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Curlnology


On this day, I went to the famous market in Bangkok that was only available on the weekend. I am sure if you have gone to Bangkok, there's no way you don't know this market hahaha. Yep, it was Chatuchak Market!



The famous Chatuchak Weekend Market was quite crowded that day. Finally, I understand why so many people come to this market. The prices are ridiculously cheap, there are lots of good stuff from clothes, accessories, shawl, souvenirs, to household goods. I even couldn't hold myself to see a lot of cute pants and clothes! Hahaha

But my main purpose was to find pants from Bangkok (which has the specific pattern: elephant, or any ornament that shows the authenticity of Thailand's culture), a tote bag, and bracelets! I found some and they were great. One thing that was obligatory for me to try: THAI TEA!!!



LOOK AT THAT THAI TEA. This was the best thai tea I ever tasted, and it was only 40 Baht!! It tasted perfect; not too sweet, the milk flavor was strong but not overpowered the tea itself. When I was there, the temperature was around 34°C, so this tasty cold thai tea helped me through the day!!


Two bracelets in the middle that I got from Chatucak. Love them! (Note: the right one is already gone... *brb crying*)

Anyway, after strolling around Chatuchak Market and getting all stuffs that I wanted, I went to my next destination: Bangkok Art and Culture Center. It's very close to MBK Center, Siam Discovery, and BTS Station so it's easy to reach.








This place is huge; they have 9 floors, and the main exhibitions were held on 5th until 9th floor. I saw a lot of art installments that day, including paintings and photographs of the late Thailand King, Bhumibol Adulyadej or King Rama IX. When I was in Bangkok, it was still in the mourning period, and I found many memorials of him everywhere.

After exploring Chatuchak Weekend Market and Bangkok Art and Culture Center, I went to the MBK Center to find some souvenirs for my family and boss. It's quite easy to find them, and I also got great deals! I am still amazed by how cheap it is in Bangkok to buy foods/souvenirs/clothes compared to my own city.

To end the day, I went again to SoulBar; drinking beers while enjoying the musics played by the DJ. Like I said before, the DJ played 70s and 80s disco funk songs, so it felt like he played my playlists, hahaha. I found out a song, "Midas Touch" by Midnight Star here; this was one of songs that I re-played over and over during 2017.


Time to go home!

Well, it sucks when you gotta end your vacation and go back to your daily routine (if I don't work, from where I suppose to save money to travel in another time??! LOL), but overall I felt more energized and more relaxed! I was so happy to visit Bangkok and I got a lot of new experiences from there.

My flight to Jakarta was on the different airport. On the beginning, I arrived at Don Mueang Airport. For my return, I went from Suvarnabhumi Airport; which is much bigger than Don Mueang. I spent almost 45 minutes only to walk from the security check to the departure gate! Gosh, it was so far. It reminded me about the Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta Airport, which has 26 departure gate but they are so freaking far.


As usual, I chose the cheapest flight that had connecting flight; Bangkok-Singapore-Jakarta. This one was actually on purpose because I still had some Dollar Singapore and I wanted to spend them while I was there, hahaha. As you know, Changi Airport is one of the best airports in the world; the facilities are amazing.
 

I also didn't forget to buy my favorite popcorn from Garrett; butter-flavored!!


If I have another chance to go to Bangkok, I would definitely go! It was one of amazing cities that I ever visited.

Thank you for reading my blogpost, and I am going to write more stories about my trip soon! Adiós!

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Here we go, day 2 in Bangkok! I was so excited because I had the entire day to explore places in Bangkok as much as I could. To get better experience, I always choose to use local transportation; this time I wanted to take bus to go to the city center.


When I was on my way to the city center, the bus passed the Chinatown. It had a vibrant vibe, looking at those signs and crowds. The traffic that day was quite heavy, so I gotta be patient until I arrived to my destination.

Anyway, It's kinda cloudy that day, even it was 1 pm when I arrived. I didn't expect it would be wet around Wat Pho and Grand Palace since in Chinatown wasn't raining at all.


So I got into Wat Pho. It was... pretty crowded. No wonder it's huddled because it was Saturday and obviously many tourists visited Wat Pho that day. To enter Wat Pho, I had to pay entrance fee for 100 Baht. Then I strolled around the area until I found the main temple. Another perspective of the reclining Buddha. The length itself is 46 meters. On this spot many tourists tried to take pictures of themselves with the statue as background, or, like what I did, captured the Buddha only.


What I really like from this place is, each temples has amazing details! Everything looks majestic and beautiful. Each gates also has vibrant color and beautiful details.

After strolling around Wat Pho, I went to the next place: Wat Arun. It's pretty close from where I was, but I should across the river first by taking public boat! It's cheap because it only costs you 4 Baht per person. Since it's not really far, I only spent like 5 minutes to reach the other side of Chao Praya River.



The famous hanging small bells at Wat Arun!Visitors can buy the tiny bell for 20 Baht, there's no attendant around so you only need to put the money into a box. After that you can write your name on it using provided marker pens. Finish with that, you can hang your bell on the 'bell tree'. I forget which one to do first, you pray or wish then hang the bell, or do the otherwise.


A lot of bells and hopes are hanging here. Mine is also there, the silver bell! My name is on the other side so you might don't see that 😁



Finally, Wat Arun! As you can see, this temple is currently under renovation, possibly it's repainting job but thankfully visitor are still able to enter Wat Arun area. If you want to visit Wat Arun, don't forget to buy entrance ticket for 50 Baht right in front of the gate.





Wat Arun is one of my favorite places in Bangkok. I did enjoy my visit here since I could relax more and get to see some fascinating temples. This site was not really crowded compared to Wat Pho. I also could understand why this temple has title "Temple of the Dawn".

I saw few people around Wat Arun that time. Some were taking photos, sitting on the stairs, or chatting with their friends. I also noticed some students wearing their graduation robes had some fun by having group photos.

Then I sat on one of the stairs and looked around. The wind blew so soft but it's still able to strike the bells around the temples. The bells gently rang, creating serene sound. While everybody started to leave the temple, I stayed and had my private moment to relax and contemplate.

In my opinion, the perfect time to visit Wat Arun is from noon till dawn. This place is a perfect spot to watch sunset. You can sit or chill outside the temple area and Chao Praya River will be on your side while enjoying the sunset.




So after I wandered around Wat Pho, Wat Arun, and Grand Palace, I wanted to go to Khaosan Road. The problem was, I couldn't find the right shuttle bus around Wat Pho. I didn't realize that day was the coronation day at Grand Palace so there was temporary traffic change and I definitely couldn't take any bus from there.

I walked and walked until I said, "Okay enough, I should take tuk-tuk." I was totally lost! Then I saw a tuk-tuk driver and started to bargain the price. At first I was hesitant to take tuk-tuk since I heard so many rumor about the expensive price. First he offered me 100 Baht (what?!) then I asked for 60 Baht (I really just wanted to sit and go to Khaosan Road a.s.a.p).


My impression about tuk-tuk? Damn it was so faaast! I sat alone on the passenger seat and the driver drove it in high speed. I even couldn't stay still during the ride OMG! 😂

When I arrived at Khaosan Road, it wasn't too crowded. Perhaps it's still early since I got there at 7 pm. And yeah, it's a very touristic street. I could see lots of thing at Khaosan Road: from clothing shops, food and beverage stalls, massage booths, bars, until ID sellers (I can't understand this one haha).



I didn't spend much time here but I got the chance to try pad thai. It cost me 80 Baht (quite expensive compared to the others because I just realized there's cheaper stall after I finished) but it had huge portion.

Still curious about food, I found a blood cockles seller that was near to River City Bangkok and my hostel. It was quite cheap! If I am not mistaken, it was 100 Baht per portion. The green sauce was amazing, by the way!


The night was long! After I took a rest a bit, I continued to go to a bar that was extremely close to my hostel; less than 2 minutes by walking! I found out this bar when I checked Google Maps about which bar or café was recommended to visit. SoulBar is known for the great ambiance and music; I am a huge fan of 70s and 80s funk/disco/jazz/soul musics, so I was interested to come.


Since I came on Saturday night, it's full of people, plus there's live music so I didn't get a seat. I stood up, asking the bartender for the menu. I gotta say it has unique theme! Every drinks are named based on song titles. So I ordered "Heard It Through the Grapevine" (vodka, grapefruit juice, lime, brown sugar), drank it while enjoying the live music.




The live music was so gooood! I couldn't hide my excitement when the band played "Just the Two of Us" and "My Cherie Amour". I sang along, had great time even though I was alone, hahaha. I just had tiring day after strolling around the temples, so this was definitely a delightful night. And of course, SoulBar really had amazing soul! I never find a bar like this in Jakarta or Bandung. Finally I stayed till midnight when the band ended their performance. 

On the next day I came back to enjoy my last night in Bangkok. It was DJ night playing the oldies music. It was so amazing, basically the DJ played my playlists, hahaha. So if you are looking for great bar with nice music, drinks, and ambiance, you gotta pay a visit. It's a small bar but I think it's not a big deal. I am totally gonna come again if I have another chance to go to Bangkok.


Overall, second day in Bangkok was extremely amazing!
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I gotta say, this is incredibly late to post this story about my trip in Bangkok, but since I already made a promise, here is the blogpost! I went to Bangkok on the beginning of May 2017. Actually it was a very sudden plan since I needed vacation after months of working on a long project for work.

This was possibly the most unplanned and spontaneous overseas trip I've ever done. I usually arrange my itinerary way before the day comes, but because of my work (and it just finished one day before my departure) I couldn't make it. I only had few places in mind to visit but there's no further plan for them.

My next destination: Bangkok, Thailand!

It kinda made me nervous since I planned to visit Bangkok, Thailand as first timer. I was also pretty sure the language barrier would be my main issue there. So everything's done spontaneously when I arrived.

I took morning flight, which I went to airport at 5.00 am. After had quick breakfast, I went straight to the check in counter then waited for my flight. I chose connecting flight since it was cheaper than the others, but I still got high price for May 5th and 8th. From Jakarta to Bangkok, I chose Malindo Air with 1 transit in Kuala Lumpur.

I was surprised when I got drink and snack during my flight, like "Is this for real??", because when I went to Singapore I didn't get any beverage for free. CGK-KUL is also close. I got orange juice, pizza, and brownie! Wow!


KUL Terminal 2 is huge. It's clean and looking so good. I waited 3 hours for my flight to Bangkok, and it was totally worth it. The waiting room at first was very quiet, it was like having my private room, haha.


Again, during my flight to Bangkok, I got snack and free flow drink! Seriously, I was amazed. It's the similar snack but I didn't mind. Anyway thanks to free snack, I was able to have lunch on KUL since I didn't have any Ringgit Malaysia on my pocket.

I arrived at Don Mueang Airport, Bangkok. When I was on the immigration gate, dude, it was so freaking crowded.

Before I left the airport, I bought local SIM card first. I chose to use local SIM card because it's much cheaper. The conversion from IDR to THB wasn't too far, I'd say it's almost the same. I went to AIS SIM Card counter then buy the traveler SIM card only for 399 THB, it's for 4GB data and 14 days of active days. I needed more internet data since I knew I would use Google Maps very often.

By the way, I recommend AIS if you are planning to go to Bangkok, the internet is fast. Don't forget to prepare your passport, because you need to show passport then the attendant copies it to get the SIM card.

After that I went outside from the arrival terminal, then.... "Oh damn."


I was confused which bus I should take to go to Chinatown since my hostel was there. The language, oh man... I wasn't ready for it. Possibly seeing me as a confused tourist, thankfully an airport staff helped me to explain which bus I needed to take and after that I continued to reach Chinatown by MRT.

The MRT is great. Since I didn't have any MRT pass I needed to buy one ticket to go from Chatucak to the closest MRT station to Chinatown, Hua Lamphong. It cost me 42 THB. Actually I didn't get a ticket, it was more like round token.


My first impression about Bangkok? It really reminded me of Jakarta, hahaha. The traffic was pretty similar but in a better way, I guess. But if talking about the surroundings, this city is quite comparable to Bandung, which I love it!

Talking about public transportation, I am so surprised how cheap it is. The shuttle bus from Don Mueang Airport to nearest MRT station (in this case, Chatuchak Park) only cost me 30 Baht; it's around IDR 11K or USD 1. This rate is applied wherever your stop is. What I really like, the system is so simple yet organized: bus only makes stop on signed bus shuttle.

I walked for 10 minutes from Hua Lamphong Station to my hostel at Chinatown. It's called "Bunny Burrow Hostel". I found it on booking.com and I was quite curious about the hostel. Actually I reserved another hostel before, but after checked more about the transportation around it, it was too far. Thankfully I could cancel without any fee and I could choose my current hostel.

It's a new hostel, I could see from all the furniture and facilities. Mostly were brand new. I also liked the concept, it was like a capsule and I'd like to have privacy while resting.


Even though I was tired as hell after quite long flight of Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok (I never thought having connecting flight actually drained so much energy), I decided to take a walk and visit a place. Done with unpacking, I searched the best route to reach Asiatique Riverfront. Then I took a bus to get there. Bus stops were very close from my hostel so it was easier for me to go somewhere. It was kinda funny because I took the right bus but I chose the wrong route so I gotta pay double.

Why Asiatique Riverfront? It's the closest public attraction which opened until midnight and I was curious about the ferris-wheel, hahaha. Actually I wanted to see the skyline of Bangkok at night.


I gotta say, it was quite hard to take pictures of the skyline since the ferris-wheel kept moving fast. Also, my body trembled because I had great fear of heights. I freaked out, screamed, and panicked as the ferris-wheel went higher and higher. At this point I really wish I weren't alone because I couldn't handle my fear. But slowly I could relax, tried to enjoy Bangkok skyline and the view of Chao Praya River.



Okay, things were getting more interesting after I left Asiatique Riverfront. Since it was around 10 pm, I couldn't find any bus to go back to my hostel. I just kept walking and walking... Until I saw a food stall. It served seafood and I was curious to try. I looked at the menu then showed the cook which food I wanted to order. I couldn't speak English to her since she didn't understand, so body language was the best option that time.


I waited for my food, then when it came... The shrimps were raw. Completely raw. I dazed for a moment. Apparently I ordered food that was actually a salad. I really made a dumb decision. So I approached the cook, then her friend tried to help me. I used Google Translate to tell what I meant, but he also didn't understand Thai because he's Cambodian.

The next thing I knew, he took my food then came back in a minute. The shrimps were finally boiled! 😂😂 In the end I could eat something that night; I haven't eaten anything that day!

After having late dinner, I continued walking to my hostel. In the end, I walked 3,7 km in the middle of night in Bangkok where the streets were very quiet. Many stores were already closed. I was worried something awful could happen since I didn't know the place very well. Fortunately I could hit my hostel and nothing bad happened.

Day 1 in Bangkok was tiring but surprisingly fun!
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Salah satu masalah utama bagi saya selama tinggal di Jaén adalah bahasa Spanyol. Sebagai non-native speaker, perjuangan untuk belajar bahasa baru tentu nggak gampang, apalagi dalam waktu tergolong singkat. Saya belajar bahasa Spanyol otodidak sejak Februari, lalu ikut les di LBUI Salemba bulan April-Juni, lalu otodidak lagi sampai berangkat ke Spanyol.

Di sini selain kuliah, saya ikut les bahasa Spanyol dengan tingkat yang lumayan jauh dari les pertama; dari A1.1 jadi B1.1. Les ini mulainya sebulan sebelum perkuliahan. Selama jangka waktu itu saya berusaha banget nambah kosakata, banyak ngobrol, banyak mendengarkan. Kenapa? Saya harus ngejer tingkat B1 karena itulah level minimum agar saya bisa mengikuti kegiatan perkuliahan dengan baik.

Jelang Oktober akhir, perkuliahan pun dimulai. Hari pertama pertemuan di kelas, rasanya mau nangis. Gila, saya nggak ngerti sedikitpun apa yang dibicarakan dosen. Mau belajar gimanapun sebelumnya, ternyata saya masih kaget dengan aksen dan vocabulary yang rumit. Saya juga sempet ditanya sama temen sekelas, saya nggak ngerti, minta ulang ngomong apa sampe 3 kali, sampe akhirnya temen saya nggak jadi nanya. Huwaaa

Bagi saya, aksen itu ngaruh banget ke pemahaman bahasa. Apalagi di wilayah Andalusia, aksennya punya ciri khas tersendiri. Saya yakin ini sebenernya nggak mencakup semua orang, tapi ini berdasarkan pengalaman ngobrol dan dengerin aksen mereka.

Selain ngomongnya yang ngebut abis, ciri khas lain dari aksen Andalusia adalah.... Come letra alias makan huruf!

Di setiap kalimat, huruf "S" bisa dibilang hilang saat mendengarkan mayoritas teman dan dosen asli Andalusia bicara. Bikin rancu? Banget! Saya sering gagal paham dan miskomunikasi gara-gara aksen ini. Saya sempet baca di artikel kalo aksen Andalusia juga menghilangkan huruf D, tapi so far saya masih bisa notice huruf D; terdengar cukup halus.

Beberapa contoh dari kata/frase ke bentuk wicara dalam aksen Andalusia:
  • Buenas noches jadi "buena noche" (good night)
  • Entonces jadi "entonce" (then)
  • Mas o menos jadi "ma o meno" (more or less)
  • Adiós jadi "adió" (goodbye)
  • Lo mismo jadi "lo mi-mo" (the same)
  • Es jadi "e" (bentukan ser, to be)
  • Vamos jadi "vamo" (let's go)
  • Dos jadi "do" (two)
  • Estudiante jadi "e-tudiante" (student)
  • Andaluz jadi "andalu"
  • España jadi "E-paña"
  • Gracias jadi "gracia"
  • Corte Ingles jadi "Corte Ingle"  (department store besar di Spanyol) 
  • ¿Me entiendes? jadi "me entiende?" ("You understand me?" to informal singular person)
  • Tú sabés jadi "tú sabe" (you know)
  • ¿Qué haces? jadi "¿qué hace?" (what are you doing?)
  • ¡Escúchame! jadi "cúchame!" (listen to me!)
  • Conozco jadi "cono-co" (I meet)
Itu baru beberapa, belum lagi kalau udah jadi kalimat dan ada sustantivo (kata benda). Hilangnya "S" di akhir kata kadang suka bikin bingung membedakan mana yang plural, mana yang nggak. Awalnya saya juga ngira come letra ini cuma berlaku di ujung kata yang berakhiran S aja, ternyata enggak hanya itu. Contohnya, mas o menos dan lo mismo. Saya pernah bingung parah pas denger dua frase itu beberapa kali.

"Maomeno? Hah?? Lo mimo? Apaan dah itu??" Eehh ternyata, hahahaha.

Oh iya, di sini spelling huruf J (jota) terdengar beda dari aksen lainnya. Kalo di regional lain (mungkin) kedengarannya kayak nyebut huruf H, di sini kedengerannya "kh" kaya mau buang dahak.

Untungnya, perlahan pemahaman saya makin membaik. Saya mulai terbiasa mendengarkan aksen dan dialek dosen serta teman-teman saya di sini. Tentunya masih struggling di kelas, tapi saya bisa paham lebih baik dari sebelumnya secara keseluruhan. Bahkan saya sekarang jadi kebawa ngomong pake aksen Andalusia, huruf S di bagian akhir sering ilang, (huruf S lenyap di tengah kata belom, belom sampe level itu), hahaha.

Next time semoga ada kesempatan untuk cerita soal beberapa lokasi oke di Jaén dan Madrid, karena sempet jalan-jalan sebelum kuliah.

See you on another post! 
¡Adiós! 
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Pindah ke kota baru apalagi di negeri berbeda pastinya akan ada perubahan signifikan dari tempat tinggal lama, terutama budaya, cuaca, dan gaya hidup. Sampai saat ini saya pun masih dalam tahap adaptasi. Ditambah dengan perkuliahan saya yang belum dimulai, saya punya waktu luang untuk mengamati seluk-beluk kota Jaén (walaupun belum semuanya).

Anyway, ada kesan-kesan awal selama saya tinggal di sini. Mungkin bakal saya jabarin dalam bentuk poin ya, soalnya bakalan banyak banget!

  • Karena saya datang ke sini di awal musim gugur, jadinya suhu di Jaén nggak seekstrem saat musim panas (bisa nyampe 40°C lho!). Udaranya dingin, tapi mataharinya nyentring banget. Udara di sini juga kering parah, alhasil beberapa hari di sini hidung saya kepenuhan sama darah beku yang jadi upil.
  • Sejuk sih, tapi bikin kulit kering! Sewaktu di Jakarta saya agak males pake moisturizer dan body lotion. Tapi sekarang di Jaén, wajib hukumnya! Saya bahkan makin rajin pakai banyak moisturizer dicampur sunscreen karena udara keringnya nggak enak banget, meskipun wajah saya tergolong sangat berminyak. Selain itu saya juga sering semprot wajah pakai Hatomugi skin conditioner karena bikin adem dan nggak kering. Nyesel cuma bawa satu botol ke sini, huhuhu.
  • Saya masih kaget dan aneh dengan waktu matahari terbenam di sini. Di Jaén, mataharinya baru mulai terbenam pukul 8.30 malem. Jam 9 malem baru gelap. Kalau di Jakarta ‘kan mataharinya ‘menghilang’ pukul 6 sore.
  • Toko-toko di sini buka rata-rata pukul 9 pagi sampai jam 2 siang, lalu tutup dulu selama beberapa jam. Jeda waktu ini dikenal sebagai siesta. Saat siesta, orang-orang mengisi waktunya dengan makan siang, nyemil, istirahat, ngobrol sama kolega, atau bahkan napping. Baru lah sekitar pukul 3.30 sore atau 4.30 sore aktivitas toko dimulai lagi sampai 9.30 malam. Saya sempet agak kaget juga sama jam siesta itu karena pernah mau ke copistería (fotokopian) di kampus, jam setengah 3 sore tutup dan saya harus nunggu sampe jam setengah 5 sore.

  • Suasana di sini tenteram banget. Nggak bising dan tenang. Walaupun malem-malem sepi luar biasa (agak serem sih jadinya), tapi flatmate saya bilang kalau kriminalitas di Jaén bisa dibilang minim banget jadi di sini tergolong aman.
  • Most of people here are extremely kind. Nggak hanya itu, ketika mereka tahu saya kurang lancar ngomong bahasa Spanyol, mereka tetap sabar dan membantu. Justru mereka senang mendengar foreigner yang bisa bahasa mereka. 
  • Setiap ketemu penghuni flat lainnya, kenal nggak kenal, selalu saling menyapa, “Hola.” Kalau naik lift bareng atau papasan sebentar terus pisah, biasanya suka ngomong "Hasta luego." Ini juga berlaku ketika masuk dan meninggalkan toko. I think this is a very nice gesture!
  • Di jalan sering banget ketemu anjing beragam ukuran dari yang kecil lucu banget sampe yang besar garang tapi gemesin (tetep, nggak berani deket-deket karena takut). Uniknya, saya NGGAK PERNAH lihat kucing di sini. Asli! Kucing liar pun nggak pernah nemu. Mungkin karena rata-rata punya kucing indoor ya, jarang dibawa ke luar rumah.
  • SIDEWALK LEGA BUANGET. Akhirnya sodara-sodara, saya bisa jalan kaki tenang, nggak diklaksonin motor yang lewat trotoar. Jalan kaki di sini enak banget, asli (betis pun makin jadi, huahahaha). Bahkan saya ke kampus jalan kaki, jaraknya 1,6 km ditempuh selama 20 menit. Di sini jalanannya banyak tanjakannya terutama dari tempat saya ke pusat kota tua di mana Catedral de Jaén berada.
  • Ketika pejalan kaki mau menyeberang dan nggak ada lampu penyeberangan, mostly mobil di sini yang berhenti sampai pejalan kaki selesai nyeberang. Bagi saya ini salah satu momen yang jarang banget bisa saya rasain di Jakarta. Bahkan pernah saat nyeberang saya salah lihat jalur (jalur kendaraan di sini kebalik, btw), saya takut ketabrak mobil tapi malah berhenti di tengah jalan, hahaha sementara mobilnya udah berhenti.
  • Pakai plastik saat belanja di sini kena charge €0.05, jadi mesti bawa kantong sendiri kalau mau belanja dan makin irit.
  • Kalau mau naik bus, biayanya €0.98 sekali naik. Ada banyak trayek bus di Jaén, misalnya kampus UJA, centro de ciudad, centro comercial, dan lain-lain. Kalo mau cepet ke kampus atau mau pergi ke tempat yang agak jauh, bus bisa jadi pilihan.
  • Orang-orang di sini suka banget fiesta alias party alias pesta. Udah nggak heran, hahaha. Party-nya bisa di rumah atau di diskotek. Tapi selama di sini belum lihat party-nya orang Spanyol kayak gimana.
  • Banyak yang suka nangkring di cafetería atau cervezería untuk ketemu temen-temen dan ngobrol. Di tempat tertentu ada resto/café yang menyediakan tapas. Kalo nggak salah paham, tapas ini semacam makanan pendamping ketika minum bir/coke/lainnya. Ada banyak menu tapas yang bisa dipilih.
  • Buku di sini? Muahalnyaaaa ampun. Sedih sih soalnya mau beli buku jadi mikir-mikir banget. Untuk buku kursus bahasa Spanyol B1.1 pun udah kena €20.50 (dikali Rp 16 ribu ya…). Ini belum sama buku buat kuliah nanti. Huwaaa.
  • Biaya hidup di Jaén tergolong rendah dibanding Madrid. TAPI, biaya hidup di Jaén lebih tinggi sedikit dari Jakarta. Saya dapet sewa kamar flat €150 per bulan tapi belum sama biaya air, listrik, internet, dan gas. Itu tergolong menengah. Melihat fasilitas yang ada di sini, lokasi flat yang strategis walaupun 20 menit jalan kaki ke kampus, menurut saya harga sewa sudah sepadan. Kebayang ‘kan tinggal di Madrid mahalnya kayak apa?
  • Untuk makanan, enak semuanya hahaha. Di sini bisa nemu chorizo halal dan enak (chorizo ini the best, asli) juga lho! Bahan makanan seperti sayuran (brokoli, kentang, tomat, dll.), buah (lemon, melocoton, dll.) tergolong affordable per kilonya. Produk dairy seperti keju (yang muahalnya luar biasa di Jakarta), susu, butter, margarin, yogurt, dll. juga termasuk murah. Chia seed seberat 150g pun harganya cuma €1.  Ayam dan daging termasuk normal. Justru yang mahal di sini itu seafood dan kebanyakan dalam bentuk frozen. Kalau mau beli kiloan yang fresh, udangnya justru udah pada direbus. Ah iya, di sini banyak banget makanan kalengan yang justru banyak digemari warga lokal.
  • Produk harian seperti sampo, sabun cair, odol, dan obat kumur di sini ukurannya rata-rata jumbo, jarang nemu ukuran di bawah 1 liter, tapi harganya lumayan terjangkau mulai dari €0,99. Jadinya nggak perlu sering-sering belanja produk ini.
Itu baru segelintir kesan yang saya dapatkan selama 2 minggu tinggal di Jaén. Pastinya masih ada banyak hal-hal menarik yang bisa saya temukan di sini. Semoga ada kesempatan lagi untuk cerita, khususnya soal bahasa Spanyol dengan dialek Andalusia soalnya harus satu post sendiri ceritanya, hahaha.

¡Hasta luego, amigos!
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Tepat dua minggu lalu saya menginjakan kaki saya untuk pertama kali di tanah Eropa, khususnya di Jaén, Spanyol. Berangkat tanggal 11 September, sampai di Madrid 12 September. Karena tiba malam hari dan capeknya luar biasa setelah melalui 3 connecting flights (asli, badan udah nggak ada rasanya pas sampai di hotel sambil gerek 2 koper besar), saya memutuskan untuk menginap semalam di Madrid sebelum berangkat ke Jaén esok harinya.

Dari Madrid ke Jaén ada beragam cara: kereta, bus, dan mobil. Kereta cukup mahal biayanya, yaitu €35 (silakan dikali Rp 16 ribu ya). Bus ‘hanya’ €19, sementara mobil menggunakan situs ‘blablacar’ (mirip Uber) mulai dari €19-€24. Lama perjalanan kereta dan bus hampir sama, yaitu sekitar 4-5 jam. Wah lama ya? Tapi itu bener-bener menempuh jarak jauh. Kalau nggak salah, Madrid-Jaén jaraknya 331 km.

Setibanya di Jaén saya dijemput oleh flatmate dan flat owner tempat tinggal saya selama di sini. Saya kaget juga sampai disamper keduanya (pake mobil pula) karena saya hanya berkomunikasi dengan flatmate dan nggak ada wacana dijemput pakai mobil. Padahal dari stasiun bus ke flat itu jaraknya kurang dari 1 km lho!

Di flat yang saya tempati, saya tinggal bersama ketiga teman baru yang juga mahasiswa UJA. Ada yang mahasiswa tingkat akhir, ada juga yang baru masuk seperti saya tapi mahasiswa S-1. So far, semuanya baiiiiikkk banget. Semuanya welcome dengan saya, bahkan membantu saya banget kalau ada apa-apa.

Ketiganya orang Spanyol, bisa ngomong bahasa Inggris sedikit. Alhasil, tiap hari saya ngomong bahasa Spanyol! Justru malah terbantu banget, karena sebelum studi saya mulai saya bisa membiasakan untuk mendengar dan berbicara dalam bahasa Spanyol full. Lagipula saat tiba di sini, kemampuan bahasa Spanyol saya masih rendah.

Lumayan banget selama dua minggu ini skill bahasa Spanyol saya meningkat, teman saya pun bilang awalnya saya hanya bisa mendengar omongan mereka pelan-pelan, sekarang sudah dalam kecepatan biasa (alias ngebut!). Plus saya ikut les bahasa di sini; peraih beasiswa dapat ikut kursus bahasa secara gratis. Dari kursus A1.1 sewaktu di Indonesia, sekarang jadi B1.1 di Spanyol. Deséame suerteeee!! (Wish me luck!)

Berhubung kuliahnya masih lama (23 Oktober), saya tergolong punya banyak waktu luang di sini. Selain menjalani aktivitas harian (makan, tidur, ngobrol, dan kursus bahasa hahaha), saya juga menyempatkan untuk jalan-jalan di sini. Jaén ini menarik loh, termasuk kota kecil tapi suasananya asik banget.

Sejauh ini, kesan tinggal selama 14 hari di Jaén sangat baik. Saya mulai beradaptasi dengan lingkungan, makanan, dan gaya hidup secara perlahan. Ada yang cukup mengagetkan, ada pula yang biasa-biasa aja. Semoga betah sampai beres kuliahnya!

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