Waiting at the transit area for the plane, on March 24th! Terminal 1 is now so gorgeous!
I was rather grouchy at that time because this hastily planned trip resulted in me booking the wrong flight timing and topping up S$150 to change it. Plus, I was upset at not being able to fly over in the morning, because the Husband flew back from Pakistan only in the morning. Arrrrgh!!
Hot chocolate at Coffee Bean. Too sweet. Ice chocolate would be better. With an abundance of sunlight comes good pictures. Watching the planes can be therapeutic. If you are already in a good mood, that is. I personally am no fan of travelling. I don't fancy staying at hotels, no matter how many stars they have. I love my home. Period.
Didn't help that I couldn't find a pair of flats to bring along for the trip. Wasn't gonna wear heels for a place with tens of thousands of people. Couldn't believe I didn't have FLATS! So here's my oxfords with missing shoelaces. Honestly, oxfords are really very comfortable for walks! Just that they can be too manly looking for me.
And I was also grouchy that my favourite brown pants shrank shorter after washing. Certainly didn't start the trip off on a good tune.
This Zara travel bag for guys is gorgeous and well made! It definitely looks even better in real life! For S$120, it's such a great bargain! Plus, it's synthetic leather! No kill cow, yay!
The 3-star hotel that we stayed for 3 days 2 nights, in Bogor, Indonesia. A 2 hour ride from the airport. A 2 month-old hotel that has very friendly service staff, despite their lack of fluency in English.
Everywhere was very clean in the hotel, including the rooms. Coca-cola was cheeaaap! Being 3 stars, it was just a very basic room. At least it was very new. But food was bad over here. Breakfast buffet was only one table-ful of selection. Their restaurant is small and most of the time, I was starving over there. We had to order Pizza Hut delivery one night, through the hotel because of language difficulties. But Pizza Hut there did not do Hawaiian. o_O
Had to remind myself that I was there to participate in the puja by my Grandmaster and not on holiday.
We arrived on Saturday evening. The puja ceremony was on Sunday, 2pm at Sentul International Convention Centre.
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| Source: Google Images |
Having prior experience in KL and Singapore, the Husband woke up at 7am to get the tickets for 30 of us. The rest of us arrived at 11am and sadly, tickets were only for tentage seats. White tents were set up outside the convention centre, and we sat there baking in the sweltering heat till about 2pm, when ushers came to give us entry to the halls. There were seats available! Woohoo!
Participants submitting their registration forms! The crowds lasted from 7am-1pm. Amazing!
Many Dharma Brothers & Sisters from Taiwan set up stalls at the convention area, selling made-in-Taiwan Buddhist artifacts, jewellery and chanting beads. I love collecting prayer beads! Had almost one in every colour! I didn't have enough rupiah with me and ended paying for most of the things in Singapore dollars. It was quite a sight with almost everyone paying in different currencies and the sellers would be busy converting the amounts with their calculators. And if they weren't able to give change, the sellers were generous to give an extra something. Sweet! Buddhist artifacts from Taiwan are so much more well-made than Singapore & Malaysia!
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| Source: Facebook |
Wished we had seats in the main hall where Grandmaster was. =(
Oh well, watching him from a TV in another air-conditioned hall was still happiness! At least there's air-con! =))
At the risk of sounding silly, I was very moved when I saw Grandmaster on the TV. All the grouchiness and tiredness just melted away. Practically glued to the TV throughout the whole 3 hours of the prayer ceremony. Well, I don't get to see him every other day, you must understand. If you are a Christian who attends Sunday service every week and love hearing your favourite pastor speak, I'm sure you will know what I mean. For that matter, if you have a religion and are devoted to it in one way or another, you should know what I mean.
When doing dedication of the prayer merits, Grandmaster mentioned thrice about 风调雨顺 for Indonesia. So yes, I was very very very glad that the recent Aceh ocean earthquake turned out to be safe for all!
In our chartered bus after the puja ceremony! Just nice for 30 of us!
After the puja ended at 7plus at night, some of us got separated from one another. Took us almost 2 hours to gather everyone back together. Because one group of us were SO lucky to be standing near the side exit where Grandmaster came out from, after the whole puja ceremony ended. The Husband was one of them and he literally turned into a gleeful fanboy when he saw Grandmaster. The whole group of them were personally blessed by Grandmaster one by one!!
All this while, I was standing at the main entrance for more than an hour, waiting for the Husband who said he would go find the rest back. Talk about 望穿秋水. =____=
I didn't have a photo of the crowds at night, but there was only one pathetic doorway to the carpark, where many coaches were awaiting. And almost 30,000 people had to squeeze through that one doorway?? I wonder what went through the minds of the architects when constructing the convention centre. It took like 2-3 hours for the crowds to be fully dispersed that night.
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| Source: Google images |
Next day before the flight, we rented a car, wanting to go shopping at the malls. But the hotel staff gave a lousy recommendation and we ended up at some half-past six mall called Seasons City, after an hour ride. It was like our People Park Complex. Gosh!
Later on, we requested for the driver to drive us to Central Park Mall that we saw en route to Seasons City. After much language difficulty and many phone calls, we finally made it! Albeit with only an hour left before we had to leave. This mall is classy, huge and awesome! It can totally rival our Ngee Ann City! We saw Topshop, Mango, Zara, Marks & Spencer and many other familiar brands! The food selection was vast and the money changers provided competitive exchange rates. Best of all, it's only 45 minutes away from the airport! If I ever had to go Jakarta again, I would seriously consider staying at the Pullman Hotel beside the mall. Such convenience!
Took Jetstar there and Valuair back the next day after the puja. This was the last flight back to Singapore. I have no idea why I booked a flight so late. There were many Dharma brothers & sisters all on the same flight. =D
In my grouchiness pre-departure, I totally forgot to check out the beauty products at Changi Airport. Was reminded of it when I was Jakarta airport. So delighted to find my favourite cleanser from Biotherm, with a new name and packaging! It was discontinued for almost a year!
I had tried Laneige sleeping pack many many years ago. Result was so-so. Thought I would give it another try with the advancements they have made. Bought the duo set and got a pack of Laneige samples free (in the pic above)! Happiness! Best of all, the products suit me! Will blog about them soon!
Nothing beats being back in Singapore. =)
I'm really happy to have the chance to go Jakarta amidst my busy schedule, even though that means missing out one launch. Most of the time, Grandmaster is based in Taiwan. It would be more expensive for everyone to make it there. I'm thankful that my job now gives me the flexibility and freedom to make room for plans like these. No matter how passionate I am about TFL, there is always a part of me that needs to be refuelled by spirituality. We all need to be reminded now and then about what life is all about, don't we? And it's definitely not about money alone.
Have a fun Sunday, everyone! I'm so thrilled about introducing clothing to TFL this week! Hope you girls will love it too!
Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu
