home and jetlagged

Posting this at 1:26 am

Hey guys, sorry for being missing for quite some time.

Since the spring quarter ended, I've been busy packing and moving to Socal, not to mention apartment hunting with my future roommate (who's really one awesome person).

Anyway, I'm back here in Indonesia!

After a year being away in the States.

I didn't take a lot of pictures during my moving process, but I did take quite some pre-leaving Bay Area, farewell, as well as my short visit to Pasadena pictures.

Jakarta Pt 4: Evening Snack

The second weekend wasn't as busy as last week. I hung out with Eileena, Bella, and Nancy to Grand Indonesia. We pretty much just walked around like most teenage girls would do in the mall, stopped by at some shops whose items caught our attention even though we ended up not buying anything.

However, the highlight of the event itself lies on the early dinner we had. Considering it was fasting month and my friends kindly intended to dine by the time I broke my fasting, we decided to have early dinner at around break fasting time.

Waraku is the restaurant we picked, which is popular with its large size of noodle served in an enormous bowl. We were quite in the mood to have some Japanese dining so Waraku would be the best choice as it's hardly in any other malls in Jakarta.
It was weird how I wasn't so hungry that day. I even skipped a few minutes late for the break fasting moments. Here's what I had.

Picture credit to: http://www.koprol.com/places/16751

The picture doesn't show the exact food that I had, but I just wanted to give you the idea on how big the bowl really was. It was literally big. The biggest bowl you might ever see lying there on your dining table. Probably as big as a sink. The portion itself isn't as big as I thought it'd be. But the size of the bowl is extremely overwhelming.

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On Saturday still on the same week, in the morning, I had a staff meeting at Sarinah with fellow coworkers from a crowd-source online company I'm working in. The meeting ended later than expected, while I was having only two hours to rest before taking off to Taman Anggrek to meet up with Thalia and Lala. It marks the second time of my visit to the mall since last week with Eileena and Bella.

There were originally going to be three more people to join the day with Thalia, Lala, and me, but unfortunately they couldn't make it there.
Lala, Thalia, and I were planning to ice-skate, but it was closed due to cleaning before we could even reach there. The cleaning process took more than an hour meanwhile we were supposed to be having dinner an hour later.

Then, there seemed to be a problem with Thalia that we needed to help her solving it. It was actually easy, but the whole procedure made it more complicated. Thank goodness we were able to finish everything off before dinner time.

Doesn't the sushi tempt you?
Lala had it for her dinner, and she said the sushi was the best in the mall. I got to try that next time.

We couldn't hang out any longer since we needed to go. It might be a short hang-out but fun enough! I'm really sad Lala couldn't manage to meet me and Thalia anymore, since she had flown back to Beijing :(. We were planning to meet up again on Eid holiday, but seems family plans on holiday had kept us all from getting together. Schedule was pretty tough! ><

That's it I got for today. It might be a considerably short post with many pictures, but I'm going to keep posting some more soon!

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I'm currently customizing the blog and focusing particularly on the blogroll list. Since the link list keeps expanding, I'm planning to replace the blogroll format more with a link list to make it look less cluttered. Hope it'll be done pretty soon!

If you haven't noticed, I added a feature for you site owners and bloggers to plug your site to my blog. It's pretty easy, cos all you need to do is just fill out the form. Then I'll be more than glad to put up your link!

Jakarta Pt 3: Eid Mubarak!

Before beginning the post, I just want to say...


I really hope I can replace that cake vector with a ketupat one.
But yay, last night, I worked my butt off on designing this cake in Illustrator following this tutorial on Youtube. This artwork marks my very first vector made in Illustrator! (Yeah, I'm more a Photoshop person).

Anyway yesterday is surely one of the most blessed day for all Moslems in the world. Eid Mubarak finally concluded Ramadhan month this year.
Our Eid tradition hasn't changed for years! After Eid prayer, my parents and I took off to my grandma's house for what was supposed to be family gathering.

However, turned out that only my family present in the simple event. My extended family members had reportedly paid a visit yesterday, since they celebrated Eid yesterday. Actually, I'm pretty disappointed with this year's government's act in deciding Eid Mubarak day cos it supposedly fell on August 30, 2011, but for some lunar factor, it was slated to the day after.

Apparently it ended up causing a major confusion in Indonesian society. As a result to this, some people celebrated Eid still on August 30 and some - like most people and my family - followed government's regulation which is the day after.

So you see how the whole slating-Eid issue kinda lessened the participants of the social gathering event in my supposedly-big family.
Despite lacking of guests for this year's social gathering event, it didn't reduce my Eid spirit!

Sad news regarding the Ketupat: they only lasted two days before decaying. Good thing my family still had lontong as an alternative to be served to the guests cos this food actually lasted longer.

Nothing beat the lusciousness of authentic Eid food served by my aunt and grandma!

Spotted! A tissue box camouflaging as a blackforest cake! Darn, this thing is undeniably distracting! My cousin and I nearly thought of it as a real cake. She even told me how this thing was soooo tempting to look at during fasting days.

This artwork is made by my aunt. See how her talent is dangerously mesmerizing!

It was a small celebration compared to one of those social gatherings you might even step your foot in. But I love the warm atmosphere and how I surprisingly spent nearly hours chit chatting with my grandma, cousin, and aunt.

That same evening, my family returned home to welcome my friend's parents who came over to have a bite of our still-edible ketupat (apparently it wasn't on its decaying phase just yet). Just today, we had some more guests coming in!

Guess this year's Eid wasn't so disappointing at all.

Jakarta Pt 2: Beyond the Sea

More fun stories coming up now!
On Friday, on the first week of my vacation in Indonesia, I went out with Fany, Agnes, Monica, Widya, and Carmen to Plaza Semanggi. We had lunch together at its food court. It feels amazing to finally meet my best high school friends, got together, and shared our college experience. Even though my other friends go to different unis here in Jakarta, I can tell each of their uni has slightly different systems. But one unique thing I learn is that the Indonesian uni system and US college system aren't much different!

Anyway, here are some pictures I took. My friends haven't really much changed since high school!

I also gave away some souvenirs from the States for my friends. Don't judge them by the size, I know they're small, but these small hand sanitizers have made themselves quite a trend in the US! (sorta)

And they're cute too!

Afterwards, we decided we'd see Transformers 3: The Dark of the Moon. Actually I've seen it once in the US, but it wouldn't bother me if I saw it for the second time. Although I'm not really a fan of these robots, I was quite mesmerized with the whole effect, which made me agree on the decision of watching it for the second time.

Excuse the blurry image. The lighting kinda sucks.

It seems like it's been forever since I saw a subtitled movie. It took me a moment that I was not in AMC, but in 21. Movies here are certainly subtitled. I'm really relieved by the fact that Indonesian government started releasing Hollywood movies again after several months of disbandment. The release of Harry Potter 7 Part 2, Transformers 3, Kungfu Panda 2, and Fast Five definitely make a good sign (and doesn't anyone realize they're all sequels?)

Well, moving on to Saturday still on the same week. Another reunion with my college friends was on the go, and this time, it'd take place in Seaworld, Ancol. I was psyched, since it certainly sounds better than going to Dufan (I'm not a fan of theme parks with many thrill rides). Unlike the other day, more friends were coming this time!

I went to Nancy's hotel to pick her up. Her hotel isn't located really far from Ancol. Only a couple of minutes away. Then we were off to Seaworld.

Before we entered the aquarium, we found a nice food court located just at its lobby. We decided to chill for a moment while waiting for our other friends to come. I made friends with Aymee's schoolmates who happened to be there as well: TM, her brother, and Joven.

After everyone was there, we entered the Seaworld at last. FYI, I went to another aquarium in less than a month, only the other one that I visited is in Monterey Bay. You know, that infamous Monterey Bay aquarium. I gotta say that aquarium is much larger than Seaworld. Seaworld's concept is more like putting every tank inside one big dark hall. Monterey Bay provides more rooms to display tanks.

Anyway, it doesn't eliminate the fact that Seaworld Indonesia isn't as good as Monterey. I love the fact that Seaworld Indonesia has bigger fish to display (even mammals), like Dugong, shark, and basically large sized beings that will make you drop your jaw in an instant. I don't recall Monterey having large sized fish.

We found Nemo!

Dugong. Probably the largest being and the only mammal we found in Seaworld.


Fresh water fish.


Some amphibians spotted in the site.


Darn, this dude is HUGE!

Then another thing I love about Seaworld Indonesia: they have underwater tunnel!
Unfortunately, most of the pictures taken in the undersea tunnel lacks of quality. The lighting doesn't provide much to produce high quality pictures. So I could only post some of the best ones taken inside.


Stingray found lying on the sand


Uh, I don't know whether it's the fish's real face or some kind of features that resemble face.



I honestly love the picture below, since it's actually the best yet high quality picture I took. Tony's expression reminds me of the song "Part of Your World". It's like he's dreaming to be part of...well...his surrounding.



It was a short visit, but the day was still young. We got out at around 2, had a brief visit to the Gift Shop, and we took off to find a nearby restaurant to have lunch.
Before that, some of my friends passed an ice cream stall and bought some ice cream. Nice to munch on in such a hot day.



We had lunch at Le Bridge. The place was hard to notice, since it turns out to be located far off the coast on a pier. So we had to cross a bridge to the pier across the beach where the restaurant exists.



The view in the bridge isn't so bad at all! It must also be a very rare moment for Jakarta people like me and my friends to take a look at the sea located in our city.



Later on, we returned to Seaworld where TM, her brother, Joven, and Aymee would be picked up. Before parting, we took some pictures. Some appeared to be very hilarious. The picture below is one of those some hilarious pictures. But way to go, boys! You guys show some high respect towards our country!



Last but not least, a group picture was finally taken.



It was a pleasant day! Nancy and I returned to her hotel where my parents had already waited at the lobby. Since it was already dinner time, we stopped by at an authentic seafood restaurant in Pecenongan area.

Jakarta Pt 1: Coffee and Ice

Three weeks have passed so quickly in Indonesia, and I already miss Cupertino. Well, or at least I miss some aspects of it. Anyway, the day after my arrival, I attempted to make myself busy. That Monday, August 8, I took a rest in the morning to assure whether I had coped with the jetlag. A bit sleepy, still, but the jetlag itself wasn't as bad as I thought. Later in the afternoon, when I started to feel a little bored, I tweeted my friend Carmen and asked whether she was free, which she really was!

So we quickly arranged to meet up at PIM later that afternoon. It was going to be my first hang-out with friend after arriving in Indonesia! So you can imagine how excited I was.

Basically what we did was we chatted a little in Starbucks, went to Timezone, and got ourselves soaked in sweat through many rounds of Dance Dance Revolution. Her skills definitely have exceeded mine! We went through several DDR rounds before we really were worn out, especially I haven't played it in a while.
Then we went to Ya Kun Kaya Toast to have a cup of tea. Actually, I only accompanied her sipping the tea, since I was fasting.

Then we took some pictures using her Photobooth. I quite love the additional effects installed in her app. It got some cool effects my Photobooth doesn't even have.

Afterwards, we parted and I headed to Bakmi Gajah Mada to meet up with my parents for break fasting. Here comes one of my most anticipated moments in Indonesia: tasting the famous chicken noodle! FYI, Bakmi Gajah Mada - or often abbreviated as Bakmi GM - is often listed under the wishlist of most Indonesian students abroad as their reason to come back to their home country *biased*. The noodle is so famous we Indonesians even talk about it in the States!

Teh Botol!
How I miss this local Jasmine Tea.
I've drunk teh botol in the US before, but isn't it just amazing to have encountered with the bottled one? I mean, it's just unbelievable (excuse my spazz over food. It happens all the time)

ALL HAIL THE CHICKEN NOODLE!
Minus the fried wonton. Not a really big fan of it.

The day after, I hung out with Aymee, Ardy, and Andy in Karawaci. FYI, they're actually my friends back in the US, but we just happened to be in Indonesia, so why not having a reunion? Besides, we wanted to feel the sensation of hanging out in Indonesia (cos we hung out a lot back in the States).

Aymee and I particularly made friends with Andy and Ardy's colleagues: Patricia and Agung. We got along very well, especially Patricia is a big fan of Kpop and Kdrama. So we shared our interests at some point. She also recommended me some good Thai movies, which I became completely drawn to. We basically spent the whole day strolling in Supermall Karawaci, touring Universitas Pelita Harapan, and ended up chilling out in its comfortable lounge.

Two days after, Eileena and Bella - also my friends in the US - invited me to hang out with them in Taman Anggrek Mall. This time, we weren't just strolling around and doing basic mall stuff (read=shopping). We were going to do something a bit extraordinary that day, which was ice skating!

Whoops!
I'm not a good skater, considering I haven't ice skated since I was like eight. I remembered being so good in it, but apparently not anymore. So yeah, I'm back being a rookie.

There's actually a very fun moment during ice skating, and quite shocking too. When I was leaning on the glass in the ice rink (as you can see in the picture above), I spotted someone waving at me. LITERALLY. Bella and Eileena went over and waved to that guy. Apparently, it turns out to be my art history classmate in the States!
He's also Indonesian, of course, but isn't it just unexpected to bump into him in Indonesia? Too bad the sound proof glass didn't allow us to have longer interaction. We basically just did body gestures to communicate, then he passed by.

What a small world it is, isn't it?

Later on, we bumped into this photo studio, which we decided to give it a try. The results aren't so bad at all. In fact, I really like how they turn out to be. Here are the two best ones.

The props rock, don't they? Or is it just me?
The backgrounds are also quite neat. I love them.
Yes, please excuse the narcissism.

FAIL XD
Err...I'm not so sure about this one. We weren't sorta ready with the second shoot, and before we got to pose, the camera captured us. Guess whose hands are on the backgrounds.

We called it a day by having dinner in Hachi Hachi, near the ice rink. I had a bowl of Nabeyaki Udon while Bella and Eileena munched on sushi.

One more thing to conclude the post. I know it's totally off topic.


NASI PADANG!!!
Yeah I had this with my dad to break our fast in PIM. One of the food listed under my wishlist after Bakmi GM.
Nom nom.