OPUS JAY 2013 WORLD TOUR JAKARTA at MEIS ANCOL

Repeated info from previous post : 

OPUS JAY 2013 WORLD TOUR CONCERT 

Saturday, October 12th, 2013 - 19.00-21.00

Mata Elang International Stadium (MEIS) Ancol,

North Jakarta, INDONESIA

Sekali lagi, Special Thanks untuk seluruh sponsor yang sudah membawa Jay Chou untuk ngadain  Jay Chou   Concert di Indonesia : 

KASPERSKY , TECH TITAN,  PT. NUSANTARA UTAMA TECHNOLOGY, 

Also W PRODUCTIONS and SYNERGISM ENTERTAINMENT.

Here I am - di dalam gedung MEIS, Bronze Center tepatnya di section H-40 & H-41.  Semua penonton duduk rapi di kursinya masing-masing.  Aku tengok kebawah, ternyata semua section duduk. Enak bangetlah kalau gini.  Di masing-masing tempat duduk, sudah tersedia neon stick warna pink. So gak ada Stick Light warna lain di konser ini. Semuanya uniform, rasanya ini juga udah ketentuan yang diminta oleh Jay Chou management (barangkali ya), karena di semua negara dia perform viewnya sama semua.  (pantesan diluar biasanya rame banget orang2 jualan light stick, kali ini kok tumben gak ada yg jualan sama sekali)

The Uniformed Pink Light Stick

Tata dekor sih sederhana aja, di masing-masing Balkon tribune, baik silver left right, maupun Bronze left right, terlihat berjajar rapi spanduk2 Kapersky & Tech Titan.. (gak jelas terlihat apakah ada tulisan Opus Jay 2013 Concert atau gak). From my seat, I cannot see anything else, but if not mistaken I saw it from somewhere, there is a lighted yellow neon above us written something about the Concert. maybe 'Opus Jay Concert'.  Stage sendiri masih tertutup Giant Screen, sementara di kiri dan kanan Stage ada Big Screen. Dan di tribune center juga ada 2 LED di kiri dan kanan (dengan ukuran lebih kecil dari yang di kanan kiri stage).   

Di layar-layar dan LED yang ada, mulai ditayangkan berulang-ulang iklan Kaspersky yang rupanya Jay Chou adalah endorser nya Kaspersky.  Iklan Tech Titan, dan juga beberapa cuplikan mengenai Jay Chou, film2nya, dan salah satu mv2nya Jay Chou. 

Teng Teng Teng ... Opus Jay Concert 2013 mulai jam 19.45 (terlambat 45 menit dari schedule).  Opening Concert biasanya selalu dibuka dengan lagu yang Upbeat,  Sangat disayangkan karena personally aku gak terlalu familier dengan lagu2nya Jay Chou, jadi sorry kalau gak bisa kasih judul2 atau title dari lagu2 yang dinyanyiin Jay.

Yang Jelas, Openingnya Megah.  

Pengen sharing ttg Opening yg Unik dr Opus Jay Chou Concert ini.  

Ceritanya Jay Chou terlihat 3D lagi bersiap, di dalam suatu kendaraan unik yang diimajinasi aku seperti kendaraan dari planet luar....    Get Set Go (btw, he doesn't say this, ok) ...  puter-puter lewat perjalanan maybe perjalanan luar angkasa -- (view like di Star Trek or some kinds of outerspace view) ~ tujuan kendaraannya ya of course, di MEIS Ancol Jakarta, specificaly di depan penonton Opus Jay Concert, hehe..  Keren bgt. Something like that.  

Selanjutnya setelah sampai .. BAM !! ... suara sirene keras menggelegar seisi gedung ... Fireworks, kemudian muncullah pasukan dancernya Jay Chou... Gak berapa lama, setelah beberapa waktu permainan lampu disana sini, Laser Light (4 souce points) .. muncullah Jay Chou dengan yelling sesuatu (sayang gak ngerti) .. denger ada kata Indonesia nya (mungkin salah) ..  Kemunculan Jay Chou pakai baju warna Gold celana gold .. Outstanding lah .. mulailah dia nyanyi dan ikutan dance.

It's really hard to describe what I see in this concert with merely words,  I am soo amused by the Greatness of the Opening. 

Setelah sederetan lagu2 pertama (mungkin 3 atau 4 lagu) ~ Jay Chou mulai menyapa semua penonton ~ Kalimat pertama dia ucapkan sesuatu, aku dan temenku saling pandang-pandangan, oh my dear,  Jay ngobrolnya dgn bahasa Mandarin of course, I should have guessed  .. Yasudahlah, kita hanya bisa ketawa aja, dan ikutan bersorak seperti fans lainnya, tanpa mengerti dia lagi bicara apa (hahaha,,, feeling soo silly, tapi tetep sangat menikmati)..  Mr. Jay Chou, kenapa gak ada penterjemahnya , hehe. (gak mungkin juga ya!)  Entah apa yang dia omong, yang jelas semua penonton sepertinya Memang Mengerti Jelas karena mereka bisa sahut2an ngejawab pertanyaan Jay Chou (oh well oh well, ga pa pa lah, yang penting kita happy).

Susah untuk ceritain satu per satu apalagi urutan lagu2 yang dia perform di Opus Jay Jakarta ini.  Rangkaian lagu2 baik lagu lama maupun lagu baru yang ada di album-nya yang Opus Jay 2013 of course, gak inget ya ada berapa lagu totalnya, yang jelas berapa   Rasanya ini satu-satunya full konser yang aku pernah tonton, yang Sangat Terkonsep secara rapi dan sistematis.  

Dari sisi technology, Opus Jay 2013 Concert konsepnya asik dan hi-tech, karena bukan hanya Lightingnya aja yang Keren & Wow, Penambahan image-image 4-Dimensi -nya bener2 buat aku Wow dan Memukau.    Mungkin setelah postingan ini, kalau ada waktu, aku mau coba browsing dan share bbrp 4D yang ditonjolin, karena seating kita cukup jauh dari stage, dan dengan pencahayaan yang segitu terangnya, konsep 4D yang aku liat di concert itu, gak bisa tercapture oleh kamera hp.  4-Dimensi-nya disesuaikan dengan theme per section lagu .. disesuaikan dengan lagu2 yang dinyanyiin Jay Chou..  LIGHTINGnya juga cukup Wow, ada sekitar 4 titik laser.  Karena aku cukup sering ngadain konser, sekarang ini kalau aku nonton, selalu perhatiin tehnis-tehnis seperti ini, krn hal-hal seperti ini Quite Costly.  Jadi semakin banyak asesoris Lighting dan additional-nya, semakin cost nya besar. 

A glimpse of Jay Chou Concert - 50" only

Full Band - super lengkap lah yang ngiringin Jay Chou nyanyi.

Yang jelas karena Jay Chou juga pinter main instrument musik, permainan musiknya ciamik banget.

Special session dimana Jay Chou main akustik guitar, ditemani 3 orang sama2 main guitar.  Guitar Session by Jay Chou ini Berkesan banget bagi aku, karena di section ini, Jay Chou nyanyiin lagu "CAI HONG".

Plus Jay Chou handsome n berkharisma sekali dengan setelah baju hijaunya di session ini.

Blink-blink juga tentunya

Piano session -- ini berkesan banget , Jay Chou main piano, session ini yang ditunggu2 temenku.  Beberapa lagu yang dia nyanyiin pas main piano betul2 asik bgt, seperti Ming Ming Jiu, An Cing, dll.  Ming Ming Jiu satu2nya lagu yang aku bisa record almost full, aku seneng banget sama lagu ini.  Walaupun lagu ini baru buat aku, tapi baru denger musiknya aja, langsung tau bahwa bakalan suka sama lagu ini. Oleh karena itu, disempetin direkam, karena untuk cari tahu judul lagu dan dari album apa lagu ini.  Grand Piano warnanya putih dengan aksen Keemasan.

Ada 1 keunikan lagi dari Concert Jay Chou ini,  Semua lagu yang dinyanyiin Jay chou di big screen dan LeD tv atas kiri kanan, selalu ada LYRIC LAGUnya (the mandarin and the romanization) ...Soo Nice, Ya !.. so fans yang lupa atau gak hafal lagunya masih bisa lirik text di screen.. serasa kita nyanyi ikutan karaoke diiringi full band khan.. Daebak!!  (Hebat Banget!!) 

Jay Chou ada beberapa lagu yang bener2 bernuansa Oriental disatukan di satu section dengan koreography dance yang lucu, koreography seperti di film2 silat jaman kerajaan dulu, dance gaya prajurit2 kerajaan gitu. Oh, ciri khas Jay Chou, di albumnya selalu ada 1 or 2 lagu yang bener-bener Oriental style banget.  Jadi lagu-lagunya dia gak semua Mandarin Pop, tapi beberapa mesti diselipin lagu-lagu dengan nuansa Chinese kuno, dengan alat musik china kuno.  Aku suka lagu2 nya dia yang Oriental banget, karena dr irama musiknya yang beda itu mengalirlah lagu-lagu dengan halus dan rasanya santai aja dengernya.

Suasana main-main di Pantai ada di saat Jay Chou nyanyi serangkaian lagu2 , salah satunya lagu "Ukelele" (yang mana dia nyanyiin Ukelili),  walaupun aku gak ngerti lagu ini, tapi it's obviouslah judulnya. 4-D nya juga berupa alat musik Ukelele, costum yang dia dan dancernya pakai juga pakaian Beach ala Hawaii gitu.  Menarik juga, muncul dari penonton VVIP, tiba2 ada bola2 pantai warna warni yang sizenya cukup besar dilempar-lempar antara penonton vvip.

Beberapa hal yang membuat aku sangat terkesan cukup dalam dari Jay Chou :

1. Setiap satu series performance (aku anggap 1 seri performance itu beberapa lagu yang dia mainkan berturutan tanpa sela, tapi bukan yang medley ya), dia selalu ucapin Xie Xie , Xie Xie Ni,  .. (terimakasih).  Ucapan ini juga terlihat tulus karena sambil liat mukanya dia, he is sincere. 
2. Costumes / Wardrobes.  Ada kali 8 atau bahkan 10 kali Jay Chou berganti pakaian.  let's see if I can remember some of his costumes for this Concert  << 1. Setelan Hijau my very fave -- waktu dia main guitar ; 2. Golden/keemasan set -- opening time, 3. Kemeja Orange dengan Blazer/Vest hitam ; 4. Setelan Hitam / Black Soldier like -- sewaktu dia main piano ;  5. Pakaian Santai Pantai (Beach costume with funny looking pants)  dengan celana yang gedombrong itu -- medley ukelele time ;   6. Kemeja putih dilapisi Rompi Hitam / black Vest ;  7.  Short blazer off white color dari atas ke bawah.  Cukup banyak ya costum yang dia siapin untuk fansnya.  Mungkin masih ada 1 atau 2 costume lagi yang mana aku gak inget.   Dari sini, aku bisa liat bahwa Jay Chou menghargai dan respect untuk penonton yang sudah hadir ke Concert nya.  Beda dengan Concert yang selama 2 jam hanya mungkin berganti 2 atau 3 kali, bahkan ada yang gak ganti2 wardrobe.  But not Jay Chou. Wardrobe Favorite yang aku suka banget adalah pas dia pake baju set hijau (blink blink), but then again hampir semua costume yang dia pake bener2 blink blink (istilah temenku : bajunya Jay Chou sangat Oriental taste dan blink blink, hehe);  Jay Chou bener2 keliatan tampan dan berkharisma banget dengan setelan hijau.  
3. Sesuatu yang Very Precious banget yang aku sangat nikmati adalah setiap kali dia ajak fans / penonton untuk ikutan nyanyi sambil mengarahkan mikenya ke atas, dan satu tangan lagi dia taroh di dadanya.  Dan di Screen juga terlihat sekali kalau Jay Chou juga sangat menikmati keindahan fansnya bernyanyi bersama2 dia.  (dimana dan kapan ya, aku pernah dengar waktu dia diinterview bahwa dia sangat enjoy saat2 fans ikutan bernyanyi).  And it does, he showed it soo many times. From the way I see him, he is touched and seems like he puts that moment in his heart... hhmm,, ada beberapa kali aku bener2 tersentuh lihat ini ... I am soo touched.

Sehubungan dengan seating kita yang boleh dibilang cukup jauh dari stage, 

untuk tampilan image khusus 2 foto dibawah ini bukan punya aku sendiri, 

tapi diambil dari google. foto ini muncul di google, original dari youtube-nya Hansin Shi. 

I don't know that youtube will provide still image.

Jay Chou dengan pakaian setelan hijau ini, bener2 favorit aku banget.

Soo much in Love - this is when he sings "Cai Hong" in medley with other songs.

  

Untuk aku secara pribadi, ternyata ada 2 lagu yang aku sangat familiar, more or less bisa dengan cukup baik ikutan Singing Along with Jay Chou.  Lagu Cai Hong dan lagu Simple Love.  Pas pertama dengar Jay Chou nyanyi lagu Cai Hong, dia guitaran akustik, plus pake baju hijau yang keren banget.  Pertama denger dentingan musik gitar nyanyiin Cai Hong,, aku yang langsung teriak, 'Yes',  I knew this song. Gak sadar begitu dia mulai nyanyi, aku ikutan nyanyi dengan sendirinya.

Satu lagu lagi yang sangat familiar buat aku sewaktu Jay Chou nyanyi lagu "Simple Love".   Pas dia nyanyi dua lagu ini Bener-bener hampir meneteskan air mata, Rasa Terharu.  -- oh, ya, Jangan Salah ya , bukan karena lagunya lagu sedih atau mellow, sebetulnya lagu "Simple Love" ini sama sekali bukan  lagu mellow atau lagu balad, bahkan lagunya cukup riang dan iramanya cukup cepet.

Ada sih beberapa lagu OST film2nya nya Jay Chou yang dinyanyikan juga, sekilas pernah dengar beberapa kali bbrp tahun lalu, cuma gak pernah sampai hafal.

Lagu ini termasuk lagu lama nya Jay Chou, tahun berapa persisnya gak inget, tapi masih jaman pertama2nya suka sama Alec Su, BYJ, JDG, jadi mungkin di sekitar tahun 2006 atau 2007.

The fact that I can sing along and watch Jay Chou himself singing in front of me was never even slightly went in my mind at that time.  But now I can sing along with him (even though just these 2 songs that I know),

Just Makes Me Unbelievably Happy.

Concert dari Jay Chou dengan judul albumnya Opus Jay 2013 World Tour Concert ini memang Gak Bisa Dirinci satu per satu, karena terdiri dari banyak banget bagian2nya.  Yang jelas, di setiap bagian jelas terasa themanya, dr costum / dressing Jay dan para dancer, dari 4 Dimensinya, tata lighting dan Tentunya Yang Jelas Lagu-lagu karya Mister Jay Chou sendiri yang so pasti sudah lama ditunggu2 fans2 loyalnya Jay Chou, serta Gak ketinggalan Pemain2 musik, Jay and his band (termasuk Jay Chou),,  berasa kalau gak ada yang luput dari perencanaan yang pastinya Rapi dan Bagus. Semuanya Terkonsep dengan Baik dan Organized. Concert Opus Jay milik Jay Chou ini termasuk salah satu konser terhebat yang pernah diadain di Indonesia (menurut pendapat aku ya).  So Opus Jay 2013 menampilkan Tidak hanya Konser yang hanya itu-itu aja,  lihat Artis Nyanyi dari satu lagu ke lagu lain sampai waktu habis, tapi seperti lihat Musical Performance. Jay Chou bener-bener Menghargai fans nya, memberikan yang terbaik untuk penontonnya.  Very Happy Bisa Menjadi Bagian dari Event Opus Jay 2013 Jakarta Concert ini.  Malah aku sedikit menyesal kenapa gak beli tiket yang lebih di depan.  (kalau gak pasti bakalan banyak foto2 yang lebih jelas .. but then again, Gak perlu lihat foto pun, secara cukup detil aku masih bisa ingat).  Total lagu yang dibawakan keseluruhan mungkin sekitar 40an lagu, ada beberapa yang dibuat medley.  Dan setau aku Jay Chou gak pernah bawain lagu yang diciptakan oleh orang lain.  Lagu2nya dia semua ciptaan Jay Chou sendiri.

Berharap di 2 tahun yang akan datang, Jay Chou masih tetap akan Hadir di Indonesia (khususnya Jakarta) dengan Konsep2 Menarik Selanjutnya. Yang Jelas untuk seorang Jay Chou, Creativitas, Originality, KeUnikan, dan Kehebatan Karya-karyanya Pastinya Gak Mengecewakan untuk Selalu  Ditunggu.

Jay Chou, You Keep Rockin. 

Terima kasih sudah mau dateng ke Indonesia.

PRELUDE before Watching OPUS JAY 2013 JAKARTA TOUR Concert

YeaY !!  Akhirnya Jay Chou datang juga ke Indonesia. People say He is the King of MandoPop. (Mandarin Pop genre).  Finally , setelah selama 2 tahun belakangan ini Indonesia khususnya Jakarta kebanyakan disuguhi Kpop ,  sesuatu yang beda, Taiwan artist sebetulnya dulu di sini cukup OK, tapi seolah kalah suara sama KPop (aku termasuk penggemar berat KPop ataupun sesuatu yang berbau Korea, cuma harus diakui Band2 Korea atau K singer yang bener2 bagus dan berkelas gak banyak, dari sekian banyaknya group Korea yang ada, bisa dihitung dengan keduatangan yang bagus. Cuma karena kemasan / packaging dan iklannya terbungkus dengan baik dan terorganisir oleh pemerintah Korea, gaung Korean Wave (Hallyu) jadi jauh lebih menggema ke seluruh dunia).

Anyway, saat-saat yang sudah dinanti.  Aku sebenernya gak terlalu ngefans (atau bahkan bukan category fans Jay sama sekali), tapi cukup memantau film2 layar lebarnya Jay Chou, terutama karena Jay Chou sering main film2 Mandarin collosal.  Kalau di dunia musik Jay Chou memang sudah gak asing lagi khan.  He is famous and Legendary .. So for me, IT IS A MUST to WATCH --THE LEGEND OF MANDARIN POP COMING TO CONCERT TO INDONESIA -- kalau gak ditonton khan sayang banget.

this is the OPUS JAY 2013 WORLD TOUR web banner yang mereka promosikan dimana-mana.

Waktu awal2 tahun (mungkin bulan Maret /April 2013) liat web bannernya Jay Chou mau mengadakan concert di Singapore, ada perasaan Envy , kenapa ya gak ke Jakarta, khan sudah dekat sekali.  Nah, akhirnya sewaktu liat pertama kali banner Concert Opus Jay di Jakarta di website apa gitu, sampai gak percaya bacanya... Yang bener nich di Jakarta, coba baca lagi. Betul pas baca di MEIS Ancol bulan Oktober, baru Totally Sure it will be in Jakarta . 

!! Ouw ouw Ouw,, baru liat bannernya aja buat jadi deg-degan.!!

Setelah lihat bannernya, jelas happy banget, Jay Chou is finally Here! Concert in Indonesia!
bingung mau ajak siapa ya, kalau concert Kpop pasti ada beberapa yang bisa diajak, bahkan anakku, Tashia pun pasti bisa diajak karena dia suka banget Kpop.  hhmm... kalau mandarin mau ajak siapa ya.  Tanya2 temen, dan dapet juga temen nonton dari sesama fansnya BYJ (yg gak tau BYJ itu siapa, maksud nya Bae Yong Joon, one of my Korean Idol -- the first generation).  Lucunya temenku ini juga bukan fans Jay Chou, tapi karna temenku ini suka dan mahir main piano, dia eager lihat Jay Chou nyanyi dan main piano.. 

Seriously funny, thinking of what brought the two of us watch Jay Chou concert.  

Waktu aku buka web penjualan ticket, sempet kaget juga karena banyak kelas - bahkan sampai ke Gold section pun sudah sold out .. o.o... akhirnya satu dan lain hal, karena kita pikir kita berdua cuma ingin tahu seperti apa kehebatan concertnya Jay Chou, kita juga santai aja pilih yang Bronze (murmer, di tribune), Rp 750.000,-  not bad lah -- Bronze pun yang left and right sudah sold out juga kedua section tersebut. Kita dapetnya yang Bronze Center.  Ticketnya berkisar dari Rp 750.000,- sampai Rp 3.500.000,-  yang vvip. 

Most of all, kita juga happy karena sudah ada seated numbernya. Ok, so we don't have to worry about getting there too early, do we.

Sabtu, tanggal 12 Oktober 2013, kita berdua sudah janjian untuk ketemuan di Ancol.  Kita akhirnya mutusin untuk sekalian nginep (maunya di Mercure, karena kita Go Show, jadi gak dapet.. Untunglah masih ada di Putri Duyung Cottage), supaya kita berdua gak cape.  Maklum lah udah ibu2 gini.

Kalau gak salah sesampai di Ancol sekitar jam 13.00an lewat , kita tuker voucher dengan tiket dulu supaya ntar gak repot lagi dengan urusan tiket, dan udah bisa tenang melakukan apa aja, dan nanti menjelang jam mulai, kita tinggal lenggang masuk ke MEIS.

Kita berdua makan dulu di Kopi Oey (yang kalau tidak salah miliknya pk. Bondan Mak Nyoos -- lumayanlah makanannya, plus harganya juga sangat reasonable)  yang ada di MEIS plaza , sambil liat orang hilir mudik lalu lalang di sekitar MEIS plaza, ternyata banyak banget orang2 yang pakai baju kaos hitam ada tulisannya Jay Chou, begitu juga ada beberapa yang ber-tshirt putih dr Kaspersky.  Lumayan juga ini baru sekitar jam 14.00 tapi orang2 atau fans nya Jay Chou sudah banyak pada ngumpul di MEIS dan sekitarnya.  Kita berdua pun sempat dibantu ditunjukkan direction ke tempat penukaran ticket oleh bbrp orang koordinator fansbasenya Jay Chou. Di Beach walk depan MEIS plaza juga udah terlihat Big backdrop OPUS JAY 2013, tempat orang2 bisa foto disitu.  Dan juga suasana MEIS tambah kental dengan Jay Chou, karena di background musik di MEIS juga sudah terdengar lagu2nya Jay Chou. 

Kita sempetin untuk balik ke Pondok Putri Duyung untuk istirahat dulu, ngobrol2 lagi about Jay Chou dan tentang Korea tentunya, sampai akhirnya masing2 ketiduran.  Bangun2 sudah jam 5 lewat sore, mempersiapkan diri, gak bawa atribut sama sekali, karena gak punya dan gak mempersiapkan sesuatu, toh tempat kita juga jauh dr stage.
Off we go! 

Menuju MEIS lantai 2, ternyata antriannya sudah panjang. Kita berdua langsung antri di salah1 antrian, then just realised when someone behind me asked whether we are in the right section ..wait a minute...  i think we should check whether or not we are in the right queing ... Yup, we are in the wrong Queing.  ..  Queing menuju ke Bronze Center Gate digabung sama bbrp kelas lainnya, kalau gak salah Silver Left or Right.  Dari hulu, jalan muter hampir satu gedung cari ujungnya supaya pasti kita gak salah jalurnya. Karena kalo kita salah jalur, parah lagi, kita mesti muter lagi.  Sepanjang antrian sambil tengak tengok kiri kanan, sapa tau ada temen lain yang nonton juga. By looking at the crowds there in MEIS, we see that Jay Chou have quite Specific Community of Fans... banyak yang juga berbahasa Mandarin satu sama lain, sampe kita berdua mikir serasa kita lagi nonton Concert di Singapore, hehehe.  Gee,  There are soo many times I come to regret why I cannot speak Mandarin and why there is nobody in my family who talks in Mandarin. 

Queing walaupun sangat panjang, tapi sangat teratur dan tenang.  Jadi berasa gak capek, karena biasanya antrian ini bisa sangat ngebetein kalo orang2 depan dan belakang kita yang teriak2 gak jelas sambil cerita2 mengenai artis yang mo perform... Atau mungkin juga karena average yang nonton mungkin sudah di usia 20 tahun ke atas, I think some are even already in early 30s or even older.  

Gak berasa kita sudah sampai di depan security pengecekan. Cek kamera, dan minuman... then langsung naik eskalator naik ke venue.  

Around 18.30, kita sudah bisa sampai di dalam gedung.  Suasana di dalam sudah cukup ramai walaupun belum full packed.  Naik menuju Bronze Center cukup tinggi juga ya, seating kita di H-40 and H-41.. Cukup strategic eventhough quite far from the stage, but we got the seat in the middle - quite center, so I am pretty happy. 

the sponsorships and producer :

OPUS JAY 2013 WORLD TOUR JAKARTA 

KASPERSKY Lab,  TECH TITAN, 

PT. NUSANTARA UTAMA TECHNOLOGY.  

W PRODUCTION (yang barusan bawa SMTown di Jakarta)

and SYNERGISM ENTERTAINMENT.  

Suasana gedung sebelum Concert mulai.  Berangsur-angsur penuh mendekati jam 19.00.

Next post -- About the Opus Jay 2013 World Tour Jakarta

Just intermezzo

I remember a while ago, I told my friend Julia, it seemed to me blogging from Ipad seems much easier, it takes seconds to open an Ipad rather than opening a laptop.. But she had different opinions at the time.

But now that I've done the writings several times to do my blogging from Ipad, it is not as simple as it seems.. 

Writing very long paragraphs on touch screen is something that I haven't get used to do..especially with my big fingertips, I can find more typos here and there. 

 Plus somehow, when the writings get very long and turn out to be more than the screen of the ipad, I'm not sure why it is but it is hard for me to go back to the bottom  below the screen ...or else go back and forth from 1st or 2nd paragraph to some paragraphs at the end..  I don't know is it only me having this problem..  Hehehe...  

So whatever I write on the pad , before I update it, I still need to go to the laptop and get a final retouch    before I publish it.  

Hehehe,, just an intermezzo.. I guess it needs more time to adjust....  

Bali - Paradise Island

Been a long time for real family vacation.

The kids and I had been wanting to go to Bali since like years ago, but there was always something .. basically either not enough money to spare or no adequate leave off time.  So the beginning of Ramadhan when my workplace has closed operations and we had mass off days, would be a good timing to have my vacation.

Off to Bali , Saturday July 13th with Lion Air.

Mendarat (Landed in) di Bali sekitar pukul 15.00 dan dijemput oleh Hard Rock Bali hotel.  From then on, for the 5 days we were in Bali, we used the driver, pk. Dewa with his car,  toyota Innova who drives us around Bali.  I was thinking rather than renting other kind of car like avanza or apv, Innova would be more comfortable to ride around for longer hours. Plus this Innova has individual seating in the middle - just perfect for the 4 of us.  (me, 2 kids, and my mom)

Hard Rock Hotel BALI

sangat strategic terletak di Kuta, tinggal menyebrangi jalan sudah area pantai Kuta.  We booked 2 rooms and got a great deal from one of my bank.

When were helped to check in, the staff gives us a bunch of coupons that we can use in all the entertainment area and facilities inside the Hotel.  We also get 1 free hour of massage from the spa for each room,  1 free photo by the photographer in the hotel location, and other Rp discounts that quite usable -- on the Hard Rock Store, Cabana in the pool area, dining restos, etc...  I used almost all the coupon available.

Unfortunately, we got 2 rooms that are located in different floors, so that is quite disturbing for us (this is probably the small disappointment I had of all the times we were in Bali) , it doesn't really bother us so much though , since most of the times, we are outside the rooms.

The rest of the afternoon, we spend the time in Kuta beach for a while just playing around, and after beach, looking for something to eat at Kuta Beachwalk.  A very nicely and uniquely design shopping places, half outdoor and half indoor,  only about 10 or 15 minutes walk from Hard Rock Hotel.  I especially like he nicely the layout of this builiding is. Great Ambiance, great place, variety of people from all over the world, east and west. There are many eating places or resto in there, and we chose to eat at one dining resto called the Velvet, a very good location to see sunset and the ocean from there - it is in the upper level of Kuta Beach Walk. The food is so-so, not too great, but ok lah, not much complain, because we were in the good spirit from the ambiance and nice weather, looking at the ocean, sky and beach.. over here, I can see the view of Sheraton Hotel, this hotel is actually has the best ocean view, I think...  Just so wonderful feeling.  We wander around the Beach Walk Kuta, but we don't buy anything except enjoying the atmosphere.

oouu...  INDAHNYA LIBURAN ... 

how many years ago since I have enough time to go out of town for holiday. ..  

the last short vacation was going to Tanjung Lesung, 2 days only during the weekend, took 1 day leave off... This is my 1st time for 5 days vacation with the kids since I worked at SnowBay ~ a rare opportunity to be able to do this.  I used to envy my friends who can take their vacation , not really envious of the places they can go, but mostly envious of the times they can easily take their leaves off as they desired. 

the rest of the night from 9 o'clock, well spent in the hotel swimming pool area. We didn't go swimming since the pool is already closed at the time, but just sat there near the pool.  Amazed at how gigantic this swimming pool is.  the middle part of the pool has part , they made it as if we are in the sandy beach, and the flooring based of the pool in this particular area is SAND...  I don't get how can the Sand stay below the water without floating and dirtying the pool... around the pool, there are several Cabanas .. so nice,,, some of the Cabanas have direct short stair to the pool directly.

Oh, Wow,,, Pasir di dasar Kolam,  Cabana di atas kolam renang ...

This hotel facilities are just so nicely decorated.

2nd Day -- Tanah Lot ~ Bedugul ~ Jimbaran 

early morning visit to Kuta beach, which is just across the street, and breakfast time, delightful varieties of hot and cold dishes.  

There are so many beautiful places to go, but seems that 5 days are very short, so I had already planned from Jakarta, just to go to places that we really wanted to see.  Secondary options would be skipped concerning time and time to get there and back from one place to another.  

So we decided to go to Tanah Lot -- the most definite place to go if going to Bali.  

From Kuta to Tanah Lot it took about 1 hour or even more. It was shiny when we arrived there, but for a while it was raining. Fortunately, it wasn't raining for long, the sun is Up again... Took many beautiful pictures in Tanah Lot, from different angles..  I personally Loved watching how the Ocean Waves hardly tumbled and sometimes even though I stood on the higher ground, waves could catch up too...

If you don't bring any cameras, don't worry, because there are lots of local photographers over there that offer you Polaroid pictures.. We also have some photos taken by one of the them, and the results of the photo are satisfying , I think it's probably the camera that he used can turn the colors to be much brighter. Plus, I think it is a chance for local people to earn some money from tourist like us, also to boost up the tourism over there. 

Going to Bedugul from Tanah Lot .. Perjalanan mendaki karena sudah memasuki area pegunungan (mountain area).  It is different view going to Bedugul ~ views of vegetables and flowers planting .. pk. Dewa, our driver and guide, told us that many of the vegetables at the restaurants are supplied from this area. Another 1 and 1/2 hour or more car trip to get there.

Here we arrived at Bedugul - raining again for half hour - took pictures here and there - nothing very specials I think in here .. But the photgrapher here also told us that the Indonesian Money of Rp 50.000,- got Bedugul pict on it... Hhmm,,, I never paid attention... I took a pict of the place and holding Rp 50.000,- money .. I will post it here, when I got all the picts arranged...  took off and going back down ..

We asked our driver to take us to Jimbaran area because we want to eat fresh fish and seafood.  Jimbaran is famous for its seafood places.  Pk Dewa asked if we already know where do we want to go to eat, and since we have no place in mind, he recommend the resto New Moon. 

All the restaurants at Jimbaran has Beach for their backyards, how nice .. 

While waiting for our fish and seafoods to be cooked and grilled, we played around at the beach.  Jimbaran has nice smooth sand, although it is not white sands, the area is very clean. Feeling so wonderful to be able to freely just sit there on the sand beach and watching people running around the beaches, some play with the sea water.  

dari pantai liat ke arah restoran2, pemandangan yang indah, langit sudah mulai gelap, karena matahari sudah mulai terbenam, di masing2 meja ada lampu2 minyak kecil -- the view looks sensational and romantic ~ Feeling beautiful and wonderful.

woa, bahkan ada gerobak jual jagung bakar di pantai -- there is even stall who sell roasted corn on the cob - we ordered it later after eating dinner .. 

The time at Jimbaran reminds me of  the episodes of  Korean reality show  "We Got Married" of Jo Kwon from 2 AM and Ga In, (another Kceleb the girl from what group I don't know) when they had their honey moon in Bali .. there is the episode where they eat in Jimbaran.

Food is good (our menu is Crab in Padang sauce, Grilled Red Snapper with Balinese sambal,  Grilled Big Prawn, and Fried Squid.) ~ Beautiful views ~ Great atmosphere ~ Good weather = Great Dinner by the Beach.

Finishing the day by stopping over at Khrisna's well-known one stop shopping souvenir place.  

but well oh well, typical of me, I can't find something to buy in here (rather than balinese peanuts) -- one of my weaknesses..  

    

Korean Trip Series - Food

It is soo happen that when today I wanted to write some thing, turns out there are a couple writings not yet to be published ..  I must have forgot about these .. and still have to be added with the picts, hhmm... maybe that's why I still left it hanging on the Draft.

The Food around My Korean trip

Many good Korean food that I ate during my Korean trip this time.
Let me start with my Favorite Dish from all meals I ate during my trip:

1.  That first day, as soon as we arrived in Seoul, we went to a traditional Korean restaurant called  WoongChu Traditional Chicken ~ it's a traditional resto where we sit on the floor (lesehan gitu lah istilahnya di indonesia)  ..  The three of us ordered : SAMGYETANG (famous Korean Ginseng Soup) with abalone .

Till this day I write about this particular Samgyetang from this rest, I can still taste the powerful herbs and the clarity of the chicken broth from the Samgyetang .. Not to Mention The Aroma of Samgyetang..
so each person eat 1 bowl of Chicken soup, consist of 1 whole small chicken (chicken already boiled with some herb including ginseng, and other herb I recall similar like kiambo - manisan cina yg biasa kita makan itu, and inside the chicken - some rice)..  the freshness and tasty Chicken in a very Herb TASTY broth.. the combination of Chicken and the herbs, the ginseng, and the abalone is what some people need for recharge body stamina.  One little problem with Korean food there is that we have to put lots of salt in order to balance our Indonesian tongue.. 

pict of very delicious Samgyetang.  Ooo .. I want one bowl of this particular Samgyetang now, please! .. this pict definitely makes me hungry.  I tried Samgyetang sometimes ago at HanGang K-rest in Jakarta, and the broth is not clear but cloudy white and not as tasty as this one  ...  

2.  My 2nd favorite food menu is : the red-bean porridge. There is this interesting porridge (I called it : bubur kacang merah) -- it's a thick porridge that has some red-bean balls and other nuts kinds in it..  This afternoon snack is very delicious, as well as quite filling to the stomach, and definitely a good snack in the winter time..


We ate this at a Ssmall restaurant , i think it's not very far from the Gyongbok-gung Palace (the Palace) area.  (I think ??  as we drove around by car, I can't really tell).  Very simple rest, small, clean, homey feeling, simple wooden chairs and table that were arranged closely between one table set to another.  But people who ate here has to queue because it was quite crowded.. We waited for 15 minutes or so to be seated.

Besides the red-bean porridge, mr. Young also ordered us a bowl of traditional tea (jujuba tea) with few pieces of dried fruit on it  -- hhmmm,,,  the taste is very bitter as I didn't manage to drink all of it...   The friendly ajjumma whom is the owner, taught us the right way to drink this tea, so that the bitter sense can be overcome .... she explained that the dried candied-ginger has to be eat first, and sipped the tea ... Even though so, I still don't like it .

I forgot to take the pict of this red-bean porridge before eating. I ate it right away after served since the weather is cold outside and this bowl of meal very tempted already .. But I took pict of the empty bowl,,, hehehe.. it gives clear hint that I really Loved it... Mashhita (delicious)

The Name of the Cafe Place is in the TOP picture
People said it is the BEST Place 

Jujuba Tea Cup

3.  Another distinctive dishes that happen to be my fave Korean food is Bibimbap ..  At the second day when we walked around the Namdaemun and Myongdong market.

Namdaemun market (very famous traditional market where we can buy almost anything cheap price - foreigners like to go here because we can also bargain here).  I think every body who visit Seoul would go to Namdaemun or Myeongdong market as one of their destination to shop.

Here we found this regular small waroeng  - we both quite hungry, so we just came inside .. another homey food place just on the corner of the alley.  I chose to eat Bibimbap and my friend ordered Chicken Noodle soup..  I've eaten bibimbap many times, but here I tasted the most delicious bibimbap ever (so far) ...

Here, the Bibimbap served with brown rice.. I don't usually like Brown Rice, because it usually tastes Dry and Awful ..  But here the brown rice doesn't taste dry at all, instead the brown rice is soft and fluffy (pulen, empuk dan yg jelas enak banget) ... the bibimbap red paste taste just right -- anyway, just the right combination of rice, red paste, vegetable, egg, and beef ...  Very very yummy ... 

I also tasted the Chicken noodle soup that my friend ordered, and it seemed that they made the noodle itself, so the noodle taste very good, as well as the broth ... Homemade Noodle..
This place is recommended ..  They served other Korean street food too, but with the portion of big bowl of almost every menu, it was impossible to order other menu to be tasted. I looked around and saw what other customers were eating, and all of the menu seemed very yummy.



4.  As the 4 nights I was there, ate many Korean foods and other food too, overall the taste are quite satisfying .. From the typical Korean meals which we eat one main dish, and accompanied by several side dishes, including varieties of Kimchies ;  Good Pasta Menu in Olivia 'Italian' Restaurant ; Great Chicken BBQ Restaurant that we ate together with several people from the headquarter company in Gangnam area, and other meals.

This time since our itinerary were not as packed as my first trip,  I also made sure to try several kinds of street-snacks whenever I saw while walking on the street.  Many interesting snacks type.

Olivia Italian Resto

5.  In Seoul, we can find many bakerys and coffee places everywhere.  I would say the competitors in Coffee places and bakery would be very tight over there, since there are just everywhere.  Famous chained bakery brands like "Paris Baguette", "Tous Les Jours",  and other names using mostly French name -- mostly sold almost the same types of bread and pastry.

Just go to 'Tous Les Jours' in Jakarta, and it's the same thing ... I even think there is a different taste of the original taste in Seoul and Jakarta .. I like the bread better sold here ... maybe they already modified the taste a little to the taste of Indonesian.

If you love watching K-drama, then you will be excited to actually find those coffee places almost here and there and everywhere... Really Really Many !!

What I love about Coffee places there in Seoul is the atmosphere and the simplicity of  their interior design and arrangement.  I went to a few names that are not available here in Jakarta like Ediya Coffee, Starbuck, and The Coffee Place in Seoul -- first impression I got is the atmosphere and interior made me felt comfortable.  I am not really a Coffee Drinker, so I cannot really tell the difference between one taste of coffee in one place to another.  I came to the Coffee shops over there because in need of something warm to drink to warm my body against the outside frozen temperature.

At Lotte World, after tired playing and walking around, we also eat Korean set meal course -- lots of small side dishes at a place in the food area.

EDIYA COFFEE ~ Myeongdong Area

Habibie & Ainun

Habibie & Ainun - film Indonesia mengenai biographi seorang BJ Habibie ...

Orang Indonesia mana yang gak tau sosok Habibie ... beliau pernah jadi Presiden walaupun sebentar (kata orang seumur jagung), pernah jadi Wakil Presiden ... tapi yang lebih terkenal lagi, beliau awalnya lebih dikenal dengan pesawat terbangnya yang dulu sebagai Nurtanio.

Setelah istrinya Ainun meninggal, ternyata baru mengetahui kalau cinta beliau kepada istrinya sungguh dalam, lewat interview2 beliau di beberapa media tv. Yang mana terlihat setelah kematian Ainun, istrinya, Habibie kelihatan terpukul dan 'lonely'.  

Kira2 bulan lalu, tayanglah film layar lebar "Habibie & Ainun".   Mungkin ini film Indonesia yang pertama yang gw tonton di bioskop (hhmm,, istilah dulu banget) , gak inget juga kapan ya terakhir nonton film layar lebar lokal di Theater XXI .. Kalaupun ada film2 layar lebar lokal yang gw tonton biasanya yang sudah masuk ke tv station.

(My Heart misalnya, yang diperankan oleh Irwansyah dan Acha - nonton ini kalau gak salah udah masuk tv ; apalagi judul2 lainnya gak terlalu ingat).

"Habibie & Ainun"  -- di film ini yang pegang peranan penting memang si aktor prianya yang memerankan Habibie (yang terakhir gw baru tau namanya Reza Rahardian)  dan pemeran Ainun , Bunga Citra Lestari, sudah gak asing lagi kalau BCL.

Filmnya sebetulnya lebih ke biography dari pak BJ Habibie, dengan kegeniusan beliau di bidang tehnikal mesin, sekolah dan bekerja di Germany, sampai dengan kisah beliau bertemu dengan Ainun, istrinya (yang ternyata teman dari sma cuma sempat terpisah sewaktu melanjutkan studi masing-masing), cerita up and down seorang Habibie sebagai seorang Engineer / Insiyur yang pada awalnya kadang dilecehkan oleh Engineer2 asal German.  Sampai akhirnya beliau dipanggil oleh Presiden Soeharto pada waktunya untuk mengabdikan kepintarannya untuk tanah air ibu pertiwi.

Jadi sebetulnya gw agak bingung dengan orang2 yang bilang kalau film ini adalah mengenai romantisme sepasang Habibie dan Ainun, karena kisah cintanya sebetulnya gak terlalu mendominasi.

Tapi iya walaupun film ini gak terlalu banyak kisah romantis, gw cukup bisa menangkap bahwa Yes, This is True Love dan True Love gak selalu harus penuh Momen2 Romantis,  Jadi kesan yang gw tangkap adalah Kesetiaan dan Kepatuhan Ainun sebagai Istri kepada suaminya, begitu juga Cinta dari Habibie kepada Ainun, yang benar2 sampai akhir hayat.

Film ini berhasil membuat hampir semua penonton di XXI sedikit atau banyak mewek pada momen2 tertentu, karena cinta dan setianya beliau ke istrinya, sampai kepada Ainun yang akhirnya sakit kanker parah, dan meninggal.

Reza Rahardian walaupun dari segi face, tampangnya boleh dibilang gak mirip BJ Habibie, namun dari akting dia di film ini bener2 bravo banget, karena sepanjang film, dari cara jalan, style bicara, dan beberapa hal lainnya, yang ada dipikiran gw memang karakter pak BJ Habibie yang asli.

Istilah 'Gula Jawa' dan 'Gula Pasir' itu lucu banget... makes me really think .. does Habibie  really say that to Ainun ...  hilarious...

Simple Story, Touching and Moving, Gak Norak,  Pemeran Utama yang bener2 beracting bagus, Disupport dengan Sound Track yang juga sangat menyayat .. Kombinasi yang Cukup Luar Biasa dan Recommended and Worth to be Watched in the Big Screen.  Totally loves it

Moga2 ada film luar biasa seperti ini lagi yang ditayangkan oleh cinema Indonesia. 

Just a little rambling if I may:

Is this what people call True and Real Love / Cinta Sejati ?

If this film is not based on the truth story, 

I would say now a days Real Love and Long Lasting Love don't Exist, 

but This Story is Real, 

I am glad that Real Love does Exist despite of the more chaotic of this world become.

That's what people say "When 2 becomes 1 / Soulmate"

If this is, How Beautiful Love is

Sedikit Cuplikan dari Lirik OST Movie "Habibie & Ainun"

Cinta Sejati 

Bunga Citra Lestari

composed by Melly Goeslaw 

Pasti tahu cinta kita sejati
Lembah yang berwarna
Membentuk melekuk memeluk kita
Dua jiwa yang melebur jadi satu
Dalam kesunyian cinta

Cinta kita melukiskan sejarah
Menggelarkan cerita penuh suka cita
Sehingga siapa pun insan Tuhan
Pasti tahu cinta kita sejati

Korean Trip ~ series part 1

Here i am, wanting to write about my Korean trip ... And don't really know how to start ... Just not so me ... Gosh, i wrote the content n was about to find the title ... Do I really want it to make Series ?? Hope it will continue till the end .. Hehehe

It is my 2nd Korean Trip and winter time ... Bbrrr,, excitec.. excited ... But, first of all .. The preparation is much more complicated and not to mention more expensive than if I go in the summer time like it was in 2009 ... Obviously,  winter coat and its accessories like syal, gloves, etc.  My boss also reminded me to wear set of long john underneath, bcoz it was already minus degree celcius over there.

Very excited at the fact that I can see snow again ... God is so good that He hears my unspoken wish .. I was just lingering whether sometimes I may see snow again ... Voila, and He grant me that lingering thought that quick through people around me.

Soo Blessed by His Love..

I am not sure if I would write in chronological places , i guess we just see how my fingers lead me .. Hoho

This time I travel with one of my colleague, too bad my boss couldn't go with us.

Jakarta to Seoul -- December 8th, 2012.

At the Airplane  (by Garuda Indonesia, 23.30pm Jkt to Incheon and Incheon to Jkt back at 10.30 am seoul time)

For my family or even some relatives know that I don't like long hours by airline , because I tend to get airsick easily ...  soo long for Europe trip or another American trip .. good thing, I'd been there before even though at my young ages...
anyway, So there I go - the 7 hours trip ... My air times on the way there was not very smooth, many turbulences shaky and whatever comes ... Airsick comes ...  obviously made my flight not soo pleasant. 

Luckily, I had  nice airtime on my return flight  on my way back to Jakarta from Seoul, no airsick, plenty and frequent food and beverages being offered at the returned trip,  funny captain who likes to speak via the airline speaker .. He even greeted and thanked the passengers with Korean... Every now and then in the middle of the flight he updated the situation... The captain is pretty cool, my friend n I thought.

Arrived in Incheon (the airport of Seoul)  -- morning time , around 9 am Seoul time .

How nice to be able to see white ground covered with snow when the Garuda touched Seoul's ground.  What a Relieve, as  soon as I went out through the elephant trunk (maksudnya belalai gajah), eventhough we are still inside the building, I can already sense n smell the Fresh Air, and also the crisp air touch the nose from the cold weather  - and feeling of breeze from the wind in my legs and thigh.  Not surprising, after all the captain said the weather outside is -10 degree C ..  It is about 40 degrees difference from Jakarta's weather.

We went directly to the rest room to wear our long-john and the coat as my boss  already guided us  before we left and I saw some people did the same too.

In Incheon Airport, we had to ride this subway going from and to between  the departure or arrival

gates to the immigration and baggage area .. Hhmm,, pretty cool ..feel like in singapore

Mr. Young already waited for us in front of , right after the baggage area ..

Felt very good to be able to see Korea again at the different season, with different friend accompanying.

Was quite a walk in the land covered with snow, felt like slipping several times of the slippery of the snow-icey road to the parking lot ... Now, I could feel the real coldness of the Seoul weather..  A drastic change from Jakarta's weather ..

Mr. Young dropped by at the Wan San beach on the way to Seoul ..

As I am not sure whether other people want to be as narcism as I am in the public blogging spot, I cannot show my picts with them in here...

This pretty pict of land covered with white snow, I took on our way from the airport from the car ... Been soo long since i see this view ..   Miss my Wisconsin times

For A Brand New Year

Had been missing in words, juls reminds me ..

Here i go, for a start ...

A Brand New Year of 2013
My Prayer n Wishes :

God,  I'm very grateful for everything You gave me ~ whole bunch of Blessings in 2012 , everything I need before I even speak to You,  You gave just the exact thing to me ...   How Great Thou Art !❤

Just make me to be a better person who can be as close as how You want me to be ...  Keep me n my family in Your Grace, Your Love, Your Shine, And in Your Protection... Always n Continuously .

I always wonder of what You have plan for me , but lately realizing that  I just have to put myself restless to You , because You know exactly what I want and what I need.  I don't have anything to  worry about.
Amien


Resolution .. Of the 2013 ,, if I still need to make ;

 ~~ keep the healthy lifestyle that I started in 2012 ... YeaY,,, I will make it to 1 year in Feb of continuous exercise weekly ,, so proud of myself, some kilogr have been cut, down sizes for pants n
clothes , and not just that physical look, but I feel so much better with routine exercise ...
I  remembered about this time last year Mr. Moon forced the four of us to take a medical
check up n half part very2 strongly encouraged us to exercise ... now, I am thankful that I actually followed his word of wisdom   ... Well .. Good healthy Routine need to be Continue !!!


~~ healthy lifestyle means controlling my meals too ...  Although this december ( read : Holiday Season)  I did broke many of my own commitment in food intake due to many food gifts, cakes, hampers, n other food fiesta ,, I've been quite strict on my food preferences this past 2012 ... As far as I can remember . . 1.  No padang food at all,,,  2. regular noodles have been changed to rice noodles or glassnoodle (( trust me, for a Mie Pangsit Lover, this is almost the hardest part of my new healthy lifestyle) ... 3. Change white Bread  to Wheat --- also hard to do ..... 4. Gorengan bakwan dan sejenisnya out completely ..  5. Decrease Sweet intake ...  ..
 Aiisshh .. 2 weeks of December make me back to Greedy ... Such Poison that I need to consume
once in a year to fill my appetite ..  Then this week, need to get back On The Right Track !!!  



~~ last one I need to do is : Think Very Very Long before I Talk especially we know where and what i am talking about .. This i need to do to avoid lots of conflicts, since we know all kinds of human  characters I need to deal with ..

Well .. A great start of the New Year , start with A Wish and Target I set to myself , Help me God so that I can achieve it ...