Every day, a coral grows a new band of limestone on its skeleton. Its rate of growth is affected by the seasons, the moon and the tides. 

The first motorcycle was designed and built by the firm of Michaux-Perreaux in France in 1869. It ran on steam. The first petrol-driven motorcycle was designed in 1885 by Gottlieb Daimler. Its top speed was 19 kmph (12 mph). Compare this with the 512 kmph (318.6 mph) of the fastest modern bike.

The pink colouring of flamingos depends on the food they eat. In the wild, they filter shrimps and algae from water. In captivity, they are often fed on carrot juice to prevent their feathers fading ot dull grey.

A nova (meaning "new star") is a star that suddenly flares up to be many times brighter than it is. A really brilliant nova may have been a star which could hardly be seen even with a large telescope. As a nova it becomes visible to the naked eye, but gradually fades again.

Children in Indonesia like to watch cartoon just like other children. There are many Japanese cartoons such as Doraemon, Detective Conan, Digimon, Pokemon. They are also available as books. Most children like to read books with pictures. They don't like too many text, like "Harry Potter" for example. (By the way, three Harry Potter books have been translated to Indonesian languange. The translation is fairly accurate.)

Children also like to play electronic toys such as PlayStation. Many stores sell Play Station CDs. Most of them are pirated CDs with Japanes titles. They are cheap, about Rp. 6000 (or US 50 cents, less than a dollar). Nintendo used to be popular, but not anymore.

Here is another picture of my kids in a shopping mall. This one was taken in Bandung. They like fastfood just like other kids in the world. Their favorites include McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Popeye's, and the like

When a volcano erupts, a glowing sea of molten lava often flows down its sides, destroying everything in its path. A lava flow is unbelievably dangerous. But a volcano can produce something even deadlier: a pyroclastic flow, which is a cloud of gas and rock that can reach temperatures above 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (537 degrees Celsius). The flow crashes down the side of a volcano like an avalanche. While most people can easily move out of the way of most lava flows, they can't escape a pyroclastic flow so easily.  These flows typically reach speeds of more than 50 miles an hour (80 kilometers an hour)

The nerveless tongue speaks in nine ways
  What spoils you is your own tongue.
Knowledge breeds humility 

Where the mountains touch the sky
Where poets DREAM, where eagles fly
A secret place above the crowd
Just beneath a silver-lined cloud.

Lift your eyes to a snowy peak
And see the soon-to-be we seek
Whisper DREAMS and let them rise
To the mountains old and wise.

Climbers climb, it's time to try
Where the mountains touch the sky
Take me there. Oh take me now...
Someway, Someday, Somewhere, Somehow!

Where the ocean meets the sky
Where dolphin dance and seagulls fly
A place in DREAMS, I know so well
The sea inside a single shell.

Far across the living sea
A pale blue possibility
Beyond the castles made of sand
Tomorrow in a small child's hand.

Only DREAMERS need apply
Where the ocean meets the sky
Take me there. Oh take me now...
Someway, Someday, Somewhere, Somehow.

A common ground for one and all
Behind the crystal waterfall
Where Peace flows like a mighty stream
Like Dr. King I have a DREAM.

Imagine such a goal in sight
For red and yellow, black and white
New Delhi, Peking, Kenya, Rome
Earth is the place that we call home.

Baghdad, Bangkok, Tel Aviv
One race HUMAN, we still believe
It matters what we say and do
This DREAM is ME, this DREAM is YOU!

When walls of hate have fallen fast
When prejudice has long since passed
When last is first and first is last

Come DREAM with me
Where the forest reach the sky
Wake up and DREAM and don’t be shy.

No thorns of war, a perfect rose
This is where Gandhi's DREAM grows
Whisper now; let the DREAM begin
It's time to trust the truth within.

This is where we seek and find
A gift in being colorblind
DREAM on DREAMERS, hopes are high
Where the forest reach the sky.

Take me there. Oh take me now
Someway, Someday, Somewhere, Somehow.

Now, listen close, the future calls...
Build your bridges and tear down walls!
For time has taught and so it seems
Realities are born of DREAMS!

Blessed are the peacemakers...

Abdullah was one of the richest men in town, but you could easily mistake him for a beggar. It was his theory that since there were so many people out to rob a rich man, it was safe to pretend to be poor. And so he did.

But he really didn't have to pretend. Stingy to the core he found it very easy to be poor. So what if people sniggered and children called out, "Kanjoos! Kanjoos!" (miser, miser), whenever he passed by in his worn-out clothes. Abdullah became more and more content with his growing pile of money as the years went by.

One day, he bought a huge lump of gold with all the money he had amassed. He dug a hole in the ground near an unused well and buried the gold there. He was sure that no thief would be able to find that place. With this happy thought, Abdullah checked on his treasure daily.

But can you really keep a hiding place hidden if you looked at it every day? Before long, the town was whispering about Abdullah's mysterious visits to the unused well in the dead of the night. It wasn't long before a curious soul discovered the gold, let out a yell of joy and ran away with the miser's treasure.

Naturally, on his next visit, Abdullah found the hole empty. He began howling with grief and soon a crowd had assembled. They watched him grieve the way people mourn the loss of a dear one.

Finally, a neighbour came forward and asked him to stop it. "You want your gold? Just pick up a heavy stone and drop it in the hole. Pretend it is the gold you lost."

"How can you make fun of me at a time like this," wailed the stricken man.

"I'm not making fun of you, friend!" said the wise neighbour. "How did you use the gold while it was here, except gaze at it every day? You could do the same with a stone."

Abdullah was silenced.

LOVE OF MOTHER

(kasih ibu)

 Love of mother

To us as children

Will never last even so long time

Just want give up

And never ask return

Love of a mother

Like a sun shines over land

I HAVE THREE CATS

Now I have three cats

All of them are so fat

The color is red

The others are grey

Meong meong

I give them lonthong

My brother’s happy

And my friends envy

MY VILLAGE

(desaku)

The only village that I love

Beloved one for me

The place where father and mother

And also all my friends

Will never be forgotten

Will never be away

Will always stay in my heart

My beautiful village