Coco Avant Chanel

Yaay, finally I watched this movie.
Though it wasn't as good as Coco Chanel in my opinion, but still I like it 'coz this movie has an originality of French perspective about Coco as a Parisian.
This movie has emphasized on Coco's complicated life before being the world famous Chanel in a very humble way.
No more, no less. Not kind of a fairy tale movie.
And Audrey Tautou is beautiful as always. :)

Coco CHANEL

O.H.M.Y.G.O.O.D.N.E.S.S.!
I L.O.V.E COCO CHANEL so muuuuuuuuuuch...!!!

Just watched this remarkable movie last night, and I was so hypnotized during the movie.
It is amazing the fact that the world's most avant-garde fashion designer was a woman who had to start from scratch and build her way to the top in a world dominated by men.
She was indeed the ultimate independent woman and she knew her value.

It's totally a very-great-you-have-to-see-this-movie for every lover of fashion and romance.

Seriously, it is not that I'm playing a drama queen right now but I'm totally impressed by the movie, by Coco Chanel inspiring life story, by her sophisticated yet never dies style, by her passionate love affairs, by her everlasting perfumery: Chanel No.5, and most of all by her spirit to conquered the fashion world with her phenomenal menswear, simplicity, elegance, and glamorous style!

How amazing the way she could transformed her life from her humble childhood to a young dressmaker's assistant to the most influential designer of the 20th century.
Even after she died decades ago, her big name and boutiques still exist all over the world until now.

Either she was Gabriela or Coco. She was Chanel. And she was an extraordinary person.
She was the world's most elegant woman.
I have read her complete biography right after I watched the movie. And I love her even more. So inspiring! :)

I hardly can wait to watch Coco Avant Chanel/Coco Before Chanel movie played by Audrey Tautou. Audrey is my most favorite French actress, playing my most favorite French designer I bet it's gonna be awesome!

I also can't wait to buy a novel written by Karen Karbo: "The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman".

Flat Shoes Junkie

Since I'm officially sick this week, I have plenty of times to do blogging and blog walking. Whenever I'm too bored to sleep I always surfing on the internet.
Looking for some informations that suit my interest. It could be politic, fashion, celebrity's gossips, recipes, books, movies, and etc.

Two days ago, I'd read an interesting article about a new brand of Indonesia handmade shoes in Jakarta. Which I believed, Indonesia has hundreds of brands that produces thousand of shoes that 100% Indonesian as well as this new brand has claimed.
But there's one thing that made me immediately have a crush with this brand, and desperately want to buy is their specialization on FLAT SHOES!

I love Flat Shoes!!
Whenever I traveled overseas, I always bought at least 2 pairs of flat shoes.
I hardly bought any shoes in Indonesia.
It's not because I'm branded oriented, or an overseas maniac but because it's very difficult to find shoes here in Indonesia with my size.
Normally I use size 40/41, but here even though the shoes size 40/41 it's still doesn't fit to my feet. It will hurt my feet, if I pushed my feet into the shoes.
That's why I always looking for shoes whenever I traveled abroad.
Sometimes, I miss those moments when I never had any trouble to buy shoes back then when I lived in Germany.
They have my size everywhere. :)

Anyway, I've checked their online store, and I fall in love with this brand as soon as I know that I can order shoes with my size plus choose a design by myself with a good price.
That's the most important thing to consider in order to buy a pair of good shoes.

So, I start looking at my 'shoes closet' try to find a clue of which color of flat shoes that I would like to buy.
OMG! I already have almost every colors!
After years of hunting and collecting, I've just realized that I have sooooooo many flat shoes in my closet. I count it, one.., two.., three.., twenty.., thirty.., gosh.., forty.., and so on. I have 40 something pairs of flat shoes!



*These are some pairs of my flat shoes collection..*

I guess, I'm not in a rush of hunting some more flat shoes for a while.
:)

Good Bye Mbah

I've been bed resting at home since few days ago.
Right after my husband's lovely grandma (Mbah) has passed away.
I already feeling sick when I was at Mbah's funeral, but I pushed myself to be strong
until it's finished.

I was shocked and sad, when I heard about the news.
We went to the hospital together at the night before she's passed away.
She was suffering from a mild heart attack few hours before, so we brought her to the hospital. Unfortunately, she doesn't want to sleep over at the hospital when the Doctor said she needs to be monitoring for the next 2-3 days.
She said firmly, "I want to go home with my family. I'm strong and fine. There's no need for me to stay at the hospital. I'm not sick."
So the Doctor didn't want to pushed our Mbah, she just gave some medicines just in case Mbah feel some pain.

Before we're going home (Mbah is living with my mother in law), my hubby and I kissed Mbah forehand and forehead.
Wishing her to get well soon.
Mbah smiling at us, and gave her blessing as always right after she said thank you.

Clearly, God has another plan for Mbah.
In the early morning, we heard the news that our dearest Mbah has passed away.
Just a few minutes after she'd a second heart attack.
At that time, I realized why Mbah face was so glowing last night.
Just like an angel...
We're very sad knowing that Mbah has gone, but we're glad that we still had a chance
to say goodbye last night.

May you rest in peace Mbah.
May God bless your soul.


We always love you Mbah.
You're the most kindest person that I've ever known.


Note:
Mbah has passed away on December 7, 2009.
Right two months before her 93rd birthday, on February 7, 2010.

BestFriends Forever

I'm sitting on a comfy sofa at my favourite coffee shop in town,
sipping a cup of hot earl grey tea
(Lately I become more a tea person than a coffee person..),
accompany with Christmas songs playing on the background,
writing this blog while waiting for my bestfriends to come.
They're stuck on the traffic, which always happens in Jakarta most of the time 'by the way' especially when it comes to weekend or rainy season.

And now heavy rain's pouring down outside, I could imagine how chaos the traffic must be.
So, I guess I have plenty of time to sit here alone, thinking, and writing this blog.
Make myself even comfort with a delicious beef pastle. :)

It's been a while since the last time I'd met two of my bestfriends that now I'm waiting for.
Couple of months ago to be more specific.
Quite long, isn't it?
But compare to some other bestfriends of mine, who I haven't meet them in years well, is not that looong actually. :))

I've been thinking about my life recently.
As the time goes by,
I realize there're some significant changes in the way of I live my life,
in the way of thinking, in the way I see things, in the way I pursuit of my happiness,
in the way I deal with grief and loss, in the way I treasure of real friendship nowadays.

Getting older, got married, dealed with grief and loss of some precious family members including my unborn baby,
moved back to where my nest is, settled down after years of 'traveling'.
Something definetely has changed in me.

If before I used to be a social butterfly with hundreds of friends,
now I could use only one hand to count how many bestfriends that I always keep in touch with.
It doesn't mean that I'd ignored the rest of my friends out there (Thanks to Facebook),
it's mean that I become more selective to share my personal life only with bestfriends of mine.

Bestfriends that have been selected by times.
Bestfriends who always be there for me through good and bad times,
though we couldn't even meet each other regularly once in a year because we're living in different countries and continents
(Two of them, that I'm about to meet now are living in Jakarta as well but still we're hardly have a chance to meet each other because we're traveling a lot in different times and places).

Not being able to meet each other as much as we want, makes us really appreciate every single way of communications that we've been using in order to keep in touch,
up dating our latest news, sharing our thoughts and feelings, and so on.

And whenever we have a chance to meet each other, we will definetely cheerish every second of it! Eventhough it's only a short bumping at the airport, it's more than enough for us to hug each other, having a very brief summary about our recent life affairs, with juicy gossips about recent dates, and bla..bla..bla. We're women anyway, we know really well how to compressed 300 pages of our life story to 1 page of breaking news. And vice versa. ;)

I don't mind for not having any friends available to meet up every week, month, even years. Because I know very well, that a true friendship is not define by how much time we spent for each other, but by how good we understood each other. A true friendship is define by the quality not the quantity of friendship itself. A true friendship preferred a good critic with a sincere heart than a sweet kiss on the lips with a mediocre heart. Having one bestfriend that sincerely care for us is enough to make our life rich. More than one is absolutely a BONUS! :)

I'm very blessed, having a sweet yet caring husband and all of my bestfriends surrounding my soul wherever they are. All of them make my life so wonderful.

I dedicated this post to all of my bestfriends around the world. Thank you for loving me just the way I am. Thank you for never judging me, thank you for being there always everytime I needed. Thank you for simply being my bestfriends.
Love you all.
BestFriend Forever!

Julie & Julia

I just watched a great movie which based on two true stories, Julie & Julia.
I really enjoyed and had a good time during the movie.
This movie taught us about the importance of being persistence,
in order to know what is our inner passion, what is our ambition? What do we want to do in this life?

What things that could make you jumps out of bed every morning with a cheerful spirit? Something that makes you feel valueable, happy and in control.
Reminds us to always face every barrier and difficulties that comes up in our way with a right attitude.

With a setting in my two favourite cities in the world, Paris and New York.
I fell in love with this movie immediately.
And not forget to mention about an incredible acting of Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.
They're sooooo into Julie and Julia. You hardly can remember of the real Meryl Streep during this movie. You will only see Julia Child.

If you loves cooking, writing and blogging then you definetely will love the movie as much as I am.
Now, I'm so regret that I didn't buy Julia Child's book, My Life in France when I saw it 2 weeks ago in the bookstore.
It will be on my 'book-that-I-must-have' list, for sure.

Charter for Compassion

Charter for Compassion

Our Dream House

Finally we have our dream house.
Thank you dear God...
After a long process of hunting, saving, bargaining, administrating, and etc., we could finally owned a place called our house.
A small house surrounded by a beautiful garden where lilies, irish, golden araleas, palms, crossandras, tabernas, pines, and etc. lives together in a harmony.

Since I was a little, I always dreaming about having a small house with a backyard full of trees and flowers where my hubby and I can sit in the morning/afternoon sipping our tea and reading our books while our dog playing with the kids. :)
My heaven on earth.

And now, one by one my dreams becomes reality.
Today, after signed a lot of papers we've got our housekeys.
It feels great.
After years of hunting and few months of struggling to saved every cent of our money, with a help of house credit facility finally we could have our dream house.
A place that soon to be our new 'home'.

We should wait for a while until we could moves to our new house.
We need to save some money first to buy furnitures for our house, because our saving's broke already to bought the house. :)

Really can't wait to be HOME...

Get a Life!

Just want to share these simple tips to get a better life.

25 ULTIMATE TIPS FOR BETTER LIFE:

1. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. & while you walk, SMILE. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

3. When you wake up in the morning,Pray to ask God's guidance for your purpose, today.'

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, and almonds.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.Forgive them for everything !

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

17. Help the needy,Be generous ! Be a 'Giver' not a 'Taker'

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. Time heals everything.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed ,Pray to God and Be thankful for what you have accomplished,today !

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed!.

25. Please forward this to everyone you care about..

And don't forget to take a break from whatever you do now, take a deep breath and promise yourself to 'get a life' for your own sake.

Ups & Downs

It's quite a long after we came back from our China's trip (last July). Haven't got the right time and mood to write some up dates here in my blog.

Right after I came back from China, I was sick for almost 3 weeks. Not sure why I became so weak at the time? Since I just came from Beijing and other cities in China, my family have a concern about my illness. They're afraid if I've got a Schweine/Bird Flu in China especially because I've got all the sympthoms in me. (A very bad cough, fever, nausea, headache, stomach pain, etc).

But thanks God, after having a series of medical check ups my condition was getting better. And the Doctor said that I was simply too tired because of the trip and the weather change (it's summer in China), and got an infection on my throat.

God's always been good to us.
Whenever I traveled with a backpack style (read: budget), I never got any trouble or sick. And when I traveled with a VIP level, I got sick but still can enjoy my trip because they're taking care of me and I had no worried about the food, medicines and the car. I can go whenever I want with a car that has been reserved for us. I can sleep whenever I want in a comfort and cozy hotel room.

The only trouble that I had back then was, I can't go to the airport while I still have my flu and fever. In every airport in China they have a fever detector. And every one who has a flu and fever, wasn't allow to leave the airport or coming in to their country. The China government will immediately put 'the patient' into a carantine. Not only the patient but also the whole group who traveled together with the patient. This is the only way to prevent the epidemic of Schweine/Bird Flu getting worse in their country. So my hubby and I stayed in Beijing 2 days longer from our 5 days schedule. And soon after I felt better, we fly to Shenzhen and later to Hong Kong before going back to Jakarta.

When we're finally arrived in Jakarta, the first thing we do was went to the Doctor. We can't go to the doctor in China, because they will immediately labeled me as a "Suspect Flu" and I would not allow to leave their country until they do some observation on me. Geez, thanks God that's not happened to me. :))

After being fully recovered from my illness, I was busy preparing our next trip at the time. We planned to travel to Australia at the end of August. We're going to celebrate my birthday in Melbourne (after celebrated my hubby birthday in Beijing), then go to Sydney and Canberra. That's a BIG plan!

In fact, we're not going anywhere. The Aussie's trip was cancelled. The doctor wasn't allowed me to go traveling abroad. Just a week before my 33rd birthday, we just found out that I'm 7 weeks pregnant. Praise the Lord!
So just when we've got our Aussie's visas, we cancelled our flights. All of them: Starting with Air Asia in JKT and KL, Virgin Blue in Melb - Syd - Can, Greyhounds in Syd and Can.

Unfortunately, a week after my birthday we just found out that I've an Ectopic Pregnancy so it should be terminated as soon as possible. (I'm going to write about this Ectopic Pregnancy later in my other post). So right on my 8 weeks pregnancy, my dearly fetus was flying back to Heaven. :) Say Hi to God, will you?

After my CS surgery, where the doctor's removed my 'kistas' and my fetus I need to bedrest for 3 days and slowly learn to walk and climb the stairs.
After a while here I am, fully recovered physically and mentally. I need only 3 weeks after the surgery, to do my yoga, run up and down on the stairs, driving to anywhere I want. While my doctor said, usually it takes 3 months until I will fully recovered. :)

Thank you Lord for giving me all of wonderful ups and downs in my life, which I believes it will make me a stronger, better, and happier person than I was before. Amen.

A Big Surprise!

Still related to my previous post about, Life is full of surprises...
I've got one recently. Quite a BIG surprise actually.
And it leads to a massive changes in a travel plan that I've already made.

This week, my hubby (also my father + my sister + my brother in law) had planned to take 2 days off from their work.
We made a plan to traveling to Jogjakarta together with our big family.
Before the kids are going back to school, we want to spend some times on this almost-over-school-holiday together in Central of Java.
We would like to see a magnificent Borobudur Temple, a gorgeous Prambanan Temple, a nice retreat at Sendangsono, Keraton, Parang Tritis Beach, Magelang city and etc.
It would be a great family holiday, am sure.

The plan has been made, everything is ready on our checklist.
Starting from my cousin place, where we're going to stay during the holiday to our cars (We're traveling by cars this time).
We just have to wait until today according to our travel plan.

But you know what...??
We've got a very big surprise!
Just when everything is settled, we've got a news from my hubby that everything need to be cancelled!

Few days ago, my hubby got a phone call from his boss.
His boss asking him to go to China for a meeting today even though he had already taking two days off, just right on our schedule to go to Jogjakarta.

Shocked!
Of course, we have only two days to arrange everything including our visas and tickets!
Geez, we're going to China for God sake not to Surabaya.
We need at least a week to prepare everything.

Just like my prediction, we're not gonna make it to go on 1st of July.
Our visas are issued. Our tickets are also ready to be issued.
But my hubby got a problem with an administrative thing on his office.
So the travel plan has been re-scheduled to 3rd of July, right on my hubby's birthday.

Instead of going to Jogjakarta, we're going to Hong Kong - Beijing - Shenzhen - Hong Kong.
We're very sorry that our family holiday was cancelled, but on the other hand we're so exciting to explore THE FORBIDDEN city + GREAT WALLS.

We thank you God for having an opportunity to go to Beijing and re-visit Hong Kong and Shenzhen again.
Hope everything will be OK this time, not like our previous experienced in Shenzhen.


PS: This gonna be a special event for my hubby. Celebrating his 34th birthday in 3 different countries. Jakarta - Hong Kong - Beijing. :)

Life is FULL of surprises...

My post title this time is so very true.
Life is FULL of surprises.., just like a chocolate box.
Sometimes, I've got very shocked by the bitterness and sometimes I jolted by the happiness.
Bitter, sweet, crunchy, melted, sour, and any other taste in between.
Sometimes we've got the one that we likes very much, but sometimes not.

That's life anyway.
Like it or not like it, sometimes an unexpected thing might happens in our daily life.
It could be a nice one or a devastated one.
We can't control "some things" that meant to be happens in our life.
The only thing we can do is to define on how should we REACT on those surprises,
especially the bitter one.
Sometimes the bitter one gives you the best taste/feeling afterwards.
Just like a bitter chocolate that proved do some good for your health and well known as an effective also nice way to reduce your level of stress.
:')

As for me, many times I've been dealing with all those expected yet unexpected things/moments surely it makes my life more colorful.
Sometimes it made my day, sometimes it ruined my day.
But for sure there's always a sun behind the clouds.
It's a matter of the way you see your things/problems.

Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.

Just like what Shakespeare had expressed in a similar sentiment in Love's Labours Lost, 1588:

Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean,
Needs not the painted flourish of your praise:
Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye,
Not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues

Beauty in things exists merely in the mind which contemplates them, the same rule applied on the other side of coin.
Means that different people will find different things beautiful/or not and that the differences of opinion don't matter greatly as long as the beholder feels happy.

So be happy with this life because it has a lot of surprises for us, each and every day. Just make sure that you don't forget to wait for a rainbow to appear after the rain. It will boost your happiness.
:)

A Tribute to Michael Jackson: The Music Legend!

Michael Jackson truly had a message to give each and every one of us.
To make this world as a better place as well as he did...

Rest in Peace, M.J.
God bless your soul.


Earth Song

Bangkok: City of Angels

Last year, when I attended one of those 'high-tea-time' meetings with my besties out of the blue we're talking about traveling again together.
It's almost a year since we're traveled together around Eroupe.
Starting from where I used to lived before, Muenster - Germany continue to other cities in Hitler country such as Dortmund, Essen, Koeln, Duesseldorf, Rattingen, then hop on in Amsterdam, hop off in Bruxelles, hop on again in Luxembourg, again in Barcelona, back to Muenster had a nice and warming farewell party with my best friends in Germany and finally headed back to J-Town.

Geez, miss those crazy and great 'bff' moments so muuuch.
So when it's suddenly came to the air this traveling issue, I was just so excited as much as my besties.
Without wasting so much time, we're discussing which country is going to be our next destination this time.
As everyone gets broke after the previous Euro Trip, we decided to choose one country in Asia. Which is quite cheap for transport and accomodation but still nice to be our getaway. Since everyone never been to Bangkok - Thailand, we chosed Bangkok instead of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Couple of days after that meeting ( yes, seriously!), everything's checked.
Itinerary : Checked.
Flight : Checked.
Hotel : Checked.

So, Bangkok there we go.
Fortunately, my hubby also need to go to a conference in Phuket - Thailand, so he will be joining us at the end of my holiday with my besties.

As soon as we landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport (located about 25 km east of downtown Bangkok), we took a taxi.
For your info: Do Not Get Into A Taxi At The Airport Unless The Metter Is ON.
Went straightaway to Ratchadaphisek Road.
Geez, it took appr. 15 minutes to explain the hotel address to the taxi driver.
We showed the address, still it doesn't help much because the addres was written in latin. They used Thai alphabetical in their daily life. It's difficult to understand what they said actually..., you should pay extra attention to each word.
Finally, after we pointed the street on the map he knows where to go.

Our friend who lives in Bangkok, already waiting for us in front of the hotel appartement just in case the taxi driver couldn't find the building.
We're stayed at his place until my husband came to Bangkok.
My friend's appartement is very cozy. A great combination between modern and minimalist architecture. Right in front of his living room, there's a beautiful swimming pool. We can also chilling out on his private balcony.
This place called: Ratchada Hotel and Service Appartement. Divided into two areas, first is for the permanent residence. Second is for the temporary guests.
Later on, I moved to the second together with my hubby.
The place is very comfy. Each appartement has: kitchen, living room, private balcony, bedroom, bathroom with bath tub and shower, even wash machine.
Feels like home yet very practical. It's ideal for up to 4 persons.

Soon after put our lugages in the appartement, we went to Esplanade (a shopping mall beside our place) to have our lunch. Hmm, we had a delicious welcoming Japanesse lunch from my friend. He bored already with Thai food, so this time he asked for Japanesse food as our first meal in Bangkok.
Well, as long as he paid for the lunch we don't have any problem with that..hehehe:p

After lunch, my friend went back to work while my besties and I continue exploring the mall. Bought some groceries for a week ahead.
After that we're taking a nap before went to Siam Paragon (the largest shopping mall in Bangkok).
We had a dinner meeting with my friend there (he works in this area).

Travel around Bangkok (BKK) is easy and flexible.
They have many alternatives transportation system in BKK, you named it.
From Tuk Tuk to Taxi. From Skytrain to Metro. From Boat to Train.
But for me as BKK is one of the busiest capital cities in Southeast Asia, I'd prefered travel with Skytrain and Metro around BKK.
Clean, fast and predictable. You'll save time, money and headaches from the traffic.

Wandered in Siam Square, window shopping, had our dinner at local restaurant.
The night went so fast.
For your info: Siam Square has lots of cinemas, a warren of stalls, shops, small pubs, eateries, trendy and funky boutiques reminds me of Kemang in South of Jakarta. Also cafes where you can mingle with students from nearby Chulalongkorn University.
On our first night in BKK, my besties already spent 700 baht in Siam Square. :D
But, true, we fell in love with this city as soon as we saw the price tag. Hahahaha.
It's very cheap comparing to any other country in Asia including Indonesia.

Our second day in BKK, first agenda was still shopping. ;)
We'd postpond our travel agenda in BKK sightseeings till my hubby is coming.
So, he could also look around the city together with us.
This time, we went to Mahboonkrong MBK.
Still around Siam area if you take sky train just stop at SIAM then countinue walking to Siam Discovery Centre than across the bridge following the signs that shows you the way to MBK.

MBK is like a Mangga Dua in Jakarta but much larger.
They have everything in MBK from mobile phones to toilet seat.
You can also bargaining with sales on the price. In fact, you NEED to bargain the price that they've been given to you. Otherwise, they will rip you off.
MBK is one of the famoust shopping district in BKK.
Not only for tourists but also for the locals.
For your info: Be careful with your belongings. This is pickpocket paradise.

On our third day in BKK, my hubby came and joined with us.
We moved first to the hotel appartement, so we still can have some privacy. ;)
Breakfast at eight with the famous Thai Noodle Kluay Tiew and Beef Balls + a glass of fresh orange juice + a cup of earl grey tea with honig at the hotel.
Quite early for holiday I know, but sooooo muuuuch to do in Bangers.
We're soooooo ready to groooooovy this daaay...!

We took Metro first from Thailand Cultural Centre (the nearest Metro stop to our place) to Sukhumvit, then changed to sky train stop over in Central - Siam.
Then took sky train with Saphan Taksin direction until the final stop.
From Saphan Taksin we crossed the street to Central Pier where the river tours get start.
We can get this river tour along the circle or hop on and hop off at the sights that we chosed. This boat will takes us at the main area in BKK with many sightseeings need to be seen. Such as: Grand Palace, Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn),
Wat Po (the biggest and oldest reclining gold Budha statue in the world) and many sacred temples along the river.

Our first stop was Ratchawong.
Within walking distance, we'd arrived at China Town.
There're a lot of food stalls, fruit stalls, bustling markets, very narrow alley ways, hidden small restaurants, gold stores and many more.
We've tried what so called 'small eggs fried' (I don't know what it's called in English = telur puyuh ceplok), local foods like tofu fried, etc.
After our stomach were full, we get on the river boat again.
And stop over at Wat Po.

For your info: There's a small cafe across the street of Wat Po (Chetuphon Road), I forgot the name of the cafe.
But you'll definetely have no difficulties to find this coziest cafe in the area.
This cafe have an excellent originally Thai foods and a very nice interior.
I've tasted the best of Tom Yam Goong ever in this cafe..!!! Don't miss it.

After had our 'big-lunch', we're wandered around the sites. Wat Po, Grand Palace, City Pillar Shrine, etc.
We also tried TUK TUK because our feets already screaming for helps. Hahahaha:D
And OH MY GOOOOOD! My first and last experience with this TUK TUK.
It's an extremely dangerous sport for your heart!!!
We almost hit a truck in front of us, and this wasn't happened only once. All the times, during the 5 minutes of riding!
Can you imagined that...?
Well, at least we've tried already to ride the famous TUK TUK from Thailand. :D

Feel so tired and exhausted because of the heat, we decided to pampered ourselves at the world famous Wat Po reflexiology school centre.
Oow..oow..oow.., feels like heaven guys...!
You should give it a try, if you are a reflexy (foot massage) fans.
It's really worth to try!
They have a different techniques of massages and reflexy.

Thai massage is great for sore muscles and you can't go far in the city without bumping into a Thai massage place.
My hubby was even get snorred in the middle of reflexy. Hehehehe:p
We took a picture in front of this Wat Po reflexiology centre, but unfortunately I lost my camera with all of our Bangkok pictures when
I was in Citos - Jakarta. before I copied the pictures to my laptop. :(

Well, anyway after getting recharged at Wat Po we headed directly to the pier.
Waiting for our boat to come and pick us up. We get enough for today.
We took a coffee break at the hotel, then get ready for the night adventure.
We went to Lumphini, there's a night market with a lot of cafes, reflexy centres, handycrafts boutiques, traditional clothes, and many more.
We simply enjoyed the ambiance. Bought a white shirt for my hubby before we return to the hotel.

The next day, our destination was: Chatuchak Market!
Been waiting for so long to go to this market.
Chatuchak Market is the most famous market in BKK even in Thailand.
Most of boutiques in Jakarta get their stuffs from here.
Chatuchak is a very massive market which divided into several areas.
Antiques, Home Decor, Used Books, Textiles, Wood Carvings, Art + Decor, Jeans, Accessories, Agricultural Product Market,
Inexpensive jeans-clothes-t-shirts-etc, Animals, Kitchenware, Ceramics + Porcelains, Souvenir Gifts, and not forget to mention Foot Massage Area.
The most important area for my hubby and I. :)

After spent the whole day shopping in Chatuchak, again my hubby and I pampered our feets in reflexy area whilst my besties still busy shopping.
We're so addicted to Thai Massage especially their foot massage.
Don't you love being pounded and pulled like a piece of dough?
Fabulous, darling... ;)

The next day, my hubby went back first to Jakarta.
My besties and I still have one day to go.
So, with the rest of our BAHT we spent a day in the shopping mall.
Tried another Thai foods, Pad See-Eeuw (stir fried noodles with seafood) with a delicious Mango Thai Salad.
Hmmmm...damn so goood! :)
Had a cup of frappucinno at Starbucks Esplanade, chit chat and finally packing our bags for tomorrow.
How time flies?
We'll definetely come to this city of angels again.

"Kap Koon Ka" (Thanks for ladies)
"Sawadee Ka" (Hello for ladies)

Note: It's a pity that I lost my camera with all of our Bangkok's pictures inside. :(

A Gift from Air Asia

A month ago, my family and I went to Malaysia for a holiday.
As you might read on my previous post, we went there using Air Asia airline.

My husband and I had a different return flight from the rest of my family.
Still on the same day, but they've got an earlier flight.
So when my family already took off, my husband and I made ourselves comfort
at The Coffee Bean Cafe near the terminal of LCCT waiting for our check in time.

Unfortunately, we've got an announcement that our flight was delayed.
So we had to wait for another 3 hours! Geez...thank God that my parents were arrived in Jakarta on time based on the schedule.
The other passengers were panicked if they'd lost their connecting flight in Jakarta
because of the delayed. They asked for a voucher from Air Asia to covered their lost.
Well, at least my husband and I had no other flight to catch up.

So when we saw there's nothing that we can do except waiting, we went around the stores in the airport. Bought a little present for myself..hahaha. :)
And chocolates for my best friends.

1 hour before we took off, Air Asia gave a free meal and drink for the passengers who have been delayed.
Soon after that, we took off and landed in Jakarta safe and soundly.

Back to routinity, back to real life with a full batterei that has been charged during the holiday.
We already forgot about the flight delay until I've got an email from Air Asia two weeks ago, an official appology from Air Asia.

"We apologize for the flight delay and hope you'll accept this E-Gift Voucher as
our On Time Guarantee compensation. Your Air Asia E-Gift Voucher, awaits your redemption."

And when I log on to their website to see this electronic voucher, I was so surprised. Air Asia gave my husband and I, EACH, @ 200 MYR (Malaysian Ringgit)
E-voucher which means they pay back all of our previous tickets expenses.

We bought our tickets to Kuala Lumpur for @ 500rb IDR return. It's almost 175 MYR.
And they gave us totally 400 MYR as compensation for the flight delay though none of us have asked!

Wooowoowowow!
We're so surprised!
And happy of course... :)
We can use this voucher before September 2009, so it means we're going to have
another holiday comiiiiiing soooooooon.... Yipiiiiiiiie!!!

Two thumbs up for Air Asia professionality.
Eventhough Air Asia is a low cost carrier airline, but they serves their passengers
excellently.
No wonders they're voted as The World's Best Low Cost Airline.
Keep up the good works, pals!

Macau & Shenzhen: Lost in Translation II

Note: I've just moved this article from my other blog. This travel journal was actually written few months after our honeymoon last year.





Finished gambling and taking few pictures in Macau, we continued our journey to the mainland of China. :)
We crossed the sea border between two countries, which takes approximately 40 minutes by a small cruise. And we arrived at Shenzhen International Airport.

I don't know why, but since my first step in Shenzhen I had this kind of a 'weird' feeling, am a bit nervous, anxious, and the butterfly in my stomach was never stop flying around.
Later, I've found out that's a sign for me that something bad will happened to us. Believe it or not believe...

It's begun at the immigration section.
I have a problem, just because my passport was issued at Indonesia Consulate in Germany (which is no wonder because my previous passport was expired while I still live in Muenster.., so I have to renewed my passport immediately!).

They asked a lot of question about my personal datas.
Which is quite annoying..!
I mean, there's no problem at all actually...
It's stated very clear in my new passport, that my previous passport is expired so need to be canceled bla..bla..bla..., so Indonesia Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany need to issued a new one for me.

I think, they don't really understand that statement (or they don't understand English?! Only God knows...).
Why, because even after they've read it, it still doesn't make everything clear anyway.
They keep on going with their suspicious guessing ( or maybe they just have nothing to do so they making it out from my case..).
And they asked for my identity card, helloooooow since when I can't use my passport as my identity card..????
I can give them my Indonesian identity card, but what for... as if they can read in bahasa..!

After a looong interogating and debating process, finally they let me in to their country eventhough they're still unsure that I'm a good person ( I can read this very clear in their faces).
Geez...

Right after that, another bad thing happened to us
After looking around in the airport, we've been following by a chinese man who keep insist telling us to take a taxi from him.
We said no thank you several times, but the man insisted to following us wherever we go.
We've been trying to get a normal taxi, but its nowhere to find.

We asked somebody at the information service about the transportation system if we want to go to Shenzhen city.
Before she answer our question, the man speaks in Chinese with her. And then she said to us, there's no transportation accomodation from here to the city because the city is very far from here.
You only can take a taxi from here (there's no bus and there's no a normal taxi as well, according to her information..).
We don't want to believe her, but she's a person who is in charge at the information service.
What would you do, if you're at my position?

Triumphly, the man said to us that's a normal thing we don't have any choice.
He said, people always get my taxi if they want to go to the city.
And because this not kind of a normal taxi with a normal fares, so we asked him how much it cost for us to go to the city.
He said, 500 Yuan..!!! Can you believe that..???
500 Yuan just to go to Shenzhen city from the airport!
Of course we don't want it...

Again after a very looooooooooooooooooooooong bargaining, then we got 300 Yuan deal. We already tried to asked many people in the airport, but they can't speaks (or maybe they simply don't want/care..) English. So we really have no choice at all.He explained that the city is 45 km from here, that's why its expensive bla..bla..bla..

So, we decided to take that taxi ( we didn't really have any other choice at the time anyway..).
The driver wasn't the same person who had dealling with us.
The first man explained everything to the driver (in Chinese of course!), and commanded him to take us to our hotel in Shenzhen city.

But then, something really bad happened to us later on...
Soon, after we arrived at our hotel my husband gave the driver 300 Yuan according to our deal before.
Suddenly with an angry face, he's yelling to us asked for 600 Yuan!
He said that 300 Yuan is only for one person, and we have to pay him 600 Yuan.
Of course we refused to pay him 600 Yuan, because we've got the deal at 300 Yuan.

We told him, to call his friend the one who making a deal with us at the airport.
But the driver didn't want to call his friend, he just want to take the money from us.
He takes my husband's wallet, trying to get the money by him self. Luckily, my husband only has 300 Yuan + 50 $ Macau + 6000 IDR in his wallet. So we told him, that's all what we have. He pushed us to go to the bank to take the money from our visa.He locked every doors, afraid that we're going to run away from him. Even if we had a chance to do that, we're not going to run ever since our luggages were still in his bagage. I was very angry with his attitude, I told him firmly that we don't have an International account, we can't take the money from our visa, we're run out of cash, so there's no way for us to give you 600 Yuan. So just take the money and leave us alone..!

This bloody driver, finally he gave up. And he letting us go.
His slammed the car's door, banging hard on the car...
I said to my husband, to not give any shit to him.
Just show him, that we're not afraid and we don't care with all his shits..!
He almost hit my husband face actually, and he was very ANGRY to me because I'm the one who always fight against his words.
My husband was very concerned about my safety, that's why he told me to give my money to him.
But I said, NO WAY..!
I'm not going to give him more money.
He already robbing us anyway...(Later we found out, that a normal rate for taxi from the airport to the city is only 100 Yuan..!)

After he leaved us, I was very angry, and never stopped crussing that guy (and the other guy as well..)!
I tried to calmed down myself, by saying and thinking that we're still lucky that anything worse than that might be happened to us.
Thanks God for His mercy.

To be continue...

Hong Kong & Macau: Lost in Translation

Note: I've just moved this article from my other blog. This travel journal was actually written few months after our honeymoon last year.

Several months ago, my husband and I had our first honeymoon.
You know as a newly wed, we've planned to go to several countries in Asia.
It's a bit weird actually, as for me an Indonesian who lived in Germany for almost 6 years and during that period I've traveled & explored in almost all of European countries but never having a chance to do it in my own continent.

So I am really excited with our travel plan this time.
Which is I am sure that we'll having a great time during our journey.
Soon, after my wedding day we're headed to Hong Kong as our first destination.

When we're arrived in Hong Kong, I hardly can say anything.
I felt like I was somehow a very primitive person compared to all of 'modernizations' in Hong Kong.
I admired their transportation system (esc.the tunnels..), their bridges, their planology (city plan), and most of all their breathtaking symphonie of lights (harbour view).



To make it even perfect, we're stayed in the hotel which facing Victoria harbour.
After taken some rest and regained our energy, we're ready to explore Hong Kong from the Avenue of Stars until the Ladies Market in Jordan.

Because we'll return to Hong Kong before we're going to our last destination-Singapore, we decided to save the best for last of our exploration there.

From Hong Kong we're departed to Macau.
A small indeed very unique country in Asia. Why is that..?
Because Macau is like a coin which has two sides.
An asian country with a strong influence from Portugal.
When I was in the city centre of Macau, it remains me a lot to Muenster (the city where I had lived in Germany.)
The buildings, the square, the churchs, the shopping district, the streets, in short the city centre of Macau is very Europe.
With both Portugesse and Cantonesse informations as their official languages, I felt like I was back in one of European countries except the people are all Asian.



Sometimes we're having a difficulties to understand their English because of the cantonesse and portugesse accent that they haved.
I don't know why, but for me it's a very unique experiences when I see chinesse people speaking portugesse as their mother tongue. :)
Since we're already in Macau, an Asia version of Las Vegas of course we went to their famous casinos. At first we're only want to know what its like playing in the most famous casino in Asia, but then we're ended playing all night long in Venetian.
Well, it's an unforgettable-full of fun-yet costly experience for both of us. ;)

To be continue...

1st Anniversary

Today, one year ago my husband and I had said our everlasting vows in front of our God, priest, families and friends.
Yes, a year has gone by since the day I married to my husband.
Time fly so fast.

Few days before my D-day, I wrote a post about my feelings yet my thoughts about the marriage itself at the time
(title: Check-In Times).
I didn't feel nervous at all, on the contrary I felt so relaxed.
I don't know why.., usually people get nervous when they're about to marry their lover.
But it doesn't happened in my case.
I felt so relaxed and ready to make a life time commitment with the one that I believed as my soulmate.

I knew him since I was in my sophomore.
We've been together for 12 years with all ups and downs, on's and off's. :')
When we broke up years ago, we promised that we'll let everything fall in it's place.
Let it go and let it be.
If we're MEANT to be together, the love will find a way and we'll be together again, somehow, somewhere.
But if it's not, than we're not meant to be together.

Since than we lived in different continent, far away from each other.
So much things happened along the way, either in my life or his.
People comes and goes, some stay in our life and heart left some footprints.
People changes, and so do we.
Life has been easy and tough sometimes.
Still, we always shared everything happened in each other life.
We're always there for each other no matter how far we're from each other.
We're like a brother and a sister.., always looking for each other for comfortness.

Slowly but sure, life has led and guided us to walks on the same path again.
The love's still there. Though we're a different person now which I believed in a positive way,
we still have the same feeling and we know each other very well.
Love has found the way back.., which means we're MEANT to be together.

So here we are, on our first anniversary saying a little prayer:

Dear Lord,
help us to remember when we first met and the strong love that grew between us.
To work that love into practical things so nothing can divide us.
We asks for words both kind and loving, and for hearts always ready to ask forgiveness as well as to forgive.
Dear Lord, we put our marriage into your hands.
Amen.

Looking back on those wonderful days during the first year of our marriage, I'm so grateful that God
has sent a great husband yet a guardian angel in my life.
Eventhough, we still lives with my parents it doesn't prevent us from being happy and enjoy every single moment
of our blissful marriage.

I know, that we still have a long way to go but I have no doubt to face the future and keep on walking side by side with my husband
because I know very well, that God works on our marriage.
Our first year of marriage has teached us about respect and understanding.
Praise the Lord, that we're almost never had a fight because we're always respect and understanding each other no matter
how bad the situation is.

Thank you Lord for a WONDERFUL year that you've been given to us.
May we always learn to nourish the love that you gave to us, and always gives our best to each other.


PS: I love you hon.., thank you for being a great husband for me.

Kuala Lumpur & Genting Highlands

Last week, I've had a family trip to Malaysia.
This was my second trip to "Negeri Jiran" but in fact I do still feel so excited to explore
their capital city, Kuala Lumpur and their world famous city of entertainment, Genting Highlands
together with my family.

Since there are so many things to be seen in quite a short times, I had warned my family to
prepare for a tight schedule.
Actually this was my first experience to arranged 'a group' traveling overseas together.
Traveling itself wasn't a new thing for me, but being responsible for 'a group' journey
is absolutely a NEW thing for me. :)

At first, I was a bit affraid how if there's something happens beyond my/our expectations
during our journey, how if I couldn't met people expectation, how if I couldn't satisfied
everybody in this group, and the list goes on and on and on.
But then I decided to take it as a challenge. There's always a first time for everything, right..?

So, get started with hunting a good bargain for our tickets.
That's a first thing to be considered, if we want to traveling with a minimum budget.
Thanks to Air Asia, we've got a ticket to Kuala Lumpur (return) @ for only 500rb IDR nett.
The price was inclusive airlines tax and fuel surcharge.
We paid extra 100rb IDR for seat reservation and a skybus ticket from LCCT to KL Sentral (return).
Such a good deal right?

And then, go to next level. Accomodation.
This one was not an easy thing to do. According to a different standart of comfortness and different
financial condition between one and the other.
So I need to be extra careful and sensitive in order to make a silver line between those differences.
If we want to be efficient in traveling, we should looking for a hotel which is near to the main area of the city.
It will gives us a lot of flexibility to get around, get some food, shopping, etc.
And the most valueable thing if we stayed in the centre of the city is that we're able to get the rythm of the city.
One of the most important essences from traveling is that we should be able to get to know the soul from the city.
And the closest place to the soul is the main/centre area of the city.

For example:
I found that, the soul of Paris is beautiful in the darkness. Full of sorrow and loneliness.
So ironic, that something really gorgeous can be extremely dangerous for someone who can't stand the poison of the beauty itself.
No wonder that a suicide rate in Paris is getting higher every year.

Well, it's totally fine if you can't understand/follow what I mean...hehehe:p
Obviously you just need to pack your bag and go travel. :)

So, anyway I booked the Radius International Hotel (thanks to my best friend, Deasy) in Bukit Bintang area.
Bukit Bintang is one of the main areas in Kuala Lumpur, just like Orchard Road in Singapore, Champ Ellyses in Paris,
Maria Hilfe Strasse in Wien, Sudirman in Jakarta, Kuta in Denpasar, etc.
It's a very strategic area for a traveler. There are so many hotels and shopping malls in the area from * to *****.
In the evening, you can easily find any kind of food stalls along the street, blend in a perfect harmony with the cafes.
If you want to go to another area in Kuala Lumpur, you can just hail a taxi from wherever you're standing just like in Jakarta. ;)
Or if you want to do some exercise, just try the monorail and LRT. It's very simple & cheap to use.

In short way, ticket checked, hotel checked.
So there we were. Spent 4 days in Kuala Lumpur and Genting Highlands just felt like a blink of an eye.
Time flies so fast. It feels like we're just arrived on LCCT when we're about to leave back to Jakarta.

Day 1: Soon after we're checked in, we put our luggages in our room. Headed toward Pavilion (5* shopping mall in Bukit Bintang)
to get our lunch in Food Republic.
Of course, you better check for their famous NASI LEMAK when you're in Malaysia.
It's so damn good! ;)
After lunch, we surveyed the Bukit Bintang area including the malls, the markets, walked on pedestrian area, along with the cafes
and the stores.
Took some rest in the hotel while my nieces and their Uncle (my husband) went to swim.
Soon after taking a shower, we're wandering around Alor Street to find a good restaurant for our dinner.

Alor Street is an area which is full of restaurants and food stalls, you can decide whether you want to sit outside or simply
inside the restaurant. Everything is so flexible here.
The food's so delicious!


Finished with dinner, my mother and my niece bought a barbeque sausage already. It's sooooo tempting honestly. :)
The shopping spree mood SET ON, so we went to Bukit Bintang Plaza, Sungai Wang and Lot 10 (3* plaza) to checked their price.
I told them not to buy anything in a hurry, but check the price first compare with another store.
Sometimes the sales are very tricky to persuade the customers. Be smart!
To close our first day in Kuala Lumpur, we're having a cup of tea in a street cafe. Simply enjoyed the scene.


Day 2: Destination of the day, Genting Highlands Resort.

Had an early breakfast. Went to Puduraya Station straightaway to buy a ticket of Go Genting Express Bus.
The ticket price is very cheap. Only RM 3,5 for the bus and RM 5 for Genting Skyway (one way).
We took the bus until Genting Skyway Terminal then continued our journey with a skyway.
Note: Genting Skyway is the longest and the fastest skyway in Southeast Asia (3,38 km start from Gohtong Jaya Hill to Highlands Hotel at the top).
Located on the widest and the oldest mountainous area in Malaysia, 6118 feet above sea level surface.

Though I have no phobia being in a high place, still I had a nervous feeling when we're about to climb the hill with the skyway.
It's extremely fast comparing to one in Hong Kong, Ngong Ping Island. Geez!
But the green scenery below us was really..really..amazing! Breathtaking. What a nice distraction. :)

Finally, we landed in Highlands Hotel.
Felt so damn hungry because of the nervous feeling we had before, we soon found the Good Friends Restaurant.
The one that has been recommended by Genting Guidance, so famous with their Chinese Food and roasted Duck.
And yes, again the food was delicious! Only for RM 15, I've got Wonton Soup + Duck with Rice + Mango Juice + Ice Lemon Tea.
What a good deal, isn't it?
Next time you come to Genting, you should try the Wonton Soup in this restaurant. The best Wonton Soup I've ever had!

After lunch, we explored the Genting Highlands Gallery.
From where we could learnt the history of Genting itself, the founder, the development process, the design, etc.
Done with the knowledge, now it's time to having fun kiddo... :D
We went straight to First Plaza Indoor Theme Park. The place is so nice. Full of imaginations.
With a complete series of attractions, from Reindeer Rider to Jet Coaster, from Sky Venture to Snow World and many more.
Your kids will having a real GOOD times being here, believe me.
It feels that you're in a different world which only playing, games, toys, foods are exist. :D

Besides First World Plaza Indoor Theme Park, there's also Genting Outdoor Theme Park.
More than 60 kinds of games available in this park. Space Shot, Pirate Ship, Flying Coaster, Bumper Boat, Corkscrew,
X-pedition Wall, Spinner, Mini Train, and so on and so on.
When you're here, make sure to break your leg guys! :')
Find a missing piece from your childhood here, together with your children.
You'll definetely need to stay at least 2 nights to experience all those things above.

And when you're not having a child, doesn't mean you can't enjoy the atmosphere.
Just go straight to the casinos, try your luck, having a dare to win or lose moments with your partner or friends.
The city is never sleep. Almost anything available for 24 hours a day.
And don't worry about the accomodation here, it has almost the same price as in Kuala Lumpur.
You can find a good hotel starting from RM 100 per night.

After getting breezed by the temperature of -5' C inside the Snow World, we desperately need a cup of hot chocolate and
some cakes of course would be nice... :)
While sipping our hot chocolate, with a great companion of cheese cakes..our eyes were pampered by the beautiful scenery of green montainous
with the haze very close to the street. Life is indeed so beautiful. Thank you Lord.

For those shopaholicers who maybe getting bored with the casinos, don't worry you can find the coolest ( I mean literally..)
shopping mall in Malaysia, First World Plaza with 90 world famous outlets.
Or simply pampered your body on the massage chair while you're watching your favourite movie in First World Cineplex.
It's absolutely true that they called Genting as a city of entertainment.

After the last bit of the cakes, we're getting ready for our last agenda in Genting which is going to Chin Swee Caves Temple.
People said this temple located at the most prettiest spot in Genting Highlands.
Unfortunately, the Awana Train has been grounded at the moment.
So we're not able to go to the temple. Dissapointed of course, but what can we say?
We're having SO MUCH FUN already since yesterday, so we don't feel like complaining at all. :)

Before getting dark, we're headed to Genting Skyway Terminal.
With a big smile on the face of each one of us.
We treasured the moment that we've just experienced.
Enjoyed every single moment of the skyway riding.
Back to the elegant city of Kuala Lumpur.

Soon after took a nice shower in the hotel, we're wandering again in another area of Bukit Bintang.
Enjoyed our dinner while sitting on the chairs outside the restaurant.
Getting recharged by the night bliss.


Day 3: Destinations of the day were, Petronas Twin Towers and Hop on Hop Off.

In order to get an ID pass from Petronas, we woke up very early and had a quick breakfast.
Because this was the first experience of my niece getting abroad, we'd like to show her how to use public transportations here.
Get started with the lesson how to buy a ticket both in the counter and from the machine, we went through monorail and LRT.
My nieces were so excited! They're enjoyed the ride every seconds of it.
It's totally hillarious, to see their happy faces, young and restless spirits. :)
So, finally when we're arrived in KLCC we took a line in a very long queuing (already!) in front of the Petronas ticket counter.
It took almost 2 hours until we got the free pass. And we'd come back at 11.45 to get a short introduction before we go upstairs.
We still had 2 hours before that time, so for killing time, we went to Petronas Sains Discovery Centre (Level 4, Suria-KLCC).
And took a nice brunch at the foodcourt.



Finally, we went up to the Skybridge only in 41 seconds!!
It's an amazing experience being at the tallest twin towers in the world.
No times to expressed our admiration to a human majestic creation.
Every group are only allowed to enjoy and taking some pictures of the backstage view for 15 minutes.



Note: Petronas gives a free ID pass daily for those who wants to visit the famous Skybridge on 41st floor for an exhilarating 'top of the world' feeling.
We should take a queue early in the morning, otherwise we'll run out of the tickets as only a limited number are allowed.
The towers are the centrepiece of Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), consisting of the state of the art Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Suria KLCC shopping mall,
a five star hotel, the immaculately landscaped KLCC park as well as mosque.
The area is a major draw for visitors and locals alike.



Finished with a magnificent Petronas Twin Towers, we're waiting for a Hop on - Hop Off Bus at the shuttle in front of Petronas Philharmonic Hall.
Hop on Hop Off bus will take you to look around doing the sights in Kuala Lumpur.
This bus is the most efficient and convenience way to take you to many major attractions in the city.
Visitors can enjoy the sights at their own leisure, either stay on board for the full circuit or hop on and off at any of 22 designated stop.
The tours come equipped with on board commentary in 8 languages. Available from 8.30 am to 8.30 pm daily.
From modern landmarks to heritage sites. From Petronas Twin Towers to Sultan Abdul Samad Building.
From market squares to tropical enclaves. From museums to shopping malls.

Note: Tickets can be purchased on the bus, at authorised agents or via the internet.
RM 38 for adults and RM 17 for children, students and senior citizens.
You can also check the places of interest on their website: www.myhoponhopoff.com

Soon after we've done with 22 attractions in the city, including souvenirs and local foods hunting in China Town and Central Market,
we're landed soundly in Bukit Bintang area to finish our shopping list.
While hunting for this and that, we've got a very nice surprise from Vinnci at BBP. Crazy SALE, only RM 10 a pair!!
You know what happened afterwards, right...? ;')

Since we're pretty tired, the seniors went first to the hotel while the rest of us went to Pavilion to grab our dinner.
Then we're headed back to the hotel with no energy left. :D


Day 4: Destinations, LCCT & Jakarta.

Had our breakfast. Packed the luggages. Closed the bill and checked out.
Settled ourselves on the bus transfer to LCCT. Feeling exhausted yet recharged and motivated by the-just-ended-trip.
With a big smile on our faces, we said a prayer and great thanks to our FATHER in Heaven to made it all possible.
Amen.

LIFEBOOK 2009

I've got this nice article 3 times.
First time was from my father, second time was from my best friend, and third time was from my sister in law.
I found it so thoughtful and useful.
So I think why don't I post it on my blog, so everyone can also read and enjoy the article.
Happy Reading! :)

LIFEBOOK 2009:

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants (factory)
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy
5. Make time for prayer
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2008
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day ---- and while you walk, SMILE !!

Personality:

11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do; keep your limits
14. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and Laugh more
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:

25. Call your family often
26. Each day give something good to others
27. Forgive everyone for everything
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day
30. What other people think of you is none of your business
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

32. Do the right things
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
34. GOD heals everything
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up!
37. The best is yet to come
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be HAPPY !!!!!!!

Last but not the least :

40. Do forward this to everyone you care about.

The Flock

On last Saturday, my hubby and I went to the cinema @ SMS.
We're watched "The Flock" movie.
Not more than 10 minutes after the movie began, my hubby just realized that he had watched this movie before but he forgot the title. :D
Later I found out that it's an old movie (2007).
Still wondering, why they put this movie inside the box for such a long time??

Anyway, The Flock is kind of a thriller movie.
Full of surprises, with a lot of sexual violence scenes (brutal!) which makes me sick. Seriously, I lost my appetite for the whole night!

This movie is about a hypervigilant federal agent (Richard Gere), while training his young female replacement (Claire Danes), must track down a missing girl who he is convinced is connected to a paroled sex offender he is investigating.

Apart from the "brutal" part, I like this movie because it's so unpredictable!
And this movie taught us about a FAITH.

"Have faith in yourself and in the direction you have chosen."

And at the end, this movie's reminding us...
"When we're trying to beat a monster, be sure that we're not become one of it in the process."

Negative Feelings.

Negative feelings are in you, not in reality.
So stop trying to change reality.
That's crazy!
Stop trying to change the other person.
We spend all our time and energy trying to change external circumstances, trying to change our spouses, our bosses, our friends, our enemies, and everybody else.
We don't have to change anything.
Negative feelings are in you.

No person on earth has the power to make you unhappy.
There is no event, condition, situation, or person.
Nobody told you this; they told you the opposite.
That's why you're in the mess that you're in right now.
That is why you're asleep.
They never told you this. But it's self-evident!

*De Mello*

Heidelberg - Germany

Well.., if I should have said two words summarizing my trip to Heidelberg (Germany), I would say that Heidelberg is a very beautiful city. I went there twice, with a very good friend of mine. So, there we were..walking around the beautiful city, along the Neckar river, the old town square, and its gorgeous Castle.
Church and town, town and castle-intricately woven in the history of destruction and reconstruction. Promenades through the old town up to the Castle: historical encounters in narrow lanes.

When we were standing on the top of Koenigstuhl..,there was no need to discuss how amazing view that we have been looking at...there was no enough time to ask what do you feel to each other..coz..we were just speechless looking at God's AMAZING paintings.

Heidelberg..,not just a postcard of beauty. Even today a charming city which successfully resits the dismantling of its romantic beauty.

May every farewell be said with the intention of coming back.
To find once again the memories one has taken along.
Encounters with a myriad of beautiful things in this old city.


Heidelberg in memoir! (Autumn 2003-Summer 2004)

Volendam

Apa ya yg bisa aku tulis tentang Volendam???
Jujur aja sih, buat aku ga ada yang special2 banget yang bisa diomongin dari Volendam.
Gimana ya? Biasa banget...
Pantainya? Banyak pantai yang lebih bagus deh di Indo perasaan...
Trus apalagi ya? Hmmm...cafe2nya...? Kayaknya ga penting deh...
Toko2 souvenirnya yang berderet-deret sepanjang jalan di pesisir pantainya?
Hmmm...bolehlah, buat nyari oleh2. :)

Satu hal yang biasa orang lakuin kalo berkunjung ke Volendam ya apalagi kalo bukan bikin foto dengan pakaian tradisional noni2 dan broer2 Belanda itu --> seperti yg bisa di liat sebelah ini! Huehuehuehue..:p
Selain itu sibuk ngeliatin foto artis2 Indonesia yg udah pasti bakal kalian temuin di setiap studio foto disana. Aku jadi berasa kaya jalan di Blok-M, yg biasanya hampir disetiap toko majang foto atau kalender artis2 Indo dari mulai yang beken ampe yang ga.

Tapi paling ga ada satu hal yg cukup menyenangkan buat kalian lakuin kalo kalian pergi ke sana.
Duduk..duduk..persis di pinggir pantainya..menikmati semilir angin musim semi,sambil ngebayangin apa ya yg ada di ujung lautan sana..? Inggriskah atau Medankah? Huahauhauaha:D Maklum nilai geografi aku jelek banget waktu SMA! Kalo males mikir ya..boleh juga deh duduk..duduk..sambil ngelamun.

Yang jelas aku sendiri ga ngerasain sesuatu yg kalo dlm bhs Inggris istilahnya 'exciting' semuanya flat aja, terlepas dari perasaan sampe juga aku disini!!! :)
Dulu aku cuman bisa ngeliatin foto2nya Oma, Opa, Papa, Mama & keluarga ku lainnya yg juga pernah foto2 di Volendam. Selebihnya, biasa aja.


Volendam in memoir!
There were no so much things to remember...

London's Reunion

London oh London..!

I do not know, why? But London is my obsession since I was in Junior High School. I really want to have an opportunity to go there or even to gain my further knowledge in one of those famous universities in England. Then, I found out that was not possible for me to make my dream come true according to how bloody expensive the tuition fee also a total amount of living cost in London except I have a sponsorship.
Apparently my life has leads me to another direction. I went to Germany instead of going to London which is could be another way for me to visit London sometime.

So I just can not wait for my self to go to London. Finally, I have had a chance to go to London on winter season 2002. I went there with one of my best friend and we were lived in my friend house. I was so excited during our flight on the way to London. As soon as we were arrived in Stansted Airport, I have got used to heard kind of British dialect which is I find it so sexy.
From Stansted Airport we were heading to China Town to have our dinner. I was so surprised at the time coz I really feels like home! Not because of my dream come true but its all because London is look like Jakarta in one and another way. Within a hectic traffic jam, the highways, what a crowded town, and its hard to find a free parking place there (its more effective to go with underground/metro or Londons famous red bus.), dirty, and so on and so on.
My first impression was, OMIGOT another version of Jakarta apart from the language of course. But still it does not reduce my curiosity of London. Especially with all of my lovely friends there who really kind to make my trip WONDERFUL!

London is not a place to do in a day or even a week. To experience all this cosmopolitan and historically rich city has to offer would challenge even the most cultured of locals! Lying in the south-east of England on the river Thames, Greater London is home to 9 million people. With world-famous landmarks such as the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament), Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace Garden, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, St. Pauls Cathedral (the second largest dome in the world), Tower Bridge, Millenium Dome, Big Ben, National Museum, the London Eye, and still many more obliged places to see. For those who really like shopping than London is the right place to go. London have so many big and famous shopping centre such as: Plaza Shopping Centre (Oxford Street), Victoria Place Shopping Centre (Buckingham Palace Road), Covent Garden Market (The Piazza), The London Pavillion (Picadilly) and many more. And for those who loved Indonesian food, then never forget to try Bali-Bali Restaurant (the food is amazing, not because one of my friend working there!), Satay Restaurant (they have a very big portion, delicious of course! And a lot of Indonesian people work there including my friend. Btw, bener kan ya Mam namanya..gw lupa2 inget!), and Melati Restaurant (we had our farewell dinner in this restaurant, the food is also delicious especially rujak-nya!) Hmmm..,yummy!!! And for those who loved Japanese food, do not forget to come to Wagamama Restaurant (Soho, but there are several places of this restaurant in London.), one of the most famous Japanese restaurant in the world. For those who loved clubbing, there are so many great lounge and club to hang out but remember everything is so expensive in poundsterling.

London is no stranger to destruction, mourning and reconstruction. The Great Fire of London struck in the seventeenth century and gave Londoners no chance to recover from the great plague which swept the city just before. In the twentieth century, it was the first and second World Wars which claimed their toll on the nations capital and its people. Despite this, the ever-present resilience of the Londoners has seen the rebuilding of this grand, exciting and prosperous capital to be enjoyed by all its visitors in the new millennium.

London has never made much of an attempt to be one of the most beautiful European capitals and nor does it pretend to be such. Instead, as the architect Piers Gough put it, 'London is a dirty, gritty, hard-working city', which is seen by many as one of its endearing characteristics. The gradual growing together over centuries, of towns, villages, peoples and cultures has made London into the exciting, unpredictable and varied place it is today.
Two weeks just not enough for me to explore London, I would like to go there again next time! So London, just wait for me, I will come to you!


London in memoir! Winter 2002/2003


*Thank's to all of my friends in London who makes my journey WONDERFUL.., especially to Imam for being so nice to gave his room for us!*

A Real Life

After spent almost 6 years living abroad...
I realized that many things has been changed ever since.
I'm not the same person anymore as I was.
Not only my eyes are now open wide but especially my mind.

I never stop to thank God for all of the opportunities that He has given to me.
Without His mercy, I would never be like who I am now.
Living in abroad had teaches me to be a realistic person.
I learnt how to survive.., I learnt how to make a good decision...
I learnt about how to live my life to the fullest with all ups and downs.
Life is always move forward like a clock that always ticking anyway.
There's no point to linger on our past.., except to take a lesson from the mistakes that we've made.

Just move on and let everything falls behind.


* Dedicated to Muenster my second home...*

Winter in Paris

Paris, City of light, Paris, one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Seems that it took forever just to post a story about our trip to Paris.
Kind of short trip with a long stories and unforgetable memories .
Feeling of tired because of almost 10 hours sitting on the bus from Darmstadt to Paris was suddenly disappeared as soon as we were arrived in Paris.
It's an incredible feeling when you know that you are standing right in the heart of the most famous and romantic city in the world.
We were looking and walking around, along the largest square in Paris, Place De La Concorde which taken place right at the end of Paris main street, Des Champs Elysees.

Although still not satisfied enough after taking our first pictures in Paris, we have decided to had our first breakfast in the Chambolle Cafe.
At first we were totally confused why there were several different price for the same menu! Then we found out that the price's determine by the place we have choose. For example: you should pay more for your food if you want to have a table, but if you are just sitting and having your food in the bar then you will pay more cheap. (What a funny rule I think first.., but since a lot of tourists regularly come to Paris.., than I understand its make sense anyway.) Finish took our first French baguette and morning coffee, we were check in and put our bags in the hotel.

Since then, our journey in Paris was begun. It was really cold at the time though it was a bright sunny day. But we just did not have so much time to gave any shit to the weather because we were so excited and there were so many great places & buildings waiting for us to stop by and come over.

From Notre Dame Cathedral to the arenas of Lutetia.
From The Concierge to Musee Du Louvre.
From the Basilique Du Sacre Coeur to Tour Eiffel.
From Arc De Triomphe De L’ etoile to Des Invalides.
From Palais De Chaillot to Le Pantheon.
From Opera Garnier to Jardin Et Palais Du Luxembourg.
From Centre G. Pompidou to La Fayette.
From the oldest clock to the oldest house in Paris.
And there were so many places that I could not mention here coz it will takes the whole week for me to explain.

Most of the beautiful moment that I have ever had in Paris was the Christmas Eve.
We went to Notre Dame following International Mass which was held in three language (French, Spain, and English). I could hardly explain what kind of feeling that I had at the time, until suddenly I felt that my tears fallen down on my cheeks. Its just so..so...unexplainable.

When you are on the trip.., time is just too short!!!
Then it comes to the point that those moments have to come to the end even when you are not ready for it. Even when you do not want it to end.
As the peak of our trip in Paris, we were having our last dinner in the most delicious cafe in Paris (at least for me!), Cafe Le Petit Pont just direct on the left side of Notre Dame.
The food was so delicious, the atmosphere was so cozy with a friendly waiters, and most of all with the great jazz live music performance.

Then we were heading home, wishing that will come another opportunity for us practicing our limited French phrases:
'Excusez-moi'
'Merci-bien'
'Bonjour Madamme/Monsieur'
'S’ il vous plait'
'Comtoir'


Paris in memoir!
Beautiful city with a beauty of sorrow!

Muenster, Meine Stadt: My Lovely City..!

Muenster is the capital of North Rhineland-Westphalia.
The history of the city begins in 800, when the first Christian monastery was established in this area.
In 1170 Muenster received the municipal rights and shortly became a very influential religious and administrative center.
In the 16-th century the city remained under the strong influence of Anabaptists. In 1648, after 5-year lasting negotiations, the Westphalian Peace Treaty ending the 30-year war was signed in Muenster.

The Westphalian Treaty brought substantial territorial changes in Europe.
From the very beginning Muenster was perceived as a central city of North Rhineland- Westphalia and in 1816 the city became the capital of the region.

Nowadays, it is one of the most beautiful and characteristic locations in Germany. Approx. 280,000 Muenster's inhabitants live in the area corresponding to approx. 30,000 hectares. More than 40% of working population is employed in the public sector of the national economy, 30% in trade and 25% in industry.

Muenster is the regional center of administration, trade and science.
The third of the largest German universities is located in Muenster.
The university educates about 50,000 students.
Moreover, the academic nature of the city is reflected by a number of scientific associations and other organizations.

In the Muenster's surroundings there are about one hundred castles on the water, all in exceptionally good condition. The city market called Prinzipalmarkt, a shopping center with exclusive shops, big department stores and famed cafeterias, is the most beautiful place in Muenster. Since 1280 generations of traders built their tenement-houses at the city square.

At the square of the city the Saint Lambertius Church was erected, on the tower of which, three cages are hung, where in the thirties of the 16-th century corpses of three Anabaptist movement leaders were kept. A fronton of the historic city hall built in the Gothic style and a cathedral clock, which was heard for the first time in 1540 and its ticking will sound up to 2017, are exceptionally interesting monuments of the city.

The Muenster inhabitants say that in the city there are about 50 churches of many beliefs.Muenster has much to offer - apart from urban history, historical old part of town and westfaelischem peace the free culture scene and the museum landscape are singularly and supraregional well-known.
Muenster takes these and many further "Pounds" to the cause to apply than culture capital of Europe 2010.
Thus Muenster historical old part of town offers not only a singular closed window blind of impressive buildings, but also unmistakable meetings and high-quality offers.
Modern architecture, contemporary sculptures, the federal state museum for art and culture history, the graphics museum Pablo Picasso and the museum for lacquer art are to be found here.

A further culture area is the "creative dock" at the port with Wolfgang Borchert theatre, Hot jazz club and various catering trade and club scene.
Exciting leisure experiences guarantee all-weather zoo, Aasee and further attractions e.g. balloon travels and the international kite celebration in the local recreation area Aasee.

When points of program load firm the "euro town center celebration", the Weihnachtsmaerkte in historical city window blind as well as (large Stadtkirmes three times annually) and the international riding tournament "tournament of the winners" sends in before the lock for experiencing.
The culture and leisure offers are also by wheel experiencable, e.g.. traditional "Paettkesfahrten", a route along the art in the urban space or a radtour on the traces of the giro d`Italia.


*I lived in Muenster since 2002 - 2007. I left some part of my heart in this lovely town...*