Britzone Goes to Singapore 2012

Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness.  ~Ray Bradbury


For the first time since Britzone established, this year, Brizone, had an outing program in overseas. This program was an breakthrough idea of the Presiden Britzone in order to strengthen the  friendship among britzoners and practice their English in daily basis.


The idea of having an outing in Singapore was risky since we didnt have any experience before and we needed a lot of preparation. Therefore, we decided to form a team to prepare all of the things. Considering the experiences that they had, we, finally, formed the Britzone Goes to Singapore team which included: Pras, Dhabit, Farhan, Icha, Unda, Rina and Yudha. The team assignment was to arrange the tickets, hotel, itinerary, and collect the payment for the trip. 

After waiting for several months, we finally had 20 confirmed participants. All participants would depart from Soekarno Hatta in early morning and arrived at Changi Airport around 10.00 in Singapore time. After arriving and few minutes exploring the airport, we straightly went to the hostel to put all the luggages. Our hostel was in ABC Hostel near Arab St Area. Our first destination was Asian Civilization Museum (ACM). ACM is the first museum in the region to present a broad yet integrated perspective of pan-Asian cultures and civilizations. The museum is located in near Marina Bay and Singapore's  prominent landmark, Merlion. So, we had tour around the area. First day was an exhausted day but we believed that participants were enjoyed the day.

Day 2 was a very interesting because we would traveled through Singapore in race. The race was called 'The Amazing Race'. We divided the participants into 3 groups. All the three groups should find the certain destination that had decided before. The participants should find Teka Market, Mustafa, Takasimaya, Istana Park, Sri Mariamman Temple and Tian Hock Keng Temple. We started in the Hostel and would finish in the Vivo City. All were so excited. During the race, they got many experiences like asking to local people, reading a map, taking public transportation and knowing the Singaporean culture. Though sometimes, they got lost, tired and confused, they still enjoyed the trip and the game. To cooling down, we ended up the day by watching "Song of the Sea" show in Sentosa Resort Island.

Last day in Singapore was a travel day. Since we had afternoon flight, we still had a chance to go shopping. So, some of us went to grab some souvenirs in Bugis area.

Overall, our first trip to Singapore was a unforgetable moment. For me, personally, it was a great moment to see all the britzoners could enjoy the trip. And hopefully, the trip would bring togetherness among britzoners and would increase the ability to speak English in the daily basis.Finally, we would say  many thanks to all Britzoners to share the moments (laughter, tiredness, madness, and happiness) with us :).


Cheers,

BZGtSC

A Hope for the Olympic

The Olympic Games 2012 is only four months left. Badminton, as the only game that gives a gold medal since 1992, is becoming the spot light to get the highest achievement. Though it seems impossible before, but now, the possibility is there.


Second week of March creates a new happily atmosphere for Indonesian hope. It's a long waiting to finally triumph the All England title this year.


It's a mix double who makes Indonesian dream comes true. Liliyana Natsir together with her younger partner Tantowi Ahmad grant the very first All England Premier Super Series after 33 years waiting in mixes doubles competition.


Tantowi/Liliyana seeded four defeated the Danes Thomas Labourn/Kamilla Rytter Juhl who place 7th seed in the tournament.  The match between two pairs was absolutely incredible. From the beginning, both pairs started with very aggressive play. Tantowi who usually becomes the weakest point played so attractively. He played so fast and dominated the match. 


First round, Indonesians and Danes played tightly until Kamilla made a lot of mistakes. It was undeniably disadvantage for the Danes. Indonesians looked that opportunity and take that advantage. Second game seemed too easy for the Tantowi and Liliyana as they led five points. But, in fact, it was not. The German Open winner had no word of giving up. They strove to get close with the leading score. They did it. The game were more interesting after they finally got the same point, 19-19. The game were getting nerve-racking for both players but it was Indonesians who could overcome it to finally claim the All England title, 21-17, 21-19.


The winning first title in 2012 triggered them to continue their success in Swiss Open last week. Becoming the 1st seeded, it didnt turn them to be an easy game in the entire tournament. They had to play rubber game with 3 different mixed doubles players in approximately 52 minutes for each match. However, they could conquer the final match shortly with only 23 minutes beating Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam with 21-16, 21,14. 


These two consecutive titles surely will boost their confidence. With only few months away from Olympic Games, they are now becoming a solely hope for Indonesia to get Gold Medal in London.        

Twenty Twelve

It's the year 2012 now. It's a good time to commence a positive work, attitude, everything that probably encourage you to become a new you.

However, this post, I will not write about my plan this year. Instead, I will tell about twenty twelve. Yes, what I was doing when I was 20 and 12 years of age.

Sometimes, it is fun to tell about the history that you have been trough before. It can  be a good experience to learn or simply just refresh your mind from the messy daily activity.

Let's start from the 2005 when I was 20 y.o
It was a tough year actually. At that time, I was in 5th semester of my college. I didnt have a problem in my class or score. However, I did have a problem in my organization. I joined the organization since I enrolled the university for the first time. I did enjoy the organization a lot at first. The environment, good support, friends, activities are ok for me. However, an unavoidable thing happen. In that organization, every member has a mentor to, let just say, assist you to stay on the right track both attitude and faith. I couldnt agree more. I could accept that. But, suddenly the mentor had to be changed. The change was caused by the older member should be assisted with the "older" mentor. So, the younger mentor could reach the newbie. I was upset. It was solely because I was enjoy with young mentor instead of I had to adapt with a new one.

From that point, I decided not to join any activity from that organization. When my friends called or invited me to go back, I refused. Honestly, it was tired because I had to reject  the never-ending invitation and automatically didnt ever say hi to my friends in that organization. It was so sad to lose friends who always accompanied you almost everyday. But, this problem taught me to finally know what the real organization is. Thank God, I found the other friends to hangout and share everything and still befriended with my friends in the organization.

Moving on two twelve years old boy..
It's kind a hard to tell the history of mine in 1997. Gosh, it's about 15 year ago and I had to dig all the memories.Back to 1997, when I was in junior high school. It was my very first year to step from elementary school. I got not so famous school (SLTP 116) in Ancol Area. Actually, at that time, my school was one of the favorite school in North Jakarta. But, I doubted it hahhaahha.

Junior high was another hard year for me. You know, it was about transition, adaptation, new friends, etc that I had to struggle with. The toughest one was adaptation. Growing up in the private primary school was one of the factors. Literally, I never found any bad boy ever in my previous school.  So, I was like a nerd boy with have no friends. I tried to mingle with a good boy but what I got was I only got a few of them because it was difficult to find a nice one.hehehhe. More, I had to face some crazy things like smoking, drugs,"tawuran", alcohol, etc. I wouldnt get more details here. But, step by step, I could overcome it. Yeah, I got  "clean friends" and bad boy friends became one of the best buddy.

Sharing the history is not an easy business (life is hard, huh)..I have to try to remember what was going on at that time. I dont have a good memories to tell something in detail. So, I just sum them up to finally write in this blog.

Moral of the stories are, because you have done or get used to the problems, it tells you how you finally can overcome all those hard time to become something that can be worth experiences or simply become a funny stories. Some people probably dont give a damn with the history since they think that history is the pass. For me, history is more than that. Sometimes, I do flashback just to be a tough person ahead. I often said to my self "Hey, I've been through the hardest one before" So, let the history becomes part of your life, teaches you how to face the toughest day in your life, and becomes a basic structure to face the future.

Happy New Year!

Day Three & Four.. Last Day but Memorable..

Last day..Gak kerasa udah hari ketiga aja..padahal pada waktu mo brangkat kepikiran klo 4 hari 3 malem kelamaan. Malah mikir berkunjung ke negeri sebelah.. Tapi ternyata blom cukup..

The last day trip would be Botanical Garden, Merlion and Marina Bay.
Berniat pagi-pagi brangkat abis sarapan, malah akhirnya siang juga barangkatnya.. Jam 9an akhirnya cabu tdari hostel langsung ke Botanical Garden. Tujuan ini diambil awalnya simply I (not we) wanted to see how beautiful park in the, what we called, city of park is and deket juga sama tempatnya Sukma (karena Sukma berminat guiding kita jadi kita jemput die, baek banget tante Sukma :))  So, we visited the most famous garden there. Welcome to Botanical Garden. 

Di taman ini sebenernya banyak jenis2 tamannya. Dan masing 2 punya karakteristik sendiri. Contohnya ada taman angsa, taman purbakala, taman anggrek, dll. Sebenernya sih almost likely kaya Kebon Raya Bogor, tapi di Singapore, lebih ini lebih variatif and lebih bersih pastinya. Karena luas banget nih kebon, akhirnya kita hanya mengunjungi taman yang kita (oops g) anggap menarik. Pergilah kita ke taman purbakala.. Seru banget.. Banyak spot2 menarik di tempat ini. Bukan ke tumbuhan2nya sih (ga ngerti juga jenis2nya) tapi bagus buat foto2. Sayangnya, ada beberapa shot yang ke ambil tapi bukan di kamera g.

Pas tengah hari, karena udah terik banget, akhirnya kita ke asramanya Sukma. Cuma sekitar lima puluh meter dari Botanical Garden. Setelah laporan ke security, kita langsung ke tempatnya Sukma. Hommy banget suasananya. Sederhana tapi ga bisa dibilang sederhana juga buat ukuran asrama mahasiswa. Kegiatan kita disana Isho (Istirahat n sholat) kita di sana).

Lunch Time!!! Considering I ran out of a cash, jadi kita cuma makan di food court mahasiswaan di deket asrama itu.. Sebenernya sih tempatnya biasa tapi makanannya lumayan murah.
Kedua teman (Adit n Sukma) ordered Rojak, n I ordered Mie India (lupa namanya, jadi mie itu berbumbu kari n warnanya merah). Tujuannya sih pengen nyoba makan makanan India, tapi terjebak sama rasanya agak tajem (sedikit nyesel karena enakan Rojaknya). Kerasa gak enak mulut sama rasa2 kari, Sukma mengajak ke salah satu toko ice cream. First comment, "How much is it?", sukma said "5 dollaran, pras" Okeh dah..brangkat,

Perjalanan ke tempat es krim ga terlalu lama cuma sekitar 100 meter dari tempat makan. Tempatnya ok banget.. Es Krim-nya apalagi seru lah...Worth banget.. Mantap lah..

Next stop was Myanmar Embassy. Sukma berencana ke Myanmar pertengahan Desember. So, we took her to get her visa. Embassynya sih biasa aja kaya cuma rumah kantor gitu. Tapi yang excited adalah g ngeliat visa for the first time. (*respon dalam hati "ohh.. ternyata visa itu di printed di passport ya". Beneran norak). Okay, we were moving on. "Merlion, here we come"

Sebelum ke Patung Singa, kita menyusuri City Hall terlebih dahulu. Ini juga keren banget. Ada sungai di tengah2, trus ada kapal yang menyusuri sungai gitu and gedung2 and jembatan2, hotel yang pantes buat "dijepret". Here we go..

Next is Merlion, kaya kunjungan wajib klo ke Singapore. Ga terlalu excited sih, tapi ya, again, it's Singapore Landmark. Banyak bener orang disitu.. Kaya orang sekelurahan kesana semua.. Tapi emang banyak rombongan tur.. Alhasil, sangking ramenya, g cuma foto2 orang yang lagi berfoto atau lebih tepatnya lagi staring at the Merlion.. This one is d best shot..(for me)

Di seberang merlion udah keliatan Marina Bay, Singapore Flyer, dan salah satu tujuan utama g di singapore Floating Storenya Louis Vuitton. Huahhh.. cant wait anymore. Jadi kita langsung jalan dari Merlion ke Marina Bay. Selama perjalanan menuju Marina, banyak orang2 kantor yang baru pulang kerja, gedung2 kantor yang dihiasi lampu2 menarik, orang pada jogging, dan yang pasti orang2 yang kaya kita bertiga..hehehe.. Seru banget disana. Lampu2 plus gedung2 are undeniably gorgeous.

Puas foto2 n melihat2, kita lanjutkan dengan masuk ke Marina Bay Mall. Mallnya sih, for me, biasa aja. Again yang namanya mall, di Jakarta or Singapore, semuanya sama. Di Mall itu kita makan di food courtnya.  Singapore mungkin bukan tempat yang ok buat kulineran. Jadi ya makannya biasa aja. G cuma order model2 Yong Tau Fu gitu, tapi kuahnya kuah kare. Rasanya? Biasa cenderung gak enak. Mungking emang g ga eksplore banyak tempat2 kulineran di sana sih, tapi sekalipun g hunting pasti ada dua ganjalan yang menuggu (mahal n non halal food) hahhahaha. Emang susah jalan2 stick pake konsep "Backpacking". Makan beres (sangking ga nikmat kegiatan makan jadi kaya kerja aja ^ ^). Lanjut ke my ultimate final destination LV Store. Kenapa tempat ini seems so spectacular for me, it's simply because I've written the article about the opening of LV store (http://www.footluxe.com/2011/10/lv-opens-a-floating-masion-in-singapore/)  but I've never reported it directly to Singapore. So, here I am now *sambil mesem2 foto di depan LV Store. Oya, ada hal menarik soal orang Indo yang mengunjungi store mahal ini. Semua orang Indo, yang mengunjungi tempat ini akan disambut hangat dengan kepastian mereka paling tidak membeli satu item dari koleksi Louis Vuitton..Gila..Now, I'm proud to be Indonesian..

Moving on to Helux Bridge. Jembatan ini terkenal karena its look is so sophisticated. Keren banget. Jembatan ini yang menghubungkan antara City Hall sama Marina Bay. Sayang ga sempet foto2 di jembatan ini. Lanjut kita jalan menuju stasiun MRT terdekat. Niatnya nyari yang deket malah muter2 nyari stasiunnya. Dengan sedikit bertanya2, kita akhirnya sampe pada stasiun MRT terdekat.

Next destination is Little India, lebih tepatnya Mustafa. Karena udah malem banget, Sukma memutuskan untuk berpisah. Mustafa merupakan tempat belanja 24 jam non stop. Gila... baru ini nemu pusat pembelanjaan (bukan mall) yang buka seharian penuh.. Mantap lah. Tujuan ke Mustafa adalah tidak laen n tidak bukan nyari oleh2 buat pulang. Oleh2 tuh buat orang2 Indonesia penting banget. Once, you didnt bring it, the immigration officer will ban you to enter your own country.. hihihi kidding. Back to Mustafa, di sana berbagai macam barang. Mulai dari jam tangan sampe detergen buat nyuci ada. Setelah capek muter2, akhirnya memutuskan untuk beli coklat Malaysia (loh di Malaysia apa di Singapore?) seharga S$ 6. Murah meriah n surely my beloved Mom will like it.hehehe..

 Abis itu pulang deh naek taksi.. Sombong banget naek taksi, yah mo gimana lagi...MRT udah gak operasi. Jam Operasi MRT di Singapore cuma sampe jam 11 malem. Ternyata gak semua supir taksi tau hostel kita. Ketika kita bilang "Betel Box Hostel, Please". Surprisingly, He didnt know. Gosh, alhasil kita ngeluaring brosur2 betel box cuma buat liat alamat lengkapnya. Trus si supir cuma komen, "I know Joo Chiat, but I dont know Betel Box" tepok jidat deh..Yah maklum juga sih, secara hostel murah meriah hahhaha.. One more, ternyata bayar taksi di sana di atas jam 12 malem, ada tarif tambahan. Alhasil bayarnya mahallll...

Balik ke hostel, kita gak langsung istirahat (padahal besok udah harus check out n flight ke Jakarta jam 11 pagi). Emang dasar kecanduan sama yang namanya social network, akhirnya g buka laptop n adit ngecas BB sambil BBMan tujuannya cuma satu, updating facebook, blog atau cuma sekedar bales BBM or Sms.. Nuts...Kecapean, akhrinya kita nyerah dan baru tidur sekitar jam 2 pagi.

Tiba2 alarm hp bunyi. Menunjukan jam setengah 6 waktu Jakarta, which is jam setengah 7 waktu Singapore. Kalang kabutlah kita karena berencana check out jam 7 pagi. Dengan ngap2an plus panik, kita packing n check out. Untung (dasar orang jawir) di Singapore waktu bisa diprediksi. Jadi sampelah kita di Budgeting Terminal Singapore. Untung lagi, kita gak terlambat. Masih ada spare waktu satu jam untuk akhrinya boarding di Singapore. Pesawat terbang tepat waktu n sampe di Soetta, allhamdulilah, dengan selamat.

Begitulah cerita 2 anak kampung kebon bawang n karang kajen ke luar negeri. Seru n unforgettable experience lah pastin. Semoga dalam waktu dekat kita, khusus nya g sendiri, akan berpetualang ke negeri laen dan menambah halaman jalan2 ke luar negeri di blog ini.. Amin..

Day 2: Crazy Walking Day

Second day

Setelah tidur ngiler karena kecapean, hari kedua dilalui dengan pergi ke Sentosa Island. Perginya agak sedikit telat padahal awalnya mo pergi pagi buta. Diawali dengan sarapan kupon gratisan dari Betel Box. Lumayan lah restonya. Tapi, menunya agak sedikit meragukan. Selain pork masalah g masih ada satu lagi, Telor. Jadi yang paaling aman adalah buah. So, I ordered fresh fruit with yogurt dengan segelas kecil orange jus. Lumayan lah buat jaga stamina ma mental karena harus mendampingi bapak pejabat (hahahaha).

Beda sama hari kemaren yang ditemani oleh kaka Sukma, hari kedua kita jalan sendiri. Dengan modal map MRT sama map jalan2 di Singapore, jalan deh kita. Tujuan pertama adalah Sentosa Island. Cuaca syukurnya lagi cerah banget, jadi ya pas lah pergi kesana. Naek MRT Paya Lebar sampe di Harbour Front. Abis itu  ke lantai tiga buat naek Sentosa Express dari Vivo City. Di sentosa island, liat pantai buatan (lumayan lah, setidaknya buatan yang ini lebih bagus dibanding yang asli di negeri ancol), ngeskrim di McD (eh gelatinnya???), putu2 di Merlion versi Sentosa,  poto di USS, casino dan sekitarnya (destinasi sejuta umat, bukan di dalem USSnya, di Depannya!!). Pas di USS sempet ujan sih, tapi ga lama.

Candy Tree @ Sentosa

Salah Satu Pantai Buatan di Sentosa

Karena udah lumayan siang, kita balik ke Vivo buat lunch. Kita makan di Food Republik di situ n makan hot pot tom yam seafood (klo yang ini aman lah, dari pada padang lagi :)). Oiya, Di lantai paling atas ada pemandangan ok. buanget. Namanya Southern Ridges. Jadi itu kaya backyard-nya Vivo. Jadi di situ, bisa ngeliat Port, Sentosa sama  Cable Car.

Hot Plate @Food Republic (Vivo City)

Southern Ridges (Vivo City)

China Town

Clarke Quay

Next destination was Little China. Jadi, kita naek MRT ke Harbour Front to Little China. Little China ok sih, tapi ga terlalu eksplor banyak. Foto2 bentar trus langsung menuju Clarke Quay berjalan kaki. Seru sih jalan kaki itu. Jadi bisa sekalian foto2 norak yang nunjukin kita di Singapore. Kita nyampe di Clarke Quay sayangnya masih sore. Jadi ya ga bisa ngeliat lampu2 disana. Alhasil foto seadanya aja. Lumayan lah, karena baru aja slese ujan, jadi awan n langitnya lumayan bagus. Dapet lah foto yang ok n unik. Dikira udah deket ke bugis, akhirnya kita lanjut jalan. Disini nih mulai kerasa capeknya, tapi (selalu) ada aja yang menarik di negri ini. Foto lagi lah di beberapa tempat seperti di Armenian Church n Art Museum.

Armenian Church

Pas nyampe Bugis, biasalah, pasti yang diliat souvenir..Eh ada yang murah banget, lumayan buat oleh2 pulang kampung. Trus, kita juga sempet dinner di Kampong Glam. Kampong Glam itu nama daerah yang dihuni oleh keturunan Melayu. Makanannya pasti yah makanan melayu (sebenernya ga jauh beda sama makanan di Jakarta). G order nasi lemak (pertama kali makan nasi lemak) n Pak Pejabat makan nasi goreng seafood. Yang paling enak adalah teh tariknya *mungkin kebawa suasana. Tapi itu emang enak beneran.

Karena udah malem banget, kita pulang..Capeuk euy...
Di jalan pulang, di Geylang ada banyak orang gelar nobar Final Sepak Bola Sea Games antara Indonesia vs Malaysia. Emang agak telat sih nontonnya. Waktu itu skor udah 1-1. Sebenernya yang menarik dari pertandingan itu bukan pertandingannya aja tapi kita deg2an nonton di tengah2 perkumpulan orang keturunan melayu. Gak tau sih sebenernya sih mereka warga negara mana. Cuma yang pasti mereka dukung Malaysia. Jiah.. rada nahan teriakan dan kata2 yang ga proper waktu Indo masukin or gagal masukin bola ke gawang pas tos-tosan hahahah.

Masih blom beres nih cerita hari kedua. Karena kita tinggal di Red District, jadi baru ketauan itu red pas malem2. Rame cuy...sama amoy2 n some of them, i think, is Indonesian. Tapi Geylang, gak seperti Kota (Jakarta). Maksud g,di Geylang (tepatya Joo Chiat) emang gak serem n gak gelap. Seru n unik lah banyak yang berpakaian tidak senonoh...hahahah.

Catatan Hari Pertama

Luar Biasa...
Akhirnya tiba di negeri orang lain juga..
For me, ini untuk kedua kalinya naek pesawat setelah berjuta-juta tahun yang lalu..

Day 1
I arrived at Soetta about 10.00 am. Filght jam 11.25. Karena perginya bersama Bpk. Praditya Janu Wisaksono dan dia telat, jadi terpaksa harus menunggu die di terminal 2D.  Sampai jam 10.45, si bpk pejabat belum juga muncul. Then, I decided to check in 1st. So, I came to the Tiger counter to get Bording Pass. Jam menunjukkan pukul 11.15. Akhirnya si Bpk muncul juga. Langsung ngadu sprint ke counter Tiger. Untungnya, Mba petugas baru membalik papan opennya. Jadi yah masih bisa dibalik lagi..hehehhee

Then, we moved to the immigration counter. Mulus, tidak ada kendala. Langsung ngadu marathon.. Jauh bener jo.. Berasa lari maraton 10Km.. 11.20 sampe di tempat nunggu (ga tau namanya apa tempat tunggu itu). Pas sampe di tempat itu, kok ga ada tanda2 pesawatnya udah dateng. Ternyata bener, delay 45 m. Yah no wonder lah. Udah banyak yang nge-post cerita yang sama sebelumnya. Setelah approximately 45 m, akhirnya pesawatnya nyampe. Naeklah kita ke pesawatnya. Ternyata ga buruk ya pesawatnya. Atau itu di bawah standar ya?? secara blom pernah naek pesawat setelah pertama kali terbang waktu SD. Trus,... terbanglah pesawatnya.. Liat2 keluar jendela dan foto2 kaya orang norak. Yah maklumlah.. Sepanjang penerbangan yah lumayan menikmatilah, walaupun banyak turbulancenya. Oh iya, hal yang menarik lagi adalah kuping g super sakit pas mo landing. Buset dah, kayanya mo pecah gendang telinga. Percaya apa ga, g masih budeg sampe hari kedua pagi.
  
Ternyata gak terlalu jauh Singapore..Kayanya ga sampe 2 jam, kita dah sampe di Budget Terminal di Changi. First  impression dari terminal itu adalah.."Bagusan Soetta ya"..*sambil menyes-menyes (senyum2) sendiri Setelah ke imigrasi, (horay akhirnya di cap juga paspor!) kita langsung keluar terminal buat ketemu Sukma (temennya Bpk Pejabat). Wuhhh sangat berterima sekali dengan Sukma, karena telah menghilangkan muka dungu kita pas sampe di Changi. Then, we took a bus to terminal 2 to get MRT. Ternyata terminal 2 membuat g menarik ucapan g soal Changi sebelumnya. That terminal is fantastic. Karena kita udah punya kartu MRT (thanks to Yuda n Umar), jadi kita cuma top up saldonya. Pertama kalinya ketauan dungu, waktu mau top up MRT ticket. Jelas jelas tulisannya Notes, kenapa kartu dimasukin kesitu..Sangking paniknya sambil maksain kartu supaya masuk ke tempat masukin duit, akhirnya someone  behind me help me to calm me down. Selese juga tuh top up yang memakan duit minimal $10.

MRT is breath taking.. Mungkin karena ga ada transportasi massal yang serapih, sebersih, setertib itu di negeri sendiri. Sangking kagumnya, kita took a picture for the 1st time di MRT itu loh semenjak pertama kali menginjakan kaki di bumi Singapura.

Our very 1st destination was Paya Lebar. Our hostel is located in Geylang, near by station Paya Lebar. Sambil celingak celinguk liat kota yang kebetulan lagi musim hujan (Yah! *tepok jidat), we interchanged to Tanah Merah station. Ada fotonya loh...

Abis itu langsung deh ganti MRT yang ke Paya Lebar. Perjalanan sekitar 20 menit lah. Turun dari MRT langsung di sambut sama turunnya hujan n boso Jowo orang2 Indonesia disana. Bpk pejabat ketemu banyak sodaranya in Singapore *ngakak abis. Ujan lumayan gede, akhirnya harus stay di station sekitar 15 m. Setelah lumayan reda, kita langsung melanjutkan perjalanan ke hostel (Betel Box). Tau sih jauh dari MRT station, tapi ini jauhnya udah keterlaluan. Hampir 20 menitan lah jalannya.

Hotel ini kan terletak di Geylang (which is Red District) tepatnya di Jl. Joo Chiat nambah petualangan ini makin jadi beneran petualangan. Nyampe, langsung confirm the booking (sebelumnya udah booking online) and settle the payment, 3 days for 1 bunk cost $60. Abis itu, langsung diajak ke kamar buat beres2 tempat tidur sendiri (tepok jidat lagi,..oh iya ini ho(s)tel ya).

Lanjut, abis berberes, kita lanjut ke Orchard. Karena hujan tambah deras, jadi kita mutusin naek bis yang haltenya terdekat dari penginapan (males balik lagi ke MRT station). Naek bis, sebenyernya enak tapi, sayangnya gak ada permberitahuan klo bis mau berhenti. Untungnya, Sukma punya IPhone jadi die bantuin kita to get to Orchard. Sampai di Orchard, yah.. apalagi selaen mengunjungi malls. Tapi, malem di Orchard tuh seru. Banyak lampu2, patung-patung gajah (lagi ada festival gajah), luxurious store, christmas tree and (again) Indonesian.

Orchard rame. Mungkin weekend jadi rame banget. Malls, I had no comment. For me, all look similar. Eh ada yang beda deh, Harganya muahal. Ada sih yang murah kaya $10 gitu tapi kaos oblong (skip it, dont need it). Jadi, hari pertama dihabiskan di Orchard. Yah ok lah, at least ada yang beli sendal jepit beharga $30 (Rp. 210,000). Lumayan buat oleh2.. hahahha.

Think, that's all for the 1st day..berlanjut ke hari berikutnya esok...

Richest Qatar Proves to the World

The richest country demonstrates to the globe how to be a prosperous.

According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Qatar is entitled as a richest nation in the world in 2010. Qatar leads to the previous richest country in the world, Luxembourg, and the third rank, Singapore.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Qatar shows the highest $88,221, while Luxembourg, placed number two, has 81,466 of GDP. Qatar is predicted will reach $111,963 by 2016, surpassing Luxembourg’s $94,621 and Singapore’s $70,992, the IMF said.

Qatar as one of the Gulf countries is a small country with small population. Its population is only about 848,016 and the area is 11,586 sq km.

Doha economy is dependent on income derived from the exploitation of oil, natural gas and subsidiary industry. Eighty-five percent of Qatar's export earnings are derived from these industries and reinvested into imports such as food and machinery to sustain Qatar’s rapidly growing economy.

The development of the country becomes one of the priorities of the government. People may easily discover numerous international brand, Qatar shopping centers, high rise office buildings, luxurious hotel, and sophisticated international airport. Furthermore, Qatar will also have the famous Pearl Island. This future manmade island will create a new coastline off Doha's West Bay Lagoon area. There, the visitors will find luxury apartments, villas, town houses, penthouses, 5 Star hotels, an international yacht club, three marinas, international shops and restaurants, entertainment venues, and schools. Last but not least, in 2022, Qatar will hold the biggest event in the world, FIFA World Cup 2022. Surely, all eyes of the world will be on this country. Those incredible assets seem to prove that Qatar is truly the richest country in the world.

Sources:
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/qatar-now-world-s-richest-nation-says-imf-421787.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita
http://www.qatar.com/Page/The-Pearl-Qatar/53/
http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/qatar/export-import.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/qa.html