Saturday, March 07, 2015
Hello guys, so I am back here in Singapore after 2 weeks at home. It wasn't all good time at home, in fact some parts of it were just plain lousy and the negativity still lingers up until now. I also got sick back home and came back here not fully healthy. Right now I am plagued with a cough which is pretty annoying. This week has been going very slowly for me :( I guess suffice to say I didn't get back here with a renewed spirit.Anyways, story worth telling from my trip home was the trip to East Java the weekend after Chinese New Year. It was me, mom, and my aunt who went to Toraja with us. This aunt is an Indonesian Chinese from Java, so perhaps she's like Chinese Javanese? There's so many different Indonesian Chinese in Indonesia, depending on where we grow up and live and we can be so different from each other, so diverse, just like Indonesia is. Our trip was to be joined by my aunt's older brother and his wife. When I heard them talking in Javanese, which I don't understand, it just hit me how different we are. Also make me think how weird it was for my aunt the early period when she's joining my family where the family is Indonesian Chinese from Bangka, that being said I feel more like a Jakartan than a Bangkanese because this is where I was born and grow up. I could understand the Bangka language a bit, not enough to reply in it.
My mom and aunt being the fans of the early flight decided on the early flight to Surabaya. It's Garuda again, but they only gave us bread. The plane was flying pretty low that at some point we saw a beautiful range of mountains and it's awesome to see the mountain tops. Stupid me said maybe it's Bromo. It's not. My geography sucks. I'm not sure what mountains they are. I didn't get the window seat so I didn't manage to take any picture. Arriving at Surabaya's Juanda Airport, I thought it was pretty nice. I forget which terminal it was. The terminal we used later on to depart wasn't that good. My aunt's family was already waiting and with the rental car, we went straight to Batu. I've been told that the air is cooler. That was false. It's like everywhere else in Indonesia which used to have cooler weather I guess, they're not that cold anymore. Global warming is real!
First meal was soto madura with some beef parts that I didn't understand so I didn't eat those and my aunt happily ate them. It wasn't all bad but I thought it lacked acidity a bit. Onward we went and the first place we ended up in was Jawa Timur Park 2, Jatim Park 2 for short. This is the newer one. Jatim Park 1, it seems is more like an amusement park and perhaps water park and the driver said this new one was nicer. Turned out, there's an animal museum and zoo. We ended up choosing the first package to visit those 2 places. Adding a bit more will also gain us admission to the bird park or the body museum. I was just not interested in all those. I live in Singapore which has what some say the best zoo in the world which I have visited many times and I've also been to the bird park in Singapore a few times, so I'm just not that interested to visit zoo anymore, not just in Indonesia but the world in general. However since everyone agreed we should visit these places, I just went along. It turned to be a surprisingly nice experience.
I decided we should go to the animal museum (Museum Satwa) first. Entering its spacious front area with nothing much, I was thinking this would just be so small and not interesting at all. I was wrong. There were dinosaurs skeletons in the next hall and when we turned to the insect gallery and realized we got out not the same way we entered, we began to feel that this place just grew and grew.
Next stop was the zoo. My aunt's brother tore off the paper bracelet we had to wear not realizing that we got admission to 2 places and the bracelet is needed to enter both. So that meant we shouldn't take too long a time exploring the zoo because he had to wait outside. First things we saw were different kind of monkeys, one of them was chewing on plastic and that annoyed me greatly :( As with the museum, we thought there weren't many things in this zoo. As we walked, I thought we have seen pretty much all of it and I even made a remark too bad they didn't have lion and stuff. Mom was like let's find the exit. Then as we walked and walked towards the exit sign we saw more things and the exit which we thought was just around the corner wasn't really just around the corner. We saw more animals and more interesting things like this clowns fountain which leads to an adequate water park for the kids to play happily.
The plan for the next day is to do agrowisata (agricultural tourism) and visit Museum Angkut. I was most interested about going to do agrowisata because we will be visiting orchards and picking up fruits and I was like thinking it's nature, trees, fun! Not so much. For one because it's hot and two because there weren't many fruits which look appetizing. Paying the admission ticket, we get to pick 2 guavas, 2 oranges, and 2 apples. We also got some snack, a yoghurt drink which I didn't like and some toast and juice which were just okay. First stop was to the guava orchard. They all looked very green and small and not ripe. We just tried to pick the lightest green we can find. We actually picked more than we should, but no one was watching and mom ate maybe 1 of 2 of them in the process. The guavas were green but the inside were really pink and it's edible. The orchard was quite big, but I didn't explore every single corner of it because it's kinda hard walking on uneven land and one time there was a big bug flying near me.
After that we're all tired, somehow though it's decided we're going to go Coban Rondo waterfall. I'm quite excited about this because I actually have read about this. Reaching the places, we had to pass a small forested areas with tall trees where the air was actually cool. It's not a very long drive. It's also not a long walk from where the car park is to the waterfall, unlike the walk to the waterfall in Puncak some years back. It was an awesome waterfall. The thing about Indonesian waterfall which I have visited 3 so far is that you can go as near as you want to. You can stand under it if you like and dare. However it's quite cold that day that no one was in the waterfall pool. There's a story about the waterfall, a tragic love story which I am sure is the story in many waterfalls everywhere. Somehow after reading the story, I felt that the waterfall has this very beautiful sound about it. I like it a lot and it was just awesome to be standing there, although I was feeling cold.
The next day, it was off to go back to Surabaya as we're leaving for Jakarta in the evening. First stop in Surabaya was to pick up my aunt's grandnephew from playgroup. Since grandma and grandpa were free that day and my aunt was around, it's decided that this grandnephew was going to spend the day with us instead of going to daycare. When I first met him, he was shy and I thought he was a girl. When I was told his name, I heard it as Clé (french word for key which would make an interesting and rather meaningful name) and I thought it's short for Chlea. I was on the fence somewhat if he's a boy or a girl even after he pointed out he was wearing a t-shirt with robot in it. After some time I was leaning to he was a boy when he was excited about the Transformers coloring book that my aunt brought for him. It was finally confirmed that he's a boy when he became more chatty and told me his name was Clayton. By this time he wasn't shy anymore and we're all friends and I could confess that initially I thought he's a girl. I actually heard his name wrongly, it turned out his name is Clay Ethan, found this out after I saw the name in his playgroup's report book. I got to thinking that Clay itself is a very meaningful name. He comes from a strong Christian family and I think his name can be seen as hope that he could be moulded into a vessel for God's blessing.
We spent the morning visiting my aunt's relatives and the boy took an interest at me, which I thought to be rather strange because I didn't do anything special, but somehow he wanted to hang out with me. He's a very bright bright boy. I'm not sure what kind of things a 3-year old could do, but he's very bright. He could remember where his dad hid keys (3 different places), he could wear his own clothes including socks! He's witty, eats well, could just be creative and imaginative and plays with clothes pegs, speaks clearly, and basically just be very articulate in conveying his thoughts and his observations. He attempted to write his own name, an attempt which my mother tried to stop in fear his head was gonna explode, but he did it correctly except for adding an extra y at the end. I think it's because his first y wasn't looking so great. Anyways, the second place we visited was this train station which I couldn't remember the name and it was quite old. We didn't know it's a train station until we came out a door and saw there's a train, that made me and Clay to be quite amused, but he thought the noise was too loud. Why were we here? Because my aunt's other older brother works for the train station so we visited him at work. Here Clay asked me for the first time which church I went to. Without thinking, I honestly answered I didn't go to church. That got him pretty stunned and speechless, at which I could only laugh. My aunt told him to ask me to go to church. I thought of my answer and when this story was told to my dad, he said just say you go to the Cathedral. Lying would make it easy, but I feel I should tell the truth because if it's my kid, I would want him to be told the truth. Of course this may lead to some complication if he decides to ask his parents about this. I wonder if they're gonna say I'm going to hell. I don't think it will lead to him bailing from going to church though because he's such an obedient boy too. He asked me again about this when we're at his grandparent's house and I said I don't go to church, I sembahyang, an Indonesian word to pray. Well there are 2 Indonesian word to say to pray: berdoa and sembahyang. The root of the word sembahyang is sembah which simplistically can be translated to worship. This word is used to indicate the praying activity of religions other than Christianity and Catholic in Indonesia because I guess there's a physical or a ritual thing we do when we pray for example in the chinese tradition. Anyway, I then wondered if he thought I'm a muslim because I used the word "sembahyang" so I said like the Chinese do and asked him if he had ever seen the Chinese prayer. He said no. Well as I said, he comes from a strong Christian family.
Before we went to his grandparent's house, we went to Taman Bungkul because for some reason my mom really wanted to see it. It's this public park in Surabaya. It's not very big, but Surabaya is just awesome for having this and also for having a lot of trees and a clean river compared to Jakarta. Jakarta is so far behind. There are some playing area for the kids and Clay wanted to play on them but when his grandma said no, he listened. There's also this small fountain which I thought was ordinary but Clay thought it's cool, because it shoots water up and the water goes down and it'll shoot up again. Here he started to want to hold my hand. Something which strangely made me feel rather weirded out. I know I want to have kids (though I gotta admit the whole pregnancy and giving birth thing freaks me out) and when Clay wanted to be near me, it's a good nice feeling, but somehow I feel like I would be tied to this kid and be responsible for him, and I don't know if I want all that. It's still very sweet though that he wanted to hold my hand and be near me. Then he also wanted to sit at the back with me in the car which had space for me only since we had a lot of bags at the back. At one point, he had to sit in my lap to be more comfortable. That wasn't the most comfortable thing I've ever done and that made me think of all the parents who have had to have their kids sitting on their laps. It made me think of all the responsibility of being a parent and as much as I want kids, I begin to think there are so many things that I am not prepared about. Really the whole having a human being tied to you, you have to care for, you just can't be individualistic anymore. They'll say you'll just know what to do when the kids actually come, but perhaps God is really right seeing how mentally I am just a soloist right now. Anyways, for that day, it's just so great to have someone to just like me and want to be near me, basically I felt loved as silly as that sounds. Seriously people who get me and like me are either really old people or young kids. I don't fare well in my own age group :(
Okay that's the story from the trip, now on some thoughts I have being in Indonesia.
- It's interesting hearing my aunt speaking Javanese and hearing Javanese a lot all over. One morning, one of the grounds keeper of the villa, an old man was speaking to me in Javanese about direction. I didn't understand anything at all and just said okay and followed him :P The strange me somehow feel that the word "sampeyan" which means you and "ngawur" which means wrong to be quite rude to use. It's not at all actually. When I think about it, I think it's because in Indonesian in a formal setting or to show respect you wouldn't use the word "you" to address someone you're talking to. You'll address the person with the equivalent of Mr, Ms, or Ma'am in Indonesian. For example, I never use the Indonesian word for you to address my mom and dad. In Javanese it seems to be alright to use the word "sampeyan". A quick google just now told me that the word "sampeyan" is just the universal word to replace all the Mr, Ms, and Ma'am. What's also kinda funny was realizing that Clay has a slight Javanese accent in the way he speaks. Really, where you grow will influence you a lot.
- The execution of members of the Bali 9. Well this just gets out of hand. I'm not all for capital punishment, because to make a decision on someone's life is a very big cross to bear. However if that's the way the law is, people should just shut up and respect it. I think the Australian is making too much noise about this and I am annoyed. If their ground for protest is humanity, why weren't they loud when the Bali terrorists were sentenced to death. I'm not defending terrorism, but seriously all these people and organizations protesting the death penalty, what say you when the Bali terrorists were executed? Following what our president said, these drug criminals cause a lot of victims, in the millions, which is definitely more than what the terrorists did. Also if this had been America doing this, would the Australian have been as vocal? One of the Indonesian TV station pointed out that Singapore had also executed an Australian before and there was no boycott Singapore at that time, unlike #boycottBali which they've been doing this month. Seriously the more the Australians say silly things, the more annoyed we get. This week they took offence with the photo of the police chief smiling as the convicts were being transported. Seriously, I don't think he's happy at their plight, I think it's more like he's saying his good bye, smiling and wishing them well. Indonesians have this tendency to want to leave things on a good terms. Also when you're about to die, would you rather be in a stressful situation or be in a situation where people around you smile to make you feel better and feel like everything is going to be alright? Knowing Indonesians, I'm sure people around them will be trying to comfort them and be all smiles trying to lessen the stressful situation. Indonesian news also reported that as they were transported, they were calm and nicely said good bye and than you to fellow inmates. Much has been said about they being reformed and finding God. I'd like to think that in this situation they would have accepted their faith and believe that God will be with them and everything will be alright. When this topic came up when my uncle came to the house, he had a more practical solution. Australia should just offer money to get his people back and we could get rid off these people and get money to do good things, like we can have more rehabilitation centres and such.
- The big news in Jakarta these days is the fight between our Chinese governor and the house of representative. To which I can only sigh. My mom asked what happened. Well it's like this. The governor has the right to make the budget for the city. The house of representative can give input and monitor this budget. Then this budget should be submitted to the ministry. The fight happens because the budget submitted by the governor is different from the budget that the house of representative has. The fact that the house of representative has their own version of the budget is already wrong and then their budget asks for much much more money with questionable items in it. Our governor is crying foul and saying this is their corruption methods. Seriously some of the things mentioned in the house of representative budget, I feel like throwing stuff, for example billions of rupiah for questionable electricity equipment for a school. Hello, with that billions of rupiah, they can build a whole new building and you're only giving them an equipment which many have said is of no use or incompatible to be used for the school?!?! There are really many bad people in Indonesian government, it's so so disheartening. Are there really not enough good people in this country? Can politic really corrupt the morality of these people? What's more tragic is that because of this budget drama, many Jakartans civil servants haven't gotten paid. In America this would mean government shut down, but in Jakarta there's no such thing. So I really salute all these people who still work and they don't even demonstrate in protests. One time the tv was showing this poor lady who's making very little money as a road sweeper and she hasn't been paid for 2 months and yet she's still working. All those people in the house of representative who are screaming saying the governor has no etiquette, trying to save their asses and get the money they think they're entitled with, are so heartless. They should be representing these poor people and make their lives better and yet they only care about winning in politic. One of these people being interviewed in tv said that if in the end they could get rid off the governor, then it will be a bonus. It's very obvious in they way he spoke, he doesn't care about the truth, the right thing. For them it's all a game in which they fight hard to be the winner. They are really demoralizing me, crushing hope that our country can be better :(
- On a lighter note. I slept more back at home. I really love my bed. I usually went to bed by 9 something and I think I got like more than 9 hours of sleep except for nights when I couldn't sleep like during the trip. Yes, this sleeping issue still haunted me even back at home. However when I did get that really long sleep, I felt really good. It's like paying back for the lack of sleep here. Too bad being back here, I'm back to not being able to sleep well.
Okay that's about it peeps. This has been a really long post, even so there are so many things that I think I miss out. Next week I'm gonna turn 33, love the number but dreading dreading dreading as usual.
:) eKa @ 4:19:00 PM • 0 comments
Saturday, February 14, 2015
It's actually wrong french there at the title, the correct one should be un beau garçon. Here's the story. Sometime on my bus ride to class every Saturday, I see this beautiful guy. Beautiful, not handsome. He's slender, has a full lip, great skin, and used to have long hair which he stylishly made into a bun. He's also very graceful, most probably more graceful than me as a girl. He has a feminine stride and he could definitely be a high-end model. One time I saw he wore this very cute shoes with watermelon print, it made me wanna ask, "Dude where did you get those?". I was always so fascinated by him. There can be people who would be harsh on him because the way he is, but I thought he's so beautiful and he's so perfect the way he is and I feel sad thinking that there are people who would hate and change this boy. Today I saw him again, but he has cut his hair short and he's wearing Doc Martens boots. Today it felt like more handsome than beautiful, like a garçon. Somehow the feminine streak kinda diminished a tone or two. I even wondered if there'll be girls who're having crushes at him seeing him this way.From boy to gentlemen. Yesterday I watched Kingsman: The Secret Service. It's a really really cool movie. It has elements that reminded me of crazy zombie killings and then it goes pretty psychedelic when showing the many blown heads. I don't have the fact but somehow I'm pretty sure that one time people were considering Colin Firth for the role of James Bond. He looked awesomely dashing in this movie, especially in the church scene. With many movies targeted to young adults these days and even though there's still a young man at the center of this movie, it's still good to see the older guys looking much cooler and kicking some ass.
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So it's been a month now since I last logged in to Facebook. Yes, that whole quitting thing is still happening. I missed birthdays because I don't really remember many birthdays in my head. Then one week la Gioia texted me asking if I had been to Facebook and saw so and so's posting which was pretty scandalous. I didn't of course and when we met for dinner that evening, la Gioia showed the postings to me. Is that considered cheating? :D Anyways, I was disappointed at the so and so and was more disappointed at our "common friends" who think that's all perfectly alright by liking the post. Of course it's wrong of me to be so judgy without knowing the whole situation, but you know I expect more in adults. Anyways, I just found it funny how gossipy I was with la Gioia that day, all thanks to Facebook, bringing you unimportant stories that perhaps should be kept in the down low.
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Going home tomorrow. As usual, dreading the day I have to come back here, especially since yesterday was harder for me than usual. I seriously felt it was unfair :( Anyways, gonna be taking Garuda. It might be my first time taking this airline, so I'm quite excited about it. Chose not to take the usual budget airlines because of what happened to AirAsia. Could have taken Jetstar, but with Garuda being slightly cheaper than AirAsia, I thought why not. I gotta admit, I get quite anxious when I think about the fallen AirAsia flight. I have fear of a violent death and I don't want to be in a plane crash and going down into the sea and drown. I get really scared when I think of that :( Hopefully tomorrow I'll be alright. Jakarta itself is having flood issue so hopefully tomorrow I will also not get stuck somewhere :( It's been unexpectedly bad in some areas, but it's been okay in my area, aside from Monday when the street was flooded. My mom seemed to think that's fine though because the house was not flooded and she said it receded pretty fast. Hope it's gonna be just fine at home. Chinese New Year makes me nervous sometime. I guess many things make me nervous, darn, I just have a lot of things in my head. Hope your holidays is a good one, peeps!
:) eKa @ 9:45:00 PM • 0 comments
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
So it's been 1 week since I last logged into to Facebook. It doesn't seem like a long time and this doesn't seem worthy of a conversation, but since I have written less frequently here, I thought why not just write something, anything. So it's been a week since I went to Facebook and this abstaining of mine is deliberate. You see, Facebook made me depressed. All those happy people with their great lives, it's making me feel worse about my life. One time I chatted about this with Oshie and he put it into perspective that people usually only post the happy things, they don't post the shitty things that's happening to them and in fact I am one of those people. Years ago, I would post things that bothered me a lot, stupid ranting like how people do that we have come to hate. Then I was told off by some people that I was being all negative and putting too much negativity out there. So I stopped posting many of my thoughts there. Unfortunately it doesn't mean that I don't have that much negativity anymore, it's just I don't post them. Honestly I did feel annoyed or perhaps sad that I was being told that I was being all negative. Those people aren't close friends of mine, but I think one should be more sympathetic or at least weary of people who have much sadness and not share it to the world. You don't know what the many dark thoughts they keep inside could do to them. Anyways, so I started to post less frequently and ended up falling into the group of people who only post great things about their lives, like vacation photos. I have become the thing that could make myself feel depressed. How philosophical that sentence?Anyways, so last week after yet again another round of feeling sad seeing the great lives of people in Facebook, I thought that it's all because I had been stupid enough to log in in the first place. So I decided that I have to cut off that thing that got me depressed and stop going to Facebook. By the way, it's a real thing, there are studies that show that this depressed feeling I experience because of Facebook postings also happen to other people. So anyway from the once daily affair of checking Facebook, I have been abstaining now for a week. Do I miss it? Well I used to go to Facebook because I was bored and needed to fill in the time, but now I just think about the fact that I could get really sad after it and I'm okay. I don't miss it much. It's not that hard to do this. Sometime I do think if I have missed out any interesting articles or videos, but those thoughts are not enough to get me back in. There was a day when it was somewhat hard because I wanted to post this video below from Maroon 5 which I thought was rather sweet, but I restrained myself.At this point, the smart people would point out that Facebook is not the problem here. It's how I look at things. I remember a conversation with the girls back home and I think Dewi was the one who pointed out that while I see my life as not successful (the word I would use is actually unbearable), there are others who would think that my life has been great and awesome. So I should be more grateful for my life and look at its many bright sides, but I guess right now the super self absorbed me is too deep in the black hole to be able to do that. Back to Facebook, will I be able to really quit it? Maybe not but I am holding out for as long as I can. Facebook has been sending me daily mail now about the things that happened there since I last logged in. The most laughable of these emails was one that says I have more friends that I know in Facebook if I would just sync the account with my email or skype or whatever other accounts. Sigh Facebook, even the "friends" there right now are not even people I would call a friend - acquaintance or people I once knew would be more apt - so why should I add more of these kind of people?
Okay let's rant about other things now. The other day a lady in a toilet told me that she found it strange that there are people who can leave the toilet without washing their hands. I laughed at that comment which I totally agree, but even more ironic was that this lady is the type who doesn't shower in the morning. These people have some smell about them that I couldn't really stand. So her comment was funnier for me because of this fact. On another story, in class last week there's a white Brit in the class. I'm not sure if he's just visiting or gonna be our classmate, but what irked me was that the fascination of some of the classmates to this white guy. They like made an effort to talk to him and get to know him. Hello did you all extend the same friendliness to the new Asian girl who's been in our class for some weeks now, did any of you talk to her, even now? Ah the stupid fascination people here have with a white westerner.
On movies, watched Taken 3 and as much as I like Liam Neeson, there are some things that annoyed me greatly about this movie. Liam Neeson escaped an explosion twice unscathed! The first one in the elevator was the most ridiculous one and it made it hard for me to like the movie. Then his character only took a few minutes examining a grainy cctv footage to identify that one of the bad guy has a distinct tattoo while the tech guys working in the police department tasked to work their magic on the cctv footage took like like 1 day, come on!!! When I looked at #Taken3 in twitter and saw that there are quite a few people who think this movie is awesome, the judgmental me just think these people are dumbasses. I also watched Into the Woods which I love very much. The cgi made the movie richer and so I am curious how this is being staged in theatre. It seems there's some differences between the story in the movie and in the theatre. Storywise though, there are some parts I felt dissatisfied with, the baker had this notion that his wife is flawless and didn't know what the wife did before she died and he didn't know that Rapunzel was his sister. So for me everything is not tied nicely in a bow at the ending. Still it's a very good movie and I like it a lot.
:) eKa @ 4:27:00 PM • 0 comments
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
I was wrong in my last post when I wrote that I had like 20-30 pages to go in The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Turned out I had like 100 pages to go but hustle I did and I finished the last few pages today. It was really really good, vividly written, even though the few pages at the beginning weren't that captivating and the last few pages at the end wasn't so easy to read. The last few pages had nothing to do with the story but more about thoughts from the main character, like things I write here in this blog, but his thoughts were much intelligent I suppose. Anyway the title of this post is in relation to the main character of the book, Theo Decker. The story began kinda at the end and then it flashbacked into the beginning of when Theo's life changed at 13 years old. He was with his mom in a museum when there's a bomb attack. His mom died and he ended up getting out of the museum with a small painting. The story then continued to when he had to live with his estranged father in Vegas, made friend with a Russian boy at school, Boris. His story had accompanied me throughout many lunches alone when I quickly finished my food and checked in on him. I was sad at how his life turned with Boris, they got high and stole things, pretty much wasted their potential especially since both of them seemed to be smart. Then Theo's dad died and he decided to go back to New York and the story progressed and we met adult Theo. He did more drugs and became not a really good person because he cheated on his business. Towards the ending another big trigger in his life was when he met Boris again and they had to deal with the painting. Boris had became a criminal whom you perhaps don't really hate much because he just came across as fun and loyal and he was really loyal through and through so that's admirable. I had my disapproval about Boris but the ending reminded me that Theo had also been a dishonest person. He's perhaps more hidden in his illegal dealing but he and Boris were both criminal. Reading how Theo's life progressed, I had sadness about how he was becoming and also because he's so troubled. I guess I'm a sucker for people with a very heavy heart because though it's not the same situation, I can understand the sadness, despair, restlessness. We're kindred spirit in a way. There are other things happening in the book, but I don't want to spoil it for you. I really want to see this made into a tv series because then it won't be contained to 2 hours and such if it's a film. Boris would be a really interesting character. I would love to see this gregarious character comes alive, though I cannot picture anyone playing him. I imagine someone like Nicholas Hoult for the role of Theo. Anyways, so that made it 7 books this year, did more than the mission of 5 books, well done me :DWent to watch Seventh Son today. Went to watch it knowing nothing about the premise except for the fact that Prince Caspian (Narnia reference there, actor's name is Ben Barnes) was in it. He looked good with shorter hair. Turned out Jon Snow (Game of Thrones reference, actor's name is Kit Harington) was in it too. Too bad he died like within 5 minutes of the starting of the movie. Yeah, Prince Caspian is the main character here. I found it to be quite boring despite of the many famous people in it. I was sleepy watching it but it could be because of the McDonald's hot cakes I had for breakfast. McDonald's breakfast always make me sleepy. It's annoying that there aren't many good movies to watch in this period especially since I have a 2-week break from Japanese classes. I should be consolidating my notes and finished up my homework and yet I haven't done any of that. I found myself to be really struggling to keep my head afloat in Japanese classes :(
This end of the year is of course not a happy one for Indonesia. It's really sad what happened with AirAsia 8501. Yesterday news that some wreckage and dead bodies were found gave me mix feeling. Relieved that there's clarity and it's not like being in the unknown like MH 370, but I was feeling really sad because it's such a tragic news. It's really really sad. Hearing the story of some of the passengers, it's really sad. This also makes me feel rather ungrateful that I don't think much about flying. It's so random and can happen to anyone. Around 7 planes were in the area when the plane found trouble and this was the plane that didn't make it. The flight path and the area where the plane got into trouble is similar to the flight path from Jakarta to Singapore, the flight that I've taken the most. I have been safe in all my travels so far and yet very often I think nothing of it and didn't thank God for the protection. It's very very sad and this AirAsia flight hit me harder than what happened to MH 370 or MH 7. On a side note: the Indonesian search and rescue team seemed to be doing a good job. They seem to be very organized and capable. It must be a difficult job for them especially with the bad weather, but they seem to be going strong and so committed in their effort and that's good to see.
So it's the last day of 2014. As usual a new year freaks me out because I'll be older. I reckon this week will still be okay. The last 2 weeks have been pretty okay, yes okay even though in the last post I sounded sad. I'm not looking forward for next week. Told my cousin about it and she said with the new year we should have new drive and spirit. I don't know where she gets her positivity from. She was born 9 days before me, so we have the same chinese sign and we're both pisces, but our outlook in life is so different. What's wrong with me?!? Okay enough sad depressing ranting. Chanced upon this song like maybe last week in Radio Rai and been hearing it a few times since. When I listened more to the lyrics, it's like a sign for me to be brave especially when I feel rather scared on doing something. I'm building up that courage and I think I will make this song as the first song in the soundtrack playlist for the plan I hope to execute. Some parts of the lyrics that spoke to me:
There's a place I go to where no one knows me
It's not lonely
It's a necessary thing
It's a place I made up
Find out what I'm made of
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:) eKa @ 8:50:00 PM • 0 comments
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Not The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
Christmas eve. Was feeling rather sad this morning because I was feeling lonely. They say the holidays are actually the time where many people get more depressed. Totally true. In the end, because I asked (still I am sad that no one asked me instead) I had lunch today with Gascoigne (where he dropped me a news that I couldn't wrap my head around) and will have lunch tomorrow with la Gioia. Now suddenly I feel like I want to be alone, but I will still go to lunch tomorrow because la Gioia has kindly said yes. I'm such an anti social that I myself do find it annoying. How has your Christmas been? I'm sure it's more cheery than mine.Had a bad week last week which made me scream FUCK a lot, to myself. I had enough self control to not run to FaceBook and start ranting. I did tweet though and wondered if all the shitty things are like punishments. Today was still bad too that I wanted to scream fuck you! Obviously the bad things made me feel even worse today. For now, I am safe in my room. It's raining outside. If I think about how this year has like only a week left, I'm sinking deeper into the black hole of depression. Yes, it's not really the most wonderful time of the year for me right now. I did manage to come up with a plan for next year. Even managed to calculate the cost. Right now I'm wondering if I should ask people to execute the plan with me, but again I wonder why I just don't have people to ask me rather than me asking them and then get flat out rejected. This sounds very pathetic, yes? I know it is, I hope you appreciate how honest and open I am in writing this. Today Gascoigne bet that I would still be here in 5 years time and if he's right, I should pay him S$100. Being 37 and still in Singapore and single, that is utterly tragic and depressing. Please God, please the universe, don't let it be so. Please, please, PLEASE!!!
On movie news. Managed to watch a few things. Watched Paddington which I thought was okay. Love the colours. Hugh Bonneville is in it and all the while watching him, I felt rather weird seeing Lord Grantham speaking and behaving the way his character in Paddington does. It was the same watching Michelle Dockery in Non-Stop, so weird to see Lady Mary working. I think I will feel weird watching all actors of Downton Abbey in a more contemporary role. Anyway, yeah Paddington wasn't bad. So want to buy all its merchandise. Then yesterday, I went to watch Annie. The review for this wasn't good, but I quite enjoyed it. If I'd been alone in the cinema, I would most probably have sung along out loud. Quvenzhané Wallis was great. I watched her in Beasts of the Southern Wild, which was a rather weird movie and I think I found her to be great there too. I think I managed to watch a few other movies, one that stood up for me was Men, Women & Children which I thought to be really good. I read somewhere that it's not as good as the book, but I found this movie to be really good. Speaking of book, I was convinced that I'll finish The Goldfinch before December ends and yet with 1 week to go, I still have like 20-30 pages to go. I have to say it's a really good book and since we're towards the ending now, some things have happened, things that made me gasp out loud and had my jaw drop in public! People who saw me must have thought I'm so weird. Sometimes though I feel like I have the invisibility cloak on that people don't notice me or ask me to do things. Anyway The Goldfinch, right now the ending doesn't seem to be a happy one, but I am trying to be hopeful. I have been so absorbed in the book and the imagery has been pretty vivid in my head and I think this would make a good tv miniseries. I kinda don't want it to be condensed for a purpose of a movie. I'll talk more about the book when I finish it. I will hustle and get this done before this year ends.
Not much else to write because my life is that empty. Merry Christmas Everyone!
:) eKa @ 7:10:00 PM • 0 comments
Wednesday, December 03, 2014
Good Grief, It's the Last Month of 2014!
I'm not one who knows what the date of each day is. Today it took me awhile when someone told me that she and her family moved in to a new place on December 1. In my head, it's like December is still a concept in the future, not realizing we are already in December. The more I think about it, I can feel that I'm gonna freak out more if I let the thoughts of having this year end and a new one start soon to occupy my head. Freaking out that will lead to depression because I will think about me getting older and then I'll end up examining my life and what I have accomplished in life and where I am now. Where I am now is pretty much where I have been all these past years. It's not a stretch to say I am stuck and let's not go there, let's not talk about this, because it's just gonna make me upset.Alright, let's talk about a few mundane things. Watched a few things. The Walking Dead had its mid season finale this week and I was pretty sad about the death that happened, sigh. As for the cinema, well I really don't have the time to go anymore. Watched Fury which was better than I expected. Shia LaBeouf is a really talented actor, but too bad all the antics are clouding his talent. I thought it's a shame, but some of the weird things he did, he brought it upon himself. I also watched The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and felt kinda annoyed with Katniss in it because I felt she's kinda weak and whiny. I also thought Philip Seymour Hoffman was great and how sad it is that he tragically died.
On other news, last week found out that my credit card was blocked due to security reasons. Got the news in a text and I was told to call a number immediately, which I didn't. My lack of concern was perhaps worrying, but I was thinking that the card was going to expire in January, I would have to get a new card anyway, so I didn't care much about it. The next morning, the bank called me. Turned out someone had tried to use the card to buy something online. Since it's an online transaction, we don't know from which country this is coming from, but the transaction was in USD. I was pretty shocked hearing the news that I don't remember how much the transaction was. Either way, it failed and the bank quickly blocked the card. The lady from the bank just wanted to confirm it's not me trying to buy some vitamins online (the thief is health conscious?) and she told me that I would get a new card mailed to me in the next few days. I'm thankful that there is system in place to detect this kinda thing and thankful that DBS did a good job in protecting me. Still, it's very shocking that such thing could happen. I am assuming this is from some evil staff who took credit card information from legit places where I have used my credit card. All and all, there were extra prayer that night thanking God for the protection.
Got a new passport. Confused and disappointed about it because I was expecting to get a biometric passport and turned out it isn't :'( Can only hope that at the very least, it's machine readable. I had a big problem getting a usable finger print scan when I was applying for it. I was thinking if I should write about what happened here, but I chickened out and wrote it in my diary instead. I guess I'm not ready yet to talk about my condition, a condition whose name I finally found out in these past few weeks after googling on how to deal with it on a particular situation. This led to finding out that there are people like me and while it's comforting to find out there are others who know exactly how it feels like and reading the same things I have been dealing with, it's also kinda sad because somehow it's all official now that there's something wrong with me. Wrong is perhaps too sad of a word to use, perhaps not perfect is better, but no one is physically perfect, no? Also since I have been living with this my whole life, it's strange that finding out the exact medical term for it caused me to feel sad. With or without the name, I have what I have and it's unfortunately a really annoying condition to have, especially at important times. Anyways, I talk too much about it already.
So new passport, not biometric, super disappointed. I googled a lot about this and I wonder if the applying process in Indonesia (at least Jakarta) will be a more integrated effort. The thing is, Indonesia rolled out e-ID card in the past few years, which means our new ID card has our biometric information. It was a very thorough attempt, not only there's finger print scan but there's iris scan. The moronic thing they did though was to put an expiry date on the ID card. It's like saying there's an expiry date on being an Indonesian citizen. I thought it's a waste of resource. I think one should only change their ID if there are major changes in the data, like your picture doesn't match you anymore. That is what Singapore does and if you change residence, they just stick a new address, so there's no wastage. Unless the reason they're doing it is some benevolent reasons that the government would like to check on its citizen and see how they are doing. It's as ridiculous as I write it no? Anyways, if they can connect these data and the passport data, then the country would have a more integrated and meaningful data of its citizens. I did my passport in the embassy and for sure they're releasing these passports without linking back to the citizen's data in Indonesia. They didn't ask for my Indonesian ID number, instead they asked for a Singapore one. The chances of me being the only Eka Buntoro Dewi Putri in Indonesia or in the world right now is very high, so it can be easy to identify me in case of emergency, terrorism activity, or whatnot, but still I would hope that they're making more of an effort to get all these data be centralized, like if they do a search on a passport number, all the information about the person, their ID number, name, address, biometric data can be retrieved. Right now I don't think that is the case. Is it weird that I would like such a system? Pretty sure that there are people in places like America who would be terrified with such a system and think it's an invasion of privacy. Anyway, hopefully the new ministries can be smart about this, especially after all the spending on this.
Moving on, went to Gardens by the Bay after collecting my passport yesterday. They had their christmas decoration on and I feel like it's getting harder and harder for me to be amused anymore. There were teddy bears and christmas trees such as this with small teddy bears decorating it.
:) eKa @ 4:55:00 PM • 0 comments
Tuesday, November 04, 2014
Indonesia - Danau Tempe & Bantimurung
The next day we were to leave Tana Toraja. We could drive the full 8 hours and go straight to airport and take the flight back to Jakarta but the itinerary I chose for this trip put a break in Sengkang where we would be going to Lake Tempe and stay the night. It was like 4-6 hours drive from Toraja to Sengkang and again I took motion sickness pill so I was asleep in many parts of the journey which was stupid since I missed taking a final look at Toraja landscape. My mom who is ever so quickly to fall asleep surprisingly rarely slept in the car ride. There are so many long drive in this trip and after what felt like pretty long, we made a stop at the shop overlooking Gunung Nona (Buttu Kabobong) again, the same place we had our tea break on day 1. Mom and my aunt took the chance to shop at the pregnant lady whose place they shopped in in the first day. Mom feeling that we (or she to be more exact) have been deprived of adequate fruits for far too long bought a big papaya and cut it on the spot and that papaya was like gone within 15 minutes. I only got 1 piece. When I had papaya back in Jakarta, it made me realized that the papayas we had in Toraja really weren't amazing. Now I also feel the papayas here in Singapore are not as nice as what I had in Jakarta. Anyway Mom and my aunt had been asking what the nice local produce are, but they don't seem to have any, though my aunt and brother did buy some Torajan coffee. I don't know if those were nice, since I don't drink coffee. We got it from a roaster who didn't roast a whole lot of beans and we're shown how they sort the coffee beans manually between the good ones to sell and the bad ones that they use for their personal consumption.So anyway, after that stop overlooking Buttu Kabobong, we continued with our drive, more and more away from the mountains. Long drive, it's getting hotter and hotter and finally we reached Sengkang and found a place to have lunch. Mom decided we should just go to the lake straight and after that go to the hotel instead of the other around. Following the itinerary, we would be taking a boat to explore the lake. Since we were earlier than we should have been, we had to wait awhile in the car by the bridge waiting for the boatman. It was really really hot there in Sengkang and I started to feel if this was a good idea after all, especially after looking the river we're at that is not looking beautiful. It's like in between I want to do this but I don't know if this is a good idea and my aunt also seemed to be losing interest too. Eventually the fisherman came and on we got on the small boat (motorized canoe) that has 4 seats exactly for us. The fisherman just sat by the end. We started by traversing the river with houses on either sides and some boats and really it's not looking amazing and there's a thought in my head that my mom and aunt would complain that it's a waste of time and we're wasting away in the hot sun.
So we sat there waiting for our fried banana looking at the view, absorbing this unique experience. On another house, they're drying fish, which we think make for salted fish. Our fisherman told us that when it's the rainy season or when the water level is higher, the houses are pushed to a different place, so their location is not always the same. Again I wonder how the fisherman knows where the location of the house is and how to get there. As we sat there, another boat with foreign tourists with 2 toddlers arrived at the other house. My mom commented on how amazing is that that foreigners often take their young kids on pretty "hard trip" (for Indonesian standard) such as this with their young kids without much fuss. Yes, Asians can be really spoilt with their kids. Then another 2 boats dropped their tourists at our house, a couple from the Netherlands and 2 ladies from France. I am most impressed with the french-speaking Indonesian guide because he speaks much better french than me. We talked a bit with him. He too was bringing the ladies from Toraja and he commented about there are many guides with many language skills in Toraja, but only 2 could speak Chinese, something that he said it's quite a shame and he's working on learning that too. Anyways, we finished our 2 plates of bananas and mom said let's just go to give more space for these people. Later on my aunt told us that when she went to the kitchen all the fishermen were congregating and making fried banana for us tourists. It was truly a different experience as I told the Dutch tourist :) It was late afternoon when we left and the sun was bright but not too hot and I thought the lake looked more beautiful.
The next day was the day where we're flying back to Jakarta. Our driver was always ready early and my family is also an early riser type so we set off even earlier than the planned 8 am. First we stopped at this house where the ladies of the house did traditional silk weaving. I found it strange that our driver brought us to this house, normally people would be taken to a proper store no? I wonder if it's because we're so early or because he knows these people are poor and maybe something would strike the fancy of my mom and aunt and these people get to make some money, because I really think our driver did not get any commission from things bought here. The house is really rundown, a poor house, but I saw that their 2 weaving boards (I don't know what these are called) are very well maintained. After much looking and bargaining, my aunt and mom bought a few scarfs. I think the silk is not real silk, more like a mixture or something. Anyways, here I began to understand that sometime when my mom and aunt buy things, often it is to help the people who sell it. Yes, they may want some things but they may also end up buying more because it could help these people who really do not look rich and may really need the money. Some part of it is also perhaps because our family make money by selling things so they understand how hard it is to sell something and it's like making good karma by buying things from other people, you hope that many people will buy from you.
This also makes me think how domestic tourists and perhaps to a greater extend regional tourists is important in Indonesia. Yes it's good to have all the big money tourists like the Europeans coming in, but let's face it some of them are backpackers who have low spending power and may benefit only the cheap hotels and guides. The rich ones coming may not be able to spend much because some of them may continue their trip to other parts of Indonesia like Bali, like a group I met in Buttu Kabobong, so they may not be keen on buying many things because it'll be difficult to bring around. So it's the Indonesians tourists like my mom and aunt who can bring more money to the people who sell the fabrics, the t-shirts, the strange snacks, the passion fruits syrup, and all other trinkets - the overlooked places which may only interest Indonesians who's only a short flight away to bring all these things as souvenirs. So I began to see the spending of my mom and my aunt not as silly but as good for the local economy.
Anyways, it's another 4-6 hours drive from Sengkang to Makassar. We made a stop somewhere after my mom saw many signs of this local snack and was curious and we got off to one roadside shop and got some dange which is made from glutinous rice and some palm sugar. It was interesting watching the lady made it. She burned the mould to heat it up and then stuffed the ingredients into the mould, waited for awhile for it to set and took it out. Another nice thing travelling with my mom and aunt, without them, I wouldn't be tasting all these different food. Did I mention how I love that they always stock up on snacks? Yeah, it's great that they love to buy things. Anyway we stopped for lunch at Pare Pare and we also passed the coast with the beautiful blue sea. Saw many houses on stilts. Some of them were so rundown and even oblique that I thought the people living in these houses must be very poor. Maybe they are, the ones who are living in houses that are like horizontally oblique they can collapse anytime. My mom thinks these people are just preserving tradition and there are stilts houses which look very nice with ceramic tiles for the staircases to the house.
Our flight was 5 pm something and in the itinerary we have time to go to Bantimurung where there's a waterfall. After a long drive, we made it. Ticket price is differentiated between the local (25,000 IDR / ~ 2.6 USD) and foreigners (225,000 IDR / ~ 24 USD). While I think it's kinda okay to differentiate prices, I thought the price for foreigners are too steep for what's inside and I would have liked it if the differences is not that jarring. We're in the dry season so the waterfall is not that full with only these 3 streams. I have seen pictures where the waterfall is fuller.
We asked the boy if the butterflies were killed to make these key chains, he said no, they collected dead butterflies from the conservatory. Hopefully he's not lying again. I took a fancy on the bright color ones and I got an orange one which after some time looking at it, I was suspicious that they were dyed. There were bright red, green, and yellow ones too. Upon closer inspection, I'm convinced they're dyed because the body was a bit orange too. Either way, I still really like the orange butterfly key chain that I got. As we're leaving I thought we should enter the butterfly museum, but you have to pay to enter what seems to be just a room. Again I feel like once you pay for ticket, you should have access to everything. Yes it's only 5000 IDR (50 cents USD), but it's the principle of it. In the end we decided not to enter it, I'm not sure if the foreign couple we saw as we're walking in the same direction would go in or if they would feel incensed about it too.
After the short visit in Bantimurung, we went straight to the airport. We arrived way early. Tried to ask if we could get to an earlier flight, but was told we have to pay. If an airline doesn't pay us when the flight is delayed, why do we have to pay them if we want to get on an earlier flight when there are seats available? Tell me where is justice in this world?! Stupidly we just waited at the ground floor of the airport instead of going to the second floor where the gates are, where it is much much nicer than the first floor. The airport is new and it's really nice. Anyways, so that's pretty much it, our trip to Tana Toraja, first time in Sulawesi. I'm really glad that I got to do this and had the family with me :) For pictures from the trip to Lake Tempe and Bantimurung Waterfall, please go here.
Other things worth writing. My brother is a very generous tipper. There was discussion about how much we should tip our driver and he got annoyed with our cheapness that he said he would take care of it. He also pointed out that it's better to tip daily because that would make the driver happier in serving us. Another nice things about domestic tourists like my mom and aunt is that they're more caring on people like the driver and guide, always making sure they have things to eat. Day 1 in Toraja, they even invited the driver and guide to have dinner with us, alas they're too shy to join in. Then there's the language realization. Indonesians generally speak the local language except for people in Jakarta who I think speak Indonesian the most. Everyone we meet can converse in Indonesian but I realized that sometime they took times to compose what they're going to say and I wonder if we sounded too fast for them. There were times when I tried to simplify my question just like when I would speak in a simpler english with people here in Singapore who's not fluent in English. Also one time I saw a sign encouraging people to speak Indonesian first and foremost. Then in Sengkang, I saw that on the street signs, below the word in roman alphabets, there's the word in symbols, in what I think is the Buginese language. The characters look triangular. Seriously Indonesia is so diverse. Mom said that she saw in Toraja there were local language with unique symbols too, but I didn't see any. Other things that I noticed in Toraja that I perhaps haven't written is that some of the people I met have this very light brown eyes that it's kinda mesmerizing for me. Then there are a lot of skinny dogs around. I think they're more like guardians of the area rather than pets. It can be rather disturbing seeing these skinny dogs. Many of them were sleeping lazily too. That being said, one morning I saw a group of dogs chasing something, I think one of them may have gotten a rat in the paddy field.
Let me end this post with my last morning in Jakarta. Dad got home and got me noodle or what we call in Indonesian as bakmi. It's your usual minced pork (I think) noodle and he also got some wonton too and though he forgot to bring the soup which caused me having to eat this noodle in a rather dry mode, it tasted heavenly. It was really really good and moment like this make me think how I feel quite miserable with the food in Singapore. There's no one food I will miss dearly when I leave this place and there's so many that I miss in Indonesia, even this simple noodle which is perhaps not even the best in the area it was sold.
In my last morning, my mom also asked me to go to the bank, BCA, to get a new bank book. My dad brought me there and I was surprised that the security officer outside was holding umbrella and shielding people from the hot sun, though he didn't offer his service to us. Is it because we came in a bike? He was alone though. Anyway then inside of course everyone were so friendly and cheerful and it can be overwhelming for me having to deal with all this nicety when I am not feeling chatty (which perhaps happens way too often, me not being social). The security guards inside the bank and other staffs were saying good morning and asked what we wanted to do so that they can point us to the correct counter. As I was waiting, the office boy (man to be more precise) came around to all customers and offered us water! His boss was even asking him to offer me because the boss thought I wasn't offered since I didn't take any when the staff came around the first time. I was stunned and I wonder if one day they would upgrade and offer us snack too, donuts will be great! Then as we're leaving of course we had to hear many of the staff saying thank you. I told this story to mom and she said that it's not the case in the bank near the market where she works. Perhaps it is depending on branch, but the nice service like this just makes me feel like how it's can be super duper nice in Indonesia. Just last week, I had to deal with a really rude girl in the photo developing store. She was so rude that I had to say forget it and walked away. It took me some time to get over it and how I wish I can just punch people. The next day, I went to a different store and the lady there wasn't like extraordinarily friendly or anything, but she helped me and listened to my instruction, she also helped another customer, and she just doing her job made me feel like she's the nicest person in the world after the treatment from the girl the day before. Point is things like this make me feel it could be so different in Indonesia. Alright, enough lamenting and it's been a long post. See you when I see you. Take care peeps!
:) eKa @ 10:00:00 PM • 0 comments
Sunday, November 02, 2014
Day 2 in Tana Toraja was spent first at Pasar Kerbau (Water Buffalo Market). It's not only for buffalo actually, it's a real market with produces like vegetables and other things, but we only went to the buffalo and pig field. The interesting part about this market is that the market changes places everyday to a different town and will only come back after 6 days and we're lucky to be in the area when there is market. The field where the buffaloes are is very very big, we didn't go all the way through. From what I could see, it seems it's the space of a soccer field. I'm not sure it it extends more at the back and there are many many many buffaloes! It's a real tourist attraction. I saw the french group from lunch in Pare Pare and many other foreigners. Buffalo is actually not cheap. Well there are those which is below 100 million IDR (~ 8,274 USD), but the average good one I think will average out to around 200 - 400 million IDR (~ 16,500 USD - 33,000 USD), while the really good ones shoot up above 500 million IDR. The one that definitely can fetch a good price are the ones with pinkish white skin (like a pig) and also black, like this. Buffaloes who also win in fights can also fetch a good price. While buffalo that's all white is like tainted meat. The guide said people will just slaughter it and sell it at the market, but the Torajan believe it's not good for them to consume it, they would get rashes. Now, buffaloes sacrifice is important for a funeral ceremony, the guide told us that for Torajan royalty, they would need to sacrifice at least 24 buffaloes! This is not including pigs and chickens. I googled and for average people, they would need like 8-10 buffaloes. Still it's a lot of money. You may need to sell a house or land to pay for all this. It's a big affair a funeral ceremony in Toraja.
:) eKa @ 1:14:00 PM • 0 comments
Saturday, November 01, 2014
So last week I went back to Indonesia. Didn't really spend much hours at home. The purpose of the visit was to go to Tana Toraja. It was planned and booked before my uncle was admitted to the hospital for the first time. The one going were to be me, mom, my aunt, and brother. As his condition worsen, I did wonder if this was going to happen. Dad was saying that we should cancel the whole thing and there was a point that mom said she and my aunt would have to cancel on this. I understood the situation but I couldn't help feeling slightly sad about it and I thought I'm such a bad person for feeling that way. As the day of the trip coming closer, I was bracing to do the trip only with my brother. I don't know how that would have worked out. Then my uncle died 1 week before the day of the trip. Mom and the family managed to settle his funeral pretty fast and after that she said it's a go. My uncle was buried on a Saturday and we went on the trip on a Thursday. It sounds heartless? Perhaps not, people deal with death differently. My family seems to be the type who think proceeding with normal programming to be the best way to deal with this. My mother stayed longer with my aunt after the funeral to help out but there were relatives who went to work the next day. There are apparently still some tradition being observed like they're doing weekly prayers which I don't know will last how long and mom has been participating in it. We managed to get back in time for mom to participate on the second one this week. I was already back to Singapore so I didn't join in. I didn't manage to see how my aunt is doing. Truth be told, I don't even see much of my dad. I arrived in Jakarta last week Wednesday and by Thursday dawn we're on our way to Makassar. 4 am Jakarta is not all quiet. Seriously it's like Jakarta never sleeps. There were more cars at the road than I expected and the airport was as busy as it was during daylight. I was seriously in awe. Indonesia doesn't strike you as being particularly hardworking, but it's like there are always people working in Jakarta at any hours.By the way, I didn't keep a journal on this trip because this is a rare opportunity travelling with my mom so I didn't want to spend the free time writing away. As such, I have forgotten many details of the trip and have to google to cross check things. In the early stages of planning, I thought of this trip like my version of Appa Odiga but it's with mom, so it should be called Eomma Odiga. I even thought mom will have boiled potatoes like she usually does when she goes on trips, that would be so like Appa Odiga, but alas she didn't do it on this trip. People asked me why I chose Toraja. Well from travelling overseas a few times, I began to feel like I should visit more places in Indonesia. You see I have visited more places in Italy than I have in Indonesia. That's a pity no, especially when there are many foreigners who are so eager to explore Indonesia, like for example the Italian dad I met in Cappadocia who said he had gone and explored many places in Indonesia before he has the 2 toddlers. Indonesian have this national song whose first lyric says, Dari Sabang sampai Merauke (from Sabang to Merauke), which are places on the most eastern and western of Indonesia. From the story, it seems that's exactly what that Italian dad did. So it's kinda embarrassing no if foreigners know your country more than you? So this is like the other side of the life list paper, explore more of Indonesia. I am starting slow. Tana Toraja is one of those unique place which is featured in travel articles and tv programme. I am just beyond curious and I am thankful I got to do this. Double thankful because my mom and aunt were there. Not sure how I would have hold up with my brother alone.
Tana Toraja is located in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and the nearest airport is Makassar and by near it's not that near. It's still 8 hours drive away. I decided to use a travel agency to handle our trip. It has a 5 days / 4 nights itinerary which I quite like so I chose that. We got a car and driver and a guide for 2 days in Toraja. The trip didn't follow the itinerary exactly though, so in a way I feel dissatisfied, but considering my aunt is not so keen on seeing burial sites, I guess there's no point in pushing further. Okay backtrack a bit. The flight from Jakarta to Makassar is around 2 hours, enough to make me think how I start to really hate flying. I hate being cramped in such a small place, the woes of being poor and not being able to afford nicer seats. Our flight was 5.55 am Jakarta time and Makassar is 1 hour ahead of Jakarta (the same time zone as Singapore) and so we arrived after 9 am Makassar time. By the way, my mom is like a backpacker. She insisted that all bags to be carry on. That made me quite stressed out with the liquid restriction, but thankfully it seems it's not so strict in Indonesian domestic flights(?). She's also not so fussy about accommodation, so I am kinda being pushed to be more acceptant with things. Anyway, arrived in Makassar, paid the travel guy, met our driver and off we went. 8 hours drive. It's really hot there. Getting out of the airport, my aunt commented that the streets we're kinda stuck in traffic for awhile looked like another place in Jakarta, which is a true observation. Different islands and culture, but things are strikingly similar. It's just Indonesia, we're kinda the same everywhere. A weird realization to have perhaps. I even wonder how we could be so the same when we are distance apart and culturally can be different with different local languages being spoken and different traditions.
First stop was Pare Pare for lunch. The city changes to villages with houses on stilts on each side of the roads. There are many houses, no one is isolated. Another realization that perhaps in Indonesia, though it's big, you can't really find a place with no one around. The only place I have ever been where I felt like there's no one for miles and miles was during one of the drives in Cappadocia. That being said, I am sure that there are places in Indonesia where there aren't people for miles and miles around (I think??!?). Anyway, getting to Pare Pare we passed a coast with fishing villages around. The sea looked really nice and blue. We didn't stop though so I don't have any picture of this. Entering the eating place, there were 2 other groups of foreigners having their lunch. There were like 6-10 people in their groups. One of the group is french. This is repeated often, seeing french tourists (they do travel a lot, don't they the French?) and us being the only Indonesian tourists there (well it's not holiday season for Indonesian when we were there). Anyways, lunch was seafood and it was good. Then on we continued with the drive. After some hours, we stopped for tea break at a roadside shop overlooking Buttu Kabobong or also called as Gunung Nona in Indonesian. The same french group was already there. The view from that shop overlooking the mountain was great. We passed by the shop again when we're leaving Toraja. Here my mom and the auntie had their first chance of buying stuff. They bought a local snack, a dodol like thing wrapped in corn husks.
After that we went to what I think is Kambira, this is to see the baby graves in the tree. Upon entering we saw our first cluster of Tongkonan houses. They are actual houses with people living in it. People who also sell souvenirs and that got my mom and aunt's attention. They also sell vanilla pod coming from their own backyard and that was the first time I saw the vanilla plant. It turns out it's like a vine growing around another plant, in this case, it was climbing up a cassava plant. The lady also told me it's an orchid. Apparently many of them stop growing vanilla because one time the price dropped and people got upset. Other plants that we often saw were
:) eKa @ 6:21:00 PM • 0 comments
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