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The Kecak Dance
Best known of the many Balinese dances
Taken from the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, tale of Prince Rama and Princess Sinta |
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| The background choir of men who provide the "bek-ti-bek-ti-bek-ti instead of "chak-a-chak-a-chak" noise. |
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| jajajajaja ......... |
POTATO HEAD CLUB, SEMINYAK
While in Bali, a friend of ours took us to the Potato Head Club in Seminyak. I was pleasantly surprised with the set up of the place. It was a funky building with a rustic, vintage wood shutters all over the exterior and the entrance. The scenery was amazing, great for chillin' out. Since we came a little late, we were only able to get a bed lounge by the poolside (which felt even better to see as the beautiful pool overlooks the fresh-breeze ocean).
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| The left side wing |
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| Our bed lounge by the pool |
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| The right side wing |
LAKA-LÉKÉ RESTAURANT in UBUD
Next we went to LAKA-LÉKÉ Restaurant in Ubud. LAKA-LÉKÉ means “hideaway” in Balinese, and is appropriate name since the place itself is literally “hidden away” from the main road. This place offers beautiful views of gardens, lily ponds and rice field. Since we came in a big party, we chose to sit at the big pavilion in the back of the restaurant, which facing a fantastic scenery of paddy field. Food that I ordered is no other than “The Famous Crispy Duck”, served with rice, vegetables and of course hot spicy sauce … taste delicious … yummyyyy ……….
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| Beautiful landscape and huts |
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| Eat with a hand is a MUST!!!! |
JAKARTA
We visited Jakarta for a short trip. It was great to be in my old hometown again, such a warm feeling to say "HALLO" to my mother, my sister and my brother. On my last trip to Jakarta in 2007, I still had a chance to say goodbye to my father and whispers into his ear "till we meet again". But unfortunately, I have no chance of meeting him again, but I believe God has a better place for him.
Upon my midnight arrival in Jakarta, I was excited by the smooth traffic ... wooohoooo ..., not until the next morning when we left the house and caught up with the extremely... I meant extremely high traffic congestion. Narrow streets and busway contribute to more traffic jams. Every where you go, you will see hundreds of motorcycles around you. Their ability to beat the heavy traffic has made them one of the most effective modes of transportation in the city of Jakarta. But it cost the city a bad air pollution and air quality.
Without Any Doubt
1) Jakartan are famous for their skills driving on a zig-zagging manner and have a very little respect for the rule of law.
2) New luxury malls everywhere, but quiet and deserted.
3) Antibiotic can be purchased with no prescription around the corner.
4) Almost every Jakartan carry more than 1 cellphone and they are addicted to BlackBerry.
5) In Jakarta you can find many cafe offering Shisha with a various kind of flavors, and children under 18 can legally or freely smoke them ....... right on Indon .... heheheh ....
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| Daily commute |
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| Daily commuter |
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| Four in One .... NO PROBLEM!!! |
MEET THE FAMILY
Fabiola is my cousin who lived in the middle of the Jakarta. She and her husband has been so kind and generous to let us stay at her huge house in Jln. Bangka. And not only that, she dedicated her whole 12 days taking us around and getting things done. The first night we stayed, we had Korompis family (from my mother's side) get together at her house. Terrific menu had been served and some family members brought their own special dishes. We all had a good time eventhough the weather at that time consider steamy. After dinner, kids were ready with karaoke and poco-poco dance.
In my husband family reunion, they were talking about how to develop a family reunion culture that will pass to their kids and their next generations. I would say about 80% of the whole huge Martokusumo's clan showed up. Unfortunately, I don't have pics to put up.
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| Meet the cousins |
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| Karaoke and poco-poco |
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| Karaoke is on |
BANDUNG
Our next destination was Bandung. Bandung is not only known as the center of high education, but it is also known for its many shopping malls, factory outlets, and their fried gourame of course. As soon as we arrived in Bandung, we went straight to Sari Sunda Restaurant. The food is traditional Sundanese food and it was pretty tasty. The ambiance is a typical Sundanese restaurant with rattan decor, suling bamboo instruments playing in the background, and some huts located behind the restaurant.
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| Sari Sunda Restaurant |
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| Fried Gourame |
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| Grilled Tilapia |
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| Sambal (spicy hot sauce) |
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| Sator bean known as pete |
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| Fish with yellow sauce ..... hhhmmmm delicious |
Bandung is really a shopping paradise. With so many factory outlets, you can shop till you drop. After lunch we went straight to Rumah Mode, one of the top shopping outlets located at Jalan Setiabudi. As we drove into the parking lot, instead of seeing a usual outlet store, we saw something more interesting. It was like entering a resort because of its beautiful landscape. It was very welcoming to all shoppers. It is by far the most beautiful outlet I have ever seen and apparently the most popular one in Bandung. In addition to the main shopping area, there is a cafe where you can sit and relax while waiting for others. I was excited to see just how much shopping I'd end up doing, but in the end, I found myself not emptying out my wallet ......only because I kept reminding myself that I came to Indonesia to buy nothing other than Indonesian Batiks. So, after browsing around and purchasing a few shirts, we had our dinner at the cafe.
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| Front entrance of Rumah Mode Factory Outlet |
We literally stayed until dark, than drove up to Kampung Daun for dessert. Kampung Daun is located about 30 – 45 minutes away from Bandung. This is another must-try place to anyone going to Bandung. It’s a village-style restaurant built into a slope and consists of individual huts scattered around a valley with a stream flowing by in the background. There are different sizes of huts available according to the number of patrons per party. They are nicely decorated with comfy pillows, spaced, and covered to offer privacy. The view from each hut was stunning, especially those nestling on the hill side. Overall, the atmosphere made you feel like you were somewhere in the middle of a rain forest. The best time to come to this restaurant is during night time, when you'll be surrounded by traditional lanterns.
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| The entrance of Kampung Daun |
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| The path leading to each huts |
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| Our comfy hut |
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| Our dessert of the night ... poffertjes, pisang goreng |
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REUNION
Our small get-together was held at Score, Citos. The theme was dubbed "3G," which stands for Galak-Galak-Gadang, the equivalent of English Internet Slang "LMAO" (Laugh My Ass Off) or "LOL" (Laugh Out Loud).
Although only about 40 classmates showed up, it was a great feeling of nostalgia to see familiar faces from one of the happiest periods of my childhood. The weather cooperated, the venues were great, the live band was entertaining and renewing old friendships were wonderful. The big and crowded room was filled with friendship, laughter, good cheers and fond memories. Some classmates flew from Pekanbaru, Jogjakarta and Balikpapan. One thing we had in common was that we are all leading happy lives. Some have their own businesses, some became professors, some work in corporate, some are stay-at-home-mothers, and of course some are still single and available. And I'm already planning of how soon am I able to collect my social security for my retirement …. LOL … Our reunion committee (Elly Aritonang, Novi Sibuea, Reinhard Harianja, Verdy Armin, Wiwied Rahagung) have been busy doing a lot of “behind the scenes”planning and made efforts to reach as many members as possible.
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| The member of Cendana 82 |
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| The poco-poco lead by Ray |
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| Still going and going ... |
