borobudur

this is just going to be a post with lots and lots of photos of borobudur.

borobudur is a buddhist temple built in the 9th century and is the largest shrine in indonesia.

this is a miniature. there are 10 tiers all together and the walls of the lower tiers have stones carved with buddhim tales. the three tiers of stupas on higher levels have a statue of buddha in them while the largest stupa which is in the centre is empty.

can't help from taking this photo. one of my favourites actully. i think the three guys are japs. those who went into the temple complex via the main entrance were given a piece of batik to wrap while we who entered via the hotel entrance just walked in as we pleased.

ok that was me getting wrap in the morning to get ready for the sunrise tour.

the temple from about 70metres away. this is what you will see when you walk from the hotel.

this area was unfortunately closed for reconstruction purposes. these are the stupa tiers.


an exposed buddha statue in the stupa.




waiting for sunrise.

buddhism tales on the stones

applied some lightening touches to the photo after i found out there are so many additional effects you can apply on the photos after taking them with the new camera

someone told me this photo is eerie.

the mist in the morning. this should be the north side of the temple.

merapi is on the left.

hello borobudur sunrise

the sunrise tour in borobudur...hmmh....is it worth joining???
u need to pay 117,000 rupiah...that is about rm40....just to be able to enter the borobudur temple at 5a.m. and then stay on the second tier of the complex (that is the best spot according to the guide) and wait for the sun to rise from the east.

well, personally, i don't think it is worth paying the money. it was not as magnificent as the one i saw at great ocean road, australia.

the temple complex opens quite early for paying visitors i think, 6a.m. but of course the sun would have risen by then.

but the earlier you go, the better it is as it is less crowded and you have lots of opportunities to take photos at any angles you want and the mist covering the greenery is so beautiful.

you get a complimentary torchlight with the package and early entrance of course. we proceeded to the temple at 4.30a.m. local time.

you get light refreshment of a piece of cake and fried banana and tea/coffee.

sunrise on the day i was there. lightening of the sky from the east and the magnificent view of the merapi mountain. worth the 117,000 rupiah??

manohara hotel, borobudur

welcome to manohara hotel, the most convenient hotel to visit borobudur.

this is the only hotel adjacent to the borobudur compound. within 3 mins walk, you have already reached the magnificent complex and the complex is standing right in front of you. wow!!!

i managed to book the hotel by contacting an indonesian travel agent i found online. luckily he was trustable. i mean, i did not pay him any deposit at all. we just confirmed the details of my booking via e-mails and he said he would be waiting for the at the airport.

phew, luckily he was reliable and sure enough, i had the driver, transport and my rooms.


the hotel foyer. it is a resort like hotel.

greenery everywhere. this is the road leading to the lobby.

the balcony outside our room.


my room with 3 beds. sleep comfortably.

the bathroom with hotwater. it is only certified 2 stars i think, but i think it is worth 3 stars.

the restaurant of the hotel where had our dinner of nasi goreng.

i think this is nasi goreng magelang. not bad loh.

fried calamari. you can venture farther than the hotel if you are interested in sampling food from tiny restaurants. but the path is quite dark outside. please be reminded that the days start very early there and so it gets dark rather early, at about 6p.m.

although our driver said he would be posted at the hotel and we could look for him if we needed him to drive us out, we did not. of course it came with an extra charge.
some had instant noodles while we went to the restaurant.


a mini theatre showing a documentary of borobudur. it is informative watching the 20minute documentary. you will appreciate the architecture and significance of the temple.

glad i made the right hotel choice. it was really convenient and we did not have to pay entrance fee to borobudur. just tell the guard that you are guests there and you will gain direct entry.

now go and find your agent.

yogjakarta, still day 1

continuing from the previous day 1 post......

so after the visit to prambanan temple, some started complaining of hunger. at first the driver (rudi) suggested lunch only after the visit to merapi at 3p.m., luckily we did not take to his suggestion. we would be starving by then.

so he brought us to a....gosh...i also dunno what to call this place. here is the photo:

a restaurant in a rustic setting? we were the only customers there and the place looked as if it had not been frequented for a long long time.

we ordered 3 different dishes, each 2 servings and white rice.

assorted vegetables but it came in a rather miserable portion. not as much as we expected.

fried catfish

white rice

baby chicken- grilled. i think it is a local specialty. it is advertised everywhere along the roadsides. and yup, it is delicious.

this was our ride for 2 days. it could fit 10 passengers comfortably.

so with a full stomach, it was up that winding journey to mount merapi, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. we snaked through villages and reached the foot of the mountain while witnessing the devastation brought by the eruption last year. it took about 30 mins i think.

everything was kinda ashy and dusty. there were stalls here selling local snacks and many peddlers would come to you offering pictures of the erupting volcano and dvds too.

we were unfortunate not being able to catch a glimpse of the top of the volcano nor the smoke billowing from the crater. i wished i could blow away those thick clouds!!! it was quite cooling being so high up. villagers built at the foot all perished in the mud and lava flow.

scenes you see along the road leading to the volcano.

aren't we glad to be in a land without volcano??

so before heading to manohara hotel in borobudur's compound, the driver stopped us at a silver factory cum show room. apparently borobudur's silver is quite famous but none of us bought any here. their silver is very white compared to the normal one we see. and of course they said it won't get dark easily.


according to the tips given, you only need to apply a bit toothpaste to whiten your darkened silver. well, i will wait for someone to try first.

a letter to jimmy choo ;)

dear datuk jimmy choo,

a lot of question marks came into my head today when i read the star article about you being interested to buy the 'jimmy choo' company you have sold to tamara mellon few years ago.

you are finally regretting your sale?? i find the whole thing quite silly really.

if you are really interested to enter asia's market, must you do it via jimmy choo's name? yes, i know, the name is synonymous with good shoes and it is YOUR name that is on the shoes. but everyone who reads fashion news will know that they are not designed by you and that you are only involved in jimmy choo haute couture now.

do you really want to fight with the big guys out there to bid for jimmy choo?? LVMH, one of the leading groups of luxurious goods and not to mention owners of many designer brands is also bidding, do you think you have the capital to win the bid??

i believe, there should be no u-turn once you have made the deal of selling the name. if you really want to penetrate the asian market and have retail outlets to sell your own made shoes to reach to more customers, you can always start new lines under another name. who cares if you only use 'jimmy shoes' or 'choo shoes' or any other names you can think of, your fans will just be happy to be shod in any pair of shoes specially handcrafted by you.

a rose by any other name is still a rose. a pair of shoes made by jimmy choo is always jimmy choo's.

why waste the unnecessary fund to acquire what you have already sold? start anew and save those money (and still lots to keep) for marketing.

haiz, will you make me a pair of your jimmy choo's??? i will sing songs about them and spread words about your wonderful creations here ;P

love,
escape2

love mi more again

love mi more concert- how many times have i watched thee??
i attended 2 shows in hk.
then when it came to malaysia, i also attended both nights in genting highland.
then love mi again came to malaysia, i also attended both the nights at the same venue.
last year, i flew to singapore to attend love mi more for 1 night.
and yesterday night, i went to genting for love mi more again. phew.....
am i getting sick of the concert or what??

well, not really. am tired of the same rundown but luckily, the new outfits kept things fresh.
and now that sammi cheng is back together with andy hui, she sportingly responded to the fans' screams of his name as well.

the concert last night started at 2015 and ended at 2230. not too short.
usually, i would be sitting in front at those vip seats on 6th row but this time around, it was the 6th row from the back. sob sob! well, you don't complain when you get free tickets right.

anyway, the audience was just as high here. and boy, how i hated those whistles! they should not be allowed to be brought in to the hall. they were damn irritating and annoying to the ears. i thought i would go deaf by the end of the night.

so since i was soooo far at the back, no good photos despite the 36x zoom of the camera. when i zoomed the lens, it was very difficult to get a clear shot. and the frustrating was, the camera actually jammed in the midst. i had to take out the battery and then put it back to restart the camera. aaargghh!!! shall i bring it back to the shop? so frustrated.

anyway, here are some clearer photos i managed to salvage. i deleted more than i kept. ignore the date printed on the photo. the camera's fault.

the opening session of the concert.




only this dancing dress still remains from all the previous shows.



cone hair band, and corset inspired dress. pretty right?? she was jokingly blaming whoever designed the custom because the hair band kept sliding from her hair, the dress was insecure and the shoes was also loose. hahaha

han jin again as the special guest and boy, was his tummy getting bigger. it was protruding from his shirt. when sammi introduced the song -step by step love, she explained the meaning of the song and said how one should take love step by step. then all fans screamed 'on jai' and she added quickly, 'yalah yalah, love has come'. that was so sweet.


the microphone was malfunctioning at this part. could only hear her voice when she screamed. so it was more seeing her dance moves than listening to her sing at this part.

not a favourite of mine.

the second encore. yup, she gave two. all the fans had rushed to the front by then.

is she thin or what?? i bet all fans are scouring nike stores for this outfit now. from head to toe, nike.
finale.

it was a good show. could see that she was putting her heart and effort in putting up the show for the fans and people who paid to watch. mom enjoyed it.

i felt so disconnected sitting at the back. the experience was totally different from sitting at the front. of course you could see her doing the split from this high point, but nothing beats being close to the stage.

felt 'uninvolved' this time with her coming too. no going to the airport to wait for her arrival nor sending her off. from what i heard, there were not that many fans today at the airport this morning sending her off and she stopped to take a group photo with them. lucky fans. just my luck when i decided not to play the chasing fans.

well, have to pack now. time to start work again. aaaahh...lots of marking to be done this week! whose idea was it to give everyone homework??!!!!