My Time Capsule: July 2014

23.7.14

Taiwan: People In The Market

During my childhood in Taiwan, I used to tag along my Granny or my Mom while they did daily shopping in traditional markets and it's been my favourite place since then. Usually while waiting, I'd spent my time watching people doing their activities. Some of them were busy preparing the food, haggling, calling the customers loudly to come to their stall and a lot more. Somehow I found it very interesting. But of course, at that time I didn't any camera to capture it. I just kept 'those pictures' in my mind.

Before my recent trip to Taiwan I have made a plan to visit as many as traditional and night markets possible. Besides to satisfy my appetite of local delicacies, this time with my camera, I wanted to capture 'real' pictures and share it with you. Here's I let you to take a peek what I have been keeping since I was a kid.  I hope you enjoy this photo essay and you're more than welcome to create your own title for each pictures :)


























The last picture is particularly unforgettable for me, because the chicken seller lady was very furious at me. You might already knew that I love taking candid pictures from a far distance. And after only one snap, this lady noticed I was taking her pictures and she started yelling angrily with her huge knife pointed at me. Until now, I had no idea why would she get so offended. Perhaps she thought I was just being rude or something. Well, lesson learnt. Never mess with a chicken seller!

So which one is your fave photo? And what's the title?

10.7.14

Travelling At Home

As you all know, I always do my writings in English. But just for now, I need to write in Bahasa. Why? Karena kali ini saya ingin menulis khusus untuk orang Indonesia. Saya ingin berbagi tentang pengalaman subyektif saya tentang dua hal yang accidentally berhubungan: Pulau Bali dan televisi.

Sekitar seminggu lalu saat baru pulang dari Bali, saya ke mall untuk belanja bulanan. Ketika mampir ke sebuah toko elektronik, saya mendadak ingin kembali lagi ke Bali saat itu juga. Kenapa? Gara-gara saya lihat tayangan tentang Bali di suatu TV display. Entah kenapa saat itu Bali terlihat sangat indah; sawah hijau, sungai jernih, pasir putih, dan sebagainya. Saya terkesima dan sadar bahwa keindahan alam Indonesia sulit ditandingi oleh tempat manapun di dunia. I mean it!




Saya berdiri menonton tayangan Bali itu selama beberapa menit. Barulah kemudian saya sadar bahwa ini bukan cuma tentang Bali, tapi juga tentang barang teknologi di hadapan saya. I realized that the TV I watch is not just an ordinary TV. It’s called Curved UHD TV from Samsung. Karena penasaran, saya pun tanya-tanya ke pramuniaga toko tentang TV ini sampai akhirnya saya tertarik dengan fitur-fiturnya.

Ini benar-benar pengalaman baru nonton TV buat saya: layar besar dengan resolusi Ultra High Definition yang empat kali lebih detail dari Full HD TV, combined with the precise yet sexy curved screen, it feels like inception, as if saya ada di dalam setiap tontonan saya. Fitur Multi-Link Screen juga jadi kelebihan yang menguntungkan banget buat saya, anytime saya lihat tempat keren di tontonan saya, at the same time and the same screen saya bisa browsing untuk cari tahu lokasi persis tempat itu.




Buat saya, pengalaman sederhana ini menarik karena berhubungan dengan hidup saya saat ini. Setelah diingat-ingat, saya memang sejak kecil selalu excited kalau lihat gambar tempat-tempat indah asing yang belum pernah saya kunjungi. In fact, sebagian besar negara yang sudah saya kunjungi hingga hari ini, pernah saya lihat sebelumnya lewat layar TV. Benda inilah yang berjasa memunculkan bakat saya untuk hidup nomaden. Yeah, here I am. I just love to visit new places and meet new people.

Sadar dari melamun, saya pun jadi berpikir, I really wanna buy this exceptional Curved UHD TV! Saya mulai membayangkan, misalnya saya membuka koleksi foto dan video traveling di layar TV ini, maka itu seperti mengaktifkan kembali memori yang saya alami dengan foto atau video itu. Kemudian, saat leisure time saya bisa menonton program traveling favorit sambil tweeting atau multitasking lainnya.





Sebenarnya untuk urusan gadget atau elektronik, saya bukan tipe pecinta merk tertentu, but I would proudly recommend this big thing to you: Samsung Curved UHD TV . My impression about it: pengalaman menonton yang bagus, seolah kita ikut mengalami apa yang terjadi di dalam TV . Bagi saya, TV ini bisa membuat saya serasa traveling meski padahal sebenarnya saya berada di rumah sendiri.



This article is sponsored by Samsung Electronics Indonesia



2.7.14

Croatia: Plitvice National Park & A War Museum

Plitvička Jezera, August 2013

"Look! There's so many houses with bullet holes in its walls!"

My eyes widened and gasped as I looked out of the bus window. I was on my way to Plitvice National Park and was passing by the town of Turanj. I've already been warned that I would see a lot of ruins of war during my road trip in the Balkans. But not until I saw it myself that I felt my heart sank.


one of the ruins


countless bullet holes in the wall


Croatian War of Independence Museum

Turanj is a historic outpost south of the Austro-Hungarian fortress of Karlovac which was established in 1582 and became particularly important during the Croatian Homeland War in 1991-1995. The bus stopped for a while to allow us to have a quick visit at the Croatian military museum. There's a ruin military base which is still clearly showing signs of combat damage from the war, just like many other houses in that area. Along with an aircraft wreck, they also display a collection of armoured vehicles used by Croatian army during the war.



wreckage of a MiG-21bis



I walked around this small open air museum with indescribable feelings. Perhaps I was just being oversensitive but it felt like I was thrown into the wartime, hearing all the screams in terror and sound of barrage of bullets and bombs exploding. I got goosebumps all over my body because of the weird vibe so I decided to continue the journey. It's just so sad to think that people who live in that area have to witness this everyday thus remind them over and over again about what happened during the war.


Plitvice National Park

After about 2 hours, my bus was finally entering the protected area of Plitvice National Park that extends over 295 square kilometres, making it the largest national park in Croatia. It's also known as the oldest national park in the country which was proclaimed in 1949. It was already noon so before the trekking, I went for a lunch in one of the restaurants to taste some local cuisine. One of them was 'Chicken Under the Bell', I'll write about it in another blog post though :)


people are queueing to see one of the waterfalls


the path

On the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979, Plitvice Lakes are considered one of the most beautiful natural phenomena in the world. In total, there are 16 remarkable cascade lakes which are connected by 92 waterfalls. I can't stress enough how magnificent the views that I got to see. So gorgeous that my pictures don't do it justice. I'm sure this place will be a haven for nature lovers. There are about 1267 different species of plants, 321 species of butterflies, 161 species of birds and a lot more. Visitors also get to choose some activities including walking, trekking, electrical boat, train riding, cycling, skiing and rowing.


electric boat ride
T-shirts by @TravelingID

streams

so pristine

Ticket prices vary between 55 Kuna to 180 Kuna, depends on the season. The one-day ticket includes electric boat rides on Lake Kozjak and panoramic train rides, visitor insurance and VAT. If you ask me if it's worth it? Without a doubt, YES! It would be insane to travel to Croatia without a visit to Plitvice National Park. I even bracing myself against the scorching hot weather to do a 3 hours trekking (shortest route but it's a big deal for a polar bear like me :p).


crystal clear water

Plitvice National Park

In the end my beautiful day was ended abruptly by a sudden storm, heavy rain and hail that made me soaking wet. Plus a rather haunted night staying in one of the hotels in the national park area. All in all, I had such a marvellous experience in Plitvice National Park though. I'd really love to revisit and to explore another routes which I believe nothing less than beautiful.

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