Monday 31 August 2015

Soleil d'août

Can you believe we're only left with 4 more months to the year? Time flies like a boss really. I think 2015 is the "fastest" year that I've ever experienced so far. Well I got busier, and life will technically feel like it flew faster too. It didn't feel like 31 days have passed for August. Well maybe it's because I spent almost a week being out of town and another week being sick. I truly lost track of time.

Talking about time, I wanna share with you a beautiful video which I found about a month ago, it was two weeks before my birthday if I'm not wrong. And this video gives a lot of significance for my birthday last month. The video is taken from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig. This video is about the word "Zenosyne" which is the sense that time keeps going faster.


This video is so beautiful I feel like crying whenever I watched it. It hits me right in my heart. Every word written, stroke a chord in me. I can't help but to agree with the video. I feel that as every year goes by, time seems to fly faster and faster. And sometimes it scares me a lot.

My favourite line from the video is:

"You get used to living in the moment, because there's nowhere else to go."

This line just stabbed me inside my heart. Well not painfully, but I just went "oh damn this is so right!". I realise that as we all grow up, we have more "places" to go. Actually we seem to only have one place to go - and that's the future. And a place to escape to - and that's the past. But when we were young, we didn't really seem to care about the future. We really have nowhere else to go.

When we were young, the future is a place that doesn't seem to exist. Or at least, it exists vaguely. I think the future is like the principal's office. We know it's there, but we didn't seem to care about it. As we grow a bit older, we realise that the future seems like an awesome place where anything and everything can happen. So we start to direct out lives towards this place. But as we grow older, we then realise that the future is not as beautiful as we imagined it to be. And so, we work really hard to make it a beautiful place. And that's when we start to escape the present.

And then we don't enjoy the present. And in the blink of an eye, we arrive at the future and we regretted not living our past to the fullest. I think it's a vicious cycle. We try really hard to make the future beautiful, but we don't enjoy the present moment. And regret is formed, and the cycle goes on.

I always try to enjoy the present moment to the fullest. So that I won't ever (hopefully) regret the things I did in the past. Living in the moment is rather difficult. But it's not impossible!

Okay it's the end of the month once again. Time to share some of the beautiful music I found!

Great music of August:
- Empire by OMAM
- Human by OMAM
- Garden by SOAK
- Reckless Behaviour by SOAK
- Delilah by Florence + Machine
- How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful by Florence + Machine
- Headlights by Robin Schulz 
- Dreams by Fleetwood Mac
- Wild Feelings by Gold Boot
- Medusa by Szymon
- Runaway by Szymon 

Song of the month: Empire by OMAM

Right as mentioned last month, I have a pile of CDs to listen to in August and I did! Some of the CDs include OMAM, SOAK and Florence + Machine newest albums! Their new albums are great. And the above songs are some of my favourite ones from their albums. I really love Empire by OMAM though. It's such a lovely song. I think it's about a love story between two people that seems impossible to happen. But they both prevail and build an "empire" for the two of them eventually.

Headlights by Robin Schulz is a song that was playing everywhere while I was in Australia. I Soundhound-ed the song and discovered this awesome song! I also Soundhound-ed Fleetwood Mac's Dreams. It is so ironic with the fact that I listened to this song a lot in Gold 90FM while I was in Singapore, but I never know the title of the song! Since it was always played after they go off-air haha. I love Fleetwood Mac. Such a shame I just discovered them recently! And Dreams is definitely my favourite from them. As for Wild Feelings by Gold Boot, I discovered them from IndieAir! It's such a nice summery song. It would be perfect for my trip to Aussieland.

Szymon's Tigersapp album was released on 21st August and I've been waiting for it! I love the whole album really. Definitely one of the best albums ever released in 2015. Although the story behind the album is a sad one, I'm so thankful for his family and everyone involved in the release of Tigersapp, for releasing it to the world. In this way Szymon's legacy will live in the world through his album. I really can't wait for a physical release. I downloaded the album on iTunes, hoping to own a physical copy of it!

Alright that's all for August. I am excited for September because two of my favourite bands are releasing their albums! First one is Oh Wonder's debut album, and the second one is Chvrches' second album. I have pre-ordered both, but well thanks to my location, I'm going to have to wait for it slightly longer cause they'll both be sent from the UK so yes. Pretty long distance to the other end of the world.

But I'm pretty sure both are worth the wait!

Alrighty, that's all from me now. Here's to a superb September, and an awesome remaining 4 months of 2015. Time flies really. I hope you're doing well wherever you are. Take care people! :)

Friday 28 August 2015

My Sick Diary

It's been a very long time since I blogged here. 16 days! Sixteen good long days. And yes as the title suggests, I was sick. Thankfully not for the entire sixteen days. But I'm gonna list out and write the entire "timeline" of my sick days. Something I don't want to repeat again! Some keywords to begin my timeline: Migraine, fever, and dengue. Yes I just got dengue this week.

So on the 17th of August, which is Indonesia's independence day (happy birthday Indonesia!), I actually went to Surabaya with my sister and her husband. We were staying from the 17th to the 20th. I was feeling terrific on the 17th and 18th. Nothing's wrong, I ate as per normal and so on. However, things started to go spiraling down from the 19th onwards. Until a few days back!

In the morning of the 19th when I woke up, I was feeling very cold. It wasn't fever, just feeling really cold somehow. Maybe it's because I hadn't eaten my breakfast yet. So I went to grab a bite, it was a chocolate croissant and well after having it, I was actually feeling better! I was no longer feeling cold and so I thought it was really just because of the fact that I had not eaten breakfast.

It was 9 AM and we were heading back to the hotel. We decided to have breakfast at the hotel and.... I started to feel cold again and I was also having nausea and a slight headache. I went back to my room after breakfast to lie down for a while and I fell asleep. At 11 AM, I was woken up by a phone call from my sister and I was actually down with a fever and a severe migraine. So I told her I wouldn't be joining her but I would just take a rest in my room. I decided to sleep again, thinking I'll get better.

I woke up at 1 PM and my fever was getting worst. And my migraine was so bad that I couldn't move at all. Any slight movement made by my head and it felt like someone was kicking my head from the inside. Or it felt like someone was hitting nails from the outside of my head. I was feeling horribly helpless. Thankfully, my dad's friend is a Surabaya local and he called me. He told me I sounded really confused and sick so he went to the hotel to have a look at my condition. 

As you know, I am allergic to paracetamol and ibuprofen. So there was nothing I can have to relieve my headache and fever. He gave me some drugs and I actually felt better! We waited till 5 PM to see if my condition will improve or not but... My fever didn't subside and so did my migraine. He told me if I wanna go home the next day, I would need to be put on an IV drip. I want to go home. So I did.

I went to his clinic to be put on an IV drip. After 2 hours, I was feeling alive again haha. It felt like my fever got washed off by the IV liquid. Well I did pee a lot so that explains. After that he took my sister and I for supper and sent us off at the airport. I am so ever thankful for his help. I seriously didn't know what to do if he wasn't in town or something. I think I'll just panic and send myself to the hospital hah.

Okay so the next day we returned back home. We took a flight from Surabaya to Bandung and everything was great. I wasn't having fever or migraines anymore. Things started to go wrong again during lunch. I started feeling cold again, and the headache returned. After doing a bit of shopping in Bandung, we drove back to my hometown. It was one of the most horrible drive home. Cause I was having fever, sore throat and a pretty annoying headache that made me feel light-headed.

Once I reached home, I took a bath and went to quickly lie down on my bed. I couldn't take it anymore. And for the next few days, that's what I was doing. Curling my body on my bed as I was having fever, headache and nausea. I was also having stomachache. The funny thing is the stomachache only happened when I straightened my body. That's why I curled my body all the time.

I was feeling like this until on Saturday night, my father asked me to get my blood checked. So on Sunday morning, I did a blood test and the result came as... DENGUE! My platelet count was 72.000 (minimum count is 150.000). I was also positive for the dengue virus so... Yes. And once again I was put on home care where I was put on IV drip once again! Hah. Dengue meant that I had to do blood test everyday. So yep that's what I did everyday from Sunday till Thursday hah.

Here's a highlight of my awesome platelet count:
- Sunday morning: 72.000
- Monday morning: 56.000
- Monday evening: 62.000 (I was feeling super hopeful here, cause my fever is gone!)
- Tuesday morning: 56.000 (My hope was crushed :O)
- Wednesday morning: 66.000
- Thursday morning: 106.000 :D

So I was off IV drip on Thursday afternoon. So happy to be off the IV drip really. We have a lot of traditional beliefs here to increase the platelet count. I was drinking this boiled angkak (some sort of Chinese herb that tastes horrible hahaha) and guava juice. Well believe it or not, they kinda worked! We should do a scientific research regarding this. We can save lives baby! 

But yes so now you know why I didn't blog for so long. Anyway I am feeling much better today. No fever no headache, no nausea and stuff. I am still drinking guava juice cause I have another blood test on Monday to see if my platelet level has returned back to normal. But I'm pretty hopeful! They say that once the virus is gone in your body, your platelet count is just going to shoot back to normal. But if you still have the virus, well yes it's going to take pretty long. Gotta stay hydrated and get enough rest!

As weird as this may sound, getting this dengue fever for the first time made me feel awed by my own body. I think it is an amazing piece of machine/work of art. All these waiting for my platelet count to increase, the thought that I was having cytokine storm (high temperature, heart and breathing rate, and blood pressure), and all the little things that reminded me of my immunology lessons, just made me feel amazed by the human body. It is indeed the greatest doctor ever alive on earth!

Oh well, I'm so ever glad to be alive and well now haha. I feel tiny to think how a tiny virus can put me on my bed for days. Something you can't see with your eyes! So yes the next time you meet people who think only of themselves, and who think hugely of themselves, remind them that a tiny virus can kill them haha. Thank you my little dengue virus for teaching me about patience, and to also increase my immunity haha. They say once you're infected with a strain (there are 4 I think) of dengue virus, you'll gain immunity for that strain! How awesome is that. But I don't want to repeat the whole process really.

Alright that's all for now! Seems like I'm going to have little posts for August. But I have a few things I wanna blog about so... See you soon again! :)

Wednesday 12 August 2015

Australia Trip - Part 2 Melbourne

Alright let me continue with the second part of my Australia trip! After Brisbane I went to Melbourne. Took a 2 hour flight to Melbourne from Brisbane. Candy and I took the same flight (with Jetstar) while Jesslyn took Qantas as it is part of her code-share booking. Both of our flights are supposed to fly at 10 AM but sadly... My flight was delayed for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Sorry and thank you Jesslyn for waiting for us in Melbourne. While waiting for our flights Candy and I got some breakfast at the airport.

 Melbourne!

We landed at 2:30-ish I think. After grabbing our luggage, we went to our car rental place in which we took a shuttle bus provided by the company. After a few administrative stuff and car inspection, we were off for our Melbourne adventure weeeee! Our first destination was to get lunch in the city. Wanted to dine in this cafe called Journeyman, famous for its coffee. But to our disappointment it was closing at 4 and we arrived at 3:30 so... Yes. We decided to have fish and chips at the opposite of the shop.

 Apart from the huge portion size, the fish and chip is good!

The fish and chips were great! Although we feel the portion size was a bit huge. And the potato wedges are salty (even for me hahaha). After lunch we went to Brighton Beach to catch the sunset! It was a few minutes before the sunset so the colour of the sky was very pretty. Took lots of sunset photos there :)

 Brighton Beach Bath Houses!

Brighton beach is famous for its colourful bath houses. Although it's a bit difficult to take nice photos of it, cause there's a lot of people hogging the houses for selfies and photos haha. I did take some decent shots thankfully. I think the place will look lovely during the day with blue skies. But no worries, the sunset sky adds life to the houses too! And oh it was so cold over there brrr.

 Sunset silhouette. Thanks Candy! :P

We headed to check into our hotel after that. Our hotel was Quality Suites Beaumount, located in Kew. I must say the hotel is really cool. We have free parking and the interior is modern and nice too. And I must say that the location is rather strategic. After dropping our luggage we went to Woolsworth (they call it Woolies!) and Coles which are Aussie supermarkets. Did some shopping for breakfast and Yoghourt. Oh my goodness I fell in love with Australian Supermarkets really. They're so big and complete! I wish there's one in my hometown haha. Oh and I was shopping for Tim-Tams to bring back home too :P I bought so many Tim-tams that I received stares from other people haha.

We were quite hungry after that, so we decided to go for supper. We passed by this street called Victoria street which is lined with lots of Vietnamese eateries. So we decided to go for one. All of us had phos but we didn't know that the portion was so huge! Well I was rather hungry that night so I finished mine but I was feeling so bloated after that haha. Lesson learned from this: Always check for portion size before ordering haha. Apart from the size, the food was great though! :)

 Welcome to The Great Ocean Road!
(This is located en route to Apollo Bay though haha)

Headed back to the hotel as we had to wake up early the next day for Great Ocean Road (GOR)! Okay so GOR is this long stretch of road (240 KM) South of Melbourne that offers scenic views and lots of small towns along the way. We decided to go for this route: Melbourne - Torquay - Apollo Bay - Port Campbel - Warnambool. However there was a long jam in the morning on our way to Torquay which cost us time loss. So we skipped Warnambool in the end.

We started our drive at 7:15 AM from Melbourne. On our way to Torquay, there were three accidents that occurred on the highway. One involved 5 cars colliding with one another, the second one was a car that stopped working, and the last one was an overturned truck I think. The 3rd one was so bad that the whole stretch of highway had to be closed, and we had to go through an exit, and then enter the highway again. We reached Torquay at 10:30 in the end. And we had breakfast! Pretty yummy one.

 Spit Point Lighthouse

From Torquay we continued driving onward Apollo Bay. En route there we stopped at a few roadside stops for photos. Cause trust me the scenery is so beautiful. We also stopped by Spit Point Lighthouse. A pretty lighthouse with a beautiful seaside location filled with greeneries. And then we continued onwards Apollo Bay. We wanted to stop for lunch but we found a nice cafe selling a selection of delicious-sounding crepes so we decided to stop for crepes! And yes it was as delicious as what's written on the menu. And then onwards to Port Campbell! Where the 12 Apostles is located.

 Taken En Route Port Campbell. Amazing eh.

En route to Port Campbell we stopped by this lookout for photos and I think it is the most beautiful photo I took along the road that we stopped by. We took a group photo too :D

When we reached Port Campbell, the sky was dark and cloudy. And then shortly after, it rained! We were afraid that we couldn't take the helicopter ride viewing the 12 Apostles. But thankfully we can still do it. And also we were lucky enough to meet this Chinese guy, who was bringing a group tour, and who somehow managed to get us discount for the ride! Although our ride was shortened to 10 minutes. But nevertheless it was good enough haha so thank you uncle!

 Life is short - ride a helicopter

I think the helicopter ride is a great way to view the 12 Apostles and its surrounding. Especially in that rainy weather. To be able to see them entirely is so awesome. Kinda sad to think that there are only 6 of them remaining. And they might all disappear as time goes by thanks to nature. So yes I'm glad we managed to see it before they are gone forever haha. After the ride we wanted to see them again from the lookout. But the rain never stop and we just stopped at this spot to take some photos. Because the wind was such a killer! Candy was saying that there was a coastal wind warning. No wonder, cause the wind was really strong and cold. I couldn't wait to get back inside the car! Haha.

 Lucky Timing!

From the 12 Apostles we went to another site called the Arch. It was made beautiful thanks to the beautiful sunset when we reached the location! The sky turned golden and the cliffs and The Arch itself turned gold as well. So beautiful. From The Arch we went to the London Bridge. Which has fallen down in 1990 haha. It's kinda scary to think that all of these sites are slowly corroding away due to seawater. Well I'm glad to have seen them! :)

 The two of them are supposed to be linked but... It fell.

As the day gets darker, we went to the town of Port Campbell to have dinner. Thank you very much Jesslyn for the treat! I had Moroccan lamb with cous cous and it was so good. After dinner we started our long drive back to Melbourne. Although it was a pretty long drive back (2 hours plus), it felt pretty short. Maybe because we were just happily chatting inside the car along the journey. But I have to say a huge huge thank you to Jesslyn for taking the wheels for this drive along the GOR. 辛苦了!

 Queen Vic Market!

After getting knocked out at the hotel, we woke up early the next morning, which is my last day in Melbourne :( It was so sad thinking about it because I feel that I haven't spent enough time in this city! Hah. But anyway we headed over to Queen Victoria Market for breakfast and to walk around. I was also doing some last minute shopping. I had a delicious lamb borek, which is kind of a lamb pie, and also a chorizo hotdog. I seriously think I need to spend more time here. I seriously need to return to Melbourne again one day! From Queen  Vic's, Jess and Candy sent me to the airport :(

Melbourne is such a vibrant and lively city. After spending hours in this city, I understand why it is the most liveable city in the world. There's so much food options here, people are friendly, and it's such a vibrant and colourful city! I seriously wish I can spend more time exploring the city but well, my sis' engagement was on Sunday so I had to go home on Saturday. I promise to return to Melbourne one day. It's really such a great city. And I haven't tried the recommended food that my friend gave me.

 Yay us :D

My journey in Melbourne wouldn't be so awesome without 2 of my wonderful traveling companions! Thank you very much Jesslyn and Candy for being such wonderful traveling companions. I will never forget the GOR drive. And our dearest GPS who always asks us for a U-turn haha. Thank you Jesslyn for taking the wheels during our journey. I learned a lot from you, and thank you for your driving tips! I can't wait to have a nice roadtrip one day, with me on the wheels haha. And thank you also Candy for being a wonderful host in Brisbane, and for letting me crash your house for one night haha. I hope we can travel together one day again! Maybe our trip back to Duolun? :P

Alright that's all for this great Australian adventure! My dream finally comes true, to visit the land down under. Now I'm left with 3 more continents to set my feet on! I think Australia is a beautiful country. I definitely need to travel to the other cities like Sydney and Perth. And definitely, Melbourne once again.

Sunday 9 August 2015

Happy 50th Birthday Singapore

 Happy 50th Birthday Singapore :)

It's the 9th of August once again and it's Singapore's national day! It's her 50th national day today, and I would like to wish a very happy national day to my Singaporean friends. I think this day will somehow, always be a special day for me. I spent 11 years of my life studying on that sunny island. And celebrating its national day on the 9th of August every year. So yes, I always reminisce the good old days back when I was still studying there. In a place which is always special for me.

Like I once said in my blog, spending 11 years studying in Singapore has made me redefine my definition of the word "home". To me, home is a place in which you have developed an emotional and sentimental attachment to. And Singapore is definitely such a place. I can't help but to develop these attachments from the little moments that I experienced while I was there.

The commute to and from school. Traveling on the bus or MRT, listening to music as I pass by the sights and scenes the city has to offer. The lunch I had, be it in Clementi or Holland Village, or even in school. My beloved schools, Pei Tong Primary, Tanglin Secondary and Singapore Polytechnic. My neighbourhood, Clementi and Holland Village. All of these places, all of these things that I have been doing while I was in Singapore, they definitely formed an emotional and sentimental attachment to me.

I find it very funny sometimes, whenever I remind myself that I actually studied there for a great 11 years. Like when I was born, when I grew up here, I never imagined myself studying overseas. Let alone, studying overseas for that long period of time. But nevertheless, those 11 years is one of the best things that has ever happened in my life so far. Or probably the best thing.

I am also ever thankful for the friendships forged and relationships made. Like my favourite NDP song says, it feels comforting to know that I won't be alone in Singapore. There are people I know, people I can have food with, and people I can talk to. And I think that's what's home to me is - a place where you will never be alone. And I don't have to necessarily feel "accompanied" by the people that I already know. I feel like just by walking around Singapore, I don't feel alone. Because it feels like I can easily blend in with the people. Thank you Singlish! Haha.

When I decided to return home for good, there are some doubts within me. I know for sure, that I am leaving all my friends behind. I didn't really think about it, until some days, I have to swallow the bitterness and realise that hey, I have no friends here hah. Okay well a few of my primary school friends here actually still keep in contact with me - even though it's only by means of communicating via social media. Other than my family, and some people I know rather well - I have no friends here.

And sometimes I really miss those days in Singapore when I can just call someone and ask them if they wanna go for dinner, and an hour later, we'll be somewhere having dinner together. Those days where I will have food/drinks with my friends after classes and so on. Although don't get me wrong, I don't feel lonely here. I have my family around me, and I have gotten myself so busy that I don't even have that much time eating out and stuff haha. So it's alright.

As much as I'm fine being alone, I do miss the company of my friends at times.

Okay I diverged too much here! Anyway, just wanna wish Singapore a happy 50th birthday again! I am still looking for a some days where I can return back. It's been 8 months since I last went to Singapore - the longest time since I left Singapore haha. I can't wait to go back. Hopefully soon!

Friday 7 August 2015

Australia Trip - Part 1 Brisbane

Right! As promised here is my blog post for my trip to the land down under. Just a quick info, I went to Australia on the 19th of July (Sunday), but only reaching Brisbane on the 20th in the morning. I left for Melbourne on the morning of 23rd, and went back to Jakarta on the 25th. It was rather a short trip and I wish I could spend longer days there but oh well. No worries, hope to return one day!

I reached Brisbane at 9:30 AM and went to take a train to Fortitude Valley station to meet Vithya and Candy! It was sooooo good to meet them again. It felt like a long time (err 6 months haha) since I last both met them. I went to drop my luggage and stuff at Candy's place first. We Uber-ed from Valley to her place (it was my first uber experience!) and dropped my stuff there. I spent my first night at Vithya's place as we were going to Gold Coast on the next day. So I just took whatever I needed.

 My pot of Chai!

We then headed for lunch at Gunshop cafe at West End. We accompanied Yisheng to drop her car at a repair shop first, and then we Uber-ed again to West End. We met Yiyin there as well! So great to see her as well. I haven't met her in 1.5 years. The food at Gunshop was awesome. I had Fish and Chips and I feel that their fish was very fresh. I had a pot of Chai Latte as well which was lovely.

 Brisbane River

Yisheng left with her friend while the rest of us went to Southbank for a walk. We were walking along the Brisbane river. And then we went to the city to walk around as well. I asked them if we can go to a CD shop first as I had a list of CDs to get mwahaha. I got all of them! Weeee. From the city we Uber-ed again to Vithya's place as we're cooking dinner. But we went to Indooropolly mall first to get the ingredients. And booze haha. And oh my goodness I fell in love with Aussie's supermarket!

 Walking towards the city

We went to Vithya's place to cook dinner. We helped prepare the ingredients while Vithya did the cooking (she's the chef for the night! :P). It was a great dinner of curry I must say. Although yes, I know, I need to stop it with the salt haha. Thank you very much to the three of them for celebrating our three birthdays (Yiyin, Candy and mine) after dinner with an awesome carrot cake and wine. And thank you for the card and to Vithya for the book as well. I haven't drank in 7 months and I was the first to get knocked out. Sorry! :P Candy and Yiyin went home after that. That's all for day 1!

 Thanks for the dinner!

The next morning Vithya and I were headed to Gold Coast. We took a train from Indooroopolly to Roma Street, and then from Roma Street to Nerang, which is in Gold Coast. It was a long train ride but it was made enjoyable thanks to the conversation we had! It was cloudy in Brisbane but thankfully it was sunny and blue in Gold Coast. Our first stop was Surfers Paradise. It's such a pretty beach. And cause it was winter, the beach was rather empty too. The blue skies and medium waves made the whole beach look pretty. And the sun made the whole place warm too (thankfully).

 Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

After Surfers Paradise we wanted to go to Curumbin National Park but we were afraid that it will be too late by the time we reached there. So we went to Burleigh National Park instead. It was a nice park with a nice hike as well. I love the trees there! They look beautiful and the whole park is very serene. Okay something funny happened here.

 Album cover photo opportunity haha

Vithya and I were hiking when we came across this part of the park where we can see the ocean in between the trees. So we were spending some time taking photos there, thinking that there would not be any lookout that faces the ocean. But after 15 steps, there was actually a lookout! Hahaha. Spammed lots of photos there because the view was amazing. So worth the hike, totally.

View from Burleigh National Park! So worth the climb

We made our way back to Surfers Paradise and stopped by a nice Indian vegan restaurant called Govinda. Where we encountered a guy who ate a mountain-pile of rice hah. Pretty awesome deal. $11 for a single serve of whatever you want, without any limit to portion size. We went back to Nerang and took another long trip back to Brisbane. It was 9:15 PM when we reached Roma Street. 

Since it was pretty late, I decided to spend another night at Vithya's place. I had a nice chat with Vithya's house owner, Jill, over tea and cakes again. Jill is such a lovely person really. And she has such a lovely and beautiful house. Reflective of her personality I guess? Thank you very much to Vithya for letting me stay in your place for 2 nights. And to Jill for allowing Vithya to let me stay in her house I guess haha. Oh and I will miss your cats too! They're really cute and very active heh.

The next morning Vithya and I went to meet Yiyin and King George Square Station, where Candy and Jesslyn went to pick us up there. We were headed for Eumandi Market! Up in Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane. It was about 1.5 hours drive there. So glad to see Jesslyn again!

 Exploring Eumandi Market

I really love the atmosphere in Eumandi market. It is relaxing, chill and  just a feel-good vibe place really haha. Everyone is so relaxed there. We went to get brunch first. I had an awesome vegan burger, where the patty is made from brown rice. So good. After that we walked around to see if there are nice things we can buy. I bought a nice shirt from there, and also I found Himalayan sea salt! I've been wanting to get it and so I bought a bottle of crystals with grinder.

 Wine tasting!

From Eumandi we went to visit the ginger factory. Bought some ginger goodies from there to bring home. Then to the nut factory (which is kinda expensive) and then to a coffee roaster beside it. Before heading to Brisbane, we went for wine tasting. Although it wasn't really such a pleasant experience.... Heh. Ask me to find out more. We drove back to Brisbane cause Jess, Candy and I were doing the story bridge climb! Vithya and Yiyin waited for us at a nearby bar-restaurant. Sorry to keep you waiting!

 Us at Story Bridge Climb! Isn't the lights so pretty

The story bridge climb was such an exhilarating experience! The view on top was so beautiful, seeing the pretty night lights and tall buildings of the CBD area. The climb up was alright, it was when we started climbing down that I was feeling super scared haha. Cause you see the cars passing you by, beneath your legs. And the stairs are made out of metal railings so you can see what's beneath you. So yes, pretty heart-pumping. But nevertheless it was an awesome experience. And seriously the views are amazing. Too bad we can't bring our cameras there. I understand why.

After the climb we went to Sunny Banks for dinner. Decided to go with Korean! I had a nice kimchi soup and it was awesome. Cause it was pretty cold outside and I just want to eat something warm haha. After dinner we went to send Vithya and Yiyin home. Felt really sad saying my goodbyes to them. Cause I really don't know when I will see them again :( After reaching Candy's place I did a lot of packing. And we also checked in online for our flight to Melbourne the next day.

Although I spend really little time in Brisbane, walking around the city makes me fall in love with it. It reminds me a lot, somehow, of Chicago. People are friendly there, and they seem pretty relaxed. Actually Australians seem like pretty relaxed people haha.

 Reunited and it feels so good!
Thanks for everything guys! :)

Anyway I just want to thank Vithya, Candy and Yiyin for being such an awesome host to me in Brisbane! Thank you Vithya for letting me stay in your place, and for the awesome curry dinner (and the book!). And for the short but really awesome trip to Gold Coast. A place we both never been before! Mwahaha. Thank you Candy for letting me stay in your place for that one night as well. And for letting us use your car while we were in Brisbane. I definitely had a great time reuniting with all of you in Brisbane. Although I really wish I can spend more time with all of you there :(

Alright this is end of part one! Continuing to part 2 - Melbourne! :)

Thursday 6 August 2015

WSATCC - Konser Di Cikini

 One of Indonesia's most legendary bands
White Shoes and The Couples Company

Oh my it's been so long since I blogged again. I'm so sorry but I've been falling asleep early these days. I guess my body clock hasn't switched in its original clock hah. So anyway yes a lot of things have been happening. I went to White Shoes and The Couples Company (WSATCC) concert in Cikini! At Graha Bhakti Budaya to be exact. I've been wanting to go to their concert. But never been able to cause... I don't live in Jakarta. They did go to RRREC fest last year but I felt their set was too short. 

Anyway the concert was held yesterday. Left my hometown at 11 AM and reached the venue at 3. I waited for a while to exchange my ticket receipt with the physical ticket, and then headed off to a mall nearby for lunch. It was here when... I dropped my spectacles and broke my right lens into 2! I was a bit shocked but thankfully I can still use it to watch the concert.

The concert was held at 8 PM but I went earlier to see the postcard exhibition and to get some drinks. The door was opened at 7:50 ish I think and I went in and waited for the concert. Okay I can't really describe the concert in words because it was just too beautiful and awesome. They played almost all of their songs, all of my favourite ones! Except for Runaway Song. But it's okay, still awesome!

I just simply love the energy of the band. WSATCC is definitely my favourite band from Indonesia, and they are in my opinion, one of the most legendary bands my country ever has. I love the audience as well. Although I feel most of them were a bit too... Quiet and still hah. 

Maybe I should tell you how I come across this great band.

I am always a late bloomer when it comes to discovering music. Meaning, I will discover great bands years after they are formed and got famous, or after they release their albums. I discovered WSATCC back in 2012, while I was still in Singapore. I was on Youtube when I saw their video for "Senandung Maaf" on my recommended tab. I was wondering why does this band, with an English name, sing an Indonesian song? When I clicked on the video, I just fell in love with them. Instantly!

After doing a bit of research, I eventually found out who they are. They are indeed an Indonesian band, and I was just feeling so proud to be an Indonesian! Because I found out that they have actually toured in Europe, USA and recently they went to Australia and they performed a concert in Mauritius! 

I was determined to get their albums, thinking they are easily available in Indonesia. Of course, alas, I couldn't find their albums! Except for Vakansi which was just recently released. And I got their 3rd album as well where they play Indonesian traditional song.

I have been going for a search for their first album, and their EP "Skenario Masa Muda" since 2013 can you believe it! I discovered that their album is available in Amazon but shipping was crazy, and also Amazon was kind enough not allowing shipment to Indonesia. But then this year I got an idea, where I purchased the CD from Amazon but send it to Vithya in Australia, and get it from her while I was there!

Brilliant idea. Because I now own that legendary first album of WSATCC! Do you know that some people were selling a 2nd hand album during RSD Jakarta at 500k and 700k Rupiah?! That's like 40 and 65 USD-ish respectively. And I got mine from Amazon for a total of 29 USD including shipping! Okay not including my ticket to Australia hahaha but still, you get my point yes.

I find it pretty ironic that this great band, who has toured at different countries around the world, don't get a lot of airtime on the radio, and we can't find their albums here too! Well maybe it is because their first album was released in 2005. That's 10 years ago and of course, it is very difficult to find. I seriously wish I could have discovered them earlier but 10 years ago I was in P5 and I know nothing about music.

Nevertheless it's better late than never right. So yup. I will always be a fan of WSATCC! And I'm glad to have discovered them. I wish they would release a new album soon though because I deeply fell in love with their albums so far, and I'm excited for their new album (if they're releasing one soon!),

Okay that's all from me today. Sharing my love for WSATCC with all of you haha. And also I just realised I haven't blogged about my Aussie trip! I will blog about it soon. Till then, see you! :)