Romantic Tea Walk

A couple was seen having a nice midday tea walk in Gunung Mas Tea Plantation, Sunday June 13, 2010. 

the lady wore red 'dress' full of plumage, so did the gentleman. time after time, the couple chatted in loud voice, especially the gentleman. it seemed as if he was telling his lady about some exciting news. The lady keep nodding, agreeing on every sound he made.they even didn't care people were watching--and taking picture of--them. People thought the couple was left behind by the group (Walnut Unika Atmajaya). but then people were sure that they would find the group, thanks to the sign.

On Pilgrimage (Kudus, Ambarawa, Semarang)

Cool. Humid. Cold. Rain. Gloom. Mellow. Happy. December is. It's the month of reflection for Sem. It can evoke in him a mood of reflection—if not melancholy. “Blame it on the weather,” he says, grinning.

His Decembers have been nice. For example, two Decembers ago he went on a ‘historic’ trip with Cik and Fajar to Dieng-Magelang-Jogjakarta. He said to them, even if you din join this trip, I will go there myself. (He’d never been this brave before!)

Now once again he finds himself in December, on a trip to Central Java.

Kudus
As the name suggests ('kudus' means holy), the town reflects Islamic influences. Some source says that it’s derived from al-Quds or Jerusalem.... Thus starts the ‘pilgrimage’ in the holy city. First destination: the old Masjid Menara with brick minaret dated back to the early days of Hindu in Indonesia. It houses the tomb of Sunan Kudus. Sem also attends Christmas Eve mass here in the city. what a Malam Kudus (Holy Night).

Bandungan-Ambarawa
From Kudus 'the pilgrimage' continues in the highlands of Bandungan, to the Hindu temple complex of Candi Gedung Songo. Here Sem stands in awe of what he sees: The temples are situated in the scenic mountains, spanning in the location of like 3 km sq. He can only wonder, what was on their mind when they built and dedicated these temples to the deity?

Semarang
Sem visits one touristy spot: Gedung Lawang Sewu. Sem dares himself to take underground tour where it is said to be haunted—given its bloody past. He feels goose bumps that he mumbles “bring your torches Jeanette, Isabella” while holding his battery-powered torch in the dark.

Outside, the night is about to fall. He rushed to Oudstadt—very much like Jakarta’s Kota Tua or Duesseldorf’s Altstadt: there’s canal, bridges, stocky buildings, and a church. the latter is Gereja Blenduk that’s been there since 1753.

Bread Alone
December is a time for reflection and also insouciance. And even during pilgrimage, when spiritual hunger is fulfilled, pilgrims still need worldly food. So here Sem is, enjoying second, third, and hundredth servings of meals and delicacies.

Lift up my eyes to the hills (Puntang)

Lift up my eyes to the hills around Mt. Putang, to what I instantly fall in love with.

it's a lovely sight. the white lilies, 'netherlandische' aubergines, young coffee bushes, red rose and its hips, and of course the conifers (Pinus pinaster, probably). The wind sings through the branches of slender conifers, making the hills very much alive. Also there are many lovely ruins of kolam cinta, houses, cave, kitchen, tennis court. things must have been lively back then, yes? see the bw pictures.

Go there with my merry company.

we first hike uphill abt 100 m off kolam cinta. notice how the Dutch governed the water and the trees. unlike the 'sterile', pine-only Hutan Pinus in my hometown, i see thickets of bougenvillae, wild brambles, liliums, mats of grass and weeds, banana plants, even palm etc mashing up with the conifers. lichens and mushrooms are ubiquitous. pleasing to the eyes.

then the rain starts falling and wets us. sooo cold that we rush back to the warung and eat, eat, and eat.

Later join the rest in the evening. we build the tents of orange, silver, black and dark blue. four in all. Also the campfire is fun with DJ Echi playing, sweet potatoes roasting, storytelling, star gazing, and dinner. (long since the last time i went camping in 1999 at Curug Nangka).

the next day i go to the river with Yudhi and Echi. ice cold water runs endlessly, waking all nerves! then discover the wonder of swinging in the hammock. imagine myself wearing white shirt and pants inside green hammock (me nagasari cake!)

later we go trekking. first to the Cikahuripan ('river of life') waterfall. what a name, yes? and to the river where we dip and have a freezing fun (not to mention tent washing!). awwwwwww ice cold!

as for me, love the company and the experience.

Eating, Ubud style

It was good for us to postpone dinner until 9.30 pm. After brisk shower of superhot-and-icy water (Fajar got the last, sorry buddy tee hee), we headed to Bebek Bengil I at Jalan Hanoman. Only Rama'd been there before, so he acted as our guide. It was nice of him.

Lucky us, somebody was late that the reserved bale was given for us three. Forget the few mosquitoes, we were enjoying the view and ourselves. even in darkness, the sawahs looked beautiful. I could imagine how it looked in the daylight.

It was upscale eatery and we did our best to enjoy. Rama and I ordered Bebek Bengil Punch (?) one that combines coco milk (santan) with citrus juice (it tastes good). and of course the famed roast duck.

It arrived with fried sambal, mixed veg (urap), and the-long-expected-eventually-comes sambal matah (sliced chilli and garlic infused in heated oil). Yuuuummmmm...... the halved poultry was crunchy and tasty. and i had the sambal matah just for myself. And we were eating puluk--with hands, according to Sukarno. Life's good, no?



the morning after--after a light breakfast of sliced fruit and egg sandwich, and coffee--thank goodness Fajar remembered to try this roast suckling pig, Balinese style. the one that i watched on Discovery Channel. the place looked the same only with more people eating. we got the table at the bale and started the meal with hot orange drink (pomelo juice). and when it arrived.....hmmm my, my mouth watered. it looked heavily spiced and inviting. so i dipped my fingers and shoved it into my mouth.....and of course i got my tasty company, the sambal matah condiment. yum yum

the gravy was heavy and the meat soft and spicy. the meaty dish also got a hard piece of bacon. dry outside, soft and juicy inside. and the blood sausage also tasted good although it wasn't my favorite.

eating while sitting on the floor was good. loved the experience. surely i will come back



and dinner by the sea..... how romantic was that? not romantic but surely it was pleasant. we arrived at 8 and the wave was 3 meters away. in the distance we could see the twinkling private beaches, like 100 m away and on the right side was the airport. Rama was deeply drawn to the latter scene. no surprise since he's a son of a pilot. i din see the beauty until Rama counted every movement and maneuvre of planes. we stayed about one hr until the waves began licking our feet.

back to the table, we grilled red snapper, doughed squid, sauted watercress, and roast clams. the food was of medium taste but the experience was cool.

one thing i notice from Rama was he stopped eating when he felt full, while moi wouldn't stop until i felt fully stuffed. I respect his choice of lifestyle :)

Blue Sky Holiday (Ubud)

let the pic speak for itself pose

let's do it again!

Dieng, here i come!

The name had never entered nor excited my mind. But on listening to Sienni's friendly persuasion, I made the decision that some time in December we would go to Dieng, to which both of us had never been before. As the long weekend approached, Sienni said she could not make it.

thought, i must go. i contacted travelmates and none showed interests. so i decided i would go there by myself. a week prior the date, i could not resist the urge to urge people to join my maiden journey. the thought of traveling alone was unbearable (hey, i need constant companion!)

so, Cika and Fajar said they agreed to go with me just three days before December 21.

i prepared my clothes. i must bring less, i thought, so into my back pack i stuffed:
- 3 t-shirts
- 1 longjohn
- 1 jacket
- 1 knit scarf
- 1 hoodie
- 1 linen scarf
- 2 pairs of socks
- 1 shorts
- lots of undergarments

i also brought essentials: victorinox kit, shampoo, flash light, sandals, liquid soap, deodorant, lipgloss, muscle gel, Voltaire's Candide, and small note. Also camera.

i warned them to pack less. so we showed up bringing only single backpacks.

first, Cika and I headed to Gambir for express train tickets on the day before. there was none. sold out. so was at Senen. Later Fajar told us to go to Rawamangun bus station and after long wait, we decided to buy Lorena tickets, each Rp50,000 (USD4.5) or 3 times cheaper than the train ticket.

since price rhymes with comfort, we nodded understandingly when the AC-ed bus began to show some oddities: dangdut karaoke and magical smell. we hardly sleep for 10 hrs until we arrived at Purwokerto, Bello's hometown, at 5.30.

we continued the journey to Wonosobo on a stuffed non-AC bus. it was fine, only my butt felt numb for sitting 2.5 hrs.

we changed bus to Dieng, chatted with local guide, Pak Hengky ("He looks like a Jakartan movie star," said Fajar) and arrived thee at 12. we chose Dieng Plateau Inn and got the biggest room for only Rp40,000 (extra Rp10,000 expected for extra pillow and blanket). we've got king size bed, only this went with wafer-thin sponge mattress. and luckily, it got electricity

it was sunny outside but the water in the bathroom ice cold! I chose the latter not because I was unwilling to pay extra Rp5,000 for hot water but i remembered russians even dipped into icy lake in winter. it proved to be refreshing as my nerves was given shock therapy :) i felt rejuvenated.

we ate meatballs for lunch ("Mouse-meat meatball," joked Cika).

then we began the historic hike. we went to Candi Site, Indonesia's oldest Hindu temples site. we got past two potato fields (Dieng provides potato stocks for the entire island of Java) and paid Rp6,000 for entering 3 areas.




first we admired the temple complex. most of them are slender and less decorated compared to those 'newer' temples like Prambanan or Candi Kidal. some reliefs still show their original forms while the rest are left for us to imagine.

it was midday but the cloud, if not fog, rested heavy above our heads. we chose to continue walking despite the drizzle. the plateau was beautiful. the vast valley look inviting and as fas the eyes could see, hectares of land were being ploughed into crops producing land. i just hope that some of them reforested.

along the roads we found cinnamon trees in bloom and trumpet trees were also in full bloom, ranging from whitish to orange. elephant grass were towering among them.

while walking we saw in the near distance a cluster of abandoned house. we guessed, it was mushroom nursery (factory?). it is said that mushroom is the region's most valuable crop next to potato of course. but we found out that the factory had long been abandoned and none cultivated mushroom no more. sad eh?

Kawah Sikidang
The drizzle poured and we took refuge at food stalls. somebody from umbrella rental approached us and we were given large umbrella-ella-ella and decided to have a look at the bubbling crater.

from afar we could smell the sulfurous air and it hurt eyes. the ground was white and grey and small clear watered pools exhumed sulfuric smoke.

the crater was situated in the valley, surrounded by hills, so it has beautiful scenery and evoked my memory like deja vu. it was like the final battle ground in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Witch, The Lion and The Wardrobe. Seriously. the hilly scenery was graced with pines and western-looking trees. i was hoping it snowed.

the crater itself is about 3 m in diameter and is boiling, smoking. not far from it, we saw big pipes that belongs to the govt. they use geothermal to generate electricity.



We went down to the Telaga Warna (Colored Lake). It was drizzling but beautiful, perfect for photo shoot :). the lake is situated among thick greenery and is rocky. the rocks form some caves which people believe to be magical, giving special strength to get some 'thrones'. but the caves were closed. it's okay, we enjoyed the surrounding especially where the fog fell heavy on the woods.



There's no life in the Telaga Warna because the water is sulphuric, but at the neighboring lake is surprisingly a lake full of fish. In the raining seasons, youths flocked there to gather fish with their trappings.

The walk was memorable because the trees (mimosas, cinnamons) and the shrubs (hydrangeas, morning glories) were flowering. We hiked to Dieng Theatre to watch the short movie about the mount's namesake. It was old movie that needs some update. But it was nice to see how it looked in the late eighties.

As we went home, we stopped at a warung nearby and shyly tried to sip the notorious drink, , purwaceng. No effects. We fell asleep soon after dinner.

By the way we had dinner at Wisma Pak Jono, next to Dieng Plateau Homestay where we stayed. So delicious that our long waiting worth while. The sup sayur (vegetable soup) was freshly cooked, it tasted so good. I felt like this was mandatory for me to order the local harvest. the cabbage, tomatoes, and green beans were crunchy and the tomatoes were soft and spicy. The best i ever had!

We woke up early in the morning to catch the sunlight but the sky fell heavy on our head. we were not disappointed though. We had so much fun up there. We hiked from one place to another, see every thing, and it all took only 6 hours! Time stopped here. Amazing, eh? :)

The best (suggested) time to hike up there is between March to June because it will be icy cold in August and rainy on November to January.

Shepherd's Hill

Last night--with nothing triggering my mind say a song or a piece of conversation not even upon seeing a hill--i remembered about one of my favorite sanctuaries. perhaps i was being melancholic. i remembered about Bukit Gembala (Shepherd's Hill), a mountain slope about 6 km from my old house atlawang. It is situated in the slope of Mount Arjuna.

Charisma, Gideon, etc and I frequented the place, specifically about 2 ha of plantation owned by LBTC. we often took the shorter route via a steep ravine in which flows a spring where we used to wash or saw farmers bathed their cows. It is a 'civilised' ravine. coffee bushes occupy it so do bamboo and we loved the sounds of birds, gareng (some kind of high pitching insect), and sometimes we spotted monkeys, birds, and kites (alap-alap or elang).

whenever we arrived there, we'd be greeted by the dogs--friendly ones--at the gates. when it was the time to reap corns, we would go up and spend the night there, singing, grilling corns, drinking coffee, joking around and eating a lot shamelessly.

Its real name is Gebug (literally to hit). what's in the name anyway?

locals and the guards often said that the entire place is haunted with haunting sound of wailing and crying. but we heard nothing but sweet sounds of dog barks, birds singing, wind singing etc.

so i guess people 'baptized' the place and christened it Shepherd's Hill. now i can tell how that transformation brought nice results. It sounds romantic and pastoral and it reminds me of the tales of Famous Five :)

when faced with a problem, all i need to do is change its name

for whomever changed the name from Gebug to Bukit Gembala, i thank you for this lesson.

Xem