"Life is 10 percent what happens to you, and 90 percent how you react to it.", I read that quote when I was 14. I remember reading it on Brainy Quote (yea right I used to spend my 'spare' time scrolling deep into that website), copy the text and paste it on the sticky notes. That is how I remember I was 14, I'm obsessed with sticky notes once I found it exist in Windows 8, and I was on 8th grade. So yea, I was 14.
That time I understand the meaning of that quote; we need to manage the way we react to things positively, instead of blaming things that already happened to us. Am I suddenly follow and apply that quote for the rest of my life? Of course not. I am not Millie Bobby Brown who already have super mature attitude in her 14. I mean have you seen her MTV Awards acceptance speech? I love you, Millie!
Anyway, I just googled it again, the quote was form Charles R. Swindoll, an author (found the full quote on the Good Read this time). He was talking about how our attitude affecting anything in our life, how what we really experience in our life is not what life has given to us but how we process to accept it. It's a simple basic communication picture; there is a stimulus, so there is a response. Sometimes we tend to forget that response is not made of a single formula. There are many factors that can affect the result of the stimulus given.
Kali ini mau nulis topik yang agak beda, kayaknya di twitter pun hampir nggak pernah ngomongin soal ini. It's not private, but it's a thing that somehow I'm not comfortable to to talk about, skin condition.
So everyone would've known (if you're my real life friends, hi) that I have acne-prone skin. It started from the day people pointed out that I would be rich if I'd mine the oils from my face. You know, junior high school (lame) jokes. I didn't mind that, actually, the oily face.
But I think the drama inside my theatre of mind started when I begin to realize that the acne-time has come, kelas delapan seingatku. So long story short, I can't remember precisely but I guess I've been friends with acnes since 2009, it's 2018 now and I'm still trying to cope with it, you do the math :)
At some points of my (teenage) life, jerawat ini pernah jadi perkara banget. Bikin insecure, bikin ngga pede, macem-macem lah. We all have that one time, I suppose. Ada beberapa pemikiran yang kemudian berubah, we'll get to that later.
January is almost ends. The month when I feel fully recharged and sooo many ideas are popping here in my head. While it's actually just a regular month's changing from December to January, but again, January have its own power to turn myself back seeing and reflecting many scenes that's been rolling for a year in my life.
Anyway, ide menulis lagi topik ini muncul ketika mulai banyak #bestnine post di Instagram, you know, the 9 most-liked-pictures-from-your-account post? Nah Januari 2016 lalu, aku sempat menulis tentang 2015 Best Twelve, generally a mood board of my monthly favorite pictures dan hal-hal apa aja yang buatku penting di tahun 2015. I missed to write the 2016 version (and I can't remember why so). So just in case in the future I forgot what I've been thinking about 2017, here are some recap and thoughts...
The beginning 2017 was super fresh! Spent the first week finishing work and last-minute-checking for KKN. Tahun ini ngerasain kalau memulai pengalaman baru itu ngaruh banget ke sikap dan cara pandang ke bulan-bulan setelahnya. And for this year, sedang deg-degan karena mau menyelesaikan tahun terakhir di kampus. In my case, berada di tempat yang sama sekali baru itu 'humbling', jadi ngerasa nggak ngerti apa-apa, dan harus segera adapt supaya bisa 'survive'. Not in an extreme way, but enough to make me feel small so I have to level up immidiately. Surprisingly, KKN di awal tahun adalah kegiatan yang tepat buat memulai tahun buat ku karena aku menghadapi banyak hal yang nggak terduga dan di luar rencana. My strict self learn something about improvisation, and it feels good after it's done.
Ngomongin KKN mulu ngga capek? Emang bahagia doang isinya? YA NGGAK LAH YA :) I even had many times arguing with my friends, but eventually I learned what's not good to continue as well. After leaving organization life for a while, baru kerasa lagi bekerja dengan banyak kepala. Diajarin lagi untuk tau kapan harus diam, kapan harus urun rembug, kapan harus urun energi. Diingetin lagi sama analogi Dumbledore Army, nggak semua orang harus jago merapal mantra yang sama, dan punya sifat yang sama, justru kalau beda-beda kontribusinya jadi lengkap.
kenapa q jadi dibawa-bawa?
Setelah selesai kerja bareng banyak anggota dalam tim, tiba juga saatnya jadi lone-wolf di kampus. Sampe susah mengingat detail karena life evolve around the target of graduate from college soon. But the journey of finishing the thesis wasn't all good. Ada masa di mana aku memilih buat closing all the gates to outside worlds karena ngerasa nggak punya progress, bingung ngadepin creative block, ngerasa ketinggalan sama temen-temen yang udah duluan jalan, uninstalling some apps yang aku 'tuduh' nge-distract, sampai ngerasa salah kalau pengen have fun karena belum berhasil achieving target (I've been hard to myself, I know). I was low it's so hard for me to keep the good vibes around. I'm trying to act cool everytime people asked my progress. I fake it, I actually hate being asked cause I don't want to know other people's story. Sampai akhirnya mikir kalau semakin ngerasa sendirian dikelilingi bad vibes itu, will not bring me anywhere. So i shared it with my friends, dan ternyata banyak yang ngerasain hal yang sama, dengan kasus nya masing-masing.Ternyata dengan melihat ke luar, the good vibes started to re-appear, the fear and unnecessary anxiety was much more controlled.
And one thing I actually take for granted for overthinking that one part or college life was I missed to have a good fun, one of them is writing. Selain latihan copywriting dan writing thesis, beberapa kali cuma nulis di blog (I repeated it year after year yes) tapi baru berasa 2017 kurang me time dengan menulis setelah skripsi selesai. But always, always, the best thing about mistakes is I know what is wrong, store it to the memory so I know I don't want to recreate it in the future.
Anyway aside of those, one of the best thing happened in 2017 and I just watched on the 2nd week of January was: The Greatest Showman! I am glad this movie came out this time of the year. Because I scored it 10/10 karena dari awal duduk sampai kredit selesai, bahagia. Nonton film ini sejujurnya bikin mikir "kapan ya terakhir kali nonton film yang abis keluar bioskop tuh ada feeling warm dan senang kayak ini", padahal nonton nya aja ngga di posisi yang enak, empat dari bawah dan ngga di center dan tentunya banyak distraksi celotehan penonton lain. It's not only because my high-school-musical heart cry out so loud inside when Zac Efron's singing in that Troy-to-Gabriella-style lol pardon my cheesy-ness. But the whole package of creative and wow-ing cinematography, pleasing-to-eyes mise en scene, heart-warming angelic voices of the cast and a winning message story. Coming back home to our true dream, to our true self. A humbling story.
If you haven't watched it just yet, go! Ngga janji akan ada overwhelming feelings kayak itu sih, maybe I was overrated but I guarantee, bahagia aja udah nonton ini film. It's a great show indeed to begin a year, 2018 is just rolling, anyway..
*The Greatest Showman OST playing on repeat*
The red line is, I think I learned to put on good things first, and the all goodness will follows. Kalaupun ada nggak baiknya, I guess the best way is feel it in a good way too.
'Twas 2017 in a nutshell.
Not all good and fun, I failed, too. But all are gems, some just needed to be polished.
Hari di mana aku biasanya melihat lagi seminggu kemarin punya progress apa aja, milestone nya sampai di mana. Baik buat self-development, maupun hal-hal lain yang melekat dengan itu. Ujung-ujungnya sih banyak menyesal karena ini-itu, salah satunya minggu ini merasa punya creative block yang dibuat sendiri. But when bad thoughts came, the good follows.
Di notes handphone ku, ada beberapa ide cerita yang pengen dikembangkan jadi bahan latihan nulis. Tapi ide-ide nya terbentur dengan tembok paling tinggi "lho skripsi nya belum selesai kok nulis blog?". Ketakutan ku yang bodoh karena premisnya nggak nyambung. Nulis ya nulis aja. Tapi hari ini bukan mau ngomongin itu. I've been interested in the Alpha-Female subject, why? Tell you later.
Aku suka nonton film, The Intern adalah salah satu film yang menurut aku menarik buat self-reflecting. Beberapa waktu lalu, HBO menayangkan film The Intern ini lagi. Who's never been watching this movie? If you haven't, try watch it. The Intern rilis di tahun 2015, genre nya American Comedy dengan lead actor Anne Hathaway dan Robert de Niro. Plot singkatnya 70 year old Ben (Robert De Niro) just retired from his job, and he got bored of his everyday old-man life. So when he found there's an internship opportunity at About The Fit, an e-commerce fashion start up in town, he decided to give a shot. There's where he met Jules (Anne Hathaway), the CEO of About The Fit. No they're not shared a romantic love story here, but life wisdom, I can say.
Nah, si Jules ini nih, adalah salah satu gambaran Alpha-Female, menurut ku. I really am adoring Alpha-Female figures. It's not always a picture of strong cheekbones, or a ruling speech. For me it's always been the other side of independent, smart and bold Alpha-Female, there lies big decisions in life and it always require the act of love. I just keep myself amazed on how Alpha-Female figures (in movies, and some girls / woman I've met) keep their balance in life. Di film The Intern, Jules' picturing a woman with dedication towards her dream, how she managed to run the company in her own ways and other responsibilites that follows her as a woman; in that movie as a mom and a wife, through a relax and goofy personality. And boom, somehow it's explodes, just like how Miranda (Meryl Streep) couldn't handle her tears of confussion in The Devil Wears Prada (2006). They have the gentle spot that somehow for me have been mistaken by a "woman weakness" while actually all human can be fragile as well, not just us girls.
Di film lain, banyak banget picture of Alpha-Female picture yang menurut aku "girls should look up to"; misalnya kayak tokoh Mrs. Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) di The Blind Side (2009), Skeeter (Emma Stone) di The Help (2011), Katherine-Dorothy-Mary (Taraji P. Henson, Octaivia Spencer & Janelle Monae) di Hidden Figures (2016) or maybe these Disney Princesses like Mulan, Merida and Moana? And if many people think talking about Alpha-Female is always goes to gender equality topic, I don't think so. It's more about a fuel to drive a woman to do what she chose to live, in responsibility, in a balanced portion according to herself. For me, those Alpha-Female figures were shown for a self-reflection.
It's not that I aim to speak that girls should creating themselves one Alpha-Female shield, let's say to cover when people pointed at them "oh of course you need no man, you're an Alpha". Jadi ingat sewaktu diskusi bareng mbak Djenar Maesa Ayu dan mas Kan Lume di Pesta Film Solo #7 bulan Mei kemarin, keduanya setuju kalo ngomongin woman voice itu bukan berarti bilang kalo perempuan harus punya posisi yang higher than man kok, and anyway, it's always better when their ideas are collaborated, right? Once again, it's never about comparing this type to another type of woman or man. For me, Alpha-Female is an attitude of Queen that is capable to managed the world she lives in. Like this one poem written by Nikita Gill;
And here I supposed to tell you why I've been interested to this subject. So actually I heard some opinions about woman being independent, performing a good leadership skill, and all in doubting voices. Some even said that those factors made Kingless-Queens. Well I think that's a different story. What makes a woman Alpha-Female Queen has nothing to do with that.
This story should've been posted first, dan udah kelamaan banget menunggu dilengkapi di dalam draf. Finally it's here :)
Experiencing a new culture is challenging yet thrilling.
And it's months away from the time I'm staying in Lombok Utara, and once again that wasn't a vacay so we're not actually 'chill' there. Tapi karena salah satu program kerja kami berkaitan dengan branding pariwisata, jadi lah tim program ini eksplorasi potensi alam dan budaya di sekitar Desa Malaka, Pemenang, Lombok Utara, and now I'm sharing it with you!
So first thing first!
How do we get there?
Ada dua opsi yang bisa digunakan jika kamu berangkat dari Solo seperti kami, menuju ke Lombok. Pertama jalur udara, dari Bandara Adi Sumarmo di Boyolali (SOC) pesawat take off pukul 06.00 WIB dan tiba di Bandara Lombok Praya International (LOP) di Praya pada pukul 08.15 WITA (1h15m). One of early morning flight advantage was we've got to see a breathtaking view of East Java & Bali from above! But when I'm writing this, the only direct flight from Solo to Praya that available is a night flight (21.30 WIB), begitu pula dari Praya ke Solo. I am not sure if this schedule shift is due to the changing weather conditions or any thing, but if you live around Central Java, Yogyakarta or East Java, you can fly from Surabaya because they have so many direct flight to Lombok in a day (8 flights, the last time i checked!).
Morning flight is a bliss
Look! We're almost landing!
There is another option that part of our team tried; a road trip! Dari Solo kamu bisa menaiki kereta tujuan Banyuwangi sekitar pukul 08.00 WIB dan sampai pada pukul 21.00 WIB malamnya. Setelah itu paginya menyeberang ke Bali (Pelabuhan Ketapang - Pelabuhan Gilimanuk), and you can travel across Bali by car / minibus until Padangbai port, then hop into a ferry boat to Lembar port of Lombok. If you're open to this option, make sure you're body is in a very fit condition because it will be a quite long trip to get there.
Oiya, sesampainya di bandara, kalau kamu belum punya tujuan utama, make sure you grab a free copy of The Lombok Guide. The Lombok guide ini adalah bi-weekly magazine yang isinya news terutama yang terkait culture & tourism, places to go di Lombok, informasi akomodasi sampe peta dan rute perjalanan pesawat! #LocalMovementPride
Untuk sampai ke Kabupaten Lombok Utara, kami menaiki bis Damri yang tersedia di area Bandara. Bis ini berangkat beberapa jam sekali menuju ke beberapa tujuan, make sure you ask the information center first for the schedule & buy the ticket. Dari Praya (Lombok Tengah), bis ini akan melewati ibu kota Mataram, kecamatan Ampenan hingga pemberhentian pertama di Senggigi (Lombok Barat). Untuk bisa sampai ke tujuan kami (Desa Malaka), kami terlebih dulu menyampaikan ke kondektur bis sebelum naik, jadi setelah berhenti di Senggigi, bis melanjutkan perjalanan ke arah Bangsal, yang akan melewati Desa Malaka. Dari Praya ke Sengigi, biaya tiketnya seharaga Rp 35.000, jika perjalanan nya dilanjutkan, kamu perlu menambahkan Rp 35.000 lagi. Perjalanan dari Praya menuju Desa Malaka kurang lebih memakan waktu 2 jam. Opsi lain, kamu juga bisa menyewa mobil yang memungkinkan untuk perjalanan yang lebih santai tapi mungkin juga akan lebih pricey. Oiya, kalau melakukan perjalanan darat dari Bali, angkutan umum yang tersedia umumnya hanya sampai ke Sengigi, so you can continue the trip by riding Damri bus or a taxi.
Now off to the highlited places: Desa Malaka
Desa Malaka ini merupakan pintu gerbang Kabupaten Lombok Utara. Kalau ke Lombok dan main ke sekitar Senggigi, sebetulnya sudah dekat sekali untuk sampai ke Desa Malaka. Kalau di daerah Senggigi lebih banyak turis yang seliweran di sekitar kafe-kafe di pinggir jalan sampai ke resort yang ada private beach nya, memasuki Desa Malaka, tepatnya di dusun Klui, mulai terasa lebih tenang dan sepi. Masih ada satu-dua resort dan hotel di kanan kiri jalan, tapi lebih banyak yang bertema etnik.
Desa Malaka is a real large village, I can say! Kalau kamu berencana pergi ke 3 Gili dan melewati Senggigi, pasti bakalan ngelewatin landmark Desa Malaka, deh. Di sini banyak turis yang berhenti buat turun ke bukit liat sunset or just enjoying the breeze. Pst landmark ini dibangun bersama-sama teman KKN Universitas Sebelas Maret tahun 2016 lalu, lho. You can spot it quick down here.
Di Desa Malaka ada 12 dusun yang terletak di area perbukitan dan pesisir pantai.My first impression when I arrived there; this place is clearly how I imagine an island-life is. Kami sampai sekitar pukul 12 siang, yang ada di kepala waktu itu OST. film Moana - How Far I'll Go.. Because all I can see is limitless blue sky with a full of sun shine and white fat clouds meets the clear sparkling blue sea. Dan setiap kali kamu jalan di pinggir pantai di pagi hari, bakal ada nelayan yang menepi pulang dari menangkap ikan di laut dan banyak kapal-kapal kecil yang berlayar di sekitar situ. Malaka sendiri berdiri di kelilingi kebun kelapa yang luas banget, ijo di mana-mana berdampingan sama biru laut. Uniknya di desa ini warga nya banyak memelihara burung dara, dan ada adat di mana warga antar dusun saling melepaskan burung dara ini ke udara rame-rame, can you imagine that festive play in the air?! Sayangnya sewaktu di sana kami belum sempat menyaksikan. Well, maybe next time...
Here are some picture to complete your visualization. These photographs below are taken by my talented photographer fellas; Tiki, Asta and Aghniya :)
Pantai Nipah dari atas bukit Nipah. Bukit ini letaknya di belakangnya landmark Desa Malaka.
Can you spot one of the Gili there?
Mereka bilang, Malaka Desa Seribu Kelapa.
Yang ini diambil dari atas bukit Malaka. I've shared the story on my instagram dan cerita behind the scene nya di sini.
Pantai Pandanan
Rata-rata di sepanjang Desa Malaka, ada daerah landai yang luas kayak gini sebelum pasir pantai
Di siang hari, nggak jarang ada warga yang memancing ikan nggak jauh dari pantai, kalau sore banyak juga yang latihan surfing di sini.
And that is what we got to see most of the time, setiap ke kecamatan untuk membeli keperluan rumah tangga maupun program kerja. Nggak semua pantai dekat dengan pemukiman, sih. Di Malaka kamu bisa beach hopping dari ujung desa (Klui) ke ujung lainnya (Teluk Nare), dengan pemandangan yang beda-beda sambil minum air kelapa muda atau makan ikan bakar! The only thing that make me sad here adalah harga bahan kebutuhan pokok di pasaran lebih mahal dari pada di Jawa (apalagi di Solo), apalagi di Desa Malaka udah jarang banget ada angkutan umum yang lewat jalan utama, sementara kalau mau naik ojek ke pasar di kecamatan juga nggak murah. Jadi kebutuhan yang nggak bisa di dapat di kebun, ina-ina (ibu-ibu) di sana memilih beli bahan masakan di tukang sayur atau di warung. A note to be thankful for everything we have in the place we live.
Pas awal-awal datang, banyak ibu-ibu warga ngasih tips "kalo pagi ke pantai, bantu nelayan menepikan kapal, siapa tahu dapat ikan" hahaha. They're so generous, kami sering dikasih hasil tanaman di kebun mereka, buat tambahan lauk di posko. Di sini kami jadi tahu daun kelor bisa dimasak jadi macam-macam olahan masakan kayak sayur bening dan ada yang diolah bersama parutan kelapa juga. Warga di desa Malaka nggak asing juga sama wisatawan yang mau tinggal di area pemukiman warga, ada warga yang memperbolehkan rumahnya disewa untuk ditempati, whether you're a local or foreign tourist, they will be open if anyone wants to blend and experience everyday life as the locals.
Di pagi hari, temen-temen yang lewat rumah warga suka diundang mampir untuk ngopi di beruga. Beruga ini semacam saung / gazebo yang ada di setiap rumah di Lombok. Beruga adalah tempat tuan rumah menyambut tamu, bercengkrama dengan tetangga, rapat pengurus dusun, juga tempat mengaji anak-anak selepas shalat magrib. You can see what it's look like on our lens recap. Video ini adalah salah satu output program KKN kami. Selain pantai-pantai dan kebudayaan di Desa Malaka, kami juga sempat merekam lanskap Lombok Utara dari Gili Trawangan, dan mengunjungi teman-teman KKN UNS yang ada di Desa Gumantar, Kecamatan Kayangan. Di Gumantar, kesenian Presean masih rutin dipentaskan loh. Sure you want to check that on your Lombok trip bucket list!
If you can't play this video, please head to our Youtube channel.
Pst lebih seru kalo nonton via desktop loh!
Di tautan Youtube di atas, kamu juga bisa lihat rekap singkat dari program-program yang kami lakukan di sana. Be sure to come by :)
Di Malaka, warga berbicara dengan bahasa Sasak, apalagi anak-anak yang belum sekolah. So it's a great opportunity to learn new language here, dan justru belajar bahasa Sasak kami dapatkan kebanyakan dari anak-anak di sekolah dan lingkungan tempat kami tinggal. All hail buat teman-teman se-tim ku yang prodinya Pendidikan dan Psikologi, they're really could get along and handle the languange differences very well!
"Bukan begitu kak", kata Kartini yang ngajarin aku main karet tapi ga bisa-bisa. This one is taken by my friend Satrio.
If you read my latest post, aku cerita kalau di daerah Lombok Timur temperatur terasa lebih panas dibandingkan di Desa Malaka. Mungkin pengaruh letaknya Lombok Utara yang berbukit-bukit, juga memasuki wilayah gunung, iklim nya lebih sejuk. Meskipun gitu, karena tinggal di sana bulan Januari - Februari, di Malaka sering hujan, kadang di pantai langitnya jadi kelabu, but we still go anyway, spot the glommy sky on our pictures above? Tapi sekalinya langit cerah, the happiness is doubled! So if you're a fan of sun-chasing game, you might get the best time to enjoy sunrise & sunset in the middle of the year, pas lagi musim kemarau bulan Juni - September gini..
It's in the middle of the day and it's cloudy, but who can stand the pretty scenery?
Well, even if we know that we have to bare with our dirty laundry :')
And this is what you get at the end of the day when the sun is out. We really are craving for this, every single day. Selain karena bikin tadabur alam, sinar matahai sore membantu mengeringkan cucian kami yang nggak kering-kering kala mendung dan hujan berhari-hari hahaha.
That "what are we doing now?" pose.
Near or far from the sea, sun set is the moment to be grateful for.
Dan malamnya, karena polusi cahaya masih sedikit, bintang-bintang keliatan banget kayak adegan Sherina - Sadam kabur ke Bosscha di Petualangan Sherina. And that was the perfect time to bring our guitar out and sit right by the ocean singing together, while watch the sparkling Gili Trawangan which is really contrast with the night situation in Malaka; quiet and peaceful.
Quick Fact:
Malaka deket banget sama 3 Gili!
You must have heard of 3 Gilis (Gili Islands) before! Gili Trawangan, Gili Air dan Gili Meno ini ada di seberang Desa Malaka. Biasanya, wisatawan akan diantar ke Bangsal, yaitu pelabuhan untuk penyebrangan ke 3 Gili. Kapal ini beroperasi setiap beberapa jam sekali dan serunya rame-rame bareng warga lokal yang bekerja di 3 Gili, so you can get to know them. Biaya tiketnya Rp 15.000 untuk setiap penumpang. Satu kapal ini bisa mengangkut sekitar 40 penumpang sekali jalan. Kalau kamu suka kenalan sama orang baru, do hop to the front of the boat! Selain lihat view paling depan, kamu bisa berbagi cerita sama warga lokal yang bolak balik di pulau itu. We've tried this when we go back to Malaka from Trawangan.
Asik ga tuh bisa duduk paling depan?! But make sure safety come first ya!
Yang terpenting, diizinin sama awak kapal nya buat ikut duduk di depan.
Di sini kami menyeberang kira-kira pukul 12.00 WITA menuju Bangsal. So hot yet so bright!
But if you stay in Malaka and want to jump to one of those island, kamu bisa banget menyeberang dari Pantai Pandanan yang letaknya ada di seberang kantor desa Malaka. Caranya, berkenalan dengan nelayan / pemilik kapal setempat, tapi nggak asal naik, ya... Selain kamu perlu janjian dulu kapan akan berangkat, ada jumlah minimum penumpangnya juga. Opsi ini bisa kamu pilih kalau kamu berombongan dan sulit untuk menemukan kendaraan ke Bangsal, just like us. Setelah program berakhir, kami sejumlah 20 orang menyebrang ke Gili Trawangan dan biaya nya sesuai perjanjian antara penyewa dan pemiliki kapal, rombongan kami dikenakan biaya Rp 25.000 per orangnya.
We're the captain ourselves!
Kurang lega gimana tuh kursinya kalo satu kapal dipake sendiri.
Bukan girl band meskipun atasan nya sama semua.
Selain awak kapal, ada warga yang ikut ke laut untuk memancing ikan dan pindah ke kapal lain di tengah jalan.
Karena si sini banyak nelayan yang satu dusun, satu sama lain saling kenal, seru ya!
Di sini kami berangkat dari Pantai Pandanan menuju Gili Trawangan pukul 16.00 WITA,
kira-kira waktu sore inilah waktu terakhir kapal diperbolehkan menyeberang ke sana.
What do we do in Gili Trawangan? In less than a day? From dawn to noon?
Here's how to enjoy if you only got little time and have no money like us hahaha we're students, we don't expect so much of having fun with high budget. But island life is meant to be enjoyed and not to be rushed! Hal pertama yang kami lakukan saat sampai adalah nyari rumah kepala dusun di Gili Trawangan, untuk berkenalan sekaligus berpamitan karena lusa akan pulang ke Jawa. And it was hilarious because we have to walk so far and deep in the island to find the house and the sun begin to set.. The silver lining is, kami jadi tau macem-macem tempat, ngelewatin berbagai kafe, warung makan, resort yang ada di bagian dalam pulau, nggak cuma di pinggir pantai aja. You should try to walk / ride a bike near the residental areas! Oiya, untuk wisatawan muslim, di Gili Trawangan masjid yang paling dekat dengan bagian luar pulau mudah dijangkau, besar dan nyaman banget, this is proving why Lombok won some category in World Halal Tourism Awards, last year. It's the island of 1000 mosques, remember?
Malamnya di Gili Trawangan, kamu bisa makan di sekitar Pasar Seni, dan jalan di sepanjang pantai, deh. Cuma kadang untuk beneran ke pinggir pantai kamu harus pesan makanan karena area pantai merupakan area resort / kafe di situ. Lucky us, we found a tiny space near the beach yang sudah tutup malam itu, dan diperbolehkan duduk-duduk terus dipinjemin gitar, lagi! Kebanyakan pegawai di sana adalah warga dari Lombok, Sumba, atau sekitarnya, kalau diajakin kenalan mereka akan sangat welcome. Taught us that island life is a simple life where kindness is free :) If you like full-of-music ambiences, there are lots of cafes that opens until the dawn as well.
Karena kami akan menyeberang di siang hari, esok paginya kami cepat-cepat ke persewaan sepeda dan cycling around menikmati pantai-pantai yang terbuka. Kalau nggak kesiangan, jalanan nggak penuh sama pejalan kaki dan umumnya resto pinggir pantai belum buka, jadi bisa berenang di pantai deh. But if you have more time or stay longer, there are more to discover, misalnya naik delman keliling pulau? Just make sure to bring your Lombok Guide copy, and my note is don't forget to sip on Gili Gelato.
This one was Asta's cone, punya aku dah abis keburu leleh shay :)))
Anyway, pernah dengar tentang Nyongkolan di Lombok? Pecel di Desa Malaka kayak apa sih? Enakan mana sama Nasi Campur yang fenomenal itu? Atau pengen lebih tau apa arti Beruga di mata kami?
Pengen banget semua ditulis di sini but it will be too long hehe. No worries we already did it in diffferent platform! Head for more to my issuu page, di situ aku udah post official booklet Untuk Malaka yang merupakan produksi KKN kami kemarin. Di dalamnya ada karya tulisan dan karya foto dari teman-teman saya, untuk kalian semua. Thank you to our friend Gilang Amy who have been there helping us with the layout haha
