Tuesday 20 November 2012

24. A Benediction


24.  Almost a quarter of century. It is a blessing for me to reach this age of life. I never thought of being whatever I am now in this stage.

I was born in 1988 and was raised up in a small yet beautiful tourist town in the Highland of Northern Sumatera called Berastagi. When I turned 14, I moved to Medan, the capital city of North Sumatera to continue my study in a Catholic hi-school. After being accepted in one of the most prestigious university in Indonesia, I then moved to Depok, West Java. It was in 2006 and I was still 17. It was not really hard to adjust because my brother studied in the same university. On the six semester of my study in the university, I received a scholarship to study in Australia. I flew to Melbourne on the second semester of 2009. November 2009, I still remember how amusing it was to celebrate my 21st birthday with my bf and new friends whom all I met in the university. I returned from Australia in January 2010. Since my return, I got addicted of traveling around the world.  In 2010 alone, I have traveled to Thailand, China, Canada, USA, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and by October that year I returned back to Melbourne and stayed there for a month. I graduated in January 2011 and right away offered a job in a government institution, which ended up as my first full time job. I quit the job by September 2012 and immediately went to Ubud, Bali to refresh my mind and soul. In October 2012, I started my next full time job which eventually is my dream job. A month later, November 2012, here I am, celebrating my 24th birthday with my closest people: my dormitory best friend, my classmate best friend, my high school best friend, my brother and the friend of my bro (who is also my close friend).  It is just so heart reveling to have those most beloved people in my life on my birthday. Thank you for being there to celebrate the birthday. Thank you for being a support for me.  Hereby, I also want to deliberate my grateful feeling to my parents who has been my biggest support of all time, in my best and the worst time. Also, thank you for those who remember and utter the felicitation on my anniversary, acquaintances, friends, former bf, distant relatives, etc.  Thank you for being part of my life.

I might not be in Indonesia for my 25th celebration. But who knows? Right now I just feel grateful because I have all the things I need in this stage of life. Hope to reach all of my dreams in the following years.


Simple birthday celebration

Love,


Olivia

Thursday 15 November 2012

Traveling in Beijing China for AIMUN 2010

I stumbled upon my note on my Beijing trip back in 2010. I was there for Asian International Model United Nations, it’s a simulation of UN meetings for students. It was held by Peking University and attended by more than 500 participant representing 120 universities from 30 different countries. I, with five other friends from Indonesia, went there to represent ISAFIS (Indonesia Student Association for International Studies). ISAFIS is a youth movement organization based in Jakarta with the motto ‘build understanding among youth’. 

Before I landed in Beijing, I wasn’t so excited about exploring China on the conference as I saw so many Chinese back home. Especially in my hometown (Berastagi), there are a lot of Chinese background group who speak one of Chinese ethnic languages (Hokien). Living in Chinese community ever since I was a kid made me wonted of their cultures and characters. However, my point of view about China was totally changed after I went there. There were a bunch of unexpected things which really surprised me (the foods, the cultures, the landmarks, the environments, etc) . 

Overall I spend about 7 days or a week there. It was an unforgettable moment. I feel like I miss something on my flight back to Indonesia. It is because I realized that Chinese people are so welcome with the foreigners. I really love the environment in Beijing. I heard from my local Chinese friend that Beijing is the most polluted city in China. But I found it’s not as dusty as Jakarta or any other city in Indonesia. Maybe because it was still spring when I came so I felt the weather was still fresh. But I love so many other things too there. I like those people who keep on smiling and give directions of the streets, accompany me to many places include traveling around the city. Moreover, everything was cheap there. I found it was even cheaper than things in Jakarta. For instance, if I want to travel by bus I only need to pay one Yuan (which is Rp.1335) in any distance. It was even cheaper than the cheapest transportation in Jakarta (Kopaja and Metromini). Also, if I wanna travel by subway train (yes, they have subways), I only need to pay two Yuans and I can go from a corner to another corner around Beijing. OMG so cheap! And they even have tram. Uniquely, their tram doesn’t come with the rail but only connected with the cable on the roof.  I saw some other unique transportation too. It has three wheels and looks similar with ‘Bajaj’ in Jakarta. 

I bought so many souvenirs there because it is so cheap and I couldn’t stand not to buy those cute things. I bought a set of Beijing Olympic Games 2008 doll mascots for 40 Yuans. I bought many snacks and foods. I like their foods so much! They have almost the same taste with Indonesian foods. I think Indonesian got some influence from Chinese cuisine because in the ancient time Chinese kingdoms and Indonesian ones (there were many sporadic kingdoms before in Indonesia) had a good trade relation. Although I’m not a fussy eater but I think I’d love to stay in China as it’s so easy for me to find cheap and yummy foods.

I really got the real Chinese culture experience there. Those people are so nice with the outsiders. They always try to smile and make me feel comfort. They treat you sincerely from their hearth; likewise they do their best to treat me. I never heard that they speak bad words or swearing others, always try to be nice in front of me. 

Despite there are less people who can speak English, I really love Beijing. I’m planning to stay there for half a year or maybe a year to learn Mandarin as I need to add my language ability. 

Ps. I fond these pictures so much!!



















Olivia

Sunday 11 November 2012

Travel Inspiration: Agustinus Wibowo

I was about to search for some books on public policy but ended up somehow in Agustinus Wibowo page.
He is an Indonesia young traveler who has wandered around unknown cities in Middle Asia.
He is one of my biggest inspirations to travel with low budget, in order to explore the unique cultures of people from the far far away land.
From his backpacking journey throughout Asia, he has produced 2 inspirational books and awesome photographs.
He started his journey when he was still 25.
I should do the same thing soon I guess as I am turning 24 in a week.
Anyway, here is one of his interviews.



Olivia

Friday 9 November 2012

Lights Music Inspiration

Lights is one my favorite singers. She creates, plays and sings electro-pop songs.
Her songs are awesome!
Like this one, hearing this song makes you stay strong.
I keep listening to this song,



Lights-Face up

It's late and I am tired
wish I could spark a smile
the place is flying high
but right now I wanna be low

Don't wanna move an inch 
let alone a million miles
and I don't wanna go
but I know I gotta go

I just want to feel alive

The times you don't wanna wake up
Cause when you sleep 
it's never over when you give up

The sun is always gonna rise up
you need to get up 
gotta keep your head up

Look at the people all around you
the way you feel 
is something everybody goes through

Dark out
but you still gotta lie up
you need to wake up 
gotta keep your face up

Seems like the more you grow
the more time you spend alone
before you know it
you'll end up perfectly on your own

The city's shining bright
but you don't see the light
how can you concentrate
on things that don't make you feel right

I just want to feel alright

The times you don't wanna wake up
Cause when you sleep 
it's never over when you give up

The sun is always gonna rise up
you need to get up 
gotta keep your head up

Look at the people all around you
the way you feel 
is something everybody goes through

Dark out
but you still gotta lie up
you need to wake up 
gotta keep your face up

I'm looking for more than a little bit
I'm gonna have to find my way through it
I'm gonna leave a mark 
I'm gonna set a spark
I'm coming up off the ground
I won't be looking down

The times you don't wanna wake up
Cause when you sleep 
it's never over when you give up

The sun is always gonna rise up
you need to get up 
gotta keep your head up

Look at the people all around you
the way you feel 
is something everybody goes through

Dark out
but you still gotta lie up
you need to wake up 
gotta keep your face up

Thursday 8 November 2012

Dream list 2012

1. To have my own boutique hotel in the middle of exotic scenery
2. To build a public library with a small cafe inside
3. To have a lovely house in Ubud
4. To have my book published and won literature award
5. To have an indie album from the songs I made
6. To raise a pair of cute puppies
7. To travel around the world before turning 30
8. To establish a Yayasan working on educational issue for kids who live in remote areas

These are my dreams, what is yours?

Dreams leave hope, it keeps you alive.



Olivia

Saturday 3 November 2012

Traveling in Lombok, NTB

Early this year, I went to Lombok in Nusa Tenggara Barat with my travel buddies. It was my first time visiting Lombok (the world known tourist destination in Indonesia after Bali). These days, Lombok is getting more  tourist attention especially after the opening of its new international airport. Airasia, for example, has just launched a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Lombok. I predict in the future, Lombok will gain more visitors as the local government has step by step started to promote Lombok as a tourist destination. 

Different from Bali, the majority of the people who live in Lombok are Muslims. Still, there is a significant percentage of Hindu people in Lombok.
Hence almost similar with Bali, the major tourist attraction is the beach itself and the culture exhibition. Sasak people (the local ethnic of Lombok) usually live in the hut where they do handcraft  and then sell it the tourist who drop by in their village.

The three main Gili (Sasak word means island): Gili Air, Gili Trawangan and Gili Meno is the main tourist destinations in  Lombok. In my opinion, the islands are very similar with Kuta in Bali especially the Trawangan one. So many foreigner. I feel like I am not even in my own country when I was in Gilis. 
The unique thing in Gili is there is no fuel transportation. You can only use cart with horse and bicycle to go around. While Senggigi, the beach in the main island, has lost its popularity these days probably due to the tourist expansion to the Gilis. 

 Like usual, the main activities that you can do while on island holiday are snorkeling, diving or other water sports (you mention!).




Went to Lombok by boat from Bali










Their main food, forgot the name, but its just Sate and Lontong

The main transportation




Ayam Taliwang, the main cuisine. 

Pearl, they are famous for this product 

the special motive of Sarong




Olivia

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