So The Thing is:

Overheard #1

2012-07-31T07:17:00.004-07:00

B: You probably think im pathetic for even caring, for if i was truly powerful, i'd be content without any man at all.
M: Well even moguls have hearts, my dear.

26hours Bus Ride to Flores

2012-07-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

Hi there my fellow blog readers!

It's been a while since I haven't posted anything here, I havent even continue my story about my last trip! Well i guess I shall pick it up where we left off. In this posting I'll tell you about my journey on the road, beginning from Lombok until I arrived in the harbor city of Labuan Bajo, Flores.

After spending couple of nights in Lombok and figuring out the best way to go to Labuan Bajo, Flores, we finally chose to hop on a bus straight to Labuan Bajo (LBJ) which cost us around.... 350.000 something (Correct me if i'm wrong). Flying on an airplane (TransNusa) was an expensive option for us, also considering that the planes used for Eastern Indonesia flights are usually creepy. So we didnt dare to take that option. When I got in the bus, I looked around, the bus was decent, it was okay, not that dirty, pretty comfy enough to be seated in for long hours. There werent many tourist in that bus, there were only 6 travellers (including two of us), while mostly it was packed up by locals who were going to Flores to visit their family, relatives, or to work.

Thus, the journey started in Terminal Mandalika in Mataram, Lombok. We already filled up every little thing we might need on the road: snacks, snacks, snacks, food, drinks, wet tissue, snacks, snacks, and anti-travel sickness pills! Well during the ride, I kept on waking up and falling asleep, so unfortunately I didnt concentrate much on what's on the road. But the ferry crossing from Lombok to Sumbawa was pretty nasty. It was filthy, and smell horrible. I took the opportunity to charge my camera and mobile phone in the cafetaria. In case you havent known yet, in a ferry you can ask the man in the cafetaria counter to charge your electronics and it'll cost you around 2000-5000 thousand rupiahs per gadget. When it was fully charged, then I would just lay my body on whatever space available and sleep.

It was my first time in Sumbawa!!! So curious to see what's on this other part of Indonesia. But since we got to Sumbawa somewhere during the middle of the night, I could barely see anything. It was pitch black. All I can feel was that the road was severely jammed and brutally bumpy. I could never close my eyes and sleep. But as far as my sight goes, I could see that the scenery was draped with coastal lines and savannas. But the road was pretty empty and deserted.

It was in Dompu, somewhere right in the middle of the island, where our bus suddenly stopped. I was sleeping, and I thought that the driver must have had something to buy or maybe it was the rest-area or something. But turned out it wasnt. Turned out that the bus' tire was flat. And it was in the middle of nowhere, at around 12 AM. Sweet.

The passengers have been waiting for so long and they ran out of patience. The bus driver didnt inform us anything, what time we would go again, what were the other options, where we better rest, no he didn't inform us anything. In fact he ran away into the villager's house and left us in the middle of the road there. The passengers kept on grumbling, and murmuring, some even said they wanted to look for the driver and beat him up -_-

Well me, I'm not much of a complainer so I just rolled up a piece of cloth as my blanket, and sleep on the terrace of a villager's house.

At around 6 o'clock, a pick-up truck came with a tire. It was our bus' tire! Yeayyyy. Turn out that the bus company had to drive all the way from Bima, the capital city of Sumbawa, to our location to bring the tire, which took around 5-6 hours. So the tire got repaired, and we continued our way to Bima.

Although we had bought a one way ticket from Lombok to Labuan Bajo, but once we arrived in Bima, it turned out that the bus couldnt even take us to the harbor, Sape. So we had to stop and take a minibus to get to Sape.

So this 'mini bus' which could take us to Sape was somekind of Daihatsu L300. The capacity was supposedly at the maximum of 10 people. But you know how many people who were tucked inside the car? 40!!!! I didnt know how we made it, but the car went anyway. And it was my first time to see a passenger to actually sit on the right side of the driver!!! (In Indonesia, people drive on the right side) And there suppose to be nobody on the right side of the driver. Nobody!

Anyway, me and Aby could actually manage to get out alive and well in Sape harbor. Buuuuuuuuuuuuut there's a but. We were late for that day's ferry. And there were only one ferry for each day. So, after we got jammed up in that 'sardine can', we had to wait for another day to come so we could get on the ferry for the next day. And the rest of the day was filled with looking for a cheap hostel around the harbor and finally, a BED!!!! A pretty proper one.

The next day, we hopped on the ferry to Labuan Bajo. The ferry crossing took approximately 9 hours from Sape to LBJ. Probably the worst PELNI ferry I've ever been on haha. But nevertheless, the view was uh-ma-zing. The blue sky came across green-yellowish hills, all down to the blue and turquoise sea. Didn't seem like I was in Indonesia! There were so many small islands, which seemed 'unearth'. Oh and also, we also had the opportunity to see dolphins jumping up and down near our ferry! Incredible.

Finally after 9 hours, we arrived in Labuan Bajo. It was a beautiful harbor city, with hills and cliffs surrounding the bay, garnished by white houses and small locally run hotels.

And the rest of my trip in Flores, I shall continue on my next posting. Ciao for now!
Stay cool,
Tami

Lombok: Gili Terawangan, Bumbang Beach, Kebon Duren!

2012-01-25T02:58:00.000-08:00

Heiya! After one semester filled with college assignments, papers, exams, and projects, finally the time has come for semester break! Woo hoo :D One month with exactly nothing to do…. Anyway on this posting and several postings later I’m gonna write about the trip I did last June-August to Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, and Flores. But let’s just skip the Bali part shall we? It was the usual trip to Tanah Lot, Kuta, Ubud, Bedugul, Dreamland, Monkey Forest, etc.

Gili Terawangan

Anyway, we started the trip in Gili Terawangan, pretty much I didn’t do anything on my third time there *nyombong*. I just lay down under the sunny sunglight, blue sky, on the beach with crystal blue water, wind blowing gently, The Zahir on my lap (my favourite one of Coelho’s) and….. some bules with their bikinis and their perut yang tumpah ruah. Other times I just walked along the shoreline with my friends . Well as far as I can see, the island has developed with more hostels/motels/cottages, bars, and restaurants. More tourists ofcourse. My first time there I guess it was around 8 or 9 years ago and it was still like a pure private island. My second time there was 4 years ago, with more hotels and restaurants, bars, even mini cinema cafe. And now it has grown pretty developed. But apart from all the expensive restaurants, it’s not that hard to find cheap food here. They still have a spot for food stalls. And what I like from these islands is that motorbikes and cars are still not allowed on the road. You’ll find lots of bicycles for rent, or ‘delman’ along the pavements. That’s why the air is still fresh and unpolluted! :D But for you guys who are looking for a serene, tranquil place with less crowd then I wont recommend this island for you. At night you’ll hear the boom-boom-bass from the nearest bar and the crowd never sleeps until dawn. But last time I went there it was on late July during Ramadhan and all the noise stopped at 12. But during other months, this island is like tropical entertainment paradise, perfect for those who are seeking for a spot to meet up and hang around with other fellow travelers.

Kaki gue bergelimpangan dibawah sinar matahari

The road from Senggigi to Kuta was actually one the best trail I've ever seen in Indonesia, the vista was just amazing going ups and downs the hill on the steep side of the cliff overlooking the blue ocean! Gue jamin naik angkot ga bakal berasa kaya naik angkot kalo pemandangannya kaya begini.

Bumbang Beach

After spending three days 2 nights in Gili Terawangan, I met up with my friend’s family and his brother booked a room through Agoda in Bumbangku Beach Hotel, without knowing exactly where it was…… All we knew was that it’s located somewhere in Lombok’s Kuta Region. FYI, Lombok’s Kuta and its Tanjung Aan are my favourite beaches in Lombok! Anyway, we didn’t have any idea where this hotel was located but there were some signs pointing the direction to the hotel. We followed the direction and the road was severely jammed. I bet it used to be a proper road, but it has became an OFF-ROAD. Jumping ups and downs, left and right on the steep, circuitous and unsurfaced road without any proper sign of the hotel, we doubted if it was really the right way to reach the hotel…. But we continued driving though, cause the energy was well paid off with amazing sceneries overlooking the vast blue Indian ocean, hilly landscape with lush green valleys. Finally we saw something looking like cottages and yeay! It was the Bumbangku Beach Cottages! The owner of the hotel greeted us:

Welcome to visit beautiful Bumbang beach which is quiet, unspoiled and far from the developed world

We told the owner about the road we had, and she told us that they actually had a boat-shuttle service where they would pick the guests in Grupuk Beach and take them by boat for 75rb. Ha. If only we knew this earlier. But! Anyway it was such an adrenalin rush and I recommend you to go by land for you thrill seekers! :D.

Far from developed world, Indeed it was. We were welcomed with unspoiled pale sand with clear turquoise water and a long long shoreline to run on. We spent the day by exploring the bay on a boat. The bay was surrounded by huge yellowish hills which made a contrast view to the blue water, the bay was also famous and one of the best surfing points in Lombok and they even had this unique ‘Ocean Bar’, a floating bar exactly located in the middle of the sea where surfers came to rest and relax! We also saw the spawning processes of lobsters, crabs, and seaweed. Where then they would cook the lobster fishes etc for the guests, freshly taken from the sea! :D Not to forget, the sunset was TRE-MEN-DOUS!

Kebon Duren

The next day, my friend’s family went back to Jakarta and then we went to the bus station to buy the ticket straight to Labuan Bajo, Flores (Later we knew that this was such a mistake). Waiting for the departure of the bus, our driver took us to his house and his Kebon Duren. If only I had kebon duren…. I’ll die between thouse sweet-sour-soft durians…. Forget fasting, it’s durian party! We ate em all sampe muak (mumpung gratis!) Somehow lombok’s durian is pretty different than other durians I have eaten *ceritanya pengamat duren* It’s very sweet with more “nyesshhhh” taste like alcohol when you bite it. Nyummmmmmm :p

Well those were our first stories during our long trip to Flores. After having enough of durians and mangosteen, the driver took us back to the bus station. He even offered us some other durians for us to kept for the long journey, but no. Satu bis bakal mabok kalo bekel gue dan Aby adalah duren.

Thus, we left Lombok on the 26 hours long haul bus ride to Labuan Bajo, Flores.

Stay cool!

Tami

What's the point of cleaning up when it's gonna get messy again?

2011-11-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

" Maybe life is a journey without destination. The only certainty about life’s destination is death. So why hurry? Why go so fast? Why not go through the road of life ambling, enjoy the sceneries, behold the flowers, befriend the fellow travelers, joke with them, have fun and give a hand to those who are tired and limping and make their journey pleasant too?

Yes, most of the things we were told were lies. Every day we discover new things and realize what we knew before was a lie. Up and down, east and west, truth and falsehood, good and bad, are all illusions. Your up is down to someone else. Your east is west to another person, your truth is falsehood to your neighbor and what is good for you can be bad for the next guy. But there is one thing that is not an illusion and that is the fact that we exist.

In the road of life, there are thorns and thistles. There are cliffs and precipices. There are hardships to overcome. And at times, the journey can become tiresome. But there are also flowers that grow alongside the road. There are beautiful sceneries to see, interesting people to meet and good companions to cherish. The journey can become joyous when you walk in good company, and when you are surrounded by people that you love and who love you. It is also joyous when you have a purpose to live for.

Maybe there is nothing but the road! Maybe the journey is all there is. For all we know, this journey is real. Its origin and destination may not be. So what is the rush? Why to overrun others? Where do you think you are going so fast? What if the road of life is to nowhere? Why inflict so much pain on ourselves and on others for a fantasy? Why not enjoy the journey instead and make it pleasant for our fellow travelers?"

I quoted this from someone whom I can't post the name here.

DEUTSCHLAND

2011-11-02T23:49:00.000-07:00

"deutschland.uber.alles@hotmail.com" USED to be my email for years. Until it got blocked by hotmail for spamming ._. ofcourse it wasnt me, but these unknown jerks somehow hacked my account and used it to spam. Well yes, I did chose that name cause Germany was one of my favourite country in the world. It all started because of World Cup. In 2002, I watched my first world cup and fell in love instantly with that team. There were still Oliver Kahn, Oliver Neuville, Schneider, Ballack, and my favourite one, KLOSE! That good ol team. It's not that I dont like the recent team, in fact I looove them but somehow I love the previous one more hehe.

Since I applied for 2 week visa in Europe and I had 4 days left to hang around, I decided to go to Germany in a hope to meet Miroslav Klose!!! --kampung banget I know. Hahaha. Thus I flew from Oslo to Munich, since Klose was still at Bayern Munchen at that time. When I arrived I took the train alone to city center of Munich, walked around alone under the snow in the middle of the night to look for WOMBATS Hostels where I already booked a bed there. It was a pretty cheap but a very decent accommodation, I would definitely recommend it to you if you intent to surf around in Bavarians, they have one in Munich, Berlin, and Vienna. The hostel was very clean, sleek, and it seemed very friendly for young backpackers, and although I was in a shared dorm (6-beds in one room) but it was very save. The caretakers were very helpful and friendly indeed, they knew how to get to A from B with C. Plus they also provide the backpackers free internet and some lousy couches. Besides rooms, they also have a bar where all the fellow travelers meet up, share, or just hang around drinking. You can check their website here.

(I took both of these photos from the internet since I didnt take any when I was there)

After checking in, I decided to take a nightwalk around my hostel and the central station or in German, "Hauptbahnhof". After walking around for 1-2hours, bought some toilettries, got some Turkish blokes staring at me, stopped in front of 'adult-store', stuck in the middle of 2 fighting drunk men, I decided to go back to the hostel. Hmm I wont recommend any girl to walk around that city alone at night. When I got back to my room, I joined two of my roommates to the bar since we got 3 free beers coupons, yay. After sharing some interesting stories about our journeys, acting out SNSD and other korean's girlbands moves, and finding out that even the korean boys hate their own boybands (my roommates were 2 young south-korean boys), we went back to our room.

The city of Munich is best explored by metro railway (S-Bahn), subway (U-Bahn), Tram, bus, and on foot. You can buy daily pass for train, which you can use to go anywhere anytime as many as you want for one day, and it's not expensive, 10euro per diem, rather than buying one way ticket for 2.3euro each time you go. As long as you take the metro&subway map with you, it's as easy as a-b-c to travel around.

As I have stated before, Why I chose Munich out of other German cities, is because of Bayern Munchen, to be exact, it's because of Klose huahahaha. Sick, I know. But I was really eager to meet him! On that day, I planned to go to Allianz Arena, the home stadium of Bayern Munchen. The stadium is located on the outskirt north of Munich, in a district called Fröttmaning. Pretty quite, seemed that not many people go there, apparently it looked like a dead city. But anyway, I kept walking along from the train station to the stadium, which was around 3km away.

Once I got there, I found difficulties in finding the entrance since it was HUMONGOUS. But since my ability in orientation is pretty good, I manage to made my way to the ticket booth of stadium tour. The tourguide took us to the spectators seats, press-conference room, to the player's lounge, even the locker room and their bathrooms! Ich mag B-)

In case you ask, no I didnt meet Miroslav Klose or anyone there. Bollocks.

Leaving AllianzArena and Frotmanning, I took the train to the famous Marienplatz! It's the city of center of Munich, the pedestrian shopping square, and the center of the old-town Munich. The architectures were very gothic, many of them were originally built in 19th century, you can also see dozens of Bavarian rulers miniature statues. One of the famous site in Marienplatz or Odeonplatz is the old glockenspiel or giant bells, consisting of 43 bells accompanied by performing little cute mechanical marionettes. That was a very classical place, it made you thinking about those glorious bavarian rulers in their ages..........

Having explored Marienplatz for couple of hours and having enough of the cold, I went back to Wombats and asked the receptionist about the best way to go to Berlin, the capital city of Germany. The guy recommended me 'mitfahren', i don't know whats the proper word in English but you can say that its a more proper way of 'hitchhiking'. Click here to go the official site of mitfahren. In that website, you only have to insert which city you wanna go to, and the date of your departure. Then the website will give you a list of people with their cars, who are willing to share a ride with you, you can see what time they're leaving, from where, and how much you should pay (ofcourse WAAY cheaper than any other transportation). I think it's a very efficient way for low-budget travelers to move from one city to another, you can save money and you do something to reduce Co2. Alas, I found someone who was going the same direction with me tomorrow to Berlin and we made appointment to meet up at the eastern-station at 8AM.

Note that my cellphone didnt work in Europe. Next morning, I did what he told me to meet up at 8AM in the eastern station. But I didnt where exactly in the station, I walked around with my heavy luggage (I didnt use carrier cause it didnt fit all of my thick winter clothes and coats), up and down the stairs, in and out of the station but I couldnt find that guy. I used the public phone to call him, buuuut it didnt rang. I even desperately asked people if i could borrow their cellphones -_- And people kept on saying "no, sorry""uhm no i dont have cellphone." what the flock. Hopelessly, I looked for a place where I could just sit down and calm my self down, and WARM my self up. But McDonald's wasnt even opened yet at that time....... Though I did manage to find a place. I think that was the gloomiest moment of my trip.

I went back to the train station and found that a train to Berlin could cost me 150euro. That's quite much. So without further ado, spontaneously i took the train to the airport and found last-minute ticket deal to Berlin for 130euro, and yes obviously I took it. Phew, finally.

Arriving in Berlin, I was picked up by a friend of mine who's studying in that city, Ichan. Glad to finally met someone from Indonesia hahaha. He lent me his dorm for me to stay for 2 days. Berlin in fact WAS WARM. I was so happy that I didnt have to wear layers and layers of clothes. Not warm as in literally warm, but at least it was less colder than any other cities I've been to.

One word, oh hangon 3 words actually: I LOVE BERLIN!! I didnt regret even for a second choosing that city to visit. The weather, the places, the people, the buildings, are like the mixture of old-age majesty, knowledge, and avant-gardism. It was indeed the city of museums, they even had this small island called "Museum-insel" or museum islands, small island filled with museums hahaha. We visited Pergamon museum, filled with middle-eastern antiques and Islamic art, Altes Museum of classical antiques and Greek's art, and Neues Museum of pre-historic antiques and Egyptian art, Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) Museum one of world's most interactive museum! Aaand Madame Tussaud Berlin hehe. Isnt it odd for it was Ichan's first time to do a museum tour after living in Berlin for 3 years -_-

Oh, I also met some celebrities and world figures in Berlin!

Nah they're all wax figures in Madame Tussaud museum.

For you guys who know the history of Germany, they were partly divided by allied occupation into two nations after 1945, West Germany and East Germany until in 1990 they were finally reunified. Berlin as the capital city was the checkpoint to go to one another. The places I told you before were mostly located in the west part of Berlin, more developed, modern, and packed out . While the next day when I walked around in the eastern part of Berlin looking for a good used-bookstore, it was pretty dark, melancholic, hollow, cloak-and-dagger kind of city.

Enough with the emo stuff. What I don't get about Berlin is that you have to pay for peeing, I know it's common in Indonesia as well but it only cost you about 500-1000perak right? I mean, I wouldn't have to be that neurotic after I peed if it didnt cost me 1euro!!! Yes that was the most expensive toilet I've ever been into. 1 euro = 12.000ribu rupiah. Since it was expensive and gue gamau rugi, i stayed longer than I have to inside the toilet box muahahaha.

But another thing I love about Berlin is the kebab! One of the most delicious kebab I;ve ever eaten!!! And also the biggest one. I didnt even know where to start eating, aber ich mag B-)

On the last day, I successfully took the mitfahren to Frankfurt airport, with a guy's top-notch VW-Golf muahahaha. It was pretty weird and I was bit worried as well, hitchhiking a stranger's car, on a stranger's country, alone ._. Haha but we did manage to break the ice though, and he was a very nice guy, and he drove his car 150-200km/hour. Talking about stoked!

Well that was my recent trip to Germany, last February. Although no I didnt meet Miroslav Klose, at least I met Jurgen Klinsmann........wax figure. Vieeeelen dank Ichan for being a really good host, and not-so good museum tour-guide buahahaha, kiddin. Definitely coming back again somewhen I dont know but will do!! Bis bald Deutschlaand! Ich mag B-)

Auf wiedersehen Deutschland!
Stay cool,
TAMI

I have to say this is so funny.

2011-10-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

I got this from www.9gag.com, "If only history had Facebook..."

LOL LOL LOL

Stay cool,
Tami

Gelas, Air, Tuhan

2011-10-31T01:21:00.000-07:00

Suatu malam di sebuah gerbong restorasi kereta, saya dan seorang teman sedang duduk memandang jendela yang gelap gulita, tidak terlihat apa-apa. Kami duduk, di atas meja tangan kami memegang erat gelas masing-masing yang berisi air. Memecah kesunyian lantas saya bertanya,

"Mungkin saja dunia kita seperti air dalam gelas ini, dan kita manusia adalah partikel-partikel air di dalamnya. Berenang-renang kesana kemari, bertanya ada apa di luar sana. Mungkin Tuhan sama seperti kita, diluar sana dia juga sedang duduk memandang kegelapan di dalam sebuah kereta. Peduli tidak dengan air yang dia minum, sedangkan di dalam sana air-air pusing bertanya mereka siapa."

NORGE

2011-10-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

When you really want something so bad, the world will conspire to make it comes true.

I forgot the quotee, but that's one of few quotes that I really do believe in. You dont know how, but it just happens that way. If you want something so much, and you keep on thinking about it, there is always a way. Always. This story is one my experience.

Fjords, aurora borealis, Svalbard, Nobel Peace Prize, Kings of Convenience, Jostein Gaarder, Alexander Rybak, Vikings are things that may come to your mind once you hear the word "Norway". Indeed, its natural beauty made me put that country into my bucketlist. Last February, I had the chance to finally fulfill one of my life-time dream, stepping my feet in Norwaaay!

Attending International Student Festival in Trondheim, Norway, i flew half of the globe up to this cold small country in northern Europe. When I was changing the flight in Frankfurt, Germany, I met the other participant from Zimbabwe who turned out to take the same flight with me to Oslo. When the plane was landing in Oslo, i thought "where the hell am i? is it in north pole already?", since everything was vastly white and all i could see along the horizon was this plain white terrain....... Butterfly flew in my stomachs. Once I arrived in Oslo, it was pretty weird cause there was no immigration booth or anything. Me and that Zimbabwean guy named Jimmy wondered if we could just enter this country without any security checks or anything. But turn out that there really wasnt any (This country really has issue on trust -_-).

The airport was small and filled with other ISFiT participants, youths coming from every corners of the earth, even from countries you might havent even heard of. But we came here not to represent our countries, races, beliefs, or universities, we came here because we are youths, students, who believed that our voices should be heard. ISFiT is the biggest thematic student festival in the world, and this year's theme was Globalize this: Health.

Me, Jimmy and 2 of my new friends from Puerto Rico and China decided to take a walk around the city, before leaving to Trondheim in a 7hours bus-ride. Well, I didnt wear any socks inside my boots that day, cause i didnt know that it would be THAT cold. Walking around the city, we were freeeezed out. Every five minutes walking, we stepped inside a minimart to warm our selves up and continued walking. The city of Oslo was still packed even when the snow was falling in cold February winter. Oslo was more of a traditional mixed with modern kind of city. The architecture was this typical conventional European city. We also visited the parliament building, and the Nobel Peace Center.

After couple of hours sightseeing in Oslo, we went back to the airport, took the ISFiT bus to Trondheim for 7 hours. Trondheim, in fact, was the Jogjakarta of Norway. It is the city of students, city of art, traditional mixed with the modern sophisticates. My host family were 4 students, all girls, 2 were sisters. They lived in this very comfy red wooden house, typical Norwegian house. The first night there I was welcomed with a dinner and we had a taco-night! (Taco is like 'mie-instant'nya Norwegian students)

In the morning, the participants were divided into several workshops and I got into literature workshop. During the workshop there would be games, discussion, activities, dancing, debates, coffee breaktime, etc. I had 30 something workshop friends coming all the way from Nigeria, Guatemala, Tanzania, Brunei, Iran, South Africa, Moldova, Georgia, Canada, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Mexico, Belarusia, Finland, Japan, Romania, Argentina, Pakistan, Brazil, India, Bulgaria, Denmark. They were all very amazing people, journalists, scriptwriters, poets, some of them already had their own anthologies, or at least they were on social project, people who really dedicate their lives to open the world's eyes through their writings and words. I felt like i was just a living chunk of meat interfering the brainy discussions............ although im meatless t(-_-t)

After the workshop, we usually spend time strolling around the town, buying souvenirs, sightseeing until night came and it was time for plenary session. In that session, all participants would gather in the big hall in STUDENTESAMFUNDET (Student Center) and there would be some famous speaker presenting their thoughts and ideas. In this year's ISFiT, we had His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Student Peace Prize Laureate Dusko Kostic, Winner of the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award of 2008, Dr. Sima Samar, Vice President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention Dr. Viljayakumar, Foreign Minister of Norway Mr. Gahr Støre, and two of the world's decidedly most knowledgeable men when it comes to global health: Sir Michael Marmot and Hans Rosling. In their previous festivals they succeeded in bringin Desmond Tutu, Dalai Lama, former Director-General of WHO Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Jose Ramos Horta even former US president Bill Clinton through video conference!

After the plenary session, it was time for leisure, the student lounge or bar in studentesamfundet would be packed with students and participants, sometimes there would be great DJs like Phanta du Prince or some cool indie bands such as "Team Me" playing in the underground club. The famous "Axis of Evil" comedian, Aaron Kader also enlivened the event I just simply couldnt stop laughing during his stand-up comedy! We also get to watch a circus performance from Circus Khaoom, dancing along during the unique national costumes party, and walked around the town in Walk of Peace.

Besides the plenary session, workshop sessions, sightseeing, parties etc, we also had a chance to try cross-country skiing! That was a real new experience to me, fell twice on my butts! We also did this sleighing thingy and it was so much fun! Many of the participants had never tried skiing before, it was so funny watching those people kept on falling on their butts!

ISFiT 2011 in Norway really was one of my life-time most amazing experience, it really has widened my view of the world, opened new perspectives, and ofcourse, new networks! Although the temperature could get til -15 degree celcius, but all the experiences i got there was really worth it. During my night-ride on a bus back to Oslo, i reflected through those 10 days in Trondheim, amazing. As I gazed through the window, the stars were all blinking above, and sometimes the moonlight reflected on the shadowy fjords. It was really a beautiful country, I will definitely come back to Norway somewhen, take my words!

"If you really want something, the world will conspire to make it comes true" - in this I'll always believe.

Stay cool,
Tami

Gili Nanggu

2011-10-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

Right after we climbed up the second highest volcano in Indonesia, we went straight down to the beach baby! Got bored of those 3Gili's, I decided to come up with a new Gili which isnt as famous as those 3Gili's but it's better, it's called Gili Nanggu. Located on south west of Lombok, near the harbour, it isnt main tourist destination. It isnt the place where you go out and drink or dance or party like in Gili Terawangan. It's actually a place for those who wants to hideaway from the hush and rush of the city life, this place is like the antonym of Kuta beach Bali or Lombok's Terawangan or Senggigi, a small stranded private island where you can just lay down on the beach alone, stargaze, and ponder just about anything that crosses your mind.

As far as I can remember I think we went offshore with our rented small boat from a small motel called Dolphin Bay, and once we got ashore, I knew that this place was going to be a great restful place! White sandy beach and turquoise clear water welcomed us, we walked to the receptionist and voila! A small brownish Kintamani dog greeted us! (Im not sure about the breed of the dog though, i think it's kintamani but i dunno) The island was very quite and desolate, and we met only a few other tourists. They only has dozens of cottages run by the island owner and one restaurant in that island.

When the sun was setting, I took a walk by myself around the island, but adorably, this dog (Bintang was his name) kept on following me. Well i thought i could use a company. So we walked along the shoreline, as the sun was setting, reflecting both of our shadows, a girl and a dog. Then we found this huge peculiar flat stone and just sat there.

The sun had set, and I walked back to the restaurant and had dinner there. After a while, me and Aby had some fun talks with the chef and the boys who worked there. There was also a young navy who guarded the island and he was soo hillarious! He told me that it was very peaceful there but too boring and he was hoping to be placed somewhere else. But everytime his commander checked him on that island, all the other workers there told the commander that he had been doing a very good job in guarding the island, thus the boss wouldn't think of placing him somewhere else. Poor navy ahahaha.

After chatting with the guys there, I walked around to find Bintang, they told me that usually at this hour Bintang would be lying down alone on the beach. So there I went, to the beach, and I saw this small cute dog lying down alone on the beach. I lied down and put my arms around him, the water kept on tickling my feet as we both stargazed and just set silent, under the moonlight, listening to the night wind breezing. It was one of my most peaceful moment of my life.

The next morning, it was time for SNORKELLING!! I rent the snorkel mask for 30rb and instantly ran to the beach. The weather, the water, everything was perfect sunny day there! The underwater life was soo amazing, i just snorkelled near the beach but i could see so many vibrantly colourful fish!

the left one is that foolish navy!

Oh we had one funny incident when we were snorkeling!! I was just calmly snorkeling, watching the fishes moving, feeding the fishes, Aby was just peacefuly kayaking offshore, when suddenly I heard a scream from the water "HELP! HELP! HELP!!" and it was my mom!!! A foreign guy was sitting with his family on the beach when he suddenly ran to the water and helped my mom. I really didnt have any idea what was happening to my mom at that time. But the guy kept on telling her "step on! step on!", and my mom kept yelling "HELP ME! HELP ME! IM DROWNING!" then the guy, "YOU CAN STEP ON!!!". *zap* my mom stepped on the sand..................... HAHAHAHAHA HOW COULD SHE DROWN WHEN THE WATER WAS JUST AS HIGH AS HER KNEE!!! I think she was so embarassed but i just couldnt stop laughin!! Plus she had all the people there panicking. What a very embarrassing moment. I pretended that I didnt know her huahahahaha.

So after staying a night there we, we packed our bags and left that small desolated tranquil island. That was just the best beach I've ever been to! No beach can compare, not even gili terawangan or bali or anywhere I've seen. I am definitely coming back there somewhen, and I hope Bintang still be there :-)

Stay cool as always,
TAMI!

Gunung Rinjani

2011-10-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Remember my posting about my ultimate 10 trans Indonesia in which Mount Rinjani was on number one? Now I can proudly say that I'VE CONQUERED THAT THING! It was truly one of my best travelling experience and now i'm gonna tell you my story :-)

We left Malang straight for Mataram, Lombok, by bus. It was a 23hours ride, with couple of roadbumps and mogok for couple of hours somewhere in Bali. Indeed it was very tiring so once we arrived in Lombok we decided to take a rest for one night in Senggigi before hiking Mount Rinjani. Oh and I think it was the night when Germany defeated England by 4-1 in WorldCup 2010. Muaha! The weird thing about our hotel was that they have this huge transparant glass window from the bedroom to the bathroom... Hmm.

We were picked up in the morning by our guide and went straight to the Sembalun, a small village on the base of Mount Rinjani, it was there where we started our trek. Actually there are two options if you wanna trek Rinjani, you can either start in Sembalun or Senaru, both have their own advantage and disadvantages. Trekking from Sembalun, the sun was REALLY burning us, and we trekked ups and downs through these hills which looked like those hills in Telletubies. I didnt count but Mas Amed told me there were at least 7 hills to go to get up to the crater. Since my mom kept on stopping like in every 5 steps, the guide told me and Aby to go first and follow the porters. The trek wasnt hard cause we didnt cross this huge jungle or anything, basically if you start from Sembalun all you're gonna go through will be this vast open prairies and the sun burning on top of you, you will go inside a forest but only for a couple of minutes and then you'll get out again into what people call i t as "BUKIT PENYESALAN" (Hill of Regret?). The trek wasnt THAT ascending, sometimes you go up but then you go down, and then up and up and up, and down.... and up again times seven hahaha. If it wasnt because of Aby who kept on PUSHING me to go up I could've given up and decided to open the tent wherever I was stopping, but everytime I looked back, the field where I started the trek had become such small dot and it motivated me that I could go this far from that point.

But along the way, I saw these sceneries I woudnt have seen anywhere else, on top of that mountain, it was so peaceful, so tranquil, you can just sit back and relax as you see the horizon in front of you. There was nobody else except the trees, the birds, the sound of wind breezing, while the cloud was coming down at you. And yes I did touch the cloud!!! So happy at that time i could actually touch the cloud.

After hiking up and down for aroudn 9 hours, fell for couple of times, tired as dead, finally, I saw this magnificent view, the crater of Mount Rinjani. I instantly shed tears!!! Really, the feeling when you got to that point was just unexplainable. It was too beautiful to describe, and yet I felt so content after all the efforts I've made to get there. From where I was standing at that time, I could see the Segara Anakan lake and the new Mount Barujari. Gosh.... the view was out of this world, the best one I've ever seen in my whole entire life.

foto terakhir kece beradh sob

After sheding couple of tears and taking a rest for some minutes, we continue to trek to our campsite called Pelawangan, it is the fourth and last post of the trek. Night came, the sky got darker and darker, and voila! I saw this vibrant colours on the sky, and in an hour it got even darker and gazillions of star started to appear. I had never seen that many stars before, it really wow-ed us! Dark is always affiliated with cold, yes it was FREEZING. Even colder than Bromo. I mean, i wore 2 layered jackets, gloves, and I was still chilling inside a sleepingbag, imagine that! The cold pretty much was a pain in the ass.... I couldnt wake up to go to the peak of Rinjani, Aby did though and he told me he could see the 3Gili's, Bali, and Mount Tambora from up there *gigit jari aja deh

Satu2nya gambar agak beres yang diambil Aby dari puncak Rinjani, Mount Barujari

The next morning we went down, back to that "Bukit Penyesalan". and stayed one night in one of the post. On those prairies, we just opened our mat and lay down under the stary stary night~ contemplating about anything we could talk about, counting the shooting stars we caught on our eyes. I could just lay down there forever. But it was getting even colder outside so we went back to our tent and slept.

The next morning, i looked out and the sky was really clear and bright, Mount Rinjani was just so great and glorious under the ray of the sun. We took some great photos at that time and it was so perfect it looked like in a photo studio -_-

After taking some pics, we packed our bags and tent and walked down down down back to where we started this trek. Wow, i finally did hike the second highest volcano in Indonesia, and my mom has fulfilled one of her to-do-list-before-she-dies hahaha. Thank you for all who have helped us during the hike, mas Amet, and all the porters! We couldnt have made it without you guys! :')

Stay cool,

Tami

P.S. If you decide to start the trek from Senaru, they told me that the trek was rather difficult than Sembalun. From Senaru, it is pretty ascending so it'll be more tiring, BUT it isnt gonna be as hot as in Sembalun cause you're gonna go through the jungle. But the view of Segara Anakan is better if you take it from Senaru, you'll get to see Gunung Barujari much clearer than from Sembalun.

Gunung Bromo

2011-10-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

Heiya blogwalkers! Now I'm back to tell my trip to Gunung Bromo in 2010, right after I visited Pulau Sempu. Well in fact, I've been to that volcano for three times yet I never get bored and am still amazed at how stunning it is. Gunung Bromo (Bromo Mount) is located in north of Malang, Probolinggo to be exact. Gunung Bromo is an active volcano, yes it is although it may seem not so threatening but it is. Anyway, I think after 4 times visiting that amazing place it's time for me to share it to the world!

Renting a car from Malang, we went up to Probolinggo, uphill and downhill we went, the sky was getting darker and darker, moreover the air was getting even colder as we got higher. As far as I can remember, we arrived at dawn and it was FREEZING COLD. Yes, you're gonna need a hell of warm clothes, jacket, and gloves if you plan to go to Bromo, though there're gonna be abang2 yang jualan begituan disana, but better prepare so you dont have to spend on things you shouldn't have to. Since I was supersuper tired, i decided to just stay in the hotel. Which wasnt exactly a hotel, it was a 3x3 room with 2 narrow VERY REYOT beds costing us 100ribu (yes for all of us, which means 25ribu each person.... ) but i forgot the name of the hotel, it has the bestview and the best spot though and the oldest hotel there as far as i can remember.

the scenery in front of our hotel!

well uh, we slept like canned sardines

Right after we arrived, Aby and Rio decided to hike through the Pananjakan to see the sunrise up there. I was fuckin tired, its cold, and i've done that before so i wasnt crazy enough to follow them and i chose to stay in bed until morning came. I've seen the sunrise before in Pananjakan, and to get there you must wake up at around 3 and then you either hike or rent a jeep which cost you 600ribu vice versa or an ojek but i dont know how much it cost. I would definetly recommend you to rent a motorbike or share jeep with other tourist, although it may cost more, but walking at dawn in the dark in that freezing cold air without any preparation of warm clothes can be very dangerous. As what happenned to two of my friends, Rio got hypothermia cause he wore jeans and it was wet to dews -_- IF you have prepared everything enough then i think it will be safe to walk up there, but if you're not then you better rent.

View of sunrise from Pananjakan

Once i woke up in the morning at around 8 or 9, I decided to go to the crater of Bromo. I went up there alone since Rio and Aby werent back yet and my mom was tired. I rent an ojek to get me down to the sea of sand( I dunno the exact name of it but thats how i always name it), and then i walked up (there's an option to ride on horseback as well you can bargain it until 25rb i think) and climbed that hundreds of stairs -_- it was super tiring but the scenery? Worth all the energies. Bromo indeed is always one of my favourite destination :-) So after quite a time contemplating about life on top of that stunning mountain with breathtaking scenery *wussah* i decided to step down down down back to the sea of sand, back to abang ojek who took me back to my hotel. I gave him 90 for taking me up, waiting for me, and taking me back to the hotel.

It was the fourth time for me, but it always feels like the first time and that's Bromo.

(Abaikan tiga foto terakhir. Apalagi foto yang terakhir...)

All photos are taken by myself and you should ask my permission first to use it or smth.

Stay cool as always!

Tami

Pulau Sempu

2011-10-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

Halo blogwalkers! Akhirnya gue ada kesempatan juga untuk mengupdate ini blog untuk hal-hal yang (agak) lebih berguna sedikit. Kali ini gue mau cerita pengalaman gue trekking di Pulau Sempu, padahal kesana udah dari tahun 2010 tapi baru sempet cerita sekarang hehe.

Ohya dalam postingan gue yang berjudul My Ultimate 10 Trans Indonesia gue menyebutkan 10 spot impian yang pengen gue datengin sepanjang hidup gue di Indonesia. And voila, dreams really do come true! Dalam postingan tersebut gue menyebutkan Gunung Rinjani di urutan nomer 1. Postingan gue itu bulan Januari 2010, dan gue berhasil mendaki Gunung Rinjani di bulan Juli 2010, yak kira-kira 7 bulan kemudian. Dan sampai sekarang bulan Oktober 2011, gue udah berhasil menyambangi 3 tempat di postingan tersebut (out of 10) yang bakal gue ceritain di postingan gue selanjutnya. Berhubung ini adalah pengalaman gue tahun lalu, jadi gue mungkin agak lupa-lupa juga detil ceritanya gue sepanjang perjalanan ke Pulau Sempu gimana, haha jadi maaf ya kalo kurang lengkap :-)

Okay! *menarik nafas panjang* Perjalanan gue mulai bersama nyokap gue naik kereta dari Gambir sampai Jogja, dimana di Jogja gue ketemuan sama dua temen gue yaitu Aby dan Rio yang juga tertarik untuk ikut perjalanan gue dan nyokap gue ini. Kemudian dari Jogja sampe Malang, kita naik bus sampe terminal di Malang dan kemudian di lanjutkan nyewa mobil ampe selatan Malang, tepatnya Sendang Biru

Pulau Sempu itu pulau kecil di bawahnya Malang (kalau di peta), pulau ini sebenernya untuk konservasi burung. Jadi untuk masuk pulau tersebut kita perlu perizinan (yang cuman basa-basi). Sesampainya di Sendang Biru, pelabuhan kecil untuk nyebrang ke Pulau Sempu, kita disuruh izin dulu sama empunya konservasi, bayarnya 20ribu kalo gaksalah waktu itu untuk 4 orang. Setelah dapet 'perizinan' kita carter kapal nelayan kecil untuk nyebrang, tapi gue lupa berapa waktu itu. Kalo nggak salah 200ribu diantar dan dijemput. Pokoknya setelah tawar menawar dan menemukan titik temu, akhirnya kita nyebrang juga tuh ke Pulau Sempu. Ternyata yang namanya laut bagus tuh ga cuma di Bali Lombok doang loh, daerah pantai pantai selatan Jawa juga keren!

Sendang Biru, pool perahu yang mau nyebrang ke Pulau Sempu

Sesampainya di Pulau Sempu, jangan bayangkan pulau ini sebagai pulau yang well developed, well maintained, ada penginapan-penginapan lucu dan keren, ada resto-resto dan bar yahud. Kaga usah ngarep ada begitu-begituan deh. Nggak usah resto&bar, orang penginapan aja nggak ada. Satu-satunya cara supaya kita bisa memiliki tempat bernaung ya cuman bawa tenda. Nggak ada juga trek yang mumpuni untuk ngeguide lo jalan kaki di pulau tersebut. Terus sebenernya ngapain gue bela-belain nyebrang ke pulau itu dong? Gue juga nggak tau, orang nggak ada apa-apa. Haha nggak deng. Di Pulau Sempu itu ada laguna yang tersembunyi dan belom diekspos, namanya Segara Anakan (Nanti lo akan sadar bahwa banyak banget tempat di Indonesia yang pake nama Segara Anakan -_-) . Nah Segara Anakan ini adalah tujuan utama orang-orang itu melancong ke Pulau Sempu. Nanti gue bakal jelasin kenapa.

Ok jadi ceritanya gue ke Pulau Sempu tanpa persiapan apa-apa. Gue sama sekali nggak tau medannya kayak gimana, gue sama sekali gatau itu tempat untuk apaan. Yang gue tau cuman.... Ya nggak cuman juga sih, gue emang nggak tau apa-apa tentang pulau itu. Si Aby ngajakin, dia udah pernah, dan katanya keren banget kaya di film The Beach itu lagunanya. Ya gue sih manggut-manggut aja deh. Jadi tanpa pengetahuan apapun tentang Pulau Sempu, gue kesana cuman bawa tas kecil isinya kamera (SLR&Analog), sendal jepit, dan berbalut baju&celana pendek yang gue pake. Udah. Dan gue sangat amat menyesal kenapa gue cuman bawa begituan doang. Kenapa? Karena treknya parah banget. Dan ketika gue bilang parah banget, emang segitu parahnya. Lo bayangin aja, gue trekking 3 jam. Jalannya kaga ada yang beres. Men. Beres disini at least tanahnya bisa ditapakkin lah ya. Lah ini? Kagaaa. Gimana mau napak, orang tanahnya becek, lumpur, licin, dan dibalik becek-becekan itu ada karang-karang yang siap menusuk kaki! Gue cuman pake sendal jepit. Dan sendal gue udah nggak berbentuk, warnanya udah coklat semua. (Emang aslinya juga coklat sih). Gue nyesel tau gitu medannya begini gue pake boots karet sekalian! Alhasil gue nyeker, dan itu juga bukan ide yang bagus, soalnya kaki gue udah ketusuk karang-karang yang sembunyi dbalik genangan-genangan air itu. Seru banget deh jalan disitu, berasa jalan di hamparan paku yang digenangi air.... Terus udah gitu tanaman-tanaman di sekitar kita suka berduri gitu, jadi kalo mau kepeleset atau pegangan, kebeset gitu tangannya sama duri. Hutannya juga masih hutan beneran, lebat, hijau, dan gelap. Tapi sumpah itu tantangan banget jalan di trek itu hahaha.

Beristirahat dalam damai: sendal gue.

Setelah 3 jam trekking, di ujung pandangan gue melihat ada sesuatu kebiru-biruan agak kehijau muda-an sedikit, bergoyang-goyang, naik turun pelan-pelan................ MEN. Itu air. Gue seneng nggak karuan, karena ya setelah selama itu berjalan di medan minta ampun tanpa persediaan makanan apa-apa. Paling cuma biskuit. Dan kita cuma bawa 1 botol minum masing-masing. Gue nggak bawa, nitip nyokap aja. Haha. Akhirnyaa kita sudah dekat dengan destinasi kita! Saking udah nggak sabarnya kita untuk berenang-renang di laguna itu akhirnya kita berloncatan aja kebawah, padahal kalo mau turun dengan lebih manusiawi ada treknya, tapi kita udah cukup banget dengan jalannya dan kita pun berloncatan ke air. Untung airnya belom dalem, cuman setengah betis lah kira-kira.

Pemandangan Segara Anakannya Pulau Sempu bener-bener menakjubkan. (Apaan dah diksi gue 'menakjubkan') Serius. Ini kaya di film The Beach --walaupun gue gak pernah nonton tapi katanya sih gitu. Ini bener-bener diluar ekspektasi gue, gue ga pernah membayangkan bahwa diujung hutan belantara yang sialan tadi itu ada pantai seindah ini. Pasirnya luas dan putih banget, airnya jernih banget dan nggak dalem-dalem banget, bener-bener turqouise, dan laguna itu dikelilingi sama tebing-tebing tinggi warna hijau dan goa-goa tersembunyi. Di ujung garis pantai ada karang bolong tempat air laut menerjang masuk. Suasananya bener-bener damai, tenang, sunyi, dan tranquil. Nyokap gue langsung yoga disitu. Gue... kecimpang kecimpung di air. Puas bermain-main di air, gue Aby dan Rio memanjang bukit karang ke suatu tebing, dimana dari tebing itu lo bisa ngeliat samudra Hindia yang limitless. Gue ngeri banget ngeliat ke bawah tebing, allahualam kalo gue ampe jatoh kebawah deh.

Karang bolong lobang keluar masuk air ke laguna

Sayangnya kita nggak rencana untuk nginep, kita nggak bawa tenda makanan atau apapun jadi kita memutuskan untuk balik sebelum gelap. Dan ini bener-bener disayangkan karena jatohnya capek banget, nikmatin cuman berapa jam doang, tapi perjalanannya jalan kaki 6 jam. Sepanjang perjalanan balik gue berpapasan dengan sekelompok mahasiwa yang dalam perjalanan kesana, mereka gotong-gotong ikan, gotong-gotong botol minyak, ampe tumpah-tumpah ke bawah, ikannya jatoh-jatoh ke bawah. Dan gue, udah nggak kuat lagi jalan di medan kaya gitu. Alhasil? Gue ngesot sepanjang jalan, beralaskan pantat gue yang tahan banting, gue menerobos semua medan dengan berani. Karena jalannya licin jadi menurut gue ini cara yang paling efektif, gue nggak bakal jatoh, dan kaki gue nggak bakal ketusuk-tusuk karang. Ya paling pantat gue rata nyampe ujung. Nyokap gue cepet banget pula jalannya, gue ditinggal dibelakang bareng Rio. Aby ditengah-tengah. Nyokap gue seakan-akan uda expert banget udah entah dimana di depan gue. "Si Ibu yang meninggalkan anaknya". Bukan anaknya yang durhakain emaknya.

Sesampainya di ujung kita menunggu perahu yang menjemput, matahari udah mulai turun dari singgasananya, dan laut yang mulai surut memantulkan cahaya-cahaya ke-merah mudaan, gue membersihkan kaki di genangan-genangan air surut yang tersisa. Mengingat-ngingat perjalanan gue tadi yang bener-bener bombastis dan diluar perkiraan, sambil nyampering nyokap bilang "Tam di pulau tadi kan sebenernya masih ada macan jawa nya yang dilindungin, terus itu pulau kuburan masyarakat di Sendang Biru." Gue tersenyum miris, diujung sana terlihat perahu nelayan menghampiri, kami pun melambai-lambaikan tangan kami, naik ke atas perahu, dan membayangkan petualangan kami berikutnya.

Gue, Rio, dan Aby sedang menggambar mahkluk-mahkluk imajiner di pasir

Pemandangan laguna dari atas bukit karang

Pemandangan samudra hindia dari tebing karang

Gue sebenernya nyari foto emak gue lagi Yoga, tapi nemunya yang beginian

Nama: Rio Status: Suku anak dalam

3 penjelajah tersesat dalam hutan akhirnya keluar menemukan peradaban

Sekian cerita perjalanan kali ini, selanjutnya gue bakal ngomongin tentang Gunung Bromo yang nggak ada habisnya!

Stay cool,
Tami

I Fall in Love with a Cat

2011-09-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

I don’t know whether to call this love, I don’t know if this is love, but this feeling has made me feel so joyful yet so miserable, and for the first time ever, I really do care about something else other than myself, and for that I would call it love, my first true love which I feel deep within myself. This love is unconditional for my first true love isn't a human, it's a he, yes, but he had 4 legs, 2 pointed ears, 2 big eyes, his colour is beigish-yellow, yup he's a cat. His name is Sir Diego Lemony Potato Chips.

He was born on a sunny October 11th 2001, inside a wardrobe, with two other of his siblings, Lola and Liga. His mother was named Liam. There they were, so tiny and vulnerable. Let alone walking; they couldn’t even open their little eyes. Lemon, Liga, and Lola grew up together in my backyard. After school I would go there to play with them, fed them and gave them milk. Lemon and Liga grew up as cheerful happy cats, but not Lola. She's kind of a loner; she's always been an outsider for Lemon and Liga. I don’t know why she didn’t want to get along with her siblings. She was always alone and she wasn’t that active as a kitten. Until one rainy night, when I arrived back home after spending a night in Bandung, I checked my backyard right away to see if they were safe, my backyard was pretty flooded, and they were meowing from on top of a cupboard. I saw Lemon and Liga there, but I didn’t see Lola. Where is she? I looked around, and i saw her lying down, drenched with rain, not moving. I tried to wake her up but she didn’t give any sign of life. I knew soon that she's not there anymore. She was less than a year old when she died :’( Meanwhile Lemon and Liga were meowing from on top of the cupboard. I took them and tried to calm them down. Those terrified little kittens :'(

I don’t keep cats as pets, I don’t "cage" them inside my house not letting them to go out. I set them free during the day, it’s up to them if they want to hang around outside or they just want to sleep inside the house, and then when it was getting dark usually those cats came back to my house, I fed them and then they slept there. They slept in the sofa but sometimes we would sleep together in my bedroom. And then they would poop in the corner of my room. My mom would get angry and I was the one to clean up their mess. *SIGH*

But one night, while the other cats were home, Lemon wasn’t home yet. I started to worry, and I walked around the neighborhood looking for him. But he was nowhere to be found. The next day me and my sister made this paper with a photo of him, "if anyone see this cat please call this number, and there will be a reward" something like that. After a couple of day waiting, suddenly we heard a familiar "meow" from our kitchen's door. We opened it and there he was! Running exhaustedly towards us, he was so dirty and skinny. Maybe he just had a little adventure and got lost :-(

In 2004, me and my family had to move back to Jakarta. But since Liam kept on giving birth to many more kittens and my dad wasn’t really fond of cats, he only allowed me to bring one cat. And in a hope that the cat wouldn’t give birth anymore, we chose a male cat, and that's Lemon. We left them in a restaurant so that they could still have food to eat. It was very tough leaving the other 6 cats behind, I cried for 2 days, whole day long. I didn’t want to talk to my dad for a week. Me and that family of cats had been through so much together. I woke up early morning to pick those kittens up every time they fell into the gutter. But then what could have I done? I looked at Lemon, and he's the only cat I have left and I didn’t want to lose him either.

So we started a new life back in Jakarta, Lemon had to adapt to the new house, the new neighborhood, and he was not young little kittens anymore. But since he was the only cat in the house, I put more attention to him. I got to know him much better, what food he liked, his hobbies, his love life... He grew up really fast, and he grew up BIG. My friends who saw him were always shocked at how big that cat was, "WOW He's sooo big like a cub! You sure he won’t grow up as a tiger?" and yes, He WAS big compared to other cats.

Lemon, sometimes I saw him not as a cat, but as another human being. But he was in fact very humane. I don’t know why, but I guess it's because he had been living with human beings for so long that he lost his own cat's nature. Such as, cats don’t like vegetables right? And cats don’t eat fruit! But not Lemon, he was very peculiar. He ate durian, in fact, he LOVED it. Every time my mom brought durians home, he would get so excited running around the durian trying to open it. And he always got the part of cleaning up the durian we had left. And oh! He also ate kangkung. Now about his love life, Lemon was such a loyal cat. And being loyal, as a cat, is WEIRD. Cat isn’t supposed to be loyal! They're cats; they don’t stick with one partner for a long period of time. That's why I said Lemon is anomalous, since he kind of had a girlfriend. He used to hang around with this one cat, a female cat, eeeeverywhere. He even brought his girlfriend home; he SHARED his food with her! Isn’t that amazing? He was so not cat-like. That's why sometimes I just couldn’t see him as a cat. He's not a pet, he's like my friend, more than a friend, he's my best friend. Every morning when my mom's door was opened, he would ran to the room and just jumped to my mom's lap and then to my mom's shoulder and he would just sit or lay there, as if telling her to wake up. Even though we couldn’t communicate with proper language, i used to tell him stories i couldn’t tell to anyone. He would just lay down on my bed calmly, listening to my stories. Somehow I understood what he was trying to tell me, and somehow he always understood what I meant.

Then one day, I was back home from school and I didn’t see Lemon. "Maybe he was hanging around outside", I thought. Night came and he wasn’t home yet. Morning came and he didn’t come home at all. The next day, I asked my maid if she saw Lemon by any chance, unfortunately she hadn’t seen him at all. I didn’t see him for the next couple of days. I looked everywhere for him, in my neighborhood, even outside my neighborhood in case he played that far and got lost. Every time I went somewhere I would eye-scan the road, hoping I would see a big beigish-yellow cat, hoping I would see him again and brought him home safe and sound. Some people said they saw him here and there; I kept on looking for him in every cat’s face. But I was searching in vain; Lemon was nowhere to be found. Losing my hope of finding him, I began to accept the fact that he's gone forever.

I thought about him day and night, it's still hard to accept the truth he's not here anymore. He was 6 years old when he went away. It’s pretty old for an age of a cat. I've heard somewhere that if a male cat knew his time is coming soon, he would leave his home and die somewhere far from his home.

It's been 5 years since he's gone, yet at night sometimes I would think about him. Wondering what he's doing... Recalling those moments we had together, and at those times, I would really miss him. 6 years together, Lemon :') I'm sure you are up there in the heaven, safe and sound, resting in peace. But one thing you should always remember, no matter what happen I’m always be with you, always. You are so special to me, how many times have I told you, if you were a man I would marry you, Lemon. (I know this sounds crazy but I do feel that way until now).

Maybe someday I would find my way to you, maybe one day you and I, we will be together for once again. I hope you're listening to me Lemon :) and at that moment, we will stay that way, you will be here forever, never gone away. All my thoughts are with you forever, until the day we'll be back together.

Sir Diego Lemony Potatochips, I miss you.

I love you, always, forever.

Your old-friend,

Utami Sandyarani

Cruelty Against Cats!

2011-05-10T04:40:00.000-07:00

They actually dyed this kitten yellow just like Pikachu!! OMG They are not canvas!!

They also made tattoo on a Sphinx cat! IT HURTS!

they didnt forget the piercing as well. Geezus.

Tossing his cat to the air. You think it's a basketball or something??!!

Whats wrong with you people?! Cat is the most adorable creature on earth. Care to give a little bit more compassion would you?

Berakit-rakit kehulu, terus tenggelam kemudian?

2011-05-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

Kadang gue ga ngerti dengan pola pikir manusia yang telah terbentuk selama ini, salah satu quotes yang seringkali jadi pegangan semua orang: berakit-rakit ke hulu, berenang-renang ke tepian, bersakit-sakit dahulu bersenang-senang kemudian. Di buku pelajaran SD, di buku peribahasa waktu SMP, sampe sekarang kayanya ga ada henti-hentinya orang ngingetin peribahasa itu.

Setelah sebuah pembicaraan random dengan seorang kawan, sebut saja Rano, gue memutuskan untuk tidur tapi ada sesuatu yang mengganjal gue daritadi karena pembicaraan tersebut. Apa sebenernya yang manusia lakukan selama ini? Selalu mencari dan mengejar masa depan sampai-sampai dia melupakan ‘kehidupan’ dia yang sekarang. Itulah mengapa gue ambil contoh peribahasa ‘bersakit-sakit dahulu, bersenang-senang kemudian.’ Gue rasa ada sesuatu yang cacat dari peribahasa tersebut.

Seperti semua manusia pada umumnya di muka bumi ini, sejak dilahirkan kita udah dicekokin dengan berbagai macam hal yang akan membentuk kita di kemudian hari, waktu kita masuk sekolah kita ditaro orang tua di sekolah-sekolah yang terbaik, untuk apa? Supaya bisa mendapatkan pendidikan yang bagus dengan harapan kita bisa jadi ‘ORANG’ nanti. Saat kelas 3 SMP kita berusaha keras ngerjain modul dan latihan soal-soal tiap hari, kita belajar, kita ngafalin mati-matian, kita mengejar 2 tujuan yang namanya, lulus dan masuk SMA yang kita inginkan. Begitu kita masuk SMA, kita berusaha keras lebih mati-matian lagi untuk masuk universitas yang kita dambakan. Begitu kita masuk universitas yang kita dambakan, kita berjuang keras ngerjain tugas-tugas dan ujian-ujian yang kadang hampir bikin kita nyerah, tapi terus kita inget peribahasa ‘bersakit-sakit dahulu, bersenang-senang kemudian’, kita kembali berjuang demi mendapatkan nilai bagus. Nilai bagus untuk apa? Supaya di transkrip nilai kita nanti terpampang IP bagus yg bisa mendukung kita mendapatkan pekerjaan yang kita impi-impikan selama ini. Kemudian kita lulus, dapat IP bagus, dan mendapatkan pekerjaan yang selama ini kita impikan, selanjutnya apa? Terus bekerja mencari uang supaya bisa nabung buat nikah, beli rumah, beli mobil, dan memberi penghidupan pada keluarga nanti.

Sadar atau tidak, itulah lingkaran hidup yang sebagian besar dari kita jalani. Ada sesuatu yang salah dari sistem pemikiran manusia selama ini. Selama kita hidup, kita terus mengejar sesuatu, selalu dan selalu, kita terlalu banyak berfikir tentang masa depan yang semu, yang bayangan-bayangan saja. Sampai-sampai kita lupa tentang kehidupan SEKARANG, yang SEKARANG sedang kita jalani. Kita terlalu disibuki untuk membangun masa depan, tak sempatkah kita berhenti sejenak untuk menikmati hidup yang kita jalani sekarang? Rugikah kita jika sebentar saja kita lupakan masa depan, dan menghargai setiap udara yang kita hirup dan keluarkan SEKARANG? Menghargai setiap orang yang kita temui SEKARANG? Menghargai setiap receh yang kita punya SEKARANG, bukan jutaan yang akan kita punya nanti?

Mungkin sudah saatnya kita berfikir ulang dalam menggunakan peribahasa 'berakit-rakit kehulu, berenang-renang ke tepian, bersakit-sakit dahulu, bersenang-senang kemudian." Yang ada, kita terus bersakit-sakit, dan begitu kita seharusnya sampai pada titik 'senang', kita akan tetap harus bersakit-sakit lagi demi mengejar 'kesenangan' selanjutnya, dan terus berlanjut seperti itu. Pada akhirnya kita bertanya-tanya dimana 'kesenangan' itu?

Seandainya kita sudah pensiun nanti, mungkin kita akan sadar akan segala moment yang terlewatkan. Mungkin kita sadar mungkin kita tidak. Tetapi begitu kita sadar, kiranya kita sudah terlalu tua, sudah terlalu lelah, untuk ‘make-up’ the time and the moments that we have lost. Kita sudah terlambat.

Mengutip dari sebuah buku ‘Like The Flowing River’ karya Paulo Coelho,

“ The funny thing about human being is our contradictories. We are in such hurry to grow up, and then we long for our lost childhood. We make ourselves ill earning money, and then spend our money on getting well again. We think so much about the future that we neglect the present, and thus experience neither the present nor the future. We live as if we were never going to die, and die as if we have never lived.”

Being Humane.

2011-01-16T01:16:00.000-08:00

"We're all walking around with these glossy eyes. "I'm just tired." we say. But you know what? It's bullshit. Ye, we are tired, but its not all from lack of sleep or works. We are tired of waking up with nothing to look forward to, tired of going to bed exhausted after doing a million things we find no enjoyment in doing it. We are tired of this emptiness that looms over us, even though our days are packed. We are tired of the loneliness that presses down on us even though we are surrounded by dozens of people. SO WHY CANT WE JUST SAY IT?

Humans are so afraid to look into each other's eyes and say, "I am unhappy, I am broken, I am hopeless and weak." We have been accustomed to associate pain with weakness, sadness with coldness, loneliness with unworthiness, difference with disorder, as if these feelings are contagious, as if doubt is something not to be felt but to feared.

Well, I say screw all of that. Screw forced smiles and polite handshakes and "I AM FINE, THANK YOU"S. Screw the fear of crying in public place, to hell with fake chipper voice. To feel everything and to feel it all openly. WE ARE NOT METALS. WE ARE FLESHES AND BONES. We can be torn into pieces. Our boiled blood flows trough our cold, humid hands. We are complex and beautiful and we should NEVER HIDE OUR HUMAN PARTS."

Maybe, this is why.

2011-01-16T01:02:00.000-08:00

9 Deadly Words Used by Women

2011-01-15T08:49:00.000-08:00

FINE : This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.
FIVE MINUTES : If she is getting dressed, this could mean HALF AN HOUR. Five minutes is only exactly five minutes, when she has just given you the time to watch football match, before helping her doing something.
NOTHING : This is the calm before the storm. This means something and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.
GO AHEAD : This is a DARE, not a permission. DON'T DO IT.
LOUD SIGH : This is actually a word, but a non-verbal one which is commonly misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing there and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to number 3 for the meaning of nothing.)
THAT'S OKAY : This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. Thats okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for you mistake.
THANKS : A woman is thankong you, do not question, OR FAINT. Just say "you're welcome". This is true, UNLESS, she says 'thanks a lot.". That is pure sarcasm and she definetly is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say "you're welcome". That will bring you to "whatever."
WHATEVER : Is a woman's way of saying F-YOU.
DONT WORRY ABOUT IT, I GOT IT : Another very dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in the man asking "What's wrong?" For the woman's response refer to number 3.

Goodluck.
Stay cool,
Tami.

Bintang, I miss you.

2011-01-15T08:35:00.000-08:00

Bintang, how are you doing? Jadi dibawa ke Jerman nggak ya kamu? I hope I'll see you again, someday :-)

2011-01-15T01:44:00.003-08:00

This pic is so touching :(

2011-01-14T00:20:00.000-08:00

The homeless guy cant even take care of himself, but he opens himself to dog :(

2011-01-13T23:37:00.000-08:00

"I hate our generation. Everyone either cares too much or too little. There's so much nonesense and pointless drama. Blame is being thrown around. "I love you" is becoming meaningless as saying "and" or "the". What happened to the world? We got caught up in growing up too fast. We all did."

-just sparkle in the sand

I’m afraid of 13 out of 69 common fears

2011-01-13T23:10:00.000-08:00

Cross out the things you’re afraid of and put you’re score at the top.

the dark

staying single forever

~~being a parent~~

~~giving birth~~

being myself in front of others

open spaces

~~closed spaces~~

heights

dogs

birds

fish

~~spiders~~

~~flowers or other plants~~

being touched

fire

deep water

snakes

silk

the ocean

~~failure~~

success

thunder/lightning

frogs/toads

my boyfriends/girlfriends dad

~~boyfriends/girlfriends mom~~

rats

jumping from high places

snow

rain

wind

crossing hanging bridges

death

heaven

being robbed

falling

clowns

dolls

large crowds of people

men

women

~~having great responsibilities~~

doctors, including dentists

tornadoes

hurricanes

incurable diseases

sharks

friday the 13th

ghosts

poverty

halloween

school

trains

odd numbers

even numbers

being alone

~~becoming blind~~

~~becoming deaf~~

~~growing up~~

creepy noises in the night

bee stings

~~not accomplishing my dreams/goals~~

~~needles~~

blood

dinosaurs

the welcome mat

high speed

throwing up

Falling in love

super secrets

If you repost this, it’s been requested that you title it “I’m afraid of _ out of 69 common fears”
If you get more than 30, I strongly recommend some counseling.
If you get more than 20, you’re paranoid.
If you get 10-20, you are normal.
If you get 10 or less, you’re fearless.
People who don’t have any are liar

Something about my room

2011-01-13T23:05:00.000-08:00

Are you happy with your life?

2011-01-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

You know somehow sometime in our life we will come to the point where we ask this to ourself, are you happy with your life and how it goes?

Well. Maybe im getting my turn now.

How I come to this question, i dont know. But everytime i wake up in the morning, nothing excites me, everytime i go to campus, nothing interests me, everytime i go back to my flat, i finally come again to this room filled with mess.

I finally realise, when you try to please others, you end up unpleasing yourself. How i've been trying to fulfill people's expectation about me. Me the smart girl, me the politic-minded girl, me who-wants-to-be-journalist, me who likes to read book about war, conflicts, and terrorism, me the critical minded girl, me who makes good writings. Now what i get is me-who-dont-even-know-what-I-want-for-my-self.

In fact,
I am NOT that smart.
I am NOT a politic minded girl, I am FED UP with it.
I do NOT want to be a journalist. I DONT LIKE WRITING.
I do NOT like reading books about war, conflicts, and terrorism. I'd rather read magazines or novels.
I am NOT critical. I dont even care about issues around me.

Now if you ask me again whether i am happy with my life.

It's kinda hard to decide. I'm standing right in the middle of the line. Why? Well you know you've tried so hard and put so much effort until you have what you're having right now. You've sacrificed a lot to be the person you are right now. But the person you are right now, is just not the person you want to be. Plus, it's even more sad when you know you've had them already, and its kind of pity to let it all go.

Yet people will say that i should be grateful for what I have right now. Like everything i've been through, everything i've had, everything i have achieved, many people in this world simply dont have what I have now, many things that people envy me for. You know what? Fvck with that, i dont want to be grateful! Why should I? You should realise that there are many things in this big big world that people take for granted, which i dont have! So to put it simple, we are equal. Now say it again that I should be grateful?

At least I am still breathing, living my complex life, contently.
Maybe its your time to ask yourself, are you happy with your current life?

Stay cool,
Tami

So The Thing is:

Overheard #1

B: You probably think im pathetic for even caring, for if i was truly powerful, i'd be content without any man at all.M: Well even moguls have hearts, my dear.

26hours Bus Ride to Flores

Lombok: Gili Terawangan, Bumbang Beach, Kebon Duren!

What's the point of cleaning up when it's gonna get messy again?

DEUTSCHLAND

I have to say this is so funny.

Gelas, Air, Tuhan

NORGE

Gili Nanggu

Gunung Rinjani

Gunung Bromo

Pulau Sempu

I Fall in Love with a Cat

Cruelty Against Cats!

Berakit-rakit kehulu, terus tenggelam kemudian?

Being Humane.

Maybe, this is why.

9 Deadly Words Used by Women

Bintang, I miss you.

This pic is so touching :(

I’m afraid of 13 out of 69 common fears

Something about my room

Are you happy with your life?

B: You probably think im pathetic for even caring, for if i was truly powerful, i'd be content without any man at all.
M: Well even moguls have hearts, my dear.