Lawang Sewu Semarang

Lawang Sewu

Ada apa dengan Semarang? Iyes. Ada Lawang Sewu.

Seserem-seremnya bangunan bersejarah, kalo desain arsitekturnya sekeren Lawang Sewu, pasti menarik perhatian pelancong. Karena kebetulan lagi di kota Semarang, aku sempatin mampir ke bangunan kuno terkenal ini. Tiketnya bisa langsung dibeli on the spot, Rp 10.000,- tanpa personal guide, dibuka mulai dari jam 07.00 pagi sampai jam 09.00 malam.

Berdiri tepat di persimpangan Jalan Pemuda dari tahun 1907, awalnya Lawang Sewu adalah kantor Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij a.k.a perusahaan kereta api Hindia-Belanda. Didesain oleh Cosman Citroen.

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Tips Liburan ke Dubai dan Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates

Setelah sibuk tiada tara di kantor selama beberapa minggu ini, bawaan pengen liburan. Hayati lelah. Hahaha. Ntah kenapa ya kepikiran Jepang terus. Pengen ke sana lagi tapi pas autumn, pas daun-daun memerah semua. Jadi kebiasaan liatin tiket Jakarta-Narita di Traveloka tiap malem hihi. Semestinya bisa November ini sih, waktu load kerjaan udah berkurang. Yah apa mau dikata, ngga dapat ijin lagi ke luar-luar negri sendirian, musti nabung juga buat masa depan (huakakaka, masa depan apa sik, inflasi mulu, menurun tu nilai tabungan di bank, hlah jadi curhat).

Yak, baiklah kalo gitu aku cerita tentang liburan terakhir ke Dubai aja. Kan belum sempat cerita detail dari post ini.

Jadi dalam waktu sebulan di UAE, setiap weekend, hari Jumat-Sabtu selalu aku sempatin jalan-jalan. Atau kadang Kamis malam pulang kantor ke restoran terdekat, sekedar ngerasain kuliner Timur Tengah.

Iklim gurun di UAE sih yang jadi tantangan terbesar.

Masalahnya awak ngga suka kepanasan. Di Jakarta aja bisa mencak-mencak kalo keringatan dikit, ekekeke, maaf ya rada manja. Trus-trus gimana, Lan di Dubai? Kalo ke kantor, sering nebeng bos atau berangkat pagian sebelum matahari terik. Untung jarak antara apartemen sama kantor sepelemparan batu, banyak pohon dan dapat trotoar lebar-lebar.

Shibuya Crossing, Tsukiji Market dan Harajuku Dorayaki

I bet the heaven is full of these beautiful canines.

Patung Hachiko di Shibuya

Judulnya apa, yang diliatin foto pertamanya apa. Haha.. Lanjutin cerita habis dari Gunung Fuji. Besoknya udah siap belanja-belanja jalan kaki di area Shibuya. Sebagai pecinta anjing dan penakut kucing, nyamperin patung Hachiko di depan Stasiun Shibuya kan ngga salah.

Kalo udah pernah dengar ceritanya Hachiko ini, maaan.. we really don’t deserve dog. Hiks. Ntah kenapa masih ada aja manusia yang jahat sama anjing. I bet the heaven is full of these beautiful canines.

Jumat, 13 Oktober 2017

Shibuya Crossing

Yak yak, balik ke Stasiun Shibuya. Begitu keluar dari stasiunnya, you’re in for a treat, baby.

Tokyo, Shinkansen – Lake Kawaguchi

Na vedui!

Hiyah, udah lama ngga nulis agak kagok juga mau posting. Daaan.. kembali pake bahasa Indonesia, bahasa negeriku. Lagi happy, Lan? Hihihi.. iya. April-Mei-Juni ini membahagiakan. Ngga lepas-lepasnya bersyukur. Walaupun ada berita duka dari Abang di bulan April, tapi tetap harus semangat. Semangat liat Antoine Griezmann maksudnya, Lan? Ekekeke.. That damned smile. *reference: 13 Reasons Why

Yak sebulan kemarin memang penuh dengan kerjaan dan Piala Dunia. Kalo suka bola ya gini ni, can’t fully function during World Cup atau Euro Cup atau UEFA Championship atau kapanpun Arsenal main. Haiah.

So, let’s get to it. Mood hari ini lanjutin nulis tentang Jepang. Dari Osaka-Kyoto atau area Kansai, kita ke Tokyo! Finally.

United Arab Emirates: Oil vs Tourism

I stranded in this wonderful city by work, but captivated by the leisure it offers.

Last post I said that I might not gonna break my sweat for roaming around the town. But of course my mind wouldn’t simply accept that. Even, my boss told me that I should enjoy the city and consider this invitation as leisure travel. So, as adventurous as I could manage, I visited several landmarks in the city and also the country’s capital, Abu Dhabi.

Dubai Mall Fountain from Burj Khalifa’s At The Top

United Arab Emirates (UAE) or Dawlat al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah is a monarchy federation country with seven (7) emirates ruled by seven (7) royal families. Its oil reserves are the seventh-largest in the world. That’s why it is one of the wealthiest country in the world. Just imagine, its GDP is almost USD 70,000 per capita compare to my home country Indonesia with USD 13,000 per capita. And that’s folks, how I got here, through oil and gas.

Mendadak Dubai

Dubai city view

Something great sometimes happens when you least expect it. Just a month ago I thought I ruined my career by going here and there, from one engineering company to another, like a gazelle running around in savanna without purpose or sense of direction (drama queen alert!). This weekend, I arrived in Dubai to visit WorleyParsons’ branch office. What a lucky shot.

Seriously though, going outside the country was not on my 2018 New Year resolution. I was just hoping for new opportunity in my new company. Thus, I (sadly) rejected my friend’s invitation to visit Thailand two months ago because I thought that ‘This year I will concentrate on my job and my boyfriend’. Surprisingly, God prepared me to do both and more.

Gion, The Heart of Kyoto

Tuesday, 10 October 2017

That day was the day I had been waiting for. Finally I got to visit Gion and actually stayed in ryokan, a traditional kinda house in Japan. This preserved area was as I imagined from geisha movies I watched so many times. Refer to Japan Guide, Gion is Kyoto’s most famous geisha district, located around Shijo Avenue between Yasaka-jinja Shrine in the East and the Kamo-gawa River in the West. This place is filled with shops, restaurants and ochaya (teahouses) where geiko and maiko entertain.

Gion narrow street

Kado Ulangtahun Cowok

Kadang suka bingung ngga sih mikirin mau ngasih apa ke cowok pas dia ulangtahun? Cowok sebenarnya gampang dikadoin karena barang-barang mereka kan itu-itu aja. Hahaha.. Beberapa hal yang musti kita tau sebelum ngasih kado yang tepat adalah hobi, ukuran baju/sepatu daaan.. budget kita sih. Kalo cinta mati ngga ketulungan, budget kadang ngga penting. LOL.

Oh ya, satu hal lagi. Semakin simple dan kalem warna atau design barangnya semakin bagus. Kecuali kita tau banget dia suka barang-barang berprintil-printilan ribet, atau berwarna-warni gonjreng atau berukir-ukiran rumit. Jadi keep in mind, simplicity to the maximum level tanpa mengorbankan kualitas. Beberapa tempat belanja juga aku sebutkan bukan karena sponsor, tapi memang gampang disamperin. Ntah kenapa masih lebih suka datang ke storenya langsung daripada beli online. Ngga mau ngambil resiko. Hehe.

Take note ya list di bawah ini extra mainstream dan berdasarkan selera penulis, selera fashion dan selera cowok tipikal manly yang ngga aneh-aneh. Kenapa mainstream? Karena gampang didapat dan terbukti pasti kepake. Ya kalo lagi kreatif, bisa juga sih ngado liburan ke Old Trafford. Cuma sayang aja budgetnya. Mending ke Emirates kan lebih megah. Ekekekee..

Movies I Can’t Live Without

If there is something I genuinely love to do, the answer is always watching movies. Movies have been affecting my life entirely, the way I see people, the way I face my daily life, even the way I behave.

Beberapa film yang aku bisa tonton ribuan kali tanpa bosan dan yang membentuk diriku seperti sekarang. Sebenernya kalo dilist ngga bakalan muat juga ini post. Notable mentions are The Lord of the Rings, The Blind Side, Easy A, Young Victoria, Shawshank Redemption, The Sixth Sense, V for Vendetta, The Intouchables, Kingdom of Heaven, Pan’s Labyrinth, Children of Heaven, Signs, Amelie and so many others.

Ini lima besarnya. Sampai sejauh ini. (Semoga di masa datang lebih banyak lagi).

STAR WARS

Ngga perlu dipertanyakan lagi kenapa aku suka franchise Star Wars. Kayanya semua yang terbaik dari film science fiction ada di film ini. Dunia luar angkasa yang sangat well-constructed dan detail.

Fushimi Inari-taisha and Arashiyama

Hi everybody, how’s life?

Mine? Crashing to the ground. Hard. Hahaha.. I can only laugh at my stupidity and blind heart. Beyond bonker. Also, Alexis is now MU player. As if I can’t loathe MU any further. Aaargh.. I am full of anger right now.

But enough about it. I am here to continue writing about my traveling chapter, still, the latest trip, Japan.

Monday, 9 October 2017

Monday morning in Kyoto was as quite as it could be. I went out of hotel at around 6 am to catch bus. The streets were empty, though several stores had already opened. My favorite was a flower shop just around the corner with Halloween decorations. What a dream to have one in a nice neighborhood.

Feeling super thrilled, I put on my skirt and tried to look a bit edgy for the day. I, then, rushed to Kyoto Station, lined up for the bus to a Shinto shrine, Fushimi Inari-taisha. There were so many options to go to this place, the other one beside taking bus was using train, stop by Inari station. Since, I am a fan of sight seeing, I decided to use bus instead.

Here’s the thing. I thought it was a brilliant idea to go to the most visited tourist spot in Kyoto,