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* little sparrow. still learning how to fly

thankee lad!

* moving out day

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* putting whatever i have in the fridge equaled french toast with sprinkled oregano, sliced banana and cheese spread.

* hello ships. welcome to jayapura

* the famous kopi susu of prima garden coffee. comes from arabica beans that grow organically in the highland of wamena. definitely a must try.

* pak budi and kak silvy, the colleague.

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since i haven't found my own place, i currently stay in the office.

it's a 2 storey house. not a fancy one, but proper enough.

the 1st floor is the office and the 2nd floor is the spare rooms.

this place is basically where i spend most of my time in jayapura.

* my usual weekend meal: spaghetti with whatever sauce that's available

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i just found out this afternoon, after reading a lonely planet book and a little googling, that the word papua is derived from malay word 'papuwah' which means frizzled like wool. so orang papuwah means wooly-haired men.

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Watched persipura vs semen padang at mandala stadium.

Persipura is the town's heroes. They just became the champion of ISL, everybody dressed in red jersey and cheered them along.

Our seat was at liverpool section which headed directly to the amun ra, so I was like getting tanned while watching the match.

 The game was a good one, and it was even 1-1.  Some said that the goal semen padang scored was illegal because it was off side. I supposed that was the reason why people threw bottles at the referee right after the game ended.   

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* quiet beach

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I remember during my job interview, my boss mentioned that Papua has more public holidays than Jakarta. I never think about that, until last Friday, my colleague asked about my plan for the long weekend.

”Long weekend? What long weekend?” I said.

“Sunday is the 1st day of Pantekosta, and Monday is the 2nd day of Pantekosta. All schools and government offices are closed. People go to church and attend mass.” She explained.

So yeah, last Monday I went to the beach.

Again, together with my boss coz he wanted to check the tide.

This time, we went to Pasir Dua beach.

From the office, it took us about 10 minutes by car to get there.

Basically, Pasir Dua is located next to Base G. Then next to Pasir Dua is Pasir Tiga;  that is next to Pasir Empat. Right next to Pasir Empat is Pasir Lima; which is of course, next to Pasir Enam. You see, all of these beaches set on one long coastline. People divided them into several and gave each different name.

Same as Skouw, Pasir Dua is situated next to a local village. There’s no charge applied for entering the beach, but a friendly greeting to the locals is advised, as you may park the car at their backyard.  

The place is quiet yet very pretty. You’ll find yourself at peace seeing the pristine white sand beaches, clear blue water and magnificent sky.

Definitely my current favorite.

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egypt - singapore - jakarta, 2010 & 2011 | superheadz blueribbon.

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During my first days, my boss took me to visit some beaches. To tell you the truth, I’m not a beach person. I don’t surf nor dive. But still I like the feel when your foot step in the sand, and always mesmerized by the pretty sky.

First, we went to Base G beach.

Apparently it’s close to the office, only takes 10minutes by car. To get in, you have to pay around 20-50 ribu rupiah per person. They also charge for car or motorcycle.

If you plan to sit back for a little while, there are bungalows to rent. I’m not really sure how much they charge, but I think it’s approximately 50 ribu rupiah.

The beach heads directly to the Pacific ocean. Gives a pretty view of sky. Not to mention the white sand and clear blue water that will make you love this place even more.

Second, Skouw Beach.

It was my first weekend in Jayapura. The weather was good and my boss wanted to check the place for surfing, so we went there.

Skouw is an area near the border of Papua New Guinea. From Angkasa, it took us around 1.5 hours by car.

To get to the beach, you have to a take turn from the main road to a small path that leads you to a local village. Next to the village is the beach.

No charge applied since it's not public beach like Base G.

Skouw may not be as beautiful as Base G; it has black sands rather than white sands and there are stacks of big blocks to prevent seawater abrasion, but still, it’s a good place to go.

Spent some hours there by reading book and strolling down the beach.

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I arrived at Sentani Airport at 2.15pm.

Sentani is basically just like other local airports; small place with short runway. It’s located about 60km from the city of Jayapura. 

  The main terminal building  is nice and simple, with some parts of it are still under renovation. As soon as you walked in the building, yellow uniformed porters welcome you. They bring along trolley, greet you with hello and offer their service.
The trip from Sentani to MdM office in Jayapura took about an hour. The road is in good condition, but the contour is up and down, so driving requires extra attention. As far as I know, there’s not much to see in Sentani besides the giant lake which has always been a great tourist attraction.

 Entering Jayapura, you’ll notice the usual hustle and bustle of a province’s capital.

The city’s activities mainly centered in the ‘city area’ (or kota). There, supermarkets and department stores are easy to find. Gelael, Saga, Starmart, Sagu Indah Plaza to name a few. They may not be as big as the ones in Jakarta, but you can always get the basic needs. The price is a bit higher, but not as scary as some people said. In average, it’s 20% higher than Jakarta’s price.

Jayapura is a city by the sea. Located in Yos Sudarso Bay, this city has numerous beaches. In fact, beach is the place where most of the people spend the weekend.

Just like Sentani, Jayapura’s contour is also hilly. A main road lies between to connect each areas in the city. There’s only one main road in here, so after 2 or 3 times passing, you’ll get to know the direction. An advantage for a new comer like me.    

The MdM office is located in Angkasa area. It’s a hilly part of the city, where most of government officials’ residences are located.

Angkasa is reachable by angkot and ojeg. In Jayapura, they name the angkot ‘taksi’. So what they call ‘taksi’ is not the air con-ed sedan that will take you everywhere. 

The hilly contour of Angkasa makes it a perfect spot to see the beautiful city view. There are two spots in here where people usually come in the afternoon, drink coconut, and watch the sun goes down.  

Anyways, since I haven’t got my own place, I currently stay in the office.

It’s a two storey house; 1st floor is the office, and the 2nd floor is where the expatriate lives. It’s not a fancy place, but it’s proper and quite comfortable. Downstairs there’s kitchen and washing room so basically there’s nothing to worry about. 

For eating, I usually make easy menu breakfast; toast, sliced fruits and milk. Then for lunch, I have this warung near the office that sells a home-made dishes. Rice, vegetables and fried chicken cost around Rp 14.000. Still reasonable though. While dinner is a bit difficult, because I have to cook. Sauteed vegetables, chicken nuggets or scrambled egg are my most favorite menu ;p

Angkasa is very quiet at night. People usually stay at home after dark. Taksi operates until 8pm, then you can only rely on ojeg. In a time like this, I really miss Jakarta; the city that never sleeps, allows you to do everything at anytime. While in here, things are totally different.

I guess adjusting is never easy. Period.

 *people usually chew areca nut and spit the reddish leftover to the floor x(

* the car that picked me up

* on the way from sentani to jayapura

* angkasa area

* the place where i usually  buy lunch

* one of the spot in angkasa to see the city view 

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It took 6 hours flight to bring me to Jayapura. 

I was nervous as hell. Leaving home for the first time to live in a far away place where things are limited. Leaving my loved ones and those facilities to live on my own. 

Goodbye was never easy. I shed some tears that morning while hugging my mom for the last time. I realized I may not see her again for a year. 

I had the morning flight. Scheduled to leave Jakarta at 5.30am.  

For a 10 months stay, I brought along one giant luggage (a 29inch delsey) weighed 22 kilos, a 40L carrier weighed 8 kilos, and a post man bag. It was quite a lot, I was affraid it was going to be difficult on the x-ray examination at the airport. Luckily, my boss arrived earlier, so he helped me out. In fact he carried my carrier during the trip :D

The flight was 15 minutes late caused by a little incident; some Papuan snapped on a guy, because his luggage was blocking the alley. Weks, definitely not a good impression for me.

Anyways, as soon as the plane took off, I fell asleep..... but not for a long time. You see, the problem with flight to Jayapura is, you cannot have a long good sleep because we have to transit in Makassar (in which every take off and landing the stewardess will ask to have your seat inclined). Another thing is, before and after transit, they serve food (which of course, they will wake you up to pick the menu).

After 2.5 hours, we arrived in Makassar at 8am (9am Makassar time). We had half an hour transit, where we can choose to stay in the plane or to look around the Sultan Hasanuddin airport. Since I was sleep-deprived, I prefered to have some sleep.

Then we continued for another 3.5 hours to Jayapura.  

The weather wasn’t too good, causing turbulance and made the plane shaky.  Thank god it didn’t take long, or I would’ve had a heart attack.

After a while, I peeked outside the window, and noticed that we would landed shortly. Down there, I saw a big lake. It was Lake Sentani, and  I remember my boss once said, that the airport is located by the lake.

Aloha Jayapura.

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egypt, november 2010

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egypt, november 2010 | superheadz blueribbon.

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the day after i resigned from lowe, i flew to singapore.

coincidentally, the biennale and the national concert all happen in my scheduled holiday.

but the next day my bf emailed me that the national's asia tour was cancelled due to japan's tsunami disaster. they supposed to have a concert in tokyo and singapore. but then the poor thing happened. 

to tell you the truth, i was a bit dissapointed coz i've always wanted to see them playing live. then i thought, at that moment, showing emphaty is the best way to respect the japs. so there i was, spent my days at the biennale, walked around the city, hopped from one museum to another, and had a fat food fiesta.

it was fun ;)

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browsing on old picture archives and stumbled on 2008's bangkok trip wif my girls.

will def missing our convo and get together x(

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