Another Victoria's Secrets

So Bandung has another newcomer in entertainment business. The place called Paris van Java at Jl. Sukajadi. It's an open space with luxury bistros and boutiques which mostly are branches from Jakarta.

The huge stores like Carrefour and Sogo stay in the left side while the new theater with 9 huge studios, Blitz Megaplex, balances the right side. Restaurants and cafes like Javana Bistro, BMC, Oh La La, Zenbu, Red Bean, Hot Shot, Gelato Bar stand in line fencing the area, connecting the Carrefour and Blitz Megaplex buildings. My most favorite resto is Zenbu that serves great Japanese food with elegant minimalist interior but in reasonable price. It's nice to sit outside enjoying the cool night breeze of Bandung, the hanging parking lights and fashionable people who walk along the way.

Basically, the place is awesome though it's not totally open yet. People are coming already and feel satisfied though it's still half made. The concept is new and promising, it's like combining Cilandak Town Square, Dharmawangsa Square and Bandung location, contour and climate. So I guess I have new place to go beside Ciwalk on weekends.

To Jakarta people, this place is highly recommended, especially when it's completely finished. You gotta experience this yourselves!

We all woke up by 6 a.m. the morning after, Oct 26th. We took bath, had breakfast and left Iwan, Lita and Steve at home by 7.30. We had to fit the 6 of us in the Jazz car so we folded the backseats that the baggage became bigger and we put mattresses on it and the 4 of us (Ben, Clemy, me and Mario) sat on it the whole 5 hours trip to Pelabuhan Ratu.

We arrived by 12.30 p.m. and checked in for room 308. The room was family size, 1 king size and 2 single beds with beautiful view to the ocean over the bay. It was really nice. The other families were Uncle Hari’s plus his friends Pak Hari’s and Pak Frans’, so we were all 30 people total.

We had lunch at Uncle Hari’s land half an hour from Bayu Amrta Hotel where we stayed. The guardian prepared us fresh fishes and squids for lunch and it tasted great. After lunch the kids (that means me, Mario, Ben, Clemy, Hizkia, Loren and Angel) went up to the hill and took some pictures there. The view was even greater than the view from the hotel.

The weather was getting hotter so we went a bit higher and found a coffee stall and had some liquid to freshen us. Then the guardian took us even higher up to the hill through rocky and burnt field. It was 4.30 p.m. and it felt like being on top of the world. I swear it felt great being among nature.

When we got back to the hotel it was almost 6 p.m. The kids are playing PS2 and billiard and we killed time at the lobby. The lobby was like big balcony facing the harbor opposite the bay. The wind was fresh and not fishy or sticky. I like the cool night breeze there.

We had dinner at the restaurant and a local girl singer companied us during the feast. I made duet with Aunt Magda then with Clemy singing some songs but I didn’t found any of my fave songs in the list so I didn’t perform solo. Then Mario took me to the bay and we shared some moments together. It was simple yet wonderful. There were also fireworks at the harbor so it completed the romantic nite.

My best friend Lita, her boyfriend Steve and my cousin Iwan came to stay over last Wednesday, Oct 25th. They arrived in Bandung in the morning and came to fetch me at home. We stayed for some minutes before we went to fetch Mario at his home then went for shopping.

We visited all distros in Jl. Sultan Agung. From Soul Artist, Omuniuum, d’loops, Vocuz, Evil and the last one was BlackJack. Each of us but Iwan bought 1 item. I had a grey long shirt with picture of a skull and roses in the front that I wanted from quite a long time. Mario liked an exact the same baby-blue-and-navy-blue-hue jacket with the one I got from Close-Up Planet quiz but we all recommended the other one similar to Heineken label. He finally bought it.

Ester and Boyank couldn’t go anywhere cuz they were working at Paskal Hypersquare so we had lunch there and Iwan finally got a shirt. Now everyone had shopped that day so we could all go home and took bath.

Mario was staying over too so he took his stuff while we were preparing ourselves. He also picked Irma and Yanto up on the way back to my house so it made us 3 couples plus Iwan. Too bad Luppi is still in Hong Kong, Ester was working and Livia is in Swiss. If not, we could make 6 couples of my dear friends.

We headed for Ciwalk and had dinner at Platinum, wore our new clothes and took a tour trip around Ciwalk for Lita. It was getting late and we moved to Congo Café. We had some hot chocolate until 12 a.m. enjoying the beautiful view of Bandung city and playing cards.

It was quite a long time since I stayed over at Lita’s place and it was the second time Lita stayed over at mine. We had chat but not for a very long time, we fell asleep by 2 a.m. (we usually up till 4 a.m. talking about everything needed to discuss)

I really love my friends and I thank God for giving us chance to meet like this. The plan was screwed at first cuz my family was staying over on the time Lita planned to come but in the end it was okay to delay it for 2 days. And it was always been pleasure for me to have friends staying over and gather like that. I’m so grateful that I have such wonderful friends whose all in couples now. So happy for all of us I hope God always bless our relationships all.

My best friend’s 23rd birthday was unexpected. We didn’t make any plan we were just happened to meet in Ciwalk that night on Oct 21st. I was with my man Mario and we met Ian and his gang: Miming, Robby, Mika, Babi, Oky, Tikus and some girls. Then Ester and Boyank came, also Irma and Yanto. We had late dinner at Food Court but it was not really good.

I and Mario met a LOT of our high school friends there, included Dewi and Irma, the girls from Mario’s past. I was a bit jealous but hey he’s with me now so it wasn’t necessary. The girls have their own partners too so why should I be jealous?

My brother and his friends joined us so it made us a big party to sit and relax in Embargo Café. I asked for 20 seats to Abang, the Embargo owner cuz t was kind of difficult at that time, the place was full and we were overloading.

So we were chatting, played cards, meeting old friends. For me, I got pleasure of meeting old pals like Jejenk, Cumin, Audry (whom Ian’s cousin actually), Gama and Helmi. Later Mario said Helmi is still in love with me but I don’t really recall that. They were teacher and student of break dance but in the end the student won the girl’s heart so the situation was a bit absurd. Helmi is a good guy, my former crush before I met Mario, but it was never love between us, it was just a crush.

We took some pictures and suddenly it occurred to me to give Irma a birthday surprise. So I asked Abang whether he had any cake and candle. He promised the cake but instead of cake he borrowed us a bottle of whipped cream. So when the clock hands got close to number 12, I and Mario went inside and Abang gave us the ‘tools’. He opened the backdoor exactly behind Irma’s seat.

I held the tiramisu cake and sang a Happy Birthday while Mario sprayed the whipped cream on Irma’s hair. So it became some chasing game of spraying whipped cream for some minutes before we finally eat the cake. It was delicious and was compliment from Abang.

Well, it wasn’t a perfect birthday party but for a sudden plan it was okay. Actually, it was unforgettable for her. This was her first birthday with boyfriend and whipped cream. We gave Irma her present and hoped it completed her day.

I just joined this Brazilian martial art just today. Luppi wanted to join and she asked me too. So I said yes and we came to the campus by 6 p.m. There we saw people in whites moving like dancing with the rhythm of the drum. It’s just like in Tekken video game, the martial art Eddie using. Or like in other movies I watched, it was beautiful and looked difficult.

I and Luppi then changed clothes and the practice began. They have a unique greeting and always start everything with prayer. They taught us the basic style of caddera and ginga and hole and others. It looked difficult at first but they taught us step by step so it was much easier to follow up.

I start to fall in love with this stuff. You know I joined Tae Kwon Do more than 15 years ago when I was only 7-8. I had to quit becuz we moved to Bandung. And you know that I love dancing. Any form of dancing, from waltz to salsa, from jive to break dance. And I watch any dance movie Hollywood ever produced. It’s just the chance I don’t have all this time to do one.

I hope I can do this for a long term, since this is the only martial art I join and the only active sport I have. I don’t think jogging, aerobic and yoga included to active sports. I mean, the three sports I said was to defeat ourselves. But in capoeira, we do this in solo, duet and in group.

This is fun. Here I get new activity, new knowledge and experience, new people to know and new spirit for life. Btw, “Capoeira” is a lively Brazilian martial art that combines dance, acrobatics and music with fighting techniques. Capoeira is a fun and exciting sport. It is a mixture of body and soul, fighting and dancing, of music instruments and voice requiring the use of mental physical and emotional agility. The emphasis is not on how well you sing or perform but on how much energy you commit to trying.