FOR SOME BEACHES AND CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER

It is a wonder why not many people travel to this part of the world. Manado is on the island of Sulawesi, 3 hours flight from Jakarta and can be accessed directly from Singapore via Silkair. Christians make up for the majority of Manado. There are churches every 20 meters on the same street. It is nothing like I've ever seen before. The moment you get there, you know that you are not in Java.






Manado has the best of both worlds - the mountains and the sea. Travel one hour inland and you can get to Lake Tomohon. Travel 1.5 hours out towards the sea and you get to see world's most beautiful ocean inhabitants. The island of Bunaken is world famous for the protected marine national park.

WE'RE ASIANS AND WE'RE ABOUT FOOD

Javanese food is mostly on the sweet side, and they come in various forms. The best ones are always on the dark corners of the street. It's lunch, dinner and dessert.

And oh, you need to go to a different place for all of them. That's part of the fun.
The hunt is the fun.

ABOUT THE JAVANESE

My dad comes from a small town called Magelang in Central Java, at the foot of the mighty Mount Merapi where the river Progo runs through its veins. Contemporary Magelang makes its name by being home to the Army Academy and local delicacies of kupat tahu, mie jawa, getuk eco, and more things I do not know about. My knowledge about this place is limited because other than the bi-annual family trips, it was never my home.

Having said that, much of my life is partly shaped by Magelang -- by the mixture of babah culture; of the Chinese and Javanese through the set of values placed by my father and applicated loosely by my mother. We like our food on the sweet side, like Javanese food. Sweet soya sauce is almost a staple condiment. We do not express emotions verbally, much like the Javanese. Regretfully, we're not fluent in the arts and culture... very unlike the Javanese!

Ullen Sentalu is a private musem in the heights of an area called Kaliurang. It is a private museum dedicated to the stories of Javanese royals, arts and culture. Who would have thought that a Javanese kind must be able to dance, and coreograph a royal dance too? Who would have thought that 15 century Javanese royals were so in tune with European fashion that a queen would have a feather fan? Or a King with tuxedo style top, all whilst wearing his royal batik bottom?

The star of the museum is definitely the legacy of the late king of Jogjakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX. His Highness created 9 dances during his reign, paid the salary of the 1st Indonesian President when he was in exile, became a Vice President, eliminating class boundaries between Javanese royals and the common folk by releasing traditional royal batik patters for all, fluent in several languages. Did I say that he was also good looking?

All at the entrance price of 25,000 IDR, you would get so much more by listening to the guided tour given with much jesterly fun. About an hour from Jogjakarta, it is not to be missed.

Demistifying Scandinavia

1. SCANDINAVIANS ARE TALL AND BLONDE (FALSE)

Most of them are above average height, and you'll be hard pressed to find people below 5'3" but they are not THAT tall. There are more people with longer legs in Holland or Germany.

Although there were a fair amount of varying type of blonde, surprisingly enough there were more people with darker coloured hair. The two ladies from Gothenburg, whom I met in Bergamo, explained to me that this myth was probably correct until about 20 years ago, when Sweden took a lot of immigrants. We are now beginning to see results of assimilation between various races. That is definitely for the better, because there was not a single ugly person. And I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but really... there was none!

2. SCANDINAVIA IS VERY EXPENSIVE (PARTLY TRUE)

When I told people that I would be traveling to Scandinavia, most eyes will automatically widened and mouths gaped open, "Ooooh... that must be expensive." And I would responded by doing the same thing, "I know!!"

All these hype turned out to be an exaggeration. It is definitely not cheap to travel around, but costs are actually very reasonable and comparable to other major European countries. Most of things have good quality (... not to mention good design) and they are made to last. In other words, you actually get a bit of run for your money.

Train travels in Scandinavia is excellent. It is really easy to purchase tickets; online, through automated ticket machines or over the counter. Even if you're only travelling 2nd class, you have the option of sitting in a quiet compartment, internet on board, table or no table. Most importantly, unlike their Italian counterpart... Scandinavian trains always arrive on time.

So, how cheap or expensive Scandinavia is really depends on how you value the important things in your travel.

3. THE DANES ARE THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE ON EARTH (TRUE)

One of the reason I was keen on checking out Copenhagen was because I heard about this, and a friend who moved there said the same thing, and another couple said similar things. I wondered, how can all these people be right at the same time?

Then I discovered that the main reason the Danes are considered the happiest people on earth is because they're in control of what they think is important in life. Much of living in Denmark is centred around family and friends; work, career, and money is seen to be means to an end and not vice versa. It is of course, a very optimistic generalisation... but generally speaking, most Danes will go home at 5pm (when they're supposed to, even if they're expected not to...). They take family very seriously. Similar to Asian cultures, their concept of family also consists of cousins, second cousins, old family friends so close they're considered family -- family is one big extensive relationships.

All of the above is possible because the country is economically strong. Poverty (at least as I know it) does not exist in Scandinavia, as it has one of the world's most advanced social welfare system. Its citizens are highly taxed, but they see every penny goes back into providing for the society.

It is easier to be happy when you no longer have to worry about food on the table.

I heart Stockholm

September 2008

Stockholm, where I left my heart...
September 2008

Grey skies and showers greeted me coldly as I stepped out of the bus in Stockholm's central station. The hope of no rain and a little bit of sunshine diminished right there and then, but the hostel was nice, comfortable and cozy. It turned out to be one of the best hostel bed I've ever slept on; with face towels, bath towels and... a bath robe! Even if the room was on the small side, Hostel Rienstierna is highly recommended.

Stockholm consists of small islands connected by bridges. The best way to experience it is to get lost exploring the quaint little streets. My tall Swede friend was meeting me for a welcome drink at a nice bar called Gondolen towering high above the corner of Sodermalm, looking into Gamla Stan. We went walking through the old streets of Gamla Stan; he was being a full on tour guide explaining the different sights.

The next day, Inta came from the village of Vasteras to spend a whole day in Stockholm. We walked everywhere, to the Vasa Museum where the Viking ship Vasa lost its glory on its maiden voyage, to Skansen to check out traditional Swedish village houses and finally roaming the shops of Gotgatan in Sodermalm. Dinner @ ENTRE' completed the night.

Stockhom is a city that is inherently cool without even trying. People are friendly, they look trendy without being pretencious, stylish without being over the top. Like a perfect cake, it has all the right ingredients... and once again, I fell in love. It was unexplainable. There wasn't any particular thing that drove me crazy, or an event that made my heart melt. It was chemistry where everything fit.

Even if it was 10 degrees weather, grey skies and constant drizzle.

I fell in love.

LOST FOR SEA FOOD AT SUNSET

Vernazza, Cinque Terre

The road trip began the moment the wedding was over. After saying goodbye to Babs on the church's parking lot (... apparently they missed out on signing something the day before, but all was sorted - she was officially married by the next day) and a few photos later, we set off to drop Amelia in Milan and continued to Cinque Terre.

There was the usual stories of getting lost, given the run around by Tom Tom but we finally managed to get to Vernazza, one of the 5 villages of Cinque Terre. The sun was setting and the water was riding high when we arrived. The clouds were covering the pink sky, but the sight was definitely one to be remembered. It was one of those moments where you feel so small against the wonders of nature.

In continuation to our Italian theme, the evening was closed by superb sea food framed by the pink sunset which slowly losing its colour. The dark sky sent us home to our bed, with full stomach and contentment that the day, once again... a wonderful day.

ITALY - FOOD, MEN AND FABULOSO MATRIMONIO

Milano (Sep 2008)
Milan was still well into its summer; it refuses to give in to the coming autumn by holding on to its last breath of hot weather and sunshine. Milan was our rendez vous point - Amelia, Ann, Hanim and Wendy met in the B&B before we start our trip to Bab's wedding in Varese. They had been on the road, traveling around Tuscany for about a week prior to our meeting. I could understand girls and suitcases full of wine and shopping, but what they arrived in completely blew me away! It was a friggin tank... and in a city like Milan, or any city in Europe for that matter -- definitely not the preferred mean of transport.

Amelia was our social secretary for Milan. Her fantastic connection brought us to drinks in Milan, extremely good food, and more drinks and clubbing only the Milanos know how. It was the first day of the winter clubbing season; all the bars were opened from their long summer holidays, and the club were packed with locals screaming, "It's summer, I don't want to work..." to the music. Partying in Milan also opened our eyes about the super trendy Italian men, with matching coloured belts and pointy shoes, the fascination with white shirts (lost count on the number of white shirts clubbing with us that night), and girls with stilletto heels on the cobbled streets of Milan. It was trendy, it was crazy and the night never stopped...

Varese (Sep 2008)
But we were in Italy for one reason, and that was to be there for Bab's wedding. The beautiful lake Varese was to witness the matrimony of our dear friends Babs and Tim. Being non catholics, we had no idea that we were supposed to be fully covered going into the church. Being ready to party, we had sexy dresses with open shoulders and low cut cleavage. That was a serious no! no! Oh, no! Luckily, Amelia and Wendy brought shawls with them-- but Ann had none! Well, we just had to share. The Padre laughed at our desperate attempts to respect local tradition that he even took a photo of the girls sharing the shawl and moving like siamese twins, adjoined by a grey shawl.

Hanim delivered a moving song that nearly sent people into tears. Apparently Babs had numerous inquires from older men about our darling Hanim. No can do baby! She's well taken and unavailable! The wedding was beautiful, even if we couldn't understand it because the mass was held in Italian but there were lotsa rice, water pistol fight (... yeah, must be the Italian way) and a wedding car that refused to start... not only that, the best traffic police in Italy! Our own Padre made sure the bride and groom gets to the reception venue safely.
The 11 tables were named after Juventus' first 11 players. Amelia and I sat on Buffon table; who's also Italian football national team's goal keeper. The rest of the girls sat on Del Piero table, who's one of Italy's infamous striker. Tim is a big Juventus tifosi! And how clearly that shows! Food was plentiful, wine was drank like water and the food, oh... the food! I can't remember how many times I've died and gone to heaven on Italian food!! Yummy!! The music was good, the new company was excellent and everybody had one helluva night.

I made several new friends in Italy, let's hope that life crosses our paths once again.

ON THE ROAD
Geneva, Switzerland (Sep 2008)

I am finally traveling again; in a combination of business and pleasure. Suddenly life becomes interestingly different and my mental state needed some realignment. Traveling can be quite funny; it's such a multi-sensory experience that heightens life to the next level. I feel so alive.

My journey began in Geneva. Eurovision - EBU has its headqurters in this small city in Switzerland, where life is easy and fantastic panorama just a glance away. You can only be special if you have the view of the Alps from your top floor canteen. Geneva is special, and the weather for the past few days were great. Suddenly, the voices of my Geneva colleagues I've been hearing in the last 8 months takes a personal form and as FMI said, "life is dandy".

The most amazing thing about being a part of an international organisation is the fact that everybody comes from a different part of the world. It is such an enriching cultural experience just to have lunch with a Finnish, Cuban-American, Spanish, English and Indonesian. One can speak of issues like gender equality without realising how alien this concept is for our Finnish colleague. In Finland, gender equality is never an issue; father and mother has equal rights to take 'parental leave' to spend time with their children, and there is no such thing as machoism. We spoke of families, near and far; The different roads leading to different countries. We spoke about the road in France called Rue de Geneve, and the road in Geneve called Rue de France. I saw flamenco on the street of Geneve. There was a rainbow, quaint little cobble stone streets and numerous placas.

I'm being reminded on the essence of traveling; it makes no matter business or pleasure. Travels teach you things beyond your imagination and takes you places further than that little dot on the map. It creates a buzz that leaves you wanting for more. If this addiction, I can not get enough of it...

Stay here for my Italian wedding adventures. Next destination: Milano.

TB has graciously put together this montage of our adventures. Enjoy!