Bali Trip - Day 1

Soekarno-Hatta airport, 01.28pm

Here I am, sitting at Bakmi GM at Terminal 3. Waiting for my 03.05pm flight to Bali. To be honest, this is my first trip to Bali :) so I can't wait for that. Gonna meet Arthur, my best buddy, there and have some fun.

This terminal is way nicer than other terminals. Even more comfortable than Terminal 2 - for international flights. When can Soekarno-Hatta could be like Changi or Suvarnabhumi at least? *sigh*

05.00pm
Landing at Ngurah Rai airport in Denpasar. It took 2-hour flight from Jakarta to Denpasar. The flight was smooth. No turbulance at all.

We stopped by at Discovery Mall near Kuta beach to buy sandal (for me) and sun glasses (for Arthur) then we headed for dinner. We went to a small restaurant called Nasi Tempong at Jl. Teuku Umar. Wow...the foods were so tempting. Chicken, squid, prawn, veggies. Arthur told me that they serve the best sambal ever. So I ordered fried chicken and spicy chicken. Fried squid and fresh petai (or Parkia Speciosa in Latin) for Arthur.

Tempong means tampar according to the owner. The sambal is so hot and spicy which can make you feel like being slapped. Well, I must say the food was great.

After dinner, we picked Arthur's friends then dropped by at my guest house for freshen up. Around 10pm we went to Flapjack's. It's a pancake house with combo size. The display made me drooling. For a moment, I felt sorry for having heavy dinner earlier. I was soooo full! But whatever, I could still find a space for a half portion of chocolate waffle with single scoop of ferrero rocher gelato and mineral water. My new friends shared a big portion of ice cream.





11.00pm
Off to home.

Keiko Maria Hutabarat

Keiko Maria Hutabarat or Kei was born on June 25, 2008 - 2 days after her parents first anniversary. She is my little angel. So cute, adorable (she has shiny big eyes, little nose and chubby cheeks), wonderful and smart. She can count 1-10 in Bahasa Indonesia, English and Bahasa Batak. She knows color and some stuff in English too. Uhhh love to hold her so very much.

She loves singing and eating, talks too much and asks so many questions. Why is this...what is that...She can sing about 25 songs or so including Sunday school songs and Barney's song but recently her favorites are I Love You (Barney's) and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star . Singing along with her is so much fun. Sometimes she can't pronounce some words properly.

People always get confused by the way she calls me and her mama. She calls my sister, mama and calls me mami :)

You can listen to Barney's song: I Love You here

Famous Five

Enid Blyton is my most favorite author ever. She was the best story writer who could make me enjoy every pages of her books. Would not stop till last page. Sometimes she would make me skip my meals or nap times or homework years ago. I remember my mom grounded me by hiding all my books until graduation back in the 80s :P Because of her, I was not a fan of comic when I was a little (and until now).

My first Enid Blyton was Famous Five: Five Fall Into Adventure or Jo Anak Gelandangan in Bahasa - the 9th series of 21. Got that book from my uncle when I was in grade 3. I still have it now though with no cover anymore.
Here are book covers from some versions.

All books feature the adventures of 4 kids + 1 dog during their school break - mostly in summer holidays. They are Julian (my favorite character), Dick (Julian's brother), Anne (Julian's little sister), Georgina or George (Julian's cousin) and Timmy (George's beloved dog). Usually, those siblings would visit George who lives in Kirrin island with her parents, Uncle Quentin - a scientist and Aunt Fanny - a lovely housewife then start their vacation by camping or picnic which eventually would be ended up with some mysterious cases such as smuggling, kidnapping or theft.

The picnic part was my favorite as they would bring a basket full of sandwiches, ginger ales, chocolates, cakes and would stop by at a village cafe for some ice creams. Hmmm...yummy!

Famous Five had been adapted into a TV series in the 70s and played in Indonesia early of 80s. I loved the movie too. Below are the stars:

From left to right:
Jennifer Thanisch as Anne
Michele Gallagher as Georgina aka George
Gary Rusell as Dick
Marcus Harris as Julian
source: here

TGIF ~ Picture Talks

Not allowed to upload these pics on my facebook but surely I can upload them here and they won't even know it :P

• Friday, July 16, 2010
• 08.00pm - 11.30pm
• XKTV @Senayan City, GF

Just landed

Warming up

In action

Someone's getting drunk


Imitating Louis Armstrong with What A Wonderful World

Trying to keep sober :)

Beautiful Saturday

I love this Saturday. First, I woke up at 09.00am this morning. Though I still heard a beep from my yahoo messanger early in the morning (forgot to log off yesterday). Think a tse tse fly just hit me. Just googled and found out how the little monster looks like. Here we go...

Then my sister asked me to baby sit Keiko as she and his hubby would have some errands for the whole day. Hmm I had to cancel my plan to go to skin clinic then. Can't stand with these eye bags :( But as long as it's about Kei, I should be ok. While she's napping, I would be busy with my laptop.

12.00
Off to Kelapa Gading Mall with Kei. She was soooo excited. Told her grandpa that she would buy some grapes :) It's lunch time therefore we had lunch first at this place

Over Rice

and we ordered a bowl of rice and

Special Tofu with XO Sauce

and this one

Chicken in Pandan Leaves

and shrimp nugget. Thought Kei would like it but she didn't.

Then we headed to Lollypop. Her eyes were getting wider and I could see her excitement. So cute. I took her to ride a train and she enjoyed it very much. Then she drove cars. First she got a grey car and moved to the black one. On the ground floor, she led me to Timezone and enjoyed her time there. Her favorite was this

Looked so stressful but she did enjoy it though :)

03.00pm
Home at last. After changed her clothes then we took a nap. In my room. Mami loves you cutie...

07.00pm
Talked about hyponatremia and this is what I got from Mr. Wikipedia:

Hyponatremia is most often a complication of other medical illnesses in which either fluids rich in sodium are lost (for example because of diarrhea or vomiting) or excess water accumulates in the body at a higher rate than can be excreted (for example in congestive heart failure, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone, SIADH, or polydipsia). Regarding sodium loss as a cause of hyponatremia, it is important to note that such losses promote hyponatremia in only an indirect manner. In particular, hyponatremia occurring in association with sodium loss does not reflect inadequate sodium availability as a result of the losses. Rather, the sodium loss leads to a state of volume depletion, with volume depletion serving as signal for the release of ADH (anti-diuretic hormone). As a result of ADH-stimulated water retention, blood sodium becomes diluted and hyponatremia results.Hyponatremia can also affect athletes who consume too much fluid during endurance events,[2] people who fast on juice or water for extended periods and people whose dietary sodium intake is chronically insufficient.

Symptoms of hyponatremia include nausea and vomiting, headache, confusion, lethargy, fatigue, appetite loss, restlessness and irritability, muscle weakness, spasms, or cramps, seizures, and decreased consciousness or coma. The presence and severity of symptoms are associated with the level of serum sodium, with the lowest levels of serum sodium associated with the more prominent and serious symptoms. However, emerging data suggests that mild hyponatremia (serum sodium levels at 131 mEq/L or above) was associated with numerous complications and undiagnosed symptoms.[4]

Talked about my chance as Ms. Nebraska and wearing my corn silk dress :))

Imagining me wearing a dress made from this material

See...my day was so perfect today :))

Greatest Love of All

I believe the children are our future
teach them well and let them lead the way
show them all the beauty they possess inside
give them a sense of pride to make it easier
let the children laughter remind us how we used to be. ~Whitney Houston

Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it. ~Harold Hulbert

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man. ~Rabindranath Tagore

Today is National Children's Day. Hope every kids in this country would have a better world yet better future. No more street kids, no more uneducated kids, no more child abuse, no more malnutrition kids. They belong to us. They deserve all the goods things.


Dear Mr. President,

This is not only about ceremonial thing. Just to show that you care. No! I, we all need your action. Please spare some of your time to make improvement in every aspects. How could those poor children have a healthy life if they cannot afford to buy milk? How could those street kids have a better education if they cannot afford to buy books? So please...


My dear Mongga, Chaya, Tegar and Keiko,
I will always pray for you. May God's love be upon you day after day. So you can be a sunshine for your moms and dads. We all love you!

My 10 Stuffs

These 10 stuffs below are so important in my daily life. Can't live without them.

This is the brand of my contact lens. I have very dry eyes so I chose this product and have been wearing it since 2000. -4.25 for left eye and 6.25 for my right eye. I should have put my contact off before nap but I'm too lazy to do that. Such a waste of time for me :)

Before wearing contact, I wore glasses. I hate wearing glasses.


Have been using this brand since 2007 after fed up with my PDA. This multi-function gadget has a wide screen. That's why I love it. I can't live without music either so this is one of my best buddies.









This earphone and charger belong to my cell above. I always have these 2 with me everywhere I go. Believe me, I am not a pathetic Ms. Ring Ring. I just need my full battery for my Ipod so I can still listen to my playlist all the time.













Honestly, I hate keeping this stuff with me. But it's a must. My lady boss wanted me to respond all my emails on daily basis and do it pronto. So here I go...stuck with this gadget even while I'm on vacation too. So sad :(














This laptop helps me to get connected with my dearest lover who is far far away from me. Keep his lovely notes here :)















This is where I put all my important cards. Office access, insurance card, ATM, credit card and hospital cards. So need to bring it everyday and everywhere. It's like a key to my everything.














Mom gave me these keys so I can have access to our house whenever I need it. Coming late after office or even after midnight movie.















I am a bookaholic. Enough said!

















Always setup my watch 15-20 minutes earlier. My office mate always complains everytime he looks at my watch. Confusing him for sure. Got you man!

Wisdom Tooth

Barusan, setelah sekian lama sengaja ditunda-tunda, akhirnya operasi gigi juga. Cabut geraham bungsu bawah. Dari kemarin udah sibuk tanya ke dokter, sakit apa nggak. Masalahnya Jumat mau traveling nih :(

Jam 7pm masuk kamar praktek. Duh...mikirin bunyi bor dan jarum suntiknya aja udah bikin mules. Untung udah nyiapin Ipod buat tameng hehehe. Begitu mau bius, NKTOB udah mendayu-dayu di kuping. Eh dokter bedahnya dengan santainya nyebutin tindakan yang lagi dia buat. Aduh pak dokter, makin mules dan tegang nih. Pas adegan bor-boran, volume Ipod aku bikin maksimal. Giliran Glenn yang membelai-belai. Tapi tetep nggak bisa ngalahin suara bornya. Saking ngerinya sampai tutup mata. Nggak mau liat alat-alat mengerikan itu. Tapi giliran dijahit, mau nggak mau sempet buka mata gara-gara benangnya melambai-lambai di bibir. Nggak kepingin hitung berapa jahitan. Yang penting cepet selesai deh.

Kenapa ya peralatan dokter gigi itu mengerikan semua bentuk dan bunyinya? Tinggal tunggu biusnya habis baru deh bakalan terasa nyut-nyut :(

Ini kata wikipedia tentang wisdom teeth atau geraham bungsu:

Wisdom teeth usually appear between the ages of 17 and 25.[1] Most adults have four wisdom teeth, but it is possible to have more—in which case they are called supernumerary teeth—or fewer—a condition called hypodontia. Wisdom teeth commonly affect other teeth as they develop, becoming impacted or "coming in sideways".[2] They are often extracted when this occurs.

Wisdom teeth are extracted for two general reasons: either the wisdom teeth have already become impacted, or the wisdom teeth could potentially become problematic if not extracted. Potential problems caused by the presence of properly grown-in wisdom teeth include infections caused by food particles easily trapped in the jaw area behind the wisdom teeth where regular brushing and flossing is difficult and ineffective. Such infections may be frequent, and cause considerable pain and medical danger. Other reasons wisdom teeth are removed include misalignment which rubs up against the tongue or cheek causing pain, potential crowding or malocclusion of the remaining teeth (a result of there being not enough room on the jaw/ in the mouth), as well as orthodontics.

Many dentists and most oral surgeons recommend routine extraction of third molars (wisdom teeth) supposedly to prevent future problems. However, there is risk of injury, especially of nerve injury. Evidence-based practice does not support prophylactic removal of wisdom teeth, even if they are "impacted."[citation needed].

There are several problems that might occur after the extraction(s) have been completed. Some of these problems are unavoidable and natural, while others are under the control of the patient. The suggestions contained in the sections below are general guidelines that a patient will be expected to abide by, but the patient should follow all directions that are given by the surgeon in addition to the following guidelines. Above all, the patient must not disregard the given instructions; doing so is extremely dangerous and could result in any number of problems ranging in severity from being merely inconvenient (dry socket) to potentially life-threatening (serious infection of the extraction sites).

Taxi and Me

Hampir setahun ini moda transportasi yang akrab dengan saya adalah taksi. Semuanya berawal dari kemalasan saya bangun pagi. Untuk meminimalisir keterlambatan, terpaksalah order taksi dan keterusan sampai sekarang. Pertamanya selalu pesen taksi yang warnanya hijau kebiruan (atau biru kehijauan?). Tapi lama-lama jengkel juga karena selalu nunggu lama. Kalau dicek selalu dijawab 'mendekati'. Sampai satu saat, saya paksa operatornya cek posisi sambil saya tunggu. Ternyata yang dibilang 'mendekati' itu, masih beredar di sekitar Percetakan Negara. Di jam-jam kritis begitu, dari Percetakan Negara sampai Kp. Ambon bisa unlimited. Huh! Cukup sudah.

Trus ganti pilihan ke taksi berwarna putih. Pastinya tarif bawah juga tapi kalo dilihat dari argo terakhir, tetep lebih mahal dari si taksi hijau kebiruan itu. Sudahlah...yang penting setiap order, nggak perlu sebutin nomer telfon dan alamat karena sistem caller ID-nya sepertinya lebih canggih dan kalo cek pesanan, nggak pernah bilang 'mendekati'. Mereka pakai istilah 'mengarah'. Bagi saya, itu lebih baik. Tapi, belakangan taksi ini juga menyebalkan. Selalu nggak pernah stok setiap saya pesen. Akhirnya, kalo udah kepepet terpaksa panggil si biru itu.

Naik taksi emang bikin kita nggak keringetan dan nggak bau asep. Tapi yang paling nyebelin kalau:

1. dapet supir yang shift malem ke pagi. sering muncul bau-bauan nggak sedap :(

2. supirnya batuk tapi nggak ditutup dan batuknya depan blower AC

3. kaca spionnya diatur supaya dia bisa lihat ke bangku belakang

4. pasang radio tapi channelnya diganti-ganti terus. apa yang mau didengerin?

5. supirnya buang gas! -- ini kejadian beberapa hari lalu

6. mark up kembaliannya gila-gilaan

7. supirnya nggak balance antara injek rem sama kopling. mabok deh

8. supirnya nggak tau jalan tapi nggak mau ngomong

9. supirnya hobi ngajak ngobrol. padahal udah kasih jawaban udah pendek-pendek. udah tau saya lagi pakai earphone. beneran paling males kalo lagi capek/ngantuk/bete tapi dapet supir nggak bisa diem

10. bunyi hpnya kenceng banget dan sering atau nggak berhenti-berhenti karena nggak diangkat

Tadi pulang kantor mampir ke ITC Kuningan dulu. Macetnya minta ampun dan supirnya termasuk suka ngobrol. Cerita mulai dari kakinya pegel-pegel waktu pertama narik dan lewat Casablanca yang macet, nanyain tinggal dimana dan seterusnya. Akhirnya cuma jawab pendek-pendek. Begitu sampai dan mau turun, si supir bilang gini 'terima kasih. mohon maaf kalau ada kekurangan. tolong periksa lagi barangnya, jangan sampai ada yang ketinggalan'. Hmm speechless.

Tapi minggu lalu, dapet supir yang horor banget. Sepanjang dari kantor sampai rumah, itu supir ngomong sendiri, mengaduh-aduh dan merintih terus. Tadinya nggak gitu dengerin karena lagi denger Ipod. Tapi lama-lama kuping ini nangkep suara-suara nggak wajar. Gosh...bener-bener nyeremin. Gimana kalau dia tiba-tiba pingsan? Bisa urusan polisi pastinya. Udah siap-siap. Kalau dia nyetirnya mulai nggak beres, harus turun tengah jalan. Untung aja bisa sampai rumah walaupun terus mengaduh, merintih dan ngomong sendiri. Sempet mau komplein ke customer servicenya, at least minta si bapak ditarik balik ke pool daripada bahayain diri sendiri dan orang lain. Tapi nomernya sibuk terus.

Ho Chi Minh - Fun Fact

Fun fact about Ho Chi Minh:
1. Same time with Jakarta

2. Left Hand Driver and Right Hand Traffic

3. Apparently, traffic light is not common in Ho Chi Minh

4. No McDonald and Starbucks in District 1, 3 and 5

5. Crossing the street in HCMC is like gambling with your own life. So be confident while doing it

6. Kingdom of motorcycle

7. Though the weather is bloody hot but you can find lots of big trees everywhere

8. When they serve a whole coconut, they will make a small hole on top which is enough for your straw only. Looks like it's uncommon to eat the meat of coconut in HCMC. Just like in Bangkok

9. If you are not interested to buy something at Benh Thanh Market, do not try to ask the price or look at their stuff too long. They will get mad and give you some bad-mouth

10. It is difficult to find a drugstore in HCMC

Ho Chi Minh - Day 5

Minggu, 11 April
Hari terakhir di HCMC. Bayar hotel buat late check-out sekalian pesen airport transfer. Total USD 230.
Cuacanya cerah dan belum terlalu panas. Duduk-duduk di taman deket Benh Thanh sambil baca dan foto-foto sendiri :) Abis itu ke Benh Thanh lagi ngabisin Dong. Percuma juga dituker lagi ke Rupiah. Nggak seberapa. Makan siang hari ini nasi pakai daging panggang dan sayur sama minumnya kelapa muda. Sayurnya enak, dagingnya kebanyakan dan kegedean sementara air kelapanya agak asem.
 

jasa pedikur jalanan

16.30
Ke airport dengan bawaan yang lumayan bikin repot. Udah beli tas tambahan tapi ternyata masih nggak cukup buat lacquerware itu. Mudah-mudahan aja nggak pecah.

Lagi-lagi, check-innya makan waktu. Mana sempet salah ngantri di counter yang buat ke Kuala Lumpur :). Ya ampun rekan-rekan sebangsaku. Mbok ya nurut sama petugasnya. Udah dibilang tiap orang cuma boleh taruh 1 bagasi nggak lebih dari 15kg atau bayar biaya tambahan. Masih aja pada ngotot supaya bisa masukin semua barangnya di bagasi dan kiloannya cukup. Bikin lama tauuuuu.

Dong terakhir buat beli air mineral, USD terakhir buat beli coklat hehehehe. Kali ini pesawatnya delay.

00.30
Sampai di rumah. Capek tapi seneng.

Ho Chi Minh - Day 4

Sabtu, 10 April
Mau bangun males banget. Akhirnya tiket Cu Chi tunnel tournya hangus. Nonton TV sebentar sebelum perjalanan berikutnya.

10.00am
Baru selesai kunjungin War Remnant Museum di 28 Vo Van Tan, District 3. Museum ini dibangun September 1975. Kali ini naik taksi dari deket hotel supaya nggak abis waktu. Museum ini isinya cerita dari perang Vietnam dulu dimana Amerika ikutan terjun dan bikin neraka dunia di situ. Ada foto lokasi yang digempur pakai senjata kimia, foto korban-korban perang yang sekarang masih ada efeknya ke beberapa generasi setelahnya dan banyak lagi. Nggak terasa, saya nangis di museum ini. Betapa perang itu kejam sekali.

seorang perempuan Vietnam dan anak-anaknya berusaha menyeberangi sungai untuk menghindari serangan bom dari tentara Amerika. Foto ini diambil oleh Kyoichi Sawada di Quy Nhon, Vietnam 1965 dan menang Pulitzer Prize tahun 1966

script di bawah foto ini berbunyi:

When I was a child
I spoke as a child
I understood as a child
I thought as a child
But when I became a man
I put away childish things

Script lain yang saya baca:

During the Vietnam war:
- 3 millions Vietnamese were killed (among them 2 millions civilians)
- 2 millions people injured
- 300,000 people missed

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (the US Declaration of Independence adopted on July 4, 1776)

Naik bis dari Benh Thanh ke Bin Thay Market di District 5 (Chinatown). Harga tiketnya VND 3,000. Bisnya bersih, ber-AC, bebas dari asep rokok, ada TVnya, nggak ada pengamen dan nggak ngetem. Kondekturnya perempuan. Mirip pramugari malah dengan blus putih, rok biru, stocking, topi ala pemancing dan pita biru di blusnya.

Untung Bin Thay Market tepat di seberang terminal bis. Jadi nggak perlu repot. Bin Thay Market ini seperti Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua (bukan ITC-nya). Kebanyakan barang grosiran. Baju, mainan, helm, pasar basah, perkakas dapur dll. Baru masuk udah ditarik sama yang jualan kain buat Ao Dai (baju tradisional perempuan Vietnam). Segala bujuk rayu supaya saya bikin baju dengan garansi 2 jam jadi dan dianter ke hotel. Hmmm ok, setelah sepakat dengan harga USD 25 dan pilih warna, saya bilang nggak usah dianter ke hotel karena saya mau langsung ke airport. Jadi setelah 2 jam saya akan ambil. Biar nggak macem-macem. Sempet kaget sih mereka tapi akhirnya mau juga.

es buah pinggir jalan ini enak banget

11.00
Karena nggak menarik, akhirnya naik bis balik ke Benh Thanh. Makan siang di Benh Thanh Market. Kali ini menunya nasi dengan lauk vegetarian. Enak. Sambil nunggu jam, lihat-lihat souvenir buat oleh-oleh. Beli lacquerware buat hiasan dinding. Warnanya merah dengan gambar perempuan. Sama beli yang bisa buat dijadiin piring. Nggak begitu jelas ini dibuat dari apa. Bukan melamin, bukan keramik dan bukan kayu. Biasanya designnya dibuat dari kulit telur atau kulit kerang yang diwaranin trus dilapis seperti pernis.

01.00pm
Balik ke Bin Thay buat ambil baju. Nunggu sekitar 2 menitan. Jahitannya pas. Balik hotel.

08.00
Makan malam di Pho 2000 lagi. Menu malam ini seafood pho dan teh anget. Abis itu cari oleh-oleh. Lumayan deh, semua udah dapet jatah.

10.00
Baru baca sms dari mama minta dibawain buah. Balik lagi deh ke Benh Thanh. Jalan kaki.