To Travel or Not To Travel. Terrorist Bombings Edition.

Jakarta was bombed a few days ago. The Ritz Carlton Hotel and JW Marriott Hotel were hit. When I heard this, something popped into my head and then I promptly got confirmation from Sari in the form of a Facebook message- her wedding venue for October 2nd was the JW Marriott Hotel. She's furious for many reasons, including now the task of finding a new venue.

Now I'm torn. Weighing the pros and cons of traveling to Jakarta now.

Pros: once-in-a-lifetime experience, quality time with Sari, her family/friends, kickass kebaya made for me and me alone

Cons: fear of terrorist bombing, kidnapping, all those bad things that aren't going away anytime soon, cost of plane ticket (still not purchased), possibly vacay time taken away from possible future job

I still haven't made up my mind and this needs to happen soon, as I need to inform Sari and send my measurements for my kebaya should I be going. Sari and Johnny will be coming to NYC for their honeymoon, so I will be seeing them only a few days after their wedding, but it's not the same :( After I returned from my extended trip in 2008, I automatically knew I wanted to return to spend more time with Sari out and about since we didn't get that chance really during that visit. And also to visit her family and friends, who I really became close to. Sari recently posted photos from the cousin's wedding I attended with her parents and it brought back some many wonderful memories from that trip to Bandung.

Even as a 27 year old woman, I still called my parents, as I am an only child and very close with them. Had a discussion with my Dad, who if he were in my shoes, said he wouldn't take the chance and cancel the trip. There's no guarantee that relations in Jakarta will become any better in the coming months or years, but I do know I want to return. The question is when is the time to go?s Is the time to go now, when the city may be a bit more unstable than usual or is it in a year or so, when we don't know what will be going on, but perhaps I'd be lucky enough to have someone travel with me (which would automatically make me feel better about any given situation)? I'd love to take someone back with me to show them everything that I got to experience when I was there the first time. The Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, KFC, Pizza Hut- all those fabulously Indonesian places! Haha :)

I'm going to sleep on it for another night and make my decision tomorrow. I'll let ya know what happens.

Indonesian Bridesmaid

After I returned from Mountain Jam that last weekend in May, Sari, my former-roommate whom I visited in Jakarta last year (see previous posts) facebooked me to tell me some very exciting news... she's getting married! On Sunday, June 21st she is being proposed to. Let me explain: Johnny her boyfriend has already asked her in private, but there is a tradition where the two families get together and an official proposal takes place. If all goes well (and it better!), Sari and Johnny will be married on Friday, October 2nd, 2009.

Sari has previously been married and isn't looking for the huge, glitz and glamour that she had for her first. The wedding will be more intimate and the wedding reception will be held at a local hotel. Even though she doesn't want it to be large, I have this funny feeling that it's still going to be a big deal. Sari asked both myself and our friend Kenzo to be her bridesmaids. Kenzo actually already bought her ticket online for less than $700 roundtrip, but I didn't get online to the deal quick enough, so I'm still looking. I would love to go over for two weeks, but hopefully I'll have a job by then, so I am planning on returning to Jakarta for a week, departing NYC on Saturday, September 26th and returning on Sunday, October 4th.

The part I am looking forward to the most has got to be my kebaya. During my previous trip to Jakarta, I wore a lime-green kebaya to a family wedding and I bought a beautiful, red/gold lace kebaya from a department store for myself. While cleaning my closets out this past week, I put my red lace kebaya on and low and behold (I knew it), those 10 lbs I put on since my trip have definately done their share to not allow me to wear it in public at this point in time. So, gotta lose the weight so I can wear it to some family event. For the wedding, Sari is going to be getting kebayas made for Kenzo and I and so I have to send her my measurements now and get fitted/tailored within the first day or so after I arrive in Jakarta. Start the diet and exercise!

In another exciting turn of events, I am going to learn how to speak Bahasa Indonesia. I'd love to be able to say a few basic things to Sari's family and friends while over there. I already know how to say a few things such as dog, cat, car, plane, girl, boy, woman, man. Don't forget "the cat is in front of the car". I got that one down pat! I am using the Rosetta Stone program and it's awesome! Gonna be jibberjabbering in another language in no time at all!

So that's my update! I am gonna write another within the next few days about my job search, so be on the lookout!

shots & such

left work early today to head to my gp to get my travel shots: tetanus, hep a, typhoid, polio booster. oh yeah! two shots in each arm was exactly what I needed. but then I got to head home and eat some tasty chinese food. yumm.

also on my plate: mountains of hotel reservations for the upcoming spring tours. of course, I won't have a watchful eye over the spring shows on the road in 2008 and beyond, I am getting as much done as possible, so I can get through the holidays and my various days out of the office. not to mention making the workload thin enough to teach my replacement how to keep numerous shows on the road happy with their accommodations. yikes!

on another note, Sari texted me last night from Jakarta asking about my passport information for an eticket (to Bali I assume). the thing is I deleted her number from my cell when she left. I had to write back making sure it was her!

and she's got me a little terrified about staying at her place, especially if she comes to new york for fashion week (yep, how ironic is that!) and leaves me alone in her house with her two maids (yep! maids). being a westerner where there aren't many, sorta unnerving. and I need to start finalizing plans for my trip, what I'm doing during my trip and it's gonna happen over the downtime in the next weeks.

k. my arms hurt. time to head for bed.

name this blog

welcome. as I was reading Chonny's Life of Cinematic Moments and drinking my 80 cent coffee this morning at my desk, I was moved to start my own blog that would incorporate my travels from this moment on.

not that I'm going anywhere, other than Maryland for Thanksgiving this month, but I am looking forward to a trip to Los Angeles and Daytona Beach in December, and more importantly a long pilgrimage to Southeast Asia and Australia this coming January & February.

as I logged onto gmail this morning, I asked friends to name this new blog I was going to start. anthony responded with "Power's Peregrination" (which ultimately won) and morgan gave me "Wanderlust" (which I am also in love with).

I am going to Jakarta, Indonesia & Bali to visit Sari, my former roommate on West 17th Street. she was only in New York for a year and many came to love her personality and style. she even snagged herself a NYPD boyfriend! as I was coming up on 4.5 years at my current workplace, I decided it was time to move on and take a break to do a little sightseeing before jumping back into a new position in life. this is where Sari came in and I basically invited myself to stay with her for a few weeks. she has taken it with great enthusiasm and is practically planning our travels together (Bali for her birthday) and mine alone (Singapore).

Peregrinatio (sometimes anglicized as Peregrination) is the Latin word for pilgrimage, according to Wikipedia. loving the sound of the blog title, but a little put off by the defination of pilgrimage. I am Catholic, but lapsed. I have recently taken an interest in my boyfriend's beliefs, Self-Realization Fellowship. founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920, it combines beliefs from different religions of the world. when MP was in New York in October, we went to a service and I have to admit that I almost fell asleep! this was due to a long period of meditation and absolute silence in the room. after some chants and a reading regarding reincarnation (quite funny), we left and I mentioned that it was incredibly relaxing. in a time where we have so many technological distractions, it was nice to have an hour to think about nothing but the positive things I needed to tend to.

I am interested in taking the time while on this upcoming vacation to sort things out in my life. I have wonderful friends and family, all whom I love very much and want the best for. decisions need to be made about what I want to do with my life. work- event planning, tourism? a need to focus on the positive and weed out the negative (which always manages to squeeze its way in there one way or the other).

so although not a pilgrimage in the tradition religious/spiritual sense, the more I think about it, the more I like the name of my new blog and the meanings behind it. welcome to my blog. xoxo.