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.

The Girl on the Train

Title: The Girl on the Train

Author: Paula Hawkins

Translator: Inggrid Nimpoeno

Penerbit Noura Books

August 2015

431 pages

If you are addicted to Gillian Flynn's works, the debut of British author Paula Hawkins can be one of the choices since it also delivers a psychological thriller. Many reviews referred to the book as "the next Gone Girl". By early August 2015, the book had sold more than three millions copies in U.S. alone. DreamWorks Pictures is having the right to adapt to novel into screen and planned to be released on October 2016. 

The Girl on the Train follows the story of a woman named Rachel, a 32-year-old alcoholic. She's divorced to Tom, her ex-husband who left her for another woman, Anna. Tom and Anna then got married and live in Rachel's former house while Rachel has nothing and finally stays at a friend's house. How tragic.

Everyday, to kill time, Rachel goes on a train to London. Along her journey, she passes the same suburban houses each day and sees the same people going about their lives. She witnesses her old house and the neighborhood and also the 'perfect' couple, Scott and Megan. Then one day she sees something that leads her becoming involved in the murder mystery of Megan.

With those conditions as described above, you can imagine the dark, haunting and depressing plot. If you love a book with twists, turns, and excitement, this one is well worth reading. 

A-N-T-U-S-I-A-S

The girls' school has no ranking system. However to make students feel special, one of the ways is by awarding them with special rewards. Every month the class teacher will award some students as Student of the Month. The categories for this award are so many. I think it depends on the teacher's creativity since all students will get this award sooner or later within two semesters. The categories could be: the most disciplined student, the most helpful student, the most creative student, etc.

Last couple weeks ago Zea said that she had an important information for me. Well...okay, what is it girl? Then she gave me her award certificate. Wow...congrats, girl. You made us proud. She smiled from ear to ear. But when I was about to leave, she suddenly asked, "Ma, antusias itu artinya apa?"

Go Set A Watchman

Title: Go Set A Watchman

Author: Harper Lee

Translator: Berliani Mantili Nugrahani & Esti Budihabsari

Publisher: Penerbit Qanita

Publication date: September 2015

288 pages

I am sure most of us love the American classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. It's hard not to love this Pulitzer Prize winning novel that in 1999 voted as Best Novel of the Century. After publishing this novel in 1960s, there's no work of Lee published again thus people keep asking about whether Harper Lee is a one-book-wonder. She answered her devoted readers' curiosity with a dignified silence.

Go Set A Watchman was initially written down in 1950s, before To Kill A Mockingbird,  and originally rejected by the publisher. Assumed to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in late 2014 by Lee's lawyer, Tonja Carter, who was assigned to appraise Lee's assets. She re-examined Lee's safe deposit box and found a manuscript of Go Set A Watchman in it. She contacted Lee and passed the manuscript on to Lee's agent, Andrew Nurnberg and on February 3, 2015, HarperCollins announced that they would publish Go Set A Watchman.

The book was having an awesome response. It was sold 1,1 million copies on the first week and beat the sale of Harry Potter and 50 Shades of Grey.

The book still delivers the same characters and setting. If you miss Jean 'Scout' Louise and her father, Atticus, here they are. But Scout is 26 years old and works in New York now. One day she returns home to visit her aging father and found out that everything changes. Her homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truth about her family, the town and the people dearest to her.

Highly recommended. Unforgettable novel about wisdom, humanity, passion and humour. A life-time favourite book.

The author, Harper Lee, is 89 now. She lives in Monroeville, Alabama, blind and deaf.  

Some Beautiful Places to Get Lost

The magnificent Museum Angkut, Batu, Malang

Still at Museum Angkut

TRAVELING- it leaves you speechless, 

then turns you into a storyteller.

--Ibn Batutta

Lanterns at Batu Spectacular Night

The apple plantation

Just returned from Malang, Batu and Bromo for weekend getaway with two friends. Feeling totally refreshed and recharged. Love the city, surrounding and all. 

The amazing Batu Secret Zoo 

The mystical Bromo

If you think adventure is dangerous,

try routine, it is lethal.

--Paulo Coelho

Horse riding at Bromo (really helpful for lansia like me, haha