The trip took on long weekend on last month. The trip was a bit disappointing because all the participants came late to the meeting point. It was no one at the meeting point when I arrived there on time. I waited for 2 hours, in bored, to see 29 other participants coming one by one. When it was about time to go, the coordinator & the drivers had a little meeting to discuss which route we should take. I felt like this trip was half planned by the coordinator. We were 30 minutes behind schedule and were trapped in traffic.
Our first destination was the White Crater. It's the remnant of an inactive volcano. Its last eruption took place in 11th-12th century. For several centuries the crater and its surrounding remained untouched because the locals thought the location was eerie. In 18th century a Dutch scientist observed the crater. Since then the crater becomes tourists attraction.
The crater emits strong smelled sulfur smoke from the center of the crater. No birds or other animals are living around because of the toxic smoke. Only plants are able to live. Besides going to the crater tourist can go to strawberry farms to pick the fruits which are plenty around. the famous snack is strawberries satay. It's strawberries in stick covered with colorful sweets.
On the second day we took boats to see nature crafted sea rocks. The ocean, where our boats were sailing, is Indian ocean. The wave was so high and kept splashing our boats. I took the pictures of the rocks but they were blurry. I didn't retake the pictures because I was afraid of falling to the scary sea. After that we went to see caves. Inside one of the caves we saw hedgehogs while outside we saw deers and monkeys.
In the afternoon we went to a rocky beach called "Batu Hiu" (Rock Shark). It's named this way because in the sea there lies a rock in the shape of a shark opening its mouth. Too bad after tsunami hit the beach the rock was broken and now it doesn't look like a shark at all. Surfers were doing surfing on another beach. I saw many surfers around from various countries. They blended with local surfers.
Along the sea shore near our hostel are where clubs and restaurants located. One of the clubs is "Silent Club". It's called this way because the owner is mute. Eventhough he is mute, he is a creative person. He created the club concept, a club with candle light, by himself. Even he created a toilet next to his club while other clubs rely on public toilet. I went to this club to enjoy full moon under the light of candles. I saw many couples in the club. I was the only one without a partner. In midnight bonfire was set to entertain the clubbers.
In the morning we went to a souvenir shop. In front of the shop I saw a traditional candy maker. He was kind to let me taking his picture. in the noon we headed back to Jakarta.
Trip to Pangandaran
Watching Sea Turtle
Few months ago I went to Ujung Genteng to see a sea turtle laying her eggs. The turtle came from the Indian ocean. It's a vast ocean that borders Indonesia on the south. Its waves is well known among surfers.
Before seeing the turtle my group and I released 2 baby turtles to the sea. Their sizes were half of my palm. After 30 years the baby turtles, that we released, will come back to the same shore to lay their eggs.
To see the mother turtle we had to walked 600 meters one way. Walking on the sand at 1 am was tiring and it was dark also. Our guide warned us not to point our flashlights to the sea because the sea turtles eyes were sensitive to light and they would feel threaten if they saw us going near to their nests.
Some minutes later we arrived at the nest of a turtle. The guide held us for few minutes for the turtle to have her some privacy. The turtle was huge. Twice times my size wide. The female turtle, that I saw that night, was 90 years old and very grumpy. She swung her flippers if we swarmed too close to her.
At that night there were also few groups beside mine. All of us were so eager to see the turtle closely. Flash light from our camera didn't stop taking her picture. The more eager we were, the grumpier the turtle became. I pity the turtle because some people pointed their flashy camera right to her eyes.
I couldn't stay long taking the turtle picture because I got dizzy looking at the flashy camera light. I could imagine how dizzy the turtle was.
Indonesia sea turtles are protected one of the endangered animals. Let's preserve and protect them.
Weekend Trip
I'm back from a trip. From May 14th-16th I went to Ujung Genteng, West Java, for the weekend. I went with a group of 15 people whom I met on an online backpacking community. It was our first trip together. Although we were strangers, when we first met, we got along fast and built friendships on the trip.
The journey was 8 hours one way. It was a bumpy ride because the location was deep in a village. I barely slept because of the uneven terrain. One minute I fell asleep but the next minute I woke up with neck pain. I should've brought neck support to help me sleep.
In the morning we went to a nearby waterfall. At midday we walked along the coastline so that we could arrive at the turtle park in the afternoon to release baby turtles to the sea. After that in the evening we went to see a turtle laying her eggs. We walked in the dark because sea turtle eyes are sensitive to light. Walking in the dark was like walking in a big planetarium. I could the the stars above and I could see the silhouettes of the other people around me. Although it wasn't pitch black at all I had to watch my step because logs and coral were everywhere. Too bad my camera couldn't capture the wonder of the night sky.
It was a fantastic experience!
Getting Hit On
I take public transport to go home.
This happened few months back in 2009. As soon as I entered the door. I FELT that a man kept looking at me. I say FELT because I didn't look straight into his eyes but from the corner of my eyes I could FEEL that he kept looking at me.
For few minutes on the road he was silent. Then he broke the silence by asking where I came from before hopping in. "From office", I replied briefly. Then he asked where my office is. "Near here". He kept and kept asking me. I replied because I didn't want to be rude and there were few passengers in the vehicle so I thought it was safe. I didn't bother to ask something about him because i wasn't interested in knowing him.
I didn't complain and he thought that I was open for his further questions. He kept asking about what my job is and what I do at my job. During the interrogation we sat on a long bench next to each other. I saw that next to him was a lot of space for him to sit but he kept pushing his way to me and sticking plus rubbing his shoulder into me. I was disgusted and creeped! Again I didn't yell at him because I didn't want to be rude and impolite to a much older person. He looked like 35-40 something.
At that very moment I felt that there was something wrong with him and I needed to stand up for myself. I said to him, "Sir, why don't you ask questions to other women around. There are plenty". I waved to a woman sitting in front of me, "Miss, miss, this man needs a word with you". This not so gentleman pulled his shoulder off of me. I was relieved but my heart was still beating fast and my body was shaking a bit.
Then his last words before stepping out of the vehicle were, "I'm a member of a movie committee". I didn't buy his words because I'm a graphic designer and I know that the relation of graphic designing and movie making doesn't click.
How do you deal with the situation of getting hit on?
Sumimasen, Love
Do you believe in fate?
If you meet the person of your dreams, would you ask for their name and number directly to them? Or do you prefer to ask the person to write the name and number on a bank note?
Chie Tanaka, a young model who works in Taiwan, is overwhelmed by her work pressure. One day she left Taipei for Kaohsiung for a day off, where she met Wu Huai Chung in a museum. Chung is an employee at the museum and is well known for his daydreaming habit. The boy was captured by Chie's smile and tailed her anywhere.
In a coffee shop, Chie was in panic because she couldn't find her wallet. She didn't realized that she had lost it in the museum. Chung had appeared to save the day and kindly lent her his money to pay the bill. On the $500 note Chung asked Chie to write her name and number. Telling her that she will be his girlfriend on the day that the note come back to his hand. Chie paid the bill with the money and secretly left Chung.
On the same day they met again in a church. I can't tell whether it was a pure accident or not. They enjoyed the day together. During that time Chung retrieved his note back but didn't realized it. Because of it, he used the money to buy a ticket. By the end of the movie they went separate ways and the note didn't go back to Chung for the second time.
This movie reminds me of a Hollywood movie. Serendipity. Both main characters are separated and united by fate. The difference is the Hollywood movie has a happily ever after ending while this Asian movie has an open ending.
Personally I prefer the Asian movie ending to the Hollywood one because it feels more realistic. Splitting ways with a stranger, whom I known for only one day, is more likely to happen. The ending is open to the viewers' imagination, whether the both characters will meet again in 10 years time or not. It's a nice movie that gives a heart warming feeling. I enjoyed every bit of it.