14.11.13

so much more

apalah arti kata jalan-jalan kalo udah nyampe satu tempat tapi ga 'jalan'jalan'? (bingung? jangan)
gini lho. kan tujuan gw ke Raja Ampat itu awalnya ikutan program Resource Use Monitoringnya The Nature Conservancy yang mereka gabungin sama Incidental Monitoring cetacea (paus dan lumba-lumba kalo lo bingung). tapi... RUMnya itu cuman sehari karena KKLD Kofiau itu kecil dan sehari aja udah cukup. besokannya gw sam Cesa kebingungan mau ngapain soalnya tuh pulau kecil dan ga ada apa2. mau diving tapi tabungnya kosong, mau main UNO masa berdua doang? pas lagi ngorek2 pantai nyari karang kayak anak bocahan, datenglah Kak Naftali. ngobrol2 dikit, dia ngasih tau kalo di seberang pulau (yang jaraknya cuman 3 menit naik perahu kecil) ada danau air tawar. langsung lah kita berdua semangat buat menjelajah kesana. bersama dengan 3 orang lainnya, yaitu Om Uca, Kak Baraf dan Om-Gw-Lupa-Namanya kita berangkaaaat... 

13.11.13

my fellow cetaceans of Raja Ampat

 i was there for my final college paper or as we called it here 'skripsi'. i was so ecstatic for this trip yet so nervous because actually i've been wanting to do this from May. but because of my stupidity and a bit miscommunication, i ended up taking the trip to Raja Ampat in November. but hey, no regrets.
by the way, back to my fellow cute mammals. me and the team found 3 species in total in all of our trip which include bottlenose dolphins, spinner dolphins, and pilot whales (lots of them if i might add). they were bowriding, breaching, and doing all this cute stuff that makes me just want to jump from the boat and swim with them haha.
along the way, we met this wounded sail fish. it has a bright blue color on the front of its sail.

12.11.13

mental pembantu

what traveling do to you

tahap awal persiapan packing
setelah lama berkutat pergi kesono kemari dalam maupun luar negeri (and i'm grateful every minute of my life because of that), gw nyadar kalo seorang traveler itu berevolusi, berkembang, atau apa lah itu bahasanya, sejalan dengan setiap perjalanan yang mereka lakukan. yaa.. contohnya gw aja lah ya. dulu gw inget pas masih SMP gw orangnya suka gampang marah2 (kalo bahasa bagusnya mah short temper lah ya). selalu disegani sama temen2 gw karena mereka bilang gw 'galak'. kalo sekarang, ya masih sih ada yang bilang gw galak, tapi gw sendiri udah merasa kegalakan gw itu udah berkurang drastis. gw udah bisa mengedalikan emosi gw walaupun padahal gw udah pengen meledak-ledak. this happens because i met so many different kind of people from my traveling. temen2 traveling gw itu pasti wataknya ajaib2. ada yang suka pundungan tanpa sebab, ada yang suka jalan sendiri, ada juga yang suka ngeluh. nah, kalo gw pribadi, kalo salah satu temen gw ada yang kayak gitu, gw harus bertindak sebaliknya. kalo dia udah marah duluan, gw harus tenang. kalo dia udah panik duluan, gw yang harus tenang. bayangin kalo misalnya lo berdua ilang ditengah2 kota terus dua2nya panik. ga bakalan ketemu2 jalan yang bener kan? kalo ada yang berpikir dengan jernih kan lebih bagus.
kedua, i think some people knows that i'm organized and neat. yang ga percaya well mungkin karena gw tidak menunjukannya (hehe). entah dari kapan itu mulainya, gw sekarang kayaknya mengidap OCD tingkat paling rendah. apa2 harus bersih dan tertata. gw nata buku dikosan aja harus setengah jam. nata baju biar rapih dan lucu dijadiin gradasi warna. bisa jadi ini terbentuk karena gw selalu thinking ahead dan ngelist perlu bawa apa aja (dari yang sangat butuh sampe embel2 ga penting) untuk dibawa selama traveling. alhamdulillah most of the time ga pernah ada barang yang ketinggalan.
ketiga, you'll appreciate every little things you have. apalagi udah pernah backpacking ekstrim atau ke daerah2 terpencil. yang kamar mandinya ga ada pintu lah, yang mandinya harus di sumur lah, yang atap rumahnya belum jadi lah, bermacam macam lah. kalo udah merasakan kayak gitu pasti gw jamin kalo dirumah atau dikosan lo mati lampu dikit aja pasti mikir dua kali untuk ngeluh. kalo mau ngeluh dalam hal apapun itu, just remember that if you have a problem, there's a bunch of people out there have bigger problems than you do.
on my final words of the subject, kalo lo seneng traveling, coba pikir2 lagi. pasti ada sesuatu dalam diri lo yang berubah. kalo gw kan contohnya 3 diatas ini (dari banyak lagi yang berubah). yang belum (karena ga mungkin orang ga suka traveling) suka traveling, try it. you'll never regret the decision you made the moment you step out of your house and your comfort zone.

24.10.13

skinny boys

 no.. i won't talk about boys whose skinny. but i will talk about skinny jeans on boys. first of all, and correct me if i'm wrong. skinny jeans are intended for girls. to.. i don't know. flaunt their legs? but one day the skinny jeans euphoria got out, the next day the guys wore it too! it's not that i'm racist, i like guys who actually care what they wear on their body before they get out of the door. but my point here is that skinny jeans are not intended for all type of guys. are you with me til now? for example, these two pictures that i took in Singapore. these guys has a pretty skinny and long legs. so skinny jeans are good for them especially paired it with combat boots like the one on the left.
so here are some tips for you guys if you feel like wearing skinny jeans and you don't actually have these guys type of legs. don't wear or even buy skinny jeans that hugs your thigh too much. let's just say you need to buy one size larger than you used to buy. and wear jeans like the right picture one. do not wear a cuffed ankle 'cause it will make it more skinny. and the last tips, pleaseee do not buy a low waist skinny jeans.

29.9.13

how to get to: Danau Kelimutu

  • dari Labuan Bajo naik the so called "shuttle bus" sampe Bajawa seharga 175rb (harga tiap travel beda-beda, cari aja yang paling murah. di LBJ banyak). itu belum dapet makan. dari Labuan Bajo sampe Bajawa sekitar 9 jam. 
  • dari Bajawa lanjut perjalanan ke Ende naik travel 50rb. gw sama Ichsan dari Bajawa ke desa terdekat numpang kol bak dulu baru naik travel (mobil APV atau Avanza) ke Ende seharga 50rb (setelah ditawar), perjalanan kira-kira 3 sampe 4 jam. sampe di Ende kita tidur di masjid, tapi beberapa menit kemudian ditawarin tidur dirumah warga. alhamdulillah :D
  • Subuh subuh kita pergi ke terminal buat pergi ke Moni. Danau Kelimutu itu letaknya di Moni. bisa naik mini bus seharga 25rb (bisa ditawar juga). perjalanan sekitar 30 menit lah. turun di gerbang Danau Kelimutunya. jangan ketiduran, ntar kelewatan kayak gw hehe
  • dari gerbangnya masih jauh buat ke danaunya. alhamdulillah lagi kita dapet tumpangan mobil dari Bruno dan Thomas, turis dari Perancis. soalnya kalo naik ojek bisa sampe 100rb-an. masuk ke Danau Kelimutunya seharga 2.500 soalnya kita orang lokal. kata supirnya umpetin dulu kameranya, soalnya mending ga usah bayar. takut diatasnya kondisinya lagi jelek, jadi ga usah kecewa karena udah bayar mahal cuman gara-gara bawa kamera.
  • udah seneng2 liat danau yang dulu ada di duit gocengan, kita balik lagi ke Ende. dan dapet tumpangan lagi sama si dua bule itu (ALHAMDULILLAH..)
  • dari Ende kita naik travel sampe Ruteng seharga 130rb (again, bisa ditawar semurah yang lo mau). ngeselinnya kita harus nunggu 3 jam buat si supir nyari penumpang lagi :( sesampenya di Ruteng udah tengah malem, nyari masjid enak, eh pas tidur kedinginan. sampe sampe sajadah, mukena, pokoknya apapun yang bisa gw temuin dipake buat menghangatkan tubuh. paginya ga berani mandi soalnya airnya kayak es! yaudah lah yaaa.. ga mandi sehari ga bau bau amat ;p
  • ngelanjutin perjalanan dari Ruteng ke Labuan Bajo naik travel mobil lagi seharga 60rb (ditawar lah yaa)
yak! jadi begitulah perjuangan gw dan Ichsan untuk mencapai Danau Kelimutu yang indah itu. sebenernya kalo mau enak tapi rada mahal bisa naik pesawat langsung ke Ende. atau bisa naik travel yang menuju Maumere (lewat Moni). bagaimanapun perjalanannya, no regrets dan pasti selalu ada pengalaman yang ga terlupakan :)

10.8.13

The Rustandis wishes you..

Happy Eid Mubarak! hope you guys had a great time visiting families and had lots of yummy treats :9

3.8.13

snow problems

gw dari dulu emang pengen banget ngerasain salju. normal obsession lah ya dan pastinya dirasakan juga sama semua orang yang tinggal di negara tropis. abis kayaknya seru banget bisa lempar-lemparan bola salju, bikin snowman, trus suasananya kayak putih-putih romantis gitu. 
tahun ini, tepatnya di acara ISFiT 2013 Februari kemaren, my dream to finally feel snow come true. tapi jauh dari kenyataan! yaa mungkin karena gw mikirnya yang cakepnya doang kali. emang sih menyenangkan banget ngeliat salju pertama kali (but i managed not to dropped my jaw and roll around instantly if you're wondering). gw cuma lompat-lompat di dalem hati. tapi gatau kenapa, pas di pesawat dari Turki menuju Oslo, gw ga ngeliat apa-apa dibawah sana kecuali hamparan hutan dan rumah-rumah kecil yang ditutupin sama salju putih dan gw inget gw langsung berpikir "oh my god take me home noooow!" in fact, 70% gw merasa takut dan 30% merasa excited. aneh? betul.
dan setelah sampe Trondheim, gw merasakan -20 derajat! wooow! awalnya sih reaksi gw cuman "mm.. dingin. tapi ga sedingin yang gw bayangkan." haha emang dasar gw sombong, 2 hari setelah itu gw kesel banget sama dinginnya sampe-sampe gw pengen nendang salju. karena gw harus jalan dari rumah host ke halte bus, dan hari kedua workshop gw harus jalan mondar mandir nyari gedung, kaki dan jari tangan gw harus menanggung akibatnya. beku cooy! belum lagi ingus gw yang keluar terus-terusan bikin syal gw bau dan lengket-lengket najong. 
belum selesai kenegatifan gw tentang salju, kalo lo jalan, harus hati-hati banget sampe-sampe keliatan kayak pengantin solo, karena biasanya jalanan yang biasa dilewatin orang bukan ketutupan sama salju tapi sama es (just like an ice rink). gimana enggak? kalo lo buru-buru (dan sebenernya gw harus jalan cepet ngimbangin jalan temen-temen workshop gw yang punya kaki lebih jenjang daripada gw), yaa bisa-bisa kepeleset deh. walaupun emang pemandangan biasa banget sih orang kepeleset di Norway. tapi gw tidak mau mengambil resiko pantat gw biru dan malu, jadi gw berhati-hati setiap jalan.
ada satu lagi ya ngerepotin tentang winter. harus rajin-rajin pake pelembab, entah itu buat muka ataupun buat badan. baru 3 hari aja badan gw udah bersisik kayak uler. dan body butter gw pun hanya membantu sedikit. sayangnya waktu itu gw ga bawa pelembab muka (that was my biggest mistake!), alhasil muka gw carut marut. ya pastinya lah! muka kan ga ketutupan sama baju pas jalan. paling-paling cuma bisa nutupin sampe hidung (itu juga kalo ga bikin kacamata lo fogging). jadi lah gw beli pelembab di toko sana yang harganya bikin sakit hati. well seenggaknya muka gw terselamatkan (sampe sekarang lho!) so in my conclusion (and in my defense), terkadang gw merasa out of this world bisa ke negara bersalju, and the most exciting stuff about winter is the fashion! gw bisa pake layers of clothes tanpa harus keliatan kayak orang gila. tapi, seperti hal lainnya di dunia ini, salju dan winter has its pros and cons.

28.7.13

last year's MantaWatch internship photos: part 2

view from Rinca Island boat deck
accepting certificate on the last day of internship :')
usual drill before getting in the water
new friends :)

24.7.13

last year's MantaWatch internship photos: part 1

i just missed those moments so much i just have to post some pictures of my internship with MantaWatch. some maybe you never seen before ;) and kinda bit of a spoiler alert for the new interns (congratulation by the way).
front deck of Dive Komodo boat
our cray schedule! complete with manta drawings :)
the horrible road Ichsan and I have to go trough to Sano Nggoang Lake
your everyday view. GORGEOUS!
two great mentor: Andy and Laura!
off the water: paper works
first of my adventure in Komodo Island
had to stay in one of those 'hut' for a night @Kanawa Island Resort

14.7.13

crisis?

i got a great SLR. i got a great mentor, and yes, in this case it's my dad. i always got a great opportunity to take gorgeous pictures in all of this gorgeous places. but somehow my passion for landscape and nature photography is fading. i know it's actually not a great deal because hey! people always do that. on their way to find their passion, they will leave and found new ones. and maybe this is one of mine. i just kinda feel disappointed with myself. or maybe just i don't want to disappoint my father for giving me an incredible SLR and now.. a tripod also. but then i thought, i could use it for a different purpose. i mean i have a blog. i like to share my stories with lots of pictures on it, so why don't i use it for that? 
but then again, because i love fashion, especially on the street, i started to think about street style photography like Tommy Ton and Scott Schuman. i don't know, maybe it's just a temporary thought. but then again, look at the first picture above that i took three years ago. it was my pride (well because lots of people like it on Flickr). it was such a beautiful shot and i didn't work that hard to capture it. i guess when my mind is on the right place, i could produce something like this more often. the question is, when will my mind will be in the exact right place again? 
i think the problem is that i asked myself too many questions that i couldn't answer by myself. so what i have to do now is just let it all sunk in, just use the SLR whenever and wherever i want it, and who knows? maybe i'll find other passion along the way.

cutest email

look what i found on my email just a few days ago. too bad i didn't do the fasting due to a completely annoying virus that inhibit my body :( by the way, he'll come home in a few days from Kalimantan, so i'm excited!

13.7.13

The Lone Ranger

before i said anything about this movie, i gotta say that this year and maybe the next year will have some great movies that people will be curious enough to see. and for me, as a movie addict (well a little to say the least), am very excited to wait what comes next in the blockbuster, including Insidious 2 (hello? one of the most scary movie of all time has a sequel?). 
okay, back to this movie. of course i will be expecting that this will be an action-comedy movie because there's Johnny Depp. although i would love to see more on the ending, such as Tonto will be accepted again by his tribe. but i love love love the theme = wild wild west. and because of this movie, i found my new interest: Indian people, native American culture.

12.7.13

Goa Jomblang

jarang-jarang nih keluarga gw bisa adventure bareng kayak gini. walaupun trip kita yang sekarang kurang Dinda sama Dunda, tapi gw seneng banget. bisa jalan-jalan ke goa ini juga karena Dira di wisuda, jadi kita ke Jogja.
kalo mau ke Goa Jomblang, mari menuju Wonosari. kalo kurang paham, bisa tanya2 CPnya. waktu itu keluarga gw langsung di guide (melalui hp) sama Mas Cahyo (yep, Cahyo Alkantana, yang ngelola Goa Jomblangnya) langsung. walaupun harganya mahal gila (450rb per orang), tapi menurut gw itu worth it. dan kalo lo udah kesana dan liat tempatnya, pasti bakal ngerti kok dengan harga segitu up keep tempat dan pekerjanya pasti maksimal. jadi pertama2 kita diturunin kebawah sedalem 60 m, dan yang banyak taneman2 itu lah Goa Jomblangnya. ray of light yang terkenal itu justru berada di Goa Grubuk. goa ini kedalamannya mencapai 90 m dan cahayanya bagus bangeeet! apalagi buat foto2 ;p di dalem goa itu juga ada Batu Godam yang terbentuk karena tetesan air yang terus menerus dari atas. struktur batunya pun jadi unik. bisa foto diatas batu itu tapi harus copot sepatu dan ga boleh banyak2 yang naik biar struktur batunya kejaga kealamiannya.


9.7.13

close up

thanks for the great shot Teo ;)

saving sharks fun facts

okay, so maybe some of you don't know that i love love love watching underwater documentary on NatGeo or Animal Planet or Discovery Channel. so this month is my favorite because this month is all about saving sharks month! so they all got everything about sharks. so i gather up some fun facts about great white sharks yesterday:
1. they will grow a new set of teeth every 20 days
2. they will lose about 30.000 tooth in their lives! (creepy if you think human does that too)
3. they could risen their body temperature from their surroundings so they could hunt in a very cold temperature water
4. they swim so quite, maybe on one dive or swim, they could be behind us and we didn't even know. i got goosebumps just thinking about it!

so there you have it! enjoy sharks month! just maybe take care of yourself when handling great white sharks. well.. if you ever encounter with them that is ;)

2.7.13

regrets

sorry that this post is a bit gloomy. i just have to get it out of my sistem.

have you had any regrets in your life? some people says don't have any regrets while you're still young. it's going to be a hilarious story when you look back to that particular moment. don't get me wrong, i totally agree to that. but that will be in the future. but for now, it's like your in hell and you can't get out.

maybe i have to tell you why i regret my decision. i regret changing my research place because some of my friends told me how amazing those place was. i regret believing that one particular NGO could help me with my research (fast). it seems those kind of regrets swirling around my head like a stubborn mosquito. what can i do to make it go away? well.. i have to live with it, my own decisions. i can't keep blaming everybody, and i can't keep blaming myself. it's just so damn hard to do. every time i went to campus and my friends already prepping for their graduation, i envy them. i always felt like screaming on top of my lungs. i thought all of those thoughts will be gone in a couple of days. but hey, they're still here. it's been a month now. and the worst thing, my laziness just make it worst.

and now i don't have anything to do until the end of September. well nothing too important for my future that is.

I FEEL SO DISCONNECTED.

22.6.13

touchdown!

at laaaast! i got my hands on The Sartorialist book by Scott Schuman. although i missed the first one, i'm still very happy when i purchased this book. and.. because i couldn't resist buying an actual book in a bookstore (yes, bookstore is like a candy store to me), so i bought two books. so far, Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell caught my heart with all of different emotions.

all over


with short bob hair and no braces, i feel like a new person. like a gain this whole new confidence :)

28.5.13

get friendly with the locals

you read the title correctly. yes, when you're having a solo trip or group trip to any small cities, better get friendly with locals there. when i was in Cappadoccia, Turkey with Gaby, we're not just lucky to have found a cheap hotel (for 20 lira a night!), but we felt blessed when the staff there, Cihan and Mehmet befriended us. we were treated dinner (when we actually only get breakfast with the 20 lira we spent for a night). and because we were staying in a room for 10 people (5 bunks and 1 bathroom that is), we found more new friends, which is Zeb and Ansel from US, Ben a.k.a uncle Ben from England and Ella from Prague. we had a great time playing cards and guessing some ridiculously hard riddle (thanks to Ansel) until 2 am. and the next day we all got treated lunch at Cihan's uncle house.as to break the ice, we have tons of games to play there, and after that we talk a bit about religion and culture in our societies. i love how they are all open minded. i guess that's what traveling (a lot) do to you. when you meet a lot of people from different countries, culture and religion, you get to here their stories and their point of view.
my luck didn't stop there. when Gaby and I went to buy dinner in a local restaurant, we found out that the owner's wife is Indonesian! such a small world eh? he treated us with not some traditional Turkey tea, but with Sariwangi!! i am so happy to finally tasted some Indonesian products ;p and he gave us a postcards to write, and he said he will send it to Indonesia (yes, back to us). although it still didn't come to me (yet), i'm still excited to receive it :)
see? there's no negative side getting friendly with some locals. at least that what i think.

25.5.13

Dead Mine

i just thought it will be a bit cooler. all i'm saying is i'm a little bit not what i expected. although the set and the make up is really Hollywood, but the actors didn't convince me so much. i get the concept of this movie, and it was actually really cool. but the way the portray it in this movie, not so good. but i think it's a good start for Indonesia actors to break into Hollywood. this movie makes me want to watch Fast and Furious 6 even more. to see how Joe Taslim act, that is. you should watch and tell me how you think.

19.5.13

perfect ending

i would never guessed that i would have an amazing time in Cappadoccia. Gaby and I always think that our stop here was a perfect ending to our trip. 
to get there: from Ataturk Airport, go to the metro (you could ask people where the metro is), then buy one trip coin (it'll cost you 3 lira) to Otogar. that's where all the buses to go from and around Turkey. out from the metro station, search for building number 24/26, they got a night bus to Cappadoccia at 8:30 pm which will cost you 60 lira. it'll take about 12 hours and with the amount of money you spent for the trip, you'll get comfortable seat, mineral water plus coffee/tea/coca-cola. not bad right? for reminder, do not get off in Nevsehir. get off in Goreme, because although both of this city looks alike, but the real attraction is in Goreme. 

17.5.13

one step closer

some of my best supporters
akhirnya maju juga gw UP (Usulan Penelitian). alhamdulillah lancar dan ga terlalu lama hehe. terima kasih buat temen2 gw yang selalu mendukung. i feel lucky 'cause usually people only got one or two best friend, instead i got 13 of them! and my very very best man, Immanuel Variant Rumende. so very lucky to have him by my side through good and bad times :D

15.5.13

songs as a friend

Big Yellow Taxi - Counting Crows
Supergroove - Can't Get Enough
Time To Run - Lord Huron
My Time With You - David Choi & Kina Grannis
Superhero - Lunafly
It's Time - Glee (Darren Criss)
A Drop In The Ocean - Ron Pope
Hey Julie - Fountains of Wayne
Alles Neu - Peter Fox

download and enjoy :)

a dose of turkey

touchdown in Turkey!
i was really excited for the trip because it was my second trip to Europe. by the way, i was in Turkey for a stop over for 7 hours! so i thought, why not go out for a couple of hours to see the town? so i got a visa (yes, you could make the visa on your arrival and it'll cost you 20 dollars). but keep in mind, it's only for 30 days travel, and you could only use it for one arrival. multiple arrival, well you have to pay another 20 bucks. cause that's what happens to me unfortunately.
i thought it will be a tad bit warmer than Norway (well it was), but it's still felt friggin' cold to me. but i actually like the change of weather. it's good to be in a colder weather than Indonesia.