Lounge Pad's late post: Jülicher Industrietag

Sorry for the late post. November 3rd 2016 was our last performance of the year. We finally performed in Jülich at the Industry Day at the FH Aachen, Jülich. It was an honour to have played for the FH. We hope they liked it :)

So, these are some reviews:

So, we hope to see you next year! Hopefully we could play in some public event, too :)
We would like to thank all who came to watch and support us and especially those, who trust us to play for their event. We hope that you didn't regret and would ask us again next time!

For those who haven't subscribe our youtube channel and facebook group, please do! We'll let you update.

Last but not at least: HAPPY belated LOUNGE PAD DAY!!

Throwback: Pflaumenfest in Floßdorf

Sorry that I forgot to post this. But in September we got also an important performance. It might be small place, but we play in Floßdorf, where Thomas grew up. So yes, it was a relax, friendly, and familiar atmosphare, but we still had to play good. The acoustic of the room is unfortunatelly quite poor. People sat at the back couldn't hear us well, despite of loudspeaker, amplifier, and microphone. That's a pitty. But lot of people came nearer to hear us. We met some  familiar faces as well :)

Here some snapshots.

 And some videos :) Thanks to my brother, Galih, who recorded us all the time. Don't forget to subscribe Lounge Pad's youtube channel!

Lounge Pad's big deal :)

Sorry for have not posted anything since August(what a shame). Life has driven me busy (in a good way) and yeah I am still focused on my master project. Huh hah huh hah!!

So, last Friday Lounge Pad had to perform in the Krönungssaal of City Hall Aachen for the graduation ceremony of my old faculty. Unexpectedly we played quite good. We don't have a lot of videos, because most of the people talked during the songs and our simple camera recorded simply everything, so not much to hear.. But the most important is that we had a good time there :) Here some snapshots of Aachen :)

Aachener Dom from Aachener Rathaus

In the Krönungssaal

In the Krönungssaal, before the performance.

And here, we got one fine video. Fly me to the moon, played as the third song during the ceremony, where people still sat down ;) Congratulations once again to the graduated students! Hope you enjoy/enjoyed our songs :)

Don't forget to subscribe our Youtube Channel! :)

Next performance: 3.11.2016, FH Aachen, Campus Jülich

Street Food Festival + Straßenfest

Good news: I got the internship in Kölleda. The internship will start in March 2017. YEAAAAAYYYYY!!! So I will move after my master study, maybe to Erfurt. I am soooo happy :D :D :D

One step closer to my dream and hopefully I can get a job afterwards, so I won't be deported from Germany. I can't imagine that happening.

Meanwhile, I had to admit that I was so homesick. But, only Thomas noticed. He even bought Sambal Bajak today to reduce my homesickness until the day I come home. (and yes, I plan to be in Indonesia in the middle of January).

My master project seems to make progression. Haha, I'm not sure yet. I have to do my best. I don't want to have bad score on this.

No, it's not 2 pairs of indonesian-german 

Yes, indonesian girls eat the most ;)

Last weekend, Thomas and I went to Street Food Festival in Jülich and Village Festival in Floßdorf. Let me mention what we ate: pulled pork with fries from La Tapita, Holland mocktail Bali Style, Frozen Yogurt, Indian fried rice with chicken tandoori, Churros and Hungarian Baumstriezel. There we met Christian and Nandea. Rockdorf played some songs during the village fest at around 9 p.m.

Rockdorf in Floßdorf

Drunk faces

I wasn't in the mood of beers. So, I ordered cocktails called SPAIN, made of Grenadine, Likör 43, Maracuja and cream and something else I guess. Thomas uncle treated me with CAIPIRINHA. And before we went home, I got a glass of Pina Colada. They were soooo good, that I fell on my own foot after recording Rockdorf. What a shame.

So, I'll see you in 2 weeks with a report from Bierbörse ya. Haha. See ya!

Libur Seminggu

Ich hatte eine Woche frei zwischen der letzten Klausur und dem Anfang der Masterarbeit. Ich blieb bei Thomas direkt nach der letzten Klausur (am Freitag). Wir hatten an dem Abend noch Bandprobe. Endlich wieder eine Probe mit kompletter Truppe ;)

Am Montag haben Ega und ich zusammen bei Pinnochio gegessen. Und danach haben wir Omas Geburtstag gefeiert. Schön, dass wir Oma und Opa viel zum Lachen bringen konnten. Oder eher Ega eigentlich :)

Am Dienstag waren Thomas und ich in Köln bei Music Store. Ich habe Thomas paar Auswahl als Geburtstagsgeschenk gegeben und indonesische Abendessen in Köln war die Entscheidung. Ich habe entschieden, dass wir bei Haus Java essen. Denn Haus Java hatte mehr Auswahl an indonesischem Essen, nicht eingeschränkt an balinesischem. War ein knapper, guter Zeitpunkt, weil Haus Java nur bis 31.7 offen war. Der Inhaber hat sich beschlossen, in Rente zu gehen. Schade eigentlich. Das Essen war richtig lecker. Wir haben Ayam Rujak und Rendang gegessen und eine Platte Vorspeise wie Pangsit, Samosa und Siomay. Thomas mag trotz der Schärfe das Essen und hatte danach keinen Durchfall oder sowas. Yeay! :)

hihihi gemesh!!

Ayam rujak... Taste like home :)

Haus Java

Am Donnerstag fuhr ich nach Kölleda. Am vorherigen Samstag hatte ich ein Zimmer gebucht am Flugplatz. Ich bin in Kiebitzhöhe ausgestiegen. Das war warm und es gab vom Bahnhof (was sogar kleiner ist als Linnich Bf!) keinen Bus bis Audifon oder bis zum Flugplatz. Aber der Weg war nicht so schwer... Man muss nur vom Bhf einfach geradeaus gehen.. So ungefähr 4 km. Auf dem Weg war einiges zu sehen: Industrie, Maisfeld, Maisfeld.... Haha ;) Danach kam ich am Flugplatz an.

Flugschule am Flugplatz: Flying Ranch

Da gab eine Pension und eine Gaststätte... Die Gaststätte hatte nur bis 18.30 auf. Dann habe ich mich beschlossen noch eine Pizza zu bestellen. Denn ich hatte in der Nähe keine andere Restaurants gesehen :( In der Pension war zu dem Zeitpunkt leer. Ich war also der einzige Gast da. Schon ein bisschen creepy. Haha. Ich hatte ein Zimmer mit 2 Betten bekommen. Ziemlich riesig. Zum Glück mit Kühlschrank, haha, da ich die Woche ziemlich zerstochen bin. Dann konnte ich meine Handtücher und Fenistil da kaltstellen. Das Bad war nicht im Zimmer aber direkt neben an. Hinter dem Zimmer war wieder Maisfeld... Es gab kein Internet, nur Fernseher. Mir war am Abend richtig langweilig. Hab den Fernseher eingeschaltet, da Thomas meinte, es läuft ein guter Film. Aber dann war es plötzlich so sturmig und der Fernseher hatte kein Signal mehr! Owei! *facepalm*

Egal. Hauptsache das Vorstellungsgespräch am nächsten Tag lief ziemlich gut :) Ich warte noch auf das Ergebnis. Audifon ist eine nette Firma. Nicht so groß, ziemlich locker, hat auch einen Standort in Bergisch Gladbach. Ich war schneller fertig als ich dachte und ein Mitarbeiter hat eine Mitfahr angeboten bis Sömmerda. Von da aus bin ich nach Erfurt gefahren und hab ein bisschen Spaziergang gemacht, da mein Zug erst um 19:50 Uhr fuhr (Ich bin so gegen 16 Uhr in Erfurt angekommen). Ehrlich sagen, ich mag Erfurt. Die Stadt ist groß, aber nicht so hektisch. Es gibt ganz viele alte Gebäude. 

Anger!

Krämerbrücke

Erfurter Fischmarkt, Rathaus

Lounge Pad at Conny and Worai's Wedding

Letztes Wochenende war mal wieder anders :) Am Samstag habe ich die zweite deutsche Hochzeit besucht. Immer noch mit der gleichen Geschichte: an beiden war ich eigentlich nicht eingeladen, sondern ich war wieder als ein Teil von dem Überraschungsgeschenk. Diesmal mit meiner Lieblingsband in Gutshof Forkscheid. Leider konnte Christian nicht daran teilnehmen. Spaß gemacht hat sie trotzdem. Unsere Musik haben das Brautpaar und die Gäste gut gefallen, denke ich. Conny hat sich jedenfalls SEHR gefreut! :)

Ich denke, trotz ein paar Fehler, die ich gemacht habe beim Spielen, war das ein gelungener und glücklicher Abend. Das Wetter und die Atmosphäre spielten mit. Das Essen war auch lecker. Wir haben den DJ Markus kennengelernt. Ein sehr sympathischer Typ :D

Lounge Pad wünscht Conny und Worai nochmal alles Gute zur Hochzeit!! Und danke Metti, dass du uns mitgeschleppt hat ;)

Videos will be coming soon! If you're interested to have us for your wedding or any other event, please don't hestitate to contact us: loungepad.band@gmail.com

Lounge Pads nächster Auftritt ist am 11. September 2016 beim Pflaumenfest in der Alten Dorfschule, Linnich-Floßdorf, so gegen Nachmittag. Es ist eine offentliche Veranstaltung.

Photo courtesy: Markus Saxert

Ein Teil von dem Location in Gutshof Forkscheid. Sehr rustikalisch. Klein aber romantisch.

Fotostation bei der Hochzeit ist der Knaller! Courtesy: Conny und Worai

You're Craaaaayyyyyy

Things are getting wild here in Oldenburg. Next week 2 tests and 1 test the week after. Recording of speech material for indonesian matrix test is done! Yeay. Anne was doing really well. I know I have chosen and trusted a right person. Thanks God for listening to my prayer :) We had fun yesterday. Thank you, Anne!!

Anne at Hörgarten

Oldenburg sight seeing

However, I need to make sure that everything goes as planned. I don't want to stay longer as necessary in Oldenburg. Things are getting wild, tends to be depressive. I can't distinguish which things are normal and which are not. And it turned out, that things I marked abnormal are normal for others. And they start to call me Homophobia. Which I believe, I am not.

My flatmate confessed himself as a transgender, but it's basically not the fact that he is transgender, that makes me against him, but his manner and attitude (changing mind after a second, not cleaning house, totally defensive of my suggestion to look good as a woman with skirt and tank tops).

My other ex-flatmate (he was out 2 days ago) was pro-refugees, too pro, and a bit touchy. It leads me to be a bit more cautious, because I don't like refugees. No matter what reasons lead them here to Germany. They -indirectly- cause my further life in Germany definitely becomes not easier. I love Thomas and the thought of not getting visa just becomes my huge fear.

We were once talking about Frozen and Frozen 2. I made a statement that I don't like people who posted on youtube about 'hidden' negative message of disney films, which was mostly about LGBT. I mean I watched the films and I didn't see those things coming. So don't destroy the real message from the movie. One video said that Frozen 2 will be about Elsa being lesbian. I didn't make a statement that I won't like the movie, since it is not there yet. I said I am curious how Disney will pack it, as they always suceed to make me cry in every movie. I told you: every.single.one. Because some Indonesian books teach children wrongly about LGBT. And I basically don't want my children to read about these books. Not because I don't want my children to be LGBT (maybe partly yes, to be very honest), but I want my children to grow up FREELY with their imagination without getting busy with these words of LGBT. As a small kid, I was thinking to marry to my best girlfriend for a while. I mean, that's kid! Let them grow up as kids. Let them play and being happy and full of imagination.

I'm loosing my mind. I need to get away from here. Soon.

Driving License

Thomas finally got his driving license! Yeaaaaaayyyyy!!
This means also changes in the house. Thomas can pick me up alone when I arrive Lindern, so I don't need to worry too much anymore, when I arrive a bit late, like around 10 or 11 pm.

Thomas also persuaded his parents to change the car insurance, so that everybody (that is allowed by the owner of the car) can drive the car. So he can drive, and I can also drive ;) (No, I haven't tried yet). And we both are looking for another insurance for driver right, or something like that, which is independent on which car we drive.

I would just say: driving license is a sign of freedom! ;)

Time for Two of Us

It felt like ages, that we didn't have time just for two of us... I realized that there were always somebody else in our weekends. Friends and mostly Thomas' fam, of course, because we are staying at their house. Even last time during holiday, we were almost always with Thomas' uncle and his girlfriend. Not saying that I don't like them. In opposite, I like them so much. But I just realized, how much time we have to tell our story when nobody is around.

Last weekend, Thomas' parents visited Mosel for wine and good weekend. So, Thomas and I stayed in the house and took care of the house and animals from neighborhood. Such a privacy. We spent a lot of time talking, we fed animals in the mornings and afternoons, BBQed, we made our first ever bike tour (only around Linnich, though, but I didn't know the way, haha). There were Schützenfest in Linnich, but we just went around the kirmes and went home again. Once we stopped by Netto, one man came to me and started to ask me where I come from. I was not sure, what he actually wanted from me, because he talked slowly, mixed languages, didn't find connections of what he was actually talking. Well, he said, he just met my parents *crazy man* and talked about christus order. Thomas recognized this man and he just pulled me in to Netto and said to the man that my parents aren't in Germany, we are already catholic and we want to do some groceries, so bye. Imagine how long this man could avoid me to get into Netto, if I were alone. Lucky me to have Thomas :) He said, this man was a history teacher that turned to be a bit crazy after his wife died. And yeah, this man brought his cart to speak to me, so I could see what was inside: ALCOHOLS. *sigh*

In the evening, we spent time talking, watching videos, marinating chicken *we made KFC on Sunday ;)* and we watched fireworks from the balcony *haha sound romantic*.

I just love it and I miss the next time we will have this kinda time again. :*

La Voix Humaine/ Trouble in Tahiti

Huih! The first opera for this semester. It contained of two stories: La Voix Humaine - The Human Voice (Francis Poulenc) and Trouble in Tahiti (Leonard Bernstein). The theme of these two was similar: communication. The first one was a monolog, telling about a woman who talks on the phone with her ex-husband, who now has a new wife. This woman keeps calling him 'Mon Cherie', so it shows that she is actually still in love with him but keep blaming herself as the main cause of their divorce. At the end, this woman killed herself with the telephone cable and by jumping off of the balcony. Tragic. But luckily, who is still using that old telephone with cable? :)

The second one told us about one married couple who lives in a big white modern house. The husband is obsessed with being rich and famous. The wife visits psychiatrie because she feels depressed. Their communication don't go so well, they don't really greet each otherm don't do things together, they don't discuss like a healthy couple. As soon they start to talk with each other, it turns out to be a fight. But then, they realize that, and tried to repair their relationship. It was Leonard Bernstein's, so it reminded me a lot on West Side Story. It has similarity, of course, on music, stage settings (one stage and they played a lot with the stage lighting). And of course, I love it!

This is the first time we went fullhouse. Last two times I went with Matthias and Annika, but this time our other flatmates Ann and Julie (hey, new flatmate!) were joining us as well. This is a WG with kinda weird hobby: watching opera. LOL. I tried my selfie stick for the first time. woh! See my red face! Yeah, I should say, using selfie stick is quite embarassing ;P

Fullhouse: Ann, me, Julie, Annika. Matthias is somewhere in the room behind us with the glass window

Happy 2 years!

It is nice to see, that we've reached so far.. Well, at least for us :) Those two years were lovely and tough at the same time. Sure culture and long distance relationship didn't make everything easier. But both of us are still able to support each other. I think, we try to build a relationship like two mature adults. Each of us put effort, so that our communication stays stable.

Last Saturday, Thomas took me on a dinner. He booked Pinnochio before telling me. I was surprised and happy for the whole week. Thomas had never reserved table for our date. Before we went together for a mass in the hospital chappel in Jülich. Guess what! We had to sit right behind the altar. My head was full of uncertainty and fear, because I don't think Thomas would like it. But that was the only place left for two! At the end of the mass, the priest came to us and asked, whether we felt okay sitting behind the altar. So nice of him! I think Thomas did enjoy the mass somehow ;) Dinner was also nice. I got my risotto and Thomas ate house speciality. We were so full :) And yeah, we were so lucky, that despite of having no tickets, we were allowed to enter the 'concert' (casting for jazz day in Düren). Christian and his new girlfried were also there. There were 5 performances. The first was from Stimm So, an acapella group. They did pretty good! I love them. The second was uh-oh... over self-confident. The third was a girl from Dormagen playing guitar. She sang really well and was cute. The fourth was The Tideline who performed at Jazz Day in Düren last year. The last was a David Bowie tribute band. They fulfilled the stage. Gosh. I think they were ok (but they were quite loud), but I didn't expect them to win. I prefered the acapella group. But ok, if this tribute band won, what should I do. I won't go to the juries and influence them to choose the first group. Haha. However, I don't think I would ever like David Bowie's music.... Sorry, David... We took taxi from Jülich to Floßdorf and I have to say: I underestimated the taxi cost. I used taxi from Linnich to Jülich and it cost me around 15€. But that night, we had to pay 24€! Ooops, sorry, Thomas. The rest of the night was also nice. We watched the mentalist, but after 1,5 episodes I (as always) felt asleep. Thomas woke me up and didn't get off my back and giggled  me until I gave up. Menno.

Thank you to have understood, loved and supported me with all your heart during these 2 years.

I am grateful to have met you in my life and that you're part of my life. I learned so much from you, and hope I can learn more...

Cheers, for us and amazing years ahead!

Our First Holiday Trip: Alkmaar

This is it! Thomas and Dita finally went for holidays together. No moms, no dads. I was kinda depressed the last few weeks, imagining that I might have no summer holidays in Indonesia this year, which is for me, kinda no holidays for the rest of the year. I asked Thomas to spend some time with me, just for us. Not at home.

I know our financial situation is actually not that good to afford long holidays in a good hotel including transport and foods etc. So, Thomas kindly asked his uncle who lives in Alkmaar (NL) whether we may stay over for a few days in his house. And he said YES! So, this is a start of our journey :)

We caught up on our train on Thursday, March 17th at 7:50 in Lindern. Change trains in Herzogenrath, Heerlen and Utrecht. We arrived there around 12. Thomas was in Alkmaar 10 years ago. And Alkmaar has been changed within these years. However, Thomas finally found the way to Jürgen's house. So, his house was so neat and pretty and clean. I love it. We looked around the house and put our stuff in the guest room, which was quite small with the double bed, but I totally love it. Somehow. Nice, colorful (eventhough lil bit pink dominant) room and bed sheet. Thomas said, the house hasn't change so much after more than 10 years. I was really hungry, so we went to Alkmaar city center. I haven't been in Holland for 4 years, was quite shocked seeing the prices in front of the restaurants (I forgot to bring cash with me! Stupid me. Haha). Anyway, we decided to eat in a Greek restaurant. I think it was delicious (or I was too hungry ;)). Then we walked around the city center. Thomas showed me some places he knew from the past. Jürgen wrote us a letter that he would be back at around 17:30. So, we actually wanted to sit in a small cafe, enjoying tea and dutch dessert. But suddenly Thomas got stomachache. So we decided to run away back home. After a few time arriving at the house, Simone (Jürgen's girlfriend) came home. Around 17:30 Jürgen arrived home as well, but he still needed to go to see his therapist first. So, Thomas and I took a small walk to a small supermarket behind the house that also hasn't changed after 10 years.

on the way to the supermarket

Jürgen was back and he brought us to the beach (Egmond aan Zee). He actually wanted to eat in a restaurant right on the beach, but full. So we went somewhere there on foot. Restaurant De Oude Clipper. I love the place. They have ship inside the restaurant as the bar, surrounding with water with some gold fish in it. Nice fine dining restaurant. I ordered fish platte and dame blanche as dessert. Yummy! Then we went back home.

We finally went to the beaaaaccchhh!!! We love see! 

On the next day (Friday, March 18th), Thomas and I stayed in bed longer after waking up so early on Thursday. And I was basically K.O after those days (I worked the whole day on Monday, travelled directly afterward to Aachen for the DAGA, so yes, I was at DAGA for the whole Tuesday and Wednesday, and still went to the band practice on Wed night). Jürgen came back after half-day work and took us to Zuiderzeemuseum. It was unfortunatelly closed. So we went further to Batavia Stad. It was like in Wertheim, factory outlet heaven with a Batavia ship on the other side. We decided for a tour on the ship. The tour was just for four of us (Thomas, his uncle, his uncle's girlfriend, and me) guided by a middle age dutch man who speaks also german. So he explained everything in german (as Simone understands german quite well). Batavia Ship is a ship that used to bring the Dutches from Amsterdam to Jakarta and spices and indonesian slaves or women from Jakarta to Amsterdam. The ship was remade and had not the original size. Though, it was still impressive and to operate such a ship, you need LOTS of physics and mathematics. Sounds like fun. But no, I don't want to travel with that ship to Jakarta. No thanks. Hahah. So, we continued our journey to Enkhuizen find something to eat (I was starving). And yeah again, we went for fine-dining there in De Drie Haringhe. Note: we didn't pay a cent. The food was soooo delicious. I love my roast beef appetizer with truffle mayo and breast duck for the main course. So well cooked!

on the Batavia Ship

Eckhuis

Jürgen challenged me to cook some indonesian food for dinner. I took the challenge and cooked opor ayam with tofu and eggs as well. With no instant spices. Yeah, I was good. LOL. So yeah, we went shopping for the dinner in Alkmaar city center on Saturday. We went first to a toko. And I felt like in heaven!! Indonesian food everywhere!! But I knew what I want: Spekoek! (Ind: Kue Lapis or Lapis Legit).Thomas made Bakwan Jagung(proud girlfriend lah!)and Jürgen was responsible for the appetizer (Thai soup). The opor was at last successful, after worrying because the opor tasted so plain at first.

Alkmaar city center

On Sunday, Jürgen invited us to watch Cirque du Soleil Amaluna in Amsterdam. I was surprised and told Thomas about the price of the tickets we got from his uncle. Amaluna was super cool. Lots of Chinese people doing the acrobatics. Amazing show. Then we splitted. Thomas and I continued our trip to Leiden to meet Jenov and Christoph there. It was so nice of them to show us Leiden. Leiden is nice, very dutch (you know, windmills, grachtfahrten, bridges and even sold cathedral...). They have also a small burg, where you can see Leiden from above and the oldest university in the Netherlands. Then we ended in an italian restaurant V.I.P (Very Italian Pizza). They had a very delish salmon pizza and tartufo! Jenov ordered Ravioli with truffle sauce, it was delicious!

Amaluna, Amsterdam

Double date in Leiden

 Monday is the day to go back. I was kinda sad. The trip was so nice and that day we couldn't meet Jürgen before our departure. We had said goodbye to him the night before. Nevertheless, we met Simone, said goodbye to her. We went first to the supermarket, bought something for home, headed to Linnich again and can't wait for the next trip :)

Bye Alkmaar! Til next time :)