Gems of Montreal, an authentic list from a local

as published by The Jakarta Post on 7th September 2017

Tommy was a small-town boy from Repentigny, just 15 minutes from Montreal, who happened to be my travel buddy in Toronto. Upon learning that I was going to visit Montreal, he gave me a list of places to visit, quite off the beaten path.

His list was my love recipe of the city that belongs to the State of Québec. Following the list felt like going on a treasure hunt. From one place to another, I collected hidden gems of the francophone Canadian city.

I am sharing the list now, with his consent, of course, for you to also discover the beauty and scrumptious Montreal beyond its mainstream attractions. Since my visit was in summer, some places may not look the same in winter time.

Pier of Parc Jean-Drapeau

The park is located on St. Helen’s Island, sharing the northern land with the La Ronde amusement park. It holds the iconic Biosphere, a ball-shaped environmental museum, and is connected to the main island by another iconic construction, the Jacques Cartier Bridge. However, its pier was barely visited, since most people prefer to arrive by subway instead of by boat.

Once you get out of Jean-Drapeau Station, take a left and follow the road until you reach the pier. It was less than a kilometer’s walk, and with nature all around, it’ll seem like a breeze.

The benches on the wooden dock were empty when I got there. On that summer day, the sky was clear, St. Lawrence River that separates the island from the mainland was calm, the wind blew gently, and although the sun was intense, there was enough shade around. Serenity, my mind was taking a rest for a while to be carried away by these natural blessings and the view of Montreal’s Old Port.

Chalet of Mount Royal

A chalet and its wide belvedere was built on top of Mount Royal overlooking the city and the port. Inside the chalet you can learn about the history of the establishment of Montreal by the French through a video presentation played inside telescopes.

This place may not be as unnoticed as the others on the list, but let me give you some tips. First, visit it in the evening, just before sunset, to get two or even three different views of the city: day, dusk and night time. Second, you may want to save energy climbing the hill on foot by taking a bus from Mount Royal Street from the northern side of the hill. Third, prepare a flashlight in case you want to descend using the stairs through the wood at night. They get you to the eastern part of the hill, next to downtown.

Fountain at Jean-Paul Riopelle Square

Tall office buildings in downtown Montreal all but hide the fairly small square, although it is located next to Viger Avenue. During the day, people may just notice it as another fountain in another square, since there is no fire show.

In the evening from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., however, the bronze fountain – called La Joute – with its abstract carvings of animals and humans starts its kinetic cycle that involves breathing fire. When the fire is off, the inner edge of the fountain’s circle base sprays haze, giving the art installation by Quebec artist Jean-Paul Riopelle a somewhat mystical look.

World Trade Centre

An office building as a tourist destination does sound dull, but you can definitely make an exception for this one. The building’s interior has a European street concept. My feet stepped on brick floors, my eyes fixed on classic street lights along the passageway and my hands touched the stone walls flanking me. Its glass roof gave plenty of natural light while showing off the chic industrial style.

Its atrium hosts the statue of the Greek goddess of the sea, Amphitrite. The statue was originally set up in France, before Canadian tycoon Paul Desmarais brought it to the World Trade Centre Montreal and complemented it with a 200-square-meter black granite pool in front.

Crew Collective Café

This historical Royal Bank Tower was once the tallest building in Canada. It served as Royal Bank’s headquarters for a long period until it was abandoned in 2010; then came a digital company, Crew, as new tenant. This company turned the main hall of the 1920s building into a co-working space with Wi-Fi and a long counter in front of bank windows now serving coffee and pastries. Crew kept the interior authentic, leaving the vintage chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and the World War I Memorial Wall uncovered. Roughly 150 names are carved into the wall, of the bankers who went to the Great War.

Crew Collective opened its doors in 2016, and apparently has become a popular office for telecommuting freelancers. The visitors were mostly individuals with laptops in front of them, though some were sitting in small groups having meetings inside meeting cubicles or outside at the common tables. Of course, there were curious tourists visiting, just like me, but they didn’t stay for long.

Tip: Crew Collective Café, World Trade Centre and Jean-Paul Riopelle Square are located in Quartier International (International District), so you may want to visit these places in one single trip.

Anticafe Montreal

Here you pay for neither coffee nor food; you just pay for the time you spend. It’s CAD 3 for the first hour, and CAD 2 for each hour after that, but you can’t pay more than CAD 9. The Anticafe concept was first introduced in Moscow in 2010 and has since become a trend in Europe.

Although I had turned on the GPS to track this place down, I walked down the road two times before I finally found its entrance door. In the middle of the busy St. Catherine Street, the black entrance door with no sign placed on the street was unnoticeable among other big name signs. Upon entering, I was unsure this was the place, since I had to climb the stairs in the dark, no greeter, no one. It felt like I was going to surrender my soul to an underground cult club. When I reached the second floor, I knew I was safe since it looked more like a decent homey coffee shop, even a captivating one.

Sam, the host, welcomed me warmly and explained Anticafe’s concept. Basically, we can help ourselves to whatever we want, coffee, tea, water, biscuits, and bread; only the espresso machine we were not to operate by ourselves. However, Sam offered his services to make the coffee, even until your tenth cup.

The second floor of Anticafe was a social space, where people can chat, work, laze around and play table games. The third floor was intended for those who desire tranquillity, there were people studying and having meetings in doorless rooms. The highlight of Anticafe was not only the concept, but also its stylish decoration, from artwork, vintage stuff like an old television and old typewriter, hanging bulbs to hippy objects.

Wilensky's Light Lunch

This Russian family business has survived for years since 1932. The restaurant still looks the same, also serves the same trademark salami sandwich, The Wilensky Special. Apart from this signature dish, the luncheonette also offered the classic home-made soda mixed by hand.

The food and the history of this corner restaurant was one thing, the warm welcome by Sharon Wilensky, the daughter of the late Moe who first created the famous sandwich, and her daughter, was quite another. Another treasure to be found was an old bookshelf that amassed old second-hand books to sell cheaply. I was excited to bring home a book from 1923 only for a dollar (Canadian).

Kem Coba Ice Cream

What could be better company on a summer’s day in the city than a scoop of ice cream? A double scoop of ice cream! After visiting Wilensky’s, I just could not miss the Kem Coba Ice Cream shop across the street. It was not easy to pick the flavors, since they were all tempting, lychee, mango, lime, cheesecake, chocomint, etc. After seeing a long queue behind by, I knew that I had to make up my mind fast. Hibiscus sorbet and sea salt ice cream became by final choice, refreshing and the perfect balance of sweet and salty, both were soft-textured.

St-Viateur Bagel

Located just a block away from Wilensky’s and Kem Coba, this bagel shop sells the exemplary Montreal-style bagels under one dollar each. They contain no salt are hand-made, boiled in honey-sweetened water and baked in a wood-fired oven. Originally, they had poppy seed bagels as a signature product, yet now 80 percent of their sales is sesame seed bagels, apart from other varieties like rosemary, multigrain, cinnamon and raisin, whole wheat and flax. It opened its doors in 1957, and today online buyers from Canada and the US can get them too.

Schwartz's Deli

In addition to bagels, Montreal is famous for its tender pink and piquant smoked beef, and the best place to try it is undoubtedly Schwartz’s. A long line-up to enter the Jewish deli was spotted on the street, and it indeed took a long time. If you want to have a quick smoked meat sandwich or get something to go, enter through the door next to the small restaurant. Schwartz’s was established in 1928. Its story was made perpetual by Bill Brownstein, who wrote the book Schwartz's Hebrew Delicatessen: The Story, which inspired a musical theater show staged in 2011.

Tip: Wilensky’s, Kem Coba, St-Viateur and Schwartz’s are located in the Mile End area, the hipster capital of Canada; therefore, these places can be visited sequentially.

Chiapas: The True Beauty of Mexico

As published by JPlus by The Jakarta Post, 17 September 2016

Once of the fall in Chiflon

“You have to go to Chiapas!” A friend said, trying to convince me when I was still in Indonesia before my first visit to Mexico. At that time, I was was attracted to more popular destinations, such as Acapulco or Cancun. 

Once I was living in Mexico, however, I befriended an old doctor, long familiar with the country, who changed my mind. “There are two true beauties in Mexico,” he said. “Chiapas is one of them.” 

Convinced, I packed my rucksack and departed for this south-east state in Mexico.

While Mexico welcomed around 31 million foreign tourists in 2015, only 585,000 visited Chiapas.

To shine a light on this most beautiful of regions, J+ is publishing this trip report the day after Mexico celebrates its independence on Sep. 16.

ON THE WATER

Intense sunlight bathed me as sunbeams reflected off the gleaming green water of the Grijalva River, which flows all the way to Guatemala. While it was a boiling day to commence an adventure, what my eyes saw compensated for how my skin felt.

This part of the river is home to one of the principal tourist destinations of Chiapas, the Sumidero Canyon.

I boarded a boat in Unidad Deportiva in Chiapa de Corzo, about 15 minutes from the local capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez, where I arrived after a 14-hour bus ride from Mexico City.

Together with about 20 other tourists and a Spanish-speaking boatman, I went on a 35-kilometre voyage that lasted two-and-a-half hours.

While the passengers varied in age, we all spoke Spanish. I think I got why Chiapas lacked the fame

of other tourists spots in Mexico: Not enough facilities for non-Spanish speakers.

Sumidero Canyon accommodated many diverse creatures, including huge catfish, trout and tilapia,

all of who were prime food sources for the black vultures and crocodiles lazing on the riverbanks.

(Traveler pro tip: Keep your hands inside.)

Sumidero Canyon´s boat trip

You have to use a bit of imagination on this excursion: The boat made its first stop to observe a

rock face full of stone pillars, one of which had the form of a sea horse.

We then halted to view the three cliffs depicted on the coat of arms of Chiapas.

Our cruiser paused again so we could admire the tallest cliff–one kilometre high–and a pink, grey and black cove designated the Chapel of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Cove of Guadalupe

We also stopped at a Christmas tree-like rock face, covered by moss, which according to our guide would form a waterfall during the rainy season.

Christmas tree-like rock face

Our return point was Chicoasén Dam, one of four supplying electricity to Chiapas, which gets

almost half its energy from hydro-power.

Blessed with breath-taking natural splendour and resources; Chiapas, however, remains the poorest

state in Mexico.

The high temperature absorbed my energies. I could not help falling asleep during the one-hour journey from Sumidero Canyon to San Cristobal de las Casas, the only city I visited during this trip.

Street in San Cristobal de las Casas

IN LOVE WITH WATERFALLS

At five in the morning the next day, a tour transport picked me up at my hostel. We were going to have a very long ride as we moved northeast from San Cristobal. Along with 16 others, I started the five-hour journey while sleeping in my seat.

An hour’s travel brought us to Agua Azul Cascades, where my ear caught the sound of falling

water as I got out of the car. Passing an informal gate that was likely crafted by street vendors, I saw water that was the colour of light green flowing calmly through the spaces made between tree branches and twigs.

natural swimming pool in Agua Azul

Walking on the bumpy trail while following the noise of the crashing water, I saw people soaking and splashing in the shallows–kids and parents, young adults and golden-agers.

Not far away, a wooden viewing point was swarmed by tourists taking pictures with the wide cascades and the turquoise pool as a background.

Agua Azul Cascades lowest viewing point

A different view was offered as I reached the high point. It was like a downhill limestone hiking track, coursed by water that ran past the vegetation. Behind were the green hills of Chiapas.

View from the highest viewpoint of Agua Azul

We proceeded to Misol-Ha, another waterfall in the middle of a jungle fronted by a big pond where people could swim.

You could even explore a cave behind the falls via a 20-meter track complete with steps and a safety fence.

Trail behind Misol-Ha

While only wide enough for one person at some points, the track was large enough to accommodate the crowds comfortably.

Snippets of adventure films crossed my mind as I walked behind the falls, from Di Caprio´s The Beach to Hutcherson´s Journey to the Center of the Earth.

In fact, however, this charming place was a location for Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator.

Misol-Ha Cascade

Agua Azul and Misol-Ha charmed me, so I wondered how different would be Chiflon, the waterfall I visited the next day.

Velo de Novia Fall

While it was not a difficult track, the sun again absorbed my energy. Thankfully, there were places to rest near some small and medium waterfalls along the way, so I could catch my breath.

While I was sweating when I reached the lookout point for the Velo de Novia, or Bride’s Veil, waterfall, the winds that blew in the high and open area quickly cooled me down. 

From the platform, I could see white water dropping in the shape of the veil, hence giving the place its name, from around 120 meters into a turquoise pool.

The local government has identified 28 natural tourism spots in Chiapas, ranging from waterfalls, lakes, caves, beaches and volcanoes. 

The state is also home to several endangered species, such as the water opossum, armadillo, anteater, harpy eagle, howler monkey, spider monkey, ocelot, jaguar, quetzal bird, olive ridley sea turtle, manatee and tapir.

For its natural beauties and biodiversity, Chiapas is indeed one of the true beauties of Mexico.

Zinacantan  

Located 30 minutes away from San Cristobal de las Casas, the town was pretty neat and clean although most of the families still lived humbly.

Zinacantan textile

Zinacantan kids asking for money to tourist

Arriving Spain

13th Febuary 2013, 11:30 am

After approximately 20 hrs of flying, I had my entire body arriving at Barajas Airport Madrid, Spain. Bienvenida, Florence! Welcome! This is the land of my dream I will be staying in for the next 88 days. 

I am certain that this journey will be an important milestone for my career, and more importantly my life. Since several years ago, I have set a new goal to be  hispanic expert. Hopefully my arrival this time, the first arrival and hopefully many more to come, will assist me to build the dream.

And like a quote I found yesterday during my visit to Toledo (an hour south from Madrid): I have decided to do things I like, because it is good for health ;)

Saludos!

Farewell to Comfort Zone

I have been in my comfort zone since September 2012, when I rejoined a latin embassy in Indonesia. As comfort as a kid playing with his dear toy, I do things that I love. Those things are called work.

It was quite a journey to end up here at first. Since my dad had to deal with his health issue, I had been trying to get a job in Singapore, which left me months unemployed. I myself was half-heartedly looking because the lion city doesn't fancy me that much. I offered myself to many companies to do work which mostly I am not very keen on; which most people call work for money. Somewhat apparently it is not "the way" for me.

Out of the blue I contacted the embassy where I had done an internship before, asking whether they have something for me... and they did. What made me jumping around afterward was the fact that they need assistance in cultural section, bullseye! There I was keeping me busy with things I love, culture. Repeat cultura latina (latin culture), which has captivated me for the recent couple years in line with the Spanish language itself. Moreover, I receive enough income as well. Big enough to survive and save some for my future plans.

My zone becomes even more comfortable for the colleagues I have in this small office. We create a very nice working environment, going through day by day with lots of smiles, laughters, and cares for each other, aside from the interesting office talks and music. It didn't take long for us to befriended, also out of the office, although each of us has different character. Pretty interesting too as we tend to mix up languages when conversing, but in the end it is the best way to understand each other. Somehow they glow such positive evergy to each other.

I have been in my comfort zone until....

31st January 2013
is my last day coming to the office before pursuing one of my ultimate dream of going to Spain on the 12th of Febuary.

It is a two-sides coin condition for me. I'm happy that finally I get the opportunity to go to the country which I consider as my second country (after Indonesia). On the other side I am sad to leave the third (Venezuela). Well not pretty much leaving the embassy that concerns me most, but leaving my dear friends does. It makes me think a lot whether I would ever find colleagues like them.

The previous Charge d'affairs who now turns into a friend, spoke to me on her last day working. With teary eyes she expressed it. She said, "When I came to Jakarta, I wanted to leave as soon as I can, but after a while I'd like to stay longer. It is the people who keep me here by heart." I think the same condition is happening to me now. The farewell is even tougher than college graduation. These people in the embassy are my superstars. It is a sure thing that I am going to miss them all soooooo much.

Instead of saying good bye, I'd like to dedicate this Irish blessing quote at my farewell: May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

This is the end of my comfort zone. From here, now am welcoming again uncertainity and surprises. This is the time to farewell the sweet memories and seek for new adventure lining up in the book of destiny.

The superstars:

The Sunshine

The Partner in Crime

The Adorable

The Queen

Dreamy European Life

A Hello from Zurich

Hello virtual world...! It's been a while since my last writing about going to Europe.

In summer time (around May), seems like equator line moves to this northern part of the earth. Did not expect it, but it's true I got as much sun as in Indonesia there. Nevertheless, the wind was much colder and somehow the air was clearer, letting me survive survive the sun without aircon.

I landed my feet in Europe for the first time on the 30th April 2012 in Rome, Italy. Spent two days there, singing in front of the Pope and then at a cultural night of the Indonesian Embassy for The Holy See. Oh by the way... I was with Mia Patria, an ethnic show choir group playing Indonesian music. We were in a cultural mission presenting Indonesia to Europeans (but in Vatican we sang to people from all around the globe).
Highlight of Rome and Vatican: Singing in front of the Pope in Saint Peter Square (of course!)

The Pope and I

Then we moved to South Tyrol part of Italy, Bolzano. I was quite happy seeing Florence (Firenze) from a far on our way there from Rome. We spent a week or so performing in towns nearby, such as Leifers, Oies, San Ulrich, Sarnthein, and Kurtatsch.
Highlight of Bolzano: Ladin Museum, which showed me stories and heritage of the valley's people in Italian Alp.

The Castle (was) Museum (now)

Me and Three Ladin Museum's Staffs (who are Ladins)

Next stop was Aulendorf, a little town close to its bigger and more popular neighbour Ravensburg, South Germany. Okay we actually stayed in Ebersbach with host families. I have posted how wunderbar they were in the previous story. In our day off, which thankfully were their day off too, we went to Bad Salgau and Uberlingen close to Lake Constance or Bodensee. Ebersbach itself is a country with plenty apple trees, colourful flowers, some horses, and a taaaaaaallllllllll love tree (which was decorated with heart shape thing and red and white ribbons). The country also has a minus zero degree freaking cold water lake, where I dipped inside and took one or two rounds walk). The water comes from uderground streams by the way. During our stay there, we also performed in nearby towns of Bad Waldsee, Isney, and Brunner.
Highlight of Aulendorf: singing in front of disabled people in Isney. Was fantastically inspiring and emotionally touching.

Martina, Me, and Sisi, we were in the ice cold water

Love Tree

Our longest stay in Europe was in Switzerland. We stayed mostly in Marienburg Gymnasium in Thal (or Rheineck), but for three days in between we relocated to Menzingen to take a rest in La Salle Haus. Of course we made time to experience Switzerland big cities, Zurich and Luzern. Switzerland is indeed expensive, I think I spent most of my pocket money here. However, I love the country of lakes as it gave us the mood for relaxation even though we hustled around.
Highlight of Switzerland: riding in the back of a wood carrier tractor!

Stein Am Rhein, beautiful little town by the river

The City of Light, Lucerne

The old wood tractor that brought us back. Was so failed to run it

Hey hey hey... We got a bonus! When we were in Switzerland, the leader Mr.Linus surprised us with an extra tour to Lourdes, France. Those were our longest drive from Weinheim, Germany to Lourdes, sixteen hours on street. We stayed for two nights, but only one day available for us to enjoy Lourdes. I felt such a strong spiritual connection there; I even promised myself to learn "Salve Regina" when I get back, a favourite song in town.
Highlight of Lourdes: Above the busy souvenir shops and restaurants downtown, a friend Mega and I enjoyed a tranquil and classy lunch in a restaurant above a river with a fantastic view of a castle.

Me and Mega, unexpected but wonderful lunch date

Indonesian Ladies Posing in Lourdes

We went to Lourdes within our programme in Sulzbach, Germany. The town is located next to old town Weinheim and Hemsbach, approximately an hour driving south from Frankfurt. We stayed again in host families who live in Sulzbach, Hemsbach, or Laudenbach, but we performed also to Frankfurt, Gros-Rohrheim, Cologne, and St.Agustin.
Highlight of Sulzbach: I and another three friends were seconds away for getting ourselves being left by Mannheim train to Sulzbach. Meanwhile we had a concert to catch in the evenig so we had to take that train!

A Stranger (also tourist) Spontaneusly Jumped into the Frame,
When I Was About to Take Pic in Frankfurt

Weinheim Old Town with Mama Katharina

at Frankfurt Airport with Two Bussiest Persons in Sulzbach, Mr. and Mrs. Bauer

Now I am back to Jakarta, awaken from the sweet 46 days dream in Europe. Back to the same old life, with an expectation of putting more quality into life here like what I've experienced in especially Germany and Switzerland: respect time, cherish life (which leave me almost no clue how to reach it, as here in Jakarta equals traffic, crime, pressure, polution) Yes am a bad citizen of Jakarta, aren't I? lol. But please comment if you don't agree and share the thought.

Maybe am just done being a realist city girl for 25 years, instead being a fairytale-country girl sounds perfect for me at the moment. I am longing for it: My Dreamy European Life.

German Families

1. Greul Family (left to right): me, Lars, Katharina, Sabine
2. Margareth, Cornelia Steiger, Me
3. Maier Family: Fiona, Opa, Viktor, Me, Isabella, Markus, Martina, Margareth

Before I thought (sorry) Germans are pretty strict and rigid. After staying with these persons for several days, I'd like to revise my opinion. Even though they speak no good English (bit language barrier, yes!), these Germans have golden hearts, warm hugs, never ending smile, and speak an understandable language of love.

Family Maier has a very good cooking mom, Martina. Hubby Markus is a hardworking carpenter, however he tried to spend time with us as much as he can. Fiona (14), their youngest daughter is always happy to meet us (Margareth and I) even though she hardly speaks English. Meanwhile Maiers' oldest daughter Isabella speaks perfect English as she works in a French restaurant in Stuttgart; and of course she cooks fine too. Maiers have six children, but we could only meet four. We managed to meet the boys: Viktor and Sammy. Viktor takes care of elderly people, which is very nice as we can rarely find youngsters doing it in Germany, not even adults are willing to do that sincerely. Meanwhile Sammy who was pretty busy with exams and football still made time to watch our performance too.

Maier is actually our friend's (John) family, but since Martina and Cornelia (our appointed mom) are close friends, and Cornelia Staiger still has to work Monday to Friday in a hospital (but not a nurse or doctor), we were welcomed to the Maiers during the day. However, Cornelia never abandoned us. Time we spent together at breakfast or later at night is quality. She speaks English very well, used to live in Ireland, so we understood each other easily. Her weekend which supposedly is used to study (she wants to take more qualification), was sacrificed to take us around. These two Ebersbach families are super!

Greul-Hennig family who lives in Hemsbach was pretty rigid at first. I found it later that language barrier is the cause. However our lovely Katharina, which is 70, never forgets to pick us up almost every midnight whenever we had a show. She had to wake up in the middle of her sleeping time which starts normally at ten. There is also her second daughter Sabine and her grandson (Sabine's son) Lars live in the house. Sabine is a horse lover. Once she took us to fourteen years-old Mary, her lovely brown horse. I got on it for minutes and it felt awesome! Meanwhile Lars installs aluminium drain pipe for housing, which is a rare job in the state. They both have to go to work very early, around six or earlier. Another lovely thing about the family is that some of the members (Katharina's daughters, son-in-law, granddaughter-in-law-to-be, etc.) run a center to take care of very old people.

It was our first meeting. They did not know me at all before, no communication had been made before, but they did not hesitate to receive me in their house. Something that is not likely to happen in Jakarta, as people always suspicious, careful, and (maybe) put this thought in front of everything: What's in it for me?

These Germans families are not paid to take care of us, receiving us as parts of their family.

So... Danke fur alles.

Liebe,

Florence

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Where am I before Europe?

Where in Jakarta I spend my last day before going for Europe Trip? Hospital!

As some of you might have heard, I am going to Europe with a show choir group Mia Patria on Sunday, 29th April 2012, which is tomorrow.

For the last two weeks parents have been very busy reminding me to take more rest, vitamins, and so on. Anything to keep my stamina since I have been practising much, until midnight, before the departure day.

Yesterday the man who warned me much to stay healthy was hospitalised. I got the shocking news when I was at a relative's house, after crossing through Jakarta's traffic for three hours! Dad has tumour somewhere (If am not mistaken it is at the back of his stomach). Fortunately, it is not threatening (now). However, it needs to be removed otherwise it would press out other organs.

Today we're quite busy looking for the right hospital to do surgery. I therefore go nowhere else but to the hospital. 

Reunion at Hospital?!

It's quite funny though as my old man doesn't seem sick at all. He was busy surfing the net and having a cup of coffee when we, the pretty ladies (mom, sis, and I) came. At around three, he had the infusion removed. At five, we ordered pizza. At seven, friends of mom and dad started to pack up the room and made a reunion!

I don't know whether it is God's will or anything else, I have to spend my last day with family.

Although we live under the same roof, we hardly met lately due to our own activities.

I do hope that things will not go worse when I am in Europe. If a surgery needs to be taken in the next 46 days, I'd be sorry can't be there with him or with mum.

"Whether it's a heart attack or heartbreak, just like broadway, the show must go on." The show must go on indeed, as the prayer will keep going on. Te quiero, papa! Love ya daddy! 

Venezuelan Embassy Celebrates Dignity with Hispanic Film Enthusiasts

The Fourth February National Dignity Day goes beyond a historical event for Venezuelan. While the celebration has started a day before in the Bolivarian country, The Embassy of Venezuela in Indonesia had a film screening party with Club de Cine Amigos Cervantes (Amigos Cervantes Film Club) to commemorate its 20^th anniversary.

Two embassy’s cars parked in front of Aula Cervantes Jakarta that afternoon, 4^th February 2012. Some Venezuelan light bites, brought by the embassy, were served before the film projection started. The friendly Charge d’Affaires of Venezuelan Embassy Elena Csiky, blended easily with the crowd although it was the first collaboration ever between the two groups.

A fifteen minute opening documentary “La Revolución de La Mayoria” (The Revolution of The Majority) gives the depiction of people movement in 1992, which brought down Carlos Andres Perez. The special program by Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) also put the ongoing President Hugo Chávez on limelight, as he led the coup d’état.

The Head of Mission of Veneuelan Embassy to Indonesia (in pink)

“Although he (Chávez) was losing at that moment, the morality of the occasion is to open people’s mind to move forward after the Bolivarian thought, for the people to have a good life and integration to make a big nation,” the Venezuelan representative explained the importance behind the day.

The winning movie of 2006 Trieste Festival of Latin-American Cinema’s Special Jury Prize “El Caracazo” (The Caracazo) kept the audiences on their seat for the 110 minutes after. The feature also portrays the biggest riot ever in Venezuelan history, which took place in the capital Caracas.

Raise Your Glass!

The event drew more viewers than the club’s previous film screenings. It also pulled off promoting participants’ knowledge on Venezuelan history. Club de Cine Amigos Cervantes was initiated by Spanish language course’s students of Trisakti Language Centre Grogol, and supported by Instituto Cervantes, a worldwide Spanish language and cultural centre owned by the Spanish government. The club however does not confine its activity covering movies only from Spain, yet it supports also Latin-American cinema. They schedule the screening on the second and fourth Saturday every month in Aula Cervantes.

Venezuelan Yumm

Generousity in Jogjakarta, A New Year's Note

Beautiful artworks. Awesome things to see. Those were my expectation before wandering around Jogjakarta last New Year trip. Yet shoe-stringing allowed me to find something I didn't expect before: people generousity; which amazed me more than artworks and tourist attractions.

KALIURANG GODDESS

In the first two days in Kaliurang, northern Jogjakarta, my friend Margareth and I absolutely acted like a tourist. We visited a museum of Javanese art and culture Ullen Sentalu, which I believe the best repository I've ever visited in Indonesia. It is well-designed, well-organised, and most importantly well-maintained. I was happy spending IDR 25 thousand for a museum tour and a special royal drink they served. 

One of Well-designed Spot the Museum Has

Meanwhile in the second day, we went trekking the volcano which just erupted last year, end of 2010. It was indeed a though journey, not only because of the challenging trek, but also seeing the ruins it caused. My mind went to hundreds lives taken by it.

We love Kaliurang and we love the hotel Vogels. Cool weather and warm host, yet transportation access to get back there at night is quite difficult. With taxi it may cost IDR 100 thousand, too luxurious for backpackers. So we decided to go downtown by a public bus the next day, then tried to find a hostel there. As we were waiting for the transport to come on the road, the son of the host texted me. His big family who was staying there for a vacation wanted to go downtown too, and we could go with them. Offer was accepted.

At Vogels, left to right: Mr. Christian Awuy, me, the friendly ibu who works there,
Margareth, and Aldrin Mr.Awuy's son

I thought they would drop us somewhere close to the city central area Malioboro Street, but they took us to the beach. It is supposed to be their family holiday, I thought, yet they allowed us two strangers to join. Moreover, we had have not talked more than five lines to the auntie before she invited us. Aunt Yoshiko, yes her father is Japanese, treated us like family. Okay not only her, everyone in that big warm family.

"Come on Florence, Margareth, let's play on the beach," she asked. Then another auntie said, "just order the grilled corn if you like some" as some members of the family were enjoying the common Indonesian street food.

It was lunch time, then again we were invited. We told them about our plan down town. Well not exactly a plan as we hadn't known yet where to sleep that night. An uncle came to me and handed me his name card. On the back of his name card was written an address of Museum Batik Hotel. He said, "if you can't find anywhere to sleep tonight, please come here." I knew later that the hotel belongs to a relative too. Free ride, free lunch, and now free hotel? No no... the ride and the lunch are more than enough. Of course we did not want to bother more.

Mrs.Yoshiko in the black and white stripes shirt and her family and the two strangers
during lunch in Depok Beach

CITY KINDNESS (and not so kind too)

We arrived downtown in the evening, 30th December 2011. As everyone has predicted, most inns would no longer able to accommodate guests. We walked with hope despite we were quite exhausted. We checked a few hostels which seemingly doubled their price, yet could not give double advancement on their facilities, so we kept saying no. Most importantly, their price did not match our budget. 

Finally we found this place, a house of Mr.Inul, located in Sosrowijayan area too. He doesn't advertise like other hostels, not even a signboard was placed, but he did rent rooms. He has three guests rooms and we were lucky we could rent one at least for a night, as it had been booked for the following night.

It is located in a Sosrowijayan's gate

Trying to get a place to sleep the next day, we went to our French friend Phil's place. We talked to the owner of Anda Losmen, where he stayed, but he kept rejecting our advance booking. The next morning Phil saw someone checking out, then he wanted to book for us. 

Then again he said no for an absurd reason: foreign clients only! I was not happy at all with it. If only I had not spoken to him in Indonesian the night before, I might get a room. According to my previous travel experiences before, I didn't look Indonesian to some people. In Bali they kept asking me whether I was Japanese, Korean, Thai, even unusual ones like Dutch or Swedish (haha...). Anyway, I could not believe he was quite discriminative to his potential guests.

Margareth and I thought: Okay it's New Year anyway, let's go through the night without sleep as we would have an afternoon shuttle bus back to Jakarta. So, we decided to put our backpack to Phil's room as we would travel back to Jakarta together. 

Phil and we went to the Sultan Palace that morning, then we met Phil's friend Susan a Singaporean and Ivy a local. Then we went to Taman Sari and met Laura a solo traveler from New Zealand and Theresa a Jakartan. We had dinner at the sultan's brother house, which made a very beautiful Gadri Restaurant. He still uses the place as his home, so I still am wondering now how his family can handle with such little privacy with customers keep coming in and out. 

Gadri Restaurant

Gadri's Blewong Rice and Javanese Beer

Before midnight, Margareth and I went to Mr.Inul's house to get our bags. We had a conversation with him. He knew that we could not find a place to sleep that New Year's eve, so he insisted us to use his living-room freely. Not even a penny we had to pay as he said he could not give us a proper room to sleep. What a very nice man! He believes "pay it forward" concept. He helps people now, and maybe someday his son needs help like we did, other people may pay his generousity back to his son. However, according to our plan, we would get our bags and put it at Phil's. So, we thanked him for his goodwill, but no thank as we did not want to bother him more. 

Other friends had been waiting at Anda. As Phil had just entered the main door with our bags, the owner showered him with rejection. He said that it was Phil's room and no one (or no bags) deserve the room but Phil himself. All of us, we went: WTF???!!! Even my bag, a dead thing which actually is foreign produced, he could not receive. So, we went back to Mr.Inul's house to put our luggage there. Two locals which live only steps away, yet they have a very different attitude. Wow! 

Forgot the rejections. It was New Year; maybe he will be given a new heart in 2012 (LOL). So there were seven of us during the countdown. Happy New Year! Beer toast in front of Sosrowijayan's Circle K, fireworks rocketed and one failed to fly (Thank God no one was injured), then we ended up in a small cafe nearby. The only cafe which still had seats available.

NY Fellas. First row left to right: Margareth, Ivy, and Susan. Back row: Laura, Phil, There, and Me

There were two foreigners with giant backpack came, looked tired and hopeless. Laura and I had a conversation with them then we found out that they are British, they had just climbed Bromo Mountain, they had just arrived in Jogjakarta at 11 by bus, and they could not find a place to rest. They could not even think anymore due to the great tiresome. So, I took them to Mr.Inul's place, hoping that he would also accept these two travellers. Just as I thought, Mr.Inul rocks! He let them stayed in his old couch, even offered them coffee and tea to relax.

No matter how beautiful the city of Jogjakarta is, it was the beautiful heart of the people awestruck me. The warm big family of Mrs.Yoshiko and lovely small family of Mr.Inul gave me more than just a fine experience in Jogjakarta. I will always remember the New Year's Eve 2011-2012 as the time of people generousity, which I'll try to pay to others along the way in 2012.

Some other random pictures I took:

another hilite: Kopi Joss, cafe with charcoal

street art

another street art, it is said: Jogjakarta still is special

found this signboard in Sosrowijayan. I guess not so international then?

Jogjakarta's Seven Eleven, they literally open from seven to eleven

Jogjakarta, the home of leather puppet's makers