Japan trip: Transportation

In Japan, there are many types of transportation you named it: shinkansen, subway/metro, bus, taxi, etc. The most popular one for tourists is JR Pass; you can use it to travel through all cities in Japan. They have 7 or 14 days pass and should be used in consecutive days. This pass can be booked online through JR Pass website or official travel agents in your country. BUT you should pay attention that they also have regional passes! I often browse the website but didnt realise it until a week prior to my departure. We went to Japan for two weeks and decided to only buy a 7-day JR Pass. You can reserve seat too with this pass by coming to JR Office in the stations and search for the schedule you want.  Before riding the shinkansen, it's best to take a look which car is for non reserved and reserved seats they put in on board because if you ride the wrong car, you should pay the fine.

  

 

If you decide to go to some cities which are close to each other, JR Pass maybe isnt your best choice. For example, I went to Miyajima, Hiroshima, Okayama, Osaka in the first five days then after reading here and there, JR Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass would be my best choice because I needed JR Ferry to go to Miyajima and with this pass, I can ride either Nozomi or Mizuho shinkansen. These shinkansens are the fastest as they stop in mostly main stations compare to Hikari or Kodama. They arent covered by the ordinary JR Pass; by using JR Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass I can save quite some time. Hikari runs in the similar track with Nozomi but stops more. To see which type of pass suits your trip the best, you can click here.

Besides JR Pass, there are also other railways run by private companies such as Kintetsu, Hankyu, etc. In my Nara day trip, we used 1-day Kintetsu Rail Pass as Kintetsu station was closer to Nara city centre and you can use it in Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. Japan really give tourists lots of benefits; there are many local passes for one day, two day, three day, or five day provides with discounts to tourist spots if you show them your pass before your payment. You can read more about it when I explain it through the day trips. 

JR Pass doesnt always cover the city area so using IC cards will be the best choice. This card can be used in subways or buses and I really recommend it since it's also rechargeable. Sometimes it takes time if you always pay cash yet at the same time, you only have big amount of money. Just tap it at the station entrance and tap again at the exit. It's also accepted in paying for coin lockers in station, vending machines, shops, and restaurants. Most popular one will be ICOCA, Suica, and Pasmo. ICOCA can be bought in Kansai area, whereas Suica and Pasmo can be purchased in Tokyo. Now these cards can be used in whole Japan so it's really convenient. One thing I learnt during my trip was it's the best to get the city map when you arrived in the main station so that you could choose the most efficient and budget friendly transportation.

Note: Everything I share here is based on my own experience. Maybe it's suitable for me but not for you so please read and search for more information. Let's enjoy the trip!

Japan trip: Preparation

Two weeks ago I went to Japan and this was the first time my family went abroad by ourselves not through the travel agent (excluding Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong, and China which were familiar cities for us). These posts series will be about how I and my sister prepare for our trip and the results of it. Let's start!

First, we bought the flight tickets a few months before our departure. We planned to go for two weeks as we wanted to enjoy and have fun throughout the vacation. Next we decided which cities we wanted to go. Your relatives or friends' itinerary would be really helpful in this step if you were like me as a first timer to Japan. After the date and cities had been decided, I (the unofficial tour leader), with the help from my sister searched for our stay. It's the most difficult part because we needed to view many properties to choose the best one. We searched through Airbnb, booking.com, agoda.com, etc. We were a 5-member family so it's quite a dilemma to choose a hotel because we needed two rooms and in Japan, hotels were expensive. Usually people prefer for Airbnb or apartments and these were our choices for this trip. We took quite a long time to decide our stay, viewed here and there, spent around two weeks because we read everything to details. Finished deciding our stay, we started to search for transportation. The most popular one was of course JR Pass but I will make another post for Japan's method of transportation because this also confused me before I went there and experienced it myself. Date checked, accomodation checked, transportation checked, what's next? We decided which places in each city we wanted to go; you only have limited time yet there's A LOT of it in Japan. For food and snacks, it wasnt a problem for us since we didnt have any restriction in food and planned to try everything! We only brought four luggages and it's not that big since I heard from my relatives that we needed to walk everywhere in Japan and mostly they used stairs. Later I found out they always had elevator in each station because the facilities for disabled people were super complete. Spare time to do lots of research before you go, either through blog posts, websites, or youtube to make sure you are at least a bit familiar of the places you want to go.

Wanna One World Tour in Jakarta

Hi finally Im back (again)! I dont know how many times I have gone on hiatus, but the urge to write again suddenly comes back. This time I will share my story about my experience in watching concert in Indonesia for the first time for Wanna One. My first kpop concert was JYJ Asia Tour in Hongkong in 2014, then continued by TVXQ Special Live Tour T1STORY in Bangkok. I always like going to kpop concerts for my bias because I can meet and watch them closely and the thought of being in the same place together really makes me happy. Back to the main story, I started to like Wanna One in January this year right before my final national exam. If you are unfamiliar with kpop, they are trainees coming from Produce 101 season 2. I suggest you to watch the show first to understand how hard they have worked to be able to debut. Im not the type that easily changes my bias from one to another. I've liked TVXQ as five members for 11 years now and Wanna One is the other group that I like right now. After the announcement that they would be holding a world tour, I was so excited that I kept on following the updates on twitter about when and where the world tour will be hold. Jakarta was on the list! I was hesitated for days on whether I should watch in Jakarta or in another country that's still close to Indonesia. It's mostly because I didnt have any experience in going to concerts in Indonesia and I knew how chaos it would be watching from previous kpop concerts updates. In the end I chose to watch it in Jakarta with my younger sister and we bought the standing section CAT 1 because I wanted to watch as close as possible to the stage but with reasonable price. 

 

15 July 2018: D-day

We arrived quite early around 11am and I went to search for the person who helped me to buy the ticket. It was really crowded at that time; I was surprised because early in the morning I saw people updating in twitter they were already at the venue around 6-7am. After getting my tickets, I went around to buy merchandises and search for freebies. It was so damn hot and humid that I kept on sweating. We entered the venue at 5pm where they did body check. This was where the problems started. It was not that strict; they only checked if we had foods or drinks with us. Swing Ent as Wanna One agency has been really strict with cameras and videos in concerts yet Indonesian promotor only did superficial check? Yes. We were led to a holding area where the section has been separated. I was confused at first because the room was huge and the sign wasnt clear enough and there's no one to ask. People around me confusely queued and we didnt know if we were standing at the right place. The categories were VIP right left, CAT 1 right left, CAT 2 right center left, CAT 3, and CAT 4. The first three sections were free standing and with queue number to enter the venue but in Indonesia, of course, queue number has no use. I was in CAT 1 left and all of us waited for so long to enter the venue. In the end, you know what happened? They told all of us to enter at the same time and of course everybody ran! I didnt know what was in their mind at that time. They didnt think about their own safety. I and my sister stood in the back; it was less crowded and we still could see the stage clearly. The concert started at 7pm and this was when the chaos started. After singing 2-3 songs, the show was resumed. I was confused at first, but then the promotor told us to step back a little bit because the front crowd had been really packed and kept on pushing each other. Being paused for 30 minutes, the concert was resumed again and it ended at 10pm. During the concerts, it wasnt allowed to record or take pics but once again, people started to take out their phones to record. The promotor was unable to control the crowd and it happened. Despite all the dramas, the concert itself was amazing! Wanna One didnt disappoint me at all; they were beyond my expectation. Of course Kang Daniel was really cute and sexy the whole time!!! I sang and danced along throughout the concert lol I had expect myself to lose my voice the next day because of too much screaming (this happened to me twice at JYJ and TVXQ concerts) but thankfully nothing happened. I hope I still can watch their next concert as they are going to disband this year :( Perhaps the final concert in Seoul. Should I go?

 

All I wanna do WANNA ONE!

From one of my favorite fansite Peach UP!

Be aware of depression, the silent killer.

This week has been a tough one for kpop fans, as one of the most popular boybands' main vocalist passed away on Monday. SHINee's Jonghyun was found unconscious in an apartment and later declared death, which believed to have committed suicide by burning coal briquettes. I was so surprised when I saw the news, as I knew SHINee was still active at the moment. SM is known to be one of the big 3 music companies and has many of the most successful groups in kpop history. You named it: TVXQ, Super Junior, SNSD, SHINee, EXO. Who would know one day one of their singers would die in such a young age by commiting suicide? SHINee was the only SM groups with complete original members till now and no legal battle dramas, except for Onew who had a scandal recently. What makes me even more surprised is that I've been watching them since they debutted in 2008 as it's at the same time when TVXQ released their most popular albums Mirotic. It's like watching the babies grew and then boom, something happened. As a kpop fan myself, I can relate how gloomy and sad the fandom is right now. Jonghyun have just had his concert in December 10. Nobody knew that all these times depression has been killing him inside. My thesis for undergraduate degree was about depression; this is why I always have a soft spot for this topic. He left a suicide note and you could see how desperate he was to end his life because he wanted to be free. Depression is a silent killer. You wont know because a depressed person tends to not telling others about what or how they feel. In this case, he has searched for a psychiatrist but it didnt help him either. He chose to end his life. Even until today, I still cant believe that he's gone.

Below is the suicide note Jonghyun left to his friend, Dear Cloud's 9, originally in Korean and has been translated to English as accurately as possible.  

Please dont read this if you are easily triggered.

Source: Koreaboo

I am broken from the inside.  
The depression that slowly gnawed away at me has finally swallowed me whole.  
And I could not defeat it.
I detested myself. 
I grabbed my disjointed memories and yelled at them to pull themselves together but was met with no response.
If I can’t help myself breathe properly it’s better to stop breathing at all.
I asked myself who was responsible for me.
Only I.
I was utterly alone.  
It’s easy to talk about the end.  
It’s hard to actually end.  
I lived until now because of that difficulty.  
I told myself I wanted to run.  
Yes, I wanted to run.  
From myself.  
From you.
I asked who was there. 
It was me. It was me again. And it was me yet again.
I asked why I kept losing my memories. It was because of my personality. I see. So It’s all my fault in the end. I wanted people to notice but no one did. They’ve never even met me so of course they don’t know I exist.
I asked why they live. They just live, just live on.  
If you ask why I die I would answer I am exhausted.  
I have suffered and pondered. I never learned how to turn this exhausting pain into bliss.
Pain is just that, pain.  
They scolded me not to do this.  
Why? Why can’t I even end things the way I want to?
They told me to find out why I hurt.  
I know too well. I hurt because of me. It’s all my fault and all because I’m lacking.  
Doctor, is this what you wanted to hear?  
No. I have done nothing wrong.
When the gentle voice blamed my personality I thought, ‘damn being a doctor is easy.’  
It’s so odd that it hurts so much. People who have it worse than me live fine, people who are weaker than me carry on fine. Maybe that’s not true. There’s no one alive that’s got it worse than me or is weaker than me.
But I should live on anyway.  
I keep asking myself why I should hundreds of times and it’s not for my own good. It’s for yours.  Please don’t say a word if you don’t understand.  
Find out why I’m hurting? I told you why. Is it so wrong to hurt so much because of that, do I need to have a more dramatic reason? A more specific reason?
I told you already. Were you not listening? Things you can overcome don’t scar you for life.  
Clashing with the world was never meant for me.  
The life of fame was never meant for me.  
That’s all the reason why it hurts. Because I’m famous. Why did I choose this. It’s so funny.  
It’s a wonder I lasted so long.
What can I say. Just tell me I’ve done well. That this is good enough. 
That I’ve worked hard. Even if you can’t smile don’t fault me on my way. 
You did well, you worked hard. Goodbye.
— SHINee’s Jonghyun

You did well, Jonghyun. Rest in peace. 

Koas.

Akhirnya! Selesai juga 1 tahun 9 bulan menjalani hidup sebagai koas. Banyak hal yang terjadi mulai dari waktu tidur yang berubah (perubahan paling jelas), disuruh membantu ini itu, gak ada istilah libur, ketemu orang-orang baru, menambah jaringan pertemanan, dan sebagainya. Dulu pas s1, aku selalu bingung ngeliat kakak kelas yang udah koas kok selalu mondar-mandir kapanpun dimanapun. Setelah menjalani sendiri, baru aku sadar gimana cara mengatur jadwal selama di koas. Rotasi klinik jelas lebih menyenangkan dibandingkan s1 karena selalu masuk ke lingkungan yang baru, bertemu dengan orang baru, menyesuaikan diri dengan suasana baru yang akan menambah pengalaman baru juga. Terlalu banyak hal berkesan yang terjadi selama koas. Bersyukur banget selama ini gak pernah dipersulit atau mendapatkan pengalaman buruk selama menjalani stase. Punya kelompok koas 16101 yang kooperatif dan pinter-pinter jadi termotivasi belajar terus (walaupun kata orang2 ribut banget sih lol). Gemelli berpengaruh dalam kehidupan sehari-hari; kalau punya gemelli yang gak enak akan berdampak ke kita juga. Abis kelar koas udah mulai deg2an buat UKMPPD. Koas itu indah untuk dikenang, tapi bukan untuk diulang. Doakan kami lulus one shot UKMPPD ya :")

NB: #ceritakoas nanti bakal diupdate lagi kok hehe.

Cerita koas 3: Saraf

Untuk stase ketiga ini sebenarnya kurang berkesan buat aku. Yang kuingat hanya capek jaga karena teman-teman yang sudah koas dikatakan bahwa anestesi dan saraf adalah dua stase kecil rasa stase besar. Capek disini paling terasa terutama saat jaga karena jaga dimulai pada jam 4 sore dan berakhir jam 6 pagi namun kita harus melakukan ttv secara periodik misalnya tiap beberap jam sekali yang cukup menguras tenanga dengan jumlah pasien lebih dari 20 orang. Selain itu, setip pagi kami harus datang sebelum jam 6 pagi untuk ikut follow up dengan residen. Stase jejaring yang didapatkan kelompokku adalah RSPAU Hardjolukito, RSST Klaten, dan RSUD Sleman. Kalau tidak salah, stase di jejaring berlangsung selama 2 minggu yaitu di week 2 dan 3. Nah pada stase ini juga dilakukan wisuda untuk koas gelombang 1. Akhirnya kami mendapat gelar S.Ked setelah sekolah selama 3.5 tahun! Tapi perjalanan masih panjang, karena target utama setelah koas tentu adalah mendapatkan gelar dokter. Tetap doakan kami ya!

Cerita koas 2: Anestesi

Stase berikutnya adalah anestesi. Stase ini sering disebut sebagai stase kecil rasa stase besar karena beban kerja koas yang cukup banyak. Tiga hari pertama kami belum dijadwalkan untuk ikut persiapan operasi maupun saat operasi berlangsung. Setiap pagi kami harus datang sebelum jam 6.30 untuk ikut parade residen; saat itu hanya kami satu-satunya kelompok koas sehingga semua anak wajib ikut parade. Parade berisi presentasi laporan kasus residen dan berakhir pada jam 9 kemudian para konsulen, residen, dan koas langsung menuju ke GBST (Gedung Bedah Sentral Terpadu) untuk persiapan operasi. Operasi sering berlansung hingga sore namun pada stase ini terdapat stase lapangan dimana koas wajib ikut sehingga biasanya koas sudah dibebastugaskan pada jam 3 sore. Stase lapangan meliputi Senin dan Kamis untuk tenis dan Rabu untuk sepakbola/bulutangkis. Saat stase lapangan koas juga mempunyai tugas "tertentu" (caritau aja sendiri ya wkwk). Jadwal operasi biasanya sudah diberitahukan sehari sebelumnya dan kami wajib melakukan pre op (persiapan untuk menilai apakah pasien layak dioperasi besok). Pre op dilakukan setelah stase lapangan selesai sekitar jam 6 sore sehingga setiap harinya kami pulang hampir jam 8 malam. Belum lagi kami mempunyai jadwal jaga ICU dan IGD dengan pergantian shift pada jam 7 malam dan jam 7 pagi. Bayangkan saja capeknya saat tidak jaga juga akan pulang pada jam 8 malam.

Jejaring yang kami dapatkan adalah RSST Klaten dan RSUD Sleman, dijadwalkan secara bergantian. Ada yang ke jejaring pada week 1 dan 2; ada juga yang ke jejaring pada week 3 dan 4. Beban kerja di jejaring tergantung dengan residennya jadi kalau dapat residen baik ya stase jejaringnya menyenangkan lol Ujian praktek pada week 4 adalah memasang ET pada pasien dengan kelompok kecil yang membutuhkan kerja tim dan untungnya berhasil kami lalui dengan baik walaupun penuh dengan drama menjelang ujian akhir. Jujur stase ini bener-bener capek fisik banget tapi karena residennya baik-baik jadi lumayan berkurang bebannya (pernah di jejaring pre op bareng residen malah diajak ngobrol haha). Stase ini sudah kami jalani tahun lalu dan katanya ada beberapa perubahan tradisi sekarang jadi crosscheck lagi ke koas yang sedang anestesi sekarang. Yang penting fisik tahan banting. Semangat!

Pas hari ulang tahunku di stase anestesi haha

Dengan residen terbaik selama di anestesi! Sampai sekarang masih keep in touch dan sering ngumpul bareng.

Cerita koas 1: Forensik

Stase pertama kami adalah forensik. Nah, stase ini termasuk stase kecil. Di rotasi klinik FK UGM, stase dibagi menjadi stase besar dan kecil. Stase besar adalah penyakit dalam, bedah, anak, dan obgyn yang masing-masing dijalani selama 10 minggu. Sisanya masuk ke dalam stase kecil yang berlangsung selama sebulan. Forensik sendiri disebut sebagai 'koas tahanan kota'. Kenapa? Pagi hari kami datang untuk bimbingan ataupun menyelesaikan tugas lain (yang biasanya sudah selesai pada minggu pertama). Selain itu, tugas kami adalah menunggu panggilan saat ada kasus. Handphone harus standby setiap saat karena kami gak tau kapan kasus itu datang; kami pernah dipanggil saat menjelang tidur sekitar jam 11 malam dan juga pernah subuh jam 4 pagi. Kasus yang kami dapatkan cukup bervariatif, seperti cerita tentang stase forensik yang sudah pernah kamu dengar sebelumnya. Di stase ini juga kamu bisa bertemu dengan koas dari universitas lain yaitu UMY, Untar, dan Trisakti. Week 2 dan 3 digunakan untuk ke jejaring di RSST Klaten. Satu kelompok akan dibagi menjadi dua kelompok kecil; kelompok pertama ke jejaring pada week 2 dan kelompok lainnya pada week 3. Kelompokku kebagian ke jejaring pada week 3 dan kami mendapatkan 3 kasus (gak tau siapa yang 'bau' di kelompokku lol). Week 4 dipakai untuk ujian yaitu tanya jawab langsung dengan penguji. Tanggung jawab kami akan berakhir pada hari Jumat di week 4 pada jam 12 siang. Jujur sebelum masuk ke stase ini aku agak takut; bukan takut darah tapi takut gak kuat liat korbannya. Ternyata setelah menjalani lumayan menarik kok. Tips buat stase ini kalau kamu gak kuat sama bau darah, pakai masker dua lapis dan selipin bubuk kopi di antara masker tersebut. Lumayan ngefek. Beneran. #koaskuat

Muka-muka bahagia menjelang lepas tugas

Bareng anak Untar di hari terakhir kita sebagai koas Forensik. Tebak ini di nasi uduk mana hayo?