Monday Story and Rumor (One More Interlude)

ENGLISH

Just as you know, I am still on holiday today (after UAN we are free... . We just have to go to school 2 weeks later, 19th June, to see our UAN and UAS result). So, what did I do today??

This morning, I got up at 9 AM (this is one thing that I really love about holiday, we can get up whenever we want... :D). Then, I played computer just for a while, because my brothers' friends came to our house and just like usual, they wanted to play this computer. OK, then I moved downstair, turned the TV on and hoped tried to find interesting program to watch, but unfortunately, I couldn't find any. So, because there was nothing to do, I just lounged on the bed and read some comics, and of course, the sleeping virus attacked me and I fell asleep. After 1 hour sleeping, I woke up and had lunch.

At 1.30 PM, I went to my friends' home, picked them up, and went to Toga Mas Bookstore. I bought some books and magazine there (something to read during the holiday), then because we still had much time, we just went around the city and looked at the city after the earthquake.... :) Finally, I witnessed saw Gramedia Building in General Soedirman Street which was pretty heavily damaged. I didn't take the picture, but I think there are so many other webs that provide show us the pics of Yogyakarta recently after the earthquake. The traffic here in Yogyakarta now is also not as comfortable as before the earthquake, there are so many trucks and so many motorbikers drive carelessly (they endanger not only themselves but also the other people). Then, we had dinner at Kiko Restaurant and went back home.

After the earthquake, there are so many rumors here which spread via sms. The latest rumor says that according to CNN, there will be another earthquake next Wednesday, the earthquake is even bigger than the 27th May 2006 earthquake and potentially causes tsunami. For me, that doesn't make any sense. If it's true that CNN says that (or at least the institution that came up with that prediction), of course the same news will also be announced here via television or newspaper, not via sms. Then, last week, there was a similar rumor, but that rumor used the name BBC. Hmmm.... . I'm tired of this.... . Now, the activity of Merapi raises and potentially will erupt in days. Hope the eruption is not dangerous or causes another disaster here in Jogjakarta, one big earthquake is more than enough..... :(

Well, tomorrow is "Satan" day, 06-06-06....

INDONESIAN

Seperti yang sudah diketahui, aku hari ini masih dalam suasana liburan (habis UAN kan kita bebas.... . Kita cuma harus ke sekolah 2 minggu lagi, tanggal 19 Juni, untuk melihat hasil UAN dan UAS kita). Jadi, apa yang aku lakukan hari ini??

Pagi ini, aku bangun jam 9 pagi (ini adalah satu hal yang sangat aku sukai tentang liburan, kita bisa bangun bebas kapanpun kita mau.... :D)> Trus aku main komputer cuma sebentar, soalnya temen-temennya adikku dateng ke rumahku, dan seperti biasa, mereka mau memainkan komputer ini. OK, aku pindah ke lantai bawah, nyalain TV, dan berharap mencoba untuk mencari acara TV yang menarik untuk ditonton, sayangnya aku nggak menemukannya. Jadi, karena nggak ada yang mesti dilakuin, ya udah aku tiduran di ranjang sambil baca beberapa komik, dan tentu aja, virus tidur menyerangku, dan aku merasa ngantuk. Setelah tidur selama 1 jam, aku bangun trus makan siang.

Jam 1.30 siang, aku pergi ke rumah temenku, menjemput mereka, dan pergi ke Toko Buku Toga Mas. Aku beli beberapa buku dan majalah disana (untuk bahan bacaan selama liburan), trus karena kita masih punya banyak waktu ya udah kita jalan-jalan keliling Kota Yogyakarta dan melihat kota setelah gempa bumi.... :) Akhirnya aku menyaksikan melihat Gedung Gramedia di Jalan Jenderal Soedirman yang rusak lumayan parah. Aku nggak ngambil gambarnya sih, cuma kan ada banyak web tuh yang menyediakan menunjukkan gambar-gambar dari Yogyakarta setelah gempa bumi. Lalu lintas di Yogyakarta juga sekarang nggak senyaman sebelum gempa bumi, banyak banget truk di jalan dan banyak banget pengguna motor yang nyetirnya nggak hati-hati (mereka kan nggak hanya membahayakan diri mereka sendiri, tapi juga orang lain tuh). Trus, kita makan di Restoran Kiko dan balik ke rumah.

Setelah gempa bumi, banyak isu sekarang yang menyebar melalui sms. Isu terbaru berkata berdasarkan CNN, akan ada gempa bumi lain besok Rabu, gempa ini bahkan lebih besar daripada gempa tanggal 27 Mei 2006 dan berpotensi untuk menimbulkan tsunami. Untuk aku, isu ini nggak masuk akal. Kalo bener CNN mengatakan itu (atau paling nggak lembaga yang mengeluarkan prediksi itu), tentu saja berita yang sama akan diumumkan melalui televisi atau koran, tapi bukan melalui sms. Trus, minggu lalu, ada isu yang serupa, tapi menggunakan nama BBC. Hmmm.... . Aku capek sama hal ini.... . Sekarang, aktivitas Gunung Merapi meningkat dan berpotensi untuk erupsi dalam beberapa hari. Semoga erupsi ini nggak bahaya atau menimbulkan bencana lain di Yogyakarta, satu gempa bumi yang besar sudah lebih dari cukup.... :(

Oya, besok Hari "Setan" tuh, 06-06-06....

Spectacular Show Indonesian Idol 3 + Earthquake

ENGLISH

Last Friday night, I watched the first spectacular show of Indonesian Idol season 3. The theme this week was Platinum 12 (each contestant sang one song which was inside an album that got platinum award (more than 150,000 copies)). My personal thought on last night performance:

o1 - Ihsan : not his best performance, he could do it a lot better. Score: 6
02 - Maria : pretty good in singing her song even if this song is actually out of her field. Score: 7.8
03 - Dirly : not as bad as some weeks ago, I (or we) could see improvement, however it's still not as good as the other contestants. Score: 5.2
04 - Depe : she has a powerful voice, she was great singing that song (Rahasia Perempuan) even if that song is actually boys' song. Score: 8
05 - Lee : pretty good, but not superb or very bad. I classify his performance as mediocre. Score: 7
06 - Brinet : not very good but also not very bad. She was better than 2 weeks ago when she got voted off from the show. Score: 6.7
07 - Sisi : again, another good performance. She does deserve to be in the top 12. Score: 7.8
08 - Ilham : I don't know why but this week he was so boring, not very special. Score: 4.5
09 - Christy : another great voice, but she was still stiff (probably because she was nervous singing on a bigger stage). Score: 8
10 - Nobo : good choice of song, really suited him. Score: 7.8
11 - Gea : nice performance. Gea doesn't have the best voice, but she is definitely an entertainer. Score: 7.5
12 - Tesa : another boring performance (his style was okay, but his voice was not as good as his style and dance), I don't know why the judges praised him. Score: 5

So, in my opinion, the bottom three should be:
10. Dirly
11. Tesa
12. Ilham >> voted off

However, Indonesia decided the bottom three were:
10. Gea
11. Nobo
12. Depe >> voted off

Well, I don't know why but the voting result last night really shocked me. The bottom three were all good and three of the best contestants this season, and we had to lose Depe last night. Actually I had predicted that probably Depe would be like Mandisa in American Idol season 5. Both of them have great and powerful voice, however, their physical appearance are not good-looking and because of that, both of them can't stay long on that stage. What happened last night?? >> actually I just voted for Maria, lol... :D

Last night when I watched the result show of Indonesian Idol, there was another earthquake shook Jogjakarta, not very big, but it was pretty long, about 5 seconds. Then, this morning (4 AM), another earthquake shook Jogjakarta again. So, I moved from my room (upstair) to the living room (downstair, near the door) and slept there... :( I couldn't sleep well..... :(

PS: again, this is an interlude message between the Bali Vacation Trilogy... :)

::: Bottom three this week

INDONESIAN

Jumat malam kemarin, aku nonton Spektakuler Show pertama dari Indonesian Idol musim ketiga. Tema minggu ini adalah Platinum 12 (setiap kontestan akan menyanyikan satu lagu yang terdapat dalam album yang mendapatkah penghargaan platinum (lebih dari 150.000 kopi)). Pendapatku pribadi tentang show semalam:

o1 - Ihsan : Bukan penampilannya yang terbaik, dia bisa melakukannya dengan lebih bagus lagi. Score: 6
02 - Maria : lumayan bagus waktu menyanyikan lagunya walaupun sebenernya tuh lagu bukan elemennya. Score: 7.8
03 - Dirly : nggak sejelek beberapa minggu yang lalu sih. Aku (atau kita) dapat melihat peningkatan, tetapi bagaimanapun juga masih belum sebagus kontestan lainnya. Score: 5.2
04 - Depe : dia punya suara yang kuat, dan sangat bagus dalam menyanyikan lagunya (Rahasia Perempuan) walaupun sebenernya itu adalah lagu laki-laki. Score: 8
05 - Lee : lumayan bagus sih, cuma nggak bagus-bagus amat atau jelek-jelek amat. Aku mengklasifikasikannya sebagai biasa-biasa saja. Score: 7
06 - Brinet : nggak bagus-bagus amat atau jelek-jelek amat. Tapi dia nyanyinya lebih bagus daripada 2 minggu lalu waktu dia tereliminasi. Score: 6.7
07 - Sisi : sekali lagi, penampilan yang bagus. Dia berhak koq berada di 12 besar. Score: 7.8
08 - Ilham : Aku nggak tahu kenapa cuma minggu ini dia membosankan banget, nggak terlalu spesial. Score: 4.5
09 - Christy : suara yang bagus lagi, cuma dia masih kaku (mungkin gara-gara dia cemas soalnya kan ini adalah penampilannya yang pertama di panggung besar). Score: 8
10 - Nobo : pilihan lagu yang bagus, bener-bener cocok sama dia. Score: 7.8
11 - Gea : penampilan yang bagus. Gea nggak punya suara yang terbaik dalam show ini, tapi jelas dia adalah seorang entertainer. Score: 7.5
12 - Tesa : penampilan yang membosankan (gayanya sih oke, tapi suaranya nggak seoke gaya sama tariannya). Aku nggak tahu kenapa koq jurinya memuji dia. Score: 5

Jadi, menurutku pendapatku, 3 terbawah seharusnya:
10. Dirly
11. Tesa
12. Ilham >> tersisih

Bagaimanapun juga, Indonesia memutuskan bahwa 3 terbawahnya:
10. Gea
11. Nobo
12. Depe >> tersisih

Hmm, aku nggak tahu kenapa tapi hasil polling semalam bener-bener mengejutkan aku. Tiga terbawahnya semuanya bagus-bagus dan merupakan 3 dari kontestan terbaik musim ini, dan kita harus kehilangan Depe semalam. Sebenernya aku sudah memrpediksikan juga sih kalo mungkin nasibnya Depe bakalan mirip sama Mandisa di American Idol musim kelima. Keduanya memiliki suara yang bagus dan kuat, cuma sayangnya penampilan fisik mereka nggak mendukung, dan karena itu keduanya nggak bisa bertahan lama di panggung. Apa sih yg sebenernya terjadi semalem?? >> sebenernya aku cuma dukung Maria sih, lol... :D

Tadi malem waktu aku nonton result shownya Indonesian Idol, ada satu lagi gempa yang mengguncangkan Jogjakarta, nggak besar-besar amat sih, tapi berlangsung lumayan lama, sekitar 5 detik. Trus pagi ini (jam 4 pagi) ada gempa lain yang mengguncang Yogyakarta. Aku terpaksa pindah dari kamarku (di atas) ke ruang keluarga (di bawah, deket sama pintu) dan tidur disana... :( Aku nggak bisa tidur dengan nyenyak deh... :(

PS: sekali lagi, ini adalah message selingan di antara trilogi Liburan di Bali... :)

My Bali Vacation PART TWO (Day 4 and 5)

ENGLISH

previous part....................................

I've changed my mind, and I'll write my Bali Vacation Story in 3 parts (again) >> so I can write more details here.... :)

Day 4

We got up at 8.30 AM in the morning, and left our hotel at 10 AM. We then directly went to the Bedugul Botanical Garden, not so far away from the Bratan Lake. Botanical Garden was a nice place with nice air. It was a big park (almost similar with Safari Park at Cisarua (Bogor) or Pandaan (East Java), but there is no animal there). Then, after going around the park (to the greenhouse, garden, and lake view garden), we left the park and wanted to have lunch.

Our driver recommended a buffet restaurant (he said it was Rp 40,000.oo the night before, then he said it was Rp. 50,000.oo that morning >> which made me suspicious). He said that was cheap (what!?!? Rp. 50,000.oo per person is cheap?? Usually we just needed around Rp. 12,000.oo per person and even if we wanted to double it, we just needed Rp. 24,000.oo; would we double our meal so many times that became that expensive?? Clearly nope >> note: we consumed that ammount of money when we had meal at cheap restaurants, we didn't always have meal there, sometimes we also spent more money too....). OK, back to topic. We then went to that restaurant, and guess what?? The price was Rp. 60,000.oo per person including tax and service!!! Then, the menus were just standart, nothing special or the traditional food of Bali. Well, we then just got out the restaurant, and went accross the road to the lake and found some small stalls, some were food stalls, and we ate there. The food was Betutu Chicken and it was only Rp. 5,000.oo per person.

Then, after having lunch we left Bedugul Lake and went to Lovina Bay, near Singaraja (in the north of Bali). We felt that our driver became a little bit different after finding out that we didn't eat at restaurant he recommended (I know probably the restaurant would give him tips if we ate there..... ). On the way, we stopped at Git-git Waterfall. From the parking lot to the waterfall was so far away. There were so many foreigners there (some were German, I know that... :D). Then, after that we continued our journey to Lovina. Finally at 4 PM we arrived at our hotel and took a rest. Guess what?? There was NO television in our room (the rate was Rp. 300,000.oo per night?? Isn't that crazy????). So, that night we went to a cafe near Lovina Bay and bought drinks there and watched TV (Indonesian Idol). We sent back Brinet and Tesa to the competition that night. After that, we went back home

Day 5

We got up at 4.30 AM in the morning, then went to the bay to watch dolphins. After bargaining, we dealed and then went to the open sea. The journey took about 40 minutes from the bay to the place where many dolphins lived (so, we also watched the sunrise on the boat). Well, finally we watched the dolphins (you can watch the video below, can you find the dolphins?? :D). Then, at 6.50 AM we went back to the seashore. On the way, my friend got an sms which told us that Jogja had just been shaken by a massive earthquake!!!! We were shocked and then I called my brother in Jogjakarta (it was still in the morning, I knew that he was free that day and he must sleep at that time), and luckily he and my family were all safe. Then, we checked out at 8.30 AM and went to Denpasar. At 10.50 AM we arrived at Denpasar and bought pork sausages, smoked pork ham, and dendeng (my family entrusted me those presents). Then, after checking-in at the hotel in Kuta, we watched TV (Metro TV) to find out some more newest informations about Jogjakarta. Watching that show didn't make us feel comfortable, because that channel (and some other channels) only focused on destructed areas, the other areas which were actually safe (like the city of Jogjakarta) were only showed a little. Then, because I was so sleepy and exhausted, I took a nap.

That night one of my friend and I went to Ngurah Rai Airport to go to Garuda Indonesia office to ask about our flight back to Jogja. The officer said probably we wouldn't land at Adisutjipto Airport Jogjakarta, but at Adisumarmo Airport Solo, but they still waited for further notice. Then, some other friends asked to go to the disco. OK, then we walked so far away to Kuta Bay. Then, after ordering some expensive drinks (we hadn't danced yet at that time), I alone decided to go back to the hotel to watch American Idol (that show was the last show, probably we would never watch that show again if we missed that episode; in other hands, I can go to the disco whenever and wherever I like, so staying in the disco that night was not very necessary... :D). I decided to walk (to save more money instead I still had 60 minutes before the show started), and apparently it needed 48 minutes to walk to the hotel!!! So exhausting, but healthy... :D Then, I watched American Idol, and found out that Taylor Hicks was crowned the title.

to be continued...................................................

::: Greenhouse at Bedugul Botanical Garden

::: Garden

::: Lake View Garden

::: Bratan Lake

::: Git-git Waterfall

::: Lovina Bay

::: sunrise at the open sea

::: Can you find the dolphins???

Note: Click pics to enlarge

INDONESIAN

Bagian sebelumnya..................................

Aku mengubah pikiranku, jadi aku bakalan menulis Cerita Liburan ke Bali ini dalam 3 bagian (lagi) >> jadi aku bisa menulis lebih banyak detail disini... :)

Hari 4

Kita bangun jam 8.30 pagi, trus meninggalkan hotel jam 10 pagi. Trus kita langsung pergi ke Bedugul Botanical Garden, nggak jauh-jauh amat dari Danau Bratan. Botanical Garden adalah taman yang bagus dengan udara yang nyaman. Taman itu adalah taman yang sangat besar (mirip sama Taman Safari di Cisarua (Bogor) dan Pandaan (Jawa Timur) cuma nggak ada binatangnya). Trus habis mengelilingi taman (ke rumah kaca, taman, dan taman untuk melihat danau), kita meninggalkan taman dan mau makan siang.

Sopir kami merekomendasikan sebuah restoran prasmanan (dia bilang katanya harganya Rp. 40.000,oo malam sebelumnya, trus paginya berubah menjadi Rp. 50.000,oo per orang >> membuat aku menjadi curiga). Dia bilang katanya itu murah (apa!?!?!? Rp. 50.000,oo seorang murah?? Biasanya juga kita habisnya Rp. 12.000,oo seorang dan kalo mau makan porsi dobel kan cuma Rp. 24.000,oo apa kita bakalan tambah sampe banyak kali sehingga jadi semahal itu?? Jelas aja enggak >> note: kita mengkonsumsi uang sejumlah itu soalnya kita makan di restoran murah, kita nggak selalu makan disana, kadang kita juga menghabiskan uang lebih juga....). OK, kembali ke topik. Kita trus pergi ke restoran itu, dan tebak apa?? Harganya ternyata Rp. 60.000,oo termasuk pajak dan pelayanan!!! Trus, menunya juga biasa-biasa aja, nggak ada yang spesial atau makanan tradisional Bali-nya. Trus kita meninggalkan tuh restoran, trus menyeberang jalan dan menemukan beberapa warung kecil, beberapa jual makanan juga, dan kita makan disana. Menunya adalah Ayam Betutu dan harganya cuma Rp. 5.000,oo per-orang.

Trus, habis makan siang, kita meninggalkan Danau Bedugul dan menuju Pantai Lovina, di dekat Singaraja (di utara Pulau Bali). Kita ngerasa kalau sopirnya jadi agak berubah setelah mengetahui kita nggak jadi makan di restoran yang dia rekomendasikan (aku tahu mungkin aja tuh restoran ngasi dia tips kalo kita makan disana.... ). Di jalan, kita mampir di Air Terjun Git-git. Dari tempat parkir ke air terjunnya jauh banget. Ada banyak turis-turis asing juga (beberapa adalah orang Jerman, aku tahu itu... :D). Trus, setelah itu kita melanjutkan perjalanan ke Lovina. Akhirnya jam 4 sore kita sampe di hotel dan istirahat. Tebak apa?? Nggak ada televisi loh di ruangannya (padahal harganya Rp. 300.000,oo semalam Apakah itu nggak gila namanya???). Jadi, malam itu kita pergi ke sebuah kafe di deket Pantai Lovina dan membeli minuman dan menonton TV (Indonesian Idol). Kita mengembalikan Brinet dan Tesa ke kompetisi malem itu. Habis itu, kita pulang.

Hari 5

Kita bangun jam 4.30 pagi, trus kita pergi ke pantai untuk melihat lumba-lumba. Habis tawar-menawar, kita sepakat trus pergi ke laut bebas. Perjalanannya membutuhkan waktu sekitar 40 menit untuk sampai di tempat yang banyak lumba-lumbanya (jadi, kita juga melihat matahari terbit di atas perahu). Kita akhirnya melihat lumba-lumbanya (bisa dilihat tuh di video yang ada di atas, bisakah kalian menemukan lumba-lumbanya?? :D). Trus, jam 6.50 pagi kita kembali ke pantai. Dalam perjalanan, temenku menerima sms yang isinya mengatakan kalo Jogjakarta baru saja diguncan sama gempa bumi yang besar!!! Kita shock trus aku telpon adikku di Jogjakarta (pas itu masih pagi, aku tahu adikku lagi libur, dan dia mesti lagi tidur pas jam itu), dan untungnya dia sama keluargaku semuanya selamat. Trus, kita check-out dari hotel jam 8.30 pagi trus pergi ke Denpasar. Jam 10.50 kita sampe di Denpasar dan membeli beberapa sosis babi, ham babi asap, dan dendeng (keluargaku titip itu semua ke aku). Trus, habis check-in di hotel di Kuta, kita nonton TV (Metro TV) untuk mencari beberapa berita terbaru tentang Yogyakarta). Nonton acaranya bukannya bikin kita tenang dan nyaman soalnya tuh channel (dan banyak channel lainnya) hanya fokus pada area yang hancur, area lain yang sebenernya aman (misalnya Kota Yogyakarta) cuma ditunjukkin sedikit. Trus, karena aku ngantuk banget dan capek, aku istirahat siang.

Malamnya aku sama salah satu temenku pergi ke Bandara Ngurah Rai untuk pergi ke kantor Garuda Indonesia untuk menanyakan penerbangan kembali ke Jogja nantinya. Petugasnya bilang kalo mungkin kita nggak akan mendarat di Bandara Adisutjipto Jogjakarta, tapi di Bandara Adisumarmo Solo, tapi mereka masih menunggu pemberitahuan lebih lanjut. Trus, temen-temen yang lain ngajakin pergi ke disco. OK, trus kita jalan jauuuuh banget ke Pantai Kuta. Trus, habis memesan beberapa minuman mahal (belum dance sih pas itu), aku sendiri memutuskan untuk balik ke hote dan nonton American Idol GrandFinal. (ini adalah show terakhir, mungkin aja kita nggak akan pernah nonton show ini lagi kalo kita melewatkan show malam itu; disisi lain, aku masih bisa koq pergi ke disco kapanpun dan dimanapun aku suka, jadi tinggal di tempat disko malam itu nggak terlalu mendesak... :D). Aku memutuskan untuk jalan kaku (untuk ngirit uang di samping masih ada waktu sekitar 60 menit sebelum acaranya mulai), dan ternyata membutuhkan waktu 48 menit untuk jalan kaki menuju hotel!!! Capek banget, tetapi sehat... :D Trus, aku nonton American Idol dan tahu kalo Taylor Hicks memenangkan show itu.

bersambung...................................................

Congratulations Taylor!!

Taylor Hicks

ENGLISH

Finally, Taylor Hicks was crowned as the winner of American Idol this season, after beating Katharine McPhee in the finale last week. Just like last year when I wrote a tribute message for Carrie Underwood after she won the show last season, I also wanna write a tribute message for Taylor Hicks, even he is not my favorite contestant.

Personally, I would prefer to watch Katharine McPhee as the winner. However, Taylor Hicks also deserves to get the title, because he got the most number of votes which means that many people like him. Taylor has unique voice and also weird unique dance which is really the trademark of him. Sometimes people don't have to sing well and perfectly to be successful, in other hands, some people who are really gifted great and beatiful voice don't always success in their life. I think Taylor will have a great carrier waiting for him in his future... :)

For Katharine McPhee, being the runner up of the show is not always bad. Look what has happened to Clay Aiken and Bo Bice who are still famous and have worldwide carrier. So, keep on fire and keep The McPheever burning, lol... :)

PS: this is an interlude message between my Bali Vacation Post... :) I know some are waiting for the next part of my Bali Vacation Post, so be patient... :) I'm working on that.


INDONESIAN

Akhirnya, Taylor Hicks memenangkan kontes American Idol musim ini, setelah mengalahkan Katharine McPhee dalam grandfinal minggu lalu. Seperti tahun sebelumnya ketika aku menulis message persembahan untuk Carrie Underwood setelah dia memenangkan show yang sama musim sebelumnya, aku juga pingin menuliskan sebuah message persembahan lagi untuk Taylor Hicks, biarpun dia bukanlah kontestan favoritku.

Secara pribadi, aku lebih memilih untuk melihat Katharine McPhee memenangkan kontes ini. Tetapi bagaimanapun juga, Taylor Hicks juga berhak atas gelar itu, soalnya dia mendapatkan jumlah suara yang paling banyak yang berarti banyak orang yang menyukai dia. Taylor memiliki suara yang untik dan juga tarian yang aneh unik yang benar-benar merupakan ciri khasnya dia. Kadang-kadang orang nggak harus bisa bernyanyi dengan baik atau sempurna untuk menjadi sukses, di sisi lain banyak orang berbakat yang memiliki suara yang indah dan hebat namun nggak sukses dalam kehidupan mereka. Menurutku Taylor akan memiliki karier yang cemerlang menanti dirinya di masa depan... :)

Untuk Katharine McPhee, menjadi runner up dalam show ini juga nggak selalu jelek. Lihat apa yang terjadi pada Clay Aiken dan Bo Bice. Keduanya sekarang juga sangat terkenal dan bahkan memiliki karier tingkat internasional. Jadi tetap semangat dan tetap kobarkan api McPheever... lol :)

PS: ini adalah message selingan di antara cerita Liburan Bali-ku... :) Aku tahu ada yang sedang menunggu bagian selanjutnya dari cerita Bali, jadi sabar yaa... . Lagi aku kerjain koq... :)


Katharine McPhee

My Bali Vacation PART ONE (Day 1, 2, and 3)

ENGLISH

Actually I planned to write my vacation in 3 parts, but because there are so many things that I want to write here, so I decided to write this in only 2 parts. Then, as all we know, Jogjakarta was shaken by a massive earthquake last Saturday. I write this message (my vacation) NOT because I don't care about it or I'm happy with that. I'm also very sad with that disaster, but we all have to recover from this pathetic condition right?? :) So, I just think that I don't need to write about the disaster, or write something which is very sad (because of the situation which sorrounds us right now) because many people have written about that... .

Day 1

I got up at 4.30 AM, then took a bath and had breakfast. My friend picked me up at 5.40 AM, then we went to the airport. After checking in, we waited for our flight until 7 AM. At 7.10 AM our plane (Garuda Indonesia) took off, and after 1 hour 3 minutes journey, we landed at Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali at 9.13 AM (there is one hour difference between Yogyakarta and Bali). After that, we went to our hotel and checked in. Then, we went to Kuta on foot (the hotel receptionist said that Kuta was only about 30 minutes and we could walk on the beach, so it was supposed to be a nice walk, but it was NOT). Kuta was SOOO FAR away, and halfway we decided to catch a taxi. Then, after arriving at Kuta we had lunch at KFC Discovery Mall (Discovery Mall is the newest mall in Bali). That day, we wasted spent our day by walking around Kuta. In the afternoon, we went to the beach and waited for the sunset. Many merchants came to us and offered us many things they sold (tattoo, shorts, accessories, massage, etc). They were insane, they asked Rp. 350,000.oo for one small tattoo (What!?!?!?!?), finally after bargaining for so long, my friend got it with only Rp 10,000.oo. Then, in the evening we went back to our hotel. On the way home, we passed Ground Zero, where the first Bali Bomb exploded some years ago.

Day 2

We got up at 8.40 in the morning, then we had breakfast in the hotel. Then, I tried to vote for Katharine McPhee at that time, and finally my vote came in and there was no charge!!! Yaaayyy.... :P Then, at 11.00 AM we cought a taxi and went to Waterbom Bali (in Kuta again, just accross Discovery Mall). We spent our second day there (until about 4.30 PM). We played many water slides, swam and floated in the lazy river, and had lunch there. After that, we went to Joger and bought some clothes (T-Shirt) there. After that, we went back to our hotel and had dinner at a small restaurant near our hotel. But unfortunately we realized that we had lost our room key, and for sure, had to pay for it (Rp. 50,000.oo)... :(

Day 3

We rent a car starting this day until day 5. We left our hotel at 9.40 AM, and then the driver really messed up changed our plan. He suggested us to go to Nusa Dua first because the weather was perfect (actually we planned to go to Ubud), and we agreed to accept his offer (he was supposed to know more than us, that's what on our mind). We finally arrived at Nusa Dua and booked to play some games (parasailing, jetski, banana boat, and flyfish). I didn't want to play parasailing and of course didn't book for it, but 2 of my friends really wanted to play, and they waited for their turns. After waiting for 30 minutes, the boat ran out of fuel, plus the weather was not good enough to play parasailing (dangerous to play). Of course they didn't play it (poor them...). Then, I only played banana boat and fly fish, not as exciting as I thought before, I thought the banana boat would fall in the sea (so we would be thrown to the water >> that's exciting), but it didn't... :( Then, I thought the flyfish would really "fly", but it didn't... :( Ok, then we left Nusa Dua with disappointment, and went directly to Dreamland Beach. Dreamland was really wonderful, the sand was very white, the water was so clear (nice blue), the waves was not very big, the scenery was very fantastic. I love this beach. We swam there, and left this beach at 4.30 PM. We then went to Bedugul Lake in the middle of Bali...

to be continued..................................

::: Landing video @ Bali

::: Boeing 737-400 Garuda Indonesia GA 250 which brought me to Bali

::: Between two clouds

::: Discovery Mall, Kuta Bali

::: Kuta Bay

::: Ground Zero

::: Lazy River, Waterbom Bali

::: One Spot somewhere in Waterbom Bali

::: Dreamland Bay

Note: Click to Enlarge


INDONESIAN

Sebenernya aku merencanakan untuk menulis perjalananku ke Bali dalam 3 bagian, tetapi karena banyak hal yang aku mau tulis disini, jadi aku memutuskan untuk menulisnya hanya dalam 2 bagian saja. Trus, seperti yang sudah kita semua ketahui, Jogjakarta diguncang gempa besar hari Sabtu kemarin. Aku menulis message ini (liburanku) BUKAN karena aku nggak peduli dengan hal itu atau aku senang dengan hal itu. Aku juga sangat sedih atas gempa itu, tapi ktia semua harus bangkit dari kondisi menyedihkan ini kan?? :) Jadi, menurutku aku nggak perlu menulis lagi tentang gempanya, atau menulis sesuatu yang sedih (berhubungan dengan situasi saat ini) soalnya sudah banyak orang juga yang menulisnya... .

Hari 1

Aku bangun jam 4.30 pagi trus mandi dan sarapan. Temenku menjemput aku jam 5.40 pagi, trus kita pergi ke bandara. Habis check-in, kita menunggu penerbangan kita sampe jam 7 pagi. Jam 7.10 pagi pesawatku (Garuda Indonesia) tinggal landas, dan setelah perjalanan selama 1 jam 3 menit, kita mendarat di Bandar Udara Internasional Ngurah Rai Bali jam 9.13 pagi (ada 1 jam perbedaan antara Yogyakarta dan Bali). Habis itu, kita pergi ke hotel dan check-in. Trus, kita pergi ke Pantai Kuta dengan berjalan kaki (kata resepsionis hotelnya Kuta tuh cuma setengah jam jalan kaku dan kita bisa berjalan di tepi pantainya, jadi seharusnya kalo jalan tuh juga asyik, tapi ternyata ENGGAK). Kuta tuh JAUUUUHH banget, dan setengah jalan, kita mutusin untuk naik taksi aja. Habis sampai di Pantai Kuta, kita makan di KFC di Mall Discovery (Mall Discovery adalah mall terbaru di Bali). Hari itu kita memboroskan menghabiskan waktu dengan berjalan-jalan di Kuta. Siang harinya kita pergi ke pantainya dan menunggu matahari terbenam. Banyak pedagang berdatangan dan menawarkan barang dagangan mereka (tato, celana pendek, aksesoris, pijet, dll). Mereka agak gila deh, masa untuk satu tato kecil mereka minta Rp. 350.000,oo (Apa!?!?!?!?!), akhirnya setelah tawar-menawar selama beberapa lama, temenku berhasil mendapatkannya dengan harga Rp. 10.000,oo aja. Trus sorenya kita balik ke hotel. Di perjalanan balik ke hotel, kita melewati Ground Zero, dimana bom bali pertama meledak beberapa tahun yang lalu.

Hari 2

Kita bangun pagi jam 8.40 pagi, trus kita makan pagi di hotel. Habis itu aku mencoba untuk mendukung Katharine McPhee, dan akhirnya suaraku masuk dan gratis!!! Yeeeesss... :P Trus, jam 11 siang kita pergi ke Waterbom Bali dengan menaiki taksi (di Kuta lagi, cuma di seberangnya Mall Discovery). Kita menghabiskan waktu kita di hari kedua disana (sampe jam 4.30 sore). Kita main banyak slurutan, berenang dan ngambang-ngambang di Sungai Malas, dan makan siang disana. Habis itu kita pergi ke Joger dan membeli beberapa baju (kaus) disana. Habis itu kita balik ke hotel dan makan di warung kecil di deketnya hotel. Sayangnya, kita akhirnya menyadari bahwa kita tlah kehilangan kunci hotel, dan tentu saja kita harus membayarnya (Rp. 50.000,oo) ... :(

Hari 3

Kita menyewa mobil mulai hari ketiga ini sampai hari kelima. Kita meninggalkan hotel jam 9.40 pagi dan sopirnya bener-bener mengacaukan mengubah rencana kami. Dia mengusulkan untuk pergi ke Nusa Dua dulu soalnya cuacanya baru sempurna (sebenernya kita merencanakan mau pergi ke Ubud), dan kita setuju aja sama tawarannya (dia kan seharusnya lebih ahli atau tahu, itu yang ada di pikiran kita). Akhirnya kita sampai di Nusa Dua dan memesan untuk main beberapa permainan (parasailing, jetski, banana boat, dan flyfish). Aku nggak mau main parasailing sih, jadi ya tentu aja donk aku nggak ndaftar, tetapi 2 temenku kepingin main dan menunggu giliran mereka. Setelah menunggu selama 30 menit, kapalnya kehabisan bahan bakar, ditambah lagi cuacanya dah nggak gitu bagus (jadi kan bahaya). Jadi ya tentu aja mereka batal main (kasian banget...). Trus, akhirnya aku cuma main banana boat sama flyfish, nggak seseru yang aki kira sebelumnya, aku kira banana boatnya bakalan kebalik di tengah laut (jadi kita jatuh di laut gitu, kan seru), tapi ternyata enggak... :( Trus aku kira flyfishnya bener-bener bakalan "terbang", tapi ternyata juga enggak... :( Ok, trus kita meninggalkan Nusa Dua dengan kekecewaan trus langsung pergi ke Pantai Dreamland. Dreamland bagus banget, pasirnya putih, airnya jernih (birunya bagus), ombaknya nggak gede-gede amat, pemandangannya fantastis. Aku suka banget sama pantai ini. Kita berenang disana, dan meninggalkan pantai ini jam 4.30 sore. Trus kita pergi ke Danau Bedugul di tengah Bali...

Bersambung..................................

MayDay and Thanks

ENGLISH

I've just come back from Bali this evening at 7 PM. My plane landed at Adisumarmo Airport Solo (Adisutjipto Airport in Jogjakarta was destructed (the terminal building collapses, its runway was cracked) and will be open starting tomorrow). I'll write about my Bali's Vacation later, and in this post I wanna write about the disaster that attacked my city, Yogyakarta, last Saturday.

It was terrifying, I was in Lovina Beach (watching dolphins) at that time, a 5.9 Richter Scale earthquake shook Jogjakarta, and until now, many smaller earthquakes still shake Jogja (until yesterday, there had been 513 earthquakes shook my city). There are many casualties (more than 5,000 people SO FAR) died, many buildings collapsed (some malls have many cracks on the building), and luckily my family and my home here are okey... (Thanks God).

Thanks for everyone who has concerned about this disaster.... :)

INDONESIAN

Aku baru aja pulang dari Bali sore ini jam 7. Pesawatku mendarat di Bandara Adisumarmo Solo (Bandara Adisutjipto Yogyakarta rusak (gedung terminal roboh, landasan pacu retak) dan baru buka untuk umum mulai besok).Aku akan menulis tentang perjalananku ke Bali nanti, dan di message ini aku mau nulis tentang bencana yang menyerang kotaku, Yogyakarta, Sabtu kemarin.

Mengerikan banget, aku lagi di Pantai Lovina (nonton lumba-lumba) waktu itu, gempa berkekuatan 5,9 skala Richter mengguncang Yogyakarta, dan sampe sekarag, banyak banget gempa kecil-kecil masih mengguncang kotaku (sampe kemarin aja udah 513 kali loh Jogja gempa). Ada banyak banget korban jiwa (sampe sekarang sih sudah 5000 jiwa), banyak gedung-gedung roboh (beberapa mall ada yang rusak parah dan retak-retak), dan untungnya keluargaku dan rumahku oke-oke aja... (Terima Kasih Tuhan).

Terima Kasih untuk semua yang udah peduli sama bencana ini... :)

A Weekend Story

ENGLISH

Saturday

I went to a internet cafe in the morning to surf the net (as you know, my computer was broken down and I had to get i serviced >> but now it's fine, yaayy.... :D). While I was browsing the net, my mum called me and she asked me to go to Jakarta the next day (last Sunday) to go the the Scholarship Expo at Sampoerna Tower, I said yes and she reserved the tickets.

That afternoon, my friends and I went to Plaza Ambarrukmo. We went there at 2 PM and planned to watch The Da Vinci Code at Cinema 21. We arrived at 2.30 PM and went directly to Cinema 21, but unfortunately, there were so many people there who also wanted to watch some movies!! Ok, then we had to stand in line for 45 minutes (it was still 2.5 hours to the show, and we almost didn't get any seat.. :( ). Then, while we were waiting for the film, we ate at Qua-Li Restaurant (waa, sorry I forgot to take the food's pics (again)). The film started at 5 PM and it was good. Although if we haven't read the novel yet, we probably won't understand the story, but for me it's still good. The film was 2 hours 15 minutes long, and after that we went back home. Then I watched Indonesian Idol, and again, Indonesia got it correct. Alice (the worst female contestant this season) and Brinnet were voted off.

Sunday

I got up pretty early at 4.30 AM in the morning. At 5.15 AM my mum and I went to the airport (the plane took off at 6.30 AM). Well, the plane (Adam Air) was a little late that morning, and we took off at 7 AM. At 7.50 AM we landed at Soekarno-Hatta Airport Jakarta and had breakfast at KFC there (actually I had already been full at that time but because it was still 1.5 hours to 10 AM, so that's okay). At 9 AM we went to Sampoerna Tower in Kuningan, and unfortunately there was labour demonstration in front of The MPR-DPR Building in Senayan. There were so many people wearing white clothes riding some trucks or cars and then blocked the road (my taxi was in the freeway, so the traffic was still normal). Then, we arrived at 9.30 AM and still had to wait until the expo started, but becasue the demo, the expo started at 10.30 AM, 30 minutes late... :( Well, finally it openned, and what was inside?? I was disappointed, below my expectation. It was juts like the expos here in Yogyakarta, nothing different, just the place... :( I got nothing there... :( (actually nothing is a very strong word, at least now I know that there are so many scholarships for the post-graduate degree). Then we went to Plaza Semanggi until 2.40 PM, and went to the airport. We arrived at 3.30 PM, and actually our flight departed at 5.20 PM, but because there was one other flight to Jogjakarta which departed at 3.50 PM, we asked to change flight, and it was granted. So, we ran to the gate (we just had only about 10 minutes to run from the check-in area to the gate which was so far away from the check-in area) and we arrived on time. But the flight was late again... (if we had known that, we didn't have to run to the gate). It departed at 4 PM and arrived at 5 PM in Jogjakarta (Jogja was raining at that time, and the runway was wet, because of that the plane didn't land smoothly...).

P.S: Tomorrow I'm going to Bali, so probably I won't be online for 1 week...

::: Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou in the The DaVinci Code

::: Boeing 737-200 Adam Air KI 125 which brought me to Jakarta

::: Boeing 737-400 Adam Air KI 128 which brought me back to Jogjakarta

::: In-flight pic Adam Air KI 128 (so many foreigners sat in front of me)

::: My ticket

Note: click the pics to enlarge

INDONESIAN

Sabtu

Aku pergi ke warnet pagi harinya (semua pasti tahu deh kalo komputerku rusak dan aku harus nge-servis nih komputer >> tapi akhirnya sekarang dah gapapa... . Yeeesss... :D). Waktu aku lagi di warnet, aku ditelpon mamaku kalo besoknya (hari Minggu kemarin) aku disuruh pergi ke Jakarta untuk pergi ke Scholarship Expo di Sampoerna Tower, aku bilang iya, dan trus dipesenin tiket pesawat.

Siangnya, aku sama temen-temenku pergi ke Plaza Ambarrukmo dan berencana untuk nonton The Da Vinci Code di Cinema 21. Kita sampe jam 2.30 sore adn langsung pergi ke Cinema 21, tapi sayangnya, ternyata ada banyak banget orang yang juga mau nonton film disana!! Ok, trus akhirnya kita ngantri tiket selama 45 menit (masih 2,5 jam sebelum show mulai padahal dan kita hampir nggak dapet tempat duduk... :( ). Trus sambil nunggu filmnya mulai, kita makan di Restoran Qua-Li (waa, sorry aku lupa ngambil foto makanannya (lagi)). Filmnya mulai jam 5 sore dan bagus koq. Biarpun kalo misalnya kita belum baca novelnya mungkin kita nggak bakalan ngerti jalan ceritanya. tapi untuk aku bisa dikatakan bagus koq.Panjang filnya 2 jam 15 menit, dan habis itu kita pulang. Trus aku nonton Indonesian Idol, dan kembali, Indonesia memilih dengan benar. Alice (kontestan perempuan terjelek musim ini) dan Brinet tersisih.

Minggu

Aku bangun lumayan pagi tuh jam 4.30. Jam 5.15 pagi aku sama mamaku pergi ke airport (pesawatnya terbang jam 6.30 pagi). Hmm, pesawatnya (Adam Air) agak terlambat kemarin pagi, baru berangkat jam 7 pagi tuh. Jam 7.50 mendarat di Bandara Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta trus makan pagi deh di KFC Bandara (sebenernya aku dah kenyang sih pas itu, cuma kan masih 1,5 jam sebelum acaranya mulai, jadi gpp deh). Jam 9 pagi kita pergi ke Sampoerna Tower di Kuningan, dan syangnya ternyata ada demonstratsi buruh lagi tuh di Gedung MPR-DPR di Senayan. Banyak banget orang-orang pake baju putih-putih naik beberapa truk atau mobil menutupi jalan (taksinya di jalan tol sih, jadi ya gapapa, lalulintasnya masih normal). Trus kita sampai jam 9.30 pagi dan masih harus menunggu sampe pamerannya dibuka, tapi karena tuh demo, jadi pameran baru dibuka jam 10.30, terlambat 30 menit... :( Akhirnya dibuka tuh pamerannya, dan apa yang ada di dalam?? Aku kecewa berat deh, di bawah harapanku. Cuma kayak pameram-pameran biasa di Yogyakarta, hampir nggak ada yang berbeda, kecuali tempatnya... :( Aku nggak dapat apa-apa disana... :( (sebenernya nggak dapat apa-apa adalah kata-kata yang keras juga sih, paling nggak kan aku tahu kalo banyak banget beasiswa untuk pendidikan S2). Trus kita pergi ke Plaza Semanggi sampe jam 2.40 siang, habis itu langsung pergi ke airport. Kita sampe jam 3.30 siang dan kan sebenernya pesawatnya bakal berangkat jam 5.20 tuh, tapi karena ada penerbangan lain yang jam 3.50 siang, kita minta ganti pesawat, dan ternyata bisa. Jadi, kita lari-lari tuh ke gate-nya (jarak dari gate ke tempat check-in kan lumayan jauh juga tuh, padahal waktunya tinggal sekitar 10 menit) dan kita sampe tepat waktu. Tapi pesawatnya telat lagi... :( (tau gitu kan nggak lari-lari). Berangkatnya jam 4 sore dan jam 5 sampe di Jogjakarta (pas itu Jogja lagi hujan, jadi landasan pacunya juga basah, dan pesawat nggak mendarat dengan mulus...).

P.S: Besok aku pergi ke Bali, jadi mungkin gabisa ol selama seminggu tuh...