Blue Lagoon-Uluwatu beaches

30/12/2007
The night before at Embargo was not an enjoyable one, not too good music and for me, I was too tired after rafting, ubud and cozy session.
In the kuta/legian area, we stayed at the Sari Bunga hotel, 300rb/night (+double bed: 90.000) because it's near to 66 Club..

It's becoming already our habits that everytime we go to bali, we always look for new places to go, new beaches to explore. Today we decided to go a bit east, to a beach in the padangbai zone, called Blue Lagoon. The road to this beach has already built well, so there's no problem getting there. Just go straight from Bypass Ngurah Rai to Sanur and go directly straight to Padangbai. The Bali government have even newly built a road that will lead directly to Goa Lawah. Drive through and just follow the sign.
We passed the port, turned left and proceed, following the sign board on the street. Finally we arrived!!.. There are two warungs only there that also rent out beach chair with umbrella. One warung rent it for 15rb including shower facilities and the other for 10rb. We didn't know first actually, we just walked pass through the first warung because we wanted to arrived directly to the beach. Only later that we decided to rent a bench to put our things and to be able to take a little rest. 10rb only, we took 2.
The beach was nice, it's like a bit closed beach, a lagoon, and that makes the water a bit calm. Bali these days are seeing strong winds, high waves, strong currents. While here, it was still OK to swim and snorkel. A bit further to the sea, we saw some boats who took tourist there for a snorkling trip. Little else to say, we enjoyed our time under the sun and under the sea..

We stayed there until quite late, around 4.30 or something. On the way back we decided to stop by to have dinner and visit Massimo at his restaurant in Sanur. As usual, good italian food. We finished the day quite early as we were all tired..

Bali Trip 2007/2008

The plane that brough us to Bali was quite shaky due to bad weater up there. Many times the plan did a sudden drop or hike. in one occasion, one stewardess even almost fell and I had a drink spilled on my jeans.. It was scary!!..
But arrived in Denpasar (it was almost 11pm), everything seemed forgotten as new holiday feeling was already in the air.. Though I even lost/left my waist bag at the immigration (contained my sunglasses), I did not really care hahahha.. It's time to have fun and enjoy ourselves..

After found the initially unfoundable wisnu segara hotel (got wrong direction from the hotel guy), we took a stroll along kuta beach at midnight. However, there was not many people around. The wind was blowing real hard, and this maybe was the cause people were not going out. It even rained a while and we took shelter at a nearby Circle K..
After that, we dozzed off successfully....

The next morning, the Bali sobek driver arrived really early, and took us directly to Telagawaja in Karangasem to our rafting!!! We thought it was far, but it was a short 1.5-2 hours ride, plus nice scenery along the way, made the ride quite a pleasant one. Arrived at the base, we immediately changed and prepared. The boat guide was called Peos. He was a skillful and nice person. The telagawaja river was really challenging for us. The stream all the way, with some streams bigger than the others.. Along the way was hills, plains, but all green for sure. Such a treat to the eyes..! At the end, we had to do a 45 degree jump through a 4 meters high water dam!! Niiiceeee!!!

On the way back, we asked to be brought to Tegal sari Hotel in Ubud. This is the place where we always stayed when we went to Ubud. Really a great hotel..
Anyway, we stayed only one night, and the next day we continued our journey south..
(to be continued)

Merry Christmas

To all friends,
Merry Christmas to you all, with prayers and warmest wishes for peace and joy!!
May Christmas and the new year bring all the best things life can offer...

Piano Recital Giovanni Velluti

Pollo al forno e patate

Bahan:
1/2 ekor ayam, potong jadi 4 atau 5 bagian
kentang 1 kg, potong medium
Olive oil secukupnya
Garam secukupnya
Lada hitam halus/kasar cukup banyak
Rosemary (segar ataupun yang sudah dikeringkan)
bombay 1/2, iris melintang

Cara membuat:
1. Balur potongan ayam dengan garam dan lada hitam, biarkan sekitar 10 menit
2. Siapkan wadah untuk memanggang, masukkan potongan ayam, kentang, bawang bombay, rosemary. Siram dengan olive oil, aduk2 supaya merata.
3. Taburkan lagi sedikit garam di atas
4. Masukkan dalam oven yang sudah dipanaskan sebelumnya, masak selama 1 jam dengan suhu 200 derajat.

Hidangkan selagi panas.

80 tahun CC

Hari Sabtu dan Minggu, 24-25 november kemarin adalah puncak perayaan sekaligus Reuni Besar 80 tahun Kolese Kanisius Jakarta. Rencananya mau pergi gak terlalu malam, tapi berhubung kemarin itu Jakarta panasnya bener-bener gak ketulungan, akhirnya jam 4.30 gua baru jalan dari rumah. Pas sampe di CC wah ternyata emang rame banget. Yg bikin gua tersenyum, banyak banget yang nurut disuruh dress code pake batik lengan pendek kayak jaman sekolah dulu. Gua jg sebenarnya malah mau pake batik yang duluuuu 13 tahun lalu gua pake waktu SMA. Ternyata udah gak ada hehe jadi yah pake kaos aja lah.. Gk ketinggalan kamera.

Kanisius, selain pendoponya yang udah ga ada (dibongkar waktu gua kelas 2), dibelakang mostly things dont change at all. Lapangan bolanya masih botak, kelas-kelasnya masih tetep sama.. palingan tiap tahun dicat ulang. Of course yang beda juga alokasi kelasnya. Gak ngerti lagi mana SMP, mana pula SMA. Tapi gua sempet liat jg kelas I-5 gua dulu, terus IISos dan IIISos dulu, masih berdiri dengan jaya, gak berubah.. So many memories.

Anyway, di lapangan bola kemarin udah berdiri panggung segede-gede bagong juga,.. Inget ini lapangan bola tempat percasis gila2an. Di deket kapel udah ada tenda-tenda putih buat alumni. Jadi disitu tempat pendaftaran alumni, bayar iuran keanggotaan PAKKJ etc etc. Lumayan rame soalnya tenda-nya ada AC hahahha..
Pas baru masuk lapangan bola, di depan gua tiba-tiba gua liat Madam Kosasih. Guru bahasa inggris paling pinter (I mean, bener-bener pinter), and wali kelas IIISos dulu. Bodynya jg masih ok banget. She's 70, mind you. Bodynya tetep body gitar. Gua sempetin ngucapin belated birthday ke dia. And dia masih inget ama gua. I mean, ama nama gua, "kamu hiung kan?".... ck ck ck...
Jadi inget dulu dia kecewa banget ama gua karena NEM inggris gua cuma 7 lewat, hahah padahal gua yakin dapet 10..

Dari situ, gua ke tenda, setelah sempet ketemu betek and onky yg udah megang heineken 1 gelas.. Masuk2 ke dalam wah adem.. terus ada guru2 juga, pak Purwanto (guru Tata Negara), pak Djumijo (Sejarah, tag line sepanjang masa:"ada yang ditanya dari yang ditulis?"), terus ada Iskandar (gak ngajar SOS), Pater Haryanto, beberapa guru SMP yang gua kenal juga. Gak ketinggalan, pak Dirman (Akunting and wali kelas IISos), jadi MC di panggung. Seneng bagnet dia kayaknya..Makin malem, temen2 udah pada banyak mulai berdatangan...
Di dalam, lapangan volley udah dirubah jadi tempat jual makanan, pake tenda-tenda gede. Keren juga. Lapangan basket masih rame ama orang main basket, termasuk yang di sport hall.. Waktu gua sekolah dulu, CC termasuk salah satu dari sedikit sekolah yang punya sport hall indoor... Ada yang main basket, ping pong, even catur kemarin ini...
Muter2 aja sih, lewat depan perpus, jadi inget ini adalah tempat resmi madol, oficial madol spot kalo pelajaran bahasa jerman............
Inget dulu sempet kepergok pak Toto (guru bhs indonesia) waktu madol jam pelajaran jerman.
Anak-anak lagi duduk2 baca koran, majalah, tiduran. Tiba-tiba pak Toto masuk. Langsung diem deh kita. Tapi dia ke meja dia doang, gak ngapa2in. Gak lama, tiba-tiba dia dateng, "Lho, anak-anak, kok pada di sini, jam kosong?"
"oh gak kok pak, lagi jam Jerman"
"oh, ya udah"
Lhoooooo???

Malam2 acara udah mulai rame, ada sexy dancers, 2kali pula.. Setelah motret2 foto angkatan, akhirnya sekitar jam 9.30an gua cabut, ada janjian ama debbie. Waktu gua pergi sih acaranya masih rame, katanya acara resmiinya kelar jam 11... gak tau jg deh what happened next.

Happy Anniversary, dear CC.........

Lacrime dolci

La nosta strada non si incrocciano
e non c'è stato nessun incontro
nè sarebbe stato uno
Quello rimasto non altro
che tristezza e delusione

Mi sono lasciato annegare
nelle lacrime di miele
a scoprire solo alla fine
che quelle lacrime
sono amare.................

No Banda..

Jumat ntar udah cabut ke bali deh
Udah rada begah juga kerja, kerja and kerja.. so it's time to relax and enjoy myself.
Setelah gua pikirkan masak-masak, dengan berbagai faktor sana sini, kiri-kanan, kayaknya akan dipaksakan banget kalo gua tetep terusin ke Banda.
Masalahnya sih cuma 1: financial
hahahahhahahha
Tiketnya lumayan mahal dan itung2 mesti keluar lagi sekitar 3.5 juta buat seminggu di banda itu.. Itu pun bisa membengkak. Namanya juga travelling sendirian, semua mesti ditanggung sendiri. So, this one will have to wait until sometime next year deh...

To Banda or not to Banda

It's still sometime before my Banda trip this november.. Bali udah beres, bokap nyokap and adek gua balik jakarta tanggal 30 and gua stay 3 hari lagi di bali, just doing nothing, resting,...
Tanggal 2 sih rencananya baru lanjut ke Ambon, lewat Ujung Pandang. Rencananya sih naik garuda karena jamnya lebih bagus buat yang connecting selanjutnya dari UPG ke Ambon dengan Lion.. Harganya jg relatif lebih murah. Blm ada promotion price dari Lion, tapi kayaknya gua mau go-show aja di bandara denpasar, sekalian cari tiket ke upg dan lanjutannya..
Masih bingung juga tentang gimana ntar di sananya, blm baca lonely planetnya juga...
Tapi everything is going to be just fun.. gua yakin

Rabu, one day before puasa

Hari ini rabu, besok puasa mulai. Gua sih gak ikut2an puasa, anyway orang2 kantor bakalan pulang jam 4, jadi jalanan pasti selama sebulan bakal macet udah dari jam 4an.. Tapi selama bulan puasa apakah perilaku orang di jalan akan berubah? Tetep ngotot, gak mau kalah, marah2? Mungkin sama aja. Kalo emang bisa berubah jadi lebih bagus, kenapa gak dibikin puasa aja 1 tahun penuh yah... ?

Bbrp hari lalu liat di TV ada liputan salah satu ormas yang berlindung dibalik salah satu agama, berdemo/pawai di jalan dengan ajakan menghormati bulan puasa. Tapi terkenal juga itu ormas yang paling gak menghormati agama lain. Suka bikin onar, bikin kacau, dsb. Terus, maksudnya apa yah? "Yang penting orang menghormati ajaran agama gua, gak penting bagi gua untuk menghormati ajaran agama lain" begitukah maksudnya? Sok bikin razia ke tempat hiburan malam (kecuali yang bayar upeti), menghancurkan botol2 bir dan membawa pulang whisky, vodka, dll (pernah dikemukakan Gus Dur sekali waktu ketika masih jadi presiden)

Setiap agama berbeda, nilai, sejarah, dan ajaran. Kenapa mesti dipertentangkan? Kenapa mesti dibanding2kan?

Yah emang kalo soal agama, gua skeptical. Boro2 agama orang, agama sendiri aja gua udah gak percaya.

Spices of Life

We're in the first week of september already, and with my dog's snoring, I'm writing this blog...

Waking up after 7 hours sleep.... got home at 3am last night and only woke up with a heavy head due to some alcoholic drinks I gulped last night. Friends asked me to go clubbing as it's the last week before Ramadhan starts, during which no club is opening like normal. So blowfish there we went...
It was a great club, actually, met some friends from the office too, many good looking people. Spotted some jakarta's celebrities also.. But in that place, actually you're on your own, you're alone inspite of all the music, people. You're just personal. Or am I wrong?

Anyway, it's september, we're 3.5 months away from 2008.
I'm opening my heart after the terrible incident last month and well, what can I say.. need to open my eyes, and brain though. I can not accept everyone who likes me, right? I mean, it's a very difficult thing to explain, but it's a dream comes true when the person you like, likes you back.. But things do not always happen that way. We like a person who doesn't feel the same, or vice versa.. And it's normal, it's the spices that adds up to our food of life..

Cinta itu seperti Hujan

From arvin:

Ingat Cinta itu seperti tetesan air hujan.
Ketika langit mendung, kita sering menduga bahwa akan turun hujan, tapi kadang belum tentu demikian..
Kebalikannya, ketika kita yakin bahwa langit hari ini terlalu cerah untuk turun hujan, malah hujan turun dengan tiba2..
Nikmatilah setiap tetesannya.. karena kamu akan merindukannya ketika kemarau datang..
Dan apabila hujan itu telah berhenti (cinta itu telah pergi), kamu tidak akan pernah menyesali apapun..
Dan kalo loe beruntung kamu masih bisa melihat pelangi sesudahnya...(loe bisa belajar sesuatu yg indah dr hujan tersebut)..
So enjoy the moment, we never know which is the right moment, and by that time u will find someone special n not just catch ur eye, but also ur heart.


Thanks a lot, vin...

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Happy Birthday Donna

Friendship touches the heart in so many ways
Through kind words and thoughtful deeds,
through shared dreams and comforting support,
through joyful laughter and happy memories,

Friendship touches tthe heart in so many special ways
and never more beautiful than your friendship touches mine

Happy Birthday to special Donna..

Amore bello

Amore
bello come il cielo
bello come il giorno
bello come il mare
Amore
bello come un bacio
bello come il buio
bello come Dio
amore mio

(Claudio Baglioni)

Midah, si Manis bergigi Emas

Quite some times ago, me and collegues from office were talking during one coffee-break in the office, and we arrived to the topic of "literature".. One friend looked at me, shocked, when she found out that I never read any of Pramudya Ananta Toer work. Well, in fact, like many other indonesian raised in the indonesian education system, I don't and she has, on which he mentioned, the only indonesian writers ever candidated for Nobel Prize.

Well, OK.
Out of curiosity, and embarassment as well, I bought a thin novel of his. Midah si Manis Bergigi emas. Midah, the golden toothed beauty (mm.. sounds like a tittle for a kungfu movies). Of course I bought the original written in indonesian language. My first Pramudya novel.

On the ferry to singapore, only then I began to read the novel.
I'm not a literature critics, nor would I pretend to be one, but the novel is real beauty. On some chapters I even had tears forming in my eyes and pain in my heart.
The story was quite sad, but he told it in a very interesting, light way.

I dont know what else to share, I'm a terrible story re-teller but I do really encourage all dear friends to begin reading them.

Singapore via Batam

Being curious of how much would it cost to go to Singapre via batam, last friday I decided to take a note of all the expenses might occur. OK now, here are all the details from Jakarta's airport.
Air Asia ticket Jakarta-Batam-Jakarta (more or less): Rp. 700.000
Taxi from Batam Airport to batam Center: Rp. 70.000 (fix price)
Ferry return ticket (better buy directly in counters in Batam Airport rather than at Batam center): SGD14 (around Rp. 84.000)
Stay in 7th storey hostel in Bugis Area: SGD17/night/bed.

Moreover, it is needed to be added, that travel time from Jakarta to Batam is 1.30 hour, ferry trip would take 1 hour, with check in counter close 30 minutes before departure time. There are two major ferry line, the Penguin and The Batam Fast, both schedule compliments each other so take any which fits your schedule better. Both are good and reliable. One thing to note about the ferry ticket price is that it's always better to purchase return tiket (14 sgd), because in Harbour Front (singapore), one way ferry ticket to Batam Center would cost 26 sgd! Anyway, once arrived in Singapore, no problem at all, just find the MRT sign and hop in.

Taking taxi to Batam Center from Hang Ngadim airport takes only 15-20 minutes, and very easy to catch, just outside the arrival gate in Batam Airport. Likewise the return trip from Batam Center to Batam Airport, just buy the ticket outside the arrival gate, hop in and in 15 minutes you'll arrive in hang Ngadim.

Bon voyage!!

Questo Piccolo Grande Amore

Questo piccolo grande amore

Claudio Baglioni

Baglioni - Coggio

(1972)

Quella sua maglietta fina
tanto stretta al punto che mi immaginavo tutto
e quell' aria da bambina
che non glielo detto mai ma io ci andavo matto

e chiare sere d' estate
il mare i giochi e le fate
e la paura e la voglia
di essere nudi
un bacio a labbra salate
il fuoco quattro risate
e far l' amore giù al faro...
ti amo davvero ti amo lo giuro...ti amo ti amo
davvero!

E lei
lei mi guardava con sospetto
poi mi sorrideva e mi teneva stretto stretto
ed io
io non ho mai capito niente
visto che ora mai non me lo levo dalla mente
che lei lei era
un piccolo grande amore
solo un piccolo grande amore
niente più di questo niente più!
mi manca da morire
quel suo piccolo grande amore
adesso che saprei cosa dire
adesso che saprei cosa fare
adesso che voglio
un piccolo grande amore

Quella camminata strana
pure in mezzo a chissacche l' avrei riconosciuta
mi diceva "sei una frana"
ma io questa cosa qui mica l' ho mai creduta
e lunghe corse affannate
incontro a stelle cadute
e mani sempre più ansiose
di cose proibite
e le canzoni stonate
urlate al cielo lassù
"chi arriva prima a quel muro..."
non sono sicuro se ti amo davvero
non sono...non sono sicuro...

E lei
tutto ad un tratto non parlava
ma le si leggeva chiaro in faccia che soffriva
ed io
io non lo so quant' e' che ha pianto
solamente adesso me ne sto rendendo conto
che lei lei era
un piccolo grande amore
solo un piccolo grande amore
niente più di questo niente più
mi manca da morire
quel suo piccolo grande amore
adesso che saprei cosa dire
adesso che che saprei cosa fare
adesso che voglio
un piccolo grande amore...

Senandung sendu di Jakarta kelabu - HUT 480

Jakarnaval 2007.

Peristiwa yang sepertinya lumayan ditunggu-tunggu ama warga Jakarta. Terbukti dari jam 7 malam, bunderan HI sudah penuh sama orang yang nongkrong di bunderannya. Ibu-ibu, bapak-bapak, anak-anak, brondong, ABG, segala rupa numplek semua. Gak cuma di situ sih, tapi juga dijembatan penyebarangan depan hotel nikko. Cuma di sini populasinya didominasi oleh gerombolan orang dengan kamera SLR segala rupa digenggaman..
Termasuk gue, ahon, henny dan Cecek. Cuma bedanya kalo yang lain duduk2 tenang, ngobrol, ngerokok, ngopi, ahon dan dkk gak ketinggalan ngebooking gua buat sesi foto narcist. Atas bawah, single, triple, B&W, warna, segala macem gaya udah dicoba juga hahahha..

Sambil menunggu karnaval, setelah capek foto-foto (well, sebenarnya gua yang capek motoinnya, mereka sih masih semangat juang tinggi), kita duduk2 di jembatannya.

Di situ ada seorang pria, dia main saxofon. Kalo udah bosen dia main suling bambu lagu sunda (hmm dari saxofon ke suling, jauh juga walaupun sama-sama ditiup).. terus ngobrol2 ama kita-kita juga.. Topi di depannya dia udah cukup penuh dengan lembaran uang dari seribuan sampai sepuluh ribuan. "Lumayan" katanya..

Suasana yang ditimbulkan dari suara saxofon yang dia mainkan, membuat gue merasakan sebuah suasana yang berbeda, malem-malem, orang lalu lalang, ngobrol, tapi nada-nada yang keluar dari saxofon itu membuat gue merasa sendiri, sedih, terkucil... seperti berada di dalam kotak ditengah keramaian, memandang dengan keheranan dan perasaan aneh ke sekeliling.
Gua tersadar sebentar, mungkin sebenarnya adalah si jakarta yang butuh budaya, butuh kesenian, butuh musik, butuh tari, butuh puisi di tengah-tengah kehidupannya, di jalan-jalan umum, gak cuma pengamen yang nyanyi di bus seenak kadutnya cuma buat nyari duit, yang kalo gak dikasih marah-marah...
Jakarta butuh darah karena dia pembuluh darahnya udah terlalu kering, udah terlalu terkontaminasi nilai-nilai modernisme yang sebenarnya tanpa jatidiri dan nilai-nilai yang palsu dan superficial.. darahnya terlalu terhisap asap-asap yang keluar dari segala macem saluran pembuangan dari segala tempat..

Kasihan juga jakarta, umur udah 480 tahun, tapi kesepian sekali...

Pas karnaval lewat (jam 9 malam), memang terbukti cuma sekedar "pemoles", pawai dari kendaraan-kendaraan hias yang cuma numpang lewat, numpang nampang biar terdengar, tapi gak dilakukan dengan sepenuh hati dan cinta. Gak kedengeran gaungnya sama sekali. Promosi segala cara udah dilakukan, dengan kata-kata manis ini itu, tapi orang indonesia memang terkenal jago ngomong doang, jago teori (karena emang dari sekolahan diajarinnya cuma teori dan hapalan)... akhirnya yah cuma berhenti sampe di situ.

Yang lebih gubrak lagi ada satu mobil berhiaskan patung segede-gedenya kandidat Gubernur Jakarta, Fauzi Bowo dan wakilnya itu. Di taronya di paling depan mobil hias pula. Sumpeh loe???

Rombongan dibuntut pawainya diisi dengan ratusan orang tumpah ruah dijalan dan RATUSAN motor yang ngantri di jalan protocol karena gak bisa lewat ketutup pawai. Tentunya bisa dibayangkan pastinya disertai dengan sumpah serapah sampe capek.

Jakarta, 480 tahun, kesepian, tidak dicintai, dimaki-maki pula....

Love at first sight

Hatiku sesaat berhenti berdetak
kala pandangku terpaut pandangnya

Inikah cinta pada pandangan pertama?
yang menguap seketika pula
seiring sirnanya dari mata