Wonderful Indonesia: East Java

I had a glimpse of East Java many years ago in 2004. I remember it was kind of dry and it got me thinking that the paddy fields in West Java was greener. I remember rawon, easily my favorite stew since I first had it in Jember. I remember towns such as Blitar, Banyuwangi, Situbondo, Probolinggo and many more as I crisscrossed East Java during my road trip from Jakarta to Bali back then. I remember the majestic Bromo, the only place in East Java that we meant to visit. It didn't disappoint. We were there just for a while, but the view was memorable.

It was only nine years later that I had a proper visit to East Java. Endrico and I planned a trip to Surabaya in 2013 to visit our old friend Jimmy. Setia was keen, so he tagged along. Then, much to our surprise, Alfan expressed his interest to join, too. We flew separately to our destination. Endrico went the night before. Setia and I flew together from Singapore. We were not only on the same flight with my colleague Mega, but also sat next to her. Alfan was the last to arrive. Due to heavy rain, the plane he took actually made a detour to Bali and landed there instead! After a few hours of unexpected transit, he eventually reached Surabaya and met us in Novotel later that night.

Setia and Alfan, posing in front of Rawon Setan.
Photo by Endrico Richard.

We wasted no time in exploring the city. We had Rawon Setan and visited Tunjungan Plaza on the same night. The famous cuisine was overrated, I'm afraid, but it was good to have rawon again. As for the mall, it was quite an old fashioned one, a typical shopping centre in Indonesia. We also asked the cab driver to drive through Dolly, the famous red light district, strictly for sightseeing purpose. It was like a shanty town, very rundown and quite scary.

The next morning, we checked out from Novotel and went with Jimmy to Malang, a town roughly about two hours ride from Surabaya. Things were a bit of a blur from here onwards. Frankly speaking, I had no idea where Malang ended and Batu began. These two towns were like Siamese Twins! We were checking into Harris Hotel in Malang when we arrived and the next thing I knew, we were somewhere in Batu. I vaguely recalled the apple farm that we failed to visit, either we were too late or it wasn't open on that day. Then there was Selecta, a flower garden with cool weather. Not bad for a short visit. From there, we headed to Batu Night Spectacular, a local funfair. Suddenly we were kids again, playing games such as bumper cars, go-kart and laser tag. The night was closed with Bakso President, a local delicacy with an interesting location: it was actually next to an active railway, a reminder that every meal could be your last meal!

Go-kart time in Batu.
Photo owned by Endrico Richard.

On the following day, we headed back to Surabaya. Apart from stopping by a bee farm, we also had an impromptu visit to Taman Safari Indonesia 2. It was here that we had an unforgettable moment: while we were on the way out from this animal theme park, Jimmy told us a legendary story that was unsurpassed even by the man himself since then: when he was in Kuching, he ever jumped into a crocodile pond just to win a bet! That was very Jimmy and it definitely sounded like something that he'd do, so there wasn't any doubt about it.

We reached Surabaya in the afternoon and visited House of Sampoerna before Jimmy dropped us at Mercure. The museum was a grand testament that hard work could be rewarding sometimes. It was very encouraging to see how the founder of the cigarette empire actually started things on his bike. That very night, we went to Surabaya Town Square, a giant shopping mall that adopted a semi open concept. Kind of cool and it was filled up with youngsters!

Setia and the animals from Taman Safari Indonesia 2.
Photo by Endrico Richard.

We flew back home on the next day. Jimmy sent us back to airport, but as our flight was in the afternoon, we still got enough time to run some errands. I remember buying Ayam Goreng Pemuda for my wife, then we visited some housing estates while Jimmy was briefing us about investment. He was very enthusiastic about money making and had only little or no time at all for anything sentimental, so we heard a lot about stock trading and property business from him.

Overall, East Java is a great place to be. Surabaya is a good place to start, it is almost as big as Jakarta, but not as jammed. From here, one can go to nearby towns such as Malang, Batu or even Bromo. There is also a popular domestic theme park called Jatim Park. I've heard a lot of good reviews about it. Food-wise, with cuisines such as rawon (a localised beef stew), bakso Malang (meatball noodles soup) and ayam penyet (smashed fried chicken), you certainly can't go wrong!

When Jimmy explained about the investment.
Photo by Endrico Richard.

Indonesia Yang Menakjubkan: Jawa Timur

Di tahun 2004, saya berkesempatan untuk melihat Jawa Timur untuk pertama kalinya. Saat itu saya sempat berpikir dalam hati bahwa daerahnya lebih kering bila dibandingkan dengan Jawa Barat yang hijau sawahnya. Saya ingat dengan rawon yang segera menjadi makanan favorit saya sejak saya menyantapnya di Jember. Saya ingat dengan kota-kota seperti Blitar, Banyuwangi, Situbondo, Probolinggo dan masih banyak lagi saat saya melintasi Jawa Timur dalam perjalanan darat dari Jakarta ke Bali. Saya juga ingat dengan Bromo yang menakjubkan, satu-satunya tempat yang memang ingin kita kunjungi dalam perjalanan pulang dari Bali ke Jakarta. Kita mampir hanya sebentar saja di sana, tetapi Bromo tidak akan terlupakan sepanjang masa. 

Saya baru mendapat kesempatan untuk berkunjung lagi ke Jawa Timur sembilan tahun kemudian. Kali ini kita berencana mengunjungi Surabaya, Malang dan Batu, tiga kota yang belum pernah saya singgahi sebelumnya. Endrico dan saya memiliki seorang teman lama bernama Jimmy dan kita memang berniat untuk bertemu lagi dengannya setelah sekian lama. Setia juga tertarik untuk ikut berlibur, jadi dia pun turut serta. Yang lebih mengejutkan lagi, Alfan juga berminat. Akhirnya kita pun berangkat secara terpisah. Endrico terbang di malam sebelumnya dari Jakarta. Saya dan Setia berangkat dari Singapura dan secara kebetulan duduk bersebelahan dengan Mega, kolega saya yang berasal dari Surabaya. Alfan tiba paling akhir dan menyusul ke Novotel. Ternyata pesawat yang ia tumpangi malah mendarat di Bali karena cuaca buruk di Surabaya dan baru bertolak lagi beberapa jam kemudian! 

Naik kuda untuk pertama kalinya di Bromo.

Setelah berkumpul di hotel, kita pun keluar untuk berjalan-jalan. Di malam itu kita menikmati Rawon Setan dan berjalan kaki dari sana ke Tunjungan Plaza setelah makan malam. Kalau ditanya soal rasa, saya kira Rawon Setan tidaklah seistimewa yang saya bayangkan. Tunjungan Plaza juga mirip pusat perbelanjaan lama yang bisa dijumpai di berbagai tempat di Indonesia. Yang sedikit berbeda adalah kunjungan ke Dolly, daerah pelacuran yang terkenal di Surabaya. Saat itu kita meminta supir taksi melintasi kawasan tersebut supaya kita tahu seperti apa yang namanya Dolly itu. Ternyata tempatnya sangat kumuh dan agak seram. 

Di pagi berikutnya, kita berangkat bersama Jimmy ke kota Malang yang berjarak kira-kira dua jam perjalananan dari Surabaya. Jujur saya katakan, saya tidak begitu mengerti apa beda Malang dan Batu. Kedua kota ini bersebelahan dan susah dibedakan. Setibanya di tujuan, kita langsung ke Hotel Harris di Malang dan beberapa saat kemudian, kita sudah berada di suatu tempat di Batu! Samar-samar saya ingat dengan kebun apel yang gagal kita kunjungi, mungkin karena tidak buka di hari tersebut. Setelah itu ada Selecta, taman bunga dengan cuaca sejuk dan nyaman, sangat cocok untuk kunjungan satu atau dua jam. Dari sana, kita bertolak ke Batu Night Spectacular, semacam pasar malam lokal. Di malam itu kita bermain lagi dengan kegembiraan seorang bocah dan bertualang dari satu wahana ke  wahana lain, mulai dari bom bom car, go-kart sampai tembak-tembakan. Malam tersebut akhirnya ditutup dengan Bakso President, tempat makan unik yang berlokasi persis di samping rel kereta api yang masih aktif. Kalau tidak hati-hati, bakso Malang ini bisa menjadi santapan terakhir anda!

Sebelum acara tembak-tembakan.
Foto milik Endrico Richard.

Keesokan harinya, kita kembali ke Surabaya. Kita sempat berhenti sejenak di peternakan lebah dan juga mampir secara mendadak ke Taman Safari Indonesia 2. Saat kita keluar dari sana, Jimmy pun bercerita tentang sebuah pengalaman yang tidak tertandingi oleh siapa pun: sewaktu di Kuching, dia pernah melompat ke kandang buaya untuk memenangkan taruhan. Kalau anda kenal Jimmy, tindakan ini terdengar persis seperti sesuatu yang berani ia lakukan, jadi tidak ada alasan untuk meragukannya! 

Kita tiba di Surabaya saat hari menjelang sore dan Jimmy pun mengantar kita ke Mercure setelah kunjungan ke House of Sampoerna. Museum rokok ini adalah bukti nyata bahwa kerja keras kadang bisa membuahkan hasil yang tidak terduga. Ada perasaan tergugah saat melihat bahwa bisnis raksasa ini awalnya dimulai oleh pemiliknya yang bersepeda ke sana kemari. Di malam harinya, kita pun keluar lagi, kali ini kita mengunjungi Surabaya Town Square, sebuah pusat perbelanjaan modern dengan konsep gedung terbuka. Tempat ini penuh dengan anak-anak muda! 

Alfan, Jimmy and Setia di peternakan lebah.

Kita pulang di hari berikutnya. Jimmy menyempatkan diri untuk mengantar kita ke bandara, namun karena penerbangan kita cukup siang, kita masih ada waktu untuk mengerjakan hal lainnya. Setelah membeli Ayam Goreng Pemuda yang terkenal di Surabaya, selanjutnya kita pun mengunjungi perumahan yang sedang dibangun. Sepanjang perjalanan, Jimmy bercerita panjang-lebar tentang investasi, mulai dari jual-beli saham sampai bisnis properti, jadi kita pun belajar banyak darinya.

Secara keseluruhan, Jawa Timur adalah tempat yang menarik untuk didatangi. Surabaya cocok sebagai titik awal perjalanan. Kotanya hampir sebesar Jakarta, tapi tidak terlalu macet. Dari Surabaya, kita bisa bepergian ke kota-kota lainnya seperti Malang, Batu atau bahkan Bromo. Di sana juga terdapat wahana rekreasi populer yang bernama Jatim Park. Dari apa yang saya dengar, ini tempat yang sangat bagus untuk liburan keluarga. Dari segi makanan, Jawa Timur menawarkan rawon, bakso Malang dan ayam penyet, jadi dijamin tidak mengecewakan! 

Jimmy berpose di Selecta.
Foto oleh Endrico Richard. 

The Songwriting Experience

Songwriting is a very unique experience. Some people write alone, others often collaborate. When it comes to a collaboration, it's either the songwriters work on the music and lyrics together or one will do the music while the other does solely the lyrics.

I play only a bit of drums (and ukulele, recently), hence I certainly won't consider myself as musical. Lucky for me, I have a friend called Ardian. A very low profile and unassuming man, he is actually very talented in both sport and music. I can't be bother about the former talent as I am never a sportsman, so it is his latter gift that I used to tap on.

Ardian, in a rare occasion where he actually posed for a photo.

Ardian and I were in the same band back in the late 90s and we played just for fun. I had a tape recorder, so it dawned on me one day that perhaps we could write our own songs and do some recording together. When I set my mind on something that I had passions for, I'd often go all the way to get it done, even when I actually didn't know how. In this case, it meant I'd have to persuade my reluctant friend to try out something that we had never ever done before.

And this is when things got magical. We were inexperienced, but once we tuned in, we felt our way and managed to do it somehow. Perhaps it had to do with the inspiration that flowed through us. I didn't know what was in Ardian's mind, but from what I could see, he kept changing chords randomly until he got something, then he started humming. The song was forming and when it was roughly done, I wrote the lyrics based on what I heard. I also didn't know what topics suited it, but I just knew it had to be about something sad. We rehearsed and recorded it afterwards. The whole session was completed within three hours and Spring Time Love, our first song, was born.

When we reconvened for the second time, we already knew the drill. Instead of doing the finger picking style, Ardian strummed his guitar repeatedly this time, resulting in an upbeat tempo song called Hello. However, just like the previous one, it didn't have a bridge, so it was the usual combination of verses and chorus. It was finished within three hours, too, so statistically, that must be how long it takes to write a song.

Hello.

There was one occasion where I jammed with Parno, too. He did a rap as I played the chords on keyboard (I knew only C, G7 and F). The result was a lousy and hilarious record titled Everyday I Go to School. think the cassette is still in Bekasi. I should have obtained it as well when I collected back my CDs early last year.

The last collaboration Ardian and I had during that period was Christmas Day. There was a Christmas event in our college and if we were to participate, we had to have something that was suitable for that festive season. We quickly wrote one and there we were as a live performing act for the first and only time thus far. We did all our songs for that occasion.

I moved to Jakarta after I graduated from STMIK. Few years later, Ardian visited Jakarta as he was joining Endrico, Jimmy and I for our Bali trip. It coincided with the time when I was toying with a sound recording software shared by my friend Andy William. I convinced Ardian that since our original recording was in analogue with a constant hissing sound, we should re-record all the songs. I had a mic with me, so I got him a guitar, too. Within one sitting, we recorded all the songs we wrote and came up with a new one, too, an instrumental called Strauss' Lullaby. The digital result was, unfortunately, plagued by a high pitched sound that might have been caused by the feedback.

We never got a chance to redo the songs since then, but we did resume our collaboration for one last time. I was producing Pheng iu III in 2007 and I thought I should come up with something original to go along with it. Since I was going back home, what else that was more fitting than reuniting with my partner for another song? We got one called Friends Forever. Ardian was doing his finger picking style and he needed somebody to play the rhythm, so we got our old band mate Budi Hendra to tag along. We also recorded a demo version with Parno on vocals just for the sake of having fun. It was too bad that we didn't manage to get it right. The final output suffered from an inconsistent tempo and was eventually used in the footage of Pheng iu III, the greatest movie we never completed.

Did we do a good job in writing songs? I can't say that we were ever the prolific songwriters, but I love most of the songs. It's for you to tell if they are any good, but I think they are quite decent. Most importantly, it was the moments of collaboration that I enjoyed the most. In a way, we brought the best out of each other. Ardian is brilliant to work with and I really admire his talent. I also like the idea that once upon a time, we made it happen. Out of thin air, came the songs that you are hearing now. Awesome!

Spring Time Love.

Pengalaman Menulis Lagu

Menulis lagu adalah sebuah pengalaman yang unik. Ada yang menulis seorang diri, ada pula yang berkolaborasi. Ketika menulis lagu bersama, ada kalanya para penulis ini saling bahu-membahu dalam musik dan lirik. Lantas ada pula yang sepenuhnya mengarang musik sementara rekannya menulis lirik. 

Saya hanya bisa sedikit bermain drums (dan juga ukulele belakangan ini), jadi sudah tentu saya tidak bisa merangkai nada. Akan tetapi saya mempunyai seorang teman bernama Ardian. Secara sekilas, dia tidak akan terlihat seperti seorang musisi, tapi sesungguhnya dia sangat berbakat baik dalam olahraga maupun musik. Saya tidak peduli dengan kemampuannya dalam bidang olahraga karena saya tidak bermain sepakbola dan bulutangkis, tapi talentanya dalam musik tidak luput dari perhatian saya.

Parno berpose dengan keyboard dan tamborin.

Ardian dan saya sering bermain musik bersama teman-teman lain di penghujung tahun 90an. Di kala itu saya juga memiliki sebuah tape recorder, jadi terpikir oleh saya bagaimana seandainya kita menulis lagu bersama dan merekamnya. Kalau saya sudah tergerak untuk melakukan sesuatu yang sejalan dengan minat dan hobi saya, biasanya saya mengerjakannya dengan sepenuh hati, meskipun pada awalnya saya tidak tahu caranya. Dalam hal ini, saya pun membujuk teman yang sebetulnya enggan ini untuk mencoba sesuatu yang baru dan tidak pernah kita lakukan sebelumnya.

Dan apa yang terjadi berikutnya sungguh menakjubkan. Kita sama sekali tidak berpengalaman, tetapi begitu kita fokus, semua pun terjadi dengan sendirinya. Mungkin semua ini ada kaitannya dengan inspirasi. Saya tidak tahu apa yang ada di benak Ardian ketika itu, namun dari yang saya amati, dia berpindah kunci gitar berulang kali dan ketika dia menemukan polanya, dia pun mulai bersenandung. Musiknya pun perlahan-lahan mulai terangkai dan ketika rampung, saya pun menulis lirik berdasarkan apa yang saya dengar. Saya tidak tahu topik apa yang cocok, yang saya tahu hanyalah lagu ini akan berkisah tentang cinta yang sedih. Setelah itu kita mengulang dan merekamnya. Dalam waktu tiga jam, lagu pertama kita yang berjudul Spring Time Love pun lahir. 

Tatkala kita berkumpul lagi untuk lagu kedua, kita sudah lebih berpengalaman dan tahu prosesnya. Di lagu terdahulu, Ardian memainkan gitarnya dengan petikan jari yang lambat. Kali ini dia memainkan irama yang lebih cepat. Hasilnya adalah lagu Hello. Seperti lagu sebelumnya, yang satu ini pun selesai dalam tiga jam, jadi mungkin itu adalah waktu yang dibutuhkan untuk menulis sebuah lagu, hehe.

Parno menyanyikan Friends Forever.

Ada satu kesempatan di mana saya bermusik bersama Parno juga. Diiringi oleh permainan keyboard saya (dan saya hanya paham kunci C, G7 dan F), dia menyanyikan lagu rap. Hasilnya adalah lagu konyol dan kocak berjudul Everyday I Go to School. Saya rasa kasetnya masih ada di Bekasi. Seharusnya saya bawa serta ketika saya mengambil koleksi CD saya tahun lalu. 

Kerja sama saya dan Ardian yang terakhir di period tersebut adalah Christmas Day. Saat itu kampus menyelenggarakan acara Natal dan jika kita ingin ikut serta, kita harus memiliki sesuatu yang bertema Natal. Oleh karena itu, kita bergegas menulis satu lagu yang sesuai. Setelah itu, kita pun tampil di depan penonton untuk pertama dan sekali-kalinya. Kita memainkan semua lagu yang kita tulis karena penonton cukup antusias. 

Saya pindah ke Jakarta setelah lulus dari STMIK. Beberapa tahun kemudian, Ardian datang ke Jakarta karena dia turut serta dalam liburan ke Bali bersama Endrico, Jimmy dan saya. Kedatangannya bertepatan dengan saat saya uji coba software rekaman yang direkomendasikan oleh teman saya, Andy William. Saya meyakinkan Ardian bahwa rekaman kaset yang dilakukan dulu tidak praktis untuk digandakan dan juga tidak bagus kualitasnya, jadi sebaiknya kita rekam ulang secara digital. Saya sudah mempunyai sebuah mikropon, jadi saya pun mencarikan gitar untuknya. Dalam satu sesi, kita tidak hanya merekam ulang lagu-lagu kita, tetapi juga menulis lagu baru, sebuah instrumental yang diberi nama Strauss' Lullaby. Sayang sekali hasil rekamannya memiliki suara mendenging yang tidak bisa dihilangkan. 

Semenjak itu, kita tidak pernah lagi berkesempatan untuk merekam lagu-lagu pertama kita itu, namun kita masih sempat menulis satu lagu terakhir di tahun 2007. Saat itu saya sedang memproduksi  Pheng iu III yang disutradarai oleh Andy William. Saya pun berpikir, alangkah baiknya jika film ini mempunyai lagu sendiri. Karena saya memang berencana untuk pulang ke Pontianak, apalagi yang lebih cocok selain berkumpul bersama rekan saya ini untuk menulis lagu? Hasilnya adalah sebuah lagu bertajuk Friends Forever. Ardian menggunakan teknik petikan gitar lagi dan kali ini dia membutuhkan pemain gitar lain untuk mengiringi permainannya, jadi kita pun mengundang teman lama kita, Budi Hendra, untuk turut bergabung. Kita juga merekam versi coba-coba bersama Parno sebagai penyanyinya. Hasil rekaman terakhir, harus diakui, tidaklah memuaskan karena temponya tidak konsisten. Lagu ini pun akhirnya dipakai untuk cuplikan Pheng iu III, sebuah film terbaik yang tidak pernah kita selesaikan. 

Jadi, apakah kita berhasil menulis lagu-lagu terbaik? Kita bukanlah penulis lagu profesional, tapi kalau boleh saya mengakui, saya menyukai hampir semua lagu yang kita tulis. Anda harus menilainya sendiri, tapi saya rasa karya-karya ini tidaklah terlalu buruk bagi pemula. Yang lebih penting lagi, saya menikmati saat-saat penulisan lagu. Ardian adalah rekan yang hebat dan saya mengagumi bakatnya. Saya juga senantiasa tersenyum saat terkenang masa-masa ini karena kita berhasil mewujudkannya. Coba bayangkan, lagu-lagu yang anda dengarkan ini, muncul begitu saja karena kita berhasil menuangkan inspirasi menjadi sesuatu yang nyata. Menakjubkan!

Friends Forever dan Pheng iu III.

Swimming Class Log By James Wu

On a random day at work, was having a casual chat with Anthony and he was commenting on a variety of topics and authors that his roadblog101 had.

He commented that perhaps I should join in and add an article on my own, and in my mind, I was thinking why not, so I wrote the experience down to help in the learning. Here we go...

Prelude

Reason for picking up swimming:

Come 1st quarter of 2017, I had a reflection and decided to take up new skills for myself on a personal end and pick swimming as a first to start things off on track...

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Choice for pick up swimming

Scouting and searching on the internet and reason for picking Happy Fish school:

Screenshot of the swimming school site.

- Went online and browsed though, after scouting for reviews and costing, picked Happy Fish school, reason being it had the cheapest rates... :)

I gather it's more to start things rolling and practice matters more, hence the learning. Costing is a concern here too...

- Filled in the application form and got a reply from admin, made the course payment of 240 SGD for 12 lesson (20 SGD per lesson) and gotten the confirmation SMS.

- Later on in the night, received a WhatsApp message to indicate the location, what to bring and prepare, a short FAQ along with a screenshot of the location: Delta swimming complex and details/qualifications of the instructor

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Delta Swimming Complex

Pic 

 “CV” and info on the instructor, Jerry Koh.

The Learning Journey

Here we go on the learning journey…

Week one

16/08/17

- Arranged to be on an early shift and left at 5:35 (shift end at 5:30). 

- Went home by bus, showered, and do last min packing.

- Prep beforehand hastily only to realize that the goggles' visor bridge snapped in the men's changing room on me, and I forgot to bring 2 * 20 cents to store my stuff.

- Got pissed at myself and was preparing to leave as am ill prepared for the lesson.

- Went onsite and from afar saw the group gathered and lesson started already.

- Went to Great World City and proceed to scout around for a goggles replacement.

- Got a goggles with degree -800, a swimming cap and berated myself to properly prep for the second lesson.

- Went home and prep a bag with the swimming trunks, goggles, swimming cap and placed the bag in my "exercise corner" where I usually stored my jogging/walking bag as well.

- Hence ended first session for my swimming class - lolx

Week two

23/08/17

- Start to log and prep on article requested here.

- Prep well ahead as had already taken compliance leave. Did a stock check before I left for the lesson.

- Went ahead of time and reached 15 mins ahead of appointed time of 7:55 pm, saw a group of 2 ladies along with the instructor going through on what seemed to be a recap on the pointers on the last lesson.

- Felt apprehensive and sat around to observe from afar and waited till the appointed time to go over and self-introdoced myself.

- There were like nine ladies and I was the only guy (wow and lol for me).

- They were like, from what I observed, Indonesians and Malaysian Chinese. One of them seemed to be afraid of water and taking this as a chance to self-overcome the phobia of water. There was a pair who knew each other. Perhaps they signed up together for this learning journey.

- The instructor, Jerry, was nice and did a "recap" for more like a 10 min crash course for me who was absent for the first lesson, ie. how to breathe underwater or rather how to exhale under water, mouth breathes in/inhales and nose breathes out/exhales.

- How to float. He did not teach the float technique on how to float facing up. It was on how to float facing down instead – this was to form the basis of swimming properly in a straight line and to swim effectively here.

- Trained on posture on how to keep the body straight in water.

Two types of floating was taught:

1. Head facing down, body straight, arms straight up on surface of water.

2. Head facing down, curling up to a ball-like shape, moving knees up to chest to prep and moving in position for float type #1.

- How to kick water and propel forward facing downwards. Hands straight on surface of water. The trick was to have only the heeds popping out of water and need not have too drastic of the movement to archive the same results - push body forward in water.

- Had fun on kicking water and was a good exercise for the legs here. I was thinking in my mind, the exercise would do me good and I got to pick up a new skill as well. Great!

Reasons for the float types:

1. Was for the basics of the body to move in position for swimming. 

2. Preparation to get to the float type position #1 to prep the body ready for swimming.

- Was informed at the end of the session - 1 hour, (in my mind, "well for 20 bucks per lesson, can't expect much or too long of a session... right :)), Jerry was going off on a vacation in Cambodia and week three lesson would be postponed. End date for the lesson extended to make up for the lapsed week. We now had 2 week to week four (06/09/17) to practice and train on our own.

- Recollections here: while picking up swimming, I wished to see if I got the chance to know the other participants, too.

Week three

30/08/17

- Self practice week for me. Had planned to go over to Safra Mount Faber and check out the pool there. However, it was a bad weather. Fell sick on the week so that ended week three.

Week four

06/09/17

Beginning of the week, received a WhatsApp message that Jerry broke his leg and would be unable to complete the teaching for the remainder of the remaining lessons. A new instructor, Steve was assigned to carry on the teaching.

1st lesson with Steve, the lesson and swimming techniques was reset back to day 1 (OMG... zzz..). Relearnt and reintroduced of the group to all...

- Learnt how to breathe in water, (nose breathes out and mouth takes in air)

- How to kick water (legs straight and toes pointing inwards), and how to swim straight forward.

“CV” and info on the instructor, Steve Wong.

Week five

13/09/17

- Relearnt and got more briefing on what was learnt last week.

- Learnt how to paddle forward and was briefed that coordination is important. Also picked up skipping as a mean to practice on the coordination between both arms and body movement
- Technique: using body movement, swivel and sideward to achieve the "twisting" effect using only the arms and shoulders.

Self-Note: 4 girls "disappeared" and stopped attending class. (During intro and reintro, they were in a group who signed up together to learn swimming. Perhaps they felt that progress was too slow? Or reset progress was not to their liking? Or instructor? Me?) Hmmm…

Week six

20/09/17

- Practiced on arm movement and intro on how to twist the body sideward, ie. tilting the body to allow intake of air (NOT lifting head up to take in air) and practiced to minimize the body coordination to reduce sinking effect (when twisting head up or stopping/freezing mid-way in water), lolxxx...

Week seven

27/09/17

I was on MC so never attended, text in to inform I was sick. Cough, sucks...

Week eight

04/10/17

Coach Steve was on MC so lesson was cancelled...

Week Nine

11/10/17

Attended the lesson and was informed that they were practicing the same for whole of last week, not much was missed... (perhaps he said that to calm my nerve though it was I whom had missed the lesson prior to his MC, lol).

Things was more comfy and interaction was good with the students and Steve.

- Start learning breast stroke

Technique: using elbows as a point of movement, to move hand and lower arm to propel forward and push head up. - Noted that I should not lift the neck upwards forcefully but using the momentum of the breast stroke to push self-up to take in air.

Week Ten

18/10/17

Deepavali / Diwali - PH so no lesson...

Self practice and recap...

Week Eleven

25/10/17

It was more like repeating the skillset learned and practice, practice, practice…

- Ladies started to "close in" in space-wise on me in pool. Hmmm...

Week Twelve

01/11/17

Gave it a miss here and decided that it was a repeat of practice, and also feeling a bit that the learning journey had officially come to the end here for this set of classes. The nagging feel for the last lesson was sadly affecting me and so …

Reflections

1. Overall I would say I picked up roughly a good 70% of what Steve and Jerry (speedy recovery on the broken leg!).
2. Swimming competency is like 40%. I was barely able to do forward crawl swimming style and breast stroke, water treading was barely there. 
3. Didn’t get to know the ladies as much as I should have here. 
4. Last but not least, the follow-up point here... more practice on my own and in turn to follow-up to learn and further refine/strengthen my swimming skills here. One of the points for New Year Resolution 2018: to self-reflect in 1st and 2nd Quarter and review via peers (friends swimming with me on and off) and see if I need a refresher course or ready to pick up more styles in swimming? A more advanced course here. Upon the end of this write up… it is up to a new year and see what life brings here. That, my dear readers, is a tale for another time. 

Signing off here,
James Wu

============
Appendix
URL of website in prelude : https://www.swimminglessons.com.sg/adultswimminglessons.htm

Coach profiles and Delta swimming complex map from Happy Fish co. (http://www.swimhappyfish.com/)

The Breakthrough

When I was a kid, I always wondered why things should be done in certain ways. I remember asking my Mum why kangkong (water spinach) had to be fried the way she did it. The answer was something vague like, "because it's been done like this for generations." While I had nothing against the family recipe, I also had this undying curiosity that perhaps something different could be done here.

Fast forward to few days before Chinese New Year 2018, my friend Harry said he was flooded by layer cake orders. The baking process, if you ever saw it before, was easily the most laborious one ever. You literally had to bake it layer by layer, hence the name. Imagine if you had to bake so many of them. Although the money was good, the effort was gruelling.

When Eday helped us cutting our fair share.

It was in the midst of this that I brought up the idea of using duck eggs instead of chicken eggs. My idea was easily dismissed as a nuisance. Nobody, at least the people we knew, ever did this before. It was using chicken eggs all this while, so why reinvent the wheel? Couldn't blame Harry for thinking that I was only kidding. However, I was persistent and finally he relented, saying that he'd look at it after the festive season was over.

The man kept the promise. Once holiday was over, he bounced the idea again within our small group of friends. Speaking from his experience, he thought we shouldn't stop at using duck eggs. How about adding in salted egg, too? I had no idea what good it would bring, but since he was the expert and this was meant to be an experiment, we got nothing to lose.

On February 27, 2018, at 15.52 Singapore Time, the salted egg layer cake made its first public appearance. It was fresh from oven. The moment it was cold enough to be sliced, it was split into smaller pieces of cake and distributed to many places, including Ketapang for Yen Susanti and Jakarta for Endrico to bring over to Singapore. Each of us got only a a very tiny piece that Vivi humorously put a chili sauce sachet next to it as a size comparison.

And that's how big Vivi's share was! 

The taste, however, was brilliant. I was no food tasting expert, but even I could feel the unique salted egg yolk texture in every bite. It was addictive and had a rich flavour. For a first attempt, it was definitely a success!

But only God knows if there'll ever be a second attempt. Because Harry used only the best ingredients (and it didn't help that duck eggs were rather rare in Pontianak), the cost was so high that it may not be commercial enough for public consumption. Perhaps it is only suitable for niche market. Perhaps the ingredients can be adjusted to bring down the price. I don't know.

What I do know is, our little experiment showed us that a little imagination coupled with years of experience was capable of bringing us to an uncharted territory. In a world where everything seems be coated with salted egg, it's a pleasure to know that we took part in giving birth to its latest iteration, the salted egg layer cake. May the world be a better place because of it...

Extra texture!

Kisah Sebuah Terobosan

Ketika saya masih kecil, saya sering berpikir, kenapa beberapa hal mesti dilakukan dengan cara yang itu-itu saja. Saya ingat saat bertanya pada ibu saya, kenapa dia selalu memasak kangkung dengan cara yang sama. Jawabannya, kalau saya tidak salah, terdengar meragukan seperti, "karena inilah yang sudah dilakukan secara turun-temurun." Walau saya tidak pernah keberatan dengan resep keluarga, saya selalu membayangkan bahwa seharusnya kita bisa mencoba dengan cara lain. 

Beberapa hari yang lalu, sebelum tahun baru Cina 2018, teman saya Harry bercerita bahwa dia kebanjiran order kue lapis. Proses pemanggangan kue lapis itu, kalau anda pernah lihat sebelumnya, adalah proses yang panjang dan bertele-tele. Anda harus memanggangnya selapis demi selapis sehingga jadilah kue lapis. Bayangkan jika anda harus membuat banyak kue lapis. Walau sangat menguntungkan, prosesnya pun sangat melelahkan. 

Hendra menyantap potongan pertamanya. 

Di saat inilah saya berkata padanya bahwa bagaimana kalau ia membuatkan saya kue lapis dari telur bebek. Karena kue lapis itu lazimnya terbuat dari telur ayam, saya lantas dianggap iseng. Sejauh yang kita ketahui, tidak pernah ada kue lapis yang terbuat dari telur bebek, jadi Harry pun berpikir bahwa saya hanya bercanda. Akan tetapi saya sangat serius. Akhirnya dia berjanji untuk melihat apakah permintaan ini bisa disanggupi. 

Kira-kira seminggu setelah tahun baru Cina, Harry kembali dengan ide tentang kue lapis ini. Dia merasa bahwa telur asin pun bisa ditambahkan ke dalam kue lapis yang rencananya akan dibuat dari telur bebek ini. Saya tidak paham apa maksudnya, tapi karena dia adalah ahlinya, saya percaya saja dengan idenya. 

Tanggal 27 Februari 2018, jam 15.52 sore waktu Singapura, penampilan perdana kue lapis telur asin ini pun dihadirkan lewat WhatsApp tidak lama setelah diangkat dari oven. Setelah dingin, kue lapis ini diiris menjadi potongan yang lebih kecil untuk dibagikan kepada teman-teman yang bersedia untuk mencicipinya. Satu porsi dikirim ke Ketapang untuk Yen Susanti dan satu lagi dikirim ke Jakarta untuk dibawa oleh Endrico ke Singapura. Masing-masing hanya mendapat potongan yang kecil dan Vivi pun tergelitik untuk memberikan perbandingan dengan cara meletakkan bungkusan sambal cabe di belakangnya (foto kedua dari atas). 

Kemunculan perdana. 

Kendati begitu, rasanya sungguh menakjubkan. Saya bukanlah orang yang mahir dalam menilai rasa makanan, tapi saya bisa merasakan tekstur kuning telur asin yang unik dalam lapisan kue tersebut. Rasanya menggiurkan dan kelezatannya patut diacungi jempol. Hasil karya pertama ini sangat sukses! 

Hanya Tuhan yang tahu apakah akan ada karya kedua. Karena Harry menggunakan bahan yang terbaik dan telur bebek pun mahal harganya di Pontianak, ongkosnya tergolong tinggi bila dibandingkan dengan kue lapis biasa. Mungkin resep yang satu ini hanya cocok untuk kalangan tertentu. Cara lainnya, mungkin bahan dasarnya bisa disesuaikan dengan kemampuan pasar. Saya tidak tahu persis. 

Apa yang saya ketahui dari percobaan ini adalah, di tangan seorang pakar, sebuah imajinasi bisa membawa kita kepada sesuatu yang baru. Di dunia dimana semuanya seperti dilapisi dengan telur asin, senang rasanya bisa mengambil bagian dalam membidani lahirnya versi terbaru dari makanan yang menyandang nama telur asin. Semoga kue lapis telur asin ini membuat dunia menjadi lebih bahagia dari sebelumnya...

Yen Susanti berpose mencicipi kirimannya.

That CNY Feeling

Speaking about Chinese New Year, we always have a lot of things that we were taught not to do on the first day, e.g. do not sweep the floor, do not wash hair, do not owe people money. All different reasons behind it. Some people think it is superstitious but some have been practising it as if it is the rule that one shall abide.

For children, it is a happy occasion. It is a holiday, so they get to light up a lot of fire crackers, fireworks and parents are not supposed to get angry with all the mischievous things they do, otherwise, it will be a bad luck. Not forgetting they will be collecting the red packet ang bao. We all had that same excitement once.

For me, it was a mixed feeling that I had this year as this was the first time I did not spend it together with the people that have been watching me growing up, since I was a baby till I am a mother.

I missed the view of the fireworks from our backyard, the decoration that we always did, the silly talks amongst the family and the drinks that we always had after dinner. Last but not least, visiting the relatives.  We used to do it during this time of the year.

On the other hand, I got to spend the CNY with my new family. Bringing my baby overseas for the first time and, though it was only a ferry ride, I truly understand now how much stuff I should bring with me. We also lighted up the fireworks ourselves this time. It was a bit scary to stand right below it, but it was amazing to see it in such a close distance.

I suppose the spirit of celebrating the CNY is similar across the world for Chinese. The most important thing is to celebrate it with your loved ones no matter where you are. Hope everyone of us stay healthy, be wealthy and happy!!

Gong xi, gong xi everyone! Better year ahead!!

The lightsaber...

A Day At The Museum

I remember the museum in Pontianak, but I don't remember visiting the museum before. The only time I'd been anywhere close to that museum was when I parked my car in front of it, waiting for the sudden driving license inspection by the police to end. Having said that, if I were to use myself as an example, I don't think visiting museums was ever an interesting activity for Pontianak people.

It got better, though. When I was in Jakarta, my girlfriend and I went to a couple of museums while we were in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. Years later, when I went to Malacca, I visited the red building and the Portuguese ship museums. They were alright, not very charming, but few names such as Hang Tuah and Admiral Zheng He that I read there brought me back to the history lessons during my school days.

My daughter Linda, having fun at the National Gallery.

Then, when my elder daughter knew what museum was all about, she would drag us for a visit. That's when I frequented the museums, this time in Singapore, more often than before. It was almost like our monthly affair. It did help that the museums in Singapore were well curated and taken care of, so they were really nice places to visit. My daughter's favorite were the National Gallery and National Museum of Singapore. Both were very cozy and just nice for a day activity. On top of that, there were always new exhibitions going on, so they were worth visiting again.

When I went to London, I thought the museum there must be something like what I had visited before in Singapore. Much to my surprise, it was nothing like what I'd seen before. The British Museum was huge! I'd think that the museum had the artefacts from every civilisation in the world. Didn't it sound interesting?

Nuryani, in front of the British Museum.

I thought so, too. When I walked into the exhibition room, the first thing I saw was the Rosetta Stone. How cool was that? The Rosetta Stone! Then, right behind it, there were Greek, Persian and other ancient civilisations filling up the whole left wing of the building, enough to quench my thirst for history. However, having too much history in a span of few hours was like getting overdosed. After a while, it was very hard to maintain the interest. To think that we just explored one third of the building, that was discouraging. I just wanted to get out of it.

It was the same experience for the Louvre in Paris. Long before we went to France, the Paris Pass free access to many museums in Paris seemed to be a good deal. What I didn't know was how big a museum in Europe could be. Louvre was a palace in the past and the European meant business when they built their palaces. It was beyond imagination and you had to be there to witness how spacious it was. As a result, the collection was extensive. After few iconic paintings such as Mona Lisa, as the interest faded away, the rest eventually looked like just another painting of Jesus. It didn't matter anymore who painted it, because from the eyes of a laymen, I couldn't tell the difference anyway.

The moral of the story? Museum is an interesting place to be, but only if you can sustain the interest itself. Don't be greedy and don't force it through. If the museum is too big for few hours of visit, just do the section that you like and ignore the rest, especially when you can come back next time. In the end, it's better to have a memorable visit rather than one with an awful impression...

My kind of museum, the Beatles Story.

Sehari Di Museum

Saya ingat tentang sebuah (dan mungkin satu-satunya) museum di Pontianak.  Saya tidak pernah masuk ke dalamnya. Saya hanya pernah parkir di halamannya sambil menanti bubarnya razia SIM yang diadakan oleh polisi. Jika saya menggunakan diri saya sendiri sebagai contoh, saya jadi cenderung berpikir bahwa mengunjungi museum sepertinya tidak pernah terlintas di benak orang Pontianak.  

Saya baru memasuki museum saat berada di Jakarta. Kala itu saya dan Yani berada di Taman Mini Indonesia Indah dan kita pun mengunjungi museum di sana. Bertahun-tahun kemudian, ketika saya ke Malaka, saya mengunjungi museum berwujud gedung merah dan kapal Portugis. Kondisinya lumayan, tidak terlalu bagus, tapi cukup berkesan karena mengingatkan saya kembali tentang Hang Tuah dan Laksamana Cheng Ho yang saya pelajari di sekolah. 

Museum Serangga di Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.

Kemudian, ketika putri pertama saya mulai memahami tentang museum, dia sering meminta kita untuk membawanya ke sana. Oleh karena itu, kunjungan ke museum pun boleh dikatakan menjadi kegiatan bulanan. Untung saja museum-museum di Singapura sangat terawat dan bagus, jadi enak untuk dikunjungi. Favorit anak saya adalah National Gallery dan National Museum. Dua tempat ini sangat megah dan nyaman untuk acara kunjungan di akhir pekan. Selain itu, pamerannya pun selalu diperbaharui sehingga masuk akal untuk dikunjungi berulang kali.

Ketika saya pergi ke London, saya membawa serta pengalaman dan kesan selama di Singapura. Siapa sangka museum di London teramat sangat luas? Saya rasa museum ini memiliki berbagai peninggalan dari berbagai peradaban di seluruh dunia. Tidakkah ini terdengar sangat menarik? 

Batu Rosetta di British Museum yang akhirnya membuat ilmuwan berhasilkan memecahkan tulisan hieroglif Mesir. 

Awalnya saya berpikir seperti itu juga. Ketika saya memasuki ruang pameran, yang pertama terlihat oleh saya adalah Batu Rosetta yang tersohor. Luar biasa! Setelah itu saya melihat berbagai peradaban, mulai dari Persia, Yunani dan lainnya di sekeliling ruangan di sebelah kiri gedung museum. Apa yang saya liat sungguh memuaskan dahaga saya. Kendati begitu, sejarah yang berlimpah di depan mata ternyata terasa seperti overdosis. Setelah beberapa jam, saya tidak lagi merasa tertarik. Ketika saya teringat lagi bahwa yang saya jelajahi hanyalah sepertiga gedung, saya justru merasa putus asa. Akhirnya saya keluar karena tidak tahan lagi. 

Perasaan yang sama juga tidak terelakkan ketika saya berkunjung ke Louvre di Paris. Jauh sebelum kita ke Perancis, akses gratis ke berbagai museum yang ditawarkan oleh Paris Pass terasa sangat menarik. Apa yang tidak saya mengerti adalah betapa luasnya museum di Eropa. Louvre dulunya ada sebuah istana dan orang Eropa serius dalam membangun apa yang dinamakan istana raja. Arsitekturnya benar-benar sulit dibayangkan dan anda harus berada di sana untuk memahami betapa luasnya sebuah istana raja zaman dulu. Oleh sebab itu, koleksi museumnya pun sangat ekstensif. Namun setelah beberapa lukisan terkenal seperti Mona Lisa, minat terhadap seni pun perlahan-lahan mulai meredup dan akhirnya semua terlihat seperti lukisan Yesus biasa yang bahkan tidak bisa dibedakan siapa pelukisnya oleh mata seorang awam seperti saya.

Moral dari cerita ini? Museum adalah tempat yang menarik, tapi itu sepenuhnya bergantung pada minat anda. Jangan pernah berpikiran untuk melihat semuanya, sebab di saat minat sudah memudar, akan muncul perasaan terpaksa. Jika museumnya terlalu besar, kunjungilah ke bagian yang anda suka dan tinggalkan bagian lain, terutama jika anda masih bisa kembali lagi di lain waktu. Pada akhirnya lebih baik memiliki kunjungan yang berkesan daripada kenangan yang membosankan... 

Termenung membayangkan kapan selesainya kunjungan ke Louvre ini.