Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Pejalan Kaki yang Baik

Selamat pagi... !

Kali ini ingin berbagi soal apa sih sebaiknya yang gw lakukan ketika gw berjalan kaki...

1. Berjalanlah di tempat yang sesuai
Yes, I know. Di Indonesia jarang sekali ada trotoar yang layak. Seringkali pejalan kaki terpaksa berjalan di tepian jalan. Atau pun kalau ada trotoar, yang sering gw temuin sih, entah bolong-bolong, tidak rata, beralih fungsi. Dalam soal alih fungsi, gw ga cuman menunjuk ke pedagang kaki lima ya.
Jari gw terarah para pemilik lahan usaha. Sering bukan kita melihat lahan selebar 1-1.5 meter yang tadinya trotoar itu sekarang diratakan sebagai jalan masuk ke tempat usaha, or malah sekalian jadi lahan parkir?
Gw "mengerti" ketika pedagang kaki lima "mengakuisisi" trotoar, karena kadang mereka tidak punya tempat lain untuk tempat usaha. Tapi para pengusaha yang memiliki modal untuk membeli lahan? Shame on you.
Dengan berbagai halangan untuk jalan kaki, tetap saja, usahakanlah berjalan kaki di tempat yang sesuai. Semakin ke pinggir lebih bagus. Untuk gw pribadi, gw prefer jalan di pinggir kanan jalan.
Kenapa? Supaya gw bisa melihat langsung kendaraan yang menuju ke arah gw.

2. Earphone is prohibited
Dengan memposisikan diri dalam keadaan fully alert dengan suara di sekitar, itu akan membuat gw lebih siaga ketika misal ada "suara klakson motor yang mencuri jalur pejalan kaki" , dan percayalah itu seringkali terjadi. Atau ketika kita menyeberang di dekat blind corner (secara umumnya zebra cross ada di dekat perempatan), maka sangat penting untuk mengandalkan pendengaran untuk mewaspadai apakah ada  kendaraan yang akan berbelok.

3. Menyeberanglah di tempat yang semestinya
Ini cukup sulit dilakukan sebenarnya, secara gw jarang sekali nemu zebra cross di Jakarta. Mungkin sekali hari ini ada di suatu tempat, tapi nanti ketika ada pengaspalan ulang, zebra cross itu hilang karena tidak dicat ulang.
Atau alasan klasik soal posisi peletakan zebra cross or jembatan penyeberangan "Tempatnya nanggung" atau "Jauh ah".
Wahai tuan dan nyonya dan nona muda sekalian, coba deh kalian definisikan jauh itu berapa meter sih?
Gw seringkali geli sendiri ketika menanyakan definisi jauh ketika berjalan kaki pada orang Indonesia pada umumnya. Karena kadang mereka bilang zebra cross/jembatan yang hanya 15-20 m dari tempat kalian menyeberang itu jauuuuh, tapi mereka sangat kuat berkeliling pasar dan mall.. *LOL*

Terakhir..
4.Sadar bahwa semua pengguna jalan mempunyai Hak dan Kewajiban
Ini masalah kesadaran sih menurut gw. Menurut pengamatan gw, pada umumya orang di Indonesia itu sadar akan HAK, tapi tidak soal KEWAJIBAN.
Sebagai pejalan kaki, gw berhak mendapatkan tempat yang layak untuk berjalan kaki. Tapi ya jangan lupa saja, gw tetap wajib bertanggung jawab atas keselamatan gw dengan mematuhi rambu-rambu yang ada.
Karena ingat, sama seperti seorang pengguna sepeda motor mengendalikan motornya, atau seorang sopir mengemudikan kendaraannya, maka seorang pejalan kaki juga pasti mengendalikan badannya.
Jangan salahkan si pengemudi jikalau kmu tertabrak ketika menyeberangi jalan tol (kasus ekstrim), or jikalau kamu menyebrang di jalan yang sudah ada batas tengah (ini pemandangan setiap hari), menyeberang di bawah jembatan penyeberangan (juga pemandangan setiap hari), berjalan di tepian jalan dengan memakai earphone sehingga tidak mendengar ketika ada kendaraan menghampiri..

Jadilah Pejalan Kaki yang Bertanggung Jawab... :)

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Catsanova is Waiting for His Girl

I like to bring my pocket cam everywhere, simply because I didn't know what I would find in my way.

Two days ago, I was annoyed by the sound of two cats fighting in the front of my house.
Voila, when I open my door, I found a white gray cat in my wall, looking straight at me.
I'm not a cat lover, and I believe that every creature could detect when someone doesn't like them, so I try to minimize eye contact with the cat.
Still, I thought, why did she look at me with a strange face. For a few seconds, she looked like she wanna say "help me, please?"
But I ignored her and walked to my gates.
Then I heard a cat meow-ing in my right..
"Meeeoooowwww"........ (actually much shorter than what I type here)
Suddenly I understand.
There was a grey cat outside my wall, waiting the white gray cat in the top of my wall.
Just like Cassanova waiting for his girl, there was a Catsanova waiting for his girl in the front of my house.


*psst, the Catsanova failed to impress his girl. As long as this morning, I still heard the sound of cat's fighting. And I found my plant's pot fallen from the wall. :(

Monday, August 27, 2012

Lesson Learnt from a Movie: Carnage

Sabtu kemarin, aku ke Blitzmegaplex bersama pasanganku dan temannya.
Tanpa tujuan film yang spesifik, kami menghabiskan waktu sekian menit untuk memilih film.

TDKR? Amazing Spiderman? Ice Age 4? Total Recall? Paranormal Experience? Three Stooges? Carnage.

Kelima film yang pertama disebutkan sudah kami tonton, jadi akhirnya pilihannya dipersempit antara Three Stooges dan Carnage.
Bersenjatakan rating dari IMDb, akhirnya kami memilih Carnage.

Sebenarnya, harapanku ketika memasuki studio tidaklah terlalu tinggi.
Walaupun review nya okay, tapi melihat genre filmnya yang drama, dan membaca sinopsinya, tampaknya kurang menarik walaupun aktrisnya mencakup Jodie Foster dan Kate Winslet.

Hal pertama yang mencuri perhatianku ketika opening title adalah disebutkan bahwa Carnage ini merupakan karya adaptasi dari Yasmine Reza.
Hmm, nama timur tengah. Mungkin suatu saat nanti
Yang kedua adalah nama sutradaranya, yaitu Roman Polanski.
Seperti yang diketahui khalayak umum, Roman Polanski saat ini berstatus pelarian dari Amerika, dengan karya yang terkenalnya seperti The Pianist ( also my favorite movie).

Film ini menceritakan tentang usaha antara kedua pasang orang tua untuk berdialog soal pertengkaran yang terjadi antara kedua mereka.
Terlihat bahwa dalam menghadapi suatu kasus, keempat orang tersebut mempunyai pandangan dan sikap yang berbeda.
Ada orang yang santai dan berusaha menganggap ringan, ada orang yang menganggap sangat serius, ada orang yang tidak mau tahu, ada juga orang yang berusaha tetap tenang walaupun sebenarnya memendam suatu perasaan.

Ketika orang dengan karakter yang berbeda, suatu masalah yang sebenarnya mudah dapat bergulir ke arah yang tak terduga. Ketidakpedulian, ketidakingintahuan, ketidakpekaan, ketidakjujuran, itu semua dapat menjadi bom waktu.
Selain itu, tentunya segala hal yang berlebihan (alias lebay), itu memang tidaklah baik.

Tapi apa yang paling berkesan menurutku adalah ini...

Suatu masalah yang timbul antara kedua pihak, sebenarnya haruslah diselesaikan oleh kedua pihak itu sendiri. Karena mereka sendirilah yang tahu sendiri mengenai konflik tersebut, dan apa sebenarnya penyelesaian yang terbaik untuk mereka.
Solusi suatu masalah tidak terdapat di pihak ketiga, atau pun pihak keempat atau pun pihak kesekian.
Dan sangat tidak tepat bagi orang lain untuk sok-sok ikut campur dan memperbesar masalah.
Ya memang, kadangkala dibutuhkan bantuan orang lain untuk melakukan suatu mediasi, namun ingat, siapa yang bertikai, itulah yang harus menyelesaikan.
Review of this movie: 8/10

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Pause A Moment before You Tweet...

Yesterday, I read a chirpstory about bullying at a high school in Jakarta Selatan.
It is a sad story.

What makes it sad is the fact that, someone re-told this story in his/her soc-med, without camouflaging the identity of the victim and the location.
Yes, he/she doesn't upload the picture.
Still, naming the victim and the location is something that I considered as not a wise move.

Does she/he know that mass media exposure to this case could cause to a child?

Bullying wouldn't happen if this child could stand up for him/herself in the front of his/her senior or school mate or whoever the bully is.
It happened, didn't it?
So how could you hope that he/she could handle the pressure of the mass media news coverage?

I know you are upset.
I know that you want people to sympathize with the victim and sharing this story to prevent this happen to the others child.
But, please don't share the victim identity.


Thursday, July 12, 2012

Why do Whatsapp doesn't sell ads?

I'm a Whatsapp user for Android.
I've already paid for my second year in the Q2 of 2011.
At 2011, the price for this app was "FREE for the first year, then 1.99 USD/ year after."
(the same price was valid for the other operating systems, except for iOS, the price is 0.99 USD/ year since the beginning)
I forgot at which times exactly, but I saw a picture that the price has changed into "Free for the first year, then 0.99 USD/year"

My first thought is:
Free = Ads
Paid apps = no Ads
But strangely, I've seen that in my boyfriend blackberry, he still can use Whatsapp normally, even tough the one year period had passed, without any single ads. (FYI, he hasn't paid).

So, how it is possibly for Whatsapp to survive?
Actually, I don't know.
Maybe their contract with Nokia or the payment from the early user of Whatsapp is more than enough to support all of us.
Or maybe there are still people that are willing to pay if they are satisfied (Me?).

I like Whatsapp, and I want to support them.
If you are using Whatsapp, try to read "Why we don't sell ads" - Whatsapp
If you are agree with their idea, maybe you could support them by sharing a little bit of your money. :)


Monday, July 2, 2012

Sailing Trip to Komodo (part 2)

I woke up in the morning, preparing for the next journey.
While we are eating our breakfast (crepes with banana and chocolate sauce, very yummy), we could see a ship approaching the hotel.
Our ship name is Fadaelo.
The welcome drink is papaya juice with milk.
Surprisingly, it is very delicious.
Me and my friend enjoying papaya juice

From Labuan Bajo, our first destination is Pulau Rinca. The port name in Rinca is Loh Buaya.
I'm not a biologist or an ecologist, so I'll say what I see.

Once inside the gate, what I can see is savanna, rock and sand. The weather is hot and dry, with only a small of plantation. 

From the top left, clockwise: Rinca habitat, a Ranger explained Loh Buaya map, me with the Komodo stick, ranger standing near a Komodo nest
We are accompanied by two rangers because our team consists of 9 person. Normally a ranger accompany 5 person.
The ranger brought a stick with two branch in the edge. Why? Since it is known that komodo are afraid with something similar with their branched tongue.
Komodo has an excellent smelling capability.
Women during period is prohibited to enter the Komodo National Park for their safety, because Komodo could smell the blood and locate you even from far away.
According to the ranger, komodo could run at 18 km per hour speed. I think that's fast, because I could only run with max 9 km per hour on the treadmill. :D (and the maker of this song "Macet lagi macet lagi, gara gara si Komo lewat" must have never known anything about Komodo!)
So you better hope that you don't have any open wound or during your period when you go there. A chase between you and a komodo surely would not be a pleasant part of the trip.
For myself, I'm thrilled when we meet a komodo in our trekking trail. I'm speechless, because I feel so frail.


Notes: if you want to see komodo, but you are afraid of doing some trekking, I suggest you to come there before noon. Many komodo will gather around the ranger's housing area, since they smell the cooking!
It is quite strange to see a group of Komodo laying below the house.

Laying under the ranger's hut, "waiting" for the lunch time

After Rinca, our next sailing target is Pulau Kambing. ( Kambing = goat)
If you love to snorkling or diving, you have to go there.
It is one the most beautiful underwater scene that I've ever seen.
I've ever been to several snorkeling points across Indonesia, and this is definitely one of the best.
Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my underwater camera while I snorkeling there. :(
I don't know why it is named Pulau Kambing, because I didn't see even one goat there. 

The next destination is Kalong Island. (Kalong = bat)
This is the last destination for in the first sailing trip, because this is the place where we'll watch sunset and spend the night.
The view is spectacular. 
Beautiful red orange sky with thousands of bats flying across the sky.
Unfortunately, I have a pocket camera only, and it couldn't capture the red beautiful sky. :(

After breakfast we continued the journey into Pulau Komodo.
This is the biggest island in the Komodo archipelago area.
The difference with Rinca is the komodo living in Pulau Komodo are older and bigger.
Rinca's komodo are younger and more savage caused by their agility.
The habitat itself is quite different.
It is more like a tropical forest. This is also a good place to do some bird watching.
From top left, clockwise: Sulphurea Hill Top, Sulphurea Hill Top, Komodo, Sea Dock 
Oh yes, and I'm lucky that I've got there before the permanent dock is finished. I think a wood dock is much nicer than a permanent dock.
I understand that Komodo will be a big part of tourism in Nusa Tenggara Timur.
But I really hope that the government won't forget that the main reason of making Komodo archipelago as a National Park area is for the animal reservation, not for tourism.

The next destination is Pink Beach.
Why it is named Pink Beach? Because the sand is pink.

Pink Sand
But that's not the only think that you can see at Pink Beach. It is also a beautiful place snorkeling. If you are not a water activity fans, you could do some trekking to the hilltop, the view is quite fascinating.

The last destination for our sailing trip is Bidadari Island.
It is a small island near Labuan Bajo.
This island also has pink sand, but it is more polluted than Pink Beach.
Pink Beach is a no man island and the location is quite far from the local people village.
Bidadari is close to Labuan Bajo, so the rubbish from Labuan Bajo are washed into this shore.
It's a shame, because the beach is pretty.

After two days of sailing trip, we returned to Wae Cicu Eden Hotel.
So long Komodo.... :)
Hope that I'll see you again someday..

notes: all the pictures aren't edited. I'm not a professional photographer, and I'm only using my pocket camera (Sony Cybershot W-570)

Labuan Bajo, a Step before Reaching Komodo (part 1)

First of all,
this journey happened on May 2011.
So I would say I'm sorry if it is not really accurate.

What is Komodo?
From Wikipedia : Komodo is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Padar.

Komodo is listed in UNESCO World Heritage since 1991 and Natural Seven Wonder List since 2011.

So I'm actually lucky that I got an opportunity to visit Komodo before it is declared as one of the Natural Seven Wonder.

How to get there?
You have to reach Labuan Bajo first.


By air:
Points of interest:
- Labuan Bajo sea port : It smells fishy, but the view is beautiful. Blue sky tinted with white cloud in the sky. Traditional ships.



- The Lounge : a nice restaurant at Labuan Bajo, don't forget to try Komodo's Smile drink.
It contains Flores mint a.k.a Kemangi for Indonesian people.

(left to right) Chocolate Milk Shake, Watermelon Juice, Komodo's Smile

- Batu Cermin: (a.k.a Mirror Rock) : a limestone cave, with beautiful reflection of the ray light onto the wall.


- Paradise Bar: a bar, best known for watching sunset


- Wae Cicu Eden Hotel : owned by a Swiss and Indonesian couple. Located in the hilly side across Labuan Bajo.  
Fresh water and electricity is available. 
No air-con, only fan, but they provided mosquito net. The bathroom is clean enough for my standard. 
The cuisine is made with French style. I realized that once they served me grilled fish with thyme for dinner.
And for the breakfast, they served crepes (of course ala Francais , not dry like Indonesian crepe)
What I love the most about this hotel is the fact that they don't have a port.
Their commitment is to stay as natural as it can be. So the only way to reach this hotel from the sea is by using a small raft since the bigger boat couldn't landed on the beach.

As you can see on the picture below, there is no port in the front of the hotel.

Enjoy your stay in Labuan Bajo, because the trip to Komodo is still awaiting you.

continued to Sailing to Komodo...