"27th October is National Bloggers' Day"

Last Saturday, 27th Oct 2007 was a historical day for Indonesian bloggers. Close to 500 bloggers from different areas of the country gathered in Blitz, Grand Indonesia, to attend "Pesta Blogger 2007" and the Minister for Communications & Information Mohammad Nuh was there too.

On his opening speech, he surprised everyone by saying, “Today is National Bloggers' Day". When he said that, everyone gave him big applause! Yeah!! We rock!!! :D

Moreover, Pak Nuh said that he supported Indonesian bloggers, who are mostly young people, and recognized them as the leaders of the new voices of Indonesia. Most importantly, the Minister guaranteed that there would be no muzzling ("pembredelan") as this is the era of freedom of expressions. People are free to express their thoughts and opinions. "Sekarang bukan jamannya lagi untuk pembatasan berekspresi", he said.

Wow!! This is really SOMETHING! Thank you, Pak Nuh!

His statement has made us proud of being Indonesians. Being the young generation who are able to express and speak up our minds! (I hope everyone reads this post and realizes that this is not the era to be afraid to speak up. Shame to those who are still close-minded about freedom of speech and expression. We're not gonna become a big nation without having able to express our minds). Am glad that the Minister realized this and knew exactly that the young generations are the future of this country. A generation who can't sit still knowing something goes wrong in their surroundings. A generation who realizes that the world is flat, thus, if we're still thinking inside the box and still try to restrict the flow of information and communications, we'll be walking way behind our peers who live in the developed countries.

So, thank you, Pak Nuh! For recognizing the importance of freedom of expressions in this country! Thank you for letting us, bloggers, speak up our minds, through our blogs, to let everyone out there knows the hidden truth about the world we live in.. something that might not be revealed in the mainstream media..

Back to the Pesta Blogger 2007, most of Indonesia's top bloggers attended the event. Some of them worked hand in hand as members of the Steering Committee to prepare the event: Enda Nasution (the chairman of this event), Budi Putra, Mas Wicak, Nukman Luthfi, Wimar Witoelar, Priyadi, Lita, Fatih Syuhud - Yosef Ardi & Atta (couldn't attend) and a Malaysian blogger: Ong Hock Chuan.

Other recognized bloggers in the country were invited to be facilitators for the groups' discussions. They were: Mbak Enny, Bp. Risman, Anjar Priandoyo, Maylaffayza, Joko Anwar, mas Ndobos, Bp. Adrianto Gani and... my self! Oh, I feel so honored for this! Thank you guys for giving me the trust! It was such an honored to be there, together with everyone. It felt like being in a big happy family.

It was such a lovely day for Indonesian bloggers. Some of them flew from far far away only to come and party with us.. from Poso, Yogyakarta, Makassar... even from Kuala Lumpur! Wow!




You can check about the details of the event here.

For me, I had a good fun meeting my new friends... my new family :). On the discussion about personal blog that me and mas Anjar facilitated, some bloggers shared their amazing experiences, such as: their blog was being published and became a book, his postings have became stories for sinetron on TV, etc. Isn't it cool? The discussion was very inspiring and hopefully it could encourage the non-bloggers to start blogging! :)


Thank you, guys! It was a real pleasure to meet all of you! Bravo to Maverick, the steering committee and Hanny, the super girl, who have been working so hard to make this event successful!
Maju terus, blogger Indonesia!!!

Note: the first photo was taken by fistoriza.

Snorkeling in Hon Mun, Vietnam

Nha Trang is famous as the best Vietnam’s diving spot. The water is so clear, enables divers to see the objects as far as 15meters or even up to 30m. If you walk down the street, you’ll see several dive shops/centers offering different packages and prices. A full day trip costs around 50 USD, it includes everything (transportation and two dives). I was so tempted to take one package, but then I cancelled coz my travel mate didn’t have a scuba-diving license. And of course I couldn’t be selfish, taking the package alone and let my school mate “gigit jari” (read: daydream, do nothing), while I explore the under water world…

Taking a day boat trip was one of the best ways to explore islands around Nha Trang. I looked at my guide book to check the most credible boat trip organizer and wrote the name’s down. Fortunately, the hotel where I stayed, had a collaboration with that tour agent, so they booked everything for us. It’s called “Mama Linh’s Boat Tours”.

The staff of Mama Linh’s picked us up quite early in the morning, at 8.45am. (yeah.. yeah.. am not a morning person! 8.45 am is considered early for me, especially when I’m on holidays! Hihihi..). The whole trip started from 9am until around 5pm. Pretty long, but it’s worth it. It costs USD 6, includes transportation and lunch (Vietnamese food!)

Well, I have to admit that taking a boat trip is a very touristy thing. Hehehe… 90% of the people on that boat were tourists! Mostly Westeners – British, Australian, American, Swiss, German, Dutch, etc. I was the only Indonesian and there were around 5 Vietnamese joining the tour, too.

The tour guide was a local guy with a good sense of humor. He was so funny and has successfully entertained everyone on the boat. Usually I put on my ipod everywhere I’m in a public transport, but not this time. I enjoyed listening to his dry humor and "performance".

When you take a boat trip, don’t forget to bring these items: bikini/swim wear, sunglasses, sun lotion, towel/sarong and a pair of flip-flops :), because you’re gonna swim A LOT in the sea, in between the islands… so cool!!!

First destination was to Hon Mun (or Mun Island/Salangane Island/Ebony Island… geez.. how many names they need to call an island???). This island is famous for its snorkeling. And, of course, I snorkeled too! (no scuba-dive, but at least I gotta chance to say hi to Vietnamese fish! :D).

The water was very clear. I could see the beautiful corals 7m under, easily. Very nice. Those different types of corals are well-protected and in a good shape. I saw a lot of fish, too. Some of them have nice colors: purple, blue, yellow, in gradation. Awesome. I spent an hour snorkeling there… enjoying the sea life down there… I could stay here forever, if the Mama Linh’s staff didn’t scream, “Hey.. Indonesia! Get on the boat!!” Hahaha.. crazy dude.

Next destination was to Hon Mot (Mot Island). It is also another spot for snorkeling, but this time, we didn’t snorkel, instead, we had lunch here! The Mama Linh’s staffs were so well prepared. They turned the boat into a big dining hall and served some dishes for everyone! The menu was: spring rolls, ragout with French bread (aha!), fried noodles (of course, you’re in Asia!), rice (of course!), fried pork, fried vegetables and seafood soup. Since I’m vegetarian, I could only eat the spring rolls and fried noodles with a bit of vegetables. It’s fine, am used to it. Anyway, the scenery surrounds me was just so beautiful, so I didn’t have time to complain about the “non-vegetarian-friendly” lunch menu! Hehehe..

It was really fun to have lunch in between small islands like that. It felt like I was having lunch with the whole members of my big family, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters! And everyone seemed to enjoy the food, too. Yeah, the seafood looked delicious. Too bad I couldn’t try it. Spring rolls tasted good, tho.. I ate quite a lot! Hihihi.. (hey, someone gotta eat something after swimming and snorkeling happily!)

Apparently, the boat's crew was a real entertainer. After lunch, he turned the dining table into a big stage and started to introduce his band’s crews The funny thing was… he invited everyone based on the nationalities and sang a song from each country! Hahaha.. this guy must have been practicing many songs! :D But… guess what… he couldn’t sing any Indonesian song! Aaarggh! I should’ve given him one of Indonesian band albums, so that he could practice next time he has Indonesian tourists! (does it tell a lot that there aren’t many Indonesians go to Vietnam?)

This is my favorite… and I would never imagine it before… having a glass of wine in a plastic cup on the sea.. floating!! It was sooooo odd, yet fun!!! Can you imagine, drinking wine from a floating bar, in the middle of nowhere, floating on a rubber ban with beautiful landscape surrounds you? Oh, how cool is that??!!
It was a free-flow wine session and everyone was so happy to refill their plastic cup. Going back and forth paddling our rubber ban to the floating bar, we felt so relaxed and couldn’t stop laughing for having experienced one of the unthinkable things we do on our holidays. (perhaps you should try it too in your home country! It’s fun!)

When the "happy hour" ended, all of us got on the boat again and continued our trip. Me and Danny decided to order a bottle of vodka and two cans of soda and continued drinking with the rest. The vodka was so cheap. The cheapest vodka I’ve ever had in my life: 2 Euros/ bottle! It’s a local brand, but don’t ask… it’s pretty strong! We shared the bottle with several people on the boat, while sunbathing on the deck. Fun!!!

When we got to the Hon Tam, I was already a bit tipsy! Hahaha.. evil local vodka!! On this island, one could do several sports activities, such as taking a jet-ski ride or.. para-sailing! I’ve always loved riding jet-ski, so I did that for about 5 minutes. Not long… coz I was always tempted to go further and further.. but afraid what if I couldn’t return to the beach??? :p
We spent about an hour on the island and I just laid on the beach and fell asleep! The beach is a bit rocky, so I had to find the best spot to lay on my beach sarong and sunbath. Hehehe… It was very relaxing… Really.

The last destination was to Hon Mieu (Mieu Island aka Tri Nguyen Island). There is an outdoor aquarium where you can see tropical fish and shark. But, guess what.. I passed out on the boat and I didn’t remember a thing about this island! Hahahaha… (yeah yeah… feel free to laugh at me!). Danny told me that some people stayed on the boat, too. Too tired probably. Some of them continued swimming on the sea as the water was very refreshing. And ohh.. I always love swimming in the sea coz it feels like swimming in a giant swimming pool :). Cool.

Back to Nha Trang, I was tipsy and starving. We stopped at a “warung” (street stall) in front of the hotel and had a “Vietnamese” sandwich! I’ve been craving for this sandwich since I got into HCMC! Was wondering how it tastes… and.. oh god… it tasted so good!! Still hungry? I tried a cup of local instant noodle and ate on the street, too! Hihihi… A friend told me that instant noodle could get rid of your hangover. Is that true? I don't know. What I know is that I didn’t really like the taste of the Vietnamese instant noodle. I prefer my indomie back home… hehehe.. (hidup indomie!)

The best place to hangout in Nha Trang is the Sailing Club. During the day, it’s a restaurant, indoor and outdoor. You can have lunch on the beach too as they have nice deckchairs by the beach. In the evening, the left side of the place turns into a club, with some comfortable sofas and a dance floor. The bar looks stylish in red with fish tiles as decoration. Fancy.
Sometimes they throw big parties here. When I was there, they were planning to hold the “Night of Fire” party with a bon fire on the beach, so people could dance there. Unfortunately, it was raining around 10pm-11pm, so people preferred to dance in the club. Stayed dry and pretty. Hehehe.. :D

You wouldn’t believe how cheap the drinks here! It’s the hippest club in town, but the drinks cost nothing! A single mixed cocktails only costs 20,000 VND. And this is the best deal: a cocktail bucket, 650 ml, costs 40,000 VND!!! You can choose your own liquor, from vodka, rum, martini, anything. Good deal, huh? No wonder people got so drunk in the end. Hahaha… How come the drinks are cheap? The bartender showed me the bottle of local vodka. Aha! That’s the secret! ;) Those evil local liquors!!!

Keen to try the local liquors? Pack your stuff, book your ticket and fly to ‘Nam. Make sure you spare two days at least in Nha Trang to visit several islands around it ;). You’ll have fun. Trust me :)

One Fine Day in Nha Trang, Vietnam

Having limited time to travel in Vietnam (4 days 3 nights are definitely too short!), I decided to go to Nha Trang to relax and sunbath on the beach there! This skin is craving to be tanned! (ok, I know.. am not pale, but have some more tanned would be nice!)

Nha Trang is one of the most desired tourist destinations in Vietnam. One can go there by bus from HCMC or take a local plane, which costs around 1,500,000 VND for return tickets. I chose to fly, of course. At the airport, I was a bit lost coz I couldn’t see “Nha Trang” as the destination. Apparently, we have to go to Cam Ranh first, because there’s no direct flight to Nha Trang (read: no airport there too). Aha.. of course!
The flight took about 50 mins from HCMC to Cam Ranh. The crew didn’t give us any food, only softdrink, most probably because it was only a short trip.

Cam Ranh airport is small and looks a bit old. However, I couldn’t complain coz the flight was on time! (Unlike most of Indonesia’s local airlines that the schedules are mostly delayed. Perhaps we should learn from the local Vietnamese airlines on how to keep our flight schedule on time!)

Arriving in Cam Ranh, we took a cab to Nha Trang. One thing I learned from my experience in HCMC: always ask the taxi driver to use meter! So, I told that to the cab driver and, of course, he said yes.
Enjoying the scenery from the back seat, Danny started to notice that something was wrong with the meter. It went so fast. We only drove for 10 mins away from the airport, but the meter showed 100,000 VND! It couldn’t be!! So bloody expensive! We’ve been told by Ruud that it takes 40 mins by cab to the heart of the city and costs around 150,000 VND. So, with the meter runs this fast, it means that for 40 mins drive, we have to pay 400,000 VND! Wow! The driver must have done something with his meter machine!! *(*&^%$#!#?!

I told the driver to stop the car and told him that the meter went too fast. He didn’t speak English. And I didn’t speak Vietnamese. Great! What shall we do now? I tried to bargain the price to 150,000 for the whole trip. He disagreed and asked for 350,000 VND instead. “This is such a rip-off!”, I said to Danny. I was looking around and there was no car on the street. It was empty and in the middle of nowhere. Great. We couldn’t just got out of the car and hitchhike to the city, I thought. Nobody would pick us. Even if they would, it might take a few hours until we found cars passing the street. Gosh. The cab driver was happy coz he’s in the good position to bargain. Damn. I hate it!
At the end, after a tough bargain, we managed to get the price down to 200,000 VND. He was acting as if the price was too low, but we knew that he was happy for his success to fool two mixed-blood tourists!


Stepping my feet in Nha Trang, (the “Bali of Vietnam”) I was prepared to see a lot of tourists sunbathing on the beach. But again, I was surprised. The beach was empty when we got there. Again, I wonder, “Is it still too early for the tourists to enjoy the beautiful beach? Or is there any tourists at all?”

Nha Trang beach looked so beautiful in the morning. The clear turquoise waters with white sands beach laid before me, bordered with mountains. Indisputably beautiful. One could also enjoy walking down the 6km beach or just lay back and lounging around on deck chairs at a beachfront bar drinking cold beer served in frozen glass or cocktail with the sun smiling from above. Nice.


I spent almost a whole day sunbathing on the beach. The sun shines strongly, perfect to get some tanned! Even so, the weather wasn't too hot because of the wind breeze softly. I, then, put on my tanning oil and laid on the chair, reading a book with a bottle of cold beer next to me. Sometimes people came over offering postcards, snacks, printed-watercolor paintings, Vietnamese's style of seafood dishes or books! The latter was amazing. The seller brought a pile of books on his shoulder and carrying it around everywhere! He was definitely a mobile bookshelf! hahaha.. The books were all copied-books. No wonder they're cheap. Every time he passed by, I felt so sorry for... his shoulder! He might need to be treated by a chiropractor in no time!! Those books are heavy!! Can you imagine that??!

After 1pm, the wind got stronger. I even felt a bit of chill. And there were more tourists, too. Mostly Westerners, but still not that many. Some of them swam on the beach, while a lot of them just sat and laid on the deck chairs. Trying hard to get tanned, some of them ended up turning red and got sunburned instead. Ouch!

Relaxing on a nice beach is one of my favorite activities on holidays. However, I love visiting temples and other cultural/historical places, too. There is one striking temple in Nha Trang, called Long Son Pagoda. The temple was founded in the late 19th century and the architecture is just beautiful. The main entrance is decorated with mosaic dragons -- my favorite “animal legend”, which happens to be my Chinese zodiac too (or we call it “Shio”).

It was already dark when I got there. So, I couldn’t get nice picture of the temple. Too bad ☹. Fortunately, the temple was open, still. Three Vietnamese girls accompanied me and explained a little bit about the temple. They live and study there. During the day, they work in the temple’s shop, selling postcards for tourists. The money goes to the temple.

The girls took me around the temple. In the main hall, there’s a Buddha statue in the center, while in the main entrance to the main hall, there’s a Shiva statue, one of Hindu’s gods. Weird, eh? A combination between Buddhism and Hinduism temple, that is.

There are a number of monks also live in this temple. When I was walking around, I was touched to see an old Buddhist monk sitting on an old wooden chair listening to his younger folk reading a book. He looked really old and couldn’t even sit straight. The younger monk patiently reading Buddhist teachings from a thick book on his hands, flipping through page by page. Such a touchy scene for me.

If you go at the back of the pagoda and go up to the top of the hill, you’ll see a huge white Buddha statue. Don’t forget to wear a pair of comfortable shoes/sandals though, as there are 152 stone steps up to get to the white Buddha. At the other side of the pagoda, there’s another hall where you can see the “Sleeping Buddha”. A huge white reclining Buddha statue is sleeping peacefully there with a smile on his face.

Some Buddhist monks chatting on the terrace and smiled at me when I passed them. I loved this scene. Looking at them chatting with their peers, reminded me of Shaolin kungfu movies, my fave kind of movies when I was a child. Hehehe… I wonder if these monks are good with kungfu, too ☺. It must be cool!

The best way to wonder around Nha Trang is by motorbike. One can rent a motorbike for 25,000 VND/hour or 70,000/half-day. Most locals don’t wear helmets (not in Nha Trang, nor in HCMC), in which I think is pretty dangerous, considering the way they drive their bikes here! But if you’re not sure of your driving skills, better take a cab or xe om (motorbike taxi) or… cyclo – Vietnamese bicycle rickshaw! ;) It’s nice and relaxing, too. Don’t forget to bargain ya..

In the evening, one can enjoy the night-life scene in Nha Trang. There are a lot of bars and restaurants for the food lovers. I had dinner at the Truc Linh 2 in Biet Thu, the liveliest street in the heart of the city. The restaurant is decorated like a garden with different types of seafood being displayed at the front. The food? Don’t ask. This restaurant offers yummy Vietnamese food. Let’s make our stomach happy and satisfied! ;)

Next to Truc Linh is the famous Crazy Kim bar. Have a drink or two in this bar before heading back to your hotel to rest and recharge your battery for another wonderful day in Nha Trang... :)

A Girl with the Spikey Hair in Ho Chi Minh City

a short getaway to Vietnam, Oct 13th-16th, 2007

Arriving at the Ho Chi Minh City airport, I was amazed by the emptiness of the new and modern-looking international airport. The spacey building looks bigger then it is as there were hardly tourists walking around or standing in the line of the immigration desk -- the usual airport scene that we normally see.


It took me only less than 5 minutes from getting out of the plane until the immigration staff stamped my passport. Incredibly fast, simply because there was no line at the immigration desk. I am so not used to this, as usually wherever I travel, I have to stand for at least half hour in the line, only to get my passport stamped due to the outnumber of tourists visiting the related place.
Feeling so lucky this time didn’t stop me from wondering, "Where the hell are all the tourists?"

After dropping by at the money changer (1 USD is around 16,000 Vietnamese Dong) at the front door of the arrival gate -- no money changer/bank in Jakarta has Vietnamese Dong, by the way -- I took a cab and off to the city center, in Dong Khoi area, where my friend Ruud lives. The cab costs around 60,000 VND for about 30 minutes drive. Not bad, huh?

As a Jakarta citizen, I found HCMC is not as crowded as my city, however, I was surprised by the number of motorbikes on the streets! The city, which is known as Saigon, is always busy with more than three million of motorbikes running along the streets competing with the pollution-free “grandma”-type bicycles. It looks pretty chaotic for me as those motorbikes, bicycles and trucks are flying all together on the no-lane boulevards! And, it’s as noisy as the streets in Jakarta because it seems that honking their vehicle’s horns is common and considered as the driving style here. Sounds familiar, eh? ;) heehehe…

For me, HCMC city looks like Jakarta in the early 1970’s. The city looks old, dirty, chaotic. No skyscrapers, only old buildings/houses. Pretty similar with the “Glodok/Kota” area (it’s the China town in Jakarta). Strolling down the street, I enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the city, smiled once in a while when looking at the cute face masks worn by Saigonese on their bikes.


I paid a visit to the Giac Lam Pagoda, which believed to be the oldest pagoda in HCMC, dates from 1744. One would feel peaceful entering the area of the temple. Next to the 32m tall stupa, there is an area with the Kwan Im goddess statue, looks like a nice garden from far. A colorful cemetery, next to a big Buddha statue gives a l'il bit of an eerie feeling for me. I got there around 4pm in the afternoon when there was an afternoon daily prayers. Most of them were women, wearing Vietnamese traditional costume. I could hear them chanting along with the bells and gongs. Sounds so peaceful.


For those shopaholics out there, spare sometime to go to Ben Tanh market. You can find almost everything here, from silk, clothes, households, food, fruits (oyeah, u can find durian here! ;)), bags, and also Vietnamese style- souvenirs for families and friends back home. Don’t forget to bargain to get a good deal here! ;).
Hungry? You might want to try the local taste of pho (noodle) with seafood here. For the egg noodle, I paid “only” 10,000 VND.


In the evening, there is a night market around Ben Tanh. One can find some souvenirs here, too. Craving for seafood cook in Vietnamese style? Choose one of the food stalls at the front of the market for the original Vietnamese food. They exhibit the lobster, crab, fish, etc before the cheff cook those yummy animals! (not for me, of course…)

Another thing that amazed me was to see conical-hatted women walking around, riding their bikes or simply just sitting on their food stalls waiting for customers. I thought it was only in advertisement or postcards, never imagined that they still wear that hat until now. It was so nice to see the locals wearing the triangle hat and long loose dress. Just like in the movies ☺.

Don’t be surprised to see beggars on the street. It’s normal. Also, there are a lot of “warung” too (street vendors), just like in Indonesia, selling cigarettes, snacks, etc. The uncommon thing was to see a lot of “sandwich” stalls on every corner the city. The “Vietnamese” sandwich consists of French bread, cheese, meat (you can choose: pork, beef, chicken satay). It’s a bit weird for me to see them eating French bread as if it’s their main food. Hehehe… It tells a lot about French influence, I guess ☺.

Oh, tired of walking? I decided to stop by at the street food stalls for a sip of fresh young coconut! Oh.. so good! Danny--my school-mate from Amsterdam who is also my perfect travel mate--enjoyed it so much, as he would not find it back home.
No need to bargain, as it's already cheap anyway. Only 8,000 VND per coconut.

A simple and perfect drink to end my day...

From Rasa Sayange to the detention of diplomat's wife

For the last a couple of days, I've been bothered by the news that one of our folk songs was claimed as Malaysia's song! Oh my goodness... what is happening here?
I still remember I used to sing this song when I was a kid, at school, at the birthday parties or when I play around with my friends. This song was part of my childhood memories. And I believe many Indonesians feel the same way too.

That's why it shocked me when I heard that our neighbor country claimed that "Rasa Sayange" actually belonged to Malaysia, not Indonesia. I felt really sad. And I felt so stupid being an Indonesian too... for being easily fooled! :( After batik, now our folk song. Then, what's next?

I'm wondering what is going on between my country and our neighbor, M? Sometime ago, the Indonesian karate coach was beaten by the Malaysian police, then yesterday, I read in the news about the detention of a diplomat's wife by security personnel, while she was shopping! The security personnel mistook her for an illegal immigrant! My goodness... If I were her, I would be very upset.

But hey, who am I anyway? I could do nothing apart from thanking everyone (both Malaysians and Indonesians) who gave their supports when The Malaysia Tourism Minister accused me a liar ;P. So, I guess, in this case, I could only show my support to Muslianah Nurdin, the wife of the embassy's culture attache who received ill treatment from the RELA officer. Keep your chin up, Ibu! :)

I really wish that one day, me and my neighbor could live in harmony, happily ever after... and all these "little fights" wouldn't occur in the upcoming days.. Let us live side by side peacefully... as I would love to make my neighbor as my good friend coz I know that a lot of the people in that house are actually very nice and wise ones :).
I do hope the rest of the people in the house are like them too: good and fair, so that the people in my house and everybody in the house next door could be good friends too! *cross my fingers* :)

My First Scuba-Diving Experience

Some people are scared to try scuba-dive. Some people LOVE this sport and always find their excuses to go somewhere only to dive. Is this sport has some similarities with my favorite fruit -- durian? Either you LOVE it, or you HATE it. Or just don't have the courage to try.

I've been thinking to take a course on scuba-dive months ago, but wasn't sure coz I'm scared of snakes! Sea snakes. Thinking about it makes me sick and all frightened.

But then, I was so curious why people love it so much. They all say that under the sea is like a totally different world, yet a beautiful one. And for that, I'm taking my risk and try to overcome my fear of the possibility of bumping into a sea snake (yeah.. yeah.. you can laugh at me!)

So, after taking a private lesson from my diving instructor, Mbak Vita, I went to Sepa Island in Thousand Island with her and another girl, Anin, to take the final exam and get the PADI open water dive certificate. Here's my first experience (again, feel free to laugh at me):

First dive, 12 meters depth. Tried hard not to panic. "What the hell am I doing?", I said to myself. What if something bad happened?" But I kept a positive thought: "It's gonna be a wonderful experience. Just do it!" Then I sinked myself and went down... deeper.. and deeper..
I could feel my heart beats fast and my ears hurt as I went deeper. Following my diving instructor, I equalized my ears often, until I felt comfortable to explore the underwater sea..

Suddenly all around me was green. It felt like living in a green world! Really. As far as I could see... everything was green! I saw some corals, big ones, some of them look like giant mushrooms. I saw some sea urchins too, giant "keong" in white and lots of "goby" fish hiding in the sand.
I was enjoying the scenery all around me until my instructor waved at me with her hand holding a pink fin. What?! "That fin looks familiar", I thought. And.. yes! That's my fin!!! Hahahaha... I didn't realize that my right fin managed to release itself from my right foot! Naughty fin! I was almost choke from laughing with the regulator on and the mask attached on my face :)).

So, that was the first dive. In total, we dove 5 times in 2 days. Managed to dive up to 18 meters depth. The next dives were smooth and for sure I didn't lose my fin! hehehe... Was so happy to see different types of fish swimming in front of me as if I was invisible. The sea definitely looks beautiful underwater and it really amazed me to realize that there are thousands of creatures living under the sea. Peacefully.

It was indeed so peaceful down there. So quiet. All I could hear was only my breath... breathing in.. breathing out.. while enjoying the "green world" and its inhabitants around me..
Now I can see why people LOVE it :)

Rockin' Girl Blogger Award

On a freezing afternoon (yes, this room is freezing cold!), after the "market" is slowing down, I allow myself to spend some time to read my lovely friend's blog. Scrolling down her blog, I feel honored to find my name was chosen to receive "Rockin' Girl Blogger Award".
Oh, thank you, Hanny! I feel flattered! You've made this afternoon warmer :)

Now I have to choose 5 female who deserve the Award. Here they are:

1) Nadia, a smart and talented girl who has been living in different places in the world and has shared her experience and thoughts in her blog. Her life is always exciting and colorful! Thanks for sharing it with us, darling! I miss you heaps!!

2) Raquel, my ex-neighbor in Amsterdam. She lives in Toronto now and busy taking care her twins sons, getting her MBA and writing for some projects. She just talked to Brad Pitt a couple of days ago in a film festival and it made me so jealous! hahahaa.. I found her blog interesting and I loved her writing :).

3) Susan Loone and 4) Elizabeth Wong -- two women "activists" in the blogosphere. Love their blogs' content as well as admire their spirits t0 fight for freedom of expression!

And last but not least, I think, Hanny deserves to have another Rockin' Girl Blogger Award for her passion in writing :).

Again, thank you for the award and now it's your turn to pass it to 5 other female bloggers ;).

HELP… I’M ADDICTED TO FACEBOOK!

For those who doesn’t have an account in facebook, I recommend you to get one. Facebook is burning hot! Friendster, Multiply and MySpace will soon be a history.

I signed up about a month ago under recommendation of an Australian friend. He said that it was a good way to connect with people. At first, I couldn’t be bothered. I’ve had two accounts on Friendster and one on Multiply already. It would be too much to have another one, I thought. But then, I got more and more invitations from my friends’ facebook. So, one day, I decided to sign up. And now, here I am, before I know it, I already addicted to this site! I check it everyday, whenever I get a chance. It’s crazy. It’s even more addictive than alcohol.

I found Facebook is more interesting than Friendster and Multiply. It’s fun since there are just so many cool applications, such as we can tickle our friends, send them cocktails/cakes/gifts/naughty gifts, cast a spell, etc. It’s just hilarious. That’s why I’m all hooked!

Even though, I have to admit that not many people here in Jakarta are aware of this site yet, compared to Friendster. Just to give you a rough figure, I have more than 1,000 people on my friends’ list on friendster (and 99.9% I know these people personally. They’re my real friends, so they do exist!), but on Facebook, until today, I only have 138 friends. It’s true that the fact might be different in the other countries.

As I noticed, during my first days as a “new-bee” in Facebook, I mostly “only” found my graduate school friends from Europe or the States. I was so happy and excited to meet them again as we’re all scattered everywhere, in each corner of the world. Some of them live far away from where I live and I really miss them. Having “friend requests” from them is just like finding long lost friends (of course with the closest friends, we still keep in touch by email, but not with all friends, right?).

I was kind of waiting to see when Facebook became popular among my Indonesian friends. Apparently, I might not have to wait long, during this week, I started to get “friend requests” from my Indonesian friends here! Yipppeee… It seems that the wind is blowing from European and American continents heading to South East Asia region! Still, it’s not as popular as Friendster yet. People are still hesitant to sign up a new account on Facebook. When I asked around, usually they gave me the same answer, like: “I have Friendster and MySpace already. I don’t want to have another similar site. What for? And uhm… what the hell is Facebook?”

Don’t worry… I believe when everyone starts to talk about it, then.. BOOM! People will race to sign up. It’s getting there ;).

There are already 31 million active users who probably as addicted as me. And according to July Time magazine, with more than 150,000 new users signing up daily, Facebook is growing three times as fast as MySpace.

And guess what, in 2006 study in USA, Facebook was named as the most popular site among American college students and the second most popular thing among undergrads after iPod. It’s sharing equal importance with beer and sex! (The Sunday Times, August 19, 2007).

Salute to Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard College student, who invented this site in 2004!! Well done, dude! I found the most handsome guy from my grad school again because of you! Hahaha.. (guess which one is the hunk?!) ;)

2 Months of Absence

I’ve been receiving emails from people asking me to start writing in my blog again. Firstly, apologies for haven’t been writing for such a long time. I was giving myself a break. I haven’t been writing anything (for blog or any publication) for these past 2 months. Instead, during those periods, I did something else, things that I haven’t experienced/tried before or got nothing to do with my current activities. New things. New experience.

Have been through a rough time this year. From a shocking moment when my younger brother lost his sight due to methanol intoxication to a lost of a dear one. It’s been tough. I haven’t been experiencing tough times like this in my life. Usually my paths go smooth, study and career wise. There’s nothing wrong with my own path, don’t get me wrong. It’s the external factors or things around me that go not as I wanted to. I put so much hope in my younger brother and wish that he could use his talents to reach his dream. And I never expected that I would lose someone dearly so soon and in such a way. When I started to feel down, I remembered my friend said, “Nila, look, you also had wonderful things this year”. He was right. So, whenever I’m blue, I try hard to count my blessings. Despite what happened around me, God still be kind to me. Giving me good jobs and opportunities, plus a nice and warm circle of friends.

There are things that we can’t control in life. How true that is. I thought I could control everything. But I’m wrong. My life experience has taught me that it’s not possible.

I could only control myself, my mind. I even can’t say that I can control my plans for the future anymore as those external factors would pay a contribution to the plans too. I still, however, have short-term goals and long-term goals, as always. But I just try not to expect that everything around me will go smooth along the way: things that are beyond my control. There must be some small stones or rocks that would pop up now and then. And I have to count those factors in, too.

Anyway, about 2-3 months ago, I felt strongly that I needed a change. I just need a totally new environment and activities. So, that’s why I stopped doing my daily routines (of course I still went to office!). Meanwhile, I took a scuba-diving lesson and made it to be certified by PADI. Plus, I started to make more time to paint (I’ve been taking a private water color painting course with my fave water color painter). Painting is such a stress relief and a good therapy for me. It makes me happy. Oh, and I did some traveling during weekends, too. Will tell you more about those trips in my other posts.

And here’s the big news. I’ve given up my job in the public relations consultancy. Instead, I took the opportunity to step in the capital market, again. You can call me crazy. Why did I do that? Simple. I needed a change. Sometimes change is good, sometimes it isn’t. I remember, however, I’ve made a big change about 5 years ago, when I decided to quit my job as a bond sales at a securities company, go to Europe to study and return to Indonesia to work in the PR industry afterwards. It was a good decision. A good change. I got a whole new life experience, new knowledge, new friends and network. So, this time, it should be fine, too. Of course it’s not gonna be easy to get out of my comfort zone. But, I realize that it’s ok to step out from it. There are a whole bunch of new experiences, friends, network and other things that life has in store for me. And am up for new things! That’s what I need now. And… I prefer to see it from this perspective: Change is good.

Treasure in trash

This article is published in today's The Star, the leading English daily newspaper in Malaysia

You’d be surprised what can be done with things that you would usually throw away without a second thought.

By NILA TANZIL

ENTERING a bookstore in South Jakarta, my eye is caught by a burst of colour in a corner. When I take a closer look, I discover funky looking makeup pouches, pencil cases, book covers, passport holders and laptop and sling bags – all made out of the packaging of well known brands of household products! I can’t help but smile as I recognise the packaging from my detergent on a pencil case....

There’s another reason to smile over these products that make use of discarded packaging: Currently, Jakarta generates approximately 28,000cu m of trash a day; the World Bank estimates that this will almost double, to approximately 50,000cu m a day, by 2010 (Kompas, Sept 16, 2006). This city – like most large cities today – desperately needs to reduce the amount of trash that ends up in its landfills.

The XSProject Foundation in Jakarta help train economically disadvantaged women to generate income by training them to make unique products from discarded plastic packaging.

Which is why I’m delighted to meet the people at the XSProject Foundation, producer of those ingenious products. Founder, artist and environmentalist Ann Wiser enthusiastically explains the four-year-old foundation’s ideas.

The first idea is to reduce the volume of non-recyclable plastic trash in Jakarta by re-using it. The foundation buys waste from the city’s trash pickers to stop it from ending up in landfills. Says the foundation’s daily operations manager, Yuniar Wulandari (aka Uni), “There are 80,000 tonnes of flexible plastic packaging manufactured each year in Indonesia. The average use of a single-use drink container made from this material is only four seconds. After that, it may sit in a landfill forever.”

Most people do not know that this type of plastic is not recyclable, so it doesn’t have a market value – no one is interested in buying and re-using it so it will just end up in the dump. And manufacturers still use it for their packaging because it is cheaper. As a result, the amount of non-biodegradable plastic trash in the city’s dumps is increasing.

Not bad for products made from trash! And they’re unique, too.

Another of the foundation’s ideas and a major part of its mission is to reduce poverty. Which is why it buys that waste from the city’s trash pickers at above the market price and then trains women from lower income groups to produce those funky products from it. For this activity, XSProject collaborates with a small NGO, Yayasan Kampung Kids, which provides training on how to make high quality handmade products, sewing techniques as well as designing patterns.

Another part of the foundation’s mission is to raise awareness about environmental issues, especially among children. It works with several schools, from the elementary to junior high school levels, on this. Says Uni, “We start by giving them a shock therapy: showing a video of the environmental damage caused by trash.”

They then share information on where the plastic trash comes from, what the kids can do to reduce its volume and how to manage waste by sorting it into different types – glass, plastic, metal, paper, etc – that can be recycled or re-used.

The foundation’s project manager in charge of raising awareness in schools, Adit, then explains that, “We show them what can be made out of the non-biodegradable trash. Then we try to involve them by asking them to bring their own packaging wastes to the school. We provide several trash bins in each school. Students can throw the plastic waste from home into the XSProject trash bin.

Sorting through discarded plastic packaging. If the foundation did not find a use for it, all that would end up in the city’s landfills.

“The children get excited when they see XSProject’s products. They feel involved in the whole project and they are proud to use pencil cases or bags that are made of the trash that they bring to the school,” Adit says enthusiastically.

Adds Uni, “We want to make people look good and feel good at the same time when using our products. All profits from the sales go to the foundation to fund our programmes to increase the standard of living of the disadvantaged as well as to raise awareness on reducing plastic trash in the city.”

It’s nice to know we can look cool while doing some good with these socially responsible products.

To order XSProject Foundation’s products or for more information, go to xsprojectgroup.com or e-mail info@xsprojectgroup.com. In Jakarta, the foundation’s products can be found in Aksara Bookstore, Kemang, and several art galleries in South Jakarta.

“We expect 2 million tourists from Indonesia to Malaysia”

Two days ago, I attended a business gathering held by the Malaysia Club in Jakarta (MCJ). There was a talkshow themed "Business and the Press" presenting Yosef Ardi, a well-known blogger who also works at Bisnis Indonesia-daily newspaper and Riyadi Suparno, the Managing Editor of The Jakarta Post.

Both of the speakers gave insights on how the media work in Indonesia. The discussions went quite interesting too and the MCJ members were actively asking questions to both speakers. I've attended many business gatherings before, from Amcham's, Britcham's , Eurocham's, IABC's, etc, yet I think yesterday evening's gathering is the liveliest. Probably because this one isn't only about cocktail party where people "just" hangout, drinks wine and cocktail and chit-chat, but there's a talk-show with prominent guest speakers delivering a topic that of interest of the members.

After the talk-show, the Ambassador of Malaysia for Indonesia Dato' Zainal Abidin Zain delivered his speech. What interests me is that he says, "We expect 2 million tourists from Indonesia to go to Malaysia".

When hearing this statement, I couldn't help not to smile. A Monalisa smile :).

Pop goes the fiddle

This article was published in The Star, the leading English daily newspaper in Malaysia, Sunday, 20 May 2007.

A music sensation called Maylaffayza has been getting Indonesians moving to a beat that’s a fusion of hip-hop, rap and R&B.

By NILA TANZIL

IN the Indonesian music industry, Maylaffayza stands out for being the only solo pop-classic-crossover female violinist. She combines hip-hop, rap and R&B rhythms and a touch of popular Indonesian tunes with the sounds of her violin. In some pieces, she also sings.

Maylaffayza started to play the violin when she was just nine. Her uncle, Iswan Sutopo, a musician, gave her an old violin. She put the instrument next to her bed and wished that one day she would be able to play it.

Maylaffayza agrees that the violin is serious and elegant, but wants it to rock, too.

Seeing that their girl was so determined, her parents sent her to Bina Musika, a music school specialising in stringed instruments.

Her first lessons were not easy. “I could not even make a nice sound with my violin. It was so difficult!” she laughs.

However, her first experience did not discourage her from learning the delicate instrument. “I was so excited with my course and could not wait to be able to play well.”

When she was 10, Indonesia’s renowned violin maestro Idris Sardi took her in as his only apprentice. Sardi gave her a private lesson every week, but she had to practise at least three hours each day. During the holidays, she practised for five hours.

To this day, the maestro still spares time for Maylaffayza, who turns 31 this year. These days, the lessons are not as intense as they used to be, and the schedule is more flexible.

1994 was a memorable year for Maylaffayza. “It was my first performance and I had to play duet with the maestro Idris Sardi, my teacher”, she says. “It was an honour to play together with him, but on the other hand, it was big pressure too.”

Standing in front of hundreds of people with a well-known violinist was definitely not easy. “I was so nervous that I would make a mistake and disappoint him.”

Maylaffayza made her public debut as a solo violinist in 2000 when she performed for a variety show in RCTI, the leading private TV channel in Indonesia.

I still remember attending her performance in one of the cafes in Jakarta years ago. She played in that café weekly, with a male solo pianist. I became a regular customer there as I fell in love with her performance.

In February of 2007, I had the chance to see her perform again. I have to say that she gave a completely different performance than the ones I had seen before. She has found her own music and looks very comfortable, confident and expressive on stage.

When asked why she chose to be a professional violinist while her degree was a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Product Design from Jakarta’s Trisakti University, she says, “I decided to be a solo violinist rather than working as an industrial product designer because I love music, I love the violin.”

When I think of the word “violin”, the first few words that come to my mind will be classic, serious and elegant.

Maylaffayza agrees: “That is the image and I do not want to change that perception. Instead, I want to give more added values to that image.”

When Maylaffayza performs, she finds that the audience gets enthusiastic but don’t quite know how to respond to it.

By using R&B, hip-hop and rap as the rhythm of her music, she wants to convince people that listening to the violin can be fun, too.

“Violin music is for everyone, not necessarily for the older generation only”, she says. “I want the younger generation and teenagers to enjoy and appreciate it as well.”

Maylaffayza is currently preparing her first solo album. She will be the album producer, working in collaboration with music arranger Bobby Soerjadi and composer Maestro Sardi.

They have been working on the album for the past three years and are determined to release it this year.

“It will be a breakthrough in the music industry”, she says confidently.

“I used to listen to Michael Jackson back in the old days”, she admits. “Nowadays, I listen to Beyonce, Usher and Alicia Keys ? they inspire my music”.

“I am happy to see that Indonesians’ appreciation for instrumentalists have increased a lot. People are more enthusiastic nowadays. Unfortunately, they just do not know how to express their enthusiasm”, she explains.

“It is very different when people go to see a band or singer. They can be very expressive and sing along ? when seeing a performance by an instrumentalist, they do get enthusiastic but just do not know how to respond to it.”

Maylaffayza is one of the few Indonesian musicians who maximises the use of technology. She uses her blog (maylaffayza.multiply.com/) as one of her marketing tools.

“Blogging is not only fun, I use it effectively to make people aware of my music, my activity, my life”, she says.

“Apart from that, the readers get to know me personally. It creates a closer bond as I am the one who responds to them directly, using my own informal language”, she explains. “Blogs enable people to discuss things. It opens two-way communications whereas a website is only one way,” she adds.

Maylaffayza always embraces every moment of her life. She says “I am falling in love with my life every day. I do what I love and it is such a blessing for me. Not many people have that privilege.”