Bandung!

so yeah, it was a bit scary, but at the end it was extremely fun and i enjoyed myself completely :}! 

can't wait for the next visit!

                         

nama woy-

diabetes much?

ah.

Singapoh

Went to Singapore with Astrid for the last four days. Didn't bring my camera because didn't feel like being too tourist-y, but apparently in order to do so, you'd need a guide to go to all of those hidden gems (read: friends who've lived there for some time. Sadly, they've all graduated, so myeh).
Spent most of the time just wondering around, taking oma2 naps, strolling in and out of malls with snacks in our hands and getting bored occasionally.

Recap:
the epic bad
Marina Bay Sands.
Fucking.Rip-off.
We were supposed to go to the casino, but like the idiots we were, we forgot our passport.
Wasn't actually interested in going, but since I didn't have any better idea I accompanied her. Didn't find out till we got there that for 20-fucking-SGD you only had access to the front platform of the ship.
The areas you see on tv? yeah, only reserved for hotel guests.
So we ended up looking dumbstruck watching the rest of the crowd take pictures of...well, nothing much actually.
After about 15-20 minutes we decided to go to the mall thinking ''we went all the way here at least the mall should be commonly decent".
Wrong again.
The whole interior was so foreboding, severe and cold. Both figuratively and literally.
It was when we got to the MRT station that we cried blood and tears,"OMG DUNIA NORMAL!!!"

the good
Far East, Ya Kun Kaya, Bugis area, Bao Today, and Universal Studios!
Astrid's bf told her to go find Far East which we thought was literally 'far' from anywhere...it was right next to our hotel.hahaha. So after utter intimidation from the Orchard malls, we went there and instantly felt at home. Found Ya Kun Kaya there--seriously different coffee taste from the one in Jakarta--for coffee too.
Took a nap then spent the rest of the day till night around Bugis for snacks and cheap-ass shopping hunt. Still crave for the dewji-bulgogi from Dong Dae Mun and the almond beancurd I got at the market entrance.

The next day was Universal Studios day. It was packed, but we were still able to ride The Mummy twice, Battlestar Galactica's Human (twice) vs Cylon (thrice) roller coaster. And there was churros ohmyGOD-----. The souvenir shops sucked balls, but all in all we still had fun~

Went back to the hotel, took a hot bath like the oma2 I am, then went dinner hunting.
Intentionally headed to some seafood place that only opens from 11pm, but met the 1SGD ice cream cart (there weren't any on the first day how is that possible???) otw and while stting and eating decided we were too lazy (haha) and searched around Orchard instead.
Good thing we did, because then we found Bao Today in front of Somerset 313~
It became our default breakfast menu for the next two days.

Yes, Singapore is the least place you'd want to go to for a vacation unless you're aiming to do some serious serious shopping, but all in all, it was still good to be out of stifling Jakarta for a while~ thanks a bunch Trid!

Day 8 Solo

*most pic's culik lalat's~

Design Statement 2012 Workshop at Rumah Rempah, Solo
The main reason we went to Solo in the first place.

The place was really really nice, all open and all, too bad it was so.frickin.hot.
usually i'm not one to complain much--i mean this is a tropical country, come on--but this time it was just too much.). Hope the next time they'd install some natural energy generated fans of something (solar panels? irigation? or just anything around, i forgot what else they have), sayang aja tempat keren tp dikalahin panas neraka.ahahaha

morning lambat.

we took the night economy train (my first try) to bandung to go to Kekeun
(to be continued on the next post).haha

Day 7 Solo

breakfast

violin's new '2-day nanny'


Pasar Klewer


numpang jajan-jajan di depan sekolah clara.

sop matahari! it's basically a minced chicken, carrot and mushroom mix wrapped in a thin omelette in broth soup. it was really good with a nice portion.

went home to leyeh and nap a bit, because it was frickin blazing hot (i think we all got a migraine). after a nap we heard a gerobak dorong pass buy. thinking it was sekoteng (which we've been craving for since yesterday), we went to get some. turned out it was Asle, sort of like sekoteng but with soy milk added...and six sendok bebek of sugar. but it was also a good snack anyway.

at night we went to Galabo with tendy's sisters and cousins

oh yeah, and from dropping off Violin until the sop matahari place, I.DROVE.SHIFT STICK.
yeah it's a Starlet, but hey for seorang diandra this is huge, because 1. i haven't practice in,like, forever, 2.i haven't drove with so many new people aboard, and 3. i'm not the most confident person in doing something spontaneous like this.
:}

Day 6 Yogya - Solo

* some pic's from lalat~

after getting our train ticket, we went to hunt for the es krim rujak the two ahjumma's were craving for since yesterday. though i wasn't interested at first, i went along. after walking back and forth we found the gerobak and it.was.awesome.
so awesome, i bet the three of us will still crave it every now and then. the portion was just right, and for a Javanese dish, it wasn't too sweet which is good.

after that we walked to Taman Pintar, which was kind of like Museum Iptek in Jakarta.

suddenly it rained so hard and was those kind of rain that didn't look like it'd stop anytime soon (usually stops when you're at your destination.tuhan suka becanda memang.).
because we were afraid to miss our train we, well, went all gung ho and walked through the Vredenberg Fortress with a single umbrella that did us no good like the idiots we were.
of course, ''omg they must be stupid Jakarta tourists"-stares were expected.
we got a becak thankfully at malioboro.

after waiting a bit at the hotel we wanted to get a becak to go to the station, but the guy was an ass and tried to rip us off. we pitied the other bapak-bapak who was with him, but we decided to walk to the station (with that ass cussing after us).

got to the station on time and got roti maryam!

yes yes, i know we could get it cheaper for a pack at a supermarket, but come on, a freshly hot snack after the 'ordeal' we went through ;p?
anyway, the train was super clean, too bad for the un-ergonomic seats otherwise it would've been perfect (not to mention the unreasonable other bapak-bapak on the train who gave us grief.and because we look like frickin tourists', the lady gave us the dirty look.assholes.).

...and we're in solo!


for dinner tendy's mom and auntie took us to this nasi liwet place which was really really good!i even had seconds, something i haven't had in a very very long time.

after nasi liwet, we had jagung bakar and pisang bakar with the weird amusing menu names at another place.we were curious of the 'dunia laut' one, but we feared for our taste buds and forfeited. it was just too much.hahaha

Day 5 Yogya (again)

*most pics from lalat's stock~

it's off to Yogya (again) to meet up with tendy & lalat!

my parents dropped me off, and poor lalat went all the way to Ambarukmo Plaza to get her Yogya starbucks mug, only Yogya apparently doesn't have one.
then we went to our...hotel.

it was actually not that bad (i've seen worse) until i opened the 'wardrobe closet', saw the pilows, and slept pillow-less; spent half the night freezing; and woke up to a damp towel.
i mean the bathroom was actually the best thing about that room for crying out loud.ahahaha

after leyeh-leyeh they took me to Mirota, claiming, "yeah, we actually had a hard time thinking up where to take you based on your request (i want to see and/or get midget things, cultural things also)...until we got to Mirota".
i was hyperventilating when we got there, they had to guide me around to hit every spot.

yes, we are....tourists.HAHAHA


tendy's...her stand of distinguishing herself from the two tourists' haul below


lalat's

mine

for the love of me, i had to buy a damn bag for my excess baggage above, but i got to hear tendy tawar-tawaran in Javanese! so it was worth it and we're so proud of her :D~
for dinner we went to an angkringan near the hotel, the food was awesome! and extremely cheap! a heaven for broke jobless people like us.hahaha
then lalat got 'attacked' by a cockaroach before we went home, and i had a chocolate ice cream from Tip Top, an old fahioned gelato parlor.
(didn't bother to take pictures, we were hungry)