Shisy Kozzy

Big Plan

2009-05-14T14:31:00.003+07:00

I know that I've abandoned this blog for quite sometimes. The main reason is lacking of time & motivation. Other reason is I'm thinking to rebuild this blog with different name & theme, also thinking to have vlog instead. Yet, I still have to decide whether I'll stay in blogspot or move to wordpress.

For sure, I'll just leave this blog temporarily inactive. Soon, I have settled my life in Tokyo, I should come out with a decision.

My 1st Belly Dance Recital

2009-01-09T17:35:00.002+07:00

Well, not much to say than Enjoy!

What a year!!

2008-11-04T16:16:00.003+07:00

Yes, what a year!

I can't believe that 2008 is almost over. I always wondering why time flies so fast when you're enjoying it :(

There are so many things happened in my life this year. One of them is that I'm now ready to move on to the next stage. You must have guessed right, yeah, it's the BIG DAY that will happen in June 2009. Isn't it great???

Here's recap of what I have done in 2008:

Jan - Also amazed that 2007 was over
Feb - Trip to Surabaya, Bromo & Malang
Mar - Trip to Bangkok to visit Evren
Apr - mmmhhh, nothing important...
May - My 29th birthday, yey!! Also the most important moment in 2008 is to have met Bill Gates in person
Jun - nothing spectacular, shoo...
Jul - Trip to Bangkok with my family
Aug - Celebration of Indonesian Independence Day with friends & did some crazy games. Also my resignation from Maverick
Sep - Engagement, hoooraaaaa!!! & trip to Yogyakarta with Evren
Oct - Start Turkish & Japanese course
Nov - Back to Maverick as part timer

So, there goes my life in 2008...

Mulai Nulis Lagi

2008-02-01T02:48:00.000+07:00

Setelah hampir seminggu nggak posting tulisan, hari ini saya mulai nulis lagi.

Dengan efek alkohol dan tembakau yang masih nempel di kepala, semoga tulisan saya nggak jelek-jelek amat!

Coba cek deh...

www.narcistbandit.com

Facebook-ing

2007-12-28T12:20:00.000+07:00

Sorry for being inactive from blog for the past three months. I found a wonderful companion and am crazy for it!! You better check out yourself if you haven't know about it. C U there!

Jangan hina Indonesia

2007-12-11T08:02:00.000+07:00

Jangan hina Indonesia

The first "Pesta Blogger" in Indonesia

2007-09-26T16:39:00.000+07:00

On the 27th October 2007 (Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta - tentative) Indonesian bloggers will be able for the first time to meet and greet with other bloggers.

It will be the very first time for us to come out from our virtual world and see other bloggers' face :P I guess it will be so much fun to meet other bloggers and we will get a chance to meet prominent bloggers, such as pecas ndahe, Enda Nasution, Budi Putra and others.

For more details, click here
Limited invitation for only 200 bloggers - first come first get!

See you there!!!

Who'll be the most handsome guy on earth? (Shisy Kozzy version)

2007-08-21T18:03:00.001+07:00

I always adore guys with dark hair and eyes color, deep look and good figure... (yeah, who's not?!)

Below is list of guys that I consider to be the handsome guys on earth, however I need your help to decide, which one you think the most handsome guy... Throw your opinion on vote section and we'll see who is the one.

Anyway, below are some highlights on the candidates:

Brad Pitt (William Bradley "Brad" Pitt)

Pitt attracted broader public attention from a supporting role in Thelma & Louise where he played a small time criminal drifter in a love scene with Geena Davis. In 1994, Pitt played vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac in the movie adaptation of Anne Rice's novel Interview With The Vampire. Pitt played the eighteenth century vampire which required several hours work in make-up on set to achieve the white skin of the character and he had to wear a pair of luminous green eyes, vampire fangs and a shoulder-length hairpiece to complete the appearance. Pitt worked with the eleven-year-old Kirsten Dunst, as well as Tom Cruise, Christian Slater and Antonio Banderas.

He then starred in Legends of the Fall and Se7en. In Se7en Pitt starred as the police detective David Mills alongside Morgan Freeman in the hunt for a serial killer played by Kevin Spacey.

Pitt made his return to Hollywood in late 2006, with Alejandro González Iñárritu's critically acclaimed Babel, starring alongside Cate Blanchett. The movie garnered a total of seven Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, one of which was a Golden Globe nomination for Pitt as Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. The movie has since become Pitt's highest grossing drama.

Jude Law (David Jude Heyworth Law)

I first noticed him as the lead character in Alfie, the remake of Bill Naughton's 1966 drama. I also like his performance in The Talented Mr. Ripley in 2000, which made him nominated for an Academy Award twice; once as Best Supporting Actor and another one as Best Actor in a Leading Role for Cold Mountain in 2003, both directed by Anthony Minghella.

In 2005, he was one of many actors rumored to be a possible choice to assume the role of James Bond, as MGM decided not to renew Irish actor Pierce Brosnan's contract. The role would eventually go to fellow Englishman Daniel Craig.

Orlando Bloom (Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom)

Bloom's first appearance on the screen was a small role as a rent boy in the 1997 film Wilde. Two days after graduating from Guildhall in 1999,he was cast in his first major role, playing Legolas in The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003). He had originally tried out for the part of Faramir, who doesn't appear until the 2nd movie but the director, Peter Jackson, cast him as Legolas instead. While shooting a scene, he broke a rib after falling off a horse, but eventually recovered and continued shooting. The success of the trilogy transformed Bloom from an unknown actor into one of world's best-known celebrities.

Bloom next starred opposite Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was a blockbuster hit during the summer of 2003. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, released on May 25, 2007 is Bloom's most recent film role.

Tom Cruise (Thomas Cruise Mapother IV)

I saw him and had a big crush when he appeared in Top Gun back in May 1986, which the movie becoming the highest grossing film of the year, taking in US$353,816,701 in worldwide figures.

I give a big compliment for his acting when he starred in the military thriller A Few Good Men with Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore. This film was very well received and earned Cruise Golden Globe and MTV nominations. On the same year in 1990s, he starred in Sydney Pollack's The Firm along with Gene Hackman and Ed Harris, which was based on the best selling novel by John Grisham, won Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture at the People's Choice Awards.

On top of that, I love his acting in the comedy-drama Jerry Maguire. The film earned him an Academy Award Best Actor nomination as well as winning co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. an Academy Award; the film was nominated for five Academy Awards in total. The film also included the line "Show me the Money!" which became part of popular culture. Jerry Maguire saw Tom Cruise become the first actor in history to star in five consecutive films that grossed at least $100 million in domestic release.

---

I myself vote for Jude Law as he's matched my criteria. Looking to his freeze pics and look straight to his eyes, make me powerless, left me breathless... could turn me on all of sudden :P

So, which one you vote?

Best Holiday Ever!

2007-07-25T02:06:00.000+07:00

Holidays are good. You look forward to them, plan ahead for them. They give you something to hope for through the chores and burdens of your work life. Holidays are much better if you have them with someone special, someone who likes to travel and is fun, someone who will turn your holiday into a whole different experience...

I had exactly such a holiday around a month ago, and the sole reason for my holiday to have those qualities was none other than sweet Indri! :) She came to Turkey for a two week vacation and of course I did my best to make it an enjoyable and a memorable one. Here's a brief account of our wonderful time together, the part we spent in Ankara and Cappadocia...

Indri arrived in the city I live, Ankara, Turkey on 9 June. I took her around the city, which is a much humbler one compared to Istanbul. It still has its highlights though, like the Atakule (Ata tower) built on one of the high hills that the city is laid out on, so we went there together to check out the view :) .

Next day, we hit the road for Cappadocia, which is a region in central Turkey, some 3 hours' drive east of Ankara, famed for its unique geology and history. Indri is such a nice company on the road, she cheered me up with her jokes and stories and before I knew we were already there! The road to Cappadocia from Ankara is mostly flat (although with the occasioanl hill), with green fields and pastures along the way for the most part of the journey. Unfortunately, it was a little cloudy that day to get better pictures...

As part of my plan to impress Indri, upon arrival at our hotel, I ordered one of the best Turkish dishes on the hotel restaurant menu :-P This is a dish called "Güveç", made of a variety of vegetables and chicken...Without doubt, supreme food is one of the many good reasons to for you to spend your holiday in Turkey :-D

Earlier, I mentioned that the region is famous for its geology. Here's why; all over the place, you can see these rock formations, uniquely shaped by the wind over millions of years through the valleys, in a way which has no other example in the world. And yes, before you think of it, everybody smiles when they first see these shapes :-D

As for the history part, the region was one of the first places where early Christians sought refuge from the persecution of the Roman Empire some 2000 years ago. Many natural caves and caverns provided an excellent hiding ground for these refugees. Over time, thousands of people moved in to live in the region, expanding the caves they originally found to suit the basic needs of every day life. Here's an outer view of such an area, along with a snapshot of a mess hall carved in one of the caves.

As time passed, these earlier dwellings proved inadequate for the increasing number of people, so they moved in to much larger caves deep underground in the region. These "cave-cities" were actually also used by various civilisations in much earlier times. These are more than 50 metres below ground and occupy a vast area, so much so that they open only a small section for tourists, to prevent anybody from getting lost in the huge maze any given city makes. Narrow corridors connect one section of each city to another.

On our last day in Cappadocia, we preferred to stay above ground and explore the beauties of an iconic valley in the region, called the Ihlara valley. It is actually more like a canyon, with the Ihlara River running through its entire length, trees and vegetation on boths sides of it from one wall of the canyon to the other. You descend to the floor of the canyon through a looong flight of stairs, going down vertically at least 50 meters until the floor. Once on the floor, in addition to the scenery, there are several very old churches and monasteries along the length of the river as a bonus, all in caves on canyon walls. They are unfortunately in a decrepit state but still full of impressive icons and religious artwork dating hundreds of years, back from the Christian times of the region.

It's a great place for trekking and all the more so with Indri! :) The long walk and the excellent surroundings enhanced her creativity to tease me, crack jokes and make fun of me when I tripped or lost my way, etc. :-D

We left the Ihlara Valley and Cappadocia exhausted but totally amazed... It was so much fun, it was definitely one of the most fulfilling holidays of my life, in large part thanks to Indri's company! :) The final part of my plan to impress her was to show her that I actually have an entire town named after me, on the way back to Ankara :-P. Here's the proof for that, along with a couple of more pictures from our holiday, to wrap up the whole story. Cheers!

il vino dell'amore

2007-05-29T19:00:00.000+07:00

Caro mio, dammi il vino dell'amore
Con il vino dell'amore, il fiore cresce
Quando lo bevo, non sento male

La mia imagina vola
Volevo stare accanto di te
Sara' un bell giornata
Passare la sera con te

Tra poco ci volo
Dove mi stai aspettando
Non ci sara' tristezza piu
Quando stiamo la su'

*Picture taken from www.marcarini.it/images/bottiglie/Fontanazza.jpg

Wall has ear

2007-05-16T19:54:00.000+07:00

by Zenwyler0deathsythe

2007-05-15T00:00:00.000+07:00

[Dedicated for Evren on his sacret day and to wish him a "Very Happy Birthday!!"
Always be a great person as you are now.
Love you with all my heart.]

2007-05-09T18:59:00.000+07:00

You : How r u, babe? How's ur day?

Me : I'm good, just arrived home. My day was really busy, but I survived anyway :P

You : Listen, I want to tell you about something. They have announced my next assignment.

Me : Ok, wait! (try to control my breath...my heart's pounding so hard). So, where they will assign you?

You : You just went there recently!

Me : Where? Europe? (I wish... :P)

You : Bangkok!!

Me : What? (shock, unhappy, yet relieved). Well, Bangkok's nice, ...

You : I'm going to be assigned there for a year only, ...

Me : What? how come? why? (confused)

You : Yeah, because they'll then post me to Japan, for three years!

Me : What???!!! (so happy) That's even better!!! :))))

You : You know what? Bangkok's only 2 hours away from Jakarta, we can meet more often!

Me : Hey, I like it!!!

Janji Inn

2007-05-08T07:01:00.000+07:00

Waktu jalan dari kantor ke bank yang ada di Legian, tiba-tiba ngeliat penginapan dengan nama yang lucu ini.

Untungnya saya belum nemu penginapan bernama: 'Lagi Inn' atau 'Ngerja Inn' atau 'Bersih Inn'. Hehehe...

PS: Sorry I write this article in Indonesian because it's only funny in Indonesian.

28 is not just a number

2007-05-01T00:00:00.000+07:00

28 years ago, a small baby girl was born excitedly to see how big the world is,
Which until now, she still hasn't got the answer

Same excitement has she as she tries to move on to the tough world
She wishes nothing more than just happiness

1st of May is her day to see that 28 is not just a number
It's sign of maturity & wisdom

Stupidness taught her to become stronger, wiser & tougher
Love taught her tenderness, caring & understanding

In age 1 to 27, she learnt a lot from tears & laughters,
That 28 is not just a number,
It's her whole life

A Disgusting Opinion on Indonesian Women

2007-04-30T17:04:00.000+07:00

Sunday morning, while I was having a superb brunch at Four Season Hotel with five friends of mine, I was so pissed off by an article appeared in The Jakarta Post. David and Ri told us about this article that they read earlier before coming to see us. (Advice: read the article first, before you read my posting through)

At glance, I wouldn't think this article is annoying as written on the title "More sex please, we're British", but after have read it, I say that it's the most disguisting article ever written. And why in the hell they could publish it?

The article was written by Duncan Graham, The Jakarta Post contributor lives in Surabaya, East Java. It was an interview to an old pensioner and former military pilot, Sheldon Archer, who apperently lives near Surabaya, in Probolinggo. The article is a story & confession about how Mr.old-b*****d Archer and his typical-village-woman-and-of-course-uneducated Indonesian wife, Yuyun, got together in a knot of marriage. Well, you would say, "what's wrong with that?"

What annoyed me is how he's ignorantly and so rude to describe his experience marries to an Indonesian woman...

This is what he said in the article:
"I could never have got married to someone like Yuyun if I was still in England. Here there are no problems", "I married a child", "Let's face it; every middle-aged man has a fantasy of making it with a young girl -- just ask Bill Clinton. Here in Indonesia fantasy can become fact"

Yeah, look how old he's and this village woman sees him as a money tree, no matter how old he is. In Indonesia, most in villages, sadly, the people always think that foreigners have better economic scale than Indonesian, which is true. So, that's why, Yuyun married him as her ticket to a better life. His statement on “fantasy”, is totally exaggerating & I don't think it's something that we, as Indonesian woman, can be proud of.

What really ignorant is this:
"I had to become a Muslim to marry. I just mumbled a few words I didn't understand. I'm not religious and Yuyun isn't serious about religion."

Hell, his statement is really degrading and has misperception on muslim marriage.

This article is nothing compared to the website run by him, as a very potential business. Check out An Asian Wife:

"Would you like a wife who never complains, nags or refuses sex? One who devotes her life to making you happy ... who will love you as a person and not as a meal ticket?"

Hey, the way he said as if a wife is similar as a dog. Of course, Yuyun & the rest of village women will never complains, nags or refuses sex. Have you ever heard about communication barrier? This is it, these women can’t speak your language & how could they say it!

More about this website, it’s you to judge…for me this site is more than just matchmaker service, it’s a human trafficking and hidden prostitution.

No wonder he said, "They'd call me a dirty old man back in my hometown Sheffield.”

I think you ‘re more than that!!!

Simon got knock-down by The Simpsons

2007-04-27T20:25:00.000+07:00

Let's go dog!
Marie Poppin's accent, ooouuucchhh....

Posted in YouTube by GWrocks09

An Evil Superhero's in Town

2007-04-27T18:44:00.000+07:00

Finally, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) strikes back to win M.J's heart and at the same time, he's full with doubt to choose being a good or an evil Spiderman.

The film with total budget about $258 million, makes this movie as the most expensive film ever made. It even breaks the record of King Kong's budget of $207 million. Spiderman 3 has been released in U.S on March, 4 and just arrived in my town two days ago.(Wikipedia)

Well, now I know where I will spend the weekend. Meet you there?

Now, Nike+iPod!

2007-04-27T17:40:00.000+07:00

Went success in co-branding with several brands, such as with The Global Fund, which focusing on to fight AIDS in Afrika, Apple released iPod nano under label PRODUCT (RED), nowadays, Apple teams up with Nike to launch a breakthrough product, named Nike+iPod Sport Kit.

As quoted from their official website:

You don’t just take iPod nano on your run. You let it take you. Music is your motivation. But what if you want to go further? Thanks to a unique partnership between NIKE and Apple, your iPod nano becomes your coach. Your personal trainer. Your favorite workout companion. Introducing Nike + iPod.

I'm an Apple MacBook user and I thought Apple & Nike idea was brilliant. Whenever I go to the gym, I always see people running on the treadmill with iPod in their pocket. So, now with this kit, it's even less hassle, and it can measure & record the distance & pace of a walk or run. This iPod nano is eqquiped with accelerometer attached to or embedded to the shoes. The accelerometer then send the run or walk history to iPod wirelessly. Pretty cool, hah?

More about Nike+iPod Sport Kit as written in Wikipedia:

The kit was revealed on May 23, 2006 but for a short time was unavailable for purchase. The kit is able to store information such as the elapsed time of the workout, the distance traveled, pace, or calories burned by the individual wearing the shoes, and display it on the screen or broadcast it through the headphones of an iPod.

Glimpse of Historical Harput & Elazig

2007-04-23T03:39:00.000+07:00

Hi everybody! Recently I had a trip to a town in Eastern Turkey called Harput. Although it’s no match for Indri’s KL and Bangkok visit, I just wanted to share here a few pics that I took from the town :P

Harput is very close to a central city in Eastern Turkey called Elazig and has lots of very old historical buildings. The region belonged to various Turkish states during the times of Crusader Kingdoms, around 800 years ago. One of the Turkish princes of the time, Balak Ghazi, was a very successful commander and administrator. Among his other deeds, he took prisoner Josselin of Courtenaty, the Latin Count of neighbouring Christian Countship of Edessa in 1122 and later the Christian King Baudouin of Jerusalem in 1123. So in addition to his other successes he became a local hero, commemorated even today with a large stone statue at a dominant hill in Harput overlooking Elazig.

From the very same spot, here's a view of Elazig.

This is me from the same spot :)

There are also several very old mosques in Harput. One is callsed Sara Hatun Mosque, named after the charitable noble woman who was the mother of the Turkish Akkoyunlu Sultanate in the region in 1465. Them mosque is small but in remarkable shape if you consider its age.

Yet another and older one is the Ulu Mosque (Ulu meaning, great/ holy/ sublime in Turkish), built astonishingly in 1157 by a Sultan this time of a Khanate called Artuklu, right after the time of Balak Ghazi. Even if you're not a history geek to keep all these names, I found the age of the mosque incredible, and that it's still in operation! Also remarkable is that the minaret isn't straight, little bit leaning but still standing. I took this picture minutes before it started raining, as you can see from the gathering clouds. The leaning of the minaret is only slightly noticeable at this angle. One final mosque I will mention is the Kursunlu Mosque. This one is relatively newer, having been built "only" in 1739 during the time of the Ottoman Empire. Its name (Kursunlu) means "leaded", as the dome is covered with lead.

There is one more structure in Harput yet older than any mosque or any building for that matter in town. That's the Citadel of Harput. Originally built by the very ancient Anatolian Kingdom of the Urartu, more than 2500 years(that's 25 centuries!) ago, waay before the Turks arrived in Anatolia. Later, each conqueror (God knows their number) repaired and perhaps enlarged/modified the structure, as it was built on a commanding spot and its utility unchanging over the millenia, down to our times. It's in remarkable good shape, and as you walk through Harput towards it, you can understand why everybody preferred to keep it working all this time. Among the notable guests of the Citadel are the Count Josselin and King Baudouin among many others down the ages. Notice the flagpole at the top of the castle; you can go up there along a winding path starting from the entrance gate at the bottom right, to arrive at the top some 10 minutes later, where I took the other picture.

One final place that you can go in Harput is a traditional Eastern Anatolian Turkish home, kept as a museum next to the Ulu Mosque. It's actually a smal house but enough to give you a glimpse of life back then. In those days, where winters were long and no mass entertainment was available, they put red hot coal pieces in a bowl (seen under the arch) and put ashes over the contents to keep them hot. They then placed the bowl under this low table, around which all the members of the family gathered sitting, with their feet under the long table cloth piece (which was thick enough to act a s a blanket and long enough to extend out to cover the legs of people sitting), as seen in the picture. The stories exchanged by the fire, as well as the fire itself, kept people warm and happy through many nights.

Finally, here's a picture of one of the rooms upstairs from the arched room. A very old (like 200+ years) authentic flintlock double barrel hunting rifle as well as a copy of the Quran within emprodered cloth covering are on the wall. Also typical is the low sofa. In the other picture is me at the door of the same room. The pictures on the wall are there perhaps to remind the visitor of the changed times.

Well, that was a short glimpse of a small but a very historical town in Eastern Turkey. Sometimes small towns hide their treasures better than you expect, so this trip proved to me the value of straying out of the main tourist routes once in a while. I hope you enjoyed this small recollection too :) Cheers!

Kick his ass or butt?

2007-04-20T19:26:00.000+07:00

Check out HurricaneStevens' funny video!
Worth watching...
I can't stop laughing!!!

If...

2007-04-20T18:07:00.000+07:00

Let's cook in Jak TV!

2007-04-19T10:17:00.000+07:00

Cooking live on TV? why not! It's even more fun...

I and four other Mavericks, Shilla, Nancy, Riri and D were invited to be the guest (stars :P) in Jak TV cooking program, Sendok Garpu. A one-hour cooking program hosted by Rinrin*, a newcomer host in Sendok Garpu, turned out to be a great experience for Mavericks. Aside from late schedule that was first set up at 9 pm to 10 pm, it could only end at 11 pm, the rest of the taping process was big laughter, jokes and great chat.

Rinrin led the show in casual, communicative and fun way, and the born talented Mavericks, acted so natural, as if it wasn't a show at all. Rinrin prepared for us breakfast set which consist of bruschetta, apple truffle, and magenta juice... all yummy!!

After the show, Jak TV handed us goodie bags and a parcel of food & beverages as a token of appreciation. Surely, we want to do it again. Jak TV, we look forward to your other invitation...as guest star :P

* Rinrin, third from left.
Before, Sendok Garpu was hosted by three male chef.
Sendok Garpu's aired Monday to Sunday at 9 am and 5 pm.

"Who the hell is that guy on the far left?"

... maybe ...

2007-04-16T17:44:00.000+07:00

Today is our monthly anniversary, 28 months to be exact.
He used to call in the morning...
Or if he's busy, he will text me...
Or send me e-card...

But today, no news from him... no call, no sms, no e-card.
Maybe he's busy...
Maybe he forgot...
Maybe he say it late...
Maybe...maybe...maybe...

Too much maybe...
Just let it be...

A "busy" month

2007-04-05T17:28:00.000+07:00

Feel so awful that I still don't have time to write in Shisy Kozzy. Almost a month, I'm so God damn busy*!!
Just wait for my next insertions in coming week.
There are plenty to share!!

*With work, travel to Jogja, KL & Bangkok :)

Coming soon my story about...

Trip to Losari, 16 - 18 March 2007

Trip to KL, 23 & 27 March 2007

Trip to Bangkok, 24 - 26 March 2007

Tragedy for a brave man

2007-03-07T15:05:00.000+07:00

I met Alessandro Bertellotti (Ale) in 2004 when I was still working for Italian Institute of Culture, Jakarta. We met coincidentally in an occasion of European Film Festival. He took several images from the event to be aired in RAI (Italian National TV Station). That time I helped him to interview several Indonesian film practitioners. Til now our relation has grown better than before.

Last night, I met him and went out together for dinner and going to cinema. This is his million times to visit Jakarta, which as journalist, Jakarta is his favourite place to visit and get valuable news. He's in Jakarta to cover the Java Jazz Festival and also to cover a UNESCO meeting that will be conducted on March, 6 in Jogja. He told me about his plan to Jogja, and how he wasn't comfortable to wake up at 4 am to catch 6 am morning flight. That night with full stomach and full of laughing, we said goodbye and promised to meet up after he came back from Jogja.

This morning, as I arrived in the office, everybody was so panic with this hot news: "Garuda airline GIA 200 destination Jogja has crashed and burst into flames on landing in Adi Sucipto Airport, on the early Wednesday morning of 7 March 2007." I directly asked myself, whether Garuda is the earliest flight to Jogja. After confirming to my colleagues, I felt I had a heart attack. Garuda is the ONLY early flight to Jogja. Then, I screamed inside, "Ale!!"

Soon, I rushed to my administration staff and asked her to call Garuda and asked whether Ale was listed as one of Garuda GIA 200. What a shock! The answer was, YES!! "He is on that crashed plane," I said to Shilla. Shilla also knew Ale, I've introduced her to Ale last night. I felt really shocked, surprised and couldn't believe it. I just met him last night and I could tolerate if something happen with him. "Damn, I hope he's ok..." I said. I tried to call his cellular, but it was off. Then, I started to think bad, I was so overwhelming than I started to cry.

I couldn't stop thinking, if anything happened to him. Remember all the jokes we said last night and how we spent time in Java Jazz Festival. I tried to work, but my mind was occupied with the thoughts, predictions of his situation. At 1 pm, Shilla got a call from some man in Jogja, I was ready for something worse. Then, suddenly Shilla screamed Ale's name, "he's on the phone!" she said and passed the phone to me. On the other line, I heard Ale still talking, "tell Indri, I'm ok!" he said. After a short conversation with him and how he told me that he was ok with small injured.

He hang up the phone after saying he should go to finish the thing in Jogja and he would fly back to Jakarta in the evening. I was so relieved, happy and mad too... Not to him, but to the reality on how careless a people can be, in this case, the pilot. The news on the Garuda crash was a hot news and I was mad, sad and disappointed to the situation. Lately, Indonesia has been tested with series of accidents and disasters, killing even more people.

What's wrong with this life?

*The picture was taken the day before the Garuda crash.
Alessandro Bertellotti, Algooth (Bisnis Indonesia), Shilla and I.

Between Benny Likumahua, Bubi Chen, Jamie Cullum and Larry Franco

2007-03-04T22:31:00.000+07:00

Java Jazz Festival has been conducted for two days, and today is the last day. I never went to any Java Jazz Festival, because I don’t feel to go. I’m not a jazz maniac; I just like jazz, like any other music.

This year Java Jazz Festival, I got a free ticket from my journalist friend, Alessandro. He’s an Italian journalist living in Australia for more than 9 years. He works as journalist for RTSI, a Switzerland radio news bureau and for RAI, Italian national TV. He wanted me to assist him in interviewing Indonesian jazz artists and needed me as a fixer. Well, I don’t mind at all, after all it’s nothing for a free ticket to Java Jazz that cost IDR 900 thousands for the last day. Aside from the entry ticket, the ticket is also valid for Jamie Cullum’s concert. So not bad, hah?!

Now, it’s almost 11 pm and now I’m here waiting for an interview with Bubi Chen, a legend in local jazz industry. He’s still on stage playing with Benny Likumahua and his band; the audiences are so excited and so moved with the rhythm. I see Ale in the corner with his huge camera on the corner, he seems really enjoy the show. Like he said earlier in his Italian accent, “Bubi Chen is fantastic!” Now, I’m trying to recap my day since 3 pm this afternoon. I arrived in the convention center around 3 pm something; I had to wait for around 10 minutes until Ale came out to get me in. I have to wear a wristband with “Press” written on it, kinda funny that I always in the position to handle journalist and now I’m in their position. Ale led me to the media center to re-register.

The convention center was still empty as I got in; several bands were playing their own rhythm. It’s more like night market where I can hear two or three music are playing at the same time. As I entered the media center, I saw few people there wearing the same wristband as I do. 4 apple PCs are there to serve journalists needs of Internet. After re-registration, I followed Ale and discussed our program. He asked me whether he could interview several Indonesian jazz artists, and I recommended two names from the list. Benny Likumahua and Bubi Chen, both are Indonesian leading jazz musicians. There are pioneers or I can say legends in jazz industry. Soon after we’ve finished with the discussion, I rushed myself to the media center to get information on how to interview these two legends. Ale, in the other hand, needed to wait for his source, an Italian jazz artists that also involve in the festival. He wanted to interview them prior to their performance tonight.

Finally, I could get into the list of interviewers to Benny Likumahua and Bubi Chen. It wasn’t that hard, just needed to use my hidden journalist skill, not bad at all! Our first interview was with Benny Likumahua, it took around 15 minutes and the interview was in Bahasa. Ale wanted it in Bahasa, “to get original side,” he said. He gave compliment for my act as a reporter; he said, “You’re a born talent,” again with his Italian accent.

Anyway, I finally got introduced to the Italian artists, Larry Franco and his band, and we ended up watching SF Jazz Collectives from USA. They were really good! One of the SF musicians was Bobby Hutcherson, one of few vibraphone and marimba players in the world of jazz. That was the first time for me to see what vibraphone looks like. Slightly, it looks like our traditional instrument, Angklung. I sat there enjoying the performance for almost an hour until it had to end. Then, Ale and I wanted to have dinner before we continue the program. We had dinner in Sultan hotel, a quick one, and we had to hurry to see Jamie Cullum’s concert at 7.30 pm.

Jamie Cullum’s concert was postponed to 8.15 pm, but we were already there. At 8 pm the door was opened, we entered the hall slowly because of the lineup. We managed to get a good spot for Ale to be able to shoot the stage. The hall was getting crowded and packed. Not long, the presenters called Jamie Cullum to start the performance, scream and applause welcomed his appearance on the stage. Ale had to move his camera to other strategic spot to get good views. He said, “You’re off duty, you can enjoy the concert and we’ll meet again after the concert!” I didn’t know whether I had to be happy or not. “Should I enjoy the concert,” I questioned myself. I never really like Jamie Cullum like Shilla does. She supposed to be here somewhere; she’s a Jamie Cullum’s biggest fan. I called her up and asked where was she…I could only find her after more than 15 minutes. She really enjoyed the concert.

I could only last there for almost an hour, and then I decided to go out and get a fresh air. I called up Ale to check where he is. He was in Bubi Chen’s show when I found him. The Bubi Chen’s show was start late, therefore the interview will be late too. So, I went out and looked for a place where I could open my Mac and write something. As I walked out from the Bubi Chen’s show, I saw a room and I catched a note “Jamie Cullum’s Press Conference” written on that room’s door. I hurried to text Shilla about it and hopefully she could join the press conference.

That’s what happen today. Now, I’m resting my legs and waiting for next interview with Bubi Chen, and to close my day I’ll see Larry Franco’s show at 11 pm…what a day!! Thanks a lot Ale for inviting me to the Java Jazz Festival…

Mbah Jingkrak (Hopping Grandma)

2007-03-02T15:21:00.000+07:00

Want to taste real traditional Javanese food? Try the newcomer restaurant in town. Mbah Jingkrak is located in Jl. Bulungan opposite to Gelanggang Remaja Bulungan (Youth Hall), stays on the Joglo house (typical Javanese House) with wooden antique Javanese interior…it really creates the atmosphere.

Mbah Jingkrak offers varieties of traditional Javanese food; Pecel, Krecek, Rawon, Tempe & Tahu Bacem, etc. More than 30 varieties of food are offered on the big table in the middle of the restaurant. They offer some kind of “Warteg” style restaurant, where you can see all kinds of food they offer, and then, you can choose any food you like.

My recommendation; do try grilled chicken, “Tahu Bacem” (sweeten tofu), sautéed squid in black sauce, red rice, and “Sambal Iblis” (Devil’s Chili), and get yourself a glass of sweet ice tea…it tastes really typical Javanese tea.

They also play traditional Javanese music to company your meal, it really brings your appetite. Enjoy!

Mbah Jingkrak
Open Monday to Sunday – for lunch and dinner
Jl. Bulungan – South Jakarta

Love sucks?

2007-03-02T08:35:00.000+07:00

narcistbandit
8:13 AM
Ndro
Indri P. Rosid
8:13 AM
woi..
narcistbandit
8:14 AM
duuuhhh....lagi sedih nih...hiks...
Indri P. Rosid
8:14 AM
knapa say?
narcistbandit
8:14 AM
sedih sm kenyataan
Indri P. Rosid
8:14 AM
which is?
narcistbandit
8:14 AM
huh...
narcistbandit
8:15 AM
pernah nggak sih ngerasa sayang sm orng...or...like Cold Play said: You love somebody but it goes to waste...?
narcistbandit
8:15 AM
gw lg ngerasa kyk gt
Indri P. Rosid
8:15 AM
loh emang wayan knapa?
narcistbandit
8:15 AM
well...dia kan mo ngelanjutin kuliah ke US
narcistbandit
8:16 AM
& gw nggak mau dong jd ganjalan
narcistbandit
8:16 AM
mau nggak mau gw hrs ngebiarin dia pergi
narcistbandit
8:16 AM
& gmnpun....gw trauma sm LDR
Indri P. Rosid
8:18 AM
i always believe that love is sacrifice..
Indri P. Rosid
8:18 AM
do u think i didn't feel bad when he left?
Indri P. Rosid
8:19 AM
it just not fair if you dont let your love one to grow better, is it?
narcistbandit
8:19 AM
yes....makanya gw nggak akan nahan dia disini
narcistbandit
8:19 AM
& skr gw ngerasa ngasi rasa sayang gw for nothing
narcistbandit
8:19 AM
krn toh akhirnya dia akan pergi
narcistbandit
8:20 AM
loe kyk berusaha sekuat tenaga...bnr2 sekuat tenaga...pdhl loe udh tau akhirannya...semua akan hilang...
Indri P. Rosid
8:20 AM
there is no "percuma" to show how u feel to someone..
narcistbandit
8:20 AM
ngabayang nggak sih rasanya?
narcistbandit
8:21 AM
Ndro....gw udh berkali2 kyk gini
Indri P. Rosid
8:21 AM
i know exactly how u feel honey...
narcistbandit
8:21 AM
selalu berakhir kyk gini
Indri P. Rosid
8:21 AM
but u need to let him go...
narcistbandit
8:22 AM
I know....and it means...let half of heart go too...
narcistbandit
8:22 AM
(again)
Indri P. Rosid
8:24 AM
yes...
Indri P. Rosid
8:25 AM
that's the consequence, kalo lo ga cinta bgt sama nih orang, apa lo akan ngerasa yg lo rasain skrg?
Indri P. Rosid
8:25 AM
being in LDR will also test your feeling juga loh..
Indri P. Rosid
8:26 AM
so mungkin lo skrg cinta, tapi will it last?
Indri P. Rosid
8:26 AM
true love last loh..
Indri P. Rosid
8:27 AM
so u choose, u want true love or just ordinary love that always beutiful..
Indri P. Rosid
8:27 AM
love is pain, sacrifice, yet beautiful..
Indri P. Rosid
8:27 AM
kalo cuma beautiful doang, i don't think it's love..
narcistbandit
8:28 AM
damn...u're so right
Indri P. Rosid
8:29 AM
i've learned a lot nang...
Indri P. Rosid
8:29 AM
love is like a dream.. u really have to fight for it..
Indri P. Rosid
8:30 AM
u think it's wonderful, beautiful, but it's just a big heart break
Indri P. Rosid
8:31 AM
come on honey!! cheer up..
u can get over the pain..
r u there?
narcistbandit
8:35 AM
yes....
crying
(again)

Sweet little thing on Monday morning

2007-02-26T08:30:00.000+07:00

Monday is always been a hard day for me. Like it or not, no matter how great my weekend was or even suck, Monday would never give me much difference.

I was in Jogja for two days, took care of my client's event. They launched a credit card for young professional in Jogja, well actually they launched its merchants. The card itself has been launched in 2003. However, I've spent my Friday and Saturday there, in supposed-to-be-a-wonderful-place Jogja...damn I missed everything! I took off from Jakarta on Friday at 6.40 pm and arrived back on Saturday at 7.30 pm, short, tiring, and lonely trip.

This morning, after huge debate with myself, whether I should come or not to the office, and apparently my good side won, I went to the office with less energy, tired and still sleepy. Now, I arrive at my desk, I find this cute-pinkish-super-mini-bag on my table... it's written "a small pouch of SOMETHING SWEET".

I: "what the hell is that?"
I: "maybe it's from Evren?"
I: "neah, he wouldn't send thing like this to me!" (no offense yah babe!)
I: "let me just open it and find who was sending it..."

I open it and find a pair of gorgeous earing inside and a little card. On the card, it's written "Good Job" on the outside, inside I see several lines of appreciation on my "Good Job" and effort in handling the Jogja's event... oooowwwwhhhh so sweet!!!

It's Shilla who sent me this sweet little thing on Monday morning and she make my Monday!! Thanks Shill...

Irresistible Loneliness

2007-02-24T11:30:00.000+07:00

Being in a business trip is something that I can’t resist. Even if it was only for a day, it felt like hundred days, especially when it had to take my day off. This Saturday, I had to be in Jogja to assist my client to launch one of their card products. I went to Jogja with Garuda on Friday night at 6.40 pm. What I hated the most from this time business trip was that I had to go alone. Well, there were times when I went with other colleagues, but this time I ended up being alone.

I arrived in Soekarno Hatta International airport at 5.30 pm, so I had around an hour to wait for the boarding time. As soon I arrived, I approached to the check in counter; there was a heavy package to be registered in the baggage. Soon I’ve done with it, I looked around to see if there was thing that I could do before entered the gate. I managed to apply the GFF membership that took around 15 minutes. Then, I was free…this time I felt great hunger. I knew that there would be food on the board, but I didn’t mind to have a light snack before the take off. I grabbed myself a three pieces of chicken nugget and a big glass of cola…definitely an ultimate pleasure to eat something I like when I feel hungry. It was 6.15 pm by the time I finished my light meal, so I decided to enter the gate, mine was F4.

The waiting lounge was quite crowded, yet I didn’t find difficulty to find a good seat. I turned on my laptop and started to write something that I haven’t had finished at work. It felt like second when the officer called for boarding. I felt tired already…it’s killing me when I don’t be able to speak to anyone…I like to talk so much. My friends sometimes feel annoyed when I can’t stop talking. Once they challenged me for not talking, it lasted only 26 seconds.

I got (again) wing side; it’s a natural luck that I always get a seat on the wing side. However, I always enjoy it as much as I can, because I like to see how the wing moves and also the view outside. I ended up seating with two men, one was a foreigner and the other one was Indonesian. The middle age Indonesian sat next to me, he wore a nice dark blue suit. Finally, I could talk with someone, with this man. He is around 50 something and is a director of a well known financial institution in Indonesia, he was also on a business trip. He is a nice man with Batak accent, an easygoing person. We exchanged story on why we had t o be in Jogja, about our job and finally exchanged name card. The night trip to Jogja was a rough one, bad weather; rain and bit thunder lights. The landing was also scary, felt like riding on Metromini (public bus) where it always makes sudden breaks, bit bouncing and shaking. The runway in Adi Sucipto – Jogja airport is not smooth and short, it always give a hard time for the pilot to land smoothly. This time, it wasn’t a good landing at all.

After I could manage with my baggage, I went out and looked for the pick up service. I saw a man holding a board with my name on it; soon I approached him in rush. The plane was late for 20 minutes and I wouldn’t make him wait for longer. It was so nice to be finally in Jogja after more that 10 years from the last time I visited Jogja. In 15 minutes I already arrived in Novotel. After I finished with the registration, I finally could see my room, a superior room, a nice and warm room.

I needed to meet few people before I could rest. My client from Jogja branch office needed to get the package that I brought from Jakarta. It felt like a short meeting, yet it was already 10.30 pm when we finished the meeting. Finally, I was free, yet alone. I decided to take a bath to relax myself. I turned on the hot water to fill the bath tube. I poured in the bath foam to the hot water, it was in mint flavor. I soon got inside the bath tube and laid down…so relaxing! In half an hour I finished my bath and hurried to sleep. Evren called to check how I feel; it was so nice to hear him before going to bed.

The next morning, in the hotel restaurant, where I wrote the story, on the corner of the restaurant with my laptop and a glass of coffee, I started my busy day. I ate quite a lot that morning; I always have great appetite in the morning. After I finished my breakfast, I had to meet my client to give a quick brief on the event, as he would be the spokesperson. Almost an hour we talked. Inside my heart, I thanked him because with him I was able to talk. During the day, I met lot of people that I could talk to, the media, my client and other people. I even didn’t realize that it was only 1.5 hours before my departing time. The event was a success, even though Jogja was wet all day by heavy rain.

After sending several documents and had a quick chat with Evren, I hurried myself to go to the airport. I said to myself “It must be a long journey again, since there will be no one to talk to…phuii…” I bought few traditional foods in airport for office and home. As I went out from the store, I saw someone I knew before. Lucky me, it wasn’t only one but two person that I knew them in Aceh. I thanked God that He answered my worry… It was 6.20 pm as we took off. Even I and two other friends sat on different seat; I managed to talk with someone else, the man who sat next to me that was my friends’ client. I landed in Jakarta safely…well, travel alone wasn’t bad at all, except the reality that I might have to shut up.

Your love...

2007-02-20T09:31:00.000+07:00

Am I acting to much?
Am I being insensitive?

Have I lost interest in you?
Have I ever asked you too much?

Is it me that who can't understand you?
Is it me that who start to push you aside?

Do I really want to do it with you?
Do I really think that you are the one?

Should I always be the one who sacrifice?
Should I be more patient and think that everything will be ok?

or

Should I just swallow all these questions and forget about how should I answer them?
What I know that you love me and wouldn't do anything that makes me feel unhappy, down or betrayed. Once you said,

"You are my pearl, my treasure...
What I want to give to you is not sadness but pleasure
If I make you sad please forgive me, I'm thankful for the love you give me...
Your smile and happy voice are what get me going,
Inside my heart there's a deep longing... to see you, to feel you, to touch you
If I can't make it clear enough it's my fault
A little smile I just thought is what I want to send to you
To make you day brighter, to make your worries lighter...
Love you and miss you in every way..."

Your love is sweet, yet painful...
Your love is addictive, yet agonizing...

Am I just stupid to let myself be blinded by love?
But people say Love Is Blind...oh confusing!

I want to have my own...

2007-02-19T18:50:00.000+07:00

I, Dilla & Yasmin

Being innocent, young and ignorant is the thing that I'd love to be... Well, I've been in that situation and I was once like that. Yes, when I was little… Oh how much I miss it, the time when you don’t care for the others except your own happiness.

Look at the baby and toddler whenever they ask for something, tears is their great weapon. They can look to your eyes with such begging look, an innocent look that you don’t dare to refuse their requests. They are allowed to do stupidest, craziest, most unbelievable things and whenever any adult complains, other adults think that he/she is child hater or child neglect (this is the worst!).

Last Sunday, I finally could spend my day off with my two favorite nieces, Dilla – 5 years old and Yasmin – 3 years old. They are so lovely, hyperactive, curious, and sometimes annoying. Once I and Dilla were in the car waiting for her mom and next to our car parked a Mercedes Benz – CLK Class, the owners were entering the car. Dilla paid attention to them and said to me, “Tante (aunty), that car is so lovely, why the owners are ugly?” I was so surprised, didn’t expect a rude statement would come from her little mouth. Then, I couldn’t stop laughing as I heard her explanation. Apparently, she used to watch “sinetron” where in most scene; a beautiful person always gets a lovely vehicle and the other way around… tolerable ignorance!! Some other time on Lebaran day, (where most people and of course, maids/domestic servants visit their hometown) I asked her where her mom went (her mom was on leave with her husband for couple days), then surprisingly she answered, “She went ‘mudik’ with HER HUSBAND to Jogja,” instead of saying “my mom went with my dad to Jogja”. She framed it, as her mom is third person and also as a maid… so funny, purely innocence.

So many things that they did create big laugh… what unbelievable creatures children are! If I acted as innocent and ignorant as they do, I probably got lots of enemy and big punch all over my face and body. Well, I’m glad I’ve live the moments like they do now… that’s what makes me lot richer in character. I really enjoy the moments I spend with Dilla and Yasmin, bring back my child side. Makes me thinking it would be nice to have my own… Mmmmmhhh could you guess what I want?

"Ci vediamo NB!"

2007-02-15T14:20:00.000+07:00

It's always wonderful to have you here,
even though it was only for a short visit
Your companion is the thing that I cherish,
coz you ease my lonely days

Wish you to come back soon and
spend time again in March

See you NB!

The story of Dugemers

2007-02-15T13:29:00.000+07:00

"Happy Valentine dearest Evren!"

2007-02-14T15:04:00.001+07:00

"This song represents words that I wanted to say to you...
You make me feel comfortable and complete.

Seni seviyorum Evren askim!"

I don't wanna go another day, so I'm telling you exactly what is on my mind
Seems like everybody's breakin' up, they're throwin' their love away
But I know I got a good thing right here, that's why I say...

Nobody gon love me better, I'ma stickwitu forever
Nobody gon take me higher, I'ma stickwitu
You know how to appreciate me, I'ma stickwitu, my baby
Nobody ever made me feel this way, I'ma stickwitu

Through everything goin on we're right here holdin on to one another
The reason why I love you, ya charm and personality, I love your sensitivity
Hmm let me take a second, cuz I'll be your love & essence

Only, wanna hear your voice speak, when I feel your body heat, love every minute of it.
You're like the fresh air, when it feels like no one cares that's why I say...

And now, ain't nothin else I could need
And I'm, singin 'cuz you're still so into me
I got you, we'll be making love endlessly
I'm with you, baby you're with me

So don't you worry about people hanging around, they ain't bringing us down
Baby talk to me 'cuz all I'm here to say is I'll be right here for forever and a day

You're a shelter in the storm, I'm right here
Keepin' me away from harm, I'm never gonna leave you
You're a song with beautiful words, I'm your song something that I never heard

You know how to appreciate me, I'ma stickwitu, my baby
Nobody ever made me feel this way, I'ma stickwitu...

Lyric by: Pussycat Dolls - Stickwitu

Narcist Bandit's Lovely Bear

2007-02-13T23:05:00.000+07:00

Narcist Bandit came to visit Jakarta since Feb, 6. I spent almost every night with him, chatting, having dinner, shopping, etc. Tonight is his last day before he flies back to Bali tomorrow evening. We met in usual place, PIM 2. We had dinner, great chat and we ended it with a big glass of Irish coffee and a slice of Goldmine cheesecake...we ate from the same glass and plate. Lovely...

Then, we exchanged gift to celebrate valentine's day. He gave me this cute lovely bear with little card written: " Thanks for being my bestfriend! May love always showering on you!"... oooowwwwhhhhh, so sweet!!

I would like to thank him for all his attention and being so wonderful in the moment like this. The moment where any couple would spend it together. My cutie pie Evren is far away and what Narcist Bandit did, eased my worries and loneliness, but still can't ease my longing to Evren...

Happy valentine NB! I love you...

Great Food in Kampong Vietnam

2007-02-12T08:47:00.000+07:00

Teet teeeet…incoming sms.
Ri: “I just arrived.”

I hurry myself, shut down my mac and take my bag. “Have a nice weekend!” I greet my entire office mates that are still stuck in front of computer. After giving a hurry-up sign to Shilla, I go out to meet Ri. Ri shouts when I open the door asking where Shilla and Alit are. I answer that Shilla will come out in the minute, but Alit unfortunately can’t join this time. There’s a slight of disappointment in her face, but she understands that Alit has to be in another place for “Arisan”. It’s unacceptable that we had miscommunication on the schedule causing Alit absence in our pig out session.

Less than five minutes, Shilla enters the car. This time, our pig out session is missing one of the piglets. But anyway, show must go on, our tummies are singing the symphony of hunger now, need to be responded wisely…hehehe… Take off from the office exactly at 6.30 pm, heading Jl. Wijaya and to find “Lang Viet”, a Vietnamese restaurant that was recommended by Thang. He said it’s the best Vietnamese restaurant in town, the real Vietnamese food.

Entering Jl. Wijaya, we get bit lost, since we have no idea where the place is. Shilla refuses to call up Thang to ask the exact place. So, three adventurous piglets with singing tummies search in any way to find the place. Shilla orders us to enter Grand Wijaya, she’s sure that Lang Viet locates there. After a single round and quick stop in ATM, Ri decides to call David (Ri’s husband) and asks him to google the place. We finally get the number and we drive out from Grand Wijaya. It’s quite funny that we have to come back to Grand Wijaya, since the Lang Viet receptionist directs us the place and apparently Shilla’s right! Lang Viet is next to Texas fast food restaurant, in the same row of Wijaya 21. Damn, we missed it! I said, “to find good thing, needs a long road.” We’re all laughing at our stupidness.

We park the car opposite to the restaurant, we are lucky enough to find near park place. Grand Wijaya is pack tonight; most cars are parked in this row, since Wijaya 21 is the biggest attraction here. From the park place, we can see Lang Viet signboard, oval greenish sign with quite low luminance that placed above the entrance door. Shilla said that we’re not stupid enough to miss the place, since the sign is not clear.

We enter the place, two-waitress stand behind the door. One of them opens the door and both welcome us. No other customer inside, the place is not big, but not small either, it’s around 15 m sq. We take the table near the glass drawer that decorates with small statues of typical Vietnamese figures. The table and the chair are comfortable; there are around seven tables of four more inside this room. The room is neat, warm and peaceful, bamboo leafs and couple fake trees calm the room. The cashier table locates in the right side of the entrance door, followed by dine tables in the middle and the kitchen in the back of the room. There’s stair to other floor, next to the stair I can see a direction said galley at the 3rd floor. “Lovely place,” I said.

I’m distracted when the waitress comes and gives us two menus, one for beverage and the other for food. The menus are cute and are formed like big leaf written Lang Viet in the first page. We read thru the pages, start from beverage menu. I order “ca phe sua nong” (hot Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk) and mineral water. Ri gets herself a glass of ginger tea and Shilla orders the same like I do. We have difficulty to decide what we want to eat and after 15 minutes, we finally can decide something. We order “tu quy” (four kinds of Vietnamese roll), “banh mi ga” (roasted chicken with French baguette) and “banh xeo” (crepes a la Saigon) as starters. “Pho bo” (rice noodle beef soup – typical north Vietnam) is ordered as our main course. The prices are also quite cheap, it starts from IDR 10.000 to 20.000 for beverages and IDR 30.000 to 60.000 for food.

The drinks come in around 5 minutes and starters in 10 minutes. We are amazed with the presentation; several leaves are placed as garnish… nice and tempting! We are very hungry and start to try on the starters. We start on “tu quy”, there are four kinds of roll with two pieces each and each roll was cut in two, they’re served in fried and in steam, three sauces are served with them. They taste really good, very appetizing. A couple of mom and daughter come in and seat next to our table. Eventually, Lang Viet is only start crowd after 8.00 pm. We continue and try “banh mi ga”, it taste even better. Fresh ingredients of slices of roasted chicken, tomatoes, carrot, and cucumber with mayonnaise are filled inside the baguette… great combination and very tasty! The last starter is “Bahn xeo”, a yellow half round crepe with slices of shitake mushroom, bean sprouts with sour sweet sauce (taste like “cakwe” sauce) apparently, it’s not as good as the others, but it’s good to try it. Even though I’m almost full, I won’t miss “pho bo”, actually this is not the first time I try “pho bo”. I’ve tried it in Vietophia and Pho 24 in Kebayoran area and it taste good in both restaurants. This time, apparently Lang Viet “pho bo” taste the same like the one in Vietphia and Pho 24, but I think the one in Vietophia taste bit better. I can’t manage to finish the ”pho bo”, I’m too full!! I lean on the chair and slurped “ca phe sua nong”… ouch, very nice! I watch Shilla and Ri spooned their last “pho bo”, they look satisfy like I do.

To finish our pig out session, Shilla and Ri order two kinds of “che” (pudding), lotus seeds with taro and mung beans with tapioca seeds, both are served hot in small bowls. They are hot, but nice and I like the “che” with lotus seeds and taro… it’s more like soup than pudding… sweet, but not too sweet and there’s a relieved feeling when I eat it. The lotus seeds give different taste and I like it a lot. We are all full and very pleased tonight, the food is great, the atmosphere is superb and friendly service, the last but not least, the price fit us, IDR 351.500 only… cool!!

Before we go out from Lang Viet, we go to 3rd floor, curious to see the gallery. Apparently, Lang Viet is two floors restaurant, there’s dine table in 2nd floor, but no one there, only couple workers on the kitchen. The toilet also locates in 2nd floor, one room toilet; neat and clean. The gallery is small, contains with typical Vietnamese products, crafts, paintings, statues, etc. The prices are also affordable, starting from IDR 50.000 to 1 mio. I ask to the lady in the gallery about the ownership of the restaurant. She said that Lang Viet belongs to Vietnamese couple who lives in Indonesia for more than 20 years and they are already get Indonesian citizenship… mmmhh so it’s really Vietnamese food, since it comes from Vietnamese hand.

Lang Viet not only serves real and good Vietnamese food, but the owner has successfully transferred the Vietnamese atmosphere. Lang Viet itself means Kampong Vietnam, well like the name, the place is representative and fits the idea. Wish to come back there for lunch…

Lang Viet
Grand Wijaya
Tel. 720 6774
Open daily 10 am – 10 pm, close Monday

Piglets in Action

2007-02-08T17:00:00.000+07:00

Food is always a tempting object for me. Eating is not only for the sake of keeping the body in function, more than that, it’s an awesome stress killer. Stress is hell and good food means heaven on earth… it’s never too much, it’s never enough, and it’s so addictive! The only thing that I regret is my little tummy, it so not fits my humongous appetite. For me, good food has to come in good package; wonderful presentation, pleasurable atmosphere, and right choice of beverage, will never quench my appetite… One thing to add that good companion is always gives me an optimal pleasure.

Speaking of good companion, my three girlfriends in the office have the same humongous appetite, and to accommodate our interest, starting 5 months ago we officially conduct a pig out session. At first, the piglets were only me, Shilla and Alit, but on the second round, we welcomed a new piglet, Riri. Alit and me have the same problem, little tummy, but Shilla and Ri are truly big eaters. Shilla is the piglet queen, has humongous appetite and very reliable tummy. Ri comes in second place, followed by Alit, and me in the last place.

The pig out system is simple; each piglet takes turns to treat other piglets. The host has the prerogative in choosing the pig out destination, but most of the time, the destination is chosen by voting. We aim to try as many kind of food, as long it doesn’t cost more than IDR 350.000 per session. Many times the bill exceeds the limit and when it happens, we split the rest amount.

Even tough we are so picky and have high taste, so far, we are still satisfied with the result; we’ve tried Italian, Peranakan, American, Chinese, and of course Indonesian food. The latest pig out was in December 2006, where we went to Dapur Baba Elite, serving superb Peranakan food with impressive presentation. The old Chinese interior with optimal lighting enriches the atmosphere, creates different sensation in dining… what an excellent combination! Anyway, I can’t wait for the next pig out session that will be conducted next week on Friday, February 9. I feel hungry already. I want foooooooooood…………….

Why we don't learn? - Flood paralyze Jakarta

2007-02-02T18:59:00.000+07:00

It's 7:01 pm and I'm still in the office... Why?

Most of the main streets in Jakarta are flooded and the roads to my home are blocked.
I hate it!!!! Why…why… why… Coz we don’t learn!

Since Wednesday night until this morning Jakarta and other surrounding areas are showered by heavy rain. Less than 2 hours, water engulfed nearly every main street in Jakarta, Sudirman and Thamrin streets get the worst impact. Many workers have to roll out their pants, carried bag and shoes while crossing the streets. Several can’t even make it to arrive in the office and have to struggle to go back home. Motorcycles, cars, busses, and other kinds of vehicle get the destructive effect.

I’m getting tired to live this moment every year. Is there anything that we can do to reduce the floods impact?

Picture taken by: Wahyu Setiawan/Tempo

Cheap Dinner

2007-02-01T08:01:00.000+07:00

Having a cheap dinner is part of our life here in Bali. And one of our favorite place to have it is at Poppies. Poppies is a name of a lane in Kuta. You will find so many foreigner (especially Australian surfer) there. And Poppies is a famous place for backpackers, because there's so many cheap hotel there with price for one night start from 50,000IDR!

There's hundreds of resturant at the Poppies and last night me and my friend have our dinner at Warung Wulan located in Poppies lane 1 (Benesari Street). Warung Wulan is our favorite place to have pizza with very cheap price. A 30cm round wooden fire pizza worth only 27,000IDR. It's very cheap! And it goes well with a bottle of beer (12,000IDR).

So whenever you go to Bali, don't forget to have dinner at Poppies.

Why I Love to Live in Bali

2007-01-19T10:28:00.000+07:00

I'm a Jakartans who lived in Bali for almost a year. And now I want to share a few points of why I love to stay here in paradise:

1. Every day is like holiday here. So, if you work here, like I do, then you’ll feel like you are on holiday but somebody pay you monthly! Isn’t that great?

2. Your life will become cheaper and happier. Why? In Jakarta, you have to pay a lot for your lifestyle. Like pay 35,000IDR for a cup of coffee. Here, you can enjoy your meal in a very cheap way (a hot plate STEAK with a very fat meet for only 13,000IDR), but still surrounded by bule (Indonesian slank for foreigner), without loosing your style. And don’t forget, you can also enjoy a beautiful sunset while having your meal!

3. Dress with any style you want! People here doesn’t care about who’s the designer of your shirt or what’s the trademark of your pants. You can wear anything you want. My friend from England said: “What beautiful about Bali is that you can ride your motorbike, anywhere, without wearing any shirt!” Yes! I also do that. I go to Ubud every weekend, shirtless!
No rules about dress here. You can go to a fancy restaurant wearing your shorts and T-shirt.

4. NO TRAFFIC JAM! For a Jakartans like me, traffic jam has been part of my life. So, move to Bali is like moving to the real paradise. No traffic jam here! You can always go anywhere you want without thinking twice for a traffic jam. You don’t need to go 1 hour before your appointment start or have your breakfast in the car while going to your office. Here, I can enjoy my breakfast slowly (I can even cook my favorite meal in the morning) while watching the TV and go to my office 15 minutes before the office time.

5. Entertainment is everywhere and party all the time! No day without party here as people come to Bali for holiday. And if just need some relaxation from your work, you can just go to the beach, sit there with and ice cold beer on your arm, and you'll feel like you're in heaven! Again, it's cheap.

6. International Life. No need to be a member of some embassy or study in an international school. Just sit on the beach and you'll have friends from many different countries around the world. You'll also get used to live an international culture. Wine for dinner, potluck party, Barbeque Party, and anything that usually goes to bule's lifestyle.

7. It's a paradise. So, who refuse to live in paradise?

Please remarks that I only put FEW POINTS of why I love to live in Bali here. There's so many points more you can see as I'll contribute more writings and photos about Bali. So see you on my next contributions!

Hi from Evren!

2007-01-18T19:45:00.000+07:00

Hi everybody!

When you take a brief look at Indri's life, you see she's surrounded by friends and by laughter. That's because she's a person full of life and loves fun and joy! When she comes acrooss with problems in her life like we all do, she approaches these with patience, perseverance and optimism. She loves to makes jokes and tease you, all the more to share some joy. That's one of the many things that I love about this girl, the positive energy that she has! I guess all who know her would agree with me :)

Honestly, it took a while for her to notice me around (hey, I'm not a boring guy, really!! :p ). She is so active and her life is so full, I can't really blame her for that :D . But fortune was smiling on me that she did finally notice me, and so we first became friends, then more. She gave me everything she could, made my life so much more colourful. She made me happy, gave me her smile and lent me her support. It's more than I could have asked for! I'm so happy to have met her and to be close to her.

Anyway, for now I thank Indri for being her beautiful self and for giving a place for me in her heart (and her blog too! :D ).

Welcome aboard Narcist Bandit!

2007-01-18T17:48:00.000+07:00

Gruβ NB!

I'm so glad that NB finally join Shisy Kozzy. Herzlich willkommen NB!!

To give you a glance story on how we finally ended up as a good friend, it all started in the high school. We went to Labschool back in 1994 and we were in the same class for two years. In the last year of glorious moment of the high school, we were apart, I took science class and NB took social class. We had a gang that contain of three boys; NB, Irzal & Hengki and five girls; Me, Aris, Prima, Riri, Ika & Theo (Gee, I hope I didn't miss anyone). Back then, we used to spend time together, hang out in malls (Kelapa Gading and Plaza Indonesia were our skipping-from-school favorite destinations), escaped class, participated on Prambors event (the on-the-road competition), and “curhat” on our crush. It’s pity that the relationship between us doesn’t last, even though some of us still catch up for coffee after work.

Since high school, I realized that NB has a different sex orientation than other boys in the gang. He interested in cute male junior around and sometimes asked Aris or me about them. I never really realized it, because he was in relationship with this girl (I only saw her picture once – never convinced about it :P), until we were in university the image of NB got clearer. He officially revealed the fact to Aris and me only (probably?) and we are happy for him. I’m glad that he is what he is, otherwise we couldn’t be a good friend like this… Love you NB!

NB has such unique character… he’s so unpredictable, sometimes I can read what will he do, sometimes I completely surprised by his act. Once he said he wanted to date a girl and to have a serious relationship, probably to marry her. In different occasion, he introduced me to a cute guy and said, “He’s my new boyfriend”… Olala! We have many things in common, we like to comment on how people dress up, love good food and cute guys… definitely!!! We've shared laughs and tears for years; broken heart, asshole boyfriends and happy moments.

I adore him as a great person. He’s likeable too and you’ll see from his writings…Careful you might go crazy on him! So, NB looking forward for your catchy writings and photos of Bali yah!

"Hi!" from Paradise

2007-01-18T07:49:00.000+07:00

Hi all!

It's an honor for me to be one of contributors for Shisy Kozzy! I'll contribute my writings and photos mostly about this paradise island, Bali!

Hope you'll enjoy my contributions! And thanks to Shisy Kozzy to give me this beautiful opportunity!

25 extraordinary months

2007-01-16T09:00:00.000+07:00

For 2 years and 1 month I've experienced such an extraordinary life... The reason is because of this guy that makes my life completely different, became happier, even though sometimes he made me cry, but that what makes our story meaningful.

Today is our anniversary, aside from call & sms I send him in the morning, this time I want to wish to our relationship thru this blog. I'm so lucky to have met him, even though he was the first who felt something about me, in the other hand, I was too concentrated with my leave to Italy and could only notice his attention after 7 months when I got back to Jakarta. It's a wonderful feeling, maybe the same like any other in love couple, but with him I feel something that I never felt before with any other guys. Am I exaggerating? I don't think so, I'm quite rational! Many times he made me upset, many times he made me cry, many times we argued on things that we don't think the same, but I don’t think I could ever count how many times he made me happy, smile, laugh and cry in happiness.

This is the most comfortable relationship I ever have that 2 years gone so fast, but all the memories of ours are clear like the series of the movies screening in my head. What I need is to look for the chapter and play it back, it's too many, yet I won't be bored of it.

Baby, thanks for being a lovely part of my suck life, you make it more reasonable and worthy to live.

You're always in my thoughts
You're always in my dreams
You're always in my fantasies
You're always in my heart
You're always in my soul

I can't get enough of you

Seni Seviyorum Evren Askim!

Xmas Madness

2007-01-13T16:05:00.000+07:00

Not much to do on the last year Christmas Eve...
With Shilla, we took silly pictures.

Evren, Shisy Kozzy's influencer

2007-01-10T10:57:00.000+07:00

Even though Shisy Kozzy is a personal blog, but I've thought earlier that it would be nice if I could invite one or two contributors to help me in developing this blog. Well, I call them "Influencer", because these people influence me in many ways; with their insights, rich point of views about anything they think and do. Shisy Kozzy's influencers are welcome to write anything they like to share. I encourage them to be as open as I tried to be.

Anyway, I'm proud to introduce and welcome Evren as my first contributor joined this blog. Thanks for your interest and in the future, for your time to share any writing in this blog. Evren has already a special place in my heart and hopefully he could also satisfy me with his insertion :P He has so many things in his mind, just doesn't have chance to write it down in any medium (or too busy, lazy maybe :D) Ok, Evren hope you'd like your new title as my influencer and waiting for your influencing writings.

My other potential contributor, "NB" (if he approves my request), is a great influencer in being so open to public and not afraid to share anything, he's just like me a very straight forward person. The main difference is he loves to write and me in the other hand, just now trying to write. Looking forward to your coming "NB" !

Happily Ever After... Is it really exist?

2007-01-08T14:52:00.000+07:00

Last night, I couldn't barely close my eyes. It was already 2 am when I realized that I had insomnia...phuiii...tough night! Probably, because I had sleep to much during the weekend, on Friday & Saturday I slept almost 12 hours...hehehe... But that wasn't the only reason. I had so much to think, had have quite serious argument with my boyfriend earlier [eehh bit fighting :( ].

Desperate to find a way to sleep [counting sheep, singing several songs - didn't work!], I turned on the TV - had little tour to every channels and ended up on Trans TV. They screened one of Twentieth Century Fox collections where Drew Barrymore played as Danielle (Cinderella) and Andy Tennant (director) spun the story that the magic came within not from the fairy godmother. I saw that Tennant was never less than passionate about delivering a realistic, different "Cinderella" to the screen. He saw that he tried to change the perception of young generation that for everything we truly believe, we have to fight for it, not just waiting for the thing to come by itself to our door. In the old version, the tale that was created over hundreds of years, however, has been a story of a passive woman waiting for a strong, handsome (and nearly silent) prince to rescue her. Absolutely, you won't see that kind of Cinderella in Tennant's version. I like this version better, because I believe that there's no such thing as magic, what exist are effort, will and gut.

Now, the question is: is Happily Ever After really exist? mmmmhhh, never happened to me before :( I believe that everyone, including me, believe that there's a "Happily Ever After" life... I and every girls out there, probably, really wish having our own Cinderella story... meet the right person, fall in love, get married and live happily ever after. Well, at least if I couldn't live happily ever after, I would rather die in happiness :P That's more than enough for me...

After all, who could tell that he/she had ever live a "Happily Ever After", unless he/she could come out from the graveyard and said it out loud :P You maybe?

Saddam Hussein

2007-01-05T18:09:00.000+07:00

Yesterday I saw the video clip of Saddam's execution and somewhat it creates a goosebump to see the fact that Saddam was hanged to death. The former powerful Iraqis leader was hung on December, 30th 2006, followed by the execution of his affiliates, Barzan Ibrahim (SaddamÂs half-brother) and Awad Hamed Al-Bandar (the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court). Saddam was quite calm that day, wearing a black suit, hat and shoes, rather than prison garb, his hat was removed and his hands tied shortly before the noose was slipped around his neck. In a final moment of defiance, he refused a hood to cover his eyes.

Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Ju780cf0E

The full execution clip, that I thought was taken by a mobile phone camera, lasted around 2 minutes was kind of tiring to watch. The shot was not steady and bit blur (low resolution, probably...). I held my breath on the moment the sounds of wood cracking on his fall and later on saw his broken neck and wide eyes opened... Is this a fair punishment for him and for Iraqis? Some people say "yes", some say "no". I guess, now all the victimsÂ families will be happy because Saddam got his just sentence, even though by the death of Saddam won't replace any life that has been taken. Nevertheless, conflicts are stiloccurreded in Iraq, between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and between Iraqis in general and the America forces. It's common that even a devil has fans...

Richard Dawkins statement on "Saddam should have been studied, not executed" posted in LA Times is also quite interesting. He said that Hussein's mind would have been a unique resource for historical, political and psychological research, a resource that is now forever unavailable to scholars. Well, it's cool to know what was going on in his mind... He also added that Saddam should have been locked up, by all means. Kept him in jail for the rest of his life, to be sure. But to execute him was irresponsible. Hussein could have provided irreplaceable help to future historians of the Iran-Iraq war, of the invasion of Kuwait and of the subsequent era of sanctions culminating in the invasion.

Mmmmmhhhh... what do you think?

New Year's Eve 2007

2007-01-04T08:42:00.000+07:00

The year of 2006 has past so fast that I don't even realized it...
Anyway, life must go on right?!

I remember that last year I celebrated New Year of 2006 in Sabang - Aceh, the east part of Indonesia. It was quite an exciting experience to have a New Year’s Eve party in the middle of nowhere. Have you ever imagined yourself having a party in quite isolated place, but it turned out to be the best one? Hey, it happened to me loh! ;) We had a rave party by the seashore at Gapang beach, it's about two hours drive from Sabang town. We had seafood for dinner, wine, beer and some "Dodol Aceh" as dessert, woooowwww!!! Dodol Aceh was the best "stuff" ever, sticky-green-jelly-dodol made from weed and bit of sugar, guarantee it can fly you so high and no hang over feeling on the morning after... We closed the party by dancing until the sun rose.

This year, as the end of 2006 approaching… Several friends and me decided to welcome the coming year by celebrating the New Year’s Eve together, in most common way... :D It was I, Rina (my adorable client), Robby (Rina’s lovely husband), Rani (my annoying sister) and Shilla (my partner in crime) started the New Year’s Eve with kind of easy meal dinner in Pizza Marzano – Senayan City. It was 8 pm when we finally gathered. Shilla was there earlier… she’s an on-time kind of person (sorry to make you waiting yah Shil!! :P) We had some bruschetta, pizza, soft drink, beer & wine during our long mocking conversation… that’s a healthy conversation, though! After we filled our little cutie tummy, we drove along Asia Afrika Street headed for Century hotel, where we later changed our clothes.

It was 10.30 pm as we left the hotel heading to Baby Face lounge in Thamrin area. Baby Face throw out a New Year’s Eve celebration in cooperation with Paranoia. We managed to enter with out any FDC… thanks to Rina’s affiliate who welcomed us nicely and gave us lot of “terompet” to blow!! After having series of cocktails, red wine & other tempting drinks, we danced toward the countdown. And exactly 12 am, 1 January 2007… Terompet were blown loudly, teeeeeeeeeet teeeeeeet teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet…. We hugged and kissed each other saying “Happy New Year!!!”

We danced all night and it was 3.30 am as we left Baby Face.

Congratulation Meiji & Kholis!!

2006-12-29T15:38:00.000+07:00

Last Saturday on November 23, 2006 in At-Tin mosque, a lovely & in love couple united in a holy knot of marriage, Meiji & Kholis, my beloved friends from University. Meiji is one of my adventurous partners during my stay in Italy.

I met Meiji at the university where she took France that was next door to German department, my major. Meiji and Kholis met on the one occasion of JakArt, back in 2002. It was me who met Kholis at first, and then I felt that he would be a great partner for Meiji… I have the talent as a matchmaker!

So, on that Saturday after 3 or 4 years of long distance relationship (Meiji was in Jakarta and Kholis was in Singapore), they finally engaged in a most sacred & highest achievement of a relationship.

Congratulation once again for both of you!!!

Travelling as Self Enrichment

2006-12-29T14:52:00.000+07:00

One of my favourite things to do is travelling. 2004 was the best & the most awesome travel experience I ever had and it’s because I had a chance to study abroad, even though it was only for six months (Huuuhuuuu, how I yearn to come back there…). I spent most of my six month in Siena, a small & lovely city in Tuscan area, one of the best tourism objects in Italy and also a tourist trap. Why so? Just to give you an illustration, in Siena, for a slice of pizza, it cost 3 Euro to 5 Euro (the same size with a slice of “Pizza Hut”, but thinner), which I think that Pizza Hut is not a real pizza! In Rome, instead, I can get a same size pizza for only 1.5 Euro to 2 Euro. In Siena, most of the restaurant or café has two kinds of menu, one menu for the Senese (the Siena citizen) and Italian which lot cheaper than the menu for foreigner. Well, the menu for foreigner is 100% more expensive… (hah, I thought that kind of trick only happens here!)

Ok, now back to the travelling… On the weekend or during my free time in Siena, I travelled around to other cities nearby, like Pisa, Perugia, Florence and Rome. The first thing to do was, I called up friends who want to join me and share the experience together. Several times I found one or two companions, but many times I didn’t… sigh! Andez was the best travel companion and wish to do it again with him. Among other Indonesians friends, I was the only who like to travel so much. The other, instead, liked to stay at the dorm or do any other “no trip or travel” activity. The main problem for them was budget. I know that the scholarship fund was limited, but if it could be arranged well, it was more than enough (like I did ;) ) But these friends of mine wanted to spare some money to take home… it’s pity that for the sake of sparing money, they can’t see things that money can’t buy…”experience”!! Oh, well it’s their right, but it’s such a shame!

There are routine things that I always do before I begin a trip. Well, I’m a very organized person, so I can’t tolerate myself if I missed to bring something that I need. After I decided to go on travelling, I make a list of the things I need. The must have items are several T-shirt (one or two T-shirts are enough, depend on how long I’ll stay in that place), disposable panties, toiletries, a drinking bottle, passport and any related documents, some biscuits and chocolates (70% cocoa dark chocolate is the very best companion, hehehe…), a digital camera (very useful, so I can delete any unwanted pictures right away) and the last but the most important thing is a map. After those stuffs are in my backpack, then I begin to make an estimates budget for the whole trip. After everything is settled, I’m more than ready to start the trip.

In Italy, the easiest transportation to travel around is with “Trenitalia” train; it can reach to all provinces, except Sicillia of course, it can even reach other countries, like France, Germany, and Netherlands. Actually, I can take either bus or plain and they are all have some advantages, but anyway I prefer to go by train. I’m so amazed (until now…) that Italy has soooooo beautifully amazing landscapes and I was so lucky to have lived in Tuscan area which is well known as the heart of Italy (watch “Under the Tuscan Sun”… so you’ll know what I’m talking about). Tuscan is the foremost wine producer and extremely delicious Italian culinary centre, well Naples is also the best in culinary… (make me hungry to talk about it, nyam...nyam…). Travelling by train in Italy is highly recommended (by me, hehehe…) because your eyes will be so much pleased by the views of green landscape, blue sky… oh, my favourite was passing the sunflower field, sooo gorgeous!!!! Once, I travelled by car with my Italian friend, Vito, and we passed a huge sunflower field. I spontaneously shouted to him to pull over and I ran into the field, I felt like an angel flying above it… so free and peaceful. I left Vito speechless and shook his head, amazed by my action :P

However, after arrived in the destination city, on the train station I urged to a “Tabaccaio” and got myself a city map with complete detail of tourism objects, not to forget to buy the bus ticket which cost around 1 Euro one way (usually I only bought two tickets). Museums, historic sites or buildings, parks, city landmark are my main attraction, and if the location is near the train station, I go by foot. This is the best part to travel around the city by foot (if the city is small, like Verona or Padua) that you get interaction with the local people, just to ask direction or their recommendation of good places to visit. Many times, when I travelled alone, I got a local guide for free and many times I’ve been treated lunch or just a cup of coffee or soft drink (double the fun, hihihi…). For the local people, I’m a “bule” and they were really interested to know where I came from, etc. One disadvantage in travelling alone is the limitation to take picture of our self (narsis nih!!), so it’s a great pleasure to have local people’s companion during the trip. And since they are local people, they know better their city. They even took me to the place that has more value than other tourism objects. Once, I went to this butcher shop and the butcher was so kind that he explained to me how to make a “prosciuto”, fermented ham which took around one year fermentation to get a good one. In that shop, there were several big prosciuto hanging that have been fermented for more than three years and they really cost a fortune. For Italian, eating prosciuto is kind of luxury and they treat it as a prestige food. I had a chance to taste it, it tasted ok, not so delicious either…. different opinion from the butcher that said it was ottimo. He also offered a glass of Chianti red wine from year 1960-ies (I’m a red wine freak!! One day, I have to take wine testing course and be sommelier… mmmhhh…), this time I agreed that it was veramente buonissimo!! After I thanked him and said goodbye, he gave me a pack of “biscotti” with almond to accompany my trip, said this nice man.

Aside from travelling around the city by foot, the next favourite destination is the museum. I can spend more than four hours in the museum, most historical, cultural and “brain filling” journey where I can gain information, facts, truths, and principles about a country. In Italy and most of European countries, a trip to museum is so much fun because somehow they constructed the museum in such easy-to-explore building. With not more than 5 Euro for student, I could explore the whole site in the museum and to understand more about the collections, the assistance of a guide is the best solution. Well, a guidebook can be another alternative; I instead, like to rent an e-guide that looks like a phone where I can select any kind of language. This device is really useful, handy and easy to use that I can just listen to the explanation while I’m studying the museum collections. I only use guidebook where no e-guide provided, but it always makes me stay longer, because first, I have to read the explanation before I study the collections. Once, in one of the Roman underground graveyards that located outside Rome, I almost got locked in inside the site. I was too concentrating listening to the e-guide that I didn’t hear the last call to leave the site, since it was nearly closed. I can’t imagine myself to be locked in in the graveyard where I might encounter some Roman ghosts, buhuhuhu…how spooky!!!!

Anyway, after filled my brain with new knowledge and feed my thirsty soul with lot of experiences, now it’s time for souvenir!! The most wanted souvenir is the snow ball, a round water ball from glass which contains the mini landmark of the city and fake snow, and every time I shake it, it seems that the snow’s falling. I have five of them; one of them (the France snow ball) is broken, which remind me every time to get a new one. Aside from the snow ball, I like to buy T-shirt, key chain, mug and mini size landmark. Buying souvenir to take home is not a must, sometimes I missed to buy it, first; because I forgot, second; it’s kind expensive and the last; no space left in my backpack. For me, it’s kinda silly hearing someone after coming back from a trip with lots of souvenir (buy extra bag only to put the souvenirs), well, actually (thanks to online shopping!) it can be bought online and sent to your door with no extra cost or just go to the mall, it can also be found there. On the top floor of Plaza Semanggi, in one of the corridor, once I found a shop selling any kind of souvenirs from all around the world, with lower price! It’s also common here for anyone who’s leaving for pilgrimage to Mecca, instead buying the souvenir there; they go to Pasar Tanah Abang or Mayestik where any typical Hajj souvenirs are available.

The essence of traveling is more than just spending money, take picture in front of famous landmarks and buy souvenirs to take home. It’s a way to enrich myself with more experiences, history and cultural knowledge, and in the same time to put myself in a fun and relaxing situation. So, after came back from the trip, I feel so much refreshed and “richer” ;)

Shisy Kozzy = Me

2006-12-22T16:43:00.000+07:00

For almost a year I've been passive in blogging, today I decided to start again. Well, I hope this time I could manage my time, mood and effort to continually write here. Earlier, I've closed down my old blog in Friendster and create a new one in Blogspot. Thanks God that today I don't have much to do that for almost three hours I manage to publish my new blog, named SHISY KOZZY…

You must be wondering, what kind of name is Shisy Kozzy...mmmmhhh...let me just flash back my memory. I found this name coincidently around 6 years ago after seeing a documentary movie. The word “Shisy” I took from the name of a princess, Princess Elisabeth von Witelsbach of Austria (known as Princess Sissy). The name “Kozzy”, instead, just crossed my mind instantly and it sounds just nice when I put these words together. I also use this name on my yahoo account and what funny is when I’m on YM, people always call me Shisy…kinda cute!

Shisy Kozzy will be my medium to share my thought, idea, feeling and maybe secret…well…well… I think Narcist Bandit knew already all my secrets, so for him they are not secret anymore. So, Narcist Bandit, it’s an honor for me to invite you to be a big part of my blog. You can contribute anything here!!!

Shisy Kozzy will also contain my conversation to God as honest as it should be. I’m not a religious person, but I found Him as a sanctuary to all my doubts, problems, and questions that hard to answer.

Shisy Kozzy is me who’s trying to open myself to the world…