May 05, 2007

Labour Day Weekend

A bit of a delayed post since this week the handsome-and-talented husband and I were both working away from Milano.

Tuesday, May 1st was Labour Day so we ran away to Riomaggiore for a 4-day adventure on coastal fishing villages. We didn't do much. It was a weekend of waking up late, having coffee, orange juice and croissants on our large sunny terrace that looks down on Riomaggiore's main square, then going down the smooth pebble beach for sunbathing and swimming in the sea for the entire day, before heading home and dressing for dinner, either taken in our balcony again or at the quiet trattoria by the train station.

How wonderful it is to swim in the sea! I'd forgotten how nice it is to plunge into cool blue waters, how the salt crusts on hair and how afterwards our skin would smell of salt mixed with sun lotion. For three days, we parked ourselves on large smooth boulders on the waterside, so we could lie with our feet in the water and watch crabs mating.

On Tuesday, our last day, the sea was the clearest it had ever been. I could see straight down to the rocky sea floor, and see the fish swim in between my feet. By this time, Robert had turned a lovely shade of brown, his eyebrows slowly turning blond. He's all shiny and smooth, swimming between the boulders, like an oversized otter, and he struggles to climb on the jutting rocks only to dive into the cool waters again.

Unfortunately this week it was back to rainy, gray weather in northern Italy. Robert was in Germany for work and I was in Torino working for three days until Friday. It rained almost non-stop and this depresses me; after a lovely weekend full of sun and love, it was hard to be away from Robert and having awful weather.

Posted by Yasmina at 12:33 AM | Comments (1)

April 09, 2007

Pasqua 2007: Firenze

This Easter weekend, Robert and I ran away to Firenze. Unfortunately, Robert was feeling poorly and by Friday evening, when we arrived at the Alberghino, he'd developed a fever.

After spending a delirious Friday night in bed, Robert felt somewhat better on Saturday morning to go on a relaxed walkabout. It was perhaps a blessing in disguise, because it we ended up taking things easy and discovered the quieter, untouristy parts of Firenze.

Firenze
I think Firenze should be renamed to "Little America" or "Little Britain" during Easter weekend. Il centro storico was full of domestic and foreign tourists. On Easter Sunday, you can clearly differentiate the Italians from the tourists: the Italians were dressed impeccably in their immaculate Sunday best. The tourists were all either L.L Bean catalogue variety or MTV Springbreak special; unfortunately, not all dependent on age.

It's a lovely city, but it's way too touristy. Just as I hated London during the summer tourist season, and why I prefer Rotterdam over Amsterdam, I didn't like Firenze for precisely this reason. Milano can get quite touristy but I've never had shopkeepers in Milano greet me in English. Hummm, maybe I'm developing this Milano-vs-other-Italian-cities complex...

We gave the main sights a miss and headed to Giardino Boboli. First tip of the day: queues to Palazzo Pitti and the main entrance of Giardino Boboli can get extremely long. If you go up Corso San Giorgio to where Giardino Boboli and Bardini neighbour one another, there is another entrance with a biglietteria and hardly anyone queues there.

Robert and I lay on the grassy hill overlooking Palazzo Pitti and Firenze. It was wonderful and we fell asleep in the sun like lazy house cats. The park started to fill up around lunchtime, so we left and went to Giardino Bardini, which was smaller and quieter and had an equally stunning view of Firenze.

Sunday morning, we went to the Duomo to see the Scoppio del Carro, an Easter ritual of blowing up an elaborate wagon decorated just for this purpose. Loud bangs, lots of smoke and sparks of fireworks ensues. It was all fun and good to watch, as the crowd gets really enthusiastic. This is followed by a procession around the city center.

After a heavy Sunday lunch, Robert and I hiked up to Villa Strozzi. We found the lovely gardens and again spent some time lazing in the sun. There were families on their Sunday afternoon walks and I noticed people were a lot friendlier and interactive; there were eye contact and cheerful greetings of "Buona Pasqua" and "Buona sera".

We then walked through the hills and olive groves in the dying Sunday sun, with breathtaking views. It was such a lovely Sunday stroll that I felt better about not renting bikes and cycling through the countryside as I had originally planned.

The food
We received a lot of recommendations from friends (thank you Tango, thank you James). We did find all of those places in town, but in the end we didn't eat there. We'll save those places for our next (more) museum-oriented visit, in the fall.

Too bad Robert was still sick so he could hardly taste and smell any of the food he ate! That's torture of the worst kind (for me).

We ate wonderful Tuscan dishes: faraona all'uva con crema di patate (guinea fowl stewed in grapes on creamy potatoes), polenta con al ragu di cinghiale (polenta with ragu of wildboar), ravioli di zucca con amaretti (pumpkin ravioli with amaretti), sformato caldo di patate con ragù di carni bianche o pomodoro (a molded potato flan with a tomato and meat ragu), bistecca alla fiorentina (yay for extra-rare beef!)... Everything was SO good, I was very happy...

Back in Milano
We're still glowing from the weekend we just had... April will be a busy month with Salone del Mobile Milano and plenty of our designer friends flying in and crashing at our place... I love having friends visit...

I'm looking for our next little holiday at the end of April: we're going to Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre for 4 days! Yippeeee....

Posted by Yasmina at 09:35 PM | Comments (5)

March 14, 2007

La Dolce Vita

Life was certainly sweet last weekend when we went to Torino/Turin for the annual La Grande Festa di Cioccolato, which this year ran during March 2-11. Our friends, K&D, came down from Germany for a long weekend since it was K's birthday weekend. K's birthday coincides with our wedding anniversary (2 years this year, wooo!), so we celebrated together.

Piazza Vittorio Veneto was where the whole festival was based. A bit of historical fact: this piazza is one of the biggest in Europe and Torino has the most streets named after an Italian royal family member than any other Italian city. The buildings in the historical center have portico sidewalks, where in the past, the King and Queen could walk through in the rain without needing an umbrella (or so Giovanni told me). And, unlike Milan, Torino was built like most US-cities, in square blocks, so no wonder my Torino friends (namely, Giovanni) always complain of disorientation when they come to visit Milan.

There were the big names: Caffarel, Lindt, Droste, Streglio, Venchi, Peyrano, but also plenty of the local names. I had a delicious hot cup of cioccolato alla canela. Hot chocolate here is really different from hot chocolate drinks you'll find in other countries; it's literally melted chocolate, it's so thick (think of chocolate in a bain-marie/banho-maria and it's that kind of consistency) and can be infused with mint, oranges, cinnamon and lots of other complimenting flavours. It can be quite heavy and rarely can you drink more than one cup.

We decided against buying a Chocopass, which, for €10 is valid for 24-hours and allows 10 chocolate tastings around participating cafes around Torino. There was also one for €15, valid for 48-hours and 15 chocolate tastings. The thing is, they were not valid for the festival stands in the square, only in participating cafes in centro historico and we didn't want to be walking around the other parts of town while there was this great feast going on here.

Torino has a series of historical cafes, really really beautiful 18th and 19th century style interior, with dainty pastries and cakes, robust coffee, and traditional cioccolato con panna. I don't see these cafes in Milan. This is a tourist attraction in itself, I think, so no wonder they were aiming the Chocopass around the historical cafe experience. We had a peek into some of these cafes, since they were always really packed with people and we preferred somewhere more quiet and intimate.

I think seeing all the chocolates and food on display, as well as having the smell of chocolate permeating the air into our skin, just made our cerebellum fuse and we walked around in a frenzy of chocolate binging. We didn't know where to start! There were chocolate tablets, tasting squares, chocolate liquor, chocolate paste, chocolate gelato, chocolate spaghetti (would be lovely with some custard and strawberries), chocolate tea, and we were given a spoonful of this gooey chocolate stuff (kind of like a cross between zabaione and custard) at one of the stands that had chefs doing cooking demonstrations. We thought it was gelato, so were a bit disappointed at the flavour. It had a good cocoa flavour but way too sweet. I think it's because Kathya and myself prefer the taste of dark bitter chocolate.

Torino is well-known for its Gianduiotto, which is a blend of cocoa and roasted hazelnuts. Gianduia gelato is a derivation of that flavour and you must simply try it, especially if you're in Torino with gelaterias like GROM and Fiorio and Mondello, which coincidentally, was where we had breakfast on Sunday. Gelateria Mondello is known for its Sicilian gelato and they've won the Slow Food prize a couple of times, so yes, it was a delicious Sunday breakfast. We even had cannoli siciliani. Little did we know that K&D were also having a Sicilian breakfast with Paolo and Alessandra.

We managed to get gelato from GROM in the evening; during the day, the queues wind up along the street and you end up queuing for 20-30 minutes. Flavour of the month was matcha, te verde, and it was good. They must have used really good green tea stock; the other flavour I had was torroncino.

K&D were staying with Paolo and Alessandra in the Vanchiglia district, just 300 metres from the piazza, lucky them! They probably woke up to the smell of chocolate. They were also nearby the studio where I occasionally work and the wonderfully delicious GROM gelateria. The handsome-and-talented husband and I had a loft in Aprile, in the equally cool district of Quadrilatero Romano, just off Via Garibaldi with its many walking sidestreets.

Sunday was more relaxed. Waking up late. Quiet breakfast at the gelateria. Donatella joined us in the afternoon, for another walkabout the choco fest. We had cafe pinguino, which is a cup lined with cioccolato fondente, a shot of hot coffee poured in, then a dollop of panna (whipped cream) on top and sprinkled with some nuts. I also had a banana dipped in dark chocolate and nuts; the banana kind of eased my guilt trip about not eating fruit and veg that weekend.

Later on, we had apperitivo at Talmone, just in front of Torino Porta Nuova Station. It's a really good place for apperitivo because the food selection is massive! Half the cafe was platters of food arranged on tables: penne con pesto, artichoke hearts, various cheeses and cold cuts, pomodoro secchi, salads, onion rings, fritto misto, and lots of sandwich triangles with various toppings like salmon and cream cheese, anchovy-and-tomato, ham-and-cheese, prawns-lettuce-and-mayo. I keep drinking americanos and I think it's M's fault.

You can see other photos of the choco fest on my Torino Flickr set.

Posted by Yasmina at 09:08 PM

December 17, 2006

it's done!

So last night we had an informal graduation ceremony, and the final exhibition. It was packed and soon I was tired of talking about my project; I should have prototyped a repeat button with a voice recording on it. Oh, it felt, somewhat anti-climactic.

My Arduino blew up at 3 am that morning (after I thought everything was done), and without my knowledge, Robert had taken the spare Arduino to his office in Monza. So in a panic I had to email Massimo and Giovanni, asking whether they had a spare Arduino lying around at the studio.

Luckily, everything turned out OK. Here's some photos... taken by Hector and Mika...

We skipped out of the exhibition early. Giovanni, Robert and I went to Rosso Pomodoro to celebrate with Napoli-style pizzas and beers. It was delicious! I'm glad Giovanni was there to celebrate with us. Afterwards, we were supposed to party with the rest of the graduating class at Trattoria Toscana but dinner didn't finish until half past midnight and we were knackered so we went home. :-)

Yay me! It's over! It's been an amazing year, learning so much, meeting creative people... I'm sad because everyone is leaving and thinking about life in Milan without them is painfully unbearable...

Another chapter begins, I guess... :-)

Posted by Yasmina at 01:29 AM | Comments (5)

October 18, 2006

Guitar Guy

Most days on my daily commute to school, I see him, jumping metro carriages every two stations, toting his guitar and his paper cup with change. He's probably my age, South-American looks, long dark hair tied into a ponytail; sometimes he looks sad or nostalgic but his voice always carries clearly, floating across the carriage, above the din of the train travelling on rails in the underground.

His eastern border on the green line is Lambrate FS, my stop, and he would exit the northeast-bound train, cross the platform and catch the train going back into town. In the other direction, I've seen him as far as Porta Genova station, also my stop.

The thing that drives me a little bit crazy about him is that he's always either singing "La Bamba" or "Guantanamera". Just those two numbers. Nothing else. Or at least, I haven't heard him sing any other tunes. It's getting to the point of recognition when I put a coin into his cup and we'd smile, nod, an acknowledgement of presence, and I swear he looks embarrassed sometimes, as if thinking, "Oh, she heard me sing that song, again..."

Anyway. I haven't spotted him since school started. I hope he's okay.

Posted by Yasmina at 12:10 PM

October 09, 2006

Trespassers of Social Boundaries

Referring to this post of mine, I ponder upon ideas of social boundaries and its trespassers in online communication channels.

In response to the above post, A talks about giving 3 strikes before they're out... My good friend, M, once talked about only continuing friendships only with people who keep up the same effort and block out the others... My final project talks about the emerging behavior of scopophilia (combination of voyeurism and exhibitionism) in social networking and developing solutions for revealing, concealing and camouflage: opening up, closing and hiding communication windows.

All deal in some ways with trespassers of social boundaries...

The more I analyse it, the more rules and exceptions I come up with in social interaction, specifically in my case of last week: like, I don't expect a reply when I send out a mass email with general news or so, but I expect something when it is an individual email with specific personal questions.

Also, if the online relationship mirrors the offline relationship, upon which the online contact is based, I tend to be more forgiving. For example, my friend L is terrible at returning calls when we were living in the same city, so it's OK if he doesn't reply to my message now that we're in different countries. But when it's someone who is dependable and constant with the offline relationship, and their online behavior is the opposite, I become puzzled and stumped. Especially with the ease of emails/Flickr/IM these days, it's easier to offend by a non-reaction.

During the Applied Dreams workshop this year, one of the teams came up with a project on Social Boundaries, certain rules that apply and get broken. Shame I can't find it as reference for now, but if I find it, I'll link it.

OK, back to the project drawing board.

Posted by Yasmina at 10:31 PM

September 10, 2006

Back from Ars Electronica 2006

Wow. What a week! I had a fantastic time. So good to get away from Milan, disconnect and immerse myself in symposiums/lectures and interactive exhibits and music parties...

This week I have:

* taken over 1Gb worth of pictures and video
* met a lot of interesting new people
* ran into an old friend by accident
* gotten to know some of my classmates better
* walked in my bare feet in the grass
* fallen asleep twice on the grass; once on the sunny banks of the Danube, and another in an Austrian countryside monastery
* browned in the sun
* attended an Arduino workshop and sat next to an overenthusiastic American, who turned out to be Golan Levin
* bought the new Arduino board
* gotten the Arduino board to work
* been told by John Maeda that he liked my work and ideas on 'simplicity'
* got a signed copy of his latest book
* read half of that book
* been completely star-struck after meeting Golan Levin and John Maeda
* sent my husband photos of myself through an internet phone booth
* drank a lot of Austrian white beer
* drank a lot of bad coffee
* eaten a lot of sinfully yummy Austrian cakes and pastries
* eaten a lot of healthy vegetarian, bio meals
* not gotten into bed at a reasonable time due to self-inflicted party-abuse
* not gotten out of bed at a reasonable time due to self-inflicted party-abuse
* worn a Threadless t-shirt every day of the week (not the same one)
* only seen 2 other people wearing Threadless t-shirts at the festival
* thrown some LED throwies at a passing tram
* painted with light with friends at Hauptplatz
* burned my eyeballs at the Ars Electronica Animation Festival
* attended some pretty amazing (digital) music performances
* played with some really cool tangible and embedded interfaces
* seen more interactive art exhibits than you could shake a stick at...
* been to a wine festival

I'm still editing the videos, and also trying to catch up on the Siena Design Project report which needs to be handed in before the new semester starts next week, plus some client work so now I am back to work mode in Milan. Busy bee but happy to be together again with my lovely husband :)

Posted by Yasmina at 02:51 PM | Comments (1)

July 26, 2006

under the tuscan sun

edit, 060727: I'm back in Milano but only for a night, as tomorrow we are catching a 9 am flight to Amsterdam, where Robert and I will be chilling out with our friends for a week... Ciao ciao...

Wow, what a week! I'm loving it here... meeting interesting people, eating yummy food, waking up to the amazing view out of my bedroom window, even the heat is not as intense as Milano, we get cool breezes at night. We slept with the windows open and one night ended up with a bat flapping round our livingroom, poor thing...

The presentation went well, I thought. We always have to present last so on Monday I felt anxious all day, but once I slip into the presentation mode, I just get comfortable. Feedback was positive so we're happy.

Last night we went to Siena, to Piazza del Campo, where we had a refreshing apperitivo *make mine a mojito* and watched people. Dinner was absolutely amazing! I had a Tuscan specialty pasta: pici, which is like spaghetti but thick. Pici all'anatra for starters. Then I had veal with chestnuts.... Ooooohhhhh heavenly veal with chesnuts... No picture would do justice... The veal was perfect, rare and coated in a super-duper-delizioso (chestnut?) sauce, with pieces of tender chestnuts.... omg, to die for...

More news when I get back to Milano. Right now, I need to prepare for this afternoon's presentation :)

Posted by Yasmina at 01:21 PM | Comments (1)

July 16, 2006

bread porn: lazy sunday bread

Saturday afternoon is usually the time when Robert and I go round the neighborhood getting our weekly shopping done. Sure, during the week, we nip to the shops once or twice to get fresh ingredients, but Saturday is when we do the full-neighborhood tour: the greengrocers, the butcher, the supermarket, the bakery, the gelateria.

The promise of Robert's homemade bread, made us skip the bakery entirely yesterday afternoon. Whether it's raisin bread, or croissant, or plain white bread, Robert's homemade breads is always made with love and always comes out perfect...

Delicious bread porn by Robert on Flickr...

Posted by Yasmina at 02:57 PM | Comments (2)

July 03, 2006

sunday at the lake

Robert, Joris and I woke up early on Sunday *surprise, surprise* and spent a lazy day on the shores of Lake Como. We took a train from Milano Cadorna to Como Nord Lago, then a fast wingboat to Menaggio.

We spread our towels, slathered sun lotion, and swam in the lake. Or rather, the boys sawm and I bobbed in the water. The water surface was warm, the water colder as I dived to the bottom. I like swimming in the lake; it's not salty like the sea and no salt crusts in my hair afterwards. I miss swimming. I should swim in Milano.

Afterwards we ate gelato and went for a nice stroll in Menaggio, looking at all the beachfront properties. Then, we explored Como's walking streets. Shops were having massive sales but we sat in a bar and had a drink before dinner.

We're awfully lethargic after our afternoon in the sun. And poor Robert is terribly sunburned too... oh dear... I gave him temporary treatment in the form of calamine lotion and an ibuprofen, but tomorrow I must get some kind of aloe vera lotion or so from the pharmacy.

You can also view photos on Joris' Flickr page.

Posted by Yasmina at 12:28 AM | Comments (2)

June 12, 2006

weekend away

Last Saturday, Lili, Ana, Robert and I ran away to the Ligurian coastal town of Levanto... We spent an afternoon basking in the sun on the beach before Ana headed back to Milano. It had been a while since I'd swum in the sea and I'd forgotten about the salt drying in your hair, and the salty taste of your skin after swimming. The water was cold, fresh. It was great.

In the evening, we walked up the hill to the castelo and watched the sunset. We had a birthday dinner for Robert at Scaramouche Cave, owned by the theatrical Massimo. The food was excellent and Lili and I shared a chocolate fondue for dessert.

Sunday started out hazy but as we approached the fishing village of Corniglia, the sun stopped being shy. We sampled wine at an enoteca and I discovered the wonderful *serak-serak basah* voice of Folco Orselli, who sounds like a jazzy, slightly less-angsty, Italian version of Tom Waits, and whose CD became the official soundtrack to our trip ;-)

Being on the beach, driving through Cinque Terre and the little villages, was truly a lovely way to spend the weekend. I wish we were there for longer. Robert and I promised each other we would do one roadtrip a month, at least, while we are living in Italy. He wants to move out of Milano and live in the mountains.

Posted by Yasmina at 07:06 PM | Comments (4)

June 05, 2006

Heliuphant: Urban Street Game

Last week, we were running around town, participating in Alejandro's experience prototype, as he calls it. I was in a team with Aram, who, by the way, has posted all these dodgy photos of me during the game on his Flickr.

* All images originally uploaded by blese.

The ransom note.

1st task: draw a chalk graffiti on the pavement

2nd task: hugging a stranger over 50 in the street

3rd task: spheres and circles

We got stuck on 3...

The people we asked didn't know the right answer, either...

So, we Google'd it...

And still got the wrong answer...

Putting clues together with the other groups...

Fnally, Heliuphant...

Posted by Yasmina at 09:25 PM | Comments (4)

May 06, 2006

eating my way back to italy from indo

OMG, that must have been the longest journey I ever made from Asia to Europe. I left Jakarta on Friday, 12.20 Indonesian time, arriving in Singapore at 14.55. My Singapore-Amsterdam flight didn't leave until 23.45, so I went over to Thalia and Ari's place, hung out a bit before going to meet Rani and going to East Coast Park to eat some chilli crabs and other yummy crustaceans. The food was super-duper good; the crabs were perfect and tender and spicy, the prawns and squid crunchy, the kailan not too soggy, not too crunchy in their garlicky deliciousness.

I was in my cut-off jeans shorts, sandals, linen tunic, drinking beer by the beach on Friday night. Some 13 hours later, when I arrived in Amsterdam, it was 4C outside! Eeek! It was 07.15 when I arrived, and my flight to Milano was at 19.20. I deposited my luggage in the lockers and made my way to meet Gerard.

Gerard was so sweet, picking me up at the train station and taking me to his parents' house so I could have a nice hot shower and a nap. I felt terrible for barging into their homes like that. I wish Gerard and I had more time to hang out together, but he had loads of work on, so after a while he drove me to Rotterdam, to Laszlo and Lesh's.

Laszlo and Lesh's new apartment is supercool, light and airy with skylights and the double glass doors leading to the terrace balcony. I was happy to have had the time to hang out and catch up with Laszlo because we didn't manage when I was in NL last March.

We then walked into the town center to see what celebrations were going on. The stroll through their neighbourhood was a great experience: so much to see and touch and smell. Vendors were barbecuing lamb sausages in the street, various shops selling Afros and incense and plastic multi-colored beads.

We stopped off at this Turkish sweet shop where we bought pistachio and nut-honey pastries. That shop was fab! Imagine, a shop that just sells delicious Turkish sweets. I could have bought entire trays of sweets.

In town we visited Lisa and Damian, who had a market stand selling secondhand stuff for the day. We drank beer and went on a walkabout through the secondhand market. There were some nice pieces but also a lot of junk. I ate a dodgy bratwurst sandwich in the center of town, and we are the sweets we bought earlier from the Turkish shop and they were so so so good I wish we'd bought more.

Around five I got back to the airport only to find my flight was delayed till 23.00. Buses from Bergamo to Milano don't run that late so I rescheduled to a morning flight and stayed over at my parents-in-law. I ate a lot of my mother-in-law's potato salad, which is the best potato salad, I swear, drank Hoegaarden and smoked eel sandwiches. I was sad in the delay of seeing Robert again but at least my belly was full of yummies.

Sunday morning I finally made it to Milano. Boy and girl together again :)

Posted by Yasmina at 07:28 PM

April 02, 2006

João and Yasmina: together again :)

Saturday morning I picked João up at Schiphol Airport. I was SO HAPPY to see him. The last week I'd been somewhat lost without Robert, and feeling estranged from friends and feeling stressed out with all the paperwork, the move and schoolwork, and I just want to get back to Milano, and then I see João, and we just picked up where we left off and everything was fine again... :)

Posted by Yasmina at 12:20 PM | Comments (4)

January 21, 2006

friday night at mine

robert is in milan for the weekend, and we're really ecstatic to see each other. mr and mrs k together again, at least for a couple of days...

friday night, i invited a bunch of people over to my place for a spot of dinner, drinks and socialising. it's just that last week we ended up going out for drinks and this time, i thought it would be nice to stay in and socialise instead. plus, i wanted robert to meet everybody.

turned my bedroom into a "chill-out" lounge, putting cushions on the floor for people to sit on, as well as the double-bed, the coffee table laden with snacks and candles, and with the help of the nice warm glow emitted by the orange nessino table lamp from artemide, which was left in the apartment by dario and barbara :)

music was streamed from my iPod, as well as our home radio station in eindhoven, which robert set up the night before, so now i can make my own playlist from the music i have in our dutch apartment, yippeee :)

together with eva, i cooked a sausage stew with potatoes, and carrots in a creamy red-wine-and-tomato-sauce, saffron risotto, egg tagliatelle with pesto, buttered spinach, a huge salad, and trays of hors d'oeuvres with cheeses, coldcuts and seafood. everyone came over with beer and wine and a chocolate cake and we had a feast!

so the first dinner party (of many more to come) was a success! :)

tomorrow we are planning a day out to como, which hector is organising. we're catching the 08.20 train from garibaldi, omg, what an ungodly hour for a sunday. i hope we wake up in time.

Posted by Yasmina at 11:21 PM | Comments (6)

January 08, 2006

don't panic [me at my most vulnerable]

bones, sinking like stones, all that we fought for, homes, places we've grown, all of us are done for. and we live in a beautiful world, yeah we do, yeah we do, we live in a beautiful world. oh, all that I know there's nothing here to run from, 'cos yeah, everybody here's got somebody to lean on

i'm listening to coldplay's "don't panic" that i've just bought from Apple Music Store and i'm still uploading content into my new video ipod. thank god i didn't get the ipod nano because there is just no way that my music would fit in there... i totally didn't realise how much music i had on my powerbook and in our home server. thank you to my former colleagues who presented me with an Apple Store cadeaubon. :)

i was talking to my advisors last week: gerard, who was on business trip to hong kong but responded to my message anyway, which puts him on the list of "people to call in the middle of the night to help bail you out if you're wrongly jailed for drug-trafficking in thailand" and joão in rio de janeiro. both men convinced me that i was not going to die without robert in milan. :)

i know i'll be going out and meeting new people and enjoying my life in milan. i can deal with missing robert. it's just that i wish i could share this milan-and-domus experience with him. me running around in milan, new people, new projects, fun and creativity, photography, extreme silliness, yummy food, all those bars and restaurants that i've got to try... i want robert to "get it", you know?

ah well. i guess we'll all float along anyway. i'm really looking forward to starting classes next week! :)

Posted by Yasmina at 01:40 PM | Comments (6)

December 31, 2005

happy new year 2006!!!

i couldn't ask for a better year than 2005: getting married (twice, to the same amazing guy!), beautiful honeymoon to bali, fantastic trip to kalimantan, getting accepted at DA/Ivrea, getting a scholarship, leaving my job, moving to italy into a great apartment. there is not a day that i am not grateful.

here's to an equally, if not better, fantastic 2006 for everyone! xoxoxo, yasmina

edit: wow! the above image made it to Flickr's Interestingness page for December 31st 2005. yayness! sweet way to end the year, this is my second Interestingness frontpage :)

Posted by Yasmina at 02:20 PM | Comments (6)

December 28, 2005

loving milan

i am probably still in honeymoon phase.

but i don't think i can ever leave.

Posted by Yasmina at 01:40 PM | Comments (3)

December 15, 2005

christmas packets of ultra awesome-ness

happiness! today i received not one, but two packages in the mail! omg, i have really generous friends, i am counting my blessings! christmas is starting early for me this year, i think, heheh...

the first package came from thalia in singapore. she has started a new project called the avocadolite farm, which is a collection of mini crochet characters that she made and designed herself. her husband ari, is in charge of writing each character's stories. the mini figures are available for purchase on the site. each character is one-of-a-kind and has their own unique stories.

quick! adopt them before they run out!

the second package came from kathya in germany. kathya the überfräu-oh-mighty-chef made us a batch of homemade dark-chocolate-dried-cherry-pecan cookies, packaged in a beautiful christmas tin, with a lovely accompanying card. time for milk and cookies for me then!

in the last weeks, i've also received packages in the mail from adam in new york and from patricia in sweden. :)

seriously, guys, thank you SO much for everything. your happy packages just made my day (and robert's too)... i hope he gets home soon, otherwise i'll eat all the cookies...

*sprouts wings and flies off to the clouds*

Posted by Yasmina at 01:03 PM | Comments (5)

December 13, 2005

thomas + chocolate-chip muffins

baking chocolate chip muffins with marie and thomas. marie downloaded a really yumm muffin recipe from the internet and they came out really delicious! light and fluffy and chocolatey!

robert and i came over with bagel sandwiches to have lunch at marie's. she and david had just had a second baby, a little brother to thomas, called oliver. i should have photos of oliver but he was sleeping so i didn't take any. he was such a quiet baby, sleeping in his pram in the living room, even though we were cooking and eating together and thomas was running around the apartment hyperactive on chocolate-chip muffins.

Posted by Yasmina at 11:38 PM

December 11, 2005

'tis the season to be baking

last week i went over to visit cathrine and little ebbe and spent an afternoon baking traditional norwegian gingerbread cookies. it was fun! although we were a bit silly for forgetting to buy any cake icing to decorate the cookies with. we did have cookie cutters though, so we made different shape cookies.

the cookies came out really well, and i've been munching on them whilst enjoying my afternoon tea. it's been so cold lately outside, and homemade gingerbread cookies and herbal tea is the perfect companion for when i am curled on the couch, reading my new books: jonathan safran foer's "extremely loud & incredibly close" and banana yoshimoto's "hardboiled | hard luck".

Posted by Yasmina at 10:06 PM

October 23, 2005

DDW 03

ooooh, all the design-goodness coming from the Design Academy Eindhoven graduation show... they never cease to amaze me. the student projects revolved around themes like 'man and identity', 'man and well-being', 'man and leisure' and 'man and living'. the work ranged from "omg, weird!" to "hmmm, nice concept but unsure of the execution" to "oh, that's clever!" to "hahaha, wow, that's brilliant!"

image above, top half: entrance to the graduation show. bottom left: 'klittenlamp' by masanao tomioka, lamp shades from corrugated metals sheets that can be built-up modularly by hooking and looping clusters of lamps to get the right kind of lighting for your environment. bottom right: sietze kalkwijk's 'LED it bee' modular lighting object made up of Light-Emitting Diodes.

so here goes, highlights of the graduation show:

images, from left to right: (click for a larger image)

image one is the exhibit of hilde koenders, a project titled 'bleeding till death'. plastic blood pouches filled with dye act as a transfusion vase for dying flowers. as the dye is absorbed, the flowers take on the hue of the dye. clever. ironic. beautiful. and sad.

image two project by jeroen verhoeven. this 'cinderella table' combines crafts and high-tech production method of laser-cutting. amazing stuff. i actually saw this table by accident at the modelmakers bruns, when i was over at their workshop for the simplicity project and saw this beautiful table there.

image three 'orbital park bench' by nami mizuguchi. the bench orbits around the tree so sitters can shift around the rail for the best view, depending on season or time of day. i like this; you never get the same view, and imagine all the cool photography i can do on one of these benches!

image four top half: 'shopcycle' by leonart vissers. clever three-wheel bicycle to shop with, as it features a crate and front shopping bags, and the back of the bike can be snapped into the "cart position", enabling the user to easily guide the shopping cart through the store. leonart won a sustainability award for this design. i would definitely shop in one of these babies :)

image four bottom half: 'refugee radio' by mareike gast. this radio converts radio waves in the air into electricity and sound for people living in areas where basic utilities like water, and electricity is scarce.

image five top half, 'inner beauty' by gudrun gunnlaugsdottir. visualising the inner beauty of people through furniture.

image five bottom half: 'kloonkoffer' by sarah van gameren. your DIY vacuum-forming kit, using the power of your own vacuum cleaner at home. i love this because kids (and adults alike) can make so many cool things, omg, imagine what kind of wonderful things i can put in there! :) the downside is, it would create a lot of plastic waste. :(

image six top half: 'urban jewelry' by carmela bogman. the "beads" on the top of the fence spin on an axle, therefore acting as a security obstacle for possible thiefs/trespassers.

image six bottom half: 'grafsteen' by kristian van kuijk. designing your own gravestone. sounds morbid, i know. but it's built-up in pieces, where the name/d.o.b/details of the deceased is compiled online by family members and then realised in 3-D form.

my camera battery ran out before i could get to all of the exhibits. bummer. :(

but here's two more that i'd like to mention: 'zinnebeeldige stalenboek' by siriane hunia, a beautifully printed book, with different types of ink that react to heat and UV-light. 'concrete landscape' where a concrete slab is produced with an "invisible" water-sensitive print. when it rains, the concrete wall or landscape changes its look. brilliant. the name of the designer eludes (suzanne?) and there isn't a suzanne with this work in the showcase book... anyone care to enlighten me?

edit: her name is susanne happler and the work is called 'solid poetry' :)

___________________

next installment: DDW 04: TAC Hotel

Posted by Yasmina at 07:26 PM

October 22, 2005

DDW 02

more images and design goodness from the Dutch Design Week 2005! :)

below, top image: exhibit hall in Strijp S complex. middle image and bottom images: 'Past Tense, Future Sense - 80 Years of Design' exhibit. the book was launched this week to the public, although i received my internal copy last month. i also came to the book launch party last tuesday.

below, images of products from '1 meter sessie YKSI', the 2005 collection of YKSI.

below, top image: chair from '1 meter sessie YKSI', the 2005 collection of . bottom image: a blurry david walking through the YKSI exhibit.

below, images from the CliC Lounger by pelidesign. the parts come in one flat sheet, and you punch the pieces out and click them together to make a lounger, table, etc.

below, images from SPRNG exhibit and the CliC lounger.

below: series of macros from the Material Sense 02: Innovations. i love the printable concrete! i'll have one of those please, thanks!

below, collage of images from the Lift-Off exhibit. top images: 'Plant Lamp' by Quinten Lans. upside down or upside up. i like it, although the electric cable could have been done more elegantly.

bottom left image: 'Concrete', lamp constructed of concrete and silicon rubber, by Meta & Renate. i want one! :)

bottom right image: part of a wooden plank, in which holes are drilled and then little plastic cylinders are stuffed in. when held up against a light source, the coloured rings sparkle like LEDs. (please correct me if i wrongly credit the designers, got my notes mixed up) by Joeke en Marijne Beenhakker & Breg Hanssen

________________________

next installment: images of the Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation 2005 show! to read the first DDW 2005 entry click here :)

Posted by Yasmina at 07:26 PM | Comments (1)

October 21, 2005

DDW 01

yesterday david came down from enschede to spend a day with me, for the dutch design week. he was really nice and polite. it was my first time meeting david, after talking online for a while. as with offline meetings, i always get nervous about whether we were going to get along or not, etc, but david was really cool! i was also very impressed with his bahasa jawa :)

we managed to catch quite a few exhibits yesterday, in 4 different venues: klokgebouw, TAC,witte dame and the buro philip van den hurk. in 10 hours, we saw following exhibits: AirForm, Re-Use/Re-Make/Re-Value, Dutch Mountains, Material Sense 02: Innovations, Move Me, Graduation 2005, SPRNG, Lift-off, Tac Hotel, Arnhems Design, past tense, future sense - 80 years of design, 1 meter sessie YKSI... whew!

it was a supercool day. lots of inspiring stuff. i'm still sorting out my notes, as well as the cards/flyers i picked up and the photographs. we took hundreds of photos; david has the supercool digital rebel. i was happy because he was also carrying around his extra lenses, so i didn't feel like an ultra-geek changing my lenses at exhibits.

there is so much i could write about but i'll just present the highlights. here's the first of the dutch design week series:

Re-Use | Re-Make | Re-Value
Designers Jo Meesters and Marije van der Park bowled me over with their collection. Laser-cut wooden tabletop, delicate ceramic tea set and a vase with a city skyline cut-out from delft blue motif, the natural beauty of an onion bulb.

Taken from their website:
Meesters & Van der Park Anno 2004 present during the Dutch Design Week 2005 the collection Re-Use / Re-Make / Re-Value. The collection is centred on the reuse and revaluation of discarded furniture and textile. Re-Use / Re-Make / Re-Value changes people’s views on existing and discarded products. In addition to this collection, the design duo presents new ceramic works. Natural containers based on the revaluation of natural beauty.

more to come during the weekend! have a good one, everybody! :)

Posted by Yasmina at 04:11 PM | Comments (1)

October 17, 2005

school. daydreaming about.

so a group of us were having lunch together last week and ramon asks me, "when do you move to milan, anyway?" to which i responded, "what? physically?" everyone else laughed and made jokes about me daydreaming and being already in milan in thought.

after that lunch, i really got to daydreaming. about the promise of a new life in milan. how nice! i got my routine down. i'm off in a cloud of daydreams...

how my daily school routine would be:
i take the metro in the morning to get to school *it's 14 stations, non-stop, from our apartment, i checked*, listening to music on my iPod *which i don't have, and am hoping to get at christmas, heheh*, reading the free metro newspaper to improve my italian, observing people and maybe even making Metro Daily Commute sketches in my moleskine. this is in the winter, of course. in the summer, in good weather, i will cycle *it's only 8.8 km, i checked* to school.

i get to school, attend the lecture or the workshop. in my imagination, my classmates would be an international mix of young designers, with various design experiences. i like design workshops :) you can say that i am a bit of a workshop whore. boy, did i swoon when i read that five-months of the course would involve workshops on various interaction design themes. woo hoo!

i don't like presenting so much, i don't know how the hell i manage to do presentations to clients in my current job, but i do anyway without big blurps or bleeps, however i think i can improve on my presentation skills. in my daydream, after months of practice, i am the perfect presenter ;)

in the afternoons we may do group assignments or projects. i like this as well, although i need to work on the chemistry... group dynamic is all about chemistry, isn't it? and i have to say that i don't get a "spark" from everyone i work with, so i'd need to work out how to motivate myself when the spark isn't there.

group assignments/projects would take us out of school. we'll be at the library, or doing mobile working, wirelessly from our powerbooks in a coffeeshop *mmmm, smell the italian coffee*, and visiting places of context to our projects: old-people's homes, local schools, cafes, public spaces, malls, etc.

how my desk in the studio would be:
at ravensbourne, we had an open studio with desks. everyone could just claim a desk and work there all year. my desk at DA would have lots of natural lighting, and i sit near a window, so i can look outside and daydreams some more.

knowing me, the desk would be messy, piled with my trusty toolbox from ravensbourne years, spilling with drawing pens, steel ruler, stanley knife, tape, modelling clay, screwdrivers, paint samples, etc. other stuff on desk: design magazines, clippings of articles, prints, photographs, boards with sticky-notes depicting flowcharts, design books, a hardmodel or two, stickers, etc.

i also like to pick up odd bits and pieces from construction sites or vintage shops, so i might have the top part of a mannequin on my desk as well. maybe a cool homemade lamp i made from spare parts.

what's in my bag:
every day i will bring my baby Sputnik (my faithful powerbook), digital camera + lenses, moleskine sketchbook (reporter's edition i love best), ID cards, pens, Metro pass and reading book in my school bag.

*i interrupt this daydream to bring sad news*

my orange messenger bag broke. the seams at the back burst and it's irrepairable. i'm so sad. i bought it at Gap for really cheap, like £15 in 1997, so it's lasted a really long time and it's served me well. it's great for carrying all your stuff around, because the sides can be expand to double its capacity. it has lots of compartments inside and outside for easy access, is easy to clean, it's not too big and it's orange :)

i'm trying to find its replacement, but every bag i see seems to:
a. have a huge logo splashed across the flaps *makes a walking ad for diesel/puma/etc*
b. too big/bulky/heavy *knocks me in the butt when i am walking*
c. too small/cute *my camera fits but my pbook doesn't, or vice versa*

eek! help! at the moment i am looking at:
- this bag which comes in orange, yay!
- this bag which doesn't come in orange, but i like the shape.
- this bag which is the bulkiest, but is on sale ;)

how my life-outside-school would be:
everyone at work keeps asking what robert is going to do, and they don't believe me when i tell them, "we don't know yet." i wish they'd fuck off and leave me alone. seriously. ideally, he comes to milan. if not, that's okay too. we can do the long-distance thing. i'm prepared for both.

if robert is not there...
i'll live in the apartment with a flatmate. the apartment has two bedrooms, anyway. my flatmate would be called eva, who is also indonesian. she is also a student. she studies industrial design at the milan politecnico. she did her undergrad in london. just like me!

we take turns cooking. and we do homework together. and gossip. and do girly things like painting our nails in front of the TV. i'd bitch and moan about missing my husband, she'll bitch and moan about missing her boyfriend (it's not clear where said-boyfriend lives, but it's not in milan, or italy).

we shop together for food and clothes, and we see our friends. we have different sets of friends because we go to different schools, but we know other indonesian students in milan. we both have part-time jobs. i freelance at a design company somewhere in the city, and she works at an interiors shop, so she can get freebies for our flat, yippee :)

on weekends, robert comes to visit me. we're out and about in milan, seeing friends, exhibitions. but sometimes i have to work on weekends, so he cooks me dinner and makes me lunch and does my laundry, hahaha, dream a little dream :)

if robert is there...
i come home to my husband every day and all is well :)

Posted by Yasmina at 07:00 PM | Comments (7)

August 28, 2005

not speaking the same language

you know how sometimes in the working environment you encounter people who just don't speak the same language you do? someone who comes from a totally different level, someone you want to turn around to and say, "i don't know what planet you are from, but english is spoken here."

him: people should be flying.
me: cool idea. let's think of how we can achieve that goal.
him: we should fly. i want to be flying. why aren't we flying?
me: yeah yeah, i get you: the future is flying. let's brainstorm how we can do that, shall we?
him: i want to fly! everyone should be flying by now! it's a wonder that no one is flying right now! *starts singing R.Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly*
me: would you like A. a personal rocket pack, B. a consumer hovercraft or C. be pushed out of the window?

Posted by Yasmina at 03:38 PM | Comments (7)

July 19, 2005

my cousin sami

sami is six months older than me. growing up, we'd always been close. unfortunately i didn't see him much while i was in indo this year; i was a little bit mad because he didn't come to my wedding. but i met him for lunch after returning from bali so that was good.

anyway, sami got engaged to this girl and they'll be getting married later this year. i'm writing these stories for her, so she knows what she's getting herself into ;)

sami the typist
sami and i were maybe eight years old, he's as round as ever and i'm skinny like a beanpole; yes, i was skinny once. he was sleeping over and at this time i had my little newspaper business going; my mom gave me her old typewriter as a gift. i made drawings and stories on paper, photocopied them and sold them to family and friends.

anyway, on saturdays i had piano lessons. so i made sami type all the stories while i was away. i paid sami Rp.50 for one paragraph. he also asked to be paid in food (ice cream or a bowl of noodles or siomay, i think). typical.

geez oh man, sami was a really S-L-O-W typist. *rugi di mie bakso dan es cendol deh gue* i hope he's a better typist now that he's a lawyer, imagine all that paperwork a lawyer has to do.

sami the bouncer
around this time, my parents owned a really bouncy spring bed. so sami and i used to jump up and down on the mattress all the time, which annoyed my parents to no end. and because sami is a totally round kid, and weighed twice as much as i did, i didn't really need to bounce. i'd just wait for his weight to land and that was enough to propel me into the air. ;)

sami the antar-antar semut
i'm sorry there is no english translation for antar-antar semut. we were in highschool and he came over to stay for a few days with me. when it was time for him to go home, i went with him on the train and slept over at his house for a few days.

then he took me back to bogor. then we went back to jakarta. this continued until school started and his mom finally drove me home in the car.

sami food fiesta
we love to eat. we eat when we meet. we meet to eat. sami and i have had weekends where we went on an eating spree: sushi, sashimi, doner kebab, shawarma, lasagna, fettucini carbonara, spare-ribs, roast beef, roast potatoes, salad with blue cheese dressing, ice cream, pempek palembang, bakmie GM, indonesian roast lamb *kambing guling*, jajanan pasar, laksa, nasi goreng, es teler, all in one very gastronomically satisfying weekend.

so i am really happy that sami ends up with someone who loves food as much as we do.

a list of places i would like to take sami + angki in europe:
- thai market place cafe on portobello road, london
- japanese pancake world, amsterdam
- belgo, london
- lulu's, rotterdam
- bonjardim, lisbon
- oporto, to sample port wine and eat sardines
- kulu-kulu sushi, london
- belgian food in lier
- waffles and mussels in antwerpen
- lisson grove in london for fish n chips
- cinque terre in italy for yummy italian seafood
- the lakes near halle, for german food
- zierikzee in zeeland, NL, for dutch seafood
- more to come...

Posted by Yasmina at 02:48 PM | Comments (2)

May 18, 2005

fleamarket + man at the jazz concert

we were walking through the center of den bosch last sunday, after we'd been to the fleamarket. i was looking for old medium-format cameras at the fleamarket, maybe i'd get lucky and find a treasured rolleiflex or yashica, and there were a couple of fodors in not-working order and polaroids and lots of super8s but nothing interesting otherwise.

i bought a wasabi-green 1950s zenith bowl for a tenner, bargain... also got a couple of 1960s/70s droste chocolate tin cans, with these lovely graphics on the sides.

in den bosch, a jazz festival was underway and the city was packed. we were squeezing our way through the busy streets when i had to pause and wait for denise and robert to come through the crowd. i noticed a well-dressed man standing near me by the heineken beer caravan.

he wore a smart corduroy blazer, in a navy blue that reminded me of my sister's school uniform in london. under the blazer, a cease-free white shirt, striped with thin blue and brown lines. his trousers were neatly pressed, shiny brown leather loafers.

dark blond hair, ruddy face, clean-shaven, maybe in his early forties, he had the face of a well-fed, preppy guy who probably was private-school-educated, whose parents owned a brownstone house on one of amsterdam's central grachts, and probably drove a bmw z3 (such a hairdresser's car, says robert)...

he held his pint of beer in front of him and his hands were really really filthy. his fingers was streaked with dirt, dirt under his nails, the skin dry and cracked. and the thing is, it looked as if he'd washed his hands, not like the dirt was fresh, not that he'd had to change a flat tire on the way to the jazz festival.

i wondered if he was a housepainter like robert's dad, whose hands are generally clean but permanently calloused and quite rough to the touch, or if he was a gardener or landscape artist, or just generally someone who worked with his hands, if he liked to sculpt with limestone or wood or maybe he'd been installing a new kitchen for his wife at home.

anyway. just my thoughts. i realise i miss working with my hands. i wish i made more stuff, designed more tangible things.

Posted by Yasmina at 08:48 AM | Comments (4)

March 12, 2005

man and wife

happy happy, joy joy... :-) off to bali tomorrow, but right now, we are having dinner with the entire haryono family, then off to hit the clubs *robert's parents want to go to karaoke for a lost-in-translation moment* we had a fabulous day today, thanks to all family and friends who made the day truly special for us...

Posted by Yasmina at 06:46 PM | Comments (22)

February 27, 2005

back from kalimantan

Got back from Kalimantan this afternoon. I managed to get a flight back to jakarta; my dad was getting upset because I stayed so long here. Was sad to leave as it's such a beautiful place. Back to smoggy "macet" Jakarta again... *sigh*

February 26 2005

I am writing this in Kalimantan, not knowing when I will be able to post it online.

I've been here a few days, and I'm loving it. Walking, mountain-biking, swimming, sunbathing, taking photographs, doing amazing latihan kejiwaan with the others. I am thinking of taking Robert here after our Bali trip, and we'll stay at the Eco Village, and then take day trips down the river, where it really looks like the Amazon in all the documentary movies. Here I am surrounded by lush green scenery. Fresh air. The sun is much much stronger here than in Java or Bali. This place is amazing. It's a very special place. What an experience it is to live here and to grow up here.

The da Silvas
It has been good to see Hamid and Isti, and Ema and Lucas again. I stayed with them in Rungan Sari.

Isti has lost a lot of weight due to her month-long stay in Aceh; she had a difficult time there, and sometimes when I see her, I feel that she is so fragile. She's been busy running around organizing the Subud congress so I haven't chatted to her all that much.

Lucas is so tall and so handsome! Still quiet, but he'd walk with me in the afternoons when I need company. Ema as pretty as ever. Hamid only arrived today although he'd been in Jakarta earlier during the week, having business meetings, I guess, with my dad. I asked him to be the witness at my wedding and he said yes! Yay! He will be in Portugal next week but promised to be back in time for the wedding. :-)

Emalia
Em is so great, she needs a subchapter all about her. She picked me up at the airport, saw me, big hug and kiss, then laughed at how pale I am. "Dasar bule loe," she said in perfect Indonesian whilst showing off her tan.

*ema dan gue tuh hobi banget cela-celaan... kalo elo ga ngerti background keluarga kita, elo mungkin mikir kalo kita berdua tuh rasis abis, abis kita emang suka nyela each other dgn kata-kata seperti yg diatas*

As usual, after I arrived, Ema goes through the clothes in my suitcase; she picks my Diesel kickboxing pants and pink Bollywood flip-flops that João bought me in Rio de Janeiro and goes out to meet her friends. Typical. She is just like Yacinta; invading my wardrobe and borrowing my clothes. They're my sisters though, and I cannot imagine them any other way.

Ema is the girl who went trekking in the Borneo rainforest wearing my Evisu jeans! My special limited edition kimono-lined Evisu jeans! I only found out because she posted a picture in her photoblogof her wearing my jeans in the forest :-S

Ema then proceeds to go through my iTunes collection; she decided she liked most of my music and transferred them into her iBook and she's been playing them constantly. She also hijacked my digital camera for a couple of days because her dad had not yet arrived with her new camera. She made me the best brownies ever though and we stayed up late eating brownies and drinking milk, listening to Hamid's stories.

The Creepy-Crawlies
There is plenty of creepy-crawlies. The bugs here are way bigger than the European ones. The bees are the size of my thumb. The milipedes and centipedes are fat and look crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The beetles all come out at night and they are huge; their bodies are the size of my index finger, but they are pretty stupid and are always flying into things. I really hate the thought that one would fly into my hair and get tangled up. Eek!

It's scary walking in the dark, because you have to watch where you are going. Ema stepped on a snake when she was looking at bats in the sky and the snake bit her. Oh but don't worry, the snake slithered off before it could release any poison. Ema was also stung by wasps yesterday at the swimming pool. Poor thing.

Meeting New People
As with any Subud event, you're bound to meet new people. I met so many interesting individuals during my stay in Kalimantan. Gaye Thakvisin, who runs Kalimantan Meeting Centre and has been in Kalimantan for 3 years. Stephanie from Devon, who's teaching at the international school in Rungan Sari for 6 months. Mas Madji and Mbak Amy, Mbak Lita, all of Tante Isti's family. Ani and Manda Geiger.

There was not a lot of Subud youth present, in contrast to the European events when there is always a lot of young people around. I was kind of disappointed as I was hoping to meet more of the Indonesian Subud youth *abis dari dulu kok kaya'nya subud youth yg gue kenal ga ada yg orang indonesia deh*

Also at the swimming pool I met Ethan, an American guy living in Bali. He teaches tai-chi and wing-chun and makes wooden dummies and sparring equipment for export. He speaks bahasa Indonesia very well, after living here for 11 years. We are going to take a boat trip down the Sei Gohong river today.

*oh ya, keluarga disini udah pada tau gue mau nikah, jadi mereka suka ngeledekin gue dan Ethan. istilah mereka tuh: nyari selingkuhan terakhir sebelum nikah. yeeee.... tadi aja pas gue lunch di latihan hall bersama Ethan, Mbak Amy was making googly eyes at me*

Getting Sunburned;
Ethan and I got pretty sunburned at the pool. I hardly ever burn and just to be safe, I put on sunblock twice all over, and still I succumbed to the Kalimantan sun. Ethan was in the kiddy pool, sunbathing in shallow water, and he's very used to the Balinese sun, but really, the Kalimantan sun just turned both of us bright red. I could not even sleep on my back last night. I've put on some cooling aloe vera on my skin, and after-sun lotion. My arms and legs are a very nice bronze, but my back is a bright red and is very sore.

When I got home and Ema saw how sunburned I was, she said, "Dasar bule loe, emang ga tahan bermatahari-ria." Aaarrrggghhhh... sebellll....

_______________

More stories later as I update the visual blog. I'm a bit busy this week as we get closer to the wedding date. Robert arrives on Wednesday. Yay!

Posted by Yasmina at 10:30 PM | Comments (4)

October 25, 2004

monica's farm

*specially dedicated to monica and her collection of little crochet animals*

to the tune of old mcdonald's
miss bueno had a farm, ee-ay ee-ay oh
and on that farm she had a trippy elephant, ee-ay ee-ay-oh
with a trip-trip here
and a trip-trip there
here a trip, there a trip
everywhere trippy elephants
miss bueno had a farm
ee-ay ee-ay oh

all together now!
miss bueno had a farm, ee-ay, ee-ay oh
and on that farm she had a goose, ee-ay ee-ay oh
with a quack-quack here
and a quack-quack there
here a quack, there a quack
everywhere goose quacking
miss bueno had a farm
ee-ay ee-ay oh

this is the x-rated part
miss bueno had a farm, ee-ay, ee-ay oh
and on that farm she had made the animals have weekly orgies, ee-ay ee-ay oh
and sometimes she'd get her super8 out and make the director's cut, ee-ay ee-ay oh

Posted by Yasmina at 09:05 PM | Comments (2)

September 22, 2004

one-legged man on bike

i see him most mornings on my walk to work, going in my same direction into town, on the other side of the street, on the bike path. he cycles rhythmically, waiting for the right-side pedal to come up and he'd bring his right foot down forcefully on it, and it makes another round, and he stamps it down again.

his crutches are attached to his bike, underneath his saddle, lying lengthways parallel to the bike's body. i wonder if he ever gets in a mood to put his crutches perpendicular to his bike, just to drive everyone else off the bike path.

monday i was walking to work and he cycled past me on the opposite side of the street. ahead, the traffic light turned red for cyclists. i could see him slowing down. just as he came to rest, he tittered, unbalanced.

if he fell to the left side, he'd be screwed, as he only has a four or six inch stump on that side. unless he put out his arm to brace his fall.

my heart pumped wildly for the split second that he lost his balance. my mind thought fleetingly about plasticman, the comic character with extendable limbs, wishing that somehow i could reach my hand out from this distance to provide somewhat softer landing than the pavement.

at the last moment, he regained his balance, tilting to his right side and leaning on his right leg as he waited for the traffic light to turn green again.

phewwww!

Posted by Yasmina at 08:43 AM

June 09, 2004

NL in heat! summer people-watching rituals

i love this weather! it's finally summer!

it's been so warm that i've taken to wearing skirts and my kitten heel sling-backs to work (but the heel broke off on my walk home from work, how crap is that?!). today i've noticed most of the girls were also wearing skirts, sandals and sleeveless tops. not me, though; not enough time spent at the gym to make my arms shapely enough.

one thing i love about summer is the fact that people dress better, and they dress less. i could just lie in the grass and watch people all day. the girls would wear halter neck tops, stripey, spotty, with asymmetric skirts, anklets around their ankles, maybe their hair swept up and tied back with a bandanna.

everyone would be drinking fresh fruit juice or cold cold white beer with a slice of lemons. i would try to guess the color of people's eyes behind their sunglasses. robert and i would take long walks after dinner and get an ice cream cone at the italian's, and we'd go to watch the outdoor films.

i love when guys wear less clothes, and their arms are so beautiful and shapely. i wonder if boys watch the weather report in the summer and say, "yay! it's gonna be hot tomorrow, the girls will be wearing less clothes!"

i think people are more beautiful in the summer. :)

Posted by Yasmina at 09:52 PM | Comments (1)