Lombok - part 1

Friday, May 20, 2005

Gosh! Why are they so slow? Is it only food that they always think of? I only have less than 1.5 hours to pack my things. My flight departs in 2.5 hours. I know I should have done it yesterday or 2 days ago as I've made the booking 5 days before the departing date, but work has made me hooked that I don't even have much time to do other things, even to get enough sleep these past 2 weeks. Phew !

Okay, what I've gotta do is just be patient and wait for another 10 minutes or so.

Aahh, here they come. Finally!

As everyone was seated inside the office car, Mas Bagus, the office driver, drove us back to the office. My colleagues started to talk about their students and the listening comprehesion activity they had in the class this morning. I wasn't in the mood of involving myself much in the conversation, so I mostly just listened.

I kept looking at my watch while thinking about what things I had to bring. When we reached Panjang Jiwo area, I asked Mas Bagus to take a short cut which passed my home and dropped me in front of Indomaret. After saying good-bye to my colleagues and thanked M. Bagus for dropping me, I jumped out of the car and walked fast home.

"Mom, I'm home!" I said as I got in.

Gosh, I hate having so little time to prepare things and put them in my backpack. Where is my white panco? I guess I saw it in the closet in the back room. I shall find it. And where's the black tank-top I bought at Sogo 2 months ago? It must be somewhere in one of these drawers. Ah ya, I have to bring my bathing things, shoes, .............

Phew! It was quite a rush. I had to stop once in a while to make sure I didn't miss any important things I would need in Lombok.

Hmm...what else? I think I've packed everything. Okay, now I'll just wait for Carla.

Carla, my best friend came to pick me up to the airport. After some kisses and hugs with mom, I got inside the taxi. As usual, mother gave me some motherly notes before leaving. Love you Mom! :)

So, finally, after some stressings months, I could get away for a while. I felt really excited as I got to the airport. Carla and I directly went to the check-in counter. It seemed like there were quite many people went to Lombok. I guess it's because we were having a national holiday in 4 days. Besides, weekend was just a day away. I was a bit annoyed with the person who stood behind me in the queue. He kinda pushed me forward. He even told me to give my booking card to my friend to have a faster check-in. In fact, I had done it before he told me to do so. Gosh ! I grumbled at Carla about it, and she giggled a bit.

As we walked to the departure lounge, we saw the stores and cafes on our right and left side. Then, I remembered I didn't bring any mineral water with me. So, we stopped by one of the cafes there. I bought 2 bottles, one for me and the one was for Carla.

After paying the airport tax, we looked around to find two empty seats near our gate.


2b continued.....

A week in Bali - Evening Rain

Monday, December 27 - 6 p.m.


*yawn*

*stretching*

I reached my cell-phone, which I put under my pillow, to see the time. It's 6 pm. Ery was still sleeping comfortably in her bed. As I gained my full conscience, I heard a sound of water dropping outside. "Is it raining?" I wondered. I then tried to peep through the window beside Ery's bed to make sure.
It was really the sound of rain.

"Er, it's raining," I said as I saw Ery opening her eyes.

"Yeah, I heard it."
"I was up about 20 minutes ago, but wanted to lie down a while more," she added.

"Are you hungry?" she asked me then.
"Nope. Are you?" I asked her back.

"I am. But, the rain sounds hard. I doubt we can eat out. We don't have any umbrella or raincoat," she said further.

"Just wait for another hour. Who knows the rain will stop then."


2b continued....

A week in Bali - Why Should Get Up Early?

Monday, December 27 - 5 a.m.

*yawn* *yawn* *yawn*

With eyes half opened,I tried to find my cell-phone next to my white pillow.

"Ah, it's still 5 a.m."

*yawn*

Lying in bed again to get more sleep didn't work out much. I finally gave up after trying for some minutes.

"Arrggghhhh!"

"Why did I get up so early?! Gosh, I'm on holiday!"


-- 9 A.M. --

Having hard time of going back to sleep didn't mean I had to jump out of the bed and rush for a shower. So, I made myself stay in bed...just lying down and lazying. It felt good.

----------------------

"Rin, what's the time?" my room-mate asked.
"IT'S 9:30"

"Just got up?" she asked again.
"NOPE. I'VE BEEN UP SINCE 5"

"That's early!" she commented.
"YEAH..."


----------------------

Jumped out of my bed, I then opened the door to our balcony. It was good to feel the fresh air. I took a deep breath and just stood at the door looking at the clear sky. Then, I opened the curtains to let the sun shine through the windows. What a beautiful morning!


I sat on my bed with my legs crossed..hugging my pillow, while ery was in the bathroom for nature's call. When I was enjoying the quietness, my cell rang. It was an sms from Yuli.

"Hey, you both got up already? Let's head out. Aren't you hungry?"

'Yul, we're up. In fact I've been since 5, but haven't had my shower. I don't feel like showering early. C'mon! We're on vacation. Why should rushing? Just enjoy it! We'll see you downstairs in 1.5 hours. Enjoy your morning, Okay? '

After sending my reply, I laid my head on my pillow. Lazying and doing nothing did feel good. "Oh, I love holiday!"

Ery finally finished her shower. I could smell her shower gel as she got out of the bathroom.

"You look fresh," I said.
"Okay, it's my turn now," I continued.

So, I directly stood on my feet and headed to the bathroom.

"Ahhhh, that feels good!," I told myself as I stood under the shower and felt the fresh water all over my body.

I enjoyed every single minute of my showering time...washing my hair, my face, and all. It always feels great not to rush..even just for a shower, which is something I can hardly do on my crazy work days.

Looking at myself in the mirror and smiling, I said to myself, " Yeah ! I've got 6 mornings like this."

------------------------------

Finally, I'm done with my morning ritual. As I stepped my feet out of the bathroom, I put a big smile on my face. I saw Ery was sitting on her bed with crossed-legs, applying some face powder on her face. While doing her make-up, she told me that Yuli had just sent her an sms asking why we took so long. I laughed as I heard it .

"Ah ya, it's passed 1.5 hours I promised her ," I said.
"What did you tell her?" I asked Ery then.

"Rina is still showering, so I guess we both will see you in an hour," She aswered.

" Good answer! She must be grumbling now.Hehehehe...," I giggled.

I talked to Ery about the tasteless food with unreasonable price we ate at Ubung station while dressing up. It took us about half an hour before we finally went downstairs to Yuli & her sister's room.

---------------

"So, which restaurant?" Yuli asked. "I don't know any good restaurant here," she added.

"Hmmm...let's decide it as we walk. There are so many places to eat out here. We shall see which one has nice food and reasonable prices, " I answered.

---------------

Done with lunch, we decided to walk around Legian just for sight-seeing. As most people who've been to Bali before know, Legian is always one of the most crowded area besides Kuta, compared to other areas in town. We saw some tourists, both local and foreigners, who were just looking at the stuffs sold by the shops on both sides of the street. While some others were just walking down the street towards Kuta beach.

After a few hours-walk, we went back to our bungalow. On the way back, we stopped by at the K-Mart (the 24-hours mini market you can find almost in every spot around Kuta & Legian) nearby our place , to buy some snacks and some bottles of mineral water.

As we walked passed a few restaurants nearby our bungalow, we saw 2 waitresses of a chinese food restaurant standing in front to promote their place. Well, I don't remember the name of it, but what I remember the most is the short woman with dark skin and friendly smile who gave us a piece of paper listing their menu and price. We just took the paper she gave us and kept it.

--------------

*phew*

"Pretty tiring, but I enjoyed it," said Ery.
"Well, hell I did too," I agreed.

As we got in our room, put our small bags on one end of our beds, Ery and I then changed our oufit with something more comfortable and lighter. We both drifted off to sleep as soon as we felt the comfort of our beds and pillows.

Zzzzzz.....

A Week in Bali - part 2

Tuesday, 11 January 2005 23:30:48


My first day was spent in my room. Well, actually it was "our" bedroom, for I shared a room with my friend, Ery. It felt good to be able to lie in bed after a long tiring uncomfortable trip.

I like my bed. There's nothing special...it's just a simple single bed with white sheet, but it's quite comfey.

After resting for some hours, I was actually thinking of unpacking my luggage ( a big red & black backpack, a dark blue bag, and a medium size - white plastic bag). But I directly changed my mind when I saw how the closet was. It was a wooden one and was big enough for ery's stuffs and mine. The thing was the smell came out from it, which I assumed was caused by a long time "absence". I could clean the dust inside, but the smell ? Naahhh...why should busying myself with it.

And now ....It's shower time!

(singing)

Wash !
Wash away the pain in my back
Wash away the swirl in my head
Wash away the tears in my eyes
Wash away the dust on my face
Wash away the dark blood in my hands
Wash....
Wash it all away!

Ahhh...how fresh ! I always like showering time. One of my favourites.

Done with dressing up, I asked my room-mate to sms my two other friends in another room downstairs to tell them that it's time for dinner.

So, there we were...in a restaurant nearby our bungalow named "Ratu". The place was cozy enough. As we were seated under the romantic dim light [too bad all were girls ], we watched people passing legian road.

Soon after we got our seats, the waiter came over our table and gave us the menu. The dishes sounded nice, but the prices.... Well yeah, I shouldn't have been surprised, for they listed the "normal" Bali's prices. But in fact, I did.

After some minutes staring at the list,


"I want a spaghetti bolognaise," I said charmingly .

"One pork fried rice," Yuli said.

" The same one for me, please!" Ery ordered in a nice polite tone.

" One Pork Satay," Yuli's sister said unexpressively.

---------------------

KILL BILL

That's the film played at the Restaurant. So, we talked a bit about it while waiting for our orders. Well, Ery and Yuli were actually the ones talking about it. While they were discussing, I played my role as a listener. Since I haven't watched it, there was not much to say. Then, they changed to another topic which made me a bit bored and sleepy.

*yawn*

---------------------

-Finally! Food is coming! Yeah-

"Hmmmm"....licking the sauce on my fork.
"Not bad"

I continued eating...


"Okay,it's enough. I give up. I can't take it anymore. This is just too much!" So, I put my spoon and fork down.

"Hmmmmmmmmmm...yummy!" That's what my other friends said. They liked their food a lot. Good for them.

Nice Food. Full Tummy. YUM !

Touching my belly, I told myself, "It's time to go back and get ready for beddy.

-----------In my room----------

# BIG YAWN #

Lying my pretty head on my white pillow..feeling good and relaxed.

My eyes were getting heavy...heavy....


Good Night all
Zzzzzzz....

A week in Bali - part 1

Saturday, 8 January 2005

BALI !

Glad to be home again ! Well, I wish I had more days to relax there though. My holiday...hmmm, I can say that it was fun enough in spite of the bad feelings I had because of my 'college gang'.

It's the 30th time I spent my holiday in Bali. I was actually a bit bored of going there, but I had no other better choice. So, finally Bali was the final decision.

Since I had no intention of visiting the famous tourist spots, my friend-Carla and I decided to get a cheap nice comfey inn or bungalow around legian. After looking around, we finally found the place we wanted. It's even better than what we expected, especially concerning the rate. Well, we are travellers...so cheap things with nice quality is on our top list!

"Ronta" Bungalow. That's the name. It's on poppies lane II, a pretty narrow road nearby the Bali blast's monument. I directly liked it when I saw the room and the bathroom. I loved it even more after the owner (maybe) told us the price. 50,000 IDR!!! A big room with double-bed, a private bathroom with shower and wash basin, a closet, a big fan on the ceiling, and a balcony with 2 rattan chairs and a round table.

!WOW!

It was during high season and it's 50,000 Rupiahs. Can you imagine that? I'm not even sure I can find a place like that in Surabaya.

Well, All I can say is...I loved it ! As I stepped my feet inside the room, I started to feel like home . Finally !! My holiday, my room, and my all. No work! No duties!

"I'm all free"

!Y E A H!