YOU and I

sweet :)

A great moment at Bawa's house

Throw back few years ago, in October 2010. We were had lunch in one of the Bawa's project, Bawa house 87 at Bentota, Sri lanka. A very good and healty lunch :)
I'm missing my friend here, ms. Kamonchanok tharanukrak.

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Location:Bentota, Sri lanka

Surakarta ( Solo )

Our first travelling in 2013

We ( again ) suddenly decided to go to Solo. Arya said, doing his music ? why not ? so an electronic music community based in that town was invited Arya to perform there. He suspected what kind of crowd will be ? but at least he just passionate to do his music, so it was not a problem anymore, even other community tries to fly Arya and ofcourse me :D to go to Lampung someday. 

It was the 19th January, we flew in the afternoon to Solo, Jakarta to Solo is approximately 1 hour. Before we took the plane, we queue almost 30 minutes outside the plane so..
these are what happened..

busy taking pictures

"sleepy head" face, how about the tote ? love what ?? :D 

Day 1 :
We arrived at rumah turi, friends suggested us to stay there and he paid for this :D, so it was cool! i never heard before about this guest house then i did check out at some sosmed apps and yap! it is quite famous! for a reason : what a good architecture ! 
I think the owner as a civil engineer is a passionate person for doing such an eco-friendly design. Rumah turi puts a strong javanese culture into design which surrounding by nature environment. The architectural detail have a lot of sustainable items and makes the architecture as rich as the nature is. How about the color ? they choosed to have an earth color everywhere, floor, wall, furniture, amenities, fabric, homeware, etc. Called it, one color's gradation. 

heavy raining! that metal is a stage for performing arts 

room corridor

seating area beside the room, at the bench's back is a void, connected to the 1st floor 

openable for any maintenance

exterior lights using bamboo, traditional meets modern system 

the bridge, floor using square beam, trellis using bamboo

floating concrete stair

bird cage :)

recycle wood 

green green grass = sawah

1st floor room corridor. looks the column! cantik sekaliiii

other briliant ideas to put lamp look that good

soak it and make it flush with the floor! love it!

window becoming roofs

using pipe for plants and tight it to the trellis why not ? they have choosen vines so will grow and cover the pipe  

hidden 'smart' place to put room number

breakfast by the good view : to see the rain or performing arts :P

or breakfast by the garden

hello garbage

When i was there, my feeling was mix out, very happy to see all the nature things, like they puts a good treatment into it, every plants looks growing so well and planting touched by rain water is never feel you bad isn't it ? :)
The further feeling is this rumah turi makes you like feeling home, earthy, even modest. Check their website www.rumahturi.com

All the interesting part of Solo just started here, we also went to a resto it called SS, sambal something ( sorry it is my bad ! ), everything about chili ( sambal ), you could choose like 30 different types and it's very cheap. We eat 4 person and total only 60.000 idr what ??? only 6 -7 usd. After that we continued to Arya's event at Space club. The place is very near from Sekaten night market, we would love to go but it was raining quite hard, so we just stayed in that club until the time begin.

Other local food which we had tried was nasi liwet ( nasi is rice ). Nasi liwet cooked in coconut milk and chicken broth. It usually served with opor ayam ( chicken cooked in mild coconut milk based sauce ), telur pindang ( boiled egg with spices ) and labu siam ( let say chayote ). 

early in the morning. at some solo's pedestrian, they called it lesehan

Day 2 :
Woke up and Checked out from hotel, we walked to took a becak ( local transportation ) and asked the driver to brought us to a palace, Pura Mangkunegaran. From hotel to Pura we only paid 20.000 idr , then the ticket to enter Pura is 25.000 idr per person. 

Lucky, we have got a good tour guide ever ! his name is pak budi. he could explained anything in his charming way so i bet you won't get boring. We have walked about 2.5 hours. He teached you every detail like a history teacher :D, he could explained why this column like this, from which country the floor is, from which dinasty the homeware is, why the statue stands there, like what the family member of this palace are, even he challenged us to know how to read the heritage in the museum and etc etc. What an amazing day for us! i do appreciate after all, they are a loyal person for their and probably future generation and they concerns how to make this still alive ! 

the front office as a visitor gate

mostly this place is for ceremonial event, they puts 3 gamelans which having each name on it, and also the purpose of each gamelan is for different event.
 soko guru ( main four column ), made by one piece tree and the trunk divided into 4 pieces, bottom part is an italian marmer, the yellow paint is copper, pendant lights are from europe long long time ago

the main foyer

ceiling for the soko guru, each block with different color is having the meaning about life, sex, money, etc
( forgot leeee )

we are ready to go inside ! the main building for a Mangkunegaran

the italian marmer, what a big piece! look the arrow it stand out both side, they puts the detail to go centre to the soko guru

the logo of Mangkunegaran

kaca patri. glass painting 

beautiful garden 

After this whole history time, we continued the journey, walked straight to met a ngarsopuro area. There is a ngarsopuro art market, they are selling antique stuff, from old money until beautiful antiques lamp. I have got interested with a stuff ( i don't what to call it ) to make batik pattern, the dimension about 20 or 25 x 25 cm, i was thought to put it on the wall, become a wall art module or a fancy interior screen but when i asked about the price then i've got shock, it is start from 400.000 idr ( whattt ?) well..maybe next time :)

One thing to do if you go travelling is to try the local food, near from the art market there is a place to sell sate buntel. It is kambing aka goat, so i didn't try it hahaa but Arya did! the price with a glass of hot tea only 18.000 idr. oomayygwadd another cheap thing!

traditional jongko

Solo is super hot those day! but it's a sunny day so we were happy to continue to walk to the batik museum and boutique, Danar hadi. From ngarsopuro to Danar hadi only took 10 minutes walk. Then continue to took a becak because time is running out for us, we went to sekaten market at north alun-alun. 

Sekaten is an event to celebrate a maulid nabi ( prophet ) day, on 24th January, so a week before that they had a ceremony related with the javanese culture, palace's people have a mandatory to do this event every year.

What do you think about sekaten ? super crowded! a lot of people, raining so not really convinient to walked around. They sold a sandang pangan papan, human needs for life, let say local food, clothes, homewares, at the other part they have a children playground. Unfortunately we didn't have a chance to see the performing art, so bad..

Anyway the last destination before airport is PGS, a place to sell batik, cheaper than the boutique and it looks like market. Better watch out your stuff here :D, also you could buy a local food for oleh - oleh. We took becak again from sekaten to this place and paid 20.000 idr, from PGS to airport by taxi priced 30.000 idr. 

People! That's my report and hopefully can come back to this down to earth city someday. 

These are some information about Solo :
Surakarta, often called Solo and less commonly Sala, is a city in Central Java, Indonesia of more than 520,061 people (2009)^[1] with a population density of 11,811.5 people/km². The 44 km² city^[2] adjoins Karanganyar Regency andBoyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and west, and Sukoharjo Regency to the south.^[3] On the eastern side of Solo lies Bengawan Solo River. The city is the seat of Surakarta Sunanatekraton (palace/court). Together with Yogyakarta, Surakarta is the heir of theMataram Kingdom that was split into two kingdoms in 1755.

Surakarta is a lowland lying on flat terrain 105 m above sea level (in the city center about 95 m above sea level), with an area of 44.1 km²(0.14% of the area of Central Java). It is approximately 65 km (40 mi) northeast of Yogyakarta and 100 km (62 mi) southeast ofSemarang. The eastern part of the town is bordered by Bengawan Solo River, the longest river on Java. The river is the inspiration for the song "Bengawan Solo", a 1940s composition by Gesang Martohartono which became famous throughout much of Asia. The city's soil is fertile because of the river and its tributaries.

The city is surrounded by Merbabu and Mount Merapi (3,151 m high) to the west and Mount Lawu (3265 m high) to the east. The Sewu Mountain Range lies further south.

milestone. how about yours ?

i called it life and i'm blessed until now...

all years was great and i thank God for that

2005

i joined the sunsilk beauty camp with my 2 best friends, we had chosen from girls all around indo, i was only 150 lucky winner girls. we went and stayed at le meridian hotel, for the first time i was falling in love with yoga by the beach.

2006 

graduated in 4 years ( july 2002 - august 2006 ) with ipk 3 point something :)

first job. someone asked me to be his assistant lighting designer. i'm impressed with good quality reality design for the first time.

2007

had so much adrenaline went to Singapore, became assistant architect, local firm, few people, what a good bos ever! ( first time to realized that buddist people is always have a good manner, don't you think so ? ), learnt a lot of things from my senior and make a good friend until now with a girl from Vietnam and Philippines ( dear Ada and Karen, someday i'll travel to your place! it's my promise! ).

2008
messy broken hearted.

bought white mac book.

written a novel ( not finished yet until now but file was gone ).

blackberry was in my hand.

2009
i have written this blog in those sunny day for the first time ( in mid june..i guess so ).

a very tough time for life and love...lol

moved to my dream place Bali :) became architect in one of the fancy catchy italian firm, crazy funky bosses.

also learnt became a shop manager. 

more in love with beaches, bikini for the first time ( hahaha not cool at all! ).

 drove vw kodok for the first time.

fun & funny friends! gank bali!!! 

they did the best my birthday surprise ever so far..

more realized if life is always beautiful.

maybe Bali is the future

2010 

met my 'right guy' and decided if holiday was should be over :D, i called it hello again sin city!

lucky draw 1st winner from singtel, won S$ 1450 + 2 pax return tickets Garuda Indonesia.

passionate bos, passionate office! with their fancy name. truly became a designer, learnt a lot of things about design and life, touched the design crowd and project so intents, responsible in many ways for your own project, and many drama office queen was happening :P

went to Sri lanka for Geoffrey Bawa's project.

got LOA from Anhalt University in Dessau, Germany.

2011

sucks farewell ever :(

bought my dream iPhone

writing about Singapore about few pages in this blog, still a good memories tho.

applied twice *sigh and got LOA from Politecnico di Milano in Milan but unsuccessful scholarship.

married

bought apartment in Jakarta.

travelled to Malino, Jogja, Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, ofcourse Singapore.

joined one of the architecture firm, became partner.

went to gili islands for the first time and backpacked.

get to know the Kuma's staff ( so proud hahaaaa ).

probably enter the fashion school but so unfortunate that i couldn't have a time.

2012

enter the big firm.

quit the partner job.

bought my dream car :)

bought my first cow for qurban , it is the first time 

preparing for the 'real' school : london nor milan.

this are so far..probably to be continue..

penang.malaysia

we were in penang this mid 2012!
so unpredictable but happy tho :)

fancy mirror airport

we really wanna travel more and more..just like every people in the world. pack your bags and go!as simple as that...

we are happy enough to found the best fare to go to penang but all the routes were busy and confusing a bit because we have to go to singapore also. so those time were jakarta - kuala lumpur - penang - kuala lumpur - singapore - jakarta! omg!

it was 5 flights in 4 days!

i did contacted my friend, might be i can call him my big brother ( actually not so old tho hahaa ), he's a penangnese ( can i call him that :P ), he lives in George Town. he suggested many good places, i clearly told him that i wanna see many architectural and cultural sites in his hometown. so random, i saw those hotel websites to compare everything, my option is to stay in the hotel which have a swimming pool, even though i never go swim then *sigh, the fact is i just too tired after hang out and walked around the city that day. then i had choosed tanjong bungah area, about 10 minutes to batu ferringhi area and quite far from goerge town. 

btw kuala lumpur to penang approx. 45 minutes by flight, then from airport to tanjong bungah area approx.30 minutes by car.

lucky we took few maps and any information about what was happening in penang..because if you're a tourist somehow you will get lost and difficult to talk with local people, they don't bother you and not becoming very helpful. i was feeling like we did an amazing race game, we had to read our own maps and took local transportation and just stopped anywhere because the bus driver not even tried to let us know and we just walked ,and walked..randomly..thanks to the map!

i love george town very much. not really impressed with tanjong bungah or batu ferringhi. i do put attention to their heritage architecture, spread out every where, somehow you could find mcdonalds in the 30's classic building :) 

The architecture of Penang is a durable testament of her history – a culmination of over a century and a half of British presence, as well as the confluence of immigrants and the culture they brought with them. Fort Cornwallis at the Esplanade was the first structure the British built in Penang.^[126][127] Outstanding examples of colonial period buildings include the Municipal Council and Town Hall buildings, the buildings in the old commercial district, the Penang Museum, the Eastern and Oriental Hotel, and St George's Anglican Church – all of which are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Suffolk House, the former residence of Penang's British governors, on the banks of the Air Itam river is an example of the Anglo-Indian garden house.^[128] The stately Seri Mutiara (formerly known as the Residency), completed in 1890 as the residence of Penang's British Resident Councillors, is today the official residence of the Governor.^[129] Chinese influence is visible at the many ornate clan houses, temples, pre-war shophouses, and mansions such as the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. The Clan Jetties are a collection of water villages at Weld Quay. The Indian community built many elaborate temples such as the Mahamariamman temple, while Muslim influence can be seen at the Kapitan Keling Mosque, the Acheh Mosque, and the Penang Islamic Museum. The P. Ramlee Museum is an excellent example of traditional Malay stilt houses. Siamese and Burmese architecture can be appreciated at the Sleeping Buddha and Dharmikarama temples. Modern structures and skyscrapers also abound in Penang, sometimes side by side with heritage buildings. Notable examples include the KOMTAR tower, the UMNO tower and the Mutiara Mesiniaga building.^[130]

for all the photos you can see from:http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151243936354017.420671.746209016&type=3

in george town we can find many templess, mansion, baba houses,  many fancy shops or resto. over all i just love to be in penang. so the tour was:

day 1 : walked around the tanjong bungah area, we went to the beach, it was very quiet..lets say peaceful (?!) we met only 2 groups of people there, i think the beach is not very convinient to swim in, then you will see many information about 'be careful with jelly fish' -___-
we also went to the local kopitiam, i like the penang local food, mostly tasty like indonesian food but the ingredient is a bit different. in the afternoon, our hotel has provided the city tour to batu ferringhi area, we were thinking why not go there?!, even though we are not really wanna see the night market.

but luckily,we found a very nice italian restaurant :) mario ristorante, the architecture is nice and the atmosphere is warm. but we got interested because of their concierge is super nice,he wanna know where are we came from and suggested few good places in penang. 

the chef!

day 2 : in the morning, we went to the beach (this is always our main reason to travel everywhere). we just enjoyed to laid-back and got sun-tanned for few hours. we swam with only few people (i'm sure there are tourist like us), quite calm and what a sunny happy day hahaaa but so sudden, yep i've got the painful sting of the shitty jelly fish! and made me enough to go in to the water again -___-

we continued our journey to go to george town by local bus, and we were confident because the tourist map was in our hand :P

after walked for 5 hours around and impressed with george town, we decided to grab some food and wifi connection :D 

my friend suggested to go to one of the fancy cafe in his hometown.

this is pik nik! and i superrr love it!

at nagore road 15.

piknik word in my language (indonesian) is we do hang out in the garden or the togetherness in a place and in the end of it, you know if it will be a fun journey.
the atmosphere is relaxing and warm, convenient for every youngsters or early 30's customer hahaa(i think so!), the food and the drinks are delicious that comes in fair price :)
what i love from this cafe is the owner has concerned about design, not only the interior but they've done graphics and other fancy and catchy design too, looks fresh and interesting that will make you want to stay longer..
he owns the famous Ownly Penang;the visual design collection in penang, you guys just check it out! http://www.facebook.com/ownlypenang

how gorgeous it is?

the pendant idea ? clever!

wall's graphic

color of benetton

bill matters

their logo is just right! love it!

welcome pepz!

few hours left, we decided to go to another place in different part of penang, it was late afternoon, but we still had big spirit to cheer our day's up!! we took a bus from the bus stop near nagore st, i forgot the bus number but i asked few peoples for direction. the bus fare in penang is quite cheap, and a convenient transportation for tourist. anyway it only took almost 30 minutes to reach pulau tikus area from george town.

i think if you're traveling, it is best to know the local delicacies, so you probably can realize their cultural background or you will get another surprise thing about your trip.
we went to gurney drive, the place to eat everything local, from chinese to malay, from indian to adopted western. the price is ok, somehow it is very cheap, but the place is crowded and we are a bit struggling to find a table. but worth to try!

what a hectic place to hang out :D

we stayed and enjoyed gurney drive food for just an hour then we continued to straits quay, where they said this is the singapore of penang..

At the time, we got lost trying to find the bus stop, we thought for a while how to go to different parts of penang again without wrong direction. 

we wanna see the 'new place' of this city, might be a bit standard feeling but we need a coffee, it's already midnight tho :)

straits quay is located besides the harbour (can i say like this? it's quite small place but..), you can find different style of bar and the view is group of yachts parked beautifully there. 

our pick was an irish bar, it was an amazing place!

the entrance

the last is our proud activities at batu ferringhi.enjoy!

what a beautiful day!

very berry big sands !!

calming relaxing moment

he is ready to jump around

funny tourists

their famous lone pine, a boutique hotel in batu ferringhi area

all beaches have their own beautiful sunset, but this is quite touching

love love the color!

Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast ofPeninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the eighth most populous. It is composed of two parts – Penang Island, where the seat of government is, and Seberang Perai (formerly, and occasionally Province Wellesley) on the Malay Peninsula. Highly urbanised and industrialised Penang is one of the most developed and economically important states in the country, as well as a thriving tourist destination.^[4][5][6] Its heterogeneous population is highly diverse in ethnicity, culture, language, and confessions. A resident of Penang is colloquially known as a Penangite.