Traveling alone turned out great.
I swear, I love the old Picasa album. Until I find a way to create a slideshow like it used to, I'll only display 9 photos.
Showing posts with label travels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travels. Show all posts
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Singapore 18
I swear, I love the old Picasa album. Until I find a way to create a slideshow like it used to, I'll only display 9 photos.
Singapore 18
As the ultimate Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Claire Colburn, once said, "Some music needs air,"
one bud was off.
*thanks to Tik for the term
one bud was off.
*thanks to Tik for the term
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Natuna: A Brief Account on Accidents
Three things happened to me while I was in Natuna. I didn’t lose my life, I met an old man, and I lost something dear. All of them involved accidents. Only one is still giving me aches. Two I will write.
The first case is when my life failed to escape me. It had something to do with a car, stumbling backwards, out of control, and down a hill. The engine was dead and the brake was loose. On the car’s right and behind was a cliff. After that, it was a descend of several hundred feet.
There were five of us. We were going out. I remember my glasses were thrown out of the car through the open window. I remember thinking that that was it.
And I remember the car finally stopped before plunging into the ravine.
The accident left us with a broken nose, a torn up upper lip, four disoriented people, and one badass. The badass wasn’t me. It was the first time my legs couldn’t stop trembling, something that I thought had something to do with the steep ground but turned out to be purely hormonal. I was filled with adrenaline.
So no, the badass wasn’t me. The badass was a woman-friend, someone who could see and examine a new patient while we were still admitted to the emergency room, despite the presence of other active-duty doctors, someone who turned out having a habit of snoring on the floor like an exhausted Viking after a raid, and someone who after that said sleep, rose full alert like a Viking on raid day. And she didn’t get hurt in the accident either, which hinted her Vikingly constitution (I’m sorry for the references, I’m hooked with the History Channel show).
Anyway, the experience should count as a near death experience. And as it should, it made me grateful to be alive. It got me to be more cautious, though. I had always been a naive-everything-will-turn-out-fine kind of person. But after the event, even the view of brewing rain before a flight disturbed me. Not to the point of Final Destination visions, but still disturbing. It is a good disturbance I think. It will keep me from doing anything stupid.
The second case didn’t really involve an accident in the sense of the vehicular one. It was only a thing that happened by chance. We (the same culprits involved with the car crash) were visiting a beautiful spot on the beach that had immense round stones scattered around. Out of nowhere, out of darkness, we were greeted by an old man. This is not a ghost story and he was certainly not a ghost. We just didn’t see him because he was standing on a lower level. He turned out to be the owner of the place who was by chance visiting to inspect the place.
He showed us around and told us his visions about the place, what he wanted to do to make it better. I loved hearing what he had to say. I didn’t know it then but now I think I liked his stories because he represented what I had wanted in life. He was working a project he loved by heart, he seemed to love his wife, and he was filled with gratitude and respect for the realities. He looked like an idealist and yet he looked content. It almost seemed contradictory, the idealism and the real world. But he seemed to pull it through. I want that. I do.
The third case doesn’t have anything to do with vehicles but rather with chances too. It is also the one with aches. However, as I said above, it is a story for another time.
In short, Natuna was great. It’s got its drawbacks but generally it was good. I like how you don’t need to go far to find natural landscapes. I like how everything goes pitch black in the night. I like how the place is not packed with people. I even like how I could see the blue ocean line behind my lodge, peeking through the tight branches of trees. Although of course, after the Viking woman told me that it was actually someone’s blue-colored roof, the view had been a turn-off.
Still, I’m grateful.
Glad I got to experience everything.
I just wish I didn’t have all these deadlines choking me the minute I got back.
The first case is when my life failed to escape me. It had something to do with a car, stumbling backwards, out of control, and down a hill. The engine was dead and the brake was loose. On the car’s right and behind was a cliff. After that, it was a descend of several hundred feet.
There were five of us. We were going out. I remember my glasses were thrown out of the car through the open window. I remember thinking that that was it.
And I remember the car finally stopped before plunging into the ravine.
 |
| Minutes before the crash |
The accident left us with a broken nose, a torn up upper lip, four disoriented people, and one badass. The badass wasn’t me. It was the first time my legs couldn’t stop trembling, something that I thought had something to do with the steep ground but turned out to be purely hormonal. I was filled with adrenaline.
So no, the badass wasn’t me. The badass was a woman-friend, someone who could see and examine a new patient while we were still admitted to the emergency room, despite the presence of other active-duty doctors, someone who turned out having a habit of snoring on the floor like an exhausted Viking after a raid, and someone who after that said sleep, rose full alert like a Viking on raid day. And she didn’t get hurt in the accident either, which hinted her Vikingly constitution (I’m sorry for the references, I’m hooked with the History Channel show).
Anyway, the experience should count as a near death experience. And as it should, it made me grateful to be alive. It got me to be more cautious, though. I had always been a naive-everything-will-turn-out-fine kind of person. But after the event, even the view of brewing rain before a flight disturbed me. Not to the point of Final Destination visions, but still disturbing. It is a good disturbance I think. It will keep me from doing anything stupid.
The second case didn’t really involve an accident in the sense of the vehicular one. It was only a thing that happened by chance. We (the same culprits involved with the car crash) were visiting a beautiful spot on the beach that had immense round stones scattered around. Out of nowhere, out of darkness, we were greeted by an old man. This is not a ghost story and he was certainly not a ghost. We just didn’t see him because he was standing on a lower level. He turned out to be the owner of the place who was by chance visiting to inspect the place.
 |
| The old man |
He showed us around and told us his visions about the place, what he wanted to do to make it better. I loved hearing what he had to say. I didn’t know it then but now I think I liked his stories because he represented what I had wanted in life. He was working a project he loved by heart, he seemed to love his wife, and he was filled with gratitude and respect for the realities. He looked like an idealist and yet he looked content. It almost seemed contradictory, the idealism and the real world. But he seemed to pull it through. I want that. I do.
The third case doesn’t have anything to do with vehicles but rather with chances too. It is also the one with aches. However, as I said above, it is a story for another time.
In short, Natuna was great. It’s got its drawbacks but generally it was good. I like how you don’t need to go far to find natural landscapes. I like how everything goes pitch black in the night. I like how the place is not packed with people. I even like how I could see the blue ocean line behind my lodge, peeking through the tight branches of trees. Although of course, after the Viking woman told me that it was actually someone’s blue-colored roof, the view had been a turn-off.
Still, I’m grateful.
Glad I got to experience everything.
I just wish I didn’t have all these deadlines choking me the minute I got back.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Yogyakarta 11
There were a couple of highlights:
- at one time, most of the family sat down together and painted (too bad I didn't take pictures of the paintings)
- we went to Kuwaru Beach, which was beautiful... and also eerie when fog descended and covered the whole place
- and, I got to meet my newborn nephews (there were two of them)
Happy times :)
- at one time, most of the family sat down together and painted (too bad I didn't take pictures of the paintings)
- we went to Kuwaru Beach, which was beautiful... and also eerie when fog descended and covered the whole place
- and, I got to meet my newborn nephews (there were two of them)
Happy times :)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Lembang 10
I took these in Lembang.
I should have taken pictures of natural landscape considering the spot, but my mood was going for objects.
I'm not a photographer (I don't think I can even be called an amateur one), that's why they're mediocre.
However, the experience made me realize how objects could be interesting.
Especially after a friend of mine bought a new camera and a very wide lens. It has a fixed aperture of 1/1.8 I think.
Blah.
This interest must wait.
I should have taken pictures of natural landscape considering the spot, but my mood was going for objects.
I'm not a photographer (I don't think I can even be called an amateur one), that's why they're mediocre.
However, the experience made me realize how objects could be interesting.
Especially after a friend of mine bought a new camera and a very wide lens. It has a fixed aperture of 1/1.8 I think.
Blah.
This interest must wait.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Singapore 09
There are more pictures actually.
It'll take some effort to get them all because they are stored in my friends' memory cards.
I had brought my own old-humongous-almost-a-kilogram digital camera with me at the time, but apparently had forgotten the memory card (how stupid).
I'll upload them as soon as I get them.
It'll take some effort to get them all because they are stored in my friends' memory cards.
I had brought my own old-humongous-almost-a-kilogram digital camera with me at the time, but apparently had forgotten the memory card (how stupid).
I'll upload them as soon as I get them.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
A Journey to a No Man's Land
Hello world!
I'm back!
...from Singapore.
"What?!
Singapore is hardly a no Man's land!," you might say.
Well, for one and a half days, I actually thought it was;
and it had nothing to do with me getting warnings twice from the authorities also (let me tell you it's not for littering or vandalism).
It had to do with the malls.
I guess I'm not much for malls; and the first one and a half days were all about checking them out.
At first, yeah, they were great, especially considering just how many good looking girls roaming them.
But the excitement wore off quickly.
So much that I could only think of four words to describe the country.
Where am I? I thought.
Everyone was wearing their best clothes, using lots of make up, spending lots of money for things I did not understand.
I was in the land of consumption frenzy, filled with beautiful looking beings that I don't recognize as mere humans.
I was in the land of the gods and goddesses... with malls all around.
(Some say it's a shopping heaven.
Well, I don't like to shop.)
***
It changed everything.
For the first time, I saw the beautiful landscape I had only been able to see in pictures.
It felt like I was in the pictures myself.
The pictures have come to life! I thought.
They are all filled with vivid colors! They surround me from every angles!
Until it hit me.
The pictures are real! I am really here!
I was filled with joy.
And it was far from over.
***
There were only three members (one had the guitar, one on percussion, and a vocalist).
They performed these arrays of light-relaxing songs, and were actually pretty good.
They talked to the audience between every performance, churning out jokes here and there.
Sometimes they told stories from their lives, which were all touching, in a light-happy way.
And to realize all was done on a stage with a backdrop of beautiful landscape of the river, the tall buildings and the Merlion at night, was just unbelievable.
It was almost a trance for me.
But I was given more.
In the middle of a performance, all of the sudden, an old man on the front row stood up.
I thought he was going to the toilet when he started...
to dance.
Yes, he danced in front of the stage, at the watching eyes of the crowd.
And it was not just a simple dance.
He danced the dance I thought only someone with booties could pull.
The old man danced passionately; and we all cheered.
I almost cried that night.
The next day, I traveled alone to the edges of Singapore.
I saw flats with dried clothes hanging on its railings, schools, bad malls like the ones we have in Bekasi, dirty public toilets (yes, that's right).
I saw ugly people, high school students just coming home from schools, college students, workers, senior citizens, children, families.
I saw a land of Man, with mere Man all over it; ordinary people doing ordinary things.
I was no longer in the land of gods and goddesses.
I was in someone's country, someone's home.
It was beautiful.
I never thought I would be excited to see all the things that had made me happy.
I mean, dried clothes, public toilets, workers? Get real.
But I was.
I'm back!
...from Singapore.
"What?!
Singapore is hardly a no Man's land!," you might say.
Well, for one and a half days, I actually thought it was;
and it had nothing to do with me getting warnings twice from the authorities also (let me tell you it's not for littering or vandalism).
It had to do with the malls.
I guess I'm not much for malls; and the first one and a half days were all about checking them out.
At first, yeah, they were great, especially considering just how many good looking girls roaming them.
But the excitement wore off quickly.
So much that I could only think of four words to describe the country.
That's all there is.Hot babes - Hot pants
Where am I? I thought.
Everyone was wearing their best clothes, using lots of make up, spending lots of money for things I did not understand.
I was in the land of consumption frenzy, filled with beautiful looking beings that I don't recognize as mere humans.
I was in the land of the gods and goddesses... with malls all around.
(Some say it's a shopping heaven.
Well, I don't like to shop.)
***
It changed everything.
For the first time, I saw the beautiful landscape I had only been able to see in pictures.
It felt like I was in the pictures myself.
The pictures have come to life! I thought.
They are all filled with vivid colors! They surround me from every angles!
Until it hit me.
The pictures are real! I am really here!
I was filled with joy.
And it was far from over.
***
There were only three members (one had the guitar, one on percussion, and a vocalist).
They performed these arrays of light-relaxing songs, and were actually pretty good.
They talked to the audience between every performance, churning out jokes here and there.
Sometimes they told stories from their lives, which were all touching, in a light-happy way.
And to realize all was done on a stage with a backdrop of beautiful landscape of the river, the tall buildings and the Merlion at night, was just unbelievable.
It was almost a trance for me.
But I was given more.
In the middle of a performance, all of the sudden, an old man on the front row stood up.
I thought he was going to the toilet when he started...
to dance.
Yes, he danced in front of the stage, at the watching eyes of the crowd.
And it was not just a simple dance.
He danced the dance I thought only someone with booties could pull.
The old man danced passionately; and we all cheered.
I almost cried that night.
The next day, I traveled alone to the edges of Singapore.
I saw flats with dried clothes hanging on its railings, schools, bad malls like the ones we have in Bekasi, dirty public toilets (yes, that's right).
I saw ugly people, high school students just coming home from schools, college students, workers, senior citizens, children, families.
I saw a land of Man, with mere Man all over it; ordinary people doing ordinary things.
I was no longer in the land of gods and goddesses.
I was in someone's country, someone's home.
It was beautiful.
I never thought I would be excited to see all the things that had made me happy.
I mean, dried clothes, public toilets, workers? Get real.
But I was.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Road Trip 08
It's been awhile since I wanted to write about my road trip. I had it with my friends back in 08. We went all the way east to Borobudur Temple, Yogyakarta, Mount Bromo, Bali, and Nusa Penida.
It is the best trip I've ever had. Especially considering that I had never went anywhere before.
There's so much that I wanted to tell actually, and yet I can't think of anything to write. Because it all happened a year ago? Or maybe because I don't know where to start.
Well, just the pictures then.
Can't wait to do the whole thing again.
It is the best trip I've ever had. Especially considering that I had never went anywhere before.
There's so much that I wanted to tell actually, and yet I can't think of anything to write. Because it all happened a year ago? Or maybe because I don't know where to start.
Well, just the pictures then.
Can't wait to do the whole thing again.
Photos by: Rick, Ron, Chu, Tie, Ra, and myself
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