A B S U R D I T Y

It has been 3 months since I’m back again in advertising agency.  And I’m actually back to my former office, the company that I worked with for two years.  If it hadn’t a different position offered to me, I wouldn’t have been here.  Why?  Well, I had spent my two years here doing job that I didn’t like.  At all.  

The first seven months was in client service team where I handle an account of one of the company’s clients.  It was scary and overrated.  In a rude way; I was client’s slave and treated like one. I’m not saying there wasn’t a good time back then.  I was glad that I had a supportive team and very helpful.  I thanked to that.

After seven months working without passion and soul, I was offer a position in a different department, as a junior strategic planner.  It looked like it was a promising job, well.. only for the first 2 months.  The rest 9 months, my job changed (again) to a newspaper collector.  The challenge was gone and so was my soul.

Anyway, what I was telling you above is not the point why I’m writing this at the first place.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that, that two years in an advertising agency wasn’t bad, I had some troubles in the same office back then, but it wasn’t the end of the world.  Not until someone, recently, told me the analogy for client.  I’m sure everybody have heard someone said that client is like a king.  But I don’t know if anybody have heard someone said that client is a God.  Bite me!  All the sudden I felt like the world was going to end any minute.  I was told that protest was prohibited because the client is a God, and I should’ve done whatever they said and asked for instead.

I was speechless.  It was the most absurd thing I’ve ever learn about.  Very Devastating.
Alright, I don’t need to elaborate further more, because I know my God.

Do you?

Despicable Me

One of my favorite summer movies this year is 'Despicable Me'.  It successfully made me laugh and cry at the same time.  Not to mention Steve Carrel's Russian accent as the voice of the main character named Gru is quite fearfully yet adorable :)  Although his true ethnicity is never revealed. 

Gru is known as a cold man who lives in a dark house in a suburban.  Gru is also known as dangerous and quirky man who is planning to steal the moon.  Wicked yet it's impossible! But in animated movies we can create as well as execute insane ideas ;)

So, what Gru has in mind is to steal an equipment that belongs to the government air force.  The equipment is function to shrink anything and that's going to be used to get the moon.  Unfortunately, before Gru pulls it off, a young smart guy who has successfully managed to steal the Egyptian pyramid named Vector, has similar plan and take the equipment from Gru.  Since then Victor becomes Gru's rival.  At the other place, live three orphan siblings who never give up looking for poster parents who would want adopt them.  These girls sell cookies from door to door around the neighborhood and cookies are Vector's most favorite things.  Having knowing that, Gru comes up with brilliant idea to adopt the girls in order to get into Vector's house.  Gru also get helped from his small creatures, I don't even know what they're called but somehow they're part of Gru's family who are so adorable and lovable.  I would love to adopt few of them :)

You'd probably know what would happen after that.  The story is predictable, but that's not the thing I want to point out here.  The important thing about this story is how someone's life like Gru who is unbelievably cold, lonely, never been happy, has turned into the opposite way ever since those kids arrived at his house.  This story tries to show that whomever they are, there's always love in their heart, no matter how cruel, careless and frighten they are, and that's what those kids has experienced with Gru.  Those kids see the love within him and it for sure will make him a potential dad.

I'm having a bad, bad day.

If you take it personal, then it's ok.

Watch, this is so fun to see.

Despicable me!

Dear Boss,

Dear Boss,

You need not to seek my guilt, my sin, my error, my mistake.

It would make you desperate.

Dear Boss,

You need not to seek my shame, my disgrace, my fault, my ignorance.

We both know, there are none.

Dear Boss,

While you're busy seeking my sins,

God is telling the angel to list down yours.

Dear Boss, 

Please give up, because I'm fed up.

Dear Boss,

It's proven that I'm a sinner, here's my resignation letter.

Are you happy?!

Yetty's Story

When Yetty's husband died, she clung to him refusing to believe that he had left.  
She knelt on the marble floor clinging to her inner body, her high pitched wails cascading from her open lips, as she screamed her anger and disbelief.

Rizal had woken that morning with a stomach pain, which had persisted throughout the day and into the evening.
He had asked a neighbor for a shooting massage, when the pain from the kneading had become intolerable he stood to relieve the the agony, his knees buckled and he collapsed.

The screams burst from the small cement house and encompassed the small cluster of house surrounding it.  
Yetty was wailing for loss, for pain, for rejection, for betrayal, her howl was one of instant poverty.

As the tears was continuously pouring from the corner of Yetty's eyes, she forgot everything - her presence, her stars, and her world. 
She felt empty.
She had fallen.
Suddenly, in her emptiness, she saw a light moving slowly toward her swollen eyes.
The light morphed into a holy shadow that gave aromatic smell to her brain.

Then it softly said, "don't worry dear, I'm not going anywhere.  No matter what you do, where you are.  I'll always be with you.  Now, go find our stars and teach them how to love their world.  Be strong.  I love you."

Yetty opened her eyes gently.
She felt that she just woke up from a long sleep.
As she tried to remember the vision, the voice kept on lingering delicately inside her head.
She tried to think about her dream.
She kept on thinking whether it was a dream or reality.
She began to realize that it was only a dream.
A dream that gave her strength.
A power.
A power to stand up again.
A power to crawl back into her almost-fragile-life. 
To reunite with her loving stars again.

As she embraced her shiny stars, she quietly made a promise to herself that she would always light them.
Protect them from darkness

And she did.
She had fulfilled her promise.

(dedicated to mamaku. my leo = my mama)

Thank you for loving me and making me as strong as you are, as strong as your lion.

I love you, mother, for the eternity...

Happy birthday!

Inception. Were we all dreaming?

Gosh!  First of all, I really don't know where to begin writing my review about this movie without giving anything away.  Well, I'll try not to, but whoever hasn't watched the movie I suggest you not to read this, in case if some words might actually spoil the movie.  Okay, second of all I don't know how am I going to elaborate what the movie is about.  The movie is just too complex to summarize.  My mind is still in between reality and dream.  I think it's the part where I need to use Dom Cobb's line "have you ever wondered how you got to a dream?  Do you remember how you get here?"  Alright, I'm not dreaming as I'm writing this.  Not at all.  I hope! :D  

Anyway, I'll try to explain what the movie is about without spoiling it.  This movie is about a secret thief named Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio)  How could he possibly steal someone's secret?  Well, by entering someone's dream and Cobb can't do it alone.  He has a team with five people in it, each with their special ability.  Ariadne (Ellen Page) is a young genius architect who's responsible for designing places in the dream where those places must not be exist in reality.  There's also Cobb's regular partner named Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a forger named Eames (Tom Hardy), a chemist named Yusuf (Dileep Rao) and Saito (Ken Watanabe), a filthy rich businessman.  It begins with the agreement between Saito and Cobb.  Saito promises to fix Cobb’s legal problems if Cobb can successfully implant an idea in the mind of a business rival, Fischer (Cillian Murphy).  So there's Cobb and his team begin to develop a complex plan where he creates the world within dream within dream within dream, and that's to give Fischer the idea of changing the business plan that inheritance by his father.  "never recreate places from your memory. Always imagine new places."  So, this becomes Ariadne's job where she has to create different places in each stages, each layers, each levels of unconsciousness.  Pretty cool, eh!  

Let's dream for a moment... zzz,.,.zzz,.,.zzz,.,..,
The theory of dream by Sigmund Freud.
I studied English literature in university and there's one semester where I had to attend psychoanalysis literature lecture.  I read a lot about the theory of dream by the well-known philosopher Sigmund Freud.  His theory about dream is not only interesting, but also mind-twisted, similar to mathematical study yet enjoyable.  Complex, isn't it? :)
I remember slightly about his dream theory that I wrote on my paper back then; dreams are the guardian of sleep.  When we're sleeping, the curtain in reality is closed and it is suddenly drawn, so there we are entering a surreal world.  When we enter the dreamland, there are no rules.  Location changes, people turn into other people and it's so strange when it happens, for example; your dad can turn into your boyfriend and shortly after that he turn into your scary neighbor without you noticing. Our dreams are so personal, we're the only one who can analyze them.  The content of a dream can be anything, it can be something that occurred in the past that becomes a traumatic thing, or strong relation between you and your own memories, friends, regrets, desires, sexuality, and daily life. 

What I learned from Freud is, he believed the dream is composed in two parts. The manifest and the latent content. The manifest content can be thought of as what a person would remember as soon as they wake up.  Freud thinks this manifest content is meaningless because it was a disguised representation of the true thought underlying the dream.  The second part is the latent content which holds the true meaning of the dream – the forbidden thoughts and the unconscious desires.  Although the manifest and latent content can be indistinguishable, Freud calls it as ‘Infantile dreams’.  The process when the latent content is transformed into the manifest content, it is known as the “dream work".  Anyway, "a dream always feels real when you're in it", Like Dom Cobb said.  

Back to reality,.,.,.,.
Christopher Nolan had done some extra ordinary artwork.  This has proven in his previous movie such as "The Dark Night", story of a hero and criminal, good and evil, using a hedonism concept.  "Memento", a story of short-term memory condition with a complex plots in every layers.  After I watched "Memento" I don't know what to believe, memories or certainties and that's how I define good movie :)  Similar to Inception, while watching that movie, my mind is being fucked up for two hours.  It's been a week since I saw this movie but it keeps haunting me and I can't stop thinking about it.  When the movie finished, I thought I dreamed that I watched it.  Maybe I was just having a dream within a dream within the dream that I was watching Inception?  Aaarrgghh..... I want to rip my brain off!!  (no, don't! this is reality, don't do it!)

Anyway, as a lot of people has questioned about the ending, whether it is a dream or reality.  Well, in my opinion it doesn't matter anymore whether it is still a dream or reality.  It's a happy ending where Cobb got home and see his kids again, cause that's what the hole point of the movie from the very beginning.  That's the hole in the movie.  That's the plot.  That's the problem that needs to be solved.  I think, Cobb meeting his kids was real.  His totem keeps on spinning but it can't spin forever.  This is how I see it, have you ever felt that almost every time our dreams are about to end or reach the fulfilling point, we wake up before it does.  That's called cut-to-black and it is used as a metaphor.  When Cobb's totem is spinning, that's Nolan's cut-to-black point.  It's just a metaphor in the movie.  It just a happy ending with little cute little wink from the director giving us wake-up kick!  And after that, find your totem and spin it, see if you're still in a dream or back in reality.

So, are you still dreaming?

:) 

Reza's Visit

Today is the last day of school holiday (yeah, so?).  Well, it means this is the last day of my little brother here in Jakarta.

Yes, I have a little brother.  A teenager who just passed grade 11.  He lives with my mother in my hometown, Jambi.  Couple weeks before examination, he asked me if he could come and visit me in Jakarta since he hasn't been to the Capital city.  Well, he had been to Jakarta when he was only 8 years old, not to mention that he stayed here only a week and didn't get a chance to look around.  He doesn't even remember what Jakarta looks like.  So, during examination he kept on asking me if he could spend school holiday with me here, so I made a promise to him that if he passed all the examination, I would fly him to Jakarta.  Then, BAM! He told me over short message that he passed grade 11 and plus he got good grades on the tests.  So, promise is a promise, right?  I got him a ticket and fly him to Jakarta right after the day he got his book report.  Picking him up at the airport, I could tell from his face that he was so excited and wow he's gotten taller.  I bet he's the tallest compare to his two other older brothers.

I tried to give him a good hospitality, keep his comfort and being responsible not for myself but also to my brother while he was here.  I worked from 9 am to 6 pm, I had to leave him alone during my working hours.  Good thing he didn't mind and I was glad that he could find things to do easily all by himself.  After work, I managed to take him around the city, took him from mall to mall.  So big city I know, but at night I couldn't take him anywhere but mall to mall :)

First weekend he was here, I took him to Ragunan zoo. 

Ragunan is the best zoo in Jakarta city.  It has many faunas; mammals, birds, reptiles, and many more.  Since this zoo is big so we rented a bike and rode around.

My brother was amazed, not that it was his first time to the zoo.  He'd been to the zoo in Jambi but it was nothing like the zoo in Jakarta.  Nothing at all.  That place was pretty crowded as it was just the beginning of school holiday.  My favorite spot was Tiger's house.  Right beside it was the Lion's house - those lions reminded me of animated movie called The Lion King.  They were so cute and scary at the same time that made me wanted to pet them :)  It started to rain on our way to see the Giraffe but it didn't stop us since it was only kind of small shower pouring.  My brother got excited to see the Giraffe that he willed to pay 5 thousand rupiahs to get into its cage, fed it and a nice picture of the Giraffe.  I think it was his favorite spot in Ragunan.

Ragunan Zoo, Jakarta - Photo by Author

We checked out in the afternoon and headed to Monas (monumen nasional).  It was located in central Jakarta and it was the place where we could see National Monument that looks like a giant gold crave on the top.  According to its story, it's a real gold but it's already coated with iron or similar stuff.  This place is like a symbol of Jakarta, so for tourists, please writes down this place on your list when you get a chance visit Jakarta. 

 Monumen Nasional (monas), Jakarta - photo by author

Second day of that weekend, I took my little brother.. Oh by the way, his name is Reza.  I like Reza as guy's name, don't know why :)  Anyway, I took him to seaworld, where there are many big aquariums complete with sea creatures.  I also took him to Dufan, known as Ancol Dreamland is located in Ancol, West Jakarta.  Gosh that day was so crowded there.  There might be people other city came, I'd guess.  Dufan is a theme park that has many attractions and rides such as roller coaster (halilintar) ride, Niagara flume ride, Istana Boneka (a local version of Disney's It's a Small World), Ferris wheel (bianglala), Swinging ship (kora-kora), Tornado and the newest one is called Hysteria.  Of all the attractions, I really liked Tornado.  We all did.  Tornado is one of the most exciting rides there. I went on it once and it felt like my heart was going to fell down onto the ground. It was scary and exciting at the same time. When we got to the top, it will spin us around. I was lucky at that time because when it was spinning, I could see the sunset and the sea, UP-SIDE DOWN!! It was an AMAZING feeling! So, go try the ride before dawn. It'll give you a butterfly in stomach :)

Sea World, Ancol, Jakarta - photo by author

Tornado Ride, Dufan, Jakarta - photo by author

Reza spent the second week of his holiday in Ciawi, Bogor with my other brother.  So, I wasn't involved with his routines.  He told me he went to Kebun Raya Bogor (Bogor Botanical Garden), "it's so big and awesome!", he said.  Yes, I agree!

He also went to Puncak.  There's nothing to see, really.  It's just that this Puncak is located at the top of a hill of Cipanas.  The good thing about this place is, when you got to the top you can see the hill surrounded by tea plantation, and the curvy road, such a pleasant view.  Don't forget to bring your jacket or sweater along because Puncak is cold.

 Bogor Botanical Garden, West Java - photo by Reza

Third weekend Reza here, was his last weekend so I took him to WaterBom.  It's a water park with many fun water slides to ride on.  This park is child-safe designed and supervised at all times!  This park is about 5 hectare wide.  It's pretty clean and it provides life jackets for kids, so for mommies who wants to bring their toddler here, do not worry, your child will be safe :)  Good thing about this park is that anyone can go on any water slides especially the one called The Hairpin.  It can fit 4 people inside the tube, it's so exciting!

Water Boom, Jakarta - photo by author

Taking Reza to those places, I consider that as an advantage for me.  If I hadn't taken him there, I wouldn't have known about those places.  It was nice to have one of my siblings visit me and the important thing is that my little brother was happy inside and out.  He hadn't had a real holiday, so I hope I gave him the best as he wished for.

"Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts" - Anonymous 

World Cup 2010

I've been setting my head and eyes in front of the telly.  I don't usually do this, but when the world is talking about FIFA World Cup, I gotta make this one as my priority, it's an exception if I may say.  Why is that?  Well, it is a once-in-four-years tournament.  It is a credit to each team from each country that they show to the world on the green field, hogging the one and only soccer ball for 90 minutes, not to mention the goals they make.  People in the world shouts and sings lively, cheering and supporting for their team in every corners I passed by.  The hype is everywhere.  Such an exciting feeling!

One of the places in Jakarta to watch the tournament from big screen - Grand Indonesia Mall - photo by author

Just so you know, I'm not a big fan of soccer.  The only league I usually follow and watch (sometimes) is England league, not to mention some players are absolutely hot, haha!  Gerrard the captain of Liverpool is truly awesome, then there's Lampard, John Terry, Joe Cole from Chelsea, and David Beckham of United Manchester, I don't actually like Beckham because his appearance is more to commercial side.  Maybe because I see him more on billboard and commercial posters advertising either somewhat man's product or classy clothing of an extra ordinary designer. 

Gerrard, Lampard, Terry, Joe Cole, and Beckham - photo from web

Anyway, those handsome soccer players are not the main reason why I'm following the world cup tournament.  The first reason is that KNOWLEDGE.  Whatever country that World Cup had held at, first thing that makes me wanting to know about is anything about that country.  This year it's held in Africa.  Now, who doesn't know Africa?  We all know where that continent is laid.  The first thing that comes in my when I hear Africa is Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan.  But of course those are not the details of World Cup in Africa.  Nope! Not until I find out.  Special for world cup tournament, Africa developed 10 soccer stadiums.  There are 2 stadiums in Johannesburg, to be exact they're located in Soccer City and Ellis Park.  Also one in Cape town, Durban, Nelspruit, Rustenburgh, Pretoria, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, and Bloemfontein. 

Another fact about Africa is its stadium horns called Vuvuzela.  It's about 65 cm long and it's made of plastic, comes with variety colors, and it produces a loud monotone tone which annoys me even if watched the tournament on tv.  Apparently, vuvuzela is most used at soccer matches in South Africa.  It has becomes their symbol.

Vuvuzela - photo from web

I've been cheering for team Brazil and Spain.  Brazil had great players and even though this year isn't still their year yet but I believed they did a good job and that's what good supporter do.  Support their team whether they win or lose.  Since Brazil had lost the match with Netherlands, my only hope is Spain now.  By now, Spain has made it to the semi-final.  La Furia Roja will beat Panzer.  Even though most people think that Panzer will make it to final because they've made it to semifinals seven times in the tournament.  They believed that Panzer will bring Vicente Del Bosque down easily because they've made Fabio Capello and Diego Maradona Cried.  But, I strongly believed La Furia Roja will win, not because what Paul the Octopus has predicted.  It is because, well, they've been playing so good and they have this strong and solid team.  They've never rush in the game and it makes people think that the way they play is boring.  To me it's just a strategy.  The other thing that makes me so sure of Spain winning the match is that these guys from each team met on a match of Euro Cup 2008 and Spain successfully brought the trophy home.  So, yeah I have no doubt in them :) Come on Torres, Villa, Xavi and Casillas bring them down!

Torres, Villa, Xavi and Casillas - photo from web

Ok, it is almost time for the match...
So, I'll be back and write whether if Spain wins or loses ;)

Adios Amigos! 
Muchos Bessos!


:D
 

SPOTLIGHT

"Hi! Good morning heartlisteners! Welcome to 100.6 Heartline FM, and you’re listening to Spotlight, this program uses a special English method of broadcasting! And you’re with me, Zee Febriani! In this beautiful Saturday morning, I would like to greet you with a great quotation: “The first step to getting the things you want out of life is to decide what you want.”  So, if you know what you’re gonna do with your life, then you’ll find the meaning of success on your own.  Anyway, how are you today?  I hope all of you is doing well.  Today is the 9th of January, the second weekend after New year 2010, so I hope you guys are still in a good mood and full of enthusiasm starting the year with whatever resolution you have.  I do hope that your 2010 resolution are going great and smooth.  And always make sure you stay fit and good health because according to Jakarta weather forecast, today we're gonna have some storm rain and the temperature is 24 degrees Celsius and it's gonna rain for the next two days!  So, you guys please remember to prepare umbrella.  Not only umbrella but also some medicines, in case you got flu or fever.  Because extreme weather can make you sick.  Alright heartlistener, today spotlight’s topic is Musician and Community Activist.  Well, we'll discuss it in details after this song. Stay tune cause I'll be back!"

Yup! I used to greet people every Saturday morning from a radio station. 

While everyone is probably still sleeping, I had to wake up pretty early, catch a bus and travel 45 minutes to outside of the city.  On Friday night, while everyone is out to see a movie or shopping at a mall or dancing at a club, I had to stay home and work on my script and prepare everything for the morning show on the Radio.  “Spotlight”, that’s what the show called.  It is a radio program that uses English as a primary language.  Its target is a student, but everyone is welcome to join.  It’s an hour program and I think it’s pretty good especially for those who want to learn English.  As a radio program host, that works in a studio and speaks on the microphone where people can only listen to my voice on air, doesn’t mean I didn’t do much.  Well, as a host I need to figure out how to make listeners interested enough to listen my program, so every Saturday, I came up with different topic.  Sometimes I invited a guess to share their experience depending on the topic.  When Nikki was here visiting me, I asked her to be my guess and shared her experience in traveling the world for 5 months, at that time the topic was ‘backpacking’. 

Nikki is Canadian whom I met in my hometown – Jambi while she was little kid.  She and her family lived there for two years.  My mom was their cook and shortly, her family became my family since her parents are my benefactors.  I moved to Jakarta with them and they lived here for two years.  In summer, we would visit their family in Canada.  They moved back ‘for good’ to Canada in 2004.  I left behind because I needed to finish my study at university here.  We never lost contact.  I got to visit them to Canada and stayed there for the whole summer holiday.  So, yeah that’s about it.  Briefly :)

 

Anywaaaaayy… as a host, I also let listeners phone to the studio and share anything they like according to the topic we were discussing.  Since it’s an English program, of course I also had to play English songs, of course.  Sometimes I would throw a quiz to listeners and whoever won, they got a present. 

Honestly, this job didn’t pay much.  But, I was happy most of the time because it was just an amazing feeling that I get to share knowledge with everyone.  It didn’t bother my main job.  It also helped me practicing my English.  So it was all good and positive for almost a year.  There was time when I complained couple times for having to wake up early every Saturday morning, had wished to slept in instead.  Nonetheless, I could still manage and looked at the positive things about it.  It didn’t last very long.  I was tired and I wanted to leave and I knew it wasn’t easy for me.  But I wanted my Saturday back.  It neither selfish nor silly reason, was it?  So I said goodbye to all listeners in early February.

Now it’s been 6 months since I left the radio station.  I miss being a host.  I miss getting on the chair in the studio, talking to a microphone and greeting listeners every Saturday morning.  I’m saying this, not because I’ve regretted my decision to leave the radio. I’m just.. you know.. I’m just saying 

;)  I think there’s nothing wrong telling a story about things I loved doing in the past.  I’m happy where I am now and am sure I have made my mom proud of me, “Zwes, I’m proud of you for taking the world by storm” she said. 

To all spotlight listeners… I love you guys!! :D

I've got friends

When you're down and troubled

And you need some loving care

And nothing, nothing is going right

Close your eyes and think of me

And soon I will be there

To brighten up even your darkest night

You just call out my name

And you know wherever I am

I'll come running to see you again

Winter, spring, summer or fall

All you have to do is call

And I'll be there

You've got a friend

If the sky above you

Grows dark and full of clouds

And that old north wind begins to blow

Keep your head together

And call my name out loud

Soon you'll hear me knocking at your door

You just call out my name

And you know wherever I am

I'll come running, running

to see you again

Winter, spring, summer or fall

All you have to do is call

And I'll be there, yes I will

You've got a friend..

Now ain't it good to know

that you've got a friend

When people can be so cold

They'll hurt you, yes, and desert you

And take your soul if you let them

Oh, but don't you let them.

"you've got a friend" song by Carole King

Dedicated to my best friends... Love ya to pieces!!

Great Experience with Bali then.. and Now..

After eight years, I finally stepped in this island again, the land of paradise, that’s what everybody calls it.  Well, it’s fair enough since Bali is the most famous tourist place in Indonesia.  Who doesn’t know Bali?  Everybody knows Bali!  In fact, some foreigners don’t recall Indonesia unless if you mention Bali.  Pretty disappointing I guess.  Well, perhaps Bali is nearly perfect.  Who wouldn’t enjoy sitting by Kuta beach, breathing the air from the sea, drinking beer while suffering from the heat and humidity as the sweat streaming down to every inch of your tanned skin.  Not to mention the crowd around the beach where everyone is busy with their activity; surfers hitting their board against the tide, a couple alternately putting sun block lotions on, a family giggling happily watching their kids swimming with their dog by the beach, some kids working on sand castle, and all that.  The atmosphere just fits perfectly when you want to enjoy a vacation, business, and even just an escape from a bored city you’re living in.  

The last time I was here, was in 2002, eight years ago.  I used to come here with family, at least twice a year and we would spend 5 to 6 days here.  We usually stayed in one place where it has everything, such as Nusa Dua area.  This area is almost complete.  Nice-clean-private beach, awesome swimming pool, the hotel provides boogie boards, kayaks, parasailing, surfboards; they even have play ground and baby care.  Of course, it’s not for free.  Shopping center and nice restaurants are pretty close to each other. 

Since everything was a walking-distance in Nusa Dua area, we hardly went downtown or other places.  Well, we would go downtown once and that made me unfamiliar with downtown except Kuta beach.

Now that this year I had been gone to Bali twice, I became familiar with some places bit by bit.  First time was in January, flew there for the weekend just the three of us, Alex, Nikki and I.  Since Nikki was visiting Indonesia so I thought I’d take her there even if it was only for a really really short time.  Since Alex goes to Bali once a year, so he knows Bali by heart.  He took us to Tanah Lot and we went to see Barong dance – a traditional dance performance, these are new for us. 

 Barong dance - photo by Alex Arso

Tanah Lot is famous with its spectacular view especially at sunset, and the sacred temple that’s placed in the middle of the sea.  According to its story, the great erosion of the ocean tide that happened many years ago formed this tiny island.

 

 Tanah Lot - photo by Alex Arso  

We walked around Ubud, this place was also new for both Nikki and I.  many cool shops along the street.  We went into a store called Kou Cuisine, this store sells home made jam. 

One of the famous restaurants in Ubud is called Naughty Nuris, so we went there for lunch.  Naughty Nuris is well known with its pork rib barbeque that we had to queue for quite awhile to get in.  The owner is originally from Java who married an Austrlian man.  Interesting, yes!  I may say this is the best pork rib resto in Bali.  

 

Naughty Nuri's - Photo by Alex Arso

Lake Batur and Mt. Batur - Photo by Alex Arso

Second time was in May with some friends and they go to Bali once a year.  They took me to new places like Kintamani, we went there and saw Batur lake and mount Batur.  Batur area was formed by the collapse of an ancient volcano many years ago.  Mount Batur with a height of about 1700 meters is located next to Batur Lake.  Some native said that the volcano is still active.  What interest me was there was a village near Batur area that’s called Penelokan and there was people selling the same stuff such as bracelets, necklaces and other accessories.  Normally, if we said ‘no’ they would walk leave us alone and walk away, but these sellers here were different, they were so persistent.  “I know you said ‘no’ but you know actually I had already loss some because I came up to you and chase you around trying to sell my stuff, so at least buy something”, said a lady.  I was like WOW!!  That didn’t sound like a friendly seller.  I just rolled my eyes and walked away. 

Since I like culinary, so they took me to few different restaurants.  Menega Café is a seafood restaurant located in Jimbaran beach.  This restaurant has an extraordinary taste.  Even though there were many seafood restaurants along the beach but none of them could beat the taste of Menega Café.  Its favorite meal is barbeque shell.  I have to admit that the shell is really good, in fact I’m not a fan of shell but they use special spice that is ‘musty’.  We went there twice in a week and never felt enough of it.  

Menega cafe

Menega Cafe - crabs, calamari and shell barbeque - photo by Alex Arso

Native Balinese told us that there were few good zoos in Bali but what interest me was to see forest monkey, instead.  This forest was pretty big.  I think there were few hundreds monkey live there.  They were so benign IF you treat them nicely.

monkey forest - photo by Alex Arso

Trying on new cuisine is one of my favorite things to do while traveling, cause that’s part of a culture.  Since I was visiting Bali so local cuisine is my preference.  According to tourists, Bebek Bengil (dirty duck diner) restaurant is the best local food in Ubud area so I decided to try and people were right about how tasty it was.  Yummm.. :)

Dirty Duck Diner - photo by Alex Arso

To me Bali then and now is a LOT different, well maybe because I was there eight years ago and like I told you before I never had a chance to see other part of Bali.  Since I have seen other beaches in other islands of Indonesia, so in my point of view Bali beaches aren't as nice anymore.  Compare to Tidung island or Ujung Kulon, Bali beaches are average.  In other hand, I have to say that in terms of atmosphere, of course Bali is better.  It's got all the hype, and it's tourist destination.   

Meanwhile, Tidung and Ujung Kulon are more into wilderness atmosphere to those who loves such a great adventure.  After all, Indonesia islands are amazing!  I hope that I get a chance to see other great islands in Indonesia.  

Indonesia, saya cinta kamu selamanya!  

Journey to Ujung Kulon

It’s only a week ago that I went to visit Ujung Kulon, and I already miss that place. Ujung Kulon is located at the western-most tip of Java. It includes the volcanic island group of Krakatoa and other islands including Handeuleum and Peucang. I fell in love with this place!

 Ujung Kulon - Picture captured from google image

On Thursday the 27th of May the journey begin. There was 40 people who came along, and about 75% of it is a whole bunch of teenagers, and they were all boys who I’m guessing had never done a road trip or such. So, the rest of the percentage was adults, and let’s just say that I belong to adult group ☺ Anyway, that’s not the story I’m going to write and tell here. That night we all went the bus that took us to the destination – Ujung Kulon! Of course, I was excited since I’ve had been waiting for this trip! I had everything ready and luckily it was a long weekend so it was just a good time to escape the atmosphere of big city.

Before midnight, the bus started its engine and took off. We spent the night on the bus. I practically just sleep throughout the night – well, there’s not much you can do while you’re on the bus, is there? It was 7-hour drive to our destination and by sunrise we arrived at this village called SUMUR. We all got out of the buss and walked to the small harbor waiting for the boat to come. Apparently we had to wait for couple hours for the boat. To me, it wasn’t a problem at all since there was a coffee shop nearby where most people had a cup of black coffee while I prefer hot tea instead.
Couple hours had passed and there came the boat. It wasn’t just a boat. It was an extra ordinary boat – well, just imagine all of us (about 15 people) sitting on an open deck. Three hours of breathing the fresh air of the sea, enjoying the high wind, I DIDN’T MIND. AT ALL. I looked around and all I saw was the sea, as far as eyes could see.  We arrived at a first island called Peucang.

  Peucang Island - Photo by Alex Arso

Of all the places we’ve had been in Ujung Kulon, this place is my favorite, and why is that? Well.. Quite beach surrounded by rain forest along the shore, white sands as soft as flour, and the water was just as clear as crystal. This island is so pure. I could see the fishes swimming freely, as if they welcome us to their home. There was some deers and wild boars. Surprising how they were friendly and docile.

    The Deer and Ari - photo by Alex Arso

As soon as we got to the dock, we gathered all our belongings and had lunch. Very simple lunch if I must say. After-lunch agenda was to go to a snorkel spot and spent almost an hour enjoying the sea creatures under the water. Nemo and Dori were there. And so was Patrick the starfish.

snorkeling - photo by Alex Arso

Late afternoon we all hiked to Karang Copong where giant cliff was located and we could see beautiful sunset here. It was a 45-minute hike to Karang Copong. The path in the forest wasn’t rough at all. We saw some deers running and watching us while we were passing through. Unfortunately, when we got there it started to rain. Heavy rain. Stormy. Black clouds covered the sunset. I didn’t care. I sat on the ground and enjoy the view and pretend that it wasn’t raining and the sun was setting beautifully. It was worth it.  We hiked back to Peucang, cleaned up and had dinner. We spent the night in Cidaon – another island just across Peucang. We set up our tent and camped there. I guess that’s where we ended our first agenda on day 1.

Day 2 – we were up very early and walked to Padang Pengembalaan – it’s a savanna where we could see hundreds of rhinoceros. We spent almost an hour there but we saw none of them, instead we saw one wild bull. I guess the tour guide was just exaggerating the numbers of rhino. Nonetheless, I enjoyed being there, seeing everybody approach motionless to that one rhino just for one or two pictures.

A Rhino that's not like a rhino - photo by Alex Arso

We headed back to Peucang for breakfast. Snorkeling was in the agenda again, but this time in a different spot. I decided to stay and just swim on the beach. I have to say that I’ve never been to heaven where people go to when they died, but this place is nearly heaven. Swimming in quiet water, no wave, clear water, I could see beautiful fishes and corals. I could lay my back on the shore where the white sands spread out along the beach. I could say the beach was mine since nobody was there except me and some friends. I was so content! Without realizing, a lizard had been watching, it was about 4 feet long, and slowly approach to our place. Nervous yet curious, that’s how I felt. Apparently, the lizard smelled a dead fish somewhere in the water. All the sudden, there was two lizard were eating the dead fish.
After lunch, we headed to another island called Cibom and hiked to Tanjung Layar. It’s a place where Netherland building had collapsed. There was nothing much we could do since the beach is surrounded by giant rocks, and there stood a giant cliff by the savanna. The savanna is a bit hilly and covered by green grass all over. Reminds me of a movie called Sound of Music. Shameless, my friends and I made a move and sang a song exactly from the movie. We could see the lighthouse from where we stood. I think Tanjung Layar wasn’t as exciting as Peucang, but what made it exciting was the challenge to hike through muddy path. It was about an hour walking with mud, must keeping the balance and try hard not to slip or fall. It wasn’t our lucky day to see sunset again because when we got there it rained.

 Sunset at Tanjung Layar - photo by Alex Arso

 Sunrise at Tanjung Layar

Day 3 – waking up early again, and still in Tanjung Layar. Went for a walk to the hill to see sunrise. I have to admit that I’m not a morning person, hate waking up early so much. In other way, I have to admit that I’m glad I got up that morning – felt the morning breeze, smelled the dew, and inhaled fresh air. I wish there is a place like that in Jakarta, I’d be a morning person.

After breakfast we hiked back to Cibom and sailed back to Peucang Island - our tour guide needed to do a quick administration so we all just stayed on the boat. We sailed to Handeuleum – another island where we canoed. Since there was only four canoes available, some of us didin’t really want to queue. So, some went canoeing and some stayed in the island. I decided to stayed in the island and explored. Handeuleum is simpler than Peucang. I think people came here just for canoeing or just chilled in the cottage. There’s no beach. Many coconut trees and mango trees so we ended up drinking coconut drink and pilled off some mangoes, had them as our snack before lunch. I guess the deers could smell the juice from mango so they approached us. We fed them some mangoes. It was just so amazing being so close to them without fear and worry as if they could understand when we said we won’t do any harm. After having a late lunch we continued sailing to the main harbor, Sumur then heading back toJakarta. 

So, that’s how I spent my long weekend. On the sea. In the wilderness. Being unite with the nature. Full of happiness. I’m so glad I came and got to see one of beautiful islands of Indonesia and glad to share a great story and experience. Whoever read this and haven’t been to Ujung Kulon, well please do so and prove it yourself.

Cidaon island harbor - photo by Alex Arso