Toasting away by the lake side

Got up late that morning, like always :D, feeling completely refreshed. Since we needed to get internet access in late afternoon, we decided to hang around in the city center. There're rows of cafes right across the lake, but it seemed that the crowd were attracted to something else. Large billboards bearing colorful photographs from around the world with a little description below were lined up along the park. Wait, there's something else..... a few local artists placed blocks of tiles in the park, some sort of "walk of history", dating back from 1800 up to 2007..... Quite an interesting touch.

It was still 3 more hours to midday. Got plenty of time in our hands and we decided to spread our blanket on a carpet of fresh lime green grass by the lake. What a great spot! Chilled white wine in a glass, a plate of sliced cheese & smoked salmon. Perfect! We're all set for the afternoon. I've never realized how much I miss the sun. How warm it felt brushing against my skin. Hmm, toasty!

Lazying under the afternoon sky, giggling, sprawling, breathing in the breeze coming in from the lake. Aaaahhhh..... Luv spending days like this with you, babe.

Day 6 ~ Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu

That afternoon, we rushed down to Queenstown to watch a rugby match; Highlanders vs Chiefs. I thought it would be an interesting thing to do, at first, never seen a live match before. Once I went to the Bronco's in Denver Colorado, but that was a long time ago, and I barely remembered anything of the game.

It was pretty small in comparison to other live sports I'd seen. Ha, that only one game, of course. In short, I lasted only about 10 minutes. It was too cold, too uncomfortable and I was too grumpy to enjoy the game. I'd rather stay inside the van having wine and cheese. There's this great brie cheese we got the other day. Yummie.

Trying to get out of the park after the game was a bit ridiculous, almost an hour and half we were stuck there. Finally when we got out, we headed directly downtown Queenstown. Streets and alleys were totally full of people that afternoon. It was very touristic though, there were a couple of Indonesian student groups went shopping in the same souvenir store we were in. Babe was in a rugby craze mode - so it was REALLY important for us to find the nearest sports bar to catch the next rugby game on TV.

Let's just say he got his rugby and I got my nice dinner. Too bad no photos. It was almost 11pm by the time we're done. Too late to get a spot in holiday park. We drove around finding nothing. Luckily babe decided to go by a lake side in Frankton. It was a great choice!

It was tucked away from the crowd, great view of the lake and the next morning we woke up to the family of ducks swimming nearby. They joined us for breakfast, sort of, fighting for bread crumbs leftover. At one point, the ducks got too friendly and started to follow Mike around, begging for more crumbs. I thought I'd join them for a swim, although Mike tried to convince me that the water was still freezing cold at this time of the year.

I made a bet with him, I said I'd swim. It wasn't a bluff. He called the bet and said he'd put his money on it. Hehehhe, and guess who lost? I did jumped into the lake. It was like an instant brain freeze, only this went throughout my whole body. It was FREEZING COLD!! The coldness numbed my mind and the rest of my system, I just automatically swam quickly across and back, while the other campers on the other side obviously saw me jumped in. I heard them laughing. The best thing after the swim, was sitting in the sun with a warm coffee in my hand. Mike made it for me....

Day 5 ~ Lake Tekapo, Mount Cook

It was such a beautiful drive, stopping here and there, lots of coffee and wine. New Zealand is just an amazing land with so many untouched nature's beauty. Everything is still intact, well kept, the river is so amazingly clear with light turqoise color resulting from the melting glacier of the surrounding mountains.

First night on the road, we parked in a holiday camp by Lake Tekapo. It got quite chilly in the evening, good thing that the camper had a good heater inside. It felt awkward at times travelling with a full kitchen and a toilet at the back of the car. Hot coffee or chilled wine is just two steps away.

The next morning we stopped by at a salmon farm along the way to Mount Cook. Let me tell you, fresh salmons off the river are just awesome!!! A full plater of sashimi that we shared looked positively beautiful, fresh, vibrant orange color and those thin slices were simply melt in the mouth. We met a few other asian groups who went absolutely crazy over the salmon platter.... the japanese, thai and chinese.

After that refreshing but yummie lunch, we continued along the road to Mount Cook. The landscape got more breath taking, those backdrop overlapping mountains were sooooo beautiful. Massive spread of untouched beauty right in front of the eyes the whole time.

Day 3 ~ Wellington to Picton

We're off to Wellington by plane from NPY. It was such a tiny neat airport. Something about the angle of the sunlights, created such a nice feeling about the airport, getting ready to board that twin engine plane. Almost movie-like, you know, when it's almost the end of the movie and the audiences are swept through an awesome scenery of sun lit airstrip with bright blue sky as a backdrop..... Ah well, maybe it's the foolish romantist in me that's talking.

Spent a night in Wellington. The city has a lot of water around. Not the kind of city I would like to live in. Auckland maybe, NPY could be a bit too quiet for us, but we both love Arrowtown.

The next day we started off early around 8am. After grabbing a quick bite of pastries and strong coffee down @ Coffee Bean, we rushed off in a taxi to catch up the earliest ferry to Picton. We got in just in time... phew! Ferry was a bit too long and I wasn't really in the mood to be excited - coffee hadn't kicked in yet. Besides it's still too early.

Got off Picton around noon to pick up the train tickets. We had around an hour before the train arrived, so we had a time to explore a bit of Picton. Hmmmfff, already craving for real asian meals, lunch was a bit of a disaster. Kiwis food are still way too bland for me. Second option would be fast food joints, KFC or McD, which of course don't exist here.

I've never sat this long on a train before. This by far, the longest train ride I've ever had. TI was a 5-hour ride. Whahahaha.... thank God my babe was there with me, otherwise I would definitely have gone insane hearing the entire conversation of the two groups sitting behind us - a German old grandma who loudly shared the story of her life, which was very very very long... she hasn't finished when we got off the train. The other one was a group of Americans *you know how loud they can be* sharing their "amazing" travel stories, always topping up one another. I felt like I'm tuning into one of those "marathon amazing race" program on AXN.

At one point I reached the "I've had enough of this" and just tuned out completely, they're voices simply become incomprehensible gibberish. Christchurch was the last stop. Whoa, finally! Train ride was interesting but I wouldn't do it again, no thanks! Now, this is the city that seems livable.

The next morning were a bit easy, we didn't get up until late. No tight schedule. All we needed to do was to pickup our campervan at Maui, near the airport. We got the 4 berths campervan, a bit more space than we needed, but kitchen was just perfect!!! Full cabinets of cutleries, pots, plates, bowls and glasses. Tiny fridge that fits just enough for the road. The next thing was stock up for the road.

South Island, here we come!

Day 1 ~ New Plymouth

This is the beginning of our trip to the south island of New Zealand. First stop was Dad's house in New Plymouth. It's been quite a while since the wedding in Bali, October two years ago. Nice to see him and Helen again.

The neighbor's cat I remembered last time, was still there. He used to be so huge and healthy though. Dad said he barely comes over anymore, he seems a bit sick and has lost weight. Helen still cooks delicious lunch and dinner as always - she adds a special touch to food decoration adopted from Rumah Bali. Hehehe....

It was a relaxing two day at New Plymouth.

Oleh-oleh dari Inner Mongolia

Main street of the "moslem area"

Dari sebelum kita berangkat, sudah diwanti-wanti kalau disana bakalan jauh lebih dingin dari kota kecil tempat kita tinggal, bahkan lebih dingin dari Beijing. Malah ada yang bilang sekarang lagi musim sandstorm di Mongol sana. Perjalanan dengan pesawat dari Pudong Airport di Shanghai memakan waktu hampir 3 jam. Nyatanya sebagai gerbang Mongolian grassland yang terkenal itu, lumayan banyak juga turis yang berkunjung. Kali ini kita satu flight dengan group turis dari eropa. Begitu pintu pesawat dibuka, disambut dengan udara dingin yang kering dan bau khas batubara - karena ternyata Hohhot memang salah satu penghasil batubara dan masih banyak industri kecil yang memakai bahan bakar batubara. Ciri khas kota di China memang. Sama seperti Harbin. Hasil jalan2 diluar tanpa pelindung mulut & hidung bisa membuat lubang hidung jadi hitam.

Nggak ada badai pasir saat kita disana, mungkin belum waktunya. Katanya sekitar bulan April, saat musim semi. Hohhot ternyata lebih besar dari yang kita bayangkan. Jalan2 besar, gedung-gedung megah, stadium olah raga yang 3 kali lebih besar dari yang ada di kota Changshu. Wah, pemerintah sini jor-joran banget kayanya.

Sweets anyone?

Malamnya acara dinner, kita diajak ke salah satu resto yang lumayan terkenal katanya. Chinese food ala moslem. Loh? Ternyata di daerah situ sebagian penduduknya beragama Islam. Bener2 kontrast dengan arsitektur gedung disekitarnya, karena di salah satu sudut kota dengan latar belakang hamparan gurun yang luas, satu jalan utamanya dihiasi dengan arsitektur gedung2 bergaya islami. Papan nama dan jalan ditulis dalam 3 karakter - chinese, mongolian dan arabic. Wah, cantik banget......

When the Goddess become matchmakers

This is something I've never heard before "Temple of Matchmaking Gods" .... Interesting enough to check out. Strangely, somehow the place looks familiar, I'm quite sure I've seen similar photos before...Initially I wasn't really looking forward to this trip. Wuxi, an hour or so drive from our place. So what, it's going to be one of those so-so touristical places crowded with hundreds of people making a total mess everywhere. So typically chinese. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that we'd be travelling in a big group of americans plus a few of the hotel's staff, which are quite a fun crowd. After there're several of long stay guests I am quite familiar with. Shouldn't be that bad.

First stop would be a lake, Taihu Lake. My thought was "another not-so-special lake spot that the chinese are so crazy about" and I was right. It was a plain boring lake with greyish cloudless sky and nothing to do. Entrance ticket costs RMB105/pax included the ferry across to Fairy Island. *yippee...NOT* Again, as I've mentioned in my previous posts about the description of some god-knows-where supposedly tourist attraction in china, do not believe 100% what they write.

Quote : "........The Taihu Lake is characterized by its picturesque natural scenery. The Turtle Head Islet, Fairy Islands (The three-Mount Island), the Three Kingdoms City and Water Margin City etc. are all the spots that worth a visit in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province..... "

Honestly, what ARE these guys ON?? But then again, most of these reviews come from a gov website or travel agent. Yeah, well....

After like a 25 mnts ferry across to Fairy Island - with what looked like 500 other chinese, we got there. As this is supposed to be the place where they produce fresh water pearls, we saw many clam shells along the lake shore, some were as large as the palm of my hands.

Ancient remnants of Taoism dotted a few spots in here. Some are quite interesting for photo objects. Just to let you know, it's very difficult to shoot an object here in china, as there's always some smart-ass trying to get into your shooting range. Mostly would prefer to stop and gape when you decide to press the button. Mind you, the chinese are quite known for subtlety....not!

A simple lunch to end the lake tour. Cold cuts of bland steamed chicken, seaweed pickles which were quite disgusting, dark soy fried fish, baby shrimps, stir fried tofu & crab meat, and a couple of other fish dishes which were quite edible. A few guys who seemed unfamiliar with this type of dishes looked quite uneasy, obviously they're first timers in china. Without missing a beat, Mike and one of the guy said that in chinese culture, guests of honor usually have the fish' eyes and head. First timers in china are considered as 'guest of honor....'

I couldn't believe they pulled this off together. The guy actually swallowed the fish eyes without blinking. We tried so hard to keep a straight face when he did it, but I just burst out laughing when he commented that it was quite tasteless, but kinda gooey, then someone answered "Oh, it's probably the eye socket...."

I think he lost his appetite for the rest of the afternoon. Oh yeah, I didn't know americans could handle spicy food better than the kiwis. The handy travelling size bottle of my 'sambal ABC' from mom went around the table that afternoon

For more photos of the trip, click here

One Day in Hangzhou

Liburan Imlek disini berlangsung agak lama, sekitar semingguan, at least 10 hari sesudahnya pun masih banyak kantor2 yang libur. Denger2 dari cerita temen2, Hangzhou katanya lumayan juga buat jalan-jalan. Sedikit refreshing liat danau dan spring yang katanya udah mulai disana, sementara Changshu tempat kita tinggal masiiiih aja gerimis dan temperaturnya dibawah 5 derajat. Brrrr..... Sedikit info tentang Hangzhou, kota kecil di provinsi Zhejiang, sekitar 2 jam perjalanan dari Shanghai, dan 2 jam dari Changshu. Populasinya sekitar 6 juta orang *Biasanya gw nggak terlalu peduli sama urusan populasi..... Tapi waktu kemarin jalan-jalan ke danau, ada kali tuh setengah populasi penduduk yang juga jalan2 ke danau*

Oh iya, gw juga belajar untuk gak percaya dengan kata2 surga di fast facts google search waktu nyari info tentang satu kota di China. Menyesatkan tuh fakta2nya. Ngaku-ngaku aja sebagai "the most well-known and popular tourist destination on earth"....... In reality the most interesting thing you can find is either a man made lake (like in Suzhou) or this so called famous gardens and parks (like in Changshu). Which tourist in the right mind would fly across the world to visit a lake or some gardens??? *gilingan banget gak sech, kolam aer mancur pizza man di Sudirman aja lebih bagus*

Untungnya Hangzhou agak mendingan dari perkiraan. Pemandangan di sekitar West Lake (Xihu) lumayan laaahhh.... cantik juga saat sunset. Selain jalan-jalan ke West Lake, di sekeliling danau memang banyak banget tea houses - salah satu specialtynya Longjing Tea yang memang asalnya dari Hangzhou. Longjing lumayan enak, tapi jenis yang lainnya belom kepengen nyoba karena menurut gw rasanya mirip kaya rumput laut!

Local signature dishes yang sempet kita cobain malemnya enak banget dan definitely an addictive material. West Lake Sweet Vinegar Fish yang juicy karena sang ikan setelah di-marinate, di-steam sampai lembut banget trus dilumuri gravy cuka coklat kental yang rasanya gurih asam menggigit dan manis. Hmmmm. Bikin ketagihanlah pokoknya. Cuma, tulang-tulangnya agak ribet makannya. Kalo nggak mau tulang, bisa minta dibuatkan ala Sweet & Sour aja, yummie juga kelihatannya. Mereka ambil ikan2nya langsung dari tambak di danau depan restauran. Jadi masih fresh banget! Nama Inggrisnya fresh-water grass carp, nama Indonesianya gw gak bisa inget... yang jelas dulu waktu kecil gw sering banget makan gituan. Bukan ikan sepat, bukan ikan gurame, bukan lele, duuuh, apa ya???

Satu lagi yang katanya signature dish, Longjing Shrimp, udang di stir fried dengan bumbu minimalis dan ditaburi teh hijau. Rasanya...... agak hambar kalo menurut gw sih. Bukan pencinta masakan udang minimalis sih, at least musti pake cabe atau di-asam manis.

Spring udah mulai dibagian dunia sini. Weeping willows udah keluar tunas2nya, juga cherry blossoms yang kecil2 kaya kancing tapi wangi banget. Foto2 masih gw update, belom sempet kepegang secara malem ini gw 'dipaksa' masak dinner buat boss nya Mike. Hiiiihhh....

Xihutiandi - scenic garden surrounding the lake with great cafes to soak the evening sun and sip a great cup of coffee.

Must-try signature local dishes from Hangzhou:

West Lake Sweet Vinegar Fish, Dongpo Pork, Beggar's Chicken and Shrimps in Longjing Tea

Restaurant LouwaiLou

30 Gushan Road, Solitary Island

West Lake Side

Ph: 0517-7965416

** Resep Sweet Vinegar Fish bisa dilihat disini

Drops Restaurant at Casa Suites Legian

Cinta banget sama makanan disini. Chef nya orang Bali asli - tapi katanya pernah ditraining 2 taun di Belanda. Taste & flavours nya pas banget, presentationnya unik... lucu.....Gue sampe terus2an pesen sate campurnya, karena dihidangkan di dalem batok kelapa dibelah plus sambel matahnya yang supeeeerrrrr enak! Duh.... jadi bikin lapeerrrr

Sate Campur komplit

Bebek Betutu lengkap dengan sambal matah

More on Drops Restaurant and Casa Suites in Legian Bali

Jurus jitu memilih kursi strategis di pesawat

Orang yang sering traveling dengan First Class, pasti nggak pernah pusing dengan urusan seat di pesawat. Tapi yang biasa jalan-jalan dengan tiket murah, duduk di kelas ekonomi dengan jam terbang melebihi 6 jam - saat high season lagi - urusan tempat duduk bisa sama pentingnya dengan urusan hidup & mati. Masih untung kalau dapet mas atau mbak yang baik saat check-in. Kalau tidak, siap2 berjuang mempertahankan ruang dengkul dari penumpang di depan yang berniat membuat kursinya sedatar papan cucian, sementara sikut-sikutan berebut armrest dengan penumpang sebelah. Halah, mana masih 12 jam perjalanan........ampuuuunnn

Ada beberapa tips buat memilih kursi yang lumayan strategis, walaupun tidak 100% bebas gangguan menurut pengalaman saya. Yaaaa, namanya juga kelas kambing.

Seat configuration untuk B747 - kursi strategis 30 ABC dan 30 HJK
Berikutnya kursi 44 ABC dan 44 HJK, lalu 55 ABC dan 55 HJK

1.) Kursi yang paling strategis : Exit Row Seating, tepat di sebelah pintu emergency, karena ruang dengkul dijamin paling luas - lebih luas dari ruang dengkulnya pilot loh. Kalau mau ke toilet nggak perlu melewati deretan dengkul tetangga, atau dorong-dorongan kursi dengan penumpang di depan. Cuma, kursi ini paling susah didapet, harus diminta saat check-in.

Menurut aturan FAA & FAM seat ini di-reserve untuk ABP (able bodied person) yang bersedia untuk dijadikan relawan saat darurat; kalau evakuasi, nggak bisa kabur duluan, harus bantu penumpang lain lah. Syarat utama harus sehat fisik dan bersedia jadi relawan. Tapi setahu saya, di SQ, banyak penumpang2 dari business class yang suka booking seat ini saat mereka kehabisan favorite seat di business class.

Hati-hati: daerah sini kadang-kadang suka jadi tempat parkiran meal cart, lindungi dengkul!

2.) Jangan ambil kursi yang paling belakang, karena biasanya tempat duduk tidak di desain untuk recline penuh karena terhalang oleh dinding pembatas, selain juga bersebelahan dengan toilet yang biasanya berjumlah lebih banyak dari toilet di depan. Dijamin nggak akan pernah sepi pengunjung. Tambahan pula, kursi belakang itu dekat dengan galley atau dapur yang juga jarang sepi dari kegiatan nyiapin makanan/minuman plus tempat ngerumpi cabin crew *hehehe, pengalaman soalnya bikin ribut di galley.......*

3.) Usahakan ambil kursi yang agak di tengah menjauh dari bulkhead, karena biasanya bulkhead seat - deretan kursi paling depan yang berhadapan langsung dengan tembok pembatas - biasanya di-reserve untuk bayi & anak balita (yang kemungkinan bakal rewel sepanjang penerbangan). Biasanya row kedua dan ketiga dari depan juga termasuk deretan favorit tuh buat tempat balita. Jadi ambil jarak aman dari tiga rows itu.

4.) Oh ya, boarding pass itu cuma berlaku saat boarding aja. Setelah pintu pesawat ditutup, cepet-cepetlah cari kursi strategis. Tapi hati-hati jangan sampai pramugarinya liat, bisa kena marah loh & disuruh balik lagi. Kalau flight nggak terlalu penuh, cari deretan kursi di tengah dengan 4-5 kursi sebelum penumpang lain liat. Cepet2 didudukin, tas/barang bawaan ditaro di ujung satunya lagi sbg tanda daerah teritorial sudah diambil alih, sebelum penumpang lain ikutan mengklaim juga.

5.) Kalau beruntung bisa dapet beberapa kursi sekaligus, saat berbaring usahakan posisi kepala jangan menghadap aisle. Meal cart yang wara-wiri itu lumayan juga rasanya kalau sampai mampir di jidat.

6.) Tips terakhir, kalau masih nggak nyaman juga, cari kursi kosong lain atau minta bantuan cabin crew dengan alasan kursinya rusak atau apalah *namanya juga usaha*. Biasanya alasan keamanan atau kesehatan lebih diperhatikan daripada alasan kenyamanan. Kalau bisa bicara langsung dengan chief cabin atau pursor nya.

Seat configurasi untuk lebih lengkapnya bisa dilihat di SeatExpert Website

Living in Jordan

Backposting - October 1997

These days were one the best days in my travelling experience. Signing a one year contract to fly with Royal Jordanian Airlines, were practically the first batch from Indonesia, ever. There were only 6 of us: Deisy, Daru, Rachma, Tieneke Herman, Dhidit and myself. Silly fun looking bunch of newbies to the middle eastern life. Really excited!

Initial training took almost 2 months, in the mean time, we were accommodated in a hotel nearby the airport, Queen Alia, apparently there were only two international hotels in the city. Training was a blast, we had so much fun as everything was totally a new experience for us. The hotel life got a bit boring after a while, at one point, we got so sick & tired of the same food after trainings so we decided to befriend the hotel chef who finally let us to go into the kitchen to cook our Indo foodstuff.

Tieneke & myself on the way to ballad for some grocery shopping

Apart from that, we still thought the main attraction during sunday brunch were watching the local women jumping into the swimming pool complete with their black yahala dresses and face covers, and the most annoying part of evenings was to slammed the phone on anonimous s*x phone calls - arab men for sure. Just disgusting!!! Bored girls tend to do silly stuff. One night we decided to have a drink down at the bar with the pilot cadets, which to our surprise turned into a nightmare. We were told off by the hotel management, they wouldn't tolerate any crew misbehaving in the hotel.... *we're not even officially 'crew' yet* and from that day on, two sky marshals were assigned to monitor what we do in in the hotel after coming back from training and ensure that we return to our own rooms.... like we'd even thought of doing something else.... iiih, plis deh!

Spending the night at the Dead Sea on my birthday, just the five of us

Then FINALLY, time to do our Check Flights - to be certified as an active Flight Attendant. Ooooh boy, couldn't remember where we flew to, it didn't matter anyway as you wouldn't even have a chance to look out through the window ..... or even breathe. Still remember my check flight supervisor was Susan Zelvo - known as the "dragon lady" - not sure about the "lady" part though, she looked and sounded like a man. When she put you to test, she does that passionately, won't leave you alone. Give her one wrong answer, she'd come back to you with a hundred more...... Just a total nightmare! We all passed.At that time, we all flew this Boeing 737 and L1011 Tristar. These aircrafts are considered flying junk these days. Too old. Lucky if you can get them to take off. Even back then, Tristar were known to have problems with their cargo doors that tend to open accidentaly while airborne.....

Our home in Marj Al Hamam - Amman, Jordan, about 15 mnts away from the airport

Thankfully, we were given enough training salary to move out of the hotel and rent a house immediately. We fell in love with a beautiful house up on the hill in Marj Al-Hamam area. Fully furnished and we all shared the fee - except Dhidit who decided to move in with her newfound boyfriend, whom I think she dumped not long afterwards. She loved her freedom too much...... Ya ampun Dhit, inget nggak loe?

Flying was fun, sort of. We preferred to fly rather than staying in home-base. These long layovers were just the best!!! 4 days, 7 days, 14 days... if you're lucky. Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Amsterdam - and most of the smaller cities in God-knows part of Europe I have never even heard before. Where the hell is Klagenfurt?!?

Klagenfurt stopover, on one of the charter flights. Delayed for 6 hrs of
technical problem a.k.a pintu kargo macet lagi bouw. Tristar emang biasanya.....

PS: Ketemu juga, ngubek2nya di German, ternyata Klagenfurt itu di Austria.. whoops!

Losari Coffee Plantation Honeymoon

Off we went to Yogyakarta on Oct 6 and decided to stay for 2 days there after a hectic week with the family and wedding bits. LOSARI is supposed to be a luxury retreat to the high end, similar to the boutique resorts like Aman and Begawan Giri . It' s nice to find that there're only us with another Italian couple stayed at the time, so pretty much we had the resort to ourselves. We were actually invited by the owner, Mrs. Teggia previous owner of Amandari resort in Ubud.

Originally a Dutch coffee plantation built in 1928 with a spectacular club house - all well kept to the smallest details, nestled in the middle of 20 hectares coffee plantation surrounded by 8 volcanoes. In short it was a wonderful stay. We were spoiled rotten with spa treatments, massages, bath rituals and excellent cuisine. I found their 'traditional massage' concept very interesting. The mattress is placed on the floor and we were asked to have a steam bath first. The therapists, apparently were called from the the local village. Two very old ladies appeared, very genuine, told us what they do for a living - *mind you, they were in the middle of cooking for their grand children when being called in for the treatment* Their massage knowledge has been passed down from generations. Wow, talking about authenticity of traditional massage!

The best part is their house blend coffee - grown in their back of the house plantation, along with other spices and mushrooms! Plantation tour is part of the program suggested - followed by a quiet lunch in Java Red, their restaurant overlooking a breath-taking view of the plantation. Excellent food, I overheard the chef previously worked for Aman.

Leyeh-leyeh di bale bengong nonton sunset.This is the day bed where we spent the evenings together watching sunset while sipping afternoon tea. They also have that delicious Losari coffee, ginger tea, warm herbal drinks on the display table and lots of lots of cookies.... yummie!

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

It's been weeks ago since Bambang called to see if we'd like to join him on a 2 day trek to Baduy Village. The last time I camped out was about 20 years ago, with the school in the Safari Park. This should be interesting.... Didn't think Michael would say yes to this kind of things. "Are you sure, babe?"

Apparently we got a VIP treatment, drove in a separate van with Bambang & his Japanese journalist. The other group, from Nature Trekker, took a larges bus. Felt like an endless trip, almost half of the day spent in the car, so we felt quite relieve when finally got there. A clean tiny village of several houses, a mixture of a humble modernity with traditional way of life. Saw a couple of 'baduy luar' in black outfit, barefoot.... *hey, they're speaking my language*

Lunch was simple but filling. I was just concern with Michael if he could cope with all this, but so far he was quite okay. The hill that we had to climb seemed waaay waaaayyyy to steep. Not with our bulky backpacks. Thank God angels sent down from heaven. Hahahaha, these baduy guys we saw earlier were actually here to help us with the bags. Porters!!! Who would've thought. Rp. 10,000 is the only currency they know. Everything is ten thousand. Kewl.

Ooohhh, the village was awesome. Very clean. Eye-soothing greenery everywhere, clean fresh air, although a bit cool, made me craving for a bowl of bakso. Yaaahhh, dimana nyare getoaaannn.... After a short briefing, we went downhill to rows of houses closer to the riverside. Our hut was the one with direct access to the river. Us - and another 8 girls. Mike went very quiet as soon as we settle down - no bed, no mattress, no toilet. Whoops, didn't I tell you before we were going very basic? It must've slipped my mind. These people don't live in comforts and so alien to technology. So don't expect electricity ya. Poor thing you.
I had no idea that these were quite a big deal to you. I actually had a great time bonding with my new girl friend dipping, bathing and brushing teeth in that river..... until you told me later on that you saw someone took a big dump upstream. Grooo-hoossss!!!!

Dinner was quite interesting - tiny bits of dried fish with rice. Too spicy for Mike. I think his 'adventure' was already over hours ago.....mosquitos' feast, hard floor, no pillow, boys next door singing at the top of their lungs - all night. I felt so bad when I woke up the next day seeing him struggling so hard to adapt. He never said a single word of complaint. Thanks babycakes for putting up with this. Luv ya