HsN Blog

KORU (Season 3, Episode 1)

This drama called KORU, a story of some people who work as volunteer in Waiheke Island, in New Zealand. There are two guys and two ladies as main stars this drama. Hasan (23) is a man from Indonesia, Carmen (20) is Chinese lady, Michael (20) is Polish guy and the last one is Anne-Sophie (19) from Switzerland. They haven’t met each other before and then an international student-run organization unite them in a project called KORU. That organization is AIESEC Auckland. And the drama made based on true story. Enjoy reading each of the scenes

Scene #1

First meeting with completed team.

Location : University Auckland

Everyone has to be boarded in University to go to harbour and then take ferry to the Island. Hasan has waited for 1 hour and eventually the rest of the team came. Carmen came the big luggage, Michael came with the big yellow backpack and Anso who just arrived from her 26 hours flight came with her black big luggage. They had a guy from AIESEC who managed all the things to go to the Island.

Scene #2

Arriving in Waiheke Island

Location : Matiatia Ferry – Onetangi, Waiheke Island

: Robin and Bryan

After 45 minutes trip from the city to Waiheke Island, they finally arrived in harbour, well-known as Matiatia Ferry. They’ve been told that somebody will pick them up. When Hasan heard about that, he expected that the one that would pick him is the Jennesse. She was the one who interviewed him before he accepted in that project. Then he found it wasn’t. Two old people waved their hands and said “Welcome to Waiheke Island.” An old lady is Robin and the old man is Bryan, they are about 70 years old. They took them to the cottage where Hasan and his friends would stay. The cottage is so lovely then Bryan invited them to have dinner together. What a great welcome!

Scene #3

First day work.

Location : Onetangi – Man O’ War Bay

: New Zealand Fact : More Sheeps than Human.

First day was a orientation day for them. Bryan is the chair of Forest and Bird which is the NGO that Hasan and his friends work for. He took them around Waiheke to see all the reserve that Forest and Birds manage in the Island. He also took them to popular places in Waiheke. They found it was so beautiful places, they saw green hills along the way. It was so extraordinary especially for Hasan. Since he arrived four weeks ago, he has never seen any sheep in Auckland and at that time he was able to see hundreds of them. He even took a picture with them.

Scene #4

Grocery Shopping

Location : Supermarket

: Fully Loaded Refrigerator After Shopping

Living together with new people and new habit is not that easy easy with them. They need to buy some grocery stuff to survive during their stay. They found a way to cook by themselves. As first step they bought a lot of food stocks for the first week. They come from across of the world so they must have different prefferance of food. Indonesian and Chinesse often eat rice and Polish and Swissh don’t. That small thing actually unites them in one decision because they have to respect each other, buy rice. At least, the grocery shopping has taught them a valuable thing: cross-cultural communication.

Scene #5

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Location : Cottage

: The Cottage

They have to cook by themselves. Everyone has different taste of food but not everyone can cook. Deciding what to cook and who cook also takes time. They kind of enjoy whatever food that they have for each meal time. Even sometimes failure happens. They plan to have country special cooking in the next week.

Scene #6

Tree Plantng

Location : Reserve

: Tree Planting

One of the job descriptions that they have to do is planting trees. In the first week, they have target to plant 300 trees in the reserve. Tree planting activity is new things for Carmen, Hasan and Michael but not for Anso. Her father is gardener, so sometimes she has to help father to plant something. They do three steps of planting : (1) Digging the hole, (2) Plant the tree and (3) Pour fertilizer.

Scene #7

Track working

Location : Forest and Bird Reserve

: Getting Rid of Dead Leafs

Another physical work that they have to do is track building. Reserve area of Forest and Bird has various birds and trees. It’s good if people can see the diversity of nature inside the forest so they build the new track to make people easier to walk in the forest. They get rid of the dead leafs among the track with the rag.

The first week was over and they came to the city to have fun with all AIESEC member. Hasan, Carmen and Anso went to Auckland Museum karaoke and Michael didn’t go with them. WHY?

—– TO BE CONTINUED —–

2011: 07/31
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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I think I’m Falling in Love to Auckland

“Thanks Driver!” a passenger said while getting off from the bus. It woke me up from the mind of silence. From that point of time I could assume that people in Auckland always appreciate each other. Bus driver is the one who help them to go to anywhere in Auckland. They appreciate it by saying thank you every time they get off from the bus. How friendly they are! This is the reason why I love Auckland.

It has been several weeks since I arrived in biggest city in New Zealand, Auckland. I’m working with AIESEC Local Committee (LC) Auckland at the moment, well-known as Cultural Envoy Exchange Development (CEED). I’ve been through meeting by meeting to know AIESEC Auckland very well. I’ve met a lot of AIESEC member in New Zealand especially in July Conference.

Shadow (Maccau), Rachel (Mainland China), Jun (Seattle, US) and Me (Indonesia)

Attending conference in New Zealand is so worth. AIESEC New Zealand has a vision of revolution this year and I’m so sure that they can do it. How can I be so sure about that? I saw a high excitement during the conference. Each LC in New Zealand has strong passion to have a better performance in current term. The enthusiasm could be seen from their proactiveness in each session. I’ve participated in all session in conference and been in different group of people. There were 2 sessions that I like most. Firstly was the presentation skill session and secondly was OGX simulation session. Most of people asked to me about the difference between NZ conference and Indonesia conference. I’d probably say that there is no difference about the session but NZ conference has a lot of awards to delegates. Gobo, race gracey, chappie, the womble, man of the conference, woman of the conference and Honey to name those. Gobo is the most anticipated one! It goes to LC that helps OC and Facis most and participates most in each session. That’s actually a good way to encourage all delegates to be more active in session. JulyCo was held at Mototapu Camping area which is located in the quite Island and it takes 40 minutes walk from the wharf to get there. The venue is bloody beautiful but its way too cold for me. This year, AIESEC Auckland has honour to be a host of JulyCo and they did it very well. Excellent! GOOD JOB guys!

Mototapu Island

JulyCo's Venue

Delegates of JulyCo New Zealand

I attended another AIESEC event called Changeover on the day I arrived. It was the occasion to officially start a new term of AIESEC Auckland. The awarding night was done in University Hall and the changeover party was held in one of the bar in city. I was still blank about AIESEC Auckland so I did nothing and I just enjoyed the show. One thing that I love most was the chocolate tradition. The previous EB gave a chocolate to the current EB. Each chocolate has different brand that describe the personality of each EB. It was so sweet. Another sweet thing I had was cakes from Josh Levent in the end of the show. Thanks for the cakes-giving moment. I love it! I finally went home to my host family. I was totally exhausted and a lil’ bit jetlag.

Previous EB Team of AIESEC Auckland

Cakes-Giving by Josh Levent

I stay at one of AIESECer’s house, his name is Shingo. He works in IT Company and he went exchange to Padang last year. When I just arrived and I didn’t know where I’d stay but then I found my second home in Auckland. I met Shingo’s mom and had talk while having breakfast in the morning of my second day. She’s so good, she always reminds me about my mom who is the best mom in the world. Shingo’s family is Japanese so everyday his mom always makes Japanese food. Yeah, it’s like I’m on exchange to Japan. Me and Shingo’s mom always spend time together watching TV and having conversation just like what I always do back home with my mom. At first I was confused how to call her, but then she asked me to call her Mom. I’d love to! We’re getting close day by day. We went jogging together, made origami and cooked together. She also asked me to go to neighbour with her. They are very nice to me. I’m having my new family right now.

Shingo's House

Cooking Tempura w/ HostMom

Sushi Time with Host Family

Visiting Neighbour

Thanks AIESEC! If I wasn’t AIESECer, I wouldn’t be here.

2011: 07/12
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Ash Cloud Drama

I’m in a drama called “Ash Cloud Drama”. I suppose to be in Auckland today but things are changing. There was a volcano disaster in Chile and it affects whole flight to pacific continent meanwhile few airline is still operating but JetStar isn’t either. In fact, my flight to Auckland was cancelled. Once a plane that took me from Jakarta to Singapore landed, I got a text from Jetstar regarding the cancellation. Couldn’t imagine how panic I was. It was terrible. I was out of my mind. I didn’t know to whom I should confirm about that since my phone didn’t work. Just one thing in my mind : If I was told before I depart from Indonesia, I’d probably stay there.
Time answered everything.
I arrived at 12.45 hrs (Friday) and straightly headed to transfer counter and it wasn’t opened yet. I waited until 16.00hrs and finally saw the counter open but I didn’t get any certain thing about when I’d be able to fly out to Auckland. Since my luggage was supposed to be on the next flight I took but then it was cancelled so I didn’t know where it was. That was probably another thing that might cause panic situation. The only certain thing I knew was my flight was cancelled. Couldn’t repeat it more.
My flight is cancelled.
After waiting for an hour, I finally got a clear situation. Jetstar provides a hotel to wait until the next flight. Yeah, good and bad news came up at once. At that time, I started to make friends with other cancelled-flight passengers. I met Penny and Henna who are local people from Auckland who just finished their holiday in KL. We’ve talked a lot of thing and finally went to hotel by taxi. Anyway, taxi fee was refunded by Jetstar.
I didn’t expect a fancy hotel. One thing came up in my mind is I got it for free so I can save my money during waiting in Singapore. BUT I finally found that the hotel is fancy, I think it’s one of the 4-stars hotel in Singapore. I stay alone in the big room with big LED 3D TV inside and swimming-pool-view right from my window. I thanks to Jetstar about this. Cancelled-flight is never always devastated.
Hey, now I’m enjoying free holiday in Singapore before I go exchange and ceed in AIESEC LC Auckland. I called all my friends who live in Singapore and met up with them in a bar. It was such a wonderful Friday night.
I’m making a lot of friends here. I call it as JetStar Family. I’m a lucky bastard!
Different story comes from Maya. She’s from Argentina. She’s been here for 3 days without knowing when the next flight would be. Once she knew that her flight was cancelled she looked for another airline but it away more expensive, it’s like 5 times from JetStar’s fare and she didn’t buy it and decided to wait. Before she finally checked-in to hotel where I stay, she was told that a transport that was provided to go to airport but it wasn’t. The transport took her to another hotel not to Airport. One question I asked to her, “Was the hotel better than this?” Can you guess what she answered? The answer is YES. Can’t imagine!
This is totally unexpected thing, so I can do nothing about it. Just wait and enjoy every good moment in Singapore. WHAT A LIFE-CHANGING-EXPERIENCE!

2011: 06/25
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Ash Cloud Drama

2011: 06/25
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Random Trip to Tidung Island

After a long nite of boys’ nite out, I and 6 of my friends decided to go Tidung Island last Saturday (11/06). We’ve never done a plan in hurry. I could say it was a random plan but it’s totally worth.
Tidung Island is located in Kepualauan Seribu. It’s about 2 hours away from Muara Angke Harbour. You have to go there by boat. Kepulauan Seribu is one of the regions which has a lot of islands, Tidung, Pramuka, Payung and Bidadari Island to name a few. Tidung is quite more popular than other Islands.
This is what I love from all my friends. We take it all the things easy, so we don’t really care about where we’d stay and what we’d eat. Just go and see what would happen then.

We finally met someone who take cares all the things we need. I thank to Bedul because he called a local man who organized our activities in Tidung Island.

On Saturday, we arrived at Muara Angke Harbour so early. It was about 6.30 AM. A local man said that the boarding time to the boat was 7 AM. Once I arrived, I couldn’t hold myself to pee. That was terrible when I saw a very long line at the restroom. There was only one restroom for men and women. Couldn’t complain more about the facility of restroom near the harbour.
We arrived at 11.00 AM and directly got to homestay. For your information, there are no such a fancy resorts or hotels in Tidung Island. All tourists stay at local people’s house. Don’t worry though, most of the houses have air conditioning and it’s very comfortable.

After we finished one plate of rice and fried chicken we headed to go snorkeling near Payung Island. We got there by boat. We played around with fishes and coral reefs. It was so beautiful to see what happened in deep of ocean. All fishes seemed really happy when they got smile from us. I felt the hospitality of them. Sadly, no one brought underwater camera but we were still excited.

After 30 minutes snorkling, we headed to the beach and boarded to go on Banana Boat. Wow! But it was just 10 minutes riding. I wasn’t that satisfied.

Now, we’re going to the most favourite spot in this holiday. At first, I was quite wondering why there were a lot of people standing on the bridge and looked down to the sea. But then the local man told us that the bridge, well-known as Love Bridge, is the most favourite spot in that Island. I thought it’s because we could find our true lover but I was wrong. People who were standing were waiting to get the turn to jump from the bridge to the sea. Quite challenging, it’s because the height between bridge and water is 8 meters. It’d be just like you jump from your top of 2nd floor of your house. Hmmm, I was thinking to try and I did it. At first, I was scared when I looked down to the water but then I was brave enough to jump. Here we go!!!! I jumped and then I wanted more and more. It was kind of an addictive thing to do. We were running out of time because the boat driver was waiting for us so I could only jump twice. But tht’s okay. It was totally awesome to realize that I could do it.

Great and easy-going friends, astonishing island, exciting water sport and Love Bridge are things that make my holiday wonderful. You’re such great friends, guys! Perhaps, this is my last trip with you before I leave from Indonesia. Thank you very much. Let’s do another random plan again at times and break the ‘ordinary’.

2011: 06/12
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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Letters to God

Extravagant. That word comes up when people describe a lifestyle of American family. In fact, it is not as like as you see in American TV serial or movie. Somewhere in America has another story of family that might be even far away from what people think about.

It may happen to Doughtie’s family. They have been in the tough life when his son, Patrick “Tyler” Doughtie, was dying because of brain cancer. A single mother of him has gotten through everything to cure his son. In another day, she realized that she must be strong to let him go. In year of 2005, when he was about 10 years old, he died. As a matter of fact, his spirit will always be alive around us.

His inspirational story has inspired David Nixon to direct movie titled “Letters to God”. Tanner Macguire was killing the part of Tyler. This talented boy has made fabulous work. His acting has touched everyone who watched it. He has shown how Tyler fought with his disease and kept writing letters to God. He believes that God has chosen him as a warrior.

Even though there are a lot of bible quotes, story of this movie has universal message for everyone. It is that faith would make people stronger when they’re suffering.

Letters to God the movie is highly recommended for people who feel down because of life. Failure of examination, job seeking and profit seeking could be nothing compare to what Tyler has gotten through a battle with cancer.

“It feels like everything I touch turn to dust. It feels like it’s slipping through my fingers. I can’t hold on to anything,” movie quotes. Whenever you feel the same as that quotes, you have to try writing a letter to God and sharing everything like Tyler did in the movie

2011: 01/20
CATEGORY: Lovely Life
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Ide, Kamu Di Mana?

Semua yang ada di dunia ini memang berawal dari ide. Dunia pun diciptakan brawal dari sebuah ide Tuhan dan Tuhan pula yang membuat ide tersebut menjadi nyata. Tetapi tak ada ide yang melebihi ide Tuhan tersebut, karena manusia itu jauh berbeda dengan Tuhan. Bahkan seorang manusia pun terkadang sulit untuk melahirkan sebuah ide.

Mencari ide itu ada kalanya mudah dan ada kalanya susah sehingga kita harus dapat memanfaatkan suatu momen disaat kita punya banyak ide. Apa sebenarnya ide? Tidak ada pengertian yang pasti tentang ide. Dalam kacamata penulis, ide adalah pemikiran yang muncul baik secara sengaja maupun tidak sengaja. Dimana manusia dapat menemukan ide? Pertanyaan ini mempunyai jawaban yang cukup panjang. Ide bisa ditemukan dimana saja, di atas lemari, di bawah kasur, di kamar mandi, di luar, di dalam, di sana, di sini dan di mana-mana. Ini terlihat seperti lelucon, tetapi memang kenyataannya bahwa ide bisa ditemukan dimana-mana.

Ada beberapa faktor yang mempengaruhi mengapa manusia sulit menemukan ide. Hal yang pertama adalah timbulnya sugesti dalam pikiran manusia bahwa ide itu harus bagus sehingga secara otomatis manusia membatasi diri dalam mencari ide. Padahal hal ini yang menjadi faktor utama timbulnya kesulitan mencari ide. Faktor kedua adalah malas. Manusia mengandung kadar kemalasan yang cukup tinggi. Jika seseorang itu giat maka orang tersebut memiliki anti-malas yang cukup tinggi. Rasa malas tersebut yang membuat manusia kesulitan melahirkan ide. Hingga saat ini belum ada penelitian dalam hal penemuan obat anti-malas. Yang ada adalah obat untuk meningatkan antibodi dan itu tidak ada korelasinya dengan anti-malas.

Beginilah salah satu contoh penulis blog yang berada di jalan buntu dalam proses menemukan ide tulisan. Semuanya tidak berarah.

2011: 01/20
CATEGORY: Odd Stuffs
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300 bucks for 11 days Holiday in South Korea

Most of people think that travelling to South Korea will be very expensive. It might be depend on a sort of type of travelling itself. If you use to stay in, at least, three star hotels, it will cost thousands of bucks. This post won’t talk about that kind of travelling but the cheap way of travelling.

I’ve been to South Korea for 11 days and been around three cities there. At first, I was worry because of what people thought about big expenses in South Korea. Fortunately, I found a book, Indonesian book, which contain a story of its author who has been to South Korea. She has spent only about 3 million rupiahs or it’s about 333 USD. That book changed my perspective. Eventually, I decided not to bring a lot of cash while I didn’t even have more money to bring, instead.

I remember when I was on a plane to South Korea, someone next to me asked a question about amount of money that I had. She was quite surprised as she thought that I’d need more than that. In fact, I’m just fine right now and I’ve had a lot of fun during the trip.

Let me start sharing my story regarding to all expense that I’ve spent throughout my trip to South Korea based on my itinerary. Make sure that your calculator is in your hand.

First day, I departed from Kuala Lumpur to South Korea with budget airline, AirAsia. When I arrived at Incheon International Airport I didn’t have to pay anything. I know that was a sort of stupid statement; I don’t think any of airports will ask you to pay for entrance ticket, right? My very first expense was airport limousine bus ticket fee. It was KRW 10,000. In the first night, I stayed at my friend’s house and it was free of charge.

Second day, I moved to the guest house. To reach the guest house I took a bus and cost KRW 1,000. I think it is the average cost of bus fare. I stayed at Bebop House that locates near Hongik Station in Seoul. I chose bedroom with 6 beds. If you want to know the guesthouse, you can check on its website, http://bebop-guesthouse.com. The rate of my room was KRW 20,000/night, including self-service breakfast. Actually, there are several cheaper guesthouses in Seoul. Jognowon’s rate of the same type of room as I had is KRW 15,000/night and Hong Guest House’s rate is KRW 17,000/night. I suggest you to book in advance through the hostelworld.com.

I checked in at 11 A.M., so I had a plenty of time to walk around that area. I had lunch in the restaurant named 2,900 bla bla bla (I don’t remember the name, it is Korean). I ate Tobuki Ramen, the price was KRW 2,900. Surprisingly, it was a bigger portion that I used to have. Basically, most of restaurants serve Kimchi with no charge. So it’s free. One of the benefits of staying at the guesthouse is that you can cook. In the first day, I cooked instant noodle as dinner. It cost KRW 800. Trust me it’s nice and cheap but spicy. Afterwards, I went to restaurant to have another dinner. I had fried rice which was cooked on your table and drank soju with beer, all cost KRW 22,000/4 persons. To end the night with fun, I went to Karaoke Place (norebang). It charged KRW 20,000/hour and it was divided by 4, so I spent about KRW 5,000. Luckily, we got 40 minutes bonus of duration and unlimited portion of ice cream.

I’ve spent about KRW 2,000 of transportation during the day. By the way, I went to everywhere by subway. It’s easy. Go to the station, look up the map, identify where your destination is and which line it is then you take the train. Most of destination cost KRW 1,500 including fare fee and deposit of KRW 500 that you can take it back from the deposit machine. But if you stay more than a week, I suggest buying T-money card that can be recharged as much as you want. The price of that card is KRW 3,000. Most of destination cost KRW 900. It saves you a penny anyway. Fortunately, I was so lucky because my friend lent me that card. I didn’t need to buy it. I’ve spent KRW 35,000 during this 10 days holiday. You’ll see how far that amount can take you out in 11 days.

Third day, I went to Myeong-Dong. I had lunch at Japanese restaurant. I had beef with rice and it cost KRW 7,000. Basically, it’s quite expensive. I chose that restaurant because I couldn’t stay longer to keep my stomach singing, so I had no time to explore cheap restaurants.

I went shopping. It is actually optional. If you like shopping, just go for it. There are many branded stores in Myeong-Dong. I suggest you to come to Forever 21 and H&M store. It’s away cheaper than Singapore has. Can you imagine? I bought a short in H&M in the last day. The price was only KRW 6,000. As a matter of fact, my lunch was even more expensive. Talking about H&M, my friend said that this brand is cheaper in Netherland.

As a result, my day was about eat-and-shop. I went dinner with my friend in a famous Korean restaurant. We had Korean food. If you are Indonesian, you must familiar with gorengan. The food was just like that. There was a food as big as large size of pizza hut, it is seafood. It’s nice. If I’m not mistaken, it’s called Pajen. I drank another traditional wine but I forgot the name. The taste is like soda but sour. I think Indonesia has that kind of food with the same taste. Do you know tape? It is fermented cassava. This wine tastes like that. All food and drink cost KRW 38,000 of 5 persons. It would be KRW 7,600 each person, but I didn’t pay for that. Surprisingly, my Korean friend paid for us. She said it was welcome dinner to us.

I love Korean people.

Fourth day, I went to Gyeongbokung palace. For your information, this palace is closed on Tuesday. Make sure you don’t go on Tuesday. Price of entrance ticket is KRW 3,000. You can go as long as you want. You can go to National Folk Museum too then try wearing Korean costume. I think that price is worth.

Go and explore the heritage of Korea!

I went lunch with my friends in Dongdaemun area. I had Udong. It’s noodle with ginseng soup. It was good to warm up my body at cold temperature. I just paid KRW 4,500. After that I went to Myeong-Dong to accompany my friend went shopping. Then I went to the Coffee Prince, coffee shop. Here is the direction, take subway then get off at Hongik Station. Go to exit number 4 then go straight to the corner, turn left then go along that street until you see a park, after that turn right then go ahead that way. You’ll find it left side. Anyway, I’m not sure my direction is right. You can give it a try. LOL. I had to pay KRW 7,000 for a bunch of cheese cake. Afterwards I went dinner at guesthouse. I think you know what I had for dinner. Yeah, it was instant noodle. The cheapest meal I’ve ever had during my holiday.

Anyway, visiting coffee prince wasn’t that worth if you don’t like Korean drama..

Fifth day, I think I didn’t go to many places. I just went to Bukchon Hanok Village and then tried to find Pagoda Park. But I didn’t get it, so I got back to guesthouse. I think that day was too windy for me. I found a very good place to eat. Most people take the food away. This restaurant is called happy bla bla (Korean name) near hongik station, exit 9. There are a lot of choices. I had chicken with rice and kimchi. I paid KRW 2,800 for that. It’s relatively cheap.

Once I arrived at guesthouse I didn’t go outside anymore until I went to sleep. My leg was hurt and I felt unwell because of the weather. I had another instant noodle for dinner and some snacks.

Sixth day, I went to Jeounju. From Seoul to Jeounju I took a free shuttle bus that is provided by visitkoreayear program. The bus is really comfortable. The most important thing was that the bus is FREE. I saved money a lot. I had lunch of bimbibab that cost KRW 10,000. It’s probably the most expensive food I’ve had during holiday. Price talks guys! Although I paid more, I didn’t feel any regret at all. Bimbmbab is the best food! Yummy. I bought sweet light meal that is made by flour with red bean inside. The price was KRW 2,000 for 10 pieces.

Seventh day, I went to Suwon. There is a tourist spot named Hwaseong Fortress which divided into several places. One of them is Hwaseong Haenggung, I need to pay KRW 1,500 to enjoy the architecture that place which is quite the same as a palace. The fortress itself is in the peak of hill. I need to go to another entrance gate, near the parking lot. I had to pay KRW 1,500 after I got through hundreds of ladders. After that I had Udong as lunch. .

To reach this spot, I took a bus from Suwon Station. I had to pay KRW 1,000. Suwon station itself could be reached by subway from Seoul The price was KRW 3,000. To get back to Suwon Station from the tourist spot I took the same bus. I remember the number of the bus 11, 13, or 36. I ended the day with take-away chicken rice. The price was KRW 2,800.

Eighth day,I went to walk around the city hall. There was an ice skating area that might charge you KRW 2,000. I didn’t go for that. I wasn’t very sure that I can stay longer than 1 hour because of the weather. Then I went to Deoksogung Palace. I didn’t go inside. If you want to go to that palace, you have to pay KRW 3,000. I continued walking to Gwanghamun Square. I just looked at all statues. It’s free. I got back to Hotel and I had Udong as a lunch, again. It’s nice by the way. The price was KRW 3,500. Nice! I had kimchi ramen as dinner. It was only KRW 5,000 but I didn’t pay for that. My roommate paid for me. Free dinner again!

Ninth day, I went to Songsil University and had a lunch nearby. I had bimbimab, it was cheaper than I had before. The price was KRW 3,000. It was so nice. I went to Hangan Park and Worldcup Stadium. I had dinner in Anam area with my new friend. We had a fried chicken. My new friend treated me as well. So, it was another free dinner. Five pieces of fried chicken cost KRW 8,000.

Tenth day, actually I had a plan to go Nami Island. I’d to pay KRW 23,000 of bus fare, entrance ticket and ferry fare but I missed the bus so it was canceled. I went to Bukhansan Mountain. I had a lunch at the restaurant nearby. I had tofu ramen and pork, but I didn’t eat that pork. Its price was KRW 5,000. To hike that mountain, I didn’t need to pay. I just needed to walk. LOL. After hiking activity I headed off to Seoul and straightly went to Gwanjang Market. It’s food market. I had bimbimbab as a dinner. Its price was KRW 6,000.

Eleventh day, I went shopping to Myeong-Dong and Dongdaemun then looked around in Itaewon area. My lunch was BBQ fried rice. I had to pay KRW 6,500 for that. In the evening, I was off to Airport. I took the same bus as I had when I arrived. I remember the number, 6002. I had to pay KRW 10,000 of bus fare. I had fried chicken of KFC as dinner. Two pieces of fried chicken, one regular size of french fries, and one glass of soft drink. I had to pay KRW 8,000.

In total, I’ve spent about KRW 327,000 (please check again with your own calculator), exclude shopping and airlines fare. 1 KRW equals to IDR 8.3, so it would be IDR 2,721,570 or if I convert to USD it is USD 300. See, it’s not that expensive. For safety reason, you should have another amount of money in case you’re sick or get lost and need to go by taxi or other bad things that might be happened. I think USD 100 is enough.

Additional information, to go to South Korea you need to apply for visa. It’s quite simple, you need to submit all documents that may be needed such as passport, bank account, sponsor letter, permission letter (if you are student), confirmation letter from University, booking confirmation of flight ticket, itinerary and other documents to visa section of Korean embassy. You also have to pay IDR 280,000 if you apply by yourself. It takes 3 days.

As you read this post you might get inspired to go to South Korea. Now, decide the date, save money then #goholiday.

2011: 01/20
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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SOUTH KOREA ON DIARY

Yeah, I’m Hasan from Indonesia. I shouldn’t have to introduce myself anymore.

Ok, this is bad beginning. Actually I don’t know how to begin this post.

Anyway, I’m on a flight back to Indonesia, actually I’ll transit in Malaysia. My 1st winter holiday is just over. Besides having holiday, I also had another mission which is to make partnership between my Local Committee of AIESEC and Local Committees of AIESEC Korea.

Time moves so fast in this holiday. I spent about 15 days away from home to go to Malaysia and South Korea. Anyway, I love Malaysia because I have a friend to visit and the rest is just so so. The thing that I’ve waited was this trip : winter holiday. It sounds cheesy, but I’ve never been to country who has winter season. It was pretty much hard to imagine. I’m still excited while I’m writing this blog on a plane.

“..temperature is estimated -7 degree celcius..”, landing announcement said. Only one thing that came up in my mind at that time : This would be the coldest temperature in my life. Once I touched down Incheon Airport, I felt freezing, totally cold. Damn it!

Anyway, Inez is my partner of this trip. So many things we’ve been passed out in this trip. Looking to what has happened during this trip to her, I believe that “women can’t read map” thing is true. She easily got lost. My Godness!!

Incheon was getting warmer when our friend, Songhee, picked us up with warm regards. She was Member Committee Vice President (MCVP) of Talent Management (TM). It was a surprise that we could spend a night in her house and had a meeting with her family. On the way to her house from airport was really cold and I saw snow everywhere. Oh God, It was just a dream come true. Once I get off from the Bus, I touched that snow. I don’t need comment in this part.

Song’s family is really friendly. I think most of Korean family are very welcome to a guest.

Night was getting late and then turned to sunrise. I woke up and started the 1st day in Seoul. I couldn’t wait for my amazing winter holiday. I love it! During this trip, I stayed at a room w/ 6 beds inside. It’s quite novel for me, I used to stay at a private room. It’s pretty much like a Indonesian dormitory room, but the guest house set all beds with a good design. You can check it on its website anyway, it feels like home. The name of the guest house is Bebop House. Luckily, it’s located near Hongik Subway Station. It made me very easy to get to anywhere else even at the first time I looked for the station I was lost.

I spent 1st day in most of outdoor area. I and Inez went to Hongdae Area, which is quite popular of hanging out places, shops and entertainment. We also went to Cheonggyocheon stream near the JUMP theatre and Myeong-dong area, which is a very famous area of shopping.

The weather didn’t seem friendly to us. We didn’t get use to it yet.We decided to come back to the guest house and waited for our AIESEC LC Bandung mate : Ester.

When she appeared in guest house, Inez spontaneously screamed. I was surprised too, anyway. It’s been a long time not seeing her. Ester went out with us to Korean restaurant. I ate fried rice. Actually, I prefer Indonesian one, it’s far away better. That night it was also the first time for me drinking Soju, traditional wine of korea. Hopefully my mom doesn’t read this blog. I remember the way we drank that drink was weird. Ester’s friend put the smaller glass that contains soju into the bigger glass that contain beer and mixed it up. It tasted better than unmixed one.

I read a book about Korean people. Most of people in Korea really like to go karaoke, it’s called norebang. I’d like to know what special thing about karaoke place in Korea is. So, we spent all night until 1 AM to go to Norebang place. There were not a lot differences than karaoke place in Indonesia. The seat is designed as Japanese restaurant and we should take off shoes when we get in. Most of Korean people do so in daily life. SHOES OFF!

Second day, I made a new friend, Albert. He’s Australian. At first, I was lil’ a bit shocked because he spoke really fast. It’s so Australian accent. He’s AIESECers too. Our 1st topic of conversation was, of course, about leadership and experience. That’s what AIESEC all about. This second day was more into shopping and meeting day. I met all the facis of Winter NLDS Korea. Even though I’m not one of them, I’d join the meeting. I just love to make new friends. We went out in Myeong-Dong and Hongdae area. Young age people area. No more to say in second day.

Third day, it was time to say goodbye to Inez and Albert. They went to conference while I stayed in Seoul.

My plan was Jeonju trip. Jeounju is a city of Bimbimbap, famous Korean food. But then I missed the bus, I came with wrong estimation. I thought it would take only 20 minutes from the hotel to the bus station, in fact it was 35 minutes. I was 10 minutes late. Oh gosh, it has spent much effort to wake up early and after all became waster. What a pity of mine!

Since it is my holiday, there were a lot of alternative places to visit. I went to Gyeongbokung Palace alone. Luckily, I met group of Indonesian with Indonesian speaking guide. I just followed that group. That day turned to be my good day after missing bus tragedy. After walking around Palace and Musem, I found a stand that provides us traditional costume. I wore it and asked someone to take me a picture. It must be funny. I wore a hero’s costume but my pose wasn’t like hero. It was more like cartoon hero, comedy one. That’s funny. I just could laugh at my picture.

There are three or more Palaces in Seoul. Gyeoungbokung is the biggest. I think.

Third day. I met Ester who would be back to Indonesia in the next day. We went to Dongdaemun and Myeong-Dong. Indeed, it was shopping again. I didn’t buy a lot. But I should admit that some brand stuffs are cheaper than back home. Forever 21 and H&M are quite famous and cheap rather than others. Yeah, Dongdaemun is the biggest area of shopping mall in Seoul. There are 37 shopping malls. It takes a week to go to all malls. But I’m not that into shopping, probably I won’t go.

That day, Ester had a plan to go to shooting places of Korean drama. Even though I don’t know anything about that, I joined. We went to the Coffee Prince. The name of coffee shop is the same as the title of drama. I don’t think I’ve watched it or even seen the poster. You know what, the coffee is terrible and expensive. It cost you 7000 won while grande size of starbucks could cost you only 5600 won. AND There is rule says that each customer should order at least one item. Oh gosh! What kind of rule is that? No more reason that I wouldn’t to take a picture, like others did. It was just like package of coffee and chance to experience that drama thingy, even though the waiter wasn’t a star of that drama.

Back to Hotel, I applied a shuttle bus to Jeounju again. I’d like to go there in fourth day.

Here is the thing, what I like from Korea Government is that they have a program of Visit Korea Year 2010-2012. For those of foreigners who want to explore more city in South Korea, they can apply free shuttle bus to three destinations : Jeounju, Gyeonggu and Gangwondo. I’m not sure my spelling was right. Just apply on its website.

I couldn’t wait to see Jeounju>

Finally, fourth day. Again, it was still a bad day. I woke up late and missed the bus to Jeounju. Shit! It felt like fall to the same hole for the second time. It seems too much anyway. What happened to Jeounju. Maybe I wasn’t destined to be there. DRAMA QUEEN!

If plan A doesn’t work, plan B must work. I went to Hanok Village in Seoul which Jeounju has too. That day was really cold and windy, I couldn’t stay longer outside. I decided to come back to Bebop House and take a rest. I felt quite unwell that day and my leg was still hurt. I made new friend in Bebop House, his name is Martyn. He’s from Netherland. We usually had a morning talk while breakfast. He’s type of traveler who makes a plan trip of the day in the breakfast time. It’s quite random, but I started to think the same way.

Breakfast is the time to make a plan for your trip during the day.

Fifth day, I had a plan already. Again, it’s Jeounju. I decided not to go sleep till 5 A.M. I fell asleep for an hour then got up 6.40. I went to the Bus Station in hurry. Thanks God It was my lucky day. Finally I could catch the bus.

Jeounjuuuu, here I come!

As I told you before my main purpose was Bimbimbap. Based on the name of the food, it’s quite interesting. Bimbimbap is a mixed vegetable and rice plus egg. That’s it. But it taste like heaven. I love it while it’s still hot. I went to the best bimbimbap restaurant in Jeounju. Anyway, it was said by the Tourist Information Officer.

I went to Jeonju Hanok Village before that. It’s more beautiful than Seoul has. I made a lot of friends there. I met group of Korea University Master Student who come from Brazil and Hungaria. We just knew each other but I felt like such a friend w/ them. Then we went to all over the places around Jeounju together. Hill, river, bridge and traditional market.

Back in Seoul, I felt so tired after 3 hour trip and 1 hour traffic jam.

So far, I felt so happy at that day and finally made it happen, Bimbimbap tour.

Hello sixth day, it was half way before my holiday finished. As usual all the guest gathered at living room while breakfast. There was Martyn, me and Woo, hotel staff. Martyn told me that he wanna go to Suwon. I decided to join with him. We went to the palace and fortress in Suwon. Suwon is a city near Seoul. It is the city where Ester has lived. To reach the fortress we should pass hundreds of ladders until the peak. It was quite tired. I took it as a sport while holiday. All day long was snowing. It was so cold.

Once I arrived in the guest house, I fell asleep. But before that I had a talk with Christian. New friend again! He’s from Melbourne but he study in Adelaide. The topic was “where have you been during this holiday”. We shared a lot of place that we’ve visited. He had more exciting trip anyway.

Hello seventh day! It was the day when Inez came back to Seoul. I can’t wait to see her and Albert. Before Inez arrived to the guest house, I went to Deoksugung Palace but I didn’t get in because it was too windy. I was just looking around the city hall, Gwanghamun square where you can see two statues of Korean Hero. It’s more like a symbol of the Seoul.

In the afternoon, I felt a sleep. When I woke up, I saw Inez’s lugagge. Here it is! Inez is back. We made plan to go Nami Island in January 11.

Hello eighth day. I spent all day long with meeting. That day I also went to have dinner with Indonesian Student who is studying in Korea Univ. She is friend of my partners when I did bimbimbap tour. We went to fried chicken restaurant. That was my first time having friend chicken since I arrived. We had lot of talk about our travelling experience. It’s nice to see her.

I also went to World Cup stadium and Hangan Park.

That day, I had two meeting. First was LC songsil partnership and the second was LC EWHA partnership. It was so glad to do that partnership and do win-win solution to increase number of x and x+l. That’s lil’ bit my orginazation term. X stands for Exchange and L stands for Leadership. LET’S GO X!

Hi, 9th day. I, Inez and Christian had a plan to go to Nami by taking tour packages from Seoul. The bus departed at 9.30 AM. We woke so early, it was 7.30 actually. We took long time to have a breakfast and so on so forth. It happened again, we missed the bus. We were 30 minutes late. Damn! It could be the last chance for me during this holiday to visit Nami.

Don’t worry! We had another alternative. We went hiking to Bukansan Mountain. It could be reached by subway. Since, it was a sudden plan, so we didn’t have any hiking equipments and didn’t wear any kind of hiking apparels. We planned to go the peak of that mountain with whatever we wore at that time, but when we reached 200 m below the peak, many people pointed at our shoes and moved their hand as they told us not to continue the journey to the top. I was quite doubt too. Since I looked at Inez condition too, she was too tired and moreover the weather wasn’t good. It was heavy snowing when we reached the red zone, dangerous one. Even though it would only take 30 minutes to reach the peak. We decided to get back. It was the best decision anyway.

There were a lot of funny moment, especially when I looked at the expression of one of us who almost fell because of slippery stone. I know it wasn’t funny, but we need entertainment to make it chill. I and Inez start singing along the way we got back to the main gate. We’ve walked about 2.7 KM to reach the main gate. In total we’ve walked 5.4 KM. It was good achievement for me. I took it as sport in holiday, again.

The thing is that most of people who went hiking are old people. They are about 60 something. I saw a big spirit of them. That is why we tried hard to go to the peak. I don’t think people would go camping in that weather.

Day ended so fast, sky was getting dark. We decided to go back and stop over the little coffee shop before we got the train.

We had a dinner in Gwanjang Market. There are a lot places and various korean food. I ate bimbimbap. For sure, this bimbimbap is away different than what I had in Jeounju.

I finally got back to guest house and started to pack. Oh gosh. I had to get back home. BIG NO!

I still want to visit more places in korea.

What makes me sad the most is whenever I go holiday I always make a lot of new friends and once we get to know each other, we have to leave then we don’t know when and where we could meet again. F!

Last night of my holiday was just ordinary. I slept. It because I was so tired after hiking.

The last day, I went to Myeong-Dong and Dongdaemun and it was a last chance to grab some stuffs. I didn’t buy any souvenir at that time because I thought I could buy it in Airport. In fact, by the time I saw the souvenir store, it was closed and also it was already final call of my flight. I didn’t have much times to explore the biggest airport I’ve ever been to.

I feel sorry to all of my friends.

There is only one mosque in Seoul. I really want to visit it before I get back to Indonesia. In the last hour before I went to airport I got to that mosque. It’s quite big but not as big as I guessed. It was ironic because there are lot of bar and club near that mosque. It seems that God always give a chance for us to be forgiven after you make a mistake.

I think most of my friends want to know how much money I’ve spent to this trip. Simply speaking, I’ve spent about USD 300 of travel expenses exclude airlines fare and shopping. It’s relatively cheap. Most of people could spend more because of premium hotels and transport (taxi). For details, just wait another post about how to travel cheap in South Korea.

That’s all bunch of my story having holiday in Korea. I feel so blessed to be there. I would like to say thanks to God, my moms, my dad, my family, all my friends who always give me support and remind me when something wrong happen to me. Gosh, sounds like I win an award.
But anyway, I take it as an achievement too. I should say thank you to God. Now, I’m thinking what other places to visit in the next holiday : Japan, Sydney or Thailand. We’ll see.

Last word, Seoul is Soul of Asia and also soul of my holiday.

2011: 01/15
CATEGORY: Lovely Life
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Am I Gentleman?

Morning blogieee..

Somehow, I just cant believe that I’m gonna heading my thesis then graduate. If I look back to my past 3 years in itb it would be very wonderful. Ok, that’s all for the intro.

Anyway, I’m thinking about what gentleman is. When ppl say that I’m gentleman, what is that mean. Here are some of my thoughts of gentleman’s definition.

Situation : I help my friend (girl) to cross the street by blocking the car with my motorbike. My friend said you are really gentleman.

Definiton : Gentleman is the attitude of man who can help girl to cross the street.

Considering that definition, I think I believe why people say that all the police are real man. Is that because they can help people to cross the street? Really? I think people can figure out more.

Situation : It was about so late in the night and so dark (too much) and no public transport anymore. So I decided to take them home. One of my friend said (again), “Hasan u’re so gentleman.”

Defintion : Gentleman is the act of man who have desire to help his friends (girl) to take them home.

Considering that definition, I think bus’ drivers are really gentleman because they take all passengers home. Wonderful!!

Situation : It was raining, me and my girl friend walked outside, and both of didn’t bring umbrella then I took of my jacket then covered my friend’s head. She said, “owwwh hasan you are so romantic and gentleman”

Definition : Gentleman is equal to romantic. 😀

Considering that definition, I think a man who give red rose to his girlfriend is the gentleman. A man who kiss his girlfriend is also gentleman.

So what are other definitions of gentleman? Let’s figure it out!!!

I’m stuck…

2010: 07/11
CATEGORY: Odd Stuffs
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Am I Gentleman?

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