recognize me :(

Only the master actually remember that I ever met them once. This time, I took picture of Boy (again) and interviewed his master (again) about Boy and his life. Hehehe

Sadly, Boy was feeling asleep that time. I gave my sweet hand to make him looking towards the camera, but ah.... It didn't happen :(

Well, it's Ok. Seeing that Boy and his master in healthy and happy condition is moore than enough for me.

One (out of thousands) Message from Hiromi Shinya 1

Following my previous post which talked about breast cancer, now I am gonna share about breast cancer from what I've read from a book entitled The Enzyme Factor. This book is written by Hiromi Shinya, a Japanese born general surgeon which has practiced in Japan and USA. He is actually a gastroenterology, specialist of gastrointestinal and abdominal surgery. What makes him become widely known than any other specialists (besides writing The Enzyme Factor) is that he looks up at his patient health problem as a whole picture, not only as a part.

Hiromi Shinya (pict taken from Google)

For instance, when a woman patient come with a complaint on her stomach, Hiromi Shinya will examine her not only at the stomach, but also ask her about her eating habit, life style, and surprisingly offer her to have breast examination and pap smear too. He does it because he believes that health status is widely influenced by what we eat. It is implied that if there is something wrong with your digestive system, it could lead problems to another part of your body. And if you have problems with your health, then you should check your digestive system and evaluate your eating habit immediately. We can clearly see that our health is about what and how we eat. 

Although he is not a gynecologist, Hiromi Shinya puts serious attention to woman's health issue. Like I stated before, when a woman patient comes to him, he mostly examines her more than what she complaints for. Based on his experience in examining woman patients, he concludes that women with breast cancer usually have poor digestive condition and are coffee drinker. (Well, I myself didn't mean to say that coffee is a kind of bad beverage, but I can see it clearly in my auty's case that she drinks coffee routinely)

Beside promoting healthy eating habit in order to prevent breast cancer, Hiromi Shinya also suggests us to recognize our breasts very well by massaging them regularly. Even if there's no scientific fact about it (yet), but I completely agree with this idea. It makes us know structure of our breasts very well, so that we could notice if there's any minor change of them.

Along with his controversial idea in The Enzyme Factor (yes, his book is a bit controversy in practice of modern medicine), I personally give thanks to him for his suggestion about how to be healthier as a whole individual and for sharing his knowledge and personal experiences as an experienced medical practitioner.

As there are so many valuable ideas in his book, I suggest you to read it by yourself so that you can really understand his messages about healthy life.

The Enzyme Factor, borrowed from college's library

Get Well Soon, Aunty

My aunty just got her second breast surgery. Yeah.. It was her second surgery. The first surgery was a masectomy, in which she lost one of her breasts. After experiencing a set of chemotherapy procedure, the cancer seems to grow again at the same place where the masectomy has taken place.
Since I am studying Public Health, in a certain degree I learn about cancer; starts from it's causes, development, symptoms (which is usually asymptomatic), and the prevention. Until today, the main cause of cancer itself is still unknown. Research have shown that there are some risk factors that contribute in leading abnormal division of cells which later called as cancer.

I know my aunty very very well, even actually she is not my straight aunty. What makes us close is that we lived nearby. When I was kid, she often took me roaming around the town, brought me to market, gave me foods,  and bought me cute clothes.
Since she announced us that she feel a bump on her breast (then after some medical checks we know it was a cancer), I don't know why, my breast also feel an ache (aww.. it's kind a shocking effect). I am really close to her, and that news made me really sad.

Soon after, I was starting to check my breast. Rub here, rub there, and I begun to examine my breast thoroughly every time I am naked and, off course, alone (particularly before showering). You know, breast feel a bit pain before period, and I also feel it in each of my period time. That time is a very uncomfortable time to me (and I guess so for other girls), and I am getting more concern of my breast.

Back to the causes of cancer which is remain unknown, I want to share some of my opinion based on my own observation and retrospective memories.
Studies have shown that there are risk factors that leads someone to get cancer. Starts from it's genetic heredity, smoking habit, drinking alcohols, bad foods and beverages which contains carcinogen materials and preservatives, less moving, and life's stressful.

What makes me more concern about my self are genetic heredity and bad foods. For your information, before giving birth to me, my mom underwent a surgery to take a small lump on her breast. I haven't ask her further if it was a tumor or a cancer yet (I will soon), but it already gives me a warning sign. It's about heredity that my face, eyes, nose, physical figure, and (oh..) characters are my mom's alike. If it's alike outside, so does the inside.

And bad food, ohh...
I was a creature who eats everything I could take into my mouth. I was not think about it's ingredients, amounts, and I didn't even think about if I was hungry, full, whatsoever. I was also a fanatic of fried and full-carbo food; chicken, soy cake, potatoes, empek-empek, bakwan, risol, cassava, potatoes, noodles, bread, cakes, cookies, you named it!

Now I realize...
I have to be much more aware of every single thing I take into my mouth, because they will determine "who I am" tomorrow and for the next 10 years. What I learn from my aunty case are:

• Her mom also underwent a surgery to take a lump on her breast.
• Based on my personal closeness to her, I can say that she tends to eat full-carbo foods and is an instant-sachet coffee drinker.

I didn't mean to blame her for anything that has already happened, I only want to learn from everything I could for a better health in future. Yes, we shared a same story that our mom underwent a breast surgery in the past. It's one significant point that widely open my eyes for my own health. I do realize that the risks are getting higher if I am still continuing bad habit in eating foods and living sedentary lifestyles. It has been irritating my mind for this several weeks, that's why I try to write it down here in my blog.

All I hope is that she is going to get well soon now, road to recovery with all supports of family and start to live a healthier lifestyle with good foods. Ameen.

To all my readers, if you also have a relatives with the same circumstances, it's time to start changing your eat habit and live a healthier lifestyle from now on.

Thanks God, today I have knowledge (much likely to be called as a story) to be shared to my blog reader.
Thanks God for the air I breath freely and freshly in every second of my life.

Keep healthy, everyone!

I Was Strong

I was a strong one

I could climb the highest mountain by myself

I could walk the desert by my feet

I could swim across the ocean by my own

I hardly shed my tears 

But now...

Look

I am in tears

Tears of missing you

Someone Who Loves You

Someone who loves you, can never give reasons why he loves you. All he knows is, that you are the only one for him 

Someone who loves you, gives you compliment very rarely. But deeply inside his heart, you are always the best for him

Someone who loves you, will be mad or giving complaint if you didn't pick up his phone-call or didn't reply his SMS. It's because he cares and don't want something bad happen to you 

Someone who loves you, will always remember every single word you said, even if you said it unconsciously

Someone who loves you, can never easily make a promise because he don't want to break that promise. He only wants you to trust him and gives you a secure life forever 

Someone who loves you, might can't remember any special or memorable events such as your birthday celebration. But he knows that every second he passed, he always loves you regardless what day is today

Someone who loves you, will not say "I love you" easily because everything he do is showing how much he love you. He will say "I love you" only at the special time because he wants you to know that he LOVES you more than words

Someone who loves you, will never need to say something for many time. He only need to say it once because he knows that you are already understand him very well 

Someone who loves you, will always keep small things you gave, even if it's only a piece of small paper which says "I love you" 

Someone who loves you, will sincerely let you go if you are not happy with him. He will be happy to see you being happy even if you are with another person

*compiled from various sources on net

Ke Pulau Tidung Yuukk...!!

Tulisan ini dibuat untuk mengikuti #TravelAsyik dari http://anakasyik.com berhadiah jalan-jalan bareng @TrinityTraveler. Tulisan adalah hasil karya sendiri dan bukan jiplakan.

Beberapa minggu yang lalu, aku dan teman-teman sekelas di kampus mengunjungi Pulau Tidung dalam rangka praktikum lapangan (a.k.a plesiran terselubung) di akhir pekan. Praktikum yang kami laksanakan ini merupakan bagian dari mata kuliah Kesehatan Lingkungan di Tempat-Tempat Umum, Transportasi, dan Pariwisata yang beken dengan singkatan KLTTUP.

Trus praktikumnya ngapain aja?
Overall kami menganalisa manajemen kebersihan di Pulau Tidung sebagai salah satu destinasi wisata yang mulai beken diantara pulau-pulau lain di Kepulauan Seribu, seperti Pulau Rambut, Pulau Pramuka, dsb. Tapi ya kembali lagi, namanya juga liburan terselubung, semuanya jadi have fun abis!

So... Let's cekidot!

Perjalanan dimulai pada suatu subuh di hari Jum'at. Kami, 20-an mahasiswa beserta 1 orang dosen pembimbing (plus istri dan 3 anaknya), berkumpul di suatu titik yang sudah disepakati dimana sudah menunggu 1 Kopaja carteran untuk mengangkut kami dari Jl Margonda Raya, Depok menuju pelabuhan Muara Angke, Jakarta Utara.

Sesampainya di Muara Angke jam 07.30, matahari sudah bersinar cerah dan untungnya kami tidak terlambat. Kami naik kapal berukuran sedang yang mulai meninggalkan pelabuhan pada 09.30. Perjalanan menuju Pulau Tidung sendiri memakan waktu sekitar 2,5 jam dan karena pagi ini bangun terlalu dini, maka sebagian besar perjalanan di kapal kami habiskan dengan...tidur.

Pelabuhan Muara Angke di pagi hari

Kapal yang kami naiki (nama salah satu personel boyband favorit)

Antri mau naik kapal

2,5 jam kemudian kapal sudah mulai melambat dan sudah tampak pemandangan samudera yang bening-biru kehijauan. Tidak lama kemudian kapal berlabuh, dan mendaratlah kami di Pulau Tidung. Yeeaaayyy...!!

Mungkin karena hari Jum'at, Pulau Tidung tampak ramai dipenuhi pengunjung. Sepanjang pengamatan kami, rata-rata pengunjung hari itu adalah kaum muda-mudi ibukota yang menghabiskan akhir pekan bersama. Perjalanan kami kali ini sudah dirancang oleh Event Organizer (EO) lokal, bukan karena ingin enak-enakan atau apapun, tapi lebih karena tujuan awal (proposal) nya adalah untuk penelitian dan membawa nama kampus, serta untuk keamanan dan keselamatan bersama. Tapi setalah kami cari tahu, untuk wisata ke Pulau Tidung memang jaaauh lebih hemat jika dilakukan bersama-sama dan menggunakan jasa EO lokal. Untuk perjalanan kali ini, kami ambil paket disini. All set dan dijamin nggak rugi deh...!!

Day 1
Pada siang di hari pertama ini, belum ada agenda penelitian. Jadi kami sudah tidak sabar untuk mengeksplorasi pulau seluas 109 hektar ini menggunakan...sepeda. Ya, sepeda merupakan sarana transportasi paling populer di Pulau Tidung. Selain karena tidak ada jalan beraspal lebar yang bisa dilalui oleh kendaraan roda 4, bersepeda merupakan cara yang paling afdol untuk menjelajahi pulau yang kalau dikitari sekali putar ini akan finish hanya dalam waktu 30 menit. Tempat wisata yang paling tersohor di Pulau Tidung adalah Jembatan Cinta, yang menghubungkan Pulau Tidung dengan Pulau Tidung Kecil yang tidak berpenghuni. Selain itu di bagian laut sepanjang jembatan cinta juga bisa banana boat, snorkeling, loncat indah dari atas jembatan, dan tentu saja, foto-foto dengan latar belakang lautan bening dan langit biru yang luaar biaaaaasa cantiknya.

         

         

Banana Boat

               

Saking beningnya, kumpulan bulu babi ini sampai kelihatan jelas sekali

Jembatan Cinta yang membentang panjaaaang sekali

Setelah puas (capek dan gosong) mengeksplorasi jembatan cinta, kami pulang untuk beristirahat dan mempersiapkan bahan untuk penelitian yang akan mulai dilaksanakan pada sore ini.


Day 2
Agenda di hari kedua ini adalah penelitian (dan jalan-jalan lagi). Kami mewawancarai otoritas berwenang di daerah setempat yang mengurusi sampah, sanitasi, dan kebersihan di Pulau Tidung. Selain itu kami juga melakukan observasi ke tempat pembuangan sampah akhir (TPSA) di pulau ini. Tidak butuh waktu lama untuk melakukan wawancara dan observasi ini. Siangnya kami lanjut ke agenda berikut, yaitu snorkeling. Spot snorkeling kali ini bernama Pulau Beras, terletak sekitar 1 jam naik boat mini dari Pulau Tidung. Karena di perjalanan ombak cukup besar, banyak diantara kami yang mabuk laut dan diakhiri dengan menumpahkan isi perutnya ke laut alias muntah. Hoeekk...!!

Sesampainya di spot snorkeling, tanpa ba-bi-bu kami langsung menceburkan diri ke laut. Waah... Indahnya alam bawah laut ciptaan Tuhan. Air laut yang hijau bening, terumbu karang, dan ikan-ikan cantik yang malu-malu melintas kini ada di depan mata.

Setelah bersih-bersih dan beristirahat sehabis snorkeling, sore harinya kami melanjutkan observasi, mengunjungi rumah warga, dan menikmati sunset.

Day 3
Hari ini merupakan hari terakhir kami di Pulau Tidung. Kapal menuju Muara Angke akan berangkat jam tepat jam 12 siang, jadi pagi harinya kami berdiskusi mengenai hasil wawancara dan observasi. Secara umum, pengelolaan sampah dan kebersihan di Pulau Tidung masih sangat sederhana. Hal ini dikarenakan jumlah tenaga petugas kebersihan yang kurang, alat-alat yang minim, dan yang paling penting adalah jumlah pengunjung yang terus bertambah setiap minggunya, yang sangat berkontribusi dalam peningkatan volume sampah. Bapak-bapak petugas kebersihan yang kami wawancarai berpesan, sebagai pendatang hendaknya kami juga turut menjaga kebersihan dan kelestarian alam di pulau ini. Tidak membuang sampah sembarangan merupakan cara paling sederhana untuk menjaga Pulau Tidung tetap indah, bersih, dan nyaman.

Pukul 11.00 kami sudah check out dan berjalan menuju pelabuhan. Ternyata kapal yang akan mengangkut kami sudah bersiap-siap dan diserbu oleh banyak pengunjung lain yang akan kembali ke darat. Transportasi untuk kembali ke darat tidak banyak, hanya 2-3 kali keberangkatan setiap harinya. Kapal yang kami naiki kali ini berbeda dengan yang kami naiki saat berangkat, kapal ini memiliki dua tingkat sehingga mengangkut lebih banyak penumpang. Sepanjang perjalanan pun kami habiskan dengan tidur dan melihat-lihat pemandangan laut yang tidak ada batasnya.

Suasana di dalam kapal, semua tertidur dengan khidmad

Ssstt... Pak Dosen lagi tidur

Pemandangan dari jendela kapal

Berpapasan dengan kapal yang berlawanan arah

Horee... Jakarta sudah kelihatan...

Berakhir sudah petualangan kami di Pulau Tidung, pulau yang tenang dan cantik. Disini kami belajar banyak tentang menjaga kelestarian alam, terutama di tempat-tempat pariwisata. Mudah saja, hanya dengan tidak membuang sampah sembarangan, kita sudah ikut dalam melestarikan alam ciptaan Tuhan yang luar biasa indah ini.

See you on the next trip ~~~