Saturday, November 27, 2010

#863 - Five Thoughts of the Week

ENGLISH

  1. Lately, my entries have been about traveling, traveling, and traveling and not really much about what I have been going through in my daily life here. I am afraid it triggers the impression that what I do here in the Netherlands is just having fun and going around freely like a person who has nothing on his shoulder. Well, of course it would have been nice, but that is not the way life is, right? In a daily basis, I work my ass off working on all stuffs from my campus. I know that I must work hard but it does not mean I need to be on working mode 24/7, right? A little balance plays a vital role to succeed.

  2. You might recall that I am a big fan of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Well, true, I am a big fan, but not a hardcore fan, apparently. Back in Indonesia, the only way I watched this sitcom is through tv. And since everything was kinda left behind in Asia, I had only watched (almost) three seasons of HIMYM before I moved to the Netherlands this August. Kinda sad because this year, the sixth season is on air in the US.

    Anyway, so last week my friends talked about the fifth season of HIMYM and I asked them where they watched it. They said they watched it online and I asked them for the link and they gave me that link. So, up to now, one week after my friends gave me that link, I have finished season 4. It means that I have watched one and a quarter season (because I had to "patch" some "holes" in season three as I missed some episodes of it back in Indonesia). Wow, kinda proud of it, LOL.

  3. It is quite surprising to see Clint and Steuart lost in this week's episode of The Apprentice US season 10. The editors made it like they would win while Liza and Brandy screwed up. This was a smart "move" by the editors as this far, we have been "fed" with the impression that Liza was useless while Clint and Steuart would likely to be the final two (with their impressive winning streak and boardroom-free until this stage of the competition) and Brandy was kinda strong but tend to play it "safe". If we "believe" the story the editors told us, we would have guessed Liza would probably be fired this week. See, smart move, right? They made us think Liza was the weakest candidate out of the four and they made us think her team screwed up this week. But in the end, Liza and Brandy won and it totally went out of the (pre-designed) expectation!

    Anyway, but I agree that it must have been a really difficult call for Donald Trump to make a decision whether he would fire Clint or Steuart. And I also like both of them. They were really classy up there in the boardroom. They respected each other and did not throw the other one under the bus with sadistic heartless dirty move (like, apparently, some other candidates (not only from this season but also from many previous seasons) did).

    Next week's episode will be the first part of the finale, which means that at the beginning of the episode, one of the remaining three would be fired. If I have to guess now, based on the story the producers have thrown to us, I think Liza would likely to be fired at this point. But we will see... .

    Anyway, it makes me think of something. Let's say, in this episode, Clint and Steuart had won. So, Trump had to fire either Liza or Brandy. Clint and Steuart were safe, and they were (of course) the most favorite finale candidates. Would Trump still (only) have fired one candidate between Liza and Brandy or would he have fired both Liza and Brandy just like what he did in the final four of season four and five where he fired both candidates in the losing team of the final four? Quite interesting...

  4. I am excited when I read the weather forecast for this week that it would be snowing in Delft!! Well, having lived in Indonesia for my whole life until last August, of course I have never experienced "snowing" weather in my life. That is why I am so excited!! Last Wednesday, I read it would be snowing that night. I was so exhausted that day because Wednesday is a long day for me this semester. But I tried my best to stay awake as I wanted (that bad) to see the snow. Until midnight, it was still not snowing. Sure it was damn cold outside my room, but there was still no snow. Okay, I gave up. I went to bed. The next morning, my friend posted some pictures in Facebook that that night, it was really snowing in my neighborhood!! It was at about 2 AM!! Daaaammmnnnn....

  5. This sucks:
    .
    I know that they put their ad there and it was from the ad that the live coverage streaming could be performed. But: Did they really have to put the ad there?? It blocked the score for God's sake!! Why did not they move it just a little bit away so that watcher can still enjoy the broadcast completely with the factual scoreline?

BAHASA INDONESIA

  1. Akhir-akhir ini, posting-ku berkutat di seputar jalan-jalan, jalan-jalan, dan jalan-jalan dan bukan tentang apa yang terjadi sehari-hari disini. Aku agak khawatir kalau hal itu menyebabkan munculnya impresi bahwa apa yang aku lakukan di Belanda ini hanyalah bersenang-senang dan keliling-keliling dengan bebas tanpa beban. Yah, memang sih hal kaya gitu tuh menyenangkan sekali, cuma masalahnya hidup tu nggak seperti itu kan? Sehari-hari, aku juga kerja keras banget nih mengerjakan banyak hal dari kampus. Aku tahu bahwa aku harus bekerja keras tapi bukan berarti aku harus selalu dalam mode bekerja setiap waktu kan? Keseimbangan kan memainkan peran penting untuk sukses.

  2. Mungkin pada ingat kalau aku sangat ngefans sama sitkom How I Met Your Mother. Yup, betul bahwa aku sangat ngefans sama HIMYM, tapi nggak fanatik, ternyata. Waktu di Indonesia dulu, aku hanya menonton sitkom ini di tv. Dan karena semua hal itu agak tertinggal di Asia, aku hanya menonton (hampir) tiga musim pertama dari HIMYM sebelum aku pindah ke Belanda Agustus lalu. Agak menyedihkan juga sih, soalnya tahun ini musim keenam dimainkan di Amrik.

    Ngomong2, minggu lalu temanku ngobrol tentang musim kelima dari HIMYM dan aku bertanya ke mereka dimana mereka nonton. Kata mereka sih mereka nonton online dan aku meminta link-nya dan kemudian mereka memberiku link-nya itu. Nah, sampai sekarang, seminggu setelah temanku memberiku link itu, aku sudah selesai menonton musim keempat. Yang artinya, aku sudah menonton sekitar satu seperempat musim (soalnya aku juga harus "menambal" beberapa "lubang" di musim tiga karena aku nggak sempat nonton beberapa episode itu di Indonesia). Cukup bangga dengannya, LOL.

  3. Agak mengejutkan juga melihat Clint dan Steuart kalah di episode minggu ini dari The Apprentice US musim 10. Editornya membuat seolah-olah mereka akan menang sementara timnya Liza dan Brandy kacau. Ini adalah "langkah" cerdas dari produser karena sejauh ini, kita sudah dijejali dengan impresi bahwa Liza itu tidak berguna sementara Clint dan Steuart sepertinya akan menjadi dua besar (dengan kemenangan beruntun mereka yang impresif dan bebas dari boardroom sejauh ini) dan Brandy itu lumayan kuat tapi cenderung bermain "aman". Kalau kita "mempercayai" apa yang diberikan editor kepada kita, kita akan menduga kalau Liza yang akan dipecat minggu ini. Nah, langkah cerdas kan? Mereka membuat kita berpikir Liza adalah kandidat yang terlemah di empat besar dan mereka membuat kita merasa timnya Liza kacau. Tapi akhirnya, Liza dan Brandy menang dan ini benar-benar mengejutkan!

    Ngomong-ngomong, aku setuju sih kalau minggu ini adalah minggu yang berat untuk Donald Trump untuk memutuskan apakah ia akan memecat Clint atau Steuart. Aku juga suka keduanya. Mereka sangat berkelas di boardroom. Mereka saling menghormati satu sama lain dan tidak memfitnah satu sama lain dengan cara yang kotor nan sadis dan kejam (kaya yang, ternyata, dilakukan kandidat lain (nggak hanya dari musim ini tapi dari banyak musim sebelumnya)).

    Episode minggu depan adalah bagian pertama dari final, yang artinya di awal episode, satu diantara tiga yang tersisa akan dipecat. Kalau aku harus menebak sekarang, berdasar cerita yang telah produser acara berikan ke kita, sepertinya Liza yang akan dipecat di titik ini. Tapi akan kita lihat... .

    Ngomong2, jadi kepikiran satu hal nih. Andaikata nih, di episode minggu ini, Clint dan Steuart menang. Nah, kini Trump harus memecat antara Liza atau Brandy. Clint dan Steuart aman dan mereka (tentu) adalah kandidat favorit untuk berada di final. Apakah Trump masih akan (hanya) memecat satu di antara Liza dan Brandy atau dia akan memecat kedua Liza dan Brandy seperti yang ia lakukan di empat besar di musim empat dan lima dimana ia memecat semua kandidat di tim yang kalah di empat besar? Menarik....

  4. Aku sangat bersemangat ketika membaca ramalan cuaca bahwa minggu ini akan bersalju di Delft!! Yah, karena sebelum ini selalu tinggal di Indonesia sampai Agustus lalu jadinya aku belum pernah merasakan yang namanya cuaca "bersalju" selama ini. Makanya aku sangat bersemangat karenanya!! Rabu alu, aku membaca bahwa malam itu akan bersaljut. Aku capek sekali hari itu karena Rabu adalah hari paling melelahkan buatku. Tapi aku benar-benar mencoba untuk tetap bangun selama mungkin karena aku (sangat) ingin melihat salju itu. Sampe tengah malam, koq belum turun ya saljunya. Akhirnya aku menyerah deh karena memang sudah capek banget, dan aku tidur. Keesokan paginya, temanku mengunggah beberapa foto di Facebook bahwa malam itu memang bersalju di tempatku!! Cuma saljunya turunnya jam 2 pagi!! Siaaaaaaallllll....

  5. Hal ini menyebalkan sekali:
    .
    Aku tahu benar bahwa mereka beriklan di situ dan dari iklan itulah tayangan langsung via internet ini bisa dilangsungkan. Masalahnya: Apa iya gitu iklannya harus ditaruh disitu?? Itu kan nutupin skornya woi!! Mbok ya dipindah dikit kemana kek gitu iklannya, jadi penonton masih bisa menikmati tayangan utuh lengkap dengan skor sementaranya.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

#862 - (Another) Fun Weekend

ENGLISH

Okay, apparently, I have not been as productive (in blogging) as I expected to be on November, kinda weird though.

Anyway, so last weekend, I went to Belgium, again, for the second consecutive weekend. But this time, my friends and I went to a different city: Ghent. Wait, you have never heard of Ghent before?? Well, in that case, you are not alone, me too. Before my friend posted this link from lonelyplanet in Facebook about three weeks ago, I had never heard of Ghent before. The two closest cities in that list to where I live now were Ghent and Valencia. And because Ghent was waaay closer to Delft than Valencia, so suddenly this trip was planned.

So, last Saturday, this plan was executed. We took an international train ride to Antwerpen and took a local train there to get us to Ghent. We learnt from our experience that traveling on Sunday in Europe was a bad idea since many places were closed (I did not write this detail in my last entry. In that Sunday trip to Leuven, a small town in Belgium, most things (like stores, cafes, restaurants) were closed and of course it kinda sucked! It was a small town and everything in it was closed!! What would be the worse combination??). So we decided to go on Saturday :-)

Anyway, so we finally arrived in Ghent after about three hours of train-ride from Delft. Ghent was a much bigger city and it was more "alive" than Leuven (maybe it was because of the fact that I went to Ghent on Saturday while I went to Leuven on Sunday). There were many beautiful and classical buildings (like churches, cathedral, spire) and we could climb up the clock tower.

Aside from the magnificent architecture, I was really in love with one of the local delicacy (and I still remember the name, so that is a thing). It was stoverij. Stoverij was tender meat cooked for three hours in dark beer with a brown gravy. We tried this delicacy at one restaurant in the Historic Centrum (this might explain why it was kinda expensive (well, not "that" expensive tho for Europe standard): 15 euro). But it was daaaaamn goood!!! I encourage you all to try this menu if you visit Ghent! :-)

Anyway, that day we went to Ghent was apparently the day where the sinterklaas parade took place. And my professor said that the sinterklaas (and Zwarte Pit (Pit the Black)) would be in Delft the whole day. I was a little disappointed with this because I would not be in Delft that day and there would be something going on in Delft that day!?!? That sucked!!! (beside, I had not seen sinterklaas probably since I was in elementary school, LOL). Anyway, so that day in Ghent, apparently they celebrated the same tradition as I also met sinterklaas there!!! Yeaaahhh!!! Sure I did not get any present (c'mon, I was not a little boy anymore) but I was still happy! :D

Well, that pretty much summed up my Saturday. We went back to Delft later that evening after missing the 7.24 PM train (and we gotta take the 8.24 train because of that). Lucky this time the train was not "that" full so we got seat quite easily.

On Sunday, I got my first haircut in Europe and it cost me 12 euro. Well, the price was okay. Then, my friends and I had dinner at an Indonesian restaurant in Den Haag. I had soto babat :-)

::: Ghent's Historic Centrum.

::: A really delicious Stoverij with french fries.

::: Sinterklaas Parade in Ghent, really interesting to see!!

::: sinterklaas!!

::: The city of Ghent as seen from the top of Ghent Clock Tower.

::: Ghent Clock Tower.

::: Sint Baafskathedraal, Ghent, Belgium.

::: Sint Baafskathedraal, Ghent, Belgium with lights on.

::: The city of Ghent at night.

::: Soto Babat!!

BAHASA INDONESIA

Hmmm, ternyata, aku tidak seproduktif (dalam hal nge-blog) yang aku bayangkan di bulan November ini, agak aneh nih.

Ngomong2, jadi wiken lalu, aku pergi ke Belgia, lagi, dua minggu berturut-turut. Kali ini, aku dan teman2 pergi ke kota yang lain: Ghent. Eh, belum pernah dengar Ghent sebelumnya?? Tenang aja, Anda nggak sendiri koq, aku juga. Sebelum temanku merujuk tautan dari lonelyplanet ini di Facebook sekitar tiga minggu yang lalu, aku juga belum pernah mendengar Ghent. Dua kota terdekat di daftar kota itu adalah Ghent dan Valencia. Dan karena Ghent itu jauh lebih dekat ke Delft daripada Valencia, direncanakanlah perjalanan wiken lalu ini.

Jadi, Sabtu lalu, rencana ini dijalankan. Kami naik kereta internasional menuju Antwerpen kemudian pindah ke kereta lokal tujuan Ghent. Kami belajar dari pengalaman bahwa jalan-jalan di hari Minggu di Eropa itu adalah ide yang sangat buruk karena buanyak tempat tutup (aku nggak menulis detail ini di posting sebelumnya nih. Hari Minggu itu, dalam rangka perjalanan ke Leuven, sebuah kota kecil di Belgia, banyak tempat (kaya toko-toko, kafe, dan restoran) tutup dan tentu saja ini sangat menyebalkan!! Leuven adalah kota yang kecil dan apa-apa disana tutup!! Coba deh kombinasi apa yang lebih buruk lagi??). Makanya kami memutuskan untuk pergi di hari Sabtu :-)

Ngomong2, akhirnya kami tiba di Ghent setelah perjalanan tiga jam dengan kereta dari Delft. Ghent adalah kota yang lebih besar daripada Leuven dan lebih "hidup" (ini mungkin karena aku pergi ke Ghent di hari Sabtu sementara aku pergi ke Leuven di hari Minggu). Ada banyak gedung-gedung (kaya gereja, katedral, menara, dll) yang sangat indah dan klasik dan kami juga bisa naik ke atas menara jamnya loh.

Di samping arsitektur yang menawan, aku sangat suka sama salah satu masakan lokalnya (dan aku masih ingat namanya, jadi pertanda bagus tuh). Namanya adalah stoverij. Stoverij adalah daging empuk yang dimasak selama tiga jam dengan dark beer dengan kuah daging. Kami mencoba masakan ini di sebuah restoran di Historic Centrum (ini mungkin menjelaskan mengapa harganya agak mahal (ya sebenarnya nggak mahal-mahal amat sih untuk standar Eropa): 15 euro). Tapi memang enaaaaak banget loh!!! Aku sarankan kalau pas berkunjung ke Ghent, harus mencoba menu ini deh! :-)

Ngomong2, hari dimana kami berkunjung ke Ghent itu ternyata adalah hari dimana diadakannya parade sinterklaas (sinterklas). Dan dosenku bilang kalau akan ada parade sinterklas (dan Zwarte Pit (Pit Hitam)) di Delft sepanjang hari. Aku agak kecewa dengan ini karena aku nggak akan berada di Delft hari itu dan pada hari itu ada sesuatu spesial yang berlangsung di Delft!?!? Nyebelin banget!!! (di samping itu, aku kan uda lama nggak liat sinterklas, mungkin sejak SD kali ya, LOL). Ngomong2, di hari itu di Ghent, ternyata mereka juga merayakan tradisi yang sama karena aku bertemu dengan parade sinterklas!!! Yeaaahhh!!! Tentu saja aku nggak dapat hadiah apa-apa (iya lah kan uda bukan anak kecil lagi :D) tapi masih senang tuh! :D

Yah, kurang lebih itulah hari Sabtuku. Kami balik ke Delft malam harinya setelah ketinggalan kereta yang jam 7.24 malam (dan kami harus naik kereta berikutnya yang berangkat jam 8.24 malam). Untungnya kali ini keretanya nggak penuh-penuh amat jadi kami bisa dapat kursi dengan mudah.

Di hari Minggu, aku potong rambut untuk pertama kalinya di Eropa loh dan ongkosnya adalah 12 euro. Harganya ok sih menurutku. Trus, aku dan teman2 makan malam di sebuah restoran Indonesia di Den Haag. Aku makan soto babat :-)

Thursday, November 18, 2010

#861 - Fun Weekend

ENGLISH

Okay, it has kinda been awhile since my last update, and it was longer than I expected it to be. Not that I was "that" busy this week (click that link above to get what I meant by "that"), but I was kinda not feeling about writing something up earlier this week, haha. Anyway, also stated in that link, I had a funtastic weekend last week. I'll try to keep everything in a nutshell now:

On Saturday, I joined an excursion held by the international office of TU Delft for international students to the Neeltje-Jans Delta Works in Zeeland. Some sources said it was considered to be the eight wonder of the world, and this even made me more excited to get there. It was really a great deal as we only needed to pay 7.50 euro for the entrance fee and to bring our own lunch (or buy there).

So, there I went last Saturday. It was pretty far away, about 90 minutes bus-ride from Delft. Though it was not sunny that day, but at least it was not raining, so I was really pleased with that. Anyway, there, we watched a (supposedly) 3-D documentary about the project (but up to now, I still do not understand what was so "3-D" about that as to me, it was just an ordinary 2-D movie, LOL). Then, we went around the park. And in the afternoon, we joined a 1 hour boat-tour around the delta. I really think the place was fantastic and marvelous but to me, it is not a touristy place. Yes, engineers (like many of TU Delft's students) will be so interested and happy to go there, but I do not think people will go there for a vacation (at least me). I think that's why it was called "excursion" and not "picnic", LOL. Btw, there were several attractions there, like some slides, a water park, etc but they were all NOT working while we went there, whatta shame!!

Saturday night, I went to my friend's place to have a Mexican dinner there while also planning about our year-end trip to Italy. It was a really fun night! And also I had my first ever taste of an: enchiladas! LOL

On Sunday, my friends and I went to a city called Leuven, in Belgium. I took my first ever international train-ride that day, quite exciting, rite?? :-) At first the weather was not that great as it was drizzling a bit when we arrived at Leuven. But some minutes later, it stopped, thanks God! :-) Anyway, Leuven was a really nice small town. I really like one park there (I do not know the name but it was beautiful).

We spent the whole day in Leuven and took the 7.45 PM train back to Delft. O yea, with train, it was a three hour trip from Delft to Leuven as it was pretty far away. On our trip from Mechelen until Antwerpen, we did not get any seat as the train was so damn full. Lucky after that we got some, haha...

Well, that is pretty much my fun weekend last week. I am expecting another funtastic weekend this week as I am going to Belgium again this Saturday, and I am going to Den Haag this Sunday!! hehe :-)

::: Dam as part of the Delta-Works.

::: The boat used in the boat-trip in Neeltje-Jans.

::: Enchilada my friend cooked.

::: One spot in Leuven, Belgium.

::: Grote-Markt in Leuven.

::: Oude-Markt in Leuven.

::: Cool picture of autumn in Leuven.

::: Autumn in Leuven.

::: Grote-Bijgenhof. The site reminded me of some movies about the World Wars.

::: Library in Leuven.

::: A really weird monument about a back-stabbed bug in the square of the library of Leuven.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Oke, agak lama juga ya sejak terakhir kali aku update disini, lebih lama dari sangkaan awalku. Yah, bukannya aku sesibuk "itu" minggu ini (klik link di atas untuk mengetahui apa yang aku maksud dengan "itu"), tapi rasanya rada angin2an untuk nulis aja awal minggu ini, haha. Ngomong2, seperti yang kusebut di link di atas, wikenku minggu lalu sangat asik banget. Aku coba tuliskan secara singkat ya:

Di hari Sabtu, aku mengikuti studi ekskursi yang diadakan kantor internasionalnya TU Delft untuk mahasiswa internasional ke Neeltje-Jans Delta Works di Zeeland. Beberapa sumber menyebutkan tempat ini dibilang sebagai keajaiban kedelapan di dunia, dan ini membuatku makin penasaran aja. Acara ini ok banget loh soalnya kami cuma perlu membayar 7,5 euro sebagai biaya masuk dan membawa makan siang sendiri (atau beli disana).

Jadi, kesanalah aku pergi Sabtu minggu lalu. Tempatnya lumayan jauh juga, sekitar 90 menit naik bus dari Delft. Walau hari itu nggak cerah, tapi setidaknya nggak hujan lah, makanya aku senang karenanya. Trus, disana, kami menonton film dokumenter (yang seharusnya) 3-D tentang proyek itu (tapi sampai sekarang aku masih nggak ngerti film itu "3-D" darimananya sih, soalnya untukku kerasa kaya film 2-D biasa aja, LOL). Trus, kami berkeliling taman di sekitarnya. Siangnya, kami ikutan tur dengan kapal selama sejam mengelilingi delta itu. Aku rasa tempatnya memang hebat dan keren tuh tapi untukku, tempatnya bukan untuk turis deh. Ya, insinyur (kaya kebanyakan mahasiswa TU Delft) tentu akan bersemangat dan senang pergi kesana, tapi aku rasa orang nggak akan kesana untuk liburan (paling nggak untuk aku). Makanya ya disebutnya "studi ekskursi", bukan "piknik", LOL. Btw, sebenarnya ada beberapa atraksi sih kaya luncuran, taman air, dll tapi semuanya NGGAK beroperasi ketika aku disana, nyebelin banget!!

Sabtu malam, aku pergi ke tempat temanku untuk makan malam ala Meksiko disana sambil merencanakan acara akhir tahun ke Italia nanti. Benar2 malam yang asyik! Aku juga memakan untuk pertama kalinya sebuah: enchiladas! LOL

Di hari Minggu, aku dan teman-temanku pergi ke sebuah kota bernama Leuven di Belgia. Untuk pertama kalinya seumur hidup aku naik kereta internasional loh, asik kan?? :-) Pertamanya cuacanya agak nggak berkompromi soalnya gerimis kecil waktu kami tiba di Leuven. Tapi beberapa menit kemudian, untungnya hujannya berhenti, untunglah! :-) Ngomong2, Leuven adalah kota kecil yang sangat indah. Aku benar-benar suka sebuah taman disana (aku nggak tahu namanya tapi indah banget).

Kami menghabiskan waktu seharian di Leuven dan naik kereta jam 7.45 malam balik ke Delft. Oya, dengan kereta, Leuven lumayan jauh loh soalnya perjalanannya sekitar tiga jam tuh. Di perjalanan balik dari Mechelen sampai Antwerpen, kami nggak dapat kursi tuh di kereta soalnya lagi penuh banget. Untungnya setelahnya kami dapat kursi, haha...

Yah, itulah kira-kira ringkasan wiken mengasyikanku minggu lalu. Aku bisa berekspektasi wiken ini juga bakal asik sih soalnya aku akan pergi ke Belgia lagi Sabtu ini dan pergi ke Den Haag hari Minggu ini!! hehe :-)

Saturday, November 13, 2010

#860 - Crazy Week

ENGLISH

Well, this past one week has been really crazy for me. There were tons things happened this week which literally took most of my time, focus, and energy. The "interesting" thing is that, some incidents were the effect of "chain events". And that is why I am super glad that that week is now over.

Part of those "things" were, of course, campus-related stuffs. I had two assignments to hand in this week. And both of them were "big" ones. The one that due (last) Wednesday was really big that the lecturer gave us the whole quarter to work on it. Not that I was so lazy or procrastinated until the last minute, but due to the heavy workload I had in the first quarter, I did not have that much time to work on it. That is why I had to be on full gear to finish it on time. Last weekend, I even went to my office on Sunday just to work on it!! I needed to put myself in a "working" environment so that I would perform effectively (in my apartment, it was easier for me to get "distracted" :-D). In the end, I finished that one. The second one was due yesterday (Friday). It was not really "heavy" though, even the first three questions were really easy, the fourth one was okay, and the fifth one was kinda tricky. But, because I had big assignment due Wednesday, there was no way for me to work on it before Wednesday while on Wednesday, I was occupied with classes the whole day. So, practically, I only had a full Thursday to finish it. "'Only'? One day is a lot!". That is what you might think. Well, unfortunately for me, there were "complications" happening on Thursday.

In a way, last Thursday was an important day for me because it was the day I could collect my "Residence Permit" IN my campus. So, it was really practical as if I wish to take it on the other date, I would have to go somewhere and arrange appointment or stuffs like that first. This one factor was not really a big deal, I might only need just 15-20 minutes max to do this. What is so complicated with that, right? Well, the thing is, there was another incident that happened the day before that devastated me and it affected my Thursday schedule.

Last Wednesday was also my laundry day. As implied above, it was such a long and hectic day: I had classes the whole day and I had one big assignment to hand in. I was so exhausted. That was why I just put all my dirty clothes to the washing machines without checking if there was nothing else but clothes there!! Then, after taking them from the drying machine, I realized that one of my favorite gadget: my pocket camera, was in the sack of my jacket!! Of course it had been died. ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! It was a damn new camera, I just got it last July!! I was so devastated with this. Anyway, so I had to move on. And because a pocket camera has been an integrated part of me, I decided that I needed to buy a new one. I have a little saving with a little money in it so that I could afford a not-so-expensive pocket camera. Well, I had to buy it kinda soon because I have exciting plans for this weekend and I think I am going to need my camera :-) I could not do camera-shopping on Friday due to scheduling conflict, so I had to do it on Thursday. So, that was how this thing complicated Thursday: I had an "extra" agenda on it.

There was another thing with Thursday: I was running out of supplies and I had to also do grocery-shopping. But I managed to did that as I was camera-shopping as the supermarket and the electronic store were all in the centrum. Anyway, once I arrived at my office, I read my email and there was in invitation to attend a colloquium about "Managing Climate Risk" that afternoon. Of course I would come as it was a super interesting subject. Beside, it was only for one hour, so I thought I could afford that and it was good as I got a "one-hour" rest from my assignment. Sometimes, a rest clears my mind and helps me find an idea to solve a problem. However, after that colloquium, another "complication" occured: we got invited to go to the pub! We all got invited so that we had to come to the pub and of course: drank some beer!! The thing was that it had already been almost 7 PM and I was kinda hungry and of course drinking beer did not relieve my hunger while at that point, I had only solved four problems of the second assignment and I still had exercise no. 5 to do and I was not nearly "close" to solving it.

After that pub-thing, my colleagues and I went back to our offices, not thinking about our empty-and-crying-for-meals belly and tried solving exercise 5. Then, at about 8 PM, I suddenly got a general idea about a method to solve it. It was one of my favorite method: using numerical approach. Anyway, I do not think you are interested with this so I will just skip the details. I got a strong feeling that we were on the right path in solving it using this method, but some problems occured. One hour of discussing, we then decided to call it a day and I got back home at 9.15 PM (my personal record).

I got a pretty decent sleep that night and on Friday morning, I felt kinda refreshed. I had two classes on Friday: morning class and afternoon class, and I have about three hours break in between. Anyway, so on Friday, I put my refreshed-mind back on that problem 5 and suddenly I realized that we were thinking waaay too complicated the day before, as the model we were looking for was super simple!! I still do not know whether we were only too exhausted or the beer had affected us (or the combination, which I think was more likely) so that we were overthinking the problem, hahaha....

So, I finished the assignment on time, and for the first time: I felt SO relieved and free afterward!! I felt that I could finally breathe some air and relax for a while. The good news is that I already have exciting plans for this weekend!! Yeaaahhh!!!! I can not wait for it!! :-)



note : picture taken from here.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Haha, seminggu terakhir ini benar-benar minggu yang gila deh untukku. Ada banyak sekali hal yang terjadi yang benar-benar memakan sebagian besar waktu, fokus, dan energi. Hal yang "menarik" adalah, beberapa insiden yang terjadi itu adalah "efek mata rantai". Dan makanya sekarang aku senang sekali minggu ini sudah selesai.

Sebagian dari "hal-hal" ini berkaitan dengan kampus (tentu saja). Ada dua tugas yang harus dikumpulkan minggu ini. Dan keduanya itu tugas yang "besar". Tugas pertama yang harus dikumpulkan hari Rabu (lalu) adalah tugas sangat besar karena dosennya memberikan waktu satu kuarter untuk menyelesaikannya. Nah, bukannya aku malas atau menunda-nunda mengerjakannya sampai menit terakhir, tapi karena banyaknya tugas di kuarter pertama, nggak terlalu banyak waktu yang bisa kualokasikan untuk menyicil tugas ini. Itulah mengapa aku harus dalam kondisi siap tempur untuk menyelesaikannya. Akhir minggu lalu, aku malah pergi juga ke kantor di hari Minggu untuk menyelesaikannya!! Aku merasa perlu untuk menempatkan diriku dalam lingkungan "kerja" sehingga aku bisa bekerja dengan efisien (kalau di apartemen kan lebih mudah untuk "teralihkan" perhatiannya :-D). Akhirnya, aku bisa menyelesaikannya tepat waktu. Tugas yang kedua harus dikumpul kemarin (Jumat). Nggak terlalu "berat" sih sebenarnya tugas kedua ini, malah tiga soal pertama gampang banget, yang keempat oke lah, yang kelima agak "tricky". Tapi, karena aku ada tugas yang harus dikumpul hari Rabu itu, nggak mungkin aku mengerjakan tugas ini sebelum Rabu sementara di hari Rabunya sendiri, aku disibukkan dengan kelas seharian. Jadi, praktis aku "hanya" memiliki satu hari Kamis untuk menyelesaikannya. "'Hanya'? Sehari itu kan banyak!". Ini mungkin yang kalian pikirkan sekarang. nah, sayangnya untukku, ada "komplikasi" yang terjadi di hari Kamis.

Di satu sisi, Kamis lalu adalah hari penting buatku karena di hari inilah aku mengambil "Residence Permit"-ku DI kampus. Ini adalah suatu fasilitas yang sangat praktis karena kalau aku mau mengambilnya di tanggal lain, aku harus pergi ke suatu tempat, mengatur janji temu atau yang gitu-gitu lah. Satu faktor ini seharusnya bukanlah urusan yang terlalu besar lah ya, paling kan cuma butuh waktu 15-20 menit tuh. Apa yang rumit dari itu, ya kan? Nah, masalahnya, ada insiden lain yang terjadi sehari sebelumnya yang membuatku sedih dan itu mempengaruhi jadwalku di hari Kamis.

Rabu lalu adalah hari mencuci baju buatku. Seperti yang tersirat di atas, Rabu lalu adalah hari yang panjang dan melelahkan: aku ada kelas sepanjang hari dan ada satu tugas besar untuk dikumpul. Intinya, aku capek banget. Dan itulah mengapa aku ya tinggal memasukkan saja semua pakaian kotor ke mesin cuci tanpa mengecek apakah nggak ada barang-barang yang tertinggal di dalam pakaian!! Trus, setelah aku mengambilnya dari mesin pengering, aku sadar kalau satu gadget favoritku: kamera sakuku, ada di dalam saku jaket!! Tentu saja sudah mati deh. ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! Itu adalah kamera yang baru banget, aku baru dapat bulan Juli!! Aku bener-bener terpukul deh dengan kejadian ini. Ngomong2, aku harus merelakannya kan. Dan karena kamera saku adalah barang penting untukku, aku memutuskan untuk beli yang baru deh. Aku ada sedikit tabungan dengan sedikit uang yang mana aku bisa membeli kamera yang nggak-terlalu-mahal untukku. Yah, aku sih merasa harus segera membelinya karena aku ada rencana yang mengasyikkan untuk akhir minggu ini dan aku akan membutuhkan kamera :-) Aku nggak bisa membeli kamera di hari Jumat karena jadwalku penuh, jadi aku harus melakukannya di hari Kamis. Nah, begitu deh satu hal ini mempengaruhi hari Kamisku: aku jadi ada satu kegiatan "ekstra" untuk dilakukan.

Ada hal lain di hari Kamis: persediaan bahan-bahan mentahku sudah habis dan aku harus belanja. Tapi aku bisa melakukannya sekalian sambil beli kamera sih soalnya supermarket dan toko elektroniknya kan ada di centrum. Ngomong2, begitu aku tiba di kantor, aku membaca emailku dan aku mendapat undangan untuk menghadiri kolokium tentang "Managing Climate Risk" sore harinya. Tentu saja aku mau datang karena topiknya sangat menarik. Di samping itu, acaranya juga cuma sejam, jadi kayanya aku bisa deh menghadirinya dan kan bagus tuh karena aku bisa mendapat "sejam" istirahat dari tugas. Kadang, istirahat bisa menjernihkan pikiran kembali dan ini membantuku mendapat ide untuk menyelesaikan masalah. Namun, ternyata setelah kolokium itu, ada "komplikasi" lain yang terjadi: kami diundang ke pub! Kami semua diundang dan kami mesti datang ke pub dan tentu saja: minum bir!! Masalahnya, waktu itu sudah sekitar jam 7 malam dan aku sudah agak lapar dan tentu saja minum bir tidak menghilangkan rasa laparku sementara di titik itu, aku baru menyelesaikan empat soal dan masih ada satu soal lagi yang mana aku masih "jauh" dari menyelesaikannya.

Setelah dari pub, aku dan teman2 balik ke kantor dan melupakan perut yang kosong-dan-meraung-raung-minta-makanan dan mencoba menyelesaikan soal nomer 5. Kemudian, sekitar jam 8 malam, aku tiba-tiba mendapat ide umum untuk menyelesaikannya. Ide ini dengan menggunakan salah satu metode favoritku: pendekatan numerik. Aku lumayan yakin sepertinya pada nggak tertarik sama detail dari metode ini jadi aku nggak menulis detailnya deh. Aku lumayan yakin bahwa kami sudah berada di jalan yang benar dengan menggunakan metode ini, tetapi ada masalah yang muncul. Satu jam diskusi, kami memutuskan cukup untuk hari itu dan aku balik ke rumah jam 9.15 malam (rekorku).

Aku tidur dengan cukup baik malam itu dan di hari Jumat, aku merasa segar. Aku ada dua kelas di hari Jumat, di pagi hari dan siang hari. Ngomong2, jadi di hari Jumat, aku kembali memikirkan soal nomor 5 dengan otak yang sudah beristirahat dan tiba-tiba aku sadar kami memikirkannya terlalu rumit sehari sebelumnya karena model yang kami cari itu sederhana banget!! Aku nggak tahu ya apakah kami terlalu capek atau pengaruh bir (atau kombinasinya, yang menurutku sih ini paling mungkin) jadi kami bisa sampai terlalu jauh memikirkannya, hahaha...

Jadi, aku menyelesaikannya tepat waktu, dan untuk pertama kalinya: Aku merasa SANGAT lega dan bebas setelahnya!! Aku merasa kaya akhirnya aku bisa menghirup udara segar dan santai sejenak. Hal baiknya lagi adalah aku sudah memiliki rencana yang sangat menyenangkan akhir minggu ini!! Yeaaahhh!!!! Sudah nggak sabar nih!! :-)

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

#859 - Portugal Trip (Part 2)

ENGLISH

Previously on Portugal Trip : Zilko went to Portugal for a one week vacation during the quarter-break. He spent the first three nights in Porto, a city 300 km north to Lisbon.

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city of Portugal.

There are three places that must be visited, in my opinion, if we go to Lisbon, and two alternatives.

(1) Belem

Belem is a small area nearby Lisbon. In history, this place was the departing point of the voyages the world-wide-known Portuguese explorers during the Discovery Age, i.e Vasco da Gama in the 15th century.

Anyway, reading some webs about tourist destinations in Lisbon, most of all lead us to visit this Belem. Even there was one website claiming that Belem is like the Eiffel Tower of Paris or the Colloseum of Rome. If you go to Lisbon, you have to visit Belem. That's what they said. And, the worst time to visit Belem is Monday (and other national holiday days) as the access to some sites in this place is closed during those days.

There are two sites in this area that are included in the "UNESCO World Heritage Site" list, which are Torre de Belém and Jerónimos Monastery. The first one is a tower in a shape of a small fort with a unique Medieval architecture which was constructed in the 16th century as a lighthouse. To get in there, each person had to pay 5 euro (and no discount for students :-( (I already asked the ticket officer, I don't know whether there really was not any discount or she was just lying). To get to the upper floors of it, we had to use a spiral stone-stairs which was really narrow so that there were always long lines just to use this stairs. The second one is a monastery with a beautiful architecture. Honestly, I don't know that much about the second one as I didn't get in there due to a limited ammount of time.

Beside that, in Belem, there is another tower, which is also a monument to commemorate the well-known Portuguese explorers in the 15/16th century, it is the Padrão dos Descobrimentos. There was a discount for students in this place, and for students, it was 1.5 euro per person (after discount). The height of this monument was 52 meter and there was a balcony where we could see around from up there. There was an elevator to get up there. HOWEVER, unfortunately, at that time the elevator was broken down. And to get up there, I had to climb the stairs with 268 steps on it. Well, having made all the waty to Lisbon, why wouldn't I get up? Plus, it was "only" 268 steps! This last sentence was exactly what I thought at that point when I knew the elevator was out of service, not thinking that (apparently) 268 steps was A LOT!! Btw, if you are wondering how I knew the number of steps up there, it is not because I was so desperate that I counted them, but it was that when I was buying the ticket, the ticket-lady informed me about that I had to climb the stairs and there were 268 steps. Well, it was so exhausting, climbing a 268 steps stairs, haha. Up there, the wind was strong, and I could see the area of Belem and the surrounding (including Ponte 25 de Abril).

Apparently, Belem also has a unique delicacy, which is Pasteis de Belem. This pasteis is like a tart pastry with a really sweet stuffing. The taste was good, but I think I couldn't eat it that much as it was too sweet for me. Maybe because it was so famous so that there was a really long line in a bakery that sold this pasteis.ena saking terkenalnya, ada antrian panjang di salah satu toko yang menjual pasteis ini loh.

(2) Downtown Lisbon

Of course when we go to Lisbon, we have to go around the city itself. Lisbon is a city with a Portuguese-acrhitecture touch (of course), which (probably) because they "keep" the originality a bit too much, it was kinda slummy and dirty in some parts of the city.There are several spots in Lisbon that are interesting, which I personally call as the "Praça Triangle". There are three praça (square) which are really close to each other in the central of Lisbon, which are Praça do Comércio, Praça Don Pedro IV, and Praça da Figueira. More or less, this is the center of tourist activity in Lisbon, as there are many cafes, restaurants, stores, etc there.

There is also one more praça not so far away from those three praças, which is Praça dos Restauradores. Nearby, there are roads which are full of restaurants. If you walk to the north from this praça, you will pass by several branded fashion stores (like LV, Prada, D&G, etc).

(3) Cristo-Rei

Cristo-Rei is a Jesus-Christ monument which located accross the Tagus River, more precisely in the district of Almada. This monument is an 82-meter tower with a 28-meter statue of Jesus Christ on top of it. To reach this place, we can catch a ferry to cross the river (from Cais do Sodré) then take bus number 101. According to some sources, this monument was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

We can also climb up (and fortunately, the elevator was working at that time, I was in no mood to climb up anymore :D). To get up there, I paid 4 euro. There was a unique thing in there. The elevator brought us to the upper floor of the tower, but it was not the balcony. After getting out the elevator, we still had to climb several stairs (not that much) and we arrived in a : STORE!! I went around the store and it seemed that there was no other door than the door I came from or stairs to go up. Automatically, I felt deceived!! I paid 4 euro just to get up to a store and I couldn't get up to the balcony where the statue of Christ stood!! Well, apparently, there was a secret door in that sore, in which if we opened it, there was a stairs that would lead us to the balcony where the statue of Christ stood. Lucky I could find it after a little analysis, LOL. Yup, for me it was a secret door as it was not really in a shape of a door and in that "door" there was no handle to open it. To open it, we had to step on a mat for few seconds and that "door" would open. Up there, the wind was strong and the statue of Christ looked really huge (of course)! Up there, we could also see the scenery of Lisbon just accross the Tagus River.

I also think that this Cristo-Rei was one of the best places to see the whole skyline of Lisbon in the banks of Tagus river. This was possible because Almada was located just accross the Tagus river from the center of Lisbon. From this spot, we could get a nice view of Ponte 25 de Abril (it looked like the Golden Gate in San Francisco).


Aside from those three places, there are two more places that I think are also interesting to see in Lisbon:

(1) Castelo de São Jorge

Castelo de São Jorge is a Medieval castle that looked like a fort located on top of a high hill in the center of Lisbon. To get in, we had to pay. For students, it was 3.5 euro per pax. There was a funny incident when I was buying the ticket, but I will keep it for later. To get to the top of the hill, we could take a trem or bus (no. 737) to take us there. But after getting off, we still had to walk uphill for a bit :-)

(2) Parque das Nações

A park that is located in the north-east of Lisbon. It is really close from Oriente railway station. In this park lied Lisbon Oceanarium Lisbon, a sort of Sea World in Indonesia. To get in, each person had to pay 12 euro, but because I had a student card, I only needed yo pay 11 euro (yeah, I saved one euro!). As written above, many tourist destinations in Lisbon are closed on Monday. Well, this Oceanorium opened on Monday, that's why that Monday I went there. It was a cool place, with a big tank filled with many fish. Unfrotunately, there was no that tube-alley which went around the bottom of the tank just like the one in Sea World. The interesting was that there were alive pinguins there!! haha... . While I went there, it was being expanded, so maybe in some times we will get a bigger Oceanorium in Lisbon.

There was also a cablecar in this park. Actually, Torre da Gama, the tallest tower in Lisbon, was located in this park. But because it was (likely, this is just my guess) being renovated, it was closed. This park was also really close to Ponte de Vasco da Gamma, a bridge in Lisbon which was 17.185 km in length!! Up to now, it is the longest bridge in Europe (and waay longer than Suramadu bridge which is "only" 5.438 km in length).


To get around in Lisbon, just like Porto, the best way was to catch public transport. Just like in Porto, to get to a public transport, we could buy a daily pass in the metro station. The different thing was that we got charged by 0.5 euro if we asked for a new card. So, when your card gets expired, do NOT throw it away as you can recharge it (and you save 0.5 euro from that).The price ticket for a daily pass was 3.75 euro for a 24 hour access while a one way ticket (for a metro) cost 0.85 euro. We could use this card to catch all kind of transports in Lisbon, like subway, tram, bus, and also electric tram.

To get around Lisbon AND enjoying the atmosphere, one alternative is by catching a sightseeing bus. There were several companies offering this service. All of them opreated similar buses actually, a double decker bus with open upper deck. Of course the best spot on this bus was on the upper deck. In this bus, they gave us earphone that could be plugged to the seat and we could listen to some explanations of the visited spots. The service was available in eight different languages, and as easily guessed, Indonesian language was not one of them :-D The price varied between companies. And that 25% discount I wrote on the previous entry was only valid in one company. The one I picked offered a package of 15 euro for two days trip (and that was not the company who offered 25%. But that company who gave the discount offered 19 euro ticket for one day. So, even after discount, it was still more expensive, hahaha).

TO BE CONTINUED...


L : Praça da Figueira in Lisbon.
R : A shopping district near Praça do Comércio.


L : Classical Trams in Lisbon.
R : A Gate in Praça do Comércio.


L : Praça Don Pedro IV in Lisbon.
R : District of Alfama.


L : Praça do Comércio as seen from Castelo de São Jorge.
R : Castelo de São Jorge.


L : Castelo de São Jorge
R : A Railway Station with cool architecture.


L : A Roundabout in Lisbon.
R : A church we passed during the sightseeing tour.


L : One park in Belem just accross the Jerónimos Monastery.
R : Park in the heart of Lisbon.


L : Portugal's Flag.
R : A popular relaxing area by the Tagus River.


L : Sightseeing Bus.
R : Funicular (I still think "funicular" is a funny word :-D)


L : Pasteis de Belem.
R : Jerónimos Monastery as seen from top of Padrão dos Descobrimentos.


L : Padrão dos Descobrimentos.
R : A tower in Lisbon which looked ugly in the day :D.


L : Torre de Belem.
R : A guy singing, he had a really great voice!! He COULD sing!!


L : Sea dinosaur made from cans at Lisbon Oceanorium.
R : Tasty Paella.


L : Ponte 25 de Abril as seen from a ferry. Cristo-Rei is also visible.
R : Ponte 25 de Abril. It looked like Golden Gate in San Francisco.


L : Cristo-Rei.
R : Torre de Vasco da Gama and cable car in Parque das Nações.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sebelumnya dalam Portugal Trip : Zilko pergi ke Portugal dalam rangka jalan-jalan selama seminggu ketika libur kuarter. Ia menginap di Porto, sebuah kota kira2 300 km di sebelah utara Lisbon, selama tiga hari pertama.

Lisbon

Lisbon adalah ibukota dari Portugal.

Ada tiga tempat yang menurutku harus dikunjungi kalau berkunjung ke Lisbon, dan dua alternatif.

(1) Belem

Belem adalah sebuah area kecil di dekat Lisbon. Sejarahnya, dari Belem inilah para penjelajah Portugis ternama memulai perjalanan mereka keliling dunia, misalnya Vasco da Gama di abad ke 15.

Anyway, baca-baca di web tentang destinasi wisata di Lisbon, hampir semua pasti mengarahkan kita untuk mengunjungi Belem ini. Bahkan ada website yang menyatakan bahwa Belem itu ibarat Menara Eiffel-nya Paris atau Colloseum-nya Roma. Kalau berkunjung ke Lisbon, harus pergi ke Belem. Begitu katanya. Nah, waktu terburuk untuk mengunjungi Belem adalah hari Senin (dan beberapa tanggal merah lainnya) karena akses masuk ke beberapa situs di area ini ditutup pada hari-hari itu.

Ada dua bangunan di area ini yang masuk ke dalam daftar "UNESCO World Heritage Site", yaitu Torre de Belém dan Jerónimos Monastery. Yang pertama sebuah menara yang berbentuk seperti benteng dengan arsitektur yang unik yang dibangun di abad ke-16 sebagai mercusuar. Untuk masuk ke menara ini, per orang harus bayar 5 euro (dan tidak ada diskon pelajar :-( (aku sudah tanya ke petugas loketnya tapi katanya tidak ada diskon pelajar, entah beneran nggak ada atau dia malas aja ngasi diskon). Untuk naik ke bagian atas menaranya, kita harus menggunakan tangga batu spiral di dalam benteng yang sangat sempit, alhasil selalu ada antrian panjang untuk naik/turun lewat tangga ini. Yang kedua adalah sebuah biara berarsitektur unik dan indah. Aku nggak gitu banyak tahu tentang lokasi ini karena aku tidak masuk ke dalamnya karena keterbatasan waktu :-)

Selain itu, di Belem ada menara lain, yang juga adalah sebuah monumen untuk memperingati para penjelajah ternama Portugis di abad 15/16-an, yaitu Padrão dos Descobrimentos. Ada diskon untuk pelajar di tempat ini, dan untuk pelajar harga tiketnya (setelah diskon) adalah 1,5 euro per orang. Tinggi monumen ini adalah 52 meter dan ada balkon di atas dimana kita bisa melihat sekeliling dari atas sana. Ada lift koq untuk naik kesana. HANYA SAJA, sialnya, waktu itu lift-nya lagi rusak. Dan untuk naik ke atas, aku harus naik tangga yang jumlah anak tangganya adalah 268 biji. Nggak mau rugi dong, uda jauh-jauh ke Lisbon masa nggak naik?? Lagian, kan "cuma" 268 anak tangga tuh. Kalimat terakhir ini adalah pikiranku ketika tahu lift-nya rusak, dan waktu itu nggak kepikiran kalau 268 anak tangga itu banyak!! Baidewei, kalo penasaran koq aku tahu jumlahnya, jawabannya adalah bukan karena aku kurang kerjaan terus ngitung banyak anak tangganya, tapi waktu beli tiket, petugasnya menginformasikan bahwa aku harus naik tangga dan jumlah anak tangganya 268 biji. Capek banget loh menaiki tangga yang jumlah anak tangganya 268 biji, haha. Di atas, anginnya kenceng, dan aku bisa melihat area Belem dan sekitarnya (termasuk Ponte 25 de Abril).

Rupanya di Belem juga ada satu menu kuliner yang khas, yaitu Pasteis de Belem. Pasteis ini adalah semacam kue khas sana yang rasanya sangat manis di dalamnya. Rasanya lumayan enak sih, cuma kalau makan kebanyakan sepertinya bikin eneg juga. Mungkin karena saking terkenalnya, ada antrian panjang di salah satu toko yang menjual pasteis ini loh.

(2) Downtown Lisbon

Sudah tentu kalau pergi ke Lisbon, ya harus keliling kotanya dong. Lisbon adalah sebuah kota dengan bangunan arsitektur khas Portugis, yang karena (mungkin) saking "dijaga" keasliannya, beberapa bagian kotanya nampak agak kumuh atau kotor. Ada beberapa titik di Lisbon yang menarik untuk dikunjungi, yaitu daerah (yang aku sebut sebagai) "Segitiga Praça". Ada tiga praça (semacam lapangan, atau yang disebut square dalam bahasa Inggris) yang lokasinya berdekatan di tengah kota Lisbon, yaitu Praça do Comércio, Praça Don Pedro IV, dan Praça da Figueira. Kira-kira disinilah pusat aktivitas turis di Lisbon, karena ada banyak toko, kafe, restoran, dsb di area ini.

Ada satu lagi praça di dekat tiga praça di atas, yaitu Praça dos Restauradores. Di dekat sini ada jalanan yang penuh dengan restoran-restoran yang layak dikunjungi. Jika kita berjalan ke arah atas (utara) dari praça ini, kita akan melewati deretan toko-toko barang branded (misalnya LV, Prada, D&G, dll).

(3) Cristo-Rei

Cristo-Rei adalah sebuah monumen Yesus Kristus yang berada di seberang sungai Tagus, tepatnya di kota Almada. Monumen ini berbentuk sebuah menara setinggi 82 meter yang di atasnya ada patung Yesus Kristus setinggi 28 meter. Untuk mencapainya, kita bisa naik kapal ferry menyeberangi sungai (dari Cais do Sodré) kemudian naik bus nomor 101. Menurut beberapa sumber sih monumen ini terinspirasi oleh patung Christ the Redeemer di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Kita bisa naik ke atas monumen loh (dan untungnya waktu itu lift-nya jalan, ogah banget naik tangga lagi :D). Untuk bisa naik ke atas, kita harus bayar 4 euro. Nah, ada hal unik di dalamnya. Lift mengantar kita sampai lantai di bagian atas menara itu, tetapi nggak sampai balkonnya. Setelah keluar dari lift, kita harus naik tangga (nggak terlalu banyak) dan sampailah kita di sebuah: TOKO!! Aku keliling toko itu dan nampaknya tidak ada pintu lain (selain pintu dari mana aku datang) atau tangga lain untuk naik ke atas. Otomatis aku merasa tertipu!! Uda bayar 4 euro untuk naik masa cuma buat masuk toko doank dan nggak bisa naik sampai balkon tempat patung Yesus-nya?? Nah, ternyata, sebenarnya ada pintu rahasia di dalam toko itu yang jika dibuka, di baliknya ada tangga untuk naik ke balkon tempat patung Yesus berada. Untung aku bisa menemukannya setelah melakukan sedikit analisa :D. Yup, pintu rahasia, karena pintunya nggak berbentuk seperti pintu biasa, dan di "pintu" itu tidak ada gagang untuk membukanya. Cara untuk membukanya adalah kita harus berdiri beberapa saat di keset yang ada di depan "pintu" itu dan "pintu" otomatis terbuka. Di atas, anginnya kencang dan patung Yesusnya nampak besar sekali (iyalah). Dari atas, kita juga bisa melihat pemandangan kota Lisbon yang ada di seberang sungai Tagus.

O ya, Cristo-Rei ini menurutku adalah salah satu tempat yang terbaik untuk melihat keseluruhan pemandangan kota Lisbon yang nampak dari pinggir sungai Tagus. Ini memungkinkan karena Almada, tempat dimana Cristo-Rei berada, terletak tepat di seberang sungai Tagus dari pusat kota Lisbon. Dari lokasi ini juga Ponte 25 de Abril juga terlihat jelas dan bagus (mirip Golden Gate di San Francisco).


Selain tiga tempat di atas, ada dua lagi lokasi yang bisa jadi menarik di Lisbon:

(1) Castelo de São Jorge

Castelo de São Jorge adalah sebuah kastil kuno yang berbentuk seperti benteng yang terletak di atas bukit tertinggi yang ada di tengah kota Lisbon. Untuk masuk, kita harus bayar. Untuk pelajar, harga tiketnya 3,5 euro. Ada kejadian lucu saat membeli tiket ini, tapi karena berhubungan sama masalah bahasa Inggris, aku simpan buat bagian selanjutnya ya. Untuk naik ke atas bukit, kita bisa naik trem atau bus (nomor 737) yang mengantar kita kesana. Tapi, setelah turun dari trem / bus, kita masih harus sedikit mendaki sih :-)

(2) Parque das Nações

Sebuah taman yang terletak di bagian timur laut Lisbon. Letaknya dekat sekali dengan stasiun kereta Oriente. Di taman ini ada Oceanarium Lisbon, semacam Sea World gitu deh kalau di Indonesia. Untuk masuk, seorang harus bayar 12 euro, dan kalau ada kartu pelajar, cukup membayar 11 euro (lumayan ngirit 1 euro). Seperti yang kutulis di atas, sebagian besar destinasi di Lisbon tutup pada hari Senin. Nah, Oceanarium ini buka di hari Senin, makanya waktu hari Senin aku mengunjungi tempat ini. Tempatnya bagus sih, di dalamnya ada tangki besar yang berisi banyak ikan. Sayangnya, nggak ada lorong berbentuk seperti tabung yang mengelilingi dasar tangki seperti di Sea World itu. Yang menarik, di tempat ini ada pinguin hidup loh!! haha.... . Waktu kesana kemarin ini Oceanarium ini sedang diperluas, jadi sepertinya dalam beberapa waktu tempatnya akan semakin besar.

Di taman ini juga ada kereta gantung. Sebenarnya, di taman ini ada Torre de Vasco da Gama, sebuah menara tertinggi di Lisbon. Cuma karena (sepertinya) sedang direnovasi, menara ini ditutup untuk umum. Taman ini juga terletak dekat dengan Ponte de Vasco da Gama, sebuah jembatan di Lisbon yang panjangnya 17,185 km!! Sampai saat ini, jembatan ini adalah jembatan terpanjang di Eropa (dan lebih panjang dari jembatan Suramadu yang panjangnya 5,438 km).


Untuk berpindah tempat di Lisbon, sama seperti Porto, yang paling enak adalah dengan menggunakan transportasi umum. Mirip seperti di Porto, untuk naik angkutan umum, kita bisa membeli daily pass di stasiun kereta. Bedanya, di Lisbon, kita kena charge 0,5 euro kalau kita menggunakan kartu baru. Jadi, kalau jangka waktu pemakaian kartu sudah habis, kartu jangan dibuang karena kartu bisa kita isi ulang (dan kita menghemat 0,5 euro karenanya). Harga tiket daily pass adalah 3,75 euro untuk 24 jam masa penggunaan sementara harga tiket one way (untuk naik subway) adalah 0,85 euro. Kartu ini bisa digunakan di berbagai macam alat transportasi di kota Lisbon, seperti subway, bus, trem, dan electric trem.

Kalau mau keliling kota Lisbon sambil menikmati atmosfer sekeliling kota, satu alternatif adalah dengan naik sightseeing bus. Ada beberapa perusahaan yang menawarkan jasa ini. Semua sih rata-rata menggunakan bus bertipe sama: double decker bus (bus tingkat) yang tingkat atasnya terbuka. Dan tentu saja, spot paling enak di bus ini adalah di atas, hahaha. Dan di bus ini kita dikasi earphone yang bisa dicolokin ke kursi untuk mendengarkan penjelasan tentang tempat-tempat yang dikunjungi. Ada delapan pilihan bahasa untuk fasilitas ini, dan seperti yang bisa ditebak, bahasa Indonesia bukanlah satu diantaranya :-D Harganya bervariasi antara perusahaan. Dan diskon 25% yang aku singgung di posting sebelumnya itu hanya berlaku di salah satu perusahaan saja. Perusahaan yang aku pilih menawarkan paket seharga 15 euro dan ini berlaku dua hari (dan bukan perusahaan yang memberikan diskon 25% itu. Hanya saja, perusahaan yang memberi diskon ini menawarkan paket dengan harga 19 euro untuk tur satu hari. Jadi, setelah diskon 25% pun jatuhnya masih lebih mahal deh, hahaha).

BERSAMBUNG...