Got out of the house yesterday, and finally got to see the Opera House up close. Lee and I took the ferry from the Balmain East wharf down to Circular Quay for a nice summer Sunday arvo at the city. He showed me about the Rocks where all the old pubs and restaurants line the streets behind the quay. There was also the Rocks market which was just about closing, but the stuff there all seemed more posh and artily polished compared to the Balmain and Rozelle markets he's taken me to previously.

When we walked up round to the Opera House, I was amused to notice that this grand building's unique roof design was made up of bathroom-looking tiles. It kinda gave you that humbled feeling that despite being called an opera house, it doesn't convey that snobbishness through its architectural materials. A very Aussie characteristic, that like the people here it's just as unassuming.

What also amused me was how the huge floor slabs were kept in place by huge screws. I've uploaded yesterday's photos here at my photo gallery.

thought by midnite lily at Jan 15, 07 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Arriving on a hot Friday noon, driving into the Canberra brought on that deja vu feeling that we were driving through two townships back home in Malaysia. The low blocks of flats, highly organized road system, unending roundabouts and the fake, ahem.. I mean, man-made lake, reminded me of Shah Alam and Putrajaya. But it was the drive up towards Canberra's Capital Hill that the uncanny resemblance to Putrajaya became obvious. It is of course no surprise that our nation's new capital city's unorginality would be so blatant the more I saw of Canberra. It's only going to take more time for Putrajaya to be where Canberra is since the latter is almost a century old.

Continue reading "Circling Canberra" »

thought by midnite lily at Dec 11, 06 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

thought by midnite lily at Nov 29, 06 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Uploaded on to my flickr.

thought by midnite lily at Sep 17, 06 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm back from a quiet getaway at Puerto Galera but still in the Philippines - back in the bustling Manila at my gracious hostess' home.

I'm definitely refreshed and head's all empty, like a coconut =P... Ha-ha... So you could say it has been a real holiday, among other things. I've got so much to write, but for now it's all scribbled in my moleskin notebook. I'm inspired with alot of thoughts being here. But my holiday's not over yet... Just thought I'd drop a hello and make you guys green a little... Nyeh =P

thought by midnite lily at Sep 12, 06 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was at the 11th French Film Festival opening night here in Jakarta last nite. It was pleasantly interesting compared to the one we have in KL every year, which tends to be rather low key. But they seem to be running concurrently tho (info fed from Pat's blog).

L2R: Gérard Pirès with emcees
MTV VJ Cathy & actor, Herjunot Ali
Held at the Taman Ismail Marzuki's Graha Bakti Budaya building, it was received by a large group of people from diplomats, media, Indonesian film industry players and even a guest French director, Gérard Pirès (particularly famous for the film, Taxi). I felt so lost in the crowd. I guess I was too used to the comfortably small community of filmmakers we have back in KL. Haha... Hey, did we ever have a guest French director come for our film fest? Why does Jakarta and Bangkok get all the international bigwigs? =(

Anyway, some of the Indonesian directors who were there is also part of the festival jury. I know Naz and mute would've much liked to be in my shoes. I felt embarassedly ashamed for not knowing who's who. Don't count on me mingling either *+_+* One of the directors they would've recognised were Janji Joni's Joko Anwar, and probably a couple more Indonesian celebs.

One funny part of the opening night presentation was the video of French actors and directors whose films were being screened in conjunction with the film festival. They shared a few words about their films and were made to stumble and greet everyone in Bahasa Indonesia, "Saya ingin mengucapkan selamat menikmati sinema Perancis" (I would like to wish everyone happy watching the French Film Festival).

After cocktails, they screened Gérard Pirès' Les Chevaliers du ciel (Sky Fighters), which I thought was so awesome from a tiny TV director's standpoint. Haha. You guys would probably say its just another Top Gun-esque flick. But reading the trivia in IMDB on how they shot the fighter jet scenes to me is fascinating! No CGI! And I thought I could point those CGI scenes out! Hahah...

Looking at the programme book, if it's one thing I'd do if I had to stay back in Jakarta, is that I'll catch some of these awesome French films they're screening all over town. Then again, if I'm back in KL I can still get my usual dose of it at GSC. I leave for KL tomorrow night. I can't wait to cuddle Toffeekins.

thought by midnite lily at May 31, 06 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

FYI, I'm fine in Jakarta. We weren't affected by the quake in Yogyakarta. But my heart and prayers goes out to the families suffering there right now. My condolences. Please pray for them.

thought by midnite lily at May 28, 06 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Came back Tuesday night from my recce trip down to south west Java from Palabuhanratu to Tasikmalaya. It was a tiresome travel, sitting in the car most the time. Badly planned on my part, because the two places were 6 hours apart.

Palabuhanratu (and not Pelabuhanratu, as I previously spelled) is a quiet coastal fishing town wrapped in the myth of the Queen of the Sea, Nyai Loro Kidul. I didn't go to the purported room at Samudera Beach Hotel, because I had an eerie feeling about it. The evening I arrived was drizzling, and the beach wasn't quite inviting. But what I was fascinated was with the penambang liar mas (illegal gold mining) that I saw. There were a few villagers by the coast beside Kuda Laut resort actually sifting the black beach sand for gold! Apparently, someone found small nuggets there about three months ago.

The other thing I saw at Palabuhanratu was an exodus of bats, or lalai in the local Sundanese tongue, just before sunset. It was a swarm of bats just leaving the small 80m deep cave for a whole 20 minutes! I don't actually like bats, but watching the swarm fly out was amazing. There was even two eagle predators circling about for their dinner, the bats. The guide there was very infomative and told me that the guano was even being harvested as fertilizer and exported to Japan and Europe.

Another highlight for me here was the small geyser hot springs in Cisolok. Spouting hot water from the riverbed, my photos made it look as though the rocks were spitting water out. It was a nice place, except for the ill-maintained tourist facilities. I liked that the river was rather untouched though, compared to the hot springs in Ciater. Some of the locals hanging around the area offered to take me on a trek in their motorcylces to the waterfall further up. But I refused. Wouldn't ordinarily refuse, but travelling alone I don't like to risk going up to quieter places with strangers. I don't quite feel safe around the locals no matter how friendly.

Tasikmalaya was a booming town with nothing much really to see. The main attractions of that town was mostly in the nearby villages with their batik, kebaya embroidery they call bodir and rattan crafts. The road between Tasikmalaya and Garut however, has the most spectacular views of terraced rice fields in a gorgeous valley that met in a 3m wide river. The area is inhibited by the Terojawaringin people, which the local tourism actually promotes.

On my way back to Jakarta, I stopped in Garut to look for Candi Cangkuang - an 8th century Indian temple restored now among a Muslim village called Leles. The temple houses Siva, and was actually found in ruins and rebuilt with new stones. Not very authentic I guess. But the surroundings had a tranquil feel to it, with a lake surrounding the small isle housing the temple, and stretches of rice fields to the back. I actually finally had a chance to walk in the rice field and got my shoes muddied up. Would've liked to have taken them off and feel the nice mud on my feet.

This time around, I didn't do much food research. I doubt my tummy can take any more. =(

The rest of my photos are up at my photogallery here. Note, in the process of captioning. Ho-hum.

thought by midnite lily at May 24, 06 06:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Just a quickie to say I'm back in Jakarta from Palabuhanratu and Tasikmalaya. Will blog more about it later once I've got my pics sorted out and a quicker line to upload em.

thought by midnite lily at May 24, 06 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I don't seem to have inspiration to write in my blog these days. Every day, I'm torn between staying and leaving. I just didn't want to sound like a broken record here. But yeah, it's a broken record of thoughts about my career in my head, day in day out, diarrhea from the food... nyek. And most of all, homesickness with missing Toffee and my creature comforts of home. I guess, if I do stay, it'll be out of procrastination

taken from thebigdurian flickr I was supposed to head down southern Java on Wednesday. But I'm only leaving in a few hours, Sunday 9am. From the looks of the photos I've seen online, Pelabuhanratu has an exotic, rugged charm. Surfers... the legend of the Queen of the Seas... padi fields overlooking the beach. The beach! Gawd, I love the beach! I hadn't seen the Indian Ocean since Perth '04. Let's see what it's like on the Javanese coast. Hmmm...

thought by midnite lily at May 21, 06 12:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Up ahead, alot of photos and a quick food review of things I've had while I'm here. Alot of Western dishes, though. Because this time around, my stomach seems to disagree with alot of the local food. I'm really suffering. I've been warned about the water, but I can't afford Western food or fast food all the time with my meagre allowance. Things are alot more expensive here in Jakarta than in KL.

Soto Kudus at Sarinah, Thamrin Soto is pretty common around Jakarta at the roadside warung or food courts. I've had quite a few already, and think this is the most tasteful kind. Kudus is a town near central Java. What you see is rice and the soto soup served with pekedil (potato cake) and cockles on a stick.

Continue reading "Foodie in Jakarta" »

thought by midnite lily at May 17, 06 06:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Life in Jakarta seems hectic. For me at least. With over 10mil. population, this city is constantly abuzz with life. And although KL with it's meagre 4mil population is awake 24-7, it's drastically laid back compared to the Big Durian.

I don't have any problem communicating here except that I've become terribly conscious of the different words and meanings Bahasa Malaysia (BM) has with Bahasa Indonesia (BI), along with certain titles used to address people here. Some of the differences are like the word bisa which means "poison" in BM, while in BI it means "can" or a variation of yes. Whereas "can" in BM is boleh. Not that they won't totally understand me, if they're aware I'm Malaysian. But I like to learn quickly to blend in. Especially since it'll be required for my script work. ^_^ Unless I get caught doing something I'm not supposed to, like use my video camera, then I'm a non-bahasa speaking tourist! LOL

I like the BI sentence intonations are compared to BM, the latter which is comparably quite flat sounding. I'm already starting to speak in Indo with the right intonations, according to a colleague. Heheh... The other thing I was puzzled with was how they tell time here. Instead of half past ten, they say it the other way around. E.g. "Jam setengah sebelas" meaning half and hour to ten o'clock.

Addressing people is also something we share that's very Asian. In Java, men of around the same adult age are addressed as Mas, and women Mbak. The general address for people slightly older or out of respect is Pak for men, and Ibu for women. The funny thing about me being addressed as Ibu is that in BM, it means mother. That's going to get a while to get used to. Better than being called "Aunty" back in Malaysia, I guess! =P But I don't look that old anyway. Hahah.. I was asked for my ID at Dragonfly this week. =P

the bajajGetting around Jakarta on your own isn't easy. There aren't any MRTs or LRTs. And uniquely Indonesian public transportation like the ojek (motorcycle pillon riders) and bajaj (three wheeled motorcyles like Thailand's tuk tuk) look quite scary, but it's more cost effective for the locals. As for taxis, I found out from my first time here two years ago, only Bluebird and Silverbird taxi companies are reliable. And even then, locals and expats will tell you to be very very cautious of rogue drivers. So having a supir (driver) in Jakarta is more a necessity than a luxury. Jobs aren't readily available for the locals, so it's commonplace to get a supir. Most of the time, they come with their own Toyota Kijang (same as the Unser).

Despite the availability of a supir, I kind of miss having Wendy to just jump in and get around KL. Driving on my own gives me a feeling of independance. Of course, I don't think I'd be able to bear driving in the infamous Jakarta macet (jams).

I can't think of anything else at the moment. I guess that should suffice for a review for now. ^_~

thought by midnite lily at May 13, 06 07:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

I've found my saving grace in the hip expat area Kemang, about 15 minutes without macet from where I live in south Jakarta. The place is almost like Bangsar back in KL, but a whole lot more rugged. The streets are narrower, and while you see bungalow type buildings as individual shops, boutiques or homes they're placed side by side broken pathways and dirty sidewalks.

So here I'm sitting in a little bookstore cafe, Aksara, with a free wi-fi service! *^_^* I like this bookstore. It has a nice gallery-like feeling to it. Apparently there are a few more restos and cafes in the area with complimentary wi-fi.

Sooo... as long as I have time to get my arse over here, I'll have no more excuse to blog then! But I won't be around much in the week Wednesday on as I'll be heading out to the southern coast of Java for a recce. From Pelabuhanratu up to Pangadaran maybe. Provided Merapi doesn't stop me.

thought by midnite lily at May 13, 06 06:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm going to sound very ulu-fied (primitive, bumpkin?) but, my first earthquake!! O_O Darn!

We were on the 17th floor of our temporary apartment "office" when suddenly we felt the whole buidling move. It was kinda subtle. Not the mad rattling you see on TV, but I felt really sick in the tummy and lightheaded after that. I still do actually. Apparently it was about 5.6 or 5.9 magnitude.

Brr... Funny, you'd think that after reading all the what to do in an earthquake and watching documentaries, I'd know what to do after. Instead, I was flipping TV channels to find out the magnitude and thinking to go online to check out the breaking news. =P

thought by midnite lily at May 12, 06 07:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I'm in constant lethargy and mental blurriness. I couldn't feel any more stupid. This job has a knack of doing that to me. Isn't that so wrong? I have never seen so much numbers in my life. I don't freakin' care if MS bloody Excel saves half the work - I HATE NUMBERS!

*sigh* Sorry guys, but I've just been too useless to myself the last couple of days. Work is wringing me dry. The number one reason why I didn't want to come here, even if it's about the money - is that once you leave your home to work - you've SOLED your soul 24-7 to this company. There is no farking glamour in the title of being an "expat" when you work for a soul-sucking vacuum company like mine.

Farked up. At least back in KL, I still sorta have 12 hours on my own. *sigh* It's no holiday, Danny. I've to go back before 30 days is up each time I'm back here for visa renewal.

Where is Los Iceles? At this stage, if you whisked me anywhere in the world but here - I'd go blindly!! I miss my BFG!

thought by midnite lily at May 12, 06 02:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)