note to self.

start writing (and sharing) again next year 🙂

How I spend my (working) time.

This chart (courtesy of Gemma Teed’s blogpost ‘Planner’s time utilisation report) probably illustrates best on how I spend my working time on weekdays — and, for most of the time, weekends too.

Although, nowadays, I think my ‘thinking time’ and ‘cups of coffee’ slices would be much fatter, which makes my ‘writing blog’ a very thin slice 😦 OK, let’s see if I could re-arrange/size some of these time slices…

(There I go, thinking again)

test

test

Wild komodo dragons vs mini geckos? Komodo dragons.

After Bali, we left for Labuan Bajo to kick off our little Komodo tour. On the way to Ngurah Rai airport, we made a quick stop at Nasi Kedawetan Warung Mardika, where they sell that mouth-watering Nasi Kedawetan *drool* (opens daily from 6.30 am to 6.00 pm). Note to self: on your next trip, make sure you go to Warung Mardika, buy yourself the IDR 10,000 worth of food that’ll make your tummy happy.

9:00 a.m.: I thought the day would start nice and slow right after we checked in our bags in the airport. Yep. That didn’t happen. We were rushing and running towards the gate because we heard over the speaker saying, “to Mr. Arief Aziz and Ms. ‘SandiKa’ Ekaputri, please head towards gate 17 because the plane will be boarding soon.” Anyway, we got into the plane, a fokker 50, and the flight to LBJ took us slightly more than an hour. I looked over the window a lot because I wanted to see what the islands look like from above. The terrain is rugged and dry. It looks like the hills along I-280 in Bay Area at fall time. Beautiful volcanic islands.

Floresian 101 from Pak Matthias, our guide: most people in Flores hail from Bajo and Bugis tribes of Sulawesi. 60% are Christians, the rest are Muslims. The Muslims usually reside on the coast. They speak 5 languages here, including Bajo, Manggarai, and Ende. However, a Bajo man rarely understand Manggarai dialect, except if you are married to people from Manggarai tribe. Matthias said that we may hear people talk in rude tone, “ just ignore it, it’s just the way we speak.” I think their accent is interesting. Yes it’s different than Javanese or Sundanese accent, but there is something wonderful when you hear Floresian people talk in, well, Floresian languages.

Upon our arrival di Komodo Airport, Pak Matthias picked us up on an angkot (a mini version of a mini van). After a quick shopping trip at the mini market, we headed to the port to board the boat. Lunch was served on the boat: rice, butter sauced chicken, veggies, bananas, and pineapples. At about 1pm, we departed for Rinca island.

A couple of hours later we arrived in Rinca island and anchored at Loh Buaya bay. And I (finally) saw my first wild komodo (not the one in the zoo). We all went for a short trekking, through the hills, forests, by the dried banks, and we saw more komodos. After a very tiring trekking, we returned to the boat and head west to Komodo island. By the time we arrived, it was already 6.30pm and the sun was setting. So we anchored at a spot where we would spend the night … on the boat.

Dream: own a villa in Bali

Kokokan was the place we rented during our stay in Ubud, Bali. Owned by my friend’s dad (and dad’s partners), Kokokan offered me more than what I had expected. I must say staying at Kokokan was on the money! So after a fun, tiring night, waking up at noon then off to get me some Balinese coffee seemed to be a perfect way to start the day. Reading Sedaris’ “Naked” under the sun +by the pool + in the middle of rice paddies = Heaven!

Late lunch was served later and the menu was Nasi Kedawetan, equipped with one of the best sambals I’ve ever had in my entire life (warning: we, Indonesians, normally tolerate sambal pretty good. But this one will require you a box of tissue (to wipe your runny nose) and gallons of water (to wash and cool down the heat going down your throat). Arief passionately calls it “Sambal Mematikan” (Deadly Chili)

Later that day all of us (excluding Adiel) wnet to Goa Gajah, a temple that has both Hindu & Buddhist sculptures in-and-out of the cave. Priests often come to meditate inside the cave where there are holes carved on the wall for them to sit and meditate. After a quick cultural trip, easting seafood in Jimbaran was next on our list. Nothing beats the idea of indulging yourself with great seafood. Menu: black-peppered crab, crab with oyster sauce, grilled grouper, grilled squid, some veggies, and of course, sambal 🙂 Dinner was served — on the beach.

I danced on a club stage

Okay . . . in order to jump-start my blogging habit (read: find the TIME to actually do it), I decided to write and share a mini memoir in the next several posts, which chronicles my short trip around Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. The trip itself was originally made as a way to escape the hectic Jakarta and what comes with it (life and work). I try to do so every quarter or so to keep me sane. So the plan expanded to include some island-hopping around Flores sea. It all started on Thursday, September 24 2009 . . .

2.45 p.m.: Sitting down on seat 9D on Air Asia flight. Air Asia is ‘almost’ like the Asian version of Virgin America. You get on board, seat yourself in black leather seats, purple hazy lights along the rim of the interior, dry ice coming out of it, and enjoy a random list of songs. Today, I got in and greeted by Bee Gees’ “More Than A Woman”.

3 hours later I finally arrived in Denpasar, Bali. It’s nice to be back in the island again after 9 years. As I was waiting for Pak Wayan who would pick me up and drive me to Batu Bulan, I was dreaming of my relaxa-session in Bali already *sigh in relief*  I was eager to start my relaxa-session in Bali.

7.00 p.m.: Traffic in Denpasar has been heavy since Lebaran holiday starts. Arrived in Batu Bulan just to find out that I was on the last 15 mins of the Kecak show. Luckily, I didn’t miss the highlight of the night — watching a man in trance state, walking, kicking, and sitting over a flaming ball of coconut skins. One of the flames flew off the stage and landed near this guy sitting in the front row. Good job, Arief, for getting us seats on the 4th row! After Kecak, we went out for dinner. We decided to drive up north and stopped at this place called Indus, a restaurant/gallery, as recommended by Pak Wayan. Like suggested by some reviews, Indus is a bit like a mafia don’s house, complete with marble tile and columns. Gorgeous two floors with open-air dining, attached to a painting gallery. Great coffee/hangout place and with a nice sunset point. They also offer an eclectic range of cuisine. While the others had Balinese version of paella and grilled lamb chops, I opted for the nasi campur 🙂 The nasi was not as glamorous (in taste) as I expected it to be, but the chocolate truffles ended my dinner perfectly.

11.00 p.m.: The guys wanted to go clubbing so off we go to this place called The Living Room. The music, drink, and place was quite good but unfortunately the crowd wasn’t that good. So after a beer and caipirosca, we checked the other place across the street, Hu’u, but decided not to dwell in the area. “I need to go to places where we actually DANCE“, said Rizal. So we agreed to check out Legian street — here you’ll find stores, cafés, restaurants, hotels, bungalows, and the hottest places with the most crowds for clubbing. A very tourist-y street. We first checked this place called Embargo where there were a lot of tourists and local b-boys showing off their styles in a battle (it suddenly reminds me of Daly City. Don’t really know why).

After 1 drink, we decided to leave and check out another place. This time it was called Engine Room, a club complete with these neon lights that go on and off. Yeah, 20 seconds later we left the place. We knew we’d go blind had we stayed there longer! Finally, we ended up in this place called Vi Ai Pi — and ladies get in free! Yey for my wallet! 20 minutes later, we parked ourselves on the club stage for more than an hour, sweating like a pig, dancing with strangers, and minding our own business!

4:00.a.m: After burning the calories, panting, and struggling for fresh air, we left the place feeling good and funny. Highlights of the night (positive or negative is for you to judge): (1) Rizal lost his Nike glasses, then went topless before he crashed in the car, (2) Arief thought he almost got himself into a fight with an Australian, (3) I heard cats meow-ing from the security guard’s body, (4) I also got grinded by this fella from behind. Scary! It took me about twenty seconds to figure out what’s going on before I rotated my body, tapped the guy’s shoulder, and said politely, “Okay, buddy … thanks for the dance but umm, you can stop humping my legs. They kinda want to dance by themselves, if you don’t mind.” Sigh. Where were my friends? Of course they were just standing there, watching and laughing 😐

I dare you to dare me is the name of the game.

His name is Andri Perdana Ilham. Found him through the net. Perhaps the guy is just living his life … or tired of his life that he’d spark his life by taking on challenges from people. Only 2 conditions to the challenges he’d take (1) no religious remarks (2) no deadly physical stuntwork. I have no clue how far he’d take the challenge but it’s interesting to find out when he will rise to fame, or fall to shame (the pink legging suits him :D)

Who goes trekking, twice, in flip-flops? I do.

Second day of Komodo tour. Today we head to Loh Liang bay in Komodo Island, where we were set to do a medium trekking. I was worried the whole day because I have been walking with my flip flops for the past 2 days. Getting cut on my feet, which may potentially indulge komodo’s apetite, was not exactly what I had in mind. Luckily, not too many komodo dragons along the track. Phew. And the feet stayed un-cut!

Our ranger, Paul, an 18 year old boy who was in his senior year of Tourism School, taught us the usage of plants/fruits in the island, which were surprisingly most used for 3 things, and 3 things only:

1. Food
2. Roofing material, or
3. Medicine (to cure stomachache)

He speaks good English, considering that he has only learned it for the past 2 years. He claims he knows all 16 tenses (I don’t even know how many there are, truly) and he prefers tenses rather than conversational English. He’s committed to learn at least 3 new words everyday and he brings home a dictionary when he is on school holiday. His parents, who are never exposed to the language, think English language sounds like the devil’s language and they also think their son is crazy. However, I admire his perseverance and his interest to learn new things. His next thing-to-do list: master Russian. After a surprisingly short ‘medium trek’ we did in Komodo island, we got back to the boat and headed towards Pink Beach and went snorkeling.

I lit a cigarette and brought my unfinished morning coffee to join Yudi, one of the crewmen, who is keen to go to the bow to make phone calls. I asked whether the reception is good up front, he answered “Yes, it has full (signal) bar“. *Great signal, Indosat. Not so great coverage, XL!* He tried to call his wife who resides in Misa island to tell her that she and their 1 month old daughter, Yolan Adinda, would be picked by us via boat, so they can go to Labuan Bajo together. Little did I know, Yudi shared with me a little story of him. Yesterday he found out that his wife pregnant again — after giving birth to their first born just 1 month ago 🙂 Yudi, who is a year older than me, actually has another wife in Manado. He met this first wife of his, whose name is the same as his recently born baby, Yolan *go figure*, when he was sailing in Sulawesi sea. But because she couldn’t bear any children, he decided to separate with her and went back to his village in Flores. He didn’t wait too long to marry his second wife, whom he’s known since she was in 5th grade, and got her pregnant. “I no longer drink nor play around with girls no more. Yus (his 2nd wife) changed my life“. Harsh learning: Survival of the fittest.

Which Betty are you?

This is a fun AND brilliant product. I might just buy and try it out of curiosity. So for all the women out there (and experimental guys as well) . . . a home coloring kit for the hair down there . . . match it with what’s on your head 🙂

Will it blow your mind away?

Burger King ad campaigns. Irreverent. Witty. Edgy. Disturbing. Particularly the ones with The King (he creeps me out). This is one suggests sexual cue. Photo was taken at North Bridge Rd bus stop, Singapore, June 19 2009.