#806 - (Another) Jogja Summary

ENGLISH

Well, somehow, now I am, again, already in the end of my vacation to Yogyakarta. Just like my last visit to Yogyakarta, I haven't had time to write my daily activities. Well, this time it has kinda been a bit different tho, because I was so busy, therefore I was too tired to write, hahaha...

First, let me fulfill my promise in my previous entry about writing about my trip back to Yogyakarta. I finally decided to take the new flight Bandung - Yogyakarta Wings Air operated. They use their brand new ATR 72-500 on this route. ATR 72-500 is a propeller aircraft, and I had never taken any flight with prop before. Some said that flying on a prop was scary, unstable, etc. However, my parents took this flight to go to Bandung for my graduation last month and they said it was comfortable and not scary at all. My friend also confirmed it when he went to Yogyakarta last month catching this flight. That's why I didn't hesitate to purchase its tickets. And then, they were RIGHT!!! It was not scary at all, it was so stable just like flying on a jetplane. The only differences were (1) there are only four seats per row (2) there are only 18 rows (3) this flight cruised at 16,500 feet while usually a jetplane flies at around 30,000 feet on domestic routes. Aside from that, there was nothing difference nor to scare about. It was such a nice and comfortable flight.

Anyway, what I did during this two weeks "vacation" was mainly helping my parents on their new businesses and of course the existing ones. Notice the word "new" and the plural form of "business"!! That's why it has kinda been exhausting!! Starting a business is always the most exhausting part, this time, there were several ones to start!! hahaha. Then, I also extended my passport. My passport will be expired by October this year and that's why I think I need to extend it ASAP.

Two things also broke down during my "vacation" to Yogyakarta, my home computer's stabilizer and my living room TV. Lucky I always bring my laptop therefore I still can surf the internet. However, the latter problem really sucked because now I can't watch my favorite programs freely. It's not that that broken TV is the only TV in my home, nope. There are still other TVs in my parents' room, my grandma's room, and my dining room. My TV in the dining room doesn't air the channels I like, so it's off my list. Watching TV in my parents' room or my grandma's room is another option, but well, I prefer to watch TV in my living room. I think when I move back to Yogyakarta next May, I will bring my TV in Bandung and put it in my room, hahaha.

Well, nothing much to say for now, and all the pictures below probably could tell the story :-)

::: Wings Air's ATR 72-500 reg code PK-WFG's door at the rear of the plane.

::: Inside Wings Air's ATR 72-500 reg code PK-WFG. There were only four seats per row.

::: The city of Bandung from above as we took off from runway 29 of Husein Sastranegara Airport.

::: A view from 16,500 feet as we were approaching Yogyakarta.

::: Wings Air's ATR 72-500 reg code PK-WFG was being prepared to continue her journey to Surabaya.

::: Tojoyo Fried Chicken, tasty!!

::: Tasty Fried Rib and "Cah Kangkung" at Iga Bakar Sagan.

::: Javanese Fried Noodle at Doring.

::: Soto Kadipiro.

::: My favorite Lumpia Mayonaisse (Mayonaisse Springroll).

::: A Caramel Latte I had as I hang out with my friend some days ago.

::: Crunched Fried Duck (Bebek Goreng Kremes).

BAHASA INDONESIA

Yah, koq tiba2 sekarang aku sudah berada, lagi-lagi, dalam akhir "liburan"-ku ke Yogyakarta yah. Seperti kunjungan terakhirku ke Yogyakarta nih, aku belum ada banyak waktu untuk menulis aktivitasku. Yah, kali ini agak beda sih, karena bener2 sibuk dan capek untuk menulis, hahaha...

Pertama-tama, izinkan aku untuk memenuhi janjiku di postingku sebelumnya tentang menulis mengenai perjalananku balik ke Yogyakarta kali ini. Akhirnya aku memutuskan untuk naik penerbangan baru Bandung - Yogyakarta yang dioperasikan Wings Air. Mereka menggunakan pesawat baru mereka, ATR 72-500, di rute ini. ATR 72-500 adalah pesawat baling-baling, dan aku belum pernah loh naik pesawat baling-baling sebelumnya. Katanya naik pesawat baling-baling itu serem, goyang-goyang, dll. Namun, orangtuaku naik penerbangan ini untuk pergi ke Bandung bulan lalu dalam rangka wisudaku dan mereka bilang penerbangannya nyaman sekali tuh dan nggak menyeramkan sama sekali. Temenku juga mengiyakan hal itu ketika dia naik penerbangan ini ke Yogyakarta bulan lalu. Makanya tanpa ragu aku beli deh tiketnya. Dan ternyata, mereka BENAR loh!! Nggak menyeramkan sama sekali koq, sangat stabil dan sama saja koq kaya terbang dengan pesawat jet. Perbedaannya hanya (1) hanya ada empat kursi sebaris (2) hanya ada 18 baris kursi (3) penerbangannya terbang pada ketinggian 16.500 kaki sementara biasanya kalo penerbangan domestik dengan pesawat jet di sekitaran 30.000 kaki. Selain itu, nggak ada bedanya deh dan nggak ada yang perlu ditakutkan. Penerbangannya benar2 asyik dan nyaman.

Ngomong2, yang aku lakukan selama "liburan" dua minggu ini utamanya adalah bantu2 ortu dalam bisnis-bisnis baru mereka dan tentu saja bisnis yang sudah jalan. Perhatikan loh kata "baru" dan bentuk jamak dari "bisnis"!! Makanya melelahkan sekali kan!! Lha dalam bisnis itu yang paling melelahkan adalah bagian permulaannya, lha ini malah ada beberapa yang harus dimulai!! hahaha. Kemudian, aku juga memperpanjang pasporku. Pasporku akan habis Oktober tahun ini. Makanya aku rasa aku sebaiknya memperpanjangnya segera deh.

Dua benda juga rusak selama "liburanku" di Yogyakarta, yaitu stabilisator komputer rumahku dan TV di ruang keluarga. Untungnya aku selalu membawa laptop makanya aku masih bisa internetan lah. Namun, masalah kedua bener2 menyebalkan karena sekarang aku kan jadi ga bisa nonton acara TVku dengan bebas. Bukannya TV di ruang keluarga itu satu-satunya TV di rumah sih, masih ada TV-TV lain di kamar ortu, kamar nenek, dan ruang makan. Hanya saja TV di ruang makan ga dapet channel favoritku, jadinya dicoret deh dari daftar. Nonton di kamar ortu ato kamar nenek adalah pilihan lain, tapi yah, aku koq lebih suka nonton TV di ruang keluarga ya. Aku rasa nanti pas bener2 pindahan balik ke Yogyakarta Mei ntar, aku bakal bawa deh TVku yang di Bandung dan taroh di kamarku aja ah, hahaha.

Yah, kurang lebih itu saja sih untuk saat ini, mudah-mudahan gambar2 di atas cukup menceritakan detailnya :-)

#805 - Week of Blackout

ENGLISH

Well, the title seems to be perfectly suitable as this week's theme for me. This week alone, I have experienced three and a half (LOL) blackout just in the fourth day of this week. The Indonesian National Electricity Company (PLN) really needs to fix things up.

By the way, why does a blackout in Indonesian is called "mati lampu" (probably roughly translated as "off/dead lamps")? While actually a blackout is caused by electricity which doesn't run. Beside lamps, other electronic stuffs (like TV, fridge, AC, etc) are also off during it. Then, why do we call it "mati lampu"? Is it because at the time the term was created, lamp was the only electronic device available at that time?? LOL

Last Monday evening, when I was still in Bandung, there was a blackout. A blackout in Bandung is a really rare occasion to happen, but once it happens it sucks to hell (hmm, I think all blackouts are like that, aren't they? LOL). My brother (and so all other Unpar's students) was already in the weeks of midterms. Some of them had exams on Tuesday and the electricity went OFF on Monday EVENING, the time when they were supposed to STUDY!! C'Mon PLN!!! You picked the "right" time to have a blackout (even though there isn't really a "good" time to have a blackout, LOL). The blackout occured for almost three hours, from around 6 PM up to around 8.45 PM.

On Tuesday, just after I arrived at Yogyakarta, there was another blackout in Yogyakarta. Well, a blackout in Yogyakarta is (relatively) more common than in Bandung. I was accompanying my parents shopping some utilities for my parents' new businesses and there was a blackout!! Well well, it was raining hard at that time so it might be because of the rain. This blackout wasn't really affecting me because I was away and when I got home, the electricity had already been on (at least it was on in my home by the time I got there). That's why I count it as a half, LOL.

On Wednesday, there was another blackout. This time, I was in my home. It occured for about 90 minutes, from 6 PM to 7.30 PM. Well, I had to miss American Idol because of that. Damnit!!

Just today, there was another blackout AGAIN!!! WHAT THE ... !!! I hang out with my friend today and when I got home at 5 PM, the electricity had been off. Apparently, it had been off since around 4.30 PM. Up until 7 PM, it was still off. Damn, I gotta miss another American Idol show. I got sleepy and accidentally slept for a while. When I got up at 7.45 PM, it had been on. But hey, it was another 3 hours blackout!!

See, it's crazy that so far this week, I experienced blackout on every single day!!

Anyway, I got back to Yogyakarta last Tuesday catching Wings Air's direct Bandung - Yogyakarta flight on an ATR 72-500, detail story coming soon. All I can say now is that the flight was VERY COMFORTABLE!!! :-) Here is a sneak peek of the aircraft operated on this route:

::: Wings Air's ATR 72-500 reg code PK-WFG flight no JT/IW 1812 just landed at Adisutjipto International Airport from Bandung, Yogyakarta.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Yah, judul di atas aku rasa cukup cocok untuk menggambarkan tema keadaanku minggu ini. Minggu ini saja lho ya, yang baru mencapai hari keempat, aku sudah mengalami tiga setengah (LOL) kali mati lampu lho. Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) harus bener2 bekerja dengan serius nih, masa kaya gini.

Eh, ngomong2, kenapa ya kejadian mati listrik disebut "mati lampu" di Indonesia? Padahal kejadian mati lampu kan diakibatkan oleh listrik yang nggak ngalir. Selain lampu mati, alat-alat yang bergantung sama listrik (TV, kulkas, AC, dll) kan juga mati. Lantas, kenapa namanya nggak "mati listrik" tapi "mati lampu"? Apa karena waktu istilah ini dibuat, hanya lampu lah alat yang bergantung dengan listrik pada saat itu?? LOL

Senin malam, ketika aku masih di Bandung, terjadilah mati lampu. Mati lampu di Bandung itu merupakan hal yang jarang terjadi, tapi begitu terjadi menyebalkan sekali (kayanya semua juga gitu sih ya? LOL). Adikku (dan bersama semua mahasiswa Unpar lainnya) padahal sedang berada di minggu UTS. Sebagian dari mereka ada ujian hari Selasa dan listrik malah mati pada hari Senin MALAM dimana mereka seharusnya BELAJAR!! Ya ampun PLN!!! Kau memilih waktu yang "tepat" untuk mengalami mati lampu (walau kalo dipikir2 lagi sebenarnya nggak ada ya waktu yang "baik" buat mati lampu, LOL). Mati lampu ini terjadi selama hampir tiga jam, dari jam 6 sore sampe jam 8.45 malam.

Di hari Selasa, baru saja ketika aku tiba di Yogyakarta, ada mati lampu lagi di Yogyakarta. Yah, kejadian mati lampu di Yogyakarta itu (relatif) lebih umum terjadi daripada di Bandung. Aku waktu itu sedang menemani ortu belanja peralatan untuk bisnis baru mereka dan terjadilah mati lampu sial itu!! Yah, waktu itu meman sedang hujan deras sih jadi mungkin hujan itu yang menstimulasi mati lampu. Mati lampu ini nggak gitu mempengaruhi diriku karena kan aku lagi pergi dan ketika sudah pulang, listrik sudah nyala lagi (setidaknya waktu sampe rumah listrik udah nyala). Makanya mati lampu ini dihitung sebagai setengah saja, LOL.

Di hari Rabu, ada mati lampu lagi. Kali ini, aku sedang di rumah. Terjadi sekitar 90 menit loh, dari jam 6 sampe jam 7.30 malem. Yah, harus melewatkan American Idol deh. Sial!!

Hari ini, ada mati lampu LAGI!!! APA-APAAN INI!!! Aku jalan2 dengan temanku siang tadi dan waktu pulang jam 5 sore, listrik sudah mati. Katanya sih sudah mati dari jam 4.30 sore. Sampe jam 7 malam masih belum nyala tuh. Sial, harus melewatkan acara American Idol lagi deh. Aku ngantuk dan ketiduran sebentar. Waktu bangun jam 7.45 malam, sudah nyala lagi listriknya. Tapi, yah, itu kan tiga jam (lagi) mati lampu!!

Lihat kan, gila nggak minggu ini, aku mengalami kejadian mati lampu setiap hari lho!!

Ngomong2, aku balik ke Yogyakarta Selasa kemarin naik penerbangan langsung Wings Air Bandung - Yogyakarta dengan pesawat ATR 72-500, cerita detail nanti yah. Yang bisa aku bilang sekarang sih penerbangannya NYAMAN SEKALI!!! :-) Di atas ada tuh foto pesawat yang dipakai di rute ini.

#804 - First 2010 Vacation : Bali (Part IV)

Previously on First 2010 Vacation : Bali : Zilko and his friends went to Bali for vacation. Having spent five days in Bali, they had two days left before going back to Bandung.

Day 6 (Wednesday, 20 January 2010)

One thing that I am kinda proud of this trip is that I came up with several (brilliant) ideas to save money or maximize the efficiency of our spent money, LOL. Well, at first, we had a deal to rent Pak Gede's car from Friday till Wednesday. We thought we would figure a way to go to the airport on Thursday and to go somewhere else. Well, I suddenly came up with a (brilliant) idea. WHAT IF we moved our schedule with Pak Gede from Wednesday to Thursday? The pros of this option were that we would not need to figure a way to go to the airport, which we WOULD go to anyway because we were going back to Bandung on Thursday, and we would not need to spend extra cash for it as it was all included in our initial deal with Pak Gede (renting his car for the whole day). Plus, we did not need to have a car on Wednesday. Having spent five days in Bali, we had not really enjoyed the beauty and atmosphere of Kuta Beach and the surrounding. We could actually take that as our main agenda on Wednesday. The con(s) of this option, well, I could not see any con of this option. That's why I think it was brilliant! LOL We just needed to call Pak Gede and saw whether he agreed with that offer or not. My friend called him, and it was a "YES"! Yeah!! Well, because of this strategy, at least we saved around Rp 100,000.- from our original "taxis" account.

Anyway, as we followed our sudden-but-brilliant plan, we would spend Wednesday walking around Kuta. With this option, we could actually have a really good sleep as we could wake up pretty late. Our agenda after waking up was of course having brunch. Well, that Wednesday was such a sunny day. Sunny day in a tropical beach town means super hot and super humid day!! Walking down the street in a sunny day was kinda torturing that day. We decided to hop from one shop to another just to get rest from the heat in an air-conditioned room, LOL. We finally made our final hop at Discovery Mall, having brunch there. Well, as we were having brunch, we found out that apparently, the best and the cleanest beach in Kuta was the beach behind Discovery Mall and some high-class hotels next to it!! The sand was white, the beach was clean, and somehow it was "calling" us to go swimming there - but of course we didn't because swimming was not in our to-do list this Wednesday, LOL. After brunch, of course we took pictures there but didn't do it for long simply because of the theme of that day: heat and humidity!!

::: A really beautiful and clean beach right behind Discovery Mall.

Considering about what to do next, we decided to walk around INSIDE the comfortable (because it was air-conditioned) Discovery Mall. This activity of course didn't last long because mall was a mall, nothing that special. We then decided to go back to our hotel, because outdoor activity was definitely a no-no, again because of the theme of the day: heat and humidity!! Our next scheduled activity was to go to Kuta Beach at around 5 PM, when it wouldn't be that hot nor humid anymore. To kill time, some friends decided to have a massage first, I didn't. Damnit, I should have taken that massage too, haha...

Anyway, at around 4.30 PM we walked to Kuta Beach. Well, we had kinda been late because people had already taken great and strategic spots to watch the famous sunset in Kuta Beach. Luckily we still managed to get a pretty good spot. It was such a beautiful day. It was sunny earlier that day and as a result, it was a clear evening. So, for the second consecutive day, we were lucky to get another sunset in Bali, especially this one was at the famous Kuta Beach!!

::: The famous Kuta Beach during sunset.

::: Eating the sun, LOL.

After the sunset, we left Kuta Beach and headed to the Bali Bombing Monument at Legian Street. On the way, we walked through the famous Poppies Lane. Well, we enjoyed the atmosphere that evening. A lot of pedestrians were walking down the street, the hectic Legian Street with all those stores and art-shops. It was SO Bali, the atmosphere really brought us to holiday mode! :-) I think, you must feel that atmosphere, then you can say you have been to Bali! :-)

Day 7 (Thursday, 21 January 2010)

Pak Gede picked us up at 9 AM. Well, we also checked out at that time so we wouldn't have to go back to our hotel. We decided to bring our luggages with us because we would be charged around Rp 70,000.- per bag if we decided to leave them in our hotel. Anyway, our main destination this day was Besakih Temple, the biggest temple in Bali. However, my friends requested to go to Sukawati (again) on the way. Because it was not that far from our route to Besakih, we all agreed as long as they did quick shopping.

Then, I learnt something important: We can't trust women when they say they will do quick shopping. *sarcastic mode on* LOL. They consumed too much time at Sukawati (well, as I did before, I only waited in our car, chit-chatting with our driver) that we didn't have enough time left to make it to Besakih. Well, we had to drop Besakih from our list because if we still insisted to still visit it, we would have been in a hurry and anxious whether we would make our flight or not. That was a no-no in our vacation. It is useless to visit a place while you can't enjoy it because you are in a big hurry, rite?

::: One spot at Denpasar City.

So, we had to find alternative destinations to kill our time. It was near noon, so we decided to go to Denpasar to have lunch at the restaurant we dropped by several days prior. Plus, my friend wanted to go to Titiles to buy some gifts. Okay, so that was our first plan. We followed it up by going to Bali Galeria. Well, I think this was kinda funny. On the last day during my previous visit to Bali, I also went to Bali Galeria to kill time. I guess going to Bali Galeria to kill some time on the last day of my vacation to Bali has kinda been a tradition for me, LOL.

Anyway, after killing some time, it was 4 PM, time to leave Bali Galeria and headed to Ngurah Rai Airport. Some minutes later, we arrived at Ngurah Rai Airport, thus saying good bye with Pak Gede and his very warmth and friendly service. Anyway, we then checked in and found out that our flight had been delayed until 7.30 PM (originally it was scheduled to take off at 6.35 PM). Well, that sucked! But we could do nothing to fix it, rite? We just had to wait :( Lucky, Ngurah Rai Airport provided its passengers with free internet access. Different with the one provided at Husein Sastranegara Airport where the connection was so damn slow (it took MINUTES just to access Google's main page), the internet connection at Ngurah Rai Airport was great!! The downside was only that they didn't provide that many computers. All computers were occupied and we had to wait in line to use them, hmmm.

::: A monitor showing departure schedule that day. My flight was delayed!

Then, another announcement was made, stating that the flight to Bandung would be delayed for another hour, until 8.30 PM!! Wew, that was a two hours delay!! Well, we originally had plan to have dinner once we arrived at Bandung, but with this situation, there was no way we would execute that plan. We had to have dinner at the airport. Well, actually, according to the law in Indonesia, an airline should give their passengers meal as compensation when there is a 30-180 minutes delay. It was a 2 hour delay, but we expected nothing because we knew, AirAsia is a low cost carrier, there was a possibility they would not obey that rule. Our appetite could not be compromised any further and we decided to have dinner at a restaurant in the waiting lounge. Well, JUST AFTER we ordered our meal, there was an announcement for AirAsia's passengers heading for Bandung to take our compensation meals!! Damnit!! Had they announced it 3 minutes earlier!! Well, we still had positive thought, maybe it was just snack, and we continued our dinner at the restaurant. Well, it was not a cheap restaurant, you know, because it was inside an airport. After finishing our dinner, two friends went to the specified gate to take the compensation meal, and apparently, it was a FULL MEAL!! A "Rice Package" from McD including one bottle of mineral water!! Whoaaa!!! AirAsia was really professional, even though that still couldn't justify the delay.

::: An Indonesia AirAsia's Boeing 737-3Y0 reg code PK-AWP flight no QZ 7157 was ready to take off to Bandung. A Lion Air's Boeing 737-900ER was next to her.

Anyway, finally, at 8.15 PM, we were called to board the plane. It was Indonesia AirAsia's Boeing 737-3Y0 reg code PK-AWP flight no. QZ 7157. At 8.30 PM it took off from runway 27 Ngurah Rai Airport. It was a relatively smooth flight, even though it penetrated bad weather as it approached Bandung. We finally landed safely after circling the city of Bandung at runway 29. Thus, enabling us to see the view of Bandung city from above as we were approaching runway 29. After landing safely, our holiday to Bali officially came to an end...

::: Three Indonesia AirAsia's Boeing 737-300s, reg code PK-AWU, PK-AWQ, and PK-AWP being parked at Husein Sastranegara Airport at night.

Well, it had been a really fun and memorable holiday!!! I am looking forward to having another holiday like this!! :-)

THE END

#803 - Great News

ENGLISH

Well, these last few days turned to be "big days" for me. One of them was planned, and the other one was kinda a surprise :-)

Last Saturday, I finally graduated officially from my undergraduate study. Of course my parents came to Bandung for that occasion. O yea, talking about coming to Bandung, my parents caught the new flight operated by Wings Air to get to Bandung. Well, about my concern a couple of week ago, they said I shouldn't worry about that as the flight and the aircraft were so comfortable even though they operated propeller aircraft, an ATR 72-500. There is nothing to worry about and they told me to catch flight to go back to Yogyakarta, not train anymore, hahaha :-) Well, back to topic, last Saturday was kinda tiring. I had to wake up early. Well, I was kinda lucky tho to be a boy so that I still could get up at around 5.30 AM while all girls should have got up by 3 AM to have some make over for the graduation, LOL.

I was notified to be ready at campus at 7.30 AM. Well, unexpectedly, the traffic in Bandung that morning wasn't really brutal. I already allocated 50 minutes to go picking my parents up and go north to Unpar, but in the end we could arrive at Unpar at around 7.10 AM, some 20 minutes ahead our schedule. Then, when I arrived at my faculty's desk, it was still empty. My friends and I had to wait. Anyway, at 8.25 AM we were lined up to enter GSG to start the graduation ceremony. O yea, my parents got VIP seats (as apparently I was picked as (one of) the best graduate :D) and their seats were just 2 meter from me. The ceremony then started at around 9 AM. It was just like any graduation ceremony (I guess), where each graduate was called forward to be appointed to be a graduate by our rector. I had to take a picture first before going up the stage, hehe. Anyway, the ceremony took so long until around 12 PM (no wonder, there were 619 graduates that day!). After the ceremony, we were invited to a "syukuran" feast held by my faculty in Building 09. I met my friends, and after the lunch, we left Unpar :-)

Well, the second great news came surprisingly last night. It turned out that I GOT the master scholarship I applied several months ago in The Netherlands!! YEAH!! The scholarship is really precious as it covers all tuition fee plus 800 euros living cost per month, for two years. I am so happy that I get this scholarship!! I hope everything will work all right, and no problem appears, amen :-)

note : graduation photos will be uploaded soon because all of them were split in several cams :-)

BAHASA INDONESIA

Yah, beberapa hari belakangan ini ternyata menjadi "hari besar" buat aku. Satu memang sudah terencana dan satunya lagi bisa dibilang seperti sebuah kejutan :-)

Sabtu kemarin, akhirnya aku secara resmi lulus dari pendidikan sarjanaku. Tentu saja dong ortuku datang ke Bandung untuk acara ini. O iya, ngomong2 tentang datang ke Bandung, ortuku naik penerbangan baru Jogja - Bandung yang dioperasikan Wings Air tuh. Hmm, tentang pertimbanganku beberapa minggu yang lalu, katanya aku tidak perlu khawatir karena ternyata penerbangan dan pesawatnya nyaman banget walau pesawat yang dioperasikan adalah pesawat baling-baling baru, ATR 72-500. Nggak ada yang perlu dikhawatirkan dan katanya aku mending naik pesawat aja kalo pulang ke Yogyakarta, nggak perlu naik kereta, hahaha :-) Yah, kembali ke topik, Sabtu kemarin lumayan melelahkan sih. Aku harus bangun pagi. Hmm, bisa dibilang aku beruntung karena aku laki-laki, jadi bisa bangun jam 5.30 pagi lah soalnya kalau perempuan harus sudah bangun jam 3 pagi tuh untuk make over untuk wisuda, LOL.

Aku diberi-tahu untuk sudah siap di kampus jam 7.30 pagi. Secara tak terduga, ternyata lalu lintas Bandung pagi itu nggak rame2 amat. Aku sudah mengalokasikan 50 menit untuk menjemput ortu dan perjalanan ke Unpar di utara, tapi akhirnya malah bisa sampe di Unpar sekitar jam 7.10 pagi, sekitar 20 menit sebelum jadwal. Trus, ketika aku sampai di meja fakultasku, ternyata masih nggak ada orang. Yah, harus nunggu deh. Akhirnya, jam 8.25 pagi kami dibariskan untuk masuk ke GSG dan memulai upacara wisuda. O iya, ortuku dapet tempat duduk VIP (karena ternyata aku terpilih sebagai (salah satu) lulusan terbaik :D) dan tempat duduk mereka hanya sekitar 2 meter dari tempat dudukku. Upacaranya dimulai jam 9 pagi. Yah, upacaranya ya kaya upacara wisuda gitu (rasanya sih), dimana tiap lulusan dipanggil maju untuk disahkan menjadi sarjana oleh rektor. Aku harus difoto dulu sih sebelum naik ke panggung, hehe. Ngomong2, upacaranya lama juga tuh sampe jam 12an siang (nggak heran juga sih lha ada sekitar 619 orang yang diwisuda hari itu!). Setelah upacara, kami diundang ke acara syukuran yang diadakan fakultas di Gedung 09. Aku bertemu teman2, dan setelah makan siang, kami pulang :-)

Yah, berita hebat kedua datang secara mengejutkan semalam. Ternyata aku mendapatkan beasiswa master nih yang aku ajukan beberapa bulan lalu di Belanda!! YEAH!! Beasiswanya lumayan banget karena meng-cover biaya kuliah ditambah dengan biaya hidup sebesar 800 euro sebulan, selama dua tahun. Yah, senang sekali nih karena dapat beasiswa ini!! Mudah2an semuanya akan lancar2 saja dan tidak ada halangan, amin :-)

note: foto2 wisuda akan diunggah kemudian karena terbagi di beberapa kamera :-)

#802 - American Idol 9 Top 24

ENGLISH

Well, one year has been quick!! Now, another season of American Idol has started. The exciting part has started right now, the top 24 (semifinal) onwards. Anyway, finally my favorite format for the semifinal is back: top 24 contestants consisting of 12 girls and 12 guys, divided into two groups by gender where each week for three weeks, the bottom two of each group will be eliminated, leaving the final top 12 in the end. It is a MUCH better system than the system they used last year. Well, I hate that system because I don't think it's fair.

Anyway, watching this season's audition and Hollywood week, female contestants seemed to have the potency to dominate the season, rather than all male contestants. Many female contestants were really strong during their audition and Hollywood Week. However, unfortunately, ALL female contestants were disappointing this week in their first performance. NONE of them stood up. Sure, still there were several potential contestants, but they were not that strong this week, sadly. In other hands, some male contestants performed really well and exceeded my expectation!! Watching this week's show, I have several potential favorite contestants. Yeah, they are still "potential" and further performances are needed to finalize my votes. They are:

Female:
1. Paige Miles
2. Crystal Bowersox
3. Didi Benami
4. Katelyn Epperson
5. Lilly Scott
6. Siobhan Magnus (but I don't really like her attitude tho, she's kinda too "stiff", hmmm)

Male:
1. Casey James
2. Aaron Kelly
3. Lee DeWyze
4. Alex Lambert (well, he didn't perform that well this week because of his nerves, but he has a really unique voice!! He has a great potency to do well in the competition)

Well, I have several weakest contestants this week:

Female:
10. Ashley Rodriguez
10. Lacey Brown
12. Haeley Vaughn

Male:
9. John Park
10. Jermaine Sellers
11. Todrick Hall
12. Tim Urban

For the women, I think Ashley Rodriguez and Haeley Vaughn should be eliminated this week. Well, I think the probability that Ashley will go is a lot bigger than Haeley tho. This is because I think Haeley is actually quite unique in term of the way she sings. It's just that she didn't pick the right song for her style this week. But we will see tho. For the men, Todrick Hall and Tim Urban should go. Todrick changed Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" too much, murdering the song. I like the original version much better. For Tim, well, I think he struggled. He picked the wrong song, "Apologize", which needed a lot of falsetto while his falsetto technique was still not that great. It was kinda torturing, hmmm....

::: American Idol 9 Top 24

note : photo taken from nydailynews.com

BAHASA INDONESIA

Wah, setahun cepat juga yah!! Sekarang, musim terbaru dari American Idol sudah mulai lagi nih. Bagian yang asik sudah mulai juga, top 24 (semifinal) dst. Ngomong2, akhirnya format semifinal favoritku kembali lagi: 24 besar kontestan yang terdiri atas 12 cowo dan 12 cewe, dibagi ke dua grup berdasarkan jenis kelamin dimana setiap minggu selama tiga minggu, dua terbawah dari masing2 grup akan tereliminasi sehingga menyisakan 12 besar akhirnya. Sistem ini JAUH lebih baik daripada sistem yang dipake tahun lalu nih. Yah, aku benci sistem itu deh karena ga gitu adil dah.

Ngomong2, nonton audisi dan minggu Hollywood musim ini, kontestan perempuan kayanya akan mendominasi musim ini, daripada kontestan cowo. Banyak tuh kontestan perempuan yang sangat kuat sepanjang audisi dan mingu Hollywood-nya. Namun, sayang sekali, SEMUA kontestan perempuan mengecewakan deh minggu ini. NGGAK ADA yang bener2 bagus. Tentu, memang ada sih beberapa yang terlihat berpotensi bagus, namun masih nggak sekuat itu minggu ini, sayang sekali. Di sisi lain, kontestan cowo justru ada beberapa yang melebihi ekspektasiku minggu ini!! Nonton show minggu ini, aku ada beberapa kontestan potensial untuk menjadi favorit nih. Yeah, mereka masih "potensial" dan penampilan lebih lanjut masih perlu dilihat. Mereka adalah:

Perempuan:
1. Paige Miles
2. Crystal Bowersox
3. Didi Benami
4. Katelyn Epperson
5. Lilly Scott
6. Siobhan Magnus (tapi aku ga gitu suka sikapnya tuh, agak-agak "kaku", hmmm)

Cowo:
1. Casey James
2. Aaron Kelly
3. Lee DeWyze
4. Alex Lambert (yah, benar bahwa dia tidak tampil maksimal minggu ini karena grogi banget (keliatan banget), cuma suaranya dia khas banget lho! Jadi dia sebenernya memiliki potensi untuk berprestasi baik di kompetisi ini).

Aku juga memiliki daftar tentang beberapa kontestan yang lemah minggu ini:

Perempuan:
10. Ashley Rodriguez
10. Lacey Brown
12. Haeley Vaughn

Cowo:
9. John Park
10. Jermaine Sellers
11. Todrick Hall
12. Tim Urban

Untuk yang perempuan, kayanya Ashley Rodriguez dan Haeley Vaughn yang seharusnya keluar minggu ini. Yah, aku rasa Ashley berpeluang lebih besar untuk tereliminasi minggu ini daripada Haeley. Ini karena Haeley sebenarnya cukup unik juga dalam hal cara bernyanyi. Sayangnya, dia tidak memilih lagu yang tepat dengan gayanya itu minggu ini. Tapi akan kita lihat deh. Untuk yang cowo, Todrick Hall dan Tim Urban seharusnya tereliminasi minggu ini. Todrick mengganti lagunya Kelly Clarkson yang "Since U Been Gone" dengan agak berlebihan, justru menghancurkan lagu itu. Aku jauh lebih suka versi originalnya. Untuk Tim, yah, kayanya dia bener2 kesulitan deh. Dia memilih lagu yang salah, "Apologize", yang membutuhkan banyak falsetto sementara teknik falsettonya masih sangat lemah. Agak menyiksa juga, hmmm...

#801 - First 2010 Vacation : Bali (Part III)

Previously on First 2010 Vacation : Bali : Zilko and his friends went to Bali. Now they had arrived at the far northern part of Bali, at Lovina Beach, to do dolphin-watching.

Day 4 (Monday, 18 January 2010)

We had an early morning to start. The day before, we were told to be ready early at 6 AM since it would be our departure time. The boat captain would pick us up at 6 AM, they told us. We had been ready at about 5.45 AM but until 6 AM, no boat captain nor anyone else came by to pick us up. My friends and I then walked to the receptionist to ask about it. Well then, they asked us to go directly to the pier (well, it was not really a pier tho since there was no pier, just boats being docked on the beach, LOL). We were split into two boats. One smaller boat handled three people (plus one boat captain) and the bigger one handled five people (plus one boat captain). Btw, the boat captains didn't look like boat captain actually, they were more like fishermen, LOL. Anyway, I was in the bigger boat.

::: A Dolphin Watching Trip

Then we took off to the open sea. Well, the info about big waves we got the day before was TRUE!! The waves were really huge. It was kinda scary, really, as it was MUCH scarier than the trip I took almost four years ago. Probably because January was in the middle of raining season in Indonesia, while four years ago I went there on May, which was during the dry season. Well, the other boat actually took off earlier, so they were way in front of my boat. From far away, it seemed that they had a much smoother trip to the open sea than us. It was like we were shaken by infinitely massive waves while they sailed smoothly. We envied them! LOL. However, when we finally met in the open sea at the dolphin area, apparently they had a similar fate with us. They also encountered big waves and even worse, because they were on a smaller boat, more water poured into the boat!! hahaha... . Could it be a paralax effect?

Anyway, yes, we could watch the dolphins. It was stunning and beautiful!! There were three dolphins jumping together! Well, unfortunately I couldn't take pictures of them. The timing was so quick and predicting where dolphin(s) would jump in the open sea was kinda difficult. However, I think the dolphins were not as many as three and a half years ago tho. Was it because of raining season or simply the number of dolphin population had dropped significantly? I dunno. After being satisfied doing dolphin-watching, we decided to go back to our hotel. Well, our trip back to the beach was not as scary as our departure trip as it was much smoother. Probably because we were "riding" the waves on our way back while we had to "go against" the waves on our departure trip, maybe? Even so, after we landed, two of my friends were sick, haha.

::: Super Spicy "Be Sere Limo" and "Plecing Kangkung". They were WAY to spicy for me so that I couldn't finish eating them!!

We then had breakfast at our hotel. Not satisfied (and full) enough with our breakfast, three friends and I went to a cafe down the road for a more "appropriate" breakfast. We had "Be Sere Limo" and "Plecing Kangkung". I asked the restaurant to make a NOT-spicy Be Sere Limo because I hate spicy food. However, when they served the menus, they were SUPER spicy!! Well, if that was not spicy for them, I couldn't imagine what SPICY was in their mind!! hahaha... . Actually we had a plan to be picked up at 10.30 AM to go back to Kuta Beach, making stops at Git-Git Waterfall and Tanah Lot with one lunch stop at Bedugul. However, looking at the current condition of ourselves (tired, sleep-deprived, some of us were sick), we decided to postpone it to 12 PM and dropped Git-Git Waterfall from our list.

At 12 PM, we checked out and continued our trip, this time, we headed back to south. We made a stop at Bedugul, having lunch at the same stall as the day before. This time, they made enough rice for all of us, hahaha. We then took off immediately after lunch to go to Tanah Lot.

::: Tanah Lot. I think this was the best place in Tanah Lot to take pictures.

About 90 minutes later, we arrived at Tanah Lot. It was still around 2 or 3 PM at that time so it was kinda hot. Tanah Lot was so beautiful!! It was really photogenic!! Well, there we met some Japanese (?) (I guess) tourists who could barely speak English. They were standing right in the middle of good spots for taking pictures, doing nothing, just chit-chatting with each other. Hello?? It was a public place, you should be aware that many other people wanted to be standing there in your place to get pictures, right?? They could do chit-chatting somewhere else where no other tourist would be annoyed. To "speak" with them, I used body language, lucky the understood and stepped away from those places, hehe :-) Anyway, there was a beautiful and photogenic place from top of a small cliff to the west of the Tanah Lot temple. It was located in the tip of the cliff so it was kinda scary, but it was roomy enough for eight people I think, so don't worry :-)

::: Discovery Shopping Mall at Kuta, Bali. It hadn't changed that much since I went there almost four years ago.

::: Kuta Square At Night

We then left Tanah Lot and went to Kuta Beach. We would spend the last three nights in Bali staying at Tune Hotels again, this time in Kuta. Well, personally, I think the Kuta Tune Hotel was way better than Legian Tune Hotel in term of location. It was much friendlier for cars, hahaha. After taking rest for about one hour, we decided to take a walk around Kuta Beach. We went to Discovery Mall and had dinner there. Well, Discovery Mall had changed since the last time I visited it almost four years ago (of course! haha). After taking some walk and got tired, we went back to our hotel.

Day 5 (Tuesday, 19 January 2010)

One of my friend's friend went to Bali before us and she recommended us to visit Bali Safari, a safari park in Bali. She said it was so beautiful! Well, because I had never been there and my other friends agreed, Bali Safari was our destination this day. Before getting there, we made a stop at Sukawati Market as some friends wanted to go shopping. Well, I don't really like shopping plus I didn't think the items they sold in Sukawati were "usable", at least for me. That's why I preferred to buy boiled peanuts, waited in the car and had a chat with our driver. One hour later, they finished shopping and we continued our journey.

::: A Zebra At Bali Safari. I like this picture :-)

Well, the entrance fee to Bali Safari was definitely over budget. The information we got said that it was Rp 85,000.- per pax. So, that was the amount of money per pax we budgeted. But then, apparently, it was Rp 110,000.- per pax!! Lucky we still had some extra cash to cover the extra! Anyway, Bali Safari was beautiful. It was definitely more beautiful and better than Bogor Safari Park. However, I still don't think Rp 110,000.- per pax worth it!! With that amount of money, I preferred to go to Waterbom Bali, just adding some ten of thousand but we could get one day full access to the Waterbom! Well, the most cozy place in Bali Safari was inside the tour bus. It was equipped with A/C while it was definitely super hot and humid outside. At that time I didn't want the tour on the bus to end, LOL.

::: Jimbaran Beach Before Sunset.

::: Our Seafood Courses at Jimbaran Beach.

After leaving Bali Safari at around 3 PM, we headed south to Jimbaran Beach. We made two stops at Denpasar to have lunch first and to buy Titiles (I love its ham!! :D). Well, the Denpasar - Kuta road was definitely crowded. It took us about one hour to get free from the traffic jam! hahaha. Finally, at around 5 PM we arrived at Jimbaran Beach. There I treated my friends for my graduation. Of course, the menu was seafood and we didn't expect super tasty food as in Jimbaran, we are actually buying its atmosphere. Lucky enough, we got a sunset there! Sure it was a bit cloudy but the cloud didn't cover the sun. God Bless Us!! We asked the food to be served around 6 PM so that we didn't get to have meal too close to our lunch at 3 PM, LOL. After dinner and taking some pictures using sunset as our background and objects, we left Jimbaran and got back to Kuta.

::: A Sunset At Jimbaran Beach. We were so lucky to get this one!

to be continued ...

#800 - Eight Hundred

ENGLISH

Before continuing writing about my vacation to Bali last month (I know, it is getting more and more out of date each time I postpone writing it but hey, one more post couldn't hurt more, LOL), I think I will write something first because this is a special entry, entry number 800!! Well, apparently, all this time, I have written 800 entries (including this one!! Hmmm!!). It hit 700 this time, about 10 months ago!! Well, it means that in average there have only been 10 entries per month!! Well, I know these past few several months I haven't been blogging that active. I really hope I will write more frequently since I like blogging, it marks every path of your life!! :-)

Anyway, nothing much happened lately. Therefore, I think I will upload some pictures which I haven't had time to upload them before. Some of the photos were actually taken last month, LOL.

Oh, I just remember that actually there is a topic I want to share. However, due to its privacy level, it is more suitable to be posted in my private blog. The problem is that my private blog has kinda been stranded for a loooong time, haha... . Let me prepare it first :-)

::: Finally I had meal at a Sushi Bar with a Sushi Conveyor Belt (LOL). I had always wanted to have meal there ever since I read this kind of sushi bar in Japanese manga. Actually I don't really like sushi, but at least now I have the experience of eating at a sushi bar, LOL.

::: Tahu Gejrot and Jangkung's Grilled Rib.

::: One spot at Yogyakarta Tugu Railway Station.

::: A rice field with bad weather as its background. Well, several hours later, it was raining super hard causing flood. Plus, the water also leaked into my couch!!

::: Inside Argo Wilis Express.

::: Bebek Kremes (crunchy duck) I had last Friday.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sebelum melanjutkan tulisan mengenai liburanku ke Bali bulan lalu (iya iya, tau koq, kan ceritanya akan semakin basi setiap kali aku menunda menulis tapi yah, satu posting lagi deh, LOL), aku rasa aku akan menulis sesuatu dulu karena ini posting penting nih, posting nomor 800!! Yah, ternyata, selama ini aku sudah menulis 800 posting loh (termasuk yang satu ini!! Hmmm!!). Posting mencapai nomor 700 pada waktu ini, sekitar 10 bulan yang lalu!! Hmm, itu berarti rata-rata aku menulis sekitar 10 posting setiap bulan!! yah, aku tahu sedikit beberapa bulan terakhir ini aku jarang nulis di blog. Aku harap sih aku akan lebih sering menulis lagi deh karena aku suka blogging, hal ini memetakan perjalanan hidup!! :-)

Ngomong2, nggak banyak sih yang terjadi belakangan ini. Makanya, aku akan mengunggah beberapa gambar aja deh yang belum sempat diunggah sebelumnya. Beberapa malah sebenarnya diambil bulan lalu lho, LOL

O ya, sebenarnya ada satu bahan yang menarik nih. Cuma berdasar tingkat privasinya, lebih layak ditulis di blog privat nih. Cuma masalahnya blog yang satu itu sudah terlantar sekian lama, haha... . Nanti deh aku persiapkan dulu :-)