Lights Out!! Leo's one and only blog

J'ai vu le martin indonésien, le volcan et le prêtre malais(I have seen the Indonesian sun, the volcano and the Malay priest). J'aime bien le Bandung. Le nourriture est très delicioux et le shopping est très merveilleux(I like Bandung very much. The food is delicious and the shopping is marvellous). Nous habitons dans un environnement sûr(We live in a safe place).

Living in Singapore really makes all of us so narrow minded. Before I came here I used to think Indonesia was a poor country and the buildings were old and not properly maintained(thank CNA for that). Staying here for 21 days(and counting) really changed my views on how i view the region. Yes poverty is still bad over here, seeing people eat from the rubbish dump made me realise how fortunate we are. And the roads are poorly maintained, holes in them and the pavement is missing several tiles = I cannot jog. I used to think the whole of Indonesia was a very dangerous and filled with religious zealots. Oh how very wrong I was! People here are very modern, leaps and bounds more modern that up north too(they seem prudish by comparison).

You wanna know how shopping here is like heaven on earth? It's filled to the brim with factory outlets everywhere! Prices are really good too! Less than 10 bucks for a nice shirt. Ok maybe shopping at chatuchak is better but hey! You are shopping here with the comforts of aircon and all that. Not to mention the weather is really cooling. I was walking out of the shopping near my place at 4pm but it felt like it was air-conditioned out there. Back in sg, if I were to walk around around this time I'll be a sweaty mess.

Coming here is also the first time I've seen a volcano too. Tangkuban Parahu. I had the opportunity to see one when I was 9 but since I was too scared I stayed in the van while the rest of my family went up the mountain. This time I went up with colleagues. I even bought souvenirs for my grandparents, my sister and the TS hehe. Everything I used to think about a volcano was proved wrong haha. It's so cooling up(its a mountain, what do you expect?) there but it stinks! The sulphur smell is so strong up there. In the end, I was smelling like sulphur but I'm not bothered at all, I'll be wearing the same jacket in the flight back to sg. I'll just see if anyone is pinching their noses :P

Talking about the food here, I think I am packing the pounds :D Food is fantastic! Recently, my GM brought me to a roadside store for fried rice(oily but what the heck! I'm in heaven!!!). It is fantastic! Especially the pork. The way they cook it! HEAVEN! I also highly recommend sundanese food, padang food and kalapa lagoon! I love cumi(squid/calamari, Indonesian style)!!!! I've even ate at a mountain, kampung daun. Nice atmosphere, they even light fire pyres at night! Really made me want to bring my family and my darling there(together, alone). How does that sound baby?

Going to church is a joy here. I look forward to church every week. The people here are so warm and nice. It's something I can feel. Ibu Liah was so nice to me even though I met her only once during mass. Where ever I travel to I always meet nice people in church. Thank god for that. They even have Malay priests here! How cool is that? Even though I dun understand what they say, somehow I don't doze off during sermons(I am not proud of it, but I am human right? and I don't doze off all the time). Somehow manages to capture my attention.

Oh and Jakarta!!! WOW JAKARTA!!!! I love shopping and I really enjoy shopping back home. But Jakarta is crazy!!! The shopping centers are enormous!!!! Not only that, they're all so close to one another. Think suntec city or vivocity is big? Come here and I'll show you what big is! Suntec city times 3!!! They have krispy kreme here too!!!! Hahahahaha I can finally say I've experienced what all the buzz is about :P I even brought the Krispy Kreme hats to prove it! I was shopping till my feet and knees hurt! Now I'm broke. Literally. I'm gonna owe people some money!

Now, rate me. Am I doing a good job at being an ambassador for visit Indonesia 2007? Let me know.

Amie baby, lets come here one day for holiday ya *muack* I love you!!!