Would you share your husband?

www.berbagisuami.com (click picture to enlarge)

We watched three Indonesian movies. Two of them are good. One is an extreme crap.

Janji Joni (Joni's Promise) is good. So is Berbagi Suami (Sharing One Husband) . While both have drawbacks especially in their background sound/music, they are obviously high above the average Indonesian movies. It might bother those who value originality highly, but the unavoidable allusion to Run Lola Run in Janji Joni and Four Rooms in Berbagi Suami should be within tolerance. Of particular praiseworthy in both of these Nia Dinata's films is their honesty and simplicity. So "daily life". The pictures are good, too. The economics of Berbagi Suami is discussed in Café Salemba.

As for Detik Terakhir (The Last Moment), it was a torture. It's terribly boring (I was like: does this thing have an end?) and copycattish. Really hateable. Stay with Teater Koma, Cornelia. At least they teach you something there.

Filosofi Kopi is overrated

Curious of media's promotion of Dee's new product, Filosofi Kopi (Coffee Philosophy), I bought one.

And I think it's overrated. I don't know why Goenawan Mohamad calls it wit. Another heavyweight, Arswendo Atmowiloto even dares to relate this piece to Nobel.

To save your time, I'd tell you, this book has nothing to do with coffee nor philosophy.

Anna told me: "I thought you disliked Supernova and you hated Akar (these are Dee's previous books), why do you read this?". I guess she has a point.

(Indonesia) AirAsia is bad, bad, bad!

While I praised its competitions against Lion Air, it turns out, AirAsia is equally lousy. I should've listened to my instinct: never trust too cheap a thing.

So I went to see Anna in Bali. We had been told to try AirAsia, since "it's so inexpensive". When I asked the friends if they were sure (cause I had bad experience with Lion Air), they made me believe it was alright. So I bought the e-ticket online (so far so good, efficiency). It was a week before the schedule.

On the D-day, I was called by AirAsia. There was "unexpected delay" from the scheduled 4pm to 6pm, due to "technical problem". I called them up:

Me: What's going on? Why did you just informed me now?
AA: Apologies, Sir. Technical problem.
Me: What's the compensation?
AA: We don't do compensation, Sir. Sorry.
Me: I beg your pardon? No compensation? You must be kidding me. I have appointment at 7 in Kuta! At least find me another flight.
AA: Sorry, Sir. There's nothing we can do. But hold on, I will ask our manager... (silence). Ugh, Sir? Here's the compensation. You can cancel your trip now, but your ticket is good for three months. You can even let somebody use it.
Me: What? You think it's a compensation? My problem is, I have to be in Kuta at 7pm! Your "compensation" is not doing any justice to it.
AA: Sorry, Sir.

So I contacted my travel agent if they could get me into Garuda. They said it's impossible to issue a ticket 3 hours before the flight. I gave up. It's the damn AirAsia then. I went to Cengkareng.

And guess what? They made two, no, three more delays. I finally flew to Denpasar at 8pm!

On the way back to Jakarta, Anna and I used Garuda. In the airport lounge we hear the announcement several times. That AirAsia's flight to Jakarta was delayed, and delayed, due to... "technical problem".

I shouldn't be complained, I guess. Their ticket is darn cheap. But just to remind my fellow travellers, "cheap" means all inclusive, including several delays and annoyance.

This morning I got an email from AirAsia, promoting their other "great deals". I trashed it. Twice.

Bali, the next paradise?

Can you imagine people in Bali wearing long-sleeves shirt and formal pants to enjoy Kuta or Sanur? I am in Bali now--and too bad, not for holiday. I have to conduct training for a week. Today, my participants were discussing about the demonstration act some Balineses conducted last Friday against RUU APP--dunno how to translate it to English. In general, the government is supposed to have the right to put someone in jail for not wearing proper clothes. Tourism as Bali's main revenue will surely be affected. But swimming in sarong might be a good idea, no?

I'm not allowed...

Apparently, we live in one of the holiest places in Indonesia the world. That's probably sounds like a good thing. But we're scared. This is why.

Anna and I used to go home around 9pm (or even 10pm sometimes) due to work. Fortunately, so far, we have been doing it all together, both of us. But it is really not impossible that we might go home alone sometime. Not because we want it, but because one of us is out of town -- also due to work. If I walk alone at 10pm, I don't think the police will investigate me. But Anna should be prepared. According to the news, the police has the right to probe her.

Even more horrifying is the idea of having to carry a copy of our marriage certificate everywhere we go. Why? "Let's face it," said Anna, "We have different race. In this country that's unusual. When we hold hands in public, they think we are dating -- and dating isn't good, especially between your race and mine". With this recent development, "I'm afraid we should always bring a proof of evidence that we're legally married"...

I was looking at her. She sighed, "Don't you dare kiss me on the street". Or, we'll be jailed...