Rainbow Reading Gardens Greets Kids in Roe Village, Flores

Rainbow Reading Gardens finally opened in Roe Village, West Flores, Indonesia last Saturday, 5 December 2009! Woohooooo!!!

The rain didn't stop the kids to make their way heading to the pink house, where the Rainbow Reading Gardens is located. They walked with their umbrellas on their hands, rushing to the location, didn't want to be late as they were informed that the Reading Garden would start at 2pm. None of them was late. I was very impressed.

Rainbow Reading Gardens in Roe Village has 220 children books, consisting of comics, science comics, disney encyclopedia for children, Indonesian folktales, themed books for children - series about predators, etc, story books for children - Cinderella, Snow White, Barbie series, etc. Some of the collections are my long time favorite, such as: Tintin, Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooch. Also Doraemon, Monika and Friends and many many more! Seeing all these books, the kids "attacked" the bookshelf in less than a minute after I finished unpacking those books from my suitcase! :D

Since it was raining outside, we couldn't sit in the garden or under the trees at the corner of the yard. The kids gathered at a terrace of the pink house, sat on the floor, with books on their hands. Interestingly, they all read the books with a loud voice. So, forget about being in a library where everyone reads quietly. If you join us in Rainbow Reading Garden here, you'll be surrounded by kids reading each sentence from each book loud and sound! It felt like I was surrounded by a group of bees... hehehe... interesting!

Every kid had to report which book they want to read and report again when they finish. They have to return it to the bookshelf. Two girls helped me writing down the names and the books.
When it's all done, these girls started to read the books they have chosen: books about Princesses! I learned that most of the girls here love this type of book. Name it: Cinderella, Princess & the Frog Prince, etc. So girlie! ^-^

Some of the boys looked very serious reading Tintin. Another boy also was in full concentration reading... Winnie The Pooh!! Very very cute!!!

Time went fast. Suddenly it was 4pm. The owner of the pink house, who is also a teacher, asked me, "Mbak, it's already 4pm. Shall we end the reading session?". I looked around and saw that the kids were still enjoying the books. I said, "Hmm.. Let's give them 30 more minutes, Bu until 4.30pm". Out of the blue, there was a voice, "No.. no... make it at 5pm!", a boy screaming loudly. And some of his friends said, "Yes... at 5pm, pleaseee...". Another one said, "Don't close, please. We still want to be here". Ahhh...

We called it for the day at 4.30pm. Kids had to return the books to the shelf and they organized the books by themselves. Very neat! After that, I made a little chatting session with them.

"So, kids... are you happy with the books that we have here?", I asked.
"YEAAAHHHH... veryyyy happy!!!", they all screamed loudly.
"Ok... so.. now, tell me.. what was your favorite book of the day?", I asked again.
"A book about Crocodile!", one boy shouted.
"Why do you like that book?", I asked.
"I like it because now I know that apparently a crocodile can eat one whole deer at a time!", he said.
Everyone laughed.
"I love the book, titled 'In the darkness of a cold night'", said a girl
"Oh.. why do you love that book?", I asked
"Because the girl in the book.... ", then she started to tell me the story and everyone was listening... :) :) :)
In the end she said, "So, the girl finally made a confession to her Mom about everything that she did. She was being honest to her Mom".
The girl sitting next to her said, "Yes. I also love that book, the story is beautiful", agreeing her friend.

I asked again, "Who read Tintin?"
"Me.. me.. me!!", some boys replied
"Which Tintin did you read?", I asked
"Tintin in America!", a boy replied
"Ok... what's the name of Tintin's dog?", I asked
"Miloooooooooo", one boy screamed out loud
"Good answer!"

It showed that these kids really paid attention to the story of the books they just read :). And I personally enjoyed this little session, too as I could see their happiness reflected on their face. Everyone was smiling. And that kind of feeling is... priceless!

15 kids enjoyed the books in Rainbow Reading Gardens that afternoon. They are from 4th and 5th grade (10 - 11 years old). Next week, the teacher would inform students from 1st and 3rd grade, too. So, hopefully, there will be more kids coming to Rainbow Reading Garden next Saturday ;)

Thank you very much to everyone who has been very supportive to make this Rainbow Reading Garden happened. For all the donations (funds and books) from my friends as well as my... blog readers! As well as for the help in spreading the information about this project. Rainbow Reading Gardens wouldn't exist without all your help and supports. Thank you for your all your kindness and light-hearts.

Also thanks to: Gramedia - for the 25%-30% discount of the books that we purchased; Adit - for the discount plus the free Donald Duck comics; Kinantikomik.com for the discount; Pluz Bookshop for the help in getting those affordable Donald Duck comics; Lion Air - for the 50% discount of our excess baggage from Jakarta to Denpasar; Transnusa Airlines - for the 50% discount of our excess baggage from Denpasar to Labuan Bajo; Andrew Harvey - for helping me out in the field, bringing the books from Denpasar to Labuan Bajo, counting the books and going from one village to another!

Hopefully, what we do here will bring happiness for the kids in some of the remote villages in West Flores, Indonesia yah, guys!

Oyeah, currently we have 924 books in total. We are planning to open in Melo and Nampar Mancing villages in January and February next year! Yeah! Fingers crossed!

Let's greet these kids in the villages through books :)

The Secret of Happiness

It's rainy season in Labuan Bajo, West Flores, Indonesia.

In such a small town like this, what can you do when the rain starts to pour down heavily? One can't escape to a shopping mall, killing time by checking out products that are shown nicely in the glass windows, tempting the customers to buy by putting some manequins with ideal body postures so that any clothes will look good on those "human-sized-Barbie-dolls" but will be too big or too small if you put them on your own body because they stich some pins behind those manequins' bodies, or.. if one is tired of walking around in the freezing shopping mall, one can simply sit in one of the coffee shops sipping a cup of coffee which would cost him/her a fortune, just because it's branded.


There's no such thing in this small town. One can decide to stay at home or chill in a local restaurant. For me, I prefer to stay at home, reading a book in my bedroom, while listening some Bossanova music with the sound of the rain as the backsound. What a lovely afternoon.

And in that afternoon, I find some very nice words from the book that I'm reading read, titled "Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom. In one of the chapters, it discusses, "What is the secret of happiness?

And the answer is...

"Be satisfied"
"Be grateful"
"For what you have. For the love you receive. And for what God has given you".

I smile deeply and think how true it is.

Perfect Locations for the Rainbow Reading Gardens

Last weekend, I decided to visit Nampar Mancing (Pusut), Roe and Melo villages in West Flores, Indonesia, to search for locations for the Rainbow Reading Gardens.

It took me 2 hours from Labuan Bajo to Nampar Mancing village by motorbike. The ride was smooth and it felt very nice to breath real fresh air from the mountains. When me and Andy reached the village, the road path got worsen. There were a lot of holes on the asphalt. Not a pleasant ride, but I've experienced worse. So, it was ok. Surprisingly, the students of SDK Pusut (Pusut Elementary School) had been waiting for us! We were greeted by a teacher, then suddenly the students were all standing in line, facing to each other, and making a little space like an alley for me and Andy to walk in between. Wow! I felt so special! This is even better than the red carpet in Oscar ;)

We watched the students playing football and volleyball games. They're good. It was amazing to see them running around chasing the ball barefooted in a steamy day! I couldn't imagine having to run barefooted on a school's yard. Please bear in mind that the soccer field is far from a proper soccer field. It's basically an empty land, covered with small rocks and some grass here and there. Ouch. It must've been painful for them. Or maybe they're used to it.

I shared the idea of setting up a Reading Garden in the village. The Headmaster and teachers loved the idea. They would support it all the way. I asked their permission to use the school yard for reading areas. They didn't mind :). The school has a big yard with lots of trees, perfect for the concept of this Reading Garden :). I left the school with a big smile on my face. One list, checked.

Then, we went to the second village: Roe Village. If you read my previous post about the pink house, then you would know what I'm talking about. The pink house has a nice yard, in which it would be the perfect location for the Reading Garden! And.. guess what... the owner of the pink house loved the idea and said, "Of course you can use this yard for the Reading Garden. Being a teacher myself, it's been my dreams to have one, too. I have discussed this idea with several NGOs here, but none of them bought the idea. So, I'm so happy to hear about your plan!". I couldn't help not to smile. So nice of him. His wife is a teacher, too. Both of them were ex Head Master of SDK Roe (Roe Elementary School).

We didn't stay long in Roe Village. We made our way down to Melo Village. This is the location for the Reading Village in Melo:


Beautiful, isn't it?

The owner is the head of a local arts community in the village. I love his family. They always treat me as if I'm one of their family members. So lovely.
I've met the school headmaster, too. At first, he wanted the Reading Garden to be located in the school. But, after explaining to him that it's actually better to have it outside school to give a different scene and experience for the kids, he agreed. Plus, "Panorama", as this place is called, is such a beautiful place, with 2 wooden traditional houses with big windows overlooking stunning views of mountains and sea and green gardens plus a long bench on the side of the garden, perfect for kids to sit down and read books. Kids can also sit on the grass with traditional mattresses, reading books comfortably. I could even imagine it clearly in my mind, already :).

Let's hope that everything will go smooth with the plans! Let's make these kids travel the world through books that they will read in these Reading Gardens!

Any idea, supports and prayers are welcome, guys! :) Am so excited!

Reading Garden for Kids in West Flores

Ok, here's the summary of my previous post (the one that I wrote in Indonesian):

After my visit to three villages, which are Nampar Mancing (Pusut), Roe and Melo villages and see how simple their lifestyle is, it crosses my mind to do something for the kids. Living in such a remote area with limited facilities (the schools are in a poor condition), not even an electricity in Melo village - for example, you can imagine how difficult it is to have an access for books.

Thus, I come up with an idea to build a Mobile Reading Garden for the kids who live in the villages above. The objective is simple. To help stimulate kids' reading interests. How? First, through comic books and/or illustration books. Why? Because books that have many images/illustrations will be more attractive to kids, rather than text books. I remember when I was a kid, I started to grow my interest in reading through Donald Duck comics, which were delivered to my house every Tuesday.

This Mobile Reading Garden will be open every Saturday afternoon. Kids are not allowed to borrow the books overnight. They can only read them in the Reading Garden. Why? These kids usually have to walk through rice paddy from their house to the school. So, the chance of the books will get torn is big. Therefore, it would be better to keep all the books in the Reading Garden and have some afternoon reading moments together :).


Hopefully, with the presence of this Mobile Reading Garden, the kids would start falling in love with books. And oh, every 3-4 months, we will rotate the books from one village to another. For example, the books in Melo Village will be transfered to Roe Village, and so on and so forth.

If you want to support this project, you're most welcome! Please drop me email at nilatanzil@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to provide you with more detailed information!

Thank you, guys! :)

Hugs!
Nila

Taman Bacaan Keliling untuk Anak-Anak di Flores

My first Indonesian post. Will translate it in English soon :)

Dear friends,

Sebelumnya saya ingin sharing ke teman-teman tentang pengalaman saya mengunjungi beberapa desa di Flores Barat, antara lain desa Melo, desa Roe, desa Pusut dan desa Komodo. Desa-desa ini sangat sederhana dan gedung sekolah pun fasilitasnya sangat minim dengan kondisi yang memprihatinkan. Jangankan akses mendapatkan buku-buku bacaan, di desa Melo misalnya, listrik pun belum dapat dinikmati oleh penduduk.

Nah melihat betapa sederhananya kehidupan anak-anak di desa-desa di Flores Barat, timbul keinginan saya untuk membuat “Taman Bacaan Keliling”. Tujuannya adalah untuk membangkitkan minat baca anak-anak di desa. Caranya? Pertama adalah melalui buku-buku komik, karena dengan buku-buku bergambar inilah mereka akan mulai tertarik untuk mulai membaca (berdasarkan pengalaman pribadi saya, waktu kecil saya mulai tertarik membaca karena berlangganan majalah Donal Bebek yang datang setiap Selasa).

Rencananya, “Taman Bacaan Keliling” ini akan hadir pada hari dan jam tertentu, misalnya di desa Melo setiap Sabtu dari jam 10am-12pm, lalu berpindah ke desa Roe dari jam 2pm-4pm, dan seterusnya. Ini adalah jadwal tetap, sehingga anak-anak yang tinggal di desa yang bersangkutan akan menunggu-nunggu kedatangan “Taman Bacaan Keliling” ini pada hari dan jam yang sama setiap minggunya.

Buku-buku yang ada tidak boleh dibawa pulang, jadi hanya boleh dibaca di tempat, mengingat kalau dibawa pulang maka resiko hilang dan kotor lebih besar, karena biasanya mereka harus berjalan kaki dari rumah masing-masing dan melewati sawah yang becek atau berjalan menyusuri pantai.

Untuk Desa Komodo, karena lokasinya yang lumayan jauh dan berbeda arah dengan desa-desa yang saya sebutkan di atas, maka konsepnya akan berbeda. Rencananya di Desa Komodo, jika buku-buku yang tersedia ada banyak, maka bisa kita buat “Taman Baca Komodo” dimana anak-anak di desa Komodo dapat membaca di tempat yang sudah disediakan.

Mudah-mudahan dengan adanya “Taman Bacaan” ini, anak-anak di desa-desa tersebut dapat mulai jatuh hati pada buku dan minat membaca pun akan mulai tumbuh.

Untuk itu, jika teman-teman ingin membantu menyumbangkan buku-buku bacaan untuk anak-anak SD-SMP (terutama buku-buku komik seperti Donal Bebek, Tintin, Asterix Obelix, majalah Bobo, dsbnya), saya akan sangat berterima kasih sekali. Semakin banyak buku yang disumbangkan, semakin banyak anak-anak desa yang dapat menikmati buku-buku tersebut.

Nah, untuk teman-teman yang mau menyumbangkan buku, dapat dikirimkan ke alamat:

Jl. Taman Rawapening I No. 23, Bendungan Hilir, Jakarta Pusat.

Atau jika teman-teman tidak ada waktu, bisa kirim email ke nilatanzil@yahoo.com, supaya nanti saya atur kurir untuk mengambil buku-buku bacaan tsb.

Buku-buku yang terkumpul akan dikirim ke alamat saya di Labuan Bajo, Flores.

Teman-teman dapat juga menyumbang dalam bentuk dana.
Dana ini akan langsung saya belikan buku-buku komik bekas. Kebetulan saya sudah dapat contact penjual buku komik bekas dengan harga Rp 5.000/buku pada saat Pameran Buku di Istora Senayan Jakarta beberapa minggu yang lalu. Ketika saya menyatakan keinginan untuk membeli buku-buku tsb dan menjelaskan tujuan saya, si pemilik lalu mengatakan, “Oh boleh.. boleh.. kalo gitu nanti saya ikut sumbang beberapa buku juga deh!” Wah, baik hati sekali! :)

Untuk teman-teman yang ingin berpartisipasi dan menyumbang dalam bentuk dana, dapat kirim email ke nilatanzil@yahoo.com, supaya nanti saya kasih info lengkapnya.

Bantuan dalam bentuk apapun (buku, dana, jasa pengiriman Jakarta-Labuan Bajo, Flores) akan sangat berarti bagi adik-adik kita di Flores Barat.

Terima kasih banyak sudah membaca pesan yang panjang ini :). Mudah-mudahan ide sederhana ini dapat terlaksana dengan baik dan dapat membantu menambah warna dalam kehidupan adik-adik kita yang tinggal di pelosok daerah-daerah di Flores Barat.

love,
Nila Tanzil

Tim Forderer's Journal: Doing Good Deeds While Traveling

Tim Forderer's Journal: Doing Good Deeds While Traveling

Doing Good Deeds While Travelling

In the past two and half months, I've been living in West Flores, Indonesia. If you remember my videos, titled "Flying with Manta Rays (Part I and Part II)", shot in Komodo Island, that's where I've been spending my days now. Not on Komodo Island itself, but in a small town called Labuan Bajo (it has an airport, so no worries, I still could travel around, if I wanted to!) :D

Staying in such a small city, which there's only one main road that goes around the whole city, is a new thing for me. After living in big cities -- Jakarta, Amsterdam and Singapore -- now I'm experiencing a lifestyle of a small town. There's no shopping mall, cinema, theatre, spa, bar, let a lone a night club. Suddenly my lifestyle changes in a blink eye. Usually, in Jakarta or Singapore, I meet up with my friends in a restaurant/cafe/bar that's located in a high rise building and/or spend hours in a shopping mall with full air-conditioned. But this time, I spend hours chilling in a simple local restaurant that ice cream is considered as a luxury thing. A big change, that is.

During my stay here, I've met so many interesting people. Different professions from different countries. From local fishermen, scuba-divers, backpackers, journalists, businessmen, lawyers, bankers to a famous French actor! Spending time with people with different characters is one of the things that entertain me every single day. I've learned a lot from people's experiences and always amused by the way their live their life.

However, there's one person that makes me ponder by what he does. He's a private yacht captain. Tim Forderer is his name. He's been sailing all over the world for more than 10 years, going from one beautiful place to another. Many people envy him, of course. But what makes me envy him the most iswhat he does whenever he visits a place. He's not only enjoying the beauty of the place, but also doing a good deed for the locals. What does he do?

Ok, here's the explanation. One day, he asked me to join him going to a local school in Labuan Bajo. He needed a translator as he was going to give a presentation for the students. I nodded. To cut the story short, he shared his life story in front of around 150 students and managed to make everyone enthusiastic. What's so special about this presentation?


He told the students to Do What You Love. By doing what we love, we would be more likely to succeed and "rich". Not necessarily rich in material, but most importantly rich at heart :). He asked the students to think: "What do you enjoy doing most? What do you love to do in your spare time? What are the things that you're really good at?". The answers might lead us to the ideal profession in the future. Basically he wanted to encourage these high school students to do what they love to do and inspire them to make it comes true.

He said, "When I was a kid, I always loved sailing. My Dad taught me how to sail. When I was 8 years old, I won a competition as the best junior sailor in all over United States". Students got excited. "Also, when I was in college, I won the competition again as the best sailor in the States". "Whoaaaa...", I heard them mumbling with amusement...

"In my spare time, I always go on the boat and sail. That's all I did when I was young. But.. suddenly.. all my dreams of sailing fell apart". What happened?

"I was 18 years old by then and my girlfriend got pregnant". Sometimes we have to make a decision, in which, is contrary to what we'd love to do. "I had to drop all my dreams of sailing the world, took the first job I could get and be a responsible father for my kid. Years gone by, I ended up working as a sales person in the same company for 13 years!"

"Then my Dad passed away. I loved him dearly". Apparently, the death of his father, made him realized that life is too short to be wasted by doing something that he didn't really enjoy. He realized that he always wanted to sail the world. So, after discussing it with his Mom and family and got support from them, he decided to pursue his sailing career and be a full time sailor! Until now.. he's been sailing to cool places, such as Galapagos, Maldives French Polynesia, etc etc... and he's enjoying every minute of it...

In the past two months, he decided to start giving something for the society. How? By giving presentation on Do What You Love and encourage the youth to reach their dreams, also by visiting schools in remote areas and giving some donations -- books, pens, medicine, etc. I accompanied him going to 2 schools in 2 different villages nearby Labuan Bajo, Flores. And I'm glad I did. I was so overwhelmed to see the facial expressions of the teachers whenreceiving the donations. They didn't expect the visit or the gifts! And the kids? Ohhh.. they're sooooo lovely! They greeted us as if we're big time celebrities! :D

The first school was SDK Roe at Roe Village. When we got there, the teachers were having a meeting with teachers from some other schools. We only talked a bit with the school headmaster, before being invited to have a cup of coffee and taro cake (it's a traditional cake from West Manggarai, Flores) in a cute corner with wooden bench and a stone table under a tree. So cute! What a lovely coffee break! At the far end of the yard, there's a cute pink house, very clean and neat. It's a house of the school headmaster. I wonder whether pink is her favorite color! Once I had a dream to have a pink house, but I dropped it down coz I thought it would be too tacky. Hihihi... but the house in front of me was definitely cute, it looked like a Barbie house with a lot of green plants in the terrace :). She definitely lives in her dream house, I thought. And I wonder whether her husband complaint at the first place, for the idea of living in a pink house! :)

We continued our trip to SDK Pusut at Pusut Village. We parked the car nearby the school. There were some students playing around in the school yard. As soon as we stepped our feet on the big open space school yard, hundreds of kids running toward our direction! Wowwww... "What's going on here?", I thought. Soon after, we were surrounded by hundreds of kids who were starring at us as if we're aliens coming from planet Mars. Some of them starred at us without blinking, some of them smiled, some of them were brave enough to greet us and said, "Hello...". We greeted back, "Hello... apakabar?" (apakabar = how are you). It was such an overwhelming feeling to be surrounded by hundreds of kids. I loved it.

The school was having a meeting with students' parents in a meeting hall. There was an Indonesian Catholic priest, who has been living in Australia for 8 years, sharing his experiences to the locals on his views of living in Australia - the good and sad stories, lessons learned, etc. Everyone, including students on the 6th grade, listened to him carefully. Sometimes they nodded, too. Captain Tim and I joined the session for a while, before taking a walk to the rice field. Surprisingly, when we returned from the rice field, a bunch of teachers had already gathered in a house and they invited us to have lunch together! Wow... so nice of them! They welcomed us and expressed how happy they were to have us there. So sweet, isn't it?

I felt like I was invited to a small feast. A table full of different local dishes looked very tempting to me. They also gave us a glass of local wine. "Drinking local wine in such a hot day? Maybe not", I thought. Apparently, serving local wine to guests is part of their culture. It's a symbol of respect. I tried a sip, but unfortunately didn't like the taste. It tasted a bit sour, pretty strong, with a bit of coconut flavour.

We had a good time chatting with the school headmaster and teachers there. I asked what was needed for the school. Computer and sports uniform for the school's sports team were on the top priority list. When we exchanged numbers, I asked the teachers, "Do you have email address?". They smiled and said, "That's the thing, Mbak Nila (mbak means sister). We have no computer here, let alone having internet access". I felt so stupid after asking that question. Shoot!!! Silly girl.


The visits to these schools made me ponder... We could help others who are in need anytime and anywhere. Even when we're travelling. We could spend a few hours of our trip to visit remote places and plant some good deeds. A small thing for us could mean the world for someone who needs it. Let's make the world a better place to live in...

I was so glad to witness that good people still exist. Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience with me, Captain Tim. And thank you for your efforts in making this world a better place for us to live in... :)

Mola-Mola Moments

It's a video that I took while diving in Crystal Bay, Nusa Penida, Bali on July 25th, 26th and August 1st, 2009.
We saw 8 mola-mola (some people call it "sun fish", some call it "moon fish") in total. So lucky!!!

What is mola-mola?
Mola-mola, some people call it "Sun Fish", some people call it "Moon Fish". It's a type of fish who lives in around 300 meters depth underwater (of course!). It has a weird shape, like a disc. Big, yet thin. It has two fins on the top and bottom, instead of on each side of his body!
The mouth is very small compared to its body size. And it makes this fish look very cute! :D

In July to October, people have a chance to greet this special fish in Crystal Bay, Nusa Penida, Bali. It swims up to a shallower place to get his body clean. Spa time! ;) If we are lucky, we can see it in 10-12 meters depth, sometimes even shallower. Sometimes we have to search for them in 40 meters depth and swim against the strong current.

This fish loves to be in the cold water. That's why we could see it during July-October, because the water in Nusa Penida gets colder, around 20 degrees Celcius. Sometimes it could go even lower: 17 degrees! Brrrrrrr!!! Definitely cold for a tropical girl like me... hehehe.. :p

I considered myself very lucky when diving in Nusa Penida on July 25th, 26th and August 1st, 2009. Why?
This was actually my third attempt of mola-mola searching. Last year, I dove in the same site, hoping to see mola-mola, but was unlucky. Check my story here.
But this year, woowwwwww... it was like a mola-mola festive!!! I saw 8 of them in total!!! My heart beats faster when seeing this fish! If only I could jump around underwater, I would! :D

The first mola-mola sighting, we saw it at around 40 meters depth. The second one was also at 40 meters depth. He was there alone, didn't even move. We were waiting, hoping that he would come toward us, but then he didn't. So, Nicky, my dive master, decided to come closer. We swam to him, it was amazing!!! The mola-mola looked at us and swam around us, making a round trip! Sooooo nice!!!!!!! And that's when my camera went error!!! Aaarrrgggghhhh!!! We were at 46.6 meters and my camera housing could only go up to 40 meters. Beyond that, it couldn't handle the water pressure and it made all the buttons pressing the camera and made it to an error mode right away! Damnnnnn!!!
It was still amazing, though. There was no other diver around us (me, Andy - my buddy, Nicky - the dive master). It felt like having a private moment with the famous sun fish!

The next day (Sunday, 26th), we did our first dive in Manta Point and saw 3 manta rays swimming around at the cleaning station for more than half hour! Wooohoooo!!! So damn cool! The water was freezing, tho. It was 21 degrees, but it felt colder.. brrrrrrr!!! It definitely woke me up! Hahahhaa...

The second dive, we went to Crystal Bay again and saw 2 mola-mola. Wooohooooo! Just when I descended, I heard a group of diver making some noise. Hmm.. there must be mola-mola around, but I didn't see anything. Then, suddenly, I saw a big mola-mola in the blue! Whoaaa!!
The second mola-mola, we saw it in 35 meters... this time, I had an up close and personal moment with him. I was so close, I could even kiss him! Hihihi... I swam next to him, under him, and moved to his other side. That's when I realized how thin this fish was!!! Aahhhhh.... soooooooo wonderful!!! And this time, my camera worked! Yeaahhhhh!!! If you watch the video above, it was when I recorded the mola-mola in a siluette with the sun above. Nice color, isn't it? ;)

The weekend after, I was still in Bali and I dove again in Bali. Couldn't get enough of it!
This time, we did 3 dives in Crystal Bay. hihihi... and... we saw 4 mola-mola again in total!!! Yeaaaayyyyyyyyy!!!

The first dive, we saw 3 mola-mola. As soon as I saw the first one, I gave my camera to Nicky and gave him a sign to take picture of me with my new lover! Hahaha...
After having a photo shoot, we swam again and saw another mola-mola... ehm.. two of them!!! (don't be jealous, please). Omigod! It was unbelievable.. being with them, watching them surrounded by long banner fish and some other small fish, swimming and playing around with each other... whoaaa!! Life is good!!!
There was no other divers around us, too! Another private mola-mola show! Wow, so lucky!!!

On the last dive, we saw 1 mola-mola in 40 meters depth. This time, I was so close to him, too and I could even see his eye checkin' me out! Hahaha... sooo cute!!! This was the one in the last part of my video. Take a good look at his eye, he was staring at me, wasn't he? :D LOL

That was my Mola-Mola moments. Had a big smile for more than a week and my mind was full of the image of this cute fish every time! What an amazing experience and perfect weekends getaway! :) *big smile*

My Li'l Niece is a Magician!

I'm so proud of my little niece, Jessica Olivia, 8 years old. Recently, she's been performing on TV as... a junior magician!!! How cute is that?! ;)

Her live performances were aired on TPI (Televisi Pendidikan Indonesia), one of TV stations in Indonesia, on a show called Super Kidz every Sunday at 1-3pm starting from June 28th til July 12th, 2009. For this TV show, she's known as Princess Jessica ;).

I recorded this video last Sunday (July 5th), when watching her live performance at the TPI's studio. Thought it would be nice to share it with you, so that you also can enjoy her magic tricks! ;)

Wanna see her live performance on TV?
Turn on your TV and switch it to TPI channel on Sunday, 12 July at 13.00-15.00.
She'll definitely amuse you... as she does to me!
(and pssttt... I often ask her the secrets of the tricks... but.. she never opens her mouth to reveals them!) hahaha.. so cute!!!

Nonton yaaaah, teman-teman... :)

Citizen of The World

I've finally made up my mind
After living in Singapore for over 1 year plus half year of traveling around South East Asia, I've decided to ship all my stuff back to Jakarta, my lovely city in Indonesia

I felt a bit sorry for all my stuff, because they've been laying around in the storage room for almost half year... didn't know where to go as I've always traveled around and couldn't made up my mind on where to stay next...

But this time, I've made a decision
Will tell you later when everything is fixed ;)

I spent two days packing all my stuff in Singapore, preparing them to be shipped back to Indonesia
Honetly, I didn't expect that I would have so much stuff after living in the "lah Land for almost one and a half year! Whoaaa!!!

Anyway... on my "last night" here... I thought I would feel sad... but HELL NO!!!
It's weird.
If you know me better, then you would think that I'm easily touched with a melancholy situation
I thought I would be
But.. surprisingly, I didn't drop any single drop of tears...
Whoa.. that's something!
Of course I would miss my friends in Singapore, but.... I know that I have MORE of good friends in Jakarta! Yayyyy!!!
And I think, as I grow older and more matured (I hope)... I think this is just a phase of life that I have to go through... another city goes, another city comes... c'est la vie... ;)
And I'm so looking forward for what life has to offer for me!
Omigod... I'm so excited!

....

:) Good bye Singapore... somehow I feel that I'm still a part of you... at least until my residence permit is expired! ;D
But... above all, I've had a wonderful year here... it's definitely an easy place to live for expatriates in South East Asia! Seriously :)

A Memorable Birthday in Luang Prabang

(Laos trip: April 21st - May 2nd, 2009)

Note from my travel journal on April 29th :)

This year, I decided to spend my birthday far from the usual birthday routines: party, dinner, wine and cocktails, disco lights, etc etc. This time, I spent my birthday in Luang Prabang, Laos. A city that I've never been, a country that I've never visited before...

For my birthday, I've made a plan to visit Pak Ou Cave and Kuang Si, the biggest waterfall in Luang Prabang. Let's get wet, baby!!! :)

How to go to Pak Ou Cave?

Well, there are a lot of travel agents arranging a half day tour to this cave. One can go to the "Falang Place", which is Sisavangvong Road and pick one of the agents there. I bought the half day tour ticket (70,000 Kip) from Lao Discovery Tour. Actually it doesn't matter which agent you choose, because you'll end up on the same boat together with people who bought theirs from the other tour agents anyway! :D

It takes about 1.5 hour by slow boat to get to the cave. The boat strolls down the Mekong River, slowly... and the machine is roaring loudly. Thank God I brought my ipod!
The water of the Mekong River isn't clean. It looks like a chocolate milk, yet it doesn't smell, unlike the Ciliwung River in Jakarta :p. And the scenery is just beautiful.

At first, we stop at a small village where they made "Lao Lao", Lao rice wine which contains 15 % of alcohol and 50% of alcohol. I try both and almost choke when sipping the 50% of alcohol one! It is so damn strong! I wonder who could drink such thing?

There are some small shops selling hand-woven scarfs. It's one of the activities that generates income for the locals here.

We continue our trip by boat and finally we reach the famous Pak Ou Cave. In front of the cave lays a beautiful lime stone cliff. Very pretty.

Pak Ou Cave or Tham Thing or Thousands Buddha Cave itself is located inside a cliff at the bank of Mekong River. Interesting, isn't it? ;) There are aprroximately 4,000 Buddha statues in this cave, as the locals say. The statues are scattered everywhere, in different sizes and types. It's hard to take pictures without a tripod (and yes, stupidly, I forget to bring my tripod!).

The cave looks amazing. Actually, there are two caves in this area. The lower cave is bigger, but easier to reach. The other cave is located on the top of the hill, so it's a bit tiring to go up. You have to climb up some stairs, but don't worry... it's doable :). On the way up, there are some little girls selling small birds in the cages. These small girls are extremely cute, it's very hard to say NO to them. Yet, I managed to say, "No, thanks", because somehow I think, after I release the birds, they might return to the owner and she/he will sell them again! :p

The sun is steaming hot, we're all sweating like pigs! However, when we reach the cave at the top of the hill, suddenly the air gets cooler. There's a big gate at the mouth of the cave, once we get in, we can feel the air is a bit damp. Walking further in, the light becomes lesser and lesser until it's pitched dark. Hmm.. scary. I can't see anything. There are some Buddha statues in the cave, but it's too dark to see, so I decide to walk back to the main entrance.

The locals still use these caves to pray. At one corner, there are some flowers and incense sticks at the feet of a big Buddha statue. It must be nice to pray here, in the cave, overlooking the Mekong River with a clear blue sky above, far from the civilization. So peaceful and quiet.. what a magical place to contemplate... (would be perfect without tourists around.. and that includes me, as I'm a tourist, too!) :D Lol.

The next destination is Kuang Si Waterfall. Since it's too hot outside, I tell Jeff, my friend whose also traveling here, to go to the waterfall later in the afternoon. I'll be cranky when the temperature is too hot and I don't want to be cranky on my birthday. Hehehe.. I just want to relax and enjoy the day, even though the temperature is 36-37 degrees Celcius outside! And.. no breeze whatsoever. Ouch!

When the sun gets friendlier, we rent a tuk-tuk to go to the Kuang Si Waterfall. We bargain the price and manage to agree at 130,000 Kip/return. It takes us 1 hour to get there from the "Falang Place". The tuk-tuk for waterfall is different from the "normal" tuk-tuk. This one is actually a mini bus, like a Honda Carry. We realize later the day that there's no way for the "normal" tuk-tuk with two seaters only to go to the waterfall, since it's a looooong way and the roads are ups and downs.

On the way to the waterfall, I ask the tuk-tuk driver to stop at Hmong Village first. Hmong Village is famous for its hand-woven scarfs and other handicrafts. It's a small village, whereas the old ladies still wear traditional costume. Very nice. Some young girls also wear traditional costume with a colorful hat, however, I think these girls do it only to attract tourists. During my travel in Laos, I've never been "attacked" by the locals whose trying to sell things, but this time, I experience it! The girls and the mothers are very persistent in selling their stuff until at one point they become too pushy. They're very materialistic, too. I take some pictures of the girls and they react, "You take photo of me, you buy my stuff". Omigod. There's nothing free on this planet, even in such a small village in Laos!

A cute girl whose dressed up in traditional costume even gets a bit hostile to me. She forces me to buy her stuff. I would buy, if the stuff is good. But, she sells old souvenirs, you can tell from the condition. In the end, I agreed to buy a small wallet. Unfortunately she doesnt have a change and I don't have small bills. She forces me to buy a bracelet for a change. When I say, "I don't want the bracelet". She frowns. I give her some money in the end as a token, because I take some pictures of her. Knowing that I don't buy anything, her mother yells at her. Damn, she's scary. Actually, I feel bad for her, but I don't like the way they force me to buy their stuff. That's not nice. People in the night market are so much nicer! They never force you to buy anything from them!

I love the kids in the village. Omigod, they're so cute! They're running around barefooted. One boy is wearing an underwear only, showing his thin body and a colorful necklace hanging on his neck! Hahaha... so cute! Another boy, around 5 years old, playing with baby ducks happily :D. A bunch of girls get so excited by me taking pictures of them. These girls aren't the ones that sells souvenirs. They're very cute and even waving at me when I have to leave. Oh... they're such lovely angels!

We then continue our journey, passing by the mountains, the air is getting cooler and fresher. Finally, we reach the area of Kuang Si waterfall. There are two paths to get to the waterfall: the trekking path and the asphalt. We're not sure which one to choose, but the guard at the main entrance pointing at the asphalt path, so there we go. The path is very clean. It's surrounded by huge trees, it feels like in a forest. So nice!

We go straight following the path until we get into a square. We continue walking and there we find a bridge on top of a blue lagoon!!! Whoaaaaaa!!! SOOOOO PRETTY!!!
And when I look on the left side, there is the... WATERFALL!!! Wowwww... The waterfall is so high and stunning. Am glad we make it here! Am I in paradise?

We walk up as we want to see the top of the waterfall. Some people say that we can swim at the top. Ok, if you're not ready for a non-stop steep climbing in the middle of a forest, I would suggest you to stay at the bottom of the waterfall. But, if you really want to go up, don't forget to bring two bottles of mineral water with you. You'll need it. Trust me.
Plus, be careful if it rains, coz it'll get slippery.
There's a small lake at the top. We're not sure how to go to the top of the waterfall. Didn't realize that we actually already at the top! Hahaha...

Some "Falang" (read: foreigners) swim at the bottom of the waterfall, even though there's a sign saying: "Do Not Swimming Area". (I'm sure they mean: Don't Swim Here). I'm actually well prepared with bikinis, but then I decided not to swim. I believe, the sign wouldn't be there with no meaning, right? :) I'd rather play safe, especially when traveling! :)

After the adventurous journey to the top of the waterfall, we head back to the city center. I pay a visit to the small school that Wang Tho showed me a few days ago, chat with the teachers and Phou Vid, a novice from the temple of Wat Sop (wat means temple). Surprisingly, Phou Vid remembers me! He says, "We met yesterday. You took pictures of me". Wow, good memory, young boy! :)

Phou Vid speaks very good English compared to the other novices and monks. And it seems he enjoys chatting with strangers, too! He's so young and nice. Say, the English teacher, says that Phouvid was his student, but now he's taking Spanish and Japanese language classes. Wow! Good for him! And please note that he's only 16 years old!
He becomes my good friend in Luang Prabang. I ends up chatting with him almost everyday during a week of my stay there :).

Today, I try a special dish for dinner from Luang Prabang, in which can't be found elsewhere in Laos. It's called Khai Phan. It's seaweed from the Mekong River. When you eat it, don't think of the river, coz then you'll lose your appetite :p. Hehehe... But I really like Khai Phan. It's spicy! And.. they serve it with chili paste, too... When I taste the chili paste... errr... I thought, "There's something unusual in this paste". A taste that isn't familiar to me. As a vegetarian, I have to be very careful with what I eat and order. I ask the waiter and find out that the chili paste is actually made of a.... BUFFALO SKIN!!! YUCK YUCK YUCK!!!!!!

And this dish is under the Vegetarian List in their menu!!! Damn!

I guess I just get a birthday surprise from the restaurant. BINGO! :D Hahaha...

What a lovely birthday I have :). I feel so lucky and blessed. Thank you, God for all the adventures and nice places that I've been all these years. I hope to see more of Your artworks :) and appreciate more of every dust I step along the way...


Luang Prabang, April 29th, 2009.

On Love

I just arrived back from having my favorite Sangria drinks at the Screening Room in Club Street, then enjoyed Swiss fondue at La Fondue in Dempsey Hill, Singapore. It's a lovely night, catching up with nice people :) and had good conversation until my taxi arrived.

A lot of taxi drivers in Singapore are very talkative. Some of them are nice, but a lot of them are annoying. They just can't stop talking... and please bear in mind, they don't speak English. They speak Singlish (Singaporean-English, it's a specific accent that Singaporeans have whenever they speak English). Even after almost a year and a half living in Singapore, I still have some difficulties to understand these taxi drivers. They speak so fast, my goodness. And they speak in such accent, in which, for foreigners, you really have to listen carefully or ask them twice or three times until you understand what they're saying.

I enjoy talking to most people, be it taxi drivers, restaurant waiters, security guards, whoever. And tonight, I had an interesting conversation with my taxi driver. He's Portuguese. He used to serve the army and left in 1971 (I wasn't even born yet!). When he drove me out of the Dempsey area, he told me that he knows the area by heart. Dempsey was used to be his base when he was still in the army and now it's magically transformed into one of the hangout places to chill out in Singapore. There are a lot of restaurants with nice ambiance. I personally love this area for brunch and dinner. Nice place.

The taxi driver said that he also works as a windsurfing coach during the day. Wow! That's so cool! He then gave me some tips on how to learn windsurfing: "Just lean back, use your weigh to pull up the sail". Aha! Good tip, uncle!! (note: in Singapore, people use "Uncle" and "Auntie" to address older people).

He then asked me, "What do you do in Singapore?"
I said, "I used to work here, Uncle... but now I'm taking a break to travel".
"Nice", he said.

He then asked me what my plans are, so I told him a bit of my plans :).
Then he started to talk about his family...

He said, "You're a nice girl. You have to take care of yourself, don't let people use you".
I replied, "What do you mean, Uncle?"
"Yes, don't let people use you. I've been used by other people, even until now".

He then explained that his wife is "using" him. They've been married for 11 years, but for all these years he has to sleep in a different room! What???!!! That's weird.
The wife didn't let him to sleep in her room together. Only if she needed to have sex, in which, it happens only once a month or twice a month at the most. Even when it happens, she always says, "Do it quick... quick.. quick!"
"And she never treats me nicely. She treats me like a maid".

I asked, "Why did you marry her, then?"

He said, "I married her out of a pity. Her husband left him and she was alone with her son and was so wrecked. We were still friends by then. I took care of her for five years, but nothing happened between us. Then, I decided to marry her. She wanted to have a kid, so I took her for a honeymoon, she got pregnant and we have a kid now. I was hoping by having a kid, her attitude towards me would change. But that never happens. Sometimes I feel like I don't want to go home".

"If I knocked on her door, she would yell at me and said: What? You want sex, ha? You want sex, you go to Geylang lah! Stop bothering me!!" (Geylang is a red light district in Singapore, whereas people can have "fun" with prostitutes) .

Omigod. I was shocked. Poor guy.

He said, "We've been married for 11 years, but I've never hugged her for more than 5 minutes. She always rejects me". He went on, "She's using me to raise her own son. She never loves me. She just wants my money, but treats me like shit".

"I wish I found someone who love me", he mumbled.

In the end, he said, "So... if there's someone who love you, don't waste it. Don't waste the love. Don't wait. Just go for it, otherwise you might lose it".

...

Hmm.. tonight's conversation with the taxi driver makes me think that when it comes to love, we shouldn't take it for granted. It's such a special feeling and when it happens, let's embrace it. Sometimes we think that our career is more important, but then... it means nothing if we don't have someone to love and who love us.

Maybe now it's time for the warrior of the light to fight for love.

Love at the first sight with Luang Prabang

(Laos trip: April 21st - May 2nd, 2009)

Notes from my travel journal :)

Am sitting at the terrace of Mekong Fish Cafe, by the Mekong River. It's raining outside, so I'm taking a break from walking around to chill and soak up the relaxed vibe of the city...

My first impression of Luang Prabang is.... "WHAT A CUTE CITY!"... I love it!
Luang Prabang is very cute with a lot of French colonial houses scattered around every corner of the city, small alleys with bougainvillea flowers in front of the houses, cafes with dim lights and cute outdoor terraces. So lovely! It feels like I'm in one of the European cities. Seriously.

I spend my first day there walking around the city center, in which located nearby the great Mekong River. I find a lot of temples as I walk along (can't remember the names, as I think there is a temple in every 10 meters! hahaha). There are a number of cute cafes, bars and restaurants around the area, too. I forget how many times I say, "I love this place" that afternoon! :D

As I walk around, at one point, I see three young monks chillin' in a temple. They're all wearing bright orange robes wrapping their thin bodies with their bald head shining every time they're exposed to the sun. I ask for a permission to take some photos of them. They nod. One of them asks me, "Sorry... where do you come from?". I reply, "Indonesia". He asks me again, "How long are you going to be here in Luang Prabang?"
Then the conversations start. His name is Wang Tho, 17 years old. He's been living in a temple for 1 year. He's actually a novice, not a monk. To be a Buddhist monk, the age should reach 20 years old first. Aha! I didn't know that! :)
He speaks broken English, but I admire his willingness to learn and his courage to greet people to practice his English. He offers, "Do you want to see my school?"


We walk to the back yard of the temple and there I find a simple school building with 5 class rooms and a "teacher's room". In one of the classes, there is one old computer. Wang Tho says that he studies English at this school in the morning, from 10am to 11.30am. He introduces me to his teacher, named Say, whose English is perfect! Another teacher, Pheng, joins us for a chat. They're so nice and welcome to foreigners... and... they even invite me to join their English class the next morning as a guest teacher! Wow!!!

I notice Laotians are very open, warm, friendly, nice, sincere and genuine. Love 'em! Even the kids aren' shy to greet us and ask with their broken English, "What your name?"

Wang Tho invites me to come to the temple in the morning to witness the rituals of collecting the "alms". It starts at 5.30am at the temple, then at 6am all the monks and novices will walk around the neighborhood to collect alms from the locals. It's a sacred ritual in Luang Prabang and has been around for hundreds years. The locals usually give sticky rice, but I see some people give away biscuits and fruits, too. It's beautiful :).

And that becomes my ritual, too in Luang Prabang. Almost every morning I wake up early and run to the street to witness this sacred moment. Hundreds of monks in orange robes walk down the street barefooted carrying a beautiful sticky rice bowl on their right hand. The locals sit on their knees on the street in front of their houses, giving away sticky rice to hundreds of monks that stand in line. Witnessing this ritual in the morning, reminds me that I should give more to the others and think that no matter what happens, the nature will take care of us anyway :). I learn this from the monks. They eat from the alms, the food given by the people. And they say, everyday, there's always someone delivering food to the temple. How nice is that? :)

After saying goodbye to Wang Tho, I continue walking around and decide to enter a small alley. Passing by some local houses, I'm very surprised that the alley leads me to a beautiful temple at the end! Wooowwww!!! It's Wat Xieng Thong, the oldest and most beautiful temple in Luang Prabang! And.... the jackpot isn't finish yet.... there's a festival going on there! Wooohoo!!!

Some food vendors selling Lao food - gluten and sesame seeds wrapped in a lettuce or guava leaf; fried noodle; and some other snacks. I try one of them and the lady wants to give it to me for free! How nice these people are! I give her 2,000 Kips instead. I know it would cost less, but I appreciate her kindness...

There's a big tent in the hall and a lot of people pray in the tent. I come closer to the tent to see what's going on. Ah! There's a Buddha statue in the middle of the altar, with a lot of red candles and flowers in front of it. People pray for the Buddha and.... bath him! This is a special festival, called "Pin Ma Lai" festival, which means Lao New Year festival. They celebrate it in mid April and have the showering Buddha ritual for 5-6 days. I read about this festival in my guide book. Thought I would miss it, but... hey... how lucky I am, the festival is still going on! :)

At the top of Buddha statue, there's a long dragon like pipe. People climb up the stairs with a silver bowl filled with water, pour the water at the edge of the dragon pipe, then the water will flow to the middle part and drop right at the head of the Buddha! Very interesting!
One of the monks offers me to take parts in showering the Buddha, too. But, I'm wearing my short pants at that time, I don't think it's polite :P. (who knows I would end up at this beautiful temple and an annual festival? I'm not prepared at all in terms of costume wise. If I knew, I would've wearing a long pant or a long skirt to respect the whole rituals!)

After chatting with some monks and novices there, I leave the beautiful temple and continue my sightseeing. I walk down Sakarine Road and arrive at Sisavangvong Road. This street is full of restaurants and bars. As locals call this street "A Falang Place" -- Falang (it's actually Farang, but Laotians cannot pronounce "R") is a term they use for foreigners -- I can see why tourists love to hang out at Sisavangvong Road. The restaurants and bars here are stylish, with nice lightings... in some places, they use candles in the gardens, making the whole street look romantic and pretty :). Some bars have modern interior with minimalist touch, some boutiques are designed in such a way, making them look exotic with Buddha statues here and there. Fancy. Jewelery shops, internet cafes and travel agencies are cramped on this street, too. You can basically find everything here. It's the main street for Falang, indeed! LOL.

After having dinner at this "Falang street", I wander around the night market. It's glowing at night, very pretty! The area of the night market is quite a long way down. Honestly, I don't expect that. Most of the stalls sell same stuff. It's a high competition going on here! :p Quilts, bags, bracelets, silver rings, make up pouches, scarfs, wallets, t-shirts, sandals, you name it. Most of the bags, wallets and scarfs are hand-woven. Very pretty and girlie :).

I call it a day, after my eyes are refreshed with those nice and colorful cute stuff at the night market. My feet are getting tired, almost screaming for help. It's time to sleep and rest. Someone has to wake up early tomorrow to witness the sacred morning alms ritual!
Good night, Luang Prabang. Think am in love with you.

V for Vientiane: Eat, Sleep, Drinks and Dance

(Laos trip: April 21^st – May 2^nd, 2009)

Spending four days in Vientiane enables me to get a big picture of the city. Laotians sitting on the grass in small parks, chatting or just watching people pass by; tourists wandering around by foot bicycle and sweating like pigs under the steamy sun; backpackers carrying their big backpacks, walking down the streets looking for accommodation; shop owners trying to be busy by counting how much profit they earn for a month using a simple calculator; and… not to mention… kids running around barefooted in the park with their clothes that look like haven’t been washed in ages.

Unlike other big cities in Southeast Asia, Vientiane has such a slow pace. You’ll feel it as soon as you get here. The city will hypnotize you and make you feel relax… free from the hustle and bustle the big cities have to offer.

In the evening, I love to walk around Nam Phu area with an old fountain in the center. Around the fountain, there are some restaurants and cafes located in old French colonial houses. They’re very cute. This square is the most romantic part of the city, I think. Somehow it reminds me of Munster, a small city in Germany that famous for its Christmas markets during the Xmas season.

I walk around this square almost every evening, on my way to look for a place for dinner. Every time I pass this square, there are always young people hanging out at the fountain, laughing and joking around with their fellows. One night, I was taking some photos of the square, some Lao boys came to me and asked me to take picture of them! Hahaha… See how friendly and open they are to strangers?

Food

For meals, you can try some of the restaurants around the fountain at Nam Phu square. It’s very nice to spend the evening here, soaking up the romantic vibe of the square. I try an Indian restaurant, called Rashmi’s, that located in the intersection of Samsenthai street and Pangkham street, a block away from the square. The restaurant offers fusion, a mixed of Indian and Chinese food. My food was just ok. For a place that looks stylish for Lao standard, I expected to get a better food. However, the price is reasonable: 130,000 Kips for 3 different dishes.

If you’re brave enough, try Lao food at local restaurants. You can tell from the numbers of locals having lunch there. If there are a lot of locals sitting at the resto, most likely the food is good. One day, I find a simple restaurant located nearby the market. The resto is quite spacious, but it’s very simple and far from stylish. However, the plastic tables and chairs are filled with locals having their lunch here. And… surprisingly, each table has NOODLE SALAD as their dish!!! Hahaha… A table usually shares a plate of noodle salad for two or three persons or even more. One table shares it with five people! Wow. Apparently the portion is quite generous here.. and most probably, this resto is famous for its noodle salad. Seeing the phenomena going on here, of course I order the same dish. And yes, I have to admit, it’s GOOD!!! Too bad this resto doesn’t have a latin name and I can’t read Lao character, but it’s located at the Eastern part of Th Fa Ngum. You won’t miss it. It’s the biggest local resto, located across the street of the Mekong River. For a plate of noodle salad, it will cost you less than 10,000 Kips. Good value for good quality and… quantity! :D

In the evening, there are plenty of local food vendors at the bank of Mekong River. Each dish will cost you around 20,000 to 25,000 Kips. I order a plate of fried noodle salad one night. Apparently, it’s a dish of what we called “Kweetiaw Goreng” back home! LOL. I prefer the “normal” noodle salad then.

Kop Chai Deu is a restaurant/café/bar that never sleeps. It’s located nearby the fountain at Nam Phu square and always crowded, be it in the morning, lunch time, dinner time or late. This place can be a restaurant, café and bar at the same time. It caught my eyes, because it looks very pretty with a nice outdoor area surrounded with trees and flowers. I spend my first afternoon there and order a Lao salad for lunch. In the menu, it says: mixed vegetable with Lao sauce. When the food arrives, there’s a weird-looking chili paste in a small bowl. I smell it and almost have to puke. Yuck. It’s actually a chili paste mixed with fermented fish!! Oh, gross. Being a vegetarian since I was born, I’m very sensitive with any kind of non-vegetarian dishes. I think this chili paste should be served in the next Fear Factor episode!

Drinks

On another night, I spend my evening there (Kop Chai Deu) again, sipping glasses of Lao style of ‘Sangria’. It comes in a pitcher, full of mixed fruits. It tastes sweeter than Sangria, but after a while, you’ll get used to it. The second floor of Kop Chai Deu has indoor and outdoor areas. I love the outdoor area. It’s a big balcony decorated with Christmas lights. There’s a small bridge that connects the outdoor area with a building next door and it looks very cute with bougenville trees all around. Just like the other nice restaurants in town, Kop Chai Deu is also located in a French colonial house. That night, after drinks, I play pool table with some locals. Tourists vs locals. Omigod… I thought the game would be just for fun, but apparently, the locals don’t want to lose. They really try hard to distract my concentration every time I try to hit the balls. Geez. Probably, they just don’t want to lose face by playing against a girl. After what it seems like a never-ending game, my friend and I win. Yayyyyy!!! It’s fun though.

Apart of the Nam Phu square, another area to chill is along the Mekong River. The street is called Th Fa Ngum. I notice that there are two names written on the street signage. One is written in Lao character (similar to Thai character) and the other one in Latin, but using French language, such as Rue du XXX. Interesting, eh? The French influence is still pretty strong here. This can be seen from their food, too. You can always find French baguette in all restaurants, be it a street vendor or a fancy resto.

One day, after walking around the city, I find a cool place to chill. It’s called “Mekong Deck”, located also in Th Fa Ngum, but further down to the East. This open-air café at the bank of Mekong River is a perfect place to spend the afternoon, drinking cocktails, BeerLao (the best beer I’ve tried by far!) or just cool soft drinks. It seems that it’s a local favorite place to hangout, too judging from the customers. With wooden tables and chairs scattered on wooden floor, this place has a taste and probably one of the most stylish outdoor place in the city. And when you order vodka lemon (costs around 24,000 Kip/glass), the bar will give you a glass of real vodka lemon, with a proper percentage of vodka and the mixer. Well, you know what I mean. Sometimes bars give you mixer with a tiny bit of alcohol in a glass full of ice! In the end, it feels like drinking soft drinks with vodka flavor. Hahaha… but Mekong Deck does a good job when it comes to drinks. And I like that.

For bars, you can just choose one of the bars at Th Fa Ngum. There are plenty of them. BeerLao usually costs 15,000 Kips for the big bottle and cocktail/liquor costs around 24,000-25,000 Kips. Cheap!

Accommodation

There are numerous hotels and guesthouses in Vientiane, from budget guesthouses to top end hotels. Budget guesthouses start from 2 USD/night, where top end hotels can cost around 100 USD and more.

Since I’m not a backpacker and also not a daughter of a conglomerate, but still want to sleep in a comfy room, I choose to stay in a midrange hotel. Vongkhamsone Hotel (address: 17/01 Manthaturath Road) is my choice. It’s a new one and has a comfortable room with Air-Conditioner and hot water. The room and bathroom are spotless. I enjoy staying at this cute hotel for 30 USD/night, including a simple breakfast of French baguette with eggs and cheese plus a cup of coffee/tea.

I met an English girl who’s backpacking in Laos. She told me that she spent almost a day looking for a place to stay in the city. The cheap guesthouses are dirty, she said. She ended up staying in a hotel and paid 20 USD/night, which was already over her budget and still, there were a lot of ants in her room! She had to buy a mosquito spray to kill all the ants, but a few hours later, a group of ants came and decided to be her roommates.

Listening to her story making me more grateful to find such a nice, comfy, cute and bugs free hotel!!! The hotel staff is friendly, too. In the evening, the staff sleeps at the lobby after midnight. So, if you think that you would go out until late, it would be better to bring your room key. Otherwise, you have to wake him up.

If I could suggest, it’s better to find an accommodation at the city center, because you can go to the places of interests by foot or by bike. I find it very convenient. Anyway, the city center isn’t that big, so it’s very easy to get around.

Dance

Being in Vientiane wouldn’t be complete without checking out the city’s party scene. I ask around on the good place to dance and the locals always refer to a club called “Future”. Out of curiosity, one evening, I decide to hop on a tuk-tuk and go to this infamous club. The club looks dark from outside. It has a shabby vibe, I almost change my mind and feel hesitant to enter the club. Stepping in, I’m greeted by a local couple whose the girl looking at me from up to toe. I look around and feel surprise by the numbers of people there. This place is packed and it’s not even weekend yet! 98% of the people are Laotians. They either sit or stand around a circled table, drinking BeerLao or cocktails. They don’t dance. They just move their body a bit, I wouldn’t call it a dance. Probably that’s why this famous club doesn’t have a dance floor. Perhaps Laotians prefer to drink than dance!

The club is dark and full of smoke. It’s not too big and has two bars on the left. The low ceiling makes the place looks even more cramped. The DJ plays old techno tracks and it seems everyone enjoys it. Oddly, there are TVs airing local channels in every corner and at the bar. On one side of a wall, there’s even a big screen projecting the same movie from a local tv station. Why would someone go to a club to watch a movie if they couldn’t hear anything except a loud techno music??? Interesting.

What is more interesting is to see how many trashes under each table. Empty bottles of mineral water and beers are all scattered under tables and no one cleans it! Hmm... I wonder why they don't just hire five guys dedicated only to clean up the mess? At 1am, I decide to return to my hotel. The club is open until 5am... and it looks like the people will stay til the end. Being the only place in the city that opens until morning, no wonder the place is packed, even in the weekdays! I think some of the peeps in the club use ecstasy.. judging from the way they behave and the numbers of mineral bottles trashes under the tables! The night is definitely stil young for them... and they will definitely have a looong day the next day!