Get Out from Jakarta for Breakfast and Photo Shot!

All of sudden after attending the opening exhibition of Fiksi Non Fiksi at Antara Gallery, me and six friends of mine decided to go somewhere. At first we said, "Ok, Puncak!" Puncak is a place out of Jakarta, approximately 2 hour driving, located in the valley. It's a nice place with mountains and green fields as the scenery, and also with cool weather. So no wonder the place is often be a gate away choice for a while for Jakartans.

We left Jakarta at 4 in the morning. When we were about to arrive in Puncak, we said, "oh come on, just go to Puncak is not cool, let's go to Bandung!" So we went a little more further to Bandung, the capital of West Java. But we stopped for a while to enjoy the dawn in Puncak. :)

Bandung is famous as a shopping paradise. Its another nick name is Paris van Java. But, we didn't plan to shop, so no extra money. We arrived in the morning, and because there were 5 men of us, so they wanted to hunt for girls! Guess what? We went to Padjajaran University! But it was Saturday, I thought no classes on that day.

We ended up just having breakfast and photo shot in Bandung. But it was soooo fun, though we were damn sleepy and tired. And since most of us are single, so it was like a short trip for absofuckinglutely single people! Hahaha...

Traveler's Hangover

Traveling is addictive. If you like it also, maybe you would say, "I never want to stop!" Same like I do.

For me, I really like the feeling of away from home, away from my routines, away from the system. Sounds pretty coward, eh? But well I'm still alive even I'm coward. hehe.. It feels strange to be home again after all. Strange! But I don't feel sad, and of course I don't feel happy either. Sometimes I just don't know what I supposed to feel when I'm home. All I know I just want to travel again. So mostly the feeling of going is more frightening than the feeling of leaving. Though adapting with home's circumstances is not that difficult, since adapting is the thing that travelers always do.

When I talked about this with my friend, Roberto, he told me, "So do not travel again." I was shocked, why he told me like that? He's away from his country as well. But then he explained to me that I should not do what makes me feel unhappy. He said I like traveling, but I don't like to be back home. But I should go home. So everytime I'm traveling, possibly I would feel unhappy after it.

I couldn't say he was right, but he was not fully wrong either. And everytime I ask myself why I travel? I can't find a satisfying anwer yet. I know I'm looking for something, but I don't know what. I'm looking for something I don't know (like ED always say also). Envy them who can answer this question already.

But all I know I feel happy when I'm traveling. But yeah, not when I have to go home. It's all about what's in my mind. My mind is more free when I'm traveling, but not at home. Seems like there's a conception in my mind about home and what's inside it already and I can't change it!

Though I can't change it, I have to change my mind about it, change the way I think about it. So it could change the way I react with that. I should enjoy myself wherever I am. Because in the end, (maybe) it's the same to here or there. And the most important is that I -and you also- should be happy. Because why would we choose to be unhappy?

Nice to Meet You

I love traveling alone, but in fact I never be alone. Because I always meet new people when I'm traveling. I love to meet both locals and tourists.

My traveling experience is not that much yet. But from that I already learned a lot that makes me want to learn more and more. A friend told me, "Maybe one day you would experience this. In the end it's the same to be here or there, to travel or settle down. What makes it different is the people. People you meet, people to share with, people with a good heart who want to be friend with you not because you're a tourist, but because you are you!"

The last 4 weeks when I did my Thailand and Vietnam trip, I met some wonderful and awesome people who made my days more beautiful. :)

Pai

Phine, Georg, Christian

They were very nice. And it was funny, because they were the last people who knew me and Ed as a couple, and they also the first people who knew that we were no longer couple anymore. ;)

Rickard

I supposed to take pic of him with ukulele, instead of this tobacco.

He was Ed's old travelmate, they met up coincidentally in Pai.

Paul

This guy is fucking tall! Even taller than any other westerners.

Aom

She's a singer. Her voice is unique. She sings beautifully.

Ladissa

She's a good dancer. She also can sing!

Martin

He looks like Chris Martin, eh? Crazy guy!

Bangkok

Roberto and Diego

They're a great team. They always complete each other. And they know how to value someone, they have beautiful souls inside. People with good hearts.

Tiap and Nii

Hard to tell that Tiap is not a girl, she's pretty. Nii is an artist, she's wonderful!

HCMC

Christophan

He and his friends showed me HCMC around within a day. From upper class to working class.

I don't know her name. I met her through Chris. She can't talk because she has mental depression. So I used sign language when I talked to her.

Damian

Stayed in the same room in dormitory. He's very talkative. He always have something good to talk to.

Liesl, Lisa, Laura

We did a lot of walking, talking, and eating. Because of Spanish Bar, Cu Chi Tunnels, and oreo creamy shake.

Patrick and Ronan

Paddy's motorbike was cool! But police pulled me over when I was riding this motorbike. And Ronan loves small cute dog. ;)

Hopefully see you again. Someday, somewhere. :)

More picture from people I met.

Tomorrow Never Knows!

My last stop was Saigon. After that I had to go home. I was only away for four weeks, but when I had to go home, I didn't know what I supposed to feel. I didn't feel happy, but I didn't feel sad either. I just didn't know. It's strange to go home, and well, it's sad because it means you stop traveling, though only for a while. And like it or not you have to face the real and daily life back home.

I like the feeling when I'm away from home. Everything new, different, it's interesting. And when I don't know something or make mistake, everything is pardoned. When I have problems, I have to handle it by myself. There's no one that I can count on but me. I learn how to be tough, to think clearly, to spend money wisely, to adapt with new circumtances, to observe people behaviours, to understand and appreciate differences. It really is a good feeling and traveling is addictive!

Well, tomorrow never knows and life is a big surprise. Life back home is another adventure though. So I have to face it as well. I just have to stop for a while then soon I'll go again to new places! Wait for me! :)

Budget Travelers Should Not Complain!

Well yeah it's true. Since I was traveling on budget, so I must not complain. But I can't stand not to tell these stories.

When I was about to go to Chiang Mai, I took another tourist bus! Cheap, yes! But very bumpy, even the road to Chiang Mai was boring, high way without any up and down or sharp curves. And it was fucking cold inside! Like in the fridge! Hell no!

And on my second time in Bangkok, since I was alone, so I chose to stay in a cheap guest house. I got it, 150 Baht/day. But but the bed was really hard like a stone! Every two hours, I woke up, slept again, next two hours woke up again. It hurt my back too much!

So the next day I decided to move to another guest house with the same price, but with a better bed. But yeah budget travelers should not complain, because my new bed... few ants on the bed! Jeez!

In Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, two nights I stayed in $10 room. Not that expensive actually and I got everything, AC, big and comfy bed, hot water, fridge, TV, wardrobe, even towel and toilet paper. But for budget and solo traveler, $10 was expensive. So I moved to dormitory, $7. Still expensive though, but cheaper. hehe.. And because I stayed in dormitory, I got some new friends. :)

Well, still had a good thing over not so good one. ;)

Saigon? Ho Chi Minh City? Whatever!

First time I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, this communist country. Communist sounds scary, eh? But it was all right there. :)

First impression was good. On the bus, I didn't have no idea where Pham Ngu Lao was, the backpacker area, so I asked old couple on the bus and they kindly told me everything they knew. And when I had to pay, I didn't have small money, so there was a lady who paid for my ticket. :)

I was alone. I missed Ed and my friends in Bangkok. But yeah, when you travel alone, you never be alone. I met some people just some hours after I arrived. They showed me almost all Saigon within a day. They took me to the upper class restaurant (yuck! I didn't like it!), to the Spanish Bar (fucking good!), and to the place for lower class and yeah budget traveler. hehe... They told me to move from Saigon, five days in Saigon was too much they told me. But I didn't like to move to one place to another without knowing anything about it. I don't like to just have a look, I want to see, to know more, to understand.

When I moved to dormitory, I met Damian, my room mate. We did lot of walking, talking, laughing, eating (oreo creamy shake was very good!). We also met Lisa, Liesl, and Laura through Kirsti. I told them about the Spanish Bar and we wanted to go there. But stupid me, I didn't know where it was, I didn't even remember the name. So we did an adventure to find the Spanish Bar. Walked down the street, asked people, with map in our hands. But still we couldn't find it! So we ended up at Sheraton Hotel! On its 23rd floor! It was good there, but our outfits were totally didn't fit for that place! We wore t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops! hehehe...

Tour? No More!

Cu Chi Tunnels and War Remnants Museum must be two of the relic of Vietnam War. People there always asked me, "have you been to those places?" I answered, "not yet", "why not?" they asked me back. Ooh! So I had to go, eh!? I didn't feel like going, but ok because my friends wanted to go to Cu Chi Tunnels, so I joined them. With a tour! Jeez!

I think it would be the first and the last time I took a tour. I felt like stupid following one guy instruction to do this, to do that! No way! Cu Chi Tunnels was interesting actually. But since we went there with a tour, so when we were crouching the tunnels, we could only crouch straight heading to the hospital bunker. Along the way, there were many other ways, left, right, I really wanted to turned left or right, but I couldn't! Oohh....

I didn't go to War Remnants Museum, haven't got time. Well, next time maybe. But I think next time, I want to do Vietnam trip from south to north... I'll see.

Crazy Traffic!

I thought Jakarta's traffic was the most fucked up! But then I found out that Saigon's was even worst! Horrible!

Too many motorbikes (but many Vespa LX there). They didn't follow the rule. They went wherever they wanted. Sometimes they didn't even stop in the traffic light! Crossing the street would never be this challenging, 0r most suitable word, frightening! hehe.. Two thumbs up for them who can ride motorbikes and handle the traffic there. :p

So Damian and I wanted to hit the traffic! Damian's friend, Patrick, just bought a motorbike. So we wanted to do test drive, quite reckless though, because we didn't use helmet, didn't have driving license and paper motorbike. We rode down the street trying to find the Spanish Bar, but we couldn't find it. We found a Cathedral and a big park instead.

In front of the Cathedral, there was a Mother Mary statue and people were kneel in front it, praying in the night! Wow! Real life of Saigon aside of the backpacker area. :) But I kinda regret haven't got the chance to enter the Cathedral. It looked magnificent and I never entered churh before. hehe..

But we were lost. We didn't know the way back home. And it was hard to ask for direction, because almost nobody spoke good english. :( We tried our luck, but the police pulled us over! I told you we were reckless. They didn't speak good english either. Before they wanted to take the motorbike, of course we couldn't let it happen! Patrick just bought it 30 minutes ago! So after some bla bla bla discussion, they asked for money, 500.000 Dong! We didn't bring so much money at that time, we only had 170.000 Dong. We showed them all the money that we had. And they only took 100.000 Dong and let us go. We even asked them for direction before we left. hehe...

After that accident, we laughed all the way home... And it was my last night in Saigon.

More picture from Ho Chi Minh City

I Left My Heart for Pai

Before my itinerary was Thailand, Cambodia/Lao, and then Vietnam. But when I came to Pai, I knew that I would spend some times here. From the beginning, I fell in love with this place already. It was true, most of my traveling time I spent in Pai. I stayed there for two weeks.

Pai is a little town in the big valley located in Northern Thailand, between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. So the view from the town is mountain, so beautiful. But too bad when I was there, the leaves were not green, maybe because it was not the season. But still beautiful. :) The place was so relaxed, good place for laid-back people. And the spirit of Pai itself, I think, was hippy. It was cool! And the weather was also nice. Though during the day it was very hot and in the night it was fucking cold! People there were nice, they didn't treat me badly like in Bangkok, though they still thought that I was a Thai girl.

It was a touristic place, both for local and foreign tourists. But still nice. It was not as crowded as Khaosan, for sure. And it was not that expensive there. We stayed in a private bamboo hut for 150 Baht/day.

In the center of the town, normally activities started in the evening. The walking street turned out to be a shopping area. People sold many things, from food to accesories. Pai also had many bars and restaurants, and they were all cool! Always had live music every night. Even they played music in the street. Awesome! Moreover, I love wooden stuff, and almost all the bars and restaurants there had wooden decoration inside. Splendid!

When I was there, I didn't go to any tourist attractions like elephant riding, jungle trekking, and etc. I only went to the river to had water massage, to the canyon to saw it by myself, and to the hot spring to relaxed myself. It was funny when we were about to go to the hotspring, we almost ran out our petrol. And way to the hotspring was so challenging, up and down, and from the main road, it was pretty far. We were afraid we couldn't make it and already prepared ourselves to sleep in the jungle, more challenging though. hehe.. But we made it!

Like I told you before, in the night time, it was fucking cold there! That's why we need campfire! Never in my life I saw campfire inside the bar, but you can find it in Pai. ;) And there was one bar, Bamboo Bar! That place was cool. People only came there around 2 am - 6 am. There were three campfires inside the bar. But the music -sometimes- was cheesy. Sometimes people brought their own guitars there and played it, but they didn't turn off the music! Errr.... But that bar was cool! Really cool! I spent most of my nights there, drinking, talking to people, or just sitting around the campfire. And if I wanted to have the real live music, I could go to almost every bars. Because every nights they had live music. My favorite was duo Aom and Norbert. Aom, a hippy girl with unique voice, and Norbert, an eccentric guy who played his guitar excellently.

When I was there, there were two parties. One was in the art gallery, hippy party. The other one was reggae festival. Awesome! I liked both of the parties. In the art gallery, first time I saw fire show. It was incredible! And because the ticket for the reggae festival was expensive, so we didn't get it. But we had fun outside the venue, because people were jamming there, dancing, drinking... Fuuuun!

When I was about to leave Pai, I felt so sad. It was the longest time I stay in one place when I'm traveling. And it felt good. I was sad because I had to leave when I already knew the people there, when people knew me already, when I felt so attach to the place. It was sad...

Even I'm thinking to stay in Pai for good. Well I'll come back, sooner or later. :)

Meet and Break!

Well, now I'm going to tell you about my love life. Feel free if you want to skip this part.

This traveling was somewhat like a couple holiday. Because I had a long distance relationship with my ex-boyfriend and we didn't meet for two months. So we expected this holiday would be nice.

But life is really a big surprise, eh? Instead of felt happy about our met up, we broke up after 10 days together! We broke up in Pai and I didn't know why. I really left my heart for Pai. Pai gave me both good and bad memories.

Actually couple holiday is boring. And no one would talk to couples! So when we were together, altoghether three weeks, we spent only two of us. And somehow we both couldn't do like we always did before when we traveled alone. It felt not the same. But I still happy. I was happy because finally I could meet him again. But might be he was not feel the same way. I didn't know.

He introduced Pai to me. He has been there three years ago. And it was awesome he said. But when we were there, everything was not the same anymore like three years ago. And I knew he felt disappointed about it. But things are changing, we can't expect everything to be the same forever! So I thought when we were there he trapped in his own memories with Pai three years ago. It was so painful for me. Because he was there, but I couldn't even feel him! I knew his mind and his heart were not there with me.

After we broke up, it was very hard at the beginning. I didn't have someone to talk to and I didn't want to ruin someone's holiday by whining about my love life. So I kept it by my self. I had to be strong! I decided to stay together with him for the next 10 days. I knew it was gonna be painful for me by choosing to still stay together with him. But on the other hand, I realized maybe it would be the last time we met in the real life (well I hope not). So I wanted to spend it as long as I could. And since then, I started to feel jealous with another couples! Because they looked happy with each other, they seemed to be ok. Why we couldn't be like them??

Well, now I know next time I would never ever traveling with my boyfriend anymore! Ever!

Hitchhiking, Addictive!

I tried my first hitchhiking in Pai. It was fucking awesome! I got addicted to it.

My very first hitchhiking was a motorbike, only for short distance. Since then, altogether I hitchhiked three times in Pai. And the most cool hitchhiking experience ever until now was from Pai to Chiang Mai!

We decided to hitchhike because I wanted to experience the real hitchhiking. So we walked out of Pai. Some cars stopped by but they couldn't take us in because they didn't go to Chiang Mai. After almost half an hour walking, finally there was a car heading to Chiang Mai. So we got our ride, a cool pick-up!

At first, I was a little bit sick, because I didn't get used to it. But after some times, I could sleep good on the back. :) If we took bus, it took around four and a half hour from Pai to Chiang Mai. With hitchhiking only two hours. Better, faster, and cheaper it was for free! I want to do it more...

More picture from Pai

More picture about Meet and Break!