Floriade 2008 Canberra Day Trip

Thank God it's the mid season break and the fasting month has ended for some of my friends. That means it's traveling time. This time is to Canberra...and it was Friday, 3 October 2008.

While the idea behind the trip is to see the Floriade 2008, the largest flower show in the southern hemisphere, but come one....a bunch of guys going to see flowers. Most are in the trip just to get away from Sydney for a day. The girls in the trip were excited and so they should. There were flowers everywhere.

From Canberra Spring 2008

For me it's just about nostalgia. Going back to a city I called home 15 years ago

Arriving in Canberra just in time for Friday prayers for our Moslem friends.

From Canberra Spring 2008

Followed by lunch in Civic. The Civic has changed a lot since the last time I was there...We had locals guiding us...Firman and Zadat????

We went to the Parliament House for photo op. Some friends did the "Jetstar" style photo with yours trully as the photographer. I was using my friend's Nikon D80. Damn...I have to get one of those DSLRs....

From Canberra Spring 2008

After that we went to Mt. Ainslie for a quick look at Canberra from the Lookout. Nice but I was getting windy and cold....so back down to the War Memorial...

From Canberra Spring 2008

From Canberra Spring 2008

From Canberra Spring 2008

Our day in Canberra ended with dinner at a small Turkish restaurant in Yarralumla. After that we went back to Sydney.

At the end of the day, the cost for car rent and fuel is $31/person. Cheaper than by bus...GREAT DEAL!!!

All photos courtesy of Aji, Valen and Adhi

Kupang Waypoints/PoIs in Google Map

Just made a small collection of PoI (Points of Intrerest) for Kupang, NTT, Indonesia that can be viewed in Google Map
See the preview below


View Larger Map

The points can be downloaded in KML format and used in Google Earth or your favourite GIS software

Wordle....Fun with Text

With Wordle you can have fun with text
(disable No Script because it works on JavaScript)

You can see paste a bunch of texts or put you blog and see how it turns out.

The image below is from generated from this blog.

DONCASTER 47 Base Camp...

Thank God for Doncaster 47 Base Camp...

From RANTHERxtra...My Story

No matter how efficient you thought the arrangements were made between UNSW, AusAID, and "their contractor" ADS in Jakarta, I managed to arrive in Sydney with no place to stay.

In comes the friends from Doncaster 47 Base Camp...(Anton, Irfan, Andika). I was invited to stay there temporarily...I almost overstayed my welcome staying there for a month.

Now the Base Camp has a new interior with a new Base Camp manager, Aji

UNSW AusAID-INDO BBQ Winter 08

Yes....it's that time again when AusAID Scholarship Recipients from Indonesia at UNSW gathers to have a social BBQ. The event is also held to "officially-sort of" welcome new students to UNSW. The date: Saturday, 30 August 2008 and the location: Coogee Beach.

It started well with Valen, Arif, Mike and myself arriving early (around 9 AM) at the beach to reserve the BBQ place for our group. Around 15 minutes later came the Doncaster team: Aji, Adhi, Zahid and Didi (guest from Timor Leste)

Where's the meat???
Silvi, in charge of the meat for BBQ, arrived a bit late so the early arrivals have to settle with crinkle cut french fries reheated on the BBQ thingie....

Photos courtesy of Adhi and Aji (thanks bros)

From BBQ Winter 08 - Coogee

Fortunately, Silvi arrived soon enough and we had a fun day...

From BBQ Winter 08 - Coogee

The usual round grass meeting

From BBQ Winter 08 - Coogee

And the compulsory group photo

From BBQ Winter 08 - Coogee

Next year I'll be back home so no more BBQ for me...

MERDEKA !!!!

Now this should be on 17 August but it has been busy couple of weeks...
Anyway how did you celebrate Hari Kemerdekaan Indonesia (our Independence Day)?
Flag raising ceremony? Nice but (no offense)....boring!

Guess what....we went to see the "INDONESIA BISA" concert by Ahmad Dani and his gank (Dewa 19, Dewi-Dewi, The Rock Indonesia, Mulan). And there is Jessica Mauboy (Runner-up of Australian Idol happens to be half Indonesian). The concert was held at the one and only....my university UNSW

Check-out the promo of this concert


Hiduplah INDONESIA RAYA!

Another Code to Crack

So this is another code that you can crack....Crack this to reveal who I am

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Good luck!