7 Days in Cambodia: Cambodia in a Nutshell!

This month (like less than a week ago) I've got a chance to explore some parts of Cambodia a little bit. In these seven days, I went to Siem Reap, Koh Rong Samloem (an isolated island just 2 hours away from Sihanoukville), and Phnom Penh. This experience in Cambodia is definitely one of the most amazing travel experience I ever had, and this experience had also changed my whole perception about Cambodia in general. At first and foremost, I always thought that Cambodia is a very less developed country with a strong communist influence in its government that made the country have less interaction with the world and made them sounds 'jungle-y'. But in fact, what I've seen in Cambodia is a very beautiful country with incredible architecture and very neat cities. Even though I only went to the touristy places so I might be bias, but overall I might as well say that Cambodia to some extent is very ready to welcome tourist even more than Indonesia, my own country which notabene more 'developed'. See how impressed I am?

Angkor Wat at Sunrise

1st day
We (me, Emily, and Stephanie) started our 1st day from Bangkok and go straight to the Northern Bus Terminal (Mochit) to buy a bus ticket to Siem Reap. We arrived at the bus terminal around 10 AM and turns out, all of the tickets were sold out until 12:30 PM, so there is nothing else that we can do and we just wait there for 2 hours (that turns out to not be that bad (well at least for me)). So after 2 hours of waiting, we finally start our looong journey to Siem Reap! We arrived at the border between Thailand and Cambodia (Poipet border) around 18:30, and we go through all the visa on arrival processes. For me, it is much much more easier since I have a Southeast Asian passport and thus, I didn't need to make any visa! I won't talk about what happened in the border in detail just because there are a lot of other blogs that already talked about that. But in short, the experience wasn't as overwhelming as what people had said (again, at least for me)! Long story short, we finally advanced to Siem Reap using a minivan around 20:30 and successfully arrived at our hostel in Siem Reap around midnight. (We stayed in Onestop Hostel by the way, and the place was amazing -- everyone was so nice and the location is perfect!)

My bus to Siem Reap!

2nd day
We decided to not to force ourselves to go to Angkor Wat on the next day because we realized that we really need to have some rest. So our second day was a very very lazy day. We fell asleep until 10, have some breakfast, rest a little bit more, wander around until we didn't have anything else to do until noon. Then we decided to go to the War Museum that located a little bit farther from our hostel and hire a Tuktuk to take us there for only $2 each. The War Museum was not like any other museums that you've been! Everything is outdoor, you can see everything (and even touch them if you want), and the tour guides are all veterans from the war. It was an extraordinary and heartbreaking experience to learn more about the war that happened in Cambodia not so long ago, about how the Khmer Rouge tried to banished all Cambodians from their own land. The museum is definitely a place to go if only you hire the tour guide, because if you don't, you won't get the feeling of the museum.

But apparently, it didn't take a long time to see everything in the museum. We finish after 45 minutes and it was only around 1 PM. We then talked to the Tuktuk driver and asked him about other good place that we can possibly see and be done at 4:30 PM (because we planned to see the sunset in Angkor Wat that day). And the Tuktuk driver decided to take us to the biggest lake in Cambodia and possibly in Southeast Asia: Tonle Sap, and that was a decision that we will never regret.

We have to pay $20 each for a roundtrip boat tour to the floating village that lives in the edge of the river. Even though we realize that it is such a big amount of money, but nonetheless, the floating village was so impressive! It's amazing to see how people with different lives, situations, and conditions live their life in a complete different way, and they survive anyway. So these people from the floating village lives in a house that is practically a boat. Every house should own a boat in order to survive, because every single place that they wanted to go (even if it's only to a neighbor's house) is only accessible through water. So unless they are able to swim every second, they certainly need a boat.

The next w-o-w thing that we found out was that every year, they have to migrate to the lake because every time the dry season comes, the river will run out of water. And when they move, they have to move everything; their houses, the school, the church, the health facility, and the market. How crazy is that??

Stephanie, Emily, and me on our way to the floating village

The Floating Village of Tonle Sap

Our trip ends at 4, and it's now time to see the sunset in Angkor Wat. To be honest, the sunset experience wasn't that impressive. I kind of believe that Angkor Wat was made for you to see the sunrise, not the sunset. But right when we just want to get back, something amazing happened..... There was the moonrise.

Moonrise in Angkor Wat

Neither my phone nor my camera was able to took a perfect picture of the moonrise. But it was there, the moon was only 100 meters from your face, it was the full moon night, the moon shone so bright and it was so big. So big. It was so amazing. So amazing. I can't even describe how amazing was it. The moon was so big and it looks like it touches the temple. I'm literally out of words to describe how startled I am.

3rd day

This day is our last day in Siem Reap and it's the day to explore the magnificence of Angkor Wat and the other temples in the complex. Angkor Wat is definitely so magnificent, it stood there big and proud but at the same time will give you some sort of happy and peaceful feeling. I can't really describe my experience in Angkor Wat, because for some people it could be kind of a spiritual experience and I believe being in Angkor Wat will bring a different impression and experience for everyone. 

My Angkor Pass

Entrance to Angkor Wat

After finished enjoying the sight of the Angkor complex and finally feel exhausted (it was so big and you have to walk a lot in the temples), we at last decided to get back home at around 1:30 PM. We use the time that we have to rest a little bit and just enjoy our free time that we really need. We will have another long ride at around 9 PM that goes to Sihanoukville. From there, we will go straight to the pier and take the first boat that goes to our next destination: the isolated island, Koh Rong Samloem.

4th day
Unlike all the islands in Thailand that is so full with tourists, this island in the southern part of Cambodia is nothing close to it. We arrived at Sihanoukville around 7:30 in the morning and we immediately proceed to the pier which was only 10 minutes away from the bus terminal. The next boat will be at 9:30 and it is the slow boat that will take us around 90 minutes to get there (which turns out to be 150 minutes). But whatever, we surely cant wait for the next speed boat that will depart at 3 PM.

Koh Rong Samloem is so amazing with its emptiness. The whole island was still a forest, not inhabited with anyone. Someone told us that it just opened for public for less than two years! But in that two years, we could already found a few bungalows that are available to be rent. But still, this is probably one of the best places if you want to run away from the hassle in the city or just to find some peace.

In order to see the sunset, we have to walk across the forest and go the beach that located in the other end for about 30 minutes. We prepared ourselves with flashlight, because after the sun sets there will be no light to guide us in the forest. And all the exhaustion of walking for 30 minutes and the nervousness of the need to go back in the dark just by the three of us was paid off after we saw the sunset.

Do you know the moments when you just sit in silence and wonder how great God is? This is definitely one of those moments. (And yet again neither my phone nor camera was able to capture the moment)

Sunset at Koh Rong Samloem

5th day
Moments in the island was all about leisure, lazy, and simply enjoying life. I spent the whole day reading the book that I found there, lay by the beach, drink some shakes, and just enjoying every moment. This is unfortunately our last day here, because at 4 PM (which turns out to be 4:45 PM) we have to take our speed boat back to Sihanoukville. From there, we will be separated and each go to their own ways. I will proceed to Phnom Penh and look forward for the capital of Cambodia, Stephanie will take the bus back to Bangkok and then go to Myanmar, and Emily will take the bus to Siem Reap and catch a flight to Bangkok from there. This is the moment when we have to go our own way, and say goodbye to each other for good...

6th day
The journey from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh was just 4-5 hours. So since my bus departs from Sihanoukville at around 8 PM, I arrived at Phnom Penh around midnight.

I spent this day with my personal Tuktuk driver that drove me to all the touristy places in the heart of Phnom Penh such as the National Museum, Silver Pagoda, Royal Palace, Independence Monument, Wat Phnom, and last but not least I took a boat trip in the river that connects Tonle Sap river and Mekong river. Since my hostel (it's Onestop hostel again!) is located in a very good location, thus I was able to see the Sisowath Quay (the river) just from my window.

Me riding a Tuktuk!

Silver Pagoda

Royal Palace

National Museum

Sisowath Quay

Sunset at the boat trip on the Mekong River

Sisowath Quay was what took my heart the most. It doesn't look like what I expected to be in Cambodia at all, and in fact, it doesn't even looks like anywhere in Asia. It was surprisingly so neat and clean and nicely built. There is a nice and simple park there where people can just hang out with friends (or lovers :p) and enjoy the beauty of Tonle Sap and Mekong River. There, they also put out all the flags from every country in the world that kind of increase the 'wow' moment. This is where I deeply fell in love with Cambodia -- I fell in love with Cambodia on the days before, but this time, I fell in love... deeply.

7th day
My seventh and last day in Cambodia was the day my heart broke and was the day I question the humanity of every human. This day I ride in my comfy Tuktuk again and go to the outskirts of Phnom Penh to two of the 'best place to go' in Phnom Penh: Toul Sleng Museum and Choeung Ek Killing Fields.

If you don't know (I also don't really know before I came here), in the 1970s there was a massive killing for all the Cambodians in Cambodia. It was initiated by the Khmer Rouge who was strongly influenced by communism. They believe that Cambodia needs to be fulfill all of their needs by themselves and they do not accept any help from the outside. And in order to reach out this dream, they will gladly killed everyone that stood on their way. But as we all expect, they start to put suspicion to everyone; from woman to kids, farmers to intellectuals, doctors to foreigners, students to the homeless. This is where the genocide starts, and they successfully killed more than three million people from their only four years of ruling the country. People said that some of the people died because of the killing, hunger, or illness, and some of them died out of hopelessness and loneliness. And for me, those was the worst reasons to be died from. And do you know what's the saddest part? The ones who kill the Cambodians are the Cambodians itself.

I spent the whole day wondering how could human being be that evil? What kind of reason that can push them to do such a horrible thing to their own kind? I kind of believe that humans must be the most ruthless creature that God ever made.

Do you know what is the last message that they gave to you in the voice guide? It sounds like something like this: "......what happened in Cambodia had also happened in other places like the holocaust in Germany, and some other countries. And this is probably not the end. Humans will always come up with something to be fight for, and there is a big possibility that people will ended up doing the same thing again. So please remember our story and take it to your heart, because no one knows if this will happen again someday..."

May all the souls rest in peace.

Mass grave of the victims

The skulls of some of the victims of the genocide that showed in Choeung Ek

The victims

I ended my travel in Cambodia in not a really fun way, but I'm happy that I did went to these places. This makes me remember how fortunate I am and how I need to be thankful even more. This day I went back home to Jakarta at 5 PM, and finally ended up my trip to Cambodia.

In a nutshell, Cambodia was one of the most amazing, impressive, rich in culture and history, and of course, worth-to-visit country. I'll surely come back again!

The Tournamet by Matthew Reilly

In one fine afternoon in Koh Rong Sanloem, an amazing and rather isolated island in the southern part of Cambodia, I found a surprisingly very interesting book called The Tournament by Matthew Reilly. It's about Bess, who years and years after become Queen Elizabeth I, and her lifelong teacher, Mr. Ascham, journey to Constantinople to attend a chess tournament held by Suleiman, the Sultan of Constantinople. On the first night of the tournament, suddenly one of the most distinguished guest was found dead in a miserable way. Mr. Ascham, who's widely known as a very wise and intelligent man was delegated to solve the problem. Even though the whole story is generally about the murderer and how they investigate the problem, but if you read through the book, it's actually more than just that. There's an even deeper message and value that the writer wants to deliver. And it's remarkable. Here are some of the quotes (or just passages) that I really love.

--

I realised that the truly powerful do not need to put their power on display at all times. 

--

"For a great sultan who is lord and ruler of all that he surveys, his English is lamentably poor. He can't even spell England properly."

Still holding the note, Mr. Ascham looked up at me. "Is that so? Tell me, Bess, do you speak his language? Any Arabic or Turkish-Arabic?"

"You know that I do not."

"Then however lamentable his English may be, he still speaks your language while you cannot speak his. To me, this gives him a considerable advantage over you. Always pause before you criticise, and never unduly criticise one who has made an effort at something you yourself have not even attempted."

--

If aggression meets empty space it tends to defeat itself.

--

Every nation thinks their own culture is the pinnacle of civilisation and that all other cultures are primitive and barbarous. It is sad but natural prejudice of the human mind. This is why one must travel as much as one can. Travel is the finest form of education. 

--

Cleverness is not the exclusive domain of the wealthy and the cultured, Bess. Don't confuse someone's outward appearance with their inner acumen; just because a man is well spoken and well tailored does not mean he has a brain. Incidentally, and with respect, this is an error I believe your father makes at court regularly and one you would do well to avoid should you ever sit on the throne. Employ competent people: the state of their mind matters far more than the state of their clothes. 

--

To the best Dad ever

To the best Dad ever,

Thank you for letting me dream, even if that is your worst nightmare

Thank you for staying by my side without saying a thing eveytime I failed on something

Thank you for staying up and not being able to sleep whenever I'm not home yet

Thank you for sharing your dreams, and your unrealized dreams 

Thank you for always being positive

Thank you for working so hard to fulfill all your daughters needs and wants

Thank you for trying to be the best Dad and give everything that you have to us

Thank you for all your advice though sometimes I didn't realize that it's for my own good

Thank you for loving me in your own way

Thank you for always putting our interest first before yours

And, thank you for always trusting me, even if I sometimes ended up disappoint you

Sorry for letting you down so many times, purposely or not

Sorry for sometimes feeling mad at you, and feel like you just cant understand

Sorry for keep forgetting that you are getting old, and you also need some concern

Sorry for haven't been able to fulfill your wish

Sorry for breaking my promises, sometimes I just cant sort my priorities well

Sorry for not spending more time with you and just have long talks about life

Sorry for lying to you and do bad things behind you

Sorry for messing up a lot of things that you trusted in me

Sorry for never call or text you, just because contacting Mom is much more convenient

Sorry for not being able yet to be the women you want me to be

Sorry for not being the best daughter in the world, but trust me, I'm trying to be one

Everyone must have their own version of the best Dad in the world, and this funny man is my version of the best dad ever. I love you more than you know, Ayah.

To control is to survive

....he was determined to challenge the saint and so he asked him:

"If, tonight, the most beautiful prostitute in the village came in here, would you be able to see her as neither beautiful nor seductive?"
"No, but I would be able to control myself," the saint replied.
"And if I offered you a pile of gold coins to leave your cave in the mountain and come and join us, would you be able to look on that gold and see only pebbles?"
"No, but I would be able to control myself."
"And if you were sought by two brothers, one of whom hated you, and the other who saw you as a saint, would you be able to feel the same towards them both?"
"It would be very hard, but I would be able to control myself sufficiently to treat them both the same."

The stranger did not need Chantal to explain the story. Savin and Ahab had the same instincts -- Good and Evil struggled in both of them, just as they did in every soul on the face of the earth.

It was all a matter of control. And choice.
Nothing more and nothing less.

- Paul Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prym 

European vs. American: Which one is who?

Today I'm going to talk about how different the guys from Europe and United States dressed. After being here for about two months and living with a bunch of Americans and Europeans, I now could somehow tell the differences between both of them in terms of dressing. Well, maybe some of the things that I'm going to tell is somewhat over-generalizing and stereotyping, because both regions are so big. Well for the Europeans, most of them were actually from the Netherlands and French (Germans and British dressed in a different way); so yeah, I'm pretty much generalizing. But still! You could really tell the differences! So you could or could not believe it, but here you goooo!

Europeans:
Europeans loooove to use patterned t-shirts like this:

I don't know why and I actually always tease them for using this kind of t-shirts. There is one funny story about it actually. So one day, I went to Siam Center with Joris (a Dutch) and Stephanie because Joris wants to search for a new pants. When he went to the fitting room, me and Stephanie just wandering around on the man's section and we saw some patterned shirt like this. Stephanie was laughing and said "The European boys must really love those shirts!" and I completely agree with her. After that, we just go outside the store and wait for Joris to pay for his pants. And when he came, he said "Look! I also got a shirt and a belt!". And I bet you could guess: yes, he got one of those patterned shirt. So it somehow justify my -- our -- judgement!

The next thing that they love to wear is... shorts. Okay, you must be wondering what is so special about shorts? So I know that it's completely normal for guys to wear shorts everywhere, especially in the middle of the warmth of Bangkok, but these European guys didn't wear the 'normal' shorts. They tend to wear a shorter shorts! Sometimes, the shorts could be so short that it only cover half of their thigh.... There you go. The shorts more or less looks like something like this:

Americans:
One thing that you should know: Americans love baggy pants. Like so much. They will wear it so low that you might think that it doesn't cover their bottom... Well to be honest, not all Americans do this. Because America is a very big country, and every states actually have their own personality. People from California and southern America tends to love this style. BUT STILL, they are everywhere.. But if it is not baggy pants, they usually wear the 'normal' shorts which by normal I mean it covers everything to the knee. And it does feel relieving, that you don't have to worry that something would peeked out.... No.

The other way of how American guys dressed is closely related to simplicity. They usually wear t-shirts and jeans and just it. But for the kind of t-shirts that they use, I will sum it up into two different category. The first one is: pure plain. So I bet they got a lot of plain t-shirts in their drawer in every color. Because they do wear a lot of plain t-shirts with every color. And the next one is: distro t-shirts. I don't know the English name for this kind of t-shirt, but this is the kind of t-shirt that has a big picture in the middle. It is different from the patterned t-shirt, this one is actually looks like a plain t-shirt that you print something on it (just like the bottom right picture). I know you could imagine it! And Americans love it so much. You could see a bunch of Americans buying these lousy t-shirts in Bangkok that says: Chang Beer, Heineken, etc. 

So I think that's pretty much it! If I somehow comes up with another idea, I will surely make a new post (or just edit this one). Adiós!

The only thing that doesn't change in life is change itself.

Changing my ways of describing myself, or in general, the way I describe everything. Does it mean that I changed? Or it simply only means that I change the way I communicate? Well.

Under one moon

I still don't know what sort of world this is. But whatever the world we're in now, I'm sure this is where I will stay. Where we will stay. This world must have its own threats, its own dangers, must be filled with its own type of riddles and contradictions. We may have to travel down many dark paths, leading who knows where. But that's okay. It's not a problem. I'll just have to accept it. I'm not going anywhere. Come what may, this is where we'll remain, in this world with one moon.

- Haruki Murakami, 1Q84

Once upon a crazy night...

Hello again! (See? I do everything but studying!) 

Anyway, last night I went to the super famous Sky Bar! You know, the one in The Hangover Part II: Lost in Bangkok movie! And it's so awesome! You could see the skyline and everything -- which is so beautiful, but unfortunately last night is a little bit cloudy so we couldn't see the stars. But it's still super awesome though :D

We actually planned to go there on Thursday, and we did, but Mikkel wore short pants and they did not let us in...... So we just left. The dresscode policy is just too crazy, they didn't allow people to use sandals, guys to wear shorts, girls to use t-shirts, and many other restrictions. And what's crazier is that they are often not consistent with it, sometimes they will follow the rules and prohibit people without the 'proper' dress to go in, and sometimes, they will just randomly let them in. For example when I'm there, I actually saw some guys wore shorts. But nonetheless, it's still quite an experience!

The Famous Dome from Hangover II: Lost in Bangkok

Bangkok's Skyline

After finished enjoying the view, we went to Khao San Road (what else...) to get some drinks (or for me, watch them get some drinks) and then just hanging around and have some fun! I left my phone to one of my friend, Joris, just because I didn't have any room left in my bag and I didn't have a pocket in my dress. And turns out, he took 1600 scrap pictures (selfies!) in my phone!! So guys, lesson number one: never give your phone to your drunk friend.... Well, I need to admit that some of the pictures are quiet funny and worth to save though, and I believe that every picture snapped must worth a piece of memory, even if it's only a tiny bit. And last night was so fun and of course, worth remembering! So yes, hereby I attached some of my 'company' last night! (Picture courtesy to Joris! -- even though the pictures are so bad)

Me and Maureen, the crazy-picky-typical German girl!

Amie, a lovely yet naive American girl and Mikkel, a Danish who spend more time being drunk than sober

Joris, the suspect of last night 

Flo and Gareth, a German & British guy who love Thai girls! (This pict is so bad!!!)

Life as an exchange student in Thailand

On Friday, I have one midterm exam about International Studies at 6 PM. So on Thursday I went out with some friends and since my midterm for the next day is in the evening, we just keep hanging out all night long. The next day, I already have plan to go to the Friday Market in the University. So at 10 AM we went to the market, and it's amazing! They got some stalls -- which is more than enough -- and it's not as overwhelming as Chatuchak Market. So we got some meals there, shop a little bit until 2 PM. At first I was thinking about just staying in the University and study at the library. But thinking about it again, I don't think I'm into studying for four hours..... So I decided to go home with the others.

So I got back to Greenpark, I check my phone and reply all the chats because I could only do it when I'm encountered with wifi (I don't know why but I think my simcard is broken! It suddenly didn't show any 3G anymore!). And suddenly, I don't know what hit me, I feel like trying to enter my University's academic webpage. So I log in only to find out that my exam is on Friday............... at 2 PM. And the clock already turns 3........

I was startled! I was confused whether to just go for it and do my exam late, or just didn't showed up and make a good excuse later. Well then I decided that I just have to go for it, so I ran to a cab and go to the University straight ahead. I'm already an hour late, so I'm so nervous about that. But nevertheless, I looked for the teacher, and I apologize and try to explain what just happened. 

Turns out, my teacher is the best! He told me to just do my exam straight ahead and he will give me an extra 30 minutes. I still lost 30 minutes of my time, but it's better than if he didn't allowed me to do my exam! So yes, I made it even though it is obviously not my best one and I didn't finished it. But it's still okay though!

And now.. I actually have an exam for tomorrow. But it's so hard to find motivation to study. And right now I do anything but studying; when I should've do nothing but studying. Xxx

00:00 - Happy Birthday

"The time when you feel lonely, is the time you most need to be with yourself."


♥,
P




PS: But if I'm wrong, I'll be here.

My Weekend at the Weekend Market (Chatuchak Market)

The only thing I hate more than shopping is shopping with people.

So yes, yesterday I decided to go to the Weekend Market (also  known as Chatuchak Market or JJ Market) all by myself. And it was super fun!

I planned to go to the market at 10 AM, but plan is just a plan. I can't wake up early because the night before I didn't get enough sleep (some of my friends share some very inspiring stories, but that's another story), so yeah I got a few good excuses to not being able to wake up early. So I finally went there around 12.30 PM. I took the 539 bus from across my dorm and get off at the Southern Bus Terminal (Sai Tai Mai). Well, so the day before I already searched the way from my dorm to the Chatuchak Market. And because there is no direct bus from my dorm, I need to make a transfer to another bus. I remember that I could get off at the Southern Bus Terminal and then take another bus to the market, but I forgot which bus that I should take. And the stupidest thing is, I didn't know that I already used up all my data plan; so I didn't have internet in my phone. Well enough for that. I finally figure out that I should take either the 28 bus or 177 bus. But the thing is.... I already sat at the bus stop for about 45 minutes, and there is no sign of both of these buses. So I decided that I need another plan. So I know that the Chatuchak Market location is close to the Northern Bus Terminal (Mochit), thus I decided to take one of the buses that heading to this terminal -- which is the 170 bus.
'
Long story short, I finally arrived at Mochit (after an hour ride); and it turns out that it's not as close as I thought. Well I only need to walk for about 20 minutes...... but still. There are many taxis and motorcycle taxis that offer me a ride to the market, but no, I don't want to spend anymore money for unnecessary things like transportation. So yeah, a 20 minutes walk it is.

So I actually already went to the Weekend Market before, and at that time I went there in the morning from 9 AM and got back at noon; so it was just the perfect time to avoid the people and the hot weather. And this time, I came at the wrongest time possible! The hot weather itself I can handle, but the people.... No, I just can't. But because I have a mission to accomplish -- I need to buy souvenirs and gifts for my family and friends since I would go back to Jakarta in some time soon -- I won't give up! Besides, I already spent 2,5 hours on the road and I don't want to go back for nothing.

Well so, Chatuchak is the best place if you want to find...... everything! It is the biggest weekend market in the world, and they have the broadest product line. You could find literally everything, from cloth to pets, souvenirs to spices & herbs, furniture to shoes! So if you are the typical of a mass shopper, this is definitely the best place for you.

So yes, I just go through the souvenir section (which is hard to find because of the huge size of the market) and then... shop! I tried to speak a few Thai words (I'll mention some of it in this post later!) just because I just love to blend in with the locals (since my face already looks like one), and who knows, maybe I could get some extra discounts because I'm Thai! :p

And the amazing thing is, it actually worked! I got a huge discounts, and it's not because of I'm Thai (well they finally figured out that I'm not Thai after a few words more), but it's because they appreciate my effort to learn Thai! So guys, this is a major lesson: learn a few words of a country before you go somewhere, because the locals would feel respected!

Long story short, after a few hours I finally got everything that I needed with a very good price. And that's all that matters. So yap, I'm so happy right now -- mission accomplished!

Here's some Thai words that might come in handy: (the polite particular for girl is kha and boy is krab)

• Sawadee kha/krab --- Hi/Hello/Goodbye
• Sabai dee mai --- How are you doing?
• Sabai dee kha/krab --- I'm good
• Kho tod kha/krab -- Sorry/Excuse me
  
• Tao lai kha/krab --- How much?
• Aniy -- This
• Lot day mai -- Can you give discount?
• Khap kun kha/krab -- Thank you
• Neng - One
• Song - Two
• Sam - Three
• Si - Four
• Ha - Five (that's why Thai people often say 5555 while chatting which means hahahaha)
• Ho - Six
• Jet - Seven
• Pet - Eight
• Kao - Nine
• Sip - Ten
• Sip et - Eleven
• Sip song - Twelve
• Yi Sip - Twenty
• Loy - Hundred
• Song loy - Two hundred

My Thailand Bucketlist!

Okay so, having been here for about one and a half months make me love Thailand so much! I've already been to several places (not much though), but I'm really looking forward to some places that looks really cool!! Thus, here is all of my bucket list (that I'm really hoping to come true) for the next 1,5 months!

So here is the places that I've already been to:

Bangkok:
1. Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn)
2. Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)
3. Chatuchak Market
4. MBK
5. Siam Paragon, Siam, Discovery, Siam Square, and other Siams...
6. Khao San Road
7. Cabbages & Condoms
8. Lumphini Park
9. Terminal 21
10. Chinatown
11. Little India
12. Sukhumvit Road
13. Victory Monument
14. Sampran Riverside

Outside Bangkok:
1. Koh Phangan
2. Khao Yai National Park
3. Sukhothai
4. Ayutthaya

And my bucket list is:

Bangkok:
1. Grand Palace
2. Ocean World
3. Madame Tussaud
4. Floating Market
5. Drive in Bangkok!
6. Jim Thompson's House
7. Boat tour at Chao Phraya River
8. Moon Bar (or any other Sky Bar)
9. There are so much more, but I don't know why I forgot.... 

Outside Bangkok:
1. Koh Chang
2. Koh Samet
3. Koh Larn
4. Koh Tao
5. Pattaya
6. Krabi
7. Phuket
8. Hua Hin
9. Khao Luang Cave
10. Kanchanaburi
11. Loy Krathong Festival in Chiang Mai
12. Chiang Mai in general
13. Chiang Rai & Pai
14. Ride an elephant and give them a shower!
15. Ride a motorbike (or not..)

Neighboring countries:

Cambodia
1. Siem Reap

- Angkor Wat

- Angkor Thom

- Ta Prohm

- Pre Rup

- Phnom Bakhaeng

- Banteay Srey

- Thommanon

2. Phnom Phen

- Tuol Sleng Museum

- Royal Palace

- Silver Pagoda

- National Museum

- Choeung Ek

- Sunset cruise!

Vietnam
1. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

- Jade Emperor Pagoda

- Night cruise

- Thien Hau Temple

- War Museum

- Notre Dame of Saigon

- Saigon Opera House

2. Muine

- Muine Beach

- Lotus Lake

- Yellow Sand Dune

- Fairy Stream

- Cham Temples

- Ke Ga Lighthouse

3. Hanoi

- Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

- Temple of Literature

- Old Quarter

- Hoan Kiem Lake

- Thang Long Water Puppet Theater
Halong Bay

- Basically just chill and relax by the beach....

Laos
1. Vientiane

- Mekong River

- Wat Sisaket

- Wat Phra Keo

- Wat Simuang

- That Dam

- Pangkham Street

- Nam Phou Fountain

- Patuxay Monument

- That Luang

There goes all my bucket list (for now!) in Thailand and other neighboring countries. I'll keep updated whenever something suddenly pops up in my mind!

A love letter to Mr. President

I love Pak Jokowi, I really do. But he really needs to start acting like a President. I mean, I don't mind at all having a humble President (I actually long for one), but I do mind having a President with low self-esteem. I mean, if you, a President, didn't have the confidence and self-esteem, how do you expect your people to have one? I mean, I'm not saying that Pak Jokowi has a low self-esteem, he probably not, but I personally think that he acts like one. Hi Mr. President, just in case you don't know, we (the world!) are looking up to you right now!

I still love you though.



PS: Please don't ever get tired of us being too demanding, we just love you way too much :-)

Saturday, 18th October 2014. 01:32 AM.

I feel bad about myself that I've been reading this one book -- 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami -- for 2 months and I haven't finished it yet. It's crazy because I used to finished a book for a maximum 3 days. Well I know this book is like a thousand page long.... But still.

It's funny how time changes your habit & behavior towards things -- towards your priorities (even if it's only your priority of how to spend your free time).

Good night.

Full Moon Party - October, 2014

So as I already told you, last weekend we all went to the famous Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan. Everyone takes their own mode of transport, depending on how much money and time they have. I personally choose to take the cheapest one because I'm running out of money here.... So anyway, I bought a combine train-ferry ticket for about 2100 baht round trip. The train will take you to Surat Thani station, and then you'll take a bus organized by the ferry company to the pier, and finally you'll go to Koh Phangan by a ferry. The overall journey was okay, you just can't expect anything fancy and super clean from a 2nd class in developing countries. But the train that take me back to Bangkok is having a terrible delay for 90 minutes, and since there is nothing around the station, I just sit there for about 5 hours.... And that's sucks. And I heard that the trains in Thailand is often late, so if you are tight in time, maybe it's better to choose other mode of transport. Some of my friends choose to get the bus-ferry ride, and they had to pay about 2500 baht for round trip. It's not bad at all remembering that the bus is way more faster than the train. And some of the others choose to take a flight (they still had to take the ferry though) and had to pay about 3500 baht for round trip. Any modes has their own advantages and disadvantages, just look at your current condition and choose one that's best for you!

I arrived in Koh Phangan on Wednesday, 8th October at around 16:00. Wednesday is the day of the Full Moon Party, so we just go somewhere to eat, shop some stuffs for the party, and then just chill and wait for the night to come. The party took place at Haad Rin beach, so we chose a hostel in a walking distance to the beach, so that everyone can go home safely even if they are drunk. At around 6 pm everyone starts preparing themselves and we paint our whole body with colorful paintings! This is how we look:

Around 8 pm we went out for dinner and after that we go straight to the party! The party is not as crazy as I thought (before coming here, I heard a lot of scary stories like people will put drugs in your drinks, or people will put roofies in your pocket, or people get stabbed with no reason) -- well, some of my friends searched a little about it and turns out that this Full Moon Party is the tamest party ever up to now (don't ask me why!). But I actually thank God about it, because I'm not the kind of party person or anything close to it. But if you are a party person who look up for those crazy Full Moon Parties, you should go there on new years because I bet it'll be crazy! Oh, and if anyone is planning to go to Thailand at the end of this year, on the 4th of January they will celebrate their 30th Full Moon Party and they said they will make the craziest Full Moon Party ever! So I'm calling all the party people here to go to Koh Phangan on the 4th of January 2015!

Though it is not as crazy as I thought, I could still found some 'craziness' at the beach! Some are a fun crazy, and some are just...... not funny. You could still found people making out everywhere (well for some people this is not crazy... but for me......), or even making love at beach! You could still found lots of drugs and shrooms everywhere, and saw people getting high (it's actually funny though). And, one of my friend actually saw a guy with broken ribs........Well crazy or not, you decide!

Lastly, here are some pics from the (tamest) Full Moon Party ever:

One more bucket please!

Sawasdee Haadrin Koh Phangan!

#20factsaboutme

1. I'm the second daughter of my parents, I have three sisters - one older sister, and two younger sisters which are twins! I love my family so much, they are the best mom, dad, and sisters that God could ever sent to me. I'm actually a family-person by heart, but I just can never show my feelings to them - which leads to the #fact number two!
2. Maybe no one realizes this, but I'm pretty much an introvert who strives to be an extrovert for my whole life. That's why I'm having a super hard time showing my feelings to people, even to my closest ones. I'm having a love-hate relationship with new people, because I really hate to introduce myself and start talking nonsense; but at the same time, I always feel exhilarated and thrilled to do that. Even though I'm not so good at meeting new people, once I become acquainted with them, they have to prepare their ears to listen to me all day long.
3. I always love to do things by myself. I love to shop alone, watch a movie alone (as long as it's not a horror movie), travel alone, go to a hair salon/massage alone, or just sit somewhere and see how the world works around me... alone. I don't know why, but by nature, being alone is just my comfort zone. I will never feel lonely when I'm alone, while sometimes (just sometimes!) I feel lonely when I'm with people.
4. But the thing is, I love people! Just because I love to do things by my own, doesn't mean that I'm such a loner and I hate people and I'm such a dark gloomy kind of person. In fact, I'm pretty sure my friends think that I'm such an extrovert who loves to be surrounded by people. Which I do. I love to spend my time with my friends; just hanging out in new cafes or restaurants we haven't been to or just go to someone's house and talk about random things. Either way, I always love it. 
5. I love to do and figure out something new. This leads to my all time favorite thing to do: travel! I will not refer myself as a traveler (which I'm not) because I don't do travel that often (because of budget and time constraint). But if I have all the time and money in the world, I would definitely do it as much as I can!
6. I always have a thing with volunteering. Which is odd because I never actually do it. Deep inside, I always find the hunger of helping others and share some happiness that I have. I actually already searched opportunities to volunteer, but I don't know why I always ended up didn't do it. Well I know why. At first, I'm so busy with things that I shouldn't be busy with (like conducting events in my university and stuffs). Then when all those not-so-important things had done, I start being busy with the things I should be busy with (family, college, etc.). After all, procrastinating is the reason why.
7. I'm afraid of heights. I don't know why, but as long as I can remember, I'm always afraid of heights. It's so severe that I even find it scary to be in the upper berth of bed, looking down when I'm only at the 2nd floor of a mall, or to just stand on a chair. I don't know why, maybe I'm just afraid of falling.
8. My biggest dream in life is to own an orphanage and a school. This two things just combined two of my favorite things in life: volunteer and kids. I'm going to make a high-quality school for free, for kids who didn't have any pennies for education yet struggles to have one. I hate how people give children schools for free, but they didn't maintain the quality at all. It's like giving someone something to eat, but didn't allow them to drink.
9. I'm a big believer of love requires sacrifice and some work. You will never, ever, find someone who clicks with you in every single aspect. But you will find someone who would love to figure things out together with you, compromise, and try to make everything work out.
10. I sneeze like a cat. I have those small sneezes with a minimum of 5 times every time I sneezes. I used to have those big relieving sneezes, but then my stomach will hurts and my nose will sore. So eventually, those big relieving sneezes turn to be a 5 times small silent sneezes.
11. I didn't really know what I wanted to do for a living - work-wise. I like economics because it's logical and it simply make sense. But I never find myself willingly searched the web for research papers and read it without an order. I didn't find it hard, though. I didn't really enjoy reading those papers and literatures, but no, I don't hate it. And I still do it quite often! And this leads to the #fact number 12.
12. I was not born a rebel. I do what people asks me to do, whether I like it or not. I think it's a part of my eastern culture where people find it offensive when you bluntly express your actual feelings. But the thing is, I didn't have a hard time doing things that I didn't fond of. Well, I never actually have a hard time doing anything. Up to now, I never really work on something really hard that I push myself to my limit. Without any intentions of being cocky, I actually find everything to be so easy to get. That's why I start to question myself, whether I already set a high enough goals and expectations for myself. Well I guess the answer is.... no, I haven't.
13. I never believe in love at the first sight, but I do believe in hate at the first sight. Every time I met someone, I start to analyze and voilà! I will immediately make a conclusion whether I'm going to like this person or not. Of course after knowing them, there is a possibility that somehow I soften my views. Maybe they are not as bad as I thought, or on the other hand, maybe they are not as good as I thought. But there is also a possibility that my first analysis is right, and knowing them more just deepen my interpretation even more. And most of time, my first analysis is right. Because I think it's not just about the appearance and stuffs, I believe that it's also a mixture of your instincts and signs from the universe.
14. I love to read so much! I didn't refer myself as a bookworm, because I know there's a lot more people who read so much more than me. But yes, if I had some free time, book is the first thing I will run into. I didn't read all kind of books (which proved that I'm not a bookworm even more), I mostly read fiction and science fiction. I prefer reading than watching movies, because I think that movies limit my imagination. They already provide everything for you: the pictures, musics, dialogues, gestures; and the only room for you to imagine is the prologue and epilogue. Which is not good.
15. Before I go to sleep, most of time (if I'm not too tired that I'd passed away right after touching the bed) I will imagine what I'm going to be 1, 5, 10, 50 years from now - depending on my mood. Sometimes my imagination will be wild and unrealistic, but sometimes I will make a very good story that I would really love it to come true. 
16. I am not an ambitious girl, but I do hate it when someone (especially when I didn't really like them) is better than me and I will do something to prove them (and myself) that I'm better. This is a part of my selfishness that I keep to myself, and I believe that no one knows about it up to now. And, as a matter of fact I hate it when people show their ambitiousness. I mean, you could go get gold for a hundred competition or attend hundreds of conferences all around the world, but I will never have any respect for you if you post all your achievements in all of your social media. No one needs to know that at 10:00 you are making a paper, at 13:00 you are in the middle of a business meeting with someone important, at 15:00 you are meeting a Professor to check your paper, at 17:00 you are attending a technical meeting for a competition, at 20:00 you are practicing for your debate competition, at 22:00......... get it? There you go.
17. I always want to marry in a young age. I want to raise my children when I'm still young, strong, and healthy. I want to be more like a friend to my kids, not just a mother that they have respect to and period. I want them to have me as their best friend, to not be afraid of telling the most taboo things, to be able to communicate with me as a grown up. I want them to love me as a mom, a friend, a teacher, and everything possible.
18. I always try to be that toughest-independent-strong-happy girl in my peers. I want them to think that I'm strong, that I can handle every obstacles in my life, that I'm always happy no matter what. That's probably another reason why I never really share it to people when I feel sad or mad. That's also the reason why I always have a big dependency to my partner, I will rely on him in most everything. I couldn't cry or show my weakness in front of my friends, thus the only choice that I have is to show it to him. And that would make me look a bit pampered to whoever my boyfriend is.
19. Lately, I just can't tolerate foolishness.
20. People with ideology, goals, and visions never fails to astonish me. I love to see the sparkles in someone's eyes when they talk about their long-term goals, what they wanted to be, what their passions are, and what they had done in life. If you wanted to amaze me, never ever even think about saying how much you earned, how many cars you owned, how many branded names you memorize, how many galas you are invited to, how you smoke weeds three times a day, how you take five shots and still didn't get drunk. To startled me, just talk about life, how you wanted it to be, how you strives to work on you passion, how you cry when you see people in need, how you try so many times but still fails. I love too see sparkles in people's eyes, it's the thing that proves you're living, not just alive.

So, here's the #20factsaboutme! Shoot, that was long..... Told you I love to talk!

Sawadee Ka!

Hi there! Or should I say...... Sawadee Ka!

I'm writing this in my dorm in......... Thailand! Isn't that crazy? I'm taking an exchange program to Mahidol University for one semester, and up to now (I've been here for a month) I'm having a super-great time. I just simply love it here; the people, the attractions, the culture, the foods, the scenery, the landscapes, everything. Who doesn't? I'm in The Land of Smiles! I found it crazy that I'm only three hours flight away from Jakarta, and everything is just so different. Well not necessarily everything, the climate, the traffic jam, the behavior (dirty-ness and so on) is merely the same; but other than that, I learned tons of new things - which is amazing! Moreover, I'm surrounded by a lot of people from different cultures here. I'm living in an international dorm, and it's literally multinational! There is a bunch of Americans (and I learned that America is a really big country, so different states means different cultures!), Germans, Austrian, Dutch, Colombian, Canadian, British, Danish, and of course Thais! Isn't it awesome that you can learn an itsy bit of every culture just by staying in one place? I learned how Germans are so insecure and so afraid of risks. I learned how Americans really do worship freedom than anything else. I learned how Colombia is not a jungle, and not as scary as how the movies described (some of the movies didn't even shoot it in Colombia!). I learned how Danish are really proud of being Danish, and they will brag about their country all the time. I learned how Thai people really respect and love their Kings and their country; they even play their national anthem in theaters before a movie starts and everyone will stand up and sing a long. I learned how different the eastern and western cultures are, in a good way.

I've only been here for about a month, and I already been to several places inside and outside Bangkok (In fact, right now I just came back from the famous Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan!). Starting from now, be ready to read my Thailand experiences, and maybe my other experiences that I hadn't write before. I don't why but before, I don't want to write anything about my experiences because I'm afraid that people will find me a boaster. But after this whole month of experiences, I don't know why but I don't care anymore! I write because I wanted to share a glimpse of my life, not because I wanted to brag. And if someone thinks that I boasted, well sorry no sorry, that's your problem not mine.

After this post, I will immediately post another one about #20factsaboutme just because I'm in the mood of writing and it looks like some fun! And if I still got some mood of writing, I'll post another one about my short trip to Koh Phangan! Just for a sneak peek, the Full Moon Party is so crazy but actually, it's not as crazy as I thought!

Not every moment counts. No?

Most of the time, you will find yourself capable in handling things. But in some particular time, when you are too happy, too angry, too sad, you come to the idea that you somehow need someone to share an itsy bitsy bite of your stories. Some stories are meant to be shared, not to be kept alone and dreamt about all night long. And when that moment occurs, you start to feel the emptiness in your heart. It feels like there's a small hole in your heart that needs to be filled with something. With someone. And until that moment come, you are to enjoy your time flying high as free as a bird.

Ekstrovert, Introvert, dan Diantaranya

Semua orang punya kepribadian yang berbeda-beda, seperti yang sering dibilang sama banyak orang: everybody is unique. Begitupun kalau untuk urusan speak up bahkan curhat, semua orang punya caranya masing-masing; terkadang sesuai sama kepribadiannya, tapi terkadang juga engga. Ada orang yang sangat ekstrovert dan bisa mengutarakan pendapatnya dengan bluntly bahkan sampai terkadang, seperti tidak memikirkan perasaan orang lain. Ada juga orang yang sangat introvert sehingga jangankan untuk mengutarakan pendapat, untuk memulai suatu conversation aja butuh tiga tarikan napas. Terakhir, dan juga paling sulit untuk digambarkan, adalah orang yang ekstrovert tapi sudah terbiasa introvert dan orang yang introvert tapi sudah terbiasa ekstrovert. Cara menemukan mereka gampang, mereka adalah orang-orang yang paling sering bicara dan mengobrol tetapi selalu diam ketika membicarakan masalah pribadinya. Atau sebaliknya mereka adalah orang yang terlihat sangat pendiam, tetapi ketika didekati sedikit saja, semua cerita mereka akan mengalir keluar dengan lancar dari bibirnya. Jika kamu tidak pernah menemukan orang-orang seperti ini, bukan berarti orang-orang seperti ini tidak ada di sekitar kamu, bisa jadi itu hanya kamu yang kurang memperhatikan.