Bali: Now

"In Bali, everything is about “fun”. People has all the access for that easily. If Alcohol is not satisfying enough, you can combine it with weed, or move to drugs, or just run into sex, or all of them. “Get wasted” they say. Sooner or later you would be dragged to see things they way those people do ” see man or woman as simply a potential sex buddy” instead of trying to see who they really are.

In another part of the island, some people come to find “answers”. They practice meditation, they do yoga, they eat expensive healthy food, they go to ashram to find some Gurus to tell them what they actually already have inside.

After 6 years, i still find it so difficult to find something that is real in Bali. Left alone to find real people. The local seems to keep losing their true identity, and the comer finds it as heaven to just exploit and destroy the nature of the island."

Those are excerpts I borrowed from a friend's blog, the talented Sita Teofani. She has lived in Bali for a few year and now tell the tale about her love/hate relationship with this cosmopolitan island. Her words mirrors my sentiment on what Bali has become. Sex. Drugs. Alcohol. Endless parties. Exploitation. Traffic. Over-population. The island, if She could talk, will surely grumble on the weight She has to carry.

I'm afraid for Bali. I'm afraid for this tiny island that everybody wants to own and pillage. I'm afraid what will we become in the next decade.

Will we persist? Will we be strong enough to absorb and re-create the best of current condition? Will we have a strong, wise and smart leader who think more than just his governing period and what he could benefit from it? Will we, as Balinese, able to unite and intelligently have our voices heard? Will we be able to criticize what needs to be criticized, focus on what's important and able to see beyond our limitation?

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2011 picked a wise quotation from a wise Balinese priest, Ida Pedanda Made Sidemen: "...idep beline mangkin makinkin mayasa lacur, tong ngelah karang sawah, karang awake tandurin..."

"...my intention now, pursuing the life of simplicity, (since) I don't have any ricefield, I (shall) cultivate the land within myself"

It is time, isn't it my fellow Balinese?

More about → Bali: Now

"Already am, always was, and I still have time to be"

2011 was an exciting year. A nuclear plantation leaked, few dictators were either couped or dead and economy went ballistic but for me 2011 was a year of wonder, travel, excitement, too much weddings and luckily only a few funeral.

Travel check list: Perth & Fremantle, Penang, Singapore, Vietnam (Saigon, Hue and Hoi An)

Notable performances: The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber Musical Show at Burswood, WA; Zee Avi concert at Hu'u, Bali; ASEAN - Russian Symphony Orchestra of Young Musician at Bali Theater; Amiina performs live soundtrack to Lotte Reiniger's shadow puppet animation at National Museum of Singapore

Rather special museum experience: "van Gogh Alive" at Art Science Museum Singapore. Picture yourself walking or sitting with a moving blown up high resolution image of van Gogh masterpieces while Debussy was being played as the background music; a tour inside The Blue Mansion, Penang

Well, being: 30 days challenge hot yoga class successfully done and I now managed to do the boat pulling pose for 30 seconds straight.

Family milestone: two cousins got married (which means this year the spotlight will be directed to yours truly, ahem) and one of my best friend also said 'I do' in the most spectacular fashion: 3 days Indian wedding feast

Notable films: Micmacs (French), Heartbreaker (French), The Cove (USA), An Education (UK), 40 Years of Silence (USA), Midnight in Paris (USA), Hiphopdiningrat (Indonesian), Star Trek (USA), Dogma (USA), Jane Eyre (U.K), Easy A (USA), All About My Mother (Spain)

Notable books: Holy Cow (Sarah Macdonald), Cafe Scheherazade (Arnold Zable), Smile When You’re Lying: Confession of A Rogue Traveler (Chuck Thompson), The Best of Everything (Rona Jaffe), The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver), American Gods (Neil Gaiman), One Day (Mike Nicholls), The Book Thief (Markus Suzak), Beauty and Sadness (Yasunari Kawabata), A Storm of Swords (George R.R. Martin), How I Live Now (Meg Rosoff), Babette’s Feast (Isak Dinesen), White Rose, Red Rose (Eileen Chang)

Favorite new found activities: hot yoga, monthly book swap, morning yoga by the sea, self taught myself SEO optimization, letting my inner Nigella loose in the kitchen, ikebana, Sanur Film Nights screening on a bamboo house, bush walking, vineyard tour, ANZAC Day dawn ceremony, tie dye making

Notable food/drink: Asam Laksa at Guerney Hawker Center, Penang; Beef Pho at a random eatery on Saigon; Vietnamese Fresh Spring Roll (so much so I now able to roll it myself); Nasi Kandar and Banana Leaf Indian food at Penang; BOH Teh Tarik (less sweet); Old Town Cafe Ice Black Coffee; Lie Yen’s Salty Chicken and Pork at Jakarta

Notable series: Downton Abbey, Hot in Cleveland, The Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Modern Family

Decadent experience of the year: one night stay at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

I hope 2012 will grant me more experiences, things to explore and learn, places to go and interesting people to meet. May 2012 will keep my beloved close, healthy and safe despite the dire Mayan prediction. Most of all I hope 2012 will be a year for me to grow.

“…What made the beauty of the moon? / And the beauty of the sea? / Did that beauty make you? / Did that beauty make me? / Will that make me something? / Will I be something? / Am I something?

And the answer comes: Already am, always was, and I still have time to be.”

(poem "Here I Am" by Anis Mojgani)

More about → "Already am, always was, and I still have time to be"

Hoi An Love Affair

My 7 days trip to Vietnam was unevenly split. One night in Saigon, one night in Hue and four nights in Hoi An. I’m glad I made that decision. Four nights allows me to really going around the UNESCO Heritage List old town, riding a bike everywhere and admiring the beautifully restored shop houses. After five hours jolty drive from Danang with bus, Hoi An was really what we need. The sun just set and the paper lanterns were lit up all over the town. Tourists were out for dinner and I felt immediately at home.

French travelers were everywhere along with backpackers, all drawn to the serenity and relaxing vibe Hoi An offers. It’s not difficult to imagine what the town was like 200 years ago. There was no trance thumping bars, happy ending massage parlour, Seven Eleven or all those tourist trap that could be found in major South East Asian cities. My four days there was like a whirl wind of romance. I have fallen in love with her on the first night. I could write a lenghty essay on her gracefulness and charm but pictures might be the best way to tell her story, ‘the town for walkers and primitive vehicle users’.

Ten Things to do in Hoi An:

1. Rent a bicycle and get lost.

2 . Go to the An Bang beach and chill with the locals.

3. Fine affordable dining. Try Cargo.

4. Find the Satay Lady under the Gazebo. Roll your own satay spring roll.

5. Make a dress or a suit.

6. Shop in the market. Bring home the best fish sauce in the world.

7. Learn to cook. Try Morning Glory.

8. Do me a favor and stay in Haan Hotel

9. Eat seafood by the river when the sun goes down.

10. Make a lantern. Lifestart Foundation Tour & Craft Lessons.

More about → Hoi An Love Affair

Tomb Strolling in Hue

Hue is our next destination. The old capital of Vietnam kingdom, chosen hundred of years ago because of its strategic location right in the middle of dragonish geography of Vietnam. After a serious delay courtesy of Jetstar, we landed on a small airport of Da Nang and continue our journey to Hue by car. Flying is just not as fun as driving through the land especially if it was as scenic as the trip we took. Our driver, a silent Driving Miss Daisy type, was not much of a company but he was being complimented by his sister side kick, a bubbly Vietnamese girl whose name just lost me completely. She talked and asked me so many questions along the three hours trip including ‘why you no marry’ to ‘how rich are you’. Even coming from a country where curiosity toward stranger was the norm, I still found it rather winchingly uncomfortable. Nobody ever asked me ‘how rich are you’ back home. Along the up and down hilly ride, I saw many small shrines by the road which apparently to honor people who died on the road which was not such a great surprise considering how they drive their bike there. The big question is: if they build a shrine every time somebody dies, will there come a day when the hill would just turn to be a big hill of road kill shrines?

Arriving in Hue at night, starving and dusty, we were welcomed by the owner of the Huenino hostel we stayed in that night. Wait, did I say hostel? It was better than hotel. Try to name one hotel where you were welcomed with cold towel, orange juice, hot soup and a cake upon your arrival and enter a spotlessly clean room with fragrant sheet. That night I had a short but memorable meeting with a couchsurfer, a sweet and by far the best English speaker I’ve encountered, Ngan (spelled ‘Ngeng’). She told me about her life, her work, Vietnamese war and what she dreams about to be. I could see Vietnam in her. She’s growing to be a cultivated English speaker, eager to welcome change and development and more tourists and although scarred by the war and at times uncertain to step forward, will find its way to be big.

We joined a half day tour to visit some of the tombs scattered around Hue. I hate to join this kind of tour but considering the limited time we have, few stops to incense stick stall ormartial art performance had to be accepted. Tomb of Minh Mang and Tomb of Khai Dinh are two of the best examples. If you have a limited time, do visit those two because all of the tombs are similar. Although they are called tombs no actually bodies of past emperors were buried there. The compound has lakes and leafy gardens to sit down and enjoy the view (which was clearly out of the questions for me at that time since the tour leader already waving his flag around). The renovation was partially done so it was nice to see the actual form before the flashy paint job covered it all.

Tomb of Khai Dinh was in fact quite recently made and therefore more “Europeanized” than the others. It was located on the top of a hill so it was quite a hike to go up. The Emperor was guarded in his after life by stone knights, ministers and general. The white stone used in the facade has grown black over time and serious restoration is needed but it retains some of the charm.

Before leaving for Hoi An, we managed to try the local cuisine. We tried bánh bēo, a canape of sticky rice, shredded shrimp and crunchy pork skin, eaten with a drop of fish sauce. A special mention need to be made for Vietnamese fish sauce. It was good, so good in fact, that I have adapted the Vietnamese habit of adding fish sauce in anything that I ate during my stay. I loved it so much I even took a bottle of home along with the instant pho, soy sauce and dry spring roll skin.

More about → Tomb Strolling in Hue