Sunday, September 30, 2007
The Journey to Paris Part 2
I saw this BA (British Airway) plane was being pushed back by a motor under its front nose, seem funny huh?

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posted by Lilia at 7:29 pm | Permalink | 1 comments
The Journey to Paris Part 1
Bahasa Inggris yaa... buat latih kalian-kalian, karena kalian ga boleh kalah dong sama anak-anak kecil Indonesia yang sudah belajar bahasa Inggris sejak TK sekarang ini. Aku juga baru mulai belajar Inggris dari SMP (generasi tua neh), tapi gue mau ajak kalian semua belajar bacanya satu-satu. Kalo ga ngerti just email me kanata2kara[at]yahoo.com.au nanti aku kasi terjemahan Indonesia-nya (tidak berlaku bagi my brother yaaa...)

Let's start:

Our group had to get on Qantas flight QF 1 at 5 pm, before that we had to meet with Andrew from Lion-Nathan in his head office. After he took some pictures, we were heading to the airport together. In this office I found out that Julie's luggage got no padlock and not locked, so I told her that it'll be dangerous and gave her one of the padlocks and the key that David from the Hotel Maintenance gave me before I left the hotel. I put some plastic cable straps on other zips that she was not using for security. Seem she had no idea how dangerous it'll be if her bag keep open like that. If you are in international flight, never keep your luggage unlocked, especially if your stop over is one of the Asian country, it's Bangkok anyway and the laws in there are very strict for foreigner.

In the airport, after checked-in, they were having some beers and talking a lot of things about the journey. The group (Kate-Julie-Danesh-Paul) and Andrew were asking me why I didn't buy any alcohol. I told them that I don't like beer because the smell is digusting for me. So Julie, one of the hotel bartender, asked me if I do like any of the alcohol, I told her it's Bailey that I like but I would have it with a lot of milk. Andrew then brought us all into Qantas Lounge room to meet his wife, Anna. Julie found out that there is a Bailey in there, so she was happy to poured the ice blocks and Bailey for me while I poured some more milk. That was when I found out that Julie is actually very nice girl and easy to be friend with, before it I just knew her a little as we are working in different department. All of us were eating and drinking in the lounge before heading into the plane.

I was seated on aisle seat next to Kate and Kate seated next to our manager, Danesh. We had 2 plane meal courses (dinner and breakfast). Our plane were flying around 8 hours before landing in Bangkok Airport and had to wait for 30 minutes before getting into the plane again. I was using that time to wash my face and applied the make-up as I didn't want to look exhausted during the flight. However, my boss asked me if there was something wrong with my face, maybe it look pale? Dunno.
Julie and Kate were using the time to buy some cigarettes, it's cheap as it's only AU$19.00 for around 200 cigarettes, in Australia it'll be around AU$100.00 she said.

I took some pictures of the Bangkok Airport that night, here is the good one:


It's all glasses and steel, also rounded edges and corners in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, there were many issues about this Airport and hey, it's just opened last year in September 2006.

Julie and Kate told me that they wanted to smoke some cigarettes before heading into the plane, so I told them that we had to go to G5 gate to board the plane. I told them where it located and got separated from them just before the custom check-up near G1. However after the "Gate Closed" announcement, they are nowhere to be seen. Danesh joked that it's good that there will be one empty seat for him to sleep over with his finger crossing while I was looking over again and again from my aisle seat, hoping that Kate and Julie will turned up. It'll be sad if they were failed to catch up the plane as I saw how happy Julie was when she cried "We are going to Paris" many times before. Fortunately, they then turned up. Seemed they had to run for a long way. It's turned up that they were lost and asked the staffs in the airport for "London" many times before found the G5 gate and running into the gate.

However, we were still stranded in the plane for next 2 hours, Paul told me that it's because there was a parent that didn't turn up and the airport had to send a car to pick them up from the hotel. I was like asking why didn't they just left that lazy parent? We had to catch a flight from London to Paris, seem it'll be late to catch that flight, anyway it's the plane that was late, not us.

Again, we had 2 meal courses (dinner and breakfast). Arrived in London after 24 hours flight and transit time was really exhausting. The British Airway that had to fly us from London to Paris already left, so we had to check into other available flight. There are lots of BA from London to Paris, so it's not hard for us to get into the plane. The thing is the queue for the costum check-in in London is very long and all of the passengers had to take off their shoes to be scanned in the X-Ray machine (mind you, it's all smelly when people had to open their shoes, not mine though, he he..). I got separated from Danesh, Julie, Andrew and Anna as they had short-cut into checked in the queue for business class earlier. My bag got separated and I had to wait for the BA staff to open the bag and check the filling one by one. Then I checked into flight with Kate and Paul. we had to wait 1.5 hours for our flight and as a complimentary for the delay, the BA gave us the GBP$5.00 for refreshment in the airport, so I went to this coffee shop "Costa" and ordered a blueberry muffin and a medium capuccino for free. It turned out that the UK medium size coffee cup is like XL size in Australia and the blueberry muffin is really delicious, but I lost my mood 'cos I was exhausted, so I couldn't finish my muffin. Here is the coffee size, compare it:

I ordered a medium size and it's come out like XL size. I finished it anyway to beat up my exhausted face as we almost arrived in Paris and I didn't want to sleep in my first day. Also a friend suggested that I tried to adjust my bodyclock with the local time as soon as possible to beat up the jet lag.
 
posted by Lilia at 5:26 pm | Permalink | 1 comments
Friday, September 28, 2007
Holiday in Paris
So, tanggal 19 sampai 27 Sept lalu aku liburan ke Paris. Aslinya cuman 5 days karena 2 days dihabiskan di atas pesawat alias jam tempuhnya tuh 21 jam 30 menitan dari Sydney, singgah di Thailand 30 menitan trus terbang ke London. Dari London ke Paris naik British Airway (lamanya 1 jam 30 menitan). Total perjalanan memakan waktu 25 jam karena ada waktu lamanya transit nunggu pesawat berangkat.

Ngapain aja di Paris? Aslinya cuma spent waktu 2 hari pertama di Paris, lalu nginep di La Grande Motte tapi spent 1 hari di La Grande Motte dan 1 hari berikutnya di Montpellier lalu balik La Grande Motte buat rest malamnya. Besoknya langsung check out buat ke Paris, trus jalan-jalan trus besok check out lagi, nitip koper lalu jalan2 lagi trus ambil koper dan cabut ke bandara.

Jadwalnya padat dan tempat yang dikunjungi banyak, rincian yang kami kunjungi di Paris:

1. Arc de Triomphe
2. Louvre Museum (tempatnya Monalisa)
3. Keliling Seine River
4. Notre Dame
5. Paris Wheel
6. Versailes
7. Galleria Lafayette (the big shopping centre)

Yang dikunjungi di Montpellier:
1. La Grande Motte (ini tempat kami nginep dan daerah ini termasuk dalam Montpellier
2. Montpellier Plaza (Opera Comedie Plaza)
3. Stade de la Mosson (stadium-nya Montpellier, tempat Aussie vs Fiji bertanding di Rugby game taon ini)
4. Arc de Triomphe-nya Montpellier
5. Peyrou
6. Aqueduct

Selaen itu kami semua juga sempat merasakan fine dining ala French, thanks to Andrew yang selalu traktir kami semua dinner. French dining disini bisa 3-4 jam lamanya karena mulai dari entree, main meal trus ke dessert lanjut ke coffee or wine or beer. Abis itu ga langsung ke hotel tapi masih lanjut ke pub minum2 beer. Bener-bener kuat dah bule-bule itu buat melek terus. Tentu saja aku menolak minum beer karena aku ga suka baunya dan hanya mencoba sedikit wine.

Cerita-ceritanya tentu saja bakal dibahas satu-satu. Sementara ini, silakan liat-liat foto2nya di:
Flickr account aku.
 
posted by Lilia at 7:33 pm | Permalink | 1 comments
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Going to Paris
Jadwalnya padatnyaaa...

Flight:

1. QF 1 Depart:19 Sept Sydney 1700. Arrival London 20 Sept 0700am. Fly via Bangkok (1 stop)

2. BA 306 Depart: 20 Sept London 0855. Arrival Paris 1120

3. BA 325 Depart: 25 Sept Paris 1920. Arrival London 1945

4. QF 2 Depart 25 Sept London 2215. Arrival Sydney 0530 am the 27 Sept (via Bangkok).


Hotel:

Mercure Paris Cusset Opera c/in: 20 Sept, c/o: 22 Sept

Mercure Grande Motte Port Montpellier c/in: 22 Sept, c/o: 24 Sept.
On 23th watching Rugby World Cup, Australian vs Fiji.

Mercure Paris Cusset Opera c/in: 24 Sept, c/o: 25 Sept


Mau extend stay tapi engga ada flight London-Sydney sampai tanggal 30 Sept. Musti balik tanggal 1 Oct yang berarti nyampe tanggal 3 Oct dan masuk kerja tanggal 4 Oct, padahal kerjaan ga bisa dimundurin lagi. Supervisor bisa ngomel2 nanti.
Ya udah, I'll enjoy my short trip to Paris, dibayarain lagi getuh loh. I believe that it'll be a great travelling.
 
posted by Lilia at 8:59 am | Permalink | 2 comments
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Itinerary
Akhirnya dikasi tahu juga tanggalnya, tadinya aku kira ga jadi pergi. Tadi selesai kerja aku ke kantornya GM buat liat itinerary. Pergi naik Qantas tanggal 19 September jam 5 sore trus nyampe di London jam 7 pagi waktu London sana trus 1.5 jam kemudian terbang lagi naik British Airways ke Paris. Total jenderal perjalanan ke London memakan waktu 21 jam 30 menitan. Bayanginnya aja gue dah serem abis, ngapain coba di pesawat 21 jam? Bobo kan 8 jam, trus sisanya mosok duduk melulu? Kaga mau duduk terus ah, tar kaki gue bisa kram.

Pulangnya nanti tanggal 26 (jamnya lupa deh), nyampe di Sydney jam 5 pagi tanggal 27 September. Benar2 subuh deh nyampenya. Sayangnya lom tao bakal nginep dimana dan tanggal berapa ke Montpellier dan tanggal berapa di Paris-nya jadi belum bisa rencanain apa-apa belon bisa pula beli travel insurance karena belum ada ticketnya. Bingung dah, rencana mau ketemu adikku yang di Germany sana juga ga jelas sampai sekarang.
 
posted by Lilia at 7:04 pm | Permalink | 3 comments
Friday, September 07, 2007
Smart Traveller Website Part 1
Buat orang Aussie yang mau pergi ke luar negri, ada website http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/. Website itu isinya saran-saran dan tips dari pemerintah Aussie buat warganya. Kemarin aku klik ke sana-sini buat liat tips yang ada supaya perjalanan ke Paris bisa lancar dan bisa hati-hati dengan keadaan disana. Ternyata ada saran buat beli travel insurance karena di luar negri, asuransi private-nya Australia sini ga bisa menggantikan uang kita kalau kita mengalami kecelakaan atau kejadian yang memerlukan perawatan di luar negri. Kalau kita dibawa kembali ke Australia barulah aku bisa memakai asuransi private aku buat berobat di rumah sakit Australia. Terus ada saran dan tips buat selama di France, dari website Smart Traveller ini, barulah aku tahu kalau aku salah baca soal MATCH di email tempo hari.
Coba baca kutipan email dibawah ini and see by yourself kenapa aku sampai salah ngartiinnya:

"I will send through an itemised agenda on the week commencing 3rd September, which will detail flight information, accommodation details and match details (the game will be Australian vs. Fiji, played in Montpellier). In this note I will also explain clearly all that is NOT covered by this prize."

Tentu saja aku jadi salah ngartiin karena aku ga tao sama sekali agenda-nya. Gara-gara klik sana-sini di website diatas tadi, aku menemukan pemberitahuan kalo ada Rugby World Cup di France. Nah, Australian vs. Fiji itu main-nya di Montpellier. No wonder why my group going there, buat NONTON pertandingan, bukan bertanding. Legaaa.....
Tapi udah lewat tanggal 3 September, agenda-nya masih belum diumumkan. Jadi ga tao bakal ngapa2in nih. Cuman dari website diatas, tanggal 23 September adalah harinya match tersebut. Jadi tanggal 22-25 September kayanya bakal dilewatin di kota Montpellier.

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posted by Lilia at 8:48 pm | Permalink | 0 comments
Monday, September 03, 2007
If It's okay, then it's okay.
An unlucky Monday again! Hari Senin kemarin, aku ke rumah Ratna. Rencananya mau ngajarin dia komputer pakai Microsoft Word trus malamnya mau dinner di Tony's Roma buat rayain ultah anaknya yang cewek, si Stephanie. Nah, sewaktu keluar dari rumahnya si Ratna, kan aku orang yang terakhir keluar, aku tanyain Stephanie kalo sudah dikunci belum jawabnya belum. So, otomatis aku pencet tombol kunci dari dalam trus tutup pintu karena aku pikir pintu kan harus selalu dikunci kalau keluar. Apartment si Ratna ada dua kunci, yang satu itu yang deadlock di bagian atas dan yang satu itu yang bagian bawahnya. Nah, kemarin itu aku kunci yang bagian bawahnya.

Fast forward, kita semua makan di Tony's Roma tapi mejanya pisah-pisah karena kita mau pakai coupon buy one get one free yang syaratnya cuman berlaku di one table. Abis kenyang dan nyobain mocktail-nya yang bernama Tony's Delight, kita semua pulang rumah masing-masing karena Ci Yani dan Ko Chris sudah capek dan ga mau kemalaman jadi mereka ga ikutan potong kue. Jadi aku ikutan Ratna ke apartment buat potong2 kue dan selamatin Stephanie. Namun, sesampai di apartment, it turned out kalo apartment terkunci karena ternyata ga ada yang bawa kunci bagian bawahnya dan bagian bawah itu ternyata ga pernah dikunci sama mereka karena susah dibuka, jadi lama-kelamaan mereka ga pernah bawa kunci bagian bawahnya.
Oh my... I locked my friend's family out from her apartment!

Setelah berusaha membuka dan gagal, pakai kunci pinjaman yang agak mirip juga gagal. Kita telpon Ci Yani dan segera ke tempat Ci Yani yang ga jauh dari situ karena anaknya sudah kebelet mau pakai toilet. Ternyata Ci Yani sudah di rumah dan selesai mandi semuanya, lucky karena dia tadinya kira bakalan lama sampai rumah karena dia pulang naik train dan station kecil di dekat rumah dia kan train-nya ga sesering station besar. Jadilah kita telpon locksmith dari situ, untung ketemu yang murah dan reasonable karena dia bisa datang dalam 10 minutes dan approved by Locksmith organisasi sini yang diawasin pemerintah. Masalah beres, anak2nya Ratna yang balik ke rumah sementara kita menungguin mereka membuka apartment bersama tukang kunci di tempat Ci Yani.

Ternyata locksmith-nya itu bisa membuka pintu dengan cepat pakai alat khusus mirip bor yang bisa melebar setelah didalam lubang kunci dan bisa memutar buat ngebuka kunci. Jadinya ga perlu merusak pintu dan kuncinya. Malah karena sempat disemprot bagian dalamnya dengan oil khusus, kunci bagian bawah sekarang bisa dikunci dan dibuka dengan mudah sekali. Bagian atasnya yang deadlock ga masalah ada kuncinya di anaknya Ratna.
Jadilah kita terus potong2 kue dan foto2 di rumah Ci Yani dan Ci Yani sempat berkomentar kalo hikmah dari semua ini adalah dia dan ko Chris harus ikutan makan kue dan potong2, hihihi...
Sampai malam jam 11:30 barulah kita semua pulang, aku diantar Ratna pulang sampai rumah.

Yang ada, aku merasa ga enakan dengan peristiwa ini, manalagi pas ultahnya Stephanie. Mereka sekeluarga cuman tertawa dan memaafkan, malah ga mau aku bayar ongkos locksmith.
Whew, pas aku merasa ga enakan, aku chat sama teman dari Singapore, nicknya Kint. Dia ada bilang, kalo mereka ga kenapa-napa why should I feel guilty? Kalo terkunci yang terkunci itu si Kint gara-gara aku dan aku merasa happy (soalnya si Kint neh ada bakat bikin suasana jadi enak dan lempar2 lelucon), artinya I'm doing thing for myself. Kalo aku bayar locksmith dan Ratna merasa guilty karena ga bawa kunci bawah dan ga kasi tao aku jangan lock bagian bawah kan berarti aku yang enakan karena aku dah beres tapi malah meninggalkan perasaan ga enakan di temanku. So, if the other side already said it's okay then I should feel okay too. End of a problem.

Here is the chat history (bagian bold words itu yang aku tambahin karena merasa perlu diingat):


Kint : hmmm... ga enak ya..
Kint : maybe you should practise from this case first
Lilia : ...
Kint : i mean
Kint : kalo sama org aja lo bisa berasa ga enak
Kint : padahal dia dah omong gpp
Kint : manusia cenderung utk ga enak
Kint : pasti itu
Kint : krn kita operate by law
Kint : kalo org baek, kita baek
Kint : org jahat, kita ga merasa hrs baek
Kint : lol
Kint : then if God say its ok, it means OK
Kint : lol
Kint : so.. lo musti belajar buat menentramkan buat masalah kecil dulu
Kint : gue omong apa ya
Kint : @@
Lilia : ha? gue ga ngerti lo omong apa *lol*
Kint : gue jg ga ngerti
Kint : tp td sekelebat gw jd kepikiran
Kint : kadang kita smoa begitu juga even di dpn God
Kint : pas denger cerita lo
Kint : kita ngerasa bahwa kita kurang baik
Kint : btw, lo mo konciin kamar gw ga ?
Lilia : oh
Lilia : mao banget malah
Kint : gw tinggalin dulu koncinya di dlm
Lilia : trus gue lempar jaoh2 konci lo
Kint : tuh kan, beda manusia, beda perangai
Kint : dasar manusia
Lilia : lol
Kint : zzz
Lilia : abis lo nawarin
Kint : jadi masalahnya di elo
Kint : bukan di manusia yg kena
Kint : sebenernya, apa yg lo lakukan, bukan lo lakukan buat org itu
Kint : tapi buat lo ndiri
Kint : LoL

So, Friends, if it's okay then it's okay. No problem. No worries (as Australian usually say).
 
posted by Lilia at 11:40 pm | Permalink | 2 comments