Indonesia pictures in a nutshell

& not forgetting the two babies that made staying at Ummi Aisyah's place so funn!!!!

Zein (the chubby baby) & Idruz (the big eyes baby)!!!

So adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall, the trip taught me so many things, to appreciate my life as it is and be grateful for whatever I already have. A home, a family, an education, an easy life. Because I saw first hand how people suffer worse than me and yet, try to make the most of what they have. It was an eye-opening experience for me, seriously.

Puncak was beautiful, and cold. The air was very refreshing, it's like with every breath that you suck in, you fill your lungs with fresher air, sort of cleansing your body. It felt so good. Visited Masjid Atta' Awun (something like that), the mosque surrounded by water. Water was damn cold! Loved Puncak alot!

Tangkuban Perahu (Bandung) smelt like rotten eggs! It's actually a volcano, that is still active, I think. The view will steal your breath. We even visited the hot springs there! Water was damn hot, but you get used to it after a while. Went off-road go-kart as well there. Kecoh giler with my sis, 'cause it was a twin cart. When she drive, she scream. I drive, she also scream. Haha. Horse-rode back up the slope from the go-cart place. It was the first time I rode a real horse by myself! Like, really hold the reins and direct the horse here and there. Heh.

Taman Safari was awesome!!! Took pictures with A LEOPARD! A live one! The fur is damn lovely, I swear I kid you not. & we rode on the elephant as well. My sis kecoh giler, Ya Allah. Well, at first la eh. Hahahah. Our elephant's name was I'in, short for Indah. But highlight of Taman Safari is definitely the animals that are not caged AT ALL. You just drive in with your car and the animals will curiously approach you. Well, not ALL. Zebras, deers, monkeys, Ilamas did approach our van. Jakon giler sey kite semua. Except Pak Harianto, our driver. He took tourists there so many times already, "Singa nya sudah cam muka saya. Katanya 'kamu lagi?'" HAHAHAHAH.

Taman Bunga Nusantara was okay-okay la. More like the Botanical Garden here, just that it's bigger, and creative-er, and has a small kids amusement ground at the bottom. The roses were weird though. From Paris! Hmm...

Ancol Dunia Fantasi was AWWWWEEEESSSSSSSSOOOOMMMMMMEEEEEE!!!!Soooo awesome that I actually lost my voice. Still coughing now. Cik Nana is so gerek! Hahahaha. The wet rides were definitely the best. Weee~~~~~~!!!!

Pesantren Al-Ashriyyah Nurul Iman was a different experience altogether. If you don't know what's a pesantren, it's actually an Islam school, like boarding school. You learn all the Islam religious stuff there and you stay there too. We took a tour around it, boys side first, then the girls. They are separated by a gate, which is right next to Abah Habib's house. In the mornings, the girls will go to the boys' masjid (which is huge, I tell you!) for Tafsir, which is led by Abah Habib himself. And in the masjid, they separate the guys and girls (duh!) but! The way they separate is like, really separate. There is a white sheet that prevents the guys from seeing the girls and vice versa. Normal la eh. I talked to a few of the girls on our last night. Their education is free, their food is free, their shelter is free. The girls really praised Abah Habib, 'sungguh baik orangnya'. 'cause he said if you can't pay for the education, it's okay. Just study hard. & one good thing, to encourage them to hafal the Quran, for every juz they hafal, he gives them Rp100, 000, I think. The students learn three languages in this pesantren, aside from the normal religious stuff: English, Mandarin and Arabic. It's so cool. & my mum said Habib's English actually improved. Hahahaha.

The bad experiences so far were the traffic jams, the food (just one occasion la eh), the children who knock on our car windows for money, and the litter we see everywhere. Looking at the children, by the roadside, it sent a sad feeling into the depths of my heart. So young, yet they have to go out on the streets just to survive. While we here easily waste our money on unnecessary stuff. They ought to be in schools, studying for a brighter future, but instead, they have to beg just so they can feed themselves and their families.

Don't take what you have for granted. Others would give anything to have what you have now. Appreciate what you have now. Don't ask for more when you already have something. Bersyukur. &, always thank Allah SWT for what you have. He has the power to take it from you anytime.

Lessons I learnt just by my observations. It changed my outlook on my own life.

I learnt shocking news today. It brought me to tears, but I couldn't let anyone see so I held all the tears back. Now I'm off to cry, and pray for the best for her.