Bring Your Own Coffee Cup !

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Hola people! : )

First, a very merry Christmas to you all! May joy and peace light our path to our better upcoming days. May us be wiser and smarter to react & solve any problems at the future. May Santa aware of his obesity. May all bad peoples get their karma soon.

Speaking about bad peoples & Christmas, there were some dumbf*cks in my country, Indonesia, named themselves as FPI (Front Pembela Islam; en: Islam Defenders Front), who'd like to ruin Christmas mass in Ungaran—a city in Central Java province. The worst thing is they accused Christians degrading Islam because Christmas mass were held not so far from a mosque. Insane, right? I'm not insulting any Moslems by write about it, I just think that this organization is TOO arrogant and intolerant.  >:-\

Ummm, now let's talk about the main reason why I write this post.Well, we all must know visual.ly. This website provides like a ton of infographics. Yeah, they shared a lot of useful information in an interesting poster, so there's no reason to not read it. And today I found this. It shows us how much we pollute our environment by using a disposable plastic/paper coffee cup. Check it out!

Bring your own coffee cup
Source

 So, what do you wait for? Bring your own coffee cup! : )

Journey to the South Part of Bali

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Whoaa, it's been a month I didn't write anything in here! I can't say that I am busy, I just do another stuff I like. So yeah, I almost forget that I have a blog too : )

Well, few days ago my parents were having a trip in Bali with their friends, so my boyfriend and I kidnapped them for a day, rent a car and hanging out with them (along with my boyfriend's fams too). And guess what, I  nominated myself as their guy-who-take-their-pics.

My favorite place in Bali is along the south part of this island. Although it's fairly hard to be reached, like we have to drive up to the hill, but when we finally arrive there we can stand at the edge of the cliff and look at the uncontaminated blue ocean—a very large one for sure, inhale a very fresh oxygen and see a bright puffy cloud! So, yeah, the rest of us went to Uluwatu temple (we called it 'Pura Uluwatu' in here) which is located at Desa Pecatu, Kuta—south part of Bali. Uluwatu temple isn't so far from Suluban beach as I write in this post. The transportation to get there is pretty much the same, car or motorbike and there's no public transportation heading there. To enter Uluwatu temple, we have to buy ticket, I forget how much it is, but I'm sure it's very cheap, less than IDR 10k. This place is built right above the edge of coral cliff and it is ± 97 above sea level.
This is a view from the left part...
Big puffy cloud..

According to Balinese, Uluwatu temple is one of 4 main temples in Bali. It is built since 11 century by Mpu Kunturan. At that time, this temple was used by peoples who lived around there to worship Dewa Rudra (Dewa means God) for their salvation. After about 400 years, a Hinduism missionary named Dang Hyang Nirartha decided to be Mokhsa in this temple. Because this place is a temple, before entering the main gate, we have to wear such a shawl to be wrapped around our waist and if we wear a short pants/skirts we have to wear a special cloth (Balinese call it kamen). 

There are a lot of monkeys around and inside Uluwatu temple. They like to take a little and shiny thing, so usually if we go there with a tour guide, they'll suggest us to take off our earrings and another jewelry, glasses; hold our cell phone and camera very tight. Rumor has it that those monkeys are well-trained and if our stuffs are taken by those monkey, the more valuable our stuffs, the more expensive we have to pay their diviner to take our stuffs back. Yeah, once again, it's a rumor. The certain thing that we must aware are their bites. Believe me, it'll hurt so bad.
The little villain..
So, what are you waiting for? Come to Bali!

Late Night Talks

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A few months ago there's a song that played over and over again on every radio station and TV channel in my country. It's pretty much lovey dovey, very easy listening and typical Top 40 song. I could hear this song like 20 times a day! No kidding. A couple lives next door also seems like this song so much and they played this song repeatedly. And guess what, it gives me a very long & strong effect that the last line is still stuck in my head until now. Gosh...

Rumor - Butiran Debu

The original last line is 'aku tanpamu butiran debu' which literally means 'i am just a dust without you'. Well, I have a better line... 

Yeah, I instagram it...

"I am just flour without you..." said the Cupcake to the Egg. Romantically absurd! -___-

Suluban Beach: A hidden paradise

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Hi guys! Happy Wednesday! : )
Well—about a few weeks ago, I saw my friend's picture on Facebook with a beautiful beach as the background. I asked her where did she take the picture and she said she took it at Suluban beach. I just sighed, I've been living in Bali for 2 years and I've never heard about that such a beautiful place before? Oh my... But then I went to the beach a week ago and it is so awesome! IT IS! Lucky me, yay!!

Bali is the island of Gods, people said. So, there's no doubt if Bali has a lot of amazing places like temples, lakes and of course beaches. And yeah, as I said previously, Suluban beach is one of those great place, but it's hard to get there, maybe God is selfish for wanting to keep that place for himself. Kidding..

Suluban beach is located about 34 km from Denpasar toward the south, or only 3 km from Uluwatu temple. We can get there by motorbike or car, there's no public transportation heading to this beach. There's also no special parking area, we just park the motorbike or car on the edge of the road. A few meters from what-so-called parking area, there's a long down stairway toward the beach.

This is just one-third long of the whole stairway

Suluban beach is like surfers' paradise. Some says that the Indian Ocean waves in here come in with that powerful, consistent and great waves. Here, waves can reach between 3 and 12 feet with the average wave size being 3 to 5 feet, perfect for advanced and professional surfers. The best season for surfing at Suluban beach is during the dry session (April to August) when the wind blows from east to west creating the perfect waves for surfing.

One of the surfers I met there

Beside of that great waves I've mentioned above, Suluban beach also has a jaw-dropping scenery. The water is so crystal clear. The coral is also beautifully constructed. It creates a great wall surrounding the beach, makes me feel like I'm outside this busy world. Okay, this is too much but I do feel peace when I was there. This place is miraculously romantic!

Crystal clear water

Father and son

On the late afternoon, Suluban beach presents such a breath-taking sunset. Not only the sea but also coral wall reflects the sunlight creates an orangish surface in it. At this moment, you'll see a lot of people posing with the sunset as the background taking some memorable pictures.

Click, click,click... pose, pose, pose...

 "Am I pretty on that picture?"

Whoaaa, I love the sunset!!

After enjoying the beach, it's time for shopping! A lot of souvenir shops are available there. You'll also able to find public toilets, some restaurant, motels, surf-board repairing shop and even a photography studio near the beach area. Oh, maybe you wanna spending the night having some beers with your friend? That's cool but I won't recommend it.
By the way, when I was at the beach, there's a kid screaming "This is amazing. I don't wanna go home! I wanna live hereee!!" I feel the same, kiddo...

The Young & Talented Nina Nesbitt

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I'm just browsing around Youtube to find abs workout video. I clicked suggestion by suggestion and whoola I'm captivated to the following video. This isn't some workout vid, but a music vid from Scottish singer, Nina Nesbitt. I don't have any idea why Youtube suggest this vid, but, thank you Youtube!! : )

Nina Nesbitt - Make Me Fall

Born and brought up in Edinburgh by pop-loving parents--her Swedish mother loves Abba and Christina Aguilera and introduced her only child to Eva Cassidy; her dad is obsessed with Roxy Music--Nesbitt initially wanted to be an author. But this talented teenager who was born on july 11, 1994 reached success after covering some songs and uploaded on Youtube. Nina's voice is pure, beautiful and original, unlike another female artist on the music chart who still needs autotune.
She has released 2 EPs and a single. Her first EP, "Live Takes", was released at December 2011 and has 4 tracks in it. Her second EP, titled "The Apple Tree" was released in April 2012 and reached #6 on the iTunes download charts after receiving airplay on  BBC Radio 1 and also reached #1 on iTunes singer/songwriter chart. And under her new record label, Universal Music Group, on October, Nina released a new single titled "Boy".
Nina Nesbitt - Boy

Well, howd'ya think about this young girl?

Buckethead: Awesomely Weird and Weirdly Awesome!

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"It's too early for Halloween party, dude!"
When you see this guy, some of you may think that he is just a superfreak tall dude in a bad Halloween costume; "Michael Myer white plain mask and KFC bucket in your head? Are you kidding? You better shave your hair, wearing a good suit and being Slendie, man!" Well, he doesn't dress up for Halloween party and such, it is his costume to perform his magical music and rock the world! Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the weirdest guitarist in the world, BUCKETHEAD!
Buckethead (real name: Brian Caroll) is an American musician, song writer and guitarvirtuoso, got well-known for his distinctive outfit and elaborate stage shows. He has released 40 solo studio albums, 4 special released, 1 EP and has performed in more than 50 albums by other artists. He plays a wide range genres of music; avant-garde, heavy metal, funk, electronic, ambient, experimental rock, etc. If you've listened his whole albums, you'll agree with me that he creates different music, different mood, in every album he released. He has been voted number 8 in a list in GuitarOne magazine "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time".
If you haven't listened to all his albums, at least you must be ever listened to his song "Jordan", I suppose. "Jordan" is originally featured on the 2006 music video game Guitar Hero II and available as a downloadable single on iTunes on 2009. Another Buckethead's popular song is "Soothsayer" in Crime Slunk Scene album which was released on 2006. This song is very frequently played in his life performance.
One of my favorite Buckethead's song is "Padmasana", released in his ninth studio album, Electric Tears. This song has soft mellow tune, ambient and somewhat that make you feel like very calm, sad, empty and relax at the same time. Anyway, result may vary. Nine year after Electric Tears, on December 2011, Buckethead released its album sequel, Electric Sea. This album has 11 songs and two of them, "La Gavotte" and "Bachethead" are originally composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. As a matter of fact, those are the same song but played in different way, and still, both of them are pretty cool. This song is like raise positive energy and bring in the joy instantly.
Buckethead and his weapon.
His album, Colma, is the most-played album on my music player. It was released on March 24, 1998. Colma is an acoustic album, most of the track are composed on acoustic guitar, simple bass guitar and drum playing parts. This album was recorded for his mother, he wanted to make an album she could enjoywhile she's recovering from colon cancer she had.   
Anyway, it's possible for me to write about every single Buckethead's songs but I believe that noone will read it anyway. So, what are you waiting for? Try his awesome work by yourself! 
PS. 
If you want to buy the album, preview the songs, read the review and pick according your music taste. As I write above, The genre is different from one to another album.
I wrote this post on October 11, 2012

Pour Some Garam & Lada on Me!

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I remember Def Leppard's song--Pour Some Sugar on Me--when I want to give this post a title : )
In Bahasa Indonesia, garam means salt and lada means pepper, two substantial seasonings in every food on this planet. Garam & Lada is a small Indonesian restaurant located in Jln. Raya Kuta, Bali. It serves ayam penyet, empal, bakwan, sup iga and some other Indonesian dishes.
I went to this restaurant few days ago with my boyfriend. The atmosphere is so-Indonesia and very cozy with a warm lighting. The floor & tables are very clean--no oily spot on its surface, and also the waitresses are very friendly, that's what I like about this place! (5/5)
Cozy & comfy place...

I ordered ayam penyet and lime juice at the time. Ayam penyet is kind of marinated chicken served with sambal (chilli sauce) and lalapan (fresh vegetable--usually cabbage, basil and cucumber). I think the dishes were not very special in taste--rather vapid, thesambal was just like any sambal I've had before, so plain and didn't has distinctive flavor. The lime juice was kinda bitter and too watery. (3/5)
Menus

Lime juice & lemon tea

Luckily, the dishes in Garam & Lada doesn't cost much money. The price ranges between IDR 3,000 until 25,000. Yeah, you get what you paid for. (4/5)
So, if you are in Bali and you want to hang out with your friends, wish a comfy place with a low budget, I'll recommend you this place. But don't have a high expectation of fantastic dishes! You'll ain't get it. Well yeaaah, that was a humble review of Garam & Lada based on my tounge and parietal lobes of my brain. See ya next time people! 

So sorry for low-res pics : (

HDR: All Awesomeness in A Frame

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I love HDR photography! It's like, wow, you can capture every inch of nature awesomeness. The detail of clouds, building curves, color of grass & flowers under the sun and the beauty of light can be put together in a frame perfectly. 
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Based on Wikipedia, HDR photography is a set of methods used in imaging and photography, to allow a greater dynamic range between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than current standard digital imaging methods or photographic methods. Well, it is hard to be understood. Yeah. Basically, HDR photography is combining some pics taken in low, high and standard exposure value to obtain a final pic contained of the best part of those source pics. Still hard to be understood, huh? :p
I'm still not good at that, yeah I'm sure you've already know that, but here I have a HDR-edit pic. I only take a standard exposure pic, then I edit it and make other low and high exposure pics. I'm not satisfied with the final result, I think it still lack of something here and there. I took it from my Streamzoo account, so, sorry for the low-resolution picture. I forget where I stored the original one.
The Wall

By the way, here I found a series of articles which talks about HDR photography deeply. This online HDR photo maker is also awesome! Create yours! : )

ME: 0, Rokkor: 1

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I am a noob in photography world. I don't understand about lighting technique, photo composition, etc. Siriusly (I'm not a Potterhead until few months ago, haha). I just take pictures for fun. If I see something which is very interesting, it's like that I have to push the camera button! But I am now keep learning, who knows someday I'd be like the awesome Nigel Barker, hahaha... Wish me luck everybody! : )
About 2 months ago, I bought a manual lens--Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.4. I am really interested in bokeh, so yeah, my choice goes to this wide-manual-lens. Why manual lens? Isn't it harder to operate? It is. My first week with the lens makes me feel whoosh very frustrating. I just keep thinking that I don't have a gift-from-my-Lord to use the lens properly--capturing object in a very sharp focus and getting a smooth bokeh. But, I won't give up easily. The thing that motivated me is my thought "Great photographers back then--they--don't have digital cameras & autofocus lenses. They can capture really good pics, then why can't I?" Hahaha, hail manual lens! Besides, manual lens is really cheap, I get mine for only IDR 650k; while Canon 50mm f/1.4 cost about IDR 3,000k. Save the money, save the future, lol...
Anyway, this is a pic taken with my Rokkor in a low-light room. I don't say it is good enough, but yeah someday I'll be doing better than now.
Blu is dreaming...
Focal length: 50mm; F-stop: f/1.4; ISO speed: 3200; Exposure time: 1/30sec

Hope you like it! Feel free to drop few lines for me : )

Aye Earth!

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Aye! I'm not a pirate. Don't get me wrong with my words.
This is like my tenth or maybe eleventh blog--well, I don't know exactly. My other blogs is stranded away far from any updates. Some of them contain cheesy things that I, myself, feel so stupid when open it up. I also have a tumblr here but I'm not really into tumblr because of that reblogs and *.gif stuffs.
Should I describe myself in this first post?
Okay, just let's do that. I'm twenty-something female who has a high enthusiasm of doing nothing. No joking! I mean, I'm doing pretty good when I work, I sometimes also take some pictures, travel, read some thriller novels, learn how to play guitar (I don't have any talent in it..), do aerobics or HIIT workouts, etc but I love to waste my time watching crime serial and take a nap with my 2 kitties--Blu and Zooey.
I love rock music, any kind of it. Buckethead and Queen are my favorite!
Well, that's a short description about me. You'll know me more for sure because I'll write my blog as what-so-called diary.
Here, I give you 3 potatoes : )