Double Long Weekend Trip ...

Last weekend was having my lone-ranger trip to Jakarta ...

And this weekend i'm gonna spends my time with my lovely families :*

What a wonderful life ! I'm loving it :* Thanks God for realizing my wishes :)

Short Gateaway to Jakarta

Long weekend , i have decided to go down to Jakarta for a short break . The main purpose of my trip is to watch the classical music concert ' a romantic evening ' which was held in Aula Simfonia Jakarta on 19th May 2012 .

Monas Night View

On friday , took the 1450 flight from Palembang to Jakarta , but it delayed and i reached in Jakarta at around 1700 . Took a bus and get down at the Gambir station and went and see the Monumen Nasional ( Monas ) with the light on . They used to said ' Kalau belum pernah ke Monas , berarti belum pernah ke Indonesia ' ( If you never been to Monas , that's means you never been to Indonesia ) . Monas is an icon of Indonesia . Then proceed with train to a hostel , left my luggage and we went out again , next destination Depok . My friend brought me there by using KRL ( Kerete Rel Listrik ) Ekonomi , it's so crowded , but it was really fun tho , this is the way we put ourself into their daily living style . In Depok , we went to Magrocity Mall , the architecture of the mall is very special and nice .

On the second day , we started our journey at 0600 with transJakarta ( local bus way ) , first we went to the Monas park , tasted some local foods while enjoying the atmosphere in the park and visited the Monas Museum . Next we walked all the way to Cathedral Church , a church that was built by the Dutch . It is a real beautiful church , it's really nice and peaceful over there . Next we took another trip down to Kota Tua ( Old Town ) , here is the place where they called it as Batavia , there are mostly museum and old buildings here . It's a must tourist spot , we went to Museum Fatahillah , Museum Keramik dan Seni Rupa and Museum Wayang . After walking around in the Kota Tua , we took another bus to go down to Central Park , the newest mall in Jakarta , the mall is just so huge and there are a musical fountain and also garden there .

Aula Simfonia Jakarta

In the night , we went down to Aula Simfonia Jakarta for the classical music concert - ' a romantic evening ' . The conductor Dr Stephen Tong is a great person , he is not only a musician , but he is also a pastor and an architect . The architectural of Aula Simfonia Jakarta and Gereja Katedral Mesias is designed by himself . The structural is real awesome and classy . They played Finlandia , Op 26 by J.Sibelius ( 1865-1927 ) , Piano Concerto No 2 in C Minor , Op 18 by S.Rachmaninov ( 1873-1943 ) and the last one Symphony No 3 in A Minor , Op 56 by F.Mandelssohn ( 1809-1847 ) . It was a really great performance , i really enjoyed the whole concert , one word ' awesome ' !

The Orchestra

The last day , we went to Gereja Katedral Mesias for the morning mass , the church is also called as ' Gereja Khotbah Biru ' as it's blue colored roof . Was an awesome mass conducted by Dr Stephen Tong , simply awesome and motivated . The church is a mega church , it's really huge , it can fit in more than 6000 peoples . Next we took the commuter to Bogor , around an hour journey from Jakarta town , Bogor is a place near to mountain therefore the weather is a little bit cooling , and it's a real green town , full with plants and trees . The air in Bogor also quite fresh compared to the busy Jakarta . First we went and visited the Istana Bogor ( Bogor Palace ) as it's opened to the public due to the Birthday of Bogor town , this palace was built by the Dutch , this is one of the six palaces in Indonesia , during president Soekarno time , he will come down and stay in this palace on Saturday and Sunday . Inside the palace's compound , there are alots of deer , they called it Rusa Totol , totol in Indonesia means dot . There are a room called Ruang Garuda , it's a meeting room for the Indonesia president and other presidents from other countries . Today , SBY is the 6th president of Indonesia . After the palace , we walked around the Kebun Raya Bogor ( Bogor Botanical Garden ) , and went up a mall just to see the scenery and also the mountain including Gunung Salak . And then we move on the a road side stall which selling Soto Bogor , ermm very nyummy2 . Finally we went to a shop which selling Macaroni Panggang , a local specialty to get some for my friends . That's the end of my last day trip .

Proceed to the airport , caught in the commuter for 45 minutes , almost late for the flight , but thanks God i still managed to catch the flight . That's all of my short break , Good Bye Jakarta !!! See you again if there is any opportunities . I will like to come and visit you again come other times :) 

Indonesia Finds Us Odd

Courtesy : The Star Malaysia ( 3rd May 2012 ) 

Indonesia is a proud country, and we Malaysians can learn many useful lessons from them providing we set aside our odd behaviour and quirky obsessions. 

Indonesia holds a special place for the Malaysians who truly appreciate the country and it's wealth. To them this is not a country which provides cheap labour to Malaysia; this is a country which places it's politics, arts, traditions and nationalism above everything else.

Indonesia is a proud country, and has many lessons Malaysia can learn from. I have to say that our Indonesian counterparts find us Malaysians odd. When i was in Jakarta in March, i caught up with old friends about whom i had written in my book, i am Muslim. 

The gang at Nursyifa are still busy with healing, and have a steady stream of Malaysian Muslims visiting the centre fro all sorts of ailments. The number one treatment we Malaysians seem to seek, according to Mas Reno, is to be rid of jins and spirits. 

"Di Malaysia banyak jin ya? Kami di Nursyifa terapi untuk berfikiran positif, tetapi warga Malaysia yang datang ke sini, semuanya mahu buang jin!" 

Likewise in Yogyakarta. I was in Yogyakarta recently, on a work vacation trip. It's a popular destination for Malaysians, especially for artists and intellectuals, and also wedding planners who flock to the city for cheap buys and wedding accoutrement. 

Its residents find us amusing. Newfound friends told me how Malaysians expect them and the whole world to stand to attention when they visit, because they are "... Datuk... Tan Sri... "" They tell you that? " I was aghast. " Yes! We comply... but (giggle) we know that a lot of them buy their titles from the Sultan of Solo! "

This is embarrassing. After one too many questions on why Malaysians are odd, I thought that perhaps the next time i visit Indonesia, i will tell people i am a Japanese. 

One way of discovering a country is to visit the local bookshops. Indonesia is a paradise for book lovers. Is it any wonder that its people are able to articulate ideas and have a sense of their country and history?

Two bookshops i visited - Togo Mas and Sosial Agensi - were a revelation. Put aside the dodgy air circulation, the two shops were filled to the brim with books. Mind you, the books were not printed on the best of paper, and the shops were not Kinokuniya, but there's a welth of topics. Customers buying books were also given the choice of wrapping their new purhases; books would have their covers protected by a plastic wrap. You won't see this in Malaysia. 

And the people who come to browse and buy books - they are not rich or middle class. They are truly heart of Yogyakarta. Students, working class families, young professionals and academics are all over the toko buku. 

Another way of understanding a country's people is by delving into its pop culture. In the case of Malaysia and Indonesia, it would have to be the ever popular religious books onzikirs, doas and prayers. 

In Indonesia, the plethora of Islamic books is mind boggling. What we Malaysians would shun away from, in Indonesia, there is debate and an openness to Islamic thought.

The humble buku doas in our country, which advise Malaysians on prayers et al, cannot even begin to match Indonesian buku doas. 

I bought a book on Indonesian Islamic history written by a local historian and was blown away by his craft and story telling. 

I don't want to sound like a jaded Malaysian, but i have yet to read a Malaysian history book which engages and invites the readers to actually explore his country. The closest I can think of would be Dr Farish Noor and his books. 

Coming home has been somewhat of a low. We put down our neighbour but we are still way behind the Indonesians on many things, including literature. 

Our so called wealth and progress have made us forget who we really are. Our idea of culture and patriotism is crass, sadly. We could be like Indonesia, but we have taken a route that has made us not know who we are when we look at ourselves in the mirror. 

What is LOVE ?

When you see that some one , and you know he or she is the one , it's so called LOVE ... Agree ?

Goodbye April , Welcome Lovey Dovey May ...

It's the end of April 2012 , here comes another brand new month - May . It's a lovey dovey month for me tho , hope everything go on smoothly this month .

Have a blessed and happy May everyone :)

Let the Time Do the Rest

I do love him , i admit , but i'm tired , and i'm giving up and stop hoping ...

Let the time do the rest and let the God play the role ...

I will be just sitting down and pray to God , hoping Him to give me the best ...

At Least God didn't treat me Bad ...

I'm so happy today , got to know something , i'm so happy , at least my hard works have been paid off ...

God doesn't treat me bad tho ... Really glad to hear the great news ... Thanks everyone :)