On Becoming a Woman

Watching Singapore Chingay 2012 Parade

2012-02-05T09:50:56Z

If there would not have been anybody giving away free tickets to us, we would never know the existence of this singaporean style carnival-like parade which is apparently conducted annually. As what is said in their website about origin of Chingay:

A dazzling extravaganza of colours and cultural diversity, Chingay Parade Singapore is known for its resplendent floats and multi-cultural local and international performances that are an insight to our festive traditions and delight the hearts of many Singaporeans and tourists.

The word Chingay is from the Hokkien dialect, of which the Mandarin equivalent is Zhuang Yi, meaning "the art of masquerade". The festival began as a neighbourhood parade with only Chinese elements in 1973. Today, the Chingay Parade has evolved to be the grandest street and floats parade in Asia, showcasing the rich, vibrant multi-culturalism of Singapore and exciting cultures all over the world. To all Singaporeans, the next Chingay Parade is a parade of our people, our dreams and our pride!

This year's theme is "Love, Care, Kindness Everywhere" as showed by many heart shaped red big balloons that decorated the venue. Before the parade started, the ever energetic MC kept shouting, "Chingay Chingay. People People. Singapore Singapore" which after every phrase audience had to answer with "we are one!". The MC went non-stop with the Chingay cheer. I am pretty sure he had a good sleep last night after the event.

It was opened by a pair of 88-meter long dragon kite-like decorations also called as "dragons-in-the-sky" coming from both sides of the long seats of audience and met in the centre to welcome us. It then followed by series of performances by representatives of countries -China, Taiwan, Japan, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and of course, Singapore- and performances from community clubs in Singapore.

My favorite performance? The one by Taichi Gong Fu Fan that consisted of 1000 taichi athletes varied from young ones to senior ones! The choreography moved in harmony with the upbeat music, in contrary what I would think of taichi that connotes with serene and natural earth music. And I especially liked it when each of them opened their fans in one count -wooosh!- and all of a sudden the water covered street was dominated by red color.

As I noticed, the whole decoration involved many dragons. I am not entirely sure if it had something to do with the Dragon Year, or it is actually a default theme of the annual parade. But the overall feel was definitely very chinese new year.

In a typical Singapore fashion of doing things, from the beginning to end the event was organized very well. Everything was so much in order and extremely tidy. My only complaint was that there was not any single sight of food stall at all in any corner of the venue! The whole event basically took 3 hours from 7:30 to 10:30pm and I have to admit, in the last 1 hour I had to fight myself not to constantly think about food and wished that the parade was over quickly.

All in all, I do not regret coming to see the parade; and happy that we used the free tickets. It was a perfect way to end our 1-year stay in Singapore. :)

Giving Through Yoga at London Yogathon 2010

2010-10-28T20:36:53Z

Hi All...!

I am participating in the Yogathon a charity event that takes place on Sat, 30 Oct in London Olympia. The idea is to take the challenge in doing 108 sun salutations in 2 hours! If I am able to raise fund from this event, 100% of the money will then be given as donation to Born Free Foundation, a non-profit organization who prevents animal suffering, protects threatened species and keeps wildlife in the wild. Participating in Yogathon charity event is a wonderful way to contribute to something that I care about through something that I love doing.

Why do I choose animal protection as my cause?
In a diving trip I have had recently, there was a coffee break session in a remote beach and I bumped into a dead body of a shark whose all fins were mutilated. It is not only heartbreaking to witness once a beautiful animal in such a sad condition, but it was also an eye opener that the problem is real.

Born Free Foundation with the help of your donations have program that includes rescue and care of individual animals, wildlife conservation, education and campaign. More about it in this page: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/about-us/

If you are interested in donating online, just go to my JustGiving page:
http://www.justgiving.com/nadiafebina

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer.

If you wish to donate offline, it is also possible, just let me know through my email.

On a personal level, some of you might know that I have just undergone a major surgery 3 months ago and I am still not too sure how far I would be able to keep up with this challenge. Since a month ago when my doctor gave a nod that it is now safe for me to start doing a bit of exercise, i have slowly started to practice some sun salutations in the morning and a little bit more in weekends. I still feel it a bit tough but at the same time I find the practice as a good mean to support my recovery process. Still, I am a bit nervous about Saturday, so wish me luck.....! :)

Thanks so much for your support!

This Blog is Featured in Chic Magazine Indonesia!

2010-03-29T16:18:42Z

As an Indonesian who is being tucked away somewhere in Africa continent, I have become quite ignorant on what is available in Indonesian printed magazines and newspaper. I am now very much used to follow news just from websites and -lately- from Twitter as they are very convenient.

So when couple of days ago I was contacted by a friend letting me know that she read this blog being reviewed in Chic Magazine Indonesia, I was pleasantly surprised. I wouldn’t have known if she wouldn’t have told me! I then called my sister in Jakarta asking her to buy the magazine to confirm if that is true. And a day later a blogger friend, Ollie, sent me the snapshot via twitter and so here it is:

I apologize if this sounds like bragging, I do not mean to. I am very happy of course, but to have this blog featured in a printed media is actually more like a wake-up call to write more. I should not always hide behind my busy schedule as an excuse because it might be just a matter of having a little bit of discipline and time management. And then who knows maybe someday in the future my childhood dream to bring this little hobby to the next level can actually come true.. :D

Thanks again, Chic Magazine, for the wake-up call and for the sweet surprise.

By the way, the magazine is for young women with age range between 20-25 (maybe??). Definitely younger than mine. So as a bonus, since the last couple of days, I feel so young again. Yay! *dance* :)

Happy Love Day & Women for Women

2010-02-14T20:39:43Z

Sometime ago I posted about Women for Women organization and after that I participated to become a sponsor. Soon after, I was matched by a woman from Afghanistan who is a mother of 2 children and five years younger than me. In Women for Women terminology, the sponsor and the sponsored are called sisters.

What so unique about the program is that you can actually have a personal relationship with your matched sister. It is not only about donating, but you are encouraged to send letters to your sister back and forth. With your donation, your sister is going to be put in the program and be given basic education and skill so that she can rebuild her life after the war.

Three days ago I received a letter from Women for Women and am notified that the sister has just been graduated from the program. In the same letter, I am now matched with a woman from DRC Congo, a mother of 6 children. Is also said that they are going to send me a letter very soon and will show the interview of my Afghan sister how she is now after she graduated. :)

Reading the letter, I really feel so blessed that I can be part of the program. Who would have thought that the sponsor who should be the one who helps is actually also the one that -in a way, or many ways- is helped. One example is that after participating with the program, I have noticed that I have grown more interest in my day job too as this experience has given more meaning in what I do for living. It is also unbelievably touching experience whenever I receive a letter from my sister, knowing that somebody out there is connected to me and is able to open up about her despite the trauma that she had been through in war. Moreover, I have developed more interest in where she is,- in this case, Afghanistan- its culture, its issues, its problems, etc. I could not avoid buying some books about Afghanistan, and follow all news about the country. So in the end I have more knowledge and have learned about something new just because of my relationship with the sister.

To become a sponsor, what we need to give away is only $27 per month. We might not feel it too much if we lose $27, but it can mean so much for somebody in other parts of the world. So if you have a spare $27 in your monthly budget, maybe you would like to consider to be part of the program and make a difference in somebody's life.

Happy Valentine's Day. Let's share the love.. :)

Photos from African Cup of Nations 2010 Angola

2010-02-07T16:38:39Z

**Click here if you just want to see the photos**

Last week was the end of African Cup of Nations CAN2010 that was held in Angola. I was so lucky to get tickets from a friend who canceled, so i could get to the stadium to watch the final AND the closing ceremony.

Am I a football fan?
Not at all, not a single bit. I did not even know what offside is! It was just one day my husband successfully to convince me to come with him to watch Dutch team playing with ... (see, I even forget now!). Then it changed my mind a bit about this football thingy. Apparently if you are in the stadium watching the game live, it is a whole different experience. I still do not get all the game rules, but I like the screaming part as a football supporter, and this, I do it religiously. :D

But CAN2010 is different. Since 3 years ago when I stepped foot in Luanda for the first time, I knew nothing about Angola, yet I have been hearing that Angola is preparing itself for this event. I heard they are just about to construct the stadiums in four cities. I also then witnessed how some big roads are being constructed and being prepared as well as the airport. Whoever has been to Luanda airport must have agreed that to be in the airport for the first time is quite.. something. It is not like that anymore now, the airport has different face, being hugely renovated and got ready only days before the event was started. Long story short, whether or not somebody likes football, they must have got excited of this event years before it started.

So with very limited experience to be in a football match (which by the way was a good experience), I intended to come to any match where Angola played - provided I could get tickets. One of the many reasons why I was so determined to come to watch was because I would like to be in a stadium where the team who plays i can support wholeheartedly. I could never do this with Indonesian team ("does Indonesia have a football team?", one of my colleague asked), so to direct my blocked patriotism in a football stadium, now that I had a chance, I would like to support Angola, a country where I have been living for 3 years.

First match I went to was Angola vs Malawi in which Angola won 2-0. I went there with my husband and friends. The stadium was surprisingly clean and the crowd was extremely organized. I was very impressed! Everybody was wearing Angola shirts including us non-Angolans, and Angolan party music was played continuously in the speakers. We got the seat far away on the top (the second row), and the crowd over there was very expressive with screaming dancing and all. I loved it, I could express lots of energy too. Haha! This is probably the best match Angola supporters could have, because this is the only match where Angola won.

And then after that there was Angola vs Algeria where we watched in a beach cafe/resto/club nearby. My husband managed to get tickets for this match but we had to give it away to a friend since the traffic was so bad. It was 0-0, not a good game and not a pleasure to watch. And then after that there was Angola vs Ghana. This is the match where the whole country was so much looking forward to, so it was hard to get tickets. I spent watching it in a friend's house. It was a very good game, but a heartbreaking one for Angola supporters as Angola lost 0-1 and that was it for Angola in CAN2010.

And then there is the final match Egypt-Ghana where Egypt established themselves to be the champion of CAN2010. To be honest, at first I was not too excited about going to the stadium, I was not too sure what to expect and who I was going to support. The last part was so confusing I ended up turning up in the stadium with Indonesian shirt belongs to my husband from when he watched a match Indonesia vs Thailand in Jakarta. But after talking to some people, I was convinced to support Ghana, but still with my Indonesian T-shirt. (i know, i know..)

When we actually got there, the stadium was not too full yet. However, just before the 2nd half was about to start, all of a sudden all the seats were occupied. Everybody was wearing Angola T-shirts, and brought anything Angola. It was clear in the beginning they were supporting Ghana. So I was fit with the crowd, yay! Then all of a sudden, Egypt scored a goal in the last minutes before the game ended. And to my surprise, everybody cheered too! :) When the game ended, before the closing ceremony started, everybody cheered again, but this time: "Angola.. Angola.. Angola.." Haha.. it was fun to be there. I was glad I decided to come!

With all of these going on, I noticed that some people back home has got more interest in knowing about Angola and started to ask me about it. My sister also said that she saw a lot of commercial in cable TV about CAN2010. I was even contacted by BBC radio Indonesia as they would like to know a bit of background about Angola, living here as an Indonesian, and how it is like here before and during the CAN2010. It was only for some very general questions, i made it very clear in the beginning i did not want to talk about socio-economy politic or even worse, about the football. So yes, Angola has received a lot of attention these days. Sadly, the attention to Angola also includes the tragic event that happened to Togo team in Cabinda.

Actually in this posting I wanted to make it short and sweet and did not intend to talk in detail about it as it has passed for a week and you might already see all the news everywhere. I would just like to post some pictures from the whole CAN2010 season, on and off the stadium. So here they are in Gallery.