Can't Get Enough of Bali

Just like other Australian, my cousin and his Australian wife are crazy about Bali. Every time they have holiday, the first destination that hit their mind will be Bali, Bali and Bali. I asked them once, why do you Australian love Bali so very much? They said that because:

1) in Bali they can do anything that are not allowed in Australia. Hold on...such as? Well...going to salon everyday, having cream bath, massage, lulur, pedicure, medicure, and other wellness stuff with a very cheap price yet a very skillful staff. Even you can have those services at your hotel and they still offer reasonable price.

2) Okay, next, they enjoy the food, the cafe and the ambience.

3) Other favorite thing is they can hire a motorbike and ride around Bali sometimes even without helmet. Okay, this one is dangerous but it's okay they say once in a while to ride a bike in an Indo way. I don't know whether I should be proud of or ashamed of this label, lol. 

So, there we were, spending the last four days in Bali. Following the Australian way, once they enjoy of something, they will definitely do the same things over and over again while me as Indonesian, just like to explore and try new things, such as when I choose hotel, I will avoid to stay at the same hotel, especially in Bali when you have heaps of excellent hotel choices with reasonable price, but again we stay at the same place Kuta Regency Villa. It's a nice villa actually, good location, nearby the airport (good to anticipate Bali's traffic jam that getting worse each day), having four bedrooms and a private pool, but we've been here before. Still we could live with that since the point of this trip was to share the holiday with our families and relatives. 

We just went with the flow. Enjoying the holiday. Having never-ending chit-chat and lots of laughter. That the best part. Anyway we dropped by at Potato Head for the first time. Love everything there unless the bill, hahaha...

We went back to Jakarta before Christmas came. We thought Bali would be packed during Christmas and new year.  But still our flight had a three-hour-delay. The good thing is Bali's airport is very cozy now. The renovation is completely done thus it's nice to just stay there waiting.  We arrived home at 1 am, tired but happy. Thanks for the holiday, mate!!!       

The Rosie Project

Title: The Rosie Project

Author: Graeme Simsion

Translator: Dharmawati

Gramedia, 2015

372 pages

The debut work of Australian author, Graeme Simsion. The Rosie Project was released in 2013 and got a big success up until today. Even the sequel The Rosie Effect has been released in 2014. 

A romance about a genetics professor, Don Tillman, nearly 40 but have never had any second date with a woman. Although very smart but Don is not too good to deal with people particularly women. Very common. Genius is hard to understand. Moreover Don also suffers of Asperger syndrome (an autism disorder that make the affected children and adults having difficulty in social interactions).

With a friend's help, Don starts a wife project, a long questionnaire is involved, designed to select those who meet his criteria. When the unsuitable Rosie comes, everything changes. It turns out that Rosie becomes a big part of Don's life.

Sound too cliche? Yes, actually all is predictable.  No twist or something that make readers curious to find out more. It's just a simple book. Perhaps this book is suitable to accompany you during the flight but that's it, once is more than enough to read it. 

Life Lately

Happy faces welcoming holiday

Time management could be an issue for everyone. Nope it doesn't relate to age. Even at my 'lansia' time, I face it again. It's all started when a friend asked me to collaborate and set up a Legal Translation Service. As a lawyer beside drafting a contract sometimes we also need to translate the contract into English particularly when one of the parties in the contract is a foreign company or an expatriate. At first my friend's offer sounded interesting since I think it's time for me to consider more work-from-home projects. Nevertheless I also remember a friend said that as soon as you become a translator, your life will be totally changed. Yes, you might stay at home but you also deal with deadline and mostly 'unbelievable' ones. 

After five years living my life as a part-timer here and there, I just found out that my pace now perhaps a bit slowing down. Age factor? could be #sound a denial here??? Lately I found my life is really hectic. Days run. Time does fly. Too fast. Sometimes I can't cope with it.

Just realize that it's already in the middle of December.  The girls just finished the school exam and ready for two-week-holiday while their mom is still struggling between teaching stuff and translation deadline. Oh Lord..

A new year is coming its way. Got a feeling that 2015 is running too fast or is it just my melancholy feeling? Don't know yet #continue checking Traveloka's website for budget holiday. Yes girls, I know you need holiday, so do I. Btw, why on earth are there no more reasonable tickets for the following week? WHY? WHY??? Do I sound stress? Perhaps I do but...just a bit #still on denial.