霉

昨天下午下班时，突然间来个倾盆大雨。
在犹豫着是否要在办公室待久一点儿之际，
不管三七二十一，一支箭地奔上车子里。
当然，身子是被淋湿了些许。

想一想，还要不要到银行bank in支票。
既然刚刚也就弄湿了一身，
再和雨水共舞一下子也无妨。
我也就驱车前往旧街场的汇丰银行。

雨是小了点，撑着伞下车去了。
咦……好像有点不妥。
遥控器好像出了问题。
按了几次，门就是没锁上。
嘀……好的，锁上了。

搞定一切后，也该去拿车，然后回家去。
糟糕……遥控器再次失灵。
显然的，不是电池的问题。
那是什么呢？

站在车子旁，使力地按。
五分钟过去了，就是不能。
虽然，可以用车钥匙开门，
但是，我知道随之而来就是那刺耳的警铃声。
我可不要就此引起路人的注意。

人有三急，先去Mamak档借用洗手间。
然后到Kopitiam避雨。
点了杯咖啡乌，热的。
拨电给家人拿后备车钥匙过来。

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2008年，也快结束了。
没什么偏要在这个时候，遇上了这样的倒霉事件？
或许，我该换个正面角度去看看。
霉运来了，好运还会遥远吗？

才上个月罢了，就被问到今年有什么愿望是达成的。
我的答案——今年密集地出国旅游！
3月去了越南北部；7月在柬埔寨；11月到西爪哇。
当然，那些没实现的，不告诉你。
我会挪后到明年，再去努力。

还有少过半天的时间，2009就会来临。
先在这里，祝大家“新年快乐！”
再借用星光三班《星光祭》里的咒语：
Teman baikku, kamu harus semangat!

I'm your host

This is just another update on my Couchsurfing experience. I was quite busy hosting different CSers during the first 2 weeks of December.

I'm always happy about it as I get to meet people from different sides of the globe. Having the chance to understand different cultures was the main motivation for me to join Couchsurfing.

1st - 2nd Dec 08: hosted Ayesha & YiXin (Singapore)
This young couple from Singapore showed how adventurous they were during the college break. No proper travel plan. Just to travel until they were broke. They were so amused of how the bean sprouts being eaten in Ipoh. This reminded me of Shiling's comment about the bean sprouts.

Ayesha - Yixin - me - Kit

1st - 4th Dec 08: hosted Kit (Canada)
It was my 2nd time hosting Kit in Ipoh. The very first time I met her was way back in August. She was going to end her exploration in Asia soon. On the way to KLIA to catch the flight to Japan, I hosted her a few nights. She had a day trip to Cameron Highland with my mum and mum's friend.

4th Dec 08: hosted Sandrea (Malaysia) 
My first time meeting up with a fellow CSers from Malaysia, Johor to be more precise. She is an activist and just started the job as the special assistant to one of the state excos. She had spent 6 months in New Zealand with the working traveller visa before that.

5th - 6th Dec 08: hosted Alar (Estonia)
I didn't spend much time with Alar, just a little bit of chit-chat. He arrived late in Ipoh from Lumut and left early the next day for Cameron Highland. Coincidentally, he met my next guests - Anian & Mathias during the bus ride.

10th - 12th Dec 08: hosted Anian & Mathias (Switzerland) 
They came to Ipoh at the right time when all of my sisters were back in Ipoh. Hosting them made my place so happening and brought in much cheers. My sisters and cousin went white water rafting with them too. Later, my sister, too, became the host of them in Subang. 

Anian - my bro - Mathias

12th - 14th Dec 08: hosted Peter & Maria (Russia)
They were out all the time, so I didn't have much time talking to them. It might be the language barrier also that made me couldn't know more about them. They had a free ride to Penang with my friend - Sam, after that.

Tangkuban Perahu

Welcome to Tangkuban Perahu

Mt Tangkuban Perahu, meaning the flipped boat in English, is an active volcano and at the same time is seen as the symbol of Bandung. The name has something linked to the 'Legend of Sangkuriang', about how a disobedient son kicked his boat upside-down and turned into stone.

we're finally there after a very long journey

wanna have a horse ride? or scarf made of rabbit fur?

Since we were in Bandung, how could we miss the chance to visit this place? In fact, it was the only tourist attraction that we went to. Of course, we didn't hike up to the crater area. Fortunately, we had Pak Ari there to be our chauffeur. He drove us there, passing through the forest.

lotsa 'climbing'

the viewing hut; unknown snacks

It's very cooling up there; right time to get away from the heat. Due to the smoke from the volcano, it's quite hazy. Yet, it made all the pictures taken there look nice. Again, this place gave us much opportunity to show our photography skill.

paparazzi wannabe

Pak Ari was the only one among us to have the guts to stand so close to the crater and squatted down as seen in the picture below. For this, HC claimed 'His balls is bigger than mine!'

Pak Ari, squatting very closely to the edge

one of the 2 active craters

We spent time exploring the place and taking pictures. When we thought that it's time to leave, the rain poured. Worse, we were not with Pak Ari at that time. So, we couldn't get into the car and got to hide at the road side stall. Not to mention, we were all soaking wet; in such a weather. We couldn't reach Pak Ari's phone as the coverage was very bad up there. No choice, but to wait.

When the rain wasn't that heavy anymore, we decided to rent the umbrella and look for Pak Ari. Just as MH & Vid stepped out the stall where we sheltered, we saw Pak Ari walking towards us. Opps, wrong timing.

the car was there but couldn't get in; sheltered from the rain

Then, we started the long journey back to Bandung. All wet, sting and hungry!

An artist

Every one of us is born to be an artist.
We are gifted with a blank drawing paper and painting tools.
We draw, we paint and we colour it.
The piece of art resembles our lives.


Some takes only a little time to get it done.
And use the rest of the time to perfect every details.
Some makes a lot of changes in between.
Some could only complete it when bidding farewell to this world.


For me, I would say I'm still at the pencil sketching stage.
I don't mind taking however long to complete.
Because I know it would somehow be done one day.
And, it would tell every stories of my life.

Bandung Snacks

Clockwise from top left:-

• Durian Ice Cream
  
• Bubur Ayam Mang Oyo
  
• Mie Bakso
  
• Martabak
  
• Savoury with Rum
  
• Ginger Soupy Dessert
  
• Mie Yamien
• Sweet Potato Balls
  
• Batagor
  
• Brownies Panggang / Brownies Kukus
  

Sundanese Cuisine in Bandung

On the way up to Mt Tangkuban Parahu, the symbolic and active volcano in Bandung, the traffic was very congested on the opposite side (towards Bandung). According to Vid, it's because of the large crowd spending the weekend in Lembang. As such, everyone was rushing back to Bandung or Jakarta on the Sunday. 

We stopped by at this restaurant for lunch. It's a random choice as it's had passed the lunch hour for some time and we had no info on any particular restaurant. Thinking about it, it's actually my first experience of Sundanese Food.

Warung Nasi Saung Pengkolan

the interior decor

I've forgotten most of the food that we ordered. I could only think of:- Gurame Goreng (Fried Gurame fish), Sate Kelinci (rabbit-meat satay), Patai Bakar (roasted petai) & Tempeh. It wasn't a bad lunch after all, yet, there's not much to talk about other than nocticing the flies around us.

our lunch...

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The next day, before going back to Jakarta, we had another round of Sundanese food for lunch. This time, we went to the food place that was stated in the Wikitravel guide. It's in fact a famous eating outlet in Bandung. I think, sticking to a travel guide wasn't something bad after all.

Kedai Ma'Uneh

I learned something new. Pepes. It's a way to prepare and cook the food. Marinate the meat, fish, eggs, tempeh or tahu with different kind of spices, then wrap them with banana leaves and roast. We ordered a few Pepes dishes. The food was better than what we had yesterday. Good job, Wikitravel!

the food stall

lunch... with different kind of chillies