Another Victoria's Secrets

It was Mom's and Goldi's birthday yesterday, Aug 27. So I departed from Bali on Aug 26, 6;25 p.m. flight to give them surprise. I went by taxi to BSD Square where I knew they were having dinner, and really did surprised them by my appearance at the parking lot just when they were about to leave the restaurant. I was chuckling as they shouted out loud, showing how shocked they were.

My two aunts stayed over while Aunt Siska and Goldi stayed at my house till a little after midnight, after a little celebration of they were turning a year older. Mom was turning 55 and Goldi was 18. It was really nice to be surrounded by the people who love me the most, and it had been 2 months since my last visit home. Family is simply home to me.


We planned to have dinner together the next day, only with Goldi's family and also ours. Ben, Clemy and Fabian could make it, thank God, so we had the dinner at Yeyo, Jl. Senopati. The place was nice and unique, although the food wouldn't be their number one's strength. But the cake shop downstairs, Colette & Lola, was terribly cute!

I just finished watching the Before Midnight movie last night, finally. I had waited for the movie for months because I really liked the movie before, Before Sunset, but haven't watch the first one, Before Sunrise--but I know what the story was about. Ana said Before Midnight wasn't as good as Before Sunset, but I think each of the Befores here has its own value.

Before Sunrise was talking about a random brief encounter with someone who interests us, while Before Sunset was talking about the re-encounter after 10 years without contact (there weren't internet and social media like nowadays, right?) And Before Midnight now talking about how a couple, after so many years of togetherness (they aren't married) with family problems and also ego of each of the personality.


Before Midnight is talking about real life, unlike Before Sunrise that represents a dream of meeting a stranger unexpectedly in a random train trip or Before Sunset that showing how someone that we met only a few hours once a decade ago could be our really soul mate--which sometimes isn't in the time that we wanted it to be. Before Midnight shows us that real life isn't as perfect as we wanted it to be. But real love, no matter how much obstacle came between, stays and struggle together.

This is a really good reminder for us who are in a committed relationships for a long time. We need to renew our daily routines with vacation, some hotel stays, and having deep and real conversation just with each other. No kids, no friends, no other human being around. Then we will come back to the first feeling we had for each other, how amazing that first feeling could already developed into marriage, children and many other things, you name it--just remember that nothing stays the same; we will all change eventually.
That is how we appreciate love and the loved ones around us. May us all be surrounded with love, all the time!


P.S. My favorite line in the movie was from Natalia, the old lady in the scene where they were having lunch together:
"... just like our lives. We appear, and we disappear. And we are so important to some, but we are just passing thru."

As I told you before on the recent post, Pélopé Shop came to participate in 3-days program Jazz Market by the Sea in Benoa. I skipped the first day's shift because I attended 1NSOMANIA at Kopi Kultur so I had to stand by for the last two days. Mrs. Wayan accompanied me with the selling that day and I took an hour or so wandering around the venue, looking at other stalls at the Market area while my stall was at Art Gallery area (that was not too much visited, sadly).


Daniel, one of my new friends, came to watch the jazz performance at 5 p.m. so I met him and wandered around the Food Stalls together for dinner. We watched Balawan and also Syaharani who really made the second day's, also with the national anthem sang by the polices on stage and followed by the whole guests. Such nationalism in a jazz way on Independence Day!


On third day, I came at 2 p.m. again (while the music started at 5) but was pretty occupied with other business as Om Irwin asked me to make a project discussion with him. It took another 1.5 hours with the meeting and it was around 5 p.m. when we finished. I met Ana and Zora who came, and also with Hans Aditya who was already with the girls. We had a picnic on the grass and enjoyed the dinner in the garden.


What made this event so interesting is that it was held on Taman Bhagawan, a really big park of green manicured grass and the long pond in front of the stage. The stalls were set nicely, separated between the market and food areas, allowing people to have picnic in between or to sit on the long wooden benches and tables they had prepared.


The children could play in one area set especially for them with lots of games like we can see in amusement parks. On second day there were also Indonesian Independence Day's special games such as panjat pinang, makan kerupuk, tarik tambang, etc. What made it unique was that there were foreigners in the games, too. It was really interesting to see.


The best part was during sunset. The western sky behind the sky would turn to orange, red, magenta, pink, green and blue while moon rose from the east. The combination of park and beach also gives another sense of nature, while the sunset scenery just added more romance to it, plus jazz music that was enjoyed while sitting on the grass. The experience was extraordinary!


I really loved being in this event, watching children running with their faces painted or carried hand-kites, people eating hotdog or cotton candy, with smell of grilled meat and baked pastries in the air. You really should come to the next year's event to know what I'm talking about. Seriously, this is the first time ever I experience this kind of festival, the one I knew only from children books came alive in this Jazz Market.
Thank you so much for the team that made it happened. I really enjoyed it!


P.S. Check more pictures at my facebook album and instagram.

Friday last week was a pretty busy day for me. Since morning (and from the day before) I had to prepare stuff for Pélopé Shop's bazaar Taman Bhagawan's Jazz Market, Benoa. At 3 p.m. I finished with the preparation at the venue and Tante Susan came to replace me. I had time now to visit Kopi Kultur that were celebrating its first anniversary at Little Tree, Sunset Road.


When I came it was almost 4 p.m. and I knew only Nathalie and Adit Comma of all the guests. There was a movie workshop by Erwin Arnada that was followed with Wine Tasting by Sababay Winery (lesson: combine local wine with spicy local food--it will create a whole new sensation of taste inside your mouth!).

After that I followed the Theater of Coffee by Mr. Rai Bangsawan, the owner of Bali Exotic Beans and Kopi Kultur himself. We had to pay for IDR 50,000 for this special program but we got goodie bag with samples of Balinese Arabica and Luwak coffee (from Tamblingan highland) for exchange. It really was worth it!


We finished the coffee seminar at around 8 p.m.--that made us hungry enough--and found that many of my friends already came. Willy asked if I wanna share the steak from Tokyo Skipjack (well of course!) so I shared the 200g red meat with Ana. The steak was so delicious with chimichuri Japanese sauce that made it felt like eating sushi beef!

For the next 3 hours we were just hanging around, meeting and greeting everyone. Funny was, Elwa brought her kost neighbor, Hans Aditya, that happened to be Killa's boyfriend (Dewi's best friend). Another person I've met randomly before and met that night was a coffee lover I met when I had a meeting with Cape Discovery. There was also Adit's Ouiche? quiche selling all night.

There were bands playing at the parking lot and I found Navicula, a rising band from Bali, brought a fresh rock music that I like. I didn't really notice the other bands but there was this guy I received an email from (Change.org), I Wayan "Gendo" Suardana, who voiced his objection on Benoa's reclamation plan from the governor. (FYI: The next day the governor took out the decree which means Bli Gendo won the petition!)


Half hour after midnight, Bali's Stand Up Comic performed with Ernest Prakasa as the guest star. I never liked stand up comedy but I stayed to watch because all my friends were and I wanted to know what it was about or how would it be like to watch it live. Result was, I laughed a lot because they were funny--but not the kind of laugh that I like. They were also mean and a little too much for me. It was funny, but in a bad way.

The next show was Pop Up Poetry Night by Adit Comma's leading, but I went home before it started. It was almost 2 a.m. already and I had another job to do in Benoa the next day. The 1NSOMANIA 24-hours program was really creative and educative, and it really gathered all artists and designers and thinkers in Bali in one home. It's a really positive place to be and I'm glad I'm part of it now :)
Thank you, Kopi Kultur!

I just went back from my businesses in Denpasar that Monday night when Ana asked me to join her to have dinner at Warung Jepang. There were already Nathalie and a girl who Ana was meeting. The girl's name is Amyra Jessica Richter who is lovely and very easy going. I didn't chat too much tho, because after dinner Nathalie and I went for grocery shopping. We joined the girls again at 10-ish.

The next morning Jessie came to my room and told her life story, having me fully attached to her that day. We rode to the Petitenget beach at around 5 p.m. and stayed until after sunset, then moved to Double Six beach. We had dinner at Warung Taris Bali and my childhood schoolmate Andreas and his girlfriend Tri joined us.


The four of us then moved again to The Deck for Happy Hour drinks and met Zora, Baim and their friend Juli, also with Andreas and Tri who came with us. We chilled there only until 12.30 and went home a little tipsy. Jess slept over at my place that night and we talked about so many things till 2-3 a.m.


The next day was supposed to be full because I didn't do anything the day before. We headed to Denpasar by bike and had lunch at Warung Lele Lela, went to print station and around Renon area. I showed her Puputan park and Renon park, then we went to Bajra Sandhi Monument, the monument of Balinese people's battle. The entrance fee was IDR 5,000 per local person and IDR 10,000 for international tourist.


The architecture of the monument was astounding, with all stone-carving details in every corner and beautiful landscape in the garden. Inside the museum was library and photo gallery, and on the second floor was dioramas of the Balinese battle since the BC era to the Indonesian independence years. It's very interesting to see all the figures in different kinds of costume according to the era and in such perspective. Cleverly made (unless for the poor painting skill of the sky, I say). And on the top floor, there's a viewing room to see 360 degrees of Renon area.


It was 3 p.m. and was so hot outside when we finished the museum tour so we had a glass of fresh coconut water at the park before we departed. Next destination was the Cathedral, the church I had come only twice so far. There was no one else in the church so we could take pictures of the details of the statues and could pray in silence.

We went back to the west and back at Petitenget beach, had some snacks by the sand. It was only a little after sunset that we came back to my place, but we met Ana on her way to Baobab and she had Jess went to hang out with her. I finally had a me-time after more than a week now. I worked on my things and Jess came again that night to say goodbye. She was leaving the next day.



During Jessie's stay, I saw so much of the old me in this girl. She was experiencing a big heart break and trying to struggle her way to escape--reminded me of my own post-Ara-broken-heart moment. I ended up giving her all the advices I took myself and all the knowledge I had. I even inspired to rewrite my old idea of making a book out of it.

Perhaps she came to my life to relive the idea. In every other encounters with other people, we will gain something in the end--and I think this is what I get from meeting her. See, God always have a hidden agenda behind everything that happens in our lives. Praise the Lord!


Check out more pictures in my facebook album and instagram.

A day after my sister left, Andy Pangeran came. He was one of the most important friends to me back then, first being Yodi's cousin then being my partner-in-crime for some adventure we had back in 2007-2008. That was before he was married. He went back to Makassar after graduation and got married there. I had never met him again after 2008 so it was really nice to know that he was in Bali.

We met at sunset time and we spent the moment in Petitenget beach then at Double Six beach, at Chiringuito café on the sand. We had such a joyful time remembering the old days together and catching up with present days' news. He has a 2-years-old baby boy now and I can see that he's doing good.

I met him again the next day at Kuta, where he asked me to join his aunt and uncle to watch sunset. They stayed near Discovery Mall, so we walked only around the area. His aunt was married 18 years ago to a Japanese policeman and they live in Japan ever since. She's a very talkative lady but I enjoyed listening to her life stories.


After dinner we had another moment together and I had a chance to tell him about Nuswantara (accessible at Laku Becik, Greget Nuswantara and Turangga Seta) so we spent another 2 hours talking about the majestic years of Majapahit Kingdom and other Indonesian history. I was a little surprised that Andy put an interest on this, but I felt really good also to be able to tell him things like this.

It was his last night in Bali and he had to leave the next day back to Makassar to his family. It made me think a bit, tho. He's such a special friend to me, he always is. But it's kind of awkward also to know that he's now married and has a son. But lately life's been introducing me to young fatherhood as I know more father friends nowadays--a profession that had never been close to me except my own dad.

I found that I learn more about my dad, about life facts, about fatherhood and about life itself from these fathers. I still don't want to have kids of my own (but I like little kids) so I had never thought of being close with a father figure. Never occurred to me to be with a father, so the idea still sounds so absurd to me. But I learned a lot from his life story and be grateful for another knowledge. God bless him and his kind heart!

My brother made a surprise for us all: he decided to have a holiday vacation to Bali and bought Mom a return ticket also to come with him!
It's a very rare thing that he could initiate an idea to even plan a holiday, for he loves so much to be indoor with his gadgets and games. And the fact that he also bought Mom tickets is another surprise he never did before.

Day 1:

So they arrived in Bali by end of July with afternoon flight. They went straight to the hotel, Nyima Inn at Jl. Bidadari, which was nearby my kost. We arranged Ben to use Hizkia's motorbike that he rented till 5th and we rode to Seminyak Beach to watch the sun till it was set. We walked along the shore line till Legian Beach, and we had dinner at Nasi Ayam Kedewatan Bu Mangku at Jl. Kayu Jati. We went back to hotel and I slept over there.

Day 2:
We went to my kost the next morning before going to Beachwalk for lunch. We had Domino's Pizza and met Tante Sisca, Mom's friend, there. We had coffee at Dirt Java till almost sunset and Ben had his childhood friend, Aryasa, came by with his cousin. We could still caught at least a little sight of sunset at Kuta Beach before dinner time.


We had dinner at Dog Dragon Grill at Jl. Benesari, where they served Giant Mashed: two long Italian sausages of pork with mashed potato and other side dishes by our choice. Two portion to fill our three big stomach was more than enough for the whole night!
Too bad I caught a flu that day so I took a lot of medicines and fell asleep soon as I reached kost. It was a hibernation to prepare my body for the next days' holiday programs.

Day 3:
I met my mom and brother nearby my kost, and we had lunch at Nasi Babi Guling Pak Malen. We then went separated: Ben went to Discovery Mall to meet a friend, while Mom and I went to Pasar Badung to shop some cloths for Pélopé Shop. We got a lot, and went back to store them at my kost before back to the hotel.

We had dinner that night with Pak Nur, a Balinese family friend, at Restoran Ketupat, Jl. Dewi Sri. We also ordered my new friend, Adit's Ouiche? quiche and he came delivering the package for us. After dinner I went straight to kost to sleep off and woke up earlier the next morning.

Day 4: 



We were ready for Ubud and departed at 11a.m. by rental car. We checked in at the In Da Lodge hostel, then walked around the Ubud Market, Hanoman Street, Dewi Sita Street and Gootama Street. We also visited Tante Elvira, Mom's schoolmate, at Villa Nirmala, Tegallalang. We chatted there, also with Tante Elvira's daughter Desiree and Mom's friend's brother, Mas Wawan.


We stayed at Tegallalang until dinner time and went to Tutmak at Jl. Dewi Sita to eat. We then went to our 'suite' room at the hostel which was located at second storey of an old Balinese house. It was big and because there was only the three of us (while the room could occupy 4-6 people), also rather spooky. We slept on one bed that night, to keep us warm and far from nightmare (if any of this actually makes sense).


Day 5:

We checked out from the hotel and went to Museum Rudana to see some paintings and the green landscape there. We then had lunch at Nasi Babi Guling Bu Oka, which is very famous, and continued our journey to the east. We stopped by at Karang Asem Beach and finally, to Candidasa. Too bad we didn't go to the White Sand Beach, but we were already tired so we decided to go back west.


We went to Sukawati village and Mom found a beautiful painting of an old woman weaving a cloth and we met the painter himself, I Dewa Suparta. From Sukawati we went to Sanur and checked in at Jambu Inn near the beach at Jl. Hang Tuah. We had dinner at Café Batu Jimbar and stayed out till almost midnight. We were glad the room was smaller and modern, therefore not spooky like the night before.

Day 6:



We decided to go west so after a day on beach and thru Denpasar city, we arrived at Tanah Lot at 4 p.m. It was cloudy since morning (too bad there wasn't sunrise to watch that morning) and were quite disappointed to find that the site wasn't as beautiful as it was years ago (well, of course) when there weren't too many people on the spot. We hardly found an empty spot there!

We didn't stay too long at Tanah Lot and went to Echo beach instead. We should've made it for sunset, but the sky was covered completely with thick cloud. But Mom and Ben liked the beach so we stayed there for dinner at Dian Café. An hour later, my sister Clemy who came to Bali two nights before with Fabian, caught up with us.


That night we stayed at Nyima Inn again and went to the south the next day. First stop was Nusa Dua, the east past of South Bali, then we stopped at Puja Mandala when we passed Kampial. Not much that we could do at Puja Mandala, but it's such a great place where five different holy building of five religions in Indonesia are built in one complex: mosque, Catholic church, viharra, Christian church and temple.


We finally arrived at Suluban village, at the west part of South Bali, where we climbed down random steps of the surfer's village built on the cliff rock. Shops and small restaurants were on our right or left side, built by the contour of the cliff. The view was magnificent. We could see the whole horizon of the sea, probably 135 degree outspread before our eyes.


We picked Viki Warung, one of the top, because the others were full of people. We had lunch there and after few hours, we headed back to the north. We stopped at Balangan beach for another 2 hours until sunset. After that we went to Muaya Beach at Jimbaran for seafood dinner on the sand. And just like the old times, a trio of bass, guitar and percussion players were playing Mom's favorite La Bamba, Lisoi and Alusio (the last two are Bataknese folk songs).


We went back to the inn but my sister and I were busy arranging stuff and put all my belongings back to my room. I had a chance to meet Ana for a brief to greet her Happy Ied Ul-Fitr (that was coming the next day but she was leaving for Jakarta). After all were packed, I went back to the inn and stayed the last night with my family.

Day 8:

I went with Mom to check the floor lamp she wanted at Kerobokan area, but the shop was closed so we checked another shops around until Tante Siska told us she was at the inn already. We went back to meet her, finished the administration with rental car and checked out from the inn; headed to Warung Litut at Jl. Mertasari for lunch.


Tante Siska left us there, let us have our lunch among the rice fields, and one of my new friends, Nathalie came by to join. At 1 p.m. Fabian and Clemy borrowed a friend's car to take us all to airport. We dropped Mom and Bent at the new Domestic Departure terminal and back to Kerobokan area. I went for another sleeping session while my sister and Fabian were wandering around Seminyak.

I went for dinner with Adit, Willy and Lili at Thai Corner, Jl. Petitenget that night, haven't met the guys for almost a week now (that already felt so weird because we met everyday when Hizkia was here). My sister was staying over that night while Fabian at his old office's dorm. It felt quite funny to sleep with my sister again after more than a year now. How I missed her!

Day 9:


Fabian and Clemy left to wander around at 9 a.m. but I continued my sleep. They invited me to join them for lunch at Mantra, Jl. Petitenget, with their ex-boss Nobuyuki Narabayashi from Desain9 and his assistant, Mba Mila and her daughter, Kimmy. We then had coffee at The Bistrot, Jl. Oberoi before went back home.


After packing and stuff, we had early dinner at Warung Jepang, Jl. Merta Agung, then they left by taxi. I wished I could spend more time with them, but I know life must go on. So I went to Eatwell and met my friends Putu Adit and Prissa. After a cup of hot chocolate I went back home to create more bracelets for Pélopé. It had been such a great holiday with my family and I know I'm blessed to have them in my life. Thank God!

 
P.S. For more pictures you can check my facebook album and instagram.