Searching for Syria

May 25, 2017

I went to a summer camp to Bergen, Norway, last year. And while I was in there, I learned about refugees. It was actually not a term I am familiar with, but learning about them, and meeting two of them in person in the camp taught me a lot of things.

ref·u·gee

ˌrefyo͝oˈjē/

noun

plural noun: refugee

a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

It is not a big thing in Indonesia apparently, because we are lucky enough to be in a safe zone with no war currently, but it may be different from other countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, etc.

I remember meeting a refugee from Syria in the camp. He was a very nice guy, and he has been separate from his family all his life. He didn’t remember who they are, as he moved to Norway alone as a little kid. When I met him, he was living in a refugee camp that the Norwegian government provided for people who had to escape their countries because of war.

There are actually problems caused by this, because a lot of developed countries which accepted these refugees started to see some economic problems. They need money to take care of this people, but technically these refugees are not their citizens. Even more and more refugees are coming each year, and it started to get overwhelming for them.

Not only for the money, but also the places to shelter them. Refugee camps need a quiet big space to keep a lot of people, while the government also need the places maybe to build something else for the people.

These refugees have to wait for a lot of years to get their asylum, and there is a very big chance for them to get rejected. After that, the only option for them is to leave the host country.

While waiting for the asylum to come out, it will be very hard for them to find jobs, to go to school, hospitals, etc. And don’t even mention about them having to get comfortable in a totally new environment. To live in a society that may be judging them based on the country they are trying so hard to leave.

Not only that, they also have language barriers with them.

They feel like they do not belong. The countries they are suppose to grow up in, safely, are now damaged. And they are growing up in a developed, totally new country, that doesn’t seem to accept them. I have no idea how that must feel, but even to imagine it makes me so sad.

I remember that in the camp, we had this group discussion about what we should do to them. What can we do to help them. Some of my friends said that we should all donate together, even those whose country does not have any refugee camps. We were trying to find a way out to solve this problem for these refugees.

Today, when I was surfing the internet, I found this link in the bottom part of the desktop. It was an ad, made by The UN Refugee Agency together with Google to spread awareness about refugees in Syria.

REFUGEES

You see that purple-colored words? Yes, it appeared when I opened Google Chrome. When you click it, it will take you to a very interesting website which will educate a lot of people, especially teenagers like me!

https://searchingforsyria.org/

You can help the refugees in three ways:

  1.  By sharing it to your social media platforms, or writing it down in your blog like what I did right now, to spread awareness to a lot of people that things like this is happening across the globe and we need to finally take actions for it. The website will let you directly sharing it to your Facebook and Twitter account, also giving you a direct link to copy.
  2. By donating for these refugees. You can donate monthly or just one time with the amount you want. https://donate.unhcr.org/int-en/searching-syria. Everytime you type in an amount, they will show you how that money can help the refugees. For example, when you donate 50$, you could provide synthetic mats to prevent five newly arrived families every month from sleeping on the ground. It is hosted by WorldPay.
  3. By joining and take pledge to support the refugees and stand #WithRefugees. All you have to do is fill a form where they will ask for your name, your country, and email. http://www.unhcr.org/join/

The website is very interactive and educating. Reading this and remembering about the story he told me back in the camp made me feel grateful to be born in this country. Despite the others things that has been happening in our country for the past days, the hatred, the bombing in Kampung Melayu, the caning in Aceh, I still do believe we can do better.

We have and will always have hope. We deserve to always have one.

And after all,  these refugees do, too.

adel.

unrequited love

May 20, 2017

Things change so fast, literaly. The last time I posted this, I am super proud with Ahok and Jokowi and now, while writing this, it has been more than a week since Ahok was sentenced for two years of jails as he was found guilty of blasphemy, a law that I never really understand anyway.

I was very sad when I knew that, because to me, Ahok is more than just a person. As a triple minority in Indonesia (chinese, a christian, and a woman), he is my symbol of hope. A hope that after all, people like me can fight for something and make things better. That being a minority doesn’t mean we have to be afraid to show our love to this country.

But to saw Ahok sentenced for two years of jail, it broke my heart. I know and we all know that he a good person. That all he ever wanted is to build this wrecked city to be better each day, and to take care of his people. All he ever wanted was to show his never-ending love for this city, and trying to give all he has for this country.

And yet, people still hate him. People still managed to point out his flaws and have this much hatred for him. People are brave enough to go on streets and screams bad words about him, death threads, and even insult his ethnicity.

Why?

My most favorite subject in school is History. I love them, because I like to read stories. I like to know that behind everything, there is always a story about it. But when I learned about what happened in 1965, and what happened at 1998, I felt super sad.

Its just, heartbreaking.

To read all this stories about people whose case were never justified by the law at all, the pain they will always have to bear for the rest of their live, the pain of someone they love so deeply died tragically, just because of their ethnicity. They died, never knowing what did they do wrong.

It scares me how much hatred can someone have in their heart towards someone else, just because they have different beliefs and culture. I wondered how many people still get panic attacks and nightmares about this event, long after this. The horrible horrible day.

No one deserve it.

And now, Ahok doesn’t deserve this either.

After everything that happens last week, I felt broken. Because no matter how hard I try, maybe I will never get recognized. Because I am just a minority. Because I am Chinese, instead of Indonesian. Even though I actually never even went to China before. I have been living in Indonesia for all my life.

And yet, for some people, I am still someone that is bad. Someone that should never be allowed to live here. Even though Indonesian is my mother-tounge. Is being an Chinese-Indonesian a curse?

Well, I guess it was never my fault. I never chose to be born this way. And I don’t think we should ever hate on others just because we have different beliefs or culture. Instead of trying to unite the difference, we need to learn how to celebrate it.

We don’t get stronger by being the same. We don’t get better by only sharing and being with those who have the same opinion as ours. But we grow when we unite, when we learn to tolerate others. We grow smarter by learning from others and sharing with others with different thoughts than us.

Sadly, some people still don’t realize that.

After this, there will only be two choices. To be sad because of it, and then be afraid, or to finally stand up and fight for what we think is right. My dream is to help and support more people like Ahok, because maybe the last time, he didn’t get enough of it. We let him fight the battle alone.

But after Ahok, we realize that we need to be together! We need to fight and support the right and clean goverment, and also criticize them when they did something wrong. That is how things work.

Because at the end of everything, this is still our country. Our city. The future is in our hands, and if we don’t stand up for our opinions. Instead of being afraid and shutting ourselves down, we need to finally stand up and contribute to this country.

I believe that after all, Indonesia is better than all of this.

And yes, maybe for now, this love I have for this country is going to be a one sided love.

And for once, it’s okay.

Real and undefined love never need to be requited anyway.

adel.

Indonesia’s Symbol of Hope

April 29, 2017

Youtube, like we all know, has been a very big part of our life. Me, personally, spent almost an hour on two watching youtube videos form my phone. I am subscribed to numerous channels and most of them inspire m so much from day to day.

Ever since 2014 or early 2015, Youtube has been also a very big part in technology. A lot of teenagers started posting their videos there, and as you might now, the term ‘youtuber’ slowly grow. The same thing happened in Indonesia on 2016.

Back then, I think that being a youtuber and being able to connect with your subscriber, to be able to make them feel somehow related to each others are just so amazing. People all over the world can watch the same videos and ended up discussing about that problem or topic and finding solutions.

I am even happier when I found out that the former President of the USA, Barack Obama, decided to take this whole youtube thing seriously. He invited three youtubers, Hank Green, Bethany Mota, GloZell Green back on 2015 to the White House and they were there to ask him questions.

He actually have had this idea, which was to make a White House youtube channel to connect directly and talk directly to the people of USA with video screens back in 2007 when he was still a senator. He was interviewed and stated that, and here he is!

Obama knew that Youtube have been a very big part of the youth life and he was trying to rech out and connect to us! These youtubers asked questions that the press might never asked about, and most of them were asking questions that were relatable to the youth!

The subcribers of those youtubers also sent their questions regarding same sex marriage, immigrants, student laws, the healthcare, cyber-bully, and a lot more other things. They sent those questions online with the hashtag #YoutubeAskObama. I remembered watching it for the first time and felt so happy, to see a leader willing to listen to the youth’s voices, and answer their questions!

The next year, in the beginning of 2016, Obama once again did the same thing. He invited three youtubers,  Destin Sandlin, Ingrid Nilsen, Adande Thorne. Ingrid is one of my favorite youtuber ever, so I was more than happy to see her name, making it all the way to the list.

Ingrid asked him about American’s fear of terrorism, women’s health, marriage equality, the race to cure cancer, and a lot more. It was so much fun to watch it. I feel that it has come the time when the government starts to listen to its people, connect and reach out to them.

In the beginning of 2016, I secretly wished that Indonesia, one day, will finally have the same government. The kind that listen to the people, especially the youth. When Jokowi was elected, I have this slightest hope, that maybe, under his regiment, he will make it come true.

His smallest son, Kaesang Pangarep, is also a youtuber. He uploads vlogs about his daily life and some skits. He is now studying in Singapore at a university and uploads contents quite often.

He then also posted some vlogs when he was travelling, be it by himself, or while he was away, accompanying his dad at work. The loving relationship between him and his dad was just so adorable in alot of way.

Some of his subscribers started to ask for mor videos with his dad, and joking around about this idea that maybe his dad can start a youtube channel too, where he can do vlogs and talk about his work to the Indonesian people.

On September 26th 2016, Kaesang posted this one particular video, where he spent an afternoon practising archery with his dad. I thought it was an ordinary video, just like his other vlogs with his dad. But then I was beyond shocked to see that Jokowi also posted a video! The title was #JKVVlog.

Not only that, he later on posted a\even more videos about his daily activites in a vlogging style, and it was there, with all his others diplomatic, ‘more serious’ videos. He posted about watching the football game, his trip to Ambon, his plan to build a highway in the middle of the sea, his lunch with King Salman who visited Indonesia on his trip to Asia (which became so famous and reached more than a million views). He even posted  video about the birth of the baby lambs he has in Istana Bogor!

I never think I can be more proud of my president than right now. He literally shows us, the people, every activity he has, his experiences, his work. He reaches out to his people, finally!

But then, a month ago, on March 27th 2017, he (finally) posted a video, in which he answers a lot of questions he got from kids all over Indonesia. It was titled as #JokowiMenjawab. This, is where my actual dream came true.

He answered questions about Jokowi’s favorite music, band, albums (which was rock of course), music, digital economy, and creativity, also creative industries. Even though he only answered like 4 questions, it was a new milestone for Indonesia! Or well, at least, to me!

Right now, he already had 3 videos like this posted in his youtube channel, and I am still waiting for more to come!

This is making me so happy because not only listening to their people, the government actually start to find a way to connect with us, the youngsters. They want to listen to us, to know our opinion, to give advices. They are willing to help, and to show the people that they will always listen.

The youth are the ones responsible for the future of the country, and therefore we need to educate them in the right way. We need to listen to them, and let them grow to be even better. We have to give them opportunities, a chance. It makes us feel appreciated. Really, really, appreciated.

Not only by posting these video on Youtube, Jokowi once also invited a couple of Indonesian youtubers, Bayu Skak, Agung Hapsah, Bob, and some others to accompany him to one of his presidencial duty. In other trip to NTT and Manado, he invited Kevin Hendrawan and Arief Muhammad to join him.

In this video, I remembered what Agung Hapsah said; “I learned that to be a good leader, you have to have a good relationship with your people, because the leader and the people actually need each other. I learned that sometimes, in order to solve a problem, you need to get down and talk directly to the people so they will understand your message.”

So, I guess, after all, I am very lucky to be born in this magnificent country, city. Yes, I am a proud Indonesian. Oh, and despite the news about Indonesia and its radicalization, I am still proud.

We (still) have hope.

adel.

Jihad Selfie: it could have been me, or you

April 26, 2017

Last Sunday, I went to PwC Indonesia building with my mom, to attend an event, in which we watched a short documentary called Jihad Selfie, and later on had a discussion about it with the director and the main character of the film.

Jihad Selfie is a documentary produced and directed by Noor Huda Ismail, the founder of Yayasan Prasasti Perdamaian or The Institute for International Peace Building in 2008. The purpose of this organization is to help former convicts and ex-terrorists to start their new life.

In this documentary, he investigated the way ISIS recruit new members, especially Indonesian young men and women. The documentary were never released publicly, but has been played in numerous countries, such as London, Melbourne, Turkey, and so on.

It was a very eye-opening documentary, showing us how important and dangerous social media can be. How people can be attracted and even worst, inspired to do such violent acts towards other human being.

The documentary was about Akbar, one of an Indonesian man who was smart enough to get a scholarship to study in one of the school in Turkey, who was feeling a dilemma, because one of his friend has asked him to join ISIS in Syria.

It also showed a lot of interviews with various men all around Indonesia, asking them and learning more about the reason people are interested to become a jihadists. It was such a well-made documentary.

Noor Huda Ismail is a very inspiring man, and I was very surprised to see him as one of the TEDTalks speakers back in 2014, which was an event I really like like to listen to quiet frequently.

He told them that he used to had a really good friend, who was very smart and kind and loving, who went to Pakistan to study abroad, as he got scholarships, unlike Huda, who decided to study in the West countries.

Years later, when he was working at The Washington Post, he was assigned to cover the news about Bali Bombing. When he arrived there, he saw all the blood and dead bodies lying, and he think to himself; “what kind of human being have such power to do such violence? and why bali? bali is indonesia’s main tourism site, what will happen to the rest of the country?”

Later that day, when the policemen were passing on papers with pictures of the perpetrator of the bombing, he was very surprised to see his own friend there, becoming one of the self-bombers. He was so shocked.

It could have been him.

I don’t think I am adequate enough to talk and put my opinion on radicalism yet, but I am very interested in sharing this documentary to you. Not only that radicalism should be something we start to worry about, we somehow need t educate ourselves and those around us to prevent themselves from getting into the trap of doing violent acts.

Nowadays, these organizations recruit their new members from social medias, especially Facebook. They posted every new update and news happening in the war zone via social medias, which allow everyone to watch it. To share it. This could be very dangerous.

Internet is place where we can find new friends and learn more about other country, but we should always be aware of it. A lot of their new members nowadays, unlike ten years ago, who were uneducated and didn’t really understand what are they doing, are now educated, young men. And they joined that organization because of their own will.

Just like Huda, and his beloved friend, it could have been us. It could have been m, you, any of us. So yes, I think that this is such an important thing to share with you.

For more information about this, you can go and check their official website, http://www.jihadselfie.com/, and read more of their articles there. The message that they are bringing may be very important for you.

Stay safe, people.

adel.

 

READ THIS Before You Visit Big Bad Wolf 2017!

April 25, 2017

Last weekend had give me a lot of opportunities to just experience a lot of new and exciting things, so I am very happy to share it with you guys!

So, last Monday I went to the Big Bad Wolf, a very big book event where a lot of books were being sold in very cheap prices with discounts ranging from 60 – 80%! Most of the book were sold with prices from Rp10.000 to Rp75.000 for young adults, general, books (paperback and hardcover) and Rp75.000 to Rp150.000 for coffee table books.

This event is located in ICE BSD City, Tangerang, Banten.  I will put the location at the end of this post. It stared from April 21st 2017 at 08.00 am, and they are open non-stop for 280 hours until May 2nd 2017 at 23.59 pm.

The majority of the books they sell there are English and children books, but I fell in love with their very complete literature section! Big Bad Wolf is a big publishing company from Malaysia, so they had a lot of Asian authors which makes me super happy!

I visited this place on Monday, April 24th 2017 at around 3 pm and went home at 5.20 pm, and in that range of time managed to buy 11 books for only Rp 770.000! It was a crazy prize, as the original prices of the kind of books I read are ranging from Rp 200.000 each.

The place looked like it was very packed up, when actually the building was so big that it looks somehow roomy to me. I could still walk and bring my small trolly with me  comfortably without having to go through a big crowd, and managed to find the books I wanted!

IMG_20170424_173519_217.jpg

Here are some of my personal tips, which I learned while visiting this magnificent place!

  1. When is the best time to come? — A lot of people will recommend you to come on in the afternoon on weekdays, because there will be less crowd, or very early in the morning or late at night (like after 12 late at night). But I come here on a long weekend in the evening (the peek time), but the crowd were still very manageable.  So, I don’t think there was a specific time for you to come.
  2. What kind of books do they sell? — They sell almost every kind of books you can imagine, from general fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, young adult, romance, literature, to cookery and business, self-help, and even design. But most of the space was taken for the children books.
  3. The waiting time? — The only time we had to wait, was only at the cashier. I thought it was going to be an hour wait, but turns out it was only a 35 mins wait. They actually offer you to trade your Mandiri Fiesta Points (500 points) for a Fast Track at the cashier! They also have other promo’s from Mandiri so if you are a Mandiri card holder, you are so damn lucky! And even if you don’t have Mandiri, that is still okay. The waiting will probably be delayed up to 40 to an hour. (at the peek days)
  4. What to wear? — The place is very clean (except for the toilets) and they have air conditioners all over the place, so use your most comfortable clothes and shoes there! It was not hot like I imagined!
  5. Parking? Traffic? — They have a VERY BIG parking space for you, and you only need to pay for the parking ticket Rp20.000. The traffic when I went there was a little bit packed, but then turns out most people wanted to go to AEON Mall or Disney on Ice, ahahah! There are the comittee standing there, always ready to direct you to the nearest parking lot from the hall.
  6. What if I’m hungry? — To my surprise, they have food trucked and food courts for you! You can eat there first before entering the giant hall. But my pro tip is, just eat somewhere else before you arrive there, because the place are packed up with a lot of people outside of the hall!
  7. How much should I spend? — My mom said that unless you spend like a million, the trip would not be worth it. But that was because we drove all the way from Cibubur! So we spent around that budget. But I saw some people only buying like two or three books, and that is okay too. Some people even bring their own suitcases to bring the books! And yes, they allow you to bring suitcases or giant trollies to bring your books!
  8. Can I bring my baby? — Oh yes, of course! They have a very big children playground for kids older than 3 years old which allows you to leave them there to play for like an hour while you pick your favorite books. I f your baby is smaller, than 3 years old, I recommend you to just bring your stroller and take him/her with you. It will be safer. While I was there, there were a couple of time where the costumer service were just calling out everyone about a missing kid. So yeah, keep them close to you.

1493029191572.jpg

1493029189433.jpg

1493029200640.jpg

And last, have fun! It should feel like heaven to be able to see and buy that much books in very cheap prizes, but always keep your budget in mind! Choose your books wisely, as I myself also had the tendency to take those books for granted without actually thinking if I will actually continue to read it or not.

I accidentally bought a book which was actually meant for 7th graders, and I regret it so much now. But others note aside, always choose the books wisely! Be patients, and take your time!

1493029185668.jpg

1493029884629.jpg

Have fun! If you have anymore questions, please leave it in the comments below! I will be more than happy to help!

With all the love (for books),

adel.

>> ICE BSD CITY:

13 Reasons Why – a preach about it

April 13, 2017

Right in this moment, I just finished watching the whole season of 13 Reasons Why, the whole 13 episodes. I started watching it since last Sunday and it has been in my mind, even until now.

The show was about Hannah Baker, a sophomore girl who killed herself and leave 13 tapes, each of them dedicated to every people who became the reasons of why she ended her own life, by cutting her own wrists and just bled herself to death.

At first, I though that this TV shows was so popular because of its message, which was to treat others nicely and stop bullying and prevent suicide, which sadly started to be accepted as a common thing in teenage life.

But as I went through the whole episodes, listening to the yes, horrific tapes which got me going crazy just like Clay did, I realized that this show has a whole different meaning behind it. Oh, and actually I felt that this TV show started to become like a long-ass movie instead, because I watched it by dividing it into 3-4 tapes at once. You can also just binge-watch the whole thing if you want just like what Alex did, or you can just watched like me and Clay did.

The show was presented with Clay as the first character, listening at those tapes and also mixed with Hannah’s point of view, like a constant flashbacks. It got me a little bit confused about it at first, but then as I watched more episode, I started to get used to it.

IMG20170409211650
the situation ive been in for the past couple of days

Not only that this talks about Hannah and her experience, it also brought the stories of how her friends who she mentioned in her tapes, were also dealing with their own life and struggles.

After the tape was listened by Clay, and he started to act so damn weird to all his friends, they started to face their own struggles. The were also love and a whole lot feelings in it too.

I was about to spoil the whole thing here, but then again, as Tony said, I need to get into my headspace. I literally just finished it less than 10 minutes ago and I feel like I can just burst into flames at any time.

I HAVE ALSO BEEN READING A LOT OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUT 13RW and my brain just can’t handle it.

End story is, I recommend this TV show for you. You need to watch it. And, if you feel like its just going to be another new Netflix sensation that got everyone in love and stuck on, then you are wrong. Some of my friends have been watching it over and over again now, and as much as I want to, USBN is coming right next Monday so I better prepare myself.

I am probably planning to get myself the book and to compare the lines and plot that was originally written with the show version. Who knows. I can’t wait for Season Two. And in case you are wondering who my favorite character is, its not Katherine Langford nor Dylan Minette, or Justin Prentice as charming as he is, but MILES HEIZER.

And did I mention that the character Alex and Justin are actually dating in real life? Yes, that is right, I am also dying over them. Ship them so much. Found out about it on Twitter the other day and I instantly went crazy.

Screenshot_2017-04-09-21-36-43-32
are you dying because hell yeah i am

Please do watch it. And if you are watching it right now, let me know! We can fangirl together and go crazy over Clay and Alex and OH GOD.

ZACH DEMPSEY! a.k.a Ross Butler had played in numerous TV shows, like Teen Wolf, I believe, and I am also in love with his face and his attitude. He grew in a very typical strict Asian family, and therefore I felt this strong connection with him.

Oh, okay, enough of the talking. I am going to update you for my actual honest and opinion later about it, in this blog. Probably a couple of days from now. Until then, I am going to spend the rest of the day, having no life purpose until the Season 2 come out.

Much much love,

adel

 

Belitung: food, art, and finally, home

April 7, 2017

Are you guys enjoying my posts so far AHAHAHA because I find myself looking forward for the weekend so I can update more about this beautiful little island. And here I am, finally publishing my last day trip in Belitung.

On the third day, we went straight to Tanjung Pandan Museum. It was a museum which consisted of artifacts and armory from the Dutch and Japan colonization in Indonesia. They also presented stones that can be found back then, when mining was a big thing in Belitung.

They mostly find kaolin in Belitung. Not only that, Belitung is also very well known for a stone, an extraterrestrial stone called Satam. It was believed by the locals to have a lot of supernatural power in it, like wearing it as accessories will prevent you from getting sick and things like that.

P1160059.JPG

P1160060.JPG

P1160061.JPG

P1160062.JPG

Anyway, they also have miniatures of Belitung’s traditional house, unique and endemic animals from Belitung, and also a lot more stones.

P1160063.JPG

P1160065.JPG

P1160066.JPG

The big museum was divided into a couple of smaller rooms, but this one particular room was probably the scariest. Before we arrived here, the guide told us that there is a traditional wedding dress from Belitung, hanged in one of the museum’s corner.

But not only that, we were not allowed to say anything or thinking anything bad about the dress. Why? Because the dress was actually made for a happy couple that tragically ended up dead. They were both killed brutally so then the locals believes that who ever talk or think and basically just have negative opinion on the dress, the couples will haunt them down.

P1160070.JPG

After the fun mini tour around the very crowded museum, we went to a restaurant for lunch! The restaurant was called Dapoer Belitung, which means Belitung’s Kitchen. Their food was not too good though. They majority of the menu they served were fried food.

They fry the vegetables, the fish, the chicken, everything! It also tasted a little bit to salty for me. But nonetheless, the restaurant’s design is very beautiful. They had colorful painted walls that are just so aesthetically pleasing. I took a lot of picture there!

P1160082.JPG

P1160084.JPG

P1160085.JPG

After we were all done, we went to the next destination. It was the famous Kaolin Lake! This lake is a man-made lake as the result of kaolin mining activity which was now abandoned without any reclamation.

Kaolin or Kaolinite is a clay mineral, part of the group of industrial minerals, with the chemical composition Al2Si2O5(OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina octahedra. Rocks that are rich in kaolinite are known as kaolin or china clay.

P1160086.JPG

P1160087.JPG

We all knew and understand that travelling with a bunch of middle-aged moms will always equals to a lot of shopping activity, buying souvenirs for their loved ones. So yeah, as you can expect, the next stop for our last day trip was to the biggest Souvenirs Shop in Belitung. Also, the newest.

You might probably imagined a big store which sells a lot of merchandises with pictures and designs related to the travel destination. In Indonesia, most souvenirs store sells traditional food, which includes a lot of fish chips, other fish-based food, candies, chocolate, and, because we went to Belitung which is an island, seafood-based food. All of them tasted really good though.

After shopping tons of food, we went to a coffee shop! Belitung was also famous for its coffee, just like a lot of other islands in Indonesia like Sumatra and Kalimantan. The most famous one was Kopi Kuli, which you can try when you visit Andrea Hirata’s Museum. The other one was Kong Djie Coffee!

P1160091.JPG

Kong Djie coffee is very famous in Belitung. Also touristy. You can try this coffee in numerous places in Jakarta nowadays, but I guess trying it in the exact place where it was from will give you different chills and feels. I bought a chocolate milk coffee, which tasted damn good.

P1160094.JPG

Other than the famous coffee, they also served a lot of comfort foods like fried banana, pempek, and also authentic Indonesian’s drinks like Teh Tarik, Es Cendol, and other. I tried the fried banana with chocolate and cheese and as usual it tasted damn good.

We then went straight to the airport because it was finally time to go home :(. I was a little bit sad though, but then I instantly felt better because the sky was so beautiful at that time. Despite the cloudy weather, it managed to amaze me.

P1160097.JPG

P1160100.JPG

It actually only took like an hour to get back to Jakarta, and as soon as I saw Jakarta, I can’t help myself but to take my camera out and just took tons of pictures of Jakarta from high above the clouds. It looks exactly like a concrete jungle, so crowded and polluted.

And yet, somehow, no matter how far you travel, no matter how much you enjoy exploring new places and cities and countries. No matter how many times you visit a place way more well organized country and how many times I say to myself that I am jut so done with this city and all of its problem,

the best feeling is always to come home.

P1160126.JPG

P1160133.JPG

P1160144.JPG

So yeah, that was all about my trip! I arrived back home safely around 8 p.m, took a nice long shower, and then immediately preparing my school stuff for the next day. I hope you guy find it fun to read and look at this post, as much as I do writing it down!

Here is to more travelling!

adel.