Relaxing in Paradise Island...

Thu.17.Nov.05

It felt really good to be in Bali again! This time was much more relaxing compared to my previous trips to Bali as it was a low season -- meaning, the island wasn't packed with tourists --. Unlike in August and December, Bali in November was a bit quiet... but it was also because of the bombing happened couple of months ago. The impact of the bombing was so big to the locals. Almost everyone I chatted with were complaining about how difficult it is for them to earn money, because the number of tourists have decreased a lot. :(

As soon as we arrived in the Island of Gods, we had lunch at Warung Made in Kuta. The restaurant is famous for its delicious Indonesian food. I love their "Nasi Campur" and "Gado-Gado". Also love the ice tea... somehow it tastes a lot better than the ones in Jakarta... (I wonder why??)

Shopping in Kuta and Legian Street is always fun. The streets have a lot of cute shops that sell souvenirs, jewelleries, ethnic stuffs, shirts, bikinis, etc etc... I bought a bikini and some necklaces for my colleagues in Jakarta. The necklaces were so pretty. I wanted them all! Hahahaha...

We strolled along the streets and ended up in Kuta Beach. I was amazed. The beach was empty! There were some tourists here and there, but not packed as it used to be... Wow. It must be because of the bombing, I said to myself. However, I prefer an emptier beach than a crowded one. It looked more beautiful for me.. :)

Sunset in Ku De Ta was stunning. Just when we arrived at the front door of the fancy restaurant and cafe, we had to hold our breath to see what was there in front of us: beautiful colors in the sky framed by palm trees. The scene was so beautiful and exotic! ;)

I think Ku De Ta is the coolest place to chill out in Bali. The place is fancy and elegant, with a well-decorated indoor restaurant and a comfy yet romantic ambience outdoor (not to mention the touch of palm trees, in which for non-tropical people they found them exotic!). One can chill and lay down on a reclining sofa under a big umbrella, facing to the beach while enjoying a glass of champagne, wine or cocktail. Perfect! So relaxing... I love it, even though I couldn't see the sunset clearly as it was a clowdy afternoon, but hey... I had nothing to complain. The scenery was just too breath-taking and the relaxing vibes made me even more satisfied and felt content :)

Dinner at The Living Room was another experience. I've never been to this place before and I felt glad that I went there. The Living Room has the prettiest garden a restaurant could have. I was in love with the garden by the time I stepped my feet on it. It's a perfect garden for holding a small yet elegant wedding reception! Hahaha.. :D Seriously. It was just like in a Hollywood movies. One can sit at the outdoor area - in the garden, with candles all over the place - and at the indoor area, where the setting is just like in the living room of a big house. Nice. The restaurant offers Italian food. Unfortunately, my food didn't taste that delicious. Too normal. Perhaps it was because I ordered a stir-fry veggies. I should've ordered a more authentic Italian food, such as.. uhmm.. veggie lasagna? Who knows it tastes a lot better... (I just hope that the food is as nice as the garden. If it's not.. then, too bad!!!)

Liquid, Spy Bar, Fuel and Kama Sutra were all empty that night! I was wondering why... It was very odd for me coz normally those bars were always full of people. So, no bar hopping tonight, yahhh...

Second Day in The Island of Gods...

Fri.18.Nov.05

Embracing the morning breeze in Kuta Beach definitely made yourself ease, happy and relax. Danny swam happily on the beach before laying under the sun, tried to get some tanned. Huekekek... couldn't beat me, huh?! :p

Kuta Beach was the same when we're talking about those locals who tried to sell their stuffs and offered you some services, such as manicure, pedicure, massage and tattoo. One has to be very patient in handling them. I got a manicure, pedicure and massage. Always love the flowers painted on my nails as they look so cute! Have tried to do it by myself at home, last year, but... it didn't work. Guess it wasn't my area of expertise... huekekekek :p

On the second day, we managed to take a trip to Pura Taman Ayun and Tanah Lot. Luckily, on the way to Taman Ayun, there was a woman selling durian on the street! OMIGOD!! The answer of my prayer! Hahhaa.. I've been imagining eating durian in Bali since the first day here! The durians were not so big in terms of size, but the price was cheap, tho. It was only Rp 6,000 to Rp 7,000 each! Wow. I was happy ;D

Pura Taman Ayun located in Mengwi and was the area of royal temple which was built in 1634. A lake surrounded the temple reminds us of a castle in a fairy tale. Unfortunately, the inner side of the temple was closed for public. So, one couldn't see what's in it. One could only walk around the temple and take a peep from a big wall - one meter high - covering the inner temple. It was raining when we got there, so we didn't explore it that much. Just took a quick look and headed back to the car, continued our trip to the next destination: Tanah Lot, before the sun went down.

Tanah Lot is one of main tourist adestination in Bali. The temple was built in the 16th century by a priest from Majapahit. It is special because the temple is built on top of a huge rock which surrounded by the sea. It is a fantastic place to view beautiful sunsets. No doubt, seeing the sillhouette of the temple with a glowing sunset as the background is just amazing. Very lovely. Every day at dusk a lot of tourists come to witness the magnificent scenery. The best view is from the cliff overlooking the temple, where the locals built some outdoor cafes.

Clubbing time! One has to check out the clubs in Bali, especially in the weekend! It was Friday night, a perfect time for clubbing ;). I took Danny to De Ja Vu, a fancy bar and a cool hang-out place in town. The bar has a special drink, called "Sudden Death". If you happen to be in this bar, u should order this drink. It contains of more than 20 kinds of alcohols, served in one glass ;D. It has peppermint taste, so when u drink it, just imagine that you're drinking a cough syrup. Hihihi.. I guarantee, by drinking only one glass, you'll be in a 'different level' right away. :D

Next destination was Double Six. A lot of big parties are being held here. It's a must go club in Bali. For those who's an adrenalin junkie, u could try the bungy-jumping here as well. If u don't have the guts to do it, just take a few tequilla shots before u jumped! :D *just an idea, though* Unfortunately, when we were there, the club was soooo empty. I've never seen 66 that empty before! There were only 7 people including us! Unbelievable. Had no idea what's happening... but we decided to go to the next lounge, Paparazzi.

Paparazzi was also quiet, but it didn't matter that much since I was already tired anyway. One could sit on the sofa at the terrace facing the beach. Just a perfect place to end the day...

Last Day... "Feels like in Paradise"

Sat.19.Nov.05

Had "nasi pecel" as my brunch on the Kuta Beach. Surprisingly, the food was good :). Then, to end our holiday in Bali, we decided to go to Dreamland Beach.

It took about 40 minutes from Kuta to Dreamland by car. The weather was so nice, the sun was shining so bright that day. A perfect day to go to a beach.

Everytime I went to Dreamland, I always amazed with its beauty. "Wow. It feels like in Paradise". That was Danny's comment as soon as we arrived there. Yeah... it did feel like in Paradise, with a beautiful beach in front of us, white sands, big waves, completed with nice cliffs at the right and left side of the beach. So beautiful. Full stop.

We spent about 3 hours on the beach. I managed to have massage for an hour... tried to spoil myself at the most during my holiday. Hehehe.. Dantje tried so hard to be tanned. And I think it worked, though! :) Great! It would be better if he spent for another 2 weeks in Bali, though. Am sure he would be as tanned as those latino guys. Huekeke.. (he'd love it, definitely!).

Dreamland was the best place to end our holiday in Bali. The beach will give you a special impression that will stay forever in your heart. However, the Paradise Island in general is very attractive and special, as if it has the power to make everyone comes back to visit and tastes its beauty... again and again...

Exploring Yogyakarta in 3 days

I managed to go to Yogyakarta with my classmate from The Netherlands, Danny. He's never been to Indonesia before and would love to see Candi Borobudur :D. So, we decided to go to Yogya on Wednesday til Friday (9-11 Nov 05).

First Day

As soon as we arrived, we strolled down to Malioboro Street, where all the souvenirs and batik shops were located. We did some shopping there. Hehehe.. Danny was amazed by the cheap price of all the stuffs that were sold in that street. Malioboro Street is famous for that. It offers different kinds of stuffs for extremely cheap price! Oyeah, one has to bargain to get a good deal. ;) So, your bargaining skills are very useful here! I bought everything for not more than Rp 10thou. It wasn't even 1 euro, yet!

After the shopping, I decided to take him to Gadjah Wong Restaurant for dinner coz I read a lot of good things about it from some magazines. Apparently, it was a good decision as the place itself is very nice with an open air garden and different parts of rooms with different kind of live music – traditional Javanese music, jazz and country music. We chose to sit in a small garden, outdoor, where we could be entertain by the singers and gamelan players who were wearing traditional costumes.

When exploring the place, I was stunned to see the dungeon-like entrance to the underground room in which decorated with Wisnu statues and other ancient-like ornaments. Very artistic, I love it.

The food was delicious. Apart from Indonesian food, they also have Indian and some steaks. I ordered Indian vegetable curry, while Danny ordered Nasi Bebek, the restaurant’s specialty, .. and we were satisfied.

After a nice dinner, we went back to Malioboro Street, Danny bought more stuffs for his sisters, nephew, dad and friends. The art of bargaining started to kick back now... hahaha :D.

People in Yogyakarta are nice and friendly. When you walked along the Malioboro Street, you would get offer from the “becak” or rickshaw driver to take you around. They will take you to a street where there are a lot of shops that sell DAGADU T-shirts and some batik shops as well. I went to one of the shops which were claimed to be the original DAGADU shop in town. Somehow I wasn’t very convinced… (ps. DAGADU is a very well-known T-shirt brand from Yogya. It’s famous for its funny wordings written on the shirts).

I very much enjoyed sitting in the rickshaw. It’s my favorite vehicle, to be honest J coz I one could just sit back and relax, while enjoying the cool breeze and fresh air… (the vehicle doesn’t create any air-pollution as well… perfecto!)
So, that was my the first day in Yogya. One could feel that people are more relaxed here and it seems that everyone is not in a rush. It feels like we have all the time in the world…

Second Day...

We took a rickshaw again to Taman Air (“Water Palace) and Keraton Yogyakarta (“the Palace”). Taman Air used to be a place where the King and his concubines took a bath. It has three swimming pools – for the children, the concubines and for the King himself. The place itself reminded me of a place in Rome or Greece. Perhaps it was because the colors and the style as well. I could imagine the Greek goddess took a bath in a similar place like this. :D hehehe.. Rome also has a similar place where only girls from rich families were allowed to take a bath. It’s located in Foro Romano. It doesn’t look similar with this Taman Air, though.. but the idea was almost the same.

Back then, in Taman Air, all the Sultan’s concubines took a bath in the second pool, naked. The Sultan watched them from a high tower facing the pool before decided to choose one of them to accompany him to bath in his private pool. What a cool life he had, huh? :D Visitors could also go to the top of the tower, the Sultan’s spot to peep the girls. So, one could pretend to be the King and ask someone to swim naked in the pool.. hahaha.. *kidding*

It’s been years since the last time went to Keraton Yogyakarta (“The Palace”). A funny thing happened when we were about to pay the ticket entrance. One of the ladies in the ticket box pointed me and shouted, “Hey, are you Karen the Indonesian Idol?” Suddenly everyone there started to stare at me and said, “O yeaaahh.. u must be Karen!”. Hahaha.. Dantje was a bit naughty by saying, “Yes yes.. she’s Karen”. It took me a while until they let me free. Had to convince them that I’m not Karen. Geezz.. one of them even planned to ask for my signature and was about to get her camera from the cupboard. Oh noooo!!!

Entering the Keraton, one would suddenly feel peaceful because the place was so quiet. We took a small tour to the Museum of Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX and took some pictures of the Keraton and its surroundings. One guy took us to his house behind the palace. His Dad works for Sultan, that’s why they live in the Keraton area. They produced batik paintings and said that they were having a batik painting exhibition at their house and today was the last day. Again, I wasn’t convinced L.. because those paintings look like they were there for ages! Hahaha… :D

Last trip was to Ratu Boko Temple. It was far away from the center, on the direction to Prambanan Temple. By taxi, it takes about 40 minutes and costs about Rp 100thou (one-way to get there. It was already dawn when we arrived to the site. It was kind of spooky. However, the areas on the way to the Temple was very unique. U could see the rice fields and beautiful nature, completed with some traditional houses.

There were only ruins in the site. But, u still could feel that the site was so old. Actually, this place was used to be the first palace for the king and his family, hundred of years ago... No wonder I felt the mystical vibes while I was there... or perhaps it was just the dawn that created such vibes and spooky feelings... Anyway, I wouldn't suggest anyone to explore the site alone when it's already dawn! So scary, guys..

At the entrance to the Ratu Boko Temple, one could have drinks or meal in a nice restaurant while enjoying the beauty of Yogyakarta from the above. Prambanan Temple could be seen from up here. The scenery was stunning...

Before dinner, we took a walk and tried some street food, such as "Nasi Kucing", "Sate" and "Wedang Ronde" at the food vendors that we passed. One had to try the "traditional" food here. Dantje also tried salak for the first time. I had to laugh out loud knowing that he's never seen the fruit before! :D

Finally, we managed to eat the famous gudeg lesehan. Ferry, a friend of mine who lives in Yogya, took us to the famous place where they sell a delicious gudeg. I always trust "insider information" from the locals everywhere I travel. And, this night, the gudeg that we had was so delicious, even when we had it our stomach was already full with some "nasi kucing" and other snacks that we ate before.
Unfortunately I can't tell you where the exact location as I forgot the name of the street (sorry!). But, for sure, it wasn't in Malioboro Street.

To burn some callories of the meals that we just had, we went to Alun-Alun, where there were two twins trees at the back of the Keraton. People in Yogyakarta believed that if one could walk in between the trees with closed eyes, then his/her wishes may come true. The rule is: to close your eyes and walk from about 100 metres away from the trees. Try to walk straight and pass the trees by walk through the middle of those trees. It may seem easy, but believe me, when you try, it's not as easy as it seems ;). I couldn't make it even I've been trying for four times!!! :D :D :D Danny made it once and to add more excitement, he tried once more but this time he decided to run to those trees instead of walking... It was so much fun until he bumped into a guy who was walking carefully with his eyes folded :D Haahahhaa!!! Ferry and I burst out laughing.. :D What a fun night!


Third Day...

We were planning to catch the sunrise at the Borobudur Temple. The planned was to leave from the hotel at 4 o’clock in the morning. Unfortunately, the driver arrived half-hour late and in the morning, half-hour makes a lot of different.

It took us approximately 45 minutes to get to the Borobudur Temple. By the time we were there, the sky was already bright. But, still we were persistent and tried to see the sunrise from the famous temple. Apparently, if one wants to see the sunrise from the Borobudur Temple, there is a different entrance for that. One should enter from the side of the “public ticket entrance”, which is a hotel lobby. A bit odd, that is. When I told the hotel’s staff about my purpose of going there, he asked me to pay Rp 150 thou per person. A bit expensive, though. It’s even more expensive for foreigners as the entrance fee would be Rp 250 thou per person. Wow. We decided to cancel the plan coz the fee was just too expensive and it wasn’t worth it because the sun was already up anyway…

In front of the public entrance of the Borobudur Temple, there are a lot of food vendors and souvenir shops. While waiting for the gate opened at 6am, we used the time to have breakfast in one of the food stalls there. Danny ordered fried rice and fresh young coconut, while I had a durian juice, my favorite ;).

For the entrance, I only had to pay Rp 7,000 while my friend, Danny, had to pay Rp 110,000 because he’s a foreigner. We had to walk for about more than 300 meters until we get to the edge of the temple. This famous Buddhis temple, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, was built in three tiers: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. The walls and balustrades are decorated with fine low reliefs, covering a total surface area of 2,500 sq. m. Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha. The temple is unique because all reliefs tell a continuous story from the first tier until the top. Amazing. Too bad that some Buddha statues were stolen or some of their heads were chopped off.

If you’re in the Borobudur Temple, don’t forget try to touch the Buddha’s finger inside the stuppa and make a wish. If you could touch his finger, then your wish might come true. J Let’s try your luck!

Next trip was to Prambanan Temple. This Hindus temple is the biggest temple in Java. There are 224 temples in the complex – three of them are the main temples: Brahma Temple in the North, Vishnu Temple in the South and the biggest one is Shive Temple (47 meters high). The temple is also known as Lorojonggrang Temple. The Lorojonggrang statue is still there as well, located in one of the temples.

The temples are so well preserved, enables everyone to see the detail of each sculptural designs. After exploring and listening to the legend of Lorojonggrang from a local visitor, we took a mini train to go around the Prambanan Temple complex to see other smaller temples that located at the same complex. Sewu Temple was amazing as well. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to walk around the temple because the mini train was waiting for us. Oyeah, the entrance ticket was only Rp 6,000 for Indonesians and Rp 95,000 for foreigners :p

That was our journey in exploring the ancient sites and sensing the mystical vibes around those temples. Getting backto the heart of Yogyakarta, I asked the driver to stop by at Pathuk area to buy some bakpia pathuk for my mom and my lovely friends in Jakarta. Bakpia pathuk is a famous cake from Yogyakarta, it tastes sweet, just like other Javanese food J.

Our trip in Yogya ended at the point where we started, Malioboro Street. We tried to have guded lesehan in Malioboro, Megawati’s (the former Indonesian president) favorite gudeg lesehan place. Unfortunately, it only opens in the evening. So, we just had mie ayam at one of the food vendors there. Had ice durian as well, but I wasn't satisfied with the food... Temy's girlfriend, Acid, came to meet us to say goodbye for a while. A funky girl, she is. :)

That was the trip to Yogyakarta. A town where everyone seems to take everything slowly and live peacefully without rushing and panicking over small things...

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

I always treasure friendships and always enjoy having friends wherever and whenever. But this time, I think I should given up one friendship. This is the first time for me to do it, actually.. and funnily, I feel sad but also feel good about it.

When the relationship is no longer healthy and one person feels hurt everytime they communicate but the other person is enjoying it and pushing too hard, then perhaps it's better to call it a quit.

I never felt very annoyed by a friend before. Not this much. Not until I met this psycho guy. Haven't met any psycho guy before, so I was quite shocked. We were just friends. But, too bad.. he had a really high expectation of this friendships. I felt that he became too demanding. I had to reply to his sms right away, had to answer his phone calls right away, had to meet him whenever he wanted and he was so clever as if it's always urgent to have that meetings on those particular dates! If I didn't reply to his sms right away nor answer his phone calls, he would send me bunch of sms-es with the contents that u wouldn't even think of! He would write angry words, full of judgement and negative thoughts. This guy is sooo pathetic!

Actually, I felt sorry for him. I think he has problems with his personality. He always think negative toward other people and doesn't have a grip of his life. Perhaps that explains why he always has so many troubles in his life... coz simply he created them!!!

People are addicted to have problems, without realizing it. When they don't have any, they seek for one. They feel empty without a problem in their mind. They don't feel alive. So, to make their life more excited and alive, they create problems. That's funny, huh? But, that's how we are, according to Dalai Lama... I had to think about this for a while before came into a conclusion that he's right.

Now, after realizing that it is us that tend to create problems in our life, I tend to take everything easily. Not to think about anything too much, coz I have a tendency to be bothered by small things :p. Just enjoy life... and cherish every moment of it... :)

As my friendship with the psycho guy... I've made up my mind to ignore him... and it feels really good, actually! Good for me. Hehehe.. Life is about choices. It's up to us to live in a peaceful life or in a troublesome one ;). Also with friendship... although basically every human being is nice, but there are some people who are just psychotic and enjoy hurting other people's feelings.
So, it's all up to us how to deal with them.. whether we want to keep the friendship although they don't know how to create a good friendship and keep hurting other people.. OR.. just walk away...

As for me, I've tried my best to see my friend's good side. I often share some wisdom words and my thoughts so that he could realize that the way he lives and the way he treats others are not favorable at all... but now... after sometime, I feel exhausted... let he learns everything from others... I've done my job..

Enough is enough. When our goodwill was always be seen negatively, just because the person was so closed minded, full of negative thoughts and insecurity.. then perhaps it is us who should decide and set up our limit.

I believe that every single thing in our life happens for a reason and there's a lesson behind it. As for me, I've learned my lesson. I learned a lot from this friendship. It also opens my eyes that psycho people do exist! hahahha.. I hope he could gain something from this.. and from the fact that I don't want to be his friend anymore... Hopefully, this would make him think and realize that all his problems and suffers were simply created by himself! Well, I do hope he gets more clarity in life, if he could open up his mind, of course! :p

La vita et bella... life is beautiful and it's too beautiful to be disrupted by some psychos... :D hehehe..

away day


(continued)…

So, it took me more than 2 months to continue my story on “First Anniversary in Maverick” :D hahaha.. sorry. Was so busy at the office, didn’t have time to think of anything else. Had to be focused ;).

In the picture above u could see some faces of The Mavericks. The picture was taken in the “Away Day” event, couple of months ago at Ritz Carlton Hotel. U can see that we’re happy people, aren’t we? ;)

Ok, now… where were we? Ah.. okay. Besides from the learning process in Maverick, I’ve also felt some changes in me as a person. I’ve learned that we have to handle people differently, depends on their characters. So, I tend to be more careful in the way I speak to others now, not only the content, but the tone as well. I’m a straightforward person and prefer to talk frankly to others, but now… when it comes to criticism, I think that it’s better to be quite selective and find a smart way to address it… otherwise, people could easily get hurt and feel offended, especially those who don’t know us that well yet :)

It’s always interesting to try a new experience… in this case, working in a new industry. Previously, I worked in a securities company, dealt a lot with fund managers, treasury managers of big banks and those directors of pension funds and insurance companies. It was fun as well and I gained lots of insights and knowledge in the financial industry. But I think, working in a PR industry is more appealing and interesting to me. It's very much because I always wanted to be a PR consultant. Of course, everyone has their own interests… perhaps for those fund managers, working in an asset management or financial institution is much more exciting, not to mention the adrenalin rush when the market is bullish or the other way around.

For me, the excitement comes especially when I have to handle crisis management. I like it so much, although it means: overtime work, no weekends and headaches. :D But it creates satisfaction in the end. Perhaps it’s the same feelings as all the hikers when they reach the top of the mountain. You're tired, but satisfied.

Oyeah, I often surprised myself, even until now, that I've worked here for a year. It felt like yesterday that I arrived in the Balitung House and everyone else was a stranger for me. I think the nice working environment, the food (yeah, the Mavericks love and CAN eat a lot!!!), and the parties that we have to throw and attend, play a key role in making me feel comfortable here. Didn't I mention that as a Maverick, one has to attend to parties and/or networking functions in town, at least once a month? Gosh, I was so happy and felt relieve to know that! Coz some offices dislike when their employees attend to many parties :p. Hahaha.. I guess I’m quite lucky to work in a company who motivates us to be socially active. No need to force me to do that… hahahaha.. I’ll do it with pleasures ;p. So, all the stresses from the hardwork in the office are gone when we attend those functions! ;D One has to know when to be serious and when to have fun.

Ok. Enough saying now. Let's celebrate my 1 year-2 months-28 days in the orange house now, with the crazy, ridiculous, funny and lovable Mavericks! ;)

My First Anniversary in Maverick

Today is exactly one year for me as a Maverick. Time flies, huh? Yes, it does.

It means that I've spent most of my time at the Balitung House for the past 12 months. Working as a PR consultant. Interesting and exciting as I've never been working in the PR industry before. Enjoyable, in the sense of meeting lots of people from different background and industry. Fun fun fun... in the sense of building media relations with journalists, attending parties, throwing parties ;) and working in a such dynamic environment.

However, there is always a downhill along our way. That's when we have to deal with difficult clients, deal with gossips around us (hahaha... yeah, we can't getaway from those gossips, although we want to.. but hey, c'est la vie!) or when we make mistakes...

Although it's only a year, I've learned quite a lot and I also felt some changes in me as a person.... (to be continued)

I'd like to thank Nugi for reminding me to start writing my blog again :)

It's been quite a while since the last time I wrote this blog. To be honest, I even forgot that I have one :P. However, there is a time when I feel the need to express my thoughts and feelings into writing... but unfortunately, I was too busy with my job .. or sometimes even worse, too lazy to do that :P

But ok, let's spare couple of minutes to write about anything I want and what's in my head from now on. I know that it helps me a bit to construct my way of thinking. It also makes me feel relieved when there's somethin' bothers me.. so, Nugi dearest, thanks ya! :)

at the back of colosseum, Rome