I went to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) last Saturday not knowing that students were having a long holiday. So my car was stuck for one hour inside. My car was literally stuck; not moving. I didn’t really know why the place was so packed but I finally gave up and went home.

I have to say that I’m sorry to my friend Rany that I didn’t attend her wedding party. I wish I could have, but trust me, it was so macet.

I didn’t know that TMII was that famous. Last time I went there it was about more than 4 years ago when I had to be a tour guide for some foreign guests of my university. The place is indeed a very educational for children, so it’s highly recommended.

But I just found out yesterday on the news, TMII has a new attraction called Snow Bay Water Park. It looks like a very big water attraction. Isn’t that cool? I read that this new attraction has so many cool attractions like the largest “ember” in Jakarta. Find it out here.

So I went to TMII for nothing, but I couldn’t complain. I guess everyone just wanted to have fun. But sometimes I just wonder why bad traffic is everywhere in this city. Just when I thought I could enjoy driving on a Sunday, I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing: my car was stuck in TMII!!! What a story.

I could manage to control my emotion mostly because I just had experienced a wonderful trip to Bandung on Saturday; which I think I’m going to write something about it later. It was a short one, but I had so much fun. One thing for sure, Bandung has great great food. And cheap too!

Back to Jakarta. It seems to me, I have thousands of stories I can share to you about Jakarta. And it probably seems like I always have bad stories to tell. That’s not true. Although people keep telling me that other cities are better, I still believe Jakarta is the best (in my heart). Ha-ha-ha. I guess I need to tell you more on that one. Maybe later.

I went to my office just like any day. I got to my cubicle and turned on my computer. Suddenly, my work colleague sitting next to me said this very surprising words, “It’s so sad he’s dead; The radio is playing his songs now.” 

“Who’s dead?” I asked her. “Michael Jaackson is,” she replied. I couldn’t believe what I heard, the King of Pop is dead. Finally?

I’m not a big fan of Jacko but I have to admit he’s a legend. I remember I was amazed to watch him sing and dance. His moonwalk is probably the most famous dance move in the world. 

His album “Thriller” was once the best-selling album of all time. Too bad he couldn’t be consistent to keep his star power. In the last two decades or so, Michael Jackson’s life was full of embarrassing moments. He was accused pedophilia by the way. 

But no one can deny that his songs are forever. Some of my Jackson’s favorite songs: Beat it, Heal the world, and Thriller. 

Anyway, I’m not writing to have a long story on Michael Jackson. I’m not a big fan so I don’t have much to tell. He’s dead.

It’s been a long time since I wrote on this blog. I know I have to write more and of course consistently. A lot of people have asked me to do so. But somehow it’s so hard to write and get inspiration when I’m so occupied with my daily routine.

But I will try.

Anyway, I’m still in Jakarta; alive. Life’s good so far, although sometimes I find Jakarta so frustrating. Sometimes it’s hard to deal with those people out there, they think they know what they’re doing; but they actually don’t.

The traffic is always a big problem for me. If only I could fly, I bet it would be so much easier. Traffic, traffic, traffic: What the hell is wrong with traffic in Jakarta. Why there’re so many cars and motorcycles in this city? And why can’t they drive like normal people?

It’s good that life is not only about traffic. Once I park my car, I’m happy again. Well, it’s not that I always get stressed when driving. The worst case is when I’m late for something and my car is stuck in the traffic jam, that’s when traffic can be a nightmare.

There are things you can enjoy about Jakarta; and I don’t mean the malls by saying that. I went to Museum Bank Mandiri last weekend and it was so beautiful. I’ve been to Kota Toea for so many times now, and I really hope the local government can do more to the place in the coming years. The place has so much potential, so it needs to be improved a lot.

Food! Jakarta is a city with the best food. That’s what I think. Not only the expensive ones, you can find so many cheap but tasty menus in this city. Well, if you have a hygiene problem then you may only want to eat at fancy restaurants; because in this city tasty food doesn’t always refer to healthy food.

I wish I could tell you more about I what I feel. But, I have to sleep because I have to wake up early tomorrow for work. I’m so excited because I’m going to Bandung after work. I’ve got so many plans in Bandung; for sure food hunting will be my first priority.

I promise I will start blogging more once I get back from Bandung. By the way, Jakarta Butuh Revolusi Budaya is conducting a small event on July 4, 2009 at Museum Bank Mandiri, from 9 am to 5 pm. Anyone can come, but please make sure you reserve your seat by sending us an e-mail to revolusibudaya@gmail.com

Cheers!

Taken from The Jakarta Globe: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/city/my-jakarta-tasa-nugraza-barley/277333

Tasa Nugraza Barley has seen his fair share of the world from two polar opposites: Islamabad, Pakistan, and Washington, DC. After three years in Islamabad, where his father was a military attache, and 26 months in DC, where he received his MBA in finance from Strayer University, Tasa speaks of Jakarta as a city to which he longed to return. A city that, even with all its flaws, he will always call home. The 25-year-old ANZ Bank employee, who completed his undergraduate economics degree at Trisakti University, talks about terrorism, city planning and a host of other metropolitan issues in his own three-way comparison of Jakarta, Islamabad and Washington.

You’ve lived in Pakistan, a country marred by acts of terrorism. What did it feel like to live in such a dangerous country?

Well, at first I was pretty scared. But I managed to enjoy living there. Living in Islamabad was actually really fun as long as I knew where to go and how to behave. But I had to be alert all the time. I never went to so-called red zones by myself.

Do you think Jakarta has its own dangerous elements? Do you see this city as more secure than Islamabad?

I can’t say Jakarta is a very safe city. You always have to be inside a building. When you walk on the outskirts of the city, or use public transportation, there’s a risk of being the victim of a pickpocket or the possibility of being mugged. For girls, you can even be harassed or raped. But compared to Islamabad, I would say Jakarta is safer.

Which place do you like better, Pakistan or the United States?

That’s a tough question. Islamabad is actually a beautiful place to live. It’s different from other cities in Pakistan that are mostly unsafe and crowded. Islamabad is a well-planned city, not a naturally growing one. Everything is designed with that in mind.

But if I had to choose, DC is better. It has more to offer — it’s a beautiful city with thousands of parks and outdoor recreational spaces. It also has the largest museum complex in the world; something that I was really excited about. DC obviously has more modern attractions, too — when I was in Islamabad they didn’t have a modern movie theater.

What’s your favorite Pakistani food? What’s your favorite American food?

My favorite Pakistani food is chicken tikka. It’s a very tasty dish, very popular in Pakistan. It’s basically chicken roasted with special Pakistani ingredients.

It’s not easy to pick my favorite food from Washington, DC. The city offers different kinds of food from all over the world. But I really miss the hot dogs. The best place to grab a hot dog is at the National Monument.

Eating a hot dog while enjoying nice weather and beautiful scenery was one of the best things to do in DC. I guess there was nothing special about the hot dogs, but the surroundings made it perfect. But trust me, Indonesian food is still the best!

What didn’t you miss about Jakarta?

I bet you already know the answer: it’s the traffic! I can’t emphasize enough that our traffic is like hell. In Islamabad, the traffic was nothing compared to Jakarta’s. It’s not a populous city and very few people could afford personal transportation.

I believe the people of Jakarta are nice, but somehow the conditions in this city are so hectic that it makes us forget how to act like a civilized society.

What was it that you missed about home?

The people, the interesting places it offers, the amazing food — it’s Jakarta!

And I’m sure you’ll agree with the old phrase, “home sweet home.” No matter how dirty and messy your house is, you wouldn’t enjoy living in someone else’s house.

Would you ever consider leaving Jakarta on a permanent basis?

Actually, yes. I’m not trying to be inconsistent; I’m sure I’ll still love Jakarta in 50 years. But perhaps this is not the right place to live when I’m old. This city is the place for young and ambitious people.

When I’m old, I’d rather live somewhere quiet, in a small city where I can breathe fresh air anytime I want, where I can grow plants in the backyard. I know, that sounds so much like a 50-year-old guy’s dream.

written in early May.

Next to my office building there is this big billboard of a famous female deodorant product. It’s totally big. I assume all car drivers passing by are supposed to see this advertisement.

What the big billboard shows is a picture of a young and beautiful woman who is smiling while proudly showing her armpit! Well, what else can you expect? After all, it’s a deodorant product we are talking about.

For people like me who grew up in a metropolitan city like Jakarta, such a scenery might just look usual. And as a young and “normal” man, I admit that I do enjoy looking at beautiful women.

But this is not only about a beautiful woman. What the picture really shows us is a reflection of how our culture has shifted into a new kind of path. At least that is the condition in our big cities.

Imagine if a middle-aged woman from a small city like Malang comes to Jakarta and sees this gigantic billboard. She will probably say, “astagfirullah” while rubbing her chest.

In the old times, it was rude enough for a woman to show the upper part of her arms. To show her armpit would be out of the question. But now, women in big cities smoke, drink alcohol, and they even talk sex!

A few days ago, Indonesian women celebrated their so-called freedom day. April 21 is dedicated to the struggle of R.A. Kartini who was the pioneer of feminist movement in Indonesia.

Do you all think today’s women in Indonesia are much better than those in 80’s or 70’s? What are the measurements?

What do you think Kartini would say if she came back to life and saw a huge billboard of a beautiful Indonesian woman showing her armpit?

I think Kartini would cry. She would be so sad to see that Indonesian women have forgotten their Indonesian values; she would be sad to see how Indonesian women have turned themselves into nothing but slaves of capitalism.

If you don’t believe in what I say, just look around you. Nowadays, Indonesian women don’t feel proud of themselves before putting expensive makeup on their faces. They don’t feel confident before carrying a Louis Vuitton bag.

Not that I’m against cultural changes or anything but I think our feminist movement is following the Western style too aggressively.

Look at our today’s female magazines. Before, we only had several names like Kartini and Femina. They used to be quite traditional in many ways, but now they have to compete against imported magazines that teach our women a lot of sex and fashion tips.

Is this a good thing for all of us? Is this a good thing for Indonesian women?

It’s not that everything has gone bad with Indonesian women in big cities. I’m sure Kartini would also be proud to see how today’s Indonesian women can pursue education as fas as they want.

Kartini would also be proud to see how a lot of women have good positions in society. Now, Indonesian women are doctors, house representatives, judges, and even police officers.

What has gone wrong is that some women are forcing the wrong kind of emancipation to the society. The kind of emancipation that’s filled so much with Western values.

All I’m saying is, it’s not something sinful if a woman decides to be a housewife instead of pursuing a professional career. But at the same time, it’s ok for a woman decides to be a career woman.

For the last few days, I’ve heard an ad celebrating “Hari Kartini” on a Jakarta’s famous radio station. It basically supports women’s emancipation. It suggests that women and men are actually the same, willingness is all that matters.

And that is the kind of message that most media are telling our women. A message that says women and men are equal in everything; that women can do all the things men do. The kind of message that Western feminists always spread to rest of the world trough so many ways.

With all my respect to all women in the world, I seriously think we are not the same. You are women, and I think it’s ok if men are better in several things. Because I know you are better in a lot of other things too.

You don’t have to deny the fact that men are stronger physically. Because we men always envy your softness and patience; and you all should be proud of that.

Women’s emancipation is not about competition. It’s not about defeating men in all areas that they do. Women’s emancipation should be about maximizing the God-given strengths that women have.

And in doing so, it is perhaps a good thing if our women can combine their Indonesian values and the 21st values. For me,  that is the kind of women I Love.

Last weekend, 16 and 17 May, JBRB had a special thing going on. We participated at the World Book Day by Indonesia Membaca. It was a real unique experience. The event was held at Museum Bank Mandiri which turned out to be a perfect place to have an exhibition.

We displayed some pictures and videos of our program BERBURU. We got lucky that there were several people who got interested in becoming BERBURU trainers. Great!

On Sunday (17 May), Me, Eja, Gilang, Ichsan, and Syukron took students of BERBURU from SMP Gratis Ibu Pertiwi to Kota Toea to celebrate the end of our program. The mission was to have fun; and I was happy to know that we all did have fun.

All students actively participated within the whole program. We all did games, singing, museum tour, and a campaign of BERBURU.

It was a fun experience for all of us. I hope we can do something like that again in the future, but right now we focus on conducting “Berburu Training for Trainers” which I’m sure will also be so much fun. I hope I will see you there.

Last Tuesday was a special day for me. It was my first experience to be invited to a talk show “Selamat Pagi” on O Channel. The shocking part was the fact that the show starts at 7 in the morning. I was pretty lucky that they provided me with a transportation, but still I had to wake up at 5.30. Not a fun thing at all.

The hosts were nice: Erwin Parengkuan and Jill.

My friend Reza was also there with me during the talk show. We both had a very nice conversation with Erwin and Jill. We talked a lot about our JBRB and social life in Jakarta.

Everything went well and smoothly.

And after the performance we had a very good response from public. Our FB account has received a lot of support and people wanting to join our program Berburu.

Now, I’m hopping Metro TV and TV One will invite us very soon

Love is a big word. You will never be able to describe love in one sentence. It takes hundreds of pages of novels and books to explain what love is. People have to watch movies and read poems to understand love. But in the end, we will always be confused why we love him or her.

I believe in the power of love. I do believe that it’s love that will help me find my true happiness.

But, what is love?

I see people around me talk about love all the time. The say all those nice words like, “I care about you” “I’m thinking about you, always” or the most common phrase: “I love you”.

Yes, those words sound so beautiful. But what I have realized is that, and this is amazingly surprising, people who say those nice words the most are actually the ones who have the lowest level of understanding about love.

I call it romance bullshit.

You don’t have to say “I love you” all the time; every single minute, every single second. Show that you care by doing real things to the person you love.

What most people don’t get it, is the fact that love is all about sacrificing and understanding. Sacrificing here means trying hard to get what the people you love want. If you are a man and you work hard days and nights to support your wife and family financially, that is sacrificing.

But if you are a wife (or a husband) and you want to have a divorce because your husband cannot buy you the things that you want after he tried so hard, then you are a selfish bastard.

Because remember, love is also about understanding.

And both sacrificing and understanding should be done by both sides: husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, and so on.

Imagine if you and your loved one can both sacrifice for each other and be understandable to each other too. I’m sure happiness will always be in your heart.

Go around the world and ask every couple who sacrifice and understand, I bet they will admit how money doesn’t really matter because they are happy.

Still, with all theories we have to love is not easy; be careful, it sounds simple but yet it is so hard to do. Maybe we can take a look on what Mother Teresa had to say about love: “If you judge people you have no time to love them.”

Also published by The Jakarta Post on April 28, 2009

Last April 9 was a big day for all of us Indonesians. It was the day we celebrated our democracy. Our politicians had encouraged us to vote because, as they said it, it was the moment of truth: The day we could express our freedom. That sounds so cool, but are we really politically free?

Perhaps that’s the case with educated people. They vote for someone or something they really believe in. Just like a friend of mine who voluntarily promoted a political party simply because he believed in them.

But that’s not the case with the poor in this country. Their voice can be bought cheaply. A free t-shirt and Rp 50,000 is enough to make them shout out the name of any political party.

During every election our politicians always make promises to the poor. These promises always sound so assuring and tempting. Of course, the poor will always want cheap food, enough jobs, free education and health care.

But if those promises don’t materialize, who can the poor blame? That’s a difficult question to answer.

For some reason, I used to avoid politics. But having lived in the United States for more than two years, I became much more interested in it. I became aware that good politics creates a good economy, a good society and so on.

The political conditions in advanced countries like the United States are still “dirty” and every one knows it. But just because it is dirty doesn’t mean it is a poor model to follow. Some people should have the courage to be part of the “dirty” system, and clean it up.

I’m not a political person. For me politics is simply a medium for people to create a certain path for their country. The people share their voice, ideas or anything with politicians, who later create laws and policies based on what the people want and need. When the political system is effective, the society will be happy. They get what they want – it’s as simple as that.

A very important question at the moment is how we can create an effective political system? The answer can be very simple: Having the right people in the system.

This challenge is tough because most people don’t want to get “dirty”. Many of our best people don’t want to get involved in politics. They hate the culture and they hate the corruption. And with these conditions, our political system is filled with the wrong kinds of people.

People who will do anything, good or bad, to get what they want. They use politics as a tool to make themselves rich by manipulating the poor. I think it’s time for all of us to remind others that politics is not something we should hate. By hating it we allow opportunists to enter and destroy the whole system.

I went to our proud DPR/MPR building several days ago and met some ex-campus activists who are now actively involved in our political system. Listening to their ambitious plans and idealism gave me hope that someday our political system would get better. Within the discussion, we all agreed that the future of our political system is in the hands of young Indonesians, people like you and me. Our senior politicians are getting older and one day they will have to be replaced. But there’s still a long way to go.

It was indeed sad to see so many people turn our political arena into a joke. But that doesn’t give us the right to keep complaining. Sometimes people seem to forget that democracy is something so new to our society.

They compare our democracy to other countries’ democracies. They ask why, if countries like the United States can do it, can’t we? Well, the United States has implemented democracy for so many years and we have been called a democratic country for less than 10 years.

Being the world’s third largest democracy doesn’t necessarily mean we are the third best. We have to keep trying and be patient. The key to success is to make more people politically active. It should be seen as a red alert that there was a decline in public excitement about the elections (based on my own observations). I asked people around me who didn’t vote the reasons behind their decision.

Most said they didn’t have any clue who to vote for. I guess that’s a clue for our beloved politicians to better connect themselves with the people, and in doing so I don’t think it would be a problem if the young ones were taken onboard.

The writer is a postgraduate degree holder. He is now active at the Berburu Center, an organization for positive and advanced behavioral development of Jakartans and the suburbans.

I don’t remember how many times I have told you that I had never been to Monas. But, now I can proudly say, “I went there already!”

Yes, I went to Monas and Istiqlal (both for the very first time) today with my friends from JBRB. Now I feel like the happiest person in the world.

It was not really a planned thing; several days ago somehow I decided that this weekend would be the moment to visit Jakarta’s most famous landmark. I then sent a message to my closest friends on Facebook telling them that I was going to Monas with or without them!

Lucky me, I got lovely friends who voluntarily wanted to accompany me.

So, after conducting our program Berburu at SMP Gratis Ibu Pertiwi in Pancoran we all went to Monas. We finished the program around 11 am; first, we went to a “nasi padang” restaurant in Sabang, Menteng. It was a nice lunch since I hadn’t eaten “nasi padang” for some weeks.

After that, we all drove to Istiqlal to have a Dzuhur Prayer. Not proudly admitting this, but going to Istiqlal today was also my first experience. I know, I should be ashamed of myself.

To my surprise, Istiqlal was a very beautiful building. It looks a bit dirty and old from the outside, but when I walked inside I could see how beautiful the architecture was. The dome looked amazing!

I was pretty tired that day. I had exercised real hard at the gym on Friday and I hadn’t had enough sleep on Saturday night. So I asked Oky to join me lying on the carpet and feel the breeze of the wind. And to my surprise (again and again) it was such a wonderful place to sleep. I’m not kidding.

It was Ika who disturbed my sleep (how dare you!). I was having a nice dream when my cellphone vibrated. I didn’t pick it up but it was enough to wake me up.

It was 2 pm something when we arrived at Monas. Damn, it was so hot. The sun was shining so and too bright. But we didn’t care, we kept walking. I was sweating all over my body. It was really hot, really. I was luck I had my lovely “handuk” with me all the time; not that I’m a part-time “kondektur” or anything, but I’m always equipped with a “handuk” when traveling somewhere hot.

We couldn’t go to the top unfortunately, it was too late for that. But we had the chance to visit the museum right beneath Monas. The ticket price was cheap, Oky paid IDR 12,500 for 10.

Not a bad museum, although I wasn’t really enjoying the displays. But at least the air conditioner gave us a really nice time to relax a little bit.

We didn’t stay long since I had to help my work colleagues at Disney on Ice at 4.30 pm. But we still managed to take some great pictures on the way to the parking lot.

I’m too tired to write more on my visit to Istiqlal and Monas; and Disney on Ice too at Istora Senayan. I have to sleep now and ready for work tomorrow morning. But one thing I can say, I’m officially a proud Jakartan now!

And I’m happy for that.