journey of life–this time
Monday, October 30th, 2006
Ooooooooo yeahhh…. i had a really cool holiday and i’m proud that i paid with my own money…hue..he..he… So the team were consist of two Bandung-Aceh-coolest people plus one tiny Indian/Java. 
We start the journey by going by bus from Banda Aceh to Medan. Me and Reggy went to Mala’s house early in the morning. We passed the biggest (i think) vihara i’ve ever seen here in Sumatera on the way to her house, it’s beautiful!
Before i’ve asked mala to join us but she didnt want to cause she thinks that her dad wont give permission but then after me and reggy begging her so many times, SHE WANTS to join us!! as we expected, her father gives the permission with smile.. ooo yeahhh… i’m so happy at that time, what else do i want - i got two of my closest friends going on a trip with me?!? Awesome, rite..
Then we flew to Batam with Citylink. We cant stop laughing at ourself and keep saying "i cant believe it, we’re going to Singapore together".. O ya, while waiting the plane, me and mala were still looking for job vacancy at Jakarta Post and also in Kompas. She got two while i got one.We keep the advertisement. In the next one hour we already at Batam. You could see the hazzy sky, shame on them-who made those forest burnt !! We bought the ferry ticket directly at the airport..so people out there, remember this, always buy ferry ticket in the airport NOT in the harbour! It’s way cheaper… On the way to the harbour we were talking about green tea doughnouts from J.co. - I love all green tea thing- and then we see J co banner on the way to Mall. Couldnt believe that there’s J.co in Batam.huehehehe… but we didnt buy it though, we went straight to the harbour after exchange our lovely rupiah to singdol. Thus we start the first journey..
Arrived in Singpo at about 8pm,i tried joli bean…mmm so delicious, i also like soy bean thingy.. I think we were too tired /lazy to use MRT and then we took a cab to go to THE WARREN. Reg’s sis lives there. When we got there, my first line came out in my mouth was ‘ DANG, I WANT TO LIVE IN THIS PLACE ‘!! hehehe.. But then reggy made a stupid move to find her sis place. He had to make a call to get to her sis place..ay yaya.. but then we got it after 35 minutes made a wrong path. At last we meet his sis, Ria. She’s small (comparing to my size) yet really sweet. We had a chat for awhile and went sleep, the three of us in the same room ^-^
Second day, we went to Border and also Kinokinuya. It’s the only intention that i want to do in Singpo, buying BOOKS!! YEP, i bought lots of books. Same thing goes with mala and reggot. Reggy also bought a wet suit! Arrgghhhh, i’m so jealous…S**T, i should’ve bought it too. But then Mas Dondo, Ria’s Husband said that it’s cheaper to buy wet suit in Indo..HA HA HA…i feel relieved. I bought something for my lovely sister. Went to TCC, tried delicious cakes. And then the five of us had a huge dinner at chinese restaurant. This day is the same day i got introduced with a thing called studio gibli, we watched some of the movie before we went sleep. Short note: Reggy and Ria are really fond of comics,cartoon movies-sometimes me and mala got lost in conversation. It’s cute to see both of them discussing about a comic stories/character so serious meanwhile me and mala totally dont understand!? — mala, are we leaving in the same world??— —yep sa!—
3rd day: me and mala sent the application for those vacancies we got. Bought plane ticket to Bangkok.Went to suntec city- bought Neil Gaiman&Yoshitaka Amano’s book: Sandman, got superb coffee at NYDC<-i thinks it’s one of the coolest resto so far.Went to China Town but before i accompanied Mala to eat some Indian cuisine..hmmm i like Batura…. but i dont like Gulab Jamun-eww,too sweet!
4th day: Me and Reggy went to Mustafa store, DAMN!! so many cheap and interesting things there meanwhile i had exchanged my money into BAHT.. Me and reggy had lunch at Sitara Restaurant. i got butter parantha and reggy got mutton biryani. We found out that one of the service they offered is that the chef bring the food by himself and he’s nice & friendly (i took a pic with him). Without giving attention to my watch, we enjoyed our lunch until i realize I almost late to catch my plane-thank God, mala was able to negotiate with the crew so that i still could to check-in..She and Ria were already at the changi for hours-i had to run to catch check in counter.. i didnt notice that it took almost 35 minutes to get to changi… so lesson to learn : DONT GO TO BLOODY MUSTAFA WHEN YOU HAVE A FLIGHT IN A SHORT TIME…hahahahha….
So reggy stay in singpo while me and mala go to Bangkok. When we first arrived, again i feel ashamed of my country, how come we dont have a huge and modern airport like they have…sigh!.. Mala got stress within 30 minutes after landed cause she had to face ridicilous-english/thai conversation just to figure out whether it’s time to eat for moslem or not with thai moslem woman. :DD
We went to Sukhumvit by bus..During on the way there, i got a little fight with thai guy who obviously insulting me by saying that all investment that goes to Indonesia will flew to Thai because of indonesian lack of credibility and that we have huge potential to get another natural disaster. I really want to slap his mouth, but i know it wont change anything, it was on his mind that needs to be changed. At the end-before we get out from the bus, i asked him politely whether he also want to stop with us or not and say ‘good bye-have a good trip’ thing… God, bless him for he doesnt know what he just said!
So the next thing occured is that we made a wrong stop!! Ok this is the picture of 2 indonesian girls who made stupid move after someone humiliate us about our ‘character’…isnt it ironic?!? HA HA HA HA… we laugh until we realize it wont help..so we asked someone who eventually can speak english. Then we took sky train to go to Sukhumvit. We made a stop at Nana station.. The sound is so funny, again we laugh out loud while in the train everytime we hear ‘next stop ‘naahh naaahh’…hahahaha… it’s really an odd sound.
When we get there, we can easily find our hotel as suggessted in lonely planet, Miami hotel.It’s quite expensive though for backpackers like us, it cost us 800 Baht per nite, well they have a clean-aircon-bathroom and pool. So yeah,it’s worth it. The first nite, we went to Zanzibar, had a drinks with a live-jazzy band.ooo yeahh, what a nite…Actually i wanted to see Jay-Z concert, but mala didnt want to… We met one of my old aiesec friend, Riri.She’s looks more beautiful,whiter for sure. We had a chat for a while and then we went out to some cafes, enjoying the live music - we’re such a party goers hahaha.. it was a BLAST!! Sukhumvit is really a place for people who want to go party hard.
The next days was also funtastic, but most of the time we went to several Wat like Wat Poo, Grand Palace (extremelly amazing),Wat a Wat b… well you name it, there are tons of Wat back in Bangkok. We’re using Chao Phraya boat to go to some places…We went to national gallery, i was astonished to see the coup exhibition aswell with one other exhibition which i couldnt remember the title..but i like it!! REaLLY!.. And then we went to weekend market, and this is not a normal market. it’s a HUGE MARKET, you can find almost everything there, from animals to military things, from gems to flowers…e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g!! Mala went crazy buying all the stuff for her family and especially for HERSELF!! Hahahaha… This far i got few cute skirts, rings, Thai accoustic CD (must have item), and other things.. Suprisingly, MALA GOT SALMAN RUSHDIE’s book: SATANIC VERSUS!!! geez, i’d like to have one.. where else you can find those book?!it’s almost impossible and weirdly we got those book in small used book store at Sambutri area. I bought the other salman rushdie book, midnight somethin…
During the night in Bangkok, i often ordered cocktail instead of juice cause it’s hell cheaper there,…so B59,S** on the beach, Singapo sling and many other cocktails fill my stomach and transmit the sensation to my brain-not much but enough to enjoy the nite…..hehehe…We ate mostly thai seafood, it’s delicious. Well i rarely eat standard food, BlAH!@>!@?
ONE TIPS if any of you want to go to BANGKOK : DO NOT TRUST TUK TUK DRIVER FOR GIVING YOU A RIDE WITH ONLY 10 BAHT!! I swear,i will never ever trust them… Geez, because of that tuk2 driver that ‘push’ me to go to Travel Agency, i booked a hotel in phuket for 600 baht meanwhile the normal price is only 300 baht.Sigh… lesson to learned! But well, anything could happened during your trip, and it’s one of them-unfortunately for me… But if you can get normal tuk-tuk driver where he can give you a reasonable price, then it’s fine. Tuk-tuk is faster than bajaj, i think it’s even faster than Audi A6 :DD mala even had to take her earings off cause she got afraid that it will fly away somehow, and yeah we did fly once by tuk-tuk..it was a funny moment. During in Bangkok i met, spanish guy, who eventually asked me to watch Un Inconvenient Truth,which becoming one of my favourite movie. We watched at Lido Theathre near Siam Paragon mall. The movie is tottally awesome, it has boost my energy to continue encouraging my friends and family to become aware about GLOBAL WARMING!! Two thumbs up for Al Gore, for putting it up, he’s on the screen guys!! I found out that this new friend is an actor and most of his play has been co-sponsored by Discovery Channel. He made a conservation movie in Indonesia, he sure can speak bahasa well and he’ll make a new movie in south africa. He went to Antarctic (already) for movie project aswell, and once he says to me ‘ Sari you have to go there before it melt and before you die!’
So we spent 4 days in Bangkok, and mala had to go back to Medan meanwhile i prolong my holiday to go to Phuket. I went there by bus, which only cost you 300 baht, not bad,ey?!.. I met 4 irish girls and one american guy-who-eventually got closer with me during days in phuket…ha haha… We had so much fun there, partying all nite long at Molly Malones (Irish Pub), we even made a bet.i Had to sing in front of hundred people at one outdoor cafe, Daniel had to take his shirt off while i’m singing, Lily had to kiss birthday man, Marion had to sing Irish Song, Choon and Clair (i hope i put the rite name) had to dance on the table… AWESOME!! i still couldnt believe that i really dare to sing back there, but alas, people enjoy it, i sang ‘LONG TRAIN RUNNING’ and everybody gave me applause at the end…what a nite..and i got a hug from Dan…yeph, i got it, baby!!
The second day in phuket: i went to phi-phi island, all by own, i had booked it, though i only sleep for 3 1/2 hours, i still can wake my self up at 6.30 and go to the harbour again… Phi-phi island is truly an island for honeymoon,sighh…. i wish i could go there with a boyfriend. BUT I DONT HAVE IT, DAMN!!!!.. i made a promise to myself, i’ll go again there and dive there with or without a boyfriend Reggy arrived this day, and we hang out with the girls and with ‘Daniel James Ferero’ (sigh…he’s extremelly cute and smart. He’s 27 and aiming to get Phd in couple of months, he’s biologist and just got back from Tokyo for International Conference–do not make a comparison with Reggy {Reggy is also 27}…hehehe…love you mate!!) What i fear most happened today, Reggy got drunk…yepppphhh… But we still can manage him to go to bed savely..
The other nite all of us suprisingly dare to watch ping pong show.. ok, here’s another tip, IF YOU’RE NOT STRONG ENOUGH, DO NOT SEE THIS KIND OF SHOW.. i almost puke, i ran away from the show immediately after it’s ended.. with 300 baht for a bottle of Sing Ha beer plus with those silly attraction yet ugly figure it was way toooo much… Reggy and i took a picture with two queers.somehow i got a bit nervous standing beside them..
The last day, the four girls went to Krabi..and so the three of us remain in Phuket. Reggy watched the Fantasea show. He always likes those broadway kind of thing.Meanwhile me and Dan went shopping for his family.. During the day we just laying on the beach enjoying the beautiful scenery offered by the Almighty Creator….sigh…. The last nite we celebrate it by playing biilliard which i won 6-0 with Dan (a ya, we saw huge-amazing-fireworks before for 15 minutes, brilliant!!) and spent the nite at Rock City cafe, which is really ROCKS!!!… I think we sang all song that the band played… "I play my part and you play your game,you give love a bad name….BON JOVI ROCCCKKKKSSS!!!!" We did train, 5 shots of tequila in a row. Reggy bought it for me and dan… and yeahhh i got drunk…ha ha ha,,,,, Reggy had to carry me all the way to the hotel with Daniel’s help..ha ha ha ha… i can remember they were both saying " ok, so 5 is definitely not her number pals !!"
The next morning, me and reggy go down to penang-fly to medan and back to Aceh…
Whadda fabolous journey! Next stop will be komodo island/Lombok and hopefully i can make it til Banda Sea!!
