Home sweet home
I'm finally back from my holiday to Indonesia. We(my family and I) came home last night at around 1 am. We could've gotten home earlier if my uncle had picked us up like he was supposed to. So instead, my mother and brother had to go home to get the car and pick the rest of us up.I can't write everything that went on while we were in Indonesia, so I'll just give a brief summary. Our first stop was at Jakarta. The next stop was Puncak, and then Bandung and back to Jakarta. We stayed for one night only at each stop. The hotels that we stayed in were quite ok, considering the poor state of the country. Puncak is just like Genting Highlands. The weather is very nice and cool. The journey up there is so much better than Genting, in that the road didn't make you feel like sicking up. And the view from the mountain top was really really amazing. Puncak was the most memorable of all the stops. The others were just ok for me.But I have to say these things about Indonesia, especially for those who haven't been there. Being there was like an eye-opener for me. The state of the country and its people made me think that I could only ever live in Singapore and also made me realize how lucky I am.The roads are very bumpy and in need for repair on most parts.
There are no proper waste disposal. I could see people living next to their trash.
There are no organization to properly locate certain buildings to certain areas. For example, there are little factories making bricks and roof tiles situated next to restaurants. And hotels popping up from unlikely places. The whole thing is just a mess.
The jam is horrible especially in Jakarta. But in all the stops that I've been to, every road is stuffed with vehicles. You have to force your way into the lane in order to go the way you want because nobody will give way. And I thought that the road in Malaysia is rough but Indonesia just tops it by two times. People will just cut into another's lane without any care for safety. There wasn't any need to line the roads because the people will create their own messed up lines. I was seriously scared during the first few hours in Jakarta. And I'm amazed that there are no accidents while I was there. I was even more amazed that most of the cars there are clean! They are so much cleaner than the cars in Malaysia, even though Indonesia is so much dirtier.
There were people selling their wares wherever we went. They know where tourists are likely to show and they will stay there. The ones at Puncak were the worst. We went to this mosque that's a tourist attraction. The minute we got down from the bus, there were people shoving things at us. And the things are always the same whenever we encountered these people: bracelets, necklaces, sarongs, tidbits, little foldable handbags, t-shirts etc. We managed to escape them when we entered within the vicinity of the mosque because they weren't allowed inside. But when we exited, it was like their numbers doubled. They dogged us until we got onto the bus. About 7 or 8 of them hung around the bus and shove their wares to us at the windows. And it got so bad that 1 or 2 of them practically stepped into the bus and insisted that we buy something. They will not let up until somebody buys something. Our tour guide couldn't tell them to go away because he brings tourists there all the time. What would happen if they turned against him?
Almost every man there smokes. I think I can safely say 99%. It's like a social norm. Even teenagers do it. A packet of cigarettes is RP 5000, which is not even a dollar to us. Smoking is allowed everywhere because they don't understand the "no smoking" sign. They really give no regard to their healths.
But the things there are SO damned cheap! You can easily get a pair of jeans at RP 35000 which is about $5 and t-shirts at RP 20000, which is about $3. But the shopping centres where we went to shop for these cheap items were too packed with people. The air was so stuffy, I wondered how they breathed. But still, we couldn't resist the attractive prices. We shopped so much that we had to buy 2 extra bags just to accommodate our shoppings. And even though the things are very cheap, my mother still bargained. She is the queen of bargaining afterall. For myself, I bought a pair of shoes for RP 25000(the plastic shoes that are also sold at Singapore. I knew that if I bought it here, it would cost at least $16), a "BVLGARI" watch at RP 35000, 1 long dress, a plain white long-sleeved t-shirt and a blouse (I forgot the prices). I also bought 2 other blouses and a handbag(these were bought at a more expensive place, but still slightly cheaper than Singapore). And a bunch of souvenirs for my friends.
During our journey back to the Jakarta airport, when the road was narrowing from 2 lanes to 1, there was this big tourist bus which tried to get ahead of our bus but our bus refused to give way. By right, our bus was the right of way. So, in the end both buses were squished together. The buses were so close to each other that the door handle of our bus came loose and we also almost lost the left mirror when the bigger bus went ahead of us. The helper(he helps the tour guide and also helps to carry our bags up and down the bus) got so pissed of that as payback, he took out his pen knife and scratched the bigger bus. And he continued scratching until the bigger bus passed us by. My brother laughed at that but I was still shaken by the whole almost-accident thing.
On the whole, even though Indonesia is in a sorry state, I could tell that the people there were contented at their situation or at least tried to be happy. So if you want to go there, be prepared of the change of pace and go there only to shop!
(I'll post the pictures in my next post)
Saturday, December 08, 2007
12:52 AM
Accident at home
This happened a few hours ago.I was watching Alias on my laptop when suddenly, there came a really loud crash of many glasses breaking. I was so startled that I immediately paused the show and went to the kitchen. And there, I found my mother sitting on the floor with broken pieces of glasses and mugs about her.My first thought was, oh no, she's bleeding! Because there was a red stain on her night gown and another one on the floor near her. But after awhile, I was really relieved because the red stain was actually the sambal that my mother was carrying.The reason she fell was because my father was wiping the floor. She didn't realize it when she walked into the kitchen, and so she slipped and fell. And she must've grabbed hold of the trolley that held the mugs and glasses. Either that or she could have just knocked into it.After my brain had comprehended that my mother had fallen, I went straight to get some newspapers to wrap the broken glasses and mugs up and got the broom and dustpan. My father helped my mother up, I picked up the broken pieces and my brother swept the floor. Fortunately, my mother didn't cut herself. I just hope there aren't any splinters that got under her skin.While I was cleaning up, I was glad that my siblings actually tried to help with the cleaning, even though my sister wasn't of much help(she's just not good and cleaning). I'm glad that they showed some concern over my mother. Because usually, when something happens like my mother falling down, they'll only become interested for a second before resuming whatever they were doing, if they think that she'll be okay. I guess the crash was louder than normal and the sight of seeing our mother on the floor with broken pieces of glass about her just made everyone really concerned. I'm just glad that my siblings showed me that they can be human.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
11:13 PM
Overdue post
I know it's been a really long time since my previous post, but I have a very good reason. I was stressed out about my organ exam which is now finally over (Tuesday, 27 Nov). I could have posted after that but I had to concentrate on my UTM test next, which was yesterday. Anyway, I just wanted to write about what happened during my organ exam. For those of you who don't know, this is my second time taking, and most probably, I won't be able to pass this time too. My exam time was at 3pm, at Thomson Plaza, but I had to report in 15 min early so that there's enough time for me to prepare for my improvisation. I reported in at around 2.40pm and they showed me to one of the music studios. I was early, so I had to wait awhile before they showed me the improvisation and motif pieces. (Info: Impro is when they give you a short song 4-8 lines, where you have to play the original and then improvise the melody. Motif is when they give you the beginning of a song, usually just 2-3 bars and you have to continue on your on after that to make it into a complete song)The impro was in A minor. I was really happy because not only was it in A minor (easy), it was also in 8 beat (the style in which I had to play the piece in), which is my favourite style among the 3 types(8 beat, Swing, Waltz). I made some mistakes during the sight-reading part, but thankfully I didn't stop, and I think I did quite alright throughout the rest of it. For motif, I chose to do the one in G major. I didn't make any mistakes. So I was really proud of myself.The disastrous part was when the time for the sight-playing came. They gave me 30 seconds to run through the song and I had to play after that. The song was in B flat major. It was considerably easier than the previous one, which was in A major, and a very complicated A major at that. But I still couldn't deliver because sight-playing is my weakest link.Next was my repertoire pieces (2 of them: 1 is a compulsory piece and the other a choice made by the examiners out of 6 songs that I've prepared). I did quite ok for both of them, or so I thought.Last but not least, was the examiners comments. Yes, they actually give you their comments after your examination. For my impro, they commented about the mistakes I made for my sight-reading but said that after that, I knew what to do. They said that the first chorus (meaning sight-reading) is very important. So I don't know how they'll grade me for it. For my motif, they said that it was good that I kept the flow going, but at some parts, the melody didn't sound nice. Oh well, I didn't really care because I'm so glad that I managed to complete it without making a mistake. As for my sight-playing, they said that it was messy, that I need to do a lot of practice. I knew what was coming, so I wasn't too bothered by what they said. For my compulsory piece, they said that it was ok except for the middle part where I rushed it through. Honestly, I didn't realize that I was rushing. My teacher has also told me tha I tend to rush the song during the middle part, but I just didn't realize it. I guess I have to pay a closer attention to how I play. Finally, for my 2nd song, they said that it needed more expression. Well, it's kind of hard to do that when you're feeling nervous like shit. Considering that my hands were shaking when I played the song, I thought I did a good job. I just hope that my scores this time will be better than last time. That is all I want. I need to know that I've improved.Since this is a teacher's grade, they want every section to be perfect. You need to get at least 75% to pass. During the previous exam, one of my teacher's students failed by just 2 marks! It was all because she failed at sight-playing. So, looking at that, I can say that I'll be taking the exam again next year. Hopefully, I'll pass it then. 3rd time's the charm right?
This is me
BORN: 7 July 1987
AGE: Do the math
LIKES: Cats...like duh...my blog url??? And SUPERNATURAL!!!!
DISLIKES: Hypocrites
These are just the basic things about me...if u wanna know more, just ask me.